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[
"Anita Mui",
"1992-2003: Community work",
"what happened in 1992?",
"Mui lent significant financial and material support to Operation Yellowbird, to help activists flee from China after the Tiananmen Square protests",
"did she do any other community work?",
"Her establishment of a nursing home in San Francisco, prompted the mayor of the city in 1992 to name 18 April as \"Anita Mui Day\"."
] |
C_d87049efa8624c6ead7adbaf833cc2f2_1
|
did she do any other work?
| 3 |
Besides the nursing home did Anita Mui do any other work?
|
Anita Mui
|
Mui was actively involved in charitable projects throughout her career. According to the posthumous memoirs of democracy activist Szeto Wah, Mui lent significant financial and material support to Operation Yellowbird, to help activists flee from China after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The Tibetan red-crown Shamar Rinpoche once said "She had a true heart. She was an unconventional woman and brought happiness to lots of people during her life." Her establishment of a nursing home in San Francisco, prompted the mayor of the city in 1992 to name 18 April as "Anita Mui Day". In 1993, she established the "Anita Mui True Heart Charity Foundation" (Mei Yan Fang Si Hai Yi Xin Ji Jin Hui ). That same year, she was also one of the founders of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild. The Canadian city of Toronto declared 23 October 1993 to be "Anita Mui Day". During the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, she initiated a fundraising concert titled the 1:99 Concert to raise money for SARS-affected families. She was also awarded the "Fighting Against SARS Award" from RTHK and the newspaper Ming Pao. In 2003, she wrote and published the book The Heart of the Modern Woman (Xian Dai Nu Ren Xin ). Profits from the book went to the Children's Cancer Foundation. On 23 September 2004, the Anita Mui True Heart Digital Multimedia Studio was opened at the University of Hong Kong. It included state-of-the-art equipment for digital audio and video editing. In Causeway Bay, an Anita Mui-themed cafe called Happiness Moon (Xi Yue ) is also dedicated to her legacy. CANNOTANSWER
|
she was also one of the founders of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild.
|
Anita Mui Yim-fong (; 10 October 1963 – 30 December 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actress who made major contributions to the Cantopop music scene and received numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout her career, and is regarded as a Cantopop diva. She was dubbed as the "daughter of Hong Kong" and is considered one of the most iconic Cantopop singers.
Mui once held a sold-out concert in Hammersmith, London, England, where she was dubbed the "Madonna of the East" (), which brought her to further international fame. That title stayed with her throughout her career, in both Eastern and Western media.
In the 1980s, the gangtai style of music was revolutionised by Mui's wild dancing and on-stage femininity. She was famed for her outrageous costumes and high-powered performances in combination with contralto vocals, which are rare in female artists.
Her fan base reached far beyond Hong Kong into many parts of Asia, including Taiwan, mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia, and other countries, as well. In the Hong Kong entertainment industry, where stars often rise and fall quickly, Mui remained in the spotlight for 21 years (1982–2003). Her career came to an abrupt end in 2003 when she announced that she had cervical cancer. She died later that year at the age of 40. It was then understood that she had developed the disease due to a familial genetic disposition as her sister Ann had died of the same condition in 2000 at age 40 as well.
Career
1963–1978: Early years
Mui experienced much hardship in her childhood. She was born at Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok, Kowloon, She is the youngest daughter in a family of four children. She is only child was born in Hong Kong by her family, as her brothers and sister were born at China, Her mother Mui Tam Mei-kam was born at Xiguan in Guangzhou. She was a Chinese medicine practitioner, who opened Yuet Wah Chinese Medical Clinic, Wah Geong Chinese and Western Music College, and a music brand in Hong Kong. Her siblings are Mui Kai-Ming (1952–), Mui Tak-Ming (1953–2015) and Ann Mui (1959–2000),who was also a singer. The children were raised in a single parent family. Mui's father died when she was very young. In some of her interviews, Mui mentioned that she had little memory of her father and the family were very poor. This meant that she had to help provide for her siblings at an early age, dropping out of school at the age of 13 or 14. More hardship followed the family when the bar that her mother ran was destroyed by a fire. To earn a living, Mui entered show business around the age of four with her sister Ann. She performed Chinese operas and pop songs in theatres and on the streets. Both Mui and her elder sister Ann performed in practically any nightclub that offered them a chance to make a living.
At the age of 15, due to the frequency of performances at different venues (up to six venues per day) that she had, her voice was affected due to the development of nodules on her vocal cords. Following the advice of the doctor, she took a year off and to keep herself occupied, she attended art lessons with her cousin. After a year, she started performing again despite the change in her vocal range, which lowered her voice by an octave.
1982–1989; 1994–2003: Singing
In 1982, as encouraged by her sister, Mui competed in the first New Talent Singing Awards. There, Mui got a big break by emerging champion with the song "The Windy Season" (風的季節), originally sung by Paula Tsui, beating over 3,000 contestants. Despite her title as "new talent" at that time, she had already been a singer for more than 10 years from street and club performances during her childhood.
As a reward for winning the New Talent contest at the time, Mui's first album was released with the local record company Capital Artists.
Her debut album, Debt Heart (), drew a lukewarm response from the audience. However, her subsequent albums, Red () (1983) and Leaping in the Spotlight () (1984) fared much better, as she developed her personal style and image. In 1983 and 1984, she won the RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs awards back to back.
Her winning streak continued as she won another major award in 1985, her first top 10 Jade Solid Gold Best Female Singer award. Thereafter, she won the award every year until 1989. She was awarded the Gold Songs Gold Awards () in 1989 for the song "Sunset Melody" (), which became one of her signature songs throughout her career.
Mui released 50 albums in total. Her best-selling album was the 1985 "Bad Girl" (), which sold over 400,000 copies (platinum 8x by Hong Kong's standards). In her career, she sold 10 million albums.
In terms of live performances, in 1985, at the age of 21, her first concert was held lasting 15 nights (thus being one of the youngest singers to hold a concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum). Beginning in late 1987, a series of 28 consecutive concerts at the Coliseum was held through early 1988. This established a record at the time and dubbed Mui the title of "Ever Changing Anita Mui" (), which had become her trademark. Her popularity was also gaining prominence outside of Hong Kong, as she was invited to sing at the 1988 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Seoul together with Janet Jackson. She performed in 300 concerts in her career. In 1995, Mui performed the song "Bad Girl" (a Cantonese cover of Sheena Easton's "Strut") in Guangzhou, China, where it was banned, as it was considered pornographic in nature. The government authorities in Guangzhou were infuriated when she chose to sing the song on the last day of her concert.
In 1990, during her birthday celebration with her fan club, Mui announced that she would put an end to receiving music awards to give a chance to newcomers. She held farewell concerts for 33 consecutive nights before retiring from the stage. At the age of 28, she stepped down from the industry, only to return from retirement in 1994. Mui mentored several Hong Kong newcomer singers who have since become successful, most notably Andy Hui, Denise Ho, Edmond Leung, the band Grasshopper, and Patrick Tam.
In 1998, aged 35, she was awarded the RTHK Golden Needle Award, being one of the youngest recipients to receive the award as a lifetime achievement.
1983–2002: Acting
Mui was also well known as an actress across Asia, as she starred in more than 40 films over a 20-year period. Her films were mainly of the action-thriller and martial arts variety, but she had also taken comedic and dramatic roles.
Her first acting award as a supporting actress was won at the Hong Kong Film Awards for her performance in Behind the Yellow Line (1984). Three years later in 1987, her performance in Rouge alongside Leslie Cheung won her the Best Actress at the Golden Horse Awards. In 1989, she was awarded the Best Actress for her role in Rouge at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
In 1993, she starred in The Heroic Trio with Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Cheung, and it proved to be one of her most popular action films. In 1994 and 1995, she found some international recognition by starring opposite Jackie Chan in The Legend of Drunken Master and Rumble in the Bronx.
Later, in 1997, she also won another best supporting actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards for her role in Eighteen Springs. In 2002, she won Best Actress at the Changchun Film Festival Golden Deer Awards for Best Actress with her performance in July Rhapsody.
Mui was originally cast in Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers (2004), but she resigned only two weeks before her death. Zhang had reserved her scenes to be shot last due to her poor health. Out of respect for Mui, Zhang did not cast another actress in the role and the character was removed from the screenplay. She received a dedication titled "In Memory of Anita Mui" () during the closing credits.
Throughout her career, the tabloid magazines were unforgiving. Rumours never ceased to plague Mui, who was accused of being addicted to drugs, having tattoos on her arms, going for plastic surgery, being suicidal, and being linked to the death of a triad leader in the 1980s and 1990s. Rumours of affairs with leading actors also circulated.
1989–2003: Politics, activism, philanthropy
Mui attended a local Hong Kong rally publicly calling for democracy during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests that reportedly drew in 1 million people, which led to the founding of Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. She also performed in the 1989 Hong Kong concert for Chinese Democracy and vowed never to perform again in Mainland China. According to the posthumous memoirs of democracy activist Szeto Wah, Mui lent significant financial and material support to Operation Yellowbird, to help activists flee from China after the Tiananmen protests.
Mui was also actively involved in charitable projects throughout her career to give back to the community. After the Eastern China flood of 1991, she changed her political mind and took part with other Hong Kong stars in a Beijing concert to raise funds for victims of the catastrophe.
The Tibetan red-crown Shamar Rinpoche once said "She had a true heart. She was an unconventional woman and brought happiness to lots of people during her life." Her establishment of a nursing home in San Francisco, prompted the mayor of the city in 1992 to name 18 April as "Anita Mui Day". In 1993, she established the "Anita Mui True Heart Charity Foundation" (). That same year, she was also one of the founders of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild. The Canadian city of Toronto declared 23 October 1993 to be "Anita Mui Day".
During the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, she initiated a fundraising concert titled the 1:99 Concert to raise money for SARS-affected families, which attracted famous fellow celebrities such as Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung. She was also awarded the "Fighting Against SARS Award" from RTHK and the newspaper Ming Pao. In 2003, she wrote and published the book The Heart of the Modern Woman (). Profits from the book went to the Children's Cancer Foundation.
On 23 September 2004, the Anita Mui True Heart Digital Multimedia Studio was opened at the University of Hong Kong. It included state-of-the-art equipment for digital audio and video editing. In Causeway Bay, an Anita Mui-themed cafe called Happiness Moon () is also dedicated to her legacy.
Death and legacy
On 5 September 2003, Mui publicly announced that she had cervical cancer, from which her sister had also died. She held a series of eight shows at the Hong Kong Coliseum from 6–11 November and 14–15 November 2003, which were to be her last concerts before her death.
Her symbolic act was to "marry the stage", which was accompanied by her hit song "Sunset Melody" () as she exited the stage. The last song she performed on stage was "Cherish When We Meet Again" (), a rendition of The Manhattans' "Let's Just Kiss And Say Goodbye" on 15 November 2003, where she was accompanied by her friends on the stage. She eventually succumbed to cervical cancer and died of respiratory complications leading to lung failure at Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital on 30 December 2003 at 2:50am Hong Kong Time. She was 40 years old. Thousands of fans turned out for her funeral at North Point in January 2004. Mui was cremated and her ashes are interred at the Po Lin Monastery's mausoleum on Lantau Island.
In 1998, an ATV-produced television series Forever Love Song told a story of a character which was loosely based on that of Mui, but the character names were purposely changed. In 2007, a television series was produced in China titled Anita Mui Fei () to tell the story of her life. The 42-episode series was broadcast by China Education Television. Some subjects, such as her suffering from cancer, Leslie Cheung's suicide and her mother's real estate dilemma, were avoided. Alice Chan portrayed Mui in the series.
On 11 October 2008, a show on TVB, titled Our Anita Mui (), was dedicated to Mui. Many fans and off-stage personnel who worked with her had a chance to talk about their personal experiences with Mui. Singers who participated in the show included Andy Hui, Edmond Leung, and Stephanie Cheng.
On 18 July 2014, a statue of Anita Mui was unveiled on Hong Kong's Avenue of Stars.
In 2019, she was the subject of the film Dearest Anita. The film centered around individuals whose lives had been shaped by her work, including her fans and beneficiaries of her philanthropic work.
In 2021, Anita was portrayed in the biopic Anita (), directed by Longman Leung. She was played by the Hong Kong model Louise Wong.
Will
In her will, Mui bequeathed two properties to her fashion designer, Eddie Lau, and the remainder to the Karen Trust – a trust she had set up and looked after by HSBC International Trustees. Its beneficiaries included her mother, , and four nieces and nephews. The Karen Trust provided Tam with a life tenancy of HK$70,000 per month; upon Tam's death, the estate would go to the New Horizon Buddhist Association ().
In 2005, Tam received a HK$705,000 lump-sum payment from the trust in May. She applied for and obtained a hardship grant to pay for medical expenditure of $50,000 in December; her application for funds from the estate to challenge the will was denied. In 2008, Mui's estate was estimated to be worth HK$100 million. Tam Mei-kam contested the will, arguing that Mui was mentally unfit when she executed her will in 2003, weeks before her death. The High Court ruled that Mui was of sound mind when she signed the will, and that she simply did not trust her mother with money.
Over the years, Tam mounted several legal challenges to the will, and succeeded in having the life tenancy varied to HK$120,000. Tam was reportedly owing $2 million in legal costs in 2011. A fresh appeal by Tam and Mui's elder brother Peter Mui Kai-ming failed at the Court of Final Appeal in May 2011.
After that challenge, the Court of First Instance of Hong Kong declared Tam bankrupt on 25 April 2012 for failing to pay legal fees, whilst allowing her to continue receiving her monthly allowance. In January 2013, the court ruled that the monthly tenancy of HK$120,000 to Tam, suspended since the previous July, would continue to be frozen due to mounting debts of the estate. Her brother was declared bankrupt on 17 January 2013 for failing to pay legal fees relating to the appeals. In May 2013, the court ordered the estate to pay Tam HK$20,000 a month for her living costs, as well as $240,000 to settle her overdue rent.
Discography
Usually, English translations of Chinese titles from AnitaMuiNet.com are used. However, some English titles are different from the website, and some other albums are romanised in case accurate translation may not be possible.
Studio albums
Cantonese
Capital Artists Ltd.
Sum chai (Debts of the Heart) (1982)
Also includes solo recordings by members of the Hong Kong pop band, Siu Foo Deui (The Tigers)
Red Anita Mui (Chek sik Mui Yim-fong) (1983)
Sometimes referred as Red (Chek sik)
Leaping in the Spotlight (Fei yeok mou toi) (1984)
Chi seoi lau nin (The Years Flow Like Water) (1985)
Bad Girl (Waai neoi haai) (1985)
Yiu neoi (Temptress) (1986)
Burning Tango (Tsi fo taam gwo) (1987)
Flaming Red Lips (Leet yim hung seon) (1987)
Mung leoi gung tzeoi (Drunk in Dreams Together) (1988)
Mellow (Zeoi yun tsing waai) (1988)
We'll Be Together — EP (1988)
Lady (Sook neoi) Artists Ltd. (1989)
In Brasil (sometimes referred as In Brazil) (1989)
Say It If You Love Me (Ngoi ngo been soot ngoi ngo ba) (1989)
Cover Girl (Fung meen neoi long) (1990)
Anita Mui () (1991)
Sometimes it is called Yook mong ye sau gaai (Jungle of Desire)
It's Like This (Si tze yeung dik) (1994)
Sometimes, it is referred to as This Is Anita Mui (Mui Yim Fong si tze yeung dik)
The Woman of Songs 歌之女 (Goh tzi neoi) (1995)
Illusions (Geng faa seoi yu) (1997)
Variations (Been tzau) (1998)
Larger Than Life (1999)
I'm So Happy (2000)
Go East Entertainment Co. Ltd.
With (2002)
Japanese
English titles are official English titles used by record labels for below releases:
Express (part of EMI Japan)
Fantasy of Love / Debt of Love (kuchibiru woubau mae ni / inochi hate rumade) — EP (1983)
"Fantasy of Love" is the Japanese version of the Cantonese song "Gau cheut ngo dik sum" (). "Debt of Love" is the Japanese version of the Cantonese song "Sum chai" ().
Marry Me Merry Me / nantonaku shiawase (nichii hanayome / nantonaku shiawase) — EP (1983)
Marry Me Merry Me is sometimes referred as Marry Me Marry Me.
Mandarin
Rock Records
Manjusaka (Man zhu sha hua) (1986)
Ever-changing Anita Mui: Flaming Red Lips (Bai bian Mei Yan-fang: lieyan hong chun) (1988)
Intimate Lover (Qinmi airen) (1991)
Other record labels
Caution (Xiaoxin) — Capital Artists Ltd. (1994)
Hong Kong edition of this album consists of Cantonese versions of some Mandarin songs.
Flower Woman (Nüren hua) — Music Impact Ltd. (1997)
Anita Music Collection Ltd.
Moonlight on My Bed (or simply "Moonlight") (Chuang qian ming yueguang) (1998)
Nothing to Say (Mei huashuo) (1999)
Concert albums
Capital Artists Ltd.
Anita Mui in Concert 87–88 – Cantonese (1988)
Anita in Concert '90 – Cantonese (1990)
Anita Mui Live in Concert 1995 – Cantonese/Mandarin (1995)
Anita Mui Final Concert 1992 – Cantonese/Mandarin (2006)
Music Impact Ltd.
Anita Mui 1997 Live in Taipei – Mandarin (1997)
Music Nation Records Company Ltd.
Anita Mui Fantasy Gig 2002 – Cantonese/Mandarin (2002)
Compilation albums
Compilations released after 2004 are not included here:
Capital Artists Ltd. (Cantonese)
The Legend of the Pop Queen: Part I and Part II (1992)
Lifetime of Fantasies (Ching waan yat sang) (1993)
Change (Been) (1993)
Wong tze tzi fung (Majestic) (1993)
Dramatic Life (Hei kek yan sang) (1993)
Love Songs (Ching goh) (1997)
Love Songs II II (Ching goh II) (1998)
Anita's 45 Songs (2001)
Tribute to Anita Mui (2004)
Faithfully (2008)
In Memory of Anita Mui (2013) (but labelled with incorrect grammar as "In the Memories of Anita Mui")
Other record labels
Anita Classic Moment Live – Mui Music Ltd. (Cantonese/Mandarin) (2004)
Anita Mui Forever – BMG Taiwan Inc. (Mandarin) (2004)
Singles
1980s
1990s
2000s
Tour setlists
留住你今晚
點起你欲望
魅力的散發
心債
赤的疑惑
交出我的心
信
24小時之吻 (梅艷芳、草蜢 合唱)
祝你好運 (梅艷芳、草蜢 合唱)
小虎子闖世界 (梅艷芳、小虎隊 合唱)
歌衫淚影
殘月碎春風
Medley:
再共舞
紗籠女郎
再共舞 Reprise
滾滾紅塵
IQ博士
風的季節 (梅艷芳、梅愛芳 合唱)
中國戲曲
The Way We Were
待嫁女兒心
日本演歌 (梅艷芳、黎小田 合唱)
合唱歌 (梅艷芳、Guest 合唱)
夢伴
別離的無奈
冰山大火
幻影
蔓珠莎華
夢幻的擁抱
抱你十個世紀
孤身走我路
壞女孩
顛多一千晚
似水流年
不了情
逝去的愛
Medley:
冰山大火
征服他
心魔
冰山大火 Reprise
痴痴愛一次
緋聞中的女人
妖女
將冰山劈開
愛將 (梅艷芳、草蜢 合唱)
飛躍千個夢 (草蜢 主唱)
戀之火
殘月醉春風
夢
紗籠女郎
Medley:
嘆息
歌衫淚影
千枝針刺在心
胭脂扣
夢伴
壞女孩
放鬆
暫時厭倦
蔓珠莎華
她的前半生
烈燄紅唇
尋愛
Oh No! Oh Yes!
裝飾的眼淚
無淚之女
似火探戈
魅力的天橋
最後一次
傷心教堂
似水流年
珍惜再會時
愛我便說愛我吧
正歌
第四十夜
夏日戀人
一舞傾情
難得有情人
愛情基本法
心窩已瘋
心仍是冷 (梅艷芳、倫永亮 合唱)
明天你是否依然愛我 (梅艷芳、倫永亮 合唱)
你知道我在等你嗎 (倫永亮獨唱)
Stand By Me
Dancing Boy
玫瑰、玫瑰、我愛你
不如不見
最愛是誰
倦
夢裡共醉 (音樂/舞蹈)
焚心以火
脂胭扣
黑夜的豹
Medley:
壞女孩
妖女
烈燄紅唇
淑女
封面女郎
她的前半生
孤身走我路
龍的傳人
血染的風采
蔓珠莎華
夕陽之歌
耶利亞
Encore:
似水流年
心債
夢伴
冰山大火
我未失方向
赤的疑惑
再共舞
珍惜再會時
蔓珠莎華
Faithfully
夢幻的擁抱
夢姬
妖女
緋聞中的女人
假如我是男人
Touch
似火探戈
不信愛有罪
這一個夜
Jungle Medley:
黑夜的豹
慾望野獸街
夜貓夫人
慾望野獸街 Reprise
教父的女人
壞女孩
胭脂扣
啼笑因緣
每當變幻時
似是故人來
幾多
逝去的愛
赤的疑惑
夕陽之歌
親密愛人
IQ博士
似水流年
心肝寶貝
孤身走我路
夢伴
Stand By Me
珍惜再會時
回頭已是百年身
封面女郎 Introduction
Medley:
淑女
壞女孩
夢伴
妖女
親密愛人
Medley:
新鴛鴦蝴蝶夢
只羡鴛鴦不羡仙
女人心
激光中
黑夜的豹
放開你的頭腦
感激
珍惜再會時
Overture
夢伴
We'll Be Together
Faithfully
愛是沒餘地
傳說 Interlude
莫問一生
烈女
耶利亞
夢姬
等著你回來 Interlude
得不到的愛情
Medley:
何日
李香蘭
何日 Reprise
願今宵一起醉死
Interlude
Stand By Me
是這樣的
Medley:
愛是個傳奇
粉紅色的一生
明星
女人心
Medley: (梅艷芳、倫永亮 合唱)
分分鐘需要你
浪子心聲
胭脂扣
情人
明天我要嫁給你
憑著愛
心仍是冷
分分鐘需要你 Reprise
情歸何處
感激
Interlude
Touch
疾風
愛我便說愛我吧
歌之女
似水流年
是這樣的
艷舞台
淑女
抱緊眼前人
愛上狼的羊
女人心
愛的感覺
緋聞中的女人
Touch
壞女孩
似水流年
Medley:
似是故人來
心肝寶貝
胭脂扣
緣份
有心人
路...始終告一段
何日
夕陽之歌
夜蛇
烈艷紅唇
抱你十個世紀
眼中釘
一生何求
似夢迷離
但願人長久
不快不吐
Medley:
你真美麗
第二春
夢
戀之火
今宵多珍重
我要
給我一個吻
玫瑰、玫瑰、我愛你
情歸何處
你留我在此
將冰山劈開
床前明月光
心窩已瘋
Big Bad Girl
夢伴
Opening
Stand By Me
將冰山劈開
愛我便說愛我吧
長藤掛銅鈴
Medley:
艷舞台
烈焰紅唇
Medley:
憑甚麼
假如我是男人
黑夜的豹
蔓珠莎華
Oh No! Oh Yes!
Wonderful Night
Faithfully
是這樣的
夢幻的擁抱
夢姬
烈女
心債
一舞傾情
約會
胭脂扣
床前明月光
心窩已瘋
芳華絕代
床呀！床！
似水流年
似是故人來
抱緊眼前人
親密愛人
Medley:
孤身走我路
夕陽之歌
Medley:
愛將
壞女孩
淑女
妖女
放開你的頭腦
夢伴
冰山大火
Overture
夢裡共醉
是這樣的
抱緊眼前人
心肝寶貝
Medley:
何日
李香蘭
何日 Reprise
心債
第四十夜
夏日戀人
'O Sole Mio
親密愛人
Medley:
愛情的代價
我願意
似夢迷離
今生今世
深愛著你
孤身走我路
胭脂扣
似是故人來
似水流年
Sukiyaki
花月佳期
夕陽之歌
Awards
New Talent Singing Awards winner 1982
Top 10 Jade Solid Gold Best Female Singer Award 1985–1989
Top 10 Jade Solid Gold Gold Song Gold Award for Sunset Melody () 1989
Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Supporting Actress 1985 for Behind the Yellow Line
Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actress 1988 for Rouge
Asia-Pacific Film Festival Awards for Best Actress 1989 for Rouge
Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress 1989 for Rouge
Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Supporting Actress 1998 for Eighteen Springs
Golden Bauhinia Awards for Best Supporting Actress 1998 for Eighteen Springs
RTHK Golden Needle Award 1998
Golden Deer Awards for Best Actress 2002 for July Rhapsody
Concert tours/specials
Filmography
TV series
TVB
See also
Asteroid 55384 Muiyimfong
Music of Hong Kong
Cinema of Hong Kong
References
External links
New Talent Singing Awards contestants
1963 births
2003 deaths
Deaths from cervical cancer
Deaths from cancer in Hong Kong
20th-century Hong Kong women singers
21st-century Hong Kong women singers
20th-century Hong Kong actresses
21st-century Hong Kong actresses
Cantopop singers
Hong Kong Mandopop singers
Hong Kong television actresses
Hong Kong film actresses
Hong Kong Buddhists
Hong Kong idols
Hong Kong contraltos
| true |
[
"Kate Vannah (pen name, Kate Van Twinkle; 1855–1933) was an American organist, pianist, composer, and writer. Of her music, more was sold in her day than that of any other composer in the US, excepting Reginald De Koven.\n\nEarly years and education\nVannah was born in Gardiner, Maine and received her education in its public schools, graduating from Gardiner high school. She graduated with high honors from the St. Joseph's Academy at Emmitsburg, Maryland. She played the organ at the Catholic church in Gardiner, it being her favorite instrument. She also studied piano with Ernst Perabo of Boston, and composition with Eversmann of Baltimore, Maryland and George Washington Marston of Portland, Maine.\n\nCareer\nVannah tried her hand at journalism, writing for the Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia papers, and for several Maine papers, under the name of Kate Van Twinkle. Her poetry was superior, and was widely copied. In 1892, a book of her poems, \"Verses\", was published by J. B. Lippincott & Co., and this was followed by another book of poems in 1893, \"From Heart to Heart\".\n\nHer first songs were published when she was eighteen. Her first notable hit was the song \"Good-bye, Sweet Day\". Vannah published about fifty songs and perhaps a dozen instrumental pieces. Regarding her methods, Vannah said: \nMy work is the greatest possible pleasure to me when I am in the mood. I work like a Trojan at times. I have done six songs in ten days, but that is rather beyond my average rate. I probably write from twelve to fifteen songs a year, but I do not work constantly. Sometimes for a month I will not touch pen to paper, and then I will make up for lost time by working almost continuously for the next month. It is hard to say just how I write. I will read a little poem, perhaps, and then the melody comes, and, do you know, that particular melody is always thereafter connected with that poem. I might put the poem aside and not look at it again for a dozen years, but when I did, that same melody would leap into my mind at once.\nVannah preferred the serious love ballad to any other style of song, but she was versatile and has written various melodies. Of her music, more was sold in her day than that of any other composer in the US, excepting Reginald De Koven.\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n\nExternal links\n\n1855 births\n1933 deaths\nAmerican composers\nAmerican classical organists\nAmerican classical pianists\nAmerican women pianists\nAmerican women poets\nPeople from Gardiner, Maine",
"Walton v Independent Living Organisation [2003] EWCA Civ 199 is a UK labour law case regarding the National Minimum Wage Act 1998.\n\nFacts\nMiss Julie Walton was a care worker, who looked after Miss E Jones, who had epilepsy but was a relatively easy client. She did washing, ironing, shopping and meals. Miss Walton was required to remain at work for 24 hours a day, and did three days a week. She was paid £31.40 a day and got allowance for meals and sleeping was free when she was with Miss Jones. The National Minimum Wage Team of the Inland Revenue contacted the company about a complaint. The employment agency sent in Miss Butler to do estimates about Miss Walton's hours of work and concluded her tasks took 6 hours and 50 minutes a day. Ms Walton agreed with this, and signed an agreement that this was in fact her hours of work.\n\nTribunal held that her time was ‘unmeasured’, and that the estimation was an agreement of time for the purpose of NMWR 1999 r 28, even though her whole pay was expressed on a daily basis. Therefore, she was paid £4.60 which was over the minimum wage.\n\nJudgment\nAldous LJ upheld the Tribunal. They had come to an agreement about the average hours of work. Arden LJ said it was a question of fact whether the worker did ‘only stand and wait’ and here she did not, and was able to do something entirely unrelated while at work. Jacob J concurred.\n\nSee also\n\nUK labour law\n\nNotes\n\nUnited Kingdom labour case law\nUnited Kingdom wages case law\nCourt of Appeal (England and Wales) cases\n2003 in case law\n2003 in British law"
] |
[
"Anita Mui",
"1992-2003: Community work",
"what happened in 1992?",
"Mui lent significant financial and material support to Operation Yellowbird, to help activists flee from China after the Tiananmen Square protests",
"did she do any other community work?",
"Her establishment of a nursing home in San Francisco, prompted the mayor of the city in 1992 to name 18 April as \"Anita Mui Day\".",
"did she do any other work?",
"she was also one of the founders of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild."
] |
C_d87049efa8624c6ead7adbaf833cc2f2_1
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did she recieve any honors?
| 4 |
Did Anita Mui recieve any honors?
|
Anita Mui
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Mui was actively involved in charitable projects throughout her career. According to the posthumous memoirs of democracy activist Szeto Wah, Mui lent significant financial and material support to Operation Yellowbird, to help activists flee from China after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The Tibetan red-crown Shamar Rinpoche once said "She had a true heart. She was an unconventional woman and brought happiness to lots of people during her life." Her establishment of a nursing home in San Francisco, prompted the mayor of the city in 1992 to name 18 April as "Anita Mui Day". In 1993, she established the "Anita Mui True Heart Charity Foundation" (Mei Yan Fang Si Hai Yi Xin Ji Jin Hui ). That same year, she was also one of the founders of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild. The Canadian city of Toronto declared 23 October 1993 to be "Anita Mui Day". During the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, she initiated a fundraising concert titled the 1:99 Concert to raise money for SARS-affected families. She was also awarded the "Fighting Against SARS Award" from RTHK and the newspaper Ming Pao. In 2003, she wrote and published the book The Heart of the Modern Woman (Xian Dai Nu Ren Xin ). Profits from the book went to the Children's Cancer Foundation. On 23 September 2004, the Anita Mui True Heart Digital Multimedia Studio was opened at the University of Hong Kong. It included state-of-the-art equipment for digital audio and video editing. In Causeway Bay, an Anita Mui-themed cafe called Happiness Moon (Xi Yue ) is also dedicated to her legacy. CANNOTANSWER
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On 23 September 2004, the Anita Mui True Heart Digital Multimedia Studio was opened at the University of Hong Kong.
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Anita Mui Yim-fong (; 10 October 1963 – 30 December 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actress who made major contributions to the Cantopop music scene and received numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout her career, and is regarded as a Cantopop diva. She was dubbed as the "daughter of Hong Kong" and is considered one of the most iconic Cantopop singers.
Mui once held a sold-out concert in Hammersmith, London, England, where she was dubbed the "Madonna of the East" (), which brought her to further international fame. That title stayed with her throughout her career, in both Eastern and Western media.
In the 1980s, the gangtai style of music was revolutionised by Mui's wild dancing and on-stage femininity. She was famed for her outrageous costumes and high-powered performances in combination with contralto vocals, which are rare in female artists.
Her fan base reached far beyond Hong Kong into many parts of Asia, including Taiwan, mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia, and other countries, as well. In the Hong Kong entertainment industry, where stars often rise and fall quickly, Mui remained in the spotlight for 21 years (1982–2003). Her career came to an abrupt end in 2003 when she announced that she had cervical cancer. She died later that year at the age of 40. It was then understood that she had developed the disease due to a familial genetic disposition as her sister Ann had died of the same condition in 2000 at age 40 as well.
Career
1963–1978: Early years
Mui experienced much hardship in her childhood. She was born at Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok, Kowloon, She is the youngest daughter in a family of four children. She is only child was born in Hong Kong by her family, as her brothers and sister were born at China, Her mother Mui Tam Mei-kam was born at Xiguan in Guangzhou. She was a Chinese medicine practitioner, who opened Yuet Wah Chinese Medical Clinic, Wah Geong Chinese and Western Music College, and a music brand in Hong Kong. Her siblings are Mui Kai-Ming (1952–), Mui Tak-Ming (1953–2015) and Ann Mui (1959–2000),who was also a singer. The children were raised in a single parent family. Mui's father died when she was very young. In some of her interviews, Mui mentioned that she had little memory of her father and the family were very poor. This meant that she had to help provide for her siblings at an early age, dropping out of school at the age of 13 or 14. More hardship followed the family when the bar that her mother ran was destroyed by a fire. To earn a living, Mui entered show business around the age of four with her sister Ann. She performed Chinese operas and pop songs in theatres and on the streets. Both Mui and her elder sister Ann performed in practically any nightclub that offered them a chance to make a living.
At the age of 15, due to the frequency of performances at different venues (up to six venues per day) that she had, her voice was affected due to the development of nodules on her vocal cords. Following the advice of the doctor, she took a year off and to keep herself occupied, she attended art lessons with her cousin. After a year, she started performing again despite the change in her vocal range, which lowered her voice by an octave.
1982–1989; 1994–2003: Singing
In 1982, as encouraged by her sister, Mui competed in the first New Talent Singing Awards. There, Mui got a big break by emerging champion with the song "The Windy Season" (風的季節), originally sung by Paula Tsui, beating over 3,000 contestants. Despite her title as "new talent" at that time, she had already been a singer for more than 10 years from street and club performances during her childhood.
As a reward for winning the New Talent contest at the time, Mui's first album was released with the local record company Capital Artists.
Her debut album, Debt Heart (), drew a lukewarm response from the audience. However, her subsequent albums, Red () (1983) and Leaping in the Spotlight () (1984) fared much better, as she developed her personal style and image. In 1983 and 1984, she won the RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs awards back to back.
Her winning streak continued as she won another major award in 1985, her first top 10 Jade Solid Gold Best Female Singer award. Thereafter, she won the award every year until 1989. She was awarded the Gold Songs Gold Awards () in 1989 for the song "Sunset Melody" (), which became one of her signature songs throughout her career.
Mui released 50 albums in total. Her best-selling album was the 1985 "Bad Girl" (), which sold over 400,000 copies (platinum 8x by Hong Kong's standards). In her career, she sold 10 million albums.
In terms of live performances, in 1985, at the age of 21, her first concert was held lasting 15 nights (thus being one of the youngest singers to hold a concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum). Beginning in late 1987, a series of 28 consecutive concerts at the Coliseum was held through early 1988. This established a record at the time and dubbed Mui the title of "Ever Changing Anita Mui" (), which had become her trademark. Her popularity was also gaining prominence outside of Hong Kong, as she was invited to sing at the 1988 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Seoul together with Janet Jackson. She performed in 300 concerts in her career. In 1995, Mui performed the song "Bad Girl" (a Cantonese cover of Sheena Easton's "Strut") in Guangzhou, China, where it was banned, as it was considered pornographic in nature. The government authorities in Guangzhou were infuriated when she chose to sing the song on the last day of her concert.
In 1990, during her birthday celebration with her fan club, Mui announced that she would put an end to receiving music awards to give a chance to newcomers. She held farewell concerts for 33 consecutive nights before retiring from the stage. At the age of 28, she stepped down from the industry, only to return from retirement in 1994. Mui mentored several Hong Kong newcomer singers who have since become successful, most notably Andy Hui, Denise Ho, Edmond Leung, the band Grasshopper, and Patrick Tam.
In 1998, aged 35, she was awarded the RTHK Golden Needle Award, being one of the youngest recipients to receive the award as a lifetime achievement.
1983–2002: Acting
Mui was also well known as an actress across Asia, as she starred in more than 40 films over a 20-year period. Her films were mainly of the action-thriller and martial arts variety, but she had also taken comedic and dramatic roles.
Her first acting award as a supporting actress was won at the Hong Kong Film Awards for her performance in Behind the Yellow Line (1984). Three years later in 1987, her performance in Rouge alongside Leslie Cheung won her the Best Actress at the Golden Horse Awards. In 1989, she was awarded the Best Actress for her role in Rouge at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
In 1993, she starred in The Heroic Trio with Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Cheung, and it proved to be one of her most popular action films. In 1994 and 1995, she found some international recognition by starring opposite Jackie Chan in The Legend of Drunken Master and Rumble in the Bronx.
Later, in 1997, she also won another best supporting actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards for her role in Eighteen Springs. In 2002, she won Best Actress at the Changchun Film Festival Golden Deer Awards for Best Actress with her performance in July Rhapsody.
Mui was originally cast in Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers (2004), but she resigned only two weeks before her death. Zhang had reserved her scenes to be shot last due to her poor health. Out of respect for Mui, Zhang did not cast another actress in the role and the character was removed from the screenplay. She received a dedication titled "In Memory of Anita Mui" () during the closing credits.
Throughout her career, the tabloid magazines were unforgiving. Rumours never ceased to plague Mui, who was accused of being addicted to drugs, having tattoos on her arms, going for plastic surgery, being suicidal, and being linked to the death of a triad leader in the 1980s and 1990s. Rumours of affairs with leading actors also circulated.
1989–2003: Politics, activism, philanthropy
Mui attended a local Hong Kong rally publicly calling for democracy during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests that reportedly drew in 1 million people, which led to the founding of Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. She also performed in the 1989 Hong Kong concert for Chinese Democracy and vowed never to perform again in Mainland China. According to the posthumous memoirs of democracy activist Szeto Wah, Mui lent significant financial and material support to Operation Yellowbird, to help activists flee from China after the Tiananmen protests.
Mui was also actively involved in charitable projects throughout her career to give back to the community. After the Eastern China flood of 1991, she changed her political mind and took part with other Hong Kong stars in a Beijing concert to raise funds for victims of the catastrophe.
The Tibetan red-crown Shamar Rinpoche once said "She had a true heart. She was an unconventional woman and brought happiness to lots of people during her life." Her establishment of a nursing home in San Francisco, prompted the mayor of the city in 1992 to name 18 April as "Anita Mui Day". In 1993, she established the "Anita Mui True Heart Charity Foundation" (). That same year, she was also one of the founders of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild. The Canadian city of Toronto declared 23 October 1993 to be "Anita Mui Day".
During the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, she initiated a fundraising concert titled the 1:99 Concert to raise money for SARS-affected families, which attracted famous fellow celebrities such as Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung. She was also awarded the "Fighting Against SARS Award" from RTHK and the newspaper Ming Pao. In 2003, she wrote and published the book The Heart of the Modern Woman (). Profits from the book went to the Children's Cancer Foundation.
On 23 September 2004, the Anita Mui True Heart Digital Multimedia Studio was opened at the University of Hong Kong. It included state-of-the-art equipment for digital audio and video editing. In Causeway Bay, an Anita Mui-themed cafe called Happiness Moon () is also dedicated to her legacy.
Death and legacy
On 5 September 2003, Mui publicly announced that she had cervical cancer, from which her sister had also died. She held a series of eight shows at the Hong Kong Coliseum from 6–11 November and 14–15 November 2003, which were to be her last concerts before her death.
Her symbolic act was to "marry the stage", which was accompanied by her hit song "Sunset Melody" () as she exited the stage. The last song she performed on stage was "Cherish When We Meet Again" (), a rendition of The Manhattans' "Let's Just Kiss And Say Goodbye" on 15 November 2003, where she was accompanied by her friends on the stage. She eventually succumbed to cervical cancer and died of respiratory complications leading to lung failure at Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital on 30 December 2003 at 2:50am Hong Kong Time. She was 40 years old. Thousands of fans turned out for her funeral at North Point in January 2004. Mui was cremated and her ashes are interred at the Po Lin Monastery's mausoleum on Lantau Island.
In 1998, an ATV-produced television series Forever Love Song told a story of a character which was loosely based on that of Mui, but the character names were purposely changed. In 2007, a television series was produced in China titled Anita Mui Fei () to tell the story of her life. The 42-episode series was broadcast by China Education Television. Some subjects, such as her suffering from cancer, Leslie Cheung's suicide and her mother's real estate dilemma, were avoided. Alice Chan portrayed Mui in the series.
On 11 October 2008, a show on TVB, titled Our Anita Mui (), was dedicated to Mui. Many fans and off-stage personnel who worked with her had a chance to talk about their personal experiences with Mui. Singers who participated in the show included Andy Hui, Edmond Leung, and Stephanie Cheng.
On 18 July 2014, a statue of Anita Mui was unveiled on Hong Kong's Avenue of Stars.
In 2019, she was the subject of the film Dearest Anita. The film centered around individuals whose lives had been shaped by her work, including her fans and beneficiaries of her philanthropic work.
In 2021, Anita was portrayed in the biopic Anita (), directed by Longman Leung. She was played by the Hong Kong model Louise Wong.
Will
In her will, Mui bequeathed two properties to her fashion designer, Eddie Lau, and the remainder to the Karen Trust – a trust she had set up and looked after by HSBC International Trustees. Its beneficiaries included her mother, , and four nieces and nephews. The Karen Trust provided Tam with a life tenancy of HK$70,000 per month; upon Tam's death, the estate would go to the New Horizon Buddhist Association ().
In 2005, Tam received a HK$705,000 lump-sum payment from the trust in May. She applied for and obtained a hardship grant to pay for medical expenditure of $50,000 in December; her application for funds from the estate to challenge the will was denied. In 2008, Mui's estate was estimated to be worth HK$100 million. Tam Mei-kam contested the will, arguing that Mui was mentally unfit when she executed her will in 2003, weeks before her death. The High Court ruled that Mui was of sound mind when she signed the will, and that she simply did not trust her mother with money.
Over the years, Tam mounted several legal challenges to the will, and succeeded in having the life tenancy varied to HK$120,000. Tam was reportedly owing $2 million in legal costs in 2011. A fresh appeal by Tam and Mui's elder brother Peter Mui Kai-ming failed at the Court of Final Appeal in May 2011.
After that challenge, the Court of First Instance of Hong Kong declared Tam bankrupt on 25 April 2012 for failing to pay legal fees, whilst allowing her to continue receiving her monthly allowance. In January 2013, the court ruled that the monthly tenancy of HK$120,000 to Tam, suspended since the previous July, would continue to be frozen due to mounting debts of the estate. Her brother was declared bankrupt on 17 January 2013 for failing to pay legal fees relating to the appeals. In May 2013, the court ordered the estate to pay Tam HK$20,000 a month for her living costs, as well as $240,000 to settle her overdue rent.
Discography
Usually, English translations of Chinese titles from AnitaMuiNet.com are used. However, some English titles are different from the website, and some other albums are romanised in case accurate translation may not be possible.
Studio albums
Cantonese
Capital Artists Ltd.
Sum chai (Debts of the Heart) (1982)
Also includes solo recordings by members of the Hong Kong pop band, Siu Foo Deui (The Tigers)
Red Anita Mui (Chek sik Mui Yim-fong) (1983)
Sometimes referred as Red (Chek sik)
Leaping in the Spotlight (Fei yeok mou toi) (1984)
Chi seoi lau nin (The Years Flow Like Water) (1985)
Bad Girl (Waai neoi haai) (1985)
Yiu neoi (Temptress) (1986)
Burning Tango (Tsi fo taam gwo) (1987)
Flaming Red Lips (Leet yim hung seon) (1987)
Mung leoi gung tzeoi (Drunk in Dreams Together) (1988)
Mellow (Zeoi yun tsing waai) (1988)
We'll Be Together — EP (1988)
Lady (Sook neoi) Artists Ltd. (1989)
In Brasil (sometimes referred as In Brazil) (1989)
Say It If You Love Me (Ngoi ngo been soot ngoi ngo ba) (1989)
Cover Girl (Fung meen neoi long) (1990)
Anita Mui () (1991)
Sometimes it is called Yook mong ye sau gaai (Jungle of Desire)
It's Like This (Si tze yeung dik) (1994)
Sometimes, it is referred to as This Is Anita Mui (Mui Yim Fong si tze yeung dik)
The Woman of Songs 歌之女 (Goh tzi neoi) (1995)
Illusions (Geng faa seoi yu) (1997)
Variations (Been tzau) (1998)
Larger Than Life (1999)
I'm So Happy (2000)
Go East Entertainment Co. Ltd.
With (2002)
Japanese
English titles are official English titles used by record labels for below releases:
Express (part of EMI Japan)
Fantasy of Love / Debt of Love (kuchibiru woubau mae ni / inochi hate rumade) — EP (1983)
"Fantasy of Love" is the Japanese version of the Cantonese song "Gau cheut ngo dik sum" (). "Debt of Love" is the Japanese version of the Cantonese song "Sum chai" ().
Marry Me Merry Me / nantonaku shiawase (nichii hanayome / nantonaku shiawase) — EP (1983)
Marry Me Merry Me is sometimes referred as Marry Me Marry Me.
Mandarin
Rock Records
Manjusaka (Man zhu sha hua) (1986)
Ever-changing Anita Mui: Flaming Red Lips (Bai bian Mei Yan-fang: lieyan hong chun) (1988)
Intimate Lover (Qinmi airen) (1991)
Other record labels
Caution (Xiaoxin) — Capital Artists Ltd. (1994)
Hong Kong edition of this album consists of Cantonese versions of some Mandarin songs.
Flower Woman (Nüren hua) — Music Impact Ltd. (1997)
Anita Music Collection Ltd.
Moonlight on My Bed (or simply "Moonlight") (Chuang qian ming yueguang) (1998)
Nothing to Say (Mei huashuo) (1999)
Concert albums
Capital Artists Ltd.
Anita Mui in Concert 87–88 – Cantonese (1988)
Anita in Concert '90 – Cantonese (1990)
Anita Mui Live in Concert 1995 – Cantonese/Mandarin (1995)
Anita Mui Final Concert 1992 – Cantonese/Mandarin (2006)
Music Impact Ltd.
Anita Mui 1997 Live in Taipei – Mandarin (1997)
Music Nation Records Company Ltd.
Anita Mui Fantasy Gig 2002 – Cantonese/Mandarin (2002)
Compilation albums
Compilations released after 2004 are not included here:
Capital Artists Ltd. (Cantonese)
The Legend of the Pop Queen: Part I and Part II (1992)
Lifetime of Fantasies (Ching waan yat sang) (1993)
Change (Been) (1993)
Wong tze tzi fung (Majestic) (1993)
Dramatic Life (Hei kek yan sang) (1993)
Love Songs (Ching goh) (1997)
Love Songs II II (Ching goh II) (1998)
Anita's 45 Songs (2001)
Tribute to Anita Mui (2004)
Faithfully (2008)
In Memory of Anita Mui (2013) (but labelled with incorrect grammar as "In the Memories of Anita Mui")
Other record labels
Anita Classic Moment Live – Mui Music Ltd. (Cantonese/Mandarin) (2004)
Anita Mui Forever – BMG Taiwan Inc. (Mandarin) (2004)
Singles
1980s
1990s
2000s
Tour setlists
留住你今晚
點起你欲望
魅力的散發
心債
赤的疑惑
交出我的心
信
24小時之吻 (梅艷芳、草蜢 合唱)
祝你好運 (梅艷芳、草蜢 合唱)
小虎子闖世界 (梅艷芳、小虎隊 合唱)
歌衫淚影
殘月碎春風
Medley:
再共舞
紗籠女郎
再共舞 Reprise
滾滾紅塵
IQ博士
風的季節 (梅艷芳、梅愛芳 合唱)
中國戲曲
The Way We Were
待嫁女兒心
日本演歌 (梅艷芳、黎小田 合唱)
合唱歌 (梅艷芳、Guest 合唱)
夢伴
別離的無奈
冰山大火
幻影
蔓珠莎華
夢幻的擁抱
抱你十個世紀
孤身走我路
壞女孩
顛多一千晚
似水流年
不了情
逝去的愛
Medley:
冰山大火
征服他
心魔
冰山大火 Reprise
痴痴愛一次
緋聞中的女人
妖女
將冰山劈開
愛將 (梅艷芳、草蜢 合唱)
飛躍千個夢 (草蜢 主唱)
戀之火
殘月醉春風
夢
紗籠女郎
Medley:
嘆息
歌衫淚影
千枝針刺在心
胭脂扣
夢伴
壞女孩
放鬆
暫時厭倦
蔓珠莎華
她的前半生
烈燄紅唇
尋愛
Oh No! Oh Yes!
裝飾的眼淚
無淚之女
似火探戈
魅力的天橋
最後一次
傷心教堂
似水流年
珍惜再會時
愛我便說愛我吧
正歌
第四十夜
夏日戀人
一舞傾情
難得有情人
愛情基本法
心窩已瘋
心仍是冷 (梅艷芳、倫永亮 合唱)
明天你是否依然愛我 (梅艷芳、倫永亮 合唱)
你知道我在等你嗎 (倫永亮獨唱)
Stand By Me
Dancing Boy
玫瑰、玫瑰、我愛你
不如不見
最愛是誰
倦
夢裡共醉 (音樂/舞蹈)
焚心以火
脂胭扣
黑夜的豹
Medley:
壞女孩
妖女
烈燄紅唇
淑女
封面女郎
她的前半生
孤身走我路
龍的傳人
血染的風采
蔓珠莎華
夕陽之歌
耶利亞
Encore:
似水流年
心債
夢伴
冰山大火
我未失方向
赤的疑惑
再共舞
珍惜再會時
蔓珠莎華
Faithfully
夢幻的擁抱
夢姬
妖女
緋聞中的女人
假如我是男人
Touch
似火探戈
不信愛有罪
這一個夜
Jungle Medley:
黑夜的豹
慾望野獸街
夜貓夫人
慾望野獸街 Reprise
教父的女人
壞女孩
胭脂扣
啼笑因緣
每當變幻時
似是故人來
幾多
逝去的愛
赤的疑惑
夕陽之歌
親密愛人
IQ博士
似水流年
心肝寶貝
孤身走我路
夢伴
Stand By Me
珍惜再會時
回頭已是百年身
封面女郎 Introduction
Medley:
淑女
壞女孩
夢伴
妖女
親密愛人
Medley:
新鴛鴦蝴蝶夢
只羡鴛鴦不羡仙
女人心
激光中
黑夜的豹
放開你的頭腦
感激
珍惜再會時
Overture
夢伴
We'll Be Together
Faithfully
愛是沒餘地
傳說 Interlude
莫問一生
烈女
耶利亞
夢姬
等著你回來 Interlude
得不到的愛情
Medley:
何日
李香蘭
何日 Reprise
願今宵一起醉死
Interlude
Stand By Me
是這樣的
Medley:
愛是個傳奇
粉紅色的一生
明星
女人心
Medley: (梅艷芳、倫永亮 合唱)
分分鐘需要你
浪子心聲
胭脂扣
情人
明天我要嫁給你
憑著愛
心仍是冷
分分鐘需要你 Reprise
情歸何處
感激
Interlude
Touch
疾風
愛我便說愛我吧
歌之女
似水流年
是這樣的
艷舞台
淑女
抱緊眼前人
愛上狼的羊
女人心
愛的感覺
緋聞中的女人
Touch
壞女孩
似水流年
Medley:
似是故人來
心肝寶貝
胭脂扣
緣份
有心人
路...始終告一段
何日
夕陽之歌
夜蛇
烈艷紅唇
抱你十個世紀
眼中釘
一生何求
似夢迷離
但願人長久
不快不吐
Medley:
你真美麗
第二春
夢
戀之火
今宵多珍重
我要
給我一個吻
玫瑰、玫瑰、我愛你
情歸何處
你留我在此
將冰山劈開
床前明月光
心窩已瘋
Big Bad Girl
夢伴
Opening
Stand By Me
將冰山劈開
愛我便說愛我吧
長藤掛銅鈴
Medley:
艷舞台
烈焰紅唇
Medley:
憑甚麼
假如我是男人
黑夜的豹
蔓珠莎華
Oh No! Oh Yes!
Wonderful Night
Faithfully
是這樣的
夢幻的擁抱
夢姬
烈女
心債
一舞傾情
約會
胭脂扣
床前明月光
心窩已瘋
芳華絕代
床呀！床！
似水流年
似是故人來
抱緊眼前人
親密愛人
Medley:
孤身走我路
夕陽之歌
Medley:
愛將
壞女孩
淑女
妖女
放開你的頭腦
夢伴
冰山大火
Overture
夢裡共醉
是這樣的
抱緊眼前人
心肝寶貝
Medley:
何日
李香蘭
何日 Reprise
心債
第四十夜
夏日戀人
'O Sole Mio
親密愛人
Medley:
愛情的代價
我願意
似夢迷離
今生今世
深愛著你
孤身走我路
胭脂扣
似是故人來
似水流年
Sukiyaki
花月佳期
夕陽之歌
Awards
New Talent Singing Awards winner 1982
Top 10 Jade Solid Gold Best Female Singer Award 1985–1989
Top 10 Jade Solid Gold Gold Song Gold Award for Sunset Melody () 1989
Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Supporting Actress 1985 for Behind the Yellow Line
Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actress 1988 for Rouge
Asia-Pacific Film Festival Awards for Best Actress 1989 for Rouge
Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress 1989 for Rouge
Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Supporting Actress 1998 for Eighteen Springs
Golden Bauhinia Awards for Best Supporting Actress 1998 for Eighteen Springs
RTHK Golden Needle Award 1998
Golden Deer Awards for Best Actress 2002 for July Rhapsody
Concert tours/specials
Filmography
TV series
TVB
See also
Asteroid 55384 Muiyimfong
Music of Hong Kong
Cinema of Hong Kong
References
External links
New Talent Singing Awards contestants
1963 births
2003 deaths
Deaths from cervical cancer
Deaths from cancer in Hong Kong
20th-century Hong Kong women singers
21st-century Hong Kong women singers
20th-century Hong Kong actresses
21st-century Hong Kong actresses
Cantopop singers
Hong Kong Mandopop singers
Hong Kong television actresses
Hong Kong film actresses
Hong Kong Buddhists
Hong Kong idols
Hong Kong contraltos
| true |
[
"Tatiana Al-Najar (; born May 11, 1967) is a Jordanian Olympic table tennis player. She represented Jordan in 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She did not participate in any other Summer Olympics, and she failed to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, however, she won Arab Table Tennis Championships in the next year.\n\nOlympic participation\n\nSydney 2000\nAl-Najar was the oldest participant for Jordan in that tournament aged 33 years and 130 days then.\n\nTable tennis – Women's Singles – Preliminary Round\n\nHonors\nArab Table Tennis Championships Amman 2012 – Women's Singles: Champion\n\nReferences\n\n1967 births\nLiving people\nTable tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics\nJordanian female table tennis players\nOlympic table tennis players of Jordan",
"Phyllis Carlson was an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player. She was born in Chicago, Illinois.\n\nCarlson appears as a member of the Muskegon Lassies club during its 1949 season. She did not have individual records or some information was incomplete.\n\nThe AAGPBL folded in 1954, but there is a permanent display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Cooperstown, New York since November 5, 1988, that honors the entire league rather than any individual figure.\n\nSources\n\nAll-American Girls Professional Baseball League players\nMuskegon Lassies players\nBaseball players from Chicago\nDate of birth missing\nPossibly living people\nYear of birth missing"
] |
[
"Anita Mui",
"1992-2003: Community work",
"what happened in 1992?",
"Mui lent significant financial and material support to Operation Yellowbird, to help activists flee from China after the Tiananmen Square protests",
"did she do any other community work?",
"Her establishment of a nursing home in San Francisco, prompted the mayor of the city in 1992 to name 18 April as \"Anita Mui Day\".",
"did she do any other work?",
"she was also one of the founders of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild.",
"did she recieve any honors?",
"On 23 September 2004, the Anita Mui True Heart Digital Multimedia Studio was opened at the University of Hong Kong."
] |
C_d87049efa8624c6ead7adbaf833cc2f2_1
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Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
| 5 |
Besides the studio are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
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Anita Mui
|
Mui was actively involved in charitable projects throughout her career. According to the posthumous memoirs of democracy activist Szeto Wah, Mui lent significant financial and material support to Operation Yellowbird, to help activists flee from China after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The Tibetan red-crown Shamar Rinpoche once said "She had a true heart. She was an unconventional woman and brought happiness to lots of people during her life." Her establishment of a nursing home in San Francisco, prompted the mayor of the city in 1992 to name 18 April as "Anita Mui Day". In 1993, she established the "Anita Mui True Heart Charity Foundation" (Mei Yan Fang Si Hai Yi Xin Ji Jin Hui ). That same year, she was also one of the founders of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild. The Canadian city of Toronto declared 23 October 1993 to be "Anita Mui Day". During the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, she initiated a fundraising concert titled the 1:99 Concert to raise money for SARS-affected families. She was also awarded the "Fighting Against SARS Award" from RTHK and the newspaper Ming Pao. In 2003, she wrote and published the book The Heart of the Modern Woman (Xian Dai Nu Ren Xin ). Profits from the book went to the Children's Cancer Foundation. On 23 September 2004, the Anita Mui True Heart Digital Multimedia Studio was opened at the University of Hong Kong. It included state-of-the-art equipment for digital audio and video editing. In Causeway Bay, an Anita Mui-themed cafe called Happiness Moon (Xi Yue ) is also dedicated to her legacy. CANNOTANSWER
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she wrote and published the book The Heart of the Modern Woman (Xian Dai Nu Ren Xin ). Profits from the book went to the Children's Cancer Foundation.
|
Anita Mui Yim-fong (; 10 October 1963 – 30 December 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actress who made major contributions to the Cantopop music scene and received numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout her career, and is regarded as a Cantopop diva. She was dubbed as the "daughter of Hong Kong" and is considered one of the most iconic Cantopop singers.
Mui once held a sold-out concert in Hammersmith, London, England, where she was dubbed the "Madonna of the East" (), which brought her to further international fame. That title stayed with her throughout her career, in both Eastern and Western media.
In the 1980s, the gangtai style of music was revolutionised by Mui's wild dancing and on-stage femininity. She was famed for her outrageous costumes and high-powered performances in combination with contralto vocals, which are rare in female artists.
Her fan base reached far beyond Hong Kong into many parts of Asia, including Taiwan, mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia, and other countries, as well. In the Hong Kong entertainment industry, where stars often rise and fall quickly, Mui remained in the spotlight for 21 years (1982–2003). Her career came to an abrupt end in 2003 when she announced that she had cervical cancer. She died later that year at the age of 40. It was then understood that she had developed the disease due to a familial genetic disposition as her sister Ann had died of the same condition in 2000 at age 40 as well.
Career
1963–1978: Early years
Mui experienced much hardship in her childhood. She was born at Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok, Kowloon, She is the youngest daughter in a family of four children. She is only child was born in Hong Kong by her family, as her brothers and sister were born at China, Her mother Mui Tam Mei-kam was born at Xiguan in Guangzhou. She was a Chinese medicine practitioner, who opened Yuet Wah Chinese Medical Clinic, Wah Geong Chinese and Western Music College, and a music brand in Hong Kong. Her siblings are Mui Kai-Ming (1952–), Mui Tak-Ming (1953–2015) and Ann Mui (1959–2000),who was also a singer. The children were raised in a single parent family. Mui's father died when she was very young. In some of her interviews, Mui mentioned that she had little memory of her father and the family were very poor. This meant that she had to help provide for her siblings at an early age, dropping out of school at the age of 13 or 14. More hardship followed the family when the bar that her mother ran was destroyed by a fire. To earn a living, Mui entered show business around the age of four with her sister Ann. She performed Chinese operas and pop songs in theatres and on the streets. Both Mui and her elder sister Ann performed in practically any nightclub that offered them a chance to make a living.
At the age of 15, due to the frequency of performances at different venues (up to six venues per day) that she had, her voice was affected due to the development of nodules on her vocal cords. Following the advice of the doctor, she took a year off and to keep herself occupied, she attended art lessons with her cousin. After a year, she started performing again despite the change in her vocal range, which lowered her voice by an octave.
1982–1989; 1994–2003: Singing
In 1982, as encouraged by her sister, Mui competed in the first New Talent Singing Awards. There, Mui got a big break by emerging champion with the song "The Windy Season" (風的季節), originally sung by Paula Tsui, beating over 3,000 contestants. Despite her title as "new talent" at that time, she had already been a singer for more than 10 years from street and club performances during her childhood.
As a reward for winning the New Talent contest at the time, Mui's first album was released with the local record company Capital Artists.
Her debut album, Debt Heart (), drew a lukewarm response from the audience. However, her subsequent albums, Red () (1983) and Leaping in the Spotlight () (1984) fared much better, as she developed her personal style and image. In 1983 and 1984, she won the RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs awards back to back.
Her winning streak continued as she won another major award in 1985, her first top 10 Jade Solid Gold Best Female Singer award. Thereafter, she won the award every year until 1989. She was awarded the Gold Songs Gold Awards () in 1989 for the song "Sunset Melody" (), which became one of her signature songs throughout her career.
Mui released 50 albums in total. Her best-selling album was the 1985 "Bad Girl" (), which sold over 400,000 copies (platinum 8x by Hong Kong's standards). In her career, she sold 10 million albums.
In terms of live performances, in 1985, at the age of 21, her first concert was held lasting 15 nights (thus being one of the youngest singers to hold a concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum). Beginning in late 1987, a series of 28 consecutive concerts at the Coliseum was held through early 1988. This established a record at the time and dubbed Mui the title of "Ever Changing Anita Mui" (), which had become her trademark. Her popularity was also gaining prominence outside of Hong Kong, as she was invited to sing at the 1988 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Seoul together with Janet Jackson. She performed in 300 concerts in her career. In 1995, Mui performed the song "Bad Girl" (a Cantonese cover of Sheena Easton's "Strut") in Guangzhou, China, where it was banned, as it was considered pornographic in nature. The government authorities in Guangzhou were infuriated when she chose to sing the song on the last day of her concert.
In 1990, during her birthday celebration with her fan club, Mui announced that she would put an end to receiving music awards to give a chance to newcomers. She held farewell concerts for 33 consecutive nights before retiring from the stage. At the age of 28, she stepped down from the industry, only to return from retirement in 1994. Mui mentored several Hong Kong newcomer singers who have since become successful, most notably Andy Hui, Denise Ho, Edmond Leung, the band Grasshopper, and Patrick Tam.
In 1998, aged 35, she was awarded the RTHK Golden Needle Award, being one of the youngest recipients to receive the award as a lifetime achievement.
1983–2002: Acting
Mui was also well known as an actress across Asia, as she starred in more than 40 films over a 20-year period. Her films were mainly of the action-thriller and martial arts variety, but she had also taken comedic and dramatic roles.
Her first acting award as a supporting actress was won at the Hong Kong Film Awards for her performance in Behind the Yellow Line (1984). Three years later in 1987, her performance in Rouge alongside Leslie Cheung won her the Best Actress at the Golden Horse Awards. In 1989, she was awarded the Best Actress for her role in Rouge at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
In 1993, she starred in The Heroic Trio with Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Cheung, and it proved to be one of her most popular action films. In 1994 and 1995, she found some international recognition by starring opposite Jackie Chan in The Legend of Drunken Master and Rumble in the Bronx.
Later, in 1997, she also won another best supporting actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards for her role in Eighteen Springs. In 2002, she won Best Actress at the Changchun Film Festival Golden Deer Awards for Best Actress with her performance in July Rhapsody.
Mui was originally cast in Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers (2004), but she resigned only two weeks before her death. Zhang had reserved her scenes to be shot last due to her poor health. Out of respect for Mui, Zhang did not cast another actress in the role and the character was removed from the screenplay. She received a dedication titled "In Memory of Anita Mui" () during the closing credits.
Throughout her career, the tabloid magazines were unforgiving. Rumours never ceased to plague Mui, who was accused of being addicted to drugs, having tattoos on her arms, going for plastic surgery, being suicidal, and being linked to the death of a triad leader in the 1980s and 1990s. Rumours of affairs with leading actors also circulated.
1989–2003: Politics, activism, philanthropy
Mui attended a local Hong Kong rally publicly calling for democracy during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests that reportedly drew in 1 million people, which led to the founding of Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. She also performed in the 1989 Hong Kong concert for Chinese Democracy and vowed never to perform again in Mainland China. According to the posthumous memoirs of democracy activist Szeto Wah, Mui lent significant financial and material support to Operation Yellowbird, to help activists flee from China after the Tiananmen protests.
Mui was also actively involved in charitable projects throughout her career to give back to the community. After the Eastern China flood of 1991, she changed her political mind and took part with other Hong Kong stars in a Beijing concert to raise funds for victims of the catastrophe.
The Tibetan red-crown Shamar Rinpoche once said "She had a true heart. She was an unconventional woman and brought happiness to lots of people during her life." Her establishment of a nursing home in San Francisco, prompted the mayor of the city in 1992 to name 18 April as "Anita Mui Day". In 1993, she established the "Anita Mui True Heart Charity Foundation" (). That same year, she was also one of the founders of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild. The Canadian city of Toronto declared 23 October 1993 to be "Anita Mui Day".
During the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, she initiated a fundraising concert titled the 1:99 Concert to raise money for SARS-affected families, which attracted famous fellow celebrities such as Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung. She was also awarded the "Fighting Against SARS Award" from RTHK and the newspaper Ming Pao. In 2003, she wrote and published the book The Heart of the Modern Woman (). Profits from the book went to the Children's Cancer Foundation.
On 23 September 2004, the Anita Mui True Heart Digital Multimedia Studio was opened at the University of Hong Kong. It included state-of-the-art equipment for digital audio and video editing. In Causeway Bay, an Anita Mui-themed cafe called Happiness Moon () is also dedicated to her legacy.
Death and legacy
On 5 September 2003, Mui publicly announced that she had cervical cancer, from which her sister had also died. She held a series of eight shows at the Hong Kong Coliseum from 6–11 November and 14–15 November 2003, which were to be her last concerts before her death.
Her symbolic act was to "marry the stage", which was accompanied by her hit song "Sunset Melody" () as she exited the stage. The last song she performed on stage was "Cherish When We Meet Again" (), a rendition of The Manhattans' "Let's Just Kiss And Say Goodbye" on 15 November 2003, where she was accompanied by her friends on the stage. She eventually succumbed to cervical cancer and died of respiratory complications leading to lung failure at Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital on 30 December 2003 at 2:50am Hong Kong Time. She was 40 years old. Thousands of fans turned out for her funeral at North Point in January 2004. Mui was cremated and her ashes are interred at the Po Lin Monastery's mausoleum on Lantau Island.
In 1998, an ATV-produced television series Forever Love Song told a story of a character which was loosely based on that of Mui, but the character names were purposely changed. In 2007, a television series was produced in China titled Anita Mui Fei () to tell the story of her life. The 42-episode series was broadcast by China Education Television. Some subjects, such as her suffering from cancer, Leslie Cheung's suicide and her mother's real estate dilemma, were avoided. Alice Chan portrayed Mui in the series.
On 11 October 2008, a show on TVB, titled Our Anita Mui (), was dedicated to Mui. Many fans and off-stage personnel who worked with her had a chance to talk about their personal experiences with Mui. Singers who participated in the show included Andy Hui, Edmond Leung, and Stephanie Cheng.
On 18 July 2014, a statue of Anita Mui was unveiled on Hong Kong's Avenue of Stars.
In 2019, she was the subject of the film Dearest Anita. The film centered around individuals whose lives had been shaped by her work, including her fans and beneficiaries of her philanthropic work.
In 2021, Anita was portrayed in the biopic Anita (), directed by Longman Leung. She was played by the Hong Kong model Louise Wong.
Will
In her will, Mui bequeathed two properties to her fashion designer, Eddie Lau, and the remainder to the Karen Trust – a trust she had set up and looked after by HSBC International Trustees. Its beneficiaries included her mother, , and four nieces and nephews. The Karen Trust provided Tam with a life tenancy of HK$70,000 per month; upon Tam's death, the estate would go to the New Horizon Buddhist Association ().
In 2005, Tam received a HK$705,000 lump-sum payment from the trust in May. She applied for and obtained a hardship grant to pay for medical expenditure of $50,000 in December; her application for funds from the estate to challenge the will was denied. In 2008, Mui's estate was estimated to be worth HK$100 million. Tam Mei-kam contested the will, arguing that Mui was mentally unfit when she executed her will in 2003, weeks before her death. The High Court ruled that Mui was of sound mind when she signed the will, and that she simply did not trust her mother with money.
Over the years, Tam mounted several legal challenges to the will, and succeeded in having the life tenancy varied to HK$120,000. Tam was reportedly owing $2 million in legal costs in 2011. A fresh appeal by Tam and Mui's elder brother Peter Mui Kai-ming failed at the Court of Final Appeal in May 2011.
After that challenge, the Court of First Instance of Hong Kong declared Tam bankrupt on 25 April 2012 for failing to pay legal fees, whilst allowing her to continue receiving her monthly allowance. In January 2013, the court ruled that the monthly tenancy of HK$120,000 to Tam, suspended since the previous July, would continue to be frozen due to mounting debts of the estate. Her brother was declared bankrupt on 17 January 2013 for failing to pay legal fees relating to the appeals. In May 2013, the court ordered the estate to pay Tam HK$20,000 a month for her living costs, as well as $240,000 to settle her overdue rent.
Discography
Usually, English translations of Chinese titles from AnitaMuiNet.com are used. However, some English titles are different from the website, and some other albums are romanised in case accurate translation may not be possible.
Studio albums
Cantonese
Capital Artists Ltd.
Sum chai (Debts of the Heart) (1982)
Also includes solo recordings by members of the Hong Kong pop band, Siu Foo Deui (The Tigers)
Red Anita Mui (Chek sik Mui Yim-fong) (1983)
Sometimes referred as Red (Chek sik)
Leaping in the Spotlight (Fei yeok mou toi) (1984)
Chi seoi lau nin (The Years Flow Like Water) (1985)
Bad Girl (Waai neoi haai) (1985)
Yiu neoi (Temptress) (1986)
Burning Tango (Tsi fo taam gwo) (1987)
Flaming Red Lips (Leet yim hung seon) (1987)
Mung leoi gung tzeoi (Drunk in Dreams Together) (1988)
Mellow (Zeoi yun tsing waai) (1988)
We'll Be Together — EP (1988)
Lady (Sook neoi) Artists Ltd. (1989)
In Brasil (sometimes referred as In Brazil) (1989)
Say It If You Love Me (Ngoi ngo been soot ngoi ngo ba) (1989)
Cover Girl (Fung meen neoi long) (1990)
Anita Mui () (1991)
Sometimes it is called Yook mong ye sau gaai (Jungle of Desire)
It's Like This (Si tze yeung dik) (1994)
Sometimes, it is referred to as This Is Anita Mui (Mui Yim Fong si tze yeung dik)
The Woman of Songs 歌之女 (Goh tzi neoi) (1995)
Illusions (Geng faa seoi yu) (1997)
Variations (Been tzau) (1998)
Larger Than Life (1999)
I'm So Happy (2000)
Go East Entertainment Co. Ltd.
With (2002)
Japanese
English titles are official English titles used by record labels for below releases:
Express (part of EMI Japan)
Fantasy of Love / Debt of Love (kuchibiru woubau mae ni / inochi hate rumade) — EP (1983)
"Fantasy of Love" is the Japanese version of the Cantonese song "Gau cheut ngo dik sum" (). "Debt of Love" is the Japanese version of the Cantonese song "Sum chai" ().
Marry Me Merry Me / nantonaku shiawase (nichii hanayome / nantonaku shiawase) — EP (1983)
Marry Me Merry Me is sometimes referred as Marry Me Marry Me.
Mandarin
Rock Records
Manjusaka (Man zhu sha hua) (1986)
Ever-changing Anita Mui: Flaming Red Lips (Bai bian Mei Yan-fang: lieyan hong chun) (1988)
Intimate Lover (Qinmi airen) (1991)
Other record labels
Caution (Xiaoxin) — Capital Artists Ltd. (1994)
Hong Kong edition of this album consists of Cantonese versions of some Mandarin songs.
Flower Woman (Nüren hua) — Music Impact Ltd. (1997)
Anita Music Collection Ltd.
Moonlight on My Bed (or simply "Moonlight") (Chuang qian ming yueguang) (1998)
Nothing to Say (Mei huashuo) (1999)
Concert albums
Capital Artists Ltd.
Anita Mui in Concert 87–88 – Cantonese (1988)
Anita in Concert '90 – Cantonese (1990)
Anita Mui Live in Concert 1995 – Cantonese/Mandarin (1995)
Anita Mui Final Concert 1992 – Cantonese/Mandarin (2006)
Music Impact Ltd.
Anita Mui 1997 Live in Taipei – Mandarin (1997)
Music Nation Records Company Ltd.
Anita Mui Fantasy Gig 2002 – Cantonese/Mandarin (2002)
Compilation albums
Compilations released after 2004 are not included here:
Capital Artists Ltd. (Cantonese)
The Legend of the Pop Queen: Part I and Part II (1992)
Lifetime of Fantasies (Ching waan yat sang) (1993)
Change (Been) (1993)
Wong tze tzi fung (Majestic) (1993)
Dramatic Life (Hei kek yan sang) (1993)
Love Songs (Ching goh) (1997)
Love Songs II II (Ching goh II) (1998)
Anita's 45 Songs (2001)
Tribute to Anita Mui (2004)
Faithfully (2008)
In Memory of Anita Mui (2013) (but labelled with incorrect grammar as "In the Memories of Anita Mui")
Other record labels
Anita Classic Moment Live – Mui Music Ltd. (Cantonese/Mandarin) (2004)
Anita Mui Forever – BMG Taiwan Inc. (Mandarin) (2004)
Singles
1980s
1990s
2000s
Tour setlists
留住你今晚
點起你欲望
魅力的散發
心債
赤的疑惑
交出我的心
信
24小時之吻 (梅艷芳、草蜢 合唱)
祝你好運 (梅艷芳、草蜢 合唱)
小虎子闖世界 (梅艷芳、小虎隊 合唱)
歌衫淚影
殘月碎春風
Medley:
再共舞
紗籠女郎
再共舞 Reprise
滾滾紅塵
IQ博士
風的季節 (梅艷芳、梅愛芳 合唱)
中國戲曲
The Way We Were
待嫁女兒心
日本演歌 (梅艷芳、黎小田 合唱)
合唱歌 (梅艷芳、Guest 合唱)
夢伴
別離的無奈
冰山大火
幻影
蔓珠莎華
夢幻的擁抱
抱你十個世紀
孤身走我路
壞女孩
顛多一千晚
似水流年
不了情
逝去的愛
Medley:
冰山大火
征服他
心魔
冰山大火 Reprise
痴痴愛一次
緋聞中的女人
妖女
將冰山劈開
愛將 (梅艷芳、草蜢 合唱)
飛躍千個夢 (草蜢 主唱)
戀之火
殘月醉春風
夢
紗籠女郎
Medley:
嘆息
歌衫淚影
千枝針刺在心
胭脂扣
夢伴
壞女孩
放鬆
暫時厭倦
蔓珠莎華
她的前半生
烈燄紅唇
尋愛
Oh No! Oh Yes!
裝飾的眼淚
無淚之女
似火探戈
魅力的天橋
最後一次
傷心教堂
似水流年
珍惜再會時
愛我便說愛我吧
正歌
第四十夜
夏日戀人
一舞傾情
難得有情人
愛情基本法
心窩已瘋
心仍是冷 (梅艷芳、倫永亮 合唱)
明天你是否依然愛我 (梅艷芳、倫永亮 合唱)
你知道我在等你嗎 (倫永亮獨唱)
Stand By Me
Dancing Boy
玫瑰、玫瑰、我愛你
不如不見
最愛是誰
倦
夢裡共醉 (音樂/舞蹈)
焚心以火
脂胭扣
黑夜的豹
Medley:
壞女孩
妖女
烈燄紅唇
淑女
封面女郎
她的前半生
孤身走我路
龍的傳人
血染的風采
蔓珠莎華
夕陽之歌
耶利亞
Encore:
似水流年
心債
夢伴
冰山大火
我未失方向
赤的疑惑
再共舞
珍惜再會時
蔓珠莎華
Faithfully
夢幻的擁抱
夢姬
妖女
緋聞中的女人
假如我是男人
Touch
似火探戈
不信愛有罪
這一個夜
Jungle Medley:
黑夜的豹
慾望野獸街
夜貓夫人
慾望野獸街 Reprise
教父的女人
壞女孩
胭脂扣
啼笑因緣
每當變幻時
似是故人來
幾多
逝去的愛
赤的疑惑
夕陽之歌
親密愛人
IQ博士
似水流年
心肝寶貝
孤身走我路
夢伴
Stand By Me
珍惜再會時
回頭已是百年身
封面女郎 Introduction
Medley:
淑女
壞女孩
夢伴
妖女
親密愛人
Medley:
新鴛鴦蝴蝶夢
只羡鴛鴦不羡仙
女人心
激光中
黑夜的豹
放開你的頭腦
感激
珍惜再會時
Overture
夢伴
We'll Be Together
Faithfully
愛是沒餘地
傳說 Interlude
莫問一生
烈女
耶利亞
夢姬
等著你回來 Interlude
得不到的愛情
Medley:
何日
李香蘭
何日 Reprise
願今宵一起醉死
Interlude
Stand By Me
是這樣的
Medley:
愛是個傳奇
粉紅色的一生
明星
女人心
Medley: (梅艷芳、倫永亮 合唱)
分分鐘需要你
浪子心聲
胭脂扣
情人
明天我要嫁給你
憑著愛
心仍是冷
分分鐘需要你 Reprise
情歸何處
感激
Interlude
Touch
疾風
愛我便說愛我吧
歌之女
似水流年
是這樣的
艷舞台
淑女
抱緊眼前人
愛上狼的羊
女人心
愛的感覺
緋聞中的女人
Touch
壞女孩
似水流年
Medley:
似是故人來
心肝寶貝
胭脂扣
緣份
有心人
路...始終告一段
何日
夕陽之歌
夜蛇
烈艷紅唇
抱你十個世紀
眼中釘
一生何求
似夢迷離
但願人長久
不快不吐
Medley:
你真美麗
第二春
夢
戀之火
今宵多珍重
我要
給我一個吻
玫瑰、玫瑰、我愛你
情歸何處
你留我在此
將冰山劈開
床前明月光
心窩已瘋
Big Bad Girl
夢伴
Opening
Stand By Me
將冰山劈開
愛我便說愛我吧
長藤掛銅鈴
Medley:
艷舞台
烈焰紅唇
Medley:
憑甚麼
假如我是男人
黑夜的豹
蔓珠莎華
Oh No! Oh Yes!
Wonderful Night
Faithfully
是這樣的
夢幻的擁抱
夢姬
烈女
心債
一舞傾情
約會
胭脂扣
床前明月光
心窩已瘋
芳華絕代
床呀！床！
似水流年
似是故人來
抱緊眼前人
親密愛人
Medley:
孤身走我路
夕陽之歌
Medley:
愛將
壞女孩
淑女
妖女
放開你的頭腦
夢伴
冰山大火
Overture
夢裡共醉
是這樣的
抱緊眼前人
心肝寶貝
Medley:
何日
李香蘭
何日 Reprise
心債
第四十夜
夏日戀人
'O Sole Mio
親密愛人
Medley:
愛情的代價
我願意
似夢迷離
今生今世
深愛著你
孤身走我路
胭脂扣
似是故人來
似水流年
Sukiyaki
花月佳期
夕陽之歌
Awards
New Talent Singing Awards winner 1982
Top 10 Jade Solid Gold Best Female Singer Award 1985–1989
Top 10 Jade Solid Gold Gold Song Gold Award for Sunset Melody () 1989
Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Supporting Actress 1985 for Behind the Yellow Line
Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actress 1988 for Rouge
Asia-Pacific Film Festival Awards for Best Actress 1989 for Rouge
Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress 1989 for Rouge
Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Supporting Actress 1998 for Eighteen Springs
Golden Bauhinia Awards for Best Supporting Actress 1998 for Eighteen Springs
RTHK Golden Needle Award 1998
Golden Deer Awards for Best Actress 2002 for July Rhapsody
Concert tours/specials
Filmography
TV series
TVB
See also
Asteroid 55384 Muiyimfong
Music of Hong Kong
Cinema of Hong Kong
References
External links
New Talent Singing Awards contestants
1963 births
2003 deaths
Deaths from cervical cancer
Deaths from cancer in Hong Kong
20th-century Hong Kong women singers
21st-century Hong Kong women singers
20th-century Hong Kong actresses
21st-century Hong Kong actresses
Cantopop singers
Hong Kong Mandopop singers
Hong Kong television actresses
Hong Kong film actresses
Hong Kong Buddhists
Hong Kong idols
Hong Kong contraltos
| false |
[
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
] |
[
"Anita Mui",
"1992-2003: Community work",
"what happened in 1992?",
"Mui lent significant financial and material support to Operation Yellowbird, to help activists flee from China after the Tiananmen Square protests",
"did she do any other community work?",
"Her establishment of a nursing home in San Francisco, prompted the mayor of the city in 1992 to name 18 April as \"Anita Mui Day\".",
"did she do any other work?",
"she was also one of the founders of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild.",
"did she recieve any honors?",
"On 23 September 2004, the Anita Mui True Heart Digital Multimedia Studio was opened at the University of Hong Kong.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"she wrote and published the book The Heart of the Modern Woman (Xian Dai Nu Ren Xin ). Profits from the book went to the Children's Cancer Foundation."
] |
C_d87049efa8624c6ead7adbaf833cc2f2_1
|
did she raise any other money?
| 6 |
Besides the book Anita Mui wrote for charity did Anita Mui raise any other money?
|
Anita Mui
|
Mui was actively involved in charitable projects throughout her career. According to the posthumous memoirs of democracy activist Szeto Wah, Mui lent significant financial and material support to Operation Yellowbird, to help activists flee from China after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The Tibetan red-crown Shamar Rinpoche once said "She had a true heart. She was an unconventional woman and brought happiness to lots of people during her life." Her establishment of a nursing home in San Francisco, prompted the mayor of the city in 1992 to name 18 April as "Anita Mui Day". In 1993, she established the "Anita Mui True Heart Charity Foundation" (Mei Yan Fang Si Hai Yi Xin Ji Jin Hui ). That same year, she was also one of the founders of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild. The Canadian city of Toronto declared 23 October 1993 to be "Anita Mui Day". During the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, she initiated a fundraising concert titled the 1:99 Concert to raise money for SARS-affected families. She was also awarded the "Fighting Against SARS Award" from RTHK and the newspaper Ming Pao. In 2003, she wrote and published the book The Heart of the Modern Woman (Xian Dai Nu Ren Xin ). Profits from the book went to the Children's Cancer Foundation. On 23 September 2004, the Anita Mui True Heart Digital Multimedia Studio was opened at the University of Hong Kong. It included state-of-the-art equipment for digital audio and video editing. In Causeway Bay, an Anita Mui-themed cafe called Happiness Moon (Xi Yue ) is also dedicated to her legacy. CANNOTANSWER
|
she wrote and published the book The Heart of the Modern Woman (Xian Dai Nu Ren Xin ). Profits from the book went to the Children's Cancer Foundation.
|
Anita Mui Yim-fong (; 10 October 1963 – 30 December 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actress who made major contributions to the Cantopop music scene and received numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout her career, and is regarded as a Cantopop diva. She was dubbed as the "daughter of Hong Kong" and is considered one of the most iconic Cantopop singers.
Mui once held a sold-out concert in Hammersmith, London, England, where she was dubbed the "Madonna of the East" (), which brought her to further international fame. That title stayed with her throughout her career, in both Eastern and Western media.
In the 1980s, the gangtai style of music was revolutionised by Mui's wild dancing and on-stage femininity. She was famed for her outrageous costumes and high-powered performances in combination with contralto vocals, which are rare in female artists.
Her fan base reached far beyond Hong Kong into many parts of Asia, including Taiwan, mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia, and other countries, as well. In the Hong Kong entertainment industry, where stars often rise and fall quickly, Mui remained in the spotlight for 21 years (1982–2003). Her career came to an abrupt end in 2003 when she announced that she had cervical cancer. She died later that year at the age of 40. It was then understood that she had developed the disease due to a familial genetic disposition as her sister Ann had died of the same condition in 2000 at age 40 as well.
Career
1963–1978: Early years
Mui experienced much hardship in her childhood. She was born at Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok, Kowloon, She is the youngest daughter in a family of four children. She is only child was born in Hong Kong by her family, as her brothers and sister were born at China, Her mother Mui Tam Mei-kam was born at Xiguan in Guangzhou. She was a Chinese medicine practitioner, who opened Yuet Wah Chinese Medical Clinic, Wah Geong Chinese and Western Music College, and a music brand in Hong Kong. Her siblings are Mui Kai-Ming (1952–), Mui Tak-Ming (1953–2015) and Ann Mui (1959–2000),who was also a singer. The children were raised in a single parent family. Mui's father died when she was very young. In some of her interviews, Mui mentioned that she had little memory of her father and the family were very poor. This meant that she had to help provide for her siblings at an early age, dropping out of school at the age of 13 or 14. More hardship followed the family when the bar that her mother ran was destroyed by a fire. To earn a living, Mui entered show business around the age of four with her sister Ann. She performed Chinese operas and pop songs in theatres and on the streets. Both Mui and her elder sister Ann performed in practically any nightclub that offered them a chance to make a living.
At the age of 15, due to the frequency of performances at different venues (up to six venues per day) that she had, her voice was affected due to the development of nodules on her vocal cords. Following the advice of the doctor, she took a year off and to keep herself occupied, she attended art lessons with her cousin. After a year, she started performing again despite the change in her vocal range, which lowered her voice by an octave.
1982–1989; 1994–2003: Singing
In 1982, as encouraged by her sister, Mui competed in the first New Talent Singing Awards. There, Mui got a big break by emerging champion with the song "The Windy Season" (風的季節), originally sung by Paula Tsui, beating over 3,000 contestants. Despite her title as "new talent" at that time, she had already been a singer for more than 10 years from street and club performances during her childhood.
As a reward for winning the New Talent contest at the time, Mui's first album was released with the local record company Capital Artists.
Her debut album, Debt Heart (), drew a lukewarm response from the audience. However, her subsequent albums, Red () (1983) and Leaping in the Spotlight () (1984) fared much better, as she developed her personal style and image. In 1983 and 1984, she won the RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs awards back to back.
Her winning streak continued as she won another major award in 1985, her first top 10 Jade Solid Gold Best Female Singer award. Thereafter, she won the award every year until 1989. She was awarded the Gold Songs Gold Awards () in 1989 for the song "Sunset Melody" (), which became one of her signature songs throughout her career.
Mui released 50 albums in total. Her best-selling album was the 1985 "Bad Girl" (), which sold over 400,000 copies (platinum 8x by Hong Kong's standards). In her career, she sold 10 million albums.
In terms of live performances, in 1985, at the age of 21, her first concert was held lasting 15 nights (thus being one of the youngest singers to hold a concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum). Beginning in late 1987, a series of 28 consecutive concerts at the Coliseum was held through early 1988. This established a record at the time and dubbed Mui the title of "Ever Changing Anita Mui" (), which had become her trademark. Her popularity was also gaining prominence outside of Hong Kong, as she was invited to sing at the 1988 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Seoul together with Janet Jackson. She performed in 300 concerts in her career. In 1995, Mui performed the song "Bad Girl" (a Cantonese cover of Sheena Easton's "Strut") in Guangzhou, China, where it was banned, as it was considered pornographic in nature. The government authorities in Guangzhou were infuriated when she chose to sing the song on the last day of her concert.
In 1990, during her birthday celebration with her fan club, Mui announced that she would put an end to receiving music awards to give a chance to newcomers. She held farewell concerts for 33 consecutive nights before retiring from the stage. At the age of 28, she stepped down from the industry, only to return from retirement in 1994. Mui mentored several Hong Kong newcomer singers who have since become successful, most notably Andy Hui, Denise Ho, Edmond Leung, the band Grasshopper, and Patrick Tam.
In 1998, aged 35, she was awarded the RTHK Golden Needle Award, being one of the youngest recipients to receive the award as a lifetime achievement.
1983–2002: Acting
Mui was also well known as an actress across Asia, as she starred in more than 40 films over a 20-year period. Her films were mainly of the action-thriller and martial arts variety, but she had also taken comedic and dramatic roles.
Her first acting award as a supporting actress was won at the Hong Kong Film Awards for her performance in Behind the Yellow Line (1984). Three years later in 1987, her performance in Rouge alongside Leslie Cheung won her the Best Actress at the Golden Horse Awards. In 1989, she was awarded the Best Actress for her role in Rouge at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
In 1993, she starred in The Heroic Trio with Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Cheung, and it proved to be one of her most popular action films. In 1994 and 1995, she found some international recognition by starring opposite Jackie Chan in The Legend of Drunken Master and Rumble in the Bronx.
Later, in 1997, she also won another best supporting actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards for her role in Eighteen Springs. In 2002, she won Best Actress at the Changchun Film Festival Golden Deer Awards for Best Actress with her performance in July Rhapsody.
Mui was originally cast in Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers (2004), but she resigned only two weeks before her death. Zhang had reserved her scenes to be shot last due to her poor health. Out of respect for Mui, Zhang did not cast another actress in the role and the character was removed from the screenplay. She received a dedication titled "In Memory of Anita Mui" () during the closing credits.
Throughout her career, the tabloid magazines were unforgiving. Rumours never ceased to plague Mui, who was accused of being addicted to drugs, having tattoos on her arms, going for plastic surgery, being suicidal, and being linked to the death of a triad leader in the 1980s and 1990s. Rumours of affairs with leading actors also circulated.
1989–2003: Politics, activism, philanthropy
Mui attended a local Hong Kong rally publicly calling for democracy during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests that reportedly drew in 1 million people, which led to the founding of Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. She also performed in the 1989 Hong Kong concert for Chinese Democracy and vowed never to perform again in Mainland China. According to the posthumous memoirs of democracy activist Szeto Wah, Mui lent significant financial and material support to Operation Yellowbird, to help activists flee from China after the Tiananmen protests.
Mui was also actively involved in charitable projects throughout her career to give back to the community. After the Eastern China flood of 1991, she changed her political mind and took part with other Hong Kong stars in a Beijing concert to raise funds for victims of the catastrophe.
The Tibetan red-crown Shamar Rinpoche once said "She had a true heart. She was an unconventional woman and brought happiness to lots of people during her life." Her establishment of a nursing home in San Francisco, prompted the mayor of the city in 1992 to name 18 April as "Anita Mui Day". In 1993, she established the "Anita Mui True Heart Charity Foundation" (). That same year, she was also one of the founders of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild. The Canadian city of Toronto declared 23 October 1993 to be "Anita Mui Day".
During the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, she initiated a fundraising concert titled the 1:99 Concert to raise money for SARS-affected families, which attracted famous fellow celebrities such as Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung. She was also awarded the "Fighting Against SARS Award" from RTHK and the newspaper Ming Pao. In 2003, she wrote and published the book The Heart of the Modern Woman (). Profits from the book went to the Children's Cancer Foundation.
On 23 September 2004, the Anita Mui True Heart Digital Multimedia Studio was opened at the University of Hong Kong. It included state-of-the-art equipment for digital audio and video editing. In Causeway Bay, an Anita Mui-themed cafe called Happiness Moon () is also dedicated to her legacy.
Death and legacy
On 5 September 2003, Mui publicly announced that she had cervical cancer, from which her sister had also died. She held a series of eight shows at the Hong Kong Coliseum from 6–11 November and 14–15 November 2003, which were to be her last concerts before her death.
Her symbolic act was to "marry the stage", which was accompanied by her hit song "Sunset Melody" () as she exited the stage. The last song she performed on stage was "Cherish When We Meet Again" (), a rendition of The Manhattans' "Let's Just Kiss And Say Goodbye" on 15 November 2003, where she was accompanied by her friends on the stage. She eventually succumbed to cervical cancer and died of respiratory complications leading to lung failure at Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital on 30 December 2003 at 2:50am Hong Kong Time. She was 40 years old. Thousands of fans turned out for her funeral at North Point in January 2004. Mui was cremated and her ashes are interred at the Po Lin Monastery's mausoleum on Lantau Island.
In 1998, an ATV-produced television series Forever Love Song told a story of a character which was loosely based on that of Mui, but the character names were purposely changed. In 2007, a television series was produced in China titled Anita Mui Fei () to tell the story of her life. The 42-episode series was broadcast by China Education Television. Some subjects, such as her suffering from cancer, Leslie Cheung's suicide and her mother's real estate dilemma, were avoided. Alice Chan portrayed Mui in the series.
On 11 October 2008, a show on TVB, titled Our Anita Mui (), was dedicated to Mui. Many fans and off-stage personnel who worked with her had a chance to talk about their personal experiences with Mui. Singers who participated in the show included Andy Hui, Edmond Leung, and Stephanie Cheng.
On 18 July 2014, a statue of Anita Mui was unveiled on Hong Kong's Avenue of Stars.
In 2019, she was the subject of the film Dearest Anita. The film centered around individuals whose lives had been shaped by her work, including her fans and beneficiaries of her philanthropic work.
In 2021, Anita was portrayed in the biopic Anita (), directed by Longman Leung. She was played by the Hong Kong model Louise Wong.
Will
In her will, Mui bequeathed two properties to her fashion designer, Eddie Lau, and the remainder to the Karen Trust – a trust she had set up and looked after by HSBC International Trustees. Its beneficiaries included her mother, , and four nieces and nephews. The Karen Trust provided Tam with a life tenancy of HK$70,000 per month; upon Tam's death, the estate would go to the New Horizon Buddhist Association ().
In 2005, Tam received a HK$705,000 lump-sum payment from the trust in May. She applied for and obtained a hardship grant to pay for medical expenditure of $50,000 in December; her application for funds from the estate to challenge the will was denied. In 2008, Mui's estate was estimated to be worth HK$100 million. Tam Mei-kam contested the will, arguing that Mui was mentally unfit when she executed her will in 2003, weeks before her death. The High Court ruled that Mui was of sound mind when she signed the will, and that she simply did not trust her mother with money.
Over the years, Tam mounted several legal challenges to the will, and succeeded in having the life tenancy varied to HK$120,000. Tam was reportedly owing $2 million in legal costs in 2011. A fresh appeal by Tam and Mui's elder brother Peter Mui Kai-ming failed at the Court of Final Appeal in May 2011.
After that challenge, the Court of First Instance of Hong Kong declared Tam bankrupt on 25 April 2012 for failing to pay legal fees, whilst allowing her to continue receiving her monthly allowance. In January 2013, the court ruled that the monthly tenancy of HK$120,000 to Tam, suspended since the previous July, would continue to be frozen due to mounting debts of the estate. Her brother was declared bankrupt on 17 January 2013 for failing to pay legal fees relating to the appeals. In May 2013, the court ordered the estate to pay Tam HK$20,000 a month for her living costs, as well as $240,000 to settle her overdue rent.
Discography
Usually, English translations of Chinese titles from AnitaMuiNet.com are used. However, some English titles are different from the website, and some other albums are romanised in case accurate translation may not be possible.
Studio albums
Cantonese
Capital Artists Ltd.
Sum chai (Debts of the Heart) (1982)
Also includes solo recordings by members of the Hong Kong pop band, Siu Foo Deui (The Tigers)
Red Anita Mui (Chek sik Mui Yim-fong) (1983)
Sometimes referred as Red (Chek sik)
Leaping in the Spotlight (Fei yeok mou toi) (1984)
Chi seoi lau nin (The Years Flow Like Water) (1985)
Bad Girl (Waai neoi haai) (1985)
Yiu neoi (Temptress) (1986)
Burning Tango (Tsi fo taam gwo) (1987)
Flaming Red Lips (Leet yim hung seon) (1987)
Mung leoi gung tzeoi (Drunk in Dreams Together) (1988)
Mellow (Zeoi yun tsing waai) (1988)
We'll Be Together — EP (1988)
Lady (Sook neoi) Artists Ltd. (1989)
In Brasil (sometimes referred as In Brazil) (1989)
Say It If You Love Me (Ngoi ngo been soot ngoi ngo ba) (1989)
Cover Girl (Fung meen neoi long) (1990)
Anita Mui () (1991)
Sometimes it is called Yook mong ye sau gaai (Jungle of Desire)
It's Like This (Si tze yeung dik) (1994)
Sometimes, it is referred to as This Is Anita Mui (Mui Yim Fong si tze yeung dik)
The Woman of Songs 歌之女 (Goh tzi neoi) (1995)
Illusions (Geng faa seoi yu) (1997)
Variations (Been tzau) (1998)
Larger Than Life (1999)
I'm So Happy (2000)
Go East Entertainment Co. Ltd.
With (2002)
Japanese
English titles are official English titles used by record labels for below releases:
Express (part of EMI Japan)
Fantasy of Love / Debt of Love (kuchibiru woubau mae ni / inochi hate rumade) — EP (1983)
"Fantasy of Love" is the Japanese version of the Cantonese song "Gau cheut ngo dik sum" (). "Debt of Love" is the Japanese version of the Cantonese song "Sum chai" ().
Marry Me Merry Me / nantonaku shiawase (nichii hanayome / nantonaku shiawase) — EP (1983)
Marry Me Merry Me is sometimes referred as Marry Me Marry Me.
Mandarin
Rock Records
Manjusaka (Man zhu sha hua) (1986)
Ever-changing Anita Mui: Flaming Red Lips (Bai bian Mei Yan-fang: lieyan hong chun) (1988)
Intimate Lover (Qinmi airen) (1991)
Other record labels
Caution (Xiaoxin) — Capital Artists Ltd. (1994)
Hong Kong edition of this album consists of Cantonese versions of some Mandarin songs.
Flower Woman (Nüren hua) — Music Impact Ltd. (1997)
Anita Music Collection Ltd.
Moonlight on My Bed (or simply "Moonlight") (Chuang qian ming yueguang) (1998)
Nothing to Say (Mei huashuo) (1999)
Concert albums
Capital Artists Ltd.
Anita Mui in Concert 87–88 – Cantonese (1988)
Anita in Concert '90 – Cantonese (1990)
Anita Mui Live in Concert 1995 – Cantonese/Mandarin (1995)
Anita Mui Final Concert 1992 – Cantonese/Mandarin (2006)
Music Impact Ltd.
Anita Mui 1997 Live in Taipei – Mandarin (1997)
Music Nation Records Company Ltd.
Anita Mui Fantasy Gig 2002 – Cantonese/Mandarin (2002)
Compilation albums
Compilations released after 2004 are not included here:
Capital Artists Ltd. (Cantonese)
The Legend of the Pop Queen: Part I and Part II (1992)
Lifetime of Fantasies (Ching waan yat sang) (1993)
Change (Been) (1993)
Wong tze tzi fung (Majestic) (1993)
Dramatic Life (Hei kek yan sang) (1993)
Love Songs (Ching goh) (1997)
Love Songs II II (Ching goh II) (1998)
Anita's 45 Songs (2001)
Tribute to Anita Mui (2004)
Faithfully (2008)
In Memory of Anita Mui (2013) (but labelled with incorrect grammar as "In the Memories of Anita Mui")
Other record labels
Anita Classic Moment Live – Mui Music Ltd. (Cantonese/Mandarin) (2004)
Anita Mui Forever – BMG Taiwan Inc. (Mandarin) (2004)
Singles
1980s
1990s
2000s
Tour setlists
留住你今晚
點起你欲望
魅力的散發
心債
赤的疑惑
交出我的心
信
24小時之吻 (梅艷芳、草蜢 合唱)
祝你好運 (梅艷芳、草蜢 合唱)
小虎子闖世界 (梅艷芳、小虎隊 合唱)
歌衫淚影
殘月碎春風
Medley:
再共舞
紗籠女郎
再共舞 Reprise
滾滾紅塵
IQ博士
風的季節 (梅艷芳、梅愛芳 合唱)
中國戲曲
The Way We Were
待嫁女兒心
日本演歌 (梅艷芳、黎小田 合唱)
合唱歌 (梅艷芳、Guest 合唱)
夢伴
別離的無奈
冰山大火
幻影
蔓珠莎華
夢幻的擁抱
抱你十個世紀
孤身走我路
壞女孩
顛多一千晚
似水流年
不了情
逝去的愛
Medley:
冰山大火
征服他
心魔
冰山大火 Reprise
痴痴愛一次
緋聞中的女人
妖女
將冰山劈開
愛將 (梅艷芳、草蜢 合唱)
飛躍千個夢 (草蜢 主唱)
戀之火
殘月醉春風
夢
紗籠女郎
Medley:
嘆息
歌衫淚影
千枝針刺在心
胭脂扣
夢伴
壞女孩
放鬆
暫時厭倦
蔓珠莎華
她的前半生
烈燄紅唇
尋愛
Oh No! Oh Yes!
裝飾的眼淚
無淚之女
似火探戈
魅力的天橋
最後一次
傷心教堂
似水流年
珍惜再會時
愛我便說愛我吧
正歌
第四十夜
夏日戀人
一舞傾情
難得有情人
愛情基本法
心窩已瘋
心仍是冷 (梅艷芳、倫永亮 合唱)
明天你是否依然愛我 (梅艷芳、倫永亮 合唱)
你知道我在等你嗎 (倫永亮獨唱)
Stand By Me
Dancing Boy
玫瑰、玫瑰、我愛你
不如不見
最愛是誰
倦
夢裡共醉 (音樂/舞蹈)
焚心以火
脂胭扣
黑夜的豹
Medley:
壞女孩
妖女
烈燄紅唇
淑女
封面女郎
她的前半生
孤身走我路
龍的傳人
血染的風采
蔓珠莎華
夕陽之歌
耶利亞
Encore:
似水流年
心債
夢伴
冰山大火
我未失方向
赤的疑惑
再共舞
珍惜再會時
蔓珠莎華
Faithfully
夢幻的擁抱
夢姬
妖女
緋聞中的女人
假如我是男人
Touch
似火探戈
不信愛有罪
這一個夜
Jungle Medley:
黑夜的豹
慾望野獸街
夜貓夫人
慾望野獸街 Reprise
教父的女人
壞女孩
胭脂扣
啼笑因緣
每當變幻時
似是故人來
幾多
逝去的愛
赤的疑惑
夕陽之歌
親密愛人
IQ博士
似水流年
心肝寶貝
孤身走我路
夢伴
Stand By Me
珍惜再會時
回頭已是百年身
封面女郎 Introduction
Medley:
淑女
壞女孩
夢伴
妖女
親密愛人
Medley:
新鴛鴦蝴蝶夢
只羡鴛鴦不羡仙
女人心
激光中
黑夜的豹
放開你的頭腦
感激
珍惜再會時
Overture
夢伴
We'll Be Together
Faithfully
愛是沒餘地
傳說 Interlude
莫問一生
烈女
耶利亞
夢姬
等著你回來 Interlude
得不到的愛情
Medley:
何日
李香蘭
何日 Reprise
願今宵一起醉死
Interlude
Stand By Me
是這樣的
Medley:
愛是個傳奇
粉紅色的一生
明星
女人心
Medley: (梅艷芳、倫永亮 合唱)
分分鐘需要你
浪子心聲
胭脂扣
情人
明天我要嫁給你
憑著愛
心仍是冷
分分鐘需要你 Reprise
情歸何處
感激
Interlude
Touch
疾風
愛我便說愛我吧
歌之女
似水流年
是這樣的
艷舞台
淑女
抱緊眼前人
愛上狼的羊
女人心
愛的感覺
緋聞中的女人
Touch
壞女孩
似水流年
Medley:
似是故人來
心肝寶貝
胭脂扣
緣份
有心人
路...始終告一段
何日
夕陽之歌
夜蛇
烈艷紅唇
抱你十個世紀
眼中釘
一生何求
似夢迷離
但願人長久
不快不吐
Medley:
你真美麗
第二春
夢
戀之火
今宵多珍重
我要
給我一個吻
玫瑰、玫瑰、我愛你
情歸何處
你留我在此
將冰山劈開
床前明月光
心窩已瘋
Big Bad Girl
夢伴
Opening
Stand By Me
將冰山劈開
愛我便說愛我吧
長藤掛銅鈴
Medley:
艷舞台
烈焰紅唇
Medley:
憑甚麼
假如我是男人
黑夜的豹
蔓珠莎華
Oh No! Oh Yes!
Wonderful Night
Faithfully
是這樣的
夢幻的擁抱
夢姬
烈女
心債
一舞傾情
約會
胭脂扣
床前明月光
心窩已瘋
芳華絕代
床呀！床！
似水流年
似是故人來
抱緊眼前人
親密愛人
Medley:
孤身走我路
夕陽之歌
Medley:
愛將
壞女孩
淑女
妖女
放開你的頭腦
夢伴
冰山大火
Overture
夢裡共醉
是這樣的
抱緊眼前人
心肝寶貝
Medley:
何日
李香蘭
何日 Reprise
心債
第四十夜
夏日戀人
'O Sole Mio
親密愛人
Medley:
愛情的代價
我願意
似夢迷離
今生今世
深愛著你
孤身走我路
胭脂扣
似是故人來
似水流年
Sukiyaki
花月佳期
夕陽之歌
Awards
New Talent Singing Awards winner 1982
Top 10 Jade Solid Gold Best Female Singer Award 1985–1989
Top 10 Jade Solid Gold Gold Song Gold Award for Sunset Melody () 1989
Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Supporting Actress 1985 for Behind the Yellow Line
Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actress 1988 for Rouge
Asia-Pacific Film Festival Awards for Best Actress 1989 for Rouge
Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress 1989 for Rouge
Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Supporting Actress 1998 for Eighteen Springs
Golden Bauhinia Awards for Best Supporting Actress 1998 for Eighteen Springs
RTHK Golden Needle Award 1998
Golden Deer Awards for Best Actress 2002 for July Rhapsody
Concert tours/specials
Filmography
TV series
TVB
See also
Asteroid 55384 Muiyimfong
Music of Hong Kong
Cinema of Hong Kong
References
External links
New Talent Singing Awards contestants
1963 births
2003 deaths
Deaths from cervical cancer
Deaths from cancer in Hong Kong
20th-century Hong Kong women singers
21st-century Hong Kong women singers
20th-century Hong Kong actresses
21st-century Hong Kong actresses
Cantopop singers
Hong Kong Mandopop singers
Hong Kong television actresses
Hong Kong film actresses
Hong Kong Buddhists
Hong Kong idols
Hong Kong contraltos
| false |
[
"Andrea Lo (born 1986) is an American Internet entrepreneur best known for co-founding the children's fundraising website Piggybackr. In 2012, Andrea was named one of “6 Women Entrepreneurs to Watch” by Forbes for founding Piggybackr as a crowdfunding site to help “teens raise money for a cause...”\n\nEarly life\n\nAndrea grew up in Burlingame, California where she attended Franklin Elementary School and Burlingame Intermediate School. She attended UC Berkeley and has worked as a consultant. She is also a graduate of the Silicon Valley Founder Institute.\n\nPiggybackr\nIn 2012, Andrea founded the crowdfunding site Piggybackr. The site is devoted to helping young students raise money for causes and school projects. Andrea was inspired to start Piggybackr when she helped her younger sister at age 11, raise $370 for rainforest preservation by selling bracelets on-line. Lo said “If you can inspire and teach a young kid at age 11 to raise money or to realize they can make an impact, I just think that there are so many greater implications.” The site is also noted for the speed at which projects can be set up. Validation takes place in 48 hours and web sites can be set up in 5 minutes.\n\nAndrea has been honored by Forbes, appeared on \"Good Morning Vail\" and recognized internationally for her efforts with Piggybackr.\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican technology chief executives\nAmerican technology company founders\nLiving people\nUniversity of California, Berkeley alumni\nPeople from Burlingame, California\n1986 births\nBusinesspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area\nAmerican women company founders\nAmerican company founders\nAmerican women chief executives\n21st-century American women",
"Kacie Fischer is the first woman to inline skate across the United States, a feat she accomplished in 2012. She is the fastest person to ever do so, skating from California to Florida in 47 days; the previous official record was 69 days, by Rusty Montcrief in 2002. Danny Dannels reportedly did it in 67 days, but that is unofficial. Fischer skated to raise money for the Special Olympics. In addition to skating, Fischer is a personal trainer, CrossFit Coach, fitness lead at Inline Warehouse, and professional tower runner (someone who races up stairwells of skyscrapers). She and Adam Cleveland, who was then her fiancé, started the nonprofit organization LiveGiveSkate.org. While at college she suffered from heart failure, which prompted her to begin a vigorous athletic regimen.\n\nReferences\n\nInline skating\nInline speed skaters\nLiving people\nYear of birth missing (living people)"
] |
[
"Sue Townsend",
"Later life and career"
] |
C_ed1fbd1657e34f40863126a4a289ce4d_0
|
Did she write any books during her later years?
| 1 |
Did Sue Townsend write any books during her later years?
|
Sue Townsend
|
The Queen and I (1992) is a novel imagining that the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution, although it turns out to have been merely the monarch's nightmare. Townsend had become a republican while a child. In an interview for The Independent published in September 1992 she related that after finding the idea of God a ridiculous idea, an argument in favour of the British monarchy also collapsed. "I was frightened that people believed in it all, the whole package, and I must be the only one with these feelings. It was a moment of revelation, but at the same time it would have been wicked ever to mention it." In addition, she was "being taught about infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they - the Royal Family - were, too." Like the first Mole book, The Queen and I was adapted for the stage with songs by Ian Dury and Mickey Gallagher. Michael Billington writes that Townsend "was ahead of the game" in treating the royal family as a suitable subject for drama. He writes: "Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing." A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla (2006), was less well received. On 25 February 2009, Leicester City Council announced that Townsend would be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester (where she lived). Townsend became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1993. Amongst her honours and awards, she received honorary doctorates from the University of Leicester, from Loughborough University and De Montfort University, Leicester. CANNOTANSWER
|
The Queen and I
|
Susan Lillian Townsend, FRSL (née Johnstone, 2 April 194610 April 2014), was an English writer and humorist whose work encompasses novels, plays and works of journalism. She was best known for creating the character Adrian Mole.
After writing in secret from the age of 14, Townsend first became known for her plays, her signature character first appearing in a radio drama, but her work soon expanded into other forms. She enjoyed great success in the 1980s, with her Adrian Mole books selling more copies than any other work of fiction in Britain during the decade. This series, which eventually encompassed nine books, takes the form of the character's diaries. The earliest books recount the life of a teenage boy during the Thatcher years, but the sequence eventually depicts Adrian Mole in middle age.
The Queen and I (1992), another popular work which was well received, was an outlet for her republican sentiments, although the Royal Family is still rendered with sympathy. Both the earliest Adrian Mole book and The Queen and I were adapted for the stage and enjoyed successful runs in London's West End.
Townsend was poor until well into her thirties, and used her experiences of hardship in her work. In her later years she suffered ill health, in part related to the diabetes she developed in the mid-1980s, and in her last years endured serious sight and mobility problems.
Early life
Townsend was born at the Maternity Hospital in Causeway Lane, Leicester, the oldest of three sisters. Her father had worked at a factory making jet engines before becoming a postman, while her mother worked in a factory canteen. She attended Glen Hills Primary School, where the school secretary was Mrs Claricotes, a name she used for the school secretary in the Adrian Mole books.
At the age of eight, Townsend contracted mumps, and was obliged to stay at home. Her mother bought a collection of Richmal Crompton's Just William books at a jumble sale which Townsend read avidly. Later, she said the William Brown character was an influence on her best-known creation.
After failing her 11-plus exam, Townsend went to the secondary modern South Wigston High School. During her childhood, while up a tree playing with her peers, she witnessed the murder of a fellow schoolgirl, but the children were not believed. The murder was committed by Joseph Christopher Reynolds (31), convicted at Leicester Assizes for the murder of Janet Warner, and hanged by Albert Pierrepoint on 17 November 1953. It was to be the last execution carried out at Leicester Prison.
First marriage and pre-writing career
Townsend left school at the age of 14 and worked in a variety of jobs including packer for Birds Eye, a petrol station attendant and a receptionist. Working at a petrol station allowed her the chance to read between serving customers.
She married Keith Townsend, a sheet metal worker on 25 April 1964; the couple had three children under five by the time Townsend was 23 (Sean, Daniel, and Victoria). In 1971 the marriage ended and she became a single parent. In this position, Townsend and her children endured considerable hardship. In Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State (1989), a short book in the Counterblasts series, she recounts an experience from when her eldest child was five. Because the Department of Social Security was unable to give her even 50p to tide them over, she was obliged to feed herself and her children on a tin of peas and an Oxo cube as an evening meal. Townsend would collect used Corona bottles, to redeem the 4p return fee by which to feed her children.
Aged 13, her son questioned one Sunday why they didn't go to animal parks on weekends like other families. She later recounted that it was the start of her writing which became the Adrian Mole books, looking at life through the clinical eyes of a teenager but in a comedic manner. Townsend then chose to research the world of teenagers, and started attending youth clubs as a volunteer organiser. This led to her training as a youth worker.
While employed as a supervisor at an adventure playground, she observed a man making canoes nearby and, because he was married, put off talking to him; it was a year before he asked her for a date. It was at a canoeing course she met her future second husband, Colin Broadway, who was the father of her fourth child, Elizabeth.
Townsend and Broadway married on 13 June 1986.
Transition to a writing career
Townsend's new partner encouraged her to join a writers' group at the Phoenix Theatre, Leicester, in 1978, when she was in her early thirties. Initially too shy to speak, she did not write anything for six weeks, but was then given a fortnight to write a play. This became the thirty-minute drama Womberang (1979), set in the waiting room of a gynaecology department. At the Phoenix, she became the writer-in-residence.
During this time she was mentored by several theatre directors including Ian Giles and principally Sue Pomeroy who commissioned and directed a number of her plays including Womberang, Dayroom, Groping for Words and subsequently Ear, Nose and Throat. She was also introduced to William Ash, then chairman of the Soho Poly (now Soho Theatre), who likewise played a significant part in shaping her early career. She met writer-director Carole Hayman on the stairs of the Soho Poly theatre and went on to develop many theatre pieces with her for the Royal Court and Joint Stock, including Bazarre and Rummage and The Great Celestial Cow. They later co-wrote two television series, The Refuge and The Spinney.
At the time of writing the first Adrian Mole book, Townsend was living on the Eyres Monsell Estate, near the house in which playwright Joe Orton was brought up. Mole "came into my head when my eldest son said 'Why don't we go to safari parks like other families do?' That's the only real line of dialogue from my family that's in any of the Mole books. It's in because it triggered it. I remembered that kind of whiny, adolescent self-pity, that 'surely these are not my parents.'"
Success of Adrian Mole
The first two published stories appeared in a short-lived arts' journal entitled magazine, in the editing and production of which Townsend was involved, featuring the character then still called Nigel Mole. Actor Nigel Bennett had given her help and encouragement to persist with the work and sent the script to John Tydeman, the deputy head of BBC Radio Drama. The character first came to national awareness in a single radio play, The Diary of Nigel Mole, Aged 13¼, broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on New Year's Day 1982.
Someone at the publishers Methuen heard the broadcast and commissioned Townsend to write the first book, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ which came out in September of The publisher insisted on the change of name because of the similarity to Nigel Molesworth, the schoolboy character created by Ronald Searle and Geoffrey Willans. A month after the book's appearance it had topped the best seller list and had sold a million copies after a year. Adapted as a play, the stage version premiered in Leicester and ran at Wyndham's Theatre for more than two years. The first two books were seen by many as a realistic and humorous treatment of the inner life of an adolescent boy. They also captured something of the zeitgeist of Britain during the Thatcher era.
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984) was reputedly based on her children's experiences at Mary Linwood Comprehensive School in Leicester. Several of the teachers who appear in the book (such as Ms Fossington-Gore and Mr Dock) are based on staff who worked at the school in the early 1980s. When the book was televised, it was mostly filmed at a different school nearby. Mary Linwood Comprehensive was closed in 1997.
These first two books were adapted into a television series, broadcast in 1985 and 1987, and a video game.
Later life and career
The Queen and I (1992) is a novel imagining that the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution, although it turns out to have been merely the monarch's nightmare. Townsend had become a republican while a child. In an interview for The Independent published in September 1992 she related that after finding the idea of God a ridiculous idea, an argument in favour of the British monarchy also collapsed. "I was frightened that people believed in it all, the whole package, and I must be the only one with these feelings. It was a moment of revelation, but at the same time it would have been wicked ever to mention it." In addition, she was "being taught about infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they – the Royal Family – were, too."
Like the first Mole book, The Queen and I was adapted for the stage with songs by Ian Dury and Mickey Gallagher. Michael Billington writes that Townsend "was ahead of the game" in treating the royal family as a suitable subject for drama. He writes: "Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing." A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla (2006), was less well received.
On 25 February 2009, Leicester City Council announced that Townsend would be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester (where she lived). Townsend became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1993. Amongst her honours and awards, she received honorary doctorates from the University of Leicester, from Loughborough University and De Montfort University, Leicester.
In 1991 Townsend appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Her chosen book was Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis and her luxury item was a swimming pool of champagne.
Political beliefs
In 1989 Townsend published Mr Bevan's Dream – Why Britain Needs its Welfare State, one of the series of Counterblast essays written by such authors as Paul Foot, Marina Warner and Fay Weldon which critiqued, either directly or indirectly the social consequences of Thatcherism.
She describes being "mesmerized" when seeing Aneurin Bevan, the prime mover of the British welfare state on television for the first time. The book consists of a series of short anecdotal stories which touch on ways in which the welfare and education systems of the day supported or (mostly) failed ordinary citizens. In "The Quick Birth", Townsend recalls the experience of giving birth to her first child, born prematurely but who survived thanks to the dedicated National Health Service staff at her local hospital in Leicester; "Community Care" deals with the treatment of vulnerable people with mental health issues; "Mr Smith's privatised penis", the final section, is a dystopian satire on a future where pavements, sunlight, fresh air and even lovemaking have been sold off to private enterprise.
"In this pamphlet, I have fallen back on the traditional working class method for expressing ideas – the anecdote, or what is now called the "oral tradition" (which is only a fancy term for working-class people talking to each other but not bothering to record what they've heard").
Townsend, in a 2009 Guardian interview with Alex Clark, described herself as a "passionate socialist" who had no time for New Labour. "I support the memory and the history of the party and I consider that these lot are interlopers", she told Clark. Despite these comments, Townsend said in 1999 that she had only voted Labour once, and in fact her preference was "Communist, Socialist Workers, or a minority party usually." The journalist Christina Patterson observed of Townsend in 2008: "Her heart, it's clear from her books and a few hours in her company, is still with the people she left behind, the people who go largely unchronicled in literature, the people who are still her friends."
Health problems
Townsend suffered ill health for several years. She was a chain smoker, had tuberculosis (TB), peritonitis at 23 and suffered a heart attack in her 30s. She developed diabetes in the 1980s. It was a condition with which she struggled, believing herself to be the "world's worst diabetic". The condition led to Townsend's being registered blind in 2001, and she wove this theme into her work.
After suffering kidney failure, she underwent dialysis and in September 2009 she received a kidney from her elder son Sean, after a two-year wait for a donor. She also had degenerative arthritis, which left her wheelchair-bound. By this time, she was dictating to Sean, who worked as her typist. Surgery was carried out at Leicester General Hospital and Townsend spoke to the BBC about her illness on an appeal for National Kidney Day.
Death
Townsend died at her home on 10 April 2014, eight days after her 68th birthday, following a stroke. Stephen Mangan, who portrayed Adrian Mole in the 2001 television adaptation, stated that he was "greatly upset to hear that Sue Townsend has died. One of the warmest, funniest and wisest people I ever met". Townsend was survived by her husband, four children and ten grandchildren.
Awards
Works
Adrian Mole series
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ (1982), her best-selling book, and the best-selling new British fiction book of the 1980s.
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984)
The True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole (1989)
Adrian Mole: From Minor to Major (1991) is an omnibus of the first three, and includes as a bonus the specially written Adrian Mole and the Small Amphibians.
Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years (1993)
Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years (1999)
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction (2004)
The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole, 1999–2001 (2008)
Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years (2009)
Other novels
Rebuilding Coventry (1988)
The Queen and I (1992), a story about the British Royal Family living a "normal" life on an urban housing estate following a republican revolution.
Ghost Children (1997), a novel treating the issues of bereavement, child abuse and women's self-esteem in relation to body image.
Number Ten (2002)
Queen Camilla (2006)
The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year (2012)
Plays
Womberang (Soho Poly – 1979)
The Ghost of Daniel Lambert (Leicester Haymarket Theatre, 1981) Theatre closed in January 2006
Dayroom (Croydon Warehouse Theatre, 1981)
Captain Christmas and the Evil Adults (Phoenix Arts Theatre, 1982) now known as the Sue Townsend Theatre
Bazaar and Rummage (Royal Court Theatre, 1982)
Groping for Words (Croydon Warehouse, 1983)
The Great Celestial Cow (Royal Court Theatre and tour, 1984)
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13-The Play (Leicester Phoenix, 1984) now known as Sue Townsend Theatre
Ear Nose And Throat (National large scale tour Good Company Theatre Productions, 1988)
Disneyland it Ain't (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 1989)
Ten Tiny Fingers, Nine Tiny Toes (Library Theatre, Manchester, 1989)
The Queen and I (Vaudeville Theatre, 1994; toured Australia in summer 1996 as The Royals Down Under)
Non-fiction
Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State (1989)
The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman (2001)
Footnotes
External links
Old Biography page
Penguin Site
British Council Contemporary Writers Site
1946 births
2014 deaths
Blind people from England
Blind writers
British republicans
English atheists
English children's writers
English humorists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Kidney transplant recipients
People from Leicester
English women writers
British social commentators
20th-century English women writers
20th-century English novelists
20th-century English dramatists and playwrights
Women humorists
| true |
[
"Gao Yinxian () (c. 1902 – February 4, 1990), an inhabitant of Jiangyong County, Hunan province, China, was the eldest of seven so-called sisters who could write Nüshu. She and Yang Huanyi, the last proficient speaker and writer of Nüshu, learned Nüshu at the same time for 3 years when she was young and a deep friendship was formed.\n\nFamily \nHer father died when she was nine years old, while her mother lived to over 70 years old. She had one younger sister and four younger brothers. Only her younger sister, Gao Fangshen (), is alive today. She married Hu Xinming () at the age of 21 and had one son and two daughters. Her elder daughter was beaten to death by the Japanese during the war. The younger daughter died in 1953, survived by her brother Hu Xiren (). Hu has one grandson and four granddaughters. He is the head of Xinwu Village.\n\nBiography \nGao Yinxian learned Nüshu when she was a girl. Considering Nüshu useful to convey thoughts, she started to learn it from her aunt and other sisters. After her marriage, she wrote down her thoughts in Nüshu during her leisure time. During the 1960s, she made friends with 6 women and seven sisters were formed. The elder is Gao Yinxian, the second is Lu Yueying (), the third is Lu Shuyi (), the fourth is Hu Cizhu (), the fifth is Gao Jinyue (), the sixth is Ouyang Shanshan () and the youngest is Tang Baozhen (). At that time, Gao Yinxian was over 60 and Tang Baozhen was over 50. When Gao was in her later years, Tang was her closest friend. Often, Gao would write Nüshu while Tang embroidered it the writing on handkerchieves. When Lu Yueying died, Gao wrote Nüshu for her and the papers were buried with her. After Hu Cizhu died, she burned over ten books of Hu following Hu's wish.\n\nGao was sincere, hard-working and economical in her life. She was skilled in embroidering and drawing. She often knitted flowery bands with Nüshu as patterns. She was virtuous, kindly and never quarreled with others, for which she had very high prestige in the village. Women turned to her whatever difficulty they met with. Many people even asked her to write Nüshu for them. Gao was always willing to sing Nüshu for guests when asked.\n\nHer spirits were low in later years. Her daughter-in-law died of illness in 1985 and her sworn sisters died in quick succession. She could only write Nüshu with Yi Nianhua () to pour out her depression and sang Nüshu with Tang Baozhen for entertainment. During the last few years, Gao wrote hundreds of articles for investigators who came to research Nüshu.\n\nReferences\n\nPeople from Yongzhou\n1902 births\n1990 deaths",
"Ongoingness: The End of a Diary is a 2015 book by Sarah Manguso. Manguso kept a journal for 25 years, which culminated in an 800,000 word long document. In Ongoingness, she explores and reflects upon her reasons and motivations for journaling – her obsessive need to document every incident in her life because she was afraid she would forget the details later, and using journaling as a coping mechanism for dealing with low-level anxiety. She also explores her change in writing style with time – her earlier entries were detailed; now they are brief; while she used to write in the past tense earlier, she now uses the present tense.\n\nReferences \n\n \n \n \n \n\n2015 non-fiction books\nAmerican memoirs\nGraywolf Press books"
] |
[
"Sue Townsend",
"Later life and career",
"Did she write any books during her later years?",
"The Queen and I"
] |
C_ed1fbd1657e34f40863126a4a289ce4d_0
|
What is the book synopsis?
| 2 |
What is Sue Townsend´s book "The Queen and I" synopsis?
|
Sue Townsend
|
The Queen and I (1992) is a novel imagining that the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution, although it turns out to have been merely the monarch's nightmare. Townsend had become a republican while a child. In an interview for The Independent published in September 1992 she related that after finding the idea of God a ridiculous idea, an argument in favour of the British monarchy also collapsed. "I was frightened that people believed in it all, the whole package, and I must be the only one with these feelings. It was a moment of revelation, but at the same time it would have been wicked ever to mention it." In addition, she was "being taught about infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they - the Royal Family - were, too." Like the first Mole book, The Queen and I was adapted for the stage with songs by Ian Dury and Mickey Gallagher. Michael Billington writes that Townsend "was ahead of the game" in treating the royal family as a suitable subject for drama. He writes: "Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing." A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla (2006), was less well received. On 25 February 2009, Leicester City Council announced that Townsend would be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester (where she lived). Townsend became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1993. Amongst her honours and awards, she received honorary doctorates from the University of Leicester, from Loughborough University and De Montfort University, Leicester. CANNOTANSWER
|
the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution,
|
Susan Lillian Townsend, FRSL (née Johnstone, 2 April 194610 April 2014), was an English writer and humorist whose work encompasses novels, plays and works of journalism. She was best known for creating the character Adrian Mole.
After writing in secret from the age of 14, Townsend first became known for her plays, her signature character first appearing in a radio drama, but her work soon expanded into other forms. She enjoyed great success in the 1980s, with her Adrian Mole books selling more copies than any other work of fiction in Britain during the decade. This series, which eventually encompassed nine books, takes the form of the character's diaries. The earliest books recount the life of a teenage boy during the Thatcher years, but the sequence eventually depicts Adrian Mole in middle age.
The Queen and I (1992), another popular work which was well received, was an outlet for her republican sentiments, although the Royal Family is still rendered with sympathy. Both the earliest Adrian Mole book and The Queen and I were adapted for the stage and enjoyed successful runs in London's West End.
Townsend was poor until well into her thirties, and used her experiences of hardship in her work. In her later years she suffered ill health, in part related to the diabetes she developed in the mid-1980s, and in her last years endured serious sight and mobility problems.
Early life
Townsend was born at the Maternity Hospital in Causeway Lane, Leicester, the oldest of three sisters. Her father had worked at a factory making jet engines before becoming a postman, while her mother worked in a factory canteen. She attended Glen Hills Primary School, where the school secretary was Mrs Claricotes, a name she used for the school secretary in the Adrian Mole books.
At the age of eight, Townsend contracted mumps, and was obliged to stay at home. Her mother bought a collection of Richmal Crompton's Just William books at a jumble sale which Townsend read avidly. Later, she said the William Brown character was an influence on her best-known creation.
After failing her 11-plus exam, Townsend went to the secondary modern South Wigston High School. During her childhood, while up a tree playing with her peers, she witnessed the murder of a fellow schoolgirl, but the children were not believed. The murder was committed by Joseph Christopher Reynolds (31), convicted at Leicester Assizes for the murder of Janet Warner, and hanged by Albert Pierrepoint on 17 November 1953. It was to be the last execution carried out at Leicester Prison.
First marriage and pre-writing career
Townsend left school at the age of 14 and worked in a variety of jobs including packer for Birds Eye, a petrol station attendant and a receptionist. Working at a petrol station allowed her the chance to read between serving customers.
She married Keith Townsend, a sheet metal worker on 25 April 1964; the couple had three children under five by the time Townsend was 23 (Sean, Daniel, and Victoria). In 1971 the marriage ended and she became a single parent. In this position, Townsend and her children endured considerable hardship. In Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State (1989), a short book in the Counterblasts series, she recounts an experience from when her eldest child was five. Because the Department of Social Security was unable to give her even 50p to tide them over, she was obliged to feed herself and her children on a tin of peas and an Oxo cube as an evening meal. Townsend would collect used Corona bottles, to redeem the 4p return fee by which to feed her children.
Aged 13, her son questioned one Sunday why they didn't go to animal parks on weekends like other families. She later recounted that it was the start of her writing which became the Adrian Mole books, looking at life through the clinical eyes of a teenager but in a comedic manner. Townsend then chose to research the world of teenagers, and started attending youth clubs as a volunteer organiser. This led to her training as a youth worker.
While employed as a supervisor at an adventure playground, she observed a man making canoes nearby and, because he was married, put off talking to him; it was a year before he asked her for a date. It was at a canoeing course she met her future second husband, Colin Broadway, who was the father of her fourth child, Elizabeth.
Townsend and Broadway married on 13 June 1986.
Transition to a writing career
Townsend's new partner encouraged her to join a writers' group at the Phoenix Theatre, Leicester, in 1978, when she was in her early thirties. Initially too shy to speak, she did not write anything for six weeks, but was then given a fortnight to write a play. This became the thirty-minute drama Womberang (1979), set in the waiting room of a gynaecology department. At the Phoenix, she became the writer-in-residence.
During this time she was mentored by several theatre directors including Ian Giles and principally Sue Pomeroy who commissioned and directed a number of her plays including Womberang, Dayroom, Groping for Words and subsequently Ear, Nose and Throat. She was also introduced to William Ash, then chairman of the Soho Poly (now Soho Theatre), who likewise played a significant part in shaping her early career. She met writer-director Carole Hayman on the stairs of the Soho Poly theatre and went on to develop many theatre pieces with her for the Royal Court and Joint Stock, including Bazarre and Rummage and The Great Celestial Cow. They later co-wrote two television series, The Refuge and The Spinney.
At the time of writing the first Adrian Mole book, Townsend was living on the Eyres Monsell Estate, near the house in which playwright Joe Orton was brought up. Mole "came into my head when my eldest son said 'Why don't we go to safari parks like other families do?' That's the only real line of dialogue from my family that's in any of the Mole books. It's in because it triggered it. I remembered that kind of whiny, adolescent self-pity, that 'surely these are not my parents.'"
Success of Adrian Mole
The first two published stories appeared in a short-lived arts' journal entitled magazine, in the editing and production of which Townsend was involved, featuring the character then still called Nigel Mole. Actor Nigel Bennett had given her help and encouragement to persist with the work and sent the script to John Tydeman, the deputy head of BBC Radio Drama. The character first came to national awareness in a single radio play, The Diary of Nigel Mole, Aged 13¼, broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on New Year's Day 1982.
Someone at the publishers Methuen heard the broadcast and commissioned Townsend to write the first book, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ which came out in September of The publisher insisted on the change of name because of the similarity to Nigel Molesworth, the schoolboy character created by Ronald Searle and Geoffrey Willans. A month after the book's appearance it had topped the best seller list and had sold a million copies after a year. Adapted as a play, the stage version premiered in Leicester and ran at Wyndham's Theatre for more than two years. The first two books were seen by many as a realistic and humorous treatment of the inner life of an adolescent boy. They also captured something of the zeitgeist of Britain during the Thatcher era.
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984) was reputedly based on her children's experiences at Mary Linwood Comprehensive School in Leicester. Several of the teachers who appear in the book (such as Ms Fossington-Gore and Mr Dock) are based on staff who worked at the school in the early 1980s. When the book was televised, it was mostly filmed at a different school nearby. Mary Linwood Comprehensive was closed in 1997.
These first two books were adapted into a television series, broadcast in 1985 and 1987, and a video game.
Later life and career
The Queen and I (1992) is a novel imagining that the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution, although it turns out to have been merely the monarch's nightmare. Townsend had become a republican while a child. In an interview for The Independent published in September 1992 she related that after finding the idea of God a ridiculous idea, an argument in favour of the British monarchy also collapsed. "I was frightened that people believed in it all, the whole package, and I must be the only one with these feelings. It was a moment of revelation, but at the same time it would have been wicked ever to mention it." In addition, she was "being taught about infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they – the Royal Family – were, too."
Like the first Mole book, The Queen and I was adapted for the stage with songs by Ian Dury and Mickey Gallagher. Michael Billington writes that Townsend "was ahead of the game" in treating the royal family as a suitable subject for drama. He writes: "Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing." A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla (2006), was less well received.
On 25 February 2009, Leicester City Council announced that Townsend would be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester (where she lived). Townsend became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1993. Amongst her honours and awards, she received honorary doctorates from the University of Leicester, from Loughborough University and De Montfort University, Leicester.
In 1991 Townsend appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Her chosen book was Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis and her luxury item was a swimming pool of champagne.
Political beliefs
In 1989 Townsend published Mr Bevan's Dream – Why Britain Needs its Welfare State, one of the series of Counterblast essays written by such authors as Paul Foot, Marina Warner and Fay Weldon which critiqued, either directly or indirectly the social consequences of Thatcherism.
She describes being "mesmerized" when seeing Aneurin Bevan, the prime mover of the British welfare state on television for the first time. The book consists of a series of short anecdotal stories which touch on ways in which the welfare and education systems of the day supported or (mostly) failed ordinary citizens. In "The Quick Birth", Townsend recalls the experience of giving birth to her first child, born prematurely but who survived thanks to the dedicated National Health Service staff at her local hospital in Leicester; "Community Care" deals with the treatment of vulnerable people with mental health issues; "Mr Smith's privatised penis", the final section, is a dystopian satire on a future where pavements, sunlight, fresh air and even lovemaking have been sold off to private enterprise.
"In this pamphlet, I have fallen back on the traditional working class method for expressing ideas – the anecdote, or what is now called the "oral tradition" (which is only a fancy term for working-class people talking to each other but not bothering to record what they've heard").
Townsend, in a 2009 Guardian interview with Alex Clark, described herself as a "passionate socialist" who had no time for New Labour. "I support the memory and the history of the party and I consider that these lot are interlopers", she told Clark. Despite these comments, Townsend said in 1999 that she had only voted Labour once, and in fact her preference was "Communist, Socialist Workers, or a minority party usually." The journalist Christina Patterson observed of Townsend in 2008: "Her heart, it's clear from her books and a few hours in her company, is still with the people she left behind, the people who go largely unchronicled in literature, the people who are still her friends."
Health problems
Townsend suffered ill health for several years. She was a chain smoker, had tuberculosis (TB), peritonitis at 23 and suffered a heart attack in her 30s. She developed diabetes in the 1980s. It was a condition with which she struggled, believing herself to be the "world's worst diabetic". The condition led to Townsend's being registered blind in 2001, and she wove this theme into her work.
After suffering kidney failure, she underwent dialysis and in September 2009 she received a kidney from her elder son Sean, after a two-year wait for a donor. She also had degenerative arthritis, which left her wheelchair-bound. By this time, she was dictating to Sean, who worked as her typist. Surgery was carried out at Leicester General Hospital and Townsend spoke to the BBC about her illness on an appeal for National Kidney Day.
Death
Townsend died at her home on 10 April 2014, eight days after her 68th birthday, following a stroke. Stephen Mangan, who portrayed Adrian Mole in the 2001 television adaptation, stated that he was "greatly upset to hear that Sue Townsend has died. One of the warmest, funniest and wisest people I ever met". Townsend was survived by her husband, four children and ten grandchildren.
Awards
Works
Adrian Mole series
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ (1982), her best-selling book, and the best-selling new British fiction book of the 1980s.
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984)
The True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole (1989)
Adrian Mole: From Minor to Major (1991) is an omnibus of the first three, and includes as a bonus the specially written Adrian Mole and the Small Amphibians.
Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years (1993)
Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years (1999)
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction (2004)
The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole, 1999–2001 (2008)
Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years (2009)
Other novels
Rebuilding Coventry (1988)
The Queen and I (1992), a story about the British Royal Family living a "normal" life on an urban housing estate following a republican revolution.
Ghost Children (1997), a novel treating the issues of bereavement, child abuse and women's self-esteem in relation to body image.
Number Ten (2002)
Queen Camilla (2006)
The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year (2012)
Plays
Womberang (Soho Poly – 1979)
The Ghost of Daniel Lambert (Leicester Haymarket Theatre, 1981) Theatre closed in January 2006
Dayroom (Croydon Warehouse Theatre, 1981)
Captain Christmas and the Evil Adults (Phoenix Arts Theatre, 1982) now known as the Sue Townsend Theatre
Bazaar and Rummage (Royal Court Theatre, 1982)
Groping for Words (Croydon Warehouse, 1983)
The Great Celestial Cow (Royal Court Theatre and tour, 1984)
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13-The Play (Leicester Phoenix, 1984) now known as Sue Townsend Theatre
Ear Nose And Throat (National large scale tour Good Company Theatre Productions, 1988)
Disneyland it Ain't (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 1989)
Ten Tiny Fingers, Nine Tiny Toes (Library Theatre, Manchester, 1989)
The Queen and I (Vaudeville Theatre, 1994; toured Australia in summer 1996 as The Royals Down Under)
Non-fiction
Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State (1989)
The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman (2001)
Footnotes
External links
Old Biography page
Penguin Site
British Council Contemporary Writers Site
1946 births
2014 deaths
Blind people from England
Blind writers
British republicans
English atheists
English children's writers
English humorists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Kidney transplant recipients
People from Leicester
English women writers
British social commentators
20th-century English women writers
20th-century English novelists
20th-century English dramatists and playwrights
Women humorists
| true |
[
"What A Place! is a bilingual children's picture book written by Lana Sultan and illustrated by Xu Wendi written in both English and Mandarin. It was published on April 1, 2016 in Beijing, China by Daylight Publishing House (天天出版社). What A Place! is Lana's fifth book.\n\nSynopsis\nWhat A Place! is about a little girl's yearlong journey throughout the city of Beijing, as she enjoys the city's sights, sounds, and festivities.\n\nReception\nThe book was featured as a full page spread in the June 10, 2016 Holiday Edition issue of China Daily; which has the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper in China.\n\nReferences\n\n2016 children's books\nPicture books\nChinese children's books\nBilingual books",
"Dhritarashtra () is a poetry book by Ghanshyam Kandel. It was published in 2016 by Airawati Prakashan. It is a short epic in verse and retells the story of the Mahabharat through the eyes of the blind king of Hastinapur, Dhritarashtra. It won the prestigious Madan Puraskar, 2073 B.S.\n\nIt is an epic poem and the author's sixth book. Reimagining of the Mahabharata, Dhritarastra retells the epic from the blind king’s perspective, undercutting deeply entrenched notions of what is right and wrong and what is just and unjust.\n\nSynopsis \nDhritarashtra is told from the viewpoint of Dhritarashtra the blind king and focuses on how he perceives the protagonists of the Mahabharat war. Original Mahabharat depicts Krishna as a charismatic leader who fights for truth and justice. But in Kandel’s verse, Krishna appears as a crafty conspirator who tricks others into fighting the brutal war at Kurukshetra and plots the murder of Duryodhan and Dronacharya.\n\nReception \nThe book won the prestigious Madan Puraskar, 2073 BS (2016).\n\nSee also \n\n Muna Madan\n Gauri\nNaya Ishwar Ko Ghoshana\n Tarun Tapasi\n\nReferences \n\nMahabharata\nEpic poems\nNepalese poems\nMadan Puraskar-winning works\nNepalese books\n2016 books\n21st-century Nepalese books\nNepalese epics\nEpic poems in Nepali\nPoems based on the Mahabharata"
] |
[
"Sue Townsend",
"Later life and career",
"Did she write any books during her later years?",
"The Queen and I",
"What is the book synopsis?",
"the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution,"
] |
C_ed1fbd1657e34f40863126a4a289ce4d_0
|
Did the book sell well?
| 3 |
Did Sue Townsend´s book " The Queen and I" sell well?
|
Sue Townsend
|
The Queen and I (1992) is a novel imagining that the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution, although it turns out to have been merely the monarch's nightmare. Townsend had become a republican while a child. In an interview for The Independent published in September 1992 she related that after finding the idea of God a ridiculous idea, an argument in favour of the British monarchy also collapsed. "I was frightened that people believed in it all, the whole package, and I must be the only one with these feelings. It was a moment of revelation, but at the same time it would have been wicked ever to mention it." In addition, she was "being taught about infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they - the Royal Family - were, too." Like the first Mole book, The Queen and I was adapted for the stage with songs by Ian Dury and Mickey Gallagher. Michael Billington writes that Townsend "was ahead of the game" in treating the royal family as a suitable subject for drama. He writes: "Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing." A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla (2006), was less well received. On 25 February 2009, Leicester City Council announced that Townsend would be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester (where she lived). Townsend became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1993. Amongst her honours and awards, she received honorary doctorates from the University of Leicester, from Loughborough University and De Montfort University, Leicester. CANNOTANSWER
|
CANNOTANSWER
|
Susan Lillian Townsend, FRSL (née Johnstone, 2 April 194610 April 2014), was an English writer and humorist whose work encompasses novels, plays and works of journalism. She was best known for creating the character Adrian Mole.
After writing in secret from the age of 14, Townsend first became known for her plays, her signature character first appearing in a radio drama, but her work soon expanded into other forms. She enjoyed great success in the 1980s, with her Adrian Mole books selling more copies than any other work of fiction in Britain during the decade. This series, which eventually encompassed nine books, takes the form of the character's diaries. The earliest books recount the life of a teenage boy during the Thatcher years, but the sequence eventually depicts Adrian Mole in middle age.
The Queen and I (1992), another popular work which was well received, was an outlet for her republican sentiments, although the Royal Family is still rendered with sympathy. Both the earliest Adrian Mole book and The Queen and I were adapted for the stage and enjoyed successful runs in London's West End.
Townsend was poor until well into her thirties, and used her experiences of hardship in her work. In her later years she suffered ill health, in part related to the diabetes she developed in the mid-1980s, and in her last years endured serious sight and mobility problems.
Early life
Townsend was born at the Maternity Hospital in Causeway Lane, Leicester, the oldest of three sisters. Her father had worked at a factory making jet engines before becoming a postman, while her mother worked in a factory canteen. She attended Glen Hills Primary School, where the school secretary was Mrs Claricotes, a name she used for the school secretary in the Adrian Mole books.
At the age of eight, Townsend contracted mumps, and was obliged to stay at home. Her mother bought a collection of Richmal Crompton's Just William books at a jumble sale which Townsend read avidly. Later, she said the William Brown character was an influence on her best-known creation.
After failing her 11-plus exam, Townsend went to the secondary modern South Wigston High School. During her childhood, while up a tree playing with her peers, she witnessed the murder of a fellow schoolgirl, but the children were not believed. The murder was committed by Joseph Christopher Reynolds (31), convicted at Leicester Assizes for the murder of Janet Warner, and hanged by Albert Pierrepoint on 17 November 1953. It was to be the last execution carried out at Leicester Prison.
First marriage and pre-writing career
Townsend left school at the age of 14 and worked in a variety of jobs including packer for Birds Eye, a petrol station attendant and a receptionist. Working at a petrol station allowed her the chance to read between serving customers.
She married Keith Townsend, a sheet metal worker on 25 April 1964; the couple had three children under five by the time Townsend was 23 (Sean, Daniel, and Victoria). In 1971 the marriage ended and she became a single parent. In this position, Townsend and her children endured considerable hardship. In Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State (1989), a short book in the Counterblasts series, she recounts an experience from when her eldest child was five. Because the Department of Social Security was unable to give her even 50p to tide them over, she was obliged to feed herself and her children on a tin of peas and an Oxo cube as an evening meal. Townsend would collect used Corona bottles, to redeem the 4p return fee by which to feed her children.
Aged 13, her son questioned one Sunday why they didn't go to animal parks on weekends like other families. She later recounted that it was the start of her writing which became the Adrian Mole books, looking at life through the clinical eyes of a teenager but in a comedic manner. Townsend then chose to research the world of teenagers, and started attending youth clubs as a volunteer organiser. This led to her training as a youth worker.
While employed as a supervisor at an adventure playground, she observed a man making canoes nearby and, because he was married, put off talking to him; it was a year before he asked her for a date. It was at a canoeing course she met her future second husband, Colin Broadway, who was the father of her fourth child, Elizabeth.
Townsend and Broadway married on 13 June 1986.
Transition to a writing career
Townsend's new partner encouraged her to join a writers' group at the Phoenix Theatre, Leicester, in 1978, when she was in her early thirties. Initially too shy to speak, she did not write anything for six weeks, but was then given a fortnight to write a play. This became the thirty-minute drama Womberang (1979), set in the waiting room of a gynaecology department. At the Phoenix, she became the writer-in-residence.
During this time she was mentored by several theatre directors including Ian Giles and principally Sue Pomeroy who commissioned and directed a number of her plays including Womberang, Dayroom, Groping for Words and subsequently Ear, Nose and Throat. She was also introduced to William Ash, then chairman of the Soho Poly (now Soho Theatre), who likewise played a significant part in shaping her early career. She met writer-director Carole Hayman on the stairs of the Soho Poly theatre and went on to develop many theatre pieces with her for the Royal Court and Joint Stock, including Bazarre and Rummage and The Great Celestial Cow. They later co-wrote two television series, The Refuge and The Spinney.
At the time of writing the first Adrian Mole book, Townsend was living on the Eyres Monsell Estate, near the house in which playwright Joe Orton was brought up. Mole "came into my head when my eldest son said 'Why don't we go to safari parks like other families do?' That's the only real line of dialogue from my family that's in any of the Mole books. It's in because it triggered it. I remembered that kind of whiny, adolescent self-pity, that 'surely these are not my parents.'"
Success of Adrian Mole
The first two published stories appeared in a short-lived arts' journal entitled magazine, in the editing and production of which Townsend was involved, featuring the character then still called Nigel Mole. Actor Nigel Bennett had given her help and encouragement to persist with the work and sent the script to John Tydeman, the deputy head of BBC Radio Drama. The character first came to national awareness in a single radio play, The Diary of Nigel Mole, Aged 13¼, broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on New Year's Day 1982.
Someone at the publishers Methuen heard the broadcast and commissioned Townsend to write the first book, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ which came out in September of The publisher insisted on the change of name because of the similarity to Nigel Molesworth, the schoolboy character created by Ronald Searle and Geoffrey Willans. A month after the book's appearance it had topped the best seller list and had sold a million copies after a year. Adapted as a play, the stage version premiered in Leicester and ran at Wyndham's Theatre for more than two years. The first two books were seen by many as a realistic and humorous treatment of the inner life of an adolescent boy. They also captured something of the zeitgeist of Britain during the Thatcher era.
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984) was reputedly based on her children's experiences at Mary Linwood Comprehensive School in Leicester. Several of the teachers who appear in the book (such as Ms Fossington-Gore and Mr Dock) are based on staff who worked at the school in the early 1980s. When the book was televised, it was mostly filmed at a different school nearby. Mary Linwood Comprehensive was closed in 1997.
These first two books were adapted into a television series, broadcast in 1985 and 1987, and a video game.
Later life and career
The Queen and I (1992) is a novel imagining that the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution, although it turns out to have been merely the monarch's nightmare. Townsend had become a republican while a child. In an interview for The Independent published in September 1992 she related that after finding the idea of God a ridiculous idea, an argument in favour of the British monarchy also collapsed. "I was frightened that people believed in it all, the whole package, and I must be the only one with these feelings. It was a moment of revelation, but at the same time it would have been wicked ever to mention it." In addition, she was "being taught about infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they – the Royal Family – were, too."
Like the first Mole book, The Queen and I was adapted for the stage with songs by Ian Dury and Mickey Gallagher. Michael Billington writes that Townsend "was ahead of the game" in treating the royal family as a suitable subject for drama. He writes: "Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing." A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla (2006), was less well received.
On 25 February 2009, Leicester City Council announced that Townsend would be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester (where she lived). Townsend became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1993. Amongst her honours and awards, she received honorary doctorates from the University of Leicester, from Loughborough University and De Montfort University, Leicester.
In 1991 Townsend appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Her chosen book was Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis and her luxury item was a swimming pool of champagne.
Political beliefs
In 1989 Townsend published Mr Bevan's Dream – Why Britain Needs its Welfare State, one of the series of Counterblast essays written by such authors as Paul Foot, Marina Warner and Fay Weldon which critiqued, either directly or indirectly the social consequences of Thatcherism.
She describes being "mesmerized" when seeing Aneurin Bevan, the prime mover of the British welfare state on television for the first time. The book consists of a series of short anecdotal stories which touch on ways in which the welfare and education systems of the day supported or (mostly) failed ordinary citizens. In "The Quick Birth", Townsend recalls the experience of giving birth to her first child, born prematurely but who survived thanks to the dedicated National Health Service staff at her local hospital in Leicester; "Community Care" deals with the treatment of vulnerable people with mental health issues; "Mr Smith's privatised penis", the final section, is a dystopian satire on a future where pavements, sunlight, fresh air and even lovemaking have been sold off to private enterprise.
"In this pamphlet, I have fallen back on the traditional working class method for expressing ideas – the anecdote, or what is now called the "oral tradition" (which is only a fancy term for working-class people talking to each other but not bothering to record what they've heard").
Townsend, in a 2009 Guardian interview with Alex Clark, described herself as a "passionate socialist" who had no time for New Labour. "I support the memory and the history of the party and I consider that these lot are interlopers", she told Clark. Despite these comments, Townsend said in 1999 that she had only voted Labour once, and in fact her preference was "Communist, Socialist Workers, or a minority party usually." The journalist Christina Patterson observed of Townsend in 2008: "Her heart, it's clear from her books and a few hours in her company, is still with the people she left behind, the people who go largely unchronicled in literature, the people who are still her friends."
Health problems
Townsend suffered ill health for several years. She was a chain smoker, had tuberculosis (TB), peritonitis at 23 and suffered a heart attack in her 30s. She developed diabetes in the 1980s. It was a condition with which she struggled, believing herself to be the "world's worst diabetic". The condition led to Townsend's being registered blind in 2001, and she wove this theme into her work.
After suffering kidney failure, she underwent dialysis and in September 2009 she received a kidney from her elder son Sean, after a two-year wait for a donor. She also had degenerative arthritis, which left her wheelchair-bound. By this time, she was dictating to Sean, who worked as her typist. Surgery was carried out at Leicester General Hospital and Townsend spoke to the BBC about her illness on an appeal for National Kidney Day.
Death
Townsend died at her home on 10 April 2014, eight days after her 68th birthday, following a stroke. Stephen Mangan, who portrayed Adrian Mole in the 2001 television adaptation, stated that he was "greatly upset to hear that Sue Townsend has died. One of the warmest, funniest and wisest people I ever met". Townsend was survived by her husband, four children and ten grandchildren.
Awards
Works
Adrian Mole series
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ (1982), her best-selling book, and the best-selling new British fiction book of the 1980s.
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984)
The True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole (1989)
Adrian Mole: From Minor to Major (1991) is an omnibus of the first three, and includes as a bonus the specially written Adrian Mole and the Small Amphibians.
Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years (1993)
Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years (1999)
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction (2004)
The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole, 1999–2001 (2008)
Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years (2009)
Other novels
Rebuilding Coventry (1988)
The Queen and I (1992), a story about the British Royal Family living a "normal" life on an urban housing estate following a republican revolution.
Ghost Children (1997), a novel treating the issues of bereavement, child abuse and women's self-esteem in relation to body image.
Number Ten (2002)
Queen Camilla (2006)
The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year (2012)
Plays
Womberang (Soho Poly – 1979)
The Ghost of Daniel Lambert (Leicester Haymarket Theatre, 1981) Theatre closed in January 2006
Dayroom (Croydon Warehouse Theatre, 1981)
Captain Christmas and the Evil Adults (Phoenix Arts Theatre, 1982) now known as the Sue Townsend Theatre
Bazaar and Rummage (Royal Court Theatre, 1982)
Groping for Words (Croydon Warehouse, 1983)
The Great Celestial Cow (Royal Court Theatre and tour, 1984)
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13-The Play (Leicester Phoenix, 1984) now known as Sue Townsend Theatre
Ear Nose And Throat (National large scale tour Good Company Theatre Productions, 1988)
Disneyland it Ain't (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 1989)
Ten Tiny Fingers, Nine Tiny Toes (Library Theatre, Manchester, 1989)
The Queen and I (Vaudeville Theatre, 1994; toured Australia in summer 1996 as The Royals Down Under)
Non-fiction
Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State (1989)
The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman (2001)
Footnotes
External links
Old Biography page
Penguin Site
British Council Contemporary Writers Site
1946 births
2014 deaths
Blind people from England
Blind writers
British republicans
English atheists
English children's writers
English humorists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Kidney transplant recipients
People from Leicester
English women writers
British social commentators
20th-century English women writers
20th-century English novelists
20th-century English dramatists and playwrights
Women humorists
| false |
[
"Bobbs-Merrill Co. v. Straus, 210 U.S. 339 (1908), was a United States Supreme Court decision concerning the scope of rights accorded owners of a copyright versus owners of a particular copy of a copyrighted work. This was a case of first impression concerning whether the copyright laws permit an owner to control a purchaser's subsequent sale of a copyrighted work. The court stated the issue as:\nDoes the sole right to vend (named in 4952) secure to the owner of the copyright the right, after a sale of the book to a purchaser, to restrict future sales of the book at retail, to the right to sell it at a certain price per copy, because of a notice in the book that a sale at a different price will be treated as an infringement, which notice has been brought home to one undertaking to sell for less than the named sum?\n\nThe case centered on the publisher setting additional terms not specifically stated in the statute and claiming that the work was licensed and not sold. The Court's ruling established what came to be known as the \"first-sale doctrine\", which was later codified as § 109(a) of the Copyright Act of 1976.\n\nFacts\nBobbs-Merrill Company sold a copyrighted novel, The Castaway by Hallie Erminie Rives, with the notice, \"The price of this book at retail is $1 net. No dealer is licensed to sell it at a lower price, and a sale at a lower price will be treated as an infringement of the copyright\" printed immediately below the copyright notice. The defendants, Isidor and Nathan Straus representing R.H. Macy & Co., purchased large lots of books at wholesale and sold copies of the book at retail at the price of 89 cents a copy.\n\nHolding\nThe court held first that the copyright statutes protect an owner's right to \"multiply and sell\" the work on their own terms. The statutory right to sell, however, did not also create a right to limit resale.\n\nThe court did not hold that a contract or license imposed on the first sale could not create an obligation. In this case, there was no contract between the owner and the original purchaser, and there was not privity of contract between the owner and any third party.\n\nSee also\nQuality King Distributors, Inc. v. Lanza Research Intl, \nBauer & Cie. v. O'Donnell, a similar ruling regarding patents\n List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 210\n\nExternal links\n\n \n\nUnited States Supreme Court cases\nUnited States Supreme Court cases of the Fuller Court\nUnited States copyright case law\n1908 in United States case law",
"Mask of the Andes, also known as The Liberators in the US, is a 1971 novel written by Australian author Jon Cleary set in Bolivia.\n\nCleary says he had been thinking about its themes for over ten years. The result was one of his most critically acclaimed works, with some critics drawing comparison to Graham Greene. The book did not sell well in Britain, the US or Australia, but was a big seller in Germany and South America. Cleary even received a fan letter from some of Che Guevara's former guerrillas.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nMask of the Andes at AustLit (subscription required)\n\n1971 Australian novels\nNovels set in Bolivia\nWilliam Collins, Sons books\nWilliam Morrow and Company books\nNovels by Jon Cleary"
] |
[
"Sue Townsend",
"Later life and career",
"Did she write any books during her later years?",
"The Queen and I",
"What is the book synopsis?",
"the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution,",
"Did the book sell well?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_ed1fbd1657e34f40863126a4a289ce4d_0
|
Where did she get the idea for this book?
| 4 |
Where did Sue Townsend get the idea for her book The Queen and I?
|
Sue Townsend
|
The Queen and I (1992) is a novel imagining that the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution, although it turns out to have been merely the monarch's nightmare. Townsend had become a republican while a child. In an interview for The Independent published in September 1992 she related that after finding the idea of God a ridiculous idea, an argument in favour of the British monarchy also collapsed. "I was frightened that people believed in it all, the whole package, and I must be the only one with these feelings. It was a moment of revelation, but at the same time it would have been wicked ever to mention it." In addition, she was "being taught about infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they - the Royal Family - were, too." Like the first Mole book, The Queen and I was adapted for the stage with songs by Ian Dury and Mickey Gallagher. Michael Billington writes that Townsend "was ahead of the game" in treating the royal family as a suitable subject for drama. He writes: "Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing." A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla (2006), was less well received. On 25 February 2009, Leicester City Council announced that Townsend would be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester (where she lived). Townsend became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1993. Amongst her honours and awards, she received honorary doctorates from the University of Leicester, from Loughborough University and De Montfort University, Leicester. CANNOTANSWER
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infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they - the Royal Family - were, too.
|
Susan Lillian Townsend, FRSL (née Johnstone, 2 April 194610 April 2014), was an English writer and humorist whose work encompasses novels, plays and works of journalism. She was best known for creating the character Adrian Mole.
After writing in secret from the age of 14, Townsend first became known for her plays, her signature character first appearing in a radio drama, but her work soon expanded into other forms. She enjoyed great success in the 1980s, with her Adrian Mole books selling more copies than any other work of fiction in Britain during the decade. This series, which eventually encompassed nine books, takes the form of the character's diaries. The earliest books recount the life of a teenage boy during the Thatcher years, but the sequence eventually depicts Adrian Mole in middle age.
The Queen and I (1992), another popular work which was well received, was an outlet for her republican sentiments, although the Royal Family is still rendered with sympathy. Both the earliest Adrian Mole book and The Queen and I were adapted for the stage and enjoyed successful runs in London's West End.
Townsend was poor until well into her thirties, and used her experiences of hardship in her work. In her later years she suffered ill health, in part related to the diabetes she developed in the mid-1980s, and in her last years endured serious sight and mobility problems.
Early life
Townsend was born at the Maternity Hospital in Causeway Lane, Leicester, the oldest of three sisters. Her father had worked at a factory making jet engines before becoming a postman, while her mother worked in a factory canteen. She attended Glen Hills Primary School, where the school secretary was Mrs Claricotes, a name she used for the school secretary in the Adrian Mole books.
At the age of eight, Townsend contracted mumps, and was obliged to stay at home. Her mother bought a collection of Richmal Crompton's Just William books at a jumble sale which Townsend read avidly. Later, she said the William Brown character was an influence on her best-known creation.
After failing her 11-plus exam, Townsend went to the secondary modern South Wigston High School. During her childhood, while up a tree playing with her peers, she witnessed the murder of a fellow schoolgirl, but the children were not believed. The murder was committed by Joseph Christopher Reynolds (31), convicted at Leicester Assizes for the murder of Janet Warner, and hanged by Albert Pierrepoint on 17 November 1953. It was to be the last execution carried out at Leicester Prison.
First marriage and pre-writing career
Townsend left school at the age of 14 and worked in a variety of jobs including packer for Birds Eye, a petrol station attendant and a receptionist. Working at a petrol station allowed her the chance to read between serving customers.
She married Keith Townsend, a sheet metal worker on 25 April 1964; the couple had three children under five by the time Townsend was 23 (Sean, Daniel, and Victoria). In 1971 the marriage ended and she became a single parent. In this position, Townsend and her children endured considerable hardship. In Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State (1989), a short book in the Counterblasts series, she recounts an experience from when her eldest child was five. Because the Department of Social Security was unable to give her even 50p to tide them over, she was obliged to feed herself and her children on a tin of peas and an Oxo cube as an evening meal. Townsend would collect used Corona bottles, to redeem the 4p return fee by which to feed her children.
Aged 13, her son questioned one Sunday why they didn't go to animal parks on weekends like other families. She later recounted that it was the start of her writing which became the Adrian Mole books, looking at life through the clinical eyes of a teenager but in a comedic manner. Townsend then chose to research the world of teenagers, and started attending youth clubs as a volunteer organiser. This led to her training as a youth worker.
While employed as a supervisor at an adventure playground, she observed a man making canoes nearby and, because he was married, put off talking to him; it was a year before he asked her for a date. It was at a canoeing course she met her future second husband, Colin Broadway, who was the father of her fourth child, Elizabeth.
Townsend and Broadway married on 13 June 1986.
Transition to a writing career
Townsend's new partner encouraged her to join a writers' group at the Phoenix Theatre, Leicester, in 1978, when she was in her early thirties. Initially too shy to speak, she did not write anything for six weeks, but was then given a fortnight to write a play. This became the thirty-minute drama Womberang (1979), set in the waiting room of a gynaecology department. At the Phoenix, she became the writer-in-residence.
During this time she was mentored by several theatre directors including Ian Giles and principally Sue Pomeroy who commissioned and directed a number of her plays including Womberang, Dayroom, Groping for Words and subsequently Ear, Nose and Throat. She was also introduced to William Ash, then chairman of the Soho Poly (now Soho Theatre), who likewise played a significant part in shaping her early career. She met writer-director Carole Hayman on the stairs of the Soho Poly theatre and went on to develop many theatre pieces with her for the Royal Court and Joint Stock, including Bazarre and Rummage and The Great Celestial Cow. They later co-wrote two television series, The Refuge and The Spinney.
At the time of writing the first Adrian Mole book, Townsend was living on the Eyres Monsell Estate, near the house in which playwright Joe Orton was brought up. Mole "came into my head when my eldest son said 'Why don't we go to safari parks like other families do?' That's the only real line of dialogue from my family that's in any of the Mole books. It's in because it triggered it. I remembered that kind of whiny, adolescent self-pity, that 'surely these are not my parents.'"
Success of Adrian Mole
The first two published stories appeared in a short-lived arts' journal entitled magazine, in the editing and production of which Townsend was involved, featuring the character then still called Nigel Mole. Actor Nigel Bennett had given her help and encouragement to persist with the work and sent the script to John Tydeman, the deputy head of BBC Radio Drama. The character first came to national awareness in a single radio play, The Diary of Nigel Mole, Aged 13¼, broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on New Year's Day 1982.
Someone at the publishers Methuen heard the broadcast and commissioned Townsend to write the first book, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ which came out in September of The publisher insisted on the change of name because of the similarity to Nigel Molesworth, the schoolboy character created by Ronald Searle and Geoffrey Willans. A month after the book's appearance it had topped the best seller list and had sold a million copies after a year. Adapted as a play, the stage version premiered in Leicester and ran at Wyndham's Theatre for more than two years. The first two books were seen by many as a realistic and humorous treatment of the inner life of an adolescent boy. They also captured something of the zeitgeist of Britain during the Thatcher era.
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984) was reputedly based on her children's experiences at Mary Linwood Comprehensive School in Leicester. Several of the teachers who appear in the book (such as Ms Fossington-Gore and Mr Dock) are based on staff who worked at the school in the early 1980s. When the book was televised, it was mostly filmed at a different school nearby. Mary Linwood Comprehensive was closed in 1997.
These first two books were adapted into a television series, broadcast in 1985 and 1987, and a video game.
Later life and career
The Queen and I (1992) is a novel imagining that the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution, although it turns out to have been merely the monarch's nightmare. Townsend had become a republican while a child. In an interview for The Independent published in September 1992 she related that after finding the idea of God a ridiculous idea, an argument in favour of the British monarchy also collapsed. "I was frightened that people believed in it all, the whole package, and I must be the only one with these feelings. It was a moment of revelation, but at the same time it would have been wicked ever to mention it." In addition, she was "being taught about infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they – the Royal Family – were, too."
Like the first Mole book, The Queen and I was adapted for the stage with songs by Ian Dury and Mickey Gallagher. Michael Billington writes that Townsend "was ahead of the game" in treating the royal family as a suitable subject for drama. He writes: "Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing." A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla (2006), was less well received.
On 25 February 2009, Leicester City Council announced that Townsend would be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester (where she lived). Townsend became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1993. Amongst her honours and awards, she received honorary doctorates from the University of Leicester, from Loughborough University and De Montfort University, Leicester.
In 1991 Townsend appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Her chosen book was Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis and her luxury item was a swimming pool of champagne.
Political beliefs
In 1989 Townsend published Mr Bevan's Dream – Why Britain Needs its Welfare State, one of the series of Counterblast essays written by such authors as Paul Foot, Marina Warner and Fay Weldon which critiqued, either directly or indirectly the social consequences of Thatcherism.
She describes being "mesmerized" when seeing Aneurin Bevan, the prime mover of the British welfare state on television for the first time. The book consists of a series of short anecdotal stories which touch on ways in which the welfare and education systems of the day supported or (mostly) failed ordinary citizens. In "The Quick Birth", Townsend recalls the experience of giving birth to her first child, born prematurely but who survived thanks to the dedicated National Health Service staff at her local hospital in Leicester; "Community Care" deals with the treatment of vulnerable people with mental health issues; "Mr Smith's privatised penis", the final section, is a dystopian satire on a future where pavements, sunlight, fresh air and even lovemaking have been sold off to private enterprise.
"In this pamphlet, I have fallen back on the traditional working class method for expressing ideas – the anecdote, or what is now called the "oral tradition" (which is only a fancy term for working-class people talking to each other but not bothering to record what they've heard").
Townsend, in a 2009 Guardian interview with Alex Clark, described herself as a "passionate socialist" who had no time for New Labour. "I support the memory and the history of the party and I consider that these lot are interlopers", she told Clark. Despite these comments, Townsend said in 1999 that she had only voted Labour once, and in fact her preference was "Communist, Socialist Workers, or a minority party usually." The journalist Christina Patterson observed of Townsend in 2008: "Her heart, it's clear from her books and a few hours in her company, is still with the people she left behind, the people who go largely unchronicled in literature, the people who are still her friends."
Health problems
Townsend suffered ill health for several years. She was a chain smoker, had tuberculosis (TB), peritonitis at 23 and suffered a heart attack in her 30s. She developed diabetes in the 1980s. It was a condition with which she struggled, believing herself to be the "world's worst diabetic". The condition led to Townsend's being registered blind in 2001, and she wove this theme into her work.
After suffering kidney failure, she underwent dialysis and in September 2009 she received a kidney from her elder son Sean, after a two-year wait for a donor. She also had degenerative arthritis, which left her wheelchair-bound. By this time, she was dictating to Sean, who worked as her typist. Surgery was carried out at Leicester General Hospital and Townsend spoke to the BBC about her illness on an appeal for National Kidney Day.
Death
Townsend died at her home on 10 April 2014, eight days after her 68th birthday, following a stroke. Stephen Mangan, who portrayed Adrian Mole in the 2001 television adaptation, stated that he was "greatly upset to hear that Sue Townsend has died. One of the warmest, funniest and wisest people I ever met". Townsend was survived by her husband, four children and ten grandchildren.
Awards
Works
Adrian Mole series
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ (1982), her best-selling book, and the best-selling new British fiction book of the 1980s.
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984)
The True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole (1989)
Adrian Mole: From Minor to Major (1991) is an omnibus of the first three, and includes as a bonus the specially written Adrian Mole and the Small Amphibians.
Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years (1993)
Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years (1999)
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction (2004)
The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole, 1999–2001 (2008)
Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years (2009)
Other novels
Rebuilding Coventry (1988)
The Queen and I (1992), a story about the British Royal Family living a "normal" life on an urban housing estate following a republican revolution.
Ghost Children (1997), a novel treating the issues of bereavement, child abuse and women's self-esteem in relation to body image.
Number Ten (2002)
Queen Camilla (2006)
The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year (2012)
Plays
Womberang (Soho Poly – 1979)
The Ghost of Daniel Lambert (Leicester Haymarket Theatre, 1981) Theatre closed in January 2006
Dayroom (Croydon Warehouse Theatre, 1981)
Captain Christmas and the Evil Adults (Phoenix Arts Theatre, 1982) now known as the Sue Townsend Theatre
Bazaar and Rummage (Royal Court Theatre, 1982)
Groping for Words (Croydon Warehouse, 1983)
The Great Celestial Cow (Royal Court Theatre and tour, 1984)
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13-The Play (Leicester Phoenix, 1984) now known as Sue Townsend Theatre
Ear Nose And Throat (National large scale tour Good Company Theatre Productions, 1988)
Disneyland it Ain't (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 1989)
Ten Tiny Fingers, Nine Tiny Toes (Library Theatre, Manchester, 1989)
The Queen and I (Vaudeville Theatre, 1994; toured Australia in summer 1996 as The Royals Down Under)
Non-fiction
Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State (1989)
The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman (2001)
Footnotes
External links
Old Biography page
Penguin Site
British Council Contemporary Writers Site
1946 births
2014 deaths
Blind people from England
Blind writers
British republicans
English atheists
English children's writers
English humorists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Kidney transplant recipients
People from Leicester
English women writers
British social commentators
20th-century English women writers
20th-century English novelists
20th-century English dramatists and playwrights
Women humorists
| false |
[
"Make Lemonade is a verse novel for young adults, written by Virginia Euwer Wolff and originally published in 1993 by Henry Holt and Company. It is the first book in a trilogy series consisting of Make Lemonade, True Believer (the second installment), and This Full House (the third installment). These novels are characterized by their free verse style. The trilogy is unified by its protagonist LaVaughn, a fourteen-year-old girl who recounts her experiences and perspective from first-person point of view. All three books have been published as audiobooks read by Heather Alicia Simms.\n\nMake Lemonade has been translated into Danish, Dutch, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish.\n\nSynopsis\n\nPlot \nLaVaughn notices a flyer for a babysitting job for two kids, Jeremy and Jilly. She takes the number and applies for the job. LaVaughn is greeted by Jolly, who is her new employer. She meets the kids and connects with them. In that time, LaVaughn plants some lemon seeds that Jeremy would sit in front of for some time each day. Later at her house, she asks her mom if she can take the job. Reluctantly, she accepts and gives her permission.\n\nJolly shows up late one day with lacerations on her face. LaVaughn has her mom come to help with Jolly, and her mom tells Jolly she needs to take hold of her life and criticizes Jolly. A few weeks later, Jolly comes home and announces that she was fired. LaVaughn learns that it was because Jolly's boss was sexually abusing her and Jolly stabbed his hand with a pencil to make him stop. The boss fired her for the act. Jolly tries several times to file reports of sexual abuse to administration, but they ignore her calls and complaints. Jolly tries unsuccessfully to get a new job and rejects LaVaughn's suggestion that she go back to school so that she can get better jobs, for fear that her children might get taken away from her.\n\nMeanwhile, the lemon seeds that LaVaughn planted with Jeremy never grew, so she decides to plant some more and hopes that they will grow this time around.\n\nLaVaughn contacts people at her school and finds out that if Jolly can go back to school, she can get free daycare for the kids. Finally, after talking to the school employees herself, Jolly reluctantly joins the program. Jolly's school program notes Jolly's problems with time management, however, and LaVaughn returns to babysit for Jolly again for an hour every day, like before.\n\nIn an attempt to get some money, Jolly decides that she will write a letter to a billionaire who sometimes helps people who write to him. LaVaughn thinks that it is a crazy idea, but helps Jolly write the letter. LaVaughn notices an improvement in Jolly's self-esteem around this time.\n\nSoon afterward, LaVaughn brings in new lemon seeds, because the second round of seeds did not grow either.\n\nLater, Jolly gets a letter back from the billionaire with a $5 check to treat her kids but also a promise of some more money if she gives proof of her GED.\n\nOne afternoon, LaVaughn and Jolly are both watching the kids when Jilly chokes on a toy. Jolly does CPR on Jilly, which was something that she had been studying in her classes recently. Jilly is taken to the hospital. LaVaughn and Jeremy explain to LaVaughn's mom what happened, and she begrudgingly praises Jolly for the first time.\n\nReception and themes \nMake Lemonade generated starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist and received several awards. Although praised by many, the novel also raised concerns from organizations, such as schools in New York, that some of the content is inappropriate for middle-school students. Some of these controversial topics include teenage pregnancy and discussion of sexual harassment. \nThe book was dedicated \"for young mothers\", which many people consider representative of the book's content and central focus on Jolly, the teenaged mother of two children. The novel discusses her encounters and struggles with topics such as poverty, unemployment, teenage pregnancy, parenting, sexual harassment, education, drugs, and isolation from family. The author stated in an interview with The Horn Book Magazine that she kept the format of the novel in free verse partly \"...because Make Lemonade is dedicated to young mothers. I wanted young girls in Jolly’s situation, maybe pregnant or with babies, and maybe going back to school, to be able to say, 'I read two chapters!'\"\nMany people have also speculated on the ethnicity of the characters, although the author denied any intended character ethnicities and claimed that she was \"very careful of not having them be any race, any particular ethnicity\"\n\nAwards and honors \n\n American Library Association (ALA) Best Book for Young Adults\n American Library Association (ALA) Notable Children's Book\n Bank Street Child Study Book Award, 1993\n Best Kids' Book of 1993, 1993\n Best YA Novels of All Time, English Journal, November 2005\n Booklist Top of the List winner\n Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon Book, 1993\n Children's Book of Distinction, 1994\n Golden Kite Award, 1994\n Iowa Teen Award Nominee, 1996-1997\n Michigan Library Association Thumbs Up! Award for YA Fiction, 1994\n Oregon Book Award for Young Readers, 1993\n Parent's Choice Book Award, 1993\n Preiselbar Award, 2000\n School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, 1993\n Top of the List, 1993\n YALSA Best Book for Young Adults, 1994\n YALSA Popular Paperback for Young Adults, 2002\n\nReferences\n\n1993 American novels\nVerse novels\nAmerican young adult novels\nGolden Kite Award-winning works\nHenry Holt and Company books\nNewbery Honor-winning works\n1993 children's books",
"Asphyxia is a Deaf Australian artist, writer, activist and public speaker. She is the author of Future Girl (Australian title) / The Words in My Hands (North American title), and winner of the Readings YA Book Award 2021. The book was selected by Kirkus as best YA fiction for 2021, by The Guardian as one of the top 20 best Australian books for 2020, and as a notable book for 2021 by the Children's Book Council of Australia, and for the Great Books Guide top books of 2021. The book was also shortlisted for the Indie Book Awards 2021, the Australian Book Industry Award 2021, and the Aurelis Award 2020. Asphyxia has joined forces with Orange Entertainment Co to adapt the book for the screen.\n\nFormerly a puppeteer, she is also the author of the children's series The Grimstones, which won the APA Book Design Awards Best Designed Children's Series in 2013.\n\nLife and career\nShe was born in Melbourne, the eldest of eight children, being nicknamed Asphyxia by one of her brothers when she was a teenager. Being the eldest, and creative from a young age, she took it upon herself to create magical words of mystical creatures in which she enrolled her younger siblings and cousins to be a part. She attended a hearing school, and did not learn Auslan until she was 18, as her parents wanted her to have a high standard of education, and were not satisfied with the standard of the education for the deaf.\n\nAs a child, she had dreams of being a ballerina, but they disintegrated once it became clear her deafness prohibited this as a professional career, and after the Australian Ballet School turned her down because of her deafness. Instead, once she left school, she turned to circus, training with Circus Oz, specialising in the trapeze and hula-hoops. Here she discovered she could incorporate her deafness into her work rather than trying to hide it, realising it could enhance what she did. One of the ways she did this was by signing karaoke, which was a big success with her audiences.\n\nAfter being a circus performer for ten years, Asphyxia discovered puppetry through Sergio Barrio, a master puppeteer, whom she discovered when overseas touring with her show, and begged him to teach her his craft. She then leapt into it whole heartedly, learning how to make her own puppets and sets for them. After some experimentation, she ended up with a gothic family which she named \"The Grimstones\". She then left the circus to travel around Australia performing with her puppets, which was a big success, and captivated children and adults alike. \n\nAfter a couple of years of touring with her puppet family, Asphyxia got a call from the publishers Allen & Unwin, who told her that they thought that The Grimstones would make a great book. She embraced the idea, as she had always had aspirations to be an author, entering her first book when she was 12 in the St Kilda Writer's Festival where it won first place. In February 2012 she published the first of four books in the series, Hatched. The next three in the series, Mortimer Revealed (April 2012), Whirlwind (December 2012) and Music School (December 2013) soon followed. Future Girl (August 2020) won the 2021 Readings Young Adult Book Prize.\n\nFor 20 years, Asphyxia lived in a small cottage in inner city Melbourne which she built herself when she was just 22, with her partner and son. She now lives on a small farm in Northern NSW, Australia, where she combines food growing with art. She enjoys painting and other forms of art and creativity, which she shares with the world through her blog. \n\nHer website also contains useful resources such as a free Auslan course and a music course she wrote for Deaf people.\n\nWorks\n\nLiterary works\n Hatched: The Grimstones 1 (February 2012)\n Mortimer Revealed: The Grimstones 2 (April 2012)\n Whirlwind: The Grimstones 3 (December 2012)\n Music School: The Grimstones 4 (December 2013)\n The Grimstones Collection (July 2015)\n Future Girl (September 2020)\n The Words in My Hands (November 2021)\n\nReferences \n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nWriters from Melbourne\n21st-century Australian women writers\n21st-century Australian writers\nDeaf writers\nAustralian puppeteers\nAustralian women children's writers\nAustralian children's writers"
] |
[
"Sue Townsend",
"Later life and career",
"Did she write any books during her later years?",
"The Queen and I",
"What is the book synopsis?",
"the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution,",
"Did the book sell well?",
"I don't know.",
"Where did she get the idea for this book?",
"infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they - the Royal Family - were, too."
] |
C_ed1fbd1657e34f40863126a4a289ce4d_0
|
Did she write any other books in her later life?
| 5 |
Besides The Queen and I, did Sue Townsend write any other books in her later life?
|
Sue Townsend
|
The Queen and I (1992) is a novel imagining that the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution, although it turns out to have been merely the monarch's nightmare. Townsend had become a republican while a child. In an interview for The Independent published in September 1992 she related that after finding the idea of God a ridiculous idea, an argument in favour of the British monarchy also collapsed. "I was frightened that people believed in it all, the whole package, and I must be the only one with these feelings. It was a moment of revelation, but at the same time it would have been wicked ever to mention it." In addition, she was "being taught about infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they - the Royal Family - were, too." Like the first Mole book, The Queen and I was adapted for the stage with songs by Ian Dury and Mickey Gallagher. Michael Billington writes that Townsend "was ahead of the game" in treating the royal family as a suitable subject for drama. He writes: "Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing." A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla (2006), was less well received. On 25 February 2009, Leicester City Council announced that Townsend would be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester (where she lived). Townsend became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1993. Amongst her honours and awards, she received honorary doctorates from the University of Leicester, from Loughborough University and De Montfort University, Leicester. CANNOTANSWER
|
Queen Camilla
|
Susan Lillian Townsend, FRSL (née Johnstone, 2 April 194610 April 2014), was an English writer and humorist whose work encompasses novels, plays and works of journalism. She was best known for creating the character Adrian Mole.
After writing in secret from the age of 14, Townsend first became known for her plays, her signature character first appearing in a radio drama, but her work soon expanded into other forms. She enjoyed great success in the 1980s, with her Adrian Mole books selling more copies than any other work of fiction in Britain during the decade. This series, which eventually encompassed nine books, takes the form of the character's diaries. The earliest books recount the life of a teenage boy during the Thatcher years, but the sequence eventually depicts Adrian Mole in middle age.
The Queen and I (1992), another popular work which was well received, was an outlet for her republican sentiments, although the Royal Family is still rendered with sympathy. Both the earliest Adrian Mole book and The Queen and I were adapted for the stage and enjoyed successful runs in London's West End.
Townsend was poor until well into her thirties, and used her experiences of hardship in her work. In her later years she suffered ill health, in part related to the diabetes she developed in the mid-1980s, and in her last years endured serious sight and mobility problems.
Early life
Townsend was born at the Maternity Hospital in Causeway Lane, Leicester, the oldest of three sisters. Her father had worked at a factory making jet engines before becoming a postman, while her mother worked in a factory canteen. She attended Glen Hills Primary School, where the school secretary was Mrs Claricotes, a name she used for the school secretary in the Adrian Mole books.
At the age of eight, Townsend contracted mumps, and was obliged to stay at home. Her mother bought a collection of Richmal Crompton's Just William books at a jumble sale which Townsend read avidly. Later, she said the William Brown character was an influence on her best-known creation.
After failing her 11-plus exam, Townsend went to the secondary modern South Wigston High School. During her childhood, while up a tree playing with her peers, she witnessed the murder of a fellow schoolgirl, but the children were not believed. The murder was committed by Joseph Christopher Reynolds (31), convicted at Leicester Assizes for the murder of Janet Warner, and hanged by Albert Pierrepoint on 17 November 1953. It was to be the last execution carried out at Leicester Prison.
First marriage and pre-writing career
Townsend left school at the age of 14 and worked in a variety of jobs including packer for Birds Eye, a petrol station attendant and a receptionist. Working at a petrol station allowed her the chance to read between serving customers.
She married Keith Townsend, a sheet metal worker on 25 April 1964; the couple had three children under five by the time Townsend was 23 (Sean, Daniel, and Victoria). In 1971 the marriage ended and she became a single parent. In this position, Townsend and her children endured considerable hardship. In Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State (1989), a short book in the Counterblasts series, she recounts an experience from when her eldest child was five. Because the Department of Social Security was unable to give her even 50p to tide them over, she was obliged to feed herself and her children on a tin of peas and an Oxo cube as an evening meal. Townsend would collect used Corona bottles, to redeem the 4p return fee by which to feed her children.
Aged 13, her son questioned one Sunday why they didn't go to animal parks on weekends like other families. She later recounted that it was the start of her writing which became the Adrian Mole books, looking at life through the clinical eyes of a teenager but in a comedic manner. Townsend then chose to research the world of teenagers, and started attending youth clubs as a volunteer organiser. This led to her training as a youth worker.
While employed as a supervisor at an adventure playground, she observed a man making canoes nearby and, because he was married, put off talking to him; it was a year before he asked her for a date. It was at a canoeing course she met her future second husband, Colin Broadway, who was the father of her fourth child, Elizabeth.
Townsend and Broadway married on 13 June 1986.
Transition to a writing career
Townsend's new partner encouraged her to join a writers' group at the Phoenix Theatre, Leicester, in 1978, when she was in her early thirties. Initially too shy to speak, she did not write anything for six weeks, but was then given a fortnight to write a play. This became the thirty-minute drama Womberang (1979), set in the waiting room of a gynaecology department. At the Phoenix, she became the writer-in-residence.
During this time she was mentored by several theatre directors including Ian Giles and principally Sue Pomeroy who commissioned and directed a number of her plays including Womberang, Dayroom, Groping for Words and subsequently Ear, Nose and Throat. She was also introduced to William Ash, then chairman of the Soho Poly (now Soho Theatre), who likewise played a significant part in shaping her early career. She met writer-director Carole Hayman on the stairs of the Soho Poly theatre and went on to develop many theatre pieces with her for the Royal Court and Joint Stock, including Bazarre and Rummage and The Great Celestial Cow. They later co-wrote two television series, The Refuge and The Spinney.
At the time of writing the first Adrian Mole book, Townsend was living on the Eyres Monsell Estate, near the house in which playwright Joe Orton was brought up. Mole "came into my head when my eldest son said 'Why don't we go to safari parks like other families do?' That's the only real line of dialogue from my family that's in any of the Mole books. It's in because it triggered it. I remembered that kind of whiny, adolescent self-pity, that 'surely these are not my parents.'"
Success of Adrian Mole
The first two published stories appeared in a short-lived arts' journal entitled magazine, in the editing and production of which Townsend was involved, featuring the character then still called Nigel Mole. Actor Nigel Bennett had given her help and encouragement to persist with the work and sent the script to John Tydeman, the deputy head of BBC Radio Drama. The character first came to national awareness in a single radio play, The Diary of Nigel Mole, Aged 13¼, broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on New Year's Day 1982.
Someone at the publishers Methuen heard the broadcast and commissioned Townsend to write the first book, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ which came out in September of The publisher insisted on the change of name because of the similarity to Nigel Molesworth, the schoolboy character created by Ronald Searle and Geoffrey Willans. A month after the book's appearance it had topped the best seller list and had sold a million copies after a year. Adapted as a play, the stage version premiered in Leicester and ran at Wyndham's Theatre for more than two years. The first two books were seen by many as a realistic and humorous treatment of the inner life of an adolescent boy. They also captured something of the zeitgeist of Britain during the Thatcher era.
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984) was reputedly based on her children's experiences at Mary Linwood Comprehensive School in Leicester. Several of the teachers who appear in the book (such as Ms Fossington-Gore and Mr Dock) are based on staff who worked at the school in the early 1980s. When the book was televised, it was mostly filmed at a different school nearby. Mary Linwood Comprehensive was closed in 1997.
These first two books were adapted into a television series, broadcast in 1985 and 1987, and a video game.
Later life and career
The Queen and I (1992) is a novel imagining that the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution, although it turns out to have been merely the monarch's nightmare. Townsend had become a republican while a child. In an interview for The Independent published in September 1992 she related that after finding the idea of God a ridiculous idea, an argument in favour of the British monarchy also collapsed. "I was frightened that people believed in it all, the whole package, and I must be the only one with these feelings. It was a moment of revelation, but at the same time it would have been wicked ever to mention it." In addition, she was "being taught about infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they – the Royal Family – were, too."
Like the first Mole book, The Queen and I was adapted for the stage with songs by Ian Dury and Mickey Gallagher. Michael Billington writes that Townsend "was ahead of the game" in treating the royal family as a suitable subject for drama. He writes: "Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing." A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla (2006), was less well received.
On 25 February 2009, Leicester City Council announced that Townsend would be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester (where she lived). Townsend became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1993. Amongst her honours and awards, she received honorary doctorates from the University of Leicester, from Loughborough University and De Montfort University, Leicester.
In 1991 Townsend appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Her chosen book was Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis and her luxury item was a swimming pool of champagne.
Political beliefs
In 1989 Townsend published Mr Bevan's Dream – Why Britain Needs its Welfare State, one of the series of Counterblast essays written by such authors as Paul Foot, Marina Warner and Fay Weldon which critiqued, either directly or indirectly the social consequences of Thatcherism.
She describes being "mesmerized" when seeing Aneurin Bevan, the prime mover of the British welfare state on television for the first time. The book consists of a series of short anecdotal stories which touch on ways in which the welfare and education systems of the day supported or (mostly) failed ordinary citizens. In "The Quick Birth", Townsend recalls the experience of giving birth to her first child, born prematurely but who survived thanks to the dedicated National Health Service staff at her local hospital in Leicester; "Community Care" deals with the treatment of vulnerable people with mental health issues; "Mr Smith's privatised penis", the final section, is a dystopian satire on a future where pavements, sunlight, fresh air and even lovemaking have been sold off to private enterprise.
"In this pamphlet, I have fallen back on the traditional working class method for expressing ideas – the anecdote, or what is now called the "oral tradition" (which is only a fancy term for working-class people talking to each other but not bothering to record what they've heard").
Townsend, in a 2009 Guardian interview with Alex Clark, described herself as a "passionate socialist" who had no time for New Labour. "I support the memory and the history of the party and I consider that these lot are interlopers", she told Clark. Despite these comments, Townsend said in 1999 that she had only voted Labour once, and in fact her preference was "Communist, Socialist Workers, or a minority party usually." The journalist Christina Patterson observed of Townsend in 2008: "Her heart, it's clear from her books and a few hours in her company, is still with the people she left behind, the people who go largely unchronicled in literature, the people who are still her friends."
Health problems
Townsend suffered ill health for several years. She was a chain smoker, had tuberculosis (TB), peritonitis at 23 and suffered a heart attack in her 30s. She developed diabetes in the 1980s. It was a condition with which she struggled, believing herself to be the "world's worst diabetic". The condition led to Townsend's being registered blind in 2001, and she wove this theme into her work.
After suffering kidney failure, she underwent dialysis and in September 2009 she received a kidney from her elder son Sean, after a two-year wait for a donor. She also had degenerative arthritis, which left her wheelchair-bound. By this time, she was dictating to Sean, who worked as her typist. Surgery was carried out at Leicester General Hospital and Townsend spoke to the BBC about her illness on an appeal for National Kidney Day.
Death
Townsend died at her home on 10 April 2014, eight days after her 68th birthday, following a stroke. Stephen Mangan, who portrayed Adrian Mole in the 2001 television adaptation, stated that he was "greatly upset to hear that Sue Townsend has died. One of the warmest, funniest and wisest people I ever met". Townsend was survived by her husband, four children and ten grandchildren.
Awards
Works
Adrian Mole series
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ (1982), her best-selling book, and the best-selling new British fiction book of the 1980s.
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984)
The True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole (1989)
Adrian Mole: From Minor to Major (1991) is an omnibus of the first three, and includes as a bonus the specially written Adrian Mole and the Small Amphibians.
Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years (1993)
Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years (1999)
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction (2004)
The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole, 1999–2001 (2008)
Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years (2009)
Other novels
Rebuilding Coventry (1988)
The Queen and I (1992), a story about the British Royal Family living a "normal" life on an urban housing estate following a republican revolution.
Ghost Children (1997), a novel treating the issues of bereavement, child abuse and women's self-esteem in relation to body image.
Number Ten (2002)
Queen Camilla (2006)
The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year (2012)
Plays
Womberang (Soho Poly – 1979)
The Ghost of Daniel Lambert (Leicester Haymarket Theatre, 1981) Theatre closed in January 2006
Dayroom (Croydon Warehouse Theatre, 1981)
Captain Christmas and the Evil Adults (Phoenix Arts Theatre, 1982) now known as the Sue Townsend Theatre
Bazaar and Rummage (Royal Court Theatre, 1982)
Groping for Words (Croydon Warehouse, 1983)
The Great Celestial Cow (Royal Court Theatre and tour, 1984)
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13-The Play (Leicester Phoenix, 1984) now known as Sue Townsend Theatre
Ear Nose And Throat (National large scale tour Good Company Theatre Productions, 1988)
Disneyland it Ain't (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 1989)
Ten Tiny Fingers, Nine Tiny Toes (Library Theatre, Manchester, 1989)
The Queen and I (Vaudeville Theatre, 1994; toured Australia in summer 1996 as The Royals Down Under)
Non-fiction
Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State (1989)
The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman (2001)
Footnotes
External links
Old Biography page
Penguin Site
British Council Contemporary Writers Site
1946 births
2014 deaths
Blind people from England
Blind writers
British republicans
English atheists
English children's writers
English humorists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Kidney transplant recipients
People from Leicester
English women writers
British social commentators
20th-century English women writers
20th-century English novelists
20th-century English dramatists and playwrights
Women humorists
| true |
[
"Once Upon a Time in the East is a memoir by Chinese-born British Xiaolu Guo. The book is titled Nine Continents: A Memoir In and Out of China in the United States.\n\nSummary\nGuo's memoir begins with her as a newborn, when she was given to another couple by her parents. The couple raised Guo in a mountain village, which is where she remained at until she was 2 years old when the couple sent Guo back to her grandparents. Guo lived with her grandparents in the fishing village Shitang until she was 7 years old. As a child, Guo was in constant hunger and she later met her birth parents and lived at a communist compound. The memoir also documents her time in Beijing and in London after moving there in 2002.\n\nBackground\nGuo decided to write the book because her friends said that her previously published writings about her childhood \"were amazing\". Her novel Village of Stone was partially based on her life. Guo thought that it would be hard to write the book, but she said that \"it was the quickest book\" that she has written. It was most difficult for Guo to write about her early life.\n\nThe book is titled Nine Continents: A Memoir In and Out of China in the United States.\n\nReception\nA review in The Scotsman compared this book with Dear Friend, From My Life I Write To You In Your Life by Yiyun Li, stating, \"But the differences are more deep-structured than superficial, in that Guo and Li represent two sides of an almost perpetual literary dichotomy; the Romantic and the Classical. Although Li writes movingly and affectingly about her own circumstances – the essays were born out of two spells in hospital for depression and speak openly about suicide – she writes towards a kind of selflessness\".\n\nKirkus Reviews praised the book: 'A rich and insightful coming-of-age story of not only a woman, but an artist and the country in which she was born.'\n\nThe book won the 2017 National Book Critics Circle Award for Best Autobiography. It was shortlisted for the Costa Book Award and the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize 2018.\n\nReferences\n\n2017 non-fiction books\nBooks about China\nChatto & Windus books\nNational Book Critics Circle Award-winning works",
"Ongoingness: The End of a Diary is a 2015 book by Sarah Manguso. Manguso kept a journal for 25 years, which culminated in an 800,000 word long document. In Ongoingness, she explores and reflects upon her reasons and motivations for journaling – her obsessive need to document every incident in her life because she was afraid she would forget the details later, and using journaling as a coping mechanism for dealing with low-level anxiety. She also explores her change in writing style with time – her earlier entries were detailed; now they are brief; while she used to write in the past tense earlier, she now uses the present tense.\n\nReferences \n\n \n \n \n \n\n2015 non-fiction books\nAmerican memoirs\nGraywolf Press books"
] |
[
"Sue Townsend",
"Later life and career",
"Did she write any books during her later years?",
"The Queen and I",
"What is the book synopsis?",
"the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution,",
"Did the book sell well?",
"I don't know.",
"Where did she get the idea for this book?",
"infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they - the Royal Family - were, too.",
"Did she write any other books in her later life?",
"Queen Camilla"
] |
C_ed1fbd1657e34f40863126a4a289ce4d_0
|
What was that book about?
| 6 |
What was The Queen and I book about?
|
Sue Townsend
|
The Queen and I (1992) is a novel imagining that the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution, although it turns out to have been merely the monarch's nightmare. Townsend had become a republican while a child. In an interview for The Independent published in September 1992 she related that after finding the idea of God a ridiculous idea, an argument in favour of the British monarchy also collapsed. "I was frightened that people believed in it all, the whole package, and I must be the only one with these feelings. It was a moment of revelation, but at the same time it would have been wicked ever to mention it." In addition, she was "being taught about infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they - the Royal Family - were, too." Like the first Mole book, The Queen and I was adapted for the stage with songs by Ian Dury and Mickey Gallagher. Michael Billington writes that Townsend "was ahead of the game" in treating the royal family as a suitable subject for drama. He writes: "Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing." A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla (2006), was less well received. On 25 February 2009, Leicester City Council announced that Townsend would be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester (where she lived). Townsend became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1993. Amongst her honours and awards, she received honorary doctorates from the University of Leicester, from Loughborough University and De Montfort University, Leicester. CANNOTANSWER
|
Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing." A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla
|
Susan Lillian Townsend, FRSL (née Johnstone, 2 April 194610 April 2014), was an English writer and humorist whose work encompasses novels, plays and works of journalism. She was best known for creating the character Adrian Mole.
After writing in secret from the age of 14, Townsend first became known for her plays, her signature character first appearing in a radio drama, but her work soon expanded into other forms. She enjoyed great success in the 1980s, with her Adrian Mole books selling more copies than any other work of fiction in Britain during the decade. This series, which eventually encompassed nine books, takes the form of the character's diaries. The earliest books recount the life of a teenage boy during the Thatcher years, but the sequence eventually depicts Adrian Mole in middle age.
The Queen and I (1992), another popular work which was well received, was an outlet for her republican sentiments, although the Royal Family is still rendered with sympathy. Both the earliest Adrian Mole book and The Queen and I were adapted for the stage and enjoyed successful runs in London's West End.
Townsend was poor until well into her thirties, and used her experiences of hardship in her work. In her later years she suffered ill health, in part related to the diabetes she developed in the mid-1980s, and in her last years endured serious sight and mobility problems.
Early life
Townsend was born at the Maternity Hospital in Causeway Lane, Leicester, the oldest of three sisters. Her father had worked at a factory making jet engines before becoming a postman, while her mother worked in a factory canteen. She attended Glen Hills Primary School, where the school secretary was Mrs Claricotes, a name she used for the school secretary in the Adrian Mole books.
At the age of eight, Townsend contracted mumps, and was obliged to stay at home. Her mother bought a collection of Richmal Crompton's Just William books at a jumble sale which Townsend read avidly. Later, she said the William Brown character was an influence on her best-known creation.
After failing her 11-plus exam, Townsend went to the secondary modern South Wigston High School. During her childhood, while up a tree playing with her peers, she witnessed the murder of a fellow schoolgirl, but the children were not believed. The murder was committed by Joseph Christopher Reynolds (31), convicted at Leicester Assizes for the murder of Janet Warner, and hanged by Albert Pierrepoint on 17 November 1953. It was to be the last execution carried out at Leicester Prison.
First marriage and pre-writing career
Townsend left school at the age of 14 and worked in a variety of jobs including packer for Birds Eye, a petrol station attendant and a receptionist. Working at a petrol station allowed her the chance to read between serving customers.
She married Keith Townsend, a sheet metal worker on 25 April 1964; the couple had three children under five by the time Townsend was 23 (Sean, Daniel, and Victoria). In 1971 the marriage ended and she became a single parent. In this position, Townsend and her children endured considerable hardship. In Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State (1989), a short book in the Counterblasts series, she recounts an experience from when her eldest child was five. Because the Department of Social Security was unable to give her even 50p to tide them over, she was obliged to feed herself and her children on a tin of peas and an Oxo cube as an evening meal. Townsend would collect used Corona bottles, to redeem the 4p return fee by which to feed her children.
Aged 13, her son questioned one Sunday why they didn't go to animal parks on weekends like other families. She later recounted that it was the start of her writing which became the Adrian Mole books, looking at life through the clinical eyes of a teenager but in a comedic manner. Townsend then chose to research the world of teenagers, and started attending youth clubs as a volunteer organiser. This led to her training as a youth worker.
While employed as a supervisor at an adventure playground, she observed a man making canoes nearby and, because he was married, put off talking to him; it was a year before he asked her for a date. It was at a canoeing course she met her future second husband, Colin Broadway, who was the father of her fourth child, Elizabeth.
Townsend and Broadway married on 13 June 1986.
Transition to a writing career
Townsend's new partner encouraged her to join a writers' group at the Phoenix Theatre, Leicester, in 1978, when she was in her early thirties. Initially too shy to speak, she did not write anything for six weeks, but was then given a fortnight to write a play. This became the thirty-minute drama Womberang (1979), set in the waiting room of a gynaecology department. At the Phoenix, she became the writer-in-residence.
During this time she was mentored by several theatre directors including Ian Giles and principally Sue Pomeroy who commissioned and directed a number of her plays including Womberang, Dayroom, Groping for Words and subsequently Ear, Nose and Throat. She was also introduced to William Ash, then chairman of the Soho Poly (now Soho Theatre), who likewise played a significant part in shaping her early career. She met writer-director Carole Hayman on the stairs of the Soho Poly theatre and went on to develop many theatre pieces with her for the Royal Court and Joint Stock, including Bazarre and Rummage and The Great Celestial Cow. They later co-wrote two television series, The Refuge and The Spinney.
At the time of writing the first Adrian Mole book, Townsend was living on the Eyres Monsell Estate, near the house in which playwright Joe Orton was brought up. Mole "came into my head when my eldest son said 'Why don't we go to safari parks like other families do?' That's the only real line of dialogue from my family that's in any of the Mole books. It's in because it triggered it. I remembered that kind of whiny, adolescent self-pity, that 'surely these are not my parents.'"
Success of Adrian Mole
The first two published stories appeared in a short-lived arts' journal entitled magazine, in the editing and production of which Townsend was involved, featuring the character then still called Nigel Mole. Actor Nigel Bennett had given her help and encouragement to persist with the work and sent the script to John Tydeman, the deputy head of BBC Radio Drama. The character first came to national awareness in a single radio play, The Diary of Nigel Mole, Aged 13¼, broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on New Year's Day 1982.
Someone at the publishers Methuen heard the broadcast and commissioned Townsend to write the first book, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ which came out in September of The publisher insisted on the change of name because of the similarity to Nigel Molesworth, the schoolboy character created by Ronald Searle and Geoffrey Willans. A month after the book's appearance it had topped the best seller list and had sold a million copies after a year. Adapted as a play, the stage version premiered in Leicester and ran at Wyndham's Theatre for more than two years. The first two books were seen by many as a realistic and humorous treatment of the inner life of an adolescent boy. They also captured something of the zeitgeist of Britain during the Thatcher era.
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984) was reputedly based on her children's experiences at Mary Linwood Comprehensive School in Leicester. Several of the teachers who appear in the book (such as Ms Fossington-Gore and Mr Dock) are based on staff who worked at the school in the early 1980s. When the book was televised, it was mostly filmed at a different school nearby. Mary Linwood Comprehensive was closed in 1997.
These first two books were adapted into a television series, broadcast in 1985 and 1987, and a video game.
Later life and career
The Queen and I (1992) is a novel imagining that the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution, although it turns out to have been merely the monarch's nightmare. Townsend had become a republican while a child. In an interview for The Independent published in September 1992 she related that after finding the idea of God a ridiculous idea, an argument in favour of the British monarchy also collapsed. "I was frightened that people believed in it all, the whole package, and I must be the only one with these feelings. It was a moment of revelation, but at the same time it would have been wicked ever to mention it." In addition, she was "being taught about infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they – the Royal Family – were, too."
Like the first Mole book, The Queen and I was adapted for the stage with songs by Ian Dury and Mickey Gallagher. Michael Billington writes that Townsend "was ahead of the game" in treating the royal family as a suitable subject for drama. He writes: "Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing." A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla (2006), was less well received.
On 25 February 2009, Leicester City Council announced that Townsend would be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester (where she lived). Townsend became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1993. Amongst her honours and awards, she received honorary doctorates from the University of Leicester, from Loughborough University and De Montfort University, Leicester.
In 1991 Townsend appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Her chosen book was Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis and her luxury item was a swimming pool of champagne.
Political beliefs
In 1989 Townsend published Mr Bevan's Dream – Why Britain Needs its Welfare State, one of the series of Counterblast essays written by such authors as Paul Foot, Marina Warner and Fay Weldon which critiqued, either directly or indirectly the social consequences of Thatcherism.
She describes being "mesmerized" when seeing Aneurin Bevan, the prime mover of the British welfare state on television for the first time. The book consists of a series of short anecdotal stories which touch on ways in which the welfare and education systems of the day supported or (mostly) failed ordinary citizens. In "The Quick Birth", Townsend recalls the experience of giving birth to her first child, born prematurely but who survived thanks to the dedicated National Health Service staff at her local hospital in Leicester; "Community Care" deals with the treatment of vulnerable people with mental health issues; "Mr Smith's privatised penis", the final section, is a dystopian satire on a future where pavements, sunlight, fresh air and even lovemaking have been sold off to private enterprise.
"In this pamphlet, I have fallen back on the traditional working class method for expressing ideas – the anecdote, or what is now called the "oral tradition" (which is only a fancy term for working-class people talking to each other but not bothering to record what they've heard").
Townsend, in a 2009 Guardian interview with Alex Clark, described herself as a "passionate socialist" who had no time for New Labour. "I support the memory and the history of the party and I consider that these lot are interlopers", she told Clark. Despite these comments, Townsend said in 1999 that she had only voted Labour once, and in fact her preference was "Communist, Socialist Workers, or a minority party usually." The journalist Christina Patterson observed of Townsend in 2008: "Her heart, it's clear from her books and a few hours in her company, is still with the people she left behind, the people who go largely unchronicled in literature, the people who are still her friends."
Health problems
Townsend suffered ill health for several years. She was a chain smoker, had tuberculosis (TB), peritonitis at 23 and suffered a heart attack in her 30s. She developed diabetes in the 1980s. It was a condition with which she struggled, believing herself to be the "world's worst diabetic". The condition led to Townsend's being registered blind in 2001, and she wove this theme into her work.
After suffering kidney failure, she underwent dialysis and in September 2009 she received a kidney from her elder son Sean, after a two-year wait for a donor. She also had degenerative arthritis, which left her wheelchair-bound. By this time, she was dictating to Sean, who worked as her typist. Surgery was carried out at Leicester General Hospital and Townsend spoke to the BBC about her illness on an appeal for National Kidney Day.
Death
Townsend died at her home on 10 April 2014, eight days after her 68th birthday, following a stroke. Stephen Mangan, who portrayed Adrian Mole in the 2001 television adaptation, stated that he was "greatly upset to hear that Sue Townsend has died. One of the warmest, funniest and wisest people I ever met". Townsend was survived by her husband, four children and ten grandchildren.
Awards
Works
Adrian Mole series
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ (1982), her best-selling book, and the best-selling new British fiction book of the 1980s.
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984)
The True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole (1989)
Adrian Mole: From Minor to Major (1991) is an omnibus of the first three, and includes as a bonus the specially written Adrian Mole and the Small Amphibians.
Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years (1993)
Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years (1999)
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction (2004)
The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole, 1999–2001 (2008)
Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years (2009)
Other novels
Rebuilding Coventry (1988)
The Queen and I (1992), a story about the British Royal Family living a "normal" life on an urban housing estate following a republican revolution.
Ghost Children (1997), a novel treating the issues of bereavement, child abuse and women's self-esteem in relation to body image.
Number Ten (2002)
Queen Camilla (2006)
The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year (2012)
Plays
Womberang (Soho Poly – 1979)
The Ghost of Daniel Lambert (Leicester Haymarket Theatre, 1981) Theatre closed in January 2006
Dayroom (Croydon Warehouse Theatre, 1981)
Captain Christmas and the Evil Adults (Phoenix Arts Theatre, 1982) now known as the Sue Townsend Theatre
Bazaar and Rummage (Royal Court Theatre, 1982)
Groping for Words (Croydon Warehouse, 1983)
The Great Celestial Cow (Royal Court Theatre and tour, 1984)
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13-The Play (Leicester Phoenix, 1984) now known as Sue Townsend Theatre
Ear Nose And Throat (National large scale tour Good Company Theatre Productions, 1988)
Disneyland it Ain't (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 1989)
Ten Tiny Fingers, Nine Tiny Toes (Library Theatre, Manchester, 1989)
The Queen and I (Vaudeville Theatre, 1994; toured Australia in summer 1996 as The Royals Down Under)
Non-fiction
Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State (1989)
The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman (2001)
Footnotes
External links
Old Biography page
Penguin Site
British Council Contemporary Writers Site
1946 births
2014 deaths
Blind people from England
Blind writers
British republicans
English atheists
English children's writers
English humorists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Kidney transplant recipients
People from Leicester
English women writers
British social commentators
20th-century English women writers
20th-century English novelists
20th-century English dramatists and playwrights
Women humorists
| true |
[
"What's Your Poo Telling You? is a book for adults describing different aspects of human flatulence, defecation, diarrhea, and various feces-related phenomena. The book sold well upon its release and in 2009 the book was reported to have sold over 400,000 copies.\n\nIt was authored by Josh Richman and gastroenterologist Anish Sheth, M.D. It includes diagrams provided by illustrator Peter Arkle. The book was followed up by two companion pieces, What's My Pee Telling Me? (2009) and What's Your Baby's Poo Telling You? (2014). Merchandise tie-ins for the series include a daily calendar, log, mobile app, and an activity book.\n\nBibliography\nWhat's Your Poo Telling You? (2007, Chronicle Books)\nWhat's My Pee Telling Me? (2009, Chronicle Books)\nWhat's Your Baby's Poo Telling You? (2014, Chronicle Books)\n\nReferences\n\n2007 non-fiction books\nHandbooks and manuals\nBooks about feces\nFlatulence in popular culture\nChronicle Books books",
"What Was Lost is the 2007 début novel by Catherine O'Flynn. The novel is about a girl who goes missing in a shopping centre in 1984, and the people who try to discover what happened to her twenty years later. What Was Lost won the First Novel Award at the 2007 Costa Book Awards, and was short-listed for the overall Costa Book of the Year Award.\n\nDevelopment of the novel \nO'Flynn found inspiration for What Was Lost while she was working as an assistant manager in a record shop. She found ideas for her book from her job in the Merry Hill Shopping Centre near Dudley in the West Midlands.\n\nWhat Was Lost was rejected by 20 agents and publishers before being accepted for publication by Tindal Street Press, a small Birmingham publisher.\n\nPlot summary \nWhat Was Lost is a mystery story about a missing girl. It is also a portrait of a changing community over twenty years. It examines modern life's emptiness, and society's obsession with shopping.\n\nWhat Was Lost is set in the city of Birmingham, England. The main events of the novel take place in Green Oaks shopping centre. The first part of the novel is set in 1984. A 10-year-old girl called Kate Meaney frequently plays in the newly opened Green Oaks. She pretends to be a detective, observing and following people. She carries her toy monkey Mickey and a notebook with her. Kate vanishes and Adrian, the 22-year-old son of a newsagent, is the prime suspect in her disappearance. He is hounded by the press and the police. Unable to handle the pressure, he disappears.\n\nThe novel's narrative moves forward to 2004. Kurt is a security guard at Green Oaks. He has a sleeping disorder. Lisa is the deputy manager of a music store. She is unhappy because of the strange behaviour of her colleagues and customers and because of her relationship with her partner. She becomes friends with Kurt. A girl holding a soft toy is seen in a CCTV security monitor. Kurt and Lisa follow the girl through Green Oaks and investigate how she is connected to Green Oaks' unsettling history. It is revealed that both Kurt and Lisa have connections to the case of the missing girl.\n\nAwards and nominations \nWhat Was Lost was the winner in the first novel category of the Costa Book Awards. O'Flynn received a £5,000 prize. It was short-listed for the overall Costa Book of the Year Award. The Costa Book Awards' judging panel, chaired by Joanna Trollope, praised the novel for \"blending humour and pathos in a cleverly constructed and absorbing mystery.\" They described the novel as inventive, compelling, and poignant.\n\nWhat Was Lost was long-listed for the 2007 Man Booker Prize and the Orange Prize for Fiction. It was short-listed for the Guardian First Book Award. It won the Jelf Group First Novel Award for which O'Flynn received a prize of £2,500. It was BBC Radio 5 Live's Book of the Month in March 2007.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \nExtract from What Was Lost.\n\n2007 British novels\nBritish mystery novels\nNovels set in Birmingham, West Midlands\nFiction set in 1984\nFiction set in 2004\n2007 debut novels"
] |
[
"Sue Townsend",
"Later life and career",
"Did she write any books during her later years?",
"The Queen and I",
"What is the book synopsis?",
"the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution,",
"Did the book sell well?",
"I don't know.",
"Where did she get the idea for this book?",
"infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they - the Royal Family - were, too.",
"Did she write any other books in her later life?",
"Queen Camilla",
"What was that book about?",
"Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing.\" A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla"
] |
C_ed1fbd1657e34f40863126a4a289ce4d_0
|
Was the book highly political?
| 7 |
Was The Queen and I book by Sue Townsend highly political?
|
Sue Townsend
|
The Queen and I (1992) is a novel imagining that the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution, although it turns out to have been merely the monarch's nightmare. Townsend had become a republican while a child. In an interview for The Independent published in September 1992 she related that after finding the idea of God a ridiculous idea, an argument in favour of the British monarchy also collapsed. "I was frightened that people believed in it all, the whole package, and I must be the only one with these feelings. It was a moment of revelation, but at the same time it would have been wicked ever to mention it." In addition, she was "being taught about infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they - the Royal Family - were, too." Like the first Mole book, The Queen and I was adapted for the stage with songs by Ian Dury and Mickey Gallagher. Michael Billington writes that Townsend "was ahead of the game" in treating the royal family as a suitable subject for drama. He writes: "Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing." A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla (2006), was less well received. On 25 February 2009, Leicester City Council announced that Townsend would be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester (where she lived). Townsend became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1993. Amongst her honours and awards, she received honorary doctorates from the University of Leicester, from Loughborough University and De Montfort University, Leicester. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Susan Lillian Townsend, FRSL (née Johnstone, 2 April 194610 April 2014), was an English writer and humorist whose work encompasses novels, plays and works of journalism. She was best known for creating the character Adrian Mole.
After writing in secret from the age of 14, Townsend first became known for her plays, her signature character first appearing in a radio drama, but her work soon expanded into other forms. She enjoyed great success in the 1980s, with her Adrian Mole books selling more copies than any other work of fiction in Britain during the decade. This series, which eventually encompassed nine books, takes the form of the character's diaries. The earliest books recount the life of a teenage boy during the Thatcher years, but the sequence eventually depicts Adrian Mole in middle age.
The Queen and I (1992), another popular work which was well received, was an outlet for her republican sentiments, although the Royal Family is still rendered with sympathy. Both the earliest Adrian Mole book and The Queen and I were adapted for the stage and enjoyed successful runs in London's West End.
Townsend was poor until well into her thirties, and used her experiences of hardship in her work. In her later years she suffered ill health, in part related to the diabetes she developed in the mid-1980s, and in her last years endured serious sight and mobility problems.
Early life
Townsend was born at the Maternity Hospital in Causeway Lane, Leicester, the oldest of three sisters. Her father had worked at a factory making jet engines before becoming a postman, while her mother worked in a factory canteen. She attended Glen Hills Primary School, where the school secretary was Mrs Claricotes, a name she used for the school secretary in the Adrian Mole books.
At the age of eight, Townsend contracted mumps, and was obliged to stay at home. Her mother bought a collection of Richmal Crompton's Just William books at a jumble sale which Townsend read avidly. Later, she said the William Brown character was an influence on her best-known creation.
After failing her 11-plus exam, Townsend went to the secondary modern South Wigston High School. During her childhood, while up a tree playing with her peers, she witnessed the murder of a fellow schoolgirl, but the children were not believed. The murder was committed by Joseph Christopher Reynolds (31), convicted at Leicester Assizes for the murder of Janet Warner, and hanged by Albert Pierrepoint on 17 November 1953. It was to be the last execution carried out at Leicester Prison.
First marriage and pre-writing career
Townsend left school at the age of 14 and worked in a variety of jobs including packer for Birds Eye, a petrol station attendant and a receptionist. Working at a petrol station allowed her the chance to read between serving customers.
She married Keith Townsend, a sheet metal worker on 25 April 1964; the couple had three children under five by the time Townsend was 23 (Sean, Daniel, and Victoria). In 1971 the marriage ended and she became a single parent. In this position, Townsend and her children endured considerable hardship. In Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State (1989), a short book in the Counterblasts series, she recounts an experience from when her eldest child was five. Because the Department of Social Security was unable to give her even 50p to tide them over, she was obliged to feed herself and her children on a tin of peas and an Oxo cube as an evening meal. Townsend would collect used Corona bottles, to redeem the 4p return fee by which to feed her children.
Aged 13, her son questioned one Sunday why they didn't go to animal parks on weekends like other families. She later recounted that it was the start of her writing which became the Adrian Mole books, looking at life through the clinical eyes of a teenager but in a comedic manner. Townsend then chose to research the world of teenagers, and started attending youth clubs as a volunteer organiser. This led to her training as a youth worker.
While employed as a supervisor at an adventure playground, she observed a man making canoes nearby and, because he was married, put off talking to him; it was a year before he asked her for a date. It was at a canoeing course she met her future second husband, Colin Broadway, who was the father of her fourth child, Elizabeth.
Townsend and Broadway married on 13 June 1986.
Transition to a writing career
Townsend's new partner encouraged her to join a writers' group at the Phoenix Theatre, Leicester, in 1978, when she was in her early thirties. Initially too shy to speak, she did not write anything for six weeks, but was then given a fortnight to write a play. This became the thirty-minute drama Womberang (1979), set in the waiting room of a gynaecology department. At the Phoenix, she became the writer-in-residence.
During this time she was mentored by several theatre directors including Ian Giles and principally Sue Pomeroy who commissioned and directed a number of her plays including Womberang, Dayroom, Groping for Words and subsequently Ear, Nose and Throat. She was also introduced to William Ash, then chairman of the Soho Poly (now Soho Theatre), who likewise played a significant part in shaping her early career. She met writer-director Carole Hayman on the stairs of the Soho Poly theatre and went on to develop many theatre pieces with her for the Royal Court and Joint Stock, including Bazarre and Rummage and The Great Celestial Cow. They later co-wrote two television series, The Refuge and The Spinney.
At the time of writing the first Adrian Mole book, Townsend was living on the Eyres Monsell Estate, near the house in which playwright Joe Orton was brought up. Mole "came into my head when my eldest son said 'Why don't we go to safari parks like other families do?' That's the only real line of dialogue from my family that's in any of the Mole books. It's in because it triggered it. I remembered that kind of whiny, adolescent self-pity, that 'surely these are not my parents.'"
Success of Adrian Mole
The first two published stories appeared in a short-lived arts' journal entitled magazine, in the editing and production of which Townsend was involved, featuring the character then still called Nigel Mole. Actor Nigel Bennett had given her help and encouragement to persist with the work and sent the script to John Tydeman, the deputy head of BBC Radio Drama. The character first came to national awareness in a single radio play, The Diary of Nigel Mole, Aged 13¼, broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on New Year's Day 1982.
Someone at the publishers Methuen heard the broadcast and commissioned Townsend to write the first book, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ which came out in September of The publisher insisted on the change of name because of the similarity to Nigel Molesworth, the schoolboy character created by Ronald Searle and Geoffrey Willans. A month after the book's appearance it had topped the best seller list and had sold a million copies after a year. Adapted as a play, the stage version premiered in Leicester and ran at Wyndham's Theatre for more than two years. The first two books were seen by many as a realistic and humorous treatment of the inner life of an adolescent boy. They also captured something of the zeitgeist of Britain during the Thatcher era.
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984) was reputedly based on her children's experiences at Mary Linwood Comprehensive School in Leicester. Several of the teachers who appear in the book (such as Ms Fossington-Gore and Mr Dock) are based on staff who worked at the school in the early 1980s. When the book was televised, it was mostly filmed at a different school nearby. Mary Linwood Comprehensive was closed in 1997.
These first two books were adapted into a television series, broadcast in 1985 and 1987, and a video game.
Later life and career
The Queen and I (1992) is a novel imagining that the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution, although it turns out to have been merely the monarch's nightmare. Townsend had become a republican while a child. In an interview for The Independent published in September 1992 she related that after finding the idea of God a ridiculous idea, an argument in favour of the British monarchy also collapsed. "I was frightened that people believed in it all, the whole package, and I must be the only one with these feelings. It was a moment of revelation, but at the same time it would have been wicked ever to mention it." In addition, she was "being taught about infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they – the Royal Family – were, too."
Like the first Mole book, The Queen and I was adapted for the stage with songs by Ian Dury and Mickey Gallagher. Michael Billington writes that Townsend "was ahead of the game" in treating the royal family as a suitable subject for drama. He writes: "Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing." A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla (2006), was less well received.
On 25 February 2009, Leicester City Council announced that Townsend would be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester (where she lived). Townsend became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1993. Amongst her honours and awards, she received honorary doctorates from the University of Leicester, from Loughborough University and De Montfort University, Leicester.
In 1991 Townsend appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Her chosen book was Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis and her luxury item was a swimming pool of champagne.
Political beliefs
In 1989 Townsend published Mr Bevan's Dream – Why Britain Needs its Welfare State, one of the series of Counterblast essays written by such authors as Paul Foot, Marina Warner and Fay Weldon which critiqued, either directly or indirectly the social consequences of Thatcherism.
She describes being "mesmerized" when seeing Aneurin Bevan, the prime mover of the British welfare state on television for the first time. The book consists of a series of short anecdotal stories which touch on ways in which the welfare and education systems of the day supported or (mostly) failed ordinary citizens. In "The Quick Birth", Townsend recalls the experience of giving birth to her first child, born prematurely but who survived thanks to the dedicated National Health Service staff at her local hospital in Leicester; "Community Care" deals with the treatment of vulnerable people with mental health issues; "Mr Smith's privatised penis", the final section, is a dystopian satire on a future where pavements, sunlight, fresh air and even lovemaking have been sold off to private enterprise.
"In this pamphlet, I have fallen back on the traditional working class method for expressing ideas – the anecdote, or what is now called the "oral tradition" (which is only a fancy term for working-class people talking to each other but not bothering to record what they've heard").
Townsend, in a 2009 Guardian interview with Alex Clark, described herself as a "passionate socialist" who had no time for New Labour. "I support the memory and the history of the party and I consider that these lot are interlopers", she told Clark. Despite these comments, Townsend said in 1999 that she had only voted Labour once, and in fact her preference was "Communist, Socialist Workers, or a minority party usually." The journalist Christina Patterson observed of Townsend in 2008: "Her heart, it's clear from her books and a few hours in her company, is still with the people she left behind, the people who go largely unchronicled in literature, the people who are still her friends."
Health problems
Townsend suffered ill health for several years. She was a chain smoker, had tuberculosis (TB), peritonitis at 23 and suffered a heart attack in her 30s. She developed diabetes in the 1980s. It was a condition with which she struggled, believing herself to be the "world's worst diabetic". The condition led to Townsend's being registered blind in 2001, and she wove this theme into her work.
After suffering kidney failure, she underwent dialysis and in September 2009 she received a kidney from her elder son Sean, after a two-year wait for a donor. She also had degenerative arthritis, which left her wheelchair-bound. By this time, she was dictating to Sean, who worked as her typist. Surgery was carried out at Leicester General Hospital and Townsend spoke to the BBC about her illness on an appeal for National Kidney Day.
Death
Townsend died at her home on 10 April 2014, eight days after her 68th birthday, following a stroke. Stephen Mangan, who portrayed Adrian Mole in the 2001 television adaptation, stated that he was "greatly upset to hear that Sue Townsend has died. One of the warmest, funniest and wisest people I ever met". Townsend was survived by her husband, four children and ten grandchildren.
Awards
Works
Adrian Mole series
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ (1982), her best-selling book, and the best-selling new British fiction book of the 1980s.
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984)
The True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole (1989)
Adrian Mole: From Minor to Major (1991) is an omnibus of the first three, and includes as a bonus the specially written Adrian Mole and the Small Amphibians.
Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years (1993)
Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years (1999)
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction (2004)
The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole, 1999–2001 (2008)
Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years (2009)
Other novels
Rebuilding Coventry (1988)
The Queen and I (1992), a story about the British Royal Family living a "normal" life on an urban housing estate following a republican revolution.
Ghost Children (1997), a novel treating the issues of bereavement, child abuse and women's self-esteem in relation to body image.
Number Ten (2002)
Queen Camilla (2006)
The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year (2012)
Plays
Womberang (Soho Poly – 1979)
The Ghost of Daniel Lambert (Leicester Haymarket Theatre, 1981) Theatre closed in January 2006
Dayroom (Croydon Warehouse Theatre, 1981)
Captain Christmas and the Evil Adults (Phoenix Arts Theatre, 1982) now known as the Sue Townsend Theatre
Bazaar and Rummage (Royal Court Theatre, 1982)
Groping for Words (Croydon Warehouse, 1983)
The Great Celestial Cow (Royal Court Theatre and tour, 1984)
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13-The Play (Leicester Phoenix, 1984) now known as Sue Townsend Theatre
Ear Nose And Throat (National large scale tour Good Company Theatre Productions, 1988)
Disneyland it Ain't (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 1989)
Ten Tiny Fingers, Nine Tiny Toes (Library Theatre, Manchester, 1989)
The Queen and I (Vaudeville Theatre, 1994; toured Australia in summer 1996 as The Royals Down Under)
Non-fiction
Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State (1989)
The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman (2001)
Footnotes
External links
Old Biography page
Penguin Site
British Council Contemporary Writers Site
1946 births
2014 deaths
Blind people from England
Blind writers
British republicans
English atheists
English children's writers
English humorists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Kidney transplant recipients
People from Leicester
English women writers
British social commentators
20th-century English women writers
20th-century English novelists
20th-century English dramatists and playwrights
Women humorists
| false |
[
"The Woman with the Whip is a 1952 biography of political leader and cultural icon Eva Perón. Published in England and the United States shortly after Eva Perón's death. It portraits Eva Perón in a highly critical light and is often dismissed by Perón supporters as lacking in historical value. The book, however was wildly popular and is still highly regarded by academics and considered a valuable work of journalism. The book is thought to be the basis for the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical Evita. However, the book was never officially credited as such, and Rice incorporated many other historical materials as background.\n\nThis book was not initially published in Argentina, because Juan Perón, Eva Perón's husband, was head of state at the time. During his regime freedom of speech was suppress and critics were detained. The author, Mary Main, used the pseudonym \"María Flores\" in the initial publication. Only after Perón death in the 1970's, was the book published with Mary Main's real name.\n\nMary Main was born in Argentina and later moved to the United States in 1941. She returned to Buenos Aires to write The Woman with the Whip where she conducted her researched and interviews covertly citing the strong government repression and fear for her life.\n\nMarysa Navarro, another of Eva biographer and author of Evita, is critical of Mary Main's book. Navarro argues that Main ignored the political, social and economical background of the period.\n\nReferences \n\nAnti-Peronism\nCultural depictions of Eva Perón",
"The Stalking of Julia Gillard is a book by former journalist and political commentator, Kerry-Anne Walsh, about Julia Gillard, the 2010–2013 Prime Minister of Australia, and the alleged attempts to oust her by \"Team Rudd\".\n\nPublication\nIn July 2013, the book was published ahead of schedule by Allen & Unwin because of Gillard's defeat in the leadership spill in June. The book alleges a campaign by the Rudd Team to oust Julia Gillard, and was highly praised in reviews.\n\nIn March 2014, the author was shortlisted for an Indie Award in the non-fiction category. In May that year, she won an Australian Book Industry Award in the non-fiction category.\n\nFilm\nIn November 2013, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Rachel Griffiths was to play Julia Gillard in a television drama based on the book. The film was to be produced by Richard Keddie who had made films about Australian political figures in the past. In 2015, it was reported by The Australian Financial Review that the Gillard film was scheduled for production later that year. The proposal for the film was rejected by the Australian television networks.\n\nReferences\n\n2013 non-fiction books\nAustralian non-fiction books\nAllen & Unwin books"
] |
[
"Sue Townsend",
"Later life and career",
"Did she write any books during her later years?",
"The Queen and I",
"What is the book synopsis?",
"the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution,",
"Did the book sell well?",
"I don't know.",
"Where did she get the idea for this book?",
"infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they - the Royal Family - were, too.",
"Did she write any other books in her later life?",
"Queen Camilla",
"What was that book about?",
"Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing.\" A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla",
"Was the book highly political?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_ed1fbd1657e34f40863126a4a289ce4d_0
|
Was Sue a political person?
| 8 |
Was Sue Townsend a political person?
|
Sue Townsend
|
The Queen and I (1992) is a novel imagining that the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution, although it turns out to have been merely the monarch's nightmare. Townsend had become a republican while a child. In an interview for The Independent published in September 1992 she related that after finding the idea of God a ridiculous idea, an argument in favour of the British monarchy also collapsed. "I was frightened that people believed in it all, the whole package, and I must be the only one with these feelings. It was a moment of revelation, but at the same time it would have been wicked ever to mention it." In addition, she was "being taught about infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they - the Royal Family - were, too." Like the first Mole book, The Queen and I was adapted for the stage with songs by Ian Dury and Mickey Gallagher. Michael Billington writes that Townsend "was ahead of the game" in treating the royal family as a suitable subject for drama. He writes: "Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing." A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla (2006), was less well received. On 25 February 2009, Leicester City Council announced that Townsend would be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester (where she lived). Townsend became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1993. Amongst her honours and awards, she received honorary doctorates from the University of Leicester, from Loughborough University and De Montfort University, Leicester. CANNOTANSWER
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Townsend had become a republican while a child.
|
Susan Lillian Townsend, FRSL (née Johnstone, 2 April 194610 April 2014), was an English writer and humorist whose work encompasses novels, plays and works of journalism. She was best known for creating the character Adrian Mole.
After writing in secret from the age of 14, Townsend first became known for her plays, her signature character first appearing in a radio drama, but her work soon expanded into other forms. She enjoyed great success in the 1980s, with her Adrian Mole books selling more copies than any other work of fiction in Britain during the decade. This series, which eventually encompassed nine books, takes the form of the character's diaries. The earliest books recount the life of a teenage boy during the Thatcher years, but the sequence eventually depicts Adrian Mole in middle age.
The Queen and I (1992), another popular work which was well received, was an outlet for her republican sentiments, although the Royal Family is still rendered with sympathy. Both the earliest Adrian Mole book and The Queen and I were adapted for the stage and enjoyed successful runs in London's West End.
Townsend was poor until well into her thirties, and used her experiences of hardship in her work. In her later years she suffered ill health, in part related to the diabetes she developed in the mid-1980s, and in her last years endured serious sight and mobility problems.
Early life
Townsend was born at the Maternity Hospital in Causeway Lane, Leicester, the oldest of three sisters. Her father had worked at a factory making jet engines before becoming a postman, while her mother worked in a factory canteen. She attended Glen Hills Primary School, where the school secretary was Mrs Claricotes, a name she used for the school secretary in the Adrian Mole books.
At the age of eight, Townsend contracted mumps, and was obliged to stay at home. Her mother bought a collection of Richmal Crompton's Just William books at a jumble sale which Townsend read avidly. Later, she said the William Brown character was an influence on her best-known creation.
After failing her 11-plus exam, Townsend went to the secondary modern South Wigston High School. During her childhood, while up a tree playing with her peers, she witnessed the murder of a fellow schoolgirl, but the children were not believed. The murder was committed by Joseph Christopher Reynolds (31), convicted at Leicester Assizes for the murder of Janet Warner, and hanged by Albert Pierrepoint on 17 November 1953. It was to be the last execution carried out at Leicester Prison.
First marriage and pre-writing career
Townsend left school at the age of 14 and worked in a variety of jobs including packer for Birds Eye, a petrol station attendant and a receptionist. Working at a petrol station allowed her the chance to read between serving customers.
She married Keith Townsend, a sheet metal worker on 25 April 1964; the couple had three children under five by the time Townsend was 23 (Sean, Daniel, and Victoria). In 1971 the marriage ended and she became a single parent. In this position, Townsend and her children endured considerable hardship. In Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State (1989), a short book in the Counterblasts series, she recounts an experience from when her eldest child was five. Because the Department of Social Security was unable to give her even 50p to tide them over, she was obliged to feed herself and her children on a tin of peas and an Oxo cube as an evening meal. Townsend would collect used Corona bottles, to redeem the 4p return fee by which to feed her children.
Aged 13, her son questioned one Sunday why they didn't go to animal parks on weekends like other families. She later recounted that it was the start of her writing which became the Adrian Mole books, looking at life through the clinical eyes of a teenager but in a comedic manner. Townsend then chose to research the world of teenagers, and started attending youth clubs as a volunteer organiser. This led to her training as a youth worker.
While employed as a supervisor at an adventure playground, she observed a man making canoes nearby and, because he was married, put off talking to him; it was a year before he asked her for a date. It was at a canoeing course she met her future second husband, Colin Broadway, who was the father of her fourth child, Elizabeth.
Townsend and Broadway married on 13 June 1986.
Transition to a writing career
Townsend's new partner encouraged her to join a writers' group at the Phoenix Theatre, Leicester, in 1978, when she was in her early thirties. Initially too shy to speak, she did not write anything for six weeks, but was then given a fortnight to write a play. This became the thirty-minute drama Womberang (1979), set in the waiting room of a gynaecology department. At the Phoenix, she became the writer-in-residence.
During this time she was mentored by several theatre directors including Ian Giles and principally Sue Pomeroy who commissioned and directed a number of her plays including Womberang, Dayroom, Groping for Words and subsequently Ear, Nose and Throat. She was also introduced to William Ash, then chairman of the Soho Poly (now Soho Theatre), who likewise played a significant part in shaping her early career. She met writer-director Carole Hayman on the stairs of the Soho Poly theatre and went on to develop many theatre pieces with her for the Royal Court and Joint Stock, including Bazarre and Rummage and The Great Celestial Cow. They later co-wrote two television series, The Refuge and The Spinney.
At the time of writing the first Adrian Mole book, Townsend was living on the Eyres Monsell Estate, near the house in which playwright Joe Orton was brought up. Mole "came into my head when my eldest son said 'Why don't we go to safari parks like other families do?' That's the only real line of dialogue from my family that's in any of the Mole books. It's in because it triggered it. I remembered that kind of whiny, adolescent self-pity, that 'surely these are not my parents.'"
Success of Adrian Mole
The first two published stories appeared in a short-lived arts' journal entitled magazine, in the editing and production of which Townsend was involved, featuring the character then still called Nigel Mole. Actor Nigel Bennett had given her help and encouragement to persist with the work and sent the script to John Tydeman, the deputy head of BBC Radio Drama. The character first came to national awareness in a single radio play, The Diary of Nigel Mole, Aged 13¼, broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on New Year's Day 1982.
Someone at the publishers Methuen heard the broadcast and commissioned Townsend to write the first book, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ which came out in September of The publisher insisted on the change of name because of the similarity to Nigel Molesworth, the schoolboy character created by Ronald Searle and Geoffrey Willans. A month after the book's appearance it had topped the best seller list and had sold a million copies after a year. Adapted as a play, the stage version premiered in Leicester and ran at Wyndham's Theatre for more than two years. The first two books were seen by many as a realistic and humorous treatment of the inner life of an adolescent boy. They also captured something of the zeitgeist of Britain during the Thatcher era.
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984) was reputedly based on her children's experiences at Mary Linwood Comprehensive School in Leicester. Several of the teachers who appear in the book (such as Ms Fossington-Gore and Mr Dock) are based on staff who worked at the school in the early 1980s. When the book was televised, it was mostly filmed at a different school nearby. Mary Linwood Comprehensive was closed in 1997.
These first two books were adapted into a television series, broadcast in 1985 and 1987, and a video game.
Later life and career
The Queen and I (1992) is a novel imagining that the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution, although it turns out to have been merely the monarch's nightmare. Townsend had become a republican while a child. In an interview for The Independent published in September 1992 she related that after finding the idea of God a ridiculous idea, an argument in favour of the British monarchy also collapsed. "I was frightened that people believed in it all, the whole package, and I must be the only one with these feelings. It was a moment of revelation, but at the same time it would have been wicked ever to mention it." In addition, she was "being taught about infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they – the Royal Family – were, too."
Like the first Mole book, The Queen and I was adapted for the stage with songs by Ian Dury and Mickey Gallagher. Michael Billington writes that Townsend "was ahead of the game" in treating the royal family as a suitable subject for drama. He writes: "Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing." A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla (2006), was less well received.
On 25 February 2009, Leicester City Council announced that Townsend would be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester (where she lived). Townsend became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1993. Amongst her honours and awards, she received honorary doctorates from the University of Leicester, from Loughborough University and De Montfort University, Leicester.
In 1991 Townsend appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Her chosen book was Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis and her luxury item was a swimming pool of champagne.
Political beliefs
In 1989 Townsend published Mr Bevan's Dream – Why Britain Needs its Welfare State, one of the series of Counterblast essays written by such authors as Paul Foot, Marina Warner and Fay Weldon which critiqued, either directly or indirectly the social consequences of Thatcherism.
She describes being "mesmerized" when seeing Aneurin Bevan, the prime mover of the British welfare state on television for the first time. The book consists of a series of short anecdotal stories which touch on ways in which the welfare and education systems of the day supported or (mostly) failed ordinary citizens. In "The Quick Birth", Townsend recalls the experience of giving birth to her first child, born prematurely but who survived thanks to the dedicated National Health Service staff at her local hospital in Leicester; "Community Care" deals with the treatment of vulnerable people with mental health issues; "Mr Smith's privatised penis", the final section, is a dystopian satire on a future where pavements, sunlight, fresh air and even lovemaking have been sold off to private enterprise.
"In this pamphlet, I have fallen back on the traditional working class method for expressing ideas – the anecdote, or what is now called the "oral tradition" (which is only a fancy term for working-class people talking to each other but not bothering to record what they've heard").
Townsend, in a 2009 Guardian interview with Alex Clark, described herself as a "passionate socialist" who had no time for New Labour. "I support the memory and the history of the party and I consider that these lot are interlopers", she told Clark. Despite these comments, Townsend said in 1999 that she had only voted Labour once, and in fact her preference was "Communist, Socialist Workers, or a minority party usually." The journalist Christina Patterson observed of Townsend in 2008: "Her heart, it's clear from her books and a few hours in her company, is still with the people she left behind, the people who go largely unchronicled in literature, the people who are still her friends."
Health problems
Townsend suffered ill health for several years. She was a chain smoker, had tuberculosis (TB), peritonitis at 23 and suffered a heart attack in her 30s. She developed diabetes in the 1980s. It was a condition with which she struggled, believing herself to be the "world's worst diabetic". The condition led to Townsend's being registered blind in 2001, and she wove this theme into her work.
After suffering kidney failure, she underwent dialysis and in September 2009 she received a kidney from her elder son Sean, after a two-year wait for a donor. She also had degenerative arthritis, which left her wheelchair-bound. By this time, she was dictating to Sean, who worked as her typist. Surgery was carried out at Leicester General Hospital and Townsend spoke to the BBC about her illness on an appeal for National Kidney Day.
Death
Townsend died at her home on 10 April 2014, eight days after her 68th birthday, following a stroke. Stephen Mangan, who portrayed Adrian Mole in the 2001 television adaptation, stated that he was "greatly upset to hear that Sue Townsend has died. One of the warmest, funniest and wisest people I ever met". Townsend was survived by her husband, four children and ten grandchildren.
Awards
Works
Adrian Mole series
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ (1982), her best-selling book, and the best-selling new British fiction book of the 1980s.
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984)
The True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole (1989)
Adrian Mole: From Minor to Major (1991) is an omnibus of the first three, and includes as a bonus the specially written Adrian Mole and the Small Amphibians.
Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years (1993)
Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years (1999)
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction (2004)
The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole, 1999–2001 (2008)
Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years (2009)
Other novels
Rebuilding Coventry (1988)
The Queen and I (1992), a story about the British Royal Family living a "normal" life on an urban housing estate following a republican revolution.
Ghost Children (1997), a novel treating the issues of bereavement, child abuse and women's self-esteem in relation to body image.
Number Ten (2002)
Queen Camilla (2006)
The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year (2012)
Plays
Womberang (Soho Poly – 1979)
The Ghost of Daniel Lambert (Leicester Haymarket Theatre, 1981) Theatre closed in January 2006
Dayroom (Croydon Warehouse Theatre, 1981)
Captain Christmas and the Evil Adults (Phoenix Arts Theatre, 1982) now known as the Sue Townsend Theatre
Bazaar and Rummage (Royal Court Theatre, 1982)
Groping for Words (Croydon Warehouse, 1983)
The Great Celestial Cow (Royal Court Theatre and tour, 1984)
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13-The Play (Leicester Phoenix, 1984) now known as Sue Townsend Theatre
Ear Nose And Throat (National large scale tour Good Company Theatre Productions, 1988)
Disneyland it Ain't (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 1989)
Ten Tiny Fingers, Nine Tiny Toes (Library Theatre, Manchester, 1989)
The Queen and I (Vaudeville Theatre, 1994; toured Australia in summer 1996 as The Royals Down Under)
Non-fiction
Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State (1989)
The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman (2001)
Footnotes
External links
Old Biography page
Penguin Site
British Council Contemporary Writers Site
1946 births
2014 deaths
Blind people from England
Blind writers
British republicans
English atheists
English children's writers
English humorists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Kidney transplant recipients
People from Leicester
English women writers
British social commentators
20th-century English women writers
20th-century English novelists
20th-century English dramatists and playwrights
Women humorists
| true |
[
"Brenda Sue Brown (May 15, 1955 – July 27, 1966) was an 11-year-old girl who was abducted and murdered. Her body was found by rescue workers in a wooded area near downtown Shelby, North Carolina. With no leads and insufficient evidence to make an arrest, the murder became a cold case.\n\nThe case remained cold until a series of newspaper articles 40 years later brought forth new evidence in the spring of 2006.\n\nEvents of July 27, 1966\nAfter a morning of arguing over a powder-puff compact with her younger sisters, Brenda Sue was asked to walk her 6-year-old sister, Patricia, two blocks to a Head Start class. This was the last time Brenda Sue was seen alive.\n\nAt 10:15 a.m. Brenda Sue's mother, Gladys Brown, began a door-to-door search. Brown drove through her neighborhood, asking neighbors and passing motorists if they had seen the girl. An hour later, a search team was formed by members of the Shelby Rescue Squad.\n\nAt 6:45 p.m. Brenda Sue's nude body was found in a wooded area 150 feet from South Lafayette Street and not far from her home. Her body was covered with freshly cut tree limbs, leaves, and brush. The red and white dress she had been wearing was folded neatly and placed atop the brush. A bloody rock was found nearby.\n\nInvestigation\nAuthorities determined that Brenda Sue had been beaten to death with the rock found nearby. Her skull had been fractured in twelve places. Police reported that, although the body was nude, she had not been raped.\n\nPolice believed the killer was on foot because, due to heavy traffic on South Lafayette Street, he would not have been able to get out of a car and force the girl into the woods without being seen.\n\nAt the time, police had several suspects. These included an unidentified bald white man who had exposed himself to Brenda Sue's sister a few days earlier, and a 13-year-old, mentally disabled, black boy named Robert Roseboro.\n\nThe unidentified white man who exposed himself could not be found.\n\nRobert Roseboro was briefly questioned by police. When officer Harold Smith questioned him, Roseboro remained silent. \"He wouldn't answer. He just sat there. Roseboro´s silence made him more suspicious,\" Smith said.\n\nRoseboro lived a few hundred yards from where Brenda Sue's body was found. That, along with his refusal to answer questions, made him a suspect, Smith said.\n\nThe public was baffled as to why Roseboro, who was seen in the area on the morning of Brenda Sue's murder, was not interrogated further by police.\nPeople theorized that Roseboro may have been protected by a local crime syndicate which dominated the town of Shelby in the 1960s.\n\n\"We just didn't have enough evidence on him. We had to let him go,\" Smith said. He said that he and other investigators believed Roseboro had killed Brenda Sue.\n\nWhen the case was reopened in 2005, detectives visited Roseboro in prison, but he refused to talk about the case.\n\nRobert Roseboro was convicted in May 1969 of the 1968 murder of Mary Helen Williams of Shelby, whose murder was similar to that of Brenda Sue.\n\nMurder of Mary Helen Williams\nAt 11:30 a.m. on June 22, 1968, a woman and her daughter arrived at Mary's Cannon Towel Outlet. This was Mary Helen Williams's business, located on Dixon Boulevard in Shelby. There they saw a \"CLOSED\" sign hanging in a window.\n\nThe daughter looked in the window and saw a woman lying on the floor covered in blood. Shelby police were called to the business, where Robert Roseboro walked out with his hands in the air. Mary Helen Williams was found nude, with her body beaten and stabbed by a pair of scissors. The county coroner later said that, though Mrs. Williams was found nude, she had not been raped. In the store's restroom, police found Mrs. Williams's dress and underwear.\n\nAt the time of Williams's murder, racial segregation was intense in Shelby. Rumors of the Ku Klux Klan threatening to harm Roseboro were taken so seriously that he was secretly transferred to a jail in a nearby county until his trial in 1969.\n\nDuring the two-day murder trial, a pathologist testified that blood found on Roseboro's clothes was type \"A,\" which matched Mrs. Williams's blood type. Roseboro denied killing Mrs. Williams, saying that police lied about the investigation and that he would have had no motive for the murder because there had been no rape or robbery. He drew maps of where he was in the building when police arrived and explained how Mrs. Williams's blood had gotten onto his clothes.\n\nRoseboro was found guilty of murdering Mary Helen Williams and was sentenced to death. However, his sentence was reduced to life in prison. Because of the similarities between this case and the Brenda Sue Brown murder, it became a common local belief that Roseboro had killed both of them.\n\nIn February 2010, Roseboro was subpoenaed to a Cleveland County hearing to determine if enough evidence existed in the Brenda Sue Brown murder case to bring suspect Thurman Price to trial.\nDuring his testimony, which lasted less than ten minutes, Roseboro denied killing Brenda Sue. He said he did not know who did it, and had no memory of the day she was murdered. He said, \"You're talking about something forty years ago. How would I recall something that long ago?\"\n\nReopening of Brenda Sue's case\nIn 2005, Brenda Sue Brown's sisters, Patricia Buff and Mary McSwain, spent months asking the Shelby Police Department to reopen her case. Officers told them that the case files were missing.\n\nAfter four days of searching through files in storage, the files were found in an unmarked box along with the files of the Mary Helen Williams murder case. However, much evidence was missing, including Brenda Sue's dress, underwear, shoes, her powder-puff compact, the rock that was used to kill her, two vials of blood, fingernail scrapings, branches, and a hair sample.\n\nAccording to police records, Sheriff Allen was the last person in possession of this evidence after he had retrieved it from the State Bureau of Investigation in Raleigh, North Carolina, in August 1966. The only physical evidence still available was a bloody palm print that was taken from Brenda Sue's shoe in 1966.\n\nOn May 15, 2006, Brenda Sue's body was exhumed from the Spring Hill Church Road Cemetery in Lillington, North Carolina, and examined for any available evidence. The wooden casket in which she was buried had disintegrated, and only a few bones remained. On May 21, 2006, a public memorial service was held, and Brenda Sue's remains were laid to rest in Sunset Cemetery in Shelby, North Carolina.\n\nArrest of Thurman Price in 2007\nIn the spring of 2006, the Shelby, North Carolina, newspaper, The Shelby Star, ran a 13-part 40th anniversary series about the Brenda Sue Brown murder.\n\nShortly thereafter, Lori Lail came forward to police and claimed that her grandfather, Earl Mickey Parker, had told her shortly before his death (on June 26, 2002) that he and a man named Thurman Price had killed Brenda Sue.\n\nOn February 12, 2007, the Shelby police arrested Thurman Price, 79, on a first-degree murder charge. Price's home is located close to where Brenda Sue's body was found. It is unclear whether Price lived there in July 1966. According to county records, Price did not purchase the house until 1973. He was released from jail on February 16, 2007, on $50,000 bond and denies any involvement in the murder of Brenda Sue.\n\nThe indictment indicated that Earl Mickey Parker had described in detail how Brenda Sue was killed and, according to authorities, his confession to his granddaughter is consistent with evidence found at the crime scene in July 1966. According to court records, Lori Lail called the family of Brenda Sue Brown on April 3, 2006, and told Brenda Sue's sister that the killer was Thurman Price but did not mention her grandfather's involvement.\n\nOn May 10, 2007, Earl Mickey Parker's body was exhumed from Sunset Cemetery in Shelby to see if his palm print matched the bloody palm print found on Brenda Sue's shoe. The results of this test were inconclusive because the hands of the body were too deteriorated to get a print.\n\nCriminal records of Parker and Price\nIn 1954, Parker, 26, and Price, 25, had been indicted together for the rape of Shirley Morrison, a 12-year-old girl, in Patterson Springs, North Carolina. In January 1955, the men pleaded guilty to assault to commit rape. According to court records, Parker and Price were each given a 3-5 year suspended prison sentence, ordered to keep a job, not to drink alcohol, and to pay court costs of $240.\n\n The Deathbed Confession\nOn February 9, 2010, a Cleveland County judge ruled that Earl Mickey Parker's deathbed confession and Lail's testimony would be admitted evidence at trial. Lori Lail testified at the hearing that in June 2002 her grandfather, Earl Mickey Parker, told her on his deathbed that he and Thurman Price killed Brenda Sue Brown in 1966.\n\nThurman Price maintained his innocence until his death on August 4, 2012, while still awaiting trial.\n\nAccording to Lail, she was alone with her grandfather in his hospital room at Cleveland Regional Medical Center in Shelby when he told her, \"I've done some bad things with my life and before I can move on I need to get them off my chest\". Lail recalled the story her grandfather told her:\n\nIn media\nThe Brenda Sue Brown murder mystery has been profiled on several crime shows, including the Oxygen Channel's \"Captured\" on November 11, 2007.\n\nSee also\nList of solved missing person cases\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1955 births\n1966 deaths\n1960s missing person cases\n1966 in North Carolina\n1966 murders in the United States\nDeaths by beating in the United States\nDeaths by person in the United States\nFemale murder victims\nFormerly missing people\nJuly 1966 events in the United States\nKidnapped American children\nMissing person cases in North Carolina\nMurdered American children\nPeople from Shelby, North Carolina\nPeople murdered in North Carolina\nIncidents of violence against girls",
"Junior Rotter was a British comic strip, created by Trevor Metcalfe in 1980. The series were originally published in the magazine Whizzer and Chips, and from 1990 on in Buster when the two magazines merged.\n\nConcept\n\nJunior Rotter was a spoof of J.R. Ewing, the breakout character from the TV soap opera Dallas. His sister, Sue Helen, is a parody of Sue Ellen, from that same series. Except for their names it had nothing else to do with this soap opera. Junior Rotter and Sue Helen were sibling rivals. Rotter was a bad boy, while Sue was a decent, charming and helpful person whom he tried to trick, always failing in the end. Their rivalry often extended into an all-out conflict. The final issue of Buster included a page showing the ultimate fates of the characters; Junior Rotter was shown as becoming the Prime Minister.\n\nSimilar characters\n\nA similar character, also loosely based on the character from Dallas, named Jay R Hood appeared in rival publisher DC Thomson's Nutty coincidentally. This strip also featured a character named Sue Helen who acts as Jay R's most common victim.\n\nSources\n\nBritish comics characters\n1980 comics debuts\nComics characters introduced in 1980\n2000 comics endings\nChild characters in comics\nGag-a-day comics\nFictional British people\nFictional tricksters"
] |
[
"Sue Townsend",
"Later life and career",
"Did she write any books during her later years?",
"The Queen and I",
"What is the book synopsis?",
"the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution,",
"Did the book sell well?",
"I don't know.",
"Where did she get the idea for this book?",
"infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they - the Royal Family - were, too.",
"Did she write any other books in her later life?",
"Queen Camilla",
"What was that book about?",
"Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing.\" A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla",
"Was the book highly political?",
"I don't know.",
"Was Sue a political person?",
"Townsend had become a republican while a child."
] |
C_ed1fbd1657e34f40863126a4a289ce4d_0
|
Did she write many books regarding politics?
| 9 |
Did Sue Townsend write many books regarding politics?
|
Sue Townsend
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The Queen and I (1992) is a novel imagining that the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution, although it turns out to have been merely the monarch's nightmare. Townsend had become a republican while a child. In an interview for The Independent published in September 1992 she related that after finding the idea of God a ridiculous idea, an argument in favour of the British monarchy also collapsed. "I was frightened that people believed in it all, the whole package, and I must be the only one with these feelings. It was a moment of revelation, but at the same time it would have been wicked ever to mention it." In addition, she was "being taught about infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they - the Royal Family - were, too." Like the first Mole book, The Queen and I was adapted for the stage with songs by Ian Dury and Mickey Gallagher. Michael Billington writes that Townsend "was ahead of the game" in treating the royal family as a suitable subject for drama. He writes: "Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing." A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla (2006), was less well received. On 25 February 2009, Leicester City Council announced that Townsend would be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester (where she lived). Townsend became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1993. Amongst her honours and awards, she received honorary doctorates from the University of Leicester, from Loughborough University and De Montfort University, Leicester. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Susan Lillian Townsend, FRSL (née Johnstone, 2 April 194610 April 2014), was an English writer and humorist whose work encompasses novels, plays and works of journalism. She was best known for creating the character Adrian Mole.
After writing in secret from the age of 14, Townsend first became known for her plays, her signature character first appearing in a radio drama, but her work soon expanded into other forms. She enjoyed great success in the 1980s, with her Adrian Mole books selling more copies than any other work of fiction in Britain during the decade. This series, which eventually encompassed nine books, takes the form of the character's diaries. The earliest books recount the life of a teenage boy during the Thatcher years, but the sequence eventually depicts Adrian Mole in middle age.
The Queen and I (1992), another popular work which was well received, was an outlet for her republican sentiments, although the Royal Family is still rendered with sympathy. Both the earliest Adrian Mole book and The Queen and I were adapted for the stage and enjoyed successful runs in London's West End.
Townsend was poor until well into her thirties, and used her experiences of hardship in her work. In her later years she suffered ill health, in part related to the diabetes she developed in the mid-1980s, and in her last years endured serious sight and mobility problems.
Early life
Townsend was born at the Maternity Hospital in Causeway Lane, Leicester, the oldest of three sisters. Her father had worked at a factory making jet engines before becoming a postman, while her mother worked in a factory canteen. She attended Glen Hills Primary School, where the school secretary was Mrs Claricotes, a name she used for the school secretary in the Adrian Mole books.
At the age of eight, Townsend contracted mumps, and was obliged to stay at home. Her mother bought a collection of Richmal Crompton's Just William books at a jumble sale which Townsend read avidly. Later, she said the William Brown character was an influence on her best-known creation.
After failing her 11-plus exam, Townsend went to the secondary modern South Wigston High School. During her childhood, while up a tree playing with her peers, she witnessed the murder of a fellow schoolgirl, but the children were not believed. The murder was committed by Joseph Christopher Reynolds (31), convicted at Leicester Assizes for the murder of Janet Warner, and hanged by Albert Pierrepoint on 17 November 1953. It was to be the last execution carried out at Leicester Prison.
First marriage and pre-writing career
Townsend left school at the age of 14 and worked in a variety of jobs including packer for Birds Eye, a petrol station attendant and a receptionist. Working at a petrol station allowed her the chance to read between serving customers.
She married Keith Townsend, a sheet metal worker on 25 April 1964; the couple had three children under five by the time Townsend was 23 (Sean, Daniel, and Victoria). In 1971 the marriage ended and she became a single parent. In this position, Townsend and her children endured considerable hardship. In Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State (1989), a short book in the Counterblasts series, she recounts an experience from when her eldest child was five. Because the Department of Social Security was unable to give her even 50p to tide them over, she was obliged to feed herself and her children on a tin of peas and an Oxo cube as an evening meal. Townsend would collect used Corona bottles, to redeem the 4p return fee by which to feed her children.
Aged 13, her son questioned one Sunday why they didn't go to animal parks on weekends like other families. She later recounted that it was the start of her writing which became the Adrian Mole books, looking at life through the clinical eyes of a teenager but in a comedic manner. Townsend then chose to research the world of teenagers, and started attending youth clubs as a volunteer organiser. This led to her training as a youth worker.
While employed as a supervisor at an adventure playground, she observed a man making canoes nearby and, because he was married, put off talking to him; it was a year before he asked her for a date. It was at a canoeing course she met her future second husband, Colin Broadway, who was the father of her fourth child, Elizabeth.
Townsend and Broadway married on 13 June 1986.
Transition to a writing career
Townsend's new partner encouraged her to join a writers' group at the Phoenix Theatre, Leicester, in 1978, when she was in her early thirties. Initially too shy to speak, she did not write anything for six weeks, but was then given a fortnight to write a play. This became the thirty-minute drama Womberang (1979), set in the waiting room of a gynaecology department. At the Phoenix, she became the writer-in-residence.
During this time she was mentored by several theatre directors including Ian Giles and principally Sue Pomeroy who commissioned and directed a number of her plays including Womberang, Dayroom, Groping for Words and subsequently Ear, Nose and Throat. She was also introduced to William Ash, then chairman of the Soho Poly (now Soho Theatre), who likewise played a significant part in shaping her early career. She met writer-director Carole Hayman on the stairs of the Soho Poly theatre and went on to develop many theatre pieces with her for the Royal Court and Joint Stock, including Bazarre and Rummage and The Great Celestial Cow. They later co-wrote two television series, The Refuge and The Spinney.
At the time of writing the first Adrian Mole book, Townsend was living on the Eyres Monsell Estate, near the house in which playwright Joe Orton was brought up. Mole "came into my head when my eldest son said 'Why don't we go to safari parks like other families do?' That's the only real line of dialogue from my family that's in any of the Mole books. It's in because it triggered it. I remembered that kind of whiny, adolescent self-pity, that 'surely these are not my parents.'"
Success of Adrian Mole
The first two published stories appeared in a short-lived arts' journal entitled magazine, in the editing and production of which Townsend was involved, featuring the character then still called Nigel Mole. Actor Nigel Bennett had given her help and encouragement to persist with the work and sent the script to John Tydeman, the deputy head of BBC Radio Drama. The character first came to national awareness in a single radio play, The Diary of Nigel Mole, Aged 13¼, broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on New Year's Day 1982.
Someone at the publishers Methuen heard the broadcast and commissioned Townsend to write the first book, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ which came out in September of The publisher insisted on the change of name because of the similarity to Nigel Molesworth, the schoolboy character created by Ronald Searle and Geoffrey Willans. A month after the book's appearance it had topped the best seller list and had sold a million copies after a year. Adapted as a play, the stage version premiered in Leicester and ran at Wyndham's Theatre for more than two years. The first two books were seen by many as a realistic and humorous treatment of the inner life of an adolescent boy. They also captured something of the zeitgeist of Britain during the Thatcher era.
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984) was reputedly based on her children's experiences at Mary Linwood Comprehensive School in Leicester. Several of the teachers who appear in the book (such as Ms Fossington-Gore and Mr Dock) are based on staff who worked at the school in the early 1980s. When the book was televised, it was mostly filmed at a different school nearby. Mary Linwood Comprehensive was closed in 1997.
These first two books were adapted into a television series, broadcast in 1985 and 1987, and a video game.
Later life and career
The Queen and I (1992) is a novel imagining that the Royal family have been rehoused in a council estate after a Republican revolution, although it turns out to have been merely the monarch's nightmare. Townsend had become a republican while a child. In an interview for The Independent published in September 1992 she related that after finding the idea of God a ridiculous idea, an argument in favour of the British monarchy also collapsed. "I was frightened that people believed in it all, the whole package, and I must be the only one with these feelings. It was a moment of revelation, but at the same time it would have been wicked ever to mention it." In addition, she was "being taught about infinity, which I found mind-boggling. It made me feel we were all tiny, tiny specks: and if I was, then they – the Royal Family – were, too."
Like the first Mole book, The Queen and I was adapted for the stage with songs by Ian Dury and Mickey Gallagher. Michael Billington writes that Townsend "was ahead of the game" in treating the royal family as a suitable subject for drama. He writes: "Far from seeming like a piece of republican propaganda, the play actually made the royals endearing." A later book in a similar vein, Queen Camilla (2006), was less well received.
On 25 February 2009, Leicester City Council announced that Townsend would be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester (where she lived). Townsend became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1993. Amongst her honours and awards, she received honorary doctorates from the University of Leicester, from Loughborough University and De Montfort University, Leicester.
In 1991 Townsend appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Her chosen book was Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis and her luxury item was a swimming pool of champagne.
Political beliefs
In 1989 Townsend published Mr Bevan's Dream – Why Britain Needs its Welfare State, one of the series of Counterblast essays written by such authors as Paul Foot, Marina Warner and Fay Weldon which critiqued, either directly or indirectly the social consequences of Thatcherism.
She describes being "mesmerized" when seeing Aneurin Bevan, the prime mover of the British welfare state on television for the first time. The book consists of a series of short anecdotal stories which touch on ways in which the welfare and education systems of the day supported or (mostly) failed ordinary citizens. In "The Quick Birth", Townsend recalls the experience of giving birth to her first child, born prematurely but who survived thanks to the dedicated National Health Service staff at her local hospital in Leicester; "Community Care" deals with the treatment of vulnerable people with mental health issues; "Mr Smith's privatised penis", the final section, is a dystopian satire on a future where pavements, sunlight, fresh air and even lovemaking have been sold off to private enterprise.
"In this pamphlet, I have fallen back on the traditional working class method for expressing ideas – the anecdote, or what is now called the "oral tradition" (which is only a fancy term for working-class people talking to each other but not bothering to record what they've heard").
Townsend, in a 2009 Guardian interview with Alex Clark, described herself as a "passionate socialist" who had no time for New Labour. "I support the memory and the history of the party and I consider that these lot are interlopers", she told Clark. Despite these comments, Townsend said in 1999 that she had only voted Labour once, and in fact her preference was "Communist, Socialist Workers, or a minority party usually." The journalist Christina Patterson observed of Townsend in 2008: "Her heart, it's clear from her books and a few hours in her company, is still with the people she left behind, the people who go largely unchronicled in literature, the people who are still her friends."
Health problems
Townsend suffered ill health for several years. She was a chain smoker, had tuberculosis (TB), peritonitis at 23 and suffered a heart attack in her 30s. She developed diabetes in the 1980s. It was a condition with which she struggled, believing herself to be the "world's worst diabetic". The condition led to Townsend's being registered blind in 2001, and she wove this theme into her work.
After suffering kidney failure, she underwent dialysis and in September 2009 she received a kidney from her elder son Sean, after a two-year wait for a donor. She also had degenerative arthritis, which left her wheelchair-bound. By this time, she was dictating to Sean, who worked as her typist. Surgery was carried out at Leicester General Hospital and Townsend spoke to the BBC about her illness on an appeal for National Kidney Day.
Death
Townsend died at her home on 10 April 2014, eight days after her 68th birthday, following a stroke. Stephen Mangan, who portrayed Adrian Mole in the 2001 television adaptation, stated that he was "greatly upset to hear that Sue Townsend has died. One of the warmest, funniest and wisest people I ever met". Townsend was survived by her husband, four children and ten grandchildren.
Awards
Works
Adrian Mole series
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ (1982), her best-selling book, and the best-selling new British fiction book of the 1980s.
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984)
The True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole (1989)
Adrian Mole: From Minor to Major (1991) is an omnibus of the first three, and includes as a bonus the specially written Adrian Mole and the Small Amphibians.
Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years (1993)
Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years (1999)
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction (2004)
The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole, 1999–2001 (2008)
Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years (2009)
Other novels
Rebuilding Coventry (1988)
The Queen and I (1992), a story about the British Royal Family living a "normal" life on an urban housing estate following a republican revolution.
Ghost Children (1997), a novel treating the issues of bereavement, child abuse and women's self-esteem in relation to body image.
Number Ten (2002)
Queen Camilla (2006)
The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year (2012)
Plays
Womberang (Soho Poly – 1979)
The Ghost of Daniel Lambert (Leicester Haymarket Theatre, 1981) Theatre closed in January 2006
Dayroom (Croydon Warehouse Theatre, 1981)
Captain Christmas and the Evil Adults (Phoenix Arts Theatre, 1982) now known as the Sue Townsend Theatre
Bazaar and Rummage (Royal Court Theatre, 1982)
Groping for Words (Croydon Warehouse, 1983)
The Great Celestial Cow (Royal Court Theatre and tour, 1984)
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13-The Play (Leicester Phoenix, 1984) now known as Sue Townsend Theatre
Ear Nose And Throat (National large scale tour Good Company Theatre Productions, 1988)
Disneyland it Ain't (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 1989)
Ten Tiny Fingers, Nine Tiny Toes (Library Theatre, Manchester, 1989)
The Queen and I (Vaudeville Theatre, 1994; toured Australia in summer 1996 as The Royals Down Under)
Non-fiction
Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State (1989)
The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman (2001)
Footnotes
External links
Old Biography page
Penguin Site
British Council Contemporary Writers Site
1946 births
2014 deaths
Blind people from England
Blind writers
British republicans
English atheists
English children's writers
English humorists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Kidney transplant recipients
People from Leicester
English women writers
British social commentators
20th-century English women writers
20th-century English novelists
20th-century English dramatists and playwrights
Women humorists
| false |
[
"Interventions is a book by Noam Chomsky, an American academic linguist and political activist. Published in May 2007, Interventions is a collection of 44 op-ed articles, post-9/11, from September 2002, through March 2007. The book's subjects span from 9/11 and the Iraq War to social security and intelligent design, South America and Asia, the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the election of Hamas, Hurricane Katrina, and the US concept of \"just war\". The Pentagon banned the book from its Guantanamo Bay prison because it might negatively \"impact... good order and discipline.\" Chomsky replied that, \"This happens sometimes in totalitarian regimes.\"\n\nBackground\nChomsky was first approached to write an op-ed column for the New York Times Syndicate on the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the basis of his work 9/11 (2001). The international attention garnered by the subsequent column, entitled \"9-11: Lessons Unlearned,\" convinced the publishers to commission Chomsky to write roughly 1,000 words a month which they would then distribute as op-ed pieces. These columns were syndicated overseas, but rarely licensed in the United States; The New York Times itself did not publish them. A second volume of these, collecting columns from April 2, 2007 to October 31, 2011, was published as Making the Future (2012).\n\nSee also\n September 11 attacks\n Interventionism (politics)\n Foreign policy of the United States\n\nSources\n\nExternal links\n Interventions\n\n2007 non-fiction books\nBooks about foreign relations of the United States\nBooks about politics of the United States\nBooks by Noam Chomsky\nNon-fiction books about war\nHamish Hamilton books\nCity Lights Publishers books",
"World Organization for Islamic Services or WOFIS is an Iranian, Tehran based Shi'a Twelver publishing company.\n\nThey translate, research and write original Islamic books regarding hadith, Tafsir and the history of Islam as well as other Shi'a topics.\n\nSeveral of their publications are available on Google Books\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nhttp://www.wofis.com/\n\nIslamic publishing companies"
] |
[
"Opeth",
"Formation (1989-1993)"
] |
C_ecf88860a0724b1298539ec6634811b9_1
|
What took place during the years 1989-1993?
| 1 |
What took place during the years 1989-1993?
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Opeth
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Opeth was formed as a death metal band in 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden, by lead vocalist David Isberg. Isberg asked former Eruption band member Mikael Akerfeldt (just 16 years old at the time) to join Opeth as a bassist. When Akerfeldt showed up to practice on the day after Isberg invited him, it became clear that Isberg had not told the band members, including the band's current bassist, that Akerfeldt would be joining. An ensuing argument led to all members but Isberg and Akerfeldt leaving to form a new project. The band name was derived from the word "Opet", taken from the Wilbur Smith novel The Sunbird. In this novel, Opet is the name of a fictional Phoenician city in South Africa translated as "City of the Moon". Isberg and Akerfeldt recruited drummer Anders Nordin, bassist Nick Doring, and guitarist Andreas Dimeo. Unsatisfied with Opeth's slow progress, Doring and Dimeo left the band after their first performance, and were replaced by guitarist Kim Pettersson and bassist Johan De Farfalla. After the next show, De Farfalla left Opeth to spend time with his girlfriend in Germany, and was initially replaced by Mattias Ander, before Akerfeldt's friend Peter Lindgren took on the role of bassist. Rhythm guitarist Kim Pettersson left following the band's next performance, and Lindgren switched to guitar, with the role of bassist falling to Stefan Guteklint. The following year, David Isberg left the band citing "creative differences". Following Isberg's departure, Akerfeldt took over vocal duties and he, Lindgren, and Nordin spent the next year writing and rehearsing new material. The group began to rely less on the blast beats and aggression typical of death metal, and incorporated acoustic guitars and guitar harmonies into their music; developing the core sound of Opeth. Bassist Guteklint was dismissed by the band after they signed their first record deal with Candlelight Records in 1994. Opeth initially employed former member De Farfalla as a session bassist for their demo recordings, and he went on to join on a full-time basis following the release of Opeth's debut album, "Orchid", in 1995. CANNOTANSWER
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Opeth was formed as a death metal band in 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden,
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Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1989 by lead vocalist David Isberg. The group has been through several personnel changes, including the replacement of every single original member; notably Isberg in 1992. Opeth has consistently incorporated progressive, folk, blues, classical, and jazz influences into its usually lengthy compositions, as well as strong influences from death metal, especially in their early works. Many songs include acoustic guitar passages and strong dynamic shifts, as well as death growls. Opeth is also well known for their incorporation of Mellotrons in their work. The band rarely made live appearances supporting their first four albums, but since conducting their first world tour after the 2001 release of Blackwater Park, they have led several major world tours.
Opeth has released 13 studio albums, four live DVDs, four live albums (three that are in conjunction with DVDs), and two boxsets. The band released its debut album Orchid in 1995. Although their eighth studio album, Ghost Reveries, was quite popular in the United States, Opeth did not experience major American commercial success until the 2008 release of their ninth studio album, Watershed, which peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard 200, and topped the Finnish albums chart in its first week of release. As of November 2009, the band has sold over 1.5 million copies of their albums and DVDs worldwide, including 300,000 collective SoundScans of their albums Blackwater Park, Damnation, and Deliverance in the United States.
History
Formation (1989–1993)
Opeth was formed as a death metal band in 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden, by lead vocalist David Isberg. The band name was derived from the word "Opet", taken from the Wilbur Smith novel The Sunbird. In this novel, Opet is the name of a fictional Phoenician city in South Africa translated as "City of the Moon".
In 1990, Isberg asked former Eruption band member Mikael Åkerfeldt to join Opeth as a bassist, replacing Martin Persson. When Åkerfeldt showed up to practice on the day after Isberg invited him, it became clear that Isberg had not told the band members, including the band's current bassist, that Åkerfeldt would be joining the band. An ensuing argument led to all members but Isberg and Åkerfeldt leaving to form a new project.
Isberg and Åkerfeldt recruited drummer Anders Nordin, bassist Nick Döring, and guitarist Andreas Dimeo. Unsatisfied with Opeth's slow progress, Döring and Dimeo left the band after their first performance, and were replaced by guitarist Kim Pettersson and bassist Johan De Farfalla. After the next show, De Farfalla left Opeth to spend time with his girlfriend in Germany, and was initially replaced by Mattias Ander, before Åkerfeldt's friend Peter Lindgren took on the role of bassist. Rhythm guitarist Kim Pettersson left following the band's next performance, and Lindgren switched to guitar, with the role of bassist falling to Stefan Guteklint. The following year, David Isberg left the band citing "creative differences".
Following Isberg's departure, Åkerfeldt took over vocal duties and he, Lindgren, and Nordin spent the next year writing and rehearsing new material. The group began to rely less on the blast beats and aggression typical of death metal, and incorporated acoustic guitars and guitar harmonies into their music; developing the core sound of Opeth. Bassist Guteklint was dismissed by the band after they signed their first record deal with Candlelight Records in 1994. Opeth initially employed former member De Farfalla as a session bassist for their demo recordings, and he went on to join on a full-time basis following the release of Opeth's debut album, "Orchid", in 1995.
Orchid, Morningrise, and My Arms, Your Hearse (1994–1998)
Opeth recorded its debut album, Orchid, with producer Dan Swanö in April 1994. Because of distribution problems with the newly formed Candlelight Records, the album was not released until 15 May 1995, and only in Europe. Orchid tested the boundaries of traditional death metal, featuring acoustic guitars, piano, and clean vocals.
After a few live shows in the United Kingdom, Opeth returned to the studio in March 1996 to begin work on a second album, again produced by Dan Swanö. The album, titled Morningrise, was released in Europe on 24 June 1996. With only five songs, but lasting 66 minutes, it features Opeth's longest song, the 20-minute "Black Rose Immortal". Opeth toured the UK in support of Morningrise, followed by a 26-date Scandinavian tour with Cradle of Filth. While on tour, Opeth attracted the attention of Century Media Records, who signed the band and released the first two albums in the United States in 1997.
In 1997, after the tour, Åkerfeldt and Lindgren dismissed De Farfalla for personal reasons, without the consent of Nordin. When Åkerfeldt informed Nordin, who was on a vacation in Brazil, Nordin left the band and remained in Brazil for personal reasons. Former Eternal members, drummer Martín López (formerly of Amon Amarth) and bassist Martín Méndez, responded to an ad at a music shop placed by Åkerfeldt. López and Méndez were fans of the band and took the ads down themselves so no other musicians could apply for the job. Åkerfeldt and Lindgren did not want the Martíns to join at first, due to them already knowing each other; they felt that they wanted two strangers so that there wouldn't be two camps in the band, but eventually hired both. López made his debut with Opeth playing on a cover version of Iron Maiden's "Remember Tomorrow", which was included on the album A Call to Irons: A Tribute to Iron Maiden.
With a larger recording budget from Century Media, Opeth began work on its third album, with noted Swedish producer Fredrik Nordström, at Studio Fredman in August 1997. Although Opeth had Méndez, due to time constraints Åkerfeldt played bass on the album. My Arms, Your Hearse was released to critical acclaim on 18 August 1998.
Still Life and Blackwater Park (1999–2001)
In 1999, the ownership of Candlelight Records changed hands, with owner and friend of the band Lee Barrett leaving the company. Opeth signed with UK label Peaceville Records in Europe, which was distributed by Music for Nations. Opeth reserved time at Studio Fredman to begin work on its next album, but recording was postponed while the studio was relocated. Due to time constraints, the band was able to rehearse only twice before entering the studio. Delays with the album's artwork pushed the release back an additional month and Still Life was released on 18 October 1999. Due to problems with the band's new distribution network, the album was not released in the United States until February 2001. Still Life was the first album recorded with Méndez, and also the first Opeth album to bear any kind of caption on the front cover upon its initial release, including the band's logo. Allmusic called Still Life a "formidable splicing of harsh, often jagged guitar riffs with graceful melodies." As explained by Åkerfeldt, Still Life is a concept album: "The main character is kind of banished from his hometown because he hasn't got the same faith as the rest of the inhabitants there. The album pretty much starts off when he is returning after several years to hook up with his old 'babe.' The big bosses of the town know that he's back... A lot of bad things start happening."
Following a few live dates in Europe, Opeth returned to Studio Fredman to begin work on its next album, with Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson producing. The band sought to recreate the recording experience of Still Life, and again entered the studio with minimal rehearsals, and no lyrics written. "This time it was tough," Åkerfeldt said, "I feel pleasantly blown away by the immense result, though. It was indeed worth the effort." Wilson also pushed the band to expand its sound, incorporating new sounds and production techniques. "Steve guided us into the realms of 'strange' noises for guitars and voice", Åkerfeldt said.
Opeth released its fifth studio album, Blackwater Park, on 21 February 2001. AllMusic has stated that the album "keeps with Opeth's tradition by transcending the limits of death/black metal and repeatedly shattering the foundations of conventional songwriting". In support of Blackwater Park, Opeth embarked on its first world tour, headlined Europe for the first time, and made an appearance at the 2001 Wacken Open Air festival in Germany, playing to a crowd of 60,000.
Deliverance and Damnation (2002–2004)
Opeth returned to Sweden after touring in support of Blackwater Park, and began writing for the next album. At first, Åkerfeldt had trouble putting together new material: "I wanted to write something heavier than we'd ever done, still I had all these great mellow parts and arrangements which I didn't want to go to waste." Jonas Renkse of Katatonia, a long-time friend of Åkerfeldt, suggested writing music for two separate albums—one heavy and one soft.
Excited at the prospect, Åkerfeldt agreed without consulting his bandmates or record label. While his bandmates liked the idea of recording two separate albums, Åkerfeldt had to convince the label: "I had to lie somewhat ... saying that we could do this recording very soon, it won't cost more than a regular single album." With most of the material written, the band rehearsed just once before entering Nacksving Studios in 2002, and again with producer Steven Wilson in Studio Fredman. Under pressure to complete both albums simultaneously, Åkerfeldt said the recording process was "the toughest test of our history." After recording basic tracks, the band moved production to England to first mix the heavy album, Deliverance, with Andy Sneap at Backstage Studios. "Deliverance was so poorly recorded, without any organisation whatsoever," Åkerfeldt claimed, that Sneap "is credited as a 'saviour' in the sleeve, as he surely saved much of the recording."
Deliverance was released on 4 November 2002, and debuted at number 19 on the US Top Independent Albums chart, marking the band's first US chart appearance. AllMusic stated, "Deliverance is altogether more subtle than any of its predecessors, approaching listeners with haunting nuances and masterful dynamics rather than overwhelming them with sheer mass and complexity."
Opeth performed a one-off concert in Stockholm, then returned to the UK to finish recording vocals for the second of the two albums, Damnation, at Steven Wilson's No Man's Land Studios. Although Åkerfeldt believed the band could not finish both albums, Opeth completed Deliverance and Damnation in just seven weeks of studio time, which was the same amount spent on Blackwater Park alone. Damnation was released on 14 April 2003, and garnered the band its first appearance on the US Billboard 200 at number 192. The album also won the 2003 Swedish Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. On 1 January 2016, Opeth re-released both Deliverance and Damnation in one package, containing CD and DVD versions, along with new mixing.
The band embarked on its biggest tour yet, playing nearly 200 shows in 2003 and 2004. Opeth performed three special shows in Europe with two song lists each—one acoustic set and one heavy set. The band recorded its first DVD, Lamentations (Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire 2003), at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, England. The DVD features a two-hour performance, including the entire Damnation album, several songs from Deliverance and Blackwater Park, and a one-hour documentary about the recording of Deliverance and Damnation. Lamentations was certified Gold in Canada.
Opeth was scheduled to perform in Jordan without a crew due to the fear of terrorist attacks in the Middle East. Opeth's tour manager distributed 6,000 tickets for the concert, but before the band left for Jordan, drummer Lopez called Åkerfeldt stating he was having an anxiety attack and could not perform, forcing the band to cancel the show. In early 2004, Lopez was sent home from Canada after more anxiety attacks on tour. Opeth decided against cancelling the remainder of the tour, with Lopez's drum technician filling in for two concerts. Lopez promised that he would return to the tour as soon as he could, but two shows later Opeth asked Strapping Young Lad drummer Gene Hoglan to fill in. Lopez returned to Opeth for the Seattle show on the final leg of the Deliverance and Damnation tour. Per Wiberg also joined the band on tour to perform keyboards, after more than a year on tour.
Ghost Reveries (2005–2007)
Opeth returned home in 2004 to start writing new material for its eighth album, and by the end of the year, they had finished writing it. Opeth's European label, Music for Nations, closed its doors in 2005, and after negotiations with various labels, the band signed with Roadrunner Records. Åkerfeldt said the primary reason for signing with Roadrunner was the label's wide distribution, ensuring the album would be available at larger-chain retailers. When news leaked that the band was signed to Roadrunner, who predominantly worked with trend-oriented rock and metal, some fans accused the band of selling out. "To be honest," Åkerfeldt said, "that's such an insult after 15 years as a band and 8 records. I can't believe we haven't earned each and every Opeth fan's credibility after all these years. I mean, our songs are 10 minutes long!" The band rehearsed for three weeks before entering the studio, the first time the band rehearsed since the 1998 album, My Arms, Your Hearse. During rehearsal, keyboardist Wiberg joined Opeth as a full-time member. Opeth recorded at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden, from 18 March to 1 June 2005, and released the resulting Ghost Reveries on 30 August 2005, to critical acclaim and commercial success. The album debuted at number 64 in the US, and number nine in Sweden, higher than any previous Opeth release. Keith Bergman of Blabbermouth.net gave the album ten out of ten, one of only 21 albums to achieve a perfect rating from the site. Rod Smith of Decibel magazine called Ghost Reveries "achingly beautiful, sometimes unabashedly brutal, often a combination of both".
On 12 May 2006, Martin Lopez announced that he had officially parted ways with Opeth due to health problems, and was replaced by Martin Axenrot. Opeth toured on the main stage of Gigantour in 2006, alongside Megadeth. Ghost Reveries was re-released on 31 October 2006, with a bonus cover song (Deep Purple's "Soldier of Fortune"), a DVD featuring a 5.1 surround sound mix of the album and a documentary on the making of the record. A recording of Opeth's live performance at the Camden Roundhouse, in London, on 9 November 2006, was released as the double live album The Roundhouse Tapes, which topped the Finnish DVD chart.
On 17 May 2007, Peter Lindgren announced he would be leaving Opeth after 16 years. "The decision has been the toughest I've ever made but it is the right one to make at this point in my life," Lindgren said. "I feel that I simply have lost some of the enthusiasm and inspiration needed to participate in a band that has grown from a few guys playing the music we love to a worldwide industry." Ex-Arch Enemy guitarist Fredrik Åkesson replaced Lindgren, as Åkerfeldt explained "Fredrik was the only name that popped up thinking about a replacement for Peter. In my opinion he's one of the top three guitar players out of Sweden. We all get along great as we've known each other for maybe four years and he already has the experience to take on the circus-like lifestyle we lead as members of Opeth."
Watershed and In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall (2008–2010)
Opeth entered Fascination Street Studios in November 2007 to record their ninth studio album, with Åkerfeldt producing. By January 2008, Opeth had recorded 13 songs, including three cover songs. The finished album, Watershed, features seven tracks, with cover songs used as bonus tracks on different versions of the album. Watershed was released on 3 June 2008. Åkerfeldt described the songs on the album as "a bit more energetic". Opeth toured in support of Watershed, including headlining the UK Defenders of the Faith tour with Arch Enemy, an appearance at Wacken Open Air, and the Progressive Nation tour with headliner Dream Theater. Watershed was Opeth's highest-charting album to date, debuting at number 23 on the US Billboard 200, on the Australian ARIA album charts at number seven and at number one on Finland's official album chart. Opeth went on a worldwide tour in support of Watershed. From September to October, the band toured North America backed by High on Fire, Baroness, and Nachtmystium. They returned to tour Europe for the rest of the year with Cynic and The Ocean.
In 2010, Opeth wrote and recorded the new track, "The Throat of Winter", which appeared on the digital EP soundtrack of the video game, God of War III. Åkerfeldt described the song as "odd" and "not very metal." To celebrate their 20th anniversary, Opeth performed a six-show, worldwide tour called Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology, from 30 March through 9 April 2010. Blackwater Park was performed in its entirety, along with several songs never before performed. The concert of 5 April 2010, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England was filmed for a DVD and live album package titled In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. The set was released on 21 September 2010, in 2-DVD and 2-DVD/3-CD configurations. For the DVD the concert was split into two sets. The first set consists of the entire Blackwater Park album, while the second set contains one song from every album excluding Blackwater Park, in chronological order representing the twenty years of "evolution" in their music. Åkerfeldt stated, "I can't believe it, but, fuck, we're celebrating 20 years. I've been in this band ever since I was 16. It's insane." A special edition of Blackwater Park was released in March 2010 to coincide with the tour.
Heritage (2011–2013)
In September 2010, Mikael Åkerfeldt stated that he was writing for a new Opeth album. The band announced on their website that they would start recording their tenth album on 31 January 2011, at the Atlantis/Metronome studios in Stockholm, once again with Jens Bogren (engineering) and Steven Wilson from Porcupine Tree as co-producer.
Shortly after mixing was complete on the new album in April 2011, Opeth announced that Per Wiberg was relieved of his duties in the band.
In the press statement, Mikael Åkerfeldt explained the decision, saying, "Mendez, Axe and Fredrik and I came to the decision that we should find a replacement for Per right after the recordings of the new album, and this came as no surprise to Per. He had, in turn, been thinking about leaving, so you could say it was a mutual decision. There's no bad blood, just a relationship that came to an end, and that's that."
Opeth's tenth album, Heritage, was released on 14 September 2011, to generally favorable reviews. The album sold 19,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release and debuted at number 19 on the Billboard 200 chart. Heritage debuted at number four in the band's native country of Sweden.
Heritage became the second Opeth album to not feature any death growls and had a much more progressive style than previous albums from the band, something that Åkerfeldt had been wanting to do for some time.
The first two songs Åkerfeldt wrote for Heritage were in the style of Watershed. After hearing the songs for the first time, Martín Méndez told Åkerfeldt that he would be disappointed if the album continued in that direction. Relieved that Méndez was not interested in doing another conventional Opeth album, Åkerfeldt scrapped the two songs and started the writing process over in a different style. In the press release for Heritage, Mikael Åkerfeldt revealed that he felt as though he had been building to write the album since he was 19 years old. In a review for Allmusic, Thom Jurek called Heritage the band's most adventurous album, describing the songs as "drenched in instrumental interludes, knotty key and chord changes, shifting time signatures, clean vocals, and a keyboard-heavy instrumentation that includes Mellotrons, Rhodes pianos, and Hammond organs".
Opeth supported Heritage with a tour that would last for over 200 tour dates. The tour was the band's first with new keyboardist, Joakim Svalberg, who played on the opening track of the album. During the tour, Opeth played with bands such as Katatonia, Pain of Salvation, Mastodon, Ghost and Anathema all over the world in countries such as the United States, Europe, Turkey, India, Japan, Greece, Israel, Latin America and Sweden. The tour concluded with "Melloboat 2013".
Pale Communion (2014–2015)
On 26 August 2014, Opeth released its eleventh studio album, titled Pale Communion. Åkerfeldt began working on new material as far back as August 2012. In January 2014 he stated, "We've been looking at [tracking the next album at] Rockfield Studios in Wales where Queen recorded "Bohemian Rhapsody", but we haven't made a decision yet, but it will be an expensive album. There's a lot going on, lots of string arrangements that we haven't had in the past." Despite fearing that the band's new musical direction would split Opeth's fanbase, when asked if it will it be heavier or softer than Heritage, Åkerfeldt said, "Maybe a little bit heavier, not death metal heavy, but hard rock/heavy metal heavy. There's also lots of progressive elements and acoustic guitars, but also more sinister-sounding riffs." Åkerfeldt also produced the new album which will include string instrumentation, something that he became interested in doing when working on Storm Corrosion. The band members in Opeth felt rejuvenated after creating Heritage which resulted in closer relationships between them.
The Guardian reviewed Pale Communion positively, calling it "strange, intricate prog-metal genius" somewhat flawed by Åkerfeldt's indulgent vocal styling. The album saw Opeth's highest chart positions in the history of the band with Pale Communion debuting at number 19 in the US, number 3 in Sweden, and number 14 in the United Kingdom. It sold 13,000 copies in its first week of release in the US.
Pale Communion was supported with more touring from Opeth. In 2015, Opeth played several concerts to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the band. At these special shows, the band was doing two sets. The first set is 2005's Ghost Reveries as a ten-year anniversary celebration of the album. The second set spanned the rest of the band's career, celebrating their 25th anniversary. Åkerfeldt expressed excitement for the concerts.
Sorceress, In Cauda Venenum and departure of Axenrot (2016–present)
On 15 June 2016, Nuclear Blast Entertainment announced the signing of Opeth. Three days later, on 18 June, Opeth released a 30-second teaser for their new album, Sorceress. A month later, on 18 July, the band confirmed the album would be released on 30 September, in addition to revealing the artwork and track list. Mikael Åkerfeldt described it as, "A fine little record. My favorite in our discography right now. Of course. That's how it should be, right? It's both fresh and old, both progressive and rehashed. Heavy and calm. Just the way we like it." The album was the first project under Moderbolaget Records, a joint venture between Opeth and Nuclear Blast. Moderbolaget means "the parent company" in Swedish.
On 25 July 2016, in the build up towards the album release, the band posted the first Sorceress: Studio Report on their YouTube channel. In the behind-the-scenes studio tour, it is confirmed that the band had returned to Rockfield Studios where they previously recorded Pale Communion. At the end of the video, there is a 20-second excerpt of a track believed to be from the album featuring heavily down-tuned guitars. On 1 August 2016, the band released a lyric video for the title-track 'Sorceress' on their YouTube channel. On 4 September 2016, Opeth released a lyric video for the second single titled 'Will O the Wisp,' again through their YouTube channel and website. Opeth's video for "Era" was nominated for "Video of the Year" at the 2017 Progressive Music Awards, where they ultimately won "International Band of the Year".
On 2 October 2017, Åkerfeldt said he has been thinking about doing something "twisted" and different for the next studio album, which could be released by mid-to-late 2019. On 20 November 2017, guitarist Fredrik Åkesson stated that the band will not have any gigs in the upcoming months, until the 2018 summer festivals. During this break the band will focus on writing songs for the new album. On 11 July 2018, during an interview with FaceCulture, Åkesson said "I've recorded a lot of solos so far. And Mikael Åkerfeldt has almost already written 12 songs for the new album, so we have more material than enough for an album". On 22 May 2019, the band announced their thirteenth studio album, In Cauda Venenum, due for release on 27 September 2019. On 12 July 2019, Opeth released the first single from In Cauda Venenum entitled "Heart in Hand" in both English and Swedish.
On 16 November 2021, it was announced that longtime drummer Martin Axenrot had left the band due to conflict of interests and will be replaced by Sami Karppinen for the North American tour.
Musical style and influences
As Opeth's primary songwriter and lyricist, vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt heads the direction of Opeth's sound. He was influenced at a young age by the 1970s progressive rock bands King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, Camel, P.F.M., Hawkwind, and Gracious, and by heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Slayer, Death, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Celtic Frost, King Diamond, Morbid Angel, Voivod, and, most importantly, Judas Priest. Åkerfeldt considers Judas Priest's Sad Wings of Destiny (1976) the best metal album of all time, and notes that there was a time when he listened only to Judas Priest. While warming up before Opeth concerts, Åkerfeldt frequently sings "Here Come the Tears" from Judas Priest's third album Sin After Sin (1977). Åkerfeldt later discovered progressive rock and folk music, both of which had a profound impact on the sound of the band.
Opeth's distinct sound mixes death metal with progressive rock. Steve Huey of AllMusic refers to Opeth's "epic, progressive death metal style". Ryan Ogle of Blabbermouth described Opeth's sound as incorporating "the likes of folk, funk, blues, '70s rock, goth and a laundry list of other sonic oddities into their trademark progressive death style." In his review of Opeth's 2001 album Blackwater Park, AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia wrote, "Tracks start and finish in seemingly arbitrary fashion, usually traversing ample musical terrain, including acoustic guitar and solo piano passages, ambient soundscapes, stoner rock grooves, and Eastern-tinged melodies—any of which are subject to savage punctuations of death metal fury at any given moment." Åkerfeldt commented on the diversity of Opeth's music:
I don't see the point of playing in a band and going just one way when you can do everything. It would be impossible for us to play just death metal; that is our roots, but we are now a mishmash of everything, and not purists to any form of music. It's impossible for us to do that, and quite frankly I would think of it as boring to be in a band that plays just metal music. We're not afraid to experiment, or to be caught with our pants down, so to speak. That's what keeps us going.
More recently, Opeth have abandoned their death metal sound resulting in a mellower progressive rock sound. When talking about Heritage, guitarist Fredrik Åkesson stated:
In the beginning it took me a little while to get used to the new idea of the sound, not having any screaming vocals and stuff like that. But I think the album was necessary for us to do. Maybe the band wouldn't have continued if we hadn't done Heritage. I think the old Opeth fans understand this album. There's always going to be some haters, but you can't be loved by everyone. Opeth has always been about not repeating ourself. A lot of people don't think Heritage is metal but I think it's metal to go somewhere people don't expect. It doesn't mean we're not embracing the past sound of Opeth.
Vocally, Åkerfeldt shifts between traditional death metal vocals for heavy sections, and clean, sometimes whispered or soft-spoken vocals over mellower passages. While his death growls were dominant on early releases, later efforts incorporate more clean vocals, with Damnation, Heritage, Pale Communion, Sorceress and In Cauda Venenum featuring only clean singing. Rivadavia noted that "Åkerfeldt's vocals run the gamut from bowel-churning grunts to melodies of chilling beauty—depending on each movement section's mood."
Legacy
A number of artists and bands have cited Opeth as an influence, among which are Mayan (a project of Mark Jansen from Epica), Luc Lemay of Gorguts, Soen (a band of former Opeth drummer Martin Lopez), Tor Oddmund Suhrke of Leprous, Disillusion, Caligula's Horse, Klimt 1918, Daniel Droste of Ahab, Becoming the Archetype, Nucleus Torn, Alex Vynogradoff of Kauan, Wastefall, Eric Guenther of The Contortionist, Thomas MacLean and To-Mera, The Man-Eating Tree, Nahemah, Vladimir Agafonkin of Obiymy Doschu, Schizoid Lloyd, Native Construct, Maxime Côté of Catuvolcus, Bilocate, and Jinjer.
In addition, other artists have been quoted expressing admiration for their work including Seven Lions, John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, Ihsahn, Simone Simons of Epica, Oliver Palotai of Kamelot, Jim Matheos of Fates Warning, and Haken.
Members
Current members
Mikael Åkerfeldt – guitars (1990–present), lead vocals (1992–present), keyboards (1990), bass (1990, 1992, 1997)
Martín Méndez – bass (1997–present)
Fredrik Åkesson – guitars, backing vocals (2007–present)
Joakim Svalberg – keyboards, synthesizers, piano, mellotron, backing vocals (2011–present)
Current touring members
Sami Karppinen – drums (2021–present)
Discography
Orchid (1995)
Morningrise (1996)
My Arms, Your Hearse (1998)
Still Life (1999)
Blackwater Park (2001)
Deliverance (2002)
Damnation (2003)
Ghost Reveries (2005)
Watershed (2008)
Heritage (2011)
Pale Communion (2014)
Sorceress (2016)
In Cauda Venenum (2019)
References
Sources
External links
MNRK Music Group artists
Musical groups established in 1990
Musical groups from Stockholm
Musical quartets
Musical quintets
Roadrunner Records artists
Nuclear Blast artists
Swedish death metal musical groups
Swedish progressive metal musical groups
Swedish progressive rock groups
Swedish heavy metal musical groups
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"What took place during the years 1989-1993?",
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C_ecf88860a0724b1298539ec6634811b9_1
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What is Formation?
| 2 |
What is Formation?
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Opeth
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Opeth was formed as a death metal band in 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden, by lead vocalist David Isberg. Isberg asked former Eruption band member Mikael Akerfeldt (just 16 years old at the time) to join Opeth as a bassist. When Akerfeldt showed up to practice on the day after Isberg invited him, it became clear that Isberg had not told the band members, including the band's current bassist, that Akerfeldt would be joining. An ensuing argument led to all members but Isberg and Akerfeldt leaving to form a new project. The band name was derived from the word "Opet", taken from the Wilbur Smith novel The Sunbird. In this novel, Opet is the name of a fictional Phoenician city in South Africa translated as "City of the Moon". Isberg and Akerfeldt recruited drummer Anders Nordin, bassist Nick Doring, and guitarist Andreas Dimeo. Unsatisfied with Opeth's slow progress, Doring and Dimeo left the band after their first performance, and were replaced by guitarist Kim Pettersson and bassist Johan De Farfalla. After the next show, De Farfalla left Opeth to spend time with his girlfriend in Germany, and was initially replaced by Mattias Ander, before Akerfeldt's friend Peter Lindgren took on the role of bassist. Rhythm guitarist Kim Pettersson left following the band's next performance, and Lindgren switched to guitar, with the role of bassist falling to Stefan Guteklint. The following year, David Isberg left the band citing "creative differences". Following Isberg's departure, Akerfeldt took over vocal duties and he, Lindgren, and Nordin spent the next year writing and rehearsing new material. The group began to rely less on the blast beats and aggression typical of death metal, and incorporated acoustic guitars and guitar harmonies into their music; developing the core sound of Opeth. Bassist Guteklint was dismissed by the band after they signed their first record deal with Candlelight Records in 1994. Opeth initially employed former member De Farfalla as a session bassist for their demo recordings, and he went on to join on a full-time basis following the release of Opeth's debut album, "Orchid", in 1995. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1989 by lead vocalist David Isberg. The group has been through several personnel changes, including the replacement of every single original member; notably Isberg in 1992. Opeth has consistently incorporated progressive, folk, blues, classical, and jazz influences into its usually lengthy compositions, as well as strong influences from death metal, especially in their early works. Many songs include acoustic guitar passages and strong dynamic shifts, as well as death growls. Opeth is also well known for their incorporation of Mellotrons in their work. The band rarely made live appearances supporting their first four albums, but since conducting their first world tour after the 2001 release of Blackwater Park, they have led several major world tours.
Opeth has released 13 studio albums, four live DVDs, four live albums (three that are in conjunction with DVDs), and two boxsets. The band released its debut album Orchid in 1995. Although their eighth studio album, Ghost Reveries, was quite popular in the United States, Opeth did not experience major American commercial success until the 2008 release of their ninth studio album, Watershed, which peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard 200, and topped the Finnish albums chart in its first week of release. As of November 2009, the band has sold over 1.5 million copies of their albums and DVDs worldwide, including 300,000 collective SoundScans of their albums Blackwater Park, Damnation, and Deliverance in the United States.
History
Formation (1989–1993)
Opeth was formed as a death metal band in 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden, by lead vocalist David Isberg. The band name was derived from the word "Opet", taken from the Wilbur Smith novel The Sunbird. In this novel, Opet is the name of a fictional Phoenician city in South Africa translated as "City of the Moon".
In 1990, Isberg asked former Eruption band member Mikael Åkerfeldt to join Opeth as a bassist, replacing Martin Persson. When Åkerfeldt showed up to practice on the day after Isberg invited him, it became clear that Isberg had not told the band members, including the band's current bassist, that Åkerfeldt would be joining the band. An ensuing argument led to all members but Isberg and Åkerfeldt leaving to form a new project.
Isberg and Åkerfeldt recruited drummer Anders Nordin, bassist Nick Döring, and guitarist Andreas Dimeo. Unsatisfied with Opeth's slow progress, Döring and Dimeo left the band after their first performance, and were replaced by guitarist Kim Pettersson and bassist Johan De Farfalla. After the next show, De Farfalla left Opeth to spend time with his girlfriend in Germany, and was initially replaced by Mattias Ander, before Åkerfeldt's friend Peter Lindgren took on the role of bassist. Rhythm guitarist Kim Pettersson left following the band's next performance, and Lindgren switched to guitar, with the role of bassist falling to Stefan Guteklint. The following year, David Isberg left the band citing "creative differences".
Following Isberg's departure, Åkerfeldt took over vocal duties and he, Lindgren, and Nordin spent the next year writing and rehearsing new material. The group began to rely less on the blast beats and aggression typical of death metal, and incorporated acoustic guitars and guitar harmonies into their music; developing the core sound of Opeth. Bassist Guteklint was dismissed by the band after they signed their first record deal with Candlelight Records in 1994. Opeth initially employed former member De Farfalla as a session bassist for their demo recordings, and he went on to join on a full-time basis following the release of Opeth's debut album, "Orchid", in 1995.
Orchid, Morningrise, and My Arms, Your Hearse (1994–1998)
Opeth recorded its debut album, Orchid, with producer Dan Swanö in April 1994. Because of distribution problems with the newly formed Candlelight Records, the album was not released until 15 May 1995, and only in Europe. Orchid tested the boundaries of traditional death metal, featuring acoustic guitars, piano, and clean vocals.
After a few live shows in the United Kingdom, Opeth returned to the studio in March 1996 to begin work on a second album, again produced by Dan Swanö. The album, titled Morningrise, was released in Europe on 24 June 1996. With only five songs, but lasting 66 minutes, it features Opeth's longest song, the 20-minute "Black Rose Immortal". Opeth toured the UK in support of Morningrise, followed by a 26-date Scandinavian tour with Cradle of Filth. While on tour, Opeth attracted the attention of Century Media Records, who signed the band and released the first two albums in the United States in 1997.
In 1997, after the tour, Åkerfeldt and Lindgren dismissed De Farfalla for personal reasons, without the consent of Nordin. When Åkerfeldt informed Nordin, who was on a vacation in Brazil, Nordin left the band and remained in Brazil for personal reasons. Former Eternal members, drummer Martín López (formerly of Amon Amarth) and bassist Martín Méndez, responded to an ad at a music shop placed by Åkerfeldt. López and Méndez were fans of the band and took the ads down themselves so no other musicians could apply for the job. Åkerfeldt and Lindgren did not want the Martíns to join at first, due to them already knowing each other; they felt that they wanted two strangers so that there wouldn't be two camps in the band, but eventually hired both. López made his debut with Opeth playing on a cover version of Iron Maiden's "Remember Tomorrow", which was included on the album A Call to Irons: A Tribute to Iron Maiden.
With a larger recording budget from Century Media, Opeth began work on its third album, with noted Swedish producer Fredrik Nordström, at Studio Fredman in August 1997. Although Opeth had Méndez, due to time constraints Åkerfeldt played bass on the album. My Arms, Your Hearse was released to critical acclaim on 18 August 1998.
Still Life and Blackwater Park (1999–2001)
In 1999, the ownership of Candlelight Records changed hands, with owner and friend of the band Lee Barrett leaving the company. Opeth signed with UK label Peaceville Records in Europe, which was distributed by Music for Nations. Opeth reserved time at Studio Fredman to begin work on its next album, but recording was postponed while the studio was relocated. Due to time constraints, the band was able to rehearse only twice before entering the studio. Delays with the album's artwork pushed the release back an additional month and Still Life was released on 18 October 1999. Due to problems with the band's new distribution network, the album was not released in the United States until February 2001. Still Life was the first album recorded with Méndez, and also the first Opeth album to bear any kind of caption on the front cover upon its initial release, including the band's logo. Allmusic called Still Life a "formidable splicing of harsh, often jagged guitar riffs with graceful melodies." As explained by Åkerfeldt, Still Life is a concept album: "The main character is kind of banished from his hometown because he hasn't got the same faith as the rest of the inhabitants there. The album pretty much starts off when he is returning after several years to hook up with his old 'babe.' The big bosses of the town know that he's back... A lot of bad things start happening."
Following a few live dates in Europe, Opeth returned to Studio Fredman to begin work on its next album, with Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson producing. The band sought to recreate the recording experience of Still Life, and again entered the studio with minimal rehearsals, and no lyrics written. "This time it was tough," Åkerfeldt said, "I feel pleasantly blown away by the immense result, though. It was indeed worth the effort." Wilson also pushed the band to expand its sound, incorporating new sounds and production techniques. "Steve guided us into the realms of 'strange' noises for guitars and voice", Åkerfeldt said.
Opeth released its fifth studio album, Blackwater Park, on 21 February 2001. AllMusic has stated that the album "keeps with Opeth's tradition by transcending the limits of death/black metal and repeatedly shattering the foundations of conventional songwriting". In support of Blackwater Park, Opeth embarked on its first world tour, headlined Europe for the first time, and made an appearance at the 2001 Wacken Open Air festival in Germany, playing to a crowd of 60,000.
Deliverance and Damnation (2002–2004)
Opeth returned to Sweden after touring in support of Blackwater Park, and began writing for the next album. At first, Åkerfeldt had trouble putting together new material: "I wanted to write something heavier than we'd ever done, still I had all these great mellow parts and arrangements which I didn't want to go to waste." Jonas Renkse of Katatonia, a long-time friend of Åkerfeldt, suggested writing music for two separate albums—one heavy and one soft.
Excited at the prospect, Åkerfeldt agreed without consulting his bandmates or record label. While his bandmates liked the idea of recording two separate albums, Åkerfeldt had to convince the label: "I had to lie somewhat ... saying that we could do this recording very soon, it won't cost more than a regular single album." With most of the material written, the band rehearsed just once before entering Nacksving Studios in 2002, and again with producer Steven Wilson in Studio Fredman. Under pressure to complete both albums simultaneously, Åkerfeldt said the recording process was "the toughest test of our history." After recording basic tracks, the band moved production to England to first mix the heavy album, Deliverance, with Andy Sneap at Backstage Studios. "Deliverance was so poorly recorded, without any organisation whatsoever," Åkerfeldt claimed, that Sneap "is credited as a 'saviour' in the sleeve, as he surely saved much of the recording."
Deliverance was released on 4 November 2002, and debuted at number 19 on the US Top Independent Albums chart, marking the band's first US chart appearance. AllMusic stated, "Deliverance is altogether more subtle than any of its predecessors, approaching listeners with haunting nuances and masterful dynamics rather than overwhelming them with sheer mass and complexity."
Opeth performed a one-off concert in Stockholm, then returned to the UK to finish recording vocals for the second of the two albums, Damnation, at Steven Wilson's No Man's Land Studios. Although Åkerfeldt believed the band could not finish both albums, Opeth completed Deliverance and Damnation in just seven weeks of studio time, which was the same amount spent on Blackwater Park alone. Damnation was released on 14 April 2003, and garnered the band its first appearance on the US Billboard 200 at number 192. The album also won the 2003 Swedish Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. On 1 January 2016, Opeth re-released both Deliverance and Damnation in one package, containing CD and DVD versions, along with new mixing.
The band embarked on its biggest tour yet, playing nearly 200 shows in 2003 and 2004. Opeth performed three special shows in Europe with two song lists each—one acoustic set and one heavy set. The band recorded its first DVD, Lamentations (Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire 2003), at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, England. The DVD features a two-hour performance, including the entire Damnation album, several songs from Deliverance and Blackwater Park, and a one-hour documentary about the recording of Deliverance and Damnation. Lamentations was certified Gold in Canada.
Opeth was scheduled to perform in Jordan without a crew due to the fear of terrorist attacks in the Middle East. Opeth's tour manager distributed 6,000 tickets for the concert, but before the band left for Jordan, drummer Lopez called Åkerfeldt stating he was having an anxiety attack and could not perform, forcing the band to cancel the show. In early 2004, Lopez was sent home from Canada after more anxiety attacks on tour. Opeth decided against cancelling the remainder of the tour, with Lopez's drum technician filling in for two concerts. Lopez promised that he would return to the tour as soon as he could, but two shows later Opeth asked Strapping Young Lad drummer Gene Hoglan to fill in. Lopez returned to Opeth for the Seattle show on the final leg of the Deliverance and Damnation tour. Per Wiberg also joined the band on tour to perform keyboards, after more than a year on tour.
Ghost Reveries (2005–2007)
Opeth returned home in 2004 to start writing new material for its eighth album, and by the end of the year, they had finished writing it. Opeth's European label, Music for Nations, closed its doors in 2005, and after negotiations with various labels, the band signed with Roadrunner Records. Åkerfeldt said the primary reason for signing with Roadrunner was the label's wide distribution, ensuring the album would be available at larger-chain retailers. When news leaked that the band was signed to Roadrunner, who predominantly worked with trend-oriented rock and metal, some fans accused the band of selling out. "To be honest," Åkerfeldt said, "that's such an insult after 15 years as a band and 8 records. I can't believe we haven't earned each and every Opeth fan's credibility after all these years. I mean, our songs are 10 minutes long!" The band rehearsed for three weeks before entering the studio, the first time the band rehearsed since the 1998 album, My Arms, Your Hearse. During rehearsal, keyboardist Wiberg joined Opeth as a full-time member. Opeth recorded at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden, from 18 March to 1 June 2005, and released the resulting Ghost Reveries on 30 August 2005, to critical acclaim and commercial success. The album debuted at number 64 in the US, and number nine in Sweden, higher than any previous Opeth release. Keith Bergman of Blabbermouth.net gave the album ten out of ten, one of only 21 albums to achieve a perfect rating from the site. Rod Smith of Decibel magazine called Ghost Reveries "achingly beautiful, sometimes unabashedly brutal, often a combination of both".
On 12 May 2006, Martin Lopez announced that he had officially parted ways with Opeth due to health problems, and was replaced by Martin Axenrot. Opeth toured on the main stage of Gigantour in 2006, alongside Megadeth. Ghost Reveries was re-released on 31 October 2006, with a bonus cover song (Deep Purple's "Soldier of Fortune"), a DVD featuring a 5.1 surround sound mix of the album and a documentary on the making of the record. A recording of Opeth's live performance at the Camden Roundhouse, in London, on 9 November 2006, was released as the double live album The Roundhouse Tapes, which topped the Finnish DVD chart.
On 17 May 2007, Peter Lindgren announced he would be leaving Opeth after 16 years. "The decision has been the toughest I've ever made but it is the right one to make at this point in my life," Lindgren said. "I feel that I simply have lost some of the enthusiasm and inspiration needed to participate in a band that has grown from a few guys playing the music we love to a worldwide industry." Ex-Arch Enemy guitarist Fredrik Åkesson replaced Lindgren, as Åkerfeldt explained "Fredrik was the only name that popped up thinking about a replacement for Peter. In my opinion he's one of the top three guitar players out of Sweden. We all get along great as we've known each other for maybe four years and he already has the experience to take on the circus-like lifestyle we lead as members of Opeth."
Watershed and In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall (2008–2010)
Opeth entered Fascination Street Studios in November 2007 to record their ninth studio album, with Åkerfeldt producing. By January 2008, Opeth had recorded 13 songs, including three cover songs. The finished album, Watershed, features seven tracks, with cover songs used as bonus tracks on different versions of the album. Watershed was released on 3 June 2008. Åkerfeldt described the songs on the album as "a bit more energetic". Opeth toured in support of Watershed, including headlining the UK Defenders of the Faith tour with Arch Enemy, an appearance at Wacken Open Air, and the Progressive Nation tour with headliner Dream Theater. Watershed was Opeth's highest-charting album to date, debuting at number 23 on the US Billboard 200, on the Australian ARIA album charts at number seven and at number one on Finland's official album chart. Opeth went on a worldwide tour in support of Watershed. From September to October, the band toured North America backed by High on Fire, Baroness, and Nachtmystium. They returned to tour Europe for the rest of the year with Cynic and The Ocean.
In 2010, Opeth wrote and recorded the new track, "The Throat of Winter", which appeared on the digital EP soundtrack of the video game, God of War III. Åkerfeldt described the song as "odd" and "not very metal." To celebrate their 20th anniversary, Opeth performed a six-show, worldwide tour called Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology, from 30 March through 9 April 2010. Blackwater Park was performed in its entirety, along with several songs never before performed. The concert of 5 April 2010, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England was filmed for a DVD and live album package titled In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. The set was released on 21 September 2010, in 2-DVD and 2-DVD/3-CD configurations. For the DVD the concert was split into two sets. The first set consists of the entire Blackwater Park album, while the second set contains one song from every album excluding Blackwater Park, in chronological order representing the twenty years of "evolution" in their music. Åkerfeldt stated, "I can't believe it, but, fuck, we're celebrating 20 years. I've been in this band ever since I was 16. It's insane." A special edition of Blackwater Park was released in March 2010 to coincide with the tour.
Heritage (2011–2013)
In September 2010, Mikael Åkerfeldt stated that he was writing for a new Opeth album. The band announced on their website that they would start recording their tenth album on 31 January 2011, at the Atlantis/Metronome studios in Stockholm, once again with Jens Bogren (engineering) and Steven Wilson from Porcupine Tree as co-producer.
Shortly after mixing was complete on the new album in April 2011, Opeth announced that Per Wiberg was relieved of his duties in the band.
In the press statement, Mikael Åkerfeldt explained the decision, saying, "Mendez, Axe and Fredrik and I came to the decision that we should find a replacement for Per right after the recordings of the new album, and this came as no surprise to Per. He had, in turn, been thinking about leaving, so you could say it was a mutual decision. There's no bad blood, just a relationship that came to an end, and that's that."
Opeth's tenth album, Heritage, was released on 14 September 2011, to generally favorable reviews. The album sold 19,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release and debuted at number 19 on the Billboard 200 chart. Heritage debuted at number four in the band's native country of Sweden.
Heritage became the second Opeth album to not feature any death growls and had a much more progressive style than previous albums from the band, something that Åkerfeldt had been wanting to do for some time.
The first two songs Åkerfeldt wrote for Heritage were in the style of Watershed. After hearing the songs for the first time, Martín Méndez told Åkerfeldt that he would be disappointed if the album continued in that direction. Relieved that Méndez was not interested in doing another conventional Opeth album, Åkerfeldt scrapped the two songs and started the writing process over in a different style. In the press release for Heritage, Mikael Åkerfeldt revealed that he felt as though he had been building to write the album since he was 19 years old. In a review for Allmusic, Thom Jurek called Heritage the band's most adventurous album, describing the songs as "drenched in instrumental interludes, knotty key and chord changes, shifting time signatures, clean vocals, and a keyboard-heavy instrumentation that includes Mellotrons, Rhodes pianos, and Hammond organs".
Opeth supported Heritage with a tour that would last for over 200 tour dates. The tour was the band's first with new keyboardist, Joakim Svalberg, who played on the opening track of the album. During the tour, Opeth played with bands such as Katatonia, Pain of Salvation, Mastodon, Ghost and Anathema all over the world in countries such as the United States, Europe, Turkey, India, Japan, Greece, Israel, Latin America and Sweden. The tour concluded with "Melloboat 2013".
Pale Communion (2014–2015)
On 26 August 2014, Opeth released its eleventh studio album, titled Pale Communion. Åkerfeldt began working on new material as far back as August 2012. In January 2014 he stated, "We've been looking at [tracking the next album at] Rockfield Studios in Wales where Queen recorded "Bohemian Rhapsody", but we haven't made a decision yet, but it will be an expensive album. There's a lot going on, lots of string arrangements that we haven't had in the past." Despite fearing that the band's new musical direction would split Opeth's fanbase, when asked if it will it be heavier or softer than Heritage, Åkerfeldt said, "Maybe a little bit heavier, not death metal heavy, but hard rock/heavy metal heavy. There's also lots of progressive elements and acoustic guitars, but also more sinister-sounding riffs." Åkerfeldt also produced the new album which will include string instrumentation, something that he became interested in doing when working on Storm Corrosion. The band members in Opeth felt rejuvenated after creating Heritage which resulted in closer relationships between them.
The Guardian reviewed Pale Communion positively, calling it "strange, intricate prog-metal genius" somewhat flawed by Åkerfeldt's indulgent vocal styling. The album saw Opeth's highest chart positions in the history of the band with Pale Communion debuting at number 19 in the US, number 3 in Sweden, and number 14 in the United Kingdom. It sold 13,000 copies in its first week of release in the US.
Pale Communion was supported with more touring from Opeth. In 2015, Opeth played several concerts to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the band. At these special shows, the band was doing two sets. The first set is 2005's Ghost Reveries as a ten-year anniversary celebration of the album. The second set spanned the rest of the band's career, celebrating their 25th anniversary. Åkerfeldt expressed excitement for the concerts.
Sorceress, In Cauda Venenum and departure of Axenrot (2016–present)
On 15 June 2016, Nuclear Blast Entertainment announced the signing of Opeth. Three days later, on 18 June, Opeth released a 30-second teaser for their new album, Sorceress. A month later, on 18 July, the band confirmed the album would be released on 30 September, in addition to revealing the artwork and track list. Mikael Åkerfeldt described it as, "A fine little record. My favorite in our discography right now. Of course. That's how it should be, right? It's both fresh and old, both progressive and rehashed. Heavy and calm. Just the way we like it." The album was the first project under Moderbolaget Records, a joint venture between Opeth and Nuclear Blast. Moderbolaget means "the parent company" in Swedish.
On 25 July 2016, in the build up towards the album release, the band posted the first Sorceress: Studio Report on their YouTube channel. In the behind-the-scenes studio tour, it is confirmed that the band had returned to Rockfield Studios where they previously recorded Pale Communion. At the end of the video, there is a 20-second excerpt of a track believed to be from the album featuring heavily down-tuned guitars. On 1 August 2016, the band released a lyric video for the title-track 'Sorceress' on their YouTube channel. On 4 September 2016, Opeth released a lyric video for the second single titled 'Will O the Wisp,' again through their YouTube channel and website. Opeth's video for "Era" was nominated for "Video of the Year" at the 2017 Progressive Music Awards, where they ultimately won "International Band of the Year".
On 2 October 2017, Åkerfeldt said he has been thinking about doing something "twisted" and different for the next studio album, which could be released by mid-to-late 2019. On 20 November 2017, guitarist Fredrik Åkesson stated that the band will not have any gigs in the upcoming months, until the 2018 summer festivals. During this break the band will focus on writing songs for the new album. On 11 July 2018, during an interview with FaceCulture, Åkesson said "I've recorded a lot of solos so far. And Mikael Åkerfeldt has almost already written 12 songs for the new album, so we have more material than enough for an album". On 22 May 2019, the band announced their thirteenth studio album, In Cauda Venenum, due for release on 27 September 2019. On 12 July 2019, Opeth released the first single from In Cauda Venenum entitled "Heart in Hand" in both English and Swedish.
On 16 November 2021, it was announced that longtime drummer Martin Axenrot had left the band due to conflict of interests and will be replaced by Sami Karppinen for the North American tour.
Musical style and influences
As Opeth's primary songwriter and lyricist, vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt heads the direction of Opeth's sound. He was influenced at a young age by the 1970s progressive rock bands King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, Camel, P.F.M., Hawkwind, and Gracious, and by heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Slayer, Death, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Celtic Frost, King Diamond, Morbid Angel, Voivod, and, most importantly, Judas Priest. Åkerfeldt considers Judas Priest's Sad Wings of Destiny (1976) the best metal album of all time, and notes that there was a time when he listened only to Judas Priest. While warming up before Opeth concerts, Åkerfeldt frequently sings "Here Come the Tears" from Judas Priest's third album Sin After Sin (1977). Åkerfeldt later discovered progressive rock and folk music, both of which had a profound impact on the sound of the band.
Opeth's distinct sound mixes death metal with progressive rock. Steve Huey of AllMusic refers to Opeth's "epic, progressive death metal style". Ryan Ogle of Blabbermouth described Opeth's sound as incorporating "the likes of folk, funk, blues, '70s rock, goth and a laundry list of other sonic oddities into their trademark progressive death style." In his review of Opeth's 2001 album Blackwater Park, AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia wrote, "Tracks start and finish in seemingly arbitrary fashion, usually traversing ample musical terrain, including acoustic guitar and solo piano passages, ambient soundscapes, stoner rock grooves, and Eastern-tinged melodies—any of which are subject to savage punctuations of death metal fury at any given moment." Åkerfeldt commented on the diversity of Opeth's music:
I don't see the point of playing in a band and going just one way when you can do everything. It would be impossible for us to play just death metal; that is our roots, but we are now a mishmash of everything, and not purists to any form of music. It's impossible for us to do that, and quite frankly I would think of it as boring to be in a band that plays just metal music. We're not afraid to experiment, or to be caught with our pants down, so to speak. That's what keeps us going.
More recently, Opeth have abandoned their death metal sound resulting in a mellower progressive rock sound. When talking about Heritage, guitarist Fredrik Åkesson stated:
In the beginning it took me a little while to get used to the new idea of the sound, not having any screaming vocals and stuff like that. But I think the album was necessary for us to do. Maybe the band wouldn't have continued if we hadn't done Heritage. I think the old Opeth fans understand this album. There's always going to be some haters, but you can't be loved by everyone. Opeth has always been about not repeating ourself. A lot of people don't think Heritage is metal but I think it's metal to go somewhere people don't expect. It doesn't mean we're not embracing the past sound of Opeth.
Vocally, Åkerfeldt shifts between traditional death metal vocals for heavy sections, and clean, sometimes whispered or soft-spoken vocals over mellower passages. While his death growls were dominant on early releases, later efforts incorporate more clean vocals, with Damnation, Heritage, Pale Communion, Sorceress and In Cauda Venenum featuring only clean singing. Rivadavia noted that "Åkerfeldt's vocals run the gamut from bowel-churning grunts to melodies of chilling beauty—depending on each movement section's mood."
Legacy
A number of artists and bands have cited Opeth as an influence, among which are Mayan (a project of Mark Jansen from Epica), Luc Lemay of Gorguts, Soen (a band of former Opeth drummer Martin Lopez), Tor Oddmund Suhrke of Leprous, Disillusion, Caligula's Horse, Klimt 1918, Daniel Droste of Ahab, Becoming the Archetype, Nucleus Torn, Alex Vynogradoff of Kauan, Wastefall, Eric Guenther of The Contortionist, Thomas MacLean and To-Mera, The Man-Eating Tree, Nahemah, Vladimir Agafonkin of Obiymy Doschu, Schizoid Lloyd, Native Construct, Maxime Côté of Catuvolcus, Bilocate, and Jinjer.
In addition, other artists have been quoted expressing admiration for their work including Seven Lions, John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, Ihsahn, Simone Simons of Epica, Oliver Palotai of Kamelot, Jim Matheos of Fates Warning, and Haken.
Members
Current members
Mikael Åkerfeldt – guitars (1990–present), lead vocals (1992–present), keyboards (1990), bass (1990, 1992, 1997)
Martín Méndez – bass (1997–present)
Fredrik Åkesson – guitars, backing vocals (2007–present)
Joakim Svalberg – keyboards, synthesizers, piano, mellotron, backing vocals (2011–present)
Current touring members
Sami Karppinen – drums (2021–present)
Discography
Orchid (1995)
Morningrise (1996)
My Arms, Your Hearse (1998)
Still Life (1999)
Blackwater Park (2001)
Deliverance (2002)
Damnation (2003)
Ghost Reveries (2005)
Watershed (2008)
Heritage (2011)
Pale Communion (2014)
Sorceress (2016)
In Cauda Venenum (2019)
References
Sources
External links
MNRK Music Group artists
Musical groups established in 1990
Musical groups from Stockholm
Musical quartets
Musical quintets
Roadrunner Records artists
Nuclear Blast artists
Swedish death metal musical groups
Swedish progressive metal musical groups
Swedish progressive rock groups
Swedish heavy metal musical groups
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"Leptorrhamphus is an extinct genus of gavialoid crocodilian that lived during the Middle to Late Miocene in what is now Argentina. Fossils of the crocodile have been found in the formation then named Entrerriana Formation, in modern literature referred to as the Ituzaingó Formation. The type species is L. entrerrianus, named after the formation in 1890. It is now thought to be a nomen dubium.\n\nReferences \n\nMiocene crocodylomorphs\nMiocene reptiles of South America\nNeogene Argentina\nFossils of Argentina\nFossil taxa described in 1890\nNomina dubia",
"The Rønne Formation is a geologic formation on the island on Bornholm, Denmark. It is of middle Hettangian to early Pliensbachian age. Vertebrate fossils have been uncovered from this formation. During the Early Jurassic, on what is now the Bornholm region was transitional between continental and marine settings with tidal influence. There was a lower delta plain, with lagoons and intertidal swamps. The formation is correlated with the lower Rya Formation and the upper Höganäs Formation of Skåne, Sweden.\n\nFossil content \nThe Rønne Formation has provided many fossil flora.\n\nIchnofossils\n\nSee also \n List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Denmark\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography \n \n\nGeologic formations of Denmark\nJurassic System of Europe\nJurassic Denmark\nHettangian Stage\nPliensbachian Stage\nSiltstone formations\nSandstone formations\nDeltaic deposits\nShallow marine deposits\nPaleontology in Denmark\nFormations"
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"Opeth",
"Formation (1989-1993)",
"What took place during the years 1989-1993?",
"Opeth was formed as a death metal band in 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden,",
"What is Formation?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_ecf88860a0724b1298539ec6634811b9_1
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Who was the lead member of Opeth?
| 3 |
Who was the lead member of Opeth?
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Opeth
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Opeth was formed as a death metal band in 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden, by lead vocalist David Isberg. Isberg asked former Eruption band member Mikael Akerfeldt (just 16 years old at the time) to join Opeth as a bassist. When Akerfeldt showed up to practice on the day after Isberg invited him, it became clear that Isberg had not told the band members, including the band's current bassist, that Akerfeldt would be joining. An ensuing argument led to all members but Isberg and Akerfeldt leaving to form a new project. The band name was derived from the word "Opet", taken from the Wilbur Smith novel The Sunbird. In this novel, Opet is the name of a fictional Phoenician city in South Africa translated as "City of the Moon". Isberg and Akerfeldt recruited drummer Anders Nordin, bassist Nick Doring, and guitarist Andreas Dimeo. Unsatisfied with Opeth's slow progress, Doring and Dimeo left the band after their first performance, and were replaced by guitarist Kim Pettersson and bassist Johan De Farfalla. After the next show, De Farfalla left Opeth to spend time with his girlfriend in Germany, and was initially replaced by Mattias Ander, before Akerfeldt's friend Peter Lindgren took on the role of bassist. Rhythm guitarist Kim Pettersson left following the band's next performance, and Lindgren switched to guitar, with the role of bassist falling to Stefan Guteklint. The following year, David Isberg left the band citing "creative differences". Following Isberg's departure, Akerfeldt took over vocal duties and he, Lindgren, and Nordin spent the next year writing and rehearsing new material. The group began to rely less on the blast beats and aggression typical of death metal, and incorporated acoustic guitars and guitar harmonies into their music; developing the core sound of Opeth. Bassist Guteklint was dismissed by the band after they signed their first record deal with Candlelight Records in 1994. Opeth initially employed former member De Farfalla as a session bassist for their demo recordings, and he went on to join on a full-time basis following the release of Opeth's debut album, "Orchid", in 1995. CANNOTANSWER
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lead vocalist David Isberg.
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Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1989 by lead vocalist David Isberg. The group has been through several personnel changes, including the replacement of every single original member; notably Isberg in 1992. Opeth has consistently incorporated progressive, folk, blues, classical, and jazz influences into its usually lengthy compositions, as well as strong influences from death metal, especially in their early works. Many songs include acoustic guitar passages and strong dynamic shifts, as well as death growls. Opeth is also well known for their incorporation of Mellotrons in their work. The band rarely made live appearances supporting their first four albums, but since conducting their first world tour after the 2001 release of Blackwater Park, they have led several major world tours.
Opeth has released 13 studio albums, four live DVDs, four live albums (three that are in conjunction with DVDs), and two boxsets. The band released its debut album Orchid in 1995. Although their eighth studio album, Ghost Reveries, was quite popular in the United States, Opeth did not experience major American commercial success until the 2008 release of their ninth studio album, Watershed, which peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard 200, and topped the Finnish albums chart in its first week of release. As of November 2009, the band has sold over 1.5 million copies of their albums and DVDs worldwide, including 300,000 collective SoundScans of their albums Blackwater Park, Damnation, and Deliverance in the United States.
History
Formation (1989–1993)
Opeth was formed as a death metal band in 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden, by lead vocalist David Isberg. The band name was derived from the word "Opet", taken from the Wilbur Smith novel The Sunbird. In this novel, Opet is the name of a fictional Phoenician city in South Africa translated as "City of the Moon".
In 1990, Isberg asked former Eruption band member Mikael Åkerfeldt to join Opeth as a bassist, replacing Martin Persson. When Åkerfeldt showed up to practice on the day after Isberg invited him, it became clear that Isberg had not told the band members, including the band's current bassist, that Åkerfeldt would be joining the band. An ensuing argument led to all members but Isberg and Åkerfeldt leaving to form a new project.
Isberg and Åkerfeldt recruited drummer Anders Nordin, bassist Nick Döring, and guitarist Andreas Dimeo. Unsatisfied with Opeth's slow progress, Döring and Dimeo left the band after their first performance, and were replaced by guitarist Kim Pettersson and bassist Johan De Farfalla. After the next show, De Farfalla left Opeth to spend time with his girlfriend in Germany, and was initially replaced by Mattias Ander, before Åkerfeldt's friend Peter Lindgren took on the role of bassist. Rhythm guitarist Kim Pettersson left following the band's next performance, and Lindgren switched to guitar, with the role of bassist falling to Stefan Guteklint. The following year, David Isberg left the band citing "creative differences".
Following Isberg's departure, Åkerfeldt took over vocal duties and he, Lindgren, and Nordin spent the next year writing and rehearsing new material. The group began to rely less on the blast beats and aggression typical of death metal, and incorporated acoustic guitars and guitar harmonies into their music; developing the core sound of Opeth. Bassist Guteklint was dismissed by the band after they signed their first record deal with Candlelight Records in 1994. Opeth initially employed former member De Farfalla as a session bassist for their demo recordings, and he went on to join on a full-time basis following the release of Opeth's debut album, "Orchid", in 1995.
Orchid, Morningrise, and My Arms, Your Hearse (1994–1998)
Opeth recorded its debut album, Orchid, with producer Dan Swanö in April 1994. Because of distribution problems with the newly formed Candlelight Records, the album was not released until 15 May 1995, and only in Europe. Orchid tested the boundaries of traditional death metal, featuring acoustic guitars, piano, and clean vocals.
After a few live shows in the United Kingdom, Opeth returned to the studio in March 1996 to begin work on a second album, again produced by Dan Swanö. The album, titled Morningrise, was released in Europe on 24 June 1996. With only five songs, but lasting 66 minutes, it features Opeth's longest song, the 20-minute "Black Rose Immortal". Opeth toured the UK in support of Morningrise, followed by a 26-date Scandinavian tour with Cradle of Filth. While on tour, Opeth attracted the attention of Century Media Records, who signed the band and released the first two albums in the United States in 1997.
In 1997, after the tour, Åkerfeldt and Lindgren dismissed De Farfalla for personal reasons, without the consent of Nordin. When Åkerfeldt informed Nordin, who was on a vacation in Brazil, Nordin left the band and remained in Brazil for personal reasons. Former Eternal members, drummer Martín López (formerly of Amon Amarth) and bassist Martín Méndez, responded to an ad at a music shop placed by Åkerfeldt. López and Méndez were fans of the band and took the ads down themselves so no other musicians could apply for the job. Åkerfeldt and Lindgren did not want the Martíns to join at first, due to them already knowing each other; they felt that they wanted two strangers so that there wouldn't be two camps in the band, but eventually hired both. López made his debut with Opeth playing on a cover version of Iron Maiden's "Remember Tomorrow", which was included on the album A Call to Irons: A Tribute to Iron Maiden.
With a larger recording budget from Century Media, Opeth began work on its third album, with noted Swedish producer Fredrik Nordström, at Studio Fredman in August 1997. Although Opeth had Méndez, due to time constraints Åkerfeldt played bass on the album. My Arms, Your Hearse was released to critical acclaim on 18 August 1998.
Still Life and Blackwater Park (1999–2001)
In 1999, the ownership of Candlelight Records changed hands, with owner and friend of the band Lee Barrett leaving the company. Opeth signed with UK label Peaceville Records in Europe, which was distributed by Music for Nations. Opeth reserved time at Studio Fredman to begin work on its next album, but recording was postponed while the studio was relocated. Due to time constraints, the band was able to rehearse only twice before entering the studio. Delays with the album's artwork pushed the release back an additional month and Still Life was released on 18 October 1999. Due to problems with the band's new distribution network, the album was not released in the United States until February 2001. Still Life was the first album recorded with Méndez, and also the first Opeth album to bear any kind of caption on the front cover upon its initial release, including the band's logo. Allmusic called Still Life a "formidable splicing of harsh, often jagged guitar riffs with graceful melodies." As explained by Åkerfeldt, Still Life is a concept album: "The main character is kind of banished from his hometown because he hasn't got the same faith as the rest of the inhabitants there. The album pretty much starts off when he is returning after several years to hook up with his old 'babe.' The big bosses of the town know that he's back... A lot of bad things start happening."
Following a few live dates in Europe, Opeth returned to Studio Fredman to begin work on its next album, with Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson producing. The band sought to recreate the recording experience of Still Life, and again entered the studio with minimal rehearsals, and no lyrics written. "This time it was tough," Åkerfeldt said, "I feel pleasantly blown away by the immense result, though. It was indeed worth the effort." Wilson also pushed the band to expand its sound, incorporating new sounds and production techniques. "Steve guided us into the realms of 'strange' noises for guitars and voice", Åkerfeldt said.
Opeth released its fifth studio album, Blackwater Park, on 21 February 2001. AllMusic has stated that the album "keeps with Opeth's tradition by transcending the limits of death/black metal and repeatedly shattering the foundations of conventional songwriting". In support of Blackwater Park, Opeth embarked on its first world tour, headlined Europe for the first time, and made an appearance at the 2001 Wacken Open Air festival in Germany, playing to a crowd of 60,000.
Deliverance and Damnation (2002–2004)
Opeth returned to Sweden after touring in support of Blackwater Park, and began writing for the next album. At first, Åkerfeldt had trouble putting together new material: "I wanted to write something heavier than we'd ever done, still I had all these great mellow parts and arrangements which I didn't want to go to waste." Jonas Renkse of Katatonia, a long-time friend of Åkerfeldt, suggested writing music for two separate albums—one heavy and one soft.
Excited at the prospect, Åkerfeldt agreed without consulting his bandmates or record label. While his bandmates liked the idea of recording two separate albums, Åkerfeldt had to convince the label: "I had to lie somewhat ... saying that we could do this recording very soon, it won't cost more than a regular single album." With most of the material written, the band rehearsed just once before entering Nacksving Studios in 2002, and again with producer Steven Wilson in Studio Fredman. Under pressure to complete both albums simultaneously, Åkerfeldt said the recording process was "the toughest test of our history." After recording basic tracks, the band moved production to England to first mix the heavy album, Deliverance, with Andy Sneap at Backstage Studios. "Deliverance was so poorly recorded, without any organisation whatsoever," Åkerfeldt claimed, that Sneap "is credited as a 'saviour' in the sleeve, as he surely saved much of the recording."
Deliverance was released on 4 November 2002, and debuted at number 19 on the US Top Independent Albums chart, marking the band's first US chart appearance. AllMusic stated, "Deliverance is altogether more subtle than any of its predecessors, approaching listeners with haunting nuances and masterful dynamics rather than overwhelming them with sheer mass and complexity."
Opeth performed a one-off concert in Stockholm, then returned to the UK to finish recording vocals for the second of the two albums, Damnation, at Steven Wilson's No Man's Land Studios. Although Åkerfeldt believed the band could not finish both albums, Opeth completed Deliverance and Damnation in just seven weeks of studio time, which was the same amount spent on Blackwater Park alone. Damnation was released on 14 April 2003, and garnered the band its first appearance on the US Billboard 200 at number 192. The album also won the 2003 Swedish Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. On 1 January 2016, Opeth re-released both Deliverance and Damnation in one package, containing CD and DVD versions, along with new mixing.
The band embarked on its biggest tour yet, playing nearly 200 shows in 2003 and 2004. Opeth performed three special shows in Europe with two song lists each—one acoustic set and one heavy set. The band recorded its first DVD, Lamentations (Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire 2003), at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, England. The DVD features a two-hour performance, including the entire Damnation album, several songs from Deliverance and Blackwater Park, and a one-hour documentary about the recording of Deliverance and Damnation. Lamentations was certified Gold in Canada.
Opeth was scheduled to perform in Jordan without a crew due to the fear of terrorist attacks in the Middle East. Opeth's tour manager distributed 6,000 tickets for the concert, but before the band left for Jordan, drummer Lopez called Åkerfeldt stating he was having an anxiety attack and could not perform, forcing the band to cancel the show. In early 2004, Lopez was sent home from Canada after more anxiety attacks on tour. Opeth decided against cancelling the remainder of the tour, with Lopez's drum technician filling in for two concerts. Lopez promised that he would return to the tour as soon as he could, but two shows later Opeth asked Strapping Young Lad drummer Gene Hoglan to fill in. Lopez returned to Opeth for the Seattle show on the final leg of the Deliverance and Damnation tour. Per Wiberg also joined the band on tour to perform keyboards, after more than a year on tour.
Ghost Reveries (2005–2007)
Opeth returned home in 2004 to start writing new material for its eighth album, and by the end of the year, they had finished writing it. Opeth's European label, Music for Nations, closed its doors in 2005, and after negotiations with various labels, the band signed with Roadrunner Records. Åkerfeldt said the primary reason for signing with Roadrunner was the label's wide distribution, ensuring the album would be available at larger-chain retailers. When news leaked that the band was signed to Roadrunner, who predominantly worked with trend-oriented rock and metal, some fans accused the band of selling out. "To be honest," Åkerfeldt said, "that's such an insult after 15 years as a band and 8 records. I can't believe we haven't earned each and every Opeth fan's credibility after all these years. I mean, our songs are 10 minutes long!" The band rehearsed for three weeks before entering the studio, the first time the band rehearsed since the 1998 album, My Arms, Your Hearse. During rehearsal, keyboardist Wiberg joined Opeth as a full-time member. Opeth recorded at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden, from 18 March to 1 June 2005, and released the resulting Ghost Reveries on 30 August 2005, to critical acclaim and commercial success. The album debuted at number 64 in the US, and number nine in Sweden, higher than any previous Opeth release. Keith Bergman of Blabbermouth.net gave the album ten out of ten, one of only 21 albums to achieve a perfect rating from the site. Rod Smith of Decibel magazine called Ghost Reveries "achingly beautiful, sometimes unabashedly brutal, often a combination of both".
On 12 May 2006, Martin Lopez announced that he had officially parted ways with Opeth due to health problems, and was replaced by Martin Axenrot. Opeth toured on the main stage of Gigantour in 2006, alongside Megadeth. Ghost Reveries was re-released on 31 October 2006, with a bonus cover song (Deep Purple's "Soldier of Fortune"), a DVD featuring a 5.1 surround sound mix of the album and a documentary on the making of the record. A recording of Opeth's live performance at the Camden Roundhouse, in London, on 9 November 2006, was released as the double live album The Roundhouse Tapes, which topped the Finnish DVD chart.
On 17 May 2007, Peter Lindgren announced he would be leaving Opeth after 16 years. "The decision has been the toughest I've ever made but it is the right one to make at this point in my life," Lindgren said. "I feel that I simply have lost some of the enthusiasm and inspiration needed to participate in a band that has grown from a few guys playing the music we love to a worldwide industry." Ex-Arch Enemy guitarist Fredrik Åkesson replaced Lindgren, as Åkerfeldt explained "Fredrik was the only name that popped up thinking about a replacement for Peter. In my opinion he's one of the top three guitar players out of Sweden. We all get along great as we've known each other for maybe four years and he already has the experience to take on the circus-like lifestyle we lead as members of Opeth."
Watershed and In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall (2008–2010)
Opeth entered Fascination Street Studios in November 2007 to record their ninth studio album, with Åkerfeldt producing. By January 2008, Opeth had recorded 13 songs, including three cover songs. The finished album, Watershed, features seven tracks, with cover songs used as bonus tracks on different versions of the album. Watershed was released on 3 June 2008. Åkerfeldt described the songs on the album as "a bit more energetic". Opeth toured in support of Watershed, including headlining the UK Defenders of the Faith tour with Arch Enemy, an appearance at Wacken Open Air, and the Progressive Nation tour with headliner Dream Theater. Watershed was Opeth's highest-charting album to date, debuting at number 23 on the US Billboard 200, on the Australian ARIA album charts at number seven and at number one on Finland's official album chart. Opeth went on a worldwide tour in support of Watershed. From September to October, the band toured North America backed by High on Fire, Baroness, and Nachtmystium. They returned to tour Europe for the rest of the year with Cynic and The Ocean.
In 2010, Opeth wrote and recorded the new track, "The Throat of Winter", which appeared on the digital EP soundtrack of the video game, God of War III. Åkerfeldt described the song as "odd" and "not very metal." To celebrate their 20th anniversary, Opeth performed a six-show, worldwide tour called Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology, from 30 March through 9 April 2010. Blackwater Park was performed in its entirety, along with several songs never before performed. The concert of 5 April 2010, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England was filmed for a DVD and live album package titled In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. The set was released on 21 September 2010, in 2-DVD and 2-DVD/3-CD configurations. For the DVD the concert was split into two sets. The first set consists of the entire Blackwater Park album, while the second set contains one song from every album excluding Blackwater Park, in chronological order representing the twenty years of "evolution" in their music. Åkerfeldt stated, "I can't believe it, but, fuck, we're celebrating 20 years. I've been in this band ever since I was 16. It's insane." A special edition of Blackwater Park was released in March 2010 to coincide with the tour.
Heritage (2011–2013)
In September 2010, Mikael Åkerfeldt stated that he was writing for a new Opeth album. The band announced on their website that they would start recording their tenth album on 31 January 2011, at the Atlantis/Metronome studios in Stockholm, once again with Jens Bogren (engineering) and Steven Wilson from Porcupine Tree as co-producer.
Shortly after mixing was complete on the new album in April 2011, Opeth announced that Per Wiberg was relieved of his duties in the band.
In the press statement, Mikael Åkerfeldt explained the decision, saying, "Mendez, Axe and Fredrik and I came to the decision that we should find a replacement for Per right after the recordings of the new album, and this came as no surprise to Per. He had, in turn, been thinking about leaving, so you could say it was a mutual decision. There's no bad blood, just a relationship that came to an end, and that's that."
Opeth's tenth album, Heritage, was released on 14 September 2011, to generally favorable reviews. The album sold 19,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release and debuted at number 19 on the Billboard 200 chart. Heritage debuted at number four in the band's native country of Sweden.
Heritage became the second Opeth album to not feature any death growls and had a much more progressive style than previous albums from the band, something that Åkerfeldt had been wanting to do for some time.
The first two songs Åkerfeldt wrote for Heritage were in the style of Watershed. After hearing the songs for the first time, Martín Méndez told Åkerfeldt that he would be disappointed if the album continued in that direction. Relieved that Méndez was not interested in doing another conventional Opeth album, Åkerfeldt scrapped the two songs and started the writing process over in a different style. In the press release for Heritage, Mikael Åkerfeldt revealed that he felt as though he had been building to write the album since he was 19 years old. In a review for Allmusic, Thom Jurek called Heritage the band's most adventurous album, describing the songs as "drenched in instrumental interludes, knotty key and chord changes, shifting time signatures, clean vocals, and a keyboard-heavy instrumentation that includes Mellotrons, Rhodes pianos, and Hammond organs".
Opeth supported Heritage with a tour that would last for over 200 tour dates. The tour was the band's first with new keyboardist, Joakim Svalberg, who played on the opening track of the album. During the tour, Opeth played with bands such as Katatonia, Pain of Salvation, Mastodon, Ghost and Anathema all over the world in countries such as the United States, Europe, Turkey, India, Japan, Greece, Israel, Latin America and Sweden. The tour concluded with "Melloboat 2013".
Pale Communion (2014–2015)
On 26 August 2014, Opeth released its eleventh studio album, titled Pale Communion. Åkerfeldt began working on new material as far back as August 2012. In January 2014 he stated, "We've been looking at [tracking the next album at] Rockfield Studios in Wales where Queen recorded "Bohemian Rhapsody", but we haven't made a decision yet, but it will be an expensive album. There's a lot going on, lots of string arrangements that we haven't had in the past." Despite fearing that the band's new musical direction would split Opeth's fanbase, when asked if it will it be heavier or softer than Heritage, Åkerfeldt said, "Maybe a little bit heavier, not death metal heavy, but hard rock/heavy metal heavy. There's also lots of progressive elements and acoustic guitars, but also more sinister-sounding riffs." Åkerfeldt also produced the new album which will include string instrumentation, something that he became interested in doing when working on Storm Corrosion. The band members in Opeth felt rejuvenated after creating Heritage which resulted in closer relationships between them.
The Guardian reviewed Pale Communion positively, calling it "strange, intricate prog-metal genius" somewhat flawed by Åkerfeldt's indulgent vocal styling. The album saw Opeth's highest chart positions in the history of the band with Pale Communion debuting at number 19 in the US, number 3 in Sweden, and number 14 in the United Kingdom. It sold 13,000 copies in its first week of release in the US.
Pale Communion was supported with more touring from Opeth. In 2015, Opeth played several concerts to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the band. At these special shows, the band was doing two sets. The first set is 2005's Ghost Reveries as a ten-year anniversary celebration of the album. The second set spanned the rest of the band's career, celebrating their 25th anniversary. Åkerfeldt expressed excitement for the concerts.
Sorceress, In Cauda Venenum and departure of Axenrot (2016–present)
On 15 June 2016, Nuclear Blast Entertainment announced the signing of Opeth. Three days later, on 18 June, Opeth released a 30-second teaser for their new album, Sorceress. A month later, on 18 July, the band confirmed the album would be released on 30 September, in addition to revealing the artwork and track list. Mikael Åkerfeldt described it as, "A fine little record. My favorite in our discography right now. Of course. That's how it should be, right? It's both fresh and old, both progressive and rehashed. Heavy and calm. Just the way we like it." The album was the first project under Moderbolaget Records, a joint venture between Opeth and Nuclear Blast. Moderbolaget means "the parent company" in Swedish.
On 25 July 2016, in the build up towards the album release, the band posted the first Sorceress: Studio Report on their YouTube channel. In the behind-the-scenes studio tour, it is confirmed that the band had returned to Rockfield Studios where they previously recorded Pale Communion. At the end of the video, there is a 20-second excerpt of a track believed to be from the album featuring heavily down-tuned guitars. On 1 August 2016, the band released a lyric video for the title-track 'Sorceress' on their YouTube channel. On 4 September 2016, Opeth released a lyric video for the second single titled 'Will O the Wisp,' again through their YouTube channel and website. Opeth's video for "Era" was nominated for "Video of the Year" at the 2017 Progressive Music Awards, where they ultimately won "International Band of the Year".
On 2 October 2017, Åkerfeldt said he has been thinking about doing something "twisted" and different for the next studio album, which could be released by mid-to-late 2019. On 20 November 2017, guitarist Fredrik Åkesson stated that the band will not have any gigs in the upcoming months, until the 2018 summer festivals. During this break the band will focus on writing songs for the new album. On 11 July 2018, during an interview with FaceCulture, Åkesson said "I've recorded a lot of solos so far. And Mikael Åkerfeldt has almost already written 12 songs for the new album, so we have more material than enough for an album". On 22 May 2019, the band announced their thirteenth studio album, In Cauda Venenum, due for release on 27 September 2019. On 12 July 2019, Opeth released the first single from In Cauda Venenum entitled "Heart in Hand" in both English and Swedish.
On 16 November 2021, it was announced that longtime drummer Martin Axenrot had left the band due to conflict of interests and will be replaced by Sami Karppinen for the North American tour.
Musical style and influences
As Opeth's primary songwriter and lyricist, vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt heads the direction of Opeth's sound. He was influenced at a young age by the 1970s progressive rock bands King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, Camel, P.F.M., Hawkwind, and Gracious, and by heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Slayer, Death, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Celtic Frost, King Diamond, Morbid Angel, Voivod, and, most importantly, Judas Priest. Åkerfeldt considers Judas Priest's Sad Wings of Destiny (1976) the best metal album of all time, and notes that there was a time when he listened only to Judas Priest. While warming up before Opeth concerts, Åkerfeldt frequently sings "Here Come the Tears" from Judas Priest's third album Sin After Sin (1977). Åkerfeldt later discovered progressive rock and folk music, both of which had a profound impact on the sound of the band.
Opeth's distinct sound mixes death metal with progressive rock. Steve Huey of AllMusic refers to Opeth's "epic, progressive death metal style". Ryan Ogle of Blabbermouth described Opeth's sound as incorporating "the likes of folk, funk, blues, '70s rock, goth and a laundry list of other sonic oddities into their trademark progressive death style." In his review of Opeth's 2001 album Blackwater Park, AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia wrote, "Tracks start and finish in seemingly arbitrary fashion, usually traversing ample musical terrain, including acoustic guitar and solo piano passages, ambient soundscapes, stoner rock grooves, and Eastern-tinged melodies—any of which are subject to savage punctuations of death metal fury at any given moment." Åkerfeldt commented on the diversity of Opeth's music:
I don't see the point of playing in a band and going just one way when you can do everything. It would be impossible for us to play just death metal; that is our roots, but we are now a mishmash of everything, and not purists to any form of music. It's impossible for us to do that, and quite frankly I would think of it as boring to be in a band that plays just metal music. We're not afraid to experiment, or to be caught with our pants down, so to speak. That's what keeps us going.
More recently, Opeth have abandoned their death metal sound resulting in a mellower progressive rock sound. When talking about Heritage, guitarist Fredrik Åkesson stated:
In the beginning it took me a little while to get used to the new idea of the sound, not having any screaming vocals and stuff like that. But I think the album was necessary for us to do. Maybe the band wouldn't have continued if we hadn't done Heritage. I think the old Opeth fans understand this album. There's always going to be some haters, but you can't be loved by everyone. Opeth has always been about not repeating ourself. A lot of people don't think Heritage is metal but I think it's metal to go somewhere people don't expect. It doesn't mean we're not embracing the past sound of Opeth.
Vocally, Åkerfeldt shifts between traditional death metal vocals for heavy sections, and clean, sometimes whispered or soft-spoken vocals over mellower passages. While his death growls were dominant on early releases, later efforts incorporate more clean vocals, with Damnation, Heritage, Pale Communion, Sorceress and In Cauda Venenum featuring only clean singing. Rivadavia noted that "Åkerfeldt's vocals run the gamut from bowel-churning grunts to melodies of chilling beauty—depending on each movement section's mood."
Legacy
A number of artists and bands have cited Opeth as an influence, among which are Mayan (a project of Mark Jansen from Epica), Luc Lemay of Gorguts, Soen (a band of former Opeth drummer Martin Lopez), Tor Oddmund Suhrke of Leprous, Disillusion, Caligula's Horse, Klimt 1918, Daniel Droste of Ahab, Becoming the Archetype, Nucleus Torn, Alex Vynogradoff of Kauan, Wastefall, Eric Guenther of The Contortionist, Thomas MacLean and To-Mera, The Man-Eating Tree, Nahemah, Vladimir Agafonkin of Obiymy Doschu, Schizoid Lloyd, Native Construct, Maxime Côté of Catuvolcus, Bilocate, and Jinjer.
In addition, other artists have been quoted expressing admiration for their work including Seven Lions, John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, Ihsahn, Simone Simons of Epica, Oliver Palotai of Kamelot, Jim Matheos of Fates Warning, and Haken.
Members
Current members
Mikael Åkerfeldt – guitars (1990–present), lead vocals (1992–present), keyboards (1990), bass (1990, 1992, 1997)
Martín Méndez – bass (1997–present)
Fredrik Åkesson – guitars, backing vocals (2007–present)
Joakim Svalberg – keyboards, synthesizers, piano, mellotron, backing vocals (2011–present)
Current touring members
Sami Karppinen – drums (2021–present)
Discography
Orchid (1995)
Morningrise (1996)
My Arms, Your Hearse (1998)
Still Life (1999)
Blackwater Park (2001)
Deliverance (2002)
Damnation (2003)
Ghost Reveries (2005)
Watershed (2008)
Heritage (2011)
Pale Communion (2014)
Sorceress (2016)
In Cauda Venenum (2019)
References
Sources
External links
MNRK Music Group artists
Musical groups established in 1990
Musical groups from Stockholm
Musical quartets
Musical quintets
Roadrunner Records artists
Nuclear Blast artists
Swedish death metal musical groups
Swedish progressive metal musical groups
Swedish progressive rock groups
Swedish heavy metal musical groups
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[
"Damnation is the seventh full-length studio album by Swedish progressive rock band Opeth. It was released on 22 April 2003, five months after Deliverance, which was recorded at the same time. Damnation is the last Opeth album to date to be produced by Steven Wilson although he did mix two future albums, Heritage and Pale Communion. Mikael Åkerfeldt dedicated both albums to his grandmother, who died in a car accident during the time the albums were being recorded.\n\nThe album was a radical departure from Opeth's typical death metal sound, and the first Opeth album to use all clean vocals, clean guitars, and prominent Mellotron, as well as being inspired by 1970s progressive rock, which typically features no heavy riffs or extended fast tempos. Despite the change in style from Opeth's previous albums, Damnation was critically acclaimed and boosted their popularity, leading to the release of Lamentations on DVD in late 2003.\n\nProduction \nLike Deliverance, Damnation was recorded during the same trouble-plagued sessions at Nacksving Studios and Studio Fredman. The majority of the recording of both albums was done, save for most of the Damnation vocals. For those parts, Åkerfeldt flew down to Wilson's studio No Man's Land in the UK, just a day after his grandmother's funeral.\n\nCritical reception \n\nIn a rave review for Sputnikmusic, Mike Stagno wrote that Damnation is a progressive rock album that departs entirely from the extreme metal elements of Opeth's previous work, and stands as one of the best albums released in recent years. Ned Raggett of Pitchfork Media also felt that it succeeds without Opeth's previous death metal style, and showcases each band member's technical abilities on what is \"the most surprising and entertaining album\" in Opeth's discography.\n\nIn 2014, TeamRock put Damnation at number 91 on their \"Top 100 Greatest Prog Albums of All Time\" list commenting: \"the first Opeth album to abandon metal entirely, Damnation trumped its heavier sibling Deliverance by bringing Mikael Åkerfeldt’s masterful songwriting to the fore\".\n\nLoudwire listed Damnation as the second best album of 2003. Mike Portnoy, ex-drummer for Dream Theater, put the album on his list of best albums of 2003.\n\nTrack listing\n\nNotes\nA music video was created for an edited version of \"Windowpane\".\nThe vocal melody in the chorus of \"To Rid the Disease\" is borrowed from a track recorded by Mikael Åkerfeldt's side project Sörskogen, \"Mordet i Grottan\".\n\nPersonnel\n\nOpeth\nOpeth – engineering\n Mikael Åkerfeldt – vocals and lead guitar \n Peter Lindgren – rhythm guitar \n Martín Méndez – bass guitar \n Martin Lopez – drums\n\nAdditional personnel\nSteven Wilson − keyboards, piano, mellotron, backing vocals, mixing, mastering, production, engineering\n Travis Smith – artwork\n\nChart positions\n\nWeekly\n\nMonthly\n\nReferences\n\nOpeth albums\n2003 albums\nAlbums recorded at Studio Fredman\nE1 Music albums\nAlbums with cover art by Travis Smith (artist)",
"Opeth is a Swedish progressive death metal band from Stockholm. Formed in 1989, the group originally featured vocalist David Isberg, guitarists Micke Bargström and Dan Nilsson, bassist Martin Persson, and drummer Rille Even. Isberg reformed the band the following year with Mikael Åkerfeldt, who would later take over as frontman in 1992. The current lineup of Opeth features Åkerfeldt on lead vocals and guitar, Martín Méndez on bass (since 1997), Fredrik Åkesson on guitar and backing vocals (since 2007), Joakim Svalberg on keyboards and backing vocals (since 2011), and Sami Karppinen on drums (since 2021).\n\nHistory\n\n1989–2003\nDavid Isberg formed Opeth in 1989 with Micke Bargström, Dan Nilsson, Martin Persson and Rille Even. During an early rehearsal, Isberg brought in Mikael Åkerfeldt to replace Persson on bass without informing the rest of the band, all of whom he fired following the event. The remaining pair of Isberg and Åkerfeldt completed the second lineup of Opeth with the addition of guitarist Andreas Dimeo, bassist Nick Döring and drummer Anders Nordin. Dimeo and Döring both left after the band's first show in February 1991, with Kim Pettersson and Johan De Farfalla (both members of local \"sleazy metal\" band Crimson Cat) taking their places. De Farfalla left after the group's second show, with Peter Lindgren joining on bass for a third performance later in the year, after which Petterson left and Lindgren switched to guitar. Founding frontman Isberg also left Opeth in early 1992 due to \"creative differences\". Åkerfeldt later recalled that \"at the time, I thought [Isberg's departure] was good for the band, as he no longer seemed as interested as the rest of us\".\n\nFollowing Isberg's departure, Åkerfeldt took over as the lead vocalist of Opeth, and writing for a debut studio album began with Lindgren and Nordin. After a period as a three-piece, Mattias Ander briefly joined as the group's bassist, before Stefan Guteklint joined later in the year. Guteklint was fired by Åkerfeldt and Lindgren just over a year later, with former bassist De Farfalla returning for the recording of the group's debut album Orchid. After a tour in promotion of the group's second album Morningrise in 1996, Åkerfeldt and Lindgren fired De Farfalla without consulting Nordin, which also led to him leaving. Opeth briefly considered breaking up, before bringing in drummer Martin Lopez and later bassist Martín Méndez; bass on 1998's My Arms, Your Hearse was recorded by Åkerfeldt, as Méndez had joined too late to contribute.\n\nSince 2003\nAfter the release of Damnation in 2003, which marked a change in the band's musical style to a more keyboard-heavy progressive rock-influenced sound, Opeth added Per Wiberg as a touring keyboardist. He later became an official member of the band in 2005. After suffering a string of stress-related illnesses and panic attacks, Lopez ceased performing with Opeth in August 2005, with Martin \"Axe\" Axenrot filling for a number of tours. By the following May the regular drummer had officially left the band, with Axenrot officially taking his place. Lindgren left the group a year later, stating that he had \"lost some of the enthusiasm and inspiration needed to participate in [the] band\". He was replaced by Fredrik Åkesson. In April 2011, it was announced that Wiberg had left the band. He was replaced by Joakim Svalberg.\n\nThe lineup of Åkerfeldt, Åkesson, Méndez, Axenrot and Svalberg remained stable for ten years, before it was announced in November 2021 that Axenrot had left the band due to a \"conflict of interests\". He was replaced for upcoming tour dates by Therion's Sami Karppinen.\n\nMembers\n\nCurrent\n\nFormer\n\nTimeline\n\nLineups\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOpeth official website\n\nOpeth"
] |
[
"Opeth",
"Formation (1989-1993)",
"What took place during the years 1989-1993?",
"Opeth was formed as a death metal band in 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden,",
"What is Formation?",
"I don't know.",
"Who was the lead member of Opeth?",
"lead vocalist David Isberg."
] |
C_ecf88860a0724b1298539ec6634811b9_1
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When did the band break up?
| 4 |
When did the Opeth band break up?
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Opeth
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Opeth was formed as a death metal band in 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden, by lead vocalist David Isberg. Isberg asked former Eruption band member Mikael Akerfeldt (just 16 years old at the time) to join Opeth as a bassist. When Akerfeldt showed up to practice on the day after Isberg invited him, it became clear that Isberg had not told the band members, including the band's current bassist, that Akerfeldt would be joining. An ensuing argument led to all members but Isberg and Akerfeldt leaving to form a new project. The band name was derived from the word "Opet", taken from the Wilbur Smith novel The Sunbird. In this novel, Opet is the name of a fictional Phoenician city in South Africa translated as "City of the Moon". Isberg and Akerfeldt recruited drummer Anders Nordin, bassist Nick Doring, and guitarist Andreas Dimeo. Unsatisfied with Opeth's slow progress, Doring and Dimeo left the band after their first performance, and were replaced by guitarist Kim Pettersson and bassist Johan De Farfalla. After the next show, De Farfalla left Opeth to spend time with his girlfriend in Germany, and was initially replaced by Mattias Ander, before Akerfeldt's friend Peter Lindgren took on the role of bassist. Rhythm guitarist Kim Pettersson left following the band's next performance, and Lindgren switched to guitar, with the role of bassist falling to Stefan Guteklint. The following year, David Isberg left the band citing "creative differences". Following Isberg's departure, Akerfeldt took over vocal duties and he, Lindgren, and Nordin spent the next year writing and rehearsing new material. The group began to rely less on the blast beats and aggression typical of death metal, and incorporated acoustic guitars and guitar harmonies into their music; developing the core sound of Opeth. Bassist Guteklint was dismissed by the band after they signed their first record deal with Candlelight Records in 1994. Opeth initially employed former member De Farfalla as a session bassist for their demo recordings, and he went on to join on a full-time basis following the release of Opeth's debut album, "Orchid", in 1995. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1989 by lead vocalist David Isberg. The group has been through several personnel changes, including the replacement of every single original member; notably Isberg in 1992. Opeth has consistently incorporated progressive, folk, blues, classical, and jazz influences into its usually lengthy compositions, as well as strong influences from death metal, especially in their early works. Many songs include acoustic guitar passages and strong dynamic shifts, as well as death growls. Opeth is also well known for their incorporation of Mellotrons in their work. The band rarely made live appearances supporting their first four albums, but since conducting their first world tour after the 2001 release of Blackwater Park, they have led several major world tours.
Opeth has released 13 studio albums, four live DVDs, four live albums (three that are in conjunction with DVDs), and two boxsets. The band released its debut album Orchid in 1995. Although their eighth studio album, Ghost Reveries, was quite popular in the United States, Opeth did not experience major American commercial success until the 2008 release of their ninth studio album, Watershed, which peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard 200, and topped the Finnish albums chart in its first week of release. As of November 2009, the band has sold over 1.5 million copies of their albums and DVDs worldwide, including 300,000 collective SoundScans of their albums Blackwater Park, Damnation, and Deliverance in the United States.
History
Formation (1989–1993)
Opeth was formed as a death metal band in 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden, by lead vocalist David Isberg. The band name was derived from the word "Opet", taken from the Wilbur Smith novel The Sunbird. In this novel, Opet is the name of a fictional Phoenician city in South Africa translated as "City of the Moon".
In 1990, Isberg asked former Eruption band member Mikael Åkerfeldt to join Opeth as a bassist, replacing Martin Persson. When Åkerfeldt showed up to practice on the day after Isberg invited him, it became clear that Isberg had not told the band members, including the band's current bassist, that Åkerfeldt would be joining the band. An ensuing argument led to all members but Isberg and Åkerfeldt leaving to form a new project.
Isberg and Åkerfeldt recruited drummer Anders Nordin, bassist Nick Döring, and guitarist Andreas Dimeo. Unsatisfied with Opeth's slow progress, Döring and Dimeo left the band after their first performance, and were replaced by guitarist Kim Pettersson and bassist Johan De Farfalla. After the next show, De Farfalla left Opeth to spend time with his girlfriend in Germany, and was initially replaced by Mattias Ander, before Åkerfeldt's friend Peter Lindgren took on the role of bassist. Rhythm guitarist Kim Pettersson left following the band's next performance, and Lindgren switched to guitar, with the role of bassist falling to Stefan Guteklint. The following year, David Isberg left the band citing "creative differences".
Following Isberg's departure, Åkerfeldt took over vocal duties and he, Lindgren, and Nordin spent the next year writing and rehearsing new material. The group began to rely less on the blast beats and aggression typical of death metal, and incorporated acoustic guitars and guitar harmonies into their music; developing the core sound of Opeth. Bassist Guteklint was dismissed by the band after they signed their first record deal with Candlelight Records in 1994. Opeth initially employed former member De Farfalla as a session bassist for their demo recordings, and he went on to join on a full-time basis following the release of Opeth's debut album, "Orchid", in 1995.
Orchid, Morningrise, and My Arms, Your Hearse (1994–1998)
Opeth recorded its debut album, Orchid, with producer Dan Swanö in April 1994. Because of distribution problems with the newly formed Candlelight Records, the album was not released until 15 May 1995, and only in Europe. Orchid tested the boundaries of traditional death metal, featuring acoustic guitars, piano, and clean vocals.
After a few live shows in the United Kingdom, Opeth returned to the studio in March 1996 to begin work on a second album, again produced by Dan Swanö. The album, titled Morningrise, was released in Europe on 24 June 1996. With only five songs, but lasting 66 minutes, it features Opeth's longest song, the 20-minute "Black Rose Immortal". Opeth toured the UK in support of Morningrise, followed by a 26-date Scandinavian tour with Cradle of Filth. While on tour, Opeth attracted the attention of Century Media Records, who signed the band and released the first two albums in the United States in 1997.
In 1997, after the tour, Åkerfeldt and Lindgren dismissed De Farfalla for personal reasons, without the consent of Nordin. When Åkerfeldt informed Nordin, who was on a vacation in Brazil, Nordin left the band and remained in Brazil for personal reasons. Former Eternal members, drummer Martín López (formerly of Amon Amarth) and bassist Martín Méndez, responded to an ad at a music shop placed by Åkerfeldt. López and Méndez were fans of the band and took the ads down themselves so no other musicians could apply for the job. Åkerfeldt and Lindgren did not want the Martíns to join at first, due to them already knowing each other; they felt that they wanted two strangers so that there wouldn't be two camps in the band, but eventually hired both. López made his debut with Opeth playing on a cover version of Iron Maiden's "Remember Tomorrow", which was included on the album A Call to Irons: A Tribute to Iron Maiden.
With a larger recording budget from Century Media, Opeth began work on its third album, with noted Swedish producer Fredrik Nordström, at Studio Fredman in August 1997. Although Opeth had Méndez, due to time constraints Åkerfeldt played bass on the album. My Arms, Your Hearse was released to critical acclaim on 18 August 1998.
Still Life and Blackwater Park (1999–2001)
In 1999, the ownership of Candlelight Records changed hands, with owner and friend of the band Lee Barrett leaving the company. Opeth signed with UK label Peaceville Records in Europe, which was distributed by Music for Nations. Opeth reserved time at Studio Fredman to begin work on its next album, but recording was postponed while the studio was relocated. Due to time constraints, the band was able to rehearse only twice before entering the studio. Delays with the album's artwork pushed the release back an additional month and Still Life was released on 18 October 1999. Due to problems with the band's new distribution network, the album was not released in the United States until February 2001. Still Life was the first album recorded with Méndez, and also the first Opeth album to bear any kind of caption on the front cover upon its initial release, including the band's logo. Allmusic called Still Life a "formidable splicing of harsh, often jagged guitar riffs with graceful melodies." As explained by Åkerfeldt, Still Life is a concept album: "The main character is kind of banished from his hometown because he hasn't got the same faith as the rest of the inhabitants there. The album pretty much starts off when he is returning after several years to hook up with his old 'babe.' The big bosses of the town know that he's back... A lot of bad things start happening."
Following a few live dates in Europe, Opeth returned to Studio Fredman to begin work on its next album, with Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson producing. The band sought to recreate the recording experience of Still Life, and again entered the studio with minimal rehearsals, and no lyrics written. "This time it was tough," Åkerfeldt said, "I feel pleasantly blown away by the immense result, though. It was indeed worth the effort." Wilson also pushed the band to expand its sound, incorporating new sounds and production techniques. "Steve guided us into the realms of 'strange' noises for guitars and voice", Åkerfeldt said.
Opeth released its fifth studio album, Blackwater Park, on 21 February 2001. AllMusic has stated that the album "keeps with Opeth's tradition by transcending the limits of death/black metal and repeatedly shattering the foundations of conventional songwriting". In support of Blackwater Park, Opeth embarked on its first world tour, headlined Europe for the first time, and made an appearance at the 2001 Wacken Open Air festival in Germany, playing to a crowd of 60,000.
Deliverance and Damnation (2002–2004)
Opeth returned to Sweden after touring in support of Blackwater Park, and began writing for the next album. At first, Åkerfeldt had trouble putting together new material: "I wanted to write something heavier than we'd ever done, still I had all these great mellow parts and arrangements which I didn't want to go to waste." Jonas Renkse of Katatonia, a long-time friend of Åkerfeldt, suggested writing music for two separate albums—one heavy and one soft.
Excited at the prospect, Åkerfeldt agreed without consulting his bandmates or record label. While his bandmates liked the idea of recording two separate albums, Åkerfeldt had to convince the label: "I had to lie somewhat ... saying that we could do this recording very soon, it won't cost more than a regular single album." With most of the material written, the band rehearsed just once before entering Nacksving Studios in 2002, and again with producer Steven Wilson in Studio Fredman. Under pressure to complete both albums simultaneously, Åkerfeldt said the recording process was "the toughest test of our history." After recording basic tracks, the band moved production to England to first mix the heavy album, Deliverance, with Andy Sneap at Backstage Studios. "Deliverance was so poorly recorded, without any organisation whatsoever," Åkerfeldt claimed, that Sneap "is credited as a 'saviour' in the sleeve, as he surely saved much of the recording."
Deliverance was released on 4 November 2002, and debuted at number 19 on the US Top Independent Albums chart, marking the band's first US chart appearance. AllMusic stated, "Deliverance is altogether more subtle than any of its predecessors, approaching listeners with haunting nuances and masterful dynamics rather than overwhelming them with sheer mass and complexity."
Opeth performed a one-off concert in Stockholm, then returned to the UK to finish recording vocals for the second of the two albums, Damnation, at Steven Wilson's No Man's Land Studios. Although Åkerfeldt believed the band could not finish both albums, Opeth completed Deliverance and Damnation in just seven weeks of studio time, which was the same amount spent on Blackwater Park alone. Damnation was released on 14 April 2003, and garnered the band its first appearance on the US Billboard 200 at number 192. The album also won the 2003 Swedish Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. On 1 January 2016, Opeth re-released both Deliverance and Damnation in one package, containing CD and DVD versions, along with new mixing.
The band embarked on its biggest tour yet, playing nearly 200 shows in 2003 and 2004. Opeth performed three special shows in Europe with two song lists each—one acoustic set and one heavy set. The band recorded its first DVD, Lamentations (Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire 2003), at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, England. The DVD features a two-hour performance, including the entire Damnation album, several songs from Deliverance and Blackwater Park, and a one-hour documentary about the recording of Deliverance and Damnation. Lamentations was certified Gold in Canada.
Opeth was scheduled to perform in Jordan without a crew due to the fear of terrorist attacks in the Middle East. Opeth's tour manager distributed 6,000 tickets for the concert, but before the band left for Jordan, drummer Lopez called Åkerfeldt stating he was having an anxiety attack and could not perform, forcing the band to cancel the show. In early 2004, Lopez was sent home from Canada after more anxiety attacks on tour. Opeth decided against cancelling the remainder of the tour, with Lopez's drum technician filling in for two concerts. Lopez promised that he would return to the tour as soon as he could, but two shows later Opeth asked Strapping Young Lad drummer Gene Hoglan to fill in. Lopez returned to Opeth for the Seattle show on the final leg of the Deliverance and Damnation tour. Per Wiberg also joined the band on tour to perform keyboards, after more than a year on tour.
Ghost Reveries (2005–2007)
Opeth returned home in 2004 to start writing new material for its eighth album, and by the end of the year, they had finished writing it. Opeth's European label, Music for Nations, closed its doors in 2005, and after negotiations with various labels, the band signed with Roadrunner Records. Åkerfeldt said the primary reason for signing with Roadrunner was the label's wide distribution, ensuring the album would be available at larger-chain retailers. When news leaked that the band was signed to Roadrunner, who predominantly worked with trend-oriented rock and metal, some fans accused the band of selling out. "To be honest," Åkerfeldt said, "that's such an insult after 15 years as a band and 8 records. I can't believe we haven't earned each and every Opeth fan's credibility after all these years. I mean, our songs are 10 minutes long!" The band rehearsed for three weeks before entering the studio, the first time the band rehearsed since the 1998 album, My Arms, Your Hearse. During rehearsal, keyboardist Wiberg joined Opeth as a full-time member. Opeth recorded at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden, from 18 March to 1 June 2005, and released the resulting Ghost Reveries on 30 August 2005, to critical acclaim and commercial success. The album debuted at number 64 in the US, and number nine in Sweden, higher than any previous Opeth release. Keith Bergman of Blabbermouth.net gave the album ten out of ten, one of only 21 albums to achieve a perfect rating from the site. Rod Smith of Decibel magazine called Ghost Reveries "achingly beautiful, sometimes unabashedly brutal, often a combination of both".
On 12 May 2006, Martin Lopez announced that he had officially parted ways with Opeth due to health problems, and was replaced by Martin Axenrot. Opeth toured on the main stage of Gigantour in 2006, alongside Megadeth. Ghost Reveries was re-released on 31 October 2006, with a bonus cover song (Deep Purple's "Soldier of Fortune"), a DVD featuring a 5.1 surround sound mix of the album and a documentary on the making of the record. A recording of Opeth's live performance at the Camden Roundhouse, in London, on 9 November 2006, was released as the double live album The Roundhouse Tapes, which topped the Finnish DVD chart.
On 17 May 2007, Peter Lindgren announced he would be leaving Opeth after 16 years. "The decision has been the toughest I've ever made but it is the right one to make at this point in my life," Lindgren said. "I feel that I simply have lost some of the enthusiasm and inspiration needed to participate in a band that has grown from a few guys playing the music we love to a worldwide industry." Ex-Arch Enemy guitarist Fredrik Åkesson replaced Lindgren, as Åkerfeldt explained "Fredrik was the only name that popped up thinking about a replacement for Peter. In my opinion he's one of the top three guitar players out of Sweden. We all get along great as we've known each other for maybe four years and he already has the experience to take on the circus-like lifestyle we lead as members of Opeth."
Watershed and In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall (2008–2010)
Opeth entered Fascination Street Studios in November 2007 to record their ninth studio album, with Åkerfeldt producing. By January 2008, Opeth had recorded 13 songs, including three cover songs. The finished album, Watershed, features seven tracks, with cover songs used as bonus tracks on different versions of the album. Watershed was released on 3 June 2008. Åkerfeldt described the songs on the album as "a bit more energetic". Opeth toured in support of Watershed, including headlining the UK Defenders of the Faith tour with Arch Enemy, an appearance at Wacken Open Air, and the Progressive Nation tour with headliner Dream Theater. Watershed was Opeth's highest-charting album to date, debuting at number 23 on the US Billboard 200, on the Australian ARIA album charts at number seven and at number one on Finland's official album chart. Opeth went on a worldwide tour in support of Watershed. From September to October, the band toured North America backed by High on Fire, Baroness, and Nachtmystium. They returned to tour Europe for the rest of the year with Cynic and The Ocean.
In 2010, Opeth wrote and recorded the new track, "The Throat of Winter", which appeared on the digital EP soundtrack of the video game, God of War III. Åkerfeldt described the song as "odd" and "not very metal." To celebrate their 20th anniversary, Opeth performed a six-show, worldwide tour called Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology, from 30 March through 9 April 2010. Blackwater Park was performed in its entirety, along with several songs never before performed. The concert of 5 April 2010, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England was filmed for a DVD and live album package titled In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. The set was released on 21 September 2010, in 2-DVD and 2-DVD/3-CD configurations. For the DVD the concert was split into two sets. The first set consists of the entire Blackwater Park album, while the second set contains one song from every album excluding Blackwater Park, in chronological order representing the twenty years of "evolution" in their music. Åkerfeldt stated, "I can't believe it, but, fuck, we're celebrating 20 years. I've been in this band ever since I was 16. It's insane." A special edition of Blackwater Park was released in March 2010 to coincide with the tour.
Heritage (2011–2013)
In September 2010, Mikael Åkerfeldt stated that he was writing for a new Opeth album. The band announced on their website that they would start recording their tenth album on 31 January 2011, at the Atlantis/Metronome studios in Stockholm, once again with Jens Bogren (engineering) and Steven Wilson from Porcupine Tree as co-producer.
Shortly after mixing was complete on the new album in April 2011, Opeth announced that Per Wiberg was relieved of his duties in the band.
In the press statement, Mikael Åkerfeldt explained the decision, saying, "Mendez, Axe and Fredrik and I came to the decision that we should find a replacement for Per right after the recordings of the new album, and this came as no surprise to Per. He had, in turn, been thinking about leaving, so you could say it was a mutual decision. There's no bad blood, just a relationship that came to an end, and that's that."
Opeth's tenth album, Heritage, was released on 14 September 2011, to generally favorable reviews. The album sold 19,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release and debuted at number 19 on the Billboard 200 chart. Heritage debuted at number four in the band's native country of Sweden.
Heritage became the second Opeth album to not feature any death growls and had a much more progressive style than previous albums from the band, something that Åkerfeldt had been wanting to do for some time.
The first two songs Åkerfeldt wrote for Heritage were in the style of Watershed. After hearing the songs for the first time, Martín Méndez told Åkerfeldt that he would be disappointed if the album continued in that direction. Relieved that Méndez was not interested in doing another conventional Opeth album, Åkerfeldt scrapped the two songs and started the writing process over in a different style. In the press release for Heritage, Mikael Åkerfeldt revealed that he felt as though he had been building to write the album since he was 19 years old. In a review for Allmusic, Thom Jurek called Heritage the band's most adventurous album, describing the songs as "drenched in instrumental interludes, knotty key and chord changes, shifting time signatures, clean vocals, and a keyboard-heavy instrumentation that includes Mellotrons, Rhodes pianos, and Hammond organs".
Opeth supported Heritage with a tour that would last for over 200 tour dates. The tour was the band's first with new keyboardist, Joakim Svalberg, who played on the opening track of the album. During the tour, Opeth played with bands such as Katatonia, Pain of Salvation, Mastodon, Ghost and Anathema all over the world in countries such as the United States, Europe, Turkey, India, Japan, Greece, Israel, Latin America and Sweden. The tour concluded with "Melloboat 2013".
Pale Communion (2014–2015)
On 26 August 2014, Opeth released its eleventh studio album, titled Pale Communion. Åkerfeldt began working on new material as far back as August 2012. In January 2014 he stated, "We've been looking at [tracking the next album at] Rockfield Studios in Wales where Queen recorded "Bohemian Rhapsody", but we haven't made a decision yet, but it will be an expensive album. There's a lot going on, lots of string arrangements that we haven't had in the past." Despite fearing that the band's new musical direction would split Opeth's fanbase, when asked if it will it be heavier or softer than Heritage, Åkerfeldt said, "Maybe a little bit heavier, not death metal heavy, but hard rock/heavy metal heavy. There's also lots of progressive elements and acoustic guitars, but also more sinister-sounding riffs." Åkerfeldt also produced the new album which will include string instrumentation, something that he became interested in doing when working on Storm Corrosion. The band members in Opeth felt rejuvenated after creating Heritage which resulted in closer relationships between them.
The Guardian reviewed Pale Communion positively, calling it "strange, intricate prog-metal genius" somewhat flawed by Åkerfeldt's indulgent vocal styling. The album saw Opeth's highest chart positions in the history of the band with Pale Communion debuting at number 19 in the US, number 3 in Sweden, and number 14 in the United Kingdom. It sold 13,000 copies in its first week of release in the US.
Pale Communion was supported with more touring from Opeth. In 2015, Opeth played several concerts to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the band. At these special shows, the band was doing two sets. The first set is 2005's Ghost Reveries as a ten-year anniversary celebration of the album. The second set spanned the rest of the band's career, celebrating their 25th anniversary. Åkerfeldt expressed excitement for the concerts.
Sorceress, In Cauda Venenum and departure of Axenrot (2016–present)
On 15 June 2016, Nuclear Blast Entertainment announced the signing of Opeth. Three days later, on 18 June, Opeth released a 30-second teaser for their new album, Sorceress. A month later, on 18 July, the band confirmed the album would be released on 30 September, in addition to revealing the artwork and track list. Mikael Åkerfeldt described it as, "A fine little record. My favorite in our discography right now. Of course. That's how it should be, right? It's both fresh and old, both progressive and rehashed. Heavy and calm. Just the way we like it." The album was the first project under Moderbolaget Records, a joint venture between Opeth and Nuclear Blast. Moderbolaget means "the parent company" in Swedish.
On 25 July 2016, in the build up towards the album release, the band posted the first Sorceress: Studio Report on their YouTube channel. In the behind-the-scenes studio tour, it is confirmed that the band had returned to Rockfield Studios where they previously recorded Pale Communion. At the end of the video, there is a 20-second excerpt of a track believed to be from the album featuring heavily down-tuned guitars. On 1 August 2016, the band released a lyric video for the title-track 'Sorceress' on their YouTube channel. On 4 September 2016, Opeth released a lyric video for the second single titled 'Will O the Wisp,' again through their YouTube channel and website. Opeth's video for "Era" was nominated for "Video of the Year" at the 2017 Progressive Music Awards, where they ultimately won "International Band of the Year".
On 2 October 2017, Åkerfeldt said he has been thinking about doing something "twisted" and different for the next studio album, which could be released by mid-to-late 2019. On 20 November 2017, guitarist Fredrik Åkesson stated that the band will not have any gigs in the upcoming months, until the 2018 summer festivals. During this break the band will focus on writing songs for the new album. On 11 July 2018, during an interview with FaceCulture, Åkesson said "I've recorded a lot of solos so far. And Mikael Åkerfeldt has almost already written 12 songs for the new album, so we have more material than enough for an album". On 22 May 2019, the band announced their thirteenth studio album, In Cauda Venenum, due for release on 27 September 2019. On 12 July 2019, Opeth released the first single from In Cauda Venenum entitled "Heart in Hand" in both English and Swedish.
On 16 November 2021, it was announced that longtime drummer Martin Axenrot had left the band due to conflict of interests and will be replaced by Sami Karppinen for the North American tour.
Musical style and influences
As Opeth's primary songwriter and lyricist, vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt heads the direction of Opeth's sound. He was influenced at a young age by the 1970s progressive rock bands King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, Camel, P.F.M., Hawkwind, and Gracious, and by heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Slayer, Death, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Celtic Frost, King Diamond, Morbid Angel, Voivod, and, most importantly, Judas Priest. Åkerfeldt considers Judas Priest's Sad Wings of Destiny (1976) the best metal album of all time, and notes that there was a time when he listened only to Judas Priest. While warming up before Opeth concerts, Åkerfeldt frequently sings "Here Come the Tears" from Judas Priest's third album Sin After Sin (1977). Åkerfeldt later discovered progressive rock and folk music, both of which had a profound impact on the sound of the band.
Opeth's distinct sound mixes death metal with progressive rock. Steve Huey of AllMusic refers to Opeth's "epic, progressive death metal style". Ryan Ogle of Blabbermouth described Opeth's sound as incorporating "the likes of folk, funk, blues, '70s rock, goth and a laundry list of other sonic oddities into their trademark progressive death style." In his review of Opeth's 2001 album Blackwater Park, AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia wrote, "Tracks start and finish in seemingly arbitrary fashion, usually traversing ample musical terrain, including acoustic guitar and solo piano passages, ambient soundscapes, stoner rock grooves, and Eastern-tinged melodies—any of which are subject to savage punctuations of death metal fury at any given moment." Åkerfeldt commented on the diversity of Opeth's music:
I don't see the point of playing in a band and going just one way when you can do everything. It would be impossible for us to play just death metal; that is our roots, but we are now a mishmash of everything, and not purists to any form of music. It's impossible for us to do that, and quite frankly I would think of it as boring to be in a band that plays just metal music. We're not afraid to experiment, or to be caught with our pants down, so to speak. That's what keeps us going.
More recently, Opeth have abandoned their death metal sound resulting in a mellower progressive rock sound. When talking about Heritage, guitarist Fredrik Åkesson stated:
In the beginning it took me a little while to get used to the new idea of the sound, not having any screaming vocals and stuff like that. But I think the album was necessary for us to do. Maybe the band wouldn't have continued if we hadn't done Heritage. I think the old Opeth fans understand this album. There's always going to be some haters, but you can't be loved by everyone. Opeth has always been about not repeating ourself. A lot of people don't think Heritage is metal but I think it's metal to go somewhere people don't expect. It doesn't mean we're not embracing the past sound of Opeth.
Vocally, Åkerfeldt shifts between traditional death metal vocals for heavy sections, and clean, sometimes whispered or soft-spoken vocals over mellower passages. While his death growls were dominant on early releases, later efforts incorporate more clean vocals, with Damnation, Heritage, Pale Communion, Sorceress and In Cauda Venenum featuring only clean singing. Rivadavia noted that "Åkerfeldt's vocals run the gamut from bowel-churning grunts to melodies of chilling beauty—depending on each movement section's mood."
Legacy
A number of artists and bands have cited Opeth as an influence, among which are Mayan (a project of Mark Jansen from Epica), Luc Lemay of Gorguts, Soen (a band of former Opeth drummer Martin Lopez), Tor Oddmund Suhrke of Leprous, Disillusion, Caligula's Horse, Klimt 1918, Daniel Droste of Ahab, Becoming the Archetype, Nucleus Torn, Alex Vynogradoff of Kauan, Wastefall, Eric Guenther of The Contortionist, Thomas MacLean and To-Mera, The Man-Eating Tree, Nahemah, Vladimir Agafonkin of Obiymy Doschu, Schizoid Lloyd, Native Construct, Maxime Côté of Catuvolcus, Bilocate, and Jinjer.
In addition, other artists have been quoted expressing admiration for their work including Seven Lions, John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, Ihsahn, Simone Simons of Epica, Oliver Palotai of Kamelot, Jim Matheos of Fates Warning, and Haken.
Members
Current members
Mikael Åkerfeldt – guitars (1990–present), lead vocals (1992–present), keyboards (1990), bass (1990, 1992, 1997)
Martín Méndez – bass (1997–present)
Fredrik Åkesson – guitars, backing vocals (2007–present)
Joakim Svalberg – keyboards, synthesizers, piano, mellotron, backing vocals (2011–present)
Current touring members
Sami Karppinen – drums (2021–present)
Discography
Orchid (1995)
Morningrise (1996)
My Arms, Your Hearse (1998)
Still Life (1999)
Blackwater Park (2001)
Deliverance (2002)
Damnation (2003)
Ghost Reveries (2005)
Watershed (2008)
Heritage (2011)
Pale Communion (2014)
Sorceress (2016)
In Cauda Venenum (2019)
References
Sources
External links
MNRK Music Group artists
Musical groups established in 1990
Musical groups from Stockholm
Musical quartets
Musical quintets
Roadrunner Records artists
Nuclear Blast artists
Swedish death metal musical groups
Swedish progressive metal musical groups
Swedish progressive rock groups
Swedish heavy metal musical groups
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[
"The Break and Repair Method is the side project of Matchbox Twenty drummer and rhythm guitarist Paul Doucette. Doucette put the band together when Matchbox Twenty was on hiatus, and when all the band's members were unsure whether their band would reunite. He has said he started The Break and Repair Method as an \"experiment\" to find out what he sounds like out on his own, as opposed to performing in a band where he was not a songwriter, as he did with Matchbox Twenty. Their debut album Milk the Bee was released on September 16, 2008. The group toured with Matt Nathanson in support of the album.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n The Break and Repair Method on Myspace\n The Break and Repair Method on Allmusic\n\nAmerican rock music groups",
"Wicked! is the third studio album by German band Scooter, released in 1996. It contains two singles, \"I'm Raving\", and \"Break It Up\".\n\nTrack listing\nAll tracks written by H.P. Baxxter, Rick J. Jordan, Jens Thele, and Ferris Bueller, except \"I'm Raving\" written by Marc Cohn; and \"Don't Let It Be Me\" and \"Break It Up\" written by Nosie Katzmann.\n\n\"Wicked Introduction\" – 1:44\n\"I'm Raving\"– 3:28\n\"We Take You Higher\" – 4:22\n\"Awakening\" – 4:26\n\"When I Was a Young Boy\" – 3:58\n\"Coldwater Canyon\" – 5:16\n\"Scooter Del Mar\" – 4:58\n\"Zebras Crossing the Street\" – 4:58\n\"Don't Let It Be Me\" – 3:59\n\"The First Time\" – 5:25\n\"Break It Up\" – 3:39\nNotes\n\"Wicked Introduction\" is the tune of \"Scotland the Brave\". The next song, \"I'm Raving\", features samples of the same song, and also \"Walking in Memphis\" by Marc Cohn.\n\"When I Was A Young Boy\" is based on The Loop!'s remix of the 1995 single \"Babylon\" by Prince Ital Joe Feat. Marky Mark. The Loop! was a remix project composed of the same members as Scooter - H.P. Baxxter, Rick J. Jordan and Ferris Bueller.\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n1996 albums\nScooter (band) albums\nEdel AG albums"
] |
[
"Opeth",
"Formation (1989-1993)",
"What took place during the years 1989-1993?",
"Opeth was formed as a death metal band in 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden,",
"What is Formation?",
"I don't know.",
"Who was the lead member of Opeth?",
"lead vocalist David Isberg.",
"When did the band break up?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_ecf88860a0724b1298539ec6634811b9_1
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How many albums did this band put out as a whole?
| 5 |
How many albums did Opeth band put out as a whole?
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Opeth
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Opeth was formed as a death metal band in 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden, by lead vocalist David Isberg. Isberg asked former Eruption band member Mikael Akerfeldt (just 16 years old at the time) to join Opeth as a bassist. When Akerfeldt showed up to practice on the day after Isberg invited him, it became clear that Isberg had not told the band members, including the band's current bassist, that Akerfeldt would be joining. An ensuing argument led to all members but Isberg and Akerfeldt leaving to form a new project. The band name was derived from the word "Opet", taken from the Wilbur Smith novel The Sunbird. In this novel, Opet is the name of a fictional Phoenician city in South Africa translated as "City of the Moon". Isberg and Akerfeldt recruited drummer Anders Nordin, bassist Nick Doring, and guitarist Andreas Dimeo. Unsatisfied with Opeth's slow progress, Doring and Dimeo left the band after their first performance, and were replaced by guitarist Kim Pettersson and bassist Johan De Farfalla. After the next show, De Farfalla left Opeth to spend time with his girlfriend in Germany, and was initially replaced by Mattias Ander, before Akerfeldt's friend Peter Lindgren took on the role of bassist. Rhythm guitarist Kim Pettersson left following the band's next performance, and Lindgren switched to guitar, with the role of bassist falling to Stefan Guteklint. The following year, David Isberg left the band citing "creative differences". Following Isberg's departure, Akerfeldt took over vocal duties and he, Lindgren, and Nordin spent the next year writing and rehearsing new material. The group began to rely less on the blast beats and aggression typical of death metal, and incorporated acoustic guitars and guitar harmonies into their music; developing the core sound of Opeth. Bassist Guteklint was dismissed by the band after they signed their first record deal with Candlelight Records in 1994. Opeth initially employed former member De Farfalla as a session bassist for their demo recordings, and he went on to join on a full-time basis following the release of Opeth's debut album, "Orchid", in 1995. CANNOTANSWER
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Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1989 by lead vocalist David Isberg. The group has been through several personnel changes, including the replacement of every single original member; notably Isberg in 1992. Opeth has consistently incorporated progressive, folk, blues, classical, and jazz influences into its usually lengthy compositions, as well as strong influences from death metal, especially in their early works. Many songs include acoustic guitar passages and strong dynamic shifts, as well as death growls. Opeth is also well known for their incorporation of Mellotrons in their work. The band rarely made live appearances supporting their first four albums, but since conducting their first world tour after the 2001 release of Blackwater Park, they have led several major world tours.
Opeth has released 13 studio albums, four live DVDs, four live albums (three that are in conjunction with DVDs), and two boxsets. The band released its debut album Orchid in 1995. Although their eighth studio album, Ghost Reveries, was quite popular in the United States, Opeth did not experience major American commercial success until the 2008 release of their ninth studio album, Watershed, which peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard 200, and topped the Finnish albums chart in its first week of release. As of November 2009, the band has sold over 1.5 million copies of their albums and DVDs worldwide, including 300,000 collective SoundScans of their albums Blackwater Park, Damnation, and Deliverance in the United States.
History
Formation (1989–1993)
Opeth was formed as a death metal band in 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden, by lead vocalist David Isberg. The band name was derived from the word "Opet", taken from the Wilbur Smith novel The Sunbird. In this novel, Opet is the name of a fictional Phoenician city in South Africa translated as "City of the Moon".
In 1990, Isberg asked former Eruption band member Mikael Åkerfeldt to join Opeth as a bassist, replacing Martin Persson. When Åkerfeldt showed up to practice on the day after Isberg invited him, it became clear that Isberg had not told the band members, including the band's current bassist, that Åkerfeldt would be joining the band. An ensuing argument led to all members but Isberg and Åkerfeldt leaving to form a new project.
Isberg and Åkerfeldt recruited drummer Anders Nordin, bassist Nick Döring, and guitarist Andreas Dimeo. Unsatisfied with Opeth's slow progress, Döring and Dimeo left the band after their first performance, and were replaced by guitarist Kim Pettersson and bassist Johan De Farfalla. After the next show, De Farfalla left Opeth to spend time with his girlfriend in Germany, and was initially replaced by Mattias Ander, before Åkerfeldt's friend Peter Lindgren took on the role of bassist. Rhythm guitarist Kim Pettersson left following the band's next performance, and Lindgren switched to guitar, with the role of bassist falling to Stefan Guteklint. The following year, David Isberg left the band citing "creative differences".
Following Isberg's departure, Åkerfeldt took over vocal duties and he, Lindgren, and Nordin spent the next year writing and rehearsing new material. The group began to rely less on the blast beats and aggression typical of death metal, and incorporated acoustic guitars and guitar harmonies into their music; developing the core sound of Opeth. Bassist Guteklint was dismissed by the band after they signed their first record deal with Candlelight Records in 1994. Opeth initially employed former member De Farfalla as a session bassist for their demo recordings, and he went on to join on a full-time basis following the release of Opeth's debut album, "Orchid", in 1995.
Orchid, Morningrise, and My Arms, Your Hearse (1994–1998)
Opeth recorded its debut album, Orchid, with producer Dan Swanö in April 1994. Because of distribution problems with the newly formed Candlelight Records, the album was not released until 15 May 1995, and only in Europe. Orchid tested the boundaries of traditional death metal, featuring acoustic guitars, piano, and clean vocals.
After a few live shows in the United Kingdom, Opeth returned to the studio in March 1996 to begin work on a second album, again produced by Dan Swanö. The album, titled Morningrise, was released in Europe on 24 June 1996. With only five songs, but lasting 66 minutes, it features Opeth's longest song, the 20-minute "Black Rose Immortal". Opeth toured the UK in support of Morningrise, followed by a 26-date Scandinavian tour with Cradle of Filth. While on tour, Opeth attracted the attention of Century Media Records, who signed the band and released the first two albums in the United States in 1997.
In 1997, after the tour, Åkerfeldt and Lindgren dismissed De Farfalla for personal reasons, without the consent of Nordin. When Åkerfeldt informed Nordin, who was on a vacation in Brazil, Nordin left the band and remained in Brazil for personal reasons. Former Eternal members, drummer Martín López (formerly of Amon Amarth) and bassist Martín Méndez, responded to an ad at a music shop placed by Åkerfeldt. López and Méndez were fans of the band and took the ads down themselves so no other musicians could apply for the job. Åkerfeldt and Lindgren did not want the Martíns to join at first, due to them already knowing each other; they felt that they wanted two strangers so that there wouldn't be two camps in the band, but eventually hired both. López made his debut with Opeth playing on a cover version of Iron Maiden's "Remember Tomorrow", which was included on the album A Call to Irons: A Tribute to Iron Maiden.
With a larger recording budget from Century Media, Opeth began work on its third album, with noted Swedish producer Fredrik Nordström, at Studio Fredman in August 1997. Although Opeth had Méndez, due to time constraints Åkerfeldt played bass on the album. My Arms, Your Hearse was released to critical acclaim on 18 August 1998.
Still Life and Blackwater Park (1999–2001)
In 1999, the ownership of Candlelight Records changed hands, with owner and friend of the band Lee Barrett leaving the company. Opeth signed with UK label Peaceville Records in Europe, which was distributed by Music for Nations. Opeth reserved time at Studio Fredman to begin work on its next album, but recording was postponed while the studio was relocated. Due to time constraints, the band was able to rehearse only twice before entering the studio. Delays with the album's artwork pushed the release back an additional month and Still Life was released on 18 October 1999. Due to problems with the band's new distribution network, the album was not released in the United States until February 2001. Still Life was the first album recorded with Méndez, and also the first Opeth album to bear any kind of caption on the front cover upon its initial release, including the band's logo. Allmusic called Still Life a "formidable splicing of harsh, often jagged guitar riffs with graceful melodies." As explained by Åkerfeldt, Still Life is a concept album: "The main character is kind of banished from his hometown because he hasn't got the same faith as the rest of the inhabitants there. The album pretty much starts off when he is returning after several years to hook up with his old 'babe.' The big bosses of the town know that he's back... A lot of bad things start happening."
Following a few live dates in Europe, Opeth returned to Studio Fredman to begin work on its next album, with Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson producing. The band sought to recreate the recording experience of Still Life, and again entered the studio with minimal rehearsals, and no lyrics written. "This time it was tough," Åkerfeldt said, "I feel pleasantly blown away by the immense result, though. It was indeed worth the effort." Wilson also pushed the band to expand its sound, incorporating new sounds and production techniques. "Steve guided us into the realms of 'strange' noises for guitars and voice", Åkerfeldt said.
Opeth released its fifth studio album, Blackwater Park, on 21 February 2001. AllMusic has stated that the album "keeps with Opeth's tradition by transcending the limits of death/black metal and repeatedly shattering the foundations of conventional songwriting". In support of Blackwater Park, Opeth embarked on its first world tour, headlined Europe for the first time, and made an appearance at the 2001 Wacken Open Air festival in Germany, playing to a crowd of 60,000.
Deliverance and Damnation (2002–2004)
Opeth returned to Sweden after touring in support of Blackwater Park, and began writing for the next album. At first, Åkerfeldt had trouble putting together new material: "I wanted to write something heavier than we'd ever done, still I had all these great mellow parts and arrangements which I didn't want to go to waste." Jonas Renkse of Katatonia, a long-time friend of Åkerfeldt, suggested writing music for two separate albums—one heavy and one soft.
Excited at the prospect, Åkerfeldt agreed without consulting his bandmates or record label. While his bandmates liked the idea of recording two separate albums, Åkerfeldt had to convince the label: "I had to lie somewhat ... saying that we could do this recording very soon, it won't cost more than a regular single album." With most of the material written, the band rehearsed just once before entering Nacksving Studios in 2002, and again with producer Steven Wilson in Studio Fredman. Under pressure to complete both albums simultaneously, Åkerfeldt said the recording process was "the toughest test of our history." After recording basic tracks, the band moved production to England to first mix the heavy album, Deliverance, with Andy Sneap at Backstage Studios. "Deliverance was so poorly recorded, without any organisation whatsoever," Åkerfeldt claimed, that Sneap "is credited as a 'saviour' in the sleeve, as he surely saved much of the recording."
Deliverance was released on 4 November 2002, and debuted at number 19 on the US Top Independent Albums chart, marking the band's first US chart appearance. AllMusic stated, "Deliverance is altogether more subtle than any of its predecessors, approaching listeners with haunting nuances and masterful dynamics rather than overwhelming them with sheer mass and complexity."
Opeth performed a one-off concert in Stockholm, then returned to the UK to finish recording vocals for the second of the two albums, Damnation, at Steven Wilson's No Man's Land Studios. Although Åkerfeldt believed the band could not finish both albums, Opeth completed Deliverance and Damnation in just seven weeks of studio time, which was the same amount spent on Blackwater Park alone. Damnation was released on 14 April 2003, and garnered the band its first appearance on the US Billboard 200 at number 192. The album also won the 2003 Swedish Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. On 1 January 2016, Opeth re-released both Deliverance and Damnation in one package, containing CD and DVD versions, along with new mixing.
The band embarked on its biggest tour yet, playing nearly 200 shows in 2003 and 2004. Opeth performed three special shows in Europe with two song lists each—one acoustic set and one heavy set. The band recorded its first DVD, Lamentations (Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire 2003), at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, England. The DVD features a two-hour performance, including the entire Damnation album, several songs from Deliverance and Blackwater Park, and a one-hour documentary about the recording of Deliverance and Damnation. Lamentations was certified Gold in Canada.
Opeth was scheduled to perform in Jordan without a crew due to the fear of terrorist attacks in the Middle East. Opeth's tour manager distributed 6,000 tickets for the concert, but before the band left for Jordan, drummer Lopez called Åkerfeldt stating he was having an anxiety attack and could not perform, forcing the band to cancel the show. In early 2004, Lopez was sent home from Canada after more anxiety attacks on tour. Opeth decided against cancelling the remainder of the tour, with Lopez's drum technician filling in for two concerts. Lopez promised that he would return to the tour as soon as he could, but two shows later Opeth asked Strapping Young Lad drummer Gene Hoglan to fill in. Lopez returned to Opeth for the Seattle show on the final leg of the Deliverance and Damnation tour. Per Wiberg also joined the band on tour to perform keyboards, after more than a year on tour.
Ghost Reveries (2005–2007)
Opeth returned home in 2004 to start writing new material for its eighth album, and by the end of the year, they had finished writing it. Opeth's European label, Music for Nations, closed its doors in 2005, and after negotiations with various labels, the band signed with Roadrunner Records. Åkerfeldt said the primary reason for signing with Roadrunner was the label's wide distribution, ensuring the album would be available at larger-chain retailers. When news leaked that the band was signed to Roadrunner, who predominantly worked with trend-oriented rock and metal, some fans accused the band of selling out. "To be honest," Åkerfeldt said, "that's such an insult after 15 years as a band and 8 records. I can't believe we haven't earned each and every Opeth fan's credibility after all these years. I mean, our songs are 10 minutes long!" The band rehearsed for three weeks before entering the studio, the first time the band rehearsed since the 1998 album, My Arms, Your Hearse. During rehearsal, keyboardist Wiberg joined Opeth as a full-time member. Opeth recorded at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden, from 18 March to 1 June 2005, and released the resulting Ghost Reveries on 30 August 2005, to critical acclaim and commercial success. The album debuted at number 64 in the US, and number nine in Sweden, higher than any previous Opeth release. Keith Bergman of Blabbermouth.net gave the album ten out of ten, one of only 21 albums to achieve a perfect rating from the site. Rod Smith of Decibel magazine called Ghost Reveries "achingly beautiful, sometimes unabashedly brutal, often a combination of both".
On 12 May 2006, Martin Lopez announced that he had officially parted ways with Opeth due to health problems, and was replaced by Martin Axenrot. Opeth toured on the main stage of Gigantour in 2006, alongside Megadeth. Ghost Reveries was re-released on 31 October 2006, with a bonus cover song (Deep Purple's "Soldier of Fortune"), a DVD featuring a 5.1 surround sound mix of the album and a documentary on the making of the record. A recording of Opeth's live performance at the Camden Roundhouse, in London, on 9 November 2006, was released as the double live album The Roundhouse Tapes, which topped the Finnish DVD chart.
On 17 May 2007, Peter Lindgren announced he would be leaving Opeth after 16 years. "The decision has been the toughest I've ever made but it is the right one to make at this point in my life," Lindgren said. "I feel that I simply have lost some of the enthusiasm and inspiration needed to participate in a band that has grown from a few guys playing the music we love to a worldwide industry." Ex-Arch Enemy guitarist Fredrik Åkesson replaced Lindgren, as Åkerfeldt explained "Fredrik was the only name that popped up thinking about a replacement for Peter. In my opinion he's one of the top three guitar players out of Sweden. We all get along great as we've known each other for maybe four years and he already has the experience to take on the circus-like lifestyle we lead as members of Opeth."
Watershed and In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall (2008–2010)
Opeth entered Fascination Street Studios in November 2007 to record their ninth studio album, with Åkerfeldt producing. By January 2008, Opeth had recorded 13 songs, including three cover songs. The finished album, Watershed, features seven tracks, with cover songs used as bonus tracks on different versions of the album. Watershed was released on 3 June 2008. Åkerfeldt described the songs on the album as "a bit more energetic". Opeth toured in support of Watershed, including headlining the UK Defenders of the Faith tour with Arch Enemy, an appearance at Wacken Open Air, and the Progressive Nation tour with headliner Dream Theater. Watershed was Opeth's highest-charting album to date, debuting at number 23 on the US Billboard 200, on the Australian ARIA album charts at number seven and at number one on Finland's official album chart. Opeth went on a worldwide tour in support of Watershed. From September to October, the band toured North America backed by High on Fire, Baroness, and Nachtmystium. They returned to tour Europe for the rest of the year with Cynic and The Ocean.
In 2010, Opeth wrote and recorded the new track, "The Throat of Winter", which appeared on the digital EP soundtrack of the video game, God of War III. Åkerfeldt described the song as "odd" and "not very metal." To celebrate their 20th anniversary, Opeth performed a six-show, worldwide tour called Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology, from 30 March through 9 April 2010. Blackwater Park was performed in its entirety, along with several songs never before performed. The concert of 5 April 2010, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England was filmed for a DVD and live album package titled In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. The set was released on 21 September 2010, in 2-DVD and 2-DVD/3-CD configurations. For the DVD the concert was split into two sets. The first set consists of the entire Blackwater Park album, while the second set contains one song from every album excluding Blackwater Park, in chronological order representing the twenty years of "evolution" in their music. Åkerfeldt stated, "I can't believe it, but, fuck, we're celebrating 20 years. I've been in this band ever since I was 16. It's insane." A special edition of Blackwater Park was released in March 2010 to coincide with the tour.
Heritage (2011–2013)
In September 2010, Mikael Åkerfeldt stated that he was writing for a new Opeth album. The band announced on their website that they would start recording their tenth album on 31 January 2011, at the Atlantis/Metronome studios in Stockholm, once again with Jens Bogren (engineering) and Steven Wilson from Porcupine Tree as co-producer.
Shortly after mixing was complete on the new album in April 2011, Opeth announced that Per Wiberg was relieved of his duties in the band.
In the press statement, Mikael Åkerfeldt explained the decision, saying, "Mendez, Axe and Fredrik and I came to the decision that we should find a replacement for Per right after the recordings of the new album, and this came as no surprise to Per. He had, in turn, been thinking about leaving, so you could say it was a mutual decision. There's no bad blood, just a relationship that came to an end, and that's that."
Opeth's tenth album, Heritage, was released on 14 September 2011, to generally favorable reviews. The album sold 19,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release and debuted at number 19 on the Billboard 200 chart. Heritage debuted at number four in the band's native country of Sweden.
Heritage became the second Opeth album to not feature any death growls and had a much more progressive style than previous albums from the band, something that Åkerfeldt had been wanting to do for some time.
The first two songs Åkerfeldt wrote for Heritage were in the style of Watershed. After hearing the songs for the first time, Martín Méndez told Åkerfeldt that he would be disappointed if the album continued in that direction. Relieved that Méndez was not interested in doing another conventional Opeth album, Åkerfeldt scrapped the two songs and started the writing process over in a different style. In the press release for Heritage, Mikael Åkerfeldt revealed that he felt as though he had been building to write the album since he was 19 years old. In a review for Allmusic, Thom Jurek called Heritage the band's most adventurous album, describing the songs as "drenched in instrumental interludes, knotty key and chord changes, shifting time signatures, clean vocals, and a keyboard-heavy instrumentation that includes Mellotrons, Rhodes pianos, and Hammond organs".
Opeth supported Heritage with a tour that would last for over 200 tour dates. The tour was the band's first with new keyboardist, Joakim Svalberg, who played on the opening track of the album. During the tour, Opeth played with bands such as Katatonia, Pain of Salvation, Mastodon, Ghost and Anathema all over the world in countries such as the United States, Europe, Turkey, India, Japan, Greece, Israel, Latin America and Sweden. The tour concluded with "Melloboat 2013".
Pale Communion (2014–2015)
On 26 August 2014, Opeth released its eleventh studio album, titled Pale Communion. Åkerfeldt began working on new material as far back as August 2012. In January 2014 he stated, "We've been looking at [tracking the next album at] Rockfield Studios in Wales where Queen recorded "Bohemian Rhapsody", but we haven't made a decision yet, but it will be an expensive album. There's a lot going on, lots of string arrangements that we haven't had in the past." Despite fearing that the band's new musical direction would split Opeth's fanbase, when asked if it will it be heavier or softer than Heritage, Åkerfeldt said, "Maybe a little bit heavier, not death metal heavy, but hard rock/heavy metal heavy. There's also lots of progressive elements and acoustic guitars, but also more sinister-sounding riffs." Åkerfeldt also produced the new album which will include string instrumentation, something that he became interested in doing when working on Storm Corrosion. The band members in Opeth felt rejuvenated after creating Heritage which resulted in closer relationships between them.
The Guardian reviewed Pale Communion positively, calling it "strange, intricate prog-metal genius" somewhat flawed by Åkerfeldt's indulgent vocal styling. The album saw Opeth's highest chart positions in the history of the band with Pale Communion debuting at number 19 in the US, number 3 in Sweden, and number 14 in the United Kingdom. It sold 13,000 copies in its first week of release in the US.
Pale Communion was supported with more touring from Opeth. In 2015, Opeth played several concerts to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the band. At these special shows, the band was doing two sets. The first set is 2005's Ghost Reveries as a ten-year anniversary celebration of the album. The second set spanned the rest of the band's career, celebrating their 25th anniversary. Åkerfeldt expressed excitement for the concerts.
Sorceress, In Cauda Venenum and departure of Axenrot (2016–present)
On 15 June 2016, Nuclear Blast Entertainment announced the signing of Opeth. Three days later, on 18 June, Opeth released a 30-second teaser for their new album, Sorceress. A month later, on 18 July, the band confirmed the album would be released on 30 September, in addition to revealing the artwork and track list. Mikael Åkerfeldt described it as, "A fine little record. My favorite in our discography right now. Of course. That's how it should be, right? It's both fresh and old, both progressive and rehashed. Heavy and calm. Just the way we like it." The album was the first project under Moderbolaget Records, a joint venture between Opeth and Nuclear Blast. Moderbolaget means "the parent company" in Swedish.
On 25 July 2016, in the build up towards the album release, the band posted the first Sorceress: Studio Report on their YouTube channel. In the behind-the-scenes studio tour, it is confirmed that the band had returned to Rockfield Studios where they previously recorded Pale Communion. At the end of the video, there is a 20-second excerpt of a track believed to be from the album featuring heavily down-tuned guitars. On 1 August 2016, the band released a lyric video for the title-track 'Sorceress' on their YouTube channel. On 4 September 2016, Opeth released a lyric video for the second single titled 'Will O the Wisp,' again through their YouTube channel and website. Opeth's video for "Era" was nominated for "Video of the Year" at the 2017 Progressive Music Awards, where they ultimately won "International Band of the Year".
On 2 October 2017, Åkerfeldt said he has been thinking about doing something "twisted" and different for the next studio album, which could be released by mid-to-late 2019. On 20 November 2017, guitarist Fredrik Åkesson stated that the band will not have any gigs in the upcoming months, until the 2018 summer festivals. During this break the band will focus on writing songs for the new album. On 11 July 2018, during an interview with FaceCulture, Åkesson said "I've recorded a lot of solos so far. And Mikael Åkerfeldt has almost already written 12 songs for the new album, so we have more material than enough for an album". On 22 May 2019, the band announced their thirteenth studio album, In Cauda Venenum, due for release on 27 September 2019. On 12 July 2019, Opeth released the first single from In Cauda Venenum entitled "Heart in Hand" in both English and Swedish.
On 16 November 2021, it was announced that longtime drummer Martin Axenrot had left the band due to conflict of interests and will be replaced by Sami Karppinen for the North American tour.
Musical style and influences
As Opeth's primary songwriter and lyricist, vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt heads the direction of Opeth's sound. He was influenced at a young age by the 1970s progressive rock bands King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, Camel, P.F.M., Hawkwind, and Gracious, and by heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Slayer, Death, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Celtic Frost, King Diamond, Morbid Angel, Voivod, and, most importantly, Judas Priest. Åkerfeldt considers Judas Priest's Sad Wings of Destiny (1976) the best metal album of all time, and notes that there was a time when he listened only to Judas Priest. While warming up before Opeth concerts, Åkerfeldt frequently sings "Here Come the Tears" from Judas Priest's third album Sin After Sin (1977). Åkerfeldt later discovered progressive rock and folk music, both of which had a profound impact on the sound of the band.
Opeth's distinct sound mixes death metal with progressive rock. Steve Huey of AllMusic refers to Opeth's "epic, progressive death metal style". Ryan Ogle of Blabbermouth described Opeth's sound as incorporating "the likes of folk, funk, blues, '70s rock, goth and a laundry list of other sonic oddities into their trademark progressive death style." In his review of Opeth's 2001 album Blackwater Park, AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia wrote, "Tracks start and finish in seemingly arbitrary fashion, usually traversing ample musical terrain, including acoustic guitar and solo piano passages, ambient soundscapes, stoner rock grooves, and Eastern-tinged melodies—any of which are subject to savage punctuations of death metal fury at any given moment." Åkerfeldt commented on the diversity of Opeth's music:
I don't see the point of playing in a band and going just one way when you can do everything. It would be impossible for us to play just death metal; that is our roots, but we are now a mishmash of everything, and not purists to any form of music. It's impossible for us to do that, and quite frankly I would think of it as boring to be in a band that plays just metal music. We're not afraid to experiment, or to be caught with our pants down, so to speak. That's what keeps us going.
More recently, Opeth have abandoned their death metal sound resulting in a mellower progressive rock sound. When talking about Heritage, guitarist Fredrik Åkesson stated:
In the beginning it took me a little while to get used to the new idea of the sound, not having any screaming vocals and stuff like that. But I think the album was necessary for us to do. Maybe the band wouldn't have continued if we hadn't done Heritage. I think the old Opeth fans understand this album. There's always going to be some haters, but you can't be loved by everyone. Opeth has always been about not repeating ourself. A lot of people don't think Heritage is metal but I think it's metal to go somewhere people don't expect. It doesn't mean we're not embracing the past sound of Opeth.
Vocally, Åkerfeldt shifts between traditional death metal vocals for heavy sections, and clean, sometimes whispered or soft-spoken vocals over mellower passages. While his death growls were dominant on early releases, later efforts incorporate more clean vocals, with Damnation, Heritage, Pale Communion, Sorceress and In Cauda Venenum featuring only clean singing. Rivadavia noted that "Åkerfeldt's vocals run the gamut from bowel-churning grunts to melodies of chilling beauty—depending on each movement section's mood."
Legacy
A number of artists and bands have cited Opeth as an influence, among which are Mayan (a project of Mark Jansen from Epica), Luc Lemay of Gorguts, Soen (a band of former Opeth drummer Martin Lopez), Tor Oddmund Suhrke of Leprous, Disillusion, Caligula's Horse, Klimt 1918, Daniel Droste of Ahab, Becoming the Archetype, Nucleus Torn, Alex Vynogradoff of Kauan, Wastefall, Eric Guenther of The Contortionist, Thomas MacLean and To-Mera, The Man-Eating Tree, Nahemah, Vladimir Agafonkin of Obiymy Doschu, Schizoid Lloyd, Native Construct, Maxime Côté of Catuvolcus, Bilocate, and Jinjer.
In addition, other artists have been quoted expressing admiration for their work including Seven Lions, John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, Ihsahn, Simone Simons of Epica, Oliver Palotai of Kamelot, Jim Matheos of Fates Warning, and Haken.
Members
Current members
Mikael Åkerfeldt – guitars (1990–present), lead vocals (1992–present), keyboards (1990), bass (1990, 1992, 1997)
Martín Méndez – bass (1997–present)
Fredrik Åkesson – guitars, backing vocals (2007–present)
Joakim Svalberg – keyboards, synthesizers, piano, mellotron, backing vocals (2011–present)
Current touring members
Sami Karppinen – drums (2021–present)
Discography
Orchid (1995)
Morningrise (1996)
My Arms, Your Hearse (1998)
Still Life (1999)
Blackwater Park (2001)
Deliverance (2002)
Damnation (2003)
Ghost Reveries (2005)
Watershed (2008)
Heritage (2011)
Pale Communion (2014)
Sorceress (2016)
In Cauda Venenum (2019)
References
Sources
External links
MNRK Music Group artists
Musical groups established in 1990
Musical groups from Stockholm
Musical quartets
Musical quintets
Roadrunner Records artists
Nuclear Blast artists
Swedish death metal musical groups
Swedish progressive metal musical groups
Swedish progressive rock groups
Swedish heavy metal musical groups
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"Rough Tough 'n' Ready is the fourth studio album by Australian pop group Hush. The album was released in November 1975 peaked at No. 15 and was certified quadruple gold on the Australian charts.\n\nIn an interview with Anthony O'Grady of Rock Australia Magazine on 2 January 1976, band member Les Gock said \"We really put a lot work into it. It's really a whole different direction to C'mon We're Taking Over which is where we tried to experiment in the studio. This time we tried to get the band's stage sound onto record and it's worked pretty well I think. Like it's lot more straightforward than C'mon We're Taking Over, but on the other hand, the playing is a lot more controlled and better judged.\" adding \"We really sweated over every detail of it. We worked out exactly what we wanted to do on it, how we wanted it to sound, what sort of energy level we wanted on it.\"\n\nReception\nCash Box magazine said \"The record is as subtle as a train wreck.\"\n\nTrack listing\n\nCharts\n\nReferences \n\n1975 albums\nHush (band) albums",
"Time in Place is the debut studio album from the American rock band Artifex Pereo. The album was released on May 27, 2014 by Tooth & Nail Records. This album was produced by Kris Crummett. The album charted on two Billboard charts, and met with a positive critical reception.\n\nBackground\nThis album is the follow-up to the second independent album Ailments & Antidotes that released on July 23, 2011. Time in Place is their debut studio album that was produced by Kris Crummett, and it was released by Tooth & Nail Records on May 27, 2014.\n\nCritical reception\n\nTime in Place garnered praise from the ratings and reviews of music critics. At Alternative Press, Dan LeRoy rated the album three-and-a-half stars out of five, indicating how this release \"epitomize[s] that sometimes elusive Golden Mean between ambition and emotion.\" Broad B. of Indie Vision Music rated the album four stars out of five, commenting how the release is \"worthy of your attention, your time, and your money.\" At New Release Tuesday, Jonathan Francesco rated the album four stars out of five, remarking how the band \"can go from soft to headbanging-inducing in an instant, and they are perfectly capable of carrying an infectious tune\"; however, Francesco cautions that \"The worthy pieces don't always fall into a thrilling alignment, however, resulting in many of the songs not sinking in as deeply as they otherwise could.\" In addition, Francesco says \"Artifex Pereo has lyrical complexity to make many bands weep.\" Sebastian Mackay of Substream Magazine rated the album a perfect five stars, calling the release \"invigorating.\"\n\nAt Jesus Freak Hideout, they did three reviews of the album, and those are from Scott Fryberger, Kevin Hoskins and Michael Weaver, which their ratings were out of five stars are as follows; four stars, three-and-a-half stars and four-and-a-half stars. Fryberger stating that \"Time In Place is a collection of good rock songs that are individually great, but aren't necessarily the components of a great rock record\", and that's why \"as a whole is more equal to the sum of its parts.\" Hoskins writing that \"the problem that often occurs with an experimental sound is that sometimes the creativity just simply doesn't work out so well, and that can happen a few times on this listen.\" Additionally, Weaver states that \"As with almost any album, there is a little \"filler\" here but I would certainly recommend fans of the emo rock scene to check these guys out.\" Weaver saying \"Count this one as a big win\" for the band and label for signing them.\n\nCommercial performance\nFor the Billboard charting week of June 14, 2014, Time in Place was the No. 26 most sold of the Christian Albums, and it was the No. 17 most sold in the breaking-and-entry chart of the Heatseekers Albums.\n\nTrack listing\n\nChart performance\nAlbum\n\nReferences\n\n2014 debut albums\nTooth & Nail Records albums\nAlbums produced by Kris Crummett"
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"Irving Thalberg",
"Early years"
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What happened in Irvings early years?
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What happened in Irving Thalberg's early years?
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Irving Thalberg
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Thalberg was born in Brooklyn, to German Jewish immigrant parents, William and Henrietta (Haymann). Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed with "blue baby syndrome," caused by a congenital disease that limited the oxygen supply to his heart. The prognosis from the family's doctor and specialists was that he might live to age twenty, or at most, age thirty. During his high school years in Brooklyn, he began having attacks of chest pains, dizziness and fatigue. This affected his ability to study, though until that time he was a good student. When he was 17, he contracted rheumatic fever, and was confined to bed for a year. His mother, Henrietta, to prevent him falling too far behind other students, brought him homework from school, books, and tutors to teach him at home. She also hoped that the schoolwork and reading would distract him from the "tantalizing sounds" of children playing outside his window. With little to entertain him, he read books as a main activity. He devoured popular novels, classics, plays, and biographies. His books, of necessity, replaced the streets of New York, and led to his interest in classical philosophy and philosophers, such as William James. When Thalberg returned to school, he finished high school but lacked the stamina for college, which he felt would have required constant late-night studying and cramming for exams. Instead, he took part-time jobs as a store clerk, and in the evenings, to gain some job skills, taught himself typing, shorthand and Spanish at a night vocational school. When he turned 18, he placed an ad with the local newspaper hoping to find better work: "Situation Wanted: Secretary, stenographer, Spanish, English, high school education, no experience; $15." CANNOTANSWER
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Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed with "blue baby syndrome,"
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Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather production staff, and make profitable films, including Grand Hotel, China Seas, A Night at the Opera, Mutiny on the Bounty, Camille and The Good Earth. His films carved out an international market, "projecting a seductive image of American life brimming with vitality and rooted in democracy and personal freedom", states biographer Roland Flamini.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and as a child was afflicted with a congenital heart disease that doctors said would kill him before he reached the age of thirty. After graduating from high school he worked as a store clerk during the day and to gain some job skills took a night class in typing. He then found work as a secretary with Universal Studios' New York office, and was later made studio manager for their Los Angeles facility. There, he oversaw production of a hundred films during his three years with the company. Among the films he produced was The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923).
In Los Angeles, he partnered with Louis B. Mayer's new studio and, after it merged with two other studios, helped create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). He was made head of production of MGM in 1925, at the age of twenty-six, helping MGM become the most successful studio in Hollywood. During his twelve years with MGM, until his premature death at the age of 37, he produced four hundred films, most of which bore his imprint and innovations, including story conferences with writers, sneak previews to gain early feedback, and extensive re-shooting of scenes to improve the film. In addition, he introduced horror films to audiences and coauthored the "Production Code", guidelines for morality followed by all studios. During the 1920s and 1930s, he synthesized and merged the world of stage drama and literary classics with Hollywood films.
Thalberg created numerous new stars and groomed their screen images. Among them were Lon Chaney, Ramon Novarro, Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery, Spencer Tracy, Luise Rainer, and Norma Shearer, who became his wife. He had the ability to combine quality with commercial success, and was credited with bringing his artistic aspirations in line with the demands of audiences. After his death, Hollywood's producers said he had been the world's "foremost figure in motion-picture history". President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote, "The world of art is poorer with the passing of Irving Thalberg. His high ideals, insight and imagination went into the production of his masterpieces." The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, given out periodically by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1937, has been awarded to producers whose body of work reflected consistently high quality films.
Early years
Thalberg was born in Brooklyn, to German Jewish immigrant parents, William and Henrietta (Haymann). Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed with "blue baby syndrome", caused by a congenital disease that limited the oxygen supply to his heart. The prognosis from the family's doctor and specialists was that he might live to the age of twenty, or at most, to thirty.
During his high school years in Brooklyn, he began having attacks of chest pains, dizziness and fatigue. This affected his ability to study, though until that time he was a good student. When he was 17 he contracted rheumatic fever, and was confined to bed for a year. His mother, in order to prevent him falling too far behind other students, brought him homework from school, books, and tutors to teach him at home. She also hoped that the schoolwork and reading would distract him from the "tantalizing sounds" of children playing outside his window.
With little to entertain him, he read books as a main activity. He devoured popular novels, classics, plays, and biographies. His books, of necessity, replaced the streets of New York, and led to his interest in classical philosophy and philosophers, such as William James.
When Thalberg returned to school, he finished high school but lacked the stamina for college, which he felt would have required constant late-night studying and cramming for exams. Instead, he took part-time jobs as a store clerk, and in the evenings, to gain some job skills, taught himself typing, shorthand and Spanish at a night vocational school. When he turned 18, he placed an advertisement in the local newspaper hoping to find better work:
Career as producer
Universal Studios
He found work as an office secretary at Universal Pictures' New York office, and later became personal secretary to the studio's founder and president, Carl Laemmle. Among Thalberg's duties were transcribing and editing notes that Laemmle had written during screenings of his films. He earned $25 weekly, becoming adept at making insightful observations, which impressed Laemmle.
Laemmle took Thalberg to see his Los Angeles production facility, where he spent a month watching how movie production worked. Before returning to New York, Laemmle told Thalberg to remain and "keep an eye on things for me." Two months later, Laemmle returned to California, partly to see how well Thalberg was able to handle the responsibilities he was given. Thalberg gave him suggestions, and thus impressed Laemmle by his ability to understand and explain problems.
Thalberg suggested, "The first thing you should do is establish a new job of studio manager and give him the responsibility of watching day-to-day operations." Laemmle immediately agreed: "All right. You're it." In shock, Thalberg replied, "I'm what?" Laemmle told him to take charge of the Los Angeles studio, which he did in early 1919. When aged 20, Thalberg became responsible for immediately overseeing the nine ongoing film productions and nearly thirty scenarios then under development.
In describing the rationale for this early appointment as studio manager, film historian David Thomson writes that his new job "owed nothing to nepotism, private wealth, or experience in the film industry." He reasons that despite "Thalberg's youth, modest education, and frail appearance ... it is clear that he had the charm, insight, and ability, or the appearance of it, to captivate the film world."
Thalberg was one among the majority of Hollywood film industry workers who migrated from the East Coast, primarily from New York. Some film actors, such as Conrad Nagel, did not like the five-day train trip or the sudden warmth of the California climate. Neither did Marion Davies, who was not used to such "big wide spaces". Samuel Marx, a close friend of Thalberg's from New York, recalled how easily Thalberg adapted to Southern California, often standing outside his doorway during moments of contemplation to enjoy the scenery. "We were all young", said comedian Buster Keaton. "The air in California was like wine. Our business was also young—and growing like nothing ever seen before."
Confrontation with Erich von Stroheim
He quickly established his tenacity as he battled with well-known director Erich von Stroheim over the length of Foolish Wives (1922). Biographer Roland Flamini notes that the film was Universal's most expensive "jewel" ever in production, and its director and star, von Stroheim, was taking the film way over budget. Thalberg, now Universal's general manager, was forced to have the director quickly finalize production before the studio's working capital was used up. Flamini describes the situation:
Thalberg had von Stroheim come to his office, which he did still wearing his film costume as a Russian Imperial Guard and escorted by members of his production team. Thalberg calmly told him, "I have seen all the film and you have all you need for the picture. I want you to stop shooting", to which von Stroheim replied, "But I have not finished as yet." "Yes, you have", said Thalberg. "You have spent all the money this company can afford. I cannot allow you to spend any more."
Thalberg quietly explained that the director worked under the producer, and it was his responsibility to control costs. Von Stroheim, surrounded by his assistants, then confronted Thalberg: "If you were not my superior, I would smash you in the face." Thalberg, unflinching, said "Don't let that stop you." The result was that Thalberg soon afterward removed the cameras from von Stroheim's studio and took over editing. The uncut footage was pared down from five-and-a-half hours to three hours, to von Stroheim's deep dissatisfaction.
A similar problem developed with von Stroheim's next film, Merry-Go-Round (1923). Although he had promised Thalberg to remain within budget this time, he continued production until it went to twice the agreed length and was not yet near completion. Flamini speculates why this happened:
Thalberg again called von Stroheim to his office, handed him a long letter written and signed by himself, describing the problems, and summarily fired von Stroheim as of that moment. Thalberg's letter stated among the reasons,
totally inexcusable and repeated acts of insubordination ... extravagant ideas which you have been unwilling to sacrifice ... unnecessary delays ... and your apparent idea that you are greater and more powerful than the organization that employs you.
His dismissal of von Stroheim was considered an "earthquake in movie circles", notes Flamini. Producer David O. Selznick said that "it was the first time a director had been fired. It took great guts and courage ... Von Stroheim was utterly indifferent over money and could have gone on and spent millions, with nobody to stop him.". The opinion was shared by director Rouben Mamoulian, who said that the "little fellow at Universal", in one bold stroke, had "asserted the primacy of the studio over the director" and forever altered the balance of power in the movie industry.
Effects of his young age
According to Flamini, his youth was a subject of conversation within the movie community. Executives from other studios, actors, and film crew, often mistook him to be a junior employee. Movie columnist Louella Parsons, upon first being introduced to him, asked, "What's the joke? Where's the new general manager?" After five minutes of talking to Thalberg, however, she later wrote about "Universal's Boy Wonder": "He might be a boy in looks and age, but it was no child's mind that was being asked to cope with the intricate politics of Universal City." Novelist Edna Ferber responded the same way, writing that "I had fancied motion-picture producers as large gentlemen smoking oversized cigars. But this young man whose word seemed so final at Universal City ... impressed me deeply."
The male actors in the studio had a similar reaction. Lionel Barrymore, who was nearly twice his age, recalled their meetings:
Thalberg likewise gained the respect of leading playwrights, some of whom also looked down on him due to his youth. George S. Kaufman, co-author of Dinner at Eight, several Marx Brothers films, and two George Gershwin plays, came from New York to meet with Thalberg. Afterward he confided to his friend, Groucho Marx: "That man has never written a word, yet he can tell me exactly what to do with a story. I didn't know you had people like that out here."
Actress Norma Shearer, whom he later married, was surprised after he greeted her at the door, then walked her to his office for her first job interview: "Then you're not the office boy?" she asked. He smiled, as he sat himself behind his desk: "No, Miss Shearer, I'm Irving Thalberg, vice-president of the Mayer Company. I'm the man who sent for you."
His younger-than-normal age for a studio executive was usually mentioned even after he left Universal to help start up MGM. Screenwriter Agnes Christine Johnson, who worked with Thalberg for years, described his contribution during meetings:
The same quality was observed by director and screenwriter Hobart Henley: "If something that read well in conference turns out not so good on the screen, I go to him and, like that—Henley snaps his fingers—he has a remedy. He's brilliant." Another assistant producer to Thalberg explains:
His youth also contributed to his open-mindedness to the ideas of others. Conrad Nagel, who starred in numerous Thalberg films, reported that Thalberg was generally empathetic to those he worked alongside: "Thalberg never raised his voice. He just looked into your eyes, spoke softly, and after a few minutes he cast a spell on you." Studio attorney Edwin Loeb, who also worked to create AMPAS, explained that "the real foundation of Irving's success was his ability to look at life through the eyes of any given person. He had a gift of empathy, and almost complete perspective." Those opinions were also shared by producer Walter Wanger: "You thought that you were talking to an Indian savant. He could cast a spell on anybody."
His talent as a producer was enhanced by his "near-miraculous" powers of concentration, notes film critic J. Hoberman. As a result, he was never bored or tired, and supplemented his spare time with reading for his own amusement, recalls screenwriter Bayard Veiller, with some of his favorite authors being Francis Bacon, Epictetus, and Immanuel Kant.
Film projects at Universal
Biographer Bob Thomas writes that after three years at the studio, Thalberg continually proved his value. Universal's pictures improved noticeably, primarily due to Thalberg's "uncanny sense of story." He took tight control over many key aspects of production, including his requirement that from then on scripts were tightly constructed before filming began, rather than during production. Thomas adds that he also "showed a remarkable capacity for working with actors, casting them aptly and advising them on their careers."
After producing two films that were in production when he began work at Universal, he presented Laemmle with his idea for a film based on one of his favorite classic stories, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Rather than just a horror picture, Thalberg suggested turning it into a spectacle which would include a replica of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. He had Lon Chaney play the hunchback. The film became Universal's most profitable silent film and established Chaney's career as a top-flight star.
After nearly three years with Universal, Thalberg had supervised over a hundred movies, reorganized the studio to give more control to the managers, and had "stopped the defection" of many of their leading stars by offering them better, higher-paying contracts. He also produced a number of Universal's prestige films, which made the company profitable. However, he decided it was time to find a studio in Los Angeles more suitable to his skills, and spread word that he was available.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Cecil B. DeMille was the first who wanted to hire him, telling his partner Jesse Lasky, "The boy is a genius. I can see it. I know it." Lasky opposed the hire, stating, "Geniuses we have all we need." Thalberg then received an offer from Hal Roach, but the offer was withdrawn because Thalberg lacked experience with slapstick comedy films. In late 1922, Thalberg was introduced to Louis B. Mayer, president of a small but dynamic and fast-growing studio. At that first meeting, Thalberg "made a deep, immediate impression on Mayer", writes Flamini. After Thalberg had left, Mayer said to studio attorney Edwin Loeb: "Tell him if he comes to work for me, I'll look after him as though he were my son."
Although their personalities were in many ways opposite, Mayer being more outspoken and nearly twice the younger man's age, Thalberg was hired as vice president in charge of production at Louis B. Mayer Productions. Years later, Mayer's daughter Irene Mayer Selznick recalled that "it was hard to believe anyone that boyish could be so important." According to Flamini, Thalberg was hired because, although Mayer was an astute businessman, "what he lacked was Thalberg's almost unerring ability to combine quality with commercial success, to bring artistic aspiration in line with the demands of the box office." Mayer's company subsequently merged with two others to become Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), with the 24-year-old Thalberg made part-owner and accorded the same position as vice president in charge of production. Three years after the merger, MGM became the most successful studio in Hollywood.
During his twelve years at MGM, Thalberg supervised the production of over four hundred films. Although Thalberg and his colleagues at MGM knew he was "doomed" to not live much past the age of 30 due to heart disease, he loved producing films. He continued developing innovative ideas and overseeing most of MGM's pictures. Under Thalberg's management, MGM released over 40% more films yearly than Warner Brothers, and more than double Paramount's releases. From 1924 until 1936, when Thalberg died at the age of 37, "almost every film bore Thalberg's imprint", wrote Mark Vieira.
Production innovations
Thalberg's production techniques "broke new ground in filmmaking", adds Vieira. Among his contributions at MGM was his innovation of story conferences, sneak previews and scene retakes. He introduced the first horror films and coauthored the Production Code, the set of moral guidelines that all film studios agreed to follow. Thalberg helped synthesize and merge the world of stage drama and literary classics with Hollywood films.
MGM thereby became the only movie studio to consistently show a profit during the Great Depression. Flamini explains that the equation for MGM's success depended on combining stars, a Broadway hit or popular classic, and high standards of production. This combination at the time was considered a "revolutionary approach" in the film industry, which until then assumed a star was all that was needed for success, regardless of the story or production quality. The other studios began following MGM's lead with that same formula.
Production techniques
Thalberg generally followed a system in managing his productions. According to one of his assistants, Lawrence Weingarten, who later became a producer, "Thalberg directed the film on paper, and then the director directed the film on film."
Thalberg was generally opposed to location shooting overseas where he could not oversee production and control costs, as happened with Ben Hur. Thus, he kept hundreds of back-lot carpenters at work creating realistic sets, as he did for fifteenth-century Romeo and Juliet (1936), or with China Seas (1935), to replicate the harbors of Hong Kong.
Vieira points out that Thalberg's "fascination with Broadway plays" often had him create and present stories visually. For China Seas, for instance, he described for the screenwriters, director and others, exactly how he wanted the film to appear on screen:
To be certain of achieving the desired effects, Thalberg made sure his cinematographers were careful in their use of light and shadow. Vieira observes that "more than any other producer or any other studio, Thalberg and MGM manipulated lenses, filters, and lighting instruments to affect the viewer." As a result, he notes, "most of Thalberg's films contain moments such as these, in which cinematic technique transcends mere exposition and gives the viewer something to treasure."
Thalberg was supported by most of the studio in these kinds of creative decisions. "It was a big family," notes Weingarten. "If we had a success, everybody—and I mean every cutter, every painter, every plasterer—was excited about it, was abuzz, was in a tizzy about the whole idea of picture making."
Taking risks with new subjects and stars
In 1929, MGM released fifty films, and all but five showed a profit. Of those that failed, Hallelujah was also a gamble by Thalberg. When King Vidor, the film's producer and director, proposed the idea to Thalberg of a major film cast, for the first time, exclusively with African Americans, he told Thalberg directly, "I doubt that it will make a dollar at the box office." Thalberg replied, "Don't worry about that. I've told you that MGM can afford an occasional experiment."
By the early 1930s, a number of stars began failing at the box office, partly due to the Great Depression that was now undermining the economy, along with the public's ability to spend on entertainment. Thalberg began using two stars in a film, rather than one, as had been the tradition at all the studios, such as pairing Greta Garbo with John Gilbert, Clark Gable with Jean Harlow, and William Powell with Myrna Loy. After experimenting with a few such films, including Mata Hari (1931), which were profitable, he decided on a multi-star production of another Broadway play, Grand Hotel (1932). It had five major stars, including Garbo, Joan Crawford, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, and Wallace Beery. "Before Thalberg," writes Vieira, "there was no Grand Hotel in the American consciousness." The film won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1932.
Thalberg went against consensus and took another risk with The Great Ziegfeld (1936), costarring Luise Rainer. Although Louis B. Mayer did not want her in the role, which he felt was too minor for a new star, Thalberg felt that "only she could play the part", wrote biographer Charles Higham. Shortly after shooting began in late 1935, doubts of Rainer's acting ability emerged in the press. However, despite her limited appearances in the film, Rainer "so impressed audiences with one highly emotional scene" that she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
After her winning role in The Great Ziegfeld, Thalberg wanted her to play a role that was the opposite of her previous character, for The Good Earth (1937). For the part as a Chinese peasant, she was required to act totally subservient to her husband, being perpetually huddled in submission, and barely spoke a word of dialogue during the entire film. Rainer recalls that Mayer did not approve of the film being produced or her part in it: "He was horrified at Irving Thalberg's insistence for me to play O-lan, the poor uncomely little Chinese peasant." However, she again won the Oscar for Best Actress, becoming the first actress to win two consecutive Oscars, a feat not matched until Katharine Hepburn's two Oscar wins thirty years later.
Grooming new stars
Besides bringing a distinctive high quality "look" to MGM films and often recreating well-known stories or plays, Thalberg's actors themselves took on a characteristic quality. Thalberg wanted his female actors to appear "cool, classy and beautiful," notes Flamini. And he strove to make the male actors appear "worldly and in control." In general, Thalberg movies and actors came to be "luxurious," "glossy," and "technically flawless." By doing so, he made stars or boosted the careers of actors such as Lon Chaney, Ramon Novarro, John Gilbert, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Helen Hayes, Jean Harlow, Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore and Luise Rainer.
Greta Garbo
In 1925, a young Greta Garbo, then twenty, and unable to speak any English, was brought over from Sweden at Mayer's request, as he saw how she looked in still photos. A Swedish friend thought he would help her by contacting Thalberg, who then agreed to give her a screen test. According to author Frederick Sands, "the result of the test was electrifying." Thalberg was impressed and began grooming the new starlet the following day: "the studio arranged to fix her teeth, made sure she lost weight, and gave her an English tutor."
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford's first role was a Thalberg production at MGM and she became one of their leading stars for the next thirty years. Crawford was somewhat jealous of Norma Shearer as she thought she was given the better material by her husband Thalberg out of nepotism. Nevertheless, she felt that his contribution to MGM was vital to the film industry. Not long after his early death, she recalls her concerns: "Thalberg was dead and the concept of the quality 'big' picture pretty much went out the window."
Marie Dressler
Thalberg also realized that old stars few had heard of could be made into new ones. Marie Dressler, a fifty-nine-year-old early vaudeville and movie star, who had played the top-billed lead, above Charles Chaplin and Mabel Normand), in the first feature-length comedy, Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914), was unable to get any roles in films after leaving show business for some years, finally working as a maid. MGM screenwriter Frances Marion suggested to Thalberg that she might fit well in a starring role for a new film, and was surprised that he knew of her prior successes. Thalberg approved of using her without a screen test and offered his rationale:
By 1932, shortly before she died, Dressler was the country's number one box office star.
Wallace Beery
Marie Dressler was paired twice, in Min and Bill (1930) and Tugboat Annie (1933), with Wallace Beery, another major silent star who had been struggling to get work in sound pictures until Thalberg cast him. Beery had enjoyed a hugely successful silent film career dating back to 1913, but had been fired by Paramount shortly after sound pictures appeared. Thalberg cast him in the role of "Machine Gun Butch," which had been meant for recently deceased Lon Chaney, in The Big House (1930), an energetic prison picture that became a huge hit. Beery was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, and his burgeoning career at MGM had transformed him into the studio's highest paid actor within two more years, during which time he won the Oscar for The Champ and had become a phenomenal box office draw as a result of Thalberg's foresight.
Getting audience feedback and reshooting
According to Vieira, MGM had few failures during this period, and numerous blockbusters. Among the reasons was Thalberg's unique system of developing a script during story conferences with writers before filming began, and later giving "sneak previews" followed by audience feedback through written questionnaires. Often, where he felt improvement was needed, he arranged for scenes to be reshot. As Thalberg once stated, "The difference between something good and something superior is often very small."
Bad decisions and missed opportunities
Thalberg felt he had his "finger on the pulse of America. I know what people will do and what they won't do," he said. His judgment was not always accurate, however. Thalberg's bringing Broadway productions to the screen to develop higher picture standards sometimes resulted in "studied" acting or "stagey" sets, notes Flamini. In 1927, after the successful release of the first full-length talking picture, The Jazz Singer (1927), he nevertheless felt that talking pictures were a fad. Thalberg likewise did not think that color would replace black-and-white in movies.
When an assistant protested against a script that envisioned a love scene in Paris with an ocean background, Thalberg refused to make changes, saying "We can't cater to a handful of people who know Paris." A more serious distraction to Thalberg's efforts was his obsession with making his wife Norma Shearer a prominent star, efforts which sometimes led to "overblown and overglamous" productions. Thalberg himself admitted to his obsession years later when he told a fellow producer: "You're behaving like I did with Norma. I knew positively that she could play anything. It's a kind of romantic astigmatism that attacks producers when they fall for an actress."
Important films at MGM
Ben Hur (1925)
One of the first pictures he took charge of, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, was inherited and already in production by another studio when MGM was formed. The film was turning into a disastrous expense with cost overruns already in the millions due to its lavish sets and location shooting in Rome. Most studio executives chose to terminate the film to cut their losses. Thalberg, however, felt differently, and thought the film would affect movie audiences, due to its classic literary source, and would highlight MGM as a major new studio.
He, therefore, discarded much of the original footage shot in Italy and recreated the set on MGM's back lots in Culver City, which added more millions to the production, yet gave him more control over production. The new set also included a replica of Circus Maximus for the dramatic chariot race scenes. Flamini notes that Thalberg's "gamble paid off," drawing international attention to MGM, and to Thalberg within the movie industry for his bold action.
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty was the studio's next most expensive film after Ben Hur, with some now calling it "Thalberg's masterpiece." He initially had difficulty convincing Mayer that he could make the film without making heroes of the mutineers. He achieved that by instead making a hero of the British Royal Navy, whereby the officers and shipmates would from then on display their mutual respect. Thalberg also had to convince Clark Gable to accept the role against his will. He pleaded with Gable, eventually promising him that "If it isn't one of your greatest successes, I'll never ask you again to play a part you don't want." The film's other main stars were Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Actor, and winning it for Best Picture. Thalberg accepted the award as producer from Frank Capra.
Thalberg and Mayer partnership
At first, Thalberg and studio chief Louis B. Mayer got along splendidly; however, they had different production philosophies. Thalberg preferred literary works, while Mayer preferred glitzy crowd-pleasing films. A clash was inevitable, and their relationship grew decidedly frosty. When Thalberg fell ill in the final weeks of 1932, Mayer took advantage of the situation and replaced him with David O. Selznick and Walter Wanger. Thalberg's reputation by that time for working long hours was widely known, and rumors about the related strain on his fragile health had become front-page news in entertainment trade publications. The Hollywood Reporter in January 1933 updated its readership about his condition and addressed growing concerns that he might be forced, despite his young age, to quit the business:
Once Thalberg recovered sufficiently from his bout with the "flu" and was able to return to work later in 1933, it was as one of MGM's unit producers, albeit one who had first choice on projects as well as preferential access to all the studio's resources, including over casting its stars. Thalberg's good relationship with Nicholas Schenck, then president of Loew's Incorporated, proved to be an ongoing advantage for him. Loew's was the corporate parent of MGM, so Schenck was the true power and ultimate arbiter at the studio; and he usually supported Thalberg's decisions and continued to do so whenever disagreements about projects or production needs arose. As a result, Thalberg also continued to produce or coproduce some of MGM's most prestigious and critically acclaimed ventures in this period, such as The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) starring his wife Norma Shearer, China Seas (1935), A Night at the Opera (1935), San Francisco (1936), and Romeo and Juliet (1936).
Personal life
During his few years with Universal while living in New York, Thalberg had become romantically involved with Carl Laemmle's daughter, Rosabelle. Still in his early twenties and later spending most of his time in Los Angeles, his feelings toward her were no longer as strong. Flamini suspects that this may have affected his position at Universal and partly caused his decision to leave the company. "The Laemmles prayed that Irving would marry Rosabelle", notes Flamini. "They wanted their sons to be educated and their daughters to marry nice Jewish boys."
Less than a year after he and Mayer took charge of the newly created MGM studios, and still only twenty-five years old, Thalberg suffered a serious heart attack due to overwork. Mayer also became aware of Thalberg's congenital heart problems and now worried about the prospect of running MGM without him. Mayer also became concerned that one of his daughters might become romantically involved, and told them so:
Thalberg, aware of Mayer's feelings, made it a point of never giving too much attention to his daughters at social events.
One of Thalberg's traits was his ability to work long hours into the night with little sign of fatigue. According to Vieira, Thalberg believed that as long as his mind was active in his work and he was not bored, he would not feel tired. Thalberg, who often got by with only five hours of sleep, felt that most people could get by with less than they realized. To keep his mental faculties at peak, he would read philosophical books by Bacon, Epictetus, or Kant. "They stimulate me. I'd drop out of sight in no time if I didn't read and keep up with current thought—and the philosophers are brain sharpeners."
During the early 1930s, Thalberg was ambivalent about political events in Europe. While he feared Nazism and the rise of Hitler, he also feared Communism. At the time, notes Vieira, "given a choice between communism and fascism, many Americans—including Thalberg—would prefer the latter." Thalberg stated his opinion:
When others suggested that many Jews could die in Germany as a result of Nazi anti-Semitism, he replied that in his opinion "Hitler and Hitlerism will pass." On one occasion, Catholic Prince Löwenstein of Germany, who himself had almost been captured before fleeing Germany, told him: "Mr. Thalberg, your own people are being systematically hunted down and rooted out of Germany." Thalberg suggested that world Jewry should nevertheless not interfere, that the Jewish race would survive Hitler. Within a few years, American film distribution was "choked off" in Germany. Led by Warner Brothers, all American studios eventually closed their German offices.
Thalberg began dating actress Norma Shearer a few years after he joined MGM. Following her conversion to Judaism, they married on Thursday, September 29, 1927, in a private ceremony in the garden of his rented house in Beverly Hills. Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin officiated at the event, with Shearer's brother Douglas Shearer giving the bride away, and Louis B. Mayer serving as best man. The couple drove to Monterey for their honeymoon and then moved into their newly constructed home in Beverly Hills.
After their second child was born, Shearer considered retiring from films, but Thalberg convinced her to continue acting, saying he could find her good roles. She went on to be one of MGM's biggest stars of the 1930s. Their two children were Irving Jr. (1930–1987) and Katharine (1935–2006).
Death
Thalberg and Shearer took a much-needed Labor Day weekend vacation in Monterey, California, in 1936, staying at the same beachfront hotel where they spent their honeymoon. A few weeks earlier, Thalberg's leading screenwriter, Al Lewin, had proposed doing a film based on a soon-to-be published book, Gone with the Wind. Although Thalberg said it would be a "sensational" role for Gable, and a "terrific picture," he decided not to do it:
Besides, Thalberg told Mayer, "[n]o Civil War picture ever made a nickel". Shortly after returning from Monterey, Thalberg was diagnosed with pneumonia. His condition worsened steadily and he eventually required an oxygen tent at home. He died on September 14, at the age of 37.
Sam Wood, while directing A Day at the Races, was given the news by phone. He returned to the set with tears in his eyes and told the others. As the news spread "the studio was paralyzed with shock", notes Thomas. "Work stopped and hundreds of people wept", with stars, writers, directors, and studio employees "all sharing a sense of loss at the death of a man who had been a part of their working lives", states Flamini.
His funeral took place two days later, and when the services began the other studios throughout Hollywood observed five minutes of silence. Producer Sam Goldwyn "wept uncontrollably for two days" and was unable to regain his composure enough to attend. The MGM studio closed for that day.
Services were held at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple that Thalberg had occasionally attended. The funeral attracted thousands of spectators who came to view the arrival of countless stars from MGM and other studios, including Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, the Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney, Howard Hughes, Al Jolson, Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, among the screen luminaries. The ushers who led them to their seats included Clark Gable, Fredric March, and playwright Moss Hart. Erich von Stroheim, who had been fired by Thalberg, came to pay his respects. Producers Louis B. Mayer, the Warner brothers, Adolph Zukor, and Nicholas Schenck sat together solemnly as Rabbi Magnin gave the eulogy.
Thalberg is buried in a private marble tomb in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, lying at rest beside his wife Norma Shearer Arrouge (Thalberg's crypt was engraved "My Sweetheart Forever" by Shearer).
Over the following days, tributes were published by the national press. Louis B. Mayer, his co-founding partner at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, said he had lost "the finest friend a man could ever have", while MGM president Nicholas Schenck stated that "Thalberg was the most important man in the production end of the motion-picture industry. Leading producers from the other studios also expressed their feelings in published tributes to Thalberg:
David O. Selznick described him as "beyond any question the greatest individual force for fine pictures." Samuel Goldwyn called him "the foremost figure in the motion-picture industry ... and an inspiration." M. H. Aylesworth, Chairman of RKO, wrote that "his integrity, vision and ability made him the spearhead of all motion-picture production throughout the world." Harry Warner, president of Warner Bros., described him as "gifted with one of the finest minds ever placed at the service of motion-picture production." Sidney R. Kent, president of Twentieth Century Fox, said that "he made the whole world richer by giving it the highest type of entertainment. He was a true genius." Columbia president Harry Cohn said the "motion picture industry has suffered a loss from which it will not soon recover...". Darryl F. Zanuck noted, "More than any other man he raised the industry to its present world prestige." Adolph Zukor, chairman of Paramount, stated, "Irving Thalberg was the most brilliant young man in the motion picture business." Jesse Lasky said, "It will be utterly impossible to replace him."
Among the condolences that came from world political leaders, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote, "The world of art is poorer with the passing of Irving Thalberg. His high ideals, insight and imagination went into the production of his masterpieces."
Among the pictures that were unfinished or not yet released at the time of his death were A Day at the Races, The Good Earth, Camille, Maytime, and Romeo and Juliet. Groucho Marx, star of A Day at the Races, wrote, "After Thalberg's death, my interest in the movies waned. I continued to appear in them, but ... The fun had gone out of picture making." Thalberg's widow, Norma Shearer, recalled, "Grief does very strange things to you. I didn't seem to feel the shock for two weeks afterwards. ... then, at the end of those two weeks, I collapsed."
Legacy in the movie industry
Thalberg's legacy to the movie industry is "incalculable", states biographer Bob Thomas. He notes that with his numerous production innovations and grand stories, often turning classic literature and Broadway stage productions into big-screen pictures, he managed to keep "American movies supreme throughout the world for a generation". Darryl F. Zanuck, founder of 20th Century-Fox said that during Thalberg's brief career, he had become the "most creative producer in the history of films". Thomas describes some of his contributions:
Most of MGM's major films in the 1930s were, according to Flamini, "in a very real sense", made by Thalberg. He closely supervised the making of "more pictures than any other producer in Hollywood's history", and was considered the "archetype of the creative producer", adds Flamini. Upon his early death, aged 37, an editorial in The New York Times called him "the most important force" in the motion picture industry. The paper added that for the film industry, he "set the pace and others followed ... because his way combined style, glamour, and profit." He is described by Flamini as having been "a revolutionary in a gray flannel suit".
Thalberg refused to take credit as producer, and as a result, his name never appeared on the screen while he was alive. Thalberg claimed that "credit you give yourself is not worth having". He also said "If a picture is good, they'll know who produced it. If it's bad, nobody cares." His final film, released after he died, was The Good Earth (1937), which won numerous Academy Awards. Its opening screen credit was dedicated to Thalberg:
In 1938, the new multimillion-dollar MGM administration building in Culver City was named for Thalberg. The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, also named for him, awards producers for consistently high production achievements.
Cultural legacy
The Last Tycoon
In October 1939, American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald began writing The Last Tycoon, a fictionalized biography of Thalberg, naming the protagonist Monroe Stahr to represent Thalberg. "Thalberg has always fascinated me", he wrote to an editor. "His peculiar charm, his extraordinary good looks, his bountiful success, the tragic end of his great adventure. The events I have built around him are fiction, but all of them are things which might very well have happened. ... I've long chosen him for a hero (this has been in my mind for three years) because he is one of the half-dozen men I have known who were built on a grand scale."
Thomas notes that among the reasons Fitzgerald chose to write a book about a Thalberg-like character, was that "throughout his literary career, Fitzgerald borrowed his heroes from friends he admired, and inevitably a bit of Fitzgerald entered the characterizations." Fitzgerald himself writes that "When I like men, I want to be like them ..." Fitzgerald and Thalberg had real-life similarities: both were prodigies, both had heart ailments, and they both died at early ages.
According to biographer Matthew J. Bruccoli, Fitzgerald believed that Thalberg, with his "taste and courage, represented the best of Hollywood. ... [and] saw Thalberg as a model for what could be done in the movies." Fitzgerald died before the novel was completed, however. Bruccoli writes of Fitzgerald's book:
Although parallels between Monroe Stahr in the novel and Thalberg were evident, many who knew Thalberg intimately stated that they did not see similarities in their personalities. Norma Shearer said that the Stahr character was not at all like her former husband.
In the 1976 film version, directed by Elia Kazan, Monroe Stahr was played by Robert De Niro. Kazan, in his pre-production notes, described the Stahr character as he saw him:
In the 2016 television series based on the novel, Monroe Stahr is played by Matt Bomer.
Others
Fitzgerald also based his short story "Crazy Sunday", originally published in the October 1932 issue of American Mercury, on an incident at a party thrown by Thalberg and Shearer. The story is included in Fitzgerald's collection Taps at Reveille (1935).
Thalberg was portrayed in the movie Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) by Robert Evans, who went on to become a studio head himself.
Thalberg was portrayed by Bill Cusack in Young Indiana Jones and the Hollywood Follies (1994), a TV film based on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, in which Indiana Jones is depicted as taking part in Thalberg's conflict with Erich von Stroheim over Foolish Wives.
In 2020, Thalberg was played by Ferdinand Kingsley in the David Fincher film Mank
Thalberg, played by Tobey Maguire, is rumored to appear in the upcoming movie Babylon.
Filmography
Producer
Reputation (1921)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
Merry-Go-Round (1923)
His Hour (1924)
He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
The Unholy Three (1925)
The Merry Widow (1925)
The Tower of Lies (1925)
The Big Parade (1925)
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)
Torrent (1926)
La Bohème (1926)
Brown of Harvard (1926)
The Road to Mandalay (1926)
The Temptress (1926)
Valencia (1926)
Flesh and the Devil (1926)
Twelve Miles Out (1927)
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927)
London After Midnight (1927)
The Crowd (1928)
Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928)
White Shadows in the South Seas (1928)
Show People (1928)
West of Zanzibar (1928)
The Broadway Melody (1929)
The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929)
Voice of the City (1929)
Where East Is East (1929)
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1929)
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)
Hallelujah (1929)
His Glorious Night (1929)
The Kiss (1929)
Anna Christie (1930)
Redemption (1930)
The Divorcee (1930)
The Rogue Song (1930)
The Big House (1930)
The Unholy Three (1930)
Let Us Be Gay (1930)
Billy the Kid (1930)
Way for a Sailor (1930)
A Lady's Morals (1930)
Inspiration (1931)
Trader Horn (1931)
The Secret Six (1931)
A Free Soul (1931)
Just a Gigolo (1931)
Menschen hinter Gittern (1931), German-language version of The Big House (1930)
The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931)
The Guardsman (1931)
The Champ (1931)
Possessed (1931)
Private Lives (1931)
Mata Hari (1931)
Freaks (1932)
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
Grand Hotel (1932)
Letty Lynton (1932)
As You Desire Me (1932)
Red-Headed Woman (1932)
Smilin' Through (1932)
Red Dust (1932)
Rasputin and the Empress (1932)
Strange Interlude (1932)
Tugboat Annie (1933)
Bombshell (1933)
Eskimo (1933)
La Veuve Joyeuse (1934) French-language version of The Merry Widow
Riptide (1934)
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
The Merry Widow (1934)
What Every Woman Knows (1934)
Biography of a Bachelor Girl (1935)
No More Ladies (1935)
China Seas (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
Riffraff (1936)
Romeo and Juliet (1936)
Camille (1936)
Maytime (1937)
A Day at the Races (1937)
Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937)
The Good Earth (1937)
Marie Antoinette (1938)
Writer
The Trap (1922)
The Dangerous Little Demon (1922)
Awards
Academy Awards
Notes
Further reading
Books
Flamini, Roland. Thalberg: The Last Tycoon and the World of M-G-M (1994)
Marx, Samuel. Mayer and Thalberg: The Make-believe Saints (1975)
Thomas, Bob. Thalberg: Life and Legend (1969)
Vieira, Mark A. Irving Thalberg's M-G-M. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2008.
Vieira, Mark A. Irving Thalberg: Boy Wonder to Producer Prince. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009.
Articles
Starman, Ray. "Irving Thalberg", Films In Review, June/July 1987, p. 347–353
External links
Irving Thalberg at TCM
Cinemagraphe Review of the Roland Flamini biography of Thalberg: The Last Tycoon and the World of MGM
Irving Thalberg at Virtual History
Irving Thalberg profiled in Collier's Magazine (1924)
Videos
1899 births
1936 deaths
American film producers
Film producers from California
Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award
American film studio executives
American male screenwriters
Cinema pioneers
Silent film directors
Silent film producers
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences founders
Businesspeople from Los Angeles
Hollywood history and culture
California Republicans
New York (state) Republicans
USC School of Cinematic Arts faculty
20th-century American businesspeople
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from New York (state)
People from Brooklyn
American anti-communists
American people of German-Jewish descent
Deaths from pneumonia in California
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American writers
Jewish American writers
20th-century American screenwriters
| false |
[
"Gef ( ), also referred to as the Talking Mongoose or the Dalby Spook, was the name given to an allegedly talking mongoose which was claimed to inhabit a farmhouse owned by the Irving family. The Irvings' farm was located at Cashen's Gap near the hamlet of Dalby on the Isle of Man. The story was given extensive coverage by the tabloid press in Britain in the early 1930s. The Irvings' claims gained the attention of parapsychologists and ghost hunters, such as Harry Price, Hereward Carrington, and Nandor Fodor. Some investigators of the era as well as contemporary critics have concluded that Voirrey Irving used ventriloquism and family collusion to perpetuate the hoax.\n\nStory\n\nIn September 1931, the Irving family, consisting of James, Margaret, and a 13-year-old daughter named Voirrey, claimed they heard persistent scratching, rustling, and vocal noises behind their farmhouse's wooden wall panels that variously resembled a ferret, a dog, or a baby. According to the Irvings, a creature named Gef introduced itself and told them it was a mongoose born in New Delhi, India, in 1852. According to Voirrey, Gef was the size of a small rat with yellowish fur and a large bushy tail.\n\nThe Irvings say that Gef communicated to them that he was \"an extra extra clever mongoose\", an \"Earthbound spirit\" and \"a ghost in the form of a mongoose\" and once said, \"I am a freak. I have hands and I have feet, and if you saw me you'd faint, you'd be petrified, mummified, turned into stone or a pillar of salt!\" The Irvings made various claims about Gef: he supposedly guarded their house and informed them of the approach of guests or any unfamiliar dog. They said that if someone had forgotten to put out the fire at night, Gef would go down and stop the stove. The Irvings claimed Gef would also wake people up when they overslept, and whenever mice got into the house, Gef supposedly assumed the role of the cat, although he preferred to scare them rather than kill them. The Irvings say they gave Gef biscuits, chocolates, and bananas, and food was left for him in a saucer suspended from the ceiling which he took when he thought no one was watching. The Irvings claimed the mongoose regularly accompanied them on trips to the market, but always stayed on the other side of the hedges, chatting incessantly.\n\nThe story of Gef became popular in the tabloid press, and many journalists flocked to the Isle to try to catch a glimpse of the creature. Several other people, both locals and visitors, claimed to have heard Gef's voice, and two claimed to have seen it; however, physical evidence was lacking. Footprints, stains on the wall, and hair samples claimed to be evidence of Gef were identified as belonging to the Irvings' sheepdog, as were several photos which were claimed by the Irvings to depict Gef.\n\nMargaret and Voirrey Irving left the home in 1945 after the death of James Irving. They reportedly had to sell the farm at a loss because it had the reputation of being haunted. In 1946, Leslie Graham, the actor who had bought their farm, claimed in the press that he had shot and killed Gef. The body displayed by Graham was, however, black and white and much larger than the famous mongoose and Voirrey Irving was certain that it was not Gef. She died in 2005. In an interview published late in life, she maintained that Gef was not her creation.\n\nPsychic investigators\n\nIn July 1935 the editor of The Listener, Richard S. Lambert (known as \"Rex\"), and his friend, paranormal investigator Harry Price, went to the Isle of Man to investigate the case and produced the book The Haunting of Cashen's Gap (1936). They avoided saying that they believed the story but were careful to report it objectively. The book reports how a hair from the alleged mongoose was sent to Julian Huxley, who then sent it to naturalist F. Martin Duncan, who identified it as a dog hair. Price suspected the hair belonged to the Irvings' sheepdog, Mona.\n\nPrice asked Reginald Pocock of the Natural History Museum to evaluate pawprints allegedly made by Gef in plasticene together with an impression of his supposed tooth marks. Pocock could not match them to any known animal, though he conceded that one of them might have been \"conceivably made by a dog\". He did state that none of the markings had been made by a mongoose. The diaries of James Irving, along with reports about the case, are in Harry Price's archives in the Senate House Library, University of London.\n\nPrice visited the Irvings and observed double walls of wooden panelling covering the interior rooms of the old stone farmhouse which featured considerable interior air space between stone and wood walls that \"makes the whole house one great speaking-tube, with walls like sound boards. By speaking into one of the many apertures in the panels, it should be possible to convey the voice to various parts of the house.\" According to Richard Wiseman \"Price and Lambert were less than enthusiastic about the case, concluding that only the most credulous of individuals would be impressed with the evidence for Gef.\"\n\nNandor Fodor, Research Officer for the International Institute for Psychical Research, stayed at the Irvings' house for a week without seeing or hearing Gef. Fodor did not believe deliberate deception had occurred and moulded a complex psychological theory to explain Gef based on \"a split-off part\" of Jim Irving's personality.\n\nCritical reception\n\nAlthough some psychic investigators thought that Gef was a poltergeist or a ghost, sceptics, including residents of the Isle of Man, believed the Irving family had colluded to perpetuate a hoax that was originated by daughter Voirrey. An Isle of Man Examiner reporter wrote that when he caught the girl making noises, her father tried to convince him the sound came from somewhere else. According to Joe Nickell researchers have suspected Voirrey used ventriloquism and other tricks \"the effects of which were hyped by family members, reporters in search of a story, and credulous paranormalists.\"\n\nContemporary media scholar Jeffrey Sconce writes that the most likely explanation is that \"this extra extra clever mongoose was an imaginary companion created by the Irvings' extra extra clever daughter.\"\n\nLambert slander case\n\nIn 1937 Lambert brought an action for slander against Sir Cecil Levita, after Levita suggested to a friend that Lambert was unfit to be on the board of the British Film Institute. Levita said that Lambert was \"off his head\" because he had believed in the talking mongoose and the evil eye. Lambert was pressured to abandon his action by Sir Stephen Tallents but persisted with it and won, receiving £7,600 in damages, then an exceptional figure for a slander case, awarded because Lambert's counsel managed to introduce a BBC memo which showed Lambert's career had been threatened if he persisted with the case. The case became known as \"the Mongoose Case\".\n\nGallery\n\nMedia\nLemon Demon's 2009 song \"Eighth Wonder\" is about Gef, and its lyrics contain many of Gef's alleged quotations. The song was later re-released on the 2016 album Spirit Phone. \nGef! The Strange Tale of an Extra-Special Talking Mongoose (), by Christopher Josiffe, a non-fiction treatment of the case, was published by Strange Attractor Press in 2017.\n\nSee also\n The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao features a talking mongoose.\n Hoover the talking seal\n Talking animal\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n\nJosiffe, Christopher (2017). Gef! The Strange Tale of an Extra-Special Talking Mongoose. London, UK: Strange Attractor Press.\nMorris, Richard (2006). Harry Price: The Psychic Detective. Stroud, UK: Sutton. A biography that includes an account of the Gef investigation.\nPrice, Harry & Lambert, Richard (1936). The Haunting of Cashen's Gap: A Modern \"Miracle\" Investigated. London, UK: Methuen & Co. Ltd.\nWiseman, Richard (2011). Paranormality: Why we see what isn't there. London, UK: Pan Macmillan.\n Film: Catling, Brian & Grisoni, Tony. (1999). Vanished! A Video Seance. UK.\n\nExternal links\n The Talking Mongoose by Harry Price\n \"Putting Together The Poltergeist Puzzle\"\n Academia.edu article \"Gef the Talking Mongoose\" by Christopher Josiffe\n\nForteana\nHistory of the Isle of Man\nLegendary mammals\nManx culture\nManx ghosts\nManx legendary creatures\nMysteries\nTalking animals in mythology\nFictional mongooses\nHoaxes in the United Kingdom",
"The Carleton Free Press is a defunct Canadian weekly newspaper that published twice a week in Woodstock, New Brunswick.\n\nIt covered Carleton County and the upper Saint John River valley and was owned by local entrepreneur Dwight Fraser and its publisher was Ken Langdon.\n\nThe first weekly edition was released on October 31, 2007 and it last edition was released on October 28, 2008.\n\nThe paper was available free of charge until December 31, 2007. The price of its final edition was $1.25 per issue.\n\nThe paper ceased publication allegedly due to 'unfair competition' by its competitor Brunswick News publication the Bugle-Observer which was selling at $.25 an issue through the use of coupons.\n\nControversy\nOne of the co-owners of the Carleton Free Press and its publisher, Ken Langdon, was a former publisher of the competing Bugle-Observer.\n\nLangdon's departure from his position at the Bugle-Observer was the focus of a controversial court action by his former employer Brunswick News which has accused him of holding information that might unfairly benefit the Carleton Free Press. \n\nThe battle over the Carleton Free Press started on September 27, 2007, when a team of four forensic accountants hired by CanadaEast News Inc., a media holding company owned by industrial conglomerate J.D. Irving Limited, barged into Langdon's home in Woodstock with a search warrant.\n\nThe search by the forensic accountants was authorized under a rarely used power of the civil courts relating to industrial espionage, commonly called an Anton Piller order, coupled with an injunction. \"They even rooted through my wife's lingerie drawer,\" Langdon said.\n\nDays before the search, citing a poor relationship with his immediate supervisor, Langdon had resigned his post after four years as publisher of the Bugle-Observer, a paper owned by Brunswick News. In his resignation letter, Langdon expressed his intent to start a new paper.\n\n\"During my last weeks in the employ of the Irvings, I consulted with a lawyer who advised me that I had grounds for a constructive dismissal suit,\" wrote Langdon in the Carleton Free Press' first editorial. \"Subsequently I sent to my home files that I could use as part of that suit.\"\n\nThe Irvings allege those files contained confidential commercial information. They were able to secure a court injunction to search Langdon's home while attempting to block the publication of the Carleton Free Press.\n\nLangdon was exonerated by a New Brunswick court on all charges. On November 2, 2007, Justice Peter Glennie of the province's top court blocked the Irvings' request to halt the publication the Carleton Free Press, while prohibiting Langdon from using confidential Brunswick News information. \"In this province, the Irvings are connected to their monopoly in the forestry sector,\" Jeannot Volpe, leader of New Brunswick's Conservative Party, the official opposition, told IPS.\n\n\"I've been to events concerning this sector with hundreds of people which no one from the Irving papers covered. People are starting to get frustrated: how is our voice going to be heard if the media won't report the message?\" said Volpe, whose party normally takes the side of big business.\n\nWhile media rights activists are hopeful about the Carleton Free Press, Irving still dominates the province's public sphere. The company has big plans in the works, including a seven-billion-billion dollar oil refinery and a new liquefied natural gas facility and pipeline in the city of Saint John.\n\nThese mega-projects have raised the ire of environmentalists who say the province should be decreasing rather than increasing its production of greenhouse gases. \"There is no credible reporting by anyone who understands the science behind these proposals,\" said Inka Milewski, science advisor to the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.\n\n\"There is no credible capacity of any Irving media outlets to cover these stories,\" Milewski told IPS.\n\n\"Media concentration is worse in Canada than in other industrialised countries -- and in New Brunswick, way worse,\" Robert Picard, a U.S. media economics expert, told a 2003 conference in Moncton, New Brunswick.\n\nSimilar tactics used by Brunswick News\n\nHERE, a tabloid style weekly magazine, was New Brunswick's sole independent English language publication up until 2004, when the Irvings opened a competing \"alternative\" weekly called the Metro Marquee. While HERE had been publishing successfully for four years, the independent publication couldn't compete with the ad rates of the new Irving competitor and HERE'''s owners were forced to sell out to the monopoly rather than face financial ruin.\n\nThe Irvings closed down the Metro Marquee upon purchasing HERE and changed the paper from a staff-driven organisation to a freelance model, with most writers receiving 25 dollars per article and 10 dollars per photo.\n\nOn October 18, HERE, an Irving owned weekly which bills itself as \"New Brunswick's Urban Voice\", ran a cover story titled \"Why not choose natural gas?\" HERE normally requires its cover stories to be at least 1,000 words; the natural gas cover clocked in at 302. The article, which reads like a press release from a natural gas company, ran without listing its author, which also violates the magazine's normal guidelines.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Irving papers take aim at local upstart By Kim Kierans, The Sunday Herald, October 28, 2007\n Court battle with Irving chain resumes as new weekly emerges in western N.B.'' By Chris Morris, CP, October 29, 2007\n Image Gallery of the launch\n \n\nDefunct newspapers published in New Brunswick\nWeekly newspapers published in New Brunswick\nPublications established in 2007\nPublications disestablished in 2008\nWoodstock, New Brunswick\n2007 establishments in New Brunswick\n2008 disestablishments in New Brunswick"
] |
[
"Irving Thalberg",
"Early years",
"What happened in Irvings early years?",
"Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed with \"blue baby syndrome,\""
] |
C_0cdc930e8e854f949434bb7c03a478f9_1
|
How did this syndrome affect his life?
| 2 |
How did blue baby syndrome affect Irving Thalberg's life?
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Irving Thalberg
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Thalberg was born in Brooklyn, to German Jewish immigrant parents, William and Henrietta (Haymann). Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed with "blue baby syndrome," caused by a congenital disease that limited the oxygen supply to his heart. The prognosis from the family's doctor and specialists was that he might live to age twenty, or at most, age thirty. During his high school years in Brooklyn, he began having attacks of chest pains, dizziness and fatigue. This affected his ability to study, though until that time he was a good student. When he was 17, he contracted rheumatic fever, and was confined to bed for a year. His mother, Henrietta, to prevent him falling too far behind other students, brought him homework from school, books, and tutors to teach him at home. She also hoped that the schoolwork and reading would distract him from the "tantalizing sounds" of children playing outside his window. With little to entertain him, he read books as a main activity. He devoured popular novels, classics, plays, and biographies. His books, of necessity, replaced the streets of New York, and led to his interest in classical philosophy and philosophers, such as William James. When Thalberg returned to school, he finished high school but lacked the stamina for college, which he felt would have required constant late-night studying and cramming for exams. Instead, he took part-time jobs as a store clerk, and in the evenings, to gain some job skills, taught himself typing, shorthand and Spanish at a night vocational school. When he turned 18, he placed an ad with the local newspaper hoping to find better work: "Situation Wanted: Secretary, stenographer, Spanish, English, high school education, no experience; $15." CANNOTANSWER
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During his high school years in Brooklyn, he began having attacks of chest pains, dizziness and fatigue.
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Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather production staff, and make profitable films, including Grand Hotel, China Seas, A Night at the Opera, Mutiny on the Bounty, Camille and The Good Earth. His films carved out an international market, "projecting a seductive image of American life brimming with vitality and rooted in democracy and personal freedom", states biographer Roland Flamini.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and as a child was afflicted with a congenital heart disease that doctors said would kill him before he reached the age of thirty. After graduating from high school he worked as a store clerk during the day and to gain some job skills took a night class in typing. He then found work as a secretary with Universal Studios' New York office, and was later made studio manager for their Los Angeles facility. There, he oversaw production of a hundred films during his three years with the company. Among the films he produced was The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923).
In Los Angeles, he partnered with Louis B. Mayer's new studio and, after it merged with two other studios, helped create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). He was made head of production of MGM in 1925, at the age of twenty-six, helping MGM become the most successful studio in Hollywood. During his twelve years with MGM, until his premature death at the age of 37, he produced four hundred films, most of which bore his imprint and innovations, including story conferences with writers, sneak previews to gain early feedback, and extensive re-shooting of scenes to improve the film. In addition, he introduced horror films to audiences and coauthored the "Production Code", guidelines for morality followed by all studios. During the 1920s and 1930s, he synthesized and merged the world of stage drama and literary classics with Hollywood films.
Thalberg created numerous new stars and groomed their screen images. Among them were Lon Chaney, Ramon Novarro, Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery, Spencer Tracy, Luise Rainer, and Norma Shearer, who became his wife. He had the ability to combine quality with commercial success, and was credited with bringing his artistic aspirations in line with the demands of audiences. After his death, Hollywood's producers said he had been the world's "foremost figure in motion-picture history". President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote, "The world of art is poorer with the passing of Irving Thalberg. His high ideals, insight and imagination went into the production of his masterpieces." The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, given out periodically by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1937, has been awarded to producers whose body of work reflected consistently high quality films.
Early years
Thalberg was born in Brooklyn, to German Jewish immigrant parents, William and Henrietta (Haymann). Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed with "blue baby syndrome", caused by a congenital disease that limited the oxygen supply to his heart. The prognosis from the family's doctor and specialists was that he might live to the age of twenty, or at most, to thirty.
During his high school years in Brooklyn, he began having attacks of chest pains, dizziness and fatigue. This affected his ability to study, though until that time he was a good student. When he was 17 he contracted rheumatic fever, and was confined to bed for a year. His mother, in order to prevent him falling too far behind other students, brought him homework from school, books, and tutors to teach him at home. She also hoped that the schoolwork and reading would distract him from the "tantalizing sounds" of children playing outside his window.
With little to entertain him, he read books as a main activity. He devoured popular novels, classics, plays, and biographies. His books, of necessity, replaced the streets of New York, and led to his interest in classical philosophy and philosophers, such as William James.
When Thalberg returned to school, he finished high school but lacked the stamina for college, which he felt would have required constant late-night studying and cramming for exams. Instead, he took part-time jobs as a store clerk, and in the evenings, to gain some job skills, taught himself typing, shorthand and Spanish at a night vocational school. When he turned 18, he placed an advertisement in the local newspaper hoping to find better work:
Career as producer
Universal Studios
He found work as an office secretary at Universal Pictures' New York office, and later became personal secretary to the studio's founder and president, Carl Laemmle. Among Thalberg's duties were transcribing and editing notes that Laemmle had written during screenings of his films. He earned $25 weekly, becoming adept at making insightful observations, which impressed Laemmle.
Laemmle took Thalberg to see his Los Angeles production facility, where he spent a month watching how movie production worked. Before returning to New York, Laemmle told Thalberg to remain and "keep an eye on things for me." Two months later, Laemmle returned to California, partly to see how well Thalberg was able to handle the responsibilities he was given. Thalberg gave him suggestions, and thus impressed Laemmle by his ability to understand and explain problems.
Thalberg suggested, "The first thing you should do is establish a new job of studio manager and give him the responsibility of watching day-to-day operations." Laemmle immediately agreed: "All right. You're it." In shock, Thalberg replied, "I'm what?" Laemmle told him to take charge of the Los Angeles studio, which he did in early 1919. When aged 20, Thalberg became responsible for immediately overseeing the nine ongoing film productions and nearly thirty scenarios then under development.
In describing the rationale for this early appointment as studio manager, film historian David Thomson writes that his new job "owed nothing to nepotism, private wealth, or experience in the film industry." He reasons that despite "Thalberg's youth, modest education, and frail appearance ... it is clear that he had the charm, insight, and ability, or the appearance of it, to captivate the film world."
Thalberg was one among the majority of Hollywood film industry workers who migrated from the East Coast, primarily from New York. Some film actors, such as Conrad Nagel, did not like the five-day train trip or the sudden warmth of the California climate. Neither did Marion Davies, who was not used to such "big wide spaces". Samuel Marx, a close friend of Thalberg's from New York, recalled how easily Thalberg adapted to Southern California, often standing outside his doorway during moments of contemplation to enjoy the scenery. "We were all young", said comedian Buster Keaton. "The air in California was like wine. Our business was also young—and growing like nothing ever seen before."
Confrontation with Erich von Stroheim
He quickly established his tenacity as he battled with well-known director Erich von Stroheim over the length of Foolish Wives (1922). Biographer Roland Flamini notes that the film was Universal's most expensive "jewel" ever in production, and its director and star, von Stroheim, was taking the film way over budget. Thalberg, now Universal's general manager, was forced to have the director quickly finalize production before the studio's working capital was used up. Flamini describes the situation:
Thalberg had von Stroheim come to his office, which he did still wearing his film costume as a Russian Imperial Guard and escorted by members of his production team. Thalberg calmly told him, "I have seen all the film and you have all you need for the picture. I want you to stop shooting", to which von Stroheim replied, "But I have not finished as yet." "Yes, you have", said Thalberg. "You have spent all the money this company can afford. I cannot allow you to spend any more."
Thalberg quietly explained that the director worked under the producer, and it was his responsibility to control costs. Von Stroheim, surrounded by his assistants, then confronted Thalberg: "If you were not my superior, I would smash you in the face." Thalberg, unflinching, said "Don't let that stop you." The result was that Thalberg soon afterward removed the cameras from von Stroheim's studio and took over editing. The uncut footage was pared down from five-and-a-half hours to three hours, to von Stroheim's deep dissatisfaction.
A similar problem developed with von Stroheim's next film, Merry-Go-Round (1923). Although he had promised Thalberg to remain within budget this time, he continued production until it went to twice the agreed length and was not yet near completion. Flamini speculates why this happened:
Thalberg again called von Stroheim to his office, handed him a long letter written and signed by himself, describing the problems, and summarily fired von Stroheim as of that moment. Thalberg's letter stated among the reasons,
totally inexcusable and repeated acts of insubordination ... extravagant ideas which you have been unwilling to sacrifice ... unnecessary delays ... and your apparent idea that you are greater and more powerful than the organization that employs you.
His dismissal of von Stroheim was considered an "earthquake in movie circles", notes Flamini. Producer David O. Selznick said that "it was the first time a director had been fired. It took great guts and courage ... Von Stroheim was utterly indifferent over money and could have gone on and spent millions, with nobody to stop him.". The opinion was shared by director Rouben Mamoulian, who said that the "little fellow at Universal", in one bold stroke, had "asserted the primacy of the studio over the director" and forever altered the balance of power in the movie industry.
Effects of his young age
According to Flamini, his youth was a subject of conversation within the movie community. Executives from other studios, actors, and film crew, often mistook him to be a junior employee. Movie columnist Louella Parsons, upon first being introduced to him, asked, "What's the joke? Where's the new general manager?" After five minutes of talking to Thalberg, however, she later wrote about "Universal's Boy Wonder": "He might be a boy in looks and age, but it was no child's mind that was being asked to cope with the intricate politics of Universal City." Novelist Edna Ferber responded the same way, writing that "I had fancied motion-picture producers as large gentlemen smoking oversized cigars. But this young man whose word seemed so final at Universal City ... impressed me deeply."
The male actors in the studio had a similar reaction. Lionel Barrymore, who was nearly twice his age, recalled their meetings:
Thalberg likewise gained the respect of leading playwrights, some of whom also looked down on him due to his youth. George S. Kaufman, co-author of Dinner at Eight, several Marx Brothers films, and two George Gershwin plays, came from New York to meet with Thalberg. Afterward he confided to his friend, Groucho Marx: "That man has never written a word, yet he can tell me exactly what to do with a story. I didn't know you had people like that out here."
Actress Norma Shearer, whom he later married, was surprised after he greeted her at the door, then walked her to his office for her first job interview: "Then you're not the office boy?" she asked. He smiled, as he sat himself behind his desk: "No, Miss Shearer, I'm Irving Thalberg, vice-president of the Mayer Company. I'm the man who sent for you."
His younger-than-normal age for a studio executive was usually mentioned even after he left Universal to help start up MGM. Screenwriter Agnes Christine Johnson, who worked with Thalberg for years, described his contribution during meetings:
The same quality was observed by director and screenwriter Hobart Henley: "If something that read well in conference turns out not so good on the screen, I go to him and, like that—Henley snaps his fingers—he has a remedy. He's brilliant." Another assistant producer to Thalberg explains:
His youth also contributed to his open-mindedness to the ideas of others. Conrad Nagel, who starred in numerous Thalberg films, reported that Thalberg was generally empathetic to those he worked alongside: "Thalberg never raised his voice. He just looked into your eyes, spoke softly, and after a few minutes he cast a spell on you." Studio attorney Edwin Loeb, who also worked to create AMPAS, explained that "the real foundation of Irving's success was his ability to look at life through the eyes of any given person. He had a gift of empathy, and almost complete perspective." Those opinions were also shared by producer Walter Wanger: "You thought that you were talking to an Indian savant. He could cast a spell on anybody."
His talent as a producer was enhanced by his "near-miraculous" powers of concentration, notes film critic J. Hoberman. As a result, he was never bored or tired, and supplemented his spare time with reading for his own amusement, recalls screenwriter Bayard Veiller, with some of his favorite authors being Francis Bacon, Epictetus, and Immanuel Kant.
Film projects at Universal
Biographer Bob Thomas writes that after three years at the studio, Thalberg continually proved his value. Universal's pictures improved noticeably, primarily due to Thalberg's "uncanny sense of story." He took tight control over many key aspects of production, including his requirement that from then on scripts were tightly constructed before filming began, rather than during production. Thomas adds that he also "showed a remarkable capacity for working with actors, casting them aptly and advising them on their careers."
After producing two films that were in production when he began work at Universal, he presented Laemmle with his idea for a film based on one of his favorite classic stories, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Rather than just a horror picture, Thalberg suggested turning it into a spectacle which would include a replica of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. He had Lon Chaney play the hunchback. The film became Universal's most profitable silent film and established Chaney's career as a top-flight star.
After nearly three years with Universal, Thalberg had supervised over a hundred movies, reorganized the studio to give more control to the managers, and had "stopped the defection" of many of their leading stars by offering them better, higher-paying contracts. He also produced a number of Universal's prestige films, which made the company profitable. However, he decided it was time to find a studio in Los Angeles more suitable to his skills, and spread word that he was available.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Cecil B. DeMille was the first who wanted to hire him, telling his partner Jesse Lasky, "The boy is a genius. I can see it. I know it." Lasky opposed the hire, stating, "Geniuses we have all we need." Thalberg then received an offer from Hal Roach, but the offer was withdrawn because Thalberg lacked experience with slapstick comedy films. In late 1922, Thalberg was introduced to Louis B. Mayer, president of a small but dynamic and fast-growing studio. At that first meeting, Thalberg "made a deep, immediate impression on Mayer", writes Flamini. After Thalberg had left, Mayer said to studio attorney Edwin Loeb: "Tell him if he comes to work for me, I'll look after him as though he were my son."
Although their personalities were in many ways opposite, Mayer being more outspoken and nearly twice the younger man's age, Thalberg was hired as vice president in charge of production at Louis B. Mayer Productions. Years later, Mayer's daughter Irene Mayer Selznick recalled that "it was hard to believe anyone that boyish could be so important." According to Flamini, Thalberg was hired because, although Mayer was an astute businessman, "what he lacked was Thalberg's almost unerring ability to combine quality with commercial success, to bring artistic aspiration in line with the demands of the box office." Mayer's company subsequently merged with two others to become Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), with the 24-year-old Thalberg made part-owner and accorded the same position as vice president in charge of production. Three years after the merger, MGM became the most successful studio in Hollywood.
During his twelve years at MGM, Thalberg supervised the production of over four hundred films. Although Thalberg and his colleagues at MGM knew he was "doomed" to not live much past the age of 30 due to heart disease, he loved producing films. He continued developing innovative ideas and overseeing most of MGM's pictures. Under Thalberg's management, MGM released over 40% more films yearly than Warner Brothers, and more than double Paramount's releases. From 1924 until 1936, when Thalberg died at the age of 37, "almost every film bore Thalberg's imprint", wrote Mark Vieira.
Production innovations
Thalberg's production techniques "broke new ground in filmmaking", adds Vieira. Among his contributions at MGM was his innovation of story conferences, sneak previews and scene retakes. He introduced the first horror films and coauthored the Production Code, the set of moral guidelines that all film studios agreed to follow. Thalberg helped synthesize and merge the world of stage drama and literary classics with Hollywood films.
MGM thereby became the only movie studio to consistently show a profit during the Great Depression. Flamini explains that the equation for MGM's success depended on combining stars, a Broadway hit or popular classic, and high standards of production. This combination at the time was considered a "revolutionary approach" in the film industry, which until then assumed a star was all that was needed for success, regardless of the story or production quality. The other studios began following MGM's lead with that same formula.
Production techniques
Thalberg generally followed a system in managing his productions. According to one of his assistants, Lawrence Weingarten, who later became a producer, "Thalberg directed the film on paper, and then the director directed the film on film."
Thalberg was generally opposed to location shooting overseas where he could not oversee production and control costs, as happened with Ben Hur. Thus, he kept hundreds of back-lot carpenters at work creating realistic sets, as he did for fifteenth-century Romeo and Juliet (1936), or with China Seas (1935), to replicate the harbors of Hong Kong.
Vieira points out that Thalberg's "fascination with Broadway plays" often had him create and present stories visually. For China Seas, for instance, he described for the screenwriters, director and others, exactly how he wanted the film to appear on screen:
To be certain of achieving the desired effects, Thalberg made sure his cinematographers were careful in their use of light and shadow. Vieira observes that "more than any other producer or any other studio, Thalberg and MGM manipulated lenses, filters, and lighting instruments to affect the viewer." As a result, he notes, "most of Thalberg's films contain moments such as these, in which cinematic technique transcends mere exposition and gives the viewer something to treasure."
Thalberg was supported by most of the studio in these kinds of creative decisions. "It was a big family," notes Weingarten. "If we had a success, everybody—and I mean every cutter, every painter, every plasterer—was excited about it, was abuzz, was in a tizzy about the whole idea of picture making."
Taking risks with new subjects and stars
In 1929, MGM released fifty films, and all but five showed a profit. Of those that failed, Hallelujah was also a gamble by Thalberg. When King Vidor, the film's producer and director, proposed the idea to Thalberg of a major film cast, for the first time, exclusively with African Americans, he told Thalberg directly, "I doubt that it will make a dollar at the box office." Thalberg replied, "Don't worry about that. I've told you that MGM can afford an occasional experiment."
By the early 1930s, a number of stars began failing at the box office, partly due to the Great Depression that was now undermining the economy, along with the public's ability to spend on entertainment. Thalberg began using two stars in a film, rather than one, as had been the tradition at all the studios, such as pairing Greta Garbo with John Gilbert, Clark Gable with Jean Harlow, and William Powell with Myrna Loy. After experimenting with a few such films, including Mata Hari (1931), which were profitable, he decided on a multi-star production of another Broadway play, Grand Hotel (1932). It had five major stars, including Garbo, Joan Crawford, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, and Wallace Beery. "Before Thalberg," writes Vieira, "there was no Grand Hotel in the American consciousness." The film won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1932.
Thalberg went against consensus and took another risk with The Great Ziegfeld (1936), costarring Luise Rainer. Although Louis B. Mayer did not want her in the role, which he felt was too minor for a new star, Thalberg felt that "only she could play the part", wrote biographer Charles Higham. Shortly after shooting began in late 1935, doubts of Rainer's acting ability emerged in the press. However, despite her limited appearances in the film, Rainer "so impressed audiences with one highly emotional scene" that she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
After her winning role in The Great Ziegfeld, Thalberg wanted her to play a role that was the opposite of her previous character, for The Good Earth (1937). For the part as a Chinese peasant, she was required to act totally subservient to her husband, being perpetually huddled in submission, and barely spoke a word of dialogue during the entire film. Rainer recalls that Mayer did not approve of the film being produced or her part in it: "He was horrified at Irving Thalberg's insistence for me to play O-lan, the poor uncomely little Chinese peasant." However, she again won the Oscar for Best Actress, becoming the first actress to win two consecutive Oscars, a feat not matched until Katharine Hepburn's two Oscar wins thirty years later.
Grooming new stars
Besides bringing a distinctive high quality "look" to MGM films and often recreating well-known stories or plays, Thalberg's actors themselves took on a characteristic quality. Thalberg wanted his female actors to appear "cool, classy and beautiful," notes Flamini. And he strove to make the male actors appear "worldly and in control." In general, Thalberg movies and actors came to be "luxurious," "glossy," and "technically flawless." By doing so, he made stars or boosted the careers of actors such as Lon Chaney, Ramon Novarro, John Gilbert, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Helen Hayes, Jean Harlow, Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore and Luise Rainer.
Greta Garbo
In 1925, a young Greta Garbo, then twenty, and unable to speak any English, was brought over from Sweden at Mayer's request, as he saw how she looked in still photos. A Swedish friend thought he would help her by contacting Thalberg, who then agreed to give her a screen test. According to author Frederick Sands, "the result of the test was electrifying." Thalberg was impressed and began grooming the new starlet the following day: "the studio arranged to fix her teeth, made sure she lost weight, and gave her an English tutor."
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford's first role was a Thalberg production at MGM and she became one of their leading stars for the next thirty years. Crawford was somewhat jealous of Norma Shearer as she thought she was given the better material by her husband Thalberg out of nepotism. Nevertheless, she felt that his contribution to MGM was vital to the film industry. Not long after his early death, she recalls her concerns: "Thalberg was dead and the concept of the quality 'big' picture pretty much went out the window."
Marie Dressler
Thalberg also realized that old stars few had heard of could be made into new ones. Marie Dressler, a fifty-nine-year-old early vaudeville and movie star, who had played the top-billed lead, above Charles Chaplin and Mabel Normand), in the first feature-length comedy, Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914), was unable to get any roles in films after leaving show business for some years, finally working as a maid. MGM screenwriter Frances Marion suggested to Thalberg that she might fit well in a starring role for a new film, and was surprised that he knew of her prior successes. Thalberg approved of using her without a screen test and offered his rationale:
By 1932, shortly before she died, Dressler was the country's number one box office star.
Wallace Beery
Marie Dressler was paired twice, in Min and Bill (1930) and Tugboat Annie (1933), with Wallace Beery, another major silent star who had been struggling to get work in sound pictures until Thalberg cast him. Beery had enjoyed a hugely successful silent film career dating back to 1913, but had been fired by Paramount shortly after sound pictures appeared. Thalberg cast him in the role of "Machine Gun Butch," which had been meant for recently deceased Lon Chaney, in The Big House (1930), an energetic prison picture that became a huge hit. Beery was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, and his burgeoning career at MGM had transformed him into the studio's highest paid actor within two more years, during which time he won the Oscar for The Champ and had become a phenomenal box office draw as a result of Thalberg's foresight.
Getting audience feedback and reshooting
According to Vieira, MGM had few failures during this period, and numerous blockbusters. Among the reasons was Thalberg's unique system of developing a script during story conferences with writers before filming began, and later giving "sneak previews" followed by audience feedback through written questionnaires. Often, where he felt improvement was needed, he arranged for scenes to be reshot. As Thalberg once stated, "The difference between something good and something superior is often very small."
Bad decisions and missed opportunities
Thalberg felt he had his "finger on the pulse of America. I know what people will do and what they won't do," he said. His judgment was not always accurate, however. Thalberg's bringing Broadway productions to the screen to develop higher picture standards sometimes resulted in "studied" acting or "stagey" sets, notes Flamini. In 1927, after the successful release of the first full-length talking picture, The Jazz Singer (1927), he nevertheless felt that talking pictures were a fad. Thalberg likewise did not think that color would replace black-and-white in movies.
When an assistant protested against a script that envisioned a love scene in Paris with an ocean background, Thalberg refused to make changes, saying "We can't cater to a handful of people who know Paris." A more serious distraction to Thalberg's efforts was his obsession with making his wife Norma Shearer a prominent star, efforts which sometimes led to "overblown and overglamous" productions. Thalberg himself admitted to his obsession years later when he told a fellow producer: "You're behaving like I did with Norma. I knew positively that she could play anything. It's a kind of romantic astigmatism that attacks producers when they fall for an actress."
Important films at MGM
Ben Hur (1925)
One of the first pictures he took charge of, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, was inherited and already in production by another studio when MGM was formed. The film was turning into a disastrous expense with cost overruns already in the millions due to its lavish sets and location shooting in Rome. Most studio executives chose to terminate the film to cut their losses. Thalberg, however, felt differently, and thought the film would affect movie audiences, due to its classic literary source, and would highlight MGM as a major new studio.
He, therefore, discarded much of the original footage shot in Italy and recreated the set on MGM's back lots in Culver City, which added more millions to the production, yet gave him more control over production. The new set also included a replica of Circus Maximus for the dramatic chariot race scenes. Flamini notes that Thalberg's "gamble paid off," drawing international attention to MGM, and to Thalberg within the movie industry for his bold action.
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty was the studio's next most expensive film after Ben Hur, with some now calling it "Thalberg's masterpiece." He initially had difficulty convincing Mayer that he could make the film without making heroes of the mutineers. He achieved that by instead making a hero of the British Royal Navy, whereby the officers and shipmates would from then on display their mutual respect. Thalberg also had to convince Clark Gable to accept the role against his will. He pleaded with Gable, eventually promising him that "If it isn't one of your greatest successes, I'll never ask you again to play a part you don't want." The film's other main stars were Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Actor, and winning it for Best Picture. Thalberg accepted the award as producer from Frank Capra.
Thalberg and Mayer partnership
At first, Thalberg and studio chief Louis B. Mayer got along splendidly; however, they had different production philosophies. Thalberg preferred literary works, while Mayer preferred glitzy crowd-pleasing films. A clash was inevitable, and their relationship grew decidedly frosty. When Thalberg fell ill in the final weeks of 1932, Mayer took advantage of the situation and replaced him with David O. Selznick and Walter Wanger. Thalberg's reputation by that time for working long hours was widely known, and rumors about the related strain on his fragile health had become front-page news in entertainment trade publications. The Hollywood Reporter in January 1933 updated its readership about his condition and addressed growing concerns that he might be forced, despite his young age, to quit the business:
Once Thalberg recovered sufficiently from his bout with the "flu" and was able to return to work later in 1933, it was as one of MGM's unit producers, albeit one who had first choice on projects as well as preferential access to all the studio's resources, including over casting its stars. Thalberg's good relationship with Nicholas Schenck, then president of Loew's Incorporated, proved to be an ongoing advantage for him. Loew's was the corporate parent of MGM, so Schenck was the true power and ultimate arbiter at the studio; and he usually supported Thalberg's decisions and continued to do so whenever disagreements about projects or production needs arose. As a result, Thalberg also continued to produce or coproduce some of MGM's most prestigious and critically acclaimed ventures in this period, such as The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) starring his wife Norma Shearer, China Seas (1935), A Night at the Opera (1935), San Francisco (1936), and Romeo and Juliet (1936).
Personal life
During his few years with Universal while living in New York, Thalberg had become romantically involved with Carl Laemmle's daughter, Rosabelle. Still in his early twenties and later spending most of his time in Los Angeles, his feelings toward her were no longer as strong. Flamini suspects that this may have affected his position at Universal and partly caused his decision to leave the company. "The Laemmles prayed that Irving would marry Rosabelle", notes Flamini. "They wanted their sons to be educated and their daughters to marry nice Jewish boys."
Less than a year after he and Mayer took charge of the newly created MGM studios, and still only twenty-five years old, Thalberg suffered a serious heart attack due to overwork. Mayer also became aware of Thalberg's congenital heart problems and now worried about the prospect of running MGM without him. Mayer also became concerned that one of his daughters might become romantically involved, and told them so:
Thalberg, aware of Mayer's feelings, made it a point of never giving too much attention to his daughters at social events.
One of Thalberg's traits was his ability to work long hours into the night with little sign of fatigue. According to Vieira, Thalberg believed that as long as his mind was active in his work and he was not bored, he would not feel tired. Thalberg, who often got by with only five hours of sleep, felt that most people could get by with less than they realized. To keep his mental faculties at peak, he would read philosophical books by Bacon, Epictetus, or Kant. "They stimulate me. I'd drop out of sight in no time if I didn't read and keep up with current thought—and the philosophers are brain sharpeners."
During the early 1930s, Thalberg was ambivalent about political events in Europe. While he feared Nazism and the rise of Hitler, he also feared Communism. At the time, notes Vieira, "given a choice between communism and fascism, many Americans—including Thalberg—would prefer the latter." Thalberg stated his opinion:
When others suggested that many Jews could die in Germany as a result of Nazi anti-Semitism, he replied that in his opinion "Hitler and Hitlerism will pass." On one occasion, Catholic Prince Löwenstein of Germany, who himself had almost been captured before fleeing Germany, told him: "Mr. Thalberg, your own people are being systematically hunted down and rooted out of Germany." Thalberg suggested that world Jewry should nevertheless not interfere, that the Jewish race would survive Hitler. Within a few years, American film distribution was "choked off" in Germany. Led by Warner Brothers, all American studios eventually closed their German offices.
Thalberg began dating actress Norma Shearer a few years after he joined MGM. Following her conversion to Judaism, they married on Thursday, September 29, 1927, in a private ceremony in the garden of his rented house in Beverly Hills. Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin officiated at the event, with Shearer's brother Douglas Shearer giving the bride away, and Louis B. Mayer serving as best man. The couple drove to Monterey for their honeymoon and then moved into their newly constructed home in Beverly Hills.
After their second child was born, Shearer considered retiring from films, but Thalberg convinced her to continue acting, saying he could find her good roles. She went on to be one of MGM's biggest stars of the 1930s. Their two children were Irving Jr. (1930–1987) and Katharine (1935–2006).
Death
Thalberg and Shearer took a much-needed Labor Day weekend vacation in Monterey, California, in 1936, staying at the same beachfront hotel where they spent their honeymoon. A few weeks earlier, Thalberg's leading screenwriter, Al Lewin, had proposed doing a film based on a soon-to-be published book, Gone with the Wind. Although Thalberg said it would be a "sensational" role for Gable, and a "terrific picture," he decided not to do it:
Besides, Thalberg told Mayer, "[n]o Civil War picture ever made a nickel". Shortly after returning from Monterey, Thalberg was diagnosed with pneumonia. His condition worsened steadily and he eventually required an oxygen tent at home. He died on September 14, at the age of 37.
Sam Wood, while directing A Day at the Races, was given the news by phone. He returned to the set with tears in his eyes and told the others. As the news spread "the studio was paralyzed with shock", notes Thomas. "Work stopped and hundreds of people wept", with stars, writers, directors, and studio employees "all sharing a sense of loss at the death of a man who had been a part of their working lives", states Flamini.
His funeral took place two days later, and when the services began the other studios throughout Hollywood observed five minutes of silence. Producer Sam Goldwyn "wept uncontrollably for two days" and was unable to regain his composure enough to attend. The MGM studio closed for that day.
Services were held at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple that Thalberg had occasionally attended. The funeral attracted thousands of spectators who came to view the arrival of countless stars from MGM and other studios, including Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, the Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney, Howard Hughes, Al Jolson, Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, among the screen luminaries. The ushers who led them to their seats included Clark Gable, Fredric March, and playwright Moss Hart. Erich von Stroheim, who had been fired by Thalberg, came to pay his respects. Producers Louis B. Mayer, the Warner brothers, Adolph Zukor, and Nicholas Schenck sat together solemnly as Rabbi Magnin gave the eulogy.
Thalberg is buried in a private marble tomb in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, lying at rest beside his wife Norma Shearer Arrouge (Thalberg's crypt was engraved "My Sweetheart Forever" by Shearer).
Over the following days, tributes were published by the national press. Louis B. Mayer, his co-founding partner at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, said he had lost "the finest friend a man could ever have", while MGM president Nicholas Schenck stated that "Thalberg was the most important man in the production end of the motion-picture industry. Leading producers from the other studios also expressed their feelings in published tributes to Thalberg:
David O. Selznick described him as "beyond any question the greatest individual force for fine pictures." Samuel Goldwyn called him "the foremost figure in the motion-picture industry ... and an inspiration." M. H. Aylesworth, Chairman of RKO, wrote that "his integrity, vision and ability made him the spearhead of all motion-picture production throughout the world." Harry Warner, president of Warner Bros., described him as "gifted with one of the finest minds ever placed at the service of motion-picture production." Sidney R. Kent, president of Twentieth Century Fox, said that "he made the whole world richer by giving it the highest type of entertainment. He was a true genius." Columbia president Harry Cohn said the "motion picture industry has suffered a loss from which it will not soon recover...". Darryl F. Zanuck noted, "More than any other man he raised the industry to its present world prestige." Adolph Zukor, chairman of Paramount, stated, "Irving Thalberg was the most brilliant young man in the motion picture business." Jesse Lasky said, "It will be utterly impossible to replace him."
Among the condolences that came from world political leaders, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote, "The world of art is poorer with the passing of Irving Thalberg. His high ideals, insight and imagination went into the production of his masterpieces."
Among the pictures that were unfinished or not yet released at the time of his death were A Day at the Races, The Good Earth, Camille, Maytime, and Romeo and Juliet. Groucho Marx, star of A Day at the Races, wrote, "After Thalberg's death, my interest in the movies waned. I continued to appear in them, but ... The fun had gone out of picture making." Thalberg's widow, Norma Shearer, recalled, "Grief does very strange things to you. I didn't seem to feel the shock for two weeks afterwards. ... then, at the end of those two weeks, I collapsed."
Legacy in the movie industry
Thalberg's legacy to the movie industry is "incalculable", states biographer Bob Thomas. He notes that with his numerous production innovations and grand stories, often turning classic literature and Broadway stage productions into big-screen pictures, he managed to keep "American movies supreme throughout the world for a generation". Darryl F. Zanuck, founder of 20th Century-Fox said that during Thalberg's brief career, he had become the "most creative producer in the history of films". Thomas describes some of his contributions:
Most of MGM's major films in the 1930s were, according to Flamini, "in a very real sense", made by Thalberg. He closely supervised the making of "more pictures than any other producer in Hollywood's history", and was considered the "archetype of the creative producer", adds Flamini. Upon his early death, aged 37, an editorial in The New York Times called him "the most important force" in the motion picture industry. The paper added that for the film industry, he "set the pace and others followed ... because his way combined style, glamour, and profit." He is described by Flamini as having been "a revolutionary in a gray flannel suit".
Thalberg refused to take credit as producer, and as a result, his name never appeared on the screen while he was alive. Thalberg claimed that "credit you give yourself is not worth having". He also said "If a picture is good, they'll know who produced it. If it's bad, nobody cares." His final film, released after he died, was The Good Earth (1937), which won numerous Academy Awards. Its opening screen credit was dedicated to Thalberg:
In 1938, the new multimillion-dollar MGM administration building in Culver City was named for Thalberg. The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, also named for him, awards producers for consistently high production achievements.
Cultural legacy
The Last Tycoon
In October 1939, American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald began writing The Last Tycoon, a fictionalized biography of Thalberg, naming the protagonist Monroe Stahr to represent Thalberg. "Thalberg has always fascinated me", he wrote to an editor. "His peculiar charm, his extraordinary good looks, his bountiful success, the tragic end of his great adventure. The events I have built around him are fiction, but all of them are things which might very well have happened. ... I've long chosen him for a hero (this has been in my mind for three years) because he is one of the half-dozen men I have known who were built on a grand scale."
Thomas notes that among the reasons Fitzgerald chose to write a book about a Thalberg-like character, was that "throughout his literary career, Fitzgerald borrowed his heroes from friends he admired, and inevitably a bit of Fitzgerald entered the characterizations." Fitzgerald himself writes that "When I like men, I want to be like them ..." Fitzgerald and Thalberg had real-life similarities: both were prodigies, both had heart ailments, and they both died at early ages.
According to biographer Matthew J. Bruccoli, Fitzgerald believed that Thalberg, with his "taste and courage, represented the best of Hollywood. ... [and] saw Thalberg as a model for what could be done in the movies." Fitzgerald died before the novel was completed, however. Bruccoli writes of Fitzgerald's book:
Although parallels between Monroe Stahr in the novel and Thalberg were evident, many who knew Thalberg intimately stated that they did not see similarities in their personalities. Norma Shearer said that the Stahr character was not at all like her former husband.
In the 1976 film version, directed by Elia Kazan, Monroe Stahr was played by Robert De Niro. Kazan, in his pre-production notes, described the Stahr character as he saw him:
In the 2016 television series based on the novel, Monroe Stahr is played by Matt Bomer.
Others
Fitzgerald also based his short story "Crazy Sunday", originally published in the October 1932 issue of American Mercury, on an incident at a party thrown by Thalberg and Shearer. The story is included in Fitzgerald's collection Taps at Reveille (1935).
Thalberg was portrayed in the movie Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) by Robert Evans, who went on to become a studio head himself.
Thalberg was portrayed by Bill Cusack in Young Indiana Jones and the Hollywood Follies (1994), a TV film based on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, in which Indiana Jones is depicted as taking part in Thalberg's conflict with Erich von Stroheim over Foolish Wives.
In 2020, Thalberg was played by Ferdinand Kingsley in the David Fincher film Mank
Thalberg, played by Tobey Maguire, is rumored to appear in the upcoming movie Babylon.
Filmography
Producer
Reputation (1921)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
Merry-Go-Round (1923)
His Hour (1924)
He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
The Unholy Three (1925)
The Merry Widow (1925)
The Tower of Lies (1925)
The Big Parade (1925)
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)
Torrent (1926)
La Bohème (1926)
Brown of Harvard (1926)
The Road to Mandalay (1926)
The Temptress (1926)
Valencia (1926)
Flesh and the Devil (1926)
Twelve Miles Out (1927)
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927)
London After Midnight (1927)
The Crowd (1928)
Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928)
White Shadows in the South Seas (1928)
Show People (1928)
West of Zanzibar (1928)
The Broadway Melody (1929)
The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929)
Voice of the City (1929)
Where East Is East (1929)
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1929)
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)
Hallelujah (1929)
His Glorious Night (1929)
The Kiss (1929)
Anna Christie (1930)
Redemption (1930)
The Divorcee (1930)
The Rogue Song (1930)
The Big House (1930)
The Unholy Three (1930)
Let Us Be Gay (1930)
Billy the Kid (1930)
Way for a Sailor (1930)
A Lady's Morals (1930)
Inspiration (1931)
Trader Horn (1931)
The Secret Six (1931)
A Free Soul (1931)
Just a Gigolo (1931)
Menschen hinter Gittern (1931), German-language version of The Big House (1930)
The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931)
The Guardsman (1931)
The Champ (1931)
Possessed (1931)
Private Lives (1931)
Mata Hari (1931)
Freaks (1932)
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
Grand Hotel (1932)
Letty Lynton (1932)
As You Desire Me (1932)
Red-Headed Woman (1932)
Smilin' Through (1932)
Red Dust (1932)
Rasputin and the Empress (1932)
Strange Interlude (1932)
Tugboat Annie (1933)
Bombshell (1933)
Eskimo (1933)
La Veuve Joyeuse (1934) French-language version of The Merry Widow
Riptide (1934)
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
The Merry Widow (1934)
What Every Woman Knows (1934)
Biography of a Bachelor Girl (1935)
No More Ladies (1935)
China Seas (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
Riffraff (1936)
Romeo and Juliet (1936)
Camille (1936)
Maytime (1937)
A Day at the Races (1937)
Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937)
The Good Earth (1937)
Marie Antoinette (1938)
Writer
The Trap (1922)
The Dangerous Little Demon (1922)
Awards
Academy Awards
Notes
Further reading
Books
Flamini, Roland. Thalberg: The Last Tycoon and the World of M-G-M (1994)
Marx, Samuel. Mayer and Thalberg: The Make-believe Saints (1975)
Thomas, Bob. Thalberg: Life and Legend (1969)
Vieira, Mark A. Irving Thalberg's M-G-M. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2008.
Vieira, Mark A. Irving Thalberg: Boy Wonder to Producer Prince. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009.
Articles
Starman, Ray. "Irving Thalberg", Films In Review, June/July 1987, p. 347–353
External links
Irving Thalberg at TCM
Cinemagraphe Review of the Roland Flamini biography of Thalberg: The Last Tycoon and the World of MGM
Irving Thalberg at Virtual History
Irving Thalberg profiled in Collier's Magazine (1924)
Videos
1899 births
1936 deaths
American film producers
Film producers from California
Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award
American film studio executives
American male screenwriters
Cinema pioneers
Silent film directors
Silent film producers
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences founders
Businesspeople from Los Angeles
Hollywood history and culture
California Republicans
New York (state) Republicans
USC School of Cinematic Arts faculty
20th-century American businesspeople
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from New York (state)
People from Brooklyn
American anti-communists
American people of German-Jewish descent
Deaths from pneumonia in California
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American writers
Jewish American writers
20th-century American screenwriters
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"A syndrome is a set of medical signs and symptoms that are correlated with each other. A syndrome can affect one or more of body systems. Different syndromes affect different groups of organs. This is a list of syndromes that may affect the heart. Syndromes affecting primarily the heart are written in bold letters.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n What Is the Heart? – NIH",
"Crouzonodermoskeletal syndrome is a disorder characterized by the premature joining of certain bones of the skull (craniosynostosis) during development and a skin condition called acanthosis nigricans.\n\nSome of the signs and symptoms of Crouzonodermoskeletal syndrome are similar to those seen with Crouzon syndrome. They include prematurely fused skull bones, which affect the shape of the head and face; wide-set, bulging eyes due to shallow eye sockets; eyes that do not point in the same direction (strabismus); a small, beaked nose; and an underdeveloped upper jaw. People with these conditions are generally of normal intelligence.\n\nSeveral features distinguish Crouzonodermoskeletal syndrome from Crouzon syndrome. People with Crouzonodermoskeletal syndrome have acanthosis nigricans, a skin condition characterized by thick, dark, velvety skin in body folds and creases, including the neck and underarms. In addition, subtle changes may be seen in the bones of the spine (vertebrae). Noncancerous growths called cementomas may develop in the jaw during young adulthood.Crouzonodermoskeletal syndrome is rare; the condition is seen in about 1 per million people.\n\nGenetics\nMutations in the FGFR3 gene cause Crouzonodermoskeletal syndrome. The protein made by the FGFR3 gene is a receptor that plays a role in the development and maintenance of bone and brain tissue. Researchers do not know how a mutation in FGFR3 leads to the characteristic features of this disorder, but changes in the receptor appear to disrupt the normal development of bones in the skull and affect skin pigmentation.\n\nThis condition is inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern, which means one copy of the altered gene in each cell is sufficient to cause the disorder.\n\nIn some cases, an affected person inherits the mutation from one affected parent. Other cases may result from new mutations in the gene. These cases occur in people with no history of the disorder in their family.\n\nDiagnosis\n\nTreatment\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\nGenetic disorders with no OMIM\nCongenital disorders of musculoskeletal system\nSyndromes"
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Did he ever get better?
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Did Irving Thalberg ever get better?
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Irving Thalberg
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Thalberg was born in Brooklyn, to German Jewish immigrant parents, William and Henrietta (Haymann). Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed with "blue baby syndrome," caused by a congenital disease that limited the oxygen supply to his heart. The prognosis from the family's doctor and specialists was that he might live to age twenty, or at most, age thirty. During his high school years in Brooklyn, he began having attacks of chest pains, dizziness and fatigue. This affected his ability to study, though until that time he was a good student. When he was 17, he contracted rheumatic fever, and was confined to bed for a year. His mother, Henrietta, to prevent him falling too far behind other students, brought him homework from school, books, and tutors to teach him at home. She also hoped that the schoolwork and reading would distract him from the "tantalizing sounds" of children playing outside his window. With little to entertain him, he read books as a main activity. He devoured popular novels, classics, plays, and biographies. His books, of necessity, replaced the streets of New York, and led to his interest in classical philosophy and philosophers, such as William James. When Thalberg returned to school, he finished high school but lacked the stamina for college, which he felt would have required constant late-night studying and cramming for exams. Instead, he took part-time jobs as a store clerk, and in the evenings, to gain some job skills, taught himself typing, shorthand and Spanish at a night vocational school. When he turned 18, he placed an ad with the local newspaper hoping to find better work: "Situation Wanted: Secretary, stenographer, Spanish, English, high school education, no experience; $15." CANNOTANSWER
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When Thalberg returned to school, he finished high school but lacked the stamina for college,
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Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather production staff, and make profitable films, including Grand Hotel, China Seas, A Night at the Opera, Mutiny on the Bounty, Camille and The Good Earth. His films carved out an international market, "projecting a seductive image of American life brimming with vitality and rooted in democracy and personal freedom", states biographer Roland Flamini.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and as a child was afflicted with a congenital heart disease that doctors said would kill him before he reached the age of thirty. After graduating from high school he worked as a store clerk during the day and to gain some job skills took a night class in typing. He then found work as a secretary with Universal Studios' New York office, and was later made studio manager for their Los Angeles facility. There, he oversaw production of a hundred films during his three years with the company. Among the films he produced was The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923).
In Los Angeles, he partnered with Louis B. Mayer's new studio and, after it merged with two other studios, helped create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). He was made head of production of MGM in 1925, at the age of twenty-six, helping MGM become the most successful studio in Hollywood. During his twelve years with MGM, until his premature death at the age of 37, he produced four hundred films, most of which bore his imprint and innovations, including story conferences with writers, sneak previews to gain early feedback, and extensive re-shooting of scenes to improve the film. In addition, he introduced horror films to audiences and coauthored the "Production Code", guidelines for morality followed by all studios. During the 1920s and 1930s, he synthesized and merged the world of stage drama and literary classics with Hollywood films.
Thalberg created numerous new stars and groomed their screen images. Among them were Lon Chaney, Ramon Novarro, Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery, Spencer Tracy, Luise Rainer, and Norma Shearer, who became his wife. He had the ability to combine quality with commercial success, and was credited with bringing his artistic aspirations in line with the demands of audiences. After his death, Hollywood's producers said he had been the world's "foremost figure in motion-picture history". President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote, "The world of art is poorer with the passing of Irving Thalberg. His high ideals, insight and imagination went into the production of his masterpieces." The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, given out periodically by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1937, has been awarded to producers whose body of work reflected consistently high quality films.
Early years
Thalberg was born in Brooklyn, to German Jewish immigrant parents, William and Henrietta (Haymann). Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed with "blue baby syndrome", caused by a congenital disease that limited the oxygen supply to his heart. The prognosis from the family's doctor and specialists was that he might live to the age of twenty, or at most, to thirty.
During his high school years in Brooklyn, he began having attacks of chest pains, dizziness and fatigue. This affected his ability to study, though until that time he was a good student. When he was 17 he contracted rheumatic fever, and was confined to bed for a year. His mother, in order to prevent him falling too far behind other students, brought him homework from school, books, and tutors to teach him at home. She also hoped that the schoolwork and reading would distract him from the "tantalizing sounds" of children playing outside his window.
With little to entertain him, he read books as a main activity. He devoured popular novels, classics, plays, and biographies. His books, of necessity, replaced the streets of New York, and led to his interest in classical philosophy and philosophers, such as William James.
When Thalberg returned to school, he finished high school but lacked the stamina for college, which he felt would have required constant late-night studying and cramming for exams. Instead, he took part-time jobs as a store clerk, and in the evenings, to gain some job skills, taught himself typing, shorthand and Spanish at a night vocational school. When he turned 18, he placed an advertisement in the local newspaper hoping to find better work:
Career as producer
Universal Studios
He found work as an office secretary at Universal Pictures' New York office, and later became personal secretary to the studio's founder and president, Carl Laemmle. Among Thalberg's duties were transcribing and editing notes that Laemmle had written during screenings of his films. He earned $25 weekly, becoming adept at making insightful observations, which impressed Laemmle.
Laemmle took Thalberg to see his Los Angeles production facility, where he spent a month watching how movie production worked. Before returning to New York, Laemmle told Thalberg to remain and "keep an eye on things for me." Two months later, Laemmle returned to California, partly to see how well Thalberg was able to handle the responsibilities he was given. Thalberg gave him suggestions, and thus impressed Laemmle by his ability to understand and explain problems.
Thalberg suggested, "The first thing you should do is establish a new job of studio manager and give him the responsibility of watching day-to-day operations." Laemmle immediately agreed: "All right. You're it." In shock, Thalberg replied, "I'm what?" Laemmle told him to take charge of the Los Angeles studio, which he did in early 1919. When aged 20, Thalberg became responsible for immediately overseeing the nine ongoing film productions and nearly thirty scenarios then under development.
In describing the rationale for this early appointment as studio manager, film historian David Thomson writes that his new job "owed nothing to nepotism, private wealth, or experience in the film industry." He reasons that despite "Thalberg's youth, modest education, and frail appearance ... it is clear that he had the charm, insight, and ability, or the appearance of it, to captivate the film world."
Thalberg was one among the majority of Hollywood film industry workers who migrated from the East Coast, primarily from New York. Some film actors, such as Conrad Nagel, did not like the five-day train trip or the sudden warmth of the California climate. Neither did Marion Davies, who was not used to such "big wide spaces". Samuel Marx, a close friend of Thalberg's from New York, recalled how easily Thalberg adapted to Southern California, often standing outside his doorway during moments of contemplation to enjoy the scenery. "We were all young", said comedian Buster Keaton. "The air in California was like wine. Our business was also young—and growing like nothing ever seen before."
Confrontation with Erich von Stroheim
He quickly established his tenacity as he battled with well-known director Erich von Stroheim over the length of Foolish Wives (1922). Biographer Roland Flamini notes that the film was Universal's most expensive "jewel" ever in production, and its director and star, von Stroheim, was taking the film way over budget. Thalberg, now Universal's general manager, was forced to have the director quickly finalize production before the studio's working capital was used up. Flamini describes the situation:
Thalberg had von Stroheim come to his office, which he did still wearing his film costume as a Russian Imperial Guard and escorted by members of his production team. Thalberg calmly told him, "I have seen all the film and you have all you need for the picture. I want you to stop shooting", to which von Stroheim replied, "But I have not finished as yet." "Yes, you have", said Thalberg. "You have spent all the money this company can afford. I cannot allow you to spend any more."
Thalberg quietly explained that the director worked under the producer, and it was his responsibility to control costs. Von Stroheim, surrounded by his assistants, then confronted Thalberg: "If you were not my superior, I would smash you in the face." Thalberg, unflinching, said "Don't let that stop you." The result was that Thalberg soon afterward removed the cameras from von Stroheim's studio and took over editing. The uncut footage was pared down from five-and-a-half hours to three hours, to von Stroheim's deep dissatisfaction.
A similar problem developed with von Stroheim's next film, Merry-Go-Round (1923). Although he had promised Thalberg to remain within budget this time, he continued production until it went to twice the agreed length and was not yet near completion. Flamini speculates why this happened:
Thalberg again called von Stroheim to his office, handed him a long letter written and signed by himself, describing the problems, and summarily fired von Stroheim as of that moment. Thalberg's letter stated among the reasons,
totally inexcusable and repeated acts of insubordination ... extravagant ideas which you have been unwilling to sacrifice ... unnecessary delays ... and your apparent idea that you are greater and more powerful than the organization that employs you.
His dismissal of von Stroheim was considered an "earthquake in movie circles", notes Flamini. Producer David O. Selznick said that "it was the first time a director had been fired. It took great guts and courage ... Von Stroheim was utterly indifferent over money and could have gone on and spent millions, with nobody to stop him.". The opinion was shared by director Rouben Mamoulian, who said that the "little fellow at Universal", in one bold stroke, had "asserted the primacy of the studio over the director" and forever altered the balance of power in the movie industry.
Effects of his young age
According to Flamini, his youth was a subject of conversation within the movie community. Executives from other studios, actors, and film crew, often mistook him to be a junior employee. Movie columnist Louella Parsons, upon first being introduced to him, asked, "What's the joke? Where's the new general manager?" After five minutes of talking to Thalberg, however, she later wrote about "Universal's Boy Wonder": "He might be a boy in looks and age, but it was no child's mind that was being asked to cope with the intricate politics of Universal City." Novelist Edna Ferber responded the same way, writing that "I had fancied motion-picture producers as large gentlemen smoking oversized cigars. But this young man whose word seemed so final at Universal City ... impressed me deeply."
The male actors in the studio had a similar reaction. Lionel Barrymore, who was nearly twice his age, recalled their meetings:
Thalberg likewise gained the respect of leading playwrights, some of whom also looked down on him due to his youth. George S. Kaufman, co-author of Dinner at Eight, several Marx Brothers films, and two George Gershwin plays, came from New York to meet with Thalberg. Afterward he confided to his friend, Groucho Marx: "That man has never written a word, yet he can tell me exactly what to do with a story. I didn't know you had people like that out here."
Actress Norma Shearer, whom he later married, was surprised after he greeted her at the door, then walked her to his office for her first job interview: "Then you're not the office boy?" she asked. He smiled, as he sat himself behind his desk: "No, Miss Shearer, I'm Irving Thalberg, vice-president of the Mayer Company. I'm the man who sent for you."
His younger-than-normal age for a studio executive was usually mentioned even after he left Universal to help start up MGM. Screenwriter Agnes Christine Johnson, who worked with Thalberg for years, described his contribution during meetings:
The same quality was observed by director and screenwriter Hobart Henley: "If something that read well in conference turns out not so good on the screen, I go to him and, like that—Henley snaps his fingers—he has a remedy. He's brilliant." Another assistant producer to Thalberg explains:
His youth also contributed to his open-mindedness to the ideas of others. Conrad Nagel, who starred in numerous Thalberg films, reported that Thalberg was generally empathetic to those he worked alongside: "Thalberg never raised his voice. He just looked into your eyes, spoke softly, and after a few minutes he cast a spell on you." Studio attorney Edwin Loeb, who also worked to create AMPAS, explained that "the real foundation of Irving's success was his ability to look at life through the eyes of any given person. He had a gift of empathy, and almost complete perspective." Those opinions were also shared by producer Walter Wanger: "You thought that you were talking to an Indian savant. He could cast a spell on anybody."
His talent as a producer was enhanced by his "near-miraculous" powers of concentration, notes film critic J. Hoberman. As a result, he was never bored or tired, and supplemented his spare time with reading for his own amusement, recalls screenwriter Bayard Veiller, with some of his favorite authors being Francis Bacon, Epictetus, and Immanuel Kant.
Film projects at Universal
Biographer Bob Thomas writes that after three years at the studio, Thalberg continually proved his value. Universal's pictures improved noticeably, primarily due to Thalberg's "uncanny sense of story." He took tight control over many key aspects of production, including his requirement that from then on scripts were tightly constructed before filming began, rather than during production. Thomas adds that he also "showed a remarkable capacity for working with actors, casting them aptly and advising them on their careers."
After producing two films that were in production when he began work at Universal, he presented Laemmle with his idea for a film based on one of his favorite classic stories, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Rather than just a horror picture, Thalberg suggested turning it into a spectacle which would include a replica of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. He had Lon Chaney play the hunchback. The film became Universal's most profitable silent film and established Chaney's career as a top-flight star.
After nearly three years with Universal, Thalberg had supervised over a hundred movies, reorganized the studio to give more control to the managers, and had "stopped the defection" of many of their leading stars by offering them better, higher-paying contracts. He also produced a number of Universal's prestige films, which made the company profitable. However, he decided it was time to find a studio in Los Angeles more suitable to his skills, and spread word that he was available.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Cecil B. DeMille was the first who wanted to hire him, telling his partner Jesse Lasky, "The boy is a genius. I can see it. I know it." Lasky opposed the hire, stating, "Geniuses we have all we need." Thalberg then received an offer from Hal Roach, but the offer was withdrawn because Thalberg lacked experience with slapstick comedy films. In late 1922, Thalberg was introduced to Louis B. Mayer, president of a small but dynamic and fast-growing studio. At that first meeting, Thalberg "made a deep, immediate impression on Mayer", writes Flamini. After Thalberg had left, Mayer said to studio attorney Edwin Loeb: "Tell him if he comes to work for me, I'll look after him as though he were my son."
Although their personalities were in many ways opposite, Mayer being more outspoken and nearly twice the younger man's age, Thalberg was hired as vice president in charge of production at Louis B. Mayer Productions. Years later, Mayer's daughter Irene Mayer Selznick recalled that "it was hard to believe anyone that boyish could be so important." According to Flamini, Thalberg was hired because, although Mayer was an astute businessman, "what he lacked was Thalberg's almost unerring ability to combine quality with commercial success, to bring artistic aspiration in line with the demands of the box office." Mayer's company subsequently merged with two others to become Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), with the 24-year-old Thalberg made part-owner and accorded the same position as vice president in charge of production. Three years after the merger, MGM became the most successful studio in Hollywood.
During his twelve years at MGM, Thalberg supervised the production of over four hundred films. Although Thalberg and his colleagues at MGM knew he was "doomed" to not live much past the age of 30 due to heart disease, he loved producing films. He continued developing innovative ideas and overseeing most of MGM's pictures. Under Thalberg's management, MGM released over 40% more films yearly than Warner Brothers, and more than double Paramount's releases. From 1924 until 1936, when Thalberg died at the age of 37, "almost every film bore Thalberg's imprint", wrote Mark Vieira.
Production innovations
Thalberg's production techniques "broke new ground in filmmaking", adds Vieira. Among his contributions at MGM was his innovation of story conferences, sneak previews and scene retakes. He introduced the first horror films and coauthored the Production Code, the set of moral guidelines that all film studios agreed to follow. Thalberg helped synthesize and merge the world of stage drama and literary classics with Hollywood films.
MGM thereby became the only movie studio to consistently show a profit during the Great Depression. Flamini explains that the equation for MGM's success depended on combining stars, a Broadway hit or popular classic, and high standards of production. This combination at the time was considered a "revolutionary approach" in the film industry, which until then assumed a star was all that was needed for success, regardless of the story or production quality. The other studios began following MGM's lead with that same formula.
Production techniques
Thalberg generally followed a system in managing his productions. According to one of his assistants, Lawrence Weingarten, who later became a producer, "Thalberg directed the film on paper, and then the director directed the film on film."
Thalberg was generally opposed to location shooting overseas where he could not oversee production and control costs, as happened with Ben Hur. Thus, he kept hundreds of back-lot carpenters at work creating realistic sets, as he did for fifteenth-century Romeo and Juliet (1936), or with China Seas (1935), to replicate the harbors of Hong Kong.
Vieira points out that Thalberg's "fascination with Broadway plays" often had him create and present stories visually. For China Seas, for instance, he described for the screenwriters, director and others, exactly how he wanted the film to appear on screen:
To be certain of achieving the desired effects, Thalberg made sure his cinematographers were careful in their use of light and shadow. Vieira observes that "more than any other producer or any other studio, Thalberg and MGM manipulated lenses, filters, and lighting instruments to affect the viewer." As a result, he notes, "most of Thalberg's films contain moments such as these, in which cinematic technique transcends mere exposition and gives the viewer something to treasure."
Thalberg was supported by most of the studio in these kinds of creative decisions. "It was a big family," notes Weingarten. "If we had a success, everybody—and I mean every cutter, every painter, every plasterer—was excited about it, was abuzz, was in a tizzy about the whole idea of picture making."
Taking risks with new subjects and stars
In 1929, MGM released fifty films, and all but five showed a profit. Of those that failed, Hallelujah was also a gamble by Thalberg. When King Vidor, the film's producer and director, proposed the idea to Thalberg of a major film cast, for the first time, exclusively with African Americans, he told Thalberg directly, "I doubt that it will make a dollar at the box office." Thalberg replied, "Don't worry about that. I've told you that MGM can afford an occasional experiment."
By the early 1930s, a number of stars began failing at the box office, partly due to the Great Depression that was now undermining the economy, along with the public's ability to spend on entertainment. Thalberg began using two stars in a film, rather than one, as had been the tradition at all the studios, such as pairing Greta Garbo with John Gilbert, Clark Gable with Jean Harlow, and William Powell with Myrna Loy. After experimenting with a few such films, including Mata Hari (1931), which were profitable, he decided on a multi-star production of another Broadway play, Grand Hotel (1932). It had five major stars, including Garbo, Joan Crawford, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, and Wallace Beery. "Before Thalberg," writes Vieira, "there was no Grand Hotel in the American consciousness." The film won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1932.
Thalberg went against consensus and took another risk with The Great Ziegfeld (1936), costarring Luise Rainer. Although Louis B. Mayer did not want her in the role, which he felt was too minor for a new star, Thalberg felt that "only she could play the part", wrote biographer Charles Higham. Shortly after shooting began in late 1935, doubts of Rainer's acting ability emerged in the press. However, despite her limited appearances in the film, Rainer "so impressed audiences with one highly emotional scene" that she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
After her winning role in The Great Ziegfeld, Thalberg wanted her to play a role that was the opposite of her previous character, for The Good Earth (1937). For the part as a Chinese peasant, she was required to act totally subservient to her husband, being perpetually huddled in submission, and barely spoke a word of dialogue during the entire film. Rainer recalls that Mayer did not approve of the film being produced or her part in it: "He was horrified at Irving Thalberg's insistence for me to play O-lan, the poor uncomely little Chinese peasant." However, she again won the Oscar for Best Actress, becoming the first actress to win two consecutive Oscars, a feat not matched until Katharine Hepburn's two Oscar wins thirty years later.
Grooming new stars
Besides bringing a distinctive high quality "look" to MGM films and often recreating well-known stories or plays, Thalberg's actors themselves took on a characteristic quality. Thalberg wanted his female actors to appear "cool, classy and beautiful," notes Flamini. And he strove to make the male actors appear "worldly and in control." In general, Thalberg movies and actors came to be "luxurious," "glossy," and "technically flawless." By doing so, he made stars or boosted the careers of actors such as Lon Chaney, Ramon Novarro, John Gilbert, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Helen Hayes, Jean Harlow, Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore and Luise Rainer.
Greta Garbo
In 1925, a young Greta Garbo, then twenty, and unable to speak any English, was brought over from Sweden at Mayer's request, as he saw how she looked in still photos. A Swedish friend thought he would help her by contacting Thalberg, who then agreed to give her a screen test. According to author Frederick Sands, "the result of the test was electrifying." Thalberg was impressed and began grooming the new starlet the following day: "the studio arranged to fix her teeth, made sure she lost weight, and gave her an English tutor."
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford's first role was a Thalberg production at MGM and she became one of their leading stars for the next thirty years. Crawford was somewhat jealous of Norma Shearer as she thought she was given the better material by her husband Thalberg out of nepotism. Nevertheless, she felt that his contribution to MGM was vital to the film industry. Not long after his early death, she recalls her concerns: "Thalberg was dead and the concept of the quality 'big' picture pretty much went out the window."
Marie Dressler
Thalberg also realized that old stars few had heard of could be made into new ones. Marie Dressler, a fifty-nine-year-old early vaudeville and movie star, who had played the top-billed lead, above Charles Chaplin and Mabel Normand), in the first feature-length comedy, Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914), was unable to get any roles in films after leaving show business for some years, finally working as a maid. MGM screenwriter Frances Marion suggested to Thalberg that she might fit well in a starring role for a new film, and was surprised that he knew of her prior successes. Thalberg approved of using her without a screen test and offered his rationale:
By 1932, shortly before she died, Dressler was the country's number one box office star.
Wallace Beery
Marie Dressler was paired twice, in Min and Bill (1930) and Tugboat Annie (1933), with Wallace Beery, another major silent star who had been struggling to get work in sound pictures until Thalberg cast him. Beery had enjoyed a hugely successful silent film career dating back to 1913, but had been fired by Paramount shortly after sound pictures appeared. Thalberg cast him in the role of "Machine Gun Butch," which had been meant for recently deceased Lon Chaney, in The Big House (1930), an energetic prison picture that became a huge hit. Beery was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, and his burgeoning career at MGM had transformed him into the studio's highest paid actor within two more years, during which time he won the Oscar for The Champ and had become a phenomenal box office draw as a result of Thalberg's foresight.
Getting audience feedback and reshooting
According to Vieira, MGM had few failures during this period, and numerous blockbusters. Among the reasons was Thalberg's unique system of developing a script during story conferences with writers before filming began, and later giving "sneak previews" followed by audience feedback through written questionnaires. Often, where he felt improvement was needed, he arranged for scenes to be reshot. As Thalberg once stated, "The difference between something good and something superior is often very small."
Bad decisions and missed opportunities
Thalberg felt he had his "finger on the pulse of America. I know what people will do and what they won't do," he said. His judgment was not always accurate, however. Thalberg's bringing Broadway productions to the screen to develop higher picture standards sometimes resulted in "studied" acting or "stagey" sets, notes Flamini. In 1927, after the successful release of the first full-length talking picture, The Jazz Singer (1927), he nevertheless felt that talking pictures were a fad. Thalberg likewise did not think that color would replace black-and-white in movies.
When an assistant protested against a script that envisioned a love scene in Paris with an ocean background, Thalberg refused to make changes, saying "We can't cater to a handful of people who know Paris." A more serious distraction to Thalberg's efforts was his obsession with making his wife Norma Shearer a prominent star, efforts which sometimes led to "overblown and overglamous" productions. Thalberg himself admitted to his obsession years later when he told a fellow producer: "You're behaving like I did with Norma. I knew positively that she could play anything. It's a kind of romantic astigmatism that attacks producers when they fall for an actress."
Important films at MGM
Ben Hur (1925)
One of the first pictures he took charge of, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, was inherited and already in production by another studio when MGM was formed. The film was turning into a disastrous expense with cost overruns already in the millions due to its lavish sets and location shooting in Rome. Most studio executives chose to terminate the film to cut their losses. Thalberg, however, felt differently, and thought the film would affect movie audiences, due to its classic literary source, and would highlight MGM as a major new studio.
He, therefore, discarded much of the original footage shot in Italy and recreated the set on MGM's back lots in Culver City, which added more millions to the production, yet gave him more control over production. The new set also included a replica of Circus Maximus for the dramatic chariot race scenes. Flamini notes that Thalberg's "gamble paid off," drawing international attention to MGM, and to Thalberg within the movie industry for his bold action.
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty was the studio's next most expensive film after Ben Hur, with some now calling it "Thalberg's masterpiece." He initially had difficulty convincing Mayer that he could make the film without making heroes of the mutineers. He achieved that by instead making a hero of the British Royal Navy, whereby the officers and shipmates would from then on display their mutual respect. Thalberg also had to convince Clark Gable to accept the role against his will. He pleaded with Gable, eventually promising him that "If it isn't one of your greatest successes, I'll never ask you again to play a part you don't want." The film's other main stars were Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Actor, and winning it for Best Picture. Thalberg accepted the award as producer from Frank Capra.
Thalberg and Mayer partnership
At first, Thalberg and studio chief Louis B. Mayer got along splendidly; however, they had different production philosophies. Thalberg preferred literary works, while Mayer preferred glitzy crowd-pleasing films. A clash was inevitable, and their relationship grew decidedly frosty. When Thalberg fell ill in the final weeks of 1932, Mayer took advantage of the situation and replaced him with David O. Selznick and Walter Wanger. Thalberg's reputation by that time for working long hours was widely known, and rumors about the related strain on his fragile health had become front-page news in entertainment trade publications. The Hollywood Reporter in January 1933 updated its readership about his condition and addressed growing concerns that he might be forced, despite his young age, to quit the business:
Once Thalberg recovered sufficiently from his bout with the "flu" and was able to return to work later in 1933, it was as one of MGM's unit producers, albeit one who had first choice on projects as well as preferential access to all the studio's resources, including over casting its stars. Thalberg's good relationship with Nicholas Schenck, then president of Loew's Incorporated, proved to be an ongoing advantage for him. Loew's was the corporate parent of MGM, so Schenck was the true power and ultimate arbiter at the studio; and he usually supported Thalberg's decisions and continued to do so whenever disagreements about projects or production needs arose. As a result, Thalberg also continued to produce or coproduce some of MGM's most prestigious and critically acclaimed ventures in this period, such as The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) starring his wife Norma Shearer, China Seas (1935), A Night at the Opera (1935), San Francisco (1936), and Romeo and Juliet (1936).
Personal life
During his few years with Universal while living in New York, Thalberg had become romantically involved with Carl Laemmle's daughter, Rosabelle. Still in his early twenties and later spending most of his time in Los Angeles, his feelings toward her were no longer as strong. Flamini suspects that this may have affected his position at Universal and partly caused his decision to leave the company. "The Laemmles prayed that Irving would marry Rosabelle", notes Flamini. "They wanted their sons to be educated and their daughters to marry nice Jewish boys."
Less than a year after he and Mayer took charge of the newly created MGM studios, and still only twenty-five years old, Thalberg suffered a serious heart attack due to overwork. Mayer also became aware of Thalberg's congenital heart problems and now worried about the prospect of running MGM without him. Mayer also became concerned that one of his daughters might become romantically involved, and told them so:
Thalberg, aware of Mayer's feelings, made it a point of never giving too much attention to his daughters at social events.
One of Thalberg's traits was his ability to work long hours into the night with little sign of fatigue. According to Vieira, Thalberg believed that as long as his mind was active in his work and he was not bored, he would not feel tired. Thalberg, who often got by with only five hours of sleep, felt that most people could get by with less than they realized. To keep his mental faculties at peak, he would read philosophical books by Bacon, Epictetus, or Kant. "They stimulate me. I'd drop out of sight in no time if I didn't read and keep up with current thought—and the philosophers are brain sharpeners."
During the early 1930s, Thalberg was ambivalent about political events in Europe. While he feared Nazism and the rise of Hitler, he also feared Communism. At the time, notes Vieira, "given a choice between communism and fascism, many Americans—including Thalberg—would prefer the latter." Thalberg stated his opinion:
When others suggested that many Jews could die in Germany as a result of Nazi anti-Semitism, he replied that in his opinion "Hitler and Hitlerism will pass." On one occasion, Catholic Prince Löwenstein of Germany, who himself had almost been captured before fleeing Germany, told him: "Mr. Thalberg, your own people are being systematically hunted down and rooted out of Germany." Thalberg suggested that world Jewry should nevertheless not interfere, that the Jewish race would survive Hitler. Within a few years, American film distribution was "choked off" in Germany. Led by Warner Brothers, all American studios eventually closed their German offices.
Thalberg began dating actress Norma Shearer a few years after he joined MGM. Following her conversion to Judaism, they married on Thursday, September 29, 1927, in a private ceremony in the garden of his rented house in Beverly Hills. Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin officiated at the event, with Shearer's brother Douglas Shearer giving the bride away, and Louis B. Mayer serving as best man. The couple drove to Monterey for their honeymoon and then moved into their newly constructed home in Beverly Hills.
After their second child was born, Shearer considered retiring from films, but Thalberg convinced her to continue acting, saying he could find her good roles. She went on to be one of MGM's biggest stars of the 1930s. Their two children were Irving Jr. (1930–1987) and Katharine (1935–2006).
Death
Thalberg and Shearer took a much-needed Labor Day weekend vacation in Monterey, California, in 1936, staying at the same beachfront hotel where they spent their honeymoon. A few weeks earlier, Thalberg's leading screenwriter, Al Lewin, had proposed doing a film based on a soon-to-be published book, Gone with the Wind. Although Thalberg said it would be a "sensational" role for Gable, and a "terrific picture," he decided not to do it:
Besides, Thalberg told Mayer, "[n]o Civil War picture ever made a nickel". Shortly after returning from Monterey, Thalberg was diagnosed with pneumonia. His condition worsened steadily and he eventually required an oxygen tent at home. He died on September 14, at the age of 37.
Sam Wood, while directing A Day at the Races, was given the news by phone. He returned to the set with tears in his eyes and told the others. As the news spread "the studio was paralyzed with shock", notes Thomas. "Work stopped and hundreds of people wept", with stars, writers, directors, and studio employees "all sharing a sense of loss at the death of a man who had been a part of their working lives", states Flamini.
His funeral took place two days later, and when the services began the other studios throughout Hollywood observed five minutes of silence. Producer Sam Goldwyn "wept uncontrollably for two days" and was unable to regain his composure enough to attend. The MGM studio closed for that day.
Services were held at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple that Thalberg had occasionally attended. The funeral attracted thousands of spectators who came to view the arrival of countless stars from MGM and other studios, including Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, the Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney, Howard Hughes, Al Jolson, Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, among the screen luminaries. The ushers who led them to their seats included Clark Gable, Fredric March, and playwright Moss Hart. Erich von Stroheim, who had been fired by Thalberg, came to pay his respects. Producers Louis B. Mayer, the Warner brothers, Adolph Zukor, and Nicholas Schenck sat together solemnly as Rabbi Magnin gave the eulogy.
Thalberg is buried in a private marble tomb in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, lying at rest beside his wife Norma Shearer Arrouge (Thalberg's crypt was engraved "My Sweetheart Forever" by Shearer).
Over the following days, tributes were published by the national press. Louis B. Mayer, his co-founding partner at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, said he had lost "the finest friend a man could ever have", while MGM president Nicholas Schenck stated that "Thalberg was the most important man in the production end of the motion-picture industry. Leading producers from the other studios also expressed their feelings in published tributes to Thalberg:
David O. Selznick described him as "beyond any question the greatest individual force for fine pictures." Samuel Goldwyn called him "the foremost figure in the motion-picture industry ... and an inspiration." M. H. Aylesworth, Chairman of RKO, wrote that "his integrity, vision and ability made him the spearhead of all motion-picture production throughout the world." Harry Warner, president of Warner Bros., described him as "gifted with one of the finest minds ever placed at the service of motion-picture production." Sidney R. Kent, president of Twentieth Century Fox, said that "he made the whole world richer by giving it the highest type of entertainment. He was a true genius." Columbia president Harry Cohn said the "motion picture industry has suffered a loss from which it will not soon recover...". Darryl F. Zanuck noted, "More than any other man he raised the industry to its present world prestige." Adolph Zukor, chairman of Paramount, stated, "Irving Thalberg was the most brilliant young man in the motion picture business." Jesse Lasky said, "It will be utterly impossible to replace him."
Among the condolences that came from world political leaders, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote, "The world of art is poorer with the passing of Irving Thalberg. His high ideals, insight and imagination went into the production of his masterpieces."
Among the pictures that were unfinished or not yet released at the time of his death were A Day at the Races, The Good Earth, Camille, Maytime, and Romeo and Juliet. Groucho Marx, star of A Day at the Races, wrote, "After Thalberg's death, my interest in the movies waned. I continued to appear in them, but ... The fun had gone out of picture making." Thalberg's widow, Norma Shearer, recalled, "Grief does very strange things to you. I didn't seem to feel the shock for two weeks afterwards. ... then, at the end of those two weeks, I collapsed."
Legacy in the movie industry
Thalberg's legacy to the movie industry is "incalculable", states biographer Bob Thomas. He notes that with his numerous production innovations and grand stories, often turning classic literature and Broadway stage productions into big-screen pictures, he managed to keep "American movies supreme throughout the world for a generation". Darryl F. Zanuck, founder of 20th Century-Fox said that during Thalberg's brief career, he had become the "most creative producer in the history of films". Thomas describes some of his contributions:
Most of MGM's major films in the 1930s were, according to Flamini, "in a very real sense", made by Thalberg. He closely supervised the making of "more pictures than any other producer in Hollywood's history", and was considered the "archetype of the creative producer", adds Flamini. Upon his early death, aged 37, an editorial in The New York Times called him "the most important force" in the motion picture industry. The paper added that for the film industry, he "set the pace and others followed ... because his way combined style, glamour, and profit." He is described by Flamini as having been "a revolutionary in a gray flannel suit".
Thalberg refused to take credit as producer, and as a result, his name never appeared on the screen while he was alive. Thalberg claimed that "credit you give yourself is not worth having". He also said "If a picture is good, they'll know who produced it. If it's bad, nobody cares." His final film, released after he died, was The Good Earth (1937), which won numerous Academy Awards. Its opening screen credit was dedicated to Thalberg:
In 1938, the new multimillion-dollar MGM administration building in Culver City was named for Thalberg. The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, also named for him, awards producers for consistently high production achievements.
Cultural legacy
The Last Tycoon
In October 1939, American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald began writing The Last Tycoon, a fictionalized biography of Thalberg, naming the protagonist Monroe Stahr to represent Thalberg. "Thalberg has always fascinated me", he wrote to an editor. "His peculiar charm, his extraordinary good looks, his bountiful success, the tragic end of his great adventure. The events I have built around him are fiction, but all of them are things which might very well have happened. ... I've long chosen him for a hero (this has been in my mind for three years) because he is one of the half-dozen men I have known who were built on a grand scale."
Thomas notes that among the reasons Fitzgerald chose to write a book about a Thalberg-like character, was that "throughout his literary career, Fitzgerald borrowed his heroes from friends he admired, and inevitably a bit of Fitzgerald entered the characterizations." Fitzgerald himself writes that "When I like men, I want to be like them ..." Fitzgerald and Thalberg had real-life similarities: both were prodigies, both had heart ailments, and they both died at early ages.
According to biographer Matthew J. Bruccoli, Fitzgerald believed that Thalberg, with his "taste and courage, represented the best of Hollywood. ... [and] saw Thalberg as a model for what could be done in the movies." Fitzgerald died before the novel was completed, however. Bruccoli writes of Fitzgerald's book:
Although parallels between Monroe Stahr in the novel and Thalberg were evident, many who knew Thalberg intimately stated that they did not see similarities in their personalities. Norma Shearer said that the Stahr character was not at all like her former husband.
In the 1976 film version, directed by Elia Kazan, Monroe Stahr was played by Robert De Niro. Kazan, in his pre-production notes, described the Stahr character as he saw him:
In the 2016 television series based on the novel, Monroe Stahr is played by Matt Bomer.
Others
Fitzgerald also based his short story "Crazy Sunday", originally published in the October 1932 issue of American Mercury, on an incident at a party thrown by Thalberg and Shearer. The story is included in Fitzgerald's collection Taps at Reveille (1935).
Thalberg was portrayed in the movie Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) by Robert Evans, who went on to become a studio head himself.
Thalberg was portrayed by Bill Cusack in Young Indiana Jones and the Hollywood Follies (1994), a TV film based on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, in which Indiana Jones is depicted as taking part in Thalberg's conflict with Erich von Stroheim over Foolish Wives.
In 2020, Thalberg was played by Ferdinand Kingsley in the David Fincher film Mank
Thalberg, played by Tobey Maguire, is rumored to appear in the upcoming movie Babylon.
Filmography
Producer
Reputation (1921)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
Merry-Go-Round (1923)
His Hour (1924)
He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
The Unholy Three (1925)
The Merry Widow (1925)
The Tower of Lies (1925)
The Big Parade (1925)
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)
Torrent (1926)
La Bohème (1926)
Brown of Harvard (1926)
The Road to Mandalay (1926)
The Temptress (1926)
Valencia (1926)
Flesh and the Devil (1926)
Twelve Miles Out (1927)
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927)
London After Midnight (1927)
The Crowd (1928)
Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928)
White Shadows in the South Seas (1928)
Show People (1928)
West of Zanzibar (1928)
The Broadway Melody (1929)
The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929)
Voice of the City (1929)
Where East Is East (1929)
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1929)
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)
Hallelujah (1929)
His Glorious Night (1929)
The Kiss (1929)
Anna Christie (1930)
Redemption (1930)
The Divorcee (1930)
The Rogue Song (1930)
The Big House (1930)
The Unholy Three (1930)
Let Us Be Gay (1930)
Billy the Kid (1930)
Way for a Sailor (1930)
A Lady's Morals (1930)
Inspiration (1931)
Trader Horn (1931)
The Secret Six (1931)
A Free Soul (1931)
Just a Gigolo (1931)
Menschen hinter Gittern (1931), German-language version of The Big House (1930)
The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931)
The Guardsman (1931)
The Champ (1931)
Possessed (1931)
Private Lives (1931)
Mata Hari (1931)
Freaks (1932)
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
Grand Hotel (1932)
Letty Lynton (1932)
As You Desire Me (1932)
Red-Headed Woman (1932)
Smilin' Through (1932)
Red Dust (1932)
Rasputin and the Empress (1932)
Strange Interlude (1932)
Tugboat Annie (1933)
Bombshell (1933)
Eskimo (1933)
La Veuve Joyeuse (1934) French-language version of The Merry Widow
Riptide (1934)
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
The Merry Widow (1934)
What Every Woman Knows (1934)
Biography of a Bachelor Girl (1935)
No More Ladies (1935)
China Seas (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
Riffraff (1936)
Romeo and Juliet (1936)
Camille (1936)
Maytime (1937)
A Day at the Races (1937)
Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937)
The Good Earth (1937)
Marie Antoinette (1938)
Writer
The Trap (1922)
The Dangerous Little Demon (1922)
Awards
Academy Awards
Notes
Further reading
Books
Flamini, Roland. Thalberg: The Last Tycoon and the World of M-G-M (1994)
Marx, Samuel. Mayer and Thalberg: The Make-believe Saints (1975)
Thomas, Bob. Thalberg: Life and Legend (1969)
Vieira, Mark A. Irving Thalberg's M-G-M. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2008.
Vieira, Mark A. Irving Thalberg: Boy Wonder to Producer Prince. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009.
Articles
Starman, Ray. "Irving Thalberg", Films In Review, June/July 1987, p. 347–353
External links
Irving Thalberg at TCM
Cinemagraphe Review of the Roland Flamini biography of Thalberg: The Last Tycoon and the World of MGM
Irving Thalberg at Virtual History
Irving Thalberg profiled in Collier's Magazine (1924)
Videos
1899 births
1936 deaths
American film producers
Film producers from California
Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award
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American male screenwriters
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Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences founders
Businesspeople from Los Angeles
Hollywood history and culture
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20th-century American businesspeople
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Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
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"Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get is the debut studio album by American R&B group The Dramatics, released in 1971 via Volt Records and Stax Records. It peaked at #20 on the Billboard 200 and #5 on the Billboard R&B chart.\n\nThree singles were released from the album: \"Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get\", \"Get Up and Get Down\" and \"In the Rain\". \"Thankful for Your Love\" (originally appearing on the album as \"Thank You for Your Love\") was also issued as a promotional single. \"In the Rain\" was the most successful single from the album, peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. \"Get Up and Get Down\" was featured in Dead Presidents.\n\nCritical reception \n\nReviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Village Voice critic Robert Christgau wrote of the album: \"Sounds like better Motown than recently and greasier Motown than ever, and it figures—this Tempts-styled Detroit quintet, with Ron Banks in the David Ruffin role, play for the Memphis Grease Kings. 'Get Up and Get Down' and 'Watcha See Is Whatcha Get' resound with uptempo bottom, and while I find the big dramatic number, 'In the Rain,' a little too big and too dramatic, I do prefer Don Davis's sound effects to Norman Whitfield's. Better filler than Motown, too—but not that much better.\"\n\nTrack listing\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n The Original Album Cover (1972)\n\n1971 debut albums\nThe Dramatics albums\nStax Records albums",
"Get Better may refer to:\n\n\"Get Better\", a song by alt-J from The Dream (2022)\n\"Get Better\", a song by Lou Bega from Lounatic (2005)\n\"Get Better\", a song by Dan le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip from The Logic of Chance (2010)\n\"Get Better\", a song by Mates of State from Re-Arrange Us (2008)\n\"Get Better\", a song by New Fast Automatic Daffodils from Pigeonhole (1990)\n\"Get Better\", a song by Nothing Like Thieves from Broken Machine (2017)\n\"Get Better\", a song by Frank Turner from Positive Songs for Negative People (2015)"
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[
"Irving Thalberg",
"Early years",
"What happened in Irvings early years?",
"Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed with \"blue baby syndrome,\"",
"How did this syndrome affect his life?",
"During his high school years in Brooklyn, he began having attacks of chest pains, dizziness and fatigue.",
"Did he ever get better?",
"When Thalberg returned to school, he finished high school but lacked the stamina for college,"
] |
C_0cdc930e8e854f949434bb7c03a478f9_1
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So he didnt go to college?
| 4 |
So Irving Thalberg didnt go to college?
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Irving Thalberg
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Thalberg was born in Brooklyn, to German Jewish immigrant parents, William and Henrietta (Haymann). Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed with "blue baby syndrome," caused by a congenital disease that limited the oxygen supply to his heart. The prognosis from the family's doctor and specialists was that he might live to age twenty, or at most, age thirty. During his high school years in Brooklyn, he began having attacks of chest pains, dizziness and fatigue. This affected his ability to study, though until that time he was a good student. When he was 17, he contracted rheumatic fever, and was confined to bed for a year. His mother, Henrietta, to prevent him falling too far behind other students, brought him homework from school, books, and tutors to teach him at home. She also hoped that the schoolwork and reading would distract him from the "tantalizing sounds" of children playing outside his window. With little to entertain him, he read books as a main activity. He devoured popular novels, classics, plays, and biographies. His books, of necessity, replaced the streets of New York, and led to his interest in classical philosophy and philosophers, such as William James. When Thalberg returned to school, he finished high school but lacked the stamina for college, which he felt would have required constant late-night studying and cramming for exams. Instead, he took part-time jobs as a store clerk, and in the evenings, to gain some job skills, taught himself typing, shorthand and Spanish at a night vocational school. When he turned 18, he placed an ad with the local newspaper hoping to find better work: "Situation Wanted: Secretary, stenographer, Spanish, English, high school education, no experience; $15." CANNOTANSWER
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Instead, he took part-time jobs as a store clerk, and in the evenings, to gain some job skills, taught himself typing,
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Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather production staff, and make profitable films, including Grand Hotel, China Seas, A Night at the Opera, Mutiny on the Bounty, Camille and The Good Earth. His films carved out an international market, "projecting a seductive image of American life brimming with vitality and rooted in democracy and personal freedom", states biographer Roland Flamini.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and as a child was afflicted with a congenital heart disease that doctors said would kill him before he reached the age of thirty. After graduating from high school he worked as a store clerk during the day and to gain some job skills took a night class in typing. He then found work as a secretary with Universal Studios' New York office, and was later made studio manager for their Los Angeles facility. There, he oversaw production of a hundred films during his three years with the company. Among the films he produced was The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923).
In Los Angeles, he partnered with Louis B. Mayer's new studio and, after it merged with two other studios, helped create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). He was made head of production of MGM in 1925, at the age of twenty-six, helping MGM become the most successful studio in Hollywood. During his twelve years with MGM, until his premature death at the age of 37, he produced four hundred films, most of which bore his imprint and innovations, including story conferences with writers, sneak previews to gain early feedback, and extensive re-shooting of scenes to improve the film. In addition, he introduced horror films to audiences and coauthored the "Production Code", guidelines for morality followed by all studios. During the 1920s and 1930s, he synthesized and merged the world of stage drama and literary classics with Hollywood films.
Thalberg created numerous new stars and groomed their screen images. Among them were Lon Chaney, Ramon Novarro, Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery, Spencer Tracy, Luise Rainer, and Norma Shearer, who became his wife. He had the ability to combine quality with commercial success, and was credited with bringing his artistic aspirations in line with the demands of audiences. After his death, Hollywood's producers said he had been the world's "foremost figure in motion-picture history". President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote, "The world of art is poorer with the passing of Irving Thalberg. His high ideals, insight and imagination went into the production of his masterpieces." The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, given out periodically by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1937, has been awarded to producers whose body of work reflected consistently high quality films.
Early years
Thalberg was born in Brooklyn, to German Jewish immigrant parents, William and Henrietta (Haymann). Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed with "blue baby syndrome", caused by a congenital disease that limited the oxygen supply to his heart. The prognosis from the family's doctor and specialists was that he might live to the age of twenty, or at most, to thirty.
During his high school years in Brooklyn, he began having attacks of chest pains, dizziness and fatigue. This affected his ability to study, though until that time he was a good student. When he was 17 he contracted rheumatic fever, and was confined to bed for a year. His mother, in order to prevent him falling too far behind other students, brought him homework from school, books, and tutors to teach him at home. She also hoped that the schoolwork and reading would distract him from the "tantalizing sounds" of children playing outside his window.
With little to entertain him, he read books as a main activity. He devoured popular novels, classics, plays, and biographies. His books, of necessity, replaced the streets of New York, and led to his interest in classical philosophy and philosophers, such as William James.
When Thalberg returned to school, he finished high school but lacked the stamina for college, which he felt would have required constant late-night studying and cramming for exams. Instead, he took part-time jobs as a store clerk, and in the evenings, to gain some job skills, taught himself typing, shorthand and Spanish at a night vocational school. When he turned 18, he placed an advertisement in the local newspaper hoping to find better work:
Career as producer
Universal Studios
He found work as an office secretary at Universal Pictures' New York office, and later became personal secretary to the studio's founder and president, Carl Laemmle. Among Thalberg's duties were transcribing and editing notes that Laemmle had written during screenings of his films. He earned $25 weekly, becoming adept at making insightful observations, which impressed Laemmle.
Laemmle took Thalberg to see his Los Angeles production facility, where he spent a month watching how movie production worked. Before returning to New York, Laemmle told Thalberg to remain and "keep an eye on things for me." Two months later, Laemmle returned to California, partly to see how well Thalberg was able to handle the responsibilities he was given. Thalberg gave him suggestions, and thus impressed Laemmle by his ability to understand and explain problems.
Thalberg suggested, "The first thing you should do is establish a new job of studio manager and give him the responsibility of watching day-to-day operations." Laemmle immediately agreed: "All right. You're it." In shock, Thalberg replied, "I'm what?" Laemmle told him to take charge of the Los Angeles studio, which he did in early 1919. When aged 20, Thalberg became responsible for immediately overseeing the nine ongoing film productions and nearly thirty scenarios then under development.
In describing the rationale for this early appointment as studio manager, film historian David Thomson writes that his new job "owed nothing to nepotism, private wealth, or experience in the film industry." He reasons that despite "Thalberg's youth, modest education, and frail appearance ... it is clear that he had the charm, insight, and ability, or the appearance of it, to captivate the film world."
Thalberg was one among the majority of Hollywood film industry workers who migrated from the East Coast, primarily from New York. Some film actors, such as Conrad Nagel, did not like the five-day train trip or the sudden warmth of the California climate. Neither did Marion Davies, who was not used to such "big wide spaces". Samuel Marx, a close friend of Thalberg's from New York, recalled how easily Thalberg adapted to Southern California, often standing outside his doorway during moments of contemplation to enjoy the scenery. "We were all young", said comedian Buster Keaton. "The air in California was like wine. Our business was also young—and growing like nothing ever seen before."
Confrontation with Erich von Stroheim
He quickly established his tenacity as he battled with well-known director Erich von Stroheim over the length of Foolish Wives (1922). Biographer Roland Flamini notes that the film was Universal's most expensive "jewel" ever in production, and its director and star, von Stroheim, was taking the film way over budget. Thalberg, now Universal's general manager, was forced to have the director quickly finalize production before the studio's working capital was used up. Flamini describes the situation:
Thalberg had von Stroheim come to his office, which he did still wearing his film costume as a Russian Imperial Guard and escorted by members of his production team. Thalberg calmly told him, "I have seen all the film and you have all you need for the picture. I want you to stop shooting", to which von Stroheim replied, "But I have not finished as yet." "Yes, you have", said Thalberg. "You have spent all the money this company can afford. I cannot allow you to spend any more."
Thalberg quietly explained that the director worked under the producer, and it was his responsibility to control costs. Von Stroheim, surrounded by his assistants, then confronted Thalberg: "If you were not my superior, I would smash you in the face." Thalberg, unflinching, said "Don't let that stop you." The result was that Thalberg soon afterward removed the cameras from von Stroheim's studio and took over editing. The uncut footage was pared down from five-and-a-half hours to three hours, to von Stroheim's deep dissatisfaction.
A similar problem developed with von Stroheim's next film, Merry-Go-Round (1923). Although he had promised Thalberg to remain within budget this time, he continued production until it went to twice the agreed length and was not yet near completion. Flamini speculates why this happened:
Thalberg again called von Stroheim to his office, handed him a long letter written and signed by himself, describing the problems, and summarily fired von Stroheim as of that moment. Thalberg's letter stated among the reasons,
totally inexcusable and repeated acts of insubordination ... extravagant ideas which you have been unwilling to sacrifice ... unnecessary delays ... and your apparent idea that you are greater and more powerful than the organization that employs you.
His dismissal of von Stroheim was considered an "earthquake in movie circles", notes Flamini. Producer David O. Selznick said that "it was the first time a director had been fired. It took great guts and courage ... Von Stroheim was utterly indifferent over money and could have gone on and spent millions, with nobody to stop him.". The opinion was shared by director Rouben Mamoulian, who said that the "little fellow at Universal", in one bold stroke, had "asserted the primacy of the studio over the director" and forever altered the balance of power in the movie industry.
Effects of his young age
According to Flamini, his youth was a subject of conversation within the movie community. Executives from other studios, actors, and film crew, often mistook him to be a junior employee. Movie columnist Louella Parsons, upon first being introduced to him, asked, "What's the joke? Where's the new general manager?" After five minutes of talking to Thalberg, however, she later wrote about "Universal's Boy Wonder": "He might be a boy in looks and age, but it was no child's mind that was being asked to cope with the intricate politics of Universal City." Novelist Edna Ferber responded the same way, writing that "I had fancied motion-picture producers as large gentlemen smoking oversized cigars. But this young man whose word seemed so final at Universal City ... impressed me deeply."
The male actors in the studio had a similar reaction. Lionel Barrymore, who was nearly twice his age, recalled their meetings:
Thalberg likewise gained the respect of leading playwrights, some of whom also looked down on him due to his youth. George S. Kaufman, co-author of Dinner at Eight, several Marx Brothers films, and two George Gershwin plays, came from New York to meet with Thalberg. Afterward he confided to his friend, Groucho Marx: "That man has never written a word, yet he can tell me exactly what to do with a story. I didn't know you had people like that out here."
Actress Norma Shearer, whom he later married, was surprised after he greeted her at the door, then walked her to his office for her first job interview: "Then you're not the office boy?" she asked. He smiled, as he sat himself behind his desk: "No, Miss Shearer, I'm Irving Thalberg, vice-president of the Mayer Company. I'm the man who sent for you."
His younger-than-normal age for a studio executive was usually mentioned even after he left Universal to help start up MGM. Screenwriter Agnes Christine Johnson, who worked with Thalberg for years, described his contribution during meetings:
The same quality was observed by director and screenwriter Hobart Henley: "If something that read well in conference turns out not so good on the screen, I go to him and, like that—Henley snaps his fingers—he has a remedy. He's brilliant." Another assistant producer to Thalberg explains:
His youth also contributed to his open-mindedness to the ideas of others. Conrad Nagel, who starred in numerous Thalberg films, reported that Thalberg was generally empathetic to those he worked alongside: "Thalberg never raised his voice. He just looked into your eyes, spoke softly, and after a few minutes he cast a spell on you." Studio attorney Edwin Loeb, who also worked to create AMPAS, explained that "the real foundation of Irving's success was his ability to look at life through the eyes of any given person. He had a gift of empathy, and almost complete perspective." Those opinions were also shared by producer Walter Wanger: "You thought that you were talking to an Indian savant. He could cast a spell on anybody."
His talent as a producer was enhanced by his "near-miraculous" powers of concentration, notes film critic J. Hoberman. As a result, he was never bored or tired, and supplemented his spare time with reading for his own amusement, recalls screenwriter Bayard Veiller, with some of his favorite authors being Francis Bacon, Epictetus, and Immanuel Kant.
Film projects at Universal
Biographer Bob Thomas writes that after three years at the studio, Thalberg continually proved his value. Universal's pictures improved noticeably, primarily due to Thalberg's "uncanny sense of story." He took tight control over many key aspects of production, including his requirement that from then on scripts were tightly constructed before filming began, rather than during production. Thomas adds that he also "showed a remarkable capacity for working with actors, casting them aptly and advising them on their careers."
After producing two films that were in production when he began work at Universal, he presented Laemmle with his idea for a film based on one of his favorite classic stories, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Rather than just a horror picture, Thalberg suggested turning it into a spectacle which would include a replica of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. He had Lon Chaney play the hunchback. The film became Universal's most profitable silent film and established Chaney's career as a top-flight star.
After nearly three years with Universal, Thalberg had supervised over a hundred movies, reorganized the studio to give more control to the managers, and had "stopped the defection" of many of their leading stars by offering them better, higher-paying contracts. He also produced a number of Universal's prestige films, which made the company profitable. However, he decided it was time to find a studio in Los Angeles more suitable to his skills, and spread word that he was available.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Cecil B. DeMille was the first who wanted to hire him, telling his partner Jesse Lasky, "The boy is a genius. I can see it. I know it." Lasky opposed the hire, stating, "Geniuses we have all we need." Thalberg then received an offer from Hal Roach, but the offer was withdrawn because Thalberg lacked experience with slapstick comedy films. In late 1922, Thalberg was introduced to Louis B. Mayer, president of a small but dynamic and fast-growing studio. At that first meeting, Thalberg "made a deep, immediate impression on Mayer", writes Flamini. After Thalberg had left, Mayer said to studio attorney Edwin Loeb: "Tell him if he comes to work for me, I'll look after him as though he were my son."
Although their personalities were in many ways opposite, Mayer being more outspoken and nearly twice the younger man's age, Thalberg was hired as vice president in charge of production at Louis B. Mayer Productions. Years later, Mayer's daughter Irene Mayer Selznick recalled that "it was hard to believe anyone that boyish could be so important." According to Flamini, Thalberg was hired because, although Mayer was an astute businessman, "what he lacked was Thalberg's almost unerring ability to combine quality with commercial success, to bring artistic aspiration in line with the demands of the box office." Mayer's company subsequently merged with two others to become Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), with the 24-year-old Thalberg made part-owner and accorded the same position as vice president in charge of production. Three years after the merger, MGM became the most successful studio in Hollywood.
During his twelve years at MGM, Thalberg supervised the production of over four hundred films. Although Thalberg and his colleagues at MGM knew he was "doomed" to not live much past the age of 30 due to heart disease, he loved producing films. He continued developing innovative ideas and overseeing most of MGM's pictures. Under Thalberg's management, MGM released over 40% more films yearly than Warner Brothers, and more than double Paramount's releases. From 1924 until 1936, when Thalberg died at the age of 37, "almost every film bore Thalberg's imprint", wrote Mark Vieira.
Production innovations
Thalberg's production techniques "broke new ground in filmmaking", adds Vieira. Among his contributions at MGM was his innovation of story conferences, sneak previews and scene retakes. He introduced the first horror films and coauthored the Production Code, the set of moral guidelines that all film studios agreed to follow. Thalberg helped synthesize and merge the world of stage drama and literary classics with Hollywood films.
MGM thereby became the only movie studio to consistently show a profit during the Great Depression. Flamini explains that the equation for MGM's success depended on combining stars, a Broadway hit or popular classic, and high standards of production. This combination at the time was considered a "revolutionary approach" in the film industry, which until then assumed a star was all that was needed for success, regardless of the story or production quality. The other studios began following MGM's lead with that same formula.
Production techniques
Thalberg generally followed a system in managing his productions. According to one of his assistants, Lawrence Weingarten, who later became a producer, "Thalberg directed the film on paper, and then the director directed the film on film."
Thalberg was generally opposed to location shooting overseas where he could not oversee production and control costs, as happened with Ben Hur. Thus, he kept hundreds of back-lot carpenters at work creating realistic sets, as he did for fifteenth-century Romeo and Juliet (1936), or with China Seas (1935), to replicate the harbors of Hong Kong.
Vieira points out that Thalberg's "fascination with Broadway plays" often had him create and present stories visually. For China Seas, for instance, he described for the screenwriters, director and others, exactly how he wanted the film to appear on screen:
To be certain of achieving the desired effects, Thalberg made sure his cinematographers were careful in their use of light and shadow. Vieira observes that "more than any other producer or any other studio, Thalberg and MGM manipulated lenses, filters, and lighting instruments to affect the viewer." As a result, he notes, "most of Thalberg's films contain moments such as these, in which cinematic technique transcends mere exposition and gives the viewer something to treasure."
Thalberg was supported by most of the studio in these kinds of creative decisions. "It was a big family," notes Weingarten. "If we had a success, everybody—and I mean every cutter, every painter, every plasterer—was excited about it, was abuzz, was in a tizzy about the whole idea of picture making."
Taking risks with new subjects and stars
In 1929, MGM released fifty films, and all but five showed a profit. Of those that failed, Hallelujah was also a gamble by Thalberg. When King Vidor, the film's producer and director, proposed the idea to Thalberg of a major film cast, for the first time, exclusively with African Americans, he told Thalberg directly, "I doubt that it will make a dollar at the box office." Thalberg replied, "Don't worry about that. I've told you that MGM can afford an occasional experiment."
By the early 1930s, a number of stars began failing at the box office, partly due to the Great Depression that was now undermining the economy, along with the public's ability to spend on entertainment. Thalberg began using two stars in a film, rather than one, as had been the tradition at all the studios, such as pairing Greta Garbo with John Gilbert, Clark Gable with Jean Harlow, and William Powell with Myrna Loy. After experimenting with a few such films, including Mata Hari (1931), which were profitable, he decided on a multi-star production of another Broadway play, Grand Hotel (1932). It had five major stars, including Garbo, Joan Crawford, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, and Wallace Beery. "Before Thalberg," writes Vieira, "there was no Grand Hotel in the American consciousness." The film won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1932.
Thalberg went against consensus and took another risk with The Great Ziegfeld (1936), costarring Luise Rainer. Although Louis B. Mayer did not want her in the role, which he felt was too minor for a new star, Thalberg felt that "only she could play the part", wrote biographer Charles Higham. Shortly after shooting began in late 1935, doubts of Rainer's acting ability emerged in the press. However, despite her limited appearances in the film, Rainer "so impressed audiences with one highly emotional scene" that she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
After her winning role in The Great Ziegfeld, Thalberg wanted her to play a role that was the opposite of her previous character, for The Good Earth (1937). For the part as a Chinese peasant, she was required to act totally subservient to her husband, being perpetually huddled in submission, and barely spoke a word of dialogue during the entire film. Rainer recalls that Mayer did not approve of the film being produced or her part in it: "He was horrified at Irving Thalberg's insistence for me to play O-lan, the poor uncomely little Chinese peasant." However, she again won the Oscar for Best Actress, becoming the first actress to win two consecutive Oscars, a feat not matched until Katharine Hepburn's two Oscar wins thirty years later.
Grooming new stars
Besides bringing a distinctive high quality "look" to MGM films and often recreating well-known stories or plays, Thalberg's actors themselves took on a characteristic quality. Thalberg wanted his female actors to appear "cool, classy and beautiful," notes Flamini. And he strove to make the male actors appear "worldly and in control." In general, Thalberg movies and actors came to be "luxurious," "glossy," and "technically flawless." By doing so, he made stars or boosted the careers of actors such as Lon Chaney, Ramon Novarro, John Gilbert, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Helen Hayes, Jean Harlow, Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore and Luise Rainer.
Greta Garbo
In 1925, a young Greta Garbo, then twenty, and unable to speak any English, was brought over from Sweden at Mayer's request, as he saw how she looked in still photos. A Swedish friend thought he would help her by contacting Thalberg, who then agreed to give her a screen test. According to author Frederick Sands, "the result of the test was electrifying." Thalberg was impressed and began grooming the new starlet the following day: "the studio arranged to fix her teeth, made sure she lost weight, and gave her an English tutor."
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford's first role was a Thalberg production at MGM and she became one of their leading stars for the next thirty years. Crawford was somewhat jealous of Norma Shearer as she thought she was given the better material by her husband Thalberg out of nepotism. Nevertheless, she felt that his contribution to MGM was vital to the film industry. Not long after his early death, she recalls her concerns: "Thalberg was dead and the concept of the quality 'big' picture pretty much went out the window."
Marie Dressler
Thalberg also realized that old stars few had heard of could be made into new ones. Marie Dressler, a fifty-nine-year-old early vaudeville and movie star, who had played the top-billed lead, above Charles Chaplin and Mabel Normand), in the first feature-length comedy, Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914), was unable to get any roles in films after leaving show business for some years, finally working as a maid. MGM screenwriter Frances Marion suggested to Thalberg that she might fit well in a starring role for a new film, and was surprised that he knew of her prior successes. Thalberg approved of using her without a screen test and offered his rationale:
By 1932, shortly before she died, Dressler was the country's number one box office star.
Wallace Beery
Marie Dressler was paired twice, in Min and Bill (1930) and Tugboat Annie (1933), with Wallace Beery, another major silent star who had been struggling to get work in sound pictures until Thalberg cast him. Beery had enjoyed a hugely successful silent film career dating back to 1913, but had been fired by Paramount shortly after sound pictures appeared. Thalberg cast him in the role of "Machine Gun Butch," which had been meant for recently deceased Lon Chaney, in The Big House (1930), an energetic prison picture that became a huge hit. Beery was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, and his burgeoning career at MGM had transformed him into the studio's highest paid actor within two more years, during which time he won the Oscar for The Champ and had become a phenomenal box office draw as a result of Thalberg's foresight.
Getting audience feedback and reshooting
According to Vieira, MGM had few failures during this period, and numerous blockbusters. Among the reasons was Thalberg's unique system of developing a script during story conferences with writers before filming began, and later giving "sneak previews" followed by audience feedback through written questionnaires. Often, where he felt improvement was needed, he arranged for scenes to be reshot. As Thalberg once stated, "The difference between something good and something superior is often very small."
Bad decisions and missed opportunities
Thalberg felt he had his "finger on the pulse of America. I know what people will do and what they won't do," he said. His judgment was not always accurate, however. Thalberg's bringing Broadway productions to the screen to develop higher picture standards sometimes resulted in "studied" acting or "stagey" sets, notes Flamini. In 1927, after the successful release of the first full-length talking picture, The Jazz Singer (1927), he nevertheless felt that talking pictures were a fad. Thalberg likewise did not think that color would replace black-and-white in movies.
When an assistant protested against a script that envisioned a love scene in Paris with an ocean background, Thalberg refused to make changes, saying "We can't cater to a handful of people who know Paris." A more serious distraction to Thalberg's efforts was his obsession with making his wife Norma Shearer a prominent star, efforts which sometimes led to "overblown and overglamous" productions. Thalberg himself admitted to his obsession years later when he told a fellow producer: "You're behaving like I did with Norma. I knew positively that she could play anything. It's a kind of romantic astigmatism that attacks producers when they fall for an actress."
Important films at MGM
Ben Hur (1925)
One of the first pictures he took charge of, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, was inherited and already in production by another studio when MGM was formed. The film was turning into a disastrous expense with cost overruns already in the millions due to its lavish sets and location shooting in Rome. Most studio executives chose to terminate the film to cut their losses. Thalberg, however, felt differently, and thought the film would affect movie audiences, due to its classic literary source, and would highlight MGM as a major new studio.
He, therefore, discarded much of the original footage shot in Italy and recreated the set on MGM's back lots in Culver City, which added more millions to the production, yet gave him more control over production. The new set also included a replica of Circus Maximus for the dramatic chariot race scenes. Flamini notes that Thalberg's "gamble paid off," drawing international attention to MGM, and to Thalberg within the movie industry for his bold action.
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty was the studio's next most expensive film after Ben Hur, with some now calling it "Thalberg's masterpiece." He initially had difficulty convincing Mayer that he could make the film without making heroes of the mutineers. He achieved that by instead making a hero of the British Royal Navy, whereby the officers and shipmates would from then on display their mutual respect. Thalberg also had to convince Clark Gable to accept the role against his will. He pleaded with Gable, eventually promising him that "If it isn't one of your greatest successes, I'll never ask you again to play a part you don't want." The film's other main stars were Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Actor, and winning it for Best Picture. Thalberg accepted the award as producer from Frank Capra.
Thalberg and Mayer partnership
At first, Thalberg and studio chief Louis B. Mayer got along splendidly; however, they had different production philosophies. Thalberg preferred literary works, while Mayer preferred glitzy crowd-pleasing films. A clash was inevitable, and their relationship grew decidedly frosty. When Thalberg fell ill in the final weeks of 1932, Mayer took advantage of the situation and replaced him with David O. Selznick and Walter Wanger. Thalberg's reputation by that time for working long hours was widely known, and rumors about the related strain on his fragile health had become front-page news in entertainment trade publications. The Hollywood Reporter in January 1933 updated its readership about his condition and addressed growing concerns that he might be forced, despite his young age, to quit the business:
Once Thalberg recovered sufficiently from his bout with the "flu" and was able to return to work later in 1933, it was as one of MGM's unit producers, albeit one who had first choice on projects as well as preferential access to all the studio's resources, including over casting its stars. Thalberg's good relationship with Nicholas Schenck, then president of Loew's Incorporated, proved to be an ongoing advantage for him. Loew's was the corporate parent of MGM, so Schenck was the true power and ultimate arbiter at the studio; and he usually supported Thalberg's decisions and continued to do so whenever disagreements about projects or production needs arose. As a result, Thalberg also continued to produce or coproduce some of MGM's most prestigious and critically acclaimed ventures in this period, such as The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) starring his wife Norma Shearer, China Seas (1935), A Night at the Opera (1935), San Francisco (1936), and Romeo and Juliet (1936).
Personal life
During his few years with Universal while living in New York, Thalberg had become romantically involved with Carl Laemmle's daughter, Rosabelle. Still in his early twenties and later spending most of his time in Los Angeles, his feelings toward her were no longer as strong. Flamini suspects that this may have affected his position at Universal and partly caused his decision to leave the company. "The Laemmles prayed that Irving would marry Rosabelle", notes Flamini. "They wanted their sons to be educated and their daughters to marry nice Jewish boys."
Less than a year after he and Mayer took charge of the newly created MGM studios, and still only twenty-five years old, Thalberg suffered a serious heart attack due to overwork. Mayer also became aware of Thalberg's congenital heart problems and now worried about the prospect of running MGM without him. Mayer also became concerned that one of his daughters might become romantically involved, and told them so:
Thalberg, aware of Mayer's feelings, made it a point of never giving too much attention to his daughters at social events.
One of Thalberg's traits was his ability to work long hours into the night with little sign of fatigue. According to Vieira, Thalberg believed that as long as his mind was active in his work and he was not bored, he would not feel tired. Thalberg, who often got by with only five hours of sleep, felt that most people could get by with less than they realized. To keep his mental faculties at peak, he would read philosophical books by Bacon, Epictetus, or Kant. "They stimulate me. I'd drop out of sight in no time if I didn't read and keep up with current thought—and the philosophers are brain sharpeners."
During the early 1930s, Thalberg was ambivalent about political events in Europe. While he feared Nazism and the rise of Hitler, he also feared Communism. At the time, notes Vieira, "given a choice between communism and fascism, many Americans—including Thalberg—would prefer the latter." Thalberg stated his opinion:
When others suggested that many Jews could die in Germany as a result of Nazi anti-Semitism, he replied that in his opinion "Hitler and Hitlerism will pass." On one occasion, Catholic Prince Löwenstein of Germany, who himself had almost been captured before fleeing Germany, told him: "Mr. Thalberg, your own people are being systematically hunted down and rooted out of Germany." Thalberg suggested that world Jewry should nevertheless not interfere, that the Jewish race would survive Hitler. Within a few years, American film distribution was "choked off" in Germany. Led by Warner Brothers, all American studios eventually closed their German offices.
Thalberg began dating actress Norma Shearer a few years after he joined MGM. Following her conversion to Judaism, they married on Thursday, September 29, 1927, in a private ceremony in the garden of his rented house in Beverly Hills. Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin officiated at the event, with Shearer's brother Douglas Shearer giving the bride away, and Louis B. Mayer serving as best man. The couple drove to Monterey for their honeymoon and then moved into their newly constructed home in Beverly Hills.
After their second child was born, Shearer considered retiring from films, but Thalberg convinced her to continue acting, saying he could find her good roles. She went on to be one of MGM's biggest stars of the 1930s. Their two children were Irving Jr. (1930–1987) and Katharine (1935–2006).
Death
Thalberg and Shearer took a much-needed Labor Day weekend vacation in Monterey, California, in 1936, staying at the same beachfront hotel where they spent their honeymoon. A few weeks earlier, Thalberg's leading screenwriter, Al Lewin, had proposed doing a film based on a soon-to-be published book, Gone with the Wind. Although Thalberg said it would be a "sensational" role for Gable, and a "terrific picture," he decided not to do it:
Besides, Thalberg told Mayer, "[n]o Civil War picture ever made a nickel". Shortly after returning from Monterey, Thalberg was diagnosed with pneumonia. His condition worsened steadily and he eventually required an oxygen tent at home. He died on September 14, at the age of 37.
Sam Wood, while directing A Day at the Races, was given the news by phone. He returned to the set with tears in his eyes and told the others. As the news spread "the studio was paralyzed with shock", notes Thomas. "Work stopped and hundreds of people wept", with stars, writers, directors, and studio employees "all sharing a sense of loss at the death of a man who had been a part of their working lives", states Flamini.
His funeral took place two days later, and when the services began the other studios throughout Hollywood observed five minutes of silence. Producer Sam Goldwyn "wept uncontrollably for two days" and was unable to regain his composure enough to attend. The MGM studio closed for that day.
Services were held at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple that Thalberg had occasionally attended. The funeral attracted thousands of spectators who came to view the arrival of countless stars from MGM and other studios, including Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, the Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney, Howard Hughes, Al Jolson, Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, among the screen luminaries. The ushers who led them to their seats included Clark Gable, Fredric March, and playwright Moss Hart. Erich von Stroheim, who had been fired by Thalberg, came to pay his respects. Producers Louis B. Mayer, the Warner brothers, Adolph Zukor, and Nicholas Schenck sat together solemnly as Rabbi Magnin gave the eulogy.
Thalberg is buried in a private marble tomb in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, lying at rest beside his wife Norma Shearer Arrouge (Thalberg's crypt was engraved "My Sweetheart Forever" by Shearer).
Over the following days, tributes were published by the national press. Louis B. Mayer, his co-founding partner at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, said he had lost "the finest friend a man could ever have", while MGM president Nicholas Schenck stated that "Thalberg was the most important man in the production end of the motion-picture industry. Leading producers from the other studios also expressed their feelings in published tributes to Thalberg:
David O. Selznick described him as "beyond any question the greatest individual force for fine pictures." Samuel Goldwyn called him "the foremost figure in the motion-picture industry ... and an inspiration." M. H. Aylesworth, Chairman of RKO, wrote that "his integrity, vision and ability made him the spearhead of all motion-picture production throughout the world." Harry Warner, president of Warner Bros., described him as "gifted with one of the finest minds ever placed at the service of motion-picture production." Sidney R. Kent, president of Twentieth Century Fox, said that "he made the whole world richer by giving it the highest type of entertainment. He was a true genius." Columbia president Harry Cohn said the "motion picture industry has suffered a loss from which it will not soon recover...". Darryl F. Zanuck noted, "More than any other man he raised the industry to its present world prestige." Adolph Zukor, chairman of Paramount, stated, "Irving Thalberg was the most brilliant young man in the motion picture business." Jesse Lasky said, "It will be utterly impossible to replace him."
Among the condolences that came from world political leaders, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote, "The world of art is poorer with the passing of Irving Thalberg. His high ideals, insight and imagination went into the production of his masterpieces."
Among the pictures that were unfinished or not yet released at the time of his death were A Day at the Races, The Good Earth, Camille, Maytime, and Romeo and Juliet. Groucho Marx, star of A Day at the Races, wrote, "After Thalberg's death, my interest in the movies waned. I continued to appear in them, but ... The fun had gone out of picture making." Thalberg's widow, Norma Shearer, recalled, "Grief does very strange things to you. I didn't seem to feel the shock for two weeks afterwards. ... then, at the end of those two weeks, I collapsed."
Legacy in the movie industry
Thalberg's legacy to the movie industry is "incalculable", states biographer Bob Thomas. He notes that with his numerous production innovations and grand stories, often turning classic literature and Broadway stage productions into big-screen pictures, he managed to keep "American movies supreme throughout the world for a generation". Darryl F. Zanuck, founder of 20th Century-Fox said that during Thalberg's brief career, he had become the "most creative producer in the history of films". Thomas describes some of his contributions:
Most of MGM's major films in the 1930s were, according to Flamini, "in a very real sense", made by Thalberg. He closely supervised the making of "more pictures than any other producer in Hollywood's history", and was considered the "archetype of the creative producer", adds Flamini. Upon his early death, aged 37, an editorial in The New York Times called him "the most important force" in the motion picture industry. The paper added that for the film industry, he "set the pace and others followed ... because his way combined style, glamour, and profit." He is described by Flamini as having been "a revolutionary in a gray flannel suit".
Thalberg refused to take credit as producer, and as a result, his name never appeared on the screen while he was alive. Thalberg claimed that "credit you give yourself is not worth having". He also said "If a picture is good, they'll know who produced it. If it's bad, nobody cares." His final film, released after he died, was The Good Earth (1937), which won numerous Academy Awards. Its opening screen credit was dedicated to Thalberg:
In 1938, the new multimillion-dollar MGM administration building in Culver City was named for Thalberg. The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, also named for him, awards producers for consistently high production achievements.
Cultural legacy
The Last Tycoon
In October 1939, American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald began writing The Last Tycoon, a fictionalized biography of Thalberg, naming the protagonist Monroe Stahr to represent Thalberg. "Thalberg has always fascinated me", he wrote to an editor. "His peculiar charm, his extraordinary good looks, his bountiful success, the tragic end of his great adventure. The events I have built around him are fiction, but all of them are things which might very well have happened. ... I've long chosen him for a hero (this has been in my mind for three years) because he is one of the half-dozen men I have known who were built on a grand scale."
Thomas notes that among the reasons Fitzgerald chose to write a book about a Thalberg-like character, was that "throughout his literary career, Fitzgerald borrowed his heroes from friends he admired, and inevitably a bit of Fitzgerald entered the characterizations." Fitzgerald himself writes that "When I like men, I want to be like them ..." Fitzgerald and Thalberg had real-life similarities: both were prodigies, both had heart ailments, and they both died at early ages.
According to biographer Matthew J. Bruccoli, Fitzgerald believed that Thalberg, with his "taste and courage, represented the best of Hollywood. ... [and] saw Thalberg as a model for what could be done in the movies." Fitzgerald died before the novel was completed, however. Bruccoli writes of Fitzgerald's book:
Although parallels between Monroe Stahr in the novel and Thalberg were evident, many who knew Thalberg intimately stated that they did not see similarities in their personalities. Norma Shearer said that the Stahr character was not at all like her former husband.
In the 1976 film version, directed by Elia Kazan, Monroe Stahr was played by Robert De Niro. Kazan, in his pre-production notes, described the Stahr character as he saw him:
In the 2016 television series based on the novel, Monroe Stahr is played by Matt Bomer.
Others
Fitzgerald also based his short story "Crazy Sunday", originally published in the October 1932 issue of American Mercury, on an incident at a party thrown by Thalberg and Shearer. The story is included in Fitzgerald's collection Taps at Reveille (1935).
Thalberg was portrayed in the movie Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) by Robert Evans, who went on to become a studio head himself.
Thalberg was portrayed by Bill Cusack in Young Indiana Jones and the Hollywood Follies (1994), a TV film based on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, in which Indiana Jones is depicted as taking part in Thalberg's conflict with Erich von Stroheim over Foolish Wives.
In 2020, Thalberg was played by Ferdinand Kingsley in the David Fincher film Mank
Thalberg, played by Tobey Maguire, is rumored to appear in the upcoming movie Babylon.
Filmography
Producer
Reputation (1921)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
Merry-Go-Round (1923)
His Hour (1924)
He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
The Unholy Three (1925)
The Merry Widow (1925)
The Tower of Lies (1925)
The Big Parade (1925)
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)
Torrent (1926)
La Bohème (1926)
Brown of Harvard (1926)
The Road to Mandalay (1926)
The Temptress (1926)
Valencia (1926)
Flesh and the Devil (1926)
Twelve Miles Out (1927)
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927)
London After Midnight (1927)
The Crowd (1928)
Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928)
White Shadows in the South Seas (1928)
Show People (1928)
West of Zanzibar (1928)
The Broadway Melody (1929)
The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929)
Voice of the City (1929)
Where East Is East (1929)
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1929)
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)
Hallelujah (1929)
His Glorious Night (1929)
The Kiss (1929)
Anna Christie (1930)
Redemption (1930)
The Divorcee (1930)
The Rogue Song (1930)
The Big House (1930)
The Unholy Three (1930)
Let Us Be Gay (1930)
Billy the Kid (1930)
Way for a Sailor (1930)
A Lady's Morals (1930)
Inspiration (1931)
Trader Horn (1931)
The Secret Six (1931)
A Free Soul (1931)
Just a Gigolo (1931)
Menschen hinter Gittern (1931), German-language version of The Big House (1930)
The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931)
The Guardsman (1931)
The Champ (1931)
Possessed (1931)
Private Lives (1931)
Mata Hari (1931)
Freaks (1932)
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
Grand Hotel (1932)
Letty Lynton (1932)
As You Desire Me (1932)
Red-Headed Woman (1932)
Smilin' Through (1932)
Red Dust (1932)
Rasputin and the Empress (1932)
Strange Interlude (1932)
Tugboat Annie (1933)
Bombshell (1933)
Eskimo (1933)
La Veuve Joyeuse (1934) French-language version of The Merry Widow
Riptide (1934)
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
The Merry Widow (1934)
What Every Woman Knows (1934)
Biography of a Bachelor Girl (1935)
No More Ladies (1935)
China Seas (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
Riffraff (1936)
Romeo and Juliet (1936)
Camille (1936)
Maytime (1937)
A Day at the Races (1937)
Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937)
The Good Earth (1937)
Marie Antoinette (1938)
Writer
The Trap (1922)
The Dangerous Little Demon (1922)
Awards
Academy Awards
Notes
Further reading
Books
Flamini, Roland. Thalberg: The Last Tycoon and the World of M-G-M (1994)
Marx, Samuel. Mayer and Thalberg: The Make-believe Saints (1975)
Thomas, Bob. Thalberg: Life and Legend (1969)
Vieira, Mark A. Irving Thalberg's M-G-M. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2008.
Vieira, Mark A. Irving Thalberg: Boy Wonder to Producer Prince. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009.
Articles
Starman, Ray. "Irving Thalberg", Films In Review, June/July 1987, p. 347–353
External links
Irving Thalberg at TCM
Cinemagraphe Review of the Roland Flamini biography of Thalberg: The Last Tycoon and the World of MGM
Irving Thalberg at Virtual History
Irving Thalberg profiled in Collier's Magazine (1924)
Videos
1899 births
1936 deaths
American film producers
Film producers from California
Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award
American film studio executives
American male screenwriters
Cinema pioneers
Silent film directors
Silent film producers
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences founders
Businesspeople from Los Angeles
Hollywood history and culture
California Republicans
New York (state) Republicans
USC School of Cinematic Arts faculty
20th-century American businesspeople
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from New York (state)
People from Brooklyn
American anti-communists
American people of German-Jewish descent
Deaths from pneumonia in California
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American writers
Jewish American writers
20th-century American screenwriters
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[
"Manasam is a 1997 Indian Malayalam film directed by CS Sudheesh and starring Dileep and Srividya in the lead roles.\n\nPlot\nSoloman who has lost his parents in a car accident. Soloman got mental depression . After recover, his brother didnt take him back. Rajalakshmi leads a lonely life. She adopts Solomon as her Son. Solomon tries to help Rajalakshmi solve several problems that come her way.One day, Maya visits Rajalakshmi house. She is Menon's granddaughter. Rajalakshmi memories about her childhood that Maya got her childhood face and Soloman got Appu's Face. Appu and Rajalakshmi love each other. Appu is art culture worker. Rajalakshmi's father hurt him as his father (Kunjiraman) is a worker of Rajalakshmi's father. Sudhakaran is Rajalakshmi's cousin. He want to marry Rajalakshmi. Sudhkaran learn about Appu and Rajalakshmi affair. He beat Kunjiraman to find out Appu. Kunjiraman attempt suicide. Rajalakshmi ready to marry Sudhakaran. Jayadevan visit Menon to see his mother Rajalakshmi. Rajalakshmi requested Menon don't let Jayadevan to stay in Menon's House. But Menon rejected as Jayadevan is her son . Rajalakshmi learnt that her mother passed away. She informed Menon to take Jayadevan for his Grandmother's funeral. Jayadevan visited Rajalakshmi, but she rejected. She is afraid whether Jayadevan will attack Soloman. Kichamani told to Menon about Soloman and Maya affair. Menon didn't like their relationship. Menon ready to marry Maya with Jayadevan. But Jayadevan told Menon about his blood Cancer. Solomon Visit Maya, but Menon beat him . Jayadevan Supports Soloman. Some goons attack Soloman. Rajalakshmi blamed Jayadevan as he attack Soloman. Menon called Rajalakshmi as Maya is Missing. Menon doubt's Soloman. Soloman learnt that Maya is with Rajamma's house. Menon accept Soloman and Maya relation. Rajalakshmi remember about her past when Appu visited Rajalakshmi. Appu told her he got a job in a town. He is ready to marry Rajalakshmi, but she told she married with Sudhakaran. Sudhakaran sees Appu and killed him. Sudhakaran sentenced to death. Rajalakshmi tried to kill Jayadevan as his father killed Appu. But Jayadevan already died and Rajalakshmi learnt about his blood Cancer and cries. She was admitted to Mental asylum. When Soloman and Maya visit Rajalakshmi, she didnt recognize them.\n\nCast\nSrividya as Rajalakshmi\nDileep as Solomon / Appu (Dual Role)\nKaveri as Maya / Rajalakshmi (Dual Role)\nJagathy Sreekumar as Kichamani\nBiju Menon as Jayadevan / Sudhakaran (Dual Role)\nNedumudi Venu as Balakrishnan Menon \n M. S. Thripunithura as Rajalakshmi's Father\nPonnamma Babu as Rajalakshmi's Mother\n Priyanka\tas \tRajamma\nRisabava as Doctor\n Franlee\n Yadhukrishnan\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1997 films\nIndian films\n1990s Malayalam-language films",
"A Different Me Tour was the first headlining concert tour by American singer Keyshia Cole in support to her third studio album A Different Me. The tour visited North America. Her supporting acts for the tour were The-Dream, Keri Hilson, and Bobby Valentino.\n\nBackground\nDuring an interview Cole stated: \"\"The most gratifying thing for me in show business is having the ability to be intimate with my fans. Singing directly to them is the most intimate thing I can do,\"\n\nSetlist\nBobby Valentino\n\"(Intro)\"\n\"Tell Me\"\n\"Anonymous\"\n\"Slow Down\"\n\"Hands On Me\"\n\"Those Jeans\"\n\"Beep (w/ Yung Joc at some shows)\"\n\nKeri Hilson\n\"(Intro)\"\n\"Knock You Down\"\n\"The Way I Are\"\n\"Slow Dance\"\n\"Intuition\"\n\"Energy\"\n\"(Songs Keri wrote & loves)\"\n\"Runaway Love/ Take Me As I Am/ Weak/ Baby, Baby, Baby/ Rock The Boat\"\n\"How Does It Feel\"\n\"Get Your Money Up\"\n\"Turnin Me On\"\n\nThe Dream\n\"(Intro)\"\n\"Fast Car\"\n\"Nikki/Dirty Diana (Michael Jackson cover)\"\n\"Ditch That.....\"\n\"Walkin On The Moon...\"\n\"Shawty Is The Sh...\"\n\"My Love\"\n\"Purple Kisses\"\n\"I Love Your Girl\"\n\"Love Vs. Money\"\n\"Falsetto\"\n\"Rockin That Sh...\"\n\nKeyshia Cole\nSet 1:\n\"(Photo Collage Video Introduction)\"\n\"I Changed My Mind\"\n\"Oh-Oh, Yea Yea\"\n\"I Should Have Cheated\"\n\"Give Me More\"\n\"I Remember\"\n\nSet 2:\n\"Let It Go\"\n\"Didnt I Tell You\"\n\"Gotta Get My Heart Back\"\n\"Shoulda Let You Go\"\n\"Get Money (Amina solo)\"\n\"Last Night\"\n\"Heaven Sent\"\n\"Love\"\n\"Background Singers Medley (Sweet Thing/Ain't Nobody)\"\n\nSet 3:\n(A Different Me Video Introduction)\n\"Please Dont Stop\"\n\"You Complete Me\"\n\"Trust (w/ Monica at select dates)\"\n\"Playa Cardz Right\"\n\"Make Me Over\"\n\nOpening acts\n The-Dream \n Keri Hilson \n Bobby Valentino\n Monica (special guest)\n Lil' Kim, Too Short, T-Boz & Chilli of TLC (special guests for Oakland show)\n\nTour dates\n\nReschedules and cancellations\nThe June 12 show was rescheduled to June 15 because of a storm in Southaven causing the DeSoto Civic Center to not have any power.\n\nReferences \n\n2009 concert tours"
] |
[
"Irving Thalberg",
"Early years",
"What happened in Irvings early years?",
"Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed with \"blue baby syndrome,\"",
"How did this syndrome affect his life?",
"During his high school years in Brooklyn, he began having attacks of chest pains, dizziness and fatigue.",
"Did he ever get better?",
"When Thalberg returned to school, he finished high school but lacked the stamina for college,",
"So he didnt go to college?",
"Instead, he took part-time jobs as a store clerk, and in the evenings, to gain some job skills, taught himself typing,"
] |
C_0cdc930e8e854f949434bb7c03a478f9_1
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Did he get an important job afterwards?
| 5 |
Did Irving Thalberg get an important job afterwards?
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Irving Thalberg
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Thalberg was born in Brooklyn, to German Jewish immigrant parents, William and Henrietta (Haymann). Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed with "blue baby syndrome," caused by a congenital disease that limited the oxygen supply to his heart. The prognosis from the family's doctor and specialists was that he might live to age twenty, or at most, age thirty. During his high school years in Brooklyn, he began having attacks of chest pains, dizziness and fatigue. This affected his ability to study, though until that time he was a good student. When he was 17, he contracted rheumatic fever, and was confined to bed for a year. His mother, Henrietta, to prevent him falling too far behind other students, brought him homework from school, books, and tutors to teach him at home. She also hoped that the schoolwork and reading would distract him from the "tantalizing sounds" of children playing outside his window. With little to entertain him, he read books as a main activity. He devoured popular novels, classics, plays, and biographies. His books, of necessity, replaced the streets of New York, and led to his interest in classical philosophy and philosophers, such as William James. When Thalberg returned to school, he finished high school but lacked the stamina for college, which he felt would have required constant late-night studying and cramming for exams. Instead, he took part-time jobs as a store clerk, and in the evenings, to gain some job skills, taught himself typing, shorthand and Spanish at a night vocational school. When he turned 18, he placed an ad with the local newspaper hoping to find better work: "Situation Wanted: Secretary, stenographer, Spanish, English, high school education, no experience; $15." CANNOTANSWER
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When he turned 18, he placed an ad with the local newspaper hoping to find better work:
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Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather production staff, and make profitable films, including Grand Hotel, China Seas, A Night at the Opera, Mutiny on the Bounty, Camille and The Good Earth. His films carved out an international market, "projecting a seductive image of American life brimming with vitality and rooted in democracy and personal freedom", states biographer Roland Flamini.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and as a child was afflicted with a congenital heart disease that doctors said would kill him before he reached the age of thirty. After graduating from high school he worked as a store clerk during the day and to gain some job skills took a night class in typing. He then found work as a secretary with Universal Studios' New York office, and was later made studio manager for their Los Angeles facility. There, he oversaw production of a hundred films during his three years with the company. Among the films he produced was The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923).
In Los Angeles, he partnered with Louis B. Mayer's new studio and, after it merged with two other studios, helped create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). He was made head of production of MGM in 1925, at the age of twenty-six, helping MGM become the most successful studio in Hollywood. During his twelve years with MGM, until his premature death at the age of 37, he produced four hundred films, most of which bore his imprint and innovations, including story conferences with writers, sneak previews to gain early feedback, and extensive re-shooting of scenes to improve the film. In addition, he introduced horror films to audiences and coauthored the "Production Code", guidelines for morality followed by all studios. During the 1920s and 1930s, he synthesized and merged the world of stage drama and literary classics with Hollywood films.
Thalberg created numerous new stars and groomed their screen images. Among them were Lon Chaney, Ramon Novarro, Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery, Spencer Tracy, Luise Rainer, and Norma Shearer, who became his wife. He had the ability to combine quality with commercial success, and was credited with bringing his artistic aspirations in line with the demands of audiences. After his death, Hollywood's producers said he had been the world's "foremost figure in motion-picture history". President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote, "The world of art is poorer with the passing of Irving Thalberg. His high ideals, insight and imagination went into the production of his masterpieces." The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, given out periodically by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1937, has been awarded to producers whose body of work reflected consistently high quality films.
Early years
Thalberg was born in Brooklyn, to German Jewish immigrant parents, William and Henrietta (Haymann). Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed with "blue baby syndrome", caused by a congenital disease that limited the oxygen supply to his heart. The prognosis from the family's doctor and specialists was that he might live to the age of twenty, or at most, to thirty.
During his high school years in Brooklyn, he began having attacks of chest pains, dizziness and fatigue. This affected his ability to study, though until that time he was a good student. When he was 17 he contracted rheumatic fever, and was confined to bed for a year. His mother, in order to prevent him falling too far behind other students, brought him homework from school, books, and tutors to teach him at home. She also hoped that the schoolwork and reading would distract him from the "tantalizing sounds" of children playing outside his window.
With little to entertain him, he read books as a main activity. He devoured popular novels, classics, plays, and biographies. His books, of necessity, replaced the streets of New York, and led to his interest in classical philosophy and philosophers, such as William James.
When Thalberg returned to school, he finished high school but lacked the stamina for college, which he felt would have required constant late-night studying and cramming for exams. Instead, he took part-time jobs as a store clerk, and in the evenings, to gain some job skills, taught himself typing, shorthand and Spanish at a night vocational school. When he turned 18, he placed an advertisement in the local newspaper hoping to find better work:
Career as producer
Universal Studios
He found work as an office secretary at Universal Pictures' New York office, and later became personal secretary to the studio's founder and president, Carl Laemmle. Among Thalberg's duties were transcribing and editing notes that Laemmle had written during screenings of his films. He earned $25 weekly, becoming adept at making insightful observations, which impressed Laemmle.
Laemmle took Thalberg to see his Los Angeles production facility, where he spent a month watching how movie production worked. Before returning to New York, Laemmle told Thalberg to remain and "keep an eye on things for me." Two months later, Laemmle returned to California, partly to see how well Thalberg was able to handle the responsibilities he was given. Thalberg gave him suggestions, and thus impressed Laemmle by his ability to understand and explain problems.
Thalberg suggested, "The first thing you should do is establish a new job of studio manager and give him the responsibility of watching day-to-day operations." Laemmle immediately agreed: "All right. You're it." In shock, Thalberg replied, "I'm what?" Laemmle told him to take charge of the Los Angeles studio, which he did in early 1919. When aged 20, Thalberg became responsible for immediately overseeing the nine ongoing film productions and nearly thirty scenarios then under development.
In describing the rationale for this early appointment as studio manager, film historian David Thomson writes that his new job "owed nothing to nepotism, private wealth, or experience in the film industry." He reasons that despite "Thalberg's youth, modest education, and frail appearance ... it is clear that he had the charm, insight, and ability, or the appearance of it, to captivate the film world."
Thalberg was one among the majority of Hollywood film industry workers who migrated from the East Coast, primarily from New York. Some film actors, such as Conrad Nagel, did not like the five-day train trip or the sudden warmth of the California climate. Neither did Marion Davies, who was not used to such "big wide spaces". Samuel Marx, a close friend of Thalberg's from New York, recalled how easily Thalberg adapted to Southern California, often standing outside his doorway during moments of contemplation to enjoy the scenery. "We were all young", said comedian Buster Keaton. "The air in California was like wine. Our business was also young—and growing like nothing ever seen before."
Confrontation with Erich von Stroheim
He quickly established his tenacity as he battled with well-known director Erich von Stroheim over the length of Foolish Wives (1922). Biographer Roland Flamini notes that the film was Universal's most expensive "jewel" ever in production, and its director and star, von Stroheim, was taking the film way over budget. Thalberg, now Universal's general manager, was forced to have the director quickly finalize production before the studio's working capital was used up. Flamini describes the situation:
Thalberg had von Stroheim come to his office, which he did still wearing his film costume as a Russian Imperial Guard and escorted by members of his production team. Thalberg calmly told him, "I have seen all the film and you have all you need for the picture. I want you to stop shooting", to which von Stroheim replied, "But I have not finished as yet." "Yes, you have", said Thalberg. "You have spent all the money this company can afford. I cannot allow you to spend any more."
Thalberg quietly explained that the director worked under the producer, and it was his responsibility to control costs. Von Stroheim, surrounded by his assistants, then confronted Thalberg: "If you were not my superior, I would smash you in the face." Thalberg, unflinching, said "Don't let that stop you." The result was that Thalberg soon afterward removed the cameras from von Stroheim's studio and took over editing. The uncut footage was pared down from five-and-a-half hours to three hours, to von Stroheim's deep dissatisfaction.
A similar problem developed with von Stroheim's next film, Merry-Go-Round (1923). Although he had promised Thalberg to remain within budget this time, he continued production until it went to twice the agreed length and was not yet near completion. Flamini speculates why this happened:
Thalberg again called von Stroheim to his office, handed him a long letter written and signed by himself, describing the problems, and summarily fired von Stroheim as of that moment. Thalberg's letter stated among the reasons,
totally inexcusable and repeated acts of insubordination ... extravagant ideas which you have been unwilling to sacrifice ... unnecessary delays ... and your apparent idea that you are greater and more powerful than the organization that employs you.
His dismissal of von Stroheim was considered an "earthquake in movie circles", notes Flamini. Producer David O. Selznick said that "it was the first time a director had been fired. It took great guts and courage ... Von Stroheim was utterly indifferent over money and could have gone on and spent millions, with nobody to stop him.". The opinion was shared by director Rouben Mamoulian, who said that the "little fellow at Universal", in one bold stroke, had "asserted the primacy of the studio over the director" and forever altered the balance of power in the movie industry.
Effects of his young age
According to Flamini, his youth was a subject of conversation within the movie community. Executives from other studios, actors, and film crew, often mistook him to be a junior employee. Movie columnist Louella Parsons, upon first being introduced to him, asked, "What's the joke? Where's the new general manager?" After five minutes of talking to Thalberg, however, she later wrote about "Universal's Boy Wonder": "He might be a boy in looks and age, but it was no child's mind that was being asked to cope with the intricate politics of Universal City." Novelist Edna Ferber responded the same way, writing that "I had fancied motion-picture producers as large gentlemen smoking oversized cigars. But this young man whose word seemed so final at Universal City ... impressed me deeply."
The male actors in the studio had a similar reaction. Lionel Barrymore, who was nearly twice his age, recalled their meetings:
Thalberg likewise gained the respect of leading playwrights, some of whom also looked down on him due to his youth. George S. Kaufman, co-author of Dinner at Eight, several Marx Brothers films, and two George Gershwin plays, came from New York to meet with Thalberg. Afterward he confided to his friend, Groucho Marx: "That man has never written a word, yet he can tell me exactly what to do with a story. I didn't know you had people like that out here."
Actress Norma Shearer, whom he later married, was surprised after he greeted her at the door, then walked her to his office for her first job interview: "Then you're not the office boy?" she asked. He smiled, as he sat himself behind his desk: "No, Miss Shearer, I'm Irving Thalberg, vice-president of the Mayer Company. I'm the man who sent for you."
His younger-than-normal age for a studio executive was usually mentioned even after he left Universal to help start up MGM. Screenwriter Agnes Christine Johnson, who worked with Thalberg for years, described his contribution during meetings:
The same quality was observed by director and screenwriter Hobart Henley: "If something that read well in conference turns out not so good on the screen, I go to him and, like that—Henley snaps his fingers—he has a remedy. He's brilliant." Another assistant producer to Thalberg explains:
His youth also contributed to his open-mindedness to the ideas of others. Conrad Nagel, who starred in numerous Thalberg films, reported that Thalberg was generally empathetic to those he worked alongside: "Thalberg never raised his voice. He just looked into your eyes, spoke softly, and after a few minutes he cast a spell on you." Studio attorney Edwin Loeb, who also worked to create AMPAS, explained that "the real foundation of Irving's success was his ability to look at life through the eyes of any given person. He had a gift of empathy, and almost complete perspective." Those opinions were also shared by producer Walter Wanger: "You thought that you were talking to an Indian savant. He could cast a spell on anybody."
His talent as a producer was enhanced by his "near-miraculous" powers of concentration, notes film critic J. Hoberman. As a result, he was never bored or tired, and supplemented his spare time with reading for his own amusement, recalls screenwriter Bayard Veiller, with some of his favorite authors being Francis Bacon, Epictetus, and Immanuel Kant.
Film projects at Universal
Biographer Bob Thomas writes that after three years at the studio, Thalberg continually proved his value. Universal's pictures improved noticeably, primarily due to Thalberg's "uncanny sense of story." He took tight control over many key aspects of production, including his requirement that from then on scripts were tightly constructed before filming began, rather than during production. Thomas adds that he also "showed a remarkable capacity for working with actors, casting them aptly and advising them on their careers."
After producing two films that were in production when he began work at Universal, he presented Laemmle with his idea for a film based on one of his favorite classic stories, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Rather than just a horror picture, Thalberg suggested turning it into a spectacle which would include a replica of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. He had Lon Chaney play the hunchback. The film became Universal's most profitable silent film and established Chaney's career as a top-flight star.
After nearly three years with Universal, Thalberg had supervised over a hundred movies, reorganized the studio to give more control to the managers, and had "stopped the defection" of many of their leading stars by offering them better, higher-paying contracts. He also produced a number of Universal's prestige films, which made the company profitable. However, he decided it was time to find a studio in Los Angeles more suitable to his skills, and spread word that he was available.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Cecil B. DeMille was the first who wanted to hire him, telling his partner Jesse Lasky, "The boy is a genius. I can see it. I know it." Lasky opposed the hire, stating, "Geniuses we have all we need." Thalberg then received an offer from Hal Roach, but the offer was withdrawn because Thalberg lacked experience with slapstick comedy films. In late 1922, Thalberg was introduced to Louis B. Mayer, president of a small but dynamic and fast-growing studio. At that first meeting, Thalberg "made a deep, immediate impression on Mayer", writes Flamini. After Thalberg had left, Mayer said to studio attorney Edwin Loeb: "Tell him if he comes to work for me, I'll look after him as though he were my son."
Although their personalities were in many ways opposite, Mayer being more outspoken and nearly twice the younger man's age, Thalberg was hired as vice president in charge of production at Louis B. Mayer Productions. Years later, Mayer's daughter Irene Mayer Selznick recalled that "it was hard to believe anyone that boyish could be so important." According to Flamini, Thalberg was hired because, although Mayer was an astute businessman, "what he lacked was Thalberg's almost unerring ability to combine quality with commercial success, to bring artistic aspiration in line with the demands of the box office." Mayer's company subsequently merged with two others to become Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), with the 24-year-old Thalberg made part-owner and accorded the same position as vice president in charge of production. Three years after the merger, MGM became the most successful studio in Hollywood.
During his twelve years at MGM, Thalberg supervised the production of over four hundred films. Although Thalberg and his colleagues at MGM knew he was "doomed" to not live much past the age of 30 due to heart disease, he loved producing films. He continued developing innovative ideas and overseeing most of MGM's pictures. Under Thalberg's management, MGM released over 40% more films yearly than Warner Brothers, and more than double Paramount's releases. From 1924 until 1936, when Thalberg died at the age of 37, "almost every film bore Thalberg's imprint", wrote Mark Vieira.
Production innovations
Thalberg's production techniques "broke new ground in filmmaking", adds Vieira. Among his contributions at MGM was his innovation of story conferences, sneak previews and scene retakes. He introduced the first horror films and coauthored the Production Code, the set of moral guidelines that all film studios agreed to follow. Thalberg helped synthesize and merge the world of stage drama and literary classics with Hollywood films.
MGM thereby became the only movie studio to consistently show a profit during the Great Depression. Flamini explains that the equation for MGM's success depended on combining stars, a Broadway hit or popular classic, and high standards of production. This combination at the time was considered a "revolutionary approach" in the film industry, which until then assumed a star was all that was needed for success, regardless of the story or production quality. The other studios began following MGM's lead with that same formula.
Production techniques
Thalberg generally followed a system in managing his productions. According to one of his assistants, Lawrence Weingarten, who later became a producer, "Thalberg directed the film on paper, and then the director directed the film on film."
Thalberg was generally opposed to location shooting overseas where he could not oversee production and control costs, as happened with Ben Hur. Thus, he kept hundreds of back-lot carpenters at work creating realistic sets, as he did for fifteenth-century Romeo and Juliet (1936), or with China Seas (1935), to replicate the harbors of Hong Kong.
Vieira points out that Thalberg's "fascination with Broadway plays" often had him create and present stories visually. For China Seas, for instance, he described for the screenwriters, director and others, exactly how he wanted the film to appear on screen:
To be certain of achieving the desired effects, Thalberg made sure his cinematographers were careful in their use of light and shadow. Vieira observes that "more than any other producer or any other studio, Thalberg and MGM manipulated lenses, filters, and lighting instruments to affect the viewer." As a result, he notes, "most of Thalberg's films contain moments such as these, in which cinematic technique transcends mere exposition and gives the viewer something to treasure."
Thalberg was supported by most of the studio in these kinds of creative decisions. "It was a big family," notes Weingarten. "If we had a success, everybody—and I mean every cutter, every painter, every plasterer—was excited about it, was abuzz, was in a tizzy about the whole idea of picture making."
Taking risks with new subjects and stars
In 1929, MGM released fifty films, and all but five showed a profit. Of those that failed, Hallelujah was also a gamble by Thalberg. When King Vidor, the film's producer and director, proposed the idea to Thalberg of a major film cast, for the first time, exclusively with African Americans, he told Thalberg directly, "I doubt that it will make a dollar at the box office." Thalberg replied, "Don't worry about that. I've told you that MGM can afford an occasional experiment."
By the early 1930s, a number of stars began failing at the box office, partly due to the Great Depression that was now undermining the economy, along with the public's ability to spend on entertainment. Thalberg began using two stars in a film, rather than one, as had been the tradition at all the studios, such as pairing Greta Garbo with John Gilbert, Clark Gable with Jean Harlow, and William Powell with Myrna Loy. After experimenting with a few such films, including Mata Hari (1931), which were profitable, he decided on a multi-star production of another Broadway play, Grand Hotel (1932). It had five major stars, including Garbo, Joan Crawford, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, and Wallace Beery. "Before Thalberg," writes Vieira, "there was no Grand Hotel in the American consciousness." The film won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1932.
Thalberg went against consensus and took another risk with The Great Ziegfeld (1936), costarring Luise Rainer. Although Louis B. Mayer did not want her in the role, which he felt was too minor for a new star, Thalberg felt that "only she could play the part", wrote biographer Charles Higham. Shortly after shooting began in late 1935, doubts of Rainer's acting ability emerged in the press. However, despite her limited appearances in the film, Rainer "so impressed audiences with one highly emotional scene" that she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
After her winning role in The Great Ziegfeld, Thalberg wanted her to play a role that was the opposite of her previous character, for The Good Earth (1937). For the part as a Chinese peasant, she was required to act totally subservient to her husband, being perpetually huddled in submission, and barely spoke a word of dialogue during the entire film. Rainer recalls that Mayer did not approve of the film being produced or her part in it: "He was horrified at Irving Thalberg's insistence for me to play O-lan, the poor uncomely little Chinese peasant." However, she again won the Oscar for Best Actress, becoming the first actress to win two consecutive Oscars, a feat not matched until Katharine Hepburn's two Oscar wins thirty years later.
Grooming new stars
Besides bringing a distinctive high quality "look" to MGM films and often recreating well-known stories or plays, Thalberg's actors themselves took on a characteristic quality. Thalberg wanted his female actors to appear "cool, classy and beautiful," notes Flamini. And he strove to make the male actors appear "worldly and in control." In general, Thalberg movies and actors came to be "luxurious," "glossy," and "technically flawless." By doing so, he made stars or boosted the careers of actors such as Lon Chaney, Ramon Novarro, John Gilbert, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Helen Hayes, Jean Harlow, Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore and Luise Rainer.
Greta Garbo
In 1925, a young Greta Garbo, then twenty, and unable to speak any English, was brought over from Sweden at Mayer's request, as he saw how she looked in still photos. A Swedish friend thought he would help her by contacting Thalberg, who then agreed to give her a screen test. According to author Frederick Sands, "the result of the test was electrifying." Thalberg was impressed and began grooming the new starlet the following day: "the studio arranged to fix her teeth, made sure she lost weight, and gave her an English tutor."
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford's first role was a Thalberg production at MGM and she became one of their leading stars for the next thirty years. Crawford was somewhat jealous of Norma Shearer as she thought she was given the better material by her husband Thalberg out of nepotism. Nevertheless, she felt that his contribution to MGM was vital to the film industry. Not long after his early death, she recalls her concerns: "Thalberg was dead and the concept of the quality 'big' picture pretty much went out the window."
Marie Dressler
Thalberg also realized that old stars few had heard of could be made into new ones. Marie Dressler, a fifty-nine-year-old early vaudeville and movie star, who had played the top-billed lead, above Charles Chaplin and Mabel Normand), in the first feature-length comedy, Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914), was unable to get any roles in films after leaving show business for some years, finally working as a maid. MGM screenwriter Frances Marion suggested to Thalberg that she might fit well in a starring role for a new film, and was surprised that he knew of her prior successes. Thalberg approved of using her without a screen test and offered his rationale:
By 1932, shortly before she died, Dressler was the country's number one box office star.
Wallace Beery
Marie Dressler was paired twice, in Min and Bill (1930) and Tugboat Annie (1933), with Wallace Beery, another major silent star who had been struggling to get work in sound pictures until Thalberg cast him. Beery had enjoyed a hugely successful silent film career dating back to 1913, but had been fired by Paramount shortly after sound pictures appeared. Thalberg cast him in the role of "Machine Gun Butch," which had been meant for recently deceased Lon Chaney, in The Big House (1930), an energetic prison picture that became a huge hit. Beery was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, and his burgeoning career at MGM had transformed him into the studio's highest paid actor within two more years, during which time he won the Oscar for The Champ and had become a phenomenal box office draw as a result of Thalberg's foresight.
Getting audience feedback and reshooting
According to Vieira, MGM had few failures during this period, and numerous blockbusters. Among the reasons was Thalberg's unique system of developing a script during story conferences with writers before filming began, and later giving "sneak previews" followed by audience feedback through written questionnaires. Often, where he felt improvement was needed, he arranged for scenes to be reshot. As Thalberg once stated, "The difference between something good and something superior is often very small."
Bad decisions and missed opportunities
Thalberg felt he had his "finger on the pulse of America. I know what people will do and what they won't do," he said. His judgment was not always accurate, however. Thalberg's bringing Broadway productions to the screen to develop higher picture standards sometimes resulted in "studied" acting or "stagey" sets, notes Flamini. In 1927, after the successful release of the first full-length talking picture, The Jazz Singer (1927), he nevertheless felt that talking pictures were a fad. Thalberg likewise did not think that color would replace black-and-white in movies.
When an assistant protested against a script that envisioned a love scene in Paris with an ocean background, Thalberg refused to make changes, saying "We can't cater to a handful of people who know Paris." A more serious distraction to Thalberg's efforts was his obsession with making his wife Norma Shearer a prominent star, efforts which sometimes led to "overblown and overglamous" productions. Thalberg himself admitted to his obsession years later when he told a fellow producer: "You're behaving like I did with Norma. I knew positively that she could play anything. It's a kind of romantic astigmatism that attacks producers when they fall for an actress."
Important films at MGM
Ben Hur (1925)
One of the first pictures he took charge of, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, was inherited and already in production by another studio when MGM was formed. The film was turning into a disastrous expense with cost overruns already in the millions due to its lavish sets and location shooting in Rome. Most studio executives chose to terminate the film to cut their losses. Thalberg, however, felt differently, and thought the film would affect movie audiences, due to its classic literary source, and would highlight MGM as a major new studio.
He, therefore, discarded much of the original footage shot in Italy and recreated the set on MGM's back lots in Culver City, which added more millions to the production, yet gave him more control over production. The new set also included a replica of Circus Maximus for the dramatic chariot race scenes. Flamini notes that Thalberg's "gamble paid off," drawing international attention to MGM, and to Thalberg within the movie industry for his bold action.
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty was the studio's next most expensive film after Ben Hur, with some now calling it "Thalberg's masterpiece." He initially had difficulty convincing Mayer that he could make the film without making heroes of the mutineers. He achieved that by instead making a hero of the British Royal Navy, whereby the officers and shipmates would from then on display their mutual respect. Thalberg also had to convince Clark Gable to accept the role against his will. He pleaded with Gable, eventually promising him that "If it isn't one of your greatest successes, I'll never ask you again to play a part you don't want." The film's other main stars were Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Actor, and winning it for Best Picture. Thalberg accepted the award as producer from Frank Capra.
Thalberg and Mayer partnership
At first, Thalberg and studio chief Louis B. Mayer got along splendidly; however, they had different production philosophies. Thalberg preferred literary works, while Mayer preferred glitzy crowd-pleasing films. A clash was inevitable, and their relationship grew decidedly frosty. When Thalberg fell ill in the final weeks of 1932, Mayer took advantage of the situation and replaced him with David O. Selznick and Walter Wanger. Thalberg's reputation by that time for working long hours was widely known, and rumors about the related strain on his fragile health had become front-page news in entertainment trade publications. The Hollywood Reporter in January 1933 updated its readership about his condition and addressed growing concerns that he might be forced, despite his young age, to quit the business:
Once Thalberg recovered sufficiently from his bout with the "flu" and was able to return to work later in 1933, it was as one of MGM's unit producers, albeit one who had first choice on projects as well as preferential access to all the studio's resources, including over casting its stars. Thalberg's good relationship with Nicholas Schenck, then president of Loew's Incorporated, proved to be an ongoing advantage for him. Loew's was the corporate parent of MGM, so Schenck was the true power and ultimate arbiter at the studio; and he usually supported Thalberg's decisions and continued to do so whenever disagreements about projects or production needs arose. As a result, Thalberg also continued to produce or coproduce some of MGM's most prestigious and critically acclaimed ventures in this period, such as The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) starring his wife Norma Shearer, China Seas (1935), A Night at the Opera (1935), San Francisco (1936), and Romeo and Juliet (1936).
Personal life
During his few years with Universal while living in New York, Thalberg had become romantically involved with Carl Laemmle's daughter, Rosabelle. Still in his early twenties and later spending most of his time in Los Angeles, his feelings toward her were no longer as strong. Flamini suspects that this may have affected his position at Universal and partly caused his decision to leave the company. "The Laemmles prayed that Irving would marry Rosabelle", notes Flamini. "They wanted their sons to be educated and their daughters to marry nice Jewish boys."
Less than a year after he and Mayer took charge of the newly created MGM studios, and still only twenty-five years old, Thalberg suffered a serious heart attack due to overwork. Mayer also became aware of Thalberg's congenital heart problems and now worried about the prospect of running MGM without him. Mayer also became concerned that one of his daughters might become romantically involved, and told them so:
Thalberg, aware of Mayer's feelings, made it a point of never giving too much attention to his daughters at social events.
One of Thalberg's traits was his ability to work long hours into the night with little sign of fatigue. According to Vieira, Thalberg believed that as long as his mind was active in his work and he was not bored, he would not feel tired. Thalberg, who often got by with only five hours of sleep, felt that most people could get by with less than they realized. To keep his mental faculties at peak, he would read philosophical books by Bacon, Epictetus, or Kant. "They stimulate me. I'd drop out of sight in no time if I didn't read and keep up with current thought—and the philosophers are brain sharpeners."
During the early 1930s, Thalberg was ambivalent about political events in Europe. While he feared Nazism and the rise of Hitler, he also feared Communism. At the time, notes Vieira, "given a choice between communism and fascism, many Americans—including Thalberg—would prefer the latter." Thalberg stated his opinion:
When others suggested that many Jews could die in Germany as a result of Nazi anti-Semitism, he replied that in his opinion "Hitler and Hitlerism will pass." On one occasion, Catholic Prince Löwenstein of Germany, who himself had almost been captured before fleeing Germany, told him: "Mr. Thalberg, your own people are being systematically hunted down and rooted out of Germany." Thalberg suggested that world Jewry should nevertheless not interfere, that the Jewish race would survive Hitler. Within a few years, American film distribution was "choked off" in Germany. Led by Warner Brothers, all American studios eventually closed their German offices.
Thalberg began dating actress Norma Shearer a few years after he joined MGM. Following her conversion to Judaism, they married on Thursday, September 29, 1927, in a private ceremony in the garden of his rented house in Beverly Hills. Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin officiated at the event, with Shearer's brother Douglas Shearer giving the bride away, and Louis B. Mayer serving as best man. The couple drove to Monterey for their honeymoon and then moved into their newly constructed home in Beverly Hills.
After their second child was born, Shearer considered retiring from films, but Thalberg convinced her to continue acting, saying he could find her good roles. She went on to be one of MGM's biggest stars of the 1930s. Their two children were Irving Jr. (1930–1987) and Katharine (1935–2006).
Death
Thalberg and Shearer took a much-needed Labor Day weekend vacation in Monterey, California, in 1936, staying at the same beachfront hotel where they spent their honeymoon. A few weeks earlier, Thalberg's leading screenwriter, Al Lewin, had proposed doing a film based on a soon-to-be published book, Gone with the Wind. Although Thalberg said it would be a "sensational" role for Gable, and a "terrific picture," he decided not to do it:
Besides, Thalberg told Mayer, "[n]o Civil War picture ever made a nickel". Shortly after returning from Monterey, Thalberg was diagnosed with pneumonia. His condition worsened steadily and he eventually required an oxygen tent at home. He died on September 14, at the age of 37.
Sam Wood, while directing A Day at the Races, was given the news by phone. He returned to the set with tears in his eyes and told the others. As the news spread "the studio was paralyzed with shock", notes Thomas. "Work stopped and hundreds of people wept", with stars, writers, directors, and studio employees "all sharing a sense of loss at the death of a man who had been a part of their working lives", states Flamini.
His funeral took place two days later, and when the services began the other studios throughout Hollywood observed five minutes of silence. Producer Sam Goldwyn "wept uncontrollably for two days" and was unable to regain his composure enough to attend. The MGM studio closed for that day.
Services were held at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple that Thalberg had occasionally attended. The funeral attracted thousands of spectators who came to view the arrival of countless stars from MGM and other studios, including Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, the Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney, Howard Hughes, Al Jolson, Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, among the screen luminaries. The ushers who led them to their seats included Clark Gable, Fredric March, and playwright Moss Hart. Erich von Stroheim, who had been fired by Thalberg, came to pay his respects. Producers Louis B. Mayer, the Warner brothers, Adolph Zukor, and Nicholas Schenck sat together solemnly as Rabbi Magnin gave the eulogy.
Thalberg is buried in a private marble tomb in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, lying at rest beside his wife Norma Shearer Arrouge (Thalberg's crypt was engraved "My Sweetheart Forever" by Shearer).
Over the following days, tributes were published by the national press. Louis B. Mayer, his co-founding partner at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, said he had lost "the finest friend a man could ever have", while MGM president Nicholas Schenck stated that "Thalberg was the most important man in the production end of the motion-picture industry. Leading producers from the other studios also expressed their feelings in published tributes to Thalberg:
David O. Selznick described him as "beyond any question the greatest individual force for fine pictures." Samuel Goldwyn called him "the foremost figure in the motion-picture industry ... and an inspiration." M. H. Aylesworth, Chairman of RKO, wrote that "his integrity, vision and ability made him the spearhead of all motion-picture production throughout the world." Harry Warner, president of Warner Bros., described him as "gifted with one of the finest minds ever placed at the service of motion-picture production." Sidney R. Kent, president of Twentieth Century Fox, said that "he made the whole world richer by giving it the highest type of entertainment. He was a true genius." Columbia president Harry Cohn said the "motion picture industry has suffered a loss from which it will not soon recover...". Darryl F. Zanuck noted, "More than any other man he raised the industry to its present world prestige." Adolph Zukor, chairman of Paramount, stated, "Irving Thalberg was the most brilliant young man in the motion picture business." Jesse Lasky said, "It will be utterly impossible to replace him."
Among the condolences that came from world political leaders, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote, "The world of art is poorer with the passing of Irving Thalberg. His high ideals, insight and imagination went into the production of his masterpieces."
Among the pictures that were unfinished or not yet released at the time of his death were A Day at the Races, The Good Earth, Camille, Maytime, and Romeo and Juliet. Groucho Marx, star of A Day at the Races, wrote, "After Thalberg's death, my interest in the movies waned. I continued to appear in them, but ... The fun had gone out of picture making." Thalberg's widow, Norma Shearer, recalled, "Grief does very strange things to you. I didn't seem to feel the shock for two weeks afterwards. ... then, at the end of those two weeks, I collapsed."
Legacy in the movie industry
Thalberg's legacy to the movie industry is "incalculable", states biographer Bob Thomas. He notes that with his numerous production innovations and grand stories, often turning classic literature and Broadway stage productions into big-screen pictures, he managed to keep "American movies supreme throughout the world for a generation". Darryl F. Zanuck, founder of 20th Century-Fox said that during Thalberg's brief career, he had become the "most creative producer in the history of films". Thomas describes some of his contributions:
Most of MGM's major films in the 1930s were, according to Flamini, "in a very real sense", made by Thalberg. He closely supervised the making of "more pictures than any other producer in Hollywood's history", and was considered the "archetype of the creative producer", adds Flamini. Upon his early death, aged 37, an editorial in The New York Times called him "the most important force" in the motion picture industry. The paper added that for the film industry, he "set the pace and others followed ... because his way combined style, glamour, and profit." He is described by Flamini as having been "a revolutionary in a gray flannel suit".
Thalberg refused to take credit as producer, and as a result, his name never appeared on the screen while he was alive. Thalberg claimed that "credit you give yourself is not worth having". He also said "If a picture is good, they'll know who produced it. If it's bad, nobody cares." His final film, released after he died, was The Good Earth (1937), which won numerous Academy Awards. Its opening screen credit was dedicated to Thalberg:
In 1938, the new multimillion-dollar MGM administration building in Culver City was named for Thalberg. The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, also named for him, awards producers for consistently high production achievements.
Cultural legacy
The Last Tycoon
In October 1939, American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald began writing The Last Tycoon, a fictionalized biography of Thalberg, naming the protagonist Monroe Stahr to represent Thalberg. "Thalberg has always fascinated me", he wrote to an editor. "His peculiar charm, his extraordinary good looks, his bountiful success, the tragic end of his great adventure. The events I have built around him are fiction, but all of them are things which might very well have happened. ... I've long chosen him for a hero (this has been in my mind for three years) because he is one of the half-dozen men I have known who were built on a grand scale."
Thomas notes that among the reasons Fitzgerald chose to write a book about a Thalberg-like character, was that "throughout his literary career, Fitzgerald borrowed his heroes from friends he admired, and inevitably a bit of Fitzgerald entered the characterizations." Fitzgerald himself writes that "When I like men, I want to be like them ..." Fitzgerald and Thalberg had real-life similarities: both were prodigies, both had heart ailments, and they both died at early ages.
According to biographer Matthew J. Bruccoli, Fitzgerald believed that Thalberg, with his "taste and courage, represented the best of Hollywood. ... [and] saw Thalberg as a model for what could be done in the movies." Fitzgerald died before the novel was completed, however. Bruccoli writes of Fitzgerald's book:
Although parallels between Monroe Stahr in the novel and Thalberg were evident, many who knew Thalberg intimately stated that they did not see similarities in their personalities. Norma Shearer said that the Stahr character was not at all like her former husband.
In the 1976 film version, directed by Elia Kazan, Monroe Stahr was played by Robert De Niro. Kazan, in his pre-production notes, described the Stahr character as he saw him:
In the 2016 television series based on the novel, Monroe Stahr is played by Matt Bomer.
Others
Fitzgerald also based his short story "Crazy Sunday", originally published in the October 1932 issue of American Mercury, on an incident at a party thrown by Thalberg and Shearer. The story is included in Fitzgerald's collection Taps at Reveille (1935).
Thalberg was portrayed in the movie Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) by Robert Evans, who went on to become a studio head himself.
Thalberg was portrayed by Bill Cusack in Young Indiana Jones and the Hollywood Follies (1994), a TV film based on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, in which Indiana Jones is depicted as taking part in Thalberg's conflict with Erich von Stroheim over Foolish Wives.
In 2020, Thalberg was played by Ferdinand Kingsley in the David Fincher film Mank
Thalberg, played by Tobey Maguire, is rumored to appear in the upcoming movie Babylon.
Filmography
Producer
Reputation (1921)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
Merry-Go-Round (1923)
His Hour (1924)
He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
The Unholy Three (1925)
The Merry Widow (1925)
The Tower of Lies (1925)
The Big Parade (1925)
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)
Torrent (1926)
La Bohème (1926)
Brown of Harvard (1926)
The Road to Mandalay (1926)
The Temptress (1926)
Valencia (1926)
Flesh and the Devil (1926)
Twelve Miles Out (1927)
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927)
London After Midnight (1927)
The Crowd (1928)
Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928)
White Shadows in the South Seas (1928)
Show People (1928)
West of Zanzibar (1928)
The Broadway Melody (1929)
The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929)
Voice of the City (1929)
Where East Is East (1929)
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1929)
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)
Hallelujah (1929)
His Glorious Night (1929)
The Kiss (1929)
Anna Christie (1930)
Redemption (1930)
The Divorcee (1930)
The Rogue Song (1930)
The Big House (1930)
The Unholy Three (1930)
Let Us Be Gay (1930)
Billy the Kid (1930)
Way for a Sailor (1930)
A Lady's Morals (1930)
Inspiration (1931)
Trader Horn (1931)
The Secret Six (1931)
A Free Soul (1931)
Just a Gigolo (1931)
Menschen hinter Gittern (1931), German-language version of The Big House (1930)
The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931)
The Guardsman (1931)
The Champ (1931)
Possessed (1931)
Private Lives (1931)
Mata Hari (1931)
Freaks (1932)
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
Grand Hotel (1932)
Letty Lynton (1932)
As You Desire Me (1932)
Red-Headed Woman (1932)
Smilin' Through (1932)
Red Dust (1932)
Rasputin and the Empress (1932)
Strange Interlude (1932)
Tugboat Annie (1933)
Bombshell (1933)
Eskimo (1933)
La Veuve Joyeuse (1934) French-language version of The Merry Widow
Riptide (1934)
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
The Merry Widow (1934)
What Every Woman Knows (1934)
Biography of a Bachelor Girl (1935)
No More Ladies (1935)
China Seas (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
Riffraff (1936)
Romeo and Juliet (1936)
Camille (1936)
Maytime (1937)
A Day at the Races (1937)
Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937)
The Good Earth (1937)
Marie Antoinette (1938)
Writer
The Trap (1922)
The Dangerous Little Demon (1922)
Awards
Academy Awards
Notes
Further reading
Books
Flamini, Roland. Thalberg: The Last Tycoon and the World of M-G-M (1994)
Marx, Samuel. Mayer and Thalberg: The Make-believe Saints (1975)
Thomas, Bob. Thalberg: Life and Legend (1969)
Vieira, Mark A. Irving Thalberg's M-G-M. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2008.
Vieira, Mark A. Irving Thalberg: Boy Wonder to Producer Prince. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009.
Articles
Starman, Ray. "Irving Thalberg", Films In Review, June/July 1987, p. 347–353
External links
Irving Thalberg at TCM
Cinemagraphe Review of the Roland Flamini biography of Thalberg: The Last Tycoon and the World of MGM
Irving Thalberg at Virtual History
Irving Thalberg profiled in Collier's Magazine (1924)
Videos
1899 births
1936 deaths
American film producers
Film producers from California
Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award
American film studio executives
American male screenwriters
Cinema pioneers
Silent film directors
Silent film producers
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences founders
Businesspeople from Los Angeles
Hollywood history and culture
California Republicans
New York (state) Republicans
USC School of Cinematic Arts faculty
20th-century American businesspeople
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from New York (state)
People from Brooklyn
American anti-communists
American people of German-Jewish descent
Deaths from pneumonia in California
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American writers
Jewish American writers
20th-century American screenwriters
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[
"Gregory S. Butler (born August 18, 1971, Suffield, Connecticut) is an American visual effects supervisor. He graduated from Suffield High School in 1989 and afterwards entered Hampshire College. Despite his initial plans to study history, a work-study job with the audiovisual equipment in the library made him interested in film production. Butler graduated in 1993 with a major in film, television and theater design. Afterwards he moved to California to work for Industrial Light and Magic for 9 months, where after intern work he managed to become an assistant in the effects department, starting with assistant credits in The Mask and Forrest Gump. Following a job at Rocket Science Games until the company's bankruptcy in 1996, Butler went to Tippett Studio and did effects work in Starship Troopers and My Favorite Martian, rising up to a technical director job, and Cinesite for Practical Magic. While reluctant at the requirement of moving to New Zealand, Butler was convinced by his writer-actor brother Jared to jump at the opportunity of working for Weta Digital in The Lord of the Rings. His biggest achievement was working in the creation of Gollum. Butler also worked as a computer graphics supervisor on I, Robot before an invitation to work as an effects supervisor for the Moving Picture Company, in London. He continues on MPC, but is now on the Vancouver office. On January 24, 2012, he was nominated for an Oscar for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. In 2020, he received his second Academy Award nomination, and first win, for Best Visual Effects, for the 2019 film, 1917, at the 92nd Academy Awards.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nVisual effects supervisors\nSpecial effects people\nLiving people\nPeople from Suffield, Connecticut\n1971 births\nHampshire College alumni\nAmerican expatriates in Canada\nBest Visual Effects Academy Award winners\nBest Visual Effects BAFTA Award winners",
"A job fair, also referred commonly as a job expo or career fair or career expo, is an event in which employers, recruiters, and schools give information to potential employees. Job seekers attend these while trying to make a good impression to potential coworkers by speaking face-to-face with one another, filling out résumés, and asking questions in attempt to get a good feel on the work needed. Likewise, online job fairs are held, giving job seekers another way to get in contact with probable employers using the internet.\n\nIn-person\nIn colleges, job fairs are commonly used for entry-level job recruitment. Job seekers use this opportunity to meet with an employer and attempt to stand out from other applicants and get an overview of what it is like to work for a company or a sector that seems interesting to the applicant.\n\nCareer expositions usually include company or organization tables or booths where resumes can be collected and business cards can be exchanged. \nOften sponsored by career centers, job fairs provide a convenient location for students to meet employers and perform first interviews. This is also an opportunity for companies to meet with students and talk to them about their expectations from them as students and answer their potential questions such as the degree or work experience needed.\n\nOnline job fairs\n\nOnline job fairs offer many of the same conveniences of regular career fairs. An online job fair uses a virtual platform which allows employers to discuss with potential new nominees for the job they’re offering. This is a way of interacting with them virtually and practical to get to know who they are. A virtual career fair include many services such as video, live chats, downloadable material and many more to make it the more helpful both for the recruiter and the job seeker. \nAfter having applied online to positions, many more people are also trying their luck with in-person job fairs.\n\nSee also\n\n Hiring and mop fairs\n\nReferences\n\nRecruitment"
] |
[
"Irving Thalberg",
"Early years",
"What happened in Irvings early years?",
"Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed with \"blue baby syndrome,\"",
"How did this syndrome affect his life?",
"During his high school years in Brooklyn, he began having attacks of chest pains, dizziness and fatigue.",
"Did he ever get better?",
"When Thalberg returned to school, he finished high school but lacked the stamina for college,",
"So he didnt go to college?",
"Instead, he took part-time jobs as a store clerk, and in the evenings, to gain some job skills, taught himself typing,",
"Did he get an important job afterwards?",
"When he turned 18, he placed an ad with the local newspaper hoping to find better work:"
] |
C_0cdc930e8e854f949434bb7c03a478f9_1
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And was this ad successful, did he find a better job?
| 6 |
And was an ad with the local newspaper successful, did Irving Thalberg find a better job?
|
Irving Thalberg
|
Thalberg was born in Brooklyn, to German Jewish immigrant parents, William and Henrietta (Haymann). Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed with "blue baby syndrome," caused by a congenital disease that limited the oxygen supply to his heart. The prognosis from the family's doctor and specialists was that he might live to age twenty, or at most, age thirty. During his high school years in Brooklyn, he began having attacks of chest pains, dizziness and fatigue. This affected his ability to study, though until that time he was a good student. When he was 17, he contracted rheumatic fever, and was confined to bed for a year. His mother, Henrietta, to prevent him falling too far behind other students, brought him homework from school, books, and tutors to teach him at home. She also hoped that the schoolwork and reading would distract him from the "tantalizing sounds" of children playing outside his window. With little to entertain him, he read books as a main activity. He devoured popular novels, classics, plays, and biographies. His books, of necessity, replaced the streets of New York, and led to his interest in classical philosophy and philosophers, such as William James. When Thalberg returned to school, he finished high school but lacked the stamina for college, which he felt would have required constant late-night studying and cramming for exams. Instead, he took part-time jobs as a store clerk, and in the evenings, to gain some job skills, taught himself typing, shorthand and Spanish at a night vocational school. When he turned 18, he placed an ad with the local newspaper hoping to find better work: "Situation Wanted: Secretary, stenographer, Spanish, English, high school education, no experience; $15." CANNOTANSWER
|
CANNOTANSWER
|
Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather production staff, and make profitable films, including Grand Hotel, China Seas, A Night at the Opera, Mutiny on the Bounty, Camille and The Good Earth. His films carved out an international market, "projecting a seductive image of American life brimming with vitality and rooted in democracy and personal freedom", states biographer Roland Flamini.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and as a child was afflicted with a congenital heart disease that doctors said would kill him before he reached the age of thirty. After graduating from high school he worked as a store clerk during the day and to gain some job skills took a night class in typing. He then found work as a secretary with Universal Studios' New York office, and was later made studio manager for their Los Angeles facility. There, he oversaw production of a hundred films during his three years with the company. Among the films he produced was The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923).
In Los Angeles, he partnered with Louis B. Mayer's new studio and, after it merged with two other studios, helped create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). He was made head of production of MGM in 1925, at the age of twenty-six, helping MGM become the most successful studio in Hollywood. During his twelve years with MGM, until his premature death at the age of 37, he produced four hundred films, most of which bore his imprint and innovations, including story conferences with writers, sneak previews to gain early feedback, and extensive re-shooting of scenes to improve the film. In addition, he introduced horror films to audiences and coauthored the "Production Code", guidelines for morality followed by all studios. During the 1920s and 1930s, he synthesized and merged the world of stage drama and literary classics with Hollywood films.
Thalberg created numerous new stars and groomed their screen images. Among them were Lon Chaney, Ramon Novarro, Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery, Spencer Tracy, Luise Rainer, and Norma Shearer, who became his wife. He had the ability to combine quality with commercial success, and was credited with bringing his artistic aspirations in line with the demands of audiences. After his death, Hollywood's producers said he had been the world's "foremost figure in motion-picture history". President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote, "The world of art is poorer with the passing of Irving Thalberg. His high ideals, insight and imagination went into the production of his masterpieces." The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, given out periodically by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1937, has been awarded to producers whose body of work reflected consistently high quality films.
Early years
Thalberg was born in Brooklyn, to German Jewish immigrant parents, William and Henrietta (Haymann). Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed with "blue baby syndrome", caused by a congenital disease that limited the oxygen supply to his heart. The prognosis from the family's doctor and specialists was that he might live to the age of twenty, or at most, to thirty.
During his high school years in Brooklyn, he began having attacks of chest pains, dizziness and fatigue. This affected his ability to study, though until that time he was a good student. When he was 17 he contracted rheumatic fever, and was confined to bed for a year. His mother, in order to prevent him falling too far behind other students, brought him homework from school, books, and tutors to teach him at home. She also hoped that the schoolwork and reading would distract him from the "tantalizing sounds" of children playing outside his window.
With little to entertain him, he read books as a main activity. He devoured popular novels, classics, plays, and biographies. His books, of necessity, replaced the streets of New York, and led to his interest in classical philosophy and philosophers, such as William James.
When Thalberg returned to school, he finished high school but lacked the stamina for college, which he felt would have required constant late-night studying and cramming for exams. Instead, he took part-time jobs as a store clerk, and in the evenings, to gain some job skills, taught himself typing, shorthand and Spanish at a night vocational school. When he turned 18, he placed an advertisement in the local newspaper hoping to find better work:
Career as producer
Universal Studios
He found work as an office secretary at Universal Pictures' New York office, and later became personal secretary to the studio's founder and president, Carl Laemmle. Among Thalberg's duties were transcribing and editing notes that Laemmle had written during screenings of his films. He earned $25 weekly, becoming adept at making insightful observations, which impressed Laemmle.
Laemmle took Thalberg to see his Los Angeles production facility, where he spent a month watching how movie production worked. Before returning to New York, Laemmle told Thalberg to remain and "keep an eye on things for me." Two months later, Laemmle returned to California, partly to see how well Thalberg was able to handle the responsibilities he was given. Thalberg gave him suggestions, and thus impressed Laemmle by his ability to understand and explain problems.
Thalberg suggested, "The first thing you should do is establish a new job of studio manager and give him the responsibility of watching day-to-day operations." Laemmle immediately agreed: "All right. You're it." In shock, Thalberg replied, "I'm what?" Laemmle told him to take charge of the Los Angeles studio, which he did in early 1919. When aged 20, Thalberg became responsible for immediately overseeing the nine ongoing film productions and nearly thirty scenarios then under development.
In describing the rationale for this early appointment as studio manager, film historian David Thomson writes that his new job "owed nothing to nepotism, private wealth, or experience in the film industry." He reasons that despite "Thalberg's youth, modest education, and frail appearance ... it is clear that he had the charm, insight, and ability, or the appearance of it, to captivate the film world."
Thalberg was one among the majority of Hollywood film industry workers who migrated from the East Coast, primarily from New York. Some film actors, such as Conrad Nagel, did not like the five-day train trip or the sudden warmth of the California climate. Neither did Marion Davies, who was not used to such "big wide spaces". Samuel Marx, a close friend of Thalberg's from New York, recalled how easily Thalberg adapted to Southern California, often standing outside his doorway during moments of contemplation to enjoy the scenery. "We were all young", said comedian Buster Keaton. "The air in California was like wine. Our business was also young—and growing like nothing ever seen before."
Confrontation with Erich von Stroheim
He quickly established his tenacity as he battled with well-known director Erich von Stroheim over the length of Foolish Wives (1922). Biographer Roland Flamini notes that the film was Universal's most expensive "jewel" ever in production, and its director and star, von Stroheim, was taking the film way over budget. Thalberg, now Universal's general manager, was forced to have the director quickly finalize production before the studio's working capital was used up. Flamini describes the situation:
Thalberg had von Stroheim come to his office, which he did still wearing his film costume as a Russian Imperial Guard and escorted by members of his production team. Thalberg calmly told him, "I have seen all the film and you have all you need for the picture. I want you to stop shooting", to which von Stroheim replied, "But I have not finished as yet." "Yes, you have", said Thalberg. "You have spent all the money this company can afford. I cannot allow you to spend any more."
Thalberg quietly explained that the director worked under the producer, and it was his responsibility to control costs. Von Stroheim, surrounded by his assistants, then confronted Thalberg: "If you were not my superior, I would smash you in the face." Thalberg, unflinching, said "Don't let that stop you." The result was that Thalberg soon afterward removed the cameras from von Stroheim's studio and took over editing. The uncut footage was pared down from five-and-a-half hours to three hours, to von Stroheim's deep dissatisfaction.
A similar problem developed with von Stroheim's next film, Merry-Go-Round (1923). Although he had promised Thalberg to remain within budget this time, he continued production until it went to twice the agreed length and was not yet near completion. Flamini speculates why this happened:
Thalberg again called von Stroheim to his office, handed him a long letter written and signed by himself, describing the problems, and summarily fired von Stroheim as of that moment. Thalberg's letter stated among the reasons,
totally inexcusable and repeated acts of insubordination ... extravagant ideas which you have been unwilling to sacrifice ... unnecessary delays ... and your apparent idea that you are greater and more powerful than the organization that employs you.
His dismissal of von Stroheim was considered an "earthquake in movie circles", notes Flamini. Producer David O. Selznick said that "it was the first time a director had been fired. It took great guts and courage ... Von Stroheim was utterly indifferent over money and could have gone on and spent millions, with nobody to stop him.". The opinion was shared by director Rouben Mamoulian, who said that the "little fellow at Universal", in one bold stroke, had "asserted the primacy of the studio over the director" and forever altered the balance of power in the movie industry.
Effects of his young age
According to Flamini, his youth was a subject of conversation within the movie community. Executives from other studios, actors, and film crew, often mistook him to be a junior employee. Movie columnist Louella Parsons, upon first being introduced to him, asked, "What's the joke? Where's the new general manager?" After five minutes of talking to Thalberg, however, she later wrote about "Universal's Boy Wonder": "He might be a boy in looks and age, but it was no child's mind that was being asked to cope with the intricate politics of Universal City." Novelist Edna Ferber responded the same way, writing that "I had fancied motion-picture producers as large gentlemen smoking oversized cigars. But this young man whose word seemed so final at Universal City ... impressed me deeply."
The male actors in the studio had a similar reaction. Lionel Barrymore, who was nearly twice his age, recalled their meetings:
Thalberg likewise gained the respect of leading playwrights, some of whom also looked down on him due to his youth. George S. Kaufman, co-author of Dinner at Eight, several Marx Brothers films, and two George Gershwin plays, came from New York to meet with Thalberg. Afterward he confided to his friend, Groucho Marx: "That man has never written a word, yet he can tell me exactly what to do with a story. I didn't know you had people like that out here."
Actress Norma Shearer, whom he later married, was surprised after he greeted her at the door, then walked her to his office for her first job interview: "Then you're not the office boy?" she asked. He smiled, as he sat himself behind his desk: "No, Miss Shearer, I'm Irving Thalberg, vice-president of the Mayer Company. I'm the man who sent for you."
His younger-than-normal age for a studio executive was usually mentioned even after he left Universal to help start up MGM. Screenwriter Agnes Christine Johnson, who worked with Thalberg for years, described his contribution during meetings:
The same quality was observed by director and screenwriter Hobart Henley: "If something that read well in conference turns out not so good on the screen, I go to him and, like that—Henley snaps his fingers—he has a remedy. He's brilliant." Another assistant producer to Thalberg explains:
His youth also contributed to his open-mindedness to the ideas of others. Conrad Nagel, who starred in numerous Thalberg films, reported that Thalberg was generally empathetic to those he worked alongside: "Thalberg never raised his voice. He just looked into your eyes, spoke softly, and after a few minutes he cast a spell on you." Studio attorney Edwin Loeb, who also worked to create AMPAS, explained that "the real foundation of Irving's success was his ability to look at life through the eyes of any given person. He had a gift of empathy, and almost complete perspective." Those opinions were also shared by producer Walter Wanger: "You thought that you were talking to an Indian savant. He could cast a spell on anybody."
His talent as a producer was enhanced by his "near-miraculous" powers of concentration, notes film critic J. Hoberman. As a result, he was never bored or tired, and supplemented his spare time with reading for his own amusement, recalls screenwriter Bayard Veiller, with some of his favorite authors being Francis Bacon, Epictetus, and Immanuel Kant.
Film projects at Universal
Biographer Bob Thomas writes that after three years at the studio, Thalberg continually proved his value. Universal's pictures improved noticeably, primarily due to Thalberg's "uncanny sense of story." He took tight control over many key aspects of production, including his requirement that from then on scripts were tightly constructed before filming began, rather than during production. Thomas adds that he also "showed a remarkable capacity for working with actors, casting them aptly and advising them on their careers."
After producing two films that were in production when he began work at Universal, he presented Laemmle with his idea for a film based on one of his favorite classic stories, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Rather than just a horror picture, Thalberg suggested turning it into a spectacle which would include a replica of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. He had Lon Chaney play the hunchback. The film became Universal's most profitable silent film and established Chaney's career as a top-flight star.
After nearly three years with Universal, Thalberg had supervised over a hundred movies, reorganized the studio to give more control to the managers, and had "stopped the defection" of many of their leading stars by offering them better, higher-paying contracts. He also produced a number of Universal's prestige films, which made the company profitable. However, he decided it was time to find a studio in Los Angeles more suitable to his skills, and spread word that he was available.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Cecil B. DeMille was the first who wanted to hire him, telling his partner Jesse Lasky, "The boy is a genius. I can see it. I know it." Lasky opposed the hire, stating, "Geniuses we have all we need." Thalberg then received an offer from Hal Roach, but the offer was withdrawn because Thalberg lacked experience with slapstick comedy films. In late 1922, Thalberg was introduced to Louis B. Mayer, president of a small but dynamic and fast-growing studio. At that first meeting, Thalberg "made a deep, immediate impression on Mayer", writes Flamini. After Thalberg had left, Mayer said to studio attorney Edwin Loeb: "Tell him if he comes to work for me, I'll look after him as though he were my son."
Although their personalities were in many ways opposite, Mayer being more outspoken and nearly twice the younger man's age, Thalberg was hired as vice president in charge of production at Louis B. Mayer Productions. Years later, Mayer's daughter Irene Mayer Selznick recalled that "it was hard to believe anyone that boyish could be so important." According to Flamini, Thalberg was hired because, although Mayer was an astute businessman, "what he lacked was Thalberg's almost unerring ability to combine quality with commercial success, to bring artistic aspiration in line with the demands of the box office." Mayer's company subsequently merged with two others to become Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), with the 24-year-old Thalberg made part-owner and accorded the same position as vice president in charge of production. Three years after the merger, MGM became the most successful studio in Hollywood.
During his twelve years at MGM, Thalberg supervised the production of over four hundred films. Although Thalberg and his colleagues at MGM knew he was "doomed" to not live much past the age of 30 due to heart disease, he loved producing films. He continued developing innovative ideas and overseeing most of MGM's pictures. Under Thalberg's management, MGM released over 40% more films yearly than Warner Brothers, and more than double Paramount's releases. From 1924 until 1936, when Thalberg died at the age of 37, "almost every film bore Thalberg's imprint", wrote Mark Vieira.
Production innovations
Thalberg's production techniques "broke new ground in filmmaking", adds Vieira. Among his contributions at MGM was his innovation of story conferences, sneak previews and scene retakes. He introduced the first horror films and coauthored the Production Code, the set of moral guidelines that all film studios agreed to follow. Thalberg helped synthesize and merge the world of stage drama and literary classics with Hollywood films.
MGM thereby became the only movie studio to consistently show a profit during the Great Depression. Flamini explains that the equation for MGM's success depended on combining stars, a Broadway hit or popular classic, and high standards of production. This combination at the time was considered a "revolutionary approach" in the film industry, which until then assumed a star was all that was needed for success, regardless of the story or production quality. The other studios began following MGM's lead with that same formula.
Production techniques
Thalberg generally followed a system in managing his productions. According to one of his assistants, Lawrence Weingarten, who later became a producer, "Thalberg directed the film on paper, and then the director directed the film on film."
Thalberg was generally opposed to location shooting overseas where he could not oversee production and control costs, as happened with Ben Hur. Thus, he kept hundreds of back-lot carpenters at work creating realistic sets, as he did for fifteenth-century Romeo and Juliet (1936), or with China Seas (1935), to replicate the harbors of Hong Kong.
Vieira points out that Thalberg's "fascination with Broadway plays" often had him create and present stories visually. For China Seas, for instance, he described for the screenwriters, director and others, exactly how he wanted the film to appear on screen:
To be certain of achieving the desired effects, Thalberg made sure his cinematographers were careful in their use of light and shadow. Vieira observes that "more than any other producer or any other studio, Thalberg and MGM manipulated lenses, filters, and lighting instruments to affect the viewer." As a result, he notes, "most of Thalberg's films contain moments such as these, in which cinematic technique transcends mere exposition and gives the viewer something to treasure."
Thalberg was supported by most of the studio in these kinds of creative decisions. "It was a big family," notes Weingarten. "If we had a success, everybody—and I mean every cutter, every painter, every plasterer—was excited about it, was abuzz, was in a tizzy about the whole idea of picture making."
Taking risks with new subjects and stars
In 1929, MGM released fifty films, and all but five showed a profit. Of those that failed, Hallelujah was also a gamble by Thalberg. When King Vidor, the film's producer and director, proposed the idea to Thalberg of a major film cast, for the first time, exclusively with African Americans, he told Thalberg directly, "I doubt that it will make a dollar at the box office." Thalberg replied, "Don't worry about that. I've told you that MGM can afford an occasional experiment."
By the early 1930s, a number of stars began failing at the box office, partly due to the Great Depression that was now undermining the economy, along with the public's ability to spend on entertainment. Thalberg began using two stars in a film, rather than one, as had been the tradition at all the studios, such as pairing Greta Garbo with John Gilbert, Clark Gable with Jean Harlow, and William Powell with Myrna Loy. After experimenting with a few such films, including Mata Hari (1931), which were profitable, he decided on a multi-star production of another Broadway play, Grand Hotel (1932). It had five major stars, including Garbo, Joan Crawford, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, and Wallace Beery. "Before Thalberg," writes Vieira, "there was no Grand Hotel in the American consciousness." The film won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1932.
Thalberg went against consensus and took another risk with The Great Ziegfeld (1936), costarring Luise Rainer. Although Louis B. Mayer did not want her in the role, which he felt was too minor for a new star, Thalberg felt that "only she could play the part", wrote biographer Charles Higham. Shortly after shooting began in late 1935, doubts of Rainer's acting ability emerged in the press. However, despite her limited appearances in the film, Rainer "so impressed audiences with one highly emotional scene" that she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
After her winning role in The Great Ziegfeld, Thalberg wanted her to play a role that was the opposite of her previous character, for The Good Earth (1937). For the part as a Chinese peasant, she was required to act totally subservient to her husband, being perpetually huddled in submission, and barely spoke a word of dialogue during the entire film. Rainer recalls that Mayer did not approve of the film being produced or her part in it: "He was horrified at Irving Thalberg's insistence for me to play O-lan, the poor uncomely little Chinese peasant." However, she again won the Oscar for Best Actress, becoming the first actress to win two consecutive Oscars, a feat not matched until Katharine Hepburn's two Oscar wins thirty years later.
Grooming new stars
Besides bringing a distinctive high quality "look" to MGM films and often recreating well-known stories or plays, Thalberg's actors themselves took on a characteristic quality. Thalberg wanted his female actors to appear "cool, classy and beautiful," notes Flamini. And he strove to make the male actors appear "worldly and in control." In general, Thalberg movies and actors came to be "luxurious," "glossy," and "technically flawless." By doing so, he made stars or boosted the careers of actors such as Lon Chaney, Ramon Novarro, John Gilbert, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Helen Hayes, Jean Harlow, Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore and Luise Rainer.
Greta Garbo
In 1925, a young Greta Garbo, then twenty, and unable to speak any English, was brought over from Sweden at Mayer's request, as he saw how she looked in still photos. A Swedish friend thought he would help her by contacting Thalberg, who then agreed to give her a screen test. According to author Frederick Sands, "the result of the test was electrifying." Thalberg was impressed and began grooming the new starlet the following day: "the studio arranged to fix her teeth, made sure she lost weight, and gave her an English tutor."
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford's first role was a Thalberg production at MGM and she became one of their leading stars for the next thirty years. Crawford was somewhat jealous of Norma Shearer as she thought she was given the better material by her husband Thalberg out of nepotism. Nevertheless, she felt that his contribution to MGM was vital to the film industry. Not long after his early death, she recalls her concerns: "Thalberg was dead and the concept of the quality 'big' picture pretty much went out the window."
Marie Dressler
Thalberg also realized that old stars few had heard of could be made into new ones. Marie Dressler, a fifty-nine-year-old early vaudeville and movie star, who had played the top-billed lead, above Charles Chaplin and Mabel Normand), in the first feature-length comedy, Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914), was unable to get any roles in films after leaving show business for some years, finally working as a maid. MGM screenwriter Frances Marion suggested to Thalberg that she might fit well in a starring role for a new film, and was surprised that he knew of her prior successes. Thalberg approved of using her without a screen test and offered his rationale:
By 1932, shortly before she died, Dressler was the country's number one box office star.
Wallace Beery
Marie Dressler was paired twice, in Min and Bill (1930) and Tugboat Annie (1933), with Wallace Beery, another major silent star who had been struggling to get work in sound pictures until Thalberg cast him. Beery had enjoyed a hugely successful silent film career dating back to 1913, but had been fired by Paramount shortly after sound pictures appeared. Thalberg cast him in the role of "Machine Gun Butch," which had been meant for recently deceased Lon Chaney, in The Big House (1930), an energetic prison picture that became a huge hit. Beery was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, and his burgeoning career at MGM had transformed him into the studio's highest paid actor within two more years, during which time he won the Oscar for The Champ and had become a phenomenal box office draw as a result of Thalberg's foresight.
Getting audience feedback and reshooting
According to Vieira, MGM had few failures during this period, and numerous blockbusters. Among the reasons was Thalberg's unique system of developing a script during story conferences with writers before filming began, and later giving "sneak previews" followed by audience feedback through written questionnaires. Often, where he felt improvement was needed, he arranged for scenes to be reshot. As Thalberg once stated, "The difference between something good and something superior is often very small."
Bad decisions and missed opportunities
Thalberg felt he had his "finger on the pulse of America. I know what people will do and what they won't do," he said. His judgment was not always accurate, however. Thalberg's bringing Broadway productions to the screen to develop higher picture standards sometimes resulted in "studied" acting or "stagey" sets, notes Flamini. In 1927, after the successful release of the first full-length talking picture, The Jazz Singer (1927), he nevertheless felt that talking pictures were a fad. Thalberg likewise did not think that color would replace black-and-white in movies.
When an assistant protested against a script that envisioned a love scene in Paris with an ocean background, Thalberg refused to make changes, saying "We can't cater to a handful of people who know Paris." A more serious distraction to Thalberg's efforts was his obsession with making his wife Norma Shearer a prominent star, efforts which sometimes led to "overblown and overglamous" productions. Thalberg himself admitted to his obsession years later when he told a fellow producer: "You're behaving like I did with Norma. I knew positively that she could play anything. It's a kind of romantic astigmatism that attacks producers when they fall for an actress."
Important films at MGM
Ben Hur (1925)
One of the first pictures he took charge of, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, was inherited and already in production by another studio when MGM was formed. The film was turning into a disastrous expense with cost overruns already in the millions due to its lavish sets and location shooting in Rome. Most studio executives chose to terminate the film to cut their losses. Thalberg, however, felt differently, and thought the film would affect movie audiences, due to its classic literary source, and would highlight MGM as a major new studio.
He, therefore, discarded much of the original footage shot in Italy and recreated the set on MGM's back lots in Culver City, which added more millions to the production, yet gave him more control over production. The new set also included a replica of Circus Maximus for the dramatic chariot race scenes. Flamini notes that Thalberg's "gamble paid off," drawing international attention to MGM, and to Thalberg within the movie industry for his bold action.
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty was the studio's next most expensive film after Ben Hur, with some now calling it "Thalberg's masterpiece." He initially had difficulty convincing Mayer that he could make the film without making heroes of the mutineers. He achieved that by instead making a hero of the British Royal Navy, whereby the officers and shipmates would from then on display their mutual respect. Thalberg also had to convince Clark Gable to accept the role against his will. He pleaded with Gable, eventually promising him that "If it isn't one of your greatest successes, I'll never ask you again to play a part you don't want." The film's other main stars were Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Actor, and winning it for Best Picture. Thalberg accepted the award as producer from Frank Capra.
Thalberg and Mayer partnership
At first, Thalberg and studio chief Louis B. Mayer got along splendidly; however, they had different production philosophies. Thalberg preferred literary works, while Mayer preferred glitzy crowd-pleasing films. A clash was inevitable, and their relationship grew decidedly frosty. When Thalberg fell ill in the final weeks of 1932, Mayer took advantage of the situation and replaced him with David O. Selznick and Walter Wanger. Thalberg's reputation by that time for working long hours was widely known, and rumors about the related strain on his fragile health had become front-page news in entertainment trade publications. The Hollywood Reporter in January 1933 updated its readership about his condition and addressed growing concerns that he might be forced, despite his young age, to quit the business:
Once Thalberg recovered sufficiently from his bout with the "flu" and was able to return to work later in 1933, it was as one of MGM's unit producers, albeit one who had first choice on projects as well as preferential access to all the studio's resources, including over casting its stars. Thalberg's good relationship with Nicholas Schenck, then president of Loew's Incorporated, proved to be an ongoing advantage for him. Loew's was the corporate parent of MGM, so Schenck was the true power and ultimate arbiter at the studio; and he usually supported Thalberg's decisions and continued to do so whenever disagreements about projects or production needs arose. As a result, Thalberg also continued to produce or coproduce some of MGM's most prestigious and critically acclaimed ventures in this period, such as The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) starring his wife Norma Shearer, China Seas (1935), A Night at the Opera (1935), San Francisco (1936), and Romeo and Juliet (1936).
Personal life
During his few years with Universal while living in New York, Thalberg had become romantically involved with Carl Laemmle's daughter, Rosabelle. Still in his early twenties and later spending most of his time in Los Angeles, his feelings toward her were no longer as strong. Flamini suspects that this may have affected his position at Universal and partly caused his decision to leave the company. "The Laemmles prayed that Irving would marry Rosabelle", notes Flamini. "They wanted their sons to be educated and their daughters to marry nice Jewish boys."
Less than a year after he and Mayer took charge of the newly created MGM studios, and still only twenty-five years old, Thalberg suffered a serious heart attack due to overwork. Mayer also became aware of Thalberg's congenital heart problems and now worried about the prospect of running MGM without him. Mayer also became concerned that one of his daughters might become romantically involved, and told them so:
Thalberg, aware of Mayer's feelings, made it a point of never giving too much attention to his daughters at social events.
One of Thalberg's traits was his ability to work long hours into the night with little sign of fatigue. According to Vieira, Thalberg believed that as long as his mind was active in his work and he was not bored, he would not feel tired. Thalberg, who often got by with only five hours of sleep, felt that most people could get by with less than they realized. To keep his mental faculties at peak, he would read philosophical books by Bacon, Epictetus, or Kant. "They stimulate me. I'd drop out of sight in no time if I didn't read and keep up with current thought—and the philosophers are brain sharpeners."
During the early 1930s, Thalberg was ambivalent about political events in Europe. While he feared Nazism and the rise of Hitler, he also feared Communism. At the time, notes Vieira, "given a choice between communism and fascism, many Americans—including Thalberg—would prefer the latter." Thalberg stated his opinion:
When others suggested that many Jews could die in Germany as a result of Nazi anti-Semitism, he replied that in his opinion "Hitler and Hitlerism will pass." On one occasion, Catholic Prince Löwenstein of Germany, who himself had almost been captured before fleeing Germany, told him: "Mr. Thalberg, your own people are being systematically hunted down and rooted out of Germany." Thalberg suggested that world Jewry should nevertheless not interfere, that the Jewish race would survive Hitler. Within a few years, American film distribution was "choked off" in Germany. Led by Warner Brothers, all American studios eventually closed their German offices.
Thalberg began dating actress Norma Shearer a few years after he joined MGM. Following her conversion to Judaism, they married on Thursday, September 29, 1927, in a private ceremony in the garden of his rented house in Beverly Hills. Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin officiated at the event, with Shearer's brother Douglas Shearer giving the bride away, and Louis B. Mayer serving as best man. The couple drove to Monterey for their honeymoon and then moved into their newly constructed home in Beverly Hills.
After their second child was born, Shearer considered retiring from films, but Thalberg convinced her to continue acting, saying he could find her good roles. She went on to be one of MGM's biggest stars of the 1930s. Their two children were Irving Jr. (1930–1987) and Katharine (1935–2006).
Death
Thalberg and Shearer took a much-needed Labor Day weekend vacation in Monterey, California, in 1936, staying at the same beachfront hotel where they spent their honeymoon. A few weeks earlier, Thalberg's leading screenwriter, Al Lewin, had proposed doing a film based on a soon-to-be published book, Gone with the Wind. Although Thalberg said it would be a "sensational" role for Gable, and a "terrific picture," he decided not to do it:
Besides, Thalberg told Mayer, "[n]o Civil War picture ever made a nickel". Shortly after returning from Monterey, Thalberg was diagnosed with pneumonia. His condition worsened steadily and he eventually required an oxygen tent at home. He died on September 14, at the age of 37.
Sam Wood, while directing A Day at the Races, was given the news by phone. He returned to the set with tears in his eyes and told the others. As the news spread "the studio was paralyzed with shock", notes Thomas. "Work stopped and hundreds of people wept", with stars, writers, directors, and studio employees "all sharing a sense of loss at the death of a man who had been a part of their working lives", states Flamini.
His funeral took place two days later, and when the services began the other studios throughout Hollywood observed five minutes of silence. Producer Sam Goldwyn "wept uncontrollably for two days" and was unable to regain his composure enough to attend. The MGM studio closed for that day.
Services were held at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple that Thalberg had occasionally attended. The funeral attracted thousands of spectators who came to view the arrival of countless stars from MGM and other studios, including Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, the Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney, Howard Hughes, Al Jolson, Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, among the screen luminaries. The ushers who led them to their seats included Clark Gable, Fredric March, and playwright Moss Hart. Erich von Stroheim, who had been fired by Thalberg, came to pay his respects. Producers Louis B. Mayer, the Warner brothers, Adolph Zukor, and Nicholas Schenck sat together solemnly as Rabbi Magnin gave the eulogy.
Thalberg is buried in a private marble tomb in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, lying at rest beside his wife Norma Shearer Arrouge (Thalberg's crypt was engraved "My Sweetheart Forever" by Shearer).
Over the following days, tributes were published by the national press. Louis B. Mayer, his co-founding partner at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, said he had lost "the finest friend a man could ever have", while MGM president Nicholas Schenck stated that "Thalberg was the most important man in the production end of the motion-picture industry. Leading producers from the other studios also expressed their feelings in published tributes to Thalberg:
David O. Selznick described him as "beyond any question the greatest individual force for fine pictures." Samuel Goldwyn called him "the foremost figure in the motion-picture industry ... and an inspiration." M. H. Aylesworth, Chairman of RKO, wrote that "his integrity, vision and ability made him the spearhead of all motion-picture production throughout the world." Harry Warner, president of Warner Bros., described him as "gifted with one of the finest minds ever placed at the service of motion-picture production." Sidney R. Kent, president of Twentieth Century Fox, said that "he made the whole world richer by giving it the highest type of entertainment. He was a true genius." Columbia president Harry Cohn said the "motion picture industry has suffered a loss from which it will not soon recover...". Darryl F. Zanuck noted, "More than any other man he raised the industry to its present world prestige." Adolph Zukor, chairman of Paramount, stated, "Irving Thalberg was the most brilliant young man in the motion picture business." Jesse Lasky said, "It will be utterly impossible to replace him."
Among the condolences that came from world political leaders, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote, "The world of art is poorer with the passing of Irving Thalberg. His high ideals, insight and imagination went into the production of his masterpieces."
Among the pictures that were unfinished or not yet released at the time of his death were A Day at the Races, The Good Earth, Camille, Maytime, and Romeo and Juliet. Groucho Marx, star of A Day at the Races, wrote, "After Thalberg's death, my interest in the movies waned. I continued to appear in them, but ... The fun had gone out of picture making." Thalberg's widow, Norma Shearer, recalled, "Grief does very strange things to you. I didn't seem to feel the shock for two weeks afterwards. ... then, at the end of those two weeks, I collapsed."
Legacy in the movie industry
Thalberg's legacy to the movie industry is "incalculable", states biographer Bob Thomas. He notes that with his numerous production innovations and grand stories, often turning classic literature and Broadway stage productions into big-screen pictures, he managed to keep "American movies supreme throughout the world for a generation". Darryl F. Zanuck, founder of 20th Century-Fox said that during Thalberg's brief career, he had become the "most creative producer in the history of films". Thomas describes some of his contributions:
Most of MGM's major films in the 1930s were, according to Flamini, "in a very real sense", made by Thalberg. He closely supervised the making of "more pictures than any other producer in Hollywood's history", and was considered the "archetype of the creative producer", adds Flamini. Upon his early death, aged 37, an editorial in The New York Times called him "the most important force" in the motion picture industry. The paper added that for the film industry, he "set the pace and others followed ... because his way combined style, glamour, and profit." He is described by Flamini as having been "a revolutionary in a gray flannel suit".
Thalberg refused to take credit as producer, and as a result, his name never appeared on the screen while he was alive. Thalberg claimed that "credit you give yourself is not worth having". He also said "If a picture is good, they'll know who produced it. If it's bad, nobody cares." His final film, released after he died, was The Good Earth (1937), which won numerous Academy Awards. Its opening screen credit was dedicated to Thalberg:
In 1938, the new multimillion-dollar MGM administration building in Culver City was named for Thalberg. The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, also named for him, awards producers for consistently high production achievements.
Cultural legacy
The Last Tycoon
In October 1939, American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald began writing The Last Tycoon, a fictionalized biography of Thalberg, naming the protagonist Monroe Stahr to represent Thalberg. "Thalberg has always fascinated me", he wrote to an editor. "His peculiar charm, his extraordinary good looks, his bountiful success, the tragic end of his great adventure. The events I have built around him are fiction, but all of them are things which might very well have happened. ... I've long chosen him for a hero (this has been in my mind for three years) because he is one of the half-dozen men I have known who were built on a grand scale."
Thomas notes that among the reasons Fitzgerald chose to write a book about a Thalberg-like character, was that "throughout his literary career, Fitzgerald borrowed his heroes from friends he admired, and inevitably a bit of Fitzgerald entered the characterizations." Fitzgerald himself writes that "When I like men, I want to be like them ..." Fitzgerald and Thalberg had real-life similarities: both were prodigies, both had heart ailments, and they both died at early ages.
According to biographer Matthew J. Bruccoli, Fitzgerald believed that Thalberg, with his "taste and courage, represented the best of Hollywood. ... [and] saw Thalberg as a model for what could be done in the movies." Fitzgerald died before the novel was completed, however. Bruccoli writes of Fitzgerald's book:
Although parallels between Monroe Stahr in the novel and Thalberg were evident, many who knew Thalberg intimately stated that they did not see similarities in their personalities. Norma Shearer said that the Stahr character was not at all like her former husband.
In the 1976 film version, directed by Elia Kazan, Monroe Stahr was played by Robert De Niro. Kazan, in his pre-production notes, described the Stahr character as he saw him:
In the 2016 television series based on the novel, Monroe Stahr is played by Matt Bomer.
Others
Fitzgerald also based his short story "Crazy Sunday", originally published in the October 1932 issue of American Mercury, on an incident at a party thrown by Thalberg and Shearer. The story is included in Fitzgerald's collection Taps at Reveille (1935).
Thalberg was portrayed in the movie Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) by Robert Evans, who went on to become a studio head himself.
Thalberg was portrayed by Bill Cusack in Young Indiana Jones and the Hollywood Follies (1994), a TV film based on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, in which Indiana Jones is depicted as taking part in Thalberg's conflict with Erich von Stroheim over Foolish Wives.
In 2020, Thalberg was played by Ferdinand Kingsley in the David Fincher film Mank
Thalberg, played by Tobey Maguire, is rumored to appear in the upcoming movie Babylon.
Filmography
Producer
Reputation (1921)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
Merry-Go-Round (1923)
His Hour (1924)
He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
The Unholy Three (1925)
The Merry Widow (1925)
The Tower of Lies (1925)
The Big Parade (1925)
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)
Torrent (1926)
La Bohème (1926)
Brown of Harvard (1926)
The Road to Mandalay (1926)
The Temptress (1926)
Valencia (1926)
Flesh and the Devil (1926)
Twelve Miles Out (1927)
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927)
London After Midnight (1927)
The Crowd (1928)
Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928)
White Shadows in the South Seas (1928)
Show People (1928)
West of Zanzibar (1928)
The Broadway Melody (1929)
The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929)
Voice of the City (1929)
Where East Is East (1929)
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1929)
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)
Hallelujah (1929)
His Glorious Night (1929)
The Kiss (1929)
Anna Christie (1930)
Redemption (1930)
The Divorcee (1930)
The Rogue Song (1930)
The Big House (1930)
The Unholy Three (1930)
Let Us Be Gay (1930)
Billy the Kid (1930)
Way for a Sailor (1930)
A Lady's Morals (1930)
Inspiration (1931)
Trader Horn (1931)
The Secret Six (1931)
A Free Soul (1931)
Just a Gigolo (1931)
Menschen hinter Gittern (1931), German-language version of The Big House (1930)
The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931)
The Guardsman (1931)
The Champ (1931)
Possessed (1931)
Private Lives (1931)
Mata Hari (1931)
Freaks (1932)
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
Grand Hotel (1932)
Letty Lynton (1932)
As You Desire Me (1932)
Red-Headed Woman (1932)
Smilin' Through (1932)
Red Dust (1932)
Rasputin and the Empress (1932)
Strange Interlude (1932)
Tugboat Annie (1933)
Bombshell (1933)
Eskimo (1933)
La Veuve Joyeuse (1934) French-language version of The Merry Widow
Riptide (1934)
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
The Merry Widow (1934)
What Every Woman Knows (1934)
Biography of a Bachelor Girl (1935)
No More Ladies (1935)
China Seas (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
Riffraff (1936)
Romeo and Juliet (1936)
Camille (1936)
Maytime (1937)
A Day at the Races (1937)
Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937)
The Good Earth (1937)
Marie Antoinette (1938)
Writer
The Trap (1922)
The Dangerous Little Demon (1922)
Awards
Academy Awards
Notes
Further reading
Books
Flamini, Roland. Thalberg: The Last Tycoon and the World of M-G-M (1994)
Marx, Samuel. Mayer and Thalberg: The Make-believe Saints (1975)
Thomas, Bob. Thalberg: Life and Legend (1969)
Vieira, Mark A. Irving Thalberg's M-G-M. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2008.
Vieira, Mark A. Irving Thalberg: Boy Wonder to Producer Prince. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009.
Articles
Starman, Ray. "Irving Thalberg", Films In Review, June/July 1987, p. 347–353
External links
Irving Thalberg at TCM
Cinemagraphe Review of the Roland Flamini biography of Thalberg: The Last Tycoon and the World of MGM
Irving Thalberg at Virtual History
Irving Thalberg profiled in Collier's Magazine (1924)
Videos
1899 births
1936 deaths
American film producers
Film producers from California
Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award
American film studio executives
American male screenwriters
Cinema pioneers
Silent film directors
Silent film producers
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences founders
Businesspeople from Los Angeles
Hollywood history and culture
California Republicans
New York (state) Republicans
USC School of Cinematic Arts faculty
20th-century American businesspeople
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from New York (state)
People from Brooklyn
American anti-communists
American people of German-Jewish descent
Deaths from pneumonia in California
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American writers
Jewish American writers
20th-century American screenwriters
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[
"Where's Wally Now? (called Find Waldo Now and later Where's Waldo Now? in the US) was the second Where's Wally? book. It was first published in 1988. In the book Wally travels through time as he visits many different locations and events. He also loses a book on each page, which the reader has to find.\n\nThe book was re-released in October 1997 in a special edition where Wally was moved in each picture and additional characters were added for the reader to find (Woof, Wizard Whitebeard, Wenda, Odlaw, the Wally Watchers and others).\n\nThe book has since been re-published into a smaller size/format.\n\nScenes\nThe Stone Age (Unknown)\nThe Riddle of the Pyramids (2590 BC)\nFun and Games in Ancient Rome (58 AD)\nOn Tour with the Vikings (985 AD)\nThe End of the Crusades (1188 AD) (before 2016 editions)\nChaos at the Castle (1188 AD) (since 2016 editions)\nOnce Upon a Saturday Morning (1388 AD)\nThe Last Days of the Aztecs (1520 AD)\nTrouble in Old Japan (1588 AD)\nBeing a Pirate (1738 AD)\nHaving a Ball in Gaye Paree (1870 AD)\nThe Gold Rush (1888 AD)\nThe Future (Unknown)\n\nBritish picture books\nPuzzle books\nWhere's Wally? books\nLittle, Brown and Company books\n1988 children's books\nBritish children's books",
"Jamal ad-Din () (flourished mid-14th century) was a governor of the Sultanate of Ifat. He was the son of Nahwi b. Mansur b. Umar Walashma (Umar ibn Dunya-huz) and a brother of Haqq ad-Din I.\n\nReign\nThe Emperor of Ethiopia Amda Seyon I made Jamal ad-Din Governor of Ifat after the defeat and imprisonment of his brother Sabr ad-Din I. Taddesse Tamrat notes that Jamal ad-Din had been released from prison upon his appointment, and speculates that the Emperor had held onto the noble as a hostage to guarantee the loyalty of Ifat.\n\nHowever, according to the Glorious Victories of Amda Seyon, Jamal ad-Din proved unfaithful to Emperor Amda Seyon. First, he allegedly was part of the alliance that attacked, and was defeated by, the Emperor in the Battle of Das; towards the end of that same year, Jamal ad-Din was ordered to deliver apostate Christians to the Emperor for punishment, but refused, although he did produce the \"son of his brother\". For this, Emperor Amda Seyon ravaged Ifat and replaced Jamal ad-Din with his brother Nasr ad-Din. The interpretation of this passage varies: Trimingham holds he joined the alliance of Mora and Adal in revolt against the empire, but they were defeated by the Emperor. On the other hand, Taddesse Tamrat states that Jamal's rebellion never got that far, and he was recalled to the Ethiopian court and returned to prison on the pretext that he failed to find and bring to the Emperor all of the Christians who had converted to Islam. Jamal ad-Din alleged that the \"son of his brother\" (whom Taddesse Tamrat speculates might be the son of Sa'ad ad-Din) had prevented him from doing so.\n\nSee also\nJamal ad-Din II\nWalashma dynasty\n\nNotes\n\nSultans of Ifat\n14th-century deaths\n14th-century monarchs in Africa\nYear of birth unknown\n14th-century Somalian people\nSomali sultans\nSomalian Muslims\nYear of death missing\nAfrican royalty\nAfrican rulers\nHistory of Somaliland\nHistory of Africa\nAfrican monarchs"
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[
"Irving Thalberg",
"Early years",
"What happened in Irvings early years?",
"Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed with \"blue baby syndrome,\"",
"How did this syndrome affect his life?",
"During his high school years in Brooklyn, he began having attacks of chest pains, dizziness and fatigue.",
"Did he ever get better?",
"When Thalberg returned to school, he finished high school but lacked the stamina for college,",
"So he didnt go to college?",
"Instead, he took part-time jobs as a store clerk, and in the evenings, to gain some job skills, taught himself typing,",
"Did he get an important job afterwards?",
"When he turned 18, he placed an ad with the local newspaper hoping to find better work:",
"And was this ad successful, did he find a better job?",
"I don't know."
] |
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Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
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Besides an ad with the local newspaper, are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
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Irving Thalberg
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Thalberg was born in Brooklyn, to German Jewish immigrant parents, William and Henrietta (Haymann). Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed with "blue baby syndrome," caused by a congenital disease that limited the oxygen supply to his heart. The prognosis from the family's doctor and specialists was that he might live to age twenty, or at most, age thirty. During his high school years in Brooklyn, he began having attacks of chest pains, dizziness and fatigue. This affected his ability to study, though until that time he was a good student. When he was 17, he contracted rheumatic fever, and was confined to bed for a year. His mother, Henrietta, to prevent him falling too far behind other students, brought him homework from school, books, and tutors to teach him at home. She also hoped that the schoolwork and reading would distract him from the "tantalizing sounds" of children playing outside his window. With little to entertain him, he read books as a main activity. He devoured popular novels, classics, plays, and biographies. His books, of necessity, replaced the streets of New York, and led to his interest in classical philosophy and philosophers, such as William James. When Thalberg returned to school, he finished high school but lacked the stamina for college, which he felt would have required constant late-night studying and cramming for exams. Instead, he took part-time jobs as a store clerk, and in the evenings, to gain some job skills, taught himself typing, shorthand and Spanish at a night vocational school. When he turned 18, he placed an ad with the local newspaper hoping to find better work: "Situation Wanted: Secretary, stenographer, Spanish, English, high school education, no experience; $15." CANNOTANSWER
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Thalberg was born in Brooklyn, to German Jewish immigrant parents, William and Henrietta (Haymann).
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Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather production staff, and make profitable films, including Grand Hotel, China Seas, A Night at the Opera, Mutiny on the Bounty, Camille and The Good Earth. His films carved out an international market, "projecting a seductive image of American life brimming with vitality and rooted in democracy and personal freedom", states biographer Roland Flamini.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and as a child was afflicted with a congenital heart disease that doctors said would kill him before he reached the age of thirty. After graduating from high school he worked as a store clerk during the day and to gain some job skills took a night class in typing. He then found work as a secretary with Universal Studios' New York office, and was later made studio manager for their Los Angeles facility. There, he oversaw production of a hundred films during his three years with the company. Among the films he produced was The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923).
In Los Angeles, he partnered with Louis B. Mayer's new studio and, after it merged with two other studios, helped create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). He was made head of production of MGM in 1925, at the age of twenty-six, helping MGM become the most successful studio in Hollywood. During his twelve years with MGM, until his premature death at the age of 37, he produced four hundred films, most of which bore his imprint and innovations, including story conferences with writers, sneak previews to gain early feedback, and extensive re-shooting of scenes to improve the film. In addition, he introduced horror films to audiences and coauthored the "Production Code", guidelines for morality followed by all studios. During the 1920s and 1930s, he synthesized and merged the world of stage drama and literary classics with Hollywood films.
Thalberg created numerous new stars and groomed their screen images. Among them were Lon Chaney, Ramon Novarro, Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery, Spencer Tracy, Luise Rainer, and Norma Shearer, who became his wife. He had the ability to combine quality with commercial success, and was credited with bringing his artistic aspirations in line with the demands of audiences. After his death, Hollywood's producers said he had been the world's "foremost figure in motion-picture history". President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote, "The world of art is poorer with the passing of Irving Thalberg. His high ideals, insight and imagination went into the production of his masterpieces." The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, given out periodically by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1937, has been awarded to producers whose body of work reflected consistently high quality films.
Early years
Thalberg was born in Brooklyn, to German Jewish immigrant parents, William and Henrietta (Haymann). Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed with "blue baby syndrome", caused by a congenital disease that limited the oxygen supply to his heart. The prognosis from the family's doctor and specialists was that he might live to the age of twenty, or at most, to thirty.
During his high school years in Brooklyn, he began having attacks of chest pains, dizziness and fatigue. This affected his ability to study, though until that time he was a good student. When he was 17 he contracted rheumatic fever, and was confined to bed for a year. His mother, in order to prevent him falling too far behind other students, brought him homework from school, books, and tutors to teach him at home. She also hoped that the schoolwork and reading would distract him from the "tantalizing sounds" of children playing outside his window.
With little to entertain him, he read books as a main activity. He devoured popular novels, classics, plays, and biographies. His books, of necessity, replaced the streets of New York, and led to his interest in classical philosophy and philosophers, such as William James.
When Thalberg returned to school, he finished high school but lacked the stamina for college, which he felt would have required constant late-night studying and cramming for exams. Instead, he took part-time jobs as a store clerk, and in the evenings, to gain some job skills, taught himself typing, shorthand and Spanish at a night vocational school. When he turned 18, he placed an advertisement in the local newspaper hoping to find better work:
Career as producer
Universal Studios
He found work as an office secretary at Universal Pictures' New York office, and later became personal secretary to the studio's founder and president, Carl Laemmle. Among Thalberg's duties were transcribing and editing notes that Laemmle had written during screenings of his films. He earned $25 weekly, becoming adept at making insightful observations, which impressed Laemmle.
Laemmle took Thalberg to see his Los Angeles production facility, where he spent a month watching how movie production worked. Before returning to New York, Laemmle told Thalberg to remain and "keep an eye on things for me." Two months later, Laemmle returned to California, partly to see how well Thalberg was able to handle the responsibilities he was given. Thalberg gave him suggestions, and thus impressed Laemmle by his ability to understand and explain problems.
Thalberg suggested, "The first thing you should do is establish a new job of studio manager and give him the responsibility of watching day-to-day operations." Laemmle immediately agreed: "All right. You're it." In shock, Thalberg replied, "I'm what?" Laemmle told him to take charge of the Los Angeles studio, which he did in early 1919. When aged 20, Thalberg became responsible for immediately overseeing the nine ongoing film productions and nearly thirty scenarios then under development.
In describing the rationale for this early appointment as studio manager, film historian David Thomson writes that his new job "owed nothing to nepotism, private wealth, or experience in the film industry." He reasons that despite "Thalberg's youth, modest education, and frail appearance ... it is clear that he had the charm, insight, and ability, or the appearance of it, to captivate the film world."
Thalberg was one among the majority of Hollywood film industry workers who migrated from the East Coast, primarily from New York. Some film actors, such as Conrad Nagel, did not like the five-day train trip or the sudden warmth of the California climate. Neither did Marion Davies, who was not used to such "big wide spaces". Samuel Marx, a close friend of Thalberg's from New York, recalled how easily Thalberg adapted to Southern California, often standing outside his doorway during moments of contemplation to enjoy the scenery. "We were all young", said comedian Buster Keaton. "The air in California was like wine. Our business was also young—and growing like nothing ever seen before."
Confrontation with Erich von Stroheim
He quickly established his tenacity as he battled with well-known director Erich von Stroheim over the length of Foolish Wives (1922). Biographer Roland Flamini notes that the film was Universal's most expensive "jewel" ever in production, and its director and star, von Stroheim, was taking the film way over budget. Thalberg, now Universal's general manager, was forced to have the director quickly finalize production before the studio's working capital was used up. Flamini describes the situation:
Thalberg had von Stroheim come to his office, which he did still wearing his film costume as a Russian Imperial Guard and escorted by members of his production team. Thalberg calmly told him, "I have seen all the film and you have all you need for the picture. I want you to stop shooting", to which von Stroheim replied, "But I have not finished as yet." "Yes, you have", said Thalberg. "You have spent all the money this company can afford. I cannot allow you to spend any more."
Thalberg quietly explained that the director worked under the producer, and it was his responsibility to control costs. Von Stroheim, surrounded by his assistants, then confronted Thalberg: "If you were not my superior, I would smash you in the face." Thalberg, unflinching, said "Don't let that stop you." The result was that Thalberg soon afterward removed the cameras from von Stroheim's studio and took over editing. The uncut footage was pared down from five-and-a-half hours to three hours, to von Stroheim's deep dissatisfaction.
A similar problem developed with von Stroheim's next film, Merry-Go-Round (1923). Although he had promised Thalberg to remain within budget this time, he continued production until it went to twice the agreed length and was not yet near completion. Flamini speculates why this happened:
Thalberg again called von Stroheim to his office, handed him a long letter written and signed by himself, describing the problems, and summarily fired von Stroheim as of that moment. Thalberg's letter stated among the reasons,
totally inexcusable and repeated acts of insubordination ... extravagant ideas which you have been unwilling to sacrifice ... unnecessary delays ... and your apparent idea that you are greater and more powerful than the organization that employs you.
His dismissal of von Stroheim was considered an "earthquake in movie circles", notes Flamini. Producer David O. Selznick said that "it was the first time a director had been fired. It took great guts and courage ... Von Stroheim was utterly indifferent over money and could have gone on and spent millions, with nobody to stop him.". The opinion was shared by director Rouben Mamoulian, who said that the "little fellow at Universal", in one bold stroke, had "asserted the primacy of the studio over the director" and forever altered the balance of power in the movie industry.
Effects of his young age
According to Flamini, his youth was a subject of conversation within the movie community. Executives from other studios, actors, and film crew, often mistook him to be a junior employee. Movie columnist Louella Parsons, upon first being introduced to him, asked, "What's the joke? Where's the new general manager?" After five minutes of talking to Thalberg, however, she later wrote about "Universal's Boy Wonder": "He might be a boy in looks and age, but it was no child's mind that was being asked to cope with the intricate politics of Universal City." Novelist Edna Ferber responded the same way, writing that "I had fancied motion-picture producers as large gentlemen smoking oversized cigars. But this young man whose word seemed so final at Universal City ... impressed me deeply."
The male actors in the studio had a similar reaction. Lionel Barrymore, who was nearly twice his age, recalled their meetings:
Thalberg likewise gained the respect of leading playwrights, some of whom also looked down on him due to his youth. George S. Kaufman, co-author of Dinner at Eight, several Marx Brothers films, and two George Gershwin plays, came from New York to meet with Thalberg. Afterward he confided to his friend, Groucho Marx: "That man has never written a word, yet he can tell me exactly what to do with a story. I didn't know you had people like that out here."
Actress Norma Shearer, whom he later married, was surprised after he greeted her at the door, then walked her to his office for her first job interview: "Then you're not the office boy?" she asked. He smiled, as he sat himself behind his desk: "No, Miss Shearer, I'm Irving Thalberg, vice-president of the Mayer Company. I'm the man who sent for you."
His younger-than-normal age for a studio executive was usually mentioned even after he left Universal to help start up MGM. Screenwriter Agnes Christine Johnson, who worked with Thalberg for years, described his contribution during meetings:
The same quality was observed by director and screenwriter Hobart Henley: "If something that read well in conference turns out not so good on the screen, I go to him and, like that—Henley snaps his fingers—he has a remedy. He's brilliant." Another assistant producer to Thalberg explains:
His youth also contributed to his open-mindedness to the ideas of others. Conrad Nagel, who starred in numerous Thalberg films, reported that Thalberg was generally empathetic to those he worked alongside: "Thalberg never raised his voice. He just looked into your eyes, spoke softly, and after a few minutes he cast a spell on you." Studio attorney Edwin Loeb, who also worked to create AMPAS, explained that "the real foundation of Irving's success was his ability to look at life through the eyes of any given person. He had a gift of empathy, and almost complete perspective." Those opinions were also shared by producer Walter Wanger: "You thought that you were talking to an Indian savant. He could cast a spell on anybody."
His talent as a producer was enhanced by his "near-miraculous" powers of concentration, notes film critic J. Hoberman. As a result, he was never bored or tired, and supplemented his spare time with reading for his own amusement, recalls screenwriter Bayard Veiller, with some of his favorite authors being Francis Bacon, Epictetus, and Immanuel Kant.
Film projects at Universal
Biographer Bob Thomas writes that after three years at the studio, Thalberg continually proved his value. Universal's pictures improved noticeably, primarily due to Thalberg's "uncanny sense of story." He took tight control over many key aspects of production, including his requirement that from then on scripts were tightly constructed before filming began, rather than during production. Thomas adds that he also "showed a remarkable capacity for working with actors, casting them aptly and advising them on their careers."
After producing two films that were in production when he began work at Universal, he presented Laemmle with his idea for a film based on one of his favorite classic stories, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Rather than just a horror picture, Thalberg suggested turning it into a spectacle which would include a replica of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. He had Lon Chaney play the hunchback. The film became Universal's most profitable silent film and established Chaney's career as a top-flight star.
After nearly three years with Universal, Thalberg had supervised over a hundred movies, reorganized the studio to give more control to the managers, and had "stopped the defection" of many of their leading stars by offering them better, higher-paying contracts. He also produced a number of Universal's prestige films, which made the company profitable. However, he decided it was time to find a studio in Los Angeles more suitable to his skills, and spread word that he was available.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Cecil B. DeMille was the first who wanted to hire him, telling his partner Jesse Lasky, "The boy is a genius. I can see it. I know it." Lasky opposed the hire, stating, "Geniuses we have all we need." Thalberg then received an offer from Hal Roach, but the offer was withdrawn because Thalberg lacked experience with slapstick comedy films. In late 1922, Thalberg was introduced to Louis B. Mayer, president of a small but dynamic and fast-growing studio. At that first meeting, Thalberg "made a deep, immediate impression on Mayer", writes Flamini. After Thalberg had left, Mayer said to studio attorney Edwin Loeb: "Tell him if he comes to work for me, I'll look after him as though he were my son."
Although their personalities were in many ways opposite, Mayer being more outspoken and nearly twice the younger man's age, Thalberg was hired as vice president in charge of production at Louis B. Mayer Productions. Years later, Mayer's daughter Irene Mayer Selznick recalled that "it was hard to believe anyone that boyish could be so important." According to Flamini, Thalberg was hired because, although Mayer was an astute businessman, "what he lacked was Thalberg's almost unerring ability to combine quality with commercial success, to bring artistic aspiration in line with the demands of the box office." Mayer's company subsequently merged with two others to become Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), with the 24-year-old Thalberg made part-owner and accorded the same position as vice president in charge of production. Three years after the merger, MGM became the most successful studio in Hollywood.
During his twelve years at MGM, Thalberg supervised the production of over four hundred films. Although Thalberg and his colleagues at MGM knew he was "doomed" to not live much past the age of 30 due to heart disease, he loved producing films. He continued developing innovative ideas and overseeing most of MGM's pictures. Under Thalberg's management, MGM released over 40% more films yearly than Warner Brothers, and more than double Paramount's releases. From 1924 until 1936, when Thalberg died at the age of 37, "almost every film bore Thalberg's imprint", wrote Mark Vieira.
Production innovations
Thalberg's production techniques "broke new ground in filmmaking", adds Vieira. Among his contributions at MGM was his innovation of story conferences, sneak previews and scene retakes. He introduced the first horror films and coauthored the Production Code, the set of moral guidelines that all film studios agreed to follow. Thalberg helped synthesize and merge the world of stage drama and literary classics with Hollywood films.
MGM thereby became the only movie studio to consistently show a profit during the Great Depression. Flamini explains that the equation for MGM's success depended on combining stars, a Broadway hit or popular classic, and high standards of production. This combination at the time was considered a "revolutionary approach" in the film industry, which until then assumed a star was all that was needed for success, regardless of the story or production quality. The other studios began following MGM's lead with that same formula.
Production techniques
Thalberg generally followed a system in managing his productions. According to one of his assistants, Lawrence Weingarten, who later became a producer, "Thalberg directed the film on paper, and then the director directed the film on film."
Thalberg was generally opposed to location shooting overseas where he could not oversee production and control costs, as happened with Ben Hur. Thus, he kept hundreds of back-lot carpenters at work creating realistic sets, as he did for fifteenth-century Romeo and Juliet (1936), or with China Seas (1935), to replicate the harbors of Hong Kong.
Vieira points out that Thalberg's "fascination with Broadway plays" often had him create and present stories visually. For China Seas, for instance, he described for the screenwriters, director and others, exactly how he wanted the film to appear on screen:
To be certain of achieving the desired effects, Thalberg made sure his cinematographers were careful in their use of light and shadow. Vieira observes that "more than any other producer or any other studio, Thalberg and MGM manipulated lenses, filters, and lighting instruments to affect the viewer." As a result, he notes, "most of Thalberg's films contain moments such as these, in which cinematic technique transcends mere exposition and gives the viewer something to treasure."
Thalberg was supported by most of the studio in these kinds of creative decisions. "It was a big family," notes Weingarten. "If we had a success, everybody—and I mean every cutter, every painter, every plasterer—was excited about it, was abuzz, was in a tizzy about the whole idea of picture making."
Taking risks with new subjects and stars
In 1929, MGM released fifty films, and all but five showed a profit. Of those that failed, Hallelujah was also a gamble by Thalberg. When King Vidor, the film's producer and director, proposed the idea to Thalberg of a major film cast, for the first time, exclusively with African Americans, he told Thalberg directly, "I doubt that it will make a dollar at the box office." Thalberg replied, "Don't worry about that. I've told you that MGM can afford an occasional experiment."
By the early 1930s, a number of stars began failing at the box office, partly due to the Great Depression that was now undermining the economy, along with the public's ability to spend on entertainment. Thalberg began using two stars in a film, rather than one, as had been the tradition at all the studios, such as pairing Greta Garbo with John Gilbert, Clark Gable with Jean Harlow, and William Powell with Myrna Loy. After experimenting with a few such films, including Mata Hari (1931), which were profitable, he decided on a multi-star production of another Broadway play, Grand Hotel (1932). It had five major stars, including Garbo, Joan Crawford, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, and Wallace Beery. "Before Thalberg," writes Vieira, "there was no Grand Hotel in the American consciousness." The film won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1932.
Thalberg went against consensus and took another risk with The Great Ziegfeld (1936), costarring Luise Rainer. Although Louis B. Mayer did not want her in the role, which he felt was too minor for a new star, Thalberg felt that "only she could play the part", wrote biographer Charles Higham. Shortly after shooting began in late 1935, doubts of Rainer's acting ability emerged in the press. However, despite her limited appearances in the film, Rainer "so impressed audiences with one highly emotional scene" that she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
After her winning role in The Great Ziegfeld, Thalberg wanted her to play a role that was the opposite of her previous character, for The Good Earth (1937). For the part as a Chinese peasant, she was required to act totally subservient to her husband, being perpetually huddled in submission, and barely spoke a word of dialogue during the entire film. Rainer recalls that Mayer did not approve of the film being produced or her part in it: "He was horrified at Irving Thalberg's insistence for me to play O-lan, the poor uncomely little Chinese peasant." However, she again won the Oscar for Best Actress, becoming the first actress to win two consecutive Oscars, a feat not matched until Katharine Hepburn's two Oscar wins thirty years later.
Grooming new stars
Besides bringing a distinctive high quality "look" to MGM films and often recreating well-known stories or plays, Thalberg's actors themselves took on a characteristic quality. Thalberg wanted his female actors to appear "cool, classy and beautiful," notes Flamini. And he strove to make the male actors appear "worldly and in control." In general, Thalberg movies and actors came to be "luxurious," "glossy," and "technically flawless." By doing so, he made stars or boosted the careers of actors such as Lon Chaney, Ramon Novarro, John Gilbert, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Helen Hayes, Jean Harlow, Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore and Luise Rainer.
Greta Garbo
In 1925, a young Greta Garbo, then twenty, and unable to speak any English, was brought over from Sweden at Mayer's request, as he saw how she looked in still photos. A Swedish friend thought he would help her by contacting Thalberg, who then agreed to give her a screen test. According to author Frederick Sands, "the result of the test was electrifying." Thalberg was impressed and began grooming the new starlet the following day: "the studio arranged to fix her teeth, made sure she lost weight, and gave her an English tutor."
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford's first role was a Thalberg production at MGM and she became one of their leading stars for the next thirty years. Crawford was somewhat jealous of Norma Shearer as she thought she was given the better material by her husband Thalberg out of nepotism. Nevertheless, she felt that his contribution to MGM was vital to the film industry. Not long after his early death, she recalls her concerns: "Thalberg was dead and the concept of the quality 'big' picture pretty much went out the window."
Marie Dressler
Thalberg also realized that old stars few had heard of could be made into new ones. Marie Dressler, a fifty-nine-year-old early vaudeville and movie star, who had played the top-billed lead, above Charles Chaplin and Mabel Normand), in the first feature-length comedy, Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914), was unable to get any roles in films after leaving show business for some years, finally working as a maid. MGM screenwriter Frances Marion suggested to Thalberg that she might fit well in a starring role for a new film, and was surprised that he knew of her prior successes. Thalberg approved of using her without a screen test and offered his rationale:
By 1932, shortly before she died, Dressler was the country's number one box office star.
Wallace Beery
Marie Dressler was paired twice, in Min and Bill (1930) and Tugboat Annie (1933), with Wallace Beery, another major silent star who had been struggling to get work in sound pictures until Thalberg cast him. Beery had enjoyed a hugely successful silent film career dating back to 1913, but had been fired by Paramount shortly after sound pictures appeared. Thalberg cast him in the role of "Machine Gun Butch," which had been meant for recently deceased Lon Chaney, in The Big House (1930), an energetic prison picture that became a huge hit. Beery was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, and his burgeoning career at MGM had transformed him into the studio's highest paid actor within two more years, during which time he won the Oscar for The Champ and had become a phenomenal box office draw as a result of Thalberg's foresight.
Getting audience feedback and reshooting
According to Vieira, MGM had few failures during this period, and numerous blockbusters. Among the reasons was Thalberg's unique system of developing a script during story conferences with writers before filming began, and later giving "sneak previews" followed by audience feedback through written questionnaires. Often, where he felt improvement was needed, he arranged for scenes to be reshot. As Thalberg once stated, "The difference between something good and something superior is often very small."
Bad decisions and missed opportunities
Thalberg felt he had his "finger on the pulse of America. I know what people will do and what they won't do," he said. His judgment was not always accurate, however. Thalberg's bringing Broadway productions to the screen to develop higher picture standards sometimes resulted in "studied" acting or "stagey" sets, notes Flamini. In 1927, after the successful release of the first full-length talking picture, The Jazz Singer (1927), he nevertheless felt that talking pictures were a fad. Thalberg likewise did not think that color would replace black-and-white in movies.
When an assistant protested against a script that envisioned a love scene in Paris with an ocean background, Thalberg refused to make changes, saying "We can't cater to a handful of people who know Paris." A more serious distraction to Thalberg's efforts was his obsession with making his wife Norma Shearer a prominent star, efforts which sometimes led to "overblown and overglamous" productions. Thalberg himself admitted to his obsession years later when he told a fellow producer: "You're behaving like I did with Norma. I knew positively that she could play anything. It's a kind of romantic astigmatism that attacks producers when they fall for an actress."
Important films at MGM
Ben Hur (1925)
One of the first pictures he took charge of, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, was inherited and already in production by another studio when MGM was formed. The film was turning into a disastrous expense with cost overruns already in the millions due to its lavish sets and location shooting in Rome. Most studio executives chose to terminate the film to cut their losses. Thalberg, however, felt differently, and thought the film would affect movie audiences, due to its classic literary source, and would highlight MGM as a major new studio.
He, therefore, discarded much of the original footage shot in Italy and recreated the set on MGM's back lots in Culver City, which added more millions to the production, yet gave him more control over production. The new set also included a replica of Circus Maximus for the dramatic chariot race scenes. Flamini notes that Thalberg's "gamble paid off," drawing international attention to MGM, and to Thalberg within the movie industry for his bold action.
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty was the studio's next most expensive film after Ben Hur, with some now calling it "Thalberg's masterpiece." He initially had difficulty convincing Mayer that he could make the film without making heroes of the mutineers. He achieved that by instead making a hero of the British Royal Navy, whereby the officers and shipmates would from then on display their mutual respect. Thalberg also had to convince Clark Gable to accept the role against his will. He pleaded with Gable, eventually promising him that "If it isn't one of your greatest successes, I'll never ask you again to play a part you don't want." The film's other main stars were Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Actor, and winning it for Best Picture. Thalberg accepted the award as producer from Frank Capra.
Thalberg and Mayer partnership
At first, Thalberg and studio chief Louis B. Mayer got along splendidly; however, they had different production philosophies. Thalberg preferred literary works, while Mayer preferred glitzy crowd-pleasing films. A clash was inevitable, and their relationship grew decidedly frosty. When Thalberg fell ill in the final weeks of 1932, Mayer took advantage of the situation and replaced him with David O. Selznick and Walter Wanger. Thalberg's reputation by that time for working long hours was widely known, and rumors about the related strain on his fragile health had become front-page news in entertainment trade publications. The Hollywood Reporter in January 1933 updated its readership about his condition and addressed growing concerns that he might be forced, despite his young age, to quit the business:
Once Thalberg recovered sufficiently from his bout with the "flu" and was able to return to work later in 1933, it was as one of MGM's unit producers, albeit one who had first choice on projects as well as preferential access to all the studio's resources, including over casting its stars. Thalberg's good relationship with Nicholas Schenck, then president of Loew's Incorporated, proved to be an ongoing advantage for him. Loew's was the corporate parent of MGM, so Schenck was the true power and ultimate arbiter at the studio; and he usually supported Thalberg's decisions and continued to do so whenever disagreements about projects or production needs arose. As a result, Thalberg also continued to produce or coproduce some of MGM's most prestigious and critically acclaimed ventures in this period, such as The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) starring his wife Norma Shearer, China Seas (1935), A Night at the Opera (1935), San Francisco (1936), and Romeo and Juliet (1936).
Personal life
During his few years with Universal while living in New York, Thalberg had become romantically involved with Carl Laemmle's daughter, Rosabelle. Still in his early twenties and later spending most of his time in Los Angeles, his feelings toward her were no longer as strong. Flamini suspects that this may have affected his position at Universal and partly caused his decision to leave the company. "The Laemmles prayed that Irving would marry Rosabelle", notes Flamini. "They wanted their sons to be educated and their daughters to marry nice Jewish boys."
Less than a year after he and Mayer took charge of the newly created MGM studios, and still only twenty-five years old, Thalberg suffered a serious heart attack due to overwork. Mayer also became aware of Thalberg's congenital heart problems and now worried about the prospect of running MGM without him. Mayer also became concerned that one of his daughters might become romantically involved, and told them so:
Thalberg, aware of Mayer's feelings, made it a point of never giving too much attention to his daughters at social events.
One of Thalberg's traits was his ability to work long hours into the night with little sign of fatigue. According to Vieira, Thalberg believed that as long as his mind was active in his work and he was not bored, he would not feel tired. Thalberg, who often got by with only five hours of sleep, felt that most people could get by with less than they realized. To keep his mental faculties at peak, he would read philosophical books by Bacon, Epictetus, or Kant. "They stimulate me. I'd drop out of sight in no time if I didn't read and keep up with current thought—and the philosophers are brain sharpeners."
During the early 1930s, Thalberg was ambivalent about political events in Europe. While he feared Nazism and the rise of Hitler, he also feared Communism. At the time, notes Vieira, "given a choice between communism and fascism, many Americans—including Thalberg—would prefer the latter." Thalberg stated his opinion:
When others suggested that many Jews could die in Germany as a result of Nazi anti-Semitism, he replied that in his opinion "Hitler and Hitlerism will pass." On one occasion, Catholic Prince Löwenstein of Germany, who himself had almost been captured before fleeing Germany, told him: "Mr. Thalberg, your own people are being systematically hunted down and rooted out of Germany." Thalberg suggested that world Jewry should nevertheless not interfere, that the Jewish race would survive Hitler. Within a few years, American film distribution was "choked off" in Germany. Led by Warner Brothers, all American studios eventually closed their German offices.
Thalberg began dating actress Norma Shearer a few years after he joined MGM. Following her conversion to Judaism, they married on Thursday, September 29, 1927, in a private ceremony in the garden of his rented house in Beverly Hills. Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin officiated at the event, with Shearer's brother Douglas Shearer giving the bride away, and Louis B. Mayer serving as best man. The couple drove to Monterey for their honeymoon and then moved into their newly constructed home in Beverly Hills.
After their second child was born, Shearer considered retiring from films, but Thalberg convinced her to continue acting, saying he could find her good roles. She went on to be one of MGM's biggest stars of the 1930s. Their two children were Irving Jr. (1930–1987) and Katharine (1935–2006).
Death
Thalberg and Shearer took a much-needed Labor Day weekend vacation in Monterey, California, in 1936, staying at the same beachfront hotel where they spent their honeymoon. A few weeks earlier, Thalberg's leading screenwriter, Al Lewin, had proposed doing a film based on a soon-to-be published book, Gone with the Wind. Although Thalberg said it would be a "sensational" role for Gable, and a "terrific picture," he decided not to do it:
Besides, Thalberg told Mayer, "[n]o Civil War picture ever made a nickel". Shortly after returning from Monterey, Thalberg was diagnosed with pneumonia. His condition worsened steadily and he eventually required an oxygen tent at home. He died on September 14, at the age of 37.
Sam Wood, while directing A Day at the Races, was given the news by phone. He returned to the set with tears in his eyes and told the others. As the news spread "the studio was paralyzed with shock", notes Thomas. "Work stopped and hundreds of people wept", with stars, writers, directors, and studio employees "all sharing a sense of loss at the death of a man who had been a part of their working lives", states Flamini.
His funeral took place two days later, and when the services began the other studios throughout Hollywood observed five minutes of silence. Producer Sam Goldwyn "wept uncontrollably for two days" and was unable to regain his composure enough to attend. The MGM studio closed for that day.
Services were held at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple that Thalberg had occasionally attended. The funeral attracted thousands of spectators who came to view the arrival of countless stars from MGM and other studios, including Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, the Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney, Howard Hughes, Al Jolson, Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, among the screen luminaries. The ushers who led them to their seats included Clark Gable, Fredric March, and playwright Moss Hart. Erich von Stroheim, who had been fired by Thalberg, came to pay his respects. Producers Louis B. Mayer, the Warner brothers, Adolph Zukor, and Nicholas Schenck sat together solemnly as Rabbi Magnin gave the eulogy.
Thalberg is buried in a private marble tomb in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, lying at rest beside his wife Norma Shearer Arrouge (Thalberg's crypt was engraved "My Sweetheart Forever" by Shearer).
Over the following days, tributes were published by the national press. Louis B. Mayer, his co-founding partner at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, said he had lost "the finest friend a man could ever have", while MGM president Nicholas Schenck stated that "Thalberg was the most important man in the production end of the motion-picture industry. Leading producers from the other studios also expressed their feelings in published tributes to Thalberg:
David O. Selznick described him as "beyond any question the greatest individual force for fine pictures." Samuel Goldwyn called him "the foremost figure in the motion-picture industry ... and an inspiration." M. H. Aylesworth, Chairman of RKO, wrote that "his integrity, vision and ability made him the spearhead of all motion-picture production throughout the world." Harry Warner, president of Warner Bros., described him as "gifted with one of the finest minds ever placed at the service of motion-picture production." Sidney R. Kent, president of Twentieth Century Fox, said that "he made the whole world richer by giving it the highest type of entertainment. He was a true genius." Columbia president Harry Cohn said the "motion picture industry has suffered a loss from which it will not soon recover...". Darryl F. Zanuck noted, "More than any other man he raised the industry to its present world prestige." Adolph Zukor, chairman of Paramount, stated, "Irving Thalberg was the most brilliant young man in the motion picture business." Jesse Lasky said, "It will be utterly impossible to replace him."
Among the condolences that came from world political leaders, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote, "The world of art is poorer with the passing of Irving Thalberg. His high ideals, insight and imagination went into the production of his masterpieces."
Among the pictures that were unfinished or not yet released at the time of his death were A Day at the Races, The Good Earth, Camille, Maytime, and Romeo and Juliet. Groucho Marx, star of A Day at the Races, wrote, "After Thalberg's death, my interest in the movies waned. I continued to appear in them, but ... The fun had gone out of picture making." Thalberg's widow, Norma Shearer, recalled, "Grief does very strange things to you. I didn't seem to feel the shock for two weeks afterwards. ... then, at the end of those two weeks, I collapsed."
Legacy in the movie industry
Thalberg's legacy to the movie industry is "incalculable", states biographer Bob Thomas. He notes that with his numerous production innovations and grand stories, often turning classic literature and Broadway stage productions into big-screen pictures, he managed to keep "American movies supreme throughout the world for a generation". Darryl F. Zanuck, founder of 20th Century-Fox said that during Thalberg's brief career, he had become the "most creative producer in the history of films". Thomas describes some of his contributions:
Most of MGM's major films in the 1930s were, according to Flamini, "in a very real sense", made by Thalberg. He closely supervised the making of "more pictures than any other producer in Hollywood's history", and was considered the "archetype of the creative producer", adds Flamini. Upon his early death, aged 37, an editorial in The New York Times called him "the most important force" in the motion picture industry. The paper added that for the film industry, he "set the pace and others followed ... because his way combined style, glamour, and profit." He is described by Flamini as having been "a revolutionary in a gray flannel suit".
Thalberg refused to take credit as producer, and as a result, his name never appeared on the screen while he was alive. Thalberg claimed that "credit you give yourself is not worth having". He also said "If a picture is good, they'll know who produced it. If it's bad, nobody cares." His final film, released after he died, was The Good Earth (1937), which won numerous Academy Awards. Its opening screen credit was dedicated to Thalberg:
In 1938, the new multimillion-dollar MGM administration building in Culver City was named for Thalberg. The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, also named for him, awards producers for consistently high production achievements.
Cultural legacy
The Last Tycoon
In October 1939, American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald began writing The Last Tycoon, a fictionalized biography of Thalberg, naming the protagonist Monroe Stahr to represent Thalberg. "Thalberg has always fascinated me", he wrote to an editor. "His peculiar charm, his extraordinary good looks, his bountiful success, the tragic end of his great adventure. The events I have built around him are fiction, but all of them are things which might very well have happened. ... I've long chosen him for a hero (this has been in my mind for three years) because he is one of the half-dozen men I have known who were built on a grand scale."
Thomas notes that among the reasons Fitzgerald chose to write a book about a Thalberg-like character, was that "throughout his literary career, Fitzgerald borrowed his heroes from friends he admired, and inevitably a bit of Fitzgerald entered the characterizations." Fitzgerald himself writes that "When I like men, I want to be like them ..." Fitzgerald and Thalberg had real-life similarities: both were prodigies, both had heart ailments, and they both died at early ages.
According to biographer Matthew J. Bruccoli, Fitzgerald believed that Thalberg, with his "taste and courage, represented the best of Hollywood. ... [and] saw Thalberg as a model for what could be done in the movies." Fitzgerald died before the novel was completed, however. Bruccoli writes of Fitzgerald's book:
Although parallels between Monroe Stahr in the novel and Thalberg were evident, many who knew Thalberg intimately stated that they did not see similarities in their personalities. Norma Shearer said that the Stahr character was not at all like her former husband.
In the 1976 film version, directed by Elia Kazan, Monroe Stahr was played by Robert De Niro. Kazan, in his pre-production notes, described the Stahr character as he saw him:
In the 2016 television series based on the novel, Monroe Stahr is played by Matt Bomer.
Others
Fitzgerald also based his short story "Crazy Sunday", originally published in the October 1932 issue of American Mercury, on an incident at a party thrown by Thalberg and Shearer. The story is included in Fitzgerald's collection Taps at Reveille (1935).
Thalberg was portrayed in the movie Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) by Robert Evans, who went on to become a studio head himself.
Thalberg was portrayed by Bill Cusack in Young Indiana Jones and the Hollywood Follies (1994), a TV film based on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, in which Indiana Jones is depicted as taking part in Thalberg's conflict with Erich von Stroheim over Foolish Wives.
In 2020, Thalberg was played by Ferdinand Kingsley in the David Fincher film Mank
Thalberg, played by Tobey Maguire, is rumored to appear in the upcoming movie Babylon.
Filmography
Producer
Reputation (1921)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
Merry-Go-Round (1923)
His Hour (1924)
He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
The Unholy Three (1925)
The Merry Widow (1925)
The Tower of Lies (1925)
The Big Parade (1925)
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)
Torrent (1926)
La Bohème (1926)
Brown of Harvard (1926)
The Road to Mandalay (1926)
The Temptress (1926)
Valencia (1926)
Flesh and the Devil (1926)
Twelve Miles Out (1927)
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927)
London After Midnight (1927)
The Crowd (1928)
Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928)
White Shadows in the South Seas (1928)
Show People (1928)
West of Zanzibar (1928)
The Broadway Melody (1929)
The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929)
Voice of the City (1929)
Where East Is East (1929)
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1929)
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)
Hallelujah (1929)
His Glorious Night (1929)
The Kiss (1929)
Anna Christie (1930)
Redemption (1930)
The Divorcee (1930)
The Rogue Song (1930)
The Big House (1930)
The Unholy Three (1930)
Let Us Be Gay (1930)
Billy the Kid (1930)
Way for a Sailor (1930)
A Lady's Morals (1930)
Inspiration (1931)
Trader Horn (1931)
The Secret Six (1931)
A Free Soul (1931)
Just a Gigolo (1931)
Menschen hinter Gittern (1931), German-language version of The Big House (1930)
The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931)
The Guardsman (1931)
The Champ (1931)
Possessed (1931)
Private Lives (1931)
Mata Hari (1931)
Freaks (1932)
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
Grand Hotel (1932)
Letty Lynton (1932)
As You Desire Me (1932)
Red-Headed Woman (1932)
Smilin' Through (1932)
Red Dust (1932)
Rasputin and the Empress (1932)
Strange Interlude (1932)
Tugboat Annie (1933)
Bombshell (1933)
Eskimo (1933)
La Veuve Joyeuse (1934) French-language version of The Merry Widow
Riptide (1934)
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
The Merry Widow (1934)
What Every Woman Knows (1934)
Biography of a Bachelor Girl (1935)
No More Ladies (1935)
China Seas (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
Riffraff (1936)
Romeo and Juliet (1936)
Camille (1936)
Maytime (1937)
A Day at the Races (1937)
Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937)
The Good Earth (1937)
Marie Antoinette (1938)
Writer
The Trap (1922)
The Dangerous Little Demon (1922)
Awards
Academy Awards
Notes
Further reading
Books
Flamini, Roland. Thalberg: The Last Tycoon and the World of M-G-M (1994)
Marx, Samuel. Mayer and Thalberg: The Make-believe Saints (1975)
Thomas, Bob. Thalberg: Life and Legend (1969)
Vieira, Mark A. Irving Thalberg's M-G-M. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2008.
Vieira, Mark A. Irving Thalberg: Boy Wonder to Producer Prince. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009.
Articles
Starman, Ray. "Irving Thalberg", Films In Review, June/July 1987, p. 347–353
External links
Irving Thalberg at TCM
Cinemagraphe Review of the Roland Flamini biography of Thalberg: The Last Tycoon and the World of MGM
Irving Thalberg at Virtual History
Irving Thalberg profiled in Collier's Magazine (1924)
Videos
1899 births
1936 deaths
American film producers
Film producers from California
Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award
American film studio executives
American male screenwriters
Cinema pioneers
Silent film directors
Silent film producers
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences founders
Businesspeople from Los Angeles
Hollywood history and culture
California Republicans
New York (state) Republicans
USC School of Cinematic Arts faculty
20th-century American businesspeople
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from New York (state)
People from Brooklyn
American anti-communists
American people of German-Jewish descent
Deaths from pneumonia in California
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American writers
Jewish American writers
20th-century American screenwriters
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[
"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"
] |
[
"Meir Kahane",
"Election to Knesset"
] |
C_e81fc8a40b6b46269ae00a8e1e7d37bf_1
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When was he elected?
| 1 |
When was Meir Kahan elected?
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Meir Kahane
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In the 1984 legislative elections, Kahane's Kach party received 25,907 votes, enough to give the party one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane. Kahane refused to take the standard oath of office, and insisted on adding a Biblical verse from Psalms, to indicate that when national laws and the Torah conflict, the Torah (Biblical) law should have supremacy over the laws of the Knesset. Kahane's legislative proposals focused on Jewish education, an open economy, transferring the Arab population out from the Land of Israel, revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banning Jewish-Gentile marriages and sexual relations, based on the Code of Jewish Law compiled by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah. As his political career progressed, and his popularity in the streets began growing, Kahane became increasingly isolated in the Knesset. His speeches, boycotted by nearly all Knesset members, were often made to an empty parliament, except for the duty chairman and the transcriptionist. Kahane's legislative proposals and motions of no-confidence against the government were ignored or rejected by fellow Knesset members. Kahane often pejoratively called other Knesset members "Hellenists" (a reference to Jews who assimilated into Greek culture after Judea's occupation by Alexander the Great). In 1987, Kahane opened a yeshiva ("HaRaayon HaYehudi") with funding from US supporters, to teach "the Authentic Jewish Idea". Despite the boycott, Kahane's popularity grew among the Israeli public, especially among working-class Sephardi Jews. Polls showed that Kach would have likely received anywhere from four to twelve seats in the coming November 1988 elections. In 1985, the Knesset passed an amendment to Israel's Basic Law, barring "racist" candidates from election. The Central Elections Committee banned Kahane a second time, and he appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court. This time, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the committee, disqualifying Kach from running in the 1988 elections. Kahane was thus the first candidate in Israel to be barred from election for racism. The move was criticized as being anti-democratic by Alan M. Dershowitz. CANNOTANSWER
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In the 1984 legislative elections, Kahane's Kach party received 25,907 votes, enough to give the party one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane.
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Meir David HaKohen Kahane (; ; born Martin David Kahane; August 1, 1932 – November 5, 1990) was an American-born Israeli ordained Orthodox rabbi, writer, and ultra-nationalist politician who served one term in Israel's Knesset. A cofounder of the Jewish Defense League (JDL) and founder of the Israeli political party Kach, he espoused strong views against antisemitism.
Kahane was an intense advocate for Jewish causes. He organized defense squads and patrols in Jewish neighborhoods, and demanded that the Soviet Union release their oppressed Jews. He supported violence against those he regarded as enemies of the Jewish people, called for immediate Jewish mass migration to Israel to avoid a potential "Holocaust" in the United States, supported the restriction of Israel's democracy to its Jewish citizens, and endorsed the annexation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In 1968, Kahane was one of the co-founders of the JDL in the United States. In 1971, he co-founded Kach ("Thus"), a new political party in Israel. That same year, he was convicted in New York for conspiracy to manufacture explosives and received a suspended sentence of five years. In Israel, he was convicted for plotting to blow up the Libyan embassy in Brussels in revenge for the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, receiving a suspended sentence and probation. In 1984, he became a member of the Knesset, when Kach gained its only-ever seat in parliamentary elections. Kahane was boycotted across the aisles of the Knesset, and would often speak in front of an empty chamber. The Israel Broadcasting Authority similarly avoided coverage of his activities. The Central Elections Committee tried to ban Kahane from running in the 1984 elections, but this ban was overturned by the Supreme Court because there was no law to support it. In response, the Knesset approved an ad hoc law that allowed for the banning of parties that are "racist" or "undemocratic". In 1988, despite polls showing Kach gaining popularity due in part to the ongoing First Intifada, Kach was banned from entering that year's elections.
Kahane publicized his "Kahanism" ideology, which he claimed was simply Torah Judaism based on Halakha (Jewish law), through published works, weekly articles, speeches, debates on college campuses and in synagogues throughout the United States, and appearances on various televised programs and radio shows. In Israel, he proposed enforcing Halakha as codified by Maimonides and hoped that Israel would eventually adopt Halakha as state law. Non-Jews wishing to dwell in Israel would have three options: remain as "resident strangers" with limited rights, leave Israel and receive compensation for their property, or be forcibly removed without compensation. While serving in the Knesset in the mid-1980s Kahane proposed numerous laws, none of which passed, to emphasize Judaism in public schools, reduce Israel's bureaucracy, forbid sexual relations between Jews and non-Jews, separate Jewish and Arab neighbourhoods, and end cultural meetings between Jewish and Arab students.
Kahane was assassinated in a New York City hotel by an Egyptian-born U.S. citizen in November 1990. His legacy continues to influence militant and far-right political groups active today in Israel.
Personal life
Meir Kahane was born in Brooklyn, New York, to an Orthodox Jewish family. Kahane descended from a line of well-known rabbis, including his father, who was head of the Flatbush Board of Rabbis. His father, Yechezkel Shragei (Charles) Kahane (1905–1978), had studied at Polish and Czech yeshivas, and was the author of the rabbinic work Torah Yesharah. He was deeply involved in the Revisionist Zionist movement as a close friend of Ze'ev Jabotinsky. Kahane's grandfather was Nachman Kahane (1869–1937), a leading rabbinic scholar in Safed, who was the son of Baruch David Kahane (1850–1925), the author of Hibat ha-Eretz, and a disciple of Chaim Halberstam of Sanz. Baruch David was a direct descendant of Simcha Rappaport (1650–1718), of the Rappaport rabbinic family, who were allegedly able to trace their ancestry back to Eleazar ben Azariah, a 1st-century sage in the Land of Israel. Baruch David immigrated to Mandatory Palestine from Poland in 1873.
As a teenager, Kahane became an ardent admirer of Jabotinsky and Peter Bergson, who were frequent guests in his parents' home. He joined the Betar (Brit Trumpeldor) youth wing of Revisionist Zionism. He was active in protests against Ernest Bevin, the British Foreign Secretary who maintained restrictions on the immigration of Jews, even Holocaust survivors, to Palestine after the end of the Second World War. In 1947, Kahane was arrested for throwing eggs and tomatoes at Bevin, who was disembarking at Pier 84 on a visit to New York. A photo of the arrest appeared in the New York Daily News. In 1954, he became the Mazkir (Secretary) of Greater New York City's 16 Bnei Akiva chapters.
Kahane's formal education included Yeshiva of Flatbush for elementary school and Brooklyn Talmudical Academy for high school. Kahane received his rabbinical ordination from the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn, where he was especially admired by the head Rabbi Abraham Kalmanowitz. He was fully conversant in the Tanakh (Jewish Bible), the Talmud, the Midrash and Jewish law. Subsequently, Kahane earned a B.A. in political science from Brooklyn College in 1954, a Bachelor of Law – LL.B. from New York Law School, and an M.A. in International Relations from New York University.
In 1956, Kahane married Libby Blum, with whom he had four children: Tzipporah, Tova, Baruch, and Binyamin.
In 1966, Kahane, under the alias of Michael King and while already married, had an affair and proposed to 21-year-old model Gloria Jean D'Argenio (who used the stage name Estelle Donna Evans). Kahane sent a letter to D'Argenio in which he unilaterally ended their relationship. In response, D'Argenio jumped off the Queensboro Bridge and died of her injuries the next day. In 2008, Kahane's wife dismissed the incident as lacking proof.
After D'Argenio's death, Kahane started the Estelle Donna Evans Foundation in her name. Kahane claimed D'Argenio had been his former secretary in his failed consulting operation, she had died of terminal cancer, and her "well-to-do" family had endowed the foundation. Actually the money was used to fund the JDL, including supplies for bombings and Kahane's lavish travel.
Early career
Pulpit rabbi
In 1958, Kahane became the rabbi of the Howard Beach Jewish Center in Queens, New York City. Although the synagogue was originally Conservative, rather than strictly Orthodox, the board of directors agreed to Kahane's conditions, which included resigning from the Conservative movement's United Synagogue of America, installing a partition separating men and women during prayer, instituting traditional prayers, and maintaining a kosher kitchen. At the Jewish Center, Kahane influenced many of the synagogue's youngsters to adopt a more observant lifestyle, which often troubled parents. He trained Arlo Guthrie for his bar mitzvah. When his contract was not renewed, he soon published an article entitled "End of the Miracle of Howard Beach". That was Kahane's first article in The Jewish Press, an American Orthodox Jewish weekly for which he would continue to write for the rest of his life. Kahane also used the pen name David Sinai, and the pseudonyms Michael King, David Borac, and Martin Keene.
Infiltrating the John Birch Society
In the late 1950s and the early 1960s, Kahane's life of secrecy and his strong anticommunism landed him a position as a consultant with the FBI. According to his wife, Libby, his assignment was to infiltrate the anticommunist John Birch Society and report his findings to the FBI.
Collaboration with Joseph Churba
At some time in the late 1950s, Kahane assumed the persona of a Gentile, along with the pseudonym Michael King. Kahane began openly expressing his anticommunism. He and Joseph Churba created the July Fourth Movement, which was formed to counteract widespread opposition towards U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Subsequently, they coauthored the book The Jewish Stake in Vietnam, an attempt to convince American Jews of the "evil of Communism". The introduction states that, "All Americans have a stake in this grim war against Communism... It is vital that Jews realize the threat to their very survival [should Communism succeed]." Churba had a major falling out with Kahane over the use of paramilitary activities, and they parted ways permanently. Churba went on to pursue his own career, joining the U.S. Air Force, writing many books on the Middle East, and eventually becoming one of Ronald Reagan's consultants. Kahane chose to fight for Jewish rights, and was willing to use extreme measures. He even attempted to acquire and grow biological weapons to use on a Soviet military installation. He began using the phrase "Never again" and conceived the Jewish Star and fist insignia, a symbol resembling that of the Black Panther Party. However, Kahane himself opposed the Black Panthers, claiming they had supported anti-Jewish riots in Massachusetts and had left-wing views.
Jewish Defense League
Kahane founded the Jewish Defense League (JDL) in New York City in 1968. Its self-described purpose was to protect Jews from local manifestations of anti-Semitism. The JDL said it was committed to five fundamental principles:
Love of Jewry: One Jewish people, indivisible and united, from which flows the love for, and the feeling of pain of, all Jews.
Dignity and Pride: Pride in and knowledge of Jewish tradition, faith, culture, land, history, strength, pain, and peoplehood.
Iron: The need to both move to help Jews everywhere and to change the Jewish image through sacrifice and all necessary means—even strength, force, and violence.
Discipline and Unity: The knowledge that he (or she) can and will do whatever must be done, and the unity and strength of willpower to bring this into reality.
Faith in the Indestructibility of the Jewish People: Faith in the greatness and indestructibility of the Jewish people, our religion, and our Land of Israel.
According to his wife Libby Kahane, the JDL favored "civil rights for blacks, but opposed black anti-Semites and racism of any form." In 1971, the JDL formed an alliance with a black rights group in what Kahane termed "a turning point in Black-Jewish relations". The Anti-Defamation League claimed that Kahane "preached a radical form of Jewish nationalism which reflected racism, violence and political extremism" that was replicated by Irv Rubin, the JDL's successor to Kahane.
Terrorism and convictions
A number of the JDL's members and leaders, including Kahane, were convicted of acts related to domestic terrorism. In 1971, Kahane was sentenced to a suspended five-year prison sentence for conspiring to manufacture explosives. In 1975, Kahane was arrested for leading the attack on the Soviet United Nations mission and injuring two officers, but he was released after being given summonses for disorderly conduct. Later the same year, Kahane was accused of conspiring to kidnap a Soviet diplomat, bomb the Iraqi embassy in Washington, and ship arms abroad from Israel. He was convicted of violating his probation for the 1971 bombing conviction and was sentenced to one year in prison. However, he served most of it in a hotel, with frequent unsupervised absences, because of a concession over the provision of kosher food.
In a 1984 interview with Washington Post correspondent Carla Hall, Kahane admitted that the JDL "bombed the Russian [Soviet] mission in New York, the Russian cultural mission here [Washington] in 1971, the Soviet trade offices".
Immigration to Israel
In 1971, Kahane moved to Israel. At the time, he declared that he would focus on Jewish education. He later began gathering lists of Arab citizens of the State of Israel who were willing to emigrate for compensation, and eventually, he initiated protests that advocated the expulsion of Arabs from that country, and Israeli-occupied territories. In 1972, Jewish Defense League leaflets were distributed in Hebron, calling for the mayor to stand trial for the 1929 Hebron massacre. Kahane was arrested dozens of times. In 1971, he founded Kach, a political party that ran for the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, during the 1973 general elections under the name "The League List". It won 12,811 votes (0.82%), just 2,857 (0.18%) short of the electoral threshold at the time (1%) for winning a Knesset seat. The party was even less successful in the 1977 elections, winning only 4,836 votes.
In 1980, Kahane was arrested for the 62nd time since his emigration, and he was jailed for six months after a detention order that was based on allegations of him planning armed attacks against Palestinians in response to the killings of Jewish settlers. Kahane was held in prison in Ramla, where he wrote the book They Must Go. Kahane was banned from entering the UK in 1981.
In 1981, Kahane's party again ran for the Knesset during the 1981 elections, but it did not win a seat and received only 5,128 votes. In 1984, the Israeli Central Elections Committee banned him from being a candidate on the grounds that Kach was a racist party, but the Supreme Court of Israel overturned the ban on the grounds that the committee was not authorized to ban Kahane's candidacy. The Supreme Court suggested that the Knesset pass a law excluding racist parties from future elections. The Knesset responded in 1985 by amending the "Basic Law: Knesset" to include a prohibition (paragraph 7a) against the registration of parties that explicitly or implicitly incite racism.
Election to Knesset
In the 1984 legislative elections, Kahane's Kach party received 25,907 votes, gaining one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane. He refused to take the standard oath of office and insisted on adding a Biblical verse from Psalms to indicate that national laws were overruled by the Torah if they conflict. Kahane's legislative proposals focused on Jewish education, an open economy, transferring the Arab population out of the Land of Israel, revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banning Jewish-Gentile marriages and sexual relations.
While his popularity in Israel grew, Kahane was boycotted in the Knesset, where his speeches were often made to an empty assembly except for the duty chairman and the transcriptionist. The Knesset revoked his Parliamentary immunity to prevent his freedom of movement in areas where his inflammatory rhetoric could cause harm. Kahane's legislative proposals and motions of no-confidence against the government were ignored or rejected. Kahane often pejoratively called other Knesset members "Hellenists," a reference to Jews who assimilated into Greek culture after Judea's occupation by Alexander the Great.
In 1987, Kahane opened a yeshiva ("HaRaayon HaYehudi") with funding from US supporters to teach "the Authentic Jewish Idea". Despite the boycott, his popularity grew among the Israeli public, especially for working-class Sephardi Jews. Polls showed that Kach would have likely received anywhere from four to twelve seats in the coming November 1988 elections.
In 1985, the Knesset passed an amendment to the Basic Law of Israel, barring political parties that incited to racism. The Central Elections Committee banned Kahane a second time, and he appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court this time ruled in favor of the committee, disqualifying Kach from running in the 1988 legislative elections. Kahane was thus the first candidate in Israel to be barred from election for racism. The move was criticized as being anti-democratic by Alan M. Dershowitz.
After Kahane's election to the Knesset in 1984, the United States government attempted to revoke his U.S. citizenship, which Kahane successfully challenged in court. However, in 1987, the Knesset passed a law declaring that a Knesset member could only be an Israeli citizen. To remain eligible for office, Kahane renounced his United States citizenship, but after being banned from the Knesset for his politics, he again filed suit to get his U.S. citizenship reinstated based on the argument that he was compelled to relinquish it by the Knesset. The court rejected this argument, but he was permitted to continue travelling to the United States.
Assassination
In November 1990, Kahane gave a speech to an audience of mostly Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn, where he warned American Jews to emigrate to Israel before it was "too late". As a crowd gathered around Kahane in the second-floor lecture hall in Midtown Manhattan's New York Marriott East Side, Kahane was assassinated by El Sayyid Nosair, an Egyptian-born U.S. citizen. He was initially charged and acquitted of the murder. Nosair was later convicted of the murder in U.S. District Court for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Prosecutors were able to try Nosair again for the murder because the federal indictment included the killing as part of the alleged terrorist conspiracy. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and later made a confession to federal agents.
Kahane was buried on Har HaMenuchot, in Jerusalem. He was eulogized by a number of prominent supporters in both the U.S. and in Israel, including Rabbi Moshe Tendler and the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Mordechai Eliyahu, who spoke of how little the people understood of Kahane's true value.
Ideology
Kahane argued that there was a glory in Jewish destiny, which came through the observance of the Torah and halakha (Jewish law). He also noted, "Democracy and Judaism are not the same thing." Kahane also stressed the view that a Jewish state and a Western democracy were incompatible, since Western democracy is religion-blind, and a Jewish state is religion-oriented by its very name. He also warned of the danger of non-Jewish citizens becoming a majority and voting against the Jewish character of the state: "The question is as follows: if the Arabs settle among us and make enough children to become a majority, will Israel continue to be a Jewish state? Do we have to accept that the Arab majority will decide?" "Western democracy has to be ruled out. For me, that's cut and dried: There's no question of setting up democracy in Israel, because democracy means equal rights for all, irrespective of racial or religious origins."
Kahane proposed an "exchange of populations" that would continue the Jewish exodus from Arab lands: "A total of some 750,000 Jews fled Arab lands since 1948. Surely it is time for Jews, worried over the huge growth of Arabs in Israel, to consider finishing the exchange of populations that began 35 years ago." Kahane proposed a $40,000 compensation plan for Arabs who would leave voluntarily, and forcible expulsion for those who "don't want to leave". He encouraged retaliatory violence against Arabs who attacked Jews: "I approve of anybody who commits such acts of violence. Really, I don't think that we can sit back and watch Arabs throwing rocks at buses whenever they feel like it. They must understand that a bomb thrown at a Jewish bus is going to mean a bomb thrown at an Arab bus."
In some of his writings, Kahane argued that Israel should never start a war for territory but that if a war were launched against Israel, Biblical territory should be annexed. However, in an interview, he defined Israel's "minimal borders" as follows: "The southern boundary goes up to El Arish, which takes in all of northern Sinai, including Yamit. To the east, the frontier runs along the western part of the East Bank of the Jordan River, hence part of what is now Jordan. Eretz Yisrael also includes part of Lebanon and certain parts of Syria, and part of Iraq, all the way to the Euphrates River." When critics suggested that following Kahane's plans would mean a perpetual war between Jews and Arabs, Kahane responded, "There will be a perpetual war. With or without Kahane."
Support
Shlomo Aviner stated that Kahane was a righteous man who displayed self-sacrifice for the Jewish nation and also referred to him as a "Torah hero" whose every word was rooted in Torah sources.
Herbert Bomzer referred to Kahane as "truly immersed in Torah all the time."
Irving M. Bunim was a strong supporter and admirer of Kahane.
Shlomo Carlebach was known for declaring that the Jewish people owed a great debt to Kahane. Together, Carlebach and Kahane organized one of the first Noahide conferences in the 1980s for non-Jews wishing to accept upon themselves the Noahide laws.
Musician Bob Dylan made positive comments about Kahane. In a 1971 interview for Time magazine, Dylan said, "He's a really sincere guy. He's really put it all together." According to Kahane, Dylan attended several meetings of the Jewish Defense League to find out "what we're all about", and he started to have talks with the rabbi. Subsequently, Dylan downplayed the extent of his contact with Kahane.
Mordechai Eliyahu was Kahane's personal mentor, and one of Kahane's staunchest supporters. Eliyahu wrote an approbation to Kahane's Tanakh commentary, "Perush Hamacabee", where he refers to Kahane as "HaRav HaGaon" ("the rabbinic genius"), a praiseworthy title attributed to the very saintly. Eliyahu wrote, "Only the Torah way interested Kahane, which he constantly toiled over and which served as his strength... When one considers the depth and clarity of [Kahane's] works, one is astonished at how he had the time to compile such. The answer is that... all his time and thoughts were invested in Torah while other matters were secondary. Fortunate is the family that publishes his works for others to learn from." At Kahane's funeral, Eliyahu stated that Kahane was a reincarnation of a fearless biblical character.
Kahane was endorsed in his bid for a Knesset seat by Zvi Yehuda Kook. In his letter of support for Kahane, Kook stated, "The presence of Rabbi Meir Kahane and his uncompromising words from the Knesset platform will undoubtedly add strength and value to the obligatory struggle on behalf of the entire Land of Israel." The announcement of Kook's support of Kahane and his letter were made available to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Yosef Mendelevitch stated, "Kahane was a representative for us. His activities made us feel good. His actions showed that Jews cared. His actions may have been controversial, but his role was very important. He was a symbol for Russian Jews."
Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff said, "You can’t imagine the influence Kahane had on so many young people. Kahane was a talmid chacham (Torah scholar) that we all looked up to."
Menachem Mendel Schneerson supported Kahane on many issues concerning Israel, including the issue of Arabs, relinquishing land, building settlements and the incorporation of Jewish law into Israeli policy. After hearing of Kahane's death, Schneerson remarked that "one of the greatest Jewish leaders in history has fallen." He later blessed Kahane's son to be successful in fulfilling his "holy father's" work.
Avraham Shapira stated that Kahane was an inseparable part of Orthodox Judaism. He later openly backed Kahane's State of Judea movement.
After the Kach party was outlawed, a member of the Sicarii terrorist group pledged allegiance to Kahane and his political party during a phone call.
Ahron Soloveichik stated, "What Kahane said was absolutely correct, just we don’t say it because the world will criticize us, but somebody had to say it."
Noach Weinberg sought to place Kahane on his staff, believing him to be just what the kiruv movement needed.
Ya'akov Yosef described Kahane as one who fulfilled his role faithfully. He declared that "we must learn from his great actions in order that we learn the way of the Torah."
Legacy
Following Kahane's death, no leader emerged to replace him in the movement. However, the idea of transferring populations, attributed mainly to Kahane, was subsequently incorporated into the political platform of various political parties in Israel, such as Moledet (applying to Arab non-citizen residents of the West Bank) and Yisrael Beiteinu (in the form of population exchange). Two small Kahanist factions later emerged; one under the name Kach, and the other under the name Kahane chai (Hebrew: כהנא חי, literally "Kahane lives [on]"), the second one being led by his younger son, Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane. Neither one was permitted to participate in the Knesset elections by the Central Elections Committee.
In 1994, following the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre of Palestinian Muslim worshippers in Hebron by Kach supporter Baruch Goldstein, in which 29 Muslim worshipers were killed, the Israeli government declared both parties to be terrorist organizations. The US State Department also added Kach and Kahane Chai to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
In the 2003 Knesset elections, Herut, which had split off from the National Union list, ran with Michael Kleiner and former Kach activist Baruch Marzel taking the top two spots on the list. The joint effort narrowly missed the 1.5% barrier. In the following 2006 elections, the Jewish National Front, led by Baruch Marzel, fared better, but it also failed to pass the minimum threshold. A follower of Kahane who was involved with Kach for many years, Michael Ben-Ari, was elected to the Knesset in the 2009 elections on renewed National Union list. He stood again in the 2013 elections as the second candidate on the list of Otzma LeYisrael, but the party failed to pass the minimum threshold.
In 2007, the FBI released over a thousand documents relating to its daily surveillance of Kahane since the early 1960s.
In 2015, Kahane's grandson, Meir Ettinger, was detained by Israeli law enforcement. He was the alleged leader of the radical Jewish group "The Revolt". In an online "manifesto" echoing some of his grandfather's teachings, Ettinger promotes the "dispossession of gentiles" who live in Israel and the establishment of a new "kingdom of Israel", a theocracy ruled according to the Halacha. Ettinger's writings condemned Israel's government, mainstream rabbis, and the IDF, and also have denounced Christian churches as "idolatry".
In 2016, Kahane's widow claimed that modern Jewish extremists in Israel do not follow the ideology of her late husband, Rabbi Meir Kahane. She justified that claim by arguing that unlike modern Jewish extremists, Rabbi Kahane had a more mature approach that did not encourage illegal activities.
The prosecution argued that Arab MK Haneen Zoabi should be banned for denying the Jewish people's existence, and she was banned by the Central Elections Committee, which uses the Kahane precedent. A week later, the ruling was unanimously overturned by the Supreme Court. Attempts to ban the Strong Israel and Balad political parties by using the Kahane precedent were also overturned.
In 2017, The Forward reported that some of Kahane's followers were aligning themselves with white nationalists and the alt-right. Other Kahanists declared that such moves did not reflect Kahane's teachings, and they supported that declaration by arguing that Kahane worked together with African Americans.
See also
Jewish fundamentalism
Politics of Israel
Zionist political violence
Publications
By Kahane
(Partially under pseudonym Michael King; with Joseph Churba) The Jewish Stake in Vietnam, Crossroads, 1967
Never Again! A Program for Survival, Pyramid Books, 1972
Time to Go Home, Nash, 1972.
Letters from Prison, Jewish Identity Center, 1974
Our Challenge: The Chosen Land, 1974
The Story of the Jewish Defense League, Chilton, 1975, 2nd edition, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane, (Brooklyn, NY), 2000
Why Be Jewish? Intermarriage, Assimilation, and Alienation, Stein & Day, 1977
Listen, Vanessa, I Am a Zionist, Institute of the Authentic Jewish Idea, 1978
They Must Go, Grosset & Dunlop, 1981
Forty Years, Institute of the Jewish Idea, 2nd edition, 1983
Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews, Lyle Stuart, 1987
Israel: Revolution or Referendum, Barricade Books (Secaucus, NJ), 1990
Or ha-ra'yon, English title: The Jewish Idea, n.p. (Jerusalem), 1992, translated from the Hebrew by Raphael Blumberg, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1996
On Jews and Judaism: Selected Articles 1961–1990, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1993
Perush ha-Makabi: al Sefer Devarim, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1993, 1995
Pirush HaMaccabee: al Sefer Shemu'el u-Nevi'im rishonim, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1994
Listen World, Listen Jew, 3rd edition, Institute for the Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1995
Beyond Words, 1st edition, Institute for the Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 2010.
Kohen ve-navi: osef ma'amarim, ha-Makhon le-hotsa'at kitve ha-Rav Kahana (Jerusalem), 2000
Cuckooland, illustrated by Shulamith bar Itzhak (yet unpublished).
About Kahane
For supplementary information and insights:
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Miracle Man, Yeshivat "HaRaayon HaYehudi" (Jerusalem), 2010
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References
External links
Words online educational resource
FBI file on Meir Kahane
1932 births
1990 deaths
1990 murders in the United States
20th-century American criminals
20th-century rabbis
American emigrants to Israel
American Kahanists
American members of the clergy convicted of crimes
American Orthodox Jews
American Orthodox rabbis
American people of Latvian-Jewish descent
Assassinated American activists
Assassinated Israeli politicians
Assassinated rabbis
Brooklyn College alumni
Burials at Har HaMenuchot
Ethnic supremacy
Far-right politics
Israeli activists
Israeli anti-communists
Israeli government officials convicted of crimes
Israeli Kahanists
Israeli Orthodox rabbis
Israeli people murdered abroad
Israeli politicians convicted of crimes
Israeli terrorism victims
Jewish American writers
Jewish anti-communists
Jewish religious terrorism
Kach and Kahane Chai politicians
Kahanism
Male murder victims
Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988)
Mir Yeshiva alumni
Murdered American Jews
New York Law School alumni
Orthodox rabbis from New York City
People murdered in New York City
Philosophers of Judaism
Rabbis convicted of crimes
Religious Zionist Orthodox rabbis
Writers from Brooklyn
Writers on antisemitism
Writers on Zionism
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"Sir Thomas Bowyer, 1st Baronet (28 November 1586 – February 1651) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1642. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War.\n\nBowyer was the son of Thomas Bowyer, of Leighthorne, Sussex, and his second wife Jane Birch, daughter of John Birch, Baron of the Exchequer, and was baptised on 4 December 1586 in Mundham in Sussex. His father died on 7 March 1595 when he succeeded to the estates. In 1614, he was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Midhurst. He was elected MP for Bramber in 1621, and was re-elected in 1624, 1625 and 1626. He was a High Sheriff of Surrey and High Sheriff of Sussex between 1626 and 1627. On 23 July 1627, he was created a baronet, of Leighthorne in the County of Sussex. He was re-elected MP for Bramber in 1629 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years.\n\nIn April 1640, Bowyer was elected MP for Bramber in the Short Parliament. He was not initially elected to the Long Parliament in November 1640, but the election was declared void and he was re-elected in a by-election. He sat until 23 November 1642 when he was disabled for assisting in putting a garrison into Chichester for the King. He was fined £2,033 as a delinquent on 18 May 1650.\n\nBowyer was buried in Mundham on 28 February 1651.\n\nBowyer married firstly Anne Stoughton, daughter of Adrian Stoughton, and around 1634 secondly Jane Stoughton, widow of Sir George Stoughton and daughter of Emery Cranley. He married a third time around 1642 to Anne. He had a son, Thomas, by his second wife, a son James, by his third wife, as well as twelve other children.\n\nReferences\n\n \n \n\n1586 births\n1650 deaths\nBaronets in the Baronetage of England\nHigh Sheriffs of Sussex\nHigh Sheriffs of Surrey\nEnglish MPs 1614\nEnglish MPs 1621–1622\nEnglish MPs 1624–1625\nEnglish MPs 1625\nEnglish MPs 1626\nEnglish MPs 1628–1629\nEnglish MPs 1640 (April)\nEnglish MPs 1640–1648"
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"When was he elected?",
"In the 1984 legislative elections, Kahane's Kach party received 25,907 votes, enough to give the party one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane."
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What did Meir Kahan do once elected?
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Meir Kahane
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In the 1984 legislative elections, Kahane's Kach party received 25,907 votes, enough to give the party one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane. Kahane refused to take the standard oath of office, and insisted on adding a Biblical verse from Psalms, to indicate that when national laws and the Torah conflict, the Torah (Biblical) law should have supremacy over the laws of the Knesset. Kahane's legislative proposals focused on Jewish education, an open economy, transferring the Arab population out from the Land of Israel, revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banning Jewish-Gentile marriages and sexual relations, based on the Code of Jewish Law compiled by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah. As his political career progressed, and his popularity in the streets began growing, Kahane became increasingly isolated in the Knesset. His speeches, boycotted by nearly all Knesset members, were often made to an empty parliament, except for the duty chairman and the transcriptionist. Kahane's legislative proposals and motions of no-confidence against the government were ignored or rejected by fellow Knesset members. Kahane often pejoratively called other Knesset members "Hellenists" (a reference to Jews who assimilated into Greek culture after Judea's occupation by Alexander the Great). In 1987, Kahane opened a yeshiva ("HaRaayon HaYehudi") with funding from US supporters, to teach "the Authentic Jewish Idea". Despite the boycott, Kahane's popularity grew among the Israeli public, especially among working-class Sephardi Jews. Polls showed that Kach would have likely received anywhere from four to twelve seats in the coming November 1988 elections. In 1985, the Knesset passed an amendment to Israel's Basic Law, barring "racist" candidates from election. The Central Elections Committee banned Kahane a second time, and he appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court. This time, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the committee, disqualifying Kach from running in the 1988 elections. Kahane was thus the first candidate in Israel to be barred from election for racism. The move was criticized as being anti-democratic by Alan M. Dershowitz. CANNOTANSWER
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Kahane's legislative proposals focused on Jewish education, an open economy, transferring the Arab population out from the Land of Israel,
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Meir David HaKohen Kahane (; ; born Martin David Kahane; August 1, 1932 – November 5, 1990) was an American-born Israeli ordained Orthodox rabbi, writer, and ultra-nationalist politician who served one term in Israel's Knesset. A cofounder of the Jewish Defense League (JDL) and founder of the Israeli political party Kach, he espoused strong views against antisemitism.
Kahane was an intense advocate for Jewish causes. He organized defense squads and patrols in Jewish neighborhoods, and demanded that the Soviet Union release their oppressed Jews. He supported violence against those he regarded as enemies of the Jewish people, called for immediate Jewish mass migration to Israel to avoid a potential "Holocaust" in the United States, supported the restriction of Israel's democracy to its Jewish citizens, and endorsed the annexation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In 1968, Kahane was one of the co-founders of the JDL in the United States. In 1971, he co-founded Kach ("Thus"), a new political party in Israel. That same year, he was convicted in New York for conspiracy to manufacture explosives and received a suspended sentence of five years. In Israel, he was convicted for plotting to blow up the Libyan embassy in Brussels in revenge for the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, receiving a suspended sentence and probation. In 1984, he became a member of the Knesset, when Kach gained its only-ever seat in parliamentary elections. Kahane was boycotted across the aisles of the Knesset, and would often speak in front of an empty chamber. The Israel Broadcasting Authority similarly avoided coverage of his activities. The Central Elections Committee tried to ban Kahane from running in the 1984 elections, but this ban was overturned by the Supreme Court because there was no law to support it. In response, the Knesset approved an ad hoc law that allowed for the banning of parties that are "racist" or "undemocratic". In 1988, despite polls showing Kach gaining popularity due in part to the ongoing First Intifada, Kach was banned from entering that year's elections.
Kahane publicized his "Kahanism" ideology, which he claimed was simply Torah Judaism based on Halakha (Jewish law), through published works, weekly articles, speeches, debates on college campuses and in synagogues throughout the United States, and appearances on various televised programs and radio shows. In Israel, he proposed enforcing Halakha as codified by Maimonides and hoped that Israel would eventually adopt Halakha as state law. Non-Jews wishing to dwell in Israel would have three options: remain as "resident strangers" with limited rights, leave Israel and receive compensation for their property, or be forcibly removed without compensation. While serving in the Knesset in the mid-1980s Kahane proposed numerous laws, none of which passed, to emphasize Judaism in public schools, reduce Israel's bureaucracy, forbid sexual relations between Jews and non-Jews, separate Jewish and Arab neighbourhoods, and end cultural meetings between Jewish and Arab students.
Kahane was assassinated in a New York City hotel by an Egyptian-born U.S. citizen in November 1990. His legacy continues to influence militant and far-right political groups active today in Israel.
Personal life
Meir Kahane was born in Brooklyn, New York, to an Orthodox Jewish family. Kahane descended from a line of well-known rabbis, including his father, who was head of the Flatbush Board of Rabbis. His father, Yechezkel Shragei (Charles) Kahane (1905–1978), had studied at Polish and Czech yeshivas, and was the author of the rabbinic work Torah Yesharah. He was deeply involved in the Revisionist Zionist movement as a close friend of Ze'ev Jabotinsky. Kahane's grandfather was Nachman Kahane (1869–1937), a leading rabbinic scholar in Safed, who was the son of Baruch David Kahane (1850–1925), the author of Hibat ha-Eretz, and a disciple of Chaim Halberstam of Sanz. Baruch David was a direct descendant of Simcha Rappaport (1650–1718), of the Rappaport rabbinic family, who were allegedly able to trace their ancestry back to Eleazar ben Azariah, a 1st-century sage in the Land of Israel. Baruch David immigrated to Mandatory Palestine from Poland in 1873.
As a teenager, Kahane became an ardent admirer of Jabotinsky and Peter Bergson, who were frequent guests in his parents' home. He joined the Betar (Brit Trumpeldor) youth wing of Revisionist Zionism. He was active in protests against Ernest Bevin, the British Foreign Secretary who maintained restrictions on the immigration of Jews, even Holocaust survivors, to Palestine after the end of the Second World War. In 1947, Kahane was arrested for throwing eggs and tomatoes at Bevin, who was disembarking at Pier 84 on a visit to New York. A photo of the arrest appeared in the New York Daily News. In 1954, he became the Mazkir (Secretary) of Greater New York City's 16 Bnei Akiva chapters.
Kahane's formal education included Yeshiva of Flatbush for elementary school and Brooklyn Talmudical Academy for high school. Kahane received his rabbinical ordination from the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn, where he was especially admired by the head Rabbi Abraham Kalmanowitz. He was fully conversant in the Tanakh (Jewish Bible), the Talmud, the Midrash and Jewish law. Subsequently, Kahane earned a B.A. in political science from Brooklyn College in 1954, a Bachelor of Law – LL.B. from New York Law School, and an M.A. in International Relations from New York University.
In 1956, Kahane married Libby Blum, with whom he had four children: Tzipporah, Tova, Baruch, and Binyamin.
In 1966, Kahane, under the alias of Michael King and while already married, had an affair and proposed to 21-year-old model Gloria Jean D'Argenio (who used the stage name Estelle Donna Evans). Kahane sent a letter to D'Argenio in which he unilaterally ended their relationship. In response, D'Argenio jumped off the Queensboro Bridge and died of her injuries the next day. In 2008, Kahane's wife dismissed the incident as lacking proof.
After D'Argenio's death, Kahane started the Estelle Donna Evans Foundation in her name. Kahane claimed D'Argenio had been his former secretary in his failed consulting operation, she had died of terminal cancer, and her "well-to-do" family had endowed the foundation. Actually the money was used to fund the JDL, including supplies for bombings and Kahane's lavish travel.
Early career
Pulpit rabbi
In 1958, Kahane became the rabbi of the Howard Beach Jewish Center in Queens, New York City. Although the synagogue was originally Conservative, rather than strictly Orthodox, the board of directors agreed to Kahane's conditions, which included resigning from the Conservative movement's United Synagogue of America, installing a partition separating men and women during prayer, instituting traditional prayers, and maintaining a kosher kitchen. At the Jewish Center, Kahane influenced many of the synagogue's youngsters to adopt a more observant lifestyle, which often troubled parents. He trained Arlo Guthrie for his bar mitzvah. When his contract was not renewed, he soon published an article entitled "End of the Miracle of Howard Beach". That was Kahane's first article in The Jewish Press, an American Orthodox Jewish weekly for which he would continue to write for the rest of his life. Kahane also used the pen name David Sinai, and the pseudonyms Michael King, David Borac, and Martin Keene.
Infiltrating the John Birch Society
In the late 1950s and the early 1960s, Kahane's life of secrecy and his strong anticommunism landed him a position as a consultant with the FBI. According to his wife, Libby, his assignment was to infiltrate the anticommunist John Birch Society and report his findings to the FBI.
Collaboration with Joseph Churba
At some time in the late 1950s, Kahane assumed the persona of a Gentile, along with the pseudonym Michael King. Kahane began openly expressing his anticommunism. He and Joseph Churba created the July Fourth Movement, which was formed to counteract widespread opposition towards U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Subsequently, they coauthored the book The Jewish Stake in Vietnam, an attempt to convince American Jews of the "evil of Communism". The introduction states that, "All Americans have a stake in this grim war against Communism... It is vital that Jews realize the threat to their very survival [should Communism succeed]." Churba had a major falling out with Kahane over the use of paramilitary activities, and they parted ways permanently. Churba went on to pursue his own career, joining the U.S. Air Force, writing many books on the Middle East, and eventually becoming one of Ronald Reagan's consultants. Kahane chose to fight for Jewish rights, and was willing to use extreme measures. He even attempted to acquire and grow biological weapons to use on a Soviet military installation. He began using the phrase "Never again" and conceived the Jewish Star and fist insignia, a symbol resembling that of the Black Panther Party. However, Kahane himself opposed the Black Panthers, claiming they had supported anti-Jewish riots in Massachusetts and had left-wing views.
Jewish Defense League
Kahane founded the Jewish Defense League (JDL) in New York City in 1968. Its self-described purpose was to protect Jews from local manifestations of anti-Semitism. The JDL said it was committed to five fundamental principles:
Love of Jewry: One Jewish people, indivisible and united, from which flows the love for, and the feeling of pain of, all Jews.
Dignity and Pride: Pride in and knowledge of Jewish tradition, faith, culture, land, history, strength, pain, and peoplehood.
Iron: The need to both move to help Jews everywhere and to change the Jewish image through sacrifice and all necessary means—even strength, force, and violence.
Discipline and Unity: The knowledge that he (or she) can and will do whatever must be done, and the unity and strength of willpower to bring this into reality.
Faith in the Indestructibility of the Jewish People: Faith in the greatness and indestructibility of the Jewish people, our religion, and our Land of Israel.
According to his wife Libby Kahane, the JDL favored "civil rights for blacks, but opposed black anti-Semites and racism of any form." In 1971, the JDL formed an alliance with a black rights group in what Kahane termed "a turning point in Black-Jewish relations". The Anti-Defamation League claimed that Kahane "preached a radical form of Jewish nationalism which reflected racism, violence and political extremism" that was replicated by Irv Rubin, the JDL's successor to Kahane.
Terrorism and convictions
A number of the JDL's members and leaders, including Kahane, were convicted of acts related to domestic terrorism. In 1971, Kahane was sentenced to a suspended five-year prison sentence for conspiring to manufacture explosives. In 1975, Kahane was arrested for leading the attack on the Soviet United Nations mission and injuring two officers, but he was released after being given summonses for disorderly conduct. Later the same year, Kahane was accused of conspiring to kidnap a Soviet diplomat, bomb the Iraqi embassy in Washington, and ship arms abroad from Israel. He was convicted of violating his probation for the 1971 bombing conviction and was sentenced to one year in prison. However, he served most of it in a hotel, with frequent unsupervised absences, because of a concession over the provision of kosher food.
In a 1984 interview with Washington Post correspondent Carla Hall, Kahane admitted that the JDL "bombed the Russian [Soviet] mission in New York, the Russian cultural mission here [Washington] in 1971, the Soviet trade offices".
Immigration to Israel
In 1971, Kahane moved to Israel. At the time, he declared that he would focus on Jewish education. He later began gathering lists of Arab citizens of the State of Israel who were willing to emigrate for compensation, and eventually, he initiated protests that advocated the expulsion of Arabs from that country, and Israeli-occupied territories. In 1972, Jewish Defense League leaflets were distributed in Hebron, calling for the mayor to stand trial for the 1929 Hebron massacre. Kahane was arrested dozens of times. In 1971, he founded Kach, a political party that ran for the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, during the 1973 general elections under the name "The League List". It won 12,811 votes (0.82%), just 2,857 (0.18%) short of the electoral threshold at the time (1%) for winning a Knesset seat. The party was even less successful in the 1977 elections, winning only 4,836 votes.
In 1980, Kahane was arrested for the 62nd time since his emigration, and he was jailed for six months after a detention order that was based on allegations of him planning armed attacks against Palestinians in response to the killings of Jewish settlers. Kahane was held in prison in Ramla, where he wrote the book They Must Go. Kahane was banned from entering the UK in 1981.
In 1981, Kahane's party again ran for the Knesset during the 1981 elections, but it did not win a seat and received only 5,128 votes. In 1984, the Israeli Central Elections Committee banned him from being a candidate on the grounds that Kach was a racist party, but the Supreme Court of Israel overturned the ban on the grounds that the committee was not authorized to ban Kahane's candidacy. The Supreme Court suggested that the Knesset pass a law excluding racist parties from future elections. The Knesset responded in 1985 by amending the "Basic Law: Knesset" to include a prohibition (paragraph 7a) against the registration of parties that explicitly or implicitly incite racism.
Election to Knesset
In the 1984 legislative elections, Kahane's Kach party received 25,907 votes, gaining one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane. He refused to take the standard oath of office and insisted on adding a Biblical verse from Psalms to indicate that national laws were overruled by the Torah if they conflict. Kahane's legislative proposals focused on Jewish education, an open economy, transferring the Arab population out of the Land of Israel, revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banning Jewish-Gentile marriages and sexual relations.
While his popularity in Israel grew, Kahane was boycotted in the Knesset, where his speeches were often made to an empty assembly except for the duty chairman and the transcriptionist. The Knesset revoked his Parliamentary immunity to prevent his freedom of movement in areas where his inflammatory rhetoric could cause harm. Kahane's legislative proposals and motions of no-confidence against the government were ignored or rejected. Kahane often pejoratively called other Knesset members "Hellenists," a reference to Jews who assimilated into Greek culture after Judea's occupation by Alexander the Great.
In 1987, Kahane opened a yeshiva ("HaRaayon HaYehudi") with funding from US supporters to teach "the Authentic Jewish Idea". Despite the boycott, his popularity grew among the Israeli public, especially for working-class Sephardi Jews. Polls showed that Kach would have likely received anywhere from four to twelve seats in the coming November 1988 elections.
In 1985, the Knesset passed an amendment to the Basic Law of Israel, barring political parties that incited to racism. The Central Elections Committee banned Kahane a second time, and he appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court this time ruled in favor of the committee, disqualifying Kach from running in the 1988 legislative elections. Kahane was thus the first candidate in Israel to be barred from election for racism. The move was criticized as being anti-democratic by Alan M. Dershowitz.
After Kahane's election to the Knesset in 1984, the United States government attempted to revoke his U.S. citizenship, which Kahane successfully challenged in court. However, in 1987, the Knesset passed a law declaring that a Knesset member could only be an Israeli citizen. To remain eligible for office, Kahane renounced his United States citizenship, but after being banned from the Knesset for his politics, he again filed suit to get his U.S. citizenship reinstated based on the argument that he was compelled to relinquish it by the Knesset. The court rejected this argument, but he was permitted to continue travelling to the United States.
Assassination
In November 1990, Kahane gave a speech to an audience of mostly Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn, where he warned American Jews to emigrate to Israel before it was "too late". As a crowd gathered around Kahane in the second-floor lecture hall in Midtown Manhattan's New York Marriott East Side, Kahane was assassinated by El Sayyid Nosair, an Egyptian-born U.S. citizen. He was initially charged and acquitted of the murder. Nosair was later convicted of the murder in U.S. District Court for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Prosecutors were able to try Nosair again for the murder because the federal indictment included the killing as part of the alleged terrorist conspiracy. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and later made a confession to federal agents.
Kahane was buried on Har HaMenuchot, in Jerusalem. He was eulogized by a number of prominent supporters in both the U.S. and in Israel, including Rabbi Moshe Tendler and the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Mordechai Eliyahu, who spoke of how little the people understood of Kahane's true value.
Ideology
Kahane argued that there was a glory in Jewish destiny, which came through the observance of the Torah and halakha (Jewish law). He also noted, "Democracy and Judaism are not the same thing." Kahane also stressed the view that a Jewish state and a Western democracy were incompatible, since Western democracy is religion-blind, and a Jewish state is religion-oriented by its very name. He also warned of the danger of non-Jewish citizens becoming a majority and voting against the Jewish character of the state: "The question is as follows: if the Arabs settle among us and make enough children to become a majority, will Israel continue to be a Jewish state? Do we have to accept that the Arab majority will decide?" "Western democracy has to be ruled out. For me, that's cut and dried: There's no question of setting up democracy in Israel, because democracy means equal rights for all, irrespective of racial or religious origins."
Kahane proposed an "exchange of populations" that would continue the Jewish exodus from Arab lands: "A total of some 750,000 Jews fled Arab lands since 1948. Surely it is time for Jews, worried over the huge growth of Arabs in Israel, to consider finishing the exchange of populations that began 35 years ago." Kahane proposed a $40,000 compensation plan for Arabs who would leave voluntarily, and forcible expulsion for those who "don't want to leave". He encouraged retaliatory violence against Arabs who attacked Jews: "I approve of anybody who commits such acts of violence. Really, I don't think that we can sit back and watch Arabs throwing rocks at buses whenever they feel like it. They must understand that a bomb thrown at a Jewish bus is going to mean a bomb thrown at an Arab bus."
In some of his writings, Kahane argued that Israel should never start a war for territory but that if a war were launched against Israel, Biblical territory should be annexed. However, in an interview, he defined Israel's "minimal borders" as follows: "The southern boundary goes up to El Arish, which takes in all of northern Sinai, including Yamit. To the east, the frontier runs along the western part of the East Bank of the Jordan River, hence part of what is now Jordan. Eretz Yisrael also includes part of Lebanon and certain parts of Syria, and part of Iraq, all the way to the Euphrates River." When critics suggested that following Kahane's plans would mean a perpetual war between Jews and Arabs, Kahane responded, "There will be a perpetual war. With or without Kahane."
Support
Shlomo Aviner stated that Kahane was a righteous man who displayed self-sacrifice for the Jewish nation and also referred to him as a "Torah hero" whose every word was rooted in Torah sources.
Herbert Bomzer referred to Kahane as "truly immersed in Torah all the time."
Irving M. Bunim was a strong supporter and admirer of Kahane.
Shlomo Carlebach was known for declaring that the Jewish people owed a great debt to Kahane. Together, Carlebach and Kahane organized one of the first Noahide conferences in the 1980s for non-Jews wishing to accept upon themselves the Noahide laws.
Musician Bob Dylan made positive comments about Kahane. In a 1971 interview for Time magazine, Dylan said, "He's a really sincere guy. He's really put it all together." According to Kahane, Dylan attended several meetings of the Jewish Defense League to find out "what we're all about", and he started to have talks with the rabbi. Subsequently, Dylan downplayed the extent of his contact with Kahane.
Mordechai Eliyahu was Kahane's personal mentor, and one of Kahane's staunchest supporters. Eliyahu wrote an approbation to Kahane's Tanakh commentary, "Perush Hamacabee", where he refers to Kahane as "HaRav HaGaon" ("the rabbinic genius"), a praiseworthy title attributed to the very saintly. Eliyahu wrote, "Only the Torah way interested Kahane, which he constantly toiled over and which served as his strength... When one considers the depth and clarity of [Kahane's] works, one is astonished at how he had the time to compile such. The answer is that... all his time and thoughts were invested in Torah while other matters were secondary. Fortunate is the family that publishes his works for others to learn from." At Kahane's funeral, Eliyahu stated that Kahane was a reincarnation of a fearless biblical character.
Kahane was endorsed in his bid for a Knesset seat by Zvi Yehuda Kook. In his letter of support for Kahane, Kook stated, "The presence of Rabbi Meir Kahane and his uncompromising words from the Knesset platform will undoubtedly add strength and value to the obligatory struggle on behalf of the entire Land of Israel." The announcement of Kook's support of Kahane and his letter were made available to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Yosef Mendelevitch stated, "Kahane was a representative for us. His activities made us feel good. His actions showed that Jews cared. His actions may have been controversial, but his role was very important. He was a symbol for Russian Jews."
Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff said, "You can’t imagine the influence Kahane had on so many young people. Kahane was a talmid chacham (Torah scholar) that we all looked up to."
Menachem Mendel Schneerson supported Kahane on many issues concerning Israel, including the issue of Arabs, relinquishing land, building settlements and the incorporation of Jewish law into Israeli policy. After hearing of Kahane's death, Schneerson remarked that "one of the greatest Jewish leaders in history has fallen." He later blessed Kahane's son to be successful in fulfilling his "holy father's" work.
Avraham Shapira stated that Kahane was an inseparable part of Orthodox Judaism. He later openly backed Kahane's State of Judea movement.
After the Kach party was outlawed, a member of the Sicarii terrorist group pledged allegiance to Kahane and his political party during a phone call.
Ahron Soloveichik stated, "What Kahane said was absolutely correct, just we don’t say it because the world will criticize us, but somebody had to say it."
Noach Weinberg sought to place Kahane on his staff, believing him to be just what the kiruv movement needed.
Ya'akov Yosef described Kahane as one who fulfilled his role faithfully. He declared that "we must learn from his great actions in order that we learn the way of the Torah."
Legacy
Following Kahane's death, no leader emerged to replace him in the movement. However, the idea of transferring populations, attributed mainly to Kahane, was subsequently incorporated into the political platform of various political parties in Israel, such as Moledet (applying to Arab non-citizen residents of the West Bank) and Yisrael Beiteinu (in the form of population exchange). Two small Kahanist factions later emerged; one under the name Kach, and the other under the name Kahane chai (Hebrew: כהנא חי, literally "Kahane lives [on]"), the second one being led by his younger son, Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane. Neither one was permitted to participate in the Knesset elections by the Central Elections Committee.
In 1994, following the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre of Palestinian Muslim worshippers in Hebron by Kach supporter Baruch Goldstein, in which 29 Muslim worshipers were killed, the Israeli government declared both parties to be terrorist organizations. The US State Department also added Kach and Kahane Chai to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
In the 2003 Knesset elections, Herut, which had split off from the National Union list, ran with Michael Kleiner and former Kach activist Baruch Marzel taking the top two spots on the list. The joint effort narrowly missed the 1.5% barrier. In the following 2006 elections, the Jewish National Front, led by Baruch Marzel, fared better, but it also failed to pass the minimum threshold. A follower of Kahane who was involved with Kach for many years, Michael Ben-Ari, was elected to the Knesset in the 2009 elections on renewed National Union list. He stood again in the 2013 elections as the second candidate on the list of Otzma LeYisrael, but the party failed to pass the minimum threshold.
In 2007, the FBI released over a thousand documents relating to its daily surveillance of Kahane since the early 1960s.
In 2015, Kahane's grandson, Meir Ettinger, was detained by Israeli law enforcement. He was the alleged leader of the radical Jewish group "The Revolt". In an online "manifesto" echoing some of his grandfather's teachings, Ettinger promotes the "dispossession of gentiles" who live in Israel and the establishment of a new "kingdom of Israel", a theocracy ruled according to the Halacha. Ettinger's writings condemned Israel's government, mainstream rabbis, and the IDF, and also have denounced Christian churches as "idolatry".
In 2016, Kahane's widow claimed that modern Jewish extremists in Israel do not follow the ideology of her late husband, Rabbi Meir Kahane. She justified that claim by arguing that unlike modern Jewish extremists, Rabbi Kahane had a more mature approach that did not encourage illegal activities.
The prosecution argued that Arab MK Haneen Zoabi should be banned for denying the Jewish people's existence, and she was banned by the Central Elections Committee, which uses the Kahane precedent. A week later, the ruling was unanimously overturned by the Supreme Court. Attempts to ban the Strong Israel and Balad political parties by using the Kahane precedent were also overturned.
In 2017, The Forward reported that some of Kahane's followers were aligning themselves with white nationalists and the alt-right. Other Kahanists declared that such moves did not reflect Kahane's teachings, and they supported that declaration by arguing that Kahane worked together with African Americans.
See also
Jewish fundamentalism
Politics of Israel
Zionist political violence
Publications
By Kahane
(Partially under pseudonym Michael King; with Joseph Churba) The Jewish Stake in Vietnam, Crossroads, 1967
Never Again! A Program for Survival, Pyramid Books, 1972
Time to Go Home, Nash, 1972.
Letters from Prison, Jewish Identity Center, 1974
Our Challenge: The Chosen Land, 1974
The Story of the Jewish Defense League, Chilton, 1975, 2nd edition, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane, (Brooklyn, NY), 2000
Why Be Jewish? Intermarriage, Assimilation, and Alienation, Stein & Day, 1977
Listen, Vanessa, I Am a Zionist, Institute of the Authentic Jewish Idea, 1978
They Must Go, Grosset & Dunlop, 1981
Forty Years, Institute of the Jewish Idea, 2nd edition, 1983
Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews, Lyle Stuart, 1987
Israel: Revolution or Referendum, Barricade Books (Secaucus, NJ), 1990
Or ha-ra'yon, English title: The Jewish Idea, n.p. (Jerusalem), 1992, translated from the Hebrew by Raphael Blumberg, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1996
On Jews and Judaism: Selected Articles 1961–1990, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1993
Perush ha-Makabi: al Sefer Devarim, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1993, 1995
Pirush HaMaccabee: al Sefer Shemu'el u-Nevi'im rishonim, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1994
Listen World, Listen Jew, 3rd edition, Institute for the Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1995
Beyond Words, 1st edition, Institute for the Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 2010.
Kohen ve-navi: osef ma'amarim, ha-Makhon le-hotsa'at kitve ha-Rav Kahana (Jerusalem), 2000
Cuckooland, illustrated by Shulamith bar Itzhak (yet unpublished).
About Kahane
For supplementary information and insights:
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Miracle Man, Yeshivat "HaRaayon HaYehudi" (Jerusalem), 2010
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References
External links
Words online educational resource
FBI file on Meir Kahane
1932 births
1990 deaths
1990 murders in the United States
20th-century American criminals
20th-century rabbis
American emigrants to Israel
American Kahanists
American members of the clergy convicted of crimes
American Orthodox Jews
American Orthodox rabbis
American people of Latvian-Jewish descent
Assassinated American activists
Assassinated Israeli politicians
Assassinated rabbis
Brooklyn College alumni
Burials at Har HaMenuchot
Ethnic supremacy
Far-right politics
Israeli activists
Israeli anti-communists
Israeli government officials convicted of crimes
Israeli Kahanists
Israeli Orthodox rabbis
Israeli people murdered abroad
Israeli politicians convicted of crimes
Israeli terrorism victims
Jewish American writers
Jewish anti-communists
Jewish religious terrorism
Kach and Kahane Chai politicians
Kahanism
Male murder victims
Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988)
Mir Yeshiva alumni
Murdered American Jews
New York Law School alumni
Orthodox rabbis from New York City
People murdered in New York City
Philosophers of Judaism
Rabbis convicted of crimes
Religious Zionist Orthodox rabbis
Writers from Brooklyn
Writers on antisemitism
Writers on Zionism
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"Liga Veneta Serenissima (Most Serene Venetian League, LVS) was a Venetist political party active in Veneto.\n\nLFS was founded in 1984 by splinters from Liga Veneta (LV) led by Achille Tramarin. Tramarin was first elected national secretary of Liga Veneta in 1980 and in the 1983 regional election he was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies. Soon after the election Franco Rocchetta, who was not elected, forced Tramarin to resign as party secretary. When Tramarin refused to do so, Rocchetta organized a revolt and replaced him with Marilena Marin.\n\nAlthough the expulsion of Tramarin and Senator Graziano Girardi from the party meant its disappearance from the Parliament of Italy, Liga Veneta did well in the 1985 regional election (3.7% of the vote and two regional councillors elected), while LVS was relegated to a mere 0.2% of the vote. In 1987 Tramarin and what remained of LVS joined Ettore Beggiato's Union of the Venetian People (UPV), but he did not return into Liga Veneta as UPV did in 1995. In 1998 he returned to active politics and was one of the founding members of Liga Veneta Repubblica (LVR).\n\nReferences\n\nSources\nFrancesco Jori, Dalla Łiga alla Lega. Storia, movimenti, protagonisti, Marsilio, Venice 2009\nEzio Toffano, Short History of the Venetian Autonomism, Raixe Venete\n\nPolitical parties in Veneto\nVenetian nationalism\nPolitical parties established in 1984",
"\"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)"
] |
[
"Meir Kahane",
"Election to Knesset",
"When was he elected?",
"In the 1984 legislative elections, Kahane's Kach party received 25,907 votes, enough to give the party one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane.",
"What did he do once elected?",
"Kahane's legislative proposals focused on Jewish education, an open economy, transferring the Arab population out from the Land of Israel,"
] |
C_e81fc8a40b6b46269ae00a8e1e7d37bf_1
|
Was hen successful in these proposals?
| 3 |
Was Meir Kahan successful in Kahane's legislative proposals?
|
Meir Kahane
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In the 1984 legislative elections, Kahane's Kach party received 25,907 votes, enough to give the party one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane. Kahane refused to take the standard oath of office, and insisted on adding a Biblical verse from Psalms, to indicate that when national laws and the Torah conflict, the Torah (Biblical) law should have supremacy over the laws of the Knesset. Kahane's legislative proposals focused on Jewish education, an open economy, transferring the Arab population out from the Land of Israel, revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banning Jewish-Gentile marriages and sexual relations, based on the Code of Jewish Law compiled by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah. As his political career progressed, and his popularity in the streets began growing, Kahane became increasingly isolated in the Knesset. His speeches, boycotted by nearly all Knesset members, were often made to an empty parliament, except for the duty chairman and the transcriptionist. Kahane's legislative proposals and motions of no-confidence against the government were ignored or rejected by fellow Knesset members. Kahane often pejoratively called other Knesset members "Hellenists" (a reference to Jews who assimilated into Greek culture after Judea's occupation by Alexander the Great). In 1987, Kahane opened a yeshiva ("HaRaayon HaYehudi") with funding from US supporters, to teach "the Authentic Jewish Idea". Despite the boycott, Kahane's popularity grew among the Israeli public, especially among working-class Sephardi Jews. Polls showed that Kach would have likely received anywhere from four to twelve seats in the coming November 1988 elections. In 1985, the Knesset passed an amendment to Israel's Basic Law, barring "racist" candidates from election. The Central Elections Committee banned Kahane a second time, and he appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court. This time, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the committee, disqualifying Kach from running in the 1988 elections. Kahane was thus the first candidate in Israel to be barred from election for racism. The move was criticized as being anti-democratic by Alan M. Dershowitz. CANNOTANSWER
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revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banning Jewish-Gentile marriages and sexual relations, based on the Code of Jewish Law compiled by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah.
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Meir David HaKohen Kahane (; ; born Martin David Kahane; August 1, 1932 – November 5, 1990) was an American-born Israeli ordained Orthodox rabbi, writer, and ultra-nationalist politician who served one term in Israel's Knesset. A cofounder of the Jewish Defense League (JDL) and founder of the Israeli political party Kach, he espoused strong views against antisemitism.
Kahane was an intense advocate for Jewish causes. He organized defense squads and patrols in Jewish neighborhoods, and demanded that the Soviet Union release their oppressed Jews. He supported violence against those he regarded as enemies of the Jewish people, called for immediate Jewish mass migration to Israel to avoid a potential "Holocaust" in the United States, supported the restriction of Israel's democracy to its Jewish citizens, and endorsed the annexation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In 1968, Kahane was one of the co-founders of the JDL in the United States. In 1971, he co-founded Kach ("Thus"), a new political party in Israel. That same year, he was convicted in New York for conspiracy to manufacture explosives and received a suspended sentence of five years. In Israel, he was convicted for plotting to blow up the Libyan embassy in Brussels in revenge for the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, receiving a suspended sentence and probation. In 1984, he became a member of the Knesset, when Kach gained its only-ever seat in parliamentary elections. Kahane was boycotted across the aisles of the Knesset, and would often speak in front of an empty chamber. The Israel Broadcasting Authority similarly avoided coverage of his activities. The Central Elections Committee tried to ban Kahane from running in the 1984 elections, but this ban was overturned by the Supreme Court because there was no law to support it. In response, the Knesset approved an ad hoc law that allowed for the banning of parties that are "racist" or "undemocratic". In 1988, despite polls showing Kach gaining popularity due in part to the ongoing First Intifada, Kach was banned from entering that year's elections.
Kahane publicized his "Kahanism" ideology, which he claimed was simply Torah Judaism based on Halakha (Jewish law), through published works, weekly articles, speeches, debates on college campuses and in synagogues throughout the United States, and appearances on various televised programs and radio shows. In Israel, he proposed enforcing Halakha as codified by Maimonides and hoped that Israel would eventually adopt Halakha as state law. Non-Jews wishing to dwell in Israel would have three options: remain as "resident strangers" with limited rights, leave Israel and receive compensation for their property, or be forcibly removed without compensation. While serving in the Knesset in the mid-1980s Kahane proposed numerous laws, none of which passed, to emphasize Judaism in public schools, reduce Israel's bureaucracy, forbid sexual relations between Jews and non-Jews, separate Jewish and Arab neighbourhoods, and end cultural meetings between Jewish and Arab students.
Kahane was assassinated in a New York City hotel by an Egyptian-born U.S. citizen in November 1990. His legacy continues to influence militant and far-right political groups active today in Israel.
Personal life
Meir Kahane was born in Brooklyn, New York, to an Orthodox Jewish family. Kahane descended from a line of well-known rabbis, including his father, who was head of the Flatbush Board of Rabbis. His father, Yechezkel Shragei (Charles) Kahane (1905–1978), had studied at Polish and Czech yeshivas, and was the author of the rabbinic work Torah Yesharah. He was deeply involved in the Revisionist Zionist movement as a close friend of Ze'ev Jabotinsky. Kahane's grandfather was Nachman Kahane (1869–1937), a leading rabbinic scholar in Safed, who was the son of Baruch David Kahane (1850–1925), the author of Hibat ha-Eretz, and a disciple of Chaim Halberstam of Sanz. Baruch David was a direct descendant of Simcha Rappaport (1650–1718), of the Rappaport rabbinic family, who were allegedly able to trace their ancestry back to Eleazar ben Azariah, a 1st-century sage in the Land of Israel. Baruch David immigrated to Mandatory Palestine from Poland in 1873.
As a teenager, Kahane became an ardent admirer of Jabotinsky and Peter Bergson, who were frequent guests in his parents' home. He joined the Betar (Brit Trumpeldor) youth wing of Revisionist Zionism. He was active in protests against Ernest Bevin, the British Foreign Secretary who maintained restrictions on the immigration of Jews, even Holocaust survivors, to Palestine after the end of the Second World War. In 1947, Kahane was arrested for throwing eggs and tomatoes at Bevin, who was disembarking at Pier 84 on a visit to New York. A photo of the arrest appeared in the New York Daily News. In 1954, he became the Mazkir (Secretary) of Greater New York City's 16 Bnei Akiva chapters.
Kahane's formal education included Yeshiva of Flatbush for elementary school and Brooklyn Talmudical Academy for high school. Kahane received his rabbinical ordination from the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn, where he was especially admired by the head Rabbi Abraham Kalmanowitz. He was fully conversant in the Tanakh (Jewish Bible), the Talmud, the Midrash and Jewish law. Subsequently, Kahane earned a B.A. in political science from Brooklyn College in 1954, a Bachelor of Law – LL.B. from New York Law School, and an M.A. in International Relations from New York University.
In 1956, Kahane married Libby Blum, with whom he had four children: Tzipporah, Tova, Baruch, and Binyamin.
In 1966, Kahane, under the alias of Michael King and while already married, had an affair and proposed to 21-year-old model Gloria Jean D'Argenio (who used the stage name Estelle Donna Evans). Kahane sent a letter to D'Argenio in which he unilaterally ended their relationship. In response, D'Argenio jumped off the Queensboro Bridge and died of her injuries the next day. In 2008, Kahane's wife dismissed the incident as lacking proof.
After D'Argenio's death, Kahane started the Estelle Donna Evans Foundation in her name. Kahane claimed D'Argenio had been his former secretary in his failed consulting operation, she had died of terminal cancer, and her "well-to-do" family had endowed the foundation. Actually the money was used to fund the JDL, including supplies for bombings and Kahane's lavish travel.
Early career
Pulpit rabbi
In 1958, Kahane became the rabbi of the Howard Beach Jewish Center in Queens, New York City. Although the synagogue was originally Conservative, rather than strictly Orthodox, the board of directors agreed to Kahane's conditions, which included resigning from the Conservative movement's United Synagogue of America, installing a partition separating men and women during prayer, instituting traditional prayers, and maintaining a kosher kitchen. At the Jewish Center, Kahane influenced many of the synagogue's youngsters to adopt a more observant lifestyle, which often troubled parents. He trained Arlo Guthrie for his bar mitzvah. When his contract was not renewed, he soon published an article entitled "End of the Miracle of Howard Beach". That was Kahane's first article in The Jewish Press, an American Orthodox Jewish weekly for which he would continue to write for the rest of his life. Kahane also used the pen name David Sinai, and the pseudonyms Michael King, David Borac, and Martin Keene.
Infiltrating the John Birch Society
In the late 1950s and the early 1960s, Kahane's life of secrecy and his strong anticommunism landed him a position as a consultant with the FBI. According to his wife, Libby, his assignment was to infiltrate the anticommunist John Birch Society and report his findings to the FBI.
Collaboration with Joseph Churba
At some time in the late 1950s, Kahane assumed the persona of a Gentile, along with the pseudonym Michael King. Kahane began openly expressing his anticommunism. He and Joseph Churba created the July Fourth Movement, which was formed to counteract widespread opposition towards U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Subsequently, they coauthored the book The Jewish Stake in Vietnam, an attempt to convince American Jews of the "evil of Communism". The introduction states that, "All Americans have a stake in this grim war against Communism... It is vital that Jews realize the threat to their very survival [should Communism succeed]." Churba had a major falling out with Kahane over the use of paramilitary activities, and they parted ways permanently. Churba went on to pursue his own career, joining the U.S. Air Force, writing many books on the Middle East, and eventually becoming one of Ronald Reagan's consultants. Kahane chose to fight for Jewish rights, and was willing to use extreme measures. He even attempted to acquire and grow biological weapons to use on a Soviet military installation. He began using the phrase "Never again" and conceived the Jewish Star and fist insignia, a symbol resembling that of the Black Panther Party. However, Kahane himself opposed the Black Panthers, claiming they had supported anti-Jewish riots in Massachusetts and had left-wing views.
Jewish Defense League
Kahane founded the Jewish Defense League (JDL) in New York City in 1968. Its self-described purpose was to protect Jews from local manifestations of anti-Semitism. The JDL said it was committed to five fundamental principles:
Love of Jewry: One Jewish people, indivisible and united, from which flows the love for, and the feeling of pain of, all Jews.
Dignity and Pride: Pride in and knowledge of Jewish tradition, faith, culture, land, history, strength, pain, and peoplehood.
Iron: The need to both move to help Jews everywhere and to change the Jewish image through sacrifice and all necessary means—even strength, force, and violence.
Discipline and Unity: The knowledge that he (or she) can and will do whatever must be done, and the unity and strength of willpower to bring this into reality.
Faith in the Indestructibility of the Jewish People: Faith in the greatness and indestructibility of the Jewish people, our religion, and our Land of Israel.
According to his wife Libby Kahane, the JDL favored "civil rights for blacks, but opposed black anti-Semites and racism of any form." In 1971, the JDL formed an alliance with a black rights group in what Kahane termed "a turning point in Black-Jewish relations". The Anti-Defamation League claimed that Kahane "preached a radical form of Jewish nationalism which reflected racism, violence and political extremism" that was replicated by Irv Rubin, the JDL's successor to Kahane.
Terrorism and convictions
A number of the JDL's members and leaders, including Kahane, were convicted of acts related to domestic terrorism. In 1971, Kahane was sentenced to a suspended five-year prison sentence for conspiring to manufacture explosives. In 1975, Kahane was arrested for leading the attack on the Soviet United Nations mission and injuring two officers, but he was released after being given summonses for disorderly conduct. Later the same year, Kahane was accused of conspiring to kidnap a Soviet diplomat, bomb the Iraqi embassy in Washington, and ship arms abroad from Israel. He was convicted of violating his probation for the 1971 bombing conviction and was sentenced to one year in prison. However, he served most of it in a hotel, with frequent unsupervised absences, because of a concession over the provision of kosher food.
In a 1984 interview with Washington Post correspondent Carla Hall, Kahane admitted that the JDL "bombed the Russian [Soviet] mission in New York, the Russian cultural mission here [Washington] in 1971, the Soviet trade offices".
Immigration to Israel
In 1971, Kahane moved to Israel. At the time, he declared that he would focus on Jewish education. He later began gathering lists of Arab citizens of the State of Israel who were willing to emigrate for compensation, and eventually, he initiated protests that advocated the expulsion of Arabs from that country, and Israeli-occupied territories. In 1972, Jewish Defense League leaflets were distributed in Hebron, calling for the mayor to stand trial for the 1929 Hebron massacre. Kahane was arrested dozens of times. In 1971, he founded Kach, a political party that ran for the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, during the 1973 general elections under the name "The League List". It won 12,811 votes (0.82%), just 2,857 (0.18%) short of the electoral threshold at the time (1%) for winning a Knesset seat. The party was even less successful in the 1977 elections, winning only 4,836 votes.
In 1980, Kahane was arrested for the 62nd time since his emigration, and he was jailed for six months after a detention order that was based on allegations of him planning armed attacks against Palestinians in response to the killings of Jewish settlers. Kahane was held in prison in Ramla, where he wrote the book They Must Go. Kahane was banned from entering the UK in 1981.
In 1981, Kahane's party again ran for the Knesset during the 1981 elections, but it did not win a seat and received only 5,128 votes. In 1984, the Israeli Central Elections Committee banned him from being a candidate on the grounds that Kach was a racist party, but the Supreme Court of Israel overturned the ban on the grounds that the committee was not authorized to ban Kahane's candidacy. The Supreme Court suggested that the Knesset pass a law excluding racist parties from future elections. The Knesset responded in 1985 by amending the "Basic Law: Knesset" to include a prohibition (paragraph 7a) against the registration of parties that explicitly or implicitly incite racism.
Election to Knesset
In the 1984 legislative elections, Kahane's Kach party received 25,907 votes, gaining one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane. He refused to take the standard oath of office and insisted on adding a Biblical verse from Psalms to indicate that national laws were overruled by the Torah if they conflict. Kahane's legislative proposals focused on Jewish education, an open economy, transferring the Arab population out of the Land of Israel, revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banning Jewish-Gentile marriages and sexual relations.
While his popularity in Israel grew, Kahane was boycotted in the Knesset, where his speeches were often made to an empty assembly except for the duty chairman and the transcriptionist. The Knesset revoked his Parliamentary immunity to prevent his freedom of movement in areas where his inflammatory rhetoric could cause harm. Kahane's legislative proposals and motions of no-confidence against the government were ignored or rejected. Kahane often pejoratively called other Knesset members "Hellenists," a reference to Jews who assimilated into Greek culture after Judea's occupation by Alexander the Great.
In 1987, Kahane opened a yeshiva ("HaRaayon HaYehudi") with funding from US supporters to teach "the Authentic Jewish Idea". Despite the boycott, his popularity grew among the Israeli public, especially for working-class Sephardi Jews. Polls showed that Kach would have likely received anywhere from four to twelve seats in the coming November 1988 elections.
In 1985, the Knesset passed an amendment to the Basic Law of Israel, barring political parties that incited to racism. The Central Elections Committee banned Kahane a second time, and he appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court this time ruled in favor of the committee, disqualifying Kach from running in the 1988 legislative elections. Kahane was thus the first candidate in Israel to be barred from election for racism. The move was criticized as being anti-democratic by Alan M. Dershowitz.
After Kahane's election to the Knesset in 1984, the United States government attempted to revoke his U.S. citizenship, which Kahane successfully challenged in court. However, in 1987, the Knesset passed a law declaring that a Knesset member could only be an Israeli citizen. To remain eligible for office, Kahane renounced his United States citizenship, but after being banned from the Knesset for his politics, he again filed suit to get his U.S. citizenship reinstated based on the argument that he was compelled to relinquish it by the Knesset. The court rejected this argument, but he was permitted to continue travelling to the United States.
Assassination
In November 1990, Kahane gave a speech to an audience of mostly Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn, where he warned American Jews to emigrate to Israel before it was "too late". As a crowd gathered around Kahane in the second-floor lecture hall in Midtown Manhattan's New York Marriott East Side, Kahane was assassinated by El Sayyid Nosair, an Egyptian-born U.S. citizen. He was initially charged and acquitted of the murder. Nosair was later convicted of the murder in U.S. District Court for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Prosecutors were able to try Nosair again for the murder because the federal indictment included the killing as part of the alleged terrorist conspiracy. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and later made a confession to federal agents.
Kahane was buried on Har HaMenuchot, in Jerusalem. He was eulogized by a number of prominent supporters in both the U.S. and in Israel, including Rabbi Moshe Tendler and the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Mordechai Eliyahu, who spoke of how little the people understood of Kahane's true value.
Ideology
Kahane argued that there was a glory in Jewish destiny, which came through the observance of the Torah and halakha (Jewish law). He also noted, "Democracy and Judaism are not the same thing." Kahane also stressed the view that a Jewish state and a Western democracy were incompatible, since Western democracy is religion-blind, and a Jewish state is religion-oriented by its very name. He also warned of the danger of non-Jewish citizens becoming a majority and voting against the Jewish character of the state: "The question is as follows: if the Arabs settle among us and make enough children to become a majority, will Israel continue to be a Jewish state? Do we have to accept that the Arab majority will decide?" "Western democracy has to be ruled out. For me, that's cut and dried: There's no question of setting up democracy in Israel, because democracy means equal rights for all, irrespective of racial or religious origins."
Kahane proposed an "exchange of populations" that would continue the Jewish exodus from Arab lands: "A total of some 750,000 Jews fled Arab lands since 1948. Surely it is time for Jews, worried over the huge growth of Arabs in Israel, to consider finishing the exchange of populations that began 35 years ago." Kahane proposed a $40,000 compensation plan for Arabs who would leave voluntarily, and forcible expulsion for those who "don't want to leave". He encouraged retaliatory violence against Arabs who attacked Jews: "I approve of anybody who commits such acts of violence. Really, I don't think that we can sit back and watch Arabs throwing rocks at buses whenever they feel like it. They must understand that a bomb thrown at a Jewish bus is going to mean a bomb thrown at an Arab bus."
In some of his writings, Kahane argued that Israel should never start a war for territory but that if a war were launched against Israel, Biblical territory should be annexed. However, in an interview, he defined Israel's "minimal borders" as follows: "The southern boundary goes up to El Arish, which takes in all of northern Sinai, including Yamit. To the east, the frontier runs along the western part of the East Bank of the Jordan River, hence part of what is now Jordan. Eretz Yisrael also includes part of Lebanon and certain parts of Syria, and part of Iraq, all the way to the Euphrates River." When critics suggested that following Kahane's plans would mean a perpetual war between Jews and Arabs, Kahane responded, "There will be a perpetual war. With or without Kahane."
Support
Shlomo Aviner stated that Kahane was a righteous man who displayed self-sacrifice for the Jewish nation and also referred to him as a "Torah hero" whose every word was rooted in Torah sources.
Herbert Bomzer referred to Kahane as "truly immersed in Torah all the time."
Irving M. Bunim was a strong supporter and admirer of Kahane.
Shlomo Carlebach was known for declaring that the Jewish people owed a great debt to Kahane. Together, Carlebach and Kahane organized one of the first Noahide conferences in the 1980s for non-Jews wishing to accept upon themselves the Noahide laws.
Musician Bob Dylan made positive comments about Kahane. In a 1971 interview for Time magazine, Dylan said, "He's a really sincere guy. He's really put it all together." According to Kahane, Dylan attended several meetings of the Jewish Defense League to find out "what we're all about", and he started to have talks with the rabbi. Subsequently, Dylan downplayed the extent of his contact with Kahane.
Mordechai Eliyahu was Kahane's personal mentor, and one of Kahane's staunchest supporters. Eliyahu wrote an approbation to Kahane's Tanakh commentary, "Perush Hamacabee", where he refers to Kahane as "HaRav HaGaon" ("the rabbinic genius"), a praiseworthy title attributed to the very saintly. Eliyahu wrote, "Only the Torah way interested Kahane, which he constantly toiled over and which served as his strength... When one considers the depth and clarity of [Kahane's] works, one is astonished at how he had the time to compile such. The answer is that... all his time and thoughts were invested in Torah while other matters were secondary. Fortunate is the family that publishes his works for others to learn from." At Kahane's funeral, Eliyahu stated that Kahane was a reincarnation of a fearless biblical character.
Kahane was endorsed in his bid for a Knesset seat by Zvi Yehuda Kook. In his letter of support for Kahane, Kook stated, "The presence of Rabbi Meir Kahane and his uncompromising words from the Knesset platform will undoubtedly add strength and value to the obligatory struggle on behalf of the entire Land of Israel." The announcement of Kook's support of Kahane and his letter were made available to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Yosef Mendelevitch stated, "Kahane was a representative for us. His activities made us feel good. His actions showed that Jews cared. His actions may have been controversial, but his role was very important. He was a symbol for Russian Jews."
Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff said, "You can’t imagine the influence Kahane had on so many young people. Kahane was a talmid chacham (Torah scholar) that we all looked up to."
Menachem Mendel Schneerson supported Kahane on many issues concerning Israel, including the issue of Arabs, relinquishing land, building settlements and the incorporation of Jewish law into Israeli policy. After hearing of Kahane's death, Schneerson remarked that "one of the greatest Jewish leaders in history has fallen." He later blessed Kahane's son to be successful in fulfilling his "holy father's" work.
Avraham Shapira stated that Kahane was an inseparable part of Orthodox Judaism. He later openly backed Kahane's State of Judea movement.
After the Kach party was outlawed, a member of the Sicarii terrorist group pledged allegiance to Kahane and his political party during a phone call.
Ahron Soloveichik stated, "What Kahane said was absolutely correct, just we don’t say it because the world will criticize us, but somebody had to say it."
Noach Weinberg sought to place Kahane on his staff, believing him to be just what the kiruv movement needed.
Ya'akov Yosef described Kahane as one who fulfilled his role faithfully. He declared that "we must learn from his great actions in order that we learn the way of the Torah."
Legacy
Following Kahane's death, no leader emerged to replace him in the movement. However, the idea of transferring populations, attributed mainly to Kahane, was subsequently incorporated into the political platform of various political parties in Israel, such as Moledet (applying to Arab non-citizen residents of the West Bank) and Yisrael Beiteinu (in the form of population exchange). Two small Kahanist factions later emerged; one under the name Kach, and the other under the name Kahane chai (Hebrew: כהנא חי, literally "Kahane lives [on]"), the second one being led by his younger son, Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane. Neither one was permitted to participate in the Knesset elections by the Central Elections Committee.
In 1994, following the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre of Palestinian Muslim worshippers in Hebron by Kach supporter Baruch Goldstein, in which 29 Muslim worshipers were killed, the Israeli government declared both parties to be terrorist organizations. The US State Department also added Kach and Kahane Chai to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
In the 2003 Knesset elections, Herut, which had split off from the National Union list, ran with Michael Kleiner and former Kach activist Baruch Marzel taking the top two spots on the list. The joint effort narrowly missed the 1.5% barrier. In the following 2006 elections, the Jewish National Front, led by Baruch Marzel, fared better, but it also failed to pass the minimum threshold. A follower of Kahane who was involved with Kach for many years, Michael Ben-Ari, was elected to the Knesset in the 2009 elections on renewed National Union list. He stood again in the 2013 elections as the second candidate on the list of Otzma LeYisrael, but the party failed to pass the minimum threshold.
In 2007, the FBI released over a thousand documents relating to its daily surveillance of Kahane since the early 1960s.
In 2015, Kahane's grandson, Meir Ettinger, was detained by Israeli law enforcement. He was the alleged leader of the radical Jewish group "The Revolt". In an online "manifesto" echoing some of his grandfather's teachings, Ettinger promotes the "dispossession of gentiles" who live in Israel and the establishment of a new "kingdom of Israel", a theocracy ruled according to the Halacha. Ettinger's writings condemned Israel's government, mainstream rabbis, and the IDF, and also have denounced Christian churches as "idolatry".
In 2016, Kahane's widow claimed that modern Jewish extremists in Israel do not follow the ideology of her late husband, Rabbi Meir Kahane. She justified that claim by arguing that unlike modern Jewish extremists, Rabbi Kahane had a more mature approach that did not encourage illegal activities.
The prosecution argued that Arab MK Haneen Zoabi should be banned for denying the Jewish people's existence, and she was banned by the Central Elections Committee, which uses the Kahane precedent. A week later, the ruling was unanimously overturned by the Supreme Court. Attempts to ban the Strong Israel and Balad political parties by using the Kahane precedent were also overturned.
In 2017, The Forward reported that some of Kahane's followers were aligning themselves with white nationalists and the alt-right. Other Kahanists declared that such moves did not reflect Kahane's teachings, and they supported that declaration by arguing that Kahane worked together with African Americans.
See also
Jewish fundamentalism
Politics of Israel
Zionist political violence
Publications
By Kahane
(Partially under pseudonym Michael King; with Joseph Churba) The Jewish Stake in Vietnam, Crossroads, 1967
Never Again! A Program for Survival, Pyramid Books, 1972
Time to Go Home, Nash, 1972.
Letters from Prison, Jewish Identity Center, 1974
Our Challenge: The Chosen Land, 1974
The Story of the Jewish Defense League, Chilton, 1975, 2nd edition, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane, (Brooklyn, NY), 2000
Why Be Jewish? Intermarriage, Assimilation, and Alienation, Stein & Day, 1977
Listen, Vanessa, I Am a Zionist, Institute of the Authentic Jewish Idea, 1978
They Must Go, Grosset & Dunlop, 1981
Forty Years, Institute of the Jewish Idea, 2nd edition, 1983
Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews, Lyle Stuart, 1987
Israel: Revolution or Referendum, Barricade Books (Secaucus, NJ), 1990
Or ha-ra'yon, English title: The Jewish Idea, n.p. (Jerusalem), 1992, translated from the Hebrew by Raphael Blumberg, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1996
On Jews and Judaism: Selected Articles 1961–1990, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1993
Perush ha-Makabi: al Sefer Devarim, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1993, 1995
Pirush HaMaccabee: al Sefer Shemu'el u-Nevi'im rishonim, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1994
Listen World, Listen Jew, 3rd edition, Institute for the Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1995
Beyond Words, 1st edition, Institute for the Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 2010.
Kohen ve-navi: osef ma'amarim, ha-Makhon le-hotsa'at kitve ha-Rav Kahana (Jerusalem), 2000
Cuckooland, illustrated by Shulamith bar Itzhak (yet unpublished).
About Kahane
For supplementary information and insights:
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Miracle Man, Yeshivat "HaRaayon HaYehudi" (Jerusalem), 2010
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References
External links
Words online educational resource
FBI file on Meir Kahane
1932 births
1990 deaths
1990 murders in the United States
20th-century American criminals
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Kach and Kahane Chai politicians
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"The novels in the Higurashi When They Cry series are written by Ryukishi07, and are based on the visual novel series of the same name by 07th Expansion. There are four light novels which contain additional illustrations by five different artists, and seventeen novelizations of the separate visual novel arcs.\n\nThe light novels were all released as limited editions not sold in stores. The first one, Nekogoroshi-hen, was illustrated by Karin Suzuragi, Yutori Hōjō, and Jirō Suzuki, and was sent out to those who bought the first volume of the manga versions of Onikakushi-hen, Watanagashi-hen, and Tatarigoroshi-hen. One needed to send the cut out stamps in all three of these manga by the deadline in order to receive this special short story. The second light novel, Kuradashi-hen, was illustrated by Tonogai Yoshiki, Karin Suzuki, Yutori Hōjō, and Mimori. This novel was sent out to those who bought the second volume of the manga version of Himatsubushi-hen, and the first volumes of the manga Tsumihoroboshi-hen, Meakashi-hen, and Yoigoshi-hen. One needed to send the cut out stamps in all four of these manga by a certain deadline in order to receive this special short story. The third light novel, Hajisarashi-hen, contained illustrations by Rato, and was included with the limited edition of the PlayStation 2 game Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri. The fourth novel, Kuradashi-hen Zoku is a sequel to Kuradashi-hen and was sent out to those who bought the second volumes of the manga Tsumihoroboshi-hen, Meakashi-hen, and Yoigoshi-hen. One needed to send the cut out stamps in all four of these manga by a certain deadline in order to receive this special short story. The light novels were published by Square Enix and released in 2006 and 2007.\n\nKodansha Box released seventeen novelizations of the visual novel arcs between August 2007 and March 2009, starting with Onikakushi-hen and ending with Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei. Most of the story arcs are divided into two volumes, except for Himatsubushi-hen and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei which are compiled into one volume each, and Matsuribayashi-hen which is compiled into three volumes. The novels included illustrations by Tomohi.\n\nVolume list\n\nLight novels\n\nNovelizations\n\nReferences\n\nNovels\nHigurashi When They Cry",
"The manga series Higurashi When They Cry comprises 14 separate story arcs written by Ryukishi07 and illustrated by several different manga artists working separately on one or more story arcs primarily based on the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni visual novel series by 07th Expansion. The first manga, an adaptation of Onikakushi-hen, is illustrated by Karin Suzuragi and was serialized in the Square Enix's Gangan Powered between the May 2005 and May 2006 issues. Suzuragi also draws the manga adaptation of Tsumihoroboshi-hen, which was serialized in Gangan Powered between the August 2006 and June 2008 issues, and Matsuribayashi-hen, which started serialization in Gangan Powered in the August 2008 issue. When Gangan Powered was discontinued with the April 2009 issue, Matsuribayashi-hen was transferred to Square Enix's Gangan Joker with the May 2009 inaugural issue, and ran until the May 2011 issue. Suzuragi's also drew the manga adaptation of Saikoroshi-hen, which was serialized between the July and December 2011 issues of Gangan Joker.\n\nYutori Hōjō illustrated the adaptations of Watanagashi-hen, which was serialized Square Enix's Gangan Wing between the June 2005 and May 2006 issues, and Meakashi-hen, which was serialized in Gangan Wing between the August 2006 and April 2008 issues. Jirō Suzuki illustrates the adaptation of Tatarigoroshi-hen, which was serialized in Square Enix's GFantasy between the June 2005 and June 2006 issues. Yoshiki Tonogai illustrates the adaptation of Himatsubushi-hen, which was serialized in Square Enix's Monthly Shōnen Gangan between the February and November 2006 issues. Hanase Momoyama illustrated the adaptation of Minagoroshi-hen, which was serialized in GFantasy between the July 2008 and July 2010 issues. Rechi Kazuki illustrates the adaptation of Hirukowashi-hen, which was serialized in Square Enix's Gangan Online between March 26 and September 24, 2009.\n\nIn addition to the main series, there are four side stories related to the main Higurashi story, but with new characters. The first, named , is drawn by En Kitō and was serialized in Comp Ace between the May 2005 and November 2006 issues. The next, titled , is drawn by Mimori and was serialized in GFantasy between the July 2006 and August 2007 issues. Another manga titled is also drawn by Kitō and was serialized in Comp Ace between the February and August 2007 issues. The last side-story, , is drawn by Yuna Kagesaki and was serialized Kadokawa Shoten's Comp Ace between the October 2008 and April 2009 issues.\n\nThe chapters for the question arcs, Onikakushi-hen, Watanagashi-hen, Tatarigoroshi-hen, and Himatsubushi-hen were collected into two bound volumes each between December 2005 and December 2006 in Japan. The first two answer arcs, Meakashi-hen and Tsumihoroboshi-hen, were collected into four volumes each. Onisarashi-hen and Yoigoshi-hen were collected into two volumes each released in Japan between April 2006 and August 2007. Utsutsukowashi-hen was released in a single volume in December 2007 in Japan, and a single volume of Kokoroiyashi-hen was released in March 2009. Hirukowashi-hen was published in a single volume in December 2009. In total, 38 volumes have been released over the entire series.\n\nYen Press licensed the manga series at New York Comic Con 2008 under the title Higurashi When They Cry for release in English in North America. The manga was initially serialized in Yen Press' Yen Plus anthology magazine, the first issue of which went on sale on July 29, 2008. The first English volume of the manga was originally planned to be sold in early 2009, but was released in November 2008.\n\nVolume list\n\nAbducted by Demons Arc (Onikakushi-hen)\n\nCotton Drifting Arc (Watanagashi-hen)\n\nCurse Killing Arc (Tatarigoroshi-hen)\n\nTime Killing Arc (Himatsubushi-hen)\n\nBeyond Midnight Arc (Yoigoshi-hen)\n\nEye Opening Arc (Meakashi-hen)\n\nAtonement Arc (Tsumihoroboshi-hen)\n\nMassacre Arc (Minagoroshi-hen)\n\nFestival Accompanying Arc (Matsuribayashi-hen)\n\nDice Killing Arc (Saikoroshi-hen)\n\nDemon Exposing Arc (Onisarashi-hen)\n\nCurrently Destroyed Arc (Utsutsukowashi-hen)\n\nHealing Heart Arc (Kokoroiyashi-hen)\n\nDaytime Breakdown Arc (Hirukowashi-hen)\n\nGou\n\nMeguri\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nHigurashi manga at Square Enix \nHigurashi manga at Yen Press\n\nChapters\nLists of manga volumes and chapters"
] |
[
"Meir Kahane",
"Election to Knesset",
"When was he elected?",
"In the 1984 legislative elections, Kahane's Kach party received 25,907 votes, enough to give the party one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane.",
"What did he do once elected?",
"Kahane's legislative proposals focused on Jewish education, an open economy, transferring the Arab population out from the Land of Israel,",
"Was hen successful in these proposals?",
"revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banning Jewish-Gentile marriages and sexual relations, based on the Code of Jewish Law compiled by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah."
] |
C_e81fc8a40b6b46269ae00a8e1e7d37bf_1
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Did he receive any backlash for this?
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Did Meir Kahan receive any backlash for revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banning Jewish-Gentile marriages and sexual relations?
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Meir Kahane
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In the 1984 legislative elections, Kahane's Kach party received 25,907 votes, enough to give the party one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane. Kahane refused to take the standard oath of office, and insisted on adding a Biblical verse from Psalms, to indicate that when national laws and the Torah conflict, the Torah (Biblical) law should have supremacy over the laws of the Knesset. Kahane's legislative proposals focused on Jewish education, an open economy, transferring the Arab population out from the Land of Israel, revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banning Jewish-Gentile marriages and sexual relations, based on the Code of Jewish Law compiled by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah. As his political career progressed, and his popularity in the streets began growing, Kahane became increasingly isolated in the Knesset. His speeches, boycotted by nearly all Knesset members, were often made to an empty parliament, except for the duty chairman and the transcriptionist. Kahane's legislative proposals and motions of no-confidence against the government were ignored or rejected by fellow Knesset members. Kahane often pejoratively called other Knesset members "Hellenists" (a reference to Jews who assimilated into Greek culture after Judea's occupation by Alexander the Great). In 1987, Kahane opened a yeshiva ("HaRaayon HaYehudi") with funding from US supporters, to teach "the Authentic Jewish Idea". Despite the boycott, Kahane's popularity grew among the Israeli public, especially among working-class Sephardi Jews. Polls showed that Kach would have likely received anywhere from four to twelve seats in the coming November 1988 elections. In 1985, the Knesset passed an amendment to Israel's Basic Law, barring "racist" candidates from election. The Central Elections Committee banned Kahane a second time, and he appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court. This time, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the committee, disqualifying Kach from running in the 1988 elections. Kahane was thus the first candidate in Israel to be barred from election for racism. The move was criticized as being anti-democratic by Alan M. Dershowitz. CANNOTANSWER
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His speeches, boycotted by nearly all Knesset members, were often made to an empty parliament, except for the duty chairman and the transcriptionist.
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Meir David HaKohen Kahane (; ; born Martin David Kahane; August 1, 1932 – November 5, 1990) was an American-born Israeli ordained Orthodox rabbi, writer, and ultra-nationalist politician who served one term in Israel's Knesset. A cofounder of the Jewish Defense League (JDL) and founder of the Israeli political party Kach, he espoused strong views against antisemitism.
Kahane was an intense advocate for Jewish causes. He organized defense squads and patrols in Jewish neighborhoods, and demanded that the Soviet Union release their oppressed Jews. He supported violence against those he regarded as enemies of the Jewish people, called for immediate Jewish mass migration to Israel to avoid a potential "Holocaust" in the United States, supported the restriction of Israel's democracy to its Jewish citizens, and endorsed the annexation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In 1968, Kahane was one of the co-founders of the JDL in the United States. In 1971, he co-founded Kach ("Thus"), a new political party in Israel. That same year, he was convicted in New York for conspiracy to manufacture explosives and received a suspended sentence of five years. In Israel, he was convicted for plotting to blow up the Libyan embassy in Brussels in revenge for the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, receiving a suspended sentence and probation. In 1984, he became a member of the Knesset, when Kach gained its only-ever seat in parliamentary elections. Kahane was boycotted across the aisles of the Knesset, and would often speak in front of an empty chamber. The Israel Broadcasting Authority similarly avoided coverage of his activities. The Central Elections Committee tried to ban Kahane from running in the 1984 elections, but this ban was overturned by the Supreme Court because there was no law to support it. In response, the Knesset approved an ad hoc law that allowed for the banning of parties that are "racist" or "undemocratic". In 1988, despite polls showing Kach gaining popularity due in part to the ongoing First Intifada, Kach was banned from entering that year's elections.
Kahane publicized his "Kahanism" ideology, which he claimed was simply Torah Judaism based on Halakha (Jewish law), through published works, weekly articles, speeches, debates on college campuses and in synagogues throughout the United States, and appearances on various televised programs and radio shows. In Israel, he proposed enforcing Halakha as codified by Maimonides and hoped that Israel would eventually adopt Halakha as state law. Non-Jews wishing to dwell in Israel would have three options: remain as "resident strangers" with limited rights, leave Israel and receive compensation for their property, or be forcibly removed without compensation. While serving in the Knesset in the mid-1980s Kahane proposed numerous laws, none of which passed, to emphasize Judaism in public schools, reduce Israel's bureaucracy, forbid sexual relations between Jews and non-Jews, separate Jewish and Arab neighbourhoods, and end cultural meetings between Jewish and Arab students.
Kahane was assassinated in a New York City hotel by an Egyptian-born U.S. citizen in November 1990. His legacy continues to influence militant and far-right political groups active today in Israel.
Personal life
Meir Kahane was born in Brooklyn, New York, to an Orthodox Jewish family. Kahane descended from a line of well-known rabbis, including his father, who was head of the Flatbush Board of Rabbis. His father, Yechezkel Shragei (Charles) Kahane (1905–1978), had studied at Polish and Czech yeshivas, and was the author of the rabbinic work Torah Yesharah. He was deeply involved in the Revisionist Zionist movement as a close friend of Ze'ev Jabotinsky. Kahane's grandfather was Nachman Kahane (1869–1937), a leading rabbinic scholar in Safed, who was the son of Baruch David Kahane (1850–1925), the author of Hibat ha-Eretz, and a disciple of Chaim Halberstam of Sanz. Baruch David was a direct descendant of Simcha Rappaport (1650–1718), of the Rappaport rabbinic family, who were allegedly able to trace their ancestry back to Eleazar ben Azariah, a 1st-century sage in the Land of Israel. Baruch David immigrated to Mandatory Palestine from Poland in 1873.
As a teenager, Kahane became an ardent admirer of Jabotinsky and Peter Bergson, who were frequent guests in his parents' home. He joined the Betar (Brit Trumpeldor) youth wing of Revisionist Zionism. He was active in protests against Ernest Bevin, the British Foreign Secretary who maintained restrictions on the immigration of Jews, even Holocaust survivors, to Palestine after the end of the Second World War. In 1947, Kahane was arrested for throwing eggs and tomatoes at Bevin, who was disembarking at Pier 84 on a visit to New York. A photo of the arrest appeared in the New York Daily News. In 1954, he became the Mazkir (Secretary) of Greater New York City's 16 Bnei Akiva chapters.
Kahane's formal education included Yeshiva of Flatbush for elementary school and Brooklyn Talmudical Academy for high school. Kahane received his rabbinical ordination from the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn, where he was especially admired by the head Rabbi Abraham Kalmanowitz. He was fully conversant in the Tanakh (Jewish Bible), the Talmud, the Midrash and Jewish law. Subsequently, Kahane earned a B.A. in political science from Brooklyn College in 1954, a Bachelor of Law – LL.B. from New York Law School, and an M.A. in International Relations from New York University.
In 1956, Kahane married Libby Blum, with whom he had four children: Tzipporah, Tova, Baruch, and Binyamin.
In 1966, Kahane, under the alias of Michael King and while already married, had an affair and proposed to 21-year-old model Gloria Jean D'Argenio (who used the stage name Estelle Donna Evans). Kahane sent a letter to D'Argenio in which he unilaterally ended their relationship. In response, D'Argenio jumped off the Queensboro Bridge and died of her injuries the next day. In 2008, Kahane's wife dismissed the incident as lacking proof.
After D'Argenio's death, Kahane started the Estelle Donna Evans Foundation in her name. Kahane claimed D'Argenio had been his former secretary in his failed consulting operation, she had died of terminal cancer, and her "well-to-do" family had endowed the foundation. Actually the money was used to fund the JDL, including supplies for bombings and Kahane's lavish travel.
Early career
Pulpit rabbi
In 1958, Kahane became the rabbi of the Howard Beach Jewish Center in Queens, New York City. Although the synagogue was originally Conservative, rather than strictly Orthodox, the board of directors agreed to Kahane's conditions, which included resigning from the Conservative movement's United Synagogue of America, installing a partition separating men and women during prayer, instituting traditional prayers, and maintaining a kosher kitchen. At the Jewish Center, Kahane influenced many of the synagogue's youngsters to adopt a more observant lifestyle, which often troubled parents. He trained Arlo Guthrie for his bar mitzvah. When his contract was not renewed, he soon published an article entitled "End of the Miracle of Howard Beach". That was Kahane's first article in The Jewish Press, an American Orthodox Jewish weekly for which he would continue to write for the rest of his life. Kahane also used the pen name David Sinai, and the pseudonyms Michael King, David Borac, and Martin Keene.
Infiltrating the John Birch Society
In the late 1950s and the early 1960s, Kahane's life of secrecy and his strong anticommunism landed him a position as a consultant with the FBI. According to his wife, Libby, his assignment was to infiltrate the anticommunist John Birch Society and report his findings to the FBI.
Collaboration with Joseph Churba
At some time in the late 1950s, Kahane assumed the persona of a Gentile, along with the pseudonym Michael King. Kahane began openly expressing his anticommunism. He and Joseph Churba created the July Fourth Movement, which was formed to counteract widespread opposition towards U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Subsequently, they coauthored the book The Jewish Stake in Vietnam, an attempt to convince American Jews of the "evil of Communism". The introduction states that, "All Americans have a stake in this grim war against Communism... It is vital that Jews realize the threat to their very survival [should Communism succeed]." Churba had a major falling out with Kahane over the use of paramilitary activities, and they parted ways permanently. Churba went on to pursue his own career, joining the U.S. Air Force, writing many books on the Middle East, and eventually becoming one of Ronald Reagan's consultants. Kahane chose to fight for Jewish rights, and was willing to use extreme measures. He even attempted to acquire and grow biological weapons to use on a Soviet military installation. He began using the phrase "Never again" and conceived the Jewish Star and fist insignia, a symbol resembling that of the Black Panther Party. However, Kahane himself opposed the Black Panthers, claiming they had supported anti-Jewish riots in Massachusetts and had left-wing views.
Jewish Defense League
Kahane founded the Jewish Defense League (JDL) in New York City in 1968. Its self-described purpose was to protect Jews from local manifestations of anti-Semitism. The JDL said it was committed to five fundamental principles:
Love of Jewry: One Jewish people, indivisible and united, from which flows the love for, and the feeling of pain of, all Jews.
Dignity and Pride: Pride in and knowledge of Jewish tradition, faith, culture, land, history, strength, pain, and peoplehood.
Iron: The need to both move to help Jews everywhere and to change the Jewish image through sacrifice and all necessary means—even strength, force, and violence.
Discipline and Unity: The knowledge that he (or she) can and will do whatever must be done, and the unity and strength of willpower to bring this into reality.
Faith in the Indestructibility of the Jewish People: Faith in the greatness and indestructibility of the Jewish people, our religion, and our Land of Israel.
According to his wife Libby Kahane, the JDL favored "civil rights for blacks, but opposed black anti-Semites and racism of any form." In 1971, the JDL formed an alliance with a black rights group in what Kahane termed "a turning point in Black-Jewish relations". The Anti-Defamation League claimed that Kahane "preached a radical form of Jewish nationalism which reflected racism, violence and political extremism" that was replicated by Irv Rubin, the JDL's successor to Kahane.
Terrorism and convictions
A number of the JDL's members and leaders, including Kahane, were convicted of acts related to domestic terrorism. In 1971, Kahane was sentenced to a suspended five-year prison sentence for conspiring to manufacture explosives. In 1975, Kahane was arrested for leading the attack on the Soviet United Nations mission and injuring two officers, but he was released after being given summonses for disorderly conduct. Later the same year, Kahane was accused of conspiring to kidnap a Soviet diplomat, bomb the Iraqi embassy in Washington, and ship arms abroad from Israel. He was convicted of violating his probation for the 1971 bombing conviction and was sentenced to one year in prison. However, he served most of it in a hotel, with frequent unsupervised absences, because of a concession over the provision of kosher food.
In a 1984 interview with Washington Post correspondent Carla Hall, Kahane admitted that the JDL "bombed the Russian [Soviet] mission in New York, the Russian cultural mission here [Washington] in 1971, the Soviet trade offices".
Immigration to Israel
In 1971, Kahane moved to Israel. At the time, he declared that he would focus on Jewish education. He later began gathering lists of Arab citizens of the State of Israel who were willing to emigrate for compensation, and eventually, he initiated protests that advocated the expulsion of Arabs from that country, and Israeli-occupied territories. In 1972, Jewish Defense League leaflets were distributed in Hebron, calling for the mayor to stand trial for the 1929 Hebron massacre. Kahane was arrested dozens of times. In 1971, he founded Kach, a political party that ran for the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, during the 1973 general elections under the name "The League List". It won 12,811 votes (0.82%), just 2,857 (0.18%) short of the electoral threshold at the time (1%) for winning a Knesset seat. The party was even less successful in the 1977 elections, winning only 4,836 votes.
In 1980, Kahane was arrested for the 62nd time since his emigration, and he was jailed for six months after a detention order that was based on allegations of him planning armed attacks against Palestinians in response to the killings of Jewish settlers. Kahane was held in prison in Ramla, where he wrote the book They Must Go. Kahane was banned from entering the UK in 1981.
In 1981, Kahane's party again ran for the Knesset during the 1981 elections, but it did not win a seat and received only 5,128 votes. In 1984, the Israeli Central Elections Committee banned him from being a candidate on the grounds that Kach was a racist party, but the Supreme Court of Israel overturned the ban on the grounds that the committee was not authorized to ban Kahane's candidacy. The Supreme Court suggested that the Knesset pass a law excluding racist parties from future elections. The Knesset responded in 1985 by amending the "Basic Law: Knesset" to include a prohibition (paragraph 7a) against the registration of parties that explicitly or implicitly incite racism.
Election to Knesset
In the 1984 legislative elections, Kahane's Kach party received 25,907 votes, gaining one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane. He refused to take the standard oath of office and insisted on adding a Biblical verse from Psalms to indicate that national laws were overruled by the Torah if they conflict. Kahane's legislative proposals focused on Jewish education, an open economy, transferring the Arab population out of the Land of Israel, revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banning Jewish-Gentile marriages and sexual relations.
While his popularity in Israel grew, Kahane was boycotted in the Knesset, where his speeches were often made to an empty assembly except for the duty chairman and the transcriptionist. The Knesset revoked his Parliamentary immunity to prevent his freedom of movement in areas where his inflammatory rhetoric could cause harm. Kahane's legislative proposals and motions of no-confidence against the government were ignored or rejected. Kahane often pejoratively called other Knesset members "Hellenists," a reference to Jews who assimilated into Greek culture after Judea's occupation by Alexander the Great.
In 1987, Kahane opened a yeshiva ("HaRaayon HaYehudi") with funding from US supporters to teach "the Authentic Jewish Idea". Despite the boycott, his popularity grew among the Israeli public, especially for working-class Sephardi Jews. Polls showed that Kach would have likely received anywhere from four to twelve seats in the coming November 1988 elections.
In 1985, the Knesset passed an amendment to the Basic Law of Israel, barring political parties that incited to racism. The Central Elections Committee banned Kahane a second time, and he appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court this time ruled in favor of the committee, disqualifying Kach from running in the 1988 legislative elections. Kahane was thus the first candidate in Israel to be barred from election for racism. The move was criticized as being anti-democratic by Alan M. Dershowitz.
After Kahane's election to the Knesset in 1984, the United States government attempted to revoke his U.S. citizenship, which Kahane successfully challenged in court. However, in 1987, the Knesset passed a law declaring that a Knesset member could only be an Israeli citizen. To remain eligible for office, Kahane renounced his United States citizenship, but after being banned from the Knesset for his politics, he again filed suit to get his U.S. citizenship reinstated based on the argument that he was compelled to relinquish it by the Knesset. The court rejected this argument, but he was permitted to continue travelling to the United States.
Assassination
In November 1990, Kahane gave a speech to an audience of mostly Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn, where he warned American Jews to emigrate to Israel before it was "too late". As a crowd gathered around Kahane in the second-floor lecture hall in Midtown Manhattan's New York Marriott East Side, Kahane was assassinated by El Sayyid Nosair, an Egyptian-born U.S. citizen. He was initially charged and acquitted of the murder. Nosair was later convicted of the murder in U.S. District Court for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Prosecutors were able to try Nosair again for the murder because the federal indictment included the killing as part of the alleged terrorist conspiracy. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and later made a confession to federal agents.
Kahane was buried on Har HaMenuchot, in Jerusalem. He was eulogized by a number of prominent supporters in both the U.S. and in Israel, including Rabbi Moshe Tendler and the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Mordechai Eliyahu, who spoke of how little the people understood of Kahane's true value.
Ideology
Kahane argued that there was a glory in Jewish destiny, which came through the observance of the Torah and halakha (Jewish law). He also noted, "Democracy and Judaism are not the same thing." Kahane also stressed the view that a Jewish state and a Western democracy were incompatible, since Western democracy is religion-blind, and a Jewish state is religion-oriented by its very name. He also warned of the danger of non-Jewish citizens becoming a majority and voting against the Jewish character of the state: "The question is as follows: if the Arabs settle among us and make enough children to become a majority, will Israel continue to be a Jewish state? Do we have to accept that the Arab majority will decide?" "Western democracy has to be ruled out. For me, that's cut and dried: There's no question of setting up democracy in Israel, because democracy means equal rights for all, irrespective of racial or religious origins."
Kahane proposed an "exchange of populations" that would continue the Jewish exodus from Arab lands: "A total of some 750,000 Jews fled Arab lands since 1948. Surely it is time for Jews, worried over the huge growth of Arabs in Israel, to consider finishing the exchange of populations that began 35 years ago." Kahane proposed a $40,000 compensation plan for Arabs who would leave voluntarily, and forcible expulsion for those who "don't want to leave". He encouraged retaliatory violence against Arabs who attacked Jews: "I approve of anybody who commits such acts of violence. Really, I don't think that we can sit back and watch Arabs throwing rocks at buses whenever they feel like it. They must understand that a bomb thrown at a Jewish bus is going to mean a bomb thrown at an Arab bus."
In some of his writings, Kahane argued that Israel should never start a war for territory but that if a war were launched against Israel, Biblical territory should be annexed. However, in an interview, he defined Israel's "minimal borders" as follows: "The southern boundary goes up to El Arish, which takes in all of northern Sinai, including Yamit. To the east, the frontier runs along the western part of the East Bank of the Jordan River, hence part of what is now Jordan. Eretz Yisrael also includes part of Lebanon and certain parts of Syria, and part of Iraq, all the way to the Euphrates River." When critics suggested that following Kahane's plans would mean a perpetual war between Jews and Arabs, Kahane responded, "There will be a perpetual war. With or without Kahane."
Support
Shlomo Aviner stated that Kahane was a righteous man who displayed self-sacrifice for the Jewish nation and also referred to him as a "Torah hero" whose every word was rooted in Torah sources.
Herbert Bomzer referred to Kahane as "truly immersed in Torah all the time."
Irving M. Bunim was a strong supporter and admirer of Kahane.
Shlomo Carlebach was known for declaring that the Jewish people owed a great debt to Kahane. Together, Carlebach and Kahane organized one of the first Noahide conferences in the 1980s for non-Jews wishing to accept upon themselves the Noahide laws.
Musician Bob Dylan made positive comments about Kahane. In a 1971 interview for Time magazine, Dylan said, "He's a really sincere guy. He's really put it all together." According to Kahane, Dylan attended several meetings of the Jewish Defense League to find out "what we're all about", and he started to have talks with the rabbi. Subsequently, Dylan downplayed the extent of his contact with Kahane.
Mordechai Eliyahu was Kahane's personal mentor, and one of Kahane's staunchest supporters. Eliyahu wrote an approbation to Kahane's Tanakh commentary, "Perush Hamacabee", where he refers to Kahane as "HaRav HaGaon" ("the rabbinic genius"), a praiseworthy title attributed to the very saintly. Eliyahu wrote, "Only the Torah way interested Kahane, which he constantly toiled over and which served as his strength... When one considers the depth and clarity of [Kahane's] works, one is astonished at how he had the time to compile such. The answer is that... all his time and thoughts were invested in Torah while other matters were secondary. Fortunate is the family that publishes his works for others to learn from." At Kahane's funeral, Eliyahu stated that Kahane was a reincarnation of a fearless biblical character.
Kahane was endorsed in his bid for a Knesset seat by Zvi Yehuda Kook. In his letter of support for Kahane, Kook stated, "The presence of Rabbi Meir Kahane and his uncompromising words from the Knesset platform will undoubtedly add strength and value to the obligatory struggle on behalf of the entire Land of Israel." The announcement of Kook's support of Kahane and his letter were made available to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Yosef Mendelevitch stated, "Kahane was a representative for us. His activities made us feel good. His actions showed that Jews cared. His actions may have been controversial, but his role was very important. He was a symbol for Russian Jews."
Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff said, "You can’t imagine the influence Kahane had on so many young people. Kahane was a talmid chacham (Torah scholar) that we all looked up to."
Menachem Mendel Schneerson supported Kahane on many issues concerning Israel, including the issue of Arabs, relinquishing land, building settlements and the incorporation of Jewish law into Israeli policy. After hearing of Kahane's death, Schneerson remarked that "one of the greatest Jewish leaders in history has fallen." He later blessed Kahane's son to be successful in fulfilling his "holy father's" work.
Avraham Shapira stated that Kahane was an inseparable part of Orthodox Judaism. He later openly backed Kahane's State of Judea movement.
After the Kach party was outlawed, a member of the Sicarii terrorist group pledged allegiance to Kahane and his political party during a phone call.
Ahron Soloveichik stated, "What Kahane said was absolutely correct, just we don’t say it because the world will criticize us, but somebody had to say it."
Noach Weinberg sought to place Kahane on his staff, believing him to be just what the kiruv movement needed.
Ya'akov Yosef described Kahane as one who fulfilled his role faithfully. He declared that "we must learn from his great actions in order that we learn the way of the Torah."
Legacy
Following Kahane's death, no leader emerged to replace him in the movement. However, the idea of transferring populations, attributed mainly to Kahane, was subsequently incorporated into the political platform of various political parties in Israel, such as Moledet (applying to Arab non-citizen residents of the West Bank) and Yisrael Beiteinu (in the form of population exchange). Two small Kahanist factions later emerged; one under the name Kach, and the other under the name Kahane chai (Hebrew: כהנא חי, literally "Kahane lives [on]"), the second one being led by his younger son, Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane. Neither one was permitted to participate in the Knesset elections by the Central Elections Committee.
In 1994, following the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre of Palestinian Muslim worshippers in Hebron by Kach supporter Baruch Goldstein, in which 29 Muslim worshipers were killed, the Israeli government declared both parties to be terrorist organizations. The US State Department also added Kach and Kahane Chai to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
In the 2003 Knesset elections, Herut, which had split off from the National Union list, ran with Michael Kleiner and former Kach activist Baruch Marzel taking the top two spots on the list. The joint effort narrowly missed the 1.5% barrier. In the following 2006 elections, the Jewish National Front, led by Baruch Marzel, fared better, but it also failed to pass the minimum threshold. A follower of Kahane who was involved with Kach for many years, Michael Ben-Ari, was elected to the Knesset in the 2009 elections on renewed National Union list. He stood again in the 2013 elections as the second candidate on the list of Otzma LeYisrael, but the party failed to pass the minimum threshold.
In 2007, the FBI released over a thousand documents relating to its daily surveillance of Kahane since the early 1960s.
In 2015, Kahane's grandson, Meir Ettinger, was detained by Israeli law enforcement. He was the alleged leader of the radical Jewish group "The Revolt". In an online "manifesto" echoing some of his grandfather's teachings, Ettinger promotes the "dispossession of gentiles" who live in Israel and the establishment of a new "kingdom of Israel", a theocracy ruled according to the Halacha. Ettinger's writings condemned Israel's government, mainstream rabbis, and the IDF, and also have denounced Christian churches as "idolatry".
In 2016, Kahane's widow claimed that modern Jewish extremists in Israel do not follow the ideology of her late husband, Rabbi Meir Kahane. She justified that claim by arguing that unlike modern Jewish extremists, Rabbi Kahane had a more mature approach that did not encourage illegal activities.
The prosecution argued that Arab MK Haneen Zoabi should be banned for denying the Jewish people's existence, and she was banned by the Central Elections Committee, which uses the Kahane precedent. A week later, the ruling was unanimously overturned by the Supreme Court. Attempts to ban the Strong Israel and Balad political parties by using the Kahane precedent were also overturned.
In 2017, The Forward reported that some of Kahane's followers were aligning themselves with white nationalists and the alt-right. Other Kahanists declared that such moves did not reflect Kahane's teachings, and they supported that declaration by arguing that Kahane worked together with African Americans.
See also
Jewish fundamentalism
Politics of Israel
Zionist political violence
Publications
By Kahane
(Partially under pseudonym Michael King; with Joseph Churba) The Jewish Stake in Vietnam, Crossroads, 1967
Never Again! A Program for Survival, Pyramid Books, 1972
Time to Go Home, Nash, 1972.
Letters from Prison, Jewish Identity Center, 1974
Our Challenge: The Chosen Land, 1974
The Story of the Jewish Defense League, Chilton, 1975, 2nd edition, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane, (Brooklyn, NY), 2000
Why Be Jewish? Intermarriage, Assimilation, and Alienation, Stein & Day, 1977
Listen, Vanessa, I Am a Zionist, Institute of the Authentic Jewish Idea, 1978
They Must Go, Grosset & Dunlop, 1981
Forty Years, Institute of the Jewish Idea, 2nd edition, 1983
Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews, Lyle Stuart, 1987
Israel: Revolution or Referendum, Barricade Books (Secaucus, NJ), 1990
Or ha-ra'yon, English title: The Jewish Idea, n.p. (Jerusalem), 1992, translated from the Hebrew by Raphael Blumberg, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1996
On Jews and Judaism: Selected Articles 1961–1990, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1993
Perush ha-Makabi: al Sefer Devarim, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1993, 1995
Pirush HaMaccabee: al Sefer Shemu'el u-Nevi'im rishonim, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1994
Listen World, Listen Jew, 3rd edition, Institute for the Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1995
Beyond Words, 1st edition, Institute for the Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 2010.
Kohen ve-navi: osef ma'amarim, ha-Makhon le-hotsa'at kitve ha-Rav Kahana (Jerusalem), 2000
Cuckooland, illustrated by Shulamith bar Itzhak (yet unpublished).
About Kahane
For supplementary information and insights:
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Miracle Man, Yeshivat "HaRaayon HaYehudi" (Jerusalem), 2010
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References
External links
Words online educational resource
FBI file on Meir Kahane
1932 births
1990 deaths
1990 murders in the United States
20th-century American criminals
20th-century rabbis
American emigrants to Israel
American Kahanists
American members of the clergy convicted of crimes
American Orthodox Jews
American Orthodox rabbis
American people of Latvian-Jewish descent
Assassinated American activists
Assassinated Israeli politicians
Assassinated rabbis
Brooklyn College alumni
Burials at Har HaMenuchot
Ethnic supremacy
Far-right politics
Israeli activists
Israeli anti-communists
Israeli government officials convicted of crimes
Israeli Kahanists
Israeli Orthodox rabbis
Israeli people murdered abroad
Israeli politicians convicted of crimes
Israeli terrorism victims
Jewish American writers
Jewish anti-communists
Jewish religious terrorism
Kach and Kahane Chai politicians
Kahanism
Male murder victims
Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988)
Mir Yeshiva alumni
Murdered American Jews
New York Law School alumni
Orthodox rabbis from New York City
People murdered in New York City
Philosophers of Judaism
Rabbis convicted of crimes
Religious Zionist Orthodox rabbis
Writers from Brooklyn
Writers on antisemitism
Writers on Zionism
| false |
[
"In mechanical engineering, backlash, sometimes called lash, play, or slop, is a clearance or lost motion in a mechanism caused by gaps between the parts. It can be defined as \"the maximum distance or angle through which any part of a mechanical system may be moved in one direction without applying appreciable force or motion to the next part in mechanical sequence.\"p. 1-8 An example, in the context of gears and gear trains, is the amount of clearance between mated gear teeth. It can be seen when the direction of movement is reversed and the slack or lost motion is taken up before the reversal of motion is complete. It can be heard from the railway couplings when a train reverses direction. Another example is in a valve train with mechanical tappets, where a certain range of lash is necessary for the valves to work properly.\n\nDepending on the application, backlash may or may not be desirable. Some amount of backlash is unavoidable in nearly all reversing mechanical couplings, although its effects can be negated or compensated for. In many applications, the theoretical ideal would be zero backlash, but in actual practice some backlash must be allowed to prevent jamming. Reasons for the presence of looseness or \"play\" in mechanical linkages that cause backlash include allowing for lubrication, manufacturing errors, deflection under load, and thermal expansion.\n\nGears\nFactors affecting the amount of backlash required in a gear train include errors in profile, pitch, tooth thickness, helix angle and center distance, and run-out. The greater the accuracy the smaller the backlash needed. Backlash is most commonly created by cutting the teeth deeper into the gears than the ideal depth. Another way of introducing backlash is by increasing the center distances between the gears.\n\nBacklash due to tooth thickness changes is typically measured along the pitch circle and is defined by:\n\nwhere:\n\nBacklash, measured on the pitch circle, due to operating center modifications is defined by:\nThe speed of the machine.\nThe material in the machine \n\nwhere:\n\nStandard practice is to make allowance for half the backlash in the tooth thickness of each gear. However, if the pinion (the smaller of the two gears) is significantly smaller than the gear it is meshing with then it is common practice to account for all of the backlash in the larger gear. This maintains as much strength as possible in the pinion's teeth. The amount of additional material removed when making the gears depends on the pressure angle of the teeth. For a 14.5° pressure angle the extra distance the cutting tool is moved in equals the amount of backlash desired. For a 20° pressure angle the distance equals 0.73 times the amount of backlash desired.\n\nAs a rule of thumb the average backlash is defined as 0.04 divided by the diametral pitch; the minimum being 0.03 divided by the diametral pitch and the maximum 0.05 divided by the diametral pitch.\n\nIn a gear train, backlash is cumulative. When a gear-train is reversed the driving gear is turned a short distance, equal to the total of all the backlashes, before the final driven gear begins to rotate. At low power outputs, backlash results in inaccurate calculation from the small errors introduced at each change of direction; at large power outputs backlash sends shocks through the whole system and can damage teeth and other components.\n\nAnti-backlash designs\nIn certain applications, backlash is an undesirable characteristic and should be minimized.\n\nGear trains where positioning is key but power transmission is light\n\nThe best example here is an analog radio tuning dial where one may make precise tuning movements both forwards and backwards. Specialized gear designs allow this. One of the more common designs splits the gear into two gears, each half the thickness of the original.\n\nOne half of the gear is fixed to its shaft while the other half of the gear is allowed to turn on the shaft, but pre-loaded in rotation by small coil springs that rotate the free gear relative to the fixed gear. In this way, the spring compression rotates the free gear until all of the backlash in the system has been taken out; the teeth of the fixed gear press against one side of the teeth of the pinion while the teeth of the free gear press against the other side of the teeth on the pinion. Loads smaller than the force of the springs do not compress the springs and with no gaps between the teeth to be taken up, backlash is eliminated.\n\nLeadscrews where positioning and power are both important\n\nAnother area where backlash matters is in leadscrews. Again, as with the gear train example, the culprit is lost motion when reversing a mechanism that is supposed to transmit motion accurately. Instead of gear teeth, the context is screw threads. The linear sliding axes (machine slides) of machine tools are an example application. \n\nMost machine slides for many decades, and many even today, have been simple (but accurate) cast-iron linear bearing surfaces, such as a dovetail- or box-slide, with an Acme leadscrew drive. With just a simple nut, some backlash is inevitable. On manual (non-CNC) machine tools, a machinist's means for compensating for backlash is to approach all precise positions using the same direction of travel, that is, if they have been dialing left, and next want to move to a rightward point, they will move rightward past it, then dial leftward back to it; the setups, tool approaches, and toolpaths must in that case be designed within this constraint. \n\nThe next-more complex method than the simple nut is a split nut, whose halves can be adjusted, and locked with screws, so that the two sides ride, respectively, against leftward thread and the other side rides rightward faces. Notice the analogy here with the radio dial example using split gears, where the split halves are pushed in opposing directions. Unlike in the radio dial example, the spring tension idea is not useful here, because machine tools taking a cut put too much force against the screw. Any spring light enough to allow slide movement at all would allow cutter chatter at best and slide movement at worst. These screw-adjusted split-nut-on-an-Acme-leadscrew designs cannot eliminate all backlash on a machine slide unless they are adjusted so tight that the travel starts to bind. Therefore, this idea can't totally obviate the always-approach-from-the-same-direction concept; nevertheless, backlash can be held to a small amount (1 or 2 thousandths of an inch or), which is more convenient, and in some non-precise work is enough to allow one to \"ignore\" the backlash, i.e., to design as if there were none. \n\nCNCs can be programmed to use the always-approach-from-the-same-direction concept, but that is not the normal way they are used today, because hydraulic anti-backlash split nuts, and newer forms of leadscrew than Acme/trapezoidal -- such as recirculating ball screws -- effectively eliminate the backlash. The axis can move in either direction without the go-past-and-come-back motion. \n\nThe simplest CNCs, such as microlathes or manual-to-CNC conversions, which use nut-and-Acme-screw drives can be programmed to correct for the total backlash on each axis, so that the machine's control system will automatically move the extra distance required to take up the slack when it changes directions. This programmatic \"backlash compensation\" is a cheap solution, but professional grade CNCs use the more expensive backlash-eliminating drives mentioned above. This allows them to do 3D contouring with a ball-nosed endmill, for example, where the endmill travels around in many directions with constant rigidity and without delays. \n\nIn mechanical computers a more complex solution is required, namely a frontlash gearbox. This works by turning slightly faster when the direction is reversed to 'use up' the backlash slack.\n\nSome motion controllers include backlash compensation. Compensation may be achieved by simply adding extra compensating motion (as described earlier) or by sensing the load's position in a closed loop control scheme. The dynamic response of backlash itself, essentially a delay, makes the position loop less stable and thus more prone to oscillation.\n\nMinimum backlash\nMinimum backlash is the minimum transverse backlash at the operating pitch circle allowable when the gear tooth with the greatest allowable functional tooth thickness is in mesh with the pinion tooth having its greatest allowable functional tooth thickness, at the tightest allowable center distance, under static conditions.\n\nMinimum backlash is defined as the difference between the maximum and minimum backlash occurring in a whole revolution of the larger of a pair of mating gears.\n\nApplications\nNon-precision gear couplings use backlash to allow for slight angular misalignment. However, backlash is undesirable in precision positioning applications such as machine tool tables. It can be minimized by tighter design features such as ball screws instead of leadscrews, and by using preloaded bearings. A preloaded bearing uses a spring or other compressive force to maintain bearing surfaces in contact despite reversal of direction.\n\nThere can be significant backlash in unsynchronized transmissions because of the intentional gap between gears in dog clutches. The gap is necessary so that the driver or electronics can engage the gears easily while synchronizing the engine speed with the driveshaft speed. If there was a smaller clearance, it would be nearly impossible to engage the gears because the teeth would interfere with each other in most configurations. In synchronized transmissions, synchromesh solves this problem.\n\nSee also\n List of gear nomenclature\n Harmonic drive\n\nReferences\n\nGears\nScrews\nMechanical engineering",
"The Samsung Galaxy Avant was a mid-range smartphone released by Samsung in July 2014. It was only available on the T-Mobile network, although it could be purchased both on and off contract. This phone retailed for $230, making it one of the cheaper offerings by T-Mobile. While this phone was praised for its low price and decent performance, it was also criticized for its poor screen and camera. This screen was often cited as having washed out colors and a lack of sharpness, likely as a result of the TFT panel used. This phone did receive a few official software updates, but was never upgraded past Android KitKat.\n\nRooting & Custom ROMs \nSoon after the release of this phone, a method to gain root access on the Galaxy Avant was discovered. In order to root the phone, a root package must be flashed through Odin on a PC, which can then be used to flash a custom recovery, allowing for further ROMs to be flashed. Despite being rooted and having TWRP available, this device did not receive any support past Android 4.4.4, however, it did receive a modified ROM that provided some of the design and functionality of Android Marshmallow.\n\nReferences \n\nSamsung Galaxy"
] |
[
"Meir Kahane",
"Election to Knesset",
"When was he elected?",
"In the 1984 legislative elections, Kahane's Kach party received 25,907 votes, enough to give the party one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane.",
"What did he do once elected?",
"Kahane's legislative proposals focused on Jewish education, an open economy, transferring the Arab population out from the Land of Israel,",
"Was hen successful in these proposals?",
"revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banning Jewish-Gentile marriages and sexual relations, based on the Code of Jewish Law compiled by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah.",
"Did he receive any backlash for this?",
"His speeches, boycotted by nearly all Knesset members, were often made to an empty parliament, except for the duty chairman and the transcriptionist."
] |
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Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
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Are there any other interesting aspects about this article other than Kahane's legislative proposals?
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Meir Kahane
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In the 1984 legislative elections, Kahane's Kach party received 25,907 votes, enough to give the party one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane. Kahane refused to take the standard oath of office, and insisted on adding a Biblical verse from Psalms, to indicate that when national laws and the Torah conflict, the Torah (Biblical) law should have supremacy over the laws of the Knesset. Kahane's legislative proposals focused on Jewish education, an open economy, transferring the Arab population out from the Land of Israel, revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banning Jewish-Gentile marriages and sexual relations, based on the Code of Jewish Law compiled by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah. As his political career progressed, and his popularity in the streets began growing, Kahane became increasingly isolated in the Knesset. His speeches, boycotted by nearly all Knesset members, were often made to an empty parliament, except for the duty chairman and the transcriptionist. Kahane's legislative proposals and motions of no-confidence against the government were ignored or rejected by fellow Knesset members. Kahane often pejoratively called other Knesset members "Hellenists" (a reference to Jews who assimilated into Greek culture after Judea's occupation by Alexander the Great). In 1987, Kahane opened a yeshiva ("HaRaayon HaYehudi") with funding from US supporters, to teach "the Authentic Jewish Idea". Despite the boycott, Kahane's popularity grew among the Israeli public, especially among working-class Sephardi Jews. Polls showed that Kach would have likely received anywhere from four to twelve seats in the coming November 1988 elections. In 1985, the Knesset passed an amendment to Israel's Basic Law, barring "racist" candidates from election. The Central Elections Committee banned Kahane a second time, and he appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court. This time, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the committee, disqualifying Kach from running in the 1988 elections. Kahane was thus the first candidate in Israel to be barred from election for racism. The move was criticized as being anti-democratic by Alan M. Dershowitz. CANNOTANSWER
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Despite the boycott, Kahane's popularity grew among the Israeli public, especially among working-class Sephardi Jews.
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Meir David HaKohen Kahane (; ; born Martin David Kahane; August 1, 1932 – November 5, 1990) was an American-born Israeli ordained Orthodox rabbi, writer, and ultra-nationalist politician who served one term in Israel's Knesset. A cofounder of the Jewish Defense League (JDL) and founder of the Israeli political party Kach, he espoused strong views against antisemitism.
Kahane was an intense advocate for Jewish causes. He organized defense squads and patrols in Jewish neighborhoods, and demanded that the Soviet Union release their oppressed Jews. He supported violence against those he regarded as enemies of the Jewish people, called for immediate Jewish mass migration to Israel to avoid a potential "Holocaust" in the United States, supported the restriction of Israel's democracy to its Jewish citizens, and endorsed the annexation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In 1968, Kahane was one of the co-founders of the JDL in the United States. In 1971, he co-founded Kach ("Thus"), a new political party in Israel. That same year, he was convicted in New York for conspiracy to manufacture explosives and received a suspended sentence of five years. In Israel, he was convicted for plotting to blow up the Libyan embassy in Brussels in revenge for the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, receiving a suspended sentence and probation. In 1984, he became a member of the Knesset, when Kach gained its only-ever seat in parliamentary elections. Kahane was boycotted across the aisles of the Knesset, and would often speak in front of an empty chamber. The Israel Broadcasting Authority similarly avoided coverage of his activities. The Central Elections Committee tried to ban Kahane from running in the 1984 elections, but this ban was overturned by the Supreme Court because there was no law to support it. In response, the Knesset approved an ad hoc law that allowed for the banning of parties that are "racist" or "undemocratic". In 1988, despite polls showing Kach gaining popularity due in part to the ongoing First Intifada, Kach was banned from entering that year's elections.
Kahane publicized his "Kahanism" ideology, which he claimed was simply Torah Judaism based on Halakha (Jewish law), through published works, weekly articles, speeches, debates on college campuses and in synagogues throughout the United States, and appearances on various televised programs and radio shows. In Israel, he proposed enforcing Halakha as codified by Maimonides and hoped that Israel would eventually adopt Halakha as state law. Non-Jews wishing to dwell in Israel would have three options: remain as "resident strangers" with limited rights, leave Israel and receive compensation for their property, or be forcibly removed without compensation. While serving in the Knesset in the mid-1980s Kahane proposed numerous laws, none of which passed, to emphasize Judaism in public schools, reduce Israel's bureaucracy, forbid sexual relations between Jews and non-Jews, separate Jewish and Arab neighbourhoods, and end cultural meetings between Jewish and Arab students.
Kahane was assassinated in a New York City hotel by an Egyptian-born U.S. citizen in November 1990. His legacy continues to influence militant and far-right political groups active today in Israel.
Personal life
Meir Kahane was born in Brooklyn, New York, to an Orthodox Jewish family. Kahane descended from a line of well-known rabbis, including his father, who was head of the Flatbush Board of Rabbis. His father, Yechezkel Shragei (Charles) Kahane (1905–1978), had studied at Polish and Czech yeshivas, and was the author of the rabbinic work Torah Yesharah. He was deeply involved in the Revisionist Zionist movement as a close friend of Ze'ev Jabotinsky. Kahane's grandfather was Nachman Kahane (1869–1937), a leading rabbinic scholar in Safed, who was the son of Baruch David Kahane (1850–1925), the author of Hibat ha-Eretz, and a disciple of Chaim Halberstam of Sanz. Baruch David was a direct descendant of Simcha Rappaport (1650–1718), of the Rappaport rabbinic family, who were allegedly able to trace their ancestry back to Eleazar ben Azariah, a 1st-century sage in the Land of Israel. Baruch David immigrated to Mandatory Palestine from Poland in 1873.
As a teenager, Kahane became an ardent admirer of Jabotinsky and Peter Bergson, who were frequent guests in his parents' home. He joined the Betar (Brit Trumpeldor) youth wing of Revisionist Zionism. He was active in protests against Ernest Bevin, the British Foreign Secretary who maintained restrictions on the immigration of Jews, even Holocaust survivors, to Palestine after the end of the Second World War. In 1947, Kahane was arrested for throwing eggs and tomatoes at Bevin, who was disembarking at Pier 84 on a visit to New York. A photo of the arrest appeared in the New York Daily News. In 1954, he became the Mazkir (Secretary) of Greater New York City's 16 Bnei Akiva chapters.
Kahane's formal education included Yeshiva of Flatbush for elementary school and Brooklyn Talmudical Academy for high school. Kahane received his rabbinical ordination from the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn, where he was especially admired by the head Rabbi Abraham Kalmanowitz. He was fully conversant in the Tanakh (Jewish Bible), the Talmud, the Midrash and Jewish law. Subsequently, Kahane earned a B.A. in political science from Brooklyn College in 1954, a Bachelor of Law – LL.B. from New York Law School, and an M.A. in International Relations from New York University.
In 1956, Kahane married Libby Blum, with whom he had four children: Tzipporah, Tova, Baruch, and Binyamin.
In 1966, Kahane, under the alias of Michael King and while already married, had an affair and proposed to 21-year-old model Gloria Jean D'Argenio (who used the stage name Estelle Donna Evans). Kahane sent a letter to D'Argenio in which he unilaterally ended their relationship. In response, D'Argenio jumped off the Queensboro Bridge and died of her injuries the next day. In 2008, Kahane's wife dismissed the incident as lacking proof.
After D'Argenio's death, Kahane started the Estelle Donna Evans Foundation in her name. Kahane claimed D'Argenio had been his former secretary in his failed consulting operation, she had died of terminal cancer, and her "well-to-do" family had endowed the foundation. Actually the money was used to fund the JDL, including supplies for bombings and Kahane's lavish travel.
Early career
Pulpit rabbi
In 1958, Kahane became the rabbi of the Howard Beach Jewish Center in Queens, New York City. Although the synagogue was originally Conservative, rather than strictly Orthodox, the board of directors agreed to Kahane's conditions, which included resigning from the Conservative movement's United Synagogue of America, installing a partition separating men and women during prayer, instituting traditional prayers, and maintaining a kosher kitchen. At the Jewish Center, Kahane influenced many of the synagogue's youngsters to adopt a more observant lifestyle, which often troubled parents. He trained Arlo Guthrie for his bar mitzvah. When his contract was not renewed, he soon published an article entitled "End of the Miracle of Howard Beach". That was Kahane's first article in The Jewish Press, an American Orthodox Jewish weekly for which he would continue to write for the rest of his life. Kahane also used the pen name David Sinai, and the pseudonyms Michael King, David Borac, and Martin Keene.
Infiltrating the John Birch Society
In the late 1950s and the early 1960s, Kahane's life of secrecy and his strong anticommunism landed him a position as a consultant with the FBI. According to his wife, Libby, his assignment was to infiltrate the anticommunist John Birch Society and report his findings to the FBI.
Collaboration with Joseph Churba
At some time in the late 1950s, Kahane assumed the persona of a Gentile, along with the pseudonym Michael King. Kahane began openly expressing his anticommunism. He and Joseph Churba created the July Fourth Movement, which was formed to counteract widespread opposition towards U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Subsequently, they coauthored the book The Jewish Stake in Vietnam, an attempt to convince American Jews of the "evil of Communism". The introduction states that, "All Americans have a stake in this grim war against Communism... It is vital that Jews realize the threat to their very survival [should Communism succeed]." Churba had a major falling out with Kahane over the use of paramilitary activities, and they parted ways permanently. Churba went on to pursue his own career, joining the U.S. Air Force, writing many books on the Middle East, and eventually becoming one of Ronald Reagan's consultants. Kahane chose to fight for Jewish rights, and was willing to use extreme measures. He even attempted to acquire and grow biological weapons to use on a Soviet military installation. He began using the phrase "Never again" and conceived the Jewish Star and fist insignia, a symbol resembling that of the Black Panther Party. However, Kahane himself opposed the Black Panthers, claiming they had supported anti-Jewish riots in Massachusetts and had left-wing views.
Jewish Defense League
Kahane founded the Jewish Defense League (JDL) in New York City in 1968. Its self-described purpose was to protect Jews from local manifestations of anti-Semitism. The JDL said it was committed to five fundamental principles:
Love of Jewry: One Jewish people, indivisible and united, from which flows the love for, and the feeling of pain of, all Jews.
Dignity and Pride: Pride in and knowledge of Jewish tradition, faith, culture, land, history, strength, pain, and peoplehood.
Iron: The need to both move to help Jews everywhere and to change the Jewish image through sacrifice and all necessary means—even strength, force, and violence.
Discipline and Unity: The knowledge that he (or she) can and will do whatever must be done, and the unity and strength of willpower to bring this into reality.
Faith in the Indestructibility of the Jewish People: Faith in the greatness and indestructibility of the Jewish people, our religion, and our Land of Israel.
According to his wife Libby Kahane, the JDL favored "civil rights for blacks, but opposed black anti-Semites and racism of any form." In 1971, the JDL formed an alliance with a black rights group in what Kahane termed "a turning point in Black-Jewish relations". The Anti-Defamation League claimed that Kahane "preached a radical form of Jewish nationalism which reflected racism, violence and political extremism" that was replicated by Irv Rubin, the JDL's successor to Kahane.
Terrorism and convictions
A number of the JDL's members and leaders, including Kahane, were convicted of acts related to domestic terrorism. In 1971, Kahane was sentenced to a suspended five-year prison sentence for conspiring to manufacture explosives. In 1975, Kahane was arrested for leading the attack on the Soviet United Nations mission and injuring two officers, but he was released after being given summonses for disorderly conduct. Later the same year, Kahane was accused of conspiring to kidnap a Soviet diplomat, bomb the Iraqi embassy in Washington, and ship arms abroad from Israel. He was convicted of violating his probation for the 1971 bombing conviction and was sentenced to one year in prison. However, he served most of it in a hotel, with frequent unsupervised absences, because of a concession over the provision of kosher food.
In a 1984 interview with Washington Post correspondent Carla Hall, Kahane admitted that the JDL "bombed the Russian [Soviet] mission in New York, the Russian cultural mission here [Washington] in 1971, the Soviet trade offices".
Immigration to Israel
In 1971, Kahane moved to Israel. At the time, he declared that he would focus on Jewish education. He later began gathering lists of Arab citizens of the State of Israel who were willing to emigrate for compensation, and eventually, he initiated protests that advocated the expulsion of Arabs from that country, and Israeli-occupied territories. In 1972, Jewish Defense League leaflets were distributed in Hebron, calling for the mayor to stand trial for the 1929 Hebron massacre. Kahane was arrested dozens of times. In 1971, he founded Kach, a political party that ran for the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, during the 1973 general elections under the name "The League List". It won 12,811 votes (0.82%), just 2,857 (0.18%) short of the electoral threshold at the time (1%) for winning a Knesset seat. The party was even less successful in the 1977 elections, winning only 4,836 votes.
In 1980, Kahane was arrested for the 62nd time since his emigration, and he was jailed for six months after a detention order that was based on allegations of him planning armed attacks against Palestinians in response to the killings of Jewish settlers. Kahane was held in prison in Ramla, where he wrote the book They Must Go. Kahane was banned from entering the UK in 1981.
In 1981, Kahane's party again ran for the Knesset during the 1981 elections, but it did not win a seat and received only 5,128 votes. In 1984, the Israeli Central Elections Committee banned him from being a candidate on the grounds that Kach was a racist party, but the Supreme Court of Israel overturned the ban on the grounds that the committee was not authorized to ban Kahane's candidacy. The Supreme Court suggested that the Knesset pass a law excluding racist parties from future elections. The Knesset responded in 1985 by amending the "Basic Law: Knesset" to include a prohibition (paragraph 7a) against the registration of parties that explicitly or implicitly incite racism.
Election to Knesset
In the 1984 legislative elections, Kahane's Kach party received 25,907 votes, gaining one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane. He refused to take the standard oath of office and insisted on adding a Biblical verse from Psalms to indicate that national laws were overruled by the Torah if they conflict. Kahane's legislative proposals focused on Jewish education, an open economy, transferring the Arab population out of the Land of Israel, revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banning Jewish-Gentile marriages and sexual relations.
While his popularity in Israel grew, Kahane was boycotted in the Knesset, where his speeches were often made to an empty assembly except for the duty chairman and the transcriptionist. The Knesset revoked his Parliamentary immunity to prevent his freedom of movement in areas where his inflammatory rhetoric could cause harm. Kahane's legislative proposals and motions of no-confidence against the government were ignored or rejected. Kahane often pejoratively called other Knesset members "Hellenists," a reference to Jews who assimilated into Greek culture after Judea's occupation by Alexander the Great.
In 1987, Kahane opened a yeshiva ("HaRaayon HaYehudi") with funding from US supporters to teach "the Authentic Jewish Idea". Despite the boycott, his popularity grew among the Israeli public, especially for working-class Sephardi Jews. Polls showed that Kach would have likely received anywhere from four to twelve seats in the coming November 1988 elections.
In 1985, the Knesset passed an amendment to the Basic Law of Israel, barring political parties that incited to racism. The Central Elections Committee banned Kahane a second time, and he appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court this time ruled in favor of the committee, disqualifying Kach from running in the 1988 legislative elections. Kahane was thus the first candidate in Israel to be barred from election for racism. The move was criticized as being anti-democratic by Alan M. Dershowitz.
After Kahane's election to the Knesset in 1984, the United States government attempted to revoke his U.S. citizenship, which Kahane successfully challenged in court. However, in 1987, the Knesset passed a law declaring that a Knesset member could only be an Israeli citizen. To remain eligible for office, Kahane renounced his United States citizenship, but after being banned from the Knesset for his politics, he again filed suit to get his U.S. citizenship reinstated based on the argument that he was compelled to relinquish it by the Knesset. The court rejected this argument, but he was permitted to continue travelling to the United States.
Assassination
In November 1990, Kahane gave a speech to an audience of mostly Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn, where he warned American Jews to emigrate to Israel before it was "too late". As a crowd gathered around Kahane in the second-floor lecture hall in Midtown Manhattan's New York Marriott East Side, Kahane was assassinated by El Sayyid Nosair, an Egyptian-born U.S. citizen. He was initially charged and acquitted of the murder. Nosair was later convicted of the murder in U.S. District Court for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Prosecutors were able to try Nosair again for the murder because the federal indictment included the killing as part of the alleged terrorist conspiracy. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and later made a confession to federal agents.
Kahane was buried on Har HaMenuchot, in Jerusalem. He was eulogized by a number of prominent supporters in both the U.S. and in Israel, including Rabbi Moshe Tendler and the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Mordechai Eliyahu, who spoke of how little the people understood of Kahane's true value.
Ideology
Kahane argued that there was a glory in Jewish destiny, which came through the observance of the Torah and halakha (Jewish law). He also noted, "Democracy and Judaism are not the same thing." Kahane also stressed the view that a Jewish state and a Western democracy were incompatible, since Western democracy is religion-blind, and a Jewish state is religion-oriented by its very name. He also warned of the danger of non-Jewish citizens becoming a majority and voting against the Jewish character of the state: "The question is as follows: if the Arabs settle among us and make enough children to become a majority, will Israel continue to be a Jewish state? Do we have to accept that the Arab majority will decide?" "Western democracy has to be ruled out. For me, that's cut and dried: There's no question of setting up democracy in Israel, because democracy means equal rights for all, irrespective of racial or religious origins."
Kahane proposed an "exchange of populations" that would continue the Jewish exodus from Arab lands: "A total of some 750,000 Jews fled Arab lands since 1948. Surely it is time for Jews, worried over the huge growth of Arabs in Israel, to consider finishing the exchange of populations that began 35 years ago." Kahane proposed a $40,000 compensation plan for Arabs who would leave voluntarily, and forcible expulsion for those who "don't want to leave". He encouraged retaliatory violence against Arabs who attacked Jews: "I approve of anybody who commits such acts of violence. Really, I don't think that we can sit back and watch Arabs throwing rocks at buses whenever they feel like it. They must understand that a bomb thrown at a Jewish bus is going to mean a bomb thrown at an Arab bus."
In some of his writings, Kahane argued that Israel should never start a war for territory but that if a war were launched against Israel, Biblical territory should be annexed. However, in an interview, he defined Israel's "minimal borders" as follows: "The southern boundary goes up to El Arish, which takes in all of northern Sinai, including Yamit. To the east, the frontier runs along the western part of the East Bank of the Jordan River, hence part of what is now Jordan. Eretz Yisrael also includes part of Lebanon and certain parts of Syria, and part of Iraq, all the way to the Euphrates River." When critics suggested that following Kahane's plans would mean a perpetual war between Jews and Arabs, Kahane responded, "There will be a perpetual war. With or without Kahane."
Support
Shlomo Aviner stated that Kahane was a righteous man who displayed self-sacrifice for the Jewish nation and also referred to him as a "Torah hero" whose every word was rooted in Torah sources.
Herbert Bomzer referred to Kahane as "truly immersed in Torah all the time."
Irving M. Bunim was a strong supporter and admirer of Kahane.
Shlomo Carlebach was known for declaring that the Jewish people owed a great debt to Kahane. Together, Carlebach and Kahane organized one of the first Noahide conferences in the 1980s for non-Jews wishing to accept upon themselves the Noahide laws.
Musician Bob Dylan made positive comments about Kahane. In a 1971 interview for Time magazine, Dylan said, "He's a really sincere guy. He's really put it all together." According to Kahane, Dylan attended several meetings of the Jewish Defense League to find out "what we're all about", and he started to have talks with the rabbi. Subsequently, Dylan downplayed the extent of his contact with Kahane.
Mordechai Eliyahu was Kahane's personal mentor, and one of Kahane's staunchest supporters. Eliyahu wrote an approbation to Kahane's Tanakh commentary, "Perush Hamacabee", where he refers to Kahane as "HaRav HaGaon" ("the rabbinic genius"), a praiseworthy title attributed to the very saintly. Eliyahu wrote, "Only the Torah way interested Kahane, which he constantly toiled over and which served as his strength... When one considers the depth and clarity of [Kahane's] works, one is astonished at how he had the time to compile such. The answer is that... all his time and thoughts were invested in Torah while other matters were secondary. Fortunate is the family that publishes his works for others to learn from." At Kahane's funeral, Eliyahu stated that Kahane was a reincarnation of a fearless biblical character.
Kahane was endorsed in his bid for a Knesset seat by Zvi Yehuda Kook. In his letter of support for Kahane, Kook stated, "The presence of Rabbi Meir Kahane and his uncompromising words from the Knesset platform will undoubtedly add strength and value to the obligatory struggle on behalf of the entire Land of Israel." The announcement of Kook's support of Kahane and his letter were made available to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Yosef Mendelevitch stated, "Kahane was a representative for us. His activities made us feel good. His actions showed that Jews cared. His actions may have been controversial, but his role was very important. He was a symbol for Russian Jews."
Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff said, "You can’t imagine the influence Kahane had on so many young people. Kahane was a talmid chacham (Torah scholar) that we all looked up to."
Menachem Mendel Schneerson supported Kahane on many issues concerning Israel, including the issue of Arabs, relinquishing land, building settlements and the incorporation of Jewish law into Israeli policy. After hearing of Kahane's death, Schneerson remarked that "one of the greatest Jewish leaders in history has fallen." He later blessed Kahane's son to be successful in fulfilling his "holy father's" work.
Avraham Shapira stated that Kahane was an inseparable part of Orthodox Judaism. He later openly backed Kahane's State of Judea movement.
After the Kach party was outlawed, a member of the Sicarii terrorist group pledged allegiance to Kahane and his political party during a phone call.
Ahron Soloveichik stated, "What Kahane said was absolutely correct, just we don’t say it because the world will criticize us, but somebody had to say it."
Noach Weinberg sought to place Kahane on his staff, believing him to be just what the kiruv movement needed.
Ya'akov Yosef described Kahane as one who fulfilled his role faithfully. He declared that "we must learn from his great actions in order that we learn the way of the Torah."
Legacy
Following Kahane's death, no leader emerged to replace him in the movement. However, the idea of transferring populations, attributed mainly to Kahane, was subsequently incorporated into the political platform of various political parties in Israel, such as Moledet (applying to Arab non-citizen residents of the West Bank) and Yisrael Beiteinu (in the form of population exchange). Two small Kahanist factions later emerged; one under the name Kach, and the other under the name Kahane chai (Hebrew: כהנא חי, literally "Kahane lives [on]"), the second one being led by his younger son, Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane. Neither one was permitted to participate in the Knesset elections by the Central Elections Committee.
In 1994, following the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre of Palestinian Muslim worshippers in Hebron by Kach supporter Baruch Goldstein, in which 29 Muslim worshipers were killed, the Israeli government declared both parties to be terrorist organizations. The US State Department also added Kach and Kahane Chai to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
In the 2003 Knesset elections, Herut, which had split off from the National Union list, ran with Michael Kleiner and former Kach activist Baruch Marzel taking the top two spots on the list. The joint effort narrowly missed the 1.5% barrier. In the following 2006 elections, the Jewish National Front, led by Baruch Marzel, fared better, but it also failed to pass the minimum threshold. A follower of Kahane who was involved with Kach for many years, Michael Ben-Ari, was elected to the Knesset in the 2009 elections on renewed National Union list. He stood again in the 2013 elections as the second candidate on the list of Otzma LeYisrael, but the party failed to pass the minimum threshold.
In 2007, the FBI released over a thousand documents relating to its daily surveillance of Kahane since the early 1960s.
In 2015, Kahane's grandson, Meir Ettinger, was detained by Israeli law enforcement. He was the alleged leader of the radical Jewish group "The Revolt". In an online "manifesto" echoing some of his grandfather's teachings, Ettinger promotes the "dispossession of gentiles" who live in Israel and the establishment of a new "kingdom of Israel", a theocracy ruled according to the Halacha. Ettinger's writings condemned Israel's government, mainstream rabbis, and the IDF, and also have denounced Christian churches as "idolatry".
In 2016, Kahane's widow claimed that modern Jewish extremists in Israel do not follow the ideology of her late husband, Rabbi Meir Kahane. She justified that claim by arguing that unlike modern Jewish extremists, Rabbi Kahane had a more mature approach that did not encourage illegal activities.
The prosecution argued that Arab MK Haneen Zoabi should be banned for denying the Jewish people's existence, and she was banned by the Central Elections Committee, which uses the Kahane precedent. A week later, the ruling was unanimously overturned by the Supreme Court. Attempts to ban the Strong Israel and Balad political parties by using the Kahane precedent were also overturned.
In 2017, The Forward reported that some of Kahane's followers were aligning themselves with white nationalists and the alt-right. Other Kahanists declared that such moves did not reflect Kahane's teachings, and they supported that declaration by arguing that Kahane worked together with African Americans.
See also
Jewish fundamentalism
Politics of Israel
Zionist political violence
Publications
By Kahane
(Partially under pseudonym Michael King; with Joseph Churba) The Jewish Stake in Vietnam, Crossroads, 1967
Never Again! A Program for Survival, Pyramid Books, 1972
Time to Go Home, Nash, 1972.
Letters from Prison, Jewish Identity Center, 1974
Our Challenge: The Chosen Land, 1974
The Story of the Jewish Defense League, Chilton, 1975, 2nd edition, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane, (Brooklyn, NY), 2000
Why Be Jewish? Intermarriage, Assimilation, and Alienation, Stein & Day, 1977
Listen, Vanessa, I Am a Zionist, Institute of the Authentic Jewish Idea, 1978
They Must Go, Grosset & Dunlop, 1981
Forty Years, Institute of the Jewish Idea, 2nd edition, 1983
Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews, Lyle Stuart, 1987
Israel: Revolution or Referendum, Barricade Books (Secaucus, NJ), 1990
Or ha-ra'yon, English title: The Jewish Idea, n.p. (Jerusalem), 1992, translated from the Hebrew by Raphael Blumberg, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1996
On Jews and Judaism: Selected Articles 1961–1990, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1993
Perush ha-Makabi: al Sefer Devarim, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1993, 1995
Pirush HaMaccabee: al Sefer Shemu'el u-Nevi'im rishonim, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1994
Listen World, Listen Jew, 3rd edition, Institute for the Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1995
Beyond Words, 1st edition, Institute for the Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 2010.
Kohen ve-navi: osef ma'amarim, ha-Makhon le-hotsa'at kitve ha-Rav Kahana (Jerusalem), 2000
Cuckooland, illustrated by Shulamith bar Itzhak (yet unpublished).
About Kahane
For supplementary information and insights:
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Miracle Man, Yeshivat "HaRaayon HaYehudi" (Jerusalem), 2010
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References
External links
Words online educational resource
FBI file on Meir Kahane
1932 births
1990 deaths
1990 murders in the United States
20th-century American criminals
20th-century rabbis
American emigrants to Israel
American Kahanists
American members of the clergy convicted of crimes
American Orthodox Jews
American Orthodox rabbis
American people of Latvian-Jewish descent
Assassinated American activists
Assassinated Israeli politicians
Assassinated rabbis
Brooklyn College alumni
Burials at Har HaMenuchot
Ethnic supremacy
Far-right politics
Israeli activists
Israeli anti-communists
Israeli government officials convicted of crimes
Israeli Kahanists
Israeli Orthodox rabbis
Israeli people murdered abroad
Israeli politicians convicted of crimes
Israeli terrorism victims
Jewish American writers
Jewish anti-communists
Jewish religious terrorism
Kach and Kahane Chai politicians
Kahanism
Male murder victims
Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988)
Mir Yeshiva alumni
Murdered American Jews
New York Law School alumni
Orthodox rabbis from New York City
People murdered in New York City
Philosophers of Judaism
Rabbis convicted of crimes
Religious Zionist Orthodox rabbis
Writers from Brooklyn
Writers on antisemitism
Writers on Zionism
| false |
[
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
] |
[
"Meir Kahane",
"Election to Knesset",
"When was he elected?",
"In the 1984 legislative elections, Kahane's Kach party received 25,907 votes, enough to give the party one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane.",
"What did he do once elected?",
"Kahane's legislative proposals focused on Jewish education, an open economy, transferring the Arab population out from the Land of Israel,",
"Was hen successful in these proposals?",
"revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banning Jewish-Gentile marriages and sexual relations, based on the Code of Jewish Law compiled by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah.",
"Did he receive any backlash for this?",
"His speeches, boycotted by nearly all Knesset members, were often made to an empty parliament, except for the duty chairman and the transcriptionist.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Despite the boycott, Kahane's popularity grew among the Israeli public, especially among working-class Sephardi Jews."
] |
C_e81fc8a40b6b46269ae00a8e1e7d37bf_1
|
What repercussions did this have?
| 6 |
What repercussions did Kahane's popularity have?
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Meir Kahane
|
In the 1984 legislative elections, Kahane's Kach party received 25,907 votes, enough to give the party one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane. Kahane refused to take the standard oath of office, and insisted on adding a Biblical verse from Psalms, to indicate that when national laws and the Torah conflict, the Torah (Biblical) law should have supremacy over the laws of the Knesset. Kahane's legislative proposals focused on Jewish education, an open economy, transferring the Arab population out from the Land of Israel, revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banning Jewish-Gentile marriages and sexual relations, based on the Code of Jewish Law compiled by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah. As his political career progressed, and his popularity in the streets began growing, Kahane became increasingly isolated in the Knesset. His speeches, boycotted by nearly all Knesset members, were often made to an empty parliament, except for the duty chairman and the transcriptionist. Kahane's legislative proposals and motions of no-confidence against the government were ignored or rejected by fellow Knesset members. Kahane often pejoratively called other Knesset members "Hellenists" (a reference to Jews who assimilated into Greek culture after Judea's occupation by Alexander the Great). In 1987, Kahane opened a yeshiva ("HaRaayon HaYehudi") with funding from US supporters, to teach "the Authentic Jewish Idea". Despite the boycott, Kahane's popularity grew among the Israeli public, especially among working-class Sephardi Jews. Polls showed that Kach would have likely received anywhere from four to twelve seats in the coming November 1988 elections. In 1985, the Knesset passed an amendment to Israel's Basic Law, barring "racist" candidates from election. The Central Elections Committee banned Kahane a second time, and he appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court. This time, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the committee, disqualifying Kach from running in the 1988 elections. Kahane was thus the first candidate in Israel to be barred from election for racism. The move was criticized as being anti-democratic by Alan M. Dershowitz. CANNOTANSWER
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likely received anywhere from four to twelve seats in the coming November 1988 elections.
|
Meir David HaKohen Kahane (; ; born Martin David Kahane; August 1, 1932 – November 5, 1990) was an American-born Israeli ordained Orthodox rabbi, writer, and ultra-nationalist politician who served one term in Israel's Knesset. A cofounder of the Jewish Defense League (JDL) and founder of the Israeli political party Kach, he espoused strong views against antisemitism.
Kahane was an intense advocate for Jewish causes. He organized defense squads and patrols in Jewish neighborhoods, and demanded that the Soviet Union release their oppressed Jews. He supported violence against those he regarded as enemies of the Jewish people, called for immediate Jewish mass migration to Israel to avoid a potential "Holocaust" in the United States, supported the restriction of Israel's democracy to its Jewish citizens, and endorsed the annexation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In 1968, Kahane was one of the co-founders of the JDL in the United States. In 1971, he co-founded Kach ("Thus"), a new political party in Israel. That same year, he was convicted in New York for conspiracy to manufacture explosives and received a suspended sentence of five years. In Israel, he was convicted for plotting to blow up the Libyan embassy in Brussels in revenge for the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, receiving a suspended sentence and probation. In 1984, he became a member of the Knesset, when Kach gained its only-ever seat in parliamentary elections. Kahane was boycotted across the aisles of the Knesset, and would often speak in front of an empty chamber. The Israel Broadcasting Authority similarly avoided coverage of his activities. The Central Elections Committee tried to ban Kahane from running in the 1984 elections, but this ban was overturned by the Supreme Court because there was no law to support it. In response, the Knesset approved an ad hoc law that allowed for the banning of parties that are "racist" or "undemocratic". In 1988, despite polls showing Kach gaining popularity due in part to the ongoing First Intifada, Kach was banned from entering that year's elections.
Kahane publicized his "Kahanism" ideology, which he claimed was simply Torah Judaism based on Halakha (Jewish law), through published works, weekly articles, speeches, debates on college campuses and in synagogues throughout the United States, and appearances on various televised programs and radio shows. In Israel, he proposed enforcing Halakha as codified by Maimonides and hoped that Israel would eventually adopt Halakha as state law. Non-Jews wishing to dwell in Israel would have three options: remain as "resident strangers" with limited rights, leave Israel and receive compensation for their property, or be forcibly removed without compensation. While serving in the Knesset in the mid-1980s Kahane proposed numerous laws, none of which passed, to emphasize Judaism in public schools, reduce Israel's bureaucracy, forbid sexual relations between Jews and non-Jews, separate Jewish and Arab neighbourhoods, and end cultural meetings between Jewish and Arab students.
Kahane was assassinated in a New York City hotel by an Egyptian-born U.S. citizen in November 1990. His legacy continues to influence militant and far-right political groups active today in Israel.
Personal life
Meir Kahane was born in Brooklyn, New York, to an Orthodox Jewish family. Kahane descended from a line of well-known rabbis, including his father, who was head of the Flatbush Board of Rabbis. His father, Yechezkel Shragei (Charles) Kahane (1905–1978), had studied at Polish and Czech yeshivas, and was the author of the rabbinic work Torah Yesharah. He was deeply involved in the Revisionist Zionist movement as a close friend of Ze'ev Jabotinsky. Kahane's grandfather was Nachman Kahane (1869–1937), a leading rabbinic scholar in Safed, who was the son of Baruch David Kahane (1850–1925), the author of Hibat ha-Eretz, and a disciple of Chaim Halberstam of Sanz. Baruch David was a direct descendant of Simcha Rappaport (1650–1718), of the Rappaport rabbinic family, who were allegedly able to trace their ancestry back to Eleazar ben Azariah, a 1st-century sage in the Land of Israel. Baruch David immigrated to Mandatory Palestine from Poland in 1873.
As a teenager, Kahane became an ardent admirer of Jabotinsky and Peter Bergson, who were frequent guests in his parents' home. He joined the Betar (Brit Trumpeldor) youth wing of Revisionist Zionism. He was active in protests against Ernest Bevin, the British Foreign Secretary who maintained restrictions on the immigration of Jews, even Holocaust survivors, to Palestine after the end of the Second World War. In 1947, Kahane was arrested for throwing eggs and tomatoes at Bevin, who was disembarking at Pier 84 on a visit to New York. A photo of the arrest appeared in the New York Daily News. In 1954, he became the Mazkir (Secretary) of Greater New York City's 16 Bnei Akiva chapters.
Kahane's formal education included Yeshiva of Flatbush for elementary school and Brooklyn Talmudical Academy for high school. Kahane received his rabbinical ordination from the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn, where he was especially admired by the head Rabbi Abraham Kalmanowitz. He was fully conversant in the Tanakh (Jewish Bible), the Talmud, the Midrash and Jewish law. Subsequently, Kahane earned a B.A. in political science from Brooklyn College in 1954, a Bachelor of Law – LL.B. from New York Law School, and an M.A. in International Relations from New York University.
In 1956, Kahane married Libby Blum, with whom he had four children: Tzipporah, Tova, Baruch, and Binyamin.
In 1966, Kahane, under the alias of Michael King and while already married, had an affair and proposed to 21-year-old model Gloria Jean D'Argenio (who used the stage name Estelle Donna Evans). Kahane sent a letter to D'Argenio in which he unilaterally ended their relationship. In response, D'Argenio jumped off the Queensboro Bridge and died of her injuries the next day. In 2008, Kahane's wife dismissed the incident as lacking proof.
After D'Argenio's death, Kahane started the Estelle Donna Evans Foundation in her name. Kahane claimed D'Argenio had been his former secretary in his failed consulting operation, she had died of terminal cancer, and her "well-to-do" family had endowed the foundation. Actually the money was used to fund the JDL, including supplies for bombings and Kahane's lavish travel.
Early career
Pulpit rabbi
In 1958, Kahane became the rabbi of the Howard Beach Jewish Center in Queens, New York City. Although the synagogue was originally Conservative, rather than strictly Orthodox, the board of directors agreed to Kahane's conditions, which included resigning from the Conservative movement's United Synagogue of America, installing a partition separating men and women during prayer, instituting traditional prayers, and maintaining a kosher kitchen. At the Jewish Center, Kahane influenced many of the synagogue's youngsters to adopt a more observant lifestyle, which often troubled parents. He trained Arlo Guthrie for his bar mitzvah. When his contract was not renewed, he soon published an article entitled "End of the Miracle of Howard Beach". That was Kahane's first article in The Jewish Press, an American Orthodox Jewish weekly for which he would continue to write for the rest of his life. Kahane also used the pen name David Sinai, and the pseudonyms Michael King, David Borac, and Martin Keene.
Infiltrating the John Birch Society
In the late 1950s and the early 1960s, Kahane's life of secrecy and his strong anticommunism landed him a position as a consultant with the FBI. According to his wife, Libby, his assignment was to infiltrate the anticommunist John Birch Society and report his findings to the FBI.
Collaboration with Joseph Churba
At some time in the late 1950s, Kahane assumed the persona of a Gentile, along with the pseudonym Michael King. Kahane began openly expressing his anticommunism. He and Joseph Churba created the July Fourth Movement, which was formed to counteract widespread opposition towards U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Subsequently, they coauthored the book The Jewish Stake in Vietnam, an attempt to convince American Jews of the "evil of Communism". The introduction states that, "All Americans have a stake in this grim war against Communism... It is vital that Jews realize the threat to their very survival [should Communism succeed]." Churba had a major falling out with Kahane over the use of paramilitary activities, and they parted ways permanently. Churba went on to pursue his own career, joining the U.S. Air Force, writing many books on the Middle East, and eventually becoming one of Ronald Reagan's consultants. Kahane chose to fight for Jewish rights, and was willing to use extreme measures. He even attempted to acquire and grow biological weapons to use on a Soviet military installation. He began using the phrase "Never again" and conceived the Jewish Star and fist insignia, a symbol resembling that of the Black Panther Party. However, Kahane himself opposed the Black Panthers, claiming they had supported anti-Jewish riots in Massachusetts and had left-wing views.
Jewish Defense League
Kahane founded the Jewish Defense League (JDL) in New York City in 1968. Its self-described purpose was to protect Jews from local manifestations of anti-Semitism. The JDL said it was committed to five fundamental principles:
Love of Jewry: One Jewish people, indivisible and united, from which flows the love for, and the feeling of pain of, all Jews.
Dignity and Pride: Pride in and knowledge of Jewish tradition, faith, culture, land, history, strength, pain, and peoplehood.
Iron: The need to both move to help Jews everywhere and to change the Jewish image through sacrifice and all necessary means—even strength, force, and violence.
Discipline and Unity: The knowledge that he (or she) can and will do whatever must be done, and the unity and strength of willpower to bring this into reality.
Faith in the Indestructibility of the Jewish People: Faith in the greatness and indestructibility of the Jewish people, our religion, and our Land of Israel.
According to his wife Libby Kahane, the JDL favored "civil rights for blacks, but opposed black anti-Semites and racism of any form." In 1971, the JDL formed an alliance with a black rights group in what Kahane termed "a turning point in Black-Jewish relations". The Anti-Defamation League claimed that Kahane "preached a radical form of Jewish nationalism which reflected racism, violence and political extremism" that was replicated by Irv Rubin, the JDL's successor to Kahane.
Terrorism and convictions
A number of the JDL's members and leaders, including Kahane, were convicted of acts related to domestic terrorism. In 1971, Kahane was sentenced to a suspended five-year prison sentence for conspiring to manufacture explosives. In 1975, Kahane was arrested for leading the attack on the Soviet United Nations mission and injuring two officers, but he was released after being given summonses for disorderly conduct. Later the same year, Kahane was accused of conspiring to kidnap a Soviet diplomat, bomb the Iraqi embassy in Washington, and ship arms abroad from Israel. He was convicted of violating his probation for the 1971 bombing conviction and was sentenced to one year in prison. However, he served most of it in a hotel, with frequent unsupervised absences, because of a concession over the provision of kosher food.
In a 1984 interview with Washington Post correspondent Carla Hall, Kahane admitted that the JDL "bombed the Russian [Soviet] mission in New York, the Russian cultural mission here [Washington] in 1971, the Soviet trade offices".
Immigration to Israel
In 1971, Kahane moved to Israel. At the time, he declared that he would focus on Jewish education. He later began gathering lists of Arab citizens of the State of Israel who were willing to emigrate for compensation, and eventually, he initiated protests that advocated the expulsion of Arabs from that country, and Israeli-occupied territories. In 1972, Jewish Defense League leaflets were distributed in Hebron, calling for the mayor to stand trial for the 1929 Hebron massacre. Kahane was arrested dozens of times. In 1971, he founded Kach, a political party that ran for the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, during the 1973 general elections under the name "The League List". It won 12,811 votes (0.82%), just 2,857 (0.18%) short of the electoral threshold at the time (1%) for winning a Knesset seat. The party was even less successful in the 1977 elections, winning only 4,836 votes.
In 1980, Kahane was arrested for the 62nd time since his emigration, and he was jailed for six months after a detention order that was based on allegations of him planning armed attacks against Palestinians in response to the killings of Jewish settlers. Kahane was held in prison in Ramla, where he wrote the book They Must Go. Kahane was banned from entering the UK in 1981.
In 1981, Kahane's party again ran for the Knesset during the 1981 elections, but it did not win a seat and received only 5,128 votes. In 1984, the Israeli Central Elections Committee banned him from being a candidate on the grounds that Kach was a racist party, but the Supreme Court of Israel overturned the ban on the grounds that the committee was not authorized to ban Kahane's candidacy. The Supreme Court suggested that the Knesset pass a law excluding racist parties from future elections. The Knesset responded in 1985 by amending the "Basic Law: Knesset" to include a prohibition (paragraph 7a) against the registration of parties that explicitly or implicitly incite racism.
Election to Knesset
In the 1984 legislative elections, Kahane's Kach party received 25,907 votes, gaining one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane. He refused to take the standard oath of office and insisted on adding a Biblical verse from Psalms to indicate that national laws were overruled by the Torah if they conflict. Kahane's legislative proposals focused on Jewish education, an open economy, transferring the Arab population out of the Land of Israel, revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banning Jewish-Gentile marriages and sexual relations.
While his popularity in Israel grew, Kahane was boycotted in the Knesset, where his speeches were often made to an empty assembly except for the duty chairman and the transcriptionist. The Knesset revoked his Parliamentary immunity to prevent his freedom of movement in areas where his inflammatory rhetoric could cause harm. Kahane's legislative proposals and motions of no-confidence against the government were ignored or rejected. Kahane often pejoratively called other Knesset members "Hellenists," a reference to Jews who assimilated into Greek culture after Judea's occupation by Alexander the Great.
In 1987, Kahane opened a yeshiva ("HaRaayon HaYehudi") with funding from US supporters to teach "the Authentic Jewish Idea". Despite the boycott, his popularity grew among the Israeli public, especially for working-class Sephardi Jews. Polls showed that Kach would have likely received anywhere from four to twelve seats in the coming November 1988 elections.
In 1985, the Knesset passed an amendment to the Basic Law of Israel, barring political parties that incited to racism. The Central Elections Committee banned Kahane a second time, and he appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court this time ruled in favor of the committee, disqualifying Kach from running in the 1988 legislative elections. Kahane was thus the first candidate in Israel to be barred from election for racism. The move was criticized as being anti-democratic by Alan M. Dershowitz.
After Kahane's election to the Knesset in 1984, the United States government attempted to revoke his U.S. citizenship, which Kahane successfully challenged in court. However, in 1987, the Knesset passed a law declaring that a Knesset member could only be an Israeli citizen. To remain eligible for office, Kahane renounced his United States citizenship, but after being banned from the Knesset for his politics, he again filed suit to get his U.S. citizenship reinstated based on the argument that he was compelled to relinquish it by the Knesset. The court rejected this argument, but he was permitted to continue travelling to the United States.
Assassination
In November 1990, Kahane gave a speech to an audience of mostly Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn, where he warned American Jews to emigrate to Israel before it was "too late". As a crowd gathered around Kahane in the second-floor lecture hall in Midtown Manhattan's New York Marriott East Side, Kahane was assassinated by El Sayyid Nosair, an Egyptian-born U.S. citizen. He was initially charged and acquitted of the murder. Nosair was later convicted of the murder in U.S. District Court for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Prosecutors were able to try Nosair again for the murder because the federal indictment included the killing as part of the alleged terrorist conspiracy. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and later made a confession to federal agents.
Kahane was buried on Har HaMenuchot, in Jerusalem. He was eulogized by a number of prominent supporters in both the U.S. and in Israel, including Rabbi Moshe Tendler and the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Mordechai Eliyahu, who spoke of how little the people understood of Kahane's true value.
Ideology
Kahane argued that there was a glory in Jewish destiny, which came through the observance of the Torah and halakha (Jewish law). He also noted, "Democracy and Judaism are not the same thing." Kahane also stressed the view that a Jewish state and a Western democracy were incompatible, since Western democracy is religion-blind, and a Jewish state is religion-oriented by its very name. He also warned of the danger of non-Jewish citizens becoming a majority and voting against the Jewish character of the state: "The question is as follows: if the Arabs settle among us and make enough children to become a majority, will Israel continue to be a Jewish state? Do we have to accept that the Arab majority will decide?" "Western democracy has to be ruled out. For me, that's cut and dried: There's no question of setting up democracy in Israel, because democracy means equal rights for all, irrespective of racial or religious origins."
Kahane proposed an "exchange of populations" that would continue the Jewish exodus from Arab lands: "A total of some 750,000 Jews fled Arab lands since 1948. Surely it is time for Jews, worried over the huge growth of Arabs in Israel, to consider finishing the exchange of populations that began 35 years ago." Kahane proposed a $40,000 compensation plan for Arabs who would leave voluntarily, and forcible expulsion for those who "don't want to leave". He encouraged retaliatory violence against Arabs who attacked Jews: "I approve of anybody who commits such acts of violence. Really, I don't think that we can sit back and watch Arabs throwing rocks at buses whenever they feel like it. They must understand that a bomb thrown at a Jewish bus is going to mean a bomb thrown at an Arab bus."
In some of his writings, Kahane argued that Israel should never start a war for territory but that if a war were launched against Israel, Biblical territory should be annexed. However, in an interview, he defined Israel's "minimal borders" as follows: "The southern boundary goes up to El Arish, which takes in all of northern Sinai, including Yamit. To the east, the frontier runs along the western part of the East Bank of the Jordan River, hence part of what is now Jordan. Eretz Yisrael also includes part of Lebanon and certain parts of Syria, and part of Iraq, all the way to the Euphrates River." When critics suggested that following Kahane's plans would mean a perpetual war between Jews and Arabs, Kahane responded, "There will be a perpetual war. With or without Kahane."
Support
Shlomo Aviner stated that Kahane was a righteous man who displayed self-sacrifice for the Jewish nation and also referred to him as a "Torah hero" whose every word was rooted in Torah sources.
Herbert Bomzer referred to Kahane as "truly immersed in Torah all the time."
Irving M. Bunim was a strong supporter and admirer of Kahane.
Shlomo Carlebach was known for declaring that the Jewish people owed a great debt to Kahane. Together, Carlebach and Kahane organized one of the first Noahide conferences in the 1980s for non-Jews wishing to accept upon themselves the Noahide laws.
Musician Bob Dylan made positive comments about Kahane. In a 1971 interview for Time magazine, Dylan said, "He's a really sincere guy. He's really put it all together." According to Kahane, Dylan attended several meetings of the Jewish Defense League to find out "what we're all about", and he started to have talks with the rabbi. Subsequently, Dylan downplayed the extent of his contact with Kahane.
Mordechai Eliyahu was Kahane's personal mentor, and one of Kahane's staunchest supporters. Eliyahu wrote an approbation to Kahane's Tanakh commentary, "Perush Hamacabee", where he refers to Kahane as "HaRav HaGaon" ("the rabbinic genius"), a praiseworthy title attributed to the very saintly. Eliyahu wrote, "Only the Torah way interested Kahane, which he constantly toiled over and which served as his strength... When one considers the depth and clarity of [Kahane's] works, one is astonished at how he had the time to compile such. The answer is that... all his time and thoughts were invested in Torah while other matters were secondary. Fortunate is the family that publishes his works for others to learn from." At Kahane's funeral, Eliyahu stated that Kahane was a reincarnation of a fearless biblical character.
Kahane was endorsed in his bid for a Knesset seat by Zvi Yehuda Kook. In his letter of support for Kahane, Kook stated, "The presence of Rabbi Meir Kahane and his uncompromising words from the Knesset platform will undoubtedly add strength and value to the obligatory struggle on behalf of the entire Land of Israel." The announcement of Kook's support of Kahane and his letter were made available to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Yosef Mendelevitch stated, "Kahane was a representative for us. His activities made us feel good. His actions showed that Jews cared. His actions may have been controversial, but his role was very important. He was a symbol for Russian Jews."
Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff said, "You can’t imagine the influence Kahane had on so many young people. Kahane was a talmid chacham (Torah scholar) that we all looked up to."
Menachem Mendel Schneerson supported Kahane on many issues concerning Israel, including the issue of Arabs, relinquishing land, building settlements and the incorporation of Jewish law into Israeli policy. After hearing of Kahane's death, Schneerson remarked that "one of the greatest Jewish leaders in history has fallen." He later blessed Kahane's son to be successful in fulfilling his "holy father's" work.
Avraham Shapira stated that Kahane was an inseparable part of Orthodox Judaism. He later openly backed Kahane's State of Judea movement.
After the Kach party was outlawed, a member of the Sicarii terrorist group pledged allegiance to Kahane and his political party during a phone call.
Ahron Soloveichik stated, "What Kahane said was absolutely correct, just we don’t say it because the world will criticize us, but somebody had to say it."
Noach Weinberg sought to place Kahane on his staff, believing him to be just what the kiruv movement needed.
Ya'akov Yosef described Kahane as one who fulfilled his role faithfully. He declared that "we must learn from his great actions in order that we learn the way of the Torah."
Legacy
Following Kahane's death, no leader emerged to replace him in the movement. However, the idea of transferring populations, attributed mainly to Kahane, was subsequently incorporated into the political platform of various political parties in Israel, such as Moledet (applying to Arab non-citizen residents of the West Bank) and Yisrael Beiteinu (in the form of population exchange). Two small Kahanist factions later emerged; one under the name Kach, and the other under the name Kahane chai (Hebrew: כהנא חי, literally "Kahane lives [on]"), the second one being led by his younger son, Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane. Neither one was permitted to participate in the Knesset elections by the Central Elections Committee.
In 1994, following the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre of Palestinian Muslim worshippers in Hebron by Kach supporter Baruch Goldstein, in which 29 Muslim worshipers were killed, the Israeli government declared both parties to be terrorist organizations. The US State Department also added Kach and Kahane Chai to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
In the 2003 Knesset elections, Herut, which had split off from the National Union list, ran with Michael Kleiner and former Kach activist Baruch Marzel taking the top two spots on the list. The joint effort narrowly missed the 1.5% barrier. In the following 2006 elections, the Jewish National Front, led by Baruch Marzel, fared better, but it also failed to pass the minimum threshold. A follower of Kahane who was involved with Kach for many years, Michael Ben-Ari, was elected to the Knesset in the 2009 elections on renewed National Union list. He stood again in the 2013 elections as the second candidate on the list of Otzma LeYisrael, but the party failed to pass the minimum threshold.
In 2007, the FBI released over a thousand documents relating to its daily surveillance of Kahane since the early 1960s.
In 2015, Kahane's grandson, Meir Ettinger, was detained by Israeli law enforcement. He was the alleged leader of the radical Jewish group "The Revolt". In an online "manifesto" echoing some of his grandfather's teachings, Ettinger promotes the "dispossession of gentiles" who live in Israel and the establishment of a new "kingdom of Israel", a theocracy ruled according to the Halacha. Ettinger's writings condemned Israel's government, mainstream rabbis, and the IDF, and also have denounced Christian churches as "idolatry".
In 2016, Kahane's widow claimed that modern Jewish extremists in Israel do not follow the ideology of her late husband, Rabbi Meir Kahane. She justified that claim by arguing that unlike modern Jewish extremists, Rabbi Kahane had a more mature approach that did not encourage illegal activities.
The prosecution argued that Arab MK Haneen Zoabi should be banned for denying the Jewish people's existence, and she was banned by the Central Elections Committee, which uses the Kahane precedent. A week later, the ruling was unanimously overturned by the Supreme Court. Attempts to ban the Strong Israel and Balad political parties by using the Kahane precedent were also overturned.
In 2017, The Forward reported that some of Kahane's followers were aligning themselves with white nationalists and the alt-right. Other Kahanists declared that such moves did not reflect Kahane's teachings, and they supported that declaration by arguing that Kahane worked together with African Americans.
See also
Jewish fundamentalism
Politics of Israel
Zionist political violence
Publications
By Kahane
(Partially under pseudonym Michael King; with Joseph Churba) The Jewish Stake in Vietnam, Crossroads, 1967
Never Again! A Program for Survival, Pyramid Books, 1972
Time to Go Home, Nash, 1972.
Letters from Prison, Jewish Identity Center, 1974
Our Challenge: The Chosen Land, 1974
The Story of the Jewish Defense League, Chilton, 1975, 2nd edition, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane, (Brooklyn, NY), 2000
Why Be Jewish? Intermarriage, Assimilation, and Alienation, Stein & Day, 1977
Listen, Vanessa, I Am a Zionist, Institute of the Authentic Jewish Idea, 1978
They Must Go, Grosset & Dunlop, 1981
Forty Years, Institute of the Jewish Idea, 2nd edition, 1983
Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews, Lyle Stuart, 1987
Israel: Revolution or Referendum, Barricade Books (Secaucus, NJ), 1990
Or ha-ra'yon, English title: The Jewish Idea, n.p. (Jerusalem), 1992, translated from the Hebrew by Raphael Blumberg, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1996
On Jews and Judaism: Selected Articles 1961–1990, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1993
Perush ha-Makabi: al Sefer Devarim, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1993, 1995
Pirush HaMaccabee: al Sefer Shemu'el u-Nevi'im rishonim, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1994
Listen World, Listen Jew, 3rd edition, Institute for the Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1995
Beyond Words, 1st edition, Institute for the Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 2010.
Kohen ve-navi: osef ma'amarim, ha-Makhon le-hotsa'at kitve ha-Rav Kahana (Jerusalem), 2000
Cuckooland, illustrated by Shulamith bar Itzhak (yet unpublished).
About Kahane
For supplementary information and insights:
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Miracle Man, Yeshivat "HaRaayon HaYehudi" (Jerusalem), 2010
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References
External links
Words online educational resource
FBI file on Meir Kahane
1932 births
1990 deaths
1990 murders in the United States
20th-century American criminals
20th-century rabbis
American emigrants to Israel
American Kahanists
American members of the clergy convicted of crimes
American Orthodox Jews
American Orthodox rabbis
American people of Latvian-Jewish descent
Assassinated American activists
Assassinated Israeli politicians
Assassinated rabbis
Brooklyn College alumni
Burials at Har HaMenuchot
Ethnic supremacy
Far-right politics
Israeli activists
Israeli anti-communists
Israeli government officials convicted of crimes
Israeli Kahanists
Israeli Orthodox rabbis
Israeli people murdered abroad
Israeli politicians convicted of crimes
Israeli terrorism victims
Jewish American writers
Jewish anti-communists
Jewish religious terrorism
Kach and Kahane Chai politicians
Kahanism
Male murder victims
Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988)
Mir Yeshiva alumni
Murdered American Jews
New York Law School alumni
Orthodox rabbis from New York City
People murdered in New York City
Philosophers of Judaism
Rabbis convicted of crimes
Religious Zionist Orthodox rabbis
Writers from Brooklyn
Writers on antisemitism
Writers on Zionism
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[
"Repercussion or Repercussions may refer to:\n\nBooks \n\n Repercussions, drumming book by John Macaluso\n\nFilm and TV \n Répercussions (fr), 2008 French TV film directed by Caroline Huppert with Sarah Grappin, Éric Savin\n Repercussions, episode of Alias\n Repercussions, 1989 episode of The Bill (TV series)\n Repercussions, 2002 episode of Holby City\n\nMusic \n Repercussion (singing), technique in choral singing\n Repercussions (band), a sub band of Groove Collective 1995–1997\n\nAlbums \n Re: Percussion, album by ensemble M'Boom 1973\n Repercussion (album), album by The dB's 1982\n Repercussions, album by Distance (musician)\n\nSongs \n \"Repercussions\", song by Lauryn Hill 2010\n \"Repercussion\", song by Danny Howells as Science Department\n \"Repercussions\", song by A Certain Ratio\n \"Repercussions\", song by rapper X-Raided from City of Kings 2002\n \"Repercussions\", song from Big Lurch discography\n \"Repercussions\", song by NAV with Young Thug from the album Emergency Tsunami\n\nSee also \n Percussion (disambiguation)",
"City of Kings: The Sac-a-Indo Project is the sixth studio album by rapper X-Raided, and his first collaboration (non-solo) album, released in conjunction with rapper Kingpen. It was released on July 2, 2002 for Out of Bounds Records and featured production from X-Raided and Big Hollis.\n\nTrack listing\n\"Sac-A-Intro\"- 2:04 \n\"Respect for None\"- 3:50 \n\"What Can They Say\"- 4:15 \n\"The Monster Mash\"- 4:25 (Featuring Luni Coleone) \n\"City of Kings\"- 3:50 \n\"It Will Never Happen\"- 3:56 \n\"Otherwise\" (Neglection)- 4:15 \n\"The Process\"- 0:51 \n\"Relentless\"- 3:50 \n\"Bomb Guts\"- 4:05 \n\"Off the Deep End\"- 2:40 (Featuring Mac Jesus) \n\"Repercussions\" (A Time to Ride)- 3:49 \n\"Retaliation\" (Coming for Me)- 4:43 \n\"We Did That\"- 2:10\n\n2002 albums\nX-Raided albums\nAlbums produced by Big Hollis"
] |
[
"Agatha Christie",
"Character stereotypes"
] |
C_7f92437539ba40128d8fca5975c3fe05_0
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Did she describe what her stereotypes were?
| 1 |
Did Agatha Christie describe what her stereotypes were?
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Agatha Christie
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Christie occasionally inserted stereotyped descriptions of characters into her work, particularly before the end of the Second World War (when such attitudes were more commonly expressed publicly), and particularly in regard to Italians, Jews, non-Europeans, and sometimes Americans, the last usually as impossibly naive or uninformed. For example, she described "Hebraic men with hook-noses wearing rather flamboyant jewellery" in the first editions of the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin (1930), in the short story "The Soul of the Croupier"; in later editions, the passage was edited to describe "sallow men" wearing same. In The Hollow, published as late as 1946, one of the more unsympathetic characters is "a Whitechapel Jewess with dyed hair and a voice like a corncrake ... a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice". To contrast with the more stereotyped descriptions, Christie sometimes showed "foreigners" as victims or potential victims at the hands of English malefactors, such as, respectively, Olga Seminoff (Hallowe'en Party) and Katrina Reiger (in the short story "How Does Your Garden Grow?"). Jewish characters are often seen as un-English (such as Oliver Manders in Three Act Tragedy), but they are rarely the culprits. Often, she is affectionate or teasing with her prejudices. After four years of war-torn London, Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as "gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life; who are idle and gay, and who have dignity, good manners, and a great sense of humour, and to whom death is not terrible." She had trouble with an incompetent Swiss French nursery helper (Marcelle) for toddler Rosalind, and as a result she decided, "Scottish preferred ... good with the young. The French were hopeless disciplinarians ... Germans good and methodical, but it was not German that I really wanted Rosalind to learn. The Irish were gay but made trouble in the house; the English were of all kinds". CANNOTANSWER
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a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice".
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Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End since 1952, as well as six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
Christie was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon, and was largely home-schooled. She was initially an unsuccessful writer with six consecutive rejections, but this changed in 1920 when The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring detective Hercule Poirot, was published. Her first husband was Archibald Christie; they married in 1914 and had one child before divorcing in 1928. During both World Wars, she served in hospital dispensaries, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the poisons which featured in many of her novels, short stories, and plays. Following her marriage to archaeologist Max Mallowan in 1930, she spent several months each year on digs in the Middle East and used her first-hand knowledge of his profession in her fiction.
According to Index Translationum, she remains the most-translated individual author. Her novel And Then There Were None is one of the top-selling books of all time, with approximately 100 million copies sold. Christie's stage play The Mousetrap holds the world record for the longest initial run. It opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End of London on 25 November 1952, and by September 2018 there had been more than 27,500 performances. The play was closed down in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic and reopened in May 2021.
In 1955, Christie was the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. Later that year, Witness for the Prosecution received an Edgar Award for best play. In 2013, she was voted the best crime writer and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd the best crime novel ever by 600 professional novelists of the Crime Writers' Association. In September 2015, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. Most of Christie's books and short stories have been adapted for television, radio, video games, and graphic novels. More than 30 feature films are based on her work.
Life and career
Childhood and adolescence: 1890–1907
Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born on 15 September 1890, into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon. She was the youngest of three children born to Frederick Alvah Miller, "a gentleman of substance", and his wife Clarissa Margaret ("Clara") Miller née Boehmer.
Christie's mother Clara was born in Dublin in 1854 to British Army officer Frederick Boehmer and his wife Mary Ann Boehmer née West. Boehmer died in Jersey in 1863, leaving his widow to raise Clara and her brothers on a meagre income. Two weeks after Boehmer's death, Mary's sister Margaret West married widowed dry goods merchant Nathaniel Frary Miller, a US citizen. To assist Mary financially, they agreed to foster nine-year-old Clara; the family settled in Timperley, Cheshire. Margaret and Nathaniel had no children together, but Nathaniel had a 17-year-old son, Fred Miller, from his previous marriage. Fred was born in New York City and travelled extensively after leaving his Swiss boarding school. He and Clara were married in London in 1878. Their first child, Margaret Frary ("Madge"), was born in Torquay in 1879. The second, Louis Montant ("Monty"), was born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1880, while the family was on an extended visit to the United States.
When Fred's father died in 1869, he left Clara £2,000 (approximately ); in 1881 they used this to buy the leasehold of a villa in Torquay named Ashfield. It was here that their third and last child, Agatha, was born in 1890. She described her childhood as "very happy". The Millers lived mainly in Devon but often visited her step-grandmother/great-aunt Margaret Miller in Ealing and maternal grandmother Mary Boehmer in Bayswater. A year was spent abroad with her family, in the French Pyrenees, Paris, Dinard, and Guernsey. Because her siblings were so much older, and there were few children in their neighbourhood, Christie spent much of her time playing alone with her pets and imaginary companions. She eventually made friends with other girls in Torquay, noting that "one of the highlights of my existence" was her appearance with them in a youth production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard, in which she played the hero, Colonel Fairfax.
According to Christie, Clara believed she should not learn to read until she was eight; thanks to her curiosity, she was reading by age four. Her sister had been sent to a boarding school, but their mother insisted that Christie receive a home education. As a result, her parents and sister supervised her studies in reading, writing, and basic arithmetic, a subject she particularly enjoyed. They also taught her music, and she learned to play the piano and the mandolin.
Christie was a voracious reader from an early age. Among her earliest memories were reading children's books by Mrs Molesworth and Edith Nesbit. When a little older, she moved on to the surreal verse of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. As an adolescent, she enjoyed works by Anthony Hope, Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, and Alexandre Dumas. In April 1901, aged 10, she wrote her first poem, "The Cow Slip".
By 1901, her father's health had deteriorated, because of what he believed were heart problems. Fred died in November 1901 from pneumonia and chronic kidney disease. Christie later said that her father's death when she was 11 marked the end of her childhood.
The family's financial situation had by this time worsened. Madge married the year after their father's death and moved to Cheadle, Cheshire; Monty was overseas, serving in a British regiment. Christie now lived alone at Ashfield with her mother. In 1902, she began attending Miss Guyer's Girls' School in Torquay but found it difficult to adjust to the disciplined atmosphere. In 1905, her mother sent her to Paris, where she was educated in a series of (boarding schools), focusing on voice training and piano playing. Deciding she lacked the temperament and talent, she gave up her goal of performing professionally as a concert pianist or an opera singer.
Early literary attempts, marriage, literary success: 1907–1926
After completing her education, Christie returned to England to find her mother ailing. They decided to spend the northern winter of 1907–1908 in the warm climate of Egypt, which was then a regular tourist destination for wealthy Britons. They stayed for three months at the Gezirah Palace Hotel in Cairo. Christie attended many dances and other social functions; she particularly enjoyed watching amateur polo matches. While they visited some ancient Egyptian monuments such as the Great Pyramid of Giza, she did not exhibit the great interest in archaeology and Egyptology that developed in her later years. Returning to Britain, she continued her social activities, writing and performing in amateur theatricals. She also helped put on a play called The Blue Beard of Unhappiness with female friends.
At 18, Christie wrote her first short story, "The House of Beauty", while recovering in bed from an illness. It consisted of about 6,000 words on "madness and dreams", a subject of fascination for her. Her biographer, Janet Morgan, has commented that, despite "infelicities of style", the story was "compelling". (The story became an early version of her story "The House of Dreams".) Other stories followed, most of them illustrating her interest in spiritualism and the paranormal. These included "The Call of Wings" and "The Little Lonely God". Magazines rejected all her early submissions, made under pseudonyms (including Mac Miller, Nathaniel Miller, and Sydney West); some submissions were later revised and published under her real name, often with new titles.
Around the same time, Christie began work on her first novel, Snow Upon the Desert. Writing under the pseudonym Monosyllaba, she set the book in Cairo and drew upon her recent experiences there. She was disappointed when the six publishers she contacted declined the work. Clara suggested that her daughter ask for advice from the successful novelist Eden Phillpotts, a family friend and neighbour, who responded to her enquiry, encouraged her writing, and sent her an introduction to his own literary agent, Hughes Massie, who also rejected Snow Upon the Desert but suggested a second novel.
Meanwhile, Christie's social activities expanded, with country house parties, riding, hunting, dances, and roller skating. She had short-lived relationships with four men and an engagement to another. In October 1912, she was introduced to Archibald "Archie" Christie at a dance given by Lord and Lady Clifford at Ugbrooke, about from Torquay. The son of a barrister in the Indian Civil Service, Archie was a Royal Artillery officer who was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps in April 1913. The couple quickly fell in love. Three months after their first meeting, Archie proposed marriage, and Agatha accepted.
With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Archie was sent to France to fight. They married on Christmas Eve 1914 at Emmanuel Church, Clifton, Bristol, close to the home of his mother and stepfather, while Archie was on home leave. Rising through the ranks, he was posted back to Britain in September 1918 as a colonel in the Air Ministry. Christie involved herself in the war effort as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment of the Red Cross. From October 1914 to May 1915, then from June 1916 to September 1918, she worked 3,400 hours in the Town Hall Red Cross Hospital, Torquay, first as a nurse (unpaid) then as a dispenser at £16 (approximately ) a year from 1917 after qualifying as an apothecaries' assistant. Her war service ended in September 1918 when Archie was reassigned to London, and they rented a flat in St. John's Wood.
Christie had long been a fan of detective novels, having enjoyed Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White and The Moonstone, and Arthur Conan Doyle's early Sherlock Holmes stories. She wrote her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1916. It featured Hercule Poirot, a former Belgian police officer with "magnificent moustaches" and a head "exactly the shape of an egg", who had taken refuge in Britain after Germany invaded Belgium. Christie's inspiration for the character came from Belgian refugees living in Torquay, and the Belgian soldiers she helped to treat as a volunteer nurse during the First World War. Her original manuscript was rejected by Hodder & Stoughton and Methuen. After keeping the submission for several months, John Lane at The Bodley Head offered to accept it, provided that Christie change how the solution was revealed. She did so, and signed a contract committing her next five books to The Bodley Head, which she later felt was exploitative. It was published in 1920.
Christie settled into married life, giving birth to her only child, Rosalind Margaret Clarissa (later Hicks), in August 1919 at Ashfield. Archie left the Air Force at the end of the war and began working in the City financial sector at a relatively low salary. They still employed a maid. Her second novel, The Secret Adversary (1922), featured a new detective couple Tommy and Tuppence, again published by The Bodley Head. It earned her £50 (approximately ). A third novel, Murder on the Links, again featured Poirot, as did the short stories commissioned by Bruce Ingram, editor of The Sketch magazine, from 1923. She now had no difficulty selling her work.
In 1922, the Christies joined an around-the-world promotional tour for the British Empire Exhibition, led by Major Ernest Belcher. Leaving their daughter with Agatha's mother and sister, in 10 months they travelled to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and Canada. They learned to surf prone in South Africa; then, in Waikiki, they were among the first Britons to surf standing up.
When they returned to England, Archie resumed work in the city, and Christie continued to work hard at her writing. After living in a series of apartments in London, they bought a house in Sunningdale, Berkshire, which they renamed Styles after the mansion in Christie's first detective novel.
Christie's mother, Clarissa Miller, died in April 1926. They had been exceptionally close, and the loss sent Christie into a deep depression. In August 1926, reports appeared in the press that Christie had gone to a village near Biarritz to recuperate from a "breakdown" caused by "overwork".
Disappearance: 1926
In August 1926, Archie asked Agatha for a divorce. He had fallen in love with Nancy Neele, a friend of Major Belcher. On 3December 1926, the pair quarrelled after Archie announced his plan to spend the weekend with friends, unaccompanied by his wife. Late that evening, Christie disappeared from their home in Sunningdale. The following morning, her car, a Morris Cowley, was discovered at Newlands Corner, parked above a chalk quarry with an expired driving licence and clothes inside.
The disappearance quickly became a news story, as the press sought to satisfy their readers' "hunger for sensation, disaster, and scandal". Home Secretary William Joynson-Hicks pressured police, and a newspaper offered a £100 reward (approximately ). More than a thousand police officers, 15,000 volunteers, and several aeroplanes searched the rural landscape. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave a spirit medium one of Christie's gloves to find her. Christie's disappearance was featured on the front page of The New York Times. Despite the extensive manhunt, she was not found for another 10 days. On 14 December 1926, she was located at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire, north of her home in Sunningdale, registered as Mrs Tressa Neele (the surname of her husband's lover) from " S.A." (South Africa). The next day, Christie left for her sister's residence at Abney Hall, Cheadle, where she was sequestered "in guarded hall, gates locked, telephone cut off, and callers turned away".
Christie's autobiography makes no reference to the disappearance. Two doctors diagnosed her as suffering from "an unquestionable genuine loss of memory", yet opinion remains divided over the reason for her disappearance. Some, including her biographer Morgan, believe she disappeared during a fugue state. The author Jared Cade concluded that Christie planned the event to embarrass her husband but did not anticipate the resulting public melodrama. Christie biographer Laura Thompson provides an alternative view that Christie disappeared during a nervous breakdown, conscious of her actions but not in emotional control of herself. Public reaction at the time was largely negative, supposing a publicity stunt or an attempt to frame her husband for murder.
Second marriage and later life: 1927–1976
In January 1927, Christie, looking "very pale", sailed with her daughter and secretary to Las Palmas, Canary Islands, to "complete her convalescence", returning three months later. Christie petitioned for divorce and was granted a decree nisi against her husband in April 1928, which was made absolute in October 1928. Archie married Nancy Neele a week later. Christie retained custody of their daughter, Rosalind, and kept the Christie surname for her writing.
Reflecting on the period in her autobiography, Christie wrote, "So, after illness, came sorrow, despair and heartbreak. There is no need to dwell on it."
In 1928, Christie left England and took the (Simplon) Orient Express to Istanbul and then to Baghdad. In Iraq, she became friends with archaeologist Leonard Woolley and his wife, who invited her to return to their dig in February 1930. On that second trip, she met archaeologist Max Mallowan, 13 years her junior. In a 1977 interview, Mallowan recounted his first meeting with Christie, when he took her and a group of tourists on a tour of his expedition site in Iraq. Christie and Mallowan married in Edinburgh in September 1930. Their marriage lasted until Christie's death in 1976. She accompanied Mallowan on his archaeological expeditions, and her travels with him contributed background to several of her novels set in the Middle East. Other novels (such as Peril at End House) were set in and around Torquay, where she was raised. Christie drew on her experience of international train travel when writing her 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express. The Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul, the eastern terminus of the railway, claims the book was written there and maintains Christie's room as a memorial to the author.
Christie and Mallowan lived in Chelsea, first in Cresswell Place and later in Sheffield Terrace. Both properties are now marked by blue plaques. In 1934, they bought Winterbrook House in Winterbrook, a hamlet near Wallingford. This was their main residence for the rest of their lives and the place where Christie did much of her writing. This house also bears a blue plaque. Christie led a quiet life despite being known in Wallingford; from 1951 to 1976 she served as president of the local amateur dramatic society.
The couple acquired the Greenway Estate in Devon as a summer residence in 1938; it was given to the National Trust in 2000. Christie frequently stayed at Abney Hall, Cheshire, which was owned by her brother-in-law, James Watts, and based at least two stories there: a short story "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding" in the story collection of the same name and the novel After the Funeral. One Christie compendium notes that "Abney became Agatha's greatest inspiration for country-house life, with all its servants and grandeur being woven into her plots. The descriptions of the fictional Chimneys, Stonygates, and other houses in her stories are mostly Abney Hall in various forms."
During World War II, Christie worked in the pharmacy at University College Hospital (UCH), London, where she updated her knowledge of poisons. Her later novel The Pale Horse was based on a suggestion from Harold Davis, the chief pharmacist at UCH. In 1977, a thallium poisoning case was solved by British medical personnel who had read Christie's book and recognised the symptoms she described.
The British intelligence agency MI5 investigated Christie after a character called Major Bletchley appeared in her 1941 thriller N or M?, which was about a hunt for a pair of deadly fifth columnists in wartime England. MI5 was concerned that Christie had a spy in Britain's top-secret codebreaking centre, Bletchley Park. The agency's fears were allayed when Christie told her friend, the codebreaker Dilly Knox, "I was stuck there on my way by train from Oxford to London and took revenge by giving the name to one of my least lovable characters."
Christie was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1950. In honour of her many literary works, Christie was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1956 New Year Honours. She was co-president of the Detection Club from 1958 to her death in 1976. In 1961, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature degree by the University of Exeter. In the 1971 New Year Honours, she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), three years after her husband had been knighted for his archaeological work. After her husband's knighthood, Christie could also be styled Lady Mallowan.
From 1971 to 1974, Christie's health began to fail, but she continued to write. Her last novel was Postern of Fate in 1973. Textual analysis suggested that Christie may have begun to suffer from Alzheimer's disease or other dementia at about this time.
Personal qualities
In 1946, Christie said of herself: "My chief dislikes are crowds, loud noises, gramophones and cinemas. I dislike the taste of alcohol and do not like smoking. I do like sun, sea, flowers, travelling, strange foods, sports, concerts, theatres, pianos, and doing embroidery."
Christie's works of fiction contain some character stereotypes seen as objectionable in modern times, but in real life, many of her biases were positive. After four years of war-torn London, Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as a "gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life; who are idle and gay, and who have dignity, good manners, and a great sense of humour, and to whom death is not terrible".
Christie was a lifelong, "quietly devout" member of the Church of England, attended church regularly, and kept her mother's copy of The Imitation of Christ by her bedside. After her divorce, she stopped taking the sacrament of communion.
The Agatha Christie Trust For Children was established in 1969, and shortly after Christie's death a charitable memorial fund was set up to "help two causes that she favoured: old people and young children".
Christie's obituary in The Times notes that "she never cared much for the cinema, or for wireless and television." Further,
Dame Agatha's private pleasures were gardeningshe won local prizes for horticultureand buying furniture for her various houses. She was a shy person: she disliked public appearances: but she was friendly and sharp-witted to meet. By inclination as well as breeding she belonged to the English upper middle-class. She wrote about, and for, people like herself. That was an essential part of her charm.
Death and estate
Death and burial
Christie died peacefully on 12 January 1976 at age 85 from natural causes at her home at Winterbrook House. When her death was announced, two West End theatresthe St. Martin's, where The Mousetrap was playing, and the Savoy, which was home to a revival of Murder at the Vicaragedimmed their outside lights in her honour. She was buried in the nearby churchyard of St Mary's, Cholsey, in a plot she had chosen with her husband 10 years before. The simple funeral service was attended by about 20 newspaper and TV reporters, some having travelled from as far away as South America. 30 wreaths adorned Christie's grave, including one from the cast of her long-running play The Mousetrap and one sent "on behalf of the multitude of grateful readers" by the Ulverscroft Large Print Book Publishers.
Mallowan, who remarried in 1977, died in 1978 and was buried next to Christie.
Estate and subsequent ownership of works
Christie was unhappy about becoming "an employed wage slave", and for tax reasons set up a private company in 1955, Agatha Christie Limited, to hold the rights to her works. In about 1959 she transferred her 278-acre home, Greenway Estate, to her daughter, Rosalind Hicks. In 1968, when Christie was almost 80, she sold a 51% stake in Agatha Christie Limited (and the works it owned) to Booker Books (better known as Booker Author's Division), which by 1977 had increased its stake to 64%. Agatha Christie Limited still owns the worldwide rights for more than 80 of Christie's novels and short stories, 19 plays, and nearly 40 TV films.
In the late 1950s, Christie had reputedly been earning around £100,000 (approximately ) per year. Christie sold an estimated 300 million books during her lifetime. At the time of her death in 1976, "she was the best-selling novelist in history."
One estimate of her total earnings from more than a half-century of writing is $20 million (approximately $ million in ). As a result of her tax planning, her will left only £106,683 (approximately ) net, which went mostly to her husband and daughter along with some smaller bequests. Her remaining 36% share of Agatha Christie Limited was inherited by Hicks, who passionately preserved her mother's works, image, and legacy until her own death 28 years later. The family's share of the company allowed them to appoint 50% of the board and the chairman, and retain a veto over new treatments, updated versions, and republications of her works.
In 2004, Hicks' obituary in The Telegraph noted that she had been "determined to remain true to her mother's vision and to protect the integrity of her creations" and disapproved of "merchandising" activities. Upon her death on 28 October 2004, the Greenway Estate passed to her son Mathew Prichard. After his stepfather's death in 2005, Prichard donated Greenway and its contents to the National Trust.
Christie's family and family trusts, including great-grandson James Prichard, continue to own the 36% stake in Agatha Christie Limited, and remain associated with the company. In 2020, James Prichard was the company's chairman. Mathew Prichard also holds the copyright to some of his grandmother's later literary works including The Mousetrap. Christie's work continues to be developed in a range of adaptations.
In 1998, Booker sold its shares in Agatha Christie Limited (at the time earning £2,100,000, approximately annual revenue) for £10,000,000 (approximately ) to Chorion, whose portfolio of authors' works included the literary estates of Enid Blyton and Dennis Wheatley. In February 2012, after a management buyout, Chorion began to sell off its literary assets. This included the sale of Chorion's 64% stake in Agatha Christie Limited to Acorn Media UK. In 2014, RLJ Entertainment Inc. (RLJE) acquired Acorn Media UK, renamed it Acorn Media Enterprises, and incorporated it as the RLJE UK development arm.
In late February 2014, media reports stated that the BBC had acquired exclusive TV rights to Christie's works in the UK (previously associated with ITV) and made plans with Acorn's co-operation to air new productions for the 125th anniversary of Christie's birth in 2015. As part of that deal, the BBC broadcast Partners in Crime and And Then There Were None, both in 2015. Subsequent productions have included The Witness for the Prosecution but plans to televise Ordeal by Innocence at Christmas 2017 were delayed because of controversy surrounding one of the cast members. The three-part adaptation aired in April 2018. A three-part adaptation of The A.B.C. Murders starring John Malkovich and Rupert Grint began filming in June 2018 and was first broadcast in December 2018. A two-part adaptation of The Pale Horse was broadcast on BBC1 in February 2020. Death Comes as the End will be the next BBC adaptation.
Works
Works of fiction
Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple
Christie's first published book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was released in 1920 and introduced the detective Hercule Poirot, who appeared in 33 of her novels and more than 50 short stories.
Over the years, Christie grew tired of Poirot, much as Conan Doyle did with Sherlock Holmes. By the end of the 1930s, Christie wrote in her diary that she was finding Poirot "insufferable", and by the 1960s she felt he was "an egocentric creep". Thompson believes Christie's occasional antipathy to her creation is overstated, and points out that "in later life she sought to protect him against misrepresentation as powerfully as if he were her own flesh and blood." Unlike Conan Doyle, she resisted the temptation to kill her detective off while he was still popular. She married off Poirot's "Watson", Captain Arthur Hastings, in an attempt to trim her cast commitments.
Miss Jane Marple was introduced in a series of short stories that began publication in December 1927 and were subsequently collected under the title The Thirteen Problems. Marple was a genteel, elderly spinster who solved crimes using analogies to English village life. Christie said, "Miss Marple was not in any way a picture of my grandmother; she was far more fussy and spinsterish than my grandmother ever was," but her autobiography establishes a firm connection between the fictional character and Christie's step-grandmother Margaret Miller ("Auntie-Grannie") and her "Ealing cronies". Both Marple and Miller "always expected the worst of everyone and everything, and were, with almost frightening accuracy, usually proved right". Marple appeared in 12 novels and 20 stories.
During the Second World War, Christie wrote two novels, Curtain and Sleeping Murder, featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, respectively. Both books were sealed in a bank vault, and she made over the copyrights by deed of gift to her daughter and her husband to provide each with a kind of insurance policy. Christie suffered a heart attack and a serious fall in 1974, after which she was unable to write. Her daughter authorised the publication of Curtain in 1975, and Sleeping Murder was published posthumously in 1976. These publications followed the success of the 1974 film version of Murder on the Orient Express.
Shortly before the publication of Curtain, Poirot became the first fictional character to have an obituary in The New York Times, which was printed on page one on 6August 1975.
Christie never wrote a novel or short story featuring both Poirot and Miss Marple. In a recording discovered and released in 2008, Christie revealed the reason for this: "Hercule Poirot, a complete egoist, would not like being taught his business or having suggestions made to him by an elderly spinster lady. Hercule Poirota professional sleuthwould not be at home at all in Miss Marple's world."
In 2013, the Christie family supported the release of a new Poirot story, The Monogram Murders, written by British author Sophie Hannah. Hannah later published three more Poirot mysteries, Closed Casket in 2016, The Mystery of Three Quarters in 2018., and The Killings at Kingfisher Hill in 2020.
Formula and plot devices
Christie has been called the "Duchess of Death", the "Mistress of Mystery", and the "Queen of Crime". Early in her career, a reporter noted that "her plots are possible, logical, and always new." According to Hannah, "At the start of each novel, she shows us an apparently impossible situation and we go mad wondering 'How can this be happening?' Then, slowly, she reveals how the impossible is not only possible but the only thing that could have happened."
She developed her storytelling techniques during what has been called the "Golden Age" of detective fiction. Author Dilys Winn called Christie "the doyenne of Coziness", a sub-genre which "featured a small village setting, a hero with faintly aristocratic family connections, a plethora of red herrings and a tendency to commit homicide with sterling silver letter openers and poisons imported from Paraguay". At the end, in a Christie hallmark, the detective usually gathers the surviving suspects into one room, explains the course of their deductive reasoning, and reveals the guilty party; there are exceptions where it is left to the guilty party to explain all (such as And Then There Were None and Endless Night).
Christie did not limit herself to quaint English villagesthe action might take place on a small island (And Then There Were None), an aeroplane (Death in the Clouds), a train (Murder on the Orient Express), a steamship (Death on the Nile), a smart London flat (Cards on the Table), a resort in the West Indies (A Caribbean Mystery), or an archaeological dig (Murder in Mesopotamia)but the circle of potential suspects is usually closed and intimate: family members, friends, servants, business associates, fellow travellers. Stereotyped characters abound (the , the stolid policeman, the devoted servant, the dull colonel), but these may be subverted to stymie the reader; impersonations and secret alliances are always possible. There is always a motivemost often, money: "There are very few killers in Christie who enjoy murder for its own sake."
Professor of Pharmacology Michael C. Gerald noted that "in over half her novels, one or more victims are poisoned, albeit not always to the full satisfaction of the perpetrator." Guns, knives, garrottes, tripwires, blunt instruments, and even a hatchet were also used, but "Christie never resorted to elaborate mechanical or scientific means to explain her ingenuity," according to John Curran, author and literary adviser to the Christie estate. Many of her clues are mundane objects: a calendar, a coffee cup, wax flowers, a beer bottle, a fireplace used during a heat wave.
According to crime writer P. D. James, Christie was prone to making the unlikeliest character the guilty party. Alert readers could sometimes identify the culprit by identifying the least likely suspect. Christie mocked this insight in her foreword to Cards on the Table: "Spot the person least likely to have committed the crime and in nine times out of ten your task is finished. Since I do not want my faithful readers to fling away this book in disgust, I prefer to warn them beforehand that this is not that kind of book."
On Desert Island Discs in 2007, Brian Aldiss said Christie had told him she wrote her books up to the last chapter, then decided who the most unlikely suspect was, after which she would go back and make the necessary changes to "frame" that person. Based upon a study of her working notebooks, Curran describes how Christie would first create a cast of characters, choose a setting, and then produce a list of scenes in which specific clues would be revealed; the order of scenes would be revised as she developed her plot. Of necessity, the murderer had to be known to the author before the sequence could be finalised and she began to type or dictate the first draft of her novel. Much of the work, particularly dialogue, was done in her head before she put it on paper.
In 2013, the 600 members of the Crime Writers' Association chose The Murder of Roger Ackroyd as "the best whodunit... ever written". Author Julian Symons observed, "In an obvious sense, the book fits within the conventions... The setting is a village deep within the English countryside, Roger Ackroyd dies in his study; there is a butler who behaves suspiciously... Every successful detective story in this period involved a deceit practised upon the reader, and here the trick is the highly original one of making the murderer the local doctor, who tells the story and acts as Poirot's Watson." Critic Sutherland Scott stated, "If Agatha Christie had made no other contribution to the literature of detective fiction she would still deserve our grateful thanks" for writing this novel.
In September 2015, to mark her 125th birthday, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. The novel is emblematic of both her use of formula and her willingness to discard it. "And Then There Were None carries the 'closed society' type of murder mystery to extreme lengths," according to author Charles Osborne. It begins with the classic set-up of potential victim(s) and killer(s) isolated from the outside world, but then violates conventions. There is no detective involved in the action, no interviews of suspects, no careful search for clues, and no suspects gathered together in the last chapter to be confronted with the solution. As Christie herself said, "Ten people had to die without it becoming ridiculous or the murderer being obvious." Critics agreed she had succeeded: "The arrogant Mrs. Christie this time set herself a fearsome test of her own ingenuity... the reviews, not surprisingly, were without exception wildly adulatory."
Character stereotypes and perceived racism
Christie included stereotyped descriptions of characters in her work, especially before 1945 (when such attitudes were more commonly expressed publicly), particularly in regard to Italians, Jews, and non-Europeans. For example, she described "men of Hebraic extraction, sallow men with hooked noses, wearing rather flamboyant jewellery" in the short story "The Soul of the Croupier" from the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin. In 1947, the Anti-Defamation League in the US sent an official letter of complaint to Christie's American publishers, Dodd, Mead and Company, regarding perceived antisemitism in her works. Christie's British literary agent later wrote to her US representative, authorising American publishers to "omit the word 'Jew' when it refers to an unpleasant character in future books."
In The Hollow, published in 1946, one of the characters is described by another as "a Whitechapel Jewess with dyed hair and a voice like a corncrake ... a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice". To contrast with the more stereotyped descriptions, Christie portrayed some "foreign" characters as victims, or potential victims, at the hands of English malefactors, such as, respectively, Olga Seminoff (Hallowe'en Party) and Katrina Reiger (in the short story "How Does Your Garden Grow?"). Jewish characters are often seen as un-English (such as Oliver Manders in Three Act Tragedy), but they are rarely the culprits.
Other detectives
In addition to Poirot and Marple, Christie also created amateur detectives Thomas Beresford and his wife, Prudence "Tuppence" née Cowley, who appear in four novels and one collection of short stories published between 1922 and 1974. Unlike her other sleuths, the Beresfords were only in their early twenties when introduced in The Secret Adversary, and were allowed to age alongside their creator. She treated their stories with a lighter touch, giving them a "dash and verve" which was not universally admired by critics. Their last adventure, Postern of Fate, was Christie's last novel.
Harley Quin was "easily the most unorthodox" of Christie's fictional detectives. Inspired by Christie's affection for the figures from the Harlequinade, the semi-supernatural Quin always works with an elderly, conventional man called Satterthwaite. The pair appear in 14 short stories, 12 of which were collected in 1930 as The Mysterious Mr. Quin. Mallowan described these tales as "detection in a fanciful vein, touching on the fairy story, a natural product of Agatha's peculiar imagination". Satterthwaite also appears in a novel, Three Act Tragedy, and a short story, "Dead Man's Mirror", both of which feature Poirot.
Another of her lesser-known characters is Parker Pyne, a retired civil servant who assists unhappy people in an unconventional manner. The 12 short stories which introduced him, Parker Pyne Investigates (1934), are best remembered for "The Case of the Discontented Soldier", which features Ariadne Oliver, "an amusing and satirical self-portrait of Agatha Christie". Over the ensuing decades, Oliver reappeared in seven novels. In most of them she assists Poirot.
Plays
In 1928, Michael Morton adapted The Murder of Roger Ackroyd for the stage under the title Alibi. The play enjoyed a respectable run, but Christie disliked the changes made to her work and, in future, preferred to write for the theatre herself. The first of her own stage works was Black Coffee, which received good reviews when it opened in the West End in late 1930. She followed this up with adaptations of her detective novels: And Then There Were None in 1943, Appointment with Death in 1945, and The Hollow in 1951.
In the 1950s, "the theatre ... engaged much of Agatha's attention." She next adapted her short radio play into The Mousetrap, which premiered in the West End in 1952, produced by Peter Saunders. Her expectations for the play were not high; she believed it would run no more than eight months. It has long since made theatrical history, staging its 27,500th performance in September 2018. The play closed down in March 2020, when all UK theatres shut due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In 1953, she followed this with Witness for the Prosecution, whose Broadway production won the New York Drama Critics' Circle award for best foreign play of 1954 and earned Christie an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Spider's Web, an original work written for actress Margaret Lockwood at her request, premiered in 1954 and was also a hit. She is also the first female playwright to have three plays running simultaneously in London's West End: The Mousetrap, Witness for the Prosecution and Spider's Web. Christie said, "Plays are much easier to write than books, because you can see them in your mind's eye, you are not hampered by all that description which clogs you so terribly in a book and stops you from getting on with what's happening." In a letter to her daughter, Christie said being a playwright was "a lot of fun!"
As Mary Westmacott
Christie published six mainstream novels under the name Mary Westmacott, a pseudonym which gave her the freedom to explore "her most private and precious imaginative garden". These books typically received better reviews than her detective and thriller fiction. Of the first, Giant's Bread published in 1930, a reviewer for The New York Times wrote, "...her book is far above the average of current fiction, in fact, comes well under the classification of a 'good book'. And it is only a satisfying novel that can claim that appellation." It was publicized from the very beginning that "Mary Westmacott" was a pen name of a well-known author, although the identity behind the pen name was kept secret; the dust jacket of Giant's Bread mentions that the author had previously written "under her real name...half a dozen books that have each passed the thirty thousand mark in sales." (In fact, though this was technically true, it disguised Christie's identity through understatement. By the publication of Giant's Bread, Christie had published 10 novels and two short story collections, all of which had sold considerably more than 30,000 copies.) After Christie's authorship of the first four Westmacott novels was revealed by a journalist in 1949, she wrote two more, the last in 1956.
The other Westmacott titles are: Unfinished Portrait (1934), Absent in the Spring (1944), The Rose and the Yew Tree (1948), A Daughter's a Daughter (1952), and The Burden (1956).
Non-fiction works
Christie published few non-fiction works. Come, Tell Me How You Live, about working on an archaeological dig, was drawn from her life with Mallowan. The Grand Tour: Around the World with the Queen of Mystery is a collection of correspondence from her 1922 Grand Tour of the British empire, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Agatha Christie: An Autobiography was published posthumously in 1977 and adjudged the Best Critical / Biographical Work at the 1978 Edgar Awards.
Titles
Many of Christie's works from 1940 onward have titles drawn from literature, with the original context of the title typically printed as an epigraph.
The inspirations for some of Christie's titles include:
William Shakespeare's works: Sad Cypress, By the Pricking of My Thumbs, There is a Tide..., Absent in the Spring, and The Mousetrap, for example. Osborne notes that "Shakespeare is the writer most quoted in the works of Agatha Christie";
The Bible: Evil Under the Sun, The Burden, and The Pale Horse;
Other works of literature: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (from Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott"), The Moving Finger (from Edward FitzGerald's translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám), The Rose and the Yew Tree (from T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets), Postern of Fate (from James Elroy Flecker's "Gates of Damascus"), Endless Night (from William Blake's "Auguries of Innocence"), N or M? (from the Book of Common Prayer), and Come, Tell Me How You Live (from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass).
Christie biographer Gillian Gill said, "Christie's writing has the sparseness, the directness, the narrative pace, and the universal appeal of the fairy story, and it is perhaps as modern fairy stories for grown-up children that Christie's novels succeed." Reflecting a juxtaposition of innocence and horror, numerous Christie titles were drawn from well-known children's nursery rhymes: And Then There Were None (from "Ten Little Niggers"), One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (from "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe"), Five Little Pigs (from "This Little Piggy"), Crooked House (from "There Was a Crooked Man"), A Pocket Full of Rye (from "Sing a Song of Sixpence"), Hickory Dickory Dock (from "Hickory Dickory Dock"), and Three Blind Mice (from "Three Blind Mice").
Critical reception
Christie is regularly referred to as the "Queen of Crime" or "Queen of Mystery", and is considered a master of suspense, plotting, and characterisation. In 1955, she became the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. She was named "Best Writer of the Century" and the Hercule Poirot series of books was named "Best Series of the Century" at the 2000 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. In 2013, she was voted "best crime writer" in a survey of 600 members of the Crime Writers' Association of professional novelists. However, the writer Raymond Chandler criticised the artificiality of her books, as did writer Julian Symons. The literary critic Edmund Wilson described her prose as banal and her characterisations as superficial.
In 2011, Christie was named the second most financially successful crime writer of all time in the United Kingdom, after Ian Fleming, by digital crime drama TV channel Alibi with total earnings around £100 million. In 2012, Christie was among the people selected by the artist Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous work, the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, "to celebrate the British cultural figures he most admires".
In 2015, in honor of the 125th anniversary of her birthday, 25 contemporary mystery writers and one publisher gave their views on Christie's works. Many of the authors had read Christie's novels first, before other mystery writers, in English or in their native language, influencing their own writing, and nearly all still viewed her as the "Queen of Crime" and creator of the plot twists used by mystery authors. Nearly all had one or more favourites among Christie's mysteries and found her books still good to read nearly 100 years after her first novel was published. Just one of the 25 authors held with Wilson's views.
Book sales
In her prime, Christie was rarely out of the bestseller list. She was the first crime writer to have 100,000 copies of 10 of her titles published by Penguin on the same day in 1948. , Guinness World Records listed Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time. , her novels had sold more than two billion copies in 44 languages. Half the sales are of English-language editions, and half are translations. According to Index Translationum, , she was the most-translated individual author. Christie is one of the most-borrowed authors in UK libraries. She is also UK's best-selling spoken-book author. In 2002, 117,696 Christie audiobooks were sold, in comparison to 97,755 for J. K. Rowling, 78,770 for Roald Dahl and 75,841 for J. R. R. Tolkien. In 2015, the Christie estate claimed And Then There Were None was "the best-selling crime novel of all time", with approximately 100 million sales, also making it one of the highest-selling books of all time. More than two million copies of her books were sold in English in 2020.
Legacy
In 2016, one hundred years after Christie wrote her first detective story, the Royal Mail released six stamps in her honour, featuring The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, The Body in the Library, and A Murder is Announced. The Guardian reported that, "Each design incorporates microtext, UV ink and thermochromic ink. These concealed clues can be revealed using either a magnifying glass, UV light or body heat and provide pointers to the mysteries' solutions." Her characters and her face appeared on the stamps of many countries like Dominica and the Somali Republic. In 2020, Christie was commemorated on a £2 coin by the Royal Mint for the first time to mark the centenary of her first novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles.
Adaptations
Christie's works have been adapted for cinema and television. The first was the 1928 British film The Passing of Mr. Quin. Poirot's first film appearance was in 1931 in Alibi, which starred Austin Trevor as Christie's sleuth. Margaret Rutherford played Marple in a series of films released in the 1960s. Christie liked her acting, but considered the first film "pretty poor" and thought no better of the rest.
She felt differently about the 1974 film Murder on the Orient Express, directed by Sidney Lumet, which featured major stars and high production values; her attendance at the London premiere was one of her last public outings. In 2016, a new film version was released, directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also starred, wearing "the most extravagant mustache moviegoers have ever seen".
The television adaptation Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989–2013), with David Suchet in the title role, ran for 70 episodes over 13 series. It received nine BAFTA award nominations and won four BAFTA awards in 1990–1992. The television series Miss Marple (1984–1992), with Joan Hickson as "the BBC's peerless Miss Marple", adapted all 12 Marple novels. The French television series (2009–2012, 2013–2020), adapted 36 of Christie's stories.
Christie's books have also been adapted for BBC Radio, a video game series, and graphic novels.
Interests and influences
Pharmacology
During the First World War, Christie took a break from nursing to train for the Apothecaries Hall Examination. While she subsequently found dispensing in the hospital pharmacy monotonous, and thus less enjoyable than nursing, her new knowledge provided her with a background in potentially toxic drugs. Early in the Second World War, she brought her skills up to date at Torquay Hospital.
As Michael C. Gerald puts it, her "activities as a hospital dispenser during both World Wars not only supported the war effort but also provided her with an appreciation of drugs as therapeutic agents and poisons... These hospital experiences were also likely responsible for the prominent role physicians, nurses, and pharmacists play in her stories." There were to be many medical practitioners, pharmacists, and scientists, naïve or suspicious, in Christie's cast of characters; featuring in Murder in Mesopotamia, Cards on the Table, The Pale Horse, and Mrs. McGinty's Dead, among many others.
Gillian Gill notes that the murder method in Christie's first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, "comes right out of Agatha Christie's work in the hospital dispensary". In an interview with journalist Marcelle Bernstein, Christie stated, "I don't like messy deaths... I'm more interested in peaceful people who die in their own beds and no one knows why." With her expert knowledge, Christie had no need of poisons unknown to science, which were forbidden under Ronald Knox's "Ten Rules for Detective Fiction". Arsenic, aconite, strychnine, digitalis, thallium, and other substances were used to dispatch victims in the ensuing decades.
Archaeology
In her youth, Christie showed little interest in antiquities. After her marriage to Mallowan in 1930, she accompanied him on annual expeditions, spending three to four months at a time in Syria and Iraq at excavation sites at Ur, Nineveh, Tell Arpachiyah, Chagar Bazar, Tell Brak, and Nimrud. The Mallowans also took side trips whilst travelling to and from expedition sites, visiting Italy, Greece, Egypt, Iran, and the Soviet Union, among other places. Their experiences travelling and living abroad are reflected in novels such as Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and Appointment with Death.
For the 1931 digging season at Nineveh, Christie bought a writing table to continue her own work; in the early 1950s, she paid to add a small writing room to the team's house at Nimrud. She also devoted time and effort each season in "making herself useful by photographing, cleaning, and recording finds; and restoring ceramics, which she especially enjoyed". She also provided funds for the expeditions.
Many of the settings for Christie's books were inspired by her archaeological fieldwork in the Middle East; this is reflected in the detail with which she describes themfor instance, the temple of Abu Simbel as depicted in Death on the Nilewhile the settings for They Came to Baghdad were places she and Mallowan had recently stayed. Similarly, she drew upon her knowledge of daily life on a dig throughout Murder in Mesopotamia. Archaeologists and experts in Middle Eastern cultures and artefacts featured in her works include Dr Eric Leidner in Murder in Mesopotamia and Signor Richetti in Death on the Nile.
After the Second World War, Christie chronicled her time in Syria in Come, Tell Me How You Live, which she described as "small beera very little book, full of everyday doings and happenings". From 8November 2001 to March 2002, The British Museum presented a "colourful and episodic exhibition" called Agatha Christie and Archaeology: Mystery in Mesopotamia which illustrated how her activities as a writer and as the wife of an archaeologist intertwined.
In popular culture
BBC television released Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures in 2004, in which she is portrayed by Olivia Williams, Anna Massey, and Bonnie Wright (at different stages in her life). ITV's Perspectives: "The Mystery of Agatha Christie" (2013) is hosted by David Suchet.
Some of Christie's fictional portrayals have explored and offered accounts of her disappearance in 1926. The film Agatha (1979), with Vanessa Redgrave, has Christie sneaking away to plan revenge against her husband; Christie's heirs sued unsuccessfully to prevent the film's distribution. The Doctor Who episode "The Unicorn and the Wasp" (17 May 2008), with Fenella Woolgar, portrays Christie in her early writing career and explains her disappearance as the result of having suffered a temporary breakdown owing to a brief psychic link being formed between her and an alien wasp called the Vespiform. The film Agatha and the Truth of Murder (2018) sends her under cover to solve the murder of Florence Nightingale's goddaughter, Florence Nightingale Shore. A fictionalised account of Christie's disappearance is also the central theme of a Korean musical, Agatha. The Christie Affair, a Christie-like mystery story of love and revenge by author Nina de Gramont, was a 2022 novel loosely based on Christie's disappearance.
Other portrayals, such as the Hungarian film, Kojak Budapesten (1980), create their own scenarios involving Christie's criminal skill. In the TV play, Murder by the Book (1986), Christie (Dame Peggy Ashcroft) murders one of her fictional-turned-real characters, Poirot. Christie features as a character in Gaylord Larsen's Dorothy and Agatha and The London Blitz Murders by Max Allan Collins. The American television program Unsolved Mysteries devoted a segment to her famous disappearance, with Agatha portrayed by actress Tessa Pritchard. A young Agatha is depicted in the Spanish historical television series Gran Hotel (2011) in which she finds inspiration to write her new novel while aiding local detectives. In the alternative history television film Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar (2018), Christie becomes involved in a murder case at an archaeological dig in Iraq. In 2019, Honeysuckle Weeks portrayed Christie in an episode, "No Friends Like Old Friends", in a Canadian drama, Frankie Drake Mysteries.
In June 2021, an episode of the internet series BuzzFeed Unsolved detailed the disappearance of Christie and possible theories.
See also
Agatha Christie bibliography (lists of Christie's works)
Agatha Christie indult (an oecumenical request to which Christie was signatory seeking permission for the occasional use of the Tridentine (Latin) mass in England and Wales)
Agatha Awards (literary awards for mystery and crime writers)
Agatha Christie Award (Japan) (literary award for unpublished mystery novels)
List of solved missing person cases
Notes
References
Further reading
.
Curran, John (2009). Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making. London: HarperCollins. .
Curran, John (2011). Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making. London: HarperCollins. .
Curran, John. "75 facts about Christie". The Home of Agatha Christie. Agatha Christie Limited. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
Gerald, Michael C. (1993). The Poisonous Pen of Agatha Christie. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. .
.
.
.
Morgan, Janet P. (1984). Agatha Christie: A Biography. London: HarperCollins. . Retrieved 8 March 2015.
Prichard, Mathew (2012). The Grand Tour: Around The World With The Queen Of Mystery. New York, NY: HarperCollins. .
.
Thompson, Laura (2008), Agatha Christie: An English Mystery, London: Headline Review, .
External links
A Christie reading list (on official website)
Agatha Christie/Sir Max Mallowan's blue plaque at Cholsey
Agatha Christie profile and related articles in The Guardian
Agatha Christie profile on PBS.org
Agatha Christie profile on FamousAuthors.org
"The Christie Mystery" (fan site)
Agatha Christie recording, oral history at the Imperial War Museum
Agatha Christie business papers at the University of Exeter
"Shocking Real Murders" (book released to mark the 125th anniversary of Christie's birth)
Hercule Poirot Central
The Films of Agatha Christie (1993)
Lamothe, Lori. "The Original Gone Girl: Did Agatha Christie Try to Frame Her Cheating Husband?" in History of Yesterday.
1890 births
1976 deaths
20th-century English novelists
20th-century English dramatists and playwrights
20th-century English women writers
20th-century British short story writers
Anthony Award winners
Booker authors' division
British autobiographers
British detective fiction writers
British women in World War I
British women short story writers
Burials in Oxfordshire
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Ghost story writers
Edgar Award winners
English people of American descent
English crime fiction writers
English mystery writers
English short story writers
English women dramatists and playwrights
English women novelists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Female nurses in World War I
Female wartime nurses
Formerly missing people
Members of the Detection Club
Missing person cases in England
People from Cholsey
People from Sunningdale
People from Torquay
Pseudonymous women writers
Temporary disappearances
Wives of knights
Detective fiction writers
Women mystery writers
Women autobiographers
Women historical novelists
Writers of historical mysteries
Writers from Devon
20th-century pseudonymous writers
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[
"Sapna Cheryan (born 1978) is an American social psychologist. She is a Full professor of social psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington.\n\nEarly life and education\nCheryan was born to financial aid administrator mother Leela Cheryan and research professor father Munir Cheryan in Chicago, Illinois. Growing up, she became interested in topics revolving around race, gender, and equality. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and American Studies before enrolling at Stanford University for her PhD. As a graduate student, she began to notice that the atmosphere of working or learning environments could directly influence ones choice to join the field. This led her to develop her thesis titled Strategies of belonging: defending threatened identities.\n\nAfter graduating from Stanford, Cheryan married Giri Shivaram in 2008. Giri Shivaram is an interventional radiologist at Seattle Children’s Hospital.\n\nCareer\nUpon earning her PhD, Cheryan immediately joined the faculty of Psychology at the University of Washington (UW) with a specific focus on gendered stereotypes and prejudices. She co-founded UW's Debunking Stereotypes Workshop with students Amanda Tose, Marissa Vichayapai, and Lauren Hudson to encourage more women to join Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Cheryan also led a research project that used statistics from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to prove that negative stereotypes of computer scientists could result in less women joining the field. As a result of her research, she received the 2009 NSF's Junior Faculty Career Award for \"outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.\" She also earned the 2011 American Association of University Women Named Honoree for her efforts to achieve equity for women in science-based fields.\n\nDuring the 2012–13 academic year, Cheryan conducted three studies in New York as a Russell Sage Foundation fellow. The research project focused on the effects anti-American stereotypes had on immigrant groups in America. She also studied the negative effects that geeky male nerd stereotypes portrayed in the media had on women joining STEM fields. Cheryan and her research colleagues conducted two studies on the female undergraduate populations attending UW and Stanford University; firstly asking them to describe computer science majors and secondly asking them to read a fabricated newspaper article. At the conclusion of the study, Cheryan concluded that women were more likely than men to be influenced by negative stereotypes surrounding STEM fields. The following year, Cheryan was invited to the White House by former President Barack Obama after it was decided to create a “computer science classroom design prize” in her honor.\n\nIn 2015, Cheryan continued her research into stereotypes by returning to Stanford to conduct another study, this time focusing on males' perceived masculinity. She used falsified data to infer to her male participants, who were squeezing a handheld device, that they were on average or weaker than their female counterparts. She followed up her experiment by asking health and body-related questions, during which she noticed men often exaggerated their height to seem more masculine. Upon realizing this, she conducted a second male-focused group study where students would answer a masculinity test with multiple-choice questions about consumer preferences and personal attributes. Those who scored lower on the test, although all results were randomized, felt the need to overcompensate by choosing more male consumer products as compensation for their time. She also led a female-focused study where she asked undergraduate students to interact with male and female actors who pretended to be computer science majors. Half of the participants interacted with actors who fit the nerdy, geeky computer scientist stereotypes who claimed to enjoy solitary hobbies, while the others interacted with actors dressed and acting like \"typical college students.\" The results of the study fount that women were more influenced by stereotypes in computer science than gender.\n\nDuring the 2016–17 year, Cheryan continued to conduct various studies on how stereotypes directly divert young girls for pursuing a career in STEM. Cheryan and her colleagues found that the culture of STEM and lack of encouragement for women to focus on math and science were the main causes of the gender gap in STEM fields. She also led a study titled Gay Asian Americans Are Seen as More American Than Asian Americans Who Are Presumed Straight, which found that American perceived homosexual Asian Americans to be more likely to speak fluent English than those whose sexual identity was not specified. Cheryan also received a visiting fellowship position in communications at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University during the academic year.\n\nAs a result of her research on gender, STEM, and female stereotypes, Cheryan was approached by Mattel in the spring of 2018 to advise on their latest Barbie dolls. She was appointed to their 12 person Barbie Global Advisory Council in order to \"help inform and refine Barbie brand initiatives.\" During the summer of 2019, Cheryan was promoted from Associate professor to Full professor of social psychology in the Department of Psychology.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nLiving people\n1978 births\nUniversity of Washington faculty\nStanford University alumni\nNorthwestern University alumni\nAmerican social psychologists\n21st-century psychologists\n21st-century American women scientists\nPlace of birth missing (living people)\nAmerican women academics",
"The Myth of the Latin Woman (also known under the title Just Met a Girl Named Maria) is a non-fiction essay written by Puerto Rican author Judith Ortiz Cofer.\n\nBackground\nIn the essay \"The myth of the Latin Woman: I Just met a girl named Maria\", author Judith Ortiz Cofer expresses her view of the stereotypes that she and other women of Latin and Hispanic descent have had to endure. She begins the story by relating an experience where a drunk pub patron started singing \"Maria\", from Westside Story to her, while she was on a bus trip to London from Oxford. As a Latin American woman, Coffer shares her opinion regarding the stereotypes that have occurred throughout her life. Cofer reflects on her childhood and recognizes differences in the way people interact with her and other non-Latino females. She relates her cultural experience to like being on an island (231). \n\nWhen Cofer is confronted with a career day at school and is faced with the challenge of deciding what is appropriate to wear. She states her expression of clothing could promote the cultural chasm that she faces. Stating \"that it became quickly obvious that to the Puerto Rican girls 'dressing up' meant wearing their mother's ornate jewelry and clothing\" (231-232). \n\nCofer expresses how she agonized over her choice of clothing for career day. She states she decides to wear a composite of her cultural experiences, and her view of what a career woman would wear; as she had few role models other than Latino females. She confides how years later she was informed by a friend (an Italian American) at the business school she was attending the Latino girls stood out for wearing \"everything at once\" (232). With this example, Cofer shows that there is a cultural clash due to that the dress of Latino females differ drastically from the mainstream culture. \n\nCofer further demonstrates the cultural stereotype of the Latino and Hispanic woman as sexually expressive. \"For example, that of the Hispanic woman as the 'hot tamale' or 'sexual firebrand\" (232). She tells us that the heritage of Latino women lends them to this expression without fault. She argues that the mothers who grew up on islands were freer to express themselves proactively with a safety net of a culture that showed respect and constraint towards this expression. Cofer states how the view of the \"sizzling\" Latino woman has caused many Latino woman to be sexually harassed. Cofer gives a startling, yet effective example of when she crosses paths with such bias while staying in a \"classy metropolitan Hotel(233). \n\nShe encounters a middle-aged, educated gentleman in a tuxedo who when he sees her exclaims Evita! (233), and going on to sing a well-known refrain from the story, engendering a Latino stereotype. This man continues his intrusion by reciting a crude version of the song \"La Bamba\" revised to reinforce this promiscuous stereotype.\n\nCofer continues to reveal the \"myth of the Latino woman\" as being the menial housemaid or domestic by going on to share, how when at a speaking engagement she was confused by one of the attendees as one of the service staff. She was the featured speaker and the woman who had called upon her for a cup of coffee would soon find herself plagued by her stereotypical presumptions. Cofer recognizes this person did not intentionally \"profile\" her, however, she admitted this would be an obstacle that she would have to continue to overcome.\n\nThe author concludes she has been one of the \"lucky ones\", privileged to get an education and entries into society\" (234). While others have a constant struggle against the misconceptions that are perpetuated regarding the Latina women. She recognizes that her upbringing has allowed her a set of goals that include changing these stereotypes to a more universal understanding. Her final point strikes clear when she points the reader in the direction of God and raises the question of whether He is able to relate to the Latina woman as an Anglo-God with a Jewish descent.\n\nCritical reception\nIn his book José, Can You See?, Alberto Sandoval-Sánchez mentions Cofer's trouble with the stereotyping, but also highlights that she uses the term \"Latino\" as an identity marker, which shows that she \"not only embraces other Latino ethnicities in the U.S., she also engages in the deconstruction of Latina stereotypes in Hollywood and in the media\". Other writers commented on the story's theme that no matter where people of Puerto Rican heritage traveled, they were always made aware of that fact because the \"island traveled with you\". Pauline Newton commented that Cofer's comparisons to various Marias was a \"crucial step in the process of the creation of Ortiz Cofer's own transcultural identity\".\n\nSee also \n Latina stereotypes in hip hop\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nStory text\nThe Myth of the Latin Woman Summary\n\nHispanic and Latino Americans\nHispanic and Latino American feminism\nLiterature by Hispanic and Latino American women\nHispanophobia\nPuerto Rican literature\nStereotypes of women\nStereotypes of Hispanic and Latino people\nWorks about misogyny"
] |
[
"Agatha Christie",
"Character stereotypes",
"Did she describe what her stereotypes were?",
"a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice\"."
] |
C_7f92437539ba40128d8fca5975c3fe05_0
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How did she describe some of the men?
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How did Agatha Christie describe some of the men?
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Agatha Christie
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Christie occasionally inserted stereotyped descriptions of characters into her work, particularly before the end of the Second World War (when such attitudes were more commonly expressed publicly), and particularly in regard to Italians, Jews, non-Europeans, and sometimes Americans, the last usually as impossibly naive or uninformed. For example, she described "Hebraic men with hook-noses wearing rather flamboyant jewellery" in the first editions of the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin (1930), in the short story "The Soul of the Croupier"; in later editions, the passage was edited to describe "sallow men" wearing same. In The Hollow, published as late as 1946, one of the more unsympathetic characters is "a Whitechapel Jewess with dyed hair and a voice like a corncrake ... a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice". To contrast with the more stereotyped descriptions, Christie sometimes showed "foreigners" as victims or potential victims at the hands of English malefactors, such as, respectively, Olga Seminoff (Hallowe'en Party) and Katrina Reiger (in the short story "How Does Your Garden Grow?"). Jewish characters are often seen as un-English (such as Oliver Manders in Three Act Tragedy), but they are rarely the culprits. Often, she is affectionate or teasing with her prejudices. After four years of war-torn London, Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as "gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life; who are idle and gay, and who have dignity, good manners, and a great sense of humour, and to whom death is not terrible." She had trouble with an incompetent Swiss French nursery helper (Marcelle) for toddler Rosalind, and as a result she decided, "Scottish preferred ... good with the young. The French were hopeless disciplinarians ... Germans good and methodical, but it was not German that I really wanted Rosalind to learn. The Irish were gay but made trouble in the house; the English were of all kinds". CANNOTANSWER
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Hebraic men with hook-noses wearing rather flamboyant jewellery
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Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End since 1952, as well as six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
Christie was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon, and was largely home-schooled. She was initially an unsuccessful writer with six consecutive rejections, but this changed in 1920 when The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring detective Hercule Poirot, was published. Her first husband was Archibald Christie; they married in 1914 and had one child before divorcing in 1928. During both World Wars, she served in hospital dispensaries, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the poisons which featured in many of her novels, short stories, and plays. Following her marriage to archaeologist Max Mallowan in 1930, she spent several months each year on digs in the Middle East and used her first-hand knowledge of his profession in her fiction.
According to Index Translationum, she remains the most-translated individual author. Her novel And Then There Were None is one of the top-selling books of all time, with approximately 100 million copies sold. Christie's stage play The Mousetrap holds the world record for the longest initial run. It opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End of London on 25 November 1952, and by September 2018 there had been more than 27,500 performances. The play was closed down in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic and reopened in May 2021.
In 1955, Christie was the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. Later that year, Witness for the Prosecution received an Edgar Award for best play. In 2013, she was voted the best crime writer and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd the best crime novel ever by 600 professional novelists of the Crime Writers' Association. In September 2015, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. Most of Christie's books and short stories have been adapted for television, radio, video games, and graphic novels. More than 30 feature films are based on her work.
Life and career
Childhood and adolescence: 1890–1907
Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born on 15 September 1890, into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon. She was the youngest of three children born to Frederick Alvah Miller, "a gentleman of substance", and his wife Clarissa Margaret ("Clara") Miller née Boehmer.
Christie's mother Clara was born in Dublin in 1854 to British Army officer Frederick Boehmer and his wife Mary Ann Boehmer née West. Boehmer died in Jersey in 1863, leaving his widow to raise Clara and her brothers on a meagre income. Two weeks after Boehmer's death, Mary's sister Margaret West married widowed dry goods merchant Nathaniel Frary Miller, a US citizen. To assist Mary financially, they agreed to foster nine-year-old Clara; the family settled in Timperley, Cheshire. Margaret and Nathaniel had no children together, but Nathaniel had a 17-year-old son, Fred Miller, from his previous marriage. Fred was born in New York City and travelled extensively after leaving his Swiss boarding school. He and Clara were married in London in 1878. Their first child, Margaret Frary ("Madge"), was born in Torquay in 1879. The second, Louis Montant ("Monty"), was born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1880, while the family was on an extended visit to the United States.
When Fred's father died in 1869, he left Clara £2,000 (approximately ); in 1881 they used this to buy the leasehold of a villa in Torquay named Ashfield. It was here that their third and last child, Agatha, was born in 1890. She described her childhood as "very happy". The Millers lived mainly in Devon but often visited her step-grandmother/great-aunt Margaret Miller in Ealing and maternal grandmother Mary Boehmer in Bayswater. A year was spent abroad with her family, in the French Pyrenees, Paris, Dinard, and Guernsey. Because her siblings were so much older, and there were few children in their neighbourhood, Christie spent much of her time playing alone with her pets and imaginary companions. She eventually made friends with other girls in Torquay, noting that "one of the highlights of my existence" was her appearance with them in a youth production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard, in which she played the hero, Colonel Fairfax.
According to Christie, Clara believed she should not learn to read until she was eight; thanks to her curiosity, she was reading by age four. Her sister had been sent to a boarding school, but their mother insisted that Christie receive a home education. As a result, her parents and sister supervised her studies in reading, writing, and basic arithmetic, a subject she particularly enjoyed. They also taught her music, and she learned to play the piano and the mandolin.
Christie was a voracious reader from an early age. Among her earliest memories were reading children's books by Mrs Molesworth and Edith Nesbit. When a little older, she moved on to the surreal verse of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. As an adolescent, she enjoyed works by Anthony Hope, Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, and Alexandre Dumas. In April 1901, aged 10, she wrote her first poem, "The Cow Slip".
By 1901, her father's health had deteriorated, because of what he believed were heart problems. Fred died in November 1901 from pneumonia and chronic kidney disease. Christie later said that her father's death when she was 11 marked the end of her childhood.
The family's financial situation had by this time worsened. Madge married the year after their father's death and moved to Cheadle, Cheshire; Monty was overseas, serving in a British regiment. Christie now lived alone at Ashfield with her mother. In 1902, she began attending Miss Guyer's Girls' School in Torquay but found it difficult to adjust to the disciplined atmosphere. In 1905, her mother sent her to Paris, where she was educated in a series of (boarding schools), focusing on voice training and piano playing. Deciding she lacked the temperament and talent, she gave up her goal of performing professionally as a concert pianist or an opera singer.
Early literary attempts, marriage, literary success: 1907–1926
After completing her education, Christie returned to England to find her mother ailing. They decided to spend the northern winter of 1907–1908 in the warm climate of Egypt, which was then a regular tourist destination for wealthy Britons. They stayed for three months at the Gezirah Palace Hotel in Cairo. Christie attended many dances and other social functions; she particularly enjoyed watching amateur polo matches. While they visited some ancient Egyptian monuments such as the Great Pyramid of Giza, she did not exhibit the great interest in archaeology and Egyptology that developed in her later years. Returning to Britain, she continued her social activities, writing and performing in amateur theatricals. She also helped put on a play called The Blue Beard of Unhappiness with female friends.
At 18, Christie wrote her first short story, "The House of Beauty", while recovering in bed from an illness. It consisted of about 6,000 words on "madness and dreams", a subject of fascination for her. Her biographer, Janet Morgan, has commented that, despite "infelicities of style", the story was "compelling". (The story became an early version of her story "The House of Dreams".) Other stories followed, most of them illustrating her interest in spiritualism and the paranormal. These included "The Call of Wings" and "The Little Lonely God". Magazines rejected all her early submissions, made under pseudonyms (including Mac Miller, Nathaniel Miller, and Sydney West); some submissions were later revised and published under her real name, often with new titles.
Around the same time, Christie began work on her first novel, Snow Upon the Desert. Writing under the pseudonym Monosyllaba, she set the book in Cairo and drew upon her recent experiences there. She was disappointed when the six publishers she contacted declined the work. Clara suggested that her daughter ask for advice from the successful novelist Eden Phillpotts, a family friend and neighbour, who responded to her enquiry, encouraged her writing, and sent her an introduction to his own literary agent, Hughes Massie, who also rejected Snow Upon the Desert but suggested a second novel.
Meanwhile, Christie's social activities expanded, with country house parties, riding, hunting, dances, and roller skating. She had short-lived relationships with four men and an engagement to another. In October 1912, she was introduced to Archibald "Archie" Christie at a dance given by Lord and Lady Clifford at Ugbrooke, about from Torquay. The son of a barrister in the Indian Civil Service, Archie was a Royal Artillery officer who was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps in April 1913. The couple quickly fell in love. Three months after their first meeting, Archie proposed marriage, and Agatha accepted.
With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Archie was sent to France to fight. They married on Christmas Eve 1914 at Emmanuel Church, Clifton, Bristol, close to the home of his mother and stepfather, while Archie was on home leave. Rising through the ranks, he was posted back to Britain in September 1918 as a colonel in the Air Ministry. Christie involved herself in the war effort as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment of the Red Cross. From October 1914 to May 1915, then from June 1916 to September 1918, she worked 3,400 hours in the Town Hall Red Cross Hospital, Torquay, first as a nurse (unpaid) then as a dispenser at £16 (approximately ) a year from 1917 after qualifying as an apothecaries' assistant. Her war service ended in September 1918 when Archie was reassigned to London, and they rented a flat in St. John's Wood.
Christie had long been a fan of detective novels, having enjoyed Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White and The Moonstone, and Arthur Conan Doyle's early Sherlock Holmes stories. She wrote her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1916. It featured Hercule Poirot, a former Belgian police officer with "magnificent moustaches" and a head "exactly the shape of an egg", who had taken refuge in Britain after Germany invaded Belgium. Christie's inspiration for the character came from Belgian refugees living in Torquay, and the Belgian soldiers she helped to treat as a volunteer nurse during the First World War. Her original manuscript was rejected by Hodder & Stoughton and Methuen. After keeping the submission for several months, John Lane at The Bodley Head offered to accept it, provided that Christie change how the solution was revealed. She did so, and signed a contract committing her next five books to The Bodley Head, which she later felt was exploitative. It was published in 1920.
Christie settled into married life, giving birth to her only child, Rosalind Margaret Clarissa (later Hicks), in August 1919 at Ashfield. Archie left the Air Force at the end of the war and began working in the City financial sector at a relatively low salary. They still employed a maid. Her second novel, The Secret Adversary (1922), featured a new detective couple Tommy and Tuppence, again published by The Bodley Head. It earned her £50 (approximately ). A third novel, Murder on the Links, again featured Poirot, as did the short stories commissioned by Bruce Ingram, editor of The Sketch magazine, from 1923. She now had no difficulty selling her work.
In 1922, the Christies joined an around-the-world promotional tour for the British Empire Exhibition, led by Major Ernest Belcher. Leaving their daughter with Agatha's mother and sister, in 10 months they travelled to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and Canada. They learned to surf prone in South Africa; then, in Waikiki, they were among the first Britons to surf standing up.
When they returned to England, Archie resumed work in the city, and Christie continued to work hard at her writing. After living in a series of apartments in London, they bought a house in Sunningdale, Berkshire, which they renamed Styles after the mansion in Christie's first detective novel.
Christie's mother, Clarissa Miller, died in April 1926. They had been exceptionally close, and the loss sent Christie into a deep depression. In August 1926, reports appeared in the press that Christie had gone to a village near Biarritz to recuperate from a "breakdown" caused by "overwork".
Disappearance: 1926
In August 1926, Archie asked Agatha for a divorce. He had fallen in love with Nancy Neele, a friend of Major Belcher. On 3December 1926, the pair quarrelled after Archie announced his plan to spend the weekend with friends, unaccompanied by his wife. Late that evening, Christie disappeared from their home in Sunningdale. The following morning, her car, a Morris Cowley, was discovered at Newlands Corner, parked above a chalk quarry with an expired driving licence and clothes inside.
The disappearance quickly became a news story, as the press sought to satisfy their readers' "hunger for sensation, disaster, and scandal". Home Secretary William Joynson-Hicks pressured police, and a newspaper offered a £100 reward (approximately ). More than a thousand police officers, 15,000 volunteers, and several aeroplanes searched the rural landscape. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave a spirit medium one of Christie's gloves to find her. Christie's disappearance was featured on the front page of The New York Times. Despite the extensive manhunt, she was not found for another 10 days. On 14 December 1926, she was located at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire, north of her home in Sunningdale, registered as Mrs Tressa Neele (the surname of her husband's lover) from " S.A." (South Africa). The next day, Christie left for her sister's residence at Abney Hall, Cheadle, where she was sequestered "in guarded hall, gates locked, telephone cut off, and callers turned away".
Christie's autobiography makes no reference to the disappearance. Two doctors diagnosed her as suffering from "an unquestionable genuine loss of memory", yet opinion remains divided over the reason for her disappearance. Some, including her biographer Morgan, believe she disappeared during a fugue state. The author Jared Cade concluded that Christie planned the event to embarrass her husband but did not anticipate the resulting public melodrama. Christie biographer Laura Thompson provides an alternative view that Christie disappeared during a nervous breakdown, conscious of her actions but not in emotional control of herself. Public reaction at the time was largely negative, supposing a publicity stunt or an attempt to frame her husband for murder.
Second marriage and later life: 1927–1976
In January 1927, Christie, looking "very pale", sailed with her daughter and secretary to Las Palmas, Canary Islands, to "complete her convalescence", returning three months later. Christie petitioned for divorce and was granted a decree nisi against her husband in April 1928, which was made absolute in October 1928. Archie married Nancy Neele a week later. Christie retained custody of their daughter, Rosalind, and kept the Christie surname for her writing.
Reflecting on the period in her autobiography, Christie wrote, "So, after illness, came sorrow, despair and heartbreak. There is no need to dwell on it."
In 1928, Christie left England and took the (Simplon) Orient Express to Istanbul and then to Baghdad. In Iraq, she became friends with archaeologist Leonard Woolley and his wife, who invited her to return to their dig in February 1930. On that second trip, she met archaeologist Max Mallowan, 13 years her junior. In a 1977 interview, Mallowan recounted his first meeting with Christie, when he took her and a group of tourists on a tour of his expedition site in Iraq. Christie and Mallowan married in Edinburgh in September 1930. Their marriage lasted until Christie's death in 1976. She accompanied Mallowan on his archaeological expeditions, and her travels with him contributed background to several of her novels set in the Middle East. Other novels (such as Peril at End House) were set in and around Torquay, where she was raised. Christie drew on her experience of international train travel when writing her 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express. The Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul, the eastern terminus of the railway, claims the book was written there and maintains Christie's room as a memorial to the author.
Christie and Mallowan lived in Chelsea, first in Cresswell Place and later in Sheffield Terrace. Both properties are now marked by blue plaques. In 1934, they bought Winterbrook House in Winterbrook, a hamlet near Wallingford. This was their main residence for the rest of their lives and the place where Christie did much of her writing. This house also bears a blue plaque. Christie led a quiet life despite being known in Wallingford; from 1951 to 1976 she served as president of the local amateur dramatic society.
The couple acquired the Greenway Estate in Devon as a summer residence in 1938; it was given to the National Trust in 2000. Christie frequently stayed at Abney Hall, Cheshire, which was owned by her brother-in-law, James Watts, and based at least two stories there: a short story "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding" in the story collection of the same name and the novel After the Funeral. One Christie compendium notes that "Abney became Agatha's greatest inspiration for country-house life, with all its servants and grandeur being woven into her plots. The descriptions of the fictional Chimneys, Stonygates, and other houses in her stories are mostly Abney Hall in various forms."
During World War II, Christie worked in the pharmacy at University College Hospital (UCH), London, where she updated her knowledge of poisons. Her later novel The Pale Horse was based on a suggestion from Harold Davis, the chief pharmacist at UCH. In 1977, a thallium poisoning case was solved by British medical personnel who had read Christie's book and recognised the symptoms she described.
The British intelligence agency MI5 investigated Christie after a character called Major Bletchley appeared in her 1941 thriller N or M?, which was about a hunt for a pair of deadly fifth columnists in wartime England. MI5 was concerned that Christie had a spy in Britain's top-secret codebreaking centre, Bletchley Park. The agency's fears were allayed when Christie told her friend, the codebreaker Dilly Knox, "I was stuck there on my way by train from Oxford to London and took revenge by giving the name to one of my least lovable characters."
Christie was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1950. In honour of her many literary works, Christie was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1956 New Year Honours. She was co-president of the Detection Club from 1958 to her death in 1976. In 1961, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature degree by the University of Exeter. In the 1971 New Year Honours, she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), three years after her husband had been knighted for his archaeological work. After her husband's knighthood, Christie could also be styled Lady Mallowan.
From 1971 to 1974, Christie's health began to fail, but she continued to write. Her last novel was Postern of Fate in 1973. Textual analysis suggested that Christie may have begun to suffer from Alzheimer's disease or other dementia at about this time.
Personal qualities
In 1946, Christie said of herself: "My chief dislikes are crowds, loud noises, gramophones and cinemas. I dislike the taste of alcohol and do not like smoking. I do like sun, sea, flowers, travelling, strange foods, sports, concerts, theatres, pianos, and doing embroidery."
Christie's works of fiction contain some character stereotypes seen as objectionable in modern times, but in real life, many of her biases were positive. After four years of war-torn London, Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as a "gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life; who are idle and gay, and who have dignity, good manners, and a great sense of humour, and to whom death is not terrible".
Christie was a lifelong, "quietly devout" member of the Church of England, attended church regularly, and kept her mother's copy of The Imitation of Christ by her bedside. After her divorce, she stopped taking the sacrament of communion.
The Agatha Christie Trust For Children was established in 1969, and shortly after Christie's death a charitable memorial fund was set up to "help two causes that she favoured: old people and young children".
Christie's obituary in The Times notes that "she never cared much for the cinema, or for wireless and television." Further,
Dame Agatha's private pleasures were gardeningshe won local prizes for horticultureand buying furniture for her various houses. She was a shy person: she disliked public appearances: but she was friendly and sharp-witted to meet. By inclination as well as breeding she belonged to the English upper middle-class. She wrote about, and for, people like herself. That was an essential part of her charm.
Death and estate
Death and burial
Christie died peacefully on 12 January 1976 at age 85 from natural causes at her home at Winterbrook House. When her death was announced, two West End theatresthe St. Martin's, where The Mousetrap was playing, and the Savoy, which was home to a revival of Murder at the Vicaragedimmed their outside lights in her honour. She was buried in the nearby churchyard of St Mary's, Cholsey, in a plot she had chosen with her husband 10 years before. The simple funeral service was attended by about 20 newspaper and TV reporters, some having travelled from as far away as South America. 30 wreaths adorned Christie's grave, including one from the cast of her long-running play The Mousetrap and one sent "on behalf of the multitude of grateful readers" by the Ulverscroft Large Print Book Publishers.
Mallowan, who remarried in 1977, died in 1978 and was buried next to Christie.
Estate and subsequent ownership of works
Christie was unhappy about becoming "an employed wage slave", and for tax reasons set up a private company in 1955, Agatha Christie Limited, to hold the rights to her works. In about 1959 she transferred her 278-acre home, Greenway Estate, to her daughter, Rosalind Hicks. In 1968, when Christie was almost 80, she sold a 51% stake in Agatha Christie Limited (and the works it owned) to Booker Books (better known as Booker Author's Division), which by 1977 had increased its stake to 64%. Agatha Christie Limited still owns the worldwide rights for more than 80 of Christie's novels and short stories, 19 plays, and nearly 40 TV films.
In the late 1950s, Christie had reputedly been earning around £100,000 (approximately ) per year. Christie sold an estimated 300 million books during her lifetime. At the time of her death in 1976, "she was the best-selling novelist in history."
One estimate of her total earnings from more than a half-century of writing is $20 million (approximately $ million in ). As a result of her tax planning, her will left only £106,683 (approximately ) net, which went mostly to her husband and daughter along with some smaller bequests. Her remaining 36% share of Agatha Christie Limited was inherited by Hicks, who passionately preserved her mother's works, image, and legacy until her own death 28 years later. The family's share of the company allowed them to appoint 50% of the board and the chairman, and retain a veto over new treatments, updated versions, and republications of her works.
In 2004, Hicks' obituary in The Telegraph noted that she had been "determined to remain true to her mother's vision and to protect the integrity of her creations" and disapproved of "merchandising" activities. Upon her death on 28 October 2004, the Greenway Estate passed to her son Mathew Prichard. After his stepfather's death in 2005, Prichard donated Greenway and its contents to the National Trust.
Christie's family and family trusts, including great-grandson James Prichard, continue to own the 36% stake in Agatha Christie Limited, and remain associated with the company. In 2020, James Prichard was the company's chairman. Mathew Prichard also holds the copyright to some of his grandmother's later literary works including The Mousetrap. Christie's work continues to be developed in a range of adaptations.
In 1998, Booker sold its shares in Agatha Christie Limited (at the time earning £2,100,000, approximately annual revenue) for £10,000,000 (approximately ) to Chorion, whose portfolio of authors' works included the literary estates of Enid Blyton and Dennis Wheatley. In February 2012, after a management buyout, Chorion began to sell off its literary assets. This included the sale of Chorion's 64% stake in Agatha Christie Limited to Acorn Media UK. In 2014, RLJ Entertainment Inc. (RLJE) acquired Acorn Media UK, renamed it Acorn Media Enterprises, and incorporated it as the RLJE UK development arm.
In late February 2014, media reports stated that the BBC had acquired exclusive TV rights to Christie's works in the UK (previously associated with ITV) and made plans with Acorn's co-operation to air new productions for the 125th anniversary of Christie's birth in 2015. As part of that deal, the BBC broadcast Partners in Crime and And Then There Were None, both in 2015. Subsequent productions have included The Witness for the Prosecution but plans to televise Ordeal by Innocence at Christmas 2017 were delayed because of controversy surrounding one of the cast members. The three-part adaptation aired in April 2018. A three-part adaptation of The A.B.C. Murders starring John Malkovich and Rupert Grint began filming in June 2018 and was first broadcast in December 2018. A two-part adaptation of The Pale Horse was broadcast on BBC1 in February 2020. Death Comes as the End will be the next BBC adaptation.
Works
Works of fiction
Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple
Christie's first published book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was released in 1920 and introduced the detective Hercule Poirot, who appeared in 33 of her novels and more than 50 short stories.
Over the years, Christie grew tired of Poirot, much as Conan Doyle did with Sherlock Holmes. By the end of the 1930s, Christie wrote in her diary that she was finding Poirot "insufferable", and by the 1960s she felt he was "an egocentric creep". Thompson believes Christie's occasional antipathy to her creation is overstated, and points out that "in later life she sought to protect him against misrepresentation as powerfully as if he were her own flesh and blood." Unlike Conan Doyle, she resisted the temptation to kill her detective off while he was still popular. She married off Poirot's "Watson", Captain Arthur Hastings, in an attempt to trim her cast commitments.
Miss Jane Marple was introduced in a series of short stories that began publication in December 1927 and were subsequently collected under the title The Thirteen Problems. Marple was a genteel, elderly spinster who solved crimes using analogies to English village life. Christie said, "Miss Marple was not in any way a picture of my grandmother; she was far more fussy and spinsterish than my grandmother ever was," but her autobiography establishes a firm connection between the fictional character and Christie's step-grandmother Margaret Miller ("Auntie-Grannie") and her "Ealing cronies". Both Marple and Miller "always expected the worst of everyone and everything, and were, with almost frightening accuracy, usually proved right". Marple appeared in 12 novels and 20 stories.
During the Second World War, Christie wrote two novels, Curtain and Sleeping Murder, featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, respectively. Both books were sealed in a bank vault, and she made over the copyrights by deed of gift to her daughter and her husband to provide each with a kind of insurance policy. Christie suffered a heart attack and a serious fall in 1974, after which she was unable to write. Her daughter authorised the publication of Curtain in 1975, and Sleeping Murder was published posthumously in 1976. These publications followed the success of the 1974 film version of Murder on the Orient Express.
Shortly before the publication of Curtain, Poirot became the first fictional character to have an obituary in The New York Times, which was printed on page one on 6August 1975.
Christie never wrote a novel or short story featuring both Poirot and Miss Marple. In a recording discovered and released in 2008, Christie revealed the reason for this: "Hercule Poirot, a complete egoist, would not like being taught his business or having suggestions made to him by an elderly spinster lady. Hercule Poirota professional sleuthwould not be at home at all in Miss Marple's world."
In 2013, the Christie family supported the release of a new Poirot story, The Monogram Murders, written by British author Sophie Hannah. Hannah later published three more Poirot mysteries, Closed Casket in 2016, The Mystery of Three Quarters in 2018., and The Killings at Kingfisher Hill in 2020.
Formula and plot devices
Christie has been called the "Duchess of Death", the "Mistress of Mystery", and the "Queen of Crime". Early in her career, a reporter noted that "her plots are possible, logical, and always new." According to Hannah, "At the start of each novel, she shows us an apparently impossible situation and we go mad wondering 'How can this be happening?' Then, slowly, she reveals how the impossible is not only possible but the only thing that could have happened."
She developed her storytelling techniques during what has been called the "Golden Age" of detective fiction. Author Dilys Winn called Christie "the doyenne of Coziness", a sub-genre which "featured a small village setting, a hero with faintly aristocratic family connections, a plethora of red herrings and a tendency to commit homicide with sterling silver letter openers and poisons imported from Paraguay". At the end, in a Christie hallmark, the detective usually gathers the surviving suspects into one room, explains the course of their deductive reasoning, and reveals the guilty party; there are exceptions where it is left to the guilty party to explain all (such as And Then There Were None and Endless Night).
Christie did not limit herself to quaint English villagesthe action might take place on a small island (And Then There Were None), an aeroplane (Death in the Clouds), a train (Murder on the Orient Express), a steamship (Death on the Nile), a smart London flat (Cards on the Table), a resort in the West Indies (A Caribbean Mystery), or an archaeological dig (Murder in Mesopotamia)but the circle of potential suspects is usually closed and intimate: family members, friends, servants, business associates, fellow travellers. Stereotyped characters abound (the , the stolid policeman, the devoted servant, the dull colonel), but these may be subverted to stymie the reader; impersonations and secret alliances are always possible. There is always a motivemost often, money: "There are very few killers in Christie who enjoy murder for its own sake."
Professor of Pharmacology Michael C. Gerald noted that "in over half her novels, one or more victims are poisoned, albeit not always to the full satisfaction of the perpetrator." Guns, knives, garrottes, tripwires, blunt instruments, and even a hatchet were also used, but "Christie never resorted to elaborate mechanical or scientific means to explain her ingenuity," according to John Curran, author and literary adviser to the Christie estate. Many of her clues are mundane objects: a calendar, a coffee cup, wax flowers, a beer bottle, a fireplace used during a heat wave.
According to crime writer P. D. James, Christie was prone to making the unlikeliest character the guilty party. Alert readers could sometimes identify the culprit by identifying the least likely suspect. Christie mocked this insight in her foreword to Cards on the Table: "Spot the person least likely to have committed the crime and in nine times out of ten your task is finished. Since I do not want my faithful readers to fling away this book in disgust, I prefer to warn them beforehand that this is not that kind of book."
On Desert Island Discs in 2007, Brian Aldiss said Christie had told him she wrote her books up to the last chapter, then decided who the most unlikely suspect was, after which she would go back and make the necessary changes to "frame" that person. Based upon a study of her working notebooks, Curran describes how Christie would first create a cast of characters, choose a setting, and then produce a list of scenes in which specific clues would be revealed; the order of scenes would be revised as she developed her plot. Of necessity, the murderer had to be known to the author before the sequence could be finalised and she began to type or dictate the first draft of her novel. Much of the work, particularly dialogue, was done in her head before she put it on paper.
In 2013, the 600 members of the Crime Writers' Association chose The Murder of Roger Ackroyd as "the best whodunit... ever written". Author Julian Symons observed, "In an obvious sense, the book fits within the conventions... The setting is a village deep within the English countryside, Roger Ackroyd dies in his study; there is a butler who behaves suspiciously... Every successful detective story in this period involved a deceit practised upon the reader, and here the trick is the highly original one of making the murderer the local doctor, who tells the story and acts as Poirot's Watson." Critic Sutherland Scott stated, "If Agatha Christie had made no other contribution to the literature of detective fiction she would still deserve our grateful thanks" for writing this novel.
In September 2015, to mark her 125th birthday, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. The novel is emblematic of both her use of formula and her willingness to discard it. "And Then There Were None carries the 'closed society' type of murder mystery to extreme lengths," according to author Charles Osborne. It begins with the classic set-up of potential victim(s) and killer(s) isolated from the outside world, but then violates conventions. There is no detective involved in the action, no interviews of suspects, no careful search for clues, and no suspects gathered together in the last chapter to be confronted with the solution. As Christie herself said, "Ten people had to die without it becoming ridiculous or the murderer being obvious." Critics agreed she had succeeded: "The arrogant Mrs. Christie this time set herself a fearsome test of her own ingenuity... the reviews, not surprisingly, were without exception wildly adulatory."
Character stereotypes and perceived racism
Christie included stereotyped descriptions of characters in her work, especially before 1945 (when such attitudes were more commonly expressed publicly), particularly in regard to Italians, Jews, and non-Europeans. For example, she described "men of Hebraic extraction, sallow men with hooked noses, wearing rather flamboyant jewellery" in the short story "The Soul of the Croupier" from the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin. In 1947, the Anti-Defamation League in the US sent an official letter of complaint to Christie's American publishers, Dodd, Mead and Company, regarding perceived antisemitism in her works. Christie's British literary agent later wrote to her US representative, authorising American publishers to "omit the word 'Jew' when it refers to an unpleasant character in future books."
In The Hollow, published in 1946, one of the characters is described by another as "a Whitechapel Jewess with dyed hair and a voice like a corncrake ... a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice". To contrast with the more stereotyped descriptions, Christie portrayed some "foreign" characters as victims, or potential victims, at the hands of English malefactors, such as, respectively, Olga Seminoff (Hallowe'en Party) and Katrina Reiger (in the short story "How Does Your Garden Grow?"). Jewish characters are often seen as un-English (such as Oliver Manders in Three Act Tragedy), but they are rarely the culprits.
Other detectives
In addition to Poirot and Marple, Christie also created amateur detectives Thomas Beresford and his wife, Prudence "Tuppence" née Cowley, who appear in four novels and one collection of short stories published between 1922 and 1974. Unlike her other sleuths, the Beresfords were only in their early twenties when introduced in The Secret Adversary, and were allowed to age alongside their creator. She treated their stories with a lighter touch, giving them a "dash and verve" which was not universally admired by critics. Their last adventure, Postern of Fate, was Christie's last novel.
Harley Quin was "easily the most unorthodox" of Christie's fictional detectives. Inspired by Christie's affection for the figures from the Harlequinade, the semi-supernatural Quin always works with an elderly, conventional man called Satterthwaite. The pair appear in 14 short stories, 12 of which were collected in 1930 as The Mysterious Mr. Quin. Mallowan described these tales as "detection in a fanciful vein, touching on the fairy story, a natural product of Agatha's peculiar imagination". Satterthwaite also appears in a novel, Three Act Tragedy, and a short story, "Dead Man's Mirror", both of which feature Poirot.
Another of her lesser-known characters is Parker Pyne, a retired civil servant who assists unhappy people in an unconventional manner. The 12 short stories which introduced him, Parker Pyne Investigates (1934), are best remembered for "The Case of the Discontented Soldier", which features Ariadne Oliver, "an amusing and satirical self-portrait of Agatha Christie". Over the ensuing decades, Oliver reappeared in seven novels. In most of them she assists Poirot.
Plays
In 1928, Michael Morton adapted The Murder of Roger Ackroyd for the stage under the title Alibi. The play enjoyed a respectable run, but Christie disliked the changes made to her work and, in future, preferred to write for the theatre herself. The first of her own stage works was Black Coffee, which received good reviews when it opened in the West End in late 1930. She followed this up with adaptations of her detective novels: And Then There Were None in 1943, Appointment with Death in 1945, and The Hollow in 1951.
In the 1950s, "the theatre ... engaged much of Agatha's attention." She next adapted her short radio play into The Mousetrap, which premiered in the West End in 1952, produced by Peter Saunders. Her expectations for the play were not high; she believed it would run no more than eight months. It has long since made theatrical history, staging its 27,500th performance in September 2018. The play closed down in March 2020, when all UK theatres shut due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In 1953, she followed this with Witness for the Prosecution, whose Broadway production won the New York Drama Critics' Circle award for best foreign play of 1954 and earned Christie an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Spider's Web, an original work written for actress Margaret Lockwood at her request, premiered in 1954 and was also a hit. She is also the first female playwright to have three plays running simultaneously in London's West End: The Mousetrap, Witness for the Prosecution and Spider's Web. Christie said, "Plays are much easier to write than books, because you can see them in your mind's eye, you are not hampered by all that description which clogs you so terribly in a book and stops you from getting on with what's happening." In a letter to her daughter, Christie said being a playwright was "a lot of fun!"
As Mary Westmacott
Christie published six mainstream novels under the name Mary Westmacott, a pseudonym which gave her the freedom to explore "her most private and precious imaginative garden". These books typically received better reviews than her detective and thriller fiction. Of the first, Giant's Bread published in 1930, a reviewer for The New York Times wrote, "...her book is far above the average of current fiction, in fact, comes well under the classification of a 'good book'. And it is only a satisfying novel that can claim that appellation." It was publicized from the very beginning that "Mary Westmacott" was a pen name of a well-known author, although the identity behind the pen name was kept secret; the dust jacket of Giant's Bread mentions that the author had previously written "under her real name...half a dozen books that have each passed the thirty thousand mark in sales." (In fact, though this was technically true, it disguised Christie's identity through understatement. By the publication of Giant's Bread, Christie had published 10 novels and two short story collections, all of which had sold considerably more than 30,000 copies.) After Christie's authorship of the first four Westmacott novels was revealed by a journalist in 1949, she wrote two more, the last in 1956.
The other Westmacott titles are: Unfinished Portrait (1934), Absent in the Spring (1944), The Rose and the Yew Tree (1948), A Daughter's a Daughter (1952), and The Burden (1956).
Non-fiction works
Christie published few non-fiction works. Come, Tell Me How You Live, about working on an archaeological dig, was drawn from her life with Mallowan. The Grand Tour: Around the World with the Queen of Mystery is a collection of correspondence from her 1922 Grand Tour of the British empire, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Agatha Christie: An Autobiography was published posthumously in 1977 and adjudged the Best Critical / Biographical Work at the 1978 Edgar Awards.
Titles
Many of Christie's works from 1940 onward have titles drawn from literature, with the original context of the title typically printed as an epigraph.
The inspirations for some of Christie's titles include:
William Shakespeare's works: Sad Cypress, By the Pricking of My Thumbs, There is a Tide..., Absent in the Spring, and The Mousetrap, for example. Osborne notes that "Shakespeare is the writer most quoted in the works of Agatha Christie";
The Bible: Evil Under the Sun, The Burden, and The Pale Horse;
Other works of literature: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (from Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott"), The Moving Finger (from Edward FitzGerald's translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám), The Rose and the Yew Tree (from T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets), Postern of Fate (from James Elroy Flecker's "Gates of Damascus"), Endless Night (from William Blake's "Auguries of Innocence"), N or M? (from the Book of Common Prayer), and Come, Tell Me How You Live (from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass).
Christie biographer Gillian Gill said, "Christie's writing has the sparseness, the directness, the narrative pace, and the universal appeal of the fairy story, and it is perhaps as modern fairy stories for grown-up children that Christie's novels succeed." Reflecting a juxtaposition of innocence and horror, numerous Christie titles were drawn from well-known children's nursery rhymes: And Then There Were None (from "Ten Little Niggers"), One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (from "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe"), Five Little Pigs (from "This Little Piggy"), Crooked House (from "There Was a Crooked Man"), A Pocket Full of Rye (from "Sing a Song of Sixpence"), Hickory Dickory Dock (from "Hickory Dickory Dock"), and Three Blind Mice (from "Three Blind Mice").
Critical reception
Christie is regularly referred to as the "Queen of Crime" or "Queen of Mystery", and is considered a master of suspense, plotting, and characterisation. In 1955, she became the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. She was named "Best Writer of the Century" and the Hercule Poirot series of books was named "Best Series of the Century" at the 2000 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. In 2013, she was voted "best crime writer" in a survey of 600 members of the Crime Writers' Association of professional novelists. However, the writer Raymond Chandler criticised the artificiality of her books, as did writer Julian Symons. The literary critic Edmund Wilson described her prose as banal and her characterisations as superficial.
In 2011, Christie was named the second most financially successful crime writer of all time in the United Kingdom, after Ian Fleming, by digital crime drama TV channel Alibi with total earnings around £100 million. In 2012, Christie was among the people selected by the artist Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous work, the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, "to celebrate the British cultural figures he most admires".
In 2015, in honor of the 125th anniversary of her birthday, 25 contemporary mystery writers and one publisher gave their views on Christie's works. Many of the authors had read Christie's novels first, before other mystery writers, in English or in their native language, influencing their own writing, and nearly all still viewed her as the "Queen of Crime" and creator of the plot twists used by mystery authors. Nearly all had one or more favourites among Christie's mysteries and found her books still good to read nearly 100 years after her first novel was published. Just one of the 25 authors held with Wilson's views.
Book sales
In her prime, Christie was rarely out of the bestseller list. She was the first crime writer to have 100,000 copies of 10 of her titles published by Penguin on the same day in 1948. , Guinness World Records listed Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time. , her novels had sold more than two billion copies in 44 languages. Half the sales are of English-language editions, and half are translations. According to Index Translationum, , she was the most-translated individual author. Christie is one of the most-borrowed authors in UK libraries. She is also UK's best-selling spoken-book author. In 2002, 117,696 Christie audiobooks were sold, in comparison to 97,755 for J. K. Rowling, 78,770 for Roald Dahl and 75,841 for J. R. R. Tolkien. In 2015, the Christie estate claimed And Then There Were None was "the best-selling crime novel of all time", with approximately 100 million sales, also making it one of the highest-selling books of all time. More than two million copies of her books were sold in English in 2020.
Legacy
In 2016, one hundred years after Christie wrote her first detective story, the Royal Mail released six stamps in her honour, featuring The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, The Body in the Library, and A Murder is Announced. The Guardian reported that, "Each design incorporates microtext, UV ink and thermochromic ink. These concealed clues can be revealed using either a magnifying glass, UV light or body heat and provide pointers to the mysteries' solutions." Her characters and her face appeared on the stamps of many countries like Dominica and the Somali Republic. In 2020, Christie was commemorated on a £2 coin by the Royal Mint for the first time to mark the centenary of her first novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles.
Adaptations
Christie's works have been adapted for cinema and television. The first was the 1928 British film The Passing of Mr. Quin. Poirot's first film appearance was in 1931 in Alibi, which starred Austin Trevor as Christie's sleuth. Margaret Rutherford played Marple in a series of films released in the 1960s. Christie liked her acting, but considered the first film "pretty poor" and thought no better of the rest.
She felt differently about the 1974 film Murder on the Orient Express, directed by Sidney Lumet, which featured major stars and high production values; her attendance at the London premiere was one of her last public outings. In 2016, a new film version was released, directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also starred, wearing "the most extravagant mustache moviegoers have ever seen".
The television adaptation Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989–2013), with David Suchet in the title role, ran for 70 episodes over 13 series. It received nine BAFTA award nominations and won four BAFTA awards in 1990–1992. The television series Miss Marple (1984–1992), with Joan Hickson as "the BBC's peerless Miss Marple", adapted all 12 Marple novels. The French television series (2009–2012, 2013–2020), adapted 36 of Christie's stories.
Christie's books have also been adapted for BBC Radio, a video game series, and graphic novels.
Interests and influences
Pharmacology
During the First World War, Christie took a break from nursing to train for the Apothecaries Hall Examination. While she subsequently found dispensing in the hospital pharmacy monotonous, and thus less enjoyable than nursing, her new knowledge provided her with a background in potentially toxic drugs. Early in the Second World War, she brought her skills up to date at Torquay Hospital.
As Michael C. Gerald puts it, her "activities as a hospital dispenser during both World Wars not only supported the war effort but also provided her with an appreciation of drugs as therapeutic agents and poisons... These hospital experiences were also likely responsible for the prominent role physicians, nurses, and pharmacists play in her stories." There were to be many medical practitioners, pharmacists, and scientists, naïve or suspicious, in Christie's cast of characters; featuring in Murder in Mesopotamia, Cards on the Table, The Pale Horse, and Mrs. McGinty's Dead, among many others.
Gillian Gill notes that the murder method in Christie's first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, "comes right out of Agatha Christie's work in the hospital dispensary". In an interview with journalist Marcelle Bernstein, Christie stated, "I don't like messy deaths... I'm more interested in peaceful people who die in their own beds and no one knows why." With her expert knowledge, Christie had no need of poisons unknown to science, which were forbidden under Ronald Knox's "Ten Rules for Detective Fiction". Arsenic, aconite, strychnine, digitalis, thallium, and other substances were used to dispatch victims in the ensuing decades.
Archaeology
In her youth, Christie showed little interest in antiquities. After her marriage to Mallowan in 1930, she accompanied him on annual expeditions, spending three to four months at a time in Syria and Iraq at excavation sites at Ur, Nineveh, Tell Arpachiyah, Chagar Bazar, Tell Brak, and Nimrud. The Mallowans also took side trips whilst travelling to and from expedition sites, visiting Italy, Greece, Egypt, Iran, and the Soviet Union, among other places. Their experiences travelling and living abroad are reflected in novels such as Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and Appointment with Death.
For the 1931 digging season at Nineveh, Christie bought a writing table to continue her own work; in the early 1950s, she paid to add a small writing room to the team's house at Nimrud. She also devoted time and effort each season in "making herself useful by photographing, cleaning, and recording finds; and restoring ceramics, which she especially enjoyed". She also provided funds for the expeditions.
Many of the settings for Christie's books were inspired by her archaeological fieldwork in the Middle East; this is reflected in the detail with which she describes themfor instance, the temple of Abu Simbel as depicted in Death on the Nilewhile the settings for They Came to Baghdad were places she and Mallowan had recently stayed. Similarly, she drew upon her knowledge of daily life on a dig throughout Murder in Mesopotamia. Archaeologists and experts in Middle Eastern cultures and artefacts featured in her works include Dr Eric Leidner in Murder in Mesopotamia and Signor Richetti in Death on the Nile.
After the Second World War, Christie chronicled her time in Syria in Come, Tell Me How You Live, which she described as "small beera very little book, full of everyday doings and happenings". From 8November 2001 to March 2002, The British Museum presented a "colourful and episodic exhibition" called Agatha Christie and Archaeology: Mystery in Mesopotamia which illustrated how her activities as a writer and as the wife of an archaeologist intertwined.
In popular culture
BBC television released Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures in 2004, in which she is portrayed by Olivia Williams, Anna Massey, and Bonnie Wright (at different stages in her life). ITV's Perspectives: "The Mystery of Agatha Christie" (2013) is hosted by David Suchet.
Some of Christie's fictional portrayals have explored and offered accounts of her disappearance in 1926. The film Agatha (1979), with Vanessa Redgrave, has Christie sneaking away to plan revenge against her husband; Christie's heirs sued unsuccessfully to prevent the film's distribution. The Doctor Who episode "The Unicorn and the Wasp" (17 May 2008), with Fenella Woolgar, portrays Christie in her early writing career and explains her disappearance as the result of having suffered a temporary breakdown owing to a brief psychic link being formed between her and an alien wasp called the Vespiform. The film Agatha and the Truth of Murder (2018) sends her under cover to solve the murder of Florence Nightingale's goddaughter, Florence Nightingale Shore. A fictionalised account of Christie's disappearance is also the central theme of a Korean musical, Agatha. The Christie Affair, a Christie-like mystery story of love and revenge by author Nina de Gramont, was a 2022 novel loosely based on Christie's disappearance.
Other portrayals, such as the Hungarian film, Kojak Budapesten (1980), create their own scenarios involving Christie's criminal skill. In the TV play, Murder by the Book (1986), Christie (Dame Peggy Ashcroft) murders one of her fictional-turned-real characters, Poirot. Christie features as a character in Gaylord Larsen's Dorothy and Agatha and The London Blitz Murders by Max Allan Collins. The American television program Unsolved Mysteries devoted a segment to her famous disappearance, with Agatha portrayed by actress Tessa Pritchard. A young Agatha is depicted in the Spanish historical television series Gran Hotel (2011) in which she finds inspiration to write her new novel while aiding local detectives. In the alternative history television film Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar (2018), Christie becomes involved in a murder case at an archaeological dig in Iraq. In 2019, Honeysuckle Weeks portrayed Christie in an episode, "No Friends Like Old Friends", in a Canadian drama, Frankie Drake Mysteries.
In June 2021, an episode of the internet series BuzzFeed Unsolved detailed the disappearance of Christie and possible theories.
See also
Agatha Christie bibliography (lists of Christie's works)
Agatha Christie indult (an oecumenical request to which Christie was signatory seeking permission for the occasional use of the Tridentine (Latin) mass in England and Wales)
Agatha Awards (literary awards for mystery and crime writers)
Agatha Christie Award (Japan) (literary award for unpublished mystery novels)
List of solved missing person cases
Notes
References
Further reading
.
Curran, John (2009). Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making. London: HarperCollins. .
Curran, John (2011). Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making. London: HarperCollins. .
Curran, John. "75 facts about Christie". The Home of Agatha Christie. Agatha Christie Limited. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
Gerald, Michael C. (1993). The Poisonous Pen of Agatha Christie. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. .
.
.
.
Morgan, Janet P. (1984). Agatha Christie: A Biography. London: HarperCollins. . Retrieved 8 March 2015.
Prichard, Mathew (2012). The Grand Tour: Around The World With The Queen Of Mystery. New York, NY: HarperCollins. .
.
Thompson, Laura (2008), Agatha Christie: An English Mystery, London: Headline Review, .
External links
A Christie reading list (on official website)
Agatha Christie/Sir Max Mallowan's blue plaque at Cholsey
Agatha Christie profile and related articles in The Guardian
Agatha Christie profile on PBS.org
Agatha Christie profile on FamousAuthors.org
"The Christie Mystery" (fan site)
Agatha Christie recording, oral history at the Imperial War Museum
Agatha Christie business papers at the University of Exeter
"Shocking Real Murders" (book released to mark the 125th anniversary of Christie's birth)
Hercule Poirot Central
The Films of Agatha Christie (1993)
Lamothe, Lori. "The Original Gone Girl: Did Agatha Christie Try to Frame Her Cheating Husband?" in History of Yesterday.
1890 births
1976 deaths
20th-century English novelists
20th-century English dramatists and playwrights
20th-century English women writers
20th-century British short story writers
Anthony Award winners
Booker authors' division
British autobiographers
British detective fiction writers
British women in World War I
British women short story writers
Burials in Oxfordshire
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Ghost story writers
Edgar Award winners
English people of American descent
English crime fiction writers
English mystery writers
English short story writers
English women dramatists and playwrights
English women novelists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Female nurses in World War I
Female wartime nurses
Formerly missing people
Members of the Detection Club
Missing person cases in England
People from Cholsey
People from Sunningdale
People from Torquay
Pseudonymous women writers
Temporary disappearances
Wives of knights
Detective fiction writers
Women mystery writers
Women autobiographers
Women historical novelists
Writers of historical mysteries
Writers from Devon
20th-century pseudonymous writers
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[
"Apega of Sparta () (fl. 3rd–2nd century BC) was a Queen of Sparta. Born in Argos, she married Nabis, who later became the tyrant of Sparta. Ancient sources describe her as being as tyrannical as her husband, and even acting as his effective co-tyrant.\n\nThe Greek historian, Polybius (203–120 BC, author of The Histories), described Apega as ruling Sparta like a Hellenistic queen, similar to Cleopatra and Arsinoe, because she \"received men at court alongside her husband.\" Polybius also mentioned that she knew the art of dishonouring men by humiliating women belonging to the families of male citizens. Both Nabis and Apega brought suffering and violence to their subjects by stealing their wealth and valuables. Livy writes of how she acted as Nabis' right-hand in plundering towns; when describing Nabis' actions in Argos, he writes, \"He had despoiled the men and now he sent his wife there to despoil the women.\"\n\nOne of Nabis' well-known torture devices, the Apega of Nabis, was modelled after her.\n\nReferences\n\nSources\nLivy's Ab Urbe Condita Libri\nPolybius' Histories\n\n3rd-century BC Spartans\n2nd-century BC Spartans\nAncient Spartan women\nAncient Spartan queens consort\nAncient Argives",
"Capitalist Patriarchy and the Case for Socialist Feminism is a 1978 anthology about socialist feminism edited by Zillah R. Eisenstein.\n \nThe sociologist Rhonda F. Levine cites the work as a \"superb discussion of the socialist-feminist position\". Levine goes on to describe the book as \"one of the earliest statements of how a Marxist class analysis can combine with a feminist analysis of patriarchy to produce a theory of how gender and class intersect as systems of inequality\".\n\n\"Eisenstein defines the term 'capitalist patriarchy' as descriptive of the 'mutually reinforcing dialectical relationship between capitalist class structure and hierarchical sexual structuring.\"\n\nShe believes that \"The recognition of women as a sexual class lays the subversive quality of feminism for liberalism because liberalism is premised upon women's exclusion from public life on this very class basis. The demand for real equality of women with men, if taken to its logical conclusion, would dislodge the patriarchal structure necessary to a liberal society.\"\n\nReferences\n\n1978 non-fiction books\nEnglish-language books\nFeminism and social class\nFeminist essays\nPatriarchy\nSocialist feminism\nSocialist works\nWorks about capitalism"
] |
[
"Agatha Christie",
"Character stereotypes",
"Did she describe what her stereotypes were?",
"a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice\".",
"How did she describe some of the men?",
"Hebraic men with hook-noses wearing rather flamboyant jewellery"
] |
C_7f92437539ba40128d8fca5975c3fe05_0
|
From what novel was that description?
| 3 |
From what novel was that description of hebraic men with hook-noses wearing rather flamboyant jewelry?
|
Agatha Christie
|
Christie occasionally inserted stereotyped descriptions of characters into her work, particularly before the end of the Second World War (when such attitudes were more commonly expressed publicly), and particularly in regard to Italians, Jews, non-Europeans, and sometimes Americans, the last usually as impossibly naive or uninformed. For example, she described "Hebraic men with hook-noses wearing rather flamboyant jewellery" in the first editions of the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin (1930), in the short story "The Soul of the Croupier"; in later editions, the passage was edited to describe "sallow men" wearing same. In The Hollow, published as late as 1946, one of the more unsympathetic characters is "a Whitechapel Jewess with dyed hair and a voice like a corncrake ... a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice". To contrast with the more stereotyped descriptions, Christie sometimes showed "foreigners" as victims or potential victims at the hands of English malefactors, such as, respectively, Olga Seminoff (Hallowe'en Party) and Katrina Reiger (in the short story "How Does Your Garden Grow?"). Jewish characters are often seen as un-English (such as Oliver Manders in Three Act Tragedy), but they are rarely the culprits. Often, she is affectionate or teasing with her prejudices. After four years of war-torn London, Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as "gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life; who are idle and gay, and who have dignity, good manners, and a great sense of humour, and to whom death is not terrible." She had trouble with an incompetent Swiss French nursery helper (Marcelle) for toddler Rosalind, and as a result she decided, "Scottish preferred ... good with the young. The French were hopeless disciplinarians ... Germans good and methodical, but it was not German that I really wanted Rosalind to learn. The Irish were gay but made trouble in the house; the English were of all kinds". CANNOTANSWER
|
in the first editions of the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin (
|
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End since 1952, as well as six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
Christie was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon, and was largely home-schooled. She was initially an unsuccessful writer with six consecutive rejections, but this changed in 1920 when The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring detective Hercule Poirot, was published. Her first husband was Archibald Christie; they married in 1914 and had one child before divorcing in 1928. During both World Wars, she served in hospital dispensaries, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the poisons which featured in many of her novels, short stories, and plays. Following her marriage to archaeologist Max Mallowan in 1930, she spent several months each year on digs in the Middle East and used her first-hand knowledge of his profession in her fiction.
According to Index Translationum, she remains the most-translated individual author. Her novel And Then There Were None is one of the top-selling books of all time, with approximately 100 million copies sold. Christie's stage play The Mousetrap holds the world record for the longest initial run. It opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End of London on 25 November 1952, and by September 2018 there had been more than 27,500 performances. The play was closed down in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic and reopened in May 2021.
In 1955, Christie was the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. Later that year, Witness for the Prosecution received an Edgar Award for best play. In 2013, she was voted the best crime writer and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd the best crime novel ever by 600 professional novelists of the Crime Writers' Association. In September 2015, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. Most of Christie's books and short stories have been adapted for television, radio, video games, and graphic novels. More than 30 feature films are based on her work.
Life and career
Childhood and adolescence: 1890–1907
Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born on 15 September 1890, into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon. She was the youngest of three children born to Frederick Alvah Miller, "a gentleman of substance", and his wife Clarissa Margaret ("Clara") Miller née Boehmer.
Christie's mother Clara was born in Dublin in 1854 to British Army officer Frederick Boehmer and his wife Mary Ann Boehmer née West. Boehmer died in Jersey in 1863, leaving his widow to raise Clara and her brothers on a meagre income. Two weeks after Boehmer's death, Mary's sister Margaret West married widowed dry goods merchant Nathaniel Frary Miller, a US citizen. To assist Mary financially, they agreed to foster nine-year-old Clara; the family settled in Timperley, Cheshire. Margaret and Nathaniel had no children together, but Nathaniel had a 17-year-old son, Fred Miller, from his previous marriage. Fred was born in New York City and travelled extensively after leaving his Swiss boarding school. He and Clara were married in London in 1878. Their first child, Margaret Frary ("Madge"), was born in Torquay in 1879. The second, Louis Montant ("Monty"), was born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1880, while the family was on an extended visit to the United States.
When Fred's father died in 1869, he left Clara £2,000 (approximately ); in 1881 they used this to buy the leasehold of a villa in Torquay named Ashfield. It was here that their third and last child, Agatha, was born in 1890. She described her childhood as "very happy". The Millers lived mainly in Devon but often visited her step-grandmother/great-aunt Margaret Miller in Ealing and maternal grandmother Mary Boehmer in Bayswater. A year was spent abroad with her family, in the French Pyrenees, Paris, Dinard, and Guernsey. Because her siblings were so much older, and there were few children in their neighbourhood, Christie spent much of her time playing alone with her pets and imaginary companions. She eventually made friends with other girls in Torquay, noting that "one of the highlights of my existence" was her appearance with them in a youth production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard, in which she played the hero, Colonel Fairfax.
According to Christie, Clara believed she should not learn to read until she was eight; thanks to her curiosity, she was reading by age four. Her sister had been sent to a boarding school, but their mother insisted that Christie receive a home education. As a result, her parents and sister supervised her studies in reading, writing, and basic arithmetic, a subject she particularly enjoyed. They also taught her music, and she learned to play the piano and the mandolin.
Christie was a voracious reader from an early age. Among her earliest memories were reading children's books by Mrs Molesworth and Edith Nesbit. When a little older, she moved on to the surreal verse of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. As an adolescent, she enjoyed works by Anthony Hope, Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, and Alexandre Dumas. In April 1901, aged 10, she wrote her first poem, "The Cow Slip".
By 1901, her father's health had deteriorated, because of what he believed were heart problems. Fred died in November 1901 from pneumonia and chronic kidney disease. Christie later said that her father's death when she was 11 marked the end of her childhood.
The family's financial situation had by this time worsened. Madge married the year after their father's death and moved to Cheadle, Cheshire; Monty was overseas, serving in a British regiment. Christie now lived alone at Ashfield with her mother. In 1902, she began attending Miss Guyer's Girls' School in Torquay but found it difficult to adjust to the disciplined atmosphere. In 1905, her mother sent her to Paris, where she was educated in a series of (boarding schools), focusing on voice training and piano playing. Deciding she lacked the temperament and talent, she gave up her goal of performing professionally as a concert pianist or an opera singer.
Early literary attempts, marriage, literary success: 1907–1926
After completing her education, Christie returned to England to find her mother ailing. They decided to spend the northern winter of 1907–1908 in the warm climate of Egypt, which was then a regular tourist destination for wealthy Britons. They stayed for three months at the Gezirah Palace Hotel in Cairo. Christie attended many dances and other social functions; she particularly enjoyed watching amateur polo matches. While they visited some ancient Egyptian monuments such as the Great Pyramid of Giza, she did not exhibit the great interest in archaeology and Egyptology that developed in her later years. Returning to Britain, she continued her social activities, writing and performing in amateur theatricals. She also helped put on a play called The Blue Beard of Unhappiness with female friends.
At 18, Christie wrote her first short story, "The House of Beauty", while recovering in bed from an illness. It consisted of about 6,000 words on "madness and dreams", a subject of fascination for her. Her biographer, Janet Morgan, has commented that, despite "infelicities of style", the story was "compelling". (The story became an early version of her story "The House of Dreams".) Other stories followed, most of them illustrating her interest in spiritualism and the paranormal. These included "The Call of Wings" and "The Little Lonely God". Magazines rejected all her early submissions, made under pseudonyms (including Mac Miller, Nathaniel Miller, and Sydney West); some submissions were later revised and published under her real name, often with new titles.
Around the same time, Christie began work on her first novel, Snow Upon the Desert. Writing under the pseudonym Monosyllaba, she set the book in Cairo and drew upon her recent experiences there. She was disappointed when the six publishers she contacted declined the work. Clara suggested that her daughter ask for advice from the successful novelist Eden Phillpotts, a family friend and neighbour, who responded to her enquiry, encouraged her writing, and sent her an introduction to his own literary agent, Hughes Massie, who also rejected Snow Upon the Desert but suggested a second novel.
Meanwhile, Christie's social activities expanded, with country house parties, riding, hunting, dances, and roller skating. She had short-lived relationships with four men and an engagement to another. In October 1912, she was introduced to Archibald "Archie" Christie at a dance given by Lord and Lady Clifford at Ugbrooke, about from Torquay. The son of a barrister in the Indian Civil Service, Archie was a Royal Artillery officer who was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps in April 1913. The couple quickly fell in love. Three months after their first meeting, Archie proposed marriage, and Agatha accepted.
With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Archie was sent to France to fight. They married on Christmas Eve 1914 at Emmanuel Church, Clifton, Bristol, close to the home of his mother and stepfather, while Archie was on home leave. Rising through the ranks, he was posted back to Britain in September 1918 as a colonel in the Air Ministry. Christie involved herself in the war effort as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment of the Red Cross. From October 1914 to May 1915, then from June 1916 to September 1918, she worked 3,400 hours in the Town Hall Red Cross Hospital, Torquay, first as a nurse (unpaid) then as a dispenser at £16 (approximately ) a year from 1917 after qualifying as an apothecaries' assistant. Her war service ended in September 1918 when Archie was reassigned to London, and they rented a flat in St. John's Wood.
Christie had long been a fan of detective novels, having enjoyed Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White and The Moonstone, and Arthur Conan Doyle's early Sherlock Holmes stories. She wrote her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1916. It featured Hercule Poirot, a former Belgian police officer with "magnificent moustaches" and a head "exactly the shape of an egg", who had taken refuge in Britain after Germany invaded Belgium. Christie's inspiration for the character came from Belgian refugees living in Torquay, and the Belgian soldiers she helped to treat as a volunteer nurse during the First World War. Her original manuscript was rejected by Hodder & Stoughton and Methuen. After keeping the submission for several months, John Lane at The Bodley Head offered to accept it, provided that Christie change how the solution was revealed. She did so, and signed a contract committing her next five books to The Bodley Head, which she later felt was exploitative. It was published in 1920.
Christie settled into married life, giving birth to her only child, Rosalind Margaret Clarissa (later Hicks), in August 1919 at Ashfield. Archie left the Air Force at the end of the war and began working in the City financial sector at a relatively low salary. They still employed a maid. Her second novel, The Secret Adversary (1922), featured a new detective couple Tommy and Tuppence, again published by The Bodley Head. It earned her £50 (approximately ). A third novel, Murder on the Links, again featured Poirot, as did the short stories commissioned by Bruce Ingram, editor of The Sketch magazine, from 1923. She now had no difficulty selling her work.
In 1922, the Christies joined an around-the-world promotional tour for the British Empire Exhibition, led by Major Ernest Belcher. Leaving their daughter with Agatha's mother and sister, in 10 months they travelled to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and Canada. They learned to surf prone in South Africa; then, in Waikiki, they were among the first Britons to surf standing up.
When they returned to England, Archie resumed work in the city, and Christie continued to work hard at her writing. After living in a series of apartments in London, they bought a house in Sunningdale, Berkshire, which they renamed Styles after the mansion in Christie's first detective novel.
Christie's mother, Clarissa Miller, died in April 1926. They had been exceptionally close, and the loss sent Christie into a deep depression. In August 1926, reports appeared in the press that Christie had gone to a village near Biarritz to recuperate from a "breakdown" caused by "overwork".
Disappearance: 1926
In August 1926, Archie asked Agatha for a divorce. He had fallen in love with Nancy Neele, a friend of Major Belcher. On 3December 1926, the pair quarrelled after Archie announced his plan to spend the weekend with friends, unaccompanied by his wife. Late that evening, Christie disappeared from their home in Sunningdale. The following morning, her car, a Morris Cowley, was discovered at Newlands Corner, parked above a chalk quarry with an expired driving licence and clothes inside.
The disappearance quickly became a news story, as the press sought to satisfy their readers' "hunger for sensation, disaster, and scandal". Home Secretary William Joynson-Hicks pressured police, and a newspaper offered a £100 reward (approximately ). More than a thousand police officers, 15,000 volunteers, and several aeroplanes searched the rural landscape. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave a spirit medium one of Christie's gloves to find her. Christie's disappearance was featured on the front page of The New York Times. Despite the extensive manhunt, she was not found for another 10 days. On 14 December 1926, she was located at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire, north of her home in Sunningdale, registered as Mrs Tressa Neele (the surname of her husband's lover) from " S.A." (South Africa). The next day, Christie left for her sister's residence at Abney Hall, Cheadle, where she was sequestered "in guarded hall, gates locked, telephone cut off, and callers turned away".
Christie's autobiography makes no reference to the disappearance. Two doctors diagnosed her as suffering from "an unquestionable genuine loss of memory", yet opinion remains divided over the reason for her disappearance. Some, including her biographer Morgan, believe she disappeared during a fugue state. The author Jared Cade concluded that Christie planned the event to embarrass her husband but did not anticipate the resulting public melodrama. Christie biographer Laura Thompson provides an alternative view that Christie disappeared during a nervous breakdown, conscious of her actions but not in emotional control of herself. Public reaction at the time was largely negative, supposing a publicity stunt or an attempt to frame her husband for murder.
Second marriage and later life: 1927–1976
In January 1927, Christie, looking "very pale", sailed with her daughter and secretary to Las Palmas, Canary Islands, to "complete her convalescence", returning three months later. Christie petitioned for divorce and was granted a decree nisi against her husband in April 1928, which was made absolute in October 1928. Archie married Nancy Neele a week later. Christie retained custody of their daughter, Rosalind, and kept the Christie surname for her writing.
Reflecting on the period in her autobiography, Christie wrote, "So, after illness, came sorrow, despair and heartbreak. There is no need to dwell on it."
In 1928, Christie left England and took the (Simplon) Orient Express to Istanbul and then to Baghdad. In Iraq, she became friends with archaeologist Leonard Woolley and his wife, who invited her to return to their dig in February 1930. On that second trip, she met archaeologist Max Mallowan, 13 years her junior. In a 1977 interview, Mallowan recounted his first meeting with Christie, when he took her and a group of tourists on a tour of his expedition site in Iraq. Christie and Mallowan married in Edinburgh in September 1930. Their marriage lasted until Christie's death in 1976. She accompanied Mallowan on his archaeological expeditions, and her travels with him contributed background to several of her novels set in the Middle East. Other novels (such as Peril at End House) were set in and around Torquay, where she was raised. Christie drew on her experience of international train travel when writing her 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express. The Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul, the eastern terminus of the railway, claims the book was written there and maintains Christie's room as a memorial to the author.
Christie and Mallowan lived in Chelsea, first in Cresswell Place and later in Sheffield Terrace. Both properties are now marked by blue plaques. In 1934, they bought Winterbrook House in Winterbrook, a hamlet near Wallingford. This was their main residence for the rest of their lives and the place where Christie did much of her writing. This house also bears a blue plaque. Christie led a quiet life despite being known in Wallingford; from 1951 to 1976 she served as president of the local amateur dramatic society.
The couple acquired the Greenway Estate in Devon as a summer residence in 1938; it was given to the National Trust in 2000. Christie frequently stayed at Abney Hall, Cheshire, which was owned by her brother-in-law, James Watts, and based at least two stories there: a short story "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding" in the story collection of the same name and the novel After the Funeral. One Christie compendium notes that "Abney became Agatha's greatest inspiration for country-house life, with all its servants and grandeur being woven into her plots. The descriptions of the fictional Chimneys, Stonygates, and other houses in her stories are mostly Abney Hall in various forms."
During World War II, Christie worked in the pharmacy at University College Hospital (UCH), London, where she updated her knowledge of poisons. Her later novel The Pale Horse was based on a suggestion from Harold Davis, the chief pharmacist at UCH. In 1977, a thallium poisoning case was solved by British medical personnel who had read Christie's book and recognised the symptoms she described.
The British intelligence agency MI5 investigated Christie after a character called Major Bletchley appeared in her 1941 thriller N or M?, which was about a hunt for a pair of deadly fifth columnists in wartime England. MI5 was concerned that Christie had a spy in Britain's top-secret codebreaking centre, Bletchley Park. The agency's fears were allayed when Christie told her friend, the codebreaker Dilly Knox, "I was stuck there on my way by train from Oxford to London and took revenge by giving the name to one of my least lovable characters."
Christie was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1950. In honour of her many literary works, Christie was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1956 New Year Honours. She was co-president of the Detection Club from 1958 to her death in 1976. In 1961, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature degree by the University of Exeter. In the 1971 New Year Honours, she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), three years after her husband had been knighted for his archaeological work. After her husband's knighthood, Christie could also be styled Lady Mallowan.
From 1971 to 1974, Christie's health began to fail, but she continued to write. Her last novel was Postern of Fate in 1973. Textual analysis suggested that Christie may have begun to suffer from Alzheimer's disease or other dementia at about this time.
Personal qualities
In 1946, Christie said of herself: "My chief dislikes are crowds, loud noises, gramophones and cinemas. I dislike the taste of alcohol and do not like smoking. I do like sun, sea, flowers, travelling, strange foods, sports, concerts, theatres, pianos, and doing embroidery."
Christie's works of fiction contain some character stereotypes seen as objectionable in modern times, but in real life, many of her biases were positive. After four years of war-torn London, Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as a "gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life; who are idle and gay, and who have dignity, good manners, and a great sense of humour, and to whom death is not terrible".
Christie was a lifelong, "quietly devout" member of the Church of England, attended church regularly, and kept her mother's copy of The Imitation of Christ by her bedside. After her divorce, she stopped taking the sacrament of communion.
The Agatha Christie Trust For Children was established in 1969, and shortly after Christie's death a charitable memorial fund was set up to "help two causes that she favoured: old people and young children".
Christie's obituary in The Times notes that "she never cared much for the cinema, or for wireless and television." Further,
Dame Agatha's private pleasures were gardeningshe won local prizes for horticultureand buying furniture for her various houses. She was a shy person: she disliked public appearances: but she was friendly and sharp-witted to meet. By inclination as well as breeding she belonged to the English upper middle-class. She wrote about, and for, people like herself. That was an essential part of her charm.
Death and estate
Death and burial
Christie died peacefully on 12 January 1976 at age 85 from natural causes at her home at Winterbrook House. When her death was announced, two West End theatresthe St. Martin's, where The Mousetrap was playing, and the Savoy, which was home to a revival of Murder at the Vicaragedimmed their outside lights in her honour. She was buried in the nearby churchyard of St Mary's, Cholsey, in a plot she had chosen with her husband 10 years before. The simple funeral service was attended by about 20 newspaper and TV reporters, some having travelled from as far away as South America. 30 wreaths adorned Christie's grave, including one from the cast of her long-running play The Mousetrap and one sent "on behalf of the multitude of grateful readers" by the Ulverscroft Large Print Book Publishers.
Mallowan, who remarried in 1977, died in 1978 and was buried next to Christie.
Estate and subsequent ownership of works
Christie was unhappy about becoming "an employed wage slave", and for tax reasons set up a private company in 1955, Agatha Christie Limited, to hold the rights to her works. In about 1959 she transferred her 278-acre home, Greenway Estate, to her daughter, Rosalind Hicks. In 1968, when Christie was almost 80, she sold a 51% stake in Agatha Christie Limited (and the works it owned) to Booker Books (better known as Booker Author's Division), which by 1977 had increased its stake to 64%. Agatha Christie Limited still owns the worldwide rights for more than 80 of Christie's novels and short stories, 19 plays, and nearly 40 TV films.
In the late 1950s, Christie had reputedly been earning around £100,000 (approximately ) per year. Christie sold an estimated 300 million books during her lifetime. At the time of her death in 1976, "she was the best-selling novelist in history."
One estimate of her total earnings from more than a half-century of writing is $20 million (approximately $ million in ). As a result of her tax planning, her will left only £106,683 (approximately ) net, which went mostly to her husband and daughter along with some smaller bequests. Her remaining 36% share of Agatha Christie Limited was inherited by Hicks, who passionately preserved her mother's works, image, and legacy until her own death 28 years later. The family's share of the company allowed them to appoint 50% of the board and the chairman, and retain a veto over new treatments, updated versions, and republications of her works.
In 2004, Hicks' obituary in The Telegraph noted that she had been "determined to remain true to her mother's vision and to protect the integrity of her creations" and disapproved of "merchandising" activities. Upon her death on 28 October 2004, the Greenway Estate passed to her son Mathew Prichard. After his stepfather's death in 2005, Prichard donated Greenway and its contents to the National Trust.
Christie's family and family trusts, including great-grandson James Prichard, continue to own the 36% stake in Agatha Christie Limited, and remain associated with the company. In 2020, James Prichard was the company's chairman. Mathew Prichard also holds the copyright to some of his grandmother's later literary works including The Mousetrap. Christie's work continues to be developed in a range of adaptations.
In 1998, Booker sold its shares in Agatha Christie Limited (at the time earning £2,100,000, approximately annual revenue) for £10,000,000 (approximately ) to Chorion, whose portfolio of authors' works included the literary estates of Enid Blyton and Dennis Wheatley. In February 2012, after a management buyout, Chorion began to sell off its literary assets. This included the sale of Chorion's 64% stake in Agatha Christie Limited to Acorn Media UK. In 2014, RLJ Entertainment Inc. (RLJE) acquired Acorn Media UK, renamed it Acorn Media Enterprises, and incorporated it as the RLJE UK development arm.
In late February 2014, media reports stated that the BBC had acquired exclusive TV rights to Christie's works in the UK (previously associated with ITV) and made plans with Acorn's co-operation to air new productions for the 125th anniversary of Christie's birth in 2015. As part of that deal, the BBC broadcast Partners in Crime and And Then There Were None, both in 2015. Subsequent productions have included The Witness for the Prosecution but plans to televise Ordeal by Innocence at Christmas 2017 were delayed because of controversy surrounding one of the cast members. The three-part adaptation aired in April 2018. A three-part adaptation of The A.B.C. Murders starring John Malkovich and Rupert Grint began filming in June 2018 and was first broadcast in December 2018. A two-part adaptation of The Pale Horse was broadcast on BBC1 in February 2020. Death Comes as the End will be the next BBC adaptation.
Works
Works of fiction
Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple
Christie's first published book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was released in 1920 and introduced the detective Hercule Poirot, who appeared in 33 of her novels and more than 50 short stories.
Over the years, Christie grew tired of Poirot, much as Conan Doyle did with Sherlock Holmes. By the end of the 1930s, Christie wrote in her diary that she was finding Poirot "insufferable", and by the 1960s she felt he was "an egocentric creep". Thompson believes Christie's occasional antipathy to her creation is overstated, and points out that "in later life she sought to protect him against misrepresentation as powerfully as if he were her own flesh and blood." Unlike Conan Doyle, she resisted the temptation to kill her detective off while he was still popular. She married off Poirot's "Watson", Captain Arthur Hastings, in an attempt to trim her cast commitments.
Miss Jane Marple was introduced in a series of short stories that began publication in December 1927 and were subsequently collected under the title The Thirteen Problems. Marple was a genteel, elderly spinster who solved crimes using analogies to English village life. Christie said, "Miss Marple was not in any way a picture of my grandmother; she was far more fussy and spinsterish than my grandmother ever was," but her autobiography establishes a firm connection between the fictional character and Christie's step-grandmother Margaret Miller ("Auntie-Grannie") and her "Ealing cronies". Both Marple and Miller "always expected the worst of everyone and everything, and were, with almost frightening accuracy, usually proved right". Marple appeared in 12 novels and 20 stories.
During the Second World War, Christie wrote two novels, Curtain and Sleeping Murder, featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, respectively. Both books were sealed in a bank vault, and she made over the copyrights by deed of gift to her daughter and her husband to provide each with a kind of insurance policy. Christie suffered a heart attack and a serious fall in 1974, after which she was unable to write. Her daughter authorised the publication of Curtain in 1975, and Sleeping Murder was published posthumously in 1976. These publications followed the success of the 1974 film version of Murder on the Orient Express.
Shortly before the publication of Curtain, Poirot became the first fictional character to have an obituary in The New York Times, which was printed on page one on 6August 1975.
Christie never wrote a novel or short story featuring both Poirot and Miss Marple. In a recording discovered and released in 2008, Christie revealed the reason for this: "Hercule Poirot, a complete egoist, would not like being taught his business or having suggestions made to him by an elderly spinster lady. Hercule Poirota professional sleuthwould not be at home at all in Miss Marple's world."
In 2013, the Christie family supported the release of a new Poirot story, The Monogram Murders, written by British author Sophie Hannah. Hannah later published three more Poirot mysteries, Closed Casket in 2016, The Mystery of Three Quarters in 2018., and The Killings at Kingfisher Hill in 2020.
Formula and plot devices
Christie has been called the "Duchess of Death", the "Mistress of Mystery", and the "Queen of Crime". Early in her career, a reporter noted that "her plots are possible, logical, and always new." According to Hannah, "At the start of each novel, she shows us an apparently impossible situation and we go mad wondering 'How can this be happening?' Then, slowly, she reveals how the impossible is not only possible but the only thing that could have happened."
She developed her storytelling techniques during what has been called the "Golden Age" of detective fiction. Author Dilys Winn called Christie "the doyenne of Coziness", a sub-genre which "featured a small village setting, a hero with faintly aristocratic family connections, a plethora of red herrings and a tendency to commit homicide with sterling silver letter openers and poisons imported from Paraguay". At the end, in a Christie hallmark, the detective usually gathers the surviving suspects into one room, explains the course of their deductive reasoning, and reveals the guilty party; there are exceptions where it is left to the guilty party to explain all (such as And Then There Were None and Endless Night).
Christie did not limit herself to quaint English villagesthe action might take place on a small island (And Then There Were None), an aeroplane (Death in the Clouds), a train (Murder on the Orient Express), a steamship (Death on the Nile), a smart London flat (Cards on the Table), a resort in the West Indies (A Caribbean Mystery), or an archaeological dig (Murder in Mesopotamia)but the circle of potential suspects is usually closed and intimate: family members, friends, servants, business associates, fellow travellers. Stereotyped characters abound (the , the stolid policeman, the devoted servant, the dull colonel), but these may be subverted to stymie the reader; impersonations and secret alliances are always possible. There is always a motivemost often, money: "There are very few killers in Christie who enjoy murder for its own sake."
Professor of Pharmacology Michael C. Gerald noted that "in over half her novels, one or more victims are poisoned, albeit not always to the full satisfaction of the perpetrator." Guns, knives, garrottes, tripwires, blunt instruments, and even a hatchet were also used, but "Christie never resorted to elaborate mechanical or scientific means to explain her ingenuity," according to John Curran, author and literary adviser to the Christie estate. Many of her clues are mundane objects: a calendar, a coffee cup, wax flowers, a beer bottle, a fireplace used during a heat wave.
According to crime writer P. D. James, Christie was prone to making the unlikeliest character the guilty party. Alert readers could sometimes identify the culprit by identifying the least likely suspect. Christie mocked this insight in her foreword to Cards on the Table: "Spot the person least likely to have committed the crime and in nine times out of ten your task is finished. Since I do not want my faithful readers to fling away this book in disgust, I prefer to warn them beforehand that this is not that kind of book."
On Desert Island Discs in 2007, Brian Aldiss said Christie had told him she wrote her books up to the last chapter, then decided who the most unlikely suspect was, after which she would go back and make the necessary changes to "frame" that person. Based upon a study of her working notebooks, Curran describes how Christie would first create a cast of characters, choose a setting, and then produce a list of scenes in which specific clues would be revealed; the order of scenes would be revised as she developed her plot. Of necessity, the murderer had to be known to the author before the sequence could be finalised and she began to type or dictate the first draft of her novel. Much of the work, particularly dialogue, was done in her head before she put it on paper.
In 2013, the 600 members of the Crime Writers' Association chose The Murder of Roger Ackroyd as "the best whodunit... ever written". Author Julian Symons observed, "In an obvious sense, the book fits within the conventions... The setting is a village deep within the English countryside, Roger Ackroyd dies in his study; there is a butler who behaves suspiciously... Every successful detective story in this period involved a deceit practised upon the reader, and here the trick is the highly original one of making the murderer the local doctor, who tells the story and acts as Poirot's Watson." Critic Sutherland Scott stated, "If Agatha Christie had made no other contribution to the literature of detective fiction she would still deserve our grateful thanks" for writing this novel.
In September 2015, to mark her 125th birthday, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. The novel is emblematic of both her use of formula and her willingness to discard it. "And Then There Were None carries the 'closed society' type of murder mystery to extreme lengths," according to author Charles Osborne. It begins with the classic set-up of potential victim(s) and killer(s) isolated from the outside world, but then violates conventions. There is no detective involved in the action, no interviews of suspects, no careful search for clues, and no suspects gathered together in the last chapter to be confronted with the solution. As Christie herself said, "Ten people had to die without it becoming ridiculous or the murderer being obvious." Critics agreed she had succeeded: "The arrogant Mrs. Christie this time set herself a fearsome test of her own ingenuity... the reviews, not surprisingly, were without exception wildly adulatory."
Character stereotypes and perceived racism
Christie included stereotyped descriptions of characters in her work, especially before 1945 (when such attitudes were more commonly expressed publicly), particularly in regard to Italians, Jews, and non-Europeans. For example, she described "men of Hebraic extraction, sallow men with hooked noses, wearing rather flamboyant jewellery" in the short story "The Soul of the Croupier" from the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin. In 1947, the Anti-Defamation League in the US sent an official letter of complaint to Christie's American publishers, Dodd, Mead and Company, regarding perceived antisemitism in her works. Christie's British literary agent later wrote to her US representative, authorising American publishers to "omit the word 'Jew' when it refers to an unpleasant character in future books."
In The Hollow, published in 1946, one of the characters is described by another as "a Whitechapel Jewess with dyed hair and a voice like a corncrake ... a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice". To contrast with the more stereotyped descriptions, Christie portrayed some "foreign" characters as victims, or potential victims, at the hands of English malefactors, such as, respectively, Olga Seminoff (Hallowe'en Party) and Katrina Reiger (in the short story "How Does Your Garden Grow?"). Jewish characters are often seen as un-English (such as Oliver Manders in Three Act Tragedy), but they are rarely the culprits.
Other detectives
In addition to Poirot and Marple, Christie also created amateur detectives Thomas Beresford and his wife, Prudence "Tuppence" née Cowley, who appear in four novels and one collection of short stories published between 1922 and 1974. Unlike her other sleuths, the Beresfords were only in their early twenties when introduced in The Secret Adversary, and were allowed to age alongside their creator. She treated their stories with a lighter touch, giving them a "dash and verve" which was not universally admired by critics. Their last adventure, Postern of Fate, was Christie's last novel.
Harley Quin was "easily the most unorthodox" of Christie's fictional detectives. Inspired by Christie's affection for the figures from the Harlequinade, the semi-supernatural Quin always works with an elderly, conventional man called Satterthwaite. The pair appear in 14 short stories, 12 of which were collected in 1930 as The Mysterious Mr. Quin. Mallowan described these tales as "detection in a fanciful vein, touching on the fairy story, a natural product of Agatha's peculiar imagination". Satterthwaite also appears in a novel, Three Act Tragedy, and a short story, "Dead Man's Mirror", both of which feature Poirot.
Another of her lesser-known characters is Parker Pyne, a retired civil servant who assists unhappy people in an unconventional manner. The 12 short stories which introduced him, Parker Pyne Investigates (1934), are best remembered for "The Case of the Discontented Soldier", which features Ariadne Oliver, "an amusing and satirical self-portrait of Agatha Christie". Over the ensuing decades, Oliver reappeared in seven novels. In most of them she assists Poirot.
Plays
In 1928, Michael Morton adapted The Murder of Roger Ackroyd for the stage under the title Alibi. The play enjoyed a respectable run, but Christie disliked the changes made to her work and, in future, preferred to write for the theatre herself. The first of her own stage works was Black Coffee, which received good reviews when it opened in the West End in late 1930. She followed this up with adaptations of her detective novels: And Then There Were None in 1943, Appointment with Death in 1945, and The Hollow in 1951.
In the 1950s, "the theatre ... engaged much of Agatha's attention." She next adapted her short radio play into The Mousetrap, which premiered in the West End in 1952, produced by Peter Saunders. Her expectations for the play were not high; she believed it would run no more than eight months. It has long since made theatrical history, staging its 27,500th performance in September 2018. The play closed down in March 2020, when all UK theatres shut due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In 1953, she followed this with Witness for the Prosecution, whose Broadway production won the New York Drama Critics' Circle award for best foreign play of 1954 and earned Christie an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Spider's Web, an original work written for actress Margaret Lockwood at her request, premiered in 1954 and was also a hit. She is also the first female playwright to have three plays running simultaneously in London's West End: The Mousetrap, Witness for the Prosecution and Spider's Web. Christie said, "Plays are much easier to write than books, because you can see them in your mind's eye, you are not hampered by all that description which clogs you so terribly in a book and stops you from getting on with what's happening." In a letter to her daughter, Christie said being a playwright was "a lot of fun!"
As Mary Westmacott
Christie published six mainstream novels under the name Mary Westmacott, a pseudonym which gave her the freedom to explore "her most private and precious imaginative garden". These books typically received better reviews than her detective and thriller fiction. Of the first, Giant's Bread published in 1930, a reviewer for The New York Times wrote, "...her book is far above the average of current fiction, in fact, comes well under the classification of a 'good book'. And it is only a satisfying novel that can claim that appellation." It was publicized from the very beginning that "Mary Westmacott" was a pen name of a well-known author, although the identity behind the pen name was kept secret; the dust jacket of Giant's Bread mentions that the author had previously written "under her real name...half a dozen books that have each passed the thirty thousand mark in sales." (In fact, though this was technically true, it disguised Christie's identity through understatement. By the publication of Giant's Bread, Christie had published 10 novels and two short story collections, all of which had sold considerably more than 30,000 copies.) After Christie's authorship of the first four Westmacott novels was revealed by a journalist in 1949, she wrote two more, the last in 1956.
The other Westmacott titles are: Unfinished Portrait (1934), Absent in the Spring (1944), The Rose and the Yew Tree (1948), A Daughter's a Daughter (1952), and The Burden (1956).
Non-fiction works
Christie published few non-fiction works. Come, Tell Me How You Live, about working on an archaeological dig, was drawn from her life with Mallowan. The Grand Tour: Around the World with the Queen of Mystery is a collection of correspondence from her 1922 Grand Tour of the British empire, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Agatha Christie: An Autobiography was published posthumously in 1977 and adjudged the Best Critical / Biographical Work at the 1978 Edgar Awards.
Titles
Many of Christie's works from 1940 onward have titles drawn from literature, with the original context of the title typically printed as an epigraph.
The inspirations for some of Christie's titles include:
William Shakespeare's works: Sad Cypress, By the Pricking of My Thumbs, There is a Tide..., Absent in the Spring, and The Mousetrap, for example. Osborne notes that "Shakespeare is the writer most quoted in the works of Agatha Christie";
The Bible: Evil Under the Sun, The Burden, and The Pale Horse;
Other works of literature: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (from Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott"), The Moving Finger (from Edward FitzGerald's translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám), The Rose and the Yew Tree (from T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets), Postern of Fate (from James Elroy Flecker's "Gates of Damascus"), Endless Night (from William Blake's "Auguries of Innocence"), N or M? (from the Book of Common Prayer), and Come, Tell Me How You Live (from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass).
Christie biographer Gillian Gill said, "Christie's writing has the sparseness, the directness, the narrative pace, and the universal appeal of the fairy story, and it is perhaps as modern fairy stories for grown-up children that Christie's novels succeed." Reflecting a juxtaposition of innocence and horror, numerous Christie titles were drawn from well-known children's nursery rhymes: And Then There Were None (from "Ten Little Niggers"), One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (from "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe"), Five Little Pigs (from "This Little Piggy"), Crooked House (from "There Was a Crooked Man"), A Pocket Full of Rye (from "Sing a Song of Sixpence"), Hickory Dickory Dock (from "Hickory Dickory Dock"), and Three Blind Mice (from "Three Blind Mice").
Critical reception
Christie is regularly referred to as the "Queen of Crime" or "Queen of Mystery", and is considered a master of suspense, plotting, and characterisation. In 1955, she became the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. She was named "Best Writer of the Century" and the Hercule Poirot series of books was named "Best Series of the Century" at the 2000 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. In 2013, she was voted "best crime writer" in a survey of 600 members of the Crime Writers' Association of professional novelists. However, the writer Raymond Chandler criticised the artificiality of her books, as did writer Julian Symons. The literary critic Edmund Wilson described her prose as banal and her characterisations as superficial.
In 2011, Christie was named the second most financially successful crime writer of all time in the United Kingdom, after Ian Fleming, by digital crime drama TV channel Alibi with total earnings around £100 million. In 2012, Christie was among the people selected by the artist Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous work, the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, "to celebrate the British cultural figures he most admires".
In 2015, in honor of the 125th anniversary of her birthday, 25 contemporary mystery writers and one publisher gave their views on Christie's works. Many of the authors had read Christie's novels first, before other mystery writers, in English or in their native language, influencing their own writing, and nearly all still viewed her as the "Queen of Crime" and creator of the plot twists used by mystery authors. Nearly all had one or more favourites among Christie's mysteries and found her books still good to read nearly 100 years after her first novel was published. Just one of the 25 authors held with Wilson's views.
Book sales
In her prime, Christie was rarely out of the bestseller list. She was the first crime writer to have 100,000 copies of 10 of her titles published by Penguin on the same day in 1948. , Guinness World Records listed Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time. , her novels had sold more than two billion copies in 44 languages. Half the sales are of English-language editions, and half are translations. According to Index Translationum, , she was the most-translated individual author. Christie is one of the most-borrowed authors in UK libraries. She is also UK's best-selling spoken-book author. In 2002, 117,696 Christie audiobooks were sold, in comparison to 97,755 for J. K. Rowling, 78,770 for Roald Dahl and 75,841 for J. R. R. Tolkien. In 2015, the Christie estate claimed And Then There Were None was "the best-selling crime novel of all time", with approximately 100 million sales, also making it one of the highest-selling books of all time. More than two million copies of her books were sold in English in 2020.
Legacy
In 2016, one hundred years after Christie wrote her first detective story, the Royal Mail released six stamps in her honour, featuring The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, The Body in the Library, and A Murder is Announced. The Guardian reported that, "Each design incorporates microtext, UV ink and thermochromic ink. These concealed clues can be revealed using either a magnifying glass, UV light or body heat and provide pointers to the mysteries' solutions." Her characters and her face appeared on the stamps of many countries like Dominica and the Somali Republic. In 2020, Christie was commemorated on a £2 coin by the Royal Mint for the first time to mark the centenary of her first novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles.
Adaptations
Christie's works have been adapted for cinema and television. The first was the 1928 British film The Passing of Mr. Quin. Poirot's first film appearance was in 1931 in Alibi, which starred Austin Trevor as Christie's sleuth. Margaret Rutherford played Marple in a series of films released in the 1960s. Christie liked her acting, but considered the first film "pretty poor" and thought no better of the rest.
She felt differently about the 1974 film Murder on the Orient Express, directed by Sidney Lumet, which featured major stars and high production values; her attendance at the London premiere was one of her last public outings. In 2016, a new film version was released, directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also starred, wearing "the most extravagant mustache moviegoers have ever seen".
The television adaptation Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989–2013), with David Suchet in the title role, ran for 70 episodes over 13 series. It received nine BAFTA award nominations and won four BAFTA awards in 1990–1992. The television series Miss Marple (1984–1992), with Joan Hickson as "the BBC's peerless Miss Marple", adapted all 12 Marple novels. The French television series (2009–2012, 2013–2020), adapted 36 of Christie's stories.
Christie's books have also been adapted for BBC Radio, a video game series, and graphic novels.
Interests and influences
Pharmacology
During the First World War, Christie took a break from nursing to train for the Apothecaries Hall Examination. While she subsequently found dispensing in the hospital pharmacy monotonous, and thus less enjoyable than nursing, her new knowledge provided her with a background in potentially toxic drugs. Early in the Second World War, she brought her skills up to date at Torquay Hospital.
As Michael C. Gerald puts it, her "activities as a hospital dispenser during both World Wars not only supported the war effort but also provided her with an appreciation of drugs as therapeutic agents and poisons... These hospital experiences were also likely responsible for the prominent role physicians, nurses, and pharmacists play in her stories." There were to be many medical practitioners, pharmacists, and scientists, naïve or suspicious, in Christie's cast of characters; featuring in Murder in Mesopotamia, Cards on the Table, The Pale Horse, and Mrs. McGinty's Dead, among many others.
Gillian Gill notes that the murder method in Christie's first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, "comes right out of Agatha Christie's work in the hospital dispensary". In an interview with journalist Marcelle Bernstein, Christie stated, "I don't like messy deaths... I'm more interested in peaceful people who die in their own beds and no one knows why." With her expert knowledge, Christie had no need of poisons unknown to science, which were forbidden under Ronald Knox's "Ten Rules for Detective Fiction". Arsenic, aconite, strychnine, digitalis, thallium, and other substances were used to dispatch victims in the ensuing decades.
Archaeology
In her youth, Christie showed little interest in antiquities. After her marriage to Mallowan in 1930, she accompanied him on annual expeditions, spending three to four months at a time in Syria and Iraq at excavation sites at Ur, Nineveh, Tell Arpachiyah, Chagar Bazar, Tell Brak, and Nimrud. The Mallowans also took side trips whilst travelling to and from expedition sites, visiting Italy, Greece, Egypt, Iran, and the Soviet Union, among other places. Their experiences travelling and living abroad are reflected in novels such as Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and Appointment with Death.
For the 1931 digging season at Nineveh, Christie bought a writing table to continue her own work; in the early 1950s, she paid to add a small writing room to the team's house at Nimrud. She also devoted time and effort each season in "making herself useful by photographing, cleaning, and recording finds; and restoring ceramics, which she especially enjoyed". She also provided funds for the expeditions.
Many of the settings for Christie's books were inspired by her archaeological fieldwork in the Middle East; this is reflected in the detail with which she describes themfor instance, the temple of Abu Simbel as depicted in Death on the Nilewhile the settings for They Came to Baghdad were places she and Mallowan had recently stayed. Similarly, she drew upon her knowledge of daily life on a dig throughout Murder in Mesopotamia. Archaeologists and experts in Middle Eastern cultures and artefacts featured in her works include Dr Eric Leidner in Murder in Mesopotamia and Signor Richetti in Death on the Nile.
After the Second World War, Christie chronicled her time in Syria in Come, Tell Me How You Live, which she described as "small beera very little book, full of everyday doings and happenings". From 8November 2001 to March 2002, The British Museum presented a "colourful and episodic exhibition" called Agatha Christie and Archaeology: Mystery in Mesopotamia which illustrated how her activities as a writer and as the wife of an archaeologist intertwined.
In popular culture
BBC television released Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures in 2004, in which she is portrayed by Olivia Williams, Anna Massey, and Bonnie Wright (at different stages in her life). ITV's Perspectives: "The Mystery of Agatha Christie" (2013) is hosted by David Suchet.
Some of Christie's fictional portrayals have explored and offered accounts of her disappearance in 1926. The film Agatha (1979), with Vanessa Redgrave, has Christie sneaking away to plan revenge against her husband; Christie's heirs sued unsuccessfully to prevent the film's distribution. The Doctor Who episode "The Unicorn and the Wasp" (17 May 2008), with Fenella Woolgar, portrays Christie in her early writing career and explains her disappearance as the result of having suffered a temporary breakdown owing to a brief psychic link being formed between her and an alien wasp called the Vespiform. The film Agatha and the Truth of Murder (2018) sends her under cover to solve the murder of Florence Nightingale's goddaughter, Florence Nightingale Shore. A fictionalised account of Christie's disappearance is also the central theme of a Korean musical, Agatha. The Christie Affair, a Christie-like mystery story of love and revenge by author Nina de Gramont, was a 2022 novel loosely based on Christie's disappearance.
Other portrayals, such as the Hungarian film, Kojak Budapesten (1980), create their own scenarios involving Christie's criminal skill. In the TV play, Murder by the Book (1986), Christie (Dame Peggy Ashcroft) murders one of her fictional-turned-real characters, Poirot. Christie features as a character in Gaylord Larsen's Dorothy and Agatha and The London Blitz Murders by Max Allan Collins. The American television program Unsolved Mysteries devoted a segment to her famous disappearance, with Agatha portrayed by actress Tessa Pritchard. A young Agatha is depicted in the Spanish historical television series Gran Hotel (2011) in which she finds inspiration to write her new novel while aiding local detectives. In the alternative history television film Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar (2018), Christie becomes involved in a murder case at an archaeological dig in Iraq. In 2019, Honeysuckle Weeks portrayed Christie in an episode, "No Friends Like Old Friends", in a Canadian drama, Frankie Drake Mysteries.
In June 2021, an episode of the internet series BuzzFeed Unsolved detailed the disappearance of Christie and possible theories.
See also
Agatha Christie bibliography (lists of Christie's works)
Agatha Christie indult (an oecumenical request to which Christie was signatory seeking permission for the occasional use of the Tridentine (Latin) mass in England and Wales)
Agatha Awards (literary awards for mystery and crime writers)
Agatha Christie Award (Japan) (literary award for unpublished mystery novels)
List of solved missing person cases
Notes
References
Further reading
.
Curran, John (2009). Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making. London: HarperCollins. .
Curran, John (2011). Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making. London: HarperCollins. .
Curran, John. "75 facts about Christie". The Home of Agatha Christie. Agatha Christie Limited. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
Gerald, Michael C. (1993). The Poisonous Pen of Agatha Christie. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. .
.
.
.
Morgan, Janet P. (1984). Agatha Christie: A Biography. London: HarperCollins. . Retrieved 8 March 2015.
Prichard, Mathew (2012). The Grand Tour: Around The World With The Queen Of Mystery. New York, NY: HarperCollins. .
.
Thompson, Laura (2008), Agatha Christie: An English Mystery, London: Headline Review, .
External links
A Christie reading list (on official website)
Agatha Christie/Sir Max Mallowan's blue plaque at Cholsey
Agatha Christie profile and related articles in The Guardian
Agatha Christie profile on PBS.org
Agatha Christie profile on FamousAuthors.org
"The Christie Mystery" (fan site)
Agatha Christie recording, oral history at the Imperial War Museum
Agatha Christie business papers at the University of Exeter
"Shocking Real Murders" (book released to mark the 125th anniversary of Christie's birth)
Hercule Poirot Central
The Films of Agatha Christie (1993)
Lamothe, Lori. "The Original Gone Girl: Did Agatha Christie Try to Frame Her Cheating Husband?" in History of Yesterday.
1890 births
1976 deaths
20th-century English novelists
20th-century English dramatists and playwrights
20th-century English women writers
20th-century British short story writers
Anthony Award winners
Booker authors' division
British autobiographers
British detective fiction writers
British women in World War I
British women short story writers
Burials in Oxfordshire
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Ghost story writers
Edgar Award winners
English people of American descent
English crime fiction writers
English mystery writers
English short story writers
English women dramatists and playwrights
English women novelists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Female nurses in World War I
Female wartime nurses
Formerly missing people
Members of the Detection Club
Missing person cases in England
People from Cholsey
People from Sunningdale
People from Torquay
Pseudonymous women writers
Temporary disappearances
Wives of knights
Detective fiction writers
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20th-century pseudonymous writers
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"I Was Here may refer to:\n\nMusic\nI Was Here (album), by Hubert Wu, or the title song, 2017\n\"I Was Here\" (song), by Beyoncé, 2011\n\"I Was Here\", a song by Lady Antebellum from the AT&T Team USA Soundtrack, 2008\n\"I Was Here\", a song by Lisa Loeb from Feel What U Feel, 2016\n\"I Was Here\", a song by Tina Arena from Quand tout Recommence, 2018\n\"I Was Here\", a song from the musical The Glorious Ones, 2007\n\nOther uses\nI Was Here (film), a 2008 Estonian film\n\"I Was Here\" (Chicago P.D.), a 2020 television episode\nI Was Here, a 2015 novel by Gayle Forman",
"More Than Friendship is a contemporary romance novel by Mary Howard, published in 1960 by Collins. The novel won the 1960s Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association.\n\nPlot\nThey belonged to different worlds; Jim's background was the industrial North, and Janet was a girl from his own class, but Tessa came from the romantic world of ballet.\nWhat change would the spotlight make in the Tessa's young life?\nWas it love that chained Tessa to the exotic world of ballet?\n\n1960 British novels\nRomance novels\nEnglish novels"
] |
[
"Agatha Christie",
"Character stereotypes",
"Did she describe what her stereotypes were?",
"a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice\".",
"How did she describe some of the men?",
"Hebraic men with hook-noses wearing rather flamboyant jewellery",
"From what novel was that description?",
"in the first editions of the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin ("
] |
C_7f92437539ba40128d8fca5975c3fe05_0
|
How did she depict foreigners?
| 4 |
How did Agatha Christie depict foreigners?
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Agatha Christie
|
Christie occasionally inserted stereotyped descriptions of characters into her work, particularly before the end of the Second World War (when such attitudes were more commonly expressed publicly), and particularly in regard to Italians, Jews, non-Europeans, and sometimes Americans, the last usually as impossibly naive or uninformed. For example, she described "Hebraic men with hook-noses wearing rather flamboyant jewellery" in the first editions of the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin (1930), in the short story "The Soul of the Croupier"; in later editions, the passage was edited to describe "sallow men" wearing same. In The Hollow, published as late as 1946, one of the more unsympathetic characters is "a Whitechapel Jewess with dyed hair and a voice like a corncrake ... a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice". To contrast with the more stereotyped descriptions, Christie sometimes showed "foreigners" as victims or potential victims at the hands of English malefactors, such as, respectively, Olga Seminoff (Hallowe'en Party) and Katrina Reiger (in the short story "How Does Your Garden Grow?"). Jewish characters are often seen as un-English (such as Oliver Manders in Three Act Tragedy), but they are rarely the culprits. Often, she is affectionate or teasing with her prejudices. After four years of war-torn London, Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as "gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life; who are idle and gay, and who have dignity, good manners, and a great sense of humour, and to whom death is not terrible." She had trouble with an incompetent Swiss French nursery helper (Marcelle) for toddler Rosalind, and as a result she decided, "Scottish preferred ... good with the young. The French were hopeless disciplinarians ... Germans good and methodical, but it was not German that I really wanted Rosalind to learn. The Irish were gay but made trouble in the house; the English were of all kinds". CANNOTANSWER
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Jewish characters are often seen as un-English
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Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End since 1952, as well as six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
Christie was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon, and was largely home-schooled. She was initially an unsuccessful writer with six consecutive rejections, but this changed in 1920 when The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring detective Hercule Poirot, was published. Her first husband was Archibald Christie; they married in 1914 and had one child before divorcing in 1928. During both World Wars, she served in hospital dispensaries, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the poisons which featured in many of her novels, short stories, and plays. Following her marriage to archaeologist Max Mallowan in 1930, she spent several months each year on digs in the Middle East and used her first-hand knowledge of his profession in her fiction.
According to Index Translationum, she remains the most-translated individual author. Her novel And Then There Were None is one of the top-selling books of all time, with approximately 100 million copies sold. Christie's stage play The Mousetrap holds the world record for the longest initial run. It opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End of London on 25 November 1952, and by September 2018 there had been more than 27,500 performances. The play was closed down in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic and reopened in May 2021.
In 1955, Christie was the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. Later that year, Witness for the Prosecution received an Edgar Award for best play. In 2013, she was voted the best crime writer and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd the best crime novel ever by 600 professional novelists of the Crime Writers' Association. In September 2015, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. Most of Christie's books and short stories have been adapted for television, radio, video games, and graphic novels. More than 30 feature films are based on her work.
Life and career
Childhood and adolescence: 1890–1907
Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born on 15 September 1890, into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon. She was the youngest of three children born to Frederick Alvah Miller, "a gentleman of substance", and his wife Clarissa Margaret ("Clara") Miller née Boehmer.
Christie's mother Clara was born in Dublin in 1854 to British Army officer Frederick Boehmer and his wife Mary Ann Boehmer née West. Boehmer died in Jersey in 1863, leaving his widow to raise Clara and her brothers on a meagre income. Two weeks after Boehmer's death, Mary's sister Margaret West married widowed dry goods merchant Nathaniel Frary Miller, a US citizen. To assist Mary financially, they agreed to foster nine-year-old Clara; the family settled in Timperley, Cheshire. Margaret and Nathaniel had no children together, but Nathaniel had a 17-year-old son, Fred Miller, from his previous marriage. Fred was born in New York City and travelled extensively after leaving his Swiss boarding school. He and Clara were married in London in 1878. Their first child, Margaret Frary ("Madge"), was born in Torquay in 1879. The second, Louis Montant ("Monty"), was born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1880, while the family was on an extended visit to the United States.
When Fred's father died in 1869, he left Clara £2,000 (approximately ); in 1881 they used this to buy the leasehold of a villa in Torquay named Ashfield. It was here that their third and last child, Agatha, was born in 1890. She described her childhood as "very happy". The Millers lived mainly in Devon but often visited her step-grandmother/great-aunt Margaret Miller in Ealing and maternal grandmother Mary Boehmer in Bayswater. A year was spent abroad with her family, in the French Pyrenees, Paris, Dinard, and Guernsey. Because her siblings were so much older, and there were few children in their neighbourhood, Christie spent much of her time playing alone with her pets and imaginary companions. She eventually made friends with other girls in Torquay, noting that "one of the highlights of my existence" was her appearance with them in a youth production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard, in which she played the hero, Colonel Fairfax.
According to Christie, Clara believed she should not learn to read until she was eight; thanks to her curiosity, she was reading by age four. Her sister had been sent to a boarding school, but their mother insisted that Christie receive a home education. As a result, her parents and sister supervised her studies in reading, writing, and basic arithmetic, a subject she particularly enjoyed. They also taught her music, and she learned to play the piano and the mandolin.
Christie was a voracious reader from an early age. Among her earliest memories were reading children's books by Mrs Molesworth and Edith Nesbit. When a little older, she moved on to the surreal verse of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. As an adolescent, she enjoyed works by Anthony Hope, Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, and Alexandre Dumas. In April 1901, aged 10, she wrote her first poem, "The Cow Slip".
By 1901, her father's health had deteriorated, because of what he believed were heart problems. Fred died in November 1901 from pneumonia and chronic kidney disease. Christie later said that her father's death when she was 11 marked the end of her childhood.
The family's financial situation had by this time worsened. Madge married the year after their father's death and moved to Cheadle, Cheshire; Monty was overseas, serving in a British regiment. Christie now lived alone at Ashfield with her mother. In 1902, she began attending Miss Guyer's Girls' School in Torquay but found it difficult to adjust to the disciplined atmosphere. In 1905, her mother sent her to Paris, where she was educated in a series of (boarding schools), focusing on voice training and piano playing. Deciding she lacked the temperament and talent, she gave up her goal of performing professionally as a concert pianist or an opera singer.
Early literary attempts, marriage, literary success: 1907–1926
After completing her education, Christie returned to England to find her mother ailing. They decided to spend the northern winter of 1907–1908 in the warm climate of Egypt, which was then a regular tourist destination for wealthy Britons. They stayed for three months at the Gezirah Palace Hotel in Cairo. Christie attended many dances and other social functions; she particularly enjoyed watching amateur polo matches. While they visited some ancient Egyptian monuments such as the Great Pyramid of Giza, she did not exhibit the great interest in archaeology and Egyptology that developed in her later years. Returning to Britain, she continued her social activities, writing and performing in amateur theatricals. She also helped put on a play called The Blue Beard of Unhappiness with female friends.
At 18, Christie wrote her first short story, "The House of Beauty", while recovering in bed from an illness. It consisted of about 6,000 words on "madness and dreams", a subject of fascination for her. Her biographer, Janet Morgan, has commented that, despite "infelicities of style", the story was "compelling". (The story became an early version of her story "The House of Dreams".) Other stories followed, most of them illustrating her interest in spiritualism and the paranormal. These included "The Call of Wings" and "The Little Lonely God". Magazines rejected all her early submissions, made under pseudonyms (including Mac Miller, Nathaniel Miller, and Sydney West); some submissions were later revised and published under her real name, often with new titles.
Around the same time, Christie began work on her first novel, Snow Upon the Desert. Writing under the pseudonym Monosyllaba, she set the book in Cairo and drew upon her recent experiences there. She was disappointed when the six publishers she contacted declined the work. Clara suggested that her daughter ask for advice from the successful novelist Eden Phillpotts, a family friend and neighbour, who responded to her enquiry, encouraged her writing, and sent her an introduction to his own literary agent, Hughes Massie, who also rejected Snow Upon the Desert but suggested a second novel.
Meanwhile, Christie's social activities expanded, with country house parties, riding, hunting, dances, and roller skating. She had short-lived relationships with four men and an engagement to another. In October 1912, she was introduced to Archibald "Archie" Christie at a dance given by Lord and Lady Clifford at Ugbrooke, about from Torquay. The son of a barrister in the Indian Civil Service, Archie was a Royal Artillery officer who was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps in April 1913. The couple quickly fell in love. Three months after their first meeting, Archie proposed marriage, and Agatha accepted.
With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Archie was sent to France to fight. They married on Christmas Eve 1914 at Emmanuel Church, Clifton, Bristol, close to the home of his mother and stepfather, while Archie was on home leave. Rising through the ranks, he was posted back to Britain in September 1918 as a colonel in the Air Ministry. Christie involved herself in the war effort as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment of the Red Cross. From October 1914 to May 1915, then from June 1916 to September 1918, she worked 3,400 hours in the Town Hall Red Cross Hospital, Torquay, first as a nurse (unpaid) then as a dispenser at £16 (approximately ) a year from 1917 after qualifying as an apothecaries' assistant. Her war service ended in September 1918 when Archie was reassigned to London, and they rented a flat in St. John's Wood.
Christie had long been a fan of detective novels, having enjoyed Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White and The Moonstone, and Arthur Conan Doyle's early Sherlock Holmes stories. She wrote her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1916. It featured Hercule Poirot, a former Belgian police officer with "magnificent moustaches" and a head "exactly the shape of an egg", who had taken refuge in Britain after Germany invaded Belgium. Christie's inspiration for the character came from Belgian refugees living in Torquay, and the Belgian soldiers she helped to treat as a volunteer nurse during the First World War. Her original manuscript was rejected by Hodder & Stoughton and Methuen. After keeping the submission for several months, John Lane at The Bodley Head offered to accept it, provided that Christie change how the solution was revealed. She did so, and signed a contract committing her next five books to The Bodley Head, which she later felt was exploitative. It was published in 1920.
Christie settled into married life, giving birth to her only child, Rosalind Margaret Clarissa (later Hicks), in August 1919 at Ashfield. Archie left the Air Force at the end of the war and began working in the City financial sector at a relatively low salary. They still employed a maid. Her second novel, The Secret Adversary (1922), featured a new detective couple Tommy and Tuppence, again published by The Bodley Head. It earned her £50 (approximately ). A third novel, Murder on the Links, again featured Poirot, as did the short stories commissioned by Bruce Ingram, editor of The Sketch magazine, from 1923. She now had no difficulty selling her work.
In 1922, the Christies joined an around-the-world promotional tour for the British Empire Exhibition, led by Major Ernest Belcher. Leaving their daughter with Agatha's mother and sister, in 10 months they travelled to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and Canada. They learned to surf prone in South Africa; then, in Waikiki, they were among the first Britons to surf standing up.
When they returned to England, Archie resumed work in the city, and Christie continued to work hard at her writing. After living in a series of apartments in London, they bought a house in Sunningdale, Berkshire, which they renamed Styles after the mansion in Christie's first detective novel.
Christie's mother, Clarissa Miller, died in April 1926. They had been exceptionally close, and the loss sent Christie into a deep depression. In August 1926, reports appeared in the press that Christie had gone to a village near Biarritz to recuperate from a "breakdown" caused by "overwork".
Disappearance: 1926
In August 1926, Archie asked Agatha for a divorce. He had fallen in love with Nancy Neele, a friend of Major Belcher. On 3December 1926, the pair quarrelled after Archie announced his plan to spend the weekend with friends, unaccompanied by his wife. Late that evening, Christie disappeared from their home in Sunningdale. The following morning, her car, a Morris Cowley, was discovered at Newlands Corner, parked above a chalk quarry with an expired driving licence and clothes inside.
The disappearance quickly became a news story, as the press sought to satisfy their readers' "hunger for sensation, disaster, and scandal". Home Secretary William Joynson-Hicks pressured police, and a newspaper offered a £100 reward (approximately ). More than a thousand police officers, 15,000 volunteers, and several aeroplanes searched the rural landscape. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave a spirit medium one of Christie's gloves to find her. Christie's disappearance was featured on the front page of The New York Times. Despite the extensive manhunt, she was not found for another 10 days. On 14 December 1926, she was located at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire, north of her home in Sunningdale, registered as Mrs Tressa Neele (the surname of her husband's lover) from " S.A." (South Africa). The next day, Christie left for her sister's residence at Abney Hall, Cheadle, where she was sequestered "in guarded hall, gates locked, telephone cut off, and callers turned away".
Christie's autobiography makes no reference to the disappearance. Two doctors diagnosed her as suffering from "an unquestionable genuine loss of memory", yet opinion remains divided over the reason for her disappearance. Some, including her biographer Morgan, believe she disappeared during a fugue state. The author Jared Cade concluded that Christie planned the event to embarrass her husband but did not anticipate the resulting public melodrama. Christie biographer Laura Thompson provides an alternative view that Christie disappeared during a nervous breakdown, conscious of her actions but not in emotional control of herself. Public reaction at the time was largely negative, supposing a publicity stunt or an attempt to frame her husband for murder.
Second marriage and later life: 1927–1976
In January 1927, Christie, looking "very pale", sailed with her daughter and secretary to Las Palmas, Canary Islands, to "complete her convalescence", returning three months later. Christie petitioned for divorce and was granted a decree nisi against her husband in April 1928, which was made absolute in October 1928. Archie married Nancy Neele a week later. Christie retained custody of their daughter, Rosalind, and kept the Christie surname for her writing.
Reflecting on the period in her autobiography, Christie wrote, "So, after illness, came sorrow, despair and heartbreak. There is no need to dwell on it."
In 1928, Christie left England and took the (Simplon) Orient Express to Istanbul and then to Baghdad. In Iraq, she became friends with archaeologist Leonard Woolley and his wife, who invited her to return to their dig in February 1930. On that second trip, she met archaeologist Max Mallowan, 13 years her junior. In a 1977 interview, Mallowan recounted his first meeting with Christie, when he took her and a group of tourists on a tour of his expedition site in Iraq. Christie and Mallowan married in Edinburgh in September 1930. Their marriage lasted until Christie's death in 1976. She accompanied Mallowan on his archaeological expeditions, and her travels with him contributed background to several of her novels set in the Middle East. Other novels (such as Peril at End House) were set in and around Torquay, where she was raised. Christie drew on her experience of international train travel when writing her 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express. The Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul, the eastern terminus of the railway, claims the book was written there and maintains Christie's room as a memorial to the author.
Christie and Mallowan lived in Chelsea, first in Cresswell Place and later in Sheffield Terrace. Both properties are now marked by blue plaques. In 1934, they bought Winterbrook House in Winterbrook, a hamlet near Wallingford. This was their main residence for the rest of their lives and the place where Christie did much of her writing. This house also bears a blue plaque. Christie led a quiet life despite being known in Wallingford; from 1951 to 1976 she served as president of the local amateur dramatic society.
The couple acquired the Greenway Estate in Devon as a summer residence in 1938; it was given to the National Trust in 2000. Christie frequently stayed at Abney Hall, Cheshire, which was owned by her brother-in-law, James Watts, and based at least two stories there: a short story "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding" in the story collection of the same name and the novel After the Funeral. One Christie compendium notes that "Abney became Agatha's greatest inspiration for country-house life, with all its servants and grandeur being woven into her plots. The descriptions of the fictional Chimneys, Stonygates, and other houses in her stories are mostly Abney Hall in various forms."
During World War II, Christie worked in the pharmacy at University College Hospital (UCH), London, where she updated her knowledge of poisons. Her later novel The Pale Horse was based on a suggestion from Harold Davis, the chief pharmacist at UCH. In 1977, a thallium poisoning case was solved by British medical personnel who had read Christie's book and recognised the symptoms she described.
The British intelligence agency MI5 investigated Christie after a character called Major Bletchley appeared in her 1941 thriller N or M?, which was about a hunt for a pair of deadly fifth columnists in wartime England. MI5 was concerned that Christie had a spy in Britain's top-secret codebreaking centre, Bletchley Park. The agency's fears were allayed when Christie told her friend, the codebreaker Dilly Knox, "I was stuck there on my way by train from Oxford to London and took revenge by giving the name to one of my least lovable characters."
Christie was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1950. In honour of her many literary works, Christie was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1956 New Year Honours. She was co-president of the Detection Club from 1958 to her death in 1976. In 1961, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature degree by the University of Exeter. In the 1971 New Year Honours, she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), three years after her husband had been knighted for his archaeological work. After her husband's knighthood, Christie could also be styled Lady Mallowan.
From 1971 to 1974, Christie's health began to fail, but she continued to write. Her last novel was Postern of Fate in 1973. Textual analysis suggested that Christie may have begun to suffer from Alzheimer's disease or other dementia at about this time.
Personal qualities
In 1946, Christie said of herself: "My chief dislikes are crowds, loud noises, gramophones and cinemas. I dislike the taste of alcohol and do not like smoking. I do like sun, sea, flowers, travelling, strange foods, sports, concerts, theatres, pianos, and doing embroidery."
Christie's works of fiction contain some character stereotypes seen as objectionable in modern times, but in real life, many of her biases were positive. After four years of war-torn London, Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as a "gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life; who are idle and gay, and who have dignity, good manners, and a great sense of humour, and to whom death is not terrible".
Christie was a lifelong, "quietly devout" member of the Church of England, attended church regularly, and kept her mother's copy of The Imitation of Christ by her bedside. After her divorce, she stopped taking the sacrament of communion.
The Agatha Christie Trust For Children was established in 1969, and shortly after Christie's death a charitable memorial fund was set up to "help two causes that she favoured: old people and young children".
Christie's obituary in The Times notes that "she never cared much for the cinema, or for wireless and television." Further,
Dame Agatha's private pleasures were gardeningshe won local prizes for horticultureand buying furniture for her various houses. She was a shy person: she disliked public appearances: but she was friendly and sharp-witted to meet. By inclination as well as breeding she belonged to the English upper middle-class. She wrote about, and for, people like herself. That was an essential part of her charm.
Death and estate
Death and burial
Christie died peacefully on 12 January 1976 at age 85 from natural causes at her home at Winterbrook House. When her death was announced, two West End theatresthe St. Martin's, where The Mousetrap was playing, and the Savoy, which was home to a revival of Murder at the Vicaragedimmed their outside lights in her honour. She was buried in the nearby churchyard of St Mary's, Cholsey, in a plot she had chosen with her husband 10 years before. The simple funeral service was attended by about 20 newspaper and TV reporters, some having travelled from as far away as South America. 30 wreaths adorned Christie's grave, including one from the cast of her long-running play The Mousetrap and one sent "on behalf of the multitude of grateful readers" by the Ulverscroft Large Print Book Publishers.
Mallowan, who remarried in 1977, died in 1978 and was buried next to Christie.
Estate and subsequent ownership of works
Christie was unhappy about becoming "an employed wage slave", and for tax reasons set up a private company in 1955, Agatha Christie Limited, to hold the rights to her works. In about 1959 she transferred her 278-acre home, Greenway Estate, to her daughter, Rosalind Hicks. In 1968, when Christie was almost 80, she sold a 51% stake in Agatha Christie Limited (and the works it owned) to Booker Books (better known as Booker Author's Division), which by 1977 had increased its stake to 64%. Agatha Christie Limited still owns the worldwide rights for more than 80 of Christie's novels and short stories, 19 plays, and nearly 40 TV films.
In the late 1950s, Christie had reputedly been earning around £100,000 (approximately ) per year. Christie sold an estimated 300 million books during her lifetime. At the time of her death in 1976, "she was the best-selling novelist in history."
One estimate of her total earnings from more than a half-century of writing is $20 million (approximately $ million in ). As a result of her tax planning, her will left only £106,683 (approximately ) net, which went mostly to her husband and daughter along with some smaller bequests. Her remaining 36% share of Agatha Christie Limited was inherited by Hicks, who passionately preserved her mother's works, image, and legacy until her own death 28 years later. The family's share of the company allowed them to appoint 50% of the board and the chairman, and retain a veto over new treatments, updated versions, and republications of her works.
In 2004, Hicks' obituary in The Telegraph noted that she had been "determined to remain true to her mother's vision and to protect the integrity of her creations" and disapproved of "merchandising" activities. Upon her death on 28 October 2004, the Greenway Estate passed to her son Mathew Prichard. After his stepfather's death in 2005, Prichard donated Greenway and its contents to the National Trust.
Christie's family and family trusts, including great-grandson James Prichard, continue to own the 36% stake in Agatha Christie Limited, and remain associated with the company. In 2020, James Prichard was the company's chairman. Mathew Prichard also holds the copyright to some of his grandmother's later literary works including The Mousetrap. Christie's work continues to be developed in a range of adaptations.
In 1998, Booker sold its shares in Agatha Christie Limited (at the time earning £2,100,000, approximately annual revenue) for £10,000,000 (approximately ) to Chorion, whose portfolio of authors' works included the literary estates of Enid Blyton and Dennis Wheatley. In February 2012, after a management buyout, Chorion began to sell off its literary assets. This included the sale of Chorion's 64% stake in Agatha Christie Limited to Acorn Media UK. In 2014, RLJ Entertainment Inc. (RLJE) acquired Acorn Media UK, renamed it Acorn Media Enterprises, and incorporated it as the RLJE UK development arm.
In late February 2014, media reports stated that the BBC had acquired exclusive TV rights to Christie's works in the UK (previously associated with ITV) and made plans with Acorn's co-operation to air new productions for the 125th anniversary of Christie's birth in 2015. As part of that deal, the BBC broadcast Partners in Crime and And Then There Were None, both in 2015. Subsequent productions have included The Witness for the Prosecution but plans to televise Ordeal by Innocence at Christmas 2017 were delayed because of controversy surrounding one of the cast members. The three-part adaptation aired in April 2018. A three-part adaptation of The A.B.C. Murders starring John Malkovich and Rupert Grint began filming in June 2018 and was first broadcast in December 2018. A two-part adaptation of The Pale Horse was broadcast on BBC1 in February 2020. Death Comes as the End will be the next BBC adaptation.
Works
Works of fiction
Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple
Christie's first published book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was released in 1920 and introduced the detective Hercule Poirot, who appeared in 33 of her novels and more than 50 short stories.
Over the years, Christie grew tired of Poirot, much as Conan Doyle did with Sherlock Holmes. By the end of the 1930s, Christie wrote in her diary that she was finding Poirot "insufferable", and by the 1960s she felt he was "an egocentric creep". Thompson believes Christie's occasional antipathy to her creation is overstated, and points out that "in later life she sought to protect him against misrepresentation as powerfully as if he were her own flesh and blood." Unlike Conan Doyle, she resisted the temptation to kill her detective off while he was still popular. She married off Poirot's "Watson", Captain Arthur Hastings, in an attempt to trim her cast commitments.
Miss Jane Marple was introduced in a series of short stories that began publication in December 1927 and were subsequently collected under the title The Thirteen Problems. Marple was a genteel, elderly spinster who solved crimes using analogies to English village life. Christie said, "Miss Marple was not in any way a picture of my grandmother; she was far more fussy and spinsterish than my grandmother ever was," but her autobiography establishes a firm connection between the fictional character and Christie's step-grandmother Margaret Miller ("Auntie-Grannie") and her "Ealing cronies". Both Marple and Miller "always expected the worst of everyone and everything, and were, with almost frightening accuracy, usually proved right". Marple appeared in 12 novels and 20 stories.
During the Second World War, Christie wrote two novels, Curtain and Sleeping Murder, featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, respectively. Both books were sealed in a bank vault, and she made over the copyrights by deed of gift to her daughter and her husband to provide each with a kind of insurance policy. Christie suffered a heart attack and a serious fall in 1974, after which she was unable to write. Her daughter authorised the publication of Curtain in 1975, and Sleeping Murder was published posthumously in 1976. These publications followed the success of the 1974 film version of Murder on the Orient Express.
Shortly before the publication of Curtain, Poirot became the first fictional character to have an obituary in The New York Times, which was printed on page one on 6August 1975.
Christie never wrote a novel or short story featuring both Poirot and Miss Marple. In a recording discovered and released in 2008, Christie revealed the reason for this: "Hercule Poirot, a complete egoist, would not like being taught his business or having suggestions made to him by an elderly spinster lady. Hercule Poirota professional sleuthwould not be at home at all in Miss Marple's world."
In 2013, the Christie family supported the release of a new Poirot story, The Monogram Murders, written by British author Sophie Hannah. Hannah later published three more Poirot mysteries, Closed Casket in 2016, The Mystery of Three Quarters in 2018., and The Killings at Kingfisher Hill in 2020.
Formula and plot devices
Christie has been called the "Duchess of Death", the "Mistress of Mystery", and the "Queen of Crime". Early in her career, a reporter noted that "her plots are possible, logical, and always new." According to Hannah, "At the start of each novel, she shows us an apparently impossible situation and we go mad wondering 'How can this be happening?' Then, slowly, she reveals how the impossible is not only possible but the only thing that could have happened."
She developed her storytelling techniques during what has been called the "Golden Age" of detective fiction. Author Dilys Winn called Christie "the doyenne of Coziness", a sub-genre which "featured a small village setting, a hero with faintly aristocratic family connections, a plethora of red herrings and a tendency to commit homicide with sterling silver letter openers and poisons imported from Paraguay". At the end, in a Christie hallmark, the detective usually gathers the surviving suspects into one room, explains the course of their deductive reasoning, and reveals the guilty party; there are exceptions where it is left to the guilty party to explain all (such as And Then There Were None and Endless Night).
Christie did not limit herself to quaint English villagesthe action might take place on a small island (And Then There Were None), an aeroplane (Death in the Clouds), a train (Murder on the Orient Express), a steamship (Death on the Nile), a smart London flat (Cards on the Table), a resort in the West Indies (A Caribbean Mystery), or an archaeological dig (Murder in Mesopotamia)but the circle of potential suspects is usually closed and intimate: family members, friends, servants, business associates, fellow travellers. Stereotyped characters abound (the , the stolid policeman, the devoted servant, the dull colonel), but these may be subverted to stymie the reader; impersonations and secret alliances are always possible. There is always a motivemost often, money: "There are very few killers in Christie who enjoy murder for its own sake."
Professor of Pharmacology Michael C. Gerald noted that "in over half her novels, one or more victims are poisoned, albeit not always to the full satisfaction of the perpetrator." Guns, knives, garrottes, tripwires, blunt instruments, and even a hatchet were also used, but "Christie never resorted to elaborate mechanical or scientific means to explain her ingenuity," according to John Curran, author and literary adviser to the Christie estate. Many of her clues are mundane objects: a calendar, a coffee cup, wax flowers, a beer bottle, a fireplace used during a heat wave.
According to crime writer P. D. James, Christie was prone to making the unlikeliest character the guilty party. Alert readers could sometimes identify the culprit by identifying the least likely suspect. Christie mocked this insight in her foreword to Cards on the Table: "Spot the person least likely to have committed the crime and in nine times out of ten your task is finished. Since I do not want my faithful readers to fling away this book in disgust, I prefer to warn them beforehand that this is not that kind of book."
On Desert Island Discs in 2007, Brian Aldiss said Christie had told him she wrote her books up to the last chapter, then decided who the most unlikely suspect was, after which she would go back and make the necessary changes to "frame" that person. Based upon a study of her working notebooks, Curran describes how Christie would first create a cast of characters, choose a setting, and then produce a list of scenes in which specific clues would be revealed; the order of scenes would be revised as she developed her plot. Of necessity, the murderer had to be known to the author before the sequence could be finalised and she began to type or dictate the first draft of her novel. Much of the work, particularly dialogue, was done in her head before she put it on paper.
In 2013, the 600 members of the Crime Writers' Association chose The Murder of Roger Ackroyd as "the best whodunit... ever written". Author Julian Symons observed, "In an obvious sense, the book fits within the conventions... The setting is a village deep within the English countryside, Roger Ackroyd dies in his study; there is a butler who behaves suspiciously... Every successful detective story in this period involved a deceit practised upon the reader, and here the trick is the highly original one of making the murderer the local doctor, who tells the story and acts as Poirot's Watson." Critic Sutherland Scott stated, "If Agatha Christie had made no other contribution to the literature of detective fiction she would still deserve our grateful thanks" for writing this novel.
In September 2015, to mark her 125th birthday, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. The novel is emblematic of both her use of formula and her willingness to discard it. "And Then There Were None carries the 'closed society' type of murder mystery to extreme lengths," according to author Charles Osborne. It begins with the classic set-up of potential victim(s) and killer(s) isolated from the outside world, but then violates conventions. There is no detective involved in the action, no interviews of suspects, no careful search for clues, and no suspects gathered together in the last chapter to be confronted with the solution. As Christie herself said, "Ten people had to die without it becoming ridiculous or the murderer being obvious." Critics agreed she had succeeded: "The arrogant Mrs. Christie this time set herself a fearsome test of her own ingenuity... the reviews, not surprisingly, were without exception wildly adulatory."
Character stereotypes and perceived racism
Christie included stereotyped descriptions of characters in her work, especially before 1945 (when such attitudes were more commonly expressed publicly), particularly in regard to Italians, Jews, and non-Europeans. For example, she described "men of Hebraic extraction, sallow men with hooked noses, wearing rather flamboyant jewellery" in the short story "The Soul of the Croupier" from the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin. In 1947, the Anti-Defamation League in the US sent an official letter of complaint to Christie's American publishers, Dodd, Mead and Company, regarding perceived antisemitism in her works. Christie's British literary agent later wrote to her US representative, authorising American publishers to "omit the word 'Jew' when it refers to an unpleasant character in future books."
In The Hollow, published in 1946, one of the characters is described by another as "a Whitechapel Jewess with dyed hair and a voice like a corncrake ... a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice". To contrast with the more stereotyped descriptions, Christie portrayed some "foreign" characters as victims, or potential victims, at the hands of English malefactors, such as, respectively, Olga Seminoff (Hallowe'en Party) and Katrina Reiger (in the short story "How Does Your Garden Grow?"). Jewish characters are often seen as un-English (such as Oliver Manders in Three Act Tragedy), but they are rarely the culprits.
Other detectives
In addition to Poirot and Marple, Christie also created amateur detectives Thomas Beresford and his wife, Prudence "Tuppence" née Cowley, who appear in four novels and one collection of short stories published between 1922 and 1974. Unlike her other sleuths, the Beresfords were only in their early twenties when introduced in The Secret Adversary, and were allowed to age alongside their creator. She treated their stories with a lighter touch, giving them a "dash and verve" which was not universally admired by critics. Their last adventure, Postern of Fate, was Christie's last novel.
Harley Quin was "easily the most unorthodox" of Christie's fictional detectives. Inspired by Christie's affection for the figures from the Harlequinade, the semi-supernatural Quin always works with an elderly, conventional man called Satterthwaite. The pair appear in 14 short stories, 12 of which were collected in 1930 as The Mysterious Mr. Quin. Mallowan described these tales as "detection in a fanciful vein, touching on the fairy story, a natural product of Agatha's peculiar imagination". Satterthwaite also appears in a novel, Three Act Tragedy, and a short story, "Dead Man's Mirror", both of which feature Poirot.
Another of her lesser-known characters is Parker Pyne, a retired civil servant who assists unhappy people in an unconventional manner. The 12 short stories which introduced him, Parker Pyne Investigates (1934), are best remembered for "The Case of the Discontented Soldier", which features Ariadne Oliver, "an amusing and satirical self-portrait of Agatha Christie". Over the ensuing decades, Oliver reappeared in seven novels. In most of them she assists Poirot.
Plays
In 1928, Michael Morton adapted The Murder of Roger Ackroyd for the stage under the title Alibi. The play enjoyed a respectable run, but Christie disliked the changes made to her work and, in future, preferred to write for the theatre herself. The first of her own stage works was Black Coffee, which received good reviews when it opened in the West End in late 1930. She followed this up with adaptations of her detective novels: And Then There Were None in 1943, Appointment with Death in 1945, and The Hollow in 1951.
In the 1950s, "the theatre ... engaged much of Agatha's attention." She next adapted her short radio play into The Mousetrap, which premiered in the West End in 1952, produced by Peter Saunders. Her expectations for the play were not high; she believed it would run no more than eight months. It has long since made theatrical history, staging its 27,500th performance in September 2018. The play closed down in March 2020, when all UK theatres shut due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In 1953, she followed this with Witness for the Prosecution, whose Broadway production won the New York Drama Critics' Circle award for best foreign play of 1954 and earned Christie an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Spider's Web, an original work written for actress Margaret Lockwood at her request, premiered in 1954 and was also a hit. She is also the first female playwright to have three plays running simultaneously in London's West End: The Mousetrap, Witness for the Prosecution and Spider's Web. Christie said, "Plays are much easier to write than books, because you can see them in your mind's eye, you are not hampered by all that description which clogs you so terribly in a book and stops you from getting on with what's happening." In a letter to her daughter, Christie said being a playwright was "a lot of fun!"
As Mary Westmacott
Christie published six mainstream novels under the name Mary Westmacott, a pseudonym which gave her the freedom to explore "her most private and precious imaginative garden". These books typically received better reviews than her detective and thriller fiction. Of the first, Giant's Bread published in 1930, a reviewer for The New York Times wrote, "...her book is far above the average of current fiction, in fact, comes well under the classification of a 'good book'. And it is only a satisfying novel that can claim that appellation." It was publicized from the very beginning that "Mary Westmacott" was a pen name of a well-known author, although the identity behind the pen name was kept secret; the dust jacket of Giant's Bread mentions that the author had previously written "under her real name...half a dozen books that have each passed the thirty thousand mark in sales." (In fact, though this was technically true, it disguised Christie's identity through understatement. By the publication of Giant's Bread, Christie had published 10 novels and two short story collections, all of which had sold considerably more than 30,000 copies.) After Christie's authorship of the first four Westmacott novels was revealed by a journalist in 1949, she wrote two more, the last in 1956.
The other Westmacott titles are: Unfinished Portrait (1934), Absent in the Spring (1944), The Rose and the Yew Tree (1948), A Daughter's a Daughter (1952), and The Burden (1956).
Non-fiction works
Christie published few non-fiction works. Come, Tell Me How You Live, about working on an archaeological dig, was drawn from her life with Mallowan. The Grand Tour: Around the World with the Queen of Mystery is a collection of correspondence from her 1922 Grand Tour of the British empire, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Agatha Christie: An Autobiography was published posthumously in 1977 and adjudged the Best Critical / Biographical Work at the 1978 Edgar Awards.
Titles
Many of Christie's works from 1940 onward have titles drawn from literature, with the original context of the title typically printed as an epigraph.
The inspirations for some of Christie's titles include:
William Shakespeare's works: Sad Cypress, By the Pricking of My Thumbs, There is a Tide..., Absent in the Spring, and The Mousetrap, for example. Osborne notes that "Shakespeare is the writer most quoted in the works of Agatha Christie";
The Bible: Evil Under the Sun, The Burden, and The Pale Horse;
Other works of literature: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (from Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott"), The Moving Finger (from Edward FitzGerald's translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám), The Rose and the Yew Tree (from T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets), Postern of Fate (from James Elroy Flecker's "Gates of Damascus"), Endless Night (from William Blake's "Auguries of Innocence"), N or M? (from the Book of Common Prayer), and Come, Tell Me How You Live (from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass).
Christie biographer Gillian Gill said, "Christie's writing has the sparseness, the directness, the narrative pace, and the universal appeal of the fairy story, and it is perhaps as modern fairy stories for grown-up children that Christie's novels succeed." Reflecting a juxtaposition of innocence and horror, numerous Christie titles were drawn from well-known children's nursery rhymes: And Then There Were None (from "Ten Little Niggers"), One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (from "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe"), Five Little Pigs (from "This Little Piggy"), Crooked House (from "There Was a Crooked Man"), A Pocket Full of Rye (from "Sing a Song of Sixpence"), Hickory Dickory Dock (from "Hickory Dickory Dock"), and Three Blind Mice (from "Three Blind Mice").
Critical reception
Christie is regularly referred to as the "Queen of Crime" or "Queen of Mystery", and is considered a master of suspense, plotting, and characterisation. In 1955, she became the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. She was named "Best Writer of the Century" and the Hercule Poirot series of books was named "Best Series of the Century" at the 2000 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. In 2013, she was voted "best crime writer" in a survey of 600 members of the Crime Writers' Association of professional novelists. However, the writer Raymond Chandler criticised the artificiality of her books, as did writer Julian Symons. The literary critic Edmund Wilson described her prose as banal and her characterisations as superficial.
In 2011, Christie was named the second most financially successful crime writer of all time in the United Kingdom, after Ian Fleming, by digital crime drama TV channel Alibi with total earnings around £100 million. In 2012, Christie was among the people selected by the artist Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous work, the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, "to celebrate the British cultural figures he most admires".
In 2015, in honor of the 125th anniversary of her birthday, 25 contemporary mystery writers and one publisher gave their views on Christie's works. Many of the authors had read Christie's novels first, before other mystery writers, in English or in their native language, influencing their own writing, and nearly all still viewed her as the "Queen of Crime" and creator of the plot twists used by mystery authors. Nearly all had one or more favourites among Christie's mysteries and found her books still good to read nearly 100 years after her first novel was published. Just one of the 25 authors held with Wilson's views.
Book sales
In her prime, Christie was rarely out of the bestseller list. She was the first crime writer to have 100,000 copies of 10 of her titles published by Penguin on the same day in 1948. , Guinness World Records listed Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time. , her novels had sold more than two billion copies in 44 languages. Half the sales are of English-language editions, and half are translations. According to Index Translationum, , she was the most-translated individual author. Christie is one of the most-borrowed authors in UK libraries. She is also UK's best-selling spoken-book author. In 2002, 117,696 Christie audiobooks were sold, in comparison to 97,755 for J. K. Rowling, 78,770 for Roald Dahl and 75,841 for J. R. R. Tolkien. In 2015, the Christie estate claimed And Then There Were None was "the best-selling crime novel of all time", with approximately 100 million sales, also making it one of the highest-selling books of all time. More than two million copies of her books were sold in English in 2020.
Legacy
In 2016, one hundred years after Christie wrote her first detective story, the Royal Mail released six stamps in her honour, featuring The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, The Body in the Library, and A Murder is Announced. The Guardian reported that, "Each design incorporates microtext, UV ink and thermochromic ink. These concealed clues can be revealed using either a magnifying glass, UV light or body heat and provide pointers to the mysteries' solutions." Her characters and her face appeared on the stamps of many countries like Dominica and the Somali Republic. In 2020, Christie was commemorated on a £2 coin by the Royal Mint for the first time to mark the centenary of her first novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles.
Adaptations
Christie's works have been adapted for cinema and television. The first was the 1928 British film The Passing of Mr. Quin. Poirot's first film appearance was in 1931 in Alibi, which starred Austin Trevor as Christie's sleuth. Margaret Rutherford played Marple in a series of films released in the 1960s. Christie liked her acting, but considered the first film "pretty poor" and thought no better of the rest.
She felt differently about the 1974 film Murder on the Orient Express, directed by Sidney Lumet, which featured major stars and high production values; her attendance at the London premiere was one of her last public outings. In 2016, a new film version was released, directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also starred, wearing "the most extravagant mustache moviegoers have ever seen".
The television adaptation Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989–2013), with David Suchet in the title role, ran for 70 episodes over 13 series. It received nine BAFTA award nominations and won four BAFTA awards in 1990–1992. The television series Miss Marple (1984–1992), with Joan Hickson as "the BBC's peerless Miss Marple", adapted all 12 Marple novels. The French television series (2009–2012, 2013–2020), adapted 36 of Christie's stories.
Christie's books have also been adapted for BBC Radio, a video game series, and graphic novels.
Interests and influences
Pharmacology
During the First World War, Christie took a break from nursing to train for the Apothecaries Hall Examination. While she subsequently found dispensing in the hospital pharmacy monotonous, and thus less enjoyable than nursing, her new knowledge provided her with a background in potentially toxic drugs. Early in the Second World War, she brought her skills up to date at Torquay Hospital.
As Michael C. Gerald puts it, her "activities as a hospital dispenser during both World Wars not only supported the war effort but also provided her with an appreciation of drugs as therapeutic agents and poisons... These hospital experiences were also likely responsible for the prominent role physicians, nurses, and pharmacists play in her stories." There were to be many medical practitioners, pharmacists, and scientists, naïve or suspicious, in Christie's cast of characters; featuring in Murder in Mesopotamia, Cards on the Table, The Pale Horse, and Mrs. McGinty's Dead, among many others.
Gillian Gill notes that the murder method in Christie's first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, "comes right out of Agatha Christie's work in the hospital dispensary". In an interview with journalist Marcelle Bernstein, Christie stated, "I don't like messy deaths... I'm more interested in peaceful people who die in their own beds and no one knows why." With her expert knowledge, Christie had no need of poisons unknown to science, which were forbidden under Ronald Knox's "Ten Rules for Detective Fiction". Arsenic, aconite, strychnine, digitalis, thallium, and other substances were used to dispatch victims in the ensuing decades.
Archaeology
In her youth, Christie showed little interest in antiquities. After her marriage to Mallowan in 1930, she accompanied him on annual expeditions, spending three to four months at a time in Syria and Iraq at excavation sites at Ur, Nineveh, Tell Arpachiyah, Chagar Bazar, Tell Brak, and Nimrud. The Mallowans also took side trips whilst travelling to and from expedition sites, visiting Italy, Greece, Egypt, Iran, and the Soviet Union, among other places. Their experiences travelling and living abroad are reflected in novels such as Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and Appointment with Death.
For the 1931 digging season at Nineveh, Christie bought a writing table to continue her own work; in the early 1950s, she paid to add a small writing room to the team's house at Nimrud. She also devoted time and effort each season in "making herself useful by photographing, cleaning, and recording finds; and restoring ceramics, which she especially enjoyed". She also provided funds for the expeditions.
Many of the settings for Christie's books were inspired by her archaeological fieldwork in the Middle East; this is reflected in the detail with which she describes themfor instance, the temple of Abu Simbel as depicted in Death on the Nilewhile the settings for They Came to Baghdad were places she and Mallowan had recently stayed. Similarly, she drew upon her knowledge of daily life on a dig throughout Murder in Mesopotamia. Archaeologists and experts in Middle Eastern cultures and artefacts featured in her works include Dr Eric Leidner in Murder in Mesopotamia and Signor Richetti in Death on the Nile.
After the Second World War, Christie chronicled her time in Syria in Come, Tell Me How You Live, which she described as "small beera very little book, full of everyday doings and happenings". From 8November 2001 to March 2002, The British Museum presented a "colourful and episodic exhibition" called Agatha Christie and Archaeology: Mystery in Mesopotamia which illustrated how her activities as a writer and as the wife of an archaeologist intertwined.
In popular culture
BBC television released Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures in 2004, in which she is portrayed by Olivia Williams, Anna Massey, and Bonnie Wright (at different stages in her life). ITV's Perspectives: "The Mystery of Agatha Christie" (2013) is hosted by David Suchet.
Some of Christie's fictional portrayals have explored and offered accounts of her disappearance in 1926. The film Agatha (1979), with Vanessa Redgrave, has Christie sneaking away to plan revenge against her husband; Christie's heirs sued unsuccessfully to prevent the film's distribution. The Doctor Who episode "The Unicorn and the Wasp" (17 May 2008), with Fenella Woolgar, portrays Christie in her early writing career and explains her disappearance as the result of having suffered a temporary breakdown owing to a brief psychic link being formed between her and an alien wasp called the Vespiform. The film Agatha and the Truth of Murder (2018) sends her under cover to solve the murder of Florence Nightingale's goddaughter, Florence Nightingale Shore. A fictionalised account of Christie's disappearance is also the central theme of a Korean musical, Agatha. The Christie Affair, a Christie-like mystery story of love and revenge by author Nina de Gramont, was a 2022 novel loosely based on Christie's disappearance.
Other portrayals, such as the Hungarian film, Kojak Budapesten (1980), create their own scenarios involving Christie's criminal skill. In the TV play, Murder by the Book (1986), Christie (Dame Peggy Ashcroft) murders one of her fictional-turned-real characters, Poirot. Christie features as a character in Gaylord Larsen's Dorothy and Agatha and The London Blitz Murders by Max Allan Collins. The American television program Unsolved Mysteries devoted a segment to her famous disappearance, with Agatha portrayed by actress Tessa Pritchard. A young Agatha is depicted in the Spanish historical television series Gran Hotel (2011) in which she finds inspiration to write her new novel while aiding local detectives. In the alternative history television film Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar (2018), Christie becomes involved in a murder case at an archaeological dig in Iraq. In 2019, Honeysuckle Weeks portrayed Christie in an episode, "No Friends Like Old Friends", in a Canadian drama, Frankie Drake Mysteries.
In June 2021, an episode of the internet series BuzzFeed Unsolved detailed the disappearance of Christie and possible theories.
See also
Agatha Christie bibliography (lists of Christie's works)
Agatha Christie indult (an oecumenical request to which Christie was signatory seeking permission for the occasional use of the Tridentine (Latin) mass in England and Wales)
Agatha Awards (literary awards for mystery and crime writers)
Agatha Christie Award (Japan) (literary award for unpublished mystery novels)
List of solved missing person cases
Notes
References
Further reading
.
Curran, John (2009). Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making. London: HarperCollins. .
Curran, John (2011). Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making. London: HarperCollins. .
Curran, John. "75 facts about Christie". The Home of Agatha Christie. Agatha Christie Limited. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
Gerald, Michael C. (1993). The Poisonous Pen of Agatha Christie. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. .
.
.
.
Morgan, Janet P. (1984). Agatha Christie: A Biography. London: HarperCollins. . Retrieved 8 March 2015.
Prichard, Mathew (2012). The Grand Tour: Around The World With The Queen Of Mystery. New York, NY: HarperCollins. .
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Thompson, Laura (2008), Agatha Christie: An English Mystery, London: Headline Review, .
External links
A Christie reading list (on official website)
Agatha Christie/Sir Max Mallowan's blue plaque at Cholsey
Agatha Christie profile and related articles in The Guardian
Agatha Christie profile on PBS.org
Agatha Christie profile on FamousAuthors.org
"The Christie Mystery" (fan site)
Agatha Christie recording, oral history at the Imperial War Museum
Agatha Christie business papers at the University of Exeter
"Shocking Real Murders" (book released to mark the 125th anniversary of Christie's birth)
Hercule Poirot Central
The Films of Agatha Christie (1993)
Lamothe, Lori. "The Original Gone Girl: Did Agatha Christie Try to Frame Her Cheating Husband?" in History of Yesterday.
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"Hikaru Kobayashi (小林ひかる, born 19 September 1976) is a Japanese ballet dancer who was a first soloist with The Royal Ballet in London.\n\nBiography \nBorn in Tokyo, she started ballet at age three after seeing Swan Lake on television. At age 15, she decided to apply to the Paris Opera Ballet School, though she was told the school did not accept foreigners. She got the contact informations from the French embassy. She was accepted, making her the first Japanese student there, though she discovered there were other foreign students.\n\nAfter she graduated in 1995, as the Paris Opera Ballet did not accept foreigners at the time, she danced with Jeune Ballet de France for a year, then moved to Zürich Ballet. She won the first prize at the International Competition of Vignale Danza in 1998. In 1999, she joined the Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam. Following artistic director Wayne Eagling's departure, she auditioned for The Royal Ballet in London. She was offered a First Artist contract and joined the company in 2003. She was made Soloist in 2006 and First Soloist in 2009. She performed several lead roles with the Royal Ballet. She had also performed with other companies as a guest artist. In 2018, Kobayashi retired from The Royal Ballet after 15 years in the company. Her last role was Countess Marie Larisch in Mayerling.\n\nKobayashi is married to Federico Bonelli, a principal dancer at The Royal Ballet, whom she met in Zürich. They have a daughter.\n\nSelected repertoire\n\nSource:\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Hikaru Kobayashi on Royal Opera House's website\n\nLiving people\n1976 births\nPeople from Tokyo\nJapanese ballerinas\nDancers of The Royal Ballet\nDutch National Ballet dancers\nJeune Ballet de France dancers\nJapanese expatriates in England\nJapanese expatriates in the Netherlands\nJapanese expatriates in Switzerland\nJapanese expatriates in France\n21st-century ballet dancers",
"De sententia ferenda, Latin for \"of judgments as they should be,\" is a legal term used to depict advice to the courts about how they should judge and refine the analysis about what they really decide.\n\nThe concept is similar but not the same as, lex ferenda, which is denoted how the law should be.\n\nLatin legal terminology"
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"Agatha Christie",
"Character stereotypes",
"Did she describe what her stereotypes were?",
"a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice\".",
"How did she describe some of the men?",
"Hebraic men with hook-noses wearing rather flamboyant jewellery",
"From what novel was that description?",
"in the first editions of the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin (",
"How did she depict foreigners?",
"Jewish characters are often seen as un-English"
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C_7f92437539ba40128d8fca5975c3fe05_0
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Did Agatha show prejudices?
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Did Agatha Christie show prejudices?
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Agatha Christie
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Christie occasionally inserted stereotyped descriptions of characters into her work, particularly before the end of the Second World War (when such attitudes were more commonly expressed publicly), and particularly in regard to Italians, Jews, non-Europeans, and sometimes Americans, the last usually as impossibly naive or uninformed. For example, she described "Hebraic men with hook-noses wearing rather flamboyant jewellery" in the first editions of the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin (1930), in the short story "The Soul of the Croupier"; in later editions, the passage was edited to describe "sallow men" wearing same. In The Hollow, published as late as 1946, one of the more unsympathetic characters is "a Whitechapel Jewess with dyed hair and a voice like a corncrake ... a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice". To contrast with the more stereotyped descriptions, Christie sometimes showed "foreigners" as victims or potential victims at the hands of English malefactors, such as, respectively, Olga Seminoff (Hallowe'en Party) and Katrina Reiger (in the short story "How Does Your Garden Grow?"). Jewish characters are often seen as un-English (such as Oliver Manders in Three Act Tragedy), but they are rarely the culprits. Often, she is affectionate or teasing with her prejudices. After four years of war-torn London, Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as "gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life; who are idle and gay, and who have dignity, good manners, and a great sense of humour, and to whom death is not terrible." She had trouble with an incompetent Swiss French nursery helper (Marcelle) for toddler Rosalind, and as a result she decided, "Scottish preferred ... good with the young. The French were hopeless disciplinarians ... Germans good and methodical, but it was not German that I really wanted Rosalind to learn. The Irish were gay but made trouble in the house; the English were of all kinds". CANNOTANSWER
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Often, she is affectionate or teasing with her prejudices.
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Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End since 1952, as well as six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
Christie was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon, and was largely home-schooled. She was initially an unsuccessful writer with six consecutive rejections, but this changed in 1920 when The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring detective Hercule Poirot, was published. Her first husband was Archibald Christie; they married in 1914 and had one child before divorcing in 1928. During both World Wars, she served in hospital dispensaries, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the poisons which featured in many of her novels, short stories, and plays. Following her marriage to archaeologist Max Mallowan in 1930, she spent several months each year on digs in the Middle East and used her first-hand knowledge of his profession in her fiction.
According to Index Translationum, she remains the most-translated individual author. Her novel And Then There Were None is one of the top-selling books of all time, with approximately 100 million copies sold. Christie's stage play The Mousetrap holds the world record for the longest initial run. It opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End of London on 25 November 1952, and by September 2018 there had been more than 27,500 performances. The play was closed down in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic and reopened in May 2021.
In 1955, Christie was the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. Later that year, Witness for the Prosecution received an Edgar Award for best play. In 2013, she was voted the best crime writer and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd the best crime novel ever by 600 professional novelists of the Crime Writers' Association. In September 2015, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. Most of Christie's books and short stories have been adapted for television, radio, video games, and graphic novels. More than 30 feature films are based on her work.
Life and career
Childhood and adolescence: 1890–1907
Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born on 15 September 1890, into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon. She was the youngest of three children born to Frederick Alvah Miller, "a gentleman of substance", and his wife Clarissa Margaret ("Clara") Miller née Boehmer.
Christie's mother Clara was born in Dublin in 1854 to British Army officer Frederick Boehmer and his wife Mary Ann Boehmer née West. Boehmer died in Jersey in 1863, leaving his widow to raise Clara and her brothers on a meagre income. Two weeks after Boehmer's death, Mary's sister Margaret West married widowed dry goods merchant Nathaniel Frary Miller, a US citizen. To assist Mary financially, they agreed to foster nine-year-old Clara; the family settled in Timperley, Cheshire. Margaret and Nathaniel had no children together, but Nathaniel had a 17-year-old son, Fred Miller, from his previous marriage. Fred was born in New York City and travelled extensively after leaving his Swiss boarding school. He and Clara were married in London in 1878. Their first child, Margaret Frary ("Madge"), was born in Torquay in 1879. The second, Louis Montant ("Monty"), was born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1880, while the family was on an extended visit to the United States.
When Fred's father died in 1869, he left Clara £2,000 (approximately ); in 1881 they used this to buy the leasehold of a villa in Torquay named Ashfield. It was here that their third and last child, Agatha, was born in 1890. She described her childhood as "very happy". The Millers lived mainly in Devon but often visited her step-grandmother/great-aunt Margaret Miller in Ealing and maternal grandmother Mary Boehmer in Bayswater. A year was spent abroad with her family, in the French Pyrenees, Paris, Dinard, and Guernsey. Because her siblings were so much older, and there were few children in their neighbourhood, Christie spent much of her time playing alone with her pets and imaginary companions. She eventually made friends with other girls in Torquay, noting that "one of the highlights of my existence" was her appearance with them in a youth production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard, in which she played the hero, Colonel Fairfax.
According to Christie, Clara believed she should not learn to read until she was eight; thanks to her curiosity, she was reading by age four. Her sister had been sent to a boarding school, but their mother insisted that Christie receive a home education. As a result, her parents and sister supervised her studies in reading, writing, and basic arithmetic, a subject she particularly enjoyed. They also taught her music, and she learned to play the piano and the mandolin.
Christie was a voracious reader from an early age. Among her earliest memories were reading children's books by Mrs Molesworth and Edith Nesbit. When a little older, she moved on to the surreal verse of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. As an adolescent, she enjoyed works by Anthony Hope, Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, and Alexandre Dumas. In April 1901, aged 10, she wrote her first poem, "The Cow Slip".
By 1901, her father's health had deteriorated, because of what he believed were heart problems. Fred died in November 1901 from pneumonia and chronic kidney disease. Christie later said that her father's death when she was 11 marked the end of her childhood.
The family's financial situation had by this time worsened. Madge married the year after their father's death and moved to Cheadle, Cheshire; Monty was overseas, serving in a British regiment. Christie now lived alone at Ashfield with her mother. In 1902, she began attending Miss Guyer's Girls' School in Torquay but found it difficult to adjust to the disciplined atmosphere. In 1905, her mother sent her to Paris, where she was educated in a series of (boarding schools), focusing on voice training and piano playing. Deciding she lacked the temperament and talent, she gave up her goal of performing professionally as a concert pianist or an opera singer.
Early literary attempts, marriage, literary success: 1907–1926
After completing her education, Christie returned to England to find her mother ailing. They decided to spend the northern winter of 1907–1908 in the warm climate of Egypt, which was then a regular tourist destination for wealthy Britons. They stayed for three months at the Gezirah Palace Hotel in Cairo. Christie attended many dances and other social functions; she particularly enjoyed watching amateur polo matches. While they visited some ancient Egyptian monuments such as the Great Pyramid of Giza, she did not exhibit the great interest in archaeology and Egyptology that developed in her later years. Returning to Britain, she continued her social activities, writing and performing in amateur theatricals. She also helped put on a play called The Blue Beard of Unhappiness with female friends.
At 18, Christie wrote her first short story, "The House of Beauty", while recovering in bed from an illness. It consisted of about 6,000 words on "madness and dreams", a subject of fascination for her. Her biographer, Janet Morgan, has commented that, despite "infelicities of style", the story was "compelling". (The story became an early version of her story "The House of Dreams".) Other stories followed, most of them illustrating her interest in spiritualism and the paranormal. These included "The Call of Wings" and "The Little Lonely God". Magazines rejected all her early submissions, made under pseudonyms (including Mac Miller, Nathaniel Miller, and Sydney West); some submissions were later revised and published under her real name, often with new titles.
Around the same time, Christie began work on her first novel, Snow Upon the Desert. Writing under the pseudonym Monosyllaba, she set the book in Cairo and drew upon her recent experiences there. She was disappointed when the six publishers she contacted declined the work. Clara suggested that her daughter ask for advice from the successful novelist Eden Phillpotts, a family friend and neighbour, who responded to her enquiry, encouraged her writing, and sent her an introduction to his own literary agent, Hughes Massie, who also rejected Snow Upon the Desert but suggested a second novel.
Meanwhile, Christie's social activities expanded, with country house parties, riding, hunting, dances, and roller skating. She had short-lived relationships with four men and an engagement to another. In October 1912, she was introduced to Archibald "Archie" Christie at a dance given by Lord and Lady Clifford at Ugbrooke, about from Torquay. The son of a barrister in the Indian Civil Service, Archie was a Royal Artillery officer who was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps in April 1913. The couple quickly fell in love. Three months after their first meeting, Archie proposed marriage, and Agatha accepted.
With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Archie was sent to France to fight. They married on Christmas Eve 1914 at Emmanuel Church, Clifton, Bristol, close to the home of his mother and stepfather, while Archie was on home leave. Rising through the ranks, he was posted back to Britain in September 1918 as a colonel in the Air Ministry. Christie involved herself in the war effort as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment of the Red Cross. From October 1914 to May 1915, then from June 1916 to September 1918, she worked 3,400 hours in the Town Hall Red Cross Hospital, Torquay, first as a nurse (unpaid) then as a dispenser at £16 (approximately ) a year from 1917 after qualifying as an apothecaries' assistant. Her war service ended in September 1918 when Archie was reassigned to London, and they rented a flat in St. John's Wood.
Christie had long been a fan of detective novels, having enjoyed Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White and The Moonstone, and Arthur Conan Doyle's early Sherlock Holmes stories. She wrote her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1916. It featured Hercule Poirot, a former Belgian police officer with "magnificent moustaches" and a head "exactly the shape of an egg", who had taken refuge in Britain after Germany invaded Belgium. Christie's inspiration for the character came from Belgian refugees living in Torquay, and the Belgian soldiers she helped to treat as a volunteer nurse during the First World War. Her original manuscript was rejected by Hodder & Stoughton and Methuen. After keeping the submission for several months, John Lane at The Bodley Head offered to accept it, provided that Christie change how the solution was revealed. She did so, and signed a contract committing her next five books to The Bodley Head, which she later felt was exploitative. It was published in 1920.
Christie settled into married life, giving birth to her only child, Rosalind Margaret Clarissa (later Hicks), in August 1919 at Ashfield. Archie left the Air Force at the end of the war and began working in the City financial sector at a relatively low salary. They still employed a maid. Her second novel, The Secret Adversary (1922), featured a new detective couple Tommy and Tuppence, again published by The Bodley Head. It earned her £50 (approximately ). A third novel, Murder on the Links, again featured Poirot, as did the short stories commissioned by Bruce Ingram, editor of The Sketch magazine, from 1923. She now had no difficulty selling her work.
In 1922, the Christies joined an around-the-world promotional tour for the British Empire Exhibition, led by Major Ernest Belcher. Leaving their daughter with Agatha's mother and sister, in 10 months they travelled to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and Canada. They learned to surf prone in South Africa; then, in Waikiki, they were among the first Britons to surf standing up.
When they returned to England, Archie resumed work in the city, and Christie continued to work hard at her writing. After living in a series of apartments in London, they bought a house in Sunningdale, Berkshire, which they renamed Styles after the mansion in Christie's first detective novel.
Christie's mother, Clarissa Miller, died in April 1926. They had been exceptionally close, and the loss sent Christie into a deep depression. In August 1926, reports appeared in the press that Christie had gone to a village near Biarritz to recuperate from a "breakdown" caused by "overwork".
Disappearance: 1926
In August 1926, Archie asked Agatha for a divorce. He had fallen in love with Nancy Neele, a friend of Major Belcher. On 3December 1926, the pair quarrelled after Archie announced his plan to spend the weekend with friends, unaccompanied by his wife. Late that evening, Christie disappeared from their home in Sunningdale. The following morning, her car, a Morris Cowley, was discovered at Newlands Corner, parked above a chalk quarry with an expired driving licence and clothes inside.
The disappearance quickly became a news story, as the press sought to satisfy their readers' "hunger for sensation, disaster, and scandal". Home Secretary William Joynson-Hicks pressured police, and a newspaper offered a £100 reward (approximately ). More than a thousand police officers, 15,000 volunteers, and several aeroplanes searched the rural landscape. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave a spirit medium one of Christie's gloves to find her. Christie's disappearance was featured on the front page of The New York Times. Despite the extensive manhunt, she was not found for another 10 days. On 14 December 1926, she was located at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire, north of her home in Sunningdale, registered as Mrs Tressa Neele (the surname of her husband's lover) from " S.A." (South Africa). The next day, Christie left for her sister's residence at Abney Hall, Cheadle, where she was sequestered "in guarded hall, gates locked, telephone cut off, and callers turned away".
Christie's autobiography makes no reference to the disappearance. Two doctors diagnosed her as suffering from "an unquestionable genuine loss of memory", yet opinion remains divided over the reason for her disappearance. Some, including her biographer Morgan, believe she disappeared during a fugue state. The author Jared Cade concluded that Christie planned the event to embarrass her husband but did not anticipate the resulting public melodrama. Christie biographer Laura Thompson provides an alternative view that Christie disappeared during a nervous breakdown, conscious of her actions but not in emotional control of herself. Public reaction at the time was largely negative, supposing a publicity stunt or an attempt to frame her husband for murder.
Second marriage and later life: 1927–1976
In January 1927, Christie, looking "very pale", sailed with her daughter and secretary to Las Palmas, Canary Islands, to "complete her convalescence", returning three months later. Christie petitioned for divorce and was granted a decree nisi against her husband in April 1928, which was made absolute in October 1928. Archie married Nancy Neele a week later. Christie retained custody of their daughter, Rosalind, and kept the Christie surname for her writing.
Reflecting on the period in her autobiography, Christie wrote, "So, after illness, came sorrow, despair and heartbreak. There is no need to dwell on it."
In 1928, Christie left England and took the (Simplon) Orient Express to Istanbul and then to Baghdad. In Iraq, she became friends with archaeologist Leonard Woolley and his wife, who invited her to return to their dig in February 1930. On that second trip, she met archaeologist Max Mallowan, 13 years her junior. In a 1977 interview, Mallowan recounted his first meeting with Christie, when he took her and a group of tourists on a tour of his expedition site in Iraq. Christie and Mallowan married in Edinburgh in September 1930. Their marriage lasted until Christie's death in 1976. She accompanied Mallowan on his archaeological expeditions, and her travels with him contributed background to several of her novels set in the Middle East. Other novels (such as Peril at End House) were set in and around Torquay, where she was raised. Christie drew on her experience of international train travel when writing her 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express. The Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul, the eastern terminus of the railway, claims the book was written there and maintains Christie's room as a memorial to the author.
Christie and Mallowan lived in Chelsea, first in Cresswell Place and later in Sheffield Terrace. Both properties are now marked by blue plaques. In 1934, they bought Winterbrook House in Winterbrook, a hamlet near Wallingford. This was their main residence for the rest of their lives and the place where Christie did much of her writing. This house also bears a blue plaque. Christie led a quiet life despite being known in Wallingford; from 1951 to 1976 she served as president of the local amateur dramatic society.
The couple acquired the Greenway Estate in Devon as a summer residence in 1938; it was given to the National Trust in 2000. Christie frequently stayed at Abney Hall, Cheshire, which was owned by her brother-in-law, James Watts, and based at least two stories there: a short story "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding" in the story collection of the same name and the novel After the Funeral. One Christie compendium notes that "Abney became Agatha's greatest inspiration for country-house life, with all its servants and grandeur being woven into her plots. The descriptions of the fictional Chimneys, Stonygates, and other houses in her stories are mostly Abney Hall in various forms."
During World War II, Christie worked in the pharmacy at University College Hospital (UCH), London, where she updated her knowledge of poisons. Her later novel The Pale Horse was based on a suggestion from Harold Davis, the chief pharmacist at UCH. In 1977, a thallium poisoning case was solved by British medical personnel who had read Christie's book and recognised the symptoms she described.
The British intelligence agency MI5 investigated Christie after a character called Major Bletchley appeared in her 1941 thriller N or M?, which was about a hunt for a pair of deadly fifth columnists in wartime England. MI5 was concerned that Christie had a spy in Britain's top-secret codebreaking centre, Bletchley Park. The agency's fears were allayed when Christie told her friend, the codebreaker Dilly Knox, "I was stuck there on my way by train from Oxford to London and took revenge by giving the name to one of my least lovable characters."
Christie was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1950. In honour of her many literary works, Christie was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1956 New Year Honours. She was co-president of the Detection Club from 1958 to her death in 1976. In 1961, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature degree by the University of Exeter. In the 1971 New Year Honours, she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), three years after her husband had been knighted for his archaeological work. After her husband's knighthood, Christie could also be styled Lady Mallowan.
From 1971 to 1974, Christie's health began to fail, but she continued to write. Her last novel was Postern of Fate in 1973. Textual analysis suggested that Christie may have begun to suffer from Alzheimer's disease or other dementia at about this time.
Personal qualities
In 1946, Christie said of herself: "My chief dislikes are crowds, loud noises, gramophones and cinemas. I dislike the taste of alcohol and do not like smoking. I do like sun, sea, flowers, travelling, strange foods, sports, concerts, theatres, pianos, and doing embroidery."
Christie's works of fiction contain some character stereotypes seen as objectionable in modern times, but in real life, many of her biases were positive. After four years of war-torn London, Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as a "gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life; who are idle and gay, and who have dignity, good manners, and a great sense of humour, and to whom death is not terrible".
Christie was a lifelong, "quietly devout" member of the Church of England, attended church regularly, and kept her mother's copy of The Imitation of Christ by her bedside. After her divorce, she stopped taking the sacrament of communion.
The Agatha Christie Trust For Children was established in 1969, and shortly after Christie's death a charitable memorial fund was set up to "help two causes that she favoured: old people and young children".
Christie's obituary in The Times notes that "she never cared much for the cinema, or for wireless and television." Further,
Dame Agatha's private pleasures were gardeningshe won local prizes for horticultureand buying furniture for her various houses. She was a shy person: she disliked public appearances: but she was friendly and sharp-witted to meet. By inclination as well as breeding she belonged to the English upper middle-class. She wrote about, and for, people like herself. That was an essential part of her charm.
Death and estate
Death and burial
Christie died peacefully on 12 January 1976 at age 85 from natural causes at her home at Winterbrook House. When her death was announced, two West End theatresthe St. Martin's, where The Mousetrap was playing, and the Savoy, which was home to a revival of Murder at the Vicaragedimmed their outside lights in her honour. She was buried in the nearby churchyard of St Mary's, Cholsey, in a plot she had chosen with her husband 10 years before. The simple funeral service was attended by about 20 newspaper and TV reporters, some having travelled from as far away as South America. 30 wreaths adorned Christie's grave, including one from the cast of her long-running play The Mousetrap and one sent "on behalf of the multitude of grateful readers" by the Ulverscroft Large Print Book Publishers.
Mallowan, who remarried in 1977, died in 1978 and was buried next to Christie.
Estate and subsequent ownership of works
Christie was unhappy about becoming "an employed wage slave", and for tax reasons set up a private company in 1955, Agatha Christie Limited, to hold the rights to her works. In about 1959 she transferred her 278-acre home, Greenway Estate, to her daughter, Rosalind Hicks. In 1968, when Christie was almost 80, she sold a 51% stake in Agatha Christie Limited (and the works it owned) to Booker Books (better known as Booker Author's Division), which by 1977 had increased its stake to 64%. Agatha Christie Limited still owns the worldwide rights for more than 80 of Christie's novels and short stories, 19 plays, and nearly 40 TV films.
In the late 1950s, Christie had reputedly been earning around £100,000 (approximately ) per year. Christie sold an estimated 300 million books during her lifetime. At the time of her death in 1976, "she was the best-selling novelist in history."
One estimate of her total earnings from more than a half-century of writing is $20 million (approximately $ million in ). As a result of her tax planning, her will left only £106,683 (approximately ) net, which went mostly to her husband and daughter along with some smaller bequests. Her remaining 36% share of Agatha Christie Limited was inherited by Hicks, who passionately preserved her mother's works, image, and legacy until her own death 28 years later. The family's share of the company allowed them to appoint 50% of the board and the chairman, and retain a veto over new treatments, updated versions, and republications of her works.
In 2004, Hicks' obituary in The Telegraph noted that she had been "determined to remain true to her mother's vision and to protect the integrity of her creations" and disapproved of "merchandising" activities. Upon her death on 28 October 2004, the Greenway Estate passed to her son Mathew Prichard. After his stepfather's death in 2005, Prichard donated Greenway and its contents to the National Trust.
Christie's family and family trusts, including great-grandson James Prichard, continue to own the 36% stake in Agatha Christie Limited, and remain associated with the company. In 2020, James Prichard was the company's chairman. Mathew Prichard also holds the copyright to some of his grandmother's later literary works including The Mousetrap. Christie's work continues to be developed in a range of adaptations.
In 1998, Booker sold its shares in Agatha Christie Limited (at the time earning £2,100,000, approximately annual revenue) for £10,000,000 (approximately ) to Chorion, whose portfolio of authors' works included the literary estates of Enid Blyton and Dennis Wheatley. In February 2012, after a management buyout, Chorion began to sell off its literary assets. This included the sale of Chorion's 64% stake in Agatha Christie Limited to Acorn Media UK. In 2014, RLJ Entertainment Inc. (RLJE) acquired Acorn Media UK, renamed it Acorn Media Enterprises, and incorporated it as the RLJE UK development arm.
In late February 2014, media reports stated that the BBC had acquired exclusive TV rights to Christie's works in the UK (previously associated with ITV) and made plans with Acorn's co-operation to air new productions for the 125th anniversary of Christie's birth in 2015. As part of that deal, the BBC broadcast Partners in Crime and And Then There Were None, both in 2015. Subsequent productions have included The Witness for the Prosecution but plans to televise Ordeal by Innocence at Christmas 2017 were delayed because of controversy surrounding one of the cast members. The three-part adaptation aired in April 2018. A three-part adaptation of The A.B.C. Murders starring John Malkovich and Rupert Grint began filming in June 2018 and was first broadcast in December 2018. A two-part adaptation of The Pale Horse was broadcast on BBC1 in February 2020. Death Comes as the End will be the next BBC adaptation.
Works
Works of fiction
Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple
Christie's first published book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was released in 1920 and introduced the detective Hercule Poirot, who appeared in 33 of her novels and more than 50 short stories.
Over the years, Christie grew tired of Poirot, much as Conan Doyle did with Sherlock Holmes. By the end of the 1930s, Christie wrote in her diary that she was finding Poirot "insufferable", and by the 1960s she felt he was "an egocentric creep". Thompson believes Christie's occasional antipathy to her creation is overstated, and points out that "in later life she sought to protect him against misrepresentation as powerfully as if he were her own flesh and blood." Unlike Conan Doyle, she resisted the temptation to kill her detective off while he was still popular. She married off Poirot's "Watson", Captain Arthur Hastings, in an attempt to trim her cast commitments.
Miss Jane Marple was introduced in a series of short stories that began publication in December 1927 and were subsequently collected under the title The Thirteen Problems. Marple was a genteel, elderly spinster who solved crimes using analogies to English village life. Christie said, "Miss Marple was not in any way a picture of my grandmother; she was far more fussy and spinsterish than my grandmother ever was," but her autobiography establishes a firm connection between the fictional character and Christie's step-grandmother Margaret Miller ("Auntie-Grannie") and her "Ealing cronies". Both Marple and Miller "always expected the worst of everyone and everything, and were, with almost frightening accuracy, usually proved right". Marple appeared in 12 novels and 20 stories.
During the Second World War, Christie wrote two novels, Curtain and Sleeping Murder, featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, respectively. Both books were sealed in a bank vault, and she made over the copyrights by deed of gift to her daughter and her husband to provide each with a kind of insurance policy. Christie suffered a heart attack and a serious fall in 1974, after which she was unable to write. Her daughter authorised the publication of Curtain in 1975, and Sleeping Murder was published posthumously in 1976. These publications followed the success of the 1974 film version of Murder on the Orient Express.
Shortly before the publication of Curtain, Poirot became the first fictional character to have an obituary in The New York Times, which was printed on page one on 6August 1975.
Christie never wrote a novel or short story featuring both Poirot and Miss Marple. In a recording discovered and released in 2008, Christie revealed the reason for this: "Hercule Poirot, a complete egoist, would not like being taught his business or having suggestions made to him by an elderly spinster lady. Hercule Poirota professional sleuthwould not be at home at all in Miss Marple's world."
In 2013, the Christie family supported the release of a new Poirot story, The Monogram Murders, written by British author Sophie Hannah. Hannah later published three more Poirot mysteries, Closed Casket in 2016, The Mystery of Three Quarters in 2018., and The Killings at Kingfisher Hill in 2020.
Formula and plot devices
Christie has been called the "Duchess of Death", the "Mistress of Mystery", and the "Queen of Crime". Early in her career, a reporter noted that "her plots are possible, logical, and always new." According to Hannah, "At the start of each novel, she shows us an apparently impossible situation and we go mad wondering 'How can this be happening?' Then, slowly, she reveals how the impossible is not only possible but the only thing that could have happened."
She developed her storytelling techniques during what has been called the "Golden Age" of detective fiction. Author Dilys Winn called Christie "the doyenne of Coziness", a sub-genre which "featured a small village setting, a hero with faintly aristocratic family connections, a plethora of red herrings and a tendency to commit homicide with sterling silver letter openers and poisons imported from Paraguay". At the end, in a Christie hallmark, the detective usually gathers the surviving suspects into one room, explains the course of their deductive reasoning, and reveals the guilty party; there are exceptions where it is left to the guilty party to explain all (such as And Then There Were None and Endless Night).
Christie did not limit herself to quaint English villagesthe action might take place on a small island (And Then There Were None), an aeroplane (Death in the Clouds), a train (Murder on the Orient Express), a steamship (Death on the Nile), a smart London flat (Cards on the Table), a resort in the West Indies (A Caribbean Mystery), or an archaeological dig (Murder in Mesopotamia)but the circle of potential suspects is usually closed and intimate: family members, friends, servants, business associates, fellow travellers. Stereotyped characters abound (the , the stolid policeman, the devoted servant, the dull colonel), but these may be subverted to stymie the reader; impersonations and secret alliances are always possible. There is always a motivemost often, money: "There are very few killers in Christie who enjoy murder for its own sake."
Professor of Pharmacology Michael C. Gerald noted that "in over half her novels, one or more victims are poisoned, albeit not always to the full satisfaction of the perpetrator." Guns, knives, garrottes, tripwires, blunt instruments, and even a hatchet were also used, but "Christie never resorted to elaborate mechanical or scientific means to explain her ingenuity," according to John Curran, author and literary adviser to the Christie estate. Many of her clues are mundane objects: a calendar, a coffee cup, wax flowers, a beer bottle, a fireplace used during a heat wave.
According to crime writer P. D. James, Christie was prone to making the unlikeliest character the guilty party. Alert readers could sometimes identify the culprit by identifying the least likely suspect. Christie mocked this insight in her foreword to Cards on the Table: "Spot the person least likely to have committed the crime and in nine times out of ten your task is finished. Since I do not want my faithful readers to fling away this book in disgust, I prefer to warn them beforehand that this is not that kind of book."
On Desert Island Discs in 2007, Brian Aldiss said Christie had told him she wrote her books up to the last chapter, then decided who the most unlikely suspect was, after which she would go back and make the necessary changes to "frame" that person. Based upon a study of her working notebooks, Curran describes how Christie would first create a cast of characters, choose a setting, and then produce a list of scenes in which specific clues would be revealed; the order of scenes would be revised as she developed her plot. Of necessity, the murderer had to be known to the author before the sequence could be finalised and she began to type or dictate the first draft of her novel. Much of the work, particularly dialogue, was done in her head before she put it on paper.
In 2013, the 600 members of the Crime Writers' Association chose The Murder of Roger Ackroyd as "the best whodunit... ever written". Author Julian Symons observed, "In an obvious sense, the book fits within the conventions... The setting is a village deep within the English countryside, Roger Ackroyd dies in his study; there is a butler who behaves suspiciously... Every successful detective story in this period involved a deceit practised upon the reader, and here the trick is the highly original one of making the murderer the local doctor, who tells the story and acts as Poirot's Watson." Critic Sutherland Scott stated, "If Agatha Christie had made no other contribution to the literature of detective fiction she would still deserve our grateful thanks" for writing this novel.
In September 2015, to mark her 125th birthday, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. The novel is emblematic of both her use of formula and her willingness to discard it. "And Then There Were None carries the 'closed society' type of murder mystery to extreme lengths," according to author Charles Osborne. It begins with the classic set-up of potential victim(s) and killer(s) isolated from the outside world, but then violates conventions. There is no detective involved in the action, no interviews of suspects, no careful search for clues, and no suspects gathered together in the last chapter to be confronted with the solution. As Christie herself said, "Ten people had to die without it becoming ridiculous or the murderer being obvious." Critics agreed she had succeeded: "The arrogant Mrs. Christie this time set herself a fearsome test of her own ingenuity... the reviews, not surprisingly, were without exception wildly adulatory."
Character stereotypes and perceived racism
Christie included stereotyped descriptions of characters in her work, especially before 1945 (when such attitudes were more commonly expressed publicly), particularly in regard to Italians, Jews, and non-Europeans. For example, she described "men of Hebraic extraction, sallow men with hooked noses, wearing rather flamboyant jewellery" in the short story "The Soul of the Croupier" from the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin. In 1947, the Anti-Defamation League in the US sent an official letter of complaint to Christie's American publishers, Dodd, Mead and Company, regarding perceived antisemitism in her works. Christie's British literary agent later wrote to her US representative, authorising American publishers to "omit the word 'Jew' when it refers to an unpleasant character in future books."
In The Hollow, published in 1946, one of the characters is described by another as "a Whitechapel Jewess with dyed hair and a voice like a corncrake ... a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice". To contrast with the more stereotyped descriptions, Christie portrayed some "foreign" characters as victims, or potential victims, at the hands of English malefactors, such as, respectively, Olga Seminoff (Hallowe'en Party) and Katrina Reiger (in the short story "How Does Your Garden Grow?"). Jewish characters are often seen as un-English (such as Oliver Manders in Three Act Tragedy), but they are rarely the culprits.
Other detectives
In addition to Poirot and Marple, Christie also created amateur detectives Thomas Beresford and his wife, Prudence "Tuppence" née Cowley, who appear in four novels and one collection of short stories published between 1922 and 1974. Unlike her other sleuths, the Beresfords were only in their early twenties when introduced in The Secret Adversary, and were allowed to age alongside their creator. She treated their stories with a lighter touch, giving them a "dash and verve" which was not universally admired by critics. Their last adventure, Postern of Fate, was Christie's last novel.
Harley Quin was "easily the most unorthodox" of Christie's fictional detectives. Inspired by Christie's affection for the figures from the Harlequinade, the semi-supernatural Quin always works with an elderly, conventional man called Satterthwaite. The pair appear in 14 short stories, 12 of which were collected in 1930 as The Mysterious Mr. Quin. Mallowan described these tales as "detection in a fanciful vein, touching on the fairy story, a natural product of Agatha's peculiar imagination". Satterthwaite also appears in a novel, Three Act Tragedy, and a short story, "Dead Man's Mirror", both of which feature Poirot.
Another of her lesser-known characters is Parker Pyne, a retired civil servant who assists unhappy people in an unconventional manner. The 12 short stories which introduced him, Parker Pyne Investigates (1934), are best remembered for "The Case of the Discontented Soldier", which features Ariadne Oliver, "an amusing and satirical self-portrait of Agatha Christie". Over the ensuing decades, Oliver reappeared in seven novels. In most of them she assists Poirot.
Plays
In 1928, Michael Morton adapted The Murder of Roger Ackroyd for the stage under the title Alibi. The play enjoyed a respectable run, but Christie disliked the changes made to her work and, in future, preferred to write for the theatre herself. The first of her own stage works was Black Coffee, which received good reviews when it opened in the West End in late 1930. She followed this up with adaptations of her detective novels: And Then There Were None in 1943, Appointment with Death in 1945, and The Hollow in 1951.
In the 1950s, "the theatre ... engaged much of Agatha's attention." She next adapted her short radio play into The Mousetrap, which premiered in the West End in 1952, produced by Peter Saunders. Her expectations for the play were not high; she believed it would run no more than eight months. It has long since made theatrical history, staging its 27,500th performance in September 2018. The play closed down in March 2020, when all UK theatres shut due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In 1953, she followed this with Witness for the Prosecution, whose Broadway production won the New York Drama Critics' Circle award for best foreign play of 1954 and earned Christie an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Spider's Web, an original work written for actress Margaret Lockwood at her request, premiered in 1954 and was also a hit. She is also the first female playwright to have three plays running simultaneously in London's West End: The Mousetrap, Witness for the Prosecution and Spider's Web. Christie said, "Plays are much easier to write than books, because you can see them in your mind's eye, you are not hampered by all that description which clogs you so terribly in a book and stops you from getting on with what's happening." In a letter to her daughter, Christie said being a playwright was "a lot of fun!"
As Mary Westmacott
Christie published six mainstream novels under the name Mary Westmacott, a pseudonym which gave her the freedom to explore "her most private and precious imaginative garden". These books typically received better reviews than her detective and thriller fiction. Of the first, Giant's Bread published in 1930, a reviewer for The New York Times wrote, "...her book is far above the average of current fiction, in fact, comes well under the classification of a 'good book'. And it is only a satisfying novel that can claim that appellation." It was publicized from the very beginning that "Mary Westmacott" was a pen name of a well-known author, although the identity behind the pen name was kept secret; the dust jacket of Giant's Bread mentions that the author had previously written "under her real name...half a dozen books that have each passed the thirty thousand mark in sales." (In fact, though this was technically true, it disguised Christie's identity through understatement. By the publication of Giant's Bread, Christie had published 10 novels and two short story collections, all of which had sold considerably more than 30,000 copies.) After Christie's authorship of the first four Westmacott novels was revealed by a journalist in 1949, she wrote two more, the last in 1956.
The other Westmacott titles are: Unfinished Portrait (1934), Absent in the Spring (1944), The Rose and the Yew Tree (1948), A Daughter's a Daughter (1952), and The Burden (1956).
Non-fiction works
Christie published few non-fiction works. Come, Tell Me How You Live, about working on an archaeological dig, was drawn from her life with Mallowan. The Grand Tour: Around the World with the Queen of Mystery is a collection of correspondence from her 1922 Grand Tour of the British empire, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Agatha Christie: An Autobiography was published posthumously in 1977 and adjudged the Best Critical / Biographical Work at the 1978 Edgar Awards.
Titles
Many of Christie's works from 1940 onward have titles drawn from literature, with the original context of the title typically printed as an epigraph.
The inspirations for some of Christie's titles include:
William Shakespeare's works: Sad Cypress, By the Pricking of My Thumbs, There is a Tide..., Absent in the Spring, and The Mousetrap, for example. Osborne notes that "Shakespeare is the writer most quoted in the works of Agatha Christie";
The Bible: Evil Under the Sun, The Burden, and The Pale Horse;
Other works of literature: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (from Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott"), The Moving Finger (from Edward FitzGerald's translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám), The Rose and the Yew Tree (from T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets), Postern of Fate (from James Elroy Flecker's "Gates of Damascus"), Endless Night (from William Blake's "Auguries of Innocence"), N or M? (from the Book of Common Prayer), and Come, Tell Me How You Live (from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass).
Christie biographer Gillian Gill said, "Christie's writing has the sparseness, the directness, the narrative pace, and the universal appeal of the fairy story, and it is perhaps as modern fairy stories for grown-up children that Christie's novels succeed." Reflecting a juxtaposition of innocence and horror, numerous Christie titles were drawn from well-known children's nursery rhymes: And Then There Were None (from "Ten Little Niggers"), One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (from "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe"), Five Little Pigs (from "This Little Piggy"), Crooked House (from "There Was a Crooked Man"), A Pocket Full of Rye (from "Sing a Song of Sixpence"), Hickory Dickory Dock (from "Hickory Dickory Dock"), and Three Blind Mice (from "Three Blind Mice").
Critical reception
Christie is regularly referred to as the "Queen of Crime" or "Queen of Mystery", and is considered a master of suspense, plotting, and characterisation. In 1955, she became the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. She was named "Best Writer of the Century" and the Hercule Poirot series of books was named "Best Series of the Century" at the 2000 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. In 2013, she was voted "best crime writer" in a survey of 600 members of the Crime Writers' Association of professional novelists. However, the writer Raymond Chandler criticised the artificiality of her books, as did writer Julian Symons. The literary critic Edmund Wilson described her prose as banal and her characterisations as superficial.
In 2011, Christie was named the second most financially successful crime writer of all time in the United Kingdom, after Ian Fleming, by digital crime drama TV channel Alibi with total earnings around £100 million. In 2012, Christie was among the people selected by the artist Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous work, the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, "to celebrate the British cultural figures he most admires".
In 2015, in honor of the 125th anniversary of her birthday, 25 contemporary mystery writers and one publisher gave their views on Christie's works. Many of the authors had read Christie's novels first, before other mystery writers, in English or in their native language, influencing their own writing, and nearly all still viewed her as the "Queen of Crime" and creator of the plot twists used by mystery authors. Nearly all had one or more favourites among Christie's mysteries and found her books still good to read nearly 100 years after her first novel was published. Just one of the 25 authors held with Wilson's views.
Book sales
In her prime, Christie was rarely out of the bestseller list. She was the first crime writer to have 100,000 copies of 10 of her titles published by Penguin on the same day in 1948. , Guinness World Records listed Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time. , her novels had sold more than two billion copies in 44 languages. Half the sales are of English-language editions, and half are translations. According to Index Translationum, , she was the most-translated individual author. Christie is one of the most-borrowed authors in UK libraries. She is also UK's best-selling spoken-book author. In 2002, 117,696 Christie audiobooks were sold, in comparison to 97,755 for J. K. Rowling, 78,770 for Roald Dahl and 75,841 for J. R. R. Tolkien. In 2015, the Christie estate claimed And Then There Were None was "the best-selling crime novel of all time", with approximately 100 million sales, also making it one of the highest-selling books of all time. More than two million copies of her books were sold in English in 2020.
Legacy
In 2016, one hundred years after Christie wrote her first detective story, the Royal Mail released six stamps in her honour, featuring The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, The Body in the Library, and A Murder is Announced. The Guardian reported that, "Each design incorporates microtext, UV ink and thermochromic ink. These concealed clues can be revealed using either a magnifying glass, UV light or body heat and provide pointers to the mysteries' solutions." Her characters and her face appeared on the stamps of many countries like Dominica and the Somali Republic. In 2020, Christie was commemorated on a £2 coin by the Royal Mint for the first time to mark the centenary of her first novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles.
Adaptations
Christie's works have been adapted for cinema and television. The first was the 1928 British film The Passing of Mr. Quin. Poirot's first film appearance was in 1931 in Alibi, which starred Austin Trevor as Christie's sleuth. Margaret Rutherford played Marple in a series of films released in the 1960s. Christie liked her acting, but considered the first film "pretty poor" and thought no better of the rest.
She felt differently about the 1974 film Murder on the Orient Express, directed by Sidney Lumet, which featured major stars and high production values; her attendance at the London premiere was one of her last public outings. In 2016, a new film version was released, directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also starred, wearing "the most extravagant mustache moviegoers have ever seen".
The television adaptation Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989–2013), with David Suchet in the title role, ran for 70 episodes over 13 series. It received nine BAFTA award nominations and won four BAFTA awards in 1990–1992. The television series Miss Marple (1984–1992), with Joan Hickson as "the BBC's peerless Miss Marple", adapted all 12 Marple novels. The French television series (2009–2012, 2013–2020), adapted 36 of Christie's stories.
Christie's books have also been adapted for BBC Radio, a video game series, and graphic novels.
Interests and influences
Pharmacology
During the First World War, Christie took a break from nursing to train for the Apothecaries Hall Examination. While she subsequently found dispensing in the hospital pharmacy monotonous, and thus less enjoyable than nursing, her new knowledge provided her with a background in potentially toxic drugs. Early in the Second World War, she brought her skills up to date at Torquay Hospital.
As Michael C. Gerald puts it, her "activities as a hospital dispenser during both World Wars not only supported the war effort but also provided her with an appreciation of drugs as therapeutic agents and poisons... These hospital experiences were also likely responsible for the prominent role physicians, nurses, and pharmacists play in her stories." There were to be many medical practitioners, pharmacists, and scientists, naïve or suspicious, in Christie's cast of characters; featuring in Murder in Mesopotamia, Cards on the Table, The Pale Horse, and Mrs. McGinty's Dead, among many others.
Gillian Gill notes that the murder method in Christie's first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, "comes right out of Agatha Christie's work in the hospital dispensary". In an interview with journalist Marcelle Bernstein, Christie stated, "I don't like messy deaths... I'm more interested in peaceful people who die in their own beds and no one knows why." With her expert knowledge, Christie had no need of poisons unknown to science, which were forbidden under Ronald Knox's "Ten Rules for Detective Fiction". Arsenic, aconite, strychnine, digitalis, thallium, and other substances were used to dispatch victims in the ensuing decades.
Archaeology
In her youth, Christie showed little interest in antiquities. After her marriage to Mallowan in 1930, she accompanied him on annual expeditions, spending three to four months at a time in Syria and Iraq at excavation sites at Ur, Nineveh, Tell Arpachiyah, Chagar Bazar, Tell Brak, and Nimrud. The Mallowans also took side trips whilst travelling to and from expedition sites, visiting Italy, Greece, Egypt, Iran, and the Soviet Union, among other places. Their experiences travelling and living abroad are reflected in novels such as Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and Appointment with Death.
For the 1931 digging season at Nineveh, Christie bought a writing table to continue her own work; in the early 1950s, she paid to add a small writing room to the team's house at Nimrud. She also devoted time and effort each season in "making herself useful by photographing, cleaning, and recording finds; and restoring ceramics, which she especially enjoyed". She also provided funds for the expeditions.
Many of the settings for Christie's books were inspired by her archaeological fieldwork in the Middle East; this is reflected in the detail with which she describes themfor instance, the temple of Abu Simbel as depicted in Death on the Nilewhile the settings for They Came to Baghdad were places she and Mallowan had recently stayed. Similarly, she drew upon her knowledge of daily life on a dig throughout Murder in Mesopotamia. Archaeologists and experts in Middle Eastern cultures and artefacts featured in her works include Dr Eric Leidner in Murder in Mesopotamia and Signor Richetti in Death on the Nile.
After the Second World War, Christie chronicled her time in Syria in Come, Tell Me How You Live, which she described as "small beera very little book, full of everyday doings and happenings". From 8November 2001 to March 2002, The British Museum presented a "colourful and episodic exhibition" called Agatha Christie and Archaeology: Mystery in Mesopotamia which illustrated how her activities as a writer and as the wife of an archaeologist intertwined.
In popular culture
BBC television released Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures in 2004, in which she is portrayed by Olivia Williams, Anna Massey, and Bonnie Wright (at different stages in her life). ITV's Perspectives: "The Mystery of Agatha Christie" (2013) is hosted by David Suchet.
Some of Christie's fictional portrayals have explored and offered accounts of her disappearance in 1926. The film Agatha (1979), with Vanessa Redgrave, has Christie sneaking away to plan revenge against her husband; Christie's heirs sued unsuccessfully to prevent the film's distribution. The Doctor Who episode "The Unicorn and the Wasp" (17 May 2008), with Fenella Woolgar, portrays Christie in her early writing career and explains her disappearance as the result of having suffered a temporary breakdown owing to a brief psychic link being formed between her and an alien wasp called the Vespiform. The film Agatha and the Truth of Murder (2018) sends her under cover to solve the murder of Florence Nightingale's goddaughter, Florence Nightingale Shore. A fictionalised account of Christie's disappearance is also the central theme of a Korean musical, Agatha. The Christie Affair, a Christie-like mystery story of love and revenge by author Nina de Gramont, was a 2022 novel loosely based on Christie's disappearance.
Other portrayals, such as the Hungarian film, Kojak Budapesten (1980), create their own scenarios involving Christie's criminal skill. In the TV play, Murder by the Book (1986), Christie (Dame Peggy Ashcroft) murders one of her fictional-turned-real characters, Poirot. Christie features as a character in Gaylord Larsen's Dorothy and Agatha and The London Blitz Murders by Max Allan Collins. The American television program Unsolved Mysteries devoted a segment to her famous disappearance, with Agatha portrayed by actress Tessa Pritchard. A young Agatha is depicted in the Spanish historical television series Gran Hotel (2011) in which she finds inspiration to write her new novel while aiding local detectives. In the alternative history television film Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar (2018), Christie becomes involved in a murder case at an archaeological dig in Iraq. In 2019, Honeysuckle Weeks portrayed Christie in an episode, "No Friends Like Old Friends", in a Canadian drama, Frankie Drake Mysteries.
In June 2021, an episode of the internet series BuzzFeed Unsolved detailed the disappearance of Christie and possible theories.
See also
Agatha Christie bibliography (lists of Christie's works)
Agatha Christie indult (an oecumenical request to which Christie was signatory seeking permission for the occasional use of the Tridentine (Latin) mass in England and Wales)
Agatha Awards (literary awards for mystery and crime writers)
Agatha Christie Award (Japan) (literary award for unpublished mystery novels)
List of solved missing person cases
Notes
References
Further reading
.
Curran, John (2009). Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making. London: HarperCollins. .
Curran, John (2011). Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making. London: HarperCollins. .
Curran, John. "75 facts about Christie". The Home of Agatha Christie. Agatha Christie Limited. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
Gerald, Michael C. (1993). The Poisonous Pen of Agatha Christie. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. .
.
.
.
Morgan, Janet P. (1984). Agatha Christie: A Biography. London: HarperCollins. . Retrieved 8 March 2015.
Prichard, Mathew (2012). The Grand Tour: Around The World With The Queen Of Mystery. New York, NY: HarperCollins. .
.
Thompson, Laura (2008), Agatha Christie: An English Mystery, London: Headline Review, .
External links
A Christie reading list (on official website)
Agatha Christie/Sir Max Mallowan's blue plaque at Cholsey
Agatha Christie profile and related articles in The Guardian
Agatha Christie profile on PBS.org
Agatha Christie profile on FamousAuthors.org
"The Christie Mystery" (fan site)
Agatha Christie recording, oral history at the Imperial War Museum
Agatha Christie business papers at the University of Exeter
"Shocking Real Murders" (book released to mark the 125th anniversary of Christie's birth)
Hercule Poirot Central
The Films of Agatha Christie (1993)
Lamothe, Lori. "The Original Gone Girl: Did Agatha Christie Try to Frame Her Cheating Husband?" in History of Yesterday.
1890 births
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British detective fiction writers
British women in World War I
British women short story writers
Burials in Oxfordshire
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Ghost story writers
Edgar Award winners
English people of American descent
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Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
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People from Sunningdale
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[
"The name Agatha has been used for ten tropical cyclones in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.\n Tropical Storm Agatha (1967), stayed well away from land\n Hurricane Agatha (1971), made landfall in the Mexican state of Michoacán, causing moderate damage\n Hurricane Agatha (1975), moved northwest off the Mexican coast\n Hurricane Agatha (1980), stayed well out to sea\n Hurricane Agatha (1986), moved eastward parallel to the Mexican coastline\n Tropical Storm Agatha (1992), approached but did not reach the Mexican coast\n Tropical Storm Agatha (1998), stayed well clear of land\n Tropical Storm Agatha (2004), stayed off the Mexican coast; did not affect land\n Tropical Storm Agatha (2010), made landfall on the coast of Guatemala, killing 317 and causing nearly 1.1 billion (2010 USD) in damage\n Tropical Storm Agatha (2016), churned in the open ocean \n\nPacific hurricane disambiguation pages",
"Agatha Raisin is a fictional detective in a series of humorous mystery novels by Marion Chesney using the pseudonym M. C. Beaton. They are published in the U.K. by Constable & Robinson and in the U.S.A. by St. Martin's Press.\n\nRaisin has been played by Penelope Keith on BBC Radio 4, and by Ashley Jensen in the television series Agatha Raisin. The pilot aired on Sky 1 in December 2014. A full 8-part series, filmed during 2015, began airing on Sky 1 in June 2016. For series 2, the format was changed from 45-minute episodes to two 90-minute TV movies. Series 3 premiered on 28 October 2019 and the four stories retained the 90-minute format.\n\nCharacter\nAgatha Raisin is a frustrated, yet endearing, middle-aged public-relations agent who moved from London to Carsely in the Cotswolds when she sold her public-relations firm in Mayfair and took early retirement. She solves murders in each of the earlier books, but in the fifteenth book Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance (2004) Agatha sets up her own detective agency. The police, and even some of her acquaintances, insist that she solves crimes through accident and luck.\n\nIn the first book, Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death (1992), Agatha is 53. She was born Agatha Styles in a tower block slum in Birmingham to Joseph and Margaret Styles, both unemployed drunks living on benefits and occasional bouts of shoplifting. She went for one glorious week on a rare family vacation to the Cotswolds (her parents preferred going to a casino/holiday camp) and she never forgot that golden holiday or the beauty of the countryside. Agatha went to the local comprehensive, then saved enough from her biscuit factory wages to run off to London. After an evening secretarial course she worked as a secretary in a public relations firm, moved into public relations work and saved enough to start her own firm.\n\nShe lives in the village of Carsely, but her detective agency Raisin Investigations and the police headquarters where Bill Wong is based are in the nearby town of Mircester. Even though Carsely and Mircester are fictional, they are based on true places; she does, however frequent Evesham, Moreton-in-Marsh, Stow-on-the-Wold, Chipping Campden and other nearby villages quite often. Agatha's first case came when she first moved to Carsely and heard about a quiche competition. She promptly bought a spinach quiche in London from a famous quiche shop and entered it as her own. She was outraged she did not win but later the judge, Reg Cummings-Browne, took another slice and died from cowbane poisoning. Frustrated, Agatha set out to find the poisoner and clear her own name.\n\nAgatha's character in the TV series, as played by Ashley Jensen, is notably different from her depiction in the novels: she is less bitter and more vulnerable than the version in the books. Other characters from the novels and some of the relationships between them are also notably different in the TV series, making the cast more of an ensemble.\n\nNovels\n Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death (1992)\n Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet (1993)\n Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener (1994)\n Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley (1995)\n Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage (1996)\n Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist (1997)\n Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death (1998)\n Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham (1999)\n Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden (1999)\n Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam (2000)\n Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell (2001)\n Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came (2002)\n Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate (2003)\n Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House (2003)\n Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance (2004)\n The Perfect Paragon: An Agatha Raisin mystery (2005)\n Love, Lies and Liquor: An Agatha Raisin mystery (2006)\n Kissing Christmas Goodbye: An Agatha Raisin mystery (2007)\n A Spoonful of Poison: An Agatha Raisin mystery (2008)\n There Goes the Bride: An Agatha Raisin mystery (2009)\n The Busy Body: An Agatha Raisin mystery (2010)\n As the Pig Turns: An Agatha Raisin mystery (2011)\n Hiss and Hers: An Agatha Raisin mystery (2012)\n Something Borrowed, Someone Dead: An Agatha Raisin mystery (2013)\n The Blood of an Englishman: An Agatha Raisin mystery (2014)\n Dishing the Dirt: An Agatha Raisin mystery (2015)\n Pushing Up Daisies: An Agatha Raisin mystery (2016)\n The Witches' Tree: An Agatha Raisin mystery (2017)\n The Dead Ringer: An Agatha Raisin mystery (2018)\n Beating About the Bush: An Agatha Raisin mystery (2019)\n Hot to Trot: An Agatha Raisin mystery (2020)\n Down the Hatch: An Agatha Raisin mystery (October 2021)\n\nShort stories\n Agatha Raisin and the Christmas Crumble (2012) - also published in the 10th anniversary paperback edition of The Perfect Paragon (2016).\n Agatha Raisin: Hell's Bells (2013)\n Agatha's First Case (2015)\n\nRecurring characters\nBill Wong - policeman and friend; the first friend Agatha made after relocating to the Cotswolds from London. He has a series of unsuitable relationships. Luckily these are usually ended after introducing them to his parents (see below). \nJames Lacey - neighbour and one-time husband with whom Agatha has an on-and-off romantic relationship and subsequent platonic friendship.\nSir Charles Fraith - friend of Agatha's known for being stingy with his money and regularly uses her house like a hotel; has an on-off sexual relationship with her. As the stories go on they develop deeper feelings, unrealised by either of them. \nMrs Sarah-Margaret (she answers to both) Bloxby - the vicar's wife who greatly admires Agatha and is always looking out for Agatha's best interests. \nRoy Silver - former co-worker from the public relations firm Agatha previously owned, he regularly visits and helps with some of the investigations.\nMiss Kylie Simms - Carsely's unmarried mother and secretary of the Ladies' Society.\nToni Gilmour - hired detective at Agatha's agency, very beautiful, aged eighteen. Agatha is envious of her good looks.\nPhil Marshall - works with Agatha's agency. In his mid-70s. Is smart and fond of photography\nPatrick Mulligan - detective employed at Agatha's agency. Former policeman. Agatha frequently relies on his reaching out to his police connections to get news.\nMrs Freedman - secretary at the detective agency\nHarry Beam - originally worked in Toni Gilmour's position but moved to University, has appeared in the past few books\nSimon Black - replaced Harry Beam, initially had a crush on Toni Gilmour. Subsequent crushes on any attractive woman. Known to lie about his personal life. Jealous of his coworkers. \nDoris Simpson - Agatha's ever-present cleaner and good friend, who looks after her cats Hodge and Boswell when she is away.\nRev. Alf Bloxby - Vicar of Carsely with a unique disdain towards Agatha. Hates Agatha, even though she has helped him when he had a crisis of faith and also when he was accused of murder. Also dislikes many of his own parishioners.\nMr and Mrs Wong - Bill Wong's parents. Mother is a native of Gloucestershire, whereas the Father is Hong Kong Chinese. The mother is an awful cook and they are both known to eat at bad restaurants. They are also known for an attraction to brash gaudy decor and chasing off Bill's love interests.\n\nSee also\nAgatha Raisin (TV series)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nAgatha Raisin\n\nCrime novel series\nFictional private investigators\n \nFictional English people"
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[
"Agatha Christie",
"Character stereotypes",
"Did she describe what her stereotypes were?",
"a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice\".",
"How did she describe some of the men?",
"Hebraic men with hook-noses wearing rather flamboyant jewellery",
"From what novel was that description?",
"in the first editions of the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin (",
"How did she depict foreigners?",
"Jewish characters are often seen as un-English",
"Did Agatha show prejudices?",
"Often, she is affectionate or teasing with her prejudices."
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C_7f92437539ba40128d8fca5975c3fe05_0
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Why did Agatha want to return to Syria?
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Why did Agatha Christie want to return to Syria?
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Agatha Christie
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Christie occasionally inserted stereotyped descriptions of characters into her work, particularly before the end of the Second World War (when such attitudes were more commonly expressed publicly), and particularly in regard to Italians, Jews, non-Europeans, and sometimes Americans, the last usually as impossibly naive or uninformed. For example, she described "Hebraic men with hook-noses wearing rather flamboyant jewellery" in the first editions of the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin (1930), in the short story "The Soul of the Croupier"; in later editions, the passage was edited to describe "sallow men" wearing same. In The Hollow, published as late as 1946, one of the more unsympathetic characters is "a Whitechapel Jewess with dyed hair and a voice like a corncrake ... a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice". To contrast with the more stereotyped descriptions, Christie sometimes showed "foreigners" as victims or potential victims at the hands of English malefactors, such as, respectively, Olga Seminoff (Hallowe'en Party) and Katrina Reiger (in the short story "How Does Your Garden Grow?"). Jewish characters are often seen as un-English (such as Oliver Manders in Three Act Tragedy), but they are rarely the culprits. Often, she is affectionate or teasing with her prejudices. After four years of war-torn London, Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as "gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life; who are idle and gay, and who have dignity, good manners, and a great sense of humour, and to whom death is not terrible." She had trouble with an incompetent Swiss French nursery helper (Marcelle) for toddler Rosalind, and as a result she decided, "Scottish preferred ... good with the young. The French were hopeless disciplinarians ... Germans good and methodical, but it was not German that I really wanted Rosalind to learn. The Irish were gay but made trouble in the house; the English were of all kinds". CANNOTANSWER
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Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as "gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life;
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Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End since 1952, as well as six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
Christie was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon, and was largely home-schooled. She was initially an unsuccessful writer with six consecutive rejections, but this changed in 1920 when The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring detective Hercule Poirot, was published. Her first husband was Archibald Christie; they married in 1914 and had one child before divorcing in 1928. During both World Wars, she served in hospital dispensaries, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the poisons which featured in many of her novels, short stories, and plays. Following her marriage to archaeologist Max Mallowan in 1930, she spent several months each year on digs in the Middle East and used her first-hand knowledge of his profession in her fiction.
According to Index Translationum, she remains the most-translated individual author. Her novel And Then There Were None is one of the top-selling books of all time, with approximately 100 million copies sold. Christie's stage play The Mousetrap holds the world record for the longest initial run. It opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End of London on 25 November 1952, and by September 2018 there had been more than 27,500 performances. The play was closed down in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic and reopened in May 2021.
In 1955, Christie was the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. Later that year, Witness for the Prosecution received an Edgar Award for best play. In 2013, she was voted the best crime writer and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd the best crime novel ever by 600 professional novelists of the Crime Writers' Association. In September 2015, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. Most of Christie's books and short stories have been adapted for television, radio, video games, and graphic novels. More than 30 feature films are based on her work.
Life and career
Childhood and adolescence: 1890–1907
Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born on 15 September 1890, into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon. She was the youngest of three children born to Frederick Alvah Miller, "a gentleman of substance", and his wife Clarissa Margaret ("Clara") Miller née Boehmer.
Christie's mother Clara was born in Dublin in 1854 to British Army officer Frederick Boehmer and his wife Mary Ann Boehmer née West. Boehmer died in Jersey in 1863, leaving his widow to raise Clara and her brothers on a meagre income. Two weeks after Boehmer's death, Mary's sister Margaret West married widowed dry goods merchant Nathaniel Frary Miller, a US citizen. To assist Mary financially, they agreed to foster nine-year-old Clara; the family settled in Timperley, Cheshire. Margaret and Nathaniel had no children together, but Nathaniel had a 17-year-old son, Fred Miller, from his previous marriage. Fred was born in New York City and travelled extensively after leaving his Swiss boarding school. He and Clara were married in London in 1878. Their first child, Margaret Frary ("Madge"), was born in Torquay in 1879. The second, Louis Montant ("Monty"), was born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1880, while the family was on an extended visit to the United States.
When Fred's father died in 1869, he left Clara £2,000 (approximately ); in 1881 they used this to buy the leasehold of a villa in Torquay named Ashfield. It was here that their third and last child, Agatha, was born in 1890. She described her childhood as "very happy". The Millers lived mainly in Devon but often visited her step-grandmother/great-aunt Margaret Miller in Ealing and maternal grandmother Mary Boehmer in Bayswater. A year was spent abroad with her family, in the French Pyrenees, Paris, Dinard, and Guernsey. Because her siblings were so much older, and there were few children in their neighbourhood, Christie spent much of her time playing alone with her pets and imaginary companions. She eventually made friends with other girls in Torquay, noting that "one of the highlights of my existence" was her appearance with them in a youth production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard, in which she played the hero, Colonel Fairfax.
According to Christie, Clara believed she should not learn to read until she was eight; thanks to her curiosity, she was reading by age four. Her sister had been sent to a boarding school, but their mother insisted that Christie receive a home education. As a result, her parents and sister supervised her studies in reading, writing, and basic arithmetic, a subject she particularly enjoyed. They also taught her music, and she learned to play the piano and the mandolin.
Christie was a voracious reader from an early age. Among her earliest memories were reading children's books by Mrs Molesworth and Edith Nesbit. When a little older, she moved on to the surreal verse of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. As an adolescent, she enjoyed works by Anthony Hope, Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, and Alexandre Dumas. In April 1901, aged 10, she wrote her first poem, "The Cow Slip".
By 1901, her father's health had deteriorated, because of what he believed were heart problems. Fred died in November 1901 from pneumonia and chronic kidney disease. Christie later said that her father's death when she was 11 marked the end of her childhood.
The family's financial situation had by this time worsened. Madge married the year after their father's death and moved to Cheadle, Cheshire; Monty was overseas, serving in a British regiment. Christie now lived alone at Ashfield with her mother. In 1902, she began attending Miss Guyer's Girls' School in Torquay but found it difficult to adjust to the disciplined atmosphere. In 1905, her mother sent her to Paris, where she was educated in a series of (boarding schools), focusing on voice training and piano playing. Deciding she lacked the temperament and talent, she gave up her goal of performing professionally as a concert pianist or an opera singer.
Early literary attempts, marriage, literary success: 1907–1926
After completing her education, Christie returned to England to find her mother ailing. They decided to spend the northern winter of 1907–1908 in the warm climate of Egypt, which was then a regular tourist destination for wealthy Britons. They stayed for three months at the Gezirah Palace Hotel in Cairo. Christie attended many dances and other social functions; she particularly enjoyed watching amateur polo matches. While they visited some ancient Egyptian monuments such as the Great Pyramid of Giza, she did not exhibit the great interest in archaeology and Egyptology that developed in her later years. Returning to Britain, she continued her social activities, writing and performing in amateur theatricals. She also helped put on a play called The Blue Beard of Unhappiness with female friends.
At 18, Christie wrote her first short story, "The House of Beauty", while recovering in bed from an illness. It consisted of about 6,000 words on "madness and dreams", a subject of fascination for her. Her biographer, Janet Morgan, has commented that, despite "infelicities of style", the story was "compelling". (The story became an early version of her story "The House of Dreams".) Other stories followed, most of them illustrating her interest in spiritualism and the paranormal. These included "The Call of Wings" and "The Little Lonely God". Magazines rejected all her early submissions, made under pseudonyms (including Mac Miller, Nathaniel Miller, and Sydney West); some submissions were later revised and published under her real name, often with new titles.
Around the same time, Christie began work on her first novel, Snow Upon the Desert. Writing under the pseudonym Monosyllaba, she set the book in Cairo and drew upon her recent experiences there. She was disappointed when the six publishers she contacted declined the work. Clara suggested that her daughter ask for advice from the successful novelist Eden Phillpotts, a family friend and neighbour, who responded to her enquiry, encouraged her writing, and sent her an introduction to his own literary agent, Hughes Massie, who also rejected Snow Upon the Desert but suggested a second novel.
Meanwhile, Christie's social activities expanded, with country house parties, riding, hunting, dances, and roller skating. She had short-lived relationships with four men and an engagement to another. In October 1912, she was introduced to Archibald "Archie" Christie at a dance given by Lord and Lady Clifford at Ugbrooke, about from Torquay. The son of a barrister in the Indian Civil Service, Archie was a Royal Artillery officer who was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps in April 1913. The couple quickly fell in love. Three months after their first meeting, Archie proposed marriage, and Agatha accepted.
With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Archie was sent to France to fight. They married on Christmas Eve 1914 at Emmanuel Church, Clifton, Bristol, close to the home of his mother and stepfather, while Archie was on home leave. Rising through the ranks, he was posted back to Britain in September 1918 as a colonel in the Air Ministry. Christie involved herself in the war effort as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment of the Red Cross. From October 1914 to May 1915, then from June 1916 to September 1918, she worked 3,400 hours in the Town Hall Red Cross Hospital, Torquay, first as a nurse (unpaid) then as a dispenser at £16 (approximately ) a year from 1917 after qualifying as an apothecaries' assistant. Her war service ended in September 1918 when Archie was reassigned to London, and they rented a flat in St. John's Wood.
Christie had long been a fan of detective novels, having enjoyed Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White and The Moonstone, and Arthur Conan Doyle's early Sherlock Holmes stories. She wrote her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1916. It featured Hercule Poirot, a former Belgian police officer with "magnificent moustaches" and a head "exactly the shape of an egg", who had taken refuge in Britain after Germany invaded Belgium. Christie's inspiration for the character came from Belgian refugees living in Torquay, and the Belgian soldiers she helped to treat as a volunteer nurse during the First World War. Her original manuscript was rejected by Hodder & Stoughton and Methuen. After keeping the submission for several months, John Lane at The Bodley Head offered to accept it, provided that Christie change how the solution was revealed. She did so, and signed a contract committing her next five books to The Bodley Head, which she later felt was exploitative. It was published in 1920.
Christie settled into married life, giving birth to her only child, Rosalind Margaret Clarissa (later Hicks), in August 1919 at Ashfield. Archie left the Air Force at the end of the war and began working in the City financial sector at a relatively low salary. They still employed a maid. Her second novel, The Secret Adversary (1922), featured a new detective couple Tommy and Tuppence, again published by The Bodley Head. It earned her £50 (approximately ). A third novel, Murder on the Links, again featured Poirot, as did the short stories commissioned by Bruce Ingram, editor of The Sketch magazine, from 1923. She now had no difficulty selling her work.
In 1922, the Christies joined an around-the-world promotional tour for the British Empire Exhibition, led by Major Ernest Belcher. Leaving their daughter with Agatha's mother and sister, in 10 months they travelled to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and Canada. They learned to surf prone in South Africa; then, in Waikiki, they were among the first Britons to surf standing up.
When they returned to England, Archie resumed work in the city, and Christie continued to work hard at her writing. After living in a series of apartments in London, they bought a house in Sunningdale, Berkshire, which they renamed Styles after the mansion in Christie's first detective novel.
Christie's mother, Clarissa Miller, died in April 1926. They had been exceptionally close, and the loss sent Christie into a deep depression. In August 1926, reports appeared in the press that Christie had gone to a village near Biarritz to recuperate from a "breakdown" caused by "overwork".
Disappearance: 1926
In August 1926, Archie asked Agatha for a divorce. He had fallen in love with Nancy Neele, a friend of Major Belcher. On 3December 1926, the pair quarrelled after Archie announced his plan to spend the weekend with friends, unaccompanied by his wife. Late that evening, Christie disappeared from their home in Sunningdale. The following morning, her car, a Morris Cowley, was discovered at Newlands Corner, parked above a chalk quarry with an expired driving licence and clothes inside.
The disappearance quickly became a news story, as the press sought to satisfy their readers' "hunger for sensation, disaster, and scandal". Home Secretary William Joynson-Hicks pressured police, and a newspaper offered a £100 reward (approximately ). More than a thousand police officers, 15,000 volunteers, and several aeroplanes searched the rural landscape. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave a spirit medium one of Christie's gloves to find her. Christie's disappearance was featured on the front page of The New York Times. Despite the extensive manhunt, she was not found for another 10 days. On 14 December 1926, she was located at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire, north of her home in Sunningdale, registered as Mrs Tressa Neele (the surname of her husband's lover) from " S.A." (South Africa). The next day, Christie left for her sister's residence at Abney Hall, Cheadle, where she was sequestered "in guarded hall, gates locked, telephone cut off, and callers turned away".
Christie's autobiography makes no reference to the disappearance. Two doctors diagnosed her as suffering from "an unquestionable genuine loss of memory", yet opinion remains divided over the reason for her disappearance. Some, including her biographer Morgan, believe she disappeared during a fugue state. The author Jared Cade concluded that Christie planned the event to embarrass her husband but did not anticipate the resulting public melodrama. Christie biographer Laura Thompson provides an alternative view that Christie disappeared during a nervous breakdown, conscious of her actions but not in emotional control of herself. Public reaction at the time was largely negative, supposing a publicity stunt or an attempt to frame her husband for murder.
Second marriage and later life: 1927–1976
In January 1927, Christie, looking "very pale", sailed with her daughter and secretary to Las Palmas, Canary Islands, to "complete her convalescence", returning three months later. Christie petitioned for divorce and was granted a decree nisi against her husband in April 1928, which was made absolute in October 1928. Archie married Nancy Neele a week later. Christie retained custody of their daughter, Rosalind, and kept the Christie surname for her writing.
Reflecting on the period in her autobiography, Christie wrote, "So, after illness, came sorrow, despair and heartbreak. There is no need to dwell on it."
In 1928, Christie left England and took the (Simplon) Orient Express to Istanbul and then to Baghdad. In Iraq, she became friends with archaeologist Leonard Woolley and his wife, who invited her to return to their dig in February 1930. On that second trip, she met archaeologist Max Mallowan, 13 years her junior. In a 1977 interview, Mallowan recounted his first meeting with Christie, when he took her and a group of tourists on a tour of his expedition site in Iraq. Christie and Mallowan married in Edinburgh in September 1930. Their marriage lasted until Christie's death in 1976. She accompanied Mallowan on his archaeological expeditions, and her travels with him contributed background to several of her novels set in the Middle East. Other novels (such as Peril at End House) were set in and around Torquay, where she was raised. Christie drew on her experience of international train travel when writing her 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express. The Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul, the eastern terminus of the railway, claims the book was written there and maintains Christie's room as a memorial to the author.
Christie and Mallowan lived in Chelsea, first in Cresswell Place and later in Sheffield Terrace. Both properties are now marked by blue plaques. In 1934, they bought Winterbrook House in Winterbrook, a hamlet near Wallingford. This was their main residence for the rest of their lives and the place where Christie did much of her writing. This house also bears a blue plaque. Christie led a quiet life despite being known in Wallingford; from 1951 to 1976 she served as president of the local amateur dramatic society.
The couple acquired the Greenway Estate in Devon as a summer residence in 1938; it was given to the National Trust in 2000. Christie frequently stayed at Abney Hall, Cheshire, which was owned by her brother-in-law, James Watts, and based at least two stories there: a short story "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding" in the story collection of the same name and the novel After the Funeral. One Christie compendium notes that "Abney became Agatha's greatest inspiration for country-house life, with all its servants and grandeur being woven into her plots. The descriptions of the fictional Chimneys, Stonygates, and other houses in her stories are mostly Abney Hall in various forms."
During World War II, Christie worked in the pharmacy at University College Hospital (UCH), London, where she updated her knowledge of poisons. Her later novel The Pale Horse was based on a suggestion from Harold Davis, the chief pharmacist at UCH. In 1977, a thallium poisoning case was solved by British medical personnel who had read Christie's book and recognised the symptoms she described.
The British intelligence agency MI5 investigated Christie after a character called Major Bletchley appeared in her 1941 thriller N or M?, which was about a hunt for a pair of deadly fifth columnists in wartime England. MI5 was concerned that Christie had a spy in Britain's top-secret codebreaking centre, Bletchley Park. The agency's fears were allayed when Christie told her friend, the codebreaker Dilly Knox, "I was stuck there on my way by train from Oxford to London and took revenge by giving the name to one of my least lovable characters."
Christie was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1950. In honour of her many literary works, Christie was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1956 New Year Honours. She was co-president of the Detection Club from 1958 to her death in 1976. In 1961, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature degree by the University of Exeter. In the 1971 New Year Honours, she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), three years after her husband had been knighted for his archaeological work. After her husband's knighthood, Christie could also be styled Lady Mallowan.
From 1971 to 1974, Christie's health began to fail, but she continued to write. Her last novel was Postern of Fate in 1973. Textual analysis suggested that Christie may have begun to suffer from Alzheimer's disease or other dementia at about this time.
Personal qualities
In 1946, Christie said of herself: "My chief dislikes are crowds, loud noises, gramophones and cinemas. I dislike the taste of alcohol and do not like smoking. I do like sun, sea, flowers, travelling, strange foods, sports, concerts, theatres, pianos, and doing embroidery."
Christie's works of fiction contain some character stereotypes seen as objectionable in modern times, but in real life, many of her biases were positive. After four years of war-torn London, Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as a "gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life; who are idle and gay, and who have dignity, good manners, and a great sense of humour, and to whom death is not terrible".
Christie was a lifelong, "quietly devout" member of the Church of England, attended church regularly, and kept her mother's copy of The Imitation of Christ by her bedside. After her divorce, she stopped taking the sacrament of communion.
The Agatha Christie Trust For Children was established in 1969, and shortly after Christie's death a charitable memorial fund was set up to "help two causes that she favoured: old people and young children".
Christie's obituary in The Times notes that "she never cared much for the cinema, or for wireless and television." Further,
Dame Agatha's private pleasures were gardeningshe won local prizes for horticultureand buying furniture for her various houses. She was a shy person: she disliked public appearances: but she was friendly and sharp-witted to meet. By inclination as well as breeding she belonged to the English upper middle-class. She wrote about, and for, people like herself. That was an essential part of her charm.
Death and estate
Death and burial
Christie died peacefully on 12 January 1976 at age 85 from natural causes at her home at Winterbrook House. When her death was announced, two West End theatresthe St. Martin's, where The Mousetrap was playing, and the Savoy, which was home to a revival of Murder at the Vicaragedimmed their outside lights in her honour. She was buried in the nearby churchyard of St Mary's, Cholsey, in a plot she had chosen with her husband 10 years before. The simple funeral service was attended by about 20 newspaper and TV reporters, some having travelled from as far away as South America. 30 wreaths adorned Christie's grave, including one from the cast of her long-running play The Mousetrap and one sent "on behalf of the multitude of grateful readers" by the Ulverscroft Large Print Book Publishers.
Mallowan, who remarried in 1977, died in 1978 and was buried next to Christie.
Estate and subsequent ownership of works
Christie was unhappy about becoming "an employed wage slave", and for tax reasons set up a private company in 1955, Agatha Christie Limited, to hold the rights to her works. In about 1959 she transferred her 278-acre home, Greenway Estate, to her daughter, Rosalind Hicks. In 1968, when Christie was almost 80, she sold a 51% stake in Agatha Christie Limited (and the works it owned) to Booker Books (better known as Booker Author's Division), which by 1977 had increased its stake to 64%. Agatha Christie Limited still owns the worldwide rights for more than 80 of Christie's novels and short stories, 19 plays, and nearly 40 TV films.
In the late 1950s, Christie had reputedly been earning around £100,000 (approximately ) per year. Christie sold an estimated 300 million books during her lifetime. At the time of her death in 1976, "she was the best-selling novelist in history."
One estimate of her total earnings from more than a half-century of writing is $20 million (approximately $ million in ). As a result of her tax planning, her will left only £106,683 (approximately ) net, which went mostly to her husband and daughter along with some smaller bequests. Her remaining 36% share of Agatha Christie Limited was inherited by Hicks, who passionately preserved her mother's works, image, and legacy until her own death 28 years later. The family's share of the company allowed them to appoint 50% of the board and the chairman, and retain a veto over new treatments, updated versions, and republications of her works.
In 2004, Hicks' obituary in The Telegraph noted that she had been "determined to remain true to her mother's vision and to protect the integrity of her creations" and disapproved of "merchandising" activities. Upon her death on 28 October 2004, the Greenway Estate passed to her son Mathew Prichard. After his stepfather's death in 2005, Prichard donated Greenway and its contents to the National Trust.
Christie's family and family trusts, including great-grandson James Prichard, continue to own the 36% stake in Agatha Christie Limited, and remain associated with the company. In 2020, James Prichard was the company's chairman. Mathew Prichard also holds the copyright to some of his grandmother's later literary works including The Mousetrap. Christie's work continues to be developed in a range of adaptations.
In 1998, Booker sold its shares in Agatha Christie Limited (at the time earning £2,100,000, approximately annual revenue) for £10,000,000 (approximately ) to Chorion, whose portfolio of authors' works included the literary estates of Enid Blyton and Dennis Wheatley. In February 2012, after a management buyout, Chorion began to sell off its literary assets. This included the sale of Chorion's 64% stake in Agatha Christie Limited to Acorn Media UK. In 2014, RLJ Entertainment Inc. (RLJE) acquired Acorn Media UK, renamed it Acorn Media Enterprises, and incorporated it as the RLJE UK development arm.
In late February 2014, media reports stated that the BBC had acquired exclusive TV rights to Christie's works in the UK (previously associated with ITV) and made plans with Acorn's co-operation to air new productions for the 125th anniversary of Christie's birth in 2015. As part of that deal, the BBC broadcast Partners in Crime and And Then There Were None, both in 2015. Subsequent productions have included The Witness for the Prosecution but plans to televise Ordeal by Innocence at Christmas 2017 were delayed because of controversy surrounding one of the cast members. The three-part adaptation aired in April 2018. A three-part adaptation of The A.B.C. Murders starring John Malkovich and Rupert Grint began filming in June 2018 and was first broadcast in December 2018. A two-part adaptation of The Pale Horse was broadcast on BBC1 in February 2020. Death Comes as the End will be the next BBC adaptation.
Works
Works of fiction
Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple
Christie's first published book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was released in 1920 and introduced the detective Hercule Poirot, who appeared in 33 of her novels and more than 50 short stories.
Over the years, Christie grew tired of Poirot, much as Conan Doyle did with Sherlock Holmes. By the end of the 1930s, Christie wrote in her diary that she was finding Poirot "insufferable", and by the 1960s she felt he was "an egocentric creep". Thompson believes Christie's occasional antipathy to her creation is overstated, and points out that "in later life she sought to protect him against misrepresentation as powerfully as if he were her own flesh and blood." Unlike Conan Doyle, she resisted the temptation to kill her detective off while he was still popular. She married off Poirot's "Watson", Captain Arthur Hastings, in an attempt to trim her cast commitments.
Miss Jane Marple was introduced in a series of short stories that began publication in December 1927 and were subsequently collected under the title The Thirteen Problems. Marple was a genteel, elderly spinster who solved crimes using analogies to English village life. Christie said, "Miss Marple was not in any way a picture of my grandmother; she was far more fussy and spinsterish than my grandmother ever was," but her autobiography establishes a firm connection between the fictional character and Christie's step-grandmother Margaret Miller ("Auntie-Grannie") and her "Ealing cronies". Both Marple and Miller "always expected the worst of everyone and everything, and were, with almost frightening accuracy, usually proved right". Marple appeared in 12 novels and 20 stories.
During the Second World War, Christie wrote two novels, Curtain and Sleeping Murder, featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, respectively. Both books were sealed in a bank vault, and she made over the copyrights by deed of gift to her daughter and her husband to provide each with a kind of insurance policy. Christie suffered a heart attack and a serious fall in 1974, after which she was unable to write. Her daughter authorised the publication of Curtain in 1975, and Sleeping Murder was published posthumously in 1976. These publications followed the success of the 1974 film version of Murder on the Orient Express.
Shortly before the publication of Curtain, Poirot became the first fictional character to have an obituary in The New York Times, which was printed on page one on 6August 1975.
Christie never wrote a novel or short story featuring both Poirot and Miss Marple. In a recording discovered and released in 2008, Christie revealed the reason for this: "Hercule Poirot, a complete egoist, would not like being taught his business or having suggestions made to him by an elderly spinster lady. Hercule Poirota professional sleuthwould not be at home at all in Miss Marple's world."
In 2013, the Christie family supported the release of a new Poirot story, The Monogram Murders, written by British author Sophie Hannah. Hannah later published three more Poirot mysteries, Closed Casket in 2016, The Mystery of Three Quarters in 2018., and The Killings at Kingfisher Hill in 2020.
Formula and plot devices
Christie has been called the "Duchess of Death", the "Mistress of Mystery", and the "Queen of Crime". Early in her career, a reporter noted that "her plots are possible, logical, and always new." According to Hannah, "At the start of each novel, she shows us an apparently impossible situation and we go mad wondering 'How can this be happening?' Then, slowly, she reveals how the impossible is not only possible but the only thing that could have happened."
She developed her storytelling techniques during what has been called the "Golden Age" of detective fiction. Author Dilys Winn called Christie "the doyenne of Coziness", a sub-genre which "featured a small village setting, a hero with faintly aristocratic family connections, a plethora of red herrings and a tendency to commit homicide with sterling silver letter openers and poisons imported from Paraguay". At the end, in a Christie hallmark, the detective usually gathers the surviving suspects into one room, explains the course of their deductive reasoning, and reveals the guilty party; there are exceptions where it is left to the guilty party to explain all (such as And Then There Were None and Endless Night).
Christie did not limit herself to quaint English villagesthe action might take place on a small island (And Then There Were None), an aeroplane (Death in the Clouds), a train (Murder on the Orient Express), a steamship (Death on the Nile), a smart London flat (Cards on the Table), a resort in the West Indies (A Caribbean Mystery), or an archaeological dig (Murder in Mesopotamia)but the circle of potential suspects is usually closed and intimate: family members, friends, servants, business associates, fellow travellers. Stereotyped characters abound (the , the stolid policeman, the devoted servant, the dull colonel), but these may be subverted to stymie the reader; impersonations and secret alliances are always possible. There is always a motivemost often, money: "There are very few killers in Christie who enjoy murder for its own sake."
Professor of Pharmacology Michael C. Gerald noted that "in over half her novels, one or more victims are poisoned, albeit not always to the full satisfaction of the perpetrator." Guns, knives, garrottes, tripwires, blunt instruments, and even a hatchet were also used, but "Christie never resorted to elaborate mechanical or scientific means to explain her ingenuity," according to John Curran, author and literary adviser to the Christie estate. Many of her clues are mundane objects: a calendar, a coffee cup, wax flowers, a beer bottle, a fireplace used during a heat wave.
According to crime writer P. D. James, Christie was prone to making the unlikeliest character the guilty party. Alert readers could sometimes identify the culprit by identifying the least likely suspect. Christie mocked this insight in her foreword to Cards on the Table: "Spot the person least likely to have committed the crime and in nine times out of ten your task is finished. Since I do not want my faithful readers to fling away this book in disgust, I prefer to warn them beforehand that this is not that kind of book."
On Desert Island Discs in 2007, Brian Aldiss said Christie had told him she wrote her books up to the last chapter, then decided who the most unlikely suspect was, after which she would go back and make the necessary changes to "frame" that person. Based upon a study of her working notebooks, Curran describes how Christie would first create a cast of characters, choose a setting, and then produce a list of scenes in which specific clues would be revealed; the order of scenes would be revised as she developed her plot. Of necessity, the murderer had to be known to the author before the sequence could be finalised and she began to type or dictate the first draft of her novel. Much of the work, particularly dialogue, was done in her head before she put it on paper.
In 2013, the 600 members of the Crime Writers' Association chose The Murder of Roger Ackroyd as "the best whodunit... ever written". Author Julian Symons observed, "In an obvious sense, the book fits within the conventions... The setting is a village deep within the English countryside, Roger Ackroyd dies in his study; there is a butler who behaves suspiciously... Every successful detective story in this period involved a deceit practised upon the reader, and here the trick is the highly original one of making the murderer the local doctor, who tells the story and acts as Poirot's Watson." Critic Sutherland Scott stated, "If Agatha Christie had made no other contribution to the literature of detective fiction she would still deserve our grateful thanks" for writing this novel.
In September 2015, to mark her 125th birthday, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. The novel is emblematic of both her use of formula and her willingness to discard it. "And Then There Were None carries the 'closed society' type of murder mystery to extreme lengths," according to author Charles Osborne. It begins with the classic set-up of potential victim(s) and killer(s) isolated from the outside world, but then violates conventions. There is no detective involved in the action, no interviews of suspects, no careful search for clues, and no suspects gathered together in the last chapter to be confronted with the solution. As Christie herself said, "Ten people had to die without it becoming ridiculous or the murderer being obvious." Critics agreed she had succeeded: "The arrogant Mrs. Christie this time set herself a fearsome test of her own ingenuity... the reviews, not surprisingly, were without exception wildly adulatory."
Character stereotypes and perceived racism
Christie included stereotyped descriptions of characters in her work, especially before 1945 (when such attitudes were more commonly expressed publicly), particularly in regard to Italians, Jews, and non-Europeans. For example, she described "men of Hebraic extraction, sallow men with hooked noses, wearing rather flamboyant jewellery" in the short story "The Soul of the Croupier" from the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin. In 1947, the Anti-Defamation League in the US sent an official letter of complaint to Christie's American publishers, Dodd, Mead and Company, regarding perceived antisemitism in her works. Christie's British literary agent later wrote to her US representative, authorising American publishers to "omit the word 'Jew' when it refers to an unpleasant character in future books."
In The Hollow, published in 1946, one of the characters is described by another as "a Whitechapel Jewess with dyed hair and a voice like a corncrake ... a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice". To contrast with the more stereotyped descriptions, Christie portrayed some "foreign" characters as victims, or potential victims, at the hands of English malefactors, such as, respectively, Olga Seminoff (Hallowe'en Party) and Katrina Reiger (in the short story "How Does Your Garden Grow?"). Jewish characters are often seen as un-English (such as Oliver Manders in Three Act Tragedy), but they are rarely the culprits.
Other detectives
In addition to Poirot and Marple, Christie also created amateur detectives Thomas Beresford and his wife, Prudence "Tuppence" née Cowley, who appear in four novels and one collection of short stories published between 1922 and 1974. Unlike her other sleuths, the Beresfords were only in their early twenties when introduced in The Secret Adversary, and were allowed to age alongside their creator. She treated their stories with a lighter touch, giving them a "dash and verve" which was not universally admired by critics. Their last adventure, Postern of Fate, was Christie's last novel.
Harley Quin was "easily the most unorthodox" of Christie's fictional detectives. Inspired by Christie's affection for the figures from the Harlequinade, the semi-supernatural Quin always works with an elderly, conventional man called Satterthwaite. The pair appear in 14 short stories, 12 of which were collected in 1930 as The Mysterious Mr. Quin. Mallowan described these tales as "detection in a fanciful vein, touching on the fairy story, a natural product of Agatha's peculiar imagination". Satterthwaite also appears in a novel, Three Act Tragedy, and a short story, "Dead Man's Mirror", both of which feature Poirot.
Another of her lesser-known characters is Parker Pyne, a retired civil servant who assists unhappy people in an unconventional manner. The 12 short stories which introduced him, Parker Pyne Investigates (1934), are best remembered for "The Case of the Discontented Soldier", which features Ariadne Oliver, "an amusing and satirical self-portrait of Agatha Christie". Over the ensuing decades, Oliver reappeared in seven novels. In most of them she assists Poirot.
Plays
In 1928, Michael Morton adapted The Murder of Roger Ackroyd for the stage under the title Alibi. The play enjoyed a respectable run, but Christie disliked the changes made to her work and, in future, preferred to write for the theatre herself. The first of her own stage works was Black Coffee, which received good reviews when it opened in the West End in late 1930. She followed this up with adaptations of her detective novels: And Then There Were None in 1943, Appointment with Death in 1945, and The Hollow in 1951.
In the 1950s, "the theatre ... engaged much of Agatha's attention." She next adapted her short radio play into The Mousetrap, which premiered in the West End in 1952, produced by Peter Saunders. Her expectations for the play were not high; she believed it would run no more than eight months. It has long since made theatrical history, staging its 27,500th performance in September 2018. The play closed down in March 2020, when all UK theatres shut due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In 1953, she followed this with Witness for the Prosecution, whose Broadway production won the New York Drama Critics' Circle award for best foreign play of 1954 and earned Christie an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Spider's Web, an original work written for actress Margaret Lockwood at her request, premiered in 1954 and was also a hit. She is also the first female playwright to have three plays running simultaneously in London's West End: The Mousetrap, Witness for the Prosecution and Spider's Web. Christie said, "Plays are much easier to write than books, because you can see them in your mind's eye, you are not hampered by all that description which clogs you so terribly in a book and stops you from getting on with what's happening." In a letter to her daughter, Christie said being a playwright was "a lot of fun!"
As Mary Westmacott
Christie published six mainstream novels under the name Mary Westmacott, a pseudonym which gave her the freedom to explore "her most private and precious imaginative garden". These books typically received better reviews than her detective and thriller fiction. Of the first, Giant's Bread published in 1930, a reviewer for The New York Times wrote, "...her book is far above the average of current fiction, in fact, comes well under the classification of a 'good book'. And it is only a satisfying novel that can claim that appellation." It was publicized from the very beginning that "Mary Westmacott" was a pen name of a well-known author, although the identity behind the pen name was kept secret; the dust jacket of Giant's Bread mentions that the author had previously written "under her real name...half a dozen books that have each passed the thirty thousand mark in sales." (In fact, though this was technically true, it disguised Christie's identity through understatement. By the publication of Giant's Bread, Christie had published 10 novels and two short story collections, all of which had sold considerably more than 30,000 copies.) After Christie's authorship of the first four Westmacott novels was revealed by a journalist in 1949, she wrote two more, the last in 1956.
The other Westmacott titles are: Unfinished Portrait (1934), Absent in the Spring (1944), The Rose and the Yew Tree (1948), A Daughter's a Daughter (1952), and The Burden (1956).
Non-fiction works
Christie published few non-fiction works. Come, Tell Me How You Live, about working on an archaeological dig, was drawn from her life with Mallowan. The Grand Tour: Around the World with the Queen of Mystery is a collection of correspondence from her 1922 Grand Tour of the British empire, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Agatha Christie: An Autobiography was published posthumously in 1977 and adjudged the Best Critical / Biographical Work at the 1978 Edgar Awards.
Titles
Many of Christie's works from 1940 onward have titles drawn from literature, with the original context of the title typically printed as an epigraph.
The inspirations for some of Christie's titles include:
William Shakespeare's works: Sad Cypress, By the Pricking of My Thumbs, There is a Tide..., Absent in the Spring, and The Mousetrap, for example. Osborne notes that "Shakespeare is the writer most quoted in the works of Agatha Christie";
The Bible: Evil Under the Sun, The Burden, and The Pale Horse;
Other works of literature: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (from Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott"), The Moving Finger (from Edward FitzGerald's translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám), The Rose and the Yew Tree (from T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets), Postern of Fate (from James Elroy Flecker's "Gates of Damascus"), Endless Night (from William Blake's "Auguries of Innocence"), N or M? (from the Book of Common Prayer), and Come, Tell Me How You Live (from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass).
Christie biographer Gillian Gill said, "Christie's writing has the sparseness, the directness, the narrative pace, and the universal appeal of the fairy story, and it is perhaps as modern fairy stories for grown-up children that Christie's novels succeed." Reflecting a juxtaposition of innocence and horror, numerous Christie titles were drawn from well-known children's nursery rhymes: And Then There Were None (from "Ten Little Niggers"), One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (from "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe"), Five Little Pigs (from "This Little Piggy"), Crooked House (from "There Was a Crooked Man"), A Pocket Full of Rye (from "Sing a Song of Sixpence"), Hickory Dickory Dock (from "Hickory Dickory Dock"), and Three Blind Mice (from "Three Blind Mice").
Critical reception
Christie is regularly referred to as the "Queen of Crime" or "Queen of Mystery", and is considered a master of suspense, plotting, and characterisation. In 1955, she became the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. She was named "Best Writer of the Century" and the Hercule Poirot series of books was named "Best Series of the Century" at the 2000 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. In 2013, she was voted "best crime writer" in a survey of 600 members of the Crime Writers' Association of professional novelists. However, the writer Raymond Chandler criticised the artificiality of her books, as did writer Julian Symons. The literary critic Edmund Wilson described her prose as banal and her characterisations as superficial.
In 2011, Christie was named the second most financially successful crime writer of all time in the United Kingdom, after Ian Fleming, by digital crime drama TV channel Alibi with total earnings around £100 million. In 2012, Christie was among the people selected by the artist Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous work, the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, "to celebrate the British cultural figures he most admires".
In 2015, in honor of the 125th anniversary of her birthday, 25 contemporary mystery writers and one publisher gave their views on Christie's works. Many of the authors had read Christie's novels first, before other mystery writers, in English or in their native language, influencing their own writing, and nearly all still viewed her as the "Queen of Crime" and creator of the plot twists used by mystery authors. Nearly all had one or more favourites among Christie's mysteries and found her books still good to read nearly 100 years after her first novel was published. Just one of the 25 authors held with Wilson's views.
Book sales
In her prime, Christie was rarely out of the bestseller list. She was the first crime writer to have 100,000 copies of 10 of her titles published by Penguin on the same day in 1948. , Guinness World Records listed Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time. , her novels had sold more than two billion copies in 44 languages. Half the sales are of English-language editions, and half are translations. According to Index Translationum, , she was the most-translated individual author. Christie is one of the most-borrowed authors in UK libraries. She is also UK's best-selling spoken-book author. In 2002, 117,696 Christie audiobooks were sold, in comparison to 97,755 for J. K. Rowling, 78,770 for Roald Dahl and 75,841 for J. R. R. Tolkien. In 2015, the Christie estate claimed And Then There Were None was "the best-selling crime novel of all time", with approximately 100 million sales, also making it one of the highest-selling books of all time. More than two million copies of her books were sold in English in 2020.
Legacy
In 2016, one hundred years after Christie wrote her first detective story, the Royal Mail released six stamps in her honour, featuring The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, The Body in the Library, and A Murder is Announced. The Guardian reported that, "Each design incorporates microtext, UV ink and thermochromic ink. These concealed clues can be revealed using either a magnifying glass, UV light or body heat and provide pointers to the mysteries' solutions." Her characters and her face appeared on the stamps of many countries like Dominica and the Somali Republic. In 2020, Christie was commemorated on a £2 coin by the Royal Mint for the first time to mark the centenary of her first novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles.
Adaptations
Christie's works have been adapted for cinema and television. The first was the 1928 British film The Passing of Mr. Quin. Poirot's first film appearance was in 1931 in Alibi, which starred Austin Trevor as Christie's sleuth. Margaret Rutherford played Marple in a series of films released in the 1960s. Christie liked her acting, but considered the first film "pretty poor" and thought no better of the rest.
She felt differently about the 1974 film Murder on the Orient Express, directed by Sidney Lumet, which featured major stars and high production values; her attendance at the London premiere was one of her last public outings. In 2016, a new film version was released, directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also starred, wearing "the most extravagant mustache moviegoers have ever seen".
The television adaptation Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989–2013), with David Suchet in the title role, ran for 70 episodes over 13 series. It received nine BAFTA award nominations and won four BAFTA awards in 1990–1992. The television series Miss Marple (1984–1992), with Joan Hickson as "the BBC's peerless Miss Marple", adapted all 12 Marple novels. The French television series (2009–2012, 2013–2020), adapted 36 of Christie's stories.
Christie's books have also been adapted for BBC Radio, a video game series, and graphic novels.
Interests and influences
Pharmacology
During the First World War, Christie took a break from nursing to train for the Apothecaries Hall Examination. While she subsequently found dispensing in the hospital pharmacy monotonous, and thus less enjoyable than nursing, her new knowledge provided her with a background in potentially toxic drugs. Early in the Second World War, she brought her skills up to date at Torquay Hospital.
As Michael C. Gerald puts it, her "activities as a hospital dispenser during both World Wars not only supported the war effort but also provided her with an appreciation of drugs as therapeutic agents and poisons... These hospital experiences were also likely responsible for the prominent role physicians, nurses, and pharmacists play in her stories." There were to be many medical practitioners, pharmacists, and scientists, naïve or suspicious, in Christie's cast of characters; featuring in Murder in Mesopotamia, Cards on the Table, The Pale Horse, and Mrs. McGinty's Dead, among many others.
Gillian Gill notes that the murder method in Christie's first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, "comes right out of Agatha Christie's work in the hospital dispensary". In an interview with journalist Marcelle Bernstein, Christie stated, "I don't like messy deaths... I'm more interested in peaceful people who die in their own beds and no one knows why." With her expert knowledge, Christie had no need of poisons unknown to science, which were forbidden under Ronald Knox's "Ten Rules for Detective Fiction". Arsenic, aconite, strychnine, digitalis, thallium, and other substances were used to dispatch victims in the ensuing decades.
Archaeology
In her youth, Christie showed little interest in antiquities. After her marriage to Mallowan in 1930, she accompanied him on annual expeditions, spending three to four months at a time in Syria and Iraq at excavation sites at Ur, Nineveh, Tell Arpachiyah, Chagar Bazar, Tell Brak, and Nimrud. The Mallowans also took side trips whilst travelling to and from expedition sites, visiting Italy, Greece, Egypt, Iran, and the Soviet Union, among other places. Their experiences travelling and living abroad are reflected in novels such as Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and Appointment with Death.
For the 1931 digging season at Nineveh, Christie bought a writing table to continue her own work; in the early 1950s, she paid to add a small writing room to the team's house at Nimrud. She also devoted time and effort each season in "making herself useful by photographing, cleaning, and recording finds; and restoring ceramics, which she especially enjoyed". She also provided funds for the expeditions.
Many of the settings for Christie's books were inspired by her archaeological fieldwork in the Middle East; this is reflected in the detail with which she describes themfor instance, the temple of Abu Simbel as depicted in Death on the Nilewhile the settings for They Came to Baghdad were places she and Mallowan had recently stayed. Similarly, she drew upon her knowledge of daily life on a dig throughout Murder in Mesopotamia. Archaeologists and experts in Middle Eastern cultures and artefacts featured in her works include Dr Eric Leidner in Murder in Mesopotamia and Signor Richetti in Death on the Nile.
After the Second World War, Christie chronicled her time in Syria in Come, Tell Me How You Live, which she described as "small beera very little book, full of everyday doings and happenings". From 8November 2001 to March 2002, The British Museum presented a "colourful and episodic exhibition" called Agatha Christie and Archaeology: Mystery in Mesopotamia which illustrated how her activities as a writer and as the wife of an archaeologist intertwined.
In popular culture
BBC television released Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures in 2004, in which she is portrayed by Olivia Williams, Anna Massey, and Bonnie Wright (at different stages in her life). ITV's Perspectives: "The Mystery of Agatha Christie" (2013) is hosted by David Suchet.
Some of Christie's fictional portrayals have explored and offered accounts of her disappearance in 1926. The film Agatha (1979), with Vanessa Redgrave, has Christie sneaking away to plan revenge against her husband; Christie's heirs sued unsuccessfully to prevent the film's distribution. The Doctor Who episode "The Unicorn and the Wasp" (17 May 2008), with Fenella Woolgar, portrays Christie in her early writing career and explains her disappearance as the result of having suffered a temporary breakdown owing to a brief psychic link being formed between her and an alien wasp called the Vespiform. The film Agatha and the Truth of Murder (2018) sends her under cover to solve the murder of Florence Nightingale's goddaughter, Florence Nightingale Shore. A fictionalised account of Christie's disappearance is also the central theme of a Korean musical, Agatha. The Christie Affair, a Christie-like mystery story of love and revenge by author Nina de Gramont, was a 2022 novel loosely based on Christie's disappearance.
Other portrayals, such as the Hungarian film, Kojak Budapesten (1980), create their own scenarios involving Christie's criminal skill. In the TV play, Murder by the Book (1986), Christie (Dame Peggy Ashcroft) murders one of her fictional-turned-real characters, Poirot. Christie features as a character in Gaylord Larsen's Dorothy and Agatha and The London Blitz Murders by Max Allan Collins. The American television program Unsolved Mysteries devoted a segment to her famous disappearance, with Agatha portrayed by actress Tessa Pritchard. A young Agatha is depicted in the Spanish historical television series Gran Hotel (2011) in which she finds inspiration to write her new novel while aiding local detectives. In the alternative history television film Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar (2018), Christie becomes involved in a murder case at an archaeological dig in Iraq. In 2019, Honeysuckle Weeks portrayed Christie in an episode, "No Friends Like Old Friends", in a Canadian drama, Frankie Drake Mysteries.
In June 2021, an episode of the internet series BuzzFeed Unsolved detailed the disappearance of Christie and possible theories.
See also
Agatha Christie bibliography (lists of Christie's works)
Agatha Christie indult (an oecumenical request to which Christie was signatory seeking permission for the occasional use of the Tridentine (Latin) mass in England and Wales)
Agatha Awards (literary awards for mystery and crime writers)
Agatha Christie Award (Japan) (literary award for unpublished mystery novels)
List of solved missing person cases
Notes
References
Further reading
.
Curran, John (2009). Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making. London: HarperCollins. .
Curran, John (2011). Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making. London: HarperCollins. .
Curran, John. "75 facts about Christie". The Home of Agatha Christie. Agatha Christie Limited. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
Gerald, Michael C. (1993). The Poisonous Pen of Agatha Christie. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. .
.
.
.
Morgan, Janet P. (1984). Agatha Christie: A Biography. London: HarperCollins. . Retrieved 8 March 2015.
Prichard, Mathew (2012). The Grand Tour: Around The World With The Queen Of Mystery. New York, NY: HarperCollins. .
.
Thompson, Laura (2008), Agatha Christie: An English Mystery, London: Headline Review, .
External links
A Christie reading list (on official website)
Agatha Christie/Sir Max Mallowan's blue plaque at Cholsey
Agatha Christie profile and related articles in The Guardian
Agatha Christie profile on PBS.org
Agatha Christie profile on FamousAuthors.org
"The Christie Mystery" (fan site)
Agatha Christie recording, oral history at the Imperial War Museum
Agatha Christie business papers at the University of Exeter
"Shocking Real Murders" (book released to mark the 125th anniversary of Christie's birth)
Hercule Poirot Central
The Films of Agatha Christie (1993)
Lamothe, Lori. "The Original Gone Girl: Did Agatha Christie Try to Frame Her Cheating Husband?" in History of Yesterday.
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"All Because of Agatha is a comic play written by Jonathan Troy. It was first published in 1964 by Dramatists Play Service. The play is presented in three acts, often with two intermissions. The play has been a long-standing favorite of community theatre groups, collegiate theatre troupes, and high school drama clubs thanks to its modest production values. One major set is used, and there are ten cast members in the script. Although the play was written in the 1960s, the action can easily take place in the present day.\n\nSynopsis\n\nAct 1\n\nDuff O'Hara is a cartoonist for an unnamed Eastern newspaper. He and his bride, Joan, are intrigued by an old house in historic Salem, Massachusetts. They plan to buy it until their realtor, Mr. Van Buren, is forced to disclose why the price is so low - it's haunted. But Joan is delighted, being an occult fanatic. Van Buren tells the couple about Agatha Forbes, a witch who was burned at the stake during the Salem Witch Trials. A book in the house is pointed out, which tells the whole story. She had vowed to return to the spot where it happened every year, and did. Every time a new owner would buy the house, they'd be scared off every November 22. Joan decides to throw a party that upcoming November 22, an effort to convince Agatha Forbes to quit haunting the house. Duff signs the papers and they move in.\n\nDuff and Joan get a visit from Miss Elsie Boggs, who heads the Salem psychic society and unsuccessfully tries to get the couple to join. They also hire a sassy Brooklynite, Ethel, as their housekeeper. They also meet Dr. Randolph, their next door neighbor who is an obstetrician. It turns out his mother, Madame LaSolda, is a medium. Once Joan's aunt Thelma unexpectedly shows up, weird things start to happen: Ethel is smacked upside the head with a pot that flew off the kitchen shelf, and Thelma receives a message from Agatha Forbes via her Ouija board.\n\nAct 2\n\nIt's the night of November 22, time for the big witch-hunting party. The local newspaper sends its star reporter, Flip Cannon, to cover the proceedings. Then begins some romantic tension between him and Ethel. Madame LaSolda also arrives for the party, then Dr. Randolph. Madame LaSolda tells the story about how Agatha Forbes spiked her orange juice one year and woke up the next day with an awful hangover.\n\nSoon, the appointed hour of 10:00 pm approaches, and Agatha Forbes makes her appearance, with a bad attitude. She tries to get them to leave the house, but everyone just stares at her in amusement. As Duff becomes more and more fed up with the goings-on, Madame LaSolda tries to set it up so that the spell would be broken. Things go hilariously wrong.\n\nAct 3\n\nThe attempt to break the spell doesn't work, because Agatha now has the power to make everyone in the house do what she wants. She gets Madame LaSolda drunk, Duff and Joan to quarrel violently, and positions Ethel and Flip, along with Dr. Randolph and Thelma, in suggestive positions. Things only calm down after Duff threatens to move out and Ethel quits her job, and that's when Agatha really starts to have fun. Flip is transformed from slick reporter to suave ladies man and is able to seduce Ethel. Dr. Randolph is transformed from a milquetoast geek to a John Wayne-style hunk and sweeps Thelma off her feet. Agatha is able to keep Duff from moving out after Joan discloses that she is pregnant.\n\nDuff and Joan make up and decide to figure out a way to break the spell themselves and get Agatha out of their hair for good. They peruse the book about Agatha and realize that the Latin language makes her itch, and in order to break the spell, they must say one certain phrase to Agatha, and get her to speak Latin in return. They find the phrase, and the spell is broken. Agatha is gone - permanently.\n\nReferences and reviews\nAmazon.com\nwww.bn.com\n\n1964 plays\nAmerican plays\nPlays set in Massachusetts",
"The name Agatha has been used for ten tropical cyclones in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.\n Tropical Storm Agatha (1967), stayed well away from land\n Hurricane Agatha (1971), made landfall in the Mexican state of Michoacán, causing moderate damage\n Hurricane Agatha (1975), moved northwest off the Mexican coast\n Hurricane Agatha (1980), stayed well out to sea\n Hurricane Agatha (1986), moved eastward parallel to the Mexican coastline\n Tropical Storm Agatha (1992), approached but did not reach the Mexican coast\n Tropical Storm Agatha (1998), stayed well clear of land\n Tropical Storm Agatha (2004), stayed off the Mexican coast; did not affect land\n Tropical Storm Agatha (2010), made landfall on the coast of Guatemala, killing 317 and causing nearly 1.1 billion (2010 USD) in damage\n Tropical Storm Agatha (2016), churned in the open ocean \n\nPacific hurricane disambiguation pages"
] |
[
"Agatha Christie",
"Character stereotypes",
"Did she describe what her stereotypes were?",
"a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice\".",
"How did she describe some of the men?",
"Hebraic men with hook-noses wearing rather flamboyant jewellery",
"From what novel was that description?",
"in the first editions of the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin (",
"How did she depict foreigners?",
"Jewish characters are often seen as un-English",
"Did Agatha show prejudices?",
"Often, she is affectionate or teasing with her prejudices.",
"Why did Agatha want to return to Syria?",
"Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as \"gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life;"
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C_7f92437539ba40128d8fca5975c3fe05_0
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What did she think of the Scottish?
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What did Agatha Christie think of the Scottish?
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Agatha Christie
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Christie occasionally inserted stereotyped descriptions of characters into her work, particularly before the end of the Second World War (when such attitudes were more commonly expressed publicly), and particularly in regard to Italians, Jews, non-Europeans, and sometimes Americans, the last usually as impossibly naive or uninformed. For example, she described "Hebraic men with hook-noses wearing rather flamboyant jewellery" in the first editions of the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin (1930), in the short story "The Soul of the Croupier"; in later editions, the passage was edited to describe "sallow men" wearing same. In The Hollow, published as late as 1946, one of the more unsympathetic characters is "a Whitechapel Jewess with dyed hair and a voice like a corncrake ... a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice". To contrast with the more stereotyped descriptions, Christie sometimes showed "foreigners" as victims or potential victims at the hands of English malefactors, such as, respectively, Olga Seminoff (Hallowe'en Party) and Katrina Reiger (in the short story "How Does Your Garden Grow?"). Jewish characters are often seen as un-English (such as Oliver Manders in Three Act Tragedy), but they are rarely the culprits. Often, she is affectionate or teasing with her prejudices. After four years of war-torn London, Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as "gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life; who are idle and gay, and who have dignity, good manners, and a great sense of humour, and to whom death is not terrible." She had trouble with an incompetent Swiss French nursery helper (Marcelle) for toddler Rosalind, and as a result she decided, "Scottish preferred ... good with the young. The French were hopeless disciplinarians ... Germans good and methodical, but it was not German that I really wanted Rosalind to learn. The Irish were gay but made trouble in the house; the English were of all kinds". CANNOTANSWER
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good with the young.
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Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End since 1952, as well as six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
Christie was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon, and was largely home-schooled. She was initially an unsuccessful writer with six consecutive rejections, but this changed in 1920 when The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring detective Hercule Poirot, was published. Her first husband was Archibald Christie; they married in 1914 and had one child before divorcing in 1928. During both World Wars, she served in hospital dispensaries, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the poisons which featured in many of her novels, short stories, and plays. Following her marriage to archaeologist Max Mallowan in 1930, she spent several months each year on digs in the Middle East and used her first-hand knowledge of his profession in her fiction.
According to Index Translationum, she remains the most-translated individual author. Her novel And Then There Were None is one of the top-selling books of all time, with approximately 100 million copies sold. Christie's stage play The Mousetrap holds the world record for the longest initial run. It opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End of London on 25 November 1952, and by September 2018 there had been more than 27,500 performances. The play was closed down in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic and reopened in May 2021.
In 1955, Christie was the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. Later that year, Witness for the Prosecution received an Edgar Award for best play. In 2013, she was voted the best crime writer and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd the best crime novel ever by 600 professional novelists of the Crime Writers' Association. In September 2015, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. Most of Christie's books and short stories have been adapted for television, radio, video games, and graphic novels. More than 30 feature films are based on her work.
Life and career
Childhood and adolescence: 1890–1907
Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born on 15 September 1890, into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon. She was the youngest of three children born to Frederick Alvah Miller, "a gentleman of substance", and his wife Clarissa Margaret ("Clara") Miller née Boehmer.
Christie's mother Clara was born in Dublin in 1854 to British Army officer Frederick Boehmer and his wife Mary Ann Boehmer née West. Boehmer died in Jersey in 1863, leaving his widow to raise Clara and her brothers on a meagre income. Two weeks after Boehmer's death, Mary's sister Margaret West married widowed dry goods merchant Nathaniel Frary Miller, a US citizen. To assist Mary financially, they agreed to foster nine-year-old Clara; the family settled in Timperley, Cheshire. Margaret and Nathaniel had no children together, but Nathaniel had a 17-year-old son, Fred Miller, from his previous marriage. Fred was born in New York City and travelled extensively after leaving his Swiss boarding school. He and Clara were married in London in 1878. Their first child, Margaret Frary ("Madge"), was born in Torquay in 1879. The second, Louis Montant ("Monty"), was born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1880, while the family was on an extended visit to the United States.
When Fred's father died in 1869, he left Clara £2,000 (approximately ); in 1881 they used this to buy the leasehold of a villa in Torquay named Ashfield. It was here that their third and last child, Agatha, was born in 1890. She described her childhood as "very happy". The Millers lived mainly in Devon but often visited her step-grandmother/great-aunt Margaret Miller in Ealing and maternal grandmother Mary Boehmer in Bayswater. A year was spent abroad with her family, in the French Pyrenees, Paris, Dinard, and Guernsey. Because her siblings were so much older, and there were few children in their neighbourhood, Christie spent much of her time playing alone with her pets and imaginary companions. She eventually made friends with other girls in Torquay, noting that "one of the highlights of my existence" was her appearance with them in a youth production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard, in which she played the hero, Colonel Fairfax.
According to Christie, Clara believed she should not learn to read until she was eight; thanks to her curiosity, she was reading by age four. Her sister had been sent to a boarding school, but their mother insisted that Christie receive a home education. As a result, her parents and sister supervised her studies in reading, writing, and basic arithmetic, a subject she particularly enjoyed. They also taught her music, and she learned to play the piano and the mandolin.
Christie was a voracious reader from an early age. Among her earliest memories were reading children's books by Mrs Molesworth and Edith Nesbit. When a little older, she moved on to the surreal verse of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. As an adolescent, she enjoyed works by Anthony Hope, Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, and Alexandre Dumas. In April 1901, aged 10, she wrote her first poem, "The Cow Slip".
By 1901, her father's health had deteriorated, because of what he believed were heart problems. Fred died in November 1901 from pneumonia and chronic kidney disease. Christie later said that her father's death when she was 11 marked the end of her childhood.
The family's financial situation had by this time worsened. Madge married the year after their father's death and moved to Cheadle, Cheshire; Monty was overseas, serving in a British regiment. Christie now lived alone at Ashfield with her mother. In 1902, she began attending Miss Guyer's Girls' School in Torquay but found it difficult to adjust to the disciplined atmosphere. In 1905, her mother sent her to Paris, where she was educated in a series of (boarding schools), focusing on voice training and piano playing. Deciding she lacked the temperament and talent, she gave up her goal of performing professionally as a concert pianist or an opera singer.
Early literary attempts, marriage, literary success: 1907–1926
After completing her education, Christie returned to England to find her mother ailing. They decided to spend the northern winter of 1907–1908 in the warm climate of Egypt, which was then a regular tourist destination for wealthy Britons. They stayed for three months at the Gezirah Palace Hotel in Cairo. Christie attended many dances and other social functions; she particularly enjoyed watching amateur polo matches. While they visited some ancient Egyptian monuments such as the Great Pyramid of Giza, she did not exhibit the great interest in archaeology and Egyptology that developed in her later years. Returning to Britain, she continued her social activities, writing and performing in amateur theatricals. She also helped put on a play called The Blue Beard of Unhappiness with female friends.
At 18, Christie wrote her first short story, "The House of Beauty", while recovering in bed from an illness. It consisted of about 6,000 words on "madness and dreams", a subject of fascination for her. Her biographer, Janet Morgan, has commented that, despite "infelicities of style", the story was "compelling". (The story became an early version of her story "The House of Dreams".) Other stories followed, most of them illustrating her interest in spiritualism and the paranormal. These included "The Call of Wings" and "The Little Lonely God". Magazines rejected all her early submissions, made under pseudonyms (including Mac Miller, Nathaniel Miller, and Sydney West); some submissions were later revised and published under her real name, often with new titles.
Around the same time, Christie began work on her first novel, Snow Upon the Desert. Writing under the pseudonym Monosyllaba, she set the book in Cairo and drew upon her recent experiences there. She was disappointed when the six publishers she contacted declined the work. Clara suggested that her daughter ask for advice from the successful novelist Eden Phillpotts, a family friend and neighbour, who responded to her enquiry, encouraged her writing, and sent her an introduction to his own literary agent, Hughes Massie, who also rejected Snow Upon the Desert but suggested a second novel.
Meanwhile, Christie's social activities expanded, with country house parties, riding, hunting, dances, and roller skating. She had short-lived relationships with four men and an engagement to another. In October 1912, she was introduced to Archibald "Archie" Christie at a dance given by Lord and Lady Clifford at Ugbrooke, about from Torquay. The son of a barrister in the Indian Civil Service, Archie was a Royal Artillery officer who was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps in April 1913. The couple quickly fell in love. Three months after their first meeting, Archie proposed marriage, and Agatha accepted.
With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Archie was sent to France to fight. They married on Christmas Eve 1914 at Emmanuel Church, Clifton, Bristol, close to the home of his mother and stepfather, while Archie was on home leave. Rising through the ranks, he was posted back to Britain in September 1918 as a colonel in the Air Ministry. Christie involved herself in the war effort as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment of the Red Cross. From October 1914 to May 1915, then from June 1916 to September 1918, she worked 3,400 hours in the Town Hall Red Cross Hospital, Torquay, first as a nurse (unpaid) then as a dispenser at £16 (approximately ) a year from 1917 after qualifying as an apothecaries' assistant. Her war service ended in September 1918 when Archie was reassigned to London, and they rented a flat in St. John's Wood.
Christie had long been a fan of detective novels, having enjoyed Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White and The Moonstone, and Arthur Conan Doyle's early Sherlock Holmes stories. She wrote her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1916. It featured Hercule Poirot, a former Belgian police officer with "magnificent moustaches" and a head "exactly the shape of an egg", who had taken refuge in Britain after Germany invaded Belgium. Christie's inspiration for the character came from Belgian refugees living in Torquay, and the Belgian soldiers she helped to treat as a volunteer nurse during the First World War. Her original manuscript was rejected by Hodder & Stoughton and Methuen. After keeping the submission for several months, John Lane at The Bodley Head offered to accept it, provided that Christie change how the solution was revealed. She did so, and signed a contract committing her next five books to The Bodley Head, which she later felt was exploitative. It was published in 1920.
Christie settled into married life, giving birth to her only child, Rosalind Margaret Clarissa (later Hicks), in August 1919 at Ashfield. Archie left the Air Force at the end of the war and began working in the City financial sector at a relatively low salary. They still employed a maid. Her second novel, The Secret Adversary (1922), featured a new detective couple Tommy and Tuppence, again published by The Bodley Head. It earned her £50 (approximately ). A third novel, Murder on the Links, again featured Poirot, as did the short stories commissioned by Bruce Ingram, editor of The Sketch magazine, from 1923. She now had no difficulty selling her work.
In 1922, the Christies joined an around-the-world promotional tour for the British Empire Exhibition, led by Major Ernest Belcher. Leaving their daughter with Agatha's mother and sister, in 10 months they travelled to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and Canada. They learned to surf prone in South Africa; then, in Waikiki, they were among the first Britons to surf standing up.
When they returned to England, Archie resumed work in the city, and Christie continued to work hard at her writing. After living in a series of apartments in London, they bought a house in Sunningdale, Berkshire, which they renamed Styles after the mansion in Christie's first detective novel.
Christie's mother, Clarissa Miller, died in April 1926. They had been exceptionally close, and the loss sent Christie into a deep depression. In August 1926, reports appeared in the press that Christie had gone to a village near Biarritz to recuperate from a "breakdown" caused by "overwork".
Disappearance: 1926
In August 1926, Archie asked Agatha for a divorce. He had fallen in love with Nancy Neele, a friend of Major Belcher. On 3December 1926, the pair quarrelled after Archie announced his plan to spend the weekend with friends, unaccompanied by his wife. Late that evening, Christie disappeared from their home in Sunningdale. The following morning, her car, a Morris Cowley, was discovered at Newlands Corner, parked above a chalk quarry with an expired driving licence and clothes inside.
The disappearance quickly became a news story, as the press sought to satisfy their readers' "hunger for sensation, disaster, and scandal". Home Secretary William Joynson-Hicks pressured police, and a newspaper offered a £100 reward (approximately ). More than a thousand police officers, 15,000 volunteers, and several aeroplanes searched the rural landscape. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave a spirit medium one of Christie's gloves to find her. Christie's disappearance was featured on the front page of The New York Times. Despite the extensive manhunt, she was not found for another 10 days. On 14 December 1926, she was located at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire, north of her home in Sunningdale, registered as Mrs Tressa Neele (the surname of her husband's lover) from " S.A." (South Africa). The next day, Christie left for her sister's residence at Abney Hall, Cheadle, where she was sequestered "in guarded hall, gates locked, telephone cut off, and callers turned away".
Christie's autobiography makes no reference to the disappearance. Two doctors diagnosed her as suffering from "an unquestionable genuine loss of memory", yet opinion remains divided over the reason for her disappearance. Some, including her biographer Morgan, believe she disappeared during a fugue state. The author Jared Cade concluded that Christie planned the event to embarrass her husband but did not anticipate the resulting public melodrama. Christie biographer Laura Thompson provides an alternative view that Christie disappeared during a nervous breakdown, conscious of her actions but not in emotional control of herself. Public reaction at the time was largely negative, supposing a publicity stunt or an attempt to frame her husband for murder.
Second marriage and later life: 1927–1976
In January 1927, Christie, looking "very pale", sailed with her daughter and secretary to Las Palmas, Canary Islands, to "complete her convalescence", returning three months later. Christie petitioned for divorce and was granted a decree nisi against her husband in April 1928, which was made absolute in October 1928. Archie married Nancy Neele a week later. Christie retained custody of their daughter, Rosalind, and kept the Christie surname for her writing.
Reflecting on the period in her autobiography, Christie wrote, "So, after illness, came sorrow, despair and heartbreak. There is no need to dwell on it."
In 1928, Christie left England and took the (Simplon) Orient Express to Istanbul and then to Baghdad. In Iraq, she became friends with archaeologist Leonard Woolley and his wife, who invited her to return to their dig in February 1930. On that second trip, she met archaeologist Max Mallowan, 13 years her junior. In a 1977 interview, Mallowan recounted his first meeting with Christie, when he took her and a group of tourists on a tour of his expedition site in Iraq. Christie and Mallowan married in Edinburgh in September 1930. Their marriage lasted until Christie's death in 1976. She accompanied Mallowan on his archaeological expeditions, and her travels with him contributed background to several of her novels set in the Middle East. Other novels (such as Peril at End House) were set in and around Torquay, where she was raised. Christie drew on her experience of international train travel when writing her 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express. The Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul, the eastern terminus of the railway, claims the book was written there and maintains Christie's room as a memorial to the author.
Christie and Mallowan lived in Chelsea, first in Cresswell Place and later in Sheffield Terrace. Both properties are now marked by blue plaques. In 1934, they bought Winterbrook House in Winterbrook, a hamlet near Wallingford. This was their main residence for the rest of their lives and the place where Christie did much of her writing. This house also bears a blue plaque. Christie led a quiet life despite being known in Wallingford; from 1951 to 1976 she served as president of the local amateur dramatic society.
The couple acquired the Greenway Estate in Devon as a summer residence in 1938; it was given to the National Trust in 2000. Christie frequently stayed at Abney Hall, Cheshire, which was owned by her brother-in-law, James Watts, and based at least two stories there: a short story "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding" in the story collection of the same name and the novel After the Funeral. One Christie compendium notes that "Abney became Agatha's greatest inspiration for country-house life, with all its servants and grandeur being woven into her plots. The descriptions of the fictional Chimneys, Stonygates, and other houses in her stories are mostly Abney Hall in various forms."
During World War II, Christie worked in the pharmacy at University College Hospital (UCH), London, where she updated her knowledge of poisons. Her later novel The Pale Horse was based on a suggestion from Harold Davis, the chief pharmacist at UCH. In 1977, a thallium poisoning case was solved by British medical personnel who had read Christie's book and recognised the symptoms she described.
The British intelligence agency MI5 investigated Christie after a character called Major Bletchley appeared in her 1941 thriller N or M?, which was about a hunt for a pair of deadly fifth columnists in wartime England. MI5 was concerned that Christie had a spy in Britain's top-secret codebreaking centre, Bletchley Park. The agency's fears were allayed when Christie told her friend, the codebreaker Dilly Knox, "I was stuck there on my way by train from Oxford to London and took revenge by giving the name to one of my least lovable characters."
Christie was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1950. In honour of her many literary works, Christie was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1956 New Year Honours. She was co-president of the Detection Club from 1958 to her death in 1976. In 1961, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature degree by the University of Exeter. In the 1971 New Year Honours, she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), three years after her husband had been knighted for his archaeological work. After her husband's knighthood, Christie could also be styled Lady Mallowan.
From 1971 to 1974, Christie's health began to fail, but she continued to write. Her last novel was Postern of Fate in 1973. Textual analysis suggested that Christie may have begun to suffer from Alzheimer's disease or other dementia at about this time.
Personal qualities
In 1946, Christie said of herself: "My chief dislikes are crowds, loud noises, gramophones and cinemas. I dislike the taste of alcohol and do not like smoking. I do like sun, sea, flowers, travelling, strange foods, sports, concerts, theatres, pianos, and doing embroidery."
Christie's works of fiction contain some character stereotypes seen as objectionable in modern times, but in real life, many of her biases were positive. After four years of war-torn London, Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as a "gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life; who are idle and gay, and who have dignity, good manners, and a great sense of humour, and to whom death is not terrible".
Christie was a lifelong, "quietly devout" member of the Church of England, attended church regularly, and kept her mother's copy of The Imitation of Christ by her bedside. After her divorce, she stopped taking the sacrament of communion.
The Agatha Christie Trust For Children was established in 1969, and shortly after Christie's death a charitable memorial fund was set up to "help two causes that she favoured: old people and young children".
Christie's obituary in The Times notes that "she never cared much for the cinema, or for wireless and television." Further,
Dame Agatha's private pleasures were gardeningshe won local prizes for horticultureand buying furniture for her various houses. She was a shy person: she disliked public appearances: but she was friendly and sharp-witted to meet. By inclination as well as breeding she belonged to the English upper middle-class. She wrote about, and for, people like herself. That was an essential part of her charm.
Death and estate
Death and burial
Christie died peacefully on 12 January 1976 at age 85 from natural causes at her home at Winterbrook House. When her death was announced, two West End theatresthe St. Martin's, where The Mousetrap was playing, and the Savoy, which was home to a revival of Murder at the Vicaragedimmed their outside lights in her honour. She was buried in the nearby churchyard of St Mary's, Cholsey, in a plot she had chosen with her husband 10 years before. The simple funeral service was attended by about 20 newspaper and TV reporters, some having travelled from as far away as South America. 30 wreaths adorned Christie's grave, including one from the cast of her long-running play The Mousetrap and one sent "on behalf of the multitude of grateful readers" by the Ulverscroft Large Print Book Publishers.
Mallowan, who remarried in 1977, died in 1978 and was buried next to Christie.
Estate and subsequent ownership of works
Christie was unhappy about becoming "an employed wage slave", and for tax reasons set up a private company in 1955, Agatha Christie Limited, to hold the rights to her works. In about 1959 she transferred her 278-acre home, Greenway Estate, to her daughter, Rosalind Hicks. In 1968, when Christie was almost 80, she sold a 51% stake in Agatha Christie Limited (and the works it owned) to Booker Books (better known as Booker Author's Division), which by 1977 had increased its stake to 64%. Agatha Christie Limited still owns the worldwide rights for more than 80 of Christie's novels and short stories, 19 plays, and nearly 40 TV films.
In the late 1950s, Christie had reputedly been earning around £100,000 (approximately ) per year. Christie sold an estimated 300 million books during her lifetime. At the time of her death in 1976, "she was the best-selling novelist in history."
One estimate of her total earnings from more than a half-century of writing is $20 million (approximately $ million in ). As a result of her tax planning, her will left only £106,683 (approximately ) net, which went mostly to her husband and daughter along with some smaller bequests. Her remaining 36% share of Agatha Christie Limited was inherited by Hicks, who passionately preserved her mother's works, image, and legacy until her own death 28 years later. The family's share of the company allowed them to appoint 50% of the board and the chairman, and retain a veto over new treatments, updated versions, and republications of her works.
In 2004, Hicks' obituary in The Telegraph noted that she had been "determined to remain true to her mother's vision and to protect the integrity of her creations" and disapproved of "merchandising" activities. Upon her death on 28 October 2004, the Greenway Estate passed to her son Mathew Prichard. After his stepfather's death in 2005, Prichard donated Greenway and its contents to the National Trust.
Christie's family and family trusts, including great-grandson James Prichard, continue to own the 36% stake in Agatha Christie Limited, and remain associated with the company. In 2020, James Prichard was the company's chairman. Mathew Prichard also holds the copyright to some of his grandmother's later literary works including The Mousetrap. Christie's work continues to be developed in a range of adaptations.
In 1998, Booker sold its shares in Agatha Christie Limited (at the time earning £2,100,000, approximately annual revenue) for £10,000,000 (approximately ) to Chorion, whose portfolio of authors' works included the literary estates of Enid Blyton and Dennis Wheatley. In February 2012, after a management buyout, Chorion began to sell off its literary assets. This included the sale of Chorion's 64% stake in Agatha Christie Limited to Acorn Media UK. In 2014, RLJ Entertainment Inc. (RLJE) acquired Acorn Media UK, renamed it Acorn Media Enterprises, and incorporated it as the RLJE UK development arm.
In late February 2014, media reports stated that the BBC had acquired exclusive TV rights to Christie's works in the UK (previously associated with ITV) and made plans with Acorn's co-operation to air new productions for the 125th anniversary of Christie's birth in 2015. As part of that deal, the BBC broadcast Partners in Crime and And Then There Were None, both in 2015. Subsequent productions have included The Witness for the Prosecution but plans to televise Ordeal by Innocence at Christmas 2017 were delayed because of controversy surrounding one of the cast members. The three-part adaptation aired in April 2018. A three-part adaptation of The A.B.C. Murders starring John Malkovich and Rupert Grint began filming in June 2018 and was first broadcast in December 2018. A two-part adaptation of The Pale Horse was broadcast on BBC1 in February 2020. Death Comes as the End will be the next BBC adaptation.
Works
Works of fiction
Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple
Christie's first published book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was released in 1920 and introduced the detective Hercule Poirot, who appeared in 33 of her novels and more than 50 short stories.
Over the years, Christie grew tired of Poirot, much as Conan Doyle did with Sherlock Holmes. By the end of the 1930s, Christie wrote in her diary that she was finding Poirot "insufferable", and by the 1960s she felt he was "an egocentric creep". Thompson believes Christie's occasional antipathy to her creation is overstated, and points out that "in later life she sought to protect him against misrepresentation as powerfully as if he were her own flesh and blood." Unlike Conan Doyle, she resisted the temptation to kill her detective off while he was still popular. She married off Poirot's "Watson", Captain Arthur Hastings, in an attempt to trim her cast commitments.
Miss Jane Marple was introduced in a series of short stories that began publication in December 1927 and were subsequently collected under the title The Thirteen Problems. Marple was a genteel, elderly spinster who solved crimes using analogies to English village life. Christie said, "Miss Marple was not in any way a picture of my grandmother; she was far more fussy and spinsterish than my grandmother ever was," but her autobiography establishes a firm connection between the fictional character and Christie's step-grandmother Margaret Miller ("Auntie-Grannie") and her "Ealing cronies". Both Marple and Miller "always expected the worst of everyone and everything, and were, with almost frightening accuracy, usually proved right". Marple appeared in 12 novels and 20 stories.
During the Second World War, Christie wrote two novels, Curtain and Sleeping Murder, featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, respectively. Both books were sealed in a bank vault, and she made over the copyrights by deed of gift to her daughter and her husband to provide each with a kind of insurance policy. Christie suffered a heart attack and a serious fall in 1974, after which she was unable to write. Her daughter authorised the publication of Curtain in 1975, and Sleeping Murder was published posthumously in 1976. These publications followed the success of the 1974 film version of Murder on the Orient Express.
Shortly before the publication of Curtain, Poirot became the first fictional character to have an obituary in The New York Times, which was printed on page one on 6August 1975.
Christie never wrote a novel or short story featuring both Poirot and Miss Marple. In a recording discovered and released in 2008, Christie revealed the reason for this: "Hercule Poirot, a complete egoist, would not like being taught his business or having suggestions made to him by an elderly spinster lady. Hercule Poirota professional sleuthwould not be at home at all in Miss Marple's world."
In 2013, the Christie family supported the release of a new Poirot story, The Monogram Murders, written by British author Sophie Hannah. Hannah later published three more Poirot mysteries, Closed Casket in 2016, The Mystery of Three Quarters in 2018., and The Killings at Kingfisher Hill in 2020.
Formula and plot devices
Christie has been called the "Duchess of Death", the "Mistress of Mystery", and the "Queen of Crime". Early in her career, a reporter noted that "her plots are possible, logical, and always new." According to Hannah, "At the start of each novel, she shows us an apparently impossible situation and we go mad wondering 'How can this be happening?' Then, slowly, she reveals how the impossible is not only possible but the only thing that could have happened."
She developed her storytelling techniques during what has been called the "Golden Age" of detective fiction. Author Dilys Winn called Christie "the doyenne of Coziness", a sub-genre which "featured a small village setting, a hero with faintly aristocratic family connections, a plethora of red herrings and a tendency to commit homicide with sterling silver letter openers and poisons imported from Paraguay". At the end, in a Christie hallmark, the detective usually gathers the surviving suspects into one room, explains the course of their deductive reasoning, and reveals the guilty party; there are exceptions where it is left to the guilty party to explain all (such as And Then There Were None and Endless Night).
Christie did not limit herself to quaint English villagesthe action might take place on a small island (And Then There Were None), an aeroplane (Death in the Clouds), a train (Murder on the Orient Express), a steamship (Death on the Nile), a smart London flat (Cards on the Table), a resort in the West Indies (A Caribbean Mystery), or an archaeological dig (Murder in Mesopotamia)but the circle of potential suspects is usually closed and intimate: family members, friends, servants, business associates, fellow travellers. Stereotyped characters abound (the , the stolid policeman, the devoted servant, the dull colonel), but these may be subverted to stymie the reader; impersonations and secret alliances are always possible. There is always a motivemost often, money: "There are very few killers in Christie who enjoy murder for its own sake."
Professor of Pharmacology Michael C. Gerald noted that "in over half her novels, one or more victims are poisoned, albeit not always to the full satisfaction of the perpetrator." Guns, knives, garrottes, tripwires, blunt instruments, and even a hatchet were also used, but "Christie never resorted to elaborate mechanical or scientific means to explain her ingenuity," according to John Curran, author and literary adviser to the Christie estate. Many of her clues are mundane objects: a calendar, a coffee cup, wax flowers, a beer bottle, a fireplace used during a heat wave.
According to crime writer P. D. James, Christie was prone to making the unlikeliest character the guilty party. Alert readers could sometimes identify the culprit by identifying the least likely suspect. Christie mocked this insight in her foreword to Cards on the Table: "Spot the person least likely to have committed the crime and in nine times out of ten your task is finished. Since I do not want my faithful readers to fling away this book in disgust, I prefer to warn them beforehand that this is not that kind of book."
On Desert Island Discs in 2007, Brian Aldiss said Christie had told him she wrote her books up to the last chapter, then decided who the most unlikely suspect was, after which she would go back and make the necessary changes to "frame" that person. Based upon a study of her working notebooks, Curran describes how Christie would first create a cast of characters, choose a setting, and then produce a list of scenes in which specific clues would be revealed; the order of scenes would be revised as she developed her plot. Of necessity, the murderer had to be known to the author before the sequence could be finalised and she began to type or dictate the first draft of her novel. Much of the work, particularly dialogue, was done in her head before she put it on paper.
In 2013, the 600 members of the Crime Writers' Association chose The Murder of Roger Ackroyd as "the best whodunit... ever written". Author Julian Symons observed, "In an obvious sense, the book fits within the conventions... The setting is a village deep within the English countryside, Roger Ackroyd dies in his study; there is a butler who behaves suspiciously... Every successful detective story in this period involved a deceit practised upon the reader, and here the trick is the highly original one of making the murderer the local doctor, who tells the story and acts as Poirot's Watson." Critic Sutherland Scott stated, "If Agatha Christie had made no other contribution to the literature of detective fiction she would still deserve our grateful thanks" for writing this novel.
In September 2015, to mark her 125th birthday, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. The novel is emblematic of both her use of formula and her willingness to discard it. "And Then There Were None carries the 'closed society' type of murder mystery to extreme lengths," according to author Charles Osborne. It begins with the classic set-up of potential victim(s) and killer(s) isolated from the outside world, but then violates conventions. There is no detective involved in the action, no interviews of suspects, no careful search for clues, and no suspects gathered together in the last chapter to be confronted with the solution. As Christie herself said, "Ten people had to die without it becoming ridiculous or the murderer being obvious." Critics agreed she had succeeded: "The arrogant Mrs. Christie this time set herself a fearsome test of her own ingenuity... the reviews, not surprisingly, were without exception wildly adulatory."
Character stereotypes and perceived racism
Christie included stereotyped descriptions of characters in her work, especially before 1945 (when such attitudes were more commonly expressed publicly), particularly in regard to Italians, Jews, and non-Europeans. For example, she described "men of Hebraic extraction, sallow men with hooked noses, wearing rather flamboyant jewellery" in the short story "The Soul of the Croupier" from the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin. In 1947, the Anti-Defamation League in the US sent an official letter of complaint to Christie's American publishers, Dodd, Mead and Company, regarding perceived antisemitism in her works. Christie's British literary agent later wrote to her US representative, authorising American publishers to "omit the word 'Jew' when it refers to an unpleasant character in future books."
In The Hollow, published in 1946, one of the characters is described by another as "a Whitechapel Jewess with dyed hair and a voice like a corncrake ... a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice". To contrast with the more stereotyped descriptions, Christie portrayed some "foreign" characters as victims, or potential victims, at the hands of English malefactors, such as, respectively, Olga Seminoff (Hallowe'en Party) and Katrina Reiger (in the short story "How Does Your Garden Grow?"). Jewish characters are often seen as un-English (such as Oliver Manders in Three Act Tragedy), but they are rarely the culprits.
Other detectives
In addition to Poirot and Marple, Christie also created amateur detectives Thomas Beresford and his wife, Prudence "Tuppence" née Cowley, who appear in four novels and one collection of short stories published between 1922 and 1974. Unlike her other sleuths, the Beresfords were only in their early twenties when introduced in The Secret Adversary, and were allowed to age alongside their creator. She treated their stories with a lighter touch, giving them a "dash and verve" which was not universally admired by critics. Their last adventure, Postern of Fate, was Christie's last novel.
Harley Quin was "easily the most unorthodox" of Christie's fictional detectives. Inspired by Christie's affection for the figures from the Harlequinade, the semi-supernatural Quin always works with an elderly, conventional man called Satterthwaite. The pair appear in 14 short stories, 12 of which were collected in 1930 as The Mysterious Mr. Quin. Mallowan described these tales as "detection in a fanciful vein, touching on the fairy story, a natural product of Agatha's peculiar imagination". Satterthwaite also appears in a novel, Three Act Tragedy, and a short story, "Dead Man's Mirror", both of which feature Poirot.
Another of her lesser-known characters is Parker Pyne, a retired civil servant who assists unhappy people in an unconventional manner. The 12 short stories which introduced him, Parker Pyne Investigates (1934), are best remembered for "The Case of the Discontented Soldier", which features Ariadne Oliver, "an amusing and satirical self-portrait of Agatha Christie". Over the ensuing decades, Oliver reappeared in seven novels. In most of them she assists Poirot.
Plays
In 1928, Michael Morton adapted The Murder of Roger Ackroyd for the stage under the title Alibi. The play enjoyed a respectable run, but Christie disliked the changes made to her work and, in future, preferred to write for the theatre herself. The first of her own stage works was Black Coffee, which received good reviews when it opened in the West End in late 1930. She followed this up with adaptations of her detective novels: And Then There Were None in 1943, Appointment with Death in 1945, and The Hollow in 1951.
In the 1950s, "the theatre ... engaged much of Agatha's attention." She next adapted her short radio play into The Mousetrap, which premiered in the West End in 1952, produced by Peter Saunders. Her expectations for the play were not high; she believed it would run no more than eight months. It has long since made theatrical history, staging its 27,500th performance in September 2018. The play closed down in March 2020, when all UK theatres shut due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In 1953, she followed this with Witness for the Prosecution, whose Broadway production won the New York Drama Critics' Circle award for best foreign play of 1954 and earned Christie an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Spider's Web, an original work written for actress Margaret Lockwood at her request, premiered in 1954 and was also a hit. She is also the first female playwright to have three plays running simultaneously in London's West End: The Mousetrap, Witness for the Prosecution and Spider's Web. Christie said, "Plays are much easier to write than books, because you can see them in your mind's eye, you are not hampered by all that description which clogs you so terribly in a book and stops you from getting on with what's happening." In a letter to her daughter, Christie said being a playwright was "a lot of fun!"
As Mary Westmacott
Christie published six mainstream novels under the name Mary Westmacott, a pseudonym which gave her the freedom to explore "her most private and precious imaginative garden". These books typically received better reviews than her detective and thriller fiction. Of the first, Giant's Bread published in 1930, a reviewer for The New York Times wrote, "...her book is far above the average of current fiction, in fact, comes well under the classification of a 'good book'. And it is only a satisfying novel that can claim that appellation." It was publicized from the very beginning that "Mary Westmacott" was a pen name of a well-known author, although the identity behind the pen name was kept secret; the dust jacket of Giant's Bread mentions that the author had previously written "under her real name...half a dozen books that have each passed the thirty thousand mark in sales." (In fact, though this was technically true, it disguised Christie's identity through understatement. By the publication of Giant's Bread, Christie had published 10 novels and two short story collections, all of which had sold considerably more than 30,000 copies.) After Christie's authorship of the first four Westmacott novels was revealed by a journalist in 1949, she wrote two more, the last in 1956.
The other Westmacott titles are: Unfinished Portrait (1934), Absent in the Spring (1944), The Rose and the Yew Tree (1948), A Daughter's a Daughter (1952), and The Burden (1956).
Non-fiction works
Christie published few non-fiction works. Come, Tell Me How You Live, about working on an archaeological dig, was drawn from her life with Mallowan. The Grand Tour: Around the World with the Queen of Mystery is a collection of correspondence from her 1922 Grand Tour of the British empire, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Agatha Christie: An Autobiography was published posthumously in 1977 and adjudged the Best Critical / Biographical Work at the 1978 Edgar Awards.
Titles
Many of Christie's works from 1940 onward have titles drawn from literature, with the original context of the title typically printed as an epigraph.
The inspirations for some of Christie's titles include:
William Shakespeare's works: Sad Cypress, By the Pricking of My Thumbs, There is a Tide..., Absent in the Spring, and The Mousetrap, for example. Osborne notes that "Shakespeare is the writer most quoted in the works of Agatha Christie";
The Bible: Evil Under the Sun, The Burden, and The Pale Horse;
Other works of literature: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (from Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott"), The Moving Finger (from Edward FitzGerald's translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám), The Rose and the Yew Tree (from T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets), Postern of Fate (from James Elroy Flecker's "Gates of Damascus"), Endless Night (from William Blake's "Auguries of Innocence"), N or M? (from the Book of Common Prayer), and Come, Tell Me How You Live (from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass).
Christie biographer Gillian Gill said, "Christie's writing has the sparseness, the directness, the narrative pace, and the universal appeal of the fairy story, and it is perhaps as modern fairy stories for grown-up children that Christie's novels succeed." Reflecting a juxtaposition of innocence and horror, numerous Christie titles were drawn from well-known children's nursery rhymes: And Then There Were None (from "Ten Little Niggers"), One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (from "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe"), Five Little Pigs (from "This Little Piggy"), Crooked House (from "There Was a Crooked Man"), A Pocket Full of Rye (from "Sing a Song of Sixpence"), Hickory Dickory Dock (from "Hickory Dickory Dock"), and Three Blind Mice (from "Three Blind Mice").
Critical reception
Christie is regularly referred to as the "Queen of Crime" or "Queen of Mystery", and is considered a master of suspense, plotting, and characterisation. In 1955, she became the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. She was named "Best Writer of the Century" and the Hercule Poirot series of books was named "Best Series of the Century" at the 2000 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. In 2013, she was voted "best crime writer" in a survey of 600 members of the Crime Writers' Association of professional novelists. However, the writer Raymond Chandler criticised the artificiality of her books, as did writer Julian Symons. The literary critic Edmund Wilson described her prose as banal and her characterisations as superficial.
In 2011, Christie was named the second most financially successful crime writer of all time in the United Kingdom, after Ian Fleming, by digital crime drama TV channel Alibi with total earnings around £100 million. In 2012, Christie was among the people selected by the artist Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous work, the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, "to celebrate the British cultural figures he most admires".
In 2015, in honor of the 125th anniversary of her birthday, 25 contemporary mystery writers and one publisher gave their views on Christie's works. Many of the authors had read Christie's novels first, before other mystery writers, in English or in their native language, influencing their own writing, and nearly all still viewed her as the "Queen of Crime" and creator of the plot twists used by mystery authors. Nearly all had one or more favourites among Christie's mysteries and found her books still good to read nearly 100 years after her first novel was published. Just one of the 25 authors held with Wilson's views.
Book sales
In her prime, Christie was rarely out of the bestseller list. She was the first crime writer to have 100,000 copies of 10 of her titles published by Penguin on the same day in 1948. , Guinness World Records listed Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time. , her novels had sold more than two billion copies in 44 languages. Half the sales are of English-language editions, and half are translations. According to Index Translationum, , she was the most-translated individual author. Christie is one of the most-borrowed authors in UK libraries. She is also UK's best-selling spoken-book author. In 2002, 117,696 Christie audiobooks were sold, in comparison to 97,755 for J. K. Rowling, 78,770 for Roald Dahl and 75,841 for J. R. R. Tolkien. In 2015, the Christie estate claimed And Then There Were None was "the best-selling crime novel of all time", with approximately 100 million sales, also making it one of the highest-selling books of all time. More than two million copies of her books were sold in English in 2020.
Legacy
In 2016, one hundred years after Christie wrote her first detective story, the Royal Mail released six stamps in her honour, featuring The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, The Body in the Library, and A Murder is Announced. The Guardian reported that, "Each design incorporates microtext, UV ink and thermochromic ink. These concealed clues can be revealed using either a magnifying glass, UV light or body heat and provide pointers to the mysteries' solutions." Her characters and her face appeared on the stamps of many countries like Dominica and the Somali Republic. In 2020, Christie was commemorated on a £2 coin by the Royal Mint for the first time to mark the centenary of her first novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles.
Adaptations
Christie's works have been adapted for cinema and television. The first was the 1928 British film The Passing of Mr. Quin. Poirot's first film appearance was in 1931 in Alibi, which starred Austin Trevor as Christie's sleuth. Margaret Rutherford played Marple in a series of films released in the 1960s. Christie liked her acting, but considered the first film "pretty poor" and thought no better of the rest.
She felt differently about the 1974 film Murder on the Orient Express, directed by Sidney Lumet, which featured major stars and high production values; her attendance at the London premiere was one of her last public outings. In 2016, a new film version was released, directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also starred, wearing "the most extravagant mustache moviegoers have ever seen".
The television adaptation Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989–2013), with David Suchet in the title role, ran for 70 episodes over 13 series. It received nine BAFTA award nominations and won four BAFTA awards in 1990–1992. The television series Miss Marple (1984–1992), with Joan Hickson as "the BBC's peerless Miss Marple", adapted all 12 Marple novels. The French television series (2009–2012, 2013–2020), adapted 36 of Christie's stories.
Christie's books have also been adapted for BBC Radio, a video game series, and graphic novels.
Interests and influences
Pharmacology
During the First World War, Christie took a break from nursing to train for the Apothecaries Hall Examination. While she subsequently found dispensing in the hospital pharmacy monotonous, and thus less enjoyable than nursing, her new knowledge provided her with a background in potentially toxic drugs. Early in the Second World War, she brought her skills up to date at Torquay Hospital.
As Michael C. Gerald puts it, her "activities as a hospital dispenser during both World Wars not only supported the war effort but also provided her with an appreciation of drugs as therapeutic agents and poisons... These hospital experiences were also likely responsible for the prominent role physicians, nurses, and pharmacists play in her stories." There were to be many medical practitioners, pharmacists, and scientists, naïve or suspicious, in Christie's cast of characters; featuring in Murder in Mesopotamia, Cards on the Table, The Pale Horse, and Mrs. McGinty's Dead, among many others.
Gillian Gill notes that the murder method in Christie's first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, "comes right out of Agatha Christie's work in the hospital dispensary". In an interview with journalist Marcelle Bernstein, Christie stated, "I don't like messy deaths... I'm more interested in peaceful people who die in their own beds and no one knows why." With her expert knowledge, Christie had no need of poisons unknown to science, which were forbidden under Ronald Knox's "Ten Rules for Detective Fiction". Arsenic, aconite, strychnine, digitalis, thallium, and other substances were used to dispatch victims in the ensuing decades.
Archaeology
In her youth, Christie showed little interest in antiquities. After her marriage to Mallowan in 1930, she accompanied him on annual expeditions, spending three to four months at a time in Syria and Iraq at excavation sites at Ur, Nineveh, Tell Arpachiyah, Chagar Bazar, Tell Brak, and Nimrud. The Mallowans also took side trips whilst travelling to and from expedition sites, visiting Italy, Greece, Egypt, Iran, and the Soviet Union, among other places. Their experiences travelling and living abroad are reflected in novels such as Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and Appointment with Death.
For the 1931 digging season at Nineveh, Christie bought a writing table to continue her own work; in the early 1950s, she paid to add a small writing room to the team's house at Nimrud. She also devoted time and effort each season in "making herself useful by photographing, cleaning, and recording finds; and restoring ceramics, which she especially enjoyed". She also provided funds for the expeditions.
Many of the settings for Christie's books were inspired by her archaeological fieldwork in the Middle East; this is reflected in the detail with which she describes themfor instance, the temple of Abu Simbel as depicted in Death on the Nilewhile the settings for They Came to Baghdad were places she and Mallowan had recently stayed. Similarly, she drew upon her knowledge of daily life on a dig throughout Murder in Mesopotamia. Archaeologists and experts in Middle Eastern cultures and artefacts featured in her works include Dr Eric Leidner in Murder in Mesopotamia and Signor Richetti in Death on the Nile.
After the Second World War, Christie chronicled her time in Syria in Come, Tell Me How You Live, which she described as "small beera very little book, full of everyday doings and happenings". From 8November 2001 to March 2002, The British Museum presented a "colourful and episodic exhibition" called Agatha Christie and Archaeology: Mystery in Mesopotamia which illustrated how her activities as a writer and as the wife of an archaeologist intertwined.
In popular culture
BBC television released Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures in 2004, in which she is portrayed by Olivia Williams, Anna Massey, and Bonnie Wright (at different stages in her life). ITV's Perspectives: "The Mystery of Agatha Christie" (2013) is hosted by David Suchet.
Some of Christie's fictional portrayals have explored and offered accounts of her disappearance in 1926. The film Agatha (1979), with Vanessa Redgrave, has Christie sneaking away to plan revenge against her husband; Christie's heirs sued unsuccessfully to prevent the film's distribution. The Doctor Who episode "The Unicorn and the Wasp" (17 May 2008), with Fenella Woolgar, portrays Christie in her early writing career and explains her disappearance as the result of having suffered a temporary breakdown owing to a brief psychic link being formed between her and an alien wasp called the Vespiform. The film Agatha and the Truth of Murder (2018) sends her under cover to solve the murder of Florence Nightingale's goddaughter, Florence Nightingale Shore. A fictionalised account of Christie's disappearance is also the central theme of a Korean musical, Agatha. The Christie Affair, a Christie-like mystery story of love and revenge by author Nina de Gramont, was a 2022 novel loosely based on Christie's disappearance.
Other portrayals, such as the Hungarian film, Kojak Budapesten (1980), create their own scenarios involving Christie's criminal skill. In the TV play, Murder by the Book (1986), Christie (Dame Peggy Ashcroft) murders one of her fictional-turned-real characters, Poirot. Christie features as a character in Gaylord Larsen's Dorothy and Agatha and The London Blitz Murders by Max Allan Collins. The American television program Unsolved Mysteries devoted a segment to her famous disappearance, with Agatha portrayed by actress Tessa Pritchard. A young Agatha is depicted in the Spanish historical television series Gran Hotel (2011) in which she finds inspiration to write her new novel while aiding local detectives. In the alternative history television film Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar (2018), Christie becomes involved in a murder case at an archaeological dig in Iraq. In 2019, Honeysuckle Weeks portrayed Christie in an episode, "No Friends Like Old Friends", in a Canadian drama, Frankie Drake Mysteries.
In June 2021, an episode of the internet series BuzzFeed Unsolved detailed the disappearance of Christie and possible theories.
See also
Agatha Christie bibliography (lists of Christie's works)
Agatha Christie indult (an oecumenical request to which Christie was signatory seeking permission for the occasional use of the Tridentine (Latin) mass in England and Wales)
Agatha Awards (literary awards for mystery and crime writers)
Agatha Christie Award (Japan) (literary award for unpublished mystery novels)
List of solved missing person cases
Notes
References
Further reading
.
Curran, John (2009). Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making. London: HarperCollins. .
Curran, John (2011). Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making. London: HarperCollins. .
Curran, John. "75 facts about Christie". The Home of Agatha Christie. Agatha Christie Limited. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
Gerald, Michael C. (1993). The Poisonous Pen of Agatha Christie. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. .
.
.
.
Morgan, Janet P. (1984). Agatha Christie: A Biography. London: HarperCollins. . Retrieved 8 March 2015.
Prichard, Mathew (2012). The Grand Tour: Around The World With The Queen Of Mystery. New York, NY: HarperCollins. .
.
Thompson, Laura (2008), Agatha Christie: An English Mystery, London: Headline Review, .
External links
A Christie reading list (on official website)
Agatha Christie/Sir Max Mallowan's blue plaque at Cholsey
Agatha Christie profile and related articles in The Guardian
Agatha Christie profile on PBS.org
Agatha Christie profile on FamousAuthors.org
"The Christie Mystery" (fan site)
Agatha Christie recording, oral history at the Imperial War Museum
Agatha Christie business papers at the University of Exeter
"Shocking Real Murders" (book released to mark the 125th anniversary of Christie's birth)
Hercule Poirot Central
The Films of Agatha Christie (1993)
Lamothe, Lori. "The Original Gone Girl: Did Agatha Christie Try to Frame Her Cheating Husband?" in History of Yesterday.
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[
"Lindsay Margaret Errington is a Scottish art historian and former keeper for over 20 years at the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, where she worked to establish a representative collection of Scottish art.\n\nEarly life\nLindsay Errington was born in Edinburgh and trained as a painter at the Camberwell School of Art in London but did not follow that as a career. She studied art history at the Courtauld Institute of Art and later completed a PhD there on the subject of \"Social and religious themes in English Art\" (1973). It was published in book form by Garland in 1984 in their Outstanding theses from the Courtauld Institute of Art series.\n\nCareer\nErrington taught at the Newcastle College of Art but did not find the work to her liking, preferring to be in Scotland, and was appointed to a curatorial post at the National Gallery of Scotland in 1972, only the second woman to hold such a post. She was asked to look after the Scottish paintings, which her male colleagues did not think an honour, but which she was delighted to do. She was at the gallery for over 20 years where she worked to establish a representative collection of Scottish art and produced many of the monographs on Scottish artists in the Scottish Masters series.\n\nIn 1988-89 she was Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Cambridge when she was the first Slade professor to lecture on Scottish art.\n\nIn 2017, Errington published her most recent book, Private Views, which featured images from the National Gallery's collection with verses composed in response to them.\n\nSelected publications\nThe Artist and the Kirk. National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1979. \nSir William Quiller Orchardson, 1832-1910. National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1980. \nSocial and religious themes in English Art 1840-1860. Garland, New York, 1984. (Outstanding theses from the Courtauld Institute of Art series) \nAlexander Carse. National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1987. (Scottish Masters No. 2) \nDavid Wilkie, 1785-1841. National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1988. (Scottish Masters No. 10) \nWilliam McTaggart 1835-1910. National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1989. \nScotland's pictures: The national collection of Scottish art. National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1990. \nRobert Herdman, 1829-1888. National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1998. (Scottish Masters No. 5) \nPrivate Views: Eight poems on paintings in the Scottish National Gallery. XX Press, Edinburgh, 2017.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \nSocial and Religious Themes in English Art 1840 – 1860 by Lindsay Errington Part I. a commentary by Madeleine Emerald Thiele.\n\nScottish art historians\nCurators from Edinburgh\nAcademics of the University of Cambridge\nAlumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people",
"Dame Margaret Henderson Kidd, Mrs MacDonald (14 March 1900 – 22 March 1989) was a Scottish legal advocate, editor and politician. She was the first woman to become a member of the Faculty of Advocates, the first woman advocate to appear before the House of Lords and before a parliamentary select committee and in 1948, the first British woman King's counsel.\n\nEarly life\nKidd was born on 14 March 1900 in Carriden, near Bo'ness in West Lothian, Scotland. She was the elder daughter of nine children to Janet Gardner Kidd (née Turnbull, 1872–1930), a schoolteacher, and James Kidd (1872–1928), solicitor and Unionist MP for Linlithgowshire. She was educated at Linlithgow Academy and the University of Edinburgh, graduating in 1922 with an MA and LLB.\n\nCareer\nKidd had hoped to pursue a diplomatic career however this was not considered possible despite the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919. She undertook her professional legal training at Mitchell and Baxter, Writers to the Signet in Edinburgh, and in July 1923 qualified as an Advocate becoming the Faculty of Advocates first female member. She remained the only female member of the Faculty until 1948. Her legal practice was varied with a focus on family law.\n\nAfter the death of her father in 1928 she contested his parliamentary seat at the by-election, also as a Unionist, but was defeated by Emanuel Shinwell.\n\nShe was the first woman advocate to appear before the House of Lords and before a parliamentary select committee. In 1948, she became the first British woman King's Counsel in Britain: Frances Moran was the first woman to take silk in the British Isles, having become an Irish senior counsel in 1941. She was appointed Sheriff Principal, the first woman to occupy this position, for Dumfries and Galloway in 1960, and from 1966 to her retirement in 1974 Sheriff Principal of Perth and Angus. She was the editor of the Court of Session law reports of the Scots Law Times from 1942-76.\n\nKidd served as Keeper of the Advocates Library 1956–1969.\n\nApart from her legal work she maintained an active public and charitable role. She was a founder member of the Stair Society and a vice-president of the Federation of University Women and the Electrical Association for Women. She had then become the vice-president of the Federation of University Women Queen's Nursing Institute. Kidd also championed improvements to women's access to work and promoted equal opportunities. In 1930, she made a speech at the University of Glasgow entitled \"Law as a Profession of Women\" where she commented on the difficulty of being a female advocate given they were dependent on male solicitors for work, and discussed how old lawyers were \"inclined to be distrustful of women\". The Scotsman reported: \"she did not want them to think that she had not received fair play. She had had an easy time, but she did not think that she had been so successful as she would have been had she been a man.\"\n\nAwards\nShe was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1975 Birthday Honours. She received an honorary LLD from the University of Dundee in 1982 and the University of Edinburgh in 1984.\n\nPersonal life\nIn 1930, she married Donald Somerled MacDonald, WS. They had a daughter, Anne. Her husband died in 1958. Margaret had a number of interests beyond the law, including politics. She supported Scotland remaining in the United Kingdom, and believed that trade would grow worse if Scotland became independent.\n\nDeath\nShe died on 22 March 1989 in Cambridge, England, aged 89. A funeral service was held at the Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh. A eulogy by Lord Hope of Craighead concluded: \"Her success was won by strength of character, courage and integrity and it is a mark of her true qualities that, despite what might seem to be the revolutionary nature of her achievements, she always held the affection and respect of others.\"\n\nSee also \n First women lawyers around the world\n\nReferences \n\n1900 births\n1989 deaths\nAlumni of the University of Edinburgh\nDames Commander of the Order of the British Empire\nPeople from Bo'ness\nMembers of the Faculty of Advocates\nPeople educated at Linlithgow Academy\nUnionist Party (Scotland) politicians\nQueen's Counsel 1901–2000\nScottish editors\nScottish women editors\nScottish Queen's Counsel\nScottish sheriffs\nWomen sheriffs\nScottish women lawyers\nGraduate Women International\n20th-century British lawyers\n20th-century Scottish lawyers\nScottish women in politics\nScottish lawyers\nScottish politicians\nUnionist Party (Scotland) parliamentary candidates\n20th-century women lawyers\n20th-century Scottish women"
] |
[
"Agatha Christie",
"Character stereotypes",
"Did she describe what her stereotypes were?",
"a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice\".",
"How did she describe some of the men?",
"Hebraic men with hook-noses wearing rather flamboyant jewellery",
"From what novel was that description?",
"in the first editions of the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin (",
"How did she depict foreigners?",
"Jewish characters are often seen as un-English",
"Did Agatha show prejudices?",
"Often, she is affectionate or teasing with her prejudices.",
"Why did Agatha want to return to Syria?",
"Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as \"gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life;",
"What did she think of the Scottish?",
"good with the young."
] |
C_7f92437539ba40128d8fca5975c3fe05_0
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What did she feel towards the French?
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What did Agatha Christie feel towards the French?
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Agatha Christie
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Christie occasionally inserted stereotyped descriptions of characters into her work, particularly before the end of the Second World War (when such attitudes were more commonly expressed publicly), and particularly in regard to Italians, Jews, non-Europeans, and sometimes Americans, the last usually as impossibly naive or uninformed. For example, she described "Hebraic men with hook-noses wearing rather flamboyant jewellery" in the first editions of the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin (1930), in the short story "The Soul of the Croupier"; in later editions, the passage was edited to describe "sallow men" wearing same. In The Hollow, published as late as 1946, one of the more unsympathetic characters is "a Whitechapel Jewess with dyed hair and a voice like a corncrake ... a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice". To contrast with the more stereotyped descriptions, Christie sometimes showed "foreigners" as victims or potential victims at the hands of English malefactors, such as, respectively, Olga Seminoff (Hallowe'en Party) and Katrina Reiger (in the short story "How Does Your Garden Grow?"). Jewish characters are often seen as un-English (such as Oliver Manders in Three Act Tragedy), but they are rarely the culprits. Often, she is affectionate or teasing with her prejudices. After four years of war-torn London, Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as "gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life; who are idle and gay, and who have dignity, good manners, and a great sense of humour, and to whom death is not terrible." She had trouble with an incompetent Swiss French nursery helper (Marcelle) for toddler Rosalind, and as a result she decided, "Scottish preferred ... good with the young. The French were hopeless disciplinarians ... Germans good and methodical, but it was not German that I really wanted Rosalind to learn. The Irish were gay but made trouble in the house; the English were of all kinds". CANNOTANSWER
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The French were hopeless disciplinarians ...
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Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End since 1952, as well as six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
Christie was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon, and was largely home-schooled. She was initially an unsuccessful writer with six consecutive rejections, but this changed in 1920 when The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring detective Hercule Poirot, was published. Her first husband was Archibald Christie; they married in 1914 and had one child before divorcing in 1928. During both World Wars, she served in hospital dispensaries, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the poisons which featured in many of her novels, short stories, and plays. Following her marriage to archaeologist Max Mallowan in 1930, she spent several months each year on digs in the Middle East and used her first-hand knowledge of his profession in her fiction.
According to Index Translationum, she remains the most-translated individual author. Her novel And Then There Were None is one of the top-selling books of all time, with approximately 100 million copies sold. Christie's stage play The Mousetrap holds the world record for the longest initial run. It opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End of London on 25 November 1952, and by September 2018 there had been more than 27,500 performances. The play was closed down in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic and reopened in May 2021.
In 1955, Christie was the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. Later that year, Witness for the Prosecution received an Edgar Award for best play. In 2013, she was voted the best crime writer and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd the best crime novel ever by 600 professional novelists of the Crime Writers' Association. In September 2015, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. Most of Christie's books and short stories have been adapted for television, radio, video games, and graphic novels. More than 30 feature films are based on her work.
Life and career
Childhood and adolescence: 1890–1907
Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born on 15 September 1890, into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon. She was the youngest of three children born to Frederick Alvah Miller, "a gentleman of substance", and his wife Clarissa Margaret ("Clara") Miller née Boehmer.
Christie's mother Clara was born in Dublin in 1854 to British Army officer Frederick Boehmer and his wife Mary Ann Boehmer née West. Boehmer died in Jersey in 1863, leaving his widow to raise Clara and her brothers on a meagre income. Two weeks after Boehmer's death, Mary's sister Margaret West married widowed dry goods merchant Nathaniel Frary Miller, a US citizen. To assist Mary financially, they agreed to foster nine-year-old Clara; the family settled in Timperley, Cheshire. Margaret and Nathaniel had no children together, but Nathaniel had a 17-year-old son, Fred Miller, from his previous marriage. Fred was born in New York City and travelled extensively after leaving his Swiss boarding school. He and Clara were married in London in 1878. Their first child, Margaret Frary ("Madge"), was born in Torquay in 1879. The second, Louis Montant ("Monty"), was born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1880, while the family was on an extended visit to the United States.
When Fred's father died in 1869, he left Clara £2,000 (approximately ); in 1881 they used this to buy the leasehold of a villa in Torquay named Ashfield. It was here that their third and last child, Agatha, was born in 1890. She described her childhood as "very happy". The Millers lived mainly in Devon but often visited her step-grandmother/great-aunt Margaret Miller in Ealing and maternal grandmother Mary Boehmer in Bayswater. A year was spent abroad with her family, in the French Pyrenees, Paris, Dinard, and Guernsey. Because her siblings were so much older, and there were few children in their neighbourhood, Christie spent much of her time playing alone with her pets and imaginary companions. She eventually made friends with other girls in Torquay, noting that "one of the highlights of my existence" was her appearance with them in a youth production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard, in which she played the hero, Colonel Fairfax.
According to Christie, Clara believed she should not learn to read until she was eight; thanks to her curiosity, she was reading by age four. Her sister had been sent to a boarding school, but their mother insisted that Christie receive a home education. As a result, her parents and sister supervised her studies in reading, writing, and basic arithmetic, a subject she particularly enjoyed. They also taught her music, and she learned to play the piano and the mandolin.
Christie was a voracious reader from an early age. Among her earliest memories were reading children's books by Mrs Molesworth and Edith Nesbit. When a little older, she moved on to the surreal verse of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. As an adolescent, she enjoyed works by Anthony Hope, Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, and Alexandre Dumas. In April 1901, aged 10, she wrote her first poem, "The Cow Slip".
By 1901, her father's health had deteriorated, because of what he believed were heart problems. Fred died in November 1901 from pneumonia and chronic kidney disease. Christie later said that her father's death when she was 11 marked the end of her childhood.
The family's financial situation had by this time worsened. Madge married the year after their father's death and moved to Cheadle, Cheshire; Monty was overseas, serving in a British regiment. Christie now lived alone at Ashfield with her mother. In 1902, she began attending Miss Guyer's Girls' School in Torquay but found it difficult to adjust to the disciplined atmosphere. In 1905, her mother sent her to Paris, where she was educated in a series of (boarding schools), focusing on voice training and piano playing. Deciding she lacked the temperament and talent, she gave up her goal of performing professionally as a concert pianist or an opera singer.
Early literary attempts, marriage, literary success: 1907–1926
After completing her education, Christie returned to England to find her mother ailing. They decided to spend the northern winter of 1907–1908 in the warm climate of Egypt, which was then a regular tourist destination for wealthy Britons. They stayed for three months at the Gezirah Palace Hotel in Cairo. Christie attended many dances and other social functions; she particularly enjoyed watching amateur polo matches. While they visited some ancient Egyptian monuments such as the Great Pyramid of Giza, she did not exhibit the great interest in archaeology and Egyptology that developed in her later years. Returning to Britain, she continued her social activities, writing and performing in amateur theatricals. She also helped put on a play called The Blue Beard of Unhappiness with female friends.
At 18, Christie wrote her first short story, "The House of Beauty", while recovering in bed from an illness. It consisted of about 6,000 words on "madness and dreams", a subject of fascination for her. Her biographer, Janet Morgan, has commented that, despite "infelicities of style", the story was "compelling". (The story became an early version of her story "The House of Dreams".) Other stories followed, most of them illustrating her interest in spiritualism and the paranormal. These included "The Call of Wings" and "The Little Lonely God". Magazines rejected all her early submissions, made under pseudonyms (including Mac Miller, Nathaniel Miller, and Sydney West); some submissions were later revised and published under her real name, often with new titles.
Around the same time, Christie began work on her first novel, Snow Upon the Desert. Writing under the pseudonym Monosyllaba, she set the book in Cairo and drew upon her recent experiences there. She was disappointed when the six publishers she contacted declined the work. Clara suggested that her daughter ask for advice from the successful novelist Eden Phillpotts, a family friend and neighbour, who responded to her enquiry, encouraged her writing, and sent her an introduction to his own literary agent, Hughes Massie, who also rejected Snow Upon the Desert but suggested a second novel.
Meanwhile, Christie's social activities expanded, with country house parties, riding, hunting, dances, and roller skating. She had short-lived relationships with four men and an engagement to another. In October 1912, she was introduced to Archibald "Archie" Christie at a dance given by Lord and Lady Clifford at Ugbrooke, about from Torquay. The son of a barrister in the Indian Civil Service, Archie was a Royal Artillery officer who was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps in April 1913. The couple quickly fell in love. Three months after their first meeting, Archie proposed marriage, and Agatha accepted.
With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Archie was sent to France to fight. They married on Christmas Eve 1914 at Emmanuel Church, Clifton, Bristol, close to the home of his mother and stepfather, while Archie was on home leave. Rising through the ranks, he was posted back to Britain in September 1918 as a colonel in the Air Ministry. Christie involved herself in the war effort as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment of the Red Cross. From October 1914 to May 1915, then from June 1916 to September 1918, she worked 3,400 hours in the Town Hall Red Cross Hospital, Torquay, first as a nurse (unpaid) then as a dispenser at £16 (approximately ) a year from 1917 after qualifying as an apothecaries' assistant. Her war service ended in September 1918 when Archie was reassigned to London, and they rented a flat in St. John's Wood.
Christie had long been a fan of detective novels, having enjoyed Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White and The Moonstone, and Arthur Conan Doyle's early Sherlock Holmes stories. She wrote her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1916. It featured Hercule Poirot, a former Belgian police officer with "magnificent moustaches" and a head "exactly the shape of an egg", who had taken refuge in Britain after Germany invaded Belgium. Christie's inspiration for the character came from Belgian refugees living in Torquay, and the Belgian soldiers she helped to treat as a volunteer nurse during the First World War. Her original manuscript was rejected by Hodder & Stoughton and Methuen. After keeping the submission for several months, John Lane at The Bodley Head offered to accept it, provided that Christie change how the solution was revealed. She did so, and signed a contract committing her next five books to The Bodley Head, which she later felt was exploitative. It was published in 1920.
Christie settled into married life, giving birth to her only child, Rosalind Margaret Clarissa (later Hicks), in August 1919 at Ashfield. Archie left the Air Force at the end of the war and began working in the City financial sector at a relatively low salary. They still employed a maid. Her second novel, The Secret Adversary (1922), featured a new detective couple Tommy and Tuppence, again published by The Bodley Head. It earned her £50 (approximately ). A third novel, Murder on the Links, again featured Poirot, as did the short stories commissioned by Bruce Ingram, editor of The Sketch magazine, from 1923. She now had no difficulty selling her work.
In 1922, the Christies joined an around-the-world promotional tour for the British Empire Exhibition, led by Major Ernest Belcher. Leaving their daughter with Agatha's mother and sister, in 10 months they travelled to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and Canada. They learned to surf prone in South Africa; then, in Waikiki, they were among the first Britons to surf standing up.
When they returned to England, Archie resumed work in the city, and Christie continued to work hard at her writing. After living in a series of apartments in London, they bought a house in Sunningdale, Berkshire, which they renamed Styles after the mansion in Christie's first detective novel.
Christie's mother, Clarissa Miller, died in April 1926. They had been exceptionally close, and the loss sent Christie into a deep depression. In August 1926, reports appeared in the press that Christie had gone to a village near Biarritz to recuperate from a "breakdown" caused by "overwork".
Disappearance: 1926
In August 1926, Archie asked Agatha for a divorce. He had fallen in love with Nancy Neele, a friend of Major Belcher. On 3December 1926, the pair quarrelled after Archie announced his plan to spend the weekend with friends, unaccompanied by his wife. Late that evening, Christie disappeared from their home in Sunningdale. The following morning, her car, a Morris Cowley, was discovered at Newlands Corner, parked above a chalk quarry with an expired driving licence and clothes inside.
The disappearance quickly became a news story, as the press sought to satisfy their readers' "hunger for sensation, disaster, and scandal". Home Secretary William Joynson-Hicks pressured police, and a newspaper offered a £100 reward (approximately ). More than a thousand police officers, 15,000 volunteers, and several aeroplanes searched the rural landscape. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave a spirit medium one of Christie's gloves to find her. Christie's disappearance was featured on the front page of The New York Times. Despite the extensive manhunt, she was not found for another 10 days. On 14 December 1926, she was located at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire, north of her home in Sunningdale, registered as Mrs Tressa Neele (the surname of her husband's lover) from " S.A." (South Africa). The next day, Christie left for her sister's residence at Abney Hall, Cheadle, where she was sequestered "in guarded hall, gates locked, telephone cut off, and callers turned away".
Christie's autobiography makes no reference to the disappearance. Two doctors diagnosed her as suffering from "an unquestionable genuine loss of memory", yet opinion remains divided over the reason for her disappearance. Some, including her biographer Morgan, believe she disappeared during a fugue state. The author Jared Cade concluded that Christie planned the event to embarrass her husband but did not anticipate the resulting public melodrama. Christie biographer Laura Thompson provides an alternative view that Christie disappeared during a nervous breakdown, conscious of her actions but not in emotional control of herself. Public reaction at the time was largely negative, supposing a publicity stunt or an attempt to frame her husband for murder.
Second marriage and later life: 1927–1976
In January 1927, Christie, looking "very pale", sailed with her daughter and secretary to Las Palmas, Canary Islands, to "complete her convalescence", returning three months later. Christie petitioned for divorce and was granted a decree nisi against her husband in April 1928, which was made absolute in October 1928. Archie married Nancy Neele a week later. Christie retained custody of their daughter, Rosalind, and kept the Christie surname for her writing.
Reflecting on the period in her autobiography, Christie wrote, "So, after illness, came sorrow, despair and heartbreak. There is no need to dwell on it."
In 1928, Christie left England and took the (Simplon) Orient Express to Istanbul and then to Baghdad. In Iraq, she became friends with archaeologist Leonard Woolley and his wife, who invited her to return to their dig in February 1930. On that second trip, she met archaeologist Max Mallowan, 13 years her junior. In a 1977 interview, Mallowan recounted his first meeting with Christie, when he took her and a group of tourists on a tour of his expedition site in Iraq. Christie and Mallowan married in Edinburgh in September 1930. Their marriage lasted until Christie's death in 1976. She accompanied Mallowan on his archaeological expeditions, and her travels with him contributed background to several of her novels set in the Middle East. Other novels (such as Peril at End House) were set in and around Torquay, where she was raised. Christie drew on her experience of international train travel when writing her 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express. The Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul, the eastern terminus of the railway, claims the book was written there and maintains Christie's room as a memorial to the author.
Christie and Mallowan lived in Chelsea, first in Cresswell Place and later in Sheffield Terrace. Both properties are now marked by blue plaques. In 1934, they bought Winterbrook House in Winterbrook, a hamlet near Wallingford. This was their main residence for the rest of their lives and the place where Christie did much of her writing. This house also bears a blue plaque. Christie led a quiet life despite being known in Wallingford; from 1951 to 1976 she served as president of the local amateur dramatic society.
The couple acquired the Greenway Estate in Devon as a summer residence in 1938; it was given to the National Trust in 2000. Christie frequently stayed at Abney Hall, Cheshire, which was owned by her brother-in-law, James Watts, and based at least two stories there: a short story "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding" in the story collection of the same name and the novel After the Funeral. One Christie compendium notes that "Abney became Agatha's greatest inspiration for country-house life, with all its servants and grandeur being woven into her plots. The descriptions of the fictional Chimneys, Stonygates, and other houses in her stories are mostly Abney Hall in various forms."
During World War II, Christie worked in the pharmacy at University College Hospital (UCH), London, where she updated her knowledge of poisons. Her later novel The Pale Horse was based on a suggestion from Harold Davis, the chief pharmacist at UCH. In 1977, a thallium poisoning case was solved by British medical personnel who had read Christie's book and recognised the symptoms she described.
The British intelligence agency MI5 investigated Christie after a character called Major Bletchley appeared in her 1941 thriller N or M?, which was about a hunt for a pair of deadly fifth columnists in wartime England. MI5 was concerned that Christie had a spy in Britain's top-secret codebreaking centre, Bletchley Park. The agency's fears were allayed when Christie told her friend, the codebreaker Dilly Knox, "I was stuck there on my way by train from Oxford to London and took revenge by giving the name to one of my least lovable characters."
Christie was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1950. In honour of her many literary works, Christie was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1956 New Year Honours. She was co-president of the Detection Club from 1958 to her death in 1976. In 1961, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature degree by the University of Exeter. In the 1971 New Year Honours, she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), three years after her husband had been knighted for his archaeological work. After her husband's knighthood, Christie could also be styled Lady Mallowan.
From 1971 to 1974, Christie's health began to fail, but she continued to write. Her last novel was Postern of Fate in 1973. Textual analysis suggested that Christie may have begun to suffer from Alzheimer's disease or other dementia at about this time.
Personal qualities
In 1946, Christie said of herself: "My chief dislikes are crowds, loud noises, gramophones and cinemas. I dislike the taste of alcohol and do not like smoking. I do like sun, sea, flowers, travelling, strange foods, sports, concerts, theatres, pianos, and doing embroidery."
Christie's works of fiction contain some character stereotypes seen as objectionable in modern times, but in real life, many of her biases were positive. After four years of war-torn London, Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as a "gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life; who are idle and gay, and who have dignity, good manners, and a great sense of humour, and to whom death is not terrible".
Christie was a lifelong, "quietly devout" member of the Church of England, attended church regularly, and kept her mother's copy of The Imitation of Christ by her bedside. After her divorce, she stopped taking the sacrament of communion.
The Agatha Christie Trust For Children was established in 1969, and shortly after Christie's death a charitable memorial fund was set up to "help two causes that she favoured: old people and young children".
Christie's obituary in The Times notes that "she never cared much for the cinema, or for wireless and television." Further,
Dame Agatha's private pleasures were gardeningshe won local prizes for horticultureand buying furniture for her various houses. She was a shy person: she disliked public appearances: but she was friendly and sharp-witted to meet. By inclination as well as breeding she belonged to the English upper middle-class. She wrote about, and for, people like herself. That was an essential part of her charm.
Death and estate
Death and burial
Christie died peacefully on 12 January 1976 at age 85 from natural causes at her home at Winterbrook House. When her death was announced, two West End theatresthe St. Martin's, where The Mousetrap was playing, and the Savoy, which was home to a revival of Murder at the Vicaragedimmed their outside lights in her honour. She was buried in the nearby churchyard of St Mary's, Cholsey, in a plot she had chosen with her husband 10 years before. The simple funeral service was attended by about 20 newspaper and TV reporters, some having travelled from as far away as South America. 30 wreaths adorned Christie's grave, including one from the cast of her long-running play The Mousetrap and one sent "on behalf of the multitude of grateful readers" by the Ulverscroft Large Print Book Publishers.
Mallowan, who remarried in 1977, died in 1978 and was buried next to Christie.
Estate and subsequent ownership of works
Christie was unhappy about becoming "an employed wage slave", and for tax reasons set up a private company in 1955, Agatha Christie Limited, to hold the rights to her works. In about 1959 she transferred her 278-acre home, Greenway Estate, to her daughter, Rosalind Hicks. In 1968, when Christie was almost 80, she sold a 51% stake in Agatha Christie Limited (and the works it owned) to Booker Books (better known as Booker Author's Division), which by 1977 had increased its stake to 64%. Agatha Christie Limited still owns the worldwide rights for more than 80 of Christie's novels and short stories, 19 plays, and nearly 40 TV films.
In the late 1950s, Christie had reputedly been earning around £100,000 (approximately ) per year. Christie sold an estimated 300 million books during her lifetime. At the time of her death in 1976, "she was the best-selling novelist in history."
One estimate of her total earnings from more than a half-century of writing is $20 million (approximately $ million in ). As a result of her tax planning, her will left only £106,683 (approximately ) net, which went mostly to her husband and daughter along with some smaller bequests. Her remaining 36% share of Agatha Christie Limited was inherited by Hicks, who passionately preserved her mother's works, image, and legacy until her own death 28 years later. The family's share of the company allowed them to appoint 50% of the board and the chairman, and retain a veto over new treatments, updated versions, and republications of her works.
In 2004, Hicks' obituary in The Telegraph noted that she had been "determined to remain true to her mother's vision and to protect the integrity of her creations" and disapproved of "merchandising" activities. Upon her death on 28 October 2004, the Greenway Estate passed to her son Mathew Prichard. After his stepfather's death in 2005, Prichard donated Greenway and its contents to the National Trust.
Christie's family and family trusts, including great-grandson James Prichard, continue to own the 36% stake in Agatha Christie Limited, and remain associated with the company. In 2020, James Prichard was the company's chairman. Mathew Prichard also holds the copyright to some of his grandmother's later literary works including The Mousetrap. Christie's work continues to be developed in a range of adaptations.
In 1998, Booker sold its shares in Agatha Christie Limited (at the time earning £2,100,000, approximately annual revenue) for £10,000,000 (approximately ) to Chorion, whose portfolio of authors' works included the literary estates of Enid Blyton and Dennis Wheatley. In February 2012, after a management buyout, Chorion began to sell off its literary assets. This included the sale of Chorion's 64% stake in Agatha Christie Limited to Acorn Media UK. In 2014, RLJ Entertainment Inc. (RLJE) acquired Acorn Media UK, renamed it Acorn Media Enterprises, and incorporated it as the RLJE UK development arm.
In late February 2014, media reports stated that the BBC had acquired exclusive TV rights to Christie's works in the UK (previously associated with ITV) and made plans with Acorn's co-operation to air new productions for the 125th anniversary of Christie's birth in 2015. As part of that deal, the BBC broadcast Partners in Crime and And Then There Were None, both in 2015. Subsequent productions have included The Witness for the Prosecution but plans to televise Ordeal by Innocence at Christmas 2017 were delayed because of controversy surrounding one of the cast members. The three-part adaptation aired in April 2018. A three-part adaptation of The A.B.C. Murders starring John Malkovich and Rupert Grint began filming in June 2018 and was first broadcast in December 2018. A two-part adaptation of The Pale Horse was broadcast on BBC1 in February 2020. Death Comes as the End will be the next BBC adaptation.
Works
Works of fiction
Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple
Christie's first published book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was released in 1920 and introduced the detective Hercule Poirot, who appeared in 33 of her novels and more than 50 short stories.
Over the years, Christie grew tired of Poirot, much as Conan Doyle did with Sherlock Holmes. By the end of the 1930s, Christie wrote in her diary that she was finding Poirot "insufferable", and by the 1960s she felt he was "an egocentric creep". Thompson believes Christie's occasional antipathy to her creation is overstated, and points out that "in later life she sought to protect him against misrepresentation as powerfully as if he were her own flesh and blood." Unlike Conan Doyle, she resisted the temptation to kill her detective off while he was still popular. She married off Poirot's "Watson", Captain Arthur Hastings, in an attempt to trim her cast commitments.
Miss Jane Marple was introduced in a series of short stories that began publication in December 1927 and were subsequently collected under the title The Thirteen Problems. Marple was a genteel, elderly spinster who solved crimes using analogies to English village life. Christie said, "Miss Marple was not in any way a picture of my grandmother; she was far more fussy and spinsterish than my grandmother ever was," but her autobiography establishes a firm connection between the fictional character and Christie's step-grandmother Margaret Miller ("Auntie-Grannie") and her "Ealing cronies". Both Marple and Miller "always expected the worst of everyone and everything, and were, with almost frightening accuracy, usually proved right". Marple appeared in 12 novels and 20 stories.
During the Second World War, Christie wrote two novels, Curtain and Sleeping Murder, featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, respectively. Both books were sealed in a bank vault, and she made over the copyrights by deed of gift to her daughter and her husband to provide each with a kind of insurance policy. Christie suffered a heart attack and a serious fall in 1974, after which she was unable to write. Her daughter authorised the publication of Curtain in 1975, and Sleeping Murder was published posthumously in 1976. These publications followed the success of the 1974 film version of Murder on the Orient Express.
Shortly before the publication of Curtain, Poirot became the first fictional character to have an obituary in The New York Times, which was printed on page one on 6August 1975.
Christie never wrote a novel or short story featuring both Poirot and Miss Marple. In a recording discovered and released in 2008, Christie revealed the reason for this: "Hercule Poirot, a complete egoist, would not like being taught his business or having suggestions made to him by an elderly spinster lady. Hercule Poirota professional sleuthwould not be at home at all in Miss Marple's world."
In 2013, the Christie family supported the release of a new Poirot story, The Monogram Murders, written by British author Sophie Hannah. Hannah later published three more Poirot mysteries, Closed Casket in 2016, The Mystery of Three Quarters in 2018., and The Killings at Kingfisher Hill in 2020.
Formula and plot devices
Christie has been called the "Duchess of Death", the "Mistress of Mystery", and the "Queen of Crime". Early in her career, a reporter noted that "her plots are possible, logical, and always new." According to Hannah, "At the start of each novel, she shows us an apparently impossible situation and we go mad wondering 'How can this be happening?' Then, slowly, she reveals how the impossible is not only possible but the only thing that could have happened."
She developed her storytelling techniques during what has been called the "Golden Age" of detective fiction. Author Dilys Winn called Christie "the doyenne of Coziness", a sub-genre which "featured a small village setting, a hero with faintly aristocratic family connections, a plethora of red herrings and a tendency to commit homicide with sterling silver letter openers and poisons imported from Paraguay". At the end, in a Christie hallmark, the detective usually gathers the surviving suspects into one room, explains the course of their deductive reasoning, and reveals the guilty party; there are exceptions where it is left to the guilty party to explain all (such as And Then There Were None and Endless Night).
Christie did not limit herself to quaint English villagesthe action might take place on a small island (And Then There Were None), an aeroplane (Death in the Clouds), a train (Murder on the Orient Express), a steamship (Death on the Nile), a smart London flat (Cards on the Table), a resort in the West Indies (A Caribbean Mystery), or an archaeological dig (Murder in Mesopotamia)but the circle of potential suspects is usually closed and intimate: family members, friends, servants, business associates, fellow travellers. Stereotyped characters abound (the , the stolid policeman, the devoted servant, the dull colonel), but these may be subverted to stymie the reader; impersonations and secret alliances are always possible. There is always a motivemost often, money: "There are very few killers in Christie who enjoy murder for its own sake."
Professor of Pharmacology Michael C. Gerald noted that "in over half her novels, one or more victims are poisoned, albeit not always to the full satisfaction of the perpetrator." Guns, knives, garrottes, tripwires, blunt instruments, and even a hatchet were also used, but "Christie never resorted to elaborate mechanical or scientific means to explain her ingenuity," according to John Curran, author and literary adviser to the Christie estate. Many of her clues are mundane objects: a calendar, a coffee cup, wax flowers, a beer bottle, a fireplace used during a heat wave.
According to crime writer P. D. James, Christie was prone to making the unlikeliest character the guilty party. Alert readers could sometimes identify the culprit by identifying the least likely suspect. Christie mocked this insight in her foreword to Cards on the Table: "Spot the person least likely to have committed the crime and in nine times out of ten your task is finished. Since I do not want my faithful readers to fling away this book in disgust, I prefer to warn them beforehand that this is not that kind of book."
On Desert Island Discs in 2007, Brian Aldiss said Christie had told him she wrote her books up to the last chapter, then decided who the most unlikely suspect was, after which she would go back and make the necessary changes to "frame" that person. Based upon a study of her working notebooks, Curran describes how Christie would first create a cast of characters, choose a setting, and then produce a list of scenes in which specific clues would be revealed; the order of scenes would be revised as she developed her plot. Of necessity, the murderer had to be known to the author before the sequence could be finalised and she began to type or dictate the first draft of her novel. Much of the work, particularly dialogue, was done in her head before she put it on paper.
In 2013, the 600 members of the Crime Writers' Association chose The Murder of Roger Ackroyd as "the best whodunit... ever written". Author Julian Symons observed, "In an obvious sense, the book fits within the conventions... The setting is a village deep within the English countryside, Roger Ackroyd dies in his study; there is a butler who behaves suspiciously... Every successful detective story in this period involved a deceit practised upon the reader, and here the trick is the highly original one of making the murderer the local doctor, who tells the story and acts as Poirot's Watson." Critic Sutherland Scott stated, "If Agatha Christie had made no other contribution to the literature of detective fiction she would still deserve our grateful thanks" for writing this novel.
In September 2015, to mark her 125th birthday, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. The novel is emblematic of both her use of formula and her willingness to discard it. "And Then There Were None carries the 'closed society' type of murder mystery to extreme lengths," according to author Charles Osborne. It begins with the classic set-up of potential victim(s) and killer(s) isolated from the outside world, but then violates conventions. There is no detective involved in the action, no interviews of suspects, no careful search for clues, and no suspects gathered together in the last chapter to be confronted with the solution. As Christie herself said, "Ten people had to die without it becoming ridiculous or the murderer being obvious." Critics agreed she had succeeded: "The arrogant Mrs. Christie this time set herself a fearsome test of her own ingenuity... the reviews, not surprisingly, were without exception wildly adulatory."
Character stereotypes and perceived racism
Christie included stereotyped descriptions of characters in her work, especially before 1945 (when such attitudes were more commonly expressed publicly), particularly in regard to Italians, Jews, and non-Europeans. For example, she described "men of Hebraic extraction, sallow men with hooked noses, wearing rather flamboyant jewellery" in the short story "The Soul of the Croupier" from the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin. In 1947, the Anti-Defamation League in the US sent an official letter of complaint to Christie's American publishers, Dodd, Mead and Company, regarding perceived antisemitism in her works. Christie's British literary agent later wrote to her US representative, authorising American publishers to "omit the word 'Jew' when it refers to an unpleasant character in future books."
In The Hollow, published in 1946, one of the characters is described by another as "a Whitechapel Jewess with dyed hair and a voice like a corncrake ... a small woman with a thick nose, henna red and a disagreeable voice". To contrast with the more stereotyped descriptions, Christie portrayed some "foreign" characters as victims, or potential victims, at the hands of English malefactors, such as, respectively, Olga Seminoff (Hallowe'en Party) and Katrina Reiger (in the short story "How Does Your Garden Grow?"). Jewish characters are often seen as un-English (such as Oliver Manders in Three Act Tragedy), but they are rarely the culprits.
Other detectives
In addition to Poirot and Marple, Christie also created amateur detectives Thomas Beresford and his wife, Prudence "Tuppence" née Cowley, who appear in four novels and one collection of short stories published between 1922 and 1974. Unlike her other sleuths, the Beresfords were only in their early twenties when introduced in The Secret Adversary, and were allowed to age alongside their creator. She treated their stories with a lighter touch, giving them a "dash and verve" which was not universally admired by critics. Their last adventure, Postern of Fate, was Christie's last novel.
Harley Quin was "easily the most unorthodox" of Christie's fictional detectives. Inspired by Christie's affection for the figures from the Harlequinade, the semi-supernatural Quin always works with an elderly, conventional man called Satterthwaite. The pair appear in 14 short stories, 12 of which were collected in 1930 as The Mysterious Mr. Quin. Mallowan described these tales as "detection in a fanciful vein, touching on the fairy story, a natural product of Agatha's peculiar imagination". Satterthwaite also appears in a novel, Three Act Tragedy, and a short story, "Dead Man's Mirror", both of which feature Poirot.
Another of her lesser-known characters is Parker Pyne, a retired civil servant who assists unhappy people in an unconventional manner. The 12 short stories which introduced him, Parker Pyne Investigates (1934), are best remembered for "The Case of the Discontented Soldier", which features Ariadne Oliver, "an amusing and satirical self-portrait of Agatha Christie". Over the ensuing decades, Oliver reappeared in seven novels. In most of them she assists Poirot.
Plays
In 1928, Michael Morton adapted The Murder of Roger Ackroyd for the stage under the title Alibi. The play enjoyed a respectable run, but Christie disliked the changes made to her work and, in future, preferred to write for the theatre herself. The first of her own stage works was Black Coffee, which received good reviews when it opened in the West End in late 1930. She followed this up with adaptations of her detective novels: And Then There Were None in 1943, Appointment with Death in 1945, and The Hollow in 1951.
In the 1950s, "the theatre ... engaged much of Agatha's attention." She next adapted her short radio play into The Mousetrap, which premiered in the West End in 1952, produced by Peter Saunders. Her expectations for the play were not high; she believed it would run no more than eight months. It has long since made theatrical history, staging its 27,500th performance in September 2018. The play closed down in March 2020, when all UK theatres shut due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In 1953, she followed this with Witness for the Prosecution, whose Broadway production won the New York Drama Critics' Circle award for best foreign play of 1954 and earned Christie an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Spider's Web, an original work written for actress Margaret Lockwood at her request, premiered in 1954 and was also a hit. She is also the first female playwright to have three plays running simultaneously in London's West End: The Mousetrap, Witness for the Prosecution and Spider's Web. Christie said, "Plays are much easier to write than books, because you can see them in your mind's eye, you are not hampered by all that description which clogs you so terribly in a book and stops you from getting on with what's happening." In a letter to her daughter, Christie said being a playwright was "a lot of fun!"
As Mary Westmacott
Christie published six mainstream novels under the name Mary Westmacott, a pseudonym which gave her the freedom to explore "her most private and precious imaginative garden". These books typically received better reviews than her detective and thriller fiction. Of the first, Giant's Bread published in 1930, a reviewer for The New York Times wrote, "...her book is far above the average of current fiction, in fact, comes well under the classification of a 'good book'. And it is only a satisfying novel that can claim that appellation." It was publicized from the very beginning that "Mary Westmacott" was a pen name of a well-known author, although the identity behind the pen name was kept secret; the dust jacket of Giant's Bread mentions that the author had previously written "under her real name...half a dozen books that have each passed the thirty thousand mark in sales." (In fact, though this was technically true, it disguised Christie's identity through understatement. By the publication of Giant's Bread, Christie had published 10 novels and two short story collections, all of which had sold considerably more than 30,000 copies.) After Christie's authorship of the first four Westmacott novels was revealed by a journalist in 1949, she wrote two more, the last in 1956.
The other Westmacott titles are: Unfinished Portrait (1934), Absent in the Spring (1944), The Rose and the Yew Tree (1948), A Daughter's a Daughter (1952), and The Burden (1956).
Non-fiction works
Christie published few non-fiction works. Come, Tell Me How You Live, about working on an archaeological dig, was drawn from her life with Mallowan. The Grand Tour: Around the World with the Queen of Mystery is a collection of correspondence from her 1922 Grand Tour of the British empire, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Agatha Christie: An Autobiography was published posthumously in 1977 and adjudged the Best Critical / Biographical Work at the 1978 Edgar Awards.
Titles
Many of Christie's works from 1940 onward have titles drawn from literature, with the original context of the title typically printed as an epigraph.
The inspirations for some of Christie's titles include:
William Shakespeare's works: Sad Cypress, By the Pricking of My Thumbs, There is a Tide..., Absent in the Spring, and The Mousetrap, for example. Osborne notes that "Shakespeare is the writer most quoted in the works of Agatha Christie";
The Bible: Evil Under the Sun, The Burden, and The Pale Horse;
Other works of literature: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (from Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott"), The Moving Finger (from Edward FitzGerald's translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám), The Rose and the Yew Tree (from T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets), Postern of Fate (from James Elroy Flecker's "Gates of Damascus"), Endless Night (from William Blake's "Auguries of Innocence"), N or M? (from the Book of Common Prayer), and Come, Tell Me How You Live (from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass).
Christie biographer Gillian Gill said, "Christie's writing has the sparseness, the directness, the narrative pace, and the universal appeal of the fairy story, and it is perhaps as modern fairy stories for grown-up children that Christie's novels succeed." Reflecting a juxtaposition of innocence and horror, numerous Christie titles were drawn from well-known children's nursery rhymes: And Then There Were None (from "Ten Little Niggers"), One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (from "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe"), Five Little Pigs (from "This Little Piggy"), Crooked House (from "There Was a Crooked Man"), A Pocket Full of Rye (from "Sing a Song of Sixpence"), Hickory Dickory Dock (from "Hickory Dickory Dock"), and Three Blind Mice (from "Three Blind Mice").
Critical reception
Christie is regularly referred to as the "Queen of Crime" or "Queen of Mystery", and is considered a master of suspense, plotting, and characterisation. In 1955, she became the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. She was named "Best Writer of the Century" and the Hercule Poirot series of books was named "Best Series of the Century" at the 2000 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. In 2013, she was voted "best crime writer" in a survey of 600 members of the Crime Writers' Association of professional novelists. However, the writer Raymond Chandler criticised the artificiality of her books, as did writer Julian Symons. The literary critic Edmund Wilson described her prose as banal and her characterisations as superficial.
In 2011, Christie was named the second most financially successful crime writer of all time in the United Kingdom, after Ian Fleming, by digital crime drama TV channel Alibi with total earnings around £100 million. In 2012, Christie was among the people selected by the artist Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous work, the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, "to celebrate the British cultural figures he most admires".
In 2015, in honor of the 125th anniversary of her birthday, 25 contemporary mystery writers and one publisher gave their views on Christie's works. Many of the authors had read Christie's novels first, before other mystery writers, in English or in their native language, influencing their own writing, and nearly all still viewed her as the "Queen of Crime" and creator of the plot twists used by mystery authors. Nearly all had one or more favourites among Christie's mysteries and found her books still good to read nearly 100 years after her first novel was published. Just one of the 25 authors held with Wilson's views.
Book sales
In her prime, Christie was rarely out of the bestseller list. She was the first crime writer to have 100,000 copies of 10 of her titles published by Penguin on the same day in 1948. , Guinness World Records listed Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time. , her novels had sold more than two billion copies in 44 languages. Half the sales are of English-language editions, and half are translations. According to Index Translationum, , she was the most-translated individual author. Christie is one of the most-borrowed authors in UK libraries. She is also UK's best-selling spoken-book author. In 2002, 117,696 Christie audiobooks were sold, in comparison to 97,755 for J. K. Rowling, 78,770 for Roald Dahl and 75,841 for J. R. R. Tolkien. In 2015, the Christie estate claimed And Then There Were None was "the best-selling crime novel of all time", with approximately 100 million sales, also making it one of the highest-selling books of all time. More than two million copies of her books were sold in English in 2020.
Legacy
In 2016, one hundred years after Christie wrote her first detective story, the Royal Mail released six stamps in her honour, featuring The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, The Body in the Library, and A Murder is Announced. The Guardian reported that, "Each design incorporates microtext, UV ink and thermochromic ink. These concealed clues can be revealed using either a magnifying glass, UV light or body heat and provide pointers to the mysteries' solutions." Her characters and her face appeared on the stamps of many countries like Dominica and the Somali Republic. In 2020, Christie was commemorated on a £2 coin by the Royal Mint for the first time to mark the centenary of her first novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles.
Adaptations
Christie's works have been adapted for cinema and television. The first was the 1928 British film The Passing of Mr. Quin. Poirot's first film appearance was in 1931 in Alibi, which starred Austin Trevor as Christie's sleuth. Margaret Rutherford played Marple in a series of films released in the 1960s. Christie liked her acting, but considered the first film "pretty poor" and thought no better of the rest.
She felt differently about the 1974 film Murder on the Orient Express, directed by Sidney Lumet, which featured major stars and high production values; her attendance at the London premiere was one of her last public outings. In 2016, a new film version was released, directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also starred, wearing "the most extravagant mustache moviegoers have ever seen".
The television adaptation Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989–2013), with David Suchet in the title role, ran for 70 episodes over 13 series. It received nine BAFTA award nominations and won four BAFTA awards in 1990–1992. The television series Miss Marple (1984–1992), with Joan Hickson as "the BBC's peerless Miss Marple", adapted all 12 Marple novels. The French television series (2009–2012, 2013–2020), adapted 36 of Christie's stories.
Christie's books have also been adapted for BBC Radio, a video game series, and graphic novels.
Interests and influences
Pharmacology
During the First World War, Christie took a break from nursing to train for the Apothecaries Hall Examination. While she subsequently found dispensing in the hospital pharmacy monotonous, and thus less enjoyable than nursing, her new knowledge provided her with a background in potentially toxic drugs. Early in the Second World War, she brought her skills up to date at Torquay Hospital.
As Michael C. Gerald puts it, her "activities as a hospital dispenser during both World Wars not only supported the war effort but also provided her with an appreciation of drugs as therapeutic agents and poisons... These hospital experiences were also likely responsible for the prominent role physicians, nurses, and pharmacists play in her stories." There were to be many medical practitioners, pharmacists, and scientists, naïve or suspicious, in Christie's cast of characters; featuring in Murder in Mesopotamia, Cards on the Table, The Pale Horse, and Mrs. McGinty's Dead, among many others.
Gillian Gill notes that the murder method in Christie's first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, "comes right out of Agatha Christie's work in the hospital dispensary". In an interview with journalist Marcelle Bernstein, Christie stated, "I don't like messy deaths... I'm more interested in peaceful people who die in their own beds and no one knows why." With her expert knowledge, Christie had no need of poisons unknown to science, which were forbidden under Ronald Knox's "Ten Rules for Detective Fiction". Arsenic, aconite, strychnine, digitalis, thallium, and other substances were used to dispatch victims in the ensuing decades.
Archaeology
In her youth, Christie showed little interest in antiquities. After her marriage to Mallowan in 1930, she accompanied him on annual expeditions, spending three to four months at a time in Syria and Iraq at excavation sites at Ur, Nineveh, Tell Arpachiyah, Chagar Bazar, Tell Brak, and Nimrud. The Mallowans also took side trips whilst travelling to and from expedition sites, visiting Italy, Greece, Egypt, Iran, and the Soviet Union, among other places. Their experiences travelling and living abroad are reflected in novels such as Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and Appointment with Death.
For the 1931 digging season at Nineveh, Christie bought a writing table to continue her own work; in the early 1950s, she paid to add a small writing room to the team's house at Nimrud. She also devoted time and effort each season in "making herself useful by photographing, cleaning, and recording finds; and restoring ceramics, which she especially enjoyed". She also provided funds for the expeditions.
Many of the settings for Christie's books were inspired by her archaeological fieldwork in the Middle East; this is reflected in the detail with which she describes themfor instance, the temple of Abu Simbel as depicted in Death on the Nilewhile the settings for They Came to Baghdad were places she and Mallowan had recently stayed. Similarly, she drew upon her knowledge of daily life on a dig throughout Murder in Mesopotamia. Archaeologists and experts in Middle Eastern cultures and artefacts featured in her works include Dr Eric Leidner in Murder in Mesopotamia and Signor Richetti in Death on the Nile.
After the Second World War, Christie chronicled her time in Syria in Come, Tell Me How You Live, which she described as "small beera very little book, full of everyday doings and happenings". From 8November 2001 to March 2002, The British Museum presented a "colourful and episodic exhibition" called Agatha Christie and Archaeology: Mystery in Mesopotamia which illustrated how her activities as a writer and as the wife of an archaeologist intertwined.
In popular culture
BBC television released Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures in 2004, in which she is portrayed by Olivia Williams, Anna Massey, and Bonnie Wright (at different stages in her life). ITV's Perspectives: "The Mystery of Agatha Christie" (2013) is hosted by David Suchet.
Some of Christie's fictional portrayals have explored and offered accounts of her disappearance in 1926. The film Agatha (1979), with Vanessa Redgrave, has Christie sneaking away to plan revenge against her husband; Christie's heirs sued unsuccessfully to prevent the film's distribution. The Doctor Who episode "The Unicorn and the Wasp" (17 May 2008), with Fenella Woolgar, portrays Christie in her early writing career and explains her disappearance as the result of having suffered a temporary breakdown owing to a brief psychic link being formed between her and an alien wasp called the Vespiform. The film Agatha and the Truth of Murder (2018) sends her under cover to solve the murder of Florence Nightingale's goddaughter, Florence Nightingale Shore. A fictionalised account of Christie's disappearance is also the central theme of a Korean musical, Agatha. The Christie Affair, a Christie-like mystery story of love and revenge by author Nina de Gramont, was a 2022 novel loosely based on Christie's disappearance.
Other portrayals, such as the Hungarian film, Kojak Budapesten (1980), create their own scenarios involving Christie's criminal skill. In the TV play, Murder by the Book (1986), Christie (Dame Peggy Ashcroft) murders one of her fictional-turned-real characters, Poirot. Christie features as a character in Gaylord Larsen's Dorothy and Agatha and The London Blitz Murders by Max Allan Collins. The American television program Unsolved Mysteries devoted a segment to her famous disappearance, with Agatha portrayed by actress Tessa Pritchard. A young Agatha is depicted in the Spanish historical television series Gran Hotel (2011) in which she finds inspiration to write her new novel while aiding local detectives. In the alternative history television film Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar (2018), Christie becomes involved in a murder case at an archaeological dig in Iraq. In 2019, Honeysuckle Weeks portrayed Christie in an episode, "No Friends Like Old Friends", in a Canadian drama, Frankie Drake Mysteries.
In June 2021, an episode of the internet series BuzzFeed Unsolved detailed the disappearance of Christie and possible theories.
See also
Agatha Christie bibliography (lists of Christie's works)
Agatha Christie indult (an oecumenical request to which Christie was signatory seeking permission for the occasional use of the Tridentine (Latin) mass in England and Wales)
Agatha Awards (literary awards for mystery and crime writers)
Agatha Christie Award (Japan) (literary award for unpublished mystery novels)
List of solved missing person cases
Notes
References
Further reading
.
Curran, John (2009). Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making. London: HarperCollins. .
Curran, John (2011). Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making. London: HarperCollins. .
Curran, John. "75 facts about Christie". The Home of Agatha Christie. Agatha Christie Limited. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
Gerald, Michael C. (1993). The Poisonous Pen of Agatha Christie. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. .
.
.
.
Morgan, Janet P. (1984). Agatha Christie: A Biography. London: HarperCollins. . Retrieved 8 March 2015.
Prichard, Mathew (2012). The Grand Tour: Around The World With The Queen Of Mystery. New York, NY: HarperCollins. .
.
Thompson, Laura (2008), Agatha Christie: An English Mystery, London: Headline Review, .
External links
A Christie reading list (on official website)
Agatha Christie/Sir Max Mallowan's blue plaque at Cholsey
Agatha Christie profile and related articles in The Guardian
Agatha Christie profile on PBS.org
Agatha Christie profile on FamousAuthors.org
"The Christie Mystery" (fan site)
Agatha Christie recording, oral history at the Imperial War Museum
Agatha Christie business papers at the University of Exeter
"Shocking Real Murders" (book released to mark the 125th anniversary of Christie's birth)
Hercule Poirot Central
The Films of Agatha Christie (1993)
Lamothe, Lori. "The Original Gone Girl: Did Agatha Christie Try to Frame Her Cheating Husband?" in History of Yesterday.
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"\"What She Came For\" is the fourth single from the album Tonight: Franz Ferdinand by Franz Ferdinand. It was remixed as \"Feel the Pressure\" for the band's remix album, Blood: Franz Ferdinand.\n\nBackground\n\"What She Came For\" originated from the song \"Favourite Lie\", which was played live in 2007 by the band and featured similarities in arrangement and lyrics.\n\nTrack listing \nDigital download\n\"What She Came For\" – 3:33\n\nVinyl Remixes EP\n\"What She Came For\" (Drums of Death Remix) – 4:18\n\"What She Came For\" (Tigerstyle Remix) – 3:28\n\"What She Came For\" (Lee Mortimer Vocal Remix) – 6:24\n\"What She Came For\" (Lee Mortimer Dub) – 6:25\n\n\"Feel the Pressure\" digital download\n\"Feel the Pressure\" – 3:28\n\nRemixes \nThe song has been remixed by:\n\nDrums of Death\nTigerstyle\nLee Mortimer\nMr Dan (remix called \"Feel the Pressure\" for the remix album Blood: Franz Ferdinand)\n\nReferences \nhttp://wax.fm/vinyl-lp-releases/franz_ferdinand_what_she_came_for_remixes.html\nhttp://images2.wax.fm/franz_ferdinand_what_she_came_for_remixes-RUG326T-1251838191.jpeg\n\"Blood: Franz Ferdinand\" liner notes.\n\nSpecific\n\n2009 singles\nFranz Ferdinand (band) songs\n2008 songs\nDomino Recording Company singles",
"\"Heaven's What I Feel\" is a 1998 song by Cuban American singer and songwriter Gloria Estefan, released as the lead single from her eighth studio album, gloria! on May 5, 1998 by Epic Records. The song was written by Kike Santander originally for Celine Dion. It was produced by Emilio Estefan, Jr. and Santander. The song is an up-tempo dance-pop song.\n\nThe single was a hit in Europe, the US, Australia and Japan. In Spain, it peaked at number-one. It also reached the Top 5 in Hungary and Top 20 in Scotland and the UK. In the US, the song reached number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 7 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. Estefan performed \"Heaven's What I Feel\" at many TV-concerts and shows, like the 1998 VH1 Divas Live, Top of the Pops and the 1998 World Music Awards.\n\nThe song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording but lost to Madonna's smash hit \"Ray of Light\". The music video for the song, directed by Bille Woodruff, received an ALMA Award for \"Best Outstanding Video\".\n\nSong history\nThe song was written by Colombian-American composer Kike Santander. It was first recorded by Canadian singer Celine Dion, but she did not feel it was right for her Let's Talk About Love album, so the song was given to Estefan. Santander co-produced it with Estefan's husband, Emilio Estefan, Jr. It was recorded in three languages: English, Spanish and French and was made available on May 5, 1998 by Epic Records. The Spanish version titled \"Corazón Prohibido\" (\"Forbidden Heart\") was released as a single in Spain, where it topped the charts. The French version titled \"Amour Infini\" (\"Endless Love\") was only available on the Canadian and the French album releases, and on the European Limited Edition 2-Disc release of the gloria! album.\n\nThe single received massive promotion. Estefan first performed the song at the 1998 VH1 Divas Live; she also performed at Studio 54 in New York City. Then she sang it again at the 1998 World Music Awards in Monaco where she was the hostess of the event. It was performed on many television programs around the world, such as the British music chart television program Top of the Pops. \nThe B-side of the single is the \"Gloria Hitmix\", a megamix which includes the songs: \"I'm Not Giving You Up\", \"Reach\", \"You'll Be Mine (Party Time)\", \"Mi Tierra\", \"Live for Loving You\", \"Tres Deseos\", \"Everlasting Love\" and \"Turn the Beat Around.\"\n\nCritical reception\nBen Wener from Beaver County Times noted \"the lush orchestration\" of the song in his review of gloria!. Larry Flick from Billboard described it as a \"deliciously sweet confection that takes the listener back to the days of disco with its wonderfully vibrant strings and rumbling percussion.\" He added, \"La G is in exceptional voice here, hitting high notes she's never touched before—and doing so with a delightfully romantic flair. The fingerprints of top clubland producer Tony Moran are all over the track, starting with its muscular bassline and unabashedly gleeful keyboards.\" He also noted that the song has \"cute lyrics and instantly sing-along chorus.\" Another editor, Chuck Taylor deemed it as a \"tasty\" track. The Daily Vault's Alfredo Narvaez called it a \"flamboyant\" song, and stated that it is \"pretty enough to be liked by teenage girls and danceable enough that older ladies will instantly recognize and like its vibe.\"\n\nDave Sholin from the Gavin Report viewed it as \"upbeat with a great hook\" and a \"winner\". He added that \"while some of her strongest hits have been ballads, it's wonderful to hear her pick up the pace on this latest endeavor.\" Joey Guerra from Houston Chronicle wrote that it is a \"daring, delightful track\" that \"takes flight on the wings of its rousing chorus and themes of unexpected love.\" Jeremy Griffin from The Ithacan described it as \"sensational\". A reviewer from Music & Media commented that with this track, Estefan \"yet again comes up with a near-perfect pop/dance crossover hit. The song has the hook to make it a radio favourite, and a couple of snappy remixes should help broaden its appeal.\" Gerald Martinez from New Sunday Times wrote that it \"grooves to a latin disco beat of the 70s and 80s\". Victoria Segal from NME said songs like \"Heaven's What I Feel\" \"speak the international language of tedium\". Larry Flick for Vibe noted its \"twinkly synths, romantic live strings, and vibrant house bass line\".\n\n\"Heaven's What I Feel\" was successful in Europe, Japan, and the US. It peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 7 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. In Europe, the single reached the Top 5 in Hungary, Top 20 in Scotland and the UK, and Top 40 in Belgium and Switzerland.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video was directed by American film director Bille Woodruff. It was filmed in a \"space\" style and shows Gloria flying in some scenes. The video begins with Gloria standing alone singing in front of a magical green portal. As the chorus begins, she goes through it and ends up flying along a rotating tunnel with flashing lights. As the second verse begins, Gloria ends up in a club, amidst dancing people in several floors. Along the walls are screens with Estefan singing. She also performs choreography with some of the dancers. Towards the end, she is lifted up as she continues to sing. After she sings the last note of the song, everyone in the club claps for her. The video received the ALMA Award for \"Best Outstanding Video\". Two similar videos were created, one for the English version and one for the Spanish version.\n\nUsage in media\nThe song was included in the movie Dance with Me (starring Vanessa L. Williams and Chayanne) soundtrack.\n\nCharts\n\n\"Heaven's What I Feel\"\n\n\"Corazón Prohibido\"\n\nFormats and track listings\n\n\"Heaven's What I Feel\"\n\n\"Corazón Prohibido\"\n\nRelease history\n\nOfficial versions and remixes\nOriginal versions\n Album Version — (5:05)\n Radio Edit #1 — (4:37)\n Radio Edit #2 — (4:07)\n Ballad Version — (4:28)\n Acappella — (4:26)\n Spanish Version (\"Corazón Prohibido\") — (5:05)\n Spanish Radio Edit (\"Corazón Prohibido\") — (4:34)\n Spanish Ballad Version (\"Corazón Prohibido\") — (5:05)\n Spanish Acappella (\"Corazón Prohibido\") — (4:31)\n French Version (\"Amour Infini\") — (5:05)\n\n\"Heaven's What I Feel\" remixes\n Pablo Flores Remix — (5:03)\n Love To Infinity Classic Paradise Mix — (6:10)\n Love To Infinity Classic Radio Mix #1 (a.k.a. Classic Radio Long) — (5:05) \n Love To Infinity Classic Radio Edit #2 (a.k.a. Classic Radio Short) — (3:32)\n Love To Infinity Rhino Mix — (7:11)\n Victor Calderone Mix — (8:32)\n Victor Calderone Radio Mix — (4:12)\n Victor Calderone Dub — (7:30)\n Soul Solution Vox Mix — (10:11)\n Soul Solution Radio Mix — (4:40)\n Soul Solution NRG Dub — (5:12)\n Trouser Enthusiasts' Neanderthal Thrust Mix — (10:54)\n Prince Quick Mix's Amped Up Pass — (5:40)\n Prince Quick Mix's Subaquatic Dub — (6:15)\n\n\"Corazón Prohibido\" remixes\n Pablo Flores Remix — (4:42)\n Pablo Flores Spanish 12\" Remix — (7:10)\n\nReferences\n#https://web.archive.org/web/20091027084359/http://www.geocities.com/weslarkins/glorialibre.html gloriaestefandiscographydatabase\n\n1998 singles\nGloria Estefan songs\nMusic videos directed by Bille Woodruff\nNumber-one singles in Spain\nSongs written by Kike Santander\n1998 songs\nEpic Records singles\nHouse music songs\nSongs about Heaven"
] |
[
"Craig Ferguson",
"Literature"
] |
C_a953667fe2504ed39c4c18b910df7826_1
|
Did Ferguson write anything?
| 1 |
Did Ferguson write anything?
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Craig Ferguson
|
Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006. He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", he said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." The novel is dedicated to his elder son, Milo, and to his grandfather, Adam. He revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled The Sphynx of the Mississippi. He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends the book to be the first in a trilogy. Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy. In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on The Late Late Show to promote her new book Married Lovers. Collins said that a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show. CANNOTANSWER
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Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006.
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Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish-American comedian, actor, writer and television host. He is best known for hosting the CBS late-night talk show The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2005–14), for which he won a Peabody Award in 2009 for his interview with South African archbishop Desmond Tutu that year. He also hosted the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game (2014–17), for which he won two Daytime Emmy Awards, and Join or Die with Craig Ferguson (2016) on History. In 2017 he released a six-episode web show with his wife, Megan Wallace Cunningham, titled Couple Thinkers.
After starting his career in the UK with music, comedy, and theatre, Ferguson moved to the U.S., where he appeared in the role of Nigel Wick on the ABC sitcom The Drew Carey Show (1996–2004). Ferguson has written three books: Between the Bridge and the River, a novel; American on Purpose, a memoir; and Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations & Observations. He holds both British and American citizenship.
He has written and starred in three films, directing one of them, and has appeared in several others, including several voice-over roles for animations. He provided voice work for Gobber in the How to Train Your Dragon film series (2010–2019), Owl in Winnie the Pooh (2011) and Lord Macintosh in Brave (2012).
Since 2021, Ferguson has hosted the American game show The Hustler on the ABC television network.
Early life and education
Ferguson was born in Stobhill Hospital in the Springburn district of Glasgow, to Robert and Janet Ferguson on 17 May 1962. When he was 6 months old, he and his family moved from their Springburn flat to a Development Corporation house in the nearby New Town of Cumbernauld, where he grew up "chubby and bullied". They lived there as Cumbernauld was rehousing many Glaswegians away from the poor housing conditions and damage to the city from World War II. Ferguson attended Muirfield Primary School and Cumbernauld High School. At age 16, Ferguson left high school and began an apprenticeship to be an electronics technician at a local factory of American company Burroughs Corporation.
His first visit to the United States was in 1975, when he was 13, to visit an uncle who lived on Long Island, near New York City. When he moved to New York City in 1983, he worked in construction in Harlem. Ferguson later became a bouncer at the nightclub Save the Robots before returning to Scotland.
Career
UK career
Ferguson's experience in entertainment began as a teenager as a drummer for Glasgow punk bands such as the Night Creatures and Exposure. Shortly afterward, he had a brief stint as a drummer for the post-punk band Ana Hausen, who released a single for Human Records in 1981. He then joined a punk band called The Bastards from Hell. The band, later renamed Dreamboys, and fronted by vocalist Peter Capaldi, performed regularly in Glasgow from 1980 to 1982. Ferguson credits Capaldi for inspiring him to try comedy. When he was 18, he worked as a session musician and performed as a drummer for Nico during a few gigs when she toured Scotland.
After a nerve-racking first comedy appearance, he decided to create a character that he described as a "parody of all the über-patriotic native folk singers who seemed to infect every public performance in Scotland". The character was named "Bing Hitler" by Capaldi. Ferguson first performed as the character in Glasgow, and he later became a hit at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. However, by the end of the year, Ferguson was already discussing his intention to retire Bing. At the press launch for an alternative pantomime of Sleeping Beauty (which he had co-written with Capaldi), he said "you can't write for just one character forever". A recording of his stage act as Bing Hitler was made at Glasgow's Tron Theatre and released in the 1980s; a Bing Hitler monologue ("A Lecture for Burns Night") appears on the compilation cassette Honey at the Core.
After enjoying success at the Edinburgh Festival, Ferguson appeared on television as 'Confidence' in Red Dwarf, on STV's Hogmanay Shows, and on the 1993 One Foot in the Grave Christmas special One Foot in the Algarve. In 1990, a pilot of The Craig Ferguson Show, a one-off comedy pilot for Granada Television, was broadcast. It co-starred Paul Whitehouse and Helen Atkinson-Wood. In 1991, Channel 4 asked him to host Friday at the Dome, a 75-minute live music show. In 1992, he was given his own BBC Scotland show, 2000 Not Out.
In 1993, he presented a six-part archaeology TV series, The Dirt Detective, for STV. Also in 1993, he was given a six-part TV series on BBC One. The Ferguson Theory was a mix of stand-up and sketches recorded the day before transmission. In 2017, it was announced that he would return to UK television for the first time in 25 years in a guest role in BBC Scotland's comedy Still Game, to be shown in 2018.
Ferguson also found success in musical theatre. Beginning in 1991, he appeared on stage as Brad Majors in the London production of The Rocky Horror Show. In 1994, Ferguson played Father MacLean in production of Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom at the Union Chapel in London. The same year, he appeared again at the Edinburgh Fringe, as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple.
US career
Ferguson moved to Los Angeles in November 1994, after his soon-to-be agent Rick Siegel saw Ferguson during the Edinburgh Festival and suggested that he come to America. His first US role was as baker Logan McDonough on the short-lived 1995 ABC comedy Maybe This Time, which starred Betty White and Marie Osmond.
His breakthrough in the US came when he was cast on The Drew Carey Show as the title character's boss, Mr. Wick, a role he played from 1996 to 2003. He played the role with an over-the-top posh English accent "to make up for generations of English actors doing crap Scottish accents". In his comedy special "A Wee Bit o' Revolution", he specifically identified James Doohan's portrayal of Montgomery Scott on Star Trek as the foundation of his "revenge". (At the end of one episode, though, Ferguson broke the fourth wall and began talking to the audience at home in his regular Scottish accent.) His character was memorable for his unique methods of laying employees off, almost always "firing Johnson", the most common last name of the to-be-fired workers. Even after leaving the show in 2003, he remained a recurring character on the series for the last two seasons, and was part of the two-part series finale in 2004.
During the production of The Drew Carey Show, Ferguson devoted his off-time as a cast member to writing, working in his trailer on set in between shooting his scenes. He wrote and starred in three films: The Big Tease, Saving Grace, and I'll Be There; he also directed the latter, for which he won the Audience Award for Best Film at the Aspen, Dallas, and Valencia film festivals. He was named Best New Director at the Napa Valley Film Festival. These were among other scripts that, "... in the great tradition of the movie business, about half a dozen that I got paid a fortune for but never got made."
His other acting credits in films include Niagara Motel, Lenny the Wonder Dog, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Chain of Fools, Born Romantic, The Ugly Truth, Kick-Ass, and, as a voice-over actor, How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Brave, and Winnie the Pooh.
Ferguson has been touring the United States and Canada with a comedy show since the late 2000s, including a performance at Carnegie Hall on 23 October 2010 and a performance at Radio City Music Hall on 6 October 2012. He has performed two stand-up television specials on Comedy Central, both released on DVD: A Wee Bit o' Revolution in 2009 and Does This Need to Be Said? in 2011. His third comedy special, I'm Here to Help, was released on Netflix in 2013, garnering positive reviews of 4 out of 5 stars on Netflix and peaking at number 6 on Billboard top comedy albums. It also received a 2014 Grammy Award nomination for Best Comedy Album.
Ferguson was awarded the Peter Ustinov Comedy Award by the Banff World Media Festival on 11 June 2013.
The Late Late Show
In December 2004, it was announced that Ferguson would succeed Craig Kilborn on CBS's The Late Late Show. His first show as the regular host aired on 3 January 2005. The show was unique in that it had no "human" sidekicks such as Ed McMahon on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson or Conan O'Brien's Andy Richter. He had a remotely operated robot skeleton named Geoff Peterson and two silent performers in a pantomime horse costume that were added in 2010. His monologues were conducted within a few feet of the camera versus the long distance Johnny Carson kept from the camera and audience.
The Late Late Show averaged 2.0 million viewers in its 2007 season, compared with 2.5 million for Late Night with Conan O'Brien. In April 2008, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson beat Late Night with Conan O'Brien for weekly ratings (1.88 million to 1.77 million) for the first time since the two shows went head-to-head with their respective hosts.
In March 2009, Craig Ferguson topped Jimmy Fallon in the ratings with Ferguson getting a 1.8 rating/6 share and Fallon receiving a 1.6 rating/6 share. By 2014, Ferguson's ratings had faltered, trailing those of Late Night with Seth Meyers with an average of 1.35 million viewers versus 2.02 million.
On 28 April 2014, Ferguson announced he would leave The Late Late Show at the end of 2014, with the final episode airing on 19 December. His contract was set to expire in June 2014, but a six-month extension was agreed on to provide a more graceful exit and give CBS more time to find a replacement host. He reportedly received as part of his contract because he was not selected as the replacement for David Letterman's Late Show. Ferguson made the decision prior to Letterman's announcement but agreed to delay making his own decision public until the reaction to Letterman's decision had died down. CBS Entertainment Chair Nina Tassler said, following the announcement, that in his decade as host Ferguson had "infused the broadcast with tremendous energy, unique comedy, insightful interviews and some of the most heartfelt monologues seen on television." CBS continued the franchise with James Corden as the new host.
Television work
Craig Ferguson has made guest appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Rachael Ray, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, The Howard Stern Show, The Daily Show, The View, Loveline, Real Time with Bill Maher, The Soup, The Talk, The Price Is Right, Kevin Pollak's Chat Show, The Dennis Miller Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He also co-hosted Live with Regis & Kelly with Kelly Ripa and was guest host on the April Fools' Day episode of The Price Is Right in 2014.
In 2009, Ferguson made a cameo live-action appearance in the episode "We Love You, Conrad" on Family Guy. Ferguson hosted the 32nd annual People's Choice Awards on 10 January 2006. TV Guide magazine printed a "Cheers" (Cheers and Jeers section) for appearing on his own show that same evening. From 2007 to 2010, Ferguson hosted the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on 4 July, broadcast nationally by CBS. Ferguson was the featured entertainer at 26 April 2008 White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, DC.
Ferguson co-presented the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama with Brooke Shields in 2008. He has done voice work in cartoons, including being the voice of Barry's evil alter-ego in the "With Friends Like Steve's" episode of American Dad!; in Freakazoid! as Roddy MacStew, Freakazoid's mentor; and on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command as the robot vampire NOS-4-A2. He was the voice of Susan the boil on Futurama, which was a parody of Scottish singer Susan Boyle. He makes stand-up appearances in Las Vegas and New York City. He headlined in the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal and in October 2008 Ferguson taped his stand up show in Boston for a Comedy Central special entitled A Wee Bit o' Revolution, which aired on 22 March 2009.
British television comedy drama Doc Martin was based on a character from Ferguson's film Saving Grace – with Ferguson getting writing credits for 12 episodes. On 6 November 2009, Ferguson appeared as himself in a SpongeBob SquarePants special titled SpongeBob's Truth or Square. He hosted Discovery Channel's 23rd season of Shark Week in 2010. Ferguson briefly appeared in Toby Keith's "Red Solo Cup" music video released on 10 October 2011.
In September 2013, Ferguson guest-starred on the season finale of Hot in Cleveland as a priest/tabloid journalist who turns out to be the father of Joy's (Jane Leeves) son. The show reunited him with former co-star and frequent Late Late Show guest Betty White. Ferguson reprised the role for several episodes when the show returned in March 2014.
Celebrity Name Game
In October 2013, it was announced that Ferguson would host the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game, produced by Coquette Productions, beginning in late 2014. Ferguson's involvement in the project dates back to 2011, when it was originally pitched and piloted as a CBS primetime series. , the series had an initial order of 180 episodes. The syndicated series began airing on 22 September 2014. Ferguson won Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host for Celebrity Name Game in 2015 and 2016. On 2 December 2016, it was announced that the series would end after three seasons.
Ferguson signed in 2015 to play Prentiss Porter in The King of 7B, a comedy pilot for ABC.<ref name=7B>{{cite news |last=Lyons |first=Beverley |url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity/late-late-shows-craig-ferguson-5339755 |title=Late Late Show'''s Craig Ferguson begins work on new comedy pilot for US television |work=Daily Record |location=Glasgow, Scotland |date=15 March 2015 |access-date=15 March 2015}}</ref> However, the show was not picked up.
Join or Die with Craig Ferguson
On 18 February 2016, Ferguson began to host a historical talk show on History titled Join or Die with Craig Ferguson. The title is a reference to a Benjamin Franklin political cartoon published in the Pennsylvania Gazette on 9 May 1754, which Ferguson had tattooed on his forearm after becoming an American citizen. Ferguson and a three-guest panel of comedians and historians conduct a humorous discussion of a different topic on each episode, such as the most doomed presidential campaign, greatest Founding Father and greatest invention, with viewers invited to share their opinions via Twitter.
The Hustler
Since January 2021, Ferguson has hosted the American game show The Hustler which broadcasts on the American Broadcasting Company television network. The show follows five contestants who collaborate to build up a cash prize by answering a series of trivia questions presented by Ferguson, whilst one of the contestants is secretly designated as the Hustler beforehand and given the answers to all the questions.
By the end of the game, two of the honest contestants have been eliminated; the other two must correctly choose the Hustler in order to stop him/her from winning the entire prize. The series premiered on January 4, 2021, before moving to its regular timeslot on January 7, 2021, airing on Thursdays at 10 p.m.
Radio
On 27 February 2017, Ferguson launched The Craig Ferguson Show, a two-hour talk radio show on the Comedy Greats channel and Faction Talk on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. His last new show aired 11 May 2018.
Literature
Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006. He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", he said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." The novel is dedicated to his elder son, Milo, and to his grandfather, Adam. He revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled The Sphynx of the Mississippi. He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends the book to be the first in a trilogy. As of February 2019, Ferguson has produced no further novels, although he has published non-fiction.
Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy.
In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on The Late Late Show to promote her new book Married Lovers. Collins said a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show.
Ferguson wrote a short story for In Sunlight or in Shadow (2017, Pegasus Crime), an anthology edited by Lawrence Block and featuring works inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper (1882-1967). Block is a favorite writer of Ferguson's and appeared multiple times on The Late Late Show.
On 10 October 2018, Ferguson announced his third book via Twitter, Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations which released 7 May 2019.
Personal life
Ferguson is a fan of Scottish football team Partick Thistle F.C. as well as the British television show Doctor Who. He holds an FAA private pilot certificate, issued in 2009. He has five tattoos which include the Join, or Die political cartoon on his right forearm; a Ferguson family crest with the Latin motto Dulcius ex asperis ("Sweeter out of [or from] difficulty") on his upper right arm in honour of his father; and a Celtic cross with the Ingram clan motto Magnanimus esto (Be great of mind) on his upper left arm in honour of his mother. He has often said that his Join, or Die tattoo is intended to signal his American patriotism. Ferguson returned to live in Scotland in 2019.Pathikrit Sanyal: Why did Craig Ferguson leave America? Talk show host was highly successful but returned to Scotland, here's why. MEAWW, 7 January 2021
Ferguson consumes neither meat nor alcohol, as he is both a vegan (having stated in 2016 that he had been vegan for almost three years) and a recovering alcoholic. Ferguson has been sober since February 18, 1992.
As mentioned in episode 7 of his television show Join or Die, Ferguson also plays the harp (although not well and was kicked out of the band as a result).
Influences
Ferguson has stated that his comedy influences include Monty Python, Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, and David Letterman.
Family
Ferguson eulogised his father Robert on an episode of The Late Late Show in January 2006. Following the death of his mother Janet (3 August 1933 – 1 December 2008), he spoke of her on-air, ending the programme by playing her favourite song: "Rivers of Babylon" by Boney M.
Ferguson has two sisters (one older and one younger) and one older brother. His younger sister, Lynn Ferguson Tweddle, is also a comedian, presenter, and actress, who voiced Mac in the 2000 stop-motion animation film Chicken Run. She was a writer on The Late Late Show until July 2011.
Ferguson has married three times and divorced twice. His first marriage was to Anne Hogarth from 1983 to 1986, during which time they lived in New York. His second marriage was to Sascha Corwin (founder and proprietor of Los Angeles' SpySchool), with whom he has one son, born in 2001. He and Corwin shared custody of their son, and lived near each other in the Hollywood Hills. Ferguson married art dealer Megan Wallace-Cunningham in a private ceremony on her family's farm in Chester, Vermont in 2008. They have a son together, who was born in 2011.
American citizenship
During 2007, Ferguson, who at the time held only British citizenship, used The Late Late Show as a forum for seeking honorary citizenship from every state in the US. He received honorary citizenship from Nebraska, Arkansas, Virginia, Montana, North Dakota, New Jersey, Tennessee, South Carolina, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Texas, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, and was "commissioned" as an admiral in the tongue-in-cheek Nebraska Navy. Governors Jon Corzine (New Jersey), John Hoeven (North Dakota), Mark Sanford (South Carolina), Mike Rounds (South Dakota), Rick Perry (Texas), Sarah Palin (Alaska) and Jim Gibbons (Nevada) sent letters to him that made him an honorary citizen of their respective states. He received similar honours from various towns and cities, including Ozark, Arkansas; Hazard, Kentucky; and Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
Ferguson became an American citizen on 1 February 2008 and broadcast the taking of his citizenship test as well as his swearing in on The Late Late Show.
Filmography
Film
Television
Web
Video games
Radio
Awards and nominations
Discography
Live at the Tron (as Bing Hitler). Jammy Records. 1986. Catalogue number JRLP 861.
Mental; Bing Hitler Is Dead? Polydor. 1988.
A Big Stoatir. Polydor. 1990.
I'm Here to Help. New Wave Dynamics. 2013.
References
Bibliography
Ferguson, Craig (2019). Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations.'' Penguin Group.
External links
1962 births
20th-century Scottish comedians
20th-century Scottish male actors
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American novelists
21st-century Scottish comedians
21st-century Scottish male actors
21st-century Scottish novelists
American game show hosts
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male non-fiction writers
American male novelists
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
21st-century American memoirists
American stand-up comedians
American television talk show hosts
Audiobook narrators
Aviators from California
Burroughs Corporation people
Comedians from Glasgow
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host winners
Living people
Male actors from Glasgow
Male actors from Los Angeles
Male actors from New York City
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Novelists from New York (state)
Peabody Award winners
People from Cumbernauld
Scottish emigrants to the United States
Scottish expatriates in the United States
Scottish game show hosts
Scottish male film actors
Scottish male television actors
Scottish male video game actors
Scottish male voice actors
Scottish memoirists
Scottish stand-up comedians
Scottish television talk show hosts
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from New York (state)
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Writers from Glasgow
Writers from Los Angeles
Writers from New York City
People educated at Cumbernauld Academy
21st-century American male writers
| true |
[
"Elmer Ferguson (February 25, 1885 – April 26, 1972) was a Canadian sports journalist. Born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Ferguson moved to Montreal in 1910 and became the sports editor of the Montreal Herald in 1913. Ferguson was one of the most respected and prominent columnists of his time. He became a Hockey Hall of Fame media honouree in 1982 and was the namesake of the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award.\n\nCareer\nAt the age of six, Ferguson started selling newspapers on the streets of Moncton, New Brunswick and became a copy boy with the Moncton Transcript when he was 17. He soon became a sportswriter with the paper and became the news editor in 1910. With Ferguson as editor, the Moncton Transcript became the first Maritime newspaper to print a full sports page every day.\n\nSoon after, Ferguson left for Montreal where he got a job as an editor at the Montreal Herald. He became sports editor of the paper in 1913 and soon became a well-known sports journalist with his column \"The Gist and the Jest of It\". He was sports editor for the paper for 39 years and continued to write columns until the Herald folded in 1957. He continued to write columns for The Montreal Star until a few months before his death in 1972.\n\nIn addition to his work in the print media, he was also a colour commentator on radio broadcasts for the Montreal Maroons (1933–1938) and the Montreal Canadiens (1938–1952), where he was partnered with Hall of Fame broadcaster Doug Smith.\n\nFerguson was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame as a builder in 1968. In 1984, Ferguson was recognized as one of the first Hockey Hall of Fame media honourees. The award that is given out was named the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award in his honour.\n\nReferences\n\n1885 births\n1972 deaths\nCanadian male journalists\nCanadian people of Scottish descent\nCanadian sportswriters\nElmer Ferguson Award winners\nJournalists from Prince Edward Island\nNational Hockey League broadcasters\nWriters from Charlottetown",
"Thomas Ferguson (born 1949) is an American political scientist and author who writes on politics and economics, often within a historical perspective. He is best known for his Investment Theory of Party Competition, described in detail in his 1995 book Golden Rule: The Investment Theory of Party Competition and the Logic of Money-driven Political Systems.\n\nBiography\nFerguson obtained his Ph.D. from Princeton University before teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Texas, Austin. He later moved to the University of Massachusetts Boston where he is now Emeritus Professor of Political Science. Ferguson is a member of the advisory board for the Institute for New Economic Thinking where he is Director of Research, and was also a senior fellow at the Roosevelt Institute.\n\nAlongside his academic work Ferguson has also contributed widely to popular media. He has been a contributing editor at The Nation and a contributing writer to The Huffington Post. He is also a contributing editor at AlterNet.\n\nInvestment theory of party competition\n\nFerguson is best known for his investment theory of party competition, which was detailed most extensively in his 1995 book Golden Rule: The Investment Theory of Party Competition and the Logic of Money-Driven Political Systems. The theory states that political systems featuring party competition are best understood as competitions for investment from wealthy segments of society. This is because political campaigns are expensive, and so political parties whose policies are most attractive to wealthy 'investors' will tend to be more successful as they are better able to attract the finances required to win election campaigns.\n\nThe theory contrasts with the median voter theorem, which states that the outcome of elections will be the preferences of the median voter as political parties converge on the 'center ground' as they compete for votes.\n\nIn 2009, the documentary Golden Rule: The Investment Theory of Politics about the theory was released, it featured speakers including Thomas Ferguson, Noam Chomsky and Michael Albert.\n\nMIT controversy \nAccording to Noam Chomsky, Ferguson was warned while at MIT that his research might get him denied tenure in the political science department. In Chomsky's account, Ferguson was told \"If you ever want to get tenure in this department, keep away from anything after the New Deal; you can write all of your radical stuff up to the New Deal, but if you try and do it for the post-New Deal period, you're never going to get tenure in this department.\" Although not explicitly mentioned, the research was ostensibly the investment theory of party competition.\n\nSelected works \nFerguson has written numerous scholarly articles, magazine pieces, and a number of books.\n\nBooks\n\nScholarly \n\nEpstein, Gerald; Ferguson, Thomas (1984). \"Monetary Policy, Loan Liquidation, and Industrial Conflict: The Federal Reserve and the Open Market Operations of 1932\". The Journal of Economic History. 44 (4): 957-983.\n\n Longer version available here.\n\nFerguson, Thomas; Johnson, Robert (2011). \"A World Upside Down? Deficit Fantasies in the Great Recession\". International Journal of Political Economy. 40 (1): 3-47. doi:10.2753/IJP0891-1916400101.\n\nPopular \n \"Financial Regulation? Don't Get Your Hopes Up\", Talking Points Memo, 2008-04-17\n \"Bridge Loan to Nowhere?\", The Nation, 2008-09-24\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n UMass Boston polisci profile\n Thomas Ferguson's articles in The Nation.\n Thomas Ferguson's articles in Mother Jones.\n Thomas Ferguson's articles at Alternet.\n \"Giant holes in new banking rules\" Thomas Ferguson interview on The Real News, November 2009 (video and print transcript).\n \"Obama should save banks not bankers\" Thomas Ferguson interview on The Real News, March 2009 (video and print transcript).\n \"Money and Power in the 2000 Elections\" Thomas Ferguson interview on Democracy Now!, November 7, 2000 (audio and print transcript).\n Profile at Institute for New Economic Thinking\n Profile at the Roosevelt Institute\n\n1949 births\nAmerican political scientists\nPrinceton University alumni\nUniversity of Massachusetts Boston faculty\nLiving people"
] |
[
"Craig Ferguson",
"Literature",
"Did Ferguson write anything?",
"Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006."
] |
C_a953667fe2504ed39c4c18b910df7826_1
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Did either book win an award?
| 2 |
Did Between the Bridge and the River win an award?
|
Craig Ferguson
|
Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006. He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", he said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." The novel is dedicated to his elder son, Milo, and to his grandfather, Adam. He revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled The Sphynx of the Mississippi. He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends the book to be the first in a trilogy. Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy. In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on The Late Late Show to promote her new book Married Lovers. Collins said that a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show. CANNOTANSWER
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He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events.
|
Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish-American comedian, actor, writer and television host. He is best known for hosting the CBS late-night talk show The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2005–14), for which he won a Peabody Award in 2009 for his interview with South African archbishop Desmond Tutu that year. He also hosted the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game (2014–17), for which he won two Daytime Emmy Awards, and Join or Die with Craig Ferguson (2016) on History. In 2017 he released a six-episode web show with his wife, Megan Wallace Cunningham, titled Couple Thinkers.
After starting his career in the UK with music, comedy, and theatre, Ferguson moved to the U.S., where he appeared in the role of Nigel Wick on the ABC sitcom The Drew Carey Show (1996–2004). Ferguson has written three books: Between the Bridge and the River, a novel; American on Purpose, a memoir; and Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations & Observations. He holds both British and American citizenship.
He has written and starred in three films, directing one of them, and has appeared in several others, including several voice-over roles for animations. He provided voice work for Gobber in the How to Train Your Dragon film series (2010–2019), Owl in Winnie the Pooh (2011) and Lord Macintosh in Brave (2012).
Since 2021, Ferguson has hosted the American game show The Hustler on the ABC television network.
Early life and education
Ferguson was born in Stobhill Hospital in the Springburn district of Glasgow, to Robert and Janet Ferguson on 17 May 1962. When he was 6 months old, he and his family moved from their Springburn flat to a Development Corporation house in the nearby New Town of Cumbernauld, where he grew up "chubby and bullied". They lived there as Cumbernauld was rehousing many Glaswegians away from the poor housing conditions and damage to the city from World War II. Ferguson attended Muirfield Primary School and Cumbernauld High School. At age 16, Ferguson left high school and began an apprenticeship to be an electronics technician at a local factory of American company Burroughs Corporation.
His first visit to the United States was in 1975, when he was 13, to visit an uncle who lived on Long Island, near New York City. When he moved to New York City in 1983, he worked in construction in Harlem. Ferguson later became a bouncer at the nightclub Save the Robots before returning to Scotland.
Career
UK career
Ferguson's experience in entertainment began as a teenager as a drummer for Glasgow punk bands such as the Night Creatures and Exposure. Shortly afterward, he had a brief stint as a drummer for the post-punk band Ana Hausen, who released a single for Human Records in 1981. He then joined a punk band called The Bastards from Hell. The band, later renamed Dreamboys, and fronted by vocalist Peter Capaldi, performed regularly in Glasgow from 1980 to 1982. Ferguson credits Capaldi for inspiring him to try comedy. When he was 18, he worked as a session musician and performed as a drummer for Nico during a few gigs when she toured Scotland.
After a nerve-racking first comedy appearance, he decided to create a character that he described as a "parody of all the über-patriotic native folk singers who seemed to infect every public performance in Scotland". The character was named "Bing Hitler" by Capaldi. Ferguson first performed as the character in Glasgow, and he later became a hit at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. However, by the end of the year, Ferguson was already discussing his intention to retire Bing. At the press launch for an alternative pantomime of Sleeping Beauty (which he had co-written with Capaldi), he said "you can't write for just one character forever". A recording of his stage act as Bing Hitler was made at Glasgow's Tron Theatre and released in the 1980s; a Bing Hitler monologue ("A Lecture for Burns Night") appears on the compilation cassette Honey at the Core.
After enjoying success at the Edinburgh Festival, Ferguson appeared on television as 'Confidence' in Red Dwarf, on STV's Hogmanay Shows, and on the 1993 One Foot in the Grave Christmas special One Foot in the Algarve. In 1990, a pilot of The Craig Ferguson Show, a one-off comedy pilot for Granada Television, was broadcast. It co-starred Paul Whitehouse and Helen Atkinson-Wood. In 1991, Channel 4 asked him to host Friday at the Dome, a 75-minute live music show. In 1992, he was given his own BBC Scotland show, 2000 Not Out.
In 1993, he presented a six-part archaeology TV series, The Dirt Detective, for STV. Also in 1993, he was given a six-part TV series on BBC One. The Ferguson Theory was a mix of stand-up and sketches recorded the day before transmission. In 2017, it was announced that he would return to UK television for the first time in 25 years in a guest role in BBC Scotland's comedy Still Game, to be shown in 2018.
Ferguson also found success in musical theatre. Beginning in 1991, he appeared on stage as Brad Majors in the London production of The Rocky Horror Show. In 1994, Ferguson played Father MacLean in production of Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom at the Union Chapel in London. The same year, he appeared again at the Edinburgh Fringe, as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple.
US career
Ferguson moved to Los Angeles in November 1994, after his soon-to-be agent Rick Siegel saw Ferguson during the Edinburgh Festival and suggested that he come to America. His first US role was as baker Logan McDonough on the short-lived 1995 ABC comedy Maybe This Time, which starred Betty White and Marie Osmond.
His breakthrough in the US came when he was cast on The Drew Carey Show as the title character's boss, Mr. Wick, a role he played from 1996 to 2003. He played the role with an over-the-top posh English accent "to make up for generations of English actors doing crap Scottish accents". In his comedy special "A Wee Bit o' Revolution", he specifically identified James Doohan's portrayal of Montgomery Scott on Star Trek as the foundation of his "revenge". (At the end of one episode, though, Ferguson broke the fourth wall and began talking to the audience at home in his regular Scottish accent.) His character was memorable for his unique methods of laying employees off, almost always "firing Johnson", the most common last name of the to-be-fired workers. Even after leaving the show in 2003, he remained a recurring character on the series for the last two seasons, and was part of the two-part series finale in 2004.
During the production of The Drew Carey Show, Ferguson devoted his off-time as a cast member to writing, working in his trailer on set in between shooting his scenes. He wrote and starred in three films: The Big Tease, Saving Grace, and I'll Be There; he also directed the latter, for which he won the Audience Award for Best Film at the Aspen, Dallas, and Valencia film festivals. He was named Best New Director at the Napa Valley Film Festival. These were among other scripts that, "... in the great tradition of the movie business, about half a dozen that I got paid a fortune for but never got made."
His other acting credits in films include Niagara Motel, Lenny the Wonder Dog, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Chain of Fools, Born Romantic, The Ugly Truth, Kick-Ass, and, as a voice-over actor, How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Brave, and Winnie the Pooh.
Ferguson has been touring the United States and Canada with a comedy show since the late 2000s, including a performance at Carnegie Hall on 23 October 2010 and a performance at Radio City Music Hall on 6 October 2012. He has performed two stand-up television specials on Comedy Central, both released on DVD: A Wee Bit o' Revolution in 2009 and Does This Need to Be Said? in 2011. His third comedy special, I'm Here to Help, was released on Netflix in 2013, garnering positive reviews of 4 out of 5 stars on Netflix and peaking at number 6 on Billboard top comedy albums. It also received a 2014 Grammy Award nomination for Best Comedy Album.
Ferguson was awarded the Peter Ustinov Comedy Award by the Banff World Media Festival on 11 June 2013.
The Late Late Show
In December 2004, it was announced that Ferguson would succeed Craig Kilborn on CBS's The Late Late Show. His first show as the regular host aired on 3 January 2005. The show was unique in that it had no "human" sidekicks such as Ed McMahon on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson or Conan O'Brien's Andy Richter. He had a remotely operated robot skeleton named Geoff Peterson and two silent performers in a pantomime horse costume that were added in 2010. His monologues were conducted within a few feet of the camera versus the long distance Johnny Carson kept from the camera and audience.
The Late Late Show averaged 2.0 million viewers in its 2007 season, compared with 2.5 million for Late Night with Conan O'Brien. In April 2008, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson beat Late Night with Conan O'Brien for weekly ratings (1.88 million to 1.77 million) for the first time since the two shows went head-to-head with their respective hosts.
In March 2009, Craig Ferguson topped Jimmy Fallon in the ratings with Ferguson getting a 1.8 rating/6 share and Fallon receiving a 1.6 rating/6 share. By 2014, Ferguson's ratings had faltered, trailing those of Late Night with Seth Meyers with an average of 1.35 million viewers versus 2.02 million.
On 28 April 2014, Ferguson announced he would leave The Late Late Show at the end of 2014, with the final episode airing on 19 December. His contract was set to expire in June 2014, but a six-month extension was agreed on to provide a more graceful exit and give CBS more time to find a replacement host. He reportedly received as part of his contract because he was not selected as the replacement for David Letterman's Late Show. Ferguson made the decision prior to Letterman's announcement but agreed to delay making his own decision public until the reaction to Letterman's decision had died down. CBS Entertainment Chair Nina Tassler said, following the announcement, that in his decade as host Ferguson had "infused the broadcast with tremendous energy, unique comedy, insightful interviews and some of the most heartfelt monologues seen on television." CBS continued the franchise with James Corden as the new host.
Television work
Craig Ferguson has made guest appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Rachael Ray, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, The Howard Stern Show, The Daily Show, The View, Loveline, Real Time with Bill Maher, The Soup, The Talk, The Price Is Right, Kevin Pollak's Chat Show, The Dennis Miller Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He also co-hosted Live with Regis & Kelly with Kelly Ripa and was guest host on the April Fools' Day episode of The Price Is Right in 2014.
In 2009, Ferguson made a cameo live-action appearance in the episode "We Love You, Conrad" on Family Guy. Ferguson hosted the 32nd annual People's Choice Awards on 10 January 2006. TV Guide magazine printed a "Cheers" (Cheers and Jeers section) for appearing on his own show that same evening. From 2007 to 2010, Ferguson hosted the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on 4 July, broadcast nationally by CBS. Ferguson was the featured entertainer at 26 April 2008 White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, DC.
Ferguson co-presented the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama with Brooke Shields in 2008. He has done voice work in cartoons, including being the voice of Barry's evil alter-ego in the "With Friends Like Steve's" episode of American Dad!; in Freakazoid! as Roddy MacStew, Freakazoid's mentor; and on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command as the robot vampire NOS-4-A2. He was the voice of Susan the boil on Futurama, which was a parody of Scottish singer Susan Boyle. He makes stand-up appearances in Las Vegas and New York City. He headlined in the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal and in October 2008 Ferguson taped his stand up show in Boston for a Comedy Central special entitled A Wee Bit o' Revolution, which aired on 22 March 2009.
British television comedy drama Doc Martin was based on a character from Ferguson's film Saving Grace – with Ferguson getting writing credits for 12 episodes. On 6 November 2009, Ferguson appeared as himself in a SpongeBob SquarePants special titled SpongeBob's Truth or Square. He hosted Discovery Channel's 23rd season of Shark Week in 2010. Ferguson briefly appeared in Toby Keith's "Red Solo Cup" music video released on 10 October 2011.
In September 2013, Ferguson guest-starred on the season finale of Hot in Cleveland as a priest/tabloid journalist who turns out to be the father of Joy's (Jane Leeves) son. The show reunited him with former co-star and frequent Late Late Show guest Betty White. Ferguson reprised the role for several episodes when the show returned in March 2014.
Celebrity Name Game
In October 2013, it was announced that Ferguson would host the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game, produced by Coquette Productions, beginning in late 2014. Ferguson's involvement in the project dates back to 2011, when it was originally pitched and piloted as a CBS primetime series. , the series had an initial order of 180 episodes. The syndicated series began airing on 22 September 2014. Ferguson won Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host for Celebrity Name Game in 2015 and 2016. On 2 December 2016, it was announced that the series would end after three seasons.
Ferguson signed in 2015 to play Prentiss Porter in The King of 7B, a comedy pilot for ABC.<ref name=7B>{{cite news |last=Lyons |first=Beverley |url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity/late-late-shows-craig-ferguson-5339755 |title=Late Late Show'''s Craig Ferguson begins work on new comedy pilot for US television |work=Daily Record |location=Glasgow, Scotland |date=15 March 2015 |access-date=15 March 2015}}</ref> However, the show was not picked up.
Join or Die with Craig Ferguson
On 18 February 2016, Ferguson began to host a historical talk show on History titled Join or Die with Craig Ferguson. The title is a reference to a Benjamin Franklin political cartoon published in the Pennsylvania Gazette on 9 May 1754, which Ferguson had tattooed on his forearm after becoming an American citizen. Ferguson and a three-guest panel of comedians and historians conduct a humorous discussion of a different topic on each episode, such as the most doomed presidential campaign, greatest Founding Father and greatest invention, with viewers invited to share their opinions via Twitter.
The Hustler
Since January 2021, Ferguson has hosted the American game show The Hustler which broadcasts on the American Broadcasting Company television network. The show follows five contestants who collaborate to build up a cash prize by answering a series of trivia questions presented by Ferguson, whilst one of the contestants is secretly designated as the Hustler beforehand and given the answers to all the questions.
By the end of the game, two of the honest contestants have been eliminated; the other two must correctly choose the Hustler in order to stop him/her from winning the entire prize. The series premiered on January 4, 2021, before moving to its regular timeslot on January 7, 2021, airing on Thursdays at 10 p.m.
Radio
On 27 February 2017, Ferguson launched The Craig Ferguson Show, a two-hour talk radio show on the Comedy Greats channel and Faction Talk on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. His last new show aired 11 May 2018.
Literature
Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006. He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", he said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." The novel is dedicated to his elder son, Milo, and to his grandfather, Adam. He revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled The Sphynx of the Mississippi. He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends the book to be the first in a trilogy. As of February 2019, Ferguson has produced no further novels, although he has published non-fiction.
Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy.
In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on The Late Late Show to promote her new book Married Lovers. Collins said a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show.
Ferguson wrote a short story for In Sunlight or in Shadow (2017, Pegasus Crime), an anthology edited by Lawrence Block and featuring works inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper (1882-1967). Block is a favorite writer of Ferguson's and appeared multiple times on The Late Late Show.
On 10 October 2018, Ferguson announced his third book via Twitter, Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations which released 7 May 2019.
Personal life
Ferguson is a fan of Scottish football team Partick Thistle F.C. as well as the British television show Doctor Who. He holds an FAA private pilot certificate, issued in 2009. He has five tattoos which include the Join, or Die political cartoon on his right forearm; a Ferguson family crest with the Latin motto Dulcius ex asperis ("Sweeter out of [or from] difficulty") on his upper right arm in honour of his father; and a Celtic cross with the Ingram clan motto Magnanimus esto (Be great of mind) on his upper left arm in honour of his mother. He has often said that his Join, or Die tattoo is intended to signal his American patriotism. Ferguson returned to live in Scotland in 2019.Pathikrit Sanyal: Why did Craig Ferguson leave America? Talk show host was highly successful but returned to Scotland, here's why. MEAWW, 7 January 2021
Ferguson consumes neither meat nor alcohol, as he is both a vegan (having stated in 2016 that he had been vegan for almost three years) and a recovering alcoholic. Ferguson has been sober since February 18, 1992.
As mentioned in episode 7 of his television show Join or Die, Ferguson also plays the harp (although not well and was kicked out of the band as a result).
Influences
Ferguson has stated that his comedy influences include Monty Python, Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, and David Letterman.
Family
Ferguson eulogised his father Robert on an episode of The Late Late Show in January 2006. Following the death of his mother Janet (3 August 1933 – 1 December 2008), he spoke of her on-air, ending the programme by playing her favourite song: "Rivers of Babylon" by Boney M.
Ferguson has two sisters (one older and one younger) and one older brother. His younger sister, Lynn Ferguson Tweddle, is also a comedian, presenter, and actress, who voiced Mac in the 2000 stop-motion animation film Chicken Run. She was a writer on The Late Late Show until July 2011.
Ferguson has married three times and divorced twice. His first marriage was to Anne Hogarth from 1983 to 1986, during which time they lived in New York. His second marriage was to Sascha Corwin (founder and proprietor of Los Angeles' SpySchool), with whom he has one son, born in 2001. He and Corwin shared custody of their son, and lived near each other in the Hollywood Hills. Ferguson married art dealer Megan Wallace-Cunningham in a private ceremony on her family's farm in Chester, Vermont in 2008. They have a son together, who was born in 2011.
American citizenship
During 2007, Ferguson, who at the time held only British citizenship, used The Late Late Show as a forum for seeking honorary citizenship from every state in the US. He received honorary citizenship from Nebraska, Arkansas, Virginia, Montana, North Dakota, New Jersey, Tennessee, South Carolina, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Texas, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, and was "commissioned" as an admiral in the tongue-in-cheek Nebraska Navy. Governors Jon Corzine (New Jersey), John Hoeven (North Dakota), Mark Sanford (South Carolina), Mike Rounds (South Dakota), Rick Perry (Texas), Sarah Palin (Alaska) and Jim Gibbons (Nevada) sent letters to him that made him an honorary citizen of their respective states. He received similar honours from various towns and cities, including Ozark, Arkansas; Hazard, Kentucky; and Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
Ferguson became an American citizen on 1 February 2008 and broadcast the taking of his citizenship test as well as his swearing in on The Late Late Show.
Filmography
Film
Television
Web
Video games
Radio
Awards and nominations
Discography
Live at the Tron (as Bing Hitler). Jammy Records. 1986. Catalogue number JRLP 861.
Mental; Bing Hitler Is Dead? Polydor. 1988.
A Big Stoatir. Polydor. 1990.
I'm Here to Help. New Wave Dynamics. 2013.
References
Bibliography
Ferguson, Craig (2019). Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations.'' Penguin Group.
External links
1962 births
20th-century Scottish comedians
20th-century Scottish male actors
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American novelists
21st-century Scottish comedians
21st-century Scottish male actors
21st-century Scottish novelists
American game show hosts
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male non-fiction writers
American male novelists
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
21st-century American memoirists
American stand-up comedians
American television talk show hosts
Audiobook narrators
Aviators from California
Burroughs Corporation people
Comedians from Glasgow
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host winners
Living people
Male actors from Glasgow
Male actors from Los Angeles
Male actors from New York City
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Novelists from New York (state)
Peabody Award winners
People from Cumbernauld
Scottish emigrants to the United States
Scottish expatriates in the United States
Scottish game show hosts
Scottish male film actors
Scottish male television actors
Scottish male video game actors
Scottish male voice actors
Scottish memoirists
Scottish stand-up comedians
Scottish television talk show hosts
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from New York (state)
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Writers from Glasgow
Writers from Los Angeles
Writers from New York City
People educated at Cumbernauld Academy
21st-century American male writers
| true |
[
"Carnivàle is an American television series that aired on HBO between 2003 and 2005. Created by Daniel Knauf, the show traces the disparate storylines of a young carnival worker named Ben Hawkins (played by Nick Stahl) and a preacher in California named Brother Justin Crowe (Clancy Brown) during the United States Dust Bowl. Although Carnivàle was praised for its production and art style, the unfolding story proved too inaccessible for the general audience and led to the show's cancellation after two of six planned seasons. The inaugural season of Carnivàle garnered numerous awards and nominations, including five Emmy Awards and two Emmy nominations in the creative arts categories. The second season received eight Emmy nominations. Nominations for two Golden Reel Awards, four Satellite Awards and two Saturn Awards did not result in a win. The only actor of Carnivàle's large main cast to win an award was Adrienne Barbeau (\"Ruthie\") with a WIN Award (Women's Image Network Awards). Overall, Carnivàle has received eleven awards from thirty-six nominations.\n\nCostume Designers Guild Awards\nFounded in 1999, the Costume Designers Guild Awards honors Costume Designers in Motion Pictures, Television, and Commercials. Carnivàle was nominated for a CDG twice, winning in 2003.\n\nEmmy Awards\nThe Emmy is a television production award considered the television equivalent to the Academy Award. The inaugural season of Carnivàle received nominations for seven Emmys in 2004, winning five in creative arts categories. The second season received eight further Emmy nominations in 2005 without a win.\n\nGolden Reel Awards\nThe Golden Reel Award has been annually presented by the American Motion Picture Sound Editors since 1953, honoring motion picture and television sound editors and their soundtracks. Carnivàle was nominated for two Golden Reel Awards in 2003.\n\nSatellite Awards\nThe Satellite Award, originally known as the Golden Satellite Award, is an annual award given by the International Press Academy.\n\nSaturn Awards\nThe Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. Carnivàle was nominated in two categories in 2004, but failed to win in either.\n\nVES Awards\nThe Visual Effects Society represents the full breadth of visual effects practitioners in all areas of entertainment and honors film, television, commercials, music videos and video games with an award since 2002. Carnivàle won one of three nominations in 2003.\n\nOther awards\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n List of awards on IMDb\n\nAwards and nominations\nCarnivale",
"If You Want to See Your Wife Again () is a book written by John Craig and was originally published during 1971 by Cassell (now an imprint of the Octopus Publishing Group) which went on to win the Edgar's Book Jacket Award in 1972.\n\nReferences \n\nEdgar Award-winning works\n1971 novels\nCassell (publisher) books\nThriller novels"
] |
[
"Craig Ferguson",
"Literature",
"Did Ferguson write anything?",
"Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006.",
"Did either book win an award?",
"He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events."
] |
C_a953667fe2504ed39c4c18b910df7826_1
|
What was The river about?
| 3 |
What was Between the Bridge and the River about?
|
Craig Ferguson
|
Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006. He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", he said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." The novel is dedicated to his elder son, Milo, and to his grandfather, Adam. He revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled The Sphynx of the Mississippi. He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends the book to be the first in a trilogy. Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy. In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on The Late Late Show to promote her new book Married Lovers. Collins said that a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show. CANNOTANSWER
|
The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm.
|
Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish-American comedian, actor, writer and television host. He is best known for hosting the CBS late-night talk show The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2005–14), for which he won a Peabody Award in 2009 for his interview with South African archbishop Desmond Tutu that year. He also hosted the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game (2014–17), for which he won two Daytime Emmy Awards, and Join or Die with Craig Ferguson (2016) on History. In 2017 he released a six-episode web show with his wife, Megan Wallace Cunningham, titled Couple Thinkers.
After starting his career in the UK with music, comedy, and theatre, Ferguson moved to the U.S., where he appeared in the role of Nigel Wick on the ABC sitcom The Drew Carey Show (1996–2004). Ferguson has written three books: Between the Bridge and the River, a novel; American on Purpose, a memoir; and Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations & Observations. He holds both British and American citizenship.
He has written and starred in three films, directing one of them, and has appeared in several others, including several voice-over roles for animations. He provided voice work for Gobber in the How to Train Your Dragon film series (2010–2019), Owl in Winnie the Pooh (2011) and Lord Macintosh in Brave (2012).
Since 2021, Ferguson has hosted the American game show The Hustler on the ABC television network.
Early life and education
Ferguson was born in Stobhill Hospital in the Springburn district of Glasgow, to Robert and Janet Ferguson on 17 May 1962. When he was 6 months old, he and his family moved from their Springburn flat to a Development Corporation house in the nearby New Town of Cumbernauld, where he grew up "chubby and bullied". They lived there as Cumbernauld was rehousing many Glaswegians away from the poor housing conditions and damage to the city from World War II. Ferguson attended Muirfield Primary School and Cumbernauld High School. At age 16, Ferguson left high school and began an apprenticeship to be an electronics technician at a local factory of American company Burroughs Corporation.
His first visit to the United States was in 1975, when he was 13, to visit an uncle who lived on Long Island, near New York City. When he moved to New York City in 1983, he worked in construction in Harlem. Ferguson later became a bouncer at the nightclub Save the Robots before returning to Scotland.
Career
UK career
Ferguson's experience in entertainment began as a teenager as a drummer for Glasgow punk bands such as the Night Creatures and Exposure. Shortly afterward, he had a brief stint as a drummer for the post-punk band Ana Hausen, who released a single for Human Records in 1981. He then joined a punk band called The Bastards from Hell. The band, later renamed Dreamboys, and fronted by vocalist Peter Capaldi, performed regularly in Glasgow from 1980 to 1982. Ferguson credits Capaldi for inspiring him to try comedy. When he was 18, he worked as a session musician and performed as a drummer for Nico during a few gigs when she toured Scotland.
After a nerve-racking first comedy appearance, he decided to create a character that he described as a "parody of all the über-patriotic native folk singers who seemed to infect every public performance in Scotland". The character was named "Bing Hitler" by Capaldi. Ferguson first performed as the character in Glasgow, and he later became a hit at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. However, by the end of the year, Ferguson was already discussing his intention to retire Bing. At the press launch for an alternative pantomime of Sleeping Beauty (which he had co-written with Capaldi), he said "you can't write for just one character forever". A recording of his stage act as Bing Hitler was made at Glasgow's Tron Theatre and released in the 1980s; a Bing Hitler monologue ("A Lecture for Burns Night") appears on the compilation cassette Honey at the Core.
After enjoying success at the Edinburgh Festival, Ferguson appeared on television as 'Confidence' in Red Dwarf, on STV's Hogmanay Shows, and on the 1993 One Foot in the Grave Christmas special One Foot in the Algarve. In 1990, a pilot of The Craig Ferguson Show, a one-off comedy pilot for Granada Television, was broadcast. It co-starred Paul Whitehouse and Helen Atkinson-Wood. In 1991, Channel 4 asked him to host Friday at the Dome, a 75-minute live music show. In 1992, he was given his own BBC Scotland show, 2000 Not Out.
In 1993, he presented a six-part archaeology TV series, The Dirt Detective, for STV. Also in 1993, he was given a six-part TV series on BBC One. The Ferguson Theory was a mix of stand-up and sketches recorded the day before transmission. In 2017, it was announced that he would return to UK television for the first time in 25 years in a guest role in BBC Scotland's comedy Still Game, to be shown in 2018.
Ferguson also found success in musical theatre. Beginning in 1991, he appeared on stage as Brad Majors in the London production of The Rocky Horror Show. In 1994, Ferguson played Father MacLean in production of Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom at the Union Chapel in London. The same year, he appeared again at the Edinburgh Fringe, as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple.
US career
Ferguson moved to Los Angeles in November 1994, after his soon-to-be agent Rick Siegel saw Ferguson during the Edinburgh Festival and suggested that he come to America. His first US role was as baker Logan McDonough on the short-lived 1995 ABC comedy Maybe This Time, which starred Betty White and Marie Osmond.
His breakthrough in the US came when he was cast on The Drew Carey Show as the title character's boss, Mr. Wick, a role he played from 1996 to 2003. He played the role with an over-the-top posh English accent "to make up for generations of English actors doing crap Scottish accents". In his comedy special "A Wee Bit o' Revolution", he specifically identified James Doohan's portrayal of Montgomery Scott on Star Trek as the foundation of his "revenge". (At the end of one episode, though, Ferguson broke the fourth wall and began talking to the audience at home in his regular Scottish accent.) His character was memorable for his unique methods of laying employees off, almost always "firing Johnson", the most common last name of the to-be-fired workers. Even after leaving the show in 2003, he remained a recurring character on the series for the last two seasons, and was part of the two-part series finale in 2004.
During the production of The Drew Carey Show, Ferguson devoted his off-time as a cast member to writing, working in his trailer on set in between shooting his scenes. He wrote and starred in three films: The Big Tease, Saving Grace, and I'll Be There; he also directed the latter, for which he won the Audience Award for Best Film at the Aspen, Dallas, and Valencia film festivals. He was named Best New Director at the Napa Valley Film Festival. These were among other scripts that, "... in the great tradition of the movie business, about half a dozen that I got paid a fortune for but never got made."
His other acting credits in films include Niagara Motel, Lenny the Wonder Dog, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Chain of Fools, Born Romantic, The Ugly Truth, Kick-Ass, and, as a voice-over actor, How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Brave, and Winnie the Pooh.
Ferguson has been touring the United States and Canada with a comedy show since the late 2000s, including a performance at Carnegie Hall on 23 October 2010 and a performance at Radio City Music Hall on 6 October 2012. He has performed two stand-up television specials on Comedy Central, both released on DVD: A Wee Bit o' Revolution in 2009 and Does This Need to Be Said? in 2011. His third comedy special, I'm Here to Help, was released on Netflix in 2013, garnering positive reviews of 4 out of 5 stars on Netflix and peaking at number 6 on Billboard top comedy albums. It also received a 2014 Grammy Award nomination for Best Comedy Album.
Ferguson was awarded the Peter Ustinov Comedy Award by the Banff World Media Festival on 11 June 2013.
The Late Late Show
In December 2004, it was announced that Ferguson would succeed Craig Kilborn on CBS's The Late Late Show. His first show as the regular host aired on 3 January 2005. The show was unique in that it had no "human" sidekicks such as Ed McMahon on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson or Conan O'Brien's Andy Richter. He had a remotely operated robot skeleton named Geoff Peterson and two silent performers in a pantomime horse costume that were added in 2010. His monologues were conducted within a few feet of the camera versus the long distance Johnny Carson kept from the camera and audience.
The Late Late Show averaged 2.0 million viewers in its 2007 season, compared with 2.5 million for Late Night with Conan O'Brien. In April 2008, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson beat Late Night with Conan O'Brien for weekly ratings (1.88 million to 1.77 million) for the first time since the two shows went head-to-head with their respective hosts.
In March 2009, Craig Ferguson topped Jimmy Fallon in the ratings with Ferguson getting a 1.8 rating/6 share and Fallon receiving a 1.6 rating/6 share. By 2014, Ferguson's ratings had faltered, trailing those of Late Night with Seth Meyers with an average of 1.35 million viewers versus 2.02 million.
On 28 April 2014, Ferguson announced he would leave The Late Late Show at the end of 2014, with the final episode airing on 19 December. His contract was set to expire in June 2014, but a six-month extension was agreed on to provide a more graceful exit and give CBS more time to find a replacement host. He reportedly received as part of his contract because he was not selected as the replacement for David Letterman's Late Show. Ferguson made the decision prior to Letterman's announcement but agreed to delay making his own decision public until the reaction to Letterman's decision had died down. CBS Entertainment Chair Nina Tassler said, following the announcement, that in his decade as host Ferguson had "infused the broadcast with tremendous energy, unique comedy, insightful interviews and some of the most heartfelt monologues seen on television." CBS continued the franchise with James Corden as the new host.
Television work
Craig Ferguson has made guest appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Rachael Ray, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, The Howard Stern Show, The Daily Show, The View, Loveline, Real Time with Bill Maher, The Soup, The Talk, The Price Is Right, Kevin Pollak's Chat Show, The Dennis Miller Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He also co-hosted Live with Regis & Kelly with Kelly Ripa and was guest host on the April Fools' Day episode of The Price Is Right in 2014.
In 2009, Ferguson made a cameo live-action appearance in the episode "We Love You, Conrad" on Family Guy. Ferguson hosted the 32nd annual People's Choice Awards on 10 January 2006. TV Guide magazine printed a "Cheers" (Cheers and Jeers section) for appearing on his own show that same evening. From 2007 to 2010, Ferguson hosted the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on 4 July, broadcast nationally by CBS. Ferguson was the featured entertainer at 26 April 2008 White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, DC.
Ferguson co-presented the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama with Brooke Shields in 2008. He has done voice work in cartoons, including being the voice of Barry's evil alter-ego in the "With Friends Like Steve's" episode of American Dad!; in Freakazoid! as Roddy MacStew, Freakazoid's mentor; and on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command as the robot vampire NOS-4-A2. He was the voice of Susan the boil on Futurama, which was a parody of Scottish singer Susan Boyle. He makes stand-up appearances in Las Vegas and New York City. He headlined in the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal and in October 2008 Ferguson taped his stand up show in Boston for a Comedy Central special entitled A Wee Bit o' Revolution, which aired on 22 March 2009.
British television comedy drama Doc Martin was based on a character from Ferguson's film Saving Grace – with Ferguson getting writing credits for 12 episodes. On 6 November 2009, Ferguson appeared as himself in a SpongeBob SquarePants special titled SpongeBob's Truth or Square. He hosted Discovery Channel's 23rd season of Shark Week in 2010. Ferguson briefly appeared in Toby Keith's "Red Solo Cup" music video released on 10 October 2011.
In September 2013, Ferguson guest-starred on the season finale of Hot in Cleveland as a priest/tabloid journalist who turns out to be the father of Joy's (Jane Leeves) son. The show reunited him with former co-star and frequent Late Late Show guest Betty White. Ferguson reprised the role for several episodes when the show returned in March 2014.
Celebrity Name Game
In October 2013, it was announced that Ferguson would host the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game, produced by Coquette Productions, beginning in late 2014. Ferguson's involvement in the project dates back to 2011, when it was originally pitched and piloted as a CBS primetime series. , the series had an initial order of 180 episodes. The syndicated series began airing on 22 September 2014. Ferguson won Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host for Celebrity Name Game in 2015 and 2016. On 2 December 2016, it was announced that the series would end after three seasons.
Ferguson signed in 2015 to play Prentiss Porter in The King of 7B, a comedy pilot for ABC.<ref name=7B>{{cite news |last=Lyons |first=Beverley |url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity/late-late-shows-craig-ferguson-5339755 |title=Late Late Show'''s Craig Ferguson begins work on new comedy pilot for US television |work=Daily Record |location=Glasgow, Scotland |date=15 March 2015 |access-date=15 March 2015}}</ref> However, the show was not picked up.
Join or Die with Craig Ferguson
On 18 February 2016, Ferguson began to host a historical talk show on History titled Join or Die with Craig Ferguson. The title is a reference to a Benjamin Franklin political cartoon published in the Pennsylvania Gazette on 9 May 1754, which Ferguson had tattooed on his forearm after becoming an American citizen. Ferguson and a three-guest panel of comedians and historians conduct a humorous discussion of a different topic on each episode, such as the most doomed presidential campaign, greatest Founding Father and greatest invention, with viewers invited to share their opinions via Twitter.
The Hustler
Since January 2021, Ferguson has hosted the American game show The Hustler which broadcasts on the American Broadcasting Company television network. The show follows five contestants who collaborate to build up a cash prize by answering a series of trivia questions presented by Ferguson, whilst one of the contestants is secretly designated as the Hustler beforehand and given the answers to all the questions.
By the end of the game, two of the honest contestants have been eliminated; the other two must correctly choose the Hustler in order to stop him/her from winning the entire prize. The series premiered on January 4, 2021, before moving to its regular timeslot on January 7, 2021, airing on Thursdays at 10 p.m.
Radio
On 27 February 2017, Ferguson launched The Craig Ferguson Show, a two-hour talk radio show on the Comedy Greats channel and Faction Talk on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. His last new show aired 11 May 2018.
Literature
Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006. He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", he said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." The novel is dedicated to his elder son, Milo, and to his grandfather, Adam. He revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled The Sphynx of the Mississippi. He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends the book to be the first in a trilogy. As of February 2019, Ferguson has produced no further novels, although he has published non-fiction.
Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy.
In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on The Late Late Show to promote her new book Married Lovers. Collins said a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show.
Ferguson wrote a short story for In Sunlight or in Shadow (2017, Pegasus Crime), an anthology edited by Lawrence Block and featuring works inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper (1882-1967). Block is a favorite writer of Ferguson's and appeared multiple times on The Late Late Show.
On 10 October 2018, Ferguson announced his third book via Twitter, Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations which released 7 May 2019.
Personal life
Ferguson is a fan of Scottish football team Partick Thistle F.C. as well as the British television show Doctor Who. He holds an FAA private pilot certificate, issued in 2009. He has five tattoos which include the Join, or Die political cartoon on his right forearm; a Ferguson family crest with the Latin motto Dulcius ex asperis ("Sweeter out of [or from] difficulty") on his upper right arm in honour of his father; and a Celtic cross with the Ingram clan motto Magnanimus esto (Be great of mind) on his upper left arm in honour of his mother. He has often said that his Join, or Die tattoo is intended to signal his American patriotism. Ferguson returned to live in Scotland in 2019.Pathikrit Sanyal: Why did Craig Ferguson leave America? Talk show host was highly successful but returned to Scotland, here's why. MEAWW, 7 January 2021
Ferguson consumes neither meat nor alcohol, as he is both a vegan (having stated in 2016 that he had been vegan for almost three years) and a recovering alcoholic. Ferguson has been sober since February 18, 1992.
As mentioned in episode 7 of his television show Join or Die, Ferguson also plays the harp (although not well and was kicked out of the band as a result).
Influences
Ferguson has stated that his comedy influences include Monty Python, Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, and David Letterman.
Family
Ferguson eulogised his father Robert on an episode of The Late Late Show in January 2006. Following the death of his mother Janet (3 August 1933 – 1 December 2008), he spoke of her on-air, ending the programme by playing her favourite song: "Rivers of Babylon" by Boney M.
Ferguson has two sisters (one older and one younger) and one older brother. His younger sister, Lynn Ferguson Tweddle, is also a comedian, presenter, and actress, who voiced Mac in the 2000 stop-motion animation film Chicken Run. She was a writer on The Late Late Show until July 2011.
Ferguson has married three times and divorced twice. His first marriage was to Anne Hogarth from 1983 to 1986, during which time they lived in New York. His second marriage was to Sascha Corwin (founder and proprietor of Los Angeles' SpySchool), with whom he has one son, born in 2001. He and Corwin shared custody of their son, and lived near each other in the Hollywood Hills. Ferguson married art dealer Megan Wallace-Cunningham in a private ceremony on her family's farm in Chester, Vermont in 2008. They have a son together, who was born in 2011.
American citizenship
During 2007, Ferguson, who at the time held only British citizenship, used The Late Late Show as a forum for seeking honorary citizenship from every state in the US. He received honorary citizenship from Nebraska, Arkansas, Virginia, Montana, North Dakota, New Jersey, Tennessee, South Carolina, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Texas, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, and was "commissioned" as an admiral in the tongue-in-cheek Nebraska Navy. Governors Jon Corzine (New Jersey), John Hoeven (North Dakota), Mark Sanford (South Carolina), Mike Rounds (South Dakota), Rick Perry (Texas), Sarah Palin (Alaska) and Jim Gibbons (Nevada) sent letters to him that made him an honorary citizen of their respective states. He received similar honours from various towns and cities, including Ozark, Arkansas; Hazard, Kentucky; and Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
Ferguson became an American citizen on 1 February 2008 and broadcast the taking of his citizenship test as well as his swearing in on The Late Late Show.
Filmography
Film
Television
Web
Video games
Radio
Awards and nominations
Discography
Live at the Tron (as Bing Hitler). Jammy Records. 1986. Catalogue number JRLP 861.
Mental; Bing Hitler Is Dead? Polydor. 1988.
A Big Stoatir. Polydor. 1990.
I'm Here to Help. New Wave Dynamics. 2013.
References
Bibliography
Ferguson, Craig (2019). Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations.'' Penguin Group.
External links
1962 births
20th-century Scottish comedians
20th-century Scottish male actors
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American novelists
21st-century Scottish comedians
21st-century Scottish male actors
21st-century Scottish novelists
American game show hosts
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male non-fiction writers
American male novelists
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
21st-century American memoirists
American stand-up comedians
American television talk show hosts
Audiobook narrators
Aviators from California
Burroughs Corporation people
Comedians from Glasgow
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host winners
Living people
Male actors from Glasgow
Male actors from Los Angeles
Male actors from New York City
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Novelists from New York (state)
Peabody Award winners
People from Cumbernauld
Scottish emigrants to the United States
Scottish expatriates in the United States
Scottish game show hosts
Scottish male film actors
Scottish male television actors
Scottish male video game actors
Scottish male voice actors
Scottish memoirists
Scottish stand-up comedians
Scottish television talk show hosts
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from New York (state)
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Writers from Glasgow
Writers from Los Angeles
Writers from New York City
People educated at Cumbernauld Academy
21st-century American male writers
| true |
[
"LeConte Falls is a waterfall in the Sierra Nevada of California, in Yosemite National Park. It is a 229 ft. (69.8 m.) high cascade on the Tuolumne River and the second largest falls on this river. (The river's largest falls is Waterwheel Falls, which is about .6 miles (1 km.) distant following the river downstream along the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne.) It was named in 1894 in honor of Professor Joseph LeConte by Robert M. Price; however, Price's original intent was to designate what is now called \"Waterwheel Falls\" as \"LeConte Falls\" but a mapmaker assigned the name to what was once called \"California Falls\" and the mapmaker's mistaken designation was adopted as the standard.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nLeConte Falls, YouTube\n\nWaterfalls of Yosemite National Park\nCascade waterfalls\nTuolumne River\nLandforms of Tuolumne County, California",
"Stickneys Ferry was a settlement established in what became Tulare County after the Williamson Expedition of the Pacific Railroad Surveys of 1853 and before 1857, on what became the Stockton - Los Angeles Road and the crossing of the White River. It was probably established sometime between 1854 and 1856 because of the Kern River Gold Rush.\n\nStickneys Ferry is shown on the Stockton - Los Angeles Road crossing of the White River, on the 1857 Britton & Rey's Map Of The State Of California.\n\nThe site of the settlement was on White River, about 4.66 miles west of Tailholt just below its confluence with Tyler Gulch at Telegraph Flat, in Tulare County. This crossing was on the Butterfield Overland Mail route, south of Fountain Springs and north of Mountain House at Willow Springs in Kern County.\n\nReferences\n\nFormer settlements in Tulare County, California\nGhost towns in California\nButterfield Overland Mail in California"
] |
[
"Craig Ferguson",
"Literature",
"Did Ferguson write anything?",
"Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006.",
"Did either book win an award?",
"He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events.",
"What was The river about?",
"The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm."
] |
C_a953667fe2504ed39c4c18b910df7826_1
|
What influences his writing?
| 4 |
What influences Ferguson's writing?
|
Craig Ferguson
|
Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006. He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", he said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." The novel is dedicated to his elder son, Milo, and to his grandfather, Adam. He revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled The Sphynx of the Mississippi. He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends the book to be the first in a trilogy. Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy. In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on The Late Late Show to promote her new book Married Lovers. Collins said that a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show. CANNOTANSWER
|
I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it.
|
Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish-American comedian, actor, writer and television host. He is best known for hosting the CBS late-night talk show The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2005–14), for which he won a Peabody Award in 2009 for his interview with South African archbishop Desmond Tutu that year. He also hosted the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game (2014–17), for which he won two Daytime Emmy Awards, and Join or Die with Craig Ferguson (2016) on History. In 2017 he released a six-episode web show with his wife, Megan Wallace Cunningham, titled Couple Thinkers.
After starting his career in the UK with music, comedy, and theatre, Ferguson moved to the U.S., where he appeared in the role of Nigel Wick on the ABC sitcom The Drew Carey Show (1996–2004). Ferguson has written three books: Between the Bridge and the River, a novel; American on Purpose, a memoir; and Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations & Observations. He holds both British and American citizenship.
He has written and starred in three films, directing one of them, and has appeared in several others, including several voice-over roles for animations. He provided voice work for Gobber in the How to Train Your Dragon film series (2010–2019), Owl in Winnie the Pooh (2011) and Lord Macintosh in Brave (2012).
Since 2021, Ferguson has hosted the American game show The Hustler on the ABC television network.
Early life and education
Ferguson was born in Stobhill Hospital in the Springburn district of Glasgow, to Robert and Janet Ferguson on 17 May 1962. When he was 6 months old, he and his family moved from their Springburn flat to a Development Corporation house in the nearby New Town of Cumbernauld, where he grew up "chubby and bullied". They lived there as Cumbernauld was rehousing many Glaswegians away from the poor housing conditions and damage to the city from World War II. Ferguson attended Muirfield Primary School and Cumbernauld High School. At age 16, Ferguson left high school and began an apprenticeship to be an electronics technician at a local factory of American company Burroughs Corporation.
His first visit to the United States was in 1975, when he was 13, to visit an uncle who lived on Long Island, near New York City. When he moved to New York City in 1983, he worked in construction in Harlem. Ferguson later became a bouncer at the nightclub Save the Robots before returning to Scotland.
Career
UK career
Ferguson's experience in entertainment began as a teenager as a drummer for Glasgow punk bands such as the Night Creatures and Exposure. Shortly afterward, he had a brief stint as a drummer for the post-punk band Ana Hausen, who released a single for Human Records in 1981. He then joined a punk band called The Bastards from Hell. The band, later renamed Dreamboys, and fronted by vocalist Peter Capaldi, performed regularly in Glasgow from 1980 to 1982. Ferguson credits Capaldi for inspiring him to try comedy. When he was 18, he worked as a session musician and performed as a drummer for Nico during a few gigs when she toured Scotland.
After a nerve-racking first comedy appearance, he decided to create a character that he described as a "parody of all the über-patriotic native folk singers who seemed to infect every public performance in Scotland". The character was named "Bing Hitler" by Capaldi. Ferguson first performed as the character in Glasgow, and he later became a hit at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. However, by the end of the year, Ferguson was already discussing his intention to retire Bing. At the press launch for an alternative pantomime of Sleeping Beauty (which he had co-written with Capaldi), he said "you can't write for just one character forever". A recording of his stage act as Bing Hitler was made at Glasgow's Tron Theatre and released in the 1980s; a Bing Hitler monologue ("A Lecture for Burns Night") appears on the compilation cassette Honey at the Core.
After enjoying success at the Edinburgh Festival, Ferguson appeared on television as 'Confidence' in Red Dwarf, on STV's Hogmanay Shows, and on the 1993 One Foot in the Grave Christmas special One Foot in the Algarve. In 1990, a pilot of The Craig Ferguson Show, a one-off comedy pilot for Granada Television, was broadcast. It co-starred Paul Whitehouse and Helen Atkinson-Wood. In 1991, Channel 4 asked him to host Friday at the Dome, a 75-minute live music show. In 1992, he was given his own BBC Scotland show, 2000 Not Out.
In 1993, he presented a six-part archaeology TV series, The Dirt Detective, for STV. Also in 1993, he was given a six-part TV series on BBC One. The Ferguson Theory was a mix of stand-up and sketches recorded the day before transmission. In 2017, it was announced that he would return to UK television for the first time in 25 years in a guest role in BBC Scotland's comedy Still Game, to be shown in 2018.
Ferguson also found success in musical theatre. Beginning in 1991, he appeared on stage as Brad Majors in the London production of The Rocky Horror Show. In 1994, Ferguson played Father MacLean in production of Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom at the Union Chapel in London. The same year, he appeared again at the Edinburgh Fringe, as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple.
US career
Ferguson moved to Los Angeles in November 1994, after his soon-to-be agent Rick Siegel saw Ferguson during the Edinburgh Festival and suggested that he come to America. His first US role was as baker Logan McDonough on the short-lived 1995 ABC comedy Maybe This Time, which starred Betty White and Marie Osmond.
His breakthrough in the US came when he was cast on The Drew Carey Show as the title character's boss, Mr. Wick, a role he played from 1996 to 2003. He played the role with an over-the-top posh English accent "to make up for generations of English actors doing crap Scottish accents". In his comedy special "A Wee Bit o' Revolution", he specifically identified James Doohan's portrayal of Montgomery Scott on Star Trek as the foundation of his "revenge". (At the end of one episode, though, Ferguson broke the fourth wall and began talking to the audience at home in his regular Scottish accent.) His character was memorable for his unique methods of laying employees off, almost always "firing Johnson", the most common last name of the to-be-fired workers. Even after leaving the show in 2003, he remained a recurring character on the series for the last two seasons, and was part of the two-part series finale in 2004.
During the production of The Drew Carey Show, Ferguson devoted his off-time as a cast member to writing, working in his trailer on set in between shooting his scenes. He wrote and starred in three films: The Big Tease, Saving Grace, and I'll Be There; he also directed the latter, for which he won the Audience Award for Best Film at the Aspen, Dallas, and Valencia film festivals. He was named Best New Director at the Napa Valley Film Festival. These were among other scripts that, "... in the great tradition of the movie business, about half a dozen that I got paid a fortune for but never got made."
His other acting credits in films include Niagara Motel, Lenny the Wonder Dog, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Chain of Fools, Born Romantic, The Ugly Truth, Kick-Ass, and, as a voice-over actor, How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Brave, and Winnie the Pooh.
Ferguson has been touring the United States and Canada with a comedy show since the late 2000s, including a performance at Carnegie Hall on 23 October 2010 and a performance at Radio City Music Hall on 6 October 2012. He has performed two stand-up television specials on Comedy Central, both released on DVD: A Wee Bit o' Revolution in 2009 and Does This Need to Be Said? in 2011. His third comedy special, I'm Here to Help, was released on Netflix in 2013, garnering positive reviews of 4 out of 5 stars on Netflix and peaking at number 6 on Billboard top comedy albums. It also received a 2014 Grammy Award nomination for Best Comedy Album.
Ferguson was awarded the Peter Ustinov Comedy Award by the Banff World Media Festival on 11 June 2013.
The Late Late Show
In December 2004, it was announced that Ferguson would succeed Craig Kilborn on CBS's The Late Late Show. His first show as the regular host aired on 3 January 2005. The show was unique in that it had no "human" sidekicks such as Ed McMahon on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson or Conan O'Brien's Andy Richter. He had a remotely operated robot skeleton named Geoff Peterson and two silent performers in a pantomime horse costume that were added in 2010. His monologues were conducted within a few feet of the camera versus the long distance Johnny Carson kept from the camera and audience.
The Late Late Show averaged 2.0 million viewers in its 2007 season, compared with 2.5 million for Late Night with Conan O'Brien. In April 2008, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson beat Late Night with Conan O'Brien for weekly ratings (1.88 million to 1.77 million) for the first time since the two shows went head-to-head with their respective hosts.
In March 2009, Craig Ferguson topped Jimmy Fallon in the ratings with Ferguson getting a 1.8 rating/6 share and Fallon receiving a 1.6 rating/6 share. By 2014, Ferguson's ratings had faltered, trailing those of Late Night with Seth Meyers with an average of 1.35 million viewers versus 2.02 million.
On 28 April 2014, Ferguson announced he would leave The Late Late Show at the end of 2014, with the final episode airing on 19 December. His contract was set to expire in June 2014, but a six-month extension was agreed on to provide a more graceful exit and give CBS more time to find a replacement host. He reportedly received as part of his contract because he was not selected as the replacement for David Letterman's Late Show. Ferguson made the decision prior to Letterman's announcement but agreed to delay making his own decision public until the reaction to Letterman's decision had died down. CBS Entertainment Chair Nina Tassler said, following the announcement, that in his decade as host Ferguson had "infused the broadcast with tremendous energy, unique comedy, insightful interviews and some of the most heartfelt monologues seen on television." CBS continued the franchise with James Corden as the new host.
Television work
Craig Ferguson has made guest appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Rachael Ray, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, The Howard Stern Show, The Daily Show, The View, Loveline, Real Time with Bill Maher, The Soup, The Talk, The Price Is Right, Kevin Pollak's Chat Show, The Dennis Miller Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He also co-hosted Live with Regis & Kelly with Kelly Ripa and was guest host on the April Fools' Day episode of The Price Is Right in 2014.
In 2009, Ferguson made a cameo live-action appearance in the episode "We Love You, Conrad" on Family Guy. Ferguson hosted the 32nd annual People's Choice Awards on 10 January 2006. TV Guide magazine printed a "Cheers" (Cheers and Jeers section) for appearing on his own show that same evening. From 2007 to 2010, Ferguson hosted the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on 4 July, broadcast nationally by CBS. Ferguson was the featured entertainer at 26 April 2008 White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, DC.
Ferguson co-presented the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama with Brooke Shields in 2008. He has done voice work in cartoons, including being the voice of Barry's evil alter-ego in the "With Friends Like Steve's" episode of American Dad!; in Freakazoid! as Roddy MacStew, Freakazoid's mentor; and on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command as the robot vampire NOS-4-A2. He was the voice of Susan the boil on Futurama, which was a parody of Scottish singer Susan Boyle. He makes stand-up appearances in Las Vegas and New York City. He headlined in the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal and in October 2008 Ferguson taped his stand up show in Boston for a Comedy Central special entitled A Wee Bit o' Revolution, which aired on 22 March 2009.
British television comedy drama Doc Martin was based on a character from Ferguson's film Saving Grace – with Ferguson getting writing credits for 12 episodes. On 6 November 2009, Ferguson appeared as himself in a SpongeBob SquarePants special titled SpongeBob's Truth or Square. He hosted Discovery Channel's 23rd season of Shark Week in 2010. Ferguson briefly appeared in Toby Keith's "Red Solo Cup" music video released on 10 October 2011.
In September 2013, Ferguson guest-starred on the season finale of Hot in Cleveland as a priest/tabloid journalist who turns out to be the father of Joy's (Jane Leeves) son. The show reunited him with former co-star and frequent Late Late Show guest Betty White. Ferguson reprised the role for several episodes when the show returned in March 2014.
Celebrity Name Game
In October 2013, it was announced that Ferguson would host the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game, produced by Coquette Productions, beginning in late 2014. Ferguson's involvement in the project dates back to 2011, when it was originally pitched and piloted as a CBS primetime series. , the series had an initial order of 180 episodes. The syndicated series began airing on 22 September 2014. Ferguson won Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host for Celebrity Name Game in 2015 and 2016. On 2 December 2016, it was announced that the series would end after three seasons.
Ferguson signed in 2015 to play Prentiss Porter in The King of 7B, a comedy pilot for ABC.<ref name=7B>{{cite news |last=Lyons |first=Beverley |url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity/late-late-shows-craig-ferguson-5339755 |title=Late Late Show'''s Craig Ferguson begins work on new comedy pilot for US television |work=Daily Record |location=Glasgow, Scotland |date=15 March 2015 |access-date=15 March 2015}}</ref> However, the show was not picked up.
Join or Die with Craig Ferguson
On 18 February 2016, Ferguson began to host a historical talk show on History titled Join or Die with Craig Ferguson. The title is a reference to a Benjamin Franklin political cartoon published in the Pennsylvania Gazette on 9 May 1754, which Ferguson had tattooed on his forearm after becoming an American citizen. Ferguson and a three-guest panel of comedians and historians conduct a humorous discussion of a different topic on each episode, such as the most doomed presidential campaign, greatest Founding Father and greatest invention, with viewers invited to share their opinions via Twitter.
The Hustler
Since January 2021, Ferguson has hosted the American game show The Hustler which broadcasts on the American Broadcasting Company television network. The show follows five contestants who collaborate to build up a cash prize by answering a series of trivia questions presented by Ferguson, whilst one of the contestants is secretly designated as the Hustler beforehand and given the answers to all the questions.
By the end of the game, two of the honest contestants have been eliminated; the other two must correctly choose the Hustler in order to stop him/her from winning the entire prize. The series premiered on January 4, 2021, before moving to its regular timeslot on January 7, 2021, airing on Thursdays at 10 p.m.
Radio
On 27 February 2017, Ferguson launched The Craig Ferguson Show, a two-hour talk radio show on the Comedy Greats channel and Faction Talk on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. His last new show aired 11 May 2018.
Literature
Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006. He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", he said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." The novel is dedicated to his elder son, Milo, and to his grandfather, Adam. He revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled The Sphynx of the Mississippi. He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends the book to be the first in a trilogy. As of February 2019, Ferguson has produced no further novels, although he has published non-fiction.
Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy.
In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on The Late Late Show to promote her new book Married Lovers. Collins said a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show.
Ferguson wrote a short story for In Sunlight or in Shadow (2017, Pegasus Crime), an anthology edited by Lawrence Block and featuring works inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper (1882-1967). Block is a favorite writer of Ferguson's and appeared multiple times on The Late Late Show.
On 10 October 2018, Ferguson announced his third book via Twitter, Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations which released 7 May 2019.
Personal life
Ferguson is a fan of Scottish football team Partick Thistle F.C. as well as the British television show Doctor Who. He holds an FAA private pilot certificate, issued in 2009. He has five tattoos which include the Join, or Die political cartoon on his right forearm; a Ferguson family crest with the Latin motto Dulcius ex asperis ("Sweeter out of [or from] difficulty") on his upper right arm in honour of his father; and a Celtic cross with the Ingram clan motto Magnanimus esto (Be great of mind) on his upper left arm in honour of his mother. He has often said that his Join, or Die tattoo is intended to signal his American patriotism. Ferguson returned to live in Scotland in 2019.Pathikrit Sanyal: Why did Craig Ferguson leave America? Talk show host was highly successful but returned to Scotland, here's why. MEAWW, 7 January 2021
Ferguson consumes neither meat nor alcohol, as he is both a vegan (having stated in 2016 that he had been vegan for almost three years) and a recovering alcoholic. Ferguson has been sober since February 18, 1992.
As mentioned in episode 7 of his television show Join or Die, Ferguson also plays the harp (although not well and was kicked out of the band as a result).
Influences
Ferguson has stated that his comedy influences include Monty Python, Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, and David Letterman.
Family
Ferguson eulogised his father Robert on an episode of The Late Late Show in January 2006. Following the death of his mother Janet (3 August 1933 – 1 December 2008), he spoke of her on-air, ending the programme by playing her favourite song: "Rivers of Babylon" by Boney M.
Ferguson has two sisters (one older and one younger) and one older brother. His younger sister, Lynn Ferguson Tweddle, is also a comedian, presenter, and actress, who voiced Mac in the 2000 stop-motion animation film Chicken Run. She was a writer on The Late Late Show until July 2011.
Ferguson has married three times and divorced twice. His first marriage was to Anne Hogarth from 1983 to 1986, during which time they lived in New York. His second marriage was to Sascha Corwin (founder and proprietor of Los Angeles' SpySchool), with whom he has one son, born in 2001. He and Corwin shared custody of their son, and lived near each other in the Hollywood Hills. Ferguson married art dealer Megan Wallace-Cunningham in a private ceremony on her family's farm in Chester, Vermont in 2008. They have a son together, who was born in 2011.
American citizenship
During 2007, Ferguson, who at the time held only British citizenship, used The Late Late Show as a forum for seeking honorary citizenship from every state in the US. He received honorary citizenship from Nebraska, Arkansas, Virginia, Montana, North Dakota, New Jersey, Tennessee, South Carolina, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Texas, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, and was "commissioned" as an admiral in the tongue-in-cheek Nebraska Navy. Governors Jon Corzine (New Jersey), John Hoeven (North Dakota), Mark Sanford (South Carolina), Mike Rounds (South Dakota), Rick Perry (Texas), Sarah Palin (Alaska) and Jim Gibbons (Nevada) sent letters to him that made him an honorary citizen of their respective states. He received similar honours from various towns and cities, including Ozark, Arkansas; Hazard, Kentucky; and Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
Ferguson became an American citizen on 1 February 2008 and broadcast the taking of his citizenship test as well as his swearing in on The Late Late Show.
Filmography
Film
Television
Web
Video games
Radio
Awards and nominations
Discography
Live at the Tron (as Bing Hitler). Jammy Records. 1986. Catalogue number JRLP 861.
Mental; Bing Hitler Is Dead? Polydor. 1988.
A Big Stoatir. Polydor. 1990.
I'm Here to Help. New Wave Dynamics. 2013.
References
Bibliography
Ferguson, Craig (2019). Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations.'' Penguin Group.
External links
1962 births
20th-century Scottish comedians
20th-century Scottish male actors
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American novelists
21st-century Scottish comedians
21st-century Scottish male actors
21st-century Scottish novelists
American game show hosts
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male non-fiction writers
American male novelists
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
21st-century American memoirists
American stand-up comedians
American television talk show hosts
Audiobook narrators
Aviators from California
Burroughs Corporation people
Comedians from Glasgow
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host winners
Living people
Male actors from Glasgow
Male actors from Los Angeles
Male actors from New York City
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Novelists from New York (state)
Peabody Award winners
People from Cumbernauld
Scottish emigrants to the United States
Scottish expatriates in the United States
Scottish game show hosts
Scottish male film actors
Scottish male television actors
Scottish male video game actors
Scottish male voice actors
Scottish memoirists
Scottish stand-up comedians
Scottish television talk show hosts
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from New York (state)
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Writers from Glasgow
Writers from Los Angeles
Writers from New York City
People educated at Cumbernauld Academy
21st-century American male writers
| true |
[
"Kavanagh is a novel by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.\n\nOverview\nLongfellow began writing the story in 1847 and it was published in 1849. Kavanagh is the story of a country romance. Besides a character named Kavanagh, among its characters is a school teacher named Mr. Churchill, who has always planned to write a romance, but whose procrastination never allows him to start, until late in life he resigns himself to his \"destiny\".\n\nLongfellow also used the novel to argue against the view, in the book propounded by a character based on Cornelius Mathews, that American literature must be entirely devoid of European influences and be exclusively national. Instead, Longfellow felt that American literature could and should be universalist, with its unique North American influences. He saw the use of European models not as imitation but as a \"continuation\" that Americans could be proud of.\n\nOf the novel, Robert L. Gale writes in A Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Companion that\n\nKavanagh was also a precursor of local color writing, and \"it depicts what is probably the first lesbian relationship in American fiction\".\n\nReferences\n\nOnline text\n Etext at the University of Virginia Library\n Scanned book at Google Books\n\n1849 American novels\nNovels by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow",
"A poetic journal is a literary genre combining aspects of poetry with the daily, or near daily, \"takes\" of journal writing. Born of twin impulses: to track change in daily life and to memorialize experience, poetic journals owe allegiances to Asian writing — particularly the Japanese haibun of Matsuo Bashō, The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon, and the poetic diaries of Masaoka Shiki — as well as Objectivist poets and others associated with Donald Allen's anthology The New American Poetry 1945-1960. Unlike traditional diaries or journals that focus primarily on recounting a day's experience, poetic journals emphasize the act of writing itself in collaboration with the day's account. Taking its cue from post-Jack Kerouac writers, like Bernadette Mayer and Clark Coolidge, the poetic journal aims to be all-inclusive as well as timely and attentive. To quote Tyler Doherty in his introduction to For the Time Being: The Bootstrap Book of Poetic Journals, \"[The poetic journal] doesn't try to tell us what the world is, so much as remind us that the world is.\"\n\nInfluences\n\nAsian Influences: Matsuo Bashō, Sei Shōnagon, Masaoka Shiki.\n19th Century Naturalist Influences: Henry David Thoreau. \nObjectivist influences: William Carlos Williams, Lorine Niedecker, Charles Reznikoff.\n\nSelected poetic journals\nPoetic Journal Anthologies: Tyler Doherty & Tom Morgan: For the Time-Being: The Bootstrap Book of Poetic Journals\nPoetic Journals:Paul Blackburn: The Journals\nTyler Doherty: Bodhidharma Never Came to Hatboro\nLarry Eigner: Readiness / Enough / Depends / On\nZoketsu Norman Fischer: The Narrow Roads of Japan\nAllen Ginsberg: The Fall of America\nJack Kerouac: Book of Sketches\nJoanne Kyger: Again; As Ever; Patzcuaro\nDavid Lehman: The Daily Mirror\nBernadette Mayer: Midwinter’s Day\nMichael Rothenberg: Unhurried Vision, The Paris Journals, Narcissus\nRon Silliman: Bart; Xing\nLouis MacNeice: Autumn Journal; Xing\nAndrew Schelling: The Road to Ocosingo; Two Elk: A High Country Notebook\nJoel Sloman: Cuban Journal\nGary Snyder: Earth House Hold\nPhilip Whalen: Goofbook\nJohn Wieners: 707 Scott Street\nRobert Crosson: Daybook\n\nSee also\nMildred Seydell\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nPractice of Poetry: The Poetic Journal A link to Andrew Schelling's poetic journal course description.\nCervena Barva Press interview with Mark Pawlak Touches on Poetic Journals.\n\nGenres of poetry"
] |
[
"Craig Ferguson",
"Literature",
"Did Ferguson write anything?",
"Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006.",
"Did either book win an award?",
"He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events.",
"What was The river about?",
"The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm.",
"What influences his writing?",
"I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it."
] |
C_a953667fe2504ed39c4c18b910df7826_1
|
Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
| 5 |
Are there any other interesting aspects about this article in addition to Ferguson's influences and 2006 novel?
|
Craig Ferguson
|
Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006. He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", he said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." The novel is dedicated to his elder son, Milo, and to his grandfather, Adam. He revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled The Sphynx of the Mississippi. He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends the book to be the first in a trilogy. Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy. In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on The Late Late Show to promote her new book Married Lovers. Collins said that a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show. CANNOTANSWER
|
Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs.
|
Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish-American comedian, actor, writer and television host. He is best known for hosting the CBS late-night talk show The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2005–14), for which he won a Peabody Award in 2009 for his interview with South African archbishop Desmond Tutu that year. He also hosted the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game (2014–17), for which he won two Daytime Emmy Awards, and Join or Die with Craig Ferguson (2016) on History. In 2017 he released a six-episode web show with his wife, Megan Wallace Cunningham, titled Couple Thinkers.
After starting his career in the UK with music, comedy, and theatre, Ferguson moved to the U.S., where he appeared in the role of Nigel Wick on the ABC sitcom The Drew Carey Show (1996–2004). Ferguson has written three books: Between the Bridge and the River, a novel; American on Purpose, a memoir; and Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations & Observations. He holds both British and American citizenship.
He has written and starred in three films, directing one of them, and has appeared in several others, including several voice-over roles for animations. He provided voice work for Gobber in the How to Train Your Dragon film series (2010–2019), Owl in Winnie the Pooh (2011) and Lord Macintosh in Brave (2012).
Since 2021, Ferguson has hosted the American game show The Hustler on the ABC television network.
Early life and education
Ferguson was born in Stobhill Hospital in the Springburn district of Glasgow, to Robert and Janet Ferguson on 17 May 1962. When he was 6 months old, he and his family moved from their Springburn flat to a Development Corporation house in the nearby New Town of Cumbernauld, where he grew up "chubby and bullied". They lived there as Cumbernauld was rehousing many Glaswegians away from the poor housing conditions and damage to the city from World War II. Ferguson attended Muirfield Primary School and Cumbernauld High School. At age 16, Ferguson left high school and began an apprenticeship to be an electronics technician at a local factory of American company Burroughs Corporation.
His first visit to the United States was in 1975, when he was 13, to visit an uncle who lived on Long Island, near New York City. When he moved to New York City in 1983, he worked in construction in Harlem. Ferguson later became a bouncer at the nightclub Save the Robots before returning to Scotland.
Career
UK career
Ferguson's experience in entertainment began as a teenager as a drummer for Glasgow punk bands such as the Night Creatures and Exposure. Shortly afterward, he had a brief stint as a drummer for the post-punk band Ana Hausen, who released a single for Human Records in 1981. He then joined a punk band called The Bastards from Hell. The band, later renamed Dreamboys, and fronted by vocalist Peter Capaldi, performed regularly in Glasgow from 1980 to 1982. Ferguson credits Capaldi for inspiring him to try comedy. When he was 18, he worked as a session musician and performed as a drummer for Nico during a few gigs when she toured Scotland.
After a nerve-racking first comedy appearance, he decided to create a character that he described as a "parody of all the über-patriotic native folk singers who seemed to infect every public performance in Scotland". The character was named "Bing Hitler" by Capaldi. Ferguson first performed as the character in Glasgow, and he later became a hit at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. However, by the end of the year, Ferguson was already discussing his intention to retire Bing. At the press launch for an alternative pantomime of Sleeping Beauty (which he had co-written with Capaldi), he said "you can't write for just one character forever". A recording of his stage act as Bing Hitler was made at Glasgow's Tron Theatre and released in the 1980s; a Bing Hitler monologue ("A Lecture for Burns Night") appears on the compilation cassette Honey at the Core.
After enjoying success at the Edinburgh Festival, Ferguson appeared on television as 'Confidence' in Red Dwarf, on STV's Hogmanay Shows, and on the 1993 One Foot in the Grave Christmas special One Foot in the Algarve. In 1990, a pilot of The Craig Ferguson Show, a one-off comedy pilot for Granada Television, was broadcast. It co-starred Paul Whitehouse and Helen Atkinson-Wood. In 1991, Channel 4 asked him to host Friday at the Dome, a 75-minute live music show. In 1992, he was given his own BBC Scotland show, 2000 Not Out.
In 1993, he presented a six-part archaeology TV series, The Dirt Detective, for STV. Also in 1993, he was given a six-part TV series on BBC One. The Ferguson Theory was a mix of stand-up and sketches recorded the day before transmission. In 2017, it was announced that he would return to UK television for the first time in 25 years in a guest role in BBC Scotland's comedy Still Game, to be shown in 2018.
Ferguson also found success in musical theatre. Beginning in 1991, he appeared on stage as Brad Majors in the London production of The Rocky Horror Show. In 1994, Ferguson played Father MacLean in production of Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom at the Union Chapel in London. The same year, he appeared again at the Edinburgh Fringe, as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple.
US career
Ferguson moved to Los Angeles in November 1994, after his soon-to-be agent Rick Siegel saw Ferguson during the Edinburgh Festival and suggested that he come to America. His first US role was as baker Logan McDonough on the short-lived 1995 ABC comedy Maybe This Time, which starred Betty White and Marie Osmond.
His breakthrough in the US came when he was cast on The Drew Carey Show as the title character's boss, Mr. Wick, a role he played from 1996 to 2003. He played the role with an over-the-top posh English accent "to make up for generations of English actors doing crap Scottish accents". In his comedy special "A Wee Bit o' Revolution", he specifically identified James Doohan's portrayal of Montgomery Scott on Star Trek as the foundation of his "revenge". (At the end of one episode, though, Ferguson broke the fourth wall and began talking to the audience at home in his regular Scottish accent.) His character was memorable for his unique methods of laying employees off, almost always "firing Johnson", the most common last name of the to-be-fired workers. Even after leaving the show in 2003, he remained a recurring character on the series for the last two seasons, and was part of the two-part series finale in 2004.
During the production of The Drew Carey Show, Ferguson devoted his off-time as a cast member to writing, working in his trailer on set in between shooting his scenes. He wrote and starred in three films: The Big Tease, Saving Grace, and I'll Be There; he also directed the latter, for which he won the Audience Award for Best Film at the Aspen, Dallas, and Valencia film festivals. He was named Best New Director at the Napa Valley Film Festival. These were among other scripts that, "... in the great tradition of the movie business, about half a dozen that I got paid a fortune for but never got made."
His other acting credits in films include Niagara Motel, Lenny the Wonder Dog, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Chain of Fools, Born Romantic, The Ugly Truth, Kick-Ass, and, as a voice-over actor, How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Brave, and Winnie the Pooh.
Ferguson has been touring the United States and Canada with a comedy show since the late 2000s, including a performance at Carnegie Hall on 23 October 2010 and a performance at Radio City Music Hall on 6 October 2012. He has performed two stand-up television specials on Comedy Central, both released on DVD: A Wee Bit o' Revolution in 2009 and Does This Need to Be Said? in 2011. His third comedy special, I'm Here to Help, was released on Netflix in 2013, garnering positive reviews of 4 out of 5 stars on Netflix and peaking at number 6 on Billboard top comedy albums. It also received a 2014 Grammy Award nomination for Best Comedy Album.
Ferguson was awarded the Peter Ustinov Comedy Award by the Banff World Media Festival on 11 June 2013.
The Late Late Show
In December 2004, it was announced that Ferguson would succeed Craig Kilborn on CBS's The Late Late Show. His first show as the regular host aired on 3 January 2005. The show was unique in that it had no "human" sidekicks such as Ed McMahon on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson or Conan O'Brien's Andy Richter. He had a remotely operated robot skeleton named Geoff Peterson and two silent performers in a pantomime horse costume that were added in 2010. His monologues were conducted within a few feet of the camera versus the long distance Johnny Carson kept from the camera and audience.
The Late Late Show averaged 2.0 million viewers in its 2007 season, compared with 2.5 million for Late Night with Conan O'Brien. In April 2008, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson beat Late Night with Conan O'Brien for weekly ratings (1.88 million to 1.77 million) for the first time since the two shows went head-to-head with their respective hosts.
In March 2009, Craig Ferguson topped Jimmy Fallon in the ratings with Ferguson getting a 1.8 rating/6 share and Fallon receiving a 1.6 rating/6 share. By 2014, Ferguson's ratings had faltered, trailing those of Late Night with Seth Meyers with an average of 1.35 million viewers versus 2.02 million.
On 28 April 2014, Ferguson announced he would leave The Late Late Show at the end of 2014, with the final episode airing on 19 December. His contract was set to expire in June 2014, but a six-month extension was agreed on to provide a more graceful exit and give CBS more time to find a replacement host. He reportedly received as part of his contract because he was not selected as the replacement for David Letterman's Late Show. Ferguson made the decision prior to Letterman's announcement but agreed to delay making his own decision public until the reaction to Letterman's decision had died down. CBS Entertainment Chair Nina Tassler said, following the announcement, that in his decade as host Ferguson had "infused the broadcast with tremendous energy, unique comedy, insightful interviews and some of the most heartfelt monologues seen on television." CBS continued the franchise with James Corden as the new host.
Television work
Craig Ferguson has made guest appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Rachael Ray, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, The Howard Stern Show, The Daily Show, The View, Loveline, Real Time with Bill Maher, The Soup, The Talk, The Price Is Right, Kevin Pollak's Chat Show, The Dennis Miller Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He also co-hosted Live with Regis & Kelly with Kelly Ripa and was guest host on the April Fools' Day episode of The Price Is Right in 2014.
In 2009, Ferguson made a cameo live-action appearance in the episode "We Love You, Conrad" on Family Guy. Ferguson hosted the 32nd annual People's Choice Awards on 10 January 2006. TV Guide magazine printed a "Cheers" (Cheers and Jeers section) for appearing on his own show that same evening. From 2007 to 2010, Ferguson hosted the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on 4 July, broadcast nationally by CBS. Ferguson was the featured entertainer at 26 April 2008 White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, DC.
Ferguson co-presented the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama with Brooke Shields in 2008. He has done voice work in cartoons, including being the voice of Barry's evil alter-ego in the "With Friends Like Steve's" episode of American Dad!; in Freakazoid! as Roddy MacStew, Freakazoid's mentor; and on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command as the robot vampire NOS-4-A2. He was the voice of Susan the boil on Futurama, which was a parody of Scottish singer Susan Boyle. He makes stand-up appearances in Las Vegas and New York City. He headlined in the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal and in October 2008 Ferguson taped his stand up show in Boston for a Comedy Central special entitled A Wee Bit o' Revolution, which aired on 22 March 2009.
British television comedy drama Doc Martin was based on a character from Ferguson's film Saving Grace – with Ferguson getting writing credits for 12 episodes. On 6 November 2009, Ferguson appeared as himself in a SpongeBob SquarePants special titled SpongeBob's Truth or Square. He hosted Discovery Channel's 23rd season of Shark Week in 2010. Ferguson briefly appeared in Toby Keith's "Red Solo Cup" music video released on 10 October 2011.
In September 2013, Ferguson guest-starred on the season finale of Hot in Cleveland as a priest/tabloid journalist who turns out to be the father of Joy's (Jane Leeves) son. The show reunited him with former co-star and frequent Late Late Show guest Betty White. Ferguson reprised the role for several episodes when the show returned in March 2014.
Celebrity Name Game
In October 2013, it was announced that Ferguson would host the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game, produced by Coquette Productions, beginning in late 2014. Ferguson's involvement in the project dates back to 2011, when it was originally pitched and piloted as a CBS primetime series. , the series had an initial order of 180 episodes. The syndicated series began airing on 22 September 2014. Ferguson won Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host for Celebrity Name Game in 2015 and 2016. On 2 December 2016, it was announced that the series would end after three seasons.
Ferguson signed in 2015 to play Prentiss Porter in The King of 7B, a comedy pilot for ABC.<ref name=7B>{{cite news |last=Lyons |first=Beverley |url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity/late-late-shows-craig-ferguson-5339755 |title=Late Late Show'''s Craig Ferguson begins work on new comedy pilot for US television |work=Daily Record |location=Glasgow, Scotland |date=15 March 2015 |access-date=15 March 2015}}</ref> However, the show was not picked up.
Join or Die with Craig Ferguson
On 18 February 2016, Ferguson began to host a historical talk show on History titled Join or Die with Craig Ferguson. The title is a reference to a Benjamin Franklin political cartoon published in the Pennsylvania Gazette on 9 May 1754, which Ferguson had tattooed on his forearm after becoming an American citizen. Ferguson and a three-guest panel of comedians and historians conduct a humorous discussion of a different topic on each episode, such as the most doomed presidential campaign, greatest Founding Father and greatest invention, with viewers invited to share their opinions via Twitter.
The Hustler
Since January 2021, Ferguson has hosted the American game show The Hustler which broadcasts on the American Broadcasting Company television network. The show follows five contestants who collaborate to build up a cash prize by answering a series of trivia questions presented by Ferguson, whilst one of the contestants is secretly designated as the Hustler beforehand and given the answers to all the questions.
By the end of the game, two of the honest contestants have been eliminated; the other two must correctly choose the Hustler in order to stop him/her from winning the entire prize. The series premiered on January 4, 2021, before moving to its regular timeslot on January 7, 2021, airing on Thursdays at 10 p.m.
Radio
On 27 February 2017, Ferguson launched The Craig Ferguson Show, a two-hour talk radio show on the Comedy Greats channel and Faction Talk on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. His last new show aired 11 May 2018.
Literature
Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006. He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", he said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." The novel is dedicated to his elder son, Milo, and to his grandfather, Adam. He revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled The Sphynx of the Mississippi. He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends the book to be the first in a trilogy. As of February 2019, Ferguson has produced no further novels, although he has published non-fiction.
Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy.
In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on The Late Late Show to promote her new book Married Lovers. Collins said a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show.
Ferguson wrote a short story for In Sunlight or in Shadow (2017, Pegasus Crime), an anthology edited by Lawrence Block and featuring works inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper (1882-1967). Block is a favorite writer of Ferguson's and appeared multiple times on The Late Late Show.
On 10 October 2018, Ferguson announced his third book via Twitter, Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations which released 7 May 2019.
Personal life
Ferguson is a fan of Scottish football team Partick Thistle F.C. as well as the British television show Doctor Who. He holds an FAA private pilot certificate, issued in 2009. He has five tattoos which include the Join, or Die political cartoon on his right forearm; a Ferguson family crest with the Latin motto Dulcius ex asperis ("Sweeter out of [or from] difficulty") on his upper right arm in honour of his father; and a Celtic cross with the Ingram clan motto Magnanimus esto (Be great of mind) on his upper left arm in honour of his mother. He has often said that his Join, or Die tattoo is intended to signal his American patriotism. Ferguson returned to live in Scotland in 2019.Pathikrit Sanyal: Why did Craig Ferguson leave America? Talk show host was highly successful but returned to Scotland, here's why. MEAWW, 7 January 2021
Ferguson consumes neither meat nor alcohol, as he is both a vegan (having stated in 2016 that he had been vegan for almost three years) and a recovering alcoholic. Ferguson has been sober since February 18, 1992.
As mentioned in episode 7 of his television show Join or Die, Ferguson also plays the harp (although not well and was kicked out of the band as a result).
Influences
Ferguson has stated that his comedy influences include Monty Python, Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, and David Letterman.
Family
Ferguson eulogised his father Robert on an episode of The Late Late Show in January 2006. Following the death of his mother Janet (3 August 1933 – 1 December 2008), he spoke of her on-air, ending the programme by playing her favourite song: "Rivers of Babylon" by Boney M.
Ferguson has two sisters (one older and one younger) and one older brother. His younger sister, Lynn Ferguson Tweddle, is also a comedian, presenter, and actress, who voiced Mac in the 2000 stop-motion animation film Chicken Run. She was a writer on The Late Late Show until July 2011.
Ferguson has married three times and divorced twice. His first marriage was to Anne Hogarth from 1983 to 1986, during which time they lived in New York. His second marriage was to Sascha Corwin (founder and proprietor of Los Angeles' SpySchool), with whom he has one son, born in 2001. He and Corwin shared custody of their son, and lived near each other in the Hollywood Hills. Ferguson married art dealer Megan Wallace-Cunningham in a private ceremony on her family's farm in Chester, Vermont in 2008. They have a son together, who was born in 2011.
American citizenship
During 2007, Ferguson, who at the time held only British citizenship, used The Late Late Show as a forum for seeking honorary citizenship from every state in the US. He received honorary citizenship from Nebraska, Arkansas, Virginia, Montana, North Dakota, New Jersey, Tennessee, South Carolina, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Texas, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, and was "commissioned" as an admiral in the tongue-in-cheek Nebraska Navy. Governors Jon Corzine (New Jersey), John Hoeven (North Dakota), Mark Sanford (South Carolina), Mike Rounds (South Dakota), Rick Perry (Texas), Sarah Palin (Alaska) and Jim Gibbons (Nevada) sent letters to him that made him an honorary citizen of their respective states. He received similar honours from various towns and cities, including Ozark, Arkansas; Hazard, Kentucky; and Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
Ferguson became an American citizen on 1 February 2008 and broadcast the taking of his citizenship test as well as his swearing in on The Late Late Show.
Filmography
Film
Television
Web
Video games
Radio
Awards and nominations
Discography
Live at the Tron (as Bing Hitler). Jammy Records. 1986. Catalogue number JRLP 861.
Mental; Bing Hitler Is Dead? Polydor. 1988.
A Big Stoatir. Polydor. 1990.
I'm Here to Help. New Wave Dynamics. 2013.
References
Bibliography
Ferguson, Craig (2019). Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations.'' Penguin Group.
External links
1962 births
20th-century Scottish comedians
20th-century Scottish male actors
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American novelists
21st-century Scottish comedians
21st-century Scottish male actors
21st-century Scottish novelists
American game show hosts
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male non-fiction writers
American male novelists
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
21st-century American memoirists
American stand-up comedians
American television talk show hosts
Audiobook narrators
Aviators from California
Burroughs Corporation people
Comedians from Glasgow
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host winners
Living people
Male actors from Glasgow
Male actors from Los Angeles
Male actors from New York City
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Novelists from New York (state)
Peabody Award winners
People from Cumbernauld
Scottish emigrants to the United States
Scottish expatriates in the United States
Scottish game show hosts
Scottish male film actors
Scottish male television actors
Scottish male video game actors
Scottish male voice actors
Scottish memoirists
Scottish stand-up comedians
Scottish television talk show hosts
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from New York (state)
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Writers from Glasgow
Writers from Los Angeles
Writers from New York City
People educated at Cumbernauld Academy
21st-century American male writers
| 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"
] |
[
"Craig Ferguson",
"Literature",
"Did Ferguson write anything?",
"Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006.",
"Did either book win an award?",
"He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events.",
"What was The river about?",
"The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm.",
"What influences his writing?",
"I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs."
] |
C_a953667fe2504ed39c4c18b910df7826_1
|
When was his memoirs published?
| 6 |
When were Ferguson's memoirs published?
|
Craig Ferguson
|
Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006. He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", he said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." The novel is dedicated to his elder son, Milo, and to his grandfather, Adam. He revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled The Sphynx of the Mississippi. He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends the book to be the first in a trilogy. Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy. In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on The Late Late Show to promote her new book Married Lovers. Collins said that a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show. CANNOTANSWER
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It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States.
|
Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish-American comedian, actor, writer and television host. He is best known for hosting the CBS late-night talk show The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2005–14), for which he won a Peabody Award in 2009 for his interview with South African archbishop Desmond Tutu that year. He also hosted the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game (2014–17), for which he won two Daytime Emmy Awards, and Join or Die with Craig Ferguson (2016) on History. In 2017 he released a six-episode web show with his wife, Megan Wallace Cunningham, titled Couple Thinkers.
After starting his career in the UK with music, comedy, and theatre, Ferguson moved to the U.S., where he appeared in the role of Nigel Wick on the ABC sitcom The Drew Carey Show (1996–2004). Ferguson has written three books: Between the Bridge and the River, a novel; American on Purpose, a memoir; and Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations & Observations. He holds both British and American citizenship.
He has written and starred in three films, directing one of them, and has appeared in several others, including several voice-over roles for animations. He provided voice work for Gobber in the How to Train Your Dragon film series (2010–2019), Owl in Winnie the Pooh (2011) and Lord Macintosh in Brave (2012).
Since 2021, Ferguson has hosted the American game show The Hustler on the ABC television network.
Early life and education
Ferguson was born in Stobhill Hospital in the Springburn district of Glasgow, to Robert and Janet Ferguson on 17 May 1962. When he was 6 months old, he and his family moved from their Springburn flat to a Development Corporation house in the nearby New Town of Cumbernauld, where he grew up "chubby and bullied". They lived there as Cumbernauld was rehousing many Glaswegians away from the poor housing conditions and damage to the city from World War II. Ferguson attended Muirfield Primary School and Cumbernauld High School. At age 16, Ferguson left high school and began an apprenticeship to be an electronics technician at a local factory of American company Burroughs Corporation.
His first visit to the United States was in 1975, when he was 13, to visit an uncle who lived on Long Island, near New York City. When he moved to New York City in 1983, he worked in construction in Harlem. Ferguson later became a bouncer at the nightclub Save the Robots before returning to Scotland.
Career
UK career
Ferguson's experience in entertainment began as a teenager as a drummer for Glasgow punk bands such as the Night Creatures and Exposure. Shortly afterward, he had a brief stint as a drummer for the post-punk band Ana Hausen, who released a single for Human Records in 1981. He then joined a punk band called The Bastards from Hell. The band, later renamed Dreamboys, and fronted by vocalist Peter Capaldi, performed regularly in Glasgow from 1980 to 1982. Ferguson credits Capaldi for inspiring him to try comedy. When he was 18, he worked as a session musician and performed as a drummer for Nico during a few gigs when she toured Scotland.
After a nerve-racking first comedy appearance, he decided to create a character that he described as a "parody of all the über-patriotic native folk singers who seemed to infect every public performance in Scotland". The character was named "Bing Hitler" by Capaldi. Ferguson first performed as the character in Glasgow, and he later became a hit at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. However, by the end of the year, Ferguson was already discussing his intention to retire Bing. At the press launch for an alternative pantomime of Sleeping Beauty (which he had co-written with Capaldi), he said "you can't write for just one character forever". A recording of his stage act as Bing Hitler was made at Glasgow's Tron Theatre and released in the 1980s; a Bing Hitler monologue ("A Lecture for Burns Night") appears on the compilation cassette Honey at the Core.
After enjoying success at the Edinburgh Festival, Ferguson appeared on television as 'Confidence' in Red Dwarf, on STV's Hogmanay Shows, and on the 1993 One Foot in the Grave Christmas special One Foot in the Algarve. In 1990, a pilot of The Craig Ferguson Show, a one-off comedy pilot for Granada Television, was broadcast. It co-starred Paul Whitehouse and Helen Atkinson-Wood. In 1991, Channel 4 asked him to host Friday at the Dome, a 75-minute live music show. In 1992, he was given his own BBC Scotland show, 2000 Not Out.
In 1993, he presented a six-part archaeology TV series, The Dirt Detective, for STV. Also in 1993, he was given a six-part TV series on BBC One. The Ferguson Theory was a mix of stand-up and sketches recorded the day before transmission. In 2017, it was announced that he would return to UK television for the first time in 25 years in a guest role in BBC Scotland's comedy Still Game, to be shown in 2018.
Ferguson also found success in musical theatre. Beginning in 1991, he appeared on stage as Brad Majors in the London production of The Rocky Horror Show. In 1994, Ferguson played Father MacLean in production of Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom at the Union Chapel in London. The same year, he appeared again at the Edinburgh Fringe, as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple.
US career
Ferguson moved to Los Angeles in November 1994, after his soon-to-be agent Rick Siegel saw Ferguson during the Edinburgh Festival and suggested that he come to America. His first US role was as baker Logan McDonough on the short-lived 1995 ABC comedy Maybe This Time, which starred Betty White and Marie Osmond.
His breakthrough in the US came when he was cast on The Drew Carey Show as the title character's boss, Mr. Wick, a role he played from 1996 to 2003. He played the role with an over-the-top posh English accent "to make up for generations of English actors doing crap Scottish accents". In his comedy special "A Wee Bit o' Revolution", he specifically identified James Doohan's portrayal of Montgomery Scott on Star Trek as the foundation of his "revenge". (At the end of one episode, though, Ferguson broke the fourth wall and began talking to the audience at home in his regular Scottish accent.) His character was memorable for his unique methods of laying employees off, almost always "firing Johnson", the most common last name of the to-be-fired workers. Even after leaving the show in 2003, he remained a recurring character on the series for the last two seasons, and was part of the two-part series finale in 2004.
During the production of The Drew Carey Show, Ferguson devoted his off-time as a cast member to writing, working in his trailer on set in between shooting his scenes. He wrote and starred in three films: The Big Tease, Saving Grace, and I'll Be There; he also directed the latter, for which he won the Audience Award for Best Film at the Aspen, Dallas, and Valencia film festivals. He was named Best New Director at the Napa Valley Film Festival. These were among other scripts that, "... in the great tradition of the movie business, about half a dozen that I got paid a fortune for but never got made."
His other acting credits in films include Niagara Motel, Lenny the Wonder Dog, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Chain of Fools, Born Romantic, The Ugly Truth, Kick-Ass, and, as a voice-over actor, How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Brave, and Winnie the Pooh.
Ferguson has been touring the United States and Canada with a comedy show since the late 2000s, including a performance at Carnegie Hall on 23 October 2010 and a performance at Radio City Music Hall on 6 October 2012. He has performed two stand-up television specials on Comedy Central, both released on DVD: A Wee Bit o' Revolution in 2009 and Does This Need to Be Said? in 2011. His third comedy special, I'm Here to Help, was released on Netflix in 2013, garnering positive reviews of 4 out of 5 stars on Netflix and peaking at number 6 on Billboard top comedy albums. It also received a 2014 Grammy Award nomination for Best Comedy Album.
Ferguson was awarded the Peter Ustinov Comedy Award by the Banff World Media Festival on 11 June 2013.
The Late Late Show
In December 2004, it was announced that Ferguson would succeed Craig Kilborn on CBS's The Late Late Show. His first show as the regular host aired on 3 January 2005. The show was unique in that it had no "human" sidekicks such as Ed McMahon on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson or Conan O'Brien's Andy Richter. He had a remotely operated robot skeleton named Geoff Peterson and two silent performers in a pantomime horse costume that were added in 2010. His monologues were conducted within a few feet of the camera versus the long distance Johnny Carson kept from the camera and audience.
The Late Late Show averaged 2.0 million viewers in its 2007 season, compared with 2.5 million for Late Night with Conan O'Brien. In April 2008, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson beat Late Night with Conan O'Brien for weekly ratings (1.88 million to 1.77 million) for the first time since the two shows went head-to-head with their respective hosts.
In March 2009, Craig Ferguson topped Jimmy Fallon in the ratings with Ferguson getting a 1.8 rating/6 share and Fallon receiving a 1.6 rating/6 share. By 2014, Ferguson's ratings had faltered, trailing those of Late Night with Seth Meyers with an average of 1.35 million viewers versus 2.02 million.
On 28 April 2014, Ferguson announced he would leave The Late Late Show at the end of 2014, with the final episode airing on 19 December. His contract was set to expire in June 2014, but a six-month extension was agreed on to provide a more graceful exit and give CBS more time to find a replacement host. He reportedly received as part of his contract because he was not selected as the replacement for David Letterman's Late Show. Ferguson made the decision prior to Letterman's announcement but agreed to delay making his own decision public until the reaction to Letterman's decision had died down. CBS Entertainment Chair Nina Tassler said, following the announcement, that in his decade as host Ferguson had "infused the broadcast with tremendous energy, unique comedy, insightful interviews and some of the most heartfelt monologues seen on television." CBS continued the franchise with James Corden as the new host.
Television work
Craig Ferguson has made guest appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Rachael Ray, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, The Howard Stern Show, The Daily Show, The View, Loveline, Real Time with Bill Maher, The Soup, The Talk, The Price Is Right, Kevin Pollak's Chat Show, The Dennis Miller Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He also co-hosted Live with Regis & Kelly with Kelly Ripa and was guest host on the April Fools' Day episode of The Price Is Right in 2014.
In 2009, Ferguson made a cameo live-action appearance in the episode "We Love You, Conrad" on Family Guy. Ferguson hosted the 32nd annual People's Choice Awards on 10 January 2006. TV Guide magazine printed a "Cheers" (Cheers and Jeers section) for appearing on his own show that same evening. From 2007 to 2010, Ferguson hosted the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on 4 July, broadcast nationally by CBS. Ferguson was the featured entertainer at 26 April 2008 White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, DC.
Ferguson co-presented the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama with Brooke Shields in 2008. He has done voice work in cartoons, including being the voice of Barry's evil alter-ego in the "With Friends Like Steve's" episode of American Dad!; in Freakazoid! as Roddy MacStew, Freakazoid's mentor; and on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command as the robot vampire NOS-4-A2. He was the voice of Susan the boil on Futurama, which was a parody of Scottish singer Susan Boyle. He makes stand-up appearances in Las Vegas and New York City. He headlined in the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal and in October 2008 Ferguson taped his stand up show in Boston for a Comedy Central special entitled A Wee Bit o' Revolution, which aired on 22 March 2009.
British television comedy drama Doc Martin was based on a character from Ferguson's film Saving Grace – with Ferguson getting writing credits for 12 episodes. On 6 November 2009, Ferguson appeared as himself in a SpongeBob SquarePants special titled SpongeBob's Truth or Square. He hosted Discovery Channel's 23rd season of Shark Week in 2010. Ferguson briefly appeared in Toby Keith's "Red Solo Cup" music video released on 10 October 2011.
In September 2013, Ferguson guest-starred on the season finale of Hot in Cleveland as a priest/tabloid journalist who turns out to be the father of Joy's (Jane Leeves) son. The show reunited him with former co-star and frequent Late Late Show guest Betty White. Ferguson reprised the role for several episodes when the show returned in March 2014.
Celebrity Name Game
In October 2013, it was announced that Ferguson would host the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game, produced by Coquette Productions, beginning in late 2014. Ferguson's involvement in the project dates back to 2011, when it was originally pitched and piloted as a CBS primetime series. , the series had an initial order of 180 episodes. The syndicated series began airing on 22 September 2014. Ferguson won Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host for Celebrity Name Game in 2015 and 2016. On 2 December 2016, it was announced that the series would end after three seasons.
Ferguson signed in 2015 to play Prentiss Porter in The King of 7B, a comedy pilot for ABC.<ref name=7B>{{cite news |last=Lyons |first=Beverley |url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity/late-late-shows-craig-ferguson-5339755 |title=Late Late Show'''s Craig Ferguson begins work on new comedy pilot for US television |work=Daily Record |location=Glasgow, Scotland |date=15 March 2015 |access-date=15 March 2015}}</ref> However, the show was not picked up.
Join or Die with Craig Ferguson
On 18 February 2016, Ferguson began to host a historical talk show on History titled Join or Die with Craig Ferguson. The title is a reference to a Benjamin Franklin political cartoon published in the Pennsylvania Gazette on 9 May 1754, which Ferguson had tattooed on his forearm after becoming an American citizen. Ferguson and a three-guest panel of comedians and historians conduct a humorous discussion of a different topic on each episode, such as the most doomed presidential campaign, greatest Founding Father and greatest invention, with viewers invited to share their opinions via Twitter.
The Hustler
Since January 2021, Ferguson has hosted the American game show The Hustler which broadcasts on the American Broadcasting Company television network. The show follows five contestants who collaborate to build up a cash prize by answering a series of trivia questions presented by Ferguson, whilst one of the contestants is secretly designated as the Hustler beforehand and given the answers to all the questions.
By the end of the game, two of the honest contestants have been eliminated; the other two must correctly choose the Hustler in order to stop him/her from winning the entire prize. The series premiered on January 4, 2021, before moving to its regular timeslot on January 7, 2021, airing on Thursdays at 10 p.m.
Radio
On 27 February 2017, Ferguson launched The Craig Ferguson Show, a two-hour talk radio show on the Comedy Greats channel and Faction Talk on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. His last new show aired 11 May 2018.
Literature
Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006. He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", he said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." The novel is dedicated to his elder son, Milo, and to his grandfather, Adam. He revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled The Sphynx of the Mississippi. He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends the book to be the first in a trilogy. As of February 2019, Ferguson has produced no further novels, although he has published non-fiction.
Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy.
In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on The Late Late Show to promote her new book Married Lovers. Collins said a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show.
Ferguson wrote a short story for In Sunlight or in Shadow (2017, Pegasus Crime), an anthology edited by Lawrence Block and featuring works inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper (1882-1967). Block is a favorite writer of Ferguson's and appeared multiple times on The Late Late Show.
On 10 October 2018, Ferguson announced his third book via Twitter, Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations which released 7 May 2019.
Personal life
Ferguson is a fan of Scottish football team Partick Thistle F.C. as well as the British television show Doctor Who. He holds an FAA private pilot certificate, issued in 2009. He has five tattoos which include the Join, or Die political cartoon on his right forearm; a Ferguson family crest with the Latin motto Dulcius ex asperis ("Sweeter out of [or from] difficulty") on his upper right arm in honour of his father; and a Celtic cross with the Ingram clan motto Magnanimus esto (Be great of mind) on his upper left arm in honour of his mother. He has often said that his Join, or Die tattoo is intended to signal his American patriotism. Ferguson returned to live in Scotland in 2019.Pathikrit Sanyal: Why did Craig Ferguson leave America? Talk show host was highly successful but returned to Scotland, here's why. MEAWW, 7 January 2021
Ferguson consumes neither meat nor alcohol, as he is both a vegan (having stated in 2016 that he had been vegan for almost three years) and a recovering alcoholic. Ferguson has been sober since February 18, 1992.
As mentioned in episode 7 of his television show Join or Die, Ferguson also plays the harp (although not well and was kicked out of the band as a result).
Influences
Ferguson has stated that his comedy influences include Monty Python, Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, and David Letterman.
Family
Ferguson eulogised his father Robert on an episode of The Late Late Show in January 2006. Following the death of his mother Janet (3 August 1933 – 1 December 2008), he spoke of her on-air, ending the programme by playing her favourite song: "Rivers of Babylon" by Boney M.
Ferguson has two sisters (one older and one younger) and one older brother. His younger sister, Lynn Ferguson Tweddle, is also a comedian, presenter, and actress, who voiced Mac in the 2000 stop-motion animation film Chicken Run. She was a writer on The Late Late Show until July 2011.
Ferguson has married three times and divorced twice. His first marriage was to Anne Hogarth from 1983 to 1986, during which time they lived in New York. His second marriage was to Sascha Corwin (founder and proprietor of Los Angeles' SpySchool), with whom he has one son, born in 2001. He and Corwin shared custody of their son, and lived near each other in the Hollywood Hills. Ferguson married art dealer Megan Wallace-Cunningham in a private ceremony on her family's farm in Chester, Vermont in 2008. They have a son together, who was born in 2011.
American citizenship
During 2007, Ferguson, who at the time held only British citizenship, used The Late Late Show as a forum for seeking honorary citizenship from every state in the US. He received honorary citizenship from Nebraska, Arkansas, Virginia, Montana, North Dakota, New Jersey, Tennessee, South Carolina, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Texas, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, and was "commissioned" as an admiral in the tongue-in-cheek Nebraska Navy. Governors Jon Corzine (New Jersey), John Hoeven (North Dakota), Mark Sanford (South Carolina), Mike Rounds (South Dakota), Rick Perry (Texas), Sarah Palin (Alaska) and Jim Gibbons (Nevada) sent letters to him that made him an honorary citizen of their respective states. He received similar honours from various towns and cities, including Ozark, Arkansas; Hazard, Kentucky; and Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
Ferguson became an American citizen on 1 February 2008 and broadcast the taking of his citizenship test as well as his swearing in on The Late Late Show.
Filmography
Film
Television
Web
Video games
Radio
Awards and nominations
Discography
Live at the Tron (as Bing Hitler). Jammy Records. 1986. Catalogue number JRLP 861.
Mental; Bing Hitler Is Dead? Polydor. 1988.
A Big Stoatir. Polydor. 1990.
I'm Here to Help. New Wave Dynamics. 2013.
References
Bibliography
Ferguson, Craig (2019). Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations.'' Penguin Group.
External links
1962 births
20th-century Scottish comedians
20th-century Scottish male actors
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American novelists
21st-century Scottish comedians
21st-century Scottish male actors
21st-century Scottish novelists
American game show hosts
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male non-fiction writers
American male novelists
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
21st-century American memoirists
American stand-up comedians
American television talk show hosts
Audiobook narrators
Aviators from California
Burroughs Corporation people
Comedians from Glasgow
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host winners
Living people
Male actors from Glasgow
Male actors from Los Angeles
Male actors from New York City
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Novelists from New York (state)
Peabody Award winners
People from Cumbernauld
Scottish emigrants to the United States
Scottish expatriates in the United States
Scottish game show hosts
Scottish male film actors
Scottish male television actors
Scottish male video game actors
Scottish male voice actors
Scottish memoirists
Scottish stand-up comedians
Scottish television talk show hosts
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from New York (state)
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Writers from Glasgow
Writers from Los Angeles
Writers from New York City
People educated at Cumbernauld Academy
21st-century American male writers
| true |
[
"Masaji Ishikawa or Do Changsun is a North Korean defector and author on Zainichi heritage. Ishikawa was thirteen years old when he moved from Japan to North Korea in 1960. His father was Zainichi Korean and his mother was Japanese. Ishikawa later defected from North Korea in 1996 via the Yalu river, leaving behind three children and a spouse. The Japanese government assisted him in leaving China. In 2003, he was working as a security guard.\n\nMemoir\nIn 2000, Ishikawa published his memoirs in Japan under the title and the nom de plume . They were translated into English in 2017 under the title A River in Darkness. Ishikawa's memoirs are published in Korean under his Korean name and the title . The book was translated into Persian in 2020. The part of the book focused on the river crossing was published in Literary Hub.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nNorth Korean defectors\n\n1947 births\nLiving people",
"Unreliable Memoirs is a memoir by Australian writer Clive James published in 1980 by Jonathan Cape\nThe book was a bestseller, and the first of as series of autobiographical works. The book covers his childhood and youth in Sydney. It was followed by Falling Towards England, published in 1985.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Unreliable Memoirs at clivejames.com\n\n1980 non-fiction books\nAutobiographies\nJonathan Cape books"
] |
[
"Craig Ferguson",
"Literature",
"Did Ferguson write anything?",
"Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006.",
"Did either book win an award?",
"He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events.",
"What was The river about?",
"The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm.",
"What influences his writing?",
"I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs.",
"When was his memoirs published?",
"It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States."
] |
C_a953667fe2504ed39c4c18b910df7826_1
|
did the book sell well?
| 7 |
Did Ferguson's published memoirs sell well?
|
Craig Ferguson
|
Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006. He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", he said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." The novel is dedicated to his elder son, Milo, and to his grandfather, Adam. He revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled The Sphynx of the Mississippi. He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends the book to be the first in a trilogy. Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy. In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on The Late Late Show to promote her new book Married Lovers. Collins said that a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show. CANNOTANSWER
|
On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy.
|
Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish-American comedian, actor, writer and television host. He is best known for hosting the CBS late-night talk show The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2005–14), for which he won a Peabody Award in 2009 for his interview with South African archbishop Desmond Tutu that year. He also hosted the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game (2014–17), for which he won two Daytime Emmy Awards, and Join or Die with Craig Ferguson (2016) on History. In 2017 he released a six-episode web show with his wife, Megan Wallace Cunningham, titled Couple Thinkers.
After starting his career in the UK with music, comedy, and theatre, Ferguson moved to the U.S., where he appeared in the role of Nigel Wick on the ABC sitcom The Drew Carey Show (1996–2004). Ferguson has written three books: Between the Bridge and the River, a novel; American on Purpose, a memoir; and Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations & Observations. He holds both British and American citizenship.
He has written and starred in three films, directing one of them, and has appeared in several others, including several voice-over roles for animations. He provided voice work for Gobber in the How to Train Your Dragon film series (2010–2019), Owl in Winnie the Pooh (2011) and Lord Macintosh in Brave (2012).
Since 2021, Ferguson has hosted the American game show The Hustler on the ABC television network.
Early life and education
Ferguson was born in Stobhill Hospital in the Springburn district of Glasgow, to Robert and Janet Ferguson on 17 May 1962. When he was 6 months old, he and his family moved from their Springburn flat to a Development Corporation house in the nearby New Town of Cumbernauld, where he grew up "chubby and bullied". They lived there as Cumbernauld was rehousing many Glaswegians away from the poor housing conditions and damage to the city from World War II. Ferguson attended Muirfield Primary School and Cumbernauld High School. At age 16, Ferguson left high school and began an apprenticeship to be an electronics technician at a local factory of American company Burroughs Corporation.
His first visit to the United States was in 1975, when he was 13, to visit an uncle who lived on Long Island, near New York City. When he moved to New York City in 1983, he worked in construction in Harlem. Ferguson later became a bouncer at the nightclub Save the Robots before returning to Scotland.
Career
UK career
Ferguson's experience in entertainment began as a teenager as a drummer for Glasgow punk bands such as the Night Creatures and Exposure. Shortly afterward, he had a brief stint as a drummer for the post-punk band Ana Hausen, who released a single for Human Records in 1981. He then joined a punk band called The Bastards from Hell. The band, later renamed Dreamboys, and fronted by vocalist Peter Capaldi, performed regularly in Glasgow from 1980 to 1982. Ferguson credits Capaldi for inspiring him to try comedy. When he was 18, he worked as a session musician and performed as a drummer for Nico during a few gigs when she toured Scotland.
After a nerve-racking first comedy appearance, he decided to create a character that he described as a "parody of all the über-patriotic native folk singers who seemed to infect every public performance in Scotland". The character was named "Bing Hitler" by Capaldi. Ferguson first performed as the character in Glasgow, and he later became a hit at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. However, by the end of the year, Ferguson was already discussing his intention to retire Bing. At the press launch for an alternative pantomime of Sleeping Beauty (which he had co-written with Capaldi), he said "you can't write for just one character forever". A recording of his stage act as Bing Hitler was made at Glasgow's Tron Theatre and released in the 1980s; a Bing Hitler monologue ("A Lecture for Burns Night") appears on the compilation cassette Honey at the Core.
After enjoying success at the Edinburgh Festival, Ferguson appeared on television as 'Confidence' in Red Dwarf, on STV's Hogmanay Shows, and on the 1993 One Foot in the Grave Christmas special One Foot in the Algarve. In 1990, a pilot of The Craig Ferguson Show, a one-off comedy pilot for Granada Television, was broadcast. It co-starred Paul Whitehouse and Helen Atkinson-Wood. In 1991, Channel 4 asked him to host Friday at the Dome, a 75-minute live music show. In 1992, he was given his own BBC Scotland show, 2000 Not Out.
In 1993, he presented a six-part archaeology TV series, The Dirt Detective, for STV. Also in 1993, he was given a six-part TV series on BBC One. The Ferguson Theory was a mix of stand-up and sketches recorded the day before transmission. In 2017, it was announced that he would return to UK television for the first time in 25 years in a guest role in BBC Scotland's comedy Still Game, to be shown in 2018.
Ferguson also found success in musical theatre. Beginning in 1991, he appeared on stage as Brad Majors in the London production of The Rocky Horror Show. In 1994, Ferguson played Father MacLean in production of Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom at the Union Chapel in London. The same year, he appeared again at the Edinburgh Fringe, as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple.
US career
Ferguson moved to Los Angeles in November 1994, after his soon-to-be agent Rick Siegel saw Ferguson during the Edinburgh Festival and suggested that he come to America. His first US role was as baker Logan McDonough on the short-lived 1995 ABC comedy Maybe This Time, which starred Betty White and Marie Osmond.
His breakthrough in the US came when he was cast on The Drew Carey Show as the title character's boss, Mr. Wick, a role he played from 1996 to 2003. He played the role with an over-the-top posh English accent "to make up for generations of English actors doing crap Scottish accents". In his comedy special "A Wee Bit o' Revolution", he specifically identified James Doohan's portrayal of Montgomery Scott on Star Trek as the foundation of his "revenge". (At the end of one episode, though, Ferguson broke the fourth wall and began talking to the audience at home in his regular Scottish accent.) His character was memorable for his unique methods of laying employees off, almost always "firing Johnson", the most common last name of the to-be-fired workers. Even after leaving the show in 2003, he remained a recurring character on the series for the last two seasons, and was part of the two-part series finale in 2004.
During the production of The Drew Carey Show, Ferguson devoted his off-time as a cast member to writing, working in his trailer on set in between shooting his scenes. He wrote and starred in three films: The Big Tease, Saving Grace, and I'll Be There; he also directed the latter, for which he won the Audience Award for Best Film at the Aspen, Dallas, and Valencia film festivals. He was named Best New Director at the Napa Valley Film Festival. These were among other scripts that, "... in the great tradition of the movie business, about half a dozen that I got paid a fortune for but never got made."
His other acting credits in films include Niagara Motel, Lenny the Wonder Dog, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Chain of Fools, Born Romantic, The Ugly Truth, Kick-Ass, and, as a voice-over actor, How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Brave, and Winnie the Pooh.
Ferguson has been touring the United States and Canada with a comedy show since the late 2000s, including a performance at Carnegie Hall on 23 October 2010 and a performance at Radio City Music Hall on 6 October 2012. He has performed two stand-up television specials on Comedy Central, both released on DVD: A Wee Bit o' Revolution in 2009 and Does This Need to Be Said? in 2011. His third comedy special, I'm Here to Help, was released on Netflix in 2013, garnering positive reviews of 4 out of 5 stars on Netflix and peaking at number 6 on Billboard top comedy albums. It also received a 2014 Grammy Award nomination for Best Comedy Album.
Ferguson was awarded the Peter Ustinov Comedy Award by the Banff World Media Festival on 11 June 2013.
The Late Late Show
In December 2004, it was announced that Ferguson would succeed Craig Kilborn on CBS's The Late Late Show. His first show as the regular host aired on 3 January 2005. The show was unique in that it had no "human" sidekicks such as Ed McMahon on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson or Conan O'Brien's Andy Richter. He had a remotely operated robot skeleton named Geoff Peterson and two silent performers in a pantomime horse costume that were added in 2010. His monologues were conducted within a few feet of the camera versus the long distance Johnny Carson kept from the camera and audience.
The Late Late Show averaged 2.0 million viewers in its 2007 season, compared with 2.5 million for Late Night with Conan O'Brien. In April 2008, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson beat Late Night with Conan O'Brien for weekly ratings (1.88 million to 1.77 million) for the first time since the two shows went head-to-head with their respective hosts.
In March 2009, Craig Ferguson topped Jimmy Fallon in the ratings with Ferguson getting a 1.8 rating/6 share and Fallon receiving a 1.6 rating/6 share. By 2014, Ferguson's ratings had faltered, trailing those of Late Night with Seth Meyers with an average of 1.35 million viewers versus 2.02 million.
On 28 April 2014, Ferguson announced he would leave The Late Late Show at the end of 2014, with the final episode airing on 19 December. His contract was set to expire in June 2014, but a six-month extension was agreed on to provide a more graceful exit and give CBS more time to find a replacement host. He reportedly received as part of his contract because he was not selected as the replacement for David Letterman's Late Show. Ferguson made the decision prior to Letterman's announcement but agreed to delay making his own decision public until the reaction to Letterman's decision had died down. CBS Entertainment Chair Nina Tassler said, following the announcement, that in his decade as host Ferguson had "infused the broadcast with tremendous energy, unique comedy, insightful interviews and some of the most heartfelt monologues seen on television." CBS continued the franchise with James Corden as the new host.
Television work
Craig Ferguson has made guest appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Rachael Ray, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, The Howard Stern Show, The Daily Show, The View, Loveline, Real Time with Bill Maher, The Soup, The Talk, The Price Is Right, Kevin Pollak's Chat Show, The Dennis Miller Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He also co-hosted Live with Regis & Kelly with Kelly Ripa and was guest host on the April Fools' Day episode of The Price Is Right in 2014.
In 2009, Ferguson made a cameo live-action appearance in the episode "We Love You, Conrad" on Family Guy. Ferguson hosted the 32nd annual People's Choice Awards on 10 January 2006. TV Guide magazine printed a "Cheers" (Cheers and Jeers section) for appearing on his own show that same evening. From 2007 to 2010, Ferguson hosted the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on 4 July, broadcast nationally by CBS. Ferguson was the featured entertainer at 26 April 2008 White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, DC.
Ferguson co-presented the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama with Brooke Shields in 2008. He has done voice work in cartoons, including being the voice of Barry's evil alter-ego in the "With Friends Like Steve's" episode of American Dad!; in Freakazoid! as Roddy MacStew, Freakazoid's mentor; and on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command as the robot vampire NOS-4-A2. He was the voice of Susan the boil on Futurama, which was a parody of Scottish singer Susan Boyle. He makes stand-up appearances in Las Vegas and New York City. He headlined in the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal and in October 2008 Ferguson taped his stand up show in Boston for a Comedy Central special entitled A Wee Bit o' Revolution, which aired on 22 March 2009.
British television comedy drama Doc Martin was based on a character from Ferguson's film Saving Grace – with Ferguson getting writing credits for 12 episodes. On 6 November 2009, Ferguson appeared as himself in a SpongeBob SquarePants special titled SpongeBob's Truth or Square. He hosted Discovery Channel's 23rd season of Shark Week in 2010. Ferguson briefly appeared in Toby Keith's "Red Solo Cup" music video released on 10 October 2011.
In September 2013, Ferguson guest-starred on the season finale of Hot in Cleveland as a priest/tabloid journalist who turns out to be the father of Joy's (Jane Leeves) son. The show reunited him with former co-star and frequent Late Late Show guest Betty White. Ferguson reprised the role for several episodes when the show returned in March 2014.
Celebrity Name Game
In October 2013, it was announced that Ferguson would host the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game, produced by Coquette Productions, beginning in late 2014. Ferguson's involvement in the project dates back to 2011, when it was originally pitched and piloted as a CBS primetime series. , the series had an initial order of 180 episodes. The syndicated series began airing on 22 September 2014. Ferguson won Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host for Celebrity Name Game in 2015 and 2016. On 2 December 2016, it was announced that the series would end after three seasons.
Ferguson signed in 2015 to play Prentiss Porter in The King of 7B, a comedy pilot for ABC.<ref name=7B>{{cite news |last=Lyons |first=Beverley |url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity/late-late-shows-craig-ferguson-5339755 |title=Late Late Show'''s Craig Ferguson begins work on new comedy pilot for US television |work=Daily Record |location=Glasgow, Scotland |date=15 March 2015 |access-date=15 March 2015}}</ref> However, the show was not picked up.
Join or Die with Craig Ferguson
On 18 February 2016, Ferguson began to host a historical talk show on History titled Join or Die with Craig Ferguson. The title is a reference to a Benjamin Franklin political cartoon published in the Pennsylvania Gazette on 9 May 1754, which Ferguson had tattooed on his forearm after becoming an American citizen. Ferguson and a three-guest panel of comedians and historians conduct a humorous discussion of a different topic on each episode, such as the most doomed presidential campaign, greatest Founding Father and greatest invention, with viewers invited to share their opinions via Twitter.
The Hustler
Since January 2021, Ferguson has hosted the American game show The Hustler which broadcasts on the American Broadcasting Company television network. The show follows five contestants who collaborate to build up a cash prize by answering a series of trivia questions presented by Ferguson, whilst one of the contestants is secretly designated as the Hustler beforehand and given the answers to all the questions.
By the end of the game, two of the honest contestants have been eliminated; the other two must correctly choose the Hustler in order to stop him/her from winning the entire prize. The series premiered on January 4, 2021, before moving to its regular timeslot on January 7, 2021, airing on Thursdays at 10 p.m.
Radio
On 27 February 2017, Ferguson launched The Craig Ferguson Show, a two-hour talk radio show on the Comedy Greats channel and Faction Talk on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. His last new show aired 11 May 2018.
Literature
Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006. He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", he said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." The novel is dedicated to his elder son, Milo, and to his grandfather, Adam. He revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled The Sphynx of the Mississippi. He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends the book to be the first in a trilogy. As of February 2019, Ferguson has produced no further novels, although he has published non-fiction.
Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy.
In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on The Late Late Show to promote her new book Married Lovers. Collins said a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show.
Ferguson wrote a short story for In Sunlight or in Shadow (2017, Pegasus Crime), an anthology edited by Lawrence Block and featuring works inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper (1882-1967). Block is a favorite writer of Ferguson's and appeared multiple times on The Late Late Show.
On 10 October 2018, Ferguson announced his third book via Twitter, Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations which released 7 May 2019.
Personal life
Ferguson is a fan of Scottish football team Partick Thistle F.C. as well as the British television show Doctor Who. He holds an FAA private pilot certificate, issued in 2009. He has five tattoos which include the Join, or Die political cartoon on his right forearm; a Ferguson family crest with the Latin motto Dulcius ex asperis ("Sweeter out of [or from] difficulty") on his upper right arm in honour of his father; and a Celtic cross with the Ingram clan motto Magnanimus esto (Be great of mind) on his upper left arm in honour of his mother. He has often said that his Join, or Die tattoo is intended to signal his American patriotism. Ferguson returned to live in Scotland in 2019.Pathikrit Sanyal: Why did Craig Ferguson leave America? Talk show host was highly successful but returned to Scotland, here's why. MEAWW, 7 January 2021
Ferguson consumes neither meat nor alcohol, as he is both a vegan (having stated in 2016 that he had been vegan for almost three years) and a recovering alcoholic. Ferguson has been sober since February 18, 1992.
As mentioned in episode 7 of his television show Join or Die, Ferguson also plays the harp (although not well and was kicked out of the band as a result).
Influences
Ferguson has stated that his comedy influences include Monty Python, Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, and David Letterman.
Family
Ferguson eulogised his father Robert on an episode of The Late Late Show in January 2006. Following the death of his mother Janet (3 August 1933 – 1 December 2008), he spoke of her on-air, ending the programme by playing her favourite song: "Rivers of Babylon" by Boney M.
Ferguson has two sisters (one older and one younger) and one older brother. His younger sister, Lynn Ferguson Tweddle, is also a comedian, presenter, and actress, who voiced Mac in the 2000 stop-motion animation film Chicken Run. She was a writer on The Late Late Show until July 2011.
Ferguson has married three times and divorced twice. His first marriage was to Anne Hogarth from 1983 to 1986, during which time they lived in New York. His second marriage was to Sascha Corwin (founder and proprietor of Los Angeles' SpySchool), with whom he has one son, born in 2001. He and Corwin shared custody of their son, and lived near each other in the Hollywood Hills. Ferguson married art dealer Megan Wallace-Cunningham in a private ceremony on her family's farm in Chester, Vermont in 2008. They have a son together, who was born in 2011.
American citizenship
During 2007, Ferguson, who at the time held only British citizenship, used The Late Late Show as a forum for seeking honorary citizenship from every state in the US. He received honorary citizenship from Nebraska, Arkansas, Virginia, Montana, North Dakota, New Jersey, Tennessee, South Carolina, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Texas, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, and was "commissioned" as an admiral in the tongue-in-cheek Nebraska Navy. Governors Jon Corzine (New Jersey), John Hoeven (North Dakota), Mark Sanford (South Carolina), Mike Rounds (South Dakota), Rick Perry (Texas), Sarah Palin (Alaska) and Jim Gibbons (Nevada) sent letters to him that made him an honorary citizen of their respective states. He received similar honours from various towns and cities, including Ozark, Arkansas; Hazard, Kentucky; and Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
Ferguson became an American citizen on 1 February 2008 and broadcast the taking of his citizenship test as well as his swearing in on The Late Late Show.
Filmography
Film
Television
Web
Video games
Radio
Awards and nominations
Discography
Live at the Tron (as Bing Hitler). Jammy Records. 1986. Catalogue number JRLP 861.
Mental; Bing Hitler Is Dead? Polydor. 1988.
A Big Stoatir. Polydor. 1990.
I'm Here to Help. New Wave Dynamics. 2013.
References
Bibliography
Ferguson, Craig (2019). Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations.'' Penguin Group.
External links
1962 births
20th-century Scottish comedians
20th-century Scottish male actors
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American novelists
21st-century Scottish comedians
21st-century Scottish male actors
21st-century Scottish novelists
American game show hosts
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male non-fiction writers
American male novelists
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
21st-century American memoirists
American stand-up comedians
American television talk show hosts
Audiobook narrators
Aviators from California
Burroughs Corporation people
Comedians from Glasgow
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host winners
Living people
Male actors from Glasgow
Male actors from Los Angeles
Male actors from New York City
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Novelists from New York (state)
Peabody Award winners
People from Cumbernauld
Scottish emigrants to the United States
Scottish expatriates in the United States
Scottish game show hosts
Scottish male film actors
Scottish male television actors
Scottish male video game actors
Scottish male voice actors
Scottish memoirists
Scottish stand-up comedians
Scottish television talk show hosts
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from New York (state)
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Writers from Glasgow
Writers from Los Angeles
Writers from New York City
People educated at Cumbernauld Academy
21st-century American male writers
| true |
[
"Bobbs-Merrill Co. v. Straus, 210 U.S. 339 (1908), was a United States Supreme Court decision concerning the scope of rights accorded owners of a copyright versus owners of a particular copy of a copyrighted work. This was a case of first impression concerning whether the copyright laws permit an owner to control a purchaser's subsequent sale of a copyrighted work. The court stated the issue as:\nDoes the sole right to vend (named in 4952) secure to the owner of the copyright the right, after a sale of the book to a purchaser, to restrict future sales of the book at retail, to the right to sell it at a certain price per copy, because of a notice in the book that a sale at a different price will be treated as an infringement, which notice has been brought home to one undertaking to sell for less than the named sum?\n\nThe case centered on the publisher setting additional terms not specifically stated in the statute and claiming that the work was licensed and not sold. The Court's ruling established what came to be known as the \"first-sale doctrine\", which was later codified as § 109(a) of the Copyright Act of 1976.\n\nFacts\nBobbs-Merrill Company sold a copyrighted novel, The Castaway by Hallie Erminie Rives, with the notice, \"The price of this book at retail is $1 net. No dealer is licensed to sell it at a lower price, and a sale at a lower price will be treated as an infringement of the copyright\" printed immediately below the copyright notice. The defendants, Isidor and Nathan Straus representing R.H. Macy & Co., purchased large lots of books at wholesale and sold copies of the book at retail at the price of 89 cents a copy.\n\nHolding\nThe court held first that the copyright statutes protect an owner's right to \"multiply and sell\" the work on their own terms. The statutory right to sell, however, did not also create a right to limit resale.\n\nThe court did not hold that a contract or license imposed on the first sale could not create an obligation. In this case, there was no contract between the owner and the original purchaser, and there was not privity of contract between the owner and any third party.\n\nSee also\nQuality King Distributors, Inc. v. Lanza Research Intl, \nBauer & Cie. v. O'Donnell, a similar ruling regarding patents\n List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 210\n\nExternal links\n\n \n\nUnited States Supreme Court cases\nUnited States Supreme Court cases of the Fuller Court\nUnited States copyright case law\n1908 in United States case law",
"Mask of the Andes, also known as The Liberators in the US, is a 1971 novel written by Australian author Jon Cleary set in Bolivia.\n\nCleary says he had been thinking about its themes for over ten years. The result was one of his most critically acclaimed works, with some critics drawing comparison to Graham Greene. The book did not sell well in Britain, the US or Australia, but was a big seller in Germany and South America. Cleary even received a fan letter from some of Che Guevara's former guerrillas.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nMask of the Andes at AustLit (subscription required)\n\n1971 Australian novels\nNovels set in Bolivia\nWilliam Collins, Sons books\nWilliam Morrow and Company books\nNovels by Jon Cleary"
] |
[
"Craig Ferguson",
"Literature",
"Did Ferguson write anything?",
"Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006.",
"Did either book win an award?",
"He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events.",
"What was The river about?",
"The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm.",
"What influences his writing?",
"I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs.",
"When was his memoirs published?",
"It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States.",
"did the book sell well?",
"On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy."
] |
C_a953667fe2504ed39c4c18b910df7826_1
|
What is the book titled?
| 8 |
What is the book of Ferguson's published memoirs titled?
|
Craig Ferguson
|
Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006. He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", he said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." The novel is dedicated to his elder son, Milo, and to his grandfather, Adam. He revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled The Sphynx of the Mississippi. He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends the book to be the first in a trilogy. Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy. In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on The Late Late Show to promote her new book Married Lovers. Collins said that a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show. CANNOTANSWER
|
American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot,
|
Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish-American comedian, actor, writer and television host. He is best known for hosting the CBS late-night talk show The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2005–14), for which he won a Peabody Award in 2009 for his interview with South African archbishop Desmond Tutu that year. He also hosted the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game (2014–17), for which he won two Daytime Emmy Awards, and Join or Die with Craig Ferguson (2016) on History. In 2017 he released a six-episode web show with his wife, Megan Wallace Cunningham, titled Couple Thinkers.
After starting his career in the UK with music, comedy, and theatre, Ferguson moved to the U.S., where he appeared in the role of Nigel Wick on the ABC sitcom The Drew Carey Show (1996–2004). Ferguson has written three books: Between the Bridge and the River, a novel; American on Purpose, a memoir; and Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations & Observations. He holds both British and American citizenship.
He has written and starred in three films, directing one of them, and has appeared in several others, including several voice-over roles for animations. He provided voice work for Gobber in the How to Train Your Dragon film series (2010–2019), Owl in Winnie the Pooh (2011) and Lord Macintosh in Brave (2012).
Since 2021, Ferguson has hosted the American game show The Hustler on the ABC television network.
Early life and education
Ferguson was born in Stobhill Hospital in the Springburn district of Glasgow, to Robert and Janet Ferguson on 17 May 1962. When he was 6 months old, he and his family moved from their Springburn flat to a Development Corporation house in the nearby New Town of Cumbernauld, where he grew up "chubby and bullied". They lived there as Cumbernauld was rehousing many Glaswegians away from the poor housing conditions and damage to the city from World War II. Ferguson attended Muirfield Primary School and Cumbernauld High School. At age 16, Ferguson left high school and began an apprenticeship to be an electronics technician at a local factory of American company Burroughs Corporation.
His first visit to the United States was in 1975, when he was 13, to visit an uncle who lived on Long Island, near New York City. When he moved to New York City in 1983, he worked in construction in Harlem. Ferguson later became a bouncer at the nightclub Save the Robots before returning to Scotland.
Career
UK career
Ferguson's experience in entertainment began as a teenager as a drummer for Glasgow punk bands such as the Night Creatures and Exposure. Shortly afterward, he had a brief stint as a drummer for the post-punk band Ana Hausen, who released a single for Human Records in 1981. He then joined a punk band called The Bastards from Hell. The band, later renamed Dreamboys, and fronted by vocalist Peter Capaldi, performed regularly in Glasgow from 1980 to 1982. Ferguson credits Capaldi for inspiring him to try comedy. When he was 18, he worked as a session musician and performed as a drummer for Nico during a few gigs when she toured Scotland.
After a nerve-racking first comedy appearance, he decided to create a character that he described as a "parody of all the über-patriotic native folk singers who seemed to infect every public performance in Scotland". The character was named "Bing Hitler" by Capaldi. Ferguson first performed as the character in Glasgow, and he later became a hit at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. However, by the end of the year, Ferguson was already discussing his intention to retire Bing. At the press launch for an alternative pantomime of Sleeping Beauty (which he had co-written with Capaldi), he said "you can't write for just one character forever". A recording of his stage act as Bing Hitler was made at Glasgow's Tron Theatre and released in the 1980s; a Bing Hitler monologue ("A Lecture for Burns Night") appears on the compilation cassette Honey at the Core.
After enjoying success at the Edinburgh Festival, Ferguson appeared on television as 'Confidence' in Red Dwarf, on STV's Hogmanay Shows, and on the 1993 One Foot in the Grave Christmas special One Foot in the Algarve. In 1990, a pilot of The Craig Ferguson Show, a one-off comedy pilot for Granada Television, was broadcast. It co-starred Paul Whitehouse and Helen Atkinson-Wood. In 1991, Channel 4 asked him to host Friday at the Dome, a 75-minute live music show. In 1992, he was given his own BBC Scotland show, 2000 Not Out.
In 1993, he presented a six-part archaeology TV series, The Dirt Detective, for STV. Also in 1993, he was given a six-part TV series on BBC One. The Ferguson Theory was a mix of stand-up and sketches recorded the day before transmission. In 2017, it was announced that he would return to UK television for the first time in 25 years in a guest role in BBC Scotland's comedy Still Game, to be shown in 2018.
Ferguson also found success in musical theatre. Beginning in 1991, he appeared on stage as Brad Majors in the London production of The Rocky Horror Show. In 1994, Ferguson played Father MacLean in production of Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom at the Union Chapel in London. The same year, he appeared again at the Edinburgh Fringe, as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple.
US career
Ferguson moved to Los Angeles in November 1994, after his soon-to-be agent Rick Siegel saw Ferguson during the Edinburgh Festival and suggested that he come to America. His first US role was as baker Logan McDonough on the short-lived 1995 ABC comedy Maybe This Time, which starred Betty White and Marie Osmond.
His breakthrough in the US came when he was cast on The Drew Carey Show as the title character's boss, Mr. Wick, a role he played from 1996 to 2003. He played the role with an over-the-top posh English accent "to make up for generations of English actors doing crap Scottish accents". In his comedy special "A Wee Bit o' Revolution", he specifically identified James Doohan's portrayal of Montgomery Scott on Star Trek as the foundation of his "revenge". (At the end of one episode, though, Ferguson broke the fourth wall and began talking to the audience at home in his regular Scottish accent.) His character was memorable for his unique methods of laying employees off, almost always "firing Johnson", the most common last name of the to-be-fired workers. Even after leaving the show in 2003, he remained a recurring character on the series for the last two seasons, and was part of the two-part series finale in 2004.
During the production of The Drew Carey Show, Ferguson devoted his off-time as a cast member to writing, working in his trailer on set in between shooting his scenes. He wrote and starred in three films: The Big Tease, Saving Grace, and I'll Be There; he also directed the latter, for which he won the Audience Award for Best Film at the Aspen, Dallas, and Valencia film festivals. He was named Best New Director at the Napa Valley Film Festival. These were among other scripts that, "... in the great tradition of the movie business, about half a dozen that I got paid a fortune for but never got made."
His other acting credits in films include Niagara Motel, Lenny the Wonder Dog, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Chain of Fools, Born Romantic, The Ugly Truth, Kick-Ass, and, as a voice-over actor, How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Brave, and Winnie the Pooh.
Ferguson has been touring the United States and Canada with a comedy show since the late 2000s, including a performance at Carnegie Hall on 23 October 2010 and a performance at Radio City Music Hall on 6 October 2012. He has performed two stand-up television specials on Comedy Central, both released on DVD: A Wee Bit o' Revolution in 2009 and Does This Need to Be Said? in 2011. His third comedy special, I'm Here to Help, was released on Netflix in 2013, garnering positive reviews of 4 out of 5 stars on Netflix and peaking at number 6 on Billboard top comedy albums. It also received a 2014 Grammy Award nomination for Best Comedy Album.
Ferguson was awarded the Peter Ustinov Comedy Award by the Banff World Media Festival on 11 June 2013.
The Late Late Show
In December 2004, it was announced that Ferguson would succeed Craig Kilborn on CBS's The Late Late Show. His first show as the regular host aired on 3 January 2005. The show was unique in that it had no "human" sidekicks such as Ed McMahon on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson or Conan O'Brien's Andy Richter. He had a remotely operated robot skeleton named Geoff Peterson and two silent performers in a pantomime horse costume that were added in 2010. His monologues were conducted within a few feet of the camera versus the long distance Johnny Carson kept from the camera and audience.
The Late Late Show averaged 2.0 million viewers in its 2007 season, compared with 2.5 million for Late Night with Conan O'Brien. In April 2008, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson beat Late Night with Conan O'Brien for weekly ratings (1.88 million to 1.77 million) for the first time since the two shows went head-to-head with their respective hosts.
In March 2009, Craig Ferguson topped Jimmy Fallon in the ratings with Ferguson getting a 1.8 rating/6 share and Fallon receiving a 1.6 rating/6 share. By 2014, Ferguson's ratings had faltered, trailing those of Late Night with Seth Meyers with an average of 1.35 million viewers versus 2.02 million.
On 28 April 2014, Ferguson announced he would leave The Late Late Show at the end of 2014, with the final episode airing on 19 December. His contract was set to expire in June 2014, but a six-month extension was agreed on to provide a more graceful exit and give CBS more time to find a replacement host. He reportedly received as part of his contract because he was not selected as the replacement for David Letterman's Late Show. Ferguson made the decision prior to Letterman's announcement but agreed to delay making his own decision public until the reaction to Letterman's decision had died down. CBS Entertainment Chair Nina Tassler said, following the announcement, that in his decade as host Ferguson had "infused the broadcast with tremendous energy, unique comedy, insightful interviews and some of the most heartfelt monologues seen on television." CBS continued the franchise with James Corden as the new host.
Television work
Craig Ferguson has made guest appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Rachael Ray, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, The Howard Stern Show, The Daily Show, The View, Loveline, Real Time with Bill Maher, The Soup, The Talk, The Price Is Right, Kevin Pollak's Chat Show, The Dennis Miller Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He also co-hosted Live with Regis & Kelly with Kelly Ripa and was guest host on the April Fools' Day episode of The Price Is Right in 2014.
In 2009, Ferguson made a cameo live-action appearance in the episode "We Love You, Conrad" on Family Guy. Ferguson hosted the 32nd annual People's Choice Awards on 10 January 2006. TV Guide magazine printed a "Cheers" (Cheers and Jeers section) for appearing on his own show that same evening. From 2007 to 2010, Ferguson hosted the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on 4 July, broadcast nationally by CBS. Ferguson was the featured entertainer at 26 April 2008 White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, DC.
Ferguson co-presented the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama with Brooke Shields in 2008. He has done voice work in cartoons, including being the voice of Barry's evil alter-ego in the "With Friends Like Steve's" episode of American Dad!; in Freakazoid! as Roddy MacStew, Freakazoid's mentor; and on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command as the robot vampire NOS-4-A2. He was the voice of Susan the boil on Futurama, which was a parody of Scottish singer Susan Boyle. He makes stand-up appearances in Las Vegas and New York City. He headlined in the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal and in October 2008 Ferguson taped his stand up show in Boston for a Comedy Central special entitled A Wee Bit o' Revolution, which aired on 22 March 2009.
British television comedy drama Doc Martin was based on a character from Ferguson's film Saving Grace – with Ferguson getting writing credits for 12 episodes. On 6 November 2009, Ferguson appeared as himself in a SpongeBob SquarePants special titled SpongeBob's Truth or Square. He hosted Discovery Channel's 23rd season of Shark Week in 2010. Ferguson briefly appeared in Toby Keith's "Red Solo Cup" music video released on 10 October 2011.
In September 2013, Ferguson guest-starred on the season finale of Hot in Cleveland as a priest/tabloid journalist who turns out to be the father of Joy's (Jane Leeves) son. The show reunited him with former co-star and frequent Late Late Show guest Betty White. Ferguson reprised the role for several episodes when the show returned in March 2014.
Celebrity Name Game
In October 2013, it was announced that Ferguson would host the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game, produced by Coquette Productions, beginning in late 2014. Ferguson's involvement in the project dates back to 2011, when it was originally pitched and piloted as a CBS primetime series. , the series had an initial order of 180 episodes. The syndicated series began airing on 22 September 2014. Ferguson won Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host for Celebrity Name Game in 2015 and 2016. On 2 December 2016, it was announced that the series would end after three seasons.
Ferguson signed in 2015 to play Prentiss Porter in The King of 7B, a comedy pilot for ABC.<ref name=7B>{{cite news |last=Lyons |first=Beverley |url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity/late-late-shows-craig-ferguson-5339755 |title=Late Late Show'''s Craig Ferguson begins work on new comedy pilot for US television |work=Daily Record |location=Glasgow, Scotland |date=15 March 2015 |access-date=15 March 2015}}</ref> However, the show was not picked up.
Join or Die with Craig Ferguson
On 18 February 2016, Ferguson began to host a historical talk show on History titled Join or Die with Craig Ferguson. The title is a reference to a Benjamin Franklin political cartoon published in the Pennsylvania Gazette on 9 May 1754, which Ferguson had tattooed on his forearm after becoming an American citizen. Ferguson and a three-guest panel of comedians and historians conduct a humorous discussion of a different topic on each episode, such as the most doomed presidential campaign, greatest Founding Father and greatest invention, with viewers invited to share their opinions via Twitter.
The Hustler
Since January 2021, Ferguson has hosted the American game show The Hustler which broadcasts on the American Broadcasting Company television network. The show follows five contestants who collaborate to build up a cash prize by answering a series of trivia questions presented by Ferguson, whilst one of the contestants is secretly designated as the Hustler beforehand and given the answers to all the questions.
By the end of the game, two of the honest contestants have been eliminated; the other two must correctly choose the Hustler in order to stop him/her from winning the entire prize. The series premiered on January 4, 2021, before moving to its regular timeslot on January 7, 2021, airing on Thursdays at 10 p.m.
Radio
On 27 February 2017, Ferguson launched The Craig Ferguson Show, a two-hour talk radio show on the Comedy Greats channel and Faction Talk on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. His last new show aired 11 May 2018.
Literature
Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006. He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", he said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." The novel is dedicated to his elder son, Milo, and to his grandfather, Adam. He revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled The Sphynx of the Mississippi. He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends the book to be the first in a trilogy. As of February 2019, Ferguson has produced no further novels, although he has published non-fiction.
Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy.
In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on The Late Late Show to promote her new book Married Lovers. Collins said a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show.
Ferguson wrote a short story for In Sunlight or in Shadow (2017, Pegasus Crime), an anthology edited by Lawrence Block and featuring works inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper (1882-1967). Block is a favorite writer of Ferguson's and appeared multiple times on The Late Late Show.
On 10 October 2018, Ferguson announced his third book via Twitter, Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations which released 7 May 2019.
Personal life
Ferguson is a fan of Scottish football team Partick Thistle F.C. as well as the British television show Doctor Who. He holds an FAA private pilot certificate, issued in 2009. He has five tattoos which include the Join, or Die political cartoon on his right forearm; a Ferguson family crest with the Latin motto Dulcius ex asperis ("Sweeter out of [or from] difficulty") on his upper right arm in honour of his father; and a Celtic cross with the Ingram clan motto Magnanimus esto (Be great of mind) on his upper left arm in honour of his mother. He has often said that his Join, or Die tattoo is intended to signal his American patriotism. Ferguson returned to live in Scotland in 2019.Pathikrit Sanyal: Why did Craig Ferguson leave America? Talk show host was highly successful but returned to Scotland, here's why. MEAWW, 7 January 2021
Ferguson consumes neither meat nor alcohol, as he is both a vegan (having stated in 2016 that he had been vegan for almost three years) and a recovering alcoholic. Ferguson has been sober since February 18, 1992.
As mentioned in episode 7 of his television show Join or Die, Ferguson also plays the harp (although not well and was kicked out of the band as a result).
Influences
Ferguson has stated that his comedy influences include Monty Python, Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, and David Letterman.
Family
Ferguson eulogised his father Robert on an episode of The Late Late Show in January 2006. Following the death of his mother Janet (3 August 1933 – 1 December 2008), he spoke of her on-air, ending the programme by playing her favourite song: "Rivers of Babylon" by Boney M.
Ferguson has two sisters (one older and one younger) and one older brother. His younger sister, Lynn Ferguson Tweddle, is also a comedian, presenter, and actress, who voiced Mac in the 2000 stop-motion animation film Chicken Run. She was a writer on The Late Late Show until July 2011.
Ferguson has married three times and divorced twice. His first marriage was to Anne Hogarth from 1983 to 1986, during which time they lived in New York. His second marriage was to Sascha Corwin (founder and proprietor of Los Angeles' SpySchool), with whom he has one son, born in 2001. He and Corwin shared custody of their son, and lived near each other in the Hollywood Hills. Ferguson married art dealer Megan Wallace-Cunningham in a private ceremony on her family's farm in Chester, Vermont in 2008. They have a son together, who was born in 2011.
American citizenship
During 2007, Ferguson, who at the time held only British citizenship, used The Late Late Show as a forum for seeking honorary citizenship from every state in the US. He received honorary citizenship from Nebraska, Arkansas, Virginia, Montana, North Dakota, New Jersey, Tennessee, South Carolina, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Texas, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, and was "commissioned" as an admiral in the tongue-in-cheek Nebraska Navy. Governors Jon Corzine (New Jersey), John Hoeven (North Dakota), Mark Sanford (South Carolina), Mike Rounds (South Dakota), Rick Perry (Texas), Sarah Palin (Alaska) and Jim Gibbons (Nevada) sent letters to him that made him an honorary citizen of their respective states. He received similar honours from various towns and cities, including Ozark, Arkansas; Hazard, Kentucky; and Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
Ferguson became an American citizen on 1 February 2008 and broadcast the taking of his citizenship test as well as his swearing in on The Late Late Show.
Filmography
Film
Television
Web
Video games
Radio
Awards and nominations
Discography
Live at the Tron (as Bing Hitler). Jammy Records. 1986. Catalogue number JRLP 861.
Mental; Bing Hitler Is Dead? Polydor. 1988.
A Big Stoatir. Polydor. 1990.
I'm Here to Help. New Wave Dynamics. 2013.
References
Bibliography
Ferguson, Craig (2019). Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations.'' Penguin Group.
External links
1962 births
20th-century Scottish comedians
20th-century Scottish male actors
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American novelists
21st-century Scottish comedians
21st-century Scottish male actors
21st-century Scottish novelists
American game show hosts
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male non-fiction writers
American male novelists
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
21st-century American memoirists
American stand-up comedians
American television talk show hosts
Audiobook narrators
Aviators from California
Burroughs Corporation people
Comedians from Glasgow
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host winners
Living people
Male actors from Glasgow
Male actors from Los Angeles
Male actors from New York City
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Novelists from New York (state)
Peabody Award winners
People from Cumbernauld
Scottish emigrants to the United States
Scottish expatriates in the United States
Scottish game show hosts
Scottish male film actors
Scottish male television actors
Scottish male video game actors
Scottish male voice actors
Scottish memoirists
Scottish stand-up comedians
Scottish television talk show hosts
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from New York (state)
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Writers from Glasgow
Writers from Los Angeles
Writers from New York City
People educated at Cumbernauld Academy
21st-century American male writers
| true |
[
"A Cellarful of Noise is the title of Brian Epstein's 1964 autobiography. His assistant, Derek Taylor, was the ghostwriter of the book, which describes the early days of The Beatles, whom Epstein managed.\n\nEpstein asked John Lennon what he thought the book should be called, and Lennon suggested \"Queer Jew\". Lennon later was quoted as saying that the book should have been titled \"A Cellarful of Boys\" in reference to Epstein's homosexuality.\n\nIn the 1978 film All You Need Is Cash, a book by Leggy Mountbatten—the manager of the Rutles and a parody of Epstein—is titled A Cellarful of Goys.\n\nThe phrase is also in the lyrics of Petula Clark's 1965 hit \"I Know a Place\". Harry Shearer \"dramatically reproduced\" quotations from this book for the music documentary Pop Chronicles.\n\nThe book was reprinted by Souvenir Press with an introduction by Craig Brown in 2021.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nBrianepstein.com page on Cellarful\n\n1964 non-fiction books\nBooks about the Beatles\nBritish autobiographies\nMusic autobiographies\nEnglish-language books",
"\"What Do You Care What Other People Think?\": Further Adventures of a Curious Character (1988) is a biographical book written by Ralph Leighton with the authorization of Richard Feynman. The book is the second of two collaborative books consisting of transcribed and edited oral reminiscences from Nobel Prize–winning physicist Richard Feynman. It follows the same format established in Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!, published in 1985.\n\nOverview\nThe book was prepared as Feynman struggled with liposarcoma, a rare form of cancer from which he died. The book is the last of his autobiographical works.\n\nThe first section presents a series of humorous stories from different periods of his life, while the second chronicles his involvement on the Rogers Commission investigating the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. In one chapter, he describes an impromptu experiment in which he showed how the O-rings in the shuttle's rocket boosters could have failed due to cold temperatures on the morning of the launch. Later, this failure was determined to be the primary cause of the shuttle's destruction. This section of the book was dramatized in a television movie by BBC/Science Channel titled The Challenger Disaster.\n\nThe book is much more loosely organized than the earlier Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! It contains short stories, letters, photographs, and a few of the sketches that Feynman created in later life when he had learned to draw from an artist friend, Jirayr Zorthian.\n\nOf note is the story of his first wife, Arline, who had been diagnosed with tuberculosis before their marriage. The title of the book is taken from a question she often put to him when he seemed preoccupied with the opinions of his colleagues about his work, thereby echoing his own earlier words to her. She died while Feynman was working on the Manhattan Project. \n\nThe book concludes with a section titled \"The Value of Science\", an address Feynman gave at the 1955 autumn meeting of the National Academy of Sciences.\n\nEditions\nFeynman, Richard P., What Do You Care What Other People Think?, 1988, W. W. Norton, , 2001 paperback:\n\nSee also\n Richard Feynman; § Challenger disaster\n\nExternal links \n \n\n1988 books\nAutobiographies\nPopular science books\nWorks by Richard Feynman\nW. W. Norton & Company books"
] |
[
"Craig Ferguson",
"Literature",
"Did Ferguson write anything?",
"Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006.",
"Did either book win an award?",
"He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events.",
"What was The river about?",
"The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm.",
"What influences his writing?",
"I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs.",
"When was his memoirs published?",
"It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States.",
"did the book sell well?",
"On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy.",
"What is the book titled?",
"American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot,"
] |
C_a953667fe2504ed39c4c18b910df7826_1
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Did he have any other boos published during this tie?
| 9 |
Did Ferguson's have any other books published in addition to Between the Bridge and the River in time following the 2006 publishing?
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Craig Ferguson
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Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006. He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", he said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." The novel is dedicated to his elder son, Milo, and to his grandfather, Adam. He revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled The Sphynx of the Mississippi. He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends the book to be the first in a trilogy. Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy. In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on The Late Late Show to promote her new book Married Lovers. Collins said that a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish-American comedian, actor, writer and television host. He is best known for hosting the CBS late-night talk show The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2005–14), for which he won a Peabody Award in 2009 for his interview with South African archbishop Desmond Tutu that year. He also hosted the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game (2014–17), for which he won two Daytime Emmy Awards, and Join or Die with Craig Ferguson (2016) on History. In 2017 he released a six-episode web show with his wife, Megan Wallace Cunningham, titled Couple Thinkers.
After starting his career in the UK with music, comedy, and theatre, Ferguson moved to the U.S., where he appeared in the role of Nigel Wick on the ABC sitcom The Drew Carey Show (1996–2004). Ferguson has written three books: Between the Bridge and the River, a novel; American on Purpose, a memoir; and Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations & Observations. He holds both British and American citizenship.
He has written and starred in three films, directing one of them, and has appeared in several others, including several voice-over roles for animations. He provided voice work for Gobber in the How to Train Your Dragon film series (2010–2019), Owl in Winnie the Pooh (2011) and Lord Macintosh in Brave (2012).
Since 2021, Ferguson has hosted the American game show The Hustler on the ABC television network.
Early life and education
Ferguson was born in Stobhill Hospital in the Springburn district of Glasgow, to Robert and Janet Ferguson on 17 May 1962. When he was 6 months old, he and his family moved from their Springburn flat to a Development Corporation house in the nearby New Town of Cumbernauld, where he grew up "chubby and bullied". They lived there as Cumbernauld was rehousing many Glaswegians away from the poor housing conditions and damage to the city from World War II. Ferguson attended Muirfield Primary School and Cumbernauld High School. At age 16, Ferguson left high school and began an apprenticeship to be an electronics technician at a local factory of American company Burroughs Corporation.
His first visit to the United States was in 1975, when he was 13, to visit an uncle who lived on Long Island, near New York City. When he moved to New York City in 1983, he worked in construction in Harlem. Ferguson later became a bouncer at the nightclub Save the Robots before returning to Scotland.
Career
UK career
Ferguson's experience in entertainment began as a teenager as a drummer for Glasgow punk bands such as the Night Creatures and Exposure. Shortly afterward, he had a brief stint as a drummer for the post-punk band Ana Hausen, who released a single for Human Records in 1981. He then joined a punk band called The Bastards from Hell. The band, later renamed Dreamboys, and fronted by vocalist Peter Capaldi, performed regularly in Glasgow from 1980 to 1982. Ferguson credits Capaldi for inspiring him to try comedy. When he was 18, he worked as a session musician and performed as a drummer for Nico during a few gigs when she toured Scotland.
After a nerve-racking first comedy appearance, he decided to create a character that he described as a "parody of all the über-patriotic native folk singers who seemed to infect every public performance in Scotland". The character was named "Bing Hitler" by Capaldi. Ferguson first performed as the character in Glasgow, and he later became a hit at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. However, by the end of the year, Ferguson was already discussing his intention to retire Bing. At the press launch for an alternative pantomime of Sleeping Beauty (which he had co-written with Capaldi), he said "you can't write for just one character forever". A recording of his stage act as Bing Hitler was made at Glasgow's Tron Theatre and released in the 1980s; a Bing Hitler monologue ("A Lecture for Burns Night") appears on the compilation cassette Honey at the Core.
After enjoying success at the Edinburgh Festival, Ferguson appeared on television as 'Confidence' in Red Dwarf, on STV's Hogmanay Shows, and on the 1993 One Foot in the Grave Christmas special One Foot in the Algarve. In 1990, a pilot of The Craig Ferguson Show, a one-off comedy pilot for Granada Television, was broadcast. It co-starred Paul Whitehouse and Helen Atkinson-Wood. In 1991, Channel 4 asked him to host Friday at the Dome, a 75-minute live music show. In 1992, he was given his own BBC Scotland show, 2000 Not Out.
In 1993, he presented a six-part archaeology TV series, The Dirt Detective, for STV. Also in 1993, he was given a six-part TV series on BBC One. The Ferguson Theory was a mix of stand-up and sketches recorded the day before transmission. In 2017, it was announced that he would return to UK television for the first time in 25 years in a guest role in BBC Scotland's comedy Still Game, to be shown in 2018.
Ferguson also found success in musical theatre. Beginning in 1991, he appeared on stage as Brad Majors in the London production of The Rocky Horror Show. In 1994, Ferguson played Father MacLean in production of Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom at the Union Chapel in London. The same year, he appeared again at the Edinburgh Fringe, as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple.
US career
Ferguson moved to Los Angeles in November 1994, after his soon-to-be agent Rick Siegel saw Ferguson during the Edinburgh Festival and suggested that he come to America. His first US role was as baker Logan McDonough on the short-lived 1995 ABC comedy Maybe This Time, which starred Betty White and Marie Osmond.
His breakthrough in the US came when he was cast on The Drew Carey Show as the title character's boss, Mr. Wick, a role he played from 1996 to 2003. He played the role with an over-the-top posh English accent "to make up for generations of English actors doing crap Scottish accents". In his comedy special "A Wee Bit o' Revolution", he specifically identified James Doohan's portrayal of Montgomery Scott on Star Trek as the foundation of his "revenge". (At the end of one episode, though, Ferguson broke the fourth wall and began talking to the audience at home in his regular Scottish accent.) His character was memorable for his unique methods of laying employees off, almost always "firing Johnson", the most common last name of the to-be-fired workers. Even after leaving the show in 2003, he remained a recurring character on the series for the last two seasons, and was part of the two-part series finale in 2004.
During the production of The Drew Carey Show, Ferguson devoted his off-time as a cast member to writing, working in his trailer on set in between shooting his scenes. He wrote and starred in three films: The Big Tease, Saving Grace, and I'll Be There; he also directed the latter, for which he won the Audience Award for Best Film at the Aspen, Dallas, and Valencia film festivals. He was named Best New Director at the Napa Valley Film Festival. These were among other scripts that, "... in the great tradition of the movie business, about half a dozen that I got paid a fortune for but never got made."
His other acting credits in films include Niagara Motel, Lenny the Wonder Dog, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Chain of Fools, Born Romantic, The Ugly Truth, Kick-Ass, and, as a voice-over actor, How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Brave, and Winnie the Pooh.
Ferguson has been touring the United States and Canada with a comedy show since the late 2000s, including a performance at Carnegie Hall on 23 October 2010 and a performance at Radio City Music Hall on 6 October 2012. He has performed two stand-up television specials on Comedy Central, both released on DVD: A Wee Bit o' Revolution in 2009 and Does This Need to Be Said? in 2011. His third comedy special, I'm Here to Help, was released on Netflix in 2013, garnering positive reviews of 4 out of 5 stars on Netflix and peaking at number 6 on Billboard top comedy albums. It also received a 2014 Grammy Award nomination for Best Comedy Album.
Ferguson was awarded the Peter Ustinov Comedy Award by the Banff World Media Festival on 11 June 2013.
The Late Late Show
In December 2004, it was announced that Ferguson would succeed Craig Kilborn on CBS's The Late Late Show. His first show as the regular host aired on 3 January 2005. The show was unique in that it had no "human" sidekicks such as Ed McMahon on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson or Conan O'Brien's Andy Richter. He had a remotely operated robot skeleton named Geoff Peterson and two silent performers in a pantomime horse costume that were added in 2010. His monologues were conducted within a few feet of the camera versus the long distance Johnny Carson kept from the camera and audience.
The Late Late Show averaged 2.0 million viewers in its 2007 season, compared with 2.5 million for Late Night with Conan O'Brien. In April 2008, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson beat Late Night with Conan O'Brien for weekly ratings (1.88 million to 1.77 million) for the first time since the two shows went head-to-head with their respective hosts.
In March 2009, Craig Ferguson topped Jimmy Fallon in the ratings with Ferguson getting a 1.8 rating/6 share and Fallon receiving a 1.6 rating/6 share. By 2014, Ferguson's ratings had faltered, trailing those of Late Night with Seth Meyers with an average of 1.35 million viewers versus 2.02 million.
On 28 April 2014, Ferguson announced he would leave The Late Late Show at the end of 2014, with the final episode airing on 19 December. His contract was set to expire in June 2014, but a six-month extension was agreed on to provide a more graceful exit and give CBS more time to find a replacement host. He reportedly received as part of his contract because he was not selected as the replacement for David Letterman's Late Show. Ferguson made the decision prior to Letterman's announcement but agreed to delay making his own decision public until the reaction to Letterman's decision had died down. CBS Entertainment Chair Nina Tassler said, following the announcement, that in his decade as host Ferguson had "infused the broadcast with tremendous energy, unique comedy, insightful interviews and some of the most heartfelt monologues seen on television." CBS continued the franchise with James Corden as the new host.
Television work
Craig Ferguson has made guest appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Rachael Ray, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, The Howard Stern Show, The Daily Show, The View, Loveline, Real Time with Bill Maher, The Soup, The Talk, The Price Is Right, Kevin Pollak's Chat Show, The Dennis Miller Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He also co-hosted Live with Regis & Kelly with Kelly Ripa and was guest host on the April Fools' Day episode of The Price Is Right in 2014.
In 2009, Ferguson made a cameo live-action appearance in the episode "We Love You, Conrad" on Family Guy. Ferguson hosted the 32nd annual People's Choice Awards on 10 January 2006. TV Guide magazine printed a "Cheers" (Cheers and Jeers section) for appearing on his own show that same evening. From 2007 to 2010, Ferguson hosted the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on 4 July, broadcast nationally by CBS. Ferguson was the featured entertainer at 26 April 2008 White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, DC.
Ferguson co-presented the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama with Brooke Shields in 2008. He has done voice work in cartoons, including being the voice of Barry's evil alter-ego in the "With Friends Like Steve's" episode of American Dad!; in Freakazoid! as Roddy MacStew, Freakazoid's mentor; and on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command as the robot vampire NOS-4-A2. He was the voice of Susan the boil on Futurama, which was a parody of Scottish singer Susan Boyle. He makes stand-up appearances in Las Vegas and New York City. He headlined in the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal and in October 2008 Ferguson taped his stand up show in Boston for a Comedy Central special entitled A Wee Bit o' Revolution, which aired on 22 March 2009.
British television comedy drama Doc Martin was based on a character from Ferguson's film Saving Grace – with Ferguson getting writing credits for 12 episodes. On 6 November 2009, Ferguson appeared as himself in a SpongeBob SquarePants special titled SpongeBob's Truth or Square. He hosted Discovery Channel's 23rd season of Shark Week in 2010. Ferguson briefly appeared in Toby Keith's "Red Solo Cup" music video released on 10 October 2011.
In September 2013, Ferguson guest-starred on the season finale of Hot in Cleveland as a priest/tabloid journalist who turns out to be the father of Joy's (Jane Leeves) son. The show reunited him with former co-star and frequent Late Late Show guest Betty White. Ferguson reprised the role for several episodes when the show returned in March 2014.
Celebrity Name Game
In October 2013, it was announced that Ferguson would host the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game, produced by Coquette Productions, beginning in late 2014. Ferguson's involvement in the project dates back to 2011, when it was originally pitched and piloted as a CBS primetime series. , the series had an initial order of 180 episodes. The syndicated series began airing on 22 September 2014. Ferguson won Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host for Celebrity Name Game in 2015 and 2016. On 2 December 2016, it was announced that the series would end after three seasons.
Ferguson signed in 2015 to play Prentiss Porter in The King of 7B, a comedy pilot for ABC.<ref name=7B>{{cite news |last=Lyons |first=Beverley |url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity/late-late-shows-craig-ferguson-5339755 |title=Late Late Show'''s Craig Ferguson begins work on new comedy pilot for US television |work=Daily Record |location=Glasgow, Scotland |date=15 March 2015 |access-date=15 March 2015}}</ref> However, the show was not picked up.
Join or Die with Craig Ferguson
On 18 February 2016, Ferguson began to host a historical talk show on History titled Join or Die with Craig Ferguson. The title is a reference to a Benjamin Franklin political cartoon published in the Pennsylvania Gazette on 9 May 1754, which Ferguson had tattooed on his forearm after becoming an American citizen. Ferguson and a three-guest panel of comedians and historians conduct a humorous discussion of a different topic on each episode, such as the most doomed presidential campaign, greatest Founding Father and greatest invention, with viewers invited to share their opinions via Twitter.
The Hustler
Since January 2021, Ferguson has hosted the American game show The Hustler which broadcasts on the American Broadcasting Company television network. The show follows five contestants who collaborate to build up a cash prize by answering a series of trivia questions presented by Ferguson, whilst one of the contestants is secretly designated as the Hustler beforehand and given the answers to all the questions.
By the end of the game, two of the honest contestants have been eliminated; the other two must correctly choose the Hustler in order to stop him/her from winning the entire prize. The series premiered on January 4, 2021, before moving to its regular timeslot on January 7, 2021, airing on Thursdays at 10 p.m.
Radio
On 27 February 2017, Ferguson launched The Craig Ferguson Show, a two-hour talk radio show on the Comedy Greats channel and Faction Talk on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. His last new show aired 11 May 2018.
Literature
Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006. He appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", he said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." The novel is dedicated to his elder son, Milo, and to his grandfather, Adam. He revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled The Sphynx of the Mississippi. He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends the book to be the first in a trilogy. As of February 2019, Ferguson has produced no further novels, although he has published non-fiction.
Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy.
In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on The Late Late Show to promote her new book Married Lovers. Collins said a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show.
Ferguson wrote a short story for In Sunlight or in Shadow (2017, Pegasus Crime), an anthology edited by Lawrence Block and featuring works inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper (1882-1967). Block is a favorite writer of Ferguson's and appeared multiple times on The Late Late Show.
On 10 October 2018, Ferguson announced his third book via Twitter, Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations which released 7 May 2019.
Personal life
Ferguson is a fan of Scottish football team Partick Thistle F.C. as well as the British television show Doctor Who. He holds an FAA private pilot certificate, issued in 2009. He has five tattoos which include the Join, or Die political cartoon on his right forearm; a Ferguson family crest with the Latin motto Dulcius ex asperis ("Sweeter out of [or from] difficulty") on his upper right arm in honour of his father; and a Celtic cross with the Ingram clan motto Magnanimus esto (Be great of mind) on his upper left arm in honour of his mother. He has often said that his Join, or Die tattoo is intended to signal his American patriotism. Ferguson returned to live in Scotland in 2019.Pathikrit Sanyal: Why did Craig Ferguson leave America? Talk show host was highly successful but returned to Scotland, here's why. MEAWW, 7 January 2021
Ferguson consumes neither meat nor alcohol, as he is both a vegan (having stated in 2016 that he had been vegan for almost three years) and a recovering alcoholic. Ferguson has been sober since February 18, 1992.
As mentioned in episode 7 of his television show Join or Die, Ferguson also plays the harp (although not well and was kicked out of the band as a result).
Influences
Ferguson has stated that his comedy influences include Monty Python, Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, and David Letterman.
Family
Ferguson eulogised his father Robert on an episode of The Late Late Show in January 2006. Following the death of his mother Janet (3 August 1933 – 1 December 2008), he spoke of her on-air, ending the programme by playing her favourite song: "Rivers of Babylon" by Boney M.
Ferguson has two sisters (one older and one younger) and one older brother. His younger sister, Lynn Ferguson Tweddle, is also a comedian, presenter, and actress, who voiced Mac in the 2000 stop-motion animation film Chicken Run. She was a writer on The Late Late Show until July 2011.
Ferguson has married three times and divorced twice. His first marriage was to Anne Hogarth from 1983 to 1986, during which time they lived in New York. His second marriage was to Sascha Corwin (founder and proprietor of Los Angeles' SpySchool), with whom he has one son, born in 2001. He and Corwin shared custody of their son, and lived near each other in the Hollywood Hills. Ferguson married art dealer Megan Wallace-Cunningham in a private ceremony on her family's farm in Chester, Vermont in 2008. They have a son together, who was born in 2011.
American citizenship
During 2007, Ferguson, who at the time held only British citizenship, used The Late Late Show as a forum for seeking honorary citizenship from every state in the US. He received honorary citizenship from Nebraska, Arkansas, Virginia, Montana, North Dakota, New Jersey, Tennessee, South Carolina, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Texas, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, and was "commissioned" as an admiral in the tongue-in-cheek Nebraska Navy. Governors Jon Corzine (New Jersey), John Hoeven (North Dakota), Mark Sanford (South Carolina), Mike Rounds (South Dakota), Rick Perry (Texas), Sarah Palin (Alaska) and Jim Gibbons (Nevada) sent letters to him that made him an honorary citizen of their respective states. He received similar honours from various towns and cities, including Ozark, Arkansas; Hazard, Kentucky; and Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
Ferguson became an American citizen on 1 February 2008 and broadcast the taking of his citizenship test as well as his swearing in on The Late Late Show.
Filmography
Film
Television
Web
Video games
Radio
Awards and nominations
Discography
Live at the Tron (as Bing Hitler). Jammy Records. 1986. Catalogue number JRLP 861.
Mental; Bing Hitler Is Dead? Polydor. 1988.
A Big Stoatir. Polydor. 1990.
I'm Here to Help. New Wave Dynamics. 2013.
References
Bibliography
Ferguson, Craig (2019). Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations.'' Penguin Group.
External links
1962 births
20th-century Scottish comedians
20th-century Scottish male actors
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American novelists
21st-century Scottish comedians
21st-century Scottish male actors
21st-century Scottish novelists
American game show hosts
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male non-fiction writers
American male novelists
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
21st-century American memoirists
American stand-up comedians
American television talk show hosts
Audiobook narrators
Aviators from California
Burroughs Corporation people
Comedians from Glasgow
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host winners
Living people
Male actors from Glasgow
Male actors from Los Angeles
Male actors from New York City
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Novelists from New York (state)
Peabody Award winners
People from Cumbernauld
Scottish emigrants to the United States
Scottish expatriates in the United States
Scottish game show hosts
Scottish male film actors
Scottish male television actors
Scottish male video game actors
Scottish male voice actors
Scottish memoirists
Scottish stand-up comedians
Scottish television talk show hosts
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from New York (state)
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Writers from Glasgow
Writers from Los Angeles
Writers from New York City
People educated at Cumbernauld Academy
21st-century American male writers
| false |
[
"Boos or BOOS may refer to:..\n\nPlaces\nBoos, Bavaria, in Bavaria, Germany\nBoos, Bad Kreuznach, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany \nBoos, Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany \nBoos, Seine-Maritime, in Seine-Maritime, France\nBoos, Landes, in Landes, France\nBoos-Waldeck Castle, the residence for the Family Boos from 1150 to 1833\n\nOther uses\nBoos (surname)\nBooing\n\nSee also\nBoo (disambiguation)\nBooze (disambiguation)",
"Franz Boos (23 December 1753 (Frauenalb) – 9 February 1832 (Vienna) ) was an Austrian gardener-botanist in the Age of Enlightenment, a voyager and collector of natural history specimens for Emperor Joseph II of Austria, who reigned from 1765 to 1790.\n\nBoos came from a gardening family that lived in the Grand Duchy of Baden, his father being head gardener in Rastatt, his son Joseph Boos (1794–1879) being an assistant gardener at the Schönbrunn Palace. Franz began his career in 1771 as a gardener to Prince Leopold of Dietrichstein in Seelowitz (Moravia). From 1774 to 1775 he worked at the famous gardens of Prince Johann I of Liechtenstein in Lednice (also in Moravia) then, in 1776, he became assistant gardener at the Imperial and Royal Court Gardens of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna.\n\nFranz Boos is best known for successful voyages to America, the Caribbean and South Africa during which he collected a wide range of natural history specimens for the parks and gardens, menagerie, and Cabinet of the Emperor's palace at Schönbrunn. The Emperor had appointed Franz Joseph Märter (1753-1827) as organiser and leader of this voyage of scientific exploration. Franz Boos, an under-gardener at the time, was selected as the primary collector specialising in tropical plants for the greenhouses. When Boos sailed to the Isle de France (now Mauritius) and Bourbon (Reunion), he was a passenger of the then unknown merchant sailor Nicolas Baudin. The knowledge gained from Austrian Boos was later combined with French horticultural and botanical expertise which lead Baudin to the forefront of scientific exploration and research as the century moved into the upheaval of Revolutionary Wars. He worked at the Jardin du Roi, Pamplemousses, with Nicolas Céré and at Palma with Joseph-François Charpentier de Cossigny.\n\nIn recognition of his work, Boos was eventually promoted to the position of Director of the Royal Parks and Gardens at the Schönbrunn palace.\n\nBotanical and horticultural exploration \nBoos traveled on two major scientific expeditions on behalf of Emperor Joseph II, the first was to America (1783–1785), the second to the Caribbean, Cape of South Africa and Mascarenes (1786–1788).\n\nAmerica and Caribbean Bahamas 1783–1785 \n\nFollowing a request from the Emperor Joseph II to the botanist Nikolaus Jacquin (Director of the Botanical Garden of the University of Vienna and the Imperial Gardens of Schönbrunn Palace) and Ignaz von Born, a voyage was commissioned in the spring of 1783 to collect specimens (including live animals) from the southeastern United States, staying in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New Jersey and eastern Florida. The expedition was led by naturalist Franz Joseph Märter who was accompanied by the botanist Matthias Leopold Stupicz, a gardener's assistant Franz Bredemeyer and the painter Adam Moll. The naturalists were initially to go as part of an Austrian round the world voyage dedicated to scientific research. This had been urged by the eminent savant, Ignaz von Born who, at the Emperor’s invitation, nominated five naturalists to go on the Cobenzell, a ship owned by William Bolts. The intended Imperial expedition was reported in the German press in July 1782:The all-encompassing mind of the Kaiser attracts every kind of merit. While he abolishes the old abuses, gives new laws and makes happy his people, he also recognizes how much the sciences and useful arts contribute to the benefit of the state. In accordance with these ideas, he has caused several savants and artists, the Sub-director of the Natural History Cabinet, Heydinger, the Professor of Natural History, Märter, the Palace Gardiner, Boos, and the Imperial Painter, Moll, to undertake a voyage round the world through the several lands of the two Indies, to perfect the various branches of natural science and to make new discoveries and observations in these fields. The ship designated for this illustrious expedition, the Graf von Cobenzl, will be supplied with necessaries and be in readiness by the beginning of August. This voyage did not take place, and Märter and his companions sailed from Le Havre for Philadelphia in 1783 on the General Washington. In March 1784 Boos traveled with Märter to the island of Providence in the Bahamas, and from there on collecting trips to Guanahani and other islands. In September he left the island group, returning to Charleston in South Carolina, sending his collections (mostly live plants) back to Vienna in May 1785 and returning himself to Vienna via Holland in September 1785. At Charleston in South Carolina Boos collected many rare plants.\nGreenhouses at Schönbrunn already displayed an impressive collection of plants from the Jacquin's explorations in the Antilles and South America made from 1754 to 1759. However, in 1780 there had been a heating failure that had frozen this famous collection of exotic plants which now needed expanding.\n\nSouth Africa, Bourbon and Isle de France 1786–1788 \n\nOn his return he was almost immediately sent by Jacquin on a second mission to South Africa in October 1785, this time as leader. His assistant gardener was Georg Scholl from Weilbach. The visit lasted from May 1786 to February 1787 during which he was often accompanied by the Scotsman Francis Masson in the Cape Swartland and semi-desert Karoo, collecting live plants, bulbs, seeds, birds, insects and more. From the beginning of 1787 he traveled to the foothills of the Cape of Good Hope and from April 1787 to several islands, including Ile-de-France (Mauritius) and Bourbon (Réunion). George Scholl remained there until 1798 and did not return to Vienna until 1799 while Boos left Cape Town in August 1788 with more than three hundred cases of plants for the herbarium of the Imperial Court Natural History Cabinet (now the Vienna Natural History Museum). Among the plants were several replicates of the Cape Lily (Veltheimia capensis), whose bulbs were propagated, their descendants now on display in the \"Desert House (Sundial House)\" in the Schönbrunn Zoo. A Fockea capensis (family Euphorbiaceae) was also collected from this expedition: it is the oldest cultivated in a pot of succulents in the world. Boos also brought twelve living mammals and around 250 birds. Many of the species were subsequently described by Jacquin with illustrations.After finishing his work with Märten and his men in North America Boos was sent to South Africa, the Mascarenes and Madagascar. He travelled from the Cape to Isle de France, and from there to Trieste carrying the natural history collections on the Pepita. In the course of future work for Schonbrunn he left in Trinidad pepper, vegetables and other plants from Malabar and SE Asia.\n\nBoos was evidently the leader as he was well educated, spoke several languages and was a botanist as well as a gardener, whereas Scholl was a working gardener with little scientific knowledge. Joseph II’s intention was for them to make collections of tropical plants from Isle de France, but bad weather forced their ship to shelter at the Cape of Good Hope delaying their departure. Many South African plants were collected, on one occasion together with the Scottish gardener-botanist Francis Masson from Kew Gardens in London. Boos eventually travelled on to Mauritius leaving Scholl behind to continue collecting, returning to the Cape in 1788 for a few months before leaving for Vienna in July 1788 with a large collection of specimens and living plants. Scholl remained at the Cape for twelve years unable to get passage on a ship that was prepared to transport his plant collections. At the Cape Scholl was assisted by Colonel Robert Jacob Gordon who gave him protection, assisted him with his field excursions and allowed him to grow his plants in his garden, often referred to in the literature as ‘the Gordon’s Garden’. Many plants were established in this garden and Scholl collected their seed. Scholl sent several shipments of dried bulbs and seeds to Vienna, four of these being recorded in the Cape Archives in the period 1790 to 1792.\n\nPlants were shipped to the Austrian Consul in Holland who then forwarded them upriver and overland to Vienna. Scholl eventually returned to Vienna in 1799 with his large collection of living plants and seed from Erica species. Present-day botanist Dr Kiehn and staff at the Schönbrunn Botanical Gardens believe that the ericas now growing at the Belvedere Palace Garden date back over 200 years to the Boos and Scholl collections as there is no evidence of any other collections being grown. Both the Belvedere Palace and Schönbrunn Palace Gardens were damaged by bombing at the end of the Second World War but though most of the glasshouse plants were destroyed at the end of the war many survived because they were purposely propagated for other gardens and glasshouses.\n\nAfter Boos left the Isle de France and Pamplemousses, the garden's Director Jean-Nicolas Céré hosted, from July 1788 to March 1789, Joseph Martin an 'élève-gardener' under he charge of André Thouin Head Gardener of the Jardin du Roi. He was to send spice and other plants to acclimatize in Paris, Cayenne and Antilles gardens. But he also managed to botanize on Madagascar and the Cape. With the successful conclusion of his journey Martin was appointed Director of the acclimatisation garden at Cayenne.\n\nAssociation with Nicolas Baudin \nWhen Boos travelled from the Cape to Isle de France, and from there to Trieste carrying the natural history collections it was on the ship Pepita commanded by Nicolas Baudin, at that time a merchant mariner. Baudin was interested in the collections which included many specimens from the Pamplemousses Botanical Garden on the Isle de France (Mauritius). From Boos Baudin learned much about the transport of live plants and animals and the storage of natural history specimens, knowledge that he would later use in the scientific exploration of New Holland (Australia), and elsewhere, for Napoleon. The arrival of the Pepita, under its formal name, Josepha,was reported in the press: Vienna, 21 July. According to letters from Trieste, the French freighter Josepha, Cap. Boudin, coming from the East Indies has anchored in the harbour there with various animals and plants for the Emperor's menagerie at Schoenbrunn, for his gardens and for his Natural History Cabinet. These animals and plants have been collected by order of His Majesty with the greatest care by Mr. Boos, Imperial Court Gardener, which he has sought out in the Isles of France and Bourbon, in Madagascar and at the Cape of Good Hope.\n\nPlant collections \nBoos collected in Europe, Austria, South Africa, Madagascar, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and the West Indies his collections probably in the British Museum of Natural Historia and Vienna.\n\nHaemanthus amarylloides Jacq. is an endemic South African bulbous plant first described in 1804 by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin from specimens sent to the Schönbrunn Palace gardens by Boos and Scholl.In 1799 a cycad was collected by Georg Scholl on the Cape, this being returned to Vienna where, in 1801, it was described and illustrated as Zamia cycadifolia by botanist Jaquin.\n\nOther achievements and honours \nOn his return from Africa, Boos replaced Jacquin as Director of the Schönbrunn parks and gardens. After the death of Richard van der Schot, and because of his achievements, in 1790 Emperor Leopold II appointed Boos Director of the Schönbrunn Menagerie and the so-called \"Dutch Palace Garden\", then in 1807 Director of all the Courtyards. In 1810 he was admitted to the Imperial Council to eventually retire in 1827. Boos’s successor as Director of the Courtyard Gardens and Menagerie at Schönbrunn was Bredemeyer who, in 1793 was appointed Head Gardener, a post he held from 1827 until his death in 1839. Apart from his many plant and animal introductions Boos also prepared a plan of the courtyard gardens of Schönbrunn in 1780 shortly after they had been completed. Together with his son Joseph Boos, also a keen gardener and botanist at Schönbrunn he published, in 1816, a catalogue of the cultivated and wild plants grown during his time at Schönbrunn (Schönbrunn's flora, the cultivated plants of the Royal Dutch botanical courtyard garden at Schönbrunn (published by Geistinger, Vienna and Trieste). The later Düsseldorf garden artist Maximilian Friedrich Weyhe while training as a gardener studied with Franz Boos in Vienna. Boos was a childhood friend of Peter Joseph Elder a senior gardener since 1788 in Brühl (Rhineland) and Head of the Botanical Garden of the University of Bonn and gave his son Peter Joseph (who later became famous landscape gardener) a job at Schönbrunn. In 1905 Franz Boos Lane in Hietzing, Vienna, was named after him.\n\nSee also \n List of gardener-botanist explorers of the Enlightenment\n European and American voyages of scientific exploration\n Plantarum Rariorum Horti Caesarei Schoenbrunnensis (4 volumes, 1797–1804) Nicolas Jaquin's catalogue of plants held in the collections at the Schönbrunn Palace of Emperor Joseph II in Vienna between 1797 and 1804.\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography \n\n „Franz Boos, Director der k.k. Hofgärten“, Österreichisches Archiv für Geschichte, Erdbeschreibung, Staatenkunde, Kunst und Literatur, 38, 29 Marz 1832, S.150-151, 31 Marz 1832, S.152-153, 42, 7 April 1832, S.166-167.\n\nFurther reading \n \n\nThis article incorporates text from the German language Wikipedia article :de:Franz Boos.\n\nExternal links \n Plan of the Schönbrunn Garden. Franz Boos, 1780. Albertina, (Vienna)\n\n1753 births\n1832 deaths\nGerman gardeners\nGerman explorers"
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"Rahul Dravid",
"Captaincy"
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Was there something specific about his Captaincy?
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Was there something specific about Rahul Dravid Captaincy?
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Rahul Dravid
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Rahul Dravid has had a mixed record when leading India in Tests. One of Dravid's most debated decisions was taken in March 2004, when he was standing in as the captain for injured Sourav Ganguly. India's first innings was declared at a point when Sachin Tendulkar was at 194 runs not out with 16 overs remaining on Day 2.In this test match Sehwag scored triple century first time. He became the first Indian to score triple century in test with a score of 309. In March 2006, India lost the Mumbai Test, giving England its first Test victory in India since 1985, enabling it to draw the series 1-1. The defeat in Mumbai was arguably the result of Dravid's decision to bowl first on a flat dry pitch, which later deteriorated and ended with an Indian collapse in the run chase. Coincidentally, it was Dravid's 100th test match in which the Indians were all out for 100 runs in the second innings. After India failed to qualify for the final of the DLF Cup, Dravid, the skipper, was criticised by former all-rounder Ravi Shastri who said that he was not assertive enough and let Greg Chappell make too many decisions. When asked for a response, Dravid said that Shastri, while a 'fair critic', was 'not privy' to the internal decision-making process of the team. He was criticised by Vijay Mallya for not picking the team with right balance after his then IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore finished seventh out of the eight teams that participated in the 2008 season. CANNOTANSWER
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One of Dravid's most debated decisions was taken in March 2004, when he was standing in as the captain for injured Sourav Ganguly.
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Rahul Sharad Dravid (; born 11 January 1973) is a former Indian cricketer and captain of the Indian national team, currently serving as its head coach. Prior to his appointment to the senior men's national team, Dravid was the Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), and the head coach of the India Under-19 and India A teams. Under his tutelage, the under-19 team finished runners up at the 2016 U-19 Cricket World Cup and won the 2018 U-19 Cricket World Cup. Known for his sound batting technique, Dravid scored 24,177 runs in international cricket and is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is colloquially known as Mr. Dependable and often referred to as The Wall.
Born in a Marathi family and raised in Bangalore, he started playing cricket at the age of 12 and later represented Karnataka at the under-15, under-17 and under-19 levels. Hailed as The Wall, Dravid was named one of the best five cricketers of the year by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2000 and received the Player of the Year and the Test Player of the Year awards at the inaugural ICC awards ceremony in 2004. In December 2011, he became the first non-Australian cricketer to deliver the Bradman Oration in Canberra.
As of December 2016, Dravid is the fourth-highest run scorer in Test cricket, after Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis. In 2004, after completing his century against Bangladesh in Chittagong, he became the first player to score a century in all the ten Test-playing countries. As of October 2012, he holds the record for the most catches taken by a player (non-wicket-keeper) in Test cricket, with 210. Dravid holds a unique record of never getting out for a Golden duck in the 286 Test innings which he has played. He has faced 31258 balls, which is the highest number of balls faced by any player in test cricket. He has also spent 44152 minutes at the crease, which is the highest time spent on crease by any player in test cricket. Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar are currently the highest scoring partnership in Test cricket history having scored 6920 runs combined when batting together for India.
In August 2011, after receiving a surprise recall in the ODI series against England, Dravid declared his retirement from ODIs as well as Twenty20 International (T20I), and in March 2012, he announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket. He appeared in the 2012 Indian Premier League as captain of the Rajasthan Royals.
Rahul Dravid, along with Glenn McGrath were honoured during the seventh annual Bradman Awards function in Sydney on 1 November 2012. Dravid has also been honoured with the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan award, India's fourth and third highest civilian awards respectively.
In 2014, Rahul Dravid joined the GoSports Foundation, Bangalore as a member of their board of advisors. In collaboration with GoSports Foundation he is mentoring India's future Olympians and Paralympians as part of the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme. Indian badminton player Prannoy Kumar, Para-swimmer Sharath Gayakwad and young Golfer S. Chikkarangappa was part of the initial group of athletes to be mentored by Rahul Dravid. In July 2018, Dravid became the fifth Indian cricketer to be inducted into ICC Hall of Fame.
Early life
Dravid was born in a Marathi-Speaking Brahmin family in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. His family later moved to Bangalore, Karnataka, where he was raised. His mother tongue is Marathi. Dravid's father Sharad Dravid worked for a company that makes jams and preserves, giving rise to the later nickname Jammy. His mother, Pushpa, was a professor of architecture at the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE), Bangalore. Dravid has a younger brother named Vijay. He did his schooling at St. Joseph's Boys High School, Bangalore and earned a degree in commerce from St. Joseph's College of Commerce, Bangalore. He was selected to India's national cricket team while working towards an MBA at St Joseph's College of Business Administration. He is fluent in several languages: Marathi, Kannada, English and Hindi.
Formative years and domestic career
Dravid started playing cricket at the age of 12, and represented Karnataka at the under-15, the under-17 and the under-19 levels. Former cricketer Keki Tarapore first noticed Dravid's talent while coaching at a summer camp in the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Dravid scored a century for his school team. He also played as wicket-keeper.
Dravid made his Ranji Trophy debut in February 1991, while still attending college. Playing alongside future India teammates Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath against Maharashtra in Pune, he scored 82 runs in the match, which ended in a draw. He followed it up with a century against Bengal and three successive centuries after. However, Dravid's first full season was in 1991–92, when he scored two centuries and finished up with 380 runs at an average of 63.30, getting selected for the South Zone cricket team in the Duleep Trophy. Dravid's caught the national team selectors' eye with his good performances for India A in the home series against England A in 1994–95.
International career
Debut
Dravid, who had been knocking at the doors of Indian national cricket team for quite a while with his consistent performance in domestic cricket, received his first national call in October 1994, for the last two matches of the Wills World Series. However, he could not break into the playing eleven. He went back to the domestic circuit and kept knocking harder. So much so, that when the selectors announced the Indian team for the 1996 World Cup sans Dravid, an Indian daily newspaper carried a headline – "Rahul Dravid gets a raw deal". Dravid eventually made his international debut on 3 April 1996 in an ODI against Sri Lanka in the Singer Cup held in Singapore immediately after the 1996 World Cup, replacing Vinod Kambli. He wasn't particularly impressive with the bat, scoring just three runs before being dismissed by Muttiah Muralitharan, but took two catches in the match. He followed it up with another failure in the next game scoring just four runs before getting run out against Pakistan.
In contrast to his ODI debut, his Test debut was rather successful one. Dravid was selected for the Indian squad touring England on the backdrop of a consistent performance in domestic cricket for five years. Fine performances in the tour games including fifties against Gloucestershire and Leicestershire failed to earn him a place in the team for the First Test. He finally made his Test debut at Lord's on 20 June 1996 against England in the Second Test of the series at the expense of injured senior batsman Sanjay Manjrekar. Manjrekar, who was suffering from an ankle injury, was to undergo a fitness test on the morning of the Second Test. Dravid had already been informed that he would play if Manjrekar fails the test. As Manjrekar failed the fitness test, ten minutes before the toss, Sandeep Patil, the then Indian coach, went up to Dravid to inform him that he was indeed going to make his debut that day. Patil recalled years later:
Coming in to bat at no. 7, he forged important partnerships, first with another debutante Sourav Ganguly and then with Indian lower order, securing a vital first innings lead for his team. Dravid scored 95 runs before getting out to the bowling of Chris Lewis. He was just five runs short of a landmark debut hundred when he nicked a Lewis delivery to the keeper and walked even before umpire's decision. He also took his first catch in Test cricket in this match to dismiss Nasser Hussain off the bowling of Srinath. In the next tour game against British Universities, Dravid scored a hundred. He scored another fifty in the first innings of the Third Test. Dravid concluded a successful debut series with an impressive average of 62.33 from two Test matches.
1996–98: A tale of two formats
Dravid's early years in international cricket mirrored his international debut. He had contrasting fortunes in the long and the shorter format of the game. While he straightaway made a name for himself in Test cricket, he had to struggle quite a bit to make a mark in ODIs.
After a successful Test debut in England, Dravid played in the one-off Test against Australia in Delhi – his first Test in India. Batting at no. 6, he scored 40 runs in the first innings. Dravid batted at no. 3 position for the first time in the First Test of the three-match home series against South Africa in Ahmedabad in November 1996. He didn't do too well in the series scoring just 175 runs at a modest average of 29.16.
Two weeks later, India toured South Africa for a three–match Test series. Chasing a target of 395 runs in the First Test, Indian team bundled out meekly for 66 runs on the Durban pitch that provided excessive bounce and seam movement. Dravid, batting at no. 6, was the only Indian batsman who reached double figures in the innings scoring 27 not out. He was promoted to the no. 3 slot again in the second innings of the Second Test, a move that paid rich dividends in the ensuing Test. He almost won the Third Test for India with his maiden test hundred in the first innings scoring 148 runs and another 81 runs in the second innings at Wanderers before the thunderstorms, dim light and Cullinan's hundred saved the day for South Africa enabling them to draw the match. Dravid's performance in this Test earned him his first Man of the Match award in Test cricket. He top scored for India in the series with 277 runs at an average of 55.40.
Dravid continued in the same vein in the West Indies where he once again top scored for India in the five–match Test series aggregating 360 runs at an average of 72.00 including four fifties. 92 runs scored in the first innings of the fifth match in Georgetown earned him a joint Man of the Match award along with Shivnarine Chanderpaul. With this series, Dravid concluded a successful 1996/97 Test season, topping the international runs chart with 852 runs from 12 matches at an average of 50.11 with six fifties and one hundred.
Dravid continued his good run scoring seven fifties in the next eight Tests that included fifties in six consecutive innings (three each against Sri Lanka and Australia), becoming only the second Indian to do so after Gundappa Vishwanath. By the end of 1997/98 Test season, he had scored 15 fifties in 22 Tests which included four scores of nineties but just a solitary hundred.
The century drought came to an end in the 1998/99 Test season when he further raised the bar of his performance scoring 752 runs in seven Tests at an average of 62.66 that included four hundreds and one fifty and in the process topping the runs chart for India for the season. The first of those four hundreds came on the Zimbabwe tour. Dravid top scored in both the innings against Zimbabwe scoring 118 and 44 runs respectively however, India lost the one-off Test.
The Zimbabwe tour was followed by a tour to New Zealand. First Test having been abandoned without a ball being bowled, the series started for Dravid with the first duck of his Test career in the first innings of the Second Test and ended with hundreds in both the innings of the Third Test in Hamilton. He scored 190 and 103 not out in the first and the second innings respectively, becoming only the third Indian batsman, after Vijay Hazare and Sunil Gavaskar, to score a century in both innings of a Test match. Dravid topped the runs table for the series with 321 runs from two matches at an average of 107.00 but could not prevent India from losing the series 0–1.
Later that month, India played a two Test home series against Pakistan. Dravid didn't contribute much with the bat. India lost the First Test but won the Second Test in Delhi riding on Kumble's historic 10-wicket haul. Dravid played his part in the 10-wicket haul by taking a catch to dismiss Mushtaq Ahmed who was Kumble's eighth victim of the innings. The Indo-Pak Test series was followed by the 1998–99 Asian Test Championship. Dravid couldn't do much with the bat as India went on to lose the riot-affected First Test of the championship against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens. India went to Sri Lanka to play the Second Test of the championship. Dravid scored his fourth hundred of the season at Colombo in the first innings of the match. He also effected a brilliant run out of Russel Arnold during Sri Lankan innings fielding at short leg. On the fourth morning, Dravid got injured while fielding at the same position when the ball from Jayawardene's pull shot hit his face through the helmet grill. He didn't come out to bat in the second innings due to the injury. The match ended in a draw as India failed to qualify for the Finals of the championship.
In a stark contrast to his Test career, Dravid had to struggle a lot to make a mark in the ODIs. Between his ODI debut in April 1996 and the end of 1998 calendar year, Dravid regularly found himself in and out of the ODI team.
Dravid tasted first success of his ODI career in the 1996 'Friendship' Cup against Pakistan in the tough conditions of Toronto. He emerged as the highest scorer of the series with 220 runs in five matches at an average of 44.00 and a strike rate of 68.53. He won his first ODI Man of the Match award for the 46 runs scored in the low scoring third game of the series. He top scored for India in the Standard Bank International One-Day Series 1996/97 in South Africa with 280 runs from eight games at an average of 35.00 and a strike rate of 60.73, the highlight being a Man of the Match award-winning performance (84 runs, one catch) in the Final of the series that came in a losing cause. He was the second highest run scorer for India in the four-match bilateral ODI series in the West Indies in 1996/97 with 121 runs at an average of 40.33 and a strike rate of 57.61. Dravid's maiden ODI hundred came in a losing cause in the 1997 Pepsi Independence Cup against Pakistan in Chennai. Dravid top scored for India in the quadrangular event with 189 runs from three games at an average of 94.50 and a strike rate of 75.60 however, India failed to qualify for the Final of the series.
However, Dravid's achievements in the ODIs were dwarfed by his failures in the shorter format of the game. 14 runs from two games in the 1996 Pepsi Sharjah Cup; 20 runs from two innings in the Singer World Series; 65 runs from four innings in the 1997 'Friendship' Cup; 88 runs from four games in the 1998 Coca-Cola Triangular Series including a 22-ball five runs and a 21-ball one run innings, both coming against Bangladesh; 32 runs from four games in the 1998 'Friendship' Cup; a slew of such poor performances often forced him to the sidelines of the India ODI squad. By the end of 1998, Dravid had scored 1709 runs in 65 ODIs at a humble average of 31.64 with a poor strike rate of 63.48.
By now, Dravid had been branded as a Test specialist. While he continued to score heavily in Test cricket, his poor strike rate in ODIs came under scanner. He drew criticism for not being able to adjust his style of play to the needs of ODI cricket, his lack of attacking capability and play big strokes. However, Dravid worked hard and re-tooled his game by increasing his range of strokes and adapting his batting style to suit the requirements of ODI cricket. He learned to pace his innings cleverly without going for the slogs.
Dravid's ODI renaissance began during the 1998/99 New Zealand tour. He scored a run-a-ball hundred in the first match of the bilateral ODI series that earned him his third Man of the Match award in ODIs. The hundred came in a losing cause. However, his effort of 51 runs from 71 balls in the Fourth ODI came in India's victory and earned him his second Man of the Match award of the series. He ended as the top scorer of the series with 309 runs from five games at an average of 77.25 and a strike rate of 84.65. Dravid scored a hundred against Sri Lanka in 1998/99 Pepsi Cup at Nagpur adding a record 236 runs for the 2nd wicket with Ganguly, who also scored a hundred in the match. Uncharacteristically, Dravid was the faster of the two scoring 116 of 118 deliveries. In the next match against Pakistan, he bowled four overs and took the wicket of Saeed Anwar, out caught behind by wicket-keeper Nayan Mongia. This was his first wicket in international cricket.
Dravid warmed up for his debut World Cup with two fifties in the 1998–99 Coca-Cola Cup in Sharjah, one each against England and Pakistan. Standing-in as the substitute wicket-keeper in the third match of the series for Nayan Mongia, who got injured during keeping, Dravid effected two dismissals. He first stumped Graeme Hick off Sunil Joshi's bowling, who became Dravid's first victim as a wicket-keeper, and then caught Neil Fairbrother off Ajay Jadeja's bowling. He top scored for India in the tournament, though his last ODI innings before the World Cup was a golden duck against Pakistan, in the Final of the series.
Debut World Cup success
Dravid announced his form in England hitting consecutive fifties against Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire in the warm-up games.
He made his World Cup debut against South Africa at Hove striking a half century, but scored just 13 in the next game against Zimbabwe. India lost both the games. Having lost the first two games, India needed to win the remaining three games of the first round to have any chance of advancing into the Super Six stage. Dravid put up a partnership of 237 runs with Sachin Tendulkar against Kenya at Bristol – a World Cup record – and in the process hit his maiden World Cup hundred, helping India to a 94-run victory. India's designated keeper Mongia left the field at the end of 9th over during Kenyan innings, forcing Dravid to keep the wickets for the rest of the innings. In the absence of injured Nayan Mongia, Dravid played his first ODI as a designated keeper against Sri Lanka at Taunton. Dravid once again staged a record breaking partnership worth 318 runs – the first ever three hundred run partnership in ODI history – but this time with Sourav Ganguly, guiding India to a 157-run win. Dravid scored 145 runs from 129 balls with 17 fours and a six, becoming the second batsman in World Cup history to hit back-to-back hundreds. Dravid struck a fine fifty in the last group match as India defeated England to advance into the Super Six stage. Dravid scored 2, 61 & 29 in the three Super Six matches against Australia, Pakistan & New Zealand respectively. India failed to qualify for the semi-finals having lost to Australia and New Zealand but achieved a consolation victory against Pakistan in a tense game, what with the military conflict going on between the two countries in Kashmir at the same time. Dravid emerged as the top scorer of the tournament with 461 runs from 8 games at an average of 65.85 and a strike rate of 85.52.
Dravid's post-World Cup campaign started on a poor note with just 40 runs coming in 4 games of Aiwa Cup in August 1999. He soon came into his own, top-scoring for India in two consecutive limited-overs series – the Singapore Challenge, the highlight being a hundred in the Final coming in a lost cause, and the DMC Cup, the highlight being a match winning effort (77 runs, 4 catches) in the series decider for which he received man-of-the-match award. Dravid topped the international runs chart for 1999 cricket season across all formats scoring 782 runs from 19 matches. By now, Dravid had started to keep wickets on an infrequent basis with India fielding him as designated wicket-keeper in five out of 10 ODIs played in the three events.
Dravid kick-started his post World Cup Test season with a decent outing against New Zealand in the 3-match home series. His best effort of the series came in the second innings of the First test at Mohali scoring 144, helping India salvage a draw after being bowled out for 83 runs in the First innings. This was Dravid's sixth test hundred but his first test hundred on Indian soil. Dravid did well in the 3–2 series win against New Zealand in the bilateral ODI series, scoring 240 runs in 5 games at an average of 60 and a strike rate of 83.62, ending as the second highest scorer in the series. His career best effort in ODIs came in this series in the second game at Hyderabad where he scored run-a-ball 153 runs which included 15 fours and two sixes. He featured in a 331-run partnership with Tendulkar, which was the highest partnership in ODI cricket history, a record that stood for 15 years until it was broken in 2015. In 1999, Dravid scored 1761 runs in 43 ODIs at an average of 46.34 and a strike rate of 75.16 including 6 hundreds and 8 fifties and featured in two 300+ partnerships.
India toured Australia in December 1999 for a 3-match test series and a triangular ODI tournament. Although Dravid scored a hundred against Tasmania in the practice match, he failed miserably with the bat in the Test series as India slumped to a 0–3 whitewash. He did reasonably well in the 1999–2000 Carlton & United Series scoring 3 fifties in the triangular event however, India failed to qualify for the Final of the tournament.
Dravid's poor form in Tests continued as India suffered a 0–2 whitewash against South Africa in a home series. He had moderate success in the bilateral ODI series against South Africa. He contributed to India's 3–2 series win with 208 runs at an average of 41.60 which included 2 fifties and three wickets at an average of 22.66 topping the bowling average chart for the series. His career best bowling figure of 2/43 from nine overs in the First ODI at Kochi, was also the best bowling figure by any bowler in that particular match.
Rise through the ranks
In February 2000, Tendulkar's resignation from captaincy led to the promotion of Ganguly, the vice-captain then, as the new captain of the Indian team. In May 2000, while Dravid was busy playing county cricket in England, he was appointed as the vice-captain of the Indian team announced for the Asia cup.
India did well in the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy. Indian team, coming out of the shadows of the infamous match fixing scandal, showed a lot of character under the new leadership of Ganguly and Dravid, beating Kenya, Australia and South Africa in consecutive matches to reach the Finals. Although India lost to New Zealand in the Finals, their spirited performance in the tournament helped restoring public faith back in Indian cricket. Dravid scored 157 runs in 4 matches of the tournament, at an average of 52.33, including 2 fifties. Dravid scored 85 runs in a match against Zimbabwe in the 2000–01 Coca-Cola Champions Trophy while opening the innings but was forced to miss the rest of the tournament because of an injury.
India kick started the new Test season with a 9-wicket win against Bangladesh. Dravid played a brisk knock of 41 runs from 49 balls, including 5 fours and a six, while chasing a target of 63 runs. The ensuing test series against Zimbabwe was John Wright's first assignment as Indian coach. Dravid, who was instrumental in Wright's appointment as India's first foreign head coach, welcomed him with his maiden double hundred. He scored 200 not out in the first inning and 70 not out in the second, guiding India to a comfortable 9-wicket victory against Zimbabwe. He scored 162 in the drawn Second test to end the series with an average of 432.00 – highest batting average by an Indian in a series across all formats.
Dravid captained the Indian team for the first time in the fifth match of the bilateral ODI series against Zimbabwe in the absence of Ganguly who was serving suspension. Riding on Agarkar's all-round performance, Dravid led India to a 39-run victory in his maiden ODI as Indian captain.
History at Eden
The Australian team toured India in February 2001 for what was being billed as the Final Frontier for Steve Waugh's all conquering men, who were coming on the back of 15 consecutive Test wins. Dravid failed in the first innings of the First Test but displayed strong resilience in Tendulkar's company in the second innings. Dravid's 196 ball long resistance finally ended when he got out bowled to Warne for 39 runs. Australians extended their winning streak to 16 Tests as they beat India convincingly by 10 wickets inside three days.
The Australian juggernaut seemed unstoppable as they looked on course towards their 17th consecutive victory in the Second Test at the Eden Gardens, when they bowled India out for meagre 171 in the first innings and enforced a follow-on after securing a massive lead of 274 runs. In the second innings, Laxman, who had scored a fine fifty in the first innings, was promoted to no. 3 position which had been Dravid's usual spot for quite sometime now, while Dravid, who had gotten out bowled to Warne for second time in a row in the first innings for just 25 runs, was relegated to no. 6 position. When Dravid joined Laxman in the middle on the third day of the Test, with scoreboard reading 232/4 and India still needing 42 runs to avoid an innings defeat, another convincing win for Australia looked inevitable. Instead, two of them staged one of the greatest fightbacks in cricketing history.
Dravid and Laxman played out the remaining time on the third day and whole of the fourth day, denying Australia any wicket on Day 4. Dravid, angered by the flak that the Indian team had been receiving lately in the media coverage, celebrated his hundred in an uncharacteristic fashion brandishing his bat at the press box. Eventually, Laxman got out on the fifth morning bringing the 376-runs partnership to an end. Dravid soon perished getting run out for 180 while trying to force the pace. Ganguly declared the innings at 657/7, setting Australia a target of 384 runs with 75 overs left in the match. An inspired team India bowled superbly to dismiss Australia for 212 in 68.3 overs. India won the match by 171 runs. This was only the third instance of a team winning a Test after following-on and India became the 2nd team to do so.
Dravid scored 81 runs in the first innings of the Third Test and took 4 catches in the match as India defeated Australia at Chennai in a nail biting finish to clinch the series 2–1. Dravid scored 80 in the first of the 5-match ODI series at his home ground as India won the match by 60 runs. He didn't do too well in the remaining 4 ODIs as Australia won the series 3–2. Dravid topped the averages for the 2000/01 Test season with 839 runs from six matches at an average of 104.87.
Dravid had a decent outing in Zimbabwe, scoring 137 runs from 134 balls in the First Tour game and aggregating 138 runs at an average of 69.00 from the drawn Test series. In the ensuing triangular ODI series, he aggregated 121 runs from 5 matches at an average of 40.33 and a strike rate of 101.68, the highlight being an unbeaten 72 off 64 balls, while chasing a target of 235 against Zimbabwe in the 3rd match of the series, guiding India to a 4-wicket win with four balls to spare. He was adjudged man of the match for his match winning knock.
On the next tour to Sri Lanka, India lost the first three matches of the triangular event. In the absence of suspended Ganguly, Dravid captained the side in the 4th match leading them to their first victory of the series. India won the next two matches to qualify for the Final. Dravid played crucial innings in all the three victories. Eventually, India lost the Final to Sri Lanka. He top scored for India in the series with 259 runs from seven matches at an average of 51.80 and a strike rate of 59.81. Reinstated to his usual no. 3 position in the absence of injured Laxman, Dravid top scored for India in the ensuing 3-Test series as well with 235 runs at an average of 47.00. The highlight for Dravid was 75 runs scored in the tough fourth innings chase of the Second Test – a crucial contribution to India's first Test win in Sri Lanka since 1993 despite the absence of key players like Tendulkar, Laxman, Srinath and Kumble.
Dravid had decent success in Standard Bank tri-series on South Africa tour, scoring 214 runs (including 3 fifties) at an average of 53.50 and a strike rate of 71.81. He also kept wickets in the final two ODIs of the series effecting 3 stumpings. The highlight for Dravid in the ensuing Test series came in the second innings of the Second Test. India, having failed to last hundred overs in any of the previous three innings in the series, needed to bat out four sessions in the Second Test to save the match. They started on a poor note losing their first wicket in the first over with no runs on the scoreboard. However, Dravid forged an important partnership of 171 runs with Dasgupta that lasted for 83.2 overs taking India to the brink of safety. Poor weather helped India salvage a draw as only 96.2 overs could be bowled in the innings. Dravid captained the team in the 'unofficial' Third test in the absence of injured Ganguly, which India lost by an innings margin.
By the end of the South African tour, Dravid had started experiencing problem in his right shoulder. Although he played the ensuing home test series against England, he pulled out of the six-match bilateral ODI series to undergo shoulder rehabilitation program in South Africa. He returned for the Zimbabwe's tour of India but performed below par, scoring a fifty each in the Test series and the bilateral ODI series.
2002–2006: Peak years
Dravid hit the peak form of his career in 2002. Between Season 2002 and Season 2006, Dravid was the second highest scorer overall and top scorer for India across formats, scoring 8,914 runs from 174 matches at an average of 54.02, including 19 hundreds.
Dravid had a decent outing in West Indies in 2002. The highlights for him included – hitting a hundred with a swollen jaw and helping India avoid the follow-on in the process at Georgetown in the drawn First Test; contributing with a fifty and four catches to India's victory in the Second Test at Port of Spain – India's first Test victory in West Indies since 1975–76; and another fifty in the drawn Fourth Test with a wicket to boot – that of Ridley Jacobs who was batting on 118. This was Dravid's only wicket in Test cricket. He played as India's designated keeper in the ODI series but didn't contribute much with the bat in the 2–1 series win.
A quartet of hundreds
India's tour of England in 2002 started with a triangular ODI event involving India, England and Sri Lanka. India emerged as the winners of the series beating England in the Final – their first victory after nine consecutive defeats in one-day finals. Dravid played as designated keeper in six out of seven matches effecting nine dismissals (6 catches, 3 stumpings) – most by a keeper in the series. He also did well with the bat aggregating 245 runs at an average of 49.00 including three fifties. His performance against Sri Lanka in fourth ODI (64 runs, 1 catch) earned him a man of the match award.
India lost the first of the four match Test series. Having conceded a 260 runs lead in the first innings of the Second Test at Nottingham, Indians were in a spot of bother. However, Dravid led the fightback in the second innings with a hundred as Indians managed to earn a draw.
Ganguly won the toss in the Third Test and took a bold decision to bat first on a gloomy overcast morning at Headingley on a pitch known to be traditionally conducive for fast and swing bowling. Having lost an early wicket, Dravid weathered the storm in company of Sanjay Bangar. They played cautiously, taking body blows on a pitch with uneven bounce. Dravid completed his second hundred of the series in the process. As the conditions became more and more conducive for batting, the Indian batsmen piled on England's misery. Indians declared the innings on 628/8 and then bowled England out twice to register their first test victory in England since 1986. Despite being outscored by Tendulkar, Dravid was awarded man of the match for his efforts. Dravid scored a double hundred in the drawn Fourth Test to notch up his second consecutive man of the match award of the series. Christopher Martin-Jenkins noted during the Fourth Test: Dravid aggregated 602 runs in the series from four matches at an average of 100.33, including three hundreds and a fifty and was adjudged joint man of the series along with Michael Vaughan.
India jointly shared the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka. Dravid contributed to India's successful campaign with 120 runs at an average of 60.00 and five dismissals behind the wicket. Dravid scored a hundred in the First Test of the three match home series against West Indies becoming the first Indian batsman to score hundreds in four consecutive Test innings but had to retire soon after owing to severe cramps. Dravid did well in the subsequent bilateral 7-match ODI series aggregating 300 runs at an average of 75.00 and a strike rate of 89.82 including one hundred and two fifties. He also effected 7 dismissals (6 catches, 1 stumping) in the series. India trailing 1–2, needed 325 runs to win the Fourth ODI and level the series. Dravid scored a hundred leading India to a successful chase. He once again scored a crucial fifty in the Sixth ODI as India once again leveled the series after trailing 2–3. India, however, lost the last match to lose the series 3–4.
Dravid top scored for India in the two-match Test series in New Zealand as India slumped to a whitewash. He played as designated keeper in six of the 7-match bilateral ODI series and effected seven dismissals but fared poorly with the bat as India were handed a 2-5 drubbing by the New Zealand.
2003 Cricket World Cup
Dravid arrived in South Africa with the Indian squad to participate in the 2003 Cricket World Cup in the capacity of first-choice keeper-batsman as part of their seven batsmen-four bowlers strategy – an experiment that had brought success to the team in the past year. The idea was that making Dravid keep wickets allowed India to accommodate an extra specialist batsman. The strategy worked out well for India in the World Cup. India recovered from a less than convincing victory against minnows Netherlands and a loss to Australia in the league stage and embarked on a dream run winning eight consecutive matches to qualify for the World Cup Finals for the first time since 1983. India eventually lost the Final to Australia ending as runner-up in the tournament. Dravid contributed to India's campaign with 318 runs at an average of 63.60 and 16 dismissals (15 catches, 1 stumping). Highlights for Dravid in the tournament included a fifty against England, 44 not out against Pakistan in a successful chase and an unbeaten fifty in another successful chase against New Zealand.
Dravid topped the international runs chart for 2003/04 cricket season across formats aggregating 1993 runs from 31 matches at an average of 64.29 including three double hundreds. First of those came against New Zealand in the first of the two-test home series at Ahmedabad. Dravid scored 222 runs in the first innings and 73 runs in the second innings receiving a man of the match award for his efforts. Dravid captained Indian Test Team for the first time in the second game of the series at Mohali in the absence of Ganguly. Both the matches ended in a draw. Dravid top scored in the series with 313 runs at an average of 78.25. India next participated in TVS cup alongside New Zealand and Australia. India lost to Australia in the Final. Dravid scored two fifties in the series but the highlight was his fifty against New Zealand in the ninth match that came in just 22 balls – second fastest fifty by an Indian.
An Eden encore
After earning a draw in the first of the four-match Test series in Australia, Indians found themselves reeling at 85/4 in the Second Test at Adelaide after Australia had piled 556 runs in the first innings when Laxman joined Dravid in the middle. They batted for 93.5 overs bringing about their second 300-run partnership adding 303 runs together before Laxman perished for 148 runs. However, Dravid continued to complete his second double hundred of the season. He was the last man out for 233 runs as India conceded a marginal first innings lead of 33 runs to Australia. India bowled Australia out for paltry score of 196 riding on Agarkar's six-wicket haul, and were set a target of 230 runs to win the match. Dravid helped India tread through a tricky chase with an unbeaten fifty as India registered their first test victory in Australia since 1980/81 to go up 1–0 in the series. This was the first time that Australians were 0-1 down in a home series since 1994. Dravid won the man of the match award for his efforts. Dravid registered a score of ninety each in the next two tests as Australia leveled the series 1–1. Dravid top scored for India in the series with 619 runs at an average of 123.80 and was awarded player of the series for his efforts.
Dravid did moderately well in the ensuing VB series with three fifties in the league stage, all of which came in winning cause. However, India lost the best-of-three finals to Australia 2–0. Dravid was fined half his match fee for applying cough lozenge on the ball during a match in the series against Zimbabwe – an act that was claimed to be an innocent mistake by coach John Wright.
India visited Pakistan in March 2004 to participate in a bilateral Test series for the first time since 1989/90. Prior to the Test series, India participated and won the 5-match ODI series 3–2. Dravid top scored for India in the series with 248 runs at an average of 62.00 and a strike rate of 73.59. Dravid scored 99 runs in the First ODI helping India post an imposing total of 349. He also took the important catch of threatening Inzamam-ul-Haq, who was batting on 122, as India went on to win the match by five runs. When Indians were trailing in the series 1–2, Dravid helped India level the series with an unbeaten fifty during a successful chase in the Fourth ODI.
Captaincy
Dravid captained India in the first two tests in the absence of injured Ganguly and led India to their first-ever Test victory in Pakistan. Dravid, standing in only his second test as team's captain, took a bold and controversial decision during First Test at Multan that divided the cricket fraternity. Pakistani cricketers had been on field for 150+ overs as India posted a total in excess of 600 runs in the first innings. Dravid, who wanted to have a crack at the tired Pakistani batsmen in the final hour of second day's play, declared Indian innings with Tendulkar batting at 194, just six runs short of his double century. While some praised the team before personal milestones approach of the Indian captain, most criticized Dravid's timing of declaration as there were no pressing concerns and there was ample time left in the match to try and bowl Pakistan out twice. While Tendulkar was admittedly disappointed, any rumours of rift between him and Dravid were quashed by both the cricketers and the team management, who claimed that the matter had been discussed and sorted amicably behind closed doors. India eventually went on to win the match by innings margin. Pakistan leveled the series beating India in the Second Test. Dravid slammed a double hundred in the Third Test at Rawalpindi – his third double hundred of the season. He scored 270 runs – his career best performance – before getting out to reverse sweep trying to force the pace. India went on to win the match and the series – their first series victory outside India since 1993. Dravid was adjudged man of the match for his effort.
Dravid was appointed the captain for the Indian team for 2007 World Cup, where India had an unsuccessful campaign.
During India's unsuccessful tour of England in 2011, in which their 4–0 loss cost them the top rank in Test cricket, Dravid made three centuries.
2011 Tour of England
Having regained his form on the tour to West Indies, where he scored a match-winning hundred in Sabina park, Jamaica, Dravid then toured England in what was billed as the series which would decide the World No. 1 ranking in tests.
In the first test at Lord's, in reply to England's 474, Dravid scored an unbeaten 103, his first hundred at the ground where he debuted in 1996. He received scant support from his teammates as India were bowled out for 286 and lost the test. The 2nd test at Trentbridge, Nottingham again saw Dravid in brilliant form. Sent out to open the batting in place of an injured Gautam Gambhir, he scored his second successive hundred. His 117 though, again came in a losing cause, as a collapse of 6 wickets for 21 runs in the first innings led to a massive defeat by 319 runs. Dravid failed in both innings in the third test at Birmingham, as India lost by an innings and 242 runs, one of the heaviest defeats in their history. However, he came back brilliantly in the fourth and final match at The Oval. Again opening the batting in place of Gambhir, he scored an unbeaten 146 out of India's total of 300, carrying his bat through the innings. Once again, though, his efforts were in vain as India lost the match, completing a 0–4 whitewash.
In all, he scored 461 runs in the four matches at an average of 76.83 with three hundreds. He accounted for over 26% of India's runs in the series and was named India's man of the series by England coach Andy Flower. His performance in the series was met with widespread admiration and was hailed by some as one of his finest ever series
Retirement
Rahul Dravid was dropped from the ODI team in 2009, but was selected again for an ODI series in England in 2011, surprising even Dravid himself since, although he had not officially retired from ODI cricket, he had not expected to be recalled. After being selected, he announced that he would retire from ODI cricket after the series. He played his last ODI innings against England at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, on 16 September 2011, scoring 69 runs from 79 balls before being bowled by Graeme Swann. His last limited-overs international match was his debut T20I match; he announced his retirement before playing his first T20I match.
Dravid announced his retirement from Test and domestic cricket on 9 March 2012, after the 2011–12 tour of Australia, but he said that he would captain the Rajasthan Royals in the 2012 Indian Premier League. He was the second-highest run scorer and had taken the highest number of catches in Test cricket at the time of his retirement.
In July 2014, he played for the MCC side in the Bicentenary Celebration match at Lord's.
Coaching
Towards the end of his playing career, Dravid took on a role as mentor of the Rajasthan Royals IPL team, officially taking over in 2014. During this time, he also became involved with the Indian national team, serving as mentor for the team's tour of England in 2014. After leading the Royals to a third-place finish in the 2015 IPL season, he was appointed as the head coach of the India U-19 and India A teams. Dravid achieved immense success as coach, with the U-19s reaching the finals of the 2016 U-19 Cricket World Cup. Two years later, the team went on to win the 2018 U-19 Cricket World Cup, beating Australia by 8 wickets to win their fourth Under-19 World Cup, the most by any national side. Dravid was credited with bringing up future national team players including Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan and Washington Sundar. Alongside his coaching roles, Dravid took on several mentor roles, including at the Delhi Daredevils IPL team.
In July 2019, following his four-year stint as coach of the junior teams, Dravid was appointed Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). He was in charge of "overseeing all cricket related activities at NCA was involved in mentoring, coaching, training and motivating players, coaches and support staff at the NCA". As head of NCA, he was widely praised for developing a steady supply of talent to the senior team and revamping player fitness and rehabilitation regiments.
In November 2021, he was appointed as head coach of the Indian national cricket team.
County stint
Dravid had always been keen on further honing his batting skills in testing English conditions by playing in county cricket. He had discussed about the prospects regarding the same with John Wright, the former New Zealand cricketer and incumbent Kent coach, during India's 1998–99 tour of New Zealand. Wright was particularly impressed with Dravid's performance on that tour, especially his twin hundreds at Hamilton. The talks finally materialized and Dravid made his county debut for Kent in April 2000. His co-debutante Ganguly made his county debuted in the same match, albeit for the opposite team.
Kent offer had come as a welcome change for Dravid. There was too much negativity surrounding Indian cricket marred by match fixing controversy. Dravid himself had been struggling to score runs in Tests for quite some time now. The county stint gave him a chance to "get away to a new environment" and "relax". The wide variety of pitches and weather conditions in England and a full season of intense county cricket against professional cricketers gave him a chance to further his cricketing education and learn things about his game.
Dravid made the most of this opportunity. In his 2nd game for Kent, Dravid scored a fluid 182 propelling them to an innings and 163 runs victory over the touring Zimbabwe side. Out of 7 first class tour games that Zimbabwe played on that tour, Kent was the only team that managed to beat them. Dravid hit another fifty in a draw against Surrey. The newly appointed vice-captain had to leave the county championship temporarily, missing two championship games and two one day games, to fulfill his national commitment. Indian team, Dravid included, fared poorly in the Asia cup and failed to qualify for the Final. Subsequently, Dravid returned to England to resume his county sojourn with Kent.
In July 2000, Kent's away match against Hampshire at Portsmouth was billed as a showdown between two great cricketers- Warne and Dravid. Dravid came out on top. On a dustbowl, tailor-made to suit home team spinners, Warne took 4 wickets but could not take the all important wicket of Dravid. Coming in to bat at 15/2, Dravid faced 295 balls scoring 137 runs – his maiden hundred in county championships. Dravid scored 73 not out in the 2nd innings guiding Kent to a six wicket victory as Warne went wicketless.
In their last county game of the season, Kent needed one bonus point to prevent themselves from being relegated to the Second Division. Dravid made sure they stay put in the First Division by fetching that one bonus point with an inning of 77 runs.
Dravid concluded a successful stint with Kent aggregating 1221 runs from 16 first class matches(15 county games and 1 tour game against Zimbabwe) at an average of 55.50 including 2 hundreds and 8 fifties. He shouldered Kent's batting single-handedly as the second best Kent batsman during the same period, Paul Nixon, scored just 567 runs at an average of 33.35 in 17 matches. Dravid contributed to Kent's county campaign not just with the bat but also with his fielding and bowling taking 14 catches and 4 wickets at an average of 32.00.
Indian Premier League and Champions League
Rahul Dravid played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2008, 2009 and 2010. Later he played for Rajasthan Royals and led it to finals of Champions League T20 in 2013, and play-offs of Indian Premier League in 2013. Dravid announced retirement from Twenty20 after playing the 2013 Champions League Twenty20 in September–October 2013.
Playing style
Dravid was known for his technique, and has been one of the best batsmen for the Indian cricket team. In the beginning, he was known as a defensive batsman who should be confined to Test cricket, and was dropped from the ODI squad due to a low strike rate. However, he later scored consistently in ODIs as well, earning him the ICC Player of the Year award. His nickname of 'The Wall' in Reebok advertisements is now used as his nickname. Dravid has scored 36 centuries in Test cricket, with an average of 52.31; this included five double centuries. In one-dayers, he averaged 39.16, with a strike rate of 71.23. He is one of the few Indians whose Test average is better at away than at home, averaging almost five runs more on foreign pitches. As of 23 September 2010, Dravid's Test average in abroad is 55.53, and his Test average at home is 50.76; his ODI average abroad is 37.93 and his ODI average at home is 43.11. Dravid averages 66.34 runs in Indian Test victories. and 50.69 runs in ODIs.
Dravid's sole Test wicket was of Ridley Jacobs in the fourth Test match against the West Indies during the 2001–2002 series. While he has no pretensions to being a bowler, Dravid often kept wicket for India in ODIs.
Dravid was involved in two of the largest partnerships in ODIs: a 318-run partnership with Sourav Ganguly, the first pair to combine for a 300-run partnership, and then a 331-run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar, which is a world record. He also holds the record for the greatest number of innings played since debut before being dismissed for a duck. His highest scores in ODIs and Tests are 153 and 270 respectively.
He was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2000. Though primarily a defensive batsman, Dravid scored 50 runs not out in 22 balls (a strike rate of 227.27) against New Zealand in Hyderabad on 15 November 2003, the second fastest 50 among Indian batsmen. Only Ajit Agarkar's 67 runs off 21 balls is faster than that of Dravid.
In 2004, Dravid was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. On 7 September 2004, he was awarded the inaugural Player of the year award and the Test player of the year award by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
After reaching 10,000 Test runs milestone, he said, "It's a proud moment for sure. For me, growing up, I dreamt of playing for India. When I look back, I probably exceeded my expectations with what I have done over the last 10 to 12 years. I never had an ambition to do it because I never believed – it is just a reflection of my longevity in the game."
Dravid is also one of the two batsmen to score 10,000 runs at a single batting position and is the fourth highest run scorer in Test cricket, behind Tendulkar, Ponting and Kallis.
Controversies
Ball-tampering incident
In January 2004, Dravid was found guilty of ball tampering during an ODI with Zimbabwe. Match referee Clive Lloyd adjudged the application of an energy sweet to the ball as a deliberate offence, although Dravid himself denied this was his intent. Lloyd emphasised that television footage caught Dravid putting a lozenge on the ball during the Zimbabwean innings on Tuesday night at the Gabba. According to the ICC's Code of Conduct, players are not allowed to apply substances to the ball other than sweat and saliva. Dravid was fined half of his match fee.
Indian coach John Wright came out in defence of Dravid, stating that "It was an innocent mistake". Wright argued that Dravid had been trying to apply saliva to the ball when parts of a losenge he had been chewing stuck to the ball; Dravid then tried to wipe it off. ICC regulations prevented Dravid from commenting about the issue, but former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly also stated that Dravid's act was "just an accident".
Captaincy
Rahul Dravid has had a mixed record when leading India in Tests.
One of Dravid's most debated decisions was taken in March 2004, when he was standing in as the captain for injured Sourav Ganguly. India's first innings was declared at a point when Sachin Tendulkar was at 194 runs not out with 16 overs remaining on Day 2. In this test match Sehwag scored triple century first time. He became the first Indian to score triple century in test with a score of 309.
In March 2006, India lost the Mumbai Test, giving England its first Test victory in India since 1985, enabling it to draw the series 1–1. The defeat in Mumbai was arguably the result of Dravid's decision to bowl first on a flat dry pitch, which later deteriorated and ended with an Indian collapse in the run chase. Coincidentally, it was Dravid's 100th test match in which the Indians were all out for 100 runs in the second innings.
After India failed to qualify for the final of the DLF Cup, Dravid, the skipper, was criticised by former all-rounder Ravi Shastri who said that he was not assertive enough and let Greg Chappell make too many decisions. When asked for a response, Dravid said that Shastri, while a 'fair critic', was 'not privy' to the internal decision-making process of the team.
He was criticised by Vijay Mallya for not picking the team with right balance after his then IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore finished seventh out of the eight teams that participated in the 2008 season.
Achievements and awards
National honours
1998 – Arjuna Award recipient for achievements in cricket
2004 – Padma Shri – India's fourth highest civilian award
2013 – Padma Bhushan – India's third highest civilian award
Other honours
1999 – CEAT International Cricketer of the World Cup
2000 – Dravid was one of the five cricketers selected as Wisden Cricketer of the Year.
2004 – ICC Cricketer of the year – Highest award in the ICC listings
2004 – ICC Test Player of The Year, ICC Cricketer of The Year
2004 – MTV Youth Icon of the Year
2006 – Captain of the ICC's Test Team
2011 – NDTV Indian of the Year's Lifetime Achievement Award with Dev Anand
2012 – Don Bradman Award with Glenn McGrath
2015 – Wisden India's Highest Impact Test Batsman
2018 – ICC Hall of Fame
Personal life
Family
On 4 May 2003 he married Vijeta Pendharkar, a surgeon from Nagpur. Vijeta Pendharkar is also from Deshastha Brahmin community as Dravid. They have two children: Samit, born in 2005, and Anvay, born in 2009. Dravid is fluent in Marathi, Hindi, Kannada and English.
Commercial endorsements
Rahul Dravid has been sponsored by several brands throughout his career including Reebok (1996 – present), Pepsi (1997 present), Kissan (Unknown), Castrol (2001 – present), Hutch
(2003), Karnataka Tourism (2004), Max Life (2005 – present), Bank of Baroda (2005 – present), Citizen (2006 – present), Skyline Construction (2006 – present), Sansui (2007), Gillette (2007 – present), Samsung (2002 – 2004), World Trade Center Noida (2013– present),
CRED (2021-present).
Social commitments
Children's Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA)
UNICEF Supporter and AIDS Awareness Campaign
Biographies
Books
Two biographies have been written on Rahul Dravid and his career:
Rahul Dravid – A Biography written by Vedam Jaishankar (). Publisher: UBSPD Publications. Date: January 2004
The Nice Guy Who Finished First written by Devendra Prabhudesai. Publisher: Rupa Publications. Date: November 2005
A collection of articles, testimonials and interviews related to Dravid was released by ESPNcricinfo following his retirement. The book was titled Rahul Dravid: Timeless Steel.
See also
Sachin Tendulkar
Sourav Ganguly
VVS Laxman
Virendra Sehwag
References
External links
Indian cricketers
India Test cricketers
India One Day International cricketers
India Twenty20 International cricketers
India Test cricket captains
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Karnataka cricketers
South Zone cricketers
Kent cricketers
Scotland cricketers
ACC Asian XI One Day International cricketers
ICC World XI One Day International cricketers
World XI Test cricketers
Royal Challengers Bangalore cricketers
Canterbury cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Rajasthan Royals cricketers
India Blue cricketers
Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup
Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports
1973 births
Living people
Cricketers from Indore
Cricketers from Bangalore
Recipients of the Arjuna Award
International Cricket Council Cricketer of the Year
Marathi people
Indian cricket coaches
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in sports
Indian cricket commentators
Wicket-keepers
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"The State of Grão-Pará and Maranhão () was one of the states of the Portuguese Empire in Brazil.\n\nHistory \nThe state was created on 31 July 1751 by order of Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal, the Secretary of the State for Joseph I of Portugal.\n\nThe state was the successor to the State of Maranhão. While there were limited territorial changes, Maranhão was politically and economically restructured and its capital was moved from São Luís, in the Captaincy of Maranhão, to Santa Maria de Belém, in the Captaincy of Pará, which was raised to a unified state with Maranhão and had its name changed to Grão-Pará (English: Great wide river).\n\nThe purpose of creating this state was to stimulate economic activities.\n\nIn 1772, the state was split into two different states, the State of Grão-Pará and Rio Negro and the State of Maranhão and Piauí.\n\nComposition \nThe State of Grão-Pará and Maranhão, for the most part, retained all the same captaincies from the State of Maranhão:\nCaptaincy of Maranhão\nCaptaincy of Pará\nCaptaincy of Piauí\nCaptaincy of Ceará\nCaptaincy of Tapuitapera\nCaptaincy of Caeté\nCaptaincy of Cametá\nCaptaincy of Cabo Norte\nCaptaincy of Marajó\nCaptaincy of Xingu\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nGrao-Para and Maranhao\nColonial Brazil\nPortuguese colonization of the Americas\nFormer Portuguese colonies\nFormer subdivisions of Brazil\nStates and territories disestablished in 1772\n1770s disestablishments in South America",
"The Captaincies of the Kingdom of Hungary () were administrative divisions, military districts in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Ottoman Empire meant a constant threat to the kingdom, therefore the Habsburg Hungarian kings needed to establish a well-working military administration. The captaincy (főkapitányság) was administered by the Royal Captain-general of the Captaincy.\n\nIn 1542, the Hungarian kingdom, primarily for military and administrative purposes, was divided into two captaincies, Captaincy of Cisdanubia (mostly Upper Hungary) and Captaincy of Transdanubia (the remaining territories). Captaincy of Győr was founded in 1556. In 1563 Captaincy of Lower Hungary was established (today approx. the present-day regions of western and central Slovakia). By 1566, Kanizsa at southwestern Transdanubia also evolved into a new captaincy.\n\nIrrespective of the military districts, there were coexistent superior (nemesi – noble) captaincies, with their own captain-generals, however their role was different (organization of insurrectio, logistics etc.).\n\nSuperior (nemesi – noble) captaincies\nCaptaincy of Cisdanubia (from 1542)\nCaptaincy of Transdanubia (from 1542)\nCaptaincy of Upper Hungary (superior) (from 1554?)\nCaptaincy of Croatia-Slavonia\n\nCaptaincies\n\nCaptaincy of Győr\nThe Captaincy of Győr (also called Duna-Balaton Köz) was located mainly at the western parts of Kingdom of Hungary (the territories between lake Balaton and river Danube). The captaincy was established in 1556, because of newly arisen military and administrative concerns, though it formally worked as a separate district from 1554. Its seat was in town of Győr. In 1594, the Ottomans captured Győr, however the united armies reconquered it in 1598.\n\nCaptaincy of Kanizsa\nThe Captaincy of Kanizsa or Captaincy of Balaton-Drávaköz was established in 1566. Its territory was situated mainly between the Lake Balaton and River Drava. Initially, the main military center of the southern territories was in Szigetvár, however, in 1566 the town fell to the Turks. The seat got to the newly formed captaincy of Kanizsa. In 1600 Kanizsa also fell. In 1607 Körmend became the new center of the reorganized captaincy.\n\nCaptaincy of Lower Hungary\nThe Captaincy of Lower Hungary (Alsó-Magyarországi in Hungarian, also called Bányavárosok, Bányavidék and Dunán-innen)\nwas established in 1563 as Article of 16 of 1563 stipulated. Its territory was located mainly at the region of present-day western and central Slovakia. Its headquarter was in Nyitra (now Nitra), and later, in accordance with the military situation, in Surány (now Šurany) (from 1568 to 1581), Léva (now Levice) (from 1581 to 1589), Érsekújvár (now Nové Zámky) (from 1589 to 1663) and from 1663 in Komárom (Komárno).\n\nCaptaincy of Upper Hungary\nThe Captaincy of Upper Hungary ( or Kassai Főkapitányság) was located mainly at the northeastern parts of Kingdom of Hungary (mainly present-day eastern Slovakia, Carpathian Ruthenia and northeastern part of the Great Hungarian Plain). In 1554 town of Kassa (now Košice) became its seat. Its Captain-general was usually called just \"Captain of Kassa\" (Kassai kapitány).\n\nCaptaincy of Croatia\nAlso known as the Karlstadt (Karlovac) Captaincy.\nIt was located on the border of Croatia and Bosnia. This part of the Military Frontier included the geographic regions of Lika, Kordun, Banovina (named after \"Banska krajina\"), and bordered the Adriatic Sea to the west, Venetian Republic to the south, Habsburg Croatia (the river Sava) to the west, and the Ottoman Empire to the east.\nIt existed from around 1559 to 1873 when it was demilitarized and eight years later (in 1881) merged into the Kingdom of Croatia. \nThe capital city was Karlovac and the official languages were Latin and Chakavian.\n\nCaptaincy of Slavonia\nCaptaincy of Croatia, also known as the Warasdin Captaincy, Habsburg Croatia, Kingdom of Slovenje, Slovenski Orsag, Kaikavian Kingdom of Slavonia, regnum Sclavoniae and Vend. \nIt was created in 1578 and lasted until 1873 when it was demilitarized and eight years later (in 1881) merged into the Kingdom of Croatia. \nIts main purpose was to help the Habsburgs hold the line against the Ottoman invasion. \nTheir attempt succeeded and the Ottomans were held there until Slavonia was returned to the Habsburg rule following Great Turkish War and Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. \nThe capital city was Zagreb (Agram) and the official languages were Latin and Kajkavian.\n\nSources\nPálffy, Géza|: A császárváros védelmében. A győri főkapitányság története 1526–1598, Győr–Moson–Sopron Megye Győri Levéltárának kiadványa, Győr, 1999.\nŠtefanec, Nataša. Ustroj Vojne krajine 1578. godine i hrvatsko-slavonski staleži u regionalnoj obrani i politici. Srednja Europa: Zagreb, 2011.\n\nReferences\n\nHungary under Habsburg rule"
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"Rahul Dravid",
"Captaincy",
"Was there something specific about his Captaincy?",
"One of Dravid's most debated decisions was taken in March 2004, when he was standing in as the captain for injured Sourav Ganguly."
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Did he ever get injured?
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Did Rahul Dravid ever get injured?
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Rahul Dravid
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Rahul Dravid has had a mixed record when leading India in Tests. One of Dravid's most debated decisions was taken in March 2004, when he was standing in as the captain for injured Sourav Ganguly. India's first innings was declared at a point when Sachin Tendulkar was at 194 runs not out with 16 overs remaining on Day 2.In this test match Sehwag scored triple century first time. He became the first Indian to score triple century in test with a score of 309. In March 2006, India lost the Mumbai Test, giving England its first Test victory in India since 1985, enabling it to draw the series 1-1. The defeat in Mumbai was arguably the result of Dravid's decision to bowl first on a flat dry pitch, which later deteriorated and ended with an Indian collapse in the run chase. Coincidentally, it was Dravid's 100th test match in which the Indians were all out for 100 runs in the second innings. After India failed to qualify for the final of the DLF Cup, Dravid, the skipper, was criticised by former all-rounder Ravi Shastri who said that he was not assertive enough and let Greg Chappell make too many decisions. When asked for a response, Dravid said that Shastri, while a 'fair critic', was 'not privy' to the internal decision-making process of the team. He was criticised by Vijay Mallya for not picking the team with right balance after his then IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore finished seventh out of the eight teams that participated in the 2008 season. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Rahul Sharad Dravid (; born 11 January 1973) is a former Indian cricketer and captain of the Indian national team, currently serving as its head coach. Prior to his appointment to the senior men's national team, Dravid was the Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), and the head coach of the India Under-19 and India A teams. Under his tutelage, the under-19 team finished runners up at the 2016 U-19 Cricket World Cup and won the 2018 U-19 Cricket World Cup. Known for his sound batting technique, Dravid scored 24,177 runs in international cricket and is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is colloquially known as Mr. Dependable and often referred to as The Wall.
Born in a Marathi family and raised in Bangalore, he started playing cricket at the age of 12 and later represented Karnataka at the under-15, under-17 and under-19 levels. Hailed as The Wall, Dravid was named one of the best five cricketers of the year by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2000 and received the Player of the Year and the Test Player of the Year awards at the inaugural ICC awards ceremony in 2004. In December 2011, he became the first non-Australian cricketer to deliver the Bradman Oration in Canberra.
As of December 2016, Dravid is the fourth-highest run scorer in Test cricket, after Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis. In 2004, after completing his century against Bangladesh in Chittagong, he became the first player to score a century in all the ten Test-playing countries. As of October 2012, he holds the record for the most catches taken by a player (non-wicket-keeper) in Test cricket, with 210. Dravid holds a unique record of never getting out for a Golden duck in the 286 Test innings which he has played. He has faced 31258 balls, which is the highest number of balls faced by any player in test cricket. He has also spent 44152 minutes at the crease, which is the highest time spent on crease by any player in test cricket. Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar are currently the highest scoring partnership in Test cricket history having scored 6920 runs combined when batting together for India.
In August 2011, after receiving a surprise recall in the ODI series against England, Dravid declared his retirement from ODIs as well as Twenty20 International (T20I), and in March 2012, he announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket. He appeared in the 2012 Indian Premier League as captain of the Rajasthan Royals.
Rahul Dravid, along with Glenn McGrath were honoured during the seventh annual Bradman Awards function in Sydney on 1 November 2012. Dravid has also been honoured with the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan award, India's fourth and third highest civilian awards respectively.
In 2014, Rahul Dravid joined the GoSports Foundation, Bangalore as a member of their board of advisors. In collaboration with GoSports Foundation he is mentoring India's future Olympians and Paralympians as part of the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme. Indian badminton player Prannoy Kumar, Para-swimmer Sharath Gayakwad and young Golfer S. Chikkarangappa was part of the initial group of athletes to be mentored by Rahul Dravid. In July 2018, Dravid became the fifth Indian cricketer to be inducted into ICC Hall of Fame.
Early life
Dravid was born in a Marathi-Speaking Brahmin family in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. His family later moved to Bangalore, Karnataka, where he was raised. His mother tongue is Marathi. Dravid's father Sharad Dravid worked for a company that makes jams and preserves, giving rise to the later nickname Jammy. His mother, Pushpa, was a professor of architecture at the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE), Bangalore. Dravid has a younger brother named Vijay. He did his schooling at St. Joseph's Boys High School, Bangalore and earned a degree in commerce from St. Joseph's College of Commerce, Bangalore. He was selected to India's national cricket team while working towards an MBA at St Joseph's College of Business Administration. He is fluent in several languages: Marathi, Kannada, English and Hindi.
Formative years and domestic career
Dravid started playing cricket at the age of 12, and represented Karnataka at the under-15, the under-17 and the under-19 levels. Former cricketer Keki Tarapore first noticed Dravid's talent while coaching at a summer camp in the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Dravid scored a century for his school team. He also played as wicket-keeper.
Dravid made his Ranji Trophy debut in February 1991, while still attending college. Playing alongside future India teammates Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath against Maharashtra in Pune, he scored 82 runs in the match, which ended in a draw. He followed it up with a century against Bengal and three successive centuries after. However, Dravid's first full season was in 1991–92, when he scored two centuries and finished up with 380 runs at an average of 63.30, getting selected for the South Zone cricket team in the Duleep Trophy. Dravid's caught the national team selectors' eye with his good performances for India A in the home series against England A in 1994–95.
International career
Debut
Dravid, who had been knocking at the doors of Indian national cricket team for quite a while with his consistent performance in domestic cricket, received his first national call in October 1994, for the last two matches of the Wills World Series. However, he could not break into the playing eleven. He went back to the domestic circuit and kept knocking harder. So much so, that when the selectors announced the Indian team for the 1996 World Cup sans Dravid, an Indian daily newspaper carried a headline – "Rahul Dravid gets a raw deal". Dravid eventually made his international debut on 3 April 1996 in an ODI against Sri Lanka in the Singer Cup held in Singapore immediately after the 1996 World Cup, replacing Vinod Kambli. He wasn't particularly impressive with the bat, scoring just three runs before being dismissed by Muttiah Muralitharan, but took two catches in the match. He followed it up with another failure in the next game scoring just four runs before getting run out against Pakistan.
In contrast to his ODI debut, his Test debut was rather successful one. Dravid was selected for the Indian squad touring England on the backdrop of a consistent performance in domestic cricket for five years. Fine performances in the tour games including fifties against Gloucestershire and Leicestershire failed to earn him a place in the team for the First Test. He finally made his Test debut at Lord's on 20 June 1996 against England in the Second Test of the series at the expense of injured senior batsman Sanjay Manjrekar. Manjrekar, who was suffering from an ankle injury, was to undergo a fitness test on the morning of the Second Test. Dravid had already been informed that he would play if Manjrekar fails the test. As Manjrekar failed the fitness test, ten minutes before the toss, Sandeep Patil, the then Indian coach, went up to Dravid to inform him that he was indeed going to make his debut that day. Patil recalled years later:
Coming in to bat at no. 7, he forged important partnerships, first with another debutante Sourav Ganguly and then with Indian lower order, securing a vital first innings lead for his team. Dravid scored 95 runs before getting out to the bowling of Chris Lewis. He was just five runs short of a landmark debut hundred when he nicked a Lewis delivery to the keeper and walked even before umpire's decision. He also took his first catch in Test cricket in this match to dismiss Nasser Hussain off the bowling of Srinath. In the next tour game against British Universities, Dravid scored a hundred. He scored another fifty in the first innings of the Third Test. Dravid concluded a successful debut series with an impressive average of 62.33 from two Test matches.
1996–98: A tale of two formats
Dravid's early years in international cricket mirrored his international debut. He had contrasting fortunes in the long and the shorter format of the game. While he straightaway made a name for himself in Test cricket, he had to struggle quite a bit to make a mark in ODIs.
After a successful Test debut in England, Dravid played in the one-off Test against Australia in Delhi – his first Test in India. Batting at no. 6, he scored 40 runs in the first innings. Dravid batted at no. 3 position for the first time in the First Test of the three-match home series against South Africa in Ahmedabad in November 1996. He didn't do too well in the series scoring just 175 runs at a modest average of 29.16.
Two weeks later, India toured South Africa for a three–match Test series. Chasing a target of 395 runs in the First Test, Indian team bundled out meekly for 66 runs on the Durban pitch that provided excessive bounce and seam movement. Dravid, batting at no. 6, was the only Indian batsman who reached double figures in the innings scoring 27 not out. He was promoted to the no. 3 slot again in the second innings of the Second Test, a move that paid rich dividends in the ensuing Test. He almost won the Third Test for India with his maiden test hundred in the first innings scoring 148 runs and another 81 runs in the second innings at Wanderers before the thunderstorms, dim light and Cullinan's hundred saved the day for South Africa enabling them to draw the match. Dravid's performance in this Test earned him his first Man of the Match award in Test cricket. He top scored for India in the series with 277 runs at an average of 55.40.
Dravid continued in the same vein in the West Indies where he once again top scored for India in the five–match Test series aggregating 360 runs at an average of 72.00 including four fifties. 92 runs scored in the first innings of the fifth match in Georgetown earned him a joint Man of the Match award along with Shivnarine Chanderpaul. With this series, Dravid concluded a successful 1996/97 Test season, topping the international runs chart with 852 runs from 12 matches at an average of 50.11 with six fifties and one hundred.
Dravid continued his good run scoring seven fifties in the next eight Tests that included fifties in six consecutive innings (three each against Sri Lanka and Australia), becoming only the second Indian to do so after Gundappa Vishwanath. By the end of 1997/98 Test season, he had scored 15 fifties in 22 Tests which included four scores of nineties but just a solitary hundred.
The century drought came to an end in the 1998/99 Test season when he further raised the bar of his performance scoring 752 runs in seven Tests at an average of 62.66 that included four hundreds and one fifty and in the process topping the runs chart for India for the season. The first of those four hundreds came on the Zimbabwe tour. Dravid top scored in both the innings against Zimbabwe scoring 118 and 44 runs respectively however, India lost the one-off Test.
The Zimbabwe tour was followed by a tour to New Zealand. First Test having been abandoned without a ball being bowled, the series started for Dravid with the first duck of his Test career in the first innings of the Second Test and ended with hundreds in both the innings of the Third Test in Hamilton. He scored 190 and 103 not out in the first and the second innings respectively, becoming only the third Indian batsman, after Vijay Hazare and Sunil Gavaskar, to score a century in both innings of a Test match. Dravid topped the runs table for the series with 321 runs from two matches at an average of 107.00 but could not prevent India from losing the series 0–1.
Later that month, India played a two Test home series against Pakistan. Dravid didn't contribute much with the bat. India lost the First Test but won the Second Test in Delhi riding on Kumble's historic 10-wicket haul. Dravid played his part in the 10-wicket haul by taking a catch to dismiss Mushtaq Ahmed who was Kumble's eighth victim of the innings. The Indo-Pak Test series was followed by the 1998–99 Asian Test Championship. Dravid couldn't do much with the bat as India went on to lose the riot-affected First Test of the championship against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens. India went to Sri Lanka to play the Second Test of the championship. Dravid scored his fourth hundred of the season at Colombo in the first innings of the match. He also effected a brilliant run out of Russel Arnold during Sri Lankan innings fielding at short leg. On the fourth morning, Dravid got injured while fielding at the same position when the ball from Jayawardene's pull shot hit his face through the helmet grill. He didn't come out to bat in the second innings due to the injury. The match ended in a draw as India failed to qualify for the Finals of the championship.
In a stark contrast to his Test career, Dravid had to struggle a lot to make a mark in the ODIs. Between his ODI debut in April 1996 and the end of 1998 calendar year, Dravid regularly found himself in and out of the ODI team.
Dravid tasted first success of his ODI career in the 1996 'Friendship' Cup against Pakistan in the tough conditions of Toronto. He emerged as the highest scorer of the series with 220 runs in five matches at an average of 44.00 and a strike rate of 68.53. He won his first ODI Man of the Match award for the 46 runs scored in the low scoring third game of the series. He top scored for India in the Standard Bank International One-Day Series 1996/97 in South Africa with 280 runs from eight games at an average of 35.00 and a strike rate of 60.73, the highlight being a Man of the Match award-winning performance (84 runs, one catch) in the Final of the series that came in a losing cause. He was the second highest run scorer for India in the four-match bilateral ODI series in the West Indies in 1996/97 with 121 runs at an average of 40.33 and a strike rate of 57.61. Dravid's maiden ODI hundred came in a losing cause in the 1997 Pepsi Independence Cup against Pakistan in Chennai. Dravid top scored for India in the quadrangular event with 189 runs from three games at an average of 94.50 and a strike rate of 75.60 however, India failed to qualify for the Final of the series.
However, Dravid's achievements in the ODIs were dwarfed by his failures in the shorter format of the game. 14 runs from two games in the 1996 Pepsi Sharjah Cup; 20 runs from two innings in the Singer World Series; 65 runs from four innings in the 1997 'Friendship' Cup; 88 runs from four games in the 1998 Coca-Cola Triangular Series including a 22-ball five runs and a 21-ball one run innings, both coming against Bangladesh; 32 runs from four games in the 1998 'Friendship' Cup; a slew of such poor performances often forced him to the sidelines of the India ODI squad. By the end of 1998, Dravid had scored 1709 runs in 65 ODIs at a humble average of 31.64 with a poor strike rate of 63.48.
By now, Dravid had been branded as a Test specialist. While he continued to score heavily in Test cricket, his poor strike rate in ODIs came under scanner. He drew criticism for not being able to adjust his style of play to the needs of ODI cricket, his lack of attacking capability and play big strokes. However, Dravid worked hard and re-tooled his game by increasing his range of strokes and adapting his batting style to suit the requirements of ODI cricket. He learned to pace his innings cleverly without going for the slogs.
Dravid's ODI renaissance began during the 1998/99 New Zealand tour. He scored a run-a-ball hundred in the first match of the bilateral ODI series that earned him his third Man of the Match award in ODIs. The hundred came in a losing cause. However, his effort of 51 runs from 71 balls in the Fourth ODI came in India's victory and earned him his second Man of the Match award of the series. He ended as the top scorer of the series with 309 runs from five games at an average of 77.25 and a strike rate of 84.65. Dravid scored a hundred against Sri Lanka in 1998/99 Pepsi Cup at Nagpur adding a record 236 runs for the 2nd wicket with Ganguly, who also scored a hundred in the match. Uncharacteristically, Dravid was the faster of the two scoring 116 of 118 deliveries. In the next match against Pakistan, he bowled four overs and took the wicket of Saeed Anwar, out caught behind by wicket-keeper Nayan Mongia. This was his first wicket in international cricket.
Dravid warmed up for his debut World Cup with two fifties in the 1998–99 Coca-Cola Cup in Sharjah, one each against England and Pakistan. Standing-in as the substitute wicket-keeper in the third match of the series for Nayan Mongia, who got injured during keeping, Dravid effected two dismissals. He first stumped Graeme Hick off Sunil Joshi's bowling, who became Dravid's first victim as a wicket-keeper, and then caught Neil Fairbrother off Ajay Jadeja's bowling. He top scored for India in the tournament, though his last ODI innings before the World Cup was a golden duck against Pakistan, in the Final of the series.
Debut World Cup success
Dravid announced his form in England hitting consecutive fifties against Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire in the warm-up games.
He made his World Cup debut against South Africa at Hove striking a half century, but scored just 13 in the next game against Zimbabwe. India lost both the games. Having lost the first two games, India needed to win the remaining three games of the first round to have any chance of advancing into the Super Six stage. Dravid put up a partnership of 237 runs with Sachin Tendulkar against Kenya at Bristol – a World Cup record – and in the process hit his maiden World Cup hundred, helping India to a 94-run victory. India's designated keeper Mongia left the field at the end of 9th over during Kenyan innings, forcing Dravid to keep the wickets for the rest of the innings. In the absence of injured Nayan Mongia, Dravid played his first ODI as a designated keeper against Sri Lanka at Taunton. Dravid once again staged a record breaking partnership worth 318 runs – the first ever three hundred run partnership in ODI history – but this time with Sourav Ganguly, guiding India to a 157-run win. Dravid scored 145 runs from 129 balls with 17 fours and a six, becoming the second batsman in World Cup history to hit back-to-back hundreds. Dravid struck a fine fifty in the last group match as India defeated England to advance into the Super Six stage. Dravid scored 2, 61 & 29 in the three Super Six matches against Australia, Pakistan & New Zealand respectively. India failed to qualify for the semi-finals having lost to Australia and New Zealand but achieved a consolation victory against Pakistan in a tense game, what with the military conflict going on between the two countries in Kashmir at the same time. Dravid emerged as the top scorer of the tournament with 461 runs from 8 games at an average of 65.85 and a strike rate of 85.52.
Dravid's post-World Cup campaign started on a poor note with just 40 runs coming in 4 games of Aiwa Cup in August 1999. He soon came into his own, top-scoring for India in two consecutive limited-overs series – the Singapore Challenge, the highlight being a hundred in the Final coming in a lost cause, and the DMC Cup, the highlight being a match winning effort (77 runs, 4 catches) in the series decider for which he received man-of-the-match award. Dravid topped the international runs chart for 1999 cricket season across all formats scoring 782 runs from 19 matches. By now, Dravid had started to keep wickets on an infrequent basis with India fielding him as designated wicket-keeper in five out of 10 ODIs played in the three events.
Dravid kick-started his post World Cup Test season with a decent outing against New Zealand in the 3-match home series. His best effort of the series came in the second innings of the First test at Mohali scoring 144, helping India salvage a draw after being bowled out for 83 runs in the First innings. This was Dravid's sixth test hundred but his first test hundred on Indian soil. Dravid did well in the 3–2 series win against New Zealand in the bilateral ODI series, scoring 240 runs in 5 games at an average of 60 and a strike rate of 83.62, ending as the second highest scorer in the series. His career best effort in ODIs came in this series in the second game at Hyderabad where he scored run-a-ball 153 runs which included 15 fours and two sixes. He featured in a 331-run partnership with Tendulkar, which was the highest partnership in ODI cricket history, a record that stood for 15 years until it was broken in 2015. In 1999, Dravid scored 1761 runs in 43 ODIs at an average of 46.34 and a strike rate of 75.16 including 6 hundreds and 8 fifties and featured in two 300+ partnerships.
India toured Australia in December 1999 for a 3-match test series and a triangular ODI tournament. Although Dravid scored a hundred against Tasmania in the practice match, he failed miserably with the bat in the Test series as India slumped to a 0–3 whitewash. He did reasonably well in the 1999–2000 Carlton & United Series scoring 3 fifties in the triangular event however, India failed to qualify for the Final of the tournament.
Dravid's poor form in Tests continued as India suffered a 0–2 whitewash against South Africa in a home series. He had moderate success in the bilateral ODI series against South Africa. He contributed to India's 3–2 series win with 208 runs at an average of 41.60 which included 2 fifties and three wickets at an average of 22.66 topping the bowling average chart for the series. His career best bowling figure of 2/43 from nine overs in the First ODI at Kochi, was also the best bowling figure by any bowler in that particular match.
Rise through the ranks
In February 2000, Tendulkar's resignation from captaincy led to the promotion of Ganguly, the vice-captain then, as the new captain of the Indian team. In May 2000, while Dravid was busy playing county cricket in England, he was appointed as the vice-captain of the Indian team announced for the Asia cup.
India did well in the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy. Indian team, coming out of the shadows of the infamous match fixing scandal, showed a lot of character under the new leadership of Ganguly and Dravid, beating Kenya, Australia and South Africa in consecutive matches to reach the Finals. Although India lost to New Zealand in the Finals, their spirited performance in the tournament helped restoring public faith back in Indian cricket. Dravid scored 157 runs in 4 matches of the tournament, at an average of 52.33, including 2 fifties. Dravid scored 85 runs in a match against Zimbabwe in the 2000–01 Coca-Cola Champions Trophy while opening the innings but was forced to miss the rest of the tournament because of an injury.
India kick started the new Test season with a 9-wicket win against Bangladesh. Dravid played a brisk knock of 41 runs from 49 balls, including 5 fours and a six, while chasing a target of 63 runs. The ensuing test series against Zimbabwe was John Wright's first assignment as Indian coach. Dravid, who was instrumental in Wright's appointment as India's first foreign head coach, welcomed him with his maiden double hundred. He scored 200 not out in the first inning and 70 not out in the second, guiding India to a comfortable 9-wicket victory against Zimbabwe. He scored 162 in the drawn Second test to end the series with an average of 432.00 – highest batting average by an Indian in a series across all formats.
Dravid captained the Indian team for the first time in the fifth match of the bilateral ODI series against Zimbabwe in the absence of Ganguly who was serving suspension. Riding on Agarkar's all-round performance, Dravid led India to a 39-run victory in his maiden ODI as Indian captain.
History at Eden
The Australian team toured India in February 2001 for what was being billed as the Final Frontier for Steve Waugh's all conquering men, who were coming on the back of 15 consecutive Test wins. Dravid failed in the first innings of the First Test but displayed strong resilience in Tendulkar's company in the second innings. Dravid's 196 ball long resistance finally ended when he got out bowled to Warne for 39 runs. Australians extended their winning streak to 16 Tests as they beat India convincingly by 10 wickets inside three days.
The Australian juggernaut seemed unstoppable as they looked on course towards their 17th consecutive victory in the Second Test at the Eden Gardens, when they bowled India out for meagre 171 in the first innings and enforced a follow-on after securing a massive lead of 274 runs. In the second innings, Laxman, who had scored a fine fifty in the first innings, was promoted to no. 3 position which had been Dravid's usual spot for quite sometime now, while Dravid, who had gotten out bowled to Warne for second time in a row in the first innings for just 25 runs, was relegated to no. 6 position. When Dravid joined Laxman in the middle on the third day of the Test, with scoreboard reading 232/4 and India still needing 42 runs to avoid an innings defeat, another convincing win for Australia looked inevitable. Instead, two of them staged one of the greatest fightbacks in cricketing history.
Dravid and Laxman played out the remaining time on the third day and whole of the fourth day, denying Australia any wicket on Day 4. Dravid, angered by the flak that the Indian team had been receiving lately in the media coverage, celebrated his hundred in an uncharacteristic fashion brandishing his bat at the press box. Eventually, Laxman got out on the fifth morning bringing the 376-runs partnership to an end. Dravid soon perished getting run out for 180 while trying to force the pace. Ganguly declared the innings at 657/7, setting Australia a target of 384 runs with 75 overs left in the match. An inspired team India bowled superbly to dismiss Australia for 212 in 68.3 overs. India won the match by 171 runs. This was only the third instance of a team winning a Test after following-on and India became the 2nd team to do so.
Dravid scored 81 runs in the first innings of the Third Test and took 4 catches in the match as India defeated Australia at Chennai in a nail biting finish to clinch the series 2–1. Dravid scored 80 in the first of the 5-match ODI series at his home ground as India won the match by 60 runs. He didn't do too well in the remaining 4 ODIs as Australia won the series 3–2. Dravid topped the averages for the 2000/01 Test season with 839 runs from six matches at an average of 104.87.
Dravid had a decent outing in Zimbabwe, scoring 137 runs from 134 balls in the First Tour game and aggregating 138 runs at an average of 69.00 from the drawn Test series. In the ensuing triangular ODI series, he aggregated 121 runs from 5 matches at an average of 40.33 and a strike rate of 101.68, the highlight being an unbeaten 72 off 64 balls, while chasing a target of 235 against Zimbabwe in the 3rd match of the series, guiding India to a 4-wicket win with four balls to spare. He was adjudged man of the match for his match winning knock.
On the next tour to Sri Lanka, India lost the first three matches of the triangular event. In the absence of suspended Ganguly, Dravid captained the side in the 4th match leading them to their first victory of the series. India won the next two matches to qualify for the Final. Dravid played crucial innings in all the three victories. Eventually, India lost the Final to Sri Lanka. He top scored for India in the series with 259 runs from seven matches at an average of 51.80 and a strike rate of 59.81. Reinstated to his usual no. 3 position in the absence of injured Laxman, Dravid top scored for India in the ensuing 3-Test series as well with 235 runs at an average of 47.00. The highlight for Dravid was 75 runs scored in the tough fourth innings chase of the Second Test – a crucial contribution to India's first Test win in Sri Lanka since 1993 despite the absence of key players like Tendulkar, Laxman, Srinath and Kumble.
Dravid had decent success in Standard Bank tri-series on South Africa tour, scoring 214 runs (including 3 fifties) at an average of 53.50 and a strike rate of 71.81. He also kept wickets in the final two ODIs of the series effecting 3 stumpings. The highlight for Dravid in the ensuing Test series came in the second innings of the Second Test. India, having failed to last hundred overs in any of the previous three innings in the series, needed to bat out four sessions in the Second Test to save the match. They started on a poor note losing their first wicket in the first over with no runs on the scoreboard. However, Dravid forged an important partnership of 171 runs with Dasgupta that lasted for 83.2 overs taking India to the brink of safety. Poor weather helped India salvage a draw as only 96.2 overs could be bowled in the innings. Dravid captained the team in the 'unofficial' Third test in the absence of injured Ganguly, which India lost by an innings margin.
By the end of the South African tour, Dravid had started experiencing problem in his right shoulder. Although he played the ensuing home test series against England, he pulled out of the six-match bilateral ODI series to undergo shoulder rehabilitation program in South Africa. He returned for the Zimbabwe's tour of India but performed below par, scoring a fifty each in the Test series and the bilateral ODI series.
2002–2006: Peak years
Dravid hit the peak form of his career in 2002. Between Season 2002 and Season 2006, Dravid was the second highest scorer overall and top scorer for India across formats, scoring 8,914 runs from 174 matches at an average of 54.02, including 19 hundreds.
Dravid had a decent outing in West Indies in 2002. The highlights for him included – hitting a hundred with a swollen jaw and helping India avoid the follow-on in the process at Georgetown in the drawn First Test; contributing with a fifty and four catches to India's victory in the Second Test at Port of Spain – India's first Test victory in West Indies since 1975–76; and another fifty in the drawn Fourth Test with a wicket to boot – that of Ridley Jacobs who was batting on 118. This was Dravid's only wicket in Test cricket. He played as India's designated keeper in the ODI series but didn't contribute much with the bat in the 2–1 series win.
A quartet of hundreds
India's tour of England in 2002 started with a triangular ODI event involving India, England and Sri Lanka. India emerged as the winners of the series beating England in the Final – their first victory after nine consecutive defeats in one-day finals. Dravid played as designated keeper in six out of seven matches effecting nine dismissals (6 catches, 3 stumpings) – most by a keeper in the series. He also did well with the bat aggregating 245 runs at an average of 49.00 including three fifties. His performance against Sri Lanka in fourth ODI (64 runs, 1 catch) earned him a man of the match award.
India lost the first of the four match Test series. Having conceded a 260 runs lead in the first innings of the Second Test at Nottingham, Indians were in a spot of bother. However, Dravid led the fightback in the second innings with a hundred as Indians managed to earn a draw.
Ganguly won the toss in the Third Test and took a bold decision to bat first on a gloomy overcast morning at Headingley on a pitch known to be traditionally conducive for fast and swing bowling. Having lost an early wicket, Dravid weathered the storm in company of Sanjay Bangar. They played cautiously, taking body blows on a pitch with uneven bounce. Dravid completed his second hundred of the series in the process. As the conditions became more and more conducive for batting, the Indian batsmen piled on England's misery. Indians declared the innings on 628/8 and then bowled England out twice to register their first test victory in England since 1986. Despite being outscored by Tendulkar, Dravid was awarded man of the match for his efforts. Dravid scored a double hundred in the drawn Fourth Test to notch up his second consecutive man of the match award of the series. Christopher Martin-Jenkins noted during the Fourth Test: Dravid aggregated 602 runs in the series from four matches at an average of 100.33, including three hundreds and a fifty and was adjudged joint man of the series along with Michael Vaughan.
India jointly shared the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka. Dravid contributed to India's successful campaign with 120 runs at an average of 60.00 and five dismissals behind the wicket. Dravid scored a hundred in the First Test of the three match home series against West Indies becoming the first Indian batsman to score hundreds in four consecutive Test innings but had to retire soon after owing to severe cramps. Dravid did well in the subsequent bilateral 7-match ODI series aggregating 300 runs at an average of 75.00 and a strike rate of 89.82 including one hundred and two fifties. He also effected 7 dismissals (6 catches, 1 stumping) in the series. India trailing 1–2, needed 325 runs to win the Fourth ODI and level the series. Dravid scored a hundred leading India to a successful chase. He once again scored a crucial fifty in the Sixth ODI as India once again leveled the series after trailing 2–3. India, however, lost the last match to lose the series 3–4.
Dravid top scored for India in the two-match Test series in New Zealand as India slumped to a whitewash. He played as designated keeper in six of the 7-match bilateral ODI series and effected seven dismissals but fared poorly with the bat as India were handed a 2-5 drubbing by the New Zealand.
2003 Cricket World Cup
Dravid arrived in South Africa with the Indian squad to participate in the 2003 Cricket World Cup in the capacity of first-choice keeper-batsman as part of their seven batsmen-four bowlers strategy – an experiment that had brought success to the team in the past year. The idea was that making Dravid keep wickets allowed India to accommodate an extra specialist batsman. The strategy worked out well for India in the World Cup. India recovered from a less than convincing victory against minnows Netherlands and a loss to Australia in the league stage and embarked on a dream run winning eight consecutive matches to qualify for the World Cup Finals for the first time since 1983. India eventually lost the Final to Australia ending as runner-up in the tournament. Dravid contributed to India's campaign with 318 runs at an average of 63.60 and 16 dismissals (15 catches, 1 stumping). Highlights for Dravid in the tournament included a fifty against England, 44 not out against Pakistan in a successful chase and an unbeaten fifty in another successful chase against New Zealand.
Dravid topped the international runs chart for 2003/04 cricket season across formats aggregating 1993 runs from 31 matches at an average of 64.29 including three double hundreds. First of those came against New Zealand in the first of the two-test home series at Ahmedabad. Dravid scored 222 runs in the first innings and 73 runs in the second innings receiving a man of the match award for his efforts. Dravid captained Indian Test Team for the first time in the second game of the series at Mohali in the absence of Ganguly. Both the matches ended in a draw. Dravid top scored in the series with 313 runs at an average of 78.25. India next participated in TVS cup alongside New Zealand and Australia. India lost to Australia in the Final. Dravid scored two fifties in the series but the highlight was his fifty against New Zealand in the ninth match that came in just 22 balls – second fastest fifty by an Indian.
An Eden encore
After earning a draw in the first of the four-match Test series in Australia, Indians found themselves reeling at 85/4 in the Second Test at Adelaide after Australia had piled 556 runs in the first innings when Laxman joined Dravid in the middle. They batted for 93.5 overs bringing about their second 300-run partnership adding 303 runs together before Laxman perished for 148 runs. However, Dravid continued to complete his second double hundred of the season. He was the last man out for 233 runs as India conceded a marginal first innings lead of 33 runs to Australia. India bowled Australia out for paltry score of 196 riding on Agarkar's six-wicket haul, and were set a target of 230 runs to win the match. Dravid helped India tread through a tricky chase with an unbeaten fifty as India registered their first test victory in Australia since 1980/81 to go up 1–0 in the series. This was the first time that Australians were 0-1 down in a home series since 1994. Dravid won the man of the match award for his efforts. Dravid registered a score of ninety each in the next two tests as Australia leveled the series 1–1. Dravid top scored for India in the series with 619 runs at an average of 123.80 and was awarded player of the series for his efforts.
Dravid did moderately well in the ensuing VB series with three fifties in the league stage, all of which came in winning cause. However, India lost the best-of-three finals to Australia 2–0. Dravid was fined half his match fee for applying cough lozenge on the ball during a match in the series against Zimbabwe – an act that was claimed to be an innocent mistake by coach John Wright.
India visited Pakistan in March 2004 to participate in a bilateral Test series for the first time since 1989/90. Prior to the Test series, India participated and won the 5-match ODI series 3–2. Dravid top scored for India in the series with 248 runs at an average of 62.00 and a strike rate of 73.59. Dravid scored 99 runs in the First ODI helping India post an imposing total of 349. He also took the important catch of threatening Inzamam-ul-Haq, who was batting on 122, as India went on to win the match by five runs. When Indians were trailing in the series 1–2, Dravid helped India level the series with an unbeaten fifty during a successful chase in the Fourth ODI.
Captaincy
Dravid captained India in the first two tests in the absence of injured Ganguly and led India to their first-ever Test victory in Pakistan. Dravid, standing in only his second test as team's captain, took a bold and controversial decision during First Test at Multan that divided the cricket fraternity. Pakistani cricketers had been on field for 150+ overs as India posted a total in excess of 600 runs in the first innings. Dravid, who wanted to have a crack at the tired Pakistani batsmen in the final hour of second day's play, declared Indian innings with Tendulkar batting at 194, just six runs short of his double century. While some praised the team before personal milestones approach of the Indian captain, most criticized Dravid's timing of declaration as there were no pressing concerns and there was ample time left in the match to try and bowl Pakistan out twice. While Tendulkar was admittedly disappointed, any rumours of rift between him and Dravid were quashed by both the cricketers and the team management, who claimed that the matter had been discussed and sorted amicably behind closed doors. India eventually went on to win the match by innings margin. Pakistan leveled the series beating India in the Second Test. Dravid slammed a double hundred in the Third Test at Rawalpindi – his third double hundred of the season. He scored 270 runs – his career best performance – before getting out to reverse sweep trying to force the pace. India went on to win the match and the series – their first series victory outside India since 1993. Dravid was adjudged man of the match for his effort.
Dravid was appointed the captain for the Indian team for 2007 World Cup, where India had an unsuccessful campaign.
During India's unsuccessful tour of England in 2011, in which their 4–0 loss cost them the top rank in Test cricket, Dravid made three centuries.
2011 Tour of England
Having regained his form on the tour to West Indies, where he scored a match-winning hundred in Sabina park, Jamaica, Dravid then toured England in what was billed as the series which would decide the World No. 1 ranking in tests.
In the first test at Lord's, in reply to England's 474, Dravid scored an unbeaten 103, his first hundred at the ground where he debuted in 1996. He received scant support from his teammates as India were bowled out for 286 and lost the test. The 2nd test at Trentbridge, Nottingham again saw Dravid in brilliant form. Sent out to open the batting in place of an injured Gautam Gambhir, he scored his second successive hundred. His 117 though, again came in a losing cause, as a collapse of 6 wickets for 21 runs in the first innings led to a massive defeat by 319 runs. Dravid failed in both innings in the third test at Birmingham, as India lost by an innings and 242 runs, one of the heaviest defeats in their history. However, he came back brilliantly in the fourth and final match at The Oval. Again opening the batting in place of Gambhir, he scored an unbeaten 146 out of India's total of 300, carrying his bat through the innings. Once again, though, his efforts were in vain as India lost the match, completing a 0–4 whitewash.
In all, he scored 461 runs in the four matches at an average of 76.83 with three hundreds. He accounted for over 26% of India's runs in the series and was named India's man of the series by England coach Andy Flower. His performance in the series was met with widespread admiration and was hailed by some as one of his finest ever series
Retirement
Rahul Dravid was dropped from the ODI team in 2009, but was selected again for an ODI series in England in 2011, surprising even Dravid himself since, although he had not officially retired from ODI cricket, he had not expected to be recalled. After being selected, he announced that he would retire from ODI cricket after the series. He played his last ODI innings against England at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, on 16 September 2011, scoring 69 runs from 79 balls before being bowled by Graeme Swann. His last limited-overs international match was his debut T20I match; he announced his retirement before playing his first T20I match.
Dravid announced his retirement from Test and domestic cricket on 9 March 2012, after the 2011–12 tour of Australia, but he said that he would captain the Rajasthan Royals in the 2012 Indian Premier League. He was the second-highest run scorer and had taken the highest number of catches in Test cricket at the time of his retirement.
In July 2014, he played for the MCC side in the Bicentenary Celebration match at Lord's.
Coaching
Towards the end of his playing career, Dravid took on a role as mentor of the Rajasthan Royals IPL team, officially taking over in 2014. During this time, he also became involved with the Indian national team, serving as mentor for the team's tour of England in 2014. After leading the Royals to a third-place finish in the 2015 IPL season, he was appointed as the head coach of the India U-19 and India A teams. Dravid achieved immense success as coach, with the U-19s reaching the finals of the 2016 U-19 Cricket World Cup. Two years later, the team went on to win the 2018 U-19 Cricket World Cup, beating Australia by 8 wickets to win their fourth Under-19 World Cup, the most by any national side. Dravid was credited with bringing up future national team players including Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan and Washington Sundar. Alongside his coaching roles, Dravid took on several mentor roles, including at the Delhi Daredevils IPL team.
In July 2019, following his four-year stint as coach of the junior teams, Dravid was appointed Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). He was in charge of "overseeing all cricket related activities at NCA was involved in mentoring, coaching, training and motivating players, coaches and support staff at the NCA". As head of NCA, he was widely praised for developing a steady supply of talent to the senior team and revamping player fitness and rehabilitation regiments.
In November 2021, he was appointed as head coach of the Indian national cricket team.
County stint
Dravid had always been keen on further honing his batting skills in testing English conditions by playing in county cricket. He had discussed about the prospects regarding the same with John Wright, the former New Zealand cricketer and incumbent Kent coach, during India's 1998–99 tour of New Zealand. Wright was particularly impressed with Dravid's performance on that tour, especially his twin hundreds at Hamilton. The talks finally materialized and Dravid made his county debut for Kent in April 2000. His co-debutante Ganguly made his county debuted in the same match, albeit for the opposite team.
Kent offer had come as a welcome change for Dravid. There was too much negativity surrounding Indian cricket marred by match fixing controversy. Dravid himself had been struggling to score runs in Tests for quite some time now. The county stint gave him a chance to "get away to a new environment" and "relax". The wide variety of pitches and weather conditions in England and a full season of intense county cricket against professional cricketers gave him a chance to further his cricketing education and learn things about his game.
Dravid made the most of this opportunity. In his 2nd game for Kent, Dravid scored a fluid 182 propelling them to an innings and 163 runs victory over the touring Zimbabwe side. Out of 7 first class tour games that Zimbabwe played on that tour, Kent was the only team that managed to beat them. Dravid hit another fifty in a draw against Surrey. The newly appointed vice-captain had to leave the county championship temporarily, missing two championship games and two one day games, to fulfill his national commitment. Indian team, Dravid included, fared poorly in the Asia cup and failed to qualify for the Final. Subsequently, Dravid returned to England to resume his county sojourn with Kent.
In July 2000, Kent's away match against Hampshire at Portsmouth was billed as a showdown between two great cricketers- Warne and Dravid. Dravid came out on top. On a dustbowl, tailor-made to suit home team spinners, Warne took 4 wickets but could not take the all important wicket of Dravid. Coming in to bat at 15/2, Dravid faced 295 balls scoring 137 runs – his maiden hundred in county championships. Dravid scored 73 not out in the 2nd innings guiding Kent to a six wicket victory as Warne went wicketless.
In their last county game of the season, Kent needed one bonus point to prevent themselves from being relegated to the Second Division. Dravid made sure they stay put in the First Division by fetching that one bonus point with an inning of 77 runs.
Dravid concluded a successful stint with Kent aggregating 1221 runs from 16 first class matches(15 county games and 1 tour game against Zimbabwe) at an average of 55.50 including 2 hundreds and 8 fifties. He shouldered Kent's batting single-handedly as the second best Kent batsman during the same period, Paul Nixon, scored just 567 runs at an average of 33.35 in 17 matches. Dravid contributed to Kent's county campaign not just with the bat but also with his fielding and bowling taking 14 catches and 4 wickets at an average of 32.00.
Indian Premier League and Champions League
Rahul Dravid played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2008, 2009 and 2010. Later he played for Rajasthan Royals and led it to finals of Champions League T20 in 2013, and play-offs of Indian Premier League in 2013. Dravid announced retirement from Twenty20 after playing the 2013 Champions League Twenty20 in September–October 2013.
Playing style
Dravid was known for his technique, and has been one of the best batsmen for the Indian cricket team. In the beginning, he was known as a defensive batsman who should be confined to Test cricket, and was dropped from the ODI squad due to a low strike rate. However, he later scored consistently in ODIs as well, earning him the ICC Player of the Year award. His nickname of 'The Wall' in Reebok advertisements is now used as his nickname. Dravid has scored 36 centuries in Test cricket, with an average of 52.31; this included five double centuries. In one-dayers, he averaged 39.16, with a strike rate of 71.23. He is one of the few Indians whose Test average is better at away than at home, averaging almost five runs more on foreign pitches. As of 23 September 2010, Dravid's Test average in abroad is 55.53, and his Test average at home is 50.76; his ODI average abroad is 37.93 and his ODI average at home is 43.11. Dravid averages 66.34 runs in Indian Test victories. and 50.69 runs in ODIs.
Dravid's sole Test wicket was of Ridley Jacobs in the fourth Test match against the West Indies during the 2001–2002 series. While he has no pretensions to being a bowler, Dravid often kept wicket for India in ODIs.
Dravid was involved in two of the largest partnerships in ODIs: a 318-run partnership with Sourav Ganguly, the first pair to combine for a 300-run partnership, and then a 331-run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar, which is a world record. He also holds the record for the greatest number of innings played since debut before being dismissed for a duck. His highest scores in ODIs and Tests are 153 and 270 respectively.
He was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2000. Though primarily a defensive batsman, Dravid scored 50 runs not out in 22 balls (a strike rate of 227.27) against New Zealand in Hyderabad on 15 November 2003, the second fastest 50 among Indian batsmen. Only Ajit Agarkar's 67 runs off 21 balls is faster than that of Dravid.
In 2004, Dravid was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. On 7 September 2004, he was awarded the inaugural Player of the year award and the Test player of the year award by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
After reaching 10,000 Test runs milestone, he said, "It's a proud moment for sure. For me, growing up, I dreamt of playing for India. When I look back, I probably exceeded my expectations with what I have done over the last 10 to 12 years. I never had an ambition to do it because I never believed – it is just a reflection of my longevity in the game."
Dravid is also one of the two batsmen to score 10,000 runs at a single batting position and is the fourth highest run scorer in Test cricket, behind Tendulkar, Ponting and Kallis.
Controversies
Ball-tampering incident
In January 2004, Dravid was found guilty of ball tampering during an ODI with Zimbabwe. Match referee Clive Lloyd adjudged the application of an energy sweet to the ball as a deliberate offence, although Dravid himself denied this was his intent. Lloyd emphasised that television footage caught Dravid putting a lozenge on the ball during the Zimbabwean innings on Tuesday night at the Gabba. According to the ICC's Code of Conduct, players are not allowed to apply substances to the ball other than sweat and saliva. Dravid was fined half of his match fee.
Indian coach John Wright came out in defence of Dravid, stating that "It was an innocent mistake". Wright argued that Dravid had been trying to apply saliva to the ball when parts of a losenge he had been chewing stuck to the ball; Dravid then tried to wipe it off. ICC regulations prevented Dravid from commenting about the issue, but former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly also stated that Dravid's act was "just an accident".
Captaincy
Rahul Dravid has had a mixed record when leading India in Tests.
One of Dravid's most debated decisions was taken in March 2004, when he was standing in as the captain for injured Sourav Ganguly. India's first innings was declared at a point when Sachin Tendulkar was at 194 runs not out with 16 overs remaining on Day 2. In this test match Sehwag scored triple century first time. He became the first Indian to score triple century in test with a score of 309.
In March 2006, India lost the Mumbai Test, giving England its first Test victory in India since 1985, enabling it to draw the series 1–1. The defeat in Mumbai was arguably the result of Dravid's decision to bowl first on a flat dry pitch, which later deteriorated and ended with an Indian collapse in the run chase. Coincidentally, it was Dravid's 100th test match in which the Indians were all out for 100 runs in the second innings.
After India failed to qualify for the final of the DLF Cup, Dravid, the skipper, was criticised by former all-rounder Ravi Shastri who said that he was not assertive enough and let Greg Chappell make too many decisions. When asked for a response, Dravid said that Shastri, while a 'fair critic', was 'not privy' to the internal decision-making process of the team.
He was criticised by Vijay Mallya for not picking the team with right balance after his then IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore finished seventh out of the eight teams that participated in the 2008 season.
Achievements and awards
National honours
1998 – Arjuna Award recipient for achievements in cricket
2004 – Padma Shri – India's fourth highest civilian award
2013 – Padma Bhushan – India's third highest civilian award
Other honours
1999 – CEAT International Cricketer of the World Cup
2000 – Dravid was one of the five cricketers selected as Wisden Cricketer of the Year.
2004 – ICC Cricketer of the year – Highest award in the ICC listings
2004 – ICC Test Player of The Year, ICC Cricketer of The Year
2004 – MTV Youth Icon of the Year
2006 – Captain of the ICC's Test Team
2011 – NDTV Indian of the Year's Lifetime Achievement Award with Dev Anand
2012 – Don Bradman Award with Glenn McGrath
2015 – Wisden India's Highest Impact Test Batsman
2018 – ICC Hall of Fame
Personal life
Family
On 4 May 2003 he married Vijeta Pendharkar, a surgeon from Nagpur. Vijeta Pendharkar is also from Deshastha Brahmin community as Dravid. They have two children: Samit, born in 2005, and Anvay, born in 2009. Dravid is fluent in Marathi, Hindi, Kannada and English.
Commercial endorsements
Rahul Dravid has been sponsored by several brands throughout his career including Reebok (1996 – present), Pepsi (1997 present), Kissan (Unknown), Castrol (2001 – present), Hutch
(2003), Karnataka Tourism (2004), Max Life (2005 – present), Bank of Baroda (2005 – present), Citizen (2006 – present), Skyline Construction (2006 – present), Sansui (2007), Gillette (2007 – present), Samsung (2002 – 2004), World Trade Center Noida (2013– present),
CRED (2021-present).
Social commitments
Children's Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA)
UNICEF Supporter and AIDS Awareness Campaign
Biographies
Books
Two biographies have been written on Rahul Dravid and his career:
Rahul Dravid – A Biography written by Vedam Jaishankar (). Publisher: UBSPD Publications. Date: January 2004
The Nice Guy Who Finished First written by Devendra Prabhudesai. Publisher: Rupa Publications. Date: November 2005
A collection of articles, testimonials and interviews related to Dravid was released by ESPNcricinfo following his retirement. The book was titled Rahul Dravid: Timeless Steel.
See also
Sachin Tendulkar
Sourav Ganguly
VVS Laxman
Virendra Sehwag
References
External links
Indian cricketers
India Test cricketers
India One Day International cricketers
India Twenty20 International cricketers
India Test cricket captains
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Karnataka cricketers
South Zone cricketers
Kent cricketers
Scotland cricketers
ACC Asian XI One Day International cricketers
ICC World XI One Day International cricketers
World XI Test cricketers
Royal Challengers Bangalore cricketers
Canterbury cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Rajasthan Royals cricketers
India Blue cricketers
Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup
Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports
1973 births
Living people
Cricketers from Indore
Cricketers from Bangalore
Recipients of the Arjuna Award
International Cricket Council Cricketer of the Year
Marathi people
Indian cricket coaches
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in sports
Indian cricket commentators
Wicket-keepers
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"Moe Segal was a Grey Cup champion Canadian Football League player. He played offensive guard and tackle.\n\nA native Québécois, Segal played football with Ottawa Technical High School. He won the Grey Cup with the champion St. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy team in 1944 (unfortunately Segal was injured just before the championship game and did not get to play.) He played with the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1946 and the Ottawa Trojans in 1947.\n\nReferences\n\n1925 births\nPeople from Outaouais\nOttawa Rough Riders players\nOntario Rugby Football Union players\n2016 deaths\nPlayers of Canadian football from Quebec\nSt. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy football players",
"Sanjay Kumar Rai (born 1 May 1979) is an Indian track and field athlete from Uttar Pradesh, India who specializes in the long jump event. He competed at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games but did not record a valid jump. His personal best jump in IAAF competition is 8.03 m at the 2000 Asian Athletics Championships in Jakarta in 2000, where he won the silver medal.\n\nHe has succeeded T. C. Yohannan of Kerala. Later Amritpal Singh (8.08 m) broke his record in the 10th Federation Cup Athletics Championships at the Nehru Stadium in New Delhi in 2004.\n\nLater in his career he did not get proper support from IAF when he was injured.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\n1979 births\nOlympic athletes of India\nAthletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics\nIndian male long jumpers\nLiving people\nAthletes from Uttar Pradesh"
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"Was there something specific about his Captaincy?",
"One of Dravid's most debated decisions was taken in March 2004, when he was standing in as the captain for injured Sourav Ganguly.",
"Did he ever get injured?",
"I don't know."
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Besides Rahul Dravid standing in as the captain for injured Sourav Ganguly, are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
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Rahul Dravid
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Rahul Dravid has had a mixed record when leading India in Tests. One of Dravid's most debated decisions was taken in March 2004, when he was standing in as the captain for injured Sourav Ganguly. India's first innings was declared at a point when Sachin Tendulkar was at 194 runs not out with 16 overs remaining on Day 2.In this test match Sehwag scored triple century first time. He became the first Indian to score triple century in test with a score of 309. In March 2006, India lost the Mumbai Test, giving England its first Test victory in India since 1985, enabling it to draw the series 1-1. The defeat in Mumbai was arguably the result of Dravid's decision to bowl first on a flat dry pitch, which later deteriorated and ended with an Indian collapse in the run chase. Coincidentally, it was Dravid's 100th test match in which the Indians were all out for 100 runs in the second innings. After India failed to qualify for the final of the DLF Cup, Dravid, the skipper, was criticised by former all-rounder Ravi Shastri who said that he was not assertive enough and let Greg Chappell make too many decisions. When asked for a response, Dravid said that Shastri, while a 'fair critic', was 'not privy' to the internal decision-making process of the team. He was criticised by Vijay Mallya for not picking the team with right balance after his then IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore finished seventh out of the eight teams that participated in the 2008 season. CANNOTANSWER
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He became the first Indian to score triple century in test with a score of 309.
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Rahul Sharad Dravid (; born 11 January 1973) is a former Indian cricketer and captain of the Indian national team, currently serving as its head coach. Prior to his appointment to the senior men's national team, Dravid was the Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), and the head coach of the India Under-19 and India A teams. Under his tutelage, the under-19 team finished runners up at the 2016 U-19 Cricket World Cup and won the 2018 U-19 Cricket World Cup. Known for his sound batting technique, Dravid scored 24,177 runs in international cricket and is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is colloquially known as Mr. Dependable and often referred to as The Wall.
Born in a Marathi family and raised in Bangalore, he started playing cricket at the age of 12 and later represented Karnataka at the under-15, under-17 and under-19 levels. Hailed as The Wall, Dravid was named one of the best five cricketers of the year by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2000 and received the Player of the Year and the Test Player of the Year awards at the inaugural ICC awards ceremony in 2004. In December 2011, he became the first non-Australian cricketer to deliver the Bradman Oration in Canberra.
As of December 2016, Dravid is the fourth-highest run scorer in Test cricket, after Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis. In 2004, after completing his century against Bangladesh in Chittagong, he became the first player to score a century in all the ten Test-playing countries. As of October 2012, he holds the record for the most catches taken by a player (non-wicket-keeper) in Test cricket, with 210. Dravid holds a unique record of never getting out for a Golden duck in the 286 Test innings which he has played. He has faced 31258 balls, which is the highest number of balls faced by any player in test cricket. He has also spent 44152 minutes at the crease, which is the highest time spent on crease by any player in test cricket. Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar are currently the highest scoring partnership in Test cricket history having scored 6920 runs combined when batting together for India.
In August 2011, after receiving a surprise recall in the ODI series against England, Dravid declared his retirement from ODIs as well as Twenty20 International (T20I), and in March 2012, he announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket. He appeared in the 2012 Indian Premier League as captain of the Rajasthan Royals.
Rahul Dravid, along with Glenn McGrath were honoured during the seventh annual Bradman Awards function in Sydney on 1 November 2012. Dravid has also been honoured with the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan award, India's fourth and third highest civilian awards respectively.
In 2014, Rahul Dravid joined the GoSports Foundation, Bangalore as a member of their board of advisors. In collaboration with GoSports Foundation he is mentoring India's future Olympians and Paralympians as part of the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme. Indian badminton player Prannoy Kumar, Para-swimmer Sharath Gayakwad and young Golfer S. Chikkarangappa was part of the initial group of athletes to be mentored by Rahul Dravid. In July 2018, Dravid became the fifth Indian cricketer to be inducted into ICC Hall of Fame.
Early life
Dravid was born in a Marathi-Speaking Brahmin family in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. His family later moved to Bangalore, Karnataka, where he was raised. His mother tongue is Marathi. Dravid's father Sharad Dravid worked for a company that makes jams and preserves, giving rise to the later nickname Jammy. His mother, Pushpa, was a professor of architecture at the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE), Bangalore. Dravid has a younger brother named Vijay. He did his schooling at St. Joseph's Boys High School, Bangalore and earned a degree in commerce from St. Joseph's College of Commerce, Bangalore. He was selected to India's national cricket team while working towards an MBA at St Joseph's College of Business Administration. He is fluent in several languages: Marathi, Kannada, English and Hindi.
Formative years and domestic career
Dravid started playing cricket at the age of 12, and represented Karnataka at the under-15, the under-17 and the under-19 levels. Former cricketer Keki Tarapore first noticed Dravid's talent while coaching at a summer camp in the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Dravid scored a century for his school team. He also played as wicket-keeper.
Dravid made his Ranji Trophy debut in February 1991, while still attending college. Playing alongside future India teammates Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath against Maharashtra in Pune, he scored 82 runs in the match, which ended in a draw. He followed it up with a century against Bengal and three successive centuries after. However, Dravid's first full season was in 1991–92, when he scored two centuries and finished up with 380 runs at an average of 63.30, getting selected for the South Zone cricket team in the Duleep Trophy. Dravid's caught the national team selectors' eye with his good performances for India A in the home series against England A in 1994–95.
International career
Debut
Dravid, who had been knocking at the doors of Indian national cricket team for quite a while with his consistent performance in domestic cricket, received his first national call in October 1994, for the last two matches of the Wills World Series. However, he could not break into the playing eleven. He went back to the domestic circuit and kept knocking harder. So much so, that when the selectors announced the Indian team for the 1996 World Cup sans Dravid, an Indian daily newspaper carried a headline – "Rahul Dravid gets a raw deal". Dravid eventually made his international debut on 3 April 1996 in an ODI against Sri Lanka in the Singer Cup held in Singapore immediately after the 1996 World Cup, replacing Vinod Kambli. He wasn't particularly impressive with the bat, scoring just three runs before being dismissed by Muttiah Muralitharan, but took two catches in the match. He followed it up with another failure in the next game scoring just four runs before getting run out against Pakistan.
In contrast to his ODI debut, his Test debut was rather successful one. Dravid was selected for the Indian squad touring England on the backdrop of a consistent performance in domestic cricket for five years. Fine performances in the tour games including fifties against Gloucestershire and Leicestershire failed to earn him a place in the team for the First Test. He finally made his Test debut at Lord's on 20 June 1996 against England in the Second Test of the series at the expense of injured senior batsman Sanjay Manjrekar. Manjrekar, who was suffering from an ankle injury, was to undergo a fitness test on the morning of the Second Test. Dravid had already been informed that he would play if Manjrekar fails the test. As Manjrekar failed the fitness test, ten minutes before the toss, Sandeep Patil, the then Indian coach, went up to Dravid to inform him that he was indeed going to make his debut that day. Patil recalled years later:
Coming in to bat at no. 7, he forged important partnerships, first with another debutante Sourav Ganguly and then with Indian lower order, securing a vital first innings lead for his team. Dravid scored 95 runs before getting out to the bowling of Chris Lewis. He was just five runs short of a landmark debut hundred when he nicked a Lewis delivery to the keeper and walked even before umpire's decision. He also took his first catch in Test cricket in this match to dismiss Nasser Hussain off the bowling of Srinath. In the next tour game against British Universities, Dravid scored a hundred. He scored another fifty in the first innings of the Third Test. Dravid concluded a successful debut series with an impressive average of 62.33 from two Test matches.
1996–98: A tale of two formats
Dravid's early years in international cricket mirrored his international debut. He had contrasting fortunes in the long and the shorter format of the game. While he straightaway made a name for himself in Test cricket, he had to struggle quite a bit to make a mark in ODIs.
After a successful Test debut in England, Dravid played in the one-off Test against Australia in Delhi – his first Test in India. Batting at no. 6, he scored 40 runs in the first innings. Dravid batted at no. 3 position for the first time in the First Test of the three-match home series against South Africa in Ahmedabad in November 1996. He didn't do too well in the series scoring just 175 runs at a modest average of 29.16.
Two weeks later, India toured South Africa for a three–match Test series. Chasing a target of 395 runs in the First Test, Indian team bundled out meekly for 66 runs on the Durban pitch that provided excessive bounce and seam movement. Dravid, batting at no. 6, was the only Indian batsman who reached double figures in the innings scoring 27 not out. He was promoted to the no. 3 slot again in the second innings of the Second Test, a move that paid rich dividends in the ensuing Test. He almost won the Third Test for India with his maiden test hundred in the first innings scoring 148 runs and another 81 runs in the second innings at Wanderers before the thunderstorms, dim light and Cullinan's hundred saved the day for South Africa enabling them to draw the match. Dravid's performance in this Test earned him his first Man of the Match award in Test cricket. He top scored for India in the series with 277 runs at an average of 55.40.
Dravid continued in the same vein in the West Indies where he once again top scored for India in the five–match Test series aggregating 360 runs at an average of 72.00 including four fifties. 92 runs scored in the first innings of the fifth match in Georgetown earned him a joint Man of the Match award along with Shivnarine Chanderpaul. With this series, Dravid concluded a successful 1996/97 Test season, topping the international runs chart with 852 runs from 12 matches at an average of 50.11 with six fifties and one hundred.
Dravid continued his good run scoring seven fifties in the next eight Tests that included fifties in six consecutive innings (three each against Sri Lanka and Australia), becoming only the second Indian to do so after Gundappa Vishwanath. By the end of 1997/98 Test season, he had scored 15 fifties in 22 Tests which included four scores of nineties but just a solitary hundred.
The century drought came to an end in the 1998/99 Test season when he further raised the bar of his performance scoring 752 runs in seven Tests at an average of 62.66 that included four hundreds and one fifty and in the process topping the runs chart for India for the season. The first of those four hundreds came on the Zimbabwe tour. Dravid top scored in both the innings against Zimbabwe scoring 118 and 44 runs respectively however, India lost the one-off Test.
The Zimbabwe tour was followed by a tour to New Zealand. First Test having been abandoned without a ball being bowled, the series started for Dravid with the first duck of his Test career in the first innings of the Second Test and ended with hundreds in both the innings of the Third Test in Hamilton. He scored 190 and 103 not out in the first and the second innings respectively, becoming only the third Indian batsman, after Vijay Hazare and Sunil Gavaskar, to score a century in both innings of a Test match. Dravid topped the runs table for the series with 321 runs from two matches at an average of 107.00 but could not prevent India from losing the series 0–1.
Later that month, India played a two Test home series against Pakistan. Dravid didn't contribute much with the bat. India lost the First Test but won the Second Test in Delhi riding on Kumble's historic 10-wicket haul. Dravid played his part in the 10-wicket haul by taking a catch to dismiss Mushtaq Ahmed who was Kumble's eighth victim of the innings. The Indo-Pak Test series was followed by the 1998–99 Asian Test Championship. Dravid couldn't do much with the bat as India went on to lose the riot-affected First Test of the championship against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens. India went to Sri Lanka to play the Second Test of the championship. Dravid scored his fourth hundred of the season at Colombo in the first innings of the match. He also effected a brilliant run out of Russel Arnold during Sri Lankan innings fielding at short leg. On the fourth morning, Dravid got injured while fielding at the same position when the ball from Jayawardene's pull shot hit his face through the helmet grill. He didn't come out to bat in the second innings due to the injury. The match ended in a draw as India failed to qualify for the Finals of the championship.
In a stark contrast to his Test career, Dravid had to struggle a lot to make a mark in the ODIs. Between his ODI debut in April 1996 and the end of 1998 calendar year, Dravid regularly found himself in and out of the ODI team.
Dravid tasted first success of his ODI career in the 1996 'Friendship' Cup against Pakistan in the tough conditions of Toronto. He emerged as the highest scorer of the series with 220 runs in five matches at an average of 44.00 and a strike rate of 68.53. He won his first ODI Man of the Match award for the 46 runs scored in the low scoring third game of the series. He top scored for India in the Standard Bank International One-Day Series 1996/97 in South Africa with 280 runs from eight games at an average of 35.00 and a strike rate of 60.73, the highlight being a Man of the Match award-winning performance (84 runs, one catch) in the Final of the series that came in a losing cause. He was the second highest run scorer for India in the four-match bilateral ODI series in the West Indies in 1996/97 with 121 runs at an average of 40.33 and a strike rate of 57.61. Dravid's maiden ODI hundred came in a losing cause in the 1997 Pepsi Independence Cup against Pakistan in Chennai. Dravid top scored for India in the quadrangular event with 189 runs from three games at an average of 94.50 and a strike rate of 75.60 however, India failed to qualify for the Final of the series.
However, Dravid's achievements in the ODIs were dwarfed by his failures in the shorter format of the game. 14 runs from two games in the 1996 Pepsi Sharjah Cup; 20 runs from two innings in the Singer World Series; 65 runs from four innings in the 1997 'Friendship' Cup; 88 runs from four games in the 1998 Coca-Cola Triangular Series including a 22-ball five runs and a 21-ball one run innings, both coming against Bangladesh; 32 runs from four games in the 1998 'Friendship' Cup; a slew of such poor performances often forced him to the sidelines of the India ODI squad. By the end of 1998, Dravid had scored 1709 runs in 65 ODIs at a humble average of 31.64 with a poor strike rate of 63.48.
By now, Dravid had been branded as a Test specialist. While he continued to score heavily in Test cricket, his poor strike rate in ODIs came under scanner. He drew criticism for not being able to adjust his style of play to the needs of ODI cricket, his lack of attacking capability and play big strokes. However, Dravid worked hard and re-tooled his game by increasing his range of strokes and adapting his batting style to suit the requirements of ODI cricket. He learned to pace his innings cleverly without going for the slogs.
Dravid's ODI renaissance began during the 1998/99 New Zealand tour. He scored a run-a-ball hundred in the first match of the bilateral ODI series that earned him his third Man of the Match award in ODIs. The hundred came in a losing cause. However, his effort of 51 runs from 71 balls in the Fourth ODI came in India's victory and earned him his second Man of the Match award of the series. He ended as the top scorer of the series with 309 runs from five games at an average of 77.25 and a strike rate of 84.65. Dravid scored a hundred against Sri Lanka in 1998/99 Pepsi Cup at Nagpur adding a record 236 runs for the 2nd wicket with Ganguly, who also scored a hundred in the match. Uncharacteristically, Dravid was the faster of the two scoring 116 of 118 deliveries. In the next match against Pakistan, he bowled four overs and took the wicket of Saeed Anwar, out caught behind by wicket-keeper Nayan Mongia. This was his first wicket in international cricket.
Dravid warmed up for his debut World Cup with two fifties in the 1998–99 Coca-Cola Cup in Sharjah, one each against England and Pakistan. Standing-in as the substitute wicket-keeper in the third match of the series for Nayan Mongia, who got injured during keeping, Dravid effected two dismissals. He first stumped Graeme Hick off Sunil Joshi's bowling, who became Dravid's first victim as a wicket-keeper, and then caught Neil Fairbrother off Ajay Jadeja's bowling. He top scored for India in the tournament, though his last ODI innings before the World Cup was a golden duck against Pakistan, in the Final of the series.
Debut World Cup success
Dravid announced his form in England hitting consecutive fifties against Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire in the warm-up games.
He made his World Cup debut against South Africa at Hove striking a half century, but scored just 13 in the next game against Zimbabwe. India lost both the games. Having lost the first two games, India needed to win the remaining three games of the first round to have any chance of advancing into the Super Six stage. Dravid put up a partnership of 237 runs with Sachin Tendulkar against Kenya at Bristol – a World Cup record – and in the process hit his maiden World Cup hundred, helping India to a 94-run victory. India's designated keeper Mongia left the field at the end of 9th over during Kenyan innings, forcing Dravid to keep the wickets for the rest of the innings. In the absence of injured Nayan Mongia, Dravid played his first ODI as a designated keeper against Sri Lanka at Taunton. Dravid once again staged a record breaking partnership worth 318 runs – the first ever three hundred run partnership in ODI history – but this time with Sourav Ganguly, guiding India to a 157-run win. Dravid scored 145 runs from 129 balls with 17 fours and a six, becoming the second batsman in World Cup history to hit back-to-back hundreds. Dravid struck a fine fifty in the last group match as India defeated England to advance into the Super Six stage. Dravid scored 2, 61 & 29 in the three Super Six matches against Australia, Pakistan & New Zealand respectively. India failed to qualify for the semi-finals having lost to Australia and New Zealand but achieved a consolation victory against Pakistan in a tense game, what with the military conflict going on between the two countries in Kashmir at the same time. Dravid emerged as the top scorer of the tournament with 461 runs from 8 games at an average of 65.85 and a strike rate of 85.52.
Dravid's post-World Cup campaign started on a poor note with just 40 runs coming in 4 games of Aiwa Cup in August 1999. He soon came into his own, top-scoring for India in two consecutive limited-overs series – the Singapore Challenge, the highlight being a hundred in the Final coming in a lost cause, and the DMC Cup, the highlight being a match winning effort (77 runs, 4 catches) in the series decider for which he received man-of-the-match award. Dravid topped the international runs chart for 1999 cricket season across all formats scoring 782 runs from 19 matches. By now, Dravid had started to keep wickets on an infrequent basis with India fielding him as designated wicket-keeper in five out of 10 ODIs played in the three events.
Dravid kick-started his post World Cup Test season with a decent outing against New Zealand in the 3-match home series. His best effort of the series came in the second innings of the First test at Mohali scoring 144, helping India salvage a draw after being bowled out for 83 runs in the First innings. This was Dravid's sixth test hundred but his first test hundred on Indian soil. Dravid did well in the 3–2 series win against New Zealand in the bilateral ODI series, scoring 240 runs in 5 games at an average of 60 and a strike rate of 83.62, ending as the second highest scorer in the series. His career best effort in ODIs came in this series in the second game at Hyderabad where he scored run-a-ball 153 runs which included 15 fours and two sixes. He featured in a 331-run partnership with Tendulkar, which was the highest partnership in ODI cricket history, a record that stood for 15 years until it was broken in 2015. In 1999, Dravid scored 1761 runs in 43 ODIs at an average of 46.34 and a strike rate of 75.16 including 6 hundreds and 8 fifties and featured in two 300+ partnerships.
India toured Australia in December 1999 for a 3-match test series and a triangular ODI tournament. Although Dravid scored a hundred against Tasmania in the practice match, he failed miserably with the bat in the Test series as India slumped to a 0–3 whitewash. He did reasonably well in the 1999–2000 Carlton & United Series scoring 3 fifties in the triangular event however, India failed to qualify for the Final of the tournament.
Dravid's poor form in Tests continued as India suffered a 0–2 whitewash against South Africa in a home series. He had moderate success in the bilateral ODI series against South Africa. He contributed to India's 3–2 series win with 208 runs at an average of 41.60 which included 2 fifties and three wickets at an average of 22.66 topping the bowling average chart for the series. His career best bowling figure of 2/43 from nine overs in the First ODI at Kochi, was also the best bowling figure by any bowler in that particular match.
Rise through the ranks
In February 2000, Tendulkar's resignation from captaincy led to the promotion of Ganguly, the vice-captain then, as the new captain of the Indian team. In May 2000, while Dravid was busy playing county cricket in England, he was appointed as the vice-captain of the Indian team announced for the Asia cup.
India did well in the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy. Indian team, coming out of the shadows of the infamous match fixing scandal, showed a lot of character under the new leadership of Ganguly and Dravid, beating Kenya, Australia and South Africa in consecutive matches to reach the Finals. Although India lost to New Zealand in the Finals, their spirited performance in the tournament helped restoring public faith back in Indian cricket. Dravid scored 157 runs in 4 matches of the tournament, at an average of 52.33, including 2 fifties. Dravid scored 85 runs in a match against Zimbabwe in the 2000–01 Coca-Cola Champions Trophy while opening the innings but was forced to miss the rest of the tournament because of an injury.
India kick started the new Test season with a 9-wicket win against Bangladesh. Dravid played a brisk knock of 41 runs from 49 balls, including 5 fours and a six, while chasing a target of 63 runs. The ensuing test series against Zimbabwe was John Wright's first assignment as Indian coach. Dravid, who was instrumental in Wright's appointment as India's first foreign head coach, welcomed him with his maiden double hundred. He scored 200 not out in the first inning and 70 not out in the second, guiding India to a comfortable 9-wicket victory against Zimbabwe. He scored 162 in the drawn Second test to end the series with an average of 432.00 – highest batting average by an Indian in a series across all formats.
Dravid captained the Indian team for the first time in the fifth match of the bilateral ODI series against Zimbabwe in the absence of Ganguly who was serving suspension. Riding on Agarkar's all-round performance, Dravid led India to a 39-run victory in his maiden ODI as Indian captain.
History at Eden
The Australian team toured India in February 2001 for what was being billed as the Final Frontier for Steve Waugh's all conquering men, who were coming on the back of 15 consecutive Test wins. Dravid failed in the first innings of the First Test but displayed strong resilience in Tendulkar's company in the second innings. Dravid's 196 ball long resistance finally ended when he got out bowled to Warne for 39 runs. Australians extended their winning streak to 16 Tests as they beat India convincingly by 10 wickets inside three days.
The Australian juggernaut seemed unstoppable as they looked on course towards their 17th consecutive victory in the Second Test at the Eden Gardens, when they bowled India out for meagre 171 in the first innings and enforced a follow-on after securing a massive lead of 274 runs. In the second innings, Laxman, who had scored a fine fifty in the first innings, was promoted to no. 3 position which had been Dravid's usual spot for quite sometime now, while Dravid, who had gotten out bowled to Warne for second time in a row in the first innings for just 25 runs, was relegated to no. 6 position. When Dravid joined Laxman in the middle on the third day of the Test, with scoreboard reading 232/4 and India still needing 42 runs to avoid an innings defeat, another convincing win for Australia looked inevitable. Instead, two of them staged one of the greatest fightbacks in cricketing history.
Dravid and Laxman played out the remaining time on the third day and whole of the fourth day, denying Australia any wicket on Day 4. Dravid, angered by the flak that the Indian team had been receiving lately in the media coverage, celebrated his hundred in an uncharacteristic fashion brandishing his bat at the press box. Eventually, Laxman got out on the fifth morning bringing the 376-runs partnership to an end. Dravid soon perished getting run out for 180 while trying to force the pace. Ganguly declared the innings at 657/7, setting Australia a target of 384 runs with 75 overs left in the match. An inspired team India bowled superbly to dismiss Australia for 212 in 68.3 overs. India won the match by 171 runs. This was only the third instance of a team winning a Test after following-on and India became the 2nd team to do so.
Dravid scored 81 runs in the first innings of the Third Test and took 4 catches in the match as India defeated Australia at Chennai in a nail biting finish to clinch the series 2–1. Dravid scored 80 in the first of the 5-match ODI series at his home ground as India won the match by 60 runs. He didn't do too well in the remaining 4 ODIs as Australia won the series 3–2. Dravid topped the averages for the 2000/01 Test season with 839 runs from six matches at an average of 104.87.
Dravid had a decent outing in Zimbabwe, scoring 137 runs from 134 balls in the First Tour game and aggregating 138 runs at an average of 69.00 from the drawn Test series. In the ensuing triangular ODI series, he aggregated 121 runs from 5 matches at an average of 40.33 and a strike rate of 101.68, the highlight being an unbeaten 72 off 64 balls, while chasing a target of 235 against Zimbabwe in the 3rd match of the series, guiding India to a 4-wicket win with four balls to spare. He was adjudged man of the match for his match winning knock.
On the next tour to Sri Lanka, India lost the first three matches of the triangular event. In the absence of suspended Ganguly, Dravid captained the side in the 4th match leading them to their first victory of the series. India won the next two matches to qualify for the Final. Dravid played crucial innings in all the three victories. Eventually, India lost the Final to Sri Lanka. He top scored for India in the series with 259 runs from seven matches at an average of 51.80 and a strike rate of 59.81. Reinstated to his usual no. 3 position in the absence of injured Laxman, Dravid top scored for India in the ensuing 3-Test series as well with 235 runs at an average of 47.00. The highlight for Dravid was 75 runs scored in the tough fourth innings chase of the Second Test – a crucial contribution to India's first Test win in Sri Lanka since 1993 despite the absence of key players like Tendulkar, Laxman, Srinath and Kumble.
Dravid had decent success in Standard Bank tri-series on South Africa tour, scoring 214 runs (including 3 fifties) at an average of 53.50 and a strike rate of 71.81. He also kept wickets in the final two ODIs of the series effecting 3 stumpings. The highlight for Dravid in the ensuing Test series came in the second innings of the Second Test. India, having failed to last hundred overs in any of the previous three innings in the series, needed to bat out four sessions in the Second Test to save the match. They started on a poor note losing their first wicket in the first over with no runs on the scoreboard. However, Dravid forged an important partnership of 171 runs with Dasgupta that lasted for 83.2 overs taking India to the brink of safety. Poor weather helped India salvage a draw as only 96.2 overs could be bowled in the innings. Dravid captained the team in the 'unofficial' Third test in the absence of injured Ganguly, which India lost by an innings margin.
By the end of the South African tour, Dravid had started experiencing problem in his right shoulder. Although he played the ensuing home test series against England, he pulled out of the six-match bilateral ODI series to undergo shoulder rehabilitation program in South Africa. He returned for the Zimbabwe's tour of India but performed below par, scoring a fifty each in the Test series and the bilateral ODI series.
2002–2006: Peak years
Dravid hit the peak form of his career in 2002. Between Season 2002 and Season 2006, Dravid was the second highest scorer overall and top scorer for India across formats, scoring 8,914 runs from 174 matches at an average of 54.02, including 19 hundreds.
Dravid had a decent outing in West Indies in 2002. The highlights for him included – hitting a hundred with a swollen jaw and helping India avoid the follow-on in the process at Georgetown in the drawn First Test; contributing with a fifty and four catches to India's victory in the Second Test at Port of Spain – India's first Test victory in West Indies since 1975–76; and another fifty in the drawn Fourth Test with a wicket to boot – that of Ridley Jacobs who was batting on 118. This was Dravid's only wicket in Test cricket. He played as India's designated keeper in the ODI series but didn't contribute much with the bat in the 2–1 series win.
A quartet of hundreds
India's tour of England in 2002 started with a triangular ODI event involving India, England and Sri Lanka. India emerged as the winners of the series beating England in the Final – their first victory after nine consecutive defeats in one-day finals. Dravid played as designated keeper in six out of seven matches effecting nine dismissals (6 catches, 3 stumpings) – most by a keeper in the series. He also did well with the bat aggregating 245 runs at an average of 49.00 including three fifties. His performance against Sri Lanka in fourth ODI (64 runs, 1 catch) earned him a man of the match award.
India lost the first of the four match Test series. Having conceded a 260 runs lead in the first innings of the Second Test at Nottingham, Indians were in a spot of bother. However, Dravid led the fightback in the second innings with a hundred as Indians managed to earn a draw.
Ganguly won the toss in the Third Test and took a bold decision to bat first on a gloomy overcast morning at Headingley on a pitch known to be traditionally conducive for fast and swing bowling. Having lost an early wicket, Dravid weathered the storm in company of Sanjay Bangar. They played cautiously, taking body blows on a pitch with uneven bounce. Dravid completed his second hundred of the series in the process. As the conditions became more and more conducive for batting, the Indian batsmen piled on England's misery. Indians declared the innings on 628/8 and then bowled England out twice to register their first test victory in England since 1986. Despite being outscored by Tendulkar, Dravid was awarded man of the match for his efforts. Dravid scored a double hundred in the drawn Fourth Test to notch up his second consecutive man of the match award of the series. Christopher Martin-Jenkins noted during the Fourth Test: Dravid aggregated 602 runs in the series from four matches at an average of 100.33, including three hundreds and a fifty and was adjudged joint man of the series along with Michael Vaughan.
India jointly shared the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka. Dravid contributed to India's successful campaign with 120 runs at an average of 60.00 and five dismissals behind the wicket. Dravid scored a hundred in the First Test of the three match home series against West Indies becoming the first Indian batsman to score hundreds in four consecutive Test innings but had to retire soon after owing to severe cramps. Dravid did well in the subsequent bilateral 7-match ODI series aggregating 300 runs at an average of 75.00 and a strike rate of 89.82 including one hundred and two fifties. He also effected 7 dismissals (6 catches, 1 stumping) in the series. India trailing 1–2, needed 325 runs to win the Fourth ODI and level the series. Dravid scored a hundred leading India to a successful chase. He once again scored a crucial fifty in the Sixth ODI as India once again leveled the series after trailing 2–3. India, however, lost the last match to lose the series 3–4.
Dravid top scored for India in the two-match Test series in New Zealand as India slumped to a whitewash. He played as designated keeper in six of the 7-match bilateral ODI series and effected seven dismissals but fared poorly with the bat as India were handed a 2-5 drubbing by the New Zealand.
2003 Cricket World Cup
Dravid arrived in South Africa with the Indian squad to participate in the 2003 Cricket World Cup in the capacity of first-choice keeper-batsman as part of their seven batsmen-four bowlers strategy – an experiment that had brought success to the team in the past year. The idea was that making Dravid keep wickets allowed India to accommodate an extra specialist batsman. The strategy worked out well for India in the World Cup. India recovered from a less than convincing victory against minnows Netherlands and a loss to Australia in the league stage and embarked on a dream run winning eight consecutive matches to qualify for the World Cup Finals for the first time since 1983. India eventually lost the Final to Australia ending as runner-up in the tournament. Dravid contributed to India's campaign with 318 runs at an average of 63.60 and 16 dismissals (15 catches, 1 stumping). Highlights for Dravid in the tournament included a fifty against England, 44 not out against Pakistan in a successful chase and an unbeaten fifty in another successful chase against New Zealand.
Dravid topped the international runs chart for 2003/04 cricket season across formats aggregating 1993 runs from 31 matches at an average of 64.29 including three double hundreds. First of those came against New Zealand in the first of the two-test home series at Ahmedabad. Dravid scored 222 runs in the first innings and 73 runs in the second innings receiving a man of the match award for his efforts. Dravid captained Indian Test Team for the first time in the second game of the series at Mohali in the absence of Ganguly. Both the matches ended in a draw. Dravid top scored in the series with 313 runs at an average of 78.25. India next participated in TVS cup alongside New Zealand and Australia. India lost to Australia in the Final. Dravid scored two fifties in the series but the highlight was his fifty against New Zealand in the ninth match that came in just 22 balls – second fastest fifty by an Indian.
An Eden encore
After earning a draw in the first of the four-match Test series in Australia, Indians found themselves reeling at 85/4 in the Second Test at Adelaide after Australia had piled 556 runs in the first innings when Laxman joined Dravid in the middle. They batted for 93.5 overs bringing about their second 300-run partnership adding 303 runs together before Laxman perished for 148 runs. However, Dravid continued to complete his second double hundred of the season. He was the last man out for 233 runs as India conceded a marginal first innings lead of 33 runs to Australia. India bowled Australia out for paltry score of 196 riding on Agarkar's six-wicket haul, and were set a target of 230 runs to win the match. Dravid helped India tread through a tricky chase with an unbeaten fifty as India registered their first test victory in Australia since 1980/81 to go up 1–0 in the series. This was the first time that Australians were 0-1 down in a home series since 1994. Dravid won the man of the match award for his efforts. Dravid registered a score of ninety each in the next two tests as Australia leveled the series 1–1. Dravid top scored for India in the series with 619 runs at an average of 123.80 and was awarded player of the series for his efforts.
Dravid did moderately well in the ensuing VB series with three fifties in the league stage, all of which came in winning cause. However, India lost the best-of-three finals to Australia 2–0. Dravid was fined half his match fee for applying cough lozenge on the ball during a match in the series against Zimbabwe – an act that was claimed to be an innocent mistake by coach John Wright.
India visited Pakistan in March 2004 to participate in a bilateral Test series for the first time since 1989/90. Prior to the Test series, India participated and won the 5-match ODI series 3–2. Dravid top scored for India in the series with 248 runs at an average of 62.00 and a strike rate of 73.59. Dravid scored 99 runs in the First ODI helping India post an imposing total of 349. He also took the important catch of threatening Inzamam-ul-Haq, who was batting on 122, as India went on to win the match by five runs. When Indians were trailing in the series 1–2, Dravid helped India level the series with an unbeaten fifty during a successful chase in the Fourth ODI.
Captaincy
Dravid captained India in the first two tests in the absence of injured Ganguly and led India to their first-ever Test victory in Pakistan. Dravid, standing in only his second test as team's captain, took a bold and controversial decision during First Test at Multan that divided the cricket fraternity. Pakistani cricketers had been on field for 150+ overs as India posted a total in excess of 600 runs in the first innings. Dravid, who wanted to have a crack at the tired Pakistani batsmen in the final hour of second day's play, declared Indian innings with Tendulkar batting at 194, just six runs short of his double century. While some praised the team before personal milestones approach of the Indian captain, most criticized Dravid's timing of declaration as there were no pressing concerns and there was ample time left in the match to try and bowl Pakistan out twice. While Tendulkar was admittedly disappointed, any rumours of rift between him and Dravid were quashed by both the cricketers and the team management, who claimed that the matter had been discussed and sorted amicably behind closed doors. India eventually went on to win the match by innings margin. Pakistan leveled the series beating India in the Second Test. Dravid slammed a double hundred in the Third Test at Rawalpindi – his third double hundred of the season. He scored 270 runs – his career best performance – before getting out to reverse sweep trying to force the pace. India went on to win the match and the series – their first series victory outside India since 1993. Dravid was adjudged man of the match for his effort.
Dravid was appointed the captain for the Indian team for 2007 World Cup, where India had an unsuccessful campaign.
During India's unsuccessful tour of England in 2011, in which their 4–0 loss cost them the top rank in Test cricket, Dravid made three centuries.
2011 Tour of England
Having regained his form on the tour to West Indies, where he scored a match-winning hundred in Sabina park, Jamaica, Dravid then toured England in what was billed as the series which would decide the World No. 1 ranking in tests.
In the first test at Lord's, in reply to England's 474, Dravid scored an unbeaten 103, his first hundred at the ground where he debuted in 1996. He received scant support from his teammates as India were bowled out for 286 and lost the test. The 2nd test at Trentbridge, Nottingham again saw Dravid in brilliant form. Sent out to open the batting in place of an injured Gautam Gambhir, he scored his second successive hundred. His 117 though, again came in a losing cause, as a collapse of 6 wickets for 21 runs in the first innings led to a massive defeat by 319 runs. Dravid failed in both innings in the third test at Birmingham, as India lost by an innings and 242 runs, one of the heaviest defeats in their history. However, he came back brilliantly in the fourth and final match at The Oval. Again opening the batting in place of Gambhir, he scored an unbeaten 146 out of India's total of 300, carrying his bat through the innings. Once again, though, his efforts were in vain as India lost the match, completing a 0–4 whitewash.
In all, he scored 461 runs in the four matches at an average of 76.83 with three hundreds. He accounted for over 26% of India's runs in the series and was named India's man of the series by England coach Andy Flower. His performance in the series was met with widespread admiration and was hailed by some as one of his finest ever series
Retirement
Rahul Dravid was dropped from the ODI team in 2009, but was selected again for an ODI series in England in 2011, surprising even Dravid himself since, although he had not officially retired from ODI cricket, he had not expected to be recalled. After being selected, he announced that he would retire from ODI cricket after the series. He played his last ODI innings against England at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, on 16 September 2011, scoring 69 runs from 79 balls before being bowled by Graeme Swann. His last limited-overs international match was his debut T20I match; he announced his retirement before playing his first T20I match.
Dravid announced his retirement from Test and domestic cricket on 9 March 2012, after the 2011–12 tour of Australia, but he said that he would captain the Rajasthan Royals in the 2012 Indian Premier League. He was the second-highest run scorer and had taken the highest number of catches in Test cricket at the time of his retirement.
In July 2014, he played for the MCC side in the Bicentenary Celebration match at Lord's.
Coaching
Towards the end of his playing career, Dravid took on a role as mentor of the Rajasthan Royals IPL team, officially taking over in 2014. During this time, he also became involved with the Indian national team, serving as mentor for the team's tour of England in 2014. After leading the Royals to a third-place finish in the 2015 IPL season, he was appointed as the head coach of the India U-19 and India A teams. Dravid achieved immense success as coach, with the U-19s reaching the finals of the 2016 U-19 Cricket World Cup. Two years later, the team went on to win the 2018 U-19 Cricket World Cup, beating Australia by 8 wickets to win their fourth Under-19 World Cup, the most by any national side. Dravid was credited with bringing up future national team players including Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan and Washington Sundar. Alongside his coaching roles, Dravid took on several mentor roles, including at the Delhi Daredevils IPL team.
In July 2019, following his four-year stint as coach of the junior teams, Dravid was appointed Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). He was in charge of "overseeing all cricket related activities at NCA was involved in mentoring, coaching, training and motivating players, coaches and support staff at the NCA". As head of NCA, he was widely praised for developing a steady supply of talent to the senior team and revamping player fitness and rehabilitation regiments.
In November 2021, he was appointed as head coach of the Indian national cricket team.
County stint
Dravid had always been keen on further honing his batting skills in testing English conditions by playing in county cricket. He had discussed about the prospects regarding the same with John Wright, the former New Zealand cricketer and incumbent Kent coach, during India's 1998–99 tour of New Zealand. Wright was particularly impressed with Dravid's performance on that tour, especially his twin hundreds at Hamilton. The talks finally materialized and Dravid made his county debut for Kent in April 2000. His co-debutante Ganguly made his county debuted in the same match, albeit for the opposite team.
Kent offer had come as a welcome change for Dravid. There was too much negativity surrounding Indian cricket marred by match fixing controversy. Dravid himself had been struggling to score runs in Tests for quite some time now. The county stint gave him a chance to "get away to a new environment" and "relax". The wide variety of pitches and weather conditions in England and a full season of intense county cricket against professional cricketers gave him a chance to further his cricketing education and learn things about his game.
Dravid made the most of this opportunity. In his 2nd game for Kent, Dravid scored a fluid 182 propelling them to an innings and 163 runs victory over the touring Zimbabwe side. Out of 7 first class tour games that Zimbabwe played on that tour, Kent was the only team that managed to beat them. Dravid hit another fifty in a draw against Surrey. The newly appointed vice-captain had to leave the county championship temporarily, missing two championship games and two one day games, to fulfill his national commitment. Indian team, Dravid included, fared poorly in the Asia cup and failed to qualify for the Final. Subsequently, Dravid returned to England to resume his county sojourn with Kent.
In July 2000, Kent's away match against Hampshire at Portsmouth was billed as a showdown between two great cricketers- Warne and Dravid. Dravid came out on top. On a dustbowl, tailor-made to suit home team spinners, Warne took 4 wickets but could not take the all important wicket of Dravid. Coming in to bat at 15/2, Dravid faced 295 balls scoring 137 runs – his maiden hundred in county championships. Dravid scored 73 not out in the 2nd innings guiding Kent to a six wicket victory as Warne went wicketless.
In their last county game of the season, Kent needed one bonus point to prevent themselves from being relegated to the Second Division. Dravid made sure they stay put in the First Division by fetching that one bonus point with an inning of 77 runs.
Dravid concluded a successful stint with Kent aggregating 1221 runs from 16 first class matches(15 county games and 1 tour game against Zimbabwe) at an average of 55.50 including 2 hundreds and 8 fifties. He shouldered Kent's batting single-handedly as the second best Kent batsman during the same period, Paul Nixon, scored just 567 runs at an average of 33.35 in 17 matches. Dravid contributed to Kent's county campaign not just with the bat but also with his fielding and bowling taking 14 catches and 4 wickets at an average of 32.00.
Indian Premier League and Champions League
Rahul Dravid played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2008, 2009 and 2010. Later he played for Rajasthan Royals and led it to finals of Champions League T20 in 2013, and play-offs of Indian Premier League in 2013. Dravid announced retirement from Twenty20 after playing the 2013 Champions League Twenty20 in September–October 2013.
Playing style
Dravid was known for his technique, and has been one of the best batsmen for the Indian cricket team. In the beginning, he was known as a defensive batsman who should be confined to Test cricket, and was dropped from the ODI squad due to a low strike rate. However, he later scored consistently in ODIs as well, earning him the ICC Player of the Year award. His nickname of 'The Wall' in Reebok advertisements is now used as his nickname. Dravid has scored 36 centuries in Test cricket, with an average of 52.31; this included five double centuries. In one-dayers, he averaged 39.16, with a strike rate of 71.23. He is one of the few Indians whose Test average is better at away than at home, averaging almost five runs more on foreign pitches. As of 23 September 2010, Dravid's Test average in abroad is 55.53, and his Test average at home is 50.76; his ODI average abroad is 37.93 and his ODI average at home is 43.11. Dravid averages 66.34 runs in Indian Test victories. and 50.69 runs in ODIs.
Dravid's sole Test wicket was of Ridley Jacobs in the fourth Test match against the West Indies during the 2001–2002 series. While he has no pretensions to being a bowler, Dravid often kept wicket for India in ODIs.
Dravid was involved in two of the largest partnerships in ODIs: a 318-run partnership with Sourav Ganguly, the first pair to combine for a 300-run partnership, and then a 331-run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar, which is a world record. He also holds the record for the greatest number of innings played since debut before being dismissed for a duck. His highest scores in ODIs and Tests are 153 and 270 respectively.
He was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2000. Though primarily a defensive batsman, Dravid scored 50 runs not out in 22 balls (a strike rate of 227.27) against New Zealand in Hyderabad on 15 November 2003, the second fastest 50 among Indian batsmen. Only Ajit Agarkar's 67 runs off 21 balls is faster than that of Dravid.
In 2004, Dravid was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. On 7 September 2004, he was awarded the inaugural Player of the year award and the Test player of the year award by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
After reaching 10,000 Test runs milestone, he said, "It's a proud moment for sure. For me, growing up, I dreamt of playing for India. When I look back, I probably exceeded my expectations with what I have done over the last 10 to 12 years. I never had an ambition to do it because I never believed – it is just a reflection of my longevity in the game."
Dravid is also one of the two batsmen to score 10,000 runs at a single batting position and is the fourth highest run scorer in Test cricket, behind Tendulkar, Ponting and Kallis.
Controversies
Ball-tampering incident
In January 2004, Dravid was found guilty of ball tampering during an ODI with Zimbabwe. Match referee Clive Lloyd adjudged the application of an energy sweet to the ball as a deliberate offence, although Dravid himself denied this was his intent. Lloyd emphasised that television footage caught Dravid putting a lozenge on the ball during the Zimbabwean innings on Tuesday night at the Gabba. According to the ICC's Code of Conduct, players are not allowed to apply substances to the ball other than sweat and saliva. Dravid was fined half of his match fee.
Indian coach John Wright came out in defence of Dravid, stating that "It was an innocent mistake". Wright argued that Dravid had been trying to apply saliva to the ball when parts of a losenge he had been chewing stuck to the ball; Dravid then tried to wipe it off. ICC regulations prevented Dravid from commenting about the issue, but former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly also stated that Dravid's act was "just an accident".
Captaincy
Rahul Dravid has had a mixed record when leading India in Tests.
One of Dravid's most debated decisions was taken in March 2004, when he was standing in as the captain for injured Sourav Ganguly. India's first innings was declared at a point when Sachin Tendulkar was at 194 runs not out with 16 overs remaining on Day 2. In this test match Sehwag scored triple century first time. He became the first Indian to score triple century in test with a score of 309.
In March 2006, India lost the Mumbai Test, giving England its first Test victory in India since 1985, enabling it to draw the series 1–1. The defeat in Mumbai was arguably the result of Dravid's decision to bowl first on a flat dry pitch, which later deteriorated and ended with an Indian collapse in the run chase. Coincidentally, it was Dravid's 100th test match in which the Indians were all out for 100 runs in the second innings.
After India failed to qualify for the final of the DLF Cup, Dravid, the skipper, was criticised by former all-rounder Ravi Shastri who said that he was not assertive enough and let Greg Chappell make too many decisions. When asked for a response, Dravid said that Shastri, while a 'fair critic', was 'not privy' to the internal decision-making process of the team.
He was criticised by Vijay Mallya for not picking the team with right balance after his then IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore finished seventh out of the eight teams that participated in the 2008 season.
Achievements and awards
National honours
1998 – Arjuna Award recipient for achievements in cricket
2004 – Padma Shri – India's fourth highest civilian award
2013 – Padma Bhushan – India's third highest civilian award
Other honours
1999 – CEAT International Cricketer of the World Cup
2000 – Dravid was one of the five cricketers selected as Wisden Cricketer of the Year.
2004 – ICC Cricketer of the year – Highest award in the ICC listings
2004 – ICC Test Player of The Year, ICC Cricketer of The Year
2004 – MTV Youth Icon of the Year
2006 – Captain of the ICC's Test Team
2011 – NDTV Indian of the Year's Lifetime Achievement Award with Dev Anand
2012 – Don Bradman Award with Glenn McGrath
2015 – Wisden India's Highest Impact Test Batsman
2018 – ICC Hall of Fame
Personal life
Family
On 4 May 2003 he married Vijeta Pendharkar, a surgeon from Nagpur. Vijeta Pendharkar is also from Deshastha Brahmin community as Dravid. They have two children: Samit, born in 2005, and Anvay, born in 2009. Dravid is fluent in Marathi, Hindi, Kannada and English.
Commercial endorsements
Rahul Dravid has been sponsored by several brands throughout his career including Reebok (1996 – present), Pepsi (1997 present), Kissan (Unknown), Castrol (2001 – present), Hutch
(2003), Karnataka Tourism (2004), Max Life (2005 – present), Bank of Baroda (2005 – present), Citizen (2006 – present), Skyline Construction (2006 – present), Sansui (2007), Gillette (2007 – present), Samsung (2002 – 2004), World Trade Center Noida (2013– present),
CRED (2021-present).
Social commitments
Children's Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA)
UNICEF Supporter and AIDS Awareness Campaign
Biographies
Books
Two biographies have been written on Rahul Dravid and his career:
Rahul Dravid – A Biography written by Vedam Jaishankar (). Publisher: UBSPD Publications. Date: January 2004
The Nice Guy Who Finished First written by Devendra Prabhudesai. Publisher: Rupa Publications. Date: November 2005
A collection of articles, testimonials and interviews related to Dravid was released by ESPNcricinfo following his retirement. The book was titled Rahul Dravid: Timeless Steel.
See also
Sachin Tendulkar
Sourav Ganguly
VVS Laxman
Virendra Sehwag
References
External links
Indian cricketers
India Test cricketers
India One Day International cricketers
India Twenty20 International cricketers
India Test cricket captains
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Karnataka cricketers
South Zone cricketers
Kent cricketers
Scotland cricketers
ACC Asian XI One Day International cricketers
ICC World XI One Day International cricketers
World XI Test cricketers
Royal Challengers Bangalore cricketers
Canterbury cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Rajasthan Royals cricketers
India Blue cricketers
Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup
Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports
1973 births
Living people
Cricketers from Indore
Cricketers from Bangalore
Recipients of the Arjuna Award
International Cricket Council Cricketer of the Year
Marathi people
Indian cricket coaches
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in sports
Indian cricket commentators
Wicket-keepers
| 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"
] |
[
"Rahul Dravid",
"Captaincy",
"Was there something specific about his Captaincy?",
"One of Dravid's most debated decisions was taken in March 2004, when he was standing in as the captain for injured Sourav Ganguly.",
"Did he ever get injured?",
"I don't know.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"He became the first Indian to score triple century in test with a score of 309."
] |
C_02d17588936549f7a97bfb36dea463e8_0
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Did he ever get any awards or titles?
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Did Rahul Dravid ever get any awards or titles?
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Rahul Dravid
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Rahul Dravid has had a mixed record when leading India in Tests. One of Dravid's most debated decisions was taken in March 2004, when he was standing in as the captain for injured Sourav Ganguly. India's first innings was declared at a point when Sachin Tendulkar was at 194 runs not out with 16 overs remaining on Day 2.In this test match Sehwag scored triple century first time. He became the first Indian to score triple century in test with a score of 309. In March 2006, India lost the Mumbai Test, giving England its first Test victory in India since 1985, enabling it to draw the series 1-1. The defeat in Mumbai was arguably the result of Dravid's decision to bowl first on a flat dry pitch, which later deteriorated and ended with an Indian collapse in the run chase. Coincidentally, it was Dravid's 100th test match in which the Indians were all out for 100 runs in the second innings. After India failed to qualify for the final of the DLF Cup, Dravid, the skipper, was criticised by former all-rounder Ravi Shastri who said that he was not assertive enough and let Greg Chappell make too many decisions. When asked for a response, Dravid said that Shastri, while a 'fair critic', was 'not privy' to the internal decision-making process of the team. He was criticised by Vijay Mallya for not picking the team with right balance after his then IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore finished seventh out of the eight teams that participated in the 2008 season. CANNOTANSWER
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Rahul Dravid has had a mixed record when leading India in Tests.
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Rahul Sharad Dravid (; born 11 January 1973) is a former Indian cricketer and captain of the Indian national team, currently serving as its head coach. Prior to his appointment to the senior men's national team, Dravid was the Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), and the head coach of the India Under-19 and India A teams. Under his tutelage, the under-19 team finished runners up at the 2016 U-19 Cricket World Cup and won the 2018 U-19 Cricket World Cup. Known for his sound batting technique, Dravid scored 24,177 runs in international cricket and is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is colloquially known as Mr. Dependable and often referred to as The Wall.
Born in a Marathi family and raised in Bangalore, he started playing cricket at the age of 12 and later represented Karnataka at the under-15, under-17 and under-19 levels. Hailed as The Wall, Dravid was named one of the best five cricketers of the year by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2000 and received the Player of the Year and the Test Player of the Year awards at the inaugural ICC awards ceremony in 2004. In December 2011, he became the first non-Australian cricketer to deliver the Bradman Oration in Canberra.
As of December 2016, Dravid is the fourth-highest run scorer in Test cricket, after Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis. In 2004, after completing his century against Bangladesh in Chittagong, he became the first player to score a century in all the ten Test-playing countries. As of October 2012, he holds the record for the most catches taken by a player (non-wicket-keeper) in Test cricket, with 210. Dravid holds a unique record of never getting out for a Golden duck in the 286 Test innings which he has played. He has faced 31258 balls, which is the highest number of balls faced by any player in test cricket. He has also spent 44152 minutes at the crease, which is the highest time spent on crease by any player in test cricket. Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar are currently the highest scoring partnership in Test cricket history having scored 6920 runs combined when batting together for India.
In August 2011, after receiving a surprise recall in the ODI series against England, Dravid declared his retirement from ODIs as well as Twenty20 International (T20I), and in March 2012, he announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket. He appeared in the 2012 Indian Premier League as captain of the Rajasthan Royals.
Rahul Dravid, along with Glenn McGrath were honoured during the seventh annual Bradman Awards function in Sydney on 1 November 2012. Dravid has also been honoured with the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan award, India's fourth and third highest civilian awards respectively.
In 2014, Rahul Dravid joined the GoSports Foundation, Bangalore as a member of their board of advisors. In collaboration with GoSports Foundation he is mentoring India's future Olympians and Paralympians as part of the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme. Indian badminton player Prannoy Kumar, Para-swimmer Sharath Gayakwad and young Golfer S. Chikkarangappa was part of the initial group of athletes to be mentored by Rahul Dravid. In July 2018, Dravid became the fifth Indian cricketer to be inducted into ICC Hall of Fame.
Early life
Dravid was born in a Marathi-Speaking Brahmin family in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. His family later moved to Bangalore, Karnataka, where he was raised. His mother tongue is Marathi. Dravid's father Sharad Dravid worked for a company that makes jams and preserves, giving rise to the later nickname Jammy. His mother, Pushpa, was a professor of architecture at the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE), Bangalore. Dravid has a younger brother named Vijay. He did his schooling at St. Joseph's Boys High School, Bangalore and earned a degree in commerce from St. Joseph's College of Commerce, Bangalore. He was selected to India's national cricket team while working towards an MBA at St Joseph's College of Business Administration. He is fluent in several languages: Marathi, Kannada, English and Hindi.
Formative years and domestic career
Dravid started playing cricket at the age of 12, and represented Karnataka at the under-15, the under-17 and the under-19 levels. Former cricketer Keki Tarapore first noticed Dravid's talent while coaching at a summer camp in the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Dravid scored a century for his school team. He also played as wicket-keeper.
Dravid made his Ranji Trophy debut in February 1991, while still attending college. Playing alongside future India teammates Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath against Maharashtra in Pune, he scored 82 runs in the match, which ended in a draw. He followed it up with a century against Bengal and three successive centuries after. However, Dravid's first full season was in 1991–92, when he scored two centuries and finished up with 380 runs at an average of 63.30, getting selected for the South Zone cricket team in the Duleep Trophy. Dravid's caught the national team selectors' eye with his good performances for India A in the home series against England A in 1994–95.
International career
Debut
Dravid, who had been knocking at the doors of Indian national cricket team for quite a while with his consistent performance in domestic cricket, received his first national call in October 1994, for the last two matches of the Wills World Series. However, he could not break into the playing eleven. He went back to the domestic circuit and kept knocking harder. So much so, that when the selectors announced the Indian team for the 1996 World Cup sans Dravid, an Indian daily newspaper carried a headline – "Rahul Dravid gets a raw deal". Dravid eventually made his international debut on 3 April 1996 in an ODI against Sri Lanka in the Singer Cup held in Singapore immediately after the 1996 World Cup, replacing Vinod Kambli. He wasn't particularly impressive with the bat, scoring just three runs before being dismissed by Muttiah Muralitharan, but took two catches in the match. He followed it up with another failure in the next game scoring just four runs before getting run out against Pakistan.
In contrast to his ODI debut, his Test debut was rather successful one. Dravid was selected for the Indian squad touring England on the backdrop of a consistent performance in domestic cricket for five years. Fine performances in the tour games including fifties against Gloucestershire and Leicestershire failed to earn him a place in the team for the First Test. He finally made his Test debut at Lord's on 20 June 1996 against England in the Second Test of the series at the expense of injured senior batsman Sanjay Manjrekar. Manjrekar, who was suffering from an ankle injury, was to undergo a fitness test on the morning of the Second Test. Dravid had already been informed that he would play if Manjrekar fails the test. As Manjrekar failed the fitness test, ten minutes before the toss, Sandeep Patil, the then Indian coach, went up to Dravid to inform him that he was indeed going to make his debut that day. Patil recalled years later:
Coming in to bat at no. 7, he forged important partnerships, first with another debutante Sourav Ganguly and then with Indian lower order, securing a vital first innings lead for his team. Dravid scored 95 runs before getting out to the bowling of Chris Lewis. He was just five runs short of a landmark debut hundred when he nicked a Lewis delivery to the keeper and walked even before umpire's decision. He also took his first catch in Test cricket in this match to dismiss Nasser Hussain off the bowling of Srinath. In the next tour game against British Universities, Dravid scored a hundred. He scored another fifty in the first innings of the Third Test. Dravid concluded a successful debut series with an impressive average of 62.33 from two Test matches.
1996–98: A tale of two formats
Dravid's early years in international cricket mirrored his international debut. He had contrasting fortunes in the long and the shorter format of the game. While he straightaway made a name for himself in Test cricket, he had to struggle quite a bit to make a mark in ODIs.
After a successful Test debut in England, Dravid played in the one-off Test against Australia in Delhi – his first Test in India. Batting at no. 6, he scored 40 runs in the first innings. Dravid batted at no. 3 position for the first time in the First Test of the three-match home series against South Africa in Ahmedabad in November 1996. He didn't do too well in the series scoring just 175 runs at a modest average of 29.16.
Two weeks later, India toured South Africa for a three–match Test series. Chasing a target of 395 runs in the First Test, Indian team bundled out meekly for 66 runs on the Durban pitch that provided excessive bounce and seam movement. Dravid, batting at no. 6, was the only Indian batsman who reached double figures in the innings scoring 27 not out. He was promoted to the no. 3 slot again in the second innings of the Second Test, a move that paid rich dividends in the ensuing Test. He almost won the Third Test for India with his maiden test hundred in the first innings scoring 148 runs and another 81 runs in the second innings at Wanderers before the thunderstorms, dim light and Cullinan's hundred saved the day for South Africa enabling them to draw the match. Dravid's performance in this Test earned him his first Man of the Match award in Test cricket. He top scored for India in the series with 277 runs at an average of 55.40.
Dravid continued in the same vein in the West Indies where he once again top scored for India in the five–match Test series aggregating 360 runs at an average of 72.00 including four fifties. 92 runs scored in the first innings of the fifth match in Georgetown earned him a joint Man of the Match award along with Shivnarine Chanderpaul. With this series, Dravid concluded a successful 1996/97 Test season, topping the international runs chart with 852 runs from 12 matches at an average of 50.11 with six fifties and one hundred.
Dravid continued his good run scoring seven fifties in the next eight Tests that included fifties in six consecutive innings (three each against Sri Lanka and Australia), becoming only the second Indian to do so after Gundappa Vishwanath. By the end of 1997/98 Test season, he had scored 15 fifties in 22 Tests which included four scores of nineties but just a solitary hundred.
The century drought came to an end in the 1998/99 Test season when he further raised the bar of his performance scoring 752 runs in seven Tests at an average of 62.66 that included four hundreds and one fifty and in the process topping the runs chart for India for the season. The first of those four hundreds came on the Zimbabwe tour. Dravid top scored in both the innings against Zimbabwe scoring 118 and 44 runs respectively however, India lost the one-off Test.
The Zimbabwe tour was followed by a tour to New Zealand. First Test having been abandoned without a ball being bowled, the series started for Dravid with the first duck of his Test career in the first innings of the Second Test and ended with hundreds in both the innings of the Third Test in Hamilton. He scored 190 and 103 not out in the first and the second innings respectively, becoming only the third Indian batsman, after Vijay Hazare and Sunil Gavaskar, to score a century in both innings of a Test match. Dravid topped the runs table for the series with 321 runs from two matches at an average of 107.00 but could not prevent India from losing the series 0–1.
Later that month, India played a two Test home series against Pakistan. Dravid didn't contribute much with the bat. India lost the First Test but won the Second Test in Delhi riding on Kumble's historic 10-wicket haul. Dravid played his part in the 10-wicket haul by taking a catch to dismiss Mushtaq Ahmed who was Kumble's eighth victim of the innings. The Indo-Pak Test series was followed by the 1998–99 Asian Test Championship. Dravid couldn't do much with the bat as India went on to lose the riot-affected First Test of the championship against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens. India went to Sri Lanka to play the Second Test of the championship. Dravid scored his fourth hundred of the season at Colombo in the first innings of the match. He also effected a brilliant run out of Russel Arnold during Sri Lankan innings fielding at short leg. On the fourth morning, Dravid got injured while fielding at the same position when the ball from Jayawardene's pull shot hit his face through the helmet grill. He didn't come out to bat in the second innings due to the injury. The match ended in a draw as India failed to qualify for the Finals of the championship.
In a stark contrast to his Test career, Dravid had to struggle a lot to make a mark in the ODIs. Between his ODI debut in April 1996 and the end of 1998 calendar year, Dravid regularly found himself in and out of the ODI team.
Dravid tasted first success of his ODI career in the 1996 'Friendship' Cup against Pakistan in the tough conditions of Toronto. He emerged as the highest scorer of the series with 220 runs in five matches at an average of 44.00 and a strike rate of 68.53. He won his first ODI Man of the Match award for the 46 runs scored in the low scoring third game of the series. He top scored for India in the Standard Bank International One-Day Series 1996/97 in South Africa with 280 runs from eight games at an average of 35.00 and a strike rate of 60.73, the highlight being a Man of the Match award-winning performance (84 runs, one catch) in the Final of the series that came in a losing cause. He was the second highest run scorer for India in the four-match bilateral ODI series in the West Indies in 1996/97 with 121 runs at an average of 40.33 and a strike rate of 57.61. Dravid's maiden ODI hundred came in a losing cause in the 1997 Pepsi Independence Cup against Pakistan in Chennai. Dravid top scored for India in the quadrangular event with 189 runs from three games at an average of 94.50 and a strike rate of 75.60 however, India failed to qualify for the Final of the series.
However, Dravid's achievements in the ODIs were dwarfed by his failures in the shorter format of the game. 14 runs from two games in the 1996 Pepsi Sharjah Cup; 20 runs from two innings in the Singer World Series; 65 runs from four innings in the 1997 'Friendship' Cup; 88 runs from four games in the 1998 Coca-Cola Triangular Series including a 22-ball five runs and a 21-ball one run innings, both coming against Bangladesh; 32 runs from four games in the 1998 'Friendship' Cup; a slew of such poor performances often forced him to the sidelines of the India ODI squad. By the end of 1998, Dravid had scored 1709 runs in 65 ODIs at a humble average of 31.64 with a poor strike rate of 63.48.
By now, Dravid had been branded as a Test specialist. While he continued to score heavily in Test cricket, his poor strike rate in ODIs came under scanner. He drew criticism for not being able to adjust his style of play to the needs of ODI cricket, his lack of attacking capability and play big strokes. However, Dravid worked hard and re-tooled his game by increasing his range of strokes and adapting his batting style to suit the requirements of ODI cricket. He learned to pace his innings cleverly without going for the slogs.
Dravid's ODI renaissance began during the 1998/99 New Zealand tour. He scored a run-a-ball hundred in the first match of the bilateral ODI series that earned him his third Man of the Match award in ODIs. The hundred came in a losing cause. However, his effort of 51 runs from 71 balls in the Fourth ODI came in India's victory and earned him his second Man of the Match award of the series. He ended as the top scorer of the series with 309 runs from five games at an average of 77.25 and a strike rate of 84.65. Dravid scored a hundred against Sri Lanka in 1998/99 Pepsi Cup at Nagpur adding a record 236 runs for the 2nd wicket with Ganguly, who also scored a hundred in the match. Uncharacteristically, Dravid was the faster of the two scoring 116 of 118 deliveries. In the next match against Pakistan, he bowled four overs and took the wicket of Saeed Anwar, out caught behind by wicket-keeper Nayan Mongia. This was his first wicket in international cricket.
Dravid warmed up for his debut World Cup with two fifties in the 1998–99 Coca-Cola Cup in Sharjah, one each against England and Pakistan. Standing-in as the substitute wicket-keeper in the third match of the series for Nayan Mongia, who got injured during keeping, Dravid effected two dismissals. He first stumped Graeme Hick off Sunil Joshi's bowling, who became Dravid's first victim as a wicket-keeper, and then caught Neil Fairbrother off Ajay Jadeja's bowling. He top scored for India in the tournament, though his last ODI innings before the World Cup was a golden duck against Pakistan, in the Final of the series.
Debut World Cup success
Dravid announced his form in England hitting consecutive fifties against Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire in the warm-up games.
He made his World Cup debut against South Africa at Hove striking a half century, but scored just 13 in the next game against Zimbabwe. India lost both the games. Having lost the first two games, India needed to win the remaining three games of the first round to have any chance of advancing into the Super Six stage. Dravid put up a partnership of 237 runs with Sachin Tendulkar against Kenya at Bristol – a World Cup record – and in the process hit his maiden World Cup hundred, helping India to a 94-run victory. India's designated keeper Mongia left the field at the end of 9th over during Kenyan innings, forcing Dravid to keep the wickets for the rest of the innings. In the absence of injured Nayan Mongia, Dravid played his first ODI as a designated keeper against Sri Lanka at Taunton. Dravid once again staged a record breaking partnership worth 318 runs – the first ever three hundred run partnership in ODI history – but this time with Sourav Ganguly, guiding India to a 157-run win. Dravid scored 145 runs from 129 balls with 17 fours and a six, becoming the second batsman in World Cup history to hit back-to-back hundreds. Dravid struck a fine fifty in the last group match as India defeated England to advance into the Super Six stage. Dravid scored 2, 61 & 29 in the three Super Six matches against Australia, Pakistan & New Zealand respectively. India failed to qualify for the semi-finals having lost to Australia and New Zealand but achieved a consolation victory against Pakistan in a tense game, what with the military conflict going on between the two countries in Kashmir at the same time. Dravid emerged as the top scorer of the tournament with 461 runs from 8 games at an average of 65.85 and a strike rate of 85.52.
Dravid's post-World Cup campaign started on a poor note with just 40 runs coming in 4 games of Aiwa Cup in August 1999. He soon came into his own, top-scoring for India in two consecutive limited-overs series – the Singapore Challenge, the highlight being a hundred in the Final coming in a lost cause, and the DMC Cup, the highlight being a match winning effort (77 runs, 4 catches) in the series decider for which he received man-of-the-match award. Dravid topped the international runs chart for 1999 cricket season across all formats scoring 782 runs from 19 matches. By now, Dravid had started to keep wickets on an infrequent basis with India fielding him as designated wicket-keeper in five out of 10 ODIs played in the three events.
Dravid kick-started his post World Cup Test season with a decent outing against New Zealand in the 3-match home series. His best effort of the series came in the second innings of the First test at Mohali scoring 144, helping India salvage a draw after being bowled out for 83 runs in the First innings. This was Dravid's sixth test hundred but his first test hundred on Indian soil. Dravid did well in the 3–2 series win against New Zealand in the bilateral ODI series, scoring 240 runs in 5 games at an average of 60 and a strike rate of 83.62, ending as the second highest scorer in the series. His career best effort in ODIs came in this series in the second game at Hyderabad where he scored run-a-ball 153 runs which included 15 fours and two sixes. He featured in a 331-run partnership with Tendulkar, which was the highest partnership in ODI cricket history, a record that stood for 15 years until it was broken in 2015. In 1999, Dravid scored 1761 runs in 43 ODIs at an average of 46.34 and a strike rate of 75.16 including 6 hundreds and 8 fifties and featured in two 300+ partnerships.
India toured Australia in December 1999 for a 3-match test series and a triangular ODI tournament. Although Dravid scored a hundred against Tasmania in the practice match, he failed miserably with the bat in the Test series as India slumped to a 0–3 whitewash. He did reasonably well in the 1999–2000 Carlton & United Series scoring 3 fifties in the triangular event however, India failed to qualify for the Final of the tournament.
Dravid's poor form in Tests continued as India suffered a 0–2 whitewash against South Africa in a home series. He had moderate success in the bilateral ODI series against South Africa. He contributed to India's 3–2 series win with 208 runs at an average of 41.60 which included 2 fifties and three wickets at an average of 22.66 topping the bowling average chart for the series. His career best bowling figure of 2/43 from nine overs in the First ODI at Kochi, was also the best bowling figure by any bowler in that particular match.
Rise through the ranks
In February 2000, Tendulkar's resignation from captaincy led to the promotion of Ganguly, the vice-captain then, as the new captain of the Indian team. In May 2000, while Dravid was busy playing county cricket in England, he was appointed as the vice-captain of the Indian team announced for the Asia cup.
India did well in the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy. Indian team, coming out of the shadows of the infamous match fixing scandal, showed a lot of character under the new leadership of Ganguly and Dravid, beating Kenya, Australia and South Africa in consecutive matches to reach the Finals. Although India lost to New Zealand in the Finals, their spirited performance in the tournament helped restoring public faith back in Indian cricket. Dravid scored 157 runs in 4 matches of the tournament, at an average of 52.33, including 2 fifties. Dravid scored 85 runs in a match against Zimbabwe in the 2000–01 Coca-Cola Champions Trophy while opening the innings but was forced to miss the rest of the tournament because of an injury.
India kick started the new Test season with a 9-wicket win against Bangladesh. Dravid played a brisk knock of 41 runs from 49 balls, including 5 fours and a six, while chasing a target of 63 runs. The ensuing test series against Zimbabwe was John Wright's first assignment as Indian coach. Dravid, who was instrumental in Wright's appointment as India's first foreign head coach, welcomed him with his maiden double hundred. He scored 200 not out in the first inning and 70 not out in the second, guiding India to a comfortable 9-wicket victory against Zimbabwe. He scored 162 in the drawn Second test to end the series with an average of 432.00 – highest batting average by an Indian in a series across all formats.
Dravid captained the Indian team for the first time in the fifth match of the bilateral ODI series against Zimbabwe in the absence of Ganguly who was serving suspension. Riding on Agarkar's all-round performance, Dravid led India to a 39-run victory in his maiden ODI as Indian captain.
History at Eden
The Australian team toured India in February 2001 for what was being billed as the Final Frontier for Steve Waugh's all conquering men, who were coming on the back of 15 consecutive Test wins. Dravid failed in the first innings of the First Test but displayed strong resilience in Tendulkar's company in the second innings. Dravid's 196 ball long resistance finally ended when he got out bowled to Warne for 39 runs. Australians extended their winning streak to 16 Tests as they beat India convincingly by 10 wickets inside three days.
The Australian juggernaut seemed unstoppable as they looked on course towards their 17th consecutive victory in the Second Test at the Eden Gardens, when they bowled India out for meagre 171 in the first innings and enforced a follow-on after securing a massive lead of 274 runs. In the second innings, Laxman, who had scored a fine fifty in the first innings, was promoted to no. 3 position which had been Dravid's usual spot for quite sometime now, while Dravid, who had gotten out bowled to Warne for second time in a row in the first innings for just 25 runs, was relegated to no. 6 position. When Dravid joined Laxman in the middle on the third day of the Test, with scoreboard reading 232/4 and India still needing 42 runs to avoid an innings defeat, another convincing win for Australia looked inevitable. Instead, two of them staged one of the greatest fightbacks in cricketing history.
Dravid and Laxman played out the remaining time on the third day and whole of the fourth day, denying Australia any wicket on Day 4. Dravid, angered by the flak that the Indian team had been receiving lately in the media coverage, celebrated his hundred in an uncharacteristic fashion brandishing his bat at the press box. Eventually, Laxman got out on the fifth morning bringing the 376-runs partnership to an end. Dravid soon perished getting run out for 180 while trying to force the pace. Ganguly declared the innings at 657/7, setting Australia a target of 384 runs with 75 overs left in the match. An inspired team India bowled superbly to dismiss Australia for 212 in 68.3 overs. India won the match by 171 runs. This was only the third instance of a team winning a Test after following-on and India became the 2nd team to do so.
Dravid scored 81 runs in the first innings of the Third Test and took 4 catches in the match as India defeated Australia at Chennai in a nail biting finish to clinch the series 2–1. Dravid scored 80 in the first of the 5-match ODI series at his home ground as India won the match by 60 runs. He didn't do too well in the remaining 4 ODIs as Australia won the series 3–2. Dravid topped the averages for the 2000/01 Test season with 839 runs from six matches at an average of 104.87.
Dravid had a decent outing in Zimbabwe, scoring 137 runs from 134 balls in the First Tour game and aggregating 138 runs at an average of 69.00 from the drawn Test series. In the ensuing triangular ODI series, he aggregated 121 runs from 5 matches at an average of 40.33 and a strike rate of 101.68, the highlight being an unbeaten 72 off 64 balls, while chasing a target of 235 against Zimbabwe in the 3rd match of the series, guiding India to a 4-wicket win with four balls to spare. He was adjudged man of the match for his match winning knock.
On the next tour to Sri Lanka, India lost the first three matches of the triangular event. In the absence of suspended Ganguly, Dravid captained the side in the 4th match leading them to their first victory of the series. India won the next two matches to qualify for the Final. Dravid played crucial innings in all the three victories. Eventually, India lost the Final to Sri Lanka. He top scored for India in the series with 259 runs from seven matches at an average of 51.80 and a strike rate of 59.81. Reinstated to his usual no. 3 position in the absence of injured Laxman, Dravid top scored for India in the ensuing 3-Test series as well with 235 runs at an average of 47.00. The highlight for Dravid was 75 runs scored in the tough fourth innings chase of the Second Test – a crucial contribution to India's first Test win in Sri Lanka since 1993 despite the absence of key players like Tendulkar, Laxman, Srinath and Kumble.
Dravid had decent success in Standard Bank tri-series on South Africa tour, scoring 214 runs (including 3 fifties) at an average of 53.50 and a strike rate of 71.81. He also kept wickets in the final two ODIs of the series effecting 3 stumpings. The highlight for Dravid in the ensuing Test series came in the second innings of the Second Test. India, having failed to last hundred overs in any of the previous three innings in the series, needed to bat out four sessions in the Second Test to save the match. They started on a poor note losing their first wicket in the first over with no runs on the scoreboard. However, Dravid forged an important partnership of 171 runs with Dasgupta that lasted for 83.2 overs taking India to the brink of safety. Poor weather helped India salvage a draw as only 96.2 overs could be bowled in the innings. Dravid captained the team in the 'unofficial' Third test in the absence of injured Ganguly, which India lost by an innings margin.
By the end of the South African tour, Dravid had started experiencing problem in his right shoulder. Although he played the ensuing home test series against England, he pulled out of the six-match bilateral ODI series to undergo shoulder rehabilitation program in South Africa. He returned for the Zimbabwe's tour of India but performed below par, scoring a fifty each in the Test series and the bilateral ODI series.
2002–2006: Peak years
Dravid hit the peak form of his career in 2002. Between Season 2002 and Season 2006, Dravid was the second highest scorer overall and top scorer for India across formats, scoring 8,914 runs from 174 matches at an average of 54.02, including 19 hundreds.
Dravid had a decent outing in West Indies in 2002. The highlights for him included – hitting a hundred with a swollen jaw and helping India avoid the follow-on in the process at Georgetown in the drawn First Test; contributing with a fifty and four catches to India's victory in the Second Test at Port of Spain – India's first Test victory in West Indies since 1975–76; and another fifty in the drawn Fourth Test with a wicket to boot – that of Ridley Jacobs who was batting on 118. This was Dravid's only wicket in Test cricket. He played as India's designated keeper in the ODI series but didn't contribute much with the bat in the 2–1 series win.
A quartet of hundreds
India's tour of England in 2002 started with a triangular ODI event involving India, England and Sri Lanka. India emerged as the winners of the series beating England in the Final – their first victory after nine consecutive defeats in one-day finals. Dravid played as designated keeper in six out of seven matches effecting nine dismissals (6 catches, 3 stumpings) – most by a keeper in the series. He also did well with the bat aggregating 245 runs at an average of 49.00 including three fifties. His performance against Sri Lanka in fourth ODI (64 runs, 1 catch) earned him a man of the match award.
India lost the first of the four match Test series. Having conceded a 260 runs lead in the first innings of the Second Test at Nottingham, Indians were in a spot of bother. However, Dravid led the fightback in the second innings with a hundred as Indians managed to earn a draw.
Ganguly won the toss in the Third Test and took a bold decision to bat first on a gloomy overcast morning at Headingley on a pitch known to be traditionally conducive for fast and swing bowling. Having lost an early wicket, Dravid weathered the storm in company of Sanjay Bangar. They played cautiously, taking body blows on a pitch with uneven bounce. Dravid completed his second hundred of the series in the process. As the conditions became more and more conducive for batting, the Indian batsmen piled on England's misery. Indians declared the innings on 628/8 and then bowled England out twice to register their first test victory in England since 1986. Despite being outscored by Tendulkar, Dravid was awarded man of the match for his efforts. Dravid scored a double hundred in the drawn Fourth Test to notch up his second consecutive man of the match award of the series. Christopher Martin-Jenkins noted during the Fourth Test: Dravid aggregated 602 runs in the series from four matches at an average of 100.33, including three hundreds and a fifty and was adjudged joint man of the series along with Michael Vaughan.
India jointly shared the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka. Dravid contributed to India's successful campaign with 120 runs at an average of 60.00 and five dismissals behind the wicket. Dravid scored a hundred in the First Test of the three match home series against West Indies becoming the first Indian batsman to score hundreds in four consecutive Test innings but had to retire soon after owing to severe cramps. Dravid did well in the subsequent bilateral 7-match ODI series aggregating 300 runs at an average of 75.00 and a strike rate of 89.82 including one hundred and two fifties. He also effected 7 dismissals (6 catches, 1 stumping) in the series. India trailing 1–2, needed 325 runs to win the Fourth ODI and level the series. Dravid scored a hundred leading India to a successful chase. He once again scored a crucial fifty in the Sixth ODI as India once again leveled the series after trailing 2–3. India, however, lost the last match to lose the series 3–4.
Dravid top scored for India in the two-match Test series in New Zealand as India slumped to a whitewash. He played as designated keeper in six of the 7-match bilateral ODI series and effected seven dismissals but fared poorly with the bat as India were handed a 2-5 drubbing by the New Zealand.
2003 Cricket World Cup
Dravid arrived in South Africa with the Indian squad to participate in the 2003 Cricket World Cup in the capacity of first-choice keeper-batsman as part of their seven batsmen-four bowlers strategy – an experiment that had brought success to the team in the past year. The idea was that making Dravid keep wickets allowed India to accommodate an extra specialist batsman. The strategy worked out well for India in the World Cup. India recovered from a less than convincing victory against minnows Netherlands and a loss to Australia in the league stage and embarked on a dream run winning eight consecutive matches to qualify for the World Cup Finals for the first time since 1983. India eventually lost the Final to Australia ending as runner-up in the tournament. Dravid contributed to India's campaign with 318 runs at an average of 63.60 and 16 dismissals (15 catches, 1 stumping). Highlights for Dravid in the tournament included a fifty against England, 44 not out against Pakistan in a successful chase and an unbeaten fifty in another successful chase against New Zealand.
Dravid topped the international runs chart for 2003/04 cricket season across formats aggregating 1993 runs from 31 matches at an average of 64.29 including three double hundreds. First of those came against New Zealand in the first of the two-test home series at Ahmedabad. Dravid scored 222 runs in the first innings and 73 runs in the second innings receiving a man of the match award for his efforts. Dravid captained Indian Test Team for the first time in the second game of the series at Mohali in the absence of Ganguly. Both the matches ended in a draw. Dravid top scored in the series with 313 runs at an average of 78.25. India next participated in TVS cup alongside New Zealand and Australia. India lost to Australia in the Final. Dravid scored two fifties in the series but the highlight was his fifty against New Zealand in the ninth match that came in just 22 balls – second fastest fifty by an Indian.
An Eden encore
After earning a draw in the first of the four-match Test series in Australia, Indians found themselves reeling at 85/4 in the Second Test at Adelaide after Australia had piled 556 runs in the first innings when Laxman joined Dravid in the middle. They batted for 93.5 overs bringing about their second 300-run partnership adding 303 runs together before Laxman perished for 148 runs. However, Dravid continued to complete his second double hundred of the season. He was the last man out for 233 runs as India conceded a marginal first innings lead of 33 runs to Australia. India bowled Australia out for paltry score of 196 riding on Agarkar's six-wicket haul, and were set a target of 230 runs to win the match. Dravid helped India tread through a tricky chase with an unbeaten fifty as India registered their first test victory in Australia since 1980/81 to go up 1–0 in the series. This was the first time that Australians were 0-1 down in a home series since 1994. Dravid won the man of the match award for his efforts. Dravid registered a score of ninety each in the next two tests as Australia leveled the series 1–1. Dravid top scored for India in the series with 619 runs at an average of 123.80 and was awarded player of the series for his efforts.
Dravid did moderately well in the ensuing VB series with three fifties in the league stage, all of which came in winning cause. However, India lost the best-of-three finals to Australia 2–0. Dravid was fined half his match fee for applying cough lozenge on the ball during a match in the series against Zimbabwe – an act that was claimed to be an innocent mistake by coach John Wright.
India visited Pakistan in March 2004 to participate in a bilateral Test series for the first time since 1989/90. Prior to the Test series, India participated and won the 5-match ODI series 3–2. Dravid top scored for India in the series with 248 runs at an average of 62.00 and a strike rate of 73.59. Dravid scored 99 runs in the First ODI helping India post an imposing total of 349. He also took the important catch of threatening Inzamam-ul-Haq, who was batting on 122, as India went on to win the match by five runs. When Indians were trailing in the series 1–2, Dravid helped India level the series with an unbeaten fifty during a successful chase in the Fourth ODI.
Captaincy
Dravid captained India in the first two tests in the absence of injured Ganguly and led India to their first-ever Test victory in Pakistan. Dravid, standing in only his second test as team's captain, took a bold and controversial decision during First Test at Multan that divided the cricket fraternity. Pakistani cricketers had been on field for 150+ overs as India posted a total in excess of 600 runs in the first innings. Dravid, who wanted to have a crack at the tired Pakistani batsmen in the final hour of second day's play, declared Indian innings with Tendulkar batting at 194, just six runs short of his double century. While some praised the team before personal milestones approach of the Indian captain, most criticized Dravid's timing of declaration as there were no pressing concerns and there was ample time left in the match to try and bowl Pakistan out twice. While Tendulkar was admittedly disappointed, any rumours of rift between him and Dravid were quashed by both the cricketers and the team management, who claimed that the matter had been discussed and sorted amicably behind closed doors. India eventually went on to win the match by innings margin. Pakistan leveled the series beating India in the Second Test. Dravid slammed a double hundred in the Third Test at Rawalpindi – his third double hundred of the season. He scored 270 runs – his career best performance – before getting out to reverse sweep trying to force the pace. India went on to win the match and the series – their first series victory outside India since 1993. Dravid was adjudged man of the match for his effort.
Dravid was appointed the captain for the Indian team for 2007 World Cup, where India had an unsuccessful campaign.
During India's unsuccessful tour of England in 2011, in which their 4–0 loss cost them the top rank in Test cricket, Dravid made three centuries.
2011 Tour of England
Having regained his form on the tour to West Indies, where he scored a match-winning hundred in Sabina park, Jamaica, Dravid then toured England in what was billed as the series which would decide the World No. 1 ranking in tests.
In the first test at Lord's, in reply to England's 474, Dravid scored an unbeaten 103, his first hundred at the ground where he debuted in 1996. He received scant support from his teammates as India were bowled out for 286 and lost the test. The 2nd test at Trentbridge, Nottingham again saw Dravid in brilliant form. Sent out to open the batting in place of an injured Gautam Gambhir, he scored his second successive hundred. His 117 though, again came in a losing cause, as a collapse of 6 wickets for 21 runs in the first innings led to a massive defeat by 319 runs. Dravid failed in both innings in the third test at Birmingham, as India lost by an innings and 242 runs, one of the heaviest defeats in their history. However, he came back brilliantly in the fourth and final match at The Oval. Again opening the batting in place of Gambhir, he scored an unbeaten 146 out of India's total of 300, carrying his bat through the innings. Once again, though, his efforts were in vain as India lost the match, completing a 0–4 whitewash.
In all, he scored 461 runs in the four matches at an average of 76.83 with three hundreds. He accounted for over 26% of India's runs in the series and was named India's man of the series by England coach Andy Flower. His performance in the series was met with widespread admiration and was hailed by some as one of his finest ever series
Retirement
Rahul Dravid was dropped from the ODI team in 2009, but was selected again for an ODI series in England in 2011, surprising even Dravid himself since, although he had not officially retired from ODI cricket, he had not expected to be recalled. After being selected, he announced that he would retire from ODI cricket after the series. He played his last ODI innings against England at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, on 16 September 2011, scoring 69 runs from 79 balls before being bowled by Graeme Swann. His last limited-overs international match was his debut T20I match; he announced his retirement before playing his first T20I match.
Dravid announced his retirement from Test and domestic cricket on 9 March 2012, after the 2011–12 tour of Australia, but he said that he would captain the Rajasthan Royals in the 2012 Indian Premier League. He was the second-highest run scorer and had taken the highest number of catches in Test cricket at the time of his retirement.
In July 2014, he played for the MCC side in the Bicentenary Celebration match at Lord's.
Coaching
Towards the end of his playing career, Dravid took on a role as mentor of the Rajasthan Royals IPL team, officially taking over in 2014. During this time, he also became involved with the Indian national team, serving as mentor for the team's tour of England in 2014. After leading the Royals to a third-place finish in the 2015 IPL season, he was appointed as the head coach of the India U-19 and India A teams. Dravid achieved immense success as coach, with the U-19s reaching the finals of the 2016 U-19 Cricket World Cup. Two years later, the team went on to win the 2018 U-19 Cricket World Cup, beating Australia by 8 wickets to win their fourth Under-19 World Cup, the most by any national side. Dravid was credited with bringing up future national team players including Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan and Washington Sundar. Alongside his coaching roles, Dravid took on several mentor roles, including at the Delhi Daredevils IPL team.
In July 2019, following his four-year stint as coach of the junior teams, Dravid was appointed Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). He was in charge of "overseeing all cricket related activities at NCA was involved in mentoring, coaching, training and motivating players, coaches and support staff at the NCA". As head of NCA, he was widely praised for developing a steady supply of talent to the senior team and revamping player fitness and rehabilitation regiments.
In November 2021, he was appointed as head coach of the Indian national cricket team.
County stint
Dravid had always been keen on further honing his batting skills in testing English conditions by playing in county cricket. He had discussed about the prospects regarding the same with John Wright, the former New Zealand cricketer and incumbent Kent coach, during India's 1998–99 tour of New Zealand. Wright was particularly impressed with Dravid's performance on that tour, especially his twin hundreds at Hamilton. The talks finally materialized and Dravid made his county debut for Kent in April 2000. His co-debutante Ganguly made his county debuted in the same match, albeit for the opposite team.
Kent offer had come as a welcome change for Dravid. There was too much negativity surrounding Indian cricket marred by match fixing controversy. Dravid himself had been struggling to score runs in Tests for quite some time now. The county stint gave him a chance to "get away to a new environment" and "relax". The wide variety of pitches and weather conditions in England and a full season of intense county cricket against professional cricketers gave him a chance to further his cricketing education and learn things about his game.
Dravid made the most of this opportunity. In his 2nd game for Kent, Dravid scored a fluid 182 propelling them to an innings and 163 runs victory over the touring Zimbabwe side. Out of 7 first class tour games that Zimbabwe played on that tour, Kent was the only team that managed to beat them. Dravid hit another fifty in a draw against Surrey. The newly appointed vice-captain had to leave the county championship temporarily, missing two championship games and two one day games, to fulfill his national commitment. Indian team, Dravid included, fared poorly in the Asia cup and failed to qualify for the Final. Subsequently, Dravid returned to England to resume his county sojourn with Kent.
In July 2000, Kent's away match against Hampshire at Portsmouth was billed as a showdown between two great cricketers- Warne and Dravid. Dravid came out on top. On a dustbowl, tailor-made to suit home team spinners, Warne took 4 wickets but could not take the all important wicket of Dravid. Coming in to bat at 15/2, Dravid faced 295 balls scoring 137 runs – his maiden hundred in county championships. Dravid scored 73 not out in the 2nd innings guiding Kent to a six wicket victory as Warne went wicketless.
In their last county game of the season, Kent needed one bonus point to prevent themselves from being relegated to the Second Division. Dravid made sure they stay put in the First Division by fetching that one bonus point with an inning of 77 runs.
Dravid concluded a successful stint with Kent aggregating 1221 runs from 16 first class matches(15 county games and 1 tour game against Zimbabwe) at an average of 55.50 including 2 hundreds and 8 fifties. He shouldered Kent's batting single-handedly as the second best Kent batsman during the same period, Paul Nixon, scored just 567 runs at an average of 33.35 in 17 matches. Dravid contributed to Kent's county campaign not just with the bat but also with his fielding and bowling taking 14 catches and 4 wickets at an average of 32.00.
Indian Premier League and Champions League
Rahul Dravid played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2008, 2009 and 2010. Later he played for Rajasthan Royals and led it to finals of Champions League T20 in 2013, and play-offs of Indian Premier League in 2013. Dravid announced retirement from Twenty20 after playing the 2013 Champions League Twenty20 in September–October 2013.
Playing style
Dravid was known for his technique, and has been one of the best batsmen for the Indian cricket team. In the beginning, he was known as a defensive batsman who should be confined to Test cricket, and was dropped from the ODI squad due to a low strike rate. However, he later scored consistently in ODIs as well, earning him the ICC Player of the Year award. His nickname of 'The Wall' in Reebok advertisements is now used as his nickname. Dravid has scored 36 centuries in Test cricket, with an average of 52.31; this included five double centuries. In one-dayers, he averaged 39.16, with a strike rate of 71.23. He is one of the few Indians whose Test average is better at away than at home, averaging almost five runs more on foreign pitches. As of 23 September 2010, Dravid's Test average in abroad is 55.53, and his Test average at home is 50.76; his ODI average abroad is 37.93 and his ODI average at home is 43.11. Dravid averages 66.34 runs in Indian Test victories. and 50.69 runs in ODIs.
Dravid's sole Test wicket was of Ridley Jacobs in the fourth Test match against the West Indies during the 2001–2002 series. While he has no pretensions to being a bowler, Dravid often kept wicket for India in ODIs.
Dravid was involved in two of the largest partnerships in ODIs: a 318-run partnership with Sourav Ganguly, the first pair to combine for a 300-run partnership, and then a 331-run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar, which is a world record. He also holds the record for the greatest number of innings played since debut before being dismissed for a duck. His highest scores in ODIs and Tests are 153 and 270 respectively.
He was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2000. Though primarily a defensive batsman, Dravid scored 50 runs not out in 22 balls (a strike rate of 227.27) against New Zealand in Hyderabad on 15 November 2003, the second fastest 50 among Indian batsmen. Only Ajit Agarkar's 67 runs off 21 balls is faster than that of Dravid.
In 2004, Dravid was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. On 7 September 2004, he was awarded the inaugural Player of the year award and the Test player of the year award by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
After reaching 10,000 Test runs milestone, he said, "It's a proud moment for sure. For me, growing up, I dreamt of playing for India. When I look back, I probably exceeded my expectations with what I have done over the last 10 to 12 years. I never had an ambition to do it because I never believed – it is just a reflection of my longevity in the game."
Dravid is also one of the two batsmen to score 10,000 runs at a single batting position and is the fourth highest run scorer in Test cricket, behind Tendulkar, Ponting and Kallis.
Controversies
Ball-tampering incident
In January 2004, Dravid was found guilty of ball tampering during an ODI with Zimbabwe. Match referee Clive Lloyd adjudged the application of an energy sweet to the ball as a deliberate offence, although Dravid himself denied this was his intent. Lloyd emphasised that television footage caught Dravid putting a lozenge on the ball during the Zimbabwean innings on Tuesday night at the Gabba. According to the ICC's Code of Conduct, players are not allowed to apply substances to the ball other than sweat and saliva. Dravid was fined half of his match fee.
Indian coach John Wright came out in defence of Dravid, stating that "It was an innocent mistake". Wright argued that Dravid had been trying to apply saliva to the ball when parts of a losenge he had been chewing stuck to the ball; Dravid then tried to wipe it off. ICC regulations prevented Dravid from commenting about the issue, but former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly also stated that Dravid's act was "just an accident".
Captaincy
Rahul Dravid has had a mixed record when leading India in Tests.
One of Dravid's most debated decisions was taken in March 2004, when he was standing in as the captain for injured Sourav Ganguly. India's first innings was declared at a point when Sachin Tendulkar was at 194 runs not out with 16 overs remaining on Day 2. In this test match Sehwag scored triple century first time. He became the first Indian to score triple century in test with a score of 309.
In March 2006, India lost the Mumbai Test, giving England its first Test victory in India since 1985, enabling it to draw the series 1–1. The defeat in Mumbai was arguably the result of Dravid's decision to bowl first on a flat dry pitch, which later deteriorated and ended with an Indian collapse in the run chase. Coincidentally, it was Dravid's 100th test match in which the Indians were all out for 100 runs in the second innings.
After India failed to qualify for the final of the DLF Cup, Dravid, the skipper, was criticised by former all-rounder Ravi Shastri who said that he was not assertive enough and let Greg Chappell make too many decisions. When asked for a response, Dravid said that Shastri, while a 'fair critic', was 'not privy' to the internal decision-making process of the team.
He was criticised by Vijay Mallya for not picking the team with right balance after his then IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore finished seventh out of the eight teams that participated in the 2008 season.
Achievements and awards
National honours
1998 – Arjuna Award recipient for achievements in cricket
2004 – Padma Shri – India's fourth highest civilian award
2013 – Padma Bhushan – India's third highest civilian award
Other honours
1999 – CEAT International Cricketer of the World Cup
2000 – Dravid was one of the five cricketers selected as Wisden Cricketer of the Year.
2004 – ICC Cricketer of the year – Highest award in the ICC listings
2004 – ICC Test Player of The Year, ICC Cricketer of The Year
2004 – MTV Youth Icon of the Year
2006 – Captain of the ICC's Test Team
2011 – NDTV Indian of the Year's Lifetime Achievement Award with Dev Anand
2012 – Don Bradman Award with Glenn McGrath
2015 – Wisden India's Highest Impact Test Batsman
2018 – ICC Hall of Fame
Personal life
Family
On 4 May 2003 he married Vijeta Pendharkar, a surgeon from Nagpur. Vijeta Pendharkar is also from Deshastha Brahmin community as Dravid. They have two children: Samit, born in 2005, and Anvay, born in 2009. Dravid is fluent in Marathi, Hindi, Kannada and English.
Commercial endorsements
Rahul Dravid has been sponsored by several brands throughout his career including Reebok (1996 – present), Pepsi (1997 present), Kissan (Unknown), Castrol (2001 – present), Hutch
(2003), Karnataka Tourism (2004), Max Life (2005 – present), Bank of Baroda (2005 – present), Citizen (2006 – present), Skyline Construction (2006 – present), Sansui (2007), Gillette (2007 – present), Samsung (2002 – 2004), World Trade Center Noida (2013– present),
CRED (2021-present).
Social commitments
Children's Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA)
UNICEF Supporter and AIDS Awareness Campaign
Biographies
Books
Two biographies have been written on Rahul Dravid and his career:
Rahul Dravid – A Biography written by Vedam Jaishankar (). Publisher: UBSPD Publications. Date: January 2004
The Nice Guy Who Finished First written by Devendra Prabhudesai. Publisher: Rupa Publications. Date: November 2005
A collection of articles, testimonials and interviews related to Dravid was released by ESPNcricinfo following his retirement. The book was titled Rahul Dravid: Timeless Steel.
See also
Sachin Tendulkar
Sourav Ganguly
VVS Laxman
Virendra Sehwag
References
External links
Indian cricketers
India Test cricketers
India One Day International cricketers
India Twenty20 International cricketers
India Test cricket captains
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Karnataka cricketers
South Zone cricketers
Kent cricketers
Scotland cricketers
ACC Asian XI One Day International cricketers
ICC World XI One Day International cricketers
World XI Test cricketers
Royal Challengers Bangalore cricketers
Canterbury cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Rajasthan Royals cricketers
India Blue cricketers
Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup
Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports
1973 births
Living people
Cricketers from Indore
Cricketers from Bangalore
Recipients of the Arjuna Award
International Cricket Council Cricketer of the Year
Marathi people
Indian cricket coaches
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in sports
Indian cricket commentators
Wicket-keepers
| true |
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"Logan Mitchell (1802–1881) was a British freethinker and writer.\n\nMitchell is best known for his book The Christian Mythology Unveiled. Mitchell committed suicide in November 1881. He left a large sum of money for any bookseller to publish his book. It was printed several times under different titles, most notably by the Freethought Publishing Company in 1881. \n\nMitchell was an advocate of the Christ myth theory. His views have been compared to Robert Taylor's.\n\nQuote\nJesus Christ in the New Testament, has no reference whatever to any event that ever did in reality take place upon this globe; or to any personages that ever in truth existed: and that the whole is an astronomical allegory, or parable, having invariably a primary and sacred allusion to the sun, and his passage through the signs of the zodiac; or a verbal representation of the phenomena of the solar year and seasons.\n\nPublications\n\nReligion in the Heavens; Or, Mythology Unveiled (London: Freethought Publishing Company, 1881)\nThe Christian Mythology Unveiled (printed privately for the author, 1882)\n\nSee also\n\nMyles McSweeney\nRichard Carlile\n\nReferences\n\n1802 births\n1881 deaths\nChrist myth theory proponents\nFreethought writers\nSuicides in England\n1880s suicides",
"Mohsen Yazdani (born August 1, 1969, in Tehran) is an Iranian bodybuilding champion. In 1999 he was the first Iranian bodybuilder to achieve the gold medal in world championships and in the same year also received the most advanced bodybuilder of the year award from (IFBB). Yazdani is also the first ever Iranian bodybuilder to join IFBB pro. He is now active as the founder and CEO of Hirbod chain gyms.\n\nBiography \nMohsen Yazdani was born on January 8, 1969 in Tehran. When he was 12, he started his career in wrestling and in the same year he achieved the silver medal in the Tehran Youth Cup. He entered boxing when he was 16, and after he was done with his conscription he started his bodybuilding career by the advice of his friends Hamid Gheisari and Hadi Ghadir. He started his career in Olympic gym in 1991. He achieved his first medal ever by reaching third place in the national cup. A few months later he entered the national cup for the second time, and he was able to achieve the gold medal.\n\nAwards and titles\n\nNational titles\n\nAsian titles\n\nInternational titles\n\nWorld titles\n\nTitles as Iran’s national team coach\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n Official website\n\nIranian bodybuilders\n1969 births\nLiving people"
] |
[
"Rahul Dravid",
"Captaincy",
"Was there something specific about his Captaincy?",
"One of Dravid's most debated decisions was taken in March 2004, when he was standing in as the captain for injured Sourav Ganguly.",
"Did he ever get injured?",
"I don't know.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"He became the first Indian to score triple century in test with a score of 309.",
"Did he ever get any awards or titles?",
"Rahul Dravid has had a mixed record when leading India in Tests."
] |
C_02d17588936549f7a97bfb36dea463e8_0
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Did he help win any more?
| 5 |
Did Rahul Dravid help win any more?
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Rahul Dravid
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Rahul Dravid has had a mixed record when leading India in Tests. One of Dravid's most debated decisions was taken in March 2004, when he was standing in as the captain for injured Sourav Ganguly. India's first innings was declared at a point when Sachin Tendulkar was at 194 runs not out with 16 overs remaining on Day 2.In this test match Sehwag scored triple century first time. He became the first Indian to score triple century in test with a score of 309. In March 2006, India lost the Mumbai Test, giving England its first Test victory in India since 1985, enabling it to draw the series 1-1. The defeat in Mumbai was arguably the result of Dravid's decision to bowl first on a flat dry pitch, which later deteriorated and ended with an Indian collapse in the run chase. Coincidentally, it was Dravid's 100th test match in which the Indians were all out for 100 runs in the second innings. After India failed to qualify for the final of the DLF Cup, Dravid, the skipper, was criticised by former all-rounder Ravi Shastri who said that he was not assertive enough and let Greg Chappell make too many decisions. When asked for a response, Dravid said that Shastri, while a 'fair critic', was 'not privy' to the internal decision-making process of the team. He was criticised by Vijay Mallya for not picking the team with right balance after his then IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore finished seventh out of the eight teams that participated in the 2008 season. CANNOTANSWER
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He became the first Indian to score triple century in test with a score of 309.
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Rahul Sharad Dravid (; born 11 January 1973) is a former Indian cricketer and captain of the Indian national team, currently serving as its head coach. Prior to his appointment to the senior men's national team, Dravid was the Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), and the head coach of the India Under-19 and India A teams. Under his tutelage, the under-19 team finished runners up at the 2016 U-19 Cricket World Cup and won the 2018 U-19 Cricket World Cup. Known for his sound batting technique, Dravid scored 24,177 runs in international cricket and is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is colloquially known as Mr. Dependable and often referred to as The Wall.
Born in a Marathi family and raised in Bangalore, he started playing cricket at the age of 12 and later represented Karnataka at the under-15, under-17 and under-19 levels. Hailed as The Wall, Dravid was named one of the best five cricketers of the year by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2000 and received the Player of the Year and the Test Player of the Year awards at the inaugural ICC awards ceremony in 2004. In December 2011, he became the first non-Australian cricketer to deliver the Bradman Oration in Canberra.
As of December 2016, Dravid is the fourth-highest run scorer in Test cricket, after Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis. In 2004, after completing his century against Bangladesh in Chittagong, he became the first player to score a century in all the ten Test-playing countries. As of October 2012, he holds the record for the most catches taken by a player (non-wicket-keeper) in Test cricket, with 210. Dravid holds a unique record of never getting out for a Golden duck in the 286 Test innings which he has played. He has faced 31258 balls, which is the highest number of balls faced by any player in test cricket. He has also spent 44152 minutes at the crease, which is the highest time spent on crease by any player in test cricket. Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar are currently the highest scoring partnership in Test cricket history having scored 6920 runs combined when batting together for India.
In August 2011, after receiving a surprise recall in the ODI series against England, Dravid declared his retirement from ODIs as well as Twenty20 International (T20I), and in March 2012, he announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket. He appeared in the 2012 Indian Premier League as captain of the Rajasthan Royals.
Rahul Dravid, along with Glenn McGrath were honoured during the seventh annual Bradman Awards function in Sydney on 1 November 2012. Dravid has also been honoured with the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan award, India's fourth and third highest civilian awards respectively.
In 2014, Rahul Dravid joined the GoSports Foundation, Bangalore as a member of their board of advisors. In collaboration with GoSports Foundation he is mentoring India's future Olympians and Paralympians as part of the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme. Indian badminton player Prannoy Kumar, Para-swimmer Sharath Gayakwad and young Golfer S. Chikkarangappa was part of the initial group of athletes to be mentored by Rahul Dravid. In July 2018, Dravid became the fifth Indian cricketer to be inducted into ICC Hall of Fame.
Early life
Dravid was born in a Marathi-Speaking Brahmin family in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. His family later moved to Bangalore, Karnataka, where he was raised. His mother tongue is Marathi. Dravid's father Sharad Dravid worked for a company that makes jams and preserves, giving rise to the later nickname Jammy. His mother, Pushpa, was a professor of architecture at the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE), Bangalore. Dravid has a younger brother named Vijay. He did his schooling at St. Joseph's Boys High School, Bangalore and earned a degree in commerce from St. Joseph's College of Commerce, Bangalore. He was selected to India's national cricket team while working towards an MBA at St Joseph's College of Business Administration. He is fluent in several languages: Marathi, Kannada, English and Hindi.
Formative years and domestic career
Dravid started playing cricket at the age of 12, and represented Karnataka at the under-15, the under-17 and the under-19 levels. Former cricketer Keki Tarapore first noticed Dravid's talent while coaching at a summer camp in the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Dravid scored a century for his school team. He also played as wicket-keeper.
Dravid made his Ranji Trophy debut in February 1991, while still attending college. Playing alongside future India teammates Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath against Maharashtra in Pune, he scored 82 runs in the match, which ended in a draw. He followed it up with a century against Bengal and three successive centuries after. However, Dravid's first full season was in 1991–92, when he scored two centuries and finished up with 380 runs at an average of 63.30, getting selected for the South Zone cricket team in the Duleep Trophy. Dravid's caught the national team selectors' eye with his good performances for India A in the home series against England A in 1994–95.
International career
Debut
Dravid, who had been knocking at the doors of Indian national cricket team for quite a while with his consistent performance in domestic cricket, received his first national call in October 1994, for the last two matches of the Wills World Series. However, he could not break into the playing eleven. He went back to the domestic circuit and kept knocking harder. So much so, that when the selectors announced the Indian team for the 1996 World Cup sans Dravid, an Indian daily newspaper carried a headline – "Rahul Dravid gets a raw deal". Dravid eventually made his international debut on 3 April 1996 in an ODI against Sri Lanka in the Singer Cup held in Singapore immediately after the 1996 World Cup, replacing Vinod Kambli. He wasn't particularly impressive with the bat, scoring just three runs before being dismissed by Muttiah Muralitharan, but took two catches in the match. He followed it up with another failure in the next game scoring just four runs before getting run out against Pakistan.
In contrast to his ODI debut, his Test debut was rather successful one. Dravid was selected for the Indian squad touring England on the backdrop of a consistent performance in domestic cricket for five years. Fine performances in the tour games including fifties against Gloucestershire and Leicestershire failed to earn him a place in the team for the First Test. He finally made his Test debut at Lord's on 20 June 1996 against England in the Second Test of the series at the expense of injured senior batsman Sanjay Manjrekar. Manjrekar, who was suffering from an ankle injury, was to undergo a fitness test on the morning of the Second Test. Dravid had already been informed that he would play if Manjrekar fails the test. As Manjrekar failed the fitness test, ten minutes before the toss, Sandeep Patil, the then Indian coach, went up to Dravid to inform him that he was indeed going to make his debut that day. Patil recalled years later:
Coming in to bat at no. 7, he forged important partnerships, first with another debutante Sourav Ganguly and then with Indian lower order, securing a vital first innings lead for his team. Dravid scored 95 runs before getting out to the bowling of Chris Lewis. He was just five runs short of a landmark debut hundred when he nicked a Lewis delivery to the keeper and walked even before umpire's decision. He also took his first catch in Test cricket in this match to dismiss Nasser Hussain off the bowling of Srinath. In the next tour game against British Universities, Dravid scored a hundred. He scored another fifty in the first innings of the Third Test. Dravid concluded a successful debut series with an impressive average of 62.33 from two Test matches.
1996–98: A tale of two formats
Dravid's early years in international cricket mirrored his international debut. He had contrasting fortunes in the long and the shorter format of the game. While he straightaway made a name for himself in Test cricket, he had to struggle quite a bit to make a mark in ODIs.
After a successful Test debut in England, Dravid played in the one-off Test against Australia in Delhi – his first Test in India. Batting at no. 6, he scored 40 runs in the first innings. Dravid batted at no. 3 position for the first time in the First Test of the three-match home series against South Africa in Ahmedabad in November 1996. He didn't do too well in the series scoring just 175 runs at a modest average of 29.16.
Two weeks later, India toured South Africa for a three–match Test series. Chasing a target of 395 runs in the First Test, Indian team bundled out meekly for 66 runs on the Durban pitch that provided excessive bounce and seam movement. Dravid, batting at no. 6, was the only Indian batsman who reached double figures in the innings scoring 27 not out. He was promoted to the no. 3 slot again in the second innings of the Second Test, a move that paid rich dividends in the ensuing Test. He almost won the Third Test for India with his maiden test hundred in the first innings scoring 148 runs and another 81 runs in the second innings at Wanderers before the thunderstorms, dim light and Cullinan's hundred saved the day for South Africa enabling them to draw the match. Dravid's performance in this Test earned him his first Man of the Match award in Test cricket. He top scored for India in the series with 277 runs at an average of 55.40.
Dravid continued in the same vein in the West Indies where he once again top scored for India in the five–match Test series aggregating 360 runs at an average of 72.00 including four fifties. 92 runs scored in the first innings of the fifth match in Georgetown earned him a joint Man of the Match award along with Shivnarine Chanderpaul. With this series, Dravid concluded a successful 1996/97 Test season, topping the international runs chart with 852 runs from 12 matches at an average of 50.11 with six fifties and one hundred.
Dravid continued his good run scoring seven fifties in the next eight Tests that included fifties in six consecutive innings (three each against Sri Lanka and Australia), becoming only the second Indian to do so after Gundappa Vishwanath. By the end of 1997/98 Test season, he had scored 15 fifties in 22 Tests which included four scores of nineties but just a solitary hundred.
The century drought came to an end in the 1998/99 Test season when he further raised the bar of his performance scoring 752 runs in seven Tests at an average of 62.66 that included four hundreds and one fifty and in the process topping the runs chart for India for the season. The first of those four hundreds came on the Zimbabwe tour. Dravid top scored in both the innings against Zimbabwe scoring 118 and 44 runs respectively however, India lost the one-off Test.
The Zimbabwe tour was followed by a tour to New Zealand. First Test having been abandoned without a ball being bowled, the series started for Dravid with the first duck of his Test career in the first innings of the Second Test and ended with hundreds in both the innings of the Third Test in Hamilton. He scored 190 and 103 not out in the first and the second innings respectively, becoming only the third Indian batsman, after Vijay Hazare and Sunil Gavaskar, to score a century in both innings of a Test match. Dravid topped the runs table for the series with 321 runs from two matches at an average of 107.00 but could not prevent India from losing the series 0–1.
Later that month, India played a two Test home series against Pakistan. Dravid didn't contribute much with the bat. India lost the First Test but won the Second Test in Delhi riding on Kumble's historic 10-wicket haul. Dravid played his part in the 10-wicket haul by taking a catch to dismiss Mushtaq Ahmed who was Kumble's eighth victim of the innings. The Indo-Pak Test series was followed by the 1998–99 Asian Test Championship. Dravid couldn't do much with the bat as India went on to lose the riot-affected First Test of the championship against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens. India went to Sri Lanka to play the Second Test of the championship. Dravid scored his fourth hundred of the season at Colombo in the first innings of the match. He also effected a brilliant run out of Russel Arnold during Sri Lankan innings fielding at short leg. On the fourth morning, Dravid got injured while fielding at the same position when the ball from Jayawardene's pull shot hit his face through the helmet grill. He didn't come out to bat in the second innings due to the injury. The match ended in a draw as India failed to qualify for the Finals of the championship.
In a stark contrast to his Test career, Dravid had to struggle a lot to make a mark in the ODIs. Between his ODI debut in April 1996 and the end of 1998 calendar year, Dravid regularly found himself in and out of the ODI team.
Dravid tasted first success of his ODI career in the 1996 'Friendship' Cup against Pakistan in the tough conditions of Toronto. He emerged as the highest scorer of the series with 220 runs in five matches at an average of 44.00 and a strike rate of 68.53. He won his first ODI Man of the Match award for the 46 runs scored in the low scoring third game of the series. He top scored for India in the Standard Bank International One-Day Series 1996/97 in South Africa with 280 runs from eight games at an average of 35.00 and a strike rate of 60.73, the highlight being a Man of the Match award-winning performance (84 runs, one catch) in the Final of the series that came in a losing cause. He was the second highest run scorer for India in the four-match bilateral ODI series in the West Indies in 1996/97 with 121 runs at an average of 40.33 and a strike rate of 57.61. Dravid's maiden ODI hundred came in a losing cause in the 1997 Pepsi Independence Cup against Pakistan in Chennai. Dravid top scored for India in the quadrangular event with 189 runs from three games at an average of 94.50 and a strike rate of 75.60 however, India failed to qualify for the Final of the series.
However, Dravid's achievements in the ODIs were dwarfed by his failures in the shorter format of the game. 14 runs from two games in the 1996 Pepsi Sharjah Cup; 20 runs from two innings in the Singer World Series; 65 runs from four innings in the 1997 'Friendship' Cup; 88 runs from four games in the 1998 Coca-Cola Triangular Series including a 22-ball five runs and a 21-ball one run innings, both coming against Bangladesh; 32 runs from four games in the 1998 'Friendship' Cup; a slew of such poor performances often forced him to the sidelines of the India ODI squad. By the end of 1998, Dravid had scored 1709 runs in 65 ODIs at a humble average of 31.64 with a poor strike rate of 63.48.
By now, Dravid had been branded as a Test specialist. While he continued to score heavily in Test cricket, his poor strike rate in ODIs came under scanner. He drew criticism for not being able to adjust his style of play to the needs of ODI cricket, his lack of attacking capability and play big strokes. However, Dravid worked hard and re-tooled his game by increasing his range of strokes and adapting his batting style to suit the requirements of ODI cricket. He learned to pace his innings cleverly without going for the slogs.
Dravid's ODI renaissance began during the 1998/99 New Zealand tour. He scored a run-a-ball hundred in the first match of the bilateral ODI series that earned him his third Man of the Match award in ODIs. The hundred came in a losing cause. However, his effort of 51 runs from 71 balls in the Fourth ODI came in India's victory and earned him his second Man of the Match award of the series. He ended as the top scorer of the series with 309 runs from five games at an average of 77.25 and a strike rate of 84.65. Dravid scored a hundred against Sri Lanka in 1998/99 Pepsi Cup at Nagpur adding a record 236 runs for the 2nd wicket with Ganguly, who also scored a hundred in the match. Uncharacteristically, Dravid was the faster of the two scoring 116 of 118 deliveries. In the next match against Pakistan, he bowled four overs and took the wicket of Saeed Anwar, out caught behind by wicket-keeper Nayan Mongia. This was his first wicket in international cricket.
Dravid warmed up for his debut World Cup with two fifties in the 1998–99 Coca-Cola Cup in Sharjah, one each against England and Pakistan. Standing-in as the substitute wicket-keeper in the third match of the series for Nayan Mongia, who got injured during keeping, Dravid effected two dismissals. He first stumped Graeme Hick off Sunil Joshi's bowling, who became Dravid's first victim as a wicket-keeper, and then caught Neil Fairbrother off Ajay Jadeja's bowling. He top scored for India in the tournament, though his last ODI innings before the World Cup was a golden duck against Pakistan, in the Final of the series.
Debut World Cup success
Dravid announced his form in England hitting consecutive fifties against Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire in the warm-up games.
He made his World Cup debut against South Africa at Hove striking a half century, but scored just 13 in the next game against Zimbabwe. India lost both the games. Having lost the first two games, India needed to win the remaining three games of the first round to have any chance of advancing into the Super Six stage. Dravid put up a partnership of 237 runs with Sachin Tendulkar against Kenya at Bristol – a World Cup record – and in the process hit his maiden World Cup hundred, helping India to a 94-run victory. India's designated keeper Mongia left the field at the end of 9th over during Kenyan innings, forcing Dravid to keep the wickets for the rest of the innings. In the absence of injured Nayan Mongia, Dravid played his first ODI as a designated keeper against Sri Lanka at Taunton. Dravid once again staged a record breaking partnership worth 318 runs – the first ever three hundred run partnership in ODI history – but this time with Sourav Ganguly, guiding India to a 157-run win. Dravid scored 145 runs from 129 balls with 17 fours and a six, becoming the second batsman in World Cup history to hit back-to-back hundreds. Dravid struck a fine fifty in the last group match as India defeated England to advance into the Super Six stage. Dravid scored 2, 61 & 29 in the three Super Six matches against Australia, Pakistan & New Zealand respectively. India failed to qualify for the semi-finals having lost to Australia and New Zealand but achieved a consolation victory against Pakistan in a tense game, what with the military conflict going on between the two countries in Kashmir at the same time. Dravid emerged as the top scorer of the tournament with 461 runs from 8 games at an average of 65.85 and a strike rate of 85.52.
Dravid's post-World Cup campaign started on a poor note with just 40 runs coming in 4 games of Aiwa Cup in August 1999. He soon came into his own, top-scoring for India in two consecutive limited-overs series – the Singapore Challenge, the highlight being a hundred in the Final coming in a lost cause, and the DMC Cup, the highlight being a match winning effort (77 runs, 4 catches) in the series decider for which he received man-of-the-match award. Dravid topped the international runs chart for 1999 cricket season across all formats scoring 782 runs from 19 matches. By now, Dravid had started to keep wickets on an infrequent basis with India fielding him as designated wicket-keeper in five out of 10 ODIs played in the three events.
Dravid kick-started his post World Cup Test season with a decent outing against New Zealand in the 3-match home series. His best effort of the series came in the second innings of the First test at Mohali scoring 144, helping India salvage a draw after being bowled out for 83 runs in the First innings. This was Dravid's sixth test hundred but his first test hundred on Indian soil. Dravid did well in the 3–2 series win against New Zealand in the bilateral ODI series, scoring 240 runs in 5 games at an average of 60 and a strike rate of 83.62, ending as the second highest scorer in the series. His career best effort in ODIs came in this series in the second game at Hyderabad where he scored run-a-ball 153 runs which included 15 fours and two sixes. He featured in a 331-run partnership with Tendulkar, which was the highest partnership in ODI cricket history, a record that stood for 15 years until it was broken in 2015. In 1999, Dravid scored 1761 runs in 43 ODIs at an average of 46.34 and a strike rate of 75.16 including 6 hundreds and 8 fifties and featured in two 300+ partnerships.
India toured Australia in December 1999 for a 3-match test series and a triangular ODI tournament. Although Dravid scored a hundred against Tasmania in the practice match, he failed miserably with the bat in the Test series as India slumped to a 0–3 whitewash. He did reasonably well in the 1999–2000 Carlton & United Series scoring 3 fifties in the triangular event however, India failed to qualify for the Final of the tournament.
Dravid's poor form in Tests continued as India suffered a 0–2 whitewash against South Africa in a home series. He had moderate success in the bilateral ODI series against South Africa. He contributed to India's 3–2 series win with 208 runs at an average of 41.60 which included 2 fifties and three wickets at an average of 22.66 topping the bowling average chart for the series. His career best bowling figure of 2/43 from nine overs in the First ODI at Kochi, was also the best bowling figure by any bowler in that particular match.
Rise through the ranks
In February 2000, Tendulkar's resignation from captaincy led to the promotion of Ganguly, the vice-captain then, as the new captain of the Indian team. In May 2000, while Dravid was busy playing county cricket in England, he was appointed as the vice-captain of the Indian team announced for the Asia cup.
India did well in the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy. Indian team, coming out of the shadows of the infamous match fixing scandal, showed a lot of character under the new leadership of Ganguly and Dravid, beating Kenya, Australia and South Africa in consecutive matches to reach the Finals. Although India lost to New Zealand in the Finals, their spirited performance in the tournament helped restoring public faith back in Indian cricket. Dravid scored 157 runs in 4 matches of the tournament, at an average of 52.33, including 2 fifties. Dravid scored 85 runs in a match against Zimbabwe in the 2000–01 Coca-Cola Champions Trophy while opening the innings but was forced to miss the rest of the tournament because of an injury.
India kick started the new Test season with a 9-wicket win against Bangladesh. Dravid played a brisk knock of 41 runs from 49 balls, including 5 fours and a six, while chasing a target of 63 runs. The ensuing test series against Zimbabwe was John Wright's first assignment as Indian coach. Dravid, who was instrumental in Wright's appointment as India's first foreign head coach, welcomed him with his maiden double hundred. He scored 200 not out in the first inning and 70 not out in the second, guiding India to a comfortable 9-wicket victory against Zimbabwe. He scored 162 in the drawn Second test to end the series with an average of 432.00 – highest batting average by an Indian in a series across all formats.
Dravid captained the Indian team for the first time in the fifth match of the bilateral ODI series against Zimbabwe in the absence of Ganguly who was serving suspension. Riding on Agarkar's all-round performance, Dravid led India to a 39-run victory in his maiden ODI as Indian captain.
History at Eden
The Australian team toured India in February 2001 for what was being billed as the Final Frontier for Steve Waugh's all conquering men, who were coming on the back of 15 consecutive Test wins. Dravid failed in the first innings of the First Test but displayed strong resilience in Tendulkar's company in the second innings. Dravid's 196 ball long resistance finally ended when he got out bowled to Warne for 39 runs. Australians extended their winning streak to 16 Tests as they beat India convincingly by 10 wickets inside three days.
The Australian juggernaut seemed unstoppable as they looked on course towards their 17th consecutive victory in the Second Test at the Eden Gardens, when they bowled India out for meagre 171 in the first innings and enforced a follow-on after securing a massive lead of 274 runs. In the second innings, Laxman, who had scored a fine fifty in the first innings, was promoted to no. 3 position which had been Dravid's usual spot for quite sometime now, while Dravid, who had gotten out bowled to Warne for second time in a row in the first innings for just 25 runs, was relegated to no. 6 position. When Dravid joined Laxman in the middle on the third day of the Test, with scoreboard reading 232/4 and India still needing 42 runs to avoid an innings defeat, another convincing win for Australia looked inevitable. Instead, two of them staged one of the greatest fightbacks in cricketing history.
Dravid and Laxman played out the remaining time on the third day and whole of the fourth day, denying Australia any wicket on Day 4. Dravid, angered by the flak that the Indian team had been receiving lately in the media coverage, celebrated his hundred in an uncharacteristic fashion brandishing his bat at the press box. Eventually, Laxman got out on the fifth morning bringing the 376-runs partnership to an end. Dravid soon perished getting run out for 180 while trying to force the pace. Ganguly declared the innings at 657/7, setting Australia a target of 384 runs with 75 overs left in the match. An inspired team India bowled superbly to dismiss Australia for 212 in 68.3 overs. India won the match by 171 runs. This was only the third instance of a team winning a Test after following-on and India became the 2nd team to do so.
Dravid scored 81 runs in the first innings of the Third Test and took 4 catches in the match as India defeated Australia at Chennai in a nail biting finish to clinch the series 2–1. Dravid scored 80 in the first of the 5-match ODI series at his home ground as India won the match by 60 runs. He didn't do too well in the remaining 4 ODIs as Australia won the series 3–2. Dravid topped the averages for the 2000/01 Test season with 839 runs from six matches at an average of 104.87.
Dravid had a decent outing in Zimbabwe, scoring 137 runs from 134 balls in the First Tour game and aggregating 138 runs at an average of 69.00 from the drawn Test series. In the ensuing triangular ODI series, he aggregated 121 runs from 5 matches at an average of 40.33 and a strike rate of 101.68, the highlight being an unbeaten 72 off 64 balls, while chasing a target of 235 against Zimbabwe in the 3rd match of the series, guiding India to a 4-wicket win with four balls to spare. He was adjudged man of the match for his match winning knock.
On the next tour to Sri Lanka, India lost the first three matches of the triangular event. In the absence of suspended Ganguly, Dravid captained the side in the 4th match leading them to their first victory of the series. India won the next two matches to qualify for the Final. Dravid played crucial innings in all the three victories. Eventually, India lost the Final to Sri Lanka. He top scored for India in the series with 259 runs from seven matches at an average of 51.80 and a strike rate of 59.81. Reinstated to his usual no. 3 position in the absence of injured Laxman, Dravid top scored for India in the ensuing 3-Test series as well with 235 runs at an average of 47.00. The highlight for Dravid was 75 runs scored in the tough fourth innings chase of the Second Test – a crucial contribution to India's first Test win in Sri Lanka since 1993 despite the absence of key players like Tendulkar, Laxman, Srinath and Kumble.
Dravid had decent success in Standard Bank tri-series on South Africa tour, scoring 214 runs (including 3 fifties) at an average of 53.50 and a strike rate of 71.81. He also kept wickets in the final two ODIs of the series effecting 3 stumpings. The highlight for Dravid in the ensuing Test series came in the second innings of the Second Test. India, having failed to last hundred overs in any of the previous three innings in the series, needed to bat out four sessions in the Second Test to save the match. They started on a poor note losing their first wicket in the first over with no runs on the scoreboard. However, Dravid forged an important partnership of 171 runs with Dasgupta that lasted for 83.2 overs taking India to the brink of safety. Poor weather helped India salvage a draw as only 96.2 overs could be bowled in the innings. Dravid captained the team in the 'unofficial' Third test in the absence of injured Ganguly, which India lost by an innings margin.
By the end of the South African tour, Dravid had started experiencing problem in his right shoulder. Although he played the ensuing home test series against England, he pulled out of the six-match bilateral ODI series to undergo shoulder rehabilitation program in South Africa. He returned for the Zimbabwe's tour of India but performed below par, scoring a fifty each in the Test series and the bilateral ODI series.
2002–2006: Peak years
Dravid hit the peak form of his career in 2002. Between Season 2002 and Season 2006, Dravid was the second highest scorer overall and top scorer for India across formats, scoring 8,914 runs from 174 matches at an average of 54.02, including 19 hundreds.
Dravid had a decent outing in West Indies in 2002. The highlights for him included – hitting a hundred with a swollen jaw and helping India avoid the follow-on in the process at Georgetown in the drawn First Test; contributing with a fifty and four catches to India's victory in the Second Test at Port of Spain – India's first Test victory in West Indies since 1975–76; and another fifty in the drawn Fourth Test with a wicket to boot – that of Ridley Jacobs who was batting on 118. This was Dravid's only wicket in Test cricket. He played as India's designated keeper in the ODI series but didn't contribute much with the bat in the 2–1 series win.
A quartet of hundreds
India's tour of England in 2002 started with a triangular ODI event involving India, England and Sri Lanka. India emerged as the winners of the series beating England in the Final – their first victory after nine consecutive defeats in one-day finals. Dravid played as designated keeper in six out of seven matches effecting nine dismissals (6 catches, 3 stumpings) – most by a keeper in the series. He also did well with the bat aggregating 245 runs at an average of 49.00 including three fifties. His performance against Sri Lanka in fourth ODI (64 runs, 1 catch) earned him a man of the match award.
India lost the first of the four match Test series. Having conceded a 260 runs lead in the first innings of the Second Test at Nottingham, Indians were in a spot of bother. However, Dravid led the fightback in the second innings with a hundred as Indians managed to earn a draw.
Ganguly won the toss in the Third Test and took a bold decision to bat first on a gloomy overcast morning at Headingley on a pitch known to be traditionally conducive for fast and swing bowling. Having lost an early wicket, Dravid weathered the storm in company of Sanjay Bangar. They played cautiously, taking body blows on a pitch with uneven bounce. Dravid completed his second hundred of the series in the process. As the conditions became more and more conducive for batting, the Indian batsmen piled on England's misery. Indians declared the innings on 628/8 and then bowled England out twice to register their first test victory in England since 1986. Despite being outscored by Tendulkar, Dravid was awarded man of the match for his efforts. Dravid scored a double hundred in the drawn Fourth Test to notch up his second consecutive man of the match award of the series. Christopher Martin-Jenkins noted during the Fourth Test: Dravid aggregated 602 runs in the series from four matches at an average of 100.33, including three hundreds and a fifty and was adjudged joint man of the series along with Michael Vaughan.
India jointly shared the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka. Dravid contributed to India's successful campaign with 120 runs at an average of 60.00 and five dismissals behind the wicket. Dravid scored a hundred in the First Test of the three match home series against West Indies becoming the first Indian batsman to score hundreds in four consecutive Test innings but had to retire soon after owing to severe cramps. Dravid did well in the subsequent bilateral 7-match ODI series aggregating 300 runs at an average of 75.00 and a strike rate of 89.82 including one hundred and two fifties. He also effected 7 dismissals (6 catches, 1 stumping) in the series. India trailing 1–2, needed 325 runs to win the Fourth ODI and level the series. Dravid scored a hundred leading India to a successful chase. He once again scored a crucial fifty in the Sixth ODI as India once again leveled the series after trailing 2–3. India, however, lost the last match to lose the series 3–4.
Dravid top scored for India in the two-match Test series in New Zealand as India slumped to a whitewash. He played as designated keeper in six of the 7-match bilateral ODI series and effected seven dismissals but fared poorly with the bat as India were handed a 2-5 drubbing by the New Zealand.
2003 Cricket World Cup
Dravid arrived in South Africa with the Indian squad to participate in the 2003 Cricket World Cup in the capacity of first-choice keeper-batsman as part of their seven batsmen-four bowlers strategy – an experiment that had brought success to the team in the past year. The idea was that making Dravid keep wickets allowed India to accommodate an extra specialist batsman. The strategy worked out well for India in the World Cup. India recovered from a less than convincing victory against minnows Netherlands and a loss to Australia in the league stage and embarked on a dream run winning eight consecutive matches to qualify for the World Cup Finals for the first time since 1983. India eventually lost the Final to Australia ending as runner-up in the tournament. Dravid contributed to India's campaign with 318 runs at an average of 63.60 and 16 dismissals (15 catches, 1 stumping). Highlights for Dravid in the tournament included a fifty against England, 44 not out against Pakistan in a successful chase and an unbeaten fifty in another successful chase against New Zealand.
Dravid topped the international runs chart for 2003/04 cricket season across formats aggregating 1993 runs from 31 matches at an average of 64.29 including three double hundreds. First of those came against New Zealand in the first of the two-test home series at Ahmedabad. Dravid scored 222 runs in the first innings and 73 runs in the second innings receiving a man of the match award for his efforts. Dravid captained Indian Test Team for the first time in the second game of the series at Mohali in the absence of Ganguly. Both the matches ended in a draw. Dravid top scored in the series with 313 runs at an average of 78.25. India next participated in TVS cup alongside New Zealand and Australia. India lost to Australia in the Final. Dravid scored two fifties in the series but the highlight was his fifty against New Zealand in the ninth match that came in just 22 balls – second fastest fifty by an Indian.
An Eden encore
After earning a draw in the first of the four-match Test series in Australia, Indians found themselves reeling at 85/4 in the Second Test at Adelaide after Australia had piled 556 runs in the first innings when Laxman joined Dravid in the middle. They batted for 93.5 overs bringing about their second 300-run partnership adding 303 runs together before Laxman perished for 148 runs. However, Dravid continued to complete his second double hundred of the season. He was the last man out for 233 runs as India conceded a marginal first innings lead of 33 runs to Australia. India bowled Australia out for paltry score of 196 riding on Agarkar's six-wicket haul, and were set a target of 230 runs to win the match. Dravid helped India tread through a tricky chase with an unbeaten fifty as India registered their first test victory in Australia since 1980/81 to go up 1–0 in the series. This was the first time that Australians were 0-1 down in a home series since 1994. Dravid won the man of the match award for his efforts. Dravid registered a score of ninety each in the next two tests as Australia leveled the series 1–1. Dravid top scored for India in the series with 619 runs at an average of 123.80 and was awarded player of the series for his efforts.
Dravid did moderately well in the ensuing VB series with three fifties in the league stage, all of which came in winning cause. However, India lost the best-of-three finals to Australia 2–0. Dravid was fined half his match fee for applying cough lozenge on the ball during a match in the series against Zimbabwe – an act that was claimed to be an innocent mistake by coach John Wright.
India visited Pakistan in March 2004 to participate in a bilateral Test series for the first time since 1989/90. Prior to the Test series, India participated and won the 5-match ODI series 3–2. Dravid top scored for India in the series with 248 runs at an average of 62.00 and a strike rate of 73.59. Dravid scored 99 runs in the First ODI helping India post an imposing total of 349. He also took the important catch of threatening Inzamam-ul-Haq, who was batting on 122, as India went on to win the match by five runs. When Indians were trailing in the series 1–2, Dravid helped India level the series with an unbeaten fifty during a successful chase in the Fourth ODI.
Captaincy
Dravid captained India in the first two tests in the absence of injured Ganguly and led India to their first-ever Test victory in Pakistan. Dravid, standing in only his second test as team's captain, took a bold and controversial decision during First Test at Multan that divided the cricket fraternity. Pakistani cricketers had been on field for 150+ overs as India posted a total in excess of 600 runs in the first innings. Dravid, who wanted to have a crack at the tired Pakistani batsmen in the final hour of second day's play, declared Indian innings with Tendulkar batting at 194, just six runs short of his double century. While some praised the team before personal milestones approach of the Indian captain, most criticized Dravid's timing of declaration as there were no pressing concerns and there was ample time left in the match to try and bowl Pakistan out twice. While Tendulkar was admittedly disappointed, any rumours of rift between him and Dravid were quashed by both the cricketers and the team management, who claimed that the matter had been discussed and sorted amicably behind closed doors. India eventually went on to win the match by innings margin. Pakistan leveled the series beating India in the Second Test. Dravid slammed a double hundred in the Third Test at Rawalpindi – his third double hundred of the season. He scored 270 runs – his career best performance – before getting out to reverse sweep trying to force the pace. India went on to win the match and the series – their first series victory outside India since 1993. Dravid was adjudged man of the match for his effort.
Dravid was appointed the captain for the Indian team for 2007 World Cup, where India had an unsuccessful campaign.
During India's unsuccessful tour of England in 2011, in which their 4–0 loss cost them the top rank in Test cricket, Dravid made three centuries.
2011 Tour of England
Having regained his form on the tour to West Indies, where he scored a match-winning hundred in Sabina park, Jamaica, Dravid then toured England in what was billed as the series which would decide the World No. 1 ranking in tests.
In the first test at Lord's, in reply to England's 474, Dravid scored an unbeaten 103, his first hundred at the ground where he debuted in 1996. He received scant support from his teammates as India were bowled out for 286 and lost the test. The 2nd test at Trentbridge, Nottingham again saw Dravid in brilliant form. Sent out to open the batting in place of an injured Gautam Gambhir, he scored his second successive hundred. His 117 though, again came in a losing cause, as a collapse of 6 wickets for 21 runs in the first innings led to a massive defeat by 319 runs. Dravid failed in both innings in the third test at Birmingham, as India lost by an innings and 242 runs, one of the heaviest defeats in their history. However, he came back brilliantly in the fourth and final match at The Oval. Again opening the batting in place of Gambhir, he scored an unbeaten 146 out of India's total of 300, carrying his bat through the innings. Once again, though, his efforts were in vain as India lost the match, completing a 0–4 whitewash.
In all, he scored 461 runs in the four matches at an average of 76.83 with three hundreds. He accounted for over 26% of India's runs in the series and was named India's man of the series by England coach Andy Flower. His performance in the series was met with widespread admiration and was hailed by some as one of his finest ever series
Retirement
Rahul Dravid was dropped from the ODI team in 2009, but was selected again for an ODI series in England in 2011, surprising even Dravid himself since, although he had not officially retired from ODI cricket, he had not expected to be recalled. After being selected, he announced that he would retire from ODI cricket after the series. He played his last ODI innings against England at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, on 16 September 2011, scoring 69 runs from 79 balls before being bowled by Graeme Swann. His last limited-overs international match was his debut T20I match; he announced his retirement before playing his first T20I match.
Dravid announced his retirement from Test and domestic cricket on 9 March 2012, after the 2011–12 tour of Australia, but he said that he would captain the Rajasthan Royals in the 2012 Indian Premier League. He was the second-highest run scorer and had taken the highest number of catches in Test cricket at the time of his retirement.
In July 2014, he played for the MCC side in the Bicentenary Celebration match at Lord's.
Coaching
Towards the end of his playing career, Dravid took on a role as mentor of the Rajasthan Royals IPL team, officially taking over in 2014. During this time, he also became involved with the Indian national team, serving as mentor for the team's tour of England in 2014. After leading the Royals to a third-place finish in the 2015 IPL season, he was appointed as the head coach of the India U-19 and India A teams. Dravid achieved immense success as coach, with the U-19s reaching the finals of the 2016 U-19 Cricket World Cup. Two years later, the team went on to win the 2018 U-19 Cricket World Cup, beating Australia by 8 wickets to win their fourth Under-19 World Cup, the most by any national side. Dravid was credited with bringing up future national team players including Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan and Washington Sundar. Alongside his coaching roles, Dravid took on several mentor roles, including at the Delhi Daredevils IPL team.
In July 2019, following his four-year stint as coach of the junior teams, Dravid was appointed Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). He was in charge of "overseeing all cricket related activities at NCA was involved in mentoring, coaching, training and motivating players, coaches and support staff at the NCA". As head of NCA, he was widely praised for developing a steady supply of talent to the senior team and revamping player fitness and rehabilitation regiments.
In November 2021, he was appointed as head coach of the Indian national cricket team.
County stint
Dravid had always been keen on further honing his batting skills in testing English conditions by playing in county cricket. He had discussed about the prospects regarding the same with John Wright, the former New Zealand cricketer and incumbent Kent coach, during India's 1998–99 tour of New Zealand. Wright was particularly impressed with Dravid's performance on that tour, especially his twin hundreds at Hamilton. The talks finally materialized and Dravid made his county debut for Kent in April 2000. His co-debutante Ganguly made his county debuted in the same match, albeit for the opposite team.
Kent offer had come as a welcome change for Dravid. There was too much negativity surrounding Indian cricket marred by match fixing controversy. Dravid himself had been struggling to score runs in Tests for quite some time now. The county stint gave him a chance to "get away to a new environment" and "relax". The wide variety of pitches and weather conditions in England and a full season of intense county cricket against professional cricketers gave him a chance to further his cricketing education and learn things about his game.
Dravid made the most of this opportunity. In his 2nd game for Kent, Dravid scored a fluid 182 propelling them to an innings and 163 runs victory over the touring Zimbabwe side. Out of 7 first class tour games that Zimbabwe played on that tour, Kent was the only team that managed to beat them. Dravid hit another fifty in a draw against Surrey. The newly appointed vice-captain had to leave the county championship temporarily, missing two championship games and two one day games, to fulfill his national commitment. Indian team, Dravid included, fared poorly in the Asia cup and failed to qualify for the Final. Subsequently, Dravid returned to England to resume his county sojourn with Kent.
In July 2000, Kent's away match against Hampshire at Portsmouth was billed as a showdown between two great cricketers- Warne and Dravid. Dravid came out on top. On a dustbowl, tailor-made to suit home team spinners, Warne took 4 wickets but could not take the all important wicket of Dravid. Coming in to bat at 15/2, Dravid faced 295 balls scoring 137 runs – his maiden hundred in county championships. Dravid scored 73 not out in the 2nd innings guiding Kent to a six wicket victory as Warne went wicketless.
In their last county game of the season, Kent needed one bonus point to prevent themselves from being relegated to the Second Division. Dravid made sure they stay put in the First Division by fetching that one bonus point with an inning of 77 runs.
Dravid concluded a successful stint with Kent aggregating 1221 runs from 16 first class matches(15 county games and 1 tour game against Zimbabwe) at an average of 55.50 including 2 hundreds and 8 fifties. He shouldered Kent's batting single-handedly as the second best Kent batsman during the same period, Paul Nixon, scored just 567 runs at an average of 33.35 in 17 matches. Dravid contributed to Kent's county campaign not just with the bat but also with his fielding and bowling taking 14 catches and 4 wickets at an average of 32.00.
Indian Premier League and Champions League
Rahul Dravid played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2008, 2009 and 2010. Later he played for Rajasthan Royals and led it to finals of Champions League T20 in 2013, and play-offs of Indian Premier League in 2013. Dravid announced retirement from Twenty20 after playing the 2013 Champions League Twenty20 in September–October 2013.
Playing style
Dravid was known for his technique, and has been one of the best batsmen for the Indian cricket team. In the beginning, he was known as a defensive batsman who should be confined to Test cricket, and was dropped from the ODI squad due to a low strike rate. However, he later scored consistently in ODIs as well, earning him the ICC Player of the Year award. His nickname of 'The Wall' in Reebok advertisements is now used as his nickname. Dravid has scored 36 centuries in Test cricket, with an average of 52.31; this included five double centuries. In one-dayers, he averaged 39.16, with a strike rate of 71.23. He is one of the few Indians whose Test average is better at away than at home, averaging almost five runs more on foreign pitches. As of 23 September 2010, Dravid's Test average in abroad is 55.53, and his Test average at home is 50.76; his ODI average abroad is 37.93 and his ODI average at home is 43.11. Dravid averages 66.34 runs in Indian Test victories. and 50.69 runs in ODIs.
Dravid's sole Test wicket was of Ridley Jacobs in the fourth Test match against the West Indies during the 2001–2002 series. While he has no pretensions to being a bowler, Dravid often kept wicket for India in ODIs.
Dravid was involved in two of the largest partnerships in ODIs: a 318-run partnership with Sourav Ganguly, the first pair to combine for a 300-run partnership, and then a 331-run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar, which is a world record. He also holds the record for the greatest number of innings played since debut before being dismissed for a duck. His highest scores in ODIs and Tests are 153 and 270 respectively.
He was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2000. Though primarily a defensive batsman, Dravid scored 50 runs not out in 22 balls (a strike rate of 227.27) against New Zealand in Hyderabad on 15 November 2003, the second fastest 50 among Indian batsmen. Only Ajit Agarkar's 67 runs off 21 balls is faster than that of Dravid.
In 2004, Dravid was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. On 7 September 2004, he was awarded the inaugural Player of the year award and the Test player of the year award by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
After reaching 10,000 Test runs milestone, he said, "It's a proud moment for sure. For me, growing up, I dreamt of playing for India. When I look back, I probably exceeded my expectations with what I have done over the last 10 to 12 years. I never had an ambition to do it because I never believed – it is just a reflection of my longevity in the game."
Dravid is also one of the two batsmen to score 10,000 runs at a single batting position and is the fourth highest run scorer in Test cricket, behind Tendulkar, Ponting and Kallis.
Controversies
Ball-tampering incident
In January 2004, Dravid was found guilty of ball tampering during an ODI with Zimbabwe. Match referee Clive Lloyd adjudged the application of an energy sweet to the ball as a deliberate offence, although Dravid himself denied this was his intent. Lloyd emphasised that television footage caught Dravid putting a lozenge on the ball during the Zimbabwean innings on Tuesday night at the Gabba. According to the ICC's Code of Conduct, players are not allowed to apply substances to the ball other than sweat and saliva. Dravid was fined half of his match fee.
Indian coach John Wright came out in defence of Dravid, stating that "It was an innocent mistake". Wright argued that Dravid had been trying to apply saliva to the ball when parts of a losenge he had been chewing stuck to the ball; Dravid then tried to wipe it off. ICC regulations prevented Dravid from commenting about the issue, but former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly also stated that Dravid's act was "just an accident".
Captaincy
Rahul Dravid has had a mixed record when leading India in Tests.
One of Dravid's most debated decisions was taken in March 2004, when he was standing in as the captain for injured Sourav Ganguly. India's first innings was declared at a point when Sachin Tendulkar was at 194 runs not out with 16 overs remaining on Day 2. In this test match Sehwag scored triple century first time. He became the first Indian to score triple century in test with a score of 309.
In March 2006, India lost the Mumbai Test, giving England its first Test victory in India since 1985, enabling it to draw the series 1–1. The defeat in Mumbai was arguably the result of Dravid's decision to bowl first on a flat dry pitch, which later deteriorated and ended with an Indian collapse in the run chase. Coincidentally, it was Dravid's 100th test match in which the Indians were all out for 100 runs in the second innings.
After India failed to qualify for the final of the DLF Cup, Dravid, the skipper, was criticised by former all-rounder Ravi Shastri who said that he was not assertive enough and let Greg Chappell make too many decisions. When asked for a response, Dravid said that Shastri, while a 'fair critic', was 'not privy' to the internal decision-making process of the team.
He was criticised by Vijay Mallya for not picking the team with right balance after his then IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore finished seventh out of the eight teams that participated in the 2008 season.
Achievements and awards
National honours
1998 – Arjuna Award recipient for achievements in cricket
2004 – Padma Shri – India's fourth highest civilian award
2013 – Padma Bhushan – India's third highest civilian award
Other honours
1999 – CEAT International Cricketer of the World Cup
2000 – Dravid was one of the five cricketers selected as Wisden Cricketer of the Year.
2004 – ICC Cricketer of the year – Highest award in the ICC listings
2004 – ICC Test Player of The Year, ICC Cricketer of The Year
2004 – MTV Youth Icon of the Year
2006 – Captain of the ICC's Test Team
2011 – NDTV Indian of the Year's Lifetime Achievement Award with Dev Anand
2012 – Don Bradman Award with Glenn McGrath
2015 – Wisden India's Highest Impact Test Batsman
2018 – ICC Hall of Fame
Personal life
Family
On 4 May 2003 he married Vijeta Pendharkar, a surgeon from Nagpur. Vijeta Pendharkar is also from Deshastha Brahmin community as Dravid. They have two children: Samit, born in 2005, and Anvay, born in 2009. Dravid is fluent in Marathi, Hindi, Kannada and English.
Commercial endorsements
Rahul Dravid has been sponsored by several brands throughout his career including Reebok (1996 – present), Pepsi (1997 present), Kissan (Unknown), Castrol (2001 – present), Hutch
(2003), Karnataka Tourism (2004), Max Life (2005 – present), Bank of Baroda (2005 – present), Citizen (2006 – present), Skyline Construction (2006 – present), Sansui (2007), Gillette (2007 – present), Samsung (2002 – 2004), World Trade Center Noida (2013– present),
CRED (2021-present).
Social commitments
Children's Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA)
UNICEF Supporter and AIDS Awareness Campaign
Biographies
Books
Two biographies have been written on Rahul Dravid and his career:
Rahul Dravid – A Biography written by Vedam Jaishankar (). Publisher: UBSPD Publications. Date: January 2004
The Nice Guy Who Finished First written by Devendra Prabhudesai. Publisher: Rupa Publications. Date: November 2005
A collection of articles, testimonials and interviews related to Dravid was released by ESPNcricinfo following his retirement. The book was titled Rahul Dravid: Timeless Steel.
See also
Sachin Tendulkar
Sourav Ganguly
VVS Laxman
Virendra Sehwag
References
External links
Indian cricketers
India Test cricketers
India One Day International cricketers
India Twenty20 International cricketers
India Test cricket captains
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Karnataka cricketers
South Zone cricketers
Kent cricketers
Scotland cricketers
ACC Asian XI One Day International cricketers
ICC World XI One Day International cricketers
World XI Test cricketers
Royal Challengers Bangalore cricketers
Canterbury cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Rajasthan Royals cricketers
India Blue cricketers
Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup
Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports
1973 births
Living people
Cricketers from Indore
Cricketers from Bangalore
Recipients of the Arjuna Award
International Cricket Council Cricketer of the Year
Marathi people
Indian cricket coaches
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in sports
Indian cricket commentators
Wicket-keepers
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"Stuart Massey (born 17 November 1964) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder.\n\nHe has worked as a manager, for the clubs Chipstead (player-manager), Sutton United (caretaker), and Whyteleafe.\n\nHe began his career at non-league level in the early 1980s before signing for FA Premier League founder members Crystal Palace at the start of the 1992–93 season, but did not play any games that season in which the club was relegated.\n\nHe played twice for Crystal Palace during their 1993–94 promotion campaign in Football League Division One before signing for Oxford United. He was more active at the Manor Ground, making more than 100 league appearances and scoring eight goals before being given a free transfer, in May 1998, following a knee injury. He never played professional football again. However, during his time with Oxford he did help them win promotion from Division Two as runners-up in 1996.\n\nReferences\n\nSince 1888... The Searchable Premiership and Football League Player Database (subscription required)\n\n1964 births\nLiving people\nEnglish footballers\nSportspeople from Crawley\nFootballers from West Sussex\nAssociation football midfielders\nPremier League players\nSutton United F.C. players\nCrystal Palace F.C. players\nOxford United F.C. players\nWhyteleafe F.C. players\nCarshalton Athletic F.C. players\nWalton & Hersham F.C. players\nEnglish football managers\nSutton United F.C. managers\nChipstead F.C. players",
"The Sustainable Nation-Building Party (Tongan: Paati Langafonua Tuʻuloa) is a political party in Tonga. It was launched on August 4, 2007 in Auckland, New Zealand.\n\nThe party's president is Sione Fonua, an Auckland-based lawyer. He plans to move to Tonga before the 2008 elections.\n\nThe party ran four candidates in the 2010 elections, but did not win any seats. It intends to recruit more members and candidates and contest the next elections in 2014. The party did not run any candidates at the 2017 election, and is now defunct.\n\nReferences\n\nPolitical parties in Tonga\nPolitical parties established in 2007\n2007 establishments in Tonga"
] |
[
"Uhuru Kenyatta",
"The National Alliance Party (TNA)"
] |
C_945d2d0cdf364553853871ad8428e807_1
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What part did the TNA play?
| 1 |
What part did the The National Alliance Party (TNA) play with Uhuru Kenyatta?
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Uhuru Kenyatta
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On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicised launch of The National Alliance party in a modern high-tech dome at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination ticket in his quest for the presidency in the 2013 General Elections. The Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North Constituency MP William Ruto led more than 70 MPs in attending the function. The Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji, Jamleck Irungu Kamau, Dr. Naomi Shaaban, Samuel Poghisio, Professor Sam Ongeri and Dr. Mohammed Kuti and MPs Charles Cheruiyot Keter, Aden Bare Duale and Mohamed Maalim Mohamud also attended the event. Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes in society to be championed, the need for peaceful co-existence, the need for visionary and committed leadership, the need for transformative leadership, the need for a youthful crop of committed professionals in leadership, the need for free and fair nomination and election processes in the General Election, the need for an economically empowered youth and a call to bring an end to divisive and sectarian interests in politics to safeguard Kenya from sliding to dictatorship. Machel Waikenda was the director of communications and secretary of arts and entertainment of the National Alliance, from April 2012 to August 2013 and he led the media and communications department of the party during the 2013 elections. CANNOTANSWER
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His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination
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Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (
born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who is the president of Kenya serving since 2013.
Uhuru served as the member of parliament (MP) for Gatundu South from 2002 to 2013. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2007 to 2013. Currently, he is a member and the party leader of the Jubilee Party of Kenya whose popularity has since dwindled. Uhuru was previously associated with the Kenya Africa National Union (KANU) before founding The National Alliance (TNA), one of the allied parties that campaigned for his election during the 2013 general elections and later on went to form a merger with the William Samoei Ruto's United Republican Party (URP) to form the Jubilee Party.
Uhuru is the son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president and his fourth wife Mama Ngina Kenyatta. He has been married to Margaret Gakuo Kenyatta since 1991. They have three children: his two sons Jomo and Muhoho, and his daughter Ngina.
Uhuru was re-elected for a second and final term in the August 2017 general elections, winning 54% of the popular vote. The win was formally declared on national television by the Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Mr. Wafula Chebukati.
However, Uhuru's election was challenged in the Supreme Court of Kenya by his main competitor, Raila Odinga. On 1 September 2017, the court declared the election invalid and ordered a new presidential election to take place within 60 days from the day of the ruling. A new presidential election was held on 26 October, which he won, with 39.03% electoral voter participation.
Early life
Uhuru Kenyatta was born 26 October 1961 to the future first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, and his fourth wife, Mama Ngina Kenyatta (née Muhoho). The second born in the family, he has two sisters, Christine (born 1953), Anna Nyokabi (born 1963), and a brother, Muhoho Kenyatta (born 1965).
His family hails from the Kikuyu, a Bantu ethnic group. His given name "Uhuru" is from the Swahili term for "freedom", and was given to him in anticipation of Kenya's upcoming independence. Uhuru attended St Mary's School in Nairobi. Between 1979 and 1980, he also briefly worked as a teller at the Kenya Commercial Bank.
After attending St. Mary's school, Uhuru went on to study economics, political science and government at Amherst College in the United States. Upon his graduation, Uhuru returned to Kenya, and started a company Wilham Kenya Limited, through which he sourced and exported agricultural produce.
Uhuru was nominated to Parliament in 2001, he then became Minister for Local Government under President Daniel Arap Moi and, despite his political inexperience, was favoured by Moi as his successor. Kenyatta ran as KANU's candidate in the December 2002 presidential election, but lost to the opposition candidate Mwai Kibaki by a big margin. He subsequently became Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. He backed Hon. Mwai Kibaki for re-election in the December 2007 presidential election and was named Minister of Local Government by Former President Mwai Kibaki in January 2008, before being appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade in April 2008 as part of the new coalition government.
Subsequently, Uhuru Kenyatta was Minister of Finance from 2009 to 2012, while remaining Deputy Prime Minister. Accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of committing crimes against humanity in relation to the violent aftermath of the 2007 election, he resigned as Minister of Finance on 26 January 2012. He was elected as President of Kenya in the March 2013 presidential election, defeating Raila Odinga with a slim majority in a single round of voting.
Political life
In the 1997 general election, Uhuru Kenyatta contested for the Gatundu South Constituency parliamentary seat, once held by his father, but lost to Moses Mwihia, a Nairobi architect.
In 1999, Moi appointed Uhuru to chair the Kenya Tourism Board, a government parastatal. In 2001, he was nominated as a Member of Parliament, and he joined the Cabinet as Minister for Local Government. He would also later be elected First Vice Chairman of KANU.
In the nomination process in 2002 in what was widely thought as undemocratic and underhand, Moi influenced Uhuru Kenyatta's nomination as KANU's preferred presidential candidate, sparking an outcry from other interested contenders and a massive exit from the party ensued. This move by the late President Moi was seen as a ploy to install Uhuru as a puppet so that even in retirement, Moi would still rule the country through Uhuru and presumably insulate himself against the numerous charges of abuse of office that plagued his presidency.
Uhuru finished second to Mwai Kibaki in the General Elections, with 31% of the vote. He conceded defeat and took up an active leadership role as Leader of the Opposition.
In January 2005, Uhuru Kenyatta defeated Nicholas Biwott for chairmanship of KANU, taking 2,980 votes among party delegates against Biwott's 622 votes.
Uhuru led his party KANU in the referendum campaigns against the draft constitution in 2005, having teamed up with the Liberal Democratic Party, a rebel faction in the Kibaki government, to form the Orange Democratic Movement. The result of this was a vote against the adoption of the draft constitution by a noticeable margin, which was a great political embarrassment to Emilio Mwai Kibaki.
In November 2006, Kenyatta was displaced as KANU leader by the late Nicholas Biwott. On 28 December 2006, the High Court of Kenya reinstated Uhuru Kenyatta as KANU chairman. However, further court proceedings followed. On 28 June 2007, the High Court confirmed Kenyatta as party leader, ruling that there was insufficient evidence for Biwott's argument that Kenyatta had joined another party.
In the run up to the 2007 general election, he led KANU to join a coalition (called Party of National Unity "PNU") with President Mwai Kibaki who was running for a second term against Raila Odinga. PNU won the controversial 2007 elections but the dispute over the poll resulted in the 2007–08 Kenyan crisis. Under an agreement between the two parties to end the chaos, Kibaki remained as president in a power sharing agreement with Raila as Prime Minister, while Uhuru Kenyatta was Kibaki's choice as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister For Finance in his share of Cabinet slots.
ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo charged Uhuru, who was a PNU leader, as an indirect co-perpetrator in the violence that followed the 2007–08 Kenyan crisis, and the charges were confirmed on 23 January 2012. The Prosecutor also charged William Ruto who had been a supporter of ODM, rivals of the PNU in the 2007 election. Uhuru resigned as Minister of Finance upon the confirmation of the charges but maintained his innocence. The charges were dropped on 13 March 2015 for lack of evidence.
On 13 September 2007, Uhuru Kenyatta withdrew from the December 2007 presidential election in favour of Kibaki for re-election. He said that he did not want to run unless he could be sure of winning.
Following the election, amidst the controversy that resulted when Kibaki was declared the victor despite claims of fraud from challenger Raila Odinga and his Orange Democratic Movement, Kibaki appointed Kenyatta as Minister for Local Government on 8 January 2008. After Kibaki and Odinga reached a power-sharing agreement, Kenyatta was named Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade on 13 April 2008, as part of the Grand Coalition Cabinet. He was the Deputy Prime Minister representing the PNU, while another Deputy Prime Minister, Musalia Mudavadi, represented the ODM.
Kenyatta and the rest of the Cabinet were sworn in on 17 April. Uhuru Kenyatta was later moved from Local Government and appointed Minister for Finance on 23 January 2009. During his tenure, he spearheaded a number of reform measures that changed how treasury and government by extension transact business, such as the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and a fund for the inclusion of the informal sector in the mainstream economy.
In 2013, Uhuru Kenyatta was elected as the 4th and current president of Kenya under The National Alliance (TNA), which was part of the Jubilee Alliance with his running mate William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP). Uhuru and Ruto won 50.07% of votes cast, with closest rivals, Raila Odinga and running mate Kalonzo Musyoka of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy garnering 42%. Raila Amolo Odinga disputed the election results at the Supreme Court which however held (7–0) that the election of Uhuru was valid and such irregularities as existed did not make a difference to the final outcome. Uhuru Kenyatta was therefore sworn in as president on 9 April 2013.
Uhuru ran for president in the elections held on 4 March 2013 and garnered 6,173,433 votes (50.03%) out of the 12,338,667 votes cast. As this was above the 50% plus 1 vote threshold, he won the election in the first round thus evading a run-off between the top two candidates. He was, therefore, declared the fourth President of the Republic of Kenya by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
According to the IEBC, Raila Odinga garnered 5,340,546 votes (43.4%) and was thus the second in the field of eight candidates. CORD, under the leadership of presidential candidate Raila Odinga, lodged a petition with the Supreme Court of Kenya on 10 March 2013 challenging Uhuru's election. On 30 March 2013, Dr Willy Mutunga, the Chief Justice of Kenya, read the unanimous Supreme Court ruling declaring the election of Uhuru Kenyatta and his running-mate, William Ruto, as valid. On 11 August 2017, the Chairman of the IEBC, Wafula Chebukati announced Uhuru's reelection to a second term in office during the 2017 Kenyan general election, with 54% of the popular vote. This was later contested in court and annulled. In the events that followed the annulment, Kenyatta was seen as lacking direction and being a reactionary leader. Following this annulment, a second election was required in which Uhuru Kenyatta won with 98% of the vote with a 39% voter turnout.
On 9 March 2018 Uhuru Kenyatta agreed on a truce between the opposition leader, Raila Odinga. This action marked the country's watershed moment that redrew its political architecture. On 27 November 2019, Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Building Bridges Initiatives (BBI) in Bomas of Kenya. This is one of the outcomes as a result of the truce with the opposition leader Raila Odinga as its implementations will foresee some amendments in the Kenyan Constitution.
Controversies
Budgetary discrepancies
Although it has been claimed that Uhuru was one of the few ministers who had no scandals attached to their name, on 29 April 2009, he faced a controversial scare after he presented a supplemental budget that was inadvertently approved by the parliament. The budget was aimed to bridge the budgetary gap that had arisen due to slow economic growth. The government required an additional 38 billion, but compromised on a figure of 22 billion and non-essential proposed expenditure was postponed as a result. After voting on the bill brought forward by Kenyatta, Gitobu Imanyara raised discrepancy questions as to what exactly had been approved by the house. It appeared that the parliament had approved a budget of 31 billion as opposed to 22 billion that they thought they were voting on – a difference of 9.2 billion. The Deputy Prime Minister initially defended the approval but later admitted that there were computer or typographical errors in the budget bill. Amid the raging debate about the contentious issue, the Speaker ordered the CID and a parliamentary committee to question him on the discrepancies. He was later cleared of any wrongdoing by the Joint Finance and Budgetary Committee.
ICC charges and investigations related to 2007–08 post-election violence
On 15 December 2010, prior to him becoming president, Kenyatta was named as a suspect of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, for planning and funding violence in Naivasha and Nakuru. This was in relation to the violence that followed the bungled national elections of December 2007. In furtherance of his political support for Kibaki's PNU at the time, he was accused of organising a Kikuyu politico-religious group, the Mungiki, in the post-election violence. Overall, the post-election violence of 2007 is said to have claimed about 1300 lives. Uhuru maintained his innocence and wanted his name cleared. On 8 March 2011, while serving as minister in Kibaki's government, he was indicted after being summoned to appear before the ICC pre-trial chamber. He was to appear at The Hague on 8 April 2011 alongside five other suspects.
On 29 September 2011, while seeking to exonerate himself, Uhuru Kenyatta put up a spirited fight as he was being cross-examined by ICC Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo in The Hague, denying any links with the outlawed Mungiki sect. He said Prime Minister Raila Odinga should take political responsibility for the acts of violence and killings that followed the 2007 presidential elections in Kenya. He told the three judges that "by telling his supporters election results were being rigged, fanned tensions and then failed to use his influence to quell the violence that followed the announcement of the 2007 presidential results."
Though Uhuru had previously dismissed ICC summons, he changed his decision along the way. Together with his two other co-accused suspects, Head of Civil Service, Ambassador Francis Muthaura and former Police Commissioner Hussein Ali, the trio honoured the ICC Summons that sought to determine whether their cases met the set standards for international trials. On 23 January 2012, the ICC confirmed the cases against Kenyatta and Muthaura although the charges against Muthaura were subsequently dropped. Serious concerns about the case have been raised, particularly the nature of the evidence being used against Kenyatta. There are also serious concerns about witness tampering and indeed, a number of witnesses have disappeared or died, which is the reason cited by the ICC for dropping charges against Mathaura. On a 12 October 2013 speech to the African Union in which he set a belligerent tone, Uhuru accused the ICC of being "a toy of declining imperial powers".
On 31 October 2013, the ICC postponed Kenyatta's trial for crimes against humanity by three months until 5 February 2014 after the defense had requested more time.
On 8 October 2014, Kenyatta appeared before the ICC in The Hague. He was called to appear at the ICC "status conference" when the prosecution said evidence needed to go ahead with a trial was being withheld. In a speech to the Kenyan parliament Kenyatta said that he was going to The Hague in a personal capacity — not as president of the country — so as not to compromise the sovereignty of Kenyans. Kenyatta did not speak in court, but denied the charges in comments to journalists as he left the court to catch a flight back home. "We as Kenyans, we know where we came from, we know where we are going, and nobody will tell us what to do," he said. The judges adjourned the hearings and charges were dropped on 13 March 2015.
The National Alliance Party (TNA)
On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicized launch of The National Alliance party in a modern high-tech dome at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination ticket in his quest for the presidency in the 2013 General Elections.
The Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North Constituency MP William Ruto led more than 70 MPs in attending the function. The Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji, Jamleck Irungu Kamau, Dr. Naomi Shaaban, Samuel Poghisio, Professor Sam Ongeri and Dr. Mohammed Kuti and MPs Charles Cheruiyot Keter, Aden Bare Duale and Mohamed Maalim Mohamud also attended the event.
Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes in society to be championed, the need for peaceful co-existence, the need for visionary and committed leadership, the need for transformative leadership, the need for a youthful crop of committed professionals in leadership, the need for free and fair nomination and election processes in the General Election, the need for an economically empowered youth and a call to bring an end to divisive and sectarian interests in politics to safeguard Kenya from sliding to dictatorship. Machel Waikenda was the director of communications and secretary of arts and entertainment of the National Alliance, from April 2012 to August 2013 and he led the media and communications department of the party during the 2013 elections.
By-elections (17 September 2012)
On 17 September 2012, The National Alliance party had its first real test when it contested various civic and parliamentary positions in a by-election that covered 17 seats in total; 3 parliamentary and 14 civic. Overall, 133,054 votes were cast in the by-elections and TNA led the pack after it garnered 38.89% or 51,878 votes, followed by Orange Democratic Movement with 33.7% or 44,837 votes, Party of National Unity with 4.46% or 5,929 votes, Wiper Democratic Movement with 4.44% or 5,912 votes and United Democratic Forum with 4.15% or 5,520 votes.
TNA won civic and parliamentary seats in 7 different counties while its closest challengers, ODM won seats in 4 counties.
The National Alliance Party remained a strong contender for the following year's general elections, having received major defections from other big political parties of Kenya. The successful election of TNA's main candidates (Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto) continued to enhance TNA's viability.
In January 2013, however, TNA merged with URP to form the Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP).
2013 presidential elections
Uhuru Kenyatta's party, The National Alliance (TNA) joined William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP), Najib Balala's Republican Congress Party (RCP) and Charity Ngilu's National Rainbow Coalition party to form the Jubilee Alliance coalition. Various opinion polls prior to the election placed Uhuru as one of the main contenders, and his Jubilee Alliance as among the most popular. The other formidable coalition was the Coalition For Reform and Democracy (CORD), led by Raila Odinga.
In undercover video footage, released in a BBC news report on 19 March 2018, the managing director of Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that worked to elect Donald Trump in the 2016 American presidential election, boasted that his firm had run successful presidential election campaigns in Kenya in 2013 and 2017, though he did not name Kenyatta explicitly. "We have re-branded the entire party twice, written the manifesto, done research, analysis, messaging," Turnbull said, of the campaigns that his company managed in Kenya. "I think we wrote all the speeches and we staged the whole thing—so just about every element of this candidate." A Jubilee Party vice president admitted on 20 March 2018, that the party had hired an affiliate of Cambridge Analytica for "branding" in the 2017 election.
Uhuru Kenyatta was officially declared the president elect on Saturday 9 March at 2:44 pm.
As per the IEBC's official results, Uhuru got 6,173,433 of the 12,221,053 valid votes cast ahead of the second placed Raila Odinga who garnered 5,340,546 (43.7%). Uhuru's result was 50.51% of the vote and was above the 50% plus 1 vote threshold set out in the 2010 constitution, thus making him the president-elect.
Results dispute
There was some discontent with the official results, as would be expected in such a hotly contested election, especially in Raila Odinga's strongholds. The inordinate delay in releasing the results and the technical failure of some safeguards and election equipment deployed by the IEBC did not help the perception that the election had been less than free and fair.
Further, an exit poll conducted by UCSD Professor Clark Gibson and James Long, Asst. Prof. and University of Washington suggested that neither Odinga nor Kenyatta had attained the 50% plus one vote threshold. Analysts have contended that even though elections for five other levels were held in Kenya at the same time, their national turnout levels and total vote tallies were about 16% less than the presidential total; e.g. while 10.6 million voters elected candidates for member of the National Assembly, the Senate and the 47 gubernatorial seats, almost 2 million more voted in the presidential election. This has fueled concern and speculations of vote manipulation in President Kenyatta's favor.
Two groups disputed these results and filed petitions challenging various aspects of it at the Supreme Court of Kenya to contest the result. The groups were the Coalition For Reform and Democracy, CORD, led by Raila Odinga, and the Africa Centre for Open Governance (AFRICOG). Uhuru Kenyatta and his running mate were respondents in these cases and were represented by Fred Ngatia and Katwa Kigen respectively.
Supreme Court ruling
The Supreme court judges unanimously upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as Kenya's fourth president after rejecting Raila Odinga's petition in a verdict delivered on Saturday 30 March 2013. Chief Justice Willy Mutunga in his ruling said the elections were indeed conducted in compliance with the Constitution and the law.
Presidential swearing-in at Kasarani Stadium
After the Supreme Court dismissed the petitions the swearing in ceremony was held on 9 April 2013 at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, Nairobi, in accordance to Article 141 (2) (b) of the constitution which stipulates that in case the Supreme Court upholds the victory of the president-elect, the swearing in will take place on "the first Tuesday following the seventh day following the date on which the court renders a decision declaring the election to be valid".
Presidency
During his inaugural speech, Uhuru promised economic transformation through Vision 2030, unity among all Kenyans, free maternal care and that he will serve all Kenyans. He also promised to improve the standards of education in Kenya. During the Madaraka day Celebrations, a national holiday celebrated to the country's independence on 1 June, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced free maternal care in all public health facilities, a move that was welcomed by many Kenyans.
On 1 September 2017, the Supreme Court of Kenya nullified the re-election of Uhuru Kenyatta after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had announced him the winner on 8 August 2017. As a result of that, there was a need for the election to be held once again. It was scheduled for 26 October 2017. After the reelection, Uhuru Kenyatta emerged the winner once again.
He was sworn in on 28 November 2017 for his second presidential term.
In 2021, drought is again taking its toll. According to the UN, more than 465,000 children under the age of five are malnourished. Food insecurity affects more than 2.5 million people in the country. Uhuru Kenyatta speaks of a "national disaster". However, he is criticised for the slow humanitarian response and lack of planning.
The Mukuru Kwa Njenga slum in Nairobi is being razed in October 2021 to make way for the widening of a road, leaving 40,000 people homeless overnight, with no offer of alternative accommodation.
Challenges
His major challenges include the high cost of living, rising public debt, a high public wage bill and allegations of corruption among people close to his government. The 2017 general election and its violence is also a challenge that threatened not only his presidency but also the future of the East African Nation
Public Wage Bill
The high public wage cost has been a headache to Uhuru's administration. At the start of his term, the President decried the high wage bill which was at 12% of GDP (as against a recommended 7%). In 2015, the President stated that the wage bill was at 50% of the total annual revenue collection of government. In an attempt to curtail it, the President announced a pay cut for himself and his Cabinet in March 2014, reducing his salary by 20%. It was hoped that the high earners in government would follow suit but this did not materialize. Another measure was the newly created constitutional Salaries and Remuneration Commission which it was hoped would regularize salaries but it has faced an up hill battle against Members of Parliament, who wish to protect their earnings and labor unions. The President thereafter ordered an audit of the government payroll so as to flush out ghost workers. The audit identified 12,000 ghost workers. In the meantime, lower cadre government workers have demanded pay rises, more so by teachers and health workers, who have gone on strikes at various times to demand the increase. The strikes in the health sector mainly affect the counties, Kenya's other level of government, as it is managed by the devolved units.
Anti-corruption efforts
On 28 June 2018, Kenyatta declared a major crackdown on corruption and stated that no one was immune from corruption charges in Kenya. Kenyatta also stated his own brother Muhoho, a director in a company that had been accused in parliament of importing contraband sugar, should be charged if there is clear evidence against him.
On 11 August 2018, Mohammed Abdalla Swazuri, the chairman of National Land Commission, and Atanas Kariuki Maina, managing director of the Kenya Railways Corporation, were among 18 officials, businesspeople and companies arrested on corruption charges involving land allocation for the $3 billion flagship Nairobi-Mombasa railway. On 7 December 2018, Joe Sang, the CEO of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), was arrested with four other senior officials in connection with the loss of an unspecified amount of money during the construction of an oil jetty in the western city of Kisumu. On 22 July 2019, Kenya's finance minister Henry Rotich became the country's first sitting minister to be arrested for corruption. 27 other people were arrested with Rotich as well. On 6 December 2019, federal authorities arrested Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko on corruption charges. On January 14, 2020, Kenyatta replaced Rotich with Labour Secretary Ukur Yatani
On 28 May 2020, a breakthrough in Kenyatta's pledge to combat corruption in Kenya occurred when 40 civil servants and 14 private sector officials, including National Youth Service (NYS) Director General Richard Ndubai, were arrested on charges related to the National Youth Service scandal.
On December 9, 2020, it was confirmed by the Kenya News Agency that the National Anti-Corruption Campaign Steering Committee (NACCSC) was in the process of strengthening its collaboration with other crime fighting agencies, including those in Kenyatta's government. The group had National Government Administrative Officers (NGAO) in hopes they would support the County Anti-Corruption Civil Oversight Committee (CACCOC). The day before, Winnie Guchu, who serves in Kenyatta's government as the Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice, confirmed in a press conference that she had met with members of CACCOC to strengthen relations. On December 11, 2020, the Kenyan government's Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) released a statement confirming that Robert Pavel Oimeke, the director general of Kenya's Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, was arrested and taken into police custody on charges of demanding 200,000 Kenyan shillings ($1,795) to approve the re-opening of a petrol station that had been shut down over violations. On December 21, 2020, Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Benson Mutura replaced Sonko, who was removed from office four days prior, as Governor of Nairobi.
In October 2021, his name appeared in the Pandora Papers, among more than 330 current and former politicians and senior officials using hidden accounts in tax havens. He and six family members, including his mother, a brother and two sisters, have at least $30 million in several offshore companies. He also owns a secret 'foundation' in Panama, holding over $30 million.
Foreign relations
The President's foreign relations had been dominated by the ICC question. His relations with the West were expected to be cold, more so after the West warned Kenyans not to elect him as president. The United Kingdom promised to have only essential contacts with him if he were elected. However, his relationship with the West has thawed significantly and he has participated in the US — Africa summit as well as a Somalia summit in the United Kingdom. The ICC has accused his government of frustrating its investigation efforts into the case, although it has absolved the President personally of any involvement in the frustration.
His activities have however been more robust at the African level where he has pushed more intra-Africa trade and economic independence of African nations. In November 2014, he launched consultations to reform the United Nations Security Council to expand the voice of Africa in the council. He has successfully rallied the AU against the ICC culminating in an Extraordinary Summit of the African Heads of State which resolved that sitting African Heads of State should not appear before the ICC. The AU further asked the Security Council to suspend his trial at the ICC; for the first time ever, the Security Council resolution was defeated by abstention with 9 members of the Council abstaining rather than voting against so as not to offend Kenyatta. The Assembly of State Parties of the ICC would two days later amend the ICC statute to allow for one to appear by video link, a proposal President Kenyatta had made when he was Deputy Prime Minister.
President Kenyatta has led and negotiated peace agreements in the South Sudan and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the East African level, he has developed a close relationship with the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Rwanda President Paul Kagame, creating the Coalition of the Willing, a caucus within the EAC that has signed on to more joint development and economic agreements than the other EAC partners, including a joint tourist visa.
He attended the funeral of Nelson Mandela and was received warmly by the crowds. He also attended the funeral of President Michael Sata of Zambia in November 2014. However, it had been perceived that his administration's relations with Botswana were strained due to Botswana's support of the ICC process. He has since visited Botswana to remove this perception and Botswana voted in favor of the AU's ICC Resolution.
As expected, he has remained close to China which is funding most of his infrastructure projects.
Foreign trips
In November 2020, it was noted that he was the most traveled Kenyan president compared to his predecessors. One of the leading national newspapers noted that Uhuru Kenyatta had been out of the country 43 times as of November 2015 in a period of about three years since he took office in 2013, as compared to 33 times over a span of 10 years by his predecessor Mwai Kibaki. The president's strategic communications unit came out in defense of these trips stating that these trips had yielded more than what it cost the taxpayers to finance them.
Wealth
In October 2021, Kenyatta was named in the Pandora Papers leak. BBC reported that "The Kenyattas' offshore investments, including a company with stocks and bonds worth $30m (£22m), were discovered among hundreds of thousands of pages of administrative paperwork from the archives of 14 law firms and service providers in Panama and the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and other tax havens."
Approval ratings
His government's first year in office received low ratings from the general public. This is after a poll by Synovate indicated that more than half of the population was unhappy with how the government had conducted its affairs. The same polls also ranked the presidency as the second most trusted institution after the media. After his appearance at The Hague for his ICC case in October 2014, his poll ratings improved to 71%, according to a poll by Synovate. A poll by Gallup in August 2014 put his approval ratings at 78%, giving him the third best job approval ratings among African Presidents after Ian Khama of Botswana and Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of Mali. In 2015, due to allegations of corruption against some members of his government, his poll ratings dropped to his lowest rating yet at 33%, according to an Infotrack poll. By February 2017, his poll numbers had, however, risen to 57%. His poll numbers in 2018 would rise to 74% in light of a renewed effort to battle corruption.
Awards and decorations
National honours
:
Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya
Foreign honours
:
Order of Freedom of Barbados (6 October 2021)
:
First Class of the Order of the Most Ancient Welwitschia mirabilis (21 March 2019)
:
Order of the Republic of Serbia, Second Class (2016)
See also
Presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta
List of heads of state of Kenya
2013 Kenyan general election
2017 Kenyan general election
References
1961 births
Alumni of St. Mary's School, Nairobi
Amherst College alumni
Children of national leaders
Government ministers of Kenya
Kenya African National Union politicians
Kenyan expatriates in the United States
Kenyan Roman Catholics
Uhuru
Kikuyu people
Living people
Jomo Kenyatta
Members of the National Assembly (Kenya)
Ministers of Finance of Kenya
People indicted by the International Criminal Court
Presidents of Kenya
Jubilee Party politicians
21st-century Kenyan politicians
People named in the Pandora Papers
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[
"TNA Wrestling Impact! (styled TNA Wrestling iMPACT!) is a mobile professional wrestling video game released by Namco Networks in 2011. It is based on the professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Unlike TNA Wrestling, the previous mobile game based on TNA, TNA Wrestling Impact features 3D graphics and is more action-oriented than its predecessor. The game was released for both iOS and Android devices. The game has received mixed reviews, with criticism directed at the game's presentation and controls. It is no longer available for download on the iTunes App Store or Google Play Store.\n\nGameplay \n\nThe game makes use of the touch screen of iOS and Android devices by providing a virtual control pad for movement and three buttons for grapples, attacks and other in-ring actions. The actions available to the player are determined by the current in-ring situation - for example, pressing the attack button near a downed wrestler may result in a stomp to the opponent's closest body part. The game also features an option allowing players to create an original wrestler.\n\nPlayers can enter career mode to contend for one of three TNA titles: the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, the TNA X Division Championship or the TNA World Tag Team Championship. Match types include cage matches and submission matches.\n\nReception \nThe game has received mixed reviews. Harry Slater reviewed the Android version for Pocket Gamer and criticized the pace as well as the repetitiveness of the game. However, he described the game as fun and as a good representation of pro wrestling as a whole, giving the game a 7 out of 10. Metacritic lists an aggregate score of 53 out 100 from six critic reviews of the iOS version.\n\nSee also\n\nList of licensed wrestling video games\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nBandai Namco games\n2011 video games\n2011 in professional wrestling\nAndroid (operating system) games\nImpact Wrestling video games\nIOS games\nVideo games developed in the United States",
"The TNA World Heavyweight Championship was a short-lived professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by Impact Wrestling. As part of a storyline in April 2020, Moose began to refer to himself as the TNA World Heavyweight Champion and carrying around the title belt that last represented the championship before it became known as the Impact World Championship. On February 23, 2021, Impact officially sanctioned Moose's TNA World Heavyweight Championship as a separate title from the Impact World Championship. \n\nImpact Wrestling Executive Vice President Scott D'Amore claimed that the championship carried the lineage of the title formerly known as the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, but how much of that lineage was unclear. It would be a short-lived championship, as at Sacrifice on March 13, 2021, Impact World Champion Rich Swann defeated Moose in a championship unification match, deactivating the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. The Impact World Championship became briefly known as the Impact Unified World Championship, and was represented by both title belts, until reigning champion Christian Cage retired the TNA belt on the August 19, 2021, episode of Impact!, returning to a single belt.\n\nHistory\nImpact Wrestling was originally known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). The promotion was originally affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), and controlled the booking over the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. In 2007, the agreement between TNA and the NWA ended, leading to the creation of the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. TNA changed its name and became Impact Wrestling in March 2017, and the championship was renamed accordingly.\n\nIn early 2020, Impact started a storyline where Moose dubbed himself \"Mr. TNA,\" claiming to represent the company's history while battling former stars. During the second part of Rebellion (taped April 8–10 and aired on April 28), Moose defeated Hernandez and Michael Elgin in a triple threat match which was originally scheduled to be for the Impact World Championship, but reigning champion Tessa Blanchard was absent due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the match, Moose brought back the championship belt that represented the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from 2011 to 2017 and declared himself the TNA World Heavyweight Champion. While Impact did not officially recognize Moose as champion, Moose defended his self-appointed title several times.\n\nThe following year on the February 23, 2021, episode of Impact!, the promotion's Executive Vice President Scott D'Amore announced that Moose's self-proclaimed championship was officially sanctioned as a separate title from the Impact World Championship with Moose immediately recognized as TNA World Heavyweight Champion. D'Amore stated that the championship also carried the lineage of the title formerly known as the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, though how much of that lineage was unclear. After this, D'Amore scheduled a championship unification match for Sacrifice on March 13, 2021, in which Impact World Champion Rich Swann would face TNA World Heavyweight Champion Moose to determine Impact's undisputed world champion. At the event, Swann defeated Moose to unify the titles. The TNA World Heavyweight Championship was deactivated, while the Impact World Championship became briefly known as the Impact Unified World Championship with Swann carrying both championship belts. Subsequent Impact World Champions Kenny Omega and Christian Cage also carried both title belts, until Cage formally retired the TNA belt on the August 19, 2021 episode of Impact!.\n\nReigns\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n ImpactWrestling.com\n\nImpact Wrestling championships\nWorld heavyweight wrestling championships\nUnsanctioned championships"
] |
[
"Uhuru Kenyatta",
"The National Alliance Party (TNA)",
"What part did the TNA play?",
"His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination"
] |
C_945d2d0cdf364553853871ad8428e807_1
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Did he found the party?
| 2 |
Did Uhuru Kenyatta found The National Alliance Party?
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Uhuru Kenyatta
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On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicised launch of The National Alliance party in a modern high-tech dome at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination ticket in his quest for the presidency in the 2013 General Elections. The Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North Constituency MP William Ruto led more than 70 MPs in attending the function. The Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji, Jamleck Irungu Kamau, Dr. Naomi Shaaban, Samuel Poghisio, Professor Sam Ongeri and Dr. Mohammed Kuti and MPs Charles Cheruiyot Keter, Aden Bare Duale and Mohamed Maalim Mohamud also attended the event. Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes in society to be championed, the need for peaceful co-existence, the need for visionary and committed leadership, the need for transformative leadership, the need for a youthful crop of committed professionals in leadership, the need for free and fair nomination and election processes in the General Election, the need for an economically empowered youth and a call to bring an end to divisive and sectarian interests in politics to safeguard Kenya from sliding to dictatorship. Machel Waikenda was the director of communications and secretary of arts and entertainment of the National Alliance, from April 2012 to August 2013 and he led the media and communications department of the party during the 2013 elections. CANNOTANSWER
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On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicised launch
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Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (
born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who is the president of Kenya serving since 2013.
Uhuru served as the member of parliament (MP) for Gatundu South from 2002 to 2013. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2007 to 2013. Currently, he is a member and the party leader of the Jubilee Party of Kenya whose popularity has since dwindled. Uhuru was previously associated with the Kenya Africa National Union (KANU) before founding The National Alliance (TNA), one of the allied parties that campaigned for his election during the 2013 general elections and later on went to form a merger with the William Samoei Ruto's United Republican Party (URP) to form the Jubilee Party.
Uhuru is the son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president and his fourth wife Mama Ngina Kenyatta. He has been married to Margaret Gakuo Kenyatta since 1991. They have three children: his two sons Jomo and Muhoho, and his daughter Ngina.
Uhuru was re-elected for a second and final term in the August 2017 general elections, winning 54% of the popular vote. The win was formally declared on national television by the Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Mr. Wafula Chebukati.
However, Uhuru's election was challenged in the Supreme Court of Kenya by his main competitor, Raila Odinga. On 1 September 2017, the court declared the election invalid and ordered a new presidential election to take place within 60 days from the day of the ruling. A new presidential election was held on 26 October, which he won, with 39.03% electoral voter participation.
Early life
Uhuru Kenyatta was born 26 October 1961 to the future first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, and his fourth wife, Mama Ngina Kenyatta (née Muhoho). The second born in the family, he has two sisters, Christine (born 1953), Anna Nyokabi (born 1963), and a brother, Muhoho Kenyatta (born 1965).
His family hails from the Kikuyu, a Bantu ethnic group. His given name "Uhuru" is from the Swahili term for "freedom", and was given to him in anticipation of Kenya's upcoming independence. Uhuru attended St Mary's School in Nairobi. Between 1979 and 1980, he also briefly worked as a teller at the Kenya Commercial Bank.
After attending St. Mary's school, Uhuru went on to study economics, political science and government at Amherst College in the United States. Upon his graduation, Uhuru returned to Kenya, and started a company Wilham Kenya Limited, through which he sourced and exported agricultural produce.
Uhuru was nominated to Parliament in 2001, he then became Minister for Local Government under President Daniel Arap Moi and, despite his political inexperience, was favoured by Moi as his successor. Kenyatta ran as KANU's candidate in the December 2002 presidential election, but lost to the opposition candidate Mwai Kibaki by a big margin. He subsequently became Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. He backed Hon. Mwai Kibaki for re-election in the December 2007 presidential election and was named Minister of Local Government by Former President Mwai Kibaki in January 2008, before being appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade in April 2008 as part of the new coalition government.
Subsequently, Uhuru Kenyatta was Minister of Finance from 2009 to 2012, while remaining Deputy Prime Minister. Accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of committing crimes against humanity in relation to the violent aftermath of the 2007 election, he resigned as Minister of Finance on 26 January 2012. He was elected as President of Kenya in the March 2013 presidential election, defeating Raila Odinga with a slim majority in a single round of voting.
Political life
In the 1997 general election, Uhuru Kenyatta contested for the Gatundu South Constituency parliamentary seat, once held by his father, but lost to Moses Mwihia, a Nairobi architect.
In 1999, Moi appointed Uhuru to chair the Kenya Tourism Board, a government parastatal. In 2001, he was nominated as a Member of Parliament, and he joined the Cabinet as Minister for Local Government. He would also later be elected First Vice Chairman of KANU.
In the nomination process in 2002 in what was widely thought as undemocratic and underhand, Moi influenced Uhuru Kenyatta's nomination as KANU's preferred presidential candidate, sparking an outcry from other interested contenders and a massive exit from the party ensued. This move by the late President Moi was seen as a ploy to install Uhuru as a puppet so that even in retirement, Moi would still rule the country through Uhuru and presumably insulate himself against the numerous charges of abuse of office that plagued his presidency.
Uhuru finished second to Mwai Kibaki in the General Elections, with 31% of the vote. He conceded defeat and took up an active leadership role as Leader of the Opposition.
In January 2005, Uhuru Kenyatta defeated Nicholas Biwott for chairmanship of KANU, taking 2,980 votes among party delegates against Biwott's 622 votes.
Uhuru led his party KANU in the referendum campaigns against the draft constitution in 2005, having teamed up with the Liberal Democratic Party, a rebel faction in the Kibaki government, to form the Orange Democratic Movement. The result of this was a vote against the adoption of the draft constitution by a noticeable margin, which was a great political embarrassment to Emilio Mwai Kibaki.
In November 2006, Kenyatta was displaced as KANU leader by the late Nicholas Biwott. On 28 December 2006, the High Court of Kenya reinstated Uhuru Kenyatta as KANU chairman. However, further court proceedings followed. On 28 June 2007, the High Court confirmed Kenyatta as party leader, ruling that there was insufficient evidence for Biwott's argument that Kenyatta had joined another party.
In the run up to the 2007 general election, he led KANU to join a coalition (called Party of National Unity "PNU") with President Mwai Kibaki who was running for a second term against Raila Odinga. PNU won the controversial 2007 elections but the dispute over the poll resulted in the 2007–08 Kenyan crisis. Under an agreement between the two parties to end the chaos, Kibaki remained as president in a power sharing agreement with Raila as Prime Minister, while Uhuru Kenyatta was Kibaki's choice as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister For Finance in his share of Cabinet slots.
ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo charged Uhuru, who was a PNU leader, as an indirect co-perpetrator in the violence that followed the 2007–08 Kenyan crisis, and the charges were confirmed on 23 January 2012. The Prosecutor also charged William Ruto who had been a supporter of ODM, rivals of the PNU in the 2007 election. Uhuru resigned as Minister of Finance upon the confirmation of the charges but maintained his innocence. The charges were dropped on 13 March 2015 for lack of evidence.
On 13 September 2007, Uhuru Kenyatta withdrew from the December 2007 presidential election in favour of Kibaki for re-election. He said that he did not want to run unless he could be sure of winning.
Following the election, amidst the controversy that resulted when Kibaki was declared the victor despite claims of fraud from challenger Raila Odinga and his Orange Democratic Movement, Kibaki appointed Kenyatta as Minister for Local Government on 8 January 2008. After Kibaki and Odinga reached a power-sharing agreement, Kenyatta was named Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade on 13 April 2008, as part of the Grand Coalition Cabinet. He was the Deputy Prime Minister representing the PNU, while another Deputy Prime Minister, Musalia Mudavadi, represented the ODM.
Kenyatta and the rest of the Cabinet were sworn in on 17 April. Uhuru Kenyatta was later moved from Local Government and appointed Minister for Finance on 23 January 2009. During his tenure, he spearheaded a number of reform measures that changed how treasury and government by extension transact business, such as the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and a fund for the inclusion of the informal sector in the mainstream economy.
In 2013, Uhuru Kenyatta was elected as the 4th and current president of Kenya under The National Alliance (TNA), which was part of the Jubilee Alliance with his running mate William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP). Uhuru and Ruto won 50.07% of votes cast, with closest rivals, Raila Odinga and running mate Kalonzo Musyoka of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy garnering 42%. Raila Amolo Odinga disputed the election results at the Supreme Court which however held (7–0) that the election of Uhuru was valid and such irregularities as existed did not make a difference to the final outcome. Uhuru Kenyatta was therefore sworn in as president on 9 April 2013.
Uhuru ran for president in the elections held on 4 March 2013 and garnered 6,173,433 votes (50.03%) out of the 12,338,667 votes cast. As this was above the 50% plus 1 vote threshold, he won the election in the first round thus evading a run-off between the top two candidates. He was, therefore, declared the fourth President of the Republic of Kenya by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
According to the IEBC, Raila Odinga garnered 5,340,546 votes (43.4%) and was thus the second in the field of eight candidates. CORD, under the leadership of presidential candidate Raila Odinga, lodged a petition with the Supreme Court of Kenya on 10 March 2013 challenging Uhuru's election. On 30 March 2013, Dr Willy Mutunga, the Chief Justice of Kenya, read the unanimous Supreme Court ruling declaring the election of Uhuru Kenyatta and his running-mate, William Ruto, as valid. On 11 August 2017, the Chairman of the IEBC, Wafula Chebukati announced Uhuru's reelection to a second term in office during the 2017 Kenyan general election, with 54% of the popular vote. This was later contested in court and annulled. In the events that followed the annulment, Kenyatta was seen as lacking direction and being a reactionary leader. Following this annulment, a second election was required in which Uhuru Kenyatta won with 98% of the vote with a 39% voter turnout.
On 9 March 2018 Uhuru Kenyatta agreed on a truce between the opposition leader, Raila Odinga. This action marked the country's watershed moment that redrew its political architecture. On 27 November 2019, Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Building Bridges Initiatives (BBI) in Bomas of Kenya. This is one of the outcomes as a result of the truce with the opposition leader Raila Odinga as its implementations will foresee some amendments in the Kenyan Constitution.
Controversies
Budgetary discrepancies
Although it has been claimed that Uhuru was one of the few ministers who had no scandals attached to their name, on 29 April 2009, he faced a controversial scare after he presented a supplemental budget that was inadvertently approved by the parliament. The budget was aimed to bridge the budgetary gap that had arisen due to slow economic growth. The government required an additional 38 billion, but compromised on a figure of 22 billion and non-essential proposed expenditure was postponed as a result. After voting on the bill brought forward by Kenyatta, Gitobu Imanyara raised discrepancy questions as to what exactly had been approved by the house. It appeared that the parliament had approved a budget of 31 billion as opposed to 22 billion that they thought they were voting on – a difference of 9.2 billion. The Deputy Prime Minister initially defended the approval but later admitted that there were computer or typographical errors in the budget bill. Amid the raging debate about the contentious issue, the Speaker ordered the CID and a parliamentary committee to question him on the discrepancies. He was later cleared of any wrongdoing by the Joint Finance and Budgetary Committee.
ICC charges and investigations related to 2007–08 post-election violence
On 15 December 2010, prior to him becoming president, Kenyatta was named as a suspect of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, for planning and funding violence in Naivasha and Nakuru. This was in relation to the violence that followed the bungled national elections of December 2007. In furtherance of his political support for Kibaki's PNU at the time, he was accused of organising a Kikuyu politico-religious group, the Mungiki, in the post-election violence. Overall, the post-election violence of 2007 is said to have claimed about 1300 lives. Uhuru maintained his innocence and wanted his name cleared. On 8 March 2011, while serving as minister in Kibaki's government, he was indicted after being summoned to appear before the ICC pre-trial chamber. He was to appear at The Hague on 8 April 2011 alongside five other suspects.
On 29 September 2011, while seeking to exonerate himself, Uhuru Kenyatta put up a spirited fight as he was being cross-examined by ICC Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo in The Hague, denying any links with the outlawed Mungiki sect. He said Prime Minister Raila Odinga should take political responsibility for the acts of violence and killings that followed the 2007 presidential elections in Kenya. He told the three judges that "by telling his supporters election results were being rigged, fanned tensions and then failed to use his influence to quell the violence that followed the announcement of the 2007 presidential results."
Though Uhuru had previously dismissed ICC summons, he changed his decision along the way. Together with his two other co-accused suspects, Head of Civil Service, Ambassador Francis Muthaura and former Police Commissioner Hussein Ali, the trio honoured the ICC Summons that sought to determine whether their cases met the set standards for international trials. On 23 January 2012, the ICC confirmed the cases against Kenyatta and Muthaura although the charges against Muthaura were subsequently dropped. Serious concerns about the case have been raised, particularly the nature of the evidence being used against Kenyatta. There are also serious concerns about witness tampering and indeed, a number of witnesses have disappeared or died, which is the reason cited by the ICC for dropping charges against Mathaura. On a 12 October 2013 speech to the African Union in which he set a belligerent tone, Uhuru accused the ICC of being "a toy of declining imperial powers".
On 31 October 2013, the ICC postponed Kenyatta's trial for crimes against humanity by three months until 5 February 2014 after the defense had requested more time.
On 8 October 2014, Kenyatta appeared before the ICC in The Hague. He was called to appear at the ICC "status conference" when the prosecution said evidence needed to go ahead with a trial was being withheld. In a speech to the Kenyan parliament Kenyatta said that he was going to The Hague in a personal capacity — not as president of the country — so as not to compromise the sovereignty of Kenyans. Kenyatta did not speak in court, but denied the charges in comments to journalists as he left the court to catch a flight back home. "We as Kenyans, we know where we came from, we know where we are going, and nobody will tell us what to do," he said. The judges adjourned the hearings and charges were dropped on 13 March 2015.
The National Alliance Party (TNA)
On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicized launch of The National Alliance party in a modern high-tech dome at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination ticket in his quest for the presidency in the 2013 General Elections.
The Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North Constituency MP William Ruto led more than 70 MPs in attending the function. The Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji, Jamleck Irungu Kamau, Dr. Naomi Shaaban, Samuel Poghisio, Professor Sam Ongeri and Dr. Mohammed Kuti and MPs Charles Cheruiyot Keter, Aden Bare Duale and Mohamed Maalim Mohamud also attended the event.
Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes in society to be championed, the need for peaceful co-existence, the need for visionary and committed leadership, the need for transformative leadership, the need for a youthful crop of committed professionals in leadership, the need for free and fair nomination and election processes in the General Election, the need for an economically empowered youth and a call to bring an end to divisive and sectarian interests in politics to safeguard Kenya from sliding to dictatorship. Machel Waikenda was the director of communications and secretary of arts and entertainment of the National Alliance, from April 2012 to August 2013 and he led the media and communications department of the party during the 2013 elections.
By-elections (17 September 2012)
On 17 September 2012, The National Alliance party had its first real test when it contested various civic and parliamentary positions in a by-election that covered 17 seats in total; 3 parliamentary and 14 civic. Overall, 133,054 votes were cast in the by-elections and TNA led the pack after it garnered 38.89% or 51,878 votes, followed by Orange Democratic Movement with 33.7% or 44,837 votes, Party of National Unity with 4.46% or 5,929 votes, Wiper Democratic Movement with 4.44% or 5,912 votes and United Democratic Forum with 4.15% or 5,520 votes.
TNA won civic and parliamentary seats in 7 different counties while its closest challengers, ODM won seats in 4 counties.
The National Alliance Party remained a strong contender for the following year's general elections, having received major defections from other big political parties of Kenya. The successful election of TNA's main candidates (Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto) continued to enhance TNA's viability.
In January 2013, however, TNA merged with URP to form the Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP).
2013 presidential elections
Uhuru Kenyatta's party, The National Alliance (TNA) joined William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP), Najib Balala's Republican Congress Party (RCP) and Charity Ngilu's National Rainbow Coalition party to form the Jubilee Alliance coalition. Various opinion polls prior to the election placed Uhuru as one of the main contenders, and his Jubilee Alliance as among the most popular. The other formidable coalition was the Coalition For Reform and Democracy (CORD), led by Raila Odinga.
In undercover video footage, released in a BBC news report on 19 March 2018, the managing director of Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that worked to elect Donald Trump in the 2016 American presidential election, boasted that his firm had run successful presidential election campaigns in Kenya in 2013 and 2017, though he did not name Kenyatta explicitly. "We have re-branded the entire party twice, written the manifesto, done research, analysis, messaging," Turnbull said, of the campaigns that his company managed in Kenya. "I think we wrote all the speeches and we staged the whole thing—so just about every element of this candidate." A Jubilee Party vice president admitted on 20 March 2018, that the party had hired an affiliate of Cambridge Analytica for "branding" in the 2017 election.
Uhuru Kenyatta was officially declared the president elect on Saturday 9 March at 2:44 pm.
As per the IEBC's official results, Uhuru got 6,173,433 of the 12,221,053 valid votes cast ahead of the second placed Raila Odinga who garnered 5,340,546 (43.7%). Uhuru's result was 50.51% of the vote and was above the 50% plus 1 vote threshold set out in the 2010 constitution, thus making him the president-elect.
Results dispute
There was some discontent with the official results, as would be expected in such a hotly contested election, especially in Raila Odinga's strongholds. The inordinate delay in releasing the results and the technical failure of some safeguards and election equipment deployed by the IEBC did not help the perception that the election had been less than free and fair.
Further, an exit poll conducted by UCSD Professor Clark Gibson and James Long, Asst. Prof. and University of Washington suggested that neither Odinga nor Kenyatta had attained the 50% plus one vote threshold. Analysts have contended that even though elections for five other levels were held in Kenya at the same time, their national turnout levels and total vote tallies were about 16% less than the presidential total; e.g. while 10.6 million voters elected candidates for member of the National Assembly, the Senate and the 47 gubernatorial seats, almost 2 million more voted in the presidential election. This has fueled concern and speculations of vote manipulation in President Kenyatta's favor.
Two groups disputed these results and filed petitions challenging various aspects of it at the Supreme Court of Kenya to contest the result. The groups were the Coalition For Reform and Democracy, CORD, led by Raila Odinga, and the Africa Centre for Open Governance (AFRICOG). Uhuru Kenyatta and his running mate were respondents in these cases and were represented by Fred Ngatia and Katwa Kigen respectively.
Supreme Court ruling
The Supreme court judges unanimously upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as Kenya's fourth president after rejecting Raila Odinga's petition in a verdict delivered on Saturday 30 March 2013. Chief Justice Willy Mutunga in his ruling said the elections were indeed conducted in compliance with the Constitution and the law.
Presidential swearing-in at Kasarani Stadium
After the Supreme Court dismissed the petitions the swearing in ceremony was held on 9 April 2013 at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, Nairobi, in accordance to Article 141 (2) (b) of the constitution which stipulates that in case the Supreme Court upholds the victory of the president-elect, the swearing in will take place on "the first Tuesday following the seventh day following the date on which the court renders a decision declaring the election to be valid".
Presidency
During his inaugural speech, Uhuru promised economic transformation through Vision 2030, unity among all Kenyans, free maternal care and that he will serve all Kenyans. He also promised to improve the standards of education in Kenya. During the Madaraka day Celebrations, a national holiday celebrated to the country's independence on 1 June, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced free maternal care in all public health facilities, a move that was welcomed by many Kenyans.
On 1 September 2017, the Supreme Court of Kenya nullified the re-election of Uhuru Kenyatta after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had announced him the winner on 8 August 2017. As a result of that, there was a need for the election to be held once again. It was scheduled for 26 October 2017. After the reelection, Uhuru Kenyatta emerged the winner once again.
He was sworn in on 28 November 2017 for his second presidential term.
In 2021, drought is again taking its toll. According to the UN, more than 465,000 children under the age of five are malnourished. Food insecurity affects more than 2.5 million people in the country. Uhuru Kenyatta speaks of a "national disaster". However, he is criticised for the slow humanitarian response and lack of planning.
The Mukuru Kwa Njenga slum in Nairobi is being razed in October 2021 to make way for the widening of a road, leaving 40,000 people homeless overnight, with no offer of alternative accommodation.
Challenges
His major challenges include the high cost of living, rising public debt, a high public wage bill and allegations of corruption among people close to his government. The 2017 general election and its violence is also a challenge that threatened not only his presidency but also the future of the East African Nation
Public Wage Bill
The high public wage cost has been a headache to Uhuru's administration. At the start of his term, the President decried the high wage bill which was at 12% of GDP (as against a recommended 7%). In 2015, the President stated that the wage bill was at 50% of the total annual revenue collection of government. In an attempt to curtail it, the President announced a pay cut for himself and his Cabinet in March 2014, reducing his salary by 20%. It was hoped that the high earners in government would follow suit but this did not materialize. Another measure was the newly created constitutional Salaries and Remuneration Commission which it was hoped would regularize salaries but it has faced an up hill battle against Members of Parliament, who wish to protect their earnings and labor unions. The President thereafter ordered an audit of the government payroll so as to flush out ghost workers. The audit identified 12,000 ghost workers. In the meantime, lower cadre government workers have demanded pay rises, more so by teachers and health workers, who have gone on strikes at various times to demand the increase. The strikes in the health sector mainly affect the counties, Kenya's other level of government, as it is managed by the devolved units.
Anti-corruption efforts
On 28 June 2018, Kenyatta declared a major crackdown on corruption and stated that no one was immune from corruption charges in Kenya. Kenyatta also stated his own brother Muhoho, a director in a company that had been accused in parliament of importing contraband sugar, should be charged if there is clear evidence against him.
On 11 August 2018, Mohammed Abdalla Swazuri, the chairman of National Land Commission, and Atanas Kariuki Maina, managing director of the Kenya Railways Corporation, were among 18 officials, businesspeople and companies arrested on corruption charges involving land allocation for the $3 billion flagship Nairobi-Mombasa railway. On 7 December 2018, Joe Sang, the CEO of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), was arrested with four other senior officials in connection with the loss of an unspecified amount of money during the construction of an oil jetty in the western city of Kisumu. On 22 July 2019, Kenya's finance minister Henry Rotich became the country's first sitting minister to be arrested for corruption. 27 other people were arrested with Rotich as well. On 6 December 2019, federal authorities arrested Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko on corruption charges. On January 14, 2020, Kenyatta replaced Rotich with Labour Secretary Ukur Yatani
On 28 May 2020, a breakthrough in Kenyatta's pledge to combat corruption in Kenya occurred when 40 civil servants and 14 private sector officials, including National Youth Service (NYS) Director General Richard Ndubai, were arrested on charges related to the National Youth Service scandal.
On December 9, 2020, it was confirmed by the Kenya News Agency that the National Anti-Corruption Campaign Steering Committee (NACCSC) was in the process of strengthening its collaboration with other crime fighting agencies, including those in Kenyatta's government. The group had National Government Administrative Officers (NGAO) in hopes they would support the County Anti-Corruption Civil Oversight Committee (CACCOC). The day before, Winnie Guchu, who serves in Kenyatta's government as the Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice, confirmed in a press conference that she had met with members of CACCOC to strengthen relations. On December 11, 2020, the Kenyan government's Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) released a statement confirming that Robert Pavel Oimeke, the director general of Kenya's Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, was arrested and taken into police custody on charges of demanding 200,000 Kenyan shillings ($1,795) to approve the re-opening of a petrol station that had been shut down over violations. On December 21, 2020, Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Benson Mutura replaced Sonko, who was removed from office four days prior, as Governor of Nairobi.
In October 2021, his name appeared in the Pandora Papers, among more than 330 current and former politicians and senior officials using hidden accounts in tax havens. He and six family members, including his mother, a brother and two sisters, have at least $30 million in several offshore companies. He also owns a secret 'foundation' in Panama, holding over $30 million.
Foreign relations
The President's foreign relations had been dominated by the ICC question. His relations with the West were expected to be cold, more so after the West warned Kenyans not to elect him as president. The United Kingdom promised to have only essential contacts with him if he were elected. However, his relationship with the West has thawed significantly and he has participated in the US — Africa summit as well as a Somalia summit in the United Kingdom. The ICC has accused his government of frustrating its investigation efforts into the case, although it has absolved the President personally of any involvement in the frustration.
His activities have however been more robust at the African level where he has pushed more intra-Africa trade and economic independence of African nations. In November 2014, he launched consultations to reform the United Nations Security Council to expand the voice of Africa in the council. He has successfully rallied the AU against the ICC culminating in an Extraordinary Summit of the African Heads of State which resolved that sitting African Heads of State should not appear before the ICC. The AU further asked the Security Council to suspend his trial at the ICC; for the first time ever, the Security Council resolution was defeated by abstention with 9 members of the Council abstaining rather than voting against so as not to offend Kenyatta. The Assembly of State Parties of the ICC would two days later amend the ICC statute to allow for one to appear by video link, a proposal President Kenyatta had made when he was Deputy Prime Minister.
President Kenyatta has led and negotiated peace agreements in the South Sudan and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the East African level, he has developed a close relationship with the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Rwanda President Paul Kagame, creating the Coalition of the Willing, a caucus within the EAC that has signed on to more joint development and economic agreements than the other EAC partners, including a joint tourist visa.
He attended the funeral of Nelson Mandela and was received warmly by the crowds. He also attended the funeral of President Michael Sata of Zambia in November 2014. However, it had been perceived that his administration's relations with Botswana were strained due to Botswana's support of the ICC process. He has since visited Botswana to remove this perception and Botswana voted in favor of the AU's ICC Resolution.
As expected, he has remained close to China which is funding most of his infrastructure projects.
Foreign trips
In November 2020, it was noted that he was the most traveled Kenyan president compared to his predecessors. One of the leading national newspapers noted that Uhuru Kenyatta had been out of the country 43 times as of November 2015 in a period of about three years since he took office in 2013, as compared to 33 times over a span of 10 years by his predecessor Mwai Kibaki. The president's strategic communications unit came out in defense of these trips stating that these trips had yielded more than what it cost the taxpayers to finance them.
Wealth
In October 2021, Kenyatta was named in the Pandora Papers leak. BBC reported that "The Kenyattas' offshore investments, including a company with stocks and bonds worth $30m (£22m), were discovered among hundreds of thousands of pages of administrative paperwork from the archives of 14 law firms and service providers in Panama and the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and other tax havens."
Approval ratings
His government's first year in office received low ratings from the general public. This is after a poll by Synovate indicated that more than half of the population was unhappy with how the government had conducted its affairs. The same polls also ranked the presidency as the second most trusted institution after the media. After his appearance at The Hague for his ICC case in October 2014, his poll ratings improved to 71%, according to a poll by Synovate. A poll by Gallup in August 2014 put his approval ratings at 78%, giving him the third best job approval ratings among African Presidents after Ian Khama of Botswana and Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of Mali. In 2015, due to allegations of corruption against some members of his government, his poll ratings dropped to his lowest rating yet at 33%, according to an Infotrack poll. By February 2017, his poll numbers had, however, risen to 57%. His poll numbers in 2018 would rise to 74% in light of a renewed effort to battle corruption.
Awards and decorations
National honours
:
Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya
Foreign honours
:
Order of Freedom of Barbados (6 October 2021)
:
First Class of the Order of the Most Ancient Welwitschia mirabilis (21 March 2019)
:
Order of the Republic of Serbia, Second Class (2016)
See also
Presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta
List of heads of state of Kenya
2013 Kenyan general election
2017 Kenyan general election
References
1961 births
Alumni of St. Mary's School, Nairobi
Amherst College alumni
Children of national leaders
Government ministers of Kenya
Kenya African National Union politicians
Kenyan expatriates in the United States
Kenyan Roman Catholics
Uhuru
Kikuyu people
Living people
Jomo Kenyatta
Members of the National Assembly (Kenya)
Ministers of Finance of Kenya
People indicted by the International Criminal Court
Presidents of Kenya
Jubilee Party politicians
21st-century Kenyan politicians
People named in the Pandora Papers
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"The New Democratic Party of Manitoba (NDP) fielded a full slate of 57 candidates in the 1969 provincial election, and won 28 seats to emerge as the largest party in the provincial legislature. After a brief period of political uncertainty, the party was able to form a minority government.\n\nMany of the party's candidates have their own biography pages; information about others may be found here. This page also includes information about New Democratic Party candidates in by-elections between 1969 and 1971.\n\nCandidates\n\nBirtle-Russell: Donald Kostesky\nDonald Kostesky was 22 years old in 1969, and was a farmer in Rossburn. He joined the New Democratic Party in 1964, and first ran for the party in a February 1969 by-election. He finished a close second in the general election, despite the fact that his party did not have strong historical roots in the Birtle-Russell division. His brother, Ronald Kostesky, was a New Democratic Party candidate in the 1966 provincial election.\n\nKostesky was listed as the CEO and general-manager of Farmers Co-op Seed Plant Ltd. in 1994. He is now retired from farming, but remains CEO of the seed co-operative, which has been renamed Red Sper Enterprises Ltd.\n\nMorris: William Loftus\nWilliam Thomas Loftus (June 21, 1916 – August 6, 2008) was raised and educated in the Norwood area of Winnipeg, and attended the University of Manitoba. He was a farmer in La Salle at the time of the election. He was also an Air Canada captain of long standing, having joined the service in 1944. In religion, he was a member of the United Church of Canada.\n\nLoftus ran as a New Democratic Party candidate in three provincial elections, in an area where the party did not have a strong organizational base. He later worked for the government, after the NDP won election under Edward Schreyer's leadership.\n\nReferences\n\n1969",
"Paul Gouin (May 20, 1898 – December 4, 1976) was a politician in Quebec, Canada, was the son of Lomer Gouin and the grandson of Honoré Mercier.\n\nLife and career\nHe was born in Montreal, Quebec to Lomer Gouin and Éliza Mercier. He fought in World War I as a tank commander, studied at Université Laval, and was admitted to the bar of Quebec in 1920.\n\nDissatisfied with the direction of the Quebec Liberal Party, he helped found the Action libérale nationale party on June 6, 1934. He soon formed an alliance with Maurice Duplessis's Quebec Conservative Party to contest the 1935 provincial election. Gouin withdrew his support from Duplessis on June 18, 1936, but most members of the ALN caucus sided with Duplessis and joined with his Conservative caucus, which formally merged into the Union Nationale party, which not long afterwards won the 1936 election.\n\nHe re-formed the Action libérale nationale and became its leader on July 24, 1938. However, the ALN did poorly in the 1939 election, winning only 4.5% of the popular vote and no seats, and soon disbanded. He helped found the Bloc populaire canadien in 1942 but left it in early 1944 when André Laurendeau was chosen to lead the Quebec wing of the party. In 1952 he succeeded Madame Athanase David as the President of the Montreal Festivals, a post he held through 1956.\n\nSee also\n Politics of Quebec\n Quebec general elections\n Timeline of Quebec history\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1898 births\n1976 deaths\nAction libérale nationale MNAs\nPoliticians from Montreal\nQuebec political party leaders\nUniversité Laval alumni"
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Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
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Besides Uhuru Kenyatta's presence at The National Alliance Party launch, are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
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Uhuru Kenyatta
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On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicised launch of The National Alliance party in a modern high-tech dome at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination ticket in his quest for the presidency in the 2013 General Elections. The Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North Constituency MP William Ruto led more than 70 MPs in attending the function. The Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji, Jamleck Irungu Kamau, Dr. Naomi Shaaban, Samuel Poghisio, Professor Sam Ongeri and Dr. Mohammed Kuti and MPs Charles Cheruiyot Keter, Aden Bare Duale and Mohamed Maalim Mohamud also attended the event. Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes in society to be championed, the need for peaceful co-existence, the need for visionary and committed leadership, the need for transformative leadership, the need for a youthful crop of committed professionals in leadership, the need for free and fair nomination and election processes in the General Election, the need for an economically empowered youth and a call to bring an end to divisive and sectarian interests in politics to safeguard Kenya from sliding to dictatorship. Machel Waikenda was the director of communications and secretary of arts and entertainment of the National Alliance, from April 2012 to August 2013 and he led the media and communications department of the party during the 2013 elections. CANNOTANSWER
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Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes
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Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (
born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who is the president of Kenya serving since 2013.
Uhuru served as the member of parliament (MP) for Gatundu South from 2002 to 2013. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2007 to 2013. Currently, he is a member and the party leader of the Jubilee Party of Kenya whose popularity has since dwindled. Uhuru was previously associated with the Kenya Africa National Union (KANU) before founding The National Alliance (TNA), one of the allied parties that campaigned for his election during the 2013 general elections and later on went to form a merger with the William Samoei Ruto's United Republican Party (URP) to form the Jubilee Party.
Uhuru is the son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president and his fourth wife Mama Ngina Kenyatta. He has been married to Margaret Gakuo Kenyatta since 1991. They have three children: his two sons Jomo and Muhoho, and his daughter Ngina.
Uhuru was re-elected for a second and final term in the August 2017 general elections, winning 54% of the popular vote. The win was formally declared on national television by the Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Mr. Wafula Chebukati.
However, Uhuru's election was challenged in the Supreme Court of Kenya by his main competitor, Raila Odinga. On 1 September 2017, the court declared the election invalid and ordered a new presidential election to take place within 60 days from the day of the ruling. A new presidential election was held on 26 October, which he won, with 39.03% electoral voter participation.
Early life
Uhuru Kenyatta was born 26 October 1961 to the future first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, and his fourth wife, Mama Ngina Kenyatta (née Muhoho). The second born in the family, he has two sisters, Christine (born 1953), Anna Nyokabi (born 1963), and a brother, Muhoho Kenyatta (born 1965).
His family hails from the Kikuyu, a Bantu ethnic group. His given name "Uhuru" is from the Swahili term for "freedom", and was given to him in anticipation of Kenya's upcoming independence. Uhuru attended St Mary's School in Nairobi. Between 1979 and 1980, he also briefly worked as a teller at the Kenya Commercial Bank.
After attending St. Mary's school, Uhuru went on to study economics, political science and government at Amherst College in the United States. Upon his graduation, Uhuru returned to Kenya, and started a company Wilham Kenya Limited, through which he sourced and exported agricultural produce.
Uhuru was nominated to Parliament in 2001, he then became Minister for Local Government under President Daniel Arap Moi and, despite his political inexperience, was favoured by Moi as his successor. Kenyatta ran as KANU's candidate in the December 2002 presidential election, but lost to the opposition candidate Mwai Kibaki by a big margin. He subsequently became Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. He backed Hon. Mwai Kibaki for re-election in the December 2007 presidential election and was named Minister of Local Government by Former President Mwai Kibaki in January 2008, before being appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade in April 2008 as part of the new coalition government.
Subsequently, Uhuru Kenyatta was Minister of Finance from 2009 to 2012, while remaining Deputy Prime Minister. Accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of committing crimes against humanity in relation to the violent aftermath of the 2007 election, he resigned as Minister of Finance on 26 January 2012. He was elected as President of Kenya in the March 2013 presidential election, defeating Raila Odinga with a slim majority in a single round of voting.
Political life
In the 1997 general election, Uhuru Kenyatta contested for the Gatundu South Constituency parliamentary seat, once held by his father, but lost to Moses Mwihia, a Nairobi architect.
In 1999, Moi appointed Uhuru to chair the Kenya Tourism Board, a government parastatal. In 2001, he was nominated as a Member of Parliament, and he joined the Cabinet as Minister for Local Government. He would also later be elected First Vice Chairman of KANU.
In the nomination process in 2002 in what was widely thought as undemocratic and underhand, Moi influenced Uhuru Kenyatta's nomination as KANU's preferred presidential candidate, sparking an outcry from other interested contenders and a massive exit from the party ensued. This move by the late President Moi was seen as a ploy to install Uhuru as a puppet so that even in retirement, Moi would still rule the country through Uhuru and presumably insulate himself against the numerous charges of abuse of office that plagued his presidency.
Uhuru finished second to Mwai Kibaki in the General Elections, with 31% of the vote. He conceded defeat and took up an active leadership role as Leader of the Opposition.
In January 2005, Uhuru Kenyatta defeated Nicholas Biwott for chairmanship of KANU, taking 2,980 votes among party delegates against Biwott's 622 votes.
Uhuru led his party KANU in the referendum campaigns against the draft constitution in 2005, having teamed up with the Liberal Democratic Party, a rebel faction in the Kibaki government, to form the Orange Democratic Movement. The result of this was a vote against the adoption of the draft constitution by a noticeable margin, which was a great political embarrassment to Emilio Mwai Kibaki.
In November 2006, Kenyatta was displaced as KANU leader by the late Nicholas Biwott. On 28 December 2006, the High Court of Kenya reinstated Uhuru Kenyatta as KANU chairman. However, further court proceedings followed. On 28 June 2007, the High Court confirmed Kenyatta as party leader, ruling that there was insufficient evidence for Biwott's argument that Kenyatta had joined another party.
In the run up to the 2007 general election, he led KANU to join a coalition (called Party of National Unity "PNU") with President Mwai Kibaki who was running for a second term against Raila Odinga. PNU won the controversial 2007 elections but the dispute over the poll resulted in the 2007–08 Kenyan crisis. Under an agreement between the two parties to end the chaos, Kibaki remained as president in a power sharing agreement with Raila as Prime Minister, while Uhuru Kenyatta was Kibaki's choice as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister For Finance in his share of Cabinet slots.
ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo charged Uhuru, who was a PNU leader, as an indirect co-perpetrator in the violence that followed the 2007–08 Kenyan crisis, and the charges were confirmed on 23 January 2012. The Prosecutor also charged William Ruto who had been a supporter of ODM, rivals of the PNU in the 2007 election. Uhuru resigned as Minister of Finance upon the confirmation of the charges but maintained his innocence. The charges were dropped on 13 March 2015 for lack of evidence.
On 13 September 2007, Uhuru Kenyatta withdrew from the December 2007 presidential election in favour of Kibaki for re-election. He said that he did not want to run unless he could be sure of winning.
Following the election, amidst the controversy that resulted when Kibaki was declared the victor despite claims of fraud from challenger Raila Odinga and his Orange Democratic Movement, Kibaki appointed Kenyatta as Minister for Local Government on 8 January 2008. After Kibaki and Odinga reached a power-sharing agreement, Kenyatta was named Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade on 13 April 2008, as part of the Grand Coalition Cabinet. He was the Deputy Prime Minister representing the PNU, while another Deputy Prime Minister, Musalia Mudavadi, represented the ODM.
Kenyatta and the rest of the Cabinet were sworn in on 17 April. Uhuru Kenyatta was later moved from Local Government and appointed Minister for Finance on 23 January 2009. During his tenure, he spearheaded a number of reform measures that changed how treasury and government by extension transact business, such as the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and a fund for the inclusion of the informal sector in the mainstream economy.
In 2013, Uhuru Kenyatta was elected as the 4th and current president of Kenya under The National Alliance (TNA), which was part of the Jubilee Alliance with his running mate William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP). Uhuru and Ruto won 50.07% of votes cast, with closest rivals, Raila Odinga and running mate Kalonzo Musyoka of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy garnering 42%. Raila Amolo Odinga disputed the election results at the Supreme Court which however held (7–0) that the election of Uhuru was valid and such irregularities as existed did not make a difference to the final outcome. Uhuru Kenyatta was therefore sworn in as president on 9 April 2013.
Uhuru ran for president in the elections held on 4 March 2013 and garnered 6,173,433 votes (50.03%) out of the 12,338,667 votes cast. As this was above the 50% plus 1 vote threshold, he won the election in the first round thus evading a run-off between the top two candidates. He was, therefore, declared the fourth President of the Republic of Kenya by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
According to the IEBC, Raila Odinga garnered 5,340,546 votes (43.4%) and was thus the second in the field of eight candidates. CORD, under the leadership of presidential candidate Raila Odinga, lodged a petition with the Supreme Court of Kenya on 10 March 2013 challenging Uhuru's election. On 30 March 2013, Dr Willy Mutunga, the Chief Justice of Kenya, read the unanimous Supreme Court ruling declaring the election of Uhuru Kenyatta and his running-mate, William Ruto, as valid. On 11 August 2017, the Chairman of the IEBC, Wafula Chebukati announced Uhuru's reelection to a second term in office during the 2017 Kenyan general election, with 54% of the popular vote. This was later contested in court and annulled. In the events that followed the annulment, Kenyatta was seen as lacking direction and being a reactionary leader. Following this annulment, a second election was required in which Uhuru Kenyatta won with 98% of the vote with a 39% voter turnout.
On 9 March 2018 Uhuru Kenyatta agreed on a truce between the opposition leader, Raila Odinga. This action marked the country's watershed moment that redrew its political architecture. On 27 November 2019, Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Building Bridges Initiatives (BBI) in Bomas of Kenya. This is one of the outcomes as a result of the truce with the opposition leader Raila Odinga as its implementations will foresee some amendments in the Kenyan Constitution.
Controversies
Budgetary discrepancies
Although it has been claimed that Uhuru was one of the few ministers who had no scandals attached to their name, on 29 April 2009, he faced a controversial scare after he presented a supplemental budget that was inadvertently approved by the parliament. The budget was aimed to bridge the budgetary gap that had arisen due to slow economic growth. The government required an additional 38 billion, but compromised on a figure of 22 billion and non-essential proposed expenditure was postponed as a result. After voting on the bill brought forward by Kenyatta, Gitobu Imanyara raised discrepancy questions as to what exactly had been approved by the house. It appeared that the parliament had approved a budget of 31 billion as opposed to 22 billion that they thought they were voting on – a difference of 9.2 billion. The Deputy Prime Minister initially defended the approval but later admitted that there were computer or typographical errors in the budget bill. Amid the raging debate about the contentious issue, the Speaker ordered the CID and a parliamentary committee to question him on the discrepancies. He was later cleared of any wrongdoing by the Joint Finance and Budgetary Committee.
ICC charges and investigations related to 2007–08 post-election violence
On 15 December 2010, prior to him becoming president, Kenyatta was named as a suspect of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, for planning and funding violence in Naivasha and Nakuru. This was in relation to the violence that followed the bungled national elections of December 2007. In furtherance of his political support for Kibaki's PNU at the time, he was accused of organising a Kikuyu politico-religious group, the Mungiki, in the post-election violence. Overall, the post-election violence of 2007 is said to have claimed about 1300 lives. Uhuru maintained his innocence and wanted his name cleared. On 8 March 2011, while serving as minister in Kibaki's government, he was indicted after being summoned to appear before the ICC pre-trial chamber. He was to appear at The Hague on 8 April 2011 alongside five other suspects.
On 29 September 2011, while seeking to exonerate himself, Uhuru Kenyatta put up a spirited fight as he was being cross-examined by ICC Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo in The Hague, denying any links with the outlawed Mungiki sect. He said Prime Minister Raila Odinga should take political responsibility for the acts of violence and killings that followed the 2007 presidential elections in Kenya. He told the three judges that "by telling his supporters election results were being rigged, fanned tensions and then failed to use his influence to quell the violence that followed the announcement of the 2007 presidential results."
Though Uhuru had previously dismissed ICC summons, he changed his decision along the way. Together with his two other co-accused suspects, Head of Civil Service, Ambassador Francis Muthaura and former Police Commissioner Hussein Ali, the trio honoured the ICC Summons that sought to determine whether their cases met the set standards for international trials. On 23 January 2012, the ICC confirmed the cases against Kenyatta and Muthaura although the charges against Muthaura were subsequently dropped. Serious concerns about the case have been raised, particularly the nature of the evidence being used against Kenyatta. There are also serious concerns about witness tampering and indeed, a number of witnesses have disappeared or died, which is the reason cited by the ICC for dropping charges against Mathaura. On a 12 October 2013 speech to the African Union in which he set a belligerent tone, Uhuru accused the ICC of being "a toy of declining imperial powers".
On 31 October 2013, the ICC postponed Kenyatta's trial for crimes against humanity by three months until 5 February 2014 after the defense had requested more time.
On 8 October 2014, Kenyatta appeared before the ICC in The Hague. He was called to appear at the ICC "status conference" when the prosecution said evidence needed to go ahead with a trial was being withheld. In a speech to the Kenyan parliament Kenyatta said that he was going to The Hague in a personal capacity — not as president of the country — so as not to compromise the sovereignty of Kenyans. Kenyatta did not speak in court, but denied the charges in comments to journalists as he left the court to catch a flight back home. "We as Kenyans, we know where we came from, we know where we are going, and nobody will tell us what to do," he said. The judges adjourned the hearings and charges were dropped on 13 March 2015.
The National Alliance Party (TNA)
On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicized launch of The National Alliance party in a modern high-tech dome at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination ticket in his quest for the presidency in the 2013 General Elections.
The Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North Constituency MP William Ruto led more than 70 MPs in attending the function. The Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji, Jamleck Irungu Kamau, Dr. Naomi Shaaban, Samuel Poghisio, Professor Sam Ongeri and Dr. Mohammed Kuti and MPs Charles Cheruiyot Keter, Aden Bare Duale and Mohamed Maalim Mohamud also attended the event.
Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes in society to be championed, the need for peaceful co-existence, the need for visionary and committed leadership, the need for transformative leadership, the need for a youthful crop of committed professionals in leadership, the need for free and fair nomination and election processes in the General Election, the need for an economically empowered youth and a call to bring an end to divisive and sectarian interests in politics to safeguard Kenya from sliding to dictatorship. Machel Waikenda was the director of communications and secretary of arts and entertainment of the National Alliance, from April 2012 to August 2013 and he led the media and communications department of the party during the 2013 elections.
By-elections (17 September 2012)
On 17 September 2012, The National Alliance party had its first real test when it contested various civic and parliamentary positions in a by-election that covered 17 seats in total; 3 parliamentary and 14 civic. Overall, 133,054 votes were cast in the by-elections and TNA led the pack after it garnered 38.89% or 51,878 votes, followed by Orange Democratic Movement with 33.7% or 44,837 votes, Party of National Unity with 4.46% or 5,929 votes, Wiper Democratic Movement with 4.44% or 5,912 votes and United Democratic Forum with 4.15% or 5,520 votes.
TNA won civic and parliamentary seats in 7 different counties while its closest challengers, ODM won seats in 4 counties.
The National Alliance Party remained a strong contender for the following year's general elections, having received major defections from other big political parties of Kenya. The successful election of TNA's main candidates (Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto) continued to enhance TNA's viability.
In January 2013, however, TNA merged with URP to form the Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP).
2013 presidential elections
Uhuru Kenyatta's party, The National Alliance (TNA) joined William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP), Najib Balala's Republican Congress Party (RCP) and Charity Ngilu's National Rainbow Coalition party to form the Jubilee Alliance coalition. Various opinion polls prior to the election placed Uhuru as one of the main contenders, and his Jubilee Alliance as among the most popular. The other formidable coalition was the Coalition For Reform and Democracy (CORD), led by Raila Odinga.
In undercover video footage, released in a BBC news report on 19 March 2018, the managing director of Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that worked to elect Donald Trump in the 2016 American presidential election, boasted that his firm had run successful presidential election campaigns in Kenya in 2013 and 2017, though he did not name Kenyatta explicitly. "We have re-branded the entire party twice, written the manifesto, done research, analysis, messaging," Turnbull said, of the campaigns that his company managed in Kenya. "I think we wrote all the speeches and we staged the whole thing—so just about every element of this candidate." A Jubilee Party vice president admitted on 20 March 2018, that the party had hired an affiliate of Cambridge Analytica for "branding" in the 2017 election.
Uhuru Kenyatta was officially declared the president elect on Saturday 9 March at 2:44 pm.
As per the IEBC's official results, Uhuru got 6,173,433 of the 12,221,053 valid votes cast ahead of the second placed Raila Odinga who garnered 5,340,546 (43.7%). Uhuru's result was 50.51% of the vote and was above the 50% plus 1 vote threshold set out in the 2010 constitution, thus making him the president-elect.
Results dispute
There was some discontent with the official results, as would be expected in such a hotly contested election, especially in Raila Odinga's strongholds. The inordinate delay in releasing the results and the technical failure of some safeguards and election equipment deployed by the IEBC did not help the perception that the election had been less than free and fair.
Further, an exit poll conducted by UCSD Professor Clark Gibson and James Long, Asst. Prof. and University of Washington suggested that neither Odinga nor Kenyatta had attained the 50% plus one vote threshold. Analysts have contended that even though elections for five other levels were held in Kenya at the same time, their national turnout levels and total vote tallies were about 16% less than the presidential total; e.g. while 10.6 million voters elected candidates for member of the National Assembly, the Senate and the 47 gubernatorial seats, almost 2 million more voted in the presidential election. This has fueled concern and speculations of vote manipulation in President Kenyatta's favor.
Two groups disputed these results and filed petitions challenging various aspects of it at the Supreme Court of Kenya to contest the result. The groups were the Coalition For Reform and Democracy, CORD, led by Raila Odinga, and the Africa Centre for Open Governance (AFRICOG). Uhuru Kenyatta and his running mate were respondents in these cases and were represented by Fred Ngatia and Katwa Kigen respectively.
Supreme Court ruling
The Supreme court judges unanimously upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as Kenya's fourth president after rejecting Raila Odinga's petition in a verdict delivered on Saturday 30 March 2013. Chief Justice Willy Mutunga in his ruling said the elections were indeed conducted in compliance with the Constitution and the law.
Presidential swearing-in at Kasarani Stadium
After the Supreme Court dismissed the petitions the swearing in ceremony was held on 9 April 2013 at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, Nairobi, in accordance to Article 141 (2) (b) of the constitution which stipulates that in case the Supreme Court upholds the victory of the president-elect, the swearing in will take place on "the first Tuesday following the seventh day following the date on which the court renders a decision declaring the election to be valid".
Presidency
During his inaugural speech, Uhuru promised economic transformation through Vision 2030, unity among all Kenyans, free maternal care and that he will serve all Kenyans. He also promised to improve the standards of education in Kenya. During the Madaraka day Celebrations, a national holiday celebrated to the country's independence on 1 June, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced free maternal care in all public health facilities, a move that was welcomed by many Kenyans.
On 1 September 2017, the Supreme Court of Kenya nullified the re-election of Uhuru Kenyatta after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had announced him the winner on 8 August 2017. As a result of that, there was a need for the election to be held once again. It was scheduled for 26 October 2017. After the reelection, Uhuru Kenyatta emerged the winner once again.
He was sworn in on 28 November 2017 for his second presidential term.
In 2021, drought is again taking its toll. According to the UN, more than 465,000 children under the age of five are malnourished. Food insecurity affects more than 2.5 million people in the country. Uhuru Kenyatta speaks of a "national disaster". However, he is criticised for the slow humanitarian response and lack of planning.
The Mukuru Kwa Njenga slum in Nairobi is being razed in October 2021 to make way for the widening of a road, leaving 40,000 people homeless overnight, with no offer of alternative accommodation.
Challenges
His major challenges include the high cost of living, rising public debt, a high public wage bill and allegations of corruption among people close to his government. The 2017 general election and its violence is also a challenge that threatened not only his presidency but also the future of the East African Nation
Public Wage Bill
The high public wage cost has been a headache to Uhuru's administration. At the start of his term, the President decried the high wage bill which was at 12% of GDP (as against a recommended 7%). In 2015, the President stated that the wage bill was at 50% of the total annual revenue collection of government. In an attempt to curtail it, the President announced a pay cut for himself and his Cabinet in March 2014, reducing his salary by 20%. It was hoped that the high earners in government would follow suit but this did not materialize. Another measure was the newly created constitutional Salaries and Remuneration Commission which it was hoped would regularize salaries but it has faced an up hill battle against Members of Parliament, who wish to protect their earnings and labor unions. The President thereafter ordered an audit of the government payroll so as to flush out ghost workers. The audit identified 12,000 ghost workers. In the meantime, lower cadre government workers have demanded pay rises, more so by teachers and health workers, who have gone on strikes at various times to demand the increase. The strikes in the health sector mainly affect the counties, Kenya's other level of government, as it is managed by the devolved units.
Anti-corruption efforts
On 28 June 2018, Kenyatta declared a major crackdown on corruption and stated that no one was immune from corruption charges in Kenya. Kenyatta also stated his own brother Muhoho, a director in a company that had been accused in parliament of importing contraband sugar, should be charged if there is clear evidence against him.
On 11 August 2018, Mohammed Abdalla Swazuri, the chairman of National Land Commission, and Atanas Kariuki Maina, managing director of the Kenya Railways Corporation, were among 18 officials, businesspeople and companies arrested on corruption charges involving land allocation for the $3 billion flagship Nairobi-Mombasa railway. On 7 December 2018, Joe Sang, the CEO of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), was arrested with four other senior officials in connection with the loss of an unspecified amount of money during the construction of an oil jetty in the western city of Kisumu. On 22 July 2019, Kenya's finance minister Henry Rotich became the country's first sitting minister to be arrested for corruption. 27 other people were arrested with Rotich as well. On 6 December 2019, federal authorities arrested Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko on corruption charges. On January 14, 2020, Kenyatta replaced Rotich with Labour Secretary Ukur Yatani
On 28 May 2020, a breakthrough in Kenyatta's pledge to combat corruption in Kenya occurred when 40 civil servants and 14 private sector officials, including National Youth Service (NYS) Director General Richard Ndubai, were arrested on charges related to the National Youth Service scandal.
On December 9, 2020, it was confirmed by the Kenya News Agency that the National Anti-Corruption Campaign Steering Committee (NACCSC) was in the process of strengthening its collaboration with other crime fighting agencies, including those in Kenyatta's government. The group had National Government Administrative Officers (NGAO) in hopes they would support the County Anti-Corruption Civil Oversight Committee (CACCOC). The day before, Winnie Guchu, who serves in Kenyatta's government as the Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice, confirmed in a press conference that she had met with members of CACCOC to strengthen relations. On December 11, 2020, the Kenyan government's Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) released a statement confirming that Robert Pavel Oimeke, the director general of Kenya's Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, was arrested and taken into police custody on charges of demanding 200,000 Kenyan shillings ($1,795) to approve the re-opening of a petrol station that had been shut down over violations. On December 21, 2020, Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Benson Mutura replaced Sonko, who was removed from office four days prior, as Governor of Nairobi.
In October 2021, his name appeared in the Pandora Papers, among more than 330 current and former politicians and senior officials using hidden accounts in tax havens. He and six family members, including his mother, a brother and two sisters, have at least $30 million in several offshore companies. He also owns a secret 'foundation' in Panama, holding over $30 million.
Foreign relations
The President's foreign relations had been dominated by the ICC question. His relations with the West were expected to be cold, more so after the West warned Kenyans not to elect him as president. The United Kingdom promised to have only essential contacts with him if he were elected. However, his relationship with the West has thawed significantly and he has participated in the US — Africa summit as well as a Somalia summit in the United Kingdom. The ICC has accused his government of frustrating its investigation efforts into the case, although it has absolved the President personally of any involvement in the frustration.
His activities have however been more robust at the African level where he has pushed more intra-Africa trade and economic independence of African nations. In November 2014, he launched consultations to reform the United Nations Security Council to expand the voice of Africa in the council. He has successfully rallied the AU against the ICC culminating in an Extraordinary Summit of the African Heads of State which resolved that sitting African Heads of State should not appear before the ICC. The AU further asked the Security Council to suspend his trial at the ICC; for the first time ever, the Security Council resolution was defeated by abstention with 9 members of the Council abstaining rather than voting against so as not to offend Kenyatta. The Assembly of State Parties of the ICC would two days later amend the ICC statute to allow for one to appear by video link, a proposal President Kenyatta had made when he was Deputy Prime Minister.
President Kenyatta has led and negotiated peace agreements in the South Sudan and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the East African level, he has developed a close relationship with the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Rwanda President Paul Kagame, creating the Coalition of the Willing, a caucus within the EAC that has signed on to more joint development and economic agreements than the other EAC partners, including a joint tourist visa.
He attended the funeral of Nelson Mandela and was received warmly by the crowds. He also attended the funeral of President Michael Sata of Zambia in November 2014. However, it had been perceived that his administration's relations with Botswana were strained due to Botswana's support of the ICC process. He has since visited Botswana to remove this perception and Botswana voted in favor of the AU's ICC Resolution.
As expected, he has remained close to China which is funding most of his infrastructure projects.
Foreign trips
In November 2020, it was noted that he was the most traveled Kenyan president compared to his predecessors. One of the leading national newspapers noted that Uhuru Kenyatta had been out of the country 43 times as of November 2015 in a period of about three years since he took office in 2013, as compared to 33 times over a span of 10 years by his predecessor Mwai Kibaki. The president's strategic communications unit came out in defense of these trips stating that these trips had yielded more than what it cost the taxpayers to finance them.
Wealth
In October 2021, Kenyatta was named in the Pandora Papers leak. BBC reported that "The Kenyattas' offshore investments, including a company with stocks and bonds worth $30m (£22m), were discovered among hundreds of thousands of pages of administrative paperwork from the archives of 14 law firms and service providers in Panama and the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and other tax havens."
Approval ratings
His government's first year in office received low ratings from the general public. This is after a poll by Synovate indicated that more than half of the population was unhappy with how the government had conducted its affairs. The same polls also ranked the presidency as the second most trusted institution after the media. After his appearance at The Hague for his ICC case in October 2014, his poll ratings improved to 71%, according to a poll by Synovate. A poll by Gallup in August 2014 put his approval ratings at 78%, giving him the third best job approval ratings among African Presidents after Ian Khama of Botswana and Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of Mali. In 2015, due to allegations of corruption against some members of his government, his poll ratings dropped to his lowest rating yet at 33%, according to an Infotrack poll. By February 2017, his poll numbers had, however, risen to 57%. His poll numbers in 2018 would rise to 74% in light of a renewed effort to battle corruption.
Awards and decorations
National honours
:
Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya
Foreign honours
:
Order of Freedom of Barbados (6 October 2021)
:
First Class of the Order of the Most Ancient Welwitschia mirabilis (21 March 2019)
:
Order of the Republic of Serbia, Second Class (2016)
See also
Presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta
List of heads of state of Kenya
2013 Kenyan general election
2017 Kenyan general election
References
1961 births
Alumni of St. Mary's School, Nairobi
Amherst College alumni
Children of national leaders
Government ministers of Kenya
Kenya African National Union politicians
Kenyan expatriates in the United States
Kenyan Roman Catholics
Uhuru
Kikuyu people
Living people
Jomo Kenyatta
Members of the National Assembly (Kenya)
Ministers of Finance of Kenya
People indicted by the International Criminal Court
Presidents of Kenya
Jubilee Party politicians
21st-century Kenyan politicians
People named in the Pandora Papers
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"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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"On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicised launch",
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C_945d2d0cdf364553853871ad8428e807_1
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did he do the speeches?
| 4 |
Did Uhuru Kenyatta do the speeches at The National Alliance Party launch?
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Uhuru Kenyatta
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On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicised launch of The National Alliance party in a modern high-tech dome at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination ticket in his quest for the presidency in the 2013 General Elections. The Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North Constituency MP William Ruto led more than 70 MPs in attending the function. The Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji, Jamleck Irungu Kamau, Dr. Naomi Shaaban, Samuel Poghisio, Professor Sam Ongeri and Dr. Mohammed Kuti and MPs Charles Cheruiyot Keter, Aden Bare Duale and Mohamed Maalim Mohamud also attended the event. Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes in society to be championed, the need for peaceful co-existence, the need for visionary and committed leadership, the need for transformative leadership, the need for a youthful crop of committed professionals in leadership, the need for free and fair nomination and election processes in the General Election, the need for an economically empowered youth and a call to bring an end to divisive and sectarian interests in politics to safeguard Kenya from sliding to dictatorship. Machel Waikenda was the director of communications and secretary of arts and entertainment of the National Alliance, from April 2012 to August 2013 and he led the media and communications department of the party during the 2013 elections. CANNOTANSWER
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Machel Waikenda was the director of communications
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Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (
born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who is the president of Kenya serving since 2013.
Uhuru served as the member of parliament (MP) for Gatundu South from 2002 to 2013. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2007 to 2013. Currently, he is a member and the party leader of the Jubilee Party of Kenya whose popularity has since dwindled. Uhuru was previously associated with the Kenya Africa National Union (KANU) before founding The National Alliance (TNA), one of the allied parties that campaigned for his election during the 2013 general elections and later on went to form a merger with the William Samoei Ruto's United Republican Party (URP) to form the Jubilee Party.
Uhuru is the son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president and his fourth wife Mama Ngina Kenyatta. He has been married to Margaret Gakuo Kenyatta since 1991. They have three children: his two sons Jomo and Muhoho, and his daughter Ngina.
Uhuru was re-elected for a second and final term in the August 2017 general elections, winning 54% of the popular vote. The win was formally declared on national television by the Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Mr. Wafula Chebukati.
However, Uhuru's election was challenged in the Supreme Court of Kenya by his main competitor, Raila Odinga. On 1 September 2017, the court declared the election invalid and ordered a new presidential election to take place within 60 days from the day of the ruling. A new presidential election was held on 26 October, which he won, with 39.03% electoral voter participation.
Early life
Uhuru Kenyatta was born 26 October 1961 to the future first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, and his fourth wife, Mama Ngina Kenyatta (née Muhoho). The second born in the family, he has two sisters, Christine (born 1953), Anna Nyokabi (born 1963), and a brother, Muhoho Kenyatta (born 1965).
His family hails from the Kikuyu, a Bantu ethnic group. His given name "Uhuru" is from the Swahili term for "freedom", and was given to him in anticipation of Kenya's upcoming independence. Uhuru attended St Mary's School in Nairobi. Between 1979 and 1980, he also briefly worked as a teller at the Kenya Commercial Bank.
After attending St. Mary's school, Uhuru went on to study economics, political science and government at Amherst College in the United States. Upon his graduation, Uhuru returned to Kenya, and started a company Wilham Kenya Limited, through which he sourced and exported agricultural produce.
Uhuru was nominated to Parliament in 2001, he then became Minister for Local Government under President Daniel Arap Moi and, despite his political inexperience, was favoured by Moi as his successor. Kenyatta ran as KANU's candidate in the December 2002 presidential election, but lost to the opposition candidate Mwai Kibaki by a big margin. He subsequently became Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. He backed Hon. Mwai Kibaki for re-election in the December 2007 presidential election and was named Minister of Local Government by Former President Mwai Kibaki in January 2008, before being appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade in April 2008 as part of the new coalition government.
Subsequently, Uhuru Kenyatta was Minister of Finance from 2009 to 2012, while remaining Deputy Prime Minister. Accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of committing crimes against humanity in relation to the violent aftermath of the 2007 election, he resigned as Minister of Finance on 26 January 2012. He was elected as President of Kenya in the March 2013 presidential election, defeating Raila Odinga with a slim majority in a single round of voting.
Political life
In the 1997 general election, Uhuru Kenyatta contested for the Gatundu South Constituency parliamentary seat, once held by his father, but lost to Moses Mwihia, a Nairobi architect.
In 1999, Moi appointed Uhuru to chair the Kenya Tourism Board, a government parastatal. In 2001, he was nominated as a Member of Parliament, and he joined the Cabinet as Minister for Local Government. He would also later be elected First Vice Chairman of KANU.
In the nomination process in 2002 in what was widely thought as undemocratic and underhand, Moi influenced Uhuru Kenyatta's nomination as KANU's preferred presidential candidate, sparking an outcry from other interested contenders and a massive exit from the party ensued. This move by the late President Moi was seen as a ploy to install Uhuru as a puppet so that even in retirement, Moi would still rule the country through Uhuru and presumably insulate himself against the numerous charges of abuse of office that plagued his presidency.
Uhuru finished second to Mwai Kibaki in the General Elections, with 31% of the vote. He conceded defeat and took up an active leadership role as Leader of the Opposition.
In January 2005, Uhuru Kenyatta defeated Nicholas Biwott for chairmanship of KANU, taking 2,980 votes among party delegates against Biwott's 622 votes.
Uhuru led his party KANU in the referendum campaigns against the draft constitution in 2005, having teamed up with the Liberal Democratic Party, a rebel faction in the Kibaki government, to form the Orange Democratic Movement. The result of this was a vote against the adoption of the draft constitution by a noticeable margin, which was a great political embarrassment to Emilio Mwai Kibaki.
In November 2006, Kenyatta was displaced as KANU leader by the late Nicholas Biwott. On 28 December 2006, the High Court of Kenya reinstated Uhuru Kenyatta as KANU chairman. However, further court proceedings followed. On 28 June 2007, the High Court confirmed Kenyatta as party leader, ruling that there was insufficient evidence for Biwott's argument that Kenyatta had joined another party.
In the run up to the 2007 general election, he led KANU to join a coalition (called Party of National Unity "PNU") with President Mwai Kibaki who was running for a second term against Raila Odinga. PNU won the controversial 2007 elections but the dispute over the poll resulted in the 2007–08 Kenyan crisis. Under an agreement between the two parties to end the chaos, Kibaki remained as president in a power sharing agreement with Raila as Prime Minister, while Uhuru Kenyatta was Kibaki's choice as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister For Finance in his share of Cabinet slots.
ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo charged Uhuru, who was a PNU leader, as an indirect co-perpetrator in the violence that followed the 2007–08 Kenyan crisis, and the charges were confirmed on 23 January 2012. The Prosecutor also charged William Ruto who had been a supporter of ODM, rivals of the PNU in the 2007 election. Uhuru resigned as Minister of Finance upon the confirmation of the charges but maintained his innocence. The charges were dropped on 13 March 2015 for lack of evidence.
On 13 September 2007, Uhuru Kenyatta withdrew from the December 2007 presidential election in favour of Kibaki for re-election. He said that he did not want to run unless he could be sure of winning.
Following the election, amidst the controversy that resulted when Kibaki was declared the victor despite claims of fraud from challenger Raila Odinga and his Orange Democratic Movement, Kibaki appointed Kenyatta as Minister for Local Government on 8 January 2008. After Kibaki and Odinga reached a power-sharing agreement, Kenyatta was named Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade on 13 April 2008, as part of the Grand Coalition Cabinet. He was the Deputy Prime Minister representing the PNU, while another Deputy Prime Minister, Musalia Mudavadi, represented the ODM.
Kenyatta and the rest of the Cabinet were sworn in on 17 April. Uhuru Kenyatta was later moved from Local Government and appointed Minister for Finance on 23 January 2009. During his tenure, he spearheaded a number of reform measures that changed how treasury and government by extension transact business, such as the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and a fund for the inclusion of the informal sector in the mainstream economy.
In 2013, Uhuru Kenyatta was elected as the 4th and current president of Kenya under The National Alliance (TNA), which was part of the Jubilee Alliance with his running mate William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP). Uhuru and Ruto won 50.07% of votes cast, with closest rivals, Raila Odinga and running mate Kalonzo Musyoka of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy garnering 42%. Raila Amolo Odinga disputed the election results at the Supreme Court which however held (7–0) that the election of Uhuru was valid and such irregularities as existed did not make a difference to the final outcome. Uhuru Kenyatta was therefore sworn in as president on 9 April 2013.
Uhuru ran for president in the elections held on 4 March 2013 and garnered 6,173,433 votes (50.03%) out of the 12,338,667 votes cast. As this was above the 50% plus 1 vote threshold, he won the election in the first round thus evading a run-off between the top two candidates. He was, therefore, declared the fourth President of the Republic of Kenya by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
According to the IEBC, Raila Odinga garnered 5,340,546 votes (43.4%) and was thus the second in the field of eight candidates. CORD, under the leadership of presidential candidate Raila Odinga, lodged a petition with the Supreme Court of Kenya on 10 March 2013 challenging Uhuru's election. On 30 March 2013, Dr Willy Mutunga, the Chief Justice of Kenya, read the unanimous Supreme Court ruling declaring the election of Uhuru Kenyatta and his running-mate, William Ruto, as valid. On 11 August 2017, the Chairman of the IEBC, Wafula Chebukati announced Uhuru's reelection to a second term in office during the 2017 Kenyan general election, with 54% of the popular vote. This was later contested in court and annulled. In the events that followed the annulment, Kenyatta was seen as lacking direction and being a reactionary leader. Following this annulment, a second election was required in which Uhuru Kenyatta won with 98% of the vote with a 39% voter turnout.
On 9 March 2018 Uhuru Kenyatta agreed on a truce between the opposition leader, Raila Odinga. This action marked the country's watershed moment that redrew its political architecture. On 27 November 2019, Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Building Bridges Initiatives (BBI) in Bomas of Kenya. This is one of the outcomes as a result of the truce with the opposition leader Raila Odinga as its implementations will foresee some amendments in the Kenyan Constitution.
Controversies
Budgetary discrepancies
Although it has been claimed that Uhuru was one of the few ministers who had no scandals attached to their name, on 29 April 2009, he faced a controversial scare after he presented a supplemental budget that was inadvertently approved by the parliament. The budget was aimed to bridge the budgetary gap that had arisen due to slow economic growth. The government required an additional 38 billion, but compromised on a figure of 22 billion and non-essential proposed expenditure was postponed as a result. After voting on the bill brought forward by Kenyatta, Gitobu Imanyara raised discrepancy questions as to what exactly had been approved by the house. It appeared that the parliament had approved a budget of 31 billion as opposed to 22 billion that they thought they were voting on – a difference of 9.2 billion. The Deputy Prime Minister initially defended the approval but later admitted that there were computer or typographical errors in the budget bill. Amid the raging debate about the contentious issue, the Speaker ordered the CID and a parliamentary committee to question him on the discrepancies. He was later cleared of any wrongdoing by the Joint Finance and Budgetary Committee.
ICC charges and investigations related to 2007–08 post-election violence
On 15 December 2010, prior to him becoming president, Kenyatta was named as a suspect of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, for planning and funding violence in Naivasha and Nakuru. This was in relation to the violence that followed the bungled national elections of December 2007. In furtherance of his political support for Kibaki's PNU at the time, he was accused of organising a Kikuyu politico-religious group, the Mungiki, in the post-election violence. Overall, the post-election violence of 2007 is said to have claimed about 1300 lives. Uhuru maintained his innocence and wanted his name cleared. On 8 March 2011, while serving as minister in Kibaki's government, he was indicted after being summoned to appear before the ICC pre-trial chamber. He was to appear at The Hague on 8 April 2011 alongside five other suspects.
On 29 September 2011, while seeking to exonerate himself, Uhuru Kenyatta put up a spirited fight as he was being cross-examined by ICC Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo in The Hague, denying any links with the outlawed Mungiki sect. He said Prime Minister Raila Odinga should take political responsibility for the acts of violence and killings that followed the 2007 presidential elections in Kenya. He told the three judges that "by telling his supporters election results were being rigged, fanned tensions and then failed to use his influence to quell the violence that followed the announcement of the 2007 presidential results."
Though Uhuru had previously dismissed ICC summons, he changed his decision along the way. Together with his two other co-accused suspects, Head of Civil Service, Ambassador Francis Muthaura and former Police Commissioner Hussein Ali, the trio honoured the ICC Summons that sought to determine whether their cases met the set standards for international trials. On 23 January 2012, the ICC confirmed the cases against Kenyatta and Muthaura although the charges against Muthaura were subsequently dropped. Serious concerns about the case have been raised, particularly the nature of the evidence being used against Kenyatta. There are also serious concerns about witness tampering and indeed, a number of witnesses have disappeared or died, which is the reason cited by the ICC for dropping charges against Mathaura. On a 12 October 2013 speech to the African Union in which he set a belligerent tone, Uhuru accused the ICC of being "a toy of declining imperial powers".
On 31 October 2013, the ICC postponed Kenyatta's trial for crimes against humanity by three months until 5 February 2014 after the defense had requested more time.
On 8 October 2014, Kenyatta appeared before the ICC in The Hague. He was called to appear at the ICC "status conference" when the prosecution said evidence needed to go ahead with a trial was being withheld. In a speech to the Kenyan parliament Kenyatta said that he was going to The Hague in a personal capacity — not as president of the country — so as not to compromise the sovereignty of Kenyans. Kenyatta did not speak in court, but denied the charges in comments to journalists as he left the court to catch a flight back home. "We as Kenyans, we know where we came from, we know where we are going, and nobody will tell us what to do," he said. The judges adjourned the hearings and charges were dropped on 13 March 2015.
The National Alliance Party (TNA)
On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicized launch of The National Alliance party in a modern high-tech dome at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination ticket in his quest for the presidency in the 2013 General Elections.
The Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North Constituency MP William Ruto led more than 70 MPs in attending the function. The Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji, Jamleck Irungu Kamau, Dr. Naomi Shaaban, Samuel Poghisio, Professor Sam Ongeri and Dr. Mohammed Kuti and MPs Charles Cheruiyot Keter, Aden Bare Duale and Mohamed Maalim Mohamud also attended the event.
Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes in society to be championed, the need for peaceful co-existence, the need for visionary and committed leadership, the need for transformative leadership, the need for a youthful crop of committed professionals in leadership, the need for free and fair nomination and election processes in the General Election, the need for an economically empowered youth and a call to bring an end to divisive and sectarian interests in politics to safeguard Kenya from sliding to dictatorship. Machel Waikenda was the director of communications and secretary of arts and entertainment of the National Alliance, from April 2012 to August 2013 and he led the media and communications department of the party during the 2013 elections.
By-elections (17 September 2012)
On 17 September 2012, The National Alliance party had its first real test when it contested various civic and parliamentary positions in a by-election that covered 17 seats in total; 3 parliamentary and 14 civic. Overall, 133,054 votes were cast in the by-elections and TNA led the pack after it garnered 38.89% or 51,878 votes, followed by Orange Democratic Movement with 33.7% or 44,837 votes, Party of National Unity with 4.46% or 5,929 votes, Wiper Democratic Movement with 4.44% or 5,912 votes and United Democratic Forum with 4.15% or 5,520 votes.
TNA won civic and parliamentary seats in 7 different counties while its closest challengers, ODM won seats in 4 counties.
The National Alliance Party remained a strong contender for the following year's general elections, having received major defections from other big political parties of Kenya. The successful election of TNA's main candidates (Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto) continued to enhance TNA's viability.
In January 2013, however, TNA merged with URP to form the Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP).
2013 presidential elections
Uhuru Kenyatta's party, The National Alliance (TNA) joined William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP), Najib Balala's Republican Congress Party (RCP) and Charity Ngilu's National Rainbow Coalition party to form the Jubilee Alliance coalition. Various opinion polls prior to the election placed Uhuru as one of the main contenders, and his Jubilee Alliance as among the most popular. The other formidable coalition was the Coalition For Reform and Democracy (CORD), led by Raila Odinga.
In undercover video footage, released in a BBC news report on 19 March 2018, the managing director of Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that worked to elect Donald Trump in the 2016 American presidential election, boasted that his firm had run successful presidential election campaigns in Kenya in 2013 and 2017, though he did not name Kenyatta explicitly. "We have re-branded the entire party twice, written the manifesto, done research, analysis, messaging," Turnbull said, of the campaigns that his company managed in Kenya. "I think we wrote all the speeches and we staged the whole thing—so just about every element of this candidate." A Jubilee Party vice president admitted on 20 March 2018, that the party had hired an affiliate of Cambridge Analytica for "branding" in the 2017 election.
Uhuru Kenyatta was officially declared the president elect on Saturday 9 March at 2:44 pm.
As per the IEBC's official results, Uhuru got 6,173,433 of the 12,221,053 valid votes cast ahead of the second placed Raila Odinga who garnered 5,340,546 (43.7%). Uhuru's result was 50.51% of the vote and was above the 50% plus 1 vote threshold set out in the 2010 constitution, thus making him the president-elect.
Results dispute
There was some discontent with the official results, as would be expected in such a hotly contested election, especially in Raila Odinga's strongholds. The inordinate delay in releasing the results and the technical failure of some safeguards and election equipment deployed by the IEBC did not help the perception that the election had been less than free and fair.
Further, an exit poll conducted by UCSD Professor Clark Gibson and James Long, Asst. Prof. and University of Washington suggested that neither Odinga nor Kenyatta had attained the 50% plus one vote threshold. Analysts have contended that even though elections for five other levels were held in Kenya at the same time, their national turnout levels and total vote tallies were about 16% less than the presidential total; e.g. while 10.6 million voters elected candidates for member of the National Assembly, the Senate and the 47 gubernatorial seats, almost 2 million more voted in the presidential election. This has fueled concern and speculations of vote manipulation in President Kenyatta's favor.
Two groups disputed these results and filed petitions challenging various aspects of it at the Supreme Court of Kenya to contest the result. The groups were the Coalition For Reform and Democracy, CORD, led by Raila Odinga, and the Africa Centre for Open Governance (AFRICOG). Uhuru Kenyatta and his running mate were respondents in these cases and were represented by Fred Ngatia and Katwa Kigen respectively.
Supreme Court ruling
The Supreme court judges unanimously upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as Kenya's fourth president after rejecting Raila Odinga's petition in a verdict delivered on Saturday 30 March 2013. Chief Justice Willy Mutunga in his ruling said the elections were indeed conducted in compliance with the Constitution and the law.
Presidential swearing-in at Kasarani Stadium
After the Supreme Court dismissed the petitions the swearing in ceremony was held on 9 April 2013 at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, Nairobi, in accordance to Article 141 (2) (b) of the constitution which stipulates that in case the Supreme Court upholds the victory of the president-elect, the swearing in will take place on "the first Tuesday following the seventh day following the date on which the court renders a decision declaring the election to be valid".
Presidency
During his inaugural speech, Uhuru promised economic transformation through Vision 2030, unity among all Kenyans, free maternal care and that he will serve all Kenyans. He also promised to improve the standards of education in Kenya. During the Madaraka day Celebrations, a national holiday celebrated to the country's independence on 1 June, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced free maternal care in all public health facilities, a move that was welcomed by many Kenyans.
On 1 September 2017, the Supreme Court of Kenya nullified the re-election of Uhuru Kenyatta after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had announced him the winner on 8 August 2017. As a result of that, there was a need for the election to be held once again. It was scheduled for 26 October 2017. After the reelection, Uhuru Kenyatta emerged the winner once again.
He was sworn in on 28 November 2017 for his second presidential term.
In 2021, drought is again taking its toll. According to the UN, more than 465,000 children under the age of five are malnourished. Food insecurity affects more than 2.5 million people in the country. Uhuru Kenyatta speaks of a "national disaster". However, he is criticised for the slow humanitarian response and lack of planning.
The Mukuru Kwa Njenga slum in Nairobi is being razed in October 2021 to make way for the widening of a road, leaving 40,000 people homeless overnight, with no offer of alternative accommodation.
Challenges
His major challenges include the high cost of living, rising public debt, a high public wage bill and allegations of corruption among people close to his government. The 2017 general election and its violence is also a challenge that threatened not only his presidency but also the future of the East African Nation
Public Wage Bill
The high public wage cost has been a headache to Uhuru's administration. At the start of his term, the President decried the high wage bill which was at 12% of GDP (as against a recommended 7%). In 2015, the President stated that the wage bill was at 50% of the total annual revenue collection of government. In an attempt to curtail it, the President announced a pay cut for himself and his Cabinet in March 2014, reducing his salary by 20%. It was hoped that the high earners in government would follow suit but this did not materialize. Another measure was the newly created constitutional Salaries and Remuneration Commission which it was hoped would regularize salaries but it has faced an up hill battle against Members of Parliament, who wish to protect their earnings and labor unions. The President thereafter ordered an audit of the government payroll so as to flush out ghost workers. The audit identified 12,000 ghost workers. In the meantime, lower cadre government workers have demanded pay rises, more so by teachers and health workers, who have gone on strikes at various times to demand the increase. The strikes in the health sector mainly affect the counties, Kenya's other level of government, as it is managed by the devolved units.
Anti-corruption efforts
On 28 June 2018, Kenyatta declared a major crackdown on corruption and stated that no one was immune from corruption charges in Kenya. Kenyatta also stated his own brother Muhoho, a director in a company that had been accused in parliament of importing contraband sugar, should be charged if there is clear evidence against him.
On 11 August 2018, Mohammed Abdalla Swazuri, the chairman of National Land Commission, and Atanas Kariuki Maina, managing director of the Kenya Railways Corporation, were among 18 officials, businesspeople and companies arrested on corruption charges involving land allocation for the $3 billion flagship Nairobi-Mombasa railway. On 7 December 2018, Joe Sang, the CEO of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), was arrested with four other senior officials in connection with the loss of an unspecified amount of money during the construction of an oil jetty in the western city of Kisumu. On 22 July 2019, Kenya's finance minister Henry Rotich became the country's first sitting minister to be arrested for corruption. 27 other people were arrested with Rotich as well. On 6 December 2019, federal authorities arrested Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko on corruption charges. On January 14, 2020, Kenyatta replaced Rotich with Labour Secretary Ukur Yatani
On 28 May 2020, a breakthrough in Kenyatta's pledge to combat corruption in Kenya occurred when 40 civil servants and 14 private sector officials, including National Youth Service (NYS) Director General Richard Ndubai, were arrested on charges related to the National Youth Service scandal.
On December 9, 2020, it was confirmed by the Kenya News Agency that the National Anti-Corruption Campaign Steering Committee (NACCSC) was in the process of strengthening its collaboration with other crime fighting agencies, including those in Kenyatta's government. The group had National Government Administrative Officers (NGAO) in hopes they would support the County Anti-Corruption Civil Oversight Committee (CACCOC). The day before, Winnie Guchu, who serves in Kenyatta's government as the Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice, confirmed in a press conference that she had met with members of CACCOC to strengthen relations. On December 11, 2020, the Kenyan government's Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) released a statement confirming that Robert Pavel Oimeke, the director general of Kenya's Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, was arrested and taken into police custody on charges of demanding 200,000 Kenyan shillings ($1,795) to approve the re-opening of a petrol station that had been shut down over violations. On December 21, 2020, Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Benson Mutura replaced Sonko, who was removed from office four days prior, as Governor of Nairobi.
In October 2021, his name appeared in the Pandora Papers, among more than 330 current and former politicians and senior officials using hidden accounts in tax havens. He and six family members, including his mother, a brother and two sisters, have at least $30 million in several offshore companies. He also owns a secret 'foundation' in Panama, holding over $30 million.
Foreign relations
The President's foreign relations had been dominated by the ICC question. His relations with the West were expected to be cold, more so after the West warned Kenyans not to elect him as president. The United Kingdom promised to have only essential contacts with him if he were elected. However, his relationship with the West has thawed significantly and he has participated in the US — Africa summit as well as a Somalia summit in the United Kingdom. The ICC has accused his government of frustrating its investigation efforts into the case, although it has absolved the President personally of any involvement in the frustration.
His activities have however been more robust at the African level where he has pushed more intra-Africa trade and economic independence of African nations. In November 2014, he launched consultations to reform the United Nations Security Council to expand the voice of Africa in the council. He has successfully rallied the AU against the ICC culminating in an Extraordinary Summit of the African Heads of State which resolved that sitting African Heads of State should not appear before the ICC. The AU further asked the Security Council to suspend his trial at the ICC; for the first time ever, the Security Council resolution was defeated by abstention with 9 members of the Council abstaining rather than voting against so as not to offend Kenyatta. The Assembly of State Parties of the ICC would two days later amend the ICC statute to allow for one to appear by video link, a proposal President Kenyatta had made when he was Deputy Prime Minister.
President Kenyatta has led and negotiated peace agreements in the South Sudan and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the East African level, he has developed a close relationship with the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Rwanda President Paul Kagame, creating the Coalition of the Willing, a caucus within the EAC that has signed on to more joint development and economic agreements than the other EAC partners, including a joint tourist visa.
He attended the funeral of Nelson Mandela and was received warmly by the crowds. He also attended the funeral of President Michael Sata of Zambia in November 2014. However, it had been perceived that his administration's relations with Botswana were strained due to Botswana's support of the ICC process. He has since visited Botswana to remove this perception and Botswana voted in favor of the AU's ICC Resolution.
As expected, he has remained close to China which is funding most of his infrastructure projects.
Foreign trips
In November 2020, it was noted that he was the most traveled Kenyan president compared to his predecessors. One of the leading national newspapers noted that Uhuru Kenyatta had been out of the country 43 times as of November 2015 in a period of about three years since he took office in 2013, as compared to 33 times over a span of 10 years by his predecessor Mwai Kibaki. The president's strategic communications unit came out in defense of these trips stating that these trips had yielded more than what it cost the taxpayers to finance them.
Wealth
In October 2021, Kenyatta was named in the Pandora Papers leak. BBC reported that "The Kenyattas' offshore investments, including a company with stocks and bonds worth $30m (£22m), were discovered among hundreds of thousands of pages of administrative paperwork from the archives of 14 law firms and service providers in Panama and the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and other tax havens."
Approval ratings
His government's first year in office received low ratings from the general public. This is after a poll by Synovate indicated that more than half of the population was unhappy with how the government had conducted its affairs. The same polls also ranked the presidency as the second most trusted institution after the media. After his appearance at The Hague for his ICC case in October 2014, his poll ratings improved to 71%, according to a poll by Synovate. A poll by Gallup in August 2014 put his approval ratings at 78%, giving him the third best job approval ratings among African Presidents after Ian Khama of Botswana and Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of Mali. In 2015, due to allegations of corruption against some members of his government, his poll ratings dropped to his lowest rating yet at 33%, according to an Infotrack poll. By February 2017, his poll numbers had, however, risen to 57%. His poll numbers in 2018 would rise to 74% in light of a renewed effort to battle corruption.
Awards and decorations
National honours
:
Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya
Foreign honours
:
Order of Freedom of Barbados (6 October 2021)
:
First Class of the Order of the Most Ancient Welwitschia mirabilis (21 March 2019)
:
Order of the Republic of Serbia, Second Class (2016)
See also
Presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta
List of heads of state of Kenya
2013 Kenyan general election
2017 Kenyan general election
References
1961 births
Alumni of St. Mary's School, Nairobi
Amherst College alumni
Children of national leaders
Government ministers of Kenya
Kenya African National Union politicians
Kenyan expatriates in the United States
Kenyan Roman Catholics
Uhuru
Kikuyu people
Living people
Jomo Kenyatta
Members of the National Assembly (Kenya)
Ministers of Finance of Kenya
People indicted by the International Criminal Court
Presidents of Kenya
Jubilee Party politicians
21st-century Kenyan politicians
People named in the Pandora Papers
| true |
[
"The Magisterium of Pope Pius XII consists of some 1,600 mostly non-political speeches, messages, radio and television speeches, homilies, apostolic letters, and encyclicals of Pope Pius XII. His magisterium has been largely neglected or even overlooked by his biographers, who center on the policies of his pontificate.\n\nThe dates of the list may vary in accuracy. The list uses the official dates of the Discorsi and Acta Apostolicae Sedis, published by the Holy See. However, not all speeches are included there. Some were published in the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, and those dates reflect the date of publication since the articles often did not indicate a different time. Therefore, there may be a difference of a day or two in some instances. The sources are listed below.\n\nOf the 1600 papal addresses, this list includes the last fifty during the last five months of his pontificate. They also illustrate the papal work load, up to the last days of his life. \"He was the last Pope who wrote most of his speeches alone\" said Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Pius, who did not have a staff of speechwriters or permanent assistants, worked largely alone, assisted only by occasional help and proofreaders from professors of the Pontifical Gregorian University. The combined length and scope of these 50 speeches, written within only 150 days, suggest a brutal work load for Pius, which may have contributed to his death. His physician, Professor Gasparini, commented: \"The Holy Father did not die because of any specific illness. He was completely exhausted. He was overworked beyond limit. His heart was healthy, his lungs were good. He could have lived another 20 years, had he spared himself.\"\n\nSources\n Acta Apostolicae Sedis. (AAS), Vatican City 1939-1958. Official documents of the Pontificate of Pope Pius XII \n Pio XII, Discorsi e Radio Messaggi di Sua Santita Pio XII, Vatican City 1939-1958,Official speeches of Pius XII, 20 vol. \n Pio XII, Discorsi Ai Medici collected byFiorenzo Angelini, Roma, 1959, 725 pages, \n Soziale Summe Pius XII ed. A.F.Utz, J.F.Gröner, 4010 pages. in German, the non-theological teachings 1939-1958, 3 vol. \n Pascalina Lehnert, Ich durfte ihm dienen. Erinnerungen an Papst Pius XII. Naumann, Würzburg, 1983.\n\nQuotes\n\nWorks by Pope Pius XII",
"The Quit India speech is a speech made by Mahatma Gandhi on 8 August 1942, on the eve of the Quit India movement. He called for determined, but passive resistance that signified the certitude that Gandhi foresaw for the movement, best described by his call to Do or Die. His speech was issued at the Gowalia Tank Maidan park in Bombay (now Mumbai), since renamed August Kranti Maidan (August Revolution Ground). However, almost the entire Congress leadership, and not merely at the national level, was put into confinement less than twenty-four hours after Gandhi's speech, and the greater number of the Congress leaders were to spend the rest of the war in jail. Gandhi made this speech to help India gain independence.\n\nSee also\n Tryst with destiny\n List of speeches\n Gandhi Heritage Portal\n\n Quit India Movement\n 1942 in India\n Gandhism\n 1942 speeches\n World War II speeches\n India in World War II\n August 1942 events"
] |
[
"Uhuru Kenyatta",
"The National Alliance Party (TNA)",
"What part did the TNA play?",
"His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination",
"Did he found the party?",
"On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicised launch",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes",
"did he do the speeches?",
"Machel Waikenda was the director of communications"
] |
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Who were some members of the TNA?
| 5 |
Who were some members of the The National Alliance Party?
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Uhuru Kenyatta
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On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicised launch of The National Alliance party in a modern high-tech dome at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination ticket in his quest for the presidency in the 2013 General Elections. The Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North Constituency MP William Ruto led more than 70 MPs in attending the function. The Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji, Jamleck Irungu Kamau, Dr. Naomi Shaaban, Samuel Poghisio, Professor Sam Ongeri and Dr. Mohammed Kuti and MPs Charles Cheruiyot Keter, Aden Bare Duale and Mohamed Maalim Mohamud also attended the event. Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes in society to be championed, the need for peaceful co-existence, the need for visionary and committed leadership, the need for transformative leadership, the need for a youthful crop of committed professionals in leadership, the need for free and fair nomination and election processes in the General Election, the need for an economically empowered youth and a call to bring an end to divisive and sectarian interests in politics to safeguard Kenya from sliding to dictatorship. Machel Waikenda was the director of communications and secretary of arts and entertainment of the National Alliance, from April 2012 to August 2013 and he led the media and communications department of the party during the 2013 elections. CANNOTANSWER
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Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji,
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Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (
born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who is the president of Kenya serving since 2013.
Uhuru served as the member of parliament (MP) for Gatundu South from 2002 to 2013. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2007 to 2013. Currently, he is a member and the party leader of the Jubilee Party of Kenya whose popularity has since dwindled. Uhuru was previously associated with the Kenya Africa National Union (KANU) before founding The National Alliance (TNA), one of the allied parties that campaigned for his election during the 2013 general elections and later on went to form a merger with the William Samoei Ruto's United Republican Party (URP) to form the Jubilee Party.
Uhuru is the son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president and his fourth wife Mama Ngina Kenyatta. He has been married to Margaret Gakuo Kenyatta since 1991. They have three children: his two sons Jomo and Muhoho, and his daughter Ngina.
Uhuru was re-elected for a second and final term in the August 2017 general elections, winning 54% of the popular vote. The win was formally declared on national television by the Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Mr. Wafula Chebukati.
However, Uhuru's election was challenged in the Supreme Court of Kenya by his main competitor, Raila Odinga. On 1 September 2017, the court declared the election invalid and ordered a new presidential election to take place within 60 days from the day of the ruling. A new presidential election was held on 26 October, which he won, with 39.03% electoral voter participation.
Early life
Uhuru Kenyatta was born 26 October 1961 to the future first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, and his fourth wife, Mama Ngina Kenyatta (née Muhoho). The second born in the family, he has two sisters, Christine (born 1953), Anna Nyokabi (born 1963), and a brother, Muhoho Kenyatta (born 1965).
His family hails from the Kikuyu, a Bantu ethnic group. His given name "Uhuru" is from the Swahili term for "freedom", and was given to him in anticipation of Kenya's upcoming independence. Uhuru attended St Mary's School in Nairobi. Between 1979 and 1980, he also briefly worked as a teller at the Kenya Commercial Bank.
After attending St. Mary's school, Uhuru went on to study economics, political science and government at Amherst College in the United States. Upon his graduation, Uhuru returned to Kenya, and started a company Wilham Kenya Limited, through which he sourced and exported agricultural produce.
Uhuru was nominated to Parliament in 2001, he then became Minister for Local Government under President Daniel Arap Moi and, despite his political inexperience, was favoured by Moi as his successor. Kenyatta ran as KANU's candidate in the December 2002 presidential election, but lost to the opposition candidate Mwai Kibaki by a big margin. He subsequently became Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. He backed Hon. Mwai Kibaki for re-election in the December 2007 presidential election and was named Minister of Local Government by Former President Mwai Kibaki in January 2008, before being appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade in April 2008 as part of the new coalition government.
Subsequently, Uhuru Kenyatta was Minister of Finance from 2009 to 2012, while remaining Deputy Prime Minister. Accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of committing crimes against humanity in relation to the violent aftermath of the 2007 election, he resigned as Minister of Finance on 26 January 2012. He was elected as President of Kenya in the March 2013 presidential election, defeating Raila Odinga with a slim majority in a single round of voting.
Political life
In the 1997 general election, Uhuru Kenyatta contested for the Gatundu South Constituency parliamentary seat, once held by his father, but lost to Moses Mwihia, a Nairobi architect.
In 1999, Moi appointed Uhuru to chair the Kenya Tourism Board, a government parastatal. In 2001, he was nominated as a Member of Parliament, and he joined the Cabinet as Minister for Local Government. He would also later be elected First Vice Chairman of KANU.
In the nomination process in 2002 in what was widely thought as undemocratic and underhand, Moi influenced Uhuru Kenyatta's nomination as KANU's preferred presidential candidate, sparking an outcry from other interested contenders and a massive exit from the party ensued. This move by the late President Moi was seen as a ploy to install Uhuru as a puppet so that even in retirement, Moi would still rule the country through Uhuru and presumably insulate himself against the numerous charges of abuse of office that plagued his presidency.
Uhuru finished second to Mwai Kibaki in the General Elections, with 31% of the vote. He conceded defeat and took up an active leadership role as Leader of the Opposition.
In January 2005, Uhuru Kenyatta defeated Nicholas Biwott for chairmanship of KANU, taking 2,980 votes among party delegates against Biwott's 622 votes.
Uhuru led his party KANU in the referendum campaigns against the draft constitution in 2005, having teamed up with the Liberal Democratic Party, a rebel faction in the Kibaki government, to form the Orange Democratic Movement. The result of this was a vote against the adoption of the draft constitution by a noticeable margin, which was a great political embarrassment to Emilio Mwai Kibaki.
In November 2006, Kenyatta was displaced as KANU leader by the late Nicholas Biwott. On 28 December 2006, the High Court of Kenya reinstated Uhuru Kenyatta as KANU chairman. However, further court proceedings followed. On 28 June 2007, the High Court confirmed Kenyatta as party leader, ruling that there was insufficient evidence for Biwott's argument that Kenyatta had joined another party.
In the run up to the 2007 general election, he led KANU to join a coalition (called Party of National Unity "PNU") with President Mwai Kibaki who was running for a second term against Raila Odinga. PNU won the controversial 2007 elections but the dispute over the poll resulted in the 2007–08 Kenyan crisis. Under an agreement between the two parties to end the chaos, Kibaki remained as president in a power sharing agreement with Raila as Prime Minister, while Uhuru Kenyatta was Kibaki's choice as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister For Finance in his share of Cabinet slots.
ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo charged Uhuru, who was a PNU leader, as an indirect co-perpetrator in the violence that followed the 2007–08 Kenyan crisis, and the charges were confirmed on 23 January 2012. The Prosecutor also charged William Ruto who had been a supporter of ODM, rivals of the PNU in the 2007 election. Uhuru resigned as Minister of Finance upon the confirmation of the charges but maintained his innocence. The charges were dropped on 13 March 2015 for lack of evidence.
On 13 September 2007, Uhuru Kenyatta withdrew from the December 2007 presidential election in favour of Kibaki for re-election. He said that he did not want to run unless he could be sure of winning.
Following the election, amidst the controversy that resulted when Kibaki was declared the victor despite claims of fraud from challenger Raila Odinga and his Orange Democratic Movement, Kibaki appointed Kenyatta as Minister for Local Government on 8 January 2008. After Kibaki and Odinga reached a power-sharing agreement, Kenyatta was named Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade on 13 April 2008, as part of the Grand Coalition Cabinet. He was the Deputy Prime Minister representing the PNU, while another Deputy Prime Minister, Musalia Mudavadi, represented the ODM.
Kenyatta and the rest of the Cabinet were sworn in on 17 April. Uhuru Kenyatta was later moved from Local Government and appointed Minister for Finance on 23 January 2009. During his tenure, he spearheaded a number of reform measures that changed how treasury and government by extension transact business, such as the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and a fund for the inclusion of the informal sector in the mainstream economy.
In 2013, Uhuru Kenyatta was elected as the 4th and current president of Kenya under The National Alliance (TNA), which was part of the Jubilee Alliance with his running mate William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP). Uhuru and Ruto won 50.07% of votes cast, with closest rivals, Raila Odinga and running mate Kalonzo Musyoka of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy garnering 42%. Raila Amolo Odinga disputed the election results at the Supreme Court which however held (7–0) that the election of Uhuru was valid and such irregularities as existed did not make a difference to the final outcome. Uhuru Kenyatta was therefore sworn in as president on 9 April 2013.
Uhuru ran for president in the elections held on 4 March 2013 and garnered 6,173,433 votes (50.03%) out of the 12,338,667 votes cast. As this was above the 50% plus 1 vote threshold, he won the election in the first round thus evading a run-off between the top two candidates. He was, therefore, declared the fourth President of the Republic of Kenya by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
According to the IEBC, Raila Odinga garnered 5,340,546 votes (43.4%) and was thus the second in the field of eight candidates. CORD, under the leadership of presidential candidate Raila Odinga, lodged a petition with the Supreme Court of Kenya on 10 March 2013 challenging Uhuru's election. On 30 March 2013, Dr Willy Mutunga, the Chief Justice of Kenya, read the unanimous Supreme Court ruling declaring the election of Uhuru Kenyatta and his running-mate, William Ruto, as valid. On 11 August 2017, the Chairman of the IEBC, Wafula Chebukati announced Uhuru's reelection to a second term in office during the 2017 Kenyan general election, with 54% of the popular vote. This was later contested in court and annulled. In the events that followed the annulment, Kenyatta was seen as lacking direction and being a reactionary leader. Following this annulment, a second election was required in which Uhuru Kenyatta won with 98% of the vote with a 39% voter turnout.
On 9 March 2018 Uhuru Kenyatta agreed on a truce between the opposition leader, Raila Odinga. This action marked the country's watershed moment that redrew its political architecture. On 27 November 2019, Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Building Bridges Initiatives (BBI) in Bomas of Kenya. This is one of the outcomes as a result of the truce with the opposition leader Raila Odinga as its implementations will foresee some amendments in the Kenyan Constitution.
Controversies
Budgetary discrepancies
Although it has been claimed that Uhuru was one of the few ministers who had no scandals attached to their name, on 29 April 2009, he faced a controversial scare after he presented a supplemental budget that was inadvertently approved by the parliament. The budget was aimed to bridge the budgetary gap that had arisen due to slow economic growth. The government required an additional 38 billion, but compromised on a figure of 22 billion and non-essential proposed expenditure was postponed as a result. After voting on the bill brought forward by Kenyatta, Gitobu Imanyara raised discrepancy questions as to what exactly had been approved by the house. It appeared that the parliament had approved a budget of 31 billion as opposed to 22 billion that they thought they were voting on – a difference of 9.2 billion. The Deputy Prime Minister initially defended the approval but later admitted that there were computer or typographical errors in the budget bill. Amid the raging debate about the contentious issue, the Speaker ordered the CID and a parliamentary committee to question him on the discrepancies. He was later cleared of any wrongdoing by the Joint Finance and Budgetary Committee.
ICC charges and investigations related to 2007–08 post-election violence
On 15 December 2010, prior to him becoming president, Kenyatta was named as a suspect of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, for planning and funding violence in Naivasha and Nakuru. This was in relation to the violence that followed the bungled national elections of December 2007. In furtherance of his political support for Kibaki's PNU at the time, he was accused of organising a Kikuyu politico-religious group, the Mungiki, in the post-election violence. Overall, the post-election violence of 2007 is said to have claimed about 1300 lives. Uhuru maintained his innocence and wanted his name cleared. On 8 March 2011, while serving as minister in Kibaki's government, he was indicted after being summoned to appear before the ICC pre-trial chamber. He was to appear at The Hague on 8 April 2011 alongside five other suspects.
On 29 September 2011, while seeking to exonerate himself, Uhuru Kenyatta put up a spirited fight as he was being cross-examined by ICC Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo in The Hague, denying any links with the outlawed Mungiki sect. He said Prime Minister Raila Odinga should take political responsibility for the acts of violence and killings that followed the 2007 presidential elections in Kenya. He told the three judges that "by telling his supporters election results were being rigged, fanned tensions and then failed to use his influence to quell the violence that followed the announcement of the 2007 presidential results."
Though Uhuru had previously dismissed ICC summons, he changed his decision along the way. Together with his two other co-accused suspects, Head of Civil Service, Ambassador Francis Muthaura and former Police Commissioner Hussein Ali, the trio honoured the ICC Summons that sought to determine whether their cases met the set standards for international trials. On 23 January 2012, the ICC confirmed the cases against Kenyatta and Muthaura although the charges against Muthaura were subsequently dropped. Serious concerns about the case have been raised, particularly the nature of the evidence being used against Kenyatta. There are also serious concerns about witness tampering and indeed, a number of witnesses have disappeared or died, which is the reason cited by the ICC for dropping charges against Mathaura. On a 12 October 2013 speech to the African Union in which he set a belligerent tone, Uhuru accused the ICC of being "a toy of declining imperial powers".
On 31 October 2013, the ICC postponed Kenyatta's trial for crimes against humanity by three months until 5 February 2014 after the defense had requested more time.
On 8 October 2014, Kenyatta appeared before the ICC in The Hague. He was called to appear at the ICC "status conference" when the prosecution said evidence needed to go ahead with a trial was being withheld. In a speech to the Kenyan parliament Kenyatta said that he was going to The Hague in a personal capacity — not as president of the country — so as not to compromise the sovereignty of Kenyans. Kenyatta did not speak in court, but denied the charges in comments to journalists as he left the court to catch a flight back home. "We as Kenyans, we know where we came from, we know where we are going, and nobody will tell us what to do," he said. The judges adjourned the hearings and charges were dropped on 13 March 2015.
The National Alliance Party (TNA)
On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicized launch of The National Alliance party in a modern high-tech dome at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination ticket in his quest for the presidency in the 2013 General Elections.
The Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North Constituency MP William Ruto led more than 70 MPs in attending the function. The Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji, Jamleck Irungu Kamau, Dr. Naomi Shaaban, Samuel Poghisio, Professor Sam Ongeri and Dr. Mohammed Kuti and MPs Charles Cheruiyot Keter, Aden Bare Duale and Mohamed Maalim Mohamud also attended the event.
Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes in society to be championed, the need for peaceful co-existence, the need for visionary and committed leadership, the need for transformative leadership, the need for a youthful crop of committed professionals in leadership, the need for free and fair nomination and election processes in the General Election, the need for an economically empowered youth and a call to bring an end to divisive and sectarian interests in politics to safeguard Kenya from sliding to dictatorship. Machel Waikenda was the director of communications and secretary of arts and entertainment of the National Alliance, from April 2012 to August 2013 and he led the media and communications department of the party during the 2013 elections.
By-elections (17 September 2012)
On 17 September 2012, The National Alliance party had its first real test when it contested various civic and parliamentary positions in a by-election that covered 17 seats in total; 3 parliamentary and 14 civic. Overall, 133,054 votes were cast in the by-elections and TNA led the pack after it garnered 38.89% or 51,878 votes, followed by Orange Democratic Movement with 33.7% or 44,837 votes, Party of National Unity with 4.46% or 5,929 votes, Wiper Democratic Movement with 4.44% or 5,912 votes and United Democratic Forum with 4.15% or 5,520 votes.
TNA won civic and parliamentary seats in 7 different counties while its closest challengers, ODM won seats in 4 counties.
The National Alliance Party remained a strong contender for the following year's general elections, having received major defections from other big political parties of Kenya. The successful election of TNA's main candidates (Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto) continued to enhance TNA's viability.
In January 2013, however, TNA merged with URP to form the Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP).
2013 presidential elections
Uhuru Kenyatta's party, The National Alliance (TNA) joined William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP), Najib Balala's Republican Congress Party (RCP) and Charity Ngilu's National Rainbow Coalition party to form the Jubilee Alliance coalition. Various opinion polls prior to the election placed Uhuru as one of the main contenders, and his Jubilee Alliance as among the most popular. The other formidable coalition was the Coalition For Reform and Democracy (CORD), led by Raila Odinga.
In undercover video footage, released in a BBC news report on 19 March 2018, the managing director of Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that worked to elect Donald Trump in the 2016 American presidential election, boasted that his firm had run successful presidential election campaigns in Kenya in 2013 and 2017, though he did not name Kenyatta explicitly. "We have re-branded the entire party twice, written the manifesto, done research, analysis, messaging," Turnbull said, of the campaigns that his company managed in Kenya. "I think we wrote all the speeches and we staged the whole thing—so just about every element of this candidate." A Jubilee Party vice president admitted on 20 March 2018, that the party had hired an affiliate of Cambridge Analytica for "branding" in the 2017 election.
Uhuru Kenyatta was officially declared the president elect on Saturday 9 March at 2:44 pm.
As per the IEBC's official results, Uhuru got 6,173,433 of the 12,221,053 valid votes cast ahead of the second placed Raila Odinga who garnered 5,340,546 (43.7%). Uhuru's result was 50.51% of the vote and was above the 50% plus 1 vote threshold set out in the 2010 constitution, thus making him the president-elect.
Results dispute
There was some discontent with the official results, as would be expected in such a hotly contested election, especially in Raila Odinga's strongholds. The inordinate delay in releasing the results and the technical failure of some safeguards and election equipment deployed by the IEBC did not help the perception that the election had been less than free and fair.
Further, an exit poll conducted by UCSD Professor Clark Gibson and James Long, Asst. Prof. and University of Washington suggested that neither Odinga nor Kenyatta had attained the 50% plus one vote threshold. Analysts have contended that even though elections for five other levels were held in Kenya at the same time, their national turnout levels and total vote tallies were about 16% less than the presidential total; e.g. while 10.6 million voters elected candidates for member of the National Assembly, the Senate and the 47 gubernatorial seats, almost 2 million more voted in the presidential election. This has fueled concern and speculations of vote manipulation in President Kenyatta's favor.
Two groups disputed these results and filed petitions challenging various aspects of it at the Supreme Court of Kenya to contest the result. The groups were the Coalition For Reform and Democracy, CORD, led by Raila Odinga, and the Africa Centre for Open Governance (AFRICOG). Uhuru Kenyatta and his running mate were respondents in these cases and were represented by Fred Ngatia and Katwa Kigen respectively.
Supreme Court ruling
The Supreme court judges unanimously upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as Kenya's fourth president after rejecting Raila Odinga's petition in a verdict delivered on Saturday 30 March 2013. Chief Justice Willy Mutunga in his ruling said the elections were indeed conducted in compliance with the Constitution and the law.
Presidential swearing-in at Kasarani Stadium
After the Supreme Court dismissed the petitions the swearing in ceremony was held on 9 April 2013 at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, Nairobi, in accordance to Article 141 (2) (b) of the constitution which stipulates that in case the Supreme Court upholds the victory of the president-elect, the swearing in will take place on "the first Tuesday following the seventh day following the date on which the court renders a decision declaring the election to be valid".
Presidency
During his inaugural speech, Uhuru promised economic transformation through Vision 2030, unity among all Kenyans, free maternal care and that he will serve all Kenyans. He also promised to improve the standards of education in Kenya. During the Madaraka day Celebrations, a national holiday celebrated to the country's independence on 1 June, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced free maternal care in all public health facilities, a move that was welcomed by many Kenyans.
On 1 September 2017, the Supreme Court of Kenya nullified the re-election of Uhuru Kenyatta after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had announced him the winner on 8 August 2017. As a result of that, there was a need for the election to be held once again. It was scheduled for 26 October 2017. After the reelection, Uhuru Kenyatta emerged the winner once again.
He was sworn in on 28 November 2017 for his second presidential term.
In 2021, drought is again taking its toll. According to the UN, more than 465,000 children under the age of five are malnourished. Food insecurity affects more than 2.5 million people in the country. Uhuru Kenyatta speaks of a "national disaster". However, he is criticised for the slow humanitarian response and lack of planning.
The Mukuru Kwa Njenga slum in Nairobi is being razed in October 2021 to make way for the widening of a road, leaving 40,000 people homeless overnight, with no offer of alternative accommodation.
Challenges
His major challenges include the high cost of living, rising public debt, a high public wage bill and allegations of corruption among people close to his government. The 2017 general election and its violence is also a challenge that threatened not only his presidency but also the future of the East African Nation
Public Wage Bill
The high public wage cost has been a headache to Uhuru's administration. At the start of his term, the President decried the high wage bill which was at 12% of GDP (as against a recommended 7%). In 2015, the President stated that the wage bill was at 50% of the total annual revenue collection of government. In an attempt to curtail it, the President announced a pay cut for himself and his Cabinet in March 2014, reducing his salary by 20%. It was hoped that the high earners in government would follow suit but this did not materialize. Another measure was the newly created constitutional Salaries and Remuneration Commission which it was hoped would regularize salaries but it has faced an up hill battle against Members of Parliament, who wish to protect their earnings and labor unions. The President thereafter ordered an audit of the government payroll so as to flush out ghost workers. The audit identified 12,000 ghost workers. In the meantime, lower cadre government workers have demanded pay rises, more so by teachers and health workers, who have gone on strikes at various times to demand the increase. The strikes in the health sector mainly affect the counties, Kenya's other level of government, as it is managed by the devolved units.
Anti-corruption efforts
On 28 June 2018, Kenyatta declared a major crackdown on corruption and stated that no one was immune from corruption charges in Kenya. Kenyatta also stated his own brother Muhoho, a director in a company that had been accused in parliament of importing contraband sugar, should be charged if there is clear evidence against him.
On 11 August 2018, Mohammed Abdalla Swazuri, the chairman of National Land Commission, and Atanas Kariuki Maina, managing director of the Kenya Railways Corporation, were among 18 officials, businesspeople and companies arrested on corruption charges involving land allocation for the $3 billion flagship Nairobi-Mombasa railway. On 7 December 2018, Joe Sang, the CEO of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), was arrested with four other senior officials in connection with the loss of an unspecified amount of money during the construction of an oil jetty in the western city of Kisumu. On 22 July 2019, Kenya's finance minister Henry Rotich became the country's first sitting minister to be arrested for corruption. 27 other people were arrested with Rotich as well. On 6 December 2019, federal authorities arrested Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko on corruption charges. On January 14, 2020, Kenyatta replaced Rotich with Labour Secretary Ukur Yatani
On 28 May 2020, a breakthrough in Kenyatta's pledge to combat corruption in Kenya occurred when 40 civil servants and 14 private sector officials, including National Youth Service (NYS) Director General Richard Ndubai, were arrested on charges related to the National Youth Service scandal.
On December 9, 2020, it was confirmed by the Kenya News Agency that the National Anti-Corruption Campaign Steering Committee (NACCSC) was in the process of strengthening its collaboration with other crime fighting agencies, including those in Kenyatta's government. The group had National Government Administrative Officers (NGAO) in hopes they would support the County Anti-Corruption Civil Oversight Committee (CACCOC). The day before, Winnie Guchu, who serves in Kenyatta's government as the Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice, confirmed in a press conference that she had met with members of CACCOC to strengthen relations. On December 11, 2020, the Kenyan government's Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) released a statement confirming that Robert Pavel Oimeke, the director general of Kenya's Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, was arrested and taken into police custody on charges of demanding 200,000 Kenyan shillings ($1,795) to approve the re-opening of a petrol station that had been shut down over violations. On December 21, 2020, Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Benson Mutura replaced Sonko, who was removed from office four days prior, as Governor of Nairobi.
In October 2021, his name appeared in the Pandora Papers, among more than 330 current and former politicians and senior officials using hidden accounts in tax havens. He and six family members, including his mother, a brother and two sisters, have at least $30 million in several offshore companies. He also owns a secret 'foundation' in Panama, holding over $30 million.
Foreign relations
The President's foreign relations had been dominated by the ICC question. His relations with the West were expected to be cold, more so after the West warned Kenyans not to elect him as president. The United Kingdom promised to have only essential contacts with him if he were elected. However, his relationship with the West has thawed significantly and he has participated in the US — Africa summit as well as a Somalia summit in the United Kingdom. The ICC has accused his government of frustrating its investigation efforts into the case, although it has absolved the President personally of any involvement in the frustration.
His activities have however been more robust at the African level where he has pushed more intra-Africa trade and economic independence of African nations. In November 2014, he launched consultations to reform the United Nations Security Council to expand the voice of Africa in the council. He has successfully rallied the AU against the ICC culminating in an Extraordinary Summit of the African Heads of State which resolved that sitting African Heads of State should not appear before the ICC. The AU further asked the Security Council to suspend his trial at the ICC; for the first time ever, the Security Council resolution was defeated by abstention with 9 members of the Council abstaining rather than voting against so as not to offend Kenyatta. The Assembly of State Parties of the ICC would two days later amend the ICC statute to allow for one to appear by video link, a proposal President Kenyatta had made when he was Deputy Prime Minister.
President Kenyatta has led and negotiated peace agreements in the South Sudan and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the East African level, he has developed a close relationship with the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Rwanda President Paul Kagame, creating the Coalition of the Willing, a caucus within the EAC that has signed on to more joint development and economic agreements than the other EAC partners, including a joint tourist visa.
He attended the funeral of Nelson Mandela and was received warmly by the crowds. He also attended the funeral of President Michael Sata of Zambia in November 2014. However, it had been perceived that his administration's relations with Botswana were strained due to Botswana's support of the ICC process. He has since visited Botswana to remove this perception and Botswana voted in favor of the AU's ICC Resolution.
As expected, he has remained close to China which is funding most of his infrastructure projects.
Foreign trips
In November 2020, it was noted that he was the most traveled Kenyan president compared to his predecessors. One of the leading national newspapers noted that Uhuru Kenyatta had been out of the country 43 times as of November 2015 in a period of about three years since he took office in 2013, as compared to 33 times over a span of 10 years by his predecessor Mwai Kibaki. The president's strategic communications unit came out in defense of these trips stating that these trips had yielded more than what it cost the taxpayers to finance them.
Wealth
In October 2021, Kenyatta was named in the Pandora Papers leak. BBC reported that "The Kenyattas' offshore investments, including a company with stocks and bonds worth $30m (£22m), were discovered among hundreds of thousands of pages of administrative paperwork from the archives of 14 law firms and service providers in Panama and the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and other tax havens."
Approval ratings
His government's first year in office received low ratings from the general public. This is after a poll by Synovate indicated that more than half of the population was unhappy with how the government had conducted its affairs. The same polls also ranked the presidency as the second most trusted institution after the media. After his appearance at The Hague for his ICC case in October 2014, his poll ratings improved to 71%, according to a poll by Synovate. A poll by Gallup in August 2014 put his approval ratings at 78%, giving him the third best job approval ratings among African Presidents after Ian Khama of Botswana and Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of Mali. In 2015, due to allegations of corruption against some members of his government, his poll ratings dropped to his lowest rating yet at 33%, according to an Infotrack poll. By February 2017, his poll numbers had, however, risen to 57%. His poll numbers in 2018 would rise to 74% in light of a renewed effort to battle corruption.
Awards and decorations
National honours
:
Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya
Foreign honours
:
Order of Freedom of Barbados (6 October 2021)
:
First Class of the Order of the Most Ancient Welwitschia mirabilis (21 March 2019)
:
Order of the Republic of Serbia, Second Class (2016)
See also
Presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta
List of heads of state of Kenya
2013 Kenyan general election
2017 Kenyan general election
References
1961 births
Alumni of St. Mary's School, Nairobi
Amherst College alumni
Children of national leaders
Government ministers of Kenya
Kenya African National Union politicians
Kenyan expatriates in the United States
Kenyan Roman Catholics
Uhuru
Kikuyu people
Living people
Jomo Kenyatta
Members of the National Assembly (Kenya)
Ministers of Finance of Kenya
People indicted by the International Criminal Court
Presidents of Kenya
Jubilee Party politicians
21st-century Kenyan politicians
People named in the Pandora Papers
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"Gnanamuttu Krishnapillai (alias Vellimalai) is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, provincial councillor and former Member of Sri Lankan Parliament.\n\nKrishnapillai contested the 2001 parliamentary election as one of the Tamil National Alliance's candidates in Batticaloa District and was elected to Parliament. He contested the 2012 provincial council election as one of the TNA's candidates in Batticaloa District and was elected to the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC). A few days after the election some TNA councillors including Krishnapillai were threatened and coerced into joining the United People's Freedom Alliance but none of them gave in to the threats. Krishnapillai and the other newly elected TNA provincial councillors took their oaths on 28 September 2012 in front of TNA leader and Member of Parliament R. Sampanthan.\n\nReferences\n\nAll Ceylon Tamil Congress politicians\nLiving people\nMembers of the 12th Parliament of Sri Lanka\nMembers of the Eastern Provincial Council\nPeople from Eastern Province, Sri Lanka\nSri Lankan Tamil politicians\nTamil National Alliance politicians\nTamil United Liberation Front politicians\nYear of birth missing (living people)",
"Niththiyanantham Indirakumar (alias Prasanna) is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician and provincial councillor.\n\nIndirakumar is the Deputy Leader and General Secretary of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization.\n\nIndirakumar contested the 2010 parliamentary election as one of the Tamil National Alliance's candidates in Batticaloa District but failed to get elected after coming fifth amongst the TNA candidates. He contested the 2012 provincial council election as one of the TNA's candidates in Batticaloa District and was elected to the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC). A few days after the election some TNA councillors including Indirakumar were threatened and coerced into joining the United People's Freedom Alliance but none of them gave into the threats. Indirakumar and the other newly elected TNA provincial councillors took their oaths on 28 September 2012 in front of TNA leader and Member of Parliament R. Sampanthan.\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\nMembers of the Eastern Provincial Council\nPeople from Eastern Province, Sri Lanka\nSri Lankan Tamil politicians\nTamil Eelam Liberation Organization politicians\nTamil National Alliance politicians\nYear of birth missing (living people)"
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"Uhuru Kenyatta",
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"On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicised launch",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes",
"did he do the speeches?",
"Machel Waikenda was the director of communications",
"Who were some members of the TNA?",
"Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji,"
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What were their roles?
| 6 |
What were Abdi Ramadhan's and Mohamed Yusuf Haji's roles in The National Alliance Party?
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Uhuru Kenyatta
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On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicised launch of The National Alliance party in a modern high-tech dome at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination ticket in his quest for the presidency in the 2013 General Elections. The Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North Constituency MP William Ruto led more than 70 MPs in attending the function. The Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji, Jamleck Irungu Kamau, Dr. Naomi Shaaban, Samuel Poghisio, Professor Sam Ongeri and Dr. Mohammed Kuti and MPs Charles Cheruiyot Keter, Aden Bare Duale and Mohamed Maalim Mohamud also attended the event. Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes in society to be championed, the need for peaceful co-existence, the need for visionary and committed leadership, the need for transformative leadership, the need for a youthful crop of committed professionals in leadership, the need for free and fair nomination and election processes in the General Election, the need for an economically empowered youth and a call to bring an end to divisive and sectarian interests in politics to safeguard Kenya from sliding to dictatorship. Machel Waikenda was the director of communications and secretary of arts and entertainment of the National Alliance, from April 2012 to August 2013 and he led the media and communications department of the party during the 2013 elections. CANNOTANSWER
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Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (
born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who is the president of Kenya serving since 2013.
Uhuru served as the member of parliament (MP) for Gatundu South from 2002 to 2013. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2007 to 2013. Currently, he is a member and the party leader of the Jubilee Party of Kenya whose popularity has since dwindled. Uhuru was previously associated with the Kenya Africa National Union (KANU) before founding The National Alliance (TNA), one of the allied parties that campaigned for his election during the 2013 general elections and later on went to form a merger with the William Samoei Ruto's United Republican Party (URP) to form the Jubilee Party.
Uhuru is the son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president and his fourth wife Mama Ngina Kenyatta. He has been married to Margaret Gakuo Kenyatta since 1991. They have three children: his two sons Jomo and Muhoho, and his daughter Ngina.
Uhuru was re-elected for a second and final term in the August 2017 general elections, winning 54% of the popular vote. The win was formally declared on national television by the Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Mr. Wafula Chebukati.
However, Uhuru's election was challenged in the Supreme Court of Kenya by his main competitor, Raila Odinga. On 1 September 2017, the court declared the election invalid and ordered a new presidential election to take place within 60 days from the day of the ruling. A new presidential election was held on 26 October, which he won, with 39.03% electoral voter participation.
Early life
Uhuru Kenyatta was born 26 October 1961 to the future first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, and his fourth wife, Mama Ngina Kenyatta (née Muhoho). The second born in the family, he has two sisters, Christine (born 1953), Anna Nyokabi (born 1963), and a brother, Muhoho Kenyatta (born 1965).
His family hails from the Kikuyu, a Bantu ethnic group. His given name "Uhuru" is from the Swahili term for "freedom", and was given to him in anticipation of Kenya's upcoming independence. Uhuru attended St Mary's School in Nairobi. Between 1979 and 1980, he also briefly worked as a teller at the Kenya Commercial Bank.
After attending St. Mary's school, Uhuru went on to study economics, political science and government at Amherst College in the United States. Upon his graduation, Uhuru returned to Kenya, and started a company Wilham Kenya Limited, through which he sourced and exported agricultural produce.
Uhuru was nominated to Parliament in 2001, he then became Minister for Local Government under President Daniel Arap Moi and, despite his political inexperience, was favoured by Moi as his successor. Kenyatta ran as KANU's candidate in the December 2002 presidential election, but lost to the opposition candidate Mwai Kibaki by a big margin. He subsequently became Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. He backed Hon. Mwai Kibaki for re-election in the December 2007 presidential election and was named Minister of Local Government by Former President Mwai Kibaki in January 2008, before being appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade in April 2008 as part of the new coalition government.
Subsequently, Uhuru Kenyatta was Minister of Finance from 2009 to 2012, while remaining Deputy Prime Minister. Accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of committing crimes against humanity in relation to the violent aftermath of the 2007 election, he resigned as Minister of Finance on 26 January 2012. He was elected as President of Kenya in the March 2013 presidential election, defeating Raila Odinga with a slim majority in a single round of voting.
Political life
In the 1997 general election, Uhuru Kenyatta contested for the Gatundu South Constituency parliamentary seat, once held by his father, but lost to Moses Mwihia, a Nairobi architect.
In 1999, Moi appointed Uhuru to chair the Kenya Tourism Board, a government parastatal. In 2001, he was nominated as a Member of Parliament, and he joined the Cabinet as Minister for Local Government. He would also later be elected First Vice Chairman of KANU.
In the nomination process in 2002 in what was widely thought as undemocratic and underhand, Moi influenced Uhuru Kenyatta's nomination as KANU's preferred presidential candidate, sparking an outcry from other interested contenders and a massive exit from the party ensued. This move by the late President Moi was seen as a ploy to install Uhuru as a puppet so that even in retirement, Moi would still rule the country through Uhuru and presumably insulate himself against the numerous charges of abuse of office that plagued his presidency.
Uhuru finished second to Mwai Kibaki in the General Elections, with 31% of the vote. He conceded defeat and took up an active leadership role as Leader of the Opposition.
In January 2005, Uhuru Kenyatta defeated Nicholas Biwott for chairmanship of KANU, taking 2,980 votes among party delegates against Biwott's 622 votes.
Uhuru led his party KANU in the referendum campaigns against the draft constitution in 2005, having teamed up with the Liberal Democratic Party, a rebel faction in the Kibaki government, to form the Orange Democratic Movement. The result of this was a vote against the adoption of the draft constitution by a noticeable margin, which was a great political embarrassment to Emilio Mwai Kibaki.
In November 2006, Kenyatta was displaced as KANU leader by the late Nicholas Biwott. On 28 December 2006, the High Court of Kenya reinstated Uhuru Kenyatta as KANU chairman. However, further court proceedings followed. On 28 June 2007, the High Court confirmed Kenyatta as party leader, ruling that there was insufficient evidence for Biwott's argument that Kenyatta had joined another party.
In the run up to the 2007 general election, he led KANU to join a coalition (called Party of National Unity "PNU") with President Mwai Kibaki who was running for a second term against Raila Odinga. PNU won the controversial 2007 elections but the dispute over the poll resulted in the 2007–08 Kenyan crisis. Under an agreement between the two parties to end the chaos, Kibaki remained as president in a power sharing agreement with Raila as Prime Minister, while Uhuru Kenyatta was Kibaki's choice as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister For Finance in his share of Cabinet slots.
ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo charged Uhuru, who was a PNU leader, as an indirect co-perpetrator in the violence that followed the 2007–08 Kenyan crisis, and the charges were confirmed on 23 January 2012. The Prosecutor also charged William Ruto who had been a supporter of ODM, rivals of the PNU in the 2007 election. Uhuru resigned as Minister of Finance upon the confirmation of the charges but maintained his innocence. The charges were dropped on 13 March 2015 for lack of evidence.
On 13 September 2007, Uhuru Kenyatta withdrew from the December 2007 presidential election in favour of Kibaki for re-election. He said that he did not want to run unless he could be sure of winning.
Following the election, amidst the controversy that resulted when Kibaki was declared the victor despite claims of fraud from challenger Raila Odinga and his Orange Democratic Movement, Kibaki appointed Kenyatta as Minister for Local Government on 8 January 2008. After Kibaki and Odinga reached a power-sharing agreement, Kenyatta was named Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade on 13 April 2008, as part of the Grand Coalition Cabinet. He was the Deputy Prime Minister representing the PNU, while another Deputy Prime Minister, Musalia Mudavadi, represented the ODM.
Kenyatta and the rest of the Cabinet were sworn in on 17 April. Uhuru Kenyatta was later moved from Local Government and appointed Minister for Finance on 23 January 2009. During his tenure, he spearheaded a number of reform measures that changed how treasury and government by extension transact business, such as the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and a fund for the inclusion of the informal sector in the mainstream economy.
In 2013, Uhuru Kenyatta was elected as the 4th and current president of Kenya under The National Alliance (TNA), which was part of the Jubilee Alliance with his running mate William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP). Uhuru and Ruto won 50.07% of votes cast, with closest rivals, Raila Odinga and running mate Kalonzo Musyoka of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy garnering 42%. Raila Amolo Odinga disputed the election results at the Supreme Court which however held (7–0) that the election of Uhuru was valid and such irregularities as existed did not make a difference to the final outcome. Uhuru Kenyatta was therefore sworn in as president on 9 April 2013.
Uhuru ran for president in the elections held on 4 March 2013 and garnered 6,173,433 votes (50.03%) out of the 12,338,667 votes cast. As this was above the 50% plus 1 vote threshold, he won the election in the first round thus evading a run-off between the top two candidates. He was, therefore, declared the fourth President of the Republic of Kenya by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
According to the IEBC, Raila Odinga garnered 5,340,546 votes (43.4%) and was thus the second in the field of eight candidates. CORD, under the leadership of presidential candidate Raila Odinga, lodged a petition with the Supreme Court of Kenya on 10 March 2013 challenging Uhuru's election. On 30 March 2013, Dr Willy Mutunga, the Chief Justice of Kenya, read the unanimous Supreme Court ruling declaring the election of Uhuru Kenyatta and his running-mate, William Ruto, as valid. On 11 August 2017, the Chairman of the IEBC, Wafula Chebukati announced Uhuru's reelection to a second term in office during the 2017 Kenyan general election, with 54% of the popular vote. This was later contested in court and annulled. In the events that followed the annulment, Kenyatta was seen as lacking direction and being a reactionary leader. Following this annulment, a second election was required in which Uhuru Kenyatta won with 98% of the vote with a 39% voter turnout.
On 9 March 2018 Uhuru Kenyatta agreed on a truce between the opposition leader, Raila Odinga. This action marked the country's watershed moment that redrew its political architecture. On 27 November 2019, Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Building Bridges Initiatives (BBI) in Bomas of Kenya. This is one of the outcomes as a result of the truce with the opposition leader Raila Odinga as its implementations will foresee some amendments in the Kenyan Constitution.
Controversies
Budgetary discrepancies
Although it has been claimed that Uhuru was one of the few ministers who had no scandals attached to their name, on 29 April 2009, he faced a controversial scare after he presented a supplemental budget that was inadvertently approved by the parliament. The budget was aimed to bridge the budgetary gap that had arisen due to slow economic growth. The government required an additional 38 billion, but compromised on a figure of 22 billion and non-essential proposed expenditure was postponed as a result. After voting on the bill brought forward by Kenyatta, Gitobu Imanyara raised discrepancy questions as to what exactly had been approved by the house. It appeared that the parliament had approved a budget of 31 billion as opposed to 22 billion that they thought they were voting on – a difference of 9.2 billion. The Deputy Prime Minister initially defended the approval but later admitted that there were computer or typographical errors in the budget bill. Amid the raging debate about the contentious issue, the Speaker ordered the CID and a parliamentary committee to question him on the discrepancies. He was later cleared of any wrongdoing by the Joint Finance and Budgetary Committee.
ICC charges and investigations related to 2007–08 post-election violence
On 15 December 2010, prior to him becoming president, Kenyatta was named as a suspect of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, for planning and funding violence in Naivasha and Nakuru. This was in relation to the violence that followed the bungled national elections of December 2007. In furtherance of his political support for Kibaki's PNU at the time, he was accused of organising a Kikuyu politico-religious group, the Mungiki, in the post-election violence. Overall, the post-election violence of 2007 is said to have claimed about 1300 lives. Uhuru maintained his innocence and wanted his name cleared. On 8 March 2011, while serving as minister in Kibaki's government, he was indicted after being summoned to appear before the ICC pre-trial chamber. He was to appear at The Hague on 8 April 2011 alongside five other suspects.
On 29 September 2011, while seeking to exonerate himself, Uhuru Kenyatta put up a spirited fight as he was being cross-examined by ICC Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo in The Hague, denying any links with the outlawed Mungiki sect. He said Prime Minister Raila Odinga should take political responsibility for the acts of violence and killings that followed the 2007 presidential elections in Kenya. He told the three judges that "by telling his supporters election results were being rigged, fanned tensions and then failed to use his influence to quell the violence that followed the announcement of the 2007 presidential results."
Though Uhuru had previously dismissed ICC summons, he changed his decision along the way. Together with his two other co-accused suspects, Head of Civil Service, Ambassador Francis Muthaura and former Police Commissioner Hussein Ali, the trio honoured the ICC Summons that sought to determine whether their cases met the set standards for international trials. On 23 January 2012, the ICC confirmed the cases against Kenyatta and Muthaura although the charges against Muthaura were subsequently dropped. Serious concerns about the case have been raised, particularly the nature of the evidence being used against Kenyatta. There are also serious concerns about witness tampering and indeed, a number of witnesses have disappeared or died, which is the reason cited by the ICC for dropping charges against Mathaura. On a 12 October 2013 speech to the African Union in which he set a belligerent tone, Uhuru accused the ICC of being "a toy of declining imperial powers".
On 31 October 2013, the ICC postponed Kenyatta's trial for crimes against humanity by three months until 5 February 2014 after the defense had requested more time.
On 8 October 2014, Kenyatta appeared before the ICC in The Hague. He was called to appear at the ICC "status conference" when the prosecution said evidence needed to go ahead with a trial was being withheld. In a speech to the Kenyan parliament Kenyatta said that he was going to The Hague in a personal capacity — not as president of the country — so as not to compromise the sovereignty of Kenyans. Kenyatta did not speak in court, but denied the charges in comments to journalists as he left the court to catch a flight back home. "We as Kenyans, we know where we came from, we know where we are going, and nobody will tell us what to do," he said. The judges adjourned the hearings and charges were dropped on 13 March 2015.
The National Alliance Party (TNA)
On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicized launch of The National Alliance party in a modern high-tech dome at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination ticket in his quest for the presidency in the 2013 General Elections.
The Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North Constituency MP William Ruto led more than 70 MPs in attending the function. The Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji, Jamleck Irungu Kamau, Dr. Naomi Shaaban, Samuel Poghisio, Professor Sam Ongeri and Dr. Mohammed Kuti and MPs Charles Cheruiyot Keter, Aden Bare Duale and Mohamed Maalim Mohamud also attended the event.
Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes in society to be championed, the need for peaceful co-existence, the need for visionary and committed leadership, the need for transformative leadership, the need for a youthful crop of committed professionals in leadership, the need for free and fair nomination and election processes in the General Election, the need for an economically empowered youth and a call to bring an end to divisive and sectarian interests in politics to safeguard Kenya from sliding to dictatorship. Machel Waikenda was the director of communications and secretary of arts and entertainment of the National Alliance, from April 2012 to August 2013 and he led the media and communications department of the party during the 2013 elections.
By-elections (17 September 2012)
On 17 September 2012, The National Alliance party had its first real test when it contested various civic and parliamentary positions in a by-election that covered 17 seats in total; 3 parliamentary and 14 civic. Overall, 133,054 votes were cast in the by-elections and TNA led the pack after it garnered 38.89% or 51,878 votes, followed by Orange Democratic Movement with 33.7% or 44,837 votes, Party of National Unity with 4.46% or 5,929 votes, Wiper Democratic Movement with 4.44% or 5,912 votes and United Democratic Forum with 4.15% or 5,520 votes.
TNA won civic and parliamentary seats in 7 different counties while its closest challengers, ODM won seats in 4 counties.
The National Alliance Party remained a strong contender for the following year's general elections, having received major defections from other big political parties of Kenya. The successful election of TNA's main candidates (Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto) continued to enhance TNA's viability.
In January 2013, however, TNA merged with URP to form the Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP).
2013 presidential elections
Uhuru Kenyatta's party, The National Alliance (TNA) joined William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP), Najib Balala's Republican Congress Party (RCP) and Charity Ngilu's National Rainbow Coalition party to form the Jubilee Alliance coalition. Various opinion polls prior to the election placed Uhuru as one of the main contenders, and his Jubilee Alliance as among the most popular. The other formidable coalition was the Coalition For Reform and Democracy (CORD), led by Raila Odinga.
In undercover video footage, released in a BBC news report on 19 March 2018, the managing director of Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that worked to elect Donald Trump in the 2016 American presidential election, boasted that his firm had run successful presidential election campaigns in Kenya in 2013 and 2017, though he did not name Kenyatta explicitly. "We have re-branded the entire party twice, written the manifesto, done research, analysis, messaging," Turnbull said, of the campaigns that his company managed in Kenya. "I think we wrote all the speeches and we staged the whole thing—so just about every element of this candidate." A Jubilee Party vice president admitted on 20 March 2018, that the party had hired an affiliate of Cambridge Analytica for "branding" in the 2017 election.
Uhuru Kenyatta was officially declared the president elect on Saturday 9 March at 2:44 pm.
As per the IEBC's official results, Uhuru got 6,173,433 of the 12,221,053 valid votes cast ahead of the second placed Raila Odinga who garnered 5,340,546 (43.7%). Uhuru's result was 50.51% of the vote and was above the 50% plus 1 vote threshold set out in the 2010 constitution, thus making him the president-elect.
Results dispute
There was some discontent with the official results, as would be expected in such a hotly contested election, especially in Raila Odinga's strongholds. The inordinate delay in releasing the results and the technical failure of some safeguards and election equipment deployed by the IEBC did not help the perception that the election had been less than free and fair.
Further, an exit poll conducted by UCSD Professor Clark Gibson and James Long, Asst. Prof. and University of Washington suggested that neither Odinga nor Kenyatta had attained the 50% plus one vote threshold. Analysts have contended that even though elections for five other levels were held in Kenya at the same time, their national turnout levels and total vote tallies were about 16% less than the presidential total; e.g. while 10.6 million voters elected candidates for member of the National Assembly, the Senate and the 47 gubernatorial seats, almost 2 million more voted in the presidential election. This has fueled concern and speculations of vote manipulation in President Kenyatta's favor.
Two groups disputed these results and filed petitions challenging various aspects of it at the Supreme Court of Kenya to contest the result. The groups were the Coalition For Reform and Democracy, CORD, led by Raila Odinga, and the Africa Centre for Open Governance (AFRICOG). Uhuru Kenyatta and his running mate were respondents in these cases and were represented by Fred Ngatia and Katwa Kigen respectively.
Supreme Court ruling
The Supreme court judges unanimously upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as Kenya's fourth president after rejecting Raila Odinga's petition in a verdict delivered on Saturday 30 March 2013. Chief Justice Willy Mutunga in his ruling said the elections were indeed conducted in compliance with the Constitution and the law.
Presidential swearing-in at Kasarani Stadium
After the Supreme Court dismissed the petitions the swearing in ceremony was held on 9 April 2013 at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, Nairobi, in accordance to Article 141 (2) (b) of the constitution which stipulates that in case the Supreme Court upholds the victory of the president-elect, the swearing in will take place on "the first Tuesday following the seventh day following the date on which the court renders a decision declaring the election to be valid".
Presidency
During his inaugural speech, Uhuru promised economic transformation through Vision 2030, unity among all Kenyans, free maternal care and that he will serve all Kenyans. He also promised to improve the standards of education in Kenya. During the Madaraka day Celebrations, a national holiday celebrated to the country's independence on 1 June, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced free maternal care in all public health facilities, a move that was welcomed by many Kenyans.
On 1 September 2017, the Supreme Court of Kenya nullified the re-election of Uhuru Kenyatta after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had announced him the winner on 8 August 2017. As a result of that, there was a need for the election to be held once again. It was scheduled for 26 October 2017. After the reelection, Uhuru Kenyatta emerged the winner once again.
He was sworn in on 28 November 2017 for his second presidential term.
In 2021, drought is again taking its toll. According to the UN, more than 465,000 children under the age of five are malnourished. Food insecurity affects more than 2.5 million people in the country. Uhuru Kenyatta speaks of a "national disaster". However, he is criticised for the slow humanitarian response and lack of planning.
The Mukuru Kwa Njenga slum in Nairobi is being razed in October 2021 to make way for the widening of a road, leaving 40,000 people homeless overnight, with no offer of alternative accommodation.
Challenges
His major challenges include the high cost of living, rising public debt, a high public wage bill and allegations of corruption among people close to his government. The 2017 general election and its violence is also a challenge that threatened not only his presidency but also the future of the East African Nation
Public Wage Bill
The high public wage cost has been a headache to Uhuru's administration. At the start of his term, the President decried the high wage bill which was at 12% of GDP (as against a recommended 7%). In 2015, the President stated that the wage bill was at 50% of the total annual revenue collection of government. In an attempt to curtail it, the President announced a pay cut for himself and his Cabinet in March 2014, reducing his salary by 20%. It was hoped that the high earners in government would follow suit but this did not materialize. Another measure was the newly created constitutional Salaries and Remuneration Commission which it was hoped would regularize salaries but it has faced an up hill battle against Members of Parliament, who wish to protect their earnings and labor unions. The President thereafter ordered an audit of the government payroll so as to flush out ghost workers. The audit identified 12,000 ghost workers. In the meantime, lower cadre government workers have demanded pay rises, more so by teachers and health workers, who have gone on strikes at various times to demand the increase. The strikes in the health sector mainly affect the counties, Kenya's other level of government, as it is managed by the devolved units.
Anti-corruption efforts
On 28 June 2018, Kenyatta declared a major crackdown on corruption and stated that no one was immune from corruption charges in Kenya. Kenyatta also stated his own brother Muhoho, a director in a company that had been accused in parliament of importing contraband sugar, should be charged if there is clear evidence against him.
On 11 August 2018, Mohammed Abdalla Swazuri, the chairman of National Land Commission, and Atanas Kariuki Maina, managing director of the Kenya Railways Corporation, were among 18 officials, businesspeople and companies arrested on corruption charges involving land allocation for the $3 billion flagship Nairobi-Mombasa railway. On 7 December 2018, Joe Sang, the CEO of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), was arrested with four other senior officials in connection with the loss of an unspecified amount of money during the construction of an oil jetty in the western city of Kisumu. On 22 July 2019, Kenya's finance minister Henry Rotich became the country's first sitting minister to be arrested for corruption. 27 other people were arrested with Rotich as well. On 6 December 2019, federal authorities arrested Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko on corruption charges. On January 14, 2020, Kenyatta replaced Rotich with Labour Secretary Ukur Yatani
On 28 May 2020, a breakthrough in Kenyatta's pledge to combat corruption in Kenya occurred when 40 civil servants and 14 private sector officials, including National Youth Service (NYS) Director General Richard Ndubai, were arrested on charges related to the National Youth Service scandal.
On December 9, 2020, it was confirmed by the Kenya News Agency that the National Anti-Corruption Campaign Steering Committee (NACCSC) was in the process of strengthening its collaboration with other crime fighting agencies, including those in Kenyatta's government. The group had National Government Administrative Officers (NGAO) in hopes they would support the County Anti-Corruption Civil Oversight Committee (CACCOC). The day before, Winnie Guchu, who serves in Kenyatta's government as the Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice, confirmed in a press conference that she had met with members of CACCOC to strengthen relations. On December 11, 2020, the Kenyan government's Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) released a statement confirming that Robert Pavel Oimeke, the director general of Kenya's Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, was arrested and taken into police custody on charges of demanding 200,000 Kenyan shillings ($1,795) to approve the re-opening of a petrol station that had been shut down over violations. On December 21, 2020, Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Benson Mutura replaced Sonko, who was removed from office four days prior, as Governor of Nairobi.
In October 2021, his name appeared in the Pandora Papers, among more than 330 current and former politicians and senior officials using hidden accounts in tax havens. He and six family members, including his mother, a brother and two sisters, have at least $30 million in several offshore companies. He also owns a secret 'foundation' in Panama, holding over $30 million.
Foreign relations
The President's foreign relations had been dominated by the ICC question. His relations with the West were expected to be cold, more so after the West warned Kenyans not to elect him as president. The United Kingdom promised to have only essential contacts with him if he were elected. However, his relationship with the West has thawed significantly and he has participated in the US — Africa summit as well as a Somalia summit in the United Kingdom. The ICC has accused his government of frustrating its investigation efforts into the case, although it has absolved the President personally of any involvement in the frustration.
His activities have however been more robust at the African level where he has pushed more intra-Africa trade and economic independence of African nations. In November 2014, he launched consultations to reform the United Nations Security Council to expand the voice of Africa in the council. He has successfully rallied the AU against the ICC culminating in an Extraordinary Summit of the African Heads of State which resolved that sitting African Heads of State should not appear before the ICC. The AU further asked the Security Council to suspend his trial at the ICC; for the first time ever, the Security Council resolution was defeated by abstention with 9 members of the Council abstaining rather than voting against so as not to offend Kenyatta. The Assembly of State Parties of the ICC would two days later amend the ICC statute to allow for one to appear by video link, a proposal President Kenyatta had made when he was Deputy Prime Minister.
President Kenyatta has led and negotiated peace agreements in the South Sudan and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the East African level, he has developed a close relationship with the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Rwanda President Paul Kagame, creating the Coalition of the Willing, a caucus within the EAC that has signed on to more joint development and economic agreements than the other EAC partners, including a joint tourist visa.
He attended the funeral of Nelson Mandela and was received warmly by the crowds. He also attended the funeral of President Michael Sata of Zambia in November 2014. However, it had been perceived that his administration's relations with Botswana were strained due to Botswana's support of the ICC process. He has since visited Botswana to remove this perception and Botswana voted in favor of the AU's ICC Resolution.
As expected, he has remained close to China which is funding most of his infrastructure projects.
Foreign trips
In November 2020, it was noted that he was the most traveled Kenyan president compared to his predecessors. One of the leading national newspapers noted that Uhuru Kenyatta had been out of the country 43 times as of November 2015 in a period of about three years since he took office in 2013, as compared to 33 times over a span of 10 years by his predecessor Mwai Kibaki. The president's strategic communications unit came out in defense of these trips stating that these trips had yielded more than what it cost the taxpayers to finance them.
Wealth
In October 2021, Kenyatta was named in the Pandora Papers leak. BBC reported that "The Kenyattas' offshore investments, including a company with stocks and bonds worth $30m (£22m), were discovered among hundreds of thousands of pages of administrative paperwork from the archives of 14 law firms and service providers in Panama and the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and other tax havens."
Approval ratings
His government's first year in office received low ratings from the general public. This is after a poll by Synovate indicated that more than half of the population was unhappy with how the government had conducted its affairs. The same polls also ranked the presidency as the second most trusted institution after the media. After his appearance at The Hague for his ICC case in October 2014, his poll ratings improved to 71%, according to a poll by Synovate. A poll by Gallup in August 2014 put his approval ratings at 78%, giving him the third best job approval ratings among African Presidents after Ian Khama of Botswana and Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of Mali. In 2015, due to allegations of corruption against some members of his government, his poll ratings dropped to his lowest rating yet at 33%, according to an Infotrack poll. By February 2017, his poll numbers had, however, risen to 57%. His poll numbers in 2018 would rise to 74% in light of a renewed effort to battle corruption.
Awards and decorations
National honours
:
Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya
Foreign honours
:
Order of Freedom of Barbados (6 October 2021)
:
First Class of the Order of the Most Ancient Welwitschia mirabilis (21 March 2019)
:
Order of the Republic of Serbia, Second Class (2016)
See also
Presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta
List of heads of state of Kenya
2013 Kenyan general election
2017 Kenyan general election
References
1961 births
Alumni of St. Mary's School, Nairobi
Amherst College alumni
Children of national leaders
Government ministers of Kenya
Kenya African National Union politicians
Kenyan expatriates in the United States
Kenyan Roman Catholics
Uhuru
Kikuyu people
Living people
Jomo Kenyatta
Members of the National Assembly (Kenya)
Ministers of Finance of Kenya
People indicted by the International Criminal Court
Presidents of Kenya
Jubilee Party politicians
21st-century Kenyan politicians
People named in the Pandora Papers
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[
"The Star Roles Model is used by organisations to describe the positions managers and mentors adopt when guiding direct-reports and mentees. The concept builds on the Group Roles model developed by Benne & Sheats, taking a short-cut route to describing preferences when guiding others. Similarly, the Roles Model follows the Mintzberg 10 management positions - drawing in the most relevant elements when considering the mentoring relationship in detail.\n\nThe model describes six roles, which are split into two areas of focus - Inner and Outer. The roles are neutral in representation - reflecting a preference in relation to giving guidance and support, rather than presenting a pyramidal of approaches that work towards an ideal. In use, the roles are used by individuals to recognise where their preference sits, and what the person / situation requires. In this respect, the model supports the situational leadership theory concept. Practically, managers are encouraged to use the model to critically review what is required through a close mentoring relationship, to spot when the relationship becomes less effective because of over reliance on one role, and which role to use to achieve the most effective approach.\n\nThe grouping of the roles is based on the concept of Introversion / Extraversion - acknowledging that some individuals will naturally prefer an inwardly focusing role, over an external bias. The Model makes no concrete link between MBTI profiling and preference on the E-I scale and a preference on the Star Model.\n\n'Inner' Roles\n\n'Inner' Guidance\nThe inner roles focus on 'closed' management and mentoring, where the mentor is using personal knowledge, insight and input to steer the individual. Whilst not solidly linked to Introversion, the notion of self-interest, focus and bias aptly describes the drivers around guiding through this position. Whilst the dialogue is driven through the inner aspects of the role, the focus from the mentor is not on the 'I' - and can be a third person approach. Positives for this role are found in the depth of individual approach, the supportive and individual nature of the mentoring relationship and the value such an approach draws from the time being given over by the manager. The Inner approach does tend towards an 'opt out' from the mentor, in that they bring little of themselves to the conversation, and can work 'at a distance' to the challenge.\n\nThe Roles\n Greater Expert - bringing in own knowledge and sharing this with the person being guided/mentored - having the comfort and knowledge to advise technically, procedurally and personally - based on experience and sourced knowledge\n Critical Partner - brings personal challenge and structured dialogue to the interaction relies on socratic questioning to help the other person realise the truth of the situation and challenge their thinking with the aim of expanding the dialogue and their sphere of consideration.\n Sympathetic Ear - provides a non-judgmental sounding board for the mentee to discuss issues and challenges - establishes a secure conversational environment and falls into the 'friend/confidant role\n\n'Outer' Roles\n\n'Outer' Guidance\nIn comparison, the outer roles are driven more by a sense of 'open' input, that seeks to bring in contextual experimentation, relational aspects, and wider links to the outside world. This 'extroverted' approach relies more on the mentor bringing in the 'I' and making value-based judgments on what is and isn't required. Positively, these roles are highly effective at supporting others through cultural and behavioral challenges, and giving a valid platform for personal input and demonstration from the mentor. When adopting these roles, managers have to be observant against a tendency to place too much emphasis on self-opinion rather than fact, and for them to take ownership of the problem/challenge being discussed, rather than coach the person through the issue.\n\nThe Roles\n Background Champion - works within the organisation to secure wider support, input or change to assist the mentee in achieving their aims - lends their name and weight to the issue and is happy to be quoted as support for the work\n Role Model - bases conversations around challenge on their own direct experience and personal approach to problems - gives mentees steer through \"I would...\" conversations that educate through replication of their own success rather than self exploration and learning\n Cultural Navigator - imparts detailed, personal knowledge of the cultural flows and key figures within the organisation - uses personal experience and opinion of individuals, teams and departments to shape a route through the challenge for the individual\n\nApplication\nThe Star Model supports two aspects of mentor / leadership training:\n\nAwareness of preference - used to explore their likely preference, conversations driven by the Roles can lead to a stronger awareness of how their individual leadership tends to manifest practically. Following on from this recognition, leaders use the model to better plan interventions with individuals, and to ensure the correct approach to Crucial Conversations with the aim of achieving appropriate outcomes, rather than positive conversations.\n\nSituational approach - using the Roles to analyze what a particular support / mentoring situation requires in relation to a successful outcome - challenging a 'matching' of the mentee's requirement against what the mentor truly believes is required. For example, a mentee may be looking for a 'sympathetic ear', to vent their frustration at, whereas the situation requires the mentor to take a 'critical partner' and 'role model' approach to move the situation forward\n\nIn making the roles overt and labeling them, both parties are able to work towards positions within the relationship that best support effective outcomes and agree levels of challenge and input that educate, support and demonstrate appropriately.\n\nReferences\n\nOrganizational theory",
"Nádleehi is a social and, at times, ceremonial role in Diné (Navajo) culture – an \"effeminate male\" or \"male-bodied person with a feminine nature\". However, the nádleehi gender role is also fluid and cannot be simply described in terms of rigid gender binaries. Some Diné people recognize four general places on the gender spectrum: feminine woman, masculine woman, feminine man, and masculine man. Nádleehí may express their gender differently from day to day, or during different periods over their lifetimes, fulfilling roles in community and ceremony traditionally held by either women or men. At times, some may hold positions that can only be held by people who are near the middle of the gender spectrum. Contemporary nádleehí may or may not participate in the modern, pan-Indian two-spirit or LGBT communities. Notable people who were recognized by their communities as nádleehí are traditional weaver and ceremonial singer Hosteen Klah (1867–1937) and Fred Martinez, who was murdered at the age of 16 in June 2001.\n\nRole in Diné society \nTraditionally, a nádleehí person is recognized at a young age by the ceremonial elders and their own family, as they are seen instinctively taking on what are typically female roles in that society, as well as the clothing and work usually associated with females in that culture. As they mature they usually also find themselves sexually attracted to other males, and this is usually accepted by the community. A nádleehí'''s role in life might be somewhat fluid depending on context, such as when with different groups of people or in different cultural contexts. The nádleehí social and ceremonial role differs from other two-spirit roles in that it is specific to Diné culture and communities; other Nations that have roles for two-spirits – if they have them at all – have names in their own languages, and roles and other details tend to be specific to those particular cultures.\n\nThe difference in Diné perception of gender-nonconforming individuals and western perception was noted as early as the 1920s. A contemporary writer noted that while in American society gender-nonconformity was cause for anxiety, in Diné society it was seen as good fortune.\n\n Fred Martinez \nFred Martinez lived in Cortez, Colorado, on a Diné reservation, with his mother Pauline Mitchell. Friends of Martinez said that he was often harassed in school by their peers, for his feminine nature. Martinez's mother was supportive of her son and his friends, a number of whom were also gender nonconforming or LGBT. Diné society is traditionally matrilineal, with honored social and ceremonial roles for certain gender-variant members of the community, and Martinez's mother, grandmother, and others in the community recognized and accepted him as nádleehí.\n\nFred Martinez was murdered by Shaun Murphey in June 2001, and it was determined that Murphey's motives were linked to Martinez's nádleehí status. Murphey was arrested and sentenced, though it was not ruled as a hate crime. A documentary about Fred Martinez's case, Two-Spirits, explores both Martinez's life and the nádleehí'' role in traditional Diné culture.\n\nSee also \nGender roles among the indigenous peoples of North America\nGender systems\nHosteen Klah\nThird gender\n\nReferences \n\nNavajo culture\nTwo-spirit"
] |
[
"Uhuru Kenyatta",
"The National Alliance Party (TNA)",
"What part did the TNA play?",
"His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination",
"Did he found the party?",
"On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicised launch",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes",
"did he do the speeches?",
"Machel Waikenda was the director of communications",
"Who were some members of the TNA?",
"Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji,",
"What were their roles?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_945d2d0cdf364553853871ad8428e807_1
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What else did the party do?
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Aside from the need for thriving economy and rights for all people, what else did The National Alliance Party do?
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Uhuru Kenyatta
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On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicised launch of The National Alliance party in a modern high-tech dome at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination ticket in his quest for the presidency in the 2013 General Elections. The Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North Constituency MP William Ruto led more than 70 MPs in attending the function. The Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji, Jamleck Irungu Kamau, Dr. Naomi Shaaban, Samuel Poghisio, Professor Sam Ongeri and Dr. Mohammed Kuti and MPs Charles Cheruiyot Keter, Aden Bare Duale and Mohamed Maalim Mohamud also attended the event. Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes in society to be championed, the need for peaceful co-existence, the need for visionary and committed leadership, the need for transformative leadership, the need for a youthful crop of committed professionals in leadership, the need for free and fair nomination and election processes in the General Election, the need for an economically empowered youth and a call to bring an end to divisive and sectarian interests in politics to safeguard Kenya from sliding to dictatorship. Machel Waikenda was the director of communications and secretary of arts and entertainment of the National Alliance, from April 2012 to August 2013 and he led the media and communications department of the party during the 2013 elections. CANNOTANSWER
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need for free and fair nomination and election processes in the General Election,
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Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (
born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who is the president of Kenya serving since 2013.
Uhuru served as the member of parliament (MP) for Gatundu South from 2002 to 2013. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2007 to 2013. Currently, he is a member and the party leader of the Jubilee Party of Kenya whose popularity has since dwindled. Uhuru was previously associated with the Kenya Africa National Union (KANU) before founding The National Alliance (TNA), one of the allied parties that campaigned for his election during the 2013 general elections and later on went to form a merger with the William Samoei Ruto's United Republican Party (URP) to form the Jubilee Party.
Uhuru is the son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president and his fourth wife Mama Ngina Kenyatta. He has been married to Margaret Gakuo Kenyatta since 1991. They have three children: his two sons Jomo and Muhoho, and his daughter Ngina.
Uhuru was re-elected for a second and final term in the August 2017 general elections, winning 54% of the popular vote. The win was formally declared on national television by the Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Mr. Wafula Chebukati.
However, Uhuru's election was challenged in the Supreme Court of Kenya by his main competitor, Raila Odinga. On 1 September 2017, the court declared the election invalid and ordered a new presidential election to take place within 60 days from the day of the ruling. A new presidential election was held on 26 October, which he won, with 39.03% electoral voter participation.
Early life
Uhuru Kenyatta was born 26 October 1961 to the future first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, and his fourth wife, Mama Ngina Kenyatta (née Muhoho). The second born in the family, he has two sisters, Christine (born 1953), Anna Nyokabi (born 1963), and a brother, Muhoho Kenyatta (born 1965).
His family hails from the Kikuyu, a Bantu ethnic group. His given name "Uhuru" is from the Swahili term for "freedom", and was given to him in anticipation of Kenya's upcoming independence. Uhuru attended St Mary's School in Nairobi. Between 1979 and 1980, he also briefly worked as a teller at the Kenya Commercial Bank.
After attending St. Mary's school, Uhuru went on to study economics, political science and government at Amherst College in the United States. Upon his graduation, Uhuru returned to Kenya, and started a company Wilham Kenya Limited, through which he sourced and exported agricultural produce.
Uhuru was nominated to Parliament in 2001, he then became Minister for Local Government under President Daniel Arap Moi and, despite his political inexperience, was favoured by Moi as his successor. Kenyatta ran as KANU's candidate in the December 2002 presidential election, but lost to the opposition candidate Mwai Kibaki by a big margin. He subsequently became Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. He backed Hon. Mwai Kibaki for re-election in the December 2007 presidential election and was named Minister of Local Government by Former President Mwai Kibaki in January 2008, before being appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade in April 2008 as part of the new coalition government.
Subsequently, Uhuru Kenyatta was Minister of Finance from 2009 to 2012, while remaining Deputy Prime Minister. Accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of committing crimes against humanity in relation to the violent aftermath of the 2007 election, he resigned as Minister of Finance on 26 January 2012. He was elected as President of Kenya in the March 2013 presidential election, defeating Raila Odinga with a slim majority in a single round of voting.
Political life
In the 1997 general election, Uhuru Kenyatta contested for the Gatundu South Constituency parliamentary seat, once held by his father, but lost to Moses Mwihia, a Nairobi architect.
In 1999, Moi appointed Uhuru to chair the Kenya Tourism Board, a government parastatal. In 2001, he was nominated as a Member of Parliament, and he joined the Cabinet as Minister for Local Government. He would also later be elected First Vice Chairman of KANU.
In the nomination process in 2002 in what was widely thought as undemocratic and underhand, Moi influenced Uhuru Kenyatta's nomination as KANU's preferred presidential candidate, sparking an outcry from other interested contenders and a massive exit from the party ensued. This move by the late President Moi was seen as a ploy to install Uhuru as a puppet so that even in retirement, Moi would still rule the country through Uhuru and presumably insulate himself against the numerous charges of abuse of office that plagued his presidency.
Uhuru finished second to Mwai Kibaki in the General Elections, with 31% of the vote. He conceded defeat and took up an active leadership role as Leader of the Opposition.
In January 2005, Uhuru Kenyatta defeated Nicholas Biwott for chairmanship of KANU, taking 2,980 votes among party delegates against Biwott's 622 votes.
Uhuru led his party KANU in the referendum campaigns against the draft constitution in 2005, having teamed up with the Liberal Democratic Party, a rebel faction in the Kibaki government, to form the Orange Democratic Movement. The result of this was a vote against the adoption of the draft constitution by a noticeable margin, which was a great political embarrassment to Emilio Mwai Kibaki.
In November 2006, Kenyatta was displaced as KANU leader by the late Nicholas Biwott. On 28 December 2006, the High Court of Kenya reinstated Uhuru Kenyatta as KANU chairman. However, further court proceedings followed. On 28 June 2007, the High Court confirmed Kenyatta as party leader, ruling that there was insufficient evidence for Biwott's argument that Kenyatta had joined another party.
In the run up to the 2007 general election, he led KANU to join a coalition (called Party of National Unity "PNU") with President Mwai Kibaki who was running for a second term against Raila Odinga. PNU won the controversial 2007 elections but the dispute over the poll resulted in the 2007–08 Kenyan crisis. Under an agreement between the two parties to end the chaos, Kibaki remained as president in a power sharing agreement with Raila as Prime Minister, while Uhuru Kenyatta was Kibaki's choice as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister For Finance in his share of Cabinet slots.
ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo charged Uhuru, who was a PNU leader, as an indirect co-perpetrator in the violence that followed the 2007–08 Kenyan crisis, and the charges were confirmed on 23 January 2012. The Prosecutor also charged William Ruto who had been a supporter of ODM, rivals of the PNU in the 2007 election. Uhuru resigned as Minister of Finance upon the confirmation of the charges but maintained his innocence. The charges were dropped on 13 March 2015 for lack of evidence.
On 13 September 2007, Uhuru Kenyatta withdrew from the December 2007 presidential election in favour of Kibaki for re-election. He said that he did not want to run unless he could be sure of winning.
Following the election, amidst the controversy that resulted when Kibaki was declared the victor despite claims of fraud from challenger Raila Odinga and his Orange Democratic Movement, Kibaki appointed Kenyatta as Minister for Local Government on 8 January 2008. After Kibaki and Odinga reached a power-sharing agreement, Kenyatta was named Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade on 13 April 2008, as part of the Grand Coalition Cabinet. He was the Deputy Prime Minister representing the PNU, while another Deputy Prime Minister, Musalia Mudavadi, represented the ODM.
Kenyatta and the rest of the Cabinet were sworn in on 17 April. Uhuru Kenyatta was later moved from Local Government and appointed Minister for Finance on 23 January 2009. During his tenure, he spearheaded a number of reform measures that changed how treasury and government by extension transact business, such as the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and a fund for the inclusion of the informal sector in the mainstream economy.
In 2013, Uhuru Kenyatta was elected as the 4th and current president of Kenya under The National Alliance (TNA), which was part of the Jubilee Alliance with his running mate William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP). Uhuru and Ruto won 50.07% of votes cast, with closest rivals, Raila Odinga and running mate Kalonzo Musyoka of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy garnering 42%. Raila Amolo Odinga disputed the election results at the Supreme Court which however held (7–0) that the election of Uhuru was valid and such irregularities as existed did not make a difference to the final outcome. Uhuru Kenyatta was therefore sworn in as president on 9 April 2013.
Uhuru ran for president in the elections held on 4 March 2013 and garnered 6,173,433 votes (50.03%) out of the 12,338,667 votes cast. As this was above the 50% plus 1 vote threshold, he won the election in the first round thus evading a run-off between the top two candidates. He was, therefore, declared the fourth President of the Republic of Kenya by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
According to the IEBC, Raila Odinga garnered 5,340,546 votes (43.4%) and was thus the second in the field of eight candidates. CORD, under the leadership of presidential candidate Raila Odinga, lodged a petition with the Supreme Court of Kenya on 10 March 2013 challenging Uhuru's election. On 30 March 2013, Dr Willy Mutunga, the Chief Justice of Kenya, read the unanimous Supreme Court ruling declaring the election of Uhuru Kenyatta and his running-mate, William Ruto, as valid. On 11 August 2017, the Chairman of the IEBC, Wafula Chebukati announced Uhuru's reelection to a second term in office during the 2017 Kenyan general election, with 54% of the popular vote. This was later contested in court and annulled. In the events that followed the annulment, Kenyatta was seen as lacking direction and being a reactionary leader. Following this annulment, a second election was required in which Uhuru Kenyatta won with 98% of the vote with a 39% voter turnout.
On 9 March 2018 Uhuru Kenyatta agreed on a truce between the opposition leader, Raila Odinga. This action marked the country's watershed moment that redrew its political architecture. On 27 November 2019, Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Building Bridges Initiatives (BBI) in Bomas of Kenya. This is one of the outcomes as a result of the truce with the opposition leader Raila Odinga as its implementations will foresee some amendments in the Kenyan Constitution.
Controversies
Budgetary discrepancies
Although it has been claimed that Uhuru was one of the few ministers who had no scandals attached to their name, on 29 April 2009, he faced a controversial scare after he presented a supplemental budget that was inadvertently approved by the parliament. The budget was aimed to bridge the budgetary gap that had arisen due to slow economic growth. The government required an additional 38 billion, but compromised on a figure of 22 billion and non-essential proposed expenditure was postponed as a result. After voting on the bill brought forward by Kenyatta, Gitobu Imanyara raised discrepancy questions as to what exactly had been approved by the house. It appeared that the parliament had approved a budget of 31 billion as opposed to 22 billion that they thought they were voting on – a difference of 9.2 billion. The Deputy Prime Minister initially defended the approval but later admitted that there were computer or typographical errors in the budget bill. Amid the raging debate about the contentious issue, the Speaker ordered the CID and a parliamentary committee to question him on the discrepancies. He was later cleared of any wrongdoing by the Joint Finance and Budgetary Committee.
ICC charges and investigations related to 2007–08 post-election violence
On 15 December 2010, prior to him becoming president, Kenyatta was named as a suspect of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, for planning and funding violence in Naivasha and Nakuru. This was in relation to the violence that followed the bungled national elections of December 2007. In furtherance of his political support for Kibaki's PNU at the time, he was accused of organising a Kikuyu politico-religious group, the Mungiki, in the post-election violence. Overall, the post-election violence of 2007 is said to have claimed about 1300 lives. Uhuru maintained his innocence and wanted his name cleared. On 8 March 2011, while serving as minister in Kibaki's government, he was indicted after being summoned to appear before the ICC pre-trial chamber. He was to appear at The Hague on 8 April 2011 alongside five other suspects.
On 29 September 2011, while seeking to exonerate himself, Uhuru Kenyatta put up a spirited fight as he was being cross-examined by ICC Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo in The Hague, denying any links with the outlawed Mungiki sect. He said Prime Minister Raila Odinga should take political responsibility for the acts of violence and killings that followed the 2007 presidential elections in Kenya. He told the three judges that "by telling his supporters election results were being rigged, fanned tensions and then failed to use his influence to quell the violence that followed the announcement of the 2007 presidential results."
Though Uhuru had previously dismissed ICC summons, he changed his decision along the way. Together with his two other co-accused suspects, Head of Civil Service, Ambassador Francis Muthaura and former Police Commissioner Hussein Ali, the trio honoured the ICC Summons that sought to determine whether their cases met the set standards for international trials. On 23 January 2012, the ICC confirmed the cases against Kenyatta and Muthaura although the charges against Muthaura were subsequently dropped. Serious concerns about the case have been raised, particularly the nature of the evidence being used against Kenyatta. There are also serious concerns about witness tampering and indeed, a number of witnesses have disappeared or died, which is the reason cited by the ICC for dropping charges against Mathaura. On a 12 October 2013 speech to the African Union in which he set a belligerent tone, Uhuru accused the ICC of being "a toy of declining imperial powers".
On 31 October 2013, the ICC postponed Kenyatta's trial for crimes against humanity by three months until 5 February 2014 after the defense had requested more time.
On 8 October 2014, Kenyatta appeared before the ICC in The Hague. He was called to appear at the ICC "status conference" when the prosecution said evidence needed to go ahead with a trial was being withheld. In a speech to the Kenyan parliament Kenyatta said that he was going to The Hague in a personal capacity — not as president of the country — so as not to compromise the sovereignty of Kenyans. Kenyatta did not speak in court, but denied the charges in comments to journalists as he left the court to catch a flight back home. "We as Kenyans, we know where we came from, we know where we are going, and nobody will tell us what to do," he said. The judges adjourned the hearings and charges were dropped on 13 March 2015.
The National Alliance Party (TNA)
On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicized launch of The National Alliance party in a modern high-tech dome at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination ticket in his quest for the presidency in the 2013 General Elections.
The Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North Constituency MP William Ruto led more than 70 MPs in attending the function. The Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji, Jamleck Irungu Kamau, Dr. Naomi Shaaban, Samuel Poghisio, Professor Sam Ongeri and Dr. Mohammed Kuti and MPs Charles Cheruiyot Keter, Aden Bare Duale and Mohamed Maalim Mohamud also attended the event.
Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes in society to be championed, the need for peaceful co-existence, the need for visionary and committed leadership, the need for transformative leadership, the need for a youthful crop of committed professionals in leadership, the need for free and fair nomination and election processes in the General Election, the need for an economically empowered youth and a call to bring an end to divisive and sectarian interests in politics to safeguard Kenya from sliding to dictatorship. Machel Waikenda was the director of communications and secretary of arts and entertainment of the National Alliance, from April 2012 to August 2013 and he led the media and communications department of the party during the 2013 elections.
By-elections (17 September 2012)
On 17 September 2012, The National Alliance party had its first real test when it contested various civic and parliamentary positions in a by-election that covered 17 seats in total; 3 parliamentary and 14 civic. Overall, 133,054 votes were cast in the by-elections and TNA led the pack after it garnered 38.89% or 51,878 votes, followed by Orange Democratic Movement with 33.7% or 44,837 votes, Party of National Unity with 4.46% or 5,929 votes, Wiper Democratic Movement with 4.44% or 5,912 votes and United Democratic Forum with 4.15% or 5,520 votes.
TNA won civic and parliamentary seats in 7 different counties while its closest challengers, ODM won seats in 4 counties.
The National Alliance Party remained a strong contender for the following year's general elections, having received major defections from other big political parties of Kenya. The successful election of TNA's main candidates (Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto) continued to enhance TNA's viability.
In January 2013, however, TNA merged with URP to form the Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP).
2013 presidential elections
Uhuru Kenyatta's party, The National Alliance (TNA) joined William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP), Najib Balala's Republican Congress Party (RCP) and Charity Ngilu's National Rainbow Coalition party to form the Jubilee Alliance coalition. Various opinion polls prior to the election placed Uhuru as one of the main contenders, and his Jubilee Alliance as among the most popular. The other formidable coalition was the Coalition For Reform and Democracy (CORD), led by Raila Odinga.
In undercover video footage, released in a BBC news report on 19 March 2018, the managing director of Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that worked to elect Donald Trump in the 2016 American presidential election, boasted that his firm had run successful presidential election campaigns in Kenya in 2013 and 2017, though he did not name Kenyatta explicitly. "We have re-branded the entire party twice, written the manifesto, done research, analysis, messaging," Turnbull said, of the campaigns that his company managed in Kenya. "I think we wrote all the speeches and we staged the whole thing—so just about every element of this candidate." A Jubilee Party vice president admitted on 20 March 2018, that the party had hired an affiliate of Cambridge Analytica for "branding" in the 2017 election.
Uhuru Kenyatta was officially declared the president elect on Saturday 9 March at 2:44 pm.
As per the IEBC's official results, Uhuru got 6,173,433 of the 12,221,053 valid votes cast ahead of the second placed Raila Odinga who garnered 5,340,546 (43.7%). Uhuru's result was 50.51% of the vote and was above the 50% plus 1 vote threshold set out in the 2010 constitution, thus making him the president-elect.
Results dispute
There was some discontent with the official results, as would be expected in such a hotly contested election, especially in Raila Odinga's strongholds. The inordinate delay in releasing the results and the technical failure of some safeguards and election equipment deployed by the IEBC did not help the perception that the election had been less than free and fair.
Further, an exit poll conducted by UCSD Professor Clark Gibson and James Long, Asst. Prof. and University of Washington suggested that neither Odinga nor Kenyatta had attained the 50% plus one vote threshold. Analysts have contended that even though elections for five other levels were held in Kenya at the same time, their national turnout levels and total vote tallies were about 16% less than the presidential total; e.g. while 10.6 million voters elected candidates for member of the National Assembly, the Senate and the 47 gubernatorial seats, almost 2 million more voted in the presidential election. This has fueled concern and speculations of vote manipulation in President Kenyatta's favor.
Two groups disputed these results and filed petitions challenging various aspects of it at the Supreme Court of Kenya to contest the result. The groups were the Coalition For Reform and Democracy, CORD, led by Raila Odinga, and the Africa Centre for Open Governance (AFRICOG). Uhuru Kenyatta and his running mate were respondents in these cases and were represented by Fred Ngatia and Katwa Kigen respectively.
Supreme Court ruling
The Supreme court judges unanimously upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as Kenya's fourth president after rejecting Raila Odinga's petition in a verdict delivered on Saturday 30 March 2013. Chief Justice Willy Mutunga in his ruling said the elections were indeed conducted in compliance with the Constitution and the law.
Presidential swearing-in at Kasarani Stadium
After the Supreme Court dismissed the petitions the swearing in ceremony was held on 9 April 2013 at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, Nairobi, in accordance to Article 141 (2) (b) of the constitution which stipulates that in case the Supreme Court upholds the victory of the president-elect, the swearing in will take place on "the first Tuesday following the seventh day following the date on which the court renders a decision declaring the election to be valid".
Presidency
During his inaugural speech, Uhuru promised economic transformation through Vision 2030, unity among all Kenyans, free maternal care and that he will serve all Kenyans. He also promised to improve the standards of education in Kenya. During the Madaraka day Celebrations, a national holiday celebrated to the country's independence on 1 June, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced free maternal care in all public health facilities, a move that was welcomed by many Kenyans.
On 1 September 2017, the Supreme Court of Kenya nullified the re-election of Uhuru Kenyatta after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had announced him the winner on 8 August 2017. As a result of that, there was a need for the election to be held once again. It was scheduled for 26 October 2017. After the reelection, Uhuru Kenyatta emerged the winner once again.
He was sworn in on 28 November 2017 for his second presidential term.
In 2021, drought is again taking its toll. According to the UN, more than 465,000 children under the age of five are malnourished. Food insecurity affects more than 2.5 million people in the country. Uhuru Kenyatta speaks of a "national disaster". However, he is criticised for the slow humanitarian response and lack of planning.
The Mukuru Kwa Njenga slum in Nairobi is being razed in October 2021 to make way for the widening of a road, leaving 40,000 people homeless overnight, with no offer of alternative accommodation.
Challenges
His major challenges include the high cost of living, rising public debt, a high public wage bill and allegations of corruption among people close to his government. The 2017 general election and its violence is also a challenge that threatened not only his presidency but also the future of the East African Nation
Public Wage Bill
The high public wage cost has been a headache to Uhuru's administration. At the start of his term, the President decried the high wage bill which was at 12% of GDP (as against a recommended 7%). In 2015, the President stated that the wage bill was at 50% of the total annual revenue collection of government. In an attempt to curtail it, the President announced a pay cut for himself and his Cabinet in March 2014, reducing his salary by 20%. It was hoped that the high earners in government would follow suit but this did not materialize. Another measure was the newly created constitutional Salaries and Remuneration Commission which it was hoped would regularize salaries but it has faced an up hill battle against Members of Parliament, who wish to protect their earnings and labor unions. The President thereafter ordered an audit of the government payroll so as to flush out ghost workers. The audit identified 12,000 ghost workers. In the meantime, lower cadre government workers have demanded pay rises, more so by teachers and health workers, who have gone on strikes at various times to demand the increase. The strikes in the health sector mainly affect the counties, Kenya's other level of government, as it is managed by the devolved units.
Anti-corruption efforts
On 28 June 2018, Kenyatta declared a major crackdown on corruption and stated that no one was immune from corruption charges in Kenya. Kenyatta also stated his own brother Muhoho, a director in a company that had been accused in parliament of importing contraband sugar, should be charged if there is clear evidence against him.
On 11 August 2018, Mohammed Abdalla Swazuri, the chairman of National Land Commission, and Atanas Kariuki Maina, managing director of the Kenya Railways Corporation, were among 18 officials, businesspeople and companies arrested on corruption charges involving land allocation for the $3 billion flagship Nairobi-Mombasa railway. On 7 December 2018, Joe Sang, the CEO of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), was arrested with four other senior officials in connection with the loss of an unspecified amount of money during the construction of an oil jetty in the western city of Kisumu. On 22 July 2019, Kenya's finance minister Henry Rotich became the country's first sitting minister to be arrested for corruption. 27 other people were arrested with Rotich as well. On 6 December 2019, federal authorities arrested Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko on corruption charges. On January 14, 2020, Kenyatta replaced Rotich with Labour Secretary Ukur Yatani
On 28 May 2020, a breakthrough in Kenyatta's pledge to combat corruption in Kenya occurred when 40 civil servants and 14 private sector officials, including National Youth Service (NYS) Director General Richard Ndubai, were arrested on charges related to the National Youth Service scandal.
On December 9, 2020, it was confirmed by the Kenya News Agency that the National Anti-Corruption Campaign Steering Committee (NACCSC) was in the process of strengthening its collaboration with other crime fighting agencies, including those in Kenyatta's government. The group had National Government Administrative Officers (NGAO) in hopes they would support the County Anti-Corruption Civil Oversight Committee (CACCOC). The day before, Winnie Guchu, who serves in Kenyatta's government as the Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice, confirmed in a press conference that she had met with members of CACCOC to strengthen relations. On December 11, 2020, the Kenyan government's Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) released a statement confirming that Robert Pavel Oimeke, the director general of Kenya's Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, was arrested and taken into police custody on charges of demanding 200,000 Kenyan shillings ($1,795) to approve the re-opening of a petrol station that had been shut down over violations. On December 21, 2020, Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Benson Mutura replaced Sonko, who was removed from office four days prior, as Governor of Nairobi.
In October 2021, his name appeared in the Pandora Papers, among more than 330 current and former politicians and senior officials using hidden accounts in tax havens. He and six family members, including his mother, a brother and two sisters, have at least $30 million in several offshore companies. He also owns a secret 'foundation' in Panama, holding over $30 million.
Foreign relations
The President's foreign relations had been dominated by the ICC question. His relations with the West were expected to be cold, more so after the West warned Kenyans not to elect him as president. The United Kingdom promised to have only essential contacts with him if he were elected. However, his relationship with the West has thawed significantly and he has participated in the US — Africa summit as well as a Somalia summit in the United Kingdom. The ICC has accused his government of frustrating its investigation efforts into the case, although it has absolved the President personally of any involvement in the frustration.
His activities have however been more robust at the African level where he has pushed more intra-Africa trade and economic independence of African nations. In November 2014, he launched consultations to reform the United Nations Security Council to expand the voice of Africa in the council. He has successfully rallied the AU against the ICC culminating in an Extraordinary Summit of the African Heads of State which resolved that sitting African Heads of State should not appear before the ICC. The AU further asked the Security Council to suspend his trial at the ICC; for the first time ever, the Security Council resolution was defeated by abstention with 9 members of the Council abstaining rather than voting against so as not to offend Kenyatta. The Assembly of State Parties of the ICC would two days later amend the ICC statute to allow for one to appear by video link, a proposal President Kenyatta had made when he was Deputy Prime Minister.
President Kenyatta has led and negotiated peace agreements in the South Sudan and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the East African level, he has developed a close relationship with the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Rwanda President Paul Kagame, creating the Coalition of the Willing, a caucus within the EAC that has signed on to more joint development and economic agreements than the other EAC partners, including a joint tourist visa.
He attended the funeral of Nelson Mandela and was received warmly by the crowds. He also attended the funeral of President Michael Sata of Zambia in November 2014. However, it had been perceived that his administration's relations with Botswana were strained due to Botswana's support of the ICC process. He has since visited Botswana to remove this perception and Botswana voted in favor of the AU's ICC Resolution.
As expected, he has remained close to China which is funding most of his infrastructure projects.
Foreign trips
In November 2020, it was noted that he was the most traveled Kenyan president compared to his predecessors. One of the leading national newspapers noted that Uhuru Kenyatta had been out of the country 43 times as of November 2015 in a period of about three years since he took office in 2013, as compared to 33 times over a span of 10 years by his predecessor Mwai Kibaki. The president's strategic communications unit came out in defense of these trips stating that these trips had yielded more than what it cost the taxpayers to finance them.
Wealth
In October 2021, Kenyatta was named in the Pandora Papers leak. BBC reported that "The Kenyattas' offshore investments, including a company with stocks and bonds worth $30m (£22m), were discovered among hundreds of thousands of pages of administrative paperwork from the archives of 14 law firms and service providers in Panama and the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and other tax havens."
Approval ratings
His government's first year in office received low ratings from the general public. This is after a poll by Synovate indicated that more than half of the population was unhappy with how the government had conducted its affairs. The same polls also ranked the presidency as the second most trusted institution after the media. After his appearance at The Hague for his ICC case in October 2014, his poll ratings improved to 71%, according to a poll by Synovate. A poll by Gallup in August 2014 put his approval ratings at 78%, giving him the third best job approval ratings among African Presidents after Ian Khama of Botswana and Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of Mali. In 2015, due to allegations of corruption against some members of his government, his poll ratings dropped to his lowest rating yet at 33%, according to an Infotrack poll. By February 2017, his poll numbers had, however, risen to 57%. His poll numbers in 2018 would rise to 74% in light of a renewed effort to battle corruption.
Awards and decorations
National honours
:
Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya
Foreign honours
:
Order of Freedom of Barbados (6 October 2021)
:
First Class of the Order of the Most Ancient Welwitschia mirabilis (21 March 2019)
:
Order of the Republic of Serbia, Second Class (2016)
See also
Presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta
List of heads of state of Kenya
2013 Kenyan general election
2017 Kenyan general election
References
1961 births
Alumni of St. Mary's School, Nairobi
Amherst College alumni
Children of national leaders
Government ministers of Kenya
Kenya African National Union politicians
Kenyan expatriates in the United States
Kenyan Roman Catholics
Uhuru
Kikuyu people
Living people
Jomo Kenyatta
Members of the National Assembly (Kenya)
Ministers of Finance of Kenya
People indicted by the International Criminal Court
Presidents of Kenya
Jubilee Party politicians
21st-century Kenyan politicians
People named in the Pandora Papers
| true |
[
"Fiction is the Comsat Angels' third album, released in August 1982 on Polydor Records. The album has been reissued on CD three times: in 1995 by RPM Records, in 2006 by Renascent and in 2015 by Edsel Records, with different track listings (see below). The album peaked at No. 94 in the UK charts in September 1982.\n\nFiction was less gloomy than the Comsats' previous album, Sleep No More. Frontman Stephen Fellows said of the change: \"I certainly didn't want to make another record as intense as Sleep No More — at least not immediately. Sleep No More was so dark that I felt it skewed things a bit — possibly even mentally for me. I just felt if we carried on in that direction it'd lead to madness or maybe even something worse\".\n\nFellows was satisfied with many of the songs on Fiction, including \"What Else!?\", \"Pictures\" and \"After the Rain\", but felt that the album as a whole could have been better. \"We were a bit short of tunes when we recorded it\", he said. \"We were touring quite a bit after Sleep No More and there wasn't as much time to write as I would have liked\".\n\nTrack listing (1982) \nAll tracks written by Fellows/Glaisher/Bacon/Peake.\n\n\"After the Rain\"\n\"Zinger\"\n\"Now I Know\"\n\"Not a Word\"\n\"Ju Ju Money\"\n\"More\"\n\"Pictures\"\n\"Birdman\"\n\"Don't Look Now\"\n\"What Else!?\"\n\nTrack listing (1995) \nAll tracks written by Fellows/Glaisher/Bacon/Peake.\n\n\"After the Rain\"\n\"Zinger\"\n\"Now I Know\"\n\"Not a Word\"\n\"Ju Ju Money\"\n\"More\"\n\"Pictures\"\n\"Birdman\"\n\"Don't Look Now\"\n\"What Else!?\"\n\"It's History\"\n\"After the Rain\" (Remix)\n\"Private Party\"\n\"Mass\"\n\nTrack listing (2006) \nAll tracks written by Fellows/Glaisher/Bacon/Peake.\n\n\"After the Rain\"\n\"Zinger\"\n\"Now I Know\"\n\"Not a Word\"\n\"Ju Ju Money\"\n\"More\"\n\"Pictures\"\n\"Birdman\"\n\"Don't Look Now\"\n\"What Else!?\"\n\"(Do The) Empty House\"\n\"Red Planet Revisited\"\n\"It's History\"\n\"Private Party\"\n\"For Your Information\"\n\"After the Rain\" (Remix)\n\"(Do The) Empty House\" (Live)\n\"What Else!?\" (Live)\n\nTrack listing (2015) \nAll tracks written by Fellows/Glaisher/Bacon/Peake.\n\nDisc 1\n\"After the Rain\"\n\"Zinger\"\n\"Now I Know\"\n\"Not a Word\"\n\"Ju Ju Money\"\n\"More\"\n\"Pictures\"\n\"Birdman\"\n\"Don't Look Now\"\n\"What Else!?\"\n\nDisc 2 – bonus tracks\n\"(Do The) Empty House\"\n\"Red Planet Revisited\"\n\"It's History\"\n\"Private Party\"\n\"For Your Information\"\n\"After the Rain\" (Remix)\n\nJohn Peel Session\n\"Now I Know\"\n\"Ju Ju Money\"\n\"Our Secret\"\n\"Goat of the West\"\n\nPersonnel \nThe Comsat Angels\nStephen Fellows – vocals, guitar, artwork\nAndy Peake – synthesizer, vocals\nKevin Bacon – bass guitar\nMik Glaisher – drums\n\nReferences \n\n1982 albums\nThe Comsat Angels albums\nPolydor Records albums",
"Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday? is a 1963 children's book published by Beginner Books and written by Helen Palmer Geisel, the first wife of Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss). Unlike most of the Beginner Books, Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday? did not follow the format of text with inline drawings, being illustrated with black-and-white photographs by Lynn Fayman, featuring a boy named Rawli Davis. It is sometimes misattributed to Dr. Seuss himself. The book's cover features a photograph of a young boy sitting at a breakfast table with a huge pile of pancakes.\n\nActivities mentioned in the book include bowling, water skiing, marching, boxing, and shooting guns with the United States Marines, and eating more spaghetti \"than anyone else has eaten before.\n\nHelen Palmer's photograph-based children's books did not prove to be as popular as the more traditional text-and-illustrations format; however, Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday received positive reviews and was listed by The New York Times as one of the best children's books of 1963. The book is currently out of print.\n\nReferences\n\n1963 children's books\nAmerican picture books"
] |
[
"Uhuru Kenyatta",
"The National Alliance Party (TNA)",
"What part did the TNA play?",
"His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination",
"Did he found the party?",
"On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicised launch",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes",
"did he do the speeches?",
"Machel Waikenda was the director of communications",
"Who were some members of the TNA?",
"Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji,",
"What were their roles?",
"I don't know.",
"What else did the party do?",
"need for free and fair nomination and election processes in the General Election,"
] |
C_945d2d0cdf364553853871ad8428e807_1
|
When was the party formed?
| 8 |
When was The National Alliance Party formed?
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Uhuru Kenyatta
|
On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicised launch of The National Alliance party in a modern high-tech dome at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination ticket in his quest for the presidency in the 2013 General Elections. The Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North Constituency MP William Ruto led more than 70 MPs in attending the function. The Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji, Jamleck Irungu Kamau, Dr. Naomi Shaaban, Samuel Poghisio, Professor Sam Ongeri and Dr. Mohammed Kuti and MPs Charles Cheruiyot Keter, Aden Bare Duale and Mohamed Maalim Mohamud also attended the event. Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes in society to be championed, the need for peaceful co-existence, the need for visionary and committed leadership, the need for transformative leadership, the need for a youthful crop of committed professionals in leadership, the need for free and fair nomination and election processes in the General Election, the need for an economically empowered youth and a call to bring an end to divisive and sectarian interests in politics to safeguard Kenya from sliding to dictatorship. Machel Waikenda was the director of communications and secretary of arts and entertainment of the National Alliance, from April 2012 to August 2013 and he led the media and communications department of the party during the 2013 elections. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (
born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who is the president of Kenya serving since 2013.
Uhuru served as the member of parliament (MP) for Gatundu South from 2002 to 2013. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2007 to 2013. Currently, he is a member and the party leader of the Jubilee Party of Kenya whose popularity has since dwindled. Uhuru was previously associated with the Kenya Africa National Union (KANU) before founding The National Alliance (TNA), one of the allied parties that campaigned for his election during the 2013 general elections and later on went to form a merger with the William Samoei Ruto's United Republican Party (URP) to form the Jubilee Party.
Uhuru is the son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president and his fourth wife Mama Ngina Kenyatta. He has been married to Margaret Gakuo Kenyatta since 1991. They have three children: his two sons Jomo and Muhoho, and his daughter Ngina.
Uhuru was re-elected for a second and final term in the August 2017 general elections, winning 54% of the popular vote. The win was formally declared on national television by the Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Mr. Wafula Chebukati.
However, Uhuru's election was challenged in the Supreme Court of Kenya by his main competitor, Raila Odinga. On 1 September 2017, the court declared the election invalid and ordered a new presidential election to take place within 60 days from the day of the ruling. A new presidential election was held on 26 October, which he won, with 39.03% electoral voter participation.
Early life
Uhuru Kenyatta was born 26 October 1961 to the future first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, and his fourth wife, Mama Ngina Kenyatta (née Muhoho). The second born in the family, he has two sisters, Christine (born 1953), Anna Nyokabi (born 1963), and a brother, Muhoho Kenyatta (born 1965).
His family hails from the Kikuyu, a Bantu ethnic group. His given name "Uhuru" is from the Swahili term for "freedom", and was given to him in anticipation of Kenya's upcoming independence. Uhuru attended St Mary's School in Nairobi. Between 1979 and 1980, he also briefly worked as a teller at the Kenya Commercial Bank.
After attending St. Mary's school, Uhuru went on to study economics, political science and government at Amherst College in the United States. Upon his graduation, Uhuru returned to Kenya, and started a company Wilham Kenya Limited, through which he sourced and exported agricultural produce.
Uhuru was nominated to Parliament in 2001, he then became Minister for Local Government under President Daniel Arap Moi and, despite his political inexperience, was favoured by Moi as his successor. Kenyatta ran as KANU's candidate in the December 2002 presidential election, but lost to the opposition candidate Mwai Kibaki by a big margin. He subsequently became Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. He backed Hon. Mwai Kibaki for re-election in the December 2007 presidential election and was named Minister of Local Government by Former President Mwai Kibaki in January 2008, before being appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade in April 2008 as part of the new coalition government.
Subsequently, Uhuru Kenyatta was Minister of Finance from 2009 to 2012, while remaining Deputy Prime Minister. Accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of committing crimes against humanity in relation to the violent aftermath of the 2007 election, he resigned as Minister of Finance on 26 January 2012. He was elected as President of Kenya in the March 2013 presidential election, defeating Raila Odinga with a slim majority in a single round of voting.
Political life
In the 1997 general election, Uhuru Kenyatta contested for the Gatundu South Constituency parliamentary seat, once held by his father, but lost to Moses Mwihia, a Nairobi architect.
In 1999, Moi appointed Uhuru to chair the Kenya Tourism Board, a government parastatal. In 2001, he was nominated as a Member of Parliament, and he joined the Cabinet as Minister for Local Government. He would also later be elected First Vice Chairman of KANU.
In the nomination process in 2002 in what was widely thought as undemocratic and underhand, Moi influenced Uhuru Kenyatta's nomination as KANU's preferred presidential candidate, sparking an outcry from other interested contenders and a massive exit from the party ensued. This move by the late President Moi was seen as a ploy to install Uhuru as a puppet so that even in retirement, Moi would still rule the country through Uhuru and presumably insulate himself against the numerous charges of abuse of office that plagued his presidency.
Uhuru finished second to Mwai Kibaki in the General Elections, with 31% of the vote. He conceded defeat and took up an active leadership role as Leader of the Opposition.
In January 2005, Uhuru Kenyatta defeated Nicholas Biwott for chairmanship of KANU, taking 2,980 votes among party delegates against Biwott's 622 votes.
Uhuru led his party KANU in the referendum campaigns against the draft constitution in 2005, having teamed up with the Liberal Democratic Party, a rebel faction in the Kibaki government, to form the Orange Democratic Movement. The result of this was a vote against the adoption of the draft constitution by a noticeable margin, which was a great political embarrassment to Emilio Mwai Kibaki.
In November 2006, Kenyatta was displaced as KANU leader by the late Nicholas Biwott. On 28 December 2006, the High Court of Kenya reinstated Uhuru Kenyatta as KANU chairman. However, further court proceedings followed. On 28 June 2007, the High Court confirmed Kenyatta as party leader, ruling that there was insufficient evidence for Biwott's argument that Kenyatta had joined another party.
In the run up to the 2007 general election, he led KANU to join a coalition (called Party of National Unity "PNU") with President Mwai Kibaki who was running for a second term against Raila Odinga. PNU won the controversial 2007 elections but the dispute over the poll resulted in the 2007–08 Kenyan crisis. Under an agreement between the two parties to end the chaos, Kibaki remained as president in a power sharing agreement with Raila as Prime Minister, while Uhuru Kenyatta was Kibaki's choice as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister For Finance in his share of Cabinet slots.
ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo charged Uhuru, who was a PNU leader, as an indirect co-perpetrator in the violence that followed the 2007–08 Kenyan crisis, and the charges were confirmed on 23 January 2012. The Prosecutor also charged William Ruto who had been a supporter of ODM, rivals of the PNU in the 2007 election. Uhuru resigned as Minister of Finance upon the confirmation of the charges but maintained his innocence. The charges were dropped on 13 March 2015 for lack of evidence.
On 13 September 2007, Uhuru Kenyatta withdrew from the December 2007 presidential election in favour of Kibaki for re-election. He said that he did not want to run unless he could be sure of winning.
Following the election, amidst the controversy that resulted when Kibaki was declared the victor despite claims of fraud from challenger Raila Odinga and his Orange Democratic Movement, Kibaki appointed Kenyatta as Minister for Local Government on 8 January 2008. After Kibaki and Odinga reached a power-sharing agreement, Kenyatta was named Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade on 13 April 2008, as part of the Grand Coalition Cabinet. He was the Deputy Prime Minister representing the PNU, while another Deputy Prime Minister, Musalia Mudavadi, represented the ODM.
Kenyatta and the rest of the Cabinet were sworn in on 17 April. Uhuru Kenyatta was later moved from Local Government and appointed Minister for Finance on 23 January 2009. During his tenure, he spearheaded a number of reform measures that changed how treasury and government by extension transact business, such as the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and a fund for the inclusion of the informal sector in the mainstream economy.
In 2013, Uhuru Kenyatta was elected as the 4th and current president of Kenya under The National Alliance (TNA), which was part of the Jubilee Alliance with his running mate William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP). Uhuru and Ruto won 50.07% of votes cast, with closest rivals, Raila Odinga and running mate Kalonzo Musyoka of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy garnering 42%. Raila Amolo Odinga disputed the election results at the Supreme Court which however held (7–0) that the election of Uhuru was valid and such irregularities as existed did not make a difference to the final outcome. Uhuru Kenyatta was therefore sworn in as president on 9 April 2013.
Uhuru ran for president in the elections held on 4 March 2013 and garnered 6,173,433 votes (50.03%) out of the 12,338,667 votes cast. As this was above the 50% plus 1 vote threshold, he won the election in the first round thus evading a run-off between the top two candidates. He was, therefore, declared the fourth President of the Republic of Kenya by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
According to the IEBC, Raila Odinga garnered 5,340,546 votes (43.4%) and was thus the second in the field of eight candidates. CORD, under the leadership of presidential candidate Raila Odinga, lodged a petition with the Supreme Court of Kenya on 10 March 2013 challenging Uhuru's election. On 30 March 2013, Dr Willy Mutunga, the Chief Justice of Kenya, read the unanimous Supreme Court ruling declaring the election of Uhuru Kenyatta and his running-mate, William Ruto, as valid. On 11 August 2017, the Chairman of the IEBC, Wafula Chebukati announced Uhuru's reelection to a second term in office during the 2017 Kenyan general election, with 54% of the popular vote. This was later contested in court and annulled. In the events that followed the annulment, Kenyatta was seen as lacking direction and being a reactionary leader. Following this annulment, a second election was required in which Uhuru Kenyatta won with 98% of the vote with a 39% voter turnout.
On 9 March 2018 Uhuru Kenyatta agreed on a truce between the opposition leader, Raila Odinga. This action marked the country's watershed moment that redrew its political architecture. On 27 November 2019, Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Building Bridges Initiatives (BBI) in Bomas of Kenya. This is one of the outcomes as a result of the truce with the opposition leader Raila Odinga as its implementations will foresee some amendments in the Kenyan Constitution.
Controversies
Budgetary discrepancies
Although it has been claimed that Uhuru was one of the few ministers who had no scandals attached to their name, on 29 April 2009, he faced a controversial scare after he presented a supplemental budget that was inadvertently approved by the parliament. The budget was aimed to bridge the budgetary gap that had arisen due to slow economic growth. The government required an additional 38 billion, but compromised on a figure of 22 billion and non-essential proposed expenditure was postponed as a result. After voting on the bill brought forward by Kenyatta, Gitobu Imanyara raised discrepancy questions as to what exactly had been approved by the house. It appeared that the parliament had approved a budget of 31 billion as opposed to 22 billion that they thought they were voting on – a difference of 9.2 billion. The Deputy Prime Minister initially defended the approval but later admitted that there were computer or typographical errors in the budget bill. Amid the raging debate about the contentious issue, the Speaker ordered the CID and a parliamentary committee to question him on the discrepancies. He was later cleared of any wrongdoing by the Joint Finance and Budgetary Committee.
ICC charges and investigations related to 2007–08 post-election violence
On 15 December 2010, prior to him becoming president, Kenyatta was named as a suspect of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, for planning and funding violence in Naivasha and Nakuru. This was in relation to the violence that followed the bungled national elections of December 2007. In furtherance of his political support for Kibaki's PNU at the time, he was accused of organising a Kikuyu politico-religious group, the Mungiki, in the post-election violence. Overall, the post-election violence of 2007 is said to have claimed about 1300 lives. Uhuru maintained his innocence and wanted his name cleared. On 8 March 2011, while serving as minister in Kibaki's government, he was indicted after being summoned to appear before the ICC pre-trial chamber. He was to appear at The Hague on 8 April 2011 alongside five other suspects.
On 29 September 2011, while seeking to exonerate himself, Uhuru Kenyatta put up a spirited fight as he was being cross-examined by ICC Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo in The Hague, denying any links with the outlawed Mungiki sect. He said Prime Minister Raila Odinga should take political responsibility for the acts of violence and killings that followed the 2007 presidential elections in Kenya. He told the three judges that "by telling his supporters election results were being rigged, fanned tensions and then failed to use his influence to quell the violence that followed the announcement of the 2007 presidential results."
Though Uhuru had previously dismissed ICC summons, he changed his decision along the way. Together with his two other co-accused suspects, Head of Civil Service, Ambassador Francis Muthaura and former Police Commissioner Hussein Ali, the trio honoured the ICC Summons that sought to determine whether their cases met the set standards for international trials. On 23 January 2012, the ICC confirmed the cases against Kenyatta and Muthaura although the charges against Muthaura were subsequently dropped. Serious concerns about the case have been raised, particularly the nature of the evidence being used against Kenyatta. There are also serious concerns about witness tampering and indeed, a number of witnesses have disappeared or died, which is the reason cited by the ICC for dropping charges against Mathaura. On a 12 October 2013 speech to the African Union in which he set a belligerent tone, Uhuru accused the ICC of being "a toy of declining imperial powers".
On 31 October 2013, the ICC postponed Kenyatta's trial for crimes against humanity by three months until 5 February 2014 after the defense had requested more time.
On 8 October 2014, Kenyatta appeared before the ICC in The Hague. He was called to appear at the ICC "status conference" when the prosecution said evidence needed to go ahead with a trial was being withheld. In a speech to the Kenyan parliament Kenyatta said that he was going to The Hague in a personal capacity — not as president of the country — so as not to compromise the sovereignty of Kenyans. Kenyatta did not speak in court, but denied the charges in comments to journalists as he left the court to catch a flight back home. "We as Kenyans, we know where we came from, we know where we are going, and nobody will tell us what to do," he said. The judges adjourned the hearings and charges were dropped on 13 March 2015.
The National Alliance Party (TNA)
On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicized launch of The National Alliance party in a modern high-tech dome at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination ticket in his quest for the presidency in the 2013 General Elections.
The Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North Constituency MP William Ruto led more than 70 MPs in attending the function. The Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji, Jamleck Irungu Kamau, Dr. Naomi Shaaban, Samuel Poghisio, Professor Sam Ongeri and Dr. Mohammed Kuti and MPs Charles Cheruiyot Keter, Aden Bare Duale and Mohamed Maalim Mohamud also attended the event.
Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes in society to be championed, the need for peaceful co-existence, the need for visionary and committed leadership, the need for transformative leadership, the need for a youthful crop of committed professionals in leadership, the need for free and fair nomination and election processes in the General Election, the need for an economically empowered youth and a call to bring an end to divisive and sectarian interests in politics to safeguard Kenya from sliding to dictatorship. Machel Waikenda was the director of communications and secretary of arts and entertainment of the National Alliance, from April 2012 to August 2013 and he led the media and communications department of the party during the 2013 elections.
By-elections (17 September 2012)
On 17 September 2012, The National Alliance party had its first real test when it contested various civic and parliamentary positions in a by-election that covered 17 seats in total; 3 parliamentary and 14 civic. Overall, 133,054 votes were cast in the by-elections and TNA led the pack after it garnered 38.89% or 51,878 votes, followed by Orange Democratic Movement with 33.7% or 44,837 votes, Party of National Unity with 4.46% or 5,929 votes, Wiper Democratic Movement with 4.44% or 5,912 votes and United Democratic Forum with 4.15% or 5,520 votes.
TNA won civic and parliamentary seats in 7 different counties while its closest challengers, ODM won seats in 4 counties.
The National Alliance Party remained a strong contender for the following year's general elections, having received major defections from other big political parties of Kenya. The successful election of TNA's main candidates (Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto) continued to enhance TNA's viability.
In January 2013, however, TNA merged with URP to form the Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP).
2013 presidential elections
Uhuru Kenyatta's party, The National Alliance (TNA) joined William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP), Najib Balala's Republican Congress Party (RCP) and Charity Ngilu's National Rainbow Coalition party to form the Jubilee Alliance coalition. Various opinion polls prior to the election placed Uhuru as one of the main contenders, and his Jubilee Alliance as among the most popular. The other formidable coalition was the Coalition For Reform and Democracy (CORD), led by Raila Odinga.
In undercover video footage, released in a BBC news report on 19 March 2018, the managing director of Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that worked to elect Donald Trump in the 2016 American presidential election, boasted that his firm had run successful presidential election campaigns in Kenya in 2013 and 2017, though he did not name Kenyatta explicitly. "We have re-branded the entire party twice, written the manifesto, done research, analysis, messaging," Turnbull said, of the campaigns that his company managed in Kenya. "I think we wrote all the speeches and we staged the whole thing—so just about every element of this candidate." A Jubilee Party vice president admitted on 20 March 2018, that the party had hired an affiliate of Cambridge Analytica for "branding" in the 2017 election.
Uhuru Kenyatta was officially declared the president elect on Saturday 9 March at 2:44 pm.
As per the IEBC's official results, Uhuru got 6,173,433 of the 12,221,053 valid votes cast ahead of the second placed Raila Odinga who garnered 5,340,546 (43.7%). Uhuru's result was 50.51% of the vote and was above the 50% plus 1 vote threshold set out in the 2010 constitution, thus making him the president-elect.
Results dispute
There was some discontent with the official results, as would be expected in such a hotly contested election, especially in Raila Odinga's strongholds. The inordinate delay in releasing the results and the technical failure of some safeguards and election equipment deployed by the IEBC did not help the perception that the election had been less than free and fair.
Further, an exit poll conducted by UCSD Professor Clark Gibson and James Long, Asst. Prof. and University of Washington suggested that neither Odinga nor Kenyatta had attained the 50% plus one vote threshold. Analysts have contended that even though elections for five other levels were held in Kenya at the same time, their national turnout levels and total vote tallies were about 16% less than the presidential total; e.g. while 10.6 million voters elected candidates for member of the National Assembly, the Senate and the 47 gubernatorial seats, almost 2 million more voted in the presidential election. This has fueled concern and speculations of vote manipulation in President Kenyatta's favor.
Two groups disputed these results and filed petitions challenging various aspects of it at the Supreme Court of Kenya to contest the result. The groups were the Coalition For Reform and Democracy, CORD, led by Raila Odinga, and the Africa Centre for Open Governance (AFRICOG). Uhuru Kenyatta and his running mate were respondents in these cases and were represented by Fred Ngatia and Katwa Kigen respectively.
Supreme Court ruling
The Supreme court judges unanimously upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as Kenya's fourth president after rejecting Raila Odinga's petition in a verdict delivered on Saturday 30 March 2013. Chief Justice Willy Mutunga in his ruling said the elections were indeed conducted in compliance with the Constitution and the law.
Presidential swearing-in at Kasarani Stadium
After the Supreme Court dismissed the petitions the swearing in ceremony was held on 9 April 2013 at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, Nairobi, in accordance to Article 141 (2) (b) of the constitution which stipulates that in case the Supreme Court upholds the victory of the president-elect, the swearing in will take place on "the first Tuesday following the seventh day following the date on which the court renders a decision declaring the election to be valid".
Presidency
During his inaugural speech, Uhuru promised economic transformation through Vision 2030, unity among all Kenyans, free maternal care and that he will serve all Kenyans. He also promised to improve the standards of education in Kenya. During the Madaraka day Celebrations, a national holiday celebrated to the country's independence on 1 June, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced free maternal care in all public health facilities, a move that was welcomed by many Kenyans.
On 1 September 2017, the Supreme Court of Kenya nullified the re-election of Uhuru Kenyatta after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had announced him the winner on 8 August 2017. As a result of that, there was a need for the election to be held once again. It was scheduled for 26 October 2017. After the reelection, Uhuru Kenyatta emerged the winner once again.
He was sworn in on 28 November 2017 for his second presidential term.
In 2021, drought is again taking its toll. According to the UN, more than 465,000 children under the age of five are malnourished. Food insecurity affects more than 2.5 million people in the country. Uhuru Kenyatta speaks of a "national disaster". However, he is criticised for the slow humanitarian response and lack of planning.
The Mukuru Kwa Njenga slum in Nairobi is being razed in October 2021 to make way for the widening of a road, leaving 40,000 people homeless overnight, with no offer of alternative accommodation.
Challenges
His major challenges include the high cost of living, rising public debt, a high public wage bill and allegations of corruption among people close to his government. The 2017 general election and its violence is also a challenge that threatened not only his presidency but also the future of the East African Nation
Public Wage Bill
The high public wage cost has been a headache to Uhuru's administration. At the start of his term, the President decried the high wage bill which was at 12% of GDP (as against a recommended 7%). In 2015, the President stated that the wage bill was at 50% of the total annual revenue collection of government. In an attempt to curtail it, the President announced a pay cut for himself and his Cabinet in March 2014, reducing his salary by 20%. It was hoped that the high earners in government would follow suit but this did not materialize. Another measure was the newly created constitutional Salaries and Remuneration Commission which it was hoped would regularize salaries but it has faced an up hill battle against Members of Parliament, who wish to protect their earnings and labor unions. The President thereafter ordered an audit of the government payroll so as to flush out ghost workers. The audit identified 12,000 ghost workers. In the meantime, lower cadre government workers have demanded pay rises, more so by teachers and health workers, who have gone on strikes at various times to demand the increase. The strikes in the health sector mainly affect the counties, Kenya's other level of government, as it is managed by the devolved units.
Anti-corruption efforts
On 28 June 2018, Kenyatta declared a major crackdown on corruption and stated that no one was immune from corruption charges in Kenya. Kenyatta also stated his own brother Muhoho, a director in a company that had been accused in parliament of importing contraband sugar, should be charged if there is clear evidence against him.
On 11 August 2018, Mohammed Abdalla Swazuri, the chairman of National Land Commission, and Atanas Kariuki Maina, managing director of the Kenya Railways Corporation, were among 18 officials, businesspeople and companies arrested on corruption charges involving land allocation for the $3 billion flagship Nairobi-Mombasa railway. On 7 December 2018, Joe Sang, the CEO of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), was arrested with four other senior officials in connection with the loss of an unspecified amount of money during the construction of an oil jetty in the western city of Kisumu. On 22 July 2019, Kenya's finance minister Henry Rotich became the country's first sitting minister to be arrested for corruption. 27 other people were arrested with Rotich as well. On 6 December 2019, federal authorities arrested Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko on corruption charges. On January 14, 2020, Kenyatta replaced Rotich with Labour Secretary Ukur Yatani
On 28 May 2020, a breakthrough in Kenyatta's pledge to combat corruption in Kenya occurred when 40 civil servants and 14 private sector officials, including National Youth Service (NYS) Director General Richard Ndubai, were arrested on charges related to the National Youth Service scandal.
On December 9, 2020, it was confirmed by the Kenya News Agency that the National Anti-Corruption Campaign Steering Committee (NACCSC) was in the process of strengthening its collaboration with other crime fighting agencies, including those in Kenyatta's government. The group had National Government Administrative Officers (NGAO) in hopes they would support the County Anti-Corruption Civil Oversight Committee (CACCOC). The day before, Winnie Guchu, who serves in Kenyatta's government as the Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice, confirmed in a press conference that she had met with members of CACCOC to strengthen relations. On December 11, 2020, the Kenyan government's Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) released a statement confirming that Robert Pavel Oimeke, the director general of Kenya's Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, was arrested and taken into police custody on charges of demanding 200,000 Kenyan shillings ($1,795) to approve the re-opening of a petrol station that had been shut down over violations. On December 21, 2020, Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Benson Mutura replaced Sonko, who was removed from office four days prior, as Governor of Nairobi.
In October 2021, his name appeared in the Pandora Papers, among more than 330 current and former politicians and senior officials using hidden accounts in tax havens. He and six family members, including his mother, a brother and two sisters, have at least $30 million in several offshore companies. He also owns a secret 'foundation' in Panama, holding over $30 million.
Foreign relations
The President's foreign relations had been dominated by the ICC question. His relations with the West were expected to be cold, more so after the West warned Kenyans not to elect him as president. The United Kingdom promised to have only essential contacts with him if he were elected. However, his relationship with the West has thawed significantly and he has participated in the US — Africa summit as well as a Somalia summit in the United Kingdom. The ICC has accused his government of frustrating its investigation efforts into the case, although it has absolved the President personally of any involvement in the frustration.
His activities have however been more robust at the African level where he has pushed more intra-Africa trade and economic independence of African nations. In November 2014, he launched consultations to reform the United Nations Security Council to expand the voice of Africa in the council. He has successfully rallied the AU against the ICC culminating in an Extraordinary Summit of the African Heads of State which resolved that sitting African Heads of State should not appear before the ICC. The AU further asked the Security Council to suspend his trial at the ICC; for the first time ever, the Security Council resolution was defeated by abstention with 9 members of the Council abstaining rather than voting against so as not to offend Kenyatta. The Assembly of State Parties of the ICC would two days later amend the ICC statute to allow for one to appear by video link, a proposal President Kenyatta had made when he was Deputy Prime Minister.
President Kenyatta has led and negotiated peace agreements in the South Sudan and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the East African level, he has developed a close relationship with the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Rwanda President Paul Kagame, creating the Coalition of the Willing, a caucus within the EAC that has signed on to more joint development and economic agreements than the other EAC partners, including a joint tourist visa.
He attended the funeral of Nelson Mandela and was received warmly by the crowds. He also attended the funeral of President Michael Sata of Zambia in November 2014. However, it had been perceived that his administration's relations with Botswana were strained due to Botswana's support of the ICC process. He has since visited Botswana to remove this perception and Botswana voted in favor of the AU's ICC Resolution.
As expected, he has remained close to China which is funding most of his infrastructure projects.
Foreign trips
In November 2020, it was noted that he was the most traveled Kenyan president compared to his predecessors. One of the leading national newspapers noted that Uhuru Kenyatta had been out of the country 43 times as of November 2015 in a period of about three years since he took office in 2013, as compared to 33 times over a span of 10 years by his predecessor Mwai Kibaki. The president's strategic communications unit came out in defense of these trips stating that these trips had yielded more than what it cost the taxpayers to finance them.
Wealth
In October 2021, Kenyatta was named in the Pandora Papers leak. BBC reported that "The Kenyattas' offshore investments, including a company with stocks and bonds worth $30m (£22m), were discovered among hundreds of thousands of pages of administrative paperwork from the archives of 14 law firms and service providers in Panama and the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and other tax havens."
Approval ratings
His government's first year in office received low ratings from the general public. This is after a poll by Synovate indicated that more than half of the population was unhappy with how the government had conducted its affairs. The same polls also ranked the presidency as the second most trusted institution after the media. After his appearance at The Hague for his ICC case in October 2014, his poll ratings improved to 71%, according to a poll by Synovate. A poll by Gallup in August 2014 put his approval ratings at 78%, giving him the third best job approval ratings among African Presidents after Ian Khama of Botswana and Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of Mali. In 2015, due to allegations of corruption against some members of his government, his poll ratings dropped to his lowest rating yet at 33%, according to an Infotrack poll. By February 2017, his poll numbers had, however, risen to 57%. His poll numbers in 2018 would rise to 74% in light of a renewed effort to battle corruption.
Awards and decorations
National honours
:
Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya
Foreign honours
:
Order of Freedom of Barbados (6 October 2021)
:
First Class of the Order of the Most Ancient Welwitschia mirabilis (21 March 2019)
:
Order of the Republic of Serbia, Second Class (2016)
See also
Presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta
List of heads of state of Kenya
2013 Kenyan general election
2017 Kenyan general election
References
1961 births
Alumni of St. Mary's School, Nairobi
Amherst College alumni
Children of national leaders
Government ministers of Kenya
Kenya African National Union politicians
Kenyan expatriates in the United States
Kenyan Roman Catholics
Uhuru
Kikuyu people
Living people
Jomo Kenyatta
Members of the National Assembly (Kenya)
Ministers of Finance of Kenya
People indicted by the International Criminal Court
Presidents of Kenya
Jubilee Party politicians
21st-century Kenyan politicians
People named in the Pandora Papers
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"The Conservative Party of Newfoundland was a political party in the Dominion of Newfoundland prior to confederation with Canada in 1949.\n\nThe party was formed by members and supporters of the establishment around 1832. In the 1840s they opposed the proposal for responsible government which was finally granted in 1855. Since the concept was opposed generally by members of the Anglican establishment, the early party was almost entirely Protestant. As politics in Newfoundland developed along sectarian lines, the Conservatives became the Protestant party (with strong links to the Orange Order), while the Liberals were the Catholic party.\n\nUnder Sir Frederick Carter the Conservatives supported joining Canadian confederation, and campaigned on the proposal in the 1869 general election. The party was badly defeated by Charles Fox Bennett's Anti-Confederation Party. The Conservatives returned to power in 1874, but never proposed joining Canada again.\n\nThe Conservative party later absorbed the rival Liberals, putting an end to sectarian divisions with a 'denominational compromise'.\n\nThe united party collapsed in the 1880s when members of the Orange Order abandoned the government of William Whiteway, and formed a new Reform Party under Robert Thorburn. The Reform Party won the 1885 election on a platform of 'Protestant Rights'.\n\nWhiteway founded a new Liberal Party after the collapse of the Reform Party. Members of the Orange Order formed a new Tory Party, which formed two short-lived administrations in the 1890s before disappearing.\n\nIndividual Conservatives were elected as Opposition or United Opposition MHAs before being subsumed into the Newfoundland People's Party (later the Liberal-Labour-Progressive Party) formed by Edward Patrick Morris in 1907 after he resigned from the Liberal government of Sir Robert Bond.\n\nIn 1924, the Liberal-Conservative-Progressive Party was formed by members of the LLP Party who were largely conservatives and discontented members of the ruling Liberal Reform Party. This new party won the 1924 general election, making its leader Walter Stanley Monroe the new Prime Minister. In practice, the party was essentially a Tory party.\n\nThe party was defeated in 1928 under new leader Frederick C. Alderdice, but returned to power in 1932 as the United Newfoundland Party (UNP). The UNP ruled for two years until the suspension of responsible government.\n\nWhen responsible government was suspended, Newfoundland's status as an independent dominion within the British Empire was brought to an end. The Government of the United Kingdom appointed a Commission of Government to govern Newfoundland, bringing an end to party politics on the island.\n\nParty politics returned to Newfoundland when it joined Canadian confederation in 1949. At this time, the modern Liberal and Progressive Conservative parties were formed. These new parties were unrelated to the parties that existed prior to 1934.\n\nLeaders\n Frederick Carter 1865-1878\n William Whiteway 1878-1885\n Robert Thorburn 1885-1889 - as leader of the Reform Party \n Augustus F. Goodridge 1889-1893 - as leader of the Tory Party\n James Spearman Winter 1893-1900\n Walter Stanley Monroe 1924-1928 - as leader of the Liberal-Conservative Progressive Party\n Frederick C. Alderdice 1928 - as leader of the Liberal-Conservative Progressive Party and United Newfoundland Party 1928-1934\n\nSee also\n List of Newfoundland Prime Ministers\n List of political parties in Newfoundland and Labrador\n General elections in Newfoundland (pre-Confederation)\n\nPolitical parties in the Dominion of Newfoundland\nProgressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador"
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were there any more political aspects of the party?
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Uhuru Kenyatta
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On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicised launch of The National Alliance party in a modern high-tech dome at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination ticket in his quest for the presidency in the 2013 General Elections. The Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North Constituency MP William Ruto led more than 70 MPs in attending the function. The Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji, Jamleck Irungu Kamau, Dr. Naomi Shaaban, Samuel Poghisio, Professor Sam Ongeri and Dr. Mohammed Kuti and MPs Charles Cheruiyot Keter, Aden Bare Duale and Mohamed Maalim Mohamud also attended the event. Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes in society to be championed, the need for peaceful co-existence, the need for visionary and committed leadership, the need for transformative leadership, the need for a youthful crop of committed professionals in leadership, the need for free and fair nomination and election processes in the General Election, the need for an economically empowered youth and a call to bring an end to divisive and sectarian interests in politics to safeguard Kenya from sliding to dictatorship. Machel Waikenda was the director of communications and secretary of arts and entertainment of the National Alliance, from April 2012 to August 2013 and he led the media and communications department of the party during the 2013 elections. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (
born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who is the president of Kenya serving since 2013.
Uhuru served as the member of parliament (MP) for Gatundu South from 2002 to 2013. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2007 to 2013. Currently, he is a member and the party leader of the Jubilee Party of Kenya whose popularity has since dwindled. Uhuru was previously associated with the Kenya Africa National Union (KANU) before founding The National Alliance (TNA), one of the allied parties that campaigned for his election during the 2013 general elections and later on went to form a merger with the William Samoei Ruto's United Republican Party (URP) to form the Jubilee Party.
Uhuru is the son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president and his fourth wife Mama Ngina Kenyatta. He has been married to Margaret Gakuo Kenyatta since 1991. They have three children: his two sons Jomo and Muhoho, and his daughter Ngina.
Uhuru was re-elected for a second and final term in the August 2017 general elections, winning 54% of the popular vote. The win was formally declared on national television by the Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Mr. Wafula Chebukati.
However, Uhuru's election was challenged in the Supreme Court of Kenya by his main competitor, Raila Odinga. On 1 September 2017, the court declared the election invalid and ordered a new presidential election to take place within 60 days from the day of the ruling. A new presidential election was held on 26 October, which he won, with 39.03% electoral voter participation.
Early life
Uhuru Kenyatta was born 26 October 1961 to the future first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, and his fourth wife, Mama Ngina Kenyatta (née Muhoho). The second born in the family, he has two sisters, Christine (born 1953), Anna Nyokabi (born 1963), and a brother, Muhoho Kenyatta (born 1965).
His family hails from the Kikuyu, a Bantu ethnic group. His given name "Uhuru" is from the Swahili term for "freedom", and was given to him in anticipation of Kenya's upcoming independence. Uhuru attended St Mary's School in Nairobi. Between 1979 and 1980, he also briefly worked as a teller at the Kenya Commercial Bank.
After attending St. Mary's school, Uhuru went on to study economics, political science and government at Amherst College in the United States. Upon his graduation, Uhuru returned to Kenya, and started a company Wilham Kenya Limited, through which he sourced and exported agricultural produce.
Uhuru was nominated to Parliament in 2001, he then became Minister for Local Government under President Daniel Arap Moi and, despite his political inexperience, was favoured by Moi as his successor. Kenyatta ran as KANU's candidate in the December 2002 presidential election, but lost to the opposition candidate Mwai Kibaki by a big margin. He subsequently became Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. He backed Hon. Mwai Kibaki for re-election in the December 2007 presidential election and was named Minister of Local Government by Former President Mwai Kibaki in January 2008, before being appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade in April 2008 as part of the new coalition government.
Subsequently, Uhuru Kenyatta was Minister of Finance from 2009 to 2012, while remaining Deputy Prime Minister. Accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of committing crimes against humanity in relation to the violent aftermath of the 2007 election, he resigned as Minister of Finance on 26 January 2012. He was elected as President of Kenya in the March 2013 presidential election, defeating Raila Odinga with a slim majority in a single round of voting.
Political life
In the 1997 general election, Uhuru Kenyatta contested for the Gatundu South Constituency parliamentary seat, once held by his father, but lost to Moses Mwihia, a Nairobi architect.
In 1999, Moi appointed Uhuru to chair the Kenya Tourism Board, a government parastatal. In 2001, he was nominated as a Member of Parliament, and he joined the Cabinet as Minister for Local Government. He would also later be elected First Vice Chairman of KANU.
In the nomination process in 2002 in what was widely thought as undemocratic and underhand, Moi influenced Uhuru Kenyatta's nomination as KANU's preferred presidential candidate, sparking an outcry from other interested contenders and a massive exit from the party ensued. This move by the late President Moi was seen as a ploy to install Uhuru as a puppet so that even in retirement, Moi would still rule the country through Uhuru and presumably insulate himself against the numerous charges of abuse of office that plagued his presidency.
Uhuru finished second to Mwai Kibaki in the General Elections, with 31% of the vote. He conceded defeat and took up an active leadership role as Leader of the Opposition.
In January 2005, Uhuru Kenyatta defeated Nicholas Biwott for chairmanship of KANU, taking 2,980 votes among party delegates against Biwott's 622 votes.
Uhuru led his party KANU in the referendum campaigns against the draft constitution in 2005, having teamed up with the Liberal Democratic Party, a rebel faction in the Kibaki government, to form the Orange Democratic Movement. The result of this was a vote against the adoption of the draft constitution by a noticeable margin, which was a great political embarrassment to Emilio Mwai Kibaki.
In November 2006, Kenyatta was displaced as KANU leader by the late Nicholas Biwott. On 28 December 2006, the High Court of Kenya reinstated Uhuru Kenyatta as KANU chairman. However, further court proceedings followed. On 28 June 2007, the High Court confirmed Kenyatta as party leader, ruling that there was insufficient evidence for Biwott's argument that Kenyatta had joined another party.
In the run up to the 2007 general election, he led KANU to join a coalition (called Party of National Unity "PNU") with President Mwai Kibaki who was running for a second term against Raila Odinga. PNU won the controversial 2007 elections but the dispute over the poll resulted in the 2007–08 Kenyan crisis. Under an agreement between the two parties to end the chaos, Kibaki remained as president in a power sharing agreement with Raila as Prime Minister, while Uhuru Kenyatta was Kibaki's choice as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister For Finance in his share of Cabinet slots.
ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo charged Uhuru, who was a PNU leader, as an indirect co-perpetrator in the violence that followed the 2007–08 Kenyan crisis, and the charges were confirmed on 23 January 2012. The Prosecutor also charged William Ruto who had been a supporter of ODM, rivals of the PNU in the 2007 election. Uhuru resigned as Minister of Finance upon the confirmation of the charges but maintained his innocence. The charges were dropped on 13 March 2015 for lack of evidence.
On 13 September 2007, Uhuru Kenyatta withdrew from the December 2007 presidential election in favour of Kibaki for re-election. He said that he did not want to run unless he could be sure of winning.
Following the election, amidst the controversy that resulted when Kibaki was declared the victor despite claims of fraud from challenger Raila Odinga and his Orange Democratic Movement, Kibaki appointed Kenyatta as Minister for Local Government on 8 January 2008. After Kibaki and Odinga reached a power-sharing agreement, Kenyatta was named Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade on 13 April 2008, as part of the Grand Coalition Cabinet. He was the Deputy Prime Minister representing the PNU, while another Deputy Prime Minister, Musalia Mudavadi, represented the ODM.
Kenyatta and the rest of the Cabinet were sworn in on 17 April. Uhuru Kenyatta was later moved from Local Government and appointed Minister for Finance on 23 January 2009. During his tenure, he spearheaded a number of reform measures that changed how treasury and government by extension transact business, such as the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and a fund for the inclusion of the informal sector in the mainstream economy.
In 2013, Uhuru Kenyatta was elected as the 4th and current president of Kenya under The National Alliance (TNA), which was part of the Jubilee Alliance with his running mate William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP). Uhuru and Ruto won 50.07% of votes cast, with closest rivals, Raila Odinga and running mate Kalonzo Musyoka of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy garnering 42%. Raila Amolo Odinga disputed the election results at the Supreme Court which however held (7–0) that the election of Uhuru was valid and such irregularities as existed did not make a difference to the final outcome. Uhuru Kenyatta was therefore sworn in as president on 9 April 2013.
Uhuru ran for president in the elections held on 4 March 2013 and garnered 6,173,433 votes (50.03%) out of the 12,338,667 votes cast. As this was above the 50% plus 1 vote threshold, he won the election in the first round thus evading a run-off between the top two candidates. He was, therefore, declared the fourth President of the Republic of Kenya by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
According to the IEBC, Raila Odinga garnered 5,340,546 votes (43.4%) and was thus the second in the field of eight candidates. CORD, under the leadership of presidential candidate Raila Odinga, lodged a petition with the Supreme Court of Kenya on 10 March 2013 challenging Uhuru's election. On 30 March 2013, Dr Willy Mutunga, the Chief Justice of Kenya, read the unanimous Supreme Court ruling declaring the election of Uhuru Kenyatta and his running-mate, William Ruto, as valid. On 11 August 2017, the Chairman of the IEBC, Wafula Chebukati announced Uhuru's reelection to a second term in office during the 2017 Kenyan general election, with 54% of the popular vote. This was later contested in court and annulled. In the events that followed the annulment, Kenyatta was seen as lacking direction and being a reactionary leader. Following this annulment, a second election was required in which Uhuru Kenyatta won with 98% of the vote with a 39% voter turnout.
On 9 March 2018 Uhuru Kenyatta agreed on a truce between the opposition leader, Raila Odinga. This action marked the country's watershed moment that redrew its political architecture. On 27 November 2019, Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Building Bridges Initiatives (BBI) in Bomas of Kenya. This is one of the outcomes as a result of the truce with the opposition leader Raila Odinga as its implementations will foresee some amendments in the Kenyan Constitution.
Controversies
Budgetary discrepancies
Although it has been claimed that Uhuru was one of the few ministers who had no scandals attached to their name, on 29 April 2009, he faced a controversial scare after he presented a supplemental budget that was inadvertently approved by the parliament. The budget was aimed to bridge the budgetary gap that had arisen due to slow economic growth. The government required an additional 38 billion, but compromised on a figure of 22 billion and non-essential proposed expenditure was postponed as a result. After voting on the bill brought forward by Kenyatta, Gitobu Imanyara raised discrepancy questions as to what exactly had been approved by the house. It appeared that the parliament had approved a budget of 31 billion as opposed to 22 billion that they thought they were voting on – a difference of 9.2 billion. The Deputy Prime Minister initially defended the approval but later admitted that there were computer or typographical errors in the budget bill. Amid the raging debate about the contentious issue, the Speaker ordered the CID and a parliamentary committee to question him on the discrepancies. He was later cleared of any wrongdoing by the Joint Finance and Budgetary Committee.
ICC charges and investigations related to 2007–08 post-election violence
On 15 December 2010, prior to him becoming president, Kenyatta was named as a suspect of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, for planning and funding violence in Naivasha and Nakuru. This was in relation to the violence that followed the bungled national elections of December 2007. In furtherance of his political support for Kibaki's PNU at the time, he was accused of organising a Kikuyu politico-religious group, the Mungiki, in the post-election violence. Overall, the post-election violence of 2007 is said to have claimed about 1300 lives. Uhuru maintained his innocence and wanted his name cleared. On 8 March 2011, while serving as minister in Kibaki's government, he was indicted after being summoned to appear before the ICC pre-trial chamber. He was to appear at The Hague on 8 April 2011 alongside five other suspects.
On 29 September 2011, while seeking to exonerate himself, Uhuru Kenyatta put up a spirited fight as he was being cross-examined by ICC Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo in The Hague, denying any links with the outlawed Mungiki sect. He said Prime Minister Raila Odinga should take political responsibility for the acts of violence and killings that followed the 2007 presidential elections in Kenya. He told the three judges that "by telling his supporters election results were being rigged, fanned tensions and then failed to use his influence to quell the violence that followed the announcement of the 2007 presidential results."
Though Uhuru had previously dismissed ICC summons, he changed his decision along the way. Together with his two other co-accused suspects, Head of Civil Service, Ambassador Francis Muthaura and former Police Commissioner Hussein Ali, the trio honoured the ICC Summons that sought to determine whether their cases met the set standards for international trials. On 23 January 2012, the ICC confirmed the cases against Kenyatta and Muthaura although the charges against Muthaura were subsequently dropped. Serious concerns about the case have been raised, particularly the nature of the evidence being used against Kenyatta. There are also serious concerns about witness tampering and indeed, a number of witnesses have disappeared or died, which is the reason cited by the ICC for dropping charges against Mathaura. On a 12 October 2013 speech to the African Union in which he set a belligerent tone, Uhuru accused the ICC of being "a toy of declining imperial powers".
On 31 October 2013, the ICC postponed Kenyatta's trial for crimes against humanity by three months until 5 February 2014 after the defense had requested more time.
On 8 October 2014, Kenyatta appeared before the ICC in The Hague. He was called to appear at the ICC "status conference" when the prosecution said evidence needed to go ahead with a trial was being withheld. In a speech to the Kenyan parliament Kenyatta said that he was going to The Hague in a personal capacity — not as president of the country — so as not to compromise the sovereignty of Kenyans. Kenyatta did not speak in court, but denied the charges in comments to journalists as he left the court to catch a flight back home. "We as Kenyans, we know where we came from, we know where we are going, and nobody will tell us what to do," he said. The judges adjourned the hearings and charges were dropped on 13 March 2015.
The National Alliance Party (TNA)
On 20 May 2012, Uhuru Kenyatta attended the elaborately assembled and much-publicized launch of The National Alliance party in a modern high-tech dome at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. His presence at the TNA launch was a strong indication that he would contest for the party's presidential nomination ticket in his quest for the presidency in the 2013 General Elections.
The Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North Constituency MP William Ruto led more than 70 MPs in attending the function. The Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Abdi Ramadhan, Cabinet Ministers Mohamed Yusuf Haji, Jamleck Irungu Kamau, Dr. Naomi Shaaban, Samuel Poghisio, Professor Sam Ongeri and Dr. Mohammed Kuti and MPs Charles Cheruiyot Keter, Aden Bare Duale and Mohamed Maalim Mohamud also attended the event.
Speeches at the launch revolved around the need for a thriving economy, the need for the rights of people of all classes in society to be championed, the need for peaceful co-existence, the need for visionary and committed leadership, the need for transformative leadership, the need for a youthful crop of committed professionals in leadership, the need for free and fair nomination and election processes in the General Election, the need for an economically empowered youth and a call to bring an end to divisive and sectarian interests in politics to safeguard Kenya from sliding to dictatorship. Machel Waikenda was the director of communications and secretary of arts and entertainment of the National Alliance, from April 2012 to August 2013 and he led the media and communications department of the party during the 2013 elections.
By-elections (17 September 2012)
On 17 September 2012, The National Alliance party had its first real test when it contested various civic and parliamentary positions in a by-election that covered 17 seats in total; 3 parliamentary and 14 civic. Overall, 133,054 votes were cast in the by-elections and TNA led the pack after it garnered 38.89% or 51,878 votes, followed by Orange Democratic Movement with 33.7% or 44,837 votes, Party of National Unity with 4.46% or 5,929 votes, Wiper Democratic Movement with 4.44% or 5,912 votes and United Democratic Forum with 4.15% or 5,520 votes.
TNA won civic and parliamentary seats in 7 different counties while its closest challengers, ODM won seats in 4 counties.
The National Alliance Party remained a strong contender for the following year's general elections, having received major defections from other big political parties of Kenya. The successful election of TNA's main candidates (Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto) continued to enhance TNA's viability.
In January 2013, however, TNA merged with URP to form the Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP).
2013 presidential elections
Uhuru Kenyatta's party, The National Alliance (TNA) joined William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP), Najib Balala's Republican Congress Party (RCP) and Charity Ngilu's National Rainbow Coalition party to form the Jubilee Alliance coalition. Various opinion polls prior to the election placed Uhuru as one of the main contenders, and his Jubilee Alliance as among the most popular. The other formidable coalition was the Coalition For Reform and Democracy (CORD), led by Raila Odinga.
In undercover video footage, released in a BBC news report on 19 March 2018, the managing director of Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that worked to elect Donald Trump in the 2016 American presidential election, boasted that his firm had run successful presidential election campaigns in Kenya in 2013 and 2017, though he did not name Kenyatta explicitly. "We have re-branded the entire party twice, written the manifesto, done research, analysis, messaging," Turnbull said, of the campaigns that his company managed in Kenya. "I think we wrote all the speeches and we staged the whole thing—so just about every element of this candidate." A Jubilee Party vice president admitted on 20 March 2018, that the party had hired an affiliate of Cambridge Analytica for "branding" in the 2017 election.
Uhuru Kenyatta was officially declared the president elect on Saturday 9 March at 2:44 pm.
As per the IEBC's official results, Uhuru got 6,173,433 of the 12,221,053 valid votes cast ahead of the second placed Raila Odinga who garnered 5,340,546 (43.7%). Uhuru's result was 50.51% of the vote and was above the 50% plus 1 vote threshold set out in the 2010 constitution, thus making him the president-elect.
Results dispute
There was some discontent with the official results, as would be expected in such a hotly contested election, especially in Raila Odinga's strongholds. The inordinate delay in releasing the results and the technical failure of some safeguards and election equipment deployed by the IEBC did not help the perception that the election had been less than free and fair.
Further, an exit poll conducted by UCSD Professor Clark Gibson and James Long, Asst. Prof. and University of Washington suggested that neither Odinga nor Kenyatta had attained the 50% plus one vote threshold. Analysts have contended that even though elections for five other levels were held in Kenya at the same time, their national turnout levels and total vote tallies were about 16% less than the presidential total; e.g. while 10.6 million voters elected candidates for member of the National Assembly, the Senate and the 47 gubernatorial seats, almost 2 million more voted in the presidential election. This has fueled concern and speculations of vote manipulation in President Kenyatta's favor.
Two groups disputed these results and filed petitions challenging various aspects of it at the Supreme Court of Kenya to contest the result. The groups were the Coalition For Reform and Democracy, CORD, led by Raila Odinga, and the Africa Centre for Open Governance (AFRICOG). Uhuru Kenyatta and his running mate were respondents in these cases and were represented by Fred Ngatia and Katwa Kigen respectively.
Supreme Court ruling
The Supreme court judges unanimously upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as Kenya's fourth president after rejecting Raila Odinga's petition in a verdict delivered on Saturday 30 March 2013. Chief Justice Willy Mutunga in his ruling said the elections were indeed conducted in compliance with the Constitution and the law.
Presidential swearing-in at Kasarani Stadium
After the Supreme Court dismissed the petitions the swearing in ceremony was held on 9 April 2013 at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, Nairobi, in accordance to Article 141 (2) (b) of the constitution which stipulates that in case the Supreme Court upholds the victory of the president-elect, the swearing in will take place on "the first Tuesday following the seventh day following the date on which the court renders a decision declaring the election to be valid".
Presidency
During his inaugural speech, Uhuru promised economic transformation through Vision 2030, unity among all Kenyans, free maternal care and that he will serve all Kenyans. He also promised to improve the standards of education in Kenya. During the Madaraka day Celebrations, a national holiday celebrated to the country's independence on 1 June, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced free maternal care in all public health facilities, a move that was welcomed by many Kenyans.
On 1 September 2017, the Supreme Court of Kenya nullified the re-election of Uhuru Kenyatta after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had announced him the winner on 8 August 2017. As a result of that, there was a need for the election to be held once again. It was scheduled for 26 October 2017. After the reelection, Uhuru Kenyatta emerged the winner once again.
He was sworn in on 28 November 2017 for his second presidential term.
In 2021, drought is again taking its toll. According to the UN, more than 465,000 children under the age of five are malnourished. Food insecurity affects more than 2.5 million people in the country. Uhuru Kenyatta speaks of a "national disaster". However, he is criticised for the slow humanitarian response and lack of planning.
The Mukuru Kwa Njenga slum in Nairobi is being razed in October 2021 to make way for the widening of a road, leaving 40,000 people homeless overnight, with no offer of alternative accommodation.
Challenges
His major challenges include the high cost of living, rising public debt, a high public wage bill and allegations of corruption among people close to his government. The 2017 general election and its violence is also a challenge that threatened not only his presidency but also the future of the East African Nation
Public Wage Bill
The high public wage cost has been a headache to Uhuru's administration. At the start of his term, the President decried the high wage bill which was at 12% of GDP (as against a recommended 7%). In 2015, the President stated that the wage bill was at 50% of the total annual revenue collection of government. In an attempt to curtail it, the President announced a pay cut for himself and his Cabinet in March 2014, reducing his salary by 20%. It was hoped that the high earners in government would follow suit but this did not materialize. Another measure was the newly created constitutional Salaries and Remuneration Commission which it was hoped would regularize salaries but it has faced an up hill battle against Members of Parliament, who wish to protect their earnings and labor unions. The President thereafter ordered an audit of the government payroll so as to flush out ghost workers. The audit identified 12,000 ghost workers. In the meantime, lower cadre government workers have demanded pay rises, more so by teachers and health workers, who have gone on strikes at various times to demand the increase. The strikes in the health sector mainly affect the counties, Kenya's other level of government, as it is managed by the devolved units.
Anti-corruption efforts
On 28 June 2018, Kenyatta declared a major crackdown on corruption and stated that no one was immune from corruption charges in Kenya. Kenyatta also stated his own brother Muhoho, a director in a company that had been accused in parliament of importing contraband sugar, should be charged if there is clear evidence against him.
On 11 August 2018, Mohammed Abdalla Swazuri, the chairman of National Land Commission, and Atanas Kariuki Maina, managing director of the Kenya Railways Corporation, were among 18 officials, businesspeople and companies arrested on corruption charges involving land allocation for the $3 billion flagship Nairobi-Mombasa railway. On 7 December 2018, Joe Sang, the CEO of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), was arrested with four other senior officials in connection with the loss of an unspecified amount of money during the construction of an oil jetty in the western city of Kisumu. On 22 July 2019, Kenya's finance minister Henry Rotich became the country's first sitting minister to be arrested for corruption. 27 other people were arrested with Rotich as well. On 6 December 2019, federal authorities arrested Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko on corruption charges. On January 14, 2020, Kenyatta replaced Rotich with Labour Secretary Ukur Yatani
On 28 May 2020, a breakthrough in Kenyatta's pledge to combat corruption in Kenya occurred when 40 civil servants and 14 private sector officials, including National Youth Service (NYS) Director General Richard Ndubai, were arrested on charges related to the National Youth Service scandal.
On December 9, 2020, it was confirmed by the Kenya News Agency that the National Anti-Corruption Campaign Steering Committee (NACCSC) was in the process of strengthening its collaboration with other crime fighting agencies, including those in Kenyatta's government. The group had National Government Administrative Officers (NGAO) in hopes they would support the County Anti-Corruption Civil Oversight Committee (CACCOC). The day before, Winnie Guchu, who serves in Kenyatta's government as the Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice, confirmed in a press conference that she had met with members of CACCOC to strengthen relations. On December 11, 2020, the Kenyan government's Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) released a statement confirming that Robert Pavel Oimeke, the director general of Kenya's Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, was arrested and taken into police custody on charges of demanding 200,000 Kenyan shillings ($1,795) to approve the re-opening of a petrol station that had been shut down over violations. On December 21, 2020, Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Benson Mutura replaced Sonko, who was removed from office four days prior, as Governor of Nairobi.
In October 2021, his name appeared in the Pandora Papers, among more than 330 current and former politicians and senior officials using hidden accounts in tax havens. He and six family members, including his mother, a brother and two sisters, have at least $30 million in several offshore companies. He also owns a secret 'foundation' in Panama, holding over $30 million.
Foreign relations
The President's foreign relations had been dominated by the ICC question. His relations with the West were expected to be cold, more so after the West warned Kenyans not to elect him as president. The United Kingdom promised to have only essential contacts with him if he were elected. However, his relationship with the West has thawed significantly and he has participated in the US — Africa summit as well as a Somalia summit in the United Kingdom. The ICC has accused his government of frustrating its investigation efforts into the case, although it has absolved the President personally of any involvement in the frustration.
His activities have however been more robust at the African level where he has pushed more intra-Africa trade and economic independence of African nations. In November 2014, he launched consultations to reform the United Nations Security Council to expand the voice of Africa in the council. He has successfully rallied the AU against the ICC culminating in an Extraordinary Summit of the African Heads of State which resolved that sitting African Heads of State should not appear before the ICC. The AU further asked the Security Council to suspend his trial at the ICC; for the first time ever, the Security Council resolution was defeated by abstention with 9 members of the Council abstaining rather than voting against so as not to offend Kenyatta. The Assembly of State Parties of the ICC would two days later amend the ICC statute to allow for one to appear by video link, a proposal President Kenyatta had made when he was Deputy Prime Minister.
President Kenyatta has led and negotiated peace agreements in the South Sudan and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the East African level, he has developed a close relationship with the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Rwanda President Paul Kagame, creating the Coalition of the Willing, a caucus within the EAC that has signed on to more joint development and economic agreements than the other EAC partners, including a joint tourist visa.
He attended the funeral of Nelson Mandela and was received warmly by the crowds. He also attended the funeral of President Michael Sata of Zambia in November 2014. However, it had been perceived that his administration's relations with Botswana were strained due to Botswana's support of the ICC process. He has since visited Botswana to remove this perception and Botswana voted in favor of the AU's ICC Resolution.
As expected, he has remained close to China which is funding most of his infrastructure projects.
Foreign trips
In November 2020, it was noted that he was the most traveled Kenyan president compared to his predecessors. One of the leading national newspapers noted that Uhuru Kenyatta had been out of the country 43 times as of November 2015 in a period of about three years since he took office in 2013, as compared to 33 times over a span of 10 years by his predecessor Mwai Kibaki. The president's strategic communications unit came out in defense of these trips stating that these trips had yielded more than what it cost the taxpayers to finance them.
Wealth
In October 2021, Kenyatta was named in the Pandora Papers leak. BBC reported that "The Kenyattas' offshore investments, including a company with stocks and bonds worth $30m (£22m), were discovered among hundreds of thousands of pages of administrative paperwork from the archives of 14 law firms and service providers in Panama and the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and other tax havens."
Approval ratings
His government's first year in office received low ratings from the general public. This is after a poll by Synovate indicated that more than half of the population was unhappy with how the government had conducted its affairs. The same polls also ranked the presidency as the second most trusted institution after the media. After his appearance at The Hague for his ICC case in October 2014, his poll ratings improved to 71%, according to a poll by Synovate. A poll by Gallup in August 2014 put his approval ratings at 78%, giving him the third best job approval ratings among African Presidents after Ian Khama of Botswana and Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of Mali. In 2015, due to allegations of corruption against some members of his government, his poll ratings dropped to his lowest rating yet at 33%, according to an Infotrack poll. By February 2017, his poll numbers had, however, risen to 57%. His poll numbers in 2018 would rise to 74% in light of a renewed effort to battle corruption.
Awards and decorations
National honours
:
Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya
Foreign honours
:
Order of Freedom of Barbados (6 October 2021)
:
First Class of the Order of the Most Ancient Welwitschia mirabilis (21 March 2019)
:
Order of the Republic of Serbia, Second Class (2016)
See also
Presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta
List of heads of state of Kenya
2013 Kenyan general election
2017 Kenyan general election
References
1961 births
Alumni of St. Mary's School, Nairobi
Amherst College alumni
Children of national leaders
Government ministers of Kenya
Kenya African National Union politicians
Kenyan expatriates in the United States
Kenyan Roman Catholics
Uhuru
Kikuyu people
Living people
Jomo Kenyatta
Members of the National Assembly (Kenya)
Ministers of Finance of Kenya
People indicted by the International Criminal Court
Presidents of Kenya
Jubilee Party politicians
21st-century Kenyan politicians
People named in the Pandora Papers
| false |
[
"The British Virgin Islands has a two-party system, which means that there are two dominant political parties, creating difficulty for anybody to achieve electoral success under the banner of any other party. In none of the previous four elections has a candidate who was not standing for any party other than one of the two main parties won a seat (although one candidate has won running as an independent). Prior to 1999 there were a number of multi-party elections with four or more parties contesting and three or more parties winning seats.\n\nActive parties\nThere are four main parties active at present in the Territory, and between them they hold all of the seats in the legislature. Two of them were formed in 2018, the other two are much older.\n\nDefunct parties\nSeveral parties have previously held seats in the British Virgin Islands legislature but are no longer current or active.\n\nUnelected parties\nA number of political parties have been formed but failed to win any seats. Only one of these parties has ever contested more than a single election (one of the parties named the Concern Citizen Movement contested two general elections; an unrelated party also named the Concern Citizen Movement contested a third).\n\nElectoral history of main parties\nHistory of the political parties who have won at least one seat at a general election.\n\nSee also\n Lists of political parties\n\nBritish Virgin Islands\n \nBritish Virgin Islands\nVirgin Islands\n\nPolitical parties",
"Vojvodina Autonomist Movement is a political movement in the Serbian province of Vojvodina that advocates more autonomy for Vojvodina within Serbia.\n\nHistory\n\nThe idea was introduced during the 1990s and was more popular during the Yugoslav Wars when one part of the local population wasn't satisfied with the regime of Slobodan Milošević. During this time period, Milošević's regime abolished much of the aspects of Vojvodina's autonomy, which the province enjoyed during the time of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.\n\nPolitical parties\n\nThere are several political parties or party coalitions that advocate more for Vojvodina within Serbia. Most popular of them is the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina led by Nenad Čanak. Other parties include: Vojvodina's Party, Vojvodinian Movement, etc. These parties are mostly led and supported by local Vojvodinian Serb population. There are also several political parties of local ethnic minorities, some of which, aside from supporting rights of ethnic minorities, are also supporting the idea of more autonomy for Vojvodina.\n\nProposals and initiatives\nThere are various views among autonomist political parties about the desired level of autonomy of Vojvodina. Some of the proposals are advocating (or advocated) returning to the level of autonomy as it was in 1974, while other proposals are supporting the idea of more autonomy than in 1990s, but somewhat less than in 1974.\n\nOne of the proposals was the proposal of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina, which advocated the transformation of Serbia into a \"democratic federal state\" with federal units with higher or lower levels of autonomy. One of the federal units of federal Serbia, according to the proposal, would be the Republic of Vojvodina ( or ; ; ; ; ; Rusyn: Република Войводина). Besides Vojvodina, other federal units would be Šumadija, South-Eastern Serbia, city of Belgrade, Sandžak and Kosovo. According to the League, this political solution would \"stabilize Serbia as a state and would prevent any separatist tendencies on the territory of Serbia\". In recent years, the League mostly abandoned the idea of a Republic of Vojvodina, but is still advocating a higher level of autonomy for the province.\n\nOn January 28, 2013 as an answer to the proposal of the Third Serbia political organization from Novi Sad to abolish the autonomy of Vojvodina, the Vojvodina's Party performed a campaign that involved the posting of \"Republic of Vojvodina\" posters in Novi Sad.\n\nReferences\n\nSee also\nPolitics of Vojvodina\n\nVojvodina regionalism"
] |
[
"Aerosmith",
"Record deal, Aerosmith, Get Your Wings and Toys in the Attic (1971-1975)"
] |
C_fac055458d69481bae62214031bfcf1a_0
|
What record deal did Aerosmith receive in 1971?
| 1 |
What record deal did Aerosmith receive in 1971?
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Aerosmith
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After forming the band and finalizing the lineup in 1971, the band started to garner some local success doing live shows. Originally booked through the Ed Malhoit Agency, the band signed a promotion deal with Frank Connelly and eventually secured a management deal with David Krebs and Steve Leber in 1972. Krebs and Leber invited Columbia Records President Clive Davis to see the band at Max's Kansas City in New York City. Aerosmith was not originally scheduled to play that night at the club, but they paid from their own pockets to secure a place on the bill, reportedly the only band ever to do so at Max's. "No Surprize" from their Night in the Ruts album celebrates the moment their fame began. Aerosmith signed with Columbia in mid-1972 for a reported $125,000 and issued their debut album, Aerosmith. Released in January 1973, the album peaked at number 166. The album was straightforward rock and roll with well-defined blues influences, laying the groundwork for Aerosmith's signature blues rock sound. Although the highest-charting single from the album was "Dream On" at number 59, several tracks, such as "Mama Kin" and "Walkin' the Dog", would become staples of the band's live shows and receive airplay on rock radio. The album reached gold status initially, eventually went on to sell two million copies, and was certified double platinum after the band reached mainstream success over a decade later. After constant touring, the band released their second album Get Your Wings in 1974, the first of a string of multi-platinum albums produced by Jack Douglas. This album included the rock radio hits "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'", a cover done previously by the Yardbirds. The album also contained several fan favorites including "Lord of the Thighs", "Seasons of Wither", and "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", darker songs that have become staples in the band's live shows. To date, Get Your Wings has sold three million copies. It was 1975's Toys in the Attic, however, that established Aerosmith as international stars competing with the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Originally derided as Rolling Stones knockoffs in part due to the physical resemblance between lead singers Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger, Toys in the Attic showed that Aerosmith was a unique and talented band in their own right. Toys in the Attic was an immediate success, starting with the single "Sweet Emotion", which became the band's first Top 40 hit. This was followed by a successful re-release of "Dream On" which hit number 6, becoming their best charting single of the 1970s. "Walk This Way", re-released in 1976, reached the Top 10 in early 1977. In addition, "Toys in the Attic" and "Big Ten Inch Record" (a song originally recorded by Bull Moose Jackson) became concert staples. As a result of this success, both of the band's previous albums re-charted. Toys in the Attic has gone on to become the band's bestselling studio album in the States, with certified U.S. sales of eight million copies. The band toured in support of Toys in the Attic, where they started to get more recognition. Also around this time, the band established their home base as "the Wherehouse" in Waltham, Massachusetts, where they would record and rehearse music, as well as conduct business. CANNOTANSWER
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signed with Columbia in mid-1972
|
Aerosmith is an American rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whitford (guitar). Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has also incorporated elements of pop rock, heavy metal, glam metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many subsequent rock artists. They are sometimes referred to as "the Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". The primary songwriting team of Tyler and Perry is often known as the "Toxic Twins".
Perry and Hamilton, originally in a band together called the Jam Band, met up with Tyler, Kramer, and guitarist Ray Tabano, and formed Aerosmith; in 1971, Tabano was replaced by Whitford. At some point prior to the weekend of December 25, 1971; they were known as "Fox Chase." They released a string of multi-platinum albums starting with their eponymous debut in 1973, followed by Get Your Wings in 1974. The band broke into the mainstream with Toys in the Attic (1975) and Rocks (1976). Draw the Line and Night in the Ruts followed in 1977 and 1979. Throughout the 1970s, the band toured extensively and charted a dozen Hot 100 singles, including their first Top 40 hit "Sweet Emotion" and the Top 10 hits "Dream On" and "Walk This Way". By the end of the decade, they were among the most popular hard rock bands in the world and developed a following of fans, often referred to as the "Blue Army". Drug addiction and internal conflict led to the departures of Perry and Whitford in 1979 and 1981.
The band did not fare well and the album Rock in a Hard Place (1982) failed to match previous successes.
Perry and Whitford returned to Aerosmith in 1984. After a comeback tour, they recorded Done with Mirrors (1985), which did not meet commercial expectations. It was not until a 1986 collaboration with rap group Run–D.M.C. on a remake of "Walk This Way", and the 1987 multi-platinum release, Permanent Vacation, that they regained their previous level of popularity. In the late 1980s and 1990s, the band won numerous awards for music from the multi-platinum albums Pump (1989), Get a Grip (1993), and Nine Lives (1997), while they embarked on their most extensive concert tours to date. Their biggest hits during this period included "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", "Rag Doll", "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", "What it Takes", "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'", and "Crazy". The band also filmed popular music videos and made notable appearances in television, film, and video games. In 1998, they achieved their first number-one hit with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from [[Armageddon: The Album|Armageddons soundtrack]] and the following year, their roller coaster attraction opened at Walt Disney World. Their comeback has been described as one of the most remarkable and spectacular in rock history. Additional albums Just Push Play (which included the hit "Jaded"), Honkin' on Bobo (a collection of blues covers), and Music from Another Dimension! followed in 2001, 2004, and 2012. In 2008, they released Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game. After five decades, the band continues to tour and record music. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, they had an ongoing concert residency in Las Vegas.
Aerosmith is the best-selling American hard rock band of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide, including over 85 million records in the United States. With 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum albums, they hold the record for the most total certifications by an American group and are tied for the most multi-platinum albums by an American group. They have achieved twenty-one Top 40 hits on the US Hot 100, nine number-one Mainstream Rock hits, four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, and ten MTV Video Music Awards. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and were ranked number 57 and 30, respectively, on Rolling Stones and VH1's lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2013, Tyler and Perry were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2020, the band received the MusiCares Person of the Year award.
History
Formation (1964–1970)
In 1964, Steven Tyler formed his own band called the Strangeurs—later Chain Reaction—in Yonkers, New York. Meanwhile, Perry and Hamilton formed the Jam Band (commonly known as "Joe Perry's Jam Band"), which was based on free-form and blues. Hamilton and Perry moved to Boston, Massachusetts in September 1969. There they met Joey Kramer, a drummer from Yonkers, New York. Kramer knew Tyler and had always hoped to play in a band with him. Kramer, a Berklee College of Music student, decided to leave the school, and joined Jam Band.
In 1970, Chain Reaction and Jam Band played at the same gig. Tyler immediately loved Jam Band's sound, and wanted to combine the two bands. In October 1970, the bands met up again and considered the proposition. Tyler, who had been a drummer and backup singer in Chain Reaction, adamantly refused to play drums in this new band, insisting that he would take part only if he could be frontman and lead vocalist. The others agreed, and a new band was formed. The band moved into a home together at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, where they wrote and rehearsed music together and relaxed in between shows.
The members of the band reportedly spent afternoons getting high and watching Three Stooges reruns. One day, they had a post-Stooges meeting to try to come up with a name. Kramer said that, when he was in school, he would write the word "aerosmith" all over his notebooks. The name had popped into his head after listening to Harry Nilsson's album Aerial Ballet, which featured jacket art of a circus performer jumping out of a biplane. Initially, Kramer's bandmates were unimpressed; they all thought he was referring to the Sinclair Lewis novel they were required to read in high school English class. "No, not Arrowsmith," Kramer explained. "A-E-R-O...Aerosmith." The band settled upon this name after also considering "the Hookers" and "Spike Jones."
Soon, the band hired Ray Tabano, a childhood friend of Tyler, as rhythm guitarist and began playing local shows. Aerosmith played their first gig in Mendon, Massachusetts at Nipmuc Regional High School (now Miscoe Hill Middle School) on November 6, 1970. In 1971, Tabano was replaced by Brad Whitford, who also attended the Berklee School of Music, and was formerly a member of the band Earth Inc. Whitford, from Reading, Massachusetts, had already played at Reading's AW Coolidge Middle School. Other than a period from July 1979 to April 1984, the line-up of Tyler, Perry, Hamilton, Kramer, and Whitford has stayed the same.
Record deal, Aerosmith, Get Your Wings, and Toys in the Attic (1971–1975)
After forming the band and finalizing the lineup in 1971, the band started to garner some local success doing live shows. Originally booked through the Ed Malhoit Agency, the band signed a promotion deal with Frank Connelly, and eventually secured a management deal with David Krebs and Steve Leber in 1972. Krebs and Leber invited Columbia Records President Clive Davis to see the band at Max's Kansas City in New York City. Aerosmith was not originally scheduled to play that night at the club, but they paid out of their own pockets to secure a place on the bill, reportedly the only band ever to do so at Max's. "No Surprize" from their Night in the Ruts album celebrated the moment their fame rose.
Aerosmith signed with Columbia in mid-1972 for a reported $125,000, and released their debut album, Aerosmith. Released in January 1973, the album peaked at number 166. The album was straightforward rock and roll with well-defined blues influences, laying the groundwork for Aerosmith's signature blues rock sound. Although the highest-charting single from the album was "Dream On" at number 59, several tracks, such as "Mama Kin" and "Walkin' the Dog", would become staples of the band's live shows, and received airplay on rock radio. The album reached gold status initially, eventually went on to sell two million copies, and was certified double platinum after the band reached mainstream success over a decade later. After constant touring, the band released their second album, Get Your Wings in 1974, the first of a string of multi-platinum albums produced by Jack Douglas. This album included the rock radio hits "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'", a cover done previously by the Yardbirds. The album also contained several fan favorites, including "Lord of the Thighs", "Seasons of Wither", and "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", darker songs that have become staples in the band's live shows. To date, Get Your Wings has sold three million copies.
In 1975, Aerosmith released their third album, Toys in the Attic, which established Aerosmith as international stars, competing with the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Originally derided as Rolling Stones knockoffs in part due to the physical resemblance between lead singers Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger, Toys in the Attic showed that Aerosmith was a unique and talented band in their own right. Toys in the Attic was an immediate success, starting with the single "Sweet Emotion", which became the band's first Top 40 hit. This was followed by a successful re-release of "Dream On" which hit No. 6, becoming their best charting single of the 1970s. "Walk This Way", re-released in 1976, reached the Top 10 in early 1977.
In addition, "Toys in the Attic" and "Big Ten Inch Record" (a song originally recorded by Bull Moose Jackson) became concert staples. As a result of this success, both of the band's previous albums re-charted. Toys in the Attic has gone on to become the band's bestselling studio album in the United States, with certified US sales of nine million copies. The band toured in support of Toys in the Attic, where they started to get more recognition. Also around this time, the band established their home base as "the Wherehouse" in Waltham, Massachusetts, where they would record and rehearse music, as well as conduct business.
Rocks, Draw the Line, and Live! Bootleg (1976–1978)
In 1976, Aerosmith's fourth album was Rocks, which "captured Aerosmith at their most raw and rocking". It went platinum swiftly and featured two Top 40 hits, "Last Child" and "Back in the Saddle", as well as the ballad "Home Tonight", which also charted. Rocks would eventually go on to sell over four million copies. Both Toys in the Attic and Rocks are highly regarded, especially in the hard rock genre: they appear on such lists as Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and are cited as influential by members of Guns N' Roses, Metallica, and Mötley Crüe. Kurt Cobain also listed Rocks as one of the albums he thought were most influential to Nirvana's sound in his journal in 1993. Soon after Rocks was released, the band continued to tour heavily, this time headlining their own shows, including large stadiums and rock festivals.
In 1977, Aerosmith released their fifth album, Draw the Line. Its recording was affected by the band's excesses, but the record still had memorable moments. The title track charted just shy of the Top 40 and remains a live staple, and "Kings and Queens" also charted. The album went on to sell two million copies. The band toured extensively in support of the album, but drug abuse and the fast-paced life of touring and recording began affecting their performances. Tyler and Perry became known as "the Toxic Twins" due to their notorious abuse of drugs on and off the stage. Tyler later commented, "I've spent $64 million on drugs"; Perry scoffed later, "There's no fucking way in the world you could spend that much money on drugs and still be alive. It makes a good headline – but, practically speaking, that was probably a very small portion of where we spent our money."
While continuing to tour and record in the late 1970s, Aerosmith appeared in the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie. Their cover of The Beatles' "Come Together", from the soundtrack, was the band's last Top 40 hit for nearly 10 years. The double vinyl Live! Bootleg, issued in 1978, captured the band's rawness during the Draw the Line tour. The standalone single "Chip Away the Stone", also released in 1978, charted at number 77.
Departures of Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, Night in the Ruts, and Rock in a Hard Place (1979–1984)
In 1979, the band started work on their next album, Night in the Ruts, but Aerosmith decided to go on tour during a break in the recording schedule. As the decade was about to conclude, the band's drug use began taking its toll, and tensions were slowly coming to a head. The band's touring schedule brought them to Cleveland Stadium on July 28, 1979, where they headlined the World Series of Rock festival. Pandemonium erupted backstage when Joe Perry's wife, Elissa, threw a glass of milk at Tom Hamilton's wife, Terry. Following the show, Tyler and Perry got into a heated argument when Tyler confronted Perry about his wife's antics, and after the course of the argument, Perry left Aerosmith (while Tyler claims in his autobiography that he fired Perry from the band). Upon his departure, Perry took some of the music that he had written with him. Shortly after his departure, Perry formed his own side project known as The Joe Perry Project.
Since there was still work to be done on Night in the Ruts, Aerosmith needed fill-in musicians to take Perry's place on the songs that needed to be recorded to complete the album. Guitarist Brad Whitford took over some of the lead parts, and Richie Supa, the band's longtime writing partner, filled in where needed until the band was able to hire Jimmy Crespo to take over as the next full-time guitarist. Night in the Ruts was released in November 1979, but only managed to sell enough records to be certified gold at the time, although it would eventually sell enough copies to be certified platinum by 1994. The only single the album spawned, a cover of "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" by the Shangri-Las, peaked at number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The tour for Night in the Ruts commenced shortly thereafter, but the band found themselves playing in smaller and smaller venues than before due to their popularity beginning to wane. Steven Tyler's drug issues were starting to affect his performance and songwriting, and he reached rock bottom in 1980, when he collapsed on stage during a show in Portland, Maine, and did not get up for the remainder of the set. Also in 1980, Aerosmith released their first compilation album, Greatest Hits. While the compilation didn't chart very high initially, it gained popularity later, and went on to become the band's best selling album in the United States, with sales of 12 million copies. In the fall of 1980, Tyler was injured in a serious motorcycle accident, which left him hospitalized for two months, and unable to tour or record well into 1981.
In 1981, Aerosmith began work on their next album, Rock in a Hard Place, and saw them reunite with producer Jack Douglas. However, after the first song for the album, "Lightning Strikes", was recorded, Brad Whitford left the band, and decided to form a duo with Derek St. Holmes, with whom he recorded a self-titled album, which failed to garner much interest. Whitford later joined up with the Joe Perry Project and played with them in 1984.
With Rick Dufay taking Whitford's place, Rock in a Hard Place was released on August 27, 1982. The album reached number 32 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Only one single charted, the aforementioned "Lightning Strikes", which peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. As with the tour for Night in the Ruts, Aerosmith was unable to book larger venues, and instead had to rely on filling clubs and theaters, which they struggled to do. At a homecoming arena show in Worcester, Massachusetts, Tyler and Perry reunited and got high backstage before the show. Tyler was so intoxicated that he collapsed on stage again and, like before, could not get up.
On February 14, 1984, Perry (by then divorced from his first wife Elissa) and Whitford saw Aerosmith perform at Boston's Orpheum Theater. Shortly thereafter, discussions began to reintegrate the two into the band and several months later, the original members of Aerosmith officially reunited. Steven Tyler recalls:
Back in the Saddle reunion tour, Done with Mirrors, and drug rehab (1984–1986)
In 1984, Aerosmith embarked on a reunion tour called the Back in the Saddle Tour, which led to the live album Classics Live II. While concerts on the tour were well-attended, it was plagued with several incidents, mostly attributed to drug abuse by band members. With their drug problems still not behind them, the group was signed to Geffen Records, and began working on a comeback. Despite the band signing on to a new record company, the band's old label Columbia continued to reap the benefits of Aerosmith's comeback, releasing the live companion albums Classics Live I and II and the collection Gems.
In 1985, the band released the album Done with Mirrors, their first studio album since reuniting. While the album did receive some positive reviews, it only went gold and failed to produce a hit single or generate any widespread interest. The album's most notable track, "Let the Music Do the Talking", was in fact a cover of a song originally recorded by the Joe Perry Project and released on that band's album of the same name. Nevertheless, the band became a popular concert attraction once again, touring in support of Done with Mirrors, well into 1986. In 1986, in an unprecedented crossover collaboration, Aerosmith (largely the additional contributions of leaders Tyler and Perry) appeared on Run–D.M.C.'s cover of "Walk This Way", a track blending rock and roll with hip hop. In reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song and its frequently-aired video resurrected Aerosmith's career by introducing the band's music to a new generation.
Despite their resurrecting performance, the band members' drug problems still stood in their way. In 1986, Tyler completed a successful drug rehabilitation program, after an intervention by his fellow band members, a doctor, and manager Tim Collins, who believed that the band's future would not be bright if Tyler did not get treated in time. The rest of the band members also completed drug rehab programs over the course of the next couple of years. According to the band's tell-all autobiography, Collins pledged in September 1986 that he could make Aerosmith the biggest band in the world by 1990 if they all completed drug rehab. Their next album was crucial because of the commercial disappointment of Done With Mirrors, and as the band members became clean, they worked hard to make their next album a success.
Permanent Vacation and Pump (1987–1991)
Permanent Vacation was released in August 1987, becoming a major hit and the band's bestselling album in over a decade (selling 5 million copies in the US), with all three of its singles ("Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", and "Rag Doll") reaching the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. Steven Tyler reveals in his autobiography that the album was "...the first one we ever did sober." Part of Permanent Vacations commercial success involved producer Bruce Fairbairn whose production touches (such as sound effects and high-quality recording) added interest to the album and the use of outside songwriters such as Desmond Child, Jim Vallance, and Holly Knight who assisted the band with lyrics. While the group was initially hesitant to using outside songwriters, including Tyler being furious for Knight getting songwriting credits for changing one word ("Rag Time" became "Rag Doll"), the method paid off, as Permanent Vacation became the band's most successful album in a decade. The group went on a subsequent tour with labelmates Guns N' Roses (who have cited Aerosmith as a major influence), which was intense at times because of Aerosmith's new struggle to stay clean amidst Guns N' Roses' well-publicized, rampant drug use.
Aerosmith's next album was even more successful. Pump, released in September 1989, featured three Top Ten singles: "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", and "What It Takes", as well as the Top 30 "The Other Side", re-establishing the band as a serious musical force. Pump was a critical and commercial success, eventually selling 7 million copies, spawning several music videos that were in regular rotation on MTV, and achieving four-star ratings from major music magazines. Pump ranked as the fourth-bestselling album of 1990. The band also won its first Grammy in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, for "Janie's Got a Gun". In addition, the video for "Janie's Got a Gun" won two Video Music Awards and was ranked as one of the 100 greatest videos of all time by Rolling Stone, MTV, and VH1. Like Permanent Vacation, Pump was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, who added production touches such as instrumental interludes that provided transitions between songs to give the album a more complete sound, as well as the Margarita Horns, who added horns to tracks such as "Love in an Elevator" and "The Other Side". Rock critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine claimed that Pump "revels in [pop concessions] without ever losing sight of Aerosmith's dirty hard rock core", going on to say that, "such ambition and successful musical eclectism make Pump rank with Toys in the Attic and Rocks." The recording process for Pump was documented in the video The Making of Pump, which has since been re-released as a DVD. The music videos for the album's singles were featured on the release Things That Go Pump in the Night, which quickly went platinum.
In support of Pump, the band embarked on the 12-month Pump Tour, which lasted for most of 1990. On February 21, 1990, the band appeared in a "Wayne's World" sketch on Saturday Night Live, debating the fall of communism and the Soviet Union, and performed their recent hits "Janie's Got a Gun" and "Monkey on My Back". The appearance of the band in the "Wayne's World" sketch was later ranked by E! as the number-one moment in the history of the program. On August 11, 1990, the band's performance on MTV's Unplugged aired. In October 1990, the Pump Tour ended, with the band's first ever performances in Australia. That same year, the band was also inducted to the Hollywood Rock Walk. In November 1991, the band appeared on The Simpsons episode "Flaming Moe's" and released a box set titled Pandora's Box. In coordination with the release of Pandora's Box, the band's 1975 hit "Sweet Emotion" was re-mixed and re-released as a single, and a music video was created to promote the single. Also in 1991, the band performed their 1973 single "Dream On" with Michael Kamen's orchestra for MTV's 10th Anniversary special; this performance was used as the official music video for the song. In 1992, Tyler and Perry appeared live as guests of Guns N' Roses during the latter's 1992 worldwide pay-per-view show in Paris, performing a medley of "Mama Kin" (which GN'R covered in 1986) and "Train Kept-A Rollin".
Get a Grip and Big Ones (1992–1995)
The band took a brief break before recording their follow-up to Pump in 1992. Despite significant shifts in mainstream music at the beginning of the 1990s, 1993's Get a Grip was just as successful commercially, becoming their first album to debut at number 1 and racking up sales of 7 million copies in a two-and-a-half-year timespan and over 20 million copies worldwide. The first singles were the hard rocking "Livin' on the Edge" and "Eat the Rich". Though many critics were unimpressed by the focus on the subsequent interchangeable power-ballads in promoting the album, all three ("Cryin'", "Amazing", and "Crazy") proved to be huge successes on radio and MTV. The music videos featured then up-and-coming actress Alicia Silverstone; her provocative performances earned her the title of "the Aerosmith chick" for the first half of the decade. Steven Tyler's daughter Liv Tyler was also featured in the "Crazy" video. The band won two Grammy Awards for songs from this album in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: for "Livin' on the Edge" in 1994 and "Crazy" in 1995.
During the making of Get a Grip, the management and record company brought in a variety of professional songwriting collaborators to help give nearly all the songs on the album more commercial appeal, a trend which would continue until the early 2000s. However, this led to accusations of selling out that would continue throughout the 1990s. In addition to Aerosmith's grueling 18-month world tour in support of Get a Grip, the band also did a number of things to help promote themselves and their album and appeal to youth culture, including the appearance of the band in the movie Wayne's World 2 where they performed two songs, the appearance of the band and their music in the video games Revolution X and Quest for Fame, performing at Woodstock '94, using their song "Deuces Are Wild" in The Beavis and Butt-head Experience, and opening their own club, The Mama Kin Music Hall, in Boston, MA in 1994. That same year saw the release of the band's compilation for Geffen Records, entitled Big Ones featuring their biggest hits from Permanent Vacation, Pump, and Get a Grip, "Deuces Are Wild" from the Beavis and Butt-head Experience, as well as two new songs, "Blind Man" and "Walk on Water", both of which experienced great success on the rock charts.
Nine Lives and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" (1996–2000)
Aerosmith had signed a $30 million contract for four records with Columbia Records/Sony Music in 1991, but had only recorded three of their six contractual albums with Geffen Records at that point (Done with Mirrors, Permanent Vacation, and Pump). Between 1991 and 1996, they released two more albums with Geffen (Get a Grip and Big Ones), which meant they now had five albums with Geffen under their belt (along with a planned live compilation), which meant they could now begin recording for their new contract with Columbia. The band took time off with their families before working on their next album, Nine Lives, which was plagued with personnel problems, including the firing of manager Tim Collins, who, according to band members, had nearly caused the band to break up. The album's producer was also changed from Glen Ballard to Kevin Shirley. Nine Lives was released in March 1997. Reviews were mixed, and Nine Lives initially fell down the charts, although it had a long chart life and sold double platinum in the United States alone, fueled by its singles, "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", the ballad "Hole in My Soul", and the crossover-pop smash "Pink" (which won the band their fourth Grammy Award in 1999 in the Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal category). It was followed by the over two-year-long Nine Lives Tour, which was plagued by problems including lead singer Steven Tyler injuring his leg at a concert, and Joey Kramer suffering second degree burns when his car caught fire at a gas station.
In 1998, in the midst of setbacks during the Nine Lives Tour, the band released the single "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", the love theme, written by Diane Warren for the 1998 film Armageddon, starring Steven Tyler's daughter Liv. The song became Aerosmith's first and only number 1 single when it debuted at the top position on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on top of the charts for four weeks. The song was nominated for an Academy Award in 1999. The song helped open Aerosmith up to a new generation and remains a slow-dance staple. 1998 also saw the release of the double-live album, A Little South of Sanity, which was assembled from performances on the Get a Grip and Nine Lives tours. The album went platinum shortly after its release. The band continued with their seemingly neverending world tours promoting Nine Lives and the "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" single well into 1999.
In 1999, Aerosmith was chosen to be featured in the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, providing the ride's soundtrack and theme at both Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort and, formerly, at Disneyland Paris in the Walt Disney Studios Park, which opened in 2002 and closed in 2019, to be replaced by an Iron Man and the Avengers attraction in the upcoming Avengers Campus. On September 9, 1999, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry reunited with Run–D.M.C. and were also joined by Kid Rock for a collaborative live performance of "Walk This Way" at the MTV Video Music Awards, a precursor to the Girls of Summer Tour. The band celebrated the new millennium with a brief tour of Japan, and also contributed the song "Angel's Eye" to the 2000 film Charlie's Angels. In December 2000, they wrapped up work on their next album.
Just Push Play, O, Yeah! and Rocksimus Maximus (2001–2003)
The band entered their next decade by co-headlining with NSYNC the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show, titled "The Kings of Rock and Pop", with appearances from Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige and Nelly. All of the stars collaborated with Aerosmith at the end for a performance of "Walk This Way".
In March 2001, the band released their 13th studio album Just Push Play, which quickly went platinum, fueled by the Top 10 single "Jaded" and the appearance of the title track in Dodge commercials. They were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame soon after their album was released, in late March 2001. Aerosmith is the only band to be inducted to the Hall of Fame with a song active in the charts ("Jaded"). Later that year, the band performed as part of the United We Stand: What More Can I Give benefit concert in Washington D.C. for 9/11 victims and their families. The band flew back to Indianapolis for a show the same night, as part of their Just Push Play Tour.
The band started 2002 by ending the Just Push Play tour, and simultaneously recording segments for their Behind the Music special on VH1, which not only chronicled the band's history but also the band's current activities and touring. The special was one of the few Behind the Musics to run two hours in length. In May, Aerosmith covered the "Theme from Spider-Man" for the soundtrack of the 2002 film of the same name. On June 27, the band performed at the official FIFA World Cup concert at Tokyo Stadium which took place during the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in Korea/Japan. In July 2002, Aerosmith released a two-disc career-spanning compilation O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits, which featured the new single "Girls of Summer" and embarked on the Girls of Summer Tour with Kid Rock and Run–D.M.C. opening. O, Yeah! has since been certified double platinum. MTV honored Aerosmith with their mtvICON award in 2002. Performances included Pink covering "Janie's Got a Gun". Shakira performed "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", Kid Rock played "Mama Kin" and "Last Child", Train performed "Dream On" and Papa Roach covered "Sweet Emotion". In addition, testimonials featured surprise guests Metallica, as well as Janet Jackson, Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst, Alicia Silverstone and Mila Kunis.
In 2003, Aerosmith co-headlined with Kiss on the Rocksimus Maximus Tour, in preparation for release of their blues album. They also performed a song for Rugrats Go Wild, "Lizard Love".
Honkin' on Bobo, Rockin' the Joint and Devil's Got a New Disguise (2004–2006)
Aerosmith's long-promised blues album Honkin' on Bobo was released in 2004. This was a return to the band's roots, including recording the album in live sessions, working with former producer Jack Douglas, and laying down their blues rock grit. It was followed by a live DVD, You Gotta Move, in December 2004, culled from performances on the Honkin' on Bobo Tour. "Dream On" was also featured in an advertising campaign for Buick in 2004, targeting that marque's market which is now composed largely of people who were teenagers when the song first charted.
2005 saw Steven Tyler appear in the film Be Cool. Joe Perry released his self-titled solo album that same year. At the 2006 Grammy Awards, he was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for the track "Mercy", but lost to Les Paul. In October 2005, Aerosmith released a CD/DVD Rockin' the Joint. The band hit the road for the Rockin' the Joint Tour on October 30 with Lenny Kravitz for a fall/winter tour of arenas in the largest US markets. The band planned to tour with Cheap Trick in the spring, hitting secondary markets in the US. Almost all of this leg of the tour was canceled, however. Dates were initially canceled one by one until March 22, 2006, when it was announced that lead singer Steven Tyler needed throat surgery, and the remaining dates on the tour were subsequently canceled.
Tyler and Perry performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra for their annual concert of July 4 on the Esplanade in 2006, a milestone as it was the first major event or performance since Steven Tyler's throat surgery. Around this time, the band also announced that they would embark on the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe in late 2006. On August 24, 2006, it was announced that Tom Hamilton was undergoing treatment for throat cancer. In order to make a full recovery, he sat out much of the Route of All Evil Tour until he was well again. Former Joe Perry Project bassist David Hull substituted for Hamilton until his return. On September 5, 2006, Aerosmith kicked off the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe in Columbus, Ohio. The co-headlining tour took both bands to amphitheaters across North America through November 24. After that, a select few arena dates were added, some of which were with Mötley Crüe. The tour ended December 17.
On October 17, 2006, the compilation album Devil's Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith was released. The album contained previous hits with the addition of two new songs, "Devil's Got a New Disguise" and "Sedona Sunrise", which were older outtakes re-recorded for the album. "Devil's Got a New Disguise" peaked at number 15 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The album was intended to fulfill Aerosmith's contract with Sony and tide fans over until the band's new studio album was released.
Touring, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and unfinished album (2007–2009)
In early 2007, the band announced a new World Tour, their first for nearly a decade to include dates outside North America or Japan. The band performed at London's Hard Rock Cafe in February 2007 to promote their European tour which included a night in Hyde Park as part of the Hyde Park Calling festival sponsored by Hard Rock Cafe. In the spring, the band toured Latin America to sold-out stadium crowds. In the summer, the band toured Europe, performing at several major rock festivals and visiting some countries they had never played before. Additionally, the band played in Middle East countries such as the United Arab Emirates and India for the first time. The band also played a few select dates in California and Canada in late July. The July 21 concert in Prince Edward Island, was the largest in that province's history. In September, the band performed eight dates in major markets in Northeastern North America. These shows were opened by Joan Jett. The band also played a private gig in Hawaii. A public show in Maui was canceled for logistical reasons, which spurred a class action lawsuit against the band. In April 2009, Aerosmith agreed to compensate all ticket buyers of the canceled show with a free ticket to a rescheduled Maui show to be held on October 20, 2009, along with reimbursements of all out-of-pocket expenses related to the show.
On November 1, 2007, the band entered the studio to work on the final studio album of their current contract with Sony. At the time, it was believed that the album would include both re-recorded tracks left off previous albums as well as brand new material. In an interview, guitarist Joe Perry revealed that in addition to creating a new album, the band was working closely with the makers of the Guitar Hero series to develop Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, a video game dedicated to the band's music. The game was released on June 29, 2008 and contains many of their most popular songs. Steven Tyler announced on VH1 Classic Radio on September 4, 2008, that Aerosmith intended to enter the studio at the end of September 2008 to complete the band's 15th studio album. Tyler also confirmed that the band planned to begin a new US tour in June 2009, in support of the as-yet-untitled album. This tour was supposed to be preceded by a concert in Venezuela on February 1, 2009. However, on January 15, 2009, Tyler said the band would be unable to play the gig because of a second knee injury of guitarist Joe Perry. In mid-February 2009, it was announced that the album would be produced by the famed Brendan O'Brien and that the album would likely be recorded live, like their earlier records. Although the band had hoped to finish the album before the tour started in June 2009, Perry said that the group "realized there wasn't any chance of getting [the album] finished before we hit the road for the summer." The tour featured ZZ Top as the opening act for most of the tour. The Aerosmith/ZZ Top Tour, presented by Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, was officially announced and the first dates released on April 8, 2009.
The tour was slated to take the band across North America from June to September 2009. The tour featured the band performing nearly all of the songs on their 1975 album Toys in the Attic during the first seven dates of the tour and also featured Joe Perry sing lead vocals on the 1976 "Combination". The tour was plagued with several health problems, however. Guitarist Brad Whitford had to sit out the first seven dates of the tour in order to recover from head surgery, after injuring his head getting out of his car. On June 28, 2009, at the band's seventh show of the tour at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, lead singer Steven Tyler injured his leg, which required seven shows to be postponed. As soon as the band resumed the tour on July 15, Whitford returned to the fold. However, Tom Hamilton had to depart the tour in order to recover from non-invasive surgery. On August 5, 2009, Tyler was rushed to the hospital after falling from the stage at a concert in Sturgis, South Dakota. He was helped up by security staff and taken backstage, before guitarist Joe Perry told the audience the show was over. Tyler was airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital, where he received treatment for head and neck injuries and a broken shoulder. In the wake of Tyler's injuries, the band was forced to postpone five shows in Western Canada. On August 14, 2009, Aerosmith announced that they had decided to cancel the rest of their US tour dates with ZZ Top, due to Tyler's injuries.
In the midst of the tour, Perry completed work on his fifth solo album, Have Guitar, Will Travel and drummer Joey Kramer released his autobiography, Hit Hard. Perry's solo album was released on October 6, 2009.
After Tyler recovered from falling off stage, the band returned to the stage in mid-October for two shows in Hawaii, one in Maui which was rescheduled from 2007 and finally played as part of a legal settlement, and an additional show which was played in Honolulu. In early November, the band played a concert in Abu Dhabi at the Grand Prix.
Tyler-Perry feud and Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour (2009–2010)
Tyler pulled out of a planned South American tour at the end of 2009 and seemed intent on pursuing solo projects, including his autobiography Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?. Tyler told Classic Rock magazine, "I don't know what I'm doing yet, but it's definitely going to be something Steven Tyler: working on the brand of myself – Brand Tyler." Meanwhile, guitarist Joe Perry toured the United States at the end of 2009, and Japan and the UK early in 2010.
In November 2009, Joe Perry stated that Tyler had not been in contact with the band and could be on the verge of quitting Aerosmith. Perry stated that the rest of the group was "looking for a new singer to work with." It was reported that singer Lenny Kravitz had been approached for Steven Tyler's position, which he then declined.
However, despite the rumors of him leaving the band, Tyler joined the Joe Perry Project onstage on November 10, 2009 at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, and Tyler and Perry performed the Aerosmith single "Walk This Way" together. According to sources at the event, Tyler assured the crowd that he was "not quitting Aerosmith".
On December 22, People magazine reported that Tyler had entered a rehabilitation facility to manage his addiction to painkillers, brought on by injuries to his knees, legs, and feet, that resulted from years of performing. In his statement, Tyler said he is grateful for the support he is receiving, is committed to getting things taken care of, and is eager to get back on stage and in the recording studio with his bandmates.
On January 20, 2010, Perry confirmed the band were about to audition for a new singer to replace Tyler. Perry said Tyler's surgery to his legs would "take him out of the picture" for up to a year and a half, and in the meantime, the rest of the band wanted to continue performing. Perry also said that the band would be willing to continue working with Tyler in the future if the singer wanted to.
In response, Tyler's attorney sent the band and its manager a "cease and desist" letter and threatened further legal action against both if the band did not discontinue this effort to replace Tyler.
On February 15, 2010, it was announced that Aerosmith were to headline Download Festival at Donington Park, England in June 2010. Tyler was confirmed as the frontman for the show by festival promoter Andy Copping. It was announced that the band would precede the June 13 date with an appearance at the Sweden Rock Festival on June 10 in Sölvesborg. During the Donington show, Perry celebrated Tyler's position as frontman, dubbing him "the best lead singer on the planet". On February 24, the band announced the first batch of dates for their upcoming Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour. The tour saw the band play seven dates in South and Central America in May, followed by eleven dates in Europe, in June and early July. The band performed in Colombia, Peru and Greece for the first time in their career on this tour. The band performed 24 concerts in North America in late July, August, and September. Many of the concerts were in locations the band canceled on in 2009. As part of the tour, the band played Fenway Park in Boston with fellow Bostonians the J. Geils Band.
Problems on the band's Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour arose in August 2010, including Tyler accidentally hitting Joe Perry in the head with his microphone stand at a show in Wantagh, New York and Perry bumping into Tyler at the Toronto show, which caused Tyler to tumble off the stage. Perry suffered a minor head injury at the Wantagh show and Tyler was helped back up by fans and Perry at the Toronto show, and both shows went on. Around the same time as these incidents, tension flared again between Perry and Tyler due to Tyler's plans to become a talent judge on American Idol. Perry criticized Tyler for not consulting the rest of the band, saying that he "found out on the internet, like the rest of the world" and that nobody else in the band knew anything about it.
On August 18, it was reported that Tyler officially signed on with the show. When asked about this in October, Perry declared he understood Tyler's reasons and wished him luck, but stated that he would seek different projects – "I'm tired of waiting around, so I'm not passing up anything right now".
While announcing the Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour in 2009, Tyler and Perry said that the next item on the agenda was a new Aerosmith album, the group's first since 2004's Honkin' on Bobo. The group did some recording with producer Brendan O'Brien in 2008 but halted because of Tyler's health problems. Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton told the Boston Herald in September 2010 that Tyler believes he has the time and energy to continue fronting the band while also being a judge on American Idol.
Hamilton explained, "Steven's been very emphatic in saying that the way his time is arranged on the show leaves room to work on a record. He's been taking great pains to remind everybody of that, so hopefully that's the way it will come out." On November 5, 2010, Brad Whitford said the recording sessions will probably be in Los Angeles, where American Idol is headquartered, and a world tour would follow.
Touring and Music from Another Dimension! (2010–2013)
In a November 2010 interview reported at NME.com, drummer Joey Kramer confirmed that the band had every intention to finish and release their long-delayed album in 2011, stating, "Really, at this point in time, the only thing that's going to stop us is if someone out-and-out dies. Other than that, we've already been through what we've been through and stood the test of time. What else is there?" On January 18, 2011, Tyler declared that "Joe (Perry) has got some licks and I've got a bunch of songs that I've written for solo and/or Aerosmith" and the band would start prepping the album that week.
On March 20, 2011, Aerosmith announced a new greatest hits album, Tough Love: Best of the Ballads, which was released on May 10, 2011. On May 14, 2011, the band announced a tour of Latin America in the fall of 2011. In June, Joe Perry announced that the band is going to meet at the recording studio to produce the next album of the band in July. On August 30, it was announced that the new album will be released around May 2012. The album will be produced by Jack Douglas, who produced four albums for the band in the 1970s. Aerosmith began their fall tour of Latin America and Japan on October 22 in Lima, Peru. As part of the tour, the band performed in Paraguay, Panama, and Ecuador for the first time in their careers. Their show in Asunción, Paraguay was postponed a day, after lead singer Steven Tyler sustained facial injuries after falling in his hotel room shower, due to a bout of food poisoning that dehydrated him and caused him to faint.
On March 11, 2012, Aerosmith was featured on an episode of 60 Minutes. The show included very candid interviews with the band members, interspersed with live performances from the band's 2011 tour. Some of the comments the band members said about each other seemed to re-ignite past tensions in the band. However, on March 22, Joe Perry surprised Steven Tyler by performing "Happy Birthday" for him on American Idol, as an early birthday present for Tyler. On March 26, Aerosmith announced a summer tour with Cheap Trick entitled the "Global Warming Tour". On May 23, Aerosmith debuted their new single, "Legendary Child", on the season finale of American Idol. Shortly after, it was announced that their fifteenth studio album, Music from Another Dimension!, would be released on November 6, 2012. On May 30, Aerosmith and Cheap Trick performed for Walmart shareholders. Aerosmith's "Global Warming Tour" began June 16 in Minneapolis and took the band to 26 locations across North America through August 12. The band hinted that the tour would continue in October/November after the album release. On August 22, Aerosmith released two singles simultaneously, the rocker "Lover Alot" and the ballad "What Could Have Been Love". On September 22, Aerosmith performed at the iHeartRadio music festival in Las Vegas. In advance of the release of their new album, the band performed on The Late Show with David Letterman and Today, and Tyler and Perry were interviewed on The Late Show and The View. In addition, Tyler, Perry and Whitford performed "Dream On" for the telethon Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together to raise funds for the victims of the namesake storm that struck the Northeastern United States. On November 5, Aerosmith performed an outdoor concert in front of their old apartment at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston to celebrate the release of their album and their Boston roots. Music from Another Dimension! was released on November 6. Two days later, the band began the 2nd leg of their Global Warming Tour, which took the band to 14 North American locations through December 13.
On January 21, 2013, Aerosmith released "Can't Stop Lovin' You" (featuring Carrie Underwood) as the fourth single from Music from Another Dimension!. On February 20, it was announced that the band's principal songwriters Steven Tyler and Joe Perry would be recipients of the ASCAP Founders Award at the society's 30th Annual Pop Music Awards on April 17. Two days later, it was announced that the duo would be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at a ceremony to be held on June 13.
In late April and early May 2013, Aerosmith extended their Global Warming Tour to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore. This marked the band's first performances in Australia in 23 years, and the band's first-ever performances in the latter four countries. Tom Hamilton had to miss the last three Australian shows due to illness; David Hull filled in for him. On May 5, Aerosmith cancelled their first-ever performance in Indonesia (scheduled for May 11) due to safety concerns; the actual threat was not released. On May 30, Aerosmith performed as part of the "Boston Strong" charity concert for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. The band also performed at the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia on July 6, at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut on July 10, four concerts in Japan in mid-August, and as part of the Harley-Davidson 110th Anniversary Concert series in Milwaukee on August 30. In the fall of 2013, Aerosmith extended their tour to Central and South America, including their first-ever performances in Guatemala, El Salvador and Uruguay. Hamilton had to depart the Latin American tour due to illness.
In July 2013, the band released the live concert DVD Rock for the Rising Sun, which also documented the band's 2011 tour of Japan. The release was also screened in select theaters in October 2013.
Solo endeavors, farewell tour and upcoming sixteenth studio album (2014–2018)
On March 21, 2014, in tweets released by Joe Perry, Joey Kramer, and Slash, it was announced that Aerosmith would be touring North America with Slash (along with Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators) in the summer of 2014. This followed a 17-date European tour that Aerosmith took from May 14 to July 2. The North American tour, known as the Let Rock Rule Tour, sent Aerosmith to 21 locations from July 10 to September 12.
Asked in May 2014 if Aerosmith would release a sixteenth studio album anytime soon, bassist Tom Hamilton replied, "I hope soon. But I really don't know what we are doing because we no longer have a record contract. We are finished with Columbia. So, there is nothing written in stone. We'll see what the fans want." In an interview with Rolling Stone about what the future holds, Joe Perry admitted that, "I don't even know if making new albums makes sense anymore. Maybe we'll just release an EP every six months. I don't know what the future looks like."
On October 7, 2014, Perry released his autobiography Rocks: My Life in and Out of Aerosmith, co-written by David Ritz. Perry promoted the book with a book-signing tour that took him to 14 locations across the United States in the month of October. On February 26, 2015, Aerosmith premiered the film Aerosmith Rocks Donington in 300 movie theaters across North America; the concert video is from the band's 2014 performance at Download Festival at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England. The video was released on DVD/Blu-ray on September 4, 2015.
On March 31, 2015, lead singer Steven Tyler stated that he was working on his first solo country album. On April 6, it was announced that Tyler signed a record deal with Scott Borchetta's Dot Records (a division of the Big Machine Label Group). On May 13, Tyler released the lead single, "Love is Your Name", from his forthcoming solo debut album. He promoted the song on the Bobby Bones Show, iHeartMedia, CBS This Morning, Entertainment Tonight, and the American Idol season 14 finale.
On June 10, Aerosmith embarked on the Blue Army Tour, which sent the band to 17 North American locations through August 7, many of them in smaller venues in secondary markets that the band has either never performed in or hasn't performed in many years. The band also played a one-off show in Moscow on September 5. On the tour, the band played several lesser-known deep cuts.
After the tour, Tyler completed work on his solo album, We're All Somebody from Somewhere, which was released on July 15, 2016. Prior to the album's release, a second single, "Red, White & You", was released in January 2016, followed by the third single (the title track) in June 2016. Meanwhile, Joe Perry worked with Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp on the side project Hollywood Vampires, which released their eponymous debut album in September 2015 and performed at the 58th Grammy Awards on February 15, 2016. Brad Whitford re-joined Derek St. Holmes for a handful of tour dates in November 2015 and a new Whitford/St. Holmes album that was made available to fans at their live performances and was scheduled for wide release in 2016. Tom Hamilton performed with Thin Lizzy at a handful of concert dates in Europe in the summer of 2016 and also joined Pearl Jam for a performance of "Draw the Line" at Boston's Fenway Park on August 7. Meanwhile, Joey Kramer became actively involved in his "Rockin' & Roastin'" coffee business, which opened a location in Newry, Maine, in December 2015 and a second location in North Attleborough, Massachusetts in July 2016.
Since December 2015, in various interviews, Whitford, Tyler, and Perry all discussed the possibility of a farewell tour or "wind-down tour" slated to start in 2017. Perry has suggested the tour could last for two years and Tyler said it could potentially last "forever"; Whitford and Tyler also discussed the potential of doing one last studio album.
On July 10, 2016, Perry collapsed onstage at a concert he was performing with the Hollywood Vampires on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest. He was revived and rushed to the hospital, where he was quickly upgraded to stable condition later that night. The Vampires continued the show without Perry that evening and continued the rest of their tour, but canceled an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. After resting for a few days, Perry made a complete recovery and returned to the Hollywood Vampires tour.
From September through October 2016 Aerosmith embarked on a nine-date tour of Latin America, called the Rock 'N' Roll Rumble Tour, preceded by a performance at the Kaaboo Festival in San Diego, California on September 17. In November 2016, Aerosmith announced that they would be going on a "farewell" tour in Europe in the spring and summer of 2017, titled the Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour. The tour launched in Tel Aviv, Israel on May 17, 2017, where approximately 45,000 tickets were sold. In early July, the band completed the European leg of the tour; the band extended the tour to South America in September and October 2017, but the last few shows had to be canceled due to health issues. According to Brad Whitford, the tour could end anytime from 2017 to the next four years in 2021. On 19 January 2018, Perry released a solo disc titled Sweetzerland Manifesto. He also announced that the 2017 tour titled "Aero-Vederci Baby!" was not really a final tour and the band will be touring in 2019 to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
Las Vegas residency, future activities and upcoming new projects (2019–present)
On August 15, 2018, Aerosmith appeared on NBC's Today show to announce a residency in Las Vegas called "Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild", a reference to both Las Vegas casino gambling and their 1994 single of the same name.
In January 2019, Joe Perry stated that he and Steven Tyler, were due to start recording new material, together, for a new Aerosmith album.
The band's Las Vegas residency took place during the months of April, June, July, and September thru December 2019 and was scheduled to be extended into January, February, May, and June 2020 at the Park Theater (the 2020 dates were cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic). In addition to the Las Vegas shows, in mid July 2019, the band performed at a festival in Minnesota, and in August 2019, they played a total of nine shows spread across three MGM venues in Maryland, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. On February 14, 2019, Aerosmith was scheduled to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but the ceremony and installation was postponed to a date to be determined due to inclement weather.
In April 2019, drummer Joey Kramer suffered minor injuries to his shoulder following an unspecified accident, and was forced to stand down from several concerts of the band's Las Vegas residency. His drum technician John Douglas substituted for him.
In November the same year, Kramer told several news sites that he was not allowed to rejoin the band despite his recovery, to which the band responded that his playing was "not up to Aerosmith standards". The disagreement culminated in a series of lawsuits in January 2020, after which Kramer was expected to be barred from performing with the band at the 2020 Grammy Awards. Kramer rejoined Aerosmith in February 2020 for their Las Vegas residency.
Aerosmith was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
In 2019, a European tour was announced, due to take place through the summer of 2020 following the completion of their Las Vegas dates, but the shows were cancelled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as was a 50th Anniversary show at Boston's Fenway Park, originally planned for September 2020. The European dates were initially rescheduled for the summer of 2021 but were later moved again to summer 2022 due to the ongoing pandemic.
In an August 2020 interview with former The Black Crowes drummer, Steve Gorman, on his radio show Steve Gorman Rocks, Brad Whitford was asked what the future of Aerosmith looked like. His response was "I don't really know what they want to do. And, I don't really care because, um, truthfully, I'm not interested anymore", citing ongoing dysfunction within the band.
He expressed similar concerns in an interview with Joe Bonamassa on his 'Live From Nerdville' podcast in June 2021. Brad shared his thoughts about how the COVID-19 outbreak would affect touring plans for Aerosmith, and musicians in general, whilst acknowledging his & his bandmates current ages. Stating, "I mean, I have my doubts about Aerosmith ever really performing again at this stage, because age is becoming a real factor. It is what it is."
On August 23, 2021, Aerosmith signed a distribution deal with Universal Music Group, covering the band's entire catalog - both Geffen (Universal's subsidiary) and Columbia titles.
Influence and legacy
Influenced by bands such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, and the New York Dolls,Jeff Burlingame (2010). "Aerosmith: Hard Rock Superstars". Enslow Publishers, Inc. Aerosmith proved to be a major influence themselves on subsequently massively successful bands and musicians; according to Perry, Eddie Van Halen once told him that his band Van Halen "started out on the suburban L.A. club circuit, playing Aerosmith songs". Aerosmith's influence was evident on the next generation of hard rock and heavy metal bands, namely Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Guns N' Roses, Tesla, L.A. Guns, Cinderella, Faster Pussycat, Skid Row, Extreme, Warrant, Inglorious, the Black Crowes and the Quireboys, as well as Metallica, Metal Church and Testament. Especially, Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash has stated that Aerosmith is his favorite band, and Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx has expressed massive admiration for the band and its early records in both The Dirt and The Heroin Diaries. Members of alternative rock bands such as Nirvana, Mother Love Bone/Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Staind and Godsmack are also self-professed early Aerosmith fans.
The interplay between Joe Perry and Brad Whitford has been inspiring to many bands, especially Guns N' Roses. Joe Perry has received wide recognition and praise as a lead guitarist, and has shared the stage many times with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, who Perry cites as primary influences. He and Tyler were asked by Page to induct Led Zeppelin into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; during the ceremony, which took place in 1995, Tyler and Perry delivered their speech and joined the band onstage for a brief set. During Beck's and Metallica's induction in 2009, they invited Perry and Page to play the Yardbirds/Zeppelin/Aerosmith classic "Train Kept A-Rollin'". Other collaborations, either by individual members of the band or by Aerosmith as a whole, have included Alice Cooper on his Trash album, Guns N' Roses (who opened for Aerosmith during their 1988 tour and had covered "Mama Kin" on their first release) and B'z. As a testimony to their importance in American popular culture as a whole, Aerosmith have also collaborated with popular non-rock artists, such as Run-DMC, Eminem ("Sing for the Moment"), and Carrie Underwood, and performed with 'N Sync, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, and Nelly for the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show. Country artists Garth Brooks and Mark Chesnutt both scored hit singles with covers of Aerosmith songs; Brooks in 1995 with "The Fever", a reworking of Aerosmith's 1993 song, and Chesnutt in 1999 with a cover of Aerosmith's 1998 song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Like many of their 1970s contemporaries including Led Zeppelin and Alice Cooper, the members of Aerosmith were prone to excess and debauchery. Drug consumption was rampant; the recording sessions for 1976's Rocks and 1977's Draw the Line were especially noted for their substance indulgence, including heroin. In the words of Bebe Buell, "They [Aerosmith] were like a gang of kids with their own planes, Porsches, millions of dollars, limitless resources. [...] Mick Jagger and Jimmy Page had control, but these boys did not care. They won the prize, hands down, for the rowdiest rock 'n' roll band in that era. No question."
In the mid to late 1970s, the band enjoyed tremendous popularity in the United States and in Japan, though they failed to make a big impression in Britain. Still, they were among the most popular hard rock acts in America in the mid to late 1970s, along with Heart, Kiss, Ted Nugent, ZZ Top, and Boston. Their massive popularity waned, however, following Perry and Whitford's departures. Following both guitarists' return to the band and its complete drug cleanup, Aerosmith made a prodigious return to success, once described as "the single most successful comeback in the history of heavy metal, if not all of popular music." During both the 1970s and the 1987–1995 era, Aerosmith undertook grueling world tours that numbered in the triple digits numbers of dates, headlining or co-headlining festivals along the way, such as the Texxas Jam in 1978 and 1987, the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington, England in 1990 and 1994, and Woodstock '94.
Initially resistant to this medium, the band later became renowned and received numerous awards for pioneering expansive, conceptual music videos, such as those for "Janie's Got a Gun" (directed by future Fight Club director David Fincher), "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'", "Amazing", "Crazy", "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", and "Pink".
The band's music has also been featured in several video games, such as episodes of the Dead or Alive and Grand Theft Auto series, and some video games are centered on the band, like Quest for Fame and Revolution X. Aerosmith was the first band to have its band-centered Guitar Hero title, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game across both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band platforms.
MembersCurrent Steven Tyler – lead vocals, harmonica, percussion (1970–present)
Tom Hamilton – bass (1970–present)
Joey Kramer – drums (1970–present)
Joe Perry – lead and rhythm guitar, backing and occasional lead vocals (1970–1979, 1984–present)
Brad Whitford – rhythm and lead guitar (1971–1981, 1984–present)Touring Buck Johnson – keyboards, piano, backing vocals, guitar (2014–present)Former Ray Tabano – rhythm and lead guitar (1970–1971)
Jimmy Crespo – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1979–1984)
Rick Dufay – rhythm and lead guitar (1981–1984)
Awards and achievements
Despite Aerosmith's popularity and success in the 1970s, it wasn't until their comeback in the late-1980s and 1990s when they started winning awards and major recognition. In 1987, Aerosmith won the Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap – Single for the re-mix of "Walk This Way" with Run-D.M.C. In 1990, Aerosmith won their first Grammy award, for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and went on to win a total of four such awards (all of them in the 1990s) for "Janie's Got a Gun", "Livin' on the Edge", "Crazy", and "Pink". Aerosmith is second only to U2 in the number of awards won in that category.
In addition, Aerosmith's music videos won numerous awards throughout the 1990s. Aerosmith ranks as the ninth most successful artist (and the third most successful group) of all-time at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), with ten such awards to date. Aerosmith is also the all-time leader in the categories Best Rock Video (with four such awards) and Viewer's Choice (with three such awards). Aerosmith has also won once each in the categories Video of the Year, Best Group Video, and Best Video from a Film. The videos for which Aerosmith has won VMAs are "Janie's Got a Gun" (2 awards), "The Other Side", "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'" (3 awards), "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", "Pink", and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Over the course of their career (primarily 1990 and after), Aerosmith has also collected six American Music Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, two People's Choice Awards, sixteen Boston Music Awards, and numerous other awards and honors. Some of the high accolades Aerosmith have achieved include induction into Hollywood's Rock Walk in 1990, a declaration of "Aerosmith Day" in the state of Massachusetts by then-Governor William Weld on April 13, 1993, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and being honored with the mtvICON award in 2002.
In the fields of technology and video games, Aerosmith has achieved several feats. In 1994, Aerosmith released the song "Head First" on the CompuServe online service, which is considered to be the first full-length commercial product available online. In 2008, Aerosmith became the first artist to have an entire Guitar Hero video game based around them with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game across both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band platforms.
Aerosmith also holds several chart and album sales feats, including the second highest number of number-one singles on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for a group with nine, the only number one debut on the Billboard Hot 100 by a rock group with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", the second most gold albums by an American group behind Kiss who has 30, the most total certifications (including gold, platinum, and multi-platinum combined) by an American group, and are tied with Van Halen for the most multi-platinum albums by an American group. From the Recording Industry Association of America, Aerosmith has achieved 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum album certifications, in addition to one diamond album, four gold singles, and one platinum digital single. Media often refer to Aerosmith, who have sold more than 150 million albums worldwide and 70.2 million in the United States, as the best-selling American rock band.
Aerosmith were honored as MusiCares Person of the Year in 2020.
Rankings
"Dream On", "Toys in the Attic", and "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) are all listed in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
In 1993, "Rolling Stones list of the "Top 100 Music Videos" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 11 and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 95.
In 1999, MTV's "100 Greatest Videos Ever Made" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 5 and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 48.
In 2000, VH1's "100 Greatest Rock Songs" included "Walk This Way" at number 35 and "Dream On" at number 47.
In 2001, "VH1: 100 Greatest Videos" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 11, "Crazy" at number 23, and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 48.
In 2003, Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time included Rocks at number 176 and Toys in the Attic at number 228.
In 2004, Rolling Stones The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time included "Dream On" at number 172, "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 287, "Walk This Way" (original) at number 336, and "Sweet Emotion" at number 408.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Aerosmith number 57 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2008, Rolling Stone ranked the original version of "Walk This Way" at number 34 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
In 2010, Aerosmith were ranked number 30 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2013, Ultimate Classic Rock website ranked "Sweet Emotion" number 1 in their Top 100 Classic Rock Songs chart.
"Pump", which reached number 1 on the Australian Record Industry Association charts and yielded two top 10 hit singles. "Pump" more than 150,000 units on Warner Music (which distributed Geffen in Australia until 1990) and more than 60,000 units after Universal took over
DiscographyStudio albums'''
Aerosmith (1973)
Get Your Wings (1974)
Toys in the Attic (1975)
Rocks (1976)
Draw the Line (1977)
Night in the Ruts (1979)
Rock in a Hard Place (1982)
Done with Mirrors (1985)
Permanent Vacation (1987)
Pump (1989)
Get a Grip (1993)
Nine Lives (1997)
Just Push Play (2001)
Honkin' on Bobo (2004)
Music from Another Dimension! (2012)
Filmography and videography
In addition to recording and performing music, Aerosmith has also been involved with films, television, video games, pinball, and music videos. In 1978, the band starred as the "Future Villain Band" in the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Later, when the band resurrected itself in the late 1980s and 1990s, Aerosmith made further appearances, including the "Wayne's World" sketch on Saturday Night Live in 1990, the "Flaming Moe's" episode of The Simpsons in 1991, and the film Wayne's World 2 in 1993. The band also appeared in the 2005 John Travolta/Uma Thurman comedy Be Cool, in which Steven Tyler and Thurman's characters help bring pop music star Linda Moon (Christina Milian) into the limelight.
The band has been the subject of several video games including Revolution X in 1994, Quest for Fame in 1995, and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, in June 2008. The band has also made over 30 major music videos, and released seven home videos or DVDs.
In 2017, Stern released three versions of an Aerosmith pinball machine, which feature original versions of nine of the band's iconic songs, as well as Elevator and Toy-Box multiballs.
Tours
1970–1972: Club Days
1973: Aerosmith Tour
1974: Get Your Wings Tour
1975: Toys in the Attic Tour
1976–1977: Rocks Tour 1977–1978: Aerosmith Express Tour (supporting Draw the Line album)
1978: Live! Bootleg Tour 1979–1980: Night in the Ruts Tour
1982–1983: Rock in a Hard Place Tour
1984: Back in the Saddle Tour 1985–1986: Done with Mirrors Tour 1987–1988: Permanent Vacation Tour 1989–1990: Pump Tour 1993–1994: Get a Grip Tour 1997–1999: Nine Lives Tour 1999–2000: Roar of the Dragon Tour 2001–2002: Just Push Play Tour 2002: Girls of Summer Tour 2003: Rocksimus Maximus Tour 2004: Honkin' on Bobo Tour 2005–2006: Rockin' the Joint Tour 2006: Route of All Evil Tour 2007: World Tour 2007 2009: Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Tour 2010: Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour 2011: Back on the Road Tour 2012–2014: Global Warming Tour 2014: Let Rock Rule Tour 2015: Blue Army Tour 2016: Rock 'N' Roll Rumble Tour 2017–2018: Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour 2019–2020: Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild''
See also
Aero Force One
Honorific nicknames in popular music
List of artists who reached number one on the Australian singles chart
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart
List of best-selling music artists
List of glam metal bands and artists
List of hard rock musicians (A–M)
List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
Pop icon
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
Aerosmithfans website|Aerosmith - Aerosmith Fans - The (un) Official Home Page Of Aerosmith Fans Worldewide - xxxxx
1970 establishments in Massachusetts
American blues rock musical groups
Hard rock musical groups from Massachusetts
American glam metal musical groups
Columbia Records artists
Geffen Records artists
Grammy Award winners
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musical groups established in 1970
Musical groups from Boston
Musical quintets
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"\"Make It\" is the first song on Aerosmith's self-titled debut album, Aerosmith. The song begins with the protagonist welcoming people to a show and tells them he has something they should know, the info in question is to make it and not break it, which means to succeed in achieving your dreams and not letting anything stop you (much like Aerosmith in their early club days performing up to three shows a day trying to get a record deal).\n\nIn the authorized Stephen Davis band memoir Walk This Way, Tyler speaks at length about the origins of the songs:\n\n\"Make It\" - \"I wrote 'Make It' in a car driving from New Hampshire to Boston. There's that hill you come to and see the skyline of Boston, and I was sitting in the backseat thinking, What would be the greatest thing to sing for an audience if we were opening up for the...Stones? What would the lyrics say?\"\n\nThe song was re-recorded for the 2007 video game Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.\n\nLive performances\n\"Make It\" was performed constantly throughout the 1970s and rarely throughout the rest of their career. The first known play was on December 2, 1971, at the Academy of Music in New York City, and the last known play was on November 26, 2003, at the Fleet Center in Boston\n\nReferences \n\n1972 songs\nAerosmith songs\nSongs written by Steven Tyler\n\nes:Make It (canción de Aerosmith)\nfr:Make It (chanson d'Aerosmith)\nit:Make It (Aerosmith)\nhe:Make It\nhu:Make It\npt:Make It\nsv:Make It",
"The Back in the Saddle Tour was a comeback concert tour by American rock group Aerosmith, which had been relatively inactive for several years. The tour began on June 22, 1984, in Concord, New Hampshire and ended on January 18, 1985, in Columbus, Ohio.\n\nBackground\nFormed in 1970, Aerosmith was on hard times by the early 1980s. Vocalist Steven Tyler had been drinking heavily, and his voice had suffered. Lead guitarist Joe Perry was addicted to heroin. The relationship between the two most prominent members of the band had deteriorated to \"hostility\". Discussing his relationship with Perry, Tyler said \"I hated his guts. I said 'I never want to fucking play on the same stage with you again'.\"\n\nJoe Perry quit the band in 1979 and embarked on solo career with The Joe Perry Project. Guitarist Brad Whitford also quit to work with Derek St. Holmes and later joined Perry's band. Most of Aerosmith's ventures without Perry and Whitford were unsuccessful. Many fans believed that this was the end of Aerosmith.\n\nReunion\nIn 1983, the original band members \"started drifting back together\". Perry had kicked his heroin habit, and although Tyler was still drinking, he was in somewhat better control of himself. Tyler had concluded that \"Time heals all wounds. Joe is nothing without me, and I'm nothing without him.\" They faced problems, however, as the \"group had no current album or record deal.\" To jump start their career, the band decided on a tour of the United States, considering as many as 70 performances. In its final form, the tour consisted of 58 performances.\n\nTour\nDoubts were expressed as to whether Aerosmith could make a comeback. \"Cynics may suggest that the reunion dubbed the Back in the Saddle Tour is all the band has going for it. Aerosmith hasn't had a new album in two years.\"\n\nThe tour consisted of two legs with a three-month break at the midpoint. The tour \"got a roar of approval from loyal fans\", and it was described as \"a rousing success\". The band's tour income was \"estimated as high as $3 million\".\n\nSetlist\n \"Rats In The Cellar\"\n \"Back In The Saddle\"\n \"Bone To Bone (Coney Island White Fish Boy)\"\n \"Big Ten Inch Record\"\n \"Movin' Out\"\n \"Last Child\"\n \"Let The Music Do The Talking\" (On 12/31, Aerosmith performed the Joe Perry Project version)\n \"Red House\" \"(The Jimi Hendrix Experience Cover)\"\n \"Dream On\"\n \"Sweet Emotion\"\n \"Same Old Song And Dance\"\n\nEncore:\n \"Walk This Way\"\n \"Train Kept A-Rollin'\"\n\nRecord contract\nThe success of the tour \"piqued the interest\" of Geffen Records and \"resulted in a new deal with Geffen.\"\n\nLegacy\nThe tour was \"deemed a success\". It did \"what it was meant to do. Fans welcomed them back with open arms.\" The tour \"proved to be exactly what Aerosmith needed, launching the reunion on just the right note of organized mayhem.\"\n\nSix of the eight tracks on the album Classics Live II were recorded at the Orpheum Theater in the band's home town of Boston on New Year's Eve, December 31, 1984 in the final weeks of the Back In The Saddle Tour. This album has been called \"far more worthy than its nondescript packaging suggested\".\n\nThe band's successful career has continued for over 25 years after this comeback tour.\n\nTour dates\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Aero Force One: Back In The Saddle Tour\n\n1984 concert tours\n1985 concert tours\nAerosmith concert tours\nReunion concert tours"
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"Aerosmith",
"Record deal, Aerosmith, Get Your Wings and Toys in the Attic (1971-1975)",
"What record deal did Aerosmith receive in 1971?",
"signed with Columbia in mid-1972"
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What was their first record?
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What was Aerosmith's first record?
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Aerosmith
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After forming the band and finalizing the lineup in 1971, the band started to garner some local success doing live shows. Originally booked through the Ed Malhoit Agency, the band signed a promotion deal with Frank Connelly and eventually secured a management deal with David Krebs and Steve Leber in 1972. Krebs and Leber invited Columbia Records President Clive Davis to see the band at Max's Kansas City in New York City. Aerosmith was not originally scheduled to play that night at the club, but they paid from their own pockets to secure a place on the bill, reportedly the only band ever to do so at Max's. "No Surprize" from their Night in the Ruts album celebrates the moment their fame began. Aerosmith signed with Columbia in mid-1972 for a reported $125,000 and issued their debut album, Aerosmith. Released in January 1973, the album peaked at number 166. The album was straightforward rock and roll with well-defined blues influences, laying the groundwork for Aerosmith's signature blues rock sound. Although the highest-charting single from the album was "Dream On" at number 59, several tracks, such as "Mama Kin" and "Walkin' the Dog", would become staples of the band's live shows and receive airplay on rock radio. The album reached gold status initially, eventually went on to sell two million copies, and was certified double platinum after the band reached mainstream success over a decade later. After constant touring, the band released their second album Get Your Wings in 1974, the first of a string of multi-platinum albums produced by Jack Douglas. This album included the rock radio hits "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'", a cover done previously by the Yardbirds. The album also contained several fan favorites including "Lord of the Thighs", "Seasons of Wither", and "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", darker songs that have become staples in the band's live shows. To date, Get Your Wings has sold three million copies. It was 1975's Toys in the Attic, however, that established Aerosmith as international stars competing with the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Originally derided as Rolling Stones knockoffs in part due to the physical resemblance between lead singers Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger, Toys in the Attic showed that Aerosmith was a unique and talented band in their own right. Toys in the Attic was an immediate success, starting with the single "Sweet Emotion", which became the band's first Top 40 hit. This was followed by a successful re-release of "Dream On" which hit number 6, becoming their best charting single of the 1970s. "Walk This Way", re-released in 1976, reached the Top 10 in early 1977. In addition, "Toys in the Attic" and "Big Ten Inch Record" (a song originally recorded by Bull Moose Jackson) became concert staples. As a result of this success, both of the band's previous albums re-charted. Toys in the Attic has gone on to become the band's bestselling studio album in the States, with certified U.S. sales of eight million copies. The band toured in support of Toys in the Attic, where they started to get more recognition. Also around this time, the band established their home base as "the Wherehouse" in Waltham, Massachusetts, where they would record and rehearse music, as well as conduct business. CANNOTANSWER
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Aerosmith.
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Aerosmith is an American rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whitford (guitar). Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has also incorporated elements of pop rock, heavy metal, glam metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many subsequent rock artists. They are sometimes referred to as "the Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". The primary songwriting team of Tyler and Perry is often known as the "Toxic Twins".
Perry and Hamilton, originally in a band together called the Jam Band, met up with Tyler, Kramer, and guitarist Ray Tabano, and formed Aerosmith; in 1971, Tabano was replaced by Whitford. At some point prior to the weekend of December 25, 1971; they were known as "Fox Chase." They released a string of multi-platinum albums starting with their eponymous debut in 1973, followed by Get Your Wings in 1974. The band broke into the mainstream with Toys in the Attic (1975) and Rocks (1976). Draw the Line and Night in the Ruts followed in 1977 and 1979. Throughout the 1970s, the band toured extensively and charted a dozen Hot 100 singles, including their first Top 40 hit "Sweet Emotion" and the Top 10 hits "Dream On" and "Walk This Way". By the end of the decade, they were among the most popular hard rock bands in the world and developed a following of fans, often referred to as the "Blue Army". Drug addiction and internal conflict led to the departures of Perry and Whitford in 1979 and 1981.
The band did not fare well and the album Rock in a Hard Place (1982) failed to match previous successes.
Perry and Whitford returned to Aerosmith in 1984. After a comeback tour, they recorded Done with Mirrors (1985), which did not meet commercial expectations. It was not until a 1986 collaboration with rap group Run–D.M.C. on a remake of "Walk This Way", and the 1987 multi-platinum release, Permanent Vacation, that they regained their previous level of popularity. In the late 1980s and 1990s, the band won numerous awards for music from the multi-platinum albums Pump (1989), Get a Grip (1993), and Nine Lives (1997), while they embarked on their most extensive concert tours to date. Their biggest hits during this period included "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", "Rag Doll", "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", "What it Takes", "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'", and "Crazy". The band also filmed popular music videos and made notable appearances in television, film, and video games. In 1998, they achieved their first number-one hit with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from [[Armageddon: The Album|Armageddons soundtrack]] and the following year, their roller coaster attraction opened at Walt Disney World. Their comeback has been described as one of the most remarkable and spectacular in rock history. Additional albums Just Push Play (which included the hit "Jaded"), Honkin' on Bobo (a collection of blues covers), and Music from Another Dimension! followed in 2001, 2004, and 2012. In 2008, they released Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game. After five decades, the band continues to tour and record music. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, they had an ongoing concert residency in Las Vegas.
Aerosmith is the best-selling American hard rock band of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide, including over 85 million records in the United States. With 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum albums, they hold the record for the most total certifications by an American group and are tied for the most multi-platinum albums by an American group. They have achieved twenty-one Top 40 hits on the US Hot 100, nine number-one Mainstream Rock hits, four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, and ten MTV Video Music Awards. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and were ranked number 57 and 30, respectively, on Rolling Stones and VH1's lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2013, Tyler and Perry were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2020, the band received the MusiCares Person of the Year award.
History
Formation (1964–1970)
In 1964, Steven Tyler formed his own band called the Strangeurs—later Chain Reaction—in Yonkers, New York. Meanwhile, Perry and Hamilton formed the Jam Band (commonly known as "Joe Perry's Jam Band"), which was based on free-form and blues. Hamilton and Perry moved to Boston, Massachusetts in September 1969. There they met Joey Kramer, a drummer from Yonkers, New York. Kramer knew Tyler and had always hoped to play in a band with him. Kramer, a Berklee College of Music student, decided to leave the school, and joined Jam Band.
In 1970, Chain Reaction and Jam Band played at the same gig. Tyler immediately loved Jam Band's sound, and wanted to combine the two bands. In October 1970, the bands met up again and considered the proposition. Tyler, who had been a drummer and backup singer in Chain Reaction, adamantly refused to play drums in this new band, insisting that he would take part only if he could be frontman and lead vocalist. The others agreed, and a new band was formed. The band moved into a home together at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, where they wrote and rehearsed music together and relaxed in between shows.
The members of the band reportedly spent afternoons getting high and watching Three Stooges reruns. One day, they had a post-Stooges meeting to try to come up with a name. Kramer said that, when he was in school, he would write the word "aerosmith" all over his notebooks. The name had popped into his head after listening to Harry Nilsson's album Aerial Ballet, which featured jacket art of a circus performer jumping out of a biplane. Initially, Kramer's bandmates were unimpressed; they all thought he was referring to the Sinclair Lewis novel they were required to read in high school English class. "No, not Arrowsmith," Kramer explained. "A-E-R-O...Aerosmith." The band settled upon this name after also considering "the Hookers" and "Spike Jones."
Soon, the band hired Ray Tabano, a childhood friend of Tyler, as rhythm guitarist and began playing local shows. Aerosmith played their first gig in Mendon, Massachusetts at Nipmuc Regional High School (now Miscoe Hill Middle School) on November 6, 1970. In 1971, Tabano was replaced by Brad Whitford, who also attended the Berklee School of Music, and was formerly a member of the band Earth Inc. Whitford, from Reading, Massachusetts, had already played at Reading's AW Coolidge Middle School. Other than a period from July 1979 to April 1984, the line-up of Tyler, Perry, Hamilton, Kramer, and Whitford has stayed the same.
Record deal, Aerosmith, Get Your Wings, and Toys in the Attic (1971–1975)
After forming the band and finalizing the lineup in 1971, the band started to garner some local success doing live shows. Originally booked through the Ed Malhoit Agency, the band signed a promotion deal with Frank Connelly, and eventually secured a management deal with David Krebs and Steve Leber in 1972. Krebs and Leber invited Columbia Records President Clive Davis to see the band at Max's Kansas City in New York City. Aerosmith was not originally scheduled to play that night at the club, but they paid out of their own pockets to secure a place on the bill, reportedly the only band ever to do so at Max's. "No Surprize" from their Night in the Ruts album celebrated the moment their fame rose.
Aerosmith signed with Columbia in mid-1972 for a reported $125,000, and released their debut album, Aerosmith. Released in January 1973, the album peaked at number 166. The album was straightforward rock and roll with well-defined blues influences, laying the groundwork for Aerosmith's signature blues rock sound. Although the highest-charting single from the album was "Dream On" at number 59, several tracks, such as "Mama Kin" and "Walkin' the Dog", would become staples of the band's live shows, and received airplay on rock radio. The album reached gold status initially, eventually went on to sell two million copies, and was certified double platinum after the band reached mainstream success over a decade later. After constant touring, the band released their second album, Get Your Wings in 1974, the first of a string of multi-platinum albums produced by Jack Douglas. This album included the rock radio hits "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'", a cover done previously by the Yardbirds. The album also contained several fan favorites, including "Lord of the Thighs", "Seasons of Wither", and "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", darker songs that have become staples in the band's live shows. To date, Get Your Wings has sold three million copies.
In 1975, Aerosmith released their third album, Toys in the Attic, which established Aerosmith as international stars, competing with the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Originally derided as Rolling Stones knockoffs in part due to the physical resemblance between lead singers Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger, Toys in the Attic showed that Aerosmith was a unique and talented band in their own right. Toys in the Attic was an immediate success, starting with the single "Sweet Emotion", which became the band's first Top 40 hit. This was followed by a successful re-release of "Dream On" which hit No. 6, becoming their best charting single of the 1970s. "Walk This Way", re-released in 1976, reached the Top 10 in early 1977.
In addition, "Toys in the Attic" and "Big Ten Inch Record" (a song originally recorded by Bull Moose Jackson) became concert staples. As a result of this success, both of the band's previous albums re-charted. Toys in the Attic has gone on to become the band's bestselling studio album in the United States, with certified US sales of nine million copies. The band toured in support of Toys in the Attic, where they started to get more recognition. Also around this time, the band established their home base as "the Wherehouse" in Waltham, Massachusetts, where they would record and rehearse music, as well as conduct business.
Rocks, Draw the Line, and Live! Bootleg (1976–1978)
In 1976, Aerosmith's fourth album was Rocks, which "captured Aerosmith at their most raw and rocking". It went platinum swiftly and featured two Top 40 hits, "Last Child" and "Back in the Saddle", as well as the ballad "Home Tonight", which also charted. Rocks would eventually go on to sell over four million copies. Both Toys in the Attic and Rocks are highly regarded, especially in the hard rock genre: they appear on such lists as Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and are cited as influential by members of Guns N' Roses, Metallica, and Mötley Crüe. Kurt Cobain also listed Rocks as one of the albums he thought were most influential to Nirvana's sound in his journal in 1993. Soon after Rocks was released, the band continued to tour heavily, this time headlining their own shows, including large stadiums and rock festivals.
In 1977, Aerosmith released their fifth album, Draw the Line. Its recording was affected by the band's excesses, but the record still had memorable moments. The title track charted just shy of the Top 40 and remains a live staple, and "Kings and Queens" also charted. The album went on to sell two million copies. The band toured extensively in support of the album, but drug abuse and the fast-paced life of touring and recording began affecting their performances. Tyler and Perry became known as "the Toxic Twins" due to their notorious abuse of drugs on and off the stage. Tyler later commented, "I've spent $64 million on drugs"; Perry scoffed later, "There's no fucking way in the world you could spend that much money on drugs and still be alive. It makes a good headline – but, practically speaking, that was probably a very small portion of where we spent our money."
While continuing to tour and record in the late 1970s, Aerosmith appeared in the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie. Their cover of The Beatles' "Come Together", from the soundtrack, was the band's last Top 40 hit for nearly 10 years. The double vinyl Live! Bootleg, issued in 1978, captured the band's rawness during the Draw the Line tour. The standalone single "Chip Away the Stone", also released in 1978, charted at number 77.
Departures of Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, Night in the Ruts, and Rock in a Hard Place (1979–1984)
In 1979, the band started work on their next album, Night in the Ruts, but Aerosmith decided to go on tour during a break in the recording schedule. As the decade was about to conclude, the band's drug use began taking its toll, and tensions were slowly coming to a head. The band's touring schedule brought them to Cleveland Stadium on July 28, 1979, where they headlined the World Series of Rock festival. Pandemonium erupted backstage when Joe Perry's wife, Elissa, threw a glass of milk at Tom Hamilton's wife, Terry. Following the show, Tyler and Perry got into a heated argument when Tyler confronted Perry about his wife's antics, and after the course of the argument, Perry left Aerosmith (while Tyler claims in his autobiography that he fired Perry from the band). Upon his departure, Perry took some of the music that he had written with him. Shortly after his departure, Perry formed his own side project known as The Joe Perry Project.
Since there was still work to be done on Night in the Ruts, Aerosmith needed fill-in musicians to take Perry's place on the songs that needed to be recorded to complete the album. Guitarist Brad Whitford took over some of the lead parts, and Richie Supa, the band's longtime writing partner, filled in where needed until the band was able to hire Jimmy Crespo to take over as the next full-time guitarist. Night in the Ruts was released in November 1979, but only managed to sell enough records to be certified gold at the time, although it would eventually sell enough copies to be certified platinum by 1994. The only single the album spawned, a cover of "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" by the Shangri-Las, peaked at number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The tour for Night in the Ruts commenced shortly thereafter, but the band found themselves playing in smaller and smaller venues than before due to their popularity beginning to wane. Steven Tyler's drug issues were starting to affect his performance and songwriting, and he reached rock bottom in 1980, when he collapsed on stage during a show in Portland, Maine, and did not get up for the remainder of the set. Also in 1980, Aerosmith released their first compilation album, Greatest Hits. While the compilation didn't chart very high initially, it gained popularity later, and went on to become the band's best selling album in the United States, with sales of 12 million copies. In the fall of 1980, Tyler was injured in a serious motorcycle accident, which left him hospitalized for two months, and unable to tour or record well into 1981.
In 1981, Aerosmith began work on their next album, Rock in a Hard Place, and saw them reunite with producer Jack Douglas. However, after the first song for the album, "Lightning Strikes", was recorded, Brad Whitford left the band, and decided to form a duo with Derek St. Holmes, with whom he recorded a self-titled album, which failed to garner much interest. Whitford later joined up with the Joe Perry Project and played with them in 1984.
With Rick Dufay taking Whitford's place, Rock in a Hard Place was released on August 27, 1982. The album reached number 32 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Only one single charted, the aforementioned "Lightning Strikes", which peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. As with the tour for Night in the Ruts, Aerosmith was unable to book larger venues, and instead had to rely on filling clubs and theaters, which they struggled to do. At a homecoming arena show in Worcester, Massachusetts, Tyler and Perry reunited and got high backstage before the show. Tyler was so intoxicated that he collapsed on stage again and, like before, could not get up.
On February 14, 1984, Perry (by then divorced from his first wife Elissa) and Whitford saw Aerosmith perform at Boston's Orpheum Theater. Shortly thereafter, discussions began to reintegrate the two into the band and several months later, the original members of Aerosmith officially reunited. Steven Tyler recalls:
Back in the Saddle reunion tour, Done with Mirrors, and drug rehab (1984–1986)
In 1984, Aerosmith embarked on a reunion tour called the Back in the Saddle Tour, which led to the live album Classics Live II. While concerts on the tour were well-attended, it was plagued with several incidents, mostly attributed to drug abuse by band members. With their drug problems still not behind them, the group was signed to Geffen Records, and began working on a comeback. Despite the band signing on to a new record company, the band's old label Columbia continued to reap the benefits of Aerosmith's comeback, releasing the live companion albums Classics Live I and II and the collection Gems.
In 1985, the band released the album Done with Mirrors, their first studio album since reuniting. While the album did receive some positive reviews, it only went gold and failed to produce a hit single or generate any widespread interest. The album's most notable track, "Let the Music Do the Talking", was in fact a cover of a song originally recorded by the Joe Perry Project and released on that band's album of the same name. Nevertheless, the band became a popular concert attraction once again, touring in support of Done with Mirrors, well into 1986. In 1986, in an unprecedented crossover collaboration, Aerosmith (largely the additional contributions of leaders Tyler and Perry) appeared on Run–D.M.C.'s cover of "Walk This Way", a track blending rock and roll with hip hop. In reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song and its frequently-aired video resurrected Aerosmith's career by introducing the band's music to a new generation.
Despite their resurrecting performance, the band members' drug problems still stood in their way. In 1986, Tyler completed a successful drug rehabilitation program, after an intervention by his fellow band members, a doctor, and manager Tim Collins, who believed that the band's future would not be bright if Tyler did not get treated in time. The rest of the band members also completed drug rehab programs over the course of the next couple of years. According to the band's tell-all autobiography, Collins pledged in September 1986 that he could make Aerosmith the biggest band in the world by 1990 if they all completed drug rehab. Their next album was crucial because of the commercial disappointment of Done With Mirrors, and as the band members became clean, they worked hard to make their next album a success.
Permanent Vacation and Pump (1987–1991)
Permanent Vacation was released in August 1987, becoming a major hit and the band's bestselling album in over a decade (selling 5 million copies in the US), with all three of its singles ("Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", and "Rag Doll") reaching the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. Steven Tyler reveals in his autobiography that the album was "...the first one we ever did sober." Part of Permanent Vacations commercial success involved producer Bruce Fairbairn whose production touches (such as sound effects and high-quality recording) added interest to the album and the use of outside songwriters such as Desmond Child, Jim Vallance, and Holly Knight who assisted the band with lyrics. While the group was initially hesitant to using outside songwriters, including Tyler being furious for Knight getting songwriting credits for changing one word ("Rag Time" became "Rag Doll"), the method paid off, as Permanent Vacation became the band's most successful album in a decade. The group went on a subsequent tour with labelmates Guns N' Roses (who have cited Aerosmith as a major influence), which was intense at times because of Aerosmith's new struggle to stay clean amidst Guns N' Roses' well-publicized, rampant drug use.
Aerosmith's next album was even more successful. Pump, released in September 1989, featured three Top Ten singles: "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", and "What It Takes", as well as the Top 30 "The Other Side", re-establishing the band as a serious musical force. Pump was a critical and commercial success, eventually selling 7 million copies, spawning several music videos that were in regular rotation on MTV, and achieving four-star ratings from major music magazines. Pump ranked as the fourth-bestselling album of 1990. The band also won its first Grammy in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, for "Janie's Got a Gun". In addition, the video for "Janie's Got a Gun" won two Video Music Awards and was ranked as one of the 100 greatest videos of all time by Rolling Stone, MTV, and VH1. Like Permanent Vacation, Pump was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, who added production touches such as instrumental interludes that provided transitions between songs to give the album a more complete sound, as well as the Margarita Horns, who added horns to tracks such as "Love in an Elevator" and "The Other Side". Rock critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine claimed that Pump "revels in [pop concessions] without ever losing sight of Aerosmith's dirty hard rock core", going on to say that, "such ambition and successful musical eclectism make Pump rank with Toys in the Attic and Rocks." The recording process for Pump was documented in the video The Making of Pump, which has since been re-released as a DVD. The music videos for the album's singles were featured on the release Things That Go Pump in the Night, which quickly went platinum.
In support of Pump, the band embarked on the 12-month Pump Tour, which lasted for most of 1990. On February 21, 1990, the band appeared in a "Wayne's World" sketch on Saturday Night Live, debating the fall of communism and the Soviet Union, and performed their recent hits "Janie's Got a Gun" and "Monkey on My Back". The appearance of the band in the "Wayne's World" sketch was later ranked by E! as the number-one moment in the history of the program. On August 11, 1990, the band's performance on MTV's Unplugged aired. In October 1990, the Pump Tour ended, with the band's first ever performances in Australia. That same year, the band was also inducted to the Hollywood Rock Walk. In November 1991, the band appeared on The Simpsons episode "Flaming Moe's" and released a box set titled Pandora's Box. In coordination with the release of Pandora's Box, the band's 1975 hit "Sweet Emotion" was re-mixed and re-released as a single, and a music video was created to promote the single. Also in 1991, the band performed their 1973 single "Dream On" with Michael Kamen's orchestra for MTV's 10th Anniversary special; this performance was used as the official music video for the song. In 1992, Tyler and Perry appeared live as guests of Guns N' Roses during the latter's 1992 worldwide pay-per-view show in Paris, performing a medley of "Mama Kin" (which GN'R covered in 1986) and "Train Kept-A Rollin".
Get a Grip and Big Ones (1992–1995)
The band took a brief break before recording their follow-up to Pump in 1992. Despite significant shifts in mainstream music at the beginning of the 1990s, 1993's Get a Grip was just as successful commercially, becoming their first album to debut at number 1 and racking up sales of 7 million copies in a two-and-a-half-year timespan and over 20 million copies worldwide. The first singles were the hard rocking "Livin' on the Edge" and "Eat the Rich". Though many critics were unimpressed by the focus on the subsequent interchangeable power-ballads in promoting the album, all three ("Cryin'", "Amazing", and "Crazy") proved to be huge successes on radio and MTV. The music videos featured then up-and-coming actress Alicia Silverstone; her provocative performances earned her the title of "the Aerosmith chick" for the first half of the decade. Steven Tyler's daughter Liv Tyler was also featured in the "Crazy" video. The band won two Grammy Awards for songs from this album in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: for "Livin' on the Edge" in 1994 and "Crazy" in 1995.
During the making of Get a Grip, the management and record company brought in a variety of professional songwriting collaborators to help give nearly all the songs on the album more commercial appeal, a trend which would continue until the early 2000s. However, this led to accusations of selling out that would continue throughout the 1990s. In addition to Aerosmith's grueling 18-month world tour in support of Get a Grip, the band also did a number of things to help promote themselves and their album and appeal to youth culture, including the appearance of the band in the movie Wayne's World 2 where they performed two songs, the appearance of the band and their music in the video games Revolution X and Quest for Fame, performing at Woodstock '94, using their song "Deuces Are Wild" in The Beavis and Butt-head Experience, and opening their own club, The Mama Kin Music Hall, in Boston, MA in 1994. That same year saw the release of the band's compilation for Geffen Records, entitled Big Ones featuring their biggest hits from Permanent Vacation, Pump, and Get a Grip, "Deuces Are Wild" from the Beavis and Butt-head Experience, as well as two new songs, "Blind Man" and "Walk on Water", both of which experienced great success on the rock charts.
Nine Lives and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" (1996–2000)
Aerosmith had signed a $30 million contract for four records with Columbia Records/Sony Music in 1991, but had only recorded three of their six contractual albums with Geffen Records at that point (Done with Mirrors, Permanent Vacation, and Pump). Between 1991 and 1996, they released two more albums with Geffen (Get a Grip and Big Ones), which meant they now had five albums with Geffen under their belt (along with a planned live compilation), which meant they could now begin recording for their new contract with Columbia. The band took time off with their families before working on their next album, Nine Lives, which was plagued with personnel problems, including the firing of manager Tim Collins, who, according to band members, had nearly caused the band to break up. The album's producer was also changed from Glen Ballard to Kevin Shirley. Nine Lives was released in March 1997. Reviews were mixed, and Nine Lives initially fell down the charts, although it had a long chart life and sold double platinum in the United States alone, fueled by its singles, "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", the ballad "Hole in My Soul", and the crossover-pop smash "Pink" (which won the band their fourth Grammy Award in 1999 in the Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal category). It was followed by the over two-year-long Nine Lives Tour, which was plagued by problems including lead singer Steven Tyler injuring his leg at a concert, and Joey Kramer suffering second degree burns when his car caught fire at a gas station.
In 1998, in the midst of setbacks during the Nine Lives Tour, the band released the single "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", the love theme, written by Diane Warren for the 1998 film Armageddon, starring Steven Tyler's daughter Liv. The song became Aerosmith's first and only number 1 single when it debuted at the top position on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on top of the charts for four weeks. The song was nominated for an Academy Award in 1999. The song helped open Aerosmith up to a new generation and remains a slow-dance staple. 1998 also saw the release of the double-live album, A Little South of Sanity, which was assembled from performances on the Get a Grip and Nine Lives tours. The album went platinum shortly after its release. The band continued with their seemingly neverending world tours promoting Nine Lives and the "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" single well into 1999.
In 1999, Aerosmith was chosen to be featured in the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, providing the ride's soundtrack and theme at both Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort and, formerly, at Disneyland Paris in the Walt Disney Studios Park, which opened in 2002 and closed in 2019, to be replaced by an Iron Man and the Avengers attraction in the upcoming Avengers Campus. On September 9, 1999, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry reunited with Run–D.M.C. and were also joined by Kid Rock for a collaborative live performance of "Walk This Way" at the MTV Video Music Awards, a precursor to the Girls of Summer Tour. The band celebrated the new millennium with a brief tour of Japan, and also contributed the song "Angel's Eye" to the 2000 film Charlie's Angels. In December 2000, they wrapped up work on their next album.
Just Push Play, O, Yeah! and Rocksimus Maximus (2001–2003)
The band entered their next decade by co-headlining with NSYNC the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show, titled "The Kings of Rock and Pop", with appearances from Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige and Nelly. All of the stars collaborated with Aerosmith at the end for a performance of "Walk This Way".
In March 2001, the band released their 13th studio album Just Push Play, which quickly went platinum, fueled by the Top 10 single "Jaded" and the appearance of the title track in Dodge commercials. They were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame soon after their album was released, in late March 2001. Aerosmith is the only band to be inducted to the Hall of Fame with a song active in the charts ("Jaded"). Later that year, the band performed as part of the United We Stand: What More Can I Give benefit concert in Washington D.C. for 9/11 victims and their families. The band flew back to Indianapolis for a show the same night, as part of their Just Push Play Tour.
The band started 2002 by ending the Just Push Play tour, and simultaneously recording segments for their Behind the Music special on VH1, which not only chronicled the band's history but also the band's current activities and touring. The special was one of the few Behind the Musics to run two hours in length. In May, Aerosmith covered the "Theme from Spider-Man" for the soundtrack of the 2002 film of the same name. On June 27, the band performed at the official FIFA World Cup concert at Tokyo Stadium which took place during the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in Korea/Japan. In July 2002, Aerosmith released a two-disc career-spanning compilation O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits, which featured the new single "Girls of Summer" and embarked on the Girls of Summer Tour with Kid Rock and Run–D.M.C. opening. O, Yeah! has since been certified double platinum. MTV honored Aerosmith with their mtvICON award in 2002. Performances included Pink covering "Janie's Got a Gun". Shakira performed "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", Kid Rock played "Mama Kin" and "Last Child", Train performed "Dream On" and Papa Roach covered "Sweet Emotion". In addition, testimonials featured surprise guests Metallica, as well as Janet Jackson, Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst, Alicia Silverstone and Mila Kunis.
In 2003, Aerosmith co-headlined with Kiss on the Rocksimus Maximus Tour, in preparation for release of their blues album. They also performed a song for Rugrats Go Wild, "Lizard Love".
Honkin' on Bobo, Rockin' the Joint and Devil's Got a New Disguise (2004–2006)
Aerosmith's long-promised blues album Honkin' on Bobo was released in 2004. This was a return to the band's roots, including recording the album in live sessions, working with former producer Jack Douglas, and laying down their blues rock grit. It was followed by a live DVD, You Gotta Move, in December 2004, culled from performances on the Honkin' on Bobo Tour. "Dream On" was also featured in an advertising campaign for Buick in 2004, targeting that marque's market which is now composed largely of people who were teenagers when the song first charted.
2005 saw Steven Tyler appear in the film Be Cool. Joe Perry released his self-titled solo album that same year. At the 2006 Grammy Awards, he was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for the track "Mercy", but lost to Les Paul. In October 2005, Aerosmith released a CD/DVD Rockin' the Joint. The band hit the road for the Rockin' the Joint Tour on October 30 with Lenny Kravitz for a fall/winter tour of arenas in the largest US markets. The band planned to tour with Cheap Trick in the spring, hitting secondary markets in the US. Almost all of this leg of the tour was canceled, however. Dates were initially canceled one by one until March 22, 2006, when it was announced that lead singer Steven Tyler needed throat surgery, and the remaining dates on the tour were subsequently canceled.
Tyler and Perry performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra for their annual concert of July 4 on the Esplanade in 2006, a milestone as it was the first major event or performance since Steven Tyler's throat surgery. Around this time, the band also announced that they would embark on the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe in late 2006. On August 24, 2006, it was announced that Tom Hamilton was undergoing treatment for throat cancer. In order to make a full recovery, he sat out much of the Route of All Evil Tour until he was well again. Former Joe Perry Project bassist David Hull substituted for Hamilton until his return. On September 5, 2006, Aerosmith kicked off the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe in Columbus, Ohio. The co-headlining tour took both bands to amphitheaters across North America through November 24. After that, a select few arena dates were added, some of which were with Mötley Crüe. The tour ended December 17.
On October 17, 2006, the compilation album Devil's Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith was released. The album contained previous hits with the addition of two new songs, "Devil's Got a New Disguise" and "Sedona Sunrise", which were older outtakes re-recorded for the album. "Devil's Got a New Disguise" peaked at number 15 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The album was intended to fulfill Aerosmith's contract with Sony and tide fans over until the band's new studio album was released.
Touring, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and unfinished album (2007–2009)
In early 2007, the band announced a new World Tour, their first for nearly a decade to include dates outside North America or Japan. The band performed at London's Hard Rock Cafe in February 2007 to promote their European tour which included a night in Hyde Park as part of the Hyde Park Calling festival sponsored by Hard Rock Cafe. In the spring, the band toured Latin America to sold-out stadium crowds. In the summer, the band toured Europe, performing at several major rock festivals and visiting some countries they had never played before. Additionally, the band played in Middle East countries such as the United Arab Emirates and India for the first time. The band also played a few select dates in California and Canada in late July. The July 21 concert in Prince Edward Island, was the largest in that province's history. In September, the band performed eight dates in major markets in Northeastern North America. These shows were opened by Joan Jett. The band also played a private gig in Hawaii. A public show in Maui was canceled for logistical reasons, which spurred a class action lawsuit against the band. In April 2009, Aerosmith agreed to compensate all ticket buyers of the canceled show with a free ticket to a rescheduled Maui show to be held on October 20, 2009, along with reimbursements of all out-of-pocket expenses related to the show.
On November 1, 2007, the band entered the studio to work on the final studio album of their current contract with Sony. At the time, it was believed that the album would include both re-recorded tracks left off previous albums as well as brand new material. In an interview, guitarist Joe Perry revealed that in addition to creating a new album, the band was working closely with the makers of the Guitar Hero series to develop Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, a video game dedicated to the band's music. The game was released on June 29, 2008 and contains many of their most popular songs. Steven Tyler announced on VH1 Classic Radio on September 4, 2008, that Aerosmith intended to enter the studio at the end of September 2008 to complete the band's 15th studio album. Tyler also confirmed that the band planned to begin a new US tour in June 2009, in support of the as-yet-untitled album. This tour was supposed to be preceded by a concert in Venezuela on February 1, 2009. However, on January 15, 2009, Tyler said the band would be unable to play the gig because of a second knee injury of guitarist Joe Perry. In mid-February 2009, it was announced that the album would be produced by the famed Brendan O'Brien and that the album would likely be recorded live, like their earlier records. Although the band had hoped to finish the album before the tour started in June 2009, Perry said that the group "realized there wasn't any chance of getting [the album] finished before we hit the road for the summer." The tour featured ZZ Top as the opening act for most of the tour. The Aerosmith/ZZ Top Tour, presented by Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, was officially announced and the first dates released on April 8, 2009.
The tour was slated to take the band across North America from June to September 2009. The tour featured the band performing nearly all of the songs on their 1975 album Toys in the Attic during the first seven dates of the tour and also featured Joe Perry sing lead vocals on the 1976 "Combination". The tour was plagued with several health problems, however. Guitarist Brad Whitford had to sit out the first seven dates of the tour in order to recover from head surgery, after injuring his head getting out of his car. On June 28, 2009, at the band's seventh show of the tour at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, lead singer Steven Tyler injured his leg, which required seven shows to be postponed. As soon as the band resumed the tour on July 15, Whitford returned to the fold. However, Tom Hamilton had to depart the tour in order to recover from non-invasive surgery. On August 5, 2009, Tyler was rushed to the hospital after falling from the stage at a concert in Sturgis, South Dakota. He was helped up by security staff and taken backstage, before guitarist Joe Perry told the audience the show was over. Tyler was airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital, where he received treatment for head and neck injuries and a broken shoulder. In the wake of Tyler's injuries, the band was forced to postpone five shows in Western Canada. On August 14, 2009, Aerosmith announced that they had decided to cancel the rest of their US tour dates with ZZ Top, due to Tyler's injuries.
In the midst of the tour, Perry completed work on his fifth solo album, Have Guitar, Will Travel and drummer Joey Kramer released his autobiography, Hit Hard. Perry's solo album was released on October 6, 2009.
After Tyler recovered from falling off stage, the band returned to the stage in mid-October for two shows in Hawaii, one in Maui which was rescheduled from 2007 and finally played as part of a legal settlement, and an additional show which was played in Honolulu. In early November, the band played a concert in Abu Dhabi at the Grand Prix.
Tyler-Perry feud and Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour (2009–2010)
Tyler pulled out of a planned South American tour at the end of 2009 and seemed intent on pursuing solo projects, including his autobiography Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?. Tyler told Classic Rock magazine, "I don't know what I'm doing yet, but it's definitely going to be something Steven Tyler: working on the brand of myself – Brand Tyler." Meanwhile, guitarist Joe Perry toured the United States at the end of 2009, and Japan and the UK early in 2010.
In November 2009, Joe Perry stated that Tyler had not been in contact with the band and could be on the verge of quitting Aerosmith. Perry stated that the rest of the group was "looking for a new singer to work with." It was reported that singer Lenny Kravitz had been approached for Steven Tyler's position, which he then declined.
However, despite the rumors of him leaving the band, Tyler joined the Joe Perry Project onstage on November 10, 2009 at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, and Tyler and Perry performed the Aerosmith single "Walk This Way" together. According to sources at the event, Tyler assured the crowd that he was "not quitting Aerosmith".
On December 22, People magazine reported that Tyler had entered a rehabilitation facility to manage his addiction to painkillers, brought on by injuries to his knees, legs, and feet, that resulted from years of performing. In his statement, Tyler said he is grateful for the support he is receiving, is committed to getting things taken care of, and is eager to get back on stage and in the recording studio with his bandmates.
On January 20, 2010, Perry confirmed the band were about to audition for a new singer to replace Tyler. Perry said Tyler's surgery to his legs would "take him out of the picture" for up to a year and a half, and in the meantime, the rest of the band wanted to continue performing. Perry also said that the band would be willing to continue working with Tyler in the future if the singer wanted to.
In response, Tyler's attorney sent the band and its manager a "cease and desist" letter and threatened further legal action against both if the band did not discontinue this effort to replace Tyler.
On February 15, 2010, it was announced that Aerosmith were to headline Download Festival at Donington Park, England in June 2010. Tyler was confirmed as the frontman for the show by festival promoter Andy Copping. It was announced that the band would precede the June 13 date with an appearance at the Sweden Rock Festival on June 10 in Sölvesborg. During the Donington show, Perry celebrated Tyler's position as frontman, dubbing him "the best lead singer on the planet". On February 24, the band announced the first batch of dates for their upcoming Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour. The tour saw the band play seven dates in South and Central America in May, followed by eleven dates in Europe, in June and early July. The band performed in Colombia, Peru and Greece for the first time in their career on this tour. The band performed 24 concerts in North America in late July, August, and September. Many of the concerts were in locations the band canceled on in 2009. As part of the tour, the band played Fenway Park in Boston with fellow Bostonians the J. Geils Band.
Problems on the band's Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour arose in August 2010, including Tyler accidentally hitting Joe Perry in the head with his microphone stand at a show in Wantagh, New York and Perry bumping into Tyler at the Toronto show, which caused Tyler to tumble off the stage. Perry suffered a minor head injury at the Wantagh show and Tyler was helped back up by fans and Perry at the Toronto show, and both shows went on. Around the same time as these incidents, tension flared again between Perry and Tyler due to Tyler's plans to become a talent judge on American Idol. Perry criticized Tyler for not consulting the rest of the band, saying that he "found out on the internet, like the rest of the world" and that nobody else in the band knew anything about it.
On August 18, it was reported that Tyler officially signed on with the show. When asked about this in October, Perry declared he understood Tyler's reasons and wished him luck, but stated that he would seek different projects – "I'm tired of waiting around, so I'm not passing up anything right now".
While announcing the Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour in 2009, Tyler and Perry said that the next item on the agenda was a new Aerosmith album, the group's first since 2004's Honkin' on Bobo. The group did some recording with producer Brendan O'Brien in 2008 but halted because of Tyler's health problems. Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton told the Boston Herald in September 2010 that Tyler believes he has the time and energy to continue fronting the band while also being a judge on American Idol.
Hamilton explained, "Steven's been very emphatic in saying that the way his time is arranged on the show leaves room to work on a record. He's been taking great pains to remind everybody of that, so hopefully that's the way it will come out." On November 5, 2010, Brad Whitford said the recording sessions will probably be in Los Angeles, where American Idol is headquartered, and a world tour would follow.
Touring and Music from Another Dimension! (2010–2013)
In a November 2010 interview reported at NME.com, drummer Joey Kramer confirmed that the band had every intention to finish and release their long-delayed album in 2011, stating, "Really, at this point in time, the only thing that's going to stop us is if someone out-and-out dies. Other than that, we've already been through what we've been through and stood the test of time. What else is there?" On January 18, 2011, Tyler declared that "Joe (Perry) has got some licks and I've got a bunch of songs that I've written for solo and/or Aerosmith" and the band would start prepping the album that week.
On March 20, 2011, Aerosmith announced a new greatest hits album, Tough Love: Best of the Ballads, which was released on May 10, 2011. On May 14, 2011, the band announced a tour of Latin America in the fall of 2011. In June, Joe Perry announced that the band is going to meet at the recording studio to produce the next album of the band in July. On August 30, it was announced that the new album will be released around May 2012. The album will be produced by Jack Douglas, who produced four albums for the band in the 1970s. Aerosmith began their fall tour of Latin America and Japan on October 22 in Lima, Peru. As part of the tour, the band performed in Paraguay, Panama, and Ecuador for the first time in their careers. Their show in Asunción, Paraguay was postponed a day, after lead singer Steven Tyler sustained facial injuries after falling in his hotel room shower, due to a bout of food poisoning that dehydrated him and caused him to faint.
On March 11, 2012, Aerosmith was featured on an episode of 60 Minutes. The show included very candid interviews with the band members, interspersed with live performances from the band's 2011 tour. Some of the comments the band members said about each other seemed to re-ignite past tensions in the band. However, on March 22, Joe Perry surprised Steven Tyler by performing "Happy Birthday" for him on American Idol, as an early birthday present for Tyler. On March 26, Aerosmith announced a summer tour with Cheap Trick entitled the "Global Warming Tour". On May 23, Aerosmith debuted their new single, "Legendary Child", on the season finale of American Idol. Shortly after, it was announced that their fifteenth studio album, Music from Another Dimension!, would be released on November 6, 2012. On May 30, Aerosmith and Cheap Trick performed for Walmart shareholders. Aerosmith's "Global Warming Tour" began June 16 in Minneapolis and took the band to 26 locations across North America through August 12. The band hinted that the tour would continue in October/November after the album release. On August 22, Aerosmith released two singles simultaneously, the rocker "Lover Alot" and the ballad "What Could Have Been Love". On September 22, Aerosmith performed at the iHeartRadio music festival in Las Vegas. In advance of the release of their new album, the band performed on The Late Show with David Letterman and Today, and Tyler and Perry were interviewed on The Late Show and The View. In addition, Tyler, Perry and Whitford performed "Dream On" for the telethon Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together to raise funds for the victims of the namesake storm that struck the Northeastern United States. On November 5, Aerosmith performed an outdoor concert in front of their old apartment at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston to celebrate the release of their album and their Boston roots. Music from Another Dimension! was released on November 6. Two days later, the band began the 2nd leg of their Global Warming Tour, which took the band to 14 North American locations through December 13.
On January 21, 2013, Aerosmith released "Can't Stop Lovin' You" (featuring Carrie Underwood) as the fourth single from Music from Another Dimension!. On February 20, it was announced that the band's principal songwriters Steven Tyler and Joe Perry would be recipients of the ASCAP Founders Award at the society's 30th Annual Pop Music Awards on April 17. Two days later, it was announced that the duo would be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at a ceremony to be held on June 13.
In late April and early May 2013, Aerosmith extended their Global Warming Tour to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore. This marked the band's first performances in Australia in 23 years, and the band's first-ever performances in the latter four countries. Tom Hamilton had to miss the last three Australian shows due to illness; David Hull filled in for him. On May 5, Aerosmith cancelled their first-ever performance in Indonesia (scheduled for May 11) due to safety concerns; the actual threat was not released. On May 30, Aerosmith performed as part of the "Boston Strong" charity concert for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. The band also performed at the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia on July 6, at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut on July 10, four concerts in Japan in mid-August, and as part of the Harley-Davidson 110th Anniversary Concert series in Milwaukee on August 30. In the fall of 2013, Aerosmith extended their tour to Central and South America, including their first-ever performances in Guatemala, El Salvador and Uruguay. Hamilton had to depart the Latin American tour due to illness.
In July 2013, the band released the live concert DVD Rock for the Rising Sun, which also documented the band's 2011 tour of Japan. The release was also screened in select theaters in October 2013.
Solo endeavors, farewell tour and upcoming sixteenth studio album (2014–2018)
On March 21, 2014, in tweets released by Joe Perry, Joey Kramer, and Slash, it was announced that Aerosmith would be touring North America with Slash (along with Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators) in the summer of 2014. This followed a 17-date European tour that Aerosmith took from May 14 to July 2. The North American tour, known as the Let Rock Rule Tour, sent Aerosmith to 21 locations from July 10 to September 12.
Asked in May 2014 if Aerosmith would release a sixteenth studio album anytime soon, bassist Tom Hamilton replied, "I hope soon. But I really don't know what we are doing because we no longer have a record contract. We are finished with Columbia. So, there is nothing written in stone. We'll see what the fans want." In an interview with Rolling Stone about what the future holds, Joe Perry admitted that, "I don't even know if making new albums makes sense anymore. Maybe we'll just release an EP every six months. I don't know what the future looks like."
On October 7, 2014, Perry released his autobiography Rocks: My Life in and Out of Aerosmith, co-written by David Ritz. Perry promoted the book with a book-signing tour that took him to 14 locations across the United States in the month of October. On February 26, 2015, Aerosmith premiered the film Aerosmith Rocks Donington in 300 movie theaters across North America; the concert video is from the band's 2014 performance at Download Festival at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England. The video was released on DVD/Blu-ray on September 4, 2015.
On March 31, 2015, lead singer Steven Tyler stated that he was working on his first solo country album. On April 6, it was announced that Tyler signed a record deal with Scott Borchetta's Dot Records (a division of the Big Machine Label Group). On May 13, Tyler released the lead single, "Love is Your Name", from his forthcoming solo debut album. He promoted the song on the Bobby Bones Show, iHeartMedia, CBS This Morning, Entertainment Tonight, and the American Idol season 14 finale.
On June 10, Aerosmith embarked on the Blue Army Tour, which sent the band to 17 North American locations through August 7, many of them in smaller venues in secondary markets that the band has either never performed in or hasn't performed in many years. The band also played a one-off show in Moscow on September 5. On the tour, the band played several lesser-known deep cuts.
After the tour, Tyler completed work on his solo album, We're All Somebody from Somewhere, which was released on July 15, 2016. Prior to the album's release, a second single, "Red, White & You", was released in January 2016, followed by the third single (the title track) in June 2016. Meanwhile, Joe Perry worked with Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp on the side project Hollywood Vampires, which released their eponymous debut album in September 2015 and performed at the 58th Grammy Awards on February 15, 2016. Brad Whitford re-joined Derek St. Holmes for a handful of tour dates in November 2015 and a new Whitford/St. Holmes album that was made available to fans at their live performances and was scheduled for wide release in 2016. Tom Hamilton performed with Thin Lizzy at a handful of concert dates in Europe in the summer of 2016 and also joined Pearl Jam for a performance of "Draw the Line" at Boston's Fenway Park on August 7. Meanwhile, Joey Kramer became actively involved in his "Rockin' & Roastin'" coffee business, which opened a location in Newry, Maine, in December 2015 and a second location in North Attleborough, Massachusetts in July 2016.
Since December 2015, in various interviews, Whitford, Tyler, and Perry all discussed the possibility of a farewell tour or "wind-down tour" slated to start in 2017. Perry has suggested the tour could last for two years and Tyler said it could potentially last "forever"; Whitford and Tyler also discussed the potential of doing one last studio album.
On July 10, 2016, Perry collapsed onstage at a concert he was performing with the Hollywood Vampires on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest. He was revived and rushed to the hospital, where he was quickly upgraded to stable condition later that night. The Vampires continued the show without Perry that evening and continued the rest of their tour, but canceled an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. After resting for a few days, Perry made a complete recovery and returned to the Hollywood Vampires tour.
From September through October 2016 Aerosmith embarked on a nine-date tour of Latin America, called the Rock 'N' Roll Rumble Tour, preceded by a performance at the Kaaboo Festival in San Diego, California on September 17. In November 2016, Aerosmith announced that they would be going on a "farewell" tour in Europe in the spring and summer of 2017, titled the Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour. The tour launched in Tel Aviv, Israel on May 17, 2017, where approximately 45,000 tickets were sold. In early July, the band completed the European leg of the tour; the band extended the tour to South America in September and October 2017, but the last few shows had to be canceled due to health issues. According to Brad Whitford, the tour could end anytime from 2017 to the next four years in 2021. On 19 January 2018, Perry released a solo disc titled Sweetzerland Manifesto. He also announced that the 2017 tour titled "Aero-Vederci Baby!" was not really a final tour and the band will be touring in 2019 to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
Las Vegas residency, future activities and upcoming new projects (2019–present)
On August 15, 2018, Aerosmith appeared on NBC's Today show to announce a residency in Las Vegas called "Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild", a reference to both Las Vegas casino gambling and their 1994 single of the same name.
In January 2019, Joe Perry stated that he and Steven Tyler, were due to start recording new material, together, for a new Aerosmith album.
The band's Las Vegas residency took place during the months of April, June, July, and September thru December 2019 and was scheduled to be extended into January, February, May, and June 2020 at the Park Theater (the 2020 dates were cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic). In addition to the Las Vegas shows, in mid July 2019, the band performed at a festival in Minnesota, and in August 2019, they played a total of nine shows spread across three MGM venues in Maryland, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. On February 14, 2019, Aerosmith was scheduled to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but the ceremony and installation was postponed to a date to be determined due to inclement weather.
In April 2019, drummer Joey Kramer suffered minor injuries to his shoulder following an unspecified accident, and was forced to stand down from several concerts of the band's Las Vegas residency. His drum technician John Douglas substituted for him.
In November the same year, Kramer told several news sites that he was not allowed to rejoin the band despite his recovery, to which the band responded that his playing was "not up to Aerosmith standards". The disagreement culminated in a series of lawsuits in January 2020, after which Kramer was expected to be barred from performing with the band at the 2020 Grammy Awards. Kramer rejoined Aerosmith in February 2020 for their Las Vegas residency.
Aerosmith was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
In 2019, a European tour was announced, due to take place through the summer of 2020 following the completion of their Las Vegas dates, but the shows were cancelled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as was a 50th Anniversary show at Boston's Fenway Park, originally planned for September 2020. The European dates were initially rescheduled for the summer of 2021 but were later moved again to summer 2022 due to the ongoing pandemic.
In an August 2020 interview with former The Black Crowes drummer, Steve Gorman, on his radio show Steve Gorman Rocks, Brad Whitford was asked what the future of Aerosmith looked like. His response was "I don't really know what they want to do. And, I don't really care because, um, truthfully, I'm not interested anymore", citing ongoing dysfunction within the band.
He expressed similar concerns in an interview with Joe Bonamassa on his 'Live From Nerdville' podcast in June 2021. Brad shared his thoughts about how the COVID-19 outbreak would affect touring plans for Aerosmith, and musicians in general, whilst acknowledging his & his bandmates current ages. Stating, "I mean, I have my doubts about Aerosmith ever really performing again at this stage, because age is becoming a real factor. It is what it is."
On August 23, 2021, Aerosmith signed a distribution deal with Universal Music Group, covering the band's entire catalog - both Geffen (Universal's subsidiary) and Columbia titles.
Influence and legacy
Influenced by bands such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, and the New York Dolls,Jeff Burlingame (2010). "Aerosmith: Hard Rock Superstars". Enslow Publishers, Inc. Aerosmith proved to be a major influence themselves on subsequently massively successful bands and musicians; according to Perry, Eddie Van Halen once told him that his band Van Halen "started out on the suburban L.A. club circuit, playing Aerosmith songs". Aerosmith's influence was evident on the next generation of hard rock and heavy metal bands, namely Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Guns N' Roses, Tesla, L.A. Guns, Cinderella, Faster Pussycat, Skid Row, Extreme, Warrant, Inglorious, the Black Crowes and the Quireboys, as well as Metallica, Metal Church and Testament. Especially, Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash has stated that Aerosmith is his favorite band, and Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx has expressed massive admiration for the band and its early records in both The Dirt and The Heroin Diaries. Members of alternative rock bands such as Nirvana, Mother Love Bone/Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Staind and Godsmack are also self-professed early Aerosmith fans.
The interplay between Joe Perry and Brad Whitford has been inspiring to many bands, especially Guns N' Roses. Joe Perry has received wide recognition and praise as a lead guitarist, and has shared the stage many times with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, who Perry cites as primary influences. He and Tyler were asked by Page to induct Led Zeppelin into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; during the ceremony, which took place in 1995, Tyler and Perry delivered their speech and joined the band onstage for a brief set. During Beck's and Metallica's induction in 2009, they invited Perry and Page to play the Yardbirds/Zeppelin/Aerosmith classic "Train Kept A-Rollin'". Other collaborations, either by individual members of the band or by Aerosmith as a whole, have included Alice Cooper on his Trash album, Guns N' Roses (who opened for Aerosmith during their 1988 tour and had covered "Mama Kin" on their first release) and B'z. As a testimony to their importance in American popular culture as a whole, Aerosmith have also collaborated with popular non-rock artists, such as Run-DMC, Eminem ("Sing for the Moment"), and Carrie Underwood, and performed with 'N Sync, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, and Nelly for the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show. Country artists Garth Brooks and Mark Chesnutt both scored hit singles with covers of Aerosmith songs; Brooks in 1995 with "The Fever", a reworking of Aerosmith's 1993 song, and Chesnutt in 1999 with a cover of Aerosmith's 1998 song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Like many of their 1970s contemporaries including Led Zeppelin and Alice Cooper, the members of Aerosmith were prone to excess and debauchery. Drug consumption was rampant; the recording sessions for 1976's Rocks and 1977's Draw the Line were especially noted for their substance indulgence, including heroin. In the words of Bebe Buell, "They [Aerosmith] were like a gang of kids with their own planes, Porsches, millions of dollars, limitless resources. [...] Mick Jagger and Jimmy Page had control, but these boys did not care. They won the prize, hands down, for the rowdiest rock 'n' roll band in that era. No question."
In the mid to late 1970s, the band enjoyed tremendous popularity in the United States and in Japan, though they failed to make a big impression in Britain. Still, they were among the most popular hard rock acts in America in the mid to late 1970s, along with Heart, Kiss, Ted Nugent, ZZ Top, and Boston. Their massive popularity waned, however, following Perry and Whitford's departures. Following both guitarists' return to the band and its complete drug cleanup, Aerosmith made a prodigious return to success, once described as "the single most successful comeback in the history of heavy metal, if not all of popular music." During both the 1970s and the 1987–1995 era, Aerosmith undertook grueling world tours that numbered in the triple digits numbers of dates, headlining or co-headlining festivals along the way, such as the Texxas Jam in 1978 and 1987, the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington, England in 1990 and 1994, and Woodstock '94.
Initially resistant to this medium, the band later became renowned and received numerous awards for pioneering expansive, conceptual music videos, such as those for "Janie's Got a Gun" (directed by future Fight Club director David Fincher), "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'", "Amazing", "Crazy", "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", and "Pink".
The band's music has also been featured in several video games, such as episodes of the Dead or Alive and Grand Theft Auto series, and some video games are centered on the band, like Quest for Fame and Revolution X. Aerosmith was the first band to have its band-centered Guitar Hero title, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game across both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band platforms.
MembersCurrent Steven Tyler – lead vocals, harmonica, percussion (1970–present)
Tom Hamilton – bass (1970–present)
Joey Kramer – drums (1970–present)
Joe Perry – lead and rhythm guitar, backing and occasional lead vocals (1970–1979, 1984–present)
Brad Whitford – rhythm and lead guitar (1971–1981, 1984–present)Touring Buck Johnson – keyboards, piano, backing vocals, guitar (2014–present)Former Ray Tabano – rhythm and lead guitar (1970–1971)
Jimmy Crespo – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1979–1984)
Rick Dufay – rhythm and lead guitar (1981–1984)
Awards and achievements
Despite Aerosmith's popularity and success in the 1970s, it wasn't until their comeback in the late-1980s and 1990s when they started winning awards and major recognition. In 1987, Aerosmith won the Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap – Single for the re-mix of "Walk This Way" with Run-D.M.C. In 1990, Aerosmith won their first Grammy award, for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and went on to win a total of four such awards (all of them in the 1990s) for "Janie's Got a Gun", "Livin' on the Edge", "Crazy", and "Pink". Aerosmith is second only to U2 in the number of awards won in that category.
In addition, Aerosmith's music videos won numerous awards throughout the 1990s. Aerosmith ranks as the ninth most successful artist (and the third most successful group) of all-time at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), with ten such awards to date. Aerosmith is also the all-time leader in the categories Best Rock Video (with four such awards) and Viewer's Choice (with three such awards). Aerosmith has also won once each in the categories Video of the Year, Best Group Video, and Best Video from a Film. The videos for which Aerosmith has won VMAs are "Janie's Got a Gun" (2 awards), "The Other Side", "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'" (3 awards), "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", "Pink", and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Over the course of their career (primarily 1990 and after), Aerosmith has also collected six American Music Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, two People's Choice Awards, sixteen Boston Music Awards, and numerous other awards and honors. Some of the high accolades Aerosmith have achieved include induction into Hollywood's Rock Walk in 1990, a declaration of "Aerosmith Day" in the state of Massachusetts by then-Governor William Weld on April 13, 1993, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and being honored with the mtvICON award in 2002.
In the fields of technology and video games, Aerosmith has achieved several feats. In 1994, Aerosmith released the song "Head First" on the CompuServe online service, which is considered to be the first full-length commercial product available online. In 2008, Aerosmith became the first artist to have an entire Guitar Hero video game based around them with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game across both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band platforms.
Aerosmith also holds several chart and album sales feats, including the second highest number of number-one singles on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for a group with nine, the only number one debut on the Billboard Hot 100 by a rock group with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", the second most gold albums by an American group behind Kiss who has 30, the most total certifications (including gold, platinum, and multi-platinum combined) by an American group, and are tied with Van Halen for the most multi-platinum albums by an American group. From the Recording Industry Association of America, Aerosmith has achieved 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum album certifications, in addition to one diamond album, four gold singles, and one platinum digital single. Media often refer to Aerosmith, who have sold more than 150 million albums worldwide and 70.2 million in the United States, as the best-selling American rock band.
Aerosmith were honored as MusiCares Person of the Year in 2020.
Rankings
"Dream On", "Toys in the Attic", and "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) are all listed in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
In 1993, "Rolling Stones list of the "Top 100 Music Videos" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 11 and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 95.
In 1999, MTV's "100 Greatest Videos Ever Made" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 5 and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 48.
In 2000, VH1's "100 Greatest Rock Songs" included "Walk This Way" at number 35 and "Dream On" at number 47.
In 2001, "VH1: 100 Greatest Videos" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 11, "Crazy" at number 23, and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 48.
In 2003, Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time included Rocks at number 176 and Toys in the Attic at number 228.
In 2004, Rolling Stones The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time included "Dream On" at number 172, "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 287, "Walk This Way" (original) at number 336, and "Sweet Emotion" at number 408.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Aerosmith number 57 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2008, Rolling Stone ranked the original version of "Walk This Way" at number 34 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
In 2010, Aerosmith were ranked number 30 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2013, Ultimate Classic Rock website ranked "Sweet Emotion" number 1 in their Top 100 Classic Rock Songs chart.
"Pump", which reached number 1 on the Australian Record Industry Association charts and yielded two top 10 hit singles. "Pump" more than 150,000 units on Warner Music (which distributed Geffen in Australia until 1990) and more than 60,000 units after Universal took over
DiscographyStudio albums'''
Aerosmith (1973)
Get Your Wings (1974)
Toys in the Attic (1975)
Rocks (1976)
Draw the Line (1977)
Night in the Ruts (1979)
Rock in a Hard Place (1982)
Done with Mirrors (1985)
Permanent Vacation (1987)
Pump (1989)
Get a Grip (1993)
Nine Lives (1997)
Just Push Play (2001)
Honkin' on Bobo (2004)
Music from Another Dimension! (2012)
Filmography and videography
In addition to recording and performing music, Aerosmith has also been involved with films, television, video games, pinball, and music videos. In 1978, the band starred as the "Future Villain Band" in the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Later, when the band resurrected itself in the late 1980s and 1990s, Aerosmith made further appearances, including the "Wayne's World" sketch on Saturday Night Live in 1990, the "Flaming Moe's" episode of The Simpsons in 1991, and the film Wayne's World 2 in 1993. The band also appeared in the 2005 John Travolta/Uma Thurman comedy Be Cool, in which Steven Tyler and Thurman's characters help bring pop music star Linda Moon (Christina Milian) into the limelight.
The band has been the subject of several video games including Revolution X in 1994, Quest for Fame in 1995, and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, in June 2008. The band has also made over 30 major music videos, and released seven home videos or DVDs.
In 2017, Stern released three versions of an Aerosmith pinball machine, which feature original versions of nine of the band's iconic songs, as well as Elevator and Toy-Box multiballs.
Tours
1970–1972: Club Days
1973: Aerosmith Tour
1974: Get Your Wings Tour
1975: Toys in the Attic Tour
1976–1977: Rocks Tour 1977–1978: Aerosmith Express Tour (supporting Draw the Line album)
1978: Live! Bootleg Tour 1979–1980: Night in the Ruts Tour
1982–1983: Rock in a Hard Place Tour
1984: Back in the Saddle Tour 1985–1986: Done with Mirrors Tour 1987–1988: Permanent Vacation Tour 1989–1990: Pump Tour 1993–1994: Get a Grip Tour 1997–1999: Nine Lives Tour 1999–2000: Roar of the Dragon Tour 2001–2002: Just Push Play Tour 2002: Girls of Summer Tour 2003: Rocksimus Maximus Tour 2004: Honkin' on Bobo Tour 2005–2006: Rockin' the Joint Tour 2006: Route of All Evil Tour 2007: World Tour 2007 2009: Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Tour 2010: Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour 2011: Back on the Road Tour 2012–2014: Global Warming Tour 2014: Let Rock Rule Tour 2015: Blue Army Tour 2016: Rock 'N' Roll Rumble Tour 2017–2018: Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour 2019–2020: Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild''
See also
Aero Force One
Honorific nicknames in popular music
List of artists who reached number one on the Australian singles chart
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart
List of best-selling music artists
List of glam metal bands and artists
List of hard rock musicians (A–M)
List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
Pop icon
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
Aerosmithfans website|Aerosmith - Aerosmith Fans - The (un) Official Home Page Of Aerosmith Fans Worldewide - xxxxx
1970 establishments in Massachusetts
American blues rock musical groups
Hard rock musical groups from Massachusetts
American glam metal musical groups
Columbia Records artists
Geffen Records artists
Grammy Award winners
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musical groups established in 1970
Musical groups from Boston
Musical quintets
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[
"Vitals is the fourth full-length release from New Orleans group Mutemath. The album was released on November 13, 2015. It is the group's first release on their own imprint label Wojtek Records, following their departure from Warner Bros. Records and the dissolution of Teleprompt Records. It is also the first studio album featuring Todd Gummerman since he joined the group in 2011.\n\nRecording\nFollowing 2011's Odd Soul, the band started recording material for their fourth album in 2012, and began playing some of the new material live in 2013. Paul Meany in an interview explained that at the end of 2013, \"we had a sobering moment ... [we] listened to what we had, and we had that sinking feeling of like, 'Gosh, this just isn't it. This isn't the record we want.'\" Starting over, the band made a resolution to write a new song each day starting January 1, 2014, until they felt they'd \"got it – got what this album needs to say and what we feel it should represent about where we're at right now.\"\n\nContrasting the recording of Vitals to that of their previous album, Meany has stated that \"The challenge for this record was how few notes could we get away with? We would overplay all the time, recording this record, but then it was a process of trying to now skim it back. What are the essential parts of the song? We were trying to see how loud we could let simplicity happen for each song idea.\" He also explained that the process was highly collaborative, with all band members sharing responsibilities: \"Our approach on this record was not, 'All right, you do guitar. You do bass. You do drums.' It was, 'OK, today we're doing drums. Today we're doing synths.' All four of us, speaking into whatever the part was, were trying to find the best part.\"\n\nRelease\nThe album's title was announced on June 23, 2015. The release date was initially slated to be October 16, 2015, but was later pushed back to November 13. The album was released in Japan on February 24, 2016.\n\nCritical reception\n\nVitals received generally positive reviews upon its release.\n\nTrack listing\n\nCharts\nThe album debuted at #49 on the Billboard 200 and #32 on Top Album Sales with 10,000 units sold on Billboard charts dated December 5, 2015.\n\nReferences\n\n2015 albums\nMutemath albums",
"Leathür Records was American glam metal band Mötley Crüe's original record label that was also owned by their original manager Allan Coffman. Leathür's only release was the band's 1981 debut studio album Too Fast for Love.\n\nLeathür Records was manufactured and distributed by Greenworld Distribution of Torrance, California in what is referred to as a \"pressing & distribution\" (p&d) deal. The band retained ownership of the masters while Greenworld maintained the exclusive license to manufacture and distribute the album. Greenworld subsequently renamed the division that was supporting the Mötley Crüe project as Enigma Records and it is considered the first official Enigma Records release.\n\nMötley Crüe was then picked up by Elektra Records and the record was ordered to be re-mixed for re-release. The Canadian WEA release of the album in June 1982 featured the original Leathür mixes and not the Elektra re-mixes by Roy Thomas Baker released elsewhere.\n\nThe band parted ways with Elektra in 1997, and founded Mötley Records, which is distributed by Eleven Seven Music. The label released all their classic albums before New Tattoo.\n\nSee also\n List of record labels\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican record labels\nMötley Crüe\nRecord labels established in 1981\nRecord labels disestablished in 1986\nHeavy metal record labels"
] |
[
"Aerosmith",
"Record deal, Aerosmith, Get Your Wings and Toys in the Attic (1971-1975)",
"What record deal did Aerosmith receive in 1971?",
"signed with Columbia in mid-1972",
"What was their first record?",
"Aerosmith."
] |
C_fac055458d69481bae62214031bfcf1a_0
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Was this album popular?
| 3 |
Was Aerosmith popular?
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Aerosmith
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After forming the band and finalizing the lineup in 1971, the band started to garner some local success doing live shows. Originally booked through the Ed Malhoit Agency, the band signed a promotion deal with Frank Connelly and eventually secured a management deal with David Krebs and Steve Leber in 1972. Krebs and Leber invited Columbia Records President Clive Davis to see the band at Max's Kansas City in New York City. Aerosmith was not originally scheduled to play that night at the club, but they paid from their own pockets to secure a place on the bill, reportedly the only band ever to do so at Max's. "No Surprize" from their Night in the Ruts album celebrates the moment their fame began. Aerosmith signed with Columbia in mid-1972 for a reported $125,000 and issued their debut album, Aerosmith. Released in January 1973, the album peaked at number 166. The album was straightforward rock and roll with well-defined blues influences, laying the groundwork for Aerosmith's signature blues rock sound. Although the highest-charting single from the album was "Dream On" at number 59, several tracks, such as "Mama Kin" and "Walkin' the Dog", would become staples of the band's live shows and receive airplay on rock radio. The album reached gold status initially, eventually went on to sell two million copies, and was certified double platinum after the band reached mainstream success over a decade later. After constant touring, the band released their second album Get Your Wings in 1974, the first of a string of multi-platinum albums produced by Jack Douglas. This album included the rock radio hits "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'", a cover done previously by the Yardbirds. The album also contained several fan favorites including "Lord of the Thighs", "Seasons of Wither", and "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", darker songs that have become staples in the band's live shows. To date, Get Your Wings has sold three million copies. It was 1975's Toys in the Attic, however, that established Aerosmith as international stars competing with the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Originally derided as Rolling Stones knockoffs in part due to the physical resemblance between lead singers Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger, Toys in the Attic showed that Aerosmith was a unique and talented band in their own right. Toys in the Attic was an immediate success, starting with the single "Sweet Emotion", which became the band's first Top 40 hit. This was followed by a successful re-release of "Dream On" which hit number 6, becoming their best charting single of the 1970s. "Walk This Way", re-released in 1976, reached the Top 10 in early 1977. In addition, "Toys in the Attic" and "Big Ten Inch Record" (a song originally recorded by Bull Moose Jackson) became concert staples. As a result of this success, both of the band's previous albums re-charted. Toys in the Attic has gone on to become the band's bestselling studio album in the States, with certified U.S. sales of eight million copies. The band toured in support of Toys in the Attic, where they started to get more recognition. Also around this time, the band established their home base as "the Wherehouse" in Waltham, Massachusetts, where they would record and rehearse music, as well as conduct business. CANNOTANSWER
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the album peaked at number 166.
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Aerosmith is an American rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whitford (guitar). Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has also incorporated elements of pop rock, heavy metal, glam metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many subsequent rock artists. They are sometimes referred to as "the Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". The primary songwriting team of Tyler and Perry is often known as the "Toxic Twins".
Perry and Hamilton, originally in a band together called the Jam Band, met up with Tyler, Kramer, and guitarist Ray Tabano, and formed Aerosmith; in 1971, Tabano was replaced by Whitford. At some point prior to the weekend of December 25, 1971; they were known as "Fox Chase." They released a string of multi-platinum albums starting with their eponymous debut in 1973, followed by Get Your Wings in 1974. The band broke into the mainstream with Toys in the Attic (1975) and Rocks (1976). Draw the Line and Night in the Ruts followed in 1977 and 1979. Throughout the 1970s, the band toured extensively and charted a dozen Hot 100 singles, including their first Top 40 hit "Sweet Emotion" and the Top 10 hits "Dream On" and "Walk This Way". By the end of the decade, they were among the most popular hard rock bands in the world and developed a following of fans, often referred to as the "Blue Army". Drug addiction and internal conflict led to the departures of Perry and Whitford in 1979 and 1981.
The band did not fare well and the album Rock in a Hard Place (1982) failed to match previous successes.
Perry and Whitford returned to Aerosmith in 1984. After a comeback tour, they recorded Done with Mirrors (1985), which did not meet commercial expectations. It was not until a 1986 collaboration with rap group Run–D.M.C. on a remake of "Walk This Way", and the 1987 multi-platinum release, Permanent Vacation, that they regained their previous level of popularity. In the late 1980s and 1990s, the band won numerous awards for music from the multi-platinum albums Pump (1989), Get a Grip (1993), and Nine Lives (1997), while they embarked on their most extensive concert tours to date. Their biggest hits during this period included "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", "Rag Doll", "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", "What it Takes", "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'", and "Crazy". The band also filmed popular music videos and made notable appearances in television, film, and video games. In 1998, they achieved their first number-one hit with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from [[Armageddon: The Album|Armageddons soundtrack]] and the following year, their roller coaster attraction opened at Walt Disney World. Their comeback has been described as one of the most remarkable and spectacular in rock history. Additional albums Just Push Play (which included the hit "Jaded"), Honkin' on Bobo (a collection of blues covers), and Music from Another Dimension! followed in 2001, 2004, and 2012. In 2008, they released Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game. After five decades, the band continues to tour and record music. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, they had an ongoing concert residency in Las Vegas.
Aerosmith is the best-selling American hard rock band of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide, including over 85 million records in the United States. With 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum albums, they hold the record for the most total certifications by an American group and are tied for the most multi-platinum albums by an American group. They have achieved twenty-one Top 40 hits on the US Hot 100, nine number-one Mainstream Rock hits, four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, and ten MTV Video Music Awards. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and were ranked number 57 and 30, respectively, on Rolling Stones and VH1's lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2013, Tyler and Perry were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2020, the band received the MusiCares Person of the Year award.
History
Formation (1964–1970)
In 1964, Steven Tyler formed his own band called the Strangeurs—later Chain Reaction—in Yonkers, New York. Meanwhile, Perry and Hamilton formed the Jam Band (commonly known as "Joe Perry's Jam Band"), which was based on free-form and blues. Hamilton and Perry moved to Boston, Massachusetts in September 1969. There they met Joey Kramer, a drummer from Yonkers, New York. Kramer knew Tyler and had always hoped to play in a band with him. Kramer, a Berklee College of Music student, decided to leave the school, and joined Jam Band.
In 1970, Chain Reaction and Jam Band played at the same gig. Tyler immediately loved Jam Band's sound, and wanted to combine the two bands. In October 1970, the bands met up again and considered the proposition. Tyler, who had been a drummer and backup singer in Chain Reaction, adamantly refused to play drums in this new band, insisting that he would take part only if he could be frontman and lead vocalist. The others agreed, and a new band was formed. The band moved into a home together at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, where they wrote and rehearsed music together and relaxed in between shows.
The members of the band reportedly spent afternoons getting high and watching Three Stooges reruns. One day, they had a post-Stooges meeting to try to come up with a name. Kramer said that, when he was in school, he would write the word "aerosmith" all over his notebooks. The name had popped into his head after listening to Harry Nilsson's album Aerial Ballet, which featured jacket art of a circus performer jumping out of a biplane. Initially, Kramer's bandmates were unimpressed; they all thought he was referring to the Sinclair Lewis novel they were required to read in high school English class. "No, not Arrowsmith," Kramer explained. "A-E-R-O...Aerosmith." The band settled upon this name after also considering "the Hookers" and "Spike Jones."
Soon, the band hired Ray Tabano, a childhood friend of Tyler, as rhythm guitarist and began playing local shows. Aerosmith played their first gig in Mendon, Massachusetts at Nipmuc Regional High School (now Miscoe Hill Middle School) on November 6, 1970. In 1971, Tabano was replaced by Brad Whitford, who also attended the Berklee School of Music, and was formerly a member of the band Earth Inc. Whitford, from Reading, Massachusetts, had already played at Reading's AW Coolidge Middle School. Other than a period from July 1979 to April 1984, the line-up of Tyler, Perry, Hamilton, Kramer, and Whitford has stayed the same.
Record deal, Aerosmith, Get Your Wings, and Toys in the Attic (1971–1975)
After forming the band and finalizing the lineup in 1971, the band started to garner some local success doing live shows. Originally booked through the Ed Malhoit Agency, the band signed a promotion deal with Frank Connelly, and eventually secured a management deal with David Krebs and Steve Leber in 1972. Krebs and Leber invited Columbia Records President Clive Davis to see the band at Max's Kansas City in New York City. Aerosmith was not originally scheduled to play that night at the club, but they paid out of their own pockets to secure a place on the bill, reportedly the only band ever to do so at Max's. "No Surprize" from their Night in the Ruts album celebrated the moment their fame rose.
Aerosmith signed with Columbia in mid-1972 for a reported $125,000, and released their debut album, Aerosmith. Released in January 1973, the album peaked at number 166. The album was straightforward rock and roll with well-defined blues influences, laying the groundwork for Aerosmith's signature blues rock sound. Although the highest-charting single from the album was "Dream On" at number 59, several tracks, such as "Mama Kin" and "Walkin' the Dog", would become staples of the band's live shows, and received airplay on rock radio. The album reached gold status initially, eventually went on to sell two million copies, and was certified double platinum after the band reached mainstream success over a decade later. After constant touring, the band released their second album, Get Your Wings in 1974, the first of a string of multi-platinum albums produced by Jack Douglas. This album included the rock radio hits "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'", a cover done previously by the Yardbirds. The album also contained several fan favorites, including "Lord of the Thighs", "Seasons of Wither", and "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", darker songs that have become staples in the band's live shows. To date, Get Your Wings has sold three million copies.
In 1975, Aerosmith released their third album, Toys in the Attic, which established Aerosmith as international stars, competing with the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Originally derided as Rolling Stones knockoffs in part due to the physical resemblance between lead singers Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger, Toys in the Attic showed that Aerosmith was a unique and talented band in their own right. Toys in the Attic was an immediate success, starting with the single "Sweet Emotion", which became the band's first Top 40 hit. This was followed by a successful re-release of "Dream On" which hit No. 6, becoming their best charting single of the 1970s. "Walk This Way", re-released in 1976, reached the Top 10 in early 1977.
In addition, "Toys in the Attic" and "Big Ten Inch Record" (a song originally recorded by Bull Moose Jackson) became concert staples. As a result of this success, both of the band's previous albums re-charted. Toys in the Attic has gone on to become the band's bestselling studio album in the United States, with certified US sales of nine million copies. The band toured in support of Toys in the Attic, where they started to get more recognition. Also around this time, the band established their home base as "the Wherehouse" in Waltham, Massachusetts, where they would record and rehearse music, as well as conduct business.
Rocks, Draw the Line, and Live! Bootleg (1976–1978)
In 1976, Aerosmith's fourth album was Rocks, which "captured Aerosmith at their most raw and rocking". It went platinum swiftly and featured two Top 40 hits, "Last Child" and "Back in the Saddle", as well as the ballad "Home Tonight", which also charted. Rocks would eventually go on to sell over four million copies. Both Toys in the Attic and Rocks are highly regarded, especially in the hard rock genre: they appear on such lists as Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and are cited as influential by members of Guns N' Roses, Metallica, and Mötley Crüe. Kurt Cobain also listed Rocks as one of the albums he thought were most influential to Nirvana's sound in his journal in 1993. Soon after Rocks was released, the band continued to tour heavily, this time headlining their own shows, including large stadiums and rock festivals.
In 1977, Aerosmith released their fifth album, Draw the Line. Its recording was affected by the band's excesses, but the record still had memorable moments. The title track charted just shy of the Top 40 and remains a live staple, and "Kings and Queens" also charted. The album went on to sell two million copies. The band toured extensively in support of the album, but drug abuse and the fast-paced life of touring and recording began affecting their performances. Tyler and Perry became known as "the Toxic Twins" due to their notorious abuse of drugs on and off the stage. Tyler later commented, "I've spent $64 million on drugs"; Perry scoffed later, "There's no fucking way in the world you could spend that much money on drugs and still be alive. It makes a good headline – but, practically speaking, that was probably a very small portion of where we spent our money."
While continuing to tour and record in the late 1970s, Aerosmith appeared in the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie. Their cover of The Beatles' "Come Together", from the soundtrack, was the band's last Top 40 hit for nearly 10 years. The double vinyl Live! Bootleg, issued in 1978, captured the band's rawness during the Draw the Line tour. The standalone single "Chip Away the Stone", also released in 1978, charted at number 77.
Departures of Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, Night in the Ruts, and Rock in a Hard Place (1979–1984)
In 1979, the band started work on their next album, Night in the Ruts, but Aerosmith decided to go on tour during a break in the recording schedule. As the decade was about to conclude, the band's drug use began taking its toll, and tensions were slowly coming to a head. The band's touring schedule brought them to Cleveland Stadium on July 28, 1979, where they headlined the World Series of Rock festival. Pandemonium erupted backstage when Joe Perry's wife, Elissa, threw a glass of milk at Tom Hamilton's wife, Terry. Following the show, Tyler and Perry got into a heated argument when Tyler confronted Perry about his wife's antics, and after the course of the argument, Perry left Aerosmith (while Tyler claims in his autobiography that he fired Perry from the band). Upon his departure, Perry took some of the music that he had written with him. Shortly after his departure, Perry formed his own side project known as The Joe Perry Project.
Since there was still work to be done on Night in the Ruts, Aerosmith needed fill-in musicians to take Perry's place on the songs that needed to be recorded to complete the album. Guitarist Brad Whitford took over some of the lead parts, and Richie Supa, the band's longtime writing partner, filled in where needed until the band was able to hire Jimmy Crespo to take over as the next full-time guitarist. Night in the Ruts was released in November 1979, but only managed to sell enough records to be certified gold at the time, although it would eventually sell enough copies to be certified platinum by 1994. The only single the album spawned, a cover of "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" by the Shangri-Las, peaked at number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The tour for Night in the Ruts commenced shortly thereafter, but the band found themselves playing in smaller and smaller venues than before due to their popularity beginning to wane. Steven Tyler's drug issues were starting to affect his performance and songwriting, and he reached rock bottom in 1980, when he collapsed on stage during a show in Portland, Maine, and did not get up for the remainder of the set. Also in 1980, Aerosmith released their first compilation album, Greatest Hits. While the compilation didn't chart very high initially, it gained popularity later, and went on to become the band's best selling album in the United States, with sales of 12 million copies. In the fall of 1980, Tyler was injured in a serious motorcycle accident, which left him hospitalized for two months, and unable to tour or record well into 1981.
In 1981, Aerosmith began work on their next album, Rock in a Hard Place, and saw them reunite with producer Jack Douglas. However, after the first song for the album, "Lightning Strikes", was recorded, Brad Whitford left the band, and decided to form a duo with Derek St. Holmes, with whom he recorded a self-titled album, which failed to garner much interest. Whitford later joined up with the Joe Perry Project and played with them in 1984.
With Rick Dufay taking Whitford's place, Rock in a Hard Place was released on August 27, 1982. The album reached number 32 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Only one single charted, the aforementioned "Lightning Strikes", which peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. As with the tour for Night in the Ruts, Aerosmith was unable to book larger venues, and instead had to rely on filling clubs and theaters, which they struggled to do. At a homecoming arena show in Worcester, Massachusetts, Tyler and Perry reunited and got high backstage before the show. Tyler was so intoxicated that he collapsed on stage again and, like before, could not get up.
On February 14, 1984, Perry (by then divorced from his first wife Elissa) and Whitford saw Aerosmith perform at Boston's Orpheum Theater. Shortly thereafter, discussions began to reintegrate the two into the band and several months later, the original members of Aerosmith officially reunited. Steven Tyler recalls:
Back in the Saddle reunion tour, Done with Mirrors, and drug rehab (1984–1986)
In 1984, Aerosmith embarked on a reunion tour called the Back in the Saddle Tour, which led to the live album Classics Live II. While concerts on the tour were well-attended, it was plagued with several incidents, mostly attributed to drug abuse by band members. With their drug problems still not behind them, the group was signed to Geffen Records, and began working on a comeback. Despite the band signing on to a new record company, the band's old label Columbia continued to reap the benefits of Aerosmith's comeback, releasing the live companion albums Classics Live I and II and the collection Gems.
In 1985, the band released the album Done with Mirrors, their first studio album since reuniting. While the album did receive some positive reviews, it only went gold and failed to produce a hit single or generate any widespread interest. The album's most notable track, "Let the Music Do the Talking", was in fact a cover of a song originally recorded by the Joe Perry Project and released on that band's album of the same name. Nevertheless, the band became a popular concert attraction once again, touring in support of Done with Mirrors, well into 1986. In 1986, in an unprecedented crossover collaboration, Aerosmith (largely the additional contributions of leaders Tyler and Perry) appeared on Run–D.M.C.'s cover of "Walk This Way", a track blending rock and roll with hip hop. In reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song and its frequently-aired video resurrected Aerosmith's career by introducing the band's music to a new generation.
Despite their resurrecting performance, the band members' drug problems still stood in their way. In 1986, Tyler completed a successful drug rehabilitation program, after an intervention by his fellow band members, a doctor, and manager Tim Collins, who believed that the band's future would not be bright if Tyler did not get treated in time. The rest of the band members also completed drug rehab programs over the course of the next couple of years. According to the band's tell-all autobiography, Collins pledged in September 1986 that he could make Aerosmith the biggest band in the world by 1990 if they all completed drug rehab. Their next album was crucial because of the commercial disappointment of Done With Mirrors, and as the band members became clean, they worked hard to make their next album a success.
Permanent Vacation and Pump (1987–1991)
Permanent Vacation was released in August 1987, becoming a major hit and the band's bestselling album in over a decade (selling 5 million copies in the US), with all three of its singles ("Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", and "Rag Doll") reaching the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. Steven Tyler reveals in his autobiography that the album was "...the first one we ever did sober." Part of Permanent Vacations commercial success involved producer Bruce Fairbairn whose production touches (such as sound effects and high-quality recording) added interest to the album and the use of outside songwriters such as Desmond Child, Jim Vallance, and Holly Knight who assisted the band with lyrics. While the group was initially hesitant to using outside songwriters, including Tyler being furious for Knight getting songwriting credits for changing one word ("Rag Time" became "Rag Doll"), the method paid off, as Permanent Vacation became the band's most successful album in a decade. The group went on a subsequent tour with labelmates Guns N' Roses (who have cited Aerosmith as a major influence), which was intense at times because of Aerosmith's new struggle to stay clean amidst Guns N' Roses' well-publicized, rampant drug use.
Aerosmith's next album was even more successful. Pump, released in September 1989, featured three Top Ten singles: "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", and "What It Takes", as well as the Top 30 "The Other Side", re-establishing the band as a serious musical force. Pump was a critical and commercial success, eventually selling 7 million copies, spawning several music videos that were in regular rotation on MTV, and achieving four-star ratings from major music magazines. Pump ranked as the fourth-bestselling album of 1990. The band also won its first Grammy in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, for "Janie's Got a Gun". In addition, the video for "Janie's Got a Gun" won two Video Music Awards and was ranked as one of the 100 greatest videos of all time by Rolling Stone, MTV, and VH1. Like Permanent Vacation, Pump was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, who added production touches such as instrumental interludes that provided transitions between songs to give the album a more complete sound, as well as the Margarita Horns, who added horns to tracks such as "Love in an Elevator" and "The Other Side". Rock critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine claimed that Pump "revels in [pop concessions] without ever losing sight of Aerosmith's dirty hard rock core", going on to say that, "such ambition and successful musical eclectism make Pump rank with Toys in the Attic and Rocks." The recording process for Pump was documented in the video The Making of Pump, which has since been re-released as a DVD. The music videos for the album's singles were featured on the release Things That Go Pump in the Night, which quickly went platinum.
In support of Pump, the band embarked on the 12-month Pump Tour, which lasted for most of 1990. On February 21, 1990, the band appeared in a "Wayne's World" sketch on Saturday Night Live, debating the fall of communism and the Soviet Union, and performed their recent hits "Janie's Got a Gun" and "Monkey on My Back". The appearance of the band in the "Wayne's World" sketch was later ranked by E! as the number-one moment in the history of the program. On August 11, 1990, the band's performance on MTV's Unplugged aired. In October 1990, the Pump Tour ended, with the band's first ever performances in Australia. That same year, the band was also inducted to the Hollywood Rock Walk. In November 1991, the band appeared on The Simpsons episode "Flaming Moe's" and released a box set titled Pandora's Box. In coordination with the release of Pandora's Box, the band's 1975 hit "Sweet Emotion" was re-mixed and re-released as a single, and a music video was created to promote the single. Also in 1991, the band performed their 1973 single "Dream On" with Michael Kamen's orchestra for MTV's 10th Anniversary special; this performance was used as the official music video for the song. In 1992, Tyler and Perry appeared live as guests of Guns N' Roses during the latter's 1992 worldwide pay-per-view show in Paris, performing a medley of "Mama Kin" (which GN'R covered in 1986) and "Train Kept-A Rollin".
Get a Grip and Big Ones (1992–1995)
The band took a brief break before recording their follow-up to Pump in 1992. Despite significant shifts in mainstream music at the beginning of the 1990s, 1993's Get a Grip was just as successful commercially, becoming their first album to debut at number 1 and racking up sales of 7 million copies in a two-and-a-half-year timespan and over 20 million copies worldwide. The first singles were the hard rocking "Livin' on the Edge" and "Eat the Rich". Though many critics were unimpressed by the focus on the subsequent interchangeable power-ballads in promoting the album, all three ("Cryin'", "Amazing", and "Crazy") proved to be huge successes on radio and MTV. The music videos featured then up-and-coming actress Alicia Silverstone; her provocative performances earned her the title of "the Aerosmith chick" for the first half of the decade. Steven Tyler's daughter Liv Tyler was also featured in the "Crazy" video. The band won two Grammy Awards for songs from this album in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: for "Livin' on the Edge" in 1994 and "Crazy" in 1995.
During the making of Get a Grip, the management and record company brought in a variety of professional songwriting collaborators to help give nearly all the songs on the album more commercial appeal, a trend which would continue until the early 2000s. However, this led to accusations of selling out that would continue throughout the 1990s. In addition to Aerosmith's grueling 18-month world tour in support of Get a Grip, the band also did a number of things to help promote themselves and their album and appeal to youth culture, including the appearance of the band in the movie Wayne's World 2 where they performed two songs, the appearance of the band and their music in the video games Revolution X and Quest for Fame, performing at Woodstock '94, using their song "Deuces Are Wild" in The Beavis and Butt-head Experience, and opening their own club, The Mama Kin Music Hall, in Boston, MA in 1994. That same year saw the release of the band's compilation for Geffen Records, entitled Big Ones featuring their biggest hits from Permanent Vacation, Pump, and Get a Grip, "Deuces Are Wild" from the Beavis and Butt-head Experience, as well as two new songs, "Blind Man" and "Walk on Water", both of which experienced great success on the rock charts.
Nine Lives and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" (1996–2000)
Aerosmith had signed a $30 million contract for four records with Columbia Records/Sony Music in 1991, but had only recorded three of their six contractual albums with Geffen Records at that point (Done with Mirrors, Permanent Vacation, and Pump). Between 1991 and 1996, they released two more albums with Geffen (Get a Grip and Big Ones), which meant they now had five albums with Geffen under their belt (along with a planned live compilation), which meant they could now begin recording for their new contract with Columbia. The band took time off with their families before working on their next album, Nine Lives, which was plagued with personnel problems, including the firing of manager Tim Collins, who, according to band members, had nearly caused the band to break up. The album's producer was also changed from Glen Ballard to Kevin Shirley. Nine Lives was released in March 1997. Reviews were mixed, and Nine Lives initially fell down the charts, although it had a long chart life and sold double platinum in the United States alone, fueled by its singles, "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", the ballad "Hole in My Soul", and the crossover-pop smash "Pink" (which won the band their fourth Grammy Award in 1999 in the Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal category). It was followed by the over two-year-long Nine Lives Tour, which was plagued by problems including lead singer Steven Tyler injuring his leg at a concert, and Joey Kramer suffering second degree burns when his car caught fire at a gas station.
In 1998, in the midst of setbacks during the Nine Lives Tour, the band released the single "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", the love theme, written by Diane Warren for the 1998 film Armageddon, starring Steven Tyler's daughter Liv. The song became Aerosmith's first and only number 1 single when it debuted at the top position on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on top of the charts for four weeks. The song was nominated for an Academy Award in 1999. The song helped open Aerosmith up to a new generation and remains a slow-dance staple. 1998 also saw the release of the double-live album, A Little South of Sanity, which was assembled from performances on the Get a Grip and Nine Lives tours. The album went platinum shortly after its release. The band continued with their seemingly neverending world tours promoting Nine Lives and the "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" single well into 1999.
In 1999, Aerosmith was chosen to be featured in the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, providing the ride's soundtrack and theme at both Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort and, formerly, at Disneyland Paris in the Walt Disney Studios Park, which opened in 2002 and closed in 2019, to be replaced by an Iron Man and the Avengers attraction in the upcoming Avengers Campus. On September 9, 1999, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry reunited with Run–D.M.C. and were also joined by Kid Rock for a collaborative live performance of "Walk This Way" at the MTV Video Music Awards, a precursor to the Girls of Summer Tour. The band celebrated the new millennium with a brief tour of Japan, and also contributed the song "Angel's Eye" to the 2000 film Charlie's Angels. In December 2000, they wrapped up work on their next album.
Just Push Play, O, Yeah! and Rocksimus Maximus (2001–2003)
The band entered their next decade by co-headlining with NSYNC the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show, titled "The Kings of Rock and Pop", with appearances from Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige and Nelly. All of the stars collaborated with Aerosmith at the end for a performance of "Walk This Way".
In March 2001, the band released their 13th studio album Just Push Play, which quickly went platinum, fueled by the Top 10 single "Jaded" and the appearance of the title track in Dodge commercials. They were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame soon after their album was released, in late March 2001. Aerosmith is the only band to be inducted to the Hall of Fame with a song active in the charts ("Jaded"). Later that year, the band performed as part of the United We Stand: What More Can I Give benefit concert in Washington D.C. for 9/11 victims and their families. The band flew back to Indianapolis for a show the same night, as part of their Just Push Play Tour.
The band started 2002 by ending the Just Push Play tour, and simultaneously recording segments for their Behind the Music special on VH1, which not only chronicled the band's history but also the band's current activities and touring. The special was one of the few Behind the Musics to run two hours in length. In May, Aerosmith covered the "Theme from Spider-Man" for the soundtrack of the 2002 film of the same name. On June 27, the band performed at the official FIFA World Cup concert at Tokyo Stadium which took place during the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in Korea/Japan. In July 2002, Aerosmith released a two-disc career-spanning compilation O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits, which featured the new single "Girls of Summer" and embarked on the Girls of Summer Tour with Kid Rock and Run–D.M.C. opening. O, Yeah! has since been certified double platinum. MTV honored Aerosmith with their mtvICON award in 2002. Performances included Pink covering "Janie's Got a Gun". Shakira performed "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", Kid Rock played "Mama Kin" and "Last Child", Train performed "Dream On" and Papa Roach covered "Sweet Emotion". In addition, testimonials featured surprise guests Metallica, as well as Janet Jackson, Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst, Alicia Silverstone and Mila Kunis.
In 2003, Aerosmith co-headlined with Kiss on the Rocksimus Maximus Tour, in preparation for release of their blues album. They also performed a song for Rugrats Go Wild, "Lizard Love".
Honkin' on Bobo, Rockin' the Joint and Devil's Got a New Disguise (2004–2006)
Aerosmith's long-promised blues album Honkin' on Bobo was released in 2004. This was a return to the band's roots, including recording the album in live sessions, working with former producer Jack Douglas, and laying down their blues rock grit. It was followed by a live DVD, You Gotta Move, in December 2004, culled from performances on the Honkin' on Bobo Tour. "Dream On" was also featured in an advertising campaign for Buick in 2004, targeting that marque's market which is now composed largely of people who were teenagers when the song first charted.
2005 saw Steven Tyler appear in the film Be Cool. Joe Perry released his self-titled solo album that same year. At the 2006 Grammy Awards, he was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for the track "Mercy", but lost to Les Paul. In October 2005, Aerosmith released a CD/DVD Rockin' the Joint. The band hit the road for the Rockin' the Joint Tour on October 30 with Lenny Kravitz for a fall/winter tour of arenas in the largest US markets. The band planned to tour with Cheap Trick in the spring, hitting secondary markets in the US. Almost all of this leg of the tour was canceled, however. Dates were initially canceled one by one until March 22, 2006, when it was announced that lead singer Steven Tyler needed throat surgery, and the remaining dates on the tour were subsequently canceled.
Tyler and Perry performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra for their annual concert of July 4 on the Esplanade in 2006, a milestone as it was the first major event or performance since Steven Tyler's throat surgery. Around this time, the band also announced that they would embark on the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe in late 2006. On August 24, 2006, it was announced that Tom Hamilton was undergoing treatment for throat cancer. In order to make a full recovery, he sat out much of the Route of All Evil Tour until he was well again. Former Joe Perry Project bassist David Hull substituted for Hamilton until his return. On September 5, 2006, Aerosmith kicked off the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe in Columbus, Ohio. The co-headlining tour took both bands to amphitheaters across North America through November 24. After that, a select few arena dates were added, some of which were with Mötley Crüe. The tour ended December 17.
On October 17, 2006, the compilation album Devil's Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith was released. The album contained previous hits with the addition of two new songs, "Devil's Got a New Disguise" and "Sedona Sunrise", which were older outtakes re-recorded for the album. "Devil's Got a New Disguise" peaked at number 15 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The album was intended to fulfill Aerosmith's contract with Sony and tide fans over until the band's new studio album was released.
Touring, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and unfinished album (2007–2009)
In early 2007, the band announced a new World Tour, their first for nearly a decade to include dates outside North America or Japan. The band performed at London's Hard Rock Cafe in February 2007 to promote their European tour which included a night in Hyde Park as part of the Hyde Park Calling festival sponsored by Hard Rock Cafe. In the spring, the band toured Latin America to sold-out stadium crowds. In the summer, the band toured Europe, performing at several major rock festivals and visiting some countries they had never played before. Additionally, the band played in Middle East countries such as the United Arab Emirates and India for the first time. The band also played a few select dates in California and Canada in late July. The July 21 concert in Prince Edward Island, was the largest in that province's history. In September, the band performed eight dates in major markets in Northeastern North America. These shows were opened by Joan Jett. The band also played a private gig in Hawaii. A public show in Maui was canceled for logistical reasons, which spurred a class action lawsuit against the band. In April 2009, Aerosmith agreed to compensate all ticket buyers of the canceled show with a free ticket to a rescheduled Maui show to be held on October 20, 2009, along with reimbursements of all out-of-pocket expenses related to the show.
On November 1, 2007, the band entered the studio to work on the final studio album of their current contract with Sony. At the time, it was believed that the album would include both re-recorded tracks left off previous albums as well as brand new material. In an interview, guitarist Joe Perry revealed that in addition to creating a new album, the band was working closely with the makers of the Guitar Hero series to develop Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, a video game dedicated to the band's music. The game was released on June 29, 2008 and contains many of their most popular songs. Steven Tyler announced on VH1 Classic Radio on September 4, 2008, that Aerosmith intended to enter the studio at the end of September 2008 to complete the band's 15th studio album. Tyler also confirmed that the band planned to begin a new US tour in June 2009, in support of the as-yet-untitled album. This tour was supposed to be preceded by a concert in Venezuela on February 1, 2009. However, on January 15, 2009, Tyler said the band would be unable to play the gig because of a second knee injury of guitarist Joe Perry. In mid-February 2009, it was announced that the album would be produced by the famed Brendan O'Brien and that the album would likely be recorded live, like their earlier records. Although the band had hoped to finish the album before the tour started in June 2009, Perry said that the group "realized there wasn't any chance of getting [the album] finished before we hit the road for the summer." The tour featured ZZ Top as the opening act for most of the tour. The Aerosmith/ZZ Top Tour, presented by Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, was officially announced and the first dates released on April 8, 2009.
The tour was slated to take the band across North America from June to September 2009. The tour featured the band performing nearly all of the songs on their 1975 album Toys in the Attic during the first seven dates of the tour and also featured Joe Perry sing lead vocals on the 1976 "Combination". The tour was plagued with several health problems, however. Guitarist Brad Whitford had to sit out the first seven dates of the tour in order to recover from head surgery, after injuring his head getting out of his car. On June 28, 2009, at the band's seventh show of the tour at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, lead singer Steven Tyler injured his leg, which required seven shows to be postponed. As soon as the band resumed the tour on July 15, Whitford returned to the fold. However, Tom Hamilton had to depart the tour in order to recover from non-invasive surgery. On August 5, 2009, Tyler was rushed to the hospital after falling from the stage at a concert in Sturgis, South Dakota. He was helped up by security staff and taken backstage, before guitarist Joe Perry told the audience the show was over. Tyler was airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital, where he received treatment for head and neck injuries and a broken shoulder. In the wake of Tyler's injuries, the band was forced to postpone five shows in Western Canada. On August 14, 2009, Aerosmith announced that they had decided to cancel the rest of their US tour dates with ZZ Top, due to Tyler's injuries.
In the midst of the tour, Perry completed work on his fifth solo album, Have Guitar, Will Travel and drummer Joey Kramer released his autobiography, Hit Hard. Perry's solo album was released on October 6, 2009.
After Tyler recovered from falling off stage, the band returned to the stage in mid-October for two shows in Hawaii, one in Maui which was rescheduled from 2007 and finally played as part of a legal settlement, and an additional show which was played in Honolulu. In early November, the band played a concert in Abu Dhabi at the Grand Prix.
Tyler-Perry feud and Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour (2009–2010)
Tyler pulled out of a planned South American tour at the end of 2009 and seemed intent on pursuing solo projects, including his autobiography Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?. Tyler told Classic Rock magazine, "I don't know what I'm doing yet, but it's definitely going to be something Steven Tyler: working on the brand of myself – Brand Tyler." Meanwhile, guitarist Joe Perry toured the United States at the end of 2009, and Japan and the UK early in 2010.
In November 2009, Joe Perry stated that Tyler had not been in contact with the band and could be on the verge of quitting Aerosmith. Perry stated that the rest of the group was "looking for a new singer to work with." It was reported that singer Lenny Kravitz had been approached for Steven Tyler's position, which he then declined.
However, despite the rumors of him leaving the band, Tyler joined the Joe Perry Project onstage on November 10, 2009 at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, and Tyler and Perry performed the Aerosmith single "Walk This Way" together. According to sources at the event, Tyler assured the crowd that he was "not quitting Aerosmith".
On December 22, People magazine reported that Tyler had entered a rehabilitation facility to manage his addiction to painkillers, brought on by injuries to his knees, legs, and feet, that resulted from years of performing. In his statement, Tyler said he is grateful for the support he is receiving, is committed to getting things taken care of, and is eager to get back on stage and in the recording studio with his bandmates.
On January 20, 2010, Perry confirmed the band were about to audition for a new singer to replace Tyler. Perry said Tyler's surgery to his legs would "take him out of the picture" for up to a year and a half, and in the meantime, the rest of the band wanted to continue performing. Perry also said that the band would be willing to continue working with Tyler in the future if the singer wanted to.
In response, Tyler's attorney sent the band and its manager a "cease and desist" letter and threatened further legal action against both if the band did not discontinue this effort to replace Tyler.
On February 15, 2010, it was announced that Aerosmith were to headline Download Festival at Donington Park, England in June 2010. Tyler was confirmed as the frontman for the show by festival promoter Andy Copping. It was announced that the band would precede the June 13 date with an appearance at the Sweden Rock Festival on June 10 in Sölvesborg. During the Donington show, Perry celebrated Tyler's position as frontman, dubbing him "the best lead singer on the planet". On February 24, the band announced the first batch of dates for their upcoming Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour. The tour saw the band play seven dates in South and Central America in May, followed by eleven dates in Europe, in June and early July. The band performed in Colombia, Peru and Greece for the first time in their career on this tour. The band performed 24 concerts in North America in late July, August, and September. Many of the concerts were in locations the band canceled on in 2009. As part of the tour, the band played Fenway Park in Boston with fellow Bostonians the J. Geils Band.
Problems on the band's Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour arose in August 2010, including Tyler accidentally hitting Joe Perry in the head with his microphone stand at a show in Wantagh, New York and Perry bumping into Tyler at the Toronto show, which caused Tyler to tumble off the stage. Perry suffered a minor head injury at the Wantagh show and Tyler was helped back up by fans and Perry at the Toronto show, and both shows went on. Around the same time as these incidents, tension flared again between Perry and Tyler due to Tyler's plans to become a talent judge on American Idol. Perry criticized Tyler for not consulting the rest of the band, saying that he "found out on the internet, like the rest of the world" and that nobody else in the band knew anything about it.
On August 18, it was reported that Tyler officially signed on with the show. When asked about this in October, Perry declared he understood Tyler's reasons and wished him luck, but stated that he would seek different projects – "I'm tired of waiting around, so I'm not passing up anything right now".
While announcing the Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour in 2009, Tyler and Perry said that the next item on the agenda was a new Aerosmith album, the group's first since 2004's Honkin' on Bobo. The group did some recording with producer Brendan O'Brien in 2008 but halted because of Tyler's health problems. Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton told the Boston Herald in September 2010 that Tyler believes he has the time and energy to continue fronting the band while also being a judge on American Idol.
Hamilton explained, "Steven's been very emphatic in saying that the way his time is arranged on the show leaves room to work on a record. He's been taking great pains to remind everybody of that, so hopefully that's the way it will come out." On November 5, 2010, Brad Whitford said the recording sessions will probably be in Los Angeles, where American Idol is headquartered, and a world tour would follow.
Touring and Music from Another Dimension! (2010–2013)
In a November 2010 interview reported at NME.com, drummer Joey Kramer confirmed that the band had every intention to finish and release their long-delayed album in 2011, stating, "Really, at this point in time, the only thing that's going to stop us is if someone out-and-out dies. Other than that, we've already been through what we've been through and stood the test of time. What else is there?" On January 18, 2011, Tyler declared that "Joe (Perry) has got some licks and I've got a bunch of songs that I've written for solo and/or Aerosmith" and the band would start prepping the album that week.
On March 20, 2011, Aerosmith announced a new greatest hits album, Tough Love: Best of the Ballads, which was released on May 10, 2011. On May 14, 2011, the band announced a tour of Latin America in the fall of 2011. In June, Joe Perry announced that the band is going to meet at the recording studio to produce the next album of the band in July. On August 30, it was announced that the new album will be released around May 2012. The album will be produced by Jack Douglas, who produced four albums for the band in the 1970s. Aerosmith began their fall tour of Latin America and Japan on October 22 in Lima, Peru. As part of the tour, the band performed in Paraguay, Panama, and Ecuador for the first time in their careers. Their show in Asunción, Paraguay was postponed a day, after lead singer Steven Tyler sustained facial injuries after falling in his hotel room shower, due to a bout of food poisoning that dehydrated him and caused him to faint.
On March 11, 2012, Aerosmith was featured on an episode of 60 Minutes. The show included very candid interviews with the band members, interspersed with live performances from the band's 2011 tour. Some of the comments the band members said about each other seemed to re-ignite past tensions in the band. However, on March 22, Joe Perry surprised Steven Tyler by performing "Happy Birthday" for him on American Idol, as an early birthday present for Tyler. On March 26, Aerosmith announced a summer tour with Cheap Trick entitled the "Global Warming Tour". On May 23, Aerosmith debuted their new single, "Legendary Child", on the season finale of American Idol. Shortly after, it was announced that their fifteenth studio album, Music from Another Dimension!, would be released on November 6, 2012. On May 30, Aerosmith and Cheap Trick performed for Walmart shareholders. Aerosmith's "Global Warming Tour" began June 16 in Minneapolis and took the band to 26 locations across North America through August 12. The band hinted that the tour would continue in October/November after the album release. On August 22, Aerosmith released two singles simultaneously, the rocker "Lover Alot" and the ballad "What Could Have Been Love". On September 22, Aerosmith performed at the iHeartRadio music festival in Las Vegas. In advance of the release of their new album, the band performed on The Late Show with David Letterman and Today, and Tyler and Perry were interviewed on The Late Show and The View. In addition, Tyler, Perry and Whitford performed "Dream On" for the telethon Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together to raise funds for the victims of the namesake storm that struck the Northeastern United States. On November 5, Aerosmith performed an outdoor concert in front of their old apartment at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston to celebrate the release of their album and their Boston roots. Music from Another Dimension! was released on November 6. Two days later, the band began the 2nd leg of their Global Warming Tour, which took the band to 14 North American locations through December 13.
On January 21, 2013, Aerosmith released "Can't Stop Lovin' You" (featuring Carrie Underwood) as the fourth single from Music from Another Dimension!. On February 20, it was announced that the band's principal songwriters Steven Tyler and Joe Perry would be recipients of the ASCAP Founders Award at the society's 30th Annual Pop Music Awards on April 17. Two days later, it was announced that the duo would be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at a ceremony to be held on June 13.
In late April and early May 2013, Aerosmith extended their Global Warming Tour to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore. This marked the band's first performances in Australia in 23 years, and the band's first-ever performances in the latter four countries. Tom Hamilton had to miss the last three Australian shows due to illness; David Hull filled in for him. On May 5, Aerosmith cancelled their first-ever performance in Indonesia (scheduled for May 11) due to safety concerns; the actual threat was not released. On May 30, Aerosmith performed as part of the "Boston Strong" charity concert for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. The band also performed at the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia on July 6, at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut on July 10, four concerts in Japan in mid-August, and as part of the Harley-Davidson 110th Anniversary Concert series in Milwaukee on August 30. In the fall of 2013, Aerosmith extended their tour to Central and South America, including their first-ever performances in Guatemala, El Salvador and Uruguay. Hamilton had to depart the Latin American tour due to illness.
In July 2013, the band released the live concert DVD Rock for the Rising Sun, which also documented the band's 2011 tour of Japan. The release was also screened in select theaters in October 2013.
Solo endeavors, farewell tour and upcoming sixteenth studio album (2014–2018)
On March 21, 2014, in tweets released by Joe Perry, Joey Kramer, and Slash, it was announced that Aerosmith would be touring North America with Slash (along with Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators) in the summer of 2014. This followed a 17-date European tour that Aerosmith took from May 14 to July 2. The North American tour, known as the Let Rock Rule Tour, sent Aerosmith to 21 locations from July 10 to September 12.
Asked in May 2014 if Aerosmith would release a sixteenth studio album anytime soon, bassist Tom Hamilton replied, "I hope soon. But I really don't know what we are doing because we no longer have a record contract. We are finished with Columbia. So, there is nothing written in stone. We'll see what the fans want." In an interview with Rolling Stone about what the future holds, Joe Perry admitted that, "I don't even know if making new albums makes sense anymore. Maybe we'll just release an EP every six months. I don't know what the future looks like."
On October 7, 2014, Perry released his autobiography Rocks: My Life in and Out of Aerosmith, co-written by David Ritz. Perry promoted the book with a book-signing tour that took him to 14 locations across the United States in the month of October. On February 26, 2015, Aerosmith premiered the film Aerosmith Rocks Donington in 300 movie theaters across North America; the concert video is from the band's 2014 performance at Download Festival at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England. The video was released on DVD/Blu-ray on September 4, 2015.
On March 31, 2015, lead singer Steven Tyler stated that he was working on his first solo country album. On April 6, it was announced that Tyler signed a record deal with Scott Borchetta's Dot Records (a division of the Big Machine Label Group). On May 13, Tyler released the lead single, "Love is Your Name", from his forthcoming solo debut album. He promoted the song on the Bobby Bones Show, iHeartMedia, CBS This Morning, Entertainment Tonight, and the American Idol season 14 finale.
On June 10, Aerosmith embarked on the Blue Army Tour, which sent the band to 17 North American locations through August 7, many of them in smaller venues in secondary markets that the band has either never performed in or hasn't performed in many years. The band also played a one-off show in Moscow on September 5. On the tour, the band played several lesser-known deep cuts.
After the tour, Tyler completed work on his solo album, We're All Somebody from Somewhere, which was released on July 15, 2016. Prior to the album's release, a second single, "Red, White & You", was released in January 2016, followed by the third single (the title track) in June 2016. Meanwhile, Joe Perry worked with Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp on the side project Hollywood Vampires, which released their eponymous debut album in September 2015 and performed at the 58th Grammy Awards on February 15, 2016. Brad Whitford re-joined Derek St. Holmes for a handful of tour dates in November 2015 and a new Whitford/St. Holmes album that was made available to fans at their live performances and was scheduled for wide release in 2016. Tom Hamilton performed with Thin Lizzy at a handful of concert dates in Europe in the summer of 2016 and also joined Pearl Jam for a performance of "Draw the Line" at Boston's Fenway Park on August 7. Meanwhile, Joey Kramer became actively involved in his "Rockin' & Roastin'" coffee business, which opened a location in Newry, Maine, in December 2015 and a second location in North Attleborough, Massachusetts in July 2016.
Since December 2015, in various interviews, Whitford, Tyler, and Perry all discussed the possibility of a farewell tour or "wind-down tour" slated to start in 2017. Perry has suggested the tour could last for two years and Tyler said it could potentially last "forever"; Whitford and Tyler also discussed the potential of doing one last studio album.
On July 10, 2016, Perry collapsed onstage at a concert he was performing with the Hollywood Vampires on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest. He was revived and rushed to the hospital, where he was quickly upgraded to stable condition later that night. The Vampires continued the show without Perry that evening and continued the rest of their tour, but canceled an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. After resting for a few days, Perry made a complete recovery and returned to the Hollywood Vampires tour.
From September through October 2016 Aerosmith embarked on a nine-date tour of Latin America, called the Rock 'N' Roll Rumble Tour, preceded by a performance at the Kaaboo Festival in San Diego, California on September 17. In November 2016, Aerosmith announced that they would be going on a "farewell" tour in Europe in the spring and summer of 2017, titled the Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour. The tour launched in Tel Aviv, Israel on May 17, 2017, where approximately 45,000 tickets were sold. In early July, the band completed the European leg of the tour; the band extended the tour to South America in September and October 2017, but the last few shows had to be canceled due to health issues. According to Brad Whitford, the tour could end anytime from 2017 to the next four years in 2021. On 19 January 2018, Perry released a solo disc titled Sweetzerland Manifesto. He also announced that the 2017 tour titled "Aero-Vederci Baby!" was not really a final tour and the band will be touring in 2019 to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
Las Vegas residency, future activities and upcoming new projects (2019–present)
On August 15, 2018, Aerosmith appeared on NBC's Today show to announce a residency in Las Vegas called "Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild", a reference to both Las Vegas casino gambling and their 1994 single of the same name.
In January 2019, Joe Perry stated that he and Steven Tyler, were due to start recording new material, together, for a new Aerosmith album.
The band's Las Vegas residency took place during the months of April, June, July, and September thru December 2019 and was scheduled to be extended into January, February, May, and June 2020 at the Park Theater (the 2020 dates were cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic). In addition to the Las Vegas shows, in mid July 2019, the band performed at a festival in Minnesota, and in August 2019, they played a total of nine shows spread across three MGM venues in Maryland, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. On February 14, 2019, Aerosmith was scheduled to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but the ceremony and installation was postponed to a date to be determined due to inclement weather.
In April 2019, drummer Joey Kramer suffered minor injuries to his shoulder following an unspecified accident, and was forced to stand down from several concerts of the band's Las Vegas residency. His drum technician John Douglas substituted for him.
In November the same year, Kramer told several news sites that he was not allowed to rejoin the band despite his recovery, to which the band responded that his playing was "not up to Aerosmith standards". The disagreement culminated in a series of lawsuits in January 2020, after which Kramer was expected to be barred from performing with the band at the 2020 Grammy Awards. Kramer rejoined Aerosmith in February 2020 for their Las Vegas residency.
Aerosmith was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
In 2019, a European tour was announced, due to take place through the summer of 2020 following the completion of their Las Vegas dates, but the shows were cancelled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as was a 50th Anniversary show at Boston's Fenway Park, originally planned for September 2020. The European dates were initially rescheduled for the summer of 2021 but were later moved again to summer 2022 due to the ongoing pandemic.
In an August 2020 interview with former The Black Crowes drummer, Steve Gorman, on his radio show Steve Gorman Rocks, Brad Whitford was asked what the future of Aerosmith looked like. His response was "I don't really know what they want to do. And, I don't really care because, um, truthfully, I'm not interested anymore", citing ongoing dysfunction within the band.
He expressed similar concerns in an interview with Joe Bonamassa on his 'Live From Nerdville' podcast in June 2021. Brad shared his thoughts about how the COVID-19 outbreak would affect touring plans for Aerosmith, and musicians in general, whilst acknowledging his & his bandmates current ages. Stating, "I mean, I have my doubts about Aerosmith ever really performing again at this stage, because age is becoming a real factor. It is what it is."
On August 23, 2021, Aerosmith signed a distribution deal with Universal Music Group, covering the band's entire catalog - both Geffen (Universal's subsidiary) and Columbia titles.
Influence and legacy
Influenced by bands such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, and the New York Dolls,Jeff Burlingame (2010). "Aerosmith: Hard Rock Superstars". Enslow Publishers, Inc. Aerosmith proved to be a major influence themselves on subsequently massively successful bands and musicians; according to Perry, Eddie Van Halen once told him that his band Van Halen "started out on the suburban L.A. club circuit, playing Aerosmith songs". Aerosmith's influence was evident on the next generation of hard rock and heavy metal bands, namely Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Guns N' Roses, Tesla, L.A. Guns, Cinderella, Faster Pussycat, Skid Row, Extreme, Warrant, Inglorious, the Black Crowes and the Quireboys, as well as Metallica, Metal Church and Testament. Especially, Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash has stated that Aerosmith is his favorite band, and Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx has expressed massive admiration for the band and its early records in both The Dirt and The Heroin Diaries. Members of alternative rock bands such as Nirvana, Mother Love Bone/Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Staind and Godsmack are also self-professed early Aerosmith fans.
The interplay between Joe Perry and Brad Whitford has been inspiring to many bands, especially Guns N' Roses. Joe Perry has received wide recognition and praise as a lead guitarist, and has shared the stage many times with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, who Perry cites as primary influences. He and Tyler were asked by Page to induct Led Zeppelin into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; during the ceremony, which took place in 1995, Tyler and Perry delivered their speech and joined the band onstage for a brief set. During Beck's and Metallica's induction in 2009, they invited Perry and Page to play the Yardbirds/Zeppelin/Aerosmith classic "Train Kept A-Rollin'". Other collaborations, either by individual members of the band or by Aerosmith as a whole, have included Alice Cooper on his Trash album, Guns N' Roses (who opened for Aerosmith during their 1988 tour and had covered "Mama Kin" on their first release) and B'z. As a testimony to their importance in American popular culture as a whole, Aerosmith have also collaborated with popular non-rock artists, such as Run-DMC, Eminem ("Sing for the Moment"), and Carrie Underwood, and performed with 'N Sync, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, and Nelly for the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show. Country artists Garth Brooks and Mark Chesnutt both scored hit singles with covers of Aerosmith songs; Brooks in 1995 with "The Fever", a reworking of Aerosmith's 1993 song, and Chesnutt in 1999 with a cover of Aerosmith's 1998 song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Like many of their 1970s contemporaries including Led Zeppelin and Alice Cooper, the members of Aerosmith were prone to excess and debauchery. Drug consumption was rampant; the recording sessions for 1976's Rocks and 1977's Draw the Line were especially noted for their substance indulgence, including heroin. In the words of Bebe Buell, "They [Aerosmith] were like a gang of kids with their own planes, Porsches, millions of dollars, limitless resources. [...] Mick Jagger and Jimmy Page had control, but these boys did not care. They won the prize, hands down, for the rowdiest rock 'n' roll band in that era. No question."
In the mid to late 1970s, the band enjoyed tremendous popularity in the United States and in Japan, though they failed to make a big impression in Britain. Still, they were among the most popular hard rock acts in America in the mid to late 1970s, along with Heart, Kiss, Ted Nugent, ZZ Top, and Boston. Their massive popularity waned, however, following Perry and Whitford's departures. Following both guitarists' return to the band and its complete drug cleanup, Aerosmith made a prodigious return to success, once described as "the single most successful comeback in the history of heavy metal, if not all of popular music." During both the 1970s and the 1987–1995 era, Aerosmith undertook grueling world tours that numbered in the triple digits numbers of dates, headlining or co-headlining festivals along the way, such as the Texxas Jam in 1978 and 1987, the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington, England in 1990 and 1994, and Woodstock '94.
Initially resistant to this medium, the band later became renowned and received numerous awards for pioneering expansive, conceptual music videos, such as those for "Janie's Got a Gun" (directed by future Fight Club director David Fincher), "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'", "Amazing", "Crazy", "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", and "Pink".
The band's music has also been featured in several video games, such as episodes of the Dead or Alive and Grand Theft Auto series, and some video games are centered on the band, like Quest for Fame and Revolution X. Aerosmith was the first band to have its band-centered Guitar Hero title, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game across both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band platforms.
MembersCurrent Steven Tyler – lead vocals, harmonica, percussion (1970–present)
Tom Hamilton – bass (1970–present)
Joey Kramer – drums (1970–present)
Joe Perry – lead and rhythm guitar, backing and occasional lead vocals (1970–1979, 1984–present)
Brad Whitford – rhythm and lead guitar (1971–1981, 1984–present)Touring Buck Johnson – keyboards, piano, backing vocals, guitar (2014–present)Former Ray Tabano – rhythm and lead guitar (1970–1971)
Jimmy Crespo – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1979–1984)
Rick Dufay – rhythm and lead guitar (1981–1984)
Awards and achievements
Despite Aerosmith's popularity and success in the 1970s, it wasn't until their comeback in the late-1980s and 1990s when they started winning awards and major recognition. In 1987, Aerosmith won the Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap – Single for the re-mix of "Walk This Way" with Run-D.M.C. In 1990, Aerosmith won their first Grammy award, for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and went on to win a total of four such awards (all of them in the 1990s) for "Janie's Got a Gun", "Livin' on the Edge", "Crazy", and "Pink". Aerosmith is second only to U2 in the number of awards won in that category.
In addition, Aerosmith's music videos won numerous awards throughout the 1990s. Aerosmith ranks as the ninth most successful artist (and the third most successful group) of all-time at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), with ten such awards to date. Aerosmith is also the all-time leader in the categories Best Rock Video (with four such awards) and Viewer's Choice (with three such awards). Aerosmith has also won once each in the categories Video of the Year, Best Group Video, and Best Video from a Film. The videos for which Aerosmith has won VMAs are "Janie's Got a Gun" (2 awards), "The Other Side", "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'" (3 awards), "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", "Pink", and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Over the course of their career (primarily 1990 and after), Aerosmith has also collected six American Music Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, two People's Choice Awards, sixteen Boston Music Awards, and numerous other awards and honors. Some of the high accolades Aerosmith have achieved include induction into Hollywood's Rock Walk in 1990, a declaration of "Aerosmith Day" in the state of Massachusetts by then-Governor William Weld on April 13, 1993, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and being honored with the mtvICON award in 2002.
In the fields of technology and video games, Aerosmith has achieved several feats. In 1994, Aerosmith released the song "Head First" on the CompuServe online service, which is considered to be the first full-length commercial product available online. In 2008, Aerosmith became the first artist to have an entire Guitar Hero video game based around them with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game across both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band platforms.
Aerosmith also holds several chart and album sales feats, including the second highest number of number-one singles on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for a group with nine, the only number one debut on the Billboard Hot 100 by a rock group with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", the second most gold albums by an American group behind Kiss who has 30, the most total certifications (including gold, platinum, and multi-platinum combined) by an American group, and are tied with Van Halen for the most multi-platinum albums by an American group. From the Recording Industry Association of America, Aerosmith has achieved 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum album certifications, in addition to one diamond album, four gold singles, and one platinum digital single. Media often refer to Aerosmith, who have sold more than 150 million albums worldwide and 70.2 million in the United States, as the best-selling American rock band.
Aerosmith were honored as MusiCares Person of the Year in 2020.
Rankings
"Dream On", "Toys in the Attic", and "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) are all listed in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
In 1993, "Rolling Stones list of the "Top 100 Music Videos" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 11 and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 95.
In 1999, MTV's "100 Greatest Videos Ever Made" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 5 and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 48.
In 2000, VH1's "100 Greatest Rock Songs" included "Walk This Way" at number 35 and "Dream On" at number 47.
In 2001, "VH1: 100 Greatest Videos" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 11, "Crazy" at number 23, and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 48.
In 2003, Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time included Rocks at number 176 and Toys in the Attic at number 228.
In 2004, Rolling Stones The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time included "Dream On" at number 172, "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 287, "Walk This Way" (original) at number 336, and "Sweet Emotion" at number 408.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Aerosmith number 57 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2008, Rolling Stone ranked the original version of "Walk This Way" at number 34 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
In 2010, Aerosmith were ranked number 30 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2013, Ultimate Classic Rock website ranked "Sweet Emotion" number 1 in their Top 100 Classic Rock Songs chart.
"Pump", which reached number 1 on the Australian Record Industry Association charts and yielded two top 10 hit singles. "Pump" more than 150,000 units on Warner Music (which distributed Geffen in Australia until 1990) and more than 60,000 units after Universal took over
DiscographyStudio albums'''
Aerosmith (1973)
Get Your Wings (1974)
Toys in the Attic (1975)
Rocks (1976)
Draw the Line (1977)
Night in the Ruts (1979)
Rock in a Hard Place (1982)
Done with Mirrors (1985)
Permanent Vacation (1987)
Pump (1989)
Get a Grip (1993)
Nine Lives (1997)
Just Push Play (2001)
Honkin' on Bobo (2004)
Music from Another Dimension! (2012)
Filmography and videography
In addition to recording and performing music, Aerosmith has also been involved with films, television, video games, pinball, and music videos. In 1978, the band starred as the "Future Villain Band" in the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Later, when the band resurrected itself in the late 1980s and 1990s, Aerosmith made further appearances, including the "Wayne's World" sketch on Saturday Night Live in 1990, the "Flaming Moe's" episode of The Simpsons in 1991, and the film Wayne's World 2 in 1993. The band also appeared in the 2005 John Travolta/Uma Thurman comedy Be Cool, in which Steven Tyler and Thurman's characters help bring pop music star Linda Moon (Christina Milian) into the limelight.
The band has been the subject of several video games including Revolution X in 1994, Quest for Fame in 1995, and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, in June 2008. The band has also made over 30 major music videos, and released seven home videos or DVDs.
In 2017, Stern released three versions of an Aerosmith pinball machine, which feature original versions of nine of the band's iconic songs, as well as Elevator and Toy-Box multiballs.
Tours
1970–1972: Club Days
1973: Aerosmith Tour
1974: Get Your Wings Tour
1975: Toys in the Attic Tour
1976–1977: Rocks Tour 1977–1978: Aerosmith Express Tour (supporting Draw the Line album)
1978: Live! Bootleg Tour 1979–1980: Night in the Ruts Tour
1982–1983: Rock in a Hard Place Tour
1984: Back in the Saddle Tour 1985–1986: Done with Mirrors Tour 1987–1988: Permanent Vacation Tour 1989–1990: Pump Tour 1993–1994: Get a Grip Tour 1997–1999: Nine Lives Tour 1999–2000: Roar of the Dragon Tour 2001–2002: Just Push Play Tour 2002: Girls of Summer Tour 2003: Rocksimus Maximus Tour 2004: Honkin' on Bobo Tour 2005–2006: Rockin' the Joint Tour 2006: Route of All Evil Tour 2007: World Tour 2007 2009: Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Tour 2010: Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour 2011: Back on the Road Tour 2012–2014: Global Warming Tour 2014: Let Rock Rule Tour 2015: Blue Army Tour 2016: Rock 'N' Roll Rumble Tour 2017–2018: Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour 2019–2020: Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild''
See also
Aero Force One
Honorific nicknames in popular music
List of artists who reached number one on the Australian singles chart
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart
List of best-selling music artists
List of glam metal bands and artists
List of hard rock musicians (A–M)
List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
Pop icon
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
Aerosmithfans website|Aerosmith - Aerosmith Fans - The (un) Official Home Page Of Aerosmith Fans Worldewide - xxxxx
1970 establishments in Massachusetts
American blues rock musical groups
Hard rock musical groups from Massachusetts
American glam metal musical groups
Columbia Records artists
Geffen Records artists
Grammy Award winners
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musical groups established in 1970
Musical groups from Boston
Musical quintets
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[
"DIVA () was a South Korean hip-hop girl group that debuted in 1997 with members Chae Ri-na, Vicky, and Ji Ni. After the release of the group's first two albums, Funky Diva (1997) and Snappy Diva (1998), Ji Ni left the group and was replaced by new member Lee Min Kyoung. After the release of the group's third album Millennium (1999), Chae Ri-na left the group and Ji Ni re-joined. DIVA went on to release the albums Naughty Diva (2000), Perfect (2001), Luxury Diva (2002), Renaissance (2004), and Only Diva (2005) before disbanding in 2005.\n\nHistory\n\n1997-1999: - Debut with Funky Diva, Snappy Diva, Millenium, Dream and line-up changes \nDIVA debuted with their first album titled Funky Diva in 1997 and their singles there was Yeah and Drama of December. Their single Yeah was popular in Korea peaking at number 5 at music charts. Their album sold about 270,000 copies. \n\nDIVA released their second album titled Snappy Diva in the summer of 1998 with singles titled Why (do you call me)? and Joy. Their single Why (do you call me)? was very popular, peaking at number 1 at music charts and was later remade by the girl group C.I.V.A, in 2016. Their single Joy was also popular. Their second album sold over 240,000 copies.\n\nDIVA released their third album titled Millenium with singles Yo Yo and Feel It in 1999. Their single Yo Yo peaked at number 3 in music charts and was also popular. Their third album sold over 100,000 copies. After the promotions, they released their English Album titled Dream in Taiwan with the single I'll Get Your Love and was popular in Taiwan selling over 30,000 copies. However, after their promotions in Taiwan, leader Chae Rina left and Lee Min Kyoung was added.\n\n2000-2002 - Naughty Diva, Perfect! and Luxury Diva \nDIVA released their fourth album titled Naughty Diva in 2000, with the singles Up & Down and In This Winter. DIVA still remained popular even though popular member and leader Chae Rina left the group. Their album sold 112,788 copies.\n\nDIVA released their fifth album titled Perfect! in 2001 with singles Perfect! and DVD. Perfect! peaked at #6 in music charts. The album sold 69,069+ copies in 2001.\n\nDIVA released their sixth album, a feat achieved by few girl groups in Korea, titled Luxury Diva which saw DIVA change their styles with luxurious and dark concepts. Their singles where Lust in the Wind and Action. Their album was less popular than their last 5 albums with Action peaking only at number 14 in music charts. The album sold about 46,840 copies.\n\n2003-2005 - Best, Renaissance, Only Diva and disbandment \nDIVA released their first compilation album in 2003 titled Best compiling their popular singles during their active times in Korea from 1997 to 2002. The album sold about 20,000 copies.\n\nDIVA released their seventh album titled Renaissance with singles Hey Boy and Amoremio. Their single Hey Boy peaked at number 11 and their seventh album sold about 17,797 copies.\n\nDIVA released their eight and last album before disbandment titled Only Diva with singles Smile and My Style. Their music video for Smile was filmed in China. This album sold 20,000 copies in Korea. After their promotions, DIVA announced their disbandment to focus on solo activities.\n\nArtistry\n\nDIVA's artistry and genre was different from the other girl groups out there at their active time. S.E.S & Fin.K.L have both a poppy genre, Baby V.O.X have a dance genre. But DIVA have a hip-hop genre that loved by many people in South Korea. DIVA was also popular in some Asian Countries like China and Taiwan. DIVA was known for having energetic and groovy music and videos that was peculiar at the height of their career.\n\nDiscography\n\nStudio albums\n\nEnglish albums\nDream (1999)\n\nCompilation albums\nBest World (2003)\n\nAwards and nominations\n\nReferences\n\nSouth Korean girl groups\nSouth Korean dance music groups\nMusical groups established in 1997\nMusical groups disestablished in 2005\nK-pop music groups\n1997 establishments in South Korea",
"Wyne Su Khine Thein (; born 24 December 1986) is a Burmese singer and actress. She is best known for her pleasant voice. Her debut album Mat Lout Sayar was released in 2009 and it was popular among audiences.\n\nEarly life and education\nWyne Su was born on 24 December 1986 in Yangon, Myanmar to parents Thein Htay and May Yee Aung. She attended high school at Basic Education High School No. 1 Dagon. She graduated with a degree B.A English from Dagon University.\n\nCareer\nWyne began her art work career in 2004. She has acted in over 130 films. Her debut album Mat Lout Sayar was released in 2009 and it was popular among audiences. Her second album Myet Hlae was released in 2011 and it also gained popularity. Then she became one of the most popular female singers in Myanmar. Her third album Ar Bwar was released in 2013. Her fourth album Khar Cha Nay Ya Tal was released in 2015. Her fifth album Gar was released in 2016. Her sixth album Mal Thida was released in 2017. Her seventh album Nwar Kyaung Thu was released in 2019.\n\nDiscography\n\nSolo Album\nMat Lout Sayar (မက်လောက်စရာ) (2009)\nMyet Hlae (မျက်လှည့်) (2011)\nAr Bwar (အာဘွား) (2013)\nGar (ဂါ) (2016)\nMal Thida (မယ်သီတာ-EP) (2017)\nNwar Kyaung Thu (နွားကျောင်းသူ) (2019)\n\nDuo Album\nKhar Cha Nay Ya Tal (ခါချနေရတယ်) (2015)\n\nFilmography\n\nKaba Sone Hti (2005)\nYadana (2006)\n\nConcerts\n\nList of awards and nominations received by Wine Su Khaing Thein\n\nCity FM awards \n\n|-\n| 2010\n| rowspan= \"5\"| Wine Su Khaing Thein\n| Best Selling Studio Music Album Female Vocalist of the Year \n| \n|-\n| rowspan= \"2\"| 2013\n| Most Popular Female Vocalist of the Year\n| \n|-\n| The Best Selling Studio Music Album Female Vocalist of the Year\n| \n|-\n| 2014\n| The Best Selling Studio Music Album Female Vocalist of the Year\n| \n|-\n| 2015\n| The Best Selling Studio Music Album Female Vocalist of the Year \n| \n|-\n| 2016\n| H&M Production\n| The Best Selling Studio Music Album Production of the Year\n| \n|-\n| 2020\n| Wine Su Khaing Thein \n| Most Popular Female Vocalist of the Year\n|\n\nShwe FM awards\n\n|-\n| rowspan= \"2\"| 2011\n| rowspan= \"5\"| Wine Su Khaing Thein\n| Best Couple song award\n| \n|-\n| Best Vocalist award\n| \n|-\n| 2013\n| Best Dress award\n| \n|-\n| 2016\n| Best Best Couple Song award \n| \n|-\n| 2020\n| Most Popular Song award\n| \n|-\n\nPadamyar FM awards\n\n|-\n| 2011\n| Herself\n| Artist of the Year\n| \n|-\n\nMyanmar Music awards\n\n|-\n| 2014\n| Herself\n| I Love Artist Award of Monsoon\n| \n|-\n\nJoox Myanmar Music awards\n\n|-\n| 2020\n| Herself\n| Joox Top 10 Artists of the Year \n| \n|-\n\nPersonal life\nWyne was married to Oakar Myint Kyu in 2014 and divorced in 2016.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nLiving people\n1986 births\n21st-century Burmese actresses\n21st-century Burmese women singers\nBurmese pop singers\nPeople from Yangon"
] |
[
"Aerosmith",
"Record deal, Aerosmith, Get Your Wings and Toys in the Attic (1971-1975)",
"What record deal did Aerosmith receive in 1971?",
"signed with Columbia in mid-1972",
"What was their first record?",
"Aerosmith.",
"Was this album popular?",
"the album peaked at number 166."
] |
C_fac055458d69481bae62214031bfcf1a_0
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When was this released?
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When was Aerosmith released?
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Aerosmith
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After forming the band and finalizing the lineup in 1971, the band started to garner some local success doing live shows. Originally booked through the Ed Malhoit Agency, the band signed a promotion deal with Frank Connelly and eventually secured a management deal with David Krebs and Steve Leber in 1972. Krebs and Leber invited Columbia Records President Clive Davis to see the band at Max's Kansas City in New York City. Aerosmith was not originally scheduled to play that night at the club, but they paid from their own pockets to secure a place on the bill, reportedly the only band ever to do so at Max's. "No Surprize" from their Night in the Ruts album celebrates the moment their fame began. Aerosmith signed with Columbia in mid-1972 for a reported $125,000 and issued their debut album, Aerosmith. Released in January 1973, the album peaked at number 166. The album was straightforward rock and roll with well-defined blues influences, laying the groundwork for Aerosmith's signature blues rock sound. Although the highest-charting single from the album was "Dream On" at number 59, several tracks, such as "Mama Kin" and "Walkin' the Dog", would become staples of the band's live shows and receive airplay on rock radio. The album reached gold status initially, eventually went on to sell two million copies, and was certified double platinum after the band reached mainstream success over a decade later. After constant touring, the band released their second album Get Your Wings in 1974, the first of a string of multi-platinum albums produced by Jack Douglas. This album included the rock radio hits "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'", a cover done previously by the Yardbirds. The album also contained several fan favorites including "Lord of the Thighs", "Seasons of Wither", and "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", darker songs that have become staples in the band's live shows. To date, Get Your Wings has sold three million copies. It was 1975's Toys in the Attic, however, that established Aerosmith as international stars competing with the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Originally derided as Rolling Stones knockoffs in part due to the physical resemblance between lead singers Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger, Toys in the Attic showed that Aerosmith was a unique and talented band in their own right. Toys in the Attic was an immediate success, starting with the single "Sweet Emotion", which became the band's first Top 40 hit. This was followed by a successful re-release of "Dream On" which hit number 6, becoming their best charting single of the 1970s. "Walk This Way", re-released in 1976, reached the Top 10 in early 1977. In addition, "Toys in the Attic" and "Big Ten Inch Record" (a song originally recorded by Bull Moose Jackson) became concert staples. As a result of this success, both of the band's previous albums re-charted. Toys in the Attic has gone on to become the band's bestselling studio album in the States, with certified U.S. sales of eight million copies. The band toured in support of Toys in the Attic, where they started to get more recognition. Also around this time, the band established their home base as "the Wherehouse" in Waltham, Massachusetts, where they would record and rehearse music, as well as conduct business. CANNOTANSWER
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January 1973,
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Aerosmith is an American rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whitford (guitar). Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has also incorporated elements of pop rock, heavy metal, glam metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many subsequent rock artists. They are sometimes referred to as "the Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". The primary songwriting team of Tyler and Perry is often known as the "Toxic Twins".
Perry and Hamilton, originally in a band together called the Jam Band, met up with Tyler, Kramer, and guitarist Ray Tabano, and formed Aerosmith; in 1971, Tabano was replaced by Whitford. At some point prior to the weekend of December 25, 1971; they were known as "Fox Chase." They released a string of multi-platinum albums starting with their eponymous debut in 1973, followed by Get Your Wings in 1974. The band broke into the mainstream with Toys in the Attic (1975) and Rocks (1976). Draw the Line and Night in the Ruts followed in 1977 and 1979. Throughout the 1970s, the band toured extensively and charted a dozen Hot 100 singles, including their first Top 40 hit "Sweet Emotion" and the Top 10 hits "Dream On" and "Walk This Way". By the end of the decade, they were among the most popular hard rock bands in the world and developed a following of fans, often referred to as the "Blue Army". Drug addiction and internal conflict led to the departures of Perry and Whitford in 1979 and 1981.
The band did not fare well and the album Rock in a Hard Place (1982) failed to match previous successes.
Perry and Whitford returned to Aerosmith in 1984. After a comeback tour, they recorded Done with Mirrors (1985), which did not meet commercial expectations. It was not until a 1986 collaboration with rap group Run–D.M.C. on a remake of "Walk This Way", and the 1987 multi-platinum release, Permanent Vacation, that they regained their previous level of popularity. In the late 1980s and 1990s, the band won numerous awards for music from the multi-platinum albums Pump (1989), Get a Grip (1993), and Nine Lives (1997), while they embarked on their most extensive concert tours to date. Their biggest hits during this period included "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", "Rag Doll", "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", "What it Takes", "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'", and "Crazy". The band also filmed popular music videos and made notable appearances in television, film, and video games. In 1998, they achieved their first number-one hit with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from [[Armageddon: The Album|Armageddons soundtrack]] and the following year, their roller coaster attraction opened at Walt Disney World. Their comeback has been described as one of the most remarkable and spectacular in rock history. Additional albums Just Push Play (which included the hit "Jaded"), Honkin' on Bobo (a collection of blues covers), and Music from Another Dimension! followed in 2001, 2004, and 2012. In 2008, they released Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game. After five decades, the band continues to tour and record music. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, they had an ongoing concert residency in Las Vegas.
Aerosmith is the best-selling American hard rock band of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide, including over 85 million records in the United States. With 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum albums, they hold the record for the most total certifications by an American group and are tied for the most multi-platinum albums by an American group. They have achieved twenty-one Top 40 hits on the US Hot 100, nine number-one Mainstream Rock hits, four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, and ten MTV Video Music Awards. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and were ranked number 57 and 30, respectively, on Rolling Stones and VH1's lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2013, Tyler and Perry were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2020, the band received the MusiCares Person of the Year award.
History
Formation (1964–1970)
In 1964, Steven Tyler formed his own band called the Strangeurs—later Chain Reaction—in Yonkers, New York. Meanwhile, Perry and Hamilton formed the Jam Band (commonly known as "Joe Perry's Jam Band"), which was based on free-form and blues. Hamilton and Perry moved to Boston, Massachusetts in September 1969. There they met Joey Kramer, a drummer from Yonkers, New York. Kramer knew Tyler and had always hoped to play in a band with him. Kramer, a Berklee College of Music student, decided to leave the school, and joined Jam Band.
In 1970, Chain Reaction and Jam Band played at the same gig. Tyler immediately loved Jam Band's sound, and wanted to combine the two bands. In October 1970, the bands met up again and considered the proposition. Tyler, who had been a drummer and backup singer in Chain Reaction, adamantly refused to play drums in this new band, insisting that he would take part only if he could be frontman and lead vocalist. The others agreed, and a new band was formed. The band moved into a home together at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, where they wrote and rehearsed music together and relaxed in between shows.
The members of the band reportedly spent afternoons getting high and watching Three Stooges reruns. One day, they had a post-Stooges meeting to try to come up with a name. Kramer said that, when he was in school, he would write the word "aerosmith" all over his notebooks. The name had popped into his head after listening to Harry Nilsson's album Aerial Ballet, which featured jacket art of a circus performer jumping out of a biplane. Initially, Kramer's bandmates were unimpressed; they all thought he was referring to the Sinclair Lewis novel they were required to read in high school English class. "No, not Arrowsmith," Kramer explained. "A-E-R-O...Aerosmith." The band settled upon this name after also considering "the Hookers" and "Spike Jones."
Soon, the band hired Ray Tabano, a childhood friend of Tyler, as rhythm guitarist and began playing local shows. Aerosmith played their first gig in Mendon, Massachusetts at Nipmuc Regional High School (now Miscoe Hill Middle School) on November 6, 1970. In 1971, Tabano was replaced by Brad Whitford, who also attended the Berklee School of Music, and was formerly a member of the band Earth Inc. Whitford, from Reading, Massachusetts, had already played at Reading's AW Coolidge Middle School. Other than a period from July 1979 to April 1984, the line-up of Tyler, Perry, Hamilton, Kramer, and Whitford has stayed the same.
Record deal, Aerosmith, Get Your Wings, and Toys in the Attic (1971–1975)
After forming the band and finalizing the lineup in 1971, the band started to garner some local success doing live shows. Originally booked through the Ed Malhoit Agency, the band signed a promotion deal with Frank Connelly, and eventually secured a management deal with David Krebs and Steve Leber in 1972. Krebs and Leber invited Columbia Records President Clive Davis to see the band at Max's Kansas City in New York City. Aerosmith was not originally scheduled to play that night at the club, but they paid out of their own pockets to secure a place on the bill, reportedly the only band ever to do so at Max's. "No Surprize" from their Night in the Ruts album celebrated the moment their fame rose.
Aerosmith signed with Columbia in mid-1972 for a reported $125,000, and released their debut album, Aerosmith. Released in January 1973, the album peaked at number 166. The album was straightforward rock and roll with well-defined blues influences, laying the groundwork for Aerosmith's signature blues rock sound. Although the highest-charting single from the album was "Dream On" at number 59, several tracks, such as "Mama Kin" and "Walkin' the Dog", would become staples of the band's live shows, and received airplay on rock radio. The album reached gold status initially, eventually went on to sell two million copies, and was certified double platinum after the band reached mainstream success over a decade later. After constant touring, the band released their second album, Get Your Wings in 1974, the first of a string of multi-platinum albums produced by Jack Douglas. This album included the rock radio hits "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'", a cover done previously by the Yardbirds. The album also contained several fan favorites, including "Lord of the Thighs", "Seasons of Wither", and "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", darker songs that have become staples in the band's live shows. To date, Get Your Wings has sold three million copies.
In 1975, Aerosmith released their third album, Toys in the Attic, which established Aerosmith as international stars, competing with the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Originally derided as Rolling Stones knockoffs in part due to the physical resemblance between lead singers Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger, Toys in the Attic showed that Aerosmith was a unique and talented band in their own right. Toys in the Attic was an immediate success, starting with the single "Sweet Emotion", which became the band's first Top 40 hit. This was followed by a successful re-release of "Dream On" which hit No. 6, becoming their best charting single of the 1970s. "Walk This Way", re-released in 1976, reached the Top 10 in early 1977.
In addition, "Toys in the Attic" and "Big Ten Inch Record" (a song originally recorded by Bull Moose Jackson) became concert staples. As a result of this success, both of the band's previous albums re-charted. Toys in the Attic has gone on to become the band's bestselling studio album in the United States, with certified US sales of nine million copies. The band toured in support of Toys in the Attic, where they started to get more recognition. Also around this time, the band established their home base as "the Wherehouse" in Waltham, Massachusetts, where they would record and rehearse music, as well as conduct business.
Rocks, Draw the Line, and Live! Bootleg (1976–1978)
In 1976, Aerosmith's fourth album was Rocks, which "captured Aerosmith at their most raw and rocking". It went platinum swiftly and featured two Top 40 hits, "Last Child" and "Back in the Saddle", as well as the ballad "Home Tonight", which also charted. Rocks would eventually go on to sell over four million copies. Both Toys in the Attic and Rocks are highly regarded, especially in the hard rock genre: they appear on such lists as Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and are cited as influential by members of Guns N' Roses, Metallica, and Mötley Crüe. Kurt Cobain also listed Rocks as one of the albums he thought were most influential to Nirvana's sound in his journal in 1993. Soon after Rocks was released, the band continued to tour heavily, this time headlining their own shows, including large stadiums and rock festivals.
In 1977, Aerosmith released their fifth album, Draw the Line. Its recording was affected by the band's excesses, but the record still had memorable moments. The title track charted just shy of the Top 40 and remains a live staple, and "Kings and Queens" also charted. The album went on to sell two million copies. The band toured extensively in support of the album, but drug abuse and the fast-paced life of touring and recording began affecting their performances. Tyler and Perry became known as "the Toxic Twins" due to their notorious abuse of drugs on and off the stage. Tyler later commented, "I've spent $64 million on drugs"; Perry scoffed later, "There's no fucking way in the world you could spend that much money on drugs and still be alive. It makes a good headline – but, practically speaking, that was probably a very small portion of where we spent our money."
While continuing to tour and record in the late 1970s, Aerosmith appeared in the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie. Their cover of The Beatles' "Come Together", from the soundtrack, was the band's last Top 40 hit for nearly 10 years. The double vinyl Live! Bootleg, issued in 1978, captured the band's rawness during the Draw the Line tour. The standalone single "Chip Away the Stone", also released in 1978, charted at number 77.
Departures of Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, Night in the Ruts, and Rock in a Hard Place (1979–1984)
In 1979, the band started work on their next album, Night in the Ruts, but Aerosmith decided to go on tour during a break in the recording schedule. As the decade was about to conclude, the band's drug use began taking its toll, and tensions were slowly coming to a head. The band's touring schedule brought them to Cleveland Stadium on July 28, 1979, where they headlined the World Series of Rock festival. Pandemonium erupted backstage when Joe Perry's wife, Elissa, threw a glass of milk at Tom Hamilton's wife, Terry. Following the show, Tyler and Perry got into a heated argument when Tyler confronted Perry about his wife's antics, and after the course of the argument, Perry left Aerosmith (while Tyler claims in his autobiography that he fired Perry from the band). Upon his departure, Perry took some of the music that he had written with him. Shortly after his departure, Perry formed his own side project known as The Joe Perry Project.
Since there was still work to be done on Night in the Ruts, Aerosmith needed fill-in musicians to take Perry's place on the songs that needed to be recorded to complete the album. Guitarist Brad Whitford took over some of the lead parts, and Richie Supa, the band's longtime writing partner, filled in where needed until the band was able to hire Jimmy Crespo to take over as the next full-time guitarist. Night in the Ruts was released in November 1979, but only managed to sell enough records to be certified gold at the time, although it would eventually sell enough copies to be certified platinum by 1994. The only single the album spawned, a cover of "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" by the Shangri-Las, peaked at number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The tour for Night in the Ruts commenced shortly thereafter, but the band found themselves playing in smaller and smaller venues than before due to their popularity beginning to wane. Steven Tyler's drug issues were starting to affect his performance and songwriting, and he reached rock bottom in 1980, when he collapsed on stage during a show in Portland, Maine, and did not get up for the remainder of the set. Also in 1980, Aerosmith released their first compilation album, Greatest Hits. While the compilation didn't chart very high initially, it gained popularity later, and went on to become the band's best selling album in the United States, with sales of 12 million copies. In the fall of 1980, Tyler was injured in a serious motorcycle accident, which left him hospitalized for two months, and unable to tour or record well into 1981.
In 1981, Aerosmith began work on their next album, Rock in a Hard Place, and saw them reunite with producer Jack Douglas. However, after the first song for the album, "Lightning Strikes", was recorded, Brad Whitford left the band, and decided to form a duo with Derek St. Holmes, with whom he recorded a self-titled album, which failed to garner much interest. Whitford later joined up with the Joe Perry Project and played with them in 1984.
With Rick Dufay taking Whitford's place, Rock in a Hard Place was released on August 27, 1982. The album reached number 32 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Only one single charted, the aforementioned "Lightning Strikes", which peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. As with the tour for Night in the Ruts, Aerosmith was unable to book larger venues, and instead had to rely on filling clubs and theaters, which they struggled to do. At a homecoming arena show in Worcester, Massachusetts, Tyler and Perry reunited and got high backstage before the show. Tyler was so intoxicated that he collapsed on stage again and, like before, could not get up.
On February 14, 1984, Perry (by then divorced from his first wife Elissa) and Whitford saw Aerosmith perform at Boston's Orpheum Theater. Shortly thereafter, discussions began to reintegrate the two into the band and several months later, the original members of Aerosmith officially reunited. Steven Tyler recalls:
Back in the Saddle reunion tour, Done with Mirrors, and drug rehab (1984–1986)
In 1984, Aerosmith embarked on a reunion tour called the Back in the Saddle Tour, which led to the live album Classics Live II. While concerts on the tour were well-attended, it was plagued with several incidents, mostly attributed to drug abuse by band members. With their drug problems still not behind them, the group was signed to Geffen Records, and began working on a comeback. Despite the band signing on to a new record company, the band's old label Columbia continued to reap the benefits of Aerosmith's comeback, releasing the live companion albums Classics Live I and II and the collection Gems.
In 1985, the band released the album Done with Mirrors, their first studio album since reuniting. While the album did receive some positive reviews, it only went gold and failed to produce a hit single or generate any widespread interest. The album's most notable track, "Let the Music Do the Talking", was in fact a cover of a song originally recorded by the Joe Perry Project and released on that band's album of the same name. Nevertheless, the band became a popular concert attraction once again, touring in support of Done with Mirrors, well into 1986. In 1986, in an unprecedented crossover collaboration, Aerosmith (largely the additional contributions of leaders Tyler and Perry) appeared on Run–D.M.C.'s cover of "Walk This Way", a track blending rock and roll with hip hop. In reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song and its frequently-aired video resurrected Aerosmith's career by introducing the band's music to a new generation.
Despite their resurrecting performance, the band members' drug problems still stood in their way. In 1986, Tyler completed a successful drug rehabilitation program, after an intervention by his fellow band members, a doctor, and manager Tim Collins, who believed that the band's future would not be bright if Tyler did not get treated in time. The rest of the band members also completed drug rehab programs over the course of the next couple of years. According to the band's tell-all autobiography, Collins pledged in September 1986 that he could make Aerosmith the biggest band in the world by 1990 if they all completed drug rehab. Their next album was crucial because of the commercial disappointment of Done With Mirrors, and as the band members became clean, they worked hard to make their next album a success.
Permanent Vacation and Pump (1987–1991)
Permanent Vacation was released in August 1987, becoming a major hit and the band's bestselling album in over a decade (selling 5 million copies in the US), with all three of its singles ("Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", and "Rag Doll") reaching the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. Steven Tyler reveals in his autobiography that the album was "...the first one we ever did sober." Part of Permanent Vacations commercial success involved producer Bruce Fairbairn whose production touches (such as sound effects and high-quality recording) added interest to the album and the use of outside songwriters such as Desmond Child, Jim Vallance, and Holly Knight who assisted the band with lyrics. While the group was initially hesitant to using outside songwriters, including Tyler being furious for Knight getting songwriting credits for changing one word ("Rag Time" became "Rag Doll"), the method paid off, as Permanent Vacation became the band's most successful album in a decade. The group went on a subsequent tour with labelmates Guns N' Roses (who have cited Aerosmith as a major influence), which was intense at times because of Aerosmith's new struggle to stay clean amidst Guns N' Roses' well-publicized, rampant drug use.
Aerosmith's next album was even more successful. Pump, released in September 1989, featured three Top Ten singles: "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", and "What It Takes", as well as the Top 30 "The Other Side", re-establishing the band as a serious musical force. Pump was a critical and commercial success, eventually selling 7 million copies, spawning several music videos that were in regular rotation on MTV, and achieving four-star ratings from major music magazines. Pump ranked as the fourth-bestselling album of 1990. The band also won its first Grammy in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, for "Janie's Got a Gun". In addition, the video for "Janie's Got a Gun" won two Video Music Awards and was ranked as one of the 100 greatest videos of all time by Rolling Stone, MTV, and VH1. Like Permanent Vacation, Pump was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, who added production touches such as instrumental interludes that provided transitions between songs to give the album a more complete sound, as well as the Margarita Horns, who added horns to tracks such as "Love in an Elevator" and "The Other Side". Rock critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine claimed that Pump "revels in [pop concessions] without ever losing sight of Aerosmith's dirty hard rock core", going on to say that, "such ambition and successful musical eclectism make Pump rank with Toys in the Attic and Rocks." The recording process for Pump was documented in the video The Making of Pump, which has since been re-released as a DVD. The music videos for the album's singles were featured on the release Things That Go Pump in the Night, which quickly went platinum.
In support of Pump, the band embarked on the 12-month Pump Tour, which lasted for most of 1990. On February 21, 1990, the band appeared in a "Wayne's World" sketch on Saturday Night Live, debating the fall of communism and the Soviet Union, and performed their recent hits "Janie's Got a Gun" and "Monkey on My Back". The appearance of the band in the "Wayne's World" sketch was later ranked by E! as the number-one moment in the history of the program. On August 11, 1990, the band's performance on MTV's Unplugged aired. In October 1990, the Pump Tour ended, with the band's first ever performances in Australia. That same year, the band was also inducted to the Hollywood Rock Walk. In November 1991, the band appeared on The Simpsons episode "Flaming Moe's" and released a box set titled Pandora's Box. In coordination with the release of Pandora's Box, the band's 1975 hit "Sweet Emotion" was re-mixed and re-released as a single, and a music video was created to promote the single. Also in 1991, the band performed their 1973 single "Dream On" with Michael Kamen's orchestra for MTV's 10th Anniversary special; this performance was used as the official music video for the song. In 1992, Tyler and Perry appeared live as guests of Guns N' Roses during the latter's 1992 worldwide pay-per-view show in Paris, performing a medley of "Mama Kin" (which GN'R covered in 1986) and "Train Kept-A Rollin".
Get a Grip and Big Ones (1992–1995)
The band took a brief break before recording their follow-up to Pump in 1992. Despite significant shifts in mainstream music at the beginning of the 1990s, 1993's Get a Grip was just as successful commercially, becoming their first album to debut at number 1 and racking up sales of 7 million copies in a two-and-a-half-year timespan and over 20 million copies worldwide. The first singles were the hard rocking "Livin' on the Edge" and "Eat the Rich". Though many critics were unimpressed by the focus on the subsequent interchangeable power-ballads in promoting the album, all three ("Cryin'", "Amazing", and "Crazy") proved to be huge successes on radio and MTV. The music videos featured then up-and-coming actress Alicia Silverstone; her provocative performances earned her the title of "the Aerosmith chick" for the first half of the decade. Steven Tyler's daughter Liv Tyler was also featured in the "Crazy" video. The band won two Grammy Awards for songs from this album in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: for "Livin' on the Edge" in 1994 and "Crazy" in 1995.
During the making of Get a Grip, the management and record company brought in a variety of professional songwriting collaborators to help give nearly all the songs on the album more commercial appeal, a trend which would continue until the early 2000s. However, this led to accusations of selling out that would continue throughout the 1990s. In addition to Aerosmith's grueling 18-month world tour in support of Get a Grip, the band also did a number of things to help promote themselves and their album and appeal to youth culture, including the appearance of the band in the movie Wayne's World 2 where they performed two songs, the appearance of the band and their music in the video games Revolution X and Quest for Fame, performing at Woodstock '94, using their song "Deuces Are Wild" in The Beavis and Butt-head Experience, and opening their own club, The Mama Kin Music Hall, in Boston, MA in 1994. That same year saw the release of the band's compilation for Geffen Records, entitled Big Ones featuring their biggest hits from Permanent Vacation, Pump, and Get a Grip, "Deuces Are Wild" from the Beavis and Butt-head Experience, as well as two new songs, "Blind Man" and "Walk on Water", both of which experienced great success on the rock charts.
Nine Lives and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" (1996–2000)
Aerosmith had signed a $30 million contract for four records with Columbia Records/Sony Music in 1991, but had only recorded three of their six contractual albums with Geffen Records at that point (Done with Mirrors, Permanent Vacation, and Pump). Between 1991 and 1996, they released two more albums with Geffen (Get a Grip and Big Ones), which meant they now had five albums with Geffen under their belt (along with a planned live compilation), which meant they could now begin recording for their new contract with Columbia. The band took time off with their families before working on their next album, Nine Lives, which was plagued with personnel problems, including the firing of manager Tim Collins, who, according to band members, had nearly caused the band to break up. The album's producer was also changed from Glen Ballard to Kevin Shirley. Nine Lives was released in March 1997. Reviews were mixed, and Nine Lives initially fell down the charts, although it had a long chart life and sold double platinum in the United States alone, fueled by its singles, "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", the ballad "Hole in My Soul", and the crossover-pop smash "Pink" (which won the band their fourth Grammy Award in 1999 in the Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal category). It was followed by the over two-year-long Nine Lives Tour, which was plagued by problems including lead singer Steven Tyler injuring his leg at a concert, and Joey Kramer suffering second degree burns when his car caught fire at a gas station.
In 1998, in the midst of setbacks during the Nine Lives Tour, the band released the single "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", the love theme, written by Diane Warren for the 1998 film Armageddon, starring Steven Tyler's daughter Liv. The song became Aerosmith's first and only number 1 single when it debuted at the top position on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on top of the charts for four weeks. The song was nominated for an Academy Award in 1999. The song helped open Aerosmith up to a new generation and remains a slow-dance staple. 1998 also saw the release of the double-live album, A Little South of Sanity, which was assembled from performances on the Get a Grip and Nine Lives tours. The album went platinum shortly after its release. The band continued with their seemingly neverending world tours promoting Nine Lives and the "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" single well into 1999.
In 1999, Aerosmith was chosen to be featured in the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, providing the ride's soundtrack and theme at both Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort and, formerly, at Disneyland Paris in the Walt Disney Studios Park, which opened in 2002 and closed in 2019, to be replaced by an Iron Man and the Avengers attraction in the upcoming Avengers Campus. On September 9, 1999, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry reunited with Run–D.M.C. and were also joined by Kid Rock for a collaborative live performance of "Walk This Way" at the MTV Video Music Awards, a precursor to the Girls of Summer Tour. The band celebrated the new millennium with a brief tour of Japan, and also contributed the song "Angel's Eye" to the 2000 film Charlie's Angels. In December 2000, they wrapped up work on their next album.
Just Push Play, O, Yeah! and Rocksimus Maximus (2001–2003)
The band entered their next decade by co-headlining with NSYNC the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show, titled "The Kings of Rock and Pop", with appearances from Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige and Nelly. All of the stars collaborated with Aerosmith at the end for a performance of "Walk This Way".
In March 2001, the band released their 13th studio album Just Push Play, which quickly went platinum, fueled by the Top 10 single "Jaded" and the appearance of the title track in Dodge commercials. They were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame soon after their album was released, in late March 2001. Aerosmith is the only band to be inducted to the Hall of Fame with a song active in the charts ("Jaded"). Later that year, the band performed as part of the United We Stand: What More Can I Give benefit concert in Washington D.C. for 9/11 victims and their families. The band flew back to Indianapolis for a show the same night, as part of their Just Push Play Tour.
The band started 2002 by ending the Just Push Play tour, and simultaneously recording segments for their Behind the Music special on VH1, which not only chronicled the band's history but also the band's current activities and touring. The special was one of the few Behind the Musics to run two hours in length. In May, Aerosmith covered the "Theme from Spider-Man" for the soundtrack of the 2002 film of the same name. On June 27, the band performed at the official FIFA World Cup concert at Tokyo Stadium which took place during the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in Korea/Japan. In July 2002, Aerosmith released a two-disc career-spanning compilation O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits, which featured the new single "Girls of Summer" and embarked on the Girls of Summer Tour with Kid Rock and Run–D.M.C. opening. O, Yeah! has since been certified double platinum. MTV honored Aerosmith with their mtvICON award in 2002. Performances included Pink covering "Janie's Got a Gun". Shakira performed "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", Kid Rock played "Mama Kin" and "Last Child", Train performed "Dream On" and Papa Roach covered "Sweet Emotion". In addition, testimonials featured surprise guests Metallica, as well as Janet Jackson, Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst, Alicia Silverstone and Mila Kunis.
In 2003, Aerosmith co-headlined with Kiss on the Rocksimus Maximus Tour, in preparation for release of their blues album. They also performed a song for Rugrats Go Wild, "Lizard Love".
Honkin' on Bobo, Rockin' the Joint and Devil's Got a New Disguise (2004–2006)
Aerosmith's long-promised blues album Honkin' on Bobo was released in 2004. This was a return to the band's roots, including recording the album in live sessions, working with former producer Jack Douglas, and laying down their blues rock grit. It was followed by a live DVD, You Gotta Move, in December 2004, culled from performances on the Honkin' on Bobo Tour. "Dream On" was also featured in an advertising campaign for Buick in 2004, targeting that marque's market which is now composed largely of people who were teenagers when the song first charted.
2005 saw Steven Tyler appear in the film Be Cool. Joe Perry released his self-titled solo album that same year. At the 2006 Grammy Awards, he was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for the track "Mercy", but lost to Les Paul. In October 2005, Aerosmith released a CD/DVD Rockin' the Joint. The band hit the road for the Rockin' the Joint Tour on October 30 with Lenny Kravitz for a fall/winter tour of arenas in the largest US markets. The band planned to tour with Cheap Trick in the spring, hitting secondary markets in the US. Almost all of this leg of the tour was canceled, however. Dates were initially canceled one by one until March 22, 2006, when it was announced that lead singer Steven Tyler needed throat surgery, and the remaining dates on the tour were subsequently canceled.
Tyler and Perry performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra for their annual concert of July 4 on the Esplanade in 2006, a milestone as it was the first major event or performance since Steven Tyler's throat surgery. Around this time, the band also announced that they would embark on the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe in late 2006. On August 24, 2006, it was announced that Tom Hamilton was undergoing treatment for throat cancer. In order to make a full recovery, he sat out much of the Route of All Evil Tour until he was well again. Former Joe Perry Project bassist David Hull substituted for Hamilton until his return. On September 5, 2006, Aerosmith kicked off the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe in Columbus, Ohio. The co-headlining tour took both bands to amphitheaters across North America through November 24. After that, a select few arena dates were added, some of which were with Mötley Crüe. The tour ended December 17.
On October 17, 2006, the compilation album Devil's Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith was released. The album contained previous hits with the addition of two new songs, "Devil's Got a New Disguise" and "Sedona Sunrise", which were older outtakes re-recorded for the album. "Devil's Got a New Disguise" peaked at number 15 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The album was intended to fulfill Aerosmith's contract with Sony and tide fans over until the band's new studio album was released.
Touring, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and unfinished album (2007–2009)
In early 2007, the band announced a new World Tour, their first for nearly a decade to include dates outside North America or Japan. The band performed at London's Hard Rock Cafe in February 2007 to promote their European tour which included a night in Hyde Park as part of the Hyde Park Calling festival sponsored by Hard Rock Cafe. In the spring, the band toured Latin America to sold-out stadium crowds. In the summer, the band toured Europe, performing at several major rock festivals and visiting some countries they had never played before. Additionally, the band played in Middle East countries such as the United Arab Emirates and India for the first time. The band also played a few select dates in California and Canada in late July. The July 21 concert in Prince Edward Island, was the largest in that province's history. In September, the band performed eight dates in major markets in Northeastern North America. These shows were opened by Joan Jett. The band also played a private gig in Hawaii. A public show in Maui was canceled for logistical reasons, which spurred a class action lawsuit against the band. In April 2009, Aerosmith agreed to compensate all ticket buyers of the canceled show with a free ticket to a rescheduled Maui show to be held on October 20, 2009, along with reimbursements of all out-of-pocket expenses related to the show.
On November 1, 2007, the band entered the studio to work on the final studio album of their current contract with Sony. At the time, it was believed that the album would include both re-recorded tracks left off previous albums as well as brand new material. In an interview, guitarist Joe Perry revealed that in addition to creating a new album, the band was working closely with the makers of the Guitar Hero series to develop Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, a video game dedicated to the band's music. The game was released on June 29, 2008 and contains many of their most popular songs. Steven Tyler announced on VH1 Classic Radio on September 4, 2008, that Aerosmith intended to enter the studio at the end of September 2008 to complete the band's 15th studio album. Tyler also confirmed that the band planned to begin a new US tour in June 2009, in support of the as-yet-untitled album. This tour was supposed to be preceded by a concert in Venezuela on February 1, 2009. However, on January 15, 2009, Tyler said the band would be unable to play the gig because of a second knee injury of guitarist Joe Perry. In mid-February 2009, it was announced that the album would be produced by the famed Brendan O'Brien and that the album would likely be recorded live, like their earlier records. Although the band had hoped to finish the album before the tour started in June 2009, Perry said that the group "realized there wasn't any chance of getting [the album] finished before we hit the road for the summer." The tour featured ZZ Top as the opening act for most of the tour. The Aerosmith/ZZ Top Tour, presented by Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, was officially announced and the first dates released on April 8, 2009.
The tour was slated to take the band across North America from June to September 2009. The tour featured the band performing nearly all of the songs on their 1975 album Toys in the Attic during the first seven dates of the tour and also featured Joe Perry sing lead vocals on the 1976 "Combination". The tour was plagued with several health problems, however. Guitarist Brad Whitford had to sit out the first seven dates of the tour in order to recover from head surgery, after injuring his head getting out of his car. On June 28, 2009, at the band's seventh show of the tour at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, lead singer Steven Tyler injured his leg, which required seven shows to be postponed. As soon as the band resumed the tour on July 15, Whitford returned to the fold. However, Tom Hamilton had to depart the tour in order to recover from non-invasive surgery. On August 5, 2009, Tyler was rushed to the hospital after falling from the stage at a concert in Sturgis, South Dakota. He was helped up by security staff and taken backstage, before guitarist Joe Perry told the audience the show was over. Tyler was airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital, where he received treatment for head and neck injuries and a broken shoulder. In the wake of Tyler's injuries, the band was forced to postpone five shows in Western Canada. On August 14, 2009, Aerosmith announced that they had decided to cancel the rest of their US tour dates with ZZ Top, due to Tyler's injuries.
In the midst of the tour, Perry completed work on his fifth solo album, Have Guitar, Will Travel and drummer Joey Kramer released his autobiography, Hit Hard. Perry's solo album was released on October 6, 2009.
After Tyler recovered from falling off stage, the band returned to the stage in mid-October for two shows in Hawaii, one in Maui which was rescheduled from 2007 and finally played as part of a legal settlement, and an additional show which was played in Honolulu. In early November, the band played a concert in Abu Dhabi at the Grand Prix.
Tyler-Perry feud and Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour (2009–2010)
Tyler pulled out of a planned South American tour at the end of 2009 and seemed intent on pursuing solo projects, including his autobiography Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?. Tyler told Classic Rock magazine, "I don't know what I'm doing yet, but it's definitely going to be something Steven Tyler: working on the brand of myself – Brand Tyler." Meanwhile, guitarist Joe Perry toured the United States at the end of 2009, and Japan and the UK early in 2010.
In November 2009, Joe Perry stated that Tyler had not been in contact with the band and could be on the verge of quitting Aerosmith. Perry stated that the rest of the group was "looking for a new singer to work with." It was reported that singer Lenny Kravitz had been approached for Steven Tyler's position, which he then declined.
However, despite the rumors of him leaving the band, Tyler joined the Joe Perry Project onstage on November 10, 2009 at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, and Tyler and Perry performed the Aerosmith single "Walk This Way" together. According to sources at the event, Tyler assured the crowd that he was "not quitting Aerosmith".
On December 22, People magazine reported that Tyler had entered a rehabilitation facility to manage his addiction to painkillers, brought on by injuries to his knees, legs, and feet, that resulted from years of performing. In his statement, Tyler said he is grateful for the support he is receiving, is committed to getting things taken care of, and is eager to get back on stage and in the recording studio with his bandmates.
On January 20, 2010, Perry confirmed the band were about to audition for a new singer to replace Tyler. Perry said Tyler's surgery to his legs would "take him out of the picture" for up to a year and a half, and in the meantime, the rest of the band wanted to continue performing. Perry also said that the band would be willing to continue working with Tyler in the future if the singer wanted to.
In response, Tyler's attorney sent the band and its manager a "cease and desist" letter and threatened further legal action against both if the band did not discontinue this effort to replace Tyler.
On February 15, 2010, it was announced that Aerosmith were to headline Download Festival at Donington Park, England in June 2010. Tyler was confirmed as the frontman for the show by festival promoter Andy Copping. It was announced that the band would precede the June 13 date with an appearance at the Sweden Rock Festival on June 10 in Sölvesborg. During the Donington show, Perry celebrated Tyler's position as frontman, dubbing him "the best lead singer on the planet". On February 24, the band announced the first batch of dates for their upcoming Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour. The tour saw the band play seven dates in South and Central America in May, followed by eleven dates in Europe, in June and early July. The band performed in Colombia, Peru and Greece for the first time in their career on this tour. The band performed 24 concerts in North America in late July, August, and September. Many of the concerts were in locations the band canceled on in 2009. As part of the tour, the band played Fenway Park in Boston with fellow Bostonians the J. Geils Band.
Problems on the band's Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour arose in August 2010, including Tyler accidentally hitting Joe Perry in the head with his microphone stand at a show in Wantagh, New York and Perry bumping into Tyler at the Toronto show, which caused Tyler to tumble off the stage. Perry suffered a minor head injury at the Wantagh show and Tyler was helped back up by fans and Perry at the Toronto show, and both shows went on. Around the same time as these incidents, tension flared again between Perry and Tyler due to Tyler's plans to become a talent judge on American Idol. Perry criticized Tyler for not consulting the rest of the band, saying that he "found out on the internet, like the rest of the world" and that nobody else in the band knew anything about it.
On August 18, it was reported that Tyler officially signed on with the show. When asked about this in October, Perry declared he understood Tyler's reasons and wished him luck, but stated that he would seek different projects – "I'm tired of waiting around, so I'm not passing up anything right now".
While announcing the Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour in 2009, Tyler and Perry said that the next item on the agenda was a new Aerosmith album, the group's first since 2004's Honkin' on Bobo. The group did some recording with producer Brendan O'Brien in 2008 but halted because of Tyler's health problems. Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton told the Boston Herald in September 2010 that Tyler believes he has the time and energy to continue fronting the band while also being a judge on American Idol.
Hamilton explained, "Steven's been very emphatic in saying that the way his time is arranged on the show leaves room to work on a record. He's been taking great pains to remind everybody of that, so hopefully that's the way it will come out." On November 5, 2010, Brad Whitford said the recording sessions will probably be in Los Angeles, where American Idol is headquartered, and a world tour would follow.
Touring and Music from Another Dimension! (2010–2013)
In a November 2010 interview reported at NME.com, drummer Joey Kramer confirmed that the band had every intention to finish and release their long-delayed album in 2011, stating, "Really, at this point in time, the only thing that's going to stop us is if someone out-and-out dies. Other than that, we've already been through what we've been through and stood the test of time. What else is there?" On January 18, 2011, Tyler declared that "Joe (Perry) has got some licks and I've got a bunch of songs that I've written for solo and/or Aerosmith" and the band would start prepping the album that week.
On March 20, 2011, Aerosmith announced a new greatest hits album, Tough Love: Best of the Ballads, which was released on May 10, 2011. On May 14, 2011, the band announced a tour of Latin America in the fall of 2011. In June, Joe Perry announced that the band is going to meet at the recording studio to produce the next album of the band in July. On August 30, it was announced that the new album will be released around May 2012. The album will be produced by Jack Douglas, who produced four albums for the band in the 1970s. Aerosmith began their fall tour of Latin America and Japan on October 22 in Lima, Peru. As part of the tour, the band performed in Paraguay, Panama, and Ecuador for the first time in their careers. Their show in Asunción, Paraguay was postponed a day, after lead singer Steven Tyler sustained facial injuries after falling in his hotel room shower, due to a bout of food poisoning that dehydrated him and caused him to faint.
On March 11, 2012, Aerosmith was featured on an episode of 60 Minutes. The show included very candid interviews with the band members, interspersed with live performances from the band's 2011 tour. Some of the comments the band members said about each other seemed to re-ignite past tensions in the band. However, on March 22, Joe Perry surprised Steven Tyler by performing "Happy Birthday" for him on American Idol, as an early birthday present for Tyler. On March 26, Aerosmith announced a summer tour with Cheap Trick entitled the "Global Warming Tour". On May 23, Aerosmith debuted their new single, "Legendary Child", on the season finale of American Idol. Shortly after, it was announced that their fifteenth studio album, Music from Another Dimension!, would be released on November 6, 2012. On May 30, Aerosmith and Cheap Trick performed for Walmart shareholders. Aerosmith's "Global Warming Tour" began June 16 in Minneapolis and took the band to 26 locations across North America through August 12. The band hinted that the tour would continue in October/November after the album release. On August 22, Aerosmith released two singles simultaneously, the rocker "Lover Alot" and the ballad "What Could Have Been Love". On September 22, Aerosmith performed at the iHeartRadio music festival in Las Vegas. In advance of the release of their new album, the band performed on The Late Show with David Letterman and Today, and Tyler and Perry were interviewed on The Late Show and The View. In addition, Tyler, Perry and Whitford performed "Dream On" for the telethon Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together to raise funds for the victims of the namesake storm that struck the Northeastern United States. On November 5, Aerosmith performed an outdoor concert in front of their old apartment at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston to celebrate the release of their album and their Boston roots. Music from Another Dimension! was released on November 6. Two days later, the band began the 2nd leg of their Global Warming Tour, which took the band to 14 North American locations through December 13.
On January 21, 2013, Aerosmith released "Can't Stop Lovin' You" (featuring Carrie Underwood) as the fourth single from Music from Another Dimension!. On February 20, it was announced that the band's principal songwriters Steven Tyler and Joe Perry would be recipients of the ASCAP Founders Award at the society's 30th Annual Pop Music Awards on April 17. Two days later, it was announced that the duo would be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at a ceremony to be held on June 13.
In late April and early May 2013, Aerosmith extended their Global Warming Tour to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore. This marked the band's first performances in Australia in 23 years, and the band's first-ever performances in the latter four countries. Tom Hamilton had to miss the last three Australian shows due to illness; David Hull filled in for him. On May 5, Aerosmith cancelled their first-ever performance in Indonesia (scheduled for May 11) due to safety concerns; the actual threat was not released. On May 30, Aerosmith performed as part of the "Boston Strong" charity concert for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. The band also performed at the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia on July 6, at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut on July 10, four concerts in Japan in mid-August, and as part of the Harley-Davidson 110th Anniversary Concert series in Milwaukee on August 30. In the fall of 2013, Aerosmith extended their tour to Central and South America, including their first-ever performances in Guatemala, El Salvador and Uruguay. Hamilton had to depart the Latin American tour due to illness.
In July 2013, the band released the live concert DVD Rock for the Rising Sun, which also documented the band's 2011 tour of Japan. The release was also screened in select theaters in October 2013.
Solo endeavors, farewell tour and upcoming sixteenth studio album (2014–2018)
On March 21, 2014, in tweets released by Joe Perry, Joey Kramer, and Slash, it was announced that Aerosmith would be touring North America with Slash (along with Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators) in the summer of 2014. This followed a 17-date European tour that Aerosmith took from May 14 to July 2. The North American tour, known as the Let Rock Rule Tour, sent Aerosmith to 21 locations from July 10 to September 12.
Asked in May 2014 if Aerosmith would release a sixteenth studio album anytime soon, bassist Tom Hamilton replied, "I hope soon. But I really don't know what we are doing because we no longer have a record contract. We are finished with Columbia. So, there is nothing written in stone. We'll see what the fans want." In an interview with Rolling Stone about what the future holds, Joe Perry admitted that, "I don't even know if making new albums makes sense anymore. Maybe we'll just release an EP every six months. I don't know what the future looks like."
On October 7, 2014, Perry released his autobiography Rocks: My Life in and Out of Aerosmith, co-written by David Ritz. Perry promoted the book with a book-signing tour that took him to 14 locations across the United States in the month of October. On February 26, 2015, Aerosmith premiered the film Aerosmith Rocks Donington in 300 movie theaters across North America; the concert video is from the band's 2014 performance at Download Festival at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England. The video was released on DVD/Blu-ray on September 4, 2015.
On March 31, 2015, lead singer Steven Tyler stated that he was working on his first solo country album. On April 6, it was announced that Tyler signed a record deal with Scott Borchetta's Dot Records (a division of the Big Machine Label Group). On May 13, Tyler released the lead single, "Love is Your Name", from his forthcoming solo debut album. He promoted the song on the Bobby Bones Show, iHeartMedia, CBS This Morning, Entertainment Tonight, and the American Idol season 14 finale.
On June 10, Aerosmith embarked on the Blue Army Tour, which sent the band to 17 North American locations through August 7, many of them in smaller venues in secondary markets that the band has either never performed in or hasn't performed in many years. The band also played a one-off show in Moscow on September 5. On the tour, the band played several lesser-known deep cuts.
After the tour, Tyler completed work on his solo album, We're All Somebody from Somewhere, which was released on July 15, 2016. Prior to the album's release, a second single, "Red, White & You", was released in January 2016, followed by the third single (the title track) in June 2016. Meanwhile, Joe Perry worked with Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp on the side project Hollywood Vampires, which released their eponymous debut album in September 2015 and performed at the 58th Grammy Awards on February 15, 2016. Brad Whitford re-joined Derek St. Holmes for a handful of tour dates in November 2015 and a new Whitford/St. Holmes album that was made available to fans at their live performances and was scheduled for wide release in 2016. Tom Hamilton performed with Thin Lizzy at a handful of concert dates in Europe in the summer of 2016 and also joined Pearl Jam for a performance of "Draw the Line" at Boston's Fenway Park on August 7. Meanwhile, Joey Kramer became actively involved in his "Rockin' & Roastin'" coffee business, which opened a location in Newry, Maine, in December 2015 and a second location in North Attleborough, Massachusetts in July 2016.
Since December 2015, in various interviews, Whitford, Tyler, and Perry all discussed the possibility of a farewell tour or "wind-down tour" slated to start in 2017. Perry has suggested the tour could last for two years and Tyler said it could potentially last "forever"; Whitford and Tyler also discussed the potential of doing one last studio album.
On July 10, 2016, Perry collapsed onstage at a concert he was performing with the Hollywood Vampires on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest. He was revived and rushed to the hospital, where he was quickly upgraded to stable condition later that night. The Vampires continued the show without Perry that evening and continued the rest of their tour, but canceled an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. After resting for a few days, Perry made a complete recovery and returned to the Hollywood Vampires tour.
From September through October 2016 Aerosmith embarked on a nine-date tour of Latin America, called the Rock 'N' Roll Rumble Tour, preceded by a performance at the Kaaboo Festival in San Diego, California on September 17. In November 2016, Aerosmith announced that they would be going on a "farewell" tour in Europe in the spring and summer of 2017, titled the Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour. The tour launched in Tel Aviv, Israel on May 17, 2017, where approximately 45,000 tickets were sold. In early July, the band completed the European leg of the tour; the band extended the tour to South America in September and October 2017, but the last few shows had to be canceled due to health issues. According to Brad Whitford, the tour could end anytime from 2017 to the next four years in 2021. On 19 January 2018, Perry released a solo disc titled Sweetzerland Manifesto. He also announced that the 2017 tour titled "Aero-Vederci Baby!" was not really a final tour and the band will be touring in 2019 to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
Las Vegas residency, future activities and upcoming new projects (2019–present)
On August 15, 2018, Aerosmith appeared on NBC's Today show to announce a residency in Las Vegas called "Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild", a reference to both Las Vegas casino gambling and their 1994 single of the same name.
In January 2019, Joe Perry stated that he and Steven Tyler, were due to start recording new material, together, for a new Aerosmith album.
The band's Las Vegas residency took place during the months of April, June, July, and September thru December 2019 and was scheduled to be extended into January, February, May, and June 2020 at the Park Theater (the 2020 dates were cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic). In addition to the Las Vegas shows, in mid July 2019, the band performed at a festival in Minnesota, and in August 2019, they played a total of nine shows spread across three MGM venues in Maryland, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. On February 14, 2019, Aerosmith was scheduled to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but the ceremony and installation was postponed to a date to be determined due to inclement weather.
In April 2019, drummer Joey Kramer suffered minor injuries to his shoulder following an unspecified accident, and was forced to stand down from several concerts of the band's Las Vegas residency. His drum technician John Douglas substituted for him.
In November the same year, Kramer told several news sites that he was not allowed to rejoin the band despite his recovery, to which the band responded that his playing was "not up to Aerosmith standards". The disagreement culminated in a series of lawsuits in January 2020, after which Kramer was expected to be barred from performing with the band at the 2020 Grammy Awards. Kramer rejoined Aerosmith in February 2020 for their Las Vegas residency.
Aerosmith was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
In 2019, a European tour was announced, due to take place through the summer of 2020 following the completion of their Las Vegas dates, but the shows were cancelled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as was a 50th Anniversary show at Boston's Fenway Park, originally planned for September 2020. The European dates were initially rescheduled for the summer of 2021 but were later moved again to summer 2022 due to the ongoing pandemic.
In an August 2020 interview with former The Black Crowes drummer, Steve Gorman, on his radio show Steve Gorman Rocks, Brad Whitford was asked what the future of Aerosmith looked like. His response was "I don't really know what they want to do. And, I don't really care because, um, truthfully, I'm not interested anymore", citing ongoing dysfunction within the band.
He expressed similar concerns in an interview with Joe Bonamassa on his 'Live From Nerdville' podcast in June 2021. Brad shared his thoughts about how the COVID-19 outbreak would affect touring plans for Aerosmith, and musicians in general, whilst acknowledging his & his bandmates current ages. Stating, "I mean, I have my doubts about Aerosmith ever really performing again at this stage, because age is becoming a real factor. It is what it is."
On August 23, 2021, Aerosmith signed a distribution deal with Universal Music Group, covering the band's entire catalog - both Geffen (Universal's subsidiary) and Columbia titles.
Influence and legacy
Influenced by bands such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, and the New York Dolls,Jeff Burlingame (2010). "Aerosmith: Hard Rock Superstars". Enslow Publishers, Inc. Aerosmith proved to be a major influence themselves on subsequently massively successful bands and musicians; according to Perry, Eddie Van Halen once told him that his band Van Halen "started out on the suburban L.A. club circuit, playing Aerosmith songs". Aerosmith's influence was evident on the next generation of hard rock and heavy metal bands, namely Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Guns N' Roses, Tesla, L.A. Guns, Cinderella, Faster Pussycat, Skid Row, Extreme, Warrant, Inglorious, the Black Crowes and the Quireboys, as well as Metallica, Metal Church and Testament. Especially, Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash has stated that Aerosmith is his favorite band, and Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx has expressed massive admiration for the band and its early records in both The Dirt and The Heroin Diaries. Members of alternative rock bands such as Nirvana, Mother Love Bone/Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Staind and Godsmack are also self-professed early Aerosmith fans.
The interplay between Joe Perry and Brad Whitford has been inspiring to many bands, especially Guns N' Roses. Joe Perry has received wide recognition and praise as a lead guitarist, and has shared the stage many times with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, who Perry cites as primary influences. He and Tyler were asked by Page to induct Led Zeppelin into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; during the ceremony, which took place in 1995, Tyler and Perry delivered their speech and joined the band onstage for a brief set. During Beck's and Metallica's induction in 2009, they invited Perry and Page to play the Yardbirds/Zeppelin/Aerosmith classic "Train Kept A-Rollin'". Other collaborations, either by individual members of the band or by Aerosmith as a whole, have included Alice Cooper on his Trash album, Guns N' Roses (who opened for Aerosmith during their 1988 tour and had covered "Mama Kin" on their first release) and B'z. As a testimony to their importance in American popular culture as a whole, Aerosmith have also collaborated with popular non-rock artists, such as Run-DMC, Eminem ("Sing for the Moment"), and Carrie Underwood, and performed with 'N Sync, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, and Nelly for the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show. Country artists Garth Brooks and Mark Chesnutt both scored hit singles with covers of Aerosmith songs; Brooks in 1995 with "The Fever", a reworking of Aerosmith's 1993 song, and Chesnutt in 1999 with a cover of Aerosmith's 1998 song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Like many of their 1970s contemporaries including Led Zeppelin and Alice Cooper, the members of Aerosmith were prone to excess and debauchery. Drug consumption was rampant; the recording sessions for 1976's Rocks and 1977's Draw the Line were especially noted for their substance indulgence, including heroin. In the words of Bebe Buell, "They [Aerosmith] were like a gang of kids with their own planes, Porsches, millions of dollars, limitless resources. [...] Mick Jagger and Jimmy Page had control, but these boys did not care. They won the prize, hands down, for the rowdiest rock 'n' roll band in that era. No question."
In the mid to late 1970s, the band enjoyed tremendous popularity in the United States and in Japan, though they failed to make a big impression in Britain. Still, they were among the most popular hard rock acts in America in the mid to late 1970s, along with Heart, Kiss, Ted Nugent, ZZ Top, and Boston. Their massive popularity waned, however, following Perry and Whitford's departures. Following both guitarists' return to the band and its complete drug cleanup, Aerosmith made a prodigious return to success, once described as "the single most successful comeback in the history of heavy metal, if not all of popular music." During both the 1970s and the 1987–1995 era, Aerosmith undertook grueling world tours that numbered in the triple digits numbers of dates, headlining or co-headlining festivals along the way, such as the Texxas Jam in 1978 and 1987, the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington, England in 1990 and 1994, and Woodstock '94.
Initially resistant to this medium, the band later became renowned and received numerous awards for pioneering expansive, conceptual music videos, such as those for "Janie's Got a Gun" (directed by future Fight Club director David Fincher), "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'", "Amazing", "Crazy", "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", and "Pink".
The band's music has also been featured in several video games, such as episodes of the Dead or Alive and Grand Theft Auto series, and some video games are centered on the band, like Quest for Fame and Revolution X. Aerosmith was the first band to have its band-centered Guitar Hero title, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game across both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band platforms.
MembersCurrent Steven Tyler – lead vocals, harmonica, percussion (1970–present)
Tom Hamilton – bass (1970–present)
Joey Kramer – drums (1970–present)
Joe Perry – lead and rhythm guitar, backing and occasional lead vocals (1970–1979, 1984–present)
Brad Whitford – rhythm and lead guitar (1971–1981, 1984–present)Touring Buck Johnson – keyboards, piano, backing vocals, guitar (2014–present)Former Ray Tabano – rhythm and lead guitar (1970–1971)
Jimmy Crespo – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1979–1984)
Rick Dufay – rhythm and lead guitar (1981–1984)
Awards and achievements
Despite Aerosmith's popularity and success in the 1970s, it wasn't until their comeback in the late-1980s and 1990s when they started winning awards and major recognition. In 1987, Aerosmith won the Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap – Single for the re-mix of "Walk This Way" with Run-D.M.C. In 1990, Aerosmith won their first Grammy award, for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and went on to win a total of four such awards (all of them in the 1990s) for "Janie's Got a Gun", "Livin' on the Edge", "Crazy", and "Pink". Aerosmith is second only to U2 in the number of awards won in that category.
In addition, Aerosmith's music videos won numerous awards throughout the 1990s. Aerosmith ranks as the ninth most successful artist (and the third most successful group) of all-time at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), with ten such awards to date. Aerosmith is also the all-time leader in the categories Best Rock Video (with four such awards) and Viewer's Choice (with three such awards). Aerosmith has also won once each in the categories Video of the Year, Best Group Video, and Best Video from a Film. The videos for which Aerosmith has won VMAs are "Janie's Got a Gun" (2 awards), "The Other Side", "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'" (3 awards), "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", "Pink", and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Over the course of their career (primarily 1990 and after), Aerosmith has also collected six American Music Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, two People's Choice Awards, sixteen Boston Music Awards, and numerous other awards and honors. Some of the high accolades Aerosmith have achieved include induction into Hollywood's Rock Walk in 1990, a declaration of "Aerosmith Day" in the state of Massachusetts by then-Governor William Weld on April 13, 1993, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and being honored with the mtvICON award in 2002.
In the fields of technology and video games, Aerosmith has achieved several feats. In 1994, Aerosmith released the song "Head First" on the CompuServe online service, which is considered to be the first full-length commercial product available online. In 2008, Aerosmith became the first artist to have an entire Guitar Hero video game based around them with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game across both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band platforms.
Aerosmith also holds several chart and album sales feats, including the second highest number of number-one singles on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for a group with nine, the only number one debut on the Billboard Hot 100 by a rock group with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", the second most gold albums by an American group behind Kiss who has 30, the most total certifications (including gold, platinum, and multi-platinum combined) by an American group, and are tied with Van Halen for the most multi-platinum albums by an American group. From the Recording Industry Association of America, Aerosmith has achieved 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum album certifications, in addition to one diamond album, four gold singles, and one platinum digital single. Media often refer to Aerosmith, who have sold more than 150 million albums worldwide and 70.2 million in the United States, as the best-selling American rock band.
Aerosmith were honored as MusiCares Person of the Year in 2020.
Rankings
"Dream On", "Toys in the Attic", and "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) are all listed in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
In 1993, "Rolling Stones list of the "Top 100 Music Videos" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 11 and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 95.
In 1999, MTV's "100 Greatest Videos Ever Made" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 5 and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 48.
In 2000, VH1's "100 Greatest Rock Songs" included "Walk This Way" at number 35 and "Dream On" at number 47.
In 2001, "VH1: 100 Greatest Videos" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 11, "Crazy" at number 23, and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 48.
In 2003, Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time included Rocks at number 176 and Toys in the Attic at number 228.
In 2004, Rolling Stones The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time included "Dream On" at number 172, "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 287, "Walk This Way" (original) at number 336, and "Sweet Emotion" at number 408.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Aerosmith number 57 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2008, Rolling Stone ranked the original version of "Walk This Way" at number 34 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
In 2010, Aerosmith were ranked number 30 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2013, Ultimate Classic Rock website ranked "Sweet Emotion" number 1 in their Top 100 Classic Rock Songs chart.
"Pump", which reached number 1 on the Australian Record Industry Association charts and yielded two top 10 hit singles. "Pump" more than 150,000 units on Warner Music (which distributed Geffen in Australia until 1990) and more than 60,000 units after Universal took over
DiscographyStudio albums'''
Aerosmith (1973)
Get Your Wings (1974)
Toys in the Attic (1975)
Rocks (1976)
Draw the Line (1977)
Night in the Ruts (1979)
Rock in a Hard Place (1982)
Done with Mirrors (1985)
Permanent Vacation (1987)
Pump (1989)
Get a Grip (1993)
Nine Lives (1997)
Just Push Play (2001)
Honkin' on Bobo (2004)
Music from Another Dimension! (2012)
Filmography and videography
In addition to recording and performing music, Aerosmith has also been involved with films, television, video games, pinball, and music videos. In 1978, the band starred as the "Future Villain Band" in the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Later, when the band resurrected itself in the late 1980s and 1990s, Aerosmith made further appearances, including the "Wayne's World" sketch on Saturday Night Live in 1990, the "Flaming Moe's" episode of The Simpsons in 1991, and the film Wayne's World 2 in 1993. The band also appeared in the 2005 John Travolta/Uma Thurman comedy Be Cool, in which Steven Tyler and Thurman's characters help bring pop music star Linda Moon (Christina Milian) into the limelight.
The band has been the subject of several video games including Revolution X in 1994, Quest for Fame in 1995, and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, in June 2008. The band has also made over 30 major music videos, and released seven home videos or DVDs.
In 2017, Stern released three versions of an Aerosmith pinball machine, which feature original versions of nine of the band's iconic songs, as well as Elevator and Toy-Box multiballs.
Tours
1970–1972: Club Days
1973: Aerosmith Tour
1974: Get Your Wings Tour
1975: Toys in the Attic Tour
1976–1977: Rocks Tour 1977–1978: Aerosmith Express Tour (supporting Draw the Line album)
1978: Live! Bootleg Tour 1979–1980: Night in the Ruts Tour
1982–1983: Rock in a Hard Place Tour
1984: Back in the Saddle Tour 1985–1986: Done with Mirrors Tour 1987–1988: Permanent Vacation Tour 1989–1990: Pump Tour 1993–1994: Get a Grip Tour 1997–1999: Nine Lives Tour 1999–2000: Roar of the Dragon Tour 2001–2002: Just Push Play Tour 2002: Girls of Summer Tour 2003: Rocksimus Maximus Tour 2004: Honkin' on Bobo Tour 2005–2006: Rockin' the Joint Tour 2006: Route of All Evil Tour 2007: World Tour 2007 2009: Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Tour 2010: Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour 2011: Back on the Road Tour 2012–2014: Global Warming Tour 2014: Let Rock Rule Tour 2015: Blue Army Tour 2016: Rock 'N' Roll Rumble Tour 2017–2018: Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour 2019–2020: Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild''
See also
Aero Force One
Honorific nicknames in popular music
List of artists who reached number one on the Australian singles chart
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart
List of best-selling music artists
List of glam metal bands and artists
List of hard rock musicians (A–M)
List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
Pop icon
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
Aerosmithfans website|Aerosmith - Aerosmith Fans - The (un) Official Home Page Of Aerosmith Fans Worldewide - xxxxx
1970 establishments in Massachusetts
American blues rock musical groups
Hard rock musical groups from Massachusetts
American glam metal musical groups
Columbia Records artists
Geffen Records artists
Grammy Award winners
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musical groups established in 1970
Musical groups from Boston
Musical quintets
| true |
[
"When the Bough Breaks is the second solo album from Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward. It was originally released on April 27, 1997, on Cleopatra Records.\n\nTrack listing\n\"Hate\" – 5:00\n\"Children Killing Children\" – 3:51\n\"Growth\" – 5:45\n\"When I was a Child\" – 4:54\n\"Please Help Mommy (She's a Junkie)\" – 6:40\n\"Shine\" – 5:06\n\"Step Lightly (On the Grass)\" – 5:59\n\"Love & Innocence\" – 1:00\n\"Animals\" – 6:32\n\"Nighthawks Stars & Pines\" – 6:45\n\"Try Life\" – 5:35\n\"When the Bough Breaks\" – 9:45\n\nCD Cleopatra CL9981 (US 1997)\n\nMusicians\n\nBill Ward - vocals, lyrics, musical arrangements\nKeith Lynch - guitars\nPaul Ill - bass, double bass, synthesizer, tape loops\nRonnie Ciago - drums\n\nCover art and reprint issues\n\nAs originally released, this album featured cover art that had two roses on it. After it was released, Bill Ward (as with Ward One, his first solo album) stated on his website that the released cover art was not the correct one that was intended to be released. Additionally, the liner notes for the original printing had lyrics that were so small, most people needed a magnifying glass to read them. This was eventually corrected in 2000 when the version of the album with Bill on the cover from the 70's was released. The album was later on released in a special digipak style of case, but this was later said to be released prematurely, and was withdrawn.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nWhen the Bough Breaks at Bill Ward's site\nWhen the Bough Breaks at Black Sabbath Online\n\nBill Ward (musician) albums\nBlack Sabbath\n1997 albums\nCleopatra Records albums",
"\"When It Rains, It Really Pours\" is a song originally written and recorded by Billy \"The Kid\" Emerson. His version, titled \"When It Rains It Pours\", was released by Sun Records in 1954. The song was later recorded by Elvis Presley in 1957, but not released until 1965 on the album Elvis for Everyone.\n\nEmerson's version\nThe song was recorded on October 27, 1954 at Sun Recording Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. Sam Phillips was the producer. It was released on January 8, 1955 as Sun 214, as the B-side to the song \"Move Baby Move\" which did not chart.\n\nPersonnel at the season were Emerson, piano: Elven Parr, guitar: Robert Prindell, drums: Charles Smith, alto sax: Bennie Moore, tenor sax: and Luther Taylor, trumpet.\n\nPresley's recordings\nPresley had initially attempted to record the song while at Sun Records in November 1955, with Elvis and Scotty Moore on guitars, Bill Black on bass and Johnny Bernero on drums, but it was never completed as his contract with Sun was sold to RCA Records around the same time. The tapes of all Presley's Sun recordings were handed to RCA as part of the deal, with most of them being included on albums released shortly afterwards. Presley's 1955 recording of \"When It Rains, It Really Pours\", however, was not released. It was lost for several years until 1982 when it was found and finally released officially on the 1983 compilation album Elvis: A Legendary Performer Volume 4.\n\nPresley was recorded performing the song during the Million Dollar Quartet session on December 4, 1956.\n\nOn February 24, 1957 Presley again recorded the song, this time for RCA. This version also went unreleased until it appeared on the 1965 album Elvis for Everyone. The musicians on this session were Moore and Presley on guitars, Black on bass, Fontana on drums, Dudley Brooks on piano and the Jordanaires singing backup.\n\nIn 1968, during rehearsals for the television special Elvis, Presley was recorded singing it as a potential song for the show. Although the song was not chosen for the special, the rehearsal was released on The Complete '68 Comeback Special CD released in 2008.\n\nReferences\n\nElvis Presley songs\n1954 songs\nSongs written by Billy \"The Kid\" Emerson"
] |
[
"Aerosmith",
"Record deal, Aerosmith, Get Your Wings and Toys in the Attic (1971-1975)",
"What record deal did Aerosmith receive in 1971?",
"signed with Columbia in mid-1972",
"What was their first record?",
"Aerosmith.",
"Was this album popular?",
"the album peaked at number 166.",
"When was this released?",
"January 1973,"
] |
C_fac055458d69481bae62214031bfcf1a_0
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Were there any hit songs?
| 5 |
Were there any hit songs on Aerosmith?
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Aerosmith
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After forming the band and finalizing the lineup in 1971, the band started to garner some local success doing live shows. Originally booked through the Ed Malhoit Agency, the band signed a promotion deal with Frank Connelly and eventually secured a management deal with David Krebs and Steve Leber in 1972. Krebs and Leber invited Columbia Records President Clive Davis to see the band at Max's Kansas City in New York City. Aerosmith was not originally scheduled to play that night at the club, but they paid from their own pockets to secure a place on the bill, reportedly the only band ever to do so at Max's. "No Surprize" from their Night in the Ruts album celebrates the moment their fame began. Aerosmith signed with Columbia in mid-1972 for a reported $125,000 and issued their debut album, Aerosmith. Released in January 1973, the album peaked at number 166. The album was straightforward rock and roll with well-defined blues influences, laying the groundwork for Aerosmith's signature blues rock sound. Although the highest-charting single from the album was "Dream On" at number 59, several tracks, such as "Mama Kin" and "Walkin' the Dog", would become staples of the band's live shows and receive airplay on rock radio. The album reached gold status initially, eventually went on to sell two million copies, and was certified double platinum after the band reached mainstream success over a decade later. After constant touring, the band released their second album Get Your Wings in 1974, the first of a string of multi-platinum albums produced by Jack Douglas. This album included the rock radio hits "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'", a cover done previously by the Yardbirds. The album also contained several fan favorites including "Lord of the Thighs", "Seasons of Wither", and "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", darker songs that have become staples in the band's live shows. To date, Get Your Wings has sold three million copies. It was 1975's Toys in the Attic, however, that established Aerosmith as international stars competing with the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Originally derided as Rolling Stones knockoffs in part due to the physical resemblance between lead singers Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger, Toys in the Attic showed that Aerosmith was a unique and talented band in their own right. Toys in the Attic was an immediate success, starting with the single "Sweet Emotion", which became the band's first Top 40 hit. This was followed by a successful re-release of "Dream On" which hit number 6, becoming their best charting single of the 1970s. "Walk This Way", re-released in 1976, reached the Top 10 in early 1977. In addition, "Toys in the Attic" and "Big Ten Inch Record" (a song originally recorded by Bull Moose Jackson) became concert staples. As a result of this success, both of the band's previous albums re-charted. Toys in the Attic has gone on to become the band's bestselling studio album in the States, with certified U.S. sales of eight million copies. The band toured in support of Toys in the Attic, where they started to get more recognition. Also around this time, the band established their home base as "the Wherehouse" in Waltham, Massachusetts, where they would record and rehearse music, as well as conduct business. CANNOTANSWER
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Dream On
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Aerosmith is an American rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whitford (guitar). Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has also incorporated elements of pop rock, heavy metal, glam metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many subsequent rock artists. They are sometimes referred to as "the Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". The primary songwriting team of Tyler and Perry is often known as the "Toxic Twins".
Perry and Hamilton, originally in a band together called the Jam Band, met up with Tyler, Kramer, and guitarist Ray Tabano, and formed Aerosmith; in 1971, Tabano was replaced by Whitford. At some point prior to the weekend of December 25, 1971; they were known as "Fox Chase." They released a string of multi-platinum albums starting with their eponymous debut in 1973, followed by Get Your Wings in 1974. The band broke into the mainstream with Toys in the Attic (1975) and Rocks (1976). Draw the Line and Night in the Ruts followed in 1977 and 1979. Throughout the 1970s, the band toured extensively and charted a dozen Hot 100 singles, including their first Top 40 hit "Sweet Emotion" and the Top 10 hits "Dream On" and "Walk This Way". By the end of the decade, they were among the most popular hard rock bands in the world and developed a following of fans, often referred to as the "Blue Army". Drug addiction and internal conflict led to the departures of Perry and Whitford in 1979 and 1981.
The band did not fare well and the album Rock in a Hard Place (1982) failed to match previous successes.
Perry and Whitford returned to Aerosmith in 1984. After a comeback tour, they recorded Done with Mirrors (1985), which did not meet commercial expectations. It was not until a 1986 collaboration with rap group Run–D.M.C. on a remake of "Walk This Way", and the 1987 multi-platinum release, Permanent Vacation, that they regained their previous level of popularity. In the late 1980s and 1990s, the band won numerous awards for music from the multi-platinum albums Pump (1989), Get a Grip (1993), and Nine Lives (1997), while they embarked on their most extensive concert tours to date. Their biggest hits during this period included "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", "Rag Doll", "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", "What it Takes", "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'", and "Crazy". The band also filmed popular music videos and made notable appearances in television, film, and video games. In 1998, they achieved their first number-one hit with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from [[Armageddon: The Album|Armageddons soundtrack]] and the following year, their roller coaster attraction opened at Walt Disney World. Their comeback has been described as one of the most remarkable and spectacular in rock history. Additional albums Just Push Play (which included the hit "Jaded"), Honkin' on Bobo (a collection of blues covers), and Music from Another Dimension! followed in 2001, 2004, and 2012. In 2008, they released Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game. After five decades, the band continues to tour and record music. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, they had an ongoing concert residency in Las Vegas.
Aerosmith is the best-selling American hard rock band of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide, including over 85 million records in the United States. With 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum albums, they hold the record for the most total certifications by an American group and are tied for the most multi-platinum albums by an American group. They have achieved twenty-one Top 40 hits on the US Hot 100, nine number-one Mainstream Rock hits, four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, and ten MTV Video Music Awards. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and were ranked number 57 and 30, respectively, on Rolling Stones and VH1's lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2013, Tyler and Perry were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2020, the band received the MusiCares Person of the Year award.
History
Formation (1964–1970)
In 1964, Steven Tyler formed his own band called the Strangeurs—later Chain Reaction—in Yonkers, New York. Meanwhile, Perry and Hamilton formed the Jam Band (commonly known as "Joe Perry's Jam Band"), which was based on free-form and blues. Hamilton and Perry moved to Boston, Massachusetts in September 1969. There they met Joey Kramer, a drummer from Yonkers, New York. Kramer knew Tyler and had always hoped to play in a band with him. Kramer, a Berklee College of Music student, decided to leave the school, and joined Jam Band.
In 1970, Chain Reaction and Jam Band played at the same gig. Tyler immediately loved Jam Band's sound, and wanted to combine the two bands. In October 1970, the bands met up again and considered the proposition. Tyler, who had been a drummer and backup singer in Chain Reaction, adamantly refused to play drums in this new band, insisting that he would take part only if he could be frontman and lead vocalist. The others agreed, and a new band was formed. The band moved into a home together at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, where they wrote and rehearsed music together and relaxed in between shows.
The members of the band reportedly spent afternoons getting high and watching Three Stooges reruns. One day, they had a post-Stooges meeting to try to come up with a name. Kramer said that, when he was in school, he would write the word "aerosmith" all over his notebooks. The name had popped into his head after listening to Harry Nilsson's album Aerial Ballet, which featured jacket art of a circus performer jumping out of a biplane. Initially, Kramer's bandmates were unimpressed; they all thought he was referring to the Sinclair Lewis novel they were required to read in high school English class. "No, not Arrowsmith," Kramer explained. "A-E-R-O...Aerosmith." The band settled upon this name after also considering "the Hookers" and "Spike Jones."
Soon, the band hired Ray Tabano, a childhood friend of Tyler, as rhythm guitarist and began playing local shows. Aerosmith played their first gig in Mendon, Massachusetts at Nipmuc Regional High School (now Miscoe Hill Middle School) on November 6, 1970. In 1971, Tabano was replaced by Brad Whitford, who also attended the Berklee School of Music, and was formerly a member of the band Earth Inc. Whitford, from Reading, Massachusetts, had already played at Reading's AW Coolidge Middle School. Other than a period from July 1979 to April 1984, the line-up of Tyler, Perry, Hamilton, Kramer, and Whitford has stayed the same.
Record deal, Aerosmith, Get Your Wings, and Toys in the Attic (1971–1975)
After forming the band and finalizing the lineup in 1971, the band started to garner some local success doing live shows. Originally booked through the Ed Malhoit Agency, the band signed a promotion deal with Frank Connelly, and eventually secured a management deal with David Krebs and Steve Leber in 1972. Krebs and Leber invited Columbia Records President Clive Davis to see the band at Max's Kansas City in New York City. Aerosmith was not originally scheduled to play that night at the club, but they paid out of their own pockets to secure a place on the bill, reportedly the only band ever to do so at Max's. "No Surprize" from their Night in the Ruts album celebrated the moment their fame rose.
Aerosmith signed with Columbia in mid-1972 for a reported $125,000, and released their debut album, Aerosmith. Released in January 1973, the album peaked at number 166. The album was straightforward rock and roll with well-defined blues influences, laying the groundwork for Aerosmith's signature blues rock sound. Although the highest-charting single from the album was "Dream On" at number 59, several tracks, such as "Mama Kin" and "Walkin' the Dog", would become staples of the band's live shows, and received airplay on rock radio. The album reached gold status initially, eventually went on to sell two million copies, and was certified double platinum after the band reached mainstream success over a decade later. After constant touring, the band released their second album, Get Your Wings in 1974, the first of a string of multi-platinum albums produced by Jack Douglas. This album included the rock radio hits "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'", a cover done previously by the Yardbirds. The album also contained several fan favorites, including "Lord of the Thighs", "Seasons of Wither", and "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", darker songs that have become staples in the band's live shows. To date, Get Your Wings has sold three million copies.
In 1975, Aerosmith released their third album, Toys in the Attic, which established Aerosmith as international stars, competing with the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Originally derided as Rolling Stones knockoffs in part due to the physical resemblance between lead singers Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger, Toys in the Attic showed that Aerosmith was a unique and talented band in their own right. Toys in the Attic was an immediate success, starting with the single "Sweet Emotion", which became the band's first Top 40 hit. This was followed by a successful re-release of "Dream On" which hit No. 6, becoming their best charting single of the 1970s. "Walk This Way", re-released in 1976, reached the Top 10 in early 1977.
In addition, "Toys in the Attic" and "Big Ten Inch Record" (a song originally recorded by Bull Moose Jackson) became concert staples. As a result of this success, both of the band's previous albums re-charted. Toys in the Attic has gone on to become the band's bestselling studio album in the United States, with certified US sales of nine million copies. The band toured in support of Toys in the Attic, where they started to get more recognition. Also around this time, the band established their home base as "the Wherehouse" in Waltham, Massachusetts, where they would record and rehearse music, as well as conduct business.
Rocks, Draw the Line, and Live! Bootleg (1976–1978)
In 1976, Aerosmith's fourth album was Rocks, which "captured Aerosmith at their most raw and rocking". It went platinum swiftly and featured two Top 40 hits, "Last Child" and "Back in the Saddle", as well as the ballad "Home Tonight", which also charted. Rocks would eventually go on to sell over four million copies. Both Toys in the Attic and Rocks are highly regarded, especially in the hard rock genre: they appear on such lists as Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and are cited as influential by members of Guns N' Roses, Metallica, and Mötley Crüe. Kurt Cobain also listed Rocks as one of the albums he thought were most influential to Nirvana's sound in his journal in 1993. Soon after Rocks was released, the band continued to tour heavily, this time headlining their own shows, including large stadiums and rock festivals.
In 1977, Aerosmith released their fifth album, Draw the Line. Its recording was affected by the band's excesses, but the record still had memorable moments. The title track charted just shy of the Top 40 and remains a live staple, and "Kings and Queens" also charted. The album went on to sell two million copies. The band toured extensively in support of the album, but drug abuse and the fast-paced life of touring and recording began affecting their performances. Tyler and Perry became known as "the Toxic Twins" due to their notorious abuse of drugs on and off the stage. Tyler later commented, "I've spent $64 million on drugs"; Perry scoffed later, "There's no fucking way in the world you could spend that much money on drugs and still be alive. It makes a good headline – but, practically speaking, that was probably a very small portion of where we spent our money."
While continuing to tour and record in the late 1970s, Aerosmith appeared in the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie. Their cover of The Beatles' "Come Together", from the soundtrack, was the band's last Top 40 hit for nearly 10 years. The double vinyl Live! Bootleg, issued in 1978, captured the band's rawness during the Draw the Line tour. The standalone single "Chip Away the Stone", also released in 1978, charted at number 77.
Departures of Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, Night in the Ruts, and Rock in a Hard Place (1979–1984)
In 1979, the band started work on their next album, Night in the Ruts, but Aerosmith decided to go on tour during a break in the recording schedule. As the decade was about to conclude, the band's drug use began taking its toll, and tensions were slowly coming to a head. The band's touring schedule brought them to Cleveland Stadium on July 28, 1979, where they headlined the World Series of Rock festival. Pandemonium erupted backstage when Joe Perry's wife, Elissa, threw a glass of milk at Tom Hamilton's wife, Terry. Following the show, Tyler and Perry got into a heated argument when Tyler confronted Perry about his wife's antics, and after the course of the argument, Perry left Aerosmith (while Tyler claims in his autobiography that he fired Perry from the band). Upon his departure, Perry took some of the music that he had written with him. Shortly after his departure, Perry formed his own side project known as The Joe Perry Project.
Since there was still work to be done on Night in the Ruts, Aerosmith needed fill-in musicians to take Perry's place on the songs that needed to be recorded to complete the album. Guitarist Brad Whitford took over some of the lead parts, and Richie Supa, the band's longtime writing partner, filled in where needed until the band was able to hire Jimmy Crespo to take over as the next full-time guitarist. Night in the Ruts was released in November 1979, but only managed to sell enough records to be certified gold at the time, although it would eventually sell enough copies to be certified platinum by 1994. The only single the album spawned, a cover of "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" by the Shangri-Las, peaked at number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The tour for Night in the Ruts commenced shortly thereafter, but the band found themselves playing in smaller and smaller venues than before due to their popularity beginning to wane. Steven Tyler's drug issues were starting to affect his performance and songwriting, and he reached rock bottom in 1980, when he collapsed on stage during a show in Portland, Maine, and did not get up for the remainder of the set. Also in 1980, Aerosmith released their first compilation album, Greatest Hits. While the compilation didn't chart very high initially, it gained popularity later, and went on to become the band's best selling album in the United States, with sales of 12 million copies. In the fall of 1980, Tyler was injured in a serious motorcycle accident, which left him hospitalized for two months, and unable to tour or record well into 1981.
In 1981, Aerosmith began work on their next album, Rock in a Hard Place, and saw them reunite with producer Jack Douglas. However, after the first song for the album, "Lightning Strikes", was recorded, Brad Whitford left the band, and decided to form a duo with Derek St. Holmes, with whom he recorded a self-titled album, which failed to garner much interest. Whitford later joined up with the Joe Perry Project and played with them in 1984.
With Rick Dufay taking Whitford's place, Rock in a Hard Place was released on August 27, 1982. The album reached number 32 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Only one single charted, the aforementioned "Lightning Strikes", which peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. As with the tour for Night in the Ruts, Aerosmith was unable to book larger venues, and instead had to rely on filling clubs and theaters, which they struggled to do. At a homecoming arena show in Worcester, Massachusetts, Tyler and Perry reunited and got high backstage before the show. Tyler was so intoxicated that he collapsed on stage again and, like before, could not get up.
On February 14, 1984, Perry (by then divorced from his first wife Elissa) and Whitford saw Aerosmith perform at Boston's Orpheum Theater. Shortly thereafter, discussions began to reintegrate the two into the band and several months later, the original members of Aerosmith officially reunited. Steven Tyler recalls:
Back in the Saddle reunion tour, Done with Mirrors, and drug rehab (1984–1986)
In 1984, Aerosmith embarked on a reunion tour called the Back in the Saddle Tour, which led to the live album Classics Live II. While concerts on the tour were well-attended, it was plagued with several incidents, mostly attributed to drug abuse by band members. With their drug problems still not behind them, the group was signed to Geffen Records, and began working on a comeback. Despite the band signing on to a new record company, the band's old label Columbia continued to reap the benefits of Aerosmith's comeback, releasing the live companion albums Classics Live I and II and the collection Gems.
In 1985, the band released the album Done with Mirrors, their first studio album since reuniting. While the album did receive some positive reviews, it only went gold and failed to produce a hit single or generate any widespread interest. The album's most notable track, "Let the Music Do the Talking", was in fact a cover of a song originally recorded by the Joe Perry Project and released on that band's album of the same name. Nevertheless, the band became a popular concert attraction once again, touring in support of Done with Mirrors, well into 1986. In 1986, in an unprecedented crossover collaboration, Aerosmith (largely the additional contributions of leaders Tyler and Perry) appeared on Run–D.M.C.'s cover of "Walk This Way", a track blending rock and roll with hip hop. In reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song and its frequently-aired video resurrected Aerosmith's career by introducing the band's music to a new generation.
Despite their resurrecting performance, the band members' drug problems still stood in their way. In 1986, Tyler completed a successful drug rehabilitation program, after an intervention by his fellow band members, a doctor, and manager Tim Collins, who believed that the band's future would not be bright if Tyler did not get treated in time. The rest of the band members also completed drug rehab programs over the course of the next couple of years. According to the band's tell-all autobiography, Collins pledged in September 1986 that he could make Aerosmith the biggest band in the world by 1990 if they all completed drug rehab. Their next album was crucial because of the commercial disappointment of Done With Mirrors, and as the band members became clean, they worked hard to make their next album a success.
Permanent Vacation and Pump (1987–1991)
Permanent Vacation was released in August 1987, becoming a major hit and the band's bestselling album in over a decade (selling 5 million copies in the US), with all three of its singles ("Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", and "Rag Doll") reaching the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. Steven Tyler reveals in his autobiography that the album was "...the first one we ever did sober." Part of Permanent Vacations commercial success involved producer Bruce Fairbairn whose production touches (such as sound effects and high-quality recording) added interest to the album and the use of outside songwriters such as Desmond Child, Jim Vallance, and Holly Knight who assisted the band with lyrics. While the group was initially hesitant to using outside songwriters, including Tyler being furious for Knight getting songwriting credits for changing one word ("Rag Time" became "Rag Doll"), the method paid off, as Permanent Vacation became the band's most successful album in a decade. The group went on a subsequent tour with labelmates Guns N' Roses (who have cited Aerosmith as a major influence), which was intense at times because of Aerosmith's new struggle to stay clean amidst Guns N' Roses' well-publicized, rampant drug use.
Aerosmith's next album was even more successful. Pump, released in September 1989, featured three Top Ten singles: "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", and "What It Takes", as well as the Top 30 "The Other Side", re-establishing the band as a serious musical force. Pump was a critical and commercial success, eventually selling 7 million copies, spawning several music videos that were in regular rotation on MTV, and achieving four-star ratings from major music magazines. Pump ranked as the fourth-bestselling album of 1990. The band also won its first Grammy in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, for "Janie's Got a Gun". In addition, the video for "Janie's Got a Gun" won two Video Music Awards and was ranked as one of the 100 greatest videos of all time by Rolling Stone, MTV, and VH1. Like Permanent Vacation, Pump was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, who added production touches such as instrumental interludes that provided transitions between songs to give the album a more complete sound, as well as the Margarita Horns, who added horns to tracks such as "Love in an Elevator" and "The Other Side". Rock critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine claimed that Pump "revels in [pop concessions] without ever losing sight of Aerosmith's dirty hard rock core", going on to say that, "such ambition and successful musical eclectism make Pump rank with Toys in the Attic and Rocks." The recording process for Pump was documented in the video The Making of Pump, which has since been re-released as a DVD. The music videos for the album's singles were featured on the release Things That Go Pump in the Night, which quickly went platinum.
In support of Pump, the band embarked on the 12-month Pump Tour, which lasted for most of 1990. On February 21, 1990, the band appeared in a "Wayne's World" sketch on Saturday Night Live, debating the fall of communism and the Soviet Union, and performed their recent hits "Janie's Got a Gun" and "Monkey on My Back". The appearance of the band in the "Wayne's World" sketch was later ranked by E! as the number-one moment in the history of the program. On August 11, 1990, the band's performance on MTV's Unplugged aired. In October 1990, the Pump Tour ended, with the band's first ever performances in Australia. That same year, the band was also inducted to the Hollywood Rock Walk. In November 1991, the band appeared on The Simpsons episode "Flaming Moe's" and released a box set titled Pandora's Box. In coordination with the release of Pandora's Box, the band's 1975 hit "Sweet Emotion" was re-mixed and re-released as a single, and a music video was created to promote the single. Also in 1991, the band performed their 1973 single "Dream On" with Michael Kamen's orchestra for MTV's 10th Anniversary special; this performance was used as the official music video for the song. In 1992, Tyler and Perry appeared live as guests of Guns N' Roses during the latter's 1992 worldwide pay-per-view show in Paris, performing a medley of "Mama Kin" (which GN'R covered in 1986) and "Train Kept-A Rollin".
Get a Grip and Big Ones (1992–1995)
The band took a brief break before recording their follow-up to Pump in 1992. Despite significant shifts in mainstream music at the beginning of the 1990s, 1993's Get a Grip was just as successful commercially, becoming their first album to debut at number 1 and racking up sales of 7 million copies in a two-and-a-half-year timespan and over 20 million copies worldwide. The first singles were the hard rocking "Livin' on the Edge" and "Eat the Rich". Though many critics were unimpressed by the focus on the subsequent interchangeable power-ballads in promoting the album, all three ("Cryin'", "Amazing", and "Crazy") proved to be huge successes on radio and MTV. The music videos featured then up-and-coming actress Alicia Silverstone; her provocative performances earned her the title of "the Aerosmith chick" for the first half of the decade. Steven Tyler's daughter Liv Tyler was also featured in the "Crazy" video. The band won two Grammy Awards for songs from this album in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: for "Livin' on the Edge" in 1994 and "Crazy" in 1995.
During the making of Get a Grip, the management and record company brought in a variety of professional songwriting collaborators to help give nearly all the songs on the album more commercial appeal, a trend which would continue until the early 2000s. However, this led to accusations of selling out that would continue throughout the 1990s. In addition to Aerosmith's grueling 18-month world tour in support of Get a Grip, the band also did a number of things to help promote themselves and their album and appeal to youth culture, including the appearance of the band in the movie Wayne's World 2 where they performed two songs, the appearance of the band and their music in the video games Revolution X and Quest for Fame, performing at Woodstock '94, using their song "Deuces Are Wild" in The Beavis and Butt-head Experience, and opening their own club, The Mama Kin Music Hall, in Boston, MA in 1994. That same year saw the release of the band's compilation for Geffen Records, entitled Big Ones featuring their biggest hits from Permanent Vacation, Pump, and Get a Grip, "Deuces Are Wild" from the Beavis and Butt-head Experience, as well as two new songs, "Blind Man" and "Walk on Water", both of which experienced great success on the rock charts.
Nine Lives and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" (1996–2000)
Aerosmith had signed a $30 million contract for four records with Columbia Records/Sony Music in 1991, but had only recorded three of their six contractual albums with Geffen Records at that point (Done with Mirrors, Permanent Vacation, and Pump). Between 1991 and 1996, they released two more albums with Geffen (Get a Grip and Big Ones), which meant they now had five albums with Geffen under their belt (along with a planned live compilation), which meant they could now begin recording for their new contract with Columbia. The band took time off with their families before working on their next album, Nine Lives, which was plagued with personnel problems, including the firing of manager Tim Collins, who, according to band members, had nearly caused the band to break up. The album's producer was also changed from Glen Ballard to Kevin Shirley. Nine Lives was released in March 1997. Reviews were mixed, and Nine Lives initially fell down the charts, although it had a long chart life and sold double platinum in the United States alone, fueled by its singles, "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", the ballad "Hole in My Soul", and the crossover-pop smash "Pink" (which won the band their fourth Grammy Award in 1999 in the Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal category). It was followed by the over two-year-long Nine Lives Tour, which was plagued by problems including lead singer Steven Tyler injuring his leg at a concert, and Joey Kramer suffering second degree burns when his car caught fire at a gas station.
In 1998, in the midst of setbacks during the Nine Lives Tour, the band released the single "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", the love theme, written by Diane Warren for the 1998 film Armageddon, starring Steven Tyler's daughter Liv. The song became Aerosmith's first and only number 1 single when it debuted at the top position on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on top of the charts for four weeks. The song was nominated for an Academy Award in 1999. The song helped open Aerosmith up to a new generation and remains a slow-dance staple. 1998 also saw the release of the double-live album, A Little South of Sanity, which was assembled from performances on the Get a Grip and Nine Lives tours. The album went platinum shortly after its release. The band continued with their seemingly neverending world tours promoting Nine Lives and the "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" single well into 1999.
In 1999, Aerosmith was chosen to be featured in the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, providing the ride's soundtrack and theme at both Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort and, formerly, at Disneyland Paris in the Walt Disney Studios Park, which opened in 2002 and closed in 2019, to be replaced by an Iron Man and the Avengers attraction in the upcoming Avengers Campus. On September 9, 1999, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry reunited with Run–D.M.C. and were also joined by Kid Rock for a collaborative live performance of "Walk This Way" at the MTV Video Music Awards, a precursor to the Girls of Summer Tour. The band celebrated the new millennium with a brief tour of Japan, and also contributed the song "Angel's Eye" to the 2000 film Charlie's Angels. In December 2000, they wrapped up work on their next album.
Just Push Play, O, Yeah! and Rocksimus Maximus (2001–2003)
The band entered their next decade by co-headlining with NSYNC the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show, titled "The Kings of Rock and Pop", with appearances from Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige and Nelly. All of the stars collaborated with Aerosmith at the end for a performance of "Walk This Way".
In March 2001, the band released their 13th studio album Just Push Play, which quickly went platinum, fueled by the Top 10 single "Jaded" and the appearance of the title track in Dodge commercials. They were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame soon after their album was released, in late March 2001. Aerosmith is the only band to be inducted to the Hall of Fame with a song active in the charts ("Jaded"). Later that year, the band performed as part of the United We Stand: What More Can I Give benefit concert in Washington D.C. for 9/11 victims and their families. The band flew back to Indianapolis for a show the same night, as part of their Just Push Play Tour.
The band started 2002 by ending the Just Push Play tour, and simultaneously recording segments for their Behind the Music special on VH1, which not only chronicled the band's history but also the band's current activities and touring. The special was one of the few Behind the Musics to run two hours in length. In May, Aerosmith covered the "Theme from Spider-Man" for the soundtrack of the 2002 film of the same name. On June 27, the band performed at the official FIFA World Cup concert at Tokyo Stadium which took place during the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in Korea/Japan. In July 2002, Aerosmith released a two-disc career-spanning compilation O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits, which featured the new single "Girls of Summer" and embarked on the Girls of Summer Tour with Kid Rock and Run–D.M.C. opening. O, Yeah! has since been certified double platinum. MTV honored Aerosmith with their mtvICON award in 2002. Performances included Pink covering "Janie's Got a Gun". Shakira performed "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", Kid Rock played "Mama Kin" and "Last Child", Train performed "Dream On" and Papa Roach covered "Sweet Emotion". In addition, testimonials featured surprise guests Metallica, as well as Janet Jackson, Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst, Alicia Silverstone and Mila Kunis.
In 2003, Aerosmith co-headlined with Kiss on the Rocksimus Maximus Tour, in preparation for release of their blues album. They also performed a song for Rugrats Go Wild, "Lizard Love".
Honkin' on Bobo, Rockin' the Joint and Devil's Got a New Disguise (2004–2006)
Aerosmith's long-promised blues album Honkin' on Bobo was released in 2004. This was a return to the band's roots, including recording the album in live sessions, working with former producer Jack Douglas, and laying down their blues rock grit. It was followed by a live DVD, You Gotta Move, in December 2004, culled from performances on the Honkin' on Bobo Tour. "Dream On" was also featured in an advertising campaign for Buick in 2004, targeting that marque's market which is now composed largely of people who were teenagers when the song first charted.
2005 saw Steven Tyler appear in the film Be Cool. Joe Perry released his self-titled solo album that same year. At the 2006 Grammy Awards, he was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for the track "Mercy", but lost to Les Paul. In October 2005, Aerosmith released a CD/DVD Rockin' the Joint. The band hit the road for the Rockin' the Joint Tour on October 30 with Lenny Kravitz for a fall/winter tour of arenas in the largest US markets. The band planned to tour with Cheap Trick in the spring, hitting secondary markets in the US. Almost all of this leg of the tour was canceled, however. Dates were initially canceled one by one until March 22, 2006, when it was announced that lead singer Steven Tyler needed throat surgery, and the remaining dates on the tour were subsequently canceled.
Tyler and Perry performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra for their annual concert of July 4 on the Esplanade in 2006, a milestone as it was the first major event or performance since Steven Tyler's throat surgery. Around this time, the band also announced that they would embark on the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe in late 2006. On August 24, 2006, it was announced that Tom Hamilton was undergoing treatment for throat cancer. In order to make a full recovery, he sat out much of the Route of All Evil Tour until he was well again. Former Joe Perry Project bassist David Hull substituted for Hamilton until his return. On September 5, 2006, Aerosmith kicked off the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe in Columbus, Ohio. The co-headlining tour took both bands to amphitheaters across North America through November 24. After that, a select few arena dates were added, some of which were with Mötley Crüe. The tour ended December 17.
On October 17, 2006, the compilation album Devil's Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith was released. The album contained previous hits with the addition of two new songs, "Devil's Got a New Disguise" and "Sedona Sunrise", which were older outtakes re-recorded for the album. "Devil's Got a New Disguise" peaked at number 15 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The album was intended to fulfill Aerosmith's contract with Sony and tide fans over until the band's new studio album was released.
Touring, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and unfinished album (2007–2009)
In early 2007, the band announced a new World Tour, their first for nearly a decade to include dates outside North America or Japan. The band performed at London's Hard Rock Cafe in February 2007 to promote their European tour which included a night in Hyde Park as part of the Hyde Park Calling festival sponsored by Hard Rock Cafe. In the spring, the band toured Latin America to sold-out stadium crowds. In the summer, the band toured Europe, performing at several major rock festivals and visiting some countries they had never played before. Additionally, the band played in Middle East countries such as the United Arab Emirates and India for the first time. The band also played a few select dates in California and Canada in late July. The July 21 concert in Prince Edward Island, was the largest in that province's history. In September, the band performed eight dates in major markets in Northeastern North America. These shows were opened by Joan Jett. The band also played a private gig in Hawaii. A public show in Maui was canceled for logistical reasons, which spurred a class action lawsuit against the band. In April 2009, Aerosmith agreed to compensate all ticket buyers of the canceled show with a free ticket to a rescheduled Maui show to be held on October 20, 2009, along with reimbursements of all out-of-pocket expenses related to the show.
On November 1, 2007, the band entered the studio to work on the final studio album of their current contract with Sony. At the time, it was believed that the album would include both re-recorded tracks left off previous albums as well as brand new material. In an interview, guitarist Joe Perry revealed that in addition to creating a new album, the band was working closely with the makers of the Guitar Hero series to develop Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, a video game dedicated to the band's music. The game was released on June 29, 2008 and contains many of their most popular songs. Steven Tyler announced on VH1 Classic Radio on September 4, 2008, that Aerosmith intended to enter the studio at the end of September 2008 to complete the band's 15th studio album. Tyler also confirmed that the band planned to begin a new US tour in June 2009, in support of the as-yet-untitled album. This tour was supposed to be preceded by a concert in Venezuela on February 1, 2009. However, on January 15, 2009, Tyler said the band would be unable to play the gig because of a second knee injury of guitarist Joe Perry. In mid-February 2009, it was announced that the album would be produced by the famed Brendan O'Brien and that the album would likely be recorded live, like their earlier records. Although the band had hoped to finish the album before the tour started in June 2009, Perry said that the group "realized there wasn't any chance of getting [the album] finished before we hit the road for the summer." The tour featured ZZ Top as the opening act for most of the tour. The Aerosmith/ZZ Top Tour, presented by Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, was officially announced and the first dates released on April 8, 2009.
The tour was slated to take the band across North America from June to September 2009. The tour featured the band performing nearly all of the songs on their 1975 album Toys in the Attic during the first seven dates of the tour and also featured Joe Perry sing lead vocals on the 1976 "Combination". The tour was plagued with several health problems, however. Guitarist Brad Whitford had to sit out the first seven dates of the tour in order to recover from head surgery, after injuring his head getting out of his car. On June 28, 2009, at the band's seventh show of the tour at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, lead singer Steven Tyler injured his leg, which required seven shows to be postponed. As soon as the band resumed the tour on July 15, Whitford returned to the fold. However, Tom Hamilton had to depart the tour in order to recover from non-invasive surgery. On August 5, 2009, Tyler was rushed to the hospital after falling from the stage at a concert in Sturgis, South Dakota. He was helped up by security staff and taken backstage, before guitarist Joe Perry told the audience the show was over. Tyler was airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital, where he received treatment for head and neck injuries and a broken shoulder. In the wake of Tyler's injuries, the band was forced to postpone five shows in Western Canada. On August 14, 2009, Aerosmith announced that they had decided to cancel the rest of their US tour dates with ZZ Top, due to Tyler's injuries.
In the midst of the tour, Perry completed work on his fifth solo album, Have Guitar, Will Travel and drummer Joey Kramer released his autobiography, Hit Hard. Perry's solo album was released on October 6, 2009.
After Tyler recovered from falling off stage, the band returned to the stage in mid-October for two shows in Hawaii, one in Maui which was rescheduled from 2007 and finally played as part of a legal settlement, and an additional show which was played in Honolulu. In early November, the band played a concert in Abu Dhabi at the Grand Prix.
Tyler-Perry feud and Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour (2009–2010)
Tyler pulled out of a planned South American tour at the end of 2009 and seemed intent on pursuing solo projects, including his autobiography Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?. Tyler told Classic Rock magazine, "I don't know what I'm doing yet, but it's definitely going to be something Steven Tyler: working on the brand of myself – Brand Tyler." Meanwhile, guitarist Joe Perry toured the United States at the end of 2009, and Japan and the UK early in 2010.
In November 2009, Joe Perry stated that Tyler had not been in contact with the band and could be on the verge of quitting Aerosmith. Perry stated that the rest of the group was "looking for a new singer to work with." It was reported that singer Lenny Kravitz had been approached for Steven Tyler's position, which he then declined.
However, despite the rumors of him leaving the band, Tyler joined the Joe Perry Project onstage on November 10, 2009 at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, and Tyler and Perry performed the Aerosmith single "Walk This Way" together. According to sources at the event, Tyler assured the crowd that he was "not quitting Aerosmith".
On December 22, People magazine reported that Tyler had entered a rehabilitation facility to manage his addiction to painkillers, brought on by injuries to his knees, legs, and feet, that resulted from years of performing. In his statement, Tyler said he is grateful for the support he is receiving, is committed to getting things taken care of, and is eager to get back on stage and in the recording studio with his bandmates.
On January 20, 2010, Perry confirmed the band were about to audition for a new singer to replace Tyler. Perry said Tyler's surgery to his legs would "take him out of the picture" for up to a year and a half, and in the meantime, the rest of the band wanted to continue performing. Perry also said that the band would be willing to continue working with Tyler in the future if the singer wanted to.
In response, Tyler's attorney sent the band and its manager a "cease and desist" letter and threatened further legal action against both if the band did not discontinue this effort to replace Tyler.
On February 15, 2010, it was announced that Aerosmith were to headline Download Festival at Donington Park, England in June 2010. Tyler was confirmed as the frontman for the show by festival promoter Andy Copping. It was announced that the band would precede the June 13 date with an appearance at the Sweden Rock Festival on June 10 in Sölvesborg. During the Donington show, Perry celebrated Tyler's position as frontman, dubbing him "the best lead singer on the planet". On February 24, the band announced the first batch of dates for their upcoming Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour. The tour saw the band play seven dates in South and Central America in May, followed by eleven dates in Europe, in June and early July. The band performed in Colombia, Peru and Greece for the first time in their career on this tour. The band performed 24 concerts in North America in late July, August, and September. Many of the concerts were in locations the band canceled on in 2009. As part of the tour, the band played Fenway Park in Boston with fellow Bostonians the J. Geils Band.
Problems on the band's Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour arose in August 2010, including Tyler accidentally hitting Joe Perry in the head with his microphone stand at a show in Wantagh, New York and Perry bumping into Tyler at the Toronto show, which caused Tyler to tumble off the stage. Perry suffered a minor head injury at the Wantagh show and Tyler was helped back up by fans and Perry at the Toronto show, and both shows went on. Around the same time as these incidents, tension flared again between Perry and Tyler due to Tyler's plans to become a talent judge on American Idol. Perry criticized Tyler for not consulting the rest of the band, saying that he "found out on the internet, like the rest of the world" and that nobody else in the band knew anything about it.
On August 18, it was reported that Tyler officially signed on with the show. When asked about this in October, Perry declared he understood Tyler's reasons and wished him luck, but stated that he would seek different projects – "I'm tired of waiting around, so I'm not passing up anything right now".
While announcing the Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour in 2009, Tyler and Perry said that the next item on the agenda was a new Aerosmith album, the group's first since 2004's Honkin' on Bobo. The group did some recording with producer Brendan O'Brien in 2008 but halted because of Tyler's health problems. Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton told the Boston Herald in September 2010 that Tyler believes he has the time and energy to continue fronting the band while also being a judge on American Idol.
Hamilton explained, "Steven's been very emphatic in saying that the way his time is arranged on the show leaves room to work on a record. He's been taking great pains to remind everybody of that, so hopefully that's the way it will come out." On November 5, 2010, Brad Whitford said the recording sessions will probably be in Los Angeles, where American Idol is headquartered, and a world tour would follow.
Touring and Music from Another Dimension! (2010–2013)
In a November 2010 interview reported at NME.com, drummer Joey Kramer confirmed that the band had every intention to finish and release their long-delayed album in 2011, stating, "Really, at this point in time, the only thing that's going to stop us is if someone out-and-out dies. Other than that, we've already been through what we've been through and stood the test of time. What else is there?" On January 18, 2011, Tyler declared that "Joe (Perry) has got some licks and I've got a bunch of songs that I've written for solo and/or Aerosmith" and the band would start prepping the album that week.
On March 20, 2011, Aerosmith announced a new greatest hits album, Tough Love: Best of the Ballads, which was released on May 10, 2011. On May 14, 2011, the band announced a tour of Latin America in the fall of 2011. In June, Joe Perry announced that the band is going to meet at the recording studio to produce the next album of the band in July. On August 30, it was announced that the new album will be released around May 2012. The album will be produced by Jack Douglas, who produced four albums for the band in the 1970s. Aerosmith began their fall tour of Latin America and Japan on October 22 in Lima, Peru. As part of the tour, the band performed in Paraguay, Panama, and Ecuador for the first time in their careers. Their show in Asunción, Paraguay was postponed a day, after lead singer Steven Tyler sustained facial injuries after falling in his hotel room shower, due to a bout of food poisoning that dehydrated him and caused him to faint.
On March 11, 2012, Aerosmith was featured on an episode of 60 Minutes. The show included very candid interviews with the band members, interspersed with live performances from the band's 2011 tour. Some of the comments the band members said about each other seemed to re-ignite past tensions in the band. However, on March 22, Joe Perry surprised Steven Tyler by performing "Happy Birthday" for him on American Idol, as an early birthday present for Tyler. On March 26, Aerosmith announced a summer tour with Cheap Trick entitled the "Global Warming Tour". On May 23, Aerosmith debuted their new single, "Legendary Child", on the season finale of American Idol. Shortly after, it was announced that their fifteenth studio album, Music from Another Dimension!, would be released on November 6, 2012. On May 30, Aerosmith and Cheap Trick performed for Walmart shareholders. Aerosmith's "Global Warming Tour" began June 16 in Minneapolis and took the band to 26 locations across North America through August 12. The band hinted that the tour would continue in October/November after the album release. On August 22, Aerosmith released two singles simultaneously, the rocker "Lover Alot" and the ballad "What Could Have Been Love". On September 22, Aerosmith performed at the iHeartRadio music festival in Las Vegas. In advance of the release of their new album, the band performed on The Late Show with David Letterman and Today, and Tyler and Perry were interviewed on The Late Show and The View. In addition, Tyler, Perry and Whitford performed "Dream On" for the telethon Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together to raise funds for the victims of the namesake storm that struck the Northeastern United States. On November 5, Aerosmith performed an outdoor concert in front of their old apartment at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston to celebrate the release of their album and their Boston roots. Music from Another Dimension! was released on November 6. Two days later, the band began the 2nd leg of their Global Warming Tour, which took the band to 14 North American locations through December 13.
On January 21, 2013, Aerosmith released "Can't Stop Lovin' You" (featuring Carrie Underwood) as the fourth single from Music from Another Dimension!. On February 20, it was announced that the band's principal songwriters Steven Tyler and Joe Perry would be recipients of the ASCAP Founders Award at the society's 30th Annual Pop Music Awards on April 17. Two days later, it was announced that the duo would be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at a ceremony to be held on June 13.
In late April and early May 2013, Aerosmith extended their Global Warming Tour to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore. This marked the band's first performances in Australia in 23 years, and the band's first-ever performances in the latter four countries. Tom Hamilton had to miss the last three Australian shows due to illness; David Hull filled in for him. On May 5, Aerosmith cancelled their first-ever performance in Indonesia (scheduled for May 11) due to safety concerns; the actual threat was not released. On May 30, Aerosmith performed as part of the "Boston Strong" charity concert for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. The band also performed at the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia on July 6, at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut on July 10, four concerts in Japan in mid-August, and as part of the Harley-Davidson 110th Anniversary Concert series in Milwaukee on August 30. In the fall of 2013, Aerosmith extended their tour to Central and South America, including their first-ever performances in Guatemala, El Salvador and Uruguay. Hamilton had to depart the Latin American tour due to illness.
In July 2013, the band released the live concert DVD Rock for the Rising Sun, which also documented the band's 2011 tour of Japan. The release was also screened in select theaters in October 2013.
Solo endeavors, farewell tour and upcoming sixteenth studio album (2014–2018)
On March 21, 2014, in tweets released by Joe Perry, Joey Kramer, and Slash, it was announced that Aerosmith would be touring North America with Slash (along with Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators) in the summer of 2014. This followed a 17-date European tour that Aerosmith took from May 14 to July 2. The North American tour, known as the Let Rock Rule Tour, sent Aerosmith to 21 locations from July 10 to September 12.
Asked in May 2014 if Aerosmith would release a sixteenth studio album anytime soon, bassist Tom Hamilton replied, "I hope soon. But I really don't know what we are doing because we no longer have a record contract. We are finished with Columbia. So, there is nothing written in stone. We'll see what the fans want." In an interview with Rolling Stone about what the future holds, Joe Perry admitted that, "I don't even know if making new albums makes sense anymore. Maybe we'll just release an EP every six months. I don't know what the future looks like."
On October 7, 2014, Perry released his autobiography Rocks: My Life in and Out of Aerosmith, co-written by David Ritz. Perry promoted the book with a book-signing tour that took him to 14 locations across the United States in the month of October. On February 26, 2015, Aerosmith premiered the film Aerosmith Rocks Donington in 300 movie theaters across North America; the concert video is from the band's 2014 performance at Download Festival at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England. The video was released on DVD/Blu-ray on September 4, 2015.
On March 31, 2015, lead singer Steven Tyler stated that he was working on his first solo country album. On April 6, it was announced that Tyler signed a record deal with Scott Borchetta's Dot Records (a division of the Big Machine Label Group). On May 13, Tyler released the lead single, "Love is Your Name", from his forthcoming solo debut album. He promoted the song on the Bobby Bones Show, iHeartMedia, CBS This Morning, Entertainment Tonight, and the American Idol season 14 finale.
On June 10, Aerosmith embarked on the Blue Army Tour, which sent the band to 17 North American locations through August 7, many of them in smaller venues in secondary markets that the band has either never performed in or hasn't performed in many years. The band also played a one-off show in Moscow on September 5. On the tour, the band played several lesser-known deep cuts.
After the tour, Tyler completed work on his solo album, We're All Somebody from Somewhere, which was released on July 15, 2016. Prior to the album's release, a second single, "Red, White & You", was released in January 2016, followed by the third single (the title track) in June 2016. Meanwhile, Joe Perry worked with Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp on the side project Hollywood Vampires, which released their eponymous debut album in September 2015 and performed at the 58th Grammy Awards on February 15, 2016. Brad Whitford re-joined Derek St. Holmes for a handful of tour dates in November 2015 and a new Whitford/St. Holmes album that was made available to fans at their live performances and was scheduled for wide release in 2016. Tom Hamilton performed with Thin Lizzy at a handful of concert dates in Europe in the summer of 2016 and also joined Pearl Jam for a performance of "Draw the Line" at Boston's Fenway Park on August 7. Meanwhile, Joey Kramer became actively involved in his "Rockin' & Roastin'" coffee business, which opened a location in Newry, Maine, in December 2015 and a second location in North Attleborough, Massachusetts in July 2016.
Since December 2015, in various interviews, Whitford, Tyler, and Perry all discussed the possibility of a farewell tour or "wind-down tour" slated to start in 2017. Perry has suggested the tour could last for two years and Tyler said it could potentially last "forever"; Whitford and Tyler also discussed the potential of doing one last studio album.
On July 10, 2016, Perry collapsed onstage at a concert he was performing with the Hollywood Vampires on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest. He was revived and rushed to the hospital, where he was quickly upgraded to stable condition later that night. The Vampires continued the show without Perry that evening and continued the rest of their tour, but canceled an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. After resting for a few days, Perry made a complete recovery and returned to the Hollywood Vampires tour.
From September through October 2016 Aerosmith embarked on a nine-date tour of Latin America, called the Rock 'N' Roll Rumble Tour, preceded by a performance at the Kaaboo Festival in San Diego, California on September 17. In November 2016, Aerosmith announced that they would be going on a "farewell" tour in Europe in the spring and summer of 2017, titled the Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour. The tour launched in Tel Aviv, Israel on May 17, 2017, where approximately 45,000 tickets were sold. In early July, the band completed the European leg of the tour; the band extended the tour to South America in September and October 2017, but the last few shows had to be canceled due to health issues. According to Brad Whitford, the tour could end anytime from 2017 to the next four years in 2021. On 19 January 2018, Perry released a solo disc titled Sweetzerland Manifesto. He also announced that the 2017 tour titled "Aero-Vederci Baby!" was not really a final tour and the band will be touring in 2019 to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
Las Vegas residency, future activities and upcoming new projects (2019–present)
On August 15, 2018, Aerosmith appeared on NBC's Today show to announce a residency in Las Vegas called "Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild", a reference to both Las Vegas casino gambling and their 1994 single of the same name.
In January 2019, Joe Perry stated that he and Steven Tyler, were due to start recording new material, together, for a new Aerosmith album.
The band's Las Vegas residency took place during the months of April, June, July, and September thru December 2019 and was scheduled to be extended into January, February, May, and June 2020 at the Park Theater (the 2020 dates were cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic). In addition to the Las Vegas shows, in mid July 2019, the band performed at a festival in Minnesota, and in August 2019, they played a total of nine shows spread across three MGM venues in Maryland, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. On February 14, 2019, Aerosmith was scheduled to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but the ceremony and installation was postponed to a date to be determined due to inclement weather.
In April 2019, drummer Joey Kramer suffered minor injuries to his shoulder following an unspecified accident, and was forced to stand down from several concerts of the band's Las Vegas residency. His drum technician John Douglas substituted for him.
In November the same year, Kramer told several news sites that he was not allowed to rejoin the band despite his recovery, to which the band responded that his playing was "not up to Aerosmith standards". The disagreement culminated in a series of lawsuits in January 2020, after which Kramer was expected to be barred from performing with the band at the 2020 Grammy Awards. Kramer rejoined Aerosmith in February 2020 for their Las Vegas residency.
Aerosmith was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
In 2019, a European tour was announced, due to take place through the summer of 2020 following the completion of their Las Vegas dates, but the shows were cancelled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as was a 50th Anniversary show at Boston's Fenway Park, originally planned for September 2020. The European dates were initially rescheduled for the summer of 2021 but were later moved again to summer 2022 due to the ongoing pandemic.
In an August 2020 interview with former The Black Crowes drummer, Steve Gorman, on his radio show Steve Gorman Rocks, Brad Whitford was asked what the future of Aerosmith looked like. His response was "I don't really know what they want to do. And, I don't really care because, um, truthfully, I'm not interested anymore", citing ongoing dysfunction within the band.
He expressed similar concerns in an interview with Joe Bonamassa on his 'Live From Nerdville' podcast in June 2021. Brad shared his thoughts about how the COVID-19 outbreak would affect touring plans for Aerosmith, and musicians in general, whilst acknowledging his & his bandmates current ages. Stating, "I mean, I have my doubts about Aerosmith ever really performing again at this stage, because age is becoming a real factor. It is what it is."
On August 23, 2021, Aerosmith signed a distribution deal with Universal Music Group, covering the band's entire catalog - both Geffen (Universal's subsidiary) and Columbia titles.
Influence and legacy
Influenced by bands such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, and the New York Dolls,Jeff Burlingame (2010). "Aerosmith: Hard Rock Superstars". Enslow Publishers, Inc. Aerosmith proved to be a major influence themselves on subsequently massively successful bands and musicians; according to Perry, Eddie Van Halen once told him that his band Van Halen "started out on the suburban L.A. club circuit, playing Aerosmith songs". Aerosmith's influence was evident on the next generation of hard rock and heavy metal bands, namely Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Guns N' Roses, Tesla, L.A. Guns, Cinderella, Faster Pussycat, Skid Row, Extreme, Warrant, Inglorious, the Black Crowes and the Quireboys, as well as Metallica, Metal Church and Testament. Especially, Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash has stated that Aerosmith is his favorite band, and Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx has expressed massive admiration for the band and its early records in both The Dirt and The Heroin Diaries. Members of alternative rock bands such as Nirvana, Mother Love Bone/Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Staind and Godsmack are also self-professed early Aerosmith fans.
The interplay between Joe Perry and Brad Whitford has been inspiring to many bands, especially Guns N' Roses. Joe Perry has received wide recognition and praise as a lead guitarist, and has shared the stage many times with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, who Perry cites as primary influences. He and Tyler were asked by Page to induct Led Zeppelin into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; during the ceremony, which took place in 1995, Tyler and Perry delivered their speech and joined the band onstage for a brief set. During Beck's and Metallica's induction in 2009, they invited Perry and Page to play the Yardbirds/Zeppelin/Aerosmith classic "Train Kept A-Rollin'". Other collaborations, either by individual members of the band or by Aerosmith as a whole, have included Alice Cooper on his Trash album, Guns N' Roses (who opened for Aerosmith during their 1988 tour and had covered "Mama Kin" on their first release) and B'z. As a testimony to their importance in American popular culture as a whole, Aerosmith have also collaborated with popular non-rock artists, such as Run-DMC, Eminem ("Sing for the Moment"), and Carrie Underwood, and performed with 'N Sync, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, and Nelly for the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show. Country artists Garth Brooks and Mark Chesnutt both scored hit singles with covers of Aerosmith songs; Brooks in 1995 with "The Fever", a reworking of Aerosmith's 1993 song, and Chesnutt in 1999 with a cover of Aerosmith's 1998 song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Like many of their 1970s contemporaries including Led Zeppelin and Alice Cooper, the members of Aerosmith were prone to excess and debauchery. Drug consumption was rampant; the recording sessions for 1976's Rocks and 1977's Draw the Line were especially noted for their substance indulgence, including heroin. In the words of Bebe Buell, "They [Aerosmith] were like a gang of kids with their own planes, Porsches, millions of dollars, limitless resources. [...] Mick Jagger and Jimmy Page had control, but these boys did not care. They won the prize, hands down, for the rowdiest rock 'n' roll band in that era. No question."
In the mid to late 1970s, the band enjoyed tremendous popularity in the United States and in Japan, though they failed to make a big impression in Britain. Still, they were among the most popular hard rock acts in America in the mid to late 1970s, along with Heart, Kiss, Ted Nugent, ZZ Top, and Boston. Their massive popularity waned, however, following Perry and Whitford's departures. Following both guitarists' return to the band and its complete drug cleanup, Aerosmith made a prodigious return to success, once described as "the single most successful comeback in the history of heavy metal, if not all of popular music." During both the 1970s and the 1987–1995 era, Aerosmith undertook grueling world tours that numbered in the triple digits numbers of dates, headlining or co-headlining festivals along the way, such as the Texxas Jam in 1978 and 1987, the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington, England in 1990 and 1994, and Woodstock '94.
Initially resistant to this medium, the band later became renowned and received numerous awards for pioneering expansive, conceptual music videos, such as those for "Janie's Got a Gun" (directed by future Fight Club director David Fincher), "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'", "Amazing", "Crazy", "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", and "Pink".
The band's music has also been featured in several video games, such as episodes of the Dead or Alive and Grand Theft Auto series, and some video games are centered on the band, like Quest for Fame and Revolution X. Aerosmith was the first band to have its band-centered Guitar Hero title, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game across both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band platforms.
MembersCurrent Steven Tyler – lead vocals, harmonica, percussion (1970–present)
Tom Hamilton – bass (1970–present)
Joey Kramer – drums (1970–present)
Joe Perry – lead and rhythm guitar, backing and occasional lead vocals (1970–1979, 1984–present)
Brad Whitford – rhythm and lead guitar (1971–1981, 1984–present)Touring Buck Johnson – keyboards, piano, backing vocals, guitar (2014–present)Former Ray Tabano – rhythm and lead guitar (1970–1971)
Jimmy Crespo – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1979–1984)
Rick Dufay – rhythm and lead guitar (1981–1984)
Awards and achievements
Despite Aerosmith's popularity and success in the 1970s, it wasn't until their comeback in the late-1980s and 1990s when they started winning awards and major recognition. In 1987, Aerosmith won the Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap – Single for the re-mix of "Walk This Way" with Run-D.M.C. In 1990, Aerosmith won their first Grammy award, for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and went on to win a total of four such awards (all of them in the 1990s) for "Janie's Got a Gun", "Livin' on the Edge", "Crazy", and "Pink". Aerosmith is second only to U2 in the number of awards won in that category.
In addition, Aerosmith's music videos won numerous awards throughout the 1990s. Aerosmith ranks as the ninth most successful artist (and the third most successful group) of all-time at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), with ten such awards to date. Aerosmith is also the all-time leader in the categories Best Rock Video (with four such awards) and Viewer's Choice (with three such awards). Aerosmith has also won once each in the categories Video of the Year, Best Group Video, and Best Video from a Film. The videos for which Aerosmith has won VMAs are "Janie's Got a Gun" (2 awards), "The Other Side", "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'" (3 awards), "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", "Pink", and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Over the course of their career (primarily 1990 and after), Aerosmith has also collected six American Music Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, two People's Choice Awards, sixteen Boston Music Awards, and numerous other awards and honors. Some of the high accolades Aerosmith have achieved include induction into Hollywood's Rock Walk in 1990, a declaration of "Aerosmith Day" in the state of Massachusetts by then-Governor William Weld on April 13, 1993, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and being honored with the mtvICON award in 2002.
In the fields of technology and video games, Aerosmith has achieved several feats. In 1994, Aerosmith released the song "Head First" on the CompuServe online service, which is considered to be the first full-length commercial product available online. In 2008, Aerosmith became the first artist to have an entire Guitar Hero video game based around them with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game across both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band platforms.
Aerosmith also holds several chart and album sales feats, including the second highest number of number-one singles on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for a group with nine, the only number one debut on the Billboard Hot 100 by a rock group with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", the second most gold albums by an American group behind Kiss who has 30, the most total certifications (including gold, platinum, and multi-platinum combined) by an American group, and are tied with Van Halen for the most multi-platinum albums by an American group. From the Recording Industry Association of America, Aerosmith has achieved 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum album certifications, in addition to one diamond album, four gold singles, and one platinum digital single. Media often refer to Aerosmith, who have sold more than 150 million albums worldwide and 70.2 million in the United States, as the best-selling American rock band.
Aerosmith were honored as MusiCares Person of the Year in 2020.
Rankings
"Dream On", "Toys in the Attic", and "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) are all listed in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
In 1993, "Rolling Stones list of the "Top 100 Music Videos" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 11 and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 95.
In 1999, MTV's "100 Greatest Videos Ever Made" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 5 and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 48.
In 2000, VH1's "100 Greatest Rock Songs" included "Walk This Way" at number 35 and "Dream On" at number 47.
In 2001, "VH1: 100 Greatest Videos" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 11, "Crazy" at number 23, and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 48.
In 2003, Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time included Rocks at number 176 and Toys in the Attic at number 228.
In 2004, Rolling Stones The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time included "Dream On" at number 172, "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 287, "Walk This Way" (original) at number 336, and "Sweet Emotion" at number 408.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Aerosmith number 57 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2008, Rolling Stone ranked the original version of "Walk This Way" at number 34 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
In 2010, Aerosmith were ranked number 30 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2013, Ultimate Classic Rock website ranked "Sweet Emotion" number 1 in their Top 100 Classic Rock Songs chart.
"Pump", which reached number 1 on the Australian Record Industry Association charts and yielded two top 10 hit singles. "Pump" more than 150,000 units on Warner Music (which distributed Geffen in Australia until 1990) and more than 60,000 units after Universal took over
DiscographyStudio albums'''
Aerosmith (1973)
Get Your Wings (1974)
Toys in the Attic (1975)
Rocks (1976)
Draw the Line (1977)
Night in the Ruts (1979)
Rock in a Hard Place (1982)
Done with Mirrors (1985)
Permanent Vacation (1987)
Pump (1989)
Get a Grip (1993)
Nine Lives (1997)
Just Push Play (2001)
Honkin' on Bobo (2004)
Music from Another Dimension! (2012)
Filmography and videography
In addition to recording and performing music, Aerosmith has also been involved with films, television, video games, pinball, and music videos. In 1978, the band starred as the "Future Villain Band" in the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Later, when the band resurrected itself in the late 1980s and 1990s, Aerosmith made further appearances, including the "Wayne's World" sketch on Saturday Night Live in 1990, the "Flaming Moe's" episode of The Simpsons in 1991, and the film Wayne's World 2 in 1993. The band also appeared in the 2005 John Travolta/Uma Thurman comedy Be Cool, in which Steven Tyler and Thurman's characters help bring pop music star Linda Moon (Christina Milian) into the limelight.
The band has been the subject of several video games including Revolution X in 1994, Quest for Fame in 1995, and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, in June 2008. The band has also made over 30 major music videos, and released seven home videos or DVDs.
In 2017, Stern released three versions of an Aerosmith pinball machine, which feature original versions of nine of the band's iconic songs, as well as Elevator and Toy-Box multiballs.
Tours
1970–1972: Club Days
1973: Aerosmith Tour
1974: Get Your Wings Tour
1975: Toys in the Attic Tour
1976–1977: Rocks Tour 1977–1978: Aerosmith Express Tour (supporting Draw the Line album)
1978: Live! Bootleg Tour 1979–1980: Night in the Ruts Tour
1982–1983: Rock in a Hard Place Tour
1984: Back in the Saddle Tour 1985–1986: Done with Mirrors Tour 1987–1988: Permanent Vacation Tour 1989–1990: Pump Tour 1993–1994: Get a Grip Tour 1997–1999: Nine Lives Tour 1999–2000: Roar of the Dragon Tour 2001–2002: Just Push Play Tour 2002: Girls of Summer Tour 2003: Rocksimus Maximus Tour 2004: Honkin' on Bobo Tour 2005–2006: Rockin' the Joint Tour 2006: Route of All Evil Tour 2007: World Tour 2007 2009: Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Tour 2010: Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour 2011: Back on the Road Tour 2012–2014: Global Warming Tour 2014: Let Rock Rule Tour 2015: Blue Army Tour 2016: Rock 'N' Roll Rumble Tour 2017–2018: Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour 2019–2020: Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild''
See also
Aero Force One
Honorific nicknames in popular music
List of artists who reached number one on the Australian singles chart
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart
List of best-selling music artists
List of glam metal bands and artists
List of hard rock musicians (A–M)
List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
Pop icon
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
Aerosmithfans website|Aerosmith - Aerosmith Fans - The (un) Official Home Page Of Aerosmith Fans Worldewide - xxxxx
1970 establishments in Massachusetts
American blues rock musical groups
Hard rock musical groups from Massachusetts
American glam metal musical groups
Columbia Records artists
Geffen Records artists
Grammy Award winners
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musical groups established in 1970
Musical groups from Boston
Musical quintets
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"\"For You to Love\" is a 1988 song by the American recording artist Luther Vandross. The single was released in 1989 in support of his hit album Any Love. The song was a top five U.S. R&B hit that peaked to No. 3 on the R&B singles. Vandross' Any Love album charted three top-five singles on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart.\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n www.luthervandross.com\n\n1988 songs\nLuther Vandross songs\n1989 singles\nSongs written by Marcus Miller\nSongs written by Luther Vandross\nEpic Records singles",
"\"She Won’t Talk to Me\" is a song by American recording artist Luther Vandross released in 1988. It is the second single from his album Any Love. The song was a top five U.S. R&B hit, top 20 dance play hit, and a top 40 hit on the Billboard’s Hot 100. Vandross performed the song on the January 28, 1989 episode of Saturday Night Live.\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n1988 singles\n1988 songs\nLuther Vandross songs\nEpic Records singles\nSongs written by Hubert Eaves III\nSongs written by Luther Vandross"
] |
[
"Aerosmith",
"Record deal, Aerosmith, Get Your Wings and Toys in the Attic (1971-1975)",
"What record deal did Aerosmith receive in 1971?",
"signed with Columbia in mid-1972",
"What was their first record?",
"Aerosmith.",
"Was this album popular?",
"the album peaked at number 166.",
"When was this released?",
"January 1973,",
"Were there any hit songs?",
"Dream On"
] |
C_fac055458d69481bae62214031bfcf1a_0
|
What was Get Your Wings?
| 6 |
What was Get Your Wings?
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Aerosmith
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After forming the band and finalizing the lineup in 1971, the band started to garner some local success doing live shows. Originally booked through the Ed Malhoit Agency, the band signed a promotion deal with Frank Connelly and eventually secured a management deal with David Krebs and Steve Leber in 1972. Krebs and Leber invited Columbia Records President Clive Davis to see the band at Max's Kansas City in New York City. Aerosmith was not originally scheduled to play that night at the club, but they paid from their own pockets to secure a place on the bill, reportedly the only band ever to do so at Max's. "No Surprize" from their Night in the Ruts album celebrates the moment their fame began. Aerosmith signed with Columbia in mid-1972 for a reported $125,000 and issued their debut album, Aerosmith. Released in January 1973, the album peaked at number 166. The album was straightforward rock and roll with well-defined blues influences, laying the groundwork for Aerosmith's signature blues rock sound. Although the highest-charting single from the album was "Dream On" at number 59, several tracks, such as "Mama Kin" and "Walkin' the Dog", would become staples of the band's live shows and receive airplay on rock radio. The album reached gold status initially, eventually went on to sell two million copies, and was certified double platinum after the band reached mainstream success over a decade later. After constant touring, the band released their second album Get Your Wings in 1974, the first of a string of multi-platinum albums produced by Jack Douglas. This album included the rock radio hits "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'", a cover done previously by the Yardbirds. The album also contained several fan favorites including "Lord of the Thighs", "Seasons of Wither", and "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", darker songs that have become staples in the band's live shows. To date, Get Your Wings has sold three million copies. It was 1975's Toys in the Attic, however, that established Aerosmith as international stars competing with the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Originally derided as Rolling Stones knockoffs in part due to the physical resemblance between lead singers Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger, Toys in the Attic showed that Aerosmith was a unique and talented band in their own right. Toys in the Attic was an immediate success, starting with the single "Sweet Emotion", which became the band's first Top 40 hit. This was followed by a successful re-release of "Dream On" which hit number 6, becoming their best charting single of the 1970s. "Walk This Way", re-released in 1976, reached the Top 10 in early 1977. In addition, "Toys in the Attic" and "Big Ten Inch Record" (a song originally recorded by Bull Moose Jackson) became concert staples. As a result of this success, both of the band's previous albums re-charted. Toys in the Attic has gone on to become the band's bestselling studio album in the States, with certified U.S. sales of eight million copies. The band toured in support of Toys in the Attic, where they started to get more recognition. Also around this time, the band established their home base as "the Wherehouse" in Waltham, Massachusetts, where they would record and rehearse music, as well as conduct business. CANNOTANSWER
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This album included the rock radio hits "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'",
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Aerosmith is an American rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whitford (guitar). Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has also incorporated elements of pop rock, heavy metal, glam metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many subsequent rock artists. They are sometimes referred to as "the Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". The primary songwriting team of Tyler and Perry is often known as the "Toxic Twins".
Perry and Hamilton, originally in a band together called the Jam Band, met up with Tyler, Kramer, and guitarist Ray Tabano, and formed Aerosmith; in 1971, Tabano was replaced by Whitford. At some point prior to the weekend of December 25, 1971; they were known as "Fox Chase." They released a string of multi-platinum albums starting with their eponymous debut in 1973, followed by Get Your Wings in 1974. The band broke into the mainstream with Toys in the Attic (1975) and Rocks (1976). Draw the Line and Night in the Ruts followed in 1977 and 1979. Throughout the 1970s, the band toured extensively and charted a dozen Hot 100 singles, including their first Top 40 hit "Sweet Emotion" and the Top 10 hits "Dream On" and "Walk This Way". By the end of the decade, they were among the most popular hard rock bands in the world and developed a following of fans, often referred to as the "Blue Army". Drug addiction and internal conflict led to the departures of Perry and Whitford in 1979 and 1981.
The band did not fare well and the album Rock in a Hard Place (1982) failed to match previous successes.
Perry and Whitford returned to Aerosmith in 1984. After a comeback tour, they recorded Done with Mirrors (1985), which did not meet commercial expectations. It was not until a 1986 collaboration with rap group Run–D.M.C. on a remake of "Walk This Way", and the 1987 multi-platinum release, Permanent Vacation, that they regained their previous level of popularity. In the late 1980s and 1990s, the band won numerous awards for music from the multi-platinum albums Pump (1989), Get a Grip (1993), and Nine Lives (1997), while they embarked on their most extensive concert tours to date. Their biggest hits during this period included "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", "Rag Doll", "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", "What it Takes", "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'", and "Crazy". The band also filmed popular music videos and made notable appearances in television, film, and video games. In 1998, they achieved their first number-one hit with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from [[Armageddon: The Album|Armageddons soundtrack]] and the following year, their roller coaster attraction opened at Walt Disney World. Their comeback has been described as one of the most remarkable and spectacular in rock history. Additional albums Just Push Play (which included the hit "Jaded"), Honkin' on Bobo (a collection of blues covers), and Music from Another Dimension! followed in 2001, 2004, and 2012. In 2008, they released Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game. After five decades, the band continues to tour and record music. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, they had an ongoing concert residency in Las Vegas.
Aerosmith is the best-selling American hard rock band of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide, including over 85 million records in the United States. With 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum albums, they hold the record for the most total certifications by an American group and are tied for the most multi-platinum albums by an American group. They have achieved twenty-one Top 40 hits on the US Hot 100, nine number-one Mainstream Rock hits, four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, and ten MTV Video Music Awards. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and were ranked number 57 and 30, respectively, on Rolling Stones and VH1's lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2013, Tyler and Perry were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2020, the band received the MusiCares Person of the Year award.
History
Formation (1964–1970)
In 1964, Steven Tyler formed his own band called the Strangeurs—later Chain Reaction—in Yonkers, New York. Meanwhile, Perry and Hamilton formed the Jam Band (commonly known as "Joe Perry's Jam Band"), which was based on free-form and blues. Hamilton and Perry moved to Boston, Massachusetts in September 1969. There they met Joey Kramer, a drummer from Yonkers, New York. Kramer knew Tyler and had always hoped to play in a band with him. Kramer, a Berklee College of Music student, decided to leave the school, and joined Jam Band.
In 1970, Chain Reaction and Jam Band played at the same gig. Tyler immediately loved Jam Band's sound, and wanted to combine the two bands. In October 1970, the bands met up again and considered the proposition. Tyler, who had been a drummer and backup singer in Chain Reaction, adamantly refused to play drums in this new band, insisting that he would take part only if he could be frontman and lead vocalist. The others agreed, and a new band was formed. The band moved into a home together at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, where they wrote and rehearsed music together and relaxed in between shows.
The members of the band reportedly spent afternoons getting high and watching Three Stooges reruns. One day, they had a post-Stooges meeting to try to come up with a name. Kramer said that, when he was in school, he would write the word "aerosmith" all over his notebooks. The name had popped into his head after listening to Harry Nilsson's album Aerial Ballet, which featured jacket art of a circus performer jumping out of a biplane. Initially, Kramer's bandmates were unimpressed; they all thought he was referring to the Sinclair Lewis novel they were required to read in high school English class. "No, not Arrowsmith," Kramer explained. "A-E-R-O...Aerosmith." The band settled upon this name after also considering "the Hookers" and "Spike Jones."
Soon, the band hired Ray Tabano, a childhood friend of Tyler, as rhythm guitarist and began playing local shows. Aerosmith played their first gig in Mendon, Massachusetts at Nipmuc Regional High School (now Miscoe Hill Middle School) on November 6, 1970. In 1971, Tabano was replaced by Brad Whitford, who also attended the Berklee School of Music, and was formerly a member of the band Earth Inc. Whitford, from Reading, Massachusetts, had already played at Reading's AW Coolidge Middle School. Other than a period from July 1979 to April 1984, the line-up of Tyler, Perry, Hamilton, Kramer, and Whitford has stayed the same.
Record deal, Aerosmith, Get Your Wings, and Toys in the Attic (1971–1975)
After forming the band and finalizing the lineup in 1971, the band started to garner some local success doing live shows. Originally booked through the Ed Malhoit Agency, the band signed a promotion deal with Frank Connelly, and eventually secured a management deal with David Krebs and Steve Leber in 1972. Krebs and Leber invited Columbia Records President Clive Davis to see the band at Max's Kansas City in New York City. Aerosmith was not originally scheduled to play that night at the club, but they paid out of their own pockets to secure a place on the bill, reportedly the only band ever to do so at Max's. "No Surprize" from their Night in the Ruts album celebrated the moment their fame rose.
Aerosmith signed with Columbia in mid-1972 for a reported $125,000, and released their debut album, Aerosmith. Released in January 1973, the album peaked at number 166. The album was straightforward rock and roll with well-defined blues influences, laying the groundwork for Aerosmith's signature blues rock sound. Although the highest-charting single from the album was "Dream On" at number 59, several tracks, such as "Mama Kin" and "Walkin' the Dog", would become staples of the band's live shows, and received airplay on rock radio. The album reached gold status initially, eventually went on to sell two million copies, and was certified double platinum after the band reached mainstream success over a decade later. After constant touring, the band released their second album, Get Your Wings in 1974, the first of a string of multi-platinum albums produced by Jack Douglas. This album included the rock radio hits "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'", a cover done previously by the Yardbirds. The album also contained several fan favorites, including "Lord of the Thighs", "Seasons of Wither", and "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", darker songs that have become staples in the band's live shows. To date, Get Your Wings has sold three million copies.
In 1975, Aerosmith released their third album, Toys in the Attic, which established Aerosmith as international stars, competing with the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Originally derided as Rolling Stones knockoffs in part due to the physical resemblance between lead singers Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger, Toys in the Attic showed that Aerosmith was a unique and talented band in their own right. Toys in the Attic was an immediate success, starting with the single "Sweet Emotion", which became the band's first Top 40 hit. This was followed by a successful re-release of "Dream On" which hit No. 6, becoming their best charting single of the 1970s. "Walk This Way", re-released in 1976, reached the Top 10 in early 1977.
In addition, "Toys in the Attic" and "Big Ten Inch Record" (a song originally recorded by Bull Moose Jackson) became concert staples. As a result of this success, both of the band's previous albums re-charted. Toys in the Attic has gone on to become the band's bestselling studio album in the United States, with certified US sales of nine million copies. The band toured in support of Toys in the Attic, where they started to get more recognition. Also around this time, the band established their home base as "the Wherehouse" in Waltham, Massachusetts, where they would record and rehearse music, as well as conduct business.
Rocks, Draw the Line, and Live! Bootleg (1976–1978)
In 1976, Aerosmith's fourth album was Rocks, which "captured Aerosmith at their most raw and rocking". It went platinum swiftly and featured two Top 40 hits, "Last Child" and "Back in the Saddle", as well as the ballad "Home Tonight", which also charted. Rocks would eventually go on to sell over four million copies. Both Toys in the Attic and Rocks are highly regarded, especially in the hard rock genre: they appear on such lists as Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and are cited as influential by members of Guns N' Roses, Metallica, and Mötley Crüe. Kurt Cobain also listed Rocks as one of the albums he thought were most influential to Nirvana's sound in his journal in 1993. Soon after Rocks was released, the band continued to tour heavily, this time headlining their own shows, including large stadiums and rock festivals.
In 1977, Aerosmith released their fifth album, Draw the Line. Its recording was affected by the band's excesses, but the record still had memorable moments. The title track charted just shy of the Top 40 and remains a live staple, and "Kings and Queens" also charted. The album went on to sell two million copies. The band toured extensively in support of the album, but drug abuse and the fast-paced life of touring and recording began affecting their performances. Tyler and Perry became known as "the Toxic Twins" due to their notorious abuse of drugs on and off the stage. Tyler later commented, "I've spent $64 million on drugs"; Perry scoffed later, "There's no fucking way in the world you could spend that much money on drugs and still be alive. It makes a good headline – but, practically speaking, that was probably a very small portion of where we spent our money."
While continuing to tour and record in the late 1970s, Aerosmith appeared in the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie. Their cover of The Beatles' "Come Together", from the soundtrack, was the band's last Top 40 hit for nearly 10 years. The double vinyl Live! Bootleg, issued in 1978, captured the band's rawness during the Draw the Line tour. The standalone single "Chip Away the Stone", also released in 1978, charted at number 77.
Departures of Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, Night in the Ruts, and Rock in a Hard Place (1979–1984)
In 1979, the band started work on their next album, Night in the Ruts, but Aerosmith decided to go on tour during a break in the recording schedule. As the decade was about to conclude, the band's drug use began taking its toll, and tensions were slowly coming to a head. The band's touring schedule brought them to Cleveland Stadium on July 28, 1979, where they headlined the World Series of Rock festival. Pandemonium erupted backstage when Joe Perry's wife, Elissa, threw a glass of milk at Tom Hamilton's wife, Terry. Following the show, Tyler and Perry got into a heated argument when Tyler confronted Perry about his wife's antics, and after the course of the argument, Perry left Aerosmith (while Tyler claims in his autobiography that he fired Perry from the band). Upon his departure, Perry took some of the music that he had written with him. Shortly after his departure, Perry formed his own side project known as The Joe Perry Project.
Since there was still work to be done on Night in the Ruts, Aerosmith needed fill-in musicians to take Perry's place on the songs that needed to be recorded to complete the album. Guitarist Brad Whitford took over some of the lead parts, and Richie Supa, the band's longtime writing partner, filled in where needed until the band was able to hire Jimmy Crespo to take over as the next full-time guitarist. Night in the Ruts was released in November 1979, but only managed to sell enough records to be certified gold at the time, although it would eventually sell enough copies to be certified platinum by 1994. The only single the album spawned, a cover of "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" by the Shangri-Las, peaked at number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The tour for Night in the Ruts commenced shortly thereafter, but the band found themselves playing in smaller and smaller venues than before due to their popularity beginning to wane. Steven Tyler's drug issues were starting to affect his performance and songwriting, and he reached rock bottom in 1980, when he collapsed on stage during a show in Portland, Maine, and did not get up for the remainder of the set. Also in 1980, Aerosmith released their first compilation album, Greatest Hits. While the compilation didn't chart very high initially, it gained popularity later, and went on to become the band's best selling album in the United States, with sales of 12 million copies. In the fall of 1980, Tyler was injured in a serious motorcycle accident, which left him hospitalized for two months, and unable to tour or record well into 1981.
In 1981, Aerosmith began work on their next album, Rock in a Hard Place, and saw them reunite with producer Jack Douglas. However, after the first song for the album, "Lightning Strikes", was recorded, Brad Whitford left the band, and decided to form a duo with Derek St. Holmes, with whom he recorded a self-titled album, which failed to garner much interest. Whitford later joined up with the Joe Perry Project and played with them in 1984.
With Rick Dufay taking Whitford's place, Rock in a Hard Place was released on August 27, 1982. The album reached number 32 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Only one single charted, the aforementioned "Lightning Strikes", which peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. As with the tour for Night in the Ruts, Aerosmith was unable to book larger venues, and instead had to rely on filling clubs and theaters, which they struggled to do. At a homecoming arena show in Worcester, Massachusetts, Tyler and Perry reunited and got high backstage before the show. Tyler was so intoxicated that he collapsed on stage again and, like before, could not get up.
On February 14, 1984, Perry (by then divorced from his first wife Elissa) and Whitford saw Aerosmith perform at Boston's Orpheum Theater. Shortly thereafter, discussions began to reintegrate the two into the band and several months later, the original members of Aerosmith officially reunited. Steven Tyler recalls:
Back in the Saddle reunion tour, Done with Mirrors, and drug rehab (1984–1986)
In 1984, Aerosmith embarked on a reunion tour called the Back in the Saddle Tour, which led to the live album Classics Live II. While concerts on the tour were well-attended, it was plagued with several incidents, mostly attributed to drug abuse by band members. With their drug problems still not behind them, the group was signed to Geffen Records, and began working on a comeback. Despite the band signing on to a new record company, the band's old label Columbia continued to reap the benefits of Aerosmith's comeback, releasing the live companion albums Classics Live I and II and the collection Gems.
In 1985, the band released the album Done with Mirrors, their first studio album since reuniting. While the album did receive some positive reviews, it only went gold and failed to produce a hit single or generate any widespread interest. The album's most notable track, "Let the Music Do the Talking", was in fact a cover of a song originally recorded by the Joe Perry Project and released on that band's album of the same name. Nevertheless, the band became a popular concert attraction once again, touring in support of Done with Mirrors, well into 1986. In 1986, in an unprecedented crossover collaboration, Aerosmith (largely the additional contributions of leaders Tyler and Perry) appeared on Run–D.M.C.'s cover of "Walk This Way", a track blending rock and roll with hip hop. In reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song and its frequently-aired video resurrected Aerosmith's career by introducing the band's music to a new generation.
Despite their resurrecting performance, the band members' drug problems still stood in their way. In 1986, Tyler completed a successful drug rehabilitation program, after an intervention by his fellow band members, a doctor, and manager Tim Collins, who believed that the band's future would not be bright if Tyler did not get treated in time. The rest of the band members also completed drug rehab programs over the course of the next couple of years. According to the band's tell-all autobiography, Collins pledged in September 1986 that he could make Aerosmith the biggest band in the world by 1990 if they all completed drug rehab. Their next album was crucial because of the commercial disappointment of Done With Mirrors, and as the band members became clean, they worked hard to make their next album a success.
Permanent Vacation and Pump (1987–1991)
Permanent Vacation was released in August 1987, becoming a major hit and the band's bestselling album in over a decade (selling 5 million copies in the US), with all three of its singles ("Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", and "Rag Doll") reaching the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. Steven Tyler reveals in his autobiography that the album was "...the first one we ever did sober." Part of Permanent Vacations commercial success involved producer Bruce Fairbairn whose production touches (such as sound effects and high-quality recording) added interest to the album and the use of outside songwriters such as Desmond Child, Jim Vallance, and Holly Knight who assisted the band with lyrics. While the group was initially hesitant to using outside songwriters, including Tyler being furious for Knight getting songwriting credits for changing one word ("Rag Time" became "Rag Doll"), the method paid off, as Permanent Vacation became the band's most successful album in a decade. The group went on a subsequent tour with labelmates Guns N' Roses (who have cited Aerosmith as a major influence), which was intense at times because of Aerosmith's new struggle to stay clean amidst Guns N' Roses' well-publicized, rampant drug use.
Aerosmith's next album was even more successful. Pump, released in September 1989, featured three Top Ten singles: "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", and "What It Takes", as well as the Top 30 "The Other Side", re-establishing the band as a serious musical force. Pump was a critical and commercial success, eventually selling 7 million copies, spawning several music videos that were in regular rotation on MTV, and achieving four-star ratings from major music magazines. Pump ranked as the fourth-bestselling album of 1990. The band also won its first Grammy in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, for "Janie's Got a Gun". In addition, the video for "Janie's Got a Gun" won two Video Music Awards and was ranked as one of the 100 greatest videos of all time by Rolling Stone, MTV, and VH1. Like Permanent Vacation, Pump was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, who added production touches such as instrumental interludes that provided transitions between songs to give the album a more complete sound, as well as the Margarita Horns, who added horns to tracks such as "Love in an Elevator" and "The Other Side". Rock critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine claimed that Pump "revels in [pop concessions] without ever losing sight of Aerosmith's dirty hard rock core", going on to say that, "such ambition and successful musical eclectism make Pump rank with Toys in the Attic and Rocks." The recording process for Pump was documented in the video The Making of Pump, which has since been re-released as a DVD. The music videos for the album's singles were featured on the release Things That Go Pump in the Night, which quickly went platinum.
In support of Pump, the band embarked on the 12-month Pump Tour, which lasted for most of 1990. On February 21, 1990, the band appeared in a "Wayne's World" sketch on Saturday Night Live, debating the fall of communism and the Soviet Union, and performed their recent hits "Janie's Got a Gun" and "Monkey on My Back". The appearance of the band in the "Wayne's World" sketch was later ranked by E! as the number-one moment in the history of the program. On August 11, 1990, the band's performance on MTV's Unplugged aired. In October 1990, the Pump Tour ended, with the band's first ever performances in Australia. That same year, the band was also inducted to the Hollywood Rock Walk. In November 1991, the band appeared on The Simpsons episode "Flaming Moe's" and released a box set titled Pandora's Box. In coordination with the release of Pandora's Box, the band's 1975 hit "Sweet Emotion" was re-mixed and re-released as a single, and a music video was created to promote the single. Also in 1991, the band performed their 1973 single "Dream On" with Michael Kamen's orchestra for MTV's 10th Anniversary special; this performance was used as the official music video for the song. In 1992, Tyler and Perry appeared live as guests of Guns N' Roses during the latter's 1992 worldwide pay-per-view show in Paris, performing a medley of "Mama Kin" (which GN'R covered in 1986) and "Train Kept-A Rollin".
Get a Grip and Big Ones (1992–1995)
The band took a brief break before recording their follow-up to Pump in 1992. Despite significant shifts in mainstream music at the beginning of the 1990s, 1993's Get a Grip was just as successful commercially, becoming their first album to debut at number 1 and racking up sales of 7 million copies in a two-and-a-half-year timespan and over 20 million copies worldwide. The first singles were the hard rocking "Livin' on the Edge" and "Eat the Rich". Though many critics were unimpressed by the focus on the subsequent interchangeable power-ballads in promoting the album, all three ("Cryin'", "Amazing", and "Crazy") proved to be huge successes on radio and MTV. The music videos featured then up-and-coming actress Alicia Silverstone; her provocative performances earned her the title of "the Aerosmith chick" for the first half of the decade. Steven Tyler's daughter Liv Tyler was also featured in the "Crazy" video. The band won two Grammy Awards for songs from this album in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: for "Livin' on the Edge" in 1994 and "Crazy" in 1995.
During the making of Get a Grip, the management and record company brought in a variety of professional songwriting collaborators to help give nearly all the songs on the album more commercial appeal, a trend which would continue until the early 2000s. However, this led to accusations of selling out that would continue throughout the 1990s. In addition to Aerosmith's grueling 18-month world tour in support of Get a Grip, the band also did a number of things to help promote themselves and their album and appeal to youth culture, including the appearance of the band in the movie Wayne's World 2 where they performed two songs, the appearance of the band and their music in the video games Revolution X and Quest for Fame, performing at Woodstock '94, using their song "Deuces Are Wild" in The Beavis and Butt-head Experience, and opening their own club, The Mama Kin Music Hall, in Boston, MA in 1994. That same year saw the release of the band's compilation for Geffen Records, entitled Big Ones featuring their biggest hits from Permanent Vacation, Pump, and Get a Grip, "Deuces Are Wild" from the Beavis and Butt-head Experience, as well as two new songs, "Blind Man" and "Walk on Water", both of which experienced great success on the rock charts.
Nine Lives and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" (1996–2000)
Aerosmith had signed a $30 million contract for four records with Columbia Records/Sony Music in 1991, but had only recorded three of their six contractual albums with Geffen Records at that point (Done with Mirrors, Permanent Vacation, and Pump). Between 1991 and 1996, they released two more albums with Geffen (Get a Grip and Big Ones), which meant they now had five albums with Geffen under their belt (along with a planned live compilation), which meant they could now begin recording for their new contract with Columbia. The band took time off with their families before working on their next album, Nine Lives, which was plagued with personnel problems, including the firing of manager Tim Collins, who, according to band members, had nearly caused the band to break up. The album's producer was also changed from Glen Ballard to Kevin Shirley. Nine Lives was released in March 1997. Reviews were mixed, and Nine Lives initially fell down the charts, although it had a long chart life and sold double platinum in the United States alone, fueled by its singles, "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", the ballad "Hole in My Soul", and the crossover-pop smash "Pink" (which won the band their fourth Grammy Award in 1999 in the Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal category). It was followed by the over two-year-long Nine Lives Tour, which was plagued by problems including lead singer Steven Tyler injuring his leg at a concert, and Joey Kramer suffering second degree burns when his car caught fire at a gas station.
In 1998, in the midst of setbacks during the Nine Lives Tour, the band released the single "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", the love theme, written by Diane Warren for the 1998 film Armageddon, starring Steven Tyler's daughter Liv. The song became Aerosmith's first and only number 1 single when it debuted at the top position on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on top of the charts for four weeks. The song was nominated for an Academy Award in 1999. The song helped open Aerosmith up to a new generation and remains a slow-dance staple. 1998 also saw the release of the double-live album, A Little South of Sanity, which was assembled from performances on the Get a Grip and Nine Lives tours. The album went platinum shortly after its release. The band continued with their seemingly neverending world tours promoting Nine Lives and the "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" single well into 1999.
In 1999, Aerosmith was chosen to be featured in the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, providing the ride's soundtrack and theme at both Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort and, formerly, at Disneyland Paris in the Walt Disney Studios Park, which opened in 2002 and closed in 2019, to be replaced by an Iron Man and the Avengers attraction in the upcoming Avengers Campus. On September 9, 1999, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry reunited with Run–D.M.C. and were also joined by Kid Rock for a collaborative live performance of "Walk This Way" at the MTV Video Music Awards, a precursor to the Girls of Summer Tour. The band celebrated the new millennium with a brief tour of Japan, and also contributed the song "Angel's Eye" to the 2000 film Charlie's Angels. In December 2000, they wrapped up work on their next album.
Just Push Play, O, Yeah! and Rocksimus Maximus (2001–2003)
The band entered their next decade by co-headlining with NSYNC the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show, titled "The Kings of Rock and Pop", with appearances from Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige and Nelly. All of the stars collaborated with Aerosmith at the end for a performance of "Walk This Way".
In March 2001, the band released their 13th studio album Just Push Play, which quickly went platinum, fueled by the Top 10 single "Jaded" and the appearance of the title track in Dodge commercials. They were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame soon after their album was released, in late March 2001. Aerosmith is the only band to be inducted to the Hall of Fame with a song active in the charts ("Jaded"). Later that year, the band performed as part of the United We Stand: What More Can I Give benefit concert in Washington D.C. for 9/11 victims and their families. The band flew back to Indianapolis for a show the same night, as part of their Just Push Play Tour.
The band started 2002 by ending the Just Push Play tour, and simultaneously recording segments for their Behind the Music special on VH1, which not only chronicled the band's history but also the band's current activities and touring. The special was one of the few Behind the Musics to run two hours in length. In May, Aerosmith covered the "Theme from Spider-Man" for the soundtrack of the 2002 film of the same name. On June 27, the band performed at the official FIFA World Cup concert at Tokyo Stadium which took place during the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in Korea/Japan. In July 2002, Aerosmith released a two-disc career-spanning compilation O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits, which featured the new single "Girls of Summer" and embarked on the Girls of Summer Tour with Kid Rock and Run–D.M.C. opening. O, Yeah! has since been certified double platinum. MTV honored Aerosmith with their mtvICON award in 2002. Performances included Pink covering "Janie's Got a Gun". Shakira performed "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", Kid Rock played "Mama Kin" and "Last Child", Train performed "Dream On" and Papa Roach covered "Sweet Emotion". In addition, testimonials featured surprise guests Metallica, as well as Janet Jackson, Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst, Alicia Silverstone and Mila Kunis.
In 2003, Aerosmith co-headlined with Kiss on the Rocksimus Maximus Tour, in preparation for release of their blues album. They also performed a song for Rugrats Go Wild, "Lizard Love".
Honkin' on Bobo, Rockin' the Joint and Devil's Got a New Disguise (2004–2006)
Aerosmith's long-promised blues album Honkin' on Bobo was released in 2004. This was a return to the band's roots, including recording the album in live sessions, working with former producer Jack Douglas, and laying down their blues rock grit. It was followed by a live DVD, You Gotta Move, in December 2004, culled from performances on the Honkin' on Bobo Tour. "Dream On" was also featured in an advertising campaign for Buick in 2004, targeting that marque's market which is now composed largely of people who were teenagers when the song first charted.
2005 saw Steven Tyler appear in the film Be Cool. Joe Perry released his self-titled solo album that same year. At the 2006 Grammy Awards, he was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for the track "Mercy", but lost to Les Paul. In October 2005, Aerosmith released a CD/DVD Rockin' the Joint. The band hit the road for the Rockin' the Joint Tour on October 30 with Lenny Kravitz for a fall/winter tour of arenas in the largest US markets. The band planned to tour with Cheap Trick in the spring, hitting secondary markets in the US. Almost all of this leg of the tour was canceled, however. Dates were initially canceled one by one until March 22, 2006, when it was announced that lead singer Steven Tyler needed throat surgery, and the remaining dates on the tour were subsequently canceled.
Tyler and Perry performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra for their annual concert of July 4 on the Esplanade in 2006, a milestone as it was the first major event or performance since Steven Tyler's throat surgery. Around this time, the band also announced that they would embark on the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe in late 2006. On August 24, 2006, it was announced that Tom Hamilton was undergoing treatment for throat cancer. In order to make a full recovery, he sat out much of the Route of All Evil Tour until he was well again. Former Joe Perry Project bassist David Hull substituted for Hamilton until his return. On September 5, 2006, Aerosmith kicked off the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe in Columbus, Ohio. The co-headlining tour took both bands to amphitheaters across North America through November 24. After that, a select few arena dates were added, some of which were with Mötley Crüe. The tour ended December 17.
On October 17, 2006, the compilation album Devil's Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith was released. The album contained previous hits with the addition of two new songs, "Devil's Got a New Disguise" and "Sedona Sunrise", which were older outtakes re-recorded for the album. "Devil's Got a New Disguise" peaked at number 15 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The album was intended to fulfill Aerosmith's contract with Sony and tide fans over until the band's new studio album was released.
Touring, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and unfinished album (2007–2009)
In early 2007, the band announced a new World Tour, their first for nearly a decade to include dates outside North America or Japan. The band performed at London's Hard Rock Cafe in February 2007 to promote their European tour which included a night in Hyde Park as part of the Hyde Park Calling festival sponsored by Hard Rock Cafe. In the spring, the band toured Latin America to sold-out stadium crowds. In the summer, the band toured Europe, performing at several major rock festivals and visiting some countries they had never played before. Additionally, the band played in Middle East countries such as the United Arab Emirates and India for the first time. The band also played a few select dates in California and Canada in late July. The July 21 concert in Prince Edward Island, was the largest in that province's history. In September, the band performed eight dates in major markets in Northeastern North America. These shows were opened by Joan Jett. The band also played a private gig in Hawaii. A public show in Maui was canceled for logistical reasons, which spurred a class action lawsuit against the band. In April 2009, Aerosmith agreed to compensate all ticket buyers of the canceled show with a free ticket to a rescheduled Maui show to be held on October 20, 2009, along with reimbursements of all out-of-pocket expenses related to the show.
On November 1, 2007, the band entered the studio to work on the final studio album of their current contract with Sony. At the time, it was believed that the album would include both re-recorded tracks left off previous albums as well as brand new material. In an interview, guitarist Joe Perry revealed that in addition to creating a new album, the band was working closely with the makers of the Guitar Hero series to develop Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, a video game dedicated to the band's music. The game was released on June 29, 2008 and contains many of their most popular songs. Steven Tyler announced on VH1 Classic Radio on September 4, 2008, that Aerosmith intended to enter the studio at the end of September 2008 to complete the band's 15th studio album. Tyler also confirmed that the band planned to begin a new US tour in June 2009, in support of the as-yet-untitled album. This tour was supposed to be preceded by a concert in Venezuela on February 1, 2009. However, on January 15, 2009, Tyler said the band would be unable to play the gig because of a second knee injury of guitarist Joe Perry. In mid-February 2009, it was announced that the album would be produced by the famed Brendan O'Brien and that the album would likely be recorded live, like their earlier records. Although the band had hoped to finish the album before the tour started in June 2009, Perry said that the group "realized there wasn't any chance of getting [the album] finished before we hit the road for the summer." The tour featured ZZ Top as the opening act for most of the tour. The Aerosmith/ZZ Top Tour, presented by Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, was officially announced and the first dates released on April 8, 2009.
The tour was slated to take the band across North America from June to September 2009. The tour featured the band performing nearly all of the songs on their 1975 album Toys in the Attic during the first seven dates of the tour and also featured Joe Perry sing lead vocals on the 1976 "Combination". The tour was plagued with several health problems, however. Guitarist Brad Whitford had to sit out the first seven dates of the tour in order to recover from head surgery, after injuring his head getting out of his car. On June 28, 2009, at the band's seventh show of the tour at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, lead singer Steven Tyler injured his leg, which required seven shows to be postponed. As soon as the band resumed the tour on July 15, Whitford returned to the fold. However, Tom Hamilton had to depart the tour in order to recover from non-invasive surgery. On August 5, 2009, Tyler was rushed to the hospital after falling from the stage at a concert in Sturgis, South Dakota. He was helped up by security staff and taken backstage, before guitarist Joe Perry told the audience the show was over. Tyler was airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital, where he received treatment for head and neck injuries and a broken shoulder. In the wake of Tyler's injuries, the band was forced to postpone five shows in Western Canada. On August 14, 2009, Aerosmith announced that they had decided to cancel the rest of their US tour dates with ZZ Top, due to Tyler's injuries.
In the midst of the tour, Perry completed work on his fifth solo album, Have Guitar, Will Travel and drummer Joey Kramer released his autobiography, Hit Hard. Perry's solo album was released on October 6, 2009.
After Tyler recovered from falling off stage, the band returned to the stage in mid-October for two shows in Hawaii, one in Maui which was rescheduled from 2007 and finally played as part of a legal settlement, and an additional show which was played in Honolulu. In early November, the band played a concert in Abu Dhabi at the Grand Prix.
Tyler-Perry feud and Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour (2009–2010)
Tyler pulled out of a planned South American tour at the end of 2009 and seemed intent on pursuing solo projects, including his autobiography Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?. Tyler told Classic Rock magazine, "I don't know what I'm doing yet, but it's definitely going to be something Steven Tyler: working on the brand of myself – Brand Tyler." Meanwhile, guitarist Joe Perry toured the United States at the end of 2009, and Japan and the UK early in 2010.
In November 2009, Joe Perry stated that Tyler had not been in contact with the band and could be on the verge of quitting Aerosmith. Perry stated that the rest of the group was "looking for a new singer to work with." It was reported that singer Lenny Kravitz had been approached for Steven Tyler's position, which he then declined.
However, despite the rumors of him leaving the band, Tyler joined the Joe Perry Project onstage on November 10, 2009 at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, and Tyler and Perry performed the Aerosmith single "Walk This Way" together. According to sources at the event, Tyler assured the crowd that he was "not quitting Aerosmith".
On December 22, People magazine reported that Tyler had entered a rehabilitation facility to manage his addiction to painkillers, brought on by injuries to his knees, legs, and feet, that resulted from years of performing. In his statement, Tyler said he is grateful for the support he is receiving, is committed to getting things taken care of, and is eager to get back on stage and in the recording studio with his bandmates.
On January 20, 2010, Perry confirmed the band were about to audition for a new singer to replace Tyler. Perry said Tyler's surgery to his legs would "take him out of the picture" for up to a year and a half, and in the meantime, the rest of the band wanted to continue performing. Perry also said that the band would be willing to continue working with Tyler in the future if the singer wanted to.
In response, Tyler's attorney sent the band and its manager a "cease and desist" letter and threatened further legal action against both if the band did not discontinue this effort to replace Tyler.
On February 15, 2010, it was announced that Aerosmith were to headline Download Festival at Donington Park, England in June 2010. Tyler was confirmed as the frontman for the show by festival promoter Andy Copping. It was announced that the band would precede the June 13 date with an appearance at the Sweden Rock Festival on June 10 in Sölvesborg. During the Donington show, Perry celebrated Tyler's position as frontman, dubbing him "the best lead singer on the planet". On February 24, the band announced the first batch of dates for their upcoming Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour. The tour saw the band play seven dates in South and Central America in May, followed by eleven dates in Europe, in June and early July. The band performed in Colombia, Peru and Greece for the first time in their career on this tour. The band performed 24 concerts in North America in late July, August, and September. Many of the concerts were in locations the band canceled on in 2009. As part of the tour, the band played Fenway Park in Boston with fellow Bostonians the J. Geils Band.
Problems on the band's Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour arose in August 2010, including Tyler accidentally hitting Joe Perry in the head with his microphone stand at a show in Wantagh, New York and Perry bumping into Tyler at the Toronto show, which caused Tyler to tumble off the stage. Perry suffered a minor head injury at the Wantagh show and Tyler was helped back up by fans and Perry at the Toronto show, and both shows went on. Around the same time as these incidents, tension flared again between Perry and Tyler due to Tyler's plans to become a talent judge on American Idol. Perry criticized Tyler for not consulting the rest of the band, saying that he "found out on the internet, like the rest of the world" and that nobody else in the band knew anything about it.
On August 18, it was reported that Tyler officially signed on with the show. When asked about this in October, Perry declared he understood Tyler's reasons and wished him luck, but stated that he would seek different projects – "I'm tired of waiting around, so I'm not passing up anything right now".
While announcing the Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour in 2009, Tyler and Perry said that the next item on the agenda was a new Aerosmith album, the group's first since 2004's Honkin' on Bobo. The group did some recording with producer Brendan O'Brien in 2008 but halted because of Tyler's health problems. Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton told the Boston Herald in September 2010 that Tyler believes he has the time and energy to continue fronting the band while also being a judge on American Idol.
Hamilton explained, "Steven's been very emphatic in saying that the way his time is arranged on the show leaves room to work on a record. He's been taking great pains to remind everybody of that, so hopefully that's the way it will come out." On November 5, 2010, Brad Whitford said the recording sessions will probably be in Los Angeles, where American Idol is headquartered, and a world tour would follow.
Touring and Music from Another Dimension! (2010–2013)
In a November 2010 interview reported at NME.com, drummer Joey Kramer confirmed that the band had every intention to finish and release their long-delayed album in 2011, stating, "Really, at this point in time, the only thing that's going to stop us is if someone out-and-out dies. Other than that, we've already been through what we've been through and stood the test of time. What else is there?" On January 18, 2011, Tyler declared that "Joe (Perry) has got some licks and I've got a bunch of songs that I've written for solo and/or Aerosmith" and the band would start prepping the album that week.
On March 20, 2011, Aerosmith announced a new greatest hits album, Tough Love: Best of the Ballads, which was released on May 10, 2011. On May 14, 2011, the band announced a tour of Latin America in the fall of 2011. In June, Joe Perry announced that the band is going to meet at the recording studio to produce the next album of the band in July. On August 30, it was announced that the new album will be released around May 2012. The album will be produced by Jack Douglas, who produced four albums for the band in the 1970s. Aerosmith began their fall tour of Latin America and Japan on October 22 in Lima, Peru. As part of the tour, the band performed in Paraguay, Panama, and Ecuador for the first time in their careers. Their show in Asunción, Paraguay was postponed a day, after lead singer Steven Tyler sustained facial injuries after falling in his hotel room shower, due to a bout of food poisoning that dehydrated him and caused him to faint.
On March 11, 2012, Aerosmith was featured on an episode of 60 Minutes. The show included very candid interviews with the band members, interspersed with live performances from the band's 2011 tour. Some of the comments the band members said about each other seemed to re-ignite past tensions in the band. However, on March 22, Joe Perry surprised Steven Tyler by performing "Happy Birthday" for him on American Idol, as an early birthday present for Tyler. On March 26, Aerosmith announced a summer tour with Cheap Trick entitled the "Global Warming Tour". On May 23, Aerosmith debuted their new single, "Legendary Child", on the season finale of American Idol. Shortly after, it was announced that their fifteenth studio album, Music from Another Dimension!, would be released on November 6, 2012. On May 30, Aerosmith and Cheap Trick performed for Walmart shareholders. Aerosmith's "Global Warming Tour" began June 16 in Minneapolis and took the band to 26 locations across North America through August 12. The band hinted that the tour would continue in October/November after the album release. On August 22, Aerosmith released two singles simultaneously, the rocker "Lover Alot" and the ballad "What Could Have Been Love". On September 22, Aerosmith performed at the iHeartRadio music festival in Las Vegas. In advance of the release of their new album, the band performed on The Late Show with David Letterman and Today, and Tyler and Perry were interviewed on The Late Show and The View. In addition, Tyler, Perry and Whitford performed "Dream On" for the telethon Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together to raise funds for the victims of the namesake storm that struck the Northeastern United States. On November 5, Aerosmith performed an outdoor concert in front of their old apartment at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston to celebrate the release of their album and their Boston roots. Music from Another Dimension! was released on November 6. Two days later, the band began the 2nd leg of their Global Warming Tour, which took the band to 14 North American locations through December 13.
On January 21, 2013, Aerosmith released "Can't Stop Lovin' You" (featuring Carrie Underwood) as the fourth single from Music from Another Dimension!. On February 20, it was announced that the band's principal songwriters Steven Tyler and Joe Perry would be recipients of the ASCAP Founders Award at the society's 30th Annual Pop Music Awards on April 17. Two days later, it was announced that the duo would be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at a ceremony to be held on June 13.
In late April and early May 2013, Aerosmith extended their Global Warming Tour to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore. This marked the band's first performances in Australia in 23 years, and the band's first-ever performances in the latter four countries. Tom Hamilton had to miss the last three Australian shows due to illness; David Hull filled in for him. On May 5, Aerosmith cancelled their first-ever performance in Indonesia (scheduled for May 11) due to safety concerns; the actual threat was not released. On May 30, Aerosmith performed as part of the "Boston Strong" charity concert for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. The band also performed at the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia on July 6, at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut on July 10, four concerts in Japan in mid-August, and as part of the Harley-Davidson 110th Anniversary Concert series in Milwaukee on August 30. In the fall of 2013, Aerosmith extended their tour to Central and South America, including their first-ever performances in Guatemala, El Salvador and Uruguay. Hamilton had to depart the Latin American tour due to illness.
In July 2013, the band released the live concert DVD Rock for the Rising Sun, which also documented the band's 2011 tour of Japan. The release was also screened in select theaters in October 2013.
Solo endeavors, farewell tour and upcoming sixteenth studio album (2014–2018)
On March 21, 2014, in tweets released by Joe Perry, Joey Kramer, and Slash, it was announced that Aerosmith would be touring North America with Slash (along with Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators) in the summer of 2014. This followed a 17-date European tour that Aerosmith took from May 14 to July 2. The North American tour, known as the Let Rock Rule Tour, sent Aerosmith to 21 locations from July 10 to September 12.
Asked in May 2014 if Aerosmith would release a sixteenth studio album anytime soon, bassist Tom Hamilton replied, "I hope soon. But I really don't know what we are doing because we no longer have a record contract. We are finished with Columbia. So, there is nothing written in stone. We'll see what the fans want." In an interview with Rolling Stone about what the future holds, Joe Perry admitted that, "I don't even know if making new albums makes sense anymore. Maybe we'll just release an EP every six months. I don't know what the future looks like."
On October 7, 2014, Perry released his autobiography Rocks: My Life in and Out of Aerosmith, co-written by David Ritz. Perry promoted the book with a book-signing tour that took him to 14 locations across the United States in the month of October. On February 26, 2015, Aerosmith premiered the film Aerosmith Rocks Donington in 300 movie theaters across North America; the concert video is from the band's 2014 performance at Download Festival at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England. The video was released on DVD/Blu-ray on September 4, 2015.
On March 31, 2015, lead singer Steven Tyler stated that he was working on his first solo country album. On April 6, it was announced that Tyler signed a record deal with Scott Borchetta's Dot Records (a division of the Big Machine Label Group). On May 13, Tyler released the lead single, "Love is Your Name", from his forthcoming solo debut album. He promoted the song on the Bobby Bones Show, iHeartMedia, CBS This Morning, Entertainment Tonight, and the American Idol season 14 finale.
On June 10, Aerosmith embarked on the Blue Army Tour, which sent the band to 17 North American locations through August 7, many of them in smaller venues in secondary markets that the band has either never performed in or hasn't performed in many years. The band also played a one-off show in Moscow on September 5. On the tour, the band played several lesser-known deep cuts.
After the tour, Tyler completed work on his solo album, We're All Somebody from Somewhere, which was released on July 15, 2016. Prior to the album's release, a second single, "Red, White & You", was released in January 2016, followed by the third single (the title track) in June 2016. Meanwhile, Joe Perry worked with Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp on the side project Hollywood Vampires, which released their eponymous debut album in September 2015 and performed at the 58th Grammy Awards on February 15, 2016. Brad Whitford re-joined Derek St. Holmes for a handful of tour dates in November 2015 and a new Whitford/St. Holmes album that was made available to fans at their live performances and was scheduled for wide release in 2016. Tom Hamilton performed with Thin Lizzy at a handful of concert dates in Europe in the summer of 2016 and also joined Pearl Jam for a performance of "Draw the Line" at Boston's Fenway Park on August 7. Meanwhile, Joey Kramer became actively involved in his "Rockin' & Roastin'" coffee business, which opened a location in Newry, Maine, in December 2015 and a second location in North Attleborough, Massachusetts in July 2016.
Since December 2015, in various interviews, Whitford, Tyler, and Perry all discussed the possibility of a farewell tour or "wind-down tour" slated to start in 2017. Perry has suggested the tour could last for two years and Tyler said it could potentially last "forever"; Whitford and Tyler also discussed the potential of doing one last studio album.
On July 10, 2016, Perry collapsed onstage at a concert he was performing with the Hollywood Vampires on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest. He was revived and rushed to the hospital, where he was quickly upgraded to stable condition later that night. The Vampires continued the show without Perry that evening and continued the rest of their tour, but canceled an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. After resting for a few days, Perry made a complete recovery and returned to the Hollywood Vampires tour.
From September through October 2016 Aerosmith embarked on a nine-date tour of Latin America, called the Rock 'N' Roll Rumble Tour, preceded by a performance at the Kaaboo Festival in San Diego, California on September 17. In November 2016, Aerosmith announced that they would be going on a "farewell" tour in Europe in the spring and summer of 2017, titled the Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour. The tour launched in Tel Aviv, Israel on May 17, 2017, where approximately 45,000 tickets were sold. In early July, the band completed the European leg of the tour; the band extended the tour to South America in September and October 2017, but the last few shows had to be canceled due to health issues. According to Brad Whitford, the tour could end anytime from 2017 to the next four years in 2021. On 19 January 2018, Perry released a solo disc titled Sweetzerland Manifesto. He also announced that the 2017 tour titled "Aero-Vederci Baby!" was not really a final tour and the band will be touring in 2019 to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
Las Vegas residency, future activities and upcoming new projects (2019–present)
On August 15, 2018, Aerosmith appeared on NBC's Today show to announce a residency in Las Vegas called "Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild", a reference to both Las Vegas casino gambling and their 1994 single of the same name.
In January 2019, Joe Perry stated that he and Steven Tyler, were due to start recording new material, together, for a new Aerosmith album.
The band's Las Vegas residency took place during the months of April, June, July, and September thru December 2019 and was scheduled to be extended into January, February, May, and June 2020 at the Park Theater (the 2020 dates were cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic). In addition to the Las Vegas shows, in mid July 2019, the band performed at a festival in Minnesota, and in August 2019, they played a total of nine shows spread across three MGM venues in Maryland, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. On February 14, 2019, Aerosmith was scheduled to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but the ceremony and installation was postponed to a date to be determined due to inclement weather.
In April 2019, drummer Joey Kramer suffered minor injuries to his shoulder following an unspecified accident, and was forced to stand down from several concerts of the band's Las Vegas residency. His drum technician John Douglas substituted for him.
In November the same year, Kramer told several news sites that he was not allowed to rejoin the band despite his recovery, to which the band responded that his playing was "not up to Aerosmith standards". The disagreement culminated in a series of lawsuits in January 2020, after which Kramer was expected to be barred from performing with the band at the 2020 Grammy Awards. Kramer rejoined Aerosmith in February 2020 for their Las Vegas residency.
Aerosmith was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
In 2019, a European tour was announced, due to take place through the summer of 2020 following the completion of their Las Vegas dates, but the shows were cancelled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as was a 50th Anniversary show at Boston's Fenway Park, originally planned for September 2020. The European dates were initially rescheduled for the summer of 2021 but were later moved again to summer 2022 due to the ongoing pandemic.
In an August 2020 interview with former The Black Crowes drummer, Steve Gorman, on his radio show Steve Gorman Rocks, Brad Whitford was asked what the future of Aerosmith looked like. His response was "I don't really know what they want to do. And, I don't really care because, um, truthfully, I'm not interested anymore", citing ongoing dysfunction within the band.
He expressed similar concerns in an interview with Joe Bonamassa on his 'Live From Nerdville' podcast in June 2021. Brad shared his thoughts about how the COVID-19 outbreak would affect touring plans for Aerosmith, and musicians in general, whilst acknowledging his & his bandmates current ages. Stating, "I mean, I have my doubts about Aerosmith ever really performing again at this stage, because age is becoming a real factor. It is what it is."
On August 23, 2021, Aerosmith signed a distribution deal with Universal Music Group, covering the band's entire catalog - both Geffen (Universal's subsidiary) and Columbia titles.
Influence and legacy
Influenced by bands such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, and the New York Dolls,Jeff Burlingame (2010). "Aerosmith: Hard Rock Superstars". Enslow Publishers, Inc. Aerosmith proved to be a major influence themselves on subsequently massively successful bands and musicians; according to Perry, Eddie Van Halen once told him that his band Van Halen "started out on the suburban L.A. club circuit, playing Aerosmith songs". Aerosmith's influence was evident on the next generation of hard rock and heavy metal bands, namely Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Guns N' Roses, Tesla, L.A. Guns, Cinderella, Faster Pussycat, Skid Row, Extreme, Warrant, Inglorious, the Black Crowes and the Quireboys, as well as Metallica, Metal Church and Testament. Especially, Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash has stated that Aerosmith is his favorite band, and Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx has expressed massive admiration for the band and its early records in both The Dirt and The Heroin Diaries. Members of alternative rock bands such as Nirvana, Mother Love Bone/Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Staind and Godsmack are also self-professed early Aerosmith fans.
The interplay between Joe Perry and Brad Whitford has been inspiring to many bands, especially Guns N' Roses. Joe Perry has received wide recognition and praise as a lead guitarist, and has shared the stage many times with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, who Perry cites as primary influences. He and Tyler were asked by Page to induct Led Zeppelin into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; during the ceremony, which took place in 1995, Tyler and Perry delivered their speech and joined the band onstage for a brief set. During Beck's and Metallica's induction in 2009, they invited Perry and Page to play the Yardbirds/Zeppelin/Aerosmith classic "Train Kept A-Rollin'". Other collaborations, either by individual members of the band or by Aerosmith as a whole, have included Alice Cooper on his Trash album, Guns N' Roses (who opened for Aerosmith during their 1988 tour and had covered "Mama Kin" on their first release) and B'z. As a testimony to their importance in American popular culture as a whole, Aerosmith have also collaborated with popular non-rock artists, such as Run-DMC, Eminem ("Sing for the Moment"), and Carrie Underwood, and performed with 'N Sync, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, and Nelly for the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show. Country artists Garth Brooks and Mark Chesnutt both scored hit singles with covers of Aerosmith songs; Brooks in 1995 with "The Fever", a reworking of Aerosmith's 1993 song, and Chesnutt in 1999 with a cover of Aerosmith's 1998 song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Like many of their 1970s contemporaries including Led Zeppelin and Alice Cooper, the members of Aerosmith were prone to excess and debauchery. Drug consumption was rampant; the recording sessions for 1976's Rocks and 1977's Draw the Line were especially noted for their substance indulgence, including heroin. In the words of Bebe Buell, "They [Aerosmith] were like a gang of kids with their own planes, Porsches, millions of dollars, limitless resources. [...] Mick Jagger and Jimmy Page had control, but these boys did not care. They won the prize, hands down, for the rowdiest rock 'n' roll band in that era. No question."
In the mid to late 1970s, the band enjoyed tremendous popularity in the United States and in Japan, though they failed to make a big impression in Britain. Still, they were among the most popular hard rock acts in America in the mid to late 1970s, along with Heart, Kiss, Ted Nugent, ZZ Top, and Boston. Their massive popularity waned, however, following Perry and Whitford's departures. Following both guitarists' return to the band and its complete drug cleanup, Aerosmith made a prodigious return to success, once described as "the single most successful comeback in the history of heavy metal, if not all of popular music." During both the 1970s and the 1987–1995 era, Aerosmith undertook grueling world tours that numbered in the triple digits numbers of dates, headlining or co-headlining festivals along the way, such as the Texxas Jam in 1978 and 1987, the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington, England in 1990 and 1994, and Woodstock '94.
Initially resistant to this medium, the band later became renowned and received numerous awards for pioneering expansive, conceptual music videos, such as those for "Janie's Got a Gun" (directed by future Fight Club director David Fincher), "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'", "Amazing", "Crazy", "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", and "Pink".
The band's music has also been featured in several video games, such as episodes of the Dead or Alive and Grand Theft Auto series, and some video games are centered on the band, like Quest for Fame and Revolution X. Aerosmith was the first band to have its band-centered Guitar Hero title, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game across both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band platforms.
MembersCurrent Steven Tyler – lead vocals, harmonica, percussion (1970–present)
Tom Hamilton – bass (1970–present)
Joey Kramer – drums (1970–present)
Joe Perry – lead and rhythm guitar, backing and occasional lead vocals (1970–1979, 1984–present)
Brad Whitford – rhythm and lead guitar (1971–1981, 1984–present)Touring Buck Johnson – keyboards, piano, backing vocals, guitar (2014–present)Former Ray Tabano – rhythm and lead guitar (1970–1971)
Jimmy Crespo – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1979–1984)
Rick Dufay – rhythm and lead guitar (1981–1984)
Awards and achievements
Despite Aerosmith's popularity and success in the 1970s, it wasn't until their comeback in the late-1980s and 1990s when they started winning awards and major recognition. In 1987, Aerosmith won the Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap – Single for the re-mix of "Walk This Way" with Run-D.M.C. In 1990, Aerosmith won their first Grammy award, for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and went on to win a total of four such awards (all of them in the 1990s) for "Janie's Got a Gun", "Livin' on the Edge", "Crazy", and "Pink". Aerosmith is second only to U2 in the number of awards won in that category.
In addition, Aerosmith's music videos won numerous awards throughout the 1990s. Aerosmith ranks as the ninth most successful artist (and the third most successful group) of all-time at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), with ten such awards to date. Aerosmith is also the all-time leader in the categories Best Rock Video (with four such awards) and Viewer's Choice (with three such awards). Aerosmith has also won once each in the categories Video of the Year, Best Group Video, and Best Video from a Film. The videos for which Aerosmith has won VMAs are "Janie's Got a Gun" (2 awards), "The Other Side", "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'" (3 awards), "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", "Pink", and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Over the course of their career (primarily 1990 and after), Aerosmith has also collected six American Music Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, two People's Choice Awards, sixteen Boston Music Awards, and numerous other awards and honors. Some of the high accolades Aerosmith have achieved include induction into Hollywood's Rock Walk in 1990, a declaration of "Aerosmith Day" in the state of Massachusetts by then-Governor William Weld on April 13, 1993, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and being honored with the mtvICON award in 2002.
In the fields of technology and video games, Aerosmith has achieved several feats. In 1994, Aerosmith released the song "Head First" on the CompuServe online service, which is considered to be the first full-length commercial product available online. In 2008, Aerosmith became the first artist to have an entire Guitar Hero video game based around them with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game across both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band platforms.
Aerosmith also holds several chart and album sales feats, including the second highest number of number-one singles on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for a group with nine, the only number one debut on the Billboard Hot 100 by a rock group with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", the second most gold albums by an American group behind Kiss who has 30, the most total certifications (including gold, platinum, and multi-platinum combined) by an American group, and are tied with Van Halen for the most multi-platinum albums by an American group. From the Recording Industry Association of America, Aerosmith has achieved 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum album certifications, in addition to one diamond album, four gold singles, and one platinum digital single. Media often refer to Aerosmith, who have sold more than 150 million albums worldwide and 70.2 million in the United States, as the best-selling American rock band.
Aerosmith were honored as MusiCares Person of the Year in 2020.
Rankings
"Dream On", "Toys in the Attic", and "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) are all listed in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
In 1993, "Rolling Stones list of the "Top 100 Music Videos" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 11 and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 95.
In 1999, MTV's "100 Greatest Videos Ever Made" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 5 and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 48.
In 2000, VH1's "100 Greatest Rock Songs" included "Walk This Way" at number 35 and "Dream On" at number 47.
In 2001, "VH1: 100 Greatest Videos" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 11, "Crazy" at number 23, and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 48.
In 2003, Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time included Rocks at number 176 and Toys in the Attic at number 228.
In 2004, Rolling Stones The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time included "Dream On" at number 172, "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 287, "Walk This Way" (original) at number 336, and "Sweet Emotion" at number 408.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Aerosmith number 57 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2008, Rolling Stone ranked the original version of "Walk This Way" at number 34 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
In 2010, Aerosmith were ranked number 30 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2013, Ultimate Classic Rock website ranked "Sweet Emotion" number 1 in their Top 100 Classic Rock Songs chart.
"Pump", which reached number 1 on the Australian Record Industry Association charts and yielded two top 10 hit singles. "Pump" more than 150,000 units on Warner Music (which distributed Geffen in Australia until 1990) and more than 60,000 units after Universal took over
DiscographyStudio albums'''
Aerosmith (1973)
Get Your Wings (1974)
Toys in the Attic (1975)
Rocks (1976)
Draw the Line (1977)
Night in the Ruts (1979)
Rock in a Hard Place (1982)
Done with Mirrors (1985)
Permanent Vacation (1987)
Pump (1989)
Get a Grip (1993)
Nine Lives (1997)
Just Push Play (2001)
Honkin' on Bobo (2004)
Music from Another Dimension! (2012)
Filmography and videography
In addition to recording and performing music, Aerosmith has also been involved with films, television, video games, pinball, and music videos. In 1978, the band starred as the "Future Villain Band" in the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Later, when the band resurrected itself in the late 1980s and 1990s, Aerosmith made further appearances, including the "Wayne's World" sketch on Saturday Night Live in 1990, the "Flaming Moe's" episode of The Simpsons in 1991, and the film Wayne's World 2 in 1993. The band also appeared in the 2005 John Travolta/Uma Thurman comedy Be Cool, in which Steven Tyler and Thurman's characters help bring pop music star Linda Moon (Christina Milian) into the limelight.
The band has been the subject of several video games including Revolution X in 1994, Quest for Fame in 1995, and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, in June 2008. The band has also made over 30 major music videos, and released seven home videos or DVDs.
In 2017, Stern released three versions of an Aerosmith pinball machine, which feature original versions of nine of the band's iconic songs, as well as Elevator and Toy-Box multiballs.
Tours
1970–1972: Club Days
1973: Aerosmith Tour
1974: Get Your Wings Tour
1975: Toys in the Attic Tour
1976–1977: Rocks Tour 1977–1978: Aerosmith Express Tour (supporting Draw the Line album)
1978: Live! Bootleg Tour 1979–1980: Night in the Ruts Tour
1982–1983: Rock in a Hard Place Tour
1984: Back in the Saddle Tour 1985–1986: Done with Mirrors Tour 1987–1988: Permanent Vacation Tour 1989–1990: Pump Tour 1993–1994: Get a Grip Tour 1997–1999: Nine Lives Tour 1999–2000: Roar of the Dragon Tour 2001–2002: Just Push Play Tour 2002: Girls of Summer Tour 2003: Rocksimus Maximus Tour 2004: Honkin' on Bobo Tour 2005–2006: Rockin' the Joint Tour 2006: Route of All Evil Tour 2007: World Tour 2007 2009: Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Tour 2010: Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour 2011: Back on the Road Tour 2012–2014: Global Warming Tour 2014: Let Rock Rule Tour 2015: Blue Army Tour 2016: Rock 'N' Roll Rumble Tour 2017–2018: Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour 2019–2020: Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild''
See also
Aero Force One
Honorific nicknames in popular music
List of artists who reached number one on the Australian singles chart
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart
List of best-selling music artists
List of glam metal bands and artists
List of hard rock musicians (A–M)
List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
Pop icon
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
Aerosmithfans website|Aerosmith - Aerosmith Fans - The (un) Official Home Page Of Aerosmith Fans Worldewide - xxxxx
1970 establishments in Massachusetts
American blues rock musical groups
Hard rock musical groups from Massachusetts
American glam metal musical groups
Columbia Records artists
Geffen Records artists
Grammy Award winners
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musical groups established in 1970
Musical groups from Boston
Musical quintets
| true |
[
"\"Wings Upon Your Horns\" is a song written, and originally performed by, American country music artist Loretta Lynn. It was released as a single in October 1969 via Decca Records.\n\nBackground and reception \n\"Wings Upon Your Horns\" was recorded at the Bradley's Barn on October 1, 1969. Located in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, the session was produced by renowned country music producer Owen Bradley. Two additional tracks were recorded during this session including one of Lynn's signature hits \"Coal Miner's Daughter\".\n\n\"Wings Upon Your Horns\" reached number eleven on the Billboard Hot Country Singles survey in 1969. The song became her first secular single since 1963 to miss the top ten slot. Additionally, the song peaked at number five on the Canadian RPM Country Songs chart during this same period. It was included on her studio album, Wings Upon Your Horns (1970).\n\n\"Wings Upon Your Horns\" has been considered one of Lynn's most controversial recordings. The song describes the loss of a woman's virginity by using religious concepts.\n\nTrack listings \n7\" vinyl single\n \"Wings Upon Your Horns\" – 2:35\n \"Let's Get Back Down to Earth\" – 2:01\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nReferences \n\n1969 songs\n1969 singles\nDecca Records singles\nLoretta Lynn songs\nObscenity controversies in music\nSongs about sexuality\nSongs written by Loretta Lynn\nSong recordings produced by Owen Bradley",
"\"Be Your Wings/Friendship/Wait for You\" is the sixth single by the band Girl Next Door and it was released on August 5, 2009. Be Your Wings was used as the theme song of PlayStation Portable game Tales of VS., Friendship was used as a Coca-Cola commercial song, and Wait for You was used as the theme song of NHK's broadcast of J-League.\n\nCD Track listing \n Be Your Wings\n Friendship\n Wait for You\n Jōnetsu no Daishō (Ferry Corsten Remix)\n Be Your Wings (Instrumental)\n\nDVD Track listing \n Be Your Wings (Music Video)\n Tales of VS. Opening Animation Movie\n\nCharts\n\nOricon Sales Chart\n\nBillboard Japan\n\nExternal links\n Official website \n\n2009 singles\nGirl Next Door (band) songs\nAvex Trax singles"
] |
[
"Aerosmith",
"Record deal, Aerosmith, Get Your Wings and Toys in the Attic (1971-1975)",
"What record deal did Aerosmith receive in 1971?",
"signed with Columbia in mid-1972",
"What was their first record?",
"Aerosmith.",
"Was this album popular?",
"the album peaked at number 166.",
"When was this released?",
"January 1973,",
"Were there any hit songs?",
"Dream On",
"What was Get Your Wings?",
"This album included the rock radio hits \"Same Old Song and Dance\" and \"Train Kept A-Rollin'\","
] |
C_fac055458d69481bae62214031bfcf1a_0
|
Did this album win any awards?
| 7 |
Did Get Your Wings win any awards?
|
Aerosmith
|
After forming the band and finalizing the lineup in 1971, the band started to garner some local success doing live shows. Originally booked through the Ed Malhoit Agency, the band signed a promotion deal with Frank Connelly and eventually secured a management deal with David Krebs and Steve Leber in 1972. Krebs and Leber invited Columbia Records President Clive Davis to see the band at Max's Kansas City in New York City. Aerosmith was not originally scheduled to play that night at the club, but they paid from their own pockets to secure a place on the bill, reportedly the only band ever to do so at Max's. "No Surprize" from their Night in the Ruts album celebrates the moment their fame began. Aerosmith signed with Columbia in mid-1972 for a reported $125,000 and issued their debut album, Aerosmith. Released in January 1973, the album peaked at number 166. The album was straightforward rock and roll with well-defined blues influences, laying the groundwork for Aerosmith's signature blues rock sound. Although the highest-charting single from the album was "Dream On" at number 59, several tracks, such as "Mama Kin" and "Walkin' the Dog", would become staples of the band's live shows and receive airplay on rock radio. The album reached gold status initially, eventually went on to sell two million copies, and was certified double platinum after the band reached mainstream success over a decade later. After constant touring, the band released their second album Get Your Wings in 1974, the first of a string of multi-platinum albums produced by Jack Douglas. This album included the rock radio hits "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'", a cover done previously by the Yardbirds. The album also contained several fan favorites including "Lord of the Thighs", "Seasons of Wither", and "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", darker songs that have become staples in the band's live shows. To date, Get Your Wings has sold three million copies. It was 1975's Toys in the Attic, however, that established Aerosmith as international stars competing with the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Originally derided as Rolling Stones knockoffs in part due to the physical resemblance between lead singers Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger, Toys in the Attic showed that Aerosmith was a unique and talented band in their own right. Toys in the Attic was an immediate success, starting with the single "Sweet Emotion", which became the band's first Top 40 hit. This was followed by a successful re-release of "Dream On" which hit number 6, becoming their best charting single of the 1970s. "Walk This Way", re-released in 1976, reached the Top 10 in early 1977. In addition, "Toys in the Attic" and "Big Ten Inch Record" (a song originally recorded by Bull Moose Jackson) became concert staples. As a result of this success, both of the band's previous albums re-charted. Toys in the Attic has gone on to become the band's bestselling studio album in the States, with certified U.S. sales of eight million copies. The band toured in support of Toys in the Attic, where they started to get more recognition. Also around this time, the band established their home base as "the Wherehouse" in Waltham, Massachusetts, where they would record and rehearse music, as well as conduct business. CANNOTANSWER
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multi-platinum
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Aerosmith is an American rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whitford (guitar). Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has also incorporated elements of pop rock, heavy metal, glam metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many subsequent rock artists. They are sometimes referred to as "the Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". The primary songwriting team of Tyler and Perry is often known as the "Toxic Twins".
Perry and Hamilton, originally in a band together called the Jam Band, met up with Tyler, Kramer, and guitarist Ray Tabano, and formed Aerosmith; in 1971, Tabano was replaced by Whitford. At some point prior to the weekend of December 25, 1971; they were known as "Fox Chase." They released a string of multi-platinum albums starting with their eponymous debut in 1973, followed by Get Your Wings in 1974. The band broke into the mainstream with Toys in the Attic (1975) and Rocks (1976). Draw the Line and Night in the Ruts followed in 1977 and 1979. Throughout the 1970s, the band toured extensively and charted a dozen Hot 100 singles, including their first Top 40 hit "Sweet Emotion" and the Top 10 hits "Dream On" and "Walk This Way". By the end of the decade, they were among the most popular hard rock bands in the world and developed a following of fans, often referred to as the "Blue Army". Drug addiction and internal conflict led to the departures of Perry and Whitford in 1979 and 1981.
The band did not fare well and the album Rock in a Hard Place (1982) failed to match previous successes.
Perry and Whitford returned to Aerosmith in 1984. After a comeback tour, they recorded Done with Mirrors (1985), which did not meet commercial expectations. It was not until a 1986 collaboration with rap group Run–D.M.C. on a remake of "Walk This Way", and the 1987 multi-platinum release, Permanent Vacation, that they regained their previous level of popularity. In the late 1980s and 1990s, the band won numerous awards for music from the multi-platinum albums Pump (1989), Get a Grip (1993), and Nine Lives (1997), while they embarked on their most extensive concert tours to date. Their biggest hits during this period included "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", "Rag Doll", "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", "What it Takes", "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'", and "Crazy". The band also filmed popular music videos and made notable appearances in television, film, and video games. In 1998, they achieved their first number-one hit with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from [[Armageddon: The Album|Armageddons soundtrack]] and the following year, their roller coaster attraction opened at Walt Disney World. Their comeback has been described as one of the most remarkable and spectacular in rock history. Additional albums Just Push Play (which included the hit "Jaded"), Honkin' on Bobo (a collection of blues covers), and Music from Another Dimension! followed in 2001, 2004, and 2012. In 2008, they released Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game. After five decades, the band continues to tour and record music. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, they had an ongoing concert residency in Las Vegas.
Aerosmith is the best-selling American hard rock band of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide, including over 85 million records in the United States. With 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum albums, they hold the record for the most total certifications by an American group and are tied for the most multi-platinum albums by an American group. They have achieved twenty-one Top 40 hits on the US Hot 100, nine number-one Mainstream Rock hits, four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, and ten MTV Video Music Awards. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and were ranked number 57 and 30, respectively, on Rolling Stones and VH1's lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2013, Tyler and Perry were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2020, the band received the MusiCares Person of the Year award.
History
Formation (1964–1970)
In 1964, Steven Tyler formed his own band called the Strangeurs—later Chain Reaction—in Yonkers, New York. Meanwhile, Perry and Hamilton formed the Jam Band (commonly known as "Joe Perry's Jam Band"), which was based on free-form and blues. Hamilton and Perry moved to Boston, Massachusetts in September 1969. There they met Joey Kramer, a drummer from Yonkers, New York. Kramer knew Tyler and had always hoped to play in a band with him. Kramer, a Berklee College of Music student, decided to leave the school, and joined Jam Band.
In 1970, Chain Reaction and Jam Band played at the same gig. Tyler immediately loved Jam Band's sound, and wanted to combine the two bands. In October 1970, the bands met up again and considered the proposition. Tyler, who had been a drummer and backup singer in Chain Reaction, adamantly refused to play drums in this new band, insisting that he would take part only if he could be frontman and lead vocalist. The others agreed, and a new band was formed. The band moved into a home together at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, where they wrote and rehearsed music together and relaxed in between shows.
The members of the band reportedly spent afternoons getting high and watching Three Stooges reruns. One day, they had a post-Stooges meeting to try to come up with a name. Kramer said that, when he was in school, he would write the word "aerosmith" all over his notebooks. The name had popped into his head after listening to Harry Nilsson's album Aerial Ballet, which featured jacket art of a circus performer jumping out of a biplane. Initially, Kramer's bandmates were unimpressed; they all thought he was referring to the Sinclair Lewis novel they were required to read in high school English class. "No, not Arrowsmith," Kramer explained. "A-E-R-O...Aerosmith." The band settled upon this name after also considering "the Hookers" and "Spike Jones."
Soon, the band hired Ray Tabano, a childhood friend of Tyler, as rhythm guitarist and began playing local shows. Aerosmith played their first gig in Mendon, Massachusetts at Nipmuc Regional High School (now Miscoe Hill Middle School) on November 6, 1970. In 1971, Tabano was replaced by Brad Whitford, who also attended the Berklee School of Music, and was formerly a member of the band Earth Inc. Whitford, from Reading, Massachusetts, had already played at Reading's AW Coolidge Middle School. Other than a period from July 1979 to April 1984, the line-up of Tyler, Perry, Hamilton, Kramer, and Whitford has stayed the same.
Record deal, Aerosmith, Get Your Wings, and Toys in the Attic (1971–1975)
After forming the band and finalizing the lineup in 1971, the band started to garner some local success doing live shows. Originally booked through the Ed Malhoit Agency, the band signed a promotion deal with Frank Connelly, and eventually secured a management deal with David Krebs and Steve Leber in 1972. Krebs and Leber invited Columbia Records President Clive Davis to see the band at Max's Kansas City in New York City. Aerosmith was not originally scheduled to play that night at the club, but they paid out of their own pockets to secure a place on the bill, reportedly the only band ever to do so at Max's. "No Surprize" from their Night in the Ruts album celebrated the moment their fame rose.
Aerosmith signed with Columbia in mid-1972 for a reported $125,000, and released their debut album, Aerosmith. Released in January 1973, the album peaked at number 166. The album was straightforward rock and roll with well-defined blues influences, laying the groundwork for Aerosmith's signature blues rock sound. Although the highest-charting single from the album was "Dream On" at number 59, several tracks, such as "Mama Kin" and "Walkin' the Dog", would become staples of the band's live shows, and received airplay on rock radio. The album reached gold status initially, eventually went on to sell two million copies, and was certified double platinum after the band reached mainstream success over a decade later. After constant touring, the band released their second album, Get Your Wings in 1974, the first of a string of multi-platinum albums produced by Jack Douglas. This album included the rock radio hits "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'", a cover done previously by the Yardbirds. The album also contained several fan favorites, including "Lord of the Thighs", "Seasons of Wither", and "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", darker songs that have become staples in the band's live shows. To date, Get Your Wings has sold three million copies.
In 1975, Aerosmith released their third album, Toys in the Attic, which established Aerosmith as international stars, competing with the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Originally derided as Rolling Stones knockoffs in part due to the physical resemblance between lead singers Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger, Toys in the Attic showed that Aerosmith was a unique and talented band in their own right. Toys in the Attic was an immediate success, starting with the single "Sweet Emotion", which became the band's first Top 40 hit. This was followed by a successful re-release of "Dream On" which hit No. 6, becoming their best charting single of the 1970s. "Walk This Way", re-released in 1976, reached the Top 10 in early 1977.
In addition, "Toys in the Attic" and "Big Ten Inch Record" (a song originally recorded by Bull Moose Jackson) became concert staples. As a result of this success, both of the band's previous albums re-charted. Toys in the Attic has gone on to become the band's bestselling studio album in the United States, with certified US sales of nine million copies. The band toured in support of Toys in the Attic, where they started to get more recognition. Also around this time, the band established their home base as "the Wherehouse" in Waltham, Massachusetts, where they would record and rehearse music, as well as conduct business.
Rocks, Draw the Line, and Live! Bootleg (1976–1978)
In 1976, Aerosmith's fourth album was Rocks, which "captured Aerosmith at their most raw and rocking". It went platinum swiftly and featured two Top 40 hits, "Last Child" and "Back in the Saddle", as well as the ballad "Home Tonight", which also charted. Rocks would eventually go on to sell over four million copies. Both Toys in the Attic and Rocks are highly regarded, especially in the hard rock genre: they appear on such lists as Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and are cited as influential by members of Guns N' Roses, Metallica, and Mötley Crüe. Kurt Cobain also listed Rocks as one of the albums he thought were most influential to Nirvana's sound in his journal in 1993. Soon after Rocks was released, the band continued to tour heavily, this time headlining their own shows, including large stadiums and rock festivals.
In 1977, Aerosmith released their fifth album, Draw the Line. Its recording was affected by the band's excesses, but the record still had memorable moments. The title track charted just shy of the Top 40 and remains a live staple, and "Kings and Queens" also charted. The album went on to sell two million copies. The band toured extensively in support of the album, but drug abuse and the fast-paced life of touring and recording began affecting their performances. Tyler and Perry became known as "the Toxic Twins" due to their notorious abuse of drugs on and off the stage. Tyler later commented, "I've spent $64 million on drugs"; Perry scoffed later, "There's no fucking way in the world you could spend that much money on drugs and still be alive. It makes a good headline – but, practically speaking, that was probably a very small portion of where we spent our money."
While continuing to tour and record in the late 1970s, Aerosmith appeared in the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie. Their cover of The Beatles' "Come Together", from the soundtrack, was the band's last Top 40 hit for nearly 10 years. The double vinyl Live! Bootleg, issued in 1978, captured the band's rawness during the Draw the Line tour. The standalone single "Chip Away the Stone", also released in 1978, charted at number 77.
Departures of Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, Night in the Ruts, and Rock in a Hard Place (1979–1984)
In 1979, the band started work on their next album, Night in the Ruts, but Aerosmith decided to go on tour during a break in the recording schedule. As the decade was about to conclude, the band's drug use began taking its toll, and tensions were slowly coming to a head. The band's touring schedule brought them to Cleveland Stadium on July 28, 1979, where they headlined the World Series of Rock festival. Pandemonium erupted backstage when Joe Perry's wife, Elissa, threw a glass of milk at Tom Hamilton's wife, Terry. Following the show, Tyler and Perry got into a heated argument when Tyler confronted Perry about his wife's antics, and after the course of the argument, Perry left Aerosmith (while Tyler claims in his autobiography that he fired Perry from the band). Upon his departure, Perry took some of the music that he had written with him. Shortly after his departure, Perry formed his own side project known as The Joe Perry Project.
Since there was still work to be done on Night in the Ruts, Aerosmith needed fill-in musicians to take Perry's place on the songs that needed to be recorded to complete the album. Guitarist Brad Whitford took over some of the lead parts, and Richie Supa, the band's longtime writing partner, filled in where needed until the band was able to hire Jimmy Crespo to take over as the next full-time guitarist. Night in the Ruts was released in November 1979, but only managed to sell enough records to be certified gold at the time, although it would eventually sell enough copies to be certified platinum by 1994. The only single the album spawned, a cover of "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" by the Shangri-Las, peaked at number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The tour for Night in the Ruts commenced shortly thereafter, but the band found themselves playing in smaller and smaller venues than before due to their popularity beginning to wane. Steven Tyler's drug issues were starting to affect his performance and songwriting, and he reached rock bottom in 1980, when he collapsed on stage during a show in Portland, Maine, and did not get up for the remainder of the set. Also in 1980, Aerosmith released their first compilation album, Greatest Hits. While the compilation didn't chart very high initially, it gained popularity later, and went on to become the band's best selling album in the United States, with sales of 12 million copies. In the fall of 1980, Tyler was injured in a serious motorcycle accident, which left him hospitalized for two months, and unable to tour or record well into 1981.
In 1981, Aerosmith began work on their next album, Rock in a Hard Place, and saw them reunite with producer Jack Douglas. However, after the first song for the album, "Lightning Strikes", was recorded, Brad Whitford left the band, and decided to form a duo with Derek St. Holmes, with whom he recorded a self-titled album, which failed to garner much interest. Whitford later joined up with the Joe Perry Project and played with them in 1984.
With Rick Dufay taking Whitford's place, Rock in a Hard Place was released on August 27, 1982. The album reached number 32 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Only one single charted, the aforementioned "Lightning Strikes", which peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. As with the tour for Night in the Ruts, Aerosmith was unable to book larger venues, and instead had to rely on filling clubs and theaters, which they struggled to do. At a homecoming arena show in Worcester, Massachusetts, Tyler and Perry reunited and got high backstage before the show. Tyler was so intoxicated that he collapsed on stage again and, like before, could not get up.
On February 14, 1984, Perry (by then divorced from his first wife Elissa) and Whitford saw Aerosmith perform at Boston's Orpheum Theater. Shortly thereafter, discussions began to reintegrate the two into the band and several months later, the original members of Aerosmith officially reunited. Steven Tyler recalls:
Back in the Saddle reunion tour, Done with Mirrors, and drug rehab (1984–1986)
In 1984, Aerosmith embarked on a reunion tour called the Back in the Saddle Tour, which led to the live album Classics Live II. While concerts on the tour were well-attended, it was plagued with several incidents, mostly attributed to drug abuse by band members. With their drug problems still not behind them, the group was signed to Geffen Records, and began working on a comeback. Despite the band signing on to a new record company, the band's old label Columbia continued to reap the benefits of Aerosmith's comeback, releasing the live companion albums Classics Live I and II and the collection Gems.
In 1985, the band released the album Done with Mirrors, their first studio album since reuniting. While the album did receive some positive reviews, it only went gold and failed to produce a hit single or generate any widespread interest. The album's most notable track, "Let the Music Do the Talking", was in fact a cover of a song originally recorded by the Joe Perry Project and released on that band's album of the same name. Nevertheless, the band became a popular concert attraction once again, touring in support of Done with Mirrors, well into 1986. In 1986, in an unprecedented crossover collaboration, Aerosmith (largely the additional contributions of leaders Tyler and Perry) appeared on Run–D.M.C.'s cover of "Walk This Way", a track blending rock and roll with hip hop. In reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song and its frequently-aired video resurrected Aerosmith's career by introducing the band's music to a new generation.
Despite their resurrecting performance, the band members' drug problems still stood in their way. In 1986, Tyler completed a successful drug rehabilitation program, after an intervention by his fellow band members, a doctor, and manager Tim Collins, who believed that the band's future would not be bright if Tyler did not get treated in time. The rest of the band members also completed drug rehab programs over the course of the next couple of years. According to the band's tell-all autobiography, Collins pledged in September 1986 that he could make Aerosmith the biggest band in the world by 1990 if they all completed drug rehab. Their next album was crucial because of the commercial disappointment of Done With Mirrors, and as the band members became clean, they worked hard to make their next album a success.
Permanent Vacation and Pump (1987–1991)
Permanent Vacation was released in August 1987, becoming a major hit and the band's bestselling album in over a decade (selling 5 million copies in the US), with all three of its singles ("Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", and "Rag Doll") reaching the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. Steven Tyler reveals in his autobiography that the album was "...the first one we ever did sober." Part of Permanent Vacations commercial success involved producer Bruce Fairbairn whose production touches (such as sound effects and high-quality recording) added interest to the album and the use of outside songwriters such as Desmond Child, Jim Vallance, and Holly Knight who assisted the band with lyrics. While the group was initially hesitant to using outside songwriters, including Tyler being furious for Knight getting songwriting credits for changing one word ("Rag Time" became "Rag Doll"), the method paid off, as Permanent Vacation became the band's most successful album in a decade. The group went on a subsequent tour with labelmates Guns N' Roses (who have cited Aerosmith as a major influence), which was intense at times because of Aerosmith's new struggle to stay clean amidst Guns N' Roses' well-publicized, rampant drug use.
Aerosmith's next album was even more successful. Pump, released in September 1989, featured three Top Ten singles: "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", and "What It Takes", as well as the Top 30 "The Other Side", re-establishing the band as a serious musical force. Pump was a critical and commercial success, eventually selling 7 million copies, spawning several music videos that were in regular rotation on MTV, and achieving four-star ratings from major music magazines. Pump ranked as the fourth-bestselling album of 1990. The band also won its first Grammy in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, for "Janie's Got a Gun". In addition, the video for "Janie's Got a Gun" won two Video Music Awards and was ranked as one of the 100 greatest videos of all time by Rolling Stone, MTV, and VH1. Like Permanent Vacation, Pump was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, who added production touches such as instrumental interludes that provided transitions between songs to give the album a more complete sound, as well as the Margarita Horns, who added horns to tracks such as "Love in an Elevator" and "The Other Side". Rock critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine claimed that Pump "revels in [pop concessions] without ever losing sight of Aerosmith's dirty hard rock core", going on to say that, "such ambition and successful musical eclectism make Pump rank with Toys in the Attic and Rocks." The recording process for Pump was documented in the video The Making of Pump, which has since been re-released as a DVD. The music videos for the album's singles were featured on the release Things That Go Pump in the Night, which quickly went platinum.
In support of Pump, the band embarked on the 12-month Pump Tour, which lasted for most of 1990. On February 21, 1990, the band appeared in a "Wayne's World" sketch on Saturday Night Live, debating the fall of communism and the Soviet Union, and performed their recent hits "Janie's Got a Gun" and "Monkey on My Back". The appearance of the band in the "Wayne's World" sketch was later ranked by E! as the number-one moment in the history of the program. On August 11, 1990, the band's performance on MTV's Unplugged aired. In October 1990, the Pump Tour ended, with the band's first ever performances in Australia. That same year, the band was also inducted to the Hollywood Rock Walk. In November 1991, the band appeared on The Simpsons episode "Flaming Moe's" and released a box set titled Pandora's Box. In coordination with the release of Pandora's Box, the band's 1975 hit "Sweet Emotion" was re-mixed and re-released as a single, and a music video was created to promote the single. Also in 1991, the band performed their 1973 single "Dream On" with Michael Kamen's orchestra for MTV's 10th Anniversary special; this performance was used as the official music video for the song. In 1992, Tyler and Perry appeared live as guests of Guns N' Roses during the latter's 1992 worldwide pay-per-view show in Paris, performing a medley of "Mama Kin" (which GN'R covered in 1986) and "Train Kept-A Rollin".
Get a Grip and Big Ones (1992–1995)
The band took a brief break before recording their follow-up to Pump in 1992. Despite significant shifts in mainstream music at the beginning of the 1990s, 1993's Get a Grip was just as successful commercially, becoming their first album to debut at number 1 and racking up sales of 7 million copies in a two-and-a-half-year timespan and over 20 million copies worldwide. The first singles were the hard rocking "Livin' on the Edge" and "Eat the Rich". Though many critics were unimpressed by the focus on the subsequent interchangeable power-ballads in promoting the album, all three ("Cryin'", "Amazing", and "Crazy") proved to be huge successes on radio and MTV. The music videos featured then up-and-coming actress Alicia Silverstone; her provocative performances earned her the title of "the Aerosmith chick" for the first half of the decade. Steven Tyler's daughter Liv Tyler was also featured in the "Crazy" video. The band won two Grammy Awards for songs from this album in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: for "Livin' on the Edge" in 1994 and "Crazy" in 1995.
During the making of Get a Grip, the management and record company brought in a variety of professional songwriting collaborators to help give nearly all the songs on the album more commercial appeal, a trend which would continue until the early 2000s. However, this led to accusations of selling out that would continue throughout the 1990s. In addition to Aerosmith's grueling 18-month world tour in support of Get a Grip, the band also did a number of things to help promote themselves and their album and appeal to youth culture, including the appearance of the band in the movie Wayne's World 2 where they performed two songs, the appearance of the band and their music in the video games Revolution X and Quest for Fame, performing at Woodstock '94, using their song "Deuces Are Wild" in The Beavis and Butt-head Experience, and opening their own club, The Mama Kin Music Hall, in Boston, MA in 1994. That same year saw the release of the band's compilation for Geffen Records, entitled Big Ones featuring their biggest hits from Permanent Vacation, Pump, and Get a Grip, "Deuces Are Wild" from the Beavis and Butt-head Experience, as well as two new songs, "Blind Man" and "Walk on Water", both of which experienced great success on the rock charts.
Nine Lives and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" (1996–2000)
Aerosmith had signed a $30 million contract for four records with Columbia Records/Sony Music in 1991, but had only recorded three of their six contractual albums with Geffen Records at that point (Done with Mirrors, Permanent Vacation, and Pump). Between 1991 and 1996, they released two more albums with Geffen (Get a Grip and Big Ones), which meant they now had five albums with Geffen under their belt (along with a planned live compilation), which meant they could now begin recording for their new contract with Columbia. The band took time off with their families before working on their next album, Nine Lives, which was plagued with personnel problems, including the firing of manager Tim Collins, who, according to band members, had nearly caused the band to break up. The album's producer was also changed from Glen Ballard to Kevin Shirley. Nine Lives was released in March 1997. Reviews were mixed, and Nine Lives initially fell down the charts, although it had a long chart life and sold double platinum in the United States alone, fueled by its singles, "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", the ballad "Hole in My Soul", and the crossover-pop smash "Pink" (which won the band their fourth Grammy Award in 1999 in the Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal category). It was followed by the over two-year-long Nine Lives Tour, which was plagued by problems including lead singer Steven Tyler injuring his leg at a concert, and Joey Kramer suffering second degree burns when his car caught fire at a gas station.
In 1998, in the midst of setbacks during the Nine Lives Tour, the band released the single "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", the love theme, written by Diane Warren for the 1998 film Armageddon, starring Steven Tyler's daughter Liv. The song became Aerosmith's first and only number 1 single when it debuted at the top position on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on top of the charts for four weeks. The song was nominated for an Academy Award in 1999. The song helped open Aerosmith up to a new generation and remains a slow-dance staple. 1998 also saw the release of the double-live album, A Little South of Sanity, which was assembled from performances on the Get a Grip and Nine Lives tours. The album went platinum shortly after its release. The band continued with their seemingly neverending world tours promoting Nine Lives and the "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" single well into 1999.
In 1999, Aerosmith was chosen to be featured in the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, providing the ride's soundtrack and theme at both Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort and, formerly, at Disneyland Paris in the Walt Disney Studios Park, which opened in 2002 and closed in 2019, to be replaced by an Iron Man and the Avengers attraction in the upcoming Avengers Campus. On September 9, 1999, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry reunited with Run–D.M.C. and were also joined by Kid Rock for a collaborative live performance of "Walk This Way" at the MTV Video Music Awards, a precursor to the Girls of Summer Tour. The band celebrated the new millennium with a brief tour of Japan, and also contributed the song "Angel's Eye" to the 2000 film Charlie's Angels. In December 2000, they wrapped up work on their next album.
Just Push Play, O, Yeah! and Rocksimus Maximus (2001–2003)
The band entered their next decade by co-headlining with NSYNC the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show, titled "The Kings of Rock and Pop", with appearances from Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige and Nelly. All of the stars collaborated with Aerosmith at the end for a performance of "Walk This Way".
In March 2001, the band released their 13th studio album Just Push Play, which quickly went platinum, fueled by the Top 10 single "Jaded" and the appearance of the title track in Dodge commercials. They were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame soon after their album was released, in late March 2001. Aerosmith is the only band to be inducted to the Hall of Fame with a song active in the charts ("Jaded"). Later that year, the band performed as part of the United We Stand: What More Can I Give benefit concert in Washington D.C. for 9/11 victims and their families. The band flew back to Indianapolis for a show the same night, as part of their Just Push Play Tour.
The band started 2002 by ending the Just Push Play tour, and simultaneously recording segments for their Behind the Music special on VH1, which not only chronicled the band's history but also the band's current activities and touring. The special was one of the few Behind the Musics to run two hours in length. In May, Aerosmith covered the "Theme from Spider-Man" for the soundtrack of the 2002 film of the same name. On June 27, the band performed at the official FIFA World Cup concert at Tokyo Stadium which took place during the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in Korea/Japan. In July 2002, Aerosmith released a two-disc career-spanning compilation O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits, which featured the new single "Girls of Summer" and embarked on the Girls of Summer Tour with Kid Rock and Run–D.M.C. opening. O, Yeah! has since been certified double platinum. MTV honored Aerosmith with their mtvICON award in 2002. Performances included Pink covering "Janie's Got a Gun". Shakira performed "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", Kid Rock played "Mama Kin" and "Last Child", Train performed "Dream On" and Papa Roach covered "Sweet Emotion". In addition, testimonials featured surprise guests Metallica, as well as Janet Jackson, Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst, Alicia Silverstone and Mila Kunis.
In 2003, Aerosmith co-headlined with Kiss on the Rocksimus Maximus Tour, in preparation for release of their blues album. They also performed a song for Rugrats Go Wild, "Lizard Love".
Honkin' on Bobo, Rockin' the Joint and Devil's Got a New Disguise (2004–2006)
Aerosmith's long-promised blues album Honkin' on Bobo was released in 2004. This was a return to the band's roots, including recording the album in live sessions, working with former producer Jack Douglas, and laying down their blues rock grit. It was followed by a live DVD, You Gotta Move, in December 2004, culled from performances on the Honkin' on Bobo Tour. "Dream On" was also featured in an advertising campaign for Buick in 2004, targeting that marque's market which is now composed largely of people who were teenagers when the song first charted.
2005 saw Steven Tyler appear in the film Be Cool. Joe Perry released his self-titled solo album that same year. At the 2006 Grammy Awards, he was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for the track "Mercy", but lost to Les Paul. In October 2005, Aerosmith released a CD/DVD Rockin' the Joint. The band hit the road for the Rockin' the Joint Tour on October 30 with Lenny Kravitz for a fall/winter tour of arenas in the largest US markets. The band planned to tour with Cheap Trick in the spring, hitting secondary markets in the US. Almost all of this leg of the tour was canceled, however. Dates were initially canceled one by one until March 22, 2006, when it was announced that lead singer Steven Tyler needed throat surgery, and the remaining dates on the tour were subsequently canceled.
Tyler and Perry performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra for their annual concert of July 4 on the Esplanade in 2006, a milestone as it was the first major event or performance since Steven Tyler's throat surgery. Around this time, the band also announced that they would embark on the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe in late 2006. On August 24, 2006, it was announced that Tom Hamilton was undergoing treatment for throat cancer. In order to make a full recovery, he sat out much of the Route of All Evil Tour until he was well again. Former Joe Perry Project bassist David Hull substituted for Hamilton until his return. On September 5, 2006, Aerosmith kicked off the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe in Columbus, Ohio. The co-headlining tour took both bands to amphitheaters across North America through November 24. After that, a select few arena dates were added, some of which were with Mötley Crüe. The tour ended December 17.
On October 17, 2006, the compilation album Devil's Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith was released. The album contained previous hits with the addition of two new songs, "Devil's Got a New Disguise" and "Sedona Sunrise", which were older outtakes re-recorded for the album. "Devil's Got a New Disguise" peaked at number 15 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The album was intended to fulfill Aerosmith's contract with Sony and tide fans over until the band's new studio album was released.
Touring, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and unfinished album (2007–2009)
In early 2007, the band announced a new World Tour, their first for nearly a decade to include dates outside North America or Japan. The band performed at London's Hard Rock Cafe in February 2007 to promote their European tour which included a night in Hyde Park as part of the Hyde Park Calling festival sponsored by Hard Rock Cafe. In the spring, the band toured Latin America to sold-out stadium crowds. In the summer, the band toured Europe, performing at several major rock festivals and visiting some countries they had never played before. Additionally, the band played in Middle East countries such as the United Arab Emirates and India for the first time. The band also played a few select dates in California and Canada in late July. The July 21 concert in Prince Edward Island, was the largest in that province's history. In September, the band performed eight dates in major markets in Northeastern North America. These shows were opened by Joan Jett. The band also played a private gig in Hawaii. A public show in Maui was canceled for logistical reasons, which spurred a class action lawsuit against the band. In April 2009, Aerosmith agreed to compensate all ticket buyers of the canceled show with a free ticket to a rescheduled Maui show to be held on October 20, 2009, along with reimbursements of all out-of-pocket expenses related to the show.
On November 1, 2007, the band entered the studio to work on the final studio album of their current contract with Sony. At the time, it was believed that the album would include both re-recorded tracks left off previous albums as well as brand new material. In an interview, guitarist Joe Perry revealed that in addition to creating a new album, the band was working closely with the makers of the Guitar Hero series to develop Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, a video game dedicated to the band's music. The game was released on June 29, 2008 and contains many of their most popular songs. Steven Tyler announced on VH1 Classic Radio on September 4, 2008, that Aerosmith intended to enter the studio at the end of September 2008 to complete the band's 15th studio album. Tyler also confirmed that the band planned to begin a new US tour in June 2009, in support of the as-yet-untitled album. This tour was supposed to be preceded by a concert in Venezuela on February 1, 2009. However, on January 15, 2009, Tyler said the band would be unable to play the gig because of a second knee injury of guitarist Joe Perry. In mid-February 2009, it was announced that the album would be produced by the famed Brendan O'Brien and that the album would likely be recorded live, like their earlier records. Although the band had hoped to finish the album before the tour started in June 2009, Perry said that the group "realized there wasn't any chance of getting [the album] finished before we hit the road for the summer." The tour featured ZZ Top as the opening act for most of the tour. The Aerosmith/ZZ Top Tour, presented by Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, was officially announced and the first dates released on April 8, 2009.
The tour was slated to take the band across North America from June to September 2009. The tour featured the band performing nearly all of the songs on their 1975 album Toys in the Attic during the first seven dates of the tour and also featured Joe Perry sing lead vocals on the 1976 "Combination". The tour was plagued with several health problems, however. Guitarist Brad Whitford had to sit out the first seven dates of the tour in order to recover from head surgery, after injuring his head getting out of his car. On June 28, 2009, at the band's seventh show of the tour at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, lead singer Steven Tyler injured his leg, which required seven shows to be postponed. As soon as the band resumed the tour on July 15, Whitford returned to the fold. However, Tom Hamilton had to depart the tour in order to recover from non-invasive surgery. On August 5, 2009, Tyler was rushed to the hospital after falling from the stage at a concert in Sturgis, South Dakota. He was helped up by security staff and taken backstage, before guitarist Joe Perry told the audience the show was over. Tyler was airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital, where he received treatment for head and neck injuries and a broken shoulder. In the wake of Tyler's injuries, the band was forced to postpone five shows in Western Canada. On August 14, 2009, Aerosmith announced that they had decided to cancel the rest of their US tour dates with ZZ Top, due to Tyler's injuries.
In the midst of the tour, Perry completed work on his fifth solo album, Have Guitar, Will Travel and drummer Joey Kramer released his autobiography, Hit Hard. Perry's solo album was released on October 6, 2009.
After Tyler recovered from falling off stage, the band returned to the stage in mid-October for two shows in Hawaii, one in Maui which was rescheduled from 2007 and finally played as part of a legal settlement, and an additional show which was played in Honolulu. In early November, the band played a concert in Abu Dhabi at the Grand Prix.
Tyler-Perry feud and Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour (2009–2010)
Tyler pulled out of a planned South American tour at the end of 2009 and seemed intent on pursuing solo projects, including his autobiography Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?. Tyler told Classic Rock magazine, "I don't know what I'm doing yet, but it's definitely going to be something Steven Tyler: working on the brand of myself – Brand Tyler." Meanwhile, guitarist Joe Perry toured the United States at the end of 2009, and Japan and the UK early in 2010.
In November 2009, Joe Perry stated that Tyler had not been in contact with the band and could be on the verge of quitting Aerosmith. Perry stated that the rest of the group was "looking for a new singer to work with." It was reported that singer Lenny Kravitz had been approached for Steven Tyler's position, which he then declined.
However, despite the rumors of him leaving the band, Tyler joined the Joe Perry Project onstage on November 10, 2009 at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, and Tyler and Perry performed the Aerosmith single "Walk This Way" together. According to sources at the event, Tyler assured the crowd that he was "not quitting Aerosmith".
On December 22, People magazine reported that Tyler had entered a rehabilitation facility to manage his addiction to painkillers, brought on by injuries to his knees, legs, and feet, that resulted from years of performing. In his statement, Tyler said he is grateful for the support he is receiving, is committed to getting things taken care of, and is eager to get back on stage and in the recording studio with his bandmates.
On January 20, 2010, Perry confirmed the band were about to audition for a new singer to replace Tyler. Perry said Tyler's surgery to his legs would "take him out of the picture" for up to a year and a half, and in the meantime, the rest of the band wanted to continue performing. Perry also said that the band would be willing to continue working with Tyler in the future if the singer wanted to.
In response, Tyler's attorney sent the band and its manager a "cease and desist" letter and threatened further legal action against both if the band did not discontinue this effort to replace Tyler.
On February 15, 2010, it was announced that Aerosmith were to headline Download Festival at Donington Park, England in June 2010. Tyler was confirmed as the frontman for the show by festival promoter Andy Copping. It was announced that the band would precede the June 13 date with an appearance at the Sweden Rock Festival on June 10 in Sölvesborg. During the Donington show, Perry celebrated Tyler's position as frontman, dubbing him "the best lead singer on the planet". On February 24, the band announced the first batch of dates for their upcoming Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour. The tour saw the band play seven dates in South and Central America in May, followed by eleven dates in Europe, in June and early July. The band performed in Colombia, Peru and Greece for the first time in their career on this tour. The band performed 24 concerts in North America in late July, August, and September. Many of the concerts were in locations the band canceled on in 2009. As part of the tour, the band played Fenway Park in Boston with fellow Bostonians the J. Geils Band.
Problems on the band's Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour arose in August 2010, including Tyler accidentally hitting Joe Perry in the head with his microphone stand at a show in Wantagh, New York and Perry bumping into Tyler at the Toronto show, which caused Tyler to tumble off the stage. Perry suffered a minor head injury at the Wantagh show and Tyler was helped back up by fans and Perry at the Toronto show, and both shows went on. Around the same time as these incidents, tension flared again between Perry and Tyler due to Tyler's plans to become a talent judge on American Idol. Perry criticized Tyler for not consulting the rest of the band, saying that he "found out on the internet, like the rest of the world" and that nobody else in the band knew anything about it.
On August 18, it was reported that Tyler officially signed on with the show. When asked about this in October, Perry declared he understood Tyler's reasons and wished him luck, but stated that he would seek different projects – "I'm tired of waiting around, so I'm not passing up anything right now".
While announcing the Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour in 2009, Tyler and Perry said that the next item on the agenda was a new Aerosmith album, the group's first since 2004's Honkin' on Bobo. The group did some recording with producer Brendan O'Brien in 2008 but halted because of Tyler's health problems. Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton told the Boston Herald in September 2010 that Tyler believes he has the time and energy to continue fronting the band while also being a judge on American Idol.
Hamilton explained, "Steven's been very emphatic in saying that the way his time is arranged on the show leaves room to work on a record. He's been taking great pains to remind everybody of that, so hopefully that's the way it will come out." On November 5, 2010, Brad Whitford said the recording sessions will probably be in Los Angeles, where American Idol is headquartered, and a world tour would follow.
Touring and Music from Another Dimension! (2010–2013)
In a November 2010 interview reported at NME.com, drummer Joey Kramer confirmed that the band had every intention to finish and release their long-delayed album in 2011, stating, "Really, at this point in time, the only thing that's going to stop us is if someone out-and-out dies. Other than that, we've already been through what we've been through and stood the test of time. What else is there?" On January 18, 2011, Tyler declared that "Joe (Perry) has got some licks and I've got a bunch of songs that I've written for solo and/or Aerosmith" and the band would start prepping the album that week.
On March 20, 2011, Aerosmith announced a new greatest hits album, Tough Love: Best of the Ballads, which was released on May 10, 2011. On May 14, 2011, the band announced a tour of Latin America in the fall of 2011. In June, Joe Perry announced that the band is going to meet at the recording studio to produce the next album of the band in July. On August 30, it was announced that the new album will be released around May 2012. The album will be produced by Jack Douglas, who produced four albums for the band in the 1970s. Aerosmith began their fall tour of Latin America and Japan on October 22 in Lima, Peru. As part of the tour, the band performed in Paraguay, Panama, and Ecuador for the first time in their careers. Their show in Asunción, Paraguay was postponed a day, after lead singer Steven Tyler sustained facial injuries after falling in his hotel room shower, due to a bout of food poisoning that dehydrated him and caused him to faint.
On March 11, 2012, Aerosmith was featured on an episode of 60 Minutes. The show included very candid interviews with the band members, interspersed with live performances from the band's 2011 tour. Some of the comments the band members said about each other seemed to re-ignite past tensions in the band. However, on March 22, Joe Perry surprised Steven Tyler by performing "Happy Birthday" for him on American Idol, as an early birthday present for Tyler. On March 26, Aerosmith announced a summer tour with Cheap Trick entitled the "Global Warming Tour". On May 23, Aerosmith debuted their new single, "Legendary Child", on the season finale of American Idol. Shortly after, it was announced that their fifteenth studio album, Music from Another Dimension!, would be released on November 6, 2012. On May 30, Aerosmith and Cheap Trick performed for Walmart shareholders. Aerosmith's "Global Warming Tour" began June 16 in Minneapolis and took the band to 26 locations across North America through August 12. The band hinted that the tour would continue in October/November after the album release. On August 22, Aerosmith released two singles simultaneously, the rocker "Lover Alot" and the ballad "What Could Have Been Love". On September 22, Aerosmith performed at the iHeartRadio music festival in Las Vegas. In advance of the release of their new album, the band performed on The Late Show with David Letterman and Today, and Tyler and Perry were interviewed on The Late Show and The View. In addition, Tyler, Perry and Whitford performed "Dream On" for the telethon Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together to raise funds for the victims of the namesake storm that struck the Northeastern United States. On November 5, Aerosmith performed an outdoor concert in front of their old apartment at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston to celebrate the release of their album and their Boston roots. Music from Another Dimension! was released on November 6. Two days later, the band began the 2nd leg of their Global Warming Tour, which took the band to 14 North American locations through December 13.
On January 21, 2013, Aerosmith released "Can't Stop Lovin' You" (featuring Carrie Underwood) as the fourth single from Music from Another Dimension!. On February 20, it was announced that the band's principal songwriters Steven Tyler and Joe Perry would be recipients of the ASCAP Founders Award at the society's 30th Annual Pop Music Awards on April 17. Two days later, it was announced that the duo would be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at a ceremony to be held on June 13.
In late April and early May 2013, Aerosmith extended their Global Warming Tour to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore. This marked the band's first performances in Australia in 23 years, and the band's first-ever performances in the latter four countries. Tom Hamilton had to miss the last three Australian shows due to illness; David Hull filled in for him. On May 5, Aerosmith cancelled their first-ever performance in Indonesia (scheduled for May 11) due to safety concerns; the actual threat was not released. On May 30, Aerosmith performed as part of the "Boston Strong" charity concert for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. The band also performed at the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia on July 6, at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut on July 10, four concerts in Japan in mid-August, and as part of the Harley-Davidson 110th Anniversary Concert series in Milwaukee on August 30. In the fall of 2013, Aerosmith extended their tour to Central and South America, including their first-ever performances in Guatemala, El Salvador and Uruguay. Hamilton had to depart the Latin American tour due to illness.
In July 2013, the band released the live concert DVD Rock for the Rising Sun, which also documented the band's 2011 tour of Japan. The release was also screened in select theaters in October 2013.
Solo endeavors, farewell tour and upcoming sixteenth studio album (2014–2018)
On March 21, 2014, in tweets released by Joe Perry, Joey Kramer, and Slash, it was announced that Aerosmith would be touring North America with Slash (along with Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators) in the summer of 2014. This followed a 17-date European tour that Aerosmith took from May 14 to July 2. The North American tour, known as the Let Rock Rule Tour, sent Aerosmith to 21 locations from July 10 to September 12.
Asked in May 2014 if Aerosmith would release a sixteenth studio album anytime soon, bassist Tom Hamilton replied, "I hope soon. But I really don't know what we are doing because we no longer have a record contract. We are finished with Columbia. So, there is nothing written in stone. We'll see what the fans want." In an interview with Rolling Stone about what the future holds, Joe Perry admitted that, "I don't even know if making new albums makes sense anymore. Maybe we'll just release an EP every six months. I don't know what the future looks like."
On October 7, 2014, Perry released his autobiography Rocks: My Life in and Out of Aerosmith, co-written by David Ritz. Perry promoted the book with a book-signing tour that took him to 14 locations across the United States in the month of October. On February 26, 2015, Aerosmith premiered the film Aerosmith Rocks Donington in 300 movie theaters across North America; the concert video is from the band's 2014 performance at Download Festival at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England. The video was released on DVD/Blu-ray on September 4, 2015.
On March 31, 2015, lead singer Steven Tyler stated that he was working on his first solo country album. On April 6, it was announced that Tyler signed a record deal with Scott Borchetta's Dot Records (a division of the Big Machine Label Group). On May 13, Tyler released the lead single, "Love is Your Name", from his forthcoming solo debut album. He promoted the song on the Bobby Bones Show, iHeartMedia, CBS This Morning, Entertainment Tonight, and the American Idol season 14 finale.
On June 10, Aerosmith embarked on the Blue Army Tour, which sent the band to 17 North American locations through August 7, many of them in smaller venues in secondary markets that the band has either never performed in or hasn't performed in many years. The band also played a one-off show in Moscow on September 5. On the tour, the band played several lesser-known deep cuts.
After the tour, Tyler completed work on his solo album, We're All Somebody from Somewhere, which was released on July 15, 2016. Prior to the album's release, a second single, "Red, White & You", was released in January 2016, followed by the third single (the title track) in June 2016. Meanwhile, Joe Perry worked with Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp on the side project Hollywood Vampires, which released their eponymous debut album in September 2015 and performed at the 58th Grammy Awards on February 15, 2016. Brad Whitford re-joined Derek St. Holmes for a handful of tour dates in November 2015 and a new Whitford/St. Holmes album that was made available to fans at their live performances and was scheduled for wide release in 2016. Tom Hamilton performed with Thin Lizzy at a handful of concert dates in Europe in the summer of 2016 and also joined Pearl Jam for a performance of "Draw the Line" at Boston's Fenway Park on August 7. Meanwhile, Joey Kramer became actively involved in his "Rockin' & Roastin'" coffee business, which opened a location in Newry, Maine, in December 2015 and a second location in North Attleborough, Massachusetts in July 2016.
Since December 2015, in various interviews, Whitford, Tyler, and Perry all discussed the possibility of a farewell tour or "wind-down tour" slated to start in 2017. Perry has suggested the tour could last for two years and Tyler said it could potentially last "forever"; Whitford and Tyler also discussed the potential of doing one last studio album.
On July 10, 2016, Perry collapsed onstage at a concert he was performing with the Hollywood Vampires on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest. He was revived and rushed to the hospital, where he was quickly upgraded to stable condition later that night. The Vampires continued the show without Perry that evening and continued the rest of their tour, but canceled an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. After resting for a few days, Perry made a complete recovery and returned to the Hollywood Vampires tour.
From September through October 2016 Aerosmith embarked on a nine-date tour of Latin America, called the Rock 'N' Roll Rumble Tour, preceded by a performance at the Kaaboo Festival in San Diego, California on September 17. In November 2016, Aerosmith announced that they would be going on a "farewell" tour in Europe in the spring and summer of 2017, titled the Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour. The tour launched in Tel Aviv, Israel on May 17, 2017, where approximately 45,000 tickets were sold. In early July, the band completed the European leg of the tour; the band extended the tour to South America in September and October 2017, but the last few shows had to be canceled due to health issues. According to Brad Whitford, the tour could end anytime from 2017 to the next four years in 2021. On 19 January 2018, Perry released a solo disc titled Sweetzerland Manifesto. He also announced that the 2017 tour titled "Aero-Vederci Baby!" was not really a final tour and the band will be touring in 2019 to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
Las Vegas residency, future activities and upcoming new projects (2019–present)
On August 15, 2018, Aerosmith appeared on NBC's Today show to announce a residency in Las Vegas called "Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild", a reference to both Las Vegas casino gambling and their 1994 single of the same name.
In January 2019, Joe Perry stated that he and Steven Tyler, were due to start recording new material, together, for a new Aerosmith album.
The band's Las Vegas residency took place during the months of April, June, July, and September thru December 2019 and was scheduled to be extended into January, February, May, and June 2020 at the Park Theater (the 2020 dates were cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic). In addition to the Las Vegas shows, in mid July 2019, the band performed at a festival in Minnesota, and in August 2019, they played a total of nine shows spread across three MGM venues in Maryland, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. On February 14, 2019, Aerosmith was scheduled to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but the ceremony and installation was postponed to a date to be determined due to inclement weather.
In April 2019, drummer Joey Kramer suffered minor injuries to his shoulder following an unspecified accident, and was forced to stand down from several concerts of the band's Las Vegas residency. His drum technician John Douglas substituted for him.
In November the same year, Kramer told several news sites that he was not allowed to rejoin the band despite his recovery, to which the band responded that his playing was "not up to Aerosmith standards". The disagreement culminated in a series of lawsuits in January 2020, after which Kramer was expected to be barred from performing with the band at the 2020 Grammy Awards. Kramer rejoined Aerosmith in February 2020 for their Las Vegas residency.
Aerosmith was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
In 2019, a European tour was announced, due to take place through the summer of 2020 following the completion of their Las Vegas dates, but the shows were cancelled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as was a 50th Anniversary show at Boston's Fenway Park, originally planned for September 2020. The European dates were initially rescheduled for the summer of 2021 but were later moved again to summer 2022 due to the ongoing pandemic.
In an August 2020 interview with former The Black Crowes drummer, Steve Gorman, on his radio show Steve Gorman Rocks, Brad Whitford was asked what the future of Aerosmith looked like. His response was "I don't really know what they want to do. And, I don't really care because, um, truthfully, I'm not interested anymore", citing ongoing dysfunction within the band.
He expressed similar concerns in an interview with Joe Bonamassa on his 'Live From Nerdville' podcast in June 2021. Brad shared his thoughts about how the COVID-19 outbreak would affect touring plans for Aerosmith, and musicians in general, whilst acknowledging his & his bandmates current ages. Stating, "I mean, I have my doubts about Aerosmith ever really performing again at this stage, because age is becoming a real factor. It is what it is."
On August 23, 2021, Aerosmith signed a distribution deal with Universal Music Group, covering the band's entire catalog - both Geffen (Universal's subsidiary) and Columbia titles.
Influence and legacy
Influenced by bands such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, and the New York Dolls,Jeff Burlingame (2010). "Aerosmith: Hard Rock Superstars". Enslow Publishers, Inc. Aerosmith proved to be a major influence themselves on subsequently massively successful bands and musicians; according to Perry, Eddie Van Halen once told him that his band Van Halen "started out on the suburban L.A. club circuit, playing Aerosmith songs". Aerosmith's influence was evident on the next generation of hard rock and heavy metal bands, namely Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Guns N' Roses, Tesla, L.A. Guns, Cinderella, Faster Pussycat, Skid Row, Extreme, Warrant, Inglorious, the Black Crowes and the Quireboys, as well as Metallica, Metal Church and Testament. Especially, Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash has stated that Aerosmith is his favorite band, and Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx has expressed massive admiration for the band and its early records in both The Dirt and The Heroin Diaries. Members of alternative rock bands such as Nirvana, Mother Love Bone/Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Staind and Godsmack are also self-professed early Aerosmith fans.
The interplay between Joe Perry and Brad Whitford has been inspiring to many bands, especially Guns N' Roses. Joe Perry has received wide recognition and praise as a lead guitarist, and has shared the stage many times with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, who Perry cites as primary influences. He and Tyler were asked by Page to induct Led Zeppelin into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; during the ceremony, which took place in 1995, Tyler and Perry delivered their speech and joined the band onstage for a brief set. During Beck's and Metallica's induction in 2009, they invited Perry and Page to play the Yardbirds/Zeppelin/Aerosmith classic "Train Kept A-Rollin'". Other collaborations, either by individual members of the band or by Aerosmith as a whole, have included Alice Cooper on his Trash album, Guns N' Roses (who opened for Aerosmith during their 1988 tour and had covered "Mama Kin" on their first release) and B'z. As a testimony to their importance in American popular culture as a whole, Aerosmith have also collaborated with popular non-rock artists, such as Run-DMC, Eminem ("Sing for the Moment"), and Carrie Underwood, and performed with 'N Sync, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, and Nelly for the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show. Country artists Garth Brooks and Mark Chesnutt both scored hit singles with covers of Aerosmith songs; Brooks in 1995 with "The Fever", a reworking of Aerosmith's 1993 song, and Chesnutt in 1999 with a cover of Aerosmith's 1998 song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Like many of their 1970s contemporaries including Led Zeppelin and Alice Cooper, the members of Aerosmith were prone to excess and debauchery. Drug consumption was rampant; the recording sessions for 1976's Rocks and 1977's Draw the Line were especially noted for their substance indulgence, including heroin. In the words of Bebe Buell, "They [Aerosmith] were like a gang of kids with their own planes, Porsches, millions of dollars, limitless resources. [...] Mick Jagger and Jimmy Page had control, but these boys did not care. They won the prize, hands down, for the rowdiest rock 'n' roll band in that era. No question."
In the mid to late 1970s, the band enjoyed tremendous popularity in the United States and in Japan, though they failed to make a big impression in Britain. Still, they were among the most popular hard rock acts in America in the mid to late 1970s, along with Heart, Kiss, Ted Nugent, ZZ Top, and Boston. Their massive popularity waned, however, following Perry and Whitford's departures. Following both guitarists' return to the band and its complete drug cleanup, Aerosmith made a prodigious return to success, once described as "the single most successful comeback in the history of heavy metal, if not all of popular music." During both the 1970s and the 1987–1995 era, Aerosmith undertook grueling world tours that numbered in the triple digits numbers of dates, headlining or co-headlining festivals along the way, such as the Texxas Jam in 1978 and 1987, the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington, England in 1990 and 1994, and Woodstock '94.
Initially resistant to this medium, the band later became renowned and received numerous awards for pioneering expansive, conceptual music videos, such as those for "Janie's Got a Gun" (directed by future Fight Club director David Fincher), "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'", "Amazing", "Crazy", "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", and "Pink".
The band's music has also been featured in several video games, such as episodes of the Dead or Alive and Grand Theft Auto series, and some video games are centered on the band, like Quest for Fame and Revolution X. Aerosmith was the first band to have its band-centered Guitar Hero title, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game across both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band platforms.
MembersCurrent Steven Tyler – lead vocals, harmonica, percussion (1970–present)
Tom Hamilton – bass (1970–present)
Joey Kramer – drums (1970–present)
Joe Perry – lead and rhythm guitar, backing and occasional lead vocals (1970–1979, 1984–present)
Brad Whitford – rhythm and lead guitar (1971–1981, 1984–present)Touring Buck Johnson – keyboards, piano, backing vocals, guitar (2014–present)Former Ray Tabano – rhythm and lead guitar (1970–1971)
Jimmy Crespo – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1979–1984)
Rick Dufay – rhythm and lead guitar (1981–1984)
Awards and achievements
Despite Aerosmith's popularity and success in the 1970s, it wasn't until their comeback in the late-1980s and 1990s when they started winning awards and major recognition. In 1987, Aerosmith won the Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap – Single for the re-mix of "Walk This Way" with Run-D.M.C. In 1990, Aerosmith won their first Grammy award, for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and went on to win a total of four such awards (all of them in the 1990s) for "Janie's Got a Gun", "Livin' on the Edge", "Crazy", and "Pink". Aerosmith is second only to U2 in the number of awards won in that category.
In addition, Aerosmith's music videos won numerous awards throughout the 1990s. Aerosmith ranks as the ninth most successful artist (and the third most successful group) of all-time at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), with ten such awards to date. Aerosmith is also the all-time leader in the categories Best Rock Video (with four such awards) and Viewer's Choice (with three such awards). Aerosmith has also won once each in the categories Video of the Year, Best Group Video, and Best Video from a Film. The videos for which Aerosmith has won VMAs are "Janie's Got a Gun" (2 awards), "The Other Side", "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'" (3 awards), "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", "Pink", and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Over the course of their career (primarily 1990 and after), Aerosmith has also collected six American Music Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, two People's Choice Awards, sixteen Boston Music Awards, and numerous other awards and honors. Some of the high accolades Aerosmith have achieved include induction into Hollywood's Rock Walk in 1990, a declaration of "Aerosmith Day" in the state of Massachusetts by then-Governor William Weld on April 13, 1993, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and being honored with the mtvICON award in 2002.
In the fields of technology and video games, Aerosmith has achieved several feats. In 1994, Aerosmith released the song "Head First" on the CompuServe online service, which is considered to be the first full-length commercial product available online. In 2008, Aerosmith became the first artist to have an entire Guitar Hero video game based around them with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game across both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band platforms.
Aerosmith also holds several chart and album sales feats, including the second highest number of number-one singles on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for a group with nine, the only number one debut on the Billboard Hot 100 by a rock group with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", the second most gold albums by an American group behind Kiss who has 30, the most total certifications (including gold, platinum, and multi-platinum combined) by an American group, and are tied with Van Halen for the most multi-platinum albums by an American group. From the Recording Industry Association of America, Aerosmith has achieved 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum album certifications, in addition to one diamond album, four gold singles, and one platinum digital single. Media often refer to Aerosmith, who have sold more than 150 million albums worldwide and 70.2 million in the United States, as the best-selling American rock band.
Aerosmith were honored as MusiCares Person of the Year in 2020.
Rankings
"Dream On", "Toys in the Attic", and "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) are all listed in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
In 1993, "Rolling Stones list of the "Top 100 Music Videos" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 11 and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 95.
In 1999, MTV's "100 Greatest Videos Ever Made" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 5 and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 48.
In 2000, VH1's "100 Greatest Rock Songs" included "Walk This Way" at number 35 and "Dream On" at number 47.
In 2001, "VH1: 100 Greatest Videos" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 11, "Crazy" at number 23, and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 48.
In 2003, Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time included Rocks at number 176 and Toys in the Attic at number 228.
In 2004, Rolling Stones The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time included "Dream On" at number 172, "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 287, "Walk This Way" (original) at number 336, and "Sweet Emotion" at number 408.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Aerosmith number 57 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2008, Rolling Stone ranked the original version of "Walk This Way" at number 34 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
In 2010, Aerosmith were ranked number 30 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2013, Ultimate Classic Rock website ranked "Sweet Emotion" number 1 in their Top 100 Classic Rock Songs chart.
"Pump", which reached number 1 on the Australian Record Industry Association charts and yielded two top 10 hit singles. "Pump" more than 150,000 units on Warner Music (which distributed Geffen in Australia until 1990) and more than 60,000 units after Universal took over
DiscographyStudio albums'''
Aerosmith (1973)
Get Your Wings (1974)
Toys in the Attic (1975)
Rocks (1976)
Draw the Line (1977)
Night in the Ruts (1979)
Rock in a Hard Place (1982)
Done with Mirrors (1985)
Permanent Vacation (1987)
Pump (1989)
Get a Grip (1993)
Nine Lives (1997)
Just Push Play (2001)
Honkin' on Bobo (2004)
Music from Another Dimension! (2012)
Filmography and videography
In addition to recording and performing music, Aerosmith has also been involved with films, television, video games, pinball, and music videos. In 1978, the band starred as the "Future Villain Band" in the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Later, when the band resurrected itself in the late 1980s and 1990s, Aerosmith made further appearances, including the "Wayne's World" sketch on Saturday Night Live in 1990, the "Flaming Moe's" episode of The Simpsons in 1991, and the film Wayne's World 2 in 1993. The band also appeared in the 2005 John Travolta/Uma Thurman comedy Be Cool, in which Steven Tyler and Thurman's characters help bring pop music star Linda Moon (Christina Milian) into the limelight.
The band has been the subject of several video games including Revolution X in 1994, Quest for Fame in 1995, and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, in June 2008. The band has also made over 30 major music videos, and released seven home videos or DVDs.
In 2017, Stern released three versions of an Aerosmith pinball machine, which feature original versions of nine of the band's iconic songs, as well as Elevator and Toy-Box multiballs.
Tours
1970–1972: Club Days
1973: Aerosmith Tour
1974: Get Your Wings Tour
1975: Toys in the Attic Tour
1976–1977: Rocks Tour 1977–1978: Aerosmith Express Tour (supporting Draw the Line album)
1978: Live! Bootleg Tour 1979–1980: Night in the Ruts Tour
1982–1983: Rock in a Hard Place Tour
1984: Back in the Saddle Tour 1985–1986: Done with Mirrors Tour 1987–1988: Permanent Vacation Tour 1989–1990: Pump Tour 1993–1994: Get a Grip Tour 1997–1999: Nine Lives Tour 1999–2000: Roar of the Dragon Tour 2001–2002: Just Push Play Tour 2002: Girls of Summer Tour 2003: Rocksimus Maximus Tour 2004: Honkin' on Bobo Tour 2005–2006: Rockin' the Joint Tour 2006: Route of All Evil Tour 2007: World Tour 2007 2009: Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Tour 2010: Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour 2011: Back on the Road Tour 2012–2014: Global Warming Tour 2014: Let Rock Rule Tour 2015: Blue Army Tour 2016: Rock 'N' Roll Rumble Tour 2017–2018: Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour 2019–2020: Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild''
See also
Aero Force One
Honorific nicknames in popular music
List of artists who reached number one on the Australian singles chart
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart
List of best-selling music artists
List of glam metal bands and artists
List of hard rock musicians (A–M)
List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
Pop icon
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
Aerosmithfans website|Aerosmith - Aerosmith Fans - The (un) Official Home Page Of Aerosmith Fans Worldewide - xxxxx
1970 establishments in Massachusetts
American blues rock musical groups
Hard rock musical groups from Massachusetts
American glam metal musical groups
Columbia Records artists
Geffen Records artists
Grammy Award winners
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musical groups established in 1970
Musical groups from Boston
Musical quintets
| true |
[
"The 54th Academy of Country Music Awards was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 7, 2019. Nominations were announced on February 20, 2019 by Reba McEntire during CBS This Morning, with Chris Stapleton and Dan + Shay leading with six nominations each. McEntire returned to host the awards for the sixteenth time.\n\nJason Aldean was presented with the ACM's rare honor \"Artist of the Decade\" by previous holder George Strait.\n\nWinners and Nominees \nThe winners are shown in bold.\n\nPerformances\n\nPresenters\n\nReception \nIn its review of the event, Rolling Stone Country praised that the ACMs took the opportunity to bring seasoned musicians Amanda Shires and Charlie Worsham \"into the fold\" by having them appear alongside Luke Combs and Keith Urban respectively but criticised that the ACMs did not introduce either of them or even feature them on screen. Worsham, who the reviewer believed should have been nominated for his own awards, performed \"mostly in the shadows\" and Shires, who \"helped transform [Combs' performance] with her lyrical playing\" was barely seen. Rolling Stone also praised Reba McEntire's hosting and the performances by Dierks Bentley and Brandi Carlile, Little Big Town, Miranda Lambert and Ashley McBryde but stated that it was \"baffling\" that Kacey Musgraves, who had five nominations and won the CMA Award for Album of the Year and four Grammy Awards including Best Country Album and the all-genre Album of the Year for Golden Hour, did not perform. Musgraves' win made her only the third artist (after Taylor Swift and the artists that appeared on Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?) to win the ACM, CMA and Grammy Awards for Best Country Album as well as the all-genre Grammy for Album of the Year.\n\nSee also\nAcademy of Country Music Awards\n\nReferences\n\nAcademy of Country Music Awards\nAcademy of Country Music Awards\nAcademy of Country Music Awards\nAcademy of Country Music Awards\nAcademy of Country Music Awards\nAcademy of Country Music Awards\nAcademy of Country Music Awards",
"The 14th Golden Melody Awards ceremony was held at the National Taiwan University Sports Center in Taipei, Taiwan. The ceremony was pushed back to 2 August 2003 from the original May date due to the SARS outbreak.\n\nIn this year event, Hong Kong singer Eason Chan won \"The album of the year\" and \"Best Male Singer\" resort to his studio album called \"Special Thanks To...\". He is the first non-Taiwanese singer that win \"The album of the year\" and the second non-Taiwanese singer that win \"Best Male Singer\".\n\nReferences\n\nGolden Melody Awards\nGolden Melody Awards\n2003 music awards"
] |
[
"Aerosmith",
"Record deal, Aerosmith, Get Your Wings and Toys in the Attic (1971-1975)",
"What record deal did Aerosmith receive in 1971?",
"signed with Columbia in mid-1972",
"What was their first record?",
"Aerosmith.",
"Was this album popular?",
"the album peaked at number 166.",
"When was this released?",
"January 1973,",
"Were there any hit songs?",
"Dream On",
"What was Get Your Wings?",
"This album included the rock radio hits \"Same Old Song and Dance\" and \"Train Kept A-Rollin'\",",
"Did this album win any awards?",
"multi-platinum"
] |
C_fac055458d69481bae62214031bfcf1a_0
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When was this album released?
| 8 |
When was Get Your Wings released?
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Aerosmith
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After forming the band and finalizing the lineup in 1971, the band started to garner some local success doing live shows. Originally booked through the Ed Malhoit Agency, the band signed a promotion deal with Frank Connelly and eventually secured a management deal with David Krebs and Steve Leber in 1972. Krebs and Leber invited Columbia Records President Clive Davis to see the band at Max's Kansas City in New York City. Aerosmith was not originally scheduled to play that night at the club, but they paid from their own pockets to secure a place on the bill, reportedly the only band ever to do so at Max's. "No Surprize" from their Night in the Ruts album celebrates the moment their fame began. Aerosmith signed with Columbia in mid-1972 for a reported $125,000 and issued their debut album, Aerosmith. Released in January 1973, the album peaked at number 166. The album was straightforward rock and roll with well-defined blues influences, laying the groundwork for Aerosmith's signature blues rock sound. Although the highest-charting single from the album was "Dream On" at number 59, several tracks, such as "Mama Kin" and "Walkin' the Dog", would become staples of the band's live shows and receive airplay on rock radio. The album reached gold status initially, eventually went on to sell two million copies, and was certified double platinum after the band reached mainstream success over a decade later. After constant touring, the band released their second album Get Your Wings in 1974, the first of a string of multi-platinum albums produced by Jack Douglas. This album included the rock radio hits "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'", a cover done previously by the Yardbirds. The album also contained several fan favorites including "Lord of the Thighs", "Seasons of Wither", and "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", darker songs that have become staples in the band's live shows. To date, Get Your Wings has sold three million copies. It was 1975's Toys in the Attic, however, that established Aerosmith as international stars competing with the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Originally derided as Rolling Stones knockoffs in part due to the physical resemblance between lead singers Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger, Toys in the Attic showed that Aerosmith was a unique and talented band in their own right. Toys in the Attic was an immediate success, starting with the single "Sweet Emotion", which became the band's first Top 40 hit. This was followed by a successful re-release of "Dream On" which hit number 6, becoming their best charting single of the 1970s. "Walk This Way", re-released in 1976, reached the Top 10 in early 1977. In addition, "Toys in the Attic" and "Big Ten Inch Record" (a song originally recorded by Bull Moose Jackson) became concert staples. As a result of this success, both of the band's previous albums re-charted. Toys in the Attic has gone on to become the band's bestselling studio album in the States, with certified U.S. sales of eight million copies. The band toured in support of Toys in the Attic, where they started to get more recognition. Also around this time, the band established their home base as "the Wherehouse" in Waltham, Massachusetts, where they would record and rehearse music, as well as conduct business. CANNOTANSWER
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1974,
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Aerosmith is an American rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whitford (guitar). Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has also incorporated elements of pop rock, heavy metal, glam metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many subsequent rock artists. They are sometimes referred to as "the Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". The primary songwriting team of Tyler and Perry is often known as the "Toxic Twins".
Perry and Hamilton, originally in a band together called the Jam Band, met up with Tyler, Kramer, and guitarist Ray Tabano, and formed Aerosmith; in 1971, Tabano was replaced by Whitford. At some point prior to the weekend of December 25, 1971; they were known as "Fox Chase." They released a string of multi-platinum albums starting with their eponymous debut in 1973, followed by Get Your Wings in 1974. The band broke into the mainstream with Toys in the Attic (1975) and Rocks (1976). Draw the Line and Night in the Ruts followed in 1977 and 1979. Throughout the 1970s, the band toured extensively and charted a dozen Hot 100 singles, including their first Top 40 hit "Sweet Emotion" and the Top 10 hits "Dream On" and "Walk This Way". By the end of the decade, they were among the most popular hard rock bands in the world and developed a following of fans, often referred to as the "Blue Army". Drug addiction and internal conflict led to the departures of Perry and Whitford in 1979 and 1981.
The band did not fare well and the album Rock in a Hard Place (1982) failed to match previous successes.
Perry and Whitford returned to Aerosmith in 1984. After a comeback tour, they recorded Done with Mirrors (1985), which did not meet commercial expectations. It was not until a 1986 collaboration with rap group Run–D.M.C. on a remake of "Walk This Way", and the 1987 multi-platinum release, Permanent Vacation, that they regained their previous level of popularity. In the late 1980s and 1990s, the band won numerous awards for music from the multi-platinum albums Pump (1989), Get a Grip (1993), and Nine Lives (1997), while they embarked on their most extensive concert tours to date. Their biggest hits during this period included "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", "Rag Doll", "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", "What it Takes", "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'", and "Crazy". The band also filmed popular music videos and made notable appearances in television, film, and video games. In 1998, they achieved their first number-one hit with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from [[Armageddon: The Album|Armageddons soundtrack]] and the following year, their roller coaster attraction opened at Walt Disney World. Their comeback has been described as one of the most remarkable and spectacular in rock history. Additional albums Just Push Play (which included the hit "Jaded"), Honkin' on Bobo (a collection of blues covers), and Music from Another Dimension! followed in 2001, 2004, and 2012. In 2008, they released Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game. After five decades, the band continues to tour and record music. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, they had an ongoing concert residency in Las Vegas.
Aerosmith is the best-selling American hard rock band of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide, including over 85 million records in the United States. With 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum albums, they hold the record for the most total certifications by an American group and are tied for the most multi-platinum albums by an American group. They have achieved twenty-one Top 40 hits on the US Hot 100, nine number-one Mainstream Rock hits, four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, and ten MTV Video Music Awards. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and were ranked number 57 and 30, respectively, on Rolling Stones and VH1's lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2013, Tyler and Perry were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2020, the band received the MusiCares Person of the Year award.
History
Formation (1964–1970)
In 1964, Steven Tyler formed his own band called the Strangeurs—later Chain Reaction—in Yonkers, New York. Meanwhile, Perry and Hamilton formed the Jam Band (commonly known as "Joe Perry's Jam Band"), which was based on free-form and blues. Hamilton and Perry moved to Boston, Massachusetts in September 1969. There they met Joey Kramer, a drummer from Yonkers, New York. Kramer knew Tyler and had always hoped to play in a band with him. Kramer, a Berklee College of Music student, decided to leave the school, and joined Jam Band.
In 1970, Chain Reaction and Jam Band played at the same gig. Tyler immediately loved Jam Band's sound, and wanted to combine the two bands. In October 1970, the bands met up again and considered the proposition. Tyler, who had been a drummer and backup singer in Chain Reaction, adamantly refused to play drums in this new band, insisting that he would take part only if he could be frontman and lead vocalist. The others agreed, and a new band was formed. The band moved into a home together at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, where they wrote and rehearsed music together and relaxed in between shows.
The members of the band reportedly spent afternoons getting high and watching Three Stooges reruns. One day, they had a post-Stooges meeting to try to come up with a name. Kramer said that, when he was in school, he would write the word "aerosmith" all over his notebooks. The name had popped into his head after listening to Harry Nilsson's album Aerial Ballet, which featured jacket art of a circus performer jumping out of a biplane. Initially, Kramer's bandmates were unimpressed; they all thought he was referring to the Sinclair Lewis novel they were required to read in high school English class. "No, not Arrowsmith," Kramer explained. "A-E-R-O...Aerosmith." The band settled upon this name after also considering "the Hookers" and "Spike Jones."
Soon, the band hired Ray Tabano, a childhood friend of Tyler, as rhythm guitarist and began playing local shows. Aerosmith played their first gig in Mendon, Massachusetts at Nipmuc Regional High School (now Miscoe Hill Middle School) on November 6, 1970. In 1971, Tabano was replaced by Brad Whitford, who also attended the Berklee School of Music, and was formerly a member of the band Earth Inc. Whitford, from Reading, Massachusetts, had already played at Reading's AW Coolidge Middle School. Other than a period from July 1979 to April 1984, the line-up of Tyler, Perry, Hamilton, Kramer, and Whitford has stayed the same.
Record deal, Aerosmith, Get Your Wings, and Toys in the Attic (1971–1975)
After forming the band and finalizing the lineup in 1971, the band started to garner some local success doing live shows. Originally booked through the Ed Malhoit Agency, the band signed a promotion deal with Frank Connelly, and eventually secured a management deal with David Krebs and Steve Leber in 1972. Krebs and Leber invited Columbia Records President Clive Davis to see the band at Max's Kansas City in New York City. Aerosmith was not originally scheduled to play that night at the club, but they paid out of their own pockets to secure a place on the bill, reportedly the only band ever to do so at Max's. "No Surprize" from their Night in the Ruts album celebrated the moment their fame rose.
Aerosmith signed with Columbia in mid-1972 for a reported $125,000, and released their debut album, Aerosmith. Released in January 1973, the album peaked at number 166. The album was straightforward rock and roll with well-defined blues influences, laying the groundwork for Aerosmith's signature blues rock sound. Although the highest-charting single from the album was "Dream On" at number 59, several tracks, such as "Mama Kin" and "Walkin' the Dog", would become staples of the band's live shows, and received airplay on rock radio. The album reached gold status initially, eventually went on to sell two million copies, and was certified double platinum after the band reached mainstream success over a decade later. After constant touring, the band released their second album, Get Your Wings in 1974, the first of a string of multi-platinum albums produced by Jack Douglas. This album included the rock radio hits "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'", a cover done previously by the Yardbirds. The album also contained several fan favorites, including "Lord of the Thighs", "Seasons of Wither", and "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", darker songs that have become staples in the band's live shows. To date, Get Your Wings has sold three million copies.
In 1975, Aerosmith released their third album, Toys in the Attic, which established Aerosmith as international stars, competing with the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Originally derided as Rolling Stones knockoffs in part due to the physical resemblance between lead singers Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger, Toys in the Attic showed that Aerosmith was a unique and talented band in their own right. Toys in the Attic was an immediate success, starting with the single "Sweet Emotion", which became the band's first Top 40 hit. This was followed by a successful re-release of "Dream On" which hit No. 6, becoming their best charting single of the 1970s. "Walk This Way", re-released in 1976, reached the Top 10 in early 1977.
In addition, "Toys in the Attic" and "Big Ten Inch Record" (a song originally recorded by Bull Moose Jackson) became concert staples. As a result of this success, both of the band's previous albums re-charted. Toys in the Attic has gone on to become the band's bestselling studio album in the United States, with certified US sales of nine million copies. The band toured in support of Toys in the Attic, where they started to get more recognition. Also around this time, the band established their home base as "the Wherehouse" in Waltham, Massachusetts, where they would record and rehearse music, as well as conduct business.
Rocks, Draw the Line, and Live! Bootleg (1976–1978)
In 1976, Aerosmith's fourth album was Rocks, which "captured Aerosmith at their most raw and rocking". It went platinum swiftly and featured two Top 40 hits, "Last Child" and "Back in the Saddle", as well as the ballad "Home Tonight", which also charted. Rocks would eventually go on to sell over four million copies. Both Toys in the Attic and Rocks are highly regarded, especially in the hard rock genre: they appear on such lists as Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and are cited as influential by members of Guns N' Roses, Metallica, and Mötley Crüe. Kurt Cobain also listed Rocks as one of the albums he thought were most influential to Nirvana's sound in his journal in 1993. Soon after Rocks was released, the band continued to tour heavily, this time headlining their own shows, including large stadiums and rock festivals.
In 1977, Aerosmith released their fifth album, Draw the Line. Its recording was affected by the band's excesses, but the record still had memorable moments. The title track charted just shy of the Top 40 and remains a live staple, and "Kings and Queens" also charted. The album went on to sell two million copies. The band toured extensively in support of the album, but drug abuse and the fast-paced life of touring and recording began affecting their performances. Tyler and Perry became known as "the Toxic Twins" due to their notorious abuse of drugs on and off the stage. Tyler later commented, "I've spent $64 million on drugs"; Perry scoffed later, "There's no fucking way in the world you could spend that much money on drugs and still be alive. It makes a good headline – but, practically speaking, that was probably a very small portion of where we spent our money."
While continuing to tour and record in the late 1970s, Aerosmith appeared in the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie. Their cover of The Beatles' "Come Together", from the soundtrack, was the band's last Top 40 hit for nearly 10 years. The double vinyl Live! Bootleg, issued in 1978, captured the band's rawness during the Draw the Line tour. The standalone single "Chip Away the Stone", also released in 1978, charted at number 77.
Departures of Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, Night in the Ruts, and Rock in a Hard Place (1979–1984)
In 1979, the band started work on their next album, Night in the Ruts, but Aerosmith decided to go on tour during a break in the recording schedule. As the decade was about to conclude, the band's drug use began taking its toll, and tensions were slowly coming to a head. The band's touring schedule brought them to Cleveland Stadium on July 28, 1979, where they headlined the World Series of Rock festival. Pandemonium erupted backstage when Joe Perry's wife, Elissa, threw a glass of milk at Tom Hamilton's wife, Terry. Following the show, Tyler and Perry got into a heated argument when Tyler confronted Perry about his wife's antics, and after the course of the argument, Perry left Aerosmith (while Tyler claims in his autobiography that he fired Perry from the band). Upon his departure, Perry took some of the music that he had written with him. Shortly after his departure, Perry formed his own side project known as The Joe Perry Project.
Since there was still work to be done on Night in the Ruts, Aerosmith needed fill-in musicians to take Perry's place on the songs that needed to be recorded to complete the album. Guitarist Brad Whitford took over some of the lead parts, and Richie Supa, the band's longtime writing partner, filled in where needed until the band was able to hire Jimmy Crespo to take over as the next full-time guitarist. Night in the Ruts was released in November 1979, but only managed to sell enough records to be certified gold at the time, although it would eventually sell enough copies to be certified platinum by 1994. The only single the album spawned, a cover of "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" by the Shangri-Las, peaked at number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The tour for Night in the Ruts commenced shortly thereafter, but the band found themselves playing in smaller and smaller venues than before due to their popularity beginning to wane. Steven Tyler's drug issues were starting to affect his performance and songwriting, and he reached rock bottom in 1980, when he collapsed on stage during a show in Portland, Maine, and did not get up for the remainder of the set. Also in 1980, Aerosmith released their first compilation album, Greatest Hits. While the compilation didn't chart very high initially, it gained popularity later, and went on to become the band's best selling album in the United States, with sales of 12 million copies. In the fall of 1980, Tyler was injured in a serious motorcycle accident, which left him hospitalized for two months, and unable to tour or record well into 1981.
In 1981, Aerosmith began work on their next album, Rock in a Hard Place, and saw them reunite with producer Jack Douglas. However, after the first song for the album, "Lightning Strikes", was recorded, Brad Whitford left the band, and decided to form a duo with Derek St. Holmes, with whom he recorded a self-titled album, which failed to garner much interest. Whitford later joined up with the Joe Perry Project and played with them in 1984.
With Rick Dufay taking Whitford's place, Rock in a Hard Place was released on August 27, 1982. The album reached number 32 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Only one single charted, the aforementioned "Lightning Strikes", which peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. As with the tour for Night in the Ruts, Aerosmith was unable to book larger venues, and instead had to rely on filling clubs and theaters, which they struggled to do. At a homecoming arena show in Worcester, Massachusetts, Tyler and Perry reunited and got high backstage before the show. Tyler was so intoxicated that he collapsed on stage again and, like before, could not get up.
On February 14, 1984, Perry (by then divorced from his first wife Elissa) and Whitford saw Aerosmith perform at Boston's Orpheum Theater. Shortly thereafter, discussions began to reintegrate the two into the band and several months later, the original members of Aerosmith officially reunited. Steven Tyler recalls:
Back in the Saddle reunion tour, Done with Mirrors, and drug rehab (1984–1986)
In 1984, Aerosmith embarked on a reunion tour called the Back in the Saddle Tour, which led to the live album Classics Live II. While concerts on the tour were well-attended, it was plagued with several incidents, mostly attributed to drug abuse by band members. With their drug problems still not behind them, the group was signed to Geffen Records, and began working on a comeback. Despite the band signing on to a new record company, the band's old label Columbia continued to reap the benefits of Aerosmith's comeback, releasing the live companion albums Classics Live I and II and the collection Gems.
In 1985, the band released the album Done with Mirrors, their first studio album since reuniting. While the album did receive some positive reviews, it only went gold and failed to produce a hit single or generate any widespread interest. The album's most notable track, "Let the Music Do the Talking", was in fact a cover of a song originally recorded by the Joe Perry Project and released on that band's album of the same name. Nevertheless, the band became a popular concert attraction once again, touring in support of Done with Mirrors, well into 1986. In 1986, in an unprecedented crossover collaboration, Aerosmith (largely the additional contributions of leaders Tyler and Perry) appeared on Run–D.M.C.'s cover of "Walk This Way", a track blending rock and roll with hip hop. In reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song and its frequently-aired video resurrected Aerosmith's career by introducing the band's music to a new generation.
Despite their resurrecting performance, the band members' drug problems still stood in their way. In 1986, Tyler completed a successful drug rehabilitation program, after an intervention by his fellow band members, a doctor, and manager Tim Collins, who believed that the band's future would not be bright if Tyler did not get treated in time. The rest of the band members also completed drug rehab programs over the course of the next couple of years. According to the band's tell-all autobiography, Collins pledged in September 1986 that he could make Aerosmith the biggest band in the world by 1990 if they all completed drug rehab. Their next album was crucial because of the commercial disappointment of Done With Mirrors, and as the band members became clean, they worked hard to make their next album a success.
Permanent Vacation and Pump (1987–1991)
Permanent Vacation was released in August 1987, becoming a major hit and the band's bestselling album in over a decade (selling 5 million copies in the US), with all three of its singles ("Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", and "Rag Doll") reaching the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. Steven Tyler reveals in his autobiography that the album was "...the first one we ever did sober." Part of Permanent Vacations commercial success involved producer Bruce Fairbairn whose production touches (such as sound effects and high-quality recording) added interest to the album and the use of outside songwriters such as Desmond Child, Jim Vallance, and Holly Knight who assisted the band with lyrics. While the group was initially hesitant to using outside songwriters, including Tyler being furious for Knight getting songwriting credits for changing one word ("Rag Time" became "Rag Doll"), the method paid off, as Permanent Vacation became the band's most successful album in a decade. The group went on a subsequent tour with labelmates Guns N' Roses (who have cited Aerosmith as a major influence), which was intense at times because of Aerosmith's new struggle to stay clean amidst Guns N' Roses' well-publicized, rampant drug use.
Aerosmith's next album was even more successful. Pump, released in September 1989, featured three Top Ten singles: "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", and "What It Takes", as well as the Top 30 "The Other Side", re-establishing the band as a serious musical force. Pump was a critical and commercial success, eventually selling 7 million copies, spawning several music videos that were in regular rotation on MTV, and achieving four-star ratings from major music magazines. Pump ranked as the fourth-bestselling album of 1990. The band also won its first Grammy in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, for "Janie's Got a Gun". In addition, the video for "Janie's Got a Gun" won two Video Music Awards and was ranked as one of the 100 greatest videos of all time by Rolling Stone, MTV, and VH1. Like Permanent Vacation, Pump was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, who added production touches such as instrumental interludes that provided transitions between songs to give the album a more complete sound, as well as the Margarita Horns, who added horns to tracks such as "Love in an Elevator" and "The Other Side". Rock critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine claimed that Pump "revels in [pop concessions] without ever losing sight of Aerosmith's dirty hard rock core", going on to say that, "such ambition and successful musical eclectism make Pump rank with Toys in the Attic and Rocks." The recording process for Pump was documented in the video The Making of Pump, which has since been re-released as a DVD. The music videos for the album's singles were featured on the release Things That Go Pump in the Night, which quickly went platinum.
In support of Pump, the band embarked on the 12-month Pump Tour, which lasted for most of 1990. On February 21, 1990, the band appeared in a "Wayne's World" sketch on Saturday Night Live, debating the fall of communism and the Soviet Union, and performed their recent hits "Janie's Got a Gun" and "Monkey on My Back". The appearance of the band in the "Wayne's World" sketch was later ranked by E! as the number-one moment in the history of the program. On August 11, 1990, the band's performance on MTV's Unplugged aired. In October 1990, the Pump Tour ended, with the band's first ever performances in Australia. That same year, the band was also inducted to the Hollywood Rock Walk. In November 1991, the band appeared on The Simpsons episode "Flaming Moe's" and released a box set titled Pandora's Box. In coordination with the release of Pandora's Box, the band's 1975 hit "Sweet Emotion" was re-mixed and re-released as a single, and a music video was created to promote the single. Also in 1991, the band performed their 1973 single "Dream On" with Michael Kamen's orchestra for MTV's 10th Anniversary special; this performance was used as the official music video for the song. In 1992, Tyler and Perry appeared live as guests of Guns N' Roses during the latter's 1992 worldwide pay-per-view show in Paris, performing a medley of "Mama Kin" (which GN'R covered in 1986) and "Train Kept-A Rollin".
Get a Grip and Big Ones (1992–1995)
The band took a brief break before recording their follow-up to Pump in 1992. Despite significant shifts in mainstream music at the beginning of the 1990s, 1993's Get a Grip was just as successful commercially, becoming their first album to debut at number 1 and racking up sales of 7 million copies in a two-and-a-half-year timespan and over 20 million copies worldwide. The first singles were the hard rocking "Livin' on the Edge" and "Eat the Rich". Though many critics were unimpressed by the focus on the subsequent interchangeable power-ballads in promoting the album, all three ("Cryin'", "Amazing", and "Crazy") proved to be huge successes on radio and MTV. The music videos featured then up-and-coming actress Alicia Silverstone; her provocative performances earned her the title of "the Aerosmith chick" for the first half of the decade. Steven Tyler's daughter Liv Tyler was also featured in the "Crazy" video. The band won two Grammy Awards for songs from this album in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: for "Livin' on the Edge" in 1994 and "Crazy" in 1995.
During the making of Get a Grip, the management and record company brought in a variety of professional songwriting collaborators to help give nearly all the songs on the album more commercial appeal, a trend which would continue until the early 2000s. However, this led to accusations of selling out that would continue throughout the 1990s. In addition to Aerosmith's grueling 18-month world tour in support of Get a Grip, the band also did a number of things to help promote themselves and their album and appeal to youth culture, including the appearance of the band in the movie Wayne's World 2 where they performed two songs, the appearance of the band and their music in the video games Revolution X and Quest for Fame, performing at Woodstock '94, using their song "Deuces Are Wild" in The Beavis and Butt-head Experience, and opening their own club, The Mama Kin Music Hall, in Boston, MA in 1994. That same year saw the release of the band's compilation for Geffen Records, entitled Big Ones featuring their biggest hits from Permanent Vacation, Pump, and Get a Grip, "Deuces Are Wild" from the Beavis and Butt-head Experience, as well as two new songs, "Blind Man" and "Walk on Water", both of which experienced great success on the rock charts.
Nine Lives and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" (1996–2000)
Aerosmith had signed a $30 million contract for four records with Columbia Records/Sony Music in 1991, but had only recorded three of their six contractual albums with Geffen Records at that point (Done with Mirrors, Permanent Vacation, and Pump). Between 1991 and 1996, they released two more albums with Geffen (Get a Grip and Big Ones), which meant they now had five albums with Geffen under their belt (along with a planned live compilation), which meant they could now begin recording for their new contract with Columbia. The band took time off with their families before working on their next album, Nine Lives, which was plagued with personnel problems, including the firing of manager Tim Collins, who, according to band members, had nearly caused the band to break up. The album's producer was also changed from Glen Ballard to Kevin Shirley. Nine Lives was released in March 1997. Reviews were mixed, and Nine Lives initially fell down the charts, although it had a long chart life and sold double platinum in the United States alone, fueled by its singles, "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", the ballad "Hole in My Soul", and the crossover-pop smash "Pink" (which won the band their fourth Grammy Award in 1999 in the Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal category). It was followed by the over two-year-long Nine Lives Tour, which was plagued by problems including lead singer Steven Tyler injuring his leg at a concert, and Joey Kramer suffering second degree burns when his car caught fire at a gas station.
In 1998, in the midst of setbacks during the Nine Lives Tour, the band released the single "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", the love theme, written by Diane Warren for the 1998 film Armageddon, starring Steven Tyler's daughter Liv. The song became Aerosmith's first and only number 1 single when it debuted at the top position on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on top of the charts for four weeks. The song was nominated for an Academy Award in 1999. The song helped open Aerosmith up to a new generation and remains a slow-dance staple. 1998 also saw the release of the double-live album, A Little South of Sanity, which was assembled from performances on the Get a Grip and Nine Lives tours. The album went platinum shortly after its release. The band continued with their seemingly neverending world tours promoting Nine Lives and the "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" single well into 1999.
In 1999, Aerosmith was chosen to be featured in the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, providing the ride's soundtrack and theme at both Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort and, formerly, at Disneyland Paris in the Walt Disney Studios Park, which opened in 2002 and closed in 2019, to be replaced by an Iron Man and the Avengers attraction in the upcoming Avengers Campus. On September 9, 1999, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry reunited with Run–D.M.C. and were also joined by Kid Rock for a collaborative live performance of "Walk This Way" at the MTV Video Music Awards, a precursor to the Girls of Summer Tour. The band celebrated the new millennium with a brief tour of Japan, and also contributed the song "Angel's Eye" to the 2000 film Charlie's Angels. In December 2000, they wrapped up work on their next album.
Just Push Play, O, Yeah! and Rocksimus Maximus (2001–2003)
The band entered their next decade by co-headlining with NSYNC the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show, titled "The Kings of Rock and Pop", with appearances from Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige and Nelly. All of the stars collaborated with Aerosmith at the end for a performance of "Walk This Way".
In March 2001, the band released their 13th studio album Just Push Play, which quickly went platinum, fueled by the Top 10 single "Jaded" and the appearance of the title track in Dodge commercials. They were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame soon after their album was released, in late March 2001. Aerosmith is the only band to be inducted to the Hall of Fame with a song active in the charts ("Jaded"). Later that year, the band performed as part of the United We Stand: What More Can I Give benefit concert in Washington D.C. for 9/11 victims and their families. The band flew back to Indianapolis for a show the same night, as part of their Just Push Play Tour.
The band started 2002 by ending the Just Push Play tour, and simultaneously recording segments for their Behind the Music special on VH1, which not only chronicled the band's history but also the band's current activities and touring. The special was one of the few Behind the Musics to run two hours in length. In May, Aerosmith covered the "Theme from Spider-Man" for the soundtrack of the 2002 film of the same name. On June 27, the band performed at the official FIFA World Cup concert at Tokyo Stadium which took place during the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in Korea/Japan. In July 2002, Aerosmith released a two-disc career-spanning compilation O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits, which featured the new single "Girls of Summer" and embarked on the Girls of Summer Tour with Kid Rock and Run–D.M.C. opening. O, Yeah! has since been certified double platinum. MTV honored Aerosmith with their mtvICON award in 2002. Performances included Pink covering "Janie's Got a Gun". Shakira performed "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", Kid Rock played "Mama Kin" and "Last Child", Train performed "Dream On" and Papa Roach covered "Sweet Emotion". In addition, testimonials featured surprise guests Metallica, as well as Janet Jackson, Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst, Alicia Silverstone and Mila Kunis.
In 2003, Aerosmith co-headlined with Kiss on the Rocksimus Maximus Tour, in preparation for release of their blues album. They also performed a song for Rugrats Go Wild, "Lizard Love".
Honkin' on Bobo, Rockin' the Joint and Devil's Got a New Disguise (2004–2006)
Aerosmith's long-promised blues album Honkin' on Bobo was released in 2004. This was a return to the band's roots, including recording the album in live sessions, working with former producer Jack Douglas, and laying down their blues rock grit. It was followed by a live DVD, You Gotta Move, in December 2004, culled from performances on the Honkin' on Bobo Tour. "Dream On" was also featured in an advertising campaign for Buick in 2004, targeting that marque's market which is now composed largely of people who were teenagers when the song first charted.
2005 saw Steven Tyler appear in the film Be Cool. Joe Perry released his self-titled solo album that same year. At the 2006 Grammy Awards, he was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for the track "Mercy", but lost to Les Paul. In October 2005, Aerosmith released a CD/DVD Rockin' the Joint. The band hit the road for the Rockin' the Joint Tour on October 30 with Lenny Kravitz for a fall/winter tour of arenas in the largest US markets. The band planned to tour with Cheap Trick in the spring, hitting secondary markets in the US. Almost all of this leg of the tour was canceled, however. Dates were initially canceled one by one until March 22, 2006, when it was announced that lead singer Steven Tyler needed throat surgery, and the remaining dates on the tour were subsequently canceled.
Tyler and Perry performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra for their annual concert of July 4 on the Esplanade in 2006, a milestone as it was the first major event or performance since Steven Tyler's throat surgery. Around this time, the band also announced that they would embark on the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe in late 2006. On August 24, 2006, it was announced that Tom Hamilton was undergoing treatment for throat cancer. In order to make a full recovery, he sat out much of the Route of All Evil Tour until he was well again. Former Joe Perry Project bassist David Hull substituted for Hamilton until his return. On September 5, 2006, Aerosmith kicked off the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe in Columbus, Ohio. The co-headlining tour took both bands to amphitheaters across North America through November 24. After that, a select few arena dates were added, some of which were with Mötley Crüe. The tour ended December 17.
On October 17, 2006, the compilation album Devil's Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith was released. The album contained previous hits with the addition of two new songs, "Devil's Got a New Disguise" and "Sedona Sunrise", which were older outtakes re-recorded for the album. "Devil's Got a New Disguise" peaked at number 15 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The album was intended to fulfill Aerosmith's contract with Sony and tide fans over until the band's new studio album was released.
Touring, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and unfinished album (2007–2009)
In early 2007, the band announced a new World Tour, their first for nearly a decade to include dates outside North America or Japan. The band performed at London's Hard Rock Cafe in February 2007 to promote their European tour which included a night in Hyde Park as part of the Hyde Park Calling festival sponsored by Hard Rock Cafe. In the spring, the band toured Latin America to sold-out stadium crowds. In the summer, the band toured Europe, performing at several major rock festivals and visiting some countries they had never played before. Additionally, the band played in Middle East countries such as the United Arab Emirates and India for the first time. The band also played a few select dates in California and Canada in late July. The July 21 concert in Prince Edward Island, was the largest in that province's history. In September, the band performed eight dates in major markets in Northeastern North America. These shows were opened by Joan Jett. The band also played a private gig in Hawaii. A public show in Maui was canceled for logistical reasons, which spurred a class action lawsuit against the band. In April 2009, Aerosmith agreed to compensate all ticket buyers of the canceled show with a free ticket to a rescheduled Maui show to be held on October 20, 2009, along with reimbursements of all out-of-pocket expenses related to the show.
On November 1, 2007, the band entered the studio to work on the final studio album of their current contract with Sony. At the time, it was believed that the album would include both re-recorded tracks left off previous albums as well as brand new material. In an interview, guitarist Joe Perry revealed that in addition to creating a new album, the band was working closely with the makers of the Guitar Hero series to develop Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, a video game dedicated to the band's music. The game was released on June 29, 2008 and contains many of their most popular songs. Steven Tyler announced on VH1 Classic Radio on September 4, 2008, that Aerosmith intended to enter the studio at the end of September 2008 to complete the band's 15th studio album. Tyler also confirmed that the band planned to begin a new US tour in June 2009, in support of the as-yet-untitled album. This tour was supposed to be preceded by a concert in Venezuela on February 1, 2009. However, on January 15, 2009, Tyler said the band would be unable to play the gig because of a second knee injury of guitarist Joe Perry. In mid-February 2009, it was announced that the album would be produced by the famed Brendan O'Brien and that the album would likely be recorded live, like their earlier records. Although the band had hoped to finish the album before the tour started in June 2009, Perry said that the group "realized there wasn't any chance of getting [the album] finished before we hit the road for the summer." The tour featured ZZ Top as the opening act for most of the tour. The Aerosmith/ZZ Top Tour, presented by Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, was officially announced and the first dates released on April 8, 2009.
The tour was slated to take the band across North America from June to September 2009. The tour featured the band performing nearly all of the songs on their 1975 album Toys in the Attic during the first seven dates of the tour and also featured Joe Perry sing lead vocals on the 1976 "Combination". The tour was plagued with several health problems, however. Guitarist Brad Whitford had to sit out the first seven dates of the tour in order to recover from head surgery, after injuring his head getting out of his car. On June 28, 2009, at the band's seventh show of the tour at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, lead singer Steven Tyler injured his leg, which required seven shows to be postponed. As soon as the band resumed the tour on July 15, Whitford returned to the fold. However, Tom Hamilton had to depart the tour in order to recover from non-invasive surgery. On August 5, 2009, Tyler was rushed to the hospital after falling from the stage at a concert in Sturgis, South Dakota. He was helped up by security staff and taken backstage, before guitarist Joe Perry told the audience the show was over. Tyler was airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital, where he received treatment for head and neck injuries and a broken shoulder. In the wake of Tyler's injuries, the band was forced to postpone five shows in Western Canada. On August 14, 2009, Aerosmith announced that they had decided to cancel the rest of their US tour dates with ZZ Top, due to Tyler's injuries.
In the midst of the tour, Perry completed work on his fifth solo album, Have Guitar, Will Travel and drummer Joey Kramer released his autobiography, Hit Hard. Perry's solo album was released on October 6, 2009.
After Tyler recovered from falling off stage, the band returned to the stage in mid-October for two shows in Hawaii, one in Maui which was rescheduled from 2007 and finally played as part of a legal settlement, and an additional show which was played in Honolulu. In early November, the band played a concert in Abu Dhabi at the Grand Prix.
Tyler-Perry feud and Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour (2009–2010)
Tyler pulled out of a planned South American tour at the end of 2009 and seemed intent on pursuing solo projects, including his autobiography Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?. Tyler told Classic Rock magazine, "I don't know what I'm doing yet, but it's definitely going to be something Steven Tyler: working on the brand of myself – Brand Tyler." Meanwhile, guitarist Joe Perry toured the United States at the end of 2009, and Japan and the UK early in 2010.
In November 2009, Joe Perry stated that Tyler had not been in contact with the band and could be on the verge of quitting Aerosmith. Perry stated that the rest of the group was "looking for a new singer to work with." It was reported that singer Lenny Kravitz had been approached for Steven Tyler's position, which he then declined.
However, despite the rumors of him leaving the band, Tyler joined the Joe Perry Project onstage on November 10, 2009 at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, and Tyler and Perry performed the Aerosmith single "Walk This Way" together. According to sources at the event, Tyler assured the crowd that he was "not quitting Aerosmith".
On December 22, People magazine reported that Tyler had entered a rehabilitation facility to manage his addiction to painkillers, brought on by injuries to his knees, legs, and feet, that resulted from years of performing. In his statement, Tyler said he is grateful for the support he is receiving, is committed to getting things taken care of, and is eager to get back on stage and in the recording studio with his bandmates.
On January 20, 2010, Perry confirmed the band were about to audition for a new singer to replace Tyler. Perry said Tyler's surgery to his legs would "take him out of the picture" for up to a year and a half, and in the meantime, the rest of the band wanted to continue performing. Perry also said that the band would be willing to continue working with Tyler in the future if the singer wanted to.
In response, Tyler's attorney sent the band and its manager a "cease and desist" letter and threatened further legal action against both if the band did not discontinue this effort to replace Tyler.
On February 15, 2010, it was announced that Aerosmith were to headline Download Festival at Donington Park, England in June 2010. Tyler was confirmed as the frontman for the show by festival promoter Andy Copping. It was announced that the band would precede the June 13 date with an appearance at the Sweden Rock Festival on June 10 in Sölvesborg. During the Donington show, Perry celebrated Tyler's position as frontman, dubbing him "the best lead singer on the planet". On February 24, the band announced the first batch of dates for their upcoming Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour. The tour saw the band play seven dates in South and Central America in May, followed by eleven dates in Europe, in June and early July. The band performed in Colombia, Peru and Greece for the first time in their career on this tour. The band performed 24 concerts in North America in late July, August, and September. Many of the concerts were in locations the band canceled on in 2009. As part of the tour, the band played Fenway Park in Boston with fellow Bostonians the J. Geils Band.
Problems on the band's Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour arose in August 2010, including Tyler accidentally hitting Joe Perry in the head with his microphone stand at a show in Wantagh, New York and Perry bumping into Tyler at the Toronto show, which caused Tyler to tumble off the stage. Perry suffered a minor head injury at the Wantagh show and Tyler was helped back up by fans and Perry at the Toronto show, and both shows went on. Around the same time as these incidents, tension flared again between Perry and Tyler due to Tyler's plans to become a talent judge on American Idol. Perry criticized Tyler for not consulting the rest of the band, saying that he "found out on the internet, like the rest of the world" and that nobody else in the band knew anything about it.
On August 18, it was reported that Tyler officially signed on with the show. When asked about this in October, Perry declared he understood Tyler's reasons and wished him luck, but stated that he would seek different projects – "I'm tired of waiting around, so I'm not passing up anything right now".
While announcing the Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour in 2009, Tyler and Perry said that the next item on the agenda was a new Aerosmith album, the group's first since 2004's Honkin' on Bobo. The group did some recording with producer Brendan O'Brien in 2008 but halted because of Tyler's health problems. Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton told the Boston Herald in September 2010 that Tyler believes he has the time and energy to continue fronting the band while also being a judge on American Idol.
Hamilton explained, "Steven's been very emphatic in saying that the way his time is arranged on the show leaves room to work on a record. He's been taking great pains to remind everybody of that, so hopefully that's the way it will come out." On November 5, 2010, Brad Whitford said the recording sessions will probably be in Los Angeles, where American Idol is headquartered, and a world tour would follow.
Touring and Music from Another Dimension! (2010–2013)
In a November 2010 interview reported at NME.com, drummer Joey Kramer confirmed that the band had every intention to finish and release their long-delayed album in 2011, stating, "Really, at this point in time, the only thing that's going to stop us is if someone out-and-out dies. Other than that, we've already been through what we've been through and stood the test of time. What else is there?" On January 18, 2011, Tyler declared that "Joe (Perry) has got some licks and I've got a bunch of songs that I've written for solo and/or Aerosmith" and the band would start prepping the album that week.
On March 20, 2011, Aerosmith announced a new greatest hits album, Tough Love: Best of the Ballads, which was released on May 10, 2011. On May 14, 2011, the band announced a tour of Latin America in the fall of 2011. In June, Joe Perry announced that the band is going to meet at the recording studio to produce the next album of the band in July. On August 30, it was announced that the new album will be released around May 2012. The album will be produced by Jack Douglas, who produced four albums for the band in the 1970s. Aerosmith began their fall tour of Latin America and Japan on October 22 in Lima, Peru. As part of the tour, the band performed in Paraguay, Panama, and Ecuador for the first time in their careers. Their show in Asunción, Paraguay was postponed a day, after lead singer Steven Tyler sustained facial injuries after falling in his hotel room shower, due to a bout of food poisoning that dehydrated him and caused him to faint.
On March 11, 2012, Aerosmith was featured on an episode of 60 Minutes. The show included very candid interviews with the band members, interspersed with live performances from the band's 2011 tour. Some of the comments the band members said about each other seemed to re-ignite past tensions in the band. However, on March 22, Joe Perry surprised Steven Tyler by performing "Happy Birthday" for him on American Idol, as an early birthday present for Tyler. On March 26, Aerosmith announced a summer tour with Cheap Trick entitled the "Global Warming Tour". On May 23, Aerosmith debuted their new single, "Legendary Child", on the season finale of American Idol. Shortly after, it was announced that their fifteenth studio album, Music from Another Dimension!, would be released on November 6, 2012. On May 30, Aerosmith and Cheap Trick performed for Walmart shareholders. Aerosmith's "Global Warming Tour" began June 16 in Minneapolis and took the band to 26 locations across North America through August 12. The band hinted that the tour would continue in October/November after the album release. On August 22, Aerosmith released two singles simultaneously, the rocker "Lover Alot" and the ballad "What Could Have Been Love". On September 22, Aerosmith performed at the iHeartRadio music festival in Las Vegas. In advance of the release of their new album, the band performed on The Late Show with David Letterman and Today, and Tyler and Perry were interviewed on The Late Show and The View. In addition, Tyler, Perry and Whitford performed "Dream On" for the telethon Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together to raise funds for the victims of the namesake storm that struck the Northeastern United States. On November 5, Aerosmith performed an outdoor concert in front of their old apartment at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston to celebrate the release of their album and their Boston roots. Music from Another Dimension! was released on November 6. Two days later, the band began the 2nd leg of their Global Warming Tour, which took the band to 14 North American locations through December 13.
On January 21, 2013, Aerosmith released "Can't Stop Lovin' You" (featuring Carrie Underwood) as the fourth single from Music from Another Dimension!. On February 20, it was announced that the band's principal songwriters Steven Tyler and Joe Perry would be recipients of the ASCAP Founders Award at the society's 30th Annual Pop Music Awards on April 17. Two days later, it was announced that the duo would be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at a ceremony to be held on June 13.
In late April and early May 2013, Aerosmith extended their Global Warming Tour to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore. This marked the band's first performances in Australia in 23 years, and the band's first-ever performances in the latter four countries. Tom Hamilton had to miss the last three Australian shows due to illness; David Hull filled in for him. On May 5, Aerosmith cancelled their first-ever performance in Indonesia (scheduled for May 11) due to safety concerns; the actual threat was not released. On May 30, Aerosmith performed as part of the "Boston Strong" charity concert for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. The band also performed at the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia on July 6, at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut on July 10, four concerts in Japan in mid-August, and as part of the Harley-Davidson 110th Anniversary Concert series in Milwaukee on August 30. In the fall of 2013, Aerosmith extended their tour to Central and South America, including their first-ever performances in Guatemala, El Salvador and Uruguay. Hamilton had to depart the Latin American tour due to illness.
In July 2013, the band released the live concert DVD Rock for the Rising Sun, which also documented the band's 2011 tour of Japan. The release was also screened in select theaters in October 2013.
Solo endeavors, farewell tour and upcoming sixteenth studio album (2014–2018)
On March 21, 2014, in tweets released by Joe Perry, Joey Kramer, and Slash, it was announced that Aerosmith would be touring North America with Slash (along with Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators) in the summer of 2014. This followed a 17-date European tour that Aerosmith took from May 14 to July 2. The North American tour, known as the Let Rock Rule Tour, sent Aerosmith to 21 locations from July 10 to September 12.
Asked in May 2014 if Aerosmith would release a sixteenth studio album anytime soon, bassist Tom Hamilton replied, "I hope soon. But I really don't know what we are doing because we no longer have a record contract. We are finished with Columbia. So, there is nothing written in stone. We'll see what the fans want." In an interview with Rolling Stone about what the future holds, Joe Perry admitted that, "I don't even know if making new albums makes sense anymore. Maybe we'll just release an EP every six months. I don't know what the future looks like."
On October 7, 2014, Perry released his autobiography Rocks: My Life in and Out of Aerosmith, co-written by David Ritz. Perry promoted the book with a book-signing tour that took him to 14 locations across the United States in the month of October. On February 26, 2015, Aerosmith premiered the film Aerosmith Rocks Donington in 300 movie theaters across North America; the concert video is from the band's 2014 performance at Download Festival at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England. The video was released on DVD/Blu-ray on September 4, 2015.
On March 31, 2015, lead singer Steven Tyler stated that he was working on his first solo country album. On April 6, it was announced that Tyler signed a record deal with Scott Borchetta's Dot Records (a division of the Big Machine Label Group). On May 13, Tyler released the lead single, "Love is Your Name", from his forthcoming solo debut album. He promoted the song on the Bobby Bones Show, iHeartMedia, CBS This Morning, Entertainment Tonight, and the American Idol season 14 finale.
On June 10, Aerosmith embarked on the Blue Army Tour, which sent the band to 17 North American locations through August 7, many of them in smaller venues in secondary markets that the band has either never performed in or hasn't performed in many years. The band also played a one-off show in Moscow on September 5. On the tour, the band played several lesser-known deep cuts.
After the tour, Tyler completed work on his solo album, We're All Somebody from Somewhere, which was released on July 15, 2016. Prior to the album's release, a second single, "Red, White & You", was released in January 2016, followed by the third single (the title track) in June 2016. Meanwhile, Joe Perry worked with Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp on the side project Hollywood Vampires, which released their eponymous debut album in September 2015 and performed at the 58th Grammy Awards on February 15, 2016. Brad Whitford re-joined Derek St. Holmes for a handful of tour dates in November 2015 and a new Whitford/St. Holmes album that was made available to fans at their live performances and was scheduled for wide release in 2016. Tom Hamilton performed with Thin Lizzy at a handful of concert dates in Europe in the summer of 2016 and also joined Pearl Jam for a performance of "Draw the Line" at Boston's Fenway Park on August 7. Meanwhile, Joey Kramer became actively involved in his "Rockin' & Roastin'" coffee business, which opened a location in Newry, Maine, in December 2015 and a second location in North Attleborough, Massachusetts in July 2016.
Since December 2015, in various interviews, Whitford, Tyler, and Perry all discussed the possibility of a farewell tour or "wind-down tour" slated to start in 2017. Perry has suggested the tour could last for two years and Tyler said it could potentially last "forever"; Whitford and Tyler also discussed the potential of doing one last studio album.
On July 10, 2016, Perry collapsed onstage at a concert he was performing with the Hollywood Vampires on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest. He was revived and rushed to the hospital, where he was quickly upgraded to stable condition later that night. The Vampires continued the show without Perry that evening and continued the rest of their tour, but canceled an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. After resting for a few days, Perry made a complete recovery and returned to the Hollywood Vampires tour.
From September through October 2016 Aerosmith embarked on a nine-date tour of Latin America, called the Rock 'N' Roll Rumble Tour, preceded by a performance at the Kaaboo Festival in San Diego, California on September 17. In November 2016, Aerosmith announced that they would be going on a "farewell" tour in Europe in the spring and summer of 2017, titled the Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour. The tour launched in Tel Aviv, Israel on May 17, 2017, where approximately 45,000 tickets were sold. In early July, the band completed the European leg of the tour; the band extended the tour to South America in September and October 2017, but the last few shows had to be canceled due to health issues. According to Brad Whitford, the tour could end anytime from 2017 to the next four years in 2021. On 19 January 2018, Perry released a solo disc titled Sweetzerland Manifesto. He also announced that the 2017 tour titled "Aero-Vederci Baby!" was not really a final tour and the band will be touring in 2019 to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
Las Vegas residency, future activities and upcoming new projects (2019–present)
On August 15, 2018, Aerosmith appeared on NBC's Today show to announce a residency in Las Vegas called "Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild", a reference to both Las Vegas casino gambling and their 1994 single of the same name.
In January 2019, Joe Perry stated that he and Steven Tyler, were due to start recording new material, together, for a new Aerosmith album.
The band's Las Vegas residency took place during the months of April, June, July, and September thru December 2019 and was scheduled to be extended into January, February, May, and June 2020 at the Park Theater (the 2020 dates were cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic). In addition to the Las Vegas shows, in mid July 2019, the band performed at a festival in Minnesota, and in August 2019, they played a total of nine shows spread across three MGM venues in Maryland, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. On February 14, 2019, Aerosmith was scheduled to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but the ceremony and installation was postponed to a date to be determined due to inclement weather.
In April 2019, drummer Joey Kramer suffered minor injuries to his shoulder following an unspecified accident, and was forced to stand down from several concerts of the band's Las Vegas residency. His drum technician John Douglas substituted for him.
In November the same year, Kramer told several news sites that he was not allowed to rejoin the band despite his recovery, to which the band responded that his playing was "not up to Aerosmith standards". The disagreement culminated in a series of lawsuits in January 2020, after which Kramer was expected to be barred from performing with the band at the 2020 Grammy Awards. Kramer rejoined Aerosmith in February 2020 for their Las Vegas residency.
Aerosmith was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
In 2019, a European tour was announced, due to take place through the summer of 2020 following the completion of their Las Vegas dates, but the shows were cancelled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as was a 50th Anniversary show at Boston's Fenway Park, originally planned for September 2020. The European dates were initially rescheduled for the summer of 2021 but were later moved again to summer 2022 due to the ongoing pandemic.
In an August 2020 interview with former The Black Crowes drummer, Steve Gorman, on his radio show Steve Gorman Rocks, Brad Whitford was asked what the future of Aerosmith looked like. His response was "I don't really know what they want to do. And, I don't really care because, um, truthfully, I'm not interested anymore", citing ongoing dysfunction within the band.
He expressed similar concerns in an interview with Joe Bonamassa on his 'Live From Nerdville' podcast in June 2021. Brad shared his thoughts about how the COVID-19 outbreak would affect touring plans for Aerosmith, and musicians in general, whilst acknowledging his & his bandmates current ages. Stating, "I mean, I have my doubts about Aerosmith ever really performing again at this stage, because age is becoming a real factor. It is what it is."
On August 23, 2021, Aerosmith signed a distribution deal with Universal Music Group, covering the band's entire catalog - both Geffen (Universal's subsidiary) and Columbia titles.
Influence and legacy
Influenced by bands such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, and the New York Dolls,Jeff Burlingame (2010). "Aerosmith: Hard Rock Superstars". Enslow Publishers, Inc. Aerosmith proved to be a major influence themselves on subsequently massively successful bands and musicians; according to Perry, Eddie Van Halen once told him that his band Van Halen "started out on the suburban L.A. club circuit, playing Aerosmith songs". Aerosmith's influence was evident on the next generation of hard rock and heavy metal bands, namely Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Guns N' Roses, Tesla, L.A. Guns, Cinderella, Faster Pussycat, Skid Row, Extreme, Warrant, Inglorious, the Black Crowes and the Quireboys, as well as Metallica, Metal Church and Testament. Especially, Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash has stated that Aerosmith is his favorite band, and Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx has expressed massive admiration for the band and its early records in both The Dirt and The Heroin Diaries. Members of alternative rock bands such as Nirvana, Mother Love Bone/Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Staind and Godsmack are also self-professed early Aerosmith fans.
The interplay between Joe Perry and Brad Whitford has been inspiring to many bands, especially Guns N' Roses. Joe Perry has received wide recognition and praise as a lead guitarist, and has shared the stage many times with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, who Perry cites as primary influences. He and Tyler were asked by Page to induct Led Zeppelin into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; during the ceremony, which took place in 1995, Tyler and Perry delivered their speech and joined the band onstage for a brief set. During Beck's and Metallica's induction in 2009, they invited Perry and Page to play the Yardbirds/Zeppelin/Aerosmith classic "Train Kept A-Rollin'". Other collaborations, either by individual members of the band or by Aerosmith as a whole, have included Alice Cooper on his Trash album, Guns N' Roses (who opened for Aerosmith during their 1988 tour and had covered "Mama Kin" on their first release) and B'z. As a testimony to their importance in American popular culture as a whole, Aerosmith have also collaborated with popular non-rock artists, such as Run-DMC, Eminem ("Sing for the Moment"), and Carrie Underwood, and performed with 'N Sync, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, and Nelly for the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show. Country artists Garth Brooks and Mark Chesnutt both scored hit singles with covers of Aerosmith songs; Brooks in 1995 with "The Fever", a reworking of Aerosmith's 1993 song, and Chesnutt in 1999 with a cover of Aerosmith's 1998 song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Like many of their 1970s contemporaries including Led Zeppelin and Alice Cooper, the members of Aerosmith were prone to excess and debauchery. Drug consumption was rampant; the recording sessions for 1976's Rocks and 1977's Draw the Line were especially noted for their substance indulgence, including heroin. In the words of Bebe Buell, "They [Aerosmith] were like a gang of kids with their own planes, Porsches, millions of dollars, limitless resources. [...] Mick Jagger and Jimmy Page had control, but these boys did not care. They won the prize, hands down, for the rowdiest rock 'n' roll band in that era. No question."
In the mid to late 1970s, the band enjoyed tremendous popularity in the United States and in Japan, though they failed to make a big impression in Britain. Still, they were among the most popular hard rock acts in America in the mid to late 1970s, along with Heart, Kiss, Ted Nugent, ZZ Top, and Boston. Their massive popularity waned, however, following Perry and Whitford's departures. Following both guitarists' return to the band and its complete drug cleanup, Aerosmith made a prodigious return to success, once described as "the single most successful comeback in the history of heavy metal, if not all of popular music." During both the 1970s and the 1987–1995 era, Aerosmith undertook grueling world tours that numbered in the triple digits numbers of dates, headlining or co-headlining festivals along the way, such as the Texxas Jam in 1978 and 1987, the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington, England in 1990 and 1994, and Woodstock '94.
Initially resistant to this medium, the band later became renowned and received numerous awards for pioneering expansive, conceptual music videos, such as those for "Janie's Got a Gun" (directed by future Fight Club director David Fincher), "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'", "Amazing", "Crazy", "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", and "Pink".
The band's music has also been featured in several video games, such as episodes of the Dead or Alive and Grand Theft Auto series, and some video games are centered on the band, like Quest for Fame and Revolution X. Aerosmith was the first band to have its band-centered Guitar Hero title, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game across both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band platforms.
MembersCurrent Steven Tyler – lead vocals, harmonica, percussion (1970–present)
Tom Hamilton – bass (1970–present)
Joey Kramer – drums (1970–present)
Joe Perry – lead and rhythm guitar, backing and occasional lead vocals (1970–1979, 1984–present)
Brad Whitford – rhythm and lead guitar (1971–1981, 1984–present)Touring Buck Johnson – keyboards, piano, backing vocals, guitar (2014–present)Former Ray Tabano – rhythm and lead guitar (1970–1971)
Jimmy Crespo – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1979–1984)
Rick Dufay – rhythm and lead guitar (1981–1984)
Awards and achievements
Despite Aerosmith's popularity and success in the 1970s, it wasn't until their comeback in the late-1980s and 1990s when they started winning awards and major recognition. In 1987, Aerosmith won the Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap – Single for the re-mix of "Walk This Way" with Run-D.M.C. In 1990, Aerosmith won their first Grammy award, for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and went on to win a total of four such awards (all of them in the 1990s) for "Janie's Got a Gun", "Livin' on the Edge", "Crazy", and "Pink". Aerosmith is second only to U2 in the number of awards won in that category.
In addition, Aerosmith's music videos won numerous awards throughout the 1990s. Aerosmith ranks as the ninth most successful artist (and the third most successful group) of all-time at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), with ten such awards to date. Aerosmith is also the all-time leader in the categories Best Rock Video (with four such awards) and Viewer's Choice (with three such awards). Aerosmith has also won once each in the categories Video of the Year, Best Group Video, and Best Video from a Film. The videos for which Aerosmith has won VMAs are "Janie's Got a Gun" (2 awards), "The Other Side", "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'" (3 awards), "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", "Pink", and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Over the course of their career (primarily 1990 and after), Aerosmith has also collected six American Music Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, two People's Choice Awards, sixteen Boston Music Awards, and numerous other awards and honors. Some of the high accolades Aerosmith have achieved include induction into Hollywood's Rock Walk in 1990, a declaration of "Aerosmith Day" in the state of Massachusetts by then-Governor William Weld on April 13, 1993, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and being honored with the mtvICON award in 2002.
In the fields of technology and video games, Aerosmith has achieved several feats. In 1994, Aerosmith released the song "Head First" on the CompuServe online service, which is considered to be the first full-length commercial product available online. In 2008, Aerosmith became the first artist to have an entire Guitar Hero video game based around them with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game across both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band platforms.
Aerosmith also holds several chart and album sales feats, including the second highest number of number-one singles on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for a group with nine, the only number one debut on the Billboard Hot 100 by a rock group with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", the second most gold albums by an American group behind Kiss who has 30, the most total certifications (including gold, platinum, and multi-platinum combined) by an American group, and are tied with Van Halen for the most multi-platinum albums by an American group. From the Recording Industry Association of America, Aerosmith has achieved 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum album certifications, in addition to one diamond album, four gold singles, and one platinum digital single. Media often refer to Aerosmith, who have sold more than 150 million albums worldwide and 70.2 million in the United States, as the best-selling American rock band.
Aerosmith were honored as MusiCares Person of the Year in 2020.
Rankings
"Dream On", "Toys in the Attic", and "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) are all listed in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
In 1993, "Rolling Stones list of the "Top 100 Music Videos" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 11 and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 95.
In 1999, MTV's "100 Greatest Videos Ever Made" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 5 and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 48.
In 2000, VH1's "100 Greatest Rock Songs" included "Walk This Way" at number 35 and "Dream On" at number 47.
In 2001, "VH1: 100 Greatest Videos" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 11, "Crazy" at number 23, and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 48.
In 2003, Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time included Rocks at number 176 and Toys in the Attic at number 228.
In 2004, Rolling Stones The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time included "Dream On" at number 172, "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 287, "Walk This Way" (original) at number 336, and "Sweet Emotion" at number 408.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Aerosmith number 57 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2008, Rolling Stone ranked the original version of "Walk This Way" at number 34 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
In 2010, Aerosmith were ranked number 30 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2013, Ultimate Classic Rock website ranked "Sweet Emotion" number 1 in their Top 100 Classic Rock Songs chart.
"Pump", which reached number 1 on the Australian Record Industry Association charts and yielded two top 10 hit singles. "Pump" more than 150,000 units on Warner Music (which distributed Geffen in Australia until 1990) and more than 60,000 units after Universal took over
DiscographyStudio albums'''
Aerosmith (1973)
Get Your Wings (1974)
Toys in the Attic (1975)
Rocks (1976)
Draw the Line (1977)
Night in the Ruts (1979)
Rock in a Hard Place (1982)
Done with Mirrors (1985)
Permanent Vacation (1987)
Pump (1989)
Get a Grip (1993)
Nine Lives (1997)
Just Push Play (2001)
Honkin' on Bobo (2004)
Music from Another Dimension! (2012)
Filmography and videography
In addition to recording and performing music, Aerosmith has also been involved with films, television, video games, pinball, and music videos. In 1978, the band starred as the "Future Villain Band" in the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Later, when the band resurrected itself in the late 1980s and 1990s, Aerosmith made further appearances, including the "Wayne's World" sketch on Saturday Night Live in 1990, the "Flaming Moe's" episode of The Simpsons in 1991, and the film Wayne's World 2 in 1993. The band also appeared in the 2005 John Travolta/Uma Thurman comedy Be Cool, in which Steven Tyler and Thurman's characters help bring pop music star Linda Moon (Christina Milian) into the limelight.
The band has been the subject of several video games including Revolution X in 1994, Quest for Fame in 1995, and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, in June 2008. The band has also made over 30 major music videos, and released seven home videos or DVDs.
In 2017, Stern released three versions of an Aerosmith pinball machine, which feature original versions of nine of the band's iconic songs, as well as Elevator and Toy-Box multiballs.
Tours
1970–1972: Club Days
1973: Aerosmith Tour
1974: Get Your Wings Tour
1975: Toys in the Attic Tour
1976–1977: Rocks Tour 1977–1978: Aerosmith Express Tour (supporting Draw the Line album)
1978: Live! Bootleg Tour 1979–1980: Night in the Ruts Tour
1982–1983: Rock in a Hard Place Tour
1984: Back in the Saddle Tour 1985–1986: Done with Mirrors Tour 1987–1988: Permanent Vacation Tour 1989–1990: Pump Tour 1993–1994: Get a Grip Tour 1997–1999: Nine Lives Tour 1999–2000: Roar of the Dragon Tour 2001–2002: Just Push Play Tour 2002: Girls of Summer Tour 2003: Rocksimus Maximus Tour 2004: Honkin' on Bobo Tour 2005–2006: Rockin' the Joint Tour 2006: Route of All Evil Tour 2007: World Tour 2007 2009: Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Tour 2010: Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour 2011: Back on the Road Tour 2012–2014: Global Warming Tour 2014: Let Rock Rule Tour 2015: Blue Army Tour 2016: Rock 'N' Roll Rumble Tour 2017–2018: Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour 2019–2020: Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild''
See also
Aero Force One
Honorific nicknames in popular music
List of artists who reached number one on the Australian singles chart
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart
List of best-selling music artists
List of glam metal bands and artists
List of hard rock musicians (A–M)
List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
Pop icon
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
Aerosmithfans website|Aerosmith - Aerosmith Fans - The (un) Official Home Page Of Aerosmith Fans Worldewide - xxxxx
1970 establishments in Massachusetts
American blues rock musical groups
Hard rock musical groups from Massachusetts
American glam metal musical groups
Columbia Records artists
Geffen Records artists
Grammy Award winners
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musical groups established in 1970
Musical groups from Boston
Musical quintets
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"When the Bough Breaks is the second solo album from Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward. It was originally released on April 27, 1997, on Cleopatra Records.\n\nTrack listing\n\"Hate\" – 5:00\n\"Children Killing Children\" – 3:51\n\"Growth\" – 5:45\n\"When I was a Child\" – 4:54\n\"Please Help Mommy (She's a Junkie)\" – 6:40\n\"Shine\" – 5:06\n\"Step Lightly (On the Grass)\" – 5:59\n\"Love & Innocence\" – 1:00\n\"Animals\" – 6:32\n\"Nighthawks Stars & Pines\" – 6:45\n\"Try Life\" – 5:35\n\"When the Bough Breaks\" – 9:45\n\nCD Cleopatra CL9981 (US 1997)\n\nMusicians\n\nBill Ward - vocals, lyrics, musical arrangements\nKeith Lynch - guitars\nPaul Ill - bass, double bass, synthesizer, tape loops\nRonnie Ciago - drums\n\nCover art and reprint issues\n\nAs originally released, this album featured cover art that had two roses on it. After it was released, Bill Ward (as with Ward One, his first solo album) stated on his website that the released cover art was not the correct one that was intended to be released. Additionally, the liner notes for the original printing had lyrics that were so small, most people needed a magnifying glass to read them. This was eventually corrected in 2000 when the version of the album with Bill on the cover from the 70's was released. The album was later on released in a special digipak style of case, but this was later said to be released prematurely, and was withdrawn.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nWhen the Bough Breaks at Bill Ward's site\nWhen the Bough Breaks at Black Sabbath Online\n\nBill Ward (musician) albums\nBlack Sabbath\n1997 albums\nCleopatra Records albums",
"Natural Rebel is the fifth studio album by English singer and musician, Richard Ashcroft. The album was released on 19 October 2018 through Righteous Phonographic Association and BMG Rights Management. This is the first Ashcroft album not produced by longtime producer Chris Potter, instead by Jon Kelly and Emre Ramazanoglu, who was also contributed drums on this album.\n\nRelease and promotion\nThe album was announced on 15 August 2018 through his social media, along with Ashcroft's UK tour. The first single from the album, \"Surprised by the Joy\", was released on 10 September 2018. The second single, \"Born to Be Strangers\", was released on 22 October 2018. The third single, \"That's When I Feel It\", was released on 23 January 2019.\n\nTrack listing\n\n Deluxe Edition bonus tracks\n\n Digital released track\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n2018 albums\nRichard Ashcroft albums\nAlbums produced by Jon Kelly\nBMG Rights Management albums"
] |
[
"Aerosmith",
"Record deal, Aerosmith, Get Your Wings and Toys in the Attic (1971-1975)",
"What record deal did Aerosmith receive in 1971?",
"signed with Columbia in mid-1972",
"What was their first record?",
"Aerosmith.",
"Was this album popular?",
"the album peaked at number 166.",
"When was this released?",
"January 1973,",
"Were there any hit songs?",
"Dream On",
"What was Get Your Wings?",
"This album included the rock radio hits \"Same Old Song and Dance\" and \"Train Kept A-Rollin'\",",
"Did this album win any awards?",
"multi-platinum",
"When was this album released?",
"1974,"
] |
C_fac055458d69481bae62214031bfcf1a_0
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What was Toys in the Attic?
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What was Toys in the Attic?
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Aerosmith
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After forming the band and finalizing the lineup in 1971, the band started to garner some local success doing live shows. Originally booked through the Ed Malhoit Agency, the band signed a promotion deal with Frank Connelly and eventually secured a management deal with David Krebs and Steve Leber in 1972. Krebs and Leber invited Columbia Records President Clive Davis to see the band at Max's Kansas City in New York City. Aerosmith was not originally scheduled to play that night at the club, but they paid from their own pockets to secure a place on the bill, reportedly the only band ever to do so at Max's. "No Surprize" from their Night in the Ruts album celebrates the moment their fame began. Aerosmith signed with Columbia in mid-1972 for a reported $125,000 and issued their debut album, Aerosmith. Released in January 1973, the album peaked at number 166. The album was straightforward rock and roll with well-defined blues influences, laying the groundwork for Aerosmith's signature blues rock sound. Although the highest-charting single from the album was "Dream On" at number 59, several tracks, such as "Mama Kin" and "Walkin' the Dog", would become staples of the band's live shows and receive airplay on rock radio. The album reached gold status initially, eventually went on to sell two million copies, and was certified double platinum after the band reached mainstream success over a decade later. After constant touring, the band released their second album Get Your Wings in 1974, the first of a string of multi-platinum albums produced by Jack Douglas. This album included the rock radio hits "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'", a cover done previously by the Yardbirds. The album also contained several fan favorites including "Lord of the Thighs", "Seasons of Wither", and "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", darker songs that have become staples in the band's live shows. To date, Get Your Wings has sold three million copies. It was 1975's Toys in the Attic, however, that established Aerosmith as international stars competing with the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Originally derided as Rolling Stones knockoffs in part due to the physical resemblance between lead singers Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger, Toys in the Attic showed that Aerosmith was a unique and talented band in their own right. Toys in the Attic was an immediate success, starting with the single "Sweet Emotion", which became the band's first Top 40 hit. This was followed by a successful re-release of "Dream On" which hit number 6, becoming their best charting single of the 1970s. "Walk This Way", re-released in 1976, reached the Top 10 in early 1977. In addition, "Toys in the Attic" and "Big Ten Inch Record" (a song originally recorded by Bull Moose Jackson) became concert staples. As a result of this success, both of the band's previous albums re-charted. Toys in the Attic has gone on to become the band's bestselling studio album in the States, with certified U.S. sales of eight million copies. The band toured in support of Toys in the Attic, where they started to get more recognition. Also around this time, the band established their home base as "the Wherehouse" in Waltham, Massachusetts, where they would record and rehearse music, as well as conduct business. CANNOTANSWER
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showed that Aerosmith was a unique and talented band in their own right.
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Aerosmith is an American rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whitford (guitar). Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has also incorporated elements of pop rock, heavy metal, glam metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many subsequent rock artists. They are sometimes referred to as "the Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". The primary songwriting team of Tyler and Perry is often known as the "Toxic Twins".
Perry and Hamilton, originally in a band together called the Jam Band, met up with Tyler, Kramer, and guitarist Ray Tabano, and formed Aerosmith; in 1971, Tabano was replaced by Whitford. At some point prior to the weekend of December 25, 1971; they were known as "Fox Chase." They released a string of multi-platinum albums starting with their eponymous debut in 1973, followed by Get Your Wings in 1974. The band broke into the mainstream with Toys in the Attic (1975) and Rocks (1976). Draw the Line and Night in the Ruts followed in 1977 and 1979. Throughout the 1970s, the band toured extensively and charted a dozen Hot 100 singles, including their first Top 40 hit "Sweet Emotion" and the Top 10 hits "Dream On" and "Walk This Way". By the end of the decade, they were among the most popular hard rock bands in the world and developed a following of fans, often referred to as the "Blue Army". Drug addiction and internal conflict led to the departures of Perry and Whitford in 1979 and 1981.
The band did not fare well and the album Rock in a Hard Place (1982) failed to match previous successes.
Perry and Whitford returned to Aerosmith in 1984. After a comeback tour, they recorded Done with Mirrors (1985), which did not meet commercial expectations. It was not until a 1986 collaboration with rap group Run–D.M.C. on a remake of "Walk This Way", and the 1987 multi-platinum release, Permanent Vacation, that they regained their previous level of popularity. In the late 1980s and 1990s, the band won numerous awards for music from the multi-platinum albums Pump (1989), Get a Grip (1993), and Nine Lives (1997), while they embarked on their most extensive concert tours to date. Their biggest hits during this period included "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", "Rag Doll", "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", "What it Takes", "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'", and "Crazy". The band also filmed popular music videos and made notable appearances in television, film, and video games. In 1998, they achieved their first number-one hit with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from [[Armageddon: The Album|Armageddons soundtrack]] and the following year, their roller coaster attraction opened at Walt Disney World. Their comeback has been described as one of the most remarkable and spectacular in rock history. Additional albums Just Push Play (which included the hit "Jaded"), Honkin' on Bobo (a collection of blues covers), and Music from Another Dimension! followed in 2001, 2004, and 2012. In 2008, they released Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game. After five decades, the band continues to tour and record music. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, they had an ongoing concert residency in Las Vegas.
Aerosmith is the best-selling American hard rock band of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide, including over 85 million records in the United States. With 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum albums, they hold the record for the most total certifications by an American group and are tied for the most multi-platinum albums by an American group. They have achieved twenty-one Top 40 hits on the US Hot 100, nine number-one Mainstream Rock hits, four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, and ten MTV Video Music Awards. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and were ranked number 57 and 30, respectively, on Rolling Stones and VH1's lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2013, Tyler and Perry were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2020, the band received the MusiCares Person of the Year award.
History
Formation (1964–1970)
In 1964, Steven Tyler formed his own band called the Strangeurs—later Chain Reaction—in Yonkers, New York. Meanwhile, Perry and Hamilton formed the Jam Band (commonly known as "Joe Perry's Jam Band"), which was based on free-form and blues. Hamilton and Perry moved to Boston, Massachusetts in September 1969. There they met Joey Kramer, a drummer from Yonkers, New York. Kramer knew Tyler and had always hoped to play in a band with him. Kramer, a Berklee College of Music student, decided to leave the school, and joined Jam Band.
In 1970, Chain Reaction and Jam Band played at the same gig. Tyler immediately loved Jam Band's sound, and wanted to combine the two bands. In October 1970, the bands met up again and considered the proposition. Tyler, who had been a drummer and backup singer in Chain Reaction, adamantly refused to play drums in this new band, insisting that he would take part only if he could be frontman and lead vocalist. The others agreed, and a new band was formed. The band moved into a home together at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, where they wrote and rehearsed music together and relaxed in between shows.
The members of the band reportedly spent afternoons getting high and watching Three Stooges reruns. One day, they had a post-Stooges meeting to try to come up with a name. Kramer said that, when he was in school, he would write the word "aerosmith" all over his notebooks. The name had popped into his head after listening to Harry Nilsson's album Aerial Ballet, which featured jacket art of a circus performer jumping out of a biplane. Initially, Kramer's bandmates were unimpressed; they all thought he was referring to the Sinclair Lewis novel they were required to read in high school English class. "No, not Arrowsmith," Kramer explained. "A-E-R-O...Aerosmith." The band settled upon this name after also considering "the Hookers" and "Spike Jones."
Soon, the band hired Ray Tabano, a childhood friend of Tyler, as rhythm guitarist and began playing local shows. Aerosmith played their first gig in Mendon, Massachusetts at Nipmuc Regional High School (now Miscoe Hill Middle School) on November 6, 1970. In 1971, Tabano was replaced by Brad Whitford, who also attended the Berklee School of Music, and was formerly a member of the band Earth Inc. Whitford, from Reading, Massachusetts, had already played at Reading's AW Coolidge Middle School. Other than a period from July 1979 to April 1984, the line-up of Tyler, Perry, Hamilton, Kramer, and Whitford has stayed the same.
Record deal, Aerosmith, Get Your Wings, and Toys in the Attic (1971–1975)
After forming the band and finalizing the lineup in 1971, the band started to garner some local success doing live shows. Originally booked through the Ed Malhoit Agency, the band signed a promotion deal with Frank Connelly, and eventually secured a management deal with David Krebs and Steve Leber in 1972. Krebs and Leber invited Columbia Records President Clive Davis to see the band at Max's Kansas City in New York City. Aerosmith was not originally scheduled to play that night at the club, but they paid out of their own pockets to secure a place on the bill, reportedly the only band ever to do so at Max's. "No Surprize" from their Night in the Ruts album celebrated the moment their fame rose.
Aerosmith signed with Columbia in mid-1972 for a reported $125,000, and released their debut album, Aerosmith. Released in January 1973, the album peaked at number 166. The album was straightforward rock and roll with well-defined blues influences, laying the groundwork for Aerosmith's signature blues rock sound. Although the highest-charting single from the album was "Dream On" at number 59, several tracks, such as "Mama Kin" and "Walkin' the Dog", would become staples of the band's live shows, and received airplay on rock radio. The album reached gold status initially, eventually went on to sell two million copies, and was certified double platinum after the band reached mainstream success over a decade later. After constant touring, the band released their second album, Get Your Wings in 1974, the first of a string of multi-platinum albums produced by Jack Douglas. This album included the rock radio hits "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'", a cover done previously by the Yardbirds. The album also contained several fan favorites, including "Lord of the Thighs", "Seasons of Wither", and "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", darker songs that have become staples in the band's live shows. To date, Get Your Wings has sold three million copies.
In 1975, Aerosmith released their third album, Toys in the Attic, which established Aerosmith as international stars, competing with the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Originally derided as Rolling Stones knockoffs in part due to the physical resemblance between lead singers Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger, Toys in the Attic showed that Aerosmith was a unique and talented band in their own right. Toys in the Attic was an immediate success, starting with the single "Sweet Emotion", which became the band's first Top 40 hit. This was followed by a successful re-release of "Dream On" which hit No. 6, becoming their best charting single of the 1970s. "Walk This Way", re-released in 1976, reached the Top 10 in early 1977.
In addition, "Toys in the Attic" and "Big Ten Inch Record" (a song originally recorded by Bull Moose Jackson) became concert staples. As a result of this success, both of the band's previous albums re-charted. Toys in the Attic has gone on to become the band's bestselling studio album in the United States, with certified US sales of nine million copies. The band toured in support of Toys in the Attic, where they started to get more recognition. Also around this time, the band established their home base as "the Wherehouse" in Waltham, Massachusetts, where they would record and rehearse music, as well as conduct business.
Rocks, Draw the Line, and Live! Bootleg (1976–1978)
In 1976, Aerosmith's fourth album was Rocks, which "captured Aerosmith at their most raw and rocking". It went platinum swiftly and featured two Top 40 hits, "Last Child" and "Back in the Saddle", as well as the ballad "Home Tonight", which also charted. Rocks would eventually go on to sell over four million copies. Both Toys in the Attic and Rocks are highly regarded, especially in the hard rock genre: they appear on such lists as Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and are cited as influential by members of Guns N' Roses, Metallica, and Mötley Crüe. Kurt Cobain also listed Rocks as one of the albums he thought were most influential to Nirvana's sound in his journal in 1993. Soon after Rocks was released, the band continued to tour heavily, this time headlining their own shows, including large stadiums and rock festivals.
In 1977, Aerosmith released their fifth album, Draw the Line. Its recording was affected by the band's excesses, but the record still had memorable moments. The title track charted just shy of the Top 40 and remains a live staple, and "Kings and Queens" also charted. The album went on to sell two million copies. The band toured extensively in support of the album, but drug abuse and the fast-paced life of touring and recording began affecting their performances. Tyler and Perry became known as "the Toxic Twins" due to their notorious abuse of drugs on and off the stage. Tyler later commented, "I've spent $64 million on drugs"; Perry scoffed later, "There's no fucking way in the world you could spend that much money on drugs and still be alive. It makes a good headline – but, practically speaking, that was probably a very small portion of where we spent our money."
While continuing to tour and record in the late 1970s, Aerosmith appeared in the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie. Their cover of The Beatles' "Come Together", from the soundtrack, was the band's last Top 40 hit for nearly 10 years. The double vinyl Live! Bootleg, issued in 1978, captured the band's rawness during the Draw the Line tour. The standalone single "Chip Away the Stone", also released in 1978, charted at number 77.
Departures of Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, Night in the Ruts, and Rock in a Hard Place (1979–1984)
In 1979, the band started work on their next album, Night in the Ruts, but Aerosmith decided to go on tour during a break in the recording schedule. As the decade was about to conclude, the band's drug use began taking its toll, and tensions were slowly coming to a head. The band's touring schedule brought them to Cleveland Stadium on July 28, 1979, where they headlined the World Series of Rock festival. Pandemonium erupted backstage when Joe Perry's wife, Elissa, threw a glass of milk at Tom Hamilton's wife, Terry. Following the show, Tyler and Perry got into a heated argument when Tyler confronted Perry about his wife's antics, and after the course of the argument, Perry left Aerosmith (while Tyler claims in his autobiography that he fired Perry from the band). Upon his departure, Perry took some of the music that he had written with him. Shortly after his departure, Perry formed his own side project known as The Joe Perry Project.
Since there was still work to be done on Night in the Ruts, Aerosmith needed fill-in musicians to take Perry's place on the songs that needed to be recorded to complete the album. Guitarist Brad Whitford took over some of the lead parts, and Richie Supa, the band's longtime writing partner, filled in where needed until the band was able to hire Jimmy Crespo to take over as the next full-time guitarist. Night in the Ruts was released in November 1979, but only managed to sell enough records to be certified gold at the time, although it would eventually sell enough copies to be certified platinum by 1994. The only single the album spawned, a cover of "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" by the Shangri-Las, peaked at number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The tour for Night in the Ruts commenced shortly thereafter, but the band found themselves playing in smaller and smaller venues than before due to their popularity beginning to wane. Steven Tyler's drug issues were starting to affect his performance and songwriting, and he reached rock bottom in 1980, when he collapsed on stage during a show in Portland, Maine, and did not get up for the remainder of the set. Also in 1980, Aerosmith released their first compilation album, Greatest Hits. While the compilation didn't chart very high initially, it gained popularity later, and went on to become the band's best selling album in the United States, with sales of 12 million copies. In the fall of 1980, Tyler was injured in a serious motorcycle accident, which left him hospitalized for two months, and unable to tour or record well into 1981.
In 1981, Aerosmith began work on their next album, Rock in a Hard Place, and saw them reunite with producer Jack Douglas. However, after the first song for the album, "Lightning Strikes", was recorded, Brad Whitford left the band, and decided to form a duo with Derek St. Holmes, with whom he recorded a self-titled album, which failed to garner much interest. Whitford later joined up with the Joe Perry Project and played with them in 1984.
With Rick Dufay taking Whitford's place, Rock in a Hard Place was released on August 27, 1982. The album reached number 32 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Only one single charted, the aforementioned "Lightning Strikes", which peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. As with the tour for Night in the Ruts, Aerosmith was unable to book larger venues, and instead had to rely on filling clubs and theaters, which they struggled to do. At a homecoming arena show in Worcester, Massachusetts, Tyler and Perry reunited and got high backstage before the show. Tyler was so intoxicated that he collapsed on stage again and, like before, could not get up.
On February 14, 1984, Perry (by then divorced from his first wife Elissa) and Whitford saw Aerosmith perform at Boston's Orpheum Theater. Shortly thereafter, discussions began to reintegrate the two into the band and several months later, the original members of Aerosmith officially reunited. Steven Tyler recalls:
Back in the Saddle reunion tour, Done with Mirrors, and drug rehab (1984–1986)
In 1984, Aerosmith embarked on a reunion tour called the Back in the Saddle Tour, which led to the live album Classics Live II. While concerts on the tour were well-attended, it was plagued with several incidents, mostly attributed to drug abuse by band members. With their drug problems still not behind them, the group was signed to Geffen Records, and began working on a comeback. Despite the band signing on to a new record company, the band's old label Columbia continued to reap the benefits of Aerosmith's comeback, releasing the live companion albums Classics Live I and II and the collection Gems.
In 1985, the band released the album Done with Mirrors, their first studio album since reuniting. While the album did receive some positive reviews, it only went gold and failed to produce a hit single or generate any widespread interest. The album's most notable track, "Let the Music Do the Talking", was in fact a cover of a song originally recorded by the Joe Perry Project and released on that band's album of the same name. Nevertheless, the band became a popular concert attraction once again, touring in support of Done with Mirrors, well into 1986. In 1986, in an unprecedented crossover collaboration, Aerosmith (largely the additional contributions of leaders Tyler and Perry) appeared on Run–D.M.C.'s cover of "Walk This Way", a track blending rock and roll with hip hop. In reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song and its frequently-aired video resurrected Aerosmith's career by introducing the band's music to a new generation.
Despite their resurrecting performance, the band members' drug problems still stood in their way. In 1986, Tyler completed a successful drug rehabilitation program, after an intervention by his fellow band members, a doctor, and manager Tim Collins, who believed that the band's future would not be bright if Tyler did not get treated in time. The rest of the band members also completed drug rehab programs over the course of the next couple of years. According to the band's tell-all autobiography, Collins pledged in September 1986 that he could make Aerosmith the biggest band in the world by 1990 if they all completed drug rehab. Their next album was crucial because of the commercial disappointment of Done With Mirrors, and as the band members became clean, they worked hard to make their next album a success.
Permanent Vacation and Pump (1987–1991)
Permanent Vacation was released in August 1987, becoming a major hit and the band's bestselling album in over a decade (selling 5 million copies in the US), with all three of its singles ("Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", and "Rag Doll") reaching the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. Steven Tyler reveals in his autobiography that the album was "...the first one we ever did sober." Part of Permanent Vacations commercial success involved producer Bruce Fairbairn whose production touches (such as sound effects and high-quality recording) added interest to the album and the use of outside songwriters such as Desmond Child, Jim Vallance, and Holly Knight who assisted the band with lyrics. While the group was initially hesitant to using outside songwriters, including Tyler being furious for Knight getting songwriting credits for changing one word ("Rag Time" became "Rag Doll"), the method paid off, as Permanent Vacation became the band's most successful album in a decade. The group went on a subsequent tour with labelmates Guns N' Roses (who have cited Aerosmith as a major influence), which was intense at times because of Aerosmith's new struggle to stay clean amidst Guns N' Roses' well-publicized, rampant drug use.
Aerosmith's next album was even more successful. Pump, released in September 1989, featured three Top Ten singles: "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", and "What It Takes", as well as the Top 30 "The Other Side", re-establishing the band as a serious musical force. Pump was a critical and commercial success, eventually selling 7 million copies, spawning several music videos that were in regular rotation on MTV, and achieving four-star ratings from major music magazines. Pump ranked as the fourth-bestselling album of 1990. The band also won its first Grammy in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, for "Janie's Got a Gun". In addition, the video for "Janie's Got a Gun" won two Video Music Awards and was ranked as one of the 100 greatest videos of all time by Rolling Stone, MTV, and VH1. Like Permanent Vacation, Pump was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, who added production touches such as instrumental interludes that provided transitions between songs to give the album a more complete sound, as well as the Margarita Horns, who added horns to tracks such as "Love in an Elevator" and "The Other Side". Rock critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine claimed that Pump "revels in [pop concessions] without ever losing sight of Aerosmith's dirty hard rock core", going on to say that, "such ambition and successful musical eclectism make Pump rank with Toys in the Attic and Rocks." The recording process for Pump was documented in the video The Making of Pump, which has since been re-released as a DVD. The music videos for the album's singles were featured on the release Things That Go Pump in the Night, which quickly went platinum.
In support of Pump, the band embarked on the 12-month Pump Tour, which lasted for most of 1990. On February 21, 1990, the band appeared in a "Wayne's World" sketch on Saturday Night Live, debating the fall of communism and the Soviet Union, and performed their recent hits "Janie's Got a Gun" and "Monkey on My Back". The appearance of the band in the "Wayne's World" sketch was later ranked by E! as the number-one moment in the history of the program. On August 11, 1990, the band's performance on MTV's Unplugged aired. In October 1990, the Pump Tour ended, with the band's first ever performances in Australia. That same year, the band was also inducted to the Hollywood Rock Walk. In November 1991, the band appeared on The Simpsons episode "Flaming Moe's" and released a box set titled Pandora's Box. In coordination with the release of Pandora's Box, the band's 1975 hit "Sweet Emotion" was re-mixed and re-released as a single, and a music video was created to promote the single. Also in 1991, the band performed their 1973 single "Dream On" with Michael Kamen's orchestra for MTV's 10th Anniversary special; this performance was used as the official music video for the song. In 1992, Tyler and Perry appeared live as guests of Guns N' Roses during the latter's 1992 worldwide pay-per-view show in Paris, performing a medley of "Mama Kin" (which GN'R covered in 1986) and "Train Kept-A Rollin".
Get a Grip and Big Ones (1992–1995)
The band took a brief break before recording their follow-up to Pump in 1992. Despite significant shifts in mainstream music at the beginning of the 1990s, 1993's Get a Grip was just as successful commercially, becoming their first album to debut at number 1 and racking up sales of 7 million copies in a two-and-a-half-year timespan and over 20 million copies worldwide. The first singles were the hard rocking "Livin' on the Edge" and "Eat the Rich". Though many critics were unimpressed by the focus on the subsequent interchangeable power-ballads in promoting the album, all three ("Cryin'", "Amazing", and "Crazy") proved to be huge successes on radio and MTV. The music videos featured then up-and-coming actress Alicia Silverstone; her provocative performances earned her the title of "the Aerosmith chick" for the first half of the decade. Steven Tyler's daughter Liv Tyler was also featured in the "Crazy" video. The band won two Grammy Awards for songs from this album in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: for "Livin' on the Edge" in 1994 and "Crazy" in 1995.
During the making of Get a Grip, the management and record company brought in a variety of professional songwriting collaborators to help give nearly all the songs on the album more commercial appeal, a trend which would continue until the early 2000s. However, this led to accusations of selling out that would continue throughout the 1990s. In addition to Aerosmith's grueling 18-month world tour in support of Get a Grip, the band also did a number of things to help promote themselves and their album and appeal to youth culture, including the appearance of the band in the movie Wayne's World 2 where they performed two songs, the appearance of the band and their music in the video games Revolution X and Quest for Fame, performing at Woodstock '94, using their song "Deuces Are Wild" in The Beavis and Butt-head Experience, and opening their own club, The Mama Kin Music Hall, in Boston, MA in 1994. That same year saw the release of the band's compilation for Geffen Records, entitled Big Ones featuring their biggest hits from Permanent Vacation, Pump, and Get a Grip, "Deuces Are Wild" from the Beavis and Butt-head Experience, as well as two new songs, "Blind Man" and "Walk on Water", both of which experienced great success on the rock charts.
Nine Lives and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" (1996–2000)
Aerosmith had signed a $30 million contract for four records with Columbia Records/Sony Music in 1991, but had only recorded three of their six contractual albums with Geffen Records at that point (Done with Mirrors, Permanent Vacation, and Pump). Between 1991 and 1996, they released two more albums with Geffen (Get a Grip and Big Ones), which meant they now had five albums with Geffen under their belt (along with a planned live compilation), which meant they could now begin recording for their new contract with Columbia. The band took time off with their families before working on their next album, Nine Lives, which was plagued with personnel problems, including the firing of manager Tim Collins, who, according to band members, had nearly caused the band to break up. The album's producer was also changed from Glen Ballard to Kevin Shirley. Nine Lives was released in March 1997. Reviews were mixed, and Nine Lives initially fell down the charts, although it had a long chart life and sold double platinum in the United States alone, fueled by its singles, "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", the ballad "Hole in My Soul", and the crossover-pop smash "Pink" (which won the band their fourth Grammy Award in 1999 in the Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal category). It was followed by the over two-year-long Nine Lives Tour, which was plagued by problems including lead singer Steven Tyler injuring his leg at a concert, and Joey Kramer suffering second degree burns when his car caught fire at a gas station.
In 1998, in the midst of setbacks during the Nine Lives Tour, the band released the single "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", the love theme, written by Diane Warren for the 1998 film Armageddon, starring Steven Tyler's daughter Liv. The song became Aerosmith's first and only number 1 single when it debuted at the top position on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on top of the charts for four weeks. The song was nominated for an Academy Award in 1999. The song helped open Aerosmith up to a new generation and remains a slow-dance staple. 1998 also saw the release of the double-live album, A Little South of Sanity, which was assembled from performances on the Get a Grip and Nine Lives tours. The album went platinum shortly after its release. The band continued with their seemingly neverending world tours promoting Nine Lives and the "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" single well into 1999.
In 1999, Aerosmith was chosen to be featured in the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, providing the ride's soundtrack and theme at both Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort and, formerly, at Disneyland Paris in the Walt Disney Studios Park, which opened in 2002 and closed in 2019, to be replaced by an Iron Man and the Avengers attraction in the upcoming Avengers Campus. On September 9, 1999, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry reunited with Run–D.M.C. and were also joined by Kid Rock for a collaborative live performance of "Walk This Way" at the MTV Video Music Awards, a precursor to the Girls of Summer Tour. The band celebrated the new millennium with a brief tour of Japan, and also contributed the song "Angel's Eye" to the 2000 film Charlie's Angels. In December 2000, they wrapped up work on their next album.
Just Push Play, O, Yeah! and Rocksimus Maximus (2001–2003)
The band entered their next decade by co-headlining with NSYNC the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show, titled "The Kings of Rock and Pop", with appearances from Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige and Nelly. All of the stars collaborated with Aerosmith at the end for a performance of "Walk This Way".
In March 2001, the band released their 13th studio album Just Push Play, which quickly went platinum, fueled by the Top 10 single "Jaded" and the appearance of the title track in Dodge commercials. They were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame soon after their album was released, in late March 2001. Aerosmith is the only band to be inducted to the Hall of Fame with a song active in the charts ("Jaded"). Later that year, the band performed as part of the United We Stand: What More Can I Give benefit concert in Washington D.C. for 9/11 victims and their families. The band flew back to Indianapolis for a show the same night, as part of their Just Push Play Tour.
The band started 2002 by ending the Just Push Play tour, and simultaneously recording segments for their Behind the Music special on VH1, which not only chronicled the band's history but also the band's current activities and touring. The special was one of the few Behind the Musics to run two hours in length. In May, Aerosmith covered the "Theme from Spider-Man" for the soundtrack of the 2002 film of the same name. On June 27, the band performed at the official FIFA World Cup concert at Tokyo Stadium which took place during the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in Korea/Japan. In July 2002, Aerosmith released a two-disc career-spanning compilation O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits, which featured the new single "Girls of Summer" and embarked on the Girls of Summer Tour with Kid Rock and Run–D.M.C. opening. O, Yeah! has since been certified double platinum. MTV honored Aerosmith with their mtvICON award in 2002. Performances included Pink covering "Janie's Got a Gun". Shakira performed "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", Kid Rock played "Mama Kin" and "Last Child", Train performed "Dream On" and Papa Roach covered "Sweet Emotion". In addition, testimonials featured surprise guests Metallica, as well as Janet Jackson, Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst, Alicia Silverstone and Mila Kunis.
In 2003, Aerosmith co-headlined with Kiss on the Rocksimus Maximus Tour, in preparation for release of their blues album. They also performed a song for Rugrats Go Wild, "Lizard Love".
Honkin' on Bobo, Rockin' the Joint and Devil's Got a New Disguise (2004–2006)
Aerosmith's long-promised blues album Honkin' on Bobo was released in 2004. This was a return to the band's roots, including recording the album in live sessions, working with former producer Jack Douglas, and laying down their blues rock grit. It was followed by a live DVD, You Gotta Move, in December 2004, culled from performances on the Honkin' on Bobo Tour. "Dream On" was also featured in an advertising campaign for Buick in 2004, targeting that marque's market which is now composed largely of people who were teenagers when the song first charted.
2005 saw Steven Tyler appear in the film Be Cool. Joe Perry released his self-titled solo album that same year. At the 2006 Grammy Awards, he was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for the track "Mercy", but lost to Les Paul. In October 2005, Aerosmith released a CD/DVD Rockin' the Joint. The band hit the road for the Rockin' the Joint Tour on October 30 with Lenny Kravitz for a fall/winter tour of arenas in the largest US markets. The band planned to tour with Cheap Trick in the spring, hitting secondary markets in the US. Almost all of this leg of the tour was canceled, however. Dates were initially canceled one by one until March 22, 2006, when it was announced that lead singer Steven Tyler needed throat surgery, and the remaining dates on the tour were subsequently canceled.
Tyler and Perry performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra for their annual concert of July 4 on the Esplanade in 2006, a milestone as it was the first major event or performance since Steven Tyler's throat surgery. Around this time, the band also announced that they would embark on the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe in late 2006. On August 24, 2006, it was announced that Tom Hamilton was undergoing treatment for throat cancer. In order to make a full recovery, he sat out much of the Route of All Evil Tour until he was well again. Former Joe Perry Project bassist David Hull substituted for Hamilton until his return. On September 5, 2006, Aerosmith kicked off the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe in Columbus, Ohio. The co-headlining tour took both bands to amphitheaters across North America through November 24. After that, a select few arena dates were added, some of which were with Mötley Crüe. The tour ended December 17.
On October 17, 2006, the compilation album Devil's Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith was released. The album contained previous hits with the addition of two new songs, "Devil's Got a New Disguise" and "Sedona Sunrise", which were older outtakes re-recorded for the album. "Devil's Got a New Disguise" peaked at number 15 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The album was intended to fulfill Aerosmith's contract with Sony and tide fans over until the band's new studio album was released.
Touring, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and unfinished album (2007–2009)
In early 2007, the band announced a new World Tour, their first for nearly a decade to include dates outside North America or Japan. The band performed at London's Hard Rock Cafe in February 2007 to promote their European tour which included a night in Hyde Park as part of the Hyde Park Calling festival sponsored by Hard Rock Cafe. In the spring, the band toured Latin America to sold-out stadium crowds. In the summer, the band toured Europe, performing at several major rock festivals and visiting some countries they had never played before. Additionally, the band played in Middle East countries such as the United Arab Emirates and India for the first time. The band also played a few select dates in California and Canada in late July. The July 21 concert in Prince Edward Island, was the largest in that province's history. In September, the band performed eight dates in major markets in Northeastern North America. These shows were opened by Joan Jett. The band also played a private gig in Hawaii. A public show in Maui was canceled for logistical reasons, which spurred a class action lawsuit against the band. In April 2009, Aerosmith agreed to compensate all ticket buyers of the canceled show with a free ticket to a rescheduled Maui show to be held on October 20, 2009, along with reimbursements of all out-of-pocket expenses related to the show.
On November 1, 2007, the band entered the studio to work on the final studio album of their current contract with Sony. At the time, it was believed that the album would include both re-recorded tracks left off previous albums as well as brand new material. In an interview, guitarist Joe Perry revealed that in addition to creating a new album, the band was working closely with the makers of the Guitar Hero series to develop Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, a video game dedicated to the band's music. The game was released on June 29, 2008 and contains many of their most popular songs. Steven Tyler announced on VH1 Classic Radio on September 4, 2008, that Aerosmith intended to enter the studio at the end of September 2008 to complete the band's 15th studio album. Tyler also confirmed that the band planned to begin a new US tour in June 2009, in support of the as-yet-untitled album. This tour was supposed to be preceded by a concert in Venezuela on February 1, 2009. However, on January 15, 2009, Tyler said the band would be unable to play the gig because of a second knee injury of guitarist Joe Perry. In mid-February 2009, it was announced that the album would be produced by the famed Brendan O'Brien and that the album would likely be recorded live, like their earlier records. Although the band had hoped to finish the album before the tour started in June 2009, Perry said that the group "realized there wasn't any chance of getting [the album] finished before we hit the road for the summer." The tour featured ZZ Top as the opening act for most of the tour. The Aerosmith/ZZ Top Tour, presented by Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, was officially announced and the first dates released on April 8, 2009.
The tour was slated to take the band across North America from June to September 2009. The tour featured the band performing nearly all of the songs on their 1975 album Toys in the Attic during the first seven dates of the tour and also featured Joe Perry sing lead vocals on the 1976 "Combination". The tour was plagued with several health problems, however. Guitarist Brad Whitford had to sit out the first seven dates of the tour in order to recover from head surgery, after injuring his head getting out of his car. On June 28, 2009, at the band's seventh show of the tour at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, lead singer Steven Tyler injured his leg, which required seven shows to be postponed. As soon as the band resumed the tour on July 15, Whitford returned to the fold. However, Tom Hamilton had to depart the tour in order to recover from non-invasive surgery. On August 5, 2009, Tyler was rushed to the hospital after falling from the stage at a concert in Sturgis, South Dakota. He was helped up by security staff and taken backstage, before guitarist Joe Perry told the audience the show was over. Tyler was airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital, where he received treatment for head and neck injuries and a broken shoulder. In the wake of Tyler's injuries, the band was forced to postpone five shows in Western Canada. On August 14, 2009, Aerosmith announced that they had decided to cancel the rest of their US tour dates with ZZ Top, due to Tyler's injuries.
In the midst of the tour, Perry completed work on his fifth solo album, Have Guitar, Will Travel and drummer Joey Kramer released his autobiography, Hit Hard. Perry's solo album was released on October 6, 2009.
After Tyler recovered from falling off stage, the band returned to the stage in mid-October for two shows in Hawaii, one in Maui which was rescheduled from 2007 and finally played as part of a legal settlement, and an additional show which was played in Honolulu. In early November, the band played a concert in Abu Dhabi at the Grand Prix.
Tyler-Perry feud and Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour (2009–2010)
Tyler pulled out of a planned South American tour at the end of 2009 and seemed intent on pursuing solo projects, including his autobiography Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?. Tyler told Classic Rock magazine, "I don't know what I'm doing yet, but it's definitely going to be something Steven Tyler: working on the brand of myself – Brand Tyler." Meanwhile, guitarist Joe Perry toured the United States at the end of 2009, and Japan and the UK early in 2010.
In November 2009, Joe Perry stated that Tyler had not been in contact with the band and could be on the verge of quitting Aerosmith. Perry stated that the rest of the group was "looking for a new singer to work with." It was reported that singer Lenny Kravitz had been approached for Steven Tyler's position, which he then declined.
However, despite the rumors of him leaving the band, Tyler joined the Joe Perry Project onstage on November 10, 2009 at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, and Tyler and Perry performed the Aerosmith single "Walk This Way" together. According to sources at the event, Tyler assured the crowd that he was "not quitting Aerosmith".
On December 22, People magazine reported that Tyler had entered a rehabilitation facility to manage his addiction to painkillers, brought on by injuries to his knees, legs, and feet, that resulted from years of performing. In his statement, Tyler said he is grateful for the support he is receiving, is committed to getting things taken care of, and is eager to get back on stage and in the recording studio with his bandmates.
On January 20, 2010, Perry confirmed the band were about to audition for a new singer to replace Tyler. Perry said Tyler's surgery to his legs would "take him out of the picture" for up to a year and a half, and in the meantime, the rest of the band wanted to continue performing. Perry also said that the band would be willing to continue working with Tyler in the future if the singer wanted to.
In response, Tyler's attorney sent the band and its manager a "cease and desist" letter and threatened further legal action against both if the band did not discontinue this effort to replace Tyler.
On February 15, 2010, it was announced that Aerosmith were to headline Download Festival at Donington Park, England in June 2010. Tyler was confirmed as the frontman for the show by festival promoter Andy Copping. It was announced that the band would precede the June 13 date with an appearance at the Sweden Rock Festival on June 10 in Sölvesborg. During the Donington show, Perry celebrated Tyler's position as frontman, dubbing him "the best lead singer on the planet". On February 24, the band announced the first batch of dates for their upcoming Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour. The tour saw the band play seven dates in South and Central America in May, followed by eleven dates in Europe, in June and early July. The band performed in Colombia, Peru and Greece for the first time in their career on this tour. The band performed 24 concerts in North America in late July, August, and September. Many of the concerts were in locations the band canceled on in 2009. As part of the tour, the band played Fenway Park in Boston with fellow Bostonians the J. Geils Band.
Problems on the band's Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour arose in August 2010, including Tyler accidentally hitting Joe Perry in the head with his microphone stand at a show in Wantagh, New York and Perry bumping into Tyler at the Toronto show, which caused Tyler to tumble off the stage. Perry suffered a minor head injury at the Wantagh show and Tyler was helped back up by fans and Perry at the Toronto show, and both shows went on. Around the same time as these incidents, tension flared again between Perry and Tyler due to Tyler's plans to become a talent judge on American Idol. Perry criticized Tyler for not consulting the rest of the band, saying that he "found out on the internet, like the rest of the world" and that nobody else in the band knew anything about it.
On August 18, it was reported that Tyler officially signed on with the show. When asked about this in October, Perry declared he understood Tyler's reasons and wished him luck, but stated that he would seek different projects – "I'm tired of waiting around, so I'm not passing up anything right now".
While announcing the Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour in 2009, Tyler and Perry said that the next item on the agenda was a new Aerosmith album, the group's first since 2004's Honkin' on Bobo. The group did some recording with producer Brendan O'Brien in 2008 but halted because of Tyler's health problems. Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton told the Boston Herald in September 2010 that Tyler believes he has the time and energy to continue fronting the band while also being a judge on American Idol.
Hamilton explained, "Steven's been very emphatic in saying that the way his time is arranged on the show leaves room to work on a record. He's been taking great pains to remind everybody of that, so hopefully that's the way it will come out." On November 5, 2010, Brad Whitford said the recording sessions will probably be in Los Angeles, where American Idol is headquartered, and a world tour would follow.
Touring and Music from Another Dimension! (2010–2013)
In a November 2010 interview reported at NME.com, drummer Joey Kramer confirmed that the band had every intention to finish and release their long-delayed album in 2011, stating, "Really, at this point in time, the only thing that's going to stop us is if someone out-and-out dies. Other than that, we've already been through what we've been through and stood the test of time. What else is there?" On January 18, 2011, Tyler declared that "Joe (Perry) has got some licks and I've got a bunch of songs that I've written for solo and/or Aerosmith" and the band would start prepping the album that week.
On March 20, 2011, Aerosmith announced a new greatest hits album, Tough Love: Best of the Ballads, which was released on May 10, 2011. On May 14, 2011, the band announced a tour of Latin America in the fall of 2011. In June, Joe Perry announced that the band is going to meet at the recording studio to produce the next album of the band in July. On August 30, it was announced that the new album will be released around May 2012. The album will be produced by Jack Douglas, who produced four albums for the band in the 1970s. Aerosmith began their fall tour of Latin America and Japan on October 22 in Lima, Peru. As part of the tour, the band performed in Paraguay, Panama, and Ecuador for the first time in their careers. Their show in Asunción, Paraguay was postponed a day, after lead singer Steven Tyler sustained facial injuries after falling in his hotel room shower, due to a bout of food poisoning that dehydrated him and caused him to faint.
On March 11, 2012, Aerosmith was featured on an episode of 60 Minutes. The show included very candid interviews with the band members, interspersed with live performances from the band's 2011 tour. Some of the comments the band members said about each other seemed to re-ignite past tensions in the band. However, on March 22, Joe Perry surprised Steven Tyler by performing "Happy Birthday" for him on American Idol, as an early birthday present for Tyler. On March 26, Aerosmith announced a summer tour with Cheap Trick entitled the "Global Warming Tour". On May 23, Aerosmith debuted their new single, "Legendary Child", on the season finale of American Idol. Shortly after, it was announced that their fifteenth studio album, Music from Another Dimension!, would be released on November 6, 2012. On May 30, Aerosmith and Cheap Trick performed for Walmart shareholders. Aerosmith's "Global Warming Tour" began June 16 in Minneapolis and took the band to 26 locations across North America through August 12. The band hinted that the tour would continue in October/November after the album release. On August 22, Aerosmith released two singles simultaneously, the rocker "Lover Alot" and the ballad "What Could Have Been Love". On September 22, Aerosmith performed at the iHeartRadio music festival in Las Vegas. In advance of the release of their new album, the band performed on The Late Show with David Letterman and Today, and Tyler and Perry were interviewed on The Late Show and The View. In addition, Tyler, Perry and Whitford performed "Dream On" for the telethon Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together to raise funds for the victims of the namesake storm that struck the Northeastern United States. On November 5, Aerosmith performed an outdoor concert in front of their old apartment at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston to celebrate the release of their album and their Boston roots. Music from Another Dimension! was released on November 6. Two days later, the band began the 2nd leg of their Global Warming Tour, which took the band to 14 North American locations through December 13.
On January 21, 2013, Aerosmith released "Can't Stop Lovin' You" (featuring Carrie Underwood) as the fourth single from Music from Another Dimension!. On February 20, it was announced that the band's principal songwriters Steven Tyler and Joe Perry would be recipients of the ASCAP Founders Award at the society's 30th Annual Pop Music Awards on April 17. Two days later, it was announced that the duo would be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at a ceremony to be held on June 13.
In late April and early May 2013, Aerosmith extended their Global Warming Tour to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore. This marked the band's first performances in Australia in 23 years, and the band's first-ever performances in the latter four countries. Tom Hamilton had to miss the last three Australian shows due to illness; David Hull filled in for him. On May 5, Aerosmith cancelled their first-ever performance in Indonesia (scheduled for May 11) due to safety concerns; the actual threat was not released. On May 30, Aerosmith performed as part of the "Boston Strong" charity concert for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. The band also performed at the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia on July 6, at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut on July 10, four concerts in Japan in mid-August, and as part of the Harley-Davidson 110th Anniversary Concert series in Milwaukee on August 30. In the fall of 2013, Aerosmith extended their tour to Central and South America, including their first-ever performances in Guatemala, El Salvador and Uruguay. Hamilton had to depart the Latin American tour due to illness.
In July 2013, the band released the live concert DVD Rock for the Rising Sun, which also documented the band's 2011 tour of Japan. The release was also screened in select theaters in October 2013.
Solo endeavors, farewell tour and upcoming sixteenth studio album (2014–2018)
On March 21, 2014, in tweets released by Joe Perry, Joey Kramer, and Slash, it was announced that Aerosmith would be touring North America with Slash (along with Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators) in the summer of 2014. This followed a 17-date European tour that Aerosmith took from May 14 to July 2. The North American tour, known as the Let Rock Rule Tour, sent Aerosmith to 21 locations from July 10 to September 12.
Asked in May 2014 if Aerosmith would release a sixteenth studio album anytime soon, bassist Tom Hamilton replied, "I hope soon. But I really don't know what we are doing because we no longer have a record contract. We are finished with Columbia. So, there is nothing written in stone. We'll see what the fans want." In an interview with Rolling Stone about what the future holds, Joe Perry admitted that, "I don't even know if making new albums makes sense anymore. Maybe we'll just release an EP every six months. I don't know what the future looks like."
On October 7, 2014, Perry released his autobiography Rocks: My Life in and Out of Aerosmith, co-written by David Ritz. Perry promoted the book with a book-signing tour that took him to 14 locations across the United States in the month of October. On February 26, 2015, Aerosmith premiered the film Aerosmith Rocks Donington in 300 movie theaters across North America; the concert video is from the band's 2014 performance at Download Festival at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England. The video was released on DVD/Blu-ray on September 4, 2015.
On March 31, 2015, lead singer Steven Tyler stated that he was working on his first solo country album. On April 6, it was announced that Tyler signed a record deal with Scott Borchetta's Dot Records (a division of the Big Machine Label Group). On May 13, Tyler released the lead single, "Love is Your Name", from his forthcoming solo debut album. He promoted the song on the Bobby Bones Show, iHeartMedia, CBS This Morning, Entertainment Tonight, and the American Idol season 14 finale.
On June 10, Aerosmith embarked on the Blue Army Tour, which sent the band to 17 North American locations through August 7, many of them in smaller venues in secondary markets that the band has either never performed in or hasn't performed in many years. The band also played a one-off show in Moscow on September 5. On the tour, the band played several lesser-known deep cuts.
After the tour, Tyler completed work on his solo album, We're All Somebody from Somewhere, which was released on July 15, 2016. Prior to the album's release, a second single, "Red, White & You", was released in January 2016, followed by the third single (the title track) in June 2016. Meanwhile, Joe Perry worked with Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp on the side project Hollywood Vampires, which released their eponymous debut album in September 2015 and performed at the 58th Grammy Awards on February 15, 2016. Brad Whitford re-joined Derek St. Holmes for a handful of tour dates in November 2015 and a new Whitford/St. Holmes album that was made available to fans at their live performances and was scheduled for wide release in 2016. Tom Hamilton performed with Thin Lizzy at a handful of concert dates in Europe in the summer of 2016 and also joined Pearl Jam for a performance of "Draw the Line" at Boston's Fenway Park on August 7. Meanwhile, Joey Kramer became actively involved in his "Rockin' & Roastin'" coffee business, which opened a location in Newry, Maine, in December 2015 and a second location in North Attleborough, Massachusetts in July 2016.
Since December 2015, in various interviews, Whitford, Tyler, and Perry all discussed the possibility of a farewell tour or "wind-down tour" slated to start in 2017. Perry has suggested the tour could last for two years and Tyler said it could potentially last "forever"; Whitford and Tyler also discussed the potential of doing one last studio album.
On July 10, 2016, Perry collapsed onstage at a concert he was performing with the Hollywood Vampires on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest. He was revived and rushed to the hospital, where he was quickly upgraded to stable condition later that night. The Vampires continued the show without Perry that evening and continued the rest of their tour, but canceled an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. After resting for a few days, Perry made a complete recovery and returned to the Hollywood Vampires tour.
From September through October 2016 Aerosmith embarked on a nine-date tour of Latin America, called the Rock 'N' Roll Rumble Tour, preceded by a performance at the Kaaboo Festival in San Diego, California on September 17. In November 2016, Aerosmith announced that they would be going on a "farewell" tour in Europe in the spring and summer of 2017, titled the Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour. The tour launched in Tel Aviv, Israel on May 17, 2017, where approximately 45,000 tickets were sold. In early July, the band completed the European leg of the tour; the band extended the tour to South America in September and October 2017, but the last few shows had to be canceled due to health issues. According to Brad Whitford, the tour could end anytime from 2017 to the next four years in 2021. On 19 January 2018, Perry released a solo disc titled Sweetzerland Manifesto. He also announced that the 2017 tour titled "Aero-Vederci Baby!" was not really a final tour and the band will be touring in 2019 to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
Las Vegas residency, future activities and upcoming new projects (2019–present)
On August 15, 2018, Aerosmith appeared on NBC's Today show to announce a residency in Las Vegas called "Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild", a reference to both Las Vegas casino gambling and their 1994 single of the same name.
In January 2019, Joe Perry stated that he and Steven Tyler, were due to start recording new material, together, for a new Aerosmith album.
The band's Las Vegas residency took place during the months of April, June, July, and September thru December 2019 and was scheduled to be extended into January, February, May, and June 2020 at the Park Theater (the 2020 dates were cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic). In addition to the Las Vegas shows, in mid July 2019, the band performed at a festival in Minnesota, and in August 2019, they played a total of nine shows spread across three MGM venues in Maryland, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. On February 14, 2019, Aerosmith was scheduled to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but the ceremony and installation was postponed to a date to be determined due to inclement weather.
In April 2019, drummer Joey Kramer suffered minor injuries to his shoulder following an unspecified accident, and was forced to stand down from several concerts of the band's Las Vegas residency. His drum technician John Douglas substituted for him.
In November the same year, Kramer told several news sites that he was not allowed to rejoin the band despite his recovery, to which the band responded that his playing was "not up to Aerosmith standards". The disagreement culminated in a series of lawsuits in January 2020, after which Kramer was expected to be barred from performing with the band at the 2020 Grammy Awards. Kramer rejoined Aerosmith in February 2020 for their Las Vegas residency.
Aerosmith was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
In 2019, a European tour was announced, due to take place through the summer of 2020 following the completion of their Las Vegas dates, but the shows were cancelled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as was a 50th Anniversary show at Boston's Fenway Park, originally planned for September 2020. The European dates were initially rescheduled for the summer of 2021 but were later moved again to summer 2022 due to the ongoing pandemic.
In an August 2020 interview with former The Black Crowes drummer, Steve Gorman, on his radio show Steve Gorman Rocks, Brad Whitford was asked what the future of Aerosmith looked like. His response was "I don't really know what they want to do. And, I don't really care because, um, truthfully, I'm not interested anymore", citing ongoing dysfunction within the band.
He expressed similar concerns in an interview with Joe Bonamassa on his 'Live From Nerdville' podcast in June 2021. Brad shared his thoughts about how the COVID-19 outbreak would affect touring plans for Aerosmith, and musicians in general, whilst acknowledging his & his bandmates current ages. Stating, "I mean, I have my doubts about Aerosmith ever really performing again at this stage, because age is becoming a real factor. It is what it is."
On August 23, 2021, Aerosmith signed a distribution deal with Universal Music Group, covering the band's entire catalog - both Geffen (Universal's subsidiary) and Columbia titles.
Influence and legacy
Influenced by bands such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, and the New York Dolls,Jeff Burlingame (2010). "Aerosmith: Hard Rock Superstars". Enslow Publishers, Inc. Aerosmith proved to be a major influence themselves on subsequently massively successful bands and musicians; according to Perry, Eddie Van Halen once told him that his band Van Halen "started out on the suburban L.A. club circuit, playing Aerosmith songs". Aerosmith's influence was evident on the next generation of hard rock and heavy metal bands, namely Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Guns N' Roses, Tesla, L.A. Guns, Cinderella, Faster Pussycat, Skid Row, Extreme, Warrant, Inglorious, the Black Crowes and the Quireboys, as well as Metallica, Metal Church and Testament. Especially, Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash has stated that Aerosmith is his favorite band, and Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx has expressed massive admiration for the band and its early records in both The Dirt and The Heroin Diaries. Members of alternative rock bands such as Nirvana, Mother Love Bone/Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Staind and Godsmack are also self-professed early Aerosmith fans.
The interplay between Joe Perry and Brad Whitford has been inspiring to many bands, especially Guns N' Roses. Joe Perry has received wide recognition and praise as a lead guitarist, and has shared the stage many times with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, who Perry cites as primary influences. He and Tyler were asked by Page to induct Led Zeppelin into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; during the ceremony, which took place in 1995, Tyler and Perry delivered their speech and joined the band onstage for a brief set. During Beck's and Metallica's induction in 2009, they invited Perry and Page to play the Yardbirds/Zeppelin/Aerosmith classic "Train Kept A-Rollin'". Other collaborations, either by individual members of the band or by Aerosmith as a whole, have included Alice Cooper on his Trash album, Guns N' Roses (who opened for Aerosmith during their 1988 tour and had covered "Mama Kin" on their first release) and B'z. As a testimony to their importance in American popular culture as a whole, Aerosmith have also collaborated with popular non-rock artists, such as Run-DMC, Eminem ("Sing for the Moment"), and Carrie Underwood, and performed with 'N Sync, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, and Nelly for the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show. Country artists Garth Brooks and Mark Chesnutt both scored hit singles with covers of Aerosmith songs; Brooks in 1995 with "The Fever", a reworking of Aerosmith's 1993 song, and Chesnutt in 1999 with a cover of Aerosmith's 1998 song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Like many of their 1970s contemporaries including Led Zeppelin and Alice Cooper, the members of Aerosmith were prone to excess and debauchery. Drug consumption was rampant; the recording sessions for 1976's Rocks and 1977's Draw the Line were especially noted for their substance indulgence, including heroin. In the words of Bebe Buell, "They [Aerosmith] were like a gang of kids with their own planes, Porsches, millions of dollars, limitless resources. [...] Mick Jagger and Jimmy Page had control, but these boys did not care. They won the prize, hands down, for the rowdiest rock 'n' roll band in that era. No question."
In the mid to late 1970s, the band enjoyed tremendous popularity in the United States and in Japan, though they failed to make a big impression in Britain. Still, they were among the most popular hard rock acts in America in the mid to late 1970s, along with Heart, Kiss, Ted Nugent, ZZ Top, and Boston. Their massive popularity waned, however, following Perry and Whitford's departures. Following both guitarists' return to the band and its complete drug cleanup, Aerosmith made a prodigious return to success, once described as "the single most successful comeback in the history of heavy metal, if not all of popular music." During both the 1970s and the 1987–1995 era, Aerosmith undertook grueling world tours that numbered in the triple digits numbers of dates, headlining or co-headlining festivals along the way, such as the Texxas Jam in 1978 and 1987, the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington, England in 1990 and 1994, and Woodstock '94.
Initially resistant to this medium, the band later became renowned and received numerous awards for pioneering expansive, conceptual music videos, such as those for "Janie's Got a Gun" (directed by future Fight Club director David Fincher), "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'", "Amazing", "Crazy", "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", and "Pink".
The band's music has also been featured in several video games, such as episodes of the Dead or Alive and Grand Theft Auto series, and some video games are centered on the band, like Quest for Fame and Revolution X. Aerosmith was the first band to have its band-centered Guitar Hero title, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game across both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band platforms.
MembersCurrent Steven Tyler – lead vocals, harmonica, percussion (1970–present)
Tom Hamilton – bass (1970–present)
Joey Kramer – drums (1970–present)
Joe Perry – lead and rhythm guitar, backing and occasional lead vocals (1970–1979, 1984–present)
Brad Whitford – rhythm and lead guitar (1971–1981, 1984–present)Touring Buck Johnson – keyboards, piano, backing vocals, guitar (2014–present)Former Ray Tabano – rhythm and lead guitar (1970–1971)
Jimmy Crespo – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1979–1984)
Rick Dufay – rhythm and lead guitar (1981–1984)
Awards and achievements
Despite Aerosmith's popularity and success in the 1970s, it wasn't until their comeback in the late-1980s and 1990s when they started winning awards and major recognition. In 1987, Aerosmith won the Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap – Single for the re-mix of "Walk This Way" with Run-D.M.C. In 1990, Aerosmith won their first Grammy award, for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and went on to win a total of four such awards (all of them in the 1990s) for "Janie's Got a Gun", "Livin' on the Edge", "Crazy", and "Pink". Aerosmith is second only to U2 in the number of awards won in that category.
In addition, Aerosmith's music videos won numerous awards throughout the 1990s. Aerosmith ranks as the ninth most successful artist (and the third most successful group) of all-time at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), with ten such awards to date. Aerosmith is also the all-time leader in the categories Best Rock Video (with four such awards) and Viewer's Choice (with three such awards). Aerosmith has also won once each in the categories Video of the Year, Best Group Video, and Best Video from a Film. The videos for which Aerosmith has won VMAs are "Janie's Got a Gun" (2 awards), "The Other Side", "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'" (3 awards), "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", "Pink", and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Over the course of their career (primarily 1990 and after), Aerosmith has also collected six American Music Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, two People's Choice Awards, sixteen Boston Music Awards, and numerous other awards and honors. Some of the high accolades Aerosmith have achieved include induction into Hollywood's Rock Walk in 1990, a declaration of "Aerosmith Day" in the state of Massachusetts by then-Governor William Weld on April 13, 1993, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and being honored with the mtvICON award in 2002.
In the fields of technology and video games, Aerosmith has achieved several feats. In 1994, Aerosmith released the song "Head First" on the CompuServe online service, which is considered to be the first full-length commercial product available online. In 2008, Aerosmith became the first artist to have an entire Guitar Hero video game based around them with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game across both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band platforms.
Aerosmith also holds several chart and album sales feats, including the second highest number of number-one singles on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for a group with nine, the only number one debut on the Billboard Hot 100 by a rock group with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", the second most gold albums by an American group behind Kiss who has 30, the most total certifications (including gold, platinum, and multi-platinum combined) by an American group, and are tied with Van Halen for the most multi-platinum albums by an American group. From the Recording Industry Association of America, Aerosmith has achieved 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum album certifications, in addition to one diamond album, four gold singles, and one platinum digital single. Media often refer to Aerosmith, who have sold more than 150 million albums worldwide and 70.2 million in the United States, as the best-selling American rock band.
Aerosmith were honored as MusiCares Person of the Year in 2020.
Rankings
"Dream On", "Toys in the Attic", and "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) are all listed in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
In 1993, "Rolling Stones list of the "Top 100 Music Videos" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 11 and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 95.
In 1999, MTV's "100 Greatest Videos Ever Made" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 5 and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 48.
In 2000, VH1's "100 Greatest Rock Songs" included "Walk This Way" at number 35 and "Dream On" at number 47.
In 2001, "VH1: 100 Greatest Videos" included "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 11, "Crazy" at number 23, and "Janie's Got a Gun" at number 48.
In 2003, Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time included Rocks at number 176 and Toys in the Attic at number 228.
In 2004, Rolling Stones The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time included "Dream On" at number 172, "Walk This Way" (with Run-D.M.C.) at number 287, "Walk This Way" (original) at number 336, and "Sweet Emotion" at number 408.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Aerosmith number 57 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2008, Rolling Stone ranked the original version of "Walk This Way" at number 34 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
In 2010, Aerosmith were ranked number 30 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
In 2013, Ultimate Classic Rock website ranked "Sweet Emotion" number 1 in their Top 100 Classic Rock Songs chart.
"Pump", which reached number 1 on the Australian Record Industry Association charts and yielded two top 10 hit singles. "Pump" more than 150,000 units on Warner Music (which distributed Geffen in Australia until 1990) and more than 60,000 units after Universal took over
DiscographyStudio albums'''
Aerosmith (1973)
Get Your Wings (1974)
Toys in the Attic (1975)
Rocks (1976)
Draw the Line (1977)
Night in the Ruts (1979)
Rock in a Hard Place (1982)
Done with Mirrors (1985)
Permanent Vacation (1987)
Pump (1989)
Get a Grip (1993)
Nine Lives (1997)
Just Push Play (2001)
Honkin' on Bobo (2004)
Music from Another Dimension! (2012)
Filmography and videography
In addition to recording and performing music, Aerosmith has also been involved with films, television, video games, pinball, and music videos. In 1978, the band starred as the "Future Villain Band" in the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Later, when the band resurrected itself in the late 1980s and 1990s, Aerosmith made further appearances, including the "Wayne's World" sketch on Saturday Night Live in 1990, the "Flaming Moe's" episode of The Simpsons in 1991, and the film Wayne's World 2 in 1993. The band also appeared in the 2005 John Travolta/Uma Thurman comedy Be Cool, in which Steven Tyler and Thurman's characters help bring pop music star Linda Moon (Christina Milian) into the limelight.
The band has been the subject of several video games including Revolution X in 1994, Quest for Fame in 1995, and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, in June 2008. The band has also made over 30 major music videos, and released seven home videos or DVDs.
In 2017, Stern released three versions of an Aerosmith pinball machine, which feature original versions of nine of the band's iconic songs, as well as Elevator and Toy-Box multiballs.
Tours
1970–1972: Club Days
1973: Aerosmith Tour
1974: Get Your Wings Tour
1975: Toys in the Attic Tour
1976–1977: Rocks Tour 1977–1978: Aerosmith Express Tour (supporting Draw the Line album)
1978: Live! Bootleg Tour 1979–1980: Night in the Ruts Tour
1982–1983: Rock in a Hard Place Tour
1984: Back in the Saddle Tour 1985–1986: Done with Mirrors Tour 1987–1988: Permanent Vacation Tour 1989–1990: Pump Tour 1993–1994: Get a Grip Tour 1997–1999: Nine Lives Tour 1999–2000: Roar of the Dragon Tour 2001–2002: Just Push Play Tour 2002: Girls of Summer Tour 2003: Rocksimus Maximus Tour 2004: Honkin' on Bobo Tour 2005–2006: Rockin' the Joint Tour 2006: Route of All Evil Tour 2007: World Tour 2007 2009: Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Tour 2010: Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour 2011: Back on the Road Tour 2012–2014: Global Warming Tour 2014: Let Rock Rule Tour 2015: Blue Army Tour 2016: Rock 'N' Roll Rumble Tour 2017–2018: Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour 2019–2020: Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild''
See also
Aero Force One
Honorific nicknames in popular music
List of artists who reached number one on the Australian singles chart
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart
List of best-selling music artists
List of glam metal bands and artists
List of hard rock musicians (A–M)
List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
Pop icon
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
Aerosmithfans website|Aerosmith - Aerosmith Fans - The (un) Official Home Page Of Aerosmith Fans Worldewide - xxxxx
1970 establishments in Massachusetts
American blues rock musical groups
Hard rock musical groups from Massachusetts
American glam metal musical groups
Columbia Records artists
Geffen Records artists
Grammy Award winners
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musical groups established in 1970
Musical groups from Boston
Musical quintets
| true |
[
"Toys in the Attic is a euphemism for insanity; it may also refer to:\nToys in the Attic (play), a play by Lillian Hellman\nToys in the Attic (1963 film), the film adaptation of the Hellman play\nToys in the Attic (2009 film), a stop-motion family film\n Toys in the Attic (album), a 1975 album by American band Aerosmith\n \"Toys in the Attic\" (song), the title track from the album\n \"Toys in the attic\", a famous line from Pink Floyd song \"The Trial\"\n \"Toys in the Attic\", a song by the Dutch band Omnia\n \"Toys in the Attic\", an episode of Rugrats\n \"Toys in the Attic\", an episode of the anime series Cowboy Bebop",
"Toys in the Attic (; festival title: In the Attic or Who Has a Birthday Today?) is a 2009 internationally co-produced stop-motion animated fantasy film directed by Jiří Barta and written by Edgar Dutka and Barta which depicts a community of toys and other objects in an attic who come to life when no human is around. It is an international co-production between the Czech Republic, France, Japan and Slovakia. The film was released first in the Czech Republic on 5 March 2009 and has been shown subtitled at film festivals internationally. An American dub – adapted, produced and directed by Vivian Schilling and performed by actors including Forest Whitaker, Joan Cusack, Cary Elwes and Schilling herself – has been recorded, which the film was first shown with on 3 March 2012 at the New York International Children's Film Festival and was released nationally on 24 August 2012 by Hannover House.\n\nPlot \nIn an attic full of discarded junk, a pretty doll called Buttercup lives in an old trunk together with her friends, the marionette Sir Handsome, the lovable Teddy Bear, a Mechanical Mouse and the plasticine creature, Laurent. When Buttercup is snatched and taken off to the Land of Evil, her pals set out on a wondrous and daring adventure to rescue her from the all-powerful Head of State. Originally produced in Czech, the meticulously crafted animated feature is set in a magical world of toys and knick-knacks stored in the attic of a home in Prague. Following the symbolism of the Cold War era that impacted director Barta and the Czech Republic, the world of the attic is divided into the land of happy toys in the west and the land of evil in the east. The despotic Head of State rules over the evil empire of the east with a band of sinister minions, insects and rotted vegetables.\n\nCast \nBára Dlouhá as Paní Na Ulici\nBarbora Hrzánová as Myška Sklodowská\nBoris Hybner as Mucha\nVladimír Javorský as Rytíř Krasoň\nNada Konvalinková as Služebná Růženka\nJohana Krticková as Holčička - Hlas\nVěra Kubánková as Babička - Hlas\nJirí Lábus as Hlava / Vládce Říše Zla\nPetr Nározný as Kocour Baron\nLucie Pernetová as Panenka Pomněnka\nIvan Trojan as Skřítek Šubrt\nMiroslav Táborský as Doktor Skarab\nLudmila Ungrichtová as Babička\nAndrea Zádníková as Holčička\n\nProduction \nJiří Barta and Edgar Dutka wrote the script, originally titled Whose Birthday is it Today before it was renamed Toys in the Attic, from 1998 to 2000 with the intention of creating a story that was family-orientated, sellable to producers, and having elements of a child's imagination: \"When I found an old exercise book with my drawing of a train made from old train tickets with a piece of cigarette for the smokestack, the kid in my imagination reappeared. Edgar and I remembered the games we used to play in strange forbidden places we found in our attics.\" \n\nDue to very short deadlines set by the producer, multiple stages of making Toys in the Attic, including pre-production, production, and post-production, happened at the same time. The film was made by a total of ten to fifteen of Prague art school graduates and Barta's colleagues and friends. Pre-production began in January 2007; it involved not only storyboarding but also creating the puppets and sets from a \"huge amount of junk and antique stuff.\" The filming and animation took place from June 2007 to September 2008, which the final product contains 1,200 stills; and post-production was finished by early 2009.\n\nThe main part of the film's animation is that of puppets animated by stop motion but there are also examples of clay animation in the character Šubrt and the objects of his room, special effects such as steam in traditional animation and the face of the plaster bust Hlava (\"Head\") was performed in pixilation and voiced in the original Czech audio by actor Jiří Lábus.\n\nRelease \nThe film was theatrically released on 5 March 2009 by CinemArt and was premiered at the New York International Children's Film Festival. It was also released on DVD, VOD and Blu-ray on November 23, 2009 by Magic Box.\n\nReception \nCinemaArt released the film in the Czech Republic on 6 March 2009. Peter Debruge compared the film to Toy Story in a reviews for Variety, and complimented the animation: \"despite their inflexible faces, Barta conceives all sorts of inventive ways to bring these inanimate objects to life. […] Should a given shot prove too tricky to accomplish practically, Barta has no qualms about using digital compositing to blend multiple stop-motion plates. Though rudimentary, fire and water effects are especially effective.\" About the film's commercial prospects, Debruge wrote: \"For all its charms, In the Attic feels vaguely sinister and may prove too intense for younger kids – a testament to the film's pacing and score, as well as how deeply auds emotionally connect with these occasionally macabre toy characters.\" The film has been honored with awards including an Excellence Prize for animation at the 2010 Japan Media Arts Festival, those for best feature at the 2010 New York International Children's Film Festival and the 2011 Tehran International Animation Festival, in both winning over The Secret of Kells, and the Kecskemét City Award at the 7th Festival of European Animated Feature Films and TV Specials in 2011.\n\nAwards\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n \n \n Behind the scenes photographs at Bio Illusion\n\n2009 films\n2000s children's fantasy films\nCzech animated films\nCzech films\nFilms about dolls\nFilms about toys\nFilms directed by Jiří Barta\nFilms about sentient toys\n2000s stop-motion animated films\nCzech Lion Awards winners (films)\n2009 animated films\nFilms based on fairy tales"
] |
[
"April O'Neil",
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 series)"
] |
C_2e9481f5089249deb2dbb4c50e8ef1e3_0
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What is O'Neil's role in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?
| 1 |
What is O'Neil's role in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?
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April O'Neil
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In the 2003 cartoon series, April, voiced by Veronica Taylor in English and Yuko Kato in Japanese, got a costume change and her hair color was altered to a dark magenta tone for the new incarnation of the animated series produced by 4Kids Entertainment. However, her role was similar to that of the Mirage Studios character: again, she served as an assistant to Baxter Stockman until his Mouser experiments got out of control, and after the Turtles saved her she became a faithful friend, ally, and "big sister" to them. April made much more use of her scientific expertise and she often used her computer skills to aid the Turtles. She developed a closer relationship to Donatello, who shared many of her interests. In Season 7 she sometimes helped Donatello to collect Splinter's data bits. April developed a modest knowledge of combat skills after training with Splinter. Her quick thinking was often instrumental to the Turtles' survival. April is romantically attracted to Casey Jones, though their contrasting personalities often make them bicker. By the third season, the two seemed to have quite a serious romantic relationship. In the series finale, "Wedding Bells and Bytes", she and Casey finally got married. The young adult April continues to learn how to defend herself against Foot ninjas and other monstrosities by undergoing basic ninja training from the Turtles. She is quite skilled in some useful firearms, and can easily go through a laser grid with no problem at all. In the seventh and final season, she dons a yellow-and-black jumpsuit and carries a tanto sword to further perfect her fighting skills. At one point, she became psionically linked with a female mermaid-like mutant who had telepathically shown her the hardships of her childhood and that the few of her kind were on the verge of extinction. In addition to her recently developed ninjutsu skills, April is incredibly intelligent, smart and resourceful in complex scientific fields; similar to her good friend Donatello. So much that she even had worked for the eccentric Baxter Stockman as his assistant. She was able to hack into the computers of Shredder's stronghold and even breach several codes. She was seen wielding a katana in the special episode "Turtles Forever". CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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April O'Neil is a fictional character from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics. She is the first human ally of the Ninja Turtles. Her main love interest in the series was Casey Jones.
April made her first appearance in the Mirage comic series in 1984 as a computer programmer. She was later portrayed as a strong-willed news reporter in the Turtles' first animated series, as a warrior in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic produced by Archie Comics, and various other personas in different TMNT media.
April was later voiced by Renae Jacobs in the 1987 animated series, by Veronica Taylor in the 2003 animated series, and by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the 2007 film TMNT. In the 2012 animated series, April is voiced by Mae Whitman, in which she is her late teens. In film, she has been portrayed by Judith Hoag (1990), Paige Turco (1991 and 1993), Megan Fox (2014 and 2016) and by Malina Weissman as the younger version of the character in the 2014 film.
Comics
Mirage Comics
In the original Mirage Comics storyline for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, April O'Neil was a skilled computer programmer and assistant to a famous yet nefarious scientist, Baxter Stockman. She helped program his MOUSER robots but, after discovering Baxter was using them to burrow into bank vaults, she fled his workshop. Robots chased her into the sewer where she was promptly saved by three of the Turtles. The Turtles later successfully fended off a MOUSER invasion.
After leaving her job with Baxter, April decided to open an antique shop. The shop was subsequently destroyed in a battle between the Turtles and Shredder and the Foot Clan. April and the Turtles retreated to a farm house in Northampton, Massachusetts to recover and during this time she suffered recurrent nightmares about the Foot Clan's attack. During the mid-1990s, April became romantically involved with the violent vigilante Casey Jones, and the two of them eventually raised Shadow, the child of Casey's late wife Gabrielle, as their own.
In Volume 2 of the TMNT comics, April was attacked by a huge robot controlled by the brain of her former boss, Baxter Stockman, and injected with nanobots. With the help of the Utroms, the Turtles injected April with turtle versions of nanobots to stop Baxter's plan. The intervention saved April before Baxter's nanobots could reach her brain stem and kill her. The attack rendered April sterile. To deal with the emotional strain she became a female version of "Nobody", a vigilante crime fighter, until her identity was discovered by Casey Jones. With the help of Renet, a time-traveler who took April back through time, it was revealed that April was really a living drawing brought to life with the help of Kirby's crystal. She was drawn by her father before his own biological daughter Robyn O'Neil was born. Although anything that Kirby drew with pencil would vanish after a while, April's father used a pen, which might explain why April lived past thirty without vanishing. Questions of realness and morality were too much for April; she bid farewell to Shadow and Casey and travelled to Alaska to be alone with her thoughts. Although the trip helped April cope with her demons and led to her eventual return to New York, her family history remained unexplored.
The Mirage Studios version of April has dark brown/black hair (though early color reprints of Volume 1 depicted her hair color as red/light brown). Most subsequent incarnations of April are redheads. In the September 1985 re-printing of issue one, artist Ryan Brown depicts April as a katana-wielding ninja warrior in his back cover pin-up.
Archie Comics
In the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures series produced by Archie Comics, April began as a carbon copy of her animated counterpart from the 1987 TV series, but the writers developed her into a competent warrior after training with Splinter. Because of her frequent adventures with the Turtles, she lost her job at Channel 6 and became a freelance reporter.
In the winter 1994 Archie Special, April was mutated into a turtle herself. This made her the first official female turtle introduced to the series, three years before Venus de Milo's debut. Archie also published two sets of three-part April O'Neil mini-series.
Dreamwave Productions
The second issue of the Dreamwave Productions series (based on the 2003 animated series) focused entirely on O'Neil, consisting of a dream sequence showing how she had been pressured into a scientific career by her family despite having an interest in journalism.
IDW
In the continuity of the IDW comics, April is a very bright science student who interns at Baxter Stockman's genetic laboratory Stock Gen, where her father used to work before a stroke rendered him paralyzed. It is there that she first meets the Turtles and Splinter (at that time ordinary lab animals subjected to an intelligence-enhancing serum) and gives the Turtles their names.
April later nearly becomes a murder victim during a nocturnal break-in by a group of ninjas (the Foot Clan), who steal the Turtles along with several samples of Stockman's secret mutagenetic projects; the attempt at her life shakes her so much that she decides to take self-defense lessons from her fellow student Casey Jones, who later introduces her to the now-mutated Turtles and Splinter. April subsequently accompanies or assists the Turtles in their adventures and battles against their enemies, in the course of which she investigates Stockman's clandestine operations and makes an important contact in the Pantheon by incurring the sympathies of one of their members, Aka. While she and Casey begin a romantic relationship, Casey's self-doubts about his ability to protect his loved ones eventually cause them to drift apart.
Television
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 series)
In the 1987 cartoon series, April Harriet O'Neil was introduced as a television reporter for Channel 6 News. She had a strong nature and passion for her work, frequently expressing disagreement with her employer Burne Thompson's assignments. She also fell out repeatedly with Vernon Fenwick, the director/camera operator whose enormous ego compelled him to scoop April on her stories whenever possible. April was best friends with Irma Langinstein, the receptionist at Channel 6. She lived in an apartment in New York City, though during the course of the series she was forced to relocate several times due to a variety of Turtle-related mishaps.
April was reporting on a series of high-tech equipment thefts when she came under attack by a gang of street punks. Thinking quickly, she managed to squeeze into a storm drain and ran from the mob until she hit a dead end. The Turtles were nearby and defeated the punks. She was taken back to their sewer lair, where they explained their origins to her. At first, she believed them to be responsible for the equipment thefts, but they agreed to help find the true culprits if she kept quiet about the Turtles' existence. April quickly became their major link to the outside world since their unusual appearance effectively precluded them from functioning above ground without some sort of disguise. To communicate with the Turtles, she used a Turtlecom, a device that functioned as a two way audio-video communications system.
April's friendship with the Turtles resulted in the opportunity to film exclusive footage of their encounters with Shredder, but despite her intimate knowledge of the details of their lives, she tended to keep her professional news reports about them impersonal and mysterious. She was a vocal champion of their cause, despite Burne Thompson's opinion that the Turtles were a menace to the city, and most episodes generally showed her attempting to convince Burne and the New Yorkers that the Turtles were not criminals. By the episode "Doomquest," she finally succeeded in this by publicly exposing Lord Dregg's plans to take over the Earth via propaganda campaigns. April was frequently kidnapped by Shredder and used as bait in order to lure the Turtles out of hiding and destroy them.
April revealed her age in the Season 3 episode "Leather Head - Terror of The Swamp". In Florida on vacation, she and the Turtles found a body of water contaminated with a mutagen that made mutants feel youthful, while physically de-aging humans into four-year-old versions of themselves. Donatello did not allow April to enter the water, to which she lamented, "Oh, great! I'm doomed to be a decrepit twenty-eight-year-old hag!" Her Aunt Agatha ("Aggie"), who appeared in the episodes "Case of the Hot Kimono" and "Sleuth on the Loose", was a detective.
April was normally portrayed as a capable and independent woman. Her most important contribution to the Turtles was her access to research via the Channel 6 computers; using this information she could alert the Turtles to trouble and possible case leads. Her blue news van had classic headlights and the Channel 6 News logo on each side. April could usually be found wearing a distinctive yellow jumpsuit with white boots. By the ninth season, April worked freelance for reasons never specified, and exchanged her yellow jumpsuit for a brown leather jacket. She continued to help the Turtles even after the defeat of Shredder and his subsequent exile to Dimension X.
At the young adult age of 28, April has high reflexes and deduction skills. Being a news reporter, she is able to find and gather information for the Turtles and Splinter. She is also skilled at operating a number of different vehicles.
Portrayal
April was originally voiced by Renae Jacobs. In the 25th Anniversary crossover TV special Turtles Forever, she was voiced by Rebecca Soler. Renae Jacobs auditioned for the role in Los Angeles in 1986. She developed her initial personification of O'Neil while preparing for the audition, having not read the comics. Her first day on set voice director Stu Rosen made it clear he did not approve of her for the role, and had waited to show her audition last, saying to her, "Every one I played, the producers said ‘No, no, no, that’s not April,’ and finally I was out of people to show them, so I pulled your audition out and played it for them and they said ‘That’s April!’"
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 series)
In the 2003 cartoon series, April, voiced by Veronica Taylor in English, got a costume change and her hair color was altered to a dark magenta tone for the new incarnation of the animated series produced by 4Kids Entertainment. However, her role was similar to that of the Mirage Studios character: again, she served as an assistant to Baxter Stockman until his Mouser experiments got out of control, and after the Turtles saved her she became a faithful friend, ally, and "big sister" to them. April made much more use of her scientific expertise and she often used her computer skills to aid the Turtles. She developed a closer relationship to Donatello, who shared many of her interests. In Season 7 she sometimes helped Donatello to collect Splinter's data bits. April developed a modest knowledge of combat skills after training with Splinter. Her quick thinking was often instrumental to the Turtles' survival.
April is romantically attracted to Casey Jones, though their contrasting personalities often make them bicker. By the third season, the two seemed to have quite a serious romantic relationship. In the series finale, "Wedding Bells and Bytes", she and Casey finally got married.
The young adult April continues to learn how to defend herself against Foot ninjas and other monstrosities by undergoing basic ninja training from the Turtles. She is quite skilled in some useful firearms, and can easily go through a laser grid with no problem at all. In the seventh and final season, she dons a yellow-and-black jumpsuit based on the TMNT film and carries a tantō sword to further perfect her fighting skills. At one point, she became psionically linked with a female mermaid-like mutant who had telepathically shown her the hardships of her childhood and that the few of her kind were on the verge of extinction.
In addition to her recently developed ninjutsu skills, April is incredibly intelligent, smart and resourceful in complex scientific fields; similar to her good friend Donatello. So much that she even had worked for the eccentric Baxter Stockman as his assistant. She was able to hack into the computers of Shredder's stronghold and even breach several codes. She was seen wielding a katana in the special episode "Turtles Forever".
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 series)
Mae Whitman voices the teenage April O'Neil in the 2012 computer-animated series. Her shoulder-length bright red hair with flowly bangs is tied with a white ponytail holder which becomes undone, at times, if she is under great stress or rage. Unlike her previous counterparts, she is a sixteen-year-old teenager (as opposed to being a young adult in her late twenties) and possesses exceptionally strong psychic powers, which she eventually learns to develop more and increase drastically throughout the fourth season. This is due to her being a half human, half Kraang-mutant as her mother was abducted and experimented on by the Kraang before she was born. Her inherent psionic abilities are first hinted at in Episode 7, "Monkey Brains", when she had detected that a mutant-monkey was, in fact, a human scientist; merely saying that she "sometimes get a feeling about things", implying that she possesses extrasensory abilities as well. It even enabled her to hear far off sounds that Splinter, with his superhuman hearing, could not.
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018)
April O'Neil has been changed into a streetwise teenage girl in the 2018 cartoon, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. She is voiced by Kat Graham, and is now African-American in ethnicity. This version of April also performs a variety of odd jobs around New York while helping the turtles in any way she can.
Films
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990 film)
In the first live-action film, April was played by Judith Hoag. She was a television reporter working for Channel 3 news under Charles "Chuck" Pennington, doing an investigative series on mysterious thefts in New York City whose culprits vanished without a trace. One night while leaving work, she is accosted by teenage thieves in league with the Foot Clan, but the Turtles appear and save her under the cover of darkness. In the aftermath, April discovers and grabs Raphael's lost sai; Raphael soon follows her to retrieve the weapon and saves her again when she is attacked by a group of Foot Ninja in the subway. During the attack, April is knocked unconscious while trying to fight them off with her purse. Unsure what to do with her, Raphael carries her to the Turtles' sewer lair. Though afraid at first, April eventually comes to regard the Turtles and Splinter as friends, even letting them stay in her apartment after the Foot Clan discovered and destroyed their sewer dwellings.
Mirroring the Mirage Studios storyline, April is fired from her news job and the Foot once again attack the Turtles in the antique shop, prompting April, the Turtles, and Casey Jones to retreat to her family's farmhouse in Northampton, Massachusetts. She keeps a journal documenting their forced sabbatical in addition to drawing sketches of the Turtles. She grows extremely close to the four brothers: Michelangelo, who initially confesses to having a crush on April, later addressing her as "Sis," indicating the role she has come to occupy in the Turtles' family. During their respite, April also develops a kind of love-hate relationship with Casey Jones. By the end of the film, she accepts her attraction to him and in the aftermath of Shredder's defeat as well as getting her job back (she had been fired earlier in the film), April asks Casey for a kiss.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
In the sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, April was played by Paige Turco. She provides the Turtles and Splinter with a place to stay after the destruction of their lair in the previous film, and helps them research the company responsible for the mutagen that transformed the Turtles into their present state.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time, Paige Turco reprised her role as April O'Neil. In the film, April is temporally transported to feudal Japan, forcing the Turtles to travel back in time to rescue her.
TMNT
April was voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the 2007 CGI film TMNT. Following the continuity from the previous films, it appeared that she and Casey Jones were engaged in a genuinely close romance, living together in Casey's apartment, and working for a shipping firm. She found Leonardo in Central America at the start of the film while seeking an artifact for Max Winters. No mention was made of her past as a journalist; instead, she now appears to be involved in archaeology. April takes up several forms of ninjutsu training from Splinter, purchasing a slim black-and-yellow jumpsuit of armor from Japan, and becoming quite skilled in the use of a katana. She demonstrates her combative skills in a one-on-one fight with the far more experienced female ninja Karai.
A collectible booklet packed in with her action figure for the film implies that she had become a master of the katana. The figure itself includes a katana, tonfa, and two shoulder armored pads; this outfit was replicated for the movie. In the film's alternate ending, Casey proposes marriage to April and she accepts. This scene is absent from the final cut of the movie but can be found on the DVD.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014 film)
April appears in the reboot Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Megan Fox playing the role. During the film, it is revealed that not only was April's father involved in the creation of the turtles as his experiments created the mutagen that turned them into what they are now, but that the young April was responsible for the Turtles and Splinter escaping the destruction of the lab where they were created when she released them into the sewers after the lab was destroyed by her father to prevent Shredder and Eric Sacks getting access to the mutagen.
It was reported there was a filmed but unused scene of a fight between April, Vernon Fenwick, Karai, and The Foot in downtown Manhattan that was cut from the finished film. Will Arnett, who played Vernon, said his character "comes out just at the right moment [and] hits Karai with the gurney and knocks her off balance a little bit. Then April kind of finishes her off."
Fox was given a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress for her portrayal of O'Neil.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
Fox reprised her role in the sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.
Other appearances
In the two-part anime Mutant Turtles: Superman Legend, April was voiced by Emi Shinohara. April made a live-action appearance in the TMNT: Coming Out of Their Shells musical tour played by Sherie Rene Scott whose role was to incite the live audience to interact with the stage performers and encourage the Turtles when needed.
Video games
April has appeared in most of the TMNT video games, usually as the damsel in distress who has been captured by Shredder (or by Karai in case of SNES version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters). In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, she kicks the story off with a brief report where Krang steals the Statue of Liberty and later appears in the game ending; she also appears onscreen in the SNES version to encourage the Turtles to fight when the player characters are idle. In Konami's series of TMNT games based on the 2003 cartoon series, April resembles her cartoon counterpart and often shows up in various cutscenes to give advice and advance the plot of the game.
April appears as a playable character in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters for the Genesis, where her game character bears little resemblance to the 1987 cartoon likeness. In TMNT: Mutant Melee, April is again a playable character and participates in multi-player battles. She is also a playable character in Ubisoft's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up where she is based on the ninja April from the 2007 film. She also appears in the 2014 film-based game by Activision for the Nintendo 3DS, voiced by Julie Nathanson.
April will appear as a playable character in the 2021 fighting game Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, using her design from the 1987 animated series. April will also be a playable character in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, set for release in 2022.
Action figures
In the TMNT toy lines produced by Playmates Toys, April O'Neil has appeared in several action figure incarnations. The first of these had a limited production run, and lacked a blue stripe on her jumpsuit; it was replaced with a yellow-striped version with greater circulation. An alternate version was released in 1990, with a head sculpt closer to her cartoon incarnation, orange boots, and further modification. Another variation was released in 1993 packaged exclusively with the Channel 6 Newsman vehicle; this April had the same sculpt of the 1990 release although her jumpsuit is green and the boots yellow.
Other notable April figures include the 1992 version, dubbed simply "April" with purple accents on her jumpsuit; "April, the Ravishing Reporter", which was the first such figure to feature rooted hair; "April, the Ninja Newscaster", who came with one of each of the Turtles' signature weapons; and "Mutatin' April," part of the Mutations assortment in which April can transform into a humanoid cat (inspired by the original series' episode "The Cat Woman from Channel Six"). For the 2003 TV series, Playmates introduced two O'Neil figures; a standard sized April with bonus Mouser robots and a miniature April.
There is also an April figure based on her appearance in the 2007 film, wearing her yellow ninja outfit. NECA has released O'Neil figures based on her original Mirage Studios appearance and her appearance in the cartoon series. A figure featuring the likeness of Judith Hoag from the 1990 feature film has also been revealed for a Fall 2021 release.
References
External links
The comic that introduced April O'Neil at the official Mirage Group website
Comics characters introduced in 1984
Fictional African-American people
Fictional characters from New York City
Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids
Fictional female engineers
Fictional female ninja
Fictional software engineers
Fictional reporters
Fictional shopkeepers
Fictional telepaths
Fictional tessenjutsuka
Fictional women soldiers and warriors
Teenage characters in television
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters
Female characters in comics
Power Rangers characters
Vigilante characters in comics
| false |
[
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an entertainment franchise about a group of anthropomorphic turtles who fight evil.\n\nTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles may also refer to:\n\nComics\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Mirage Studios), original Mirage Studios comic book series\n Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mirage Studios anthology comic book series\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures, Archie Comics comic book series\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (comic strip), Creators Syndicate comic strip\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW Publishing), IDW Publishing comic book series\n\nTelevision\nTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 TV series), known as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in Europe\nTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 TV series)\nTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 TV series)\nRise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018 TV series)\n\nFilm\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in film\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990 film), 1990\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, 1991\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, 1993\n TMNT (film), 2007\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014 film), 2014\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, 2016\n\nVideo games\n\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (arcade game) (US) aka Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles (Europe), a 1989 arcade game\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES video game), a 1989 video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (pinball), a 1991 pinball machine\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Game Boy Advance), 2003 (GBA)\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 video game), 2003 (GameCube, PC, PS2, Xbox)\n TMNT (Game Boy Advance), 2007 (GBA)\n TMNT (video game), 2007 (GameCube, NDS, PC, PS2, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360)\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014 video game), 2014 (Android, iOS, 3DS)\n\nGames\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness (RPG), 1985 pen and paper role playing game\n\nMusic\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, 1990\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, 1991\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, 1993\n TMNT: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (soundtrack), 2007\n\nSee also\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures\n Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles food tie-ins",
"The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video games have been produced since 1989, largely by Japanese video game manufacturer Konami.\n\nEarlier games were mostly based on the 1987 TV series, with elements borrowed from the movies, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures, action figures and the original Mirage comic books and role-playing books. Several games released in the 2000s were based on the 2003 TV series and the 2007 film. A number of games released in the following decade have been based on the 2012 TV series, the 2014 film, and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.\n\n, the first eleven TMNT video games had sold units worldwide, earning nearly in sales revenue.\n\nList\n\nSee also\n List of video games based on comics\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n \"Free Fan-Made Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Game Is A Fun Throw-Back\", Kotaku\n\nTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Video Games\nTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Video Games\nAndroid (operating system) games\nTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Video Games\nVideo games about ninja\n \nTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles\nVideo game franchises introduced in 1989\nVideo games"
] |
[
"April O'Neil",
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 series)",
"What is O'Neil's role in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_2e9481f5089249deb2dbb4c50e8ef1e3_0
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Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
| 2 |
Other than O'Neill and her part in Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles, Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
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April O'Neil
|
In the 2003 cartoon series, April, voiced by Veronica Taylor in English and Yuko Kato in Japanese, got a costume change and her hair color was altered to a dark magenta tone for the new incarnation of the animated series produced by 4Kids Entertainment. However, her role was similar to that of the Mirage Studios character: again, she served as an assistant to Baxter Stockman until his Mouser experiments got out of control, and after the Turtles saved her she became a faithful friend, ally, and "big sister" to them. April made much more use of her scientific expertise and she often used her computer skills to aid the Turtles. She developed a closer relationship to Donatello, who shared many of her interests. In Season 7 she sometimes helped Donatello to collect Splinter's data bits. April developed a modest knowledge of combat skills after training with Splinter. Her quick thinking was often instrumental to the Turtles' survival. April is romantically attracted to Casey Jones, though their contrasting personalities often make them bicker. By the third season, the two seemed to have quite a serious romantic relationship. In the series finale, "Wedding Bells and Bytes", she and Casey finally got married. The young adult April continues to learn how to defend herself against Foot ninjas and other monstrosities by undergoing basic ninja training from the Turtles. She is quite skilled in some useful firearms, and can easily go through a laser grid with no problem at all. In the seventh and final season, she dons a yellow-and-black jumpsuit and carries a tanto sword to further perfect her fighting skills. At one point, she became psionically linked with a female mermaid-like mutant who had telepathically shown her the hardships of her childhood and that the few of her kind were on the verge of extinction. In addition to her recently developed ninjutsu skills, April is incredibly intelligent, smart and resourceful in complex scientific fields; similar to her good friend Donatello. So much that she even had worked for the eccentric Baxter Stockman as his assistant. She was able to hack into the computers of Shredder's stronghold and even breach several codes. She was seen wielding a katana in the special episode "Turtles Forever". CANNOTANSWER
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She was seen wielding a katana in the special episode "Turtles Forever".
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April O'Neil is a fictional character from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics. She is the first human ally of the Ninja Turtles. Her main love interest in the series was Casey Jones.
April made her first appearance in the Mirage comic series in 1984 as a computer programmer. She was later portrayed as a strong-willed news reporter in the Turtles' first animated series, as a warrior in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic produced by Archie Comics, and various other personas in different TMNT media.
April was later voiced by Renae Jacobs in the 1987 animated series, by Veronica Taylor in the 2003 animated series, and by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the 2007 film TMNT. In the 2012 animated series, April is voiced by Mae Whitman, in which she is her late teens. In film, she has been portrayed by Judith Hoag (1990), Paige Turco (1991 and 1993), Megan Fox (2014 and 2016) and by Malina Weissman as the younger version of the character in the 2014 film.
Comics
Mirage Comics
In the original Mirage Comics storyline for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, April O'Neil was a skilled computer programmer and assistant to a famous yet nefarious scientist, Baxter Stockman. She helped program his MOUSER robots but, after discovering Baxter was using them to burrow into bank vaults, she fled his workshop. Robots chased her into the sewer where she was promptly saved by three of the Turtles. The Turtles later successfully fended off a MOUSER invasion.
After leaving her job with Baxter, April decided to open an antique shop. The shop was subsequently destroyed in a battle between the Turtles and Shredder and the Foot Clan. April and the Turtles retreated to a farm house in Northampton, Massachusetts to recover and during this time she suffered recurrent nightmares about the Foot Clan's attack. During the mid-1990s, April became romantically involved with the violent vigilante Casey Jones, and the two of them eventually raised Shadow, the child of Casey's late wife Gabrielle, as their own.
In Volume 2 of the TMNT comics, April was attacked by a huge robot controlled by the brain of her former boss, Baxter Stockman, and injected with nanobots. With the help of the Utroms, the Turtles injected April with turtle versions of nanobots to stop Baxter's plan. The intervention saved April before Baxter's nanobots could reach her brain stem and kill her. The attack rendered April sterile. To deal with the emotional strain she became a female version of "Nobody", a vigilante crime fighter, until her identity was discovered by Casey Jones. With the help of Renet, a time-traveler who took April back through time, it was revealed that April was really a living drawing brought to life with the help of Kirby's crystal. She was drawn by her father before his own biological daughter Robyn O'Neil was born. Although anything that Kirby drew with pencil would vanish after a while, April's father used a pen, which might explain why April lived past thirty without vanishing. Questions of realness and morality were too much for April; she bid farewell to Shadow and Casey and travelled to Alaska to be alone with her thoughts. Although the trip helped April cope with her demons and led to her eventual return to New York, her family history remained unexplored.
The Mirage Studios version of April has dark brown/black hair (though early color reprints of Volume 1 depicted her hair color as red/light brown). Most subsequent incarnations of April are redheads. In the September 1985 re-printing of issue one, artist Ryan Brown depicts April as a katana-wielding ninja warrior in his back cover pin-up.
Archie Comics
In the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures series produced by Archie Comics, April began as a carbon copy of her animated counterpart from the 1987 TV series, but the writers developed her into a competent warrior after training with Splinter. Because of her frequent adventures with the Turtles, she lost her job at Channel 6 and became a freelance reporter.
In the winter 1994 Archie Special, April was mutated into a turtle herself. This made her the first official female turtle introduced to the series, three years before Venus de Milo's debut. Archie also published two sets of three-part April O'Neil mini-series.
Dreamwave Productions
The second issue of the Dreamwave Productions series (based on the 2003 animated series) focused entirely on O'Neil, consisting of a dream sequence showing how she had been pressured into a scientific career by her family despite having an interest in journalism.
IDW
In the continuity of the IDW comics, April is a very bright science student who interns at Baxter Stockman's genetic laboratory Stock Gen, where her father used to work before a stroke rendered him paralyzed. It is there that she first meets the Turtles and Splinter (at that time ordinary lab animals subjected to an intelligence-enhancing serum) and gives the Turtles their names.
April later nearly becomes a murder victim during a nocturnal break-in by a group of ninjas (the Foot Clan), who steal the Turtles along with several samples of Stockman's secret mutagenetic projects; the attempt at her life shakes her so much that she decides to take self-defense lessons from her fellow student Casey Jones, who later introduces her to the now-mutated Turtles and Splinter. April subsequently accompanies or assists the Turtles in their adventures and battles against their enemies, in the course of which she investigates Stockman's clandestine operations and makes an important contact in the Pantheon by incurring the sympathies of one of their members, Aka. While she and Casey begin a romantic relationship, Casey's self-doubts about his ability to protect his loved ones eventually cause them to drift apart.
Television
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 series)
In the 1987 cartoon series, April Harriet O'Neil was introduced as a television reporter for Channel 6 News. She had a strong nature and passion for her work, frequently expressing disagreement with her employer Burne Thompson's assignments. She also fell out repeatedly with Vernon Fenwick, the director/camera operator whose enormous ego compelled him to scoop April on her stories whenever possible. April was best friends with Irma Langinstein, the receptionist at Channel 6. She lived in an apartment in New York City, though during the course of the series she was forced to relocate several times due to a variety of Turtle-related mishaps.
April was reporting on a series of high-tech equipment thefts when she came under attack by a gang of street punks. Thinking quickly, she managed to squeeze into a storm drain and ran from the mob until she hit a dead end. The Turtles were nearby and defeated the punks. She was taken back to their sewer lair, where they explained their origins to her. At first, she believed them to be responsible for the equipment thefts, but they agreed to help find the true culprits if she kept quiet about the Turtles' existence. April quickly became their major link to the outside world since their unusual appearance effectively precluded them from functioning above ground without some sort of disguise. To communicate with the Turtles, she used a Turtlecom, a device that functioned as a two way audio-video communications system.
April's friendship with the Turtles resulted in the opportunity to film exclusive footage of their encounters with Shredder, but despite her intimate knowledge of the details of their lives, she tended to keep her professional news reports about them impersonal and mysterious. She was a vocal champion of their cause, despite Burne Thompson's opinion that the Turtles were a menace to the city, and most episodes generally showed her attempting to convince Burne and the New Yorkers that the Turtles were not criminals. By the episode "Doomquest," she finally succeeded in this by publicly exposing Lord Dregg's plans to take over the Earth via propaganda campaigns. April was frequently kidnapped by Shredder and used as bait in order to lure the Turtles out of hiding and destroy them.
April revealed her age in the Season 3 episode "Leather Head - Terror of The Swamp". In Florida on vacation, she and the Turtles found a body of water contaminated with a mutagen that made mutants feel youthful, while physically de-aging humans into four-year-old versions of themselves. Donatello did not allow April to enter the water, to which she lamented, "Oh, great! I'm doomed to be a decrepit twenty-eight-year-old hag!" Her Aunt Agatha ("Aggie"), who appeared in the episodes "Case of the Hot Kimono" and "Sleuth on the Loose", was a detective.
April was normally portrayed as a capable and independent woman. Her most important contribution to the Turtles was her access to research via the Channel 6 computers; using this information she could alert the Turtles to trouble and possible case leads. Her blue news van had classic headlights and the Channel 6 News logo on each side. April could usually be found wearing a distinctive yellow jumpsuit with white boots. By the ninth season, April worked freelance for reasons never specified, and exchanged her yellow jumpsuit for a brown leather jacket. She continued to help the Turtles even after the defeat of Shredder and his subsequent exile to Dimension X.
At the young adult age of 28, April has high reflexes and deduction skills. Being a news reporter, she is able to find and gather information for the Turtles and Splinter. She is also skilled at operating a number of different vehicles.
Portrayal
April was originally voiced by Renae Jacobs. In the 25th Anniversary crossover TV special Turtles Forever, she was voiced by Rebecca Soler. Renae Jacobs auditioned for the role in Los Angeles in 1986. She developed her initial personification of O'Neil while preparing for the audition, having not read the comics. Her first day on set voice director Stu Rosen made it clear he did not approve of her for the role, and had waited to show her audition last, saying to her, "Every one I played, the producers said ‘No, no, no, that’s not April,’ and finally I was out of people to show them, so I pulled your audition out and played it for them and they said ‘That’s April!’"
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 series)
In the 2003 cartoon series, April, voiced by Veronica Taylor in English, got a costume change and her hair color was altered to a dark magenta tone for the new incarnation of the animated series produced by 4Kids Entertainment. However, her role was similar to that of the Mirage Studios character: again, she served as an assistant to Baxter Stockman until his Mouser experiments got out of control, and after the Turtles saved her she became a faithful friend, ally, and "big sister" to them. April made much more use of her scientific expertise and she often used her computer skills to aid the Turtles. She developed a closer relationship to Donatello, who shared many of her interests. In Season 7 she sometimes helped Donatello to collect Splinter's data bits. April developed a modest knowledge of combat skills after training with Splinter. Her quick thinking was often instrumental to the Turtles' survival.
April is romantically attracted to Casey Jones, though their contrasting personalities often make them bicker. By the third season, the two seemed to have quite a serious romantic relationship. In the series finale, "Wedding Bells and Bytes", she and Casey finally got married.
The young adult April continues to learn how to defend herself against Foot ninjas and other monstrosities by undergoing basic ninja training from the Turtles. She is quite skilled in some useful firearms, and can easily go through a laser grid with no problem at all. In the seventh and final season, she dons a yellow-and-black jumpsuit based on the TMNT film and carries a tantō sword to further perfect her fighting skills. At one point, she became psionically linked with a female mermaid-like mutant who had telepathically shown her the hardships of her childhood and that the few of her kind were on the verge of extinction.
In addition to her recently developed ninjutsu skills, April is incredibly intelligent, smart and resourceful in complex scientific fields; similar to her good friend Donatello. So much that she even had worked for the eccentric Baxter Stockman as his assistant. She was able to hack into the computers of Shredder's stronghold and even breach several codes. She was seen wielding a katana in the special episode "Turtles Forever".
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 series)
Mae Whitman voices the teenage April O'Neil in the 2012 computer-animated series. Her shoulder-length bright red hair with flowly bangs is tied with a white ponytail holder which becomes undone, at times, if she is under great stress or rage. Unlike her previous counterparts, she is a sixteen-year-old teenager (as opposed to being a young adult in her late twenties) and possesses exceptionally strong psychic powers, which she eventually learns to develop more and increase drastically throughout the fourth season. This is due to her being a half human, half Kraang-mutant as her mother was abducted and experimented on by the Kraang before she was born. Her inherent psionic abilities are first hinted at in Episode 7, "Monkey Brains", when she had detected that a mutant-monkey was, in fact, a human scientist; merely saying that she "sometimes get a feeling about things", implying that she possesses extrasensory abilities as well. It even enabled her to hear far off sounds that Splinter, with his superhuman hearing, could not.
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018)
April O'Neil has been changed into a streetwise teenage girl in the 2018 cartoon, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. She is voiced by Kat Graham, and is now African-American in ethnicity. This version of April also performs a variety of odd jobs around New York while helping the turtles in any way she can.
Films
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990 film)
In the first live-action film, April was played by Judith Hoag. She was a television reporter working for Channel 3 news under Charles "Chuck" Pennington, doing an investigative series on mysterious thefts in New York City whose culprits vanished without a trace. One night while leaving work, she is accosted by teenage thieves in league with the Foot Clan, but the Turtles appear and save her under the cover of darkness. In the aftermath, April discovers and grabs Raphael's lost sai; Raphael soon follows her to retrieve the weapon and saves her again when she is attacked by a group of Foot Ninja in the subway. During the attack, April is knocked unconscious while trying to fight them off with her purse. Unsure what to do with her, Raphael carries her to the Turtles' sewer lair. Though afraid at first, April eventually comes to regard the Turtles and Splinter as friends, even letting them stay in her apartment after the Foot Clan discovered and destroyed their sewer dwellings.
Mirroring the Mirage Studios storyline, April is fired from her news job and the Foot once again attack the Turtles in the antique shop, prompting April, the Turtles, and Casey Jones to retreat to her family's farmhouse in Northampton, Massachusetts. She keeps a journal documenting their forced sabbatical in addition to drawing sketches of the Turtles. She grows extremely close to the four brothers: Michelangelo, who initially confesses to having a crush on April, later addressing her as "Sis," indicating the role she has come to occupy in the Turtles' family. During their respite, April also develops a kind of love-hate relationship with Casey Jones. By the end of the film, she accepts her attraction to him and in the aftermath of Shredder's defeat as well as getting her job back (she had been fired earlier in the film), April asks Casey for a kiss.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
In the sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, April was played by Paige Turco. She provides the Turtles and Splinter with a place to stay after the destruction of their lair in the previous film, and helps them research the company responsible for the mutagen that transformed the Turtles into their present state.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time, Paige Turco reprised her role as April O'Neil. In the film, April is temporally transported to feudal Japan, forcing the Turtles to travel back in time to rescue her.
TMNT
April was voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the 2007 CGI film TMNT. Following the continuity from the previous films, it appeared that she and Casey Jones were engaged in a genuinely close romance, living together in Casey's apartment, and working for a shipping firm. She found Leonardo in Central America at the start of the film while seeking an artifact for Max Winters. No mention was made of her past as a journalist; instead, she now appears to be involved in archaeology. April takes up several forms of ninjutsu training from Splinter, purchasing a slim black-and-yellow jumpsuit of armor from Japan, and becoming quite skilled in the use of a katana. She demonstrates her combative skills in a one-on-one fight with the far more experienced female ninja Karai.
A collectible booklet packed in with her action figure for the film implies that she had become a master of the katana. The figure itself includes a katana, tonfa, and two shoulder armored pads; this outfit was replicated for the movie. In the film's alternate ending, Casey proposes marriage to April and she accepts. This scene is absent from the final cut of the movie but can be found on the DVD.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014 film)
April appears in the reboot Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Megan Fox playing the role. During the film, it is revealed that not only was April's father involved in the creation of the turtles as his experiments created the mutagen that turned them into what they are now, but that the young April was responsible for the Turtles and Splinter escaping the destruction of the lab where they were created when she released them into the sewers after the lab was destroyed by her father to prevent Shredder and Eric Sacks getting access to the mutagen.
It was reported there was a filmed but unused scene of a fight between April, Vernon Fenwick, Karai, and The Foot in downtown Manhattan that was cut from the finished film. Will Arnett, who played Vernon, said his character "comes out just at the right moment [and] hits Karai with the gurney and knocks her off balance a little bit. Then April kind of finishes her off."
Fox was given a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress for her portrayal of O'Neil.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
Fox reprised her role in the sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.
Other appearances
In the two-part anime Mutant Turtles: Superman Legend, April was voiced by Emi Shinohara. April made a live-action appearance in the TMNT: Coming Out of Their Shells musical tour played by Sherie Rene Scott whose role was to incite the live audience to interact with the stage performers and encourage the Turtles when needed.
Video games
April has appeared in most of the TMNT video games, usually as the damsel in distress who has been captured by Shredder (or by Karai in case of SNES version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters). In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, she kicks the story off with a brief report where Krang steals the Statue of Liberty and later appears in the game ending; she also appears onscreen in the SNES version to encourage the Turtles to fight when the player characters are idle. In Konami's series of TMNT games based on the 2003 cartoon series, April resembles her cartoon counterpart and often shows up in various cutscenes to give advice and advance the plot of the game.
April appears as a playable character in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters for the Genesis, where her game character bears little resemblance to the 1987 cartoon likeness. In TMNT: Mutant Melee, April is again a playable character and participates in multi-player battles. She is also a playable character in Ubisoft's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up where she is based on the ninja April from the 2007 film. She also appears in the 2014 film-based game by Activision for the Nintendo 3DS, voiced by Julie Nathanson.
April will appear as a playable character in the 2021 fighting game Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, using her design from the 1987 animated series. April will also be a playable character in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, set for release in 2022.
Action figures
In the TMNT toy lines produced by Playmates Toys, April O'Neil has appeared in several action figure incarnations. The first of these had a limited production run, and lacked a blue stripe on her jumpsuit; it was replaced with a yellow-striped version with greater circulation. An alternate version was released in 1990, with a head sculpt closer to her cartoon incarnation, orange boots, and further modification. Another variation was released in 1993 packaged exclusively with the Channel 6 Newsman vehicle; this April had the same sculpt of the 1990 release although her jumpsuit is green and the boots yellow.
Other notable April figures include the 1992 version, dubbed simply "April" with purple accents on her jumpsuit; "April, the Ravishing Reporter", which was the first such figure to feature rooted hair; "April, the Ninja Newscaster", who came with one of each of the Turtles' signature weapons; and "Mutatin' April," part of the Mutations assortment in which April can transform into a humanoid cat (inspired by the original series' episode "The Cat Woman from Channel Six"). For the 2003 TV series, Playmates introduced two O'Neil figures; a standard sized April with bonus Mouser robots and a miniature April.
There is also an April figure based on her appearance in the 2007 film, wearing her yellow ninja outfit. NECA has released O'Neil figures based on her original Mirage Studios appearance and her appearance in the cartoon series. A figure featuring the likeness of Judith Hoag from the 1990 feature film has also been revealed for a Fall 2021 release.
References
External links
The comic that introduced April O'Neil at the official Mirage Group website
Comics characters introduced in 1984
Fictional African-American people
Fictional characters from New York City
Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids
Fictional female engineers
Fictional female ninja
Fictional software engineers
Fictional reporters
Fictional shopkeepers
Fictional telepaths
Fictional tessenjutsuka
Fictional women soldiers and warriors
Teenage characters in television
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters
Female characters in comics
Power Rangers characters
Vigilante characters in comics
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[
"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"
] |
[
"April O'Neil",
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 series)",
"What is O'Neil's role in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?",
"I don't know.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"She was seen wielding a katana in the special episode \"Turtles Forever\"."
] |
C_2e9481f5089249deb2dbb4c50e8ef1e3_0
|
Why was this episode special?
| 3 |
Why was the Turtles Forever episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesspecial?
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April O'Neil
|
In the 2003 cartoon series, April, voiced by Veronica Taylor in English and Yuko Kato in Japanese, got a costume change and her hair color was altered to a dark magenta tone for the new incarnation of the animated series produced by 4Kids Entertainment. However, her role was similar to that of the Mirage Studios character: again, she served as an assistant to Baxter Stockman until his Mouser experiments got out of control, and after the Turtles saved her she became a faithful friend, ally, and "big sister" to them. April made much more use of her scientific expertise and she often used her computer skills to aid the Turtles. She developed a closer relationship to Donatello, who shared many of her interests. In Season 7 she sometimes helped Donatello to collect Splinter's data bits. April developed a modest knowledge of combat skills after training with Splinter. Her quick thinking was often instrumental to the Turtles' survival. April is romantically attracted to Casey Jones, though their contrasting personalities often make them bicker. By the third season, the two seemed to have quite a serious romantic relationship. In the series finale, "Wedding Bells and Bytes", she and Casey finally got married. The young adult April continues to learn how to defend herself against Foot ninjas and other monstrosities by undergoing basic ninja training from the Turtles. She is quite skilled in some useful firearms, and can easily go through a laser grid with no problem at all. In the seventh and final season, she dons a yellow-and-black jumpsuit and carries a tanto sword to further perfect her fighting skills. At one point, she became psionically linked with a female mermaid-like mutant who had telepathically shown her the hardships of her childhood and that the few of her kind were on the verge of extinction. In addition to her recently developed ninjutsu skills, April is incredibly intelligent, smart and resourceful in complex scientific fields; similar to her good friend Donatello. So much that she even had worked for the eccentric Baxter Stockman as his assistant. She was able to hack into the computers of Shredder's stronghold and even breach several codes. She was seen wielding a katana in the special episode "Turtles Forever". CANNOTANSWER
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In the series finale, "Wedding Bells and Bytes", she and Casey finally got married.
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April O'Neil is a fictional character from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics. She is the first human ally of the Ninja Turtles. Her main love interest in the series was Casey Jones.
April made her first appearance in the Mirage comic series in 1984 as a computer programmer. She was later portrayed as a strong-willed news reporter in the Turtles' first animated series, as a warrior in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic produced by Archie Comics, and various other personas in different TMNT media.
April was later voiced by Renae Jacobs in the 1987 animated series, by Veronica Taylor in the 2003 animated series, and by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the 2007 film TMNT. In the 2012 animated series, April is voiced by Mae Whitman, in which she is her late teens. In film, she has been portrayed by Judith Hoag (1990), Paige Turco (1991 and 1993), Megan Fox (2014 and 2016) and by Malina Weissman as the younger version of the character in the 2014 film.
Comics
Mirage Comics
In the original Mirage Comics storyline for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, April O'Neil was a skilled computer programmer and assistant to a famous yet nefarious scientist, Baxter Stockman. She helped program his MOUSER robots but, after discovering Baxter was using them to burrow into bank vaults, she fled his workshop. Robots chased her into the sewer where she was promptly saved by three of the Turtles. The Turtles later successfully fended off a MOUSER invasion.
After leaving her job with Baxter, April decided to open an antique shop. The shop was subsequently destroyed in a battle between the Turtles and Shredder and the Foot Clan. April and the Turtles retreated to a farm house in Northampton, Massachusetts to recover and during this time she suffered recurrent nightmares about the Foot Clan's attack. During the mid-1990s, April became romantically involved with the violent vigilante Casey Jones, and the two of them eventually raised Shadow, the child of Casey's late wife Gabrielle, as their own.
In Volume 2 of the TMNT comics, April was attacked by a huge robot controlled by the brain of her former boss, Baxter Stockman, and injected with nanobots. With the help of the Utroms, the Turtles injected April with turtle versions of nanobots to stop Baxter's plan. The intervention saved April before Baxter's nanobots could reach her brain stem and kill her. The attack rendered April sterile. To deal with the emotional strain she became a female version of "Nobody", a vigilante crime fighter, until her identity was discovered by Casey Jones. With the help of Renet, a time-traveler who took April back through time, it was revealed that April was really a living drawing brought to life with the help of Kirby's crystal. She was drawn by her father before his own biological daughter Robyn O'Neil was born. Although anything that Kirby drew with pencil would vanish after a while, April's father used a pen, which might explain why April lived past thirty without vanishing. Questions of realness and morality were too much for April; she bid farewell to Shadow and Casey and travelled to Alaska to be alone with her thoughts. Although the trip helped April cope with her demons and led to her eventual return to New York, her family history remained unexplored.
The Mirage Studios version of April has dark brown/black hair (though early color reprints of Volume 1 depicted her hair color as red/light brown). Most subsequent incarnations of April are redheads. In the September 1985 re-printing of issue one, artist Ryan Brown depicts April as a katana-wielding ninja warrior in his back cover pin-up.
Archie Comics
In the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures series produced by Archie Comics, April began as a carbon copy of her animated counterpart from the 1987 TV series, but the writers developed her into a competent warrior after training with Splinter. Because of her frequent adventures with the Turtles, she lost her job at Channel 6 and became a freelance reporter.
In the winter 1994 Archie Special, April was mutated into a turtle herself. This made her the first official female turtle introduced to the series, three years before Venus de Milo's debut. Archie also published two sets of three-part April O'Neil mini-series.
Dreamwave Productions
The second issue of the Dreamwave Productions series (based on the 2003 animated series) focused entirely on O'Neil, consisting of a dream sequence showing how she had been pressured into a scientific career by her family despite having an interest in journalism.
IDW
In the continuity of the IDW comics, April is a very bright science student who interns at Baxter Stockman's genetic laboratory Stock Gen, where her father used to work before a stroke rendered him paralyzed. It is there that she first meets the Turtles and Splinter (at that time ordinary lab animals subjected to an intelligence-enhancing serum) and gives the Turtles their names.
April later nearly becomes a murder victim during a nocturnal break-in by a group of ninjas (the Foot Clan), who steal the Turtles along with several samples of Stockman's secret mutagenetic projects; the attempt at her life shakes her so much that she decides to take self-defense lessons from her fellow student Casey Jones, who later introduces her to the now-mutated Turtles and Splinter. April subsequently accompanies or assists the Turtles in their adventures and battles against their enemies, in the course of which she investigates Stockman's clandestine operations and makes an important contact in the Pantheon by incurring the sympathies of one of their members, Aka. While she and Casey begin a romantic relationship, Casey's self-doubts about his ability to protect his loved ones eventually cause them to drift apart.
Television
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 series)
In the 1987 cartoon series, April Harriet O'Neil was introduced as a television reporter for Channel 6 News. She had a strong nature and passion for her work, frequently expressing disagreement with her employer Burne Thompson's assignments. She also fell out repeatedly with Vernon Fenwick, the director/camera operator whose enormous ego compelled him to scoop April on her stories whenever possible. April was best friends with Irma Langinstein, the receptionist at Channel 6. She lived in an apartment in New York City, though during the course of the series she was forced to relocate several times due to a variety of Turtle-related mishaps.
April was reporting on a series of high-tech equipment thefts when she came under attack by a gang of street punks. Thinking quickly, she managed to squeeze into a storm drain and ran from the mob until she hit a dead end. The Turtles were nearby and defeated the punks. She was taken back to their sewer lair, where they explained their origins to her. At first, she believed them to be responsible for the equipment thefts, but they agreed to help find the true culprits if she kept quiet about the Turtles' existence. April quickly became their major link to the outside world since their unusual appearance effectively precluded them from functioning above ground without some sort of disguise. To communicate with the Turtles, she used a Turtlecom, a device that functioned as a two way audio-video communications system.
April's friendship with the Turtles resulted in the opportunity to film exclusive footage of their encounters with Shredder, but despite her intimate knowledge of the details of their lives, she tended to keep her professional news reports about them impersonal and mysterious. She was a vocal champion of their cause, despite Burne Thompson's opinion that the Turtles were a menace to the city, and most episodes generally showed her attempting to convince Burne and the New Yorkers that the Turtles were not criminals. By the episode "Doomquest," she finally succeeded in this by publicly exposing Lord Dregg's plans to take over the Earth via propaganda campaigns. April was frequently kidnapped by Shredder and used as bait in order to lure the Turtles out of hiding and destroy them.
April revealed her age in the Season 3 episode "Leather Head - Terror of The Swamp". In Florida on vacation, she and the Turtles found a body of water contaminated with a mutagen that made mutants feel youthful, while physically de-aging humans into four-year-old versions of themselves. Donatello did not allow April to enter the water, to which she lamented, "Oh, great! I'm doomed to be a decrepit twenty-eight-year-old hag!" Her Aunt Agatha ("Aggie"), who appeared in the episodes "Case of the Hot Kimono" and "Sleuth on the Loose", was a detective.
April was normally portrayed as a capable and independent woman. Her most important contribution to the Turtles was her access to research via the Channel 6 computers; using this information she could alert the Turtles to trouble and possible case leads. Her blue news van had classic headlights and the Channel 6 News logo on each side. April could usually be found wearing a distinctive yellow jumpsuit with white boots. By the ninth season, April worked freelance for reasons never specified, and exchanged her yellow jumpsuit for a brown leather jacket. She continued to help the Turtles even after the defeat of Shredder and his subsequent exile to Dimension X.
At the young adult age of 28, April has high reflexes and deduction skills. Being a news reporter, she is able to find and gather information for the Turtles and Splinter. She is also skilled at operating a number of different vehicles.
Portrayal
April was originally voiced by Renae Jacobs. In the 25th Anniversary crossover TV special Turtles Forever, she was voiced by Rebecca Soler. Renae Jacobs auditioned for the role in Los Angeles in 1986. She developed her initial personification of O'Neil while preparing for the audition, having not read the comics. Her first day on set voice director Stu Rosen made it clear he did not approve of her for the role, and had waited to show her audition last, saying to her, "Every one I played, the producers said ‘No, no, no, that’s not April,’ and finally I was out of people to show them, so I pulled your audition out and played it for them and they said ‘That’s April!’"
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 series)
In the 2003 cartoon series, April, voiced by Veronica Taylor in English, got a costume change and her hair color was altered to a dark magenta tone for the new incarnation of the animated series produced by 4Kids Entertainment. However, her role was similar to that of the Mirage Studios character: again, she served as an assistant to Baxter Stockman until his Mouser experiments got out of control, and after the Turtles saved her she became a faithful friend, ally, and "big sister" to them. April made much more use of her scientific expertise and she often used her computer skills to aid the Turtles. She developed a closer relationship to Donatello, who shared many of her interests. In Season 7 she sometimes helped Donatello to collect Splinter's data bits. April developed a modest knowledge of combat skills after training with Splinter. Her quick thinking was often instrumental to the Turtles' survival.
April is romantically attracted to Casey Jones, though their contrasting personalities often make them bicker. By the third season, the two seemed to have quite a serious romantic relationship. In the series finale, "Wedding Bells and Bytes", she and Casey finally got married.
The young adult April continues to learn how to defend herself against Foot ninjas and other monstrosities by undergoing basic ninja training from the Turtles. She is quite skilled in some useful firearms, and can easily go through a laser grid with no problem at all. In the seventh and final season, she dons a yellow-and-black jumpsuit based on the TMNT film and carries a tantō sword to further perfect her fighting skills. At one point, she became psionically linked with a female mermaid-like mutant who had telepathically shown her the hardships of her childhood and that the few of her kind were on the verge of extinction.
In addition to her recently developed ninjutsu skills, April is incredibly intelligent, smart and resourceful in complex scientific fields; similar to her good friend Donatello. So much that she even had worked for the eccentric Baxter Stockman as his assistant. She was able to hack into the computers of Shredder's stronghold and even breach several codes. She was seen wielding a katana in the special episode "Turtles Forever".
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 series)
Mae Whitman voices the teenage April O'Neil in the 2012 computer-animated series. Her shoulder-length bright red hair with flowly bangs is tied with a white ponytail holder which becomes undone, at times, if she is under great stress or rage. Unlike her previous counterparts, she is a sixteen-year-old teenager (as opposed to being a young adult in her late twenties) and possesses exceptionally strong psychic powers, which she eventually learns to develop more and increase drastically throughout the fourth season. This is due to her being a half human, half Kraang-mutant as her mother was abducted and experimented on by the Kraang before she was born. Her inherent psionic abilities are first hinted at in Episode 7, "Monkey Brains", when she had detected that a mutant-monkey was, in fact, a human scientist; merely saying that she "sometimes get a feeling about things", implying that she possesses extrasensory abilities as well. It even enabled her to hear far off sounds that Splinter, with his superhuman hearing, could not.
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018)
April O'Neil has been changed into a streetwise teenage girl in the 2018 cartoon, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. She is voiced by Kat Graham, and is now African-American in ethnicity. This version of April also performs a variety of odd jobs around New York while helping the turtles in any way she can.
Films
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990 film)
In the first live-action film, April was played by Judith Hoag. She was a television reporter working for Channel 3 news under Charles "Chuck" Pennington, doing an investigative series on mysterious thefts in New York City whose culprits vanished without a trace. One night while leaving work, she is accosted by teenage thieves in league with the Foot Clan, but the Turtles appear and save her under the cover of darkness. In the aftermath, April discovers and grabs Raphael's lost sai; Raphael soon follows her to retrieve the weapon and saves her again when she is attacked by a group of Foot Ninja in the subway. During the attack, April is knocked unconscious while trying to fight them off with her purse. Unsure what to do with her, Raphael carries her to the Turtles' sewer lair. Though afraid at first, April eventually comes to regard the Turtles and Splinter as friends, even letting them stay in her apartment after the Foot Clan discovered and destroyed their sewer dwellings.
Mirroring the Mirage Studios storyline, April is fired from her news job and the Foot once again attack the Turtles in the antique shop, prompting April, the Turtles, and Casey Jones to retreat to her family's farmhouse in Northampton, Massachusetts. She keeps a journal documenting their forced sabbatical in addition to drawing sketches of the Turtles. She grows extremely close to the four brothers: Michelangelo, who initially confesses to having a crush on April, later addressing her as "Sis," indicating the role she has come to occupy in the Turtles' family. During their respite, April also develops a kind of love-hate relationship with Casey Jones. By the end of the film, she accepts her attraction to him and in the aftermath of Shredder's defeat as well as getting her job back (she had been fired earlier in the film), April asks Casey for a kiss.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
In the sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, April was played by Paige Turco. She provides the Turtles and Splinter with a place to stay after the destruction of their lair in the previous film, and helps them research the company responsible for the mutagen that transformed the Turtles into their present state.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time, Paige Turco reprised her role as April O'Neil. In the film, April is temporally transported to feudal Japan, forcing the Turtles to travel back in time to rescue her.
TMNT
April was voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the 2007 CGI film TMNT. Following the continuity from the previous films, it appeared that she and Casey Jones were engaged in a genuinely close romance, living together in Casey's apartment, and working for a shipping firm. She found Leonardo in Central America at the start of the film while seeking an artifact for Max Winters. No mention was made of her past as a journalist; instead, she now appears to be involved in archaeology. April takes up several forms of ninjutsu training from Splinter, purchasing a slim black-and-yellow jumpsuit of armor from Japan, and becoming quite skilled in the use of a katana. She demonstrates her combative skills in a one-on-one fight with the far more experienced female ninja Karai.
A collectible booklet packed in with her action figure for the film implies that she had become a master of the katana. The figure itself includes a katana, tonfa, and two shoulder armored pads; this outfit was replicated for the movie. In the film's alternate ending, Casey proposes marriage to April and she accepts. This scene is absent from the final cut of the movie but can be found on the DVD.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014 film)
April appears in the reboot Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Megan Fox playing the role. During the film, it is revealed that not only was April's father involved in the creation of the turtles as his experiments created the mutagen that turned them into what they are now, but that the young April was responsible for the Turtles and Splinter escaping the destruction of the lab where they were created when she released them into the sewers after the lab was destroyed by her father to prevent Shredder and Eric Sacks getting access to the mutagen.
It was reported there was a filmed but unused scene of a fight between April, Vernon Fenwick, Karai, and The Foot in downtown Manhattan that was cut from the finished film. Will Arnett, who played Vernon, said his character "comes out just at the right moment [and] hits Karai with the gurney and knocks her off balance a little bit. Then April kind of finishes her off."
Fox was given a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress for her portrayal of O'Neil.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
Fox reprised her role in the sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.
Other appearances
In the two-part anime Mutant Turtles: Superman Legend, April was voiced by Emi Shinohara. April made a live-action appearance in the TMNT: Coming Out of Their Shells musical tour played by Sherie Rene Scott whose role was to incite the live audience to interact with the stage performers and encourage the Turtles when needed.
Video games
April has appeared in most of the TMNT video games, usually as the damsel in distress who has been captured by Shredder (or by Karai in case of SNES version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters). In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, she kicks the story off with a brief report where Krang steals the Statue of Liberty and later appears in the game ending; she also appears onscreen in the SNES version to encourage the Turtles to fight when the player characters are idle. In Konami's series of TMNT games based on the 2003 cartoon series, April resembles her cartoon counterpart and often shows up in various cutscenes to give advice and advance the plot of the game.
April appears as a playable character in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters for the Genesis, where her game character bears little resemblance to the 1987 cartoon likeness. In TMNT: Mutant Melee, April is again a playable character and participates in multi-player battles. She is also a playable character in Ubisoft's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up where she is based on the ninja April from the 2007 film. She also appears in the 2014 film-based game by Activision for the Nintendo 3DS, voiced by Julie Nathanson.
April will appear as a playable character in the 2021 fighting game Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, using her design from the 1987 animated series. April will also be a playable character in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, set for release in 2022.
Action figures
In the TMNT toy lines produced by Playmates Toys, April O'Neil has appeared in several action figure incarnations. The first of these had a limited production run, and lacked a blue stripe on her jumpsuit; it was replaced with a yellow-striped version with greater circulation. An alternate version was released in 1990, with a head sculpt closer to her cartoon incarnation, orange boots, and further modification. Another variation was released in 1993 packaged exclusively with the Channel 6 Newsman vehicle; this April had the same sculpt of the 1990 release although her jumpsuit is green and the boots yellow.
Other notable April figures include the 1992 version, dubbed simply "April" with purple accents on her jumpsuit; "April, the Ravishing Reporter", which was the first such figure to feature rooted hair; "April, the Ninja Newscaster", who came with one of each of the Turtles' signature weapons; and "Mutatin' April," part of the Mutations assortment in which April can transform into a humanoid cat (inspired by the original series' episode "The Cat Woman from Channel Six"). For the 2003 TV series, Playmates introduced two O'Neil figures; a standard sized April with bonus Mouser robots and a miniature April.
There is also an April figure based on her appearance in the 2007 film, wearing her yellow ninja outfit. NECA has released O'Neil figures based on her original Mirage Studios appearance and her appearance in the cartoon series. A figure featuring the likeness of Judith Hoag from the 1990 feature film has also been revealed for a Fall 2021 release.
References
External links
The comic that introduced April O'Neil at the official Mirage Group website
Comics characters introduced in 1984
Fictional African-American people
Fictional characters from New York City
Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids
Fictional female engineers
Fictional female ninja
Fictional software engineers
Fictional reporters
Fictional shopkeepers
Fictional telepaths
Fictional tessenjutsuka
Fictional women soldiers and warriors
Teenage characters in television
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters
Female characters in comics
Power Rangers characters
Vigilante characters in comics
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"Top Model po-russki, cycle 2 was the second installment of the Russian adaptation of Tyra Banks America's Next Top Model. The show aired on Muz-TV from September to November 2011. Host Ksenia Sobchak and Inna Zobova returned as judges, but Elena Suprun and Mikhail Korolev were replaced by stylist, fashion designer and TV presenter Vlad Lisovets, and male model Danila Polyakov.\n\nThe prize package for this cycle included a fashion spread in Cosmopolitan magazine as well as a cover appearance in Cosmopolitan Shopping, a contract with Max Factor, and a modelling contract.\n\nThe winner of the competition was 18-year-old Katya Bagrova from Nizhny Novgorod.\n\nCast\n\nContestants\n\n(Ages stated are at start of contest)\n\nJudges\n Ksenia Sobchak (host)\n Vlad Lisovets\n Danila Polyakov\n Inna Zobova\n\nEpisodes\n\nEpisode 1 \nOriginal Airdate: September 25, 2011\n\nEpisode 2 \nOriginal Airdate: September 25, 2011\nFeatured photographer: Natalie Arefyeva\nSpecial guests: Daniel Kosenkov\n\nEpisode 3 \n\nOriginal Airdate: October 2, 2011\n\nFeatured photographer: Enisey Abramov \nSpecial guests: Vladimir Kalinchev\n\nEpisode 4 \n\nOriginal Airdate: October 2, 2011\n\nFeatured photographer: Alikhan \nSpecial guests: Evgeniy Papunaishvili\n\nEpisode 5 \nOriginal Airdate: October 9, 2011\n\nFeatured photographer: Alexey Nikishin\n\nEpisode 6 \n\nOriginal Airdate: October 9, 2011\n \nFeatured photographer: Nigel Barker\nSpecial guests: Nigel Barker\n\nEpisode 7 \n\nOriginal Airdate: October 16, 2011\n\nFeatured photographer: Alexey Yakovlev\nSpecial guests: Masha Tsigal\n\nEpisode 8 \n\nOriginal Airdate: October 16, 2011\n\nFeatured photographer: Dmitry Pirozhnikov\nSpecial guests: Alya Badanina, Natasha Poly\n\nEpisode 9 \n\nOriginal Airdate: October 23, 2011\n\nEpisode 10 \n\nOriginal Airdate: October 23, 2011\n\nFeatured photographer: Phys Frampton\nSpecial guests: Sophie Ellis-Bextor\n\nEpisode 11 \n\nOriginal Airdate: October 30, 2011\n \nFeatured photographer: Rita\nSpecial guests: Sasha Boyer\n\nEpisode 12 \n\nOriginal Airdate: October 30, 2011\n\nFeatured photographer: Joseph Sinclair\nSpecial guests: Prince Cassius\n\nEpisode 13 \nOriginal Airdate: November 6, 2011\n\n Special guests: Vladimir Kalinchev\n\nEpisode 14 \nOriginal Airdate: November 6, 2011\n\nFeatured photographer: Clara Maidment\nSpecial guests: Alya Badanina\n\nResults\n\n The contestant was eliminated\n The contestant was eliminated outside of judging panel\n The contestant quit the competition\n The contestant was the original eliminee but was saved\n The contestant won the competition\n The contestant won the challenge\n The contestant won the challenge twice\n\n Episode 1 was the casting episode.\n In episode 6, Nastya was eliminated outside of judging panel. \n In episode 7, Dobromira was the original eliminee, but was saved due to Vera's decision to quit the competition. \n Episode 9 was the recap episode.\n In episode 13, there was no call-out. Olga was eliminated immediately after the final three deliberation, while Katya and Yulya advanced to the final two.\n\nShoots guide\n\n Episode 1 photo shoot (casting): Portraying pirates\nEpisode 2 photo shoot: On the beach for Gillette Venus\nEpisode 3 photo shoot: Beauty shots for MaxFactor\nEpisode 4 photo shoot: Angels\nEpisode 5 photo shoot: Circus\n\nReferences\n\nTop Model series (Russia)\n2011 Russian television seasons",
"This is a list of episodes of the South Korean variety-music show King of Mask Singer in 2015. The show airs on MBC as part of their Sunday Night lineup. The names listed below are in performance order. A new rule was introduced in Episode 5, with the eliminated singer being allowed to sing the next song they prepared, and taking off their mask during the instrumental break of their song.\n\n – Contestant is instantly eliminated by the live audience and judging panel\n – After being eliminated, contestant performs a prepared song for the next round and takes off their mask during the instrumental break\n – After being eliminated and revealing their identity, contestant has another special performance\n – Contestant advances to the next round\n – Contestant becomes the challenger\n – Mask King\n\nEpisodes\n\nPilot\n\nContestants : Jo Kwon (2AM), Kim Ye-won, , K.Will, Shin Bora, Solji (EXID), Won Ki-joon, Hong Jin-young\n\nThe pilot was broadcast on 18 February 2015.\n\nRound 1\n\n1st Generation Mask King\n\nContestants : Kang Kyun-sung (Noel), Ivy, Kim Ji-woo, Luna (f(x)), , Sandeul (B1A4), Park Gwang-hyun, \n\nEpisode 1\n\nEpisode 1 was broadcast on April 5, 2015. This marks the beginning of the First Generation.\n\nEpisode 2\n\nEpisode 2 was broadcast on April 12, 2015.\n\n2nd Generation Mask King\n\nContestants : , Kim Jong-seo, Shin Soo-ji, Hyun Woo, Lee Changmin (2AM/Homme), Lee Hong-gi (F.T. Island), Jang Hye-jin, G.NA\n\nEpisode 3\n\nEpisode 3 was broadcast on April 19, 2015. This marks the beginning of the Second Generation.\n\nEpisode 4\n\nEpisode 4 was broadcast on April 26, 2015.\n\n3rd Generation Mask King\n\nContestants : Kahi, Yook Sungjae (BtoB), (CAN), , Jinju, Eric Nam, , Song Jieun (Secret)\n\nEpisode 5\n\nEpisode 5 was broadcast on May 3, 2015. This marks the beginning of the Third Generation.\n\nEpisode 6\n\nEpisode 6 was broadcast on May 10, 2015.\n\nLuna released a digital special single \"Don't Cry For Me\" (미소를 띄우며 나를 보낸 그 모습처럼) for the show after her elimination. The song is a remake of 's 1986 version.\n\n4th Generation Mask King\n\nContestants : Yook Jung-wan (), Ailee, Hong Seok-cheon, Taeil (Block B), , Kim Yeon-woo, Sojin (Girl's Day), \n\nEpisode 7\n\nEpisode 7 was broadcast on May 17, 2015. This marks the beginning of the Fourth Generation.\n\nEpisode 8\n\nEpisode 8 was broadcast on May 24, 2015.\n\n5th Generation Mask King\n\nContestants : , Kim Seul-gi, Chunji (Teen Top), Min (Miss A), Ahn Jae-mo, , Seo In-young, \n\nEpisode 9\n\nEpisode 9 was broadcast on May 31, 2015. This marks the beginning of the Fifth Generation.\n\nEpisode 10\n\nEpisode 10 was broadcast on June 7, 2015.\n\n6th Generation Mask King\n\nContestants : , , Hyun Jyu-ni, , (Flower), Ken (VIXX), (S#arp), Jung Eun-ji (Apink)\n\nEpisode 11\n\nEpisode 11 was broadcast on June 14, 2015. This marks the beginning of the Sixth Generation.\n\nEpisode 12\n\nEpisode 12 was broadcast on June 21, 2015.\n\n7th Generation Mask King\n\nContestants : Lyn, , Song Won-geun, Lee Ki-chan, Choi Jung-in, Gaeko (Dynamic Duo), Moon Hee-kyung, Kim Boa (SPICA)\n\nEpisode 13\n\nEpisode 13 was broadcast on June 28, 2015. This marks the beginning of the Seventh Generation.\n\nEpisode 14\n\nEpisode 14 was broadcast on July 5, 2015.\n\n8th Generation Mask King\n\nContestants : (NRG), , Tei, , Yuju (GFriend), , Lee Jung, Kim Tae-gyun (Cultwo)\n\nEpisode 15\n\nEpisode 15 was broadcast on July 12, 2015. This marks the beginning of the Eighth Generation.\n\nEpisode 16\n\nEpisode 16 was broadcast on July 19, 2015.\n\n9th Generation Mask King\n\nContestants : Kim Min-hee, (), Kang Min-kyung (Davichi), , , Yeoeun (Melody Day), Kim Young-ho, Kang Kyun-sung (Noel)\n\nEpisode 17\n\nEpisode 17 was broadcast on July 26, 2015. This marks the beginning of the Ninth Generation.\n\nEpisode 18\n\nEpisode 18 was broadcast on August 2, 2015.\n\n10th Generation Mask King\n\nContestants : , Lee Sung-kyung, (Big Mama), , Alex Chu (Clazziquai), Son Dong-woon (HIGHLIGHT), , Bada Kim\n\nEpisode 19\n\nEpisode 19 was broadcast on August 9, 2015. This marks the beginning of the Tenth Generation.\n\nEpisode 20\n\nEpisode 20 was broadcast on August 16, 2015.\n\n11th Generation Mask King\n\nContestants : Mikey (Duble Sidekick), Solar (Mamamoo), Jung Sang-hoon, Chen (EXO), , (8Eight), , \n\nEpisode 21\n\nEpisode 21 was broadcast on August 23, 2015. This marks the beginning of the Eleventh Generation.\n\nEpisode 22\n\nEpisode 22 was broadcast on August 30, 2015.\n\n12th Generation Mask King\n\nContestants : , Kim Dong-wook, Lim Hyung-joo, Kim Young-chul, , , Sungtae (), UJi (BESTie)\n\nEpisode 23\n\nEpisode 23 was broadcast on September 6, 2015. This marks the beginning of the Twelfth Generation.\n\nEpisode 24\n\nEpisode 24 was broadcast on September 13, 2015.\n\nSpecial Live 2015: Your Choice! King of Mask Singer\n\nContestants : Kim Boa (SPICA), Kim Ye-won, Yook Sungjae (BtoB), Jang Hye-jin, , , , \n\nThe special live broadcast aired on September 11, 2015, as part of the DMC Festival. This was a special edition that brought back contestants that had been eliminated in previous episodes, and a special Mask King was chosen from live voting (in 3 minutes after each pair's performance). Jo Jang-hyuk was able to perform as a challenger in Episode 34.\n\n13th Generation Mask King\n\nContestants : Sung Ji-ru, Lee Seok-hoon (SG Wannabe), Byul, Choa (AOA), , , Gummy, Simon Dominic\n\nEpisode 25\n\nEpisode 25 was broadcast on September 20, 2015. This marks the beginning of the Thirteenth Generation.\n\nEpisode 26\n\nEpisode 26 was broadcast on September 27, 2015.\n\n14th Generation Mask King\n\nContestants : , Bae Ki-sung (CAN), Wax, Lee Changsub (BtoB), Park Jung-ah (Jewelry), Cheetah, , \n\nEpisode 27\n\nEpisode 27 was broadcast on October 4, 2015. This marks the beginning of the Fourteenth Generation.\n\nEpisode 28\n\nEpisode 28 was broadcast on October 11, 2015.\n\n15th Generation Mask King\n\nContestants : Kim Dong-wan (Shinhwa), Chunja, , , Gong Hyung-jin, Cho Kyuhyun (Super Junior), , Park Ji-yoon\n\nEpisode 29\n\nEpisode 29 was broadcast on October 18, 2015. This marks the beginning of the Fifteenth Generation.\n\nEpisode 30\n\nEpisode 30 was broadcast on October 25, 2015.\n\n16th Generation Mask King\n\nContestants : , Kim Jung-min, , Dami Im, Hong Jin-young, Seunghee (Oh My Girl), Lee Hyun (8Eight/Homme), \n\nEpisode 31\n\nEpisode 31 was broadcast on November 1, 2015. This marks the beginning of the Sixteenth Generation.\n\nEpisode 32\n\nEpisode 32 was broadcast on November 8, 2015.\n\n17th Generation Mask King\n\nContestants : Lee Young-jin, Raina (After School/Orange Caramel), Younha, (Norazo), Kim Jung-tae, Daehyun (B.A.P), Hyun Jin-young, \n\nEpisode 33\n\nEpisode 33 was broadcast on November 15, 2015. This marks the beginning of the Seventeenth Generation.\n\nEpisode 34\n\nEpisode 34 was broadcast on November 22, 2015. \"Sensitivity Vocal Cricket\", who was Mask King of the special live broadcast (aired September 11, 2015), participated in the final battle with the Sixteenth Generation Mask King and the Challenger.\n\n18th Generation Mask King\n\nContestants : , , , Oh Jong-hyuk (Click-B), Jessi, Minah (Girl's Day), Kim Ji-hwan (2BiC), \n\nEpisode 35\n\nEpisode 35 was broadcast on November 29, 2015. This marks the beginning of the Eighteenth Generation.\n\nEpisode 36\n\nEpisode 36 was broadcast on December 6, 2015.\n\n19th Generation Mask King\n\nContestants : Lee Soo-young, Chae Yeon, G.O (MBLAQ), Kangnam (M.I.B), Yoonhan, , Lee Chun-soo, Lee Ji-hoon\n\nEpisode 37\n\nEpisode 37 was broadcast on December 13, 2015. This marks the beginning of the Nineteenth Generation.\n\nEpisode 38\n\nEpisode 38 was broadcast on December 20, 2015.\n\n20th Generation Mask King\n\nContestants : Lim Jeong-hee, Jo Hye-ryun, Kim Nam-joo (Apink), Kihyun (Monsta X), Lee Pil-mo, , , Jeon Woo-sung (Noel)\n\nEpisode 39 was broadcast on December 27, 2015. This marks the beginning of the Twentieth Generation.\n\nSpecial releases\n\nDigital single\n\nSpecial album\n\nReferences \n\nLists of King of Mask Singer episodes\nLists of variety television series episodes\nLists of South Korean television series episodes\n2015 in South Korean television"
] |
[
"April O'Neil",
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 series)",
"What is O'Neil's role in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?",
"I don't know.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"She was seen wielding a katana in the special episode \"Turtles Forever\".",
"Why was this episode special?",
"In the series finale, \"Wedding Bells and Bytes\", she and Casey finally got married."
] |
C_2e9481f5089249deb2dbb4c50e8ef1e3_0
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Was the 2003 series animated?
| 4 |
Was the 2003 series of Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles animated?
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April O'Neil
|
In the 2003 cartoon series, April, voiced by Veronica Taylor in English and Yuko Kato in Japanese, got a costume change and her hair color was altered to a dark magenta tone for the new incarnation of the animated series produced by 4Kids Entertainment. However, her role was similar to that of the Mirage Studios character: again, she served as an assistant to Baxter Stockman until his Mouser experiments got out of control, and after the Turtles saved her she became a faithful friend, ally, and "big sister" to them. April made much more use of her scientific expertise and she often used her computer skills to aid the Turtles. She developed a closer relationship to Donatello, who shared many of her interests. In Season 7 she sometimes helped Donatello to collect Splinter's data bits. April developed a modest knowledge of combat skills after training with Splinter. Her quick thinking was often instrumental to the Turtles' survival. April is romantically attracted to Casey Jones, though their contrasting personalities often make them bicker. By the third season, the two seemed to have quite a serious romantic relationship. In the series finale, "Wedding Bells and Bytes", she and Casey finally got married. The young adult April continues to learn how to defend herself against Foot ninjas and other monstrosities by undergoing basic ninja training from the Turtles. She is quite skilled in some useful firearms, and can easily go through a laser grid with no problem at all. In the seventh and final season, she dons a yellow-and-black jumpsuit and carries a tanto sword to further perfect her fighting skills. At one point, she became psionically linked with a female mermaid-like mutant who had telepathically shown her the hardships of her childhood and that the few of her kind were on the verge of extinction. In addition to her recently developed ninjutsu skills, April is incredibly intelligent, smart and resourceful in complex scientific fields; similar to her good friend Donatello. So much that she even had worked for the eccentric Baxter Stockman as his assistant. She was able to hack into the computers of Shredder's stronghold and even breach several codes. She was seen wielding a katana in the special episode "Turtles Forever". CANNOTANSWER
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In the 2003 cartoon series, April, voiced by Veronica Taylor in English
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April O'Neil is a fictional character from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics. She is the first human ally of the Ninja Turtles. Her main love interest in the series was Casey Jones.
April made her first appearance in the Mirage comic series in 1984 as a computer programmer. She was later portrayed as a strong-willed news reporter in the Turtles' first animated series, as a warrior in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic produced by Archie Comics, and various other personas in different TMNT media.
April was later voiced by Renae Jacobs in the 1987 animated series, by Veronica Taylor in the 2003 animated series, and by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the 2007 film TMNT. In the 2012 animated series, April is voiced by Mae Whitman, in which she is her late teens. In film, she has been portrayed by Judith Hoag (1990), Paige Turco (1991 and 1993), Megan Fox (2014 and 2016) and by Malina Weissman as the younger version of the character in the 2014 film.
Comics
Mirage Comics
In the original Mirage Comics storyline for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, April O'Neil was a skilled computer programmer and assistant to a famous yet nefarious scientist, Baxter Stockman. She helped program his MOUSER robots but, after discovering Baxter was using them to burrow into bank vaults, she fled his workshop. Robots chased her into the sewer where she was promptly saved by three of the Turtles. The Turtles later successfully fended off a MOUSER invasion.
After leaving her job with Baxter, April decided to open an antique shop. The shop was subsequently destroyed in a battle between the Turtles and Shredder and the Foot Clan. April and the Turtles retreated to a farm house in Northampton, Massachusetts to recover and during this time she suffered recurrent nightmares about the Foot Clan's attack. During the mid-1990s, April became romantically involved with the violent vigilante Casey Jones, and the two of them eventually raised Shadow, the child of Casey's late wife Gabrielle, as their own.
In Volume 2 of the TMNT comics, April was attacked by a huge robot controlled by the brain of her former boss, Baxter Stockman, and injected with nanobots. With the help of the Utroms, the Turtles injected April with turtle versions of nanobots to stop Baxter's plan. The intervention saved April before Baxter's nanobots could reach her brain stem and kill her. The attack rendered April sterile. To deal with the emotional strain she became a female version of "Nobody", a vigilante crime fighter, until her identity was discovered by Casey Jones. With the help of Renet, a time-traveler who took April back through time, it was revealed that April was really a living drawing brought to life with the help of Kirby's crystal. She was drawn by her father before his own biological daughter Robyn O'Neil was born. Although anything that Kirby drew with pencil would vanish after a while, April's father used a pen, which might explain why April lived past thirty without vanishing. Questions of realness and morality were too much for April; she bid farewell to Shadow and Casey and travelled to Alaska to be alone with her thoughts. Although the trip helped April cope with her demons and led to her eventual return to New York, her family history remained unexplored.
The Mirage Studios version of April has dark brown/black hair (though early color reprints of Volume 1 depicted her hair color as red/light brown). Most subsequent incarnations of April are redheads. In the September 1985 re-printing of issue one, artist Ryan Brown depicts April as a katana-wielding ninja warrior in his back cover pin-up.
Archie Comics
In the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures series produced by Archie Comics, April began as a carbon copy of her animated counterpart from the 1987 TV series, but the writers developed her into a competent warrior after training with Splinter. Because of her frequent adventures with the Turtles, she lost her job at Channel 6 and became a freelance reporter.
In the winter 1994 Archie Special, April was mutated into a turtle herself. This made her the first official female turtle introduced to the series, three years before Venus de Milo's debut. Archie also published two sets of three-part April O'Neil mini-series.
Dreamwave Productions
The second issue of the Dreamwave Productions series (based on the 2003 animated series) focused entirely on O'Neil, consisting of a dream sequence showing how she had been pressured into a scientific career by her family despite having an interest in journalism.
IDW
In the continuity of the IDW comics, April is a very bright science student who interns at Baxter Stockman's genetic laboratory Stock Gen, where her father used to work before a stroke rendered him paralyzed. It is there that she first meets the Turtles and Splinter (at that time ordinary lab animals subjected to an intelligence-enhancing serum) and gives the Turtles their names.
April later nearly becomes a murder victim during a nocturnal break-in by a group of ninjas (the Foot Clan), who steal the Turtles along with several samples of Stockman's secret mutagenetic projects; the attempt at her life shakes her so much that she decides to take self-defense lessons from her fellow student Casey Jones, who later introduces her to the now-mutated Turtles and Splinter. April subsequently accompanies or assists the Turtles in their adventures and battles against their enemies, in the course of which she investigates Stockman's clandestine operations and makes an important contact in the Pantheon by incurring the sympathies of one of their members, Aka. While she and Casey begin a romantic relationship, Casey's self-doubts about his ability to protect his loved ones eventually cause them to drift apart.
Television
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 series)
In the 1987 cartoon series, April Harriet O'Neil was introduced as a television reporter for Channel 6 News. She had a strong nature and passion for her work, frequently expressing disagreement with her employer Burne Thompson's assignments. She also fell out repeatedly with Vernon Fenwick, the director/camera operator whose enormous ego compelled him to scoop April on her stories whenever possible. April was best friends with Irma Langinstein, the receptionist at Channel 6. She lived in an apartment in New York City, though during the course of the series she was forced to relocate several times due to a variety of Turtle-related mishaps.
April was reporting on a series of high-tech equipment thefts when she came under attack by a gang of street punks. Thinking quickly, she managed to squeeze into a storm drain and ran from the mob until she hit a dead end. The Turtles were nearby and defeated the punks. She was taken back to their sewer lair, where they explained their origins to her. At first, she believed them to be responsible for the equipment thefts, but they agreed to help find the true culprits if she kept quiet about the Turtles' existence. April quickly became their major link to the outside world since their unusual appearance effectively precluded them from functioning above ground without some sort of disguise. To communicate with the Turtles, she used a Turtlecom, a device that functioned as a two way audio-video communications system.
April's friendship with the Turtles resulted in the opportunity to film exclusive footage of their encounters with Shredder, but despite her intimate knowledge of the details of their lives, she tended to keep her professional news reports about them impersonal and mysterious. She was a vocal champion of their cause, despite Burne Thompson's opinion that the Turtles were a menace to the city, and most episodes generally showed her attempting to convince Burne and the New Yorkers that the Turtles were not criminals. By the episode "Doomquest," she finally succeeded in this by publicly exposing Lord Dregg's plans to take over the Earth via propaganda campaigns. April was frequently kidnapped by Shredder and used as bait in order to lure the Turtles out of hiding and destroy them.
April revealed her age in the Season 3 episode "Leather Head - Terror of The Swamp". In Florida on vacation, she and the Turtles found a body of water contaminated with a mutagen that made mutants feel youthful, while physically de-aging humans into four-year-old versions of themselves. Donatello did not allow April to enter the water, to which she lamented, "Oh, great! I'm doomed to be a decrepit twenty-eight-year-old hag!" Her Aunt Agatha ("Aggie"), who appeared in the episodes "Case of the Hot Kimono" and "Sleuth on the Loose", was a detective.
April was normally portrayed as a capable and independent woman. Her most important contribution to the Turtles was her access to research via the Channel 6 computers; using this information she could alert the Turtles to trouble and possible case leads. Her blue news van had classic headlights and the Channel 6 News logo on each side. April could usually be found wearing a distinctive yellow jumpsuit with white boots. By the ninth season, April worked freelance for reasons never specified, and exchanged her yellow jumpsuit for a brown leather jacket. She continued to help the Turtles even after the defeat of Shredder and his subsequent exile to Dimension X.
At the young adult age of 28, April has high reflexes and deduction skills. Being a news reporter, she is able to find and gather information for the Turtles and Splinter. She is also skilled at operating a number of different vehicles.
Portrayal
April was originally voiced by Renae Jacobs. In the 25th Anniversary crossover TV special Turtles Forever, she was voiced by Rebecca Soler. Renae Jacobs auditioned for the role in Los Angeles in 1986. She developed her initial personification of O'Neil while preparing for the audition, having not read the comics. Her first day on set voice director Stu Rosen made it clear he did not approve of her for the role, and had waited to show her audition last, saying to her, "Every one I played, the producers said ‘No, no, no, that’s not April,’ and finally I was out of people to show them, so I pulled your audition out and played it for them and they said ‘That’s April!’"
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 series)
In the 2003 cartoon series, April, voiced by Veronica Taylor in English, got a costume change and her hair color was altered to a dark magenta tone for the new incarnation of the animated series produced by 4Kids Entertainment. However, her role was similar to that of the Mirage Studios character: again, she served as an assistant to Baxter Stockman until his Mouser experiments got out of control, and after the Turtles saved her she became a faithful friend, ally, and "big sister" to them. April made much more use of her scientific expertise and she often used her computer skills to aid the Turtles. She developed a closer relationship to Donatello, who shared many of her interests. In Season 7 she sometimes helped Donatello to collect Splinter's data bits. April developed a modest knowledge of combat skills after training with Splinter. Her quick thinking was often instrumental to the Turtles' survival.
April is romantically attracted to Casey Jones, though their contrasting personalities often make them bicker. By the third season, the two seemed to have quite a serious romantic relationship. In the series finale, "Wedding Bells and Bytes", she and Casey finally got married.
The young adult April continues to learn how to defend herself against Foot ninjas and other monstrosities by undergoing basic ninja training from the Turtles. She is quite skilled in some useful firearms, and can easily go through a laser grid with no problem at all. In the seventh and final season, she dons a yellow-and-black jumpsuit based on the TMNT film and carries a tantō sword to further perfect her fighting skills. At one point, she became psionically linked with a female mermaid-like mutant who had telepathically shown her the hardships of her childhood and that the few of her kind were on the verge of extinction.
In addition to her recently developed ninjutsu skills, April is incredibly intelligent, smart and resourceful in complex scientific fields; similar to her good friend Donatello. So much that she even had worked for the eccentric Baxter Stockman as his assistant. She was able to hack into the computers of Shredder's stronghold and even breach several codes. She was seen wielding a katana in the special episode "Turtles Forever".
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 series)
Mae Whitman voices the teenage April O'Neil in the 2012 computer-animated series. Her shoulder-length bright red hair with flowly bangs is tied with a white ponytail holder which becomes undone, at times, if she is under great stress or rage. Unlike her previous counterparts, she is a sixteen-year-old teenager (as opposed to being a young adult in her late twenties) and possesses exceptionally strong psychic powers, which she eventually learns to develop more and increase drastically throughout the fourth season. This is due to her being a half human, half Kraang-mutant as her mother was abducted and experimented on by the Kraang before she was born. Her inherent psionic abilities are first hinted at in Episode 7, "Monkey Brains", when she had detected that a mutant-monkey was, in fact, a human scientist; merely saying that she "sometimes get a feeling about things", implying that she possesses extrasensory abilities as well. It even enabled her to hear far off sounds that Splinter, with his superhuman hearing, could not.
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018)
April O'Neil has been changed into a streetwise teenage girl in the 2018 cartoon, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. She is voiced by Kat Graham, and is now African-American in ethnicity. This version of April also performs a variety of odd jobs around New York while helping the turtles in any way she can.
Films
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990 film)
In the first live-action film, April was played by Judith Hoag. She was a television reporter working for Channel 3 news under Charles "Chuck" Pennington, doing an investigative series on mysterious thefts in New York City whose culprits vanished without a trace. One night while leaving work, she is accosted by teenage thieves in league with the Foot Clan, but the Turtles appear and save her under the cover of darkness. In the aftermath, April discovers and grabs Raphael's lost sai; Raphael soon follows her to retrieve the weapon and saves her again when she is attacked by a group of Foot Ninja in the subway. During the attack, April is knocked unconscious while trying to fight them off with her purse. Unsure what to do with her, Raphael carries her to the Turtles' sewer lair. Though afraid at first, April eventually comes to regard the Turtles and Splinter as friends, even letting them stay in her apartment after the Foot Clan discovered and destroyed their sewer dwellings.
Mirroring the Mirage Studios storyline, April is fired from her news job and the Foot once again attack the Turtles in the antique shop, prompting April, the Turtles, and Casey Jones to retreat to her family's farmhouse in Northampton, Massachusetts. She keeps a journal documenting their forced sabbatical in addition to drawing sketches of the Turtles. She grows extremely close to the four brothers: Michelangelo, who initially confesses to having a crush on April, later addressing her as "Sis," indicating the role she has come to occupy in the Turtles' family. During their respite, April also develops a kind of love-hate relationship with Casey Jones. By the end of the film, she accepts her attraction to him and in the aftermath of Shredder's defeat as well as getting her job back (she had been fired earlier in the film), April asks Casey for a kiss.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
In the sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, April was played by Paige Turco. She provides the Turtles and Splinter with a place to stay after the destruction of their lair in the previous film, and helps them research the company responsible for the mutagen that transformed the Turtles into their present state.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time, Paige Turco reprised her role as April O'Neil. In the film, April is temporally transported to feudal Japan, forcing the Turtles to travel back in time to rescue her.
TMNT
April was voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the 2007 CGI film TMNT. Following the continuity from the previous films, it appeared that she and Casey Jones were engaged in a genuinely close romance, living together in Casey's apartment, and working for a shipping firm. She found Leonardo in Central America at the start of the film while seeking an artifact for Max Winters. No mention was made of her past as a journalist; instead, she now appears to be involved in archaeology. April takes up several forms of ninjutsu training from Splinter, purchasing a slim black-and-yellow jumpsuit of armor from Japan, and becoming quite skilled in the use of a katana. She demonstrates her combative skills in a one-on-one fight with the far more experienced female ninja Karai.
A collectible booklet packed in with her action figure for the film implies that she had become a master of the katana. The figure itself includes a katana, tonfa, and two shoulder armored pads; this outfit was replicated for the movie. In the film's alternate ending, Casey proposes marriage to April and she accepts. This scene is absent from the final cut of the movie but can be found on the DVD.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014 film)
April appears in the reboot Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Megan Fox playing the role. During the film, it is revealed that not only was April's father involved in the creation of the turtles as his experiments created the mutagen that turned them into what they are now, but that the young April was responsible for the Turtles and Splinter escaping the destruction of the lab where they were created when she released them into the sewers after the lab was destroyed by her father to prevent Shredder and Eric Sacks getting access to the mutagen.
It was reported there was a filmed but unused scene of a fight between April, Vernon Fenwick, Karai, and The Foot in downtown Manhattan that was cut from the finished film. Will Arnett, who played Vernon, said his character "comes out just at the right moment [and] hits Karai with the gurney and knocks her off balance a little bit. Then April kind of finishes her off."
Fox was given a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress for her portrayal of O'Neil.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
Fox reprised her role in the sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.
Other appearances
In the two-part anime Mutant Turtles: Superman Legend, April was voiced by Emi Shinohara. April made a live-action appearance in the TMNT: Coming Out of Their Shells musical tour played by Sherie Rene Scott whose role was to incite the live audience to interact with the stage performers and encourage the Turtles when needed.
Video games
April has appeared in most of the TMNT video games, usually as the damsel in distress who has been captured by Shredder (or by Karai in case of SNES version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters). In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, she kicks the story off with a brief report where Krang steals the Statue of Liberty and later appears in the game ending; she also appears onscreen in the SNES version to encourage the Turtles to fight when the player characters are idle. In Konami's series of TMNT games based on the 2003 cartoon series, April resembles her cartoon counterpart and often shows up in various cutscenes to give advice and advance the plot of the game.
April appears as a playable character in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters for the Genesis, where her game character bears little resemblance to the 1987 cartoon likeness. In TMNT: Mutant Melee, April is again a playable character and participates in multi-player battles. She is also a playable character in Ubisoft's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up where she is based on the ninja April from the 2007 film. She also appears in the 2014 film-based game by Activision for the Nintendo 3DS, voiced by Julie Nathanson.
April will appear as a playable character in the 2021 fighting game Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, using her design from the 1987 animated series. April will also be a playable character in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, set for release in 2022.
Action figures
In the TMNT toy lines produced by Playmates Toys, April O'Neil has appeared in several action figure incarnations. The first of these had a limited production run, and lacked a blue stripe on her jumpsuit; it was replaced with a yellow-striped version with greater circulation. An alternate version was released in 1990, with a head sculpt closer to her cartoon incarnation, orange boots, and further modification. Another variation was released in 1993 packaged exclusively with the Channel 6 Newsman vehicle; this April had the same sculpt of the 1990 release although her jumpsuit is green and the boots yellow.
Other notable April figures include the 1992 version, dubbed simply "April" with purple accents on her jumpsuit; "April, the Ravishing Reporter", which was the first such figure to feature rooted hair; "April, the Ninja Newscaster", who came with one of each of the Turtles' signature weapons; and "Mutatin' April," part of the Mutations assortment in which April can transform into a humanoid cat (inspired by the original series' episode "The Cat Woman from Channel Six"). For the 2003 TV series, Playmates introduced two O'Neil figures; a standard sized April with bonus Mouser robots and a miniature April.
There is also an April figure based on her appearance in the 2007 film, wearing her yellow ninja outfit. NECA has released O'Neil figures based on her original Mirage Studios appearance and her appearance in the cartoon series. A figure featuring the likeness of Judith Hoag from the 1990 feature film has also been revealed for a Fall 2021 release.
References
External links
The comic that introduced April O'Neil at the official Mirage Group website
Comics characters introduced in 1984
Fictional African-American people
Fictional characters from New York City
Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids
Fictional female engineers
Fictional female ninja
Fictional software engineers
Fictional reporters
Fictional shopkeepers
Fictional telepaths
Fictional tessenjutsuka
Fictional women soldiers and warriors
Teenage characters in television
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters
Female characters in comics
Power Rangers characters
Vigilante characters in comics
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[
"is a French-Japanese animated television spin-off of the Astro Boy franchise created by Osamu Tezuka. Aimed at preschoolers, the series was executive produced by Something Big for Tezuka Productions.\n\nThe series had its global debut in China on MangoTV on August 2, 2019. In Japan, the series premiered on TX Network stations on October 3, 2019.\n\nProduction\nDuring the 2014 Annecy International Animated Film Festival, Tezuka Productions announced it was developing new episodes of Little Astro Boy, an earlier iteration of the franchise aimed at preschool audiences. In 2016, it was revealed that this would be an entirely separate production under the same name created with France's Something Big. The series was later re-titled to Go Astro Boy Go! in 2018.\n\nThe international version of the show features an intro song composed by Norbert Gilbert and performed by Andy Chase. An instrumental of the track is used for the credits. The Japanese version of the series features a new theme song by Doberman Infinity called by ASTRO BOY ~ GO! GO! Atom ~. The Endless World by Transfer Girls is used for the end credits. On April 2, 2020, the new ending theme was performed by Girls² with a song called Zuttomo Heart Beats.\n\nVoice cast\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Official website \n Go Astro Boy Go! page at TV Tokyo.jp \n \n\nAstro Boy\n2010s French animated television series\nFrench animated television spin-offs\nFrench children's animated action television series\nFrench children's animated space adventure television series\nFrench children's animated comic science fiction television series\nFrench children's animated drama television series\nFrench children's animated science fantasy television series\nFrench children's animated superhero television series\nFrench preschool education television series\nJapanese children's animated action television series\nJapanese children's animated space adventure television series\nJapanese children's animated comic science fiction television series\nJapanese children's animated science fantasy television series\nJapanese children's animated superhero television series\nAnime-influenced Western animated television series\nTV Tokyo original programming\nOsamu Tezuka anime\nAnimated preschool education television series\n2010s preschool education television series",
"The Adventures of Ibn Battuta is a 2010 Malaysian 13 part historical animated series which was aired in TV2. The series was based on the biography of medieval world traveller Ibn Battuta, who travelled more than 17 countries before and after his Hajj pilgrimage. The series was developed by the Multimedia Development Corporation of Malaysia (MDeC).\n\nSee also\n List of Islamic films\n List of animated Islamic films\n\nReferences\n\nIslamic animated films\nMalaysian animated television series\nTelevision series about Islam"
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[
"Anna Hazare",
"Military service"
] |
C_3c35c7b91084480daaa2373c080bce41_1
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Who is Anna Hazare?
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Who is Anna Hazare?
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Anna Hazare
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Hazare was drafted in the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier. He undertook army training at Aurangabad. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack--variously claimed to have been a bomb, an aerial assault and an exchange of fire at the border--while he was driving a truck. The experiences of wartime, coupled with the poverty from which he had come, affected him. He considered suicide at one point but turned instead to pondering the meaning of life and death. He said of the truck attack, "[It] sent me thinking. I felt that God wanted me to stay alive for some reason. I was reborn in the battlefield of Khem Karan. And I decided to dedicate my new life to serving people." At a book stand in New Delhi railway station, he came across Swami Vivekananda's booklet "Call to the youth for nation building" which inspired him to think deeper. He spent his spare time reading the works of Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Vinoba Bhave. In a blog post, Hazare expressed his views on Kashmir by saying that it was his "active conviction that Kashmir is an integral part of India" and that if required once again for service, he would remain "ready to take part in war against Pakistan." During his fifteen-year career in the army (1960-75), Anna Hazare was posted at several locations, including Punjab (Indo Pak war 1965), Nagaland, Bombay (1971) and Jammu (1974) During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army. He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service. He had another escape in Nagaland, where one night, underground Naga rebels attacked his post and killed all the inmates. He had a miraculous escape as he had gone out to return nature's call and hence turned out to be the lone survivor. Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service. CANNOTANSWER
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Hazare was drafted in the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier.
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Kisan Baburao "Anna" Hazare (; born 15 June 1937) is an Indian social activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase government transparency, and investigate and punish corruption in public life. In addition to organising and encouraging grassroots movements, Hazare frequently conducted hunger strikes to further his causes—a tactic reminiscent, to many, of the work of Mahatma Gandhi. Hazare also contributed to the development and structuring of Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan—the third-highest civilian award—by the Government of India in 1992 for his efforts in establishing this village as a model for others.
Hazare started a hunger strike on 5 April 2011 to exert pressure on the Indian government to enact a stringent anti-corruption law, The Lokpal Bill, 2011 as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill, for the institution of an ombudsman with the power to deal with corruption in public places. The fast led to nationwide protests in support. The fast ended on 9 April 2011, a day after the government accepted Hazare's demands. The government issued a gazette notification on the formation of a joint committee, consisting of government and civil society representatives, to draft the legislation.
Foreign Policy named him among top 100 global thinkers in 2011. Also in 2011, Hazare was ranked as the most influential person in Mumbai by a national daily newspaper. He has faced criticism for his authoritarian views on justice, including death as punishment for corrupt public officials and his alleged support for forced vasectomies as a method of family planning.
Early life
Kisan Baburao Hazare was born on 15 June 1937 (some sources say 15 January 1940) in Bhingar, near Ahmednagar. He was the eldest son of Baburao Hazare and Laxmi Bai. He has two sisters and four brothers. He later adopted the name Anna, which in Marathi means "elder person" or "father".
His father worked as an unskilled labourer in Ayurveda Ashram Pharmacy and struggled to support the family financially. In time, the family moved to their ancestral village of Ralegan Siddhi, where they owned a small amount of agricultural land. A relative took on the burden of providing Kisan with an education, taking him to Mumbai because the village had no primary school. The relative became unable financially to continue the support and Kisan's schooling ended in the Standard Seventh grade; his siblings never attended school. He started selling flowers at the Dadar railway station in Mumbai and eventually managed to own two flower shops in the city. He also became involved in vigilantism, joining groups who acted to prevent landlords' thugs from intimidating the poor out of their shelter.
Military service
Hazare was drafted into the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier. He undertook army training at Aurangabad.
During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack—variously claimed to have been a bomb, an aerial assault and an exchange of fire at the border—while he was driving a truck. The experiences of wartime, coupled with the poverty from which he had come, affected him. He considered suicide at one point but instead turned to pondering the meaning of life and death. He said of the truck attack, "[It] sent me thinking. I felt that God wanted me to stay alive for some reason. I was reborn in the battlefield of Khem Karan. And I decided to dedicate my new life to serving people." At a book stand in New Delhi railway station, he came across Swami Vivekananda's booklet "Call to the youth for nation building" which inspired him to think deeper. He spent his spare time reading the works of Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Vinoba Bhave. In a blog post, Hazare expressed his views on Kashmir by saying that it was his "active conviction that Kashmir is an integral part of India" and that if required once again for service, he would remain "ready to take part in war against Pakistan."
During his fifteen-year career in the army (1960–75), Anna Hazare was posted at several locations, including Punjab (Indo Pak war 1965), Nagaland, Bombay (1971) and Jammu (1974)
During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army. He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service. He had another escape in Nagaland, where one night, underground Naga rebels attacked his post and killed all the inmates. He had a miraculous escape as he had gone out to return nature's call and hence turned out to be the lone survivor.
Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service.
Transformation of Ralegan Siddhi
Hazare returned to Ralegan Siddhi, a village then described by Satpathy and Mehta as "one of the many villages of India plagued by acute poverty, deprivation, a fragile ecosystem, neglect and hopelessness."
Although most of the villagers owned some land, cultivation was extremely difficult due to the rocky ground preventing retention of the monsoon rains, this situation was worsened by gradual environmental deterioration as trees were cut down, erosion spread and droughts were also experienced. The shortage of water also led to disease from unsanitary conditions and water reuse for multiple purposes. The economy of the village had become reliant on the illegal manufacture and sale of alcohol, a product on which many of the villagers had become dependent. Many inhabitants borrowed from moneylenders to survive, paying monthly interest rates of as much as 10%. Crime and violence (including domestic violence) had become commonplace, while education and employment opportunities were poor.
Hazare was relatively wealthy because of the gratuity from his army service. He set about using that money to restore a run-down, vandalised village temple as a focal point for the community. Some were able to respond with small financial donations but many other villagers, particularly among the elderly, donated their labour in a process that became known as shramdaan. Some youths also became involved in the work and these he organised into a Tarun Mandal (Youth Association). One of the works of Vivekananda which he had read was Call to the youth for nation building.
Prohibition of alcohol
Hazare and the youth group decided to take up the issue of alcoholism to drive a process of reform. At a meeting conducted in the temple, the villagers resolved to close down liquor dens and ban alcohol in the village. Since these resolutions were made in the temple, they became, in a sense, religious commitments. Over thirty liquor brewing units voluntarily closed their establishments. Those who did not succumb to social pressure were forced to close their businesses when the youth group smashed their premises. The owners could not complain as their businesses were illegal.
Once 3 drunken villagers were tied to pillars and then flogged, personally by Hazare with his army belt. He justified this punishment by stating that "rural India was a harsh society", and that
Hazare appealed to the government of Maharashtra to pass a law whereby prohibition would come into force in a village if 25% of the women in the village demanded it. In 2009 the state government amended the Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949 to reflect this.
It was decided to ban the sale of tobacco, cigarettes, and beedies (an unfiltered cigarette where the tobacco is rolled in tendu, also known as Coromandel ebony, leaves instead of paper) in the village. To implement this resolution, the youth group performed a unique "Holi" ceremony twenty two years ago. The festival of Holi is celebrated as a symbolic burning of evil. The youth group brought all the tobacco, cigarettes, and beedies from the shops in the village and burnt them in a Holi fire. Tobacco, cigarettes, or beedies are no longer sold.
Grain Bank
In 1980, Hazare started the Grain Bank at the temple, with the objective of providing food security to needy farmers during times of drought or crop failure. Rich farmers, or those with surplus grain production, could donate a quintal to the bank. In times of need, farmers could borrow the grain, but they had to return the amount of grain they borrowed, plus an additional quintal as an interest. This ensured that nobody in the village ever went hungry or had to borrow money to buy grain. This also prevented distress sales of grain at lower prices at harvest time.
Watershed development programme
Ralegan Siddhi is located in the foothills, so Hazare persuaded villagers to construct a watershed embankment and associated works to stop water and allow it to percolate and increase the ground water level and improve irrigation in the area. These efforts solved the problem of water scarcity in the village and made irrigation possible.
Cultivation of water-intensive crops like sugarcane was banned. Crops such as pulses, oilseeds, and certain cash crops with low water requirements replaced them. The farmers started growing high-yield varieties and changed cropping pattern. Hazare has helped farmers of more than 70 villages in drought-prone regions in the state of Maharashtra since 1975. When Hazare came to Ralegan Siddhi in 1975 only of land was irrigated, Hazare converted it into about .
Education
In 1932, Ralegan Siddhi got its first formal school, a single classroom primary school. In 1962, the villagers added more classrooms through community volunteer efforts. By 1971, out of an estimated population of 1,209, only 30.43% were literate (72 women and 290 men). Boys moved to the nearby towns of Shirur and Parner to pursue higher education, but girls were limited to primary education. Hazare, along with the youth of Ralegan Siddhi, worked to increase literacy rates and education levels. In 1976 they started a pre-school and a high school in 1979. The villagers formed a charitable trust, the Sant Yadavbaba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, which was registered in 1979.
Removal of untouchability
The social barriers and discrimination that existed due to the caste system in India have been largely eliminated by Ralegan Siddhi villagers. It was Hazare's moral leadership that motivated and inspired the villagers to shun untouchability and caste discrimination. Marriages of Dalits are held as part of community marriage program together with those of other castes. The Dalits have become integrated into the social and economic life of the village. The upper caste villagers built houses for the lower caste Dalits by shramdaan and helped to repay their loans.
Gram Sabha
The Gandhian philosophy on rural development considers the Gram Sabha as an important democratic institution for collective decision-making in the villages of India. Hazare campaigned between 1998 and 2006 for amending the Gram Sabha Act, so that villagers have a say in the village's development. The state government initially refused, but eventually gave in to public pressure. It became mandatory to seek the sanction of the Gram Sabha (an assembly of all village adults, and not just the few elected representatives in the gram panchayat) for expenditures on development works in the village.
Activism
Anti-corruption protests in Maharashtra
In 1991 Hazare launched the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan (BVJA, People's Movement against Corruption), a popular movement to fight against corruption in Ralegaon Siddhi. In the same year he protested against the collusion between 40 forest officials and timber merchants. This protest resulted in the transfer and suspension of these officials.
In May 1997 Hazare protested alleged malpractice in the purchase of powerlooms by the Vasantrao Naik Bhathya Vimukt Jhtra Governor P. C. Alexander. On 4 November 1997 Gholap filed a defamation suit against Hazare for accusing him of corruption. He was arrested in April 1998 and was released on a personal bond of . On 9 September 1998 Hazare was imprisoned in the Yerawada Jail to serve a three-month sentence mandated by the Mumbai Metropolitan Court. The sentencing caused leaders of all political parties except the BJP and the Shiv Sena to support him. Later, due to public protests, the Government of Maharashtra ordered his release. Hazare wrote a letter to then chief minister Manohar Joshi demanding Gholap's removal for his role in alleged malpractices in the Awami Merchant Bank. Gholap resigned from the cabinet on 27 April 1999.
In 2003 corruption charges were raised by Hazare against four NCP ministers of the Congress-NCP government. He started his fast unto death on 9 August 2003. He ended his fast on 17 August 2003 after then chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde formed a one-man commission headed by the retired justice P. B. Sawant to probe his charges. The P. B. Sawant commission report, submitted on 23 February 2005, indicted Sureshdada Jain, Nawab Malik, and Padmasinh Patil. The report exonerated Vijaykumar Gavit. Jain and Malik resigned from the cabinet in March 2005.
Three trusts headed by Anna Hazare were also indicted in the P. B. Sawant commission report. spent by the Hind Swaraj Trust for Anna Hazare's birthday celebrations was concluded by the commission as illegal and amounting to a corrupt practice, though Abhay Firodia, an industrialist subsequently donated to the trust for that purpose. The setting apart of 11 acres of its land by the trust in favour of the Zilla Parishad without obtaining permission from the charity commissioner was concluded as a case of maladministration. The commission also concluded that the maintenance of accounts of the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Janandolan Trust after 10 November 2001 had not been according to the rules and spent by the Sant Yadavbaba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal Trust for renovating a temple thwarted its object of imparting secular education.
Right to Information movement
In the early 2000s Hazare led a movement in Maharashtra state which forced the state government to enact a revised Maharashtra Right to Information Act. This Act was later considered as the base document for the Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI), enacted by the Union Government. It also ensured that the President of India assented to this new Act.
On 20 July 2006 the Union Cabinet amended the Right to Information Act 2005 to exclude the file noting by the government officials from its purview. Hazare began his fast unto death on 9 August 2006 in Alandi against the proposed amendment. He ended his fast on 19 August 2006, after the government agreed to change its earlier decision.
Regulation of Transfers and Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act
Before 2006 in the state of Maharashtra, honest government officers were transferred to other places according to ministerial wish, while some corrupt and favoured officials stayed put for decades. Hazare fought for a law whereby a government servant must clear files within a specified time, and transfers must take place only after three years. After many years of Hazare's efforts, on 25 May 2006 Maharashtra announced the Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act 2006. This act provided for disciplinary action against officials who clear files slowly, and enabled monitoring of officials who overstay a post, and for involvement in a corrupt nexus.
This act mandated the government to effect transfers of all government officers and employees, except Class IV workers, no sooner and no later than three years, except in emergency or exceptional circumstances. Maharashtra was the first state to introduce such an act. However, this law was not fully followed.
Campaign against liquor from food grains
Article 47 of India's Constitution commits the State to raise the standard of living, improve public health and prohibit the consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs injurious to health.
In 2007 Maharashtra rolled out a policy aimed to encourage production of alcohol from food grain to fill the rising demand for industrial alcohol and liquor. It issued 36 licences for distilleries for making alcohol from food grain.
Anna Hazare opposed the government's policy to promote making liquor from food grain. He argued that Maharashtra had to import food, so producing liquor from food grain was inappropriate. One State minister, Laxman Dhoble said that those opposing the use of food grain for the production of liquor were anti-farmer, and that opponents should be beaten with sugarcane sticks.
Hazare began fasting at Shirdi, but on 21 March 2010 the government promised to review the policy and Anna ended his 5-day fast. But the government later granted 36 licences and grants of (per litre of alcohol) to politicians or their sons who were engaged in making alcohol from foodgrains. Recipients included Amit and Dheeraj Deshmukh, sons of Union Heavy Industries Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde's daughter Pankaja Palwe and her husband Charudatta Palwe, sons-in-law of P.V. Narasimha Rao and Rajya Sabha MP Govindrao Adik. The government approved the licences despite stiff opposition from the planning and finance departments, saying there was a huge demand in other countries for distilled spirits compared to that of molasses. Hazare sued Maharashtra over the policy in the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court. On 20 August 2009 Maharashtra stopped the policy. However, distilleries sanctioned before that date and those who started production within two years of sanction were entitled for subsidies.
On 5 May 2011 the court refused to hear the suit, saying, "not before me, this is a court of law, not a court of justice". A Maharashtra Principal Secretary, C.S. Sangeet Rao, stated that no law existed to scrap these licences.
Lokpal Bill movement
In 2011, Hazare participated in the satyagraha movement campaigning for a stronger anti-corruption Lokpal (ombudsman) bill in the Indian parliament. Known as the Jan Lokpal Bill (People's Ombudsman Bill), it was drafted by N. Santosh Hegde, a former justice of the Supreme Court of India and Lokayukta of Karnataka, Prashant Bhushan, and social activist Arvind Kejriwal. The draft incorporated more stringent provisions and gave wider power to the Lokpal than the government's 2010 draft. These included placing "the Prime Minister within the ambit of the proposed lokpal's powers".
Hunger strike
Hazare began an "indefinite fast" on 5 April 2011 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi as part of the campaign to form a joint committee of government and civil society representatives. He wanted this committee to draft a bill with more stringent penal provisions and gave more independence to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas (ombudsmen in the states). The fast came after his demand was rejected by the prime minister, Manmohan Singh. Hazare said, "I will fast until Jan Lokpal Bill is passed".
The movement attracted attention in the media and thousands of supporters. Almost 150 people reportedly joined Hazare in his fast. Social activists, including Medha Patkar, Arvind Kejriwal, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, and Jayaprakash Narayan lent their support. People showed support in social media. In addition to spiritual leaders Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Swami Ramdev, Swami Agnivesh, the former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev and many other celebrities supported him. Hazare decided that he would not allow any politician to sit with him. The protesters rejected Uma Bharti, Om Prakash Chautala and others when they visited the protest. On 6 April 2011 Sharad Pawar resigned from the group of ministers formed for reviewing the 2010 draft.
Protests spread to Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Shillong, Aizawl and other cities.
On 8 April 2011 the Government accepted the movement's demands. On 9 April it issued a notification in the Gazette of India on formation of a joint committee. It accepted the formula that it should be co-chaired by a politician and social activist. The notification stated, "The Joint Drafting Committee shall consist of five nominee ministers of the Government of India and five nominees of the civil society. The five nominee Ministers of the Government of India are Pranab Mukherjee, Union Minister of Finance, P. Chidambaram, Union Minister of Home Affairs, M. Veerappa Moily, Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource and Development and Minister of Communication and Information Technology and Salman Khursheed, Union Minister of Water Resources and Minister of Minority Affairs. The five non-politician nominees were Anna Hazare, N. Santosh Hegde, Shanti Bhushan Senior Advocate, Prashant Bhushan, Advocate and Arvind Kejriwal.
On the morning of 9 April 2011 Hazare ended his 98-hour hunger strike. He addressed the people and set a deadline of 15 August 2011 to pass the bill. He said that
Hazare said that if the bill did not pass he would call for a mass nation-wide agitation. He called his movement a "second struggle for independence" and he will continue the fight.
Hazare threatened on 28 July 2012 to proceed with his fast-unto-death on the Jan Lokpal Bill issue. He also stated that country's future is not safe in the hands of Congress and BJP and he would campaign in the coming elections for those with clean background. On the third day of his indefinite fast, Anna stated that he will not talk even to the Prime Minister till his demands are met. On 2 August 2012 Hazare said that there was nothing wrong with forming a new political party but, he would neither join the party nor contest elections. Team and Anna have decided to end their indefinite fast on 3 August 2012 at 5 pm after which the team will announce their decision to enter politics.
Draft bill
During the meeting of the joint drafting committee on 30 May 2011, the Union government members opposed the inclusion of the prime minister, higher judiciary and the acts of the MPs under the purview of the JanLokpal in the draft bill. On 31 May, Mukherjee sent a letter to the chief ministers of all states and party leaders seeking their opinion on six contentious issues, including whether to bring the prime minister and judges of India's Supreme Court and High Courts under the law's purview. But the civil society members of the drafting committee considered that keeping them out would be a violation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
Hazare and other civil society members decided to boycott the 6 June 2011 drafting committee meeting to protest the forcible eviction of Swami Ramdev and his followers by the Delhi Police from Ramlila Maidan on 5 June 2011, while they were on a hunger strike against black money and corruption.
On 6 June 2011, the civil society members wrote to Mukherjee, explaining reasons for their absence and also asking government to go public on the major issues. They also decided to attend only future meetings that were telecast live. On 8 June at Rajghat, describing his movement as the second freedom struggle, Hazare criticised the Government for trying to discredit the drafting committee and threatened to go on indefinite fast again starting 16 August 2011 if the Lokpal Bill had not passed. He also criticised the Government for putting hurdles in front of the Bill and for maligning the civil society members.
Indefinite fast
On 28 July 2011 the union cabinet approved a draft of the Lokpal Bill, which kept the Prime Minister, judiciary and lower bureaucracy out of the ombudsman's scope. Hazare rejected the government version by describing it as "cruel joke". He wrote a letter to Singh announcing his decision to begin an indefinite fast from 16 August 2011 at Jantar Mantar, if the government introduced its own version of the bill without taking suggestions from civil society members. Hazare wrote:
Within twenty four hours of cabinet's endorsement of a weak Lokpal Bill, over ten thousand people from across the country sent faxes directly to the government demanding a stronger bill. The Mumbai Taxi Men's Union, comprising over 30,000 taxi drivers supported Hazare's fast by keeping all taxis off the roads on 16 August. Lawyers of Allahabad High Court described the government proposal as against the national interest and pledged their support to Hazare by hunger striking at Allahabad on 16 August. On 30 July Vishwa Hindu Parishad supported his fast by saying movement for an effective anti-corruption ombudsman needed the people's backing.
On 1 August 2011, Public interest litigation was filed in the Supreme Court of India by Hemant Patil, a Maharashtra-based social worker and businessman, to restrain Hazare, alleging that Hazare's demands were unconstitutional and amounted to interference in the legislative process.
Arrest and aftermath
On 16 August 2011, Hazare was arrested, four hours before the planned indefinite hunger strike. Rajan Bhagat, spokesman for Delhi Police, said police arrested Hazare for illegally gathering in a Delhi park to begin his hunger strike, claiming that Hazare refused to meet police conditions for allowing the protest. The conditions included restricting the fast to three days and the number of protesters to 5,000. Later in the afternoon, Hazare refused bail. The magistrate dispatched him to Tihar jail for seven days. After announcements by Prashant Bhushan, local television, and social media sites (including Facebook), thousands marched in support from the India Gate to Jantar Mantar.
Media reported that about 1,300 supporters were detained by police in Delhi, including Arvind Kejriwal, Shanti Bhushan, Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodia. Protesters reportedly courted arrest in different parts of the country. Opposition parties came out against the arrest, likening the government action to the emergency imposed in the country in 1975. Both houses of Parliament adjourned over the issue.
After four hours in detention Hazare was released unconditionally by the police, but
refused to leave Tihar Jail. Hazare demanded unconditional permission to fast at Ramlila Maidan. Hazare continued his fast inside the jail.
After his arrest, Hazare received support from people across the country. There were reports of "nearly 570 demonstrations and protests by Anna supporters across the country". Due to the millions of protesters nationwide, the government allowed him to begin a public hunger strike of fifteen days. After talks with public authorities, Hazare decided to hold his protest at Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi. On 20 August Hazare "left the Tihar Jail for the Ramlila Grounds". Hazare promised reporters "he would fight to the 'last breath' until the government gets his team's Jan Lokpal Bill passed in this session of Parliament, which ends on 8 September."
Fast at Ramlila Maidan
On 20 August 2011 thousands came to show their support for Hazare, while "his advisers made television appearances to rally public support and defend themselves against criticism that their protest campaign and refusal to compromise is undermining India's parliamentary process." The National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) condemned Hazare's deadline for passing the bill as undermining democracy, which operates by
The Congress party confirmed that Maharashtra Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Umesh Chandra Sarangi, who had a history of mediating between Hazare and officials, was meeting "to find points of consensus and defuse the situation". On 21 August "tens of thousands" watched Hazare as he sat on an elevated platform. It was reported that Hazare at that point had "lost more than seven pounds since beginning his fast". Despite this he stated, "I will not withdraw my hunger strike until the Jan Lokpal bill is passed in the Parliament. I can die but I will not bend." Hazare ended his fast on 28 August, after the Lokpal Bill passed unanimously.
He was admitted to Medanta Medicity, Gurgaon for post-fast care. He had lost and was very dehydrated after the 288-hour fast.
I Am Anna Campaign
Within a few days of Anna Hazare's first fast demanding a strong Lokpal (on 5 April 2011), supporters started a campaign known as "I Am Anna Hazare", which was similar to the "We Are All Khaled Said" campaign from the Egyptian uprising. During Anna Hazare's second fast, his topi, the cap which became synonymous with Anna Hazare, became almost a fashion statement. Sales of the topis hit an all-time high. Kiran Bedi recommended that the "I am Anna" topi be displayed whenever someone asked for a bribe.
Fast on MMRDA ground
On 27 December 2011, Hazare began a 3-day hunger strike at MMRDA grounds, Bandra Kurla Complex, to demand a stronger Lokpal bill than was in debate. Hazare ended the fast on 28 December, after his doctors said that his kidneys might fail if he continued.
Before reaching the venue, Anna paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Juhu Beach. On his way to a rally with several thousand people, he took two-and-half hours to reach the ground, passing through Santacruz, Tulip Star Hotel, Mithibai College, SV Road, Vile Parle, Khar and Bandra Highway.
A PIL petition filed against the fast was turned down by the Karnataka High Court. A judge noted that there was no public interest in the petition.
Electoral reform movement
In 2011, Hazare demanded an amendment to the electoral law to incorporate the option of None of the above in the electronic voting machines during the Indian elections. The "None of the above (NOTA)" is a ballot option that allows an electorate to indicate disapproval of all of the candidates in an electoral system, in case of non-availability of any candidate of his choice, as his Right to Reject. Soon, the Chief Election Commissioner of India Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi supported Hazare's demand for the electoral reforms.
On 31 March 2013 Hazare started Jantantra Yatra from the city of Amritsar. He is expecting to address various issues, including electoral reforms such as the right to reject a candidate.
Protest against atrocities against Swami Ramdev and his supporters
On 8 June 2011 Anna Hazare and thousands of his supporters fasted from 10 am to 6 pm at Rajghat to protest against the midnight crackdown of 5 June by the Delhi Police on Swami Ramdev's fast at Ramlila ground protests. Anna Hazare held the Prime Minister of India responsible for the atrocities and termed the police action as an attempt to stifle democracy. According to one of Hazare's young supporters, the large presence of youths at the protest was due to his use of nonviolent protest, similar to Gandhi.
On 9 August 2013, Anna's office announced his anti-corruption organisation Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan (BVJA) is no longer tackling corruption issues at a personal or social level. In an email circulated to India Against Corruption's membership, the veteran Gandhian's office has clarified that Anna "is now focused on Janlokpal, Right to Reject, Right to Recall, Farmers problems, Change in Education in System".
2015 Land acquisition ordinance protest
In February 2015, he protested for two days at Jantar Mantar in Delhi against ordinance on the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
Controversies and criticism
Alleged link with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Hazare has been criticised for being an agent of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) a right-wing Hindu body. According to Digvijay Singh a senior leader of the Indian National Congress, the entire crusade of 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement was planned by RSS in which Plan-A was Baba Ramdev while Plan-B was Anna Hazare. Their basic job was to disturb national security. Singh also charged Hazare with having links with late RSS leader Nanaji Deshmukh with whom he worked as a secretary. Hazare denied any such associations.
Acting as proxy for political parties
India's OPEN Magazine editorialised that it was "nonsense" to say Hazare's anti-corruption movement of 2011–12 was apolitical. The op-ed went on to say that the purpose of the movement was that, so long as the Congress Party was kept out of power, corrupt politicians of any other party could be elected to Parliament. The example of Ajay Chautala (now convicted for corruption) was cited. "In effect, Anna and his team are campaigning for Ajay Chautala effectively the first candidate put up for election by the India Against Corruption movement".
Views on Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar
In a press conference in April 2011, Hazare praised Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat and Nitish Kumar, chief minister of Bihar for their efforts on rural development, saying that other chief ministers should emulate them. Subsequently, Modi wrote an open letter to him, hailing him as a Gandhian anti-corruption activist while Digvijay Singh criticised Hazare for his comment. In May 2011, during his visit to Gujarat, Hazare changed his view and criticised Modi for rampant corruption. He urged Modi to appoint a Lokayukta. He also commented that the media had projected an incorrect image of Vibrant Gujarat. Subsequently, Hazare declared that Modi is not a suitable candidate for the position of Prime Minister. He criticised Modi for not doing enough to curb corruption and his unwillingness to set up a Lokayukta in Gujarat. Hazare questioned Modi's secular credentials.
Accusations of corruption
The government of the state of Maharashtra instituted a Commission of Inquiry under Justice PB Sawant in September 2003 to enquire into allegations of corruption against several people, including four ministers in the state as well as the "Hind Swaraj Trust" headed by Hazare. The Commission submitted its report on 22 February 2005, indicting the Trust for corruptly spending Rs. 220,000 on Hazare's birthday celebrations.
Two days ahead of Hazare's Lokpal fast, the Indian National Congress, attacked him, alleging that "the moral core of Hazare has been ripped apart" by the Justice P B Sawant Commission.
Hazare's lawyer Milind Pawar responded that the commission had remarked about "irregularities" in the accounts, but had not held him guilty of any "corrupt" practices. Pawar said that on 16 June 1998, a celebration was organised to congratulate Hazare on winning an award from a US–based NGO and it coincided with his 61st birthday. The trust spent Rs 218,000 for the function. Abhay Phirodia, a Pune-based industrialist, who took the initiative to organise this function donated an amount of Rs to the trust by cheque soon afterwards. Hazare dared the government to file a First Information Report (FIR) against him to prove the charges.
Accusation of being anti-democratic and anti-Dalit
An article written in Kolkata Telegraph by Ramchandra Guha stated that environmental journalist Mukul Sharma claimed that Hazare forced the Dalit families in Ralegan Siddhi to adopt a vegetarian diet, and that those who violated the decree were tied to a post and flogged. Mukul Sharma also found that no panchayat elections have been held in the village for the past two decades, and that no campaigning was allowed during state and national elections, upon Hazare's instructions.
Dalit columnist Chandrabhan Prasad opined that Hazare's anti-corruption movement rejected representative democracy and alleged that it was an upper-caste uprising. He also claimed that centralising powers in Lokapal, which was a non-elected entity, was anti-democratic.
Dalit activist Kancha Ilaiah commented in a similar fashion, that "The Anna movement is an anti-social justice, manuvadi movement. The Dalits, tribals, OBCs and minorities have nothing to do with it. We oppose it." Activist Anoop Kheri claimed that "The language, symbols used by the movement clearly reflects its upper caste Hindu nature, a very rightwing Hindu patriotism is being used to get the entire country against corruption. And as a dalit, I have a problem with it."
There was also an allegation that an RTI activist was denied permission to protest by having a fast-unto-death at Ralegan Siddhi, the grama sabha stating that the reason was that only Hazare can hold such fasts in his village.
Activist Udit Raj was denied permission to protest against Hazare, who he claimed was against parliamentary processes. Raj warned that succumbing to Hazare's demands would set a dangerous trend rendering the "backward" classes more vulnerable. He claimed that mass mobilisations coerced the government into a "set of solutions" against constitutional processes could be used against affirmative action and threatened democracy.
Later, it came to light that poor dalits had been paid up to 200 each to shout slogans against Hazare, although the organisers denied it. Some protesters said that they had been told that it was a pro-Anna protest, but felt cheated after realising that it was against Hazare.
Accusation of being anti-Muslim
On 22 August 2011 writer-activist Arundhati Roy accused Hazare in a newspaper article of being nonsecular. She questioned his secular credentials, pointing out his "support for Raj Thackeray's Marathi Manoos xenophobia and [has praised] the 'development model' of Gujarat's CM who oversaw the 2002 pogrom against Muslims". The website of the newspaper published many responses to her article and these were mostly critical of her views. Activist Medha Patkar criticised Roy, saying that her views were misplaced.
Hazare in the past stood in firm opposition to the Shiv Sena and BJP governments in Maharashtra. Activist and writer Asghar Ali Engineer in an EPW article on Communalism and Communal Violence reported,
Hazare was accused of working at the behest of RSS and BJP, and against Muslims by cleric Bukhari of the Jama Masjid. Bhukhari was subsequently criticised for being a Royal Imam and for claiming that his personal views represented the view of ordinary Muslims.
Conspiracy to murder Hazare
Hazare exposed corruption in cooperative sugar factories in Maharashtra, including one controlled by Dr.Padamsinh Bajirao Patil, a member of Parliament of 15th Lok Sabha and higher-ranking Leader of Nationalist Congress Party from Osmanabad. Patil was accused in the 2006 murder case of Congress leader Pawanraje Nimabalkar.
The conspiracy to kill Hazare was exposed when Parasmal Jain, an accused in the Nimbalkar murder case, in his written confession before a magistrate said that Patil had paid him to murder Nimbalkar, and also offered him supari (contract killing sum) to kill Anna Hazare. After this written confession, Hazare appealed to the state government of Maharashtra to lodge a separate First Information Report ( FIR ) against Patil but the government declined. On 26 September 2009 Hazare lodged his own complaint at Parner police station of Ahmednagar District in Maharashtra against Patil. Patil approached the High Court seeking anticipatory bail but on 14 October 2009, the Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court rejected his application, observing that there was prima facie case against him. Padmasinh Patil appealed to the Supreme Court of India losing again, on 6 November 2009. On 11 November 2009 Patil surrendered before the sessions court in Latur and was sent to judicial remand for 14 days. On 16 December 2009 the Aurangabad bench granted bail. , the verdict is pending.
As of December 2011, Hazare received Z+ security.
Honours, awards and international recognition
Film
The Marathi film Mala Anna Vhaychay (I want to become Anna) is based on Hazare's work. The role of Hazare has been played by Arun Nalawade.
Anna – a 2016 Indian Hindi-language biographical film based on the life of Anna Hazare by Shashank Udapurkar and starring Udapurkar as Hazare.
Andolan Ek Suruvat Ek Shevat is a 2014 Indian Marathi-language film inspired by Hazare who also stars in a lead-role, his first such film work.
Personal life
Hazare is unmarried. He has lived in a small room attached to the Sant Yadavbaba temple in Ralegan Siddhi since 1975. On 16 April 2011, he declared his bank balance of and as money in hand. He owns 0.07 hectares of family land in Ralegan Siddhi, which is being used by his brothers. He donated for village use two other pieces of land donated to him by the Indian Army and by a villager.
Writings
See also
Uprising 2011 India against corruption
Hartal
References
Further reading
Periwinkle Environmental Education Part-X Author-Harendra Chakhaiyar, Publisher- Jeevandeep Prakashan Pvt Ltd,
From Poverty to Plenty: The Story of Ralegan Siddhi Volume 5 of Studies in Ecology and Sustainable Development. Authors- Ganesh Pangare, Vasudha Pangare. Publisher: Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, 1992.
Dynamics of rural development: lessons from Ralegan Siddhi Publisher- Foundation for Research in Community Health, 2002.
Troubles and Wet Solutions: Success Story of Ralegan Siddhi's Watershed Development Project Centre for Alternative Agriculture Media
Ralegan Siddhi Authors: Ramesh Awasthi, Dashrath K. Panmand, Foundation for Research in Community Health (Bombay, India) Publisher: Foundation for Research in Community Health, 1994. Original from The University of Michigan. Digitized 22 December 2009. Length 92 pages
Religion and ecology in India and Southeast Asia Authors- David L. Gosling, Ninian Smart, Contributor- Ninian Smart, Edition-illustrated, Publisher- Routledge, 2001,
Springs of life: India's water resources Authors Ganesh Pangare, Vasudha Pangare, Binayak Das, World Water Institute (Pune, India), Bharathi Integrated Rural Development Society, Edition- illustrated, Publisher-Academic Foundation, 2006.
External links
Civil Society – Official website
20th-century Indian judges
1937 births
Indian Hindus
Living people
Marathi people
Founders of Indian schools and colleges
Indian civil rights activists
Gandhians
Indian Army personnel
Nonviolence advocates
Freedom of information activists
Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in social work
Prisoners and detainees of India
Indian human rights activists
Indian revolutionaries
Marathi politicians
Maharashtra politicians
20th-century Indian educational theorists
Social workers
People from Ahmednagar district
Maharashtra academics
Social workers from Maharashtra
Hunger strikers
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"Hazare is an Indian surname. Notable people with the surname include:\n\n Anna Hazare (born 1937), Indian social activist\n Sanjay Hazare (born 1961), Indian cricketer and umpire\n Vijay Hazare (1915–2004), Indian cricketer\n\nSee also \n Hazar (disambiguation)\n Hazara (disambiguation)",
"Bachche Kachche Sachche () is an Indian drama film directed by Ravi Sadasiv and starring Ashish Vidyarthi and Mukesh Tiwari. It was released on 9 June 2017. It follows the theme of adults showing disregard for civil manners in front of children.\n\nCast\nAnna hazare as Anna hazare\nAshish Vidyarthi as Munna\nMukesh Tiwari as Rana \nDr. Ashvini kumar singh as T.V. reporter\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\nIndian films\n2017 films"
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"Who is Anna Hazare?",
"Hazare was drafted in the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier."
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Besides being drafted are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
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Anna Hazare
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Hazare was drafted in the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier. He undertook army training at Aurangabad. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack--variously claimed to have been a bomb, an aerial assault and an exchange of fire at the border--while he was driving a truck. The experiences of wartime, coupled with the poverty from which he had come, affected him. He considered suicide at one point but turned instead to pondering the meaning of life and death. He said of the truck attack, "[It] sent me thinking. I felt that God wanted me to stay alive for some reason. I was reborn in the battlefield of Khem Karan. And I decided to dedicate my new life to serving people." At a book stand in New Delhi railway station, he came across Swami Vivekananda's booklet "Call to the youth for nation building" which inspired him to think deeper. He spent his spare time reading the works of Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Vinoba Bhave. In a blog post, Hazare expressed his views on Kashmir by saying that it was his "active conviction that Kashmir is an integral part of India" and that if required once again for service, he would remain "ready to take part in war against Pakistan." During his fifteen-year career in the army (1960-75), Anna Hazare was posted at several locations, including Punjab (Indo Pak war 1965), Nagaland, Bombay (1971) and Jammu (1974) During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army. He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service. He had another escape in Nagaland, where one night, underground Naga rebels attacked his post and killed all the inmates. He had a miraculous escape as he had gone out to return nature's call and hence turned out to be the lone survivor. Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service. CANNOTANSWER
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During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack
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Kisan Baburao "Anna" Hazare (; born 15 June 1937) is an Indian social activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase government transparency, and investigate and punish corruption in public life. In addition to organising and encouraging grassroots movements, Hazare frequently conducted hunger strikes to further his causes—a tactic reminiscent, to many, of the work of Mahatma Gandhi. Hazare also contributed to the development and structuring of Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan—the third-highest civilian award—by the Government of India in 1992 for his efforts in establishing this village as a model for others.
Hazare started a hunger strike on 5 April 2011 to exert pressure on the Indian government to enact a stringent anti-corruption law, The Lokpal Bill, 2011 as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill, for the institution of an ombudsman with the power to deal with corruption in public places. The fast led to nationwide protests in support. The fast ended on 9 April 2011, a day after the government accepted Hazare's demands. The government issued a gazette notification on the formation of a joint committee, consisting of government and civil society representatives, to draft the legislation.
Foreign Policy named him among top 100 global thinkers in 2011. Also in 2011, Hazare was ranked as the most influential person in Mumbai by a national daily newspaper. He has faced criticism for his authoritarian views on justice, including death as punishment for corrupt public officials and his alleged support for forced vasectomies as a method of family planning.
Early life
Kisan Baburao Hazare was born on 15 June 1937 (some sources say 15 January 1940) in Bhingar, near Ahmednagar. He was the eldest son of Baburao Hazare and Laxmi Bai. He has two sisters and four brothers. He later adopted the name Anna, which in Marathi means "elder person" or "father".
His father worked as an unskilled labourer in Ayurveda Ashram Pharmacy and struggled to support the family financially. In time, the family moved to their ancestral village of Ralegan Siddhi, where they owned a small amount of agricultural land. A relative took on the burden of providing Kisan with an education, taking him to Mumbai because the village had no primary school. The relative became unable financially to continue the support and Kisan's schooling ended in the Standard Seventh grade; his siblings never attended school. He started selling flowers at the Dadar railway station in Mumbai and eventually managed to own two flower shops in the city. He also became involved in vigilantism, joining groups who acted to prevent landlords' thugs from intimidating the poor out of their shelter.
Military service
Hazare was drafted into the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier. He undertook army training at Aurangabad.
During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack—variously claimed to have been a bomb, an aerial assault and an exchange of fire at the border—while he was driving a truck. The experiences of wartime, coupled with the poverty from which he had come, affected him. He considered suicide at one point but instead turned to pondering the meaning of life and death. He said of the truck attack, "[It] sent me thinking. I felt that God wanted me to stay alive for some reason. I was reborn in the battlefield of Khem Karan. And I decided to dedicate my new life to serving people." At a book stand in New Delhi railway station, he came across Swami Vivekananda's booklet "Call to the youth for nation building" which inspired him to think deeper. He spent his spare time reading the works of Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Vinoba Bhave. In a blog post, Hazare expressed his views on Kashmir by saying that it was his "active conviction that Kashmir is an integral part of India" and that if required once again for service, he would remain "ready to take part in war against Pakistan."
During his fifteen-year career in the army (1960–75), Anna Hazare was posted at several locations, including Punjab (Indo Pak war 1965), Nagaland, Bombay (1971) and Jammu (1974)
During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army. He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service. He had another escape in Nagaland, where one night, underground Naga rebels attacked his post and killed all the inmates. He had a miraculous escape as he had gone out to return nature's call and hence turned out to be the lone survivor.
Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service.
Transformation of Ralegan Siddhi
Hazare returned to Ralegan Siddhi, a village then described by Satpathy and Mehta as "one of the many villages of India plagued by acute poverty, deprivation, a fragile ecosystem, neglect and hopelessness."
Although most of the villagers owned some land, cultivation was extremely difficult due to the rocky ground preventing retention of the monsoon rains, this situation was worsened by gradual environmental deterioration as trees were cut down, erosion spread and droughts were also experienced. The shortage of water also led to disease from unsanitary conditions and water reuse for multiple purposes. The economy of the village had become reliant on the illegal manufacture and sale of alcohol, a product on which many of the villagers had become dependent. Many inhabitants borrowed from moneylenders to survive, paying monthly interest rates of as much as 10%. Crime and violence (including domestic violence) had become commonplace, while education and employment opportunities were poor.
Hazare was relatively wealthy because of the gratuity from his army service. He set about using that money to restore a run-down, vandalised village temple as a focal point for the community. Some were able to respond with small financial donations but many other villagers, particularly among the elderly, donated their labour in a process that became known as shramdaan. Some youths also became involved in the work and these he organised into a Tarun Mandal (Youth Association). One of the works of Vivekananda which he had read was Call to the youth for nation building.
Prohibition of alcohol
Hazare and the youth group decided to take up the issue of alcoholism to drive a process of reform. At a meeting conducted in the temple, the villagers resolved to close down liquor dens and ban alcohol in the village. Since these resolutions were made in the temple, they became, in a sense, religious commitments. Over thirty liquor brewing units voluntarily closed their establishments. Those who did not succumb to social pressure were forced to close their businesses when the youth group smashed their premises. The owners could not complain as their businesses were illegal.
Once 3 drunken villagers were tied to pillars and then flogged, personally by Hazare with his army belt. He justified this punishment by stating that "rural India was a harsh society", and that
Hazare appealed to the government of Maharashtra to pass a law whereby prohibition would come into force in a village if 25% of the women in the village demanded it. In 2009 the state government amended the Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949 to reflect this.
It was decided to ban the sale of tobacco, cigarettes, and beedies (an unfiltered cigarette where the tobacco is rolled in tendu, also known as Coromandel ebony, leaves instead of paper) in the village. To implement this resolution, the youth group performed a unique "Holi" ceremony twenty two years ago. The festival of Holi is celebrated as a symbolic burning of evil. The youth group brought all the tobacco, cigarettes, and beedies from the shops in the village and burnt them in a Holi fire. Tobacco, cigarettes, or beedies are no longer sold.
Grain Bank
In 1980, Hazare started the Grain Bank at the temple, with the objective of providing food security to needy farmers during times of drought or crop failure. Rich farmers, or those with surplus grain production, could donate a quintal to the bank. In times of need, farmers could borrow the grain, but they had to return the amount of grain they borrowed, plus an additional quintal as an interest. This ensured that nobody in the village ever went hungry or had to borrow money to buy grain. This also prevented distress sales of grain at lower prices at harvest time.
Watershed development programme
Ralegan Siddhi is located in the foothills, so Hazare persuaded villagers to construct a watershed embankment and associated works to stop water and allow it to percolate and increase the ground water level and improve irrigation in the area. These efforts solved the problem of water scarcity in the village and made irrigation possible.
Cultivation of water-intensive crops like sugarcane was banned. Crops such as pulses, oilseeds, and certain cash crops with low water requirements replaced them. The farmers started growing high-yield varieties and changed cropping pattern. Hazare has helped farmers of more than 70 villages in drought-prone regions in the state of Maharashtra since 1975. When Hazare came to Ralegan Siddhi in 1975 only of land was irrigated, Hazare converted it into about .
Education
In 1932, Ralegan Siddhi got its first formal school, a single classroom primary school. In 1962, the villagers added more classrooms through community volunteer efforts. By 1971, out of an estimated population of 1,209, only 30.43% were literate (72 women and 290 men). Boys moved to the nearby towns of Shirur and Parner to pursue higher education, but girls were limited to primary education. Hazare, along with the youth of Ralegan Siddhi, worked to increase literacy rates and education levels. In 1976 they started a pre-school and a high school in 1979. The villagers formed a charitable trust, the Sant Yadavbaba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, which was registered in 1979.
Removal of untouchability
The social barriers and discrimination that existed due to the caste system in India have been largely eliminated by Ralegan Siddhi villagers. It was Hazare's moral leadership that motivated and inspired the villagers to shun untouchability and caste discrimination. Marriages of Dalits are held as part of community marriage program together with those of other castes. The Dalits have become integrated into the social and economic life of the village. The upper caste villagers built houses for the lower caste Dalits by shramdaan and helped to repay their loans.
Gram Sabha
The Gandhian philosophy on rural development considers the Gram Sabha as an important democratic institution for collective decision-making in the villages of India. Hazare campaigned between 1998 and 2006 for amending the Gram Sabha Act, so that villagers have a say in the village's development. The state government initially refused, but eventually gave in to public pressure. It became mandatory to seek the sanction of the Gram Sabha (an assembly of all village adults, and not just the few elected representatives in the gram panchayat) for expenditures on development works in the village.
Activism
Anti-corruption protests in Maharashtra
In 1991 Hazare launched the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan (BVJA, People's Movement against Corruption), a popular movement to fight against corruption in Ralegaon Siddhi. In the same year he protested against the collusion between 40 forest officials and timber merchants. This protest resulted in the transfer and suspension of these officials.
In May 1997 Hazare protested alleged malpractice in the purchase of powerlooms by the Vasantrao Naik Bhathya Vimukt Jhtra Governor P. C. Alexander. On 4 November 1997 Gholap filed a defamation suit against Hazare for accusing him of corruption. He was arrested in April 1998 and was released on a personal bond of . On 9 September 1998 Hazare was imprisoned in the Yerawada Jail to serve a three-month sentence mandated by the Mumbai Metropolitan Court. The sentencing caused leaders of all political parties except the BJP and the Shiv Sena to support him. Later, due to public protests, the Government of Maharashtra ordered his release. Hazare wrote a letter to then chief minister Manohar Joshi demanding Gholap's removal for his role in alleged malpractices in the Awami Merchant Bank. Gholap resigned from the cabinet on 27 April 1999.
In 2003 corruption charges were raised by Hazare against four NCP ministers of the Congress-NCP government. He started his fast unto death on 9 August 2003. He ended his fast on 17 August 2003 after then chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde formed a one-man commission headed by the retired justice P. B. Sawant to probe his charges. The P. B. Sawant commission report, submitted on 23 February 2005, indicted Sureshdada Jain, Nawab Malik, and Padmasinh Patil. The report exonerated Vijaykumar Gavit. Jain and Malik resigned from the cabinet in March 2005.
Three trusts headed by Anna Hazare were also indicted in the P. B. Sawant commission report. spent by the Hind Swaraj Trust for Anna Hazare's birthday celebrations was concluded by the commission as illegal and amounting to a corrupt practice, though Abhay Firodia, an industrialist subsequently donated to the trust for that purpose. The setting apart of 11 acres of its land by the trust in favour of the Zilla Parishad without obtaining permission from the charity commissioner was concluded as a case of maladministration. The commission also concluded that the maintenance of accounts of the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Janandolan Trust after 10 November 2001 had not been according to the rules and spent by the Sant Yadavbaba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal Trust for renovating a temple thwarted its object of imparting secular education.
Right to Information movement
In the early 2000s Hazare led a movement in Maharashtra state which forced the state government to enact a revised Maharashtra Right to Information Act. This Act was later considered as the base document for the Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI), enacted by the Union Government. It also ensured that the President of India assented to this new Act.
On 20 July 2006 the Union Cabinet amended the Right to Information Act 2005 to exclude the file noting by the government officials from its purview. Hazare began his fast unto death on 9 August 2006 in Alandi against the proposed amendment. He ended his fast on 19 August 2006, after the government agreed to change its earlier decision.
Regulation of Transfers and Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act
Before 2006 in the state of Maharashtra, honest government officers were transferred to other places according to ministerial wish, while some corrupt and favoured officials stayed put for decades. Hazare fought for a law whereby a government servant must clear files within a specified time, and transfers must take place only after three years. After many years of Hazare's efforts, on 25 May 2006 Maharashtra announced the Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act 2006. This act provided for disciplinary action against officials who clear files slowly, and enabled monitoring of officials who overstay a post, and for involvement in a corrupt nexus.
This act mandated the government to effect transfers of all government officers and employees, except Class IV workers, no sooner and no later than three years, except in emergency or exceptional circumstances. Maharashtra was the first state to introduce such an act. However, this law was not fully followed.
Campaign against liquor from food grains
Article 47 of India's Constitution commits the State to raise the standard of living, improve public health and prohibit the consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs injurious to health.
In 2007 Maharashtra rolled out a policy aimed to encourage production of alcohol from food grain to fill the rising demand for industrial alcohol and liquor. It issued 36 licences for distilleries for making alcohol from food grain.
Anna Hazare opposed the government's policy to promote making liquor from food grain. He argued that Maharashtra had to import food, so producing liquor from food grain was inappropriate. One State minister, Laxman Dhoble said that those opposing the use of food grain for the production of liquor were anti-farmer, and that opponents should be beaten with sugarcane sticks.
Hazare began fasting at Shirdi, but on 21 March 2010 the government promised to review the policy and Anna ended his 5-day fast. But the government later granted 36 licences and grants of (per litre of alcohol) to politicians or their sons who were engaged in making alcohol from foodgrains. Recipients included Amit and Dheeraj Deshmukh, sons of Union Heavy Industries Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde's daughter Pankaja Palwe and her husband Charudatta Palwe, sons-in-law of P.V. Narasimha Rao and Rajya Sabha MP Govindrao Adik. The government approved the licences despite stiff opposition from the planning and finance departments, saying there was a huge demand in other countries for distilled spirits compared to that of molasses. Hazare sued Maharashtra over the policy in the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court. On 20 August 2009 Maharashtra stopped the policy. However, distilleries sanctioned before that date and those who started production within two years of sanction were entitled for subsidies.
On 5 May 2011 the court refused to hear the suit, saying, "not before me, this is a court of law, not a court of justice". A Maharashtra Principal Secretary, C.S. Sangeet Rao, stated that no law existed to scrap these licences.
Lokpal Bill movement
In 2011, Hazare participated in the satyagraha movement campaigning for a stronger anti-corruption Lokpal (ombudsman) bill in the Indian parliament. Known as the Jan Lokpal Bill (People's Ombudsman Bill), it was drafted by N. Santosh Hegde, a former justice of the Supreme Court of India and Lokayukta of Karnataka, Prashant Bhushan, and social activist Arvind Kejriwal. The draft incorporated more stringent provisions and gave wider power to the Lokpal than the government's 2010 draft. These included placing "the Prime Minister within the ambit of the proposed lokpal's powers".
Hunger strike
Hazare began an "indefinite fast" on 5 April 2011 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi as part of the campaign to form a joint committee of government and civil society representatives. He wanted this committee to draft a bill with more stringent penal provisions and gave more independence to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas (ombudsmen in the states). The fast came after his demand was rejected by the prime minister, Manmohan Singh. Hazare said, "I will fast until Jan Lokpal Bill is passed".
The movement attracted attention in the media and thousands of supporters. Almost 150 people reportedly joined Hazare in his fast. Social activists, including Medha Patkar, Arvind Kejriwal, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, and Jayaprakash Narayan lent their support. People showed support in social media. In addition to spiritual leaders Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Swami Ramdev, Swami Agnivesh, the former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev and many other celebrities supported him. Hazare decided that he would not allow any politician to sit with him. The protesters rejected Uma Bharti, Om Prakash Chautala and others when they visited the protest. On 6 April 2011 Sharad Pawar resigned from the group of ministers formed for reviewing the 2010 draft.
Protests spread to Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Shillong, Aizawl and other cities.
On 8 April 2011 the Government accepted the movement's demands. On 9 April it issued a notification in the Gazette of India on formation of a joint committee. It accepted the formula that it should be co-chaired by a politician and social activist. The notification stated, "The Joint Drafting Committee shall consist of five nominee ministers of the Government of India and five nominees of the civil society. The five nominee Ministers of the Government of India are Pranab Mukherjee, Union Minister of Finance, P. Chidambaram, Union Minister of Home Affairs, M. Veerappa Moily, Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource and Development and Minister of Communication and Information Technology and Salman Khursheed, Union Minister of Water Resources and Minister of Minority Affairs. The five non-politician nominees were Anna Hazare, N. Santosh Hegde, Shanti Bhushan Senior Advocate, Prashant Bhushan, Advocate and Arvind Kejriwal.
On the morning of 9 April 2011 Hazare ended his 98-hour hunger strike. He addressed the people and set a deadline of 15 August 2011 to pass the bill. He said that
Hazare said that if the bill did not pass he would call for a mass nation-wide agitation. He called his movement a "second struggle for independence" and he will continue the fight.
Hazare threatened on 28 July 2012 to proceed with his fast-unto-death on the Jan Lokpal Bill issue. He also stated that country's future is not safe in the hands of Congress and BJP and he would campaign in the coming elections for those with clean background. On the third day of his indefinite fast, Anna stated that he will not talk even to the Prime Minister till his demands are met. On 2 August 2012 Hazare said that there was nothing wrong with forming a new political party but, he would neither join the party nor contest elections. Team and Anna have decided to end their indefinite fast on 3 August 2012 at 5 pm after which the team will announce their decision to enter politics.
Draft bill
During the meeting of the joint drafting committee on 30 May 2011, the Union government members opposed the inclusion of the prime minister, higher judiciary and the acts of the MPs under the purview of the JanLokpal in the draft bill. On 31 May, Mukherjee sent a letter to the chief ministers of all states and party leaders seeking their opinion on six contentious issues, including whether to bring the prime minister and judges of India's Supreme Court and High Courts under the law's purview. But the civil society members of the drafting committee considered that keeping them out would be a violation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
Hazare and other civil society members decided to boycott the 6 June 2011 drafting committee meeting to protest the forcible eviction of Swami Ramdev and his followers by the Delhi Police from Ramlila Maidan on 5 June 2011, while they were on a hunger strike against black money and corruption.
On 6 June 2011, the civil society members wrote to Mukherjee, explaining reasons for their absence and also asking government to go public on the major issues. They also decided to attend only future meetings that were telecast live. On 8 June at Rajghat, describing his movement as the second freedom struggle, Hazare criticised the Government for trying to discredit the drafting committee and threatened to go on indefinite fast again starting 16 August 2011 if the Lokpal Bill had not passed. He also criticised the Government for putting hurdles in front of the Bill and for maligning the civil society members.
Indefinite fast
On 28 July 2011 the union cabinet approved a draft of the Lokpal Bill, which kept the Prime Minister, judiciary and lower bureaucracy out of the ombudsman's scope. Hazare rejected the government version by describing it as "cruel joke". He wrote a letter to Singh announcing his decision to begin an indefinite fast from 16 August 2011 at Jantar Mantar, if the government introduced its own version of the bill without taking suggestions from civil society members. Hazare wrote:
Within twenty four hours of cabinet's endorsement of a weak Lokpal Bill, over ten thousand people from across the country sent faxes directly to the government demanding a stronger bill. The Mumbai Taxi Men's Union, comprising over 30,000 taxi drivers supported Hazare's fast by keeping all taxis off the roads on 16 August. Lawyers of Allahabad High Court described the government proposal as against the national interest and pledged their support to Hazare by hunger striking at Allahabad on 16 August. On 30 July Vishwa Hindu Parishad supported his fast by saying movement for an effective anti-corruption ombudsman needed the people's backing.
On 1 August 2011, Public interest litigation was filed in the Supreme Court of India by Hemant Patil, a Maharashtra-based social worker and businessman, to restrain Hazare, alleging that Hazare's demands were unconstitutional and amounted to interference in the legislative process.
Arrest and aftermath
On 16 August 2011, Hazare was arrested, four hours before the planned indefinite hunger strike. Rajan Bhagat, spokesman for Delhi Police, said police arrested Hazare for illegally gathering in a Delhi park to begin his hunger strike, claiming that Hazare refused to meet police conditions for allowing the protest. The conditions included restricting the fast to three days and the number of protesters to 5,000. Later in the afternoon, Hazare refused bail. The magistrate dispatched him to Tihar jail for seven days. After announcements by Prashant Bhushan, local television, and social media sites (including Facebook), thousands marched in support from the India Gate to Jantar Mantar.
Media reported that about 1,300 supporters were detained by police in Delhi, including Arvind Kejriwal, Shanti Bhushan, Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodia. Protesters reportedly courted arrest in different parts of the country. Opposition parties came out against the arrest, likening the government action to the emergency imposed in the country in 1975. Both houses of Parliament adjourned over the issue.
After four hours in detention Hazare was released unconditionally by the police, but
refused to leave Tihar Jail. Hazare demanded unconditional permission to fast at Ramlila Maidan. Hazare continued his fast inside the jail.
After his arrest, Hazare received support from people across the country. There were reports of "nearly 570 demonstrations and protests by Anna supporters across the country". Due to the millions of protesters nationwide, the government allowed him to begin a public hunger strike of fifteen days. After talks with public authorities, Hazare decided to hold his protest at Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi. On 20 August Hazare "left the Tihar Jail for the Ramlila Grounds". Hazare promised reporters "he would fight to the 'last breath' until the government gets his team's Jan Lokpal Bill passed in this session of Parliament, which ends on 8 September."
Fast at Ramlila Maidan
On 20 August 2011 thousands came to show their support for Hazare, while "his advisers made television appearances to rally public support and defend themselves against criticism that their protest campaign and refusal to compromise is undermining India's parliamentary process." The National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) condemned Hazare's deadline for passing the bill as undermining democracy, which operates by
The Congress party confirmed that Maharashtra Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Umesh Chandra Sarangi, who had a history of mediating between Hazare and officials, was meeting "to find points of consensus and defuse the situation". On 21 August "tens of thousands" watched Hazare as he sat on an elevated platform. It was reported that Hazare at that point had "lost more than seven pounds since beginning his fast". Despite this he stated, "I will not withdraw my hunger strike until the Jan Lokpal bill is passed in the Parliament. I can die but I will not bend." Hazare ended his fast on 28 August, after the Lokpal Bill passed unanimously.
He was admitted to Medanta Medicity, Gurgaon for post-fast care. He had lost and was very dehydrated after the 288-hour fast.
I Am Anna Campaign
Within a few days of Anna Hazare's first fast demanding a strong Lokpal (on 5 April 2011), supporters started a campaign known as "I Am Anna Hazare", which was similar to the "We Are All Khaled Said" campaign from the Egyptian uprising. During Anna Hazare's second fast, his topi, the cap which became synonymous with Anna Hazare, became almost a fashion statement. Sales of the topis hit an all-time high. Kiran Bedi recommended that the "I am Anna" topi be displayed whenever someone asked for a bribe.
Fast on MMRDA ground
On 27 December 2011, Hazare began a 3-day hunger strike at MMRDA grounds, Bandra Kurla Complex, to demand a stronger Lokpal bill than was in debate. Hazare ended the fast on 28 December, after his doctors said that his kidneys might fail if he continued.
Before reaching the venue, Anna paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Juhu Beach. On his way to a rally with several thousand people, he took two-and-half hours to reach the ground, passing through Santacruz, Tulip Star Hotel, Mithibai College, SV Road, Vile Parle, Khar and Bandra Highway.
A PIL petition filed against the fast was turned down by the Karnataka High Court. A judge noted that there was no public interest in the petition.
Electoral reform movement
In 2011, Hazare demanded an amendment to the electoral law to incorporate the option of None of the above in the electronic voting machines during the Indian elections. The "None of the above (NOTA)" is a ballot option that allows an electorate to indicate disapproval of all of the candidates in an electoral system, in case of non-availability of any candidate of his choice, as his Right to Reject. Soon, the Chief Election Commissioner of India Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi supported Hazare's demand for the electoral reforms.
On 31 March 2013 Hazare started Jantantra Yatra from the city of Amritsar. He is expecting to address various issues, including electoral reforms such as the right to reject a candidate.
Protest against atrocities against Swami Ramdev and his supporters
On 8 June 2011 Anna Hazare and thousands of his supporters fasted from 10 am to 6 pm at Rajghat to protest against the midnight crackdown of 5 June by the Delhi Police on Swami Ramdev's fast at Ramlila ground protests. Anna Hazare held the Prime Minister of India responsible for the atrocities and termed the police action as an attempt to stifle democracy. According to one of Hazare's young supporters, the large presence of youths at the protest was due to his use of nonviolent protest, similar to Gandhi.
On 9 August 2013, Anna's office announced his anti-corruption organisation Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan (BVJA) is no longer tackling corruption issues at a personal or social level. In an email circulated to India Against Corruption's membership, the veteran Gandhian's office has clarified that Anna "is now focused on Janlokpal, Right to Reject, Right to Recall, Farmers problems, Change in Education in System".
2015 Land acquisition ordinance protest
In February 2015, he protested for two days at Jantar Mantar in Delhi against ordinance on the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
Controversies and criticism
Alleged link with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Hazare has been criticised for being an agent of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) a right-wing Hindu body. According to Digvijay Singh a senior leader of the Indian National Congress, the entire crusade of 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement was planned by RSS in which Plan-A was Baba Ramdev while Plan-B was Anna Hazare. Their basic job was to disturb national security. Singh also charged Hazare with having links with late RSS leader Nanaji Deshmukh with whom he worked as a secretary. Hazare denied any such associations.
Acting as proxy for political parties
India's OPEN Magazine editorialised that it was "nonsense" to say Hazare's anti-corruption movement of 2011–12 was apolitical. The op-ed went on to say that the purpose of the movement was that, so long as the Congress Party was kept out of power, corrupt politicians of any other party could be elected to Parliament. The example of Ajay Chautala (now convicted for corruption) was cited. "In effect, Anna and his team are campaigning for Ajay Chautala effectively the first candidate put up for election by the India Against Corruption movement".
Views on Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar
In a press conference in April 2011, Hazare praised Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat and Nitish Kumar, chief minister of Bihar for their efforts on rural development, saying that other chief ministers should emulate them. Subsequently, Modi wrote an open letter to him, hailing him as a Gandhian anti-corruption activist while Digvijay Singh criticised Hazare for his comment. In May 2011, during his visit to Gujarat, Hazare changed his view and criticised Modi for rampant corruption. He urged Modi to appoint a Lokayukta. He also commented that the media had projected an incorrect image of Vibrant Gujarat. Subsequently, Hazare declared that Modi is not a suitable candidate for the position of Prime Minister. He criticised Modi for not doing enough to curb corruption and his unwillingness to set up a Lokayukta in Gujarat. Hazare questioned Modi's secular credentials.
Accusations of corruption
The government of the state of Maharashtra instituted a Commission of Inquiry under Justice PB Sawant in September 2003 to enquire into allegations of corruption against several people, including four ministers in the state as well as the "Hind Swaraj Trust" headed by Hazare. The Commission submitted its report on 22 February 2005, indicting the Trust for corruptly spending Rs. 220,000 on Hazare's birthday celebrations.
Two days ahead of Hazare's Lokpal fast, the Indian National Congress, attacked him, alleging that "the moral core of Hazare has been ripped apart" by the Justice P B Sawant Commission.
Hazare's lawyer Milind Pawar responded that the commission had remarked about "irregularities" in the accounts, but had not held him guilty of any "corrupt" practices. Pawar said that on 16 June 1998, a celebration was organised to congratulate Hazare on winning an award from a US–based NGO and it coincided with his 61st birthday. The trust spent Rs 218,000 for the function. Abhay Phirodia, a Pune-based industrialist, who took the initiative to organise this function donated an amount of Rs to the trust by cheque soon afterwards. Hazare dared the government to file a First Information Report (FIR) against him to prove the charges.
Accusation of being anti-democratic and anti-Dalit
An article written in Kolkata Telegraph by Ramchandra Guha stated that environmental journalist Mukul Sharma claimed that Hazare forced the Dalit families in Ralegan Siddhi to adopt a vegetarian diet, and that those who violated the decree were tied to a post and flogged. Mukul Sharma also found that no panchayat elections have been held in the village for the past two decades, and that no campaigning was allowed during state and national elections, upon Hazare's instructions.
Dalit columnist Chandrabhan Prasad opined that Hazare's anti-corruption movement rejected representative democracy and alleged that it was an upper-caste uprising. He also claimed that centralising powers in Lokapal, which was a non-elected entity, was anti-democratic.
Dalit activist Kancha Ilaiah commented in a similar fashion, that "The Anna movement is an anti-social justice, manuvadi movement. The Dalits, tribals, OBCs and minorities have nothing to do with it. We oppose it." Activist Anoop Kheri claimed that "The language, symbols used by the movement clearly reflects its upper caste Hindu nature, a very rightwing Hindu patriotism is being used to get the entire country against corruption. And as a dalit, I have a problem with it."
There was also an allegation that an RTI activist was denied permission to protest by having a fast-unto-death at Ralegan Siddhi, the grama sabha stating that the reason was that only Hazare can hold such fasts in his village.
Activist Udit Raj was denied permission to protest against Hazare, who he claimed was against parliamentary processes. Raj warned that succumbing to Hazare's demands would set a dangerous trend rendering the "backward" classes more vulnerable. He claimed that mass mobilisations coerced the government into a "set of solutions" against constitutional processes could be used against affirmative action and threatened democracy.
Later, it came to light that poor dalits had been paid up to 200 each to shout slogans against Hazare, although the organisers denied it. Some protesters said that they had been told that it was a pro-Anna protest, but felt cheated after realising that it was against Hazare.
Accusation of being anti-Muslim
On 22 August 2011 writer-activist Arundhati Roy accused Hazare in a newspaper article of being nonsecular. She questioned his secular credentials, pointing out his "support for Raj Thackeray's Marathi Manoos xenophobia and [has praised] the 'development model' of Gujarat's CM who oversaw the 2002 pogrom against Muslims". The website of the newspaper published many responses to her article and these were mostly critical of her views. Activist Medha Patkar criticised Roy, saying that her views were misplaced.
Hazare in the past stood in firm opposition to the Shiv Sena and BJP governments in Maharashtra. Activist and writer Asghar Ali Engineer in an EPW article on Communalism and Communal Violence reported,
Hazare was accused of working at the behest of RSS and BJP, and against Muslims by cleric Bukhari of the Jama Masjid. Bhukhari was subsequently criticised for being a Royal Imam and for claiming that his personal views represented the view of ordinary Muslims.
Conspiracy to murder Hazare
Hazare exposed corruption in cooperative sugar factories in Maharashtra, including one controlled by Dr.Padamsinh Bajirao Patil, a member of Parliament of 15th Lok Sabha and higher-ranking Leader of Nationalist Congress Party from Osmanabad. Patil was accused in the 2006 murder case of Congress leader Pawanraje Nimabalkar.
The conspiracy to kill Hazare was exposed when Parasmal Jain, an accused in the Nimbalkar murder case, in his written confession before a magistrate said that Patil had paid him to murder Nimbalkar, and also offered him supari (contract killing sum) to kill Anna Hazare. After this written confession, Hazare appealed to the state government of Maharashtra to lodge a separate First Information Report ( FIR ) against Patil but the government declined. On 26 September 2009 Hazare lodged his own complaint at Parner police station of Ahmednagar District in Maharashtra against Patil. Patil approached the High Court seeking anticipatory bail but on 14 October 2009, the Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court rejected his application, observing that there was prima facie case against him. Padmasinh Patil appealed to the Supreme Court of India losing again, on 6 November 2009. On 11 November 2009 Patil surrendered before the sessions court in Latur and was sent to judicial remand for 14 days. On 16 December 2009 the Aurangabad bench granted bail. , the verdict is pending.
As of December 2011, Hazare received Z+ security.
Honours, awards and international recognition
Film
The Marathi film Mala Anna Vhaychay (I want to become Anna) is based on Hazare's work. The role of Hazare has been played by Arun Nalawade.
Anna – a 2016 Indian Hindi-language biographical film based on the life of Anna Hazare by Shashank Udapurkar and starring Udapurkar as Hazare.
Andolan Ek Suruvat Ek Shevat is a 2014 Indian Marathi-language film inspired by Hazare who also stars in a lead-role, his first such film work.
Personal life
Hazare is unmarried. He has lived in a small room attached to the Sant Yadavbaba temple in Ralegan Siddhi since 1975. On 16 April 2011, he declared his bank balance of and as money in hand. He owns 0.07 hectares of family land in Ralegan Siddhi, which is being used by his brothers. He donated for village use two other pieces of land donated to him by the Indian Army and by a villager.
Writings
See also
Uprising 2011 India against corruption
Hartal
References
Further reading
Periwinkle Environmental Education Part-X Author-Harendra Chakhaiyar, Publisher- Jeevandeep Prakashan Pvt Ltd,
From Poverty to Plenty: The Story of Ralegan Siddhi Volume 5 of Studies in Ecology and Sustainable Development. Authors- Ganesh Pangare, Vasudha Pangare. Publisher: Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, 1992.
Dynamics of rural development: lessons from Ralegan Siddhi Publisher- Foundation for Research in Community Health, 2002.
Troubles and Wet Solutions: Success Story of Ralegan Siddhi's Watershed Development Project Centre for Alternative Agriculture Media
Ralegan Siddhi Authors: Ramesh Awasthi, Dashrath K. Panmand, Foundation for Research in Community Health (Bombay, India) Publisher: Foundation for Research in Community Health, 1994. Original from The University of Michigan. Digitized 22 December 2009. Length 92 pages
Religion and ecology in India and Southeast Asia Authors- David L. Gosling, Ninian Smart, Contributor- Ninian Smart, Edition-illustrated, Publisher- Routledge, 2001,
Springs of life: India's water resources Authors Ganesh Pangare, Vasudha Pangare, Binayak Das, World Water Institute (Pune, India), Bharathi Integrated Rural Development Society, Edition- illustrated, Publisher-Academic Foundation, 2006.
External links
Civil Society – Official website
20th-century Indian judges
1937 births
Indian Hindus
Living people
Marathi people
Founders of Indian schools and colleges
Indian civil rights activists
Gandhians
Indian Army personnel
Nonviolence advocates
Freedom of information activists
Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in social work
Prisoners and detainees of India
Indian human rights activists
Indian revolutionaries
Marathi politicians
Maharashtra politicians
20th-century Indian educational theorists
Social workers
People from Ahmednagar district
Maharashtra academics
Social workers from Maharashtra
Hunger strikers
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"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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"Anna Hazare",
"Military service",
"Who is Anna Hazare?",
"Hazare was drafted in the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack"
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Did he win any medals for his service?
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Did Anna Hazare win any medals for his service?
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Anna Hazare
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Hazare was drafted in the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier. He undertook army training at Aurangabad. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack--variously claimed to have been a bomb, an aerial assault and an exchange of fire at the border--while he was driving a truck. The experiences of wartime, coupled with the poverty from which he had come, affected him. He considered suicide at one point but turned instead to pondering the meaning of life and death. He said of the truck attack, "[It] sent me thinking. I felt that God wanted me to stay alive for some reason. I was reborn in the battlefield of Khem Karan. And I decided to dedicate my new life to serving people." At a book stand in New Delhi railway station, he came across Swami Vivekananda's booklet "Call to the youth for nation building" which inspired him to think deeper. He spent his spare time reading the works of Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Vinoba Bhave. In a blog post, Hazare expressed his views on Kashmir by saying that it was his "active conviction that Kashmir is an integral part of India" and that if required once again for service, he would remain "ready to take part in war against Pakistan." During his fifteen-year career in the army (1960-75), Anna Hazare was posted at several locations, including Punjab (Indo Pak war 1965), Nagaland, Bombay (1971) and Jammu (1974) During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army. He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service. He had another escape in Nagaland, where one night, underground Naga rebels attacked his post and killed all the inmates. He had a miraculous escape as he had gone out to return nature's call and hence turned out to be the lone survivor. Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service. CANNOTANSWER
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Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service.
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Kisan Baburao "Anna" Hazare (; born 15 June 1937) is an Indian social activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase government transparency, and investigate and punish corruption in public life. In addition to organising and encouraging grassroots movements, Hazare frequently conducted hunger strikes to further his causes—a tactic reminiscent, to many, of the work of Mahatma Gandhi. Hazare also contributed to the development and structuring of Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan—the third-highest civilian award—by the Government of India in 1992 for his efforts in establishing this village as a model for others.
Hazare started a hunger strike on 5 April 2011 to exert pressure on the Indian government to enact a stringent anti-corruption law, The Lokpal Bill, 2011 as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill, for the institution of an ombudsman with the power to deal with corruption in public places. The fast led to nationwide protests in support. The fast ended on 9 April 2011, a day after the government accepted Hazare's demands. The government issued a gazette notification on the formation of a joint committee, consisting of government and civil society representatives, to draft the legislation.
Foreign Policy named him among top 100 global thinkers in 2011. Also in 2011, Hazare was ranked as the most influential person in Mumbai by a national daily newspaper. He has faced criticism for his authoritarian views on justice, including death as punishment for corrupt public officials and his alleged support for forced vasectomies as a method of family planning.
Early life
Kisan Baburao Hazare was born on 15 June 1937 (some sources say 15 January 1940) in Bhingar, near Ahmednagar. He was the eldest son of Baburao Hazare and Laxmi Bai. He has two sisters and four brothers. He later adopted the name Anna, which in Marathi means "elder person" or "father".
His father worked as an unskilled labourer in Ayurveda Ashram Pharmacy and struggled to support the family financially. In time, the family moved to their ancestral village of Ralegan Siddhi, where they owned a small amount of agricultural land. A relative took on the burden of providing Kisan with an education, taking him to Mumbai because the village had no primary school. The relative became unable financially to continue the support and Kisan's schooling ended in the Standard Seventh grade; his siblings never attended school. He started selling flowers at the Dadar railway station in Mumbai and eventually managed to own two flower shops in the city. He also became involved in vigilantism, joining groups who acted to prevent landlords' thugs from intimidating the poor out of their shelter.
Military service
Hazare was drafted into the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier. He undertook army training at Aurangabad.
During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack—variously claimed to have been a bomb, an aerial assault and an exchange of fire at the border—while he was driving a truck. The experiences of wartime, coupled with the poverty from which he had come, affected him. He considered suicide at one point but instead turned to pondering the meaning of life and death. He said of the truck attack, "[It] sent me thinking. I felt that God wanted me to stay alive for some reason. I was reborn in the battlefield of Khem Karan. And I decided to dedicate my new life to serving people." At a book stand in New Delhi railway station, he came across Swami Vivekananda's booklet "Call to the youth for nation building" which inspired him to think deeper. He spent his spare time reading the works of Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Vinoba Bhave. In a blog post, Hazare expressed his views on Kashmir by saying that it was his "active conviction that Kashmir is an integral part of India" and that if required once again for service, he would remain "ready to take part in war against Pakistan."
During his fifteen-year career in the army (1960–75), Anna Hazare was posted at several locations, including Punjab (Indo Pak war 1965), Nagaland, Bombay (1971) and Jammu (1974)
During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army. He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service. He had another escape in Nagaland, where one night, underground Naga rebels attacked his post and killed all the inmates. He had a miraculous escape as he had gone out to return nature's call and hence turned out to be the lone survivor.
Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service.
Transformation of Ralegan Siddhi
Hazare returned to Ralegan Siddhi, a village then described by Satpathy and Mehta as "one of the many villages of India plagued by acute poverty, deprivation, a fragile ecosystem, neglect and hopelessness."
Although most of the villagers owned some land, cultivation was extremely difficult due to the rocky ground preventing retention of the monsoon rains, this situation was worsened by gradual environmental deterioration as trees were cut down, erosion spread and droughts were also experienced. The shortage of water also led to disease from unsanitary conditions and water reuse for multiple purposes. The economy of the village had become reliant on the illegal manufacture and sale of alcohol, a product on which many of the villagers had become dependent. Many inhabitants borrowed from moneylenders to survive, paying monthly interest rates of as much as 10%. Crime and violence (including domestic violence) had become commonplace, while education and employment opportunities were poor.
Hazare was relatively wealthy because of the gratuity from his army service. He set about using that money to restore a run-down, vandalised village temple as a focal point for the community. Some were able to respond with small financial donations but many other villagers, particularly among the elderly, donated their labour in a process that became known as shramdaan. Some youths also became involved in the work and these he organised into a Tarun Mandal (Youth Association). One of the works of Vivekananda which he had read was Call to the youth for nation building.
Prohibition of alcohol
Hazare and the youth group decided to take up the issue of alcoholism to drive a process of reform. At a meeting conducted in the temple, the villagers resolved to close down liquor dens and ban alcohol in the village. Since these resolutions were made in the temple, they became, in a sense, religious commitments. Over thirty liquor brewing units voluntarily closed their establishments. Those who did not succumb to social pressure were forced to close their businesses when the youth group smashed their premises. The owners could not complain as their businesses were illegal.
Once 3 drunken villagers were tied to pillars and then flogged, personally by Hazare with his army belt. He justified this punishment by stating that "rural India was a harsh society", and that
Hazare appealed to the government of Maharashtra to pass a law whereby prohibition would come into force in a village if 25% of the women in the village demanded it. In 2009 the state government amended the Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949 to reflect this.
It was decided to ban the sale of tobacco, cigarettes, and beedies (an unfiltered cigarette where the tobacco is rolled in tendu, also known as Coromandel ebony, leaves instead of paper) in the village. To implement this resolution, the youth group performed a unique "Holi" ceremony twenty two years ago. The festival of Holi is celebrated as a symbolic burning of evil. The youth group brought all the tobacco, cigarettes, and beedies from the shops in the village and burnt them in a Holi fire. Tobacco, cigarettes, or beedies are no longer sold.
Grain Bank
In 1980, Hazare started the Grain Bank at the temple, with the objective of providing food security to needy farmers during times of drought or crop failure. Rich farmers, or those with surplus grain production, could donate a quintal to the bank. In times of need, farmers could borrow the grain, but they had to return the amount of grain they borrowed, plus an additional quintal as an interest. This ensured that nobody in the village ever went hungry or had to borrow money to buy grain. This also prevented distress sales of grain at lower prices at harvest time.
Watershed development programme
Ralegan Siddhi is located in the foothills, so Hazare persuaded villagers to construct a watershed embankment and associated works to stop water and allow it to percolate and increase the ground water level and improve irrigation in the area. These efforts solved the problem of water scarcity in the village and made irrigation possible.
Cultivation of water-intensive crops like sugarcane was banned. Crops such as pulses, oilseeds, and certain cash crops with low water requirements replaced them. The farmers started growing high-yield varieties and changed cropping pattern. Hazare has helped farmers of more than 70 villages in drought-prone regions in the state of Maharashtra since 1975. When Hazare came to Ralegan Siddhi in 1975 only of land was irrigated, Hazare converted it into about .
Education
In 1932, Ralegan Siddhi got its first formal school, a single classroom primary school. In 1962, the villagers added more classrooms through community volunteer efforts. By 1971, out of an estimated population of 1,209, only 30.43% were literate (72 women and 290 men). Boys moved to the nearby towns of Shirur and Parner to pursue higher education, but girls were limited to primary education. Hazare, along with the youth of Ralegan Siddhi, worked to increase literacy rates and education levels. In 1976 they started a pre-school and a high school in 1979. The villagers formed a charitable trust, the Sant Yadavbaba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, which was registered in 1979.
Removal of untouchability
The social barriers and discrimination that existed due to the caste system in India have been largely eliminated by Ralegan Siddhi villagers. It was Hazare's moral leadership that motivated and inspired the villagers to shun untouchability and caste discrimination. Marriages of Dalits are held as part of community marriage program together with those of other castes. The Dalits have become integrated into the social and economic life of the village. The upper caste villagers built houses for the lower caste Dalits by shramdaan and helped to repay their loans.
Gram Sabha
The Gandhian philosophy on rural development considers the Gram Sabha as an important democratic institution for collective decision-making in the villages of India. Hazare campaigned between 1998 and 2006 for amending the Gram Sabha Act, so that villagers have a say in the village's development. The state government initially refused, but eventually gave in to public pressure. It became mandatory to seek the sanction of the Gram Sabha (an assembly of all village adults, and not just the few elected representatives in the gram panchayat) for expenditures on development works in the village.
Activism
Anti-corruption protests in Maharashtra
In 1991 Hazare launched the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan (BVJA, People's Movement against Corruption), a popular movement to fight against corruption in Ralegaon Siddhi. In the same year he protested against the collusion between 40 forest officials and timber merchants. This protest resulted in the transfer and suspension of these officials.
In May 1997 Hazare protested alleged malpractice in the purchase of powerlooms by the Vasantrao Naik Bhathya Vimukt Jhtra Governor P. C. Alexander. On 4 November 1997 Gholap filed a defamation suit against Hazare for accusing him of corruption. He was arrested in April 1998 and was released on a personal bond of . On 9 September 1998 Hazare was imprisoned in the Yerawada Jail to serve a three-month sentence mandated by the Mumbai Metropolitan Court. The sentencing caused leaders of all political parties except the BJP and the Shiv Sena to support him. Later, due to public protests, the Government of Maharashtra ordered his release. Hazare wrote a letter to then chief minister Manohar Joshi demanding Gholap's removal for his role in alleged malpractices in the Awami Merchant Bank. Gholap resigned from the cabinet on 27 April 1999.
In 2003 corruption charges were raised by Hazare against four NCP ministers of the Congress-NCP government. He started his fast unto death on 9 August 2003. He ended his fast on 17 August 2003 after then chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde formed a one-man commission headed by the retired justice P. B. Sawant to probe his charges. The P. B. Sawant commission report, submitted on 23 February 2005, indicted Sureshdada Jain, Nawab Malik, and Padmasinh Patil. The report exonerated Vijaykumar Gavit. Jain and Malik resigned from the cabinet in March 2005.
Three trusts headed by Anna Hazare were also indicted in the P. B. Sawant commission report. spent by the Hind Swaraj Trust for Anna Hazare's birthday celebrations was concluded by the commission as illegal and amounting to a corrupt practice, though Abhay Firodia, an industrialist subsequently donated to the trust for that purpose. The setting apart of 11 acres of its land by the trust in favour of the Zilla Parishad without obtaining permission from the charity commissioner was concluded as a case of maladministration. The commission also concluded that the maintenance of accounts of the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Janandolan Trust after 10 November 2001 had not been according to the rules and spent by the Sant Yadavbaba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal Trust for renovating a temple thwarted its object of imparting secular education.
Right to Information movement
In the early 2000s Hazare led a movement in Maharashtra state which forced the state government to enact a revised Maharashtra Right to Information Act. This Act was later considered as the base document for the Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI), enacted by the Union Government. It also ensured that the President of India assented to this new Act.
On 20 July 2006 the Union Cabinet amended the Right to Information Act 2005 to exclude the file noting by the government officials from its purview. Hazare began his fast unto death on 9 August 2006 in Alandi against the proposed amendment. He ended his fast on 19 August 2006, after the government agreed to change its earlier decision.
Regulation of Transfers and Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act
Before 2006 in the state of Maharashtra, honest government officers were transferred to other places according to ministerial wish, while some corrupt and favoured officials stayed put for decades. Hazare fought for a law whereby a government servant must clear files within a specified time, and transfers must take place only after three years. After many years of Hazare's efforts, on 25 May 2006 Maharashtra announced the Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act 2006. This act provided for disciplinary action against officials who clear files slowly, and enabled monitoring of officials who overstay a post, and for involvement in a corrupt nexus.
This act mandated the government to effect transfers of all government officers and employees, except Class IV workers, no sooner and no later than three years, except in emergency or exceptional circumstances. Maharashtra was the first state to introduce such an act. However, this law was not fully followed.
Campaign against liquor from food grains
Article 47 of India's Constitution commits the State to raise the standard of living, improve public health and prohibit the consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs injurious to health.
In 2007 Maharashtra rolled out a policy aimed to encourage production of alcohol from food grain to fill the rising demand for industrial alcohol and liquor. It issued 36 licences for distilleries for making alcohol from food grain.
Anna Hazare opposed the government's policy to promote making liquor from food grain. He argued that Maharashtra had to import food, so producing liquor from food grain was inappropriate. One State minister, Laxman Dhoble said that those opposing the use of food grain for the production of liquor were anti-farmer, and that opponents should be beaten with sugarcane sticks.
Hazare began fasting at Shirdi, but on 21 March 2010 the government promised to review the policy and Anna ended his 5-day fast. But the government later granted 36 licences and grants of (per litre of alcohol) to politicians or their sons who were engaged in making alcohol from foodgrains. Recipients included Amit and Dheeraj Deshmukh, sons of Union Heavy Industries Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde's daughter Pankaja Palwe and her husband Charudatta Palwe, sons-in-law of P.V. Narasimha Rao and Rajya Sabha MP Govindrao Adik. The government approved the licences despite stiff opposition from the planning and finance departments, saying there was a huge demand in other countries for distilled spirits compared to that of molasses. Hazare sued Maharashtra over the policy in the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court. On 20 August 2009 Maharashtra stopped the policy. However, distilleries sanctioned before that date and those who started production within two years of sanction were entitled for subsidies.
On 5 May 2011 the court refused to hear the suit, saying, "not before me, this is a court of law, not a court of justice". A Maharashtra Principal Secretary, C.S. Sangeet Rao, stated that no law existed to scrap these licences.
Lokpal Bill movement
In 2011, Hazare participated in the satyagraha movement campaigning for a stronger anti-corruption Lokpal (ombudsman) bill in the Indian parliament. Known as the Jan Lokpal Bill (People's Ombudsman Bill), it was drafted by N. Santosh Hegde, a former justice of the Supreme Court of India and Lokayukta of Karnataka, Prashant Bhushan, and social activist Arvind Kejriwal. The draft incorporated more stringent provisions and gave wider power to the Lokpal than the government's 2010 draft. These included placing "the Prime Minister within the ambit of the proposed lokpal's powers".
Hunger strike
Hazare began an "indefinite fast" on 5 April 2011 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi as part of the campaign to form a joint committee of government and civil society representatives. He wanted this committee to draft a bill with more stringent penal provisions and gave more independence to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas (ombudsmen in the states). The fast came after his demand was rejected by the prime minister, Manmohan Singh. Hazare said, "I will fast until Jan Lokpal Bill is passed".
The movement attracted attention in the media and thousands of supporters. Almost 150 people reportedly joined Hazare in his fast. Social activists, including Medha Patkar, Arvind Kejriwal, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, and Jayaprakash Narayan lent their support. People showed support in social media. In addition to spiritual leaders Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Swami Ramdev, Swami Agnivesh, the former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev and many other celebrities supported him. Hazare decided that he would not allow any politician to sit with him. The protesters rejected Uma Bharti, Om Prakash Chautala and others when they visited the protest. On 6 April 2011 Sharad Pawar resigned from the group of ministers formed for reviewing the 2010 draft.
Protests spread to Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Shillong, Aizawl and other cities.
On 8 April 2011 the Government accepted the movement's demands. On 9 April it issued a notification in the Gazette of India on formation of a joint committee. It accepted the formula that it should be co-chaired by a politician and social activist. The notification stated, "The Joint Drafting Committee shall consist of five nominee ministers of the Government of India and five nominees of the civil society. The five nominee Ministers of the Government of India are Pranab Mukherjee, Union Minister of Finance, P. Chidambaram, Union Minister of Home Affairs, M. Veerappa Moily, Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource and Development and Minister of Communication and Information Technology and Salman Khursheed, Union Minister of Water Resources and Minister of Minority Affairs. The five non-politician nominees were Anna Hazare, N. Santosh Hegde, Shanti Bhushan Senior Advocate, Prashant Bhushan, Advocate and Arvind Kejriwal.
On the morning of 9 April 2011 Hazare ended his 98-hour hunger strike. He addressed the people and set a deadline of 15 August 2011 to pass the bill. He said that
Hazare said that if the bill did not pass he would call for a mass nation-wide agitation. He called his movement a "second struggle for independence" and he will continue the fight.
Hazare threatened on 28 July 2012 to proceed with his fast-unto-death on the Jan Lokpal Bill issue. He also stated that country's future is not safe in the hands of Congress and BJP and he would campaign in the coming elections for those with clean background. On the third day of his indefinite fast, Anna stated that he will not talk even to the Prime Minister till his demands are met. On 2 August 2012 Hazare said that there was nothing wrong with forming a new political party but, he would neither join the party nor contest elections. Team and Anna have decided to end their indefinite fast on 3 August 2012 at 5 pm after which the team will announce their decision to enter politics.
Draft bill
During the meeting of the joint drafting committee on 30 May 2011, the Union government members opposed the inclusion of the prime minister, higher judiciary and the acts of the MPs under the purview of the JanLokpal in the draft bill. On 31 May, Mukherjee sent a letter to the chief ministers of all states and party leaders seeking their opinion on six contentious issues, including whether to bring the prime minister and judges of India's Supreme Court and High Courts under the law's purview. But the civil society members of the drafting committee considered that keeping them out would be a violation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
Hazare and other civil society members decided to boycott the 6 June 2011 drafting committee meeting to protest the forcible eviction of Swami Ramdev and his followers by the Delhi Police from Ramlila Maidan on 5 June 2011, while they were on a hunger strike against black money and corruption.
On 6 June 2011, the civil society members wrote to Mukherjee, explaining reasons for their absence and also asking government to go public on the major issues. They also decided to attend only future meetings that were telecast live. On 8 June at Rajghat, describing his movement as the second freedom struggle, Hazare criticised the Government for trying to discredit the drafting committee and threatened to go on indefinite fast again starting 16 August 2011 if the Lokpal Bill had not passed. He also criticised the Government for putting hurdles in front of the Bill and for maligning the civil society members.
Indefinite fast
On 28 July 2011 the union cabinet approved a draft of the Lokpal Bill, which kept the Prime Minister, judiciary and lower bureaucracy out of the ombudsman's scope. Hazare rejected the government version by describing it as "cruel joke". He wrote a letter to Singh announcing his decision to begin an indefinite fast from 16 August 2011 at Jantar Mantar, if the government introduced its own version of the bill without taking suggestions from civil society members. Hazare wrote:
Within twenty four hours of cabinet's endorsement of a weak Lokpal Bill, over ten thousand people from across the country sent faxes directly to the government demanding a stronger bill. The Mumbai Taxi Men's Union, comprising over 30,000 taxi drivers supported Hazare's fast by keeping all taxis off the roads on 16 August. Lawyers of Allahabad High Court described the government proposal as against the national interest and pledged their support to Hazare by hunger striking at Allahabad on 16 August. On 30 July Vishwa Hindu Parishad supported his fast by saying movement for an effective anti-corruption ombudsman needed the people's backing.
On 1 August 2011, Public interest litigation was filed in the Supreme Court of India by Hemant Patil, a Maharashtra-based social worker and businessman, to restrain Hazare, alleging that Hazare's demands were unconstitutional and amounted to interference in the legislative process.
Arrest and aftermath
On 16 August 2011, Hazare was arrested, four hours before the planned indefinite hunger strike. Rajan Bhagat, spokesman for Delhi Police, said police arrested Hazare for illegally gathering in a Delhi park to begin his hunger strike, claiming that Hazare refused to meet police conditions for allowing the protest. The conditions included restricting the fast to three days and the number of protesters to 5,000. Later in the afternoon, Hazare refused bail. The magistrate dispatched him to Tihar jail for seven days. After announcements by Prashant Bhushan, local television, and social media sites (including Facebook), thousands marched in support from the India Gate to Jantar Mantar.
Media reported that about 1,300 supporters were detained by police in Delhi, including Arvind Kejriwal, Shanti Bhushan, Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodia. Protesters reportedly courted arrest in different parts of the country. Opposition parties came out against the arrest, likening the government action to the emergency imposed in the country in 1975. Both houses of Parliament adjourned over the issue.
After four hours in detention Hazare was released unconditionally by the police, but
refused to leave Tihar Jail. Hazare demanded unconditional permission to fast at Ramlila Maidan. Hazare continued his fast inside the jail.
After his arrest, Hazare received support from people across the country. There were reports of "nearly 570 demonstrations and protests by Anna supporters across the country". Due to the millions of protesters nationwide, the government allowed him to begin a public hunger strike of fifteen days. After talks with public authorities, Hazare decided to hold his protest at Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi. On 20 August Hazare "left the Tihar Jail for the Ramlila Grounds". Hazare promised reporters "he would fight to the 'last breath' until the government gets his team's Jan Lokpal Bill passed in this session of Parliament, which ends on 8 September."
Fast at Ramlila Maidan
On 20 August 2011 thousands came to show their support for Hazare, while "his advisers made television appearances to rally public support and defend themselves against criticism that their protest campaign and refusal to compromise is undermining India's parliamentary process." The National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) condemned Hazare's deadline for passing the bill as undermining democracy, which operates by
The Congress party confirmed that Maharashtra Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Umesh Chandra Sarangi, who had a history of mediating between Hazare and officials, was meeting "to find points of consensus and defuse the situation". On 21 August "tens of thousands" watched Hazare as he sat on an elevated platform. It was reported that Hazare at that point had "lost more than seven pounds since beginning his fast". Despite this he stated, "I will not withdraw my hunger strike until the Jan Lokpal bill is passed in the Parliament. I can die but I will not bend." Hazare ended his fast on 28 August, after the Lokpal Bill passed unanimously.
He was admitted to Medanta Medicity, Gurgaon for post-fast care. He had lost and was very dehydrated after the 288-hour fast.
I Am Anna Campaign
Within a few days of Anna Hazare's first fast demanding a strong Lokpal (on 5 April 2011), supporters started a campaign known as "I Am Anna Hazare", which was similar to the "We Are All Khaled Said" campaign from the Egyptian uprising. During Anna Hazare's second fast, his topi, the cap which became synonymous with Anna Hazare, became almost a fashion statement. Sales of the topis hit an all-time high. Kiran Bedi recommended that the "I am Anna" topi be displayed whenever someone asked for a bribe.
Fast on MMRDA ground
On 27 December 2011, Hazare began a 3-day hunger strike at MMRDA grounds, Bandra Kurla Complex, to demand a stronger Lokpal bill than was in debate. Hazare ended the fast on 28 December, after his doctors said that his kidneys might fail if he continued.
Before reaching the venue, Anna paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Juhu Beach. On his way to a rally with several thousand people, he took two-and-half hours to reach the ground, passing through Santacruz, Tulip Star Hotel, Mithibai College, SV Road, Vile Parle, Khar and Bandra Highway.
A PIL petition filed against the fast was turned down by the Karnataka High Court. A judge noted that there was no public interest in the petition.
Electoral reform movement
In 2011, Hazare demanded an amendment to the electoral law to incorporate the option of None of the above in the electronic voting machines during the Indian elections. The "None of the above (NOTA)" is a ballot option that allows an electorate to indicate disapproval of all of the candidates in an electoral system, in case of non-availability of any candidate of his choice, as his Right to Reject. Soon, the Chief Election Commissioner of India Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi supported Hazare's demand for the electoral reforms.
On 31 March 2013 Hazare started Jantantra Yatra from the city of Amritsar. He is expecting to address various issues, including electoral reforms such as the right to reject a candidate.
Protest against atrocities against Swami Ramdev and his supporters
On 8 June 2011 Anna Hazare and thousands of his supporters fasted from 10 am to 6 pm at Rajghat to protest against the midnight crackdown of 5 June by the Delhi Police on Swami Ramdev's fast at Ramlila ground protests. Anna Hazare held the Prime Minister of India responsible for the atrocities and termed the police action as an attempt to stifle democracy. According to one of Hazare's young supporters, the large presence of youths at the protest was due to his use of nonviolent protest, similar to Gandhi.
On 9 August 2013, Anna's office announced his anti-corruption organisation Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan (BVJA) is no longer tackling corruption issues at a personal or social level. In an email circulated to India Against Corruption's membership, the veteran Gandhian's office has clarified that Anna "is now focused on Janlokpal, Right to Reject, Right to Recall, Farmers problems, Change in Education in System".
2015 Land acquisition ordinance protest
In February 2015, he protested for two days at Jantar Mantar in Delhi against ordinance on the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
Controversies and criticism
Alleged link with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Hazare has been criticised for being an agent of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) a right-wing Hindu body. According to Digvijay Singh a senior leader of the Indian National Congress, the entire crusade of 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement was planned by RSS in which Plan-A was Baba Ramdev while Plan-B was Anna Hazare. Their basic job was to disturb national security. Singh also charged Hazare with having links with late RSS leader Nanaji Deshmukh with whom he worked as a secretary. Hazare denied any such associations.
Acting as proxy for political parties
India's OPEN Magazine editorialised that it was "nonsense" to say Hazare's anti-corruption movement of 2011–12 was apolitical. The op-ed went on to say that the purpose of the movement was that, so long as the Congress Party was kept out of power, corrupt politicians of any other party could be elected to Parliament. The example of Ajay Chautala (now convicted for corruption) was cited. "In effect, Anna and his team are campaigning for Ajay Chautala effectively the first candidate put up for election by the India Against Corruption movement".
Views on Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar
In a press conference in April 2011, Hazare praised Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat and Nitish Kumar, chief minister of Bihar for their efforts on rural development, saying that other chief ministers should emulate them. Subsequently, Modi wrote an open letter to him, hailing him as a Gandhian anti-corruption activist while Digvijay Singh criticised Hazare for his comment. In May 2011, during his visit to Gujarat, Hazare changed his view and criticised Modi for rampant corruption. He urged Modi to appoint a Lokayukta. He also commented that the media had projected an incorrect image of Vibrant Gujarat. Subsequently, Hazare declared that Modi is not a suitable candidate for the position of Prime Minister. He criticised Modi for not doing enough to curb corruption and his unwillingness to set up a Lokayukta in Gujarat. Hazare questioned Modi's secular credentials.
Accusations of corruption
The government of the state of Maharashtra instituted a Commission of Inquiry under Justice PB Sawant in September 2003 to enquire into allegations of corruption against several people, including four ministers in the state as well as the "Hind Swaraj Trust" headed by Hazare. The Commission submitted its report on 22 February 2005, indicting the Trust for corruptly spending Rs. 220,000 on Hazare's birthday celebrations.
Two days ahead of Hazare's Lokpal fast, the Indian National Congress, attacked him, alleging that "the moral core of Hazare has been ripped apart" by the Justice P B Sawant Commission.
Hazare's lawyer Milind Pawar responded that the commission had remarked about "irregularities" in the accounts, but had not held him guilty of any "corrupt" practices. Pawar said that on 16 June 1998, a celebration was organised to congratulate Hazare on winning an award from a US–based NGO and it coincided with his 61st birthday. The trust spent Rs 218,000 for the function. Abhay Phirodia, a Pune-based industrialist, who took the initiative to organise this function donated an amount of Rs to the trust by cheque soon afterwards. Hazare dared the government to file a First Information Report (FIR) against him to prove the charges.
Accusation of being anti-democratic and anti-Dalit
An article written in Kolkata Telegraph by Ramchandra Guha stated that environmental journalist Mukul Sharma claimed that Hazare forced the Dalit families in Ralegan Siddhi to adopt a vegetarian diet, and that those who violated the decree were tied to a post and flogged. Mukul Sharma also found that no panchayat elections have been held in the village for the past two decades, and that no campaigning was allowed during state and national elections, upon Hazare's instructions.
Dalit columnist Chandrabhan Prasad opined that Hazare's anti-corruption movement rejected representative democracy and alleged that it was an upper-caste uprising. He also claimed that centralising powers in Lokapal, which was a non-elected entity, was anti-democratic.
Dalit activist Kancha Ilaiah commented in a similar fashion, that "The Anna movement is an anti-social justice, manuvadi movement. The Dalits, tribals, OBCs and minorities have nothing to do with it. We oppose it." Activist Anoop Kheri claimed that "The language, symbols used by the movement clearly reflects its upper caste Hindu nature, a very rightwing Hindu patriotism is being used to get the entire country against corruption. And as a dalit, I have a problem with it."
There was also an allegation that an RTI activist was denied permission to protest by having a fast-unto-death at Ralegan Siddhi, the grama sabha stating that the reason was that only Hazare can hold such fasts in his village.
Activist Udit Raj was denied permission to protest against Hazare, who he claimed was against parliamentary processes. Raj warned that succumbing to Hazare's demands would set a dangerous trend rendering the "backward" classes more vulnerable. He claimed that mass mobilisations coerced the government into a "set of solutions" against constitutional processes could be used against affirmative action and threatened democracy.
Later, it came to light that poor dalits had been paid up to 200 each to shout slogans against Hazare, although the organisers denied it. Some protesters said that they had been told that it was a pro-Anna protest, but felt cheated after realising that it was against Hazare.
Accusation of being anti-Muslim
On 22 August 2011 writer-activist Arundhati Roy accused Hazare in a newspaper article of being nonsecular. She questioned his secular credentials, pointing out his "support for Raj Thackeray's Marathi Manoos xenophobia and [has praised] the 'development model' of Gujarat's CM who oversaw the 2002 pogrom against Muslims". The website of the newspaper published many responses to her article and these were mostly critical of her views. Activist Medha Patkar criticised Roy, saying that her views were misplaced.
Hazare in the past stood in firm opposition to the Shiv Sena and BJP governments in Maharashtra. Activist and writer Asghar Ali Engineer in an EPW article on Communalism and Communal Violence reported,
Hazare was accused of working at the behest of RSS and BJP, and against Muslims by cleric Bukhari of the Jama Masjid. Bhukhari was subsequently criticised for being a Royal Imam and for claiming that his personal views represented the view of ordinary Muslims.
Conspiracy to murder Hazare
Hazare exposed corruption in cooperative sugar factories in Maharashtra, including one controlled by Dr.Padamsinh Bajirao Patil, a member of Parliament of 15th Lok Sabha and higher-ranking Leader of Nationalist Congress Party from Osmanabad. Patil was accused in the 2006 murder case of Congress leader Pawanraje Nimabalkar.
The conspiracy to kill Hazare was exposed when Parasmal Jain, an accused in the Nimbalkar murder case, in his written confession before a magistrate said that Patil had paid him to murder Nimbalkar, and also offered him supari (contract killing sum) to kill Anna Hazare. After this written confession, Hazare appealed to the state government of Maharashtra to lodge a separate First Information Report ( FIR ) against Patil but the government declined. On 26 September 2009 Hazare lodged his own complaint at Parner police station of Ahmednagar District in Maharashtra against Patil. Patil approached the High Court seeking anticipatory bail but on 14 October 2009, the Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court rejected his application, observing that there was prima facie case against him. Padmasinh Patil appealed to the Supreme Court of India losing again, on 6 November 2009. On 11 November 2009 Patil surrendered before the sessions court in Latur and was sent to judicial remand for 14 days. On 16 December 2009 the Aurangabad bench granted bail. , the verdict is pending.
As of December 2011, Hazare received Z+ security.
Honours, awards and international recognition
Film
The Marathi film Mala Anna Vhaychay (I want to become Anna) is based on Hazare's work. The role of Hazare has been played by Arun Nalawade.
Anna – a 2016 Indian Hindi-language biographical film based on the life of Anna Hazare by Shashank Udapurkar and starring Udapurkar as Hazare.
Andolan Ek Suruvat Ek Shevat is a 2014 Indian Marathi-language film inspired by Hazare who also stars in a lead-role, his first such film work.
Personal life
Hazare is unmarried. He has lived in a small room attached to the Sant Yadavbaba temple in Ralegan Siddhi since 1975. On 16 April 2011, he declared his bank balance of and as money in hand. He owns 0.07 hectares of family land in Ralegan Siddhi, which is being used by his brothers. He donated for village use two other pieces of land donated to him by the Indian Army and by a villager.
Writings
See also
Uprising 2011 India against corruption
Hartal
References
Further reading
Periwinkle Environmental Education Part-X Author-Harendra Chakhaiyar, Publisher- Jeevandeep Prakashan Pvt Ltd,
From Poverty to Plenty: The Story of Ralegan Siddhi Volume 5 of Studies in Ecology and Sustainable Development. Authors- Ganesh Pangare, Vasudha Pangare. Publisher: Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, 1992.
Dynamics of rural development: lessons from Ralegan Siddhi Publisher- Foundation for Research in Community Health, 2002.
Troubles and Wet Solutions: Success Story of Ralegan Siddhi's Watershed Development Project Centre for Alternative Agriculture Media
Ralegan Siddhi Authors: Ramesh Awasthi, Dashrath K. Panmand, Foundation for Research in Community Health (Bombay, India) Publisher: Foundation for Research in Community Health, 1994. Original from The University of Michigan. Digitized 22 December 2009. Length 92 pages
Religion and ecology in India and Southeast Asia Authors- David L. Gosling, Ninian Smart, Contributor- Ninian Smart, Edition-illustrated, Publisher- Routledge, 2001,
Springs of life: India's water resources Authors Ganesh Pangare, Vasudha Pangare, Binayak Das, World Water Institute (Pune, India), Bharathi Integrated Rural Development Society, Edition- illustrated, Publisher-Academic Foundation, 2006.
External links
Civil Society – Official website
20th-century Indian judges
1937 births
Indian Hindus
Living people
Marathi people
Founders of Indian schools and colleges
Indian civil rights activists
Gandhians
Indian Army personnel
Nonviolence advocates
Freedom of information activists
Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in social work
Prisoners and detainees of India
Indian human rights activists
Indian revolutionaries
Marathi politicians
Maharashtra politicians
20th-century Indian educational theorists
Social workers
People from Ahmednagar district
Maharashtra academics
Social workers from Maharashtra
Hunger strikers
| true |
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"Alex Hadley (born 14 September 1973) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer from the United Kingdom. He was born in Staines, England. He competed but did not win any medals at the 1996 Atlanta Games. At the 2004 Athens Games, he won a gold medal in the Men's 4 × 100 m Medley 34 pts event and a silver medal in the Men's 4 × 100 m Freestyle 34 pts event. He also competed but did not win any medals at the 2008 Beijing Games.\n\nReferences\n\nMale Paralympic swimmers of Australia\nSwimmers at the 1996 Summer Paralympics\nSwimmers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics\nSwimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics\nMedalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics\nParalympic gold medalists for Australia\nParalympic silver medalists for Australia\nEnglish emigrants to Australia\nPeople from Staines-upon-Thames\n1973 births\nLiving people\nParalympic medalists in swimming",
"Fiji made its British Empire Games début in 1938 in Sydney, Australia.\n\nThe colony competed only in lawn bowls, sending competitors to the men's doubles and the men's fours events. (Lawn bowls events at the 1938 Games were for men only.) Fiji's representatives did not win any medals.\n\nMedals\n\nSources\n Fiji results for the 1938 Games, Commonwealth Games Federation\n\nNations at the 1938 British Empire Games\nFiji at the Commonwealth Games\n1938 in Fiji"
] |
[
"Anna Hazare",
"Military service",
"Who is Anna Hazare?",
"Hazare was drafted in the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack",
"Did he win any medals for his service?",
"Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service."
] |
C_3c35c7b91084480daaa2373c080bce41_1
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What other battles was he in?
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Besides Indo-Pakistani war what other battles was Anna Hazare in?
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Anna Hazare
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Hazare was drafted in the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier. He undertook army training at Aurangabad. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack--variously claimed to have been a bomb, an aerial assault and an exchange of fire at the border--while he was driving a truck. The experiences of wartime, coupled with the poverty from which he had come, affected him. He considered suicide at one point but turned instead to pondering the meaning of life and death. He said of the truck attack, "[It] sent me thinking. I felt that God wanted me to stay alive for some reason. I was reborn in the battlefield of Khem Karan. And I decided to dedicate my new life to serving people." At a book stand in New Delhi railway station, he came across Swami Vivekananda's booklet "Call to the youth for nation building" which inspired him to think deeper. He spent his spare time reading the works of Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Vinoba Bhave. In a blog post, Hazare expressed his views on Kashmir by saying that it was his "active conviction that Kashmir is an integral part of India" and that if required once again for service, he would remain "ready to take part in war against Pakistan." During his fifteen-year career in the army (1960-75), Anna Hazare was posted at several locations, including Punjab (Indo Pak war 1965), Nagaland, Bombay (1971) and Jammu (1974) During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army. He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service. He had another escape in Nagaland, where one night, underground Naga rebels attacked his post and killed all the inmates. He had a miraculous escape as he had gone out to return nature's call and hence turned out to be the lone survivor. Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service. CANNOTANSWER
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During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army.
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Kisan Baburao "Anna" Hazare (; born 15 June 1937) is an Indian social activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase government transparency, and investigate and punish corruption in public life. In addition to organising and encouraging grassroots movements, Hazare frequently conducted hunger strikes to further his causes—a tactic reminiscent, to many, of the work of Mahatma Gandhi. Hazare also contributed to the development and structuring of Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan—the third-highest civilian award—by the Government of India in 1992 for his efforts in establishing this village as a model for others.
Hazare started a hunger strike on 5 April 2011 to exert pressure on the Indian government to enact a stringent anti-corruption law, The Lokpal Bill, 2011 as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill, for the institution of an ombudsman with the power to deal with corruption in public places. The fast led to nationwide protests in support. The fast ended on 9 April 2011, a day after the government accepted Hazare's demands. The government issued a gazette notification on the formation of a joint committee, consisting of government and civil society representatives, to draft the legislation.
Foreign Policy named him among top 100 global thinkers in 2011. Also in 2011, Hazare was ranked as the most influential person in Mumbai by a national daily newspaper. He has faced criticism for his authoritarian views on justice, including death as punishment for corrupt public officials and his alleged support for forced vasectomies as a method of family planning.
Early life
Kisan Baburao Hazare was born on 15 June 1937 (some sources say 15 January 1940) in Bhingar, near Ahmednagar. He was the eldest son of Baburao Hazare and Laxmi Bai. He has two sisters and four brothers. He later adopted the name Anna, which in Marathi means "elder person" or "father".
His father worked as an unskilled labourer in Ayurveda Ashram Pharmacy and struggled to support the family financially. In time, the family moved to their ancestral village of Ralegan Siddhi, where they owned a small amount of agricultural land. A relative took on the burden of providing Kisan with an education, taking him to Mumbai because the village had no primary school. The relative became unable financially to continue the support and Kisan's schooling ended in the Standard Seventh grade; his siblings never attended school. He started selling flowers at the Dadar railway station in Mumbai and eventually managed to own two flower shops in the city. He also became involved in vigilantism, joining groups who acted to prevent landlords' thugs from intimidating the poor out of their shelter.
Military service
Hazare was drafted into the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier. He undertook army training at Aurangabad.
During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack—variously claimed to have been a bomb, an aerial assault and an exchange of fire at the border—while he was driving a truck. The experiences of wartime, coupled with the poverty from which he had come, affected him. He considered suicide at one point but instead turned to pondering the meaning of life and death. He said of the truck attack, "[It] sent me thinking. I felt that God wanted me to stay alive for some reason. I was reborn in the battlefield of Khem Karan. And I decided to dedicate my new life to serving people." At a book stand in New Delhi railway station, he came across Swami Vivekananda's booklet "Call to the youth for nation building" which inspired him to think deeper. He spent his spare time reading the works of Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Vinoba Bhave. In a blog post, Hazare expressed his views on Kashmir by saying that it was his "active conviction that Kashmir is an integral part of India" and that if required once again for service, he would remain "ready to take part in war against Pakistan."
During his fifteen-year career in the army (1960–75), Anna Hazare was posted at several locations, including Punjab (Indo Pak war 1965), Nagaland, Bombay (1971) and Jammu (1974)
During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army. He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service. He had another escape in Nagaland, where one night, underground Naga rebels attacked his post and killed all the inmates. He had a miraculous escape as he had gone out to return nature's call and hence turned out to be the lone survivor.
Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service.
Transformation of Ralegan Siddhi
Hazare returned to Ralegan Siddhi, a village then described by Satpathy and Mehta as "one of the many villages of India plagued by acute poverty, deprivation, a fragile ecosystem, neglect and hopelessness."
Although most of the villagers owned some land, cultivation was extremely difficult due to the rocky ground preventing retention of the monsoon rains, this situation was worsened by gradual environmental deterioration as trees were cut down, erosion spread and droughts were also experienced. The shortage of water also led to disease from unsanitary conditions and water reuse for multiple purposes. The economy of the village had become reliant on the illegal manufacture and sale of alcohol, a product on which many of the villagers had become dependent. Many inhabitants borrowed from moneylenders to survive, paying monthly interest rates of as much as 10%. Crime and violence (including domestic violence) had become commonplace, while education and employment opportunities were poor.
Hazare was relatively wealthy because of the gratuity from his army service. He set about using that money to restore a run-down, vandalised village temple as a focal point for the community. Some were able to respond with small financial donations but many other villagers, particularly among the elderly, donated their labour in a process that became known as shramdaan. Some youths also became involved in the work and these he organised into a Tarun Mandal (Youth Association). One of the works of Vivekananda which he had read was Call to the youth for nation building.
Prohibition of alcohol
Hazare and the youth group decided to take up the issue of alcoholism to drive a process of reform. At a meeting conducted in the temple, the villagers resolved to close down liquor dens and ban alcohol in the village. Since these resolutions were made in the temple, they became, in a sense, religious commitments. Over thirty liquor brewing units voluntarily closed their establishments. Those who did not succumb to social pressure were forced to close their businesses when the youth group smashed their premises. The owners could not complain as their businesses were illegal.
Once 3 drunken villagers were tied to pillars and then flogged, personally by Hazare with his army belt. He justified this punishment by stating that "rural India was a harsh society", and that
Hazare appealed to the government of Maharashtra to pass a law whereby prohibition would come into force in a village if 25% of the women in the village demanded it. In 2009 the state government amended the Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949 to reflect this.
It was decided to ban the sale of tobacco, cigarettes, and beedies (an unfiltered cigarette where the tobacco is rolled in tendu, also known as Coromandel ebony, leaves instead of paper) in the village. To implement this resolution, the youth group performed a unique "Holi" ceremony twenty two years ago. The festival of Holi is celebrated as a symbolic burning of evil. The youth group brought all the tobacco, cigarettes, and beedies from the shops in the village and burnt them in a Holi fire. Tobacco, cigarettes, or beedies are no longer sold.
Grain Bank
In 1980, Hazare started the Grain Bank at the temple, with the objective of providing food security to needy farmers during times of drought or crop failure. Rich farmers, or those with surplus grain production, could donate a quintal to the bank. In times of need, farmers could borrow the grain, but they had to return the amount of grain they borrowed, plus an additional quintal as an interest. This ensured that nobody in the village ever went hungry or had to borrow money to buy grain. This also prevented distress sales of grain at lower prices at harvest time.
Watershed development programme
Ralegan Siddhi is located in the foothills, so Hazare persuaded villagers to construct a watershed embankment and associated works to stop water and allow it to percolate and increase the ground water level and improve irrigation in the area. These efforts solved the problem of water scarcity in the village and made irrigation possible.
Cultivation of water-intensive crops like sugarcane was banned. Crops such as pulses, oilseeds, and certain cash crops with low water requirements replaced them. The farmers started growing high-yield varieties and changed cropping pattern. Hazare has helped farmers of more than 70 villages in drought-prone regions in the state of Maharashtra since 1975. When Hazare came to Ralegan Siddhi in 1975 only of land was irrigated, Hazare converted it into about .
Education
In 1932, Ralegan Siddhi got its first formal school, a single classroom primary school. In 1962, the villagers added more classrooms through community volunteer efforts. By 1971, out of an estimated population of 1,209, only 30.43% were literate (72 women and 290 men). Boys moved to the nearby towns of Shirur and Parner to pursue higher education, but girls were limited to primary education. Hazare, along with the youth of Ralegan Siddhi, worked to increase literacy rates and education levels. In 1976 they started a pre-school and a high school in 1979. The villagers formed a charitable trust, the Sant Yadavbaba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, which was registered in 1979.
Removal of untouchability
The social barriers and discrimination that existed due to the caste system in India have been largely eliminated by Ralegan Siddhi villagers. It was Hazare's moral leadership that motivated and inspired the villagers to shun untouchability and caste discrimination. Marriages of Dalits are held as part of community marriage program together with those of other castes. The Dalits have become integrated into the social and economic life of the village. The upper caste villagers built houses for the lower caste Dalits by shramdaan and helped to repay their loans.
Gram Sabha
The Gandhian philosophy on rural development considers the Gram Sabha as an important democratic institution for collective decision-making in the villages of India. Hazare campaigned between 1998 and 2006 for amending the Gram Sabha Act, so that villagers have a say in the village's development. The state government initially refused, but eventually gave in to public pressure. It became mandatory to seek the sanction of the Gram Sabha (an assembly of all village adults, and not just the few elected representatives in the gram panchayat) for expenditures on development works in the village.
Activism
Anti-corruption protests in Maharashtra
In 1991 Hazare launched the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan (BVJA, People's Movement against Corruption), a popular movement to fight against corruption in Ralegaon Siddhi. In the same year he protested against the collusion between 40 forest officials and timber merchants. This protest resulted in the transfer and suspension of these officials.
In May 1997 Hazare protested alleged malpractice in the purchase of powerlooms by the Vasantrao Naik Bhathya Vimukt Jhtra Governor P. C. Alexander. On 4 November 1997 Gholap filed a defamation suit against Hazare for accusing him of corruption. He was arrested in April 1998 and was released on a personal bond of . On 9 September 1998 Hazare was imprisoned in the Yerawada Jail to serve a three-month sentence mandated by the Mumbai Metropolitan Court. The sentencing caused leaders of all political parties except the BJP and the Shiv Sena to support him. Later, due to public protests, the Government of Maharashtra ordered his release. Hazare wrote a letter to then chief minister Manohar Joshi demanding Gholap's removal for his role in alleged malpractices in the Awami Merchant Bank. Gholap resigned from the cabinet on 27 April 1999.
In 2003 corruption charges were raised by Hazare against four NCP ministers of the Congress-NCP government. He started his fast unto death on 9 August 2003. He ended his fast on 17 August 2003 after then chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde formed a one-man commission headed by the retired justice P. B. Sawant to probe his charges. The P. B. Sawant commission report, submitted on 23 February 2005, indicted Sureshdada Jain, Nawab Malik, and Padmasinh Patil. The report exonerated Vijaykumar Gavit. Jain and Malik resigned from the cabinet in March 2005.
Three trusts headed by Anna Hazare were also indicted in the P. B. Sawant commission report. spent by the Hind Swaraj Trust for Anna Hazare's birthday celebrations was concluded by the commission as illegal and amounting to a corrupt practice, though Abhay Firodia, an industrialist subsequently donated to the trust for that purpose. The setting apart of 11 acres of its land by the trust in favour of the Zilla Parishad without obtaining permission from the charity commissioner was concluded as a case of maladministration. The commission also concluded that the maintenance of accounts of the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Janandolan Trust after 10 November 2001 had not been according to the rules and spent by the Sant Yadavbaba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal Trust for renovating a temple thwarted its object of imparting secular education.
Right to Information movement
In the early 2000s Hazare led a movement in Maharashtra state which forced the state government to enact a revised Maharashtra Right to Information Act. This Act was later considered as the base document for the Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI), enacted by the Union Government. It also ensured that the President of India assented to this new Act.
On 20 July 2006 the Union Cabinet amended the Right to Information Act 2005 to exclude the file noting by the government officials from its purview. Hazare began his fast unto death on 9 August 2006 in Alandi against the proposed amendment. He ended his fast on 19 August 2006, after the government agreed to change its earlier decision.
Regulation of Transfers and Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act
Before 2006 in the state of Maharashtra, honest government officers were transferred to other places according to ministerial wish, while some corrupt and favoured officials stayed put for decades. Hazare fought for a law whereby a government servant must clear files within a specified time, and transfers must take place only after three years. After many years of Hazare's efforts, on 25 May 2006 Maharashtra announced the Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act 2006. This act provided for disciplinary action against officials who clear files slowly, and enabled monitoring of officials who overstay a post, and for involvement in a corrupt nexus.
This act mandated the government to effect transfers of all government officers and employees, except Class IV workers, no sooner and no later than three years, except in emergency or exceptional circumstances. Maharashtra was the first state to introduce such an act. However, this law was not fully followed.
Campaign against liquor from food grains
Article 47 of India's Constitution commits the State to raise the standard of living, improve public health and prohibit the consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs injurious to health.
In 2007 Maharashtra rolled out a policy aimed to encourage production of alcohol from food grain to fill the rising demand for industrial alcohol and liquor. It issued 36 licences for distilleries for making alcohol from food grain.
Anna Hazare opposed the government's policy to promote making liquor from food grain. He argued that Maharashtra had to import food, so producing liquor from food grain was inappropriate. One State minister, Laxman Dhoble said that those opposing the use of food grain for the production of liquor were anti-farmer, and that opponents should be beaten with sugarcane sticks.
Hazare began fasting at Shirdi, but on 21 March 2010 the government promised to review the policy and Anna ended his 5-day fast. But the government later granted 36 licences and grants of (per litre of alcohol) to politicians or their sons who were engaged in making alcohol from foodgrains. Recipients included Amit and Dheeraj Deshmukh, sons of Union Heavy Industries Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde's daughter Pankaja Palwe and her husband Charudatta Palwe, sons-in-law of P.V. Narasimha Rao and Rajya Sabha MP Govindrao Adik. The government approved the licences despite stiff opposition from the planning and finance departments, saying there was a huge demand in other countries for distilled spirits compared to that of molasses. Hazare sued Maharashtra over the policy in the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court. On 20 August 2009 Maharashtra stopped the policy. However, distilleries sanctioned before that date and those who started production within two years of sanction were entitled for subsidies.
On 5 May 2011 the court refused to hear the suit, saying, "not before me, this is a court of law, not a court of justice". A Maharashtra Principal Secretary, C.S. Sangeet Rao, stated that no law existed to scrap these licences.
Lokpal Bill movement
In 2011, Hazare participated in the satyagraha movement campaigning for a stronger anti-corruption Lokpal (ombudsman) bill in the Indian parliament. Known as the Jan Lokpal Bill (People's Ombudsman Bill), it was drafted by N. Santosh Hegde, a former justice of the Supreme Court of India and Lokayukta of Karnataka, Prashant Bhushan, and social activist Arvind Kejriwal. The draft incorporated more stringent provisions and gave wider power to the Lokpal than the government's 2010 draft. These included placing "the Prime Minister within the ambit of the proposed lokpal's powers".
Hunger strike
Hazare began an "indefinite fast" on 5 April 2011 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi as part of the campaign to form a joint committee of government and civil society representatives. He wanted this committee to draft a bill with more stringent penal provisions and gave more independence to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas (ombudsmen in the states). The fast came after his demand was rejected by the prime minister, Manmohan Singh. Hazare said, "I will fast until Jan Lokpal Bill is passed".
The movement attracted attention in the media and thousands of supporters. Almost 150 people reportedly joined Hazare in his fast. Social activists, including Medha Patkar, Arvind Kejriwal, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, and Jayaprakash Narayan lent their support. People showed support in social media. In addition to spiritual leaders Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Swami Ramdev, Swami Agnivesh, the former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev and many other celebrities supported him. Hazare decided that he would not allow any politician to sit with him. The protesters rejected Uma Bharti, Om Prakash Chautala and others when they visited the protest. On 6 April 2011 Sharad Pawar resigned from the group of ministers formed for reviewing the 2010 draft.
Protests spread to Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Shillong, Aizawl and other cities.
On 8 April 2011 the Government accepted the movement's demands. On 9 April it issued a notification in the Gazette of India on formation of a joint committee. It accepted the formula that it should be co-chaired by a politician and social activist. The notification stated, "The Joint Drafting Committee shall consist of five nominee ministers of the Government of India and five nominees of the civil society. The five nominee Ministers of the Government of India are Pranab Mukherjee, Union Minister of Finance, P. Chidambaram, Union Minister of Home Affairs, M. Veerappa Moily, Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource and Development and Minister of Communication and Information Technology and Salman Khursheed, Union Minister of Water Resources and Minister of Minority Affairs. The five non-politician nominees were Anna Hazare, N. Santosh Hegde, Shanti Bhushan Senior Advocate, Prashant Bhushan, Advocate and Arvind Kejriwal.
On the morning of 9 April 2011 Hazare ended his 98-hour hunger strike. He addressed the people and set a deadline of 15 August 2011 to pass the bill. He said that
Hazare said that if the bill did not pass he would call for a mass nation-wide agitation. He called his movement a "second struggle for independence" and he will continue the fight.
Hazare threatened on 28 July 2012 to proceed with his fast-unto-death on the Jan Lokpal Bill issue. He also stated that country's future is not safe in the hands of Congress and BJP and he would campaign in the coming elections for those with clean background. On the third day of his indefinite fast, Anna stated that he will not talk even to the Prime Minister till his demands are met. On 2 August 2012 Hazare said that there was nothing wrong with forming a new political party but, he would neither join the party nor contest elections. Team and Anna have decided to end their indefinite fast on 3 August 2012 at 5 pm after which the team will announce their decision to enter politics.
Draft bill
During the meeting of the joint drafting committee on 30 May 2011, the Union government members opposed the inclusion of the prime minister, higher judiciary and the acts of the MPs under the purview of the JanLokpal in the draft bill. On 31 May, Mukherjee sent a letter to the chief ministers of all states and party leaders seeking their opinion on six contentious issues, including whether to bring the prime minister and judges of India's Supreme Court and High Courts under the law's purview. But the civil society members of the drafting committee considered that keeping them out would be a violation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
Hazare and other civil society members decided to boycott the 6 June 2011 drafting committee meeting to protest the forcible eviction of Swami Ramdev and his followers by the Delhi Police from Ramlila Maidan on 5 June 2011, while they were on a hunger strike against black money and corruption.
On 6 June 2011, the civil society members wrote to Mukherjee, explaining reasons for their absence and also asking government to go public on the major issues. They also decided to attend only future meetings that were telecast live. On 8 June at Rajghat, describing his movement as the second freedom struggle, Hazare criticised the Government for trying to discredit the drafting committee and threatened to go on indefinite fast again starting 16 August 2011 if the Lokpal Bill had not passed. He also criticised the Government for putting hurdles in front of the Bill and for maligning the civil society members.
Indefinite fast
On 28 July 2011 the union cabinet approved a draft of the Lokpal Bill, which kept the Prime Minister, judiciary and lower bureaucracy out of the ombudsman's scope. Hazare rejected the government version by describing it as "cruel joke". He wrote a letter to Singh announcing his decision to begin an indefinite fast from 16 August 2011 at Jantar Mantar, if the government introduced its own version of the bill without taking suggestions from civil society members. Hazare wrote:
Within twenty four hours of cabinet's endorsement of a weak Lokpal Bill, over ten thousand people from across the country sent faxes directly to the government demanding a stronger bill. The Mumbai Taxi Men's Union, comprising over 30,000 taxi drivers supported Hazare's fast by keeping all taxis off the roads on 16 August. Lawyers of Allahabad High Court described the government proposal as against the national interest and pledged their support to Hazare by hunger striking at Allahabad on 16 August. On 30 July Vishwa Hindu Parishad supported his fast by saying movement for an effective anti-corruption ombudsman needed the people's backing.
On 1 August 2011, Public interest litigation was filed in the Supreme Court of India by Hemant Patil, a Maharashtra-based social worker and businessman, to restrain Hazare, alleging that Hazare's demands were unconstitutional and amounted to interference in the legislative process.
Arrest and aftermath
On 16 August 2011, Hazare was arrested, four hours before the planned indefinite hunger strike. Rajan Bhagat, spokesman for Delhi Police, said police arrested Hazare for illegally gathering in a Delhi park to begin his hunger strike, claiming that Hazare refused to meet police conditions for allowing the protest. The conditions included restricting the fast to three days and the number of protesters to 5,000. Later in the afternoon, Hazare refused bail. The magistrate dispatched him to Tihar jail for seven days. After announcements by Prashant Bhushan, local television, and social media sites (including Facebook), thousands marched in support from the India Gate to Jantar Mantar.
Media reported that about 1,300 supporters were detained by police in Delhi, including Arvind Kejriwal, Shanti Bhushan, Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodia. Protesters reportedly courted arrest in different parts of the country. Opposition parties came out against the arrest, likening the government action to the emergency imposed in the country in 1975. Both houses of Parliament adjourned over the issue.
After four hours in detention Hazare was released unconditionally by the police, but
refused to leave Tihar Jail. Hazare demanded unconditional permission to fast at Ramlila Maidan. Hazare continued his fast inside the jail.
After his arrest, Hazare received support from people across the country. There were reports of "nearly 570 demonstrations and protests by Anna supporters across the country". Due to the millions of protesters nationwide, the government allowed him to begin a public hunger strike of fifteen days. After talks with public authorities, Hazare decided to hold his protest at Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi. On 20 August Hazare "left the Tihar Jail for the Ramlila Grounds". Hazare promised reporters "he would fight to the 'last breath' until the government gets his team's Jan Lokpal Bill passed in this session of Parliament, which ends on 8 September."
Fast at Ramlila Maidan
On 20 August 2011 thousands came to show their support for Hazare, while "his advisers made television appearances to rally public support and defend themselves against criticism that their protest campaign and refusal to compromise is undermining India's parliamentary process." The National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) condemned Hazare's deadline for passing the bill as undermining democracy, which operates by
The Congress party confirmed that Maharashtra Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Umesh Chandra Sarangi, who had a history of mediating between Hazare and officials, was meeting "to find points of consensus and defuse the situation". On 21 August "tens of thousands" watched Hazare as he sat on an elevated platform. It was reported that Hazare at that point had "lost more than seven pounds since beginning his fast". Despite this he stated, "I will not withdraw my hunger strike until the Jan Lokpal bill is passed in the Parliament. I can die but I will not bend." Hazare ended his fast on 28 August, after the Lokpal Bill passed unanimously.
He was admitted to Medanta Medicity, Gurgaon for post-fast care. He had lost and was very dehydrated after the 288-hour fast.
I Am Anna Campaign
Within a few days of Anna Hazare's first fast demanding a strong Lokpal (on 5 April 2011), supporters started a campaign known as "I Am Anna Hazare", which was similar to the "We Are All Khaled Said" campaign from the Egyptian uprising. During Anna Hazare's second fast, his topi, the cap which became synonymous with Anna Hazare, became almost a fashion statement. Sales of the topis hit an all-time high. Kiran Bedi recommended that the "I am Anna" topi be displayed whenever someone asked for a bribe.
Fast on MMRDA ground
On 27 December 2011, Hazare began a 3-day hunger strike at MMRDA grounds, Bandra Kurla Complex, to demand a stronger Lokpal bill than was in debate. Hazare ended the fast on 28 December, after his doctors said that his kidneys might fail if he continued.
Before reaching the venue, Anna paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Juhu Beach. On his way to a rally with several thousand people, he took two-and-half hours to reach the ground, passing through Santacruz, Tulip Star Hotel, Mithibai College, SV Road, Vile Parle, Khar and Bandra Highway.
A PIL petition filed against the fast was turned down by the Karnataka High Court. A judge noted that there was no public interest in the petition.
Electoral reform movement
In 2011, Hazare demanded an amendment to the electoral law to incorporate the option of None of the above in the electronic voting machines during the Indian elections. The "None of the above (NOTA)" is a ballot option that allows an electorate to indicate disapproval of all of the candidates in an electoral system, in case of non-availability of any candidate of his choice, as his Right to Reject. Soon, the Chief Election Commissioner of India Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi supported Hazare's demand for the electoral reforms.
On 31 March 2013 Hazare started Jantantra Yatra from the city of Amritsar. He is expecting to address various issues, including electoral reforms such as the right to reject a candidate.
Protest against atrocities against Swami Ramdev and his supporters
On 8 June 2011 Anna Hazare and thousands of his supporters fasted from 10 am to 6 pm at Rajghat to protest against the midnight crackdown of 5 June by the Delhi Police on Swami Ramdev's fast at Ramlila ground protests. Anna Hazare held the Prime Minister of India responsible for the atrocities and termed the police action as an attempt to stifle democracy. According to one of Hazare's young supporters, the large presence of youths at the protest was due to his use of nonviolent protest, similar to Gandhi.
On 9 August 2013, Anna's office announced his anti-corruption organisation Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan (BVJA) is no longer tackling corruption issues at a personal or social level. In an email circulated to India Against Corruption's membership, the veteran Gandhian's office has clarified that Anna "is now focused on Janlokpal, Right to Reject, Right to Recall, Farmers problems, Change in Education in System".
2015 Land acquisition ordinance protest
In February 2015, he protested for two days at Jantar Mantar in Delhi against ordinance on the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
Controversies and criticism
Alleged link with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Hazare has been criticised for being an agent of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) a right-wing Hindu body. According to Digvijay Singh a senior leader of the Indian National Congress, the entire crusade of 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement was planned by RSS in which Plan-A was Baba Ramdev while Plan-B was Anna Hazare. Their basic job was to disturb national security. Singh also charged Hazare with having links with late RSS leader Nanaji Deshmukh with whom he worked as a secretary. Hazare denied any such associations.
Acting as proxy for political parties
India's OPEN Magazine editorialised that it was "nonsense" to say Hazare's anti-corruption movement of 2011–12 was apolitical. The op-ed went on to say that the purpose of the movement was that, so long as the Congress Party was kept out of power, corrupt politicians of any other party could be elected to Parliament. The example of Ajay Chautala (now convicted for corruption) was cited. "In effect, Anna and his team are campaigning for Ajay Chautala effectively the first candidate put up for election by the India Against Corruption movement".
Views on Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar
In a press conference in April 2011, Hazare praised Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat and Nitish Kumar, chief minister of Bihar for their efforts on rural development, saying that other chief ministers should emulate them. Subsequently, Modi wrote an open letter to him, hailing him as a Gandhian anti-corruption activist while Digvijay Singh criticised Hazare for his comment. In May 2011, during his visit to Gujarat, Hazare changed his view and criticised Modi for rampant corruption. He urged Modi to appoint a Lokayukta. He also commented that the media had projected an incorrect image of Vibrant Gujarat. Subsequently, Hazare declared that Modi is not a suitable candidate for the position of Prime Minister. He criticised Modi for not doing enough to curb corruption and his unwillingness to set up a Lokayukta in Gujarat. Hazare questioned Modi's secular credentials.
Accusations of corruption
The government of the state of Maharashtra instituted a Commission of Inquiry under Justice PB Sawant in September 2003 to enquire into allegations of corruption against several people, including four ministers in the state as well as the "Hind Swaraj Trust" headed by Hazare. The Commission submitted its report on 22 February 2005, indicting the Trust for corruptly spending Rs. 220,000 on Hazare's birthday celebrations.
Two days ahead of Hazare's Lokpal fast, the Indian National Congress, attacked him, alleging that "the moral core of Hazare has been ripped apart" by the Justice P B Sawant Commission.
Hazare's lawyer Milind Pawar responded that the commission had remarked about "irregularities" in the accounts, but had not held him guilty of any "corrupt" practices. Pawar said that on 16 June 1998, a celebration was organised to congratulate Hazare on winning an award from a US–based NGO and it coincided with his 61st birthday. The trust spent Rs 218,000 for the function. Abhay Phirodia, a Pune-based industrialist, who took the initiative to organise this function donated an amount of Rs to the trust by cheque soon afterwards. Hazare dared the government to file a First Information Report (FIR) against him to prove the charges.
Accusation of being anti-democratic and anti-Dalit
An article written in Kolkata Telegraph by Ramchandra Guha stated that environmental journalist Mukul Sharma claimed that Hazare forced the Dalit families in Ralegan Siddhi to adopt a vegetarian diet, and that those who violated the decree were tied to a post and flogged. Mukul Sharma also found that no panchayat elections have been held in the village for the past two decades, and that no campaigning was allowed during state and national elections, upon Hazare's instructions.
Dalit columnist Chandrabhan Prasad opined that Hazare's anti-corruption movement rejected representative democracy and alleged that it was an upper-caste uprising. He also claimed that centralising powers in Lokapal, which was a non-elected entity, was anti-democratic.
Dalit activist Kancha Ilaiah commented in a similar fashion, that "The Anna movement is an anti-social justice, manuvadi movement. The Dalits, tribals, OBCs and minorities have nothing to do with it. We oppose it." Activist Anoop Kheri claimed that "The language, symbols used by the movement clearly reflects its upper caste Hindu nature, a very rightwing Hindu patriotism is being used to get the entire country against corruption. And as a dalit, I have a problem with it."
There was also an allegation that an RTI activist was denied permission to protest by having a fast-unto-death at Ralegan Siddhi, the grama sabha stating that the reason was that only Hazare can hold such fasts in his village.
Activist Udit Raj was denied permission to protest against Hazare, who he claimed was against parliamentary processes. Raj warned that succumbing to Hazare's demands would set a dangerous trend rendering the "backward" classes more vulnerable. He claimed that mass mobilisations coerced the government into a "set of solutions" against constitutional processes could be used against affirmative action and threatened democracy.
Later, it came to light that poor dalits had been paid up to 200 each to shout slogans against Hazare, although the organisers denied it. Some protesters said that they had been told that it was a pro-Anna protest, but felt cheated after realising that it was against Hazare.
Accusation of being anti-Muslim
On 22 August 2011 writer-activist Arundhati Roy accused Hazare in a newspaper article of being nonsecular. She questioned his secular credentials, pointing out his "support for Raj Thackeray's Marathi Manoos xenophobia and [has praised] the 'development model' of Gujarat's CM who oversaw the 2002 pogrom against Muslims". The website of the newspaper published many responses to her article and these were mostly critical of her views. Activist Medha Patkar criticised Roy, saying that her views were misplaced.
Hazare in the past stood in firm opposition to the Shiv Sena and BJP governments in Maharashtra. Activist and writer Asghar Ali Engineer in an EPW article on Communalism and Communal Violence reported,
Hazare was accused of working at the behest of RSS and BJP, and against Muslims by cleric Bukhari of the Jama Masjid. Bhukhari was subsequently criticised for being a Royal Imam and for claiming that his personal views represented the view of ordinary Muslims.
Conspiracy to murder Hazare
Hazare exposed corruption in cooperative sugar factories in Maharashtra, including one controlled by Dr.Padamsinh Bajirao Patil, a member of Parliament of 15th Lok Sabha and higher-ranking Leader of Nationalist Congress Party from Osmanabad. Patil was accused in the 2006 murder case of Congress leader Pawanraje Nimabalkar.
The conspiracy to kill Hazare was exposed when Parasmal Jain, an accused in the Nimbalkar murder case, in his written confession before a magistrate said that Patil had paid him to murder Nimbalkar, and also offered him supari (contract killing sum) to kill Anna Hazare. After this written confession, Hazare appealed to the state government of Maharashtra to lodge a separate First Information Report ( FIR ) against Patil but the government declined. On 26 September 2009 Hazare lodged his own complaint at Parner police station of Ahmednagar District in Maharashtra against Patil. Patil approached the High Court seeking anticipatory bail but on 14 October 2009, the Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court rejected his application, observing that there was prima facie case against him. Padmasinh Patil appealed to the Supreme Court of India losing again, on 6 November 2009. On 11 November 2009 Patil surrendered before the sessions court in Latur and was sent to judicial remand for 14 days. On 16 December 2009 the Aurangabad bench granted bail. , the verdict is pending.
As of December 2011, Hazare received Z+ security.
Honours, awards and international recognition
Film
The Marathi film Mala Anna Vhaychay (I want to become Anna) is based on Hazare's work. The role of Hazare has been played by Arun Nalawade.
Anna – a 2016 Indian Hindi-language biographical film based on the life of Anna Hazare by Shashank Udapurkar and starring Udapurkar as Hazare.
Andolan Ek Suruvat Ek Shevat is a 2014 Indian Marathi-language film inspired by Hazare who also stars in a lead-role, his first such film work.
Personal life
Hazare is unmarried. He has lived in a small room attached to the Sant Yadavbaba temple in Ralegan Siddhi since 1975. On 16 April 2011, he declared his bank balance of and as money in hand. He owns 0.07 hectares of family land in Ralegan Siddhi, which is being used by his brothers. He donated for village use two other pieces of land donated to him by the Indian Army and by a villager.
Writings
See also
Uprising 2011 India against corruption
Hartal
References
Further reading
Periwinkle Environmental Education Part-X Author-Harendra Chakhaiyar, Publisher- Jeevandeep Prakashan Pvt Ltd,
From Poverty to Plenty: The Story of Ralegan Siddhi Volume 5 of Studies in Ecology and Sustainable Development. Authors- Ganesh Pangare, Vasudha Pangare. Publisher: Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, 1992.
Dynamics of rural development: lessons from Ralegan Siddhi Publisher- Foundation for Research in Community Health, 2002.
Troubles and Wet Solutions: Success Story of Ralegan Siddhi's Watershed Development Project Centre for Alternative Agriculture Media
Ralegan Siddhi Authors: Ramesh Awasthi, Dashrath K. Panmand, Foundation for Research in Community Health (Bombay, India) Publisher: Foundation for Research in Community Health, 1994. Original from The University of Michigan. Digitized 22 December 2009. Length 92 pages
Religion and ecology in India and Southeast Asia Authors- David L. Gosling, Ninian Smart, Contributor- Ninian Smart, Edition-illustrated, Publisher- Routledge, 2001,
Springs of life: India's water resources Authors Ganesh Pangare, Vasudha Pangare, Binayak Das, World Water Institute (Pune, India), Bharathi Integrated Rural Development Society, Edition- illustrated, Publisher-Academic Foundation, 2006.
External links
Civil Society – Official website
20th-century Indian judges
1937 births
Indian Hindus
Living people
Marathi people
Founders of Indian schools and colleges
Indian civil rights activists
Gandhians
Indian Army personnel
Nonviolence advocates
Freedom of information activists
Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in social work
Prisoners and detainees of India
Indian human rights activists
Indian revolutionaries
Marathi politicians
Maharashtra politicians
20th-century Indian educational theorists
Social workers
People from Ahmednagar district
Maharashtra academics
Social workers from Maharashtra
Hunger strikers
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[
"The Battle of Langensalza (10 February 1761) was an engagement between French forces and allied Prussian and Hanoverian forces during the Seven Years' War. It was fought near Langensalza in what is now eastern Germany. An allied advance surprised the French, resulting in the capture of 2,000 French soldiers.\n\nReferences\nWorks of Thomas Carlyle: History of Frederick the Great\n\nConflicts in 1761\nBattles of the Seven Years' War\nBattles involving France\nBattles involving Great Britain\nBattles involving Prussia\n1761 in the Holy Roman Empire\nBattles in Thuringia",
"Clifford Franklin Battles (May 1, 1910 – April 28, 1981) was an American football halfback in the National Football League (NFL). Battles was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968.\n\nEarly life\nBattles was born in Akron, Ohio, the son of Frank Battles, a saltworker for the BFGoodrich and Firestone tire companies, and Della Battles. He played high school football at Kenmore High School. Kenmore today honors athletes who carry on Battles' tradition, those who letter in three sports their senior year, with the Cliff Battles Award. Kenmore High School is at the corner of 13th Street and Battles Avenue, but the avenue is not named after Cliff. It was so named before he became famous.\n\nCollege career\nBattles attended and played college football at West Virginia Wesleyan College. His most prominent season was 1931, when he scored 15 touchdowns and had four extra points. The best game of his college career was also in 1931 in a game against Salem College, when he scored seven touchdowns and had 354 rushing yards, 91 kick return yards, and 24 receiving yards, totalling 469.\n\nHe acquired the nickname \"Gip\" (sometimes spelled \"Gipp\") because of his admiration for Notre Dame back George Gipp, the subject of Knute Rockne's \"win one for the Gipper\" speech.\n\nWhile at West Virginia Wesleyan, Battles won 15 letters in five sports – four each in football and track, three each in baseball and basketball, and one in tennis. While there, he was a Phi Beta Kappa scholar and Rhodes Scholarship candidate.\n\nHe was named to the West Virginia Hall of Fame in 1950 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1955.\n\nWhile at West Virginia Wesleyan, Battles also played semipro football for the South Akron Awnings under the name of Jones.\n\nProfessional career\nAfter college, Battles got many offers from NFL teams including the New York Giants and Portsmouth Spartans, among other NFL teams. But he signed with the Boston Braves (now the Washington Football Team) in 1932, who offered him $175 per game, compared with a high of $150 from the other teams.\n\nIn 1932, Battles won the NFL's rushing title as a rookie. He also performed well during the 1933 season and on October 8, 1933, Battles, playing for the newly named Boston Redskins, became the first player to exceed 200 rushing yards in a game, finishing with 215 yards on 16 rushes and one touchdown against the Giants.\n\nIn 1937, the Redskins moved from Boston to Washington, D.C. and acquired quarterback Sammy Baugh. For the 1937, Baugh and Battles combined their talents just as everyone had anticipated. During their last regular-season game, Battles scored three touchdowns and the Redskins beat the Giants for the Eastern Division title. In the 1937 NFL Championship against the Chicago Bears a week later, Battles scored the first touchdown in a 28–21 victory that gave the Redskins their first NFL title.\n\nIn what would end up being his last regular-season game on December 5, 1937, Battles ran for 165 yards against the Giants at the Polo Grounds. This was the record for most rushing yards for a player in the final regular-season game of his NFL career until Tiki Barber broke the record on December 30, 2006, with 234 rushing yards.\n\nIn the 1937 NFL season, Battles was again the league's leading rusher with 874 yards on 216 carries and won all-league honors for the fifth time in six years. In six seasons, Battles totaled 3,511 yards rushing. A two way threat, he also finished his career with 15 interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown.\n\nAfter 1937, Battles hoped for a raise in salary. George Preston Marshall, the owner of the Redskins, refused to pay him more than $3,000 a year (the amount Battles had been paid since his rookie season). Battles chose retirement instead, and left the game as a player at the end of 1937.\n\nCoaching career\nAfter the 1937 season, the Battles accepted a $4,000 job as an assistant football coach at Columbia University coached there from 1938 to 1943. While at Columbia, Battles was also the head coach of the men's basketball team from 1942 to 1943. He then served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. After the war, Battles became head coach of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1947.\n\nAfter football\nAfter the end of his coaching career, Battles became an associate with General Electric in the Washington Metropolitan Area before retiring in 1979. He died on April 28, 1981 in Clearwater, Florida, and is buried in Parklawn Memorial Park in Rockville, Maryland.\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\nExternal links\n\n \n \n \n\n1910 births\n1981 deaths\nBasketball coaches from Ohio\nAmerican football halfbacks\nUnited States Marine Corps personnel of World War II\nBoston Braves (NFL) players\nBoston Redskins players\nBrooklyn Dodgers (AAFC) coaches\nCollege Football Hall of Fame inductees\nColumbia Lions football coaches\nColumbia Lions men's basketball coaches\nEl Toro Flying Marines football coaches\nPro Football Hall of Fame inductees\nWashington Redskins players\nWest Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats baseball players\nWest Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats basketball players\nWest Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats football players\nWest Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats tennis players\nCollege men's track and field athletes in the United States\nSportspeople from Clearwater, Florida\nPlayers of American football from Akron, Ohio\nDeath in Florida\nBurials at Parklawn Memorial Park\nCoaches of American football from Ohio\nAmerican men's basketball players"
] |
[
"Anna Hazare",
"Military service",
"Who is Anna Hazare?",
"Hazare was drafted in the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack",
"Did he win any medals for his service?",
"Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service.",
"What other battles was he in?",
"During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army."
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C_3c35c7b91084480daaa2373c080bce41_1
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Was he injured in the crash?
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Was Anna Hazare injured in the crash?
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Anna Hazare
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Hazare was drafted in the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier. He undertook army training at Aurangabad. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack--variously claimed to have been a bomb, an aerial assault and an exchange of fire at the border--while he was driving a truck. The experiences of wartime, coupled with the poverty from which he had come, affected him. He considered suicide at one point but turned instead to pondering the meaning of life and death. He said of the truck attack, "[It] sent me thinking. I felt that God wanted me to stay alive for some reason. I was reborn in the battlefield of Khem Karan. And I decided to dedicate my new life to serving people." At a book stand in New Delhi railway station, he came across Swami Vivekananda's booklet "Call to the youth for nation building" which inspired him to think deeper. He spent his spare time reading the works of Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Vinoba Bhave. In a blog post, Hazare expressed his views on Kashmir by saying that it was his "active conviction that Kashmir is an integral part of India" and that if required once again for service, he would remain "ready to take part in war against Pakistan." During his fifteen-year career in the army (1960-75), Anna Hazare was posted at several locations, including Punjab (Indo Pak war 1965), Nagaland, Bombay (1971) and Jammu (1974) During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army. He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service. He had another escape in Nagaland, where one night, underground Naga rebels attacked his post and killed all the inmates. He had a miraculous escape as he had gone out to return nature's call and hence turned out to be the lone survivor. Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service. CANNOTANSWER
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He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service.
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Kisan Baburao "Anna" Hazare (; born 15 June 1937) is an Indian social activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase government transparency, and investigate and punish corruption in public life. In addition to organising and encouraging grassroots movements, Hazare frequently conducted hunger strikes to further his causes—a tactic reminiscent, to many, of the work of Mahatma Gandhi. Hazare also contributed to the development and structuring of Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan—the third-highest civilian award—by the Government of India in 1992 for his efforts in establishing this village as a model for others.
Hazare started a hunger strike on 5 April 2011 to exert pressure on the Indian government to enact a stringent anti-corruption law, The Lokpal Bill, 2011 as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill, for the institution of an ombudsman with the power to deal with corruption in public places. The fast led to nationwide protests in support. The fast ended on 9 April 2011, a day after the government accepted Hazare's demands. The government issued a gazette notification on the formation of a joint committee, consisting of government and civil society representatives, to draft the legislation.
Foreign Policy named him among top 100 global thinkers in 2011. Also in 2011, Hazare was ranked as the most influential person in Mumbai by a national daily newspaper. He has faced criticism for his authoritarian views on justice, including death as punishment for corrupt public officials and his alleged support for forced vasectomies as a method of family planning.
Early life
Kisan Baburao Hazare was born on 15 June 1937 (some sources say 15 January 1940) in Bhingar, near Ahmednagar. He was the eldest son of Baburao Hazare and Laxmi Bai. He has two sisters and four brothers. He later adopted the name Anna, which in Marathi means "elder person" or "father".
His father worked as an unskilled labourer in Ayurveda Ashram Pharmacy and struggled to support the family financially. In time, the family moved to their ancestral village of Ralegan Siddhi, where they owned a small amount of agricultural land. A relative took on the burden of providing Kisan with an education, taking him to Mumbai because the village had no primary school. The relative became unable financially to continue the support and Kisan's schooling ended in the Standard Seventh grade; his siblings never attended school. He started selling flowers at the Dadar railway station in Mumbai and eventually managed to own two flower shops in the city. He also became involved in vigilantism, joining groups who acted to prevent landlords' thugs from intimidating the poor out of their shelter.
Military service
Hazare was drafted into the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier. He undertook army training at Aurangabad.
During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack—variously claimed to have been a bomb, an aerial assault and an exchange of fire at the border—while he was driving a truck. The experiences of wartime, coupled with the poverty from which he had come, affected him. He considered suicide at one point but instead turned to pondering the meaning of life and death. He said of the truck attack, "[It] sent me thinking. I felt that God wanted me to stay alive for some reason. I was reborn in the battlefield of Khem Karan. And I decided to dedicate my new life to serving people." At a book stand in New Delhi railway station, he came across Swami Vivekananda's booklet "Call to the youth for nation building" which inspired him to think deeper. He spent his spare time reading the works of Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Vinoba Bhave. In a blog post, Hazare expressed his views on Kashmir by saying that it was his "active conviction that Kashmir is an integral part of India" and that if required once again for service, he would remain "ready to take part in war against Pakistan."
During his fifteen-year career in the army (1960–75), Anna Hazare was posted at several locations, including Punjab (Indo Pak war 1965), Nagaland, Bombay (1971) and Jammu (1974)
During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army. He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service. He had another escape in Nagaland, where one night, underground Naga rebels attacked his post and killed all the inmates. He had a miraculous escape as he had gone out to return nature's call and hence turned out to be the lone survivor.
Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service.
Transformation of Ralegan Siddhi
Hazare returned to Ralegan Siddhi, a village then described by Satpathy and Mehta as "one of the many villages of India plagued by acute poverty, deprivation, a fragile ecosystem, neglect and hopelessness."
Although most of the villagers owned some land, cultivation was extremely difficult due to the rocky ground preventing retention of the monsoon rains, this situation was worsened by gradual environmental deterioration as trees were cut down, erosion spread and droughts were also experienced. The shortage of water also led to disease from unsanitary conditions and water reuse for multiple purposes. The economy of the village had become reliant on the illegal manufacture and sale of alcohol, a product on which many of the villagers had become dependent. Many inhabitants borrowed from moneylenders to survive, paying monthly interest rates of as much as 10%. Crime and violence (including domestic violence) had become commonplace, while education and employment opportunities were poor.
Hazare was relatively wealthy because of the gratuity from his army service. He set about using that money to restore a run-down, vandalised village temple as a focal point for the community. Some were able to respond with small financial donations but many other villagers, particularly among the elderly, donated their labour in a process that became known as shramdaan. Some youths also became involved in the work and these he organised into a Tarun Mandal (Youth Association). One of the works of Vivekananda which he had read was Call to the youth for nation building.
Prohibition of alcohol
Hazare and the youth group decided to take up the issue of alcoholism to drive a process of reform. At a meeting conducted in the temple, the villagers resolved to close down liquor dens and ban alcohol in the village. Since these resolutions were made in the temple, they became, in a sense, religious commitments. Over thirty liquor brewing units voluntarily closed their establishments. Those who did not succumb to social pressure were forced to close their businesses when the youth group smashed their premises. The owners could not complain as their businesses were illegal.
Once 3 drunken villagers were tied to pillars and then flogged, personally by Hazare with his army belt. He justified this punishment by stating that "rural India was a harsh society", and that
Hazare appealed to the government of Maharashtra to pass a law whereby prohibition would come into force in a village if 25% of the women in the village demanded it. In 2009 the state government amended the Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949 to reflect this.
It was decided to ban the sale of tobacco, cigarettes, and beedies (an unfiltered cigarette where the tobacco is rolled in tendu, also known as Coromandel ebony, leaves instead of paper) in the village. To implement this resolution, the youth group performed a unique "Holi" ceremony twenty two years ago. The festival of Holi is celebrated as a symbolic burning of evil. The youth group brought all the tobacco, cigarettes, and beedies from the shops in the village and burnt them in a Holi fire. Tobacco, cigarettes, or beedies are no longer sold.
Grain Bank
In 1980, Hazare started the Grain Bank at the temple, with the objective of providing food security to needy farmers during times of drought or crop failure. Rich farmers, or those with surplus grain production, could donate a quintal to the bank. In times of need, farmers could borrow the grain, but they had to return the amount of grain they borrowed, plus an additional quintal as an interest. This ensured that nobody in the village ever went hungry or had to borrow money to buy grain. This also prevented distress sales of grain at lower prices at harvest time.
Watershed development programme
Ralegan Siddhi is located in the foothills, so Hazare persuaded villagers to construct a watershed embankment and associated works to stop water and allow it to percolate and increase the ground water level and improve irrigation in the area. These efforts solved the problem of water scarcity in the village and made irrigation possible.
Cultivation of water-intensive crops like sugarcane was banned. Crops such as pulses, oilseeds, and certain cash crops with low water requirements replaced them. The farmers started growing high-yield varieties and changed cropping pattern. Hazare has helped farmers of more than 70 villages in drought-prone regions in the state of Maharashtra since 1975. When Hazare came to Ralegan Siddhi in 1975 only of land was irrigated, Hazare converted it into about .
Education
In 1932, Ralegan Siddhi got its first formal school, a single classroom primary school. In 1962, the villagers added more classrooms through community volunteer efforts. By 1971, out of an estimated population of 1,209, only 30.43% were literate (72 women and 290 men). Boys moved to the nearby towns of Shirur and Parner to pursue higher education, but girls were limited to primary education. Hazare, along with the youth of Ralegan Siddhi, worked to increase literacy rates and education levels. In 1976 they started a pre-school and a high school in 1979. The villagers formed a charitable trust, the Sant Yadavbaba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, which was registered in 1979.
Removal of untouchability
The social barriers and discrimination that existed due to the caste system in India have been largely eliminated by Ralegan Siddhi villagers. It was Hazare's moral leadership that motivated and inspired the villagers to shun untouchability and caste discrimination. Marriages of Dalits are held as part of community marriage program together with those of other castes. The Dalits have become integrated into the social and economic life of the village. The upper caste villagers built houses for the lower caste Dalits by shramdaan and helped to repay their loans.
Gram Sabha
The Gandhian philosophy on rural development considers the Gram Sabha as an important democratic institution for collective decision-making in the villages of India. Hazare campaigned between 1998 and 2006 for amending the Gram Sabha Act, so that villagers have a say in the village's development. The state government initially refused, but eventually gave in to public pressure. It became mandatory to seek the sanction of the Gram Sabha (an assembly of all village adults, and not just the few elected representatives in the gram panchayat) for expenditures on development works in the village.
Activism
Anti-corruption protests in Maharashtra
In 1991 Hazare launched the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan (BVJA, People's Movement against Corruption), a popular movement to fight against corruption in Ralegaon Siddhi. In the same year he protested against the collusion between 40 forest officials and timber merchants. This protest resulted in the transfer and suspension of these officials.
In May 1997 Hazare protested alleged malpractice in the purchase of powerlooms by the Vasantrao Naik Bhathya Vimukt Jhtra Governor P. C. Alexander. On 4 November 1997 Gholap filed a defamation suit against Hazare for accusing him of corruption. He was arrested in April 1998 and was released on a personal bond of . On 9 September 1998 Hazare was imprisoned in the Yerawada Jail to serve a three-month sentence mandated by the Mumbai Metropolitan Court. The sentencing caused leaders of all political parties except the BJP and the Shiv Sena to support him. Later, due to public protests, the Government of Maharashtra ordered his release. Hazare wrote a letter to then chief minister Manohar Joshi demanding Gholap's removal for his role in alleged malpractices in the Awami Merchant Bank. Gholap resigned from the cabinet on 27 April 1999.
In 2003 corruption charges were raised by Hazare against four NCP ministers of the Congress-NCP government. He started his fast unto death on 9 August 2003. He ended his fast on 17 August 2003 after then chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde formed a one-man commission headed by the retired justice P. B. Sawant to probe his charges. The P. B. Sawant commission report, submitted on 23 February 2005, indicted Sureshdada Jain, Nawab Malik, and Padmasinh Patil. The report exonerated Vijaykumar Gavit. Jain and Malik resigned from the cabinet in March 2005.
Three trusts headed by Anna Hazare were also indicted in the P. B. Sawant commission report. spent by the Hind Swaraj Trust for Anna Hazare's birthday celebrations was concluded by the commission as illegal and amounting to a corrupt practice, though Abhay Firodia, an industrialist subsequently donated to the trust for that purpose. The setting apart of 11 acres of its land by the trust in favour of the Zilla Parishad without obtaining permission from the charity commissioner was concluded as a case of maladministration. The commission also concluded that the maintenance of accounts of the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Janandolan Trust after 10 November 2001 had not been according to the rules and spent by the Sant Yadavbaba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal Trust for renovating a temple thwarted its object of imparting secular education.
Right to Information movement
In the early 2000s Hazare led a movement in Maharashtra state which forced the state government to enact a revised Maharashtra Right to Information Act. This Act was later considered as the base document for the Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI), enacted by the Union Government. It also ensured that the President of India assented to this new Act.
On 20 July 2006 the Union Cabinet amended the Right to Information Act 2005 to exclude the file noting by the government officials from its purview. Hazare began his fast unto death on 9 August 2006 in Alandi against the proposed amendment. He ended his fast on 19 August 2006, after the government agreed to change its earlier decision.
Regulation of Transfers and Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act
Before 2006 in the state of Maharashtra, honest government officers were transferred to other places according to ministerial wish, while some corrupt and favoured officials stayed put for decades. Hazare fought for a law whereby a government servant must clear files within a specified time, and transfers must take place only after three years. After many years of Hazare's efforts, on 25 May 2006 Maharashtra announced the Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act 2006. This act provided for disciplinary action against officials who clear files slowly, and enabled monitoring of officials who overstay a post, and for involvement in a corrupt nexus.
This act mandated the government to effect transfers of all government officers and employees, except Class IV workers, no sooner and no later than three years, except in emergency or exceptional circumstances. Maharashtra was the first state to introduce such an act. However, this law was not fully followed.
Campaign against liquor from food grains
Article 47 of India's Constitution commits the State to raise the standard of living, improve public health and prohibit the consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs injurious to health.
In 2007 Maharashtra rolled out a policy aimed to encourage production of alcohol from food grain to fill the rising demand for industrial alcohol and liquor. It issued 36 licences for distilleries for making alcohol from food grain.
Anna Hazare opposed the government's policy to promote making liquor from food grain. He argued that Maharashtra had to import food, so producing liquor from food grain was inappropriate. One State minister, Laxman Dhoble said that those opposing the use of food grain for the production of liquor were anti-farmer, and that opponents should be beaten with sugarcane sticks.
Hazare began fasting at Shirdi, but on 21 March 2010 the government promised to review the policy and Anna ended his 5-day fast. But the government later granted 36 licences and grants of (per litre of alcohol) to politicians or their sons who were engaged in making alcohol from foodgrains. Recipients included Amit and Dheeraj Deshmukh, sons of Union Heavy Industries Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde's daughter Pankaja Palwe and her husband Charudatta Palwe, sons-in-law of P.V. Narasimha Rao and Rajya Sabha MP Govindrao Adik. The government approved the licences despite stiff opposition from the planning and finance departments, saying there was a huge demand in other countries for distilled spirits compared to that of molasses. Hazare sued Maharashtra over the policy in the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court. On 20 August 2009 Maharashtra stopped the policy. However, distilleries sanctioned before that date and those who started production within two years of sanction were entitled for subsidies.
On 5 May 2011 the court refused to hear the suit, saying, "not before me, this is a court of law, not a court of justice". A Maharashtra Principal Secretary, C.S. Sangeet Rao, stated that no law existed to scrap these licences.
Lokpal Bill movement
In 2011, Hazare participated in the satyagraha movement campaigning for a stronger anti-corruption Lokpal (ombudsman) bill in the Indian parliament. Known as the Jan Lokpal Bill (People's Ombudsman Bill), it was drafted by N. Santosh Hegde, a former justice of the Supreme Court of India and Lokayukta of Karnataka, Prashant Bhushan, and social activist Arvind Kejriwal. The draft incorporated more stringent provisions and gave wider power to the Lokpal than the government's 2010 draft. These included placing "the Prime Minister within the ambit of the proposed lokpal's powers".
Hunger strike
Hazare began an "indefinite fast" on 5 April 2011 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi as part of the campaign to form a joint committee of government and civil society representatives. He wanted this committee to draft a bill with more stringent penal provisions and gave more independence to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas (ombudsmen in the states). The fast came after his demand was rejected by the prime minister, Manmohan Singh. Hazare said, "I will fast until Jan Lokpal Bill is passed".
The movement attracted attention in the media and thousands of supporters. Almost 150 people reportedly joined Hazare in his fast. Social activists, including Medha Patkar, Arvind Kejriwal, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, and Jayaprakash Narayan lent their support. People showed support in social media. In addition to spiritual leaders Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Swami Ramdev, Swami Agnivesh, the former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev and many other celebrities supported him. Hazare decided that he would not allow any politician to sit with him. The protesters rejected Uma Bharti, Om Prakash Chautala and others when they visited the protest. On 6 April 2011 Sharad Pawar resigned from the group of ministers formed for reviewing the 2010 draft.
Protests spread to Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Shillong, Aizawl and other cities.
On 8 April 2011 the Government accepted the movement's demands. On 9 April it issued a notification in the Gazette of India on formation of a joint committee. It accepted the formula that it should be co-chaired by a politician and social activist. The notification stated, "The Joint Drafting Committee shall consist of five nominee ministers of the Government of India and five nominees of the civil society. The five nominee Ministers of the Government of India are Pranab Mukherjee, Union Minister of Finance, P. Chidambaram, Union Minister of Home Affairs, M. Veerappa Moily, Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource and Development and Minister of Communication and Information Technology and Salman Khursheed, Union Minister of Water Resources and Minister of Minority Affairs. The five non-politician nominees were Anna Hazare, N. Santosh Hegde, Shanti Bhushan Senior Advocate, Prashant Bhushan, Advocate and Arvind Kejriwal.
On the morning of 9 April 2011 Hazare ended his 98-hour hunger strike. He addressed the people and set a deadline of 15 August 2011 to pass the bill. He said that
Hazare said that if the bill did not pass he would call for a mass nation-wide agitation. He called his movement a "second struggle for independence" and he will continue the fight.
Hazare threatened on 28 July 2012 to proceed with his fast-unto-death on the Jan Lokpal Bill issue. He also stated that country's future is not safe in the hands of Congress and BJP and he would campaign in the coming elections for those with clean background. On the third day of his indefinite fast, Anna stated that he will not talk even to the Prime Minister till his demands are met. On 2 August 2012 Hazare said that there was nothing wrong with forming a new political party but, he would neither join the party nor contest elections. Team and Anna have decided to end their indefinite fast on 3 August 2012 at 5 pm after which the team will announce their decision to enter politics.
Draft bill
During the meeting of the joint drafting committee on 30 May 2011, the Union government members opposed the inclusion of the prime minister, higher judiciary and the acts of the MPs under the purview of the JanLokpal in the draft bill. On 31 May, Mukherjee sent a letter to the chief ministers of all states and party leaders seeking their opinion on six contentious issues, including whether to bring the prime minister and judges of India's Supreme Court and High Courts under the law's purview. But the civil society members of the drafting committee considered that keeping them out would be a violation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
Hazare and other civil society members decided to boycott the 6 June 2011 drafting committee meeting to protest the forcible eviction of Swami Ramdev and his followers by the Delhi Police from Ramlila Maidan on 5 June 2011, while they were on a hunger strike against black money and corruption.
On 6 June 2011, the civil society members wrote to Mukherjee, explaining reasons for their absence and also asking government to go public on the major issues. They also decided to attend only future meetings that were telecast live. On 8 June at Rajghat, describing his movement as the second freedom struggle, Hazare criticised the Government for trying to discredit the drafting committee and threatened to go on indefinite fast again starting 16 August 2011 if the Lokpal Bill had not passed. He also criticised the Government for putting hurdles in front of the Bill and for maligning the civil society members.
Indefinite fast
On 28 July 2011 the union cabinet approved a draft of the Lokpal Bill, which kept the Prime Minister, judiciary and lower bureaucracy out of the ombudsman's scope. Hazare rejected the government version by describing it as "cruel joke". He wrote a letter to Singh announcing his decision to begin an indefinite fast from 16 August 2011 at Jantar Mantar, if the government introduced its own version of the bill without taking suggestions from civil society members. Hazare wrote:
Within twenty four hours of cabinet's endorsement of a weak Lokpal Bill, over ten thousand people from across the country sent faxes directly to the government demanding a stronger bill. The Mumbai Taxi Men's Union, comprising over 30,000 taxi drivers supported Hazare's fast by keeping all taxis off the roads on 16 August. Lawyers of Allahabad High Court described the government proposal as against the national interest and pledged their support to Hazare by hunger striking at Allahabad on 16 August. On 30 July Vishwa Hindu Parishad supported his fast by saying movement for an effective anti-corruption ombudsman needed the people's backing.
On 1 August 2011, Public interest litigation was filed in the Supreme Court of India by Hemant Patil, a Maharashtra-based social worker and businessman, to restrain Hazare, alleging that Hazare's demands were unconstitutional and amounted to interference in the legislative process.
Arrest and aftermath
On 16 August 2011, Hazare was arrested, four hours before the planned indefinite hunger strike. Rajan Bhagat, spokesman for Delhi Police, said police arrested Hazare for illegally gathering in a Delhi park to begin his hunger strike, claiming that Hazare refused to meet police conditions for allowing the protest. The conditions included restricting the fast to three days and the number of protesters to 5,000. Later in the afternoon, Hazare refused bail. The magistrate dispatched him to Tihar jail for seven days. After announcements by Prashant Bhushan, local television, and social media sites (including Facebook), thousands marched in support from the India Gate to Jantar Mantar.
Media reported that about 1,300 supporters were detained by police in Delhi, including Arvind Kejriwal, Shanti Bhushan, Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodia. Protesters reportedly courted arrest in different parts of the country. Opposition parties came out against the arrest, likening the government action to the emergency imposed in the country in 1975. Both houses of Parliament adjourned over the issue.
After four hours in detention Hazare was released unconditionally by the police, but
refused to leave Tihar Jail. Hazare demanded unconditional permission to fast at Ramlila Maidan. Hazare continued his fast inside the jail.
After his arrest, Hazare received support from people across the country. There were reports of "nearly 570 demonstrations and protests by Anna supporters across the country". Due to the millions of protesters nationwide, the government allowed him to begin a public hunger strike of fifteen days. After talks with public authorities, Hazare decided to hold his protest at Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi. On 20 August Hazare "left the Tihar Jail for the Ramlila Grounds". Hazare promised reporters "he would fight to the 'last breath' until the government gets his team's Jan Lokpal Bill passed in this session of Parliament, which ends on 8 September."
Fast at Ramlila Maidan
On 20 August 2011 thousands came to show their support for Hazare, while "his advisers made television appearances to rally public support and defend themselves against criticism that their protest campaign and refusal to compromise is undermining India's parliamentary process." The National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) condemned Hazare's deadline for passing the bill as undermining democracy, which operates by
The Congress party confirmed that Maharashtra Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Umesh Chandra Sarangi, who had a history of mediating between Hazare and officials, was meeting "to find points of consensus and defuse the situation". On 21 August "tens of thousands" watched Hazare as he sat on an elevated platform. It was reported that Hazare at that point had "lost more than seven pounds since beginning his fast". Despite this he stated, "I will not withdraw my hunger strike until the Jan Lokpal bill is passed in the Parliament. I can die but I will not bend." Hazare ended his fast on 28 August, after the Lokpal Bill passed unanimously.
He was admitted to Medanta Medicity, Gurgaon for post-fast care. He had lost and was very dehydrated after the 288-hour fast.
I Am Anna Campaign
Within a few days of Anna Hazare's first fast demanding a strong Lokpal (on 5 April 2011), supporters started a campaign known as "I Am Anna Hazare", which was similar to the "We Are All Khaled Said" campaign from the Egyptian uprising. During Anna Hazare's second fast, his topi, the cap which became synonymous with Anna Hazare, became almost a fashion statement. Sales of the topis hit an all-time high. Kiran Bedi recommended that the "I am Anna" topi be displayed whenever someone asked for a bribe.
Fast on MMRDA ground
On 27 December 2011, Hazare began a 3-day hunger strike at MMRDA grounds, Bandra Kurla Complex, to demand a stronger Lokpal bill than was in debate. Hazare ended the fast on 28 December, after his doctors said that his kidneys might fail if he continued.
Before reaching the venue, Anna paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Juhu Beach. On his way to a rally with several thousand people, he took two-and-half hours to reach the ground, passing through Santacruz, Tulip Star Hotel, Mithibai College, SV Road, Vile Parle, Khar and Bandra Highway.
A PIL petition filed against the fast was turned down by the Karnataka High Court. A judge noted that there was no public interest in the petition.
Electoral reform movement
In 2011, Hazare demanded an amendment to the electoral law to incorporate the option of None of the above in the electronic voting machines during the Indian elections. The "None of the above (NOTA)" is a ballot option that allows an electorate to indicate disapproval of all of the candidates in an electoral system, in case of non-availability of any candidate of his choice, as his Right to Reject. Soon, the Chief Election Commissioner of India Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi supported Hazare's demand for the electoral reforms.
On 31 March 2013 Hazare started Jantantra Yatra from the city of Amritsar. He is expecting to address various issues, including electoral reforms such as the right to reject a candidate.
Protest against atrocities against Swami Ramdev and his supporters
On 8 June 2011 Anna Hazare and thousands of his supporters fasted from 10 am to 6 pm at Rajghat to protest against the midnight crackdown of 5 June by the Delhi Police on Swami Ramdev's fast at Ramlila ground protests. Anna Hazare held the Prime Minister of India responsible for the atrocities and termed the police action as an attempt to stifle democracy. According to one of Hazare's young supporters, the large presence of youths at the protest was due to his use of nonviolent protest, similar to Gandhi.
On 9 August 2013, Anna's office announced his anti-corruption organisation Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan (BVJA) is no longer tackling corruption issues at a personal or social level. In an email circulated to India Against Corruption's membership, the veteran Gandhian's office has clarified that Anna "is now focused on Janlokpal, Right to Reject, Right to Recall, Farmers problems, Change in Education in System".
2015 Land acquisition ordinance protest
In February 2015, he protested for two days at Jantar Mantar in Delhi against ordinance on the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
Controversies and criticism
Alleged link with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Hazare has been criticised for being an agent of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) a right-wing Hindu body. According to Digvijay Singh a senior leader of the Indian National Congress, the entire crusade of 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement was planned by RSS in which Plan-A was Baba Ramdev while Plan-B was Anna Hazare. Their basic job was to disturb national security. Singh also charged Hazare with having links with late RSS leader Nanaji Deshmukh with whom he worked as a secretary. Hazare denied any such associations.
Acting as proxy for political parties
India's OPEN Magazine editorialised that it was "nonsense" to say Hazare's anti-corruption movement of 2011–12 was apolitical. The op-ed went on to say that the purpose of the movement was that, so long as the Congress Party was kept out of power, corrupt politicians of any other party could be elected to Parliament. The example of Ajay Chautala (now convicted for corruption) was cited. "In effect, Anna and his team are campaigning for Ajay Chautala effectively the first candidate put up for election by the India Against Corruption movement".
Views on Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar
In a press conference in April 2011, Hazare praised Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat and Nitish Kumar, chief minister of Bihar for their efforts on rural development, saying that other chief ministers should emulate them. Subsequently, Modi wrote an open letter to him, hailing him as a Gandhian anti-corruption activist while Digvijay Singh criticised Hazare for his comment. In May 2011, during his visit to Gujarat, Hazare changed his view and criticised Modi for rampant corruption. He urged Modi to appoint a Lokayukta. He also commented that the media had projected an incorrect image of Vibrant Gujarat. Subsequently, Hazare declared that Modi is not a suitable candidate for the position of Prime Minister. He criticised Modi for not doing enough to curb corruption and his unwillingness to set up a Lokayukta in Gujarat. Hazare questioned Modi's secular credentials.
Accusations of corruption
The government of the state of Maharashtra instituted a Commission of Inquiry under Justice PB Sawant in September 2003 to enquire into allegations of corruption against several people, including four ministers in the state as well as the "Hind Swaraj Trust" headed by Hazare. The Commission submitted its report on 22 February 2005, indicting the Trust for corruptly spending Rs. 220,000 on Hazare's birthday celebrations.
Two days ahead of Hazare's Lokpal fast, the Indian National Congress, attacked him, alleging that "the moral core of Hazare has been ripped apart" by the Justice P B Sawant Commission.
Hazare's lawyer Milind Pawar responded that the commission had remarked about "irregularities" in the accounts, but had not held him guilty of any "corrupt" practices. Pawar said that on 16 June 1998, a celebration was organised to congratulate Hazare on winning an award from a US–based NGO and it coincided with his 61st birthday. The trust spent Rs 218,000 for the function. Abhay Phirodia, a Pune-based industrialist, who took the initiative to organise this function donated an amount of Rs to the trust by cheque soon afterwards. Hazare dared the government to file a First Information Report (FIR) against him to prove the charges.
Accusation of being anti-democratic and anti-Dalit
An article written in Kolkata Telegraph by Ramchandra Guha stated that environmental journalist Mukul Sharma claimed that Hazare forced the Dalit families in Ralegan Siddhi to adopt a vegetarian diet, and that those who violated the decree were tied to a post and flogged. Mukul Sharma also found that no panchayat elections have been held in the village for the past two decades, and that no campaigning was allowed during state and national elections, upon Hazare's instructions.
Dalit columnist Chandrabhan Prasad opined that Hazare's anti-corruption movement rejected representative democracy and alleged that it was an upper-caste uprising. He also claimed that centralising powers in Lokapal, which was a non-elected entity, was anti-democratic.
Dalit activist Kancha Ilaiah commented in a similar fashion, that "The Anna movement is an anti-social justice, manuvadi movement. The Dalits, tribals, OBCs and minorities have nothing to do with it. We oppose it." Activist Anoop Kheri claimed that "The language, symbols used by the movement clearly reflects its upper caste Hindu nature, a very rightwing Hindu patriotism is being used to get the entire country against corruption. And as a dalit, I have a problem with it."
There was also an allegation that an RTI activist was denied permission to protest by having a fast-unto-death at Ralegan Siddhi, the grama sabha stating that the reason was that only Hazare can hold such fasts in his village.
Activist Udit Raj was denied permission to protest against Hazare, who he claimed was against parliamentary processes. Raj warned that succumbing to Hazare's demands would set a dangerous trend rendering the "backward" classes more vulnerable. He claimed that mass mobilisations coerced the government into a "set of solutions" against constitutional processes could be used against affirmative action and threatened democracy.
Later, it came to light that poor dalits had been paid up to 200 each to shout slogans against Hazare, although the organisers denied it. Some protesters said that they had been told that it was a pro-Anna protest, but felt cheated after realising that it was against Hazare.
Accusation of being anti-Muslim
On 22 August 2011 writer-activist Arundhati Roy accused Hazare in a newspaper article of being nonsecular. She questioned his secular credentials, pointing out his "support for Raj Thackeray's Marathi Manoos xenophobia and [has praised] the 'development model' of Gujarat's CM who oversaw the 2002 pogrom against Muslims". The website of the newspaper published many responses to her article and these were mostly critical of her views. Activist Medha Patkar criticised Roy, saying that her views were misplaced.
Hazare in the past stood in firm opposition to the Shiv Sena and BJP governments in Maharashtra. Activist and writer Asghar Ali Engineer in an EPW article on Communalism and Communal Violence reported,
Hazare was accused of working at the behest of RSS and BJP, and against Muslims by cleric Bukhari of the Jama Masjid. Bhukhari was subsequently criticised for being a Royal Imam and for claiming that his personal views represented the view of ordinary Muslims.
Conspiracy to murder Hazare
Hazare exposed corruption in cooperative sugar factories in Maharashtra, including one controlled by Dr.Padamsinh Bajirao Patil, a member of Parliament of 15th Lok Sabha and higher-ranking Leader of Nationalist Congress Party from Osmanabad. Patil was accused in the 2006 murder case of Congress leader Pawanraje Nimabalkar.
The conspiracy to kill Hazare was exposed when Parasmal Jain, an accused in the Nimbalkar murder case, in his written confession before a magistrate said that Patil had paid him to murder Nimbalkar, and also offered him supari (contract killing sum) to kill Anna Hazare. After this written confession, Hazare appealed to the state government of Maharashtra to lodge a separate First Information Report ( FIR ) against Patil but the government declined. On 26 September 2009 Hazare lodged his own complaint at Parner police station of Ahmednagar District in Maharashtra against Patil. Patil approached the High Court seeking anticipatory bail but on 14 October 2009, the Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court rejected his application, observing that there was prima facie case against him. Padmasinh Patil appealed to the Supreme Court of India losing again, on 6 November 2009. On 11 November 2009 Patil surrendered before the sessions court in Latur and was sent to judicial remand for 14 days. On 16 December 2009 the Aurangabad bench granted bail. , the verdict is pending.
As of December 2011, Hazare received Z+ security.
Honours, awards and international recognition
Film
The Marathi film Mala Anna Vhaychay (I want to become Anna) is based on Hazare's work. The role of Hazare has been played by Arun Nalawade.
Anna – a 2016 Indian Hindi-language biographical film based on the life of Anna Hazare by Shashank Udapurkar and starring Udapurkar as Hazare.
Andolan Ek Suruvat Ek Shevat is a 2014 Indian Marathi-language film inspired by Hazare who also stars in a lead-role, his first such film work.
Personal life
Hazare is unmarried. He has lived in a small room attached to the Sant Yadavbaba temple in Ralegan Siddhi since 1975. On 16 April 2011, he declared his bank balance of and as money in hand. He owns 0.07 hectares of family land in Ralegan Siddhi, which is being used by his brothers. He donated for village use two other pieces of land donated to him by the Indian Army and by a villager.
Writings
See also
Uprising 2011 India against corruption
Hartal
References
Further reading
Periwinkle Environmental Education Part-X Author-Harendra Chakhaiyar, Publisher- Jeevandeep Prakashan Pvt Ltd,
From Poverty to Plenty: The Story of Ralegan Siddhi Volume 5 of Studies in Ecology and Sustainable Development. Authors- Ganesh Pangare, Vasudha Pangare. Publisher: Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, 1992.
Dynamics of rural development: lessons from Ralegan Siddhi Publisher- Foundation for Research in Community Health, 2002.
Troubles and Wet Solutions: Success Story of Ralegan Siddhi's Watershed Development Project Centre for Alternative Agriculture Media
Ralegan Siddhi Authors: Ramesh Awasthi, Dashrath K. Panmand, Foundation for Research in Community Health (Bombay, India) Publisher: Foundation for Research in Community Health, 1994. Original from The University of Michigan. Digitized 22 December 2009. Length 92 pages
Religion and ecology in India and Southeast Asia Authors- David L. Gosling, Ninian Smart, Contributor- Ninian Smart, Edition-illustrated, Publisher- Routledge, 2001,
Springs of life: India's water resources Authors Ganesh Pangare, Vasudha Pangare, Binayak Das, World Water Institute (Pune, India), Bharathi Integrated Rural Development Society, Edition- illustrated, Publisher-Academic Foundation, 2006.
External links
Civil Society – Official website
20th-century Indian judges
1937 births
Indian Hindus
Living people
Marathi people
Founders of Indian schools and colleges
Indian civil rights activists
Gandhians
Indian Army personnel
Nonviolence advocates
Freedom of information activists
Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in social work
Prisoners and detainees of India
Indian human rights activists
Indian revolutionaries
Marathi politicians
Maharashtra politicians
20th-century Indian educational theorists
Social workers
People from Ahmednagar district
Maharashtra academics
Social workers from Maharashtra
Hunger strikers
| true |
[
"This is a list of military accidents in Taiwan (Republic of China) involving the Republic of China Armed Forces.\n\n2007\nIn April eight people aboard a Bell UH-1H military helicopter were killed in a crash. In May a F-5F fighter crashed into base housing occupied by Singaporean personal killing the pilots. Nine Singaporeans on the ground were injured and two were killed.\n\n2008\nAn S-70C Seahawk crash killed one crew member, injured two and left two others missing, \n\nTwo pilots were killed after crash landing their AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopter in the island's north.\n\n2011\n3 pilots and one US-made RF-5 surveillance plane and a two-seater F-5F trainer.\n\n2015\nIn 2015 two United States Marine Corps F/A-18C Hornets made an unscheduled landing at Tainan Airport after one of them developed an engine anomaly in-flight. The aircraft were accommodated in an air force hangar until a Lockheed C-130 Hercules full of American technicians could be flown in to repair the aircraft.\n\n2019\nIn 2019 a Singaporean soldier was seriously injured during nighttime parachute training. He underwent intensive surgery in Taiwan. In 2020 he was flown back to Singapore aboard a Singapore Air Force A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport.\n\n2020\n\nIn January Taiwan's top military chief Shen Yi-Ming was killed along with eight other senior officers when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed in the mountains near Taipei.\n\nIn July Taiwan's Bell OH-58 Kiowa helicopter fleet was grounded after a crash at Hsinchu Air Force base, killing the two pilots.\n\nIn October a F-5 fighter jet crashed and its pilot was killed after it plunged into the sea several hundred meters (a half-mile) off the coast of Taitung County.\n\nIn November a F-16 fighter jet crashed minutes after takeoff from Hualien Air Base.\n\nIn December a hiker on a coastal trail on Shoushan in Kaohsiung was injured by a stray bullet believed to have originated from an offshore firing range.\n\n2021 \n\nTwo F-5 fighter jets crashed into the sea near the southeastern coast in an apparent collision, resulting in two deaths. The air force later grounded all F-5s and suspended all training missions, after concerns were raised about both training and maintenance.\n\n2022 \n\nIn January a F-16 fighter jet crashed into the sea while taking part in training exercises. Combat training for Taiwan's F-16 fleet was suspended in the aftermath of the crash.\n\nReferences\n\nMan-made disasters in Taiwan\nMilitary history of Taiwan",
"DeWayne Keeter (October 15, 1944 – May 3, 1975) was an American dirt-track and motorcycle speedway rider.\n\nInvolved in motorcycle racing since the mid-1960s, Keeter had raced in speedway in the United States for only around six months before signing for Leicester Lions in 1969, becoming the first American rider to compete in the British League. Shortly before making his debut for Lions he was seriously injured in a crash that resulted in five broken ribs, a punctured lung, and concussion, but despite this he averaged close to five points per match, including a paid maximum score. After the 1969 season he returned to the United States where he continued to compete in dirt track racing, also riding in speedway in Australia in the early 1970s.\n\nKeeter was critically injured in a crash at Ascot Park in California on May 1, 1975, dying two days later aged 30.\n\nReferences\n\n1944 births\n1975 deaths\nAmerican speedway riders\nLeicester Lions riders"
] |
[
"Anna Hazare",
"Military service",
"Who is Anna Hazare?",
"Hazare was drafted in the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack",
"Did he win any medals for his service?",
"Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service.",
"What other battles was he in?",
"During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army.",
"Was he injured in the crash?",
"He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service."
] |
C_3c35c7b91084480daaa2373c080bce41_1
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What happened after that in the military?
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What happened to Anna Hazare after that in the military?
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Anna Hazare
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Hazare was drafted in the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier. He undertook army training at Aurangabad. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack--variously claimed to have been a bomb, an aerial assault and an exchange of fire at the border--while he was driving a truck. The experiences of wartime, coupled with the poverty from which he had come, affected him. He considered suicide at one point but turned instead to pondering the meaning of life and death. He said of the truck attack, "[It] sent me thinking. I felt that God wanted me to stay alive for some reason. I was reborn in the battlefield of Khem Karan. And I decided to dedicate my new life to serving people." At a book stand in New Delhi railway station, he came across Swami Vivekananda's booklet "Call to the youth for nation building" which inspired him to think deeper. He spent his spare time reading the works of Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Vinoba Bhave. In a blog post, Hazare expressed his views on Kashmir by saying that it was his "active conviction that Kashmir is an integral part of India" and that if required once again for service, he would remain "ready to take part in war against Pakistan." During his fifteen-year career in the army (1960-75), Anna Hazare was posted at several locations, including Punjab (Indo Pak war 1965), Nagaland, Bombay (1971) and Jammu (1974) During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army. He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service. He had another escape in Nagaland, where one night, underground Naga rebels attacked his post and killed all the inmates. He had a miraculous escape as he had gone out to return nature's call and hence turned out to be the lone survivor. Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service. CANNOTANSWER
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He had another escape in Nagaland, where one night, underground Naga rebels attacked his post and killed all the inmates.
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Kisan Baburao "Anna" Hazare (; born 15 June 1937) is an Indian social activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase government transparency, and investigate and punish corruption in public life. In addition to organising and encouraging grassroots movements, Hazare frequently conducted hunger strikes to further his causes—a tactic reminiscent, to many, of the work of Mahatma Gandhi. Hazare also contributed to the development and structuring of Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan—the third-highest civilian award—by the Government of India in 1992 for his efforts in establishing this village as a model for others.
Hazare started a hunger strike on 5 April 2011 to exert pressure on the Indian government to enact a stringent anti-corruption law, The Lokpal Bill, 2011 as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill, for the institution of an ombudsman with the power to deal with corruption in public places. The fast led to nationwide protests in support. The fast ended on 9 April 2011, a day after the government accepted Hazare's demands. The government issued a gazette notification on the formation of a joint committee, consisting of government and civil society representatives, to draft the legislation.
Foreign Policy named him among top 100 global thinkers in 2011. Also in 2011, Hazare was ranked as the most influential person in Mumbai by a national daily newspaper. He has faced criticism for his authoritarian views on justice, including death as punishment for corrupt public officials and his alleged support for forced vasectomies as a method of family planning.
Early life
Kisan Baburao Hazare was born on 15 June 1937 (some sources say 15 January 1940) in Bhingar, near Ahmednagar. He was the eldest son of Baburao Hazare and Laxmi Bai. He has two sisters and four brothers. He later adopted the name Anna, which in Marathi means "elder person" or "father".
His father worked as an unskilled labourer in Ayurveda Ashram Pharmacy and struggled to support the family financially. In time, the family moved to their ancestral village of Ralegan Siddhi, where they owned a small amount of agricultural land. A relative took on the burden of providing Kisan with an education, taking him to Mumbai because the village had no primary school. The relative became unable financially to continue the support and Kisan's schooling ended in the Standard Seventh grade; his siblings never attended school. He started selling flowers at the Dadar railway station in Mumbai and eventually managed to own two flower shops in the city. He also became involved in vigilantism, joining groups who acted to prevent landlords' thugs from intimidating the poor out of their shelter.
Military service
Hazare was drafted into the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier. He undertook army training at Aurangabad.
During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack—variously claimed to have been a bomb, an aerial assault and an exchange of fire at the border—while he was driving a truck. The experiences of wartime, coupled with the poverty from which he had come, affected him. He considered suicide at one point but instead turned to pondering the meaning of life and death. He said of the truck attack, "[It] sent me thinking. I felt that God wanted me to stay alive for some reason. I was reborn in the battlefield of Khem Karan. And I decided to dedicate my new life to serving people." At a book stand in New Delhi railway station, he came across Swami Vivekananda's booklet "Call to the youth for nation building" which inspired him to think deeper. He spent his spare time reading the works of Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Vinoba Bhave. In a blog post, Hazare expressed his views on Kashmir by saying that it was his "active conviction that Kashmir is an integral part of India" and that if required once again for service, he would remain "ready to take part in war against Pakistan."
During his fifteen-year career in the army (1960–75), Anna Hazare was posted at several locations, including Punjab (Indo Pak war 1965), Nagaland, Bombay (1971) and Jammu (1974)
During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army. He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service. He had another escape in Nagaland, where one night, underground Naga rebels attacked his post and killed all the inmates. He had a miraculous escape as he had gone out to return nature's call and hence turned out to be the lone survivor.
Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service.
Transformation of Ralegan Siddhi
Hazare returned to Ralegan Siddhi, a village then described by Satpathy and Mehta as "one of the many villages of India plagued by acute poverty, deprivation, a fragile ecosystem, neglect and hopelessness."
Although most of the villagers owned some land, cultivation was extremely difficult due to the rocky ground preventing retention of the monsoon rains, this situation was worsened by gradual environmental deterioration as trees were cut down, erosion spread and droughts were also experienced. The shortage of water also led to disease from unsanitary conditions and water reuse for multiple purposes. The economy of the village had become reliant on the illegal manufacture and sale of alcohol, a product on which many of the villagers had become dependent. Many inhabitants borrowed from moneylenders to survive, paying monthly interest rates of as much as 10%. Crime and violence (including domestic violence) had become commonplace, while education and employment opportunities were poor.
Hazare was relatively wealthy because of the gratuity from his army service. He set about using that money to restore a run-down, vandalised village temple as a focal point for the community. Some were able to respond with small financial donations but many other villagers, particularly among the elderly, donated their labour in a process that became known as shramdaan. Some youths also became involved in the work and these he organised into a Tarun Mandal (Youth Association). One of the works of Vivekananda which he had read was Call to the youth for nation building.
Prohibition of alcohol
Hazare and the youth group decided to take up the issue of alcoholism to drive a process of reform. At a meeting conducted in the temple, the villagers resolved to close down liquor dens and ban alcohol in the village. Since these resolutions were made in the temple, they became, in a sense, religious commitments. Over thirty liquor brewing units voluntarily closed their establishments. Those who did not succumb to social pressure were forced to close their businesses when the youth group smashed their premises. The owners could not complain as their businesses were illegal.
Once 3 drunken villagers were tied to pillars and then flogged, personally by Hazare with his army belt. He justified this punishment by stating that "rural India was a harsh society", and that
Hazare appealed to the government of Maharashtra to pass a law whereby prohibition would come into force in a village if 25% of the women in the village demanded it. In 2009 the state government amended the Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949 to reflect this.
It was decided to ban the sale of tobacco, cigarettes, and beedies (an unfiltered cigarette where the tobacco is rolled in tendu, also known as Coromandel ebony, leaves instead of paper) in the village. To implement this resolution, the youth group performed a unique "Holi" ceremony twenty two years ago. The festival of Holi is celebrated as a symbolic burning of evil. The youth group brought all the tobacco, cigarettes, and beedies from the shops in the village and burnt them in a Holi fire. Tobacco, cigarettes, or beedies are no longer sold.
Grain Bank
In 1980, Hazare started the Grain Bank at the temple, with the objective of providing food security to needy farmers during times of drought or crop failure. Rich farmers, or those with surplus grain production, could donate a quintal to the bank. In times of need, farmers could borrow the grain, but they had to return the amount of grain they borrowed, plus an additional quintal as an interest. This ensured that nobody in the village ever went hungry or had to borrow money to buy grain. This also prevented distress sales of grain at lower prices at harvest time.
Watershed development programme
Ralegan Siddhi is located in the foothills, so Hazare persuaded villagers to construct a watershed embankment and associated works to stop water and allow it to percolate and increase the ground water level and improve irrigation in the area. These efforts solved the problem of water scarcity in the village and made irrigation possible.
Cultivation of water-intensive crops like sugarcane was banned. Crops such as pulses, oilseeds, and certain cash crops with low water requirements replaced them. The farmers started growing high-yield varieties and changed cropping pattern. Hazare has helped farmers of more than 70 villages in drought-prone regions in the state of Maharashtra since 1975. When Hazare came to Ralegan Siddhi in 1975 only of land was irrigated, Hazare converted it into about .
Education
In 1932, Ralegan Siddhi got its first formal school, a single classroom primary school. In 1962, the villagers added more classrooms through community volunteer efforts. By 1971, out of an estimated population of 1,209, only 30.43% were literate (72 women and 290 men). Boys moved to the nearby towns of Shirur and Parner to pursue higher education, but girls were limited to primary education. Hazare, along with the youth of Ralegan Siddhi, worked to increase literacy rates and education levels. In 1976 they started a pre-school and a high school in 1979. The villagers formed a charitable trust, the Sant Yadavbaba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, which was registered in 1979.
Removal of untouchability
The social barriers and discrimination that existed due to the caste system in India have been largely eliminated by Ralegan Siddhi villagers. It was Hazare's moral leadership that motivated and inspired the villagers to shun untouchability and caste discrimination. Marriages of Dalits are held as part of community marriage program together with those of other castes. The Dalits have become integrated into the social and economic life of the village. The upper caste villagers built houses for the lower caste Dalits by shramdaan and helped to repay their loans.
Gram Sabha
The Gandhian philosophy on rural development considers the Gram Sabha as an important democratic institution for collective decision-making in the villages of India. Hazare campaigned between 1998 and 2006 for amending the Gram Sabha Act, so that villagers have a say in the village's development. The state government initially refused, but eventually gave in to public pressure. It became mandatory to seek the sanction of the Gram Sabha (an assembly of all village adults, and not just the few elected representatives in the gram panchayat) for expenditures on development works in the village.
Activism
Anti-corruption protests in Maharashtra
In 1991 Hazare launched the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan (BVJA, People's Movement against Corruption), a popular movement to fight against corruption in Ralegaon Siddhi. In the same year he protested against the collusion between 40 forest officials and timber merchants. This protest resulted in the transfer and suspension of these officials.
In May 1997 Hazare protested alleged malpractice in the purchase of powerlooms by the Vasantrao Naik Bhathya Vimukt Jhtra Governor P. C. Alexander. On 4 November 1997 Gholap filed a defamation suit against Hazare for accusing him of corruption. He was arrested in April 1998 and was released on a personal bond of . On 9 September 1998 Hazare was imprisoned in the Yerawada Jail to serve a three-month sentence mandated by the Mumbai Metropolitan Court. The sentencing caused leaders of all political parties except the BJP and the Shiv Sena to support him. Later, due to public protests, the Government of Maharashtra ordered his release. Hazare wrote a letter to then chief minister Manohar Joshi demanding Gholap's removal for his role in alleged malpractices in the Awami Merchant Bank. Gholap resigned from the cabinet on 27 April 1999.
In 2003 corruption charges were raised by Hazare against four NCP ministers of the Congress-NCP government. He started his fast unto death on 9 August 2003. He ended his fast on 17 August 2003 after then chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde formed a one-man commission headed by the retired justice P. B. Sawant to probe his charges. The P. B. Sawant commission report, submitted on 23 February 2005, indicted Sureshdada Jain, Nawab Malik, and Padmasinh Patil. The report exonerated Vijaykumar Gavit. Jain and Malik resigned from the cabinet in March 2005.
Three trusts headed by Anna Hazare were also indicted in the P. B. Sawant commission report. spent by the Hind Swaraj Trust for Anna Hazare's birthday celebrations was concluded by the commission as illegal and amounting to a corrupt practice, though Abhay Firodia, an industrialist subsequently donated to the trust for that purpose. The setting apart of 11 acres of its land by the trust in favour of the Zilla Parishad without obtaining permission from the charity commissioner was concluded as a case of maladministration. The commission also concluded that the maintenance of accounts of the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Janandolan Trust after 10 November 2001 had not been according to the rules and spent by the Sant Yadavbaba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal Trust for renovating a temple thwarted its object of imparting secular education.
Right to Information movement
In the early 2000s Hazare led a movement in Maharashtra state which forced the state government to enact a revised Maharashtra Right to Information Act. This Act was later considered as the base document for the Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI), enacted by the Union Government. It also ensured that the President of India assented to this new Act.
On 20 July 2006 the Union Cabinet amended the Right to Information Act 2005 to exclude the file noting by the government officials from its purview. Hazare began his fast unto death on 9 August 2006 in Alandi against the proposed amendment. He ended his fast on 19 August 2006, after the government agreed to change its earlier decision.
Regulation of Transfers and Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act
Before 2006 in the state of Maharashtra, honest government officers were transferred to other places according to ministerial wish, while some corrupt and favoured officials stayed put for decades. Hazare fought for a law whereby a government servant must clear files within a specified time, and transfers must take place only after three years. After many years of Hazare's efforts, on 25 May 2006 Maharashtra announced the Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act 2006. This act provided for disciplinary action against officials who clear files slowly, and enabled monitoring of officials who overstay a post, and for involvement in a corrupt nexus.
This act mandated the government to effect transfers of all government officers and employees, except Class IV workers, no sooner and no later than three years, except in emergency or exceptional circumstances. Maharashtra was the first state to introduce such an act. However, this law was not fully followed.
Campaign against liquor from food grains
Article 47 of India's Constitution commits the State to raise the standard of living, improve public health and prohibit the consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs injurious to health.
In 2007 Maharashtra rolled out a policy aimed to encourage production of alcohol from food grain to fill the rising demand for industrial alcohol and liquor. It issued 36 licences for distilleries for making alcohol from food grain.
Anna Hazare opposed the government's policy to promote making liquor from food grain. He argued that Maharashtra had to import food, so producing liquor from food grain was inappropriate. One State minister, Laxman Dhoble said that those opposing the use of food grain for the production of liquor were anti-farmer, and that opponents should be beaten with sugarcane sticks.
Hazare began fasting at Shirdi, but on 21 March 2010 the government promised to review the policy and Anna ended his 5-day fast. But the government later granted 36 licences and grants of (per litre of alcohol) to politicians or their sons who were engaged in making alcohol from foodgrains. Recipients included Amit and Dheeraj Deshmukh, sons of Union Heavy Industries Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde's daughter Pankaja Palwe and her husband Charudatta Palwe, sons-in-law of P.V. Narasimha Rao and Rajya Sabha MP Govindrao Adik. The government approved the licences despite stiff opposition from the planning and finance departments, saying there was a huge demand in other countries for distilled spirits compared to that of molasses. Hazare sued Maharashtra over the policy in the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court. On 20 August 2009 Maharashtra stopped the policy. However, distilleries sanctioned before that date and those who started production within two years of sanction were entitled for subsidies.
On 5 May 2011 the court refused to hear the suit, saying, "not before me, this is a court of law, not a court of justice". A Maharashtra Principal Secretary, C.S. Sangeet Rao, stated that no law existed to scrap these licences.
Lokpal Bill movement
In 2011, Hazare participated in the satyagraha movement campaigning for a stronger anti-corruption Lokpal (ombudsman) bill in the Indian parliament. Known as the Jan Lokpal Bill (People's Ombudsman Bill), it was drafted by N. Santosh Hegde, a former justice of the Supreme Court of India and Lokayukta of Karnataka, Prashant Bhushan, and social activist Arvind Kejriwal. The draft incorporated more stringent provisions and gave wider power to the Lokpal than the government's 2010 draft. These included placing "the Prime Minister within the ambit of the proposed lokpal's powers".
Hunger strike
Hazare began an "indefinite fast" on 5 April 2011 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi as part of the campaign to form a joint committee of government and civil society representatives. He wanted this committee to draft a bill with more stringent penal provisions and gave more independence to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas (ombudsmen in the states). The fast came after his demand was rejected by the prime minister, Manmohan Singh. Hazare said, "I will fast until Jan Lokpal Bill is passed".
The movement attracted attention in the media and thousands of supporters. Almost 150 people reportedly joined Hazare in his fast. Social activists, including Medha Patkar, Arvind Kejriwal, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, and Jayaprakash Narayan lent their support. People showed support in social media. In addition to spiritual leaders Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Swami Ramdev, Swami Agnivesh, the former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev and many other celebrities supported him. Hazare decided that he would not allow any politician to sit with him. The protesters rejected Uma Bharti, Om Prakash Chautala and others when they visited the protest. On 6 April 2011 Sharad Pawar resigned from the group of ministers formed for reviewing the 2010 draft.
Protests spread to Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Shillong, Aizawl and other cities.
On 8 April 2011 the Government accepted the movement's demands. On 9 April it issued a notification in the Gazette of India on formation of a joint committee. It accepted the formula that it should be co-chaired by a politician and social activist. The notification stated, "The Joint Drafting Committee shall consist of five nominee ministers of the Government of India and five nominees of the civil society. The five nominee Ministers of the Government of India are Pranab Mukherjee, Union Minister of Finance, P. Chidambaram, Union Minister of Home Affairs, M. Veerappa Moily, Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource and Development and Minister of Communication and Information Technology and Salman Khursheed, Union Minister of Water Resources and Minister of Minority Affairs. The five non-politician nominees were Anna Hazare, N. Santosh Hegde, Shanti Bhushan Senior Advocate, Prashant Bhushan, Advocate and Arvind Kejriwal.
On the morning of 9 April 2011 Hazare ended his 98-hour hunger strike. He addressed the people and set a deadline of 15 August 2011 to pass the bill. He said that
Hazare said that if the bill did not pass he would call for a mass nation-wide agitation. He called his movement a "second struggle for independence" and he will continue the fight.
Hazare threatened on 28 July 2012 to proceed with his fast-unto-death on the Jan Lokpal Bill issue. He also stated that country's future is not safe in the hands of Congress and BJP and he would campaign in the coming elections for those with clean background. On the third day of his indefinite fast, Anna stated that he will not talk even to the Prime Minister till his demands are met. On 2 August 2012 Hazare said that there was nothing wrong with forming a new political party but, he would neither join the party nor contest elections. Team and Anna have decided to end their indefinite fast on 3 August 2012 at 5 pm after which the team will announce their decision to enter politics.
Draft bill
During the meeting of the joint drafting committee on 30 May 2011, the Union government members opposed the inclusion of the prime minister, higher judiciary and the acts of the MPs under the purview of the JanLokpal in the draft bill. On 31 May, Mukherjee sent a letter to the chief ministers of all states and party leaders seeking their opinion on six contentious issues, including whether to bring the prime minister and judges of India's Supreme Court and High Courts under the law's purview. But the civil society members of the drafting committee considered that keeping them out would be a violation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
Hazare and other civil society members decided to boycott the 6 June 2011 drafting committee meeting to protest the forcible eviction of Swami Ramdev and his followers by the Delhi Police from Ramlila Maidan on 5 June 2011, while they were on a hunger strike against black money and corruption.
On 6 June 2011, the civil society members wrote to Mukherjee, explaining reasons for their absence and also asking government to go public on the major issues. They also decided to attend only future meetings that were telecast live. On 8 June at Rajghat, describing his movement as the second freedom struggle, Hazare criticised the Government for trying to discredit the drafting committee and threatened to go on indefinite fast again starting 16 August 2011 if the Lokpal Bill had not passed. He also criticised the Government for putting hurdles in front of the Bill and for maligning the civil society members.
Indefinite fast
On 28 July 2011 the union cabinet approved a draft of the Lokpal Bill, which kept the Prime Minister, judiciary and lower bureaucracy out of the ombudsman's scope. Hazare rejected the government version by describing it as "cruel joke". He wrote a letter to Singh announcing his decision to begin an indefinite fast from 16 August 2011 at Jantar Mantar, if the government introduced its own version of the bill without taking suggestions from civil society members. Hazare wrote:
Within twenty four hours of cabinet's endorsement of a weak Lokpal Bill, over ten thousand people from across the country sent faxes directly to the government demanding a stronger bill. The Mumbai Taxi Men's Union, comprising over 30,000 taxi drivers supported Hazare's fast by keeping all taxis off the roads on 16 August. Lawyers of Allahabad High Court described the government proposal as against the national interest and pledged their support to Hazare by hunger striking at Allahabad on 16 August. On 30 July Vishwa Hindu Parishad supported his fast by saying movement for an effective anti-corruption ombudsman needed the people's backing.
On 1 August 2011, Public interest litigation was filed in the Supreme Court of India by Hemant Patil, a Maharashtra-based social worker and businessman, to restrain Hazare, alleging that Hazare's demands were unconstitutional and amounted to interference in the legislative process.
Arrest and aftermath
On 16 August 2011, Hazare was arrested, four hours before the planned indefinite hunger strike. Rajan Bhagat, spokesman for Delhi Police, said police arrested Hazare for illegally gathering in a Delhi park to begin his hunger strike, claiming that Hazare refused to meet police conditions for allowing the protest. The conditions included restricting the fast to three days and the number of protesters to 5,000. Later in the afternoon, Hazare refused bail. The magistrate dispatched him to Tihar jail for seven days. After announcements by Prashant Bhushan, local television, and social media sites (including Facebook), thousands marched in support from the India Gate to Jantar Mantar.
Media reported that about 1,300 supporters were detained by police in Delhi, including Arvind Kejriwal, Shanti Bhushan, Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodia. Protesters reportedly courted arrest in different parts of the country. Opposition parties came out against the arrest, likening the government action to the emergency imposed in the country in 1975. Both houses of Parliament adjourned over the issue.
After four hours in detention Hazare was released unconditionally by the police, but
refused to leave Tihar Jail. Hazare demanded unconditional permission to fast at Ramlila Maidan. Hazare continued his fast inside the jail.
After his arrest, Hazare received support from people across the country. There were reports of "nearly 570 demonstrations and protests by Anna supporters across the country". Due to the millions of protesters nationwide, the government allowed him to begin a public hunger strike of fifteen days. After talks with public authorities, Hazare decided to hold his protest at Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi. On 20 August Hazare "left the Tihar Jail for the Ramlila Grounds". Hazare promised reporters "he would fight to the 'last breath' until the government gets his team's Jan Lokpal Bill passed in this session of Parliament, which ends on 8 September."
Fast at Ramlila Maidan
On 20 August 2011 thousands came to show their support for Hazare, while "his advisers made television appearances to rally public support and defend themselves against criticism that their protest campaign and refusal to compromise is undermining India's parliamentary process." The National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) condemned Hazare's deadline for passing the bill as undermining democracy, which operates by
The Congress party confirmed that Maharashtra Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Umesh Chandra Sarangi, who had a history of mediating between Hazare and officials, was meeting "to find points of consensus and defuse the situation". On 21 August "tens of thousands" watched Hazare as he sat on an elevated platform. It was reported that Hazare at that point had "lost more than seven pounds since beginning his fast". Despite this he stated, "I will not withdraw my hunger strike until the Jan Lokpal bill is passed in the Parliament. I can die but I will not bend." Hazare ended his fast on 28 August, after the Lokpal Bill passed unanimously.
He was admitted to Medanta Medicity, Gurgaon for post-fast care. He had lost and was very dehydrated after the 288-hour fast.
I Am Anna Campaign
Within a few days of Anna Hazare's first fast demanding a strong Lokpal (on 5 April 2011), supporters started a campaign known as "I Am Anna Hazare", which was similar to the "We Are All Khaled Said" campaign from the Egyptian uprising. During Anna Hazare's second fast, his topi, the cap which became synonymous with Anna Hazare, became almost a fashion statement. Sales of the topis hit an all-time high. Kiran Bedi recommended that the "I am Anna" topi be displayed whenever someone asked for a bribe.
Fast on MMRDA ground
On 27 December 2011, Hazare began a 3-day hunger strike at MMRDA grounds, Bandra Kurla Complex, to demand a stronger Lokpal bill than was in debate. Hazare ended the fast on 28 December, after his doctors said that his kidneys might fail if he continued.
Before reaching the venue, Anna paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Juhu Beach. On his way to a rally with several thousand people, he took two-and-half hours to reach the ground, passing through Santacruz, Tulip Star Hotel, Mithibai College, SV Road, Vile Parle, Khar and Bandra Highway.
A PIL petition filed against the fast was turned down by the Karnataka High Court. A judge noted that there was no public interest in the petition.
Electoral reform movement
In 2011, Hazare demanded an amendment to the electoral law to incorporate the option of None of the above in the electronic voting machines during the Indian elections. The "None of the above (NOTA)" is a ballot option that allows an electorate to indicate disapproval of all of the candidates in an electoral system, in case of non-availability of any candidate of his choice, as his Right to Reject. Soon, the Chief Election Commissioner of India Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi supported Hazare's demand for the electoral reforms.
On 31 March 2013 Hazare started Jantantra Yatra from the city of Amritsar. He is expecting to address various issues, including electoral reforms such as the right to reject a candidate.
Protest against atrocities against Swami Ramdev and his supporters
On 8 June 2011 Anna Hazare and thousands of his supporters fasted from 10 am to 6 pm at Rajghat to protest against the midnight crackdown of 5 June by the Delhi Police on Swami Ramdev's fast at Ramlila ground protests. Anna Hazare held the Prime Minister of India responsible for the atrocities and termed the police action as an attempt to stifle democracy. According to one of Hazare's young supporters, the large presence of youths at the protest was due to his use of nonviolent protest, similar to Gandhi.
On 9 August 2013, Anna's office announced his anti-corruption organisation Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan (BVJA) is no longer tackling corruption issues at a personal or social level. In an email circulated to India Against Corruption's membership, the veteran Gandhian's office has clarified that Anna "is now focused on Janlokpal, Right to Reject, Right to Recall, Farmers problems, Change in Education in System".
2015 Land acquisition ordinance protest
In February 2015, he protested for two days at Jantar Mantar in Delhi against ordinance on the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
Controversies and criticism
Alleged link with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Hazare has been criticised for being an agent of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) a right-wing Hindu body. According to Digvijay Singh a senior leader of the Indian National Congress, the entire crusade of 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement was planned by RSS in which Plan-A was Baba Ramdev while Plan-B was Anna Hazare. Their basic job was to disturb national security. Singh also charged Hazare with having links with late RSS leader Nanaji Deshmukh with whom he worked as a secretary. Hazare denied any such associations.
Acting as proxy for political parties
India's OPEN Magazine editorialised that it was "nonsense" to say Hazare's anti-corruption movement of 2011–12 was apolitical. The op-ed went on to say that the purpose of the movement was that, so long as the Congress Party was kept out of power, corrupt politicians of any other party could be elected to Parliament. The example of Ajay Chautala (now convicted for corruption) was cited. "In effect, Anna and his team are campaigning for Ajay Chautala effectively the first candidate put up for election by the India Against Corruption movement".
Views on Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar
In a press conference in April 2011, Hazare praised Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat and Nitish Kumar, chief minister of Bihar for their efforts on rural development, saying that other chief ministers should emulate them. Subsequently, Modi wrote an open letter to him, hailing him as a Gandhian anti-corruption activist while Digvijay Singh criticised Hazare for his comment. In May 2011, during his visit to Gujarat, Hazare changed his view and criticised Modi for rampant corruption. He urged Modi to appoint a Lokayukta. He also commented that the media had projected an incorrect image of Vibrant Gujarat. Subsequently, Hazare declared that Modi is not a suitable candidate for the position of Prime Minister. He criticised Modi for not doing enough to curb corruption and his unwillingness to set up a Lokayukta in Gujarat. Hazare questioned Modi's secular credentials.
Accusations of corruption
The government of the state of Maharashtra instituted a Commission of Inquiry under Justice PB Sawant in September 2003 to enquire into allegations of corruption against several people, including four ministers in the state as well as the "Hind Swaraj Trust" headed by Hazare. The Commission submitted its report on 22 February 2005, indicting the Trust for corruptly spending Rs. 220,000 on Hazare's birthday celebrations.
Two days ahead of Hazare's Lokpal fast, the Indian National Congress, attacked him, alleging that "the moral core of Hazare has been ripped apart" by the Justice P B Sawant Commission.
Hazare's lawyer Milind Pawar responded that the commission had remarked about "irregularities" in the accounts, but had not held him guilty of any "corrupt" practices. Pawar said that on 16 June 1998, a celebration was organised to congratulate Hazare on winning an award from a US–based NGO and it coincided with his 61st birthday. The trust spent Rs 218,000 for the function. Abhay Phirodia, a Pune-based industrialist, who took the initiative to organise this function donated an amount of Rs to the trust by cheque soon afterwards. Hazare dared the government to file a First Information Report (FIR) against him to prove the charges.
Accusation of being anti-democratic and anti-Dalit
An article written in Kolkata Telegraph by Ramchandra Guha stated that environmental journalist Mukul Sharma claimed that Hazare forced the Dalit families in Ralegan Siddhi to adopt a vegetarian diet, and that those who violated the decree were tied to a post and flogged. Mukul Sharma also found that no panchayat elections have been held in the village for the past two decades, and that no campaigning was allowed during state and national elections, upon Hazare's instructions.
Dalit columnist Chandrabhan Prasad opined that Hazare's anti-corruption movement rejected representative democracy and alleged that it was an upper-caste uprising. He also claimed that centralising powers in Lokapal, which was a non-elected entity, was anti-democratic.
Dalit activist Kancha Ilaiah commented in a similar fashion, that "The Anna movement is an anti-social justice, manuvadi movement. The Dalits, tribals, OBCs and minorities have nothing to do with it. We oppose it." Activist Anoop Kheri claimed that "The language, symbols used by the movement clearly reflects its upper caste Hindu nature, a very rightwing Hindu patriotism is being used to get the entire country against corruption. And as a dalit, I have a problem with it."
There was also an allegation that an RTI activist was denied permission to protest by having a fast-unto-death at Ralegan Siddhi, the grama sabha stating that the reason was that only Hazare can hold such fasts in his village.
Activist Udit Raj was denied permission to protest against Hazare, who he claimed was against parliamentary processes. Raj warned that succumbing to Hazare's demands would set a dangerous trend rendering the "backward" classes more vulnerable. He claimed that mass mobilisations coerced the government into a "set of solutions" against constitutional processes could be used against affirmative action and threatened democracy.
Later, it came to light that poor dalits had been paid up to 200 each to shout slogans against Hazare, although the organisers denied it. Some protesters said that they had been told that it was a pro-Anna protest, but felt cheated after realising that it was against Hazare.
Accusation of being anti-Muslim
On 22 August 2011 writer-activist Arundhati Roy accused Hazare in a newspaper article of being nonsecular. She questioned his secular credentials, pointing out his "support for Raj Thackeray's Marathi Manoos xenophobia and [has praised] the 'development model' of Gujarat's CM who oversaw the 2002 pogrom against Muslims". The website of the newspaper published many responses to her article and these were mostly critical of her views. Activist Medha Patkar criticised Roy, saying that her views were misplaced.
Hazare in the past stood in firm opposition to the Shiv Sena and BJP governments in Maharashtra. Activist and writer Asghar Ali Engineer in an EPW article on Communalism and Communal Violence reported,
Hazare was accused of working at the behest of RSS and BJP, and against Muslims by cleric Bukhari of the Jama Masjid. Bhukhari was subsequently criticised for being a Royal Imam and for claiming that his personal views represented the view of ordinary Muslims.
Conspiracy to murder Hazare
Hazare exposed corruption in cooperative sugar factories in Maharashtra, including one controlled by Dr.Padamsinh Bajirao Patil, a member of Parliament of 15th Lok Sabha and higher-ranking Leader of Nationalist Congress Party from Osmanabad. Patil was accused in the 2006 murder case of Congress leader Pawanraje Nimabalkar.
The conspiracy to kill Hazare was exposed when Parasmal Jain, an accused in the Nimbalkar murder case, in his written confession before a magistrate said that Patil had paid him to murder Nimbalkar, and also offered him supari (contract killing sum) to kill Anna Hazare. After this written confession, Hazare appealed to the state government of Maharashtra to lodge a separate First Information Report ( FIR ) against Patil but the government declined. On 26 September 2009 Hazare lodged his own complaint at Parner police station of Ahmednagar District in Maharashtra against Patil. Patil approached the High Court seeking anticipatory bail but on 14 October 2009, the Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court rejected his application, observing that there was prima facie case against him. Padmasinh Patil appealed to the Supreme Court of India losing again, on 6 November 2009. On 11 November 2009 Patil surrendered before the sessions court in Latur and was sent to judicial remand for 14 days. On 16 December 2009 the Aurangabad bench granted bail. , the verdict is pending.
As of December 2011, Hazare received Z+ security.
Honours, awards and international recognition
Film
The Marathi film Mala Anna Vhaychay (I want to become Anna) is based on Hazare's work. The role of Hazare has been played by Arun Nalawade.
Anna – a 2016 Indian Hindi-language biographical film based on the life of Anna Hazare by Shashank Udapurkar and starring Udapurkar as Hazare.
Andolan Ek Suruvat Ek Shevat is a 2014 Indian Marathi-language film inspired by Hazare who also stars in a lead-role, his first such film work.
Personal life
Hazare is unmarried. He has lived in a small room attached to the Sant Yadavbaba temple in Ralegan Siddhi since 1975. On 16 April 2011, he declared his bank balance of and as money in hand. He owns 0.07 hectares of family land in Ralegan Siddhi, which is being used by his brothers. He donated for village use two other pieces of land donated to him by the Indian Army and by a villager.
Writings
See also
Uprising 2011 India against corruption
Hartal
References
Further reading
Periwinkle Environmental Education Part-X Author-Harendra Chakhaiyar, Publisher- Jeevandeep Prakashan Pvt Ltd,
From Poverty to Plenty: The Story of Ralegan Siddhi Volume 5 of Studies in Ecology and Sustainable Development. Authors- Ganesh Pangare, Vasudha Pangare. Publisher: Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, 1992.
Dynamics of rural development: lessons from Ralegan Siddhi Publisher- Foundation for Research in Community Health, 2002.
Troubles and Wet Solutions: Success Story of Ralegan Siddhi's Watershed Development Project Centre for Alternative Agriculture Media
Ralegan Siddhi Authors: Ramesh Awasthi, Dashrath K. Panmand, Foundation for Research in Community Health (Bombay, India) Publisher: Foundation for Research in Community Health, 1994. Original from The University of Michigan. Digitized 22 December 2009. Length 92 pages
Religion and ecology in India and Southeast Asia Authors- David L. Gosling, Ninian Smart, Contributor- Ninian Smart, Edition-illustrated, Publisher- Routledge, 2001,
Springs of life: India's water resources Authors Ganesh Pangare, Vasudha Pangare, Binayak Das, World Water Institute (Pune, India), Bharathi Integrated Rural Development Society, Edition- illustrated, Publisher-Academic Foundation, 2006.
External links
Civil Society – Official website
20th-century Indian judges
1937 births
Indian Hindus
Living people
Marathi people
Founders of Indian schools and colleges
Indian civil rights activists
Gandhians
Indian Army personnel
Nonviolence advocates
Freedom of information activists
Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in social work
Prisoners and detainees of India
Indian human rights activists
Indian revolutionaries
Marathi politicians
Maharashtra politicians
20th-century Indian educational theorists
Social workers
People from Ahmednagar district
Maharashtra academics
Social workers from Maharashtra
Hunger strikers
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[
"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",
"MI3, the British Military Intelligence Section 3, was a division of the British Directorate of Military Intelligence, part of the War Office. It was originally set up to handle geographical information. Its subsections in 1914 included:\n MI3a: France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Morocco.\n MI3b: Austria-Hungary and Switzerland.\n MI3c: Germany.\n MI3d: Holland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.\n MI3e: Military translations.\n\nAfter World War I, its role was changed to intelligence in Europe, later including the Baltic states, USSR and Scandinavia after Summer 1941. MI3 was headed by Major David Talbot Rice. He recommended the change from supporting the Chetniks to supporting the Partisans in Yugoslavia, see Yugoslavia and the Allies. Its functions were absorbed into MI6 in 1945.\n\nExternal links\n What happened to MI1 - MI4? MI5 FAQ\n\nDefunct United Kingdom intelligence agencies\n1910s establishments in the United Kingdom\nMilitary units and formations disestablished in 1945\nMilitary communications of the United Kingdom\nWar Office in World War II\nBritish intelligence services of World War II"
] |
[
"Anna Hazare",
"Military service",
"Who is Anna Hazare?",
"Hazare was drafted in the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack",
"Did he win any medals for his service?",
"Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service.",
"What other battles was he in?",
"During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army.",
"Was he injured in the crash?",
"He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service.",
"What happened after that in the military?",
"He had another escape in Nagaland, where one night, underground Naga rebels attacked his post and killed all the inmates."
] |
C_3c35c7b91084480daaa2373c080bce41_1
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What happened after the escape?
| 7 |
What happened to Anna Hazare after the escape?
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Anna Hazare
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Hazare was drafted in the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier. He undertook army training at Aurangabad. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack--variously claimed to have been a bomb, an aerial assault and an exchange of fire at the border--while he was driving a truck. The experiences of wartime, coupled with the poverty from which he had come, affected him. He considered suicide at one point but turned instead to pondering the meaning of life and death. He said of the truck attack, "[It] sent me thinking. I felt that God wanted me to stay alive for some reason. I was reborn in the battlefield of Khem Karan. And I decided to dedicate my new life to serving people." At a book stand in New Delhi railway station, he came across Swami Vivekananda's booklet "Call to the youth for nation building" which inspired him to think deeper. He spent his spare time reading the works of Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Vinoba Bhave. In a blog post, Hazare expressed his views on Kashmir by saying that it was his "active conviction that Kashmir is an integral part of India" and that if required once again for service, he would remain "ready to take part in war against Pakistan." During his fifteen-year career in the army (1960-75), Anna Hazare was posted at several locations, including Punjab (Indo Pak war 1965), Nagaland, Bombay (1971) and Jammu (1974) During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army. He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service. He had another escape in Nagaland, where one night, underground Naga rebels attacked his post and killed all the inmates. He had a miraculous escape as he had gone out to return nature's call and hence turned out to be the lone survivor. Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service. CANNOTANSWER
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He had a miraculous escape as he had gone out to return nature's call and hence turned out to be the lone survivor.
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Kisan Baburao "Anna" Hazare (; born 15 June 1937) is an Indian social activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase government transparency, and investigate and punish corruption in public life. In addition to organising and encouraging grassroots movements, Hazare frequently conducted hunger strikes to further his causes—a tactic reminiscent, to many, of the work of Mahatma Gandhi. Hazare also contributed to the development and structuring of Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan—the third-highest civilian award—by the Government of India in 1992 for his efforts in establishing this village as a model for others.
Hazare started a hunger strike on 5 April 2011 to exert pressure on the Indian government to enact a stringent anti-corruption law, The Lokpal Bill, 2011 as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill, for the institution of an ombudsman with the power to deal with corruption in public places. The fast led to nationwide protests in support. The fast ended on 9 April 2011, a day after the government accepted Hazare's demands. The government issued a gazette notification on the formation of a joint committee, consisting of government and civil society representatives, to draft the legislation.
Foreign Policy named him among top 100 global thinkers in 2011. Also in 2011, Hazare was ranked as the most influential person in Mumbai by a national daily newspaper. He has faced criticism for his authoritarian views on justice, including death as punishment for corrupt public officials and his alleged support for forced vasectomies as a method of family planning.
Early life
Kisan Baburao Hazare was born on 15 June 1937 (some sources say 15 January 1940) in Bhingar, near Ahmednagar. He was the eldest son of Baburao Hazare and Laxmi Bai. He has two sisters and four brothers. He later adopted the name Anna, which in Marathi means "elder person" or "father".
His father worked as an unskilled labourer in Ayurveda Ashram Pharmacy and struggled to support the family financially. In time, the family moved to their ancestral village of Ralegan Siddhi, where they owned a small amount of agricultural land. A relative took on the burden of providing Kisan with an education, taking him to Mumbai because the village had no primary school. The relative became unable financially to continue the support and Kisan's schooling ended in the Standard Seventh grade; his siblings never attended school. He started selling flowers at the Dadar railway station in Mumbai and eventually managed to own two flower shops in the city. He also became involved in vigilantism, joining groups who acted to prevent landlords' thugs from intimidating the poor out of their shelter.
Military service
Hazare was drafted into the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier. He undertook army training at Aurangabad.
During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack—variously claimed to have been a bomb, an aerial assault and an exchange of fire at the border—while he was driving a truck. The experiences of wartime, coupled with the poverty from which he had come, affected him. He considered suicide at one point but instead turned to pondering the meaning of life and death. He said of the truck attack, "[It] sent me thinking. I felt that God wanted me to stay alive for some reason. I was reborn in the battlefield of Khem Karan. And I decided to dedicate my new life to serving people." At a book stand in New Delhi railway station, he came across Swami Vivekananda's booklet "Call to the youth for nation building" which inspired him to think deeper. He spent his spare time reading the works of Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Vinoba Bhave. In a blog post, Hazare expressed his views on Kashmir by saying that it was his "active conviction that Kashmir is an integral part of India" and that if required once again for service, he would remain "ready to take part in war against Pakistan."
During his fifteen-year career in the army (1960–75), Anna Hazare was posted at several locations, including Punjab (Indo Pak war 1965), Nagaland, Bombay (1971) and Jammu (1974)
During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army. He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service. He had another escape in Nagaland, where one night, underground Naga rebels attacked his post and killed all the inmates. He had a miraculous escape as he had gone out to return nature's call and hence turned out to be the lone survivor.
Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service.
Transformation of Ralegan Siddhi
Hazare returned to Ralegan Siddhi, a village then described by Satpathy and Mehta as "one of the many villages of India plagued by acute poverty, deprivation, a fragile ecosystem, neglect and hopelessness."
Although most of the villagers owned some land, cultivation was extremely difficult due to the rocky ground preventing retention of the monsoon rains, this situation was worsened by gradual environmental deterioration as trees were cut down, erosion spread and droughts were also experienced. The shortage of water also led to disease from unsanitary conditions and water reuse for multiple purposes. The economy of the village had become reliant on the illegal manufacture and sale of alcohol, a product on which many of the villagers had become dependent. Many inhabitants borrowed from moneylenders to survive, paying monthly interest rates of as much as 10%. Crime and violence (including domestic violence) had become commonplace, while education and employment opportunities were poor.
Hazare was relatively wealthy because of the gratuity from his army service. He set about using that money to restore a run-down, vandalised village temple as a focal point for the community. Some were able to respond with small financial donations but many other villagers, particularly among the elderly, donated their labour in a process that became known as shramdaan. Some youths also became involved in the work and these he organised into a Tarun Mandal (Youth Association). One of the works of Vivekananda which he had read was Call to the youth for nation building.
Prohibition of alcohol
Hazare and the youth group decided to take up the issue of alcoholism to drive a process of reform. At a meeting conducted in the temple, the villagers resolved to close down liquor dens and ban alcohol in the village. Since these resolutions were made in the temple, they became, in a sense, religious commitments. Over thirty liquor brewing units voluntarily closed their establishments. Those who did not succumb to social pressure were forced to close their businesses when the youth group smashed their premises. The owners could not complain as their businesses were illegal.
Once 3 drunken villagers were tied to pillars and then flogged, personally by Hazare with his army belt. He justified this punishment by stating that "rural India was a harsh society", and that
Hazare appealed to the government of Maharashtra to pass a law whereby prohibition would come into force in a village if 25% of the women in the village demanded it. In 2009 the state government amended the Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949 to reflect this.
It was decided to ban the sale of tobacco, cigarettes, and beedies (an unfiltered cigarette where the tobacco is rolled in tendu, also known as Coromandel ebony, leaves instead of paper) in the village. To implement this resolution, the youth group performed a unique "Holi" ceremony twenty two years ago. The festival of Holi is celebrated as a symbolic burning of evil. The youth group brought all the tobacco, cigarettes, and beedies from the shops in the village and burnt them in a Holi fire. Tobacco, cigarettes, or beedies are no longer sold.
Grain Bank
In 1980, Hazare started the Grain Bank at the temple, with the objective of providing food security to needy farmers during times of drought or crop failure. Rich farmers, or those with surplus grain production, could donate a quintal to the bank. In times of need, farmers could borrow the grain, but they had to return the amount of grain they borrowed, plus an additional quintal as an interest. This ensured that nobody in the village ever went hungry or had to borrow money to buy grain. This also prevented distress sales of grain at lower prices at harvest time.
Watershed development programme
Ralegan Siddhi is located in the foothills, so Hazare persuaded villagers to construct a watershed embankment and associated works to stop water and allow it to percolate and increase the ground water level and improve irrigation in the area. These efforts solved the problem of water scarcity in the village and made irrigation possible.
Cultivation of water-intensive crops like sugarcane was banned. Crops such as pulses, oilseeds, and certain cash crops with low water requirements replaced them. The farmers started growing high-yield varieties and changed cropping pattern. Hazare has helped farmers of more than 70 villages in drought-prone regions in the state of Maharashtra since 1975. When Hazare came to Ralegan Siddhi in 1975 only of land was irrigated, Hazare converted it into about .
Education
In 1932, Ralegan Siddhi got its first formal school, a single classroom primary school. In 1962, the villagers added more classrooms through community volunteer efforts. By 1971, out of an estimated population of 1,209, only 30.43% were literate (72 women and 290 men). Boys moved to the nearby towns of Shirur and Parner to pursue higher education, but girls were limited to primary education. Hazare, along with the youth of Ralegan Siddhi, worked to increase literacy rates and education levels. In 1976 they started a pre-school and a high school in 1979. The villagers formed a charitable trust, the Sant Yadavbaba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, which was registered in 1979.
Removal of untouchability
The social barriers and discrimination that existed due to the caste system in India have been largely eliminated by Ralegan Siddhi villagers. It was Hazare's moral leadership that motivated and inspired the villagers to shun untouchability and caste discrimination. Marriages of Dalits are held as part of community marriage program together with those of other castes. The Dalits have become integrated into the social and economic life of the village. The upper caste villagers built houses for the lower caste Dalits by shramdaan and helped to repay their loans.
Gram Sabha
The Gandhian philosophy on rural development considers the Gram Sabha as an important democratic institution for collective decision-making in the villages of India. Hazare campaigned between 1998 and 2006 for amending the Gram Sabha Act, so that villagers have a say in the village's development. The state government initially refused, but eventually gave in to public pressure. It became mandatory to seek the sanction of the Gram Sabha (an assembly of all village adults, and not just the few elected representatives in the gram panchayat) for expenditures on development works in the village.
Activism
Anti-corruption protests in Maharashtra
In 1991 Hazare launched the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan (BVJA, People's Movement against Corruption), a popular movement to fight against corruption in Ralegaon Siddhi. In the same year he protested against the collusion between 40 forest officials and timber merchants. This protest resulted in the transfer and suspension of these officials.
In May 1997 Hazare protested alleged malpractice in the purchase of powerlooms by the Vasantrao Naik Bhathya Vimukt Jhtra Governor P. C. Alexander. On 4 November 1997 Gholap filed a defamation suit against Hazare for accusing him of corruption. He was arrested in April 1998 and was released on a personal bond of . On 9 September 1998 Hazare was imprisoned in the Yerawada Jail to serve a three-month sentence mandated by the Mumbai Metropolitan Court. The sentencing caused leaders of all political parties except the BJP and the Shiv Sena to support him. Later, due to public protests, the Government of Maharashtra ordered his release. Hazare wrote a letter to then chief minister Manohar Joshi demanding Gholap's removal for his role in alleged malpractices in the Awami Merchant Bank. Gholap resigned from the cabinet on 27 April 1999.
In 2003 corruption charges were raised by Hazare against four NCP ministers of the Congress-NCP government. He started his fast unto death on 9 August 2003. He ended his fast on 17 August 2003 after then chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde formed a one-man commission headed by the retired justice P. B. Sawant to probe his charges. The P. B. Sawant commission report, submitted on 23 February 2005, indicted Sureshdada Jain, Nawab Malik, and Padmasinh Patil. The report exonerated Vijaykumar Gavit. Jain and Malik resigned from the cabinet in March 2005.
Three trusts headed by Anna Hazare were also indicted in the P. B. Sawant commission report. spent by the Hind Swaraj Trust for Anna Hazare's birthday celebrations was concluded by the commission as illegal and amounting to a corrupt practice, though Abhay Firodia, an industrialist subsequently donated to the trust for that purpose. The setting apart of 11 acres of its land by the trust in favour of the Zilla Parishad without obtaining permission from the charity commissioner was concluded as a case of maladministration. The commission also concluded that the maintenance of accounts of the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Janandolan Trust after 10 November 2001 had not been according to the rules and spent by the Sant Yadavbaba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal Trust for renovating a temple thwarted its object of imparting secular education.
Right to Information movement
In the early 2000s Hazare led a movement in Maharashtra state which forced the state government to enact a revised Maharashtra Right to Information Act. This Act was later considered as the base document for the Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI), enacted by the Union Government. It also ensured that the President of India assented to this new Act.
On 20 July 2006 the Union Cabinet amended the Right to Information Act 2005 to exclude the file noting by the government officials from its purview. Hazare began his fast unto death on 9 August 2006 in Alandi against the proposed amendment. He ended his fast on 19 August 2006, after the government agreed to change its earlier decision.
Regulation of Transfers and Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act
Before 2006 in the state of Maharashtra, honest government officers were transferred to other places according to ministerial wish, while some corrupt and favoured officials stayed put for decades. Hazare fought for a law whereby a government servant must clear files within a specified time, and transfers must take place only after three years. After many years of Hazare's efforts, on 25 May 2006 Maharashtra announced the Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act 2006. This act provided for disciplinary action against officials who clear files slowly, and enabled monitoring of officials who overstay a post, and for involvement in a corrupt nexus.
This act mandated the government to effect transfers of all government officers and employees, except Class IV workers, no sooner and no later than three years, except in emergency or exceptional circumstances. Maharashtra was the first state to introduce such an act. However, this law was not fully followed.
Campaign against liquor from food grains
Article 47 of India's Constitution commits the State to raise the standard of living, improve public health and prohibit the consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs injurious to health.
In 2007 Maharashtra rolled out a policy aimed to encourage production of alcohol from food grain to fill the rising demand for industrial alcohol and liquor. It issued 36 licences for distilleries for making alcohol from food grain.
Anna Hazare opposed the government's policy to promote making liquor from food grain. He argued that Maharashtra had to import food, so producing liquor from food grain was inappropriate. One State minister, Laxman Dhoble said that those opposing the use of food grain for the production of liquor were anti-farmer, and that opponents should be beaten with sugarcane sticks.
Hazare began fasting at Shirdi, but on 21 March 2010 the government promised to review the policy and Anna ended his 5-day fast. But the government later granted 36 licences and grants of (per litre of alcohol) to politicians or their sons who were engaged in making alcohol from foodgrains. Recipients included Amit and Dheeraj Deshmukh, sons of Union Heavy Industries Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde's daughter Pankaja Palwe and her husband Charudatta Palwe, sons-in-law of P.V. Narasimha Rao and Rajya Sabha MP Govindrao Adik. The government approved the licences despite stiff opposition from the planning and finance departments, saying there was a huge demand in other countries for distilled spirits compared to that of molasses. Hazare sued Maharashtra over the policy in the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court. On 20 August 2009 Maharashtra stopped the policy. However, distilleries sanctioned before that date and those who started production within two years of sanction were entitled for subsidies.
On 5 May 2011 the court refused to hear the suit, saying, "not before me, this is a court of law, not a court of justice". A Maharashtra Principal Secretary, C.S. Sangeet Rao, stated that no law existed to scrap these licences.
Lokpal Bill movement
In 2011, Hazare participated in the satyagraha movement campaigning for a stronger anti-corruption Lokpal (ombudsman) bill in the Indian parliament. Known as the Jan Lokpal Bill (People's Ombudsman Bill), it was drafted by N. Santosh Hegde, a former justice of the Supreme Court of India and Lokayukta of Karnataka, Prashant Bhushan, and social activist Arvind Kejriwal. The draft incorporated more stringent provisions and gave wider power to the Lokpal than the government's 2010 draft. These included placing "the Prime Minister within the ambit of the proposed lokpal's powers".
Hunger strike
Hazare began an "indefinite fast" on 5 April 2011 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi as part of the campaign to form a joint committee of government and civil society representatives. He wanted this committee to draft a bill with more stringent penal provisions and gave more independence to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas (ombudsmen in the states). The fast came after his demand was rejected by the prime minister, Manmohan Singh. Hazare said, "I will fast until Jan Lokpal Bill is passed".
The movement attracted attention in the media and thousands of supporters. Almost 150 people reportedly joined Hazare in his fast. Social activists, including Medha Patkar, Arvind Kejriwal, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, and Jayaprakash Narayan lent their support. People showed support in social media. In addition to spiritual leaders Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Swami Ramdev, Swami Agnivesh, the former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev and many other celebrities supported him. Hazare decided that he would not allow any politician to sit with him. The protesters rejected Uma Bharti, Om Prakash Chautala and others when they visited the protest. On 6 April 2011 Sharad Pawar resigned from the group of ministers formed for reviewing the 2010 draft.
Protests spread to Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Shillong, Aizawl and other cities.
On 8 April 2011 the Government accepted the movement's demands. On 9 April it issued a notification in the Gazette of India on formation of a joint committee. It accepted the formula that it should be co-chaired by a politician and social activist. The notification stated, "The Joint Drafting Committee shall consist of five nominee ministers of the Government of India and five nominees of the civil society. The five nominee Ministers of the Government of India are Pranab Mukherjee, Union Minister of Finance, P. Chidambaram, Union Minister of Home Affairs, M. Veerappa Moily, Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource and Development and Minister of Communication and Information Technology and Salman Khursheed, Union Minister of Water Resources and Minister of Minority Affairs. The five non-politician nominees were Anna Hazare, N. Santosh Hegde, Shanti Bhushan Senior Advocate, Prashant Bhushan, Advocate and Arvind Kejriwal.
On the morning of 9 April 2011 Hazare ended his 98-hour hunger strike. He addressed the people and set a deadline of 15 August 2011 to pass the bill. He said that
Hazare said that if the bill did not pass he would call for a mass nation-wide agitation. He called his movement a "second struggle for independence" and he will continue the fight.
Hazare threatened on 28 July 2012 to proceed with his fast-unto-death on the Jan Lokpal Bill issue. He also stated that country's future is not safe in the hands of Congress and BJP and he would campaign in the coming elections for those with clean background. On the third day of his indefinite fast, Anna stated that he will not talk even to the Prime Minister till his demands are met. On 2 August 2012 Hazare said that there was nothing wrong with forming a new political party but, he would neither join the party nor contest elections. Team and Anna have decided to end their indefinite fast on 3 August 2012 at 5 pm after which the team will announce their decision to enter politics.
Draft bill
During the meeting of the joint drafting committee on 30 May 2011, the Union government members opposed the inclusion of the prime minister, higher judiciary and the acts of the MPs under the purview of the JanLokpal in the draft bill. On 31 May, Mukherjee sent a letter to the chief ministers of all states and party leaders seeking their opinion on six contentious issues, including whether to bring the prime minister and judges of India's Supreme Court and High Courts under the law's purview. But the civil society members of the drafting committee considered that keeping them out would be a violation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
Hazare and other civil society members decided to boycott the 6 June 2011 drafting committee meeting to protest the forcible eviction of Swami Ramdev and his followers by the Delhi Police from Ramlila Maidan on 5 June 2011, while they were on a hunger strike against black money and corruption.
On 6 June 2011, the civil society members wrote to Mukherjee, explaining reasons for their absence and also asking government to go public on the major issues. They also decided to attend only future meetings that were telecast live. On 8 June at Rajghat, describing his movement as the second freedom struggle, Hazare criticised the Government for trying to discredit the drafting committee and threatened to go on indefinite fast again starting 16 August 2011 if the Lokpal Bill had not passed. He also criticised the Government for putting hurdles in front of the Bill and for maligning the civil society members.
Indefinite fast
On 28 July 2011 the union cabinet approved a draft of the Lokpal Bill, which kept the Prime Minister, judiciary and lower bureaucracy out of the ombudsman's scope. Hazare rejected the government version by describing it as "cruel joke". He wrote a letter to Singh announcing his decision to begin an indefinite fast from 16 August 2011 at Jantar Mantar, if the government introduced its own version of the bill without taking suggestions from civil society members. Hazare wrote:
Within twenty four hours of cabinet's endorsement of a weak Lokpal Bill, over ten thousand people from across the country sent faxes directly to the government demanding a stronger bill. The Mumbai Taxi Men's Union, comprising over 30,000 taxi drivers supported Hazare's fast by keeping all taxis off the roads on 16 August. Lawyers of Allahabad High Court described the government proposal as against the national interest and pledged their support to Hazare by hunger striking at Allahabad on 16 August. On 30 July Vishwa Hindu Parishad supported his fast by saying movement for an effective anti-corruption ombudsman needed the people's backing.
On 1 August 2011, Public interest litigation was filed in the Supreme Court of India by Hemant Patil, a Maharashtra-based social worker and businessman, to restrain Hazare, alleging that Hazare's demands were unconstitutional and amounted to interference in the legislative process.
Arrest and aftermath
On 16 August 2011, Hazare was arrested, four hours before the planned indefinite hunger strike. Rajan Bhagat, spokesman for Delhi Police, said police arrested Hazare for illegally gathering in a Delhi park to begin his hunger strike, claiming that Hazare refused to meet police conditions for allowing the protest. The conditions included restricting the fast to three days and the number of protesters to 5,000. Later in the afternoon, Hazare refused bail. The magistrate dispatched him to Tihar jail for seven days. After announcements by Prashant Bhushan, local television, and social media sites (including Facebook), thousands marched in support from the India Gate to Jantar Mantar.
Media reported that about 1,300 supporters were detained by police in Delhi, including Arvind Kejriwal, Shanti Bhushan, Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodia. Protesters reportedly courted arrest in different parts of the country. Opposition parties came out against the arrest, likening the government action to the emergency imposed in the country in 1975. Both houses of Parliament adjourned over the issue.
After four hours in detention Hazare was released unconditionally by the police, but
refused to leave Tihar Jail. Hazare demanded unconditional permission to fast at Ramlila Maidan. Hazare continued his fast inside the jail.
After his arrest, Hazare received support from people across the country. There were reports of "nearly 570 demonstrations and protests by Anna supporters across the country". Due to the millions of protesters nationwide, the government allowed him to begin a public hunger strike of fifteen days. After talks with public authorities, Hazare decided to hold his protest at Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi. On 20 August Hazare "left the Tihar Jail for the Ramlila Grounds". Hazare promised reporters "he would fight to the 'last breath' until the government gets his team's Jan Lokpal Bill passed in this session of Parliament, which ends on 8 September."
Fast at Ramlila Maidan
On 20 August 2011 thousands came to show their support for Hazare, while "his advisers made television appearances to rally public support and defend themselves against criticism that their protest campaign and refusal to compromise is undermining India's parliamentary process." The National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) condemned Hazare's deadline for passing the bill as undermining democracy, which operates by
The Congress party confirmed that Maharashtra Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Umesh Chandra Sarangi, who had a history of mediating between Hazare and officials, was meeting "to find points of consensus and defuse the situation". On 21 August "tens of thousands" watched Hazare as he sat on an elevated platform. It was reported that Hazare at that point had "lost more than seven pounds since beginning his fast". Despite this he stated, "I will not withdraw my hunger strike until the Jan Lokpal bill is passed in the Parliament. I can die but I will not bend." Hazare ended his fast on 28 August, after the Lokpal Bill passed unanimously.
He was admitted to Medanta Medicity, Gurgaon for post-fast care. He had lost and was very dehydrated after the 288-hour fast.
I Am Anna Campaign
Within a few days of Anna Hazare's first fast demanding a strong Lokpal (on 5 April 2011), supporters started a campaign known as "I Am Anna Hazare", which was similar to the "We Are All Khaled Said" campaign from the Egyptian uprising. During Anna Hazare's second fast, his topi, the cap which became synonymous with Anna Hazare, became almost a fashion statement. Sales of the topis hit an all-time high. Kiran Bedi recommended that the "I am Anna" topi be displayed whenever someone asked for a bribe.
Fast on MMRDA ground
On 27 December 2011, Hazare began a 3-day hunger strike at MMRDA grounds, Bandra Kurla Complex, to demand a stronger Lokpal bill than was in debate. Hazare ended the fast on 28 December, after his doctors said that his kidneys might fail if he continued.
Before reaching the venue, Anna paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Juhu Beach. On his way to a rally with several thousand people, he took two-and-half hours to reach the ground, passing through Santacruz, Tulip Star Hotel, Mithibai College, SV Road, Vile Parle, Khar and Bandra Highway.
A PIL petition filed against the fast was turned down by the Karnataka High Court. A judge noted that there was no public interest in the petition.
Electoral reform movement
In 2011, Hazare demanded an amendment to the electoral law to incorporate the option of None of the above in the electronic voting machines during the Indian elections. The "None of the above (NOTA)" is a ballot option that allows an electorate to indicate disapproval of all of the candidates in an electoral system, in case of non-availability of any candidate of his choice, as his Right to Reject. Soon, the Chief Election Commissioner of India Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi supported Hazare's demand for the electoral reforms.
On 31 March 2013 Hazare started Jantantra Yatra from the city of Amritsar. He is expecting to address various issues, including electoral reforms such as the right to reject a candidate.
Protest against atrocities against Swami Ramdev and his supporters
On 8 June 2011 Anna Hazare and thousands of his supporters fasted from 10 am to 6 pm at Rajghat to protest against the midnight crackdown of 5 June by the Delhi Police on Swami Ramdev's fast at Ramlila ground protests. Anna Hazare held the Prime Minister of India responsible for the atrocities and termed the police action as an attempt to stifle democracy. According to one of Hazare's young supporters, the large presence of youths at the protest was due to his use of nonviolent protest, similar to Gandhi.
On 9 August 2013, Anna's office announced his anti-corruption organisation Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan (BVJA) is no longer tackling corruption issues at a personal or social level. In an email circulated to India Against Corruption's membership, the veteran Gandhian's office has clarified that Anna "is now focused on Janlokpal, Right to Reject, Right to Recall, Farmers problems, Change in Education in System".
2015 Land acquisition ordinance protest
In February 2015, he protested for two days at Jantar Mantar in Delhi against ordinance on the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
Controversies and criticism
Alleged link with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Hazare has been criticised for being an agent of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) a right-wing Hindu body. According to Digvijay Singh a senior leader of the Indian National Congress, the entire crusade of 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement was planned by RSS in which Plan-A was Baba Ramdev while Plan-B was Anna Hazare. Their basic job was to disturb national security. Singh also charged Hazare with having links with late RSS leader Nanaji Deshmukh with whom he worked as a secretary. Hazare denied any such associations.
Acting as proxy for political parties
India's OPEN Magazine editorialised that it was "nonsense" to say Hazare's anti-corruption movement of 2011–12 was apolitical. The op-ed went on to say that the purpose of the movement was that, so long as the Congress Party was kept out of power, corrupt politicians of any other party could be elected to Parliament. The example of Ajay Chautala (now convicted for corruption) was cited. "In effect, Anna and his team are campaigning for Ajay Chautala effectively the first candidate put up for election by the India Against Corruption movement".
Views on Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar
In a press conference in April 2011, Hazare praised Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat and Nitish Kumar, chief minister of Bihar for their efforts on rural development, saying that other chief ministers should emulate them. Subsequently, Modi wrote an open letter to him, hailing him as a Gandhian anti-corruption activist while Digvijay Singh criticised Hazare for his comment. In May 2011, during his visit to Gujarat, Hazare changed his view and criticised Modi for rampant corruption. He urged Modi to appoint a Lokayukta. He also commented that the media had projected an incorrect image of Vibrant Gujarat. Subsequently, Hazare declared that Modi is not a suitable candidate for the position of Prime Minister. He criticised Modi for not doing enough to curb corruption and his unwillingness to set up a Lokayukta in Gujarat. Hazare questioned Modi's secular credentials.
Accusations of corruption
The government of the state of Maharashtra instituted a Commission of Inquiry under Justice PB Sawant in September 2003 to enquire into allegations of corruption against several people, including four ministers in the state as well as the "Hind Swaraj Trust" headed by Hazare. The Commission submitted its report on 22 February 2005, indicting the Trust for corruptly spending Rs. 220,000 on Hazare's birthday celebrations.
Two days ahead of Hazare's Lokpal fast, the Indian National Congress, attacked him, alleging that "the moral core of Hazare has been ripped apart" by the Justice P B Sawant Commission.
Hazare's lawyer Milind Pawar responded that the commission had remarked about "irregularities" in the accounts, but had not held him guilty of any "corrupt" practices. Pawar said that on 16 June 1998, a celebration was organised to congratulate Hazare on winning an award from a US–based NGO and it coincided with his 61st birthday. The trust spent Rs 218,000 for the function. Abhay Phirodia, a Pune-based industrialist, who took the initiative to organise this function donated an amount of Rs to the trust by cheque soon afterwards. Hazare dared the government to file a First Information Report (FIR) against him to prove the charges.
Accusation of being anti-democratic and anti-Dalit
An article written in Kolkata Telegraph by Ramchandra Guha stated that environmental journalist Mukul Sharma claimed that Hazare forced the Dalit families in Ralegan Siddhi to adopt a vegetarian diet, and that those who violated the decree were tied to a post and flogged. Mukul Sharma also found that no panchayat elections have been held in the village for the past two decades, and that no campaigning was allowed during state and national elections, upon Hazare's instructions.
Dalit columnist Chandrabhan Prasad opined that Hazare's anti-corruption movement rejected representative democracy and alleged that it was an upper-caste uprising. He also claimed that centralising powers in Lokapal, which was a non-elected entity, was anti-democratic.
Dalit activist Kancha Ilaiah commented in a similar fashion, that "The Anna movement is an anti-social justice, manuvadi movement. The Dalits, tribals, OBCs and minorities have nothing to do with it. We oppose it." Activist Anoop Kheri claimed that "The language, symbols used by the movement clearly reflects its upper caste Hindu nature, a very rightwing Hindu patriotism is being used to get the entire country against corruption. And as a dalit, I have a problem with it."
There was also an allegation that an RTI activist was denied permission to protest by having a fast-unto-death at Ralegan Siddhi, the grama sabha stating that the reason was that only Hazare can hold such fasts in his village.
Activist Udit Raj was denied permission to protest against Hazare, who he claimed was against parliamentary processes. Raj warned that succumbing to Hazare's demands would set a dangerous trend rendering the "backward" classes more vulnerable. He claimed that mass mobilisations coerced the government into a "set of solutions" against constitutional processes could be used against affirmative action and threatened democracy.
Later, it came to light that poor dalits had been paid up to 200 each to shout slogans against Hazare, although the organisers denied it. Some protesters said that they had been told that it was a pro-Anna protest, but felt cheated after realising that it was against Hazare.
Accusation of being anti-Muslim
On 22 August 2011 writer-activist Arundhati Roy accused Hazare in a newspaper article of being nonsecular. She questioned his secular credentials, pointing out his "support for Raj Thackeray's Marathi Manoos xenophobia and [has praised] the 'development model' of Gujarat's CM who oversaw the 2002 pogrom against Muslims". The website of the newspaper published many responses to her article and these were mostly critical of her views. Activist Medha Patkar criticised Roy, saying that her views were misplaced.
Hazare in the past stood in firm opposition to the Shiv Sena and BJP governments in Maharashtra. Activist and writer Asghar Ali Engineer in an EPW article on Communalism and Communal Violence reported,
Hazare was accused of working at the behest of RSS and BJP, and against Muslims by cleric Bukhari of the Jama Masjid. Bhukhari was subsequently criticised for being a Royal Imam and for claiming that his personal views represented the view of ordinary Muslims.
Conspiracy to murder Hazare
Hazare exposed corruption in cooperative sugar factories in Maharashtra, including one controlled by Dr.Padamsinh Bajirao Patil, a member of Parliament of 15th Lok Sabha and higher-ranking Leader of Nationalist Congress Party from Osmanabad. Patil was accused in the 2006 murder case of Congress leader Pawanraje Nimabalkar.
The conspiracy to kill Hazare was exposed when Parasmal Jain, an accused in the Nimbalkar murder case, in his written confession before a magistrate said that Patil had paid him to murder Nimbalkar, and also offered him supari (contract killing sum) to kill Anna Hazare. After this written confession, Hazare appealed to the state government of Maharashtra to lodge a separate First Information Report ( FIR ) against Patil but the government declined. On 26 September 2009 Hazare lodged his own complaint at Parner police station of Ahmednagar District in Maharashtra against Patil. Patil approached the High Court seeking anticipatory bail but on 14 October 2009, the Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court rejected his application, observing that there was prima facie case against him. Padmasinh Patil appealed to the Supreme Court of India losing again, on 6 November 2009. On 11 November 2009 Patil surrendered before the sessions court in Latur and was sent to judicial remand for 14 days. On 16 December 2009 the Aurangabad bench granted bail. , the verdict is pending.
As of December 2011, Hazare received Z+ security.
Honours, awards and international recognition
Film
The Marathi film Mala Anna Vhaychay (I want to become Anna) is based on Hazare's work. The role of Hazare has been played by Arun Nalawade.
Anna – a 2016 Indian Hindi-language biographical film based on the life of Anna Hazare by Shashank Udapurkar and starring Udapurkar as Hazare.
Andolan Ek Suruvat Ek Shevat is a 2014 Indian Marathi-language film inspired by Hazare who also stars in a lead-role, his first such film work.
Personal life
Hazare is unmarried. He has lived in a small room attached to the Sant Yadavbaba temple in Ralegan Siddhi since 1975. On 16 April 2011, he declared his bank balance of and as money in hand. He owns 0.07 hectares of family land in Ralegan Siddhi, which is being used by his brothers. He donated for village use two other pieces of land donated to him by the Indian Army and by a villager.
Writings
See also
Uprising 2011 India against corruption
Hartal
References
Further reading
Periwinkle Environmental Education Part-X Author-Harendra Chakhaiyar, Publisher- Jeevandeep Prakashan Pvt Ltd,
From Poverty to Plenty: The Story of Ralegan Siddhi Volume 5 of Studies in Ecology and Sustainable Development. Authors- Ganesh Pangare, Vasudha Pangare. Publisher: Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, 1992.
Dynamics of rural development: lessons from Ralegan Siddhi Publisher- Foundation for Research in Community Health, 2002.
Troubles and Wet Solutions: Success Story of Ralegan Siddhi's Watershed Development Project Centre for Alternative Agriculture Media
Ralegan Siddhi Authors: Ramesh Awasthi, Dashrath K. Panmand, Foundation for Research in Community Health (Bombay, India) Publisher: Foundation for Research in Community Health, 1994. Original from The University of Michigan. Digitized 22 December 2009. Length 92 pages
Religion and ecology in India and Southeast Asia Authors- David L. Gosling, Ninian Smart, Contributor- Ninian Smart, Edition-illustrated, Publisher- Routledge, 2001,
Springs of life: India's water resources Authors Ganesh Pangare, Vasudha Pangare, Binayak Das, World Water Institute (Pune, India), Bharathi Integrated Rural Development Society, Edition- illustrated, Publisher-Academic Foundation, 2006.
External links
Civil Society – Official website
20th-century Indian judges
1937 births
Indian Hindus
Living people
Marathi people
Founders of Indian schools and colleges
Indian civil rights activists
Gandhians
Indian Army personnel
Nonviolence advocates
Freedom of information activists
Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in social work
Prisoners and detainees of India
Indian human rights activists
Indian revolutionaries
Marathi politicians
Maharashtra politicians
20th-century Indian educational theorists
Social workers
People from Ahmednagar district
Maharashtra academics
Social workers from Maharashtra
Hunger strikers
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[
"\nThe following lists events that happened during 1835 in South Africa.\n\nEvents\n The Voortrekkers start leaving the Cape Colony in what is called the Great Trek into the interior to escape British domination\n Port Natal is renamed Durban in honor of the Cape Colony Governor, Sir Benjamin d'Urban\n\nDeaths\n 12 February - Hintsa ka Khawuta, chief of Gcaleka of the Xhosa tribe, is shot and killed while trying to escape from capture by the British forces (some sources record the date as 12 May)\n\nReferences\nSee Years in South Africa for list of References\n\n \nSouth Africa\nYears in South Africa",
"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"
] |
[
"Anna Hazare",
"Military service",
"Who is Anna Hazare?",
"Hazare was drafted in the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack",
"Did he win any medals for his service?",
"Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service.",
"What other battles was he in?",
"During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army.",
"Was he injured in the crash?",
"He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service.",
"What happened after that in the military?",
"He had another escape in Nagaland, where one night, underground Naga rebels attacked his post and killed all the inmates.",
"What happened after the escape?",
"He had a miraculous escape as he had gone out to return nature's call and hence turned out to be the lone survivor."
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C_3c35c7b91084480daaa2373c080bce41_1
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When did he complete his military service?
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When did Anna Hazare complete his military service?
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Anna Hazare
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Hazare was drafted in the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier. He undertook army training at Aurangabad. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack--variously claimed to have been a bomb, an aerial assault and an exchange of fire at the border--while he was driving a truck. The experiences of wartime, coupled with the poverty from which he had come, affected him. He considered suicide at one point but turned instead to pondering the meaning of life and death. He said of the truck attack, "[It] sent me thinking. I felt that God wanted me to stay alive for some reason. I was reborn in the battlefield of Khem Karan. And I decided to dedicate my new life to serving people." At a book stand in New Delhi railway station, he came across Swami Vivekananda's booklet "Call to the youth for nation building" which inspired him to think deeper. He spent his spare time reading the works of Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Vinoba Bhave. In a blog post, Hazare expressed his views on Kashmir by saying that it was his "active conviction that Kashmir is an integral part of India" and that if required once again for service, he would remain "ready to take part in war against Pakistan." During his fifteen-year career in the army (1960-75), Anna Hazare was posted at several locations, including Punjab (Indo Pak war 1965), Nagaland, Bombay (1971) and Jammu (1974) During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army. He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service. He had another escape in Nagaland, where one night, underground Naga rebels attacked his post and killed all the inmates. He had a miraculous escape as he had gone out to return nature's call and hence turned out to be the lone survivor. Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Kisan Baburao "Anna" Hazare (; born 15 June 1937) is an Indian social activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase government transparency, and investigate and punish corruption in public life. In addition to organising and encouraging grassroots movements, Hazare frequently conducted hunger strikes to further his causes—a tactic reminiscent, to many, of the work of Mahatma Gandhi. Hazare also contributed to the development and structuring of Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan—the third-highest civilian award—by the Government of India in 1992 for his efforts in establishing this village as a model for others.
Hazare started a hunger strike on 5 April 2011 to exert pressure on the Indian government to enact a stringent anti-corruption law, The Lokpal Bill, 2011 as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill, for the institution of an ombudsman with the power to deal with corruption in public places. The fast led to nationwide protests in support. The fast ended on 9 April 2011, a day after the government accepted Hazare's demands. The government issued a gazette notification on the formation of a joint committee, consisting of government and civil society representatives, to draft the legislation.
Foreign Policy named him among top 100 global thinkers in 2011. Also in 2011, Hazare was ranked as the most influential person in Mumbai by a national daily newspaper. He has faced criticism for his authoritarian views on justice, including death as punishment for corrupt public officials and his alleged support for forced vasectomies as a method of family planning.
Early life
Kisan Baburao Hazare was born on 15 June 1937 (some sources say 15 January 1940) in Bhingar, near Ahmednagar. He was the eldest son of Baburao Hazare and Laxmi Bai. He has two sisters and four brothers. He later adopted the name Anna, which in Marathi means "elder person" or "father".
His father worked as an unskilled labourer in Ayurveda Ashram Pharmacy and struggled to support the family financially. In time, the family moved to their ancestral village of Ralegan Siddhi, where they owned a small amount of agricultural land. A relative took on the burden of providing Kisan with an education, taking him to Mumbai because the village had no primary school. The relative became unable financially to continue the support and Kisan's schooling ended in the Standard Seventh grade; his siblings never attended school. He started selling flowers at the Dadar railway station in Mumbai and eventually managed to own two flower shops in the city. He also became involved in vigilantism, joining groups who acted to prevent landlords' thugs from intimidating the poor out of their shelter.
Military service
Hazare was drafted into the Indian Army in April 1960, where he initially worked as an army truck driver and was later attested as a soldier. He undertook army training at Aurangabad.
During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack—variously claimed to have been a bomb, an aerial assault and an exchange of fire at the border—while he was driving a truck. The experiences of wartime, coupled with the poverty from which he had come, affected him. He considered suicide at one point but instead turned to pondering the meaning of life and death. He said of the truck attack, "[It] sent me thinking. I felt that God wanted me to stay alive for some reason. I was reborn in the battlefield of Khem Karan. And I decided to dedicate my new life to serving people." At a book stand in New Delhi railway station, he came across Swami Vivekananda's booklet "Call to the youth for nation building" which inspired him to think deeper. He spent his spare time reading the works of Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Vinoba Bhave. In a blog post, Hazare expressed his views on Kashmir by saying that it was his "active conviction that Kashmir is an integral part of India" and that if required once again for service, he would remain "ready to take part in war against Pakistan."
During his fifteen-year career in the army (1960–75), Anna Hazare was posted at several locations, including Punjab (Indo Pak war 1965), Nagaland, Bombay (1971) and Jammu (1974)
During the Indo pak war, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army. He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service. He had another escape in Nagaland, where one night, underground Naga rebels attacked his post and killed all the inmates. He had a miraculous escape as he had gone out to return nature's call and hence turned out to be the lone survivor.
Official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service.
Transformation of Ralegan Siddhi
Hazare returned to Ralegan Siddhi, a village then described by Satpathy and Mehta as "one of the many villages of India plagued by acute poverty, deprivation, a fragile ecosystem, neglect and hopelessness."
Although most of the villagers owned some land, cultivation was extremely difficult due to the rocky ground preventing retention of the monsoon rains, this situation was worsened by gradual environmental deterioration as trees were cut down, erosion spread and droughts were also experienced. The shortage of water also led to disease from unsanitary conditions and water reuse for multiple purposes. The economy of the village had become reliant on the illegal manufacture and sale of alcohol, a product on which many of the villagers had become dependent. Many inhabitants borrowed from moneylenders to survive, paying monthly interest rates of as much as 10%. Crime and violence (including domestic violence) had become commonplace, while education and employment opportunities were poor.
Hazare was relatively wealthy because of the gratuity from his army service. He set about using that money to restore a run-down, vandalised village temple as a focal point for the community. Some were able to respond with small financial donations but many other villagers, particularly among the elderly, donated their labour in a process that became known as shramdaan. Some youths also became involved in the work and these he organised into a Tarun Mandal (Youth Association). One of the works of Vivekananda which he had read was Call to the youth for nation building.
Prohibition of alcohol
Hazare and the youth group decided to take up the issue of alcoholism to drive a process of reform. At a meeting conducted in the temple, the villagers resolved to close down liquor dens and ban alcohol in the village. Since these resolutions were made in the temple, they became, in a sense, religious commitments. Over thirty liquor brewing units voluntarily closed their establishments. Those who did not succumb to social pressure were forced to close their businesses when the youth group smashed their premises. The owners could not complain as their businesses were illegal.
Once 3 drunken villagers were tied to pillars and then flogged, personally by Hazare with his army belt. He justified this punishment by stating that "rural India was a harsh society", and that
Hazare appealed to the government of Maharashtra to pass a law whereby prohibition would come into force in a village if 25% of the women in the village demanded it. In 2009 the state government amended the Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949 to reflect this.
It was decided to ban the sale of tobacco, cigarettes, and beedies (an unfiltered cigarette where the tobacco is rolled in tendu, also known as Coromandel ebony, leaves instead of paper) in the village. To implement this resolution, the youth group performed a unique "Holi" ceremony twenty two years ago. The festival of Holi is celebrated as a symbolic burning of evil. The youth group brought all the tobacco, cigarettes, and beedies from the shops in the village and burnt them in a Holi fire. Tobacco, cigarettes, or beedies are no longer sold.
Grain Bank
In 1980, Hazare started the Grain Bank at the temple, with the objective of providing food security to needy farmers during times of drought or crop failure. Rich farmers, or those with surplus grain production, could donate a quintal to the bank. In times of need, farmers could borrow the grain, but they had to return the amount of grain they borrowed, plus an additional quintal as an interest. This ensured that nobody in the village ever went hungry or had to borrow money to buy grain. This also prevented distress sales of grain at lower prices at harvest time.
Watershed development programme
Ralegan Siddhi is located in the foothills, so Hazare persuaded villagers to construct a watershed embankment and associated works to stop water and allow it to percolate and increase the ground water level and improve irrigation in the area. These efforts solved the problem of water scarcity in the village and made irrigation possible.
Cultivation of water-intensive crops like sugarcane was banned. Crops such as pulses, oilseeds, and certain cash crops with low water requirements replaced them. The farmers started growing high-yield varieties and changed cropping pattern. Hazare has helped farmers of more than 70 villages in drought-prone regions in the state of Maharashtra since 1975. When Hazare came to Ralegan Siddhi in 1975 only of land was irrigated, Hazare converted it into about .
Education
In 1932, Ralegan Siddhi got its first formal school, a single classroom primary school. In 1962, the villagers added more classrooms through community volunteer efforts. By 1971, out of an estimated population of 1,209, only 30.43% were literate (72 women and 290 men). Boys moved to the nearby towns of Shirur and Parner to pursue higher education, but girls were limited to primary education. Hazare, along with the youth of Ralegan Siddhi, worked to increase literacy rates and education levels. In 1976 they started a pre-school and a high school in 1979. The villagers formed a charitable trust, the Sant Yadavbaba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, which was registered in 1979.
Removal of untouchability
The social barriers and discrimination that existed due to the caste system in India have been largely eliminated by Ralegan Siddhi villagers. It was Hazare's moral leadership that motivated and inspired the villagers to shun untouchability and caste discrimination. Marriages of Dalits are held as part of community marriage program together with those of other castes. The Dalits have become integrated into the social and economic life of the village. The upper caste villagers built houses for the lower caste Dalits by shramdaan and helped to repay their loans.
Gram Sabha
The Gandhian philosophy on rural development considers the Gram Sabha as an important democratic institution for collective decision-making in the villages of India. Hazare campaigned between 1998 and 2006 for amending the Gram Sabha Act, so that villagers have a say in the village's development. The state government initially refused, but eventually gave in to public pressure. It became mandatory to seek the sanction of the Gram Sabha (an assembly of all village adults, and not just the few elected representatives in the gram panchayat) for expenditures on development works in the village.
Activism
Anti-corruption protests in Maharashtra
In 1991 Hazare launched the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan (BVJA, People's Movement against Corruption), a popular movement to fight against corruption in Ralegaon Siddhi. In the same year he protested against the collusion between 40 forest officials and timber merchants. This protest resulted in the transfer and suspension of these officials.
In May 1997 Hazare protested alleged malpractice in the purchase of powerlooms by the Vasantrao Naik Bhathya Vimukt Jhtra Governor P. C. Alexander. On 4 November 1997 Gholap filed a defamation suit against Hazare for accusing him of corruption. He was arrested in April 1998 and was released on a personal bond of . On 9 September 1998 Hazare was imprisoned in the Yerawada Jail to serve a three-month sentence mandated by the Mumbai Metropolitan Court. The sentencing caused leaders of all political parties except the BJP and the Shiv Sena to support him. Later, due to public protests, the Government of Maharashtra ordered his release. Hazare wrote a letter to then chief minister Manohar Joshi demanding Gholap's removal for his role in alleged malpractices in the Awami Merchant Bank. Gholap resigned from the cabinet on 27 April 1999.
In 2003 corruption charges were raised by Hazare against four NCP ministers of the Congress-NCP government. He started his fast unto death on 9 August 2003. He ended his fast on 17 August 2003 after then chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde formed a one-man commission headed by the retired justice P. B. Sawant to probe his charges. The P. B. Sawant commission report, submitted on 23 February 2005, indicted Sureshdada Jain, Nawab Malik, and Padmasinh Patil. The report exonerated Vijaykumar Gavit. Jain and Malik resigned from the cabinet in March 2005.
Three trusts headed by Anna Hazare were also indicted in the P. B. Sawant commission report. spent by the Hind Swaraj Trust for Anna Hazare's birthday celebrations was concluded by the commission as illegal and amounting to a corrupt practice, though Abhay Firodia, an industrialist subsequently donated to the trust for that purpose. The setting apart of 11 acres of its land by the trust in favour of the Zilla Parishad without obtaining permission from the charity commissioner was concluded as a case of maladministration. The commission also concluded that the maintenance of accounts of the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Janandolan Trust after 10 November 2001 had not been according to the rules and spent by the Sant Yadavbaba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal Trust for renovating a temple thwarted its object of imparting secular education.
Right to Information movement
In the early 2000s Hazare led a movement in Maharashtra state which forced the state government to enact a revised Maharashtra Right to Information Act. This Act was later considered as the base document for the Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI), enacted by the Union Government. It also ensured that the President of India assented to this new Act.
On 20 July 2006 the Union Cabinet amended the Right to Information Act 2005 to exclude the file noting by the government officials from its purview. Hazare began his fast unto death on 9 August 2006 in Alandi against the proposed amendment. He ended his fast on 19 August 2006, after the government agreed to change its earlier decision.
Regulation of Transfers and Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act
Before 2006 in the state of Maharashtra, honest government officers were transferred to other places according to ministerial wish, while some corrupt and favoured officials stayed put for decades. Hazare fought for a law whereby a government servant must clear files within a specified time, and transfers must take place only after three years. After many years of Hazare's efforts, on 25 May 2006 Maharashtra announced the Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act 2006. This act provided for disciplinary action against officials who clear files slowly, and enabled monitoring of officials who overstay a post, and for involvement in a corrupt nexus.
This act mandated the government to effect transfers of all government officers and employees, except Class IV workers, no sooner and no later than three years, except in emergency or exceptional circumstances. Maharashtra was the first state to introduce such an act. However, this law was not fully followed.
Campaign against liquor from food grains
Article 47 of India's Constitution commits the State to raise the standard of living, improve public health and prohibit the consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs injurious to health.
In 2007 Maharashtra rolled out a policy aimed to encourage production of alcohol from food grain to fill the rising demand for industrial alcohol and liquor. It issued 36 licences for distilleries for making alcohol from food grain.
Anna Hazare opposed the government's policy to promote making liquor from food grain. He argued that Maharashtra had to import food, so producing liquor from food grain was inappropriate. One State minister, Laxman Dhoble said that those opposing the use of food grain for the production of liquor were anti-farmer, and that opponents should be beaten with sugarcane sticks.
Hazare began fasting at Shirdi, but on 21 March 2010 the government promised to review the policy and Anna ended his 5-day fast. But the government later granted 36 licences and grants of (per litre of alcohol) to politicians or their sons who were engaged in making alcohol from foodgrains. Recipients included Amit and Dheeraj Deshmukh, sons of Union Heavy Industries Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde's daughter Pankaja Palwe and her husband Charudatta Palwe, sons-in-law of P.V. Narasimha Rao and Rajya Sabha MP Govindrao Adik. The government approved the licences despite stiff opposition from the planning and finance departments, saying there was a huge demand in other countries for distilled spirits compared to that of molasses. Hazare sued Maharashtra over the policy in the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court. On 20 August 2009 Maharashtra stopped the policy. However, distilleries sanctioned before that date and those who started production within two years of sanction were entitled for subsidies.
On 5 May 2011 the court refused to hear the suit, saying, "not before me, this is a court of law, not a court of justice". A Maharashtra Principal Secretary, C.S. Sangeet Rao, stated that no law existed to scrap these licences.
Lokpal Bill movement
In 2011, Hazare participated in the satyagraha movement campaigning for a stronger anti-corruption Lokpal (ombudsman) bill in the Indian parliament. Known as the Jan Lokpal Bill (People's Ombudsman Bill), it was drafted by N. Santosh Hegde, a former justice of the Supreme Court of India and Lokayukta of Karnataka, Prashant Bhushan, and social activist Arvind Kejriwal. The draft incorporated more stringent provisions and gave wider power to the Lokpal than the government's 2010 draft. These included placing "the Prime Minister within the ambit of the proposed lokpal's powers".
Hunger strike
Hazare began an "indefinite fast" on 5 April 2011 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi as part of the campaign to form a joint committee of government and civil society representatives. He wanted this committee to draft a bill with more stringent penal provisions and gave more independence to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas (ombudsmen in the states). The fast came after his demand was rejected by the prime minister, Manmohan Singh. Hazare said, "I will fast until Jan Lokpal Bill is passed".
The movement attracted attention in the media and thousands of supporters. Almost 150 people reportedly joined Hazare in his fast. Social activists, including Medha Patkar, Arvind Kejriwal, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, and Jayaprakash Narayan lent their support. People showed support in social media. In addition to spiritual leaders Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Swami Ramdev, Swami Agnivesh, the former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev and many other celebrities supported him. Hazare decided that he would not allow any politician to sit with him. The protesters rejected Uma Bharti, Om Prakash Chautala and others when they visited the protest. On 6 April 2011 Sharad Pawar resigned from the group of ministers formed for reviewing the 2010 draft.
Protests spread to Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Shillong, Aizawl and other cities.
On 8 April 2011 the Government accepted the movement's demands. On 9 April it issued a notification in the Gazette of India on formation of a joint committee. It accepted the formula that it should be co-chaired by a politician and social activist. The notification stated, "The Joint Drafting Committee shall consist of five nominee ministers of the Government of India and five nominees of the civil society. The five nominee Ministers of the Government of India are Pranab Mukherjee, Union Minister of Finance, P. Chidambaram, Union Minister of Home Affairs, M. Veerappa Moily, Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource and Development and Minister of Communication and Information Technology and Salman Khursheed, Union Minister of Water Resources and Minister of Minority Affairs. The five non-politician nominees were Anna Hazare, N. Santosh Hegde, Shanti Bhushan Senior Advocate, Prashant Bhushan, Advocate and Arvind Kejriwal.
On the morning of 9 April 2011 Hazare ended his 98-hour hunger strike. He addressed the people and set a deadline of 15 August 2011 to pass the bill. He said that
Hazare said that if the bill did not pass he would call for a mass nation-wide agitation. He called his movement a "second struggle for independence" and he will continue the fight.
Hazare threatened on 28 July 2012 to proceed with his fast-unto-death on the Jan Lokpal Bill issue. He also stated that country's future is not safe in the hands of Congress and BJP and he would campaign in the coming elections for those with clean background. On the third day of his indefinite fast, Anna stated that he will not talk even to the Prime Minister till his demands are met. On 2 August 2012 Hazare said that there was nothing wrong with forming a new political party but, he would neither join the party nor contest elections. Team and Anna have decided to end their indefinite fast on 3 August 2012 at 5 pm after which the team will announce their decision to enter politics.
Draft bill
During the meeting of the joint drafting committee on 30 May 2011, the Union government members opposed the inclusion of the prime minister, higher judiciary and the acts of the MPs under the purview of the JanLokpal in the draft bill. On 31 May, Mukherjee sent a letter to the chief ministers of all states and party leaders seeking their opinion on six contentious issues, including whether to bring the prime minister and judges of India's Supreme Court and High Courts under the law's purview. But the civil society members of the drafting committee considered that keeping them out would be a violation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
Hazare and other civil society members decided to boycott the 6 June 2011 drafting committee meeting to protest the forcible eviction of Swami Ramdev and his followers by the Delhi Police from Ramlila Maidan on 5 June 2011, while they were on a hunger strike against black money and corruption.
On 6 June 2011, the civil society members wrote to Mukherjee, explaining reasons for their absence and also asking government to go public on the major issues. They also decided to attend only future meetings that were telecast live. On 8 June at Rajghat, describing his movement as the second freedom struggle, Hazare criticised the Government for trying to discredit the drafting committee and threatened to go on indefinite fast again starting 16 August 2011 if the Lokpal Bill had not passed. He also criticised the Government for putting hurdles in front of the Bill and for maligning the civil society members.
Indefinite fast
On 28 July 2011 the union cabinet approved a draft of the Lokpal Bill, which kept the Prime Minister, judiciary and lower bureaucracy out of the ombudsman's scope. Hazare rejected the government version by describing it as "cruel joke". He wrote a letter to Singh announcing his decision to begin an indefinite fast from 16 August 2011 at Jantar Mantar, if the government introduced its own version of the bill without taking suggestions from civil society members. Hazare wrote:
Within twenty four hours of cabinet's endorsement of a weak Lokpal Bill, over ten thousand people from across the country sent faxes directly to the government demanding a stronger bill. The Mumbai Taxi Men's Union, comprising over 30,000 taxi drivers supported Hazare's fast by keeping all taxis off the roads on 16 August. Lawyers of Allahabad High Court described the government proposal as against the national interest and pledged their support to Hazare by hunger striking at Allahabad on 16 August. On 30 July Vishwa Hindu Parishad supported his fast by saying movement for an effective anti-corruption ombudsman needed the people's backing.
On 1 August 2011, Public interest litigation was filed in the Supreme Court of India by Hemant Patil, a Maharashtra-based social worker and businessman, to restrain Hazare, alleging that Hazare's demands were unconstitutional and amounted to interference in the legislative process.
Arrest and aftermath
On 16 August 2011, Hazare was arrested, four hours before the planned indefinite hunger strike. Rajan Bhagat, spokesman for Delhi Police, said police arrested Hazare for illegally gathering in a Delhi park to begin his hunger strike, claiming that Hazare refused to meet police conditions for allowing the protest. The conditions included restricting the fast to three days and the number of protesters to 5,000. Later in the afternoon, Hazare refused bail. The magistrate dispatched him to Tihar jail for seven days. After announcements by Prashant Bhushan, local television, and social media sites (including Facebook), thousands marched in support from the India Gate to Jantar Mantar.
Media reported that about 1,300 supporters were detained by police in Delhi, including Arvind Kejriwal, Shanti Bhushan, Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodia. Protesters reportedly courted arrest in different parts of the country. Opposition parties came out against the arrest, likening the government action to the emergency imposed in the country in 1975. Both houses of Parliament adjourned over the issue.
After four hours in detention Hazare was released unconditionally by the police, but
refused to leave Tihar Jail. Hazare demanded unconditional permission to fast at Ramlila Maidan. Hazare continued his fast inside the jail.
After his arrest, Hazare received support from people across the country. There were reports of "nearly 570 demonstrations and protests by Anna supporters across the country". Due to the millions of protesters nationwide, the government allowed him to begin a public hunger strike of fifteen days. After talks with public authorities, Hazare decided to hold his protest at Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi. On 20 August Hazare "left the Tihar Jail for the Ramlila Grounds". Hazare promised reporters "he would fight to the 'last breath' until the government gets his team's Jan Lokpal Bill passed in this session of Parliament, which ends on 8 September."
Fast at Ramlila Maidan
On 20 August 2011 thousands came to show their support for Hazare, while "his advisers made television appearances to rally public support and defend themselves against criticism that their protest campaign and refusal to compromise is undermining India's parliamentary process." The National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) condemned Hazare's deadline for passing the bill as undermining democracy, which operates by
The Congress party confirmed that Maharashtra Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Umesh Chandra Sarangi, who had a history of mediating between Hazare and officials, was meeting "to find points of consensus and defuse the situation". On 21 August "tens of thousands" watched Hazare as he sat on an elevated platform. It was reported that Hazare at that point had "lost more than seven pounds since beginning his fast". Despite this he stated, "I will not withdraw my hunger strike until the Jan Lokpal bill is passed in the Parliament. I can die but I will not bend." Hazare ended his fast on 28 August, after the Lokpal Bill passed unanimously.
He was admitted to Medanta Medicity, Gurgaon for post-fast care. He had lost and was very dehydrated after the 288-hour fast.
I Am Anna Campaign
Within a few days of Anna Hazare's first fast demanding a strong Lokpal (on 5 April 2011), supporters started a campaign known as "I Am Anna Hazare", which was similar to the "We Are All Khaled Said" campaign from the Egyptian uprising. During Anna Hazare's second fast, his topi, the cap which became synonymous with Anna Hazare, became almost a fashion statement. Sales of the topis hit an all-time high. Kiran Bedi recommended that the "I am Anna" topi be displayed whenever someone asked for a bribe.
Fast on MMRDA ground
On 27 December 2011, Hazare began a 3-day hunger strike at MMRDA grounds, Bandra Kurla Complex, to demand a stronger Lokpal bill than was in debate. Hazare ended the fast on 28 December, after his doctors said that his kidneys might fail if he continued.
Before reaching the venue, Anna paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Juhu Beach. On his way to a rally with several thousand people, he took two-and-half hours to reach the ground, passing through Santacruz, Tulip Star Hotel, Mithibai College, SV Road, Vile Parle, Khar and Bandra Highway.
A PIL petition filed against the fast was turned down by the Karnataka High Court. A judge noted that there was no public interest in the petition.
Electoral reform movement
In 2011, Hazare demanded an amendment to the electoral law to incorporate the option of None of the above in the electronic voting machines during the Indian elections. The "None of the above (NOTA)" is a ballot option that allows an electorate to indicate disapproval of all of the candidates in an electoral system, in case of non-availability of any candidate of his choice, as his Right to Reject. Soon, the Chief Election Commissioner of India Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi supported Hazare's demand for the electoral reforms.
On 31 March 2013 Hazare started Jantantra Yatra from the city of Amritsar. He is expecting to address various issues, including electoral reforms such as the right to reject a candidate.
Protest against atrocities against Swami Ramdev and his supporters
On 8 June 2011 Anna Hazare and thousands of his supporters fasted from 10 am to 6 pm at Rajghat to protest against the midnight crackdown of 5 June by the Delhi Police on Swami Ramdev's fast at Ramlila ground protests. Anna Hazare held the Prime Minister of India responsible for the atrocities and termed the police action as an attempt to stifle democracy. According to one of Hazare's young supporters, the large presence of youths at the protest was due to his use of nonviolent protest, similar to Gandhi.
On 9 August 2013, Anna's office announced his anti-corruption organisation Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan (BVJA) is no longer tackling corruption issues at a personal or social level. In an email circulated to India Against Corruption's membership, the veteran Gandhian's office has clarified that Anna "is now focused on Janlokpal, Right to Reject, Right to Recall, Farmers problems, Change in Education in System".
2015 Land acquisition ordinance protest
In February 2015, he protested for two days at Jantar Mantar in Delhi against ordinance on the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
Controversies and criticism
Alleged link with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Hazare has been criticised for being an agent of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) a right-wing Hindu body. According to Digvijay Singh a senior leader of the Indian National Congress, the entire crusade of 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement was planned by RSS in which Plan-A was Baba Ramdev while Plan-B was Anna Hazare. Their basic job was to disturb national security. Singh also charged Hazare with having links with late RSS leader Nanaji Deshmukh with whom he worked as a secretary. Hazare denied any such associations.
Acting as proxy for political parties
India's OPEN Magazine editorialised that it was "nonsense" to say Hazare's anti-corruption movement of 2011–12 was apolitical. The op-ed went on to say that the purpose of the movement was that, so long as the Congress Party was kept out of power, corrupt politicians of any other party could be elected to Parliament. The example of Ajay Chautala (now convicted for corruption) was cited. "In effect, Anna and his team are campaigning for Ajay Chautala effectively the first candidate put up for election by the India Against Corruption movement".
Views on Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar
In a press conference in April 2011, Hazare praised Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat and Nitish Kumar, chief minister of Bihar for their efforts on rural development, saying that other chief ministers should emulate them. Subsequently, Modi wrote an open letter to him, hailing him as a Gandhian anti-corruption activist while Digvijay Singh criticised Hazare for his comment. In May 2011, during his visit to Gujarat, Hazare changed his view and criticised Modi for rampant corruption. He urged Modi to appoint a Lokayukta. He also commented that the media had projected an incorrect image of Vibrant Gujarat. Subsequently, Hazare declared that Modi is not a suitable candidate for the position of Prime Minister. He criticised Modi for not doing enough to curb corruption and his unwillingness to set up a Lokayukta in Gujarat. Hazare questioned Modi's secular credentials.
Accusations of corruption
The government of the state of Maharashtra instituted a Commission of Inquiry under Justice PB Sawant in September 2003 to enquire into allegations of corruption against several people, including four ministers in the state as well as the "Hind Swaraj Trust" headed by Hazare. The Commission submitted its report on 22 February 2005, indicting the Trust for corruptly spending Rs. 220,000 on Hazare's birthday celebrations.
Two days ahead of Hazare's Lokpal fast, the Indian National Congress, attacked him, alleging that "the moral core of Hazare has been ripped apart" by the Justice P B Sawant Commission.
Hazare's lawyer Milind Pawar responded that the commission had remarked about "irregularities" in the accounts, but had not held him guilty of any "corrupt" practices. Pawar said that on 16 June 1998, a celebration was organised to congratulate Hazare on winning an award from a US–based NGO and it coincided with his 61st birthday. The trust spent Rs 218,000 for the function. Abhay Phirodia, a Pune-based industrialist, who took the initiative to organise this function donated an amount of Rs to the trust by cheque soon afterwards. Hazare dared the government to file a First Information Report (FIR) against him to prove the charges.
Accusation of being anti-democratic and anti-Dalit
An article written in Kolkata Telegraph by Ramchandra Guha stated that environmental journalist Mukul Sharma claimed that Hazare forced the Dalit families in Ralegan Siddhi to adopt a vegetarian diet, and that those who violated the decree were tied to a post and flogged. Mukul Sharma also found that no panchayat elections have been held in the village for the past two decades, and that no campaigning was allowed during state and national elections, upon Hazare's instructions.
Dalit columnist Chandrabhan Prasad opined that Hazare's anti-corruption movement rejected representative democracy and alleged that it was an upper-caste uprising. He also claimed that centralising powers in Lokapal, which was a non-elected entity, was anti-democratic.
Dalit activist Kancha Ilaiah commented in a similar fashion, that "The Anna movement is an anti-social justice, manuvadi movement. The Dalits, tribals, OBCs and minorities have nothing to do with it. We oppose it." Activist Anoop Kheri claimed that "The language, symbols used by the movement clearly reflects its upper caste Hindu nature, a very rightwing Hindu patriotism is being used to get the entire country against corruption. And as a dalit, I have a problem with it."
There was also an allegation that an RTI activist was denied permission to protest by having a fast-unto-death at Ralegan Siddhi, the grama sabha stating that the reason was that only Hazare can hold such fasts in his village.
Activist Udit Raj was denied permission to protest against Hazare, who he claimed was against parliamentary processes. Raj warned that succumbing to Hazare's demands would set a dangerous trend rendering the "backward" classes more vulnerable. He claimed that mass mobilisations coerced the government into a "set of solutions" against constitutional processes could be used against affirmative action and threatened democracy.
Later, it came to light that poor dalits had been paid up to 200 each to shout slogans against Hazare, although the organisers denied it. Some protesters said that they had been told that it was a pro-Anna protest, but felt cheated after realising that it was against Hazare.
Accusation of being anti-Muslim
On 22 August 2011 writer-activist Arundhati Roy accused Hazare in a newspaper article of being nonsecular. She questioned his secular credentials, pointing out his "support for Raj Thackeray's Marathi Manoos xenophobia and [has praised] the 'development model' of Gujarat's CM who oversaw the 2002 pogrom against Muslims". The website of the newspaper published many responses to her article and these were mostly critical of her views. Activist Medha Patkar criticised Roy, saying that her views were misplaced.
Hazare in the past stood in firm opposition to the Shiv Sena and BJP governments in Maharashtra. Activist and writer Asghar Ali Engineer in an EPW article on Communalism and Communal Violence reported,
Hazare was accused of working at the behest of RSS and BJP, and against Muslims by cleric Bukhari of the Jama Masjid. Bhukhari was subsequently criticised for being a Royal Imam and for claiming that his personal views represented the view of ordinary Muslims.
Conspiracy to murder Hazare
Hazare exposed corruption in cooperative sugar factories in Maharashtra, including one controlled by Dr.Padamsinh Bajirao Patil, a member of Parliament of 15th Lok Sabha and higher-ranking Leader of Nationalist Congress Party from Osmanabad. Patil was accused in the 2006 murder case of Congress leader Pawanraje Nimabalkar.
The conspiracy to kill Hazare was exposed when Parasmal Jain, an accused in the Nimbalkar murder case, in his written confession before a magistrate said that Patil had paid him to murder Nimbalkar, and also offered him supari (contract killing sum) to kill Anna Hazare. After this written confession, Hazare appealed to the state government of Maharashtra to lodge a separate First Information Report ( FIR ) against Patil but the government declined. On 26 September 2009 Hazare lodged his own complaint at Parner police station of Ahmednagar District in Maharashtra against Patil. Patil approached the High Court seeking anticipatory bail but on 14 October 2009, the Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court rejected his application, observing that there was prima facie case against him. Padmasinh Patil appealed to the Supreme Court of India losing again, on 6 November 2009. On 11 November 2009 Patil surrendered before the sessions court in Latur and was sent to judicial remand for 14 days. On 16 December 2009 the Aurangabad bench granted bail. , the verdict is pending.
As of December 2011, Hazare received Z+ security.
Honours, awards and international recognition
Film
The Marathi film Mala Anna Vhaychay (I want to become Anna) is based on Hazare's work. The role of Hazare has been played by Arun Nalawade.
Anna – a 2016 Indian Hindi-language biographical film based on the life of Anna Hazare by Shashank Udapurkar and starring Udapurkar as Hazare.
Andolan Ek Suruvat Ek Shevat is a 2014 Indian Marathi-language film inspired by Hazare who also stars in a lead-role, his first such film work.
Personal life
Hazare is unmarried. He has lived in a small room attached to the Sant Yadavbaba temple in Ralegan Siddhi since 1975. On 16 April 2011, he declared his bank balance of and as money in hand. He owns 0.07 hectares of family land in Ralegan Siddhi, which is being used by his brothers. He donated for village use two other pieces of land donated to him by the Indian Army and by a villager.
Writings
See also
Uprising 2011 India against corruption
Hartal
References
Further reading
Periwinkle Environmental Education Part-X Author-Harendra Chakhaiyar, Publisher- Jeevandeep Prakashan Pvt Ltd,
From Poverty to Plenty: The Story of Ralegan Siddhi Volume 5 of Studies in Ecology and Sustainable Development. Authors- Ganesh Pangare, Vasudha Pangare. Publisher: Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, 1992.
Dynamics of rural development: lessons from Ralegan Siddhi Publisher- Foundation for Research in Community Health, 2002.
Troubles and Wet Solutions: Success Story of Ralegan Siddhi's Watershed Development Project Centre for Alternative Agriculture Media
Ralegan Siddhi Authors: Ramesh Awasthi, Dashrath K. Panmand, Foundation for Research in Community Health (Bombay, India) Publisher: Foundation for Research in Community Health, 1994. Original from The University of Michigan. Digitized 22 December 2009. Length 92 pages
Religion and ecology in India and Southeast Asia Authors- David L. Gosling, Ninian Smart, Contributor- Ninian Smart, Edition-illustrated, Publisher- Routledge, 2001,
Springs of life: India's water resources Authors Ganesh Pangare, Vasudha Pangare, Binayak Das, World Water Institute (Pune, India), Bharathi Integrated Rural Development Society, Edition- illustrated, Publisher-Academic Foundation, 2006.
External links
Civil Society – Official website
20th-century Indian judges
1937 births
Indian Hindus
Living people
Marathi people
Founders of Indian schools and colleges
Indian civil rights activists
Gandhians
Indian Army personnel
Nonviolence advocates
Freedom of information activists
Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in social work
Prisoners and detainees of India
Indian human rights activists
Indian revolutionaries
Marathi politicians
Maharashtra politicians
20th-century Indian educational theorists
Social workers
People from Ahmednagar district
Maharashtra academics
Social workers from Maharashtra
Hunger strikers
| false |
[
"In the U.S. armed forces, separation means that a person is leaving active duty, but not necessarily leaving the service entirely. Separation typically occurs when someone reaches the date of their Expiration of Term of Service (ETS) and are released from active duty, but still must complete their military reserve obligations. Upon separation, they receive form DD214, which verifies their military service.\n\nIt is important to keep a copy of the DD-214 form. In order to receive Veterans Administration (VA) benefits a DD214 must be shown. A veteran or next of kin may request a copy of the DD214 form by going to National Personal Records Center's website.\n\nWhen a service member completes his or her full military obligation, they are discharged and receive a formal certificate of discharge, usually an Honorable Discharge.\n\nReferences\n\nUnited States military policies\nMilitary terminology of the United States",
"Daniel Pitt O'Brien (August 31, 1900 – November 29, 1957) was Secretary of State of West Virginia 1948–1957.\n\nO'Brien was born at Buckhannon, Upshur County, West Virginia. His father was judge and politician William S. O'Brien and his mother Emma (White) O'Brien.\n\nAfter military service during World War I, he studied at West Virginia Wesleyan College and graduated with a B.S. He worked as a high school teacher and athletic coach 1925–33 and as Chief Clerk in the office of the Secretary of State of West Virginia 1933–48, excepting service in the armed forces during World War II. In 1942, he married Mildred Elizabeth Smith and they had a daughter, Patricia.\n\nO'Brien sought the Democratic nomination to succeed his father as Secretary of State and won the primary election in May 1948, but his father died August 10, which led to his appointment by Governor Clarence Meadows to fill the unexpired term. On November 2, 1948, he was elected Secretary of State for a full term. He was reelected in 1952 and 1956, but did not complete his last term, since he suffered from sudden death November 29, 1957, just as his father before him.\n\nReferences\n\nSecretaries of State of West Virginia\nPeople from Buckhannon, West Virginia\nWest Virginia Wesleyan College alumni\nAmerican military personnel of World War I\nAmerican military personnel of World War II\nMilitary personnel from West Virginia\nWest Virginia Democrats\n1900 births\n1957 deaths\n20th-century American politicians"
] |
[
"Van der Graaf Generator",
"Influence"
] |
C_8b5b146e7f2a4af38f3882cef27d6fba_0
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Did the group influence many people?
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Did the Van der Graaf Generator group influence many people?
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Van der Graaf Generator
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Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful outside of early 1970s Italy, they have inspired several notable musicians, including Rush, John Lydon, Marc Almond, Graham Coxon, Luca Prodan, Mark E. Smith, John Frusciante, Bruce Dickinson and Julian Cope. Dickinson, who has been a fan of the band since he saw them at Oundle School aged 13, said that Hammill was one of his childhood heroes. Coxon is particularly fond of "House with No Door" from H to He (1970), saying the track is "extremely beautiful, with Jackson's truly lovely sax-and-flute instrumental section." Almond recalled hearing "Killer" for the first time saying, "I'd never heard anything like it before. It wasn't just Peter's snarling operatic vocal, it was the mix of instruments ... I became an instant fan." Mentioning their reputation as something of an acquired taste, Lydon said, "There's a few Van Der Graaf things I like, but I'm not going to recommend anything to anyone. It might not be for them. Music doesn't come with a set of guidelines." Although generally categorised as a progressive rock group, Cope is keen to distance the band from that movement, stating "Their music was like some Brechtian bar band - the opposite of prog rock, really". Nevertheless, the band have been acknowledged as an influence on the neo-progressive rock subgenre which emerged in the 1980s and featured Marillion as its most successful band. Marillion singer Fish thought highly of Hammill and invited him to be the support on the band's early tours. The Canadian new wave band Men Without Hats have a song titled "The Van der Graaf Generator Blues" on their 1991 album Sideways. CANNOTANSWER
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they have inspired several notable musicians, including Rush, John Lydon, Marc Almond, Graham Coxon, Luca Prodan, Mark E. Smith, John Frusciante, Bruce Dickinson and Julian Cope.
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Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Chris Judge Smith and the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much commercial success in the UK, but became popular in Italy during the 1970s. In 2005 the band reformed, and are still musically active with a line-up of Hammill, organist Hugh Banton and drummer Guy Evans.
The band formed at the University of Manchester, but settled in London where they signed with Charisma. They went through several incarnations in their early years, including a brief split in 1969. When they reformed, they found minor commercial success with The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other (released in early 1970 and their only album to chart in the UK), and after the follow-up album, H to He, Who Am the Only One (December 1970), stabilised around a line-up of Hammill, Banton, Evans and saxophonist David Jackson. The quartet subsequently achieved significant success in Italy with the release of Pawn Hearts in 1971. After several exhausting tours of Italy, the band split in 1972. They reformed in 1975, releasing Godbluff and frequently touring Italy again, before a major line-up change and a slight rename to Van der Graaf. The band split in 1978. After many years apart, the band finally reunited at a gig at the Royal Festival Hall and a short tour in 2005. Since then, the band has continued as a trio of Hammill, Banton, and Evans, who record and tour regularly in between Hammill's concurrent solo career.
The group's albums have tended to be both lyrically and musically darker in atmosphere than many of their progressive rock peers (a trait they shared with King Crimson, whose guitarist Robert Fripp guested on two of their albums), and guitar solos were the exception rather than the rule, preferring to use Banton's classically influenced organ, and, until his departure, Jackson's multiple saxophones. While Hammill is the primary songwriter for the band, and members have contributed to his solo albums, the band arranges all its material collectively. Hammill's lyrics covered themes of mortality, due to his love of science fiction writers such as Robert A. Heinlein and Philip K. Dick, along with his confessed warped and obsessive nature. His voice has been a distinctive component of the band throughout its career, described as "a male Nico". Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful, they have inspired several musicians across various genres.
History
Formation and early years (1967–69)
The band formed in 1967 at the University of Manchester, after Chris Judge Smith, who had already played in several British rhythm and blues groups whilst a pupil in Oundle School, returned from a trip to San Francisco and, inspired by the bands he had seen, put together a list of possible band names to form a new group. After an unsatisfactory audition they had both attended in response to an advert to form a band, he met fellow student Peter Hammill, who was playing some of his original songs. Hammill had begun writing songs and poetry at the age of 12 while at prep school, and progressed to playing in bands while a pupil at Beaumont College. He was then briefly employed as a computer programmer, during which time he subsequently claimed to have written much of the band's early material, before enrolling at Manchester. Smith was so impressed with the quality of Hammill's original material that the two agreed to form a band together. The band name chosen from Smith's list was based on a Van de Graaff generator, a mechanical device that produces static electricity with lightning-like flashes – the misspellings are accidental. Smith recalls the reason for this may have been that Van de Graaff died in 1967, which was widely reported in the media.
Among the bands that regularly played the university, including Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and Pink Floyd, they were particularly impressed by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, and recruited an organist, Nick Pearne, to match the format of Arthur Brown's band. Along with two female dancers, the initial line-up was Hammill on guitar and vocals, Smith on drums, wind instruments and vocals, and Pearne on organ (though he did not initially have an instrument). According to Smith, the band initially played as a two-piece, with Smith occasionally using a typewriter as a percussion instrument; their first gig as a three-piece was in the student union, which lasted five minutes before the group's amplifiers blew up.
The band managed to persuade fellow student Caleb Bradley to manage them, and by the start of 1968, the band had managed to record a demo tape influenced by blues and jazz, sending it to Lou Reizner, then the U.K. head of Mercury Records, who offered the trio of Hammill, Smith, and Pearne a recording contract in May. At this point, the band had to make a decision whether to stay on at university, or quit their courses and move to London to turn professional. Pearne was not keen to abandon his studies, so decided to leave the group.
On arrival in London, Hammill and Smith met up with classically trained organist Hugh Banton, who was a brother of one of their friends back in Manchester. Later that year, they met Tony Stratton-Smith, who agreed to sign a management contract with them in December. Through him, the band acquired a bass guitar player, Keith Ellis, with drummer Guy Evans joining not too long afterwards. This line-up recorded a series of demos for Mercury, before recording a single ("People You Were Going To" b/w "Firebrand") on Polydor Records, which was released in January 1969. Melody Maker said the single was "one of the best records of the week". But the single was quickly withdrawn under pressure from Mercury, since it violated the contract band members Hammill and Smith signed the previous year. Smith, feeling superfluous to requirements, left the band, amicably, shortly after the recording of the single. He later released demos featuring his time in Van der Graaf Generator on a CD, Democrazy. The remaining 4 members performed for John Peel on BBC Radio 1's Top Gear radio show in November, and played several gigs in England in the next months.
Meanwhile, Mercury refused to let the band record, and at the same time Stratton-Smith refused to let the other members of the band sign to Mercury too, as he did not think the deal was fair to the band (only Hammill remained now of the original three who had signed with Mercury). On top of that in late January 1969 the band's van and equipment were stolen. The theft aggravated their financial difficulties. Although the band was touring successfully, which included a concert in February at the Royal Albert Hall in support of Jimi Hendrix, it broke up in June after playing a final gig at Nottingham's Pop & Blues Festival on 10 May entirely with borrowed equipment. John Peel, who was compering the show, announced their break-up to the audience.
In July 1969, Hammill had begun performing solo at the Marquee Club in London, and since there was no group, he decided to record what was intended to be his first solo album at Trident Studios on 31 July and 1 August, with Banton, Evans, and Ellis as session musicians. However, through a deal worked out by Stratton-Smith, the album, The Aerosol Grey Machine, was released in September 1969 by Mercury under the group's name in return for releasing them from their contract. The album was initially only released in the United States with hardly any promotion at all, so sales were minimal, but the group decided to reform in the middle of the recording session. Ellis had already committed to joining Juicy Lucy and was replaced by Evan's former bandmate in The Misunderstood, Nic Potter. The band had also enjoyed flautist Jeff Peach's contributions to the album and wanted to recruit a further instrumentalist. "There was always the idea of having another melodic instrument," recalled Evans. "He [Banton]'ll play a solo, sure, and really give it something, but he doesn't want to do that all the time." Peach was approached to become a full-time member, but dropped out after one rehearsal as he didn't think his playing style fitted the band. The position was eventually filled by saxophonist and flautist David Jackson, who had previously played in a band called Heebalob with Smith. Hammill had already sat in with Heebalob at the Plumpton National Jazz Festival on 9 August, and, impressed by Jackson's playing, invited him to join the band, partly because he also needed a flatmate to help pay with the rent.
Signing to Charisma (1969–70)
In September, the new five-piece band began rehearsals in Notting Hill Gate and began to change its sound. Banton, influenced by the effects pedals popularised by Jimi Hendrix, used his electronic skills to modify a Farfisa organ, giving it a wider variety of sounds. Jackson was inspired by jazz musicians, particularly Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and began to play multiple saxophones (usually alto and tenor) simultaneously. Hammill, for his part, elected to sing in received pronunciation, exploring the full range of his vocal capabilities. "We were all megalomaniacs," said Banton. "We grabbed our own space as best we could." The band started to gig regularly, including the first of several live appearances at the Friars Aylesbury in November.
Tony Stratton-Smith formed Charisma Records and signed the band as his first act, who recorded their second album, The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other from 11–14 December 1969 with producer John Anthony in Trident Studios. Hammill's voice was electronically treated on "After the Flood", while "Refugees" and "White Hammer" featured cello and cornet respectively. Because the band finished ahead of their rehearsal schedule, Potter decided to overdub some electric guitar – an instrument he had never played before. The album was released in February 1970 and made the top 50 in the U.K, Melody Maker said "If all our groups were as together as this, the British music scene would improve ten-fold."
Potter, however, did not feel he fitted into the increasingly experimental sound the band was developing and tended to wait until the others had worked out their parts during rehearsals, adding his bass lines on top at the last minute. After recording three tracks of their third album, H to He, Who Am the Only One, he decided to quit the band. His last gig was on 9 August at the 1970 Plumpton Festival. The remaining members auditioned Dave Anderson, roadie for Brinsley Schwarz and friend of the band, but after a week's rehearsal found that things weren't working out musically. Banton, meanwhile, had become influenced by Vincent Crane's work in Atomic Rooster, where Crane played the bass lines on a Hammond organ's bass pedals and suggested that he could do this as well. With just days to go before the next gig, they tried rehearsing as a four-piece, and it was successful. Banton later played bass guitar on certain songs, having already learned the instrument in the mid-1960s, and Hammill expanded his instrumental capabilities on stage to cover piano and keyboards as well as guitar. Jackson modified his saxophones to be completely electric, as opposed to simply being amplified through a microphone, and combined the sound with a wah-wah pedal and an octave divider.
H to He continued to be recorded sporadically throughout 1970, and featured Robert Fripp of King Crimson contributing guitar on "The Emperor in His War-Room". Producer John Anthony knew Fripp socially and invited him to a session as a guest, something Fripp had never done before at that point. According to Jackson, Fripp "put headphones on and started searing away", listening to the track once, then performing two takes. "Killer", later to become a live favourite, recycled a middle eight from an old Heebalob song, and Smith received a co-composition credit on the track. The album was released in December, but didn't sell as well as The Least We Can Do... because of the lack of a hit. Charisma proposed "Killer" as a single, but the band rejected this. Reviewing the album, Sounds particularly praised Jackson's saxophone work, but critical reception overall was mixed.
The classic line-up (1971–72)
The Hammill/Banton/Jackson/Evans quartet that resulted from H to He, Who Am the Only One is now considered the "classic" line-up. The group played on the 'Six Bob Tour' in early 1971 with fellow Charisma labelmates Genesis and Lindisfarne. Despite the complexity of their music, the band were well received on the tour, with Hammill noting "at nearly all the gigs, most of the audience have known most of the songs ... It was like a big family actually, exactly as all of us had pictured it in our wildest dreams."
While on tour, the band started working out compositions between gigs for their next album, which would become Pawn Hearts. The intention was to release a double album, and the band recorded the material; however, for economic reasons, the released recording was a single album containing three tracks – "Lemmings", "Man-Erg", and the 23 minute concept piece "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". Reflecting on this, Hammill said: "Charisma Records felt that it wasn't appropriate for us to release a double album and they vetoed the live studio recordings and the solo tracks by Guy, David, and Hugh." The master tape of the recording sessions has been lost. Fripp again provided a cameo appearance on guitar. While "Man-Erg" had already been performed on stage, "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" evolved in the studio, recorded in small sections and pieced together during mixing. According to producer John Anthony, the track features a lot more studio experimentation than on previous albums, saying "we pushed the facilities at Trident to the limit and had involved the use of every single tape machine in Trident at some stage." The experiments included tape manipulation and Banton playing Mellotron and synthesizer. According to Jackson, one section of it features the entire band overdubbed 16 times. The album was released in October 1971 and was not a success in the U.K, but proved highly successful in Italy, topping the chart there for 12 weeks. The following single, "Theme One", reached number one in Italy, too. "Theme One" was an instrumental piece, originally written by Beatles producer George Martin as a fanfare for the BBC radio station Radio 1, later to appear on US pressings of Pawn Hearts.
Following commercial success in Italy, the band did a six-week tour there at the start of 1972. The band were apprehensive about touring there, concerned they might be playing to half empty venues, but they were all shocked by the sheer volume of the crowds that came to see them. "Pawn Hearts was seen as the ultimate album by the ultimate band," said Jackson, who at times found it difficult to walk down the street in parts of Italy without being recognised. "The tour was like the prophets have landed ... you couldn't go anywhere without this lunatic 'Generator Mania' breaking out." After the tour, the group was immediately offered another Italian tour, this time doing up to three shows a day. In between the tours, the band made an appearance on Belgian television performing "Theme One" and "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". Since the studio recording of "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" was a collage of multiple recordings, impossible to reproduce live in one setting, the band simply filmed individual sections of the song and spliced them together in the editing suite. It was the only live performance of the song until 2013.
By June, the band had performed another Italian tour (the third that year) and wanted to start recording new material (some of which ended up on Hammill's 1973 solo album Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night). However, the combination of working for too long without a break, combined with a lack of support from Stratton-Smith and Charisma and continued financial difficulties caused the band to implode, and Hammill left to pursue a solo career in mid-1972.
The three remaining members recorded an instrumental album with Nic Potter, Ced Curtis, and Pietro Messina, under the name 'The Long Hello'. Their self-titled album (The Long Hello) was released in 1974.
First reunion (1975–78)
Hammill's split with the group was amicable, and Banton, Jackson, and Evans, among others, all contributed to his solo work at various times. By February 1975, the members of the band were ready to work with each other in a full-time capacity again, and they decided to reform the band. All the members were keen on carrying on with new music, with no nostalgia for their previous era, and did not want to play earlier stage favourites such as "Killer" (the opening track on H to He, Who Am the Only One) and "Theme One". "We didn't want to continue as if nothing had happened," said Hammill. Banton was in the middle of building a custom organ at the time, and halted the project to join the reformed group, using a rented Hammond C3 organ instead. Hammill began playing electric guitar in the band, which had been conspicuously absent earlier in their career.
The reformed band worked at a prolific pace, rehearsing, and touring France before recording three new albums in just 12 months, beginning with Godbluff (October 1975). Unlike the earlier work with John Anthony at Trident, the sessions were produced by the band themselves, and both the Melody Maker and Sounds thought they were a tighter and more cohesive unit than previously. The album in particular saw Hammill making significant use of the Hohner clavinet keyboard. Still Life followed on 15 April 1976. Banton considers this album one of his favourites by the group.
In the summer of 1975, the band gigged in Italy without incident, but when they returned to tour there in November, the intense political situation the country was going through caught up with them. The opening concert in Padua was marked with clashes with communists delivering political speeches, and the audience started throwing missiles towards the stage. After a gig without incident in Genoa, the third day of the tour at the PalaSport in Rome, in front of 40,000 people, saw similar confrontations to the Padua gig. A fire broke out at the venue, but was brought under control. The next day, the band learned that most of their gear had been stolen from the tour van, including Hammill's blue Fender Stratocaster, christened "Meurglys". Despite threats from promoters that the band would continue the tour using hired equipment (which Jackson considered impossible given the electronic modifications he had made to his saxophones), they abandoned the tour. Miraculously, all of Jackson's saxophones had survived the theft.
In December 1976, following the World Record tour, Banton quit, and in January 1977 Nic Potter returned to replace him alongside the violinist Graham Smith (formerly of Charisma folk-rock band String Driven Thing). But when suddenly Jackson also decided to leave the band, a four-piece line-up with a quite different sound, with a shortened name of Van der Graaf, had to play the spring tour. They produced the album The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome, released in September 1977, and then Charles Dickie joined the band in August on cello and keyboards, and stayed with the band in their last year. A further studio album was never recorded, so that the only document of this line-up is the live double-album Vital, which was recorded in January 1978, and contained at least several new songs. The 2 concerts played for this record also brought a brief reunion with David Jackson, who guested on 6 of the album's tracks. By the time Vital was released, in July 1978, the band had already split, because of lack of record company support in the United States and financial difficulties.
In 1982 a collection of out-takes and rehearsal recordings from the 1972–1975 hiatus was released (initially on cassette only), called Time Vaults. Intended only as a gift for hardcore fans these are mostly not studio-quality recordings, some of them have even a quite bad audio quality full of distortions.
Second reunion (2005)
Despite the 1978 split, Banton recalled that the group "never descended very far into our sub-conscience". Banton, Jackson and Evans appeared on Hammill's solo albums, and all four occasionally played together. In 1996, the quartet appeared on stage during a concert by Hammill and Evans at the Union Chapel in London to perform "Lemmings", which was later in March 1997 released as The Union Chapel Concert. In 2003, Banton, Jackson, and Evans joined with Hammill to perform "Still Life" at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.
Following the Queen Elizabeth Hall performance, the band members discussed working together. In mid-2004, they began to write and rehearse new material. The result was a double CD, Present, released in April 2005. Critical response was favourable; BBC Music's Peter Marsh said the group was "willing to push the envelope a little, and bless them for that", while AllMusic's Dave Thompson said the group "never made a less than fabulous album in their lives. And they're not about to start now." A reunion concert took place at the Royal Festival Hall, London, on 6 May 2005, which was released as Real Time in March 2007. The Festival Hall concert was followed by several European dates in the summer and autumn. The concert in Leverkusen, Germany on 5 November was filmed for the Westdeutscher Rundfunk TV show Rockpalast, which was broadcast on 16 January 2006.
Hammill stated in a December 2005 newsletter that there were no plans for further recordings or performances by the "classic" Van der Graaf Generator line-up of himself, Banton, Evans and Jackson. Hammill subsequently announced that the band would be continuing as a trio, for live and studio work, without Jackson. He later stated that the reason for Jackson's departure was that he "seemed to have difficulty in understanding what we had mutually agreed" and that he clashed with the other band members. Relationships between Jackson and the others became strained, and Hammill, Banton and Evans realised that the only way the group could continue was without him.
Trio (2006 – present)
After Jackson's departure, the group took a break before touring as a trio in April and July 2007 over Europe. A concert on 14 April 2007 in the Paradiso in Amsterdam was recorded and streamed on the FabChannel website until March 2009, and was released on DVD and CD that June.
The first trio recording, Trisector, was released on 17 March 2008. Live concerts were played in Europe in March and April, and in Japan in June, among them, one at the Gouveia Art Rock Festival. There were further concerts in January 2009 in Europe, and the band played several concerts in Canada and the United States in the summer of 2009, among them a performance at NEARfest in Bethlehem PA. It was only the second time Van der Graaf Generator had visited the United States (their first being in New York City in 1976).
In spring 2010, the group recorded a new album in Devon. A Grounding in Numbers was released on 14 March 2011. Live at Metropolis Studios 2010 was released as a 2CD/1DVD set by Salvo/Union Square Music on 4 June 2012. The band then toured the eastern part of the United States and Canada during June and July 2012, including an appearance at NEARfest Apocalypse in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on 22 June. An album of out-takes and in-studio jams, similar to the second disc of Present, called ALT was released in June 2012. Hammill has stated that he has enjoyed the current reunion, as "the activity has reinvigorated me. Going from one thing to another is an energizing thing."
Hammill revealed via his website that the band's former bassist Nic Potter died on the night of 16 January 2013, aged 61. The group continued to tour in 2013, including the first live performance of "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". In 2014, the group collaborated with Soviet dissident artist Vladislav Shabalin for an art venture titled the Earlybird Project. The title comes from the track of the same name on ALT. In 2015, the group released the live album, Merlin Atmos featuring tracks recorded during the 2013 tour, and After the Flood, an album of BBC recordings from 1968–1977. A new album, Do Not Disturb was released in September 2016. It included the song "Alfa Berlina" which documented the group's 1970s Italian tours. Critics speculated that it would be the band's last album, though this has not been confirmed.
In 2021 the band embarked on a European tour, due to continue until May 2022. On 24 and 25 October 2021 the band played, for the first time in Finland, in two concerts at the , in Helsinki. The band performed as a duo as Evans was not allowed to cross the border when his passport was found to be no longer valid, due to recent increased severity in the Brexit regulations. The passport issue was resolved before the band went on to two shows in Stockholm and Gothenburg, Sweden and one in Oslo, Norway.
Musical style
Due to the time-frame of the original band's career, Van der Graaf Generator have been frequently referred to as a progressive rock band. Writing in Record Collector, Toby Manning said the music was "philosophical, even intellectual, complex .. at times, terrifying". While the music on The Aerosol Grey Machine (September 1969) has a more pastoral, hippie feel, with prominent use of Hammill's acoustic guitar, later work featured more complex instrumentation and arrangements. Hammill thinks the style of the band evolved due to the culture of music in the late 1960s, stating "the whole of music was laid out in front of you ... it was the blues in wonky time signatures." Both Hammill and Banton have stated that Jimi Hendrix was an influence on the band's sound, with Hammill remarking that "there'd been distortion before, but there hadn't been that real out-there attitude to sound in itself". The group's experimental style has also been compared to Krautrock bands such as Can. Because of their musical influences and line-up, the band tended to play darker musical themes than other progressive bands, with the possible exception of King Crimson. However, Hammill has stated that the group is still fun to work with, stating "as far as we're concerned, it's serious fun, but fun nonetheless." Promoting Do Not Disturb, he said "We love making a racket, and that has to do with chaos, which is pretty punk".
Hammill's lyrics frequently covered themes of mortality, due to his love of science fiction writers such as Robert A. Heinlein and Philip K. Dick, along with his self-confessed warped and obsessive nature. His voice has been a distinctive component of the band throughout its career. It has been described as "a male Nico" and would later on be cited as an influence by Goth bands in the 1980s.
Unlike several other notable prog rock keyboardists, such as Rick Wakeman or Keith Emerson, Banton considers himself primarily an organist, due to his background in classical and church music, and only ever used that instrument on stage, albeit heavily modified with customised electronics and devices. Hammill said that "Hugh is one of the most instinctive, baffling, and brilliant people I've known and his intuitive hold on the worlds of music and electronics has always astonished me." Banton used clonewheel organs during the 2005 reformation, but since 2009 he has used the Hammond XK-3c, and thinks Hammond have "cracked that sound at long last".
Although Hammill has written the vast majority of the songs in the band's catalogue, and all of the lyrics, he is keen to stress that the arrangements of the music comes from all the group's members. In 1976, being interviewed for the Melody Maker, he said that "VDGG is a band, a real band ... of course [it] is something special, it releases in individual terms parts of us that wouldn't be aired otherwise. In 2013, he reiterated, "Some people don't think Van der Graaf is a democracy, but believe me, it's entirely democratic, with everyone having very vocal and forceful opinions." Since the band has stabilised around Hammill, Banton and Evans, the members think there is a good balance of opinion, with somebody always having the casting vote.
The band have been compared with Genesis due to being label-mates at Charisma Records, sharing management with Tony Stratton-Smith and performing on the same bill on the 'Six Bob Tour'. Hammill and Banton both reject this comparison, with Hammill noting that Genesis were far more driven to be commercially successful, whereas he prefers to release music without interference from record companies. In particular, he has mentioned that while he himself continues to release albums on a regular basis in the 21st century, Peter Gabriel's "average output has been about 0.2 albums a year".
Influence
Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful outside of early 1970s Italy, they have inspired notable musicians, including Rush, Julian Cope, and Marc Almond and was namechecked by the likes of Graham Coxon and John Lydon.
Coxon is particularly fond of "House with No Door" from H to He (1970), saying the track is "extremely beautiful, with Jackson's truly lovely sax-and-flute instrumental section." Almond recalled hearing "Killer" for the first time saying, "I'd never heard anything like it before. It wasn't just Peter's snarling operatic vocal, it was the mix of instruments ... I became an instant fan." Mentioning their reputation as something of an acquired taste, Lydon said, "There's a few Van der Graaf things I like, but I'm not going to recommend anything to anyone. It might not be for them. Music doesn't come with a set of guidelines." Bruce Dickinson – a fan of the band since he saw them at Oundle School aged 13 – hailed Hammill as one of his childhood heroes.
Although Van der Graaf Generator are generally categorised as progressive rock, Cope is keen to distance the band from that movement: "Their music was like some Brechtian bar band – the opposite of prog rock, really". Nevertheless, the band have been acknowledged as an influence on the neo-progressive rock subgenre that emerged in the 1980s and of which Marillion were the most successful proponents. Hammill's singing style influenced Marillion singer Fish and he was a support act on Marillion's first album tour.
"The band we really cared about was Van der Graaf Generator," said Philip Oakey of The Human League. "That music was so committed."
Personnel
Members
Current members
Peter Hammill – lead and backing vocals, guitars, electric and acoustic piano, keyboards (1967–1972, 1975–1978, 2005–present)
Hugh Banton – organ, keyboards, bass pedals, bass guitar, backing vocals (1968–1972, 1975–1976, 2005–present)
Guy Evans – drums, percussion (1968–1972, 1975–1978, 2005–present)
Former members
Chris Judge Smith – drums, percussion, wind instruments, backing and lead vocals (1967–1968)
Nick Pearne – organ (1967–1968)
Keith Ellis – bass guitar (1968–1969; died 1978)
Nic Potter – bass guitar, guitar (1969–1970, 1977–1978; died 2013)
David Jackson – alto, tenor, baritone and soprano saxophones, flute, backing vocals (1969–1972, 1975–1977, 1978 (guest for two concerts), 2005–2006)
Graham Smith – violin (1977–1978)
Charles Dickie – cello, keyboards (1977–1978)
Lineups
Timeline
Discography
The Aerosol Grey Machine (1969)
The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other (1970)
H to He, Who Am the Only One (1970)
Pawn Hearts (1971)
Godbluff (1975)
Still Life (1976)
World Record (1976)
The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome (1977)
Present (2005)
Trisector (2008)
A Grounding in Numbers (2011)
ALT (2012)
Do Not Disturb (2016)
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
External links
Peter Hammill's official site (www.SofaSound.com)
Earlybird project official site (www.Shabalin.it/Earlybird-Project)
Van der Graaf Generator biography by Jason Ankeny, discography and album reviews, credits & releases at AllMusic.com
Van der Graaf Generator discography, album releases & credits at Discogs.com
Van der Graaf Generator albums to be listened as stream at Play.Spotify.com
English art rock groups
English progressive rock groups
Musical groups from Manchester
Musical groups established in 1967
Charisma Records artists
Virgin Records artists
Mercury Records artists
Fontana Records artists
Vertigo Records artists
Dunhill Records artists
Articles which contain graphical timelines
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"Normative social influence is a type of social influence that leads to conformity. It is defined in social psychology as \"...the influence of other people that leads us to conform in order to be liked and accepted by them.\" The power of normative social influence stems from the human identity as a social being, with a need for companionship and association. \n\nNormative social influence involves a change in behaviour that is deemed necessary in order to fit in a particular group. The need for a positive relationship with the people around leads us to conformity. This fact often leads to people exhibiting public compliance—but not necessarily private acceptance—of the group's social norms in order to be accepted by the group. Social norms refers to the unwritten rules that govern social behavior. These are customary standards for behavior that are widely shared by members of a culture.\n\nIn many cases, normative social influence serves to promote social cohesion. When a majority of group members conform to social norms, the group generally becomes more stable. This stability translates into social cohesion, which allows group members to work together toward a common understanding, or \"good,\" but also has the unintended impact of making the group members less individualistic.\n\nResearch\n\nClassic research \nIn 1955, Solomon Asch conducted his classic conformity experiments in an attempt to discover if people still conform when the right answer is obvious. Specifically, he asked participants in his experiment to judge the similarity of lines, an easy task by objective standards. Using accomplices to the plot, also known as confederates, Asch created the illusion that an entire group of participants believed something that was clearly false (i.e., that dissimilar lines were actually similar). When in this situation, participants conformed over 36% of the time on trials where the confederates gave blatantly false answers. When asked to make the judgments in private, participants gave the right answer more than 99% of the time. Asch's results cannot be explained by informational social influence, because in this case, the task was easy and the correct answer was obvious. Thus, participants were not necessarily looking to others to figure out the right answer, as informational social influence predicts. Instead, they were seeking acceptance and avoiding disapproval. Follow-up interviews with participants of the original Asch studies confirmed this. When participants were asked why they conformed, many provided reasons other than a need for accuracy.\n\nCurrent research \nIn more current research, Schultz (1999) found that households that received more normative messages describing the frequency and amount of weekly recycling began to have a direct impact on both the households' frequency and amount of their curbside recycling. The sudden change was due to the fact that \"the other neighbors'\" recycling habits had a direct normative effect on the household to change their recycling behaviors. Similar results were apparent in another study in which researchers were able to increase household energy conservation through the use of normative messages. Participants in this conservation study did not believe that such normative messages could influence their behavior; they attributed their conservation efforts to environmental concerns or social responsibility needs. Thus, normative social influence can be a very powerful, yet unconscious, motivator of behavior.\n\nConsequences \nLastly, different studies have illustrated the consequences of deviation from a group's influence. In a study by Schachter (1951), participants were placed in groups and asked to discuss what to do with a juvenile delinquent they had read about. A \"deviant\" was instructed by the experimenter to take a stand strongly opposing that of the rest of the group and to hold this position in the midst of any arguments from other members. After the conclusion of the discussions, participants chose to reject this deviant the most, considering him the least desirable of the members, and relegating him to the least important tasks. Recent work by Berns et al. (2005) examined the physiological effects of deviation by using fMRI to scan participants' brains as they completed an object rotation task with other \"participants\", who were actually confederates. The researchers were interested in examining participants' brain activity when they were under the pressure to conform to an incorrect group majority. The amygdala region (which is associated with negative emotions) was activated when participants sought to break off from the influence of the majority; providing support for the point that resisting normative social influence can often lead to negative emotional consequences for individuals.\n\nAffecting factors\n\nSocial impact theory \n\nLatane's social impact theory posits that three factors influence the extent to which we conform to group norms: personal importance, immediacy, and size. As the group becomes more important to a person, physically closer to him/her, and larger in number, Social Impact Theory predicts that conformity to group norms will increase. However, the size of the group only affects conformity to an extent—as a group expands past 3–5 members, the effect levels off.\n\nUnanimity \n\nWhen a group is unanimous in its support of a norm, an individual feels greater pressure to follow suit. However, even a small break in unanimity can lead to a decrease in the power of such normative influence. In Asch's study, when even one other confederate dissented from the majority and provided the correct answer, the participant answered incorrectly on fewer trials (about a fourth less). In addition, participants experienced positive emotions towards such dissenters. A similar reduction in conformity even occurred when the dissenting confederate provided an answer that was false (but still different from that of the majority).\n\nIn some versions of the experiment, Asch had dissenting confederates eventually rejoin the majority opinion after several trials; when this occurred, participants experienced greater pressure from normative influence and conformed as if they had never had the dissenter on their side. However, when the conditions were altered and the dissenting confederate left the room after several trials, the participants did not experience a similar pressure to conform as they had when the confederate rejoined the majority—they made fewer mistakes than they had in the condition where the confederate rejoined the others.\n\nPrivate vs. public \nThe pressure to bend to normative influence increases for actions performed in public, whereas this pressure decreases for actions done in private. In another variation of the Asch study, the researchers allowed the participant to privately write down his answer after all of the confederates had publicly stated their answers; this variation reduced the level of conformity among participants. In addition, the control condition of the Asch study revealed that participants were almost perfectly accurate when answering independently.\n\nMinority influence \n\nIt is possible for a vocal minority to stem the normative influence of a larger majority. In the versions of the Asch study where a dissenter was inserted into the group (see Unanimity section), his presence as a minority member gave the participant the confidence to exert his independence to a greater extent. However, as soon as the dissenter waffled on his opinions and rejoined the majority, participant conformity increased. Thus, a minority must consistently stand by its beliefs to be effective.\n\nIn addition, there are other factors that increase the power of the minority: when the majority is forced to think about the beliefs and perspective of the minority, when the majority and minority are similar to one another, and when the minority exhibits some willingness to compromise and be flexible, although there is debate over the degree to which consistency and compromise should be balanced.\n\nIt is often the case that whereas a majority influences public compliance with a norm, a minority can engender private acceptance of a new norm, with the result often being conversion (public and private acceptance of a norm).\n\nCultural differences \nThere is a distinction between individualistic (e.g., United States) and collectivistic (e.g., Japan) cultures. While some predict that collectivistic cultures would exhibit stronger conformity under normative social influence, this is not necessarily the case—the identity of the group acts as a potential moderator. Because collectivists emphasize the importance of in-group members (e.g., family and friends), normative pressure from in-groups can lead to higher conformity than pressures from strangers.\n\nGender differences \nMany have long wondered whether there is a gender gap in conformity under normative influence, with women possibly conforming more than men. A meta-analysis by Eagly and Carli (1981) shows that this gap is small, and driven by public vs. private situations. Women do conform (slightly) more under normative influence than do men when in public situations as opposed to private ones. Eagly and Carli found that male researchers reported higher levels of conformity among female participants than did female researchers; the authors speculate that each gender could be implicitly biased towards portraying itself in a positive light, thus leading to actions (e.g., setting up experimental conditions under which males or females may be more comfortable) that might favor one gender over the other.\n\nExamples\nFashion choices are often impacted by normative social influence. To feel accepted by a particular crowd, men and women often dress similarly to individuals in that group. Fashion conformity promotes social cohesion within the group and can be a result of both conscious and unconscious motivations. \n\nSimilar to fashion conformity, the male and the female views of the ideal body image are often affected by normative social influence. Social media and marketing helps to portray what is commonly considered the current view of physical attractiveness by the masses. As each generation defines the ideal female figure, women feel the pressure to conform to avoid disapproval of others. Likewise, as society continues to define the ideal male body type as muscular and fit, men also come under pressure to conform as well, which often leads to changes in eating habits to reach that ideal.\n\nSee also\n Groupthink\nObedience\n Normative\nSocial control\n\nReferences\n\nConformity\nHuman behavior\nInfluence (social and political)",
"The Marxist Group was an early Trotskyist group in the United Kingdom.\n\nIts origins lay in the Communist League, one of the first Trotskyist groups in the country. Leon Trotsky advised the group to enter the Independent Labour Party (ILP), which had just disaffiliated from the Labour Party. He believed that the group should work for a \"Bolshevik transformation of the party\".\n\nThe majority of the Communist League argued against joining the ILP in favour of maintaining an open party, but allowed thirty of its members led by Denzil Dean Harber to form a secretive \"Bolshevik-Leninist Fraction\" in the ILP. This difference in orientation essentially split the party, and in November 1934, sixty Trotskyist ILPers officially formed the Marxist Group.\n\nWhile, perhaps due to this delay and infighting, the Group never achieved the influence hoped for by Trotsky, it did win new members, including C. L. R. James, who in 1937 dedicated his book World Revolution to the group. Ted Grant also joined the organisation, having moved from South Africa. By the ILP Conference of 1935, it claimed a similar strength to the Revolutionary Policy Committee, which was sympathetic to the Communist Party of Great Britain. However the same year a group (including Grant and Harber) split to work inside the Labour Party's Labour League of Youth, initially as the \"Bolshevik-Leninist Group\" and then as the Militant Group. \n\nThe Marxist Group soon realised that the ILP did not have mass influence outside Glasgow, and sent John Archer to check the actual strength of the party around the country. Trotsky proposed drawing up a manifesto around a militant programme, including a call for a Fourth International, and requesting signatures to see how much influence the Group had. While the Group was unable to reach a decision on this, at the 1936 ILP Conference, none of its motions were passed. Because these motions included a clear call for the Fourth International, many members of the Group were expelled from the ILP, including James. James then convinced the remainder of his organisation to exit the ILP.\n\nOutside the ILP, the Group began working again with the Marxist League (as the Communist League was now called), and in early 1938 the two joined to form the Revolutionary Socialist League, into which the Militant Group fused later the same year.\n\nReferences\n\nSam Bornstein and Al Richardson, Against the Stream.\n\nIndependent Labour Party\nPolitical parties established in 1934\nPolitical parties disestablished in 1938\nDefunct Trotskyist organisations in the United Kingdom\n1934 establishments in the United Kingdom\n1938 disestablishments in the United Kingdom"
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"Van der Graaf Generator",
"Influence",
"Did the group influence many people?",
"they have inspired several notable musicians, including Rush, John Lydon, Marc Almond, Graham Coxon, Luca Prodan, Mark E. Smith, John Frusciante, Bruce Dickinson and Julian Cope."
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When was the group popular?
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When was the Van der Graaf Generator group popular?
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Van der Graaf Generator
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Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful outside of early 1970s Italy, they have inspired several notable musicians, including Rush, John Lydon, Marc Almond, Graham Coxon, Luca Prodan, Mark E. Smith, John Frusciante, Bruce Dickinson and Julian Cope. Dickinson, who has been a fan of the band since he saw them at Oundle School aged 13, said that Hammill was one of his childhood heroes. Coxon is particularly fond of "House with No Door" from H to He (1970), saying the track is "extremely beautiful, with Jackson's truly lovely sax-and-flute instrumental section." Almond recalled hearing "Killer" for the first time saying, "I'd never heard anything like it before. It wasn't just Peter's snarling operatic vocal, it was the mix of instruments ... I became an instant fan." Mentioning their reputation as something of an acquired taste, Lydon said, "There's a few Van Der Graaf things I like, but I'm not going to recommend anything to anyone. It might not be for them. Music doesn't come with a set of guidelines." Although generally categorised as a progressive rock group, Cope is keen to distance the band from that movement, stating "Their music was like some Brechtian bar band - the opposite of prog rock, really". Nevertheless, the band have been acknowledged as an influence on the neo-progressive rock subgenre which emerged in the 1980s and featured Marillion as its most successful band. Marillion singer Fish thought highly of Hammill and invited him to be the support on the band's early tours. The Canadian new wave band Men Without Hats have a song titled "The Van der Graaf Generator Blues" on their 1991 album Sideways. CANNOTANSWER
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Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful outside of early 1970s Italy,
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Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Chris Judge Smith and the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much commercial success in the UK, but became popular in Italy during the 1970s. In 2005 the band reformed, and are still musically active with a line-up of Hammill, organist Hugh Banton and drummer Guy Evans.
The band formed at the University of Manchester, but settled in London where they signed with Charisma. They went through several incarnations in their early years, including a brief split in 1969. When they reformed, they found minor commercial success with The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other (released in early 1970 and their only album to chart in the UK), and after the follow-up album, H to He, Who Am the Only One (December 1970), stabilised around a line-up of Hammill, Banton, Evans and saxophonist David Jackson. The quartet subsequently achieved significant success in Italy with the release of Pawn Hearts in 1971. After several exhausting tours of Italy, the band split in 1972. They reformed in 1975, releasing Godbluff and frequently touring Italy again, before a major line-up change and a slight rename to Van der Graaf. The band split in 1978. After many years apart, the band finally reunited at a gig at the Royal Festival Hall and a short tour in 2005. Since then, the band has continued as a trio of Hammill, Banton, and Evans, who record and tour regularly in between Hammill's concurrent solo career.
The group's albums have tended to be both lyrically and musically darker in atmosphere than many of their progressive rock peers (a trait they shared with King Crimson, whose guitarist Robert Fripp guested on two of their albums), and guitar solos were the exception rather than the rule, preferring to use Banton's classically influenced organ, and, until his departure, Jackson's multiple saxophones. While Hammill is the primary songwriter for the band, and members have contributed to his solo albums, the band arranges all its material collectively. Hammill's lyrics covered themes of mortality, due to his love of science fiction writers such as Robert A. Heinlein and Philip K. Dick, along with his confessed warped and obsessive nature. His voice has been a distinctive component of the band throughout its career, described as "a male Nico". Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful, they have inspired several musicians across various genres.
History
Formation and early years (1967–69)
The band formed in 1967 at the University of Manchester, after Chris Judge Smith, who had already played in several British rhythm and blues groups whilst a pupil in Oundle School, returned from a trip to San Francisco and, inspired by the bands he had seen, put together a list of possible band names to form a new group. After an unsatisfactory audition they had both attended in response to an advert to form a band, he met fellow student Peter Hammill, who was playing some of his original songs. Hammill had begun writing songs and poetry at the age of 12 while at prep school, and progressed to playing in bands while a pupil at Beaumont College. He was then briefly employed as a computer programmer, during which time he subsequently claimed to have written much of the band's early material, before enrolling at Manchester. Smith was so impressed with the quality of Hammill's original material that the two agreed to form a band together. The band name chosen from Smith's list was based on a Van de Graaff generator, a mechanical device that produces static electricity with lightning-like flashes – the misspellings are accidental. Smith recalls the reason for this may have been that Van de Graaff died in 1967, which was widely reported in the media.
Among the bands that regularly played the university, including Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and Pink Floyd, they were particularly impressed by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, and recruited an organist, Nick Pearne, to match the format of Arthur Brown's band. Along with two female dancers, the initial line-up was Hammill on guitar and vocals, Smith on drums, wind instruments and vocals, and Pearne on organ (though he did not initially have an instrument). According to Smith, the band initially played as a two-piece, with Smith occasionally using a typewriter as a percussion instrument; their first gig as a three-piece was in the student union, which lasted five minutes before the group's amplifiers blew up.
The band managed to persuade fellow student Caleb Bradley to manage them, and by the start of 1968, the band had managed to record a demo tape influenced by blues and jazz, sending it to Lou Reizner, then the U.K. head of Mercury Records, who offered the trio of Hammill, Smith, and Pearne a recording contract in May. At this point, the band had to make a decision whether to stay on at university, or quit their courses and move to London to turn professional. Pearne was not keen to abandon his studies, so decided to leave the group.
On arrival in London, Hammill and Smith met up with classically trained organist Hugh Banton, who was a brother of one of their friends back in Manchester. Later that year, they met Tony Stratton-Smith, who agreed to sign a management contract with them in December. Through him, the band acquired a bass guitar player, Keith Ellis, with drummer Guy Evans joining not too long afterwards. This line-up recorded a series of demos for Mercury, before recording a single ("People You Were Going To" b/w "Firebrand") on Polydor Records, which was released in January 1969. Melody Maker said the single was "one of the best records of the week". But the single was quickly withdrawn under pressure from Mercury, since it violated the contract band members Hammill and Smith signed the previous year. Smith, feeling superfluous to requirements, left the band, amicably, shortly after the recording of the single. He later released demos featuring his time in Van der Graaf Generator on a CD, Democrazy. The remaining 4 members performed for John Peel on BBC Radio 1's Top Gear radio show in November, and played several gigs in England in the next months.
Meanwhile, Mercury refused to let the band record, and at the same time Stratton-Smith refused to let the other members of the band sign to Mercury too, as he did not think the deal was fair to the band (only Hammill remained now of the original three who had signed with Mercury). On top of that in late January 1969 the band's van and equipment were stolen. The theft aggravated their financial difficulties. Although the band was touring successfully, which included a concert in February at the Royal Albert Hall in support of Jimi Hendrix, it broke up in June after playing a final gig at Nottingham's Pop & Blues Festival on 10 May entirely with borrowed equipment. John Peel, who was compering the show, announced their break-up to the audience.
In July 1969, Hammill had begun performing solo at the Marquee Club in London, and since there was no group, he decided to record what was intended to be his first solo album at Trident Studios on 31 July and 1 August, with Banton, Evans, and Ellis as session musicians. However, through a deal worked out by Stratton-Smith, the album, The Aerosol Grey Machine, was released in September 1969 by Mercury under the group's name in return for releasing them from their contract. The album was initially only released in the United States with hardly any promotion at all, so sales were minimal, but the group decided to reform in the middle of the recording session. Ellis had already committed to joining Juicy Lucy and was replaced by Evan's former bandmate in The Misunderstood, Nic Potter. The band had also enjoyed flautist Jeff Peach's contributions to the album and wanted to recruit a further instrumentalist. "There was always the idea of having another melodic instrument," recalled Evans. "He [Banton]'ll play a solo, sure, and really give it something, but he doesn't want to do that all the time." Peach was approached to become a full-time member, but dropped out after one rehearsal as he didn't think his playing style fitted the band. The position was eventually filled by saxophonist and flautist David Jackson, who had previously played in a band called Heebalob with Smith. Hammill had already sat in with Heebalob at the Plumpton National Jazz Festival on 9 August, and, impressed by Jackson's playing, invited him to join the band, partly because he also needed a flatmate to help pay with the rent.
Signing to Charisma (1969–70)
In September, the new five-piece band began rehearsals in Notting Hill Gate and began to change its sound. Banton, influenced by the effects pedals popularised by Jimi Hendrix, used his electronic skills to modify a Farfisa organ, giving it a wider variety of sounds. Jackson was inspired by jazz musicians, particularly Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and began to play multiple saxophones (usually alto and tenor) simultaneously. Hammill, for his part, elected to sing in received pronunciation, exploring the full range of his vocal capabilities. "We were all megalomaniacs," said Banton. "We grabbed our own space as best we could." The band started to gig regularly, including the first of several live appearances at the Friars Aylesbury in November.
Tony Stratton-Smith formed Charisma Records and signed the band as his first act, who recorded their second album, The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other from 11–14 December 1969 with producer John Anthony in Trident Studios. Hammill's voice was electronically treated on "After the Flood", while "Refugees" and "White Hammer" featured cello and cornet respectively. Because the band finished ahead of their rehearsal schedule, Potter decided to overdub some electric guitar – an instrument he had never played before. The album was released in February 1970 and made the top 50 in the U.K, Melody Maker said "If all our groups were as together as this, the British music scene would improve ten-fold."
Potter, however, did not feel he fitted into the increasingly experimental sound the band was developing and tended to wait until the others had worked out their parts during rehearsals, adding his bass lines on top at the last minute. After recording three tracks of their third album, H to He, Who Am the Only One, he decided to quit the band. His last gig was on 9 August at the 1970 Plumpton Festival. The remaining members auditioned Dave Anderson, roadie for Brinsley Schwarz and friend of the band, but after a week's rehearsal found that things weren't working out musically. Banton, meanwhile, had become influenced by Vincent Crane's work in Atomic Rooster, where Crane played the bass lines on a Hammond organ's bass pedals and suggested that he could do this as well. With just days to go before the next gig, they tried rehearsing as a four-piece, and it was successful. Banton later played bass guitar on certain songs, having already learned the instrument in the mid-1960s, and Hammill expanded his instrumental capabilities on stage to cover piano and keyboards as well as guitar. Jackson modified his saxophones to be completely electric, as opposed to simply being amplified through a microphone, and combined the sound with a wah-wah pedal and an octave divider.
H to He continued to be recorded sporadically throughout 1970, and featured Robert Fripp of King Crimson contributing guitar on "The Emperor in His War-Room". Producer John Anthony knew Fripp socially and invited him to a session as a guest, something Fripp had never done before at that point. According to Jackson, Fripp "put headphones on and started searing away", listening to the track once, then performing two takes. "Killer", later to become a live favourite, recycled a middle eight from an old Heebalob song, and Smith received a co-composition credit on the track. The album was released in December, but didn't sell as well as The Least We Can Do... because of the lack of a hit. Charisma proposed "Killer" as a single, but the band rejected this. Reviewing the album, Sounds particularly praised Jackson's saxophone work, but critical reception overall was mixed.
The classic line-up (1971–72)
The Hammill/Banton/Jackson/Evans quartet that resulted from H to He, Who Am the Only One is now considered the "classic" line-up. The group played on the 'Six Bob Tour' in early 1971 with fellow Charisma labelmates Genesis and Lindisfarne. Despite the complexity of their music, the band were well received on the tour, with Hammill noting "at nearly all the gigs, most of the audience have known most of the songs ... It was like a big family actually, exactly as all of us had pictured it in our wildest dreams."
While on tour, the band started working out compositions between gigs for their next album, which would become Pawn Hearts. The intention was to release a double album, and the band recorded the material; however, for economic reasons, the released recording was a single album containing three tracks – "Lemmings", "Man-Erg", and the 23 minute concept piece "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". Reflecting on this, Hammill said: "Charisma Records felt that it wasn't appropriate for us to release a double album and they vetoed the live studio recordings and the solo tracks by Guy, David, and Hugh." The master tape of the recording sessions has been lost. Fripp again provided a cameo appearance on guitar. While "Man-Erg" had already been performed on stage, "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" evolved in the studio, recorded in small sections and pieced together during mixing. According to producer John Anthony, the track features a lot more studio experimentation than on previous albums, saying "we pushed the facilities at Trident to the limit and had involved the use of every single tape machine in Trident at some stage." The experiments included tape manipulation and Banton playing Mellotron and synthesizer. According to Jackson, one section of it features the entire band overdubbed 16 times. The album was released in October 1971 and was not a success in the U.K, but proved highly successful in Italy, topping the chart there for 12 weeks. The following single, "Theme One", reached number one in Italy, too. "Theme One" was an instrumental piece, originally written by Beatles producer George Martin as a fanfare for the BBC radio station Radio 1, later to appear on US pressings of Pawn Hearts.
Following commercial success in Italy, the band did a six-week tour there at the start of 1972. The band were apprehensive about touring there, concerned they might be playing to half empty venues, but they were all shocked by the sheer volume of the crowds that came to see them. "Pawn Hearts was seen as the ultimate album by the ultimate band," said Jackson, who at times found it difficult to walk down the street in parts of Italy without being recognised. "The tour was like the prophets have landed ... you couldn't go anywhere without this lunatic 'Generator Mania' breaking out." After the tour, the group was immediately offered another Italian tour, this time doing up to three shows a day. In between the tours, the band made an appearance on Belgian television performing "Theme One" and "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". Since the studio recording of "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" was a collage of multiple recordings, impossible to reproduce live in one setting, the band simply filmed individual sections of the song and spliced them together in the editing suite. It was the only live performance of the song until 2013.
By June, the band had performed another Italian tour (the third that year) and wanted to start recording new material (some of which ended up on Hammill's 1973 solo album Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night). However, the combination of working for too long without a break, combined with a lack of support from Stratton-Smith and Charisma and continued financial difficulties caused the band to implode, and Hammill left to pursue a solo career in mid-1972.
The three remaining members recorded an instrumental album with Nic Potter, Ced Curtis, and Pietro Messina, under the name 'The Long Hello'. Their self-titled album (The Long Hello) was released in 1974.
First reunion (1975–78)
Hammill's split with the group was amicable, and Banton, Jackson, and Evans, among others, all contributed to his solo work at various times. By February 1975, the members of the band were ready to work with each other in a full-time capacity again, and they decided to reform the band. All the members were keen on carrying on with new music, with no nostalgia for their previous era, and did not want to play earlier stage favourites such as "Killer" (the opening track on H to He, Who Am the Only One) and "Theme One". "We didn't want to continue as if nothing had happened," said Hammill. Banton was in the middle of building a custom organ at the time, and halted the project to join the reformed group, using a rented Hammond C3 organ instead. Hammill began playing electric guitar in the band, which had been conspicuously absent earlier in their career.
The reformed band worked at a prolific pace, rehearsing, and touring France before recording three new albums in just 12 months, beginning with Godbluff (October 1975). Unlike the earlier work with John Anthony at Trident, the sessions were produced by the band themselves, and both the Melody Maker and Sounds thought they were a tighter and more cohesive unit than previously. The album in particular saw Hammill making significant use of the Hohner clavinet keyboard. Still Life followed on 15 April 1976. Banton considers this album one of his favourites by the group.
In the summer of 1975, the band gigged in Italy without incident, but when they returned to tour there in November, the intense political situation the country was going through caught up with them. The opening concert in Padua was marked with clashes with communists delivering political speeches, and the audience started throwing missiles towards the stage. After a gig without incident in Genoa, the third day of the tour at the PalaSport in Rome, in front of 40,000 people, saw similar confrontations to the Padua gig. A fire broke out at the venue, but was brought under control. The next day, the band learned that most of their gear had been stolen from the tour van, including Hammill's blue Fender Stratocaster, christened "Meurglys". Despite threats from promoters that the band would continue the tour using hired equipment (which Jackson considered impossible given the electronic modifications he had made to his saxophones), they abandoned the tour. Miraculously, all of Jackson's saxophones had survived the theft.
In December 1976, following the World Record tour, Banton quit, and in January 1977 Nic Potter returned to replace him alongside the violinist Graham Smith (formerly of Charisma folk-rock band String Driven Thing). But when suddenly Jackson also decided to leave the band, a four-piece line-up with a quite different sound, with a shortened name of Van der Graaf, had to play the spring tour. They produced the album The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome, released in September 1977, and then Charles Dickie joined the band in August on cello and keyboards, and stayed with the band in their last year. A further studio album was never recorded, so that the only document of this line-up is the live double-album Vital, which was recorded in January 1978, and contained at least several new songs. The 2 concerts played for this record also brought a brief reunion with David Jackson, who guested on 6 of the album's tracks. By the time Vital was released, in July 1978, the band had already split, because of lack of record company support in the United States and financial difficulties.
In 1982 a collection of out-takes and rehearsal recordings from the 1972–1975 hiatus was released (initially on cassette only), called Time Vaults. Intended only as a gift for hardcore fans these are mostly not studio-quality recordings, some of them have even a quite bad audio quality full of distortions.
Second reunion (2005)
Despite the 1978 split, Banton recalled that the group "never descended very far into our sub-conscience". Banton, Jackson and Evans appeared on Hammill's solo albums, and all four occasionally played together. In 1996, the quartet appeared on stage during a concert by Hammill and Evans at the Union Chapel in London to perform "Lemmings", which was later in March 1997 released as The Union Chapel Concert. In 2003, Banton, Jackson, and Evans joined with Hammill to perform "Still Life" at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.
Following the Queen Elizabeth Hall performance, the band members discussed working together. In mid-2004, they began to write and rehearse new material. The result was a double CD, Present, released in April 2005. Critical response was favourable; BBC Music's Peter Marsh said the group was "willing to push the envelope a little, and bless them for that", while AllMusic's Dave Thompson said the group "never made a less than fabulous album in their lives. And they're not about to start now." A reunion concert took place at the Royal Festival Hall, London, on 6 May 2005, which was released as Real Time in March 2007. The Festival Hall concert was followed by several European dates in the summer and autumn. The concert in Leverkusen, Germany on 5 November was filmed for the Westdeutscher Rundfunk TV show Rockpalast, which was broadcast on 16 January 2006.
Hammill stated in a December 2005 newsletter that there were no plans for further recordings or performances by the "classic" Van der Graaf Generator line-up of himself, Banton, Evans and Jackson. Hammill subsequently announced that the band would be continuing as a trio, for live and studio work, without Jackson. He later stated that the reason for Jackson's departure was that he "seemed to have difficulty in understanding what we had mutually agreed" and that he clashed with the other band members. Relationships between Jackson and the others became strained, and Hammill, Banton and Evans realised that the only way the group could continue was without him.
Trio (2006 – present)
After Jackson's departure, the group took a break before touring as a trio in April and July 2007 over Europe. A concert on 14 April 2007 in the Paradiso in Amsterdam was recorded and streamed on the FabChannel website until March 2009, and was released on DVD and CD that June.
The first trio recording, Trisector, was released on 17 March 2008. Live concerts were played in Europe in March and April, and in Japan in June, among them, one at the Gouveia Art Rock Festival. There were further concerts in January 2009 in Europe, and the band played several concerts in Canada and the United States in the summer of 2009, among them a performance at NEARfest in Bethlehem PA. It was only the second time Van der Graaf Generator had visited the United States (their first being in New York City in 1976).
In spring 2010, the group recorded a new album in Devon. A Grounding in Numbers was released on 14 March 2011. Live at Metropolis Studios 2010 was released as a 2CD/1DVD set by Salvo/Union Square Music on 4 June 2012. The band then toured the eastern part of the United States and Canada during June and July 2012, including an appearance at NEARfest Apocalypse in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on 22 June. An album of out-takes and in-studio jams, similar to the second disc of Present, called ALT was released in June 2012. Hammill has stated that he has enjoyed the current reunion, as "the activity has reinvigorated me. Going from one thing to another is an energizing thing."
Hammill revealed via his website that the band's former bassist Nic Potter died on the night of 16 January 2013, aged 61. The group continued to tour in 2013, including the first live performance of "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". In 2014, the group collaborated with Soviet dissident artist Vladislav Shabalin for an art venture titled the Earlybird Project. The title comes from the track of the same name on ALT. In 2015, the group released the live album, Merlin Atmos featuring tracks recorded during the 2013 tour, and After the Flood, an album of BBC recordings from 1968–1977. A new album, Do Not Disturb was released in September 2016. It included the song "Alfa Berlina" which documented the group's 1970s Italian tours. Critics speculated that it would be the band's last album, though this has not been confirmed.
In 2021 the band embarked on a European tour, due to continue until May 2022. On 24 and 25 October 2021 the band played, for the first time in Finland, in two concerts at the , in Helsinki. The band performed as a duo as Evans was not allowed to cross the border when his passport was found to be no longer valid, due to recent increased severity in the Brexit regulations. The passport issue was resolved before the band went on to two shows in Stockholm and Gothenburg, Sweden and one in Oslo, Norway.
Musical style
Due to the time-frame of the original band's career, Van der Graaf Generator have been frequently referred to as a progressive rock band. Writing in Record Collector, Toby Manning said the music was "philosophical, even intellectual, complex .. at times, terrifying". While the music on The Aerosol Grey Machine (September 1969) has a more pastoral, hippie feel, with prominent use of Hammill's acoustic guitar, later work featured more complex instrumentation and arrangements. Hammill thinks the style of the band evolved due to the culture of music in the late 1960s, stating "the whole of music was laid out in front of you ... it was the blues in wonky time signatures." Both Hammill and Banton have stated that Jimi Hendrix was an influence on the band's sound, with Hammill remarking that "there'd been distortion before, but there hadn't been that real out-there attitude to sound in itself". The group's experimental style has also been compared to Krautrock bands such as Can. Because of their musical influences and line-up, the band tended to play darker musical themes than other progressive bands, with the possible exception of King Crimson. However, Hammill has stated that the group is still fun to work with, stating "as far as we're concerned, it's serious fun, but fun nonetheless." Promoting Do Not Disturb, he said "We love making a racket, and that has to do with chaos, which is pretty punk".
Hammill's lyrics frequently covered themes of mortality, due to his love of science fiction writers such as Robert A. Heinlein and Philip K. Dick, along with his self-confessed warped and obsessive nature. His voice has been a distinctive component of the band throughout its career. It has been described as "a male Nico" and would later on be cited as an influence by Goth bands in the 1980s.
Unlike several other notable prog rock keyboardists, such as Rick Wakeman or Keith Emerson, Banton considers himself primarily an organist, due to his background in classical and church music, and only ever used that instrument on stage, albeit heavily modified with customised electronics and devices. Hammill said that "Hugh is one of the most instinctive, baffling, and brilliant people I've known and his intuitive hold on the worlds of music and electronics has always astonished me." Banton used clonewheel organs during the 2005 reformation, but since 2009 he has used the Hammond XK-3c, and thinks Hammond have "cracked that sound at long last".
Although Hammill has written the vast majority of the songs in the band's catalogue, and all of the lyrics, he is keen to stress that the arrangements of the music comes from all the group's members. In 1976, being interviewed for the Melody Maker, he said that "VDGG is a band, a real band ... of course [it] is something special, it releases in individual terms parts of us that wouldn't be aired otherwise. In 2013, he reiterated, "Some people don't think Van der Graaf is a democracy, but believe me, it's entirely democratic, with everyone having very vocal and forceful opinions." Since the band has stabilised around Hammill, Banton and Evans, the members think there is a good balance of opinion, with somebody always having the casting vote.
The band have been compared with Genesis due to being label-mates at Charisma Records, sharing management with Tony Stratton-Smith and performing on the same bill on the 'Six Bob Tour'. Hammill and Banton both reject this comparison, with Hammill noting that Genesis were far more driven to be commercially successful, whereas he prefers to release music without interference from record companies. In particular, he has mentioned that while he himself continues to release albums on a regular basis in the 21st century, Peter Gabriel's "average output has been about 0.2 albums a year".
Influence
Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful outside of early 1970s Italy, they have inspired notable musicians, including Rush, Julian Cope, and Marc Almond and was namechecked by the likes of Graham Coxon and John Lydon.
Coxon is particularly fond of "House with No Door" from H to He (1970), saying the track is "extremely beautiful, with Jackson's truly lovely sax-and-flute instrumental section." Almond recalled hearing "Killer" for the first time saying, "I'd never heard anything like it before. It wasn't just Peter's snarling operatic vocal, it was the mix of instruments ... I became an instant fan." Mentioning their reputation as something of an acquired taste, Lydon said, "There's a few Van der Graaf things I like, but I'm not going to recommend anything to anyone. It might not be for them. Music doesn't come with a set of guidelines." Bruce Dickinson – a fan of the band since he saw them at Oundle School aged 13 – hailed Hammill as one of his childhood heroes.
Although Van der Graaf Generator are generally categorised as progressive rock, Cope is keen to distance the band from that movement: "Their music was like some Brechtian bar band – the opposite of prog rock, really". Nevertheless, the band have been acknowledged as an influence on the neo-progressive rock subgenre that emerged in the 1980s and of which Marillion were the most successful proponents. Hammill's singing style influenced Marillion singer Fish and he was a support act on Marillion's first album tour.
"The band we really cared about was Van der Graaf Generator," said Philip Oakey of The Human League. "That music was so committed."
Personnel
Members
Current members
Peter Hammill – lead and backing vocals, guitars, electric and acoustic piano, keyboards (1967–1972, 1975–1978, 2005–present)
Hugh Banton – organ, keyboards, bass pedals, bass guitar, backing vocals (1968–1972, 1975–1976, 2005–present)
Guy Evans – drums, percussion (1968–1972, 1975–1978, 2005–present)
Former members
Chris Judge Smith – drums, percussion, wind instruments, backing and lead vocals (1967–1968)
Nick Pearne – organ (1967–1968)
Keith Ellis – bass guitar (1968–1969; died 1978)
Nic Potter – bass guitar, guitar (1969–1970, 1977–1978; died 2013)
David Jackson – alto, tenor, baritone and soprano saxophones, flute, backing vocals (1969–1972, 1975–1977, 1978 (guest for two concerts), 2005–2006)
Graham Smith – violin (1977–1978)
Charles Dickie – cello, keyboards (1977–1978)
Lineups
Timeline
Discography
The Aerosol Grey Machine (1969)
The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other (1970)
H to He, Who Am the Only One (1970)
Pawn Hearts (1971)
Godbluff (1975)
Still Life (1976)
World Record (1976)
The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome (1977)
Present (2005)
Trisector (2008)
A Grounding in Numbers (2011)
ALT (2012)
Do Not Disturb (2016)
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
External links
Peter Hammill's official site (www.SofaSound.com)
Earlybird project official site (www.Shabalin.it/Earlybird-Project)
Van der Graaf Generator biography by Jason Ankeny, discography and album reviews, credits & releases at AllMusic.com
Van der Graaf Generator discography, album releases & credits at Discogs.com
Van der Graaf Generator albums to be listened as stream at Play.Spotify.com
English art rock groups
English progressive rock groups
Musical groups from Manchester
Musical groups established in 1967
Charisma Records artists
Virgin Records artists
Mercury Records artists
Fontana Records artists
Vertigo Records artists
Dunhill Records artists
Articles which contain graphical timelines
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[
"The Group of Popular Combatants (, GCP) is a Far-left insurgent movement active in the Republic of Ecuador. It is the armed wing of the Marxist–Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador (, PCMLE), a party formed in 1964 as a split from the Communist Party of Ecuador and internationally affiliated with the International Conference of Marxist–Leninist Parties and Organizations (Unity & Struggle). The party belongs to an anti-revisionist tradition of Marxism–Leninism, one originally aligned with Albania during the Cold War and frequently referred to as Hoxhaism.\n\nHistory \nThe Group of Popular Combatants is the militant and armed sector of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador. The goal of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador is to create a revolution in Ecuador that will lead to socialism and communism. The Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador gets its political inspiration from other countries' communist parties. These communist parties share similar Marxist-Leninist ideologies, so they meet to share each country's political successes.\n\nMilitia\nThe armed wing was originally formed in 1994, during the presidency of Sixto Durán Ballén. It became far more active in 2000, and has since engaged in a number of attacks on foreign diplomats, as well as several bombings. These bombings have utilized so-called airborne leaflet propaganda, a tactic relatively popular among Latin American revolutionaries. For example, in 2001 the GCP was blamed by authorities for a pamphlet bomb and later the same year the group claimed responsibility for detonating a pamphlet bomb in downtown Quito that let out hundreds of pamphlets protesting against Plan Colombia.\n\nIn 2002 it was reported that the Group of Popular Combatants was attempting to establish a rural base in a remote jungle region bordering Colombia, and that they maybe had been receiving training from some of the guerrilla groups involved in the ongoing Colombian conflict.\n\nClaimed Attacks \nThe Group of Popular Combatants have three attacks where they claimed responsibility in Ecuador. The Group of Popular Combatants committed their first attack on September 28, 1997 in Quito, Pichincha, Ecuador. No one was injured or killed in the attack. Their second attack occurred on February 16, 2000 in Guayaquil city, Guayas, Ecuador. A television network received a video tape which contained a concealed bomb. Rafael Cuesta, the news editor at the station, and the only casualty in the attack, was wounded when the bomb went off inside the station. Prior to the attack, the news station had warnings about a possible attack from a different group, This initially led authorities to blame a different organization, although, the Group of Popular Combatants did eventually take responsibility. Rafael Cuesta was the only person injured and no one was killed. On February 21, 2000 the Group of Popular Combatants committed their third terrorist attack. It took place in Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador. Their target was indigenous rights leader, Marcos Murillo. In this attack too, a videocassette sent to the location of Marcos contained a concealed bomb. The police were called and the bomb was defused. There was no one killed or injured in this attack. On November 22, 2010, the Group of Popular Combatants claimed responsibility for a bomb placed in the head office of the University of Guayaquil. The group had not been active for almost a decade when this occurred. The Group of Popular Combatants claimed they used the bomb to attempt to influence student elections held at the University.\n\nWeaponry \nTwo of the incident reports from the Global Terrorism Database show that the Group of Popular Combatants placed bombs inside video cassettes and sent them to specific designated places to target people or make a political statement. The fourth attack is not included on the Global Terrorism Database because there is some speculation about whether they actually did it. However, this attack did use a bomb as well, which is consistent to the weaponry used in their previous attacks.\n\nSee also\n\nTerrorism in Ecuador\n Guerrilla warfare\n Popular Liberation Army\n Shining Path\nMarxist-Leninist \nGlobal Terrorism Database\n\nReferences\n\nCommunist militant groups\nCommunist parties in Ecuador\nGuerrilla movements in Latin America\nHoxhaist organizations\nMilitary wings of socialist parties\nParamilitary organisations based in Ecuador\n1994 establishments in Ecuador\nMilitary units and formations established in 1994\nPlurinational Unity of the Lefts\nTerrorism in Ecuador",
"Popular Action (), until 1932 National Action (), was a Spanish Roman Catholic political party active during the Second Spanish Republic.\n\nThe group was formed after the fall of the monarchy and the defeat of monarchist parties in the 1931 elections, in order to defend the interests of Roman Catholics in the new Spanish Republic. It emanated from the Asociación Católica Nacional de Propagandistas and effectively formed a political party drawn from this hard-line monarchist movement. The main leader of Popular Action was editor of El Debate and future cardinal Ángel Herrera Oria. In 1932, National Action had to change its name, because parties and political movements were prohibited to use the word \"national\" in their names.\n\nThe Popular Action sought to unite the right-wing, monarchist and Catholic camp and thus became the core of a conservative federation of parties, the Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Right-wing Groups (CEDA), established in 1933.\n\nEven after the formation of CEDA the party's youth movement, Juventudes de Acción Popular (commonly known as the Greenshirts) continued to organise. However, in the spring of 1936, the decline of Popular Action was underlined when 15,000 Greenshirts left the movement to join FE de las JONS instead. On the eve of the Spanish Civil War Popular Action had around 12,000 members. When Francisco Franco announced his decree establishing the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista on 19 April 1937, Popular Action was one of a number of parties absorbed into this new pan-right group.\n\nReferences\n\nCatholic political parties\nMonarchist parties in Spain\nConservative parties in Spain"
] |
[
"Van der Graaf Generator",
"Influence",
"Did the group influence many people?",
"they have inspired several notable musicians, including Rush, John Lydon, Marc Almond, Graham Coxon, Luca Prodan, Mark E. Smith, John Frusciante, Bruce Dickinson and Julian Cope.",
"When was the group popular?",
"Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful outside of early 1970s Italy,"
] |
C_8b5b146e7f2a4af38f3882cef27d6fba_0
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What type of music did they perform?
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What type of music did theVan der Graaf Generator perform?
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Van der Graaf Generator
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Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful outside of early 1970s Italy, they have inspired several notable musicians, including Rush, John Lydon, Marc Almond, Graham Coxon, Luca Prodan, Mark E. Smith, John Frusciante, Bruce Dickinson and Julian Cope. Dickinson, who has been a fan of the band since he saw them at Oundle School aged 13, said that Hammill was one of his childhood heroes. Coxon is particularly fond of "House with No Door" from H to He (1970), saying the track is "extremely beautiful, with Jackson's truly lovely sax-and-flute instrumental section." Almond recalled hearing "Killer" for the first time saying, "I'd never heard anything like it before. It wasn't just Peter's snarling operatic vocal, it was the mix of instruments ... I became an instant fan." Mentioning their reputation as something of an acquired taste, Lydon said, "There's a few Van Der Graaf things I like, but I'm not going to recommend anything to anyone. It might not be for them. Music doesn't come with a set of guidelines." Although generally categorised as a progressive rock group, Cope is keen to distance the band from that movement, stating "Their music was like some Brechtian bar band - the opposite of prog rock, really". Nevertheless, the band have been acknowledged as an influence on the neo-progressive rock subgenre which emerged in the 1980s and featured Marillion as its most successful band. Marillion singer Fish thought highly of Hammill and invited him to be the support on the band's early tours. The Canadian new wave band Men Without Hats have a song titled "The Van der Graaf Generator Blues" on their 1991 album Sideways. CANNOTANSWER
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lovely sax-and-flute instrumental section.
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Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Chris Judge Smith and the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much commercial success in the UK, but became popular in Italy during the 1970s. In 2005 the band reformed, and are still musically active with a line-up of Hammill, organist Hugh Banton and drummer Guy Evans.
The band formed at the University of Manchester, but settled in London where they signed with Charisma. They went through several incarnations in their early years, including a brief split in 1969. When they reformed, they found minor commercial success with The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other (released in early 1970 and their only album to chart in the UK), and after the follow-up album, H to He, Who Am the Only One (December 1970), stabilised around a line-up of Hammill, Banton, Evans and saxophonist David Jackson. The quartet subsequently achieved significant success in Italy with the release of Pawn Hearts in 1971. After several exhausting tours of Italy, the band split in 1972. They reformed in 1975, releasing Godbluff and frequently touring Italy again, before a major line-up change and a slight rename to Van der Graaf. The band split in 1978. After many years apart, the band finally reunited at a gig at the Royal Festival Hall and a short tour in 2005. Since then, the band has continued as a trio of Hammill, Banton, and Evans, who record and tour regularly in between Hammill's concurrent solo career.
The group's albums have tended to be both lyrically and musically darker in atmosphere than many of their progressive rock peers (a trait they shared with King Crimson, whose guitarist Robert Fripp guested on two of their albums), and guitar solos were the exception rather than the rule, preferring to use Banton's classically influenced organ, and, until his departure, Jackson's multiple saxophones. While Hammill is the primary songwriter for the band, and members have contributed to his solo albums, the band arranges all its material collectively. Hammill's lyrics covered themes of mortality, due to his love of science fiction writers such as Robert A. Heinlein and Philip K. Dick, along with his confessed warped and obsessive nature. His voice has been a distinctive component of the band throughout its career, described as "a male Nico". Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful, they have inspired several musicians across various genres.
History
Formation and early years (1967–69)
The band formed in 1967 at the University of Manchester, after Chris Judge Smith, who had already played in several British rhythm and blues groups whilst a pupil in Oundle School, returned from a trip to San Francisco and, inspired by the bands he had seen, put together a list of possible band names to form a new group. After an unsatisfactory audition they had both attended in response to an advert to form a band, he met fellow student Peter Hammill, who was playing some of his original songs. Hammill had begun writing songs and poetry at the age of 12 while at prep school, and progressed to playing in bands while a pupil at Beaumont College. He was then briefly employed as a computer programmer, during which time he subsequently claimed to have written much of the band's early material, before enrolling at Manchester. Smith was so impressed with the quality of Hammill's original material that the two agreed to form a band together. The band name chosen from Smith's list was based on a Van de Graaff generator, a mechanical device that produces static electricity with lightning-like flashes – the misspellings are accidental. Smith recalls the reason for this may have been that Van de Graaff died in 1967, which was widely reported in the media.
Among the bands that regularly played the university, including Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and Pink Floyd, they were particularly impressed by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, and recruited an organist, Nick Pearne, to match the format of Arthur Brown's band. Along with two female dancers, the initial line-up was Hammill on guitar and vocals, Smith on drums, wind instruments and vocals, and Pearne on organ (though he did not initially have an instrument). According to Smith, the band initially played as a two-piece, with Smith occasionally using a typewriter as a percussion instrument; their first gig as a three-piece was in the student union, which lasted five minutes before the group's amplifiers blew up.
The band managed to persuade fellow student Caleb Bradley to manage them, and by the start of 1968, the band had managed to record a demo tape influenced by blues and jazz, sending it to Lou Reizner, then the U.K. head of Mercury Records, who offered the trio of Hammill, Smith, and Pearne a recording contract in May. At this point, the band had to make a decision whether to stay on at university, or quit their courses and move to London to turn professional. Pearne was not keen to abandon his studies, so decided to leave the group.
On arrival in London, Hammill and Smith met up with classically trained organist Hugh Banton, who was a brother of one of their friends back in Manchester. Later that year, they met Tony Stratton-Smith, who agreed to sign a management contract with them in December. Through him, the band acquired a bass guitar player, Keith Ellis, with drummer Guy Evans joining not too long afterwards. This line-up recorded a series of demos for Mercury, before recording a single ("People You Were Going To" b/w "Firebrand") on Polydor Records, which was released in January 1969. Melody Maker said the single was "one of the best records of the week". But the single was quickly withdrawn under pressure from Mercury, since it violated the contract band members Hammill and Smith signed the previous year. Smith, feeling superfluous to requirements, left the band, amicably, shortly after the recording of the single. He later released demos featuring his time in Van der Graaf Generator on a CD, Democrazy. The remaining 4 members performed for John Peel on BBC Radio 1's Top Gear radio show in November, and played several gigs in England in the next months.
Meanwhile, Mercury refused to let the band record, and at the same time Stratton-Smith refused to let the other members of the band sign to Mercury too, as he did not think the deal was fair to the band (only Hammill remained now of the original three who had signed with Mercury). On top of that in late January 1969 the band's van and equipment were stolen. The theft aggravated their financial difficulties. Although the band was touring successfully, which included a concert in February at the Royal Albert Hall in support of Jimi Hendrix, it broke up in June after playing a final gig at Nottingham's Pop & Blues Festival on 10 May entirely with borrowed equipment. John Peel, who was compering the show, announced their break-up to the audience.
In July 1969, Hammill had begun performing solo at the Marquee Club in London, and since there was no group, he decided to record what was intended to be his first solo album at Trident Studios on 31 July and 1 August, with Banton, Evans, and Ellis as session musicians. However, through a deal worked out by Stratton-Smith, the album, The Aerosol Grey Machine, was released in September 1969 by Mercury under the group's name in return for releasing them from their contract. The album was initially only released in the United States with hardly any promotion at all, so sales were minimal, but the group decided to reform in the middle of the recording session. Ellis had already committed to joining Juicy Lucy and was replaced by Evan's former bandmate in The Misunderstood, Nic Potter. The band had also enjoyed flautist Jeff Peach's contributions to the album and wanted to recruit a further instrumentalist. "There was always the idea of having another melodic instrument," recalled Evans. "He [Banton]'ll play a solo, sure, and really give it something, but he doesn't want to do that all the time." Peach was approached to become a full-time member, but dropped out after one rehearsal as he didn't think his playing style fitted the band. The position was eventually filled by saxophonist and flautist David Jackson, who had previously played in a band called Heebalob with Smith. Hammill had already sat in with Heebalob at the Plumpton National Jazz Festival on 9 August, and, impressed by Jackson's playing, invited him to join the band, partly because he also needed a flatmate to help pay with the rent.
Signing to Charisma (1969–70)
In September, the new five-piece band began rehearsals in Notting Hill Gate and began to change its sound. Banton, influenced by the effects pedals popularised by Jimi Hendrix, used his electronic skills to modify a Farfisa organ, giving it a wider variety of sounds. Jackson was inspired by jazz musicians, particularly Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and began to play multiple saxophones (usually alto and tenor) simultaneously. Hammill, for his part, elected to sing in received pronunciation, exploring the full range of his vocal capabilities. "We were all megalomaniacs," said Banton. "We grabbed our own space as best we could." The band started to gig regularly, including the first of several live appearances at the Friars Aylesbury in November.
Tony Stratton-Smith formed Charisma Records and signed the band as his first act, who recorded their second album, The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other from 11–14 December 1969 with producer John Anthony in Trident Studios. Hammill's voice was electronically treated on "After the Flood", while "Refugees" and "White Hammer" featured cello and cornet respectively. Because the band finished ahead of their rehearsal schedule, Potter decided to overdub some electric guitar – an instrument he had never played before. The album was released in February 1970 and made the top 50 in the U.K, Melody Maker said "If all our groups were as together as this, the British music scene would improve ten-fold."
Potter, however, did not feel he fitted into the increasingly experimental sound the band was developing and tended to wait until the others had worked out their parts during rehearsals, adding his bass lines on top at the last minute. After recording three tracks of their third album, H to He, Who Am the Only One, he decided to quit the band. His last gig was on 9 August at the 1970 Plumpton Festival. The remaining members auditioned Dave Anderson, roadie for Brinsley Schwarz and friend of the band, but after a week's rehearsal found that things weren't working out musically. Banton, meanwhile, had become influenced by Vincent Crane's work in Atomic Rooster, where Crane played the bass lines on a Hammond organ's bass pedals and suggested that he could do this as well. With just days to go before the next gig, they tried rehearsing as a four-piece, and it was successful. Banton later played bass guitar on certain songs, having already learned the instrument in the mid-1960s, and Hammill expanded his instrumental capabilities on stage to cover piano and keyboards as well as guitar. Jackson modified his saxophones to be completely electric, as opposed to simply being amplified through a microphone, and combined the sound with a wah-wah pedal and an octave divider.
H to He continued to be recorded sporadically throughout 1970, and featured Robert Fripp of King Crimson contributing guitar on "The Emperor in His War-Room". Producer John Anthony knew Fripp socially and invited him to a session as a guest, something Fripp had never done before at that point. According to Jackson, Fripp "put headphones on and started searing away", listening to the track once, then performing two takes. "Killer", later to become a live favourite, recycled a middle eight from an old Heebalob song, and Smith received a co-composition credit on the track. The album was released in December, but didn't sell as well as The Least We Can Do... because of the lack of a hit. Charisma proposed "Killer" as a single, but the band rejected this. Reviewing the album, Sounds particularly praised Jackson's saxophone work, but critical reception overall was mixed.
The classic line-up (1971–72)
The Hammill/Banton/Jackson/Evans quartet that resulted from H to He, Who Am the Only One is now considered the "classic" line-up. The group played on the 'Six Bob Tour' in early 1971 with fellow Charisma labelmates Genesis and Lindisfarne. Despite the complexity of their music, the band were well received on the tour, with Hammill noting "at nearly all the gigs, most of the audience have known most of the songs ... It was like a big family actually, exactly as all of us had pictured it in our wildest dreams."
While on tour, the band started working out compositions between gigs for their next album, which would become Pawn Hearts. The intention was to release a double album, and the band recorded the material; however, for economic reasons, the released recording was a single album containing three tracks – "Lemmings", "Man-Erg", and the 23 minute concept piece "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". Reflecting on this, Hammill said: "Charisma Records felt that it wasn't appropriate for us to release a double album and they vetoed the live studio recordings and the solo tracks by Guy, David, and Hugh." The master tape of the recording sessions has been lost. Fripp again provided a cameo appearance on guitar. While "Man-Erg" had already been performed on stage, "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" evolved in the studio, recorded in small sections and pieced together during mixing. According to producer John Anthony, the track features a lot more studio experimentation than on previous albums, saying "we pushed the facilities at Trident to the limit and had involved the use of every single tape machine in Trident at some stage." The experiments included tape manipulation and Banton playing Mellotron and synthesizer. According to Jackson, one section of it features the entire band overdubbed 16 times. The album was released in October 1971 and was not a success in the U.K, but proved highly successful in Italy, topping the chart there for 12 weeks. The following single, "Theme One", reached number one in Italy, too. "Theme One" was an instrumental piece, originally written by Beatles producer George Martin as a fanfare for the BBC radio station Radio 1, later to appear on US pressings of Pawn Hearts.
Following commercial success in Italy, the band did a six-week tour there at the start of 1972. The band were apprehensive about touring there, concerned they might be playing to half empty venues, but they were all shocked by the sheer volume of the crowds that came to see them. "Pawn Hearts was seen as the ultimate album by the ultimate band," said Jackson, who at times found it difficult to walk down the street in parts of Italy without being recognised. "The tour was like the prophets have landed ... you couldn't go anywhere without this lunatic 'Generator Mania' breaking out." After the tour, the group was immediately offered another Italian tour, this time doing up to three shows a day. In between the tours, the band made an appearance on Belgian television performing "Theme One" and "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". Since the studio recording of "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" was a collage of multiple recordings, impossible to reproduce live in one setting, the band simply filmed individual sections of the song and spliced them together in the editing suite. It was the only live performance of the song until 2013.
By June, the band had performed another Italian tour (the third that year) and wanted to start recording new material (some of which ended up on Hammill's 1973 solo album Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night). However, the combination of working for too long without a break, combined with a lack of support from Stratton-Smith and Charisma and continued financial difficulties caused the band to implode, and Hammill left to pursue a solo career in mid-1972.
The three remaining members recorded an instrumental album with Nic Potter, Ced Curtis, and Pietro Messina, under the name 'The Long Hello'. Their self-titled album (The Long Hello) was released in 1974.
First reunion (1975–78)
Hammill's split with the group was amicable, and Banton, Jackson, and Evans, among others, all contributed to his solo work at various times. By February 1975, the members of the band were ready to work with each other in a full-time capacity again, and they decided to reform the band. All the members were keen on carrying on with new music, with no nostalgia for their previous era, and did not want to play earlier stage favourites such as "Killer" (the opening track on H to He, Who Am the Only One) and "Theme One". "We didn't want to continue as if nothing had happened," said Hammill. Banton was in the middle of building a custom organ at the time, and halted the project to join the reformed group, using a rented Hammond C3 organ instead. Hammill began playing electric guitar in the band, which had been conspicuously absent earlier in their career.
The reformed band worked at a prolific pace, rehearsing, and touring France before recording three new albums in just 12 months, beginning with Godbluff (October 1975). Unlike the earlier work with John Anthony at Trident, the sessions were produced by the band themselves, and both the Melody Maker and Sounds thought they were a tighter and more cohesive unit than previously. The album in particular saw Hammill making significant use of the Hohner clavinet keyboard. Still Life followed on 15 April 1976. Banton considers this album one of his favourites by the group.
In the summer of 1975, the band gigged in Italy without incident, but when they returned to tour there in November, the intense political situation the country was going through caught up with them. The opening concert in Padua was marked with clashes with communists delivering political speeches, and the audience started throwing missiles towards the stage. After a gig without incident in Genoa, the third day of the tour at the PalaSport in Rome, in front of 40,000 people, saw similar confrontations to the Padua gig. A fire broke out at the venue, but was brought under control. The next day, the band learned that most of their gear had been stolen from the tour van, including Hammill's blue Fender Stratocaster, christened "Meurglys". Despite threats from promoters that the band would continue the tour using hired equipment (which Jackson considered impossible given the electronic modifications he had made to his saxophones), they abandoned the tour. Miraculously, all of Jackson's saxophones had survived the theft.
In December 1976, following the World Record tour, Banton quit, and in January 1977 Nic Potter returned to replace him alongside the violinist Graham Smith (formerly of Charisma folk-rock band String Driven Thing). But when suddenly Jackson also decided to leave the band, a four-piece line-up with a quite different sound, with a shortened name of Van der Graaf, had to play the spring tour. They produced the album The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome, released in September 1977, and then Charles Dickie joined the band in August on cello and keyboards, and stayed with the band in their last year. A further studio album was never recorded, so that the only document of this line-up is the live double-album Vital, which was recorded in January 1978, and contained at least several new songs. The 2 concerts played for this record also brought a brief reunion with David Jackson, who guested on 6 of the album's tracks. By the time Vital was released, in July 1978, the band had already split, because of lack of record company support in the United States and financial difficulties.
In 1982 a collection of out-takes and rehearsal recordings from the 1972–1975 hiatus was released (initially on cassette only), called Time Vaults. Intended only as a gift for hardcore fans these are mostly not studio-quality recordings, some of them have even a quite bad audio quality full of distortions.
Second reunion (2005)
Despite the 1978 split, Banton recalled that the group "never descended very far into our sub-conscience". Banton, Jackson and Evans appeared on Hammill's solo albums, and all four occasionally played together. In 1996, the quartet appeared on stage during a concert by Hammill and Evans at the Union Chapel in London to perform "Lemmings", which was later in March 1997 released as The Union Chapel Concert. In 2003, Banton, Jackson, and Evans joined with Hammill to perform "Still Life" at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.
Following the Queen Elizabeth Hall performance, the band members discussed working together. In mid-2004, they began to write and rehearse new material. The result was a double CD, Present, released in April 2005. Critical response was favourable; BBC Music's Peter Marsh said the group was "willing to push the envelope a little, and bless them for that", while AllMusic's Dave Thompson said the group "never made a less than fabulous album in their lives. And they're not about to start now." A reunion concert took place at the Royal Festival Hall, London, on 6 May 2005, which was released as Real Time in March 2007. The Festival Hall concert was followed by several European dates in the summer and autumn. The concert in Leverkusen, Germany on 5 November was filmed for the Westdeutscher Rundfunk TV show Rockpalast, which was broadcast on 16 January 2006.
Hammill stated in a December 2005 newsletter that there were no plans for further recordings or performances by the "classic" Van der Graaf Generator line-up of himself, Banton, Evans and Jackson. Hammill subsequently announced that the band would be continuing as a trio, for live and studio work, without Jackson. He later stated that the reason for Jackson's departure was that he "seemed to have difficulty in understanding what we had mutually agreed" and that he clashed with the other band members. Relationships between Jackson and the others became strained, and Hammill, Banton and Evans realised that the only way the group could continue was without him.
Trio (2006 – present)
After Jackson's departure, the group took a break before touring as a trio in April and July 2007 over Europe. A concert on 14 April 2007 in the Paradiso in Amsterdam was recorded and streamed on the FabChannel website until March 2009, and was released on DVD and CD that June.
The first trio recording, Trisector, was released on 17 March 2008. Live concerts were played in Europe in March and April, and in Japan in June, among them, one at the Gouveia Art Rock Festival. There were further concerts in January 2009 in Europe, and the band played several concerts in Canada and the United States in the summer of 2009, among them a performance at NEARfest in Bethlehem PA. It was only the second time Van der Graaf Generator had visited the United States (their first being in New York City in 1976).
In spring 2010, the group recorded a new album in Devon. A Grounding in Numbers was released on 14 March 2011. Live at Metropolis Studios 2010 was released as a 2CD/1DVD set by Salvo/Union Square Music on 4 June 2012. The band then toured the eastern part of the United States and Canada during June and July 2012, including an appearance at NEARfest Apocalypse in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on 22 June. An album of out-takes and in-studio jams, similar to the second disc of Present, called ALT was released in June 2012. Hammill has stated that he has enjoyed the current reunion, as "the activity has reinvigorated me. Going from one thing to another is an energizing thing."
Hammill revealed via his website that the band's former bassist Nic Potter died on the night of 16 January 2013, aged 61. The group continued to tour in 2013, including the first live performance of "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". In 2014, the group collaborated with Soviet dissident artist Vladislav Shabalin for an art venture titled the Earlybird Project. The title comes from the track of the same name on ALT. In 2015, the group released the live album, Merlin Atmos featuring tracks recorded during the 2013 tour, and After the Flood, an album of BBC recordings from 1968–1977. A new album, Do Not Disturb was released in September 2016. It included the song "Alfa Berlina" which documented the group's 1970s Italian tours. Critics speculated that it would be the band's last album, though this has not been confirmed.
In 2021 the band embarked on a European tour, due to continue until May 2022. On 24 and 25 October 2021 the band played, for the first time in Finland, in two concerts at the , in Helsinki. The band performed as a duo as Evans was not allowed to cross the border when his passport was found to be no longer valid, due to recent increased severity in the Brexit regulations. The passport issue was resolved before the band went on to two shows in Stockholm and Gothenburg, Sweden and one in Oslo, Norway.
Musical style
Due to the time-frame of the original band's career, Van der Graaf Generator have been frequently referred to as a progressive rock band. Writing in Record Collector, Toby Manning said the music was "philosophical, even intellectual, complex .. at times, terrifying". While the music on The Aerosol Grey Machine (September 1969) has a more pastoral, hippie feel, with prominent use of Hammill's acoustic guitar, later work featured more complex instrumentation and arrangements. Hammill thinks the style of the band evolved due to the culture of music in the late 1960s, stating "the whole of music was laid out in front of you ... it was the blues in wonky time signatures." Both Hammill and Banton have stated that Jimi Hendrix was an influence on the band's sound, with Hammill remarking that "there'd been distortion before, but there hadn't been that real out-there attitude to sound in itself". The group's experimental style has also been compared to Krautrock bands such as Can. Because of their musical influences and line-up, the band tended to play darker musical themes than other progressive bands, with the possible exception of King Crimson. However, Hammill has stated that the group is still fun to work with, stating "as far as we're concerned, it's serious fun, but fun nonetheless." Promoting Do Not Disturb, he said "We love making a racket, and that has to do with chaos, which is pretty punk".
Hammill's lyrics frequently covered themes of mortality, due to his love of science fiction writers such as Robert A. Heinlein and Philip K. Dick, along with his self-confessed warped and obsessive nature. His voice has been a distinctive component of the band throughout its career. It has been described as "a male Nico" and would later on be cited as an influence by Goth bands in the 1980s.
Unlike several other notable prog rock keyboardists, such as Rick Wakeman or Keith Emerson, Banton considers himself primarily an organist, due to his background in classical and church music, and only ever used that instrument on stage, albeit heavily modified with customised electronics and devices. Hammill said that "Hugh is one of the most instinctive, baffling, and brilliant people I've known and his intuitive hold on the worlds of music and electronics has always astonished me." Banton used clonewheel organs during the 2005 reformation, but since 2009 he has used the Hammond XK-3c, and thinks Hammond have "cracked that sound at long last".
Although Hammill has written the vast majority of the songs in the band's catalogue, and all of the lyrics, he is keen to stress that the arrangements of the music comes from all the group's members. In 1976, being interviewed for the Melody Maker, he said that "VDGG is a band, a real band ... of course [it] is something special, it releases in individual terms parts of us that wouldn't be aired otherwise. In 2013, he reiterated, "Some people don't think Van der Graaf is a democracy, but believe me, it's entirely democratic, with everyone having very vocal and forceful opinions." Since the band has stabilised around Hammill, Banton and Evans, the members think there is a good balance of opinion, with somebody always having the casting vote.
The band have been compared with Genesis due to being label-mates at Charisma Records, sharing management with Tony Stratton-Smith and performing on the same bill on the 'Six Bob Tour'. Hammill and Banton both reject this comparison, with Hammill noting that Genesis were far more driven to be commercially successful, whereas he prefers to release music without interference from record companies. In particular, he has mentioned that while he himself continues to release albums on a regular basis in the 21st century, Peter Gabriel's "average output has been about 0.2 albums a year".
Influence
Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful outside of early 1970s Italy, they have inspired notable musicians, including Rush, Julian Cope, and Marc Almond and was namechecked by the likes of Graham Coxon and John Lydon.
Coxon is particularly fond of "House with No Door" from H to He (1970), saying the track is "extremely beautiful, with Jackson's truly lovely sax-and-flute instrumental section." Almond recalled hearing "Killer" for the first time saying, "I'd never heard anything like it before. It wasn't just Peter's snarling operatic vocal, it was the mix of instruments ... I became an instant fan." Mentioning their reputation as something of an acquired taste, Lydon said, "There's a few Van der Graaf things I like, but I'm not going to recommend anything to anyone. It might not be for them. Music doesn't come with a set of guidelines." Bruce Dickinson – a fan of the band since he saw them at Oundle School aged 13 – hailed Hammill as one of his childhood heroes.
Although Van der Graaf Generator are generally categorised as progressive rock, Cope is keen to distance the band from that movement: "Their music was like some Brechtian bar band – the opposite of prog rock, really". Nevertheless, the band have been acknowledged as an influence on the neo-progressive rock subgenre that emerged in the 1980s and of which Marillion were the most successful proponents. Hammill's singing style influenced Marillion singer Fish and he was a support act on Marillion's first album tour.
"The band we really cared about was Van der Graaf Generator," said Philip Oakey of The Human League. "That music was so committed."
Personnel
Members
Current members
Peter Hammill – lead and backing vocals, guitars, electric and acoustic piano, keyboards (1967–1972, 1975–1978, 2005–present)
Hugh Banton – organ, keyboards, bass pedals, bass guitar, backing vocals (1968–1972, 1975–1976, 2005–present)
Guy Evans – drums, percussion (1968–1972, 1975–1978, 2005–present)
Former members
Chris Judge Smith – drums, percussion, wind instruments, backing and lead vocals (1967–1968)
Nick Pearne – organ (1967–1968)
Keith Ellis – bass guitar (1968–1969; died 1978)
Nic Potter – bass guitar, guitar (1969–1970, 1977–1978; died 2013)
David Jackson – alto, tenor, baritone and soprano saxophones, flute, backing vocals (1969–1972, 1975–1977, 1978 (guest for two concerts), 2005–2006)
Graham Smith – violin (1977–1978)
Charles Dickie – cello, keyboards (1977–1978)
Lineups
Timeline
Discography
The Aerosol Grey Machine (1969)
The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other (1970)
H to He, Who Am the Only One (1970)
Pawn Hearts (1971)
Godbluff (1975)
Still Life (1976)
World Record (1976)
The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome (1977)
Present (2005)
Trisector (2008)
A Grounding in Numbers (2011)
ALT (2012)
Do Not Disturb (2016)
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
External links
Peter Hammill's official site (www.SofaSound.com)
Earlybird project official site (www.Shabalin.it/Earlybird-Project)
Van der Graaf Generator biography by Jason Ankeny, discography and album reviews, credits & releases at AllMusic.com
Van der Graaf Generator discography, album releases & credits at Discogs.com
Van der Graaf Generator albums to be listened as stream at Play.Spotify.com
English art rock groups
English progressive rock groups
Musical groups from Manchester
Musical groups established in 1967
Charisma Records artists
Virgin Records artists
Mercury Records artists
Fontana Records artists
Vertigo Records artists
Dunhill Records artists
Articles which contain graphical timelines
| true |
[
"Dadakuada is a type of Yoruba performance art form which originated from and is popular among the people of Kwara.\n\nHistory and Performance\nDadakuada started about three hundred years ago, according to folktales. Its lyrics basically are made of eulogy, ballad (ijala), incantation, invocation and some abusive words or some fun words. It is a folk genre of music similar to juju music and other types of folk music.\nDadakuada is very rich in beats which are derived from traditional instruments like talking drum, bata, gangan and agogo.\nIts singers are always in a band or what seems like a band, it contains a lead singer and others who support him as he is singing. The supporters are the accompanist, lead drummer, drummer, money-keeper and assistant vocalist. They are always seated in a semi-circle and they perform in any event, ranging from naming ceremonies to funeral. Later on the music genre spread to other south-western parts of Nigeria. They have an apprenticeship program where an upcoming dadakuada singer follows a professional singer to any function he has.\nNotable dadakuada musicians: Odolaye Aremu, Aremu Ose, Balu Iyabo.\n\nReferences\n\nNigerian music\nMusic genres",
"\nThis is a list of Christian ska bands. Christian ska is a form of Christian alternative rock, and subgenre of ska and ska punk which is lyrically oriented toward contemporary Christian music (CCM) Though ska did not constitute a genre within the Christian music industry until after third wave ska had peaked in the general market, The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music defines (CCM) as \"music that appeals to self-identified fans of contemporary Christian music on account of a perceived connection to what they regard as Christianity\". Based on that definition, this list includes artists and bands who perform ska music and work in the Christian music industry as well as artists in the general market whose lyrics reflect their Christian faith or where either the artists themselves or outside sources identify members as performing Christian music.\n\nArtists\n The Deluxtone Rockets\n Denver and the Mile High Orchestra\n The Dingees\n Five Iron Frenzy\n Flight 180\n The Insyderz\n The O.C. Supertones\n Sounds Like Chicken\n Squad Five-O\n The W's\n\nSee also\nList of Christian bands and artists by genre\n\nReferences\n\nSka bands\n \nSka\nLists of punk bands"
] |
[
"Van der Graaf Generator",
"Influence",
"Did the group influence many people?",
"they have inspired several notable musicians, including Rush, John Lydon, Marc Almond, Graham Coxon, Luca Prodan, Mark E. Smith, John Frusciante, Bruce Dickinson and Julian Cope.",
"When was the group popular?",
"Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful outside of early 1970s Italy,",
"What type of music did they perform?",
"lovely sax-and-flute instrumental section."
] |
C_8b5b146e7f2a4af38f3882cef27d6fba_0
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Did they ever release any more music?
| 4 |
Did the Van der Graaf Generator ever release any more music?
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Van der Graaf Generator
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Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful outside of early 1970s Italy, they have inspired several notable musicians, including Rush, John Lydon, Marc Almond, Graham Coxon, Luca Prodan, Mark E. Smith, John Frusciante, Bruce Dickinson and Julian Cope. Dickinson, who has been a fan of the band since he saw them at Oundle School aged 13, said that Hammill was one of his childhood heroes. Coxon is particularly fond of "House with No Door" from H to He (1970), saying the track is "extremely beautiful, with Jackson's truly lovely sax-and-flute instrumental section." Almond recalled hearing "Killer" for the first time saying, "I'd never heard anything like it before. It wasn't just Peter's snarling operatic vocal, it was the mix of instruments ... I became an instant fan." Mentioning their reputation as something of an acquired taste, Lydon said, "There's a few Van Der Graaf things I like, but I'm not going to recommend anything to anyone. It might not be for them. Music doesn't come with a set of guidelines." Although generally categorised as a progressive rock group, Cope is keen to distance the band from that movement, stating "Their music was like some Brechtian bar band - the opposite of prog rock, really". Nevertheless, the band have been acknowledged as an influence on the neo-progressive rock subgenre which emerged in the 1980s and featured Marillion as its most successful band. Marillion singer Fish thought highly of Hammill and invited him to be the support on the band's early tours. The Canadian new wave band Men Without Hats have a song titled "The Van der Graaf Generator Blues" on their 1991 album Sideways. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Chris Judge Smith and the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much commercial success in the UK, but became popular in Italy during the 1970s. In 2005 the band reformed, and are still musically active with a line-up of Hammill, organist Hugh Banton and drummer Guy Evans.
The band formed at the University of Manchester, but settled in London where they signed with Charisma. They went through several incarnations in their early years, including a brief split in 1969. When they reformed, they found minor commercial success with The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other (released in early 1970 and their only album to chart in the UK), and after the follow-up album, H to He, Who Am the Only One (December 1970), stabilised around a line-up of Hammill, Banton, Evans and saxophonist David Jackson. The quartet subsequently achieved significant success in Italy with the release of Pawn Hearts in 1971. After several exhausting tours of Italy, the band split in 1972. They reformed in 1975, releasing Godbluff and frequently touring Italy again, before a major line-up change and a slight rename to Van der Graaf. The band split in 1978. After many years apart, the band finally reunited at a gig at the Royal Festival Hall and a short tour in 2005. Since then, the band has continued as a trio of Hammill, Banton, and Evans, who record and tour regularly in between Hammill's concurrent solo career.
The group's albums have tended to be both lyrically and musically darker in atmosphere than many of their progressive rock peers (a trait they shared with King Crimson, whose guitarist Robert Fripp guested on two of their albums), and guitar solos were the exception rather than the rule, preferring to use Banton's classically influenced organ, and, until his departure, Jackson's multiple saxophones. While Hammill is the primary songwriter for the band, and members have contributed to his solo albums, the band arranges all its material collectively. Hammill's lyrics covered themes of mortality, due to his love of science fiction writers such as Robert A. Heinlein and Philip K. Dick, along with his confessed warped and obsessive nature. His voice has been a distinctive component of the band throughout its career, described as "a male Nico". Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful, they have inspired several musicians across various genres.
History
Formation and early years (1967–69)
The band formed in 1967 at the University of Manchester, after Chris Judge Smith, who had already played in several British rhythm and blues groups whilst a pupil in Oundle School, returned from a trip to San Francisco and, inspired by the bands he had seen, put together a list of possible band names to form a new group. After an unsatisfactory audition they had both attended in response to an advert to form a band, he met fellow student Peter Hammill, who was playing some of his original songs. Hammill had begun writing songs and poetry at the age of 12 while at prep school, and progressed to playing in bands while a pupil at Beaumont College. He was then briefly employed as a computer programmer, during which time he subsequently claimed to have written much of the band's early material, before enrolling at Manchester. Smith was so impressed with the quality of Hammill's original material that the two agreed to form a band together. The band name chosen from Smith's list was based on a Van de Graaff generator, a mechanical device that produces static electricity with lightning-like flashes – the misspellings are accidental. Smith recalls the reason for this may have been that Van de Graaff died in 1967, which was widely reported in the media.
Among the bands that regularly played the university, including Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and Pink Floyd, they were particularly impressed by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, and recruited an organist, Nick Pearne, to match the format of Arthur Brown's band. Along with two female dancers, the initial line-up was Hammill on guitar and vocals, Smith on drums, wind instruments and vocals, and Pearne on organ (though he did not initially have an instrument). According to Smith, the band initially played as a two-piece, with Smith occasionally using a typewriter as a percussion instrument; their first gig as a three-piece was in the student union, which lasted five minutes before the group's amplifiers blew up.
The band managed to persuade fellow student Caleb Bradley to manage them, and by the start of 1968, the band had managed to record a demo tape influenced by blues and jazz, sending it to Lou Reizner, then the U.K. head of Mercury Records, who offered the trio of Hammill, Smith, and Pearne a recording contract in May. At this point, the band had to make a decision whether to stay on at university, or quit their courses and move to London to turn professional. Pearne was not keen to abandon his studies, so decided to leave the group.
On arrival in London, Hammill and Smith met up with classically trained organist Hugh Banton, who was a brother of one of their friends back in Manchester. Later that year, they met Tony Stratton-Smith, who agreed to sign a management contract with them in December. Through him, the band acquired a bass guitar player, Keith Ellis, with drummer Guy Evans joining not too long afterwards. This line-up recorded a series of demos for Mercury, before recording a single ("People You Were Going To" b/w "Firebrand") on Polydor Records, which was released in January 1969. Melody Maker said the single was "one of the best records of the week". But the single was quickly withdrawn under pressure from Mercury, since it violated the contract band members Hammill and Smith signed the previous year. Smith, feeling superfluous to requirements, left the band, amicably, shortly after the recording of the single. He later released demos featuring his time in Van der Graaf Generator on a CD, Democrazy. The remaining 4 members performed for John Peel on BBC Radio 1's Top Gear radio show in November, and played several gigs in England in the next months.
Meanwhile, Mercury refused to let the band record, and at the same time Stratton-Smith refused to let the other members of the band sign to Mercury too, as he did not think the deal was fair to the band (only Hammill remained now of the original three who had signed with Mercury). On top of that in late January 1969 the band's van and equipment were stolen. The theft aggravated their financial difficulties. Although the band was touring successfully, which included a concert in February at the Royal Albert Hall in support of Jimi Hendrix, it broke up in June after playing a final gig at Nottingham's Pop & Blues Festival on 10 May entirely with borrowed equipment. John Peel, who was compering the show, announced their break-up to the audience.
In July 1969, Hammill had begun performing solo at the Marquee Club in London, and since there was no group, he decided to record what was intended to be his first solo album at Trident Studios on 31 July and 1 August, with Banton, Evans, and Ellis as session musicians. However, through a deal worked out by Stratton-Smith, the album, The Aerosol Grey Machine, was released in September 1969 by Mercury under the group's name in return for releasing them from their contract. The album was initially only released in the United States with hardly any promotion at all, so sales were minimal, but the group decided to reform in the middle of the recording session. Ellis had already committed to joining Juicy Lucy and was replaced by Evan's former bandmate in The Misunderstood, Nic Potter. The band had also enjoyed flautist Jeff Peach's contributions to the album and wanted to recruit a further instrumentalist. "There was always the idea of having another melodic instrument," recalled Evans. "He [Banton]'ll play a solo, sure, and really give it something, but he doesn't want to do that all the time." Peach was approached to become a full-time member, but dropped out after one rehearsal as he didn't think his playing style fitted the band. The position was eventually filled by saxophonist and flautist David Jackson, who had previously played in a band called Heebalob with Smith. Hammill had already sat in with Heebalob at the Plumpton National Jazz Festival on 9 August, and, impressed by Jackson's playing, invited him to join the band, partly because he also needed a flatmate to help pay with the rent.
Signing to Charisma (1969–70)
In September, the new five-piece band began rehearsals in Notting Hill Gate and began to change its sound. Banton, influenced by the effects pedals popularised by Jimi Hendrix, used his electronic skills to modify a Farfisa organ, giving it a wider variety of sounds. Jackson was inspired by jazz musicians, particularly Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and began to play multiple saxophones (usually alto and tenor) simultaneously. Hammill, for his part, elected to sing in received pronunciation, exploring the full range of his vocal capabilities. "We were all megalomaniacs," said Banton. "We grabbed our own space as best we could." The band started to gig regularly, including the first of several live appearances at the Friars Aylesbury in November.
Tony Stratton-Smith formed Charisma Records and signed the band as his first act, who recorded their second album, The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other from 11–14 December 1969 with producer John Anthony in Trident Studios. Hammill's voice was electronically treated on "After the Flood", while "Refugees" and "White Hammer" featured cello and cornet respectively. Because the band finished ahead of their rehearsal schedule, Potter decided to overdub some electric guitar – an instrument he had never played before. The album was released in February 1970 and made the top 50 in the U.K, Melody Maker said "If all our groups were as together as this, the British music scene would improve ten-fold."
Potter, however, did not feel he fitted into the increasingly experimental sound the band was developing and tended to wait until the others had worked out their parts during rehearsals, adding his bass lines on top at the last minute. After recording three tracks of their third album, H to He, Who Am the Only One, he decided to quit the band. His last gig was on 9 August at the 1970 Plumpton Festival. The remaining members auditioned Dave Anderson, roadie for Brinsley Schwarz and friend of the band, but after a week's rehearsal found that things weren't working out musically. Banton, meanwhile, had become influenced by Vincent Crane's work in Atomic Rooster, where Crane played the bass lines on a Hammond organ's bass pedals and suggested that he could do this as well. With just days to go before the next gig, they tried rehearsing as a four-piece, and it was successful. Banton later played bass guitar on certain songs, having already learned the instrument in the mid-1960s, and Hammill expanded his instrumental capabilities on stage to cover piano and keyboards as well as guitar. Jackson modified his saxophones to be completely electric, as opposed to simply being amplified through a microphone, and combined the sound with a wah-wah pedal and an octave divider.
H to He continued to be recorded sporadically throughout 1970, and featured Robert Fripp of King Crimson contributing guitar on "The Emperor in His War-Room". Producer John Anthony knew Fripp socially and invited him to a session as a guest, something Fripp had never done before at that point. According to Jackson, Fripp "put headphones on and started searing away", listening to the track once, then performing two takes. "Killer", later to become a live favourite, recycled a middle eight from an old Heebalob song, and Smith received a co-composition credit on the track. The album was released in December, but didn't sell as well as The Least We Can Do... because of the lack of a hit. Charisma proposed "Killer" as a single, but the band rejected this. Reviewing the album, Sounds particularly praised Jackson's saxophone work, but critical reception overall was mixed.
The classic line-up (1971–72)
The Hammill/Banton/Jackson/Evans quartet that resulted from H to He, Who Am the Only One is now considered the "classic" line-up. The group played on the 'Six Bob Tour' in early 1971 with fellow Charisma labelmates Genesis and Lindisfarne. Despite the complexity of their music, the band were well received on the tour, with Hammill noting "at nearly all the gigs, most of the audience have known most of the songs ... It was like a big family actually, exactly as all of us had pictured it in our wildest dreams."
While on tour, the band started working out compositions between gigs for their next album, which would become Pawn Hearts. The intention was to release a double album, and the band recorded the material; however, for economic reasons, the released recording was a single album containing three tracks – "Lemmings", "Man-Erg", and the 23 minute concept piece "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". Reflecting on this, Hammill said: "Charisma Records felt that it wasn't appropriate for us to release a double album and they vetoed the live studio recordings and the solo tracks by Guy, David, and Hugh." The master tape of the recording sessions has been lost. Fripp again provided a cameo appearance on guitar. While "Man-Erg" had already been performed on stage, "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" evolved in the studio, recorded in small sections and pieced together during mixing. According to producer John Anthony, the track features a lot more studio experimentation than on previous albums, saying "we pushed the facilities at Trident to the limit and had involved the use of every single tape machine in Trident at some stage." The experiments included tape manipulation and Banton playing Mellotron and synthesizer. According to Jackson, one section of it features the entire band overdubbed 16 times. The album was released in October 1971 and was not a success in the U.K, but proved highly successful in Italy, topping the chart there for 12 weeks. The following single, "Theme One", reached number one in Italy, too. "Theme One" was an instrumental piece, originally written by Beatles producer George Martin as a fanfare for the BBC radio station Radio 1, later to appear on US pressings of Pawn Hearts.
Following commercial success in Italy, the band did a six-week tour there at the start of 1972. The band were apprehensive about touring there, concerned they might be playing to half empty venues, but they were all shocked by the sheer volume of the crowds that came to see them. "Pawn Hearts was seen as the ultimate album by the ultimate band," said Jackson, who at times found it difficult to walk down the street in parts of Italy without being recognised. "The tour was like the prophets have landed ... you couldn't go anywhere without this lunatic 'Generator Mania' breaking out." After the tour, the group was immediately offered another Italian tour, this time doing up to three shows a day. In between the tours, the band made an appearance on Belgian television performing "Theme One" and "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". Since the studio recording of "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" was a collage of multiple recordings, impossible to reproduce live in one setting, the band simply filmed individual sections of the song and spliced them together in the editing suite. It was the only live performance of the song until 2013.
By June, the band had performed another Italian tour (the third that year) and wanted to start recording new material (some of which ended up on Hammill's 1973 solo album Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night). However, the combination of working for too long without a break, combined with a lack of support from Stratton-Smith and Charisma and continued financial difficulties caused the band to implode, and Hammill left to pursue a solo career in mid-1972.
The three remaining members recorded an instrumental album with Nic Potter, Ced Curtis, and Pietro Messina, under the name 'The Long Hello'. Their self-titled album (The Long Hello) was released in 1974.
First reunion (1975–78)
Hammill's split with the group was amicable, and Banton, Jackson, and Evans, among others, all contributed to his solo work at various times. By February 1975, the members of the band were ready to work with each other in a full-time capacity again, and they decided to reform the band. All the members were keen on carrying on with new music, with no nostalgia for their previous era, and did not want to play earlier stage favourites such as "Killer" (the opening track on H to He, Who Am the Only One) and "Theme One". "We didn't want to continue as if nothing had happened," said Hammill. Banton was in the middle of building a custom organ at the time, and halted the project to join the reformed group, using a rented Hammond C3 organ instead. Hammill began playing electric guitar in the band, which had been conspicuously absent earlier in their career.
The reformed band worked at a prolific pace, rehearsing, and touring France before recording three new albums in just 12 months, beginning with Godbluff (October 1975). Unlike the earlier work with John Anthony at Trident, the sessions were produced by the band themselves, and both the Melody Maker and Sounds thought they were a tighter and more cohesive unit than previously. The album in particular saw Hammill making significant use of the Hohner clavinet keyboard. Still Life followed on 15 April 1976. Banton considers this album one of his favourites by the group.
In the summer of 1975, the band gigged in Italy without incident, but when they returned to tour there in November, the intense political situation the country was going through caught up with them. The opening concert in Padua was marked with clashes with communists delivering political speeches, and the audience started throwing missiles towards the stage. After a gig without incident in Genoa, the third day of the tour at the PalaSport in Rome, in front of 40,000 people, saw similar confrontations to the Padua gig. A fire broke out at the venue, but was brought under control. The next day, the band learned that most of their gear had been stolen from the tour van, including Hammill's blue Fender Stratocaster, christened "Meurglys". Despite threats from promoters that the band would continue the tour using hired equipment (which Jackson considered impossible given the electronic modifications he had made to his saxophones), they abandoned the tour. Miraculously, all of Jackson's saxophones had survived the theft.
In December 1976, following the World Record tour, Banton quit, and in January 1977 Nic Potter returned to replace him alongside the violinist Graham Smith (formerly of Charisma folk-rock band String Driven Thing). But when suddenly Jackson also decided to leave the band, a four-piece line-up with a quite different sound, with a shortened name of Van der Graaf, had to play the spring tour. They produced the album The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome, released in September 1977, and then Charles Dickie joined the band in August on cello and keyboards, and stayed with the band in their last year. A further studio album was never recorded, so that the only document of this line-up is the live double-album Vital, which was recorded in January 1978, and contained at least several new songs. The 2 concerts played for this record also brought a brief reunion with David Jackson, who guested on 6 of the album's tracks. By the time Vital was released, in July 1978, the band had already split, because of lack of record company support in the United States and financial difficulties.
In 1982 a collection of out-takes and rehearsal recordings from the 1972–1975 hiatus was released (initially on cassette only), called Time Vaults. Intended only as a gift for hardcore fans these are mostly not studio-quality recordings, some of them have even a quite bad audio quality full of distortions.
Second reunion (2005)
Despite the 1978 split, Banton recalled that the group "never descended very far into our sub-conscience". Banton, Jackson and Evans appeared on Hammill's solo albums, and all four occasionally played together. In 1996, the quartet appeared on stage during a concert by Hammill and Evans at the Union Chapel in London to perform "Lemmings", which was later in March 1997 released as The Union Chapel Concert. In 2003, Banton, Jackson, and Evans joined with Hammill to perform "Still Life" at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.
Following the Queen Elizabeth Hall performance, the band members discussed working together. In mid-2004, they began to write and rehearse new material. The result was a double CD, Present, released in April 2005. Critical response was favourable; BBC Music's Peter Marsh said the group was "willing to push the envelope a little, and bless them for that", while AllMusic's Dave Thompson said the group "never made a less than fabulous album in their lives. And they're not about to start now." A reunion concert took place at the Royal Festival Hall, London, on 6 May 2005, which was released as Real Time in March 2007. The Festival Hall concert was followed by several European dates in the summer and autumn. The concert in Leverkusen, Germany on 5 November was filmed for the Westdeutscher Rundfunk TV show Rockpalast, which was broadcast on 16 January 2006.
Hammill stated in a December 2005 newsletter that there were no plans for further recordings or performances by the "classic" Van der Graaf Generator line-up of himself, Banton, Evans and Jackson. Hammill subsequently announced that the band would be continuing as a trio, for live and studio work, without Jackson. He later stated that the reason for Jackson's departure was that he "seemed to have difficulty in understanding what we had mutually agreed" and that he clashed with the other band members. Relationships between Jackson and the others became strained, and Hammill, Banton and Evans realised that the only way the group could continue was without him.
Trio (2006 – present)
After Jackson's departure, the group took a break before touring as a trio in April and July 2007 over Europe. A concert on 14 April 2007 in the Paradiso in Amsterdam was recorded and streamed on the FabChannel website until March 2009, and was released on DVD and CD that June.
The first trio recording, Trisector, was released on 17 March 2008. Live concerts were played in Europe in March and April, and in Japan in June, among them, one at the Gouveia Art Rock Festival. There were further concerts in January 2009 in Europe, and the band played several concerts in Canada and the United States in the summer of 2009, among them a performance at NEARfest in Bethlehem PA. It was only the second time Van der Graaf Generator had visited the United States (their first being in New York City in 1976).
In spring 2010, the group recorded a new album in Devon. A Grounding in Numbers was released on 14 March 2011. Live at Metropolis Studios 2010 was released as a 2CD/1DVD set by Salvo/Union Square Music on 4 June 2012. The band then toured the eastern part of the United States and Canada during June and July 2012, including an appearance at NEARfest Apocalypse in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on 22 June. An album of out-takes and in-studio jams, similar to the second disc of Present, called ALT was released in June 2012. Hammill has stated that he has enjoyed the current reunion, as "the activity has reinvigorated me. Going from one thing to another is an energizing thing."
Hammill revealed via his website that the band's former bassist Nic Potter died on the night of 16 January 2013, aged 61. The group continued to tour in 2013, including the first live performance of "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". In 2014, the group collaborated with Soviet dissident artist Vladislav Shabalin for an art venture titled the Earlybird Project. The title comes from the track of the same name on ALT. In 2015, the group released the live album, Merlin Atmos featuring tracks recorded during the 2013 tour, and After the Flood, an album of BBC recordings from 1968–1977. A new album, Do Not Disturb was released in September 2016. It included the song "Alfa Berlina" which documented the group's 1970s Italian tours. Critics speculated that it would be the band's last album, though this has not been confirmed.
In 2021 the band embarked on a European tour, due to continue until May 2022. On 24 and 25 October 2021 the band played, for the first time in Finland, in two concerts at the , in Helsinki. The band performed as a duo as Evans was not allowed to cross the border when his passport was found to be no longer valid, due to recent increased severity in the Brexit regulations. The passport issue was resolved before the band went on to two shows in Stockholm and Gothenburg, Sweden and one in Oslo, Norway.
Musical style
Due to the time-frame of the original band's career, Van der Graaf Generator have been frequently referred to as a progressive rock band. Writing in Record Collector, Toby Manning said the music was "philosophical, even intellectual, complex .. at times, terrifying". While the music on The Aerosol Grey Machine (September 1969) has a more pastoral, hippie feel, with prominent use of Hammill's acoustic guitar, later work featured more complex instrumentation and arrangements. Hammill thinks the style of the band evolved due to the culture of music in the late 1960s, stating "the whole of music was laid out in front of you ... it was the blues in wonky time signatures." Both Hammill and Banton have stated that Jimi Hendrix was an influence on the band's sound, with Hammill remarking that "there'd been distortion before, but there hadn't been that real out-there attitude to sound in itself". The group's experimental style has also been compared to Krautrock bands such as Can. Because of their musical influences and line-up, the band tended to play darker musical themes than other progressive bands, with the possible exception of King Crimson. However, Hammill has stated that the group is still fun to work with, stating "as far as we're concerned, it's serious fun, but fun nonetheless." Promoting Do Not Disturb, he said "We love making a racket, and that has to do with chaos, which is pretty punk".
Hammill's lyrics frequently covered themes of mortality, due to his love of science fiction writers such as Robert A. Heinlein and Philip K. Dick, along with his self-confessed warped and obsessive nature. His voice has been a distinctive component of the band throughout its career. It has been described as "a male Nico" and would later on be cited as an influence by Goth bands in the 1980s.
Unlike several other notable prog rock keyboardists, such as Rick Wakeman or Keith Emerson, Banton considers himself primarily an organist, due to his background in classical and church music, and only ever used that instrument on stage, albeit heavily modified with customised electronics and devices. Hammill said that "Hugh is one of the most instinctive, baffling, and brilliant people I've known and his intuitive hold on the worlds of music and electronics has always astonished me." Banton used clonewheel organs during the 2005 reformation, but since 2009 he has used the Hammond XK-3c, and thinks Hammond have "cracked that sound at long last".
Although Hammill has written the vast majority of the songs in the band's catalogue, and all of the lyrics, he is keen to stress that the arrangements of the music comes from all the group's members. In 1976, being interviewed for the Melody Maker, he said that "VDGG is a band, a real band ... of course [it] is something special, it releases in individual terms parts of us that wouldn't be aired otherwise. In 2013, he reiterated, "Some people don't think Van der Graaf is a democracy, but believe me, it's entirely democratic, with everyone having very vocal and forceful opinions." Since the band has stabilised around Hammill, Banton and Evans, the members think there is a good balance of opinion, with somebody always having the casting vote.
The band have been compared with Genesis due to being label-mates at Charisma Records, sharing management with Tony Stratton-Smith and performing on the same bill on the 'Six Bob Tour'. Hammill and Banton both reject this comparison, with Hammill noting that Genesis were far more driven to be commercially successful, whereas he prefers to release music without interference from record companies. In particular, he has mentioned that while he himself continues to release albums on a regular basis in the 21st century, Peter Gabriel's "average output has been about 0.2 albums a year".
Influence
Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful outside of early 1970s Italy, they have inspired notable musicians, including Rush, Julian Cope, and Marc Almond and was namechecked by the likes of Graham Coxon and John Lydon.
Coxon is particularly fond of "House with No Door" from H to He (1970), saying the track is "extremely beautiful, with Jackson's truly lovely sax-and-flute instrumental section." Almond recalled hearing "Killer" for the first time saying, "I'd never heard anything like it before. It wasn't just Peter's snarling operatic vocal, it was the mix of instruments ... I became an instant fan." Mentioning their reputation as something of an acquired taste, Lydon said, "There's a few Van der Graaf things I like, but I'm not going to recommend anything to anyone. It might not be for them. Music doesn't come with a set of guidelines." Bruce Dickinson – a fan of the band since he saw them at Oundle School aged 13 – hailed Hammill as one of his childhood heroes.
Although Van der Graaf Generator are generally categorised as progressive rock, Cope is keen to distance the band from that movement: "Their music was like some Brechtian bar band – the opposite of prog rock, really". Nevertheless, the band have been acknowledged as an influence on the neo-progressive rock subgenre that emerged in the 1980s and of which Marillion were the most successful proponents. Hammill's singing style influenced Marillion singer Fish and he was a support act on Marillion's first album tour.
"The band we really cared about was Van der Graaf Generator," said Philip Oakey of The Human League. "That music was so committed."
Personnel
Members
Current members
Peter Hammill – lead and backing vocals, guitars, electric and acoustic piano, keyboards (1967–1972, 1975–1978, 2005–present)
Hugh Banton – organ, keyboards, bass pedals, bass guitar, backing vocals (1968–1972, 1975–1976, 2005–present)
Guy Evans – drums, percussion (1968–1972, 1975–1978, 2005–present)
Former members
Chris Judge Smith – drums, percussion, wind instruments, backing and lead vocals (1967–1968)
Nick Pearne – organ (1967–1968)
Keith Ellis – bass guitar (1968–1969; died 1978)
Nic Potter – bass guitar, guitar (1969–1970, 1977–1978; died 2013)
David Jackson – alto, tenor, baritone and soprano saxophones, flute, backing vocals (1969–1972, 1975–1977, 1978 (guest for two concerts), 2005–2006)
Graham Smith – violin (1977–1978)
Charles Dickie – cello, keyboards (1977–1978)
Lineups
Timeline
Discography
The Aerosol Grey Machine (1969)
The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other (1970)
H to He, Who Am the Only One (1970)
Pawn Hearts (1971)
Godbluff (1975)
Still Life (1976)
World Record (1976)
The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome (1977)
Present (2005)
Trisector (2008)
A Grounding in Numbers (2011)
ALT (2012)
Do Not Disturb (2016)
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
External links
Peter Hammill's official site (www.SofaSound.com)
Earlybird project official site (www.Shabalin.it/Earlybird-Project)
Van der Graaf Generator biography by Jason Ankeny, discography and album reviews, credits & releases at AllMusic.com
Van der Graaf Generator discography, album releases & credits at Discogs.com
Van der Graaf Generator albums to be listened as stream at Play.Spotify.com
English art rock groups
English progressive rock groups
Musical groups from Manchester
Musical groups established in 1967
Charisma Records artists
Virgin Records artists
Mercury Records artists
Fontana Records artists
Vertigo Records artists
Dunhill Records artists
Articles which contain graphical timelines
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[
"The Gurus were an American psychedelic rock band from the 1960s. They were among the first to incorporate Middle Eastern influences, maybe more than any other band of that era. The band broke up without making a large impact on the music scene of the time, although they did release two singles on United Artists Records in 1966 and 1967. Their album, The Gurus Are Hear, failed to be released in 1967, which was noted as the reason for the band splitting up.\n\nThe album was finally released in 2003.\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican psychedelic rock music groups",
"Love Me is a studio album by American country music artist Jeanne Pruett. It was released in October 1972 on Decca Records and was produced by Walter Haynes. Love Me was the debut studio recording in Pruett's music career and the first of several albums she issued with the Decca (later renamed MCA) label. The album contained 11 tracks, four of which were released as a singles and became charting hits on the national country music charts.\n\nBackground and content\nLove Me was recorded between 1971 and 1972 at Bradley's Barn, a studio located in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. The sessions were produced by Walter Haynes. The project was a collection of 11 tracks. According to Pruett, each of the songs chosen for the album were handpicked by Pruett and Haynes as a collaborative team. She also chose to dedicate the album to her agent, Hubert Long, who encouraged her music career. Four of the album's tracks were composed by Pruett herself. This included two singles that were later released. The album also included cover versions of material first cut by other country artists. Among the album's cover was Dolly Parton's \"Lost Forever in Your Kiss\", The Davis Sisters' \"I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know\" and Donna Fargo's \"The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.\".\n\nRelease and reception\nLove Me was released in October 1972 on Decca Records, making it Pruett's debut studio album. The project was issued as a vinyl recording, featuring six songs on \"side one\" and five songs on \"side two\" of the LP. Love Me did not reach a position on any Billboard magazine album charts following its release, including the Top Country Albums list. The magazine did however give the release a positive response in 1972. \"A sterling, stirring effort for the debut of Jeanne Pruett,\" critics wrote. The publication also highlighted several tracks that they believed were standouts, including her cover of \"I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know\".\n\nLove Me included four singles that were released between 1971 and 1972. All the songs became charting singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singlessurvey. The first to be issued was the self-composed \"Hold to My Unchanging Love\" in July 1972. It became Pruett's first charting single in her career, reaching number 66 on the country chart. The title track was released in January 1972. The song reached number 34 on the Billboard country singles chart, becoming the album's only top 40 hit. \"Call on Me\" was issued as the third single in June 1972. Spending three weeks on the Billboard country chart, it only reached number 64 by August. \"I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know\" was the fourth and final single released, which occurred in August 1972. After spending six weeks charting, it only reached number 60 on the country chart.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel\nAll credits are adapted from the liner notes of Love Me.\n\nMusical personnel\n Harold Bradley – guitar\n Winnifred Breast – background vocals\n Ray Edenton – guitar\n Buddy Harman – drums\n Walter Haynes – steel guitar\n The Jordanaires – background vocals\n Millie Kirkham – background vocals\n Grady Martin – guitar\n Charlie McCoy – harmonica, vibes\n Bob Moore – bass\n LaVerna Moore – background vocals\n Jeanne Pruett – lead vocals, harmony vocals\n Hal Rugg – steel guitar\n Jerry Smith – piano\n Pete Wade – guitar\n Duane West – background vocals\n\nTechnical personnel\n Walter Haynes – producer\n Dan Quest – photography\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n1972 albums\nDecca Records albums\nJeanne Pruett albums"
] |
[
"Van der Graaf Generator",
"Influence",
"Did the group influence many people?",
"they have inspired several notable musicians, including Rush, John Lydon, Marc Almond, Graham Coxon, Luca Prodan, Mark E. Smith, John Frusciante, Bruce Dickinson and Julian Cope.",
"When was the group popular?",
"Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful outside of early 1970s Italy,",
"What type of music did they perform?",
"lovely sax-and-flute instrumental section.",
"Did they ever release any more music?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_8b5b146e7f2a4af38f3882cef27d6fba_0
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Is there anything else interesting?
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Is there anything else interesting other than the Van der Graaf Generator?
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Van der Graaf Generator
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Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful outside of early 1970s Italy, they have inspired several notable musicians, including Rush, John Lydon, Marc Almond, Graham Coxon, Luca Prodan, Mark E. Smith, John Frusciante, Bruce Dickinson and Julian Cope. Dickinson, who has been a fan of the band since he saw them at Oundle School aged 13, said that Hammill was one of his childhood heroes. Coxon is particularly fond of "House with No Door" from H to He (1970), saying the track is "extremely beautiful, with Jackson's truly lovely sax-and-flute instrumental section." Almond recalled hearing "Killer" for the first time saying, "I'd never heard anything like it before. It wasn't just Peter's snarling operatic vocal, it was the mix of instruments ... I became an instant fan." Mentioning their reputation as something of an acquired taste, Lydon said, "There's a few Van Der Graaf things I like, but I'm not going to recommend anything to anyone. It might not be for them. Music doesn't come with a set of guidelines." Although generally categorised as a progressive rock group, Cope is keen to distance the band from that movement, stating "Their music was like some Brechtian bar band - the opposite of prog rock, really". Nevertheless, the band have been acknowledged as an influence on the neo-progressive rock subgenre which emerged in the 1980s and featured Marillion as its most successful band. Marillion singer Fish thought highly of Hammill and invited him to be the support on the band's early tours. The Canadian new wave band Men Without Hats have a song titled "The Van der Graaf Generator Blues" on their 1991 album Sideways. CANNOTANSWER
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The Canadian new wave band Men Without Hats have a song titled "The Van der Graaf Generator Blues" on their 1991 album Sideways.
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Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Chris Judge Smith and the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much commercial success in the UK, but became popular in Italy during the 1970s. In 2005 the band reformed, and are still musically active with a line-up of Hammill, organist Hugh Banton and drummer Guy Evans.
The band formed at the University of Manchester, but settled in London where they signed with Charisma. They went through several incarnations in their early years, including a brief split in 1969. When they reformed, they found minor commercial success with The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other (released in early 1970 and their only album to chart in the UK), and after the follow-up album, H to He, Who Am the Only One (December 1970), stabilised around a line-up of Hammill, Banton, Evans and saxophonist David Jackson. The quartet subsequently achieved significant success in Italy with the release of Pawn Hearts in 1971. After several exhausting tours of Italy, the band split in 1972. They reformed in 1975, releasing Godbluff and frequently touring Italy again, before a major line-up change and a slight rename to Van der Graaf. The band split in 1978. After many years apart, the band finally reunited at a gig at the Royal Festival Hall and a short tour in 2005. Since then, the band has continued as a trio of Hammill, Banton, and Evans, who record and tour regularly in between Hammill's concurrent solo career.
The group's albums have tended to be both lyrically and musically darker in atmosphere than many of their progressive rock peers (a trait they shared with King Crimson, whose guitarist Robert Fripp guested on two of their albums), and guitar solos were the exception rather than the rule, preferring to use Banton's classically influenced organ, and, until his departure, Jackson's multiple saxophones. While Hammill is the primary songwriter for the band, and members have contributed to his solo albums, the band arranges all its material collectively. Hammill's lyrics covered themes of mortality, due to his love of science fiction writers such as Robert A. Heinlein and Philip K. Dick, along with his confessed warped and obsessive nature. His voice has been a distinctive component of the band throughout its career, described as "a male Nico". Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful, they have inspired several musicians across various genres.
History
Formation and early years (1967–69)
The band formed in 1967 at the University of Manchester, after Chris Judge Smith, who had already played in several British rhythm and blues groups whilst a pupil in Oundle School, returned from a trip to San Francisco and, inspired by the bands he had seen, put together a list of possible band names to form a new group. After an unsatisfactory audition they had both attended in response to an advert to form a band, he met fellow student Peter Hammill, who was playing some of his original songs. Hammill had begun writing songs and poetry at the age of 12 while at prep school, and progressed to playing in bands while a pupil at Beaumont College. He was then briefly employed as a computer programmer, during which time he subsequently claimed to have written much of the band's early material, before enrolling at Manchester. Smith was so impressed with the quality of Hammill's original material that the two agreed to form a band together. The band name chosen from Smith's list was based on a Van de Graaff generator, a mechanical device that produces static electricity with lightning-like flashes – the misspellings are accidental. Smith recalls the reason for this may have been that Van de Graaff died in 1967, which was widely reported in the media.
Among the bands that regularly played the university, including Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and Pink Floyd, they were particularly impressed by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, and recruited an organist, Nick Pearne, to match the format of Arthur Brown's band. Along with two female dancers, the initial line-up was Hammill on guitar and vocals, Smith on drums, wind instruments and vocals, and Pearne on organ (though he did not initially have an instrument). According to Smith, the band initially played as a two-piece, with Smith occasionally using a typewriter as a percussion instrument; their first gig as a three-piece was in the student union, which lasted five minutes before the group's amplifiers blew up.
The band managed to persuade fellow student Caleb Bradley to manage them, and by the start of 1968, the band had managed to record a demo tape influenced by blues and jazz, sending it to Lou Reizner, then the U.K. head of Mercury Records, who offered the trio of Hammill, Smith, and Pearne a recording contract in May. At this point, the band had to make a decision whether to stay on at university, or quit their courses and move to London to turn professional. Pearne was not keen to abandon his studies, so decided to leave the group.
On arrival in London, Hammill and Smith met up with classically trained organist Hugh Banton, who was a brother of one of their friends back in Manchester. Later that year, they met Tony Stratton-Smith, who agreed to sign a management contract with them in December. Through him, the band acquired a bass guitar player, Keith Ellis, with drummer Guy Evans joining not too long afterwards. This line-up recorded a series of demos for Mercury, before recording a single ("People You Were Going To" b/w "Firebrand") on Polydor Records, which was released in January 1969. Melody Maker said the single was "one of the best records of the week". But the single was quickly withdrawn under pressure from Mercury, since it violated the contract band members Hammill and Smith signed the previous year. Smith, feeling superfluous to requirements, left the band, amicably, shortly after the recording of the single. He later released demos featuring his time in Van der Graaf Generator on a CD, Democrazy. The remaining 4 members performed for John Peel on BBC Radio 1's Top Gear radio show in November, and played several gigs in England in the next months.
Meanwhile, Mercury refused to let the band record, and at the same time Stratton-Smith refused to let the other members of the band sign to Mercury too, as he did not think the deal was fair to the band (only Hammill remained now of the original three who had signed with Mercury). On top of that in late January 1969 the band's van and equipment were stolen. The theft aggravated their financial difficulties. Although the band was touring successfully, which included a concert in February at the Royal Albert Hall in support of Jimi Hendrix, it broke up in June after playing a final gig at Nottingham's Pop & Blues Festival on 10 May entirely with borrowed equipment. John Peel, who was compering the show, announced their break-up to the audience.
In July 1969, Hammill had begun performing solo at the Marquee Club in London, and since there was no group, he decided to record what was intended to be his first solo album at Trident Studios on 31 July and 1 August, with Banton, Evans, and Ellis as session musicians. However, through a deal worked out by Stratton-Smith, the album, The Aerosol Grey Machine, was released in September 1969 by Mercury under the group's name in return for releasing them from their contract. The album was initially only released in the United States with hardly any promotion at all, so sales were minimal, but the group decided to reform in the middle of the recording session. Ellis had already committed to joining Juicy Lucy and was replaced by Evan's former bandmate in The Misunderstood, Nic Potter. The band had also enjoyed flautist Jeff Peach's contributions to the album and wanted to recruit a further instrumentalist. "There was always the idea of having another melodic instrument," recalled Evans. "He [Banton]'ll play a solo, sure, and really give it something, but he doesn't want to do that all the time." Peach was approached to become a full-time member, but dropped out after one rehearsal as he didn't think his playing style fitted the band. The position was eventually filled by saxophonist and flautist David Jackson, who had previously played in a band called Heebalob with Smith. Hammill had already sat in with Heebalob at the Plumpton National Jazz Festival on 9 August, and, impressed by Jackson's playing, invited him to join the band, partly because he also needed a flatmate to help pay with the rent.
Signing to Charisma (1969–70)
In September, the new five-piece band began rehearsals in Notting Hill Gate and began to change its sound. Banton, influenced by the effects pedals popularised by Jimi Hendrix, used his electronic skills to modify a Farfisa organ, giving it a wider variety of sounds. Jackson was inspired by jazz musicians, particularly Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and began to play multiple saxophones (usually alto and tenor) simultaneously. Hammill, for his part, elected to sing in received pronunciation, exploring the full range of his vocal capabilities. "We were all megalomaniacs," said Banton. "We grabbed our own space as best we could." The band started to gig regularly, including the first of several live appearances at the Friars Aylesbury in November.
Tony Stratton-Smith formed Charisma Records and signed the band as his first act, who recorded their second album, The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other from 11–14 December 1969 with producer John Anthony in Trident Studios. Hammill's voice was electronically treated on "After the Flood", while "Refugees" and "White Hammer" featured cello and cornet respectively. Because the band finished ahead of their rehearsal schedule, Potter decided to overdub some electric guitar – an instrument he had never played before. The album was released in February 1970 and made the top 50 in the U.K, Melody Maker said "If all our groups were as together as this, the British music scene would improve ten-fold."
Potter, however, did not feel he fitted into the increasingly experimental sound the band was developing and tended to wait until the others had worked out their parts during rehearsals, adding his bass lines on top at the last minute. After recording three tracks of their third album, H to He, Who Am the Only One, he decided to quit the band. His last gig was on 9 August at the 1970 Plumpton Festival. The remaining members auditioned Dave Anderson, roadie for Brinsley Schwarz and friend of the band, but after a week's rehearsal found that things weren't working out musically. Banton, meanwhile, had become influenced by Vincent Crane's work in Atomic Rooster, where Crane played the bass lines on a Hammond organ's bass pedals and suggested that he could do this as well. With just days to go before the next gig, they tried rehearsing as a four-piece, and it was successful. Banton later played bass guitar on certain songs, having already learned the instrument in the mid-1960s, and Hammill expanded his instrumental capabilities on stage to cover piano and keyboards as well as guitar. Jackson modified his saxophones to be completely electric, as opposed to simply being amplified through a microphone, and combined the sound with a wah-wah pedal and an octave divider.
H to He continued to be recorded sporadically throughout 1970, and featured Robert Fripp of King Crimson contributing guitar on "The Emperor in His War-Room". Producer John Anthony knew Fripp socially and invited him to a session as a guest, something Fripp had never done before at that point. According to Jackson, Fripp "put headphones on and started searing away", listening to the track once, then performing two takes. "Killer", later to become a live favourite, recycled a middle eight from an old Heebalob song, and Smith received a co-composition credit on the track. The album was released in December, but didn't sell as well as The Least We Can Do... because of the lack of a hit. Charisma proposed "Killer" as a single, but the band rejected this. Reviewing the album, Sounds particularly praised Jackson's saxophone work, but critical reception overall was mixed.
The classic line-up (1971–72)
The Hammill/Banton/Jackson/Evans quartet that resulted from H to He, Who Am the Only One is now considered the "classic" line-up. The group played on the 'Six Bob Tour' in early 1971 with fellow Charisma labelmates Genesis and Lindisfarne. Despite the complexity of their music, the band were well received on the tour, with Hammill noting "at nearly all the gigs, most of the audience have known most of the songs ... It was like a big family actually, exactly as all of us had pictured it in our wildest dreams."
While on tour, the band started working out compositions between gigs for their next album, which would become Pawn Hearts. The intention was to release a double album, and the band recorded the material; however, for economic reasons, the released recording was a single album containing three tracks – "Lemmings", "Man-Erg", and the 23 minute concept piece "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". Reflecting on this, Hammill said: "Charisma Records felt that it wasn't appropriate for us to release a double album and they vetoed the live studio recordings and the solo tracks by Guy, David, and Hugh." The master tape of the recording sessions has been lost. Fripp again provided a cameo appearance on guitar. While "Man-Erg" had already been performed on stage, "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" evolved in the studio, recorded in small sections and pieced together during mixing. According to producer John Anthony, the track features a lot more studio experimentation than on previous albums, saying "we pushed the facilities at Trident to the limit and had involved the use of every single tape machine in Trident at some stage." The experiments included tape manipulation and Banton playing Mellotron and synthesizer. According to Jackson, one section of it features the entire band overdubbed 16 times. The album was released in October 1971 and was not a success in the U.K, but proved highly successful in Italy, topping the chart there for 12 weeks. The following single, "Theme One", reached number one in Italy, too. "Theme One" was an instrumental piece, originally written by Beatles producer George Martin as a fanfare for the BBC radio station Radio 1, later to appear on US pressings of Pawn Hearts.
Following commercial success in Italy, the band did a six-week tour there at the start of 1972. The band were apprehensive about touring there, concerned they might be playing to half empty venues, but they were all shocked by the sheer volume of the crowds that came to see them. "Pawn Hearts was seen as the ultimate album by the ultimate band," said Jackson, who at times found it difficult to walk down the street in parts of Italy without being recognised. "The tour was like the prophets have landed ... you couldn't go anywhere without this lunatic 'Generator Mania' breaking out." After the tour, the group was immediately offered another Italian tour, this time doing up to three shows a day. In between the tours, the band made an appearance on Belgian television performing "Theme One" and "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". Since the studio recording of "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" was a collage of multiple recordings, impossible to reproduce live in one setting, the band simply filmed individual sections of the song and spliced them together in the editing suite. It was the only live performance of the song until 2013.
By June, the band had performed another Italian tour (the third that year) and wanted to start recording new material (some of which ended up on Hammill's 1973 solo album Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night). However, the combination of working for too long without a break, combined with a lack of support from Stratton-Smith and Charisma and continued financial difficulties caused the band to implode, and Hammill left to pursue a solo career in mid-1972.
The three remaining members recorded an instrumental album with Nic Potter, Ced Curtis, and Pietro Messina, under the name 'The Long Hello'. Their self-titled album (The Long Hello) was released in 1974.
First reunion (1975–78)
Hammill's split with the group was amicable, and Banton, Jackson, and Evans, among others, all contributed to his solo work at various times. By February 1975, the members of the band were ready to work with each other in a full-time capacity again, and they decided to reform the band. All the members were keen on carrying on with new music, with no nostalgia for their previous era, and did not want to play earlier stage favourites such as "Killer" (the opening track on H to He, Who Am the Only One) and "Theme One". "We didn't want to continue as if nothing had happened," said Hammill. Banton was in the middle of building a custom organ at the time, and halted the project to join the reformed group, using a rented Hammond C3 organ instead. Hammill began playing electric guitar in the band, which had been conspicuously absent earlier in their career.
The reformed band worked at a prolific pace, rehearsing, and touring France before recording three new albums in just 12 months, beginning with Godbluff (October 1975). Unlike the earlier work with John Anthony at Trident, the sessions were produced by the band themselves, and both the Melody Maker and Sounds thought they were a tighter and more cohesive unit than previously. The album in particular saw Hammill making significant use of the Hohner clavinet keyboard. Still Life followed on 15 April 1976. Banton considers this album one of his favourites by the group.
In the summer of 1975, the band gigged in Italy without incident, but when they returned to tour there in November, the intense political situation the country was going through caught up with them. The opening concert in Padua was marked with clashes with communists delivering political speeches, and the audience started throwing missiles towards the stage. After a gig without incident in Genoa, the third day of the tour at the PalaSport in Rome, in front of 40,000 people, saw similar confrontations to the Padua gig. A fire broke out at the venue, but was brought under control. The next day, the band learned that most of their gear had been stolen from the tour van, including Hammill's blue Fender Stratocaster, christened "Meurglys". Despite threats from promoters that the band would continue the tour using hired equipment (which Jackson considered impossible given the electronic modifications he had made to his saxophones), they abandoned the tour. Miraculously, all of Jackson's saxophones had survived the theft.
In December 1976, following the World Record tour, Banton quit, and in January 1977 Nic Potter returned to replace him alongside the violinist Graham Smith (formerly of Charisma folk-rock band String Driven Thing). But when suddenly Jackson also decided to leave the band, a four-piece line-up with a quite different sound, with a shortened name of Van der Graaf, had to play the spring tour. They produced the album The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome, released in September 1977, and then Charles Dickie joined the band in August on cello and keyboards, and stayed with the band in their last year. A further studio album was never recorded, so that the only document of this line-up is the live double-album Vital, which was recorded in January 1978, and contained at least several new songs. The 2 concerts played for this record also brought a brief reunion with David Jackson, who guested on 6 of the album's tracks. By the time Vital was released, in July 1978, the band had already split, because of lack of record company support in the United States and financial difficulties.
In 1982 a collection of out-takes and rehearsal recordings from the 1972–1975 hiatus was released (initially on cassette only), called Time Vaults. Intended only as a gift for hardcore fans these are mostly not studio-quality recordings, some of them have even a quite bad audio quality full of distortions.
Second reunion (2005)
Despite the 1978 split, Banton recalled that the group "never descended very far into our sub-conscience". Banton, Jackson and Evans appeared on Hammill's solo albums, and all four occasionally played together. In 1996, the quartet appeared on stage during a concert by Hammill and Evans at the Union Chapel in London to perform "Lemmings", which was later in March 1997 released as The Union Chapel Concert. In 2003, Banton, Jackson, and Evans joined with Hammill to perform "Still Life" at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.
Following the Queen Elizabeth Hall performance, the band members discussed working together. In mid-2004, they began to write and rehearse new material. The result was a double CD, Present, released in April 2005. Critical response was favourable; BBC Music's Peter Marsh said the group was "willing to push the envelope a little, and bless them for that", while AllMusic's Dave Thompson said the group "never made a less than fabulous album in their lives. And they're not about to start now." A reunion concert took place at the Royal Festival Hall, London, on 6 May 2005, which was released as Real Time in March 2007. The Festival Hall concert was followed by several European dates in the summer and autumn. The concert in Leverkusen, Germany on 5 November was filmed for the Westdeutscher Rundfunk TV show Rockpalast, which was broadcast on 16 January 2006.
Hammill stated in a December 2005 newsletter that there were no plans for further recordings or performances by the "classic" Van der Graaf Generator line-up of himself, Banton, Evans and Jackson. Hammill subsequently announced that the band would be continuing as a trio, for live and studio work, without Jackson. He later stated that the reason for Jackson's departure was that he "seemed to have difficulty in understanding what we had mutually agreed" and that he clashed with the other band members. Relationships between Jackson and the others became strained, and Hammill, Banton and Evans realised that the only way the group could continue was without him.
Trio (2006 – present)
After Jackson's departure, the group took a break before touring as a trio in April and July 2007 over Europe. A concert on 14 April 2007 in the Paradiso in Amsterdam was recorded and streamed on the FabChannel website until March 2009, and was released on DVD and CD that June.
The first trio recording, Trisector, was released on 17 March 2008. Live concerts were played in Europe in March and April, and in Japan in June, among them, one at the Gouveia Art Rock Festival. There were further concerts in January 2009 in Europe, and the band played several concerts in Canada and the United States in the summer of 2009, among them a performance at NEARfest in Bethlehem PA. It was only the second time Van der Graaf Generator had visited the United States (their first being in New York City in 1976).
In spring 2010, the group recorded a new album in Devon. A Grounding in Numbers was released on 14 March 2011. Live at Metropolis Studios 2010 was released as a 2CD/1DVD set by Salvo/Union Square Music on 4 June 2012. The band then toured the eastern part of the United States and Canada during June and July 2012, including an appearance at NEARfest Apocalypse in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on 22 June. An album of out-takes and in-studio jams, similar to the second disc of Present, called ALT was released in June 2012. Hammill has stated that he has enjoyed the current reunion, as "the activity has reinvigorated me. Going from one thing to another is an energizing thing."
Hammill revealed via his website that the band's former bassist Nic Potter died on the night of 16 January 2013, aged 61. The group continued to tour in 2013, including the first live performance of "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". In 2014, the group collaborated with Soviet dissident artist Vladislav Shabalin for an art venture titled the Earlybird Project. The title comes from the track of the same name on ALT. In 2015, the group released the live album, Merlin Atmos featuring tracks recorded during the 2013 tour, and After the Flood, an album of BBC recordings from 1968–1977. A new album, Do Not Disturb was released in September 2016. It included the song "Alfa Berlina" which documented the group's 1970s Italian tours. Critics speculated that it would be the band's last album, though this has not been confirmed.
In 2021 the band embarked on a European tour, due to continue until May 2022. On 24 and 25 October 2021 the band played, for the first time in Finland, in two concerts at the , in Helsinki. The band performed as a duo as Evans was not allowed to cross the border when his passport was found to be no longer valid, due to recent increased severity in the Brexit regulations. The passport issue was resolved before the band went on to two shows in Stockholm and Gothenburg, Sweden and one in Oslo, Norway.
Musical style
Due to the time-frame of the original band's career, Van der Graaf Generator have been frequently referred to as a progressive rock band. Writing in Record Collector, Toby Manning said the music was "philosophical, even intellectual, complex .. at times, terrifying". While the music on The Aerosol Grey Machine (September 1969) has a more pastoral, hippie feel, with prominent use of Hammill's acoustic guitar, later work featured more complex instrumentation and arrangements. Hammill thinks the style of the band evolved due to the culture of music in the late 1960s, stating "the whole of music was laid out in front of you ... it was the blues in wonky time signatures." Both Hammill and Banton have stated that Jimi Hendrix was an influence on the band's sound, with Hammill remarking that "there'd been distortion before, but there hadn't been that real out-there attitude to sound in itself". The group's experimental style has also been compared to Krautrock bands such as Can. Because of their musical influences and line-up, the band tended to play darker musical themes than other progressive bands, with the possible exception of King Crimson. However, Hammill has stated that the group is still fun to work with, stating "as far as we're concerned, it's serious fun, but fun nonetheless." Promoting Do Not Disturb, he said "We love making a racket, and that has to do with chaos, which is pretty punk".
Hammill's lyrics frequently covered themes of mortality, due to his love of science fiction writers such as Robert A. Heinlein and Philip K. Dick, along with his self-confessed warped and obsessive nature. His voice has been a distinctive component of the band throughout its career. It has been described as "a male Nico" and would later on be cited as an influence by Goth bands in the 1980s.
Unlike several other notable prog rock keyboardists, such as Rick Wakeman or Keith Emerson, Banton considers himself primarily an organist, due to his background in classical and church music, and only ever used that instrument on stage, albeit heavily modified with customised electronics and devices. Hammill said that "Hugh is one of the most instinctive, baffling, and brilliant people I've known and his intuitive hold on the worlds of music and electronics has always astonished me." Banton used clonewheel organs during the 2005 reformation, but since 2009 he has used the Hammond XK-3c, and thinks Hammond have "cracked that sound at long last".
Although Hammill has written the vast majority of the songs in the band's catalogue, and all of the lyrics, he is keen to stress that the arrangements of the music comes from all the group's members. In 1976, being interviewed for the Melody Maker, he said that "VDGG is a band, a real band ... of course [it] is something special, it releases in individual terms parts of us that wouldn't be aired otherwise. In 2013, he reiterated, "Some people don't think Van der Graaf is a democracy, but believe me, it's entirely democratic, with everyone having very vocal and forceful opinions." Since the band has stabilised around Hammill, Banton and Evans, the members think there is a good balance of opinion, with somebody always having the casting vote.
The band have been compared with Genesis due to being label-mates at Charisma Records, sharing management with Tony Stratton-Smith and performing on the same bill on the 'Six Bob Tour'. Hammill and Banton both reject this comparison, with Hammill noting that Genesis were far more driven to be commercially successful, whereas he prefers to release music without interference from record companies. In particular, he has mentioned that while he himself continues to release albums on a regular basis in the 21st century, Peter Gabriel's "average output has been about 0.2 albums a year".
Influence
Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful outside of early 1970s Italy, they have inspired notable musicians, including Rush, Julian Cope, and Marc Almond and was namechecked by the likes of Graham Coxon and John Lydon.
Coxon is particularly fond of "House with No Door" from H to He (1970), saying the track is "extremely beautiful, with Jackson's truly lovely sax-and-flute instrumental section." Almond recalled hearing "Killer" for the first time saying, "I'd never heard anything like it before. It wasn't just Peter's snarling operatic vocal, it was the mix of instruments ... I became an instant fan." Mentioning their reputation as something of an acquired taste, Lydon said, "There's a few Van der Graaf things I like, but I'm not going to recommend anything to anyone. It might not be for them. Music doesn't come with a set of guidelines." Bruce Dickinson – a fan of the band since he saw them at Oundle School aged 13 – hailed Hammill as one of his childhood heroes.
Although Van der Graaf Generator are generally categorised as progressive rock, Cope is keen to distance the band from that movement: "Their music was like some Brechtian bar band – the opposite of prog rock, really". Nevertheless, the band have been acknowledged as an influence on the neo-progressive rock subgenre that emerged in the 1980s and of which Marillion were the most successful proponents. Hammill's singing style influenced Marillion singer Fish and he was a support act on Marillion's first album tour.
"The band we really cared about was Van der Graaf Generator," said Philip Oakey of The Human League. "That music was so committed."
Personnel
Members
Current members
Peter Hammill – lead and backing vocals, guitars, electric and acoustic piano, keyboards (1967–1972, 1975–1978, 2005–present)
Hugh Banton – organ, keyboards, bass pedals, bass guitar, backing vocals (1968–1972, 1975–1976, 2005–present)
Guy Evans – drums, percussion (1968–1972, 1975–1978, 2005–present)
Former members
Chris Judge Smith – drums, percussion, wind instruments, backing and lead vocals (1967–1968)
Nick Pearne – organ (1967–1968)
Keith Ellis – bass guitar (1968–1969; died 1978)
Nic Potter – bass guitar, guitar (1969–1970, 1977–1978; died 2013)
David Jackson – alto, tenor, baritone and soprano saxophones, flute, backing vocals (1969–1972, 1975–1977, 1978 (guest for two concerts), 2005–2006)
Graham Smith – violin (1977–1978)
Charles Dickie – cello, keyboards (1977–1978)
Lineups
Timeline
Discography
The Aerosol Grey Machine (1969)
The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other (1970)
H to He, Who Am the Only One (1970)
Pawn Hearts (1971)
Godbluff (1975)
Still Life (1976)
World Record (1976)
The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome (1977)
Present (2005)
Trisector (2008)
A Grounding in Numbers (2011)
ALT (2012)
Do Not Disturb (2016)
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
External links
Peter Hammill's official site (www.SofaSound.com)
Earlybird project official site (www.Shabalin.it/Earlybird-Project)
Van der Graaf Generator biography by Jason Ankeny, discography and album reviews, credits & releases at AllMusic.com
Van der Graaf Generator discography, album releases & credits at Discogs.com
Van der Graaf Generator albums to be listened as stream at Play.Spotify.com
English art rock groups
English progressive rock groups
Musical groups from Manchester
Musical groups established in 1967
Charisma Records artists
Virgin Records artists
Mercury Records artists
Fontana Records artists
Vertigo Records artists
Dunhill Records artists
Articles which contain graphical timelines
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[
"\"How Interesting: A Tiny Man\" is a 2010 science fiction/magical realism short story by American writer Harlan Ellison. It was first published in Realms of Fantasy.\n\nPlot summary\nA scientist creates a tiny man. The tiny man is initially very popular, but then draws the hatred of the world, and so the tiny man must flee, together with the scientist (who is now likewise hated, for having created the tiny man).\n\nReception\n\"How Interesting: A Tiny Man\" won the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Short Story, tied with Kij Johnson's \"Ponies\". It was Ellison's final Nebula nomination and win, of his record-setting eight nominations and three wins.\n\nTor.com calls the story \"deceptively simple\", with \"execution (that) is flawless\" and a \"Geppetto-like\" narrator, while Publishers Weekly describes it as \"memorably depict(ing) humanity's smallness of spirit\". The SF Site, however, felt it was \"contrived and less than profound\".\n\nNick Mamatas compared \"How Interesting: A Tiny Man\" negatively to Ellison's other Nebula-winning short stories, and stated that the story's two mutually exclusive endings (in one, the tiny man is killed; in the other, he becomes God) are evocative of the process of writing short stories. Ben Peek considered it to be \"more allegory than (...) anything else\", and interpreted it as being about how the media \"give(s) everyone a voice\", and also about how Ellison was treated by science fiction fandom.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nAudio version of ''How Interesting: A Tiny Man, at StarShipSofa\nHow Interesting: A Tiny Man, at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database\n\nNebula Award for Best Short Story-winning works\nShort stories by Harlan Ellison",
"In baseball, a fair ball is a batted ball that entitles the batter to attempt to reach first base. By contrast, a foul ball is a batted ball that does not entitle the batter to attempt to reach first base. Whether a batted ball is fair or foul is determined by the location of the ball at the appropriate reference point, as follows:\n\n if the ball leaves the playing field without touching anything, the point where the ball leaves the field;\n else, if the ball first lands past first or third base without touching anything, the point where the ball lands;\n else, if the ball rolls or bounces past first or third base without touching anything other than the ground, the point where the ball passes the base;\n else, if the ball touches anything other than the ground (such as an umpire, a player, or any equipment left on the field) before any of the above happens, the point of such touching;\n else (the ball comes to a rest before reaching first or third base), the point where the ball comes to a rest.\n\nIf any part of the ball is on or above fair territory at the appropriate reference point, it is fair; else it is foul. Fair territory or fair ground is defined as the area of the playing field between the two foul lines, and includes the foul lines themselves and the foul poles. However, certain exceptions exist:\n\n A ball that touches first, second, or third base is always fair.\n Under Rule 5.09(a)(7)-(8), if a batted ball touches the batter or his bat while the batter is in the batter's box and not intentionally interfering with the course of the ball, the ball is foul.\n A ball that hits the foul pole without first having touched anything else off the bat is fair.\n Ground rules may provide whether a ball hitting specific objects (e.g. roof, overhead speaker) is fair or foul.\n\nOn a fair ball, the batter attempts to reach first base or any subsequent base, runners attempt to advance and fielders try to record outs. A fair ball is considered a live ball until the ball becomes dead by leaving the field or any other method.\n\nReferences\n\nBaseball rules"
] |
[
"Van der Graaf Generator",
"Influence",
"Did the group influence many people?",
"they have inspired several notable musicians, including Rush, John Lydon, Marc Almond, Graham Coxon, Luca Prodan, Mark E. Smith, John Frusciante, Bruce Dickinson and Julian Cope.",
"When was the group popular?",
"Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful outside of early 1970s Italy,",
"What type of music did they perform?",
"lovely sax-and-flute instrumental section.",
"Did they ever release any more music?",
"I don't know.",
"Is there anything else interesting?",
"The Canadian new wave band Men Without Hats have a song titled \"The Van der Graaf Generator Blues\" on their 1991 album Sideways."
] |
C_8b5b146e7f2a4af38f3882cef27d6fba_0
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In what other ways did they influence the sound of music?
| 6 |
In what other ways did the Van der Graaf Generator influence the sound of music?
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Van der Graaf Generator
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Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful outside of early 1970s Italy, they have inspired several notable musicians, including Rush, John Lydon, Marc Almond, Graham Coxon, Luca Prodan, Mark E. Smith, John Frusciante, Bruce Dickinson and Julian Cope. Dickinson, who has been a fan of the band since he saw them at Oundle School aged 13, said that Hammill was one of his childhood heroes. Coxon is particularly fond of "House with No Door" from H to He (1970), saying the track is "extremely beautiful, with Jackson's truly lovely sax-and-flute instrumental section." Almond recalled hearing "Killer" for the first time saying, "I'd never heard anything like it before. It wasn't just Peter's snarling operatic vocal, it was the mix of instruments ... I became an instant fan." Mentioning their reputation as something of an acquired taste, Lydon said, "There's a few Van Der Graaf things I like, but I'm not going to recommend anything to anyone. It might not be for them. Music doesn't come with a set of guidelines." Although generally categorised as a progressive rock group, Cope is keen to distance the band from that movement, stating "Their music was like some Brechtian bar band - the opposite of prog rock, really". Nevertheless, the band have been acknowledged as an influence on the neo-progressive rock subgenre which emerged in the 1980s and featured Marillion as its most successful band. Marillion singer Fish thought highly of Hammill and invited him to be the support on the band's early tours. The Canadian new wave band Men Without Hats have a song titled "The Van der Graaf Generator Blues" on their 1991 album Sideways. CANNOTANSWER
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Nevertheless, the band have been acknowledged as an influence on the neo-progressive rock subgenre which emerged in the 1980s
|
Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Chris Judge Smith and the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much commercial success in the UK, but became popular in Italy during the 1970s. In 2005 the band reformed, and are still musically active with a line-up of Hammill, organist Hugh Banton and drummer Guy Evans.
The band formed at the University of Manchester, but settled in London where they signed with Charisma. They went through several incarnations in their early years, including a brief split in 1969. When they reformed, they found minor commercial success with The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other (released in early 1970 and their only album to chart in the UK), and after the follow-up album, H to He, Who Am the Only One (December 1970), stabilised around a line-up of Hammill, Banton, Evans and saxophonist David Jackson. The quartet subsequently achieved significant success in Italy with the release of Pawn Hearts in 1971. After several exhausting tours of Italy, the band split in 1972. They reformed in 1975, releasing Godbluff and frequently touring Italy again, before a major line-up change and a slight rename to Van der Graaf. The band split in 1978. After many years apart, the band finally reunited at a gig at the Royal Festival Hall and a short tour in 2005. Since then, the band has continued as a trio of Hammill, Banton, and Evans, who record and tour regularly in between Hammill's concurrent solo career.
The group's albums have tended to be both lyrically and musically darker in atmosphere than many of their progressive rock peers (a trait they shared with King Crimson, whose guitarist Robert Fripp guested on two of their albums), and guitar solos were the exception rather than the rule, preferring to use Banton's classically influenced organ, and, until his departure, Jackson's multiple saxophones. While Hammill is the primary songwriter for the band, and members have contributed to his solo albums, the band arranges all its material collectively. Hammill's lyrics covered themes of mortality, due to his love of science fiction writers such as Robert A. Heinlein and Philip K. Dick, along with his confessed warped and obsessive nature. His voice has been a distinctive component of the band throughout its career, described as "a male Nico". Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful, they have inspired several musicians across various genres.
History
Formation and early years (1967–69)
The band formed in 1967 at the University of Manchester, after Chris Judge Smith, who had already played in several British rhythm and blues groups whilst a pupil in Oundle School, returned from a trip to San Francisco and, inspired by the bands he had seen, put together a list of possible band names to form a new group. After an unsatisfactory audition they had both attended in response to an advert to form a band, he met fellow student Peter Hammill, who was playing some of his original songs. Hammill had begun writing songs and poetry at the age of 12 while at prep school, and progressed to playing in bands while a pupil at Beaumont College. He was then briefly employed as a computer programmer, during which time he subsequently claimed to have written much of the band's early material, before enrolling at Manchester. Smith was so impressed with the quality of Hammill's original material that the two agreed to form a band together. The band name chosen from Smith's list was based on a Van de Graaff generator, a mechanical device that produces static electricity with lightning-like flashes – the misspellings are accidental. Smith recalls the reason for this may have been that Van de Graaff died in 1967, which was widely reported in the media.
Among the bands that regularly played the university, including Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and Pink Floyd, they were particularly impressed by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, and recruited an organist, Nick Pearne, to match the format of Arthur Brown's band. Along with two female dancers, the initial line-up was Hammill on guitar and vocals, Smith on drums, wind instruments and vocals, and Pearne on organ (though he did not initially have an instrument). According to Smith, the band initially played as a two-piece, with Smith occasionally using a typewriter as a percussion instrument; their first gig as a three-piece was in the student union, which lasted five minutes before the group's amplifiers blew up.
The band managed to persuade fellow student Caleb Bradley to manage them, and by the start of 1968, the band had managed to record a demo tape influenced by blues and jazz, sending it to Lou Reizner, then the U.K. head of Mercury Records, who offered the trio of Hammill, Smith, and Pearne a recording contract in May. At this point, the band had to make a decision whether to stay on at university, or quit their courses and move to London to turn professional. Pearne was not keen to abandon his studies, so decided to leave the group.
On arrival in London, Hammill and Smith met up with classically trained organist Hugh Banton, who was a brother of one of their friends back in Manchester. Later that year, they met Tony Stratton-Smith, who agreed to sign a management contract with them in December. Through him, the band acquired a bass guitar player, Keith Ellis, with drummer Guy Evans joining not too long afterwards. This line-up recorded a series of demos for Mercury, before recording a single ("People You Were Going To" b/w "Firebrand") on Polydor Records, which was released in January 1969. Melody Maker said the single was "one of the best records of the week". But the single was quickly withdrawn under pressure from Mercury, since it violated the contract band members Hammill and Smith signed the previous year. Smith, feeling superfluous to requirements, left the band, amicably, shortly after the recording of the single. He later released demos featuring his time in Van der Graaf Generator on a CD, Democrazy. The remaining 4 members performed for John Peel on BBC Radio 1's Top Gear radio show in November, and played several gigs in England in the next months.
Meanwhile, Mercury refused to let the band record, and at the same time Stratton-Smith refused to let the other members of the band sign to Mercury too, as he did not think the deal was fair to the band (only Hammill remained now of the original three who had signed with Mercury). On top of that in late January 1969 the band's van and equipment were stolen. The theft aggravated their financial difficulties. Although the band was touring successfully, which included a concert in February at the Royal Albert Hall in support of Jimi Hendrix, it broke up in June after playing a final gig at Nottingham's Pop & Blues Festival on 10 May entirely with borrowed equipment. John Peel, who was compering the show, announced their break-up to the audience.
In July 1969, Hammill had begun performing solo at the Marquee Club in London, and since there was no group, he decided to record what was intended to be his first solo album at Trident Studios on 31 July and 1 August, with Banton, Evans, and Ellis as session musicians. However, through a deal worked out by Stratton-Smith, the album, The Aerosol Grey Machine, was released in September 1969 by Mercury under the group's name in return for releasing them from their contract. The album was initially only released in the United States with hardly any promotion at all, so sales were minimal, but the group decided to reform in the middle of the recording session. Ellis had already committed to joining Juicy Lucy and was replaced by Evan's former bandmate in The Misunderstood, Nic Potter. The band had also enjoyed flautist Jeff Peach's contributions to the album and wanted to recruit a further instrumentalist. "There was always the idea of having another melodic instrument," recalled Evans. "He [Banton]'ll play a solo, sure, and really give it something, but he doesn't want to do that all the time." Peach was approached to become a full-time member, but dropped out after one rehearsal as he didn't think his playing style fitted the band. The position was eventually filled by saxophonist and flautist David Jackson, who had previously played in a band called Heebalob with Smith. Hammill had already sat in with Heebalob at the Plumpton National Jazz Festival on 9 August, and, impressed by Jackson's playing, invited him to join the band, partly because he also needed a flatmate to help pay with the rent.
Signing to Charisma (1969–70)
In September, the new five-piece band began rehearsals in Notting Hill Gate and began to change its sound. Banton, influenced by the effects pedals popularised by Jimi Hendrix, used his electronic skills to modify a Farfisa organ, giving it a wider variety of sounds. Jackson was inspired by jazz musicians, particularly Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and began to play multiple saxophones (usually alto and tenor) simultaneously. Hammill, for his part, elected to sing in received pronunciation, exploring the full range of his vocal capabilities. "We were all megalomaniacs," said Banton. "We grabbed our own space as best we could." The band started to gig regularly, including the first of several live appearances at the Friars Aylesbury in November.
Tony Stratton-Smith formed Charisma Records and signed the band as his first act, who recorded their second album, The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other from 11–14 December 1969 with producer John Anthony in Trident Studios. Hammill's voice was electronically treated on "After the Flood", while "Refugees" and "White Hammer" featured cello and cornet respectively. Because the band finished ahead of their rehearsal schedule, Potter decided to overdub some electric guitar – an instrument he had never played before. The album was released in February 1970 and made the top 50 in the U.K, Melody Maker said "If all our groups were as together as this, the British music scene would improve ten-fold."
Potter, however, did not feel he fitted into the increasingly experimental sound the band was developing and tended to wait until the others had worked out their parts during rehearsals, adding his bass lines on top at the last minute. After recording three tracks of their third album, H to He, Who Am the Only One, he decided to quit the band. His last gig was on 9 August at the 1970 Plumpton Festival. The remaining members auditioned Dave Anderson, roadie for Brinsley Schwarz and friend of the band, but after a week's rehearsal found that things weren't working out musically. Banton, meanwhile, had become influenced by Vincent Crane's work in Atomic Rooster, where Crane played the bass lines on a Hammond organ's bass pedals and suggested that he could do this as well. With just days to go before the next gig, they tried rehearsing as a four-piece, and it was successful. Banton later played bass guitar on certain songs, having already learned the instrument in the mid-1960s, and Hammill expanded his instrumental capabilities on stage to cover piano and keyboards as well as guitar. Jackson modified his saxophones to be completely electric, as opposed to simply being amplified through a microphone, and combined the sound with a wah-wah pedal and an octave divider.
H to He continued to be recorded sporadically throughout 1970, and featured Robert Fripp of King Crimson contributing guitar on "The Emperor in His War-Room". Producer John Anthony knew Fripp socially and invited him to a session as a guest, something Fripp had never done before at that point. According to Jackson, Fripp "put headphones on and started searing away", listening to the track once, then performing two takes. "Killer", later to become a live favourite, recycled a middle eight from an old Heebalob song, and Smith received a co-composition credit on the track. The album was released in December, but didn't sell as well as The Least We Can Do... because of the lack of a hit. Charisma proposed "Killer" as a single, but the band rejected this. Reviewing the album, Sounds particularly praised Jackson's saxophone work, but critical reception overall was mixed.
The classic line-up (1971–72)
The Hammill/Banton/Jackson/Evans quartet that resulted from H to He, Who Am the Only One is now considered the "classic" line-up. The group played on the 'Six Bob Tour' in early 1971 with fellow Charisma labelmates Genesis and Lindisfarne. Despite the complexity of their music, the band were well received on the tour, with Hammill noting "at nearly all the gigs, most of the audience have known most of the songs ... It was like a big family actually, exactly as all of us had pictured it in our wildest dreams."
While on tour, the band started working out compositions between gigs for their next album, which would become Pawn Hearts. The intention was to release a double album, and the band recorded the material; however, for economic reasons, the released recording was a single album containing three tracks – "Lemmings", "Man-Erg", and the 23 minute concept piece "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". Reflecting on this, Hammill said: "Charisma Records felt that it wasn't appropriate for us to release a double album and they vetoed the live studio recordings and the solo tracks by Guy, David, and Hugh." The master tape of the recording sessions has been lost. Fripp again provided a cameo appearance on guitar. While "Man-Erg" had already been performed on stage, "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" evolved in the studio, recorded in small sections and pieced together during mixing. According to producer John Anthony, the track features a lot more studio experimentation than on previous albums, saying "we pushed the facilities at Trident to the limit and had involved the use of every single tape machine in Trident at some stage." The experiments included tape manipulation and Banton playing Mellotron and synthesizer. According to Jackson, one section of it features the entire band overdubbed 16 times. The album was released in October 1971 and was not a success in the U.K, but proved highly successful in Italy, topping the chart there for 12 weeks. The following single, "Theme One", reached number one in Italy, too. "Theme One" was an instrumental piece, originally written by Beatles producer George Martin as a fanfare for the BBC radio station Radio 1, later to appear on US pressings of Pawn Hearts.
Following commercial success in Italy, the band did a six-week tour there at the start of 1972. The band were apprehensive about touring there, concerned they might be playing to half empty venues, but they were all shocked by the sheer volume of the crowds that came to see them. "Pawn Hearts was seen as the ultimate album by the ultimate band," said Jackson, who at times found it difficult to walk down the street in parts of Italy without being recognised. "The tour was like the prophets have landed ... you couldn't go anywhere without this lunatic 'Generator Mania' breaking out." After the tour, the group was immediately offered another Italian tour, this time doing up to three shows a day. In between the tours, the band made an appearance on Belgian television performing "Theme One" and "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". Since the studio recording of "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" was a collage of multiple recordings, impossible to reproduce live in one setting, the band simply filmed individual sections of the song and spliced them together in the editing suite. It was the only live performance of the song until 2013.
By June, the band had performed another Italian tour (the third that year) and wanted to start recording new material (some of which ended up on Hammill's 1973 solo album Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night). However, the combination of working for too long without a break, combined with a lack of support from Stratton-Smith and Charisma and continued financial difficulties caused the band to implode, and Hammill left to pursue a solo career in mid-1972.
The three remaining members recorded an instrumental album with Nic Potter, Ced Curtis, and Pietro Messina, under the name 'The Long Hello'. Their self-titled album (The Long Hello) was released in 1974.
First reunion (1975–78)
Hammill's split with the group was amicable, and Banton, Jackson, and Evans, among others, all contributed to his solo work at various times. By February 1975, the members of the band were ready to work with each other in a full-time capacity again, and they decided to reform the band. All the members were keen on carrying on with new music, with no nostalgia for their previous era, and did not want to play earlier stage favourites such as "Killer" (the opening track on H to He, Who Am the Only One) and "Theme One". "We didn't want to continue as if nothing had happened," said Hammill. Banton was in the middle of building a custom organ at the time, and halted the project to join the reformed group, using a rented Hammond C3 organ instead. Hammill began playing electric guitar in the band, which had been conspicuously absent earlier in their career.
The reformed band worked at a prolific pace, rehearsing, and touring France before recording three new albums in just 12 months, beginning with Godbluff (October 1975). Unlike the earlier work with John Anthony at Trident, the sessions were produced by the band themselves, and both the Melody Maker and Sounds thought they were a tighter and more cohesive unit than previously. The album in particular saw Hammill making significant use of the Hohner clavinet keyboard. Still Life followed on 15 April 1976. Banton considers this album one of his favourites by the group.
In the summer of 1975, the band gigged in Italy without incident, but when they returned to tour there in November, the intense political situation the country was going through caught up with them. The opening concert in Padua was marked with clashes with communists delivering political speeches, and the audience started throwing missiles towards the stage. After a gig without incident in Genoa, the third day of the tour at the PalaSport in Rome, in front of 40,000 people, saw similar confrontations to the Padua gig. A fire broke out at the venue, but was brought under control. The next day, the band learned that most of their gear had been stolen from the tour van, including Hammill's blue Fender Stratocaster, christened "Meurglys". Despite threats from promoters that the band would continue the tour using hired equipment (which Jackson considered impossible given the electronic modifications he had made to his saxophones), they abandoned the tour. Miraculously, all of Jackson's saxophones had survived the theft.
In December 1976, following the World Record tour, Banton quit, and in January 1977 Nic Potter returned to replace him alongside the violinist Graham Smith (formerly of Charisma folk-rock band String Driven Thing). But when suddenly Jackson also decided to leave the band, a four-piece line-up with a quite different sound, with a shortened name of Van der Graaf, had to play the spring tour. They produced the album The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome, released in September 1977, and then Charles Dickie joined the band in August on cello and keyboards, and stayed with the band in their last year. A further studio album was never recorded, so that the only document of this line-up is the live double-album Vital, which was recorded in January 1978, and contained at least several new songs. The 2 concerts played for this record also brought a brief reunion with David Jackson, who guested on 6 of the album's tracks. By the time Vital was released, in July 1978, the band had already split, because of lack of record company support in the United States and financial difficulties.
In 1982 a collection of out-takes and rehearsal recordings from the 1972–1975 hiatus was released (initially on cassette only), called Time Vaults. Intended only as a gift for hardcore fans these are mostly not studio-quality recordings, some of them have even a quite bad audio quality full of distortions.
Second reunion (2005)
Despite the 1978 split, Banton recalled that the group "never descended very far into our sub-conscience". Banton, Jackson and Evans appeared on Hammill's solo albums, and all four occasionally played together. In 1996, the quartet appeared on stage during a concert by Hammill and Evans at the Union Chapel in London to perform "Lemmings", which was later in March 1997 released as The Union Chapel Concert. In 2003, Banton, Jackson, and Evans joined with Hammill to perform "Still Life" at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.
Following the Queen Elizabeth Hall performance, the band members discussed working together. In mid-2004, they began to write and rehearse new material. The result was a double CD, Present, released in April 2005. Critical response was favourable; BBC Music's Peter Marsh said the group was "willing to push the envelope a little, and bless them for that", while AllMusic's Dave Thompson said the group "never made a less than fabulous album in their lives. And they're not about to start now." A reunion concert took place at the Royal Festival Hall, London, on 6 May 2005, which was released as Real Time in March 2007. The Festival Hall concert was followed by several European dates in the summer and autumn. The concert in Leverkusen, Germany on 5 November was filmed for the Westdeutscher Rundfunk TV show Rockpalast, which was broadcast on 16 January 2006.
Hammill stated in a December 2005 newsletter that there were no plans for further recordings or performances by the "classic" Van der Graaf Generator line-up of himself, Banton, Evans and Jackson. Hammill subsequently announced that the band would be continuing as a trio, for live and studio work, without Jackson. He later stated that the reason for Jackson's departure was that he "seemed to have difficulty in understanding what we had mutually agreed" and that he clashed with the other band members. Relationships between Jackson and the others became strained, and Hammill, Banton and Evans realised that the only way the group could continue was without him.
Trio (2006 – present)
After Jackson's departure, the group took a break before touring as a trio in April and July 2007 over Europe. A concert on 14 April 2007 in the Paradiso in Amsterdam was recorded and streamed on the FabChannel website until March 2009, and was released on DVD and CD that June.
The first trio recording, Trisector, was released on 17 March 2008. Live concerts were played in Europe in March and April, and in Japan in June, among them, one at the Gouveia Art Rock Festival. There were further concerts in January 2009 in Europe, and the band played several concerts in Canada and the United States in the summer of 2009, among them a performance at NEARfest in Bethlehem PA. It was only the second time Van der Graaf Generator had visited the United States (their first being in New York City in 1976).
In spring 2010, the group recorded a new album in Devon. A Grounding in Numbers was released on 14 March 2011. Live at Metropolis Studios 2010 was released as a 2CD/1DVD set by Salvo/Union Square Music on 4 June 2012. The band then toured the eastern part of the United States and Canada during June and July 2012, including an appearance at NEARfest Apocalypse in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on 22 June. An album of out-takes and in-studio jams, similar to the second disc of Present, called ALT was released in June 2012. Hammill has stated that he has enjoyed the current reunion, as "the activity has reinvigorated me. Going from one thing to another is an energizing thing."
Hammill revealed via his website that the band's former bassist Nic Potter died on the night of 16 January 2013, aged 61. The group continued to tour in 2013, including the first live performance of "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". In 2014, the group collaborated with Soviet dissident artist Vladislav Shabalin for an art venture titled the Earlybird Project. The title comes from the track of the same name on ALT. In 2015, the group released the live album, Merlin Atmos featuring tracks recorded during the 2013 tour, and After the Flood, an album of BBC recordings from 1968–1977. A new album, Do Not Disturb was released in September 2016. It included the song "Alfa Berlina" which documented the group's 1970s Italian tours. Critics speculated that it would be the band's last album, though this has not been confirmed.
In 2021 the band embarked on a European tour, due to continue until May 2022. On 24 and 25 October 2021 the band played, for the first time in Finland, in two concerts at the , in Helsinki. The band performed as a duo as Evans was not allowed to cross the border when his passport was found to be no longer valid, due to recent increased severity in the Brexit regulations. The passport issue was resolved before the band went on to two shows in Stockholm and Gothenburg, Sweden and one in Oslo, Norway.
Musical style
Due to the time-frame of the original band's career, Van der Graaf Generator have been frequently referred to as a progressive rock band. Writing in Record Collector, Toby Manning said the music was "philosophical, even intellectual, complex .. at times, terrifying". While the music on The Aerosol Grey Machine (September 1969) has a more pastoral, hippie feel, with prominent use of Hammill's acoustic guitar, later work featured more complex instrumentation and arrangements. Hammill thinks the style of the band evolved due to the culture of music in the late 1960s, stating "the whole of music was laid out in front of you ... it was the blues in wonky time signatures." Both Hammill and Banton have stated that Jimi Hendrix was an influence on the band's sound, with Hammill remarking that "there'd been distortion before, but there hadn't been that real out-there attitude to sound in itself". The group's experimental style has also been compared to Krautrock bands such as Can. Because of their musical influences and line-up, the band tended to play darker musical themes than other progressive bands, with the possible exception of King Crimson. However, Hammill has stated that the group is still fun to work with, stating "as far as we're concerned, it's serious fun, but fun nonetheless." Promoting Do Not Disturb, he said "We love making a racket, and that has to do with chaos, which is pretty punk".
Hammill's lyrics frequently covered themes of mortality, due to his love of science fiction writers such as Robert A. Heinlein and Philip K. Dick, along with his self-confessed warped and obsessive nature. His voice has been a distinctive component of the band throughout its career. It has been described as "a male Nico" and would later on be cited as an influence by Goth bands in the 1980s.
Unlike several other notable prog rock keyboardists, such as Rick Wakeman or Keith Emerson, Banton considers himself primarily an organist, due to his background in classical and church music, and only ever used that instrument on stage, albeit heavily modified with customised electronics and devices. Hammill said that "Hugh is one of the most instinctive, baffling, and brilliant people I've known and his intuitive hold on the worlds of music and electronics has always astonished me." Banton used clonewheel organs during the 2005 reformation, but since 2009 he has used the Hammond XK-3c, and thinks Hammond have "cracked that sound at long last".
Although Hammill has written the vast majority of the songs in the band's catalogue, and all of the lyrics, he is keen to stress that the arrangements of the music comes from all the group's members. In 1976, being interviewed for the Melody Maker, he said that "VDGG is a band, a real band ... of course [it] is something special, it releases in individual terms parts of us that wouldn't be aired otherwise. In 2013, he reiterated, "Some people don't think Van der Graaf is a democracy, but believe me, it's entirely democratic, with everyone having very vocal and forceful opinions." Since the band has stabilised around Hammill, Banton and Evans, the members think there is a good balance of opinion, with somebody always having the casting vote.
The band have been compared with Genesis due to being label-mates at Charisma Records, sharing management with Tony Stratton-Smith and performing on the same bill on the 'Six Bob Tour'. Hammill and Banton both reject this comparison, with Hammill noting that Genesis were far more driven to be commercially successful, whereas he prefers to release music without interference from record companies. In particular, he has mentioned that while he himself continues to release albums on a regular basis in the 21st century, Peter Gabriel's "average output has been about 0.2 albums a year".
Influence
Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful outside of early 1970s Italy, they have inspired notable musicians, including Rush, Julian Cope, and Marc Almond and was namechecked by the likes of Graham Coxon and John Lydon.
Coxon is particularly fond of "House with No Door" from H to He (1970), saying the track is "extremely beautiful, with Jackson's truly lovely sax-and-flute instrumental section." Almond recalled hearing "Killer" for the first time saying, "I'd never heard anything like it before. It wasn't just Peter's snarling operatic vocal, it was the mix of instruments ... I became an instant fan." Mentioning their reputation as something of an acquired taste, Lydon said, "There's a few Van der Graaf things I like, but I'm not going to recommend anything to anyone. It might not be for them. Music doesn't come with a set of guidelines." Bruce Dickinson – a fan of the band since he saw them at Oundle School aged 13 – hailed Hammill as one of his childhood heroes.
Although Van der Graaf Generator are generally categorised as progressive rock, Cope is keen to distance the band from that movement: "Their music was like some Brechtian bar band – the opposite of prog rock, really". Nevertheless, the band have been acknowledged as an influence on the neo-progressive rock subgenre that emerged in the 1980s and of which Marillion were the most successful proponents. Hammill's singing style influenced Marillion singer Fish and he was a support act on Marillion's first album tour.
"The band we really cared about was Van der Graaf Generator," said Philip Oakey of The Human League. "That music was so committed."
Personnel
Members
Current members
Peter Hammill – lead and backing vocals, guitars, electric and acoustic piano, keyboards (1967–1972, 1975–1978, 2005–present)
Hugh Banton – organ, keyboards, bass pedals, bass guitar, backing vocals (1968–1972, 1975–1976, 2005–present)
Guy Evans – drums, percussion (1968–1972, 1975–1978, 2005–present)
Former members
Chris Judge Smith – drums, percussion, wind instruments, backing and lead vocals (1967–1968)
Nick Pearne – organ (1967–1968)
Keith Ellis – bass guitar (1968–1969; died 1978)
Nic Potter – bass guitar, guitar (1969–1970, 1977–1978; died 2013)
David Jackson – alto, tenor, baritone and soprano saxophones, flute, backing vocals (1969–1972, 1975–1977, 1978 (guest for two concerts), 2005–2006)
Graham Smith – violin (1977–1978)
Charles Dickie – cello, keyboards (1977–1978)
Lineups
Timeline
Discography
The Aerosol Grey Machine (1969)
The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other (1970)
H to He, Who Am the Only One (1970)
Pawn Hearts (1971)
Godbluff (1975)
Still Life (1976)
World Record (1976)
The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome (1977)
Present (2005)
Trisector (2008)
A Grounding in Numbers (2011)
ALT (2012)
Do Not Disturb (2016)
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
External links
Peter Hammill's official site (www.SofaSound.com)
Earlybird project official site (www.Shabalin.it/Earlybird-Project)
Van der Graaf Generator biography by Jason Ankeny, discography and album reviews, credits & releases at AllMusic.com
Van der Graaf Generator discography, album releases & credits at Discogs.com
Van der Graaf Generator albums to be listened as stream at Play.Spotify.com
English art rock groups
English progressive rock groups
Musical groups from Manchester
Musical groups established in 1967
Charisma Records artists
Virgin Records artists
Mercury Records artists
Fontana Records artists
Vertigo Records artists
Dunhill Records artists
Articles which contain graphical timelines
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"Leah Barclay (born 1985, Adelaide, Australia) is an Australian sound artist, composer and researcher known for acoustic ecology, environmental field recording, sound walks. She is the president of the Australian Forum for Acoustic Ecology, and is currently a research fellow at the Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre. She is a multi-talented sound artist, sound activist and composer, raising environmental awareness through sound.\n\nLeah Barclay organised the Sonic Environments Conference in 2016 hosted by The Queensland Conservatorium of Music in Brisbane, Australia.\n\nLeah Barclay was part of the 100 Ways to Listen component of the World Science Festival 2017, where she ran Augmented Reality Soundwalks. Numerous sound artists and electronic musicians from the Queensland Conservatorium performed and did demonstrations as part of the 100 Ways to Listen component of the World Science Festival 2017.\n\nBarclay primarily explores Biosphere Soundscapes and River Listening and raises environmental awareness utilising field recordings of endangered ecosystems as a form of acoustic ecology in her compositions and sound walks.\n\nLeah Barclay organised the 100 Ways to Listen along with other prominent sound artists, performers and researchers, including Vanessa Tomlinson, John Ferguson and Erik Griswald, creating sonic playgrounds and installations for 100 Ways to Listen in 2017, along with student led demonstrations and performances from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music Technology department. At the 2021 APRA Art Music Awards she won an Award for Excellence in Experimental Music for Listening in the Wild (shared with Lyndon Davis and Tricia King).\n\nBiography \nBarclay is the president of the Australian Forum for Acoustic Ecology, currently a research fellow at the Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre.\n\nLeah Barclay organised the Sonic Environments Conference in 2016 hosted by the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in Brisbane, Australia.\n\nAn academic at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music Research Centre specialising in the fields of: \n Environmental sciences\n Ecological Impacts of Climate Change\n Electronic Media Art\n Music Composition\n\nCareer \nLeah Barclay primarily explores Biosphere Soundscapes and River Listening and raises environmental awareness utilising field recordings of endangered eco systems as a form of acoustic ecology in her compositions and sound walks.\n\nWorks \n Riverlistening\n Biosphere listening\n 100 Ways to Listen Augmented Reality Soundwalks\n\nReferences \n\nLiving people\nAPRA Award winners\nAustralian women artists\n1985 births",
"Software audio synthesis environments typically consist of an audio programming language (which may be graphical) and a user environment to design/run the language in. Although many of these environments are comparable in their abilities to produce high-quality audio, their differences and specialties are what draw users to a particular platform. This article compares noteworthy audio synthesis environments, and enumerates basic issues associated with their use.\n\nSubjective comparisons\nAudio synthesis environments comprise a wide and varying range of software and hardware configurations. Even different versions of the same environment can differ dramatically. Because of this broad variability, certain aspects of different systems cannot be directly compared. Moreover, some levels of comparison are either very difficult to objectively quantify, or depend purely on personal preference.\n\nSome of the commonly considered subjective attributes for comparison include:\n Usability (how difficult is it for beginners to generate some kind of meaningful output)\n Learnability (how steep the learning curve is for new, average, and advancing users)\n Sound \"quality\" (which environment produces the most subjectively appealing sound)\n Creative flow (in what ways does the environment affect the creative process - e.g. guiding the user in certain directions)\n\nThese attributes can vary strongly depending on the tasks used for evaluation.\n\nSome other common comparisons include:\n Audio performance (issues such as throughput, latency, concurrency, etc.)\n System performance (issues such as buggyness or stability)\n Support and community (who uses the system and who provides help, advice, training and tutorials)\n System capabilities (what is possible and what is not possible [regardless of effort] with the system)\n Interoperability (how well does the system integrate with other systems from different vendors)\n\nBuilding blocks of sound and sound \"quality\" \nAudio software often has a slightly different \"sound\" when compared against others. This is because there are different ways to implement the basic building blocks (such as sinewaves, pink noise, or FFT) which result in slightly different aural characteristics. Although people can of course prefer one system's \"sound\" over another, perhaps the best output can be determined by using sophisticated audio analyzers in combination with the listener's ears. The idea of this would be to arrive at what most would agree is as \"pure\" a sound as possible.\n\nUser interface \nThe interface to an audio system often has a significant influence on the creative flow of the user, not because of what is possible (the stable/mature systems listed here are fully featured enough to be able to achieve an enormous range of sonic/compositional objectives), but because of what is made easy and what is made difficult. This is again very difficult to boil down to a brief comparative statement. One issue may be which interface metaphors are used (e.g. boxes-and-wires, documents, flow graphs, hardware mixing desks).\n\nGeneral\n\nProgramming language features\n\nData interface methods\nInterfaces between the language environment and other software or hardware (not user interfaces).\n\nTechnical\n\nReferences\n\nSee also\n List of music software\n\nAudio programming languages\nElectronic music software\n \nMultimedia software comparisons\nSoftware synthesizers"
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"Tom Seaver",
"Continued excellence"
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C_34af306b3c494fa5b6ae0b20ca015a0f_1
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What is the relation between Tom seaver and continued excellence?
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What is the relation between Tom Seaver and the work Continued Excellence?
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Tom Seaver
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On April 22, 1970, Seaver set a major league record by striking out the final 10 batters of the game in a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium. Al Ferrara, who had homered in the second inning for the Padres' run, was the final strikeout victim of the game. In addition to his 10 consecutive strikeouts, Seaver tied Steve Carlton's major league record, at the time, with 19 strikeouts in a nine-inning game,. The Mets also won the game in which Carlton struck out 19, with Carlton victimized by Ron Swoboda's pair of 2-run homers in a 4-3 Mets victory in St. Louis on September 15, 1969. (The record was later eclipsed by 20-strikeout games by Kerry Wood, Randy Johnson, Max Scherzer, and twice by Roger Clemens.) By mid-August, Seaver's record stood at 17-6 and he seemed well on his way to a second consecutive 20-victory season. But he only won one of his last ten starts, including four on short rest, to finish 18-12. Nonetheless, Seaver led the National League in both ERA and strikeouts. The 1971 season was arguably Seaver's finest year, when he led the league in ERA (1.76) and strikeouts (289 in 286 innings) while going 20-10. However, he finished second in the Cy Young balloting to Ferguson Jenkins of the Chicago Cubs, due to Jenkins' league-leading 24 wins, 325 innings pitched, and exceptional control numbers. Seaver himself has said that 1971 was his best season. Seaver had four more twenty-win seasons (20 in 1971, 21 in 1972, 22 in 1975, and 21 in 1977) (7 wins for the Mets, then 14 more after being traded to the Reds). He won two more Cy Young Awards (1973 and 1975, both with the Mets). During his tenure with the Mets, Seaver made 108 starts in which he pitched 9 or more innings and allowed 1 run or less. His record in those starts is 93-3 with 12 no-decisions. In seven of the 12 no-decisions, he pitched 10 or more innings. In the 12 no-decisions, he pitched a total of 117 innings, allowing 56 hits and 5 earned runs, compiling a 0.38 ERA. Between 1970 and 1976, Seaver led the National League in strikeouts five of the seven seasons, finishing second in 1972 and third in 1974. Seaver also won three ERA titles as a Met. Two famous quotes about Seaver are attributed to Reggie Jackson: "Blind men come to the park just to hear him pitch." The second was that, while pitching for the Mets during the 1973 World series, 6th game, with the Mets up 3 games to 2, and so poised to win their second Championship, with Mr. Seaver scheduled to start. He did, but did not have his "arm" that day, his arm strength, that is, and the opposing team knew it. Seaver would go on to start and lose the 6th game... Mr. Jackson is reported to have said "Seaver pitched with his heart that day." Seaver was perhaps the foremost latter-day exponent of "drop and drive" overhand delivery, but his powerful legs protected his arm, and ensured his longevity. Seaver was frequently compared to fellow Hall of Fame pitcher Christy Mathewson. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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George Thomas Seaver (November 17, 1944 – August 31, 2020), nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "the Franchise", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox, and Boston Red Sox from to . A longtime Met, Seaver played a significant role in their victory in the 1969 World Series over the Baltimore Orioles.
With the Mets, Seaver won the National League's (NL) Rookie of the Year Award in 1967, and won three NL Cy Young Awards as the league's best pitcher. He was a 12-time All-Star and ranks as the Mets' all-time leader in wins. During his MLB career, he compiled 311 wins, 3,640 strikeouts, 61 shutouts, and a 2.86 earned run average, and he threw a no-hitter in 1978.
In 1992, Seaver was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the highest percentage of votes ever recorded at the time. Along with Mike Piazza, he is one of two players wearing a New York Mets hat on his plaque in the Hall of Fame. Seaver's No. 41 was retired by the Mets in 1988, and New York City changed the address of Citi Field to 41 Seaver Way in 2019. Seaver is also a member of the New York Mets Hall of Fame and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.
Early life
Seaver was born in Fresno, California, to Betty Lee (née Cline) and Charles Henry Seaver. He attended Fresno High School and was a pitcher for the school's baseball team. Seaver compensated for his lack of size and strength by developing great control on the mound. Despite being an All-City basketball player, he hoped to play baseball in college. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve on June 28, 1962. He served with AIRFMFPAC 29 Palms, California, through July 1963. After six months of active duty in the reserve, Seaver enrolled at Fresno City College. He remained a part-time member of the reserve until his eight-year commitment ended in 1970.
The University of Southern California (USC) recruited Seaver to play college baseball. Unsure as to whether Seaver was worthy of a scholarship, USC sent him to pitch in Alaska for the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks in the summer of 1964. After a stellar season, in which he pitched and won a game in the national tournament with a grand slam, USC head coach Rod Dedeaux awarded him a scholarship. As a sophomore in 1965, Seaver posted a 10–2 record for the Trojans, and he was selected in the tenth round of the 1965 Major League Baseball draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. When Seaver asked for $70,000, however, the Dodgers passed.
In 1966, Seaver signed a professional contract with the Atlanta Braves, who had selected him in the first round of the secondary January draft, 20th overall. However, the contract was voided by Baseball Commissioner William Eckert because USC had played two exhibition games that year, although Seaver hadn't participated. He then intended to finish the college season, but because he had signed a pro contract, the NCAA ruled him ineligible. After Seaver's father complained to Eckert about the unfairness of the situation, and threatened a lawsuit, Eckert ruled that other teams could match the Braves' offer. The Mets were subsequently awarded his signing rights in a lottery drawing among the three teams (the Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Indians being the two others) that were willing to match the Braves' terms.
Professional playing career
Minor leagues (1966)
In 1966, Seaver was 12–12 with a 3.13 earned run average pitching in Class AAA with the Jacksonville Suns, the Mets' affiliate in the International League.
New York Mets (1967–1977)
Seaver made the Mets' roster in 1967, was named to the 1967 All-Star Game, and got the save by pitching a scoreless 15th inning. In his rookie season, Seaver was 16–13 for the last-place Mets, with 18 complete games, 170 strikeouts, and a 2.76 earned run average. Seaver was named the 1967 National League Rookie of the Year.
Seaver started for the Mets on Opening Day in 1968. He won 16 games again during that season, and recorded over 200 strikeouts for the first of nine consecutive seasons, but the Mets moved up only one spot in the standings, to ninth. In 1969, Seaver won a league-high 25 games, including nine consecutive complete-game victories. He won his first National League Cy Young Award. He also finished runner-up to Willie McCovey for the League's Most Valuable Player Award.
In front of a crowd of over 59,000 at New York's Shea Stadium on July 9, Seaver threw perfect innings against the division-leading Chicago Cubs. Rookie backup outfielder Jim Qualls broke up Seaver's bid for a perfect game when he lined a clean single to left field.
In the inaugural National League Championship Series, Seaver outlasted Atlanta's Phil Niekro in the first game for a 9–5 victory. Seaver was also the starter for Game One of the World Series, but lost a 4–1 decision to the Baltimore Orioles' Mike Cuellar. Seaver then pitched a 10-inning complete game for a 2–1 win in Game Four. The "Miracle Mets" won the series. At year's end, Seaver was presented with the Hickok Belt as the top professional athlete of the year and Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award.
On April 22, 1970, Seaver set a major league record by striking out the final ten batters of the game in a 2–1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium. Al Ferrara, who had homered in the second inning for the Padres' run, accounted for both the first and the final strikeout of the streak. In addition to his ten consecutive strikeouts, Seaver tied Steve Carlton's major league record at the time, with 19 strikeouts in a nine-inning game. The Mets also won the game in which Carlton struck out 19, with Carlton victimized by Ron Swoboda's pair of 2-run homers in a 4–3 Mets' victory in St. Louis on September 15, 1969. (The record was later eclipsed by 20-strikeout games by Kerry Wood, Randy Johnson, Max Scherzer, and twice by Roger Clemens.) By mid-August, Seaver's record stood at 17–6 and he seemed well on his way to a second consecutive 20-victory season. But he only won one of his last ten starts, including four on short rest, to finish 18–12. Nonetheless, Seaver led the National League in both earned run average (2.82) and strikeouts (283).
In 1971, Seaver led the league in earned run average (1.76) and strikeouts (289 in 286 innings) while going 20–10. However, he finished second in the Cy Young balloting to Ferguson Jenkins of the Chicago Cubs, due to Jenkins' league-leading 24 wins, 325 innings pitched, and exceptional control numbers.
Seaver had four more 20-win seasons (20 in 1971, 21 in 1972, 22 in 1975, and 21 in 1977). He won two more Cy Young Awards (1973 and 1975, both with the Mets). Between 1970 and 1976, Seaver led the National League in strikeouts five times, while also finishing second in 1972 and third in 1974. Seaver also won three earned run average titles as a Met. Two famous quotes about Seaver are attributed to Reggie Jackson: "Blind men come to the park just to hear him pitch." The second was in the 1973 World series, with the Mets up 3 games to 2, and poised to win their second championship. Seaver started the game, but did not have his "arm" that day, and lost the game. Jackson is reported to have said "Seaver pitched with his heart that day." Seaver was known for his "drop and drive" overhand delivery, powered by his legs and trunk with his knee sinking to the ground.
Midnight Massacre
By , free agency had begun and contract negotiations between Mets' ownership and Seaver were not going well. Seaver wanted to renegotiate his contract to bring his salary in line with what other top pitchers were making, but chairman of the board M. Donald Grant, who by that time had been given carte blanche by Mets management to do what he wished, refused to budge. Longtime New York Daily News columnist Dick Young regularly wrote negative columns about Seaver's "greedy" demands. Seaver attempted to resolve the impasse by going to team owner Lorinda de Roulet, who along with general manager Joe McDonald, had negotiated in principle a three-year contract extension by mid-June. Before the contract could be signed, Young wrote an unattributed story in the Daily News saying that Seaver was being goaded by his wife to ask for more money because she was envious of Nolan Ryan making more money with the California Angels. Upon being informed of the story, Seaver informed de Roulet that he immediately wanted out, and asked McDonald to immediately trade him, feeling that he could not co-exist with Grant.
In one of two trades that New York's sports reporters dubbed "the Midnight Massacre" (the other involved struggling outfielder Dave Kingman), Seaver was traded to the Cincinnati Reds at the trading deadline, June 15, 1977, for pitcher Pat Zachry, minor league outfielder Steve Henderson, infielder Doug Flynn, and minor league outfielder Dan Norman.
Cincinnati Reds (1977–1982)
Seaver went 14–3 with the Reds and won 21 games in 1977, including an emotional 5–1 win over the Mets in his return to Shea Stadium. Seaver struck out 11 in the return, and also hit a double. He also received a lengthy ovation at the All-Star Game, held in New York's Yankee Stadium. His departure from New York sparked sustained negative fan reaction, as the Mets became the league's worst team, finishing in last place the next three seasons. Combined with the Yankees' resurgence in the market, attendance dipped in 1978, and plunged in 1979 to 9,740 per game. M. Donald Grant was fired after the 1978 season, and Joe McDonald was fired after the 1979 season following a sale of the team to publishing magnate Nelson Doubleday, Jr. In a sardonic nod to the general manager, Shea Stadium acquired the nickname "Grant's Tomb".
After having thrown five one-hitters for the Mets, including two games in which no-hit bids were broken up in the ninth inning, Seaver recorded a 4–0 no-hitter for the Reds in 1978 against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 16 at Riverfront Stadium. It was the only no-hitter of his professional career.
He led the Cincinnati pitching staff in 1979, when the Reds won the Western Division, and again in the strike-shortened 1981 season, when the Reds had the best record in the major leagues. In the latter season, Seaver, with his sterling 14–2 performance, was a close runner-up to Fernando Valenzuela for the 1981 Cy Young Award. (Seaver had finished third and fourth in two other previous years.) In 1981, during one of his two losses, Seaver recorded his 3,000th strikeout against Keith Hernandez of the St. Louis Cardinals. Then in 1982 he suffered through an injury-ridden campaign, finishing the season 5–13.
In six seasons with the Reds, Seaver was 75–46 with a 3.18 earned run average and 42 complete games in 158 starts.
Return to Mets (1983)
On December 16, 1982, Seaver was traded back to the Mets, for Charlie Puleo, Lloyd McClendon, and Jason Felice. On April 5, 1983, he tied Walter Johnson's major league record of 14 Opening Day starts, shutting out the Philadelphia Phillies for six innings in a 2–0 Mets win, but had a 9–14 record that season. The Mets exercised an option on Seaver's contract worth $750,000 for the 1984 season. Overall, in 12 seasons with the Mets, Seaver was 198–124 with a 2.57 earned run average in 3,045 innings with 171 complete games, winning three Cy Young awards, the 1969 World Series and the 1967 NL Rookie of the Year Award.
Chicago White Sox (1984–1986)
On January 20, 1984, the Chicago White Sox claimed Seaver from the Mets in a free-agent compensation draft. The Mets, especially general manager Frank Cashen incorrectly assumed that no one would pursue a high-salaried, 39-year-old starting pitcher and left him off the protected list.
Seaver pitched two and a half seasons in Chicago and recorded his last shutout on July 19, 1985, against the visiting Indians. In an anomaly, Seaver won two games on May 9, 1984; he pitched the 25th and final inning of a game suspended the day before, picking up the win in relief against the Milwaukee Brewers, before starting and winning the day's regularly scheduled game, also facing the Brewers.
On August 4, 1985, Seaver recorded his 300th victory at Yankee Stadium over the Yankees, throwing a complete game 4–1 victory.
In three seasons with the White Sox, Seaver was 33–28 with a 3.67 earned run average and 17 complete games in 81 appearances.
Boston Red Sox (1986)
Seaver started on Opening Day for the 16th and final time of his career in 1986. The White Sox traded Seaver to the Boston Red Sox for Steve Lyons in mid-season. Seaver's 311th and final win came on August 18, 1986, against the Minnesota Twins.
A knee injury prevented Seaver from appearing against the Mets in the World Series with the Red Sox, but he received among the loudest ovations during player introductions prior to Game 1. Roger Clemens attributes the time he shared with Seaver as teammates in 1986 as instrumental in helping him make the transition from thrower to pitcher. The Red Sox did not offer Seaver a contract to his liking for the 1987 season. His 1986 salary was $1 million; the Red Sox offered $500,000, which Seaver declined. When no new contract agreement was reached, Seaver was granted free agency on November 12, 1986.
Seaver was 5–7 with a 3.80 earned run average in 16 starts with Boston in 1986.
In 1987, the Mets starting rotation was decimated by injury and they sought help from Seaver. Though no contract was signed, Seaver joined the club on June 6, and was hit hard in an exhibition game against the Triple-A Tidewater Tides on June 11. After similarly poor outings on June 16 and 20, he announced his retirement, saying that, "there were no more pitches in this 42-year-old arm that were competitive. I've used them all up."
Career statistics
Source:
Awards and honors
The Mets retired Seaver's uniform number 41 in 1988 in a Tom Seaver Day ceremony, making him the franchise's first player to be so honored.
Seaver was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 7, 1992, with the then-highest percentage of votes with 98.84%. He was named on 425 out of 430 ballots. Three of the five ballots that had omitted Seaver were blank, cast by writers protesting the Hall's decision to make Pete Rose ineligible for consideration. One ballot was sent by a writer who was recovering from open-heart surgery and failed to notice Seaver's name. The fifth "no" vote was cast by a writer who said he never voted for any player in their first year of eligibility. Seaver is one of two players enshrined in the Hall of Fame with a Mets cap on his plaque, along with Mike Piazza. He was also inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame, the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame, and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.
On September 28, 2006, Seaver was chosen as the "Hometown Hero" for the Mets franchise by ESPN. Seaver made a return to Shea Stadium during the "Shea Goodbye" closing ceremony on September 28, 2008, where he threw out the final pitch in the history of the stadium to Piazza. Along with Piazza he opened the Mets' new home, Citi Field with the ceremonial first pitch on April 13, 2009.
The 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was dedicated to Seaver. He concluded the introduction of the starting lineup ceremonies by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Mets player David Wright participated. In 2019, the New York City renamed the street outside Citi Field from 126th Street to Seaver Way and changed the ballpark's address to 41 Seaver Way, a salute of the number he wore throughout his career.
In 2017, Seaver was awarded the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award as the Hall of Fame recipient.
Legacy
Only Seaver and Walter Johnson have 300 wins, 3,000 strikeouts, and an earned run average under 3.00. Seaver's 16 Opening-Day starts are an MLB record. At the time of his retirement, he was third on MLB's all-time strikeout list (3,640), trailing only his former teammate Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton; he currently ranks sixth all time. Seaver is tied with Ryan for the seventh-most shutouts in MLB history (61). His feat of striking out ten consecutive batters has only been matched once, by Aaron Nola in 2021. He also holds the record for consecutive 200-strikeout seasons with nine (1968–1976). In 1999, Seaver ranked 32nd on Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, the only player to have spent a majority of his career with the Mets to make the list. In 2016, ESPN.com ranked Seaver 34th on its list of the greatest MLB players, while The Athletic ranked him the 41st-greatest player in 2020.
Seaver could also help himself at the plate. A decent hitter and proficient bunter, Seaver hit 12 home runs during his career, along with a relatively solid lifetime batting average, for a pitcher, of .154.
Seaver approached Hank Aaron before his first All-Star Game in 1967 and asked Aaron for his autograph. Seaver felt the need to introduce himself to Aaron, as he was certain "Hammerin' Hank" would not know who he was. Aaron replied to Seaver, "Kid, I know who you are, and before your career is over, I guarantee you everyone in this stadium will, too."
In 2020, Bill Madden wrote Tom Seaver, A Terrific Life in honor of his friend.
Broadcasting career
Seaver's television broadcasting experience dated back to his playing career, when he was invited to serve as a World Series analyst for ABC in and for NBC in , , and . Also while an active player, Seaver called the 1981 National League Division Series between Montreal and Philadelphia and that year's National League Championship Series alongside Dick Enberg for NBC.
After retiring as a player, Seaver worked as a television color commentator for the Mets, the New York Yankees, and with Vin Scully in 1989 for NBC. Seaver replaced Joe Garagiola as NBC's lead baseball color commentator, which led to him calling the 1989 All-Star Game and National League Championship Series. He worked as an analyst for Yankees' telecasts on WPIX from 1989 to 1993 and for Mets telecasts on WPIX from 1999 to 2005, making him one of three sportscasters to be regular announcers for both teams; the others are Fran Healy and Tim McCarver.
Personal life and death
Seaver married Nancy Lynn McIntyre on June 9, 1966. They were the parents of two daughters, Sarah and Annie. They lived in Calistoga, California, where Seaver started his own 3.5-acre (1.4 ha) vineyard, Seaver Family Vineyards, on his 116-acre (47 ha) estate, in 2002. His first vintage was produced in 2005. He presented his two cabernets, "Nancy's Fancy" and "GTS," at an April 2010 wine-tasting event in SoHo, to positive reviews.
His media nickname referred to the cartoon character Tom Terrific. In 2019, NFL quarterback Tom Brady was denied the trademark "Tom Terrific", when the United States Patent and Trademark Office said it "may falsely suggest a connection with Tom Seaver".
In 2013, it was reported that Seaver suffered from memory loss, not even remembering long-term acquaintances and experiencing symptoms of "sleep disorder, nausea, and a general overall feeling of chemical imbalance". According to former teammate Bud Harrelson, Seaver was "otherwise doing well". On March 7, 2019, Seaver's family announced that he had dementia and was retiring from public life.
Seaver died in his sleep as a result of complications from Lewy body dementia and COVID-19 on August 31, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in California. He was 75.
See also
300 win club
3,000 strikeout club
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders
List of Major League Baseball individual streaks
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball single-game strikeout leaders
Major League Baseball titles leaders
Explanatory footnotes
References
External links
Tom Seaver at SABR (Baseball Biography Project)
Tom Seaver at Baseball Almanac
Tom Seaver at Baseball Library
Tom Seaver at Ultimate Mets Database
1944 births
2020 deaths
Baseball players from California
Boston Red Sox players
Chicago White Sox players
Cincinnati Reds players
Cy Young Award winners
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in California
Neurological disease deaths in California
Deaths from Lewy body dementia
Fresno City Rams baseball players
Jacksonville Suns players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball pitchers
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners
Military personnel from California
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
National League strikeout champions
National League wins champions
New York Mets announcers
New York Mets players
New York Yankees announcers
People from Calistoga, California
Sportspeople from Fresno, California
United States Marine Corps reservists
USC Trojans baseball players
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"Seaver is a surname, and may refer to:\n\nBenjamin Seaver (1795–1856), American politician from Massachusetts; mayor of Boston 1852–53\nBlanche Seaver (1891–1994), American philanthropist and musician\nEbenezer Seaver (1763–1844), American politician from Massachusetts; U.S. representative 1803–1\nEdwin Seaver (1900–1987), American publisher, writer, editor, critic\nFrank Seaver (1883–1964), American lawyer, Navy officer, oil executive, philanthropist\nFred Jay Seaver (1877–1970), American mycologist\nHideo Seaver (contemporary), American voice actor\nJay Webber Seaver (1855–1915), American physician and pioneer of anthropometry\nKristjan Seaver (1898–1941), Estonian Communist politician\nMichael Seaver (born 1967), Irish musician and dance critic\nRobert Chauncey Seaver (fl. 1907), American amateur tennis player\nThomas O. Seaver (1833–1912), American army officer during the American Civil War; recipient of the Medal of Honor\nTom Seaver (1944–2020), American baseball pitcher\n\nSee also\nSiever, surname",
"Bill Madden (born 1946) is an American sportswriter formerly with the New York Daily News. A member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, he has served on the Historical Overview Committee of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005, 2007 and 2008, helping to select candidates for the final ballots presented to the Veterans Committee.\n\nMadden grew up in Oradell, New Jersey, and graduated from Bergen Catholic High School.\n\nMadden was a sportswriter with United Press International for nine years before he joined the Daily News in 1978. He covered the New York Yankees before becoming a columnist in 1989. In 1990, he crossed picket lines while the Daily News writers were on strike due to his objection to the Newspaper Guild turning down a three-year contract and 20% raises from the parent Tribune Company. He has written the books Damned Yankees: A No-Holds-Barred Account of Life With \"Boss\" Steinbrenner (1991, with Moss Klein), Zim - A Baseball Life (2001, with Don Zimmer), Pride of October: What it Was to Be Young and a Yankee (2003), and Bill Madden: My 25 Years Covering Baseball's Heroes, Scoundrels, Triumphs and Tragedies 2004 Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball (2010), \"1954 - The Year Willie Mays and the First Generation of Black Superstars Changed Baseball Forever\" (2014), and \"Lou - -Fifty Years of Kicking Dirt, Playing Hard and Winning in the Sweet Spot of Baseball\" (with Lou Piniella) (2017).\n\nIn 2010, Madden was the recipient of the baseball scribe's highest honor, the J.G. Taylor Spink Award. Madden and other Spink award winners are recognized at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown with a display in the \"Scribes and Mikemen\" exhibit behind the Gallery of Plaques.\n\nOn September 16, 2015, Madden was laid off from the Daily News by publisher Mort Zuckerman in a cost-cutting effort that included other longtime, well-known columnists. However, two years later, Madden was brought back on a freelance basis and continues to write several columns a week.\n\nIn 2016 and 2017, Madden interviewed Tom Seaver in Seaver's winery for a documentary to be aired in 2019, when Seaver was already battling the effects of lyme disease which mimicked the memory loss symptoms of dementia or Alzheimer's disease. When Seaver died in 2020, Madden wrote Tom Seaver: A Terrific Life in honor of him.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nBaseball Hall of Fame\nMadden's Daily Columns\n\n1946 births\nLiving people\nBergen Catholic High School alumni\nBBWAA Career Excellence Award recipients\nJournalists from New York City\nSportswriters from New York (state)\nPeople from Oradell, New Jersey"
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"Tom Seaver",
"Continued excellence",
"What is the relation between Tom seaver and continued excellence?",
"I don't know."
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Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
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Other than the Tom Seaver work Continued Excellence, are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
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Tom Seaver
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On April 22, 1970, Seaver set a major league record by striking out the final 10 batters of the game in a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium. Al Ferrara, who had homered in the second inning for the Padres' run, was the final strikeout victim of the game. In addition to his 10 consecutive strikeouts, Seaver tied Steve Carlton's major league record, at the time, with 19 strikeouts in a nine-inning game,. The Mets also won the game in which Carlton struck out 19, with Carlton victimized by Ron Swoboda's pair of 2-run homers in a 4-3 Mets victory in St. Louis on September 15, 1969. (The record was later eclipsed by 20-strikeout games by Kerry Wood, Randy Johnson, Max Scherzer, and twice by Roger Clemens.) By mid-August, Seaver's record stood at 17-6 and he seemed well on his way to a second consecutive 20-victory season. But he only won one of his last ten starts, including four on short rest, to finish 18-12. Nonetheless, Seaver led the National League in both ERA and strikeouts. The 1971 season was arguably Seaver's finest year, when he led the league in ERA (1.76) and strikeouts (289 in 286 innings) while going 20-10. However, he finished second in the Cy Young balloting to Ferguson Jenkins of the Chicago Cubs, due to Jenkins' league-leading 24 wins, 325 innings pitched, and exceptional control numbers. Seaver himself has said that 1971 was his best season. Seaver had four more twenty-win seasons (20 in 1971, 21 in 1972, 22 in 1975, and 21 in 1977) (7 wins for the Mets, then 14 more after being traded to the Reds). He won two more Cy Young Awards (1973 and 1975, both with the Mets). During his tenure with the Mets, Seaver made 108 starts in which he pitched 9 or more innings and allowed 1 run or less. His record in those starts is 93-3 with 12 no-decisions. In seven of the 12 no-decisions, he pitched 10 or more innings. In the 12 no-decisions, he pitched a total of 117 innings, allowing 56 hits and 5 earned runs, compiling a 0.38 ERA. Between 1970 and 1976, Seaver led the National League in strikeouts five of the seven seasons, finishing second in 1972 and third in 1974. Seaver also won three ERA titles as a Met. Two famous quotes about Seaver are attributed to Reggie Jackson: "Blind men come to the park just to hear him pitch." The second was that, while pitching for the Mets during the 1973 World series, 6th game, with the Mets up 3 games to 2, and so poised to win their second Championship, with Mr. Seaver scheduled to start. He did, but did not have his "arm" that day, his arm strength, that is, and the opposing team knew it. Seaver would go on to start and lose the 6th game... Mr. Jackson is reported to have said "Seaver pitched with his heart that day." Seaver was perhaps the foremost latter-day exponent of "drop and drive" overhand delivery, but his powerful legs protected his arm, and ensured his longevity. Seaver was frequently compared to fellow Hall of Fame pitcher Christy Mathewson. CANNOTANSWER
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Seaver set a major league record by striking out the final 10 batters of the game in a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium.
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George Thomas Seaver (November 17, 1944 – August 31, 2020), nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "the Franchise", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox, and Boston Red Sox from to . A longtime Met, Seaver played a significant role in their victory in the 1969 World Series over the Baltimore Orioles.
With the Mets, Seaver won the National League's (NL) Rookie of the Year Award in 1967, and won three NL Cy Young Awards as the league's best pitcher. He was a 12-time All-Star and ranks as the Mets' all-time leader in wins. During his MLB career, he compiled 311 wins, 3,640 strikeouts, 61 shutouts, and a 2.86 earned run average, and he threw a no-hitter in 1978.
In 1992, Seaver was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the highest percentage of votes ever recorded at the time. Along with Mike Piazza, he is one of two players wearing a New York Mets hat on his plaque in the Hall of Fame. Seaver's No. 41 was retired by the Mets in 1988, and New York City changed the address of Citi Field to 41 Seaver Way in 2019. Seaver is also a member of the New York Mets Hall of Fame and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.
Early life
Seaver was born in Fresno, California, to Betty Lee (née Cline) and Charles Henry Seaver. He attended Fresno High School and was a pitcher for the school's baseball team. Seaver compensated for his lack of size and strength by developing great control on the mound. Despite being an All-City basketball player, he hoped to play baseball in college. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve on June 28, 1962. He served with AIRFMFPAC 29 Palms, California, through July 1963. After six months of active duty in the reserve, Seaver enrolled at Fresno City College. He remained a part-time member of the reserve until his eight-year commitment ended in 1970.
The University of Southern California (USC) recruited Seaver to play college baseball. Unsure as to whether Seaver was worthy of a scholarship, USC sent him to pitch in Alaska for the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks in the summer of 1964. After a stellar season, in which he pitched and won a game in the national tournament with a grand slam, USC head coach Rod Dedeaux awarded him a scholarship. As a sophomore in 1965, Seaver posted a 10–2 record for the Trojans, and he was selected in the tenth round of the 1965 Major League Baseball draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. When Seaver asked for $70,000, however, the Dodgers passed.
In 1966, Seaver signed a professional contract with the Atlanta Braves, who had selected him in the first round of the secondary January draft, 20th overall. However, the contract was voided by Baseball Commissioner William Eckert because USC had played two exhibition games that year, although Seaver hadn't participated. He then intended to finish the college season, but because he had signed a pro contract, the NCAA ruled him ineligible. After Seaver's father complained to Eckert about the unfairness of the situation, and threatened a lawsuit, Eckert ruled that other teams could match the Braves' offer. The Mets were subsequently awarded his signing rights in a lottery drawing among the three teams (the Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Indians being the two others) that were willing to match the Braves' terms.
Professional playing career
Minor leagues (1966)
In 1966, Seaver was 12–12 with a 3.13 earned run average pitching in Class AAA with the Jacksonville Suns, the Mets' affiliate in the International League.
New York Mets (1967–1977)
Seaver made the Mets' roster in 1967, was named to the 1967 All-Star Game, and got the save by pitching a scoreless 15th inning. In his rookie season, Seaver was 16–13 for the last-place Mets, with 18 complete games, 170 strikeouts, and a 2.76 earned run average. Seaver was named the 1967 National League Rookie of the Year.
Seaver started for the Mets on Opening Day in 1968. He won 16 games again during that season, and recorded over 200 strikeouts for the first of nine consecutive seasons, but the Mets moved up only one spot in the standings, to ninth. In 1969, Seaver won a league-high 25 games, including nine consecutive complete-game victories. He won his first National League Cy Young Award. He also finished runner-up to Willie McCovey for the League's Most Valuable Player Award.
In front of a crowd of over 59,000 at New York's Shea Stadium on July 9, Seaver threw perfect innings against the division-leading Chicago Cubs. Rookie backup outfielder Jim Qualls broke up Seaver's bid for a perfect game when he lined a clean single to left field.
In the inaugural National League Championship Series, Seaver outlasted Atlanta's Phil Niekro in the first game for a 9–5 victory. Seaver was also the starter for Game One of the World Series, but lost a 4–1 decision to the Baltimore Orioles' Mike Cuellar. Seaver then pitched a 10-inning complete game for a 2–1 win in Game Four. The "Miracle Mets" won the series. At year's end, Seaver was presented with the Hickok Belt as the top professional athlete of the year and Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award.
On April 22, 1970, Seaver set a major league record by striking out the final ten batters of the game in a 2–1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium. Al Ferrara, who had homered in the second inning for the Padres' run, accounted for both the first and the final strikeout of the streak. In addition to his ten consecutive strikeouts, Seaver tied Steve Carlton's major league record at the time, with 19 strikeouts in a nine-inning game. The Mets also won the game in which Carlton struck out 19, with Carlton victimized by Ron Swoboda's pair of 2-run homers in a 4–3 Mets' victory in St. Louis on September 15, 1969. (The record was later eclipsed by 20-strikeout games by Kerry Wood, Randy Johnson, Max Scherzer, and twice by Roger Clemens.) By mid-August, Seaver's record stood at 17–6 and he seemed well on his way to a second consecutive 20-victory season. But he only won one of his last ten starts, including four on short rest, to finish 18–12. Nonetheless, Seaver led the National League in both earned run average (2.82) and strikeouts (283).
In 1971, Seaver led the league in earned run average (1.76) and strikeouts (289 in 286 innings) while going 20–10. However, he finished second in the Cy Young balloting to Ferguson Jenkins of the Chicago Cubs, due to Jenkins' league-leading 24 wins, 325 innings pitched, and exceptional control numbers.
Seaver had four more 20-win seasons (20 in 1971, 21 in 1972, 22 in 1975, and 21 in 1977). He won two more Cy Young Awards (1973 and 1975, both with the Mets). Between 1970 and 1976, Seaver led the National League in strikeouts five times, while also finishing second in 1972 and third in 1974. Seaver also won three earned run average titles as a Met. Two famous quotes about Seaver are attributed to Reggie Jackson: "Blind men come to the park just to hear him pitch." The second was in the 1973 World series, with the Mets up 3 games to 2, and poised to win their second championship. Seaver started the game, but did not have his "arm" that day, and lost the game. Jackson is reported to have said "Seaver pitched with his heart that day." Seaver was known for his "drop and drive" overhand delivery, powered by his legs and trunk with his knee sinking to the ground.
Midnight Massacre
By , free agency had begun and contract negotiations between Mets' ownership and Seaver were not going well. Seaver wanted to renegotiate his contract to bring his salary in line with what other top pitchers were making, but chairman of the board M. Donald Grant, who by that time had been given carte blanche by Mets management to do what he wished, refused to budge. Longtime New York Daily News columnist Dick Young regularly wrote negative columns about Seaver's "greedy" demands. Seaver attempted to resolve the impasse by going to team owner Lorinda de Roulet, who along with general manager Joe McDonald, had negotiated in principle a three-year contract extension by mid-June. Before the contract could be signed, Young wrote an unattributed story in the Daily News saying that Seaver was being goaded by his wife to ask for more money because she was envious of Nolan Ryan making more money with the California Angels. Upon being informed of the story, Seaver informed de Roulet that he immediately wanted out, and asked McDonald to immediately trade him, feeling that he could not co-exist with Grant.
In one of two trades that New York's sports reporters dubbed "the Midnight Massacre" (the other involved struggling outfielder Dave Kingman), Seaver was traded to the Cincinnati Reds at the trading deadline, June 15, 1977, for pitcher Pat Zachry, minor league outfielder Steve Henderson, infielder Doug Flynn, and minor league outfielder Dan Norman.
Cincinnati Reds (1977–1982)
Seaver went 14–3 with the Reds and won 21 games in 1977, including an emotional 5–1 win over the Mets in his return to Shea Stadium. Seaver struck out 11 in the return, and also hit a double. He also received a lengthy ovation at the All-Star Game, held in New York's Yankee Stadium. His departure from New York sparked sustained negative fan reaction, as the Mets became the league's worst team, finishing in last place the next three seasons. Combined with the Yankees' resurgence in the market, attendance dipped in 1978, and plunged in 1979 to 9,740 per game. M. Donald Grant was fired after the 1978 season, and Joe McDonald was fired after the 1979 season following a sale of the team to publishing magnate Nelson Doubleday, Jr. In a sardonic nod to the general manager, Shea Stadium acquired the nickname "Grant's Tomb".
After having thrown five one-hitters for the Mets, including two games in which no-hit bids were broken up in the ninth inning, Seaver recorded a 4–0 no-hitter for the Reds in 1978 against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 16 at Riverfront Stadium. It was the only no-hitter of his professional career.
He led the Cincinnati pitching staff in 1979, when the Reds won the Western Division, and again in the strike-shortened 1981 season, when the Reds had the best record in the major leagues. In the latter season, Seaver, with his sterling 14–2 performance, was a close runner-up to Fernando Valenzuela for the 1981 Cy Young Award. (Seaver had finished third and fourth in two other previous years.) In 1981, during one of his two losses, Seaver recorded his 3,000th strikeout against Keith Hernandez of the St. Louis Cardinals. Then in 1982 he suffered through an injury-ridden campaign, finishing the season 5–13.
In six seasons with the Reds, Seaver was 75–46 with a 3.18 earned run average and 42 complete games in 158 starts.
Return to Mets (1983)
On December 16, 1982, Seaver was traded back to the Mets, for Charlie Puleo, Lloyd McClendon, and Jason Felice. On April 5, 1983, he tied Walter Johnson's major league record of 14 Opening Day starts, shutting out the Philadelphia Phillies for six innings in a 2–0 Mets win, but had a 9–14 record that season. The Mets exercised an option on Seaver's contract worth $750,000 for the 1984 season. Overall, in 12 seasons with the Mets, Seaver was 198–124 with a 2.57 earned run average in 3,045 innings with 171 complete games, winning three Cy Young awards, the 1969 World Series and the 1967 NL Rookie of the Year Award.
Chicago White Sox (1984–1986)
On January 20, 1984, the Chicago White Sox claimed Seaver from the Mets in a free-agent compensation draft. The Mets, especially general manager Frank Cashen incorrectly assumed that no one would pursue a high-salaried, 39-year-old starting pitcher and left him off the protected list.
Seaver pitched two and a half seasons in Chicago and recorded his last shutout on July 19, 1985, against the visiting Indians. In an anomaly, Seaver won two games on May 9, 1984; he pitched the 25th and final inning of a game suspended the day before, picking up the win in relief against the Milwaukee Brewers, before starting and winning the day's regularly scheduled game, also facing the Brewers.
On August 4, 1985, Seaver recorded his 300th victory at Yankee Stadium over the Yankees, throwing a complete game 4–1 victory.
In three seasons with the White Sox, Seaver was 33–28 with a 3.67 earned run average and 17 complete games in 81 appearances.
Boston Red Sox (1986)
Seaver started on Opening Day for the 16th and final time of his career in 1986. The White Sox traded Seaver to the Boston Red Sox for Steve Lyons in mid-season. Seaver's 311th and final win came on August 18, 1986, against the Minnesota Twins.
A knee injury prevented Seaver from appearing against the Mets in the World Series with the Red Sox, but he received among the loudest ovations during player introductions prior to Game 1. Roger Clemens attributes the time he shared with Seaver as teammates in 1986 as instrumental in helping him make the transition from thrower to pitcher. The Red Sox did not offer Seaver a contract to his liking for the 1987 season. His 1986 salary was $1 million; the Red Sox offered $500,000, which Seaver declined. When no new contract agreement was reached, Seaver was granted free agency on November 12, 1986.
Seaver was 5–7 with a 3.80 earned run average in 16 starts with Boston in 1986.
In 1987, the Mets starting rotation was decimated by injury and they sought help from Seaver. Though no contract was signed, Seaver joined the club on June 6, and was hit hard in an exhibition game against the Triple-A Tidewater Tides on June 11. After similarly poor outings on June 16 and 20, he announced his retirement, saying that, "there were no more pitches in this 42-year-old arm that were competitive. I've used them all up."
Career statistics
Source:
Awards and honors
The Mets retired Seaver's uniform number 41 in 1988 in a Tom Seaver Day ceremony, making him the franchise's first player to be so honored.
Seaver was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 7, 1992, with the then-highest percentage of votes with 98.84%. He was named on 425 out of 430 ballots. Three of the five ballots that had omitted Seaver were blank, cast by writers protesting the Hall's decision to make Pete Rose ineligible for consideration. One ballot was sent by a writer who was recovering from open-heart surgery and failed to notice Seaver's name. The fifth "no" vote was cast by a writer who said he never voted for any player in their first year of eligibility. Seaver is one of two players enshrined in the Hall of Fame with a Mets cap on his plaque, along with Mike Piazza. He was also inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame, the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame, and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.
On September 28, 2006, Seaver was chosen as the "Hometown Hero" for the Mets franchise by ESPN. Seaver made a return to Shea Stadium during the "Shea Goodbye" closing ceremony on September 28, 2008, where he threw out the final pitch in the history of the stadium to Piazza. Along with Piazza he opened the Mets' new home, Citi Field with the ceremonial first pitch on April 13, 2009.
The 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was dedicated to Seaver. He concluded the introduction of the starting lineup ceremonies by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Mets player David Wright participated. In 2019, the New York City renamed the street outside Citi Field from 126th Street to Seaver Way and changed the ballpark's address to 41 Seaver Way, a salute of the number he wore throughout his career.
In 2017, Seaver was awarded the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award as the Hall of Fame recipient.
Legacy
Only Seaver and Walter Johnson have 300 wins, 3,000 strikeouts, and an earned run average under 3.00. Seaver's 16 Opening-Day starts are an MLB record. At the time of his retirement, he was third on MLB's all-time strikeout list (3,640), trailing only his former teammate Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton; he currently ranks sixth all time. Seaver is tied with Ryan for the seventh-most shutouts in MLB history (61). His feat of striking out ten consecutive batters has only been matched once, by Aaron Nola in 2021. He also holds the record for consecutive 200-strikeout seasons with nine (1968–1976). In 1999, Seaver ranked 32nd on Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, the only player to have spent a majority of his career with the Mets to make the list. In 2016, ESPN.com ranked Seaver 34th on its list of the greatest MLB players, while The Athletic ranked him the 41st-greatest player in 2020.
Seaver could also help himself at the plate. A decent hitter and proficient bunter, Seaver hit 12 home runs during his career, along with a relatively solid lifetime batting average, for a pitcher, of .154.
Seaver approached Hank Aaron before his first All-Star Game in 1967 and asked Aaron for his autograph. Seaver felt the need to introduce himself to Aaron, as he was certain "Hammerin' Hank" would not know who he was. Aaron replied to Seaver, "Kid, I know who you are, and before your career is over, I guarantee you everyone in this stadium will, too."
In 2020, Bill Madden wrote Tom Seaver, A Terrific Life in honor of his friend.
Broadcasting career
Seaver's television broadcasting experience dated back to his playing career, when he was invited to serve as a World Series analyst for ABC in and for NBC in , , and . Also while an active player, Seaver called the 1981 National League Division Series between Montreal and Philadelphia and that year's National League Championship Series alongside Dick Enberg for NBC.
After retiring as a player, Seaver worked as a television color commentator for the Mets, the New York Yankees, and with Vin Scully in 1989 for NBC. Seaver replaced Joe Garagiola as NBC's lead baseball color commentator, which led to him calling the 1989 All-Star Game and National League Championship Series. He worked as an analyst for Yankees' telecasts on WPIX from 1989 to 1993 and for Mets telecasts on WPIX from 1999 to 2005, making him one of three sportscasters to be regular announcers for both teams; the others are Fran Healy and Tim McCarver.
Personal life and death
Seaver married Nancy Lynn McIntyre on June 9, 1966. They were the parents of two daughters, Sarah and Annie. They lived in Calistoga, California, where Seaver started his own 3.5-acre (1.4 ha) vineyard, Seaver Family Vineyards, on his 116-acre (47 ha) estate, in 2002. His first vintage was produced in 2005. He presented his two cabernets, "Nancy's Fancy" and "GTS," at an April 2010 wine-tasting event in SoHo, to positive reviews.
His media nickname referred to the cartoon character Tom Terrific. In 2019, NFL quarterback Tom Brady was denied the trademark "Tom Terrific", when the United States Patent and Trademark Office said it "may falsely suggest a connection with Tom Seaver".
In 2013, it was reported that Seaver suffered from memory loss, not even remembering long-term acquaintances and experiencing symptoms of "sleep disorder, nausea, and a general overall feeling of chemical imbalance". According to former teammate Bud Harrelson, Seaver was "otherwise doing well". On March 7, 2019, Seaver's family announced that he had dementia and was retiring from public life.
Seaver died in his sleep as a result of complications from Lewy body dementia and COVID-19 on August 31, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in California. He was 75.
See also
300 win club
3,000 strikeout club
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders
List of Major League Baseball individual streaks
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball single-game strikeout leaders
Major League Baseball titles leaders
Explanatory footnotes
References
External links
Tom Seaver at SABR (Baseball Biography Project)
Tom Seaver at Baseball Almanac
Tom Seaver at Baseball Library
Tom Seaver at Ultimate Mets Database
1944 births
2020 deaths
Baseball players from California
Boston Red Sox players
Chicago White Sox players
Cincinnati Reds players
Cy Young Award winners
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in California
Neurological disease deaths in California
Deaths from Lewy body dementia
Fresno City Rams baseball players
Jacksonville Suns players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball pitchers
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners
Military personnel from California
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
National League strikeout champions
National League wins champions
New York Mets announcers
New York Mets players
New York Yankees announcers
People from Calistoga, California
Sportspeople from Fresno, California
United States Marine Corps reservists
USC Trojans baseball players
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"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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"Tom Seaver",
"Continued excellence",
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"I don't know.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Seaver set a major league record by striking out the final 10 batters of the game in a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium."
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Which baseball teams does Tom Seaver play for?
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Tom Seaver
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On April 22, 1970, Seaver set a major league record by striking out the final 10 batters of the game in a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium. Al Ferrara, who had homered in the second inning for the Padres' run, was the final strikeout victim of the game. In addition to his 10 consecutive strikeouts, Seaver tied Steve Carlton's major league record, at the time, with 19 strikeouts in a nine-inning game,. The Mets also won the game in which Carlton struck out 19, with Carlton victimized by Ron Swoboda's pair of 2-run homers in a 4-3 Mets victory in St. Louis on September 15, 1969. (The record was later eclipsed by 20-strikeout games by Kerry Wood, Randy Johnson, Max Scherzer, and twice by Roger Clemens.) By mid-August, Seaver's record stood at 17-6 and he seemed well on his way to a second consecutive 20-victory season. But he only won one of his last ten starts, including four on short rest, to finish 18-12. Nonetheless, Seaver led the National League in both ERA and strikeouts. The 1971 season was arguably Seaver's finest year, when he led the league in ERA (1.76) and strikeouts (289 in 286 innings) while going 20-10. However, he finished second in the Cy Young balloting to Ferguson Jenkins of the Chicago Cubs, due to Jenkins' league-leading 24 wins, 325 innings pitched, and exceptional control numbers. Seaver himself has said that 1971 was his best season. Seaver had four more twenty-win seasons (20 in 1971, 21 in 1972, 22 in 1975, and 21 in 1977) (7 wins for the Mets, then 14 more after being traded to the Reds). He won two more Cy Young Awards (1973 and 1975, both with the Mets). During his tenure with the Mets, Seaver made 108 starts in which he pitched 9 or more innings and allowed 1 run or less. His record in those starts is 93-3 with 12 no-decisions. In seven of the 12 no-decisions, he pitched 10 or more innings. In the 12 no-decisions, he pitched a total of 117 innings, allowing 56 hits and 5 earned runs, compiling a 0.38 ERA. Between 1970 and 1976, Seaver led the National League in strikeouts five of the seven seasons, finishing second in 1972 and third in 1974. Seaver also won three ERA titles as a Met. Two famous quotes about Seaver are attributed to Reggie Jackson: "Blind men come to the park just to hear him pitch." The second was that, while pitching for the Mets during the 1973 World series, 6th game, with the Mets up 3 games to 2, and so poised to win their second Championship, with Mr. Seaver scheduled to start. He did, but did not have his "arm" that day, his arm strength, that is, and the opposing team knew it. Seaver would go on to start and lose the 6th game... Mr. Jackson is reported to have said "Seaver pitched with his heart that day." Seaver was perhaps the foremost latter-day exponent of "drop and drive" overhand delivery, but his powerful legs protected his arm, and ensured his longevity. Seaver was frequently compared to fellow Hall of Fame pitcher Christy Mathewson. CANNOTANSWER
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The Mets
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George Thomas Seaver (November 17, 1944 – August 31, 2020), nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "the Franchise", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox, and Boston Red Sox from to . A longtime Met, Seaver played a significant role in their victory in the 1969 World Series over the Baltimore Orioles.
With the Mets, Seaver won the National League's (NL) Rookie of the Year Award in 1967, and won three NL Cy Young Awards as the league's best pitcher. He was a 12-time All-Star and ranks as the Mets' all-time leader in wins. During his MLB career, he compiled 311 wins, 3,640 strikeouts, 61 shutouts, and a 2.86 earned run average, and he threw a no-hitter in 1978.
In 1992, Seaver was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the highest percentage of votes ever recorded at the time. Along with Mike Piazza, he is one of two players wearing a New York Mets hat on his plaque in the Hall of Fame. Seaver's No. 41 was retired by the Mets in 1988, and New York City changed the address of Citi Field to 41 Seaver Way in 2019. Seaver is also a member of the New York Mets Hall of Fame and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.
Early life
Seaver was born in Fresno, California, to Betty Lee (née Cline) and Charles Henry Seaver. He attended Fresno High School and was a pitcher for the school's baseball team. Seaver compensated for his lack of size and strength by developing great control on the mound. Despite being an All-City basketball player, he hoped to play baseball in college. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve on June 28, 1962. He served with AIRFMFPAC 29 Palms, California, through July 1963. After six months of active duty in the reserve, Seaver enrolled at Fresno City College. He remained a part-time member of the reserve until his eight-year commitment ended in 1970.
The University of Southern California (USC) recruited Seaver to play college baseball. Unsure as to whether Seaver was worthy of a scholarship, USC sent him to pitch in Alaska for the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks in the summer of 1964. After a stellar season, in which he pitched and won a game in the national tournament with a grand slam, USC head coach Rod Dedeaux awarded him a scholarship. As a sophomore in 1965, Seaver posted a 10–2 record for the Trojans, and he was selected in the tenth round of the 1965 Major League Baseball draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. When Seaver asked for $70,000, however, the Dodgers passed.
In 1966, Seaver signed a professional contract with the Atlanta Braves, who had selected him in the first round of the secondary January draft, 20th overall. However, the contract was voided by Baseball Commissioner William Eckert because USC had played two exhibition games that year, although Seaver hadn't participated. He then intended to finish the college season, but because he had signed a pro contract, the NCAA ruled him ineligible. After Seaver's father complained to Eckert about the unfairness of the situation, and threatened a lawsuit, Eckert ruled that other teams could match the Braves' offer. The Mets were subsequently awarded his signing rights in a lottery drawing among the three teams (the Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Indians being the two others) that were willing to match the Braves' terms.
Professional playing career
Minor leagues (1966)
In 1966, Seaver was 12–12 with a 3.13 earned run average pitching in Class AAA with the Jacksonville Suns, the Mets' affiliate in the International League.
New York Mets (1967–1977)
Seaver made the Mets' roster in 1967, was named to the 1967 All-Star Game, and got the save by pitching a scoreless 15th inning. In his rookie season, Seaver was 16–13 for the last-place Mets, with 18 complete games, 170 strikeouts, and a 2.76 earned run average. Seaver was named the 1967 National League Rookie of the Year.
Seaver started for the Mets on Opening Day in 1968. He won 16 games again during that season, and recorded over 200 strikeouts for the first of nine consecutive seasons, but the Mets moved up only one spot in the standings, to ninth. In 1969, Seaver won a league-high 25 games, including nine consecutive complete-game victories. He won his first National League Cy Young Award. He also finished runner-up to Willie McCovey for the League's Most Valuable Player Award.
In front of a crowd of over 59,000 at New York's Shea Stadium on July 9, Seaver threw perfect innings against the division-leading Chicago Cubs. Rookie backup outfielder Jim Qualls broke up Seaver's bid for a perfect game when he lined a clean single to left field.
In the inaugural National League Championship Series, Seaver outlasted Atlanta's Phil Niekro in the first game for a 9–5 victory. Seaver was also the starter for Game One of the World Series, but lost a 4–1 decision to the Baltimore Orioles' Mike Cuellar. Seaver then pitched a 10-inning complete game for a 2–1 win in Game Four. The "Miracle Mets" won the series. At year's end, Seaver was presented with the Hickok Belt as the top professional athlete of the year and Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award.
On April 22, 1970, Seaver set a major league record by striking out the final ten batters of the game in a 2–1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium. Al Ferrara, who had homered in the second inning for the Padres' run, accounted for both the first and the final strikeout of the streak. In addition to his ten consecutive strikeouts, Seaver tied Steve Carlton's major league record at the time, with 19 strikeouts in a nine-inning game. The Mets also won the game in which Carlton struck out 19, with Carlton victimized by Ron Swoboda's pair of 2-run homers in a 4–3 Mets' victory in St. Louis on September 15, 1969. (The record was later eclipsed by 20-strikeout games by Kerry Wood, Randy Johnson, Max Scherzer, and twice by Roger Clemens.) By mid-August, Seaver's record stood at 17–6 and he seemed well on his way to a second consecutive 20-victory season. But he only won one of his last ten starts, including four on short rest, to finish 18–12. Nonetheless, Seaver led the National League in both earned run average (2.82) and strikeouts (283).
In 1971, Seaver led the league in earned run average (1.76) and strikeouts (289 in 286 innings) while going 20–10. However, he finished second in the Cy Young balloting to Ferguson Jenkins of the Chicago Cubs, due to Jenkins' league-leading 24 wins, 325 innings pitched, and exceptional control numbers.
Seaver had four more 20-win seasons (20 in 1971, 21 in 1972, 22 in 1975, and 21 in 1977). He won two more Cy Young Awards (1973 and 1975, both with the Mets). Between 1970 and 1976, Seaver led the National League in strikeouts five times, while also finishing second in 1972 and third in 1974. Seaver also won three earned run average titles as a Met. Two famous quotes about Seaver are attributed to Reggie Jackson: "Blind men come to the park just to hear him pitch." The second was in the 1973 World series, with the Mets up 3 games to 2, and poised to win their second championship. Seaver started the game, but did not have his "arm" that day, and lost the game. Jackson is reported to have said "Seaver pitched with his heart that day." Seaver was known for his "drop and drive" overhand delivery, powered by his legs and trunk with his knee sinking to the ground.
Midnight Massacre
By , free agency had begun and contract negotiations between Mets' ownership and Seaver were not going well. Seaver wanted to renegotiate his contract to bring his salary in line with what other top pitchers were making, but chairman of the board M. Donald Grant, who by that time had been given carte blanche by Mets management to do what he wished, refused to budge. Longtime New York Daily News columnist Dick Young regularly wrote negative columns about Seaver's "greedy" demands. Seaver attempted to resolve the impasse by going to team owner Lorinda de Roulet, who along with general manager Joe McDonald, had negotiated in principle a three-year contract extension by mid-June. Before the contract could be signed, Young wrote an unattributed story in the Daily News saying that Seaver was being goaded by his wife to ask for more money because she was envious of Nolan Ryan making more money with the California Angels. Upon being informed of the story, Seaver informed de Roulet that he immediately wanted out, and asked McDonald to immediately trade him, feeling that he could not co-exist with Grant.
In one of two trades that New York's sports reporters dubbed "the Midnight Massacre" (the other involved struggling outfielder Dave Kingman), Seaver was traded to the Cincinnati Reds at the trading deadline, June 15, 1977, for pitcher Pat Zachry, minor league outfielder Steve Henderson, infielder Doug Flynn, and minor league outfielder Dan Norman.
Cincinnati Reds (1977–1982)
Seaver went 14–3 with the Reds and won 21 games in 1977, including an emotional 5–1 win over the Mets in his return to Shea Stadium. Seaver struck out 11 in the return, and also hit a double. He also received a lengthy ovation at the All-Star Game, held in New York's Yankee Stadium. His departure from New York sparked sustained negative fan reaction, as the Mets became the league's worst team, finishing in last place the next three seasons. Combined with the Yankees' resurgence in the market, attendance dipped in 1978, and plunged in 1979 to 9,740 per game. M. Donald Grant was fired after the 1978 season, and Joe McDonald was fired after the 1979 season following a sale of the team to publishing magnate Nelson Doubleday, Jr. In a sardonic nod to the general manager, Shea Stadium acquired the nickname "Grant's Tomb".
After having thrown five one-hitters for the Mets, including two games in which no-hit bids were broken up in the ninth inning, Seaver recorded a 4–0 no-hitter for the Reds in 1978 against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 16 at Riverfront Stadium. It was the only no-hitter of his professional career.
He led the Cincinnati pitching staff in 1979, when the Reds won the Western Division, and again in the strike-shortened 1981 season, when the Reds had the best record in the major leagues. In the latter season, Seaver, with his sterling 14–2 performance, was a close runner-up to Fernando Valenzuela for the 1981 Cy Young Award. (Seaver had finished third and fourth in two other previous years.) In 1981, during one of his two losses, Seaver recorded his 3,000th strikeout against Keith Hernandez of the St. Louis Cardinals. Then in 1982 he suffered through an injury-ridden campaign, finishing the season 5–13.
In six seasons with the Reds, Seaver was 75–46 with a 3.18 earned run average and 42 complete games in 158 starts.
Return to Mets (1983)
On December 16, 1982, Seaver was traded back to the Mets, for Charlie Puleo, Lloyd McClendon, and Jason Felice. On April 5, 1983, he tied Walter Johnson's major league record of 14 Opening Day starts, shutting out the Philadelphia Phillies for six innings in a 2–0 Mets win, but had a 9–14 record that season. The Mets exercised an option on Seaver's contract worth $750,000 for the 1984 season. Overall, in 12 seasons with the Mets, Seaver was 198–124 with a 2.57 earned run average in 3,045 innings with 171 complete games, winning three Cy Young awards, the 1969 World Series and the 1967 NL Rookie of the Year Award.
Chicago White Sox (1984–1986)
On January 20, 1984, the Chicago White Sox claimed Seaver from the Mets in a free-agent compensation draft. The Mets, especially general manager Frank Cashen incorrectly assumed that no one would pursue a high-salaried, 39-year-old starting pitcher and left him off the protected list.
Seaver pitched two and a half seasons in Chicago and recorded his last shutout on July 19, 1985, against the visiting Indians. In an anomaly, Seaver won two games on May 9, 1984; he pitched the 25th and final inning of a game suspended the day before, picking up the win in relief against the Milwaukee Brewers, before starting and winning the day's regularly scheduled game, also facing the Brewers.
On August 4, 1985, Seaver recorded his 300th victory at Yankee Stadium over the Yankees, throwing a complete game 4–1 victory.
In three seasons with the White Sox, Seaver was 33–28 with a 3.67 earned run average and 17 complete games in 81 appearances.
Boston Red Sox (1986)
Seaver started on Opening Day for the 16th and final time of his career in 1986. The White Sox traded Seaver to the Boston Red Sox for Steve Lyons in mid-season. Seaver's 311th and final win came on August 18, 1986, against the Minnesota Twins.
A knee injury prevented Seaver from appearing against the Mets in the World Series with the Red Sox, but he received among the loudest ovations during player introductions prior to Game 1. Roger Clemens attributes the time he shared with Seaver as teammates in 1986 as instrumental in helping him make the transition from thrower to pitcher. The Red Sox did not offer Seaver a contract to his liking for the 1987 season. His 1986 salary was $1 million; the Red Sox offered $500,000, which Seaver declined. When no new contract agreement was reached, Seaver was granted free agency on November 12, 1986.
Seaver was 5–7 with a 3.80 earned run average in 16 starts with Boston in 1986.
In 1987, the Mets starting rotation was decimated by injury and they sought help from Seaver. Though no contract was signed, Seaver joined the club on June 6, and was hit hard in an exhibition game against the Triple-A Tidewater Tides on June 11. After similarly poor outings on June 16 and 20, he announced his retirement, saying that, "there were no more pitches in this 42-year-old arm that were competitive. I've used them all up."
Career statistics
Source:
Awards and honors
The Mets retired Seaver's uniform number 41 in 1988 in a Tom Seaver Day ceremony, making him the franchise's first player to be so honored.
Seaver was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 7, 1992, with the then-highest percentage of votes with 98.84%. He was named on 425 out of 430 ballots. Three of the five ballots that had omitted Seaver were blank, cast by writers protesting the Hall's decision to make Pete Rose ineligible for consideration. One ballot was sent by a writer who was recovering from open-heart surgery and failed to notice Seaver's name. The fifth "no" vote was cast by a writer who said he never voted for any player in their first year of eligibility. Seaver is one of two players enshrined in the Hall of Fame with a Mets cap on his plaque, along with Mike Piazza. He was also inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame, the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame, and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.
On September 28, 2006, Seaver was chosen as the "Hometown Hero" for the Mets franchise by ESPN. Seaver made a return to Shea Stadium during the "Shea Goodbye" closing ceremony on September 28, 2008, where he threw out the final pitch in the history of the stadium to Piazza. Along with Piazza he opened the Mets' new home, Citi Field with the ceremonial first pitch on April 13, 2009.
The 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was dedicated to Seaver. He concluded the introduction of the starting lineup ceremonies by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Mets player David Wright participated. In 2019, the New York City renamed the street outside Citi Field from 126th Street to Seaver Way and changed the ballpark's address to 41 Seaver Way, a salute of the number he wore throughout his career.
In 2017, Seaver was awarded the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award as the Hall of Fame recipient.
Legacy
Only Seaver and Walter Johnson have 300 wins, 3,000 strikeouts, and an earned run average under 3.00. Seaver's 16 Opening-Day starts are an MLB record. At the time of his retirement, he was third on MLB's all-time strikeout list (3,640), trailing only his former teammate Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton; he currently ranks sixth all time. Seaver is tied with Ryan for the seventh-most shutouts in MLB history (61). His feat of striking out ten consecutive batters has only been matched once, by Aaron Nola in 2021. He also holds the record for consecutive 200-strikeout seasons with nine (1968–1976). In 1999, Seaver ranked 32nd on Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, the only player to have spent a majority of his career with the Mets to make the list. In 2016, ESPN.com ranked Seaver 34th on its list of the greatest MLB players, while The Athletic ranked him the 41st-greatest player in 2020.
Seaver could also help himself at the plate. A decent hitter and proficient bunter, Seaver hit 12 home runs during his career, along with a relatively solid lifetime batting average, for a pitcher, of .154.
Seaver approached Hank Aaron before his first All-Star Game in 1967 and asked Aaron for his autograph. Seaver felt the need to introduce himself to Aaron, as he was certain "Hammerin' Hank" would not know who he was. Aaron replied to Seaver, "Kid, I know who you are, and before your career is over, I guarantee you everyone in this stadium will, too."
In 2020, Bill Madden wrote Tom Seaver, A Terrific Life in honor of his friend.
Broadcasting career
Seaver's television broadcasting experience dated back to his playing career, when he was invited to serve as a World Series analyst for ABC in and for NBC in , , and . Also while an active player, Seaver called the 1981 National League Division Series between Montreal and Philadelphia and that year's National League Championship Series alongside Dick Enberg for NBC.
After retiring as a player, Seaver worked as a television color commentator for the Mets, the New York Yankees, and with Vin Scully in 1989 for NBC. Seaver replaced Joe Garagiola as NBC's lead baseball color commentator, which led to him calling the 1989 All-Star Game and National League Championship Series. He worked as an analyst for Yankees' telecasts on WPIX from 1989 to 1993 and for Mets telecasts on WPIX from 1999 to 2005, making him one of three sportscasters to be regular announcers for both teams; the others are Fran Healy and Tim McCarver.
Personal life and death
Seaver married Nancy Lynn McIntyre on June 9, 1966. They were the parents of two daughters, Sarah and Annie. They lived in Calistoga, California, where Seaver started his own 3.5-acre (1.4 ha) vineyard, Seaver Family Vineyards, on his 116-acre (47 ha) estate, in 2002. His first vintage was produced in 2005. He presented his two cabernets, "Nancy's Fancy" and "GTS," at an April 2010 wine-tasting event in SoHo, to positive reviews.
His media nickname referred to the cartoon character Tom Terrific. In 2019, NFL quarterback Tom Brady was denied the trademark "Tom Terrific", when the United States Patent and Trademark Office said it "may falsely suggest a connection with Tom Seaver".
In 2013, it was reported that Seaver suffered from memory loss, not even remembering long-term acquaintances and experiencing symptoms of "sleep disorder, nausea, and a general overall feeling of chemical imbalance". According to former teammate Bud Harrelson, Seaver was "otherwise doing well". On March 7, 2019, Seaver's family announced that he had dementia and was retiring from public life.
Seaver died in his sleep as a result of complications from Lewy body dementia and COVID-19 on August 31, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in California. He was 75.
See also
300 win club
3,000 strikeout club
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders
List of Major League Baseball individual streaks
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball single-game strikeout leaders
Major League Baseball titles leaders
Explanatory footnotes
References
External links
Tom Seaver at SABR (Baseball Biography Project)
Tom Seaver at Baseball Almanac
Tom Seaver at Baseball Library
Tom Seaver at Ultimate Mets Database
1944 births
2020 deaths
Baseball players from California
Boston Red Sox players
Chicago White Sox players
Cincinnati Reds players
Cy Young Award winners
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in California
Neurological disease deaths in California
Deaths from Lewy body dementia
Fresno City Rams baseball players
Jacksonville Suns players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball pitchers
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners
Military personnel from California
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
National League strikeout champions
National League wins champions
New York Mets announcers
New York Mets players
New York Yankees announcers
People from Calistoga, California
Sportspeople from Fresno, California
United States Marine Corps reservists
USC Trojans baseball players
| true |
[
"Malé League is the official competition for football clubs in the Malé area. The top four teams qualify for Dhivehi League and bottom two teams play off against relegation with top-2 of 2nd division. Since 2001 top teams qualify for Dhivehi League with some teams from other islands. From 2007 a qualifying stage restricted to Malé does not exist anymore. In the 2017 league, top 4 team will qualify to Dhivehi Premier League and bottom 4 team will play Malé League qualifying round with top 4 team from Second Division.\n\nPrevious winners\n2001: Victory Sports Club\n2002: Island FC\n2003: Victory Sports Club\n2004: New Radiant SC\n2005: Club Valencia\n2006: Victory Sports Club\n2007-2016: not held\n2017: Maziya\n2018: New Radiant SC\n\nReferences\n\nhttp://www.rsssf.com/tablesm/maledchamp.html\n\nFootball leagues in the Maldives\nNational association football cups",
"The Serie B is a Mexican association football league. Eight teams compete in one group. Since the 2021–22 season, it is two short tournaments. The top four teams in the standings at end of each torneo will play in the Liguilla for a spot to play for promotion to Liga Premier – Serie A, and the stadium must meet the requirements to promote as well. In the 2020–21 season, Serie B was on hiatus due to COVID-19, but Serie B was reactivated for the 2021–22 season.\n\nTeams for 2021–22 season\nBelow are listed the member clubs of the Serie B for the 2021-22 season. 1 club returned from hiatus last season. Cuautla was excluded from the competition for not paying the debts to the league and the football federation, so it does not take part in the Clausura 2022 tournament.\n\nTeams \n{{Location map+ |Mexico |width=650|float=right |caption=Location of teams in the 2021–22 Serie B|places=\n\nStandings\n\nTeams on hiatus \nProvisional list of teams on hiatus for the 2021–22 season, teams may announce their return to the league before the start of the regular season.\n\nOffseason Changes\n Since 2021–22 season, the season will once again be divided into two tournaments: Apertura and Clausura.\n Calor returned from hiatus for 2021–22 season, after last season was on hiatus due to COVID-19.\n Aguacateros CDU returns to Serie B after an invite to participate in Serie A for the 2020-21 season when Serie B was suspended. Also, Ciervos and Cuautla returns to Serie B.\n On July 30, 2021, Alebrijes de Oaxaca, Ángeles Morelos, Guerreros de Xico, Huracanes Izcalli and Lobos Huerta joined the league as expansion teams.\n On August 8, 2021, Aragón F.C. announced that it will not participate in the season for administrative reasons, the team had been announced as a new participant on July 30, 2021.\n On September 10, 2021, Ángeles SUD F.C. Morelos was put on hiatus.\n On February 15, 2022 C.D. Cuautla was excluded from the competition for not paying the debts to the league and the football federation, so it does not take part in the Clausura 2022 tournament.\n\nReferences\n\n</noinclude>\n\n \n3"
] |
[
"Tom Seaver",
"Continued excellence",
"What is the relation between Tom seaver and continued excellence?",
"I don't know.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Seaver set a major league record by striking out the final 10 batters of the game in a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium.",
"Which teams does he play for?",
"The Mets"
] |
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Does he win any game for them?
| 4 |
Does Tom Seaver win any game for The Mets baseball team?
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Tom Seaver
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On April 22, 1970, Seaver set a major league record by striking out the final 10 batters of the game in a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium. Al Ferrara, who had homered in the second inning for the Padres' run, was the final strikeout victim of the game. In addition to his 10 consecutive strikeouts, Seaver tied Steve Carlton's major league record, at the time, with 19 strikeouts in a nine-inning game,. The Mets also won the game in which Carlton struck out 19, with Carlton victimized by Ron Swoboda's pair of 2-run homers in a 4-3 Mets victory in St. Louis on September 15, 1969. (The record was later eclipsed by 20-strikeout games by Kerry Wood, Randy Johnson, Max Scherzer, and twice by Roger Clemens.) By mid-August, Seaver's record stood at 17-6 and he seemed well on his way to a second consecutive 20-victory season. But he only won one of his last ten starts, including four on short rest, to finish 18-12. Nonetheless, Seaver led the National League in both ERA and strikeouts. The 1971 season was arguably Seaver's finest year, when he led the league in ERA (1.76) and strikeouts (289 in 286 innings) while going 20-10. However, he finished second in the Cy Young balloting to Ferguson Jenkins of the Chicago Cubs, due to Jenkins' league-leading 24 wins, 325 innings pitched, and exceptional control numbers. Seaver himself has said that 1971 was his best season. Seaver had four more twenty-win seasons (20 in 1971, 21 in 1972, 22 in 1975, and 21 in 1977) (7 wins for the Mets, then 14 more after being traded to the Reds). He won two more Cy Young Awards (1973 and 1975, both with the Mets). During his tenure with the Mets, Seaver made 108 starts in which he pitched 9 or more innings and allowed 1 run or less. His record in those starts is 93-3 with 12 no-decisions. In seven of the 12 no-decisions, he pitched 10 or more innings. In the 12 no-decisions, he pitched a total of 117 innings, allowing 56 hits and 5 earned runs, compiling a 0.38 ERA. Between 1970 and 1976, Seaver led the National League in strikeouts five of the seven seasons, finishing second in 1972 and third in 1974. Seaver also won three ERA titles as a Met. Two famous quotes about Seaver are attributed to Reggie Jackson: "Blind men come to the park just to hear him pitch." The second was that, while pitching for the Mets during the 1973 World series, 6th game, with the Mets up 3 games to 2, and so poised to win their second Championship, with Mr. Seaver scheduled to start. He did, but did not have his "arm" that day, his arm strength, that is, and the opposing team knew it. Seaver would go on to start and lose the 6th game... Mr. Jackson is reported to have said "Seaver pitched with his heart that day." Seaver was perhaps the foremost latter-day exponent of "drop and drive" overhand delivery, but his powerful legs protected his arm, and ensured his longevity. Seaver was frequently compared to fellow Hall of Fame pitcher Christy Mathewson. CANNOTANSWER
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the Mets up 3 games to 2,
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George Thomas Seaver (November 17, 1944 – August 31, 2020), nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "the Franchise", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox, and Boston Red Sox from to . A longtime Met, Seaver played a significant role in their victory in the 1969 World Series over the Baltimore Orioles.
With the Mets, Seaver won the National League's (NL) Rookie of the Year Award in 1967, and won three NL Cy Young Awards as the league's best pitcher. He was a 12-time All-Star and ranks as the Mets' all-time leader in wins. During his MLB career, he compiled 311 wins, 3,640 strikeouts, 61 shutouts, and a 2.86 earned run average, and he threw a no-hitter in 1978.
In 1992, Seaver was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the highest percentage of votes ever recorded at the time. Along with Mike Piazza, he is one of two players wearing a New York Mets hat on his plaque in the Hall of Fame. Seaver's No. 41 was retired by the Mets in 1988, and New York City changed the address of Citi Field to 41 Seaver Way in 2019. Seaver is also a member of the New York Mets Hall of Fame and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.
Early life
Seaver was born in Fresno, California, to Betty Lee (née Cline) and Charles Henry Seaver. He attended Fresno High School and was a pitcher for the school's baseball team. Seaver compensated for his lack of size and strength by developing great control on the mound. Despite being an All-City basketball player, he hoped to play baseball in college. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve on June 28, 1962. He served with AIRFMFPAC 29 Palms, California, through July 1963. After six months of active duty in the reserve, Seaver enrolled at Fresno City College. He remained a part-time member of the reserve until his eight-year commitment ended in 1970.
The University of Southern California (USC) recruited Seaver to play college baseball. Unsure as to whether Seaver was worthy of a scholarship, USC sent him to pitch in Alaska for the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks in the summer of 1964. After a stellar season, in which he pitched and won a game in the national tournament with a grand slam, USC head coach Rod Dedeaux awarded him a scholarship. As a sophomore in 1965, Seaver posted a 10–2 record for the Trojans, and he was selected in the tenth round of the 1965 Major League Baseball draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. When Seaver asked for $70,000, however, the Dodgers passed.
In 1966, Seaver signed a professional contract with the Atlanta Braves, who had selected him in the first round of the secondary January draft, 20th overall. However, the contract was voided by Baseball Commissioner William Eckert because USC had played two exhibition games that year, although Seaver hadn't participated. He then intended to finish the college season, but because he had signed a pro contract, the NCAA ruled him ineligible. After Seaver's father complained to Eckert about the unfairness of the situation, and threatened a lawsuit, Eckert ruled that other teams could match the Braves' offer. The Mets were subsequently awarded his signing rights in a lottery drawing among the three teams (the Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Indians being the two others) that were willing to match the Braves' terms.
Professional playing career
Minor leagues (1966)
In 1966, Seaver was 12–12 with a 3.13 earned run average pitching in Class AAA with the Jacksonville Suns, the Mets' affiliate in the International League.
New York Mets (1967–1977)
Seaver made the Mets' roster in 1967, was named to the 1967 All-Star Game, and got the save by pitching a scoreless 15th inning. In his rookie season, Seaver was 16–13 for the last-place Mets, with 18 complete games, 170 strikeouts, and a 2.76 earned run average. Seaver was named the 1967 National League Rookie of the Year.
Seaver started for the Mets on Opening Day in 1968. He won 16 games again during that season, and recorded over 200 strikeouts for the first of nine consecutive seasons, but the Mets moved up only one spot in the standings, to ninth. In 1969, Seaver won a league-high 25 games, including nine consecutive complete-game victories. He won his first National League Cy Young Award. He also finished runner-up to Willie McCovey for the League's Most Valuable Player Award.
In front of a crowd of over 59,000 at New York's Shea Stadium on July 9, Seaver threw perfect innings against the division-leading Chicago Cubs. Rookie backup outfielder Jim Qualls broke up Seaver's bid for a perfect game when he lined a clean single to left field.
In the inaugural National League Championship Series, Seaver outlasted Atlanta's Phil Niekro in the first game for a 9–5 victory. Seaver was also the starter for Game One of the World Series, but lost a 4–1 decision to the Baltimore Orioles' Mike Cuellar. Seaver then pitched a 10-inning complete game for a 2–1 win in Game Four. The "Miracle Mets" won the series. At year's end, Seaver was presented with the Hickok Belt as the top professional athlete of the year and Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award.
On April 22, 1970, Seaver set a major league record by striking out the final ten batters of the game in a 2–1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium. Al Ferrara, who had homered in the second inning for the Padres' run, accounted for both the first and the final strikeout of the streak. In addition to his ten consecutive strikeouts, Seaver tied Steve Carlton's major league record at the time, with 19 strikeouts in a nine-inning game. The Mets also won the game in which Carlton struck out 19, with Carlton victimized by Ron Swoboda's pair of 2-run homers in a 4–3 Mets' victory in St. Louis on September 15, 1969. (The record was later eclipsed by 20-strikeout games by Kerry Wood, Randy Johnson, Max Scherzer, and twice by Roger Clemens.) By mid-August, Seaver's record stood at 17–6 and he seemed well on his way to a second consecutive 20-victory season. But he only won one of his last ten starts, including four on short rest, to finish 18–12. Nonetheless, Seaver led the National League in both earned run average (2.82) and strikeouts (283).
In 1971, Seaver led the league in earned run average (1.76) and strikeouts (289 in 286 innings) while going 20–10. However, he finished second in the Cy Young balloting to Ferguson Jenkins of the Chicago Cubs, due to Jenkins' league-leading 24 wins, 325 innings pitched, and exceptional control numbers.
Seaver had four more 20-win seasons (20 in 1971, 21 in 1972, 22 in 1975, and 21 in 1977). He won two more Cy Young Awards (1973 and 1975, both with the Mets). Between 1970 and 1976, Seaver led the National League in strikeouts five times, while also finishing second in 1972 and third in 1974. Seaver also won three earned run average titles as a Met. Two famous quotes about Seaver are attributed to Reggie Jackson: "Blind men come to the park just to hear him pitch." The second was in the 1973 World series, with the Mets up 3 games to 2, and poised to win their second championship. Seaver started the game, but did not have his "arm" that day, and lost the game. Jackson is reported to have said "Seaver pitched with his heart that day." Seaver was known for his "drop and drive" overhand delivery, powered by his legs and trunk with his knee sinking to the ground.
Midnight Massacre
By , free agency had begun and contract negotiations between Mets' ownership and Seaver were not going well. Seaver wanted to renegotiate his contract to bring his salary in line with what other top pitchers were making, but chairman of the board M. Donald Grant, who by that time had been given carte blanche by Mets management to do what he wished, refused to budge. Longtime New York Daily News columnist Dick Young regularly wrote negative columns about Seaver's "greedy" demands. Seaver attempted to resolve the impasse by going to team owner Lorinda de Roulet, who along with general manager Joe McDonald, had negotiated in principle a three-year contract extension by mid-June. Before the contract could be signed, Young wrote an unattributed story in the Daily News saying that Seaver was being goaded by his wife to ask for more money because she was envious of Nolan Ryan making more money with the California Angels. Upon being informed of the story, Seaver informed de Roulet that he immediately wanted out, and asked McDonald to immediately trade him, feeling that he could not co-exist with Grant.
In one of two trades that New York's sports reporters dubbed "the Midnight Massacre" (the other involved struggling outfielder Dave Kingman), Seaver was traded to the Cincinnati Reds at the trading deadline, June 15, 1977, for pitcher Pat Zachry, minor league outfielder Steve Henderson, infielder Doug Flynn, and minor league outfielder Dan Norman.
Cincinnati Reds (1977–1982)
Seaver went 14–3 with the Reds and won 21 games in 1977, including an emotional 5–1 win over the Mets in his return to Shea Stadium. Seaver struck out 11 in the return, and also hit a double. He also received a lengthy ovation at the All-Star Game, held in New York's Yankee Stadium. His departure from New York sparked sustained negative fan reaction, as the Mets became the league's worst team, finishing in last place the next three seasons. Combined with the Yankees' resurgence in the market, attendance dipped in 1978, and plunged in 1979 to 9,740 per game. M. Donald Grant was fired after the 1978 season, and Joe McDonald was fired after the 1979 season following a sale of the team to publishing magnate Nelson Doubleday, Jr. In a sardonic nod to the general manager, Shea Stadium acquired the nickname "Grant's Tomb".
After having thrown five one-hitters for the Mets, including two games in which no-hit bids were broken up in the ninth inning, Seaver recorded a 4–0 no-hitter for the Reds in 1978 against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 16 at Riverfront Stadium. It was the only no-hitter of his professional career.
He led the Cincinnati pitching staff in 1979, when the Reds won the Western Division, and again in the strike-shortened 1981 season, when the Reds had the best record in the major leagues. In the latter season, Seaver, with his sterling 14–2 performance, was a close runner-up to Fernando Valenzuela for the 1981 Cy Young Award. (Seaver had finished third and fourth in two other previous years.) In 1981, during one of his two losses, Seaver recorded his 3,000th strikeout against Keith Hernandez of the St. Louis Cardinals. Then in 1982 he suffered through an injury-ridden campaign, finishing the season 5–13.
In six seasons with the Reds, Seaver was 75–46 with a 3.18 earned run average and 42 complete games in 158 starts.
Return to Mets (1983)
On December 16, 1982, Seaver was traded back to the Mets, for Charlie Puleo, Lloyd McClendon, and Jason Felice. On April 5, 1983, he tied Walter Johnson's major league record of 14 Opening Day starts, shutting out the Philadelphia Phillies for six innings in a 2–0 Mets win, but had a 9–14 record that season. The Mets exercised an option on Seaver's contract worth $750,000 for the 1984 season. Overall, in 12 seasons with the Mets, Seaver was 198–124 with a 2.57 earned run average in 3,045 innings with 171 complete games, winning three Cy Young awards, the 1969 World Series and the 1967 NL Rookie of the Year Award.
Chicago White Sox (1984–1986)
On January 20, 1984, the Chicago White Sox claimed Seaver from the Mets in a free-agent compensation draft. The Mets, especially general manager Frank Cashen incorrectly assumed that no one would pursue a high-salaried, 39-year-old starting pitcher and left him off the protected list.
Seaver pitched two and a half seasons in Chicago and recorded his last shutout on July 19, 1985, against the visiting Indians. In an anomaly, Seaver won two games on May 9, 1984; he pitched the 25th and final inning of a game suspended the day before, picking up the win in relief against the Milwaukee Brewers, before starting and winning the day's regularly scheduled game, also facing the Brewers.
On August 4, 1985, Seaver recorded his 300th victory at Yankee Stadium over the Yankees, throwing a complete game 4–1 victory.
In three seasons with the White Sox, Seaver was 33–28 with a 3.67 earned run average and 17 complete games in 81 appearances.
Boston Red Sox (1986)
Seaver started on Opening Day for the 16th and final time of his career in 1986. The White Sox traded Seaver to the Boston Red Sox for Steve Lyons in mid-season. Seaver's 311th and final win came on August 18, 1986, against the Minnesota Twins.
A knee injury prevented Seaver from appearing against the Mets in the World Series with the Red Sox, but he received among the loudest ovations during player introductions prior to Game 1. Roger Clemens attributes the time he shared with Seaver as teammates in 1986 as instrumental in helping him make the transition from thrower to pitcher. The Red Sox did not offer Seaver a contract to his liking for the 1987 season. His 1986 salary was $1 million; the Red Sox offered $500,000, which Seaver declined. When no new contract agreement was reached, Seaver was granted free agency on November 12, 1986.
Seaver was 5–7 with a 3.80 earned run average in 16 starts with Boston in 1986.
In 1987, the Mets starting rotation was decimated by injury and they sought help from Seaver. Though no contract was signed, Seaver joined the club on June 6, and was hit hard in an exhibition game against the Triple-A Tidewater Tides on June 11. After similarly poor outings on June 16 and 20, he announced his retirement, saying that, "there were no more pitches in this 42-year-old arm that were competitive. I've used them all up."
Career statistics
Source:
Awards and honors
The Mets retired Seaver's uniform number 41 in 1988 in a Tom Seaver Day ceremony, making him the franchise's first player to be so honored.
Seaver was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 7, 1992, with the then-highest percentage of votes with 98.84%. He was named on 425 out of 430 ballots. Three of the five ballots that had omitted Seaver were blank, cast by writers protesting the Hall's decision to make Pete Rose ineligible for consideration. One ballot was sent by a writer who was recovering from open-heart surgery and failed to notice Seaver's name. The fifth "no" vote was cast by a writer who said he never voted for any player in their first year of eligibility. Seaver is one of two players enshrined in the Hall of Fame with a Mets cap on his plaque, along with Mike Piazza. He was also inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame, the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame, and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.
On September 28, 2006, Seaver was chosen as the "Hometown Hero" for the Mets franchise by ESPN. Seaver made a return to Shea Stadium during the "Shea Goodbye" closing ceremony on September 28, 2008, where he threw out the final pitch in the history of the stadium to Piazza. Along with Piazza he opened the Mets' new home, Citi Field with the ceremonial first pitch on April 13, 2009.
The 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was dedicated to Seaver. He concluded the introduction of the starting lineup ceremonies by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Mets player David Wright participated. In 2019, the New York City renamed the street outside Citi Field from 126th Street to Seaver Way and changed the ballpark's address to 41 Seaver Way, a salute of the number he wore throughout his career.
In 2017, Seaver was awarded the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award as the Hall of Fame recipient.
Legacy
Only Seaver and Walter Johnson have 300 wins, 3,000 strikeouts, and an earned run average under 3.00. Seaver's 16 Opening-Day starts are an MLB record. At the time of his retirement, he was third on MLB's all-time strikeout list (3,640), trailing only his former teammate Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton; he currently ranks sixth all time. Seaver is tied with Ryan for the seventh-most shutouts in MLB history (61). His feat of striking out ten consecutive batters has only been matched once, by Aaron Nola in 2021. He also holds the record for consecutive 200-strikeout seasons with nine (1968–1976). In 1999, Seaver ranked 32nd on Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, the only player to have spent a majority of his career with the Mets to make the list. In 2016, ESPN.com ranked Seaver 34th on its list of the greatest MLB players, while The Athletic ranked him the 41st-greatest player in 2020.
Seaver could also help himself at the plate. A decent hitter and proficient bunter, Seaver hit 12 home runs during his career, along with a relatively solid lifetime batting average, for a pitcher, of .154.
Seaver approached Hank Aaron before his first All-Star Game in 1967 and asked Aaron for his autograph. Seaver felt the need to introduce himself to Aaron, as he was certain "Hammerin' Hank" would not know who he was. Aaron replied to Seaver, "Kid, I know who you are, and before your career is over, I guarantee you everyone in this stadium will, too."
In 2020, Bill Madden wrote Tom Seaver, A Terrific Life in honor of his friend.
Broadcasting career
Seaver's television broadcasting experience dated back to his playing career, when he was invited to serve as a World Series analyst for ABC in and for NBC in , , and . Also while an active player, Seaver called the 1981 National League Division Series between Montreal and Philadelphia and that year's National League Championship Series alongside Dick Enberg for NBC.
After retiring as a player, Seaver worked as a television color commentator for the Mets, the New York Yankees, and with Vin Scully in 1989 for NBC. Seaver replaced Joe Garagiola as NBC's lead baseball color commentator, which led to him calling the 1989 All-Star Game and National League Championship Series. He worked as an analyst for Yankees' telecasts on WPIX from 1989 to 1993 and for Mets telecasts on WPIX from 1999 to 2005, making him one of three sportscasters to be regular announcers for both teams; the others are Fran Healy and Tim McCarver.
Personal life and death
Seaver married Nancy Lynn McIntyre on June 9, 1966. They were the parents of two daughters, Sarah and Annie. They lived in Calistoga, California, where Seaver started his own 3.5-acre (1.4 ha) vineyard, Seaver Family Vineyards, on his 116-acre (47 ha) estate, in 2002. His first vintage was produced in 2005. He presented his two cabernets, "Nancy's Fancy" and "GTS," at an April 2010 wine-tasting event in SoHo, to positive reviews.
His media nickname referred to the cartoon character Tom Terrific. In 2019, NFL quarterback Tom Brady was denied the trademark "Tom Terrific", when the United States Patent and Trademark Office said it "may falsely suggest a connection with Tom Seaver".
In 2013, it was reported that Seaver suffered from memory loss, not even remembering long-term acquaintances and experiencing symptoms of "sleep disorder, nausea, and a general overall feeling of chemical imbalance". According to former teammate Bud Harrelson, Seaver was "otherwise doing well". On March 7, 2019, Seaver's family announced that he had dementia and was retiring from public life.
Seaver died in his sleep as a result of complications from Lewy body dementia and COVID-19 on August 31, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in California. He was 75.
See also
300 win club
3,000 strikeout club
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders
List of Major League Baseball individual streaks
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball single-game strikeout leaders
Major League Baseball titles leaders
Explanatory footnotes
References
External links
Tom Seaver at SABR (Baseball Biography Project)
Tom Seaver at Baseball Almanac
Tom Seaver at Baseball Library
Tom Seaver at Ultimate Mets Database
1944 births
2020 deaths
Baseball players from California
Boston Red Sox players
Chicago White Sox players
Cincinnati Reds players
Cy Young Award winners
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in California
Neurological disease deaths in California
Deaths from Lewy body dementia
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Jacksonville Suns players
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Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners
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National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
National League strikeout champions
National League wins champions
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Sportspeople from Fresno, California
United States Marine Corps reservists
USC Trojans baseball players
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"An m,n,k-game is an abstract board game in which two players take turns in placing a stone of their color on an m-by-n board, the winner being the player who first gets k stones of their own color in a row, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Thus, tic-tac-toe is the 3,3,3-game and free-style gomoku is the 15,15,5-game. An m,n,k-game is also called a k-in-a-row game on an m-by-n board.\n\nThe m,n,k-games are mainly of mathematical interest. One seeks to find the game-theoretic value, the result of the game with perfect play. This is known as solving the game.\n\nStrategy stealing argument \n\nA standard strategy stealing argument from combinatorial game theory shows that in no m,n,k-game can there be a strategy that assures that the second player will win (a second-player winning strategy). This is because an extra stone given to either player in any position can only improve that player's chances. The strategy stealing argument assumes that the second player has a winning strategy and demonstrates a winning strategy for the first player. The first player makes an arbitrary move, to begin with. After that, the player pretends that they are the second player and adopts the second player's winning strategy. They can do this as long as the strategy doesn't call for placing a stone on the 'arbitrary' square that is already occupied. If this happens, though, they can again play an arbitrary move and continue as before with the second player's winning strategy. Since an extra stone cannot hurt them, this is a winning strategy for the first player. The contradiction implies that the original assumption is false, and the second player cannot have a winning strategy.\n\nThis argument tells nothing about whether a particular game is a draw or a win for the first player. Also, it does not actually give a strategy for the first player.\n\nApplying results to different board sizes \nA useful notion is a \"weak (m,n,k) game\", where k-in-a-row by the second player does not end the game with a second player win.\n\nIf weak (m,n,k) is a draw, then decreasing m or n, or increasing k will also result in a drawn game.\n\nConversely, if weak or normal (m,n,k) is a win, then any larger weak (m,n,k) is a win.\n\nNote that proofs of draws using pairing strategies also prove a draw for the weak version and thus for all smaller versions.\n\nGeneral results \nThe following statements refer to the first player in the weak game, assuming that both players use an optimal strategy.\n\n If a particular (m0, n0, k0) is a draw, then (m0, n0, k) with k ≥ k0 is a draw, and (m, n, k0) with m ≤ m0 and n ≤ n0 is a draw. Likewise, if (m0, n0, k0) is a win, then (m0, n0, k) with k ≤ k0 is a win, and (m, n, k0) with m ≥ m0 and n ≥ n0 is a win.\n k ≥ 9 is a draw: when k = 9 and the board is infinite, the second player can draw via a \"pairing strategy\". A draw on an infinite board means that the game will go on forever with perfect play. A pairing strategy involves dividing all the squares of the board into pairs in such a way that by always playing on the pair of the first player's square, the second player is ensured that the first player cannot get k in a line. A pairing strategy on an infinite board can be applied to any finite board as well – if the strategy calls for making a move outside the board, then the second player makes an arbitrary move inside the board.\n k ≥ 8 is a draw on an infinite board. It is not clear if this strategy applies to any finite board sizes. It is not known if the second player can force a draw when k is 6 or 7 on an infinite board.\n k ≥ 3 and either k > m or k > n is a draw, also by a pairing strategy in the dimension not smaller than k (or trivially impossible to win if both are smaller)\n\nSpecific results \n k = 1 and k = 2 are trivial wins, except for (1,1,2) and (2,1,2)\n (3,3,3) is a draw (see Tic-tac-toe), and (m,n,3) is a draw if m < 3 or n < 3. (m,n,3) is a win if m ≥ 3 and n ≥ 4 or m ≥ 4 and n ≥ 3. \n (5,5,4) is a draw, which means that (m,n,4) is a draw for m ≤ 5 and n ≤ 5, and (6,5,4) is a win, which means that (m,n,4) is a win for m ≥ 6 and n ≥ 5 or m ≥ 5 and n ≥ 6. (m,4,4) is a win for m ≥ 30 (Lustenberger, 1967) and a draw for m ≤ 8. It is unknown if (m,4,4) is a win or a draw for 9 ≤ m ≤ 29. \n Computer search by Wei-Yuan Hsu and Chu-Ling Ko has shown that both (7,7,5) and (8,8,5) are draws, which means that (m,n,5) is a draw for m ≤ 8 and n ≤ 8. Computer search by L. Victor Allis has shown that (15,15,5) is a win, even with one of the restrictive rules of Gomoku.\n (9,6,6) and (7,7,6) are both draws via pairings.\n\nMultidimensional variant\n \nIt is possible to consider variants played on a multidimensional board instead of a bidimensional board.\n\nFor the case of k-in-a-row where the board is an n-dimensional hypercube with all edges with length k, Hales and Jewett proved that the game is a draw if k is odd and \nk ≥ 3n − 1 \n\nor if k is even and \nk ≥ 2n+1 − 2.\n\nThey conjecture that the game is a draw also when the number of cells is at least twice the number of lines, which happens if and only if\n2 kn ≥ (k + 2)n.\n\nSee also\n\n Connect Four\n Connect6\n Gomoku\n Harary's generalized tictactoe\n Kaplansky's game\n Nd game\n Pente\n\nReferences\n\nAbstract strategy games\nIn-a-row games\nPartially solved games",
"A no-win situation, also called a “lose-lose situation”, is one where a person has choices, but no choice leads to a net gain. For example, if an executioner offers the condemned the choice of death by being hanged, shot, or poisoned, all choices lead to death; the condemned is in a no-win situation. This bleak situation gives the chooser no room: whichever choice is made the person making it will lose their life. Less drastic situations may also be considered no-win situations - if one has a choice for lunch between a ham sandwich and a roast beef sandwich, but is a vegetarian or has a wheat allergy, that might also be considered a no-win situation.\n\nIn game theory\nIn game theory, a \"no-win\" situation is one in which no player benefits from any outcome. This may be because of any or all of the following:\n Unavoidable or unforeseeable circumstances causing the situation to change after decisions have been made. This is common in text adventures.\n Zugzwang, as in chess, when any move a player chooses makes them worse off than before.\n A situation in which the player has to accomplish two mutually dependent tasks each of which must be completed before the other or that are mutually exclusive (a Catch-22).\n Ignorance of other players' actions, meaning the best decision for all differs from that for any one player (as in the prisoner's dilemma).\n\nIn history\nCarl von Clausewitz's advice never to launch a war that one has not already won characterizes war as a no-win situation. A similar example is the Pyrrhic victory in which a military victory is so costly that the winning side actually ends up worse off than before it started. Looking at the victory as a part of a larger situation, the situation could either be no-win, or more of a win for the other side than the one that won the \"victory\", or victory at such cost that the gains are outweighed by the cost and are no longer a source of joy.\n\nFor example, the \"victorious\" side may have accomplished their objective, which may have been worthless; it may also lose a strategic advantage in manpower or positioning. For example, the British Empire was one of the victorious powers of the Second World War but was so weakened that it could no longer maintain its status as a great power in a world that became dominated by the United States and the Soviet Union.\n\nA related concept is sometimes described as winning the battle but losing the war. Then a lesser objective is then won, but the true objective beyond it is not well pursued and is lost.\n\nIn the past in Europe, those accused of being witches were sometimes bound and then thrown or dunked in water to test their innocence. A witch would float (by calling upon the devil to save her from drowning), and then be executed, but a woman not a witch would drown (proving her innocence but causing her death).\n\nIn video games \n\nUnwinnable is a state in many text adventures, graphical adventure games and role-playing video games where it is impossible for the player to win the game (either due to a bug or by design), and where the only options are restarting the game, loading a previously saved game, wandering indefinitely, or a game over (a negative game end, such as death). It is also known as a dead end situation or a softlock. A softlock is a state in a game that prevents the player from continuing without freezing. Usually, this is the result of the player's previous choices, and not due to the game itself lacking a path to victory. Unwinnable states are usually not fatal in games that utilize checkpoints or are divided into levels in which progress cannot be saved midway through one, allowing players to reload a checkpoint or restart the level to reverse an unwinnable situation. However, in other games, softlocks may cripple or corrupt save files, forcing the player to start completely anew from the very beginning of the game in order to get further in the game. For example, in games such as Goldeneye 007, Perfect Dark, and TimeSplitters, the level does not end once a player fails an objective short of being killed, but it is impossible to progress to the next level no matter what the player does afterwards. Other games take steps to avoid unwinnable situations; for example, a game may not allow players to drop items which are necessary to continue. Softlocks can be triggered by incorrect manipulation of game code or mechanics, as seen in speedrunning – should a certain sequence of tasks to perform a sequence break be carried out incorrectly, the game may become softlocked, forcing either a restart of the game or the console altogether.\n\nUnwinnable should not be confused with unbeatable, which is used to describe a character, monster, or puzzle that is too powerful or difficult to be overcome by the player or character at a lower standing, and is normally found in role-playing video games. In many cases, \"unbeatable\" gamestates occur because of integer overflow or other errors programmers did not take into account, called a kill screen. In this situation, the game may also crash.\n\nIn other media \nIn the film WarGames, the supercomputer WOPR simulates all possible games of tic-tac-toe as a metaphor for all possible scenarios of a nuclear war, each of them ending in a nuclear holocaust (mutual assured destruction). The computer then exclaims, \"A strange game; the only winning move is not to play.\"\n\nIn the Star Trek canon, the Kobayashi Maru simulation is a no-win scenario designed as a character test for command track cadets at Starfleet Academy. It first appears in the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. In the film, Admiral James T. Kirk states that he does not believe in the no-win scenario.\n\nIn the TV show Quantico, the agents are put in a terrorist hijack flight simulation mission that is unbeatable.\n\nSee also\n\n Catch-22 (logic)\n Cornelian dilemma\n Double bind\n Kobayashi Maru\n Morton's fork\n Pyrrhic victory\n Setting up to fail\n Two-body problem (career)\n Vladimir's choice\n Winner's curse\n Win-win game\n Zugzwang\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Leon F Seltzer Ph.D (2013) Two Ways to \"Win\" in a No-Win Situation\n\nGame theory\nMetaphors referring to war and violence"
] |
[
"Tom Seaver",
"Continued excellence",
"What is the relation between Tom seaver and continued excellence?",
"I don't know.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Seaver set a major league record by striking out the final 10 batters of the game in a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium.",
"Which teams does he play for?",
"The Mets",
"Does he win any game for them?",
"the Mets up 3 games to 2,"
] |
C_34af306b3c494fa5b6ae0b20ca015a0f_1
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Did he win any trophy for the team?
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Did Tom Seaver win any trophies for The Mets baseball team?
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Tom Seaver
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On April 22, 1970, Seaver set a major league record by striking out the final 10 batters of the game in a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium. Al Ferrara, who had homered in the second inning for the Padres' run, was the final strikeout victim of the game. In addition to his 10 consecutive strikeouts, Seaver tied Steve Carlton's major league record, at the time, with 19 strikeouts in a nine-inning game,. The Mets also won the game in which Carlton struck out 19, with Carlton victimized by Ron Swoboda's pair of 2-run homers in a 4-3 Mets victory in St. Louis on September 15, 1969. (The record was later eclipsed by 20-strikeout games by Kerry Wood, Randy Johnson, Max Scherzer, and twice by Roger Clemens.) By mid-August, Seaver's record stood at 17-6 and he seemed well on his way to a second consecutive 20-victory season. But he only won one of his last ten starts, including four on short rest, to finish 18-12. Nonetheless, Seaver led the National League in both ERA and strikeouts. The 1971 season was arguably Seaver's finest year, when he led the league in ERA (1.76) and strikeouts (289 in 286 innings) while going 20-10. However, he finished second in the Cy Young balloting to Ferguson Jenkins of the Chicago Cubs, due to Jenkins' league-leading 24 wins, 325 innings pitched, and exceptional control numbers. Seaver himself has said that 1971 was his best season. Seaver had four more twenty-win seasons (20 in 1971, 21 in 1972, 22 in 1975, and 21 in 1977) (7 wins for the Mets, then 14 more after being traded to the Reds). He won two more Cy Young Awards (1973 and 1975, both with the Mets). During his tenure with the Mets, Seaver made 108 starts in which he pitched 9 or more innings and allowed 1 run or less. His record in those starts is 93-3 with 12 no-decisions. In seven of the 12 no-decisions, he pitched 10 or more innings. In the 12 no-decisions, he pitched a total of 117 innings, allowing 56 hits and 5 earned runs, compiling a 0.38 ERA. Between 1970 and 1976, Seaver led the National League in strikeouts five of the seven seasons, finishing second in 1972 and third in 1974. Seaver also won three ERA titles as a Met. Two famous quotes about Seaver are attributed to Reggie Jackson: "Blind men come to the park just to hear him pitch." The second was that, while pitching for the Mets during the 1973 World series, 6th game, with the Mets up 3 games to 2, and so poised to win their second Championship, with Mr. Seaver scheduled to start. He did, but did not have his "arm" that day, his arm strength, that is, and the opposing team knew it. Seaver would go on to start and lose the 6th game... Mr. Jackson is reported to have said "Seaver pitched with his heart that day." Seaver was perhaps the foremost latter-day exponent of "drop and drive" overhand delivery, but his powerful legs protected his arm, and ensured his longevity. Seaver was frequently compared to fellow Hall of Fame pitcher Christy Mathewson. CANNOTANSWER
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He won two more Cy Young Awards (1973 and 1975, both with the Mets).
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George Thomas Seaver (November 17, 1944 – August 31, 2020), nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "the Franchise", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox, and Boston Red Sox from to . A longtime Met, Seaver played a significant role in their victory in the 1969 World Series over the Baltimore Orioles.
With the Mets, Seaver won the National League's (NL) Rookie of the Year Award in 1967, and won three NL Cy Young Awards as the league's best pitcher. He was a 12-time All-Star and ranks as the Mets' all-time leader in wins. During his MLB career, he compiled 311 wins, 3,640 strikeouts, 61 shutouts, and a 2.86 earned run average, and he threw a no-hitter in 1978.
In 1992, Seaver was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the highest percentage of votes ever recorded at the time. Along with Mike Piazza, he is one of two players wearing a New York Mets hat on his plaque in the Hall of Fame. Seaver's No. 41 was retired by the Mets in 1988, and New York City changed the address of Citi Field to 41 Seaver Way in 2019. Seaver is also a member of the New York Mets Hall of Fame and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.
Early life
Seaver was born in Fresno, California, to Betty Lee (née Cline) and Charles Henry Seaver. He attended Fresno High School and was a pitcher for the school's baseball team. Seaver compensated for his lack of size and strength by developing great control on the mound. Despite being an All-City basketball player, he hoped to play baseball in college. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve on June 28, 1962. He served with AIRFMFPAC 29 Palms, California, through July 1963. After six months of active duty in the reserve, Seaver enrolled at Fresno City College. He remained a part-time member of the reserve until his eight-year commitment ended in 1970.
The University of Southern California (USC) recruited Seaver to play college baseball. Unsure as to whether Seaver was worthy of a scholarship, USC sent him to pitch in Alaska for the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks in the summer of 1964. After a stellar season, in which he pitched and won a game in the national tournament with a grand slam, USC head coach Rod Dedeaux awarded him a scholarship. As a sophomore in 1965, Seaver posted a 10–2 record for the Trojans, and he was selected in the tenth round of the 1965 Major League Baseball draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. When Seaver asked for $70,000, however, the Dodgers passed.
In 1966, Seaver signed a professional contract with the Atlanta Braves, who had selected him in the first round of the secondary January draft, 20th overall. However, the contract was voided by Baseball Commissioner William Eckert because USC had played two exhibition games that year, although Seaver hadn't participated. He then intended to finish the college season, but because he had signed a pro contract, the NCAA ruled him ineligible. After Seaver's father complained to Eckert about the unfairness of the situation, and threatened a lawsuit, Eckert ruled that other teams could match the Braves' offer. The Mets were subsequently awarded his signing rights in a lottery drawing among the three teams (the Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Indians being the two others) that were willing to match the Braves' terms.
Professional playing career
Minor leagues (1966)
In 1966, Seaver was 12–12 with a 3.13 earned run average pitching in Class AAA with the Jacksonville Suns, the Mets' affiliate in the International League.
New York Mets (1967–1977)
Seaver made the Mets' roster in 1967, was named to the 1967 All-Star Game, and got the save by pitching a scoreless 15th inning. In his rookie season, Seaver was 16–13 for the last-place Mets, with 18 complete games, 170 strikeouts, and a 2.76 earned run average. Seaver was named the 1967 National League Rookie of the Year.
Seaver started for the Mets on Opening Day in 1968. He won 16 games again during that season, and recorded over 200 strikeouts for the first of nine consecutive seasons, but the Mets moved up only one spot in the standings, to ninth. In 1969, Seaver won a league-high 25 games, including nine consecutive complete-game victories. He won his first National League Cy Young Award. He also finished runner-up to Willie McCovey for the League's Most Valuable Player Award.
In front of a crowd of over 59,000 at New York's Shea Stadium on July 9, Seaver threw perfect innings against the division-leading Chicago Cubs. Rookie backup outfielder Jim Qualls broke up Seaver's bid for a perfect game when he lined a clean single to left field.
In the inaugural National League Championship Series, Seaver outlasted Atlanta's Phil Niekro in the first game for a 9–5 victory. Seaver was also the starter for Game One of the World Series, but lost a 4–1 decision to the Baltimore Orioles' Mike Cuellar. Seaver then pitched a 10-inning complete game for a 2–1 win in Game Four. The "Miracle Mets" won the series. At year's end, Seaver was presented with the Hickok Belt as the top professional athlete of the year and Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award.
On April 22, 1970, Seaver set a major league record by striking out the final ten batters of the game in a 2–1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium. Al Ferrara, who had homered in the second inning for the Padres' run, accounted for both the first and the final strikeout of the streak. In addition to his ten consecutive strikeouts, Seaver tied Steve Carlton's major league record at the time, with 19 strikeouts in a nine-inning game. The Mets also won the game in which Carlton struck out 19, with Carlton victimized by Ron Swoboda's pair of 2-run homers in a 4–3 Mets' victory in St. Louis on September 15, 1969. (The record was later eclipsed by 20-strikeout games by Kerry Wood, Randy Johnson, Max Scherzer, and twice by Roger Clemens.) By mid-August, Seaver's record stood at 17–6 and he seemed well on his way to a second consecutive 20-victory season. But he only won one of his last ten starts, including four on short rest, to finish 18–12. Nonetheless, Seaver led the National League in both earned run average (2.82) and strikeouts (283).
In 1971, Seaver led the league in earned run average (1.76) and strikeouts (289 in 286 innings) while going 20–10. However, he finished second in the Cy Young balloting to Ferguson Jenkins of the Chicago Cubs, due to Jenkins' league-leading 24 wins, 325 innings pitched, and exceptional control numbers.
Seaver had four more 20-win seasons (20 in 1971, 21 in 1972, 22 in 1975, and 21 in 1977). He won two more Cy Young Awards (1973 and 1975, both with the Mets). Between 1970 and 1976, Seaver led the National League in strikeouts five times, while also finishing second in 1972 and third in 1974. Seaver also won three earned run average titles as a Met. Two famous quotes about Seaver are attributed to Reggie Jackson: "Blind men come to the park just to hear him pitch." The second was in the 1973 World series, with the Mets up 3 games to 2, and poised to win their second championship. Seaver started the game, but did not have his "arm" that day, and lost the game. Jackson is reported to have said "Seaver pitched with his heart that day." Seaver was known for his "drop and drive" overhand delivery, powered by his legs and trunk with his knee sinking to the ground.
Midnight Massacre
By , free agency had begun and contract negotiations between Mets' ownership and Seaver were not going well. Seaver wanted to renegotiate his contract to bring his salary in line with what other top pitchers were making, but chairman of the board M. Donald Grant, who by that time had been given carte blanche by Mets management to do what he wished, refused to budge. Longtime New York Daily News columnist Dick Young regularly wrote negative columns about Seaver's "greedy" demands. Seaver attempted to resolve the impasse by going to team owner Lorinda de Roulet, who along with general manager Joe McDonald, had negotiated in principle a three-year contract extension by mid-June. Before the contract could be signed, Young wrote an unattributed story in the Daily News saying that Seaver was being goaded by his wife to ask for more money because she was envious of Nolan Ryan making more money with the California Angels. Upon being informed of the story, Seaver informed de Roulet that he immediately wanted out, and asked McDonald to immediately trade him, feeling that he could not co-exist with Grant.
In one of two trades that New York's sports reporters dubbed "the Midnight Massacre" (the other involved struggling outfielder Dave Kingman), Seaver was traded to the Cincinnati Reds at the trading deadline, June 15, 1977, for pitcher Pat Zachry, minor league outfielder Steve Henderson, infielder Doug Flynn, and minor league outfielder Dan Norman.
Cincinnati Reds (1977–1982)
Seaver went 14–3 with the Reds and won 21 games in 1977, including an emotional 5–1 win over the Mets in his return to Shea Stadium. Seaver struck out 11 in the return, and also hit a double. He also received a lengthy ovation at the All-Star Game, held in New York's Yankee Stadium. His departure from New York sparked sustained negative fan reaction, as the Mets became the league's worst team, finishing in last place the next three seasons. Combined with the Yankees' resurgence in the market, attendance dipped in 1978, and plunged in 1979 to 9,740 per game. M. Donald Grant was fired after the 1978 season, and Joe McDonald was fired after the 1979 season following a sale of the team to publishing magnate Nelson Doubleday, Jr. In a sardonic nod to the general manager, Shea Stadium acquired the nickname "Grant's Tomb".
After having thrown five one-hitters for the Mets, including two games in which no-hit bids were broken up in the ninth inning, Seaver recorded a 4–0 no-hitter for the Reds in 1978 against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 16 at Riverfront Stadium. It was the only no-hitter of his professional career.
He led the Cincinnati pitching staff in 1979, when the Reds won the Western Division, and again in the strike-shortened 1981 season, when the Reds had the best record in the major leagues. In the latter season, Seaver, with his sterling 14–2 performance, was a close runner-up to Fernando Valenzuela for the 1981 Cy Young Award. (Seaver had finished third and fourth in two other previous years.) In 1981, during one of his two losses, Seaver recorded his 3,000th strikeout against Keith Hernandez of the St. Louis Cardinals. Then in 1982 he suffered through an injury-ridden campaign, finishing the season 5–13.
In six seasons with the Reds, Seaver was 75–46 with a 3.18 earned run average and 42 complete games in 158 starts.
Return to Mets (1983)
On December 16, 1982, Seaver was traded back to the Mets, for Charlie Puleo, Lloyd McClendon, and Jason Felice. On April 5, 1983, he tied Walter Johnson's major league record of 14 Opening Day starts, shutting out the Philadelphia Phillies for six innings in a 2–0 Mets win, but had a 9–14 record that season. The Mets exercised an option on Seaver's contract worth $750,000 for the 1984 season. Overall, in 12 seasons with the Mets, Seaver was 198–124 with a 2.57 earned run average in 3,045 innings with 171 complete games, winning three Cy Young awards, the 1969 World Series and the 1967 NL Rookie of the Year Award.
Chicago White Sox (1984–1986)
On January 20, 1984, the Chicago White Sox claimed Seaver from the Mets in a free-agent compensation draft. The Mets, especially general manager Frank Cashen incorrectly assumed that no one would pursue a high-salaried, 39-year-old starting pitcher and left him off the protected list.
Seaver pitched two and a half seasons in Chicago and recorded his last shutout on July 19, 1985, against the visiting Indians. In an anomaly, Seaver won two games on May 9, 1984; he pitched the 25th and final inning of a game suspended the day before, picking up the win in relief against the Milwaukee Brewers, before starting and winning the day's regularly scheduled game, also facing the Brewers.
On August 4, 1985, Seaver recorded his 300th victory at Yankee Stadium over the Yankees, throwing a complete game 4–1 victory.
In three seasons with the White Sox, Seaver was 33–28 with a 3.67 earned run average and 17 complete games in 81 appearances.
Boston Red Sox (1986)
Seaver started on Opening Day for the 16th and final time of his career in 1986. The White Sox traded Seaver to the Boston Red Sox for Steve Lyons in mid-season. Seaver's 311th and final win came on August 18, 1986, against the Minnesota Twins.
A knee injury prevented Seaver from appearing against the Mets in the World Series with the Red Sox, but he received among the loudest ovations during player introductions prior to Game 1. Roger Clemens attributes the time he shared with Seaver as teammates in 1986 as instrumental in helping him make the transition from thrower to pitcher. The Red Sox did not offer Seaver a contract to his liking for the 1987 season. His 1986 salary was $1 million; the Red Sox offered $500,000, which Seaver declined. When no new contract agreement was reached, Seaver was granted free agency on November 12, 1986.
Seaver was 5–7 with a 3.80 earned run average in 16 starts with Boston in 1986.
In 1987, the Mets starting rotation was decimated by injury and they sought help from Seaver. Though no contract was signed, Seaver joined the club on June 6, and was hit hard in an exhibition game against the Triple-A Tidewater Tides on June 11. After similarly poor outings on June 16 and 20, he announced his retirement, saying that, "there were no more pitches in this 42-year-old arm that were competitive. I've used them all up."
Career statistics
Source:
Awards and honors
The Mets retired Seaver's uniform number 41 in 1988 in a Tom Seaver Day ceremony, making him the franchise's first player to be so honored.
Seaver was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 7, 1992, with the then-highest percentage of votes with 98.84%. He was named on 425 out of 430 ballots. Three of the five ballots that had omitted Seaver were blank, cast by writers protesting the Hall's decision to make Pete Rose ineligible for consideration. One ballot was sent by a writer who was recovering from open-heart surgery and failed to notice Seaver's name. The fifth "no" vote was cast by a writer who said he never voted for any player in their first year of eligibility. Seaver is one of two players enshrined in the Hall of Fame with a Mets cap on his plaque, along with Mike Piazza. He was also inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame, the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame, and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.
On September 28, 2006, Seaver was chosen as the "Hometown Hero" for the Mets franchise by ESPN. Seaver made a return to Shea Stadium during the "Shea Goodbye" closing ceremony on September 28, 2008, where he threw out the final pitch in the history of the stadium to Piazza. Along with Piazza he opened the Mets' new home, Citi Field with the ceremonial first pitch on April 13, 2009.
The 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was dedicated to Seaver. He concluded the introduction of the starting lineup ceremonies by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Mets player David Wright participated. In 2019, the New York City renamed the street outside Citi Field from 126th Street to Seaver Way and changed the ballpark's address to 41 Seaver Way, a salute of the number he wore throughout his career.
In 2017, Seaver was awarded the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award as the Hall of Fame recipient.
Legacy
Only Seaver and Walter Johnson have 300 wins, 3,000 strikeouts, and an earned run average under 3.00. Seaver's 16 Opening-Day starts are an MLB record. At the time of his retirement, he was third on MLB's all-time strikeout list (3,640), trailing only his former teammate Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton; he currently ranks sixth all time. Seaver is tied with Ryan for the seventh-most shutouts in MLB history (61). His feat of striking out ten consecutive batters has only been matched once, by Aaron Nola in 2021. He also holds the record for consecutive 200-strikeout seasons with nine (1968–1976). In 1999, Seaver ranked 32nd on Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, the only player to have spent a majority of his career with the Mets to make the list. In 2016, ESPN.com ranked Seaver 34th on its list of the greatest MLB players, while The Athletic ranked him the 41st-greatest player in 2020.
Seaver could also help himself at the plate. A decent hitter and proficient bunter, Seaver hit 12 home runs during his career, along with a relatively solid lifetime batting average, for a pitcher, of .154.
Seaver approached Hank Aaron before his first All-Star Game in 1967 and asked Aaron for his autograph. Seaver felt the need to introduce himself to Aaron, as he was certain "Hammerin' Hank" would not know who he was. Aaron replied to Seaver, "Kid, I know who you are, and before your career is over, I guarantee you everyone in this stadium will, too."
In 2020, Bill Madden wrote Tom Seaver, A Terrific Life in honor of his friend.
Broadcasting career
Seaver's television broadcasting experience dated back to his playing career, when he was invited to serve as a World Series analyst for ABC in and for NBC in , , and . Also while an active player, Seaver called the 1981 National League Division Series between Montreal and Philadelphia and that year's National League Championship Series alongside Dick Enberg for NBC.
After retiring as a player, Seaver worked as a television color commentator for the Mets, the New York Yankees, and with Vin Scully in 1989 for NBC. Seaver replaced Joe Garagiola as NBC's lead baseball color commentator, which led to him calling the 1989 All-Star Game and National League Championship Series. He worked as an analyst for Yankees' telecasts on WPIX from 1989 to 1993 and for Mets telecasts on WPIX from 1999 to 2005, making him one of three sportscasters to be regular announcers for both teams; the others are Fran Healy and Tim McCarver.
Personal life and death
Seaver married Nancy Lynn McIntyre on June 9, 1966. They were the parents of two daughters, Sarah and Annie. They lived in Calistoga, California, where Seaver started his own 3.5-acre (1.4 ha) vineyard, Seaver Family Vineyards, on his 116-acre (47 ha) estate, in 2002. His first vintage was produced in 2005. He presented his two cabernets, "Nancy's Fancy" and "GTS," at an April 2010 wine-tasting event in SoHo, to positive reviews.
His media nickname referred to the cartoon character Tom Terrific. In 2019, NFL quarterback Tom Brady was denied the trademark "Tom Terrific", when the United States Patent and Trademark Office said it "may falsely suggest a connection with Tom Seaver".
In 2013, it was reported that Seaver suffered from memory loss, not even remembering long-term acquaintances and experiencing symptoms of "sleep disorder, nausea, and a general overall feeling of chemical imbalance". According to former teammate Bud Harrelson, Seaver was "otherwise doing well". On March 7, 2019, Seaver's family announced that he had dementia and was retiring from public life.
Seaver died in his sleep as a result of complications from Lewy body dementia and COVID-19 on August 31, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in California. He was 75.
See also
300 win club
3,000 strikeout club
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders
List of Major League Baseball individual streaks
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball single-game strikeout leaders
Major League Baseball titles leaders
Explanatory footnotes
References
External links
Tom Seaver at SABR (Baseball Biography Project)
Tom Seaver at Baseball Almanac
Tom Seaver at Baseball Library
Tom Seaver at Ultimate Mets Database
1944 births
2020 deaths
Baseball players from California
Boston Red Sox players
Chicago White Sox players
Cincinnati Reds players
Cy Young Award winners
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in California
Neurological disease deaths in California
Deaths from Lewy body dementia
Fresno City Rams baseball players
Jacksonville Suns players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball pitchers
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners
Military personnel from California
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
National League strikeout champions
National League wins champions
New York Mets announcers
New York Mets players
New York Yankees announcers
People from Calistoga, California
Sportspeople from Fresno, California
United States Marine Corps reservists
USC Trojans baseball players
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[
"The TIM Trophy is a football pre-season tournament that was firstly contested in August 2001. It is not sanctioned or recognized by official football bodies since the gameplay rules do not correspond to IFAB/FIFA laws of football. For the first twelve editions, the competing teams were Juventus, Internazionale and Milan. For both the 2013 and 2014 editions, Internazionale opted not to participate and was replaced by Sassuolo. For 2015, Juventus declined to participate while Internazionale returned. In the 2016 edition, Internazionale opted out again, and was replaced by Celta Vigo, becoming the first non-Italian team to compete in the tournament, and leaving Milan as the only original team participating. To date, no tournament has been held since 2016. Overall, Internazionale has eight titles, Milan five, and Juventus, Sassuolo and Celta Vigo one each.\n\nThe teams play three round-robin 45-minute matches. If any match ends in a draw, it is decided by a penalty shoot-out. Three points are awarded for a victory during regular play, with zero points awarded to the loser. If the match is decided by penalties, the winner is awarded two points and the loser one point. The organizers decide which two teams would play in the first match of the evening. The third team then play against the losing team from the first match, and end the tournament by playing against the first-match winner.\n\nWinners\n\nWinners by year\n2001: Milan\n2002: Internazionale\n2003: Internazionale\n2004: Internazionale\n2005: Internazionale\n2006: Milan\n2007: Internazionale\n2008: Milan\n2009: Juventus\n2010: Internazionale\n2011: Internazionale\n2012: Internazionale\n2013: Sassuolo\n2014: Milan\n2015: Milan\n2016: Celta Vigo\n\nEditions\n\n2001 TIM Trophy\n\nStandings\n3 points for a win, 0 points for a defeat\n2 points for a penalty shoot-out win, 1 point for a penalty shoot-out defeat\nMilan won the tournament\n\nScorers\n\nMatches\n\n2002 TIM Trophy\n\nStandings\n3 points for a win, 0 points for a defeat\n2 points for a penalty shoot-out win, 1 point for a penalty shoot-out defeat\nInternazionale won the tournament\n\nScorers\n\nMatches\n\n2003 TIM Trophy\n\nStandings\n3 points for a win, 0 points for a defeat\n2 points for a penalty shoot-out win, 1 point for a penalty shoot-out defeat\nInternazionale won the tournament\n\nScorers\n\nMatches\n\n2004 TIM Trophy\n\nStandings\n3 points for a win, 0 points for a defeat\n2 points for a penalty shoot-out win, 1 point for a penalty shoot-out defeat\nInternazionale won the tournament\n\nScorers\n\nMatches\n\n2005 TIM Trophy\n\nStandings\n3 points for a win, 0 points for a defeat\n2 points for a penalty shoot-out win, 1 point for a penalty shoot-out defeat\nInternazionale won the tournament\n\nScorers\n\nMatches\n\n2006 TIM Trophy\n\nStandings\n3 points for a win, 0 points for a defeat\n2 points for a penalty shoot-out win, 1 point for a penalty shoot-out defeat\nMilan won the tournament\n\nScorers\n\nMatches\n\n2007 TIM Trophy\n\nStandings\n3 points for a win, 0 points for a defeat\n2 points for a penalty shoot-out win, 1 point for a penalty shoot-out defeat\nInternazionale won the tournament\n\nScorers\n\nMatches\n\n2008 TIM Trophy\n\nStandings\n3 points for a win, 0 points for a defeat\n2 points for a penalty shoot-out win, 1 point for a penalty shoot-out defeat\nMilan won the tournament based on head-to-head result\n\nScorers\n\nMatches\n\n2009 TIM Trophy\n\nStandings\n3 points for a win, 0 points for a defeat\n2 points for a penalty shoot-out win, 1 point for a penalty shoot-out defeat\nJuventus won the tournament for the first time\n\nScorers\n\nMatches\n\n2010 TIM Trophy\n\nStandings\n3 points for a win, 0 points for a defeat\n2 points for a penalty shoot-out win, 1 point for a penalty shoot-out defeat\nInternazionale won the tournament\n\nScorers\n\nMatches\n\n2011 TIM Trophy\n\nStandings\n3 points for a win, 0 points for a defeat\n2 points for a penalty shoot-out win, 1 point for a penalty shoot-out defeat\nInternazionale won the tournament\n\nScorers\n\nMatches\n\n2012 TIM Trophy\n\nStandings\n3 points for a win, 0 points for a defeat\n2 points for a penalty shoot-out win, 1 point for a penalty shoot-out defeat\nInternazionale won the tournament\n\nScorers\n\nMatches\n\n2013 TIM Trophy\n\nStandings\n3 points for a win, 0 points for a defeat\n2 points for a penalty shoot-out win, 1 point for a penalty shoot-out defeat\nInternazionale decided not to participate\nSassuolo participated in tournament for first time\n\nScorers\n\nMatches\n\n2014 TIM Trophy\n\nStandings\n3 points for a win, 0 points for a defeat\n2 points for a penalty shoot-out win, 1 point for a penalty shoot-out defeat\nInternazionale decided not to participate\n\nScorers\n\nMatches\n\n2015 TIM Trophy\n\nStandings\n3 points for a win, 0 points for a defeat\n2 points for a penalty shoot-out win, 1 point for a penalty shoot-out defeat\nJuventus decided not to participate\n\nScorers\n\nMatches\n\n2016 TIM Trophy\n\nStandings\n3 points for a win, 0 points for a defeat\n2 points for a penalty shoot-out win, 1 point for a penalty shoot-out defeat\nCelta Vigo became the first non-Italian team to compete and win the competition\n\nScorers\n\nMatches\n\nReferences\n\nItalian football friendly trophies\nRecurring sporting events established in 2001\n2001 establishments in Italy",
"The Kerala football team (Malayalam: കേരള ഫുട്ബോൾ ടീം) is an Indian state level football team representing Kerala in the Santosh Trophy. They have appeared in the Santosh Trophy finals 14 times, and have won the trophy 6 times.\nKerala last won the Santhosh Trophy in 2018. They defeated Bengal in the finals in a penalty shootout (4-2) on 1 April 2018 at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. The score was 2-2 after 120 minutes. Kerala did not lose any games on their way to the finals. Their team was led by Rahul V Raj for the 2018-19 season. The head coach was S N Balan.\n\nKerala last won the Santhosh Trophy in 2018. They defeated Bengal in the finals in a penalty shootout (4-2) on 1 April 2018 at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. The score was 2-2 after 120 minutes. Kerala did not lose any games on their way to the finals. Their team was led by Rahul V Raj for the 2018-19 season. The head coach was S N Balan. Kerala Football Team is a well trained team because the players are playing for Kerala Blasters(R) and others clubs across Kerala State.\n\nPlayers\n\nCurrent squad\nThe following 23 players were called up prior to the 2021 Santosh Trophy\n\nCurrent technical staff\n\nHonours\nSantosh Trophy\n Winners (6): 1973–74, 1991–92, 1992–93, 2001–02, 2004–05, 2017–18\n Runners Up (8): 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1993–94, 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2012–13\n B.C. Roy Trophy\n Winners (3): 1968–69, 1971–72, 1972–73\n Runners-up (5): 1973–74, 1974–75, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1985–86\n Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy\n Winners (2): 1981–82, 1983–84\n Sait Nagjee Football Tournament\n Runners-up (1): 1986\n\nReferences\n\nFootball in Kerala\nSantosh Trophy teams"
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"Flotsam and Jetsam (band)",
"2006-2011: Live In Japan, Once in a Deathtime, The Cold"
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Flotsam and Jetsam (band)
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The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004. Doomsday for the Deceiver was re-released in November 2006 by Metal Blade Records to celebrate the album's twentieth anniversary. This set (2 CD and DVD) includes the original recording of Doomsday and a re-mixed and re-mastered(Digitized)version and also the two Flotsam and Jetsam demos. The bonus DVD includes rare live material, an interview filmed at Kelly's High School and a photo slide-show. In Spring 2008 Metal Mind Productions remastered and re-released the albums When the Storm Comes Down, Cuatro (including 5 bonus tracks), Drift (including 3 bonus tracks) and Dreams of Death. Unfortunately for the fans No Place for Disgrace could not be remastered due to existing legal issues between the band and their former label Elektra Records. In March 2008 Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe and played at the Metalmania Festival in Poland. This show was filmed and released as DVD Once in a Deathtime in July. Midyear 2008 the band were signed to Driven Music Group, founded by former KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch. After a tour in Europe with support act Neurasthenia in April 2010 Flotsam and Jetsam finished their album The Cold. It was released on September 14, 2010. It was the last album with Mark Simpson on guitar. He left the band in friendship and was replaced by returning guitarist Ed Carlson, who had quit the band in March 2010, to be replaced by Michael Gilbert. CANNOTANSWER
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The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004.
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Flotsam and Jetsam is an American thrash metal band that was formed in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1981. Before settling on its current name in 1984, the band had existed under three different names, Paradox, Dredlox and Dogz. Their current lineup includes vocalist Eric "A.K" Knutson, guitarists Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley, bassist Bill Bodily, and drummer Ken Mary. Flotsam and Jetsam went through several lineup changes over the years, leaving Knutson as the only constant member. They are also notable for featuring bassist Jason Newsted, who left the band shortly after the release of their debut album to join Metallica as Cliff Burton's successor.
Flotsam and Jetsam has released fourteen studio albums in their career, with the latest being 2021's Blood in the Water. Despite not achieving similar levels of commercial success as some of their thrash metal contemporaries, the band emerged as part of the second wave of the genre in the mid-to-late 1980s (along with Sepultura, Testament and Death Angel), and has enjoyed some moderate success in the United States, with two of their albums (1988's No Place for Disgrace and 1990's When the Storm Comes Down) entering the Billboard 200 chart, and their fourth album Cuatro (1992) cracking the top 30 on the Heatseekers chart.
Band history
1981–1986: Early days
The group was founded in 1981 under the name Paradox by drummer Kelly David-Smith and guitarists Pete Mello and Dave Goulder, who were later joined by bassist Jason Newsted. Newsted had answered an advertisement that David-Smith had placed in the local newspaper, looking for a bass player. Newsted came to Phoenix with his band Gangster, from Michigan, on their way to California, but Gangster broke up while in Phoenix. David-Smith got a call from a couple of his high school friends, Mark Vasquez and Kevin Horton, looking for some people to jam with playing covers of bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, MSG, and UFO. The band then morphed into Dredlox together with the new recruits, and Newsted was now the main vocalist.
David-Smith saw "A.K." (Eric A. Knutson) singing "The Goodbye Girl" at his high school talent show. In 1982, they were in the same summer school class and David-Smith asked Knutson if he wanted to audition. They put him on two-week probation and he later joined the band. Due to the provisional nature of his membership, the band referred to Knutson as "the 2 weeker." Ed Carlson, from another local rival band called Exodus (not to be confused with the California Bay Area thrash metal band of the same name), also joined in 1983, after Horton's departure from the band. The name of the band changed into The Dogz, but it did not last long. Eventually the band renamed itself "Flotsam and Jetsam", after writing a song inspired by chapter 9 of book three (of the same name) of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings.
The band made its live debut in local clubs and in California and had the opportunity to play with bands such as Megadeth, Armored Saint, Alcatrazz, Malice, Exciter, Mercyful Fate, Riot, Autograph and Icon. In 1985, Mark Vasquez stepped out and 17-year-old Michael Gilbert joined the band. Flotsam and Jetsam released two demo tapes Iron Tears and Metal Shock in 1985.
They created their first video "Hammerhead" from the Metal Shock demo: "We taped it in Jason and Ed's apartment living room. We also made a live video at the infamous Bootlegger in Phoenix", (owned by Gloria Cavalera, currently married to Max Cavalera) These videos and the band's demos made a good impression on record labels. After the band contributed to the Speed Metal Hell II and Metal Massacre VII compilations, they then signed a deal with Metal Blade Records.
1986–1989: Doomsday for the Deceiver and No Place for Disgrace
Flotsam and Jetsam recorded their debut album Doomsday for the Deceiver in Los Angeles, with producer Brian Slagel and engineer Bill Metoyer. The album was released on the July 4, 1986, and was the first in Kerrang! 's history to achieve the 6K rating.
Newsted, who was also the band's main lyric writer, departed soon after to join Metallica, replacing their bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a bus accident. On Halloween night 1986, he played his last gig with Flotsam and Jetsam. The band had asked another local bassist Phil Rind of Sacred Reich to fill in for a short time. They then hired Michael Spencer from the Sacramento band Sentinel Beast. Flotsam and Jetsam inked a deal with Metallica's then-label Elektra Records before opening for Megadeth in 1987 on the Peace Sells tour in Europe and America. After touring with Megadeth, the band played selected shows in America with Slayer, Dark Angel, Possessed, Celtic Frost, Sacred Reich and Excel.
Michael Spencer left Flotsam and Jetsam shortly after a U.S. tour in the fall of 1987; his replacement was Troy Gregory. Their second studio album, No Place for Disgrace, was released in May 1988, and includes a cover of Elton John's hit "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting", for which a music video was shot. The band toured heavily behind No Place for Disgrace throughout 1988 and 1989. They opened for King Diamond in America, and supported Megadeth, Testament and Sanctuary in Europe on the So Far, So Good... So What! tour. The band also toured or played shows with Testament, The Crumbsuckers, Fates Warning, Destruction, Metal Church, Death Angel, D.R.I., Acid Reign and Kreator, and landed a billing for festivals, such as Milwaukee Metalfest, and played at Aardschokdag twice (in May 1988 and April 1989).
1989–1995: MCA era
In 1989, Flotsam and Jetsam were signed to MCA Records and began work on their third album When the Storm Comes Down, which was released in May 1990. The band expected to gain recognition with this album, but it suffered from a variety of mixed reviews. A video made for "Suffer the Masses" did however receive heavy rotation on MTV's Headbangers Ball. Musically and lyrically, When the Storm Comes Down marked the beginning of at least two changes for Flotsam and Jetsam: it mirrored much of the occult and dark themes evidenced in the lyrical content of their previous two albums, instead focusing on politics and society in general, and saw the band expanding their thrash roots and using elements of the progressive and technical style of their later albums. The band toured for about a year and a half in support of When the Storm Comes Down; they co-headlined a U.S. tour with Prong, and subsequently toured or played selected shows with bands such as Testament, Savatage, Exodus, Vio-Lence, Sacred Reich, Wrathchild America and then-unknown Pantera.
Shortly after the When the Storm Comes Down tour ended, bassist Troy Gregory departed to join Prong. Holding auditions in Phoenix, the band hired Jason Ward to fill the role. With Ward as their new bassist, Flotsam and Jetsam released their fourth album Cuatro in October 1992. It marked an evolution in style and songwriting, moving from thrash to a slower, slightly more, melodic sound, while also continuing the progressive and technical song structures used on When the Storm Comes Down. The band released four singles this time, two of which ("Swatting at Flies" and "Wading Through the Darkness") were shot as music videos and both received regular rotation on Headbangers Ball. Flotsam and Jetsam promoted Cuatro with a year-long tour, playing with bands like Body Count, Sepultura, Testament, White Zombie, Nudeswirl and Damn the Machine, as well as doing a US tour with Mercyful Fate, Cathedral and Anacrusis.
Slowing down after the moderate success of their previous albums, it took nearly three years until Flotsam and Jetsam released their fifth album Drift in April 1995, which was dedicated to Jason's older brother Jeff Ward, former drummer of such bands as Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Revolting Cocks and Lard, who died in 1993. Three singles were released off of the record, and one of them ("Smoked Out") had a music video. However, with Headbangers Ball already off the air in the U.S., and many heavy metal radio stations changing formats, Drift did not sell as well as the band's previous albums, and about the same time they toured the U.S. with Megadeth and Korn during the summer of 1995, MCA's six-year relationship with Flotsam and Jetsam had ended.
1996–2001: Return to Metal Blade
After taking a break in most of 1996 and resigning from MCA to Metal Blade, Flotsam and Jetsam resurfaced in 1997 with their sixth album High. The album's song titles were designed with the font types/logos of famous bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Kiss, Van Halen, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Misfits, etc. to pay homage to those whom came before and inspired the band while it was coming up the ranks. The music was more experimental than before, and the album also featured the Lard cover song Fork Boy. Music video was released, Monster to follow-up.
Michael Gilbert and Kelly Smith left the band after the release and were replaced by guitarist Mark Simpson and drummer Craig Nielsen (at the suggestion of then-Megadeth drummer Nick Menza). With the new line-up Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe together with Anvil and Exciter.
Unnatural Selection was released in 1999 and Mark Simpson took a short break. He joined the band again in 2000 to record a new album, My God released in May 2001. At that time Eric A.K. had founded a country band, the A.K. Corral. He left the band for a short time to take a break from Metal and pursue his side project. (AK) "I had given Metal my life for a solid 15 years, I took some time to explore other musical flavors." Though Flotsam and Jetsam did not disband, there was a long break at that time. They found a new singer, James Rivera, who took over vocal duties live. Later the band felt that no one other than Eric A.K. could be their singer and Rivera left the band soon after.
2002–2010: Live in Phoenix, Dreams of Death and The Cold
During 2002 and 2003 the band were active only sporadically, but Eric A.K. rejoined for live dates in the Phoenix and Los Angeles areas in 2003. Tory Edwards was a guest for this tour. A live recording of these shows was released in 2004 as a live concert DVD under the title Live in Phoenix. Signed to the Crash Music label in May 2004 and with Eric A.K. joining the band again officially, they hit the road with Overkill and Death Angel for a series of sold-out concerts in Japan.
Spring 2005 Flotsam and Jetsam returned to the studio to work on their new album. The lyrics were mostly inspired by Eric's nightmares. This resulted into a concept album entitled Dreams of Death - like track 2 of No Place for Disgrace. The album was released July 2005.
The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004.
Doomsday for the Deceiver was re-released in November 2006 by Metal Blade Records to celebrate the album's twentieth anniversary. This set (2 CD and DVD) includes the original recording of Doomsday and a re-mixed and re-mastered(Digitized)version and also the two Flotsam and Jetsam demos. The bonus DVD includes rare live material, an interview filmed at David-Smith's High School and a photo slide-show.
In March 2008 Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe and played at the Metalmania Festival in Poland. This show was filmed and released as DVD Once in a Deathtime in July.
Midyear 2008 the band were signed to Driven Music Group, founded by former KORN guitarist Brian “Head” Welch.
After a tour in Europe with support act Neurasthenia in April 2010 Flotsam and Jetsam finished their album The Cold. It was released on September 14, 2010. It was the last album with Mark Simpson on guitar. He left the band in friendship and was replaced by returning guitarist Ed Carlson, who had quit the band in March 2010, to be replaced by Michael Gilbert.
2011–2013: Ugly Noise
On September 19, 2011, Flotsam and Jetsam announced they had parted ways with Craig Nielson and reunited with founding drummer David-Smith. The band also announced a crowdfunding campaign on PledgeMusic to fund the recording of their next studio album.
On June 13, 2012, the band announced Ugly Noise as the title of the next album. In July, guitarist Michael Gilbert said the album would feature songwriting contributions from former bassist Jason Newsted. The album was released on December 21, 2012.
After tracking, Jason Ward was no longer able to commit to touring with the band any further due to his current personal commitments. He was replaced by Michael Spencer, who had previously replaced Jason Newsted in 1986.
During the tour, Edward Carlson started to have extreme physical pain in his lower back and numbness in his right arm. After the tour, an MRI revealed that he had bulging disks in his upper and lower back causing the dysfunction to occur. Flotsam and Jetsam then recruited guitarist Steve Conley of F5 to step in while they finished out their live commitments.
2013–2014: No Place For Disgrace 2014
No Place For Disgrace featured guest musicians Mark Simpson, Chris Poland and Tory Edwards. In June 2013, the band headlined at the Warriors of Metal Festival in Columbus Ohio.
Flotsam and Jetsam embarked on a 29-date European tour with Sepultura, Legion of the Damned and Mortillery. The tour kicked off on February 7, 2014 in Bochum, Germany.
Flotsam toured Europe 4 times in 2014 with a total of 40 shows in all. Returning home from Europe on August 11, the band planned to start writing for a new release in 2015. Michael Spencer and Steve Conley would be involved this time in the process. Spencer had written some material previously in 1987 that he took with him after his departure. Flotsam used at some of the archive material from Spencer.
2014–2021: Flotsam and Jetsam, The End of Chaos and Blood in the Water
In December 2014, drummer and founding member, David-Smith decided to leave the band due to unexpected family matters that required him to be home with his family. Handpicked by Smith to replace him on drums, was longtime friend and Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner. Bittner was present on Flotsam and Jetsam's self-titled twelfth studio album, which was released on May 20, 2016. The band did a world tour to support this album, including Europe with Destruction, Enforcer and Nervosa, North America with Helstar and Hatchet, and then back to Europe with Dew-Scented and Izegrim. They also opened for HammerFall on their spring/summer 2018 North American tour.
On July 6, 2017, it was announced that Flotsam and Jetsam were replacing Bittner (who had just joined Overkill) with Ken Mary (Fifth Angel, Alice Cooper, House of Lords, TKO, Chastain, Impellitteri), and that they had begun working on their thirteenth studio album The End of Chaos, which was initially reported to be released in November 2018; however, the album's release date was pushed back to January 18, 2019. In support of The End of Chaos, Flotsam and Jetsam (along with Destruction and Meshiaak) opened for Overkill on the European Killfest Tour in March 2019. A headlining US tour, titled Demolition of North America, was scheduled to take place in the spring of 2021 after a year of cancellation and postponement, due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the tour has since been postponed again at a later date.
Less than a month after the release of The End of Chaos, frontman Eric "A.K." Knutson stated in an interview with Jesse Capps of Loudist that Flotsam and Jetsam would "probably start writing and recording" a follow-up album in November 2019.
On November 13, 2020, the band announced Bill Bodily had replaced Michael Spencer as their new bassist, and that the final mixes for their upcoming album were almost finished.
On April 1, 2021, Flotsam and Jetsam announced Blood in the Water as the title of their fourteenth studio album and June 4 as its release date. A week later, the band released a music video for the album's first single, "Burn the Sky". Flotsam and Jetsam will promote Blood in the Water with a headlining US tour, and they were slated to open for Accept on the European trek of their Too Mean to Die tour in January and February 2022 (along with Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons), but "many factors" prompted the band to withdraw from the tour.
2021–present: Upcoming fifteenth studio album
In an interview with AZ Central on June 5, 2021, the day after the release of Blood in the Water, frontman Eric "A.K." Knutson mentioned a follow-up album, revealing that he "probably [has] enough songs that didn't make it on the last two records to do two more records."
Members
Current members
Eric "A.K." Knutson – vocals (1983–2001, 2003–present)
Michael Gilbert – guitars (1985–1997, 2010–present)
Steve Conley – guitars (2013–present)
Ken Mary – drums (2017–present)
Bill Bodily – bass (2020–present, touring 2016, 2019)
Touring musicians
James Rivera – vocals (2001-2003)
Jeff Barbaree – bass (2013)
Session musicians
Tory Edwards – violin (2001, 2014), mandolin (2014)
Former members
Kelly David-Smith – drums (1981–1997, 2011–2014)
Jason Newsted – bass (1981–1986)
Mark Vazquez – guitars (1981–1985)
Kevin Horton – guitars (1981–1983)
Edward Carlson – guitars (1983–2013)
Phil Rind – bass (1986)
Michael Spencer – bass (1987–1988, 2013–2020)
Troy Gregory – bass (1988–1991)
Jason Ward – bass (1991–2013)
Craig Nielsen – drums (1997–2011)
Mark Simpson – guitars (1997–1999, 2000–2010)
Jason Bittner – drums (2015–2017)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Doomsday for the Deceiver (1986)
No Place for Disgrace (1988)
When the Storm Comes Down (1990)
Cuatro (1992)
Drift (1995)
High (1997)
Unnatural Selection (1999)
My God (2001)
Dreams of Death (2005)
The Cold (2010)
Ugly Noise (2012)
Flotsam and Jetsam (2016)
The End of Chaos (2019)
Blood in the Water (2021)
Live albums
Live in Phoenix (2005)
Once in a Deathtime (2008)
Singles/EPs
Flotzilla (1987)
Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting (1988)
Suffer The Masses (1990)
The Master Sleeps (1990)
Selections From Cuatro/Never To Reveal (1992)
Swatting At Flies (1992)
Wading Through The Darkness (1992)
Cradle Me Now (1992)
Smoked Out (1995)
Blindside (1995)
Destructive Signs (1995)
Life, Love, Death (2019)
DVDs
Live in Phoenix (2004)
Live in Japan (2006)
Once in a Deathtime (2008)
References
External links
Official website
Band Myspace
Jason Ward Myspace
1981 establishments in Arizona
American thrash metal musical groups
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Heavy metal musical groups from Arizona
Musical groups established in 1981
Musical quintets
Musical groups from Phoenix, Arizona
Metal Blade Records artists
American speed metal musical groups
| true |
[
"\"Animal (F**k Like a Beast)\" is a song by American heavy metal band W.A.S.P. It was originally intended to be the opening track on their self-titled 1984 debut album, but was dropped before the album's release, although it appears as a bonus track on the 1998 reissue. Written by Blackie Lawless, the song was released as the band's first single.\n\nIn the United States, the song was first released in a live version in 1988. The studio version was available in that region only in 1998, on the reissue of W.A.S.P.'s debut album, which omitted the asterisks used to censor the title originally.\n\nHistory\nRecorded in early 1984, the debut single intended for the self-titled album of W.A.S.P. was close to not being released at all after being dropped from the album. Deemed too controversial, Capitol Records did not want to risk the album being banned from major retail chains.\n\nThe record company had subsequent plans to release the single only in Europe, in a black plastic bag and with a warning sticker about the explicit lyrics. Capitol backed out at the last minute and the single was shelved until the band was able to strike a one-off publishing deal with the independent label Music For Nations.\n\nThe single was finally released in April 1984, complete with the original sleeve and art depicting a codpiece and a circular saw blade.\n\nStory behind the lyrics\nAccording to a 1997 article that accompanied a reissue of W.A.S.P's debut album which features this track, the basis of the song, according to an article in Kerrang! Magazine was that Lawless had observed a photo of two lions mating in National Geographic Magazine.\n\nThe Kerrang! article was penned by Assistant Editor Dante Bonutto, who had written the magazine's first cover feature on the band, originally published in April 1984.\n\nReferences\n\n1984 debut singles\n1984 songs\nSongs about sexuality\nW.A.S.P. songs\nObscenity controversies in music",
"Wormstein was a 5-man band who released their only single on 23 April 2015. It was believed that the members consisted of those from Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer and John Feldman. This was not confirmed until an article was released where Luke Hemmings confirmed that Wormstein consisted of the 5SOS members.\n\nReferences\n\nAustralian punk rock groups"
] |
[
"Flotsam and Jetsam (band)",
"2006-2011: Live In Japan, Once in a Deathtime, The Cold",
"Was this article about a band?",
"The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004."
] |
C_6473957a2b244e039aac09f37074746d_1
|
Was the concert popular?
| 2 |
Was the Flotsam and Jetsam concert at Citta Club in Tokyo popular?
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Flotsam and Jetsam (band)
|
The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004. Doomsday for the Deceiver was re-released in November 2006 by Metal Blade Records to celebrate the album's twentieth anniversary. This set (2 CD and DVD) includes the original recording of Doomsday and a re-mixed and re-mastered(Digitized)version and also the two Flotsam and Jetsam demos. The bonus DVD includes rare live material, an interview filmed at Kelly's High School and a photo slide-show. In Spring 2008 Metal Mind Productions remastered and re-released the albums When the Storm Comes Down, Cuatro (including 5 bonus tracks), Drift (including 3 bonus tracks) and Dreams of Death. Unfortunately for the fans No Place for Disgrace could not be remastered due to existing legal issues between the band and their former label Elektra Records. In March 2008 Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe and played at the Metalmania Festival in Poland. This show was filmed and released as DVD Once in a Deathtime in July. Midyear 2008 the band were signed to Driven Music Group, founded by former KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch. After a tour in Europe with support act Neurasthenia in April 2010 Flotsam and Jetsam finished their album The Cold. It was released on September 14, 2010. It was the last album with Mark Simpson on guitar. He left the band in friendship and was replaced by returning guitarist Ed Carlson, who had quit the band in March 2010, to be replaced by Michael Gilbert. CANNOTANSWER
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February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004.
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Flotsam and Jetsam is an American thrash metal band that was formed in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1981. Before settling on its current name in 1984, the band had existed under three different names, Paradox, Dredlox and Dogz. Their current lineup includes vocalist Eric "A.K" Knutson, guitarists Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley, bassist Bill Bodily, and drummer Ken Mary. Flotsam and Jetsam went through several lineup changes over the years, leaving Knutson as the only constant member. They are also notable for featuring bassist Jason Newsted, who left the band shortly after the release of their debut album to join Metallica as Cliff Burton's successor.
Flotsam and Jetsam has released fourteen studio albums in their career, with the latest being 2021's Blood in the Water. Despite not achieving similar levels of commercial success as some of their thrash metal contemporaries, the band emerged as part of the second wave of the genre in the mid-to-late 1980s (along with Sepultura, Testament and Death Angel), and has enjoyed some moderate success in the United States, with two of their albums (1988's No Place for Disgrace and 1990's When the Storm Comes Down) entering the Billboard 200 chart, and their fourth album Cuatro (1992) cracking the top 30 on the Heatseekers chart.
Band history
1981–1986: Early days
The group was founded in 1981 under the name Paradox by drummer Kelly David-Smith and guitarists Pete Mello and Dave Goulder, who were later joined by bassist Jason Newsted. Newsted had answered an advertisement that David-Smith had placed in the local newspaper, looking for a bass player. Newsted came to Phoenix with his band Gangster, from Michigan, on their way to California, but Gangster broke up while in Phoenix. David-Smith got a call from a couple of his high school friends, Mark Vasquez and Kevin Horton, looking for some people to jam with playing covers of bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, MSG, and UFO. The band then morphed into Dredlox together with the new recruits, and Newsted was now the main vocalist.
David-Smith saw "A.K." (Eric A. Knutson) singing "The Goodbye Girl" at his high school talent show. In 1982, they were in the same summer school class and David-Smith asked Knutson if he wanted to audition. They put him on two-week probation and he later joined the band. Due to the provisional nature of his membership, the band referred to Knutson as "the 2 weeker." Ed Carlson, from another local rival band called Exodus (not to be confused with the California Bay Area thrash metal band of the same name), also joined in 1983, after Horton's departure from the band. The name of the band changed into The Dogz, but it did not last long. Eventually the band renamed itself "Flotsam and Jetsam", after writing a song inspired by chapter 9 of book three (of the same name) of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings.
The band made its live debut in local clubs and in California and had the opportunity to play with bands such as Megadeth, Armored Saint, Alcatrazz, Malice, Exciter, Mercyful Fate, Riot, Autograph and Icon. In 1985, Mark Vasquez stepped out and 17-year-old Michael Gilbert joined the band. Flotsam and Jetsam released two demo tapes Iron Tears and Metal Shock in 1985.
They created their first video "Hammerhead" from the Metal Shock demo: "We taped it in Jason and Ed's apartment living room. We also made a live video at the infamous Bootlegger in Phoenix", (owned by Gloria Cavalera, currently married to Max Cavalera) These videos and the band's demos made a good impression on record labels. After the band contributed to the Speed Metal Hell II and Metal Massacre VII compilations, they then signed a deal with Metal Blade Records.
1986–1989: Doomsday for the Deceiver and No Place for Disgrace
Flotsam and Jetsam recorded their debut album Doomsday for the Deceiver in Los Angeles, with producer Brian Slagel and engineer Bill Metoyer. The album was released on the July 4, 1986, and was the first in Kerrang! 's history to achieve the 6K rating.
Newsted, who was also the band's main lyric writer, departed soon after to join Metallica, replacing their bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a bus accident. On Halloween night 1986, he played his last gig with Flotsam and Jetsam. The band had asked another local bassist Phil Rind of Sacred Reich to fill in for a short time. They then hired Michael Spencer from the Sacramento band Sentinel Beast. Flotsam and Jetsam inked a deal with Metallica's then-label Elektra Records before opening for Megadeth in 1987 on the Peace Sells tour in Europe and America. After touring with Megadeth, the band played selected shows in America with Slayer, Dark Angel, Possessed, Celtic Frost, Sacred Reich and Excel.
Michael Spencer left Flotsam and Jetsam shortly after a U.S. tour in the fall of 1987; his replacement was Troy Gregory. Their second studio album, No Place for Disgrace, was released in May 1988, and includes a cover of Elton John's hit "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting", for which a music video was shot. The band toured heavily behind No Place for Disgrace throughout 1988 and 1989. They opened for King Diamond in America, and supported Megadeth, Testament and Sanctuary in Europe on the So Far, So Good... So What! tour. The band also toured or played shows with Testament, The Crumbsuckers, Fates Warning, Destruction, Metal Church, Death Angel, D.R.I., Acid Reign and Kreator, and landed a billing for festivals, such as Milwaukee Metalfest, and played at Aardschokdag twice (in May 1988 and April 1989).
1989–1995: MCA era
In 1989, Flotsam and Jetsam were signed to MCA Records and began work on their third album When the Storm Comes Down, which was released in May 1990. The band expected to gain recognition with this album, but it suffered from a variety of mixed reviews. A video made for "Suffer the Masses" did however receive heavy rotation on MTV's Headbangers Ball. Musically and lyrically, When the Storm Comes Down marked the beginning of at least two changes for Flotsam and Jetsam: it mirrored much of the occult and dark themes evidenced in the lyrical content of their previous two albums, instead focusing on politics and society in general, and saw the band expanding their thrash roots and using elements of the progressive and technical style of their later albums. The band toured for about a year and a half in support of When the Storm Comes Down; they co-headlined a U.S. tour with Prong, and subsequently toured or played selected shows with bands such as Testament, Savatage, Exodus, Vio-Lence, Sacred Reich, Wrathchild America and then-unknown Pantera.
Shortly after the When the Storm Comes Down tour ended, bassist Troy Gregory departed to join Prong. Holding auditions in Phoenix, the band hired Jason Ward to fill the role. With Ward as their new bassist, Flotsam and Jetsam released their fourth album Cuatro in October 1992. It marked an evolution in style and songwriting, moving from thrash to a slower, slightly more, melodic sound, while also continuing the progressive and technical song structures used on When the Storm Comes Down. The band released four singles this time, two of which ("Swatting at Flies" and "Wading Through the Darkness") were shot as music videos and both received regular rotation on Headbangers Ball. Flotsam and Jetsam promoted Cuatro with a year-long tour, playing with bands like Body Count, Sepultura, Testament, White Zombie, Nudeswirl and Damn the Machine, as well as doing a US tour with Mercyful Fate, Cathedral and Anacrusis.
Slowing down after the moderate success of their previous albums, it took nearly three years until Flotsam and Jetsam released their fifth album Drift in April 1995, which was dedicated to Jason's older brother Jeff Ward, former drummer of such bands as Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Revolting Cocks and Lard, who died in 1993. Three singles were released off of the record, and one of them ("Smoked Out") had a music video. However, with Headbangers Ball already off the air in the U.S., and many heavy metal radio stations changing formats, Drift did not sell as well as the band's previous albums, and about the same time they toured the U.S. with Megadeth and Korn during the summer of 1995, MCA's six-year relationship with Flotsam and Jetsam had ended.
1996–2001: Return to Metal Blade
After taking a break in most of 1996 and resigning from MCA to Metal Blade, Flotsam and Jetsam resurfaced in 1997 with their sixth album High. The album's song titles were designed with the font types/logos of famous bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Kiss, Van Halen, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Misfits, etc. to pay homage to those whom came before and inspired the band while it was coming up the ranks. The music was more experimental than before, and the album also featured the Lard cover song Fork Boy. Music video was released, Monster to follow-up.
Michael Gilbert and Kelly Smith left the band after the release and were replaced by guitarist Mark Simpson and drummer Craig Nielsen (at the suggestion of then-Megadeth drummer Nick Menza). With the new line-up Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe together with Anvil and Exciter.
Unnatural Selection was released in 1999 and Mark Simpson took a short break. He joined the band again in 2000 to record a new album, My God released in May 2001. At that time Eric A.K. had founded a country band, the A.K. Corral. He left the band for a short time to take a break from Metal and pursue his side project. (AK) "I had given Metal my life for a solid 15 years, I took some time to explore other musical flavors." Though Flotsam and Jetsam did not disband, there was a long break at that time. They found a new singer, James Rivera, who took over vocal duties live. Later the band felt that no one other than Eric A.K. could be their singer and Rivera left the band soon after.
2002–2010: Live in Phoenix, Dreams of Death and The Cold
During 2002 and 2003 the band were active only sporadically, but Eric A.K. rejoined for live dates in the Phoenix and Los Angeles areas in 2003. Tory Edwards was a guest for this tour. A live recording of these shows was released in 2004 as a live concert DVD under the title Live in Phoenix. Signed to the Crash Music label in May 2004 and with Eric A.K. joining the band again officially, they hit the road with Overkill and Death Angel for a series of sold-out concerts in Japan.
Spring 2005 Flotsam and Jetsam returned to the studio to work on their new album. The lyrics were mostly inspired by Eric's nightmares. This resulted into a concept album entitled Dreams of Death - like track 2 of No Place for Disgrace. The album was released July 2005.
The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004.
Doomsday for the Deceiver was re-released in November 2006 by Metal Blade Records to celebrate the album's twentieth anniversary. This set (2 CD and DVD) includes the original recording of Doomsday and a re-mixed and re-mastered(Digitized)version and also the two Flotsam and Jetsam demos. The bonus DVD includes rare live material, an interview filmed at David-Smith's High School and a photo slide-show.
In March 2008 Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe and played at the Metalmania Festival in Poland. This show was filmed and released as DVD Once in a Deathtime in July.
Midyear 2008 the band were signed to Driven Music Group, founded by former KORN guitarist Brian “Head” Welch.
After a tour in Europe with support act Neurasthenia in April 2010 Flotsam and Jetsam finished their album The Cold. It was released on September 14, 2010. It was the last album with Mark Simpson on guitar. He left the band in friendship and was replaced by returning guitarist Ed Carlson, who had quit the band in March 2010, to be replaced by Michael Gilbert.
2011–2013: Ugly Noise
On September 19, 2011, Flotsam and Jetsam announced they had parted ways with Craig Nielson and reunited with founding drummer David-Smith. The band also announced a crowdfunding campaign on PledgeMusic to fund the recording of their next studio album.
On June 13, 2012, the band announced Ugly Noise as the title of the next album. In July, guitarist Michael Gilbert said the album would feature songwriting contributions from former bassist Jason Newsted. The album was released on December 21, 2012.
After tracking, Jason Ward was no longer able to commit to touring with the band any further due to his current personal commitments. He was replaced by Michael Spencer, who had previously replaced Jason Newsted in 1986.
During the tour, Edward Carlson started to have extreme physical pain in his lower back and numbness in his right arm. After the tour, an MRI revealed that he had bulging disks in his upper and lower back causing the dysfunction to occur. Flotsam and Jetsam then recruited guitarist Steve Conley of F5 to step in while they finished out their live commitments.
2013–2014: No Place For Disgrace 2014
No Place For Disgrace featured guest musicians Mark Simpson, Chris Poland and Tory Edwards. In June 2013, the band headlined at the Warriors of Metal Festival in Columbus Ohio.
Flotsam and Jetsam embarked on a 29-date European tour with Sepultura, Legion of the Damned and Mortillery. The tour kicked off on February 7, 2014 in Bochum, Germany.
Flotsam toured Europe 4 times in 2014 with a total of 40 shows in all. Returning home from Europe on August 11, the band planned to start writing for a new release in 2015. Michael Spencer and Steve Conley would be involved this time in the process. Spencer had written some material previously in 1987 that he took with him after his departure. Flotsam used at some of the archive material from Spencer.
2014–2021: Flotsam and Jetsam, The End of Chaos and Blood in the Water
In December 2014, drummer and founding member, David-Smith decided to leave the band due to unexpected family matters that required him to be home with his family. Handpicked by Smith to replace him on drums, was longtime friend and Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner. Bittner was present on Flotsam and Jetsam's self-titled twelfth studio album, which was released on May 20, 2016. The band did a world tour to support this album, including Europe with Destruction, Enforcer and Nervosa, North America with Helstar and Hatchet, and then back to Europe with Dew-Scented and Izegrim. They also opened for HammerFall on their spring/summer 2018 North American tour.
On July 6, 2017, it was announced that Flotsam and Jetsam were replacing Bittner (who had just joined Overkill) with Ken Mary (Fifth Angel, Alice Cooper, House of Lords, TKO, Chastain, Impellitteri), and that they had begun working on their thirteenth studio album The End of Chaos, which was initially reported to be released in November 2018; however, the album's release date was pushed back to January 18, 2019. In support of The End of Chaos, Flotsam and Jetsam (along with Destruction and Meshiaak) opened for Overkill on the European Killfest Tour in March 2019. A headlining US tour, titled Demolition of North America, was scheduled to take place in the spring of 2021 after a year of cancellation and postponement, due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the tour has since been postponed again at a later date.
Less than a month after the release of The End of Chaos, frontman Eric "A.K." Knutson stated in an interview with Jesse Capps of Loudist that Flotsam and Jetsam would "probably start writing and recording" a follow-up album in November 2019.
On November 13, 2020, the band announced Bill Bodily had replaced Michael Spencer as their new bassist, and that the final mixes for their upcoming album were almost finished.
On April 1, 2021, Flotsam and Jetsam announced Blood in the Water as the title of their fourteenth studio album and June 4 as its release date. A week later, the band released a music video for the album's first single, "Burn the Sky". Flotsam and Jetsam will promote Blood in the Water with a headlining US tour, and they were slated to open for Accept on the European trek of their Too Mean to Die tour in January and February 2022 (along with Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons), but "many factors" prompted the band to withdraw from the tour.
2021–present: Upcoming fifteenth studio album
In an interview with AZ Central on June 5, 2021, the day after the release of Blood in the Water, frontman Eric "A.K." Knutson mentioned a follow-up album, revealing that he "probably [has] enough songs that didn't make it on the last two records to do two more records."
Members
Current members
Eric "A.K." Knutson – vocals (1983–2001, 2003–present)
Michael Gilbert – guitars (1985–1997, 2010–present)
Steve Conley – guitars (2013–present)
Ken Mary – drums (2017–present)
Bill Bodily – bass (2020–present, touring 2016, 2019)
Touring musicians
James Rivera – vocals (2001-2003)
Jeff Barbaree – bass (2013)
Session musicians
Tory Edwards – violin (2001, 2014), mandolin (2014)
Former members
Kelly David-Smith – drums (1981–1997, 2011–2014)
Jason Newsted – bass (1981–1986)
Mark Vazquez – guitars (1981–1985)
Kevin Horton – guitars (1981–1983)
Edward Carlson – guitars (1983–2013)
Phil Rind – bass (1986)
Michael Spencer – bass (1987–1988, 2013–2020)
Troy Gregory – bass (1988–1991)
Jason Ward – bass (1991–2013)
Craig Nielsen – drums (1997–2011)
Mark Simpson – guitars (1997–1999, 2000–2010)
Jason Bittner – drums (2015–2017)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Doomsday for the Deceiver (1986)
No Place for Disgrace (1988)
When the Storm Comes Down (1990)
Cuatro (1992)
Drift (1995)
High (1997)
Unnatural Selection (1999)
My God (2001)
Dreams of Death (2005)
The Cold (2010)
Ugly Noise (2012)
Flotsam and Jetsam (2016)
The End of Chaos (2019)
Blood in the Water (2021)
Live albums
Live in Phoenix (2005)
Once in a Deathtime (2008)
Singles/EPs
Flotzilla (1987)
Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting (1988)
Suffer The Masses (1990)
The Master Sleeps (1990)
Selections From Cuatro/Never To Reveal (1992)
Swatting At Flies (1992)
Wading Through The Darkness (1992)
Cradle Me Now (1992)
Smoked Out (1995)
Blindside (1995)
Destructive Signs (1995)
Life, Love, Death (2019)
DVDs
Live in Phoenix (2004)
Live in Japan (2006)
Once in a Deathtime (2008)
References
External links
Official website
Band Myspace
Jason Ward Myspace
1981 establishments in Arizona
American thrash metal musical groups
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Heavy metal musical groups from Arizona
Musical groups established in 1981
Musical quintets
Musical groups from Phoenix, Arizona
Metal Blade Records artists
American speed metal musical groups
| true |
[
"Toni Impekoven (21 June 1881 – 6 May 1947) was a German actor and writer. Impekoven was a popular playwright, who co-authored the hit comedy The Scoundrel with Hans Reimann. The play was turned into films on two occasions. He was the brother of Sabine Impekoven and the husband of Frieda Impekoven, with whom he had a daughter Niddy Impekoven.\n\nSelected filmography \n The Scoundrel (1931)\n The Court Concert (1936)\n The Scoundrel (1939)\n The Court Concert (1948)\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n\nExternal links \n \n\n1881 births\n1947 deaths\nGerman male actors\nActors from Cologne\nGerman male writers",
"The Never Ending Tour is the popular name for Bob Dylan's endless touring schedule since June 7, 1988.\n\nTour\nThe tour started off in Reno, Nevada at the Reno Events Center and the first leg came to an end on May 10, in Hollywood, Florida after 29 concerts.\n\nThe European leg of the tour started June 24 in Kilkenny, Ireland and came to an end on July 20 in Cosenza, Italy. Dylan and his band performed at several festivals during the tour including Live At The Marquee in Cork, Ireland and Roskilde Festival in Roskilde, Denmark. Dylan also performed his only concert in England of the year which was in Bournemouth at the Bournemouth International Centre.\n\nAfter completing the European Tour Dylan returned to the United States to perform 21 concerts in ballparks across the States excluding one concert at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pennsylvania. Dylan also performed a private concert on Genentech Campus at University of California, San Francisco.\n\nDylan once again toured North America in the fall of 2006 performing 24 concerts in the United States and five concerts in Canada. This leg of the tour started on October 11 in Vancouver, British Columbia and ended in New York City on November 20.\n\nTour dates\n\nFestivals and other miscellaneous performances\n\nThis concert was a part of \"New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival\".\nThis concert was a part of \"Kilkenny Source Festival\".\nThis concert was a part of \"Live At The Marquee\".\nThis concert was a part of \"Roskilde Festival\".\nThis concert was a part of \"Cap Roig Gardens Festival\".\nThis concert was a part of \"Concierto Por La Paz\".\nThis concert was a part of \"Les Estivales de Perpignan\".\nThis concert was a part of \"Pistoia Blues Festival\".\nThis concert was a private concert.\n\nCancellations and rescheduled shows\n\nBox office score data\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n BobLinks – Comprehensive log of concerts and set lists\n Bjorner's Still on the Road – Information on recording sessions and performances\n\nBob Dylan concert tours\n2006 concert tours"
] |
[
"Flotsam and Jetsam (band)",
"2006-2011: Live In Japan, Once in a Deathtime, The Cold",
"Was this article about a band?",
"The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004.",
"Was the concert popular?",
"February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004."
] |
C_6473957a2b244e039aac09f37074746d_1
|
What year was the concert?
| 3 |
What year was the Flotsam and Jetsam concert at Citta Club in Tokyo popular?
|
Flotsam and Jetsam (band)
|
The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004. Doomsday for the Deceiver was re-released in November 2006 by Metal Blade Records to celebrate the album's twentieth anniversary. This set (2 CD and DVD) includes the original recording of Doomsday and a re-mixed and re-mastered(Digitized)version and also the two Flotsam and Jetsam demos. The bonus DVD includes rare live material, an interview filmed at Kelly's High School and a photo slide-show. In Spring 2008 Metal Mind Productions remastered and re-released the albums When the Storm Comes Down, Cuatro (including 5 bonus tracks), Drift (including 3 bonus tracks) and Dreams of Death. Unfortunately for the fans No Place for Disgrace could not be remastered due to existing legal issues between the band and their former label Elektra Records. In March 2008 Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe and played at the Metalmania Festival in Poland. This show was filmed and released as DVD Once in a Deathtime in July. Midyear 2008 the band were signed to Driven Music Group, founded by former KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch. After a tour in Europe with support act Neurasthenia in April 2010 Flotsam and Jetsam finished their album The Cold. It was released on September 14, 2010. It was the last album with Mark Simpson on guitar. He left the band in friendship and was replaced by returning guitarist Ed Carlson, who had quit the band in March 2010, to be replaced by Michael Gilbert. CANNOTANSWER
|
February 2006
|
Flotsam and Jetsam is an American thrash metal band that was formed in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1981. Before settling on its current name in 1984, the band had existed under three different names, Paradox, Dredlox and Dogz. Their current lineup includes vocalist Eric "A.K" Knutson, guitarists Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley, bassist Bill Bodily, and drummer Ken Mary. Flotsam and Jetsam went through several lineup changes over the years, leaving Knutson as the only constant member. They are also notable for featuring bassist Jason Newsted, who left the band shortly after the release of their debut album to join Metallica as Cliff Burton's successor.
Flotsam and Jetsam has released fourteen studio albums in their career, with the latest being 2021's Blood in the Water. Despite not achieving similar levels of commercial success as some of their thrash metal contemporaries, the band emerged as part of the second wave of the genre in the mid-to-late 1980s (along with Sepultura, Testament and Death Angel), and has enjoyed some moderate success in the United States, with two of their albums (1988's No Place for Disgrace and 1990's When the Storm Comes Down) entering the Billboard 200 chart, and their fourth album Cuatro (1992) cracking the top 30 on the Heatseekers chart.
Band history
1981–1986: Early days
The group was founded in 1981 under the name Paradox by drummer Kelly David-Smith and guitarists Pete Mello and Dave Goulder, who were later joined by bassist Jason Newsted. Newsted had answered an advertisement that David-Smith had placed in the local newspaper, looking for a bass player. Newsted came to Phoenix with his band Gangster, from Michigan, on their way to California, but Gangster broke up while in Phoenix. David-Smith got a call from a couple of his high school friends, Mark Vasquez and Kevin Horton, looking for some people to jam with playing covers of bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, MSG, and UFO. The band then morphed into Dredlox together with the new recruits, and Newsted was now the main vocalist.
David-Smith saw "A.K." (Eric A. Knutson) singing "The Goodbye Girl" at his high school talent show. In 1982, they were in the same summer school class and David-Smith asked Knutson if he wanted to audition. They put him on two-week probation and he later joined the band. Due to the provisional nature of his membership, the band referred to Knutson as "the 2 weeker." Ed Carlson, from another local rival band called Exodus (not to be confused with the California Bay Area thrash metal band of the same name), also joined in 1983, after Horton's departure from the band. The name of the band changed into The Dogz, but it did not last long. Eventually the band renamed itself "Flotsam and Jetsam", after writing a song inspired by chapter 9 of book three (of the same name) of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings.
The band made its live debut in local clubs and in California and had the opportunity to play with bands such as Megadeth, Armored Saint, Alcatrazz, Malice, Exciter, Mercyful Fate, Riot, Autograph and Icon. In 1985, Mark Vasquez stepped out and 17-year-old Michael Gilbert joined the band. Flotsam and Jetsam released two demo tapes Iron Tears and Metal Shock in 1985.
They created their first video "Hammerhead" from the Metal Shock demo: "We taped it in Jason and Ed's apartment living room. We also made a live video at the infamous Bootlegger in Phoenix", (owned by Gloria Cavalera, currently married to Max Cavalera) These videos and the band's demos made a good impression on record labels. After the band contributed to the Speed Metal Hell II and Metal Massacre VII compilations, they then signed a deal with Metal Blade Records.
1986–1989: Doomsday for the Deceiver and No Place for Disgrace
Flotsam and Jetsam recorded their debut album Doomsday for the Deceiver in Los Angeles, with producer Brian Slagel and engineer Bill Metoyer. The album was released on the July 4, 1986, and was the first in Kerrang! 's history to achieve the 6K rating.
Newsted, who was also the band's main lyric writer, departed soon after to join Metallica, replacing their bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a bus accident. On Halloween night 1986, he played his last gig with Flotsam and Jetsam. The band had asked another local bassist Phil Rind of Sacred Reich to fill in for a short time. They then hired Michael Spencer from the Sacramento band Sentinel Beast. Flotsam and Jetsam inked a deal with Metallica's then-label Elektra Records before opening for Megadeth in 1987 on the Peace Sells tour in Europe and America. After touring with Megadeth, the band played selected shows in America with Slayer, Dark Angel, Possessed, Celtic Frost, Sacred Reich and Excel.
Michael Spencer left Flotsam and Jetsam shortly after a U.S. tour in the fall of 1987; his replacement was Troy Gregory. Their second studio album, No Place for Disgrace, was released in May 1988, and includes a cover of Elton John's hit "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting", for which a music video was shot. The band toured heavily behind No Place for Disgrace throughout 1988 and 1989. They opened for King Diamond in America, and supported Megadeth, Testament and Sanctuary in Europe on the So Far, So Good... So What! tour. The band also toured or played shows with Testament, The Crumbsuckers, Fates Warning, Destruction, Metal Church, Death Angel, D.R.I., Acid Reign and Kreator, and landed a billing for festivals, such as Milwaukee Metalfest, and played at Aardschokdag twice (in May 1988 and April 1989).
1989–1995: MCA era
In 1989, Flotsam and Jetsam were signed to MCA Records and began work on their third album When the Storm Comes Down, which was released in May 1990. The band expected to gain recognition with this album, but it suffered from a variety of mixed reviews. A video made for "Suffer the Masses" did however receive heavy rotation on MTV's Headbangers Ball. Musically and lyrically, When the Storm Comes Down marked the beginning of at least two changes for Flotsam and Jetsam: it mirrored much of the occult and dark themes evidenced in the lyrical content of their previous two albums, instead focusing on politics and society in general, and saw the band expanding their thrash roots and using elements of the progressive and technical style of their later albums. The band toured for about a year and a half in support of When the Storm Comes Down; they co-headlined a U.S. tour with Prong, and subsequently toured or played selected shows with bands such as Testament, Savatage, Exodus, Vio-Lence, Sacred Reich, Wrathchild America and then-unknown Pantera.
Shortly after the When the Storm Comes Down tour ended, bassist Troy Gregory departed to join Prong. Holding auditions in Phoenix, the band hired Jason Ward to fill the role. With Ward as their new bassist, Flotsam and Jetsam released their fourth album Cuatro in October 1992. It marked an evolution in style and songwriting, moving from thrash to a slower, slightly more, melodic sound, while also continuing the progressive and technical song structures used on When the Storm Comes Down. The band released four singles this time, two of which ("Swatting at Flies" and "Wading Through the Darkness") were shot as music videos and both received regular rotation on Headbangers Ball. Flotsam and Jetsam promoted Cuatro with a year-long tour, playing with bands like Body Count, Sepultura, Testament, White Zombie, Nudeswirl and Damn the Machine, as well as doing a US tour with Mercyful Fate, Cathedral and Anacrusis.
Slowing down after the moderate success of their previous albums, it took nearly three years until Flotsam and Jetsam released their fifth album Drift in April 1995, which was dedicated to Jason's older brother Jeff Ward, former drummer of such bands as Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Revolting Cocks and Lard, who died in 1993. Three singles were released off of the record, and one of them ("Smoked Out") had a music video. However, with Headbangers Ball already off the air in the U.S., and many heavy metal radio stations changing formats, Drift did not sell as well as the band's previous albums, and about the same time they toured the U.S. with Megadeth and Korn during the summer of 1995, MCA's six-year relationship with Flotsam and Jetsam had ended.
1996–2001: Return to Metal Blade
After taking a break in most of 1996 and resigning from MCA to Metal Blade, Flotsam and Jetsam resurfaced in 1997 with their sixth album High. The album's song titles were designed with the font types/logos of famous bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Kiss, Van Halen, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Misfits, etc. to pay homage to those whom came before and inspired the band while it was coming up the ranks. The music was more experimental than before, and the album also featured the Lard cover song Fork Boy. Music video was released, Monster to follow-up.
Michael Gilbert and Kelly Smith left the band after the release and were replaced by guitarist Mark Simpson and drummer Craig Nielsen (at the suggestion of then-Megadeth drummer Nick Menza). With the new line-up Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe together with Anvil and Exciter.
Unnatural Selection was released in 1999 and Mark Simpson took a short break. He joined the band again in 2000 to record a new album, My God released in May 2001. At that time Eric A.K. had founded a country band, the A.K. Corral. He left the band for a short time to take a break from Metal and pursue his side project. (AK) "I had given Metal my life for a solid 15 years, I took some time to explore other musical flavors." Though Flotsam and Jetsam did not disband, there was a long break at that time. They found a new singer, James Rivera, who took over vocal duties live. Later the band felt that no one other than Eric A.K. could be their singer and Rivera left the band soon after.
2002–2010: Live in Phoenix, Dreams of Death and The Cold
During 2002 and 2003 the band were active only sporadically, but Eric A.K. rejoined for live dates in the Phoenix and Los Angeles areas in 2003. Tory Edwards was a guest for this tour. A live recording of these shows was released in 2004 as a live concert DVD under the title Live in Phoenix. Signed to the Crash Music label in May 2004 and with Eric A.K. joining the band again officially, they hit the road with Overkill and Death Angel for a series of sold-out concerts in Japan.
Spring 2005 Flotsam and Jetsam returned to the studio to work on their new album. The lyrics were mostly inspired by Eric's nightmares. This resulted into a concept album entitled Dreams of Death - like track 2 of No Place for Disgrace. The album was released July 2005.
The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004.
Doomsday for the Deceiver was re-released in November 2006 by Metal Blade Records to celebrate the album's twentieth anniversary. This set (2 CD and DVD) includes the original recording of Doomsday and a re-mixed and re-mastered(Digitized)version and also the two Flotsam and Jetsam demos. The bonus DVD includes rare live material, an interview filmed at David-Smith's High School and a photo slide-show.
In March 2008 Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe and played at the Metalmania Festival in Poland. This show was filmed and released as DVD Once in a Deathtime in July.
Midyear 2008 the band were signed to Driven Music Group, founded by former KORN guitarist Brian “Head” Welch.
After a tour in Europe with support act Neurasthenia in April 2010 Flotsam and Jetsam finished their album The Cold. It was released on September 14, 2010. It was the last album with Mark Simpson on guitar. He left the band in friendship and was replaced by returning guitarist Ed Carlson, who had quit the band in March 2010, to be replaced by Michael Gilbert.
2011–2013: Ugly Noise
On September 19, 2011, Flotsam and Jetsam announced they had parted ways with Craig Nielson and reunited with founding drummer David-Smith. The band also announced a crowdfunding campaign on PledgeMusic to fund the recording of their next studio album.
On June 13, 2012, the band announced Ugly Noise as the title of the next album. In July, guitarist Michael Gilbert said the album would feature songwriting contributions from former bassist Jason Newsted. The album was released on December 21, 2012.
After tracking, Jason Ward was no longer able to commit to touring with the band any further due to his current personal commitments. He was replaced by Michael Spencer, who had previously replaced Jason Newsted in 1986.
During the tour, Edward Carlson started to have extreme physical pain in his lower back and numbness in his right arm. After the tour, an MRI revealed that he had bulging disks in his upper and lower back causing the dysfunction to occur. Flotsam and Jetsam then recruited guitarist Steve Conley of F5 to step in while they finished out their live commitments.
2013–2014: No Place For Disgrace 2014
No Place For Disgrace featured guest musicians Mark Simpson, Chris Poland and Tory Edwards. In June 2013, the band headlined at the Warriors of Metal Festival in Columbus Ohio.
Flotsam and Jetsam embarked on a 29-date European tour with Sepultura, Legion of the Damned and Mortillery. The tour kicked off on February 7, 2014 in Bochum, Germany.
Flotsam toured Europe 4 times in 2014 with a total of 40 shows in all. Returning home from Europe on August 11, the band planned to start writing for a new release in 2015. Michael Spencer and Steve Conley would be involved this time in the process. Spencer had written some material previously in 1987 that he took with him after his departure. Flotsam used at some of the archive material from Spencer.
2014–2021: Flotsam and Jetsam, The End of Chaos and Blood in the Water
In December 2014, drummer and founding member, David-Smith decided to leave the band due to unexpected family matters that required him to be home with his family. Handpicked by Smith to replace him on drums, was longtime friend and Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner. Bittner was present on Flotsam and Jetsam's self-titled twelfth studio album, which was released on May 20, 2016. The band did a world tour to support this album, including Europe with Destruction, Enforcer and Nervosa, North America with Helstar and Hatchet, and then back to Europe with Dew-Scented and Izegrim. They also opened for HammerFall on their spring/summer 2018 North American tour.
On July 6, 2017, it was announced that Flotsam and Jetsam were replacing Bittner (who had just joined Overkill) with Ken Mary (Fifth Angel, Alice Cooper, House of Lords, TKO, Chastain, Impellitteri), and that they had begun working on their thirteenth studio album The End of Chaos, which was initially reported to be released in November 2018; however, the album's release date was pushed back to January 18, 2019. In support of The End of Chaos, Flotsam and Jetsam (along with Destruction and Meshiaak) opened for Overkill on the European Killfest Tour in March 2019. A headlining US tour, titled Demolition of North America, was scheduled to take place in the spring of 2021 after a year of cancellation and postponement, due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the tour has since been postponed again at a later date.
Less than a month after the release of The End of Chaos, frontman Eric "A.K." Knutson stated in an interview with Jesse Capps of Loudist that Flotsam and Jetsam would "probably start writing and recording" a follow-up album in November 2019.
On November 13, 2020, the band announced Bill Bodily had replaced Michael Spencer as their new bassist, and that the final mixes for their upcoming album were almost finished.
On April 1, 2021, Flotsam and Jetsam announced Blood in the Water as the title of their fourteenth studio album and June 4 as its release date. A week later, the band released a music video for the album's first single, "Burn the Sky". Flotsam and Jetsam will promote Blood in the Water with a headlining US tour, and they were slated to open for Accept on the European trek of their Too Mean to Die tour in January and February 2022 (along with Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons), but "many factors" prompted the band to withdraw from the tour.
2021–present: Upcoming fifteenth studio album
In an interview with AZ Central on June 5, 2021, the day after the release of Blood in the Water, frontman Eric "A.K." Knutson mentioned a follow-up album, revealing that he "probably [has] enough songs that didn't make it on the last two records to do two more records."
Members
Current members
Eric "A.K." Knutson – vocals (1983–2001, 2003–present)
Michael Gilbert – guitars (1985–1997, 2010–present)
Steve Conley – guitars (2013–present)
Ken Mary – drums (2017–present)
Bill Bodily – bass (2020–present, touring 2016, 2019)
Touring musicians
James Rivera – vocals (2001-2003)
Jeff Barbaree – bass (2013)
Session musicians
Tory Edwards – violin (2001, 2014), mandolin (2014)
Former members
Kelly David-Smith – drums (1981–1997, 2011–2014)
Jason Newsted – bass (1981–1986)
Mark Vazquez – guitars (1981–1985)
Kevin Horton – guitars (1981–1983)
Edward Carlson – guitars (1983–2013)
Phil Rind – bass (1986)
Michael Spencer – bass (1987–1988, 2013–2020)
Troy Gregory – bass (1988–1991)
Jason Ward – bass (1991–2013)
Craig Nielsen – drums (1997–2011)
Mark Simpson – guitars (1997–1999, 2000–2010)
Jason Bittner – drums (2015–2017)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Doomsday for the Deceiver (1986)
No Place for Disgrace (1988)
When the Storm Comes Down (1990)
Cuatro (1992)
Drift (1995)
High (1997)
Unnatural Selection (1999)
My God (2001)
Dreams of Death (2005)
The Cold (2010)
Ugly Noise (2012)
Flotsam and Jetsam (2016)
The End of Chaos (2019)
Blood in the Water (2021)
Live albums
Live in Phoenix (2005)
Once in a Deathtime (2008)
Singles/EPs
Flotzilla (1987)
Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting (1988)
Suffer The Masses (1990)
The Master Sleeps (1990)
Selections From Cuatro/Never To Reveal (1992)
Swatting At Flies (1992)
Wading Through The Darkness (1992)
Cradle Me Now (1992)
Smoked Out (1995)
Blindside (1995)
Destructive Signs (1995)
Life, Love, Death (2019)
DVDs
Live in Phoenix (2004)
Live in Japan (2006)
Once in a Deathtime (2008)
References
External links
Official website
Band Myspace
Jason Ward Myspace
1981 establishments in Arizona
American thrash metal musical groups
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Heavy metal musical groups from Arizona
Musical groups established in 1981
Musical quintets
Musical groups from Phoenix, Arizona
Metal Blade Records artists
American speed metal musical groups
| true |
[
"The Everlasting Tour is the seventh headlining concert tour by American recording artist, Martina McBride. The tour supports the singer's twelfth studio album, Everlasting (2014). The tour mainly visited North America, playing over 100 shows in the United States and Canada.\n\nSetlist\nThe following setlist was obtained from the concert held on February 12, 2015, at the Adler Theatre in Davenport, Iowa. It does not represent all concerts for the duration of the tour.\n\"When God-Fearin' Women Get the Blues\"\n\"Wild Angels\"\n\"Wild Night\"\n\"Suspicious Minds\"\n\"Valentine\"\n\"Blessed\"\n\"I'm Gonna Love You Through It\"\n\"My Babe\"\n\"Perfect\"\n\"In My Daughter's Eyes\"\n\"Little Bit of Rain\"\n\"Anyway\"\n\"Come See About Me\n\"In The Basement\"\n\"Bring It On Home to Me\"\n\"Whatever You Say\" / \"Where Would You Be\"\n\"Love's the Only House\"\n\"A Broken Wing\"\n\"What Becomes of the Brokenhearted\"\nEncore \n\"Son of a Preacher Man\"\n\"Baby What You Want Me to Do\"\n\"This One's For The Girls\"\n\"Independence Day\"\n\nTour dates\n\nFestivals and other miscellaneous performances\n\nThis concert was a part of the \"St. Regis Big Stars, Bright Nights Concert Series\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Greeley Stampede\"\nThis concert was a part of \"HawkFest\"\nThis concert was a part of \"FunFest\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"NatsLive Free Postgame Concert Series\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Thunder Valley Summer Concert Series\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"End of Summer Concerts Series\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Rodeo Austin\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Riverbend Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Burlington Steamboat Days\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Summerfest\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Let Freedom Sing\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Stanislaus County Fair\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Toyota Concert Series\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Santa Barbara County Fair\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Last Chance Stampede and Fair\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Medicine Hat Stampede\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Mission Hill Summer Concert Series\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Sweetwater County Fair\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Deschutes County Fair\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Douglas County Fair\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Richland County Fair and Rodeo\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Montana Fair\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Brown County Fair\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Knox Concert Series\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Live at the Garden Concert Series\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Gulf Coast Jam\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Durham Fair\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Norsk Høstfest\"\n\nBox office score data\n\nPersonnel\n Vinnie Ciesielski – trumpet\n Shelly Fairchild – backing vocals\n Greg Foresman – electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals\n Greg Herrington – drums\n John Hinchey – trombone\n Randy Leago – baritone saxophone, harmonica\n Jim Medlin – keyboards\n Martina McBride – lead vocals, harmonica\n Wendy Moten – backing vocals\n Shandra Penix – backing vocals\n Glenn Snow – bass guitar, backing vocals\n Tyler Summer – tenor saxophone\n\nReferences\n\nMartina McBride concert tours\n2014 concert tours\n2015 concert tours",
"The Same Trailer Different Tour (also known as the Same Tour Different Trailer) was the first concert tour by American recording artist Kacey Musgraves. The tour supported her debut studio album, Same Trailer Different Park (2013). The tour played 80 concerts in North America and Europe. The tour was produced by AEG Live and The Messina Group.\n\nOpening acts\nRayland Baxter \nJohn & Jacob \nSugar + the Hi-Lows \nCount This Penny \nHumming House\n\nSetlist\nThe following setlist was obtained from the September 19, 2013 concert, held at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City, New York. It does not represent all concerts for the duration of the tour.\n \n\"The Trailer Song\"\n\"Stupid\"\n\"Silver Lining\"\n\"Island in the Sun\"\n\"I Miss You\"\n\"Blowin' Smoke\"\n\"Keep It to Yourself\"\n\"I Put a Spell on You\"\n\"Mama's Broken Heart\"\n\"High Time\"\n\"Back on the Map\"\n\"It Is What It Is\"\n\"Step Off\" / \"Three Little Birds\"\n\"Merry Go 'Round\"\nEncore\n\"Rainbow\"\n\"My House\"\n\"Follow Your Arrow\"\n\nTour dates\n\nFestivals and other miscellaneous performances\nThis concert was a part of the \"Ocean City Sunfest\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Farm Aid\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Southern Ground Music & Food Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"8 Man Jam\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Harvest Music Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"State Fair of Texas\"\nThis concert was a part of \"We Can Survive\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Christmas Jam\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Glastonbury Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Orvieto4ever\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Cornbury Music Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Lulu’s Barkin’ BBQ\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Life Is Beautiful\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Country for Kids Concert\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Opry at The Ryman\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Stagecoach Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival\"\n\nBox office score data\n\nExternal links\nKacey Musgraves Official Website\n\nReferences\n\n2013 concert tours\n2014 concert tours\n2015 concert tours\nKacey Musgraves"
] |
[
"Flotsam and Jetsam (band)",
"2006-2011: Live In Japan, Once in a Deathtime, The Cold",
"Was this article about a band?",
"The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004.",
"Was the concert popular?",
"February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004.",
"What year was the concert?",
"February 2006"
] |
C_6473957a2b244e039aac09f37074746d_1
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Were there other bands at the concert?
| 4 |
Were there other bands at the concert at Citta Club in Tokyo popular other than Flotsam and Jetsam?
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Flotsam and Jetsam (band)
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The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004. Doomsday for the Deceiver was re-released in November 2006 by Metal Blade Records to celebrate the album's twentieth anniversary. This set (2 CD and DVD) includes the original recording of Doomsday and a re-mixed and re-mastered(Digitized)version and also the two Flotsam and Jetsam demos. The bonus DVD includes rare live material, an interview filmed at Kelly's High School and a photo slide-show. In Spring 2008 Metal Mind Productions remastered and re-released the albums When the Storm Comes Down, Cuatro (including 5 bonus tracks), Drift (including 3 bonus tracks) and Dreams of Death. Unfortunately for the fans No Place for Disgrace could not be remastered due to existing legal issues between the band and their former label Elektra Records. In March 2008 Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe and played at the Metalmania Festival in Poland. This show was filmed and released as DVD Once in a Deathtime in July. Midyear 2008 the band were signed to Driven Music Group, founded by former KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch. After a tour in Europe with support act Neurasthenia in April 2010 Flotsam and Jetsam finished their album The Cold. It was released on September 14, 2010. It was the last album with Mark Simpson on guitar. He left the band in friendship and was replaced by returning guitarist Ed Carlson, who had quit the band in March 2010, to be replaced by Michael Gilbert. CANNOTANSWER
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February 2006 and shows their concert
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Flotsam and Jetsam is an American thrash metal band that was formed in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1981. Before settling on its current name in 1984, the band had existed under three different names, Paradox, Dredlox and Dogz. Their current lineup includes vocalist Eric "A.K" Knutson, guitarists Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley, bassist Bill Bodily, and drummer Ken Mary. Flotsam and Jetsam went through several lineup changes over the years, leaving Knutson as the only constant member. They are also notable for featuring bassist Jason Newsted, who left the band shortly after the release of their debut album to join Metallica as Cliff Burton's successor.
Flotsam and Jetsam has released fourteen studio albums in their career, with the latest being 2021's Blood in the Water. Despite not achieving similar levels of commercial success as some of their thrash metal contemporaries, the band emerged as part of the second wave of the genre in the mid-to-late 1980s (along with Sepultura, Testament and Death Angel), and has enjoyed some moderate success in the United States, with two of their albums (1988's No Place for Disgrace and 1990's When the Storm Comes Down) entering the Billboard 200 chart, and their fourth album Cuatro (1992) cracking the top 30 on the Heatseekers chart.
Band history
1981–1986: Early days
The group was founded in 1981 under the name Paradox by drummer Kelly David-Smith and guitarists Pete Mello and Dave Goulder, who were later joined by bassist Jason Newsted. Newsted had answered an advertisement that David-Smith had placed in the local newspaper, looking for a bass player. Newsted came to Phoenix with his band Gangster, from Michigan, on their way to California, but Gangster broke up while in Phoenix. David-Smith got a call from a couple of his high school friends, Mark Vasquez and Kevin Horton, looking for some people to jam with playing covers of bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, MSG, and UFO. The band then morphed into Dredlox together with the new recruits, and Newsted was now the main vocalist.
David-Smith saw "A.K." (Eric A. Knutson) singing "The Goodbye Girl" at his high school talent show. In 1982, they were in the same summer school class and David-Smith asked Knutson if he wanted to audition. They put him on two-week probation and he later joined the band. Due to the provisional nature of his membership, the band referred to Knutson as "the 2 weeker." Ed Carlson, from another local rival band called Exodus (not to be confused with the California Bay Area thrash metal band of the same name), also joined in 1983, after Horton's departure from the band. The name of the band changed into The Dogz, but it did not last long. Eventually the band renamed itself "Flotsam and Jetsam", after writing a song inspired by chapter 9 of book three (of the same name) of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings.
The band made its live debut in local clubs and in California and had the opportunity to play with bands such as Megadeth, Armored Saint, Alcatrazz, Malice, Exciter, Mercyful Fate, Riot, Autograph and Icon. In 1985, Mark Vasquez stepped out and 17-year-old Michael Gilbert joined the band. Flotsam and Jetsam released two demo tapes Iron Tears and Metal Shock in 1985.
They created their first video "Hammerhead" from the Metal Shock demo: "We taped it in Jason and Ed's apartment living room. We also made a live video at the infamous Bootlegger in Phoenix", (owned by Gloria Cavalera, currently married to Max Cavalera) These videos and the band's demos made a good impression on record labels. After the band contributed to the Speed Metal Hell II and Metal Massacre VII compilations, they then signed a deal with Metal Blade Records.
1986–1989: Doomsday for the Deceiver and No Place for Disgrace
Flotsam and Jetsam recorded their debut album Doomsday for the Deceiver in Los Angeles, with producer Brian Slagel and engineer Bill Metoyer. The album was released on the July 4, 1986, and was the first in Kerrang! 's history to achieve the 6K rating.
Newsted, who was also the band's main lyric writer, departed soon after to join Metallica, replacing their bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a bus accident. On Halloween night 1986, he played his last gig with Flotsam and Jetsam. The band had asked another local bassist Phil Rind of Sacred Reich to fill in for a short time. They then hired Michael Spencer from the Sacramento band Sentinel Beast. Flotsam and Jetsam inked a deal with Metallica's then-label Elektra Records before opening for Megadeth in 1987 on the Peace Sells tour in Europe and America. After touring with Megadeth, the band played selected shows in America with Slayer, Dark Angel, Possessed, Celtic Frost, Sacred Reich and Excel.
Michael Spencer left Flotsam and Jetsam shortly after a U.S. tour in the fall of 1987; his replacement was Troy Gregory. Their second studio album, No Place for Disgrace, was released in May 1988, and includes a cover of Elton John's hit "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting", for which a music video was shot. The band toured heavily behind No Place for Disgrace throughout 1988 and 1989. They opened for King Diamond in America, and supported Megadeth, Testament and Sanctuary in Europe on the So Far, So Good... So What! tour. The band also toured or played shows with Testament, The Crumbsuckers, Fates Warning, Destruction, Metal Church, Death Angel, D.R.I., Acid Reign and Kreator, and landed a billing for festivals, such as Milwaukee Metalfest, and played at Aardschokdag twice (in May 1988 and April 1989).
1989–1995: MCA era
In 1989, Flotsam and Jetsam were signed to MCA Records and began work on their third album When the Storm Comes Down, which was released in May 1990. The band expected to gain recognition with this album, but it suffered from a variety of mixed reviews. A video made for "Suffer the Masses" did however receive heavy rotation on MTV's Headbangers Ball. Musically and lyrically, When the Storm Comes Down marked the beginning of at least two changes for Flotsam and Jetsam: it mirrored much of the occult and dark themes evidenced in the lyrical content of their previous two albums, instead focusing on politics and society in general, and saw the band expanding their thrash roots and using elements of the progressive and technical style of their later albums. The band toured for about a year and a half in support of When the Storm Comes Down; they co-headlined a U.S. tour with Prong, and subsequently toured or played selected shows with bands such as Testament, Savatage, Exodus, Vio-Lence, Sacred Reich, Wrathchild America and then-unknown Pantera.
Shortly after the When the Storm Comes Down tour ended, bassist Troy Gregory departed to join Prong. Holding auditions in Phoenix, the band hired Jason Ward to fill the role. With Ward as their new bassist, Flotsam and Jetsam released their fourth album Cuatro in October 1992. It marked an evolution in style and songwriting, moving from thrash to a slower, slightly more, melodic sound, while also continuing the progressive and technical song structures used on When the Storm Comes Down. The band released four singles this time, two of which ("Swatting at Flies" and "Wading Through the Darkness") were shot as music videos and both received regular rotation on Headbangers Ball. Flotsam and Jetsam promoted Cuatro with a year-long tour, playing with bands like Body Count, Sepultura, Testament, White Zombie, Nudeswirl and Damn the Machine, as well as doing a US tour with Mercyful Fate, Cathedral and Anacrusis.
Slowing down after the moderate success of their previous albums, it took nearly three years until Flotsam and Jetsam released their fifth album Drift in April 1995, which was dedicated to Jason's older brother Jeff Ward, former drummer of such bands as Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Revolting Cocks and Lard, who died in 1993. Three singles were released off of the record, and one of them ("Smoked Out") had a music video. However, with Headbangers Ball already off the air in the U.S., and many heavy metal radio stations changing formats, Drift did not sell as well as the band's previous albums, and about the same time they toured the U.S. with Megadeth and Korn during the summer of 1995, MCA's six-year relationship with Flotsam and Jetsam had ended.
1996–2001: Return to Metal Blade
After taking a break in most of 1996 and resigning from MCA to Metal Blade, Flotsam and Jetsam resurfaced in 1997 with their sixth album High. The album's song titles were designed with the font types/logos of famous bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Kiss, Van Halen, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Misfits, etc. to pay homage to those whom came before and inspired the band while it was coming up the ranks. The music was more experimental than before, and the album also featured the Lard cover song Fork Boy. Music video was released, Monster to follow-up.
Michael Gilbert and Kelly Smith left the band after the release and were replaced by guitarist Mark Simpson and drummer Craig Nielsen (at the suggestion of then-Megadeth drummer Nick Menza). With the new line-up Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe together with Anvil and Exciter.
Unnatural Selection was released in 1999 and Mark Simpson took a short break. He joined the band again in 2000 to record a new album, My God released in May 2001. At that time Eric A.K. had founded a country band, the A.K. Corral. He left the band for a short time to take a break from Metal and pursue his side project. (AK) "I had given Metal my life for a solid 15 years, I took some time to explore other musical flavors." Though Flotsam and Jetsam did not disband, there was a long break at that time. They found a new singer, James Rivera, who took over vocal duties live. Later the band felt that no one other than Eric A.K. could be their singer and Rivera left the band soon after.
2002–2010: Live in Phoenix, Dreams of Death and The Cold
During 2002 and 2003 the band were active only sporadically, but Eric A.K. rejoined for live dates in the Phoenix and Los Angeles areas in 2003. Tory Edwards was a guest for this tour. A live recording of these shows was released in 2004 as a live concert DVD under the title Live in Phoenix. Signed to the Crash Music label in May 2004 and with Eric A.K. joining the band again officially, they hit the road with Overkill and Death Angel for a series of sold-out concerts in Japan.
Spring 2005 Flotsam and Jetsam returned to the studio to work on their new album. The lyrics were mostly inspired by Eric's nightmares. This resulted into a concept album entitled Dreams of Death - like track 2 of No Place for Disgrace. The album was released July 2005.
The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004.
Doomsday for the Deceiver was re-released in November 2006 by Metal Blade Records to celebrate the album's twentieth anniversary. This set (2 CD and DVD) includes the original recording of Doomsday and a re-mixed and re-mastered(Digitized)version and also the two Flotsam and Jetsam demos. The bonus DVD includes rare live material, an interview filmed at David-Smith's High School and a photo slide-show.
In March 2008 Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe and played at the Metalmania Festival in Poland. This show was filmed and released as DVD Once in a Deathtime in July.
Midyear 2008 the band were signed to Driven Music Group, founded by former KORN guitarist Brian “Head” Welch.
After a tour in Europe with support act Neurasthenia in April 2010 Flotsam and Jetsam finished their album The Cold. It was released on September 14, 2010. It was the last album with Mark Simpson on guitar. He left the band in friendship and was replaced by returning guitarist Ed Carlson, who had quit the band in March 2010, to be replaced by Michael Gilbert.
2011–2013: Ugly Noise
On September 19, 2011, Flotsam and Jetsam announced they had parted ways with Craig Nielson and reunited with founding drummer David-Smith. The band also announced a crowdfunding campaign on PledgeMusic to fund the recording of their next studio album.
On June 13, 2012, the band announced Ugly Noise as the title of the next album. In July, guitarist Michael Gilbert said the album would feature songwriting contributions from former bassist Jason Newsted. The album was released on December 21, 2012.
After tracking, Jason Ward was no longer able to commit to touring with the band any further due to his current personal commitments. He was replaced by Michael Spencer, who had previously replaced Jason Newsted in 1986.
During the tour, Edward Carlson started to have extreme physical pain in his lower back and numbness in his right arm. After the tour, an MRI revealed that he had bulging disks in his upper and lower back causing the dysfunction to occur. Flotsam and Jetsam then recruited guitarist Steve Conley of F5 to step in while they finished out their live commitments.
2013–2014: No Place For Disgrace 2014
No Place For Disgrace featured guest musicians Mark Simpson, Chris Poland and Tory Edwards. In June 2013, the band headlined at the Warriors of Metal Festival in Columbus Ohio.
Flotsam and Jetsam embarked on a 29-date European tour with Sepultura, Legion of the Damned and Mortillery. The tour kicked off on February 7, 2014 in Bochum, Germany.
Flotsam toured Europe 4 times in 2014 with a total of 40 shows in all. Returning home from Europe on August 11, the band planned to start writing for a new release in 2015. Michael Spencer and Steve Conley would be involved this time in the process. Spencer had written some material previously in 1987 that he took with him after his departure. Flotsam used at some of the archive material from Spencer.
2014–2021: Flotsam and Jetsam, The End of Chaos and Blood in the Water
In December 2014, drummer and founding member, David-Smith decided to leave the band due to unexpected family matters that required him to be home with his family. Handpicked by Smith to replace him on drums, was longtime friend and Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner. Bittner was present on Flotsam and Jetsam's self-titled twelfth studio album, which was released on May 20, 2016. The band did a world tour to support this album, including Europe with Destruction, Enforcer and Nervosa, North America with Helstar and Hatchet, and then back to Europe with Dew-Scented and Izegrim. They also opened for HammerFall on their spring/summer 2018 North American tour.
On July 6, 2017, it was announced that Flotsam and Jetsam were replacing Bittner (who had just joined Overkill) with Ken Mary (Fifth Angel, Alice Cooper, House of Lords, TKO, Chastain, Impellitteri), and that they had begun working on their thirteenth studio album The End of Chaos, which was initially reported to be released in November 2018; however, the album's release date was pushed back to January 18, 2019. In support of The End of Chaos, Flotsam and Jetsam (along with Destruction and Meshiaak) opened for Overkill on the European Killfest Tour in March 2019. A headlining US tour, titled Demolition of North America, was scheduled to take place in the spring of 2021 after a year of cancellation and postponement, due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the tour has since been postponed again at a later date.
Less than a month after the release of The End of Chaos, frontman Eric "A.K." Knutson stated in an interview with Jesse Capps of Loudist that Flotsam and Jetsam would "probably start writing and recording" a follow-up album in November 2019.
On November 13, 2020, the band announced Bill Bodily had replaced Michael Spencer as their new bassist, and that the final mixes for their upcoming album were almost finished.
On April 1, 2021, Flotsam and Jetsam announced Blood in the Water as the title of their fourteenth studio album and June 4 as its release date. A week later, the band released a music video for the album's first single, "Burn the Sky". Flotsam and Jetsam will promote Blood in the Water with a headlining US tour, and they were slated to open for Accept on the European trek of their Too Mean to Die tour in January and February 2022 (along with Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons), but "many factors" prompted the band to withdraw from the tour.
2021–present: Upcoming fifteenth studio album
In an interview with AZ Central on June 5, 2021, the day after the release of Blood in the Water, frontman Eric "A.K." Knutson mentioned a follow-up album, revealing that he "probably [has] enough songs that didn't make it on the last two records to do two more records."
Members
Current members
Eric "A.K." Knutson – vocals (1983–2001, 2003–present)
Michael Gilbert – guitars (1985–1997, 2010–present)
Steve Conley – guitars (2013–present)
Ken Mary – drums (2017–present)
Bill Bodily – bass (2020–present, touring 2016, 2019)
Touring musicians
James Rivera – vocals (2001-2003)
Jeff Barbaree – bass (2013)
Session musicians
Tory Edwards – violin (2001, 2014), mandolin (2014)
Former members
Kelly David-Smith – drums (1981–1997, 2011–2014)
Jason Newsted – bass (1981–1986)
Mark Vazquez – guitars (1981–1985)
Kevin Horton – guitars (1981–1983)
Edward Carlson – guitars (1983–2013)
Phil Rind – bass (1986)
Michael Spencer – bass (1987–1988, 2013–2020)
Troy Gregory – bass (1988–1991)
Jason Ward – bass (1991–2013)
Craig Nielsen – drums (1997–2011)
Mark Simpson – guitars (1997–1999, 2000–2010)
Jason Bittner – drums (2015–2017)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Doomsday for the Deceiver (1986)
No Place for Disgrace (1988)
When the Storm Comes Down (1990)
Cuatro (1992)
Drift (1995)
High (1997)
Unnatural Selection (1999)
My God (2001)
Dreams of Death (2005)
The Cold (2010)
Ugly Noise (2012)
Flotsam and Jetsam (2016)
The End of Chaos (2019)
Blood in the Water (2021)
Live albums
Live in Phoenix (2005)
Once in a Deathtime (2008)
Singles/EPs
Flotzilla (1987)
Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting (1988)
Suffer The Masses (1990)
The Master Sleeps (1990)
Selections From Cuatro/Never To Reveal (1992)
Swatting At Flies (1992)
Wading Through The Darkness (1992)
Cradle Me Now (1992)
Smoked Out (1995)
Blindside (1995)
Destructive Signs (1995)
Life, Love, Death (2019)
DVDs
Live in Phoenix (2004)
Live in Japan (2006)
Once in a Deathtime (2008)
References
External links
Official website
Band Myspace
Jason Ward Myspace
1981 establishments in Arizona
American thrash metal musical groups
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Heavy metal musical groups from Arizona
Musical groups established in 1981
Musical quintets
Musical groups from Phoenix, Arizona
Metal Blade Records artists
American speed metal musical groups
| true |
[
"The Pride of Indy Bands is a performing musical ensemble in Indianapolis of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and other LGBT-friendly musicians. Founded in March 2005, The Pride of Indy Band and Color Guard is currently the only LGBT instrumental and pageantry ensemble in Indiana. The organization conducts its activities in a supportive, accepting and affirming atmosphere. The ensemble is a member of the Lesbian and Gay Band Association.\n\nHistory\nSince the band's beginnings, the band has grown to include a performing membership of 50 musicians, which includes a marching band, pep band, a concert band, a brass ensemble, a woodwind ensemble, a saxophone ensemble, and a Jazz Band. The group has a yearly performance calendar filled with over 20 concerts and special appearances at community events locally and in cities outside of Indiana. The current director is Chris Forsythe.\n\nPride of Indy Bands (PI) Notable Milestones \n March 24, 2005 - First IN Pride 2005 Parade Committee meeting. LGBA shows interest in bringing a massed band to Indy for the Pride Parade.\n March 31, 2005 - LGBA Indy host coordinators (Stephen McCoy, Shelly Snider, and Bree Snyder) meet and decide on rehearsal dates and location of the first band rehearsal for Indy area musicians.\n May 12, 2005 - First rehearsal for the area musicians. The \"Pride of Indy Band and Color Guard\" (PI) is adopted as the name of the organization.\n June 10, 2005 - The massed band rehearses, includes musicians from LGBA bands in other parts of the United States.\n June 11, 2005 - The LGBA massed band marches in the IN Pride Parade and performs at the IN Pride 2005 Festival.\n June 21, 2005 - PI holds first regular rehearsal. At that rehearsal, Jeffrey Reeves suggests that the words \"Gay and Lesbian\" be included in the title of the group. He is met with hostility. Stephen McCoy calmed the discussion.\n November 5, 2005 - PI accepted as a \"Band in Formation\" with the Lesbian and Gay Band Association (LGBA).\n November 22, 2005 - The Pride of Indy Woodwind Ensemble has their first performance at the Indy Pride, Inc. Thanksgiving Dinner.\n November 28, 2005 - PI governance established.\n December 20, 2005 - PI conducts its first Holiday Concert at Broadway United Methodist Church.\n January 10, 2006 - PI receives an invitation to perform at \"Spotlight,\" an annual featuring a cross section of the Indy arts scene, produced as an HIV/AIDS fundraising event benefiting the Indiana AIDS Fund. PI announces it will performance with vocalist Brenda Williams (local artist) for the 3,500+ people that will attend the event.\n February 13, 2006 - PI announces its 2006 Performance Schedule, including six concerts and several performances at special events in the area.\n February 19, 2006 - PI Board of Directors conducts first strategic planning meeting.\n March 12, 2006 - PI presents its first Spring Concert.\n June 6, 2006 - PI holds its first Anniversary Concert at Garfield Park in Indianapolis as a part of Pride Week.\n July 16, 2006 - PI is accepted as a full member band of LGBA at the annual Assembly of Delegates Meeting in Chicago.\n December, 2006 - PI's audience at annual Holiday Concert reaches 200. PI announces new director, Eric Knechtges. Jazz Ensemble makes their impressive debut. 2007 Performance Schedule is released.\n January, 2007 - PI accepts invitation to perform in Indy Parks concert series, two performances in June and July 2007.\n June, 2007 - PI holds its second Anniversary Concert on the lawn at the Old Firehouse Museum on Mass Avenue.\n July, 2007 - PI's concert band participates in the Garfield Park Conservatory and Sunken Gardens Summer Concert Series.\n August, 2007 - PI's jazz ensemble also participates in the Garfield Park series.\n November 29, 2007 - PI's jazz ensemble held its first annual fundraiser \"Time Warp\" at Talbott Street nightclub. The event featured jazz and big band music from the 1930s to contemporary artists.\n October, 2008 - Nathan Voges is selected to succeed Eric Knechtges as musical director.\n November 20, 2008 - PI's jazz ensemble held its second annual fundraiser \"Time Warp 1940\" at Talbott Street nightclub. The event featured the big band sounds of 1940 with guest vocalist Brenda Williams.\n March 24–28, 2010 - PI hosts the National Conference of the Lesbian and Gay Band Association (LGBA) at the Athaneum Theatre in Indianapolis.\n June 8, 2010 - PI Concert and Jazz Bands perform for 5th annual Anniversary Concert.\n June 12, 2010 - PI Marching Band and Visual Ensemble perform at 2010 Circle City Pride Parade.\n July 15, 2010 - PI Concert and Jazz Bands perform at Garfield Park Conservatory and Sunken Gardens Summer Concert Series.\n December 11, 2010 - PI Concert and Jazz Bands perform Holiday Concert at Broadway United Methodist Church, Indianapolis.\n March 20, 2011 - PI Concert Band performs at Arsenal Technical High School, Indianapolis.\n June 7, 2011 - PI Concert and Jazz Bands perform for 6th annual Anniversary Concert.\n June 11, 2011 - PI Marching Band and Visual Ensemble perform at 2011 Circle City Pride Parade.\n July 28, 2011 - PI Concert and Jazz Bands perform at Garfield Park Conservatory and Sunken Gardens Summer Concert Series.\n September, 2011 - PI Bands is officially recognized as a 501(c)3 Not-for-Profit organization.\n October 8, 2011 - PI Jazz Band, Pep Band and Visual Ensemble perform at Indiana AIDS Walk, Indianapolis.\n October 23, 2011 - PI Concert Band plays a combined concert with members of the Zionsville, IN Community Band at the Hebrew Center of Indianapolis.\n\nPride of Indy Ensembles\n Pride of Indy Concert Band\n Pride of Indy Marching Band\n Pride of Indy Pep Band\n Pride of Indy Visual Ensemble\n Pride of Indy Jazz Band\n Pride of Indy Woodwind Ensemble\n Pride of Indy Brass Ensemble\n Pride of Indy Saxophone Ensemble\n\nPride of Indy Conductors (in Chronological Order)\nPRIDE OF INDY CONCERT BAND\n Stephen McCoy \n Jeremy Kaylor \n Eric Knechtges \n Nathan Voges \n Chris Forsythe\n\nPRIDE OF INDY JAZZ ENSEMBLE\n John Joanette \n Wil Myers \n John Porter\n\nPRIDE OF INDY MARCHING BAND\n Laura Blake\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Pride of Indy Bands Website\n Lesbian and Gay Band Association\n Indy Pride\n\nLGBT in Indiana\nLGBT-themed musical groups",
"Nanyang Concert Band, formerly known as the Nanyang Military Band, begand humbly as a 30-member brass band in 1969. Over the years, it has grown into a band with more than 100 members. It performs regularly at public events and school functions such as the Nanyang Family Concert, Nanyang Festival of Arts and its annual Appassionata concerts.\n\nActivities\n\nUnder the baton of Ms Samantha Chong Shoo Mei, the band clinched three consecutive Gold awards at the Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging of Indoor Bands in 2003, 2005 and 2007. More recently, the band was awarded the Silver award at the SYF Central Judging in 2009. The band also clinched the coveted Grooviest Band Award at the Band Fiesta held at the Botanic Gardens in 2004. Last year, the band has been invited again to perform at the Band Fiesta and also at the Limelight series at the Esplanade.\n\nBesides regular band practices, the band has always received opportunities to extend its musical knowledge through various activities such as band exchanges with other top bands in Singapore, as well as master-classes conducted by renowned music directors. In May 2007, the band was invited to be the demonstration band for the SYF 2007 band master-class conducted by Professor Grant Okamura, a Professor at University of Hawaii where he assumes the position of Director of Bands. To further its exposure, the band has recently embarked on a band exchange trip to Tokyo, Japan, home of the world's greatest bands. Two of the band members have recently been selected to represent Singapore at the International Music camp held in Minot, North Dakota, USA.\n\nReferences \n\nMusical groups established in 1969\nSingaporean concert bands"
] |
[
"Flotsam and Jetsam (band)",
"2006-2011: Live In Japan, Once in a Deathtime, The Cold",
"Was this article about a band?",
"The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004.",
"Was the concert popular?",
"February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004.",
"What year was the concert?",
"February 2006",
"Were there other bands at the concert?",
"February 2006 and shows their concert"
] |
C_6473957a2b244e039aac09f37074746d_1
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Was the concert televised?
| 5 |
Was the Flotsam and Jetsam concert at Citta Club in Tokyo televised?
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Flotsam and Jetsam (band)
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The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004. Doomsday for the Deceiver was re-released in November 2006 by Metal Blade Records to celebrate the album's twentieth anniversary. This set (2 CD and DVD) includes the original recording of Doomsday and a re-mixed and re-mastered(Digitized)version and also the two Flotsam and Jetsam demos. The bonus DVD includes rare live material, an interview filmed at Kelly's High School and a photo slide-show. In Spring 2008 Metal Mind Productions remastered and re-released the albums When the Storm Comes Down, Cuatro (including 5 bonus tracks), Drift (including 3 bonus tracks) and Dreams of Death. Unfortunately for the fans No Place for Disgrace could not be remastered due to existing legal issues between the band and their former label Elektra Records. In March 2008 Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe and played at the Metalmania Festival in Poland. This show was filmed and released as DVD Once in a Deathtime in July. Midyear 2008 the band were signed to Driven Music Group, founded by former KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch. After a tour in Europe with support act Neurasthenia in April 2010 Flotsam and Jetsam finished their album The Cold. It was released on September 14, 2010. It was the last album with Mark Simpson on guitar. He left the band in friendship and was replaced by returning guitarist Ed Carlson, who had quit the band in March 2010, to be replaced by Michael Gilbert. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Flotsam and Jetsam is an American thrash metal band that was formed in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1981. Before settling on its current name in 1984, the band had existed under three different names, Paradox, Dredlox and Dogz. Their current lineup includes vocalist Eric "A.K" Knutson, guitarists Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley, bassist Bill Bodily, and drummer Ken Mary. Flotsam and Jetsam went through several lineup changes over the years, leaving Knutson as the only constant member. They are also notable for featuring bassist Jason Newsted, who left the band shortly after the release of their debut album to join Metallica as Cliff Burton's successor.
Flotsam and Jetsam has released fourteen studio albums in their career, with the latest being 2021's Blood in the Water. Despite not achieving similar levels of commercial success as some of their thrash metal contemporaries, the band emerged as part of the second wave of the genre in the mid-to-late 1980s (along with Sepultura, Testament and Death Angel), and has enjoyed some moderate success in the United States, with two of their albums (1988's No Place for Disgrace and 1990's When the Storm Comes Down) entering the Billboard 200 chart, and their fourth album Cuatro (1992) cracking the top 30 on the Heatseekers chart.
Band history
1981–1986: Early days
The group was founded in 1981 under the name Paradox by drummer Kelly David-Smith and guitarists Pete Mello and Dave Goulder, who were later joined by bassist Jason Newsted. Newsted had answered an advertisement that David-Smith had placed in the local newspaper, looking for a bass player. Newsted came to Phoenix with his band Gangster, from Michigan, on their way to California, but Gangster broke up while in Phoenix. David-Smith got a call from a couple of his high school friends, Mark Vasquez and Kevin Horton, looking for some people to jam with playing covers of bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, MSG, and UFO. The band then morphed into Dredlox together with the new recruits, and Newsted was now the main vocalist.
David-Smith saw "A.K." (Eric A. Knutson) singing "The Goodbye Girl" at his high school talent show. In 1982, they were in the same summer school class and David-Smith asked Knutson if he wanted to audition. They put him on two-week probation and he later joined the band. Due to the provisional nature of his membership, the band referred to Knutson as "the 2 weeker." Ed Carlson, from another local rival band called Exodus (not to be confused with the California Bay Area thrash metal band of the same name), also joined in 1983, after Horton's departure from the band. The name of the band changed into The Dogz, but it did not last long. Eventually the band renamed itself "Flotsam and Jetsam", after writing a song inspired by chapter 9 of book three (of the same name) of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings.
The band made its live debut in local clubs and in California and had the opportunity to play with bands such as Megadeth, Armored Saint, Alcatrazz, Malice, Exciter, Mercyful Fate, Riot, Autograph and Icon. In 1985, Mark Vasquez stepped out and 17-year-old Michael Gilbert joined the band. Flotsam and Jetsam released two demo tapes Iron Tears and Metal Shock in 1985.
They created their first video "Hammerhead" from the Metal Shock demo: "We taped it in Jason and Ed's apartment living room. We also made a live video at the infamous Bootlegger in Phoenix", (owned by Gloria Cavalera, currently married to Max Cavalera) These videos and the band's demos made a good impression on record labels. After the band contributed to the Speed Metal Hell II and Metal Massacre VII compilations, they then signed a deal with Metal Blade Records.
1986–1989: Doomsday for the Deceiver and No Place for Disgrace
Flotsam and Jetsam recorded their debut album Doomsday for the Deceiver in Los Angeles, with producer Brian Slagel and engineer Bill Metoyer. The album was released on the July 4, 1986, and was the first in Kerrang! 's history to achieve the 6K rating.
Newsted, who was also the band's main lyric writer, departed soon after to join Metallica, replacing their bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a bus accident. On Halloween night 1986, he played his last gig with Flotsam and Jetsam. The band had asked another local bassist Phil Rind of Sacred Reich to fill in for a short time. They then hired Michael Spencer from the Sacramento band Sentinel Beast. Flotsam and Jetsam inked a deal with Metallica's then-label Elektra Records before opening for Megadeth in 1987 on the Peace Sells tour in Europe and America. After touring with Megadeth, the band played selected shows in America with Slayer, Dark Angel, Possessed, Celtic Frost, Sacred Reich and Excel.
Michael Spencer left Flotsam and Jetsam shortly after a U.S. tour in the fall of 1987; his replacement was Troy Gregory. Their second studio album, No Place for Disgrace, was released in May 1988, and includes a cover of Elton John's hit "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting", for which a music video was shot. The band toured heavily behind No Place for Disgrace throughout 1988 and 1989. They opened for King Diamond in America, and supported Megadeth, Testament and Sanctuary in Europe on the So Far, So Good... So What! tour. The band also toured or played shows with Testament, The Crumbsuckers, Fates Warning, Destruction, Metal Church, Death Angel, D.R.I., Acid Reign and Kreator, and landed a billing for festivals, such as Milwaukee Metalfest, and played at Aardschokdag twice (in May 1988 and April 1989).
1989–1995: MCA era
In 1989, Flotsam and Jetsam were signed to MCA Records and began work on their third album When the Storm Comes Down, which was released in May 1990. The band expected to gain recognition with this album, but it suffered from a variety of mixed reviews. A video made for "Suffer the Masses" did however receive heavy rotation on MTV's Headbangers Ball. Musically and lyrically, When the Storm Comes Down marked the beginning of at least two changes for Flotsam and Jetsam: it mirrored much of the occult and dark themes evidenced in the lyrical content of their previous two albums, instead focusing on politics and society in general, and saw the band expanding their thrash roots and using elements of the progressive and technical style of their later albums. The band toured for about a year and a half in support of When the Storm Comes Down; they co-headlined a U.S. tour with Prong, and subsequently toured or played selected shows with bands such as Testament, Savatage, Exodus, Vio-Lence, Sacred Reich, Wrathchild America and then-unknown Pantera.
Shortly after the When the Storm Comes Down tour ended, bassist Troy Gregory departed to join Prong. Holding auditions in Phoenix, the band hired Jason Ward to fill the role. With Ward as their new bassist, Flotsam and Jetsam released their fourth album Cuatro in October 1992. It marked an evolution in style and songwriting, moving from thrash to a slower, slightly more, melodic sound, while also continuing the progressive and technical song structures used on When the Storm Comes Down. The band released four singles this time, two of which ("Swatting at Flies" and "Wading Through the Darkness") were shot as music videos and both received regular rotation on Headbangers Ball. Flotsam and Jetsam promoted Cuatro with a year-long tour, playing with bands like Body Count, Sepultura, Testament, White Zombie, Nudeswirl and Damn the Machine, as well as doing a US tour with Mercyful Fate, Cathedral and Anacrusis.
Slowing down after the moderate success of their previous albums, it took nearly three years until Flotsam and Jetsam released their fifth album Drift in April 1995, which was dedicated to Jason's older brother Jeff Ward, former drummer of such bands as Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Revolting Cocks and Lard, who died in 1993. Three singles were released off of the record, and one of them ("Smoked Out") had a music video. However, with Headbangers Ball already off the air in the U.S., and many heavy metal radio stations changing formats, Drift did not sell as well as the band's previous albums, and about the same time they toured the U.S. with Megadeth and Korn during the summer of 1995, MCA's six-year relationship with Flotsam and Jetsam had ended.
1996–2001: Return to Metal Blade
After taking a break in most of 1996 and resigning from MCA to Metal Blade, Flotsam and Jetsam resurfaced in 1997 with their sixth album High. The album's song titles were designed with the font types/logos of famous bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Kiss, Van Halen, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Misfits, etc. to pay homage to those whom came before and inspired the band while it was coming up the ranks. The music was more experimental than before, and the album also featured the Lard cover song Fork Boy. Music video was released, Monster to follow-up.
Michael Gilbert and Kelly Smith left the band after the release and were replaced by guitarist Mark Simpson and drummer Craig Nielsen (at the suggestion of then-Megadeth drummer Nick Menza). With the new line-up Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe together with Anvil and Exciter.
Unnatural Selection was released in 1999 and Mark Simpson took a short break. He joined the band again in 2000 to record a new album, My God released in May 2001. At that time Eric A.K. had founded a country band, the A.K. Corral. He left the band for a short time to take a break from Metal and pursue his side project. (AK) "I had given Metal my life for a solid 15 years, I took some time to explore other musical flavors." Though Flotsam and Jetsam did not disband, there was a long break at that time. They found a new singer, James Rivera, who took over vocal duties live. Later the band felt that no one other than Eric A.K. could be their singer and Rivera left the band soon after.
2002–2010: Live in Phoenix, Dreams of Death and The Cold
During 2002 and 2003 the band were active only sporadically, but Eric A.K. rejoined for live dates in the Phoenix and Los Angeles areas in 2003. Tory Edwards was a guest for this tour. A live recording of these shows was released in 2004 as a live concert DVD under the title Live in Phoenix. Signed to the Crash Music label in May 2004 and with Eric A.K. joining the band again officially, they hit the road with Overkill and Death Angel for a series of sold-out concerts in Japan.
Spring 2005 Flotsam and Jetsam returned to the studio to work on their new album. The lyrics were mostly inspired by Eric's nightmares. This resulted into a concept album entitled Dreams of Death - like track 2 of No Place for Disgrace. The album was released July 2005.
The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004.
Doomsday for the Deceiver was re-released in November 2006 by Metal Blade Records to celebrate the album's twentieth anniversary. This set (2 CD and DVD) includes the original recording of Doomsday and a re-mixed and re-mastered(Digitized)version and also the two Flotsam and Jetsam demos. The bonus DVD includes rare live material, an interview filmed at David-Smith's High School and a photo slide-show.
In March 2008 Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe and played at the Metalmania Festival in Poland. This show was filmed and released as DVD Once in a Deathtime in July.
Midyear 2008 the band were signed to Driven Music Group, founded by former KORN guitarist Brian “Head” Welch.
After a tour in Europe with support act Neurasthenia in April 2010 Flotsam and Jetsam finished their album The Cold. It was released on September 14, 2010. It was the last album with Mark Simpson on guitar. He left the band in friendship and was replaced by returning guitarist Ed Carlson, who had quit the band in March 2010, to be replaced by Michael Gilbert.
2011–2013: Ugly Noise
On September 19, 2011, Flotsam and Jetsam announced they had parted ways with Craig Nielson and reunited with founding drummer David-Smith. The band also announced a crowdfunding campaign on PledgeMusic to fund the recording of their next studio album.
On June 13, 2012, the band announced Ugly Noise as the title of the next album. In July, guitarist Michael Gilbert said the album would feature songwriting contributions from former bassist Jason Newsted. The album was released on December 21, 2012.
After tracking, Jason Ward was no longer able to commit to touring with the band any further due to his current personal commitments. He was replaced by Michael Spencer, who had previously replaced Jason Newsted in 1986.
During the tour, Edward Carlson started to have extreme physical pain in his lower back and numbness in his right arm. After the tour, an MRI revealed that he had bulging disks in his upper and lower back causing the dysfunction to occur. Flotsam and Jetsam then recruited guitarist Steve Conley of F5 to step in while they finished out their live commitments.
2013–2014: No Place For Disgrace 2014
No Place For Disgrace featured guest musicians Mark Simpson, Chris Poland and Tory Edwards. In June 2013, the band headlined at the Warriors of Metal Festival in Columbus Ohio.
Flotsam and Jetsam embarked on a 29-date European tour with Sepultura, Legion of the Damned and Mortillery. The tour kicked off on February 7, 2014 in Bochum, Germany.
Flotsam toured Europe 4 times in 2014 with a total of 40 shows in all. Returning home from Europe on August 11, the band planned to start writing for a new release in 2015. Michael Spencer and Steve Conley would be involved this time in the process. Spencer had written some material previously in 1987 that he took with him after his departure. Flotsam used at some of the archive material from Spencer.
2014–2021: Flotsam and Jetsam, The End of Chaos and Blood in the Water
In December 2014, drummer and founding member, David-Smith decided to leave the band due to unexpected family matters that required him to be home with his family. Handpicked by Smith to replace him on drums, was longtime friend and Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner. Bittner was present on Flotsam and Jetsam's self-titled twelfth studio album, which was released on May 20, 2016. The band did a world tour to support this album, including Europe with Destruction, Enforcer and Nervosa, North America with Helstar and Hatchet, and then back to Europe with Dew-Scented and Izegrim. They also opened for HammerFall on their spring/summer 2018 North American tour.
On July 6, 2017, it was announced that Flotsam and Jetsam were replacing Bittner (who had just joined Overkill) with Ken Mary (Fifth Angel, Alice Cooper, House of Lords, TKO, Chastain, Impellitteri), and that they had begun working on their thirteenth studio album The End of Chaos, which was initially reported to be released in November 2018; however, the album's release date was pushed back to January 18, 2019. In support of The End of Chaos, Flotsam and Jetsam (along with Destruction and Meshiaak) opened for Overkill on the European Killfest Tour in March 2019. A headlining US tour, titled Demolition of North America, was scheduled to take place in the spring of 2021 after a year of cancellation and postponement, due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the tour has since been postponed again at a later date.
Less than a month after the release of The End of Chaos, frontman Eric "A.K." Knutson stated in an interview with Jesse Capps of Loudist that Flotsam and Jetsam would "probably start writing and recording" a follow-up album in November 2019.
On November 13, 2020, the band announced Bill Bodily had replaced Michael Spencer as their new bassist, and that the final mixes for their upcoming album were almost finished.
On April 1, 2021, Flotsam and Jetsam announced Blood in the Water as the title of their fourteenth studio album and June 4 as its release date. A week later, the band released a music video for the album's first single, "Burn the Sky". Flotsam and Jetsam will promote Blood in the Water with a headlining US tour, and they were slated to open for Accept on the European trek of their Too Mean to Die tour in January and February 2022 (along with Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons), but "many factors" prompted the band to withdraw from the tour.
2021–present: Upcoming fifteenth studio album
In an interview with AZ Central on June 5, 2021, the day after the release of Blood in the Water, frontman Eric "A.K." Knutson mentioned a follow-up album, revealing that he "probably [has] enough songs that didn't make it on the last two records to do two more records."
Members
Current members
Eric "A.K." Knutson – vocals (1983–2001, 2003–present)
Michael Gilbert – guitars (1985–1997, 2010–present)
Steve Conley – guitars (2013–present)
Ken Mary – drums (2017–present)
Bill Bodily – bass (2020–present, touring 2016, 2019)
Touring musicians
James Rivera – vocals (2001-2003)
Jeff Barbaree – bass (2013)
Session musicians
Tory Edwards – violin (2001, 2014), mandolin (2014)
Former members
Kelly David-Smith – drums (1981–1997, 2011–2014)
Jason Newsted – bass (1981–1986)
Mark Vazquez – guitars (1981–1985)
Kevin Horton – guitars (1981–1983)
Edward Carlson – guitars (1983–2013)
Phil Rind – bass (1986)
Michael Spencer – bass (1987–1988, 2013–2020)
Troy Gregory – bass (1988–1991)
Jason Ward – bass (1991–2013)
Craig Nielsen – drums (1997–2011)
Mark Simpson – guitars (1997–1999, 2000–2010)
Jason Bittner – drums (2015–2017)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Doomsday for the Deceiver (1986)
No Place for Disgrace (1988)
When the Storm Comes Down (1990)
Cuatro (1992)
Drift (1995)
High (1997)
Unnatural Selection (1999)
My God (2001)
Dreams of Death (2005)
The Cold (2010)
Ugly Noise (2012)
Flotsam and Jetsam (2016)
The End of Chaos (2019)
Blood in the Water (2021)
Live albums
Live in Phoenix (2005)
Once in a Deathtime (2008)
Singles/EPs
Flotzilla (1987)
Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting (1988)
Suffer The Masses (1990)
The Master Sleeps (1990)
Selections From Cuatro/Never To Reveal (1992)
Swatting At Flies (1992)
Wading Through The Darkness (1992)
Cradle Me Now (1992)
Smoked Out (1995)
Blindside (1995)
Destructive Signs (1995)
Life, Love, Death (2019)
DVDs
Live in Phoenix (2004)
Live in Japan (2006)
Once in a Deathtime (2008)
References
External links
Official website
Band Myspace
Jason Ward Myspace
1981 establishments in Arizona
American thrash metal musical groups
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Heavy metal musical groups from Arizona
Musical groups established in 1981
Musical quintets
Musical groups from Phoenix, Arizona
Metal Blade Records artists
American speed metal musical groups
| false |
[
"Barrio Fino World Tour was a concert tour by reggaeton singer Daddy Yankee to promote his 2004 album, Barrio Fino. This was his first large tour and his first arena tour in the United States.\n\nIn December 2005, Yankee released Barrio Fino en Directo with featured videos and songs recorded live on this tour. Also, contained a DVD with footage of the tour in Colombia, Puerto Rico, Ecuador and Dominican Republic.\n\nOverview \nBarrio Fino became the first reggaeton album to hit platinum in the United States and selling over 1.5 million copies worldwide in its first year of release, along with the hit single \"Gasolina\", which is credited with introducing reggaeton to the mainstream. To promote the album, Daddy Yankee in a series of promotional presentations and embark in his first extensive world tour, including his first arena tour in the United States and the first reggaeton artist to do so. The tour a were massive success across Latin American. On December 13, 2004 Daddy Yankee Become the first artist ever to have a concert in the Coliseo de Puerto Rico. The October 16, 2005 concert in Santo Domingo it was part of the Festival Presidente de la musica Latina 2005 with a record attendance and was televised live. Some scenes of both were part of his latter release Barrio Fino en Directo.\n\nDuring the United States Leg, the tour was renamed ¿Who's your Daddy? Tour. It officially kick off on August 27, 2005. Ticket prices were between $45 to $100 dollars. The February 17, 2006 concert in Miami was First Ever Nationally Televised Reggaeton Concert in the United States by pay per view.\n\nThe February 26, 2006 concert in Valparizo, Chile was part of the Viña del Mar International Song Festival, becoming the first reggaeton ever to perform in that stage and it was broadcast live. It was widely recognized as one of the best urban performances in the history of the festival. He later came back in the 2009 and 2013 editions. Due to the success of Barrio Fino en Directo, a Latin American Leg was announced. The concert in Tegucigalpa had an attendance of 25,000 fans according to the local media. Also, around 90,000 fans in the Evento 40 2006 Festival performance in Ciudad de Mexico, Estadio Azteca concert and Zapopan 13,000. Acording to some media, 18,000 fans show up to the Costa Rica concert at Saprissa Stadium while the Concert in Santiago de Chile was sold out with 13,000 ticket sold.\n\nSetlist\n\nTour Dates\n\nBox office data\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\n2004 concert tours\n2005 concert tours\n2006 concert tours\nDaddy Yankee concert tours",
"Trinidadian-born rapper Nicki Minaj has embarked on three concert tours, all of which have been worldwide. Her 2012 debut, Pink Friday Tour, which was worldwide and supported her first and second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, received favorable reviews from music critics. The Pink Friday Tour was extended with the Reloaded Tour. During the Pink Friday: Reloaded Tour, Minaj visited Europe, Oceania, and Asia. Following the release of her 2014 third studio album The Pinkprint, Minaj embarked on her next world concert venture, The Pinkprint Tour, to promote the album.\n\nIn 2012, Minaj was a guest on the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show, performing alongside headliner Madonna and M.I.A. their song Give Me All Your Luvin'. Minaj's European leg of her tour with Juice Wrld titled The Nicki Wrld Tour started in February 2019 in support of her fourth studio album, Queen.\n\nConcert tours\n\nCo-headlining concert tours\n\nConcerts\n\nAs featured act\n\nPromotional tours\n\nTelevised live performances\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Nicki Minaj's official website\n\nMinaj\nNicki Minaj concert tours"
] |
[
"Flotsam and Jetsam (band)",
"2006-2011: Live In Japan, Once in a Deathtime, The Cold",
"Was this article about a band?",
"The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004.",
"Was the concert popular?",
"February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004.",
"What year was the concert?",
"February 2006",
"Were there other bands at the concert?",
"February 2006 and shows their concert",
"Was the concert televised?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_6473957a2b244e039aac09f37074746d_1
|
What were the names of other band members?
| 6 |
What were the names of other band members in Flotsam and Jetsam other than Flotsam and Jetsam?
|
Flotsam and Jetsam (band)
|
The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004. Doomsday for the Deceiver was re-released in November 2006 by Metal Blade Records to celebrate the album's twentieth anniversary. This set (2 CD and DVD) includes the original recording of Doomsday and a re-mixed and re-mastered(Digitized)version and also the two Flotsam and Jetsam demos. The bonus DVD includes rare live material, an interview filmed at Kelly's High School and a photo slide-show. In Spring 2008 Metal Mind Productions remastered and re-released the albums When the Storm Comes Down, Cuatro (including 5 bonus tracks), Drift (including 3 bonus tracks) and Dreams of Death. Unfortunately for the fans No Place for Disgrace could not be remastered due to existing legal issues between the band and their former label Elektra Records. In March 2008 Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe and played at the Metalmania Festival in Poland. This show was filmed and released as DVD Once in a Deathtime in July. Midyear 2008 the band were signed to Driven Music Group, founded by former KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch. After a tour in Europe with support act Neurasthenia in April 2010 Flotsam and Jetsam finished their album The Cold. It was released on September 14, 2010. It was the last album with Mark Simpson on guitar. He left the band in friendship and was replaced by returning guitarist Ed Carlson, who had quit the band in March 2010, to be replaced by Michael Gilbert. CANNOTANSWER
|
Ed Carlson,
|
Flotsam and Jetsam is an American thrash metal band that was formed in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1981. Before settling on its current name in 1984, the band had existed under three different names, Paradox, Dredlox and Dogz. Their current lineup includes vocalist Eric "A.K" Knutson, guitarists Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley, bassist Bill Bodily, and drummer Ken Mary. Flotsam and Jetsam went through several lineup changes over the years, leaving Knutson as the only constant member. They are also notable for featuring bassist Jason Newsted, who left the band shortly after the release of their debut album to join Metallica as Cliff Burton's successor.
Flotsam and Jetsam has released fourteen studio albums in their career, with the latest being 2021's Blood in the Water. Despite not achieving similar levels of commercial success as some of their thrash metal contemporaries, the band emerged as part of the second wave of the genre in the mid-to-late 1980s (along with Sepultura, Testament and Death Angel), and has enjoyed some moderate success in the United States, with two of their albums (1988's No Place for Disgrace and 1990's When the Storm Comes Down) entering the Billboard 200 chart, and their fourth album Cuatro (1992) cracking the top 30 on the Heatseekers chart.
Band history
1981–1986: Early days
The group was founded in 1981 under the name Paradox by drummer Kelly David-Smith and guitarists Pete Mello and Dave Goulder, who were later joined by bassist Jason Newsted. Newsted had answered an advertisement that David-Smith had placed in the local newspaper, looking for a bass player. Newsted came to Phoenix with his band Gangster, from Michigan, on their way to California, but Gangster broke up while in Phoenix. David-Smith got a call from a couple of his high school friends, Mark Vasquez and Kevin Horton, looking for some people to jam with playing covers of bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, MSG, and UFO. The band then morphed into Dredlox together with the new recruits, and Newsted was now the main vocalist.
David-Smith saw "A.K." (Eric A. Knutson) singing "The Goodbye Girl" at his high school talent show. In 1982, they were in the same summer school class and David-Smith asked Knutson if he wanted to audition. They put him on two-week probation and he later joined the band. Due to the provisional nature of his membership, the band referred to Knutson as "the 2 weeker." Ed Carlson, from another local rival band called Exodus (not to be confused with the California Bay Area thrash metal band of the same name), also joined in 1983, after Horton's departure from the band. The name of the band changed into The Dogz, but it did not last long. Eventually the band renamed itself "Flotsam and Jetsam", after writing a song inspired by chapter 9 of book three (of the same name) of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings.
The band made its live debut in local clubs and in California and had the opportunity to play with bands such as Megadeth, Armored Saint, Alcatrazz, Malice, Exciter, Mercyful Fate, Riot, Autograph and Icon. In 1985, Mark Vasquez stepped out and 17-year-old Michael Gilbert joined the band. Flotsam and Jetsam released two demo tapes Iron Tears and Metal Shock in 1985.
They created their first video "Hammerhead" from the Metal Shock demo: "We taped it in Jason and Ed's apartment living room. We also made a live video at the infamous Bootlegger in Phoenix", (owned by Gloria Cavalera, currently married to Max Cavalera) These videos and the band's demos made a good impression on record labels. After the band contributed to the Speed Metal Hell II and Metal Massacre VII compilations, they then signed a deal with Metal Blade Records.
1986–1989: Doomsday for the Deceiver and No Place for Disgrace
Flotsam and Jetsam recorded their debut album Doomsday for the Deceiver in Los Angeles, with producer Brian Slagel and engineer Bill Metoyer. The album was released on the July 4, 1986, and was the first in Kerrang! 's history to achieve the 6K rating.
Newsted, who was also the band's main lyric writer, departed soon after to join Metallica, replacing their bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a bus accident. On Halloween night 1986, he played his last gig with Flotsam and Jetsam. The band had asked another local bassist Phil Rind of Sacred Reich to fill in for a short time. They then hired Michael Spencer from the Sacramento band Sentinel Beast. Flotsam and Jetsam inked a deal with Metallica's then-label Elektra Records before opening for Megadeth in 1987 on the Peace Sells tour in Europe and America. After touring with Megadeth, the band played selected shows in America with Slayer, Dark Angel, Possessed, Celtic Frost, Sacred Reich and Excel.
Michael Spencer left Flotsam and Jetsam shortly after a U.S. tour in the fall of 1987; his replacement was Troy Gregory. Their second studio album, No Place for Disgrace, was released in May 1988, and includes a cover of Elton John's hit "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting", for which a music video was shot. The band toured heavily behind No Place for Disgrace throughout 1988 and 1989. They opened for King Diamond in America, and supported Megadeth, Testament and Sanctuary in Europe on the So Far, So Good... So What! tour. The band also toured or played shows with Testament, The Crumbsuckers, Fates Warning, Destruction, Metal Church, Death Angel, D.R.I., Acid Reign and Kreator, and landed a billing for festivals, such as Milwaukee Metalfest, and played at Aardschokdag twice (in May 1988 and April 1989).
1989–1995: MCA era
In 1989, Flotsam and Jetsam were signed to MCA Records and began work on their third album When the Storm Comes Down, which was released in May 1990. The band expected to gain recognition with this album, but it suffered from a variety of mixed reviews. A video made for "Suffer the Masses" did however receive heavy rotation on MTV's Headbangers Ball. Musically and lyrically, When the Storm Comes Down marked the beginning of at least two changes for Flotsam and Jetsam: it mirrored much of the occult and dark themes evidenced in the lyrical content of their previous two albums, instead focusing on politics and society in general, and saw the band expanding their thrash roots and using elements of the progressive and technical style of their later albums. The band toured for about a year and a half in support of When the Storm Comes Down; they co-headlined a U.S. tour with Prong, and subsequently toured or played selected shows with bands such as Testament, Savatage, Exodus, Vio-Lence, Sacred Reich, Wrathchild America and then-unknown Pantera.
Shortly after the When the Storm Comes Down tour ended, bassist Troy Gregory departed to join Prong. Holding auditions in Phoenix, the band hired Jason Ward to fill the role. With Ward as their new bassist, Flotsam and Jetsam released their fourth album Cuatro in October 1992. It marked an evolution in style and songwriting, moving from thrash to a slower, slightly more, melodic sound, while also continuing the progressive and technical song structures used on When the Storm Comes Down. The band released four singles this time, two of which ("Swatting at Flies" and "Wading Through the Darkness") were shot as music videos and both received regular rotation on Headbangers Ball. Flotsam and Jetsam promoted Cuatro with a year-long tour, playing with bands like Body Count, Sepultura, Testament, White Zombie, Nudeswirl and Damn the Machine, as well as doing a US tour with Mercyful Fate, Cathedral and Anacrusis.
Slowing down after the moderate success of their previous albums, it took nearly three years until Flotsam and Jetsam released their fifth album Drift in April 1995, which was dedicated to Jason's older brother Jeff Ward, former drummer of such bands as Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Revolting Cocks and Lard, who died in 1993. Three singles were released off of the record, and one of them ("Smoked Out") had a music video. However, with Headbangers Ball already off the air in the U.S., and many heavy metal radio stations changing formats, Drift did not sell as well as the band's previous albums, and about the same time they toured the U.S. with Megadeth and Korn during the summer of 1995, MCA's six-year relationship with Flotsam and Jetsam had ended.
1996–2001: Return to Metal Blade
After taking a break in most of 1996 and resigning from MCA to Metal Blade, Flotsam and Jetsam resurfaced in 1997 with their sixth album High. The album's song titles were designed with the font types/logos of famous bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Kiss, Van Halen, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Misfits, etc. to pay homage to those whom came before and inspired the band while it was coming up the ranks. The music was more experimental than before, and the album also featured the Lard cover song Fork Boy. Music video was released, Monster to follow-up.
Michael Gilbert and Kelly Smith left the band after the release and were replaced by guitarist Mark Simpson and drummer Craig Nielsen (at the suggestion of then-Megadeth drummer Nick Menza). With the new line-up Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe together with Anvil and Exciter.
Unnatural Selection was released in 1999 and Mark Simpson took a short break. He joined the band again in 2000 to record a new album, My God released in May 2001. At that time Eric A.K. had founded a country band, the A.K. Corral. He left the band for a short time to take a break from Metal and pursue his side project. (AK) "I had given Metal my life for a solid 15 years, I took some time to explore other musical flavors." Though Flotsam and Jetsam did not disband, there was a long break at that time. They found a new singer, James Rivera, who took over vocal duties live. Later the band felt that no one other than Eric A.K. could be their singer and Rivera left the band soon after.
2002–2010: Live in Phoenix, Dreams of Death and The Cold
During 2002 and 2003 the band were active only sporadically, but Eric A.K. rejoined for live dates in the Phoenix and Los Angeles areas in 2003. Tory Edwards was a guest for this tour. A live recording of these shows was released in 2004 as a live concert DVD under the title Live in Phoenix. Signed to the Crash Music label in May 2004 and with Eric A.K. joining the band again officially, they hit the road with Overkill and Death Angel for a series of sold-out concerts in Japan.
Spring 2005 Flotsam and Jetsam returned to the studio to work on their new album. The lyrics were mostly inspired by Eric's nightmares. This resulted into a concept album entitled Dreams of Death - like track 2 of No Place for Disgrace. The album was released July 2005.
The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004.
Doomsday for the Deceiver was re-released in November 2006 by Metal Blade Records to celebrate the album's twentieth anniversary. This set (2 CD and DVD) includes the original recording of Doomsday and a re-mixed and re-mastered(Digitized)version and also the two Flotsam and Jetsam demos. The bonus DVD includes rare live material, an interview filmed at David-Smith's High School and a photo slide-show.
In March 2008 Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe and played at the Metalmania Festival in Poland. This show was filmed and released as DVD Once in a Deathtime in July.
Midyear 2008 the band were signed to Driven Music Group, founded by former KORN guitarist Brian “Head” Welch.
After a tour in Europe with support act Neurasthenia in April 2010 Flotsam and Jetsam finished their album The Cold. It was released on September 14, 2010. It was the last album with Mark Simpson on guitar. He left the band in friendship and was replaced by returning guitarist Ed Carlson, who had quit the band in March 2010, to be replaced by Michael Gilbert.
2011–2013: Ugly Noise
On September 19, 2011, Flotsam and Jetsam announced they had parted ways with Craig Nielson and reunited with founding drummer David-Smith. The band also announced a crowdfunding campaign on PledgeMusic to fund the recording of their next studio album.
On June 13, 2012, the band announced Ugly Noise as the title of the next album. In July, guitarist Michael Gilbert said the album would feature songwriting contributions from former bassist Jason Newsted. The album was released on December 21, 2012.
After tracking, Jason Ward was no longer able to commit to touring with the band any further due to his current personal commitments. He was replaced by Michael Spencer, who had previously replaced Jason Newsted in 1986.
During the tour, Edward Carlson started to have extreme physical pain in his lower back and numbness in his right arm. After the tour, an MRI revealed that he had bulging disks in his upper and lower back causing the dysfunction to occur. Flotsam and Jetsam then recruited guitarist Steve Conley of F5 to step in while they finished out their live commitments.
2013–2014: No Place For Disgrace 2014
No Place For Disgrace featured guest musicians Mark Simpson, Chris Poland and Tory Edwards. In June 2013, the band headlined at the Warriors of Metal Festival in Columbus Ohio.
Flotsam and Jetsam embarked on a 29-date European tour with Sepultura, Legion of the Damned and Mortillery. The tour kicked off on February 7, 2014 in Bochum, Germany.
Flotsam toured Europe 4 times in 2014 with a total of 40 shows in all. Returning home from Europe on August 11, the band planned to start writing for a new release in 2015. Michael Spencer and Steve Conley would be involved this time in the process. Spencer had written some material previously in 1987 that he took with him after his departure. Flotsam used at some of the archive material from Spencer.
2014–2021: Flotsam and Jetsam, The End of Chaos and Blood in the Water
In December 2014, drummer and founding member, David-Smith decided to leave the band due to unexpected family matters that required him to be home with his family. Handpicked by Smith to replace him on drums, was longtime friend and Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner. Bittner was present on Flotsam and Jetsam's self-titled twelfth studio album, which was released on May 20, 2016. The band did a world tour to support this album, including Europe with Destruction, Enforcer and Nervosa, North America with Helstar and Hatchet, and then back to Europe with Dew-Scented and Izegrim. They also opened for HammerFall on their spring/summer 2018 North American tour.
On July 6, 2017, it was announced that Flotsam and Jetsam were replacing Bittner (who had just joined Overkill) with Ken Mary (Fifth Angel, Alice Cooper, House of Lords, TKO, Chastain, Impellitteri), and that they had begun working on their thirteenth studio album The End of Chaos, which was initially reported to be released in November 2018; however, the album's release date was pushed back to January 18, 2019. In support of The End of Chaos, Flotsam and Jetsam (along with Destruction and Meshiaak) opened for Overkill on the European Killfest Tour in March 2019. A headlining US tour, titled Demolition of North America, was scheduled to take place in the spring of 2021 after a year of cancellation and postponement, due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the tour has since been postponed again at a later date.
Less than a month after the release of The End of Chaos, frontman Eric "A.K." Knutson stated in an interview with Jesse Capps of Loudist that Flotsam and Jetsam would "probably start writing and recording" a follow-up album in November 2019.
On November 13, 2020, the band announced Bill Bodily had replaced Michael Spencer as their new bassist, and that the final mixes for their upcoming album were almost finished.
On April 1, 2021, Flotsam and Jetsam announced Blood in the Water as the title of their fourteenth studio album and June 4 as its release date. A week later, the band released a music video for the album's first single, "Burn the Sky". Flotsam and Jetsam will promote Blood in the Water with a headlining US tour, and they were slated to open for Accept on the European trek of their Too Mean to Die tour in January and February 2022 (along with Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons), but "many factors" prompted the band to withdraw from the tour.
2021–present: Upcoming fifteenth studio album
In an interview with AZ Central on June 5, 2021, the day after the release of Blood in the Water, frontman Eric "A.K." Knutson mentioned a follow-up album, revealing that he "probably [has] enough songs that didn't make it on the last two records to do two more records."
Members
Current members
Eric "A.K." Knutson – vocals (1983–2001, 2003–present)
Michael Gilbert – guitars (1985–1997, 2010–present)
Steve Conley – guitars (2013–present)
Ken Mary – drums (2017–present)
Bill Bodily – bass (2020–present, touring 2016, 2019)
Touring musicians
James Rivera – vocals (2001-2003)
Jeff Barbaree – bass (2013)
Session musicians
Tory Edwards – violin (2001, 2014), mandolin (2014)
Former members
Kelly David-Smith – drums (1981–1997, 2011–2014)
Jason Newsted – bass (1981–1986)
Mark Vazquez – guitars (1981–1985)
Kevin Horton – guitars (1981–1983)
Edward Carlson – guitars (1983–2013)
Phil Rind – bass (1986)
Michael Spencer – bass (1987–1988, 2013–2020)
Troy Gregory – bass (1988–1991)
Jason Ward – bass (1991–2013)
Craig Nielsen – drums (1997–2011)
Mark Simpson – guitars (1997–1999, 2000–2010)
Jason Bittner – drums (2015–2017)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Doomsday for the Deceiver (1986)
No Place for Disgrace (1988)
When the Storm Comes Down (1990)
Cuatro (1992)
Drift (1995)
High (1997)
Unnatural Selection (1999)
My God (2001)
Dreams of Death (2005)
The Cold (2010)
Ugly Noise (2012)
Flotsam and Jetsam (2016)
The End of Chaos (2019)
Blood in the Water (2021)
Live albums
Live in Phoenix (2005)
Once in a Deathtime (2008)
Singles/EPs
Flotzilla (1987)
Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting (1988)
Suffer The Masses (1990)
The Master Sleeps (1990)
Selections From Cuatro/Never To Reveal (1992)
Swatting At Flies (1992)
Wading Through The Darkness (1992)
Cradle Me Now (1992)
Smoked Out (1995)
Blindside (1995)
Destructive Signs (1995)
Life, Love, Death (2019)
DVDs
Live in Phoenix (2004)
Live in Japan (2006)
Once in a Deathtime (2008)
References
External links
Official website
Band Myspace
Jason Ward Myspace
1981 establishments in Arizona
American thrash metal musical groups
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Heavy metal musical groups from Arizona
Musical groups established in 1981
Musical quintets
Musical groups from Phoenix, Arizona
Metal Blade Records artists
American speed metal musical groups
| true |
[
"Many notable bands originally went by different names before their mainstream breakthrough. This list of original names of bands list only former official band names that are significantly different from the eventual \"famous\" name. This list does not include former band names that have only minor differences, such as stylisation changes, with the band's final band name.\n\nThe bands listed here must be notable, can be from any genre of music, and includes vocal groups whose members do not play instruments.\n\nList\nThis is a sortable list, ordered alphabetically, starting with the name that the band is best known as, followed by the band's original name, and any other names they previously used (in chronological order).\n\nSee also \n List of band name etymologies\n\nReferences \n\nLists of bands",
"Demoniciduth is a Swiss extreme metal band formed in 1998.\n\nBackground\n\nDemoniciduth formed in October 1998 in Switzerland. The band has had several member changes, minus bassist and vocalist Taanak. The band formed with Taanak and his brother Annihilith. Annihilith departed from the band and hired on several members, Ashtaroth-Karnaïm (vocals), Nahalal (guitars) and Kisloth (drums). The band was originally named Satanicide, but changed names due to an already existing band named Satanicide from the United States. The band then renamed themselves, Demonicide. And for third and final time, the band switched to their current name, Demoniciduth. The band is bold in their faith with Christian lyrics. The band even included an advisory sticker, stating:\n\nThere were several lineup changes during this time, which subsequently forced the band to go on hiatus in March 2002. The band played at Elements of Rock in 2004. The band reunited around 2010, and released an EP in 2011 with the style similar to bands such as Mortification. In 2016, the band announced they had signed to Vision of God Records and will be releasing their second full-length, entitled, Enemy of Satan.\n\nName\nThe band addressed the popular question of what the name means. Here is what was said:\n\nMembers\nCurrent\n Taanak - bass, vocals (1998–present)\n Lord Ekkletus - guitars, backing vocals\n Sir Krino - drums\n\nFormer\n Karkor - drums\n Tseror - guitars, vocals\n Ashtaroth-Karnaďm - vocals (1999-2002)\n Annihilith - drums (1998)\n Nahalal - guitars (1998-2001)\n Kisloth - guitars, drums (1998-1999)\n Genezareth - drums (1999-2000)\n Nahum - drums (2000-2001)\n Haroscheth - guitars (2000-2002)\n Hazaël - drums, vocals (2001-2004)\n Lemekh - guitars (2002-2004)\n Jéhu - drums (2001)\n\nDiscography\nStudio albums\n Post Tenebras Lux (2002)\n Enemy of Satan (2017)\n\nEPs\n Post Tenebras Lux (2001)\n The Valley of the Shadow/Dogs of AntiChrist (2005; Split w/ Sabbatariam)\n The Valley of Decision (2012)\n\nDemos\n Pre-Release (1999)\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n\nMusical groups established in 1998\nChristian metal musical groups\nSwiss Christian metal musical groups"
] |
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