History
list | QuAC_dialog_id
stringlengths 36
36
| Question
stringlengths 3
114
| Question_no
int64 1
12
| Rewrite
stringlengths 11
338
| true_page_title
stringlengths 3
42
| true_contexts
stringlengths 1.4k
9.79k
| answer
stringlengths 2
233
| true_contexts_wiki
stringlengths 0
145k
| extractive
bool 2
classes | retrieved_contexts
list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
[
"Ed Barrow",
"Return to baseball",
"What year did he return to baseball?",
"1910,",
"What had he been doing before that?",
"I don't know.",
"What did the return to baseball involve?",
"managing Montreal.",
"How did Montreal do under his management?",
"He served in this role from 1911 through 1917, and engineered the name change to \"International League\" before the 1912 season."
]
| C_fdd107875b0c4772925599906971c74a_0 | Did he buy the team? | 5 | Did Ed Barrow buy the Montreal baseball team? | Ed Barrow | Barrow returned to baseball in 1910, managing Montreal. The Eastern League hired Barrow as its president the next year, giving him an annual salary of $7,500 ($196,982 in current dollar terms). He served in this role from 1911 through 1917, and engineered the name change to "International League" before the 1912 season. As league president, he contended with the creation of the Federal League in 1914, which competed as a major league, and established franchises in International League cities, including Newark, New Jersey, Buffalo, New York, and Baltimore, Maryland. He attempted to gain major league status for the league in 1914, but was unsuccessful. When the Federal League collapsed, Barrow was the only league president to forbid the outlaw players from playing in his league. After the 1917 season, Barrow attempted to organize the "Union League", to compete against the AL and NL as a third major league, by merging four International League clubs with four teams from the American Association. Several International League owners opposed Barrow's policies, including his attempt to form the Union League, and felt he was too close personally to Ban Johnson. When the league's owners voted to cut his pay to $2,500 after the 1917 season ($47,753 in current dollar terms), Barrow resigned. Barrow became manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1918. As the team lost many of its better players during World War I, Barrow encouraged owner Harry Frazee to purchase Stuffy McInnis, Wally Schang, Bullet Joe Bush, and Amos Strunk from the Philadelphia Athletics for $75,000 ($1,220,243 in current dollar terms). During the season, Barrow feuded with his assistant, Johnny Evers, who undermined Barrow's leadership. The Red Sox won the 1918 World Series. Recognizing that star pitcher Babe Ruth was also a great power hitter, Barrow had Ruth pinch hit on days when he wasn't scheduled to pitch. When Ruth told Barrow that he could only pitch or hit, Barrow decided that Ruth's bat was more useful than his pitching, and transitioned him from a pitcher into an outfielder. After the 1918 season, Frazee, now in debt, began selling the contracts of star players. He traded Dutch Leonard, Duffy Lewis, and Ernie Shore to the New York Yankees, obtaining Ray Caldwell, Slim Love, Frank Gilhooley, Roxy Walters, and cash. Frazee sold Carl Mays to the Yankees during the 1919 season. The Red Sox struggled in 1919, finishing sixth in the AL. Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees after the season, against Barrow's warnings. The Red Sox finished in fifth in 1920. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Edward Grant Barrow (May 10, 1868 – December 15, 1953) was an American manager and front office executive in Major League Baseball. He served as the field manager of the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox. He served as business manager (de facto general manager) of the New York Yankees from 1921 to 1939 and as team president from 1939 to 1945, and is credited with building the Yankee dynasty. Barrow was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.
Born in a covered wagon in Springfield, Illinois, Barrow worked as a journalist and soap salesman before entering the business of baseball by selling concessions at games. From there, Barrow purchased minor league baseball teams, also serving as team manager, and served as president of the Atlantic League. After managing the Tigers in 1903 and 1904 and returning to the minor leagues, Barrow became disenchanted with baseball, and left the game to operate a hotel.
Barrow returned to baseball in 1910 as president of the Eastern League. After a seven-year tenure, Barrow managed the Red Sox from 1918 through 1920, leading the team to victory in the 1918 World Series. When Red Sox owner Harry Frazee began to sell his star players, Barrow joined the Yankees. During his quarter-century as their baseball operations chief, the Yankees won 14 AL pennants and 10 World Series titles.
Early life
Barrow was born in Springfield, Illinois, the oldest of four children, all male, born to Effie Ann Vinson-Heller and John Barrow. Barrow's father fought in the Ohio Volunteer Militia during the American Civil War. Following the war, Barrow's parents, with John's mother, brothers, and sisters, traveled in a covered wagon to Nebraska; Barrow was born on a hemp plantation belonging to relatives during the trip. The Barrows lived in Nebraska for six years before moving to Des Moines, Iowa. His middle name, Grant, was bestowed on him in honor of Ulysses S. Grant, the Civil War general.
Barrow worked as mailing clerk for the Des Moines News in 1887, receiving a promotion to circulation manager within a year. He became a reporter for the Des Moines Leader after graduating from high school. He became city editor, earning $35 a week ($ in current dollar terms). In his last two years living in Des Moines, Barrow established a baseball team, which included future baseball stars Fred Clarke, Ducky Holmes, and Herm McFarland.
Barrow moved to Pittsburgh in 1889, where he worked as a soap salesman, believing there was money in this business. However, Barrow lost all of money in this business, and went to work as a desk clerk in a Pittsburgh hotel.
Baseball career
Early career
Barrow partnered with Harry Stevens in 1894 to sell concessions at baseball games. He helped George Moreland form the Interstate League, a Class-C minor league, in 1894. Barrow, with Stevens and Al Buckenberger, purchased the Wheeling Nailers of the Interstate League in 1896. Barrow served as field manager until the collapse of the league that season. The team continued in the Iron and Oil League for the rest of the year.
Barrow then bought the Paterson Silk Weavers of the Class-A Atlantic League, managing them for the rest of the 1896 season. Barrow discovered Honus Wagner throwing lumps of coal at a railroad station in Pennsylvania, and signed him to his first professional contract. Barrow sold Wagner to the Louisville Colonels of the National League (NL) for $2,100 the next year ($ in current dollar terms). With poor attendance, Barrow brought in professional boxers as a draw: he had James J. Corbett play first base while John L. Sullivan and James J. Jeffries umpired. He also hired Lizzie Arlington, the first woman in professional baseball, to pitch a few innings a game.
From 1897 through 1899, Barrow served as president of the Atlantic League. During this time, in the winter of 1898–99, Barrow and Jake Wells established a movie theater in Richmond, Virginia. Barrow managed Paterson again in 1899, but the league folded after the season.
With the money earned from the sale of the Richmond movie theater, Barrow purchased a one-quarter share of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Class-A Eastern League in 1900 from Arthur Irwin, and served as the team's manager. Irwin, hired to be the manager of the Washington Senators of the NL, brought his most talented players with him. Rebuilding the Maple Leafs, Barrow acquired talented players, such as Nick Altrock, and the team improved from a fifth-place finish in 1899, to a third-place finish in 1900, and a second-place finish in 1901. The Maple Leafs won the league championship in 1902, even though they lost many of their most talented players, including Altrock, to the upstart American League (AL).
Barrow managed in the major leagues with the Detroit Tigers of the AL in 1903, finishing fifth, a 13-game improvement from their 1902 finish. With the Tigers, Barrow feuded with shortstop Kid Elberfeld. Tigers' owner Sam Angus sold the team to William H. Yawkey before the 1904 season. Barrow managed the Tigers again in 1904, but unable to coexist with Frank Navin, Yawkey's secretary-treasurer, Barrow tendered his resignation. He then managed the Montreal Royals of the Eastern League for the rest of the season. He managed the Indianapolis Indians of the Class-A American Association in 1905 and Toronto in 1906. Disheartened with baseball after finishing in last place, Barrow hired Joe Kelley to manage Toronto in 1907, and after signing the rest of the team's players, became manager of the Windsor Arms Hotel in Toronto.
Return to baseball
Barrow returned to baseball in 1910, managing Montreal. The Eastern League hired Barrow as its president the next year, giving him an annual salary of $7,500 ($ in current dollar terms). He served in this role from 1911 through 1917, and engineered the name change to "International League" before the 1912 season. As league president, he contended with the creation of the Federal League in 1914, which competed as a major league, and established franchises in International League cities, including Newark, New Jersey, Buffalo, New York, and Baltimore, Maryland. He attempted to gain major league status for the league in 1914, but was unsuccessful. When the Federal League collapsed, Barrow was the only league president to forbid the outlaw players from playing in his league.
After the 1917 season, Barrow attempted to organize the "Union League", to compete against the AL and NL as a third major league, by merging four International League clubs with four teams from the American Association. Several International League owners opposed Barrow's policies, including his attempt to form the Union League, and felt he was too close personally to Ban Johnson. When the league's owners voted to cut his pay to $2,500 after the 1917 season ($ in current dollar terms), Barrow resigned.
Barrow became manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1918. As the team lost many of its better players during World War I, Barrow encouraged owner Harry Frazee to purchase Stuffy McInnis, Wally Schang, Bullet Joe Bush, and Amos Strunk from the Philadelphia Athletics for $75,000 ($ in current dollar terms). During the season, Barrow feuded with his assistant, Johnny Evers, who undermined Barrow's leadership. The Red Sox won the 1918 World Series. Recognizing that star pitcher Babe Ruth was also a great power hitter, Barrow had Ruth pinch hit on days when he wasn't scheduled to pitch. When Ruth told Barrow that he could only pitch or hit, Barrow decided that Ruth's bat was more useful than his pitching, and transitioned him from a pitcher into an outfielder.
After the 1918 season, Frazee, now in debt, began selling the contracts of star players. He traded Dutch Leonard, Duffy Lewis, and Ernie Shore to the New York Yankees, obtaining Ray Caldwell, Slim Love, Frank Gilhooley, Roxy Walters, and cash. Frazee sold Carl Mays to the Yankees during the 1919 season. The Red Sox struggled in 1919, finishing sixth in the AL. Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees after the season, against Barrow's warnings. The Red Sox finished in fifth in 1920.
To date, Barrow is the only manager to win a World Series without previously playing in organized baseball, whether in the minors or majors.
New York Yankees
After the 1920 season, Barrow resigned from the Red Sox to become the business manager of the Yankees, replacing the deceased Harry Sparrow. He took control of building the roster, which was usually the field manager's responsibility in those days. With the Yankees, Barrow handled the signing of player contracts, although owner Jacob Ruppert personally handled the contracts of Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
Barrow installed himself in the Yankees' infrastructure between co-owner Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston and manager Miller Huggins, as Huston frequently criticized Huggins. Barrow told Huggins: "You're the manager, and you'll not be second guessed by me. Your job is to win; mine is to get you the players you need to win." When Huggins suspended Ruth indefinitely on August 29, 1925 for "misconduct off the playing field", while also fining him $5,000 ($ in current dollar terms), Barrow supported Huggins.
In his first move with the Yankees, Barrow brought Red Sox coach Paul Krichell with him to New York as a scout. He purchased a share in the club in 1924. He also discovered executive George Weiss, whom he mentored. Barrow also orchestrated a series of trades with his former club, mainly to keep Frazee afloat. These trades netted the Yankees such stars as Bullet Joe Bush, Joe Dugan and George Pipgras. It has been argued that these trades only looked lopsided in favor of the Yankees only because the players sent to Boston suffered a rash of injuries. However, this is belied by the fact that Barrow almost certainly knew who was coming to New York in these deals; he'd managed nearly all of them in Boston.
The Yankees sought to develop their own players, rather than buying them from other teams, especially after the investment of $100,000 ($ in current dollar terms) in Lyn Lary and Jimmie Reese in 1927. However, Weiss and Bill Essick convinced Barrow to approve the purchase of Joe DiMaggio from the Pacific Coast League.
Barrow was considered a potential successor to AL president Ban Johnson in 1927, but Barrow declared that he was not interested in the job. When Huggins died in 1929, Barrow chose Bob Shawkey to replace him as manager, passing over Ruth, who wanted the opportunity to become a player-manager. Barrow also effectively blackballed Ruth from MLB's managerial ranks by suggesting to executives of other teams that Ruth was not equipped to manage a baseball team. Although Ruth and Barrow had been together for all but one season from 1918 to 1934, the two never got along. The Sporting News named Barrow their Executive of the Year in 1937.
After Ruppert's death in 1939, his will left the Yankees and other assets in a trust for his descendants. The will also named Barrow president of the Yankees, with full authority over the team's day-to-day operations. Barrow was named Executive of the Year by The Sporting News in 1941, the second time he won the award. The estate sold the team to a group of Larry MacPhail, Dan Topping, and Del Webb in 1945, and Barrow sold his 10% stake in the team to the group. Barrow remained as chairman of the board and an informal adviser. Though he signed a five-year contract to remain with the team, he exercised a clause in his contract to free himself as of December 31, 1946, in order to officially retire from baseball. AL president Will Harridge offered Barrow the job of Commissioner of Baseball to succeed Kenesaw Mountain Landis; Barrow declined, as he felt he was too old and his health was in decline.
Managerial record
Personal life
Barrow was known as "Uncle Egbert" to his friends; according to writer Tom Meany, Babe Ruth referred to him as "Barrows," treating him as if he were "a butler in an English drawing room comedy." He resided in Rye, New York. He first married in 1898, but did not discuss it in any of his writings. His second marriage was to Fannie Taylor Briggs in January 1912; he raised her five-year-old daughter from her previous marriage, Audrey, as his own daughter.
Barrow was an able boxer. He once fought John L. Sullivan in an exhibition for four rounds.
Barrow was hospitalized on July 7, 1953 at the United Hospital of Port Chester, New York and died on December 15, at the age of 85, due to a malignancy. His body was kept at Campbell's Funeral Home and interred in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.
Legacy
Barrow was the first executive to put numbers on player uniforms. He also announced the retirement of Lou Gehrig's uniform number, the first number to be retired. Barrow was also the first executive to allow fans to keep foul balls that entered the stands. Barrow was also the first to require the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner", the United States' national anthem, before every game, not only on holidays.
In May 1950, an exhibition game was played in honor of Barrow, with Barrow managing a team of retired stars. Barrow was named on the Honor Rolls of Baseball in 1946 and elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1953.
On April 15, 1954, the Yankees dedicated a plaque to Barrow; the plaque first hung on the center field wall at Yankee Stadium, near the flagpole and the monuments to Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Miller Huggins. The plaques were later moved to the stadium's Monument Park.
References
Further reading
In-line citations
External links
Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees' First Dynasty
1868 births
1953 deaths
Sportspeople from Springfield, Illinois
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Minor league baseball executives
Major League Baseball general managers
Boston Red Sox managers
Detroit Tigers managers
Indianapolis Indians managers
Montreal Royals managers
Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) managers
New York Yankees executives
Burials at Kensico Cemetery
World Series-winning managers | false | [
"A management buy-in (MBI) occurs when a manager or a management team from outside the company raises the necessary finance, buys it, and becomes the company's new management. A management buy-in team often competes with other purchasers in the search for a suitable business. Usually, the team will be led by a manager with significant experience at managing director level.\n\nThe difference to a management buy-out is in the position of the purchaser: in the case of a buy-out, they are already working for the company. In the case of a buy-in, however, the manager or management team is from another source.\n\nBuy-in management buyout (BIMBO)\nA buy-in management buyout is a combination of a management buy-in and a management buyout. In the case of a buy-in management buy-out, the team that buy out the company are a combination of existing managers, who retain a stake in the company, and individuals from outside the company who will join the management team following the buy-out. The term BIMBO was first used in respect of the purchase of Chaucer Foods, a Hull based crouton manufacturer, from Hazlewood Foods plc in 1990.\n\nSee also\n\n Buyout\n Takeover\n Management buy-out\n Envy ratio\n\nReferences\n\n Definition of management buyin\n Definition of buy-in management buyout\n\nCorporate finance\nManagement",
"\nThis is a list of players who graduated from the Buy.com Tour in 2002. The top 15 players on the Buy.com Tour's money list in 2002 earned their PGA Tour card for 2003.\n\n*PGA Tour rookie for 2003.\n#Moore received a battlefield promotion to the PGA Tour in 2002 by winning three tournaments on the Buy.com Tour in 2002. On the PGA Tour in 2002 he played one tournament, missing the cut at the Southern Farm Bureau Classic.\nT = Tied\nGreen background indicates the player retained his PGA Tour card for 2004 (finished inside the top 125).\nRed background indicates the player did not retain his PGA Tour card for 2004 (finished outside the top 150).\n\nRunners-up on the PGA Tour in 2003\n\nSee also\n2002 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates\n\nReferences\nMoney list\nPlayer profiles\n\nKorn Ferry Tour\nPGA Tour\nBuy.com Tour Graduates\nBuy.com Tour Graduates"
]
|
[
"Ed Barrow",
"Return to baseball",
"What year did he return to baseball?",
"1910,",
"What had he been doing before that?",
"I don't know.",
"What did the return to baseball involve?",
"managing Montreal.",
"How did Montreal do under his management?",
"He served in this role from 1911 through 1917, and engineered the name change to \"International League\" before the 1912 season.",
"Did he buy the team?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_fdd107875b0c4772925599906971c74a_0 | Was their 1912 season successful? | 6 | Was Ed Barrow's Montreal baseball team's 1912 season successful? | Ed Barrow | Barrow returned to baseball in 1910, managing Montreal. The Eastern League hired Barrow as its president the next year, giving him an annual salary of $7,500 ($196,982 in current dollar terms). He served in this role from 1911 through 1917, and engineered the name change to "International League" before the 1912 season. As league president, he contended with the creation of the Federal League in 1914, which competed as a major league, and established franchises in International League cities, including Newark, New Jersey, Buffalo, New York, and Baltimore, Maryland. He attempted to gain major league status for the league in 1914, but was unsuccessful. When the Federal League collapsed, Barrow was the only league president to forbid the outlaw players from playing in his league. After the 1917 season, Barrow attempted to organize the "Union League", to compete against the AL and NL as a third major league, by merging four International League clubs with four teams from the American Association. Several International League owners opposed Barrow's policies, including his attempt to form the Union League, and felt he was too close personally to Ban Johnson. When the league's owners voted to cut his pay to $2,500 after the 1917 season ($47,753 in current dollar terms), Barrow resigned. Barrow became manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1918. As the team lost many of its better players during World War I, Barrow encouraged owner Harry Frazee to purchase Stuffy McInnis, Wally Schang, Bullet Joe Bush, and Amos Strunk from the Philadelphia Athletics for $75,000 ($1,220,243 in current dollar terms). During the season, Barrow feuded with his assistant, Johnny Evers, who undermined Barrow's leadership. The Red Sox won the 1918 World Series. Recognizing that star pitcher Babe Ruth was also a great power hitter, Barrow had Ruth pinch hit on days when he wasn't scheduled to pitch. When Ruth told Barrow that he could only pitch or hit, Barrow decided that Ruth's bat was more useful than his pitching, and transitioned him from a pitcher into an outfielder. After the 1918 season, Frazee, now in debt, began selling the contracts of star players. He traded Dutch Leonard, Duffy Lewis, and Ernie Shore to the New York Yankees, obtaining Ray Caldwell, Slim Love, Frank Gilhooley, Roxy Walters, and cash. Frazee sold Carl Mays to the Yankees during the 1919 season. The Red Sox struggled in 1919, finishing sixth in the AL. Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees after the season, against Barrow's warnings. The Red Sox finished in fifth in 1920. CANNOTANSWER | unsuccessful. | Edward Grant Barrow (May 10, 1868 – December 15, 1953) was an American manager and front office executive in Major League Baseball. He served as the field manager of the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox. He served as business manager (de facto general manager) of the New York Yankees from 1921 to 1939 and as team president from 1939 to 1945, and is credited with building the Yankee dynasty. Barrow was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.
Born in a covered wagon in Springfield, Illinois, Barrow worked as a journalist and soap salesman before entering the business of baseball by selling concessions at games. From there, Barrow purchased minor league baseball teams, also serving as team manager, and served as president of the Atlantic League. After managing the Tigers in 1903 and 1904 and returning to the minor leagues, Barrow became disenchanted with baseball, and left the game to operate a hotel.
Barrow returned to baseball in 1910 as president of the Eastern League. After a seven-year tenure, Barrow managed the Red Sox from 1918 through 1920, leading the team to victory in the 1918 World Series. When Red Sox owner Harry Frazee began to sell his star players, Barrow joined the Yankees. During his quarter-century as their baseball operations chief, the Yankees won 14 AL pennants and 10 World Series titles.
Early life
Barrow was born in Springfield, Illinois, the oldest of four children, all male, born to Effie Ann Vinson-Heller and John Barrow. Barrow's father fought in the Ohio Volunteer Militia during the American Civil War. Following the war, Barrow's parents, with John's mother, brothers, and sisters, traveled in a covered wagon to Nebraska; Barrow was born on a hemp plantation belonging to relatives during the trip. The Barrows lived in Nebraska for six years before moving to Des Moines, Iowa. His middle name, Grant, was bestowed on him in honor of Ulysses S. Grant, the Civil War general.
Barrow worked as mailing clerk for the Des Moines News in 1887, receiving a promotion to circulation manager within a year. He became a reporter for the Des Moines Leader after graduating from high school. He became city editor, earning $35 a week ($ in current dollar terms). In his last two years living in Des Moines, Barrow established a baseball team, which included future baseball stars Fred Clarke, Ducky Holmes, and Herm McFarland.
Barrow moved to Pittsburgh in 1889, where he worked as a soap salesman, believing there was money in this business. However, Barrow lost all of money in this business, and went to work as a desk clerk in a Pittsburgh hotel.
Baseball career
Early career
Barrow partnered with Harry Stevens in 1894 to sell concessions at baseball games. He helped George Moreland form the Interstate League, a Class-C minor league, in 1894. Barrow, with Stevens and Al Buckenberger, purchased the Wheeling Nailers of the Interstate League in 1896. Barrow served as field manager until the collapse of the league that season. The team continued in the Iron and Oil League for the rest of the year.
Barrow then bought the Paterson Silk Weavers of the Class-A Atlantic League, managing them for the rest of the 1896 season. Barrow discovered Honus Wagner throwing lumps of coal at a railroad station in Pennsylvania, and signed him to his first professional contract. Barrow sold Wagner to the Louisville Colonels of the National League (NL) for $2,100 the next year ($ in current dollar terms). With poor attendance, Barrow brought in professional boxers as a draw: he had James J. Corbett play first base while John L. Sullivan and James J. Jeffries umpired. He also hired Lizzie Arlington, the first woman in professional baseball, to pitch a few innings a game.
From 1897 through 1899, Barrow served as president of the Atlantic League. During this time, in the winter of 1898–99, Barrow and Jake Wells established a movie theater in Richmond, Virginia. Barrow managed Paterson again in 1899, but the league folded after the season.
With the money earned from the sale of the Richmond movie theater, Barrow purchased a one-quarter share of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Class-A Eastern League in 1900 from Arthur Irwin, and served as the team's manager. Irwin, hired to be the manager of the Washington Senators of the NL, brought his most talented players with him. Rebuilding the Maple Leafs, Barrow acquired talented players, such as Nick Altrock, and the team improved from a fifth-place finish in 1899, to a third-place finish in 1900, and a second-place finish in 1901. The Maple Leafs won the league championship in 1902, even though they lost many of their most talented players, including Altrock, to the upstart American League (AL).
Barrow managed in the major leagues with the Detroit Tigers of the AL in 1903, finishing fifth, a 13-game improvement from their 1902 finish. With the Tigers, Barrow feuded with shortstop Kid Elberfeld. Tigers' owner Sam Angus sold the team to William H. Yawkey before the 1904 season. Barrow managed the Tigers again in 1904, but unable to coexist with Frank Navin, Yawkey's secretary-treasurer, Barrow tendered his resignation. He then managed the Montreal Royals of the Eastern League for the rest of the season. He managed the Indianapolis Indians of the Class-A American Association in 1905 and Toronto in 1906. Disheartened with baseball after finishing in last place, Barrow hired Joe Kelley to manage Toronto in 1907, and after signing the rest of the team's players, became manager of the Windsor Arms Hotel in Toronto.
Return to baseball
Barrow returned to baseball in 1910, managing Montreal. The Eastern League hired Barrow as its president the next year, giving him an annual salary of $7,500 ($ in current dollar terms). He served in this role from 1911 through 1917, and engineered the name change to "International League" before the 1912 season. As league president, he contended with the creation of the Federal League in 1914, which competed as a major league, and established franchises in International League cities, including Newark, New Jersey, Buffalo, New York, and Baltimore, Maryland. He attempted to gain major league status for the league in 1914, but was unsuccessful. When the Federal League collapsed, Barrow was the only league president to forbid the outlaw players from playing in his league.
After the 1917 season, Barrow attempted to organize the "Union League", to compete against the AL and NL as a third major league, by merging four International League clubs with four teams from the American Association. Several International League owners opposed Barrow's policies, including his attempt to form the Union League, and felt he was too close personally to Ban Johnson. When the league's owners voted to cut his pay to $2,500 after the 1917 season ($ in current dollar terms), Barrow resigned.
Barrow became manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1918. As the team lost many of its better players during World War I, Barrow encouraged owner Harry Frazee to purchase Stuffy McInnis, Wally Schang, Bullet Joe Bush, and Amos Strunk from the Philadelphia Athletics for $75,000 ($ in current dollar terms). During the season, Barrow feuded with his assistant, Johnny Evers, who undermined Barrow's leadership. The Red Sox won the 1918 World Series. Recognizing that star pitcher Babe Ruth was also a great power hitter, Barrow had Ruth pinch hit on days when he wasn't scheduled to pitch. When Ruth told Barrow that he could only pitch or hit, Barrow decided that Ruth's bat was more useful than his pitching, and transitioned him from a pitcher into an outfielder.
After the 1918 season, Frazee, now in debt, began selling the contracts of star players. He traded Dutch Leonard, Duffy Lewis, and Ernie Shore to the New York Yankees, obtaining Ray Caldwell, Slim Love, Frank Gilhooley, Roxy Walters, and cash. Frazee sold Carl Mays to the Yankees during the 1919 season. The Red Sox struggled in 1919, finishing sixth in the AL. Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees after the season, against Barrow's warnings. The Red Sox finished in fifth in 1920.
To date, Barrow is the only manager to win a World Series without previously playing in organized baseball, whether in the minors or majors.
New York Yankees
After the 1920 season, Barrow resigned from the Red Sox to become the business manager of the Yankees, replacing the deceased Harry Sparrow. He took control of building the roster, which was usually the field manager's responsibility in those days. With the Yankees, Barrow handled the signing of player contracts, although owner Jacob Ruppert personally handled the contracts of Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
Barrow installed himself in the Yankees' infrastructure between co-owner Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston and manager Miller Huggins, as Huston frequently criticized Huggins. Barrow told Huggins: "You're the manager, and you'll not be second guessed by me. Your job is to win; mine is to get you the players you need to win." When Huggins suspended Ruth indefinitely on August 29, 1925 for "misconduct off the playing field", while also fining him $5,000 ($ in current dollar terms), Barrow supported Huggins.
In his first move with the Yankees, Barrow brought Red Sox coach Paul Krichell with him to New York as a scout. He purchased a share in the club in 1924. He also discovered executive George Weiss, whom he mentored. Barrow also orchestrated a series of trades with his former club, mainly to keep Frazee afloat. These trades netted the Yankees such stars as Bullet Joe Bush, Joe Dugan and George Pipgras. It has been argued that these trades only looked lopsided in favor of the Yankees only because the players sent to Boston suffered a rash of injuries. However, this is belied by the fact that Barrow almost certainly knew who was coming to New York in these deals; he'd managed nearly all of them in Boston.
The Yankees sought to develop their own players, rather than buying them from other teams, especially after the investment of $100,000 ($ in current dollar terms) in Lyn Lary and Jimmie Reese in 1927. However, Weiss and Bill Essick convinced Barrow to approve the purchase of Joe DiMaggio from the Pacific Coast League.
Barrow was considered a potential successor to AL president Ban Johnson in 1927, but Barrow declared that he was not interested in the job. When Huggins died in 1929, Barrow chose Bob Shawkey to replace him as manager, passing over Ruth, who wanted the opportunity to become a player-manager. Barrow also effectively blackballed Ruth from MLB's managerial ranks by suggesting to executives of other teams that Ruth was not equipped to manage a baseball team. Although Ruth and Barrow had been together for all but one season from 1918 to 1934, the two never got along. The Sporting News named Barrow their Executive of the Year in 1937.
After Ruppert's death in 1939, his will left the Yankees and other assets in a trust for his descendants. The will also named Barrow president of the Yankees, with full authority over the team's day-to-day operations. Barrow was named Executive of the Year by The Sporting News in 1941, the second time he won the award. The estate sold the team to a group of Larry MacPhail, Dan Topping, and Del Webb in 1945, and Barrow sold his 10% stake in the team to the group. Barrow remained as chairman of the board and an informal adviser. Though he signed a five-year contract to remain with the team, he exercised a clause in his contract to free himself as of December 31, 1946, in order to officially retire from baseball. AL president Will Harridge offered Barrow the job of Commissioner of Baseball to succeed Kenesaw Mountain Landis; Barrow declined, as he felt he was too old and his health was in decline.
Managerial record
Personal life
Barrow was known as "Uncle Egbert" to his friends; according to writer Tom Meany, Babe Ruth referred to him as "Barrows," treating him as if he were "a butler in an English drawing room comedy." He resided in Rye, New York. He first married in 1898, but did not discuss it in any of his writings. His second marriage was to Fannie Taylor Briggs in January 1912; he raised her five-year-old daughter from her previous marriage, Audrey, as his own daughter.
Barrow was an able boxer. He once fought John L. Sullivan in an exhibition for four rounds.
Barrow was hospitalized on July 7, 1953 at the United Hospital of Port Chester, New York and died on December 15, at the age of 85, due to a malignancy. His body was kept at Campbell's Funeral Home and interred in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.
Legacy
Barrow was the first executive to put numbers on player uniforms. He also announced the retirement of Lou Gehrig's uniform number, the first number to be retired. Barrow was also the first executive to allow fans to keep foul balls that entered the stands. Barrow was also the first to require the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner", the United States' national anthem, before every game, not only on holidays.
In May 1950, an exhibition game was played in honor of Barrow, with Barrow managing a team of retired stars. Barrow was named on the Honor Rolls of Baseball in 1946 and elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1953.
On April 15, 1954, the Yankees dedicated a plaque to Barrow; the plaque first hung on the center field wall at Yankee Stadium, near the flagpole and the monuments to Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Miller Huggins. The plaques were later moved to the stadium's Monument Park.
References
Further reading
In-line citations
External links
Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees' First Dynasty
1868 births
1953 deaths
Sportspeople from Springfield, Illinois
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Minor league baseball executives
Major League Baseball general managers
Boston Red Sox managers
Detroit Tigers managers
Indianapolis Indians managers
Montreal Royals managers
Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) managers
New York Yankees executives
Burials at Kensico Cemetery
World Series-winning managers | true | [
"During the 2006–07 English football season, Barnsley F.C. competed in the Football League Championship.\n\nSeason summary\nDuring the early stages of the season, Ritchie was approached by Sheffield Wednesday about their vacant manager's position, following the sacking of Paul Sturrock in October 2006. However, the request was turned down by the club. Ritchie was sacked by Barnsley on 21 November 2006, with the team in the relegation zone of the League Championship.\n\nSimon Davey was then appointed caretaker manager following Ritchie's dismissal. After a successful start he was given the job on a permanent basis at the end of the year, and later led the club to a successful fight against relegation at the end of the season.\n\nFinal league table\n\nResults\nBarnsley's score comes first\n\nLegend\n\nFootball League Championship\n\nFA Cup\n\nLeague Cup\n\nSquad\n\nLeft club during season\n\nReferences\n\n2006-07\nBarnsley",
"The 1999–2000 season was the 99th season in Athletic Bilbao's history and their 69th consecutive season in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football.\n\nSeason summary\n\n1999–2000, the fourth season of Luis Fernández's tenure as head coach, was his least successful so far in terms of both league and cup results. It was the first La Liga campaign of the Frenchman's reign in which Athletic finished outside the top ten, placing 11th. They also suffered an early exit from the Copa del Rey, losing in the second round to Rayo Vallecano.\n\nFernández left his post at the end of the season, and Real Zaragoza's Txetxu Rojo was appointed in his place. Rojo had had two previous spells at San Mamés – as a successful forward between 1965 and 1982, and as head coach in the latter part of the 1989–90 season.\n\nSquad statistics\n\nAppearances and goals\n\n|}\n\nResults\n\nLa Liga\n\nLeague table\n\nSee also\n1999–2000 La Liga\n1999–2000 Copa del Rey\n\nExternal links\n\nReferences\n\nAthletic Bilbao\nAthletic Bilbao seasons"
]
|
[
"Ed Barrow",
"Return to baseball",
"What year did he return to baseball?",
"1910,",
"What had he been doing before that?",
"I don't know.",
"What did the return to baseball involve?",
"managing Montreal.",
"How did Montreal do under his management?",
"He served in this role from 1911 through 1917, and engineered the name change to \"International League\" before the 1912 season.",
"Did he buy the team?",
"I don't know.",
"Was their 1912 season successful?",
"unsuccessful."
]
| C_fdd107875b0c4772925599906971c74a_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 7 | Aside from managing the Montreal team, are there any other interesting aspects about Ed Barrows return to baseball? | Ed Barrow | Barrow returned to baseball in 1910, managing Montreal. The Eastern League hired Barrow as its president the next year, giving him an annual salary of $7,500 ($196,982 in current dollar terms). He served in this role from 1911 through 1917, and engineered the name change to "International League" before the 1912 season. As league president, he contended with the creation of the Federal League in 1914, which competed as a major league, and established franchises in International League cities, including Newark, New Jersey, Buffalo, New York, and Baltimore, Maryland. He attempted to gain major league status for the league in 1914, but was unsuccessful. When the Federal League collapsed, Barrow was the only league president to forbid the outlaw players from playing in his league. After the 1917 season, Barrow attempted to organize the "Union League", to compete against the AL and NL as a third major league, by merging four International League clubs with four teams from the American Association. Several International League owners opposed Barrow's policies, including his attempt to form the Union League, and felt he was too close personally to Ban Johnson. When the league's owners voted to cut his pay to $2,500 after the 1917 season ($47,753 in current dollar terms), Barrow resigned. Barrow became manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1918. As the team lost many of its better players during World War I, Barrow encouraged owner Harry Frazee to purchase Stuffy McInnis, Wally Schang, Bullet Joe Bush, and Amos Strunk from the Philadelphia Athletics for $75,000 ($1,220,243 in current dollar terms). During the season, Barrow feuded with his assistant, Johnny Evers, who undermined Barrow's leadership. The Red Sox won the 1918 World Series. Recognizing that star pitcher Babe Ruth was also a great power hitter, Barrow had Ruth pinch hit on days when he wasn't scheduled to pitch. When Ruth told Barrow that he could only pitch or hit, Barrow decided that Ruth's bat was more useful than his pitching, and transitioned him from a pitcher into an outfielder. After the 1918 season, Frazee, now in debt, began selling the contracts of star players. He traded Dutch Leonard, Duffy Lewis, and Ernie Shore to the New York Yankees, obtaining Ray Caldwell, Slim Love, Frank Gilhooley, Roxy Walters, and cash. Frazee sold Carl Mays to the Yankees during the 1919 season. The Red Sox struggled in 1919, finishing sixth in the AL. Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees after the season, against Barrow's warnings. The Red Sox finished in fifth in 1920. CANNOTANSWER | Barrow attempted to organize the "Union League", to compete against the AL and NL as a third major league, by merging four International League clubs with four teams | Edward Grant Barrow (May 10, 1868 – December 15, 1953) was an American manager and front office executive in Major League Baseball. He served as the field manager of the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox. He served as business manager (de facto general manager) of the New York Yankees from 1921 to 1939 and as team president from 1939 to 1945, and is credited with building the Yankee dynasty. Barrow was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.
Born in a covered wagon in Springfield, Illinois, Barrow worked as a journalist and soap salesman before entering the business of baseball by selling concessions at games. From there, Barrow purchased minor league baseball teams, also serving as team manager, and served as president of the Atlantic League. After managing the Tigers in 1903 and 1904 and returning to the minor leagues, Barrow became disenchanted with baseball, and left the game to operate a hotel.
Barrow returned to baseball in 1910 as president of the Eastern League. After a seven-year tenure, Barrow managed the Red Sox from 1918 through 1920, leading the team to victory in the 1918 World Series. When Red Sox owner Harry Frazee began to sell his star players, Barrow joined the Yankees. During his quarter-century as their baseball operations chief, the Yankees won 14 AL pennants and 10 World Series titles.
Early life
Barrow was born in Springfield, Illinois, the oldest of four children, all male, born to Effie Ann Vinson-Heller and John Barrow. Barrow's father fought in the Ohio Volunteer Militia during the American Civil War. Following the war, Barrow's parents, with John's mother, brothers, and sisters, traveled in a covered wagon to Nebraska; Barrow was born on a hemp plantation belonging to relatives during the trip. The Barrows lived in Nebraska for six years before moving to Des Moines, Iowa. His middle name, Grant, was bestowed on him in honor of Ulysses S. Grant, the Civil War general.
Barrow worked as mailing clerk for the Des Moines News in 1887, receiving a promotion to circulation manager within a year. He became a reporter for the Des Moines Leader after graduating from high school. He became city editor, earning $35 a week ($ in current dollar terms). In his last two years living in Des Moines, Barrow established a baseball team, which included future baseball stars Fred Clarke, Ducky Holmes, and Herm McFarland.
Barrow moved to Pittsburgh in 1889, where he worked as a soap salesman, believing there was money in this business. However, Barrow lost all of money in this business, and went to work as a desk clerk in a Pittsburgh hotel.
Baseball career
Early career
Barrow partnered with Harry Stevens in 1894 to sell concessions at baseball games. He helped George Moreland form the Interstate League, a Class-C minor league, in 1894. Barrow, with Stevens and Al Buckenberger, purchased the Wheeling Nailers of the Interstate League in 1896. Barrow served as field manager until the collapse of the league that season. The team continued in the Iron and Oil League for the rest of the year.
Barrow then bought the Paterson Silk Weavers of the Class-A Atlantic League, managing them for the rest of the 1896 season. Barrow discovered Honus Wagner throwing lumps of coal at a railroad station in Pennsylvania, and signed him to his first professional contract. Barrow sold Wagner to the Louisville Colonels of the National League (NL) for $2,100 the next year ($ in current dollar terms). With poor attendance, Barrow brought in professional boxers as a draw: he had James J. Corbett play first base while John L. Sullivan and James J. Jeffries umpired. He also hired Lizzie Arlington, the first woman in professional baseball, to pitch a few innings a game.
From 1897 through 1899, Barrow served as president of the Atlantic League. During this time, in the winter of 1898–99, Barrow and Jake Wells established a movie theater in Richmond, Virginia. Barrow managed Paterson again in 1899, but the league folded after the season.
With the money earned from the sale of the Richmond movie theater, Barrow purchased a one-quarter share of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Class-A Eastern League in 1900 from Arthur Irwin, and served as the team's manager. Irwin, hired to be the manager of the Washington Senators of the NL, brought his most talented players with him. Rebuilding the Maple Leafs, Barrow acquired talented players, such as Nick Altrock, and the team improved from a fifth-place finish in 1899, to a third-place finish in 1900, and a second-place finish in 1901. The Maple Leafs won the league championship in 1902, even though they lost many of their most talented players, including Altrock, to the upstart American League (AL).
Barrow managed in the major leagues with the Detroit Tigers of the AL in 1903, finishing fifth, a 13-game improvement from their 1902 finish. With the Tigers, Barrow feuded with shortstop Kid Elberfeld. Tigers' owner Sam Angus sold the team to William H. Yawkey before the 1904 season. Barrow managed the Tigers again in 1904, but unable to coexist with Frank Navin, Yawkey's secretary-treasurer, Barrow tendered his resignation. He then managed the Montreal Royals of the Eastern League for the rest of the season. He managed the Indianapolis Indians of the Class-A American Association in 1905 and Toronto in 1906. Disheartened with baseball after finishing in last place, Barrow hired Joe Kelley to manage Toronto in 1907, and after signing the rest of the team's players, became manager of the Windsor Arms Hotel in Toronto.
Return to baseball
Barrow returned to baseball in 1910, managing Montreal. The Eastern League hired Barrow as its president the next year, giving him an annual salary of $7,500 ($ in current dollar terms). He served in this role from 1911 through 1917, and engineered the name change to "International League" before the 1912 season. As league president, he contended with the creation of the Federal League in 1914, which competed as a major league, and established franchises in International League cities, including Newark, New Jersey, Buffalo, New York, and Baltimore, Maryland. He attempted to gain major league status for the league in 1914, but was unsuccessful. When the Federal League collapsed, Barrow was the only league president to forbid the outlaw players from playing in his league.
After the 1917 season, Barrow attempted to organize the "Union League", to compete against the AL and NL as a third major league, by merging four International League clubs with four teams from the American Association. Several International League owners opposed Barrow's policies, including his attempt to form the Union League, and felt he was too close personally to Ban Johnson. When the league's owners voted to cut his pay to $2,500 after the 1917 season ($ in current dollar terms), Barrow resigned.
Barrow became manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1918. As the team lost many of its better players during World War I, Barrow encouraged owner Harry Frazee to purchase Stuffy McInnis, Wally Schang, Bullet Joe Bush, and Amos Strunk from the Philadelphia Athletics for $75,000 ($ in current dollar terms). During the season, Barrow feuded with his assistant, Johnny Evers, who undermined Barrow's leadership. The Red Sox won the 1918 World Series. Recognizing that star pitcher Babe Ruth was also a great power hitter, Barrow had Ruth pinch hit on days when he wasn't scheduled to pitch. When Ruth told Barrow that he could only pitch or hit, Barrow decided that Ruth's bat was more useful than his pitching, and transitioned him from a pitcher into an outfielder.
After the 1918 season, Frazee, now in debt, began selling the contracts of star players. He traded Dutch Leonard, Duffy Lewis, and Ernie Shore to the New York Yankees, obtaining Ray Caldwell, Slim Love, Frank Gilhooley, Roxy Walters, and cash. Frazee sold Carl Mays to the Yankees during the 1919 season. The Red Sox struggled in 1919, finishing sixth in the AL. Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees after the season, against Barrow's warnings. The Red Sox finished in fifth in 1920.
To date, Barrow is the only manager to win a World Series without previously playing in organized baseball, whether in the minors or majors.
New York Yankees
After the 1920 season, Barrow resigned from the Red Sox to become the business manager of the Yankees, replacing the deceased Harry Sparrow. He took control of building the roster, which was usually the field manager's responsibility in those days. With the Yankees, Barrow handled the signing of player contracts, although owner Jacob Ruppert personally handled the contracts of Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
Barrow installed himself in the Yankees' infrastructure between co-owner Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston and manager Miller Huggins, as Huston frequently criticized Huggins. Barrow told Huggins: "You're the manager, and you'll not be second guessed by me. Your job is to win; mine is to get you the players you need to win." When Huggins suspended Ruth indefinitely on August 29, 1925 for "misconduct off the playing field", while also fining him $5,000 ($ in current dollar terms), Barrow supported Huggins.
In his first move with the Yankees, Barrow brought Red Sox coach Paul Krichell with him to New York as a scout. He purchased a share in the club in 1924. He also discovered executive George Weiss, whom he mentored. Barrow also orchestrated a series of trades with his former club, mainly to keep Frazee afloat. These trades netted the Yankees such stars as Bullet Joe Bush, Joe Dugan and George Pipgras. It has been argued that these trades only looked lopsided in favor of the Yankees only because the players sent to Boston suffered a rash of injuries. However, this is belied by the fact that Barrow almost certainly knew who was coming to New York in these deals; he'd managed nearly all of them in Boston.
The Yankees sought to develop their own players, rather than buying them from other teams, especially after the investment of $100,000 ($ in current dollar terms) in Lyn Lary and Jimmie Reese in 1927. However, Weiss and Bill Essick convinced Barrow to approve the purchase of Joe DiMaggio from the Pacific Coast League.
Barrow was considered a potential successor to AL president Ban Johnson in 1927, but Barrow declared that he was not interested in the job. When Huggins died in 1929, Barrow chose Bob Shawkey to replace him as manager, passing over Ruth, who wanted the opportunity to become a player-manager. Barrow also effectively blackballed Ruth from MLB's managerial ranks by suggesting to executives of other teams that Ruth was not equipped to manage a baseball team. Although Ruth and Barrow had been together for all but one season from 1918 to 1934, the two never got along. The Sporting News named Barrow their Executive of the Year in 1937.
After Ruppert's death in 1939, his will left the Yankees and other assets in a trust for his descendants. The will also named Barrow president of the Yankees, with full authority over the team's day-to-day operations. Barrow was named Executive of the Year by The Sporting News in 1941, the second time he won the award. The estate sold the team to a group of Larry MacPhail, Dan Topping, and Del Webb in 1945, and Barrow sold his 10% stake in the team to the group. Barrow remained as chairman of the board and an informal adviser. Though he signed a five-year contract to remain with the team, he exercised a clause in his contract to free himself as of December 31, 1946, in order to officially retire from baseball. AL president Will Harridge offered Barrow the job of Commissioner of Baseball to succeed Kenesaw Mountain Landis; Barrow declined, as he felt he was too old and his health was in decline.
Managerial record
Personal life
Barrow was known as "Uncle Egbert" to his friends; according to writer Tom Meany, Babe Ruth referred to him as "Barrows," treating him as if he were "a butler in an English drawing room comedy." He resided in Rye, New York. He first married in 1898, but did not discuss it in any of his writings. His second marriage was to Fannie Taylor Briggs in January 1912; he raised her five-year-old daughter from her previous marriage, Audrey, as his own daughter.
Barrow was an able boxer. He once fought John L. Sullivan in an exhibition for four rounds.
Barrow was hospitalized on July 7, 1953 at the United Hospital of Port Chester, New York and died on December 15, at the age of 85, due to a malignancy. His body was kept at Campbell's Funeral Home and interred in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.
Legacy
Barrow was the first executive to put numbers on player uniforms. He also announced the retirement of Lou Gehrig's uniform number, the first number to be retired. Barrow was also the first executive to allow fans to keep foul balls that entered the stands. Barrow was also the first to require the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner", the United States' national anthem, before every game, not only on holidays.
In May 1950, an exhibition game was played in honor of Barrow, with Barrow managing a team of retired stars. Barrow was named on the Honor Rolls of Baseball in 1946 and elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1953.
On April 15, 1954, the Yankees dedicated a plaque to Barrow; the plaque first hung on the center field wall at Yankee Stadium, near the flagpole and the monuments to Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Miller Huggins. The plaques were later moved to the stadium's Monument Park.
References
Further reading
In-line citations
External links
Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees' First Dynasty
1868 births
1953 deaths
Sportspeople from Springfield, Illinois
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Minor league baseball executives
Major League Baseball general managers
Boston Red Sox managers
Detroit Tigers managers
Indianapolis Indians managers
Montreal Royals managers
Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) managers
New York Yankees executives
Burials at Kensico Cemetery
World Series-winning managers | 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"
]
|
[
"Ed Barrow",
"Return to baseball",
"What year did he return to baseball?",
"1910,",
"What had he been doing before that?",
"I don't know.",
"What did the return to baseball involve?",
"managing Montreal.",
"How did Montreal do under his management?",
"He served in this role from 1911 through 1917, and engineered the name change to \"International League\" before the 1912 season.",
"Did he buy the team?",
"I don't know.",
"Was their 1912 season successful?",
"unsuccessful.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Barrow attempted to organize the \"Union League\", to compete against the AL and NL as a third major league, by merging four International League clubs with four teams"
]
| C_fdd107875b0c4772925599906971c74a_0 | Did he succeed in organizing the union league? | 8 | Did Ed Barrow succeed in organizing the union league in baseball? | Ed Barrow | Barrow returned to baseball in 1910, managing Montreal. The Eastern League hired Barrow as its president the next year, giving him an annual salary of $7,500 ($196,982 in current dollar terms). He served in this role from 1911 through 1917, and engineered the name change to "International League" before the 1912 season. As league president, he contended with the creation of the Federal League in 1914, which competed as a major league, and established franchises in International League cities, including Newark, New Jersey, Buffalo, New York, and Baltimore, Maryland. He attempted to gain major league status for the league in 1914, but was unsuccessful. When the Federal League collapsed, Barrow was the only league president to forbid the outlaw players from playing in his league. After the 1917 season, Barrow attempted to organize the "Union League", to compete against the AL and NL as a third major league, by merging four International League clubs with four teams from the American Association. Several International League owners opposed Barrow's policies, including his attempt to form the Union League, and felt he was too close personally to Ban Johnson. When the league's owners voted to cut his pay to $2,500 after the 1917 season ($47,753 in current dollar terms), Barrow resigned. Barrow became manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1918. As the team lost many of its better players during World War I, Barrow encouraged owner Harry Frazee to purchase Stuffy McInnis, Wally Schang, Bullet Joe Bush, and Amos Strunk from the Philadelphia Athletics for $75,000 ($1,220,243 in current dollar terms). During the season, Barrow feuded with his assistant, Johnny Evers, who undermined Barrow's leadership. The Red Sox won the 1918 World Series. Recognizing that star pitcher Babe Ruth was also a great power hitter, Barrow had Ruth pinch hit on days when he wasn't scheduled to pitch. When Ruth told Barrow that he could only pitch or hit, Barrow decided that Ruth's bat was more useful than his pitching, and transitioned him from a pitcher into an outfielder. After the 1918 season, Frazee, now in debt, began selling the contracts of star players. He traded Dutch Leonard, Duffy Lewis, and Ernie Shore to the New York Yankees, obtaining Ray Caldwell, Slim Love, Frank Gilhooley, Roxy Walters, and cash. Frazee sold Carl Mays to the Yankees during the 1919 season. The Red Sox struggled in 1919, finishing sixth in the AL. Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees after the season, against Barrow's warnings. The Red Sox finished in fifth in 1920. CANNOTANSWER | Several International League owners opposed Barrow's policies, including his attempt to form the Union League, and felt he was too close personally to Ban Johnson. | Edward Grant Barrow (May 10, 1868 – December 15, 1953) was an American manager and front office executive in Major League Baseball. He served as the field manager of the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox. He served as business manager (de facto general manager) of the New York Yankees from 1921 to 1939 and as team president from 1939 to 1945, and is credited with building the Yankee dynasty. Barrow was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.
Born in a covered wagon in Springfield, Illinois, Barrow worked as a journalist and soap salesman before entering the business of baseball by selling concessions at games. From there, Barrow purchased minor league baseball teams, also serving as team manager, and served as president of the Atlantic League. After managing the Tigers in 1903 and 1904 and returning to the minor leagues, Barrow became disenchanted with baseball, and left the game to operate a hotel.
Barrow returned to baseball in 1910 as president of the Eastern League. After a seven-year tenure, Barrow managed the Red Sox from 1918 through 1920, leading the team to victory in the 1918 World Series. When Red Sox owner Harry Frazee began to sell his star players, Barrow joined the Yankees. During his quarter-century as their baseball operations chief, the Yankees won 14 AL pennants and 10 World Series titles.
Early life
Barrow was born in Springfield, Illinois, the oldest of four children, all male, born to Effie Ann Vinson-Heller and John Barrow. Barrow's father fought in the Ohio Volunteer Militia during the American Civil War. Following the war, Barrow's parents, with John's mother, brothers, and sisters, traveled in a covered wagon to Nebraska; Barrow was born on a hemp plantation belonging to relatives during the trip. The Barrows lived in Nebraska for six years before moving to Des Moines, Iowa. His middle name, Grant, was bestowed on him in honor of Ulysses S. Grant, the Civil War general.
Barrow worked as mailing clerk for the Des Moines News in 1887, receiving a promotion to circulation manager within a year. He became a reporter for the Des Moines Leader after graduating from high school. He became city editor, earning $35 a week ($ in current dollar terms). In his last two years living in Des Moines, Barrow established a baseball team, which included future baseball stars Fred Clarke, Ducky Holmes, and Herm McFarland.
Barrow moved to Pittsburgh in 1889, where he worked as a soap salesman, believing there was money in this business. However, Barrow lost all of money in this business, and went to work as a desk clerk in a Pittsburgh hotel.
Baseball career
Early career
Barrow partnered with Harry Stevens in 1894 to sell concessions at baseball games. He helped George Moreland form the Interstate League, a Class-C minor league, in 1894. Barrow, with Stevens and Al Buckenberger, purchased the Wheeling Nailers of the Interstate League in 1896. Barrow served as field manager until the collapse of the league that season. The team continued in the Iron and Oil League for the rest of the year.
Barrow then bought the Paterson Silk Weavers of the Class-A Atlantic League, managing them for the rest of the 1896 season. Barrow discovered Honus Wagner throwing lumps of coal at a railroad station in Pennsylvania, and signed him to his first professional contract. Barrow sold Wagner to the Louisville Colonels of the National League (NL) for $2,100 the next year ($ in current dollar terms). With poor attendance, Barrow brought in professional boxers as a draw: he had James J. Corbett play first base while John L. Sullivan and James J. Jeffries umpired. He also hired Lizzie Arlington, the first woman in professional baseball, to pitch a few innings a game.
From 1897 through 1899, Barrow served as president of the Atlantic League. During this time, in the winter of 1898–99, Barrow and Jake Wells established a movie theater in Richmond, Virginia. Barrow managed Paterson again in 1899, but the league folded after the season.
With the money earned from the sale of the Richmond movie theater, Barrow purchased a one-quarter share of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Class-A Eastern League in 1900 from Arthur Irwin, and served as the team's manager. Irwin, hired to be the manager of the Washington Senators of the NL, brought his most talented players with him. Rebuilding the Maple Leafs, Barrow acquired talented players, such as Nick Altrock, and the team improved from a fifth-place finish in 1899, to a third-place finish in 1900, and a second-place finish in 1901. The Maple Leafs won the league championship in 1902, even though they lost many of their most talented players, including Altrock, to the upstart American League (AL).
Barrow managed in the major leagues with the Detroit Tigers of the AL in 1903, finishing fifth, a 13-game improvement from their 1902 finish. With the Tigers, Barrow feuded with shortstop Kid Elberfeld. Tigers' owner Sam Angus sold the team to William H. Yawkey before the 1904 season. Barrow managed the Tigers again in 1904, but unable to coexist with Frank Navin, Yawkey's secretary-treasurer, Barrow tendered his resignation. He then managed the Montreal Royals of the Eastern League for the rest of the season. He managed the Indianapolis Indians of the Class-A American Association in 1905 and Toronto in 1906. Disheartened with baseball after finishing in last place, Barrow hired Joe Kelley to manage Toronto in 1907, and after signing the rest of the team's players, became manager of the Windsor Arms Hotel in Toronto.
Return to baseball
Barrow returned to baseball in 1910, managing Montreal. The Eastern League hired Barrow as its president the next year, giving him an annual salary of $7,500 ($ in current dollar terms). He served in this role from 1911 through 1917, and engineered the name change to "International League" before the 1912 season. As league president, he contended with the creation of the Federal League in 1914, which competed as a major league, and established franchises in International League cities, including Newark, New Jersey, Buffalo, New York, and Baltimore, Maryland. He attempted to gain major league status for the league in 1914, but was unsuccessful. When the Federal League collapsed, Barrow was the only league president to forbid the outlaw players from playing in his league.
After the 1917 season, Barrow attempted to organize the "Union League", to compete against the AL and NL as a third major league, by merging four International League clubs with four teams from the American Association. Several International League owners opposed Barrow's policies, including his attempt to form the Union League, and felt he was too close personally to Ban Johnson. When the league's owners voted to cut his pay to $2,500 after the 1917 season ($ in current dollar terms), Barrow resigned.
Barrow became manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1918. As the team lost many of its better players during World War I, Barrow encouraged owner Harry Frazee to purchase Stuffy McInnis, Wally Schang, Bullet Joe Bush, and Amos Strunk from the Philadelphia Athletics for $75,000 ($ in current dollar terms). During the season, Barrow feuded with his assistant, Johnny Evers, who undermined Barrow's leadership. The Red Sox won the 1918 World Series. Recognizing that star pitcher Babe Ruth was also a great power hitter, Barrow had Ruth pinch hit on days when he wasn't scheduled to pitch. When Ruth told Barrow that he could only pitch or hit, Barrow decided that Ruth's bat was more useful than his pitching, and transitioned him from a pitcher into an outfielder.
After the 1918 season, Frazee, now in debt, began selling the contracts of star players. He traded Dutch Leonard, Duffy Lewis, and Ernie Shore to the New York Yankees, obtaining Ray Caldwell, Slim Love, Frank Gilhooley, Roxy Walters, and cash. Frazee sold Carl Mays to the Yankees during the 1919 season. The Red Sox struggled in 1919, finishing sixth in the AL. Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees after the season, against Barrow's warnings. The Red Sox finished in fifth in 1920.
To date, Barrow is the only manager to win a World Series without previously playing in organized baseball, whether in the minors or majors.
New York Yankees
After the 1920 season, Barrow resigned from the Red Sox to become the business manager of the Yankees, replacing the deceased Harry Sparrow. He took control of building the roster, which was usually the field manager's responsibility in those days. With the Yankees, Barrow handled the signing of player contracts, although owner Jacob Ruppert personally handled the contracts of Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
Barrow installed himself in the Yankees' infrastructure between co-owner Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston and manager Miller Huggins, as Huston frequently criticized Huggins. Barrow told Huggins: "You're the manager, and you'll not be second guessed by me. Your job is to win; mine is to get you the players you need to win." When Huggins suspended Ruth indefinitely on August 29, 1925 for "misconduct off the playing field", while also fining him $5,000 ($ in current dollar terms), Barrow supported Huggins.
In his first move with the Yankees, Barrow brought Red Sox coach Paul Krichell with him to New York as a scout. He purchased a share in the club in 1924. He also discovered executive George Weiss, whom he mentored. Barrow also orchestrated a series of trades with his former club, mainly to keep Frazee afloat. These trades netted the Yankees such stars as Bullet Joe Bush, Joe Dugan and George Pipgras. It has been argued that these trades only looked lopsided in favor of the Yankees only because the players sent to Boston suffered a rash of injuries. However, this is belied by the fact that Barrow almost certainly knew who was coming to New York in these deals; he'd managed nearly all of them in Boston.
The Yankees sought to develop their own players, rather than buying them from other teams, especially after the investment of $100,000 ($ in current dollar terms) in Lyn Lary and Jimmie Reese in 1927. However, Weiss and Bill Essick convinced Barrow to approve the purchase of Joe DiMaggio from the Pacific Coast League.
Barrow was considered a potential successor to AL president Ban Johnson in 1927, but Barrow declared that he was not interested in the job. When Huggins died in 1929, Barrow chose Bob Shawkey to replace him as manager, passing over Ruth, who wanted the opportunity to become a player-manager. Barrow also effectively blackballed Ruth from MLB's managerial ranks by suggesting to executives of other teams that Ruth was not equipped to manage a baseball team. Although Ruth and Barrow had been together for all but one season from 1918 to 1934, the two never got along. The Sporting News named Barrow their Executive of the Year in 1937.
After Ruppert's death in 1939, his will left the Yankees and other assets in a trust for his descendants. The will also named Barrow president of the Yankees, with full authority over the team's day-to-day operations. Barrow was named Executive of the Year by The Sporting News in 1941, the second time he won the award. The estate sold the team to a group of Larry MacPhail, Dan Topping, and Del Webb in 1945, and Barrow sold his 10% stake in the team to the group. Barrow remained as chairman of the board and an informal adviser. Though he signed a five-year contract to remain with the team, he exercised a clause in his contract to free himself as of December 31, 1946, in order to officially retire from baseball. AL president Will Harridge offered Barrow the job of Commissioner of Baseball to succeed Kenesaw Mountain Landis; Barrow declined, as he felt he was too old and his health was in decline.
Managerial record
Personal life
Barrow was known as "Uncle Egbert" to his friends; according to writer Tom Meany, Babe Ruth referred to him as "Barrows," treating him as if he were "a butler in an English drawing room comedy." He resided in Rye, New York. He first married in 1898, but did not discuss it in any of his writings. His second marriage was to Fannie Taylor Briggs in January 1912; he raised her five-year-old daughter from her previous marriage, Audrey, as his own daughter.
Barrow was an able boxer. He once fought John L. Sullivan in an exhibition for four rounds.
Barrow was hospitalized on July 7, 1953 at the United Hospital of Port Chester, New York and died on December 15, at the age of 85, due to a malignancy. His body was kept at Campbell's Funeral Home and interred in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.
Legacy
Barrow was the first executive to put numbers on player uniforms. He also announced the retirement of Lou Gehrig's uniform number, the first number to be retired. Barrow was also the first executive to allow fans to keep foul balls that entered the stands. Barrow was also the first to require the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner", the United States' national anthem, before every game, not only on holidays.
In May 1950, an exhibition game was played in honor of Barrow, with Barrow managing a team of retired stars. Barrow was named on the Honor Rolls of Baseball in 1946 and elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1953.
On April 15, 1954, the Yankees dedicated a plaque to Barrow; the plaque first hung on the center field wall at Yankee Stadium, near the flagpole and the monuments to Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Miller Huggins. The plaques were later moved to the stadium's Monument Park.
References
Further reading
In-line citations
External links
Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees' First Dynasty
1868 births
1953 deaths
Sportspeople from Springfield, Illinois
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Minor league baseball executives
Major League Baseball general managers
Boston Red Sox managers
Detroit Tigers managers
Indianapolis Indians managers
Montreal Royals managers
Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) managers
New York Yankees executives
Burials at Kensico Cemetery
World Series-winning managers | true | [
"The AFL-CIO Organizing Institute (best known as \"the Organizing Institute,\" and often as simply \"the OI\"), located at 815 16th St., NW, Organizing Department - 4th Floor, Washington, District of Columbia, 20006, United States, is a unit within the Organizing and Field Services Department of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. Founded in 1989, the OI serves as the primary training body for most organizers in the AFL-CIO and its member unions.\n\nDespite its small budget, size and organizational status, the OI has played a major role in the history of the AFL-CIO. The OI has been described as the \"AFL-CIO's most innovative initiative on the external organizing front\".\n\nSince its inception, the OI has trained more than 7,000 union members as \"member-organizers\" and another 3,000 staff organizers (1,000 of whom were new to the labor movement). Nearly a third of its new staff organizers are college-age or college graduates.\n\nStructure and programs\nThe following information on the OI has not been updated with the post 2005 information.\n\nThe Organizing Institute was created in the spring of 1989 to promote and foster union organizing. The OI's primary program is to train union members and non-members to be labor organizers. The OI currently provides two training programs: A two-day training program for union members who will return to the workplace, and a three-day training program for union members and others who wish to become full-time organizers. Attendees in the two-day program are usually \"sponsored\" by an AFL-CIO union, which pays for their tuition, room and board. Most attendees in the three-day program are not sponsored by an AFL-CIO union. During the training programs, attendees are assessed on their organizing skills and ability to learn by OI staff and other experienced union organizers. Sponsoring unions are encouraged to utilize OI graduates in ongoing internal and external organizing campaigns. Participants not sponsored by a union are given career counseling regarding job prospects and additional training and/or education upon graduation.\n\nGraduates of the three-day training program who receive a high assessment from evaluators are eligible to participate in the OI's three-month field training program. Within nine months following graduation from the three-day training program, the graduate will be placed in an actual union organizing campaign. Successful completion of the field training is highly valued by AFL-CIO unions, and placement rates for field-trained organizers tops 90 percent.\n\nThe OI also offers two-to-three day training programs tailored to meet the needs of organizers and members involved in an existing organizing campaign.\n\nHistory\nThe OI has its roots in a failed organizing drive conducted by the AFL-CIO in the early 1980s. In 1979, the AFL-CIO began a large organizing project in the Deep South. The main thrust of this organizing effort came in Houston, Texas. Known as the Houston Organizing Project, the multi-union effort was budgeted at $1 million a year (nearly $2.5 million in inflation-adjusted 2007 dollars). But as the recession of the early 1980s took hold and employers vigorously resisted the AFL-CIO's efforts, the Houston Organizing Project collapsed.\n\nPartly in response to the collapse of the Houston Organizing Project, in 1983 the AFL-CIO executive council began an extensive strategic planning project. A plan was adopted two years later which, among other things, endorsed higher levels of organizing.\n\nBetween 1985 and 1988, the AFL-CIO developed what subsequently became known as \"the organizing model.\" The organizing model was introduced to AFL-CIO member unions in a massive, two-day telephone and video conference call on February 29 to March 1, 1988. An AFL-CIO training manual, Numbers that Count, was then published. The manual concluded unions were more effective when they used external, new-member organizing techniques with members who were already organized.\n\nIn 1988 and 1989, AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer Thomas R. Donahue initiated discussions which led to the founding of the OI. Donahue, Donahue's assistant, a former director of organizing and field services at the AFL-CIO, the leaders of five AFL-CIO unions, and Richard Bensinger (then organizing director with the Service Employees International Union [SEIU]) concluded that the primary problem with the Houston Organizing Project was not the coalition nature of the project or the recession but that few unions utilized rigorous organizing methods. Although it is not clear when the decision was made to found the OI, the organization was officially launched in the spring of 1989. The AFL-CIO and five unions—SEIU, UNITE, UFCW, AFSCME and the United Steelworkers—agreed to fund the OI.\n\nThe OI was established as an autonomous entity under the supervision of the AFL-CIO Organizing and Field Services Department. Bensinger was named the unit's first executive director.\n\nOne of the primary goals of the OI in its first years was not only to promote the organizing model but to reinvigorate the labor movement. An essential element in achieving this goal was the recruitment of non-union people into the labor movement. OI staff came to believe that labor organizers were often too old, too discouraged, and too committed to the existing political goals of their unions (which focused on contract servicing rather than organizing) to be effective. Additionally, many of these veteran staff were experienced only in older methods of union organizing, and did not have the skills or inclination to effectively combat new anti-union strategies and tactics utilized by employers. Bensinger and his immediate successors made a significant effort to recruit activists from the environmental, civil rights, and other progressive movements; activists who had experience in militant and disruptive direct action which caught the eye of the press and the public. OI staff believed that these young activists would bring a new level of commitment and energy to the labor movement.\n\nThe establishment of the OI angered some AFL-CIO staff, particularly those in the organizing department. They felt that the organization duplicated their efforts. But they also resented the ways in which AFL-CIO elected leaders and appointed staff denigrated their efforts and promoted the leaders and staff in the OI. Many veteran staff members felt that the years which they had spent gaining experience and building skills were being dismissed, while inexperienced OI staff with little or no experience in union organizing union-building were being held up as the salvation of the labor movement.\n\nImpact of the OI\nAlthough the \"organizing model\" did not originate from the OI, the method quickly became associated with it. OI staff adopted the organizing model and strongly advocated its use in both internal and external organizing.\n\nThe OI helped train and organize some of the most prominent and effective labor actions of the 1990s. In the early 1990s, the OI recruited and trained activists for the highly effective and public Justice for Janitors campaigns in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. OI staff also helped recruit and train staff for UNITE's national campaign to organize industrial laundries, and began the first tentative steps toward building a comprehensive campaign strategy for this organizing campaign.\n\nDespite being one of the few concrete outcomes of the AFL-CIO's 1983 strategic planning process, the Kirkland administration did not place a major emphasis on the OI. Its budget remained small relative to the organizing department's, and it was not promoted in significant ways to AFL-CIO member unions. Nevertheless, AFL-CIO member unions held the OI and its staff in very high regard.\n\nDuring the contested 1995 election for the presidency of the AFL-CIO, the OI became a political football. SEIU president John Sweeney criticized the Kirkland administration for failing to boost union organizing, and pointed to the small budget and lack of focus on the OI as one example. Sweeney promised to dramatically boost the OI's funding and importance. For his part, Lane Kirkland pointed to the establishment of the OI as a major success of his administration. Kirkland later abandoned the race and resigned as president of the federation. His successor and presidential candidate, Thomas Donahue, was able to lay a stronger claim on organizing success because of his role as the primary backer of the OI in 1989. But Donahue's claims were rejected by AFL-CIO member unions, and Sweeney won the presidential race.\n\nOnce in office, John Sweeney significantly promoted the OI. Sweeney split the organizing and field services function, and created an independent Organizing Department within the AFL-CIO. Bensinger was appointed the new department's first director. The OI became part of the new department. Its budget increased sharply, and a separate fund was established to subsidize strategic organizing campaigns.\n\nThe OI began to wane in influence in the late 1990s. The OI continued to emphasize the organizing model and promote an activist approach to union organizing. However, many of the labor leaders and staff most prominent in organizing began to de-emphasize the organizing model. SEIU president Andy Stern and others argued that large-scale union organizing depended less on organizing methods and more on wholesale restructuring of the labor movement. Other labor leaders and organizers contended that federal labor law was too weak and ill-enforced to adequately protect workers and organizers under the organizing model and that a new model—the comprehensive campaign—was needed.\n\nCriticisms\nThe OI has been criticized on a number of issues.\n\nSome labor union organizers point out that the organizing model contains a notable flaw. The model has a tendency to promote \"staffing up\"—an organizing approach which relies on hiring and training large numbers of full-time staff organizers and researchers. These staff organizers are often recruited from outside the ranks of the membership. The staff-driven organizing model, critics say, fails to empower workers, contributes to weak elected leadership, does not educate members about the nature and role of unions, fails to prepare members for effective collective bargaining, and leads to worker dependence on regional or national staff.\n\nAnother problem of \"staffing up\" is the \"churn 'em and burn 'em\" effect. New Organizers are being recruited into an already crowded marketplace, creating what the AFL-CIO has termed, the \"race to the bottom\" (competition resulting in wage-undercutting). With unions lacking in real political and financial support of organizing programs, there is no demand for the perpetual supply of entry-level staff. Simply put, supply exceeds demand. Permanent job placement and career development are lacking.\n\nOther critics contend the OI training programs do not go far enough in terms of mentoring and real-world skill-building. The OI, these critics claim, often place new organizers in positions with unions not committed to the organizing model. Without full financial, staff and political support, these new organizers often become disillusioned, suffer burnout, and leave the labor movement. Others learn poor organizing habits, and lose their effectiveness.\n\nThe OI has also been criticized for meddling in affiliate politics. In the early 1990s, OI leaders began to realize that many AFL-CIO affiliate unions gave only lip-service to aggressive organizing. The OI subsequently developed a program to \"educate\" national, regional and local union leaders about the benefits of the organizing model. The education program, promulgated by Bensinger during his tenure as OI director, became an integral part of the AFL-CIO's organizing push after Sweeney named Bensinger director of the AFL-CIO Organizing Department in 1996. But a number of elected union leaders perceived the program as a thinly-veiled attempt to interfere in their internal politics. In August 1998, Bensinger resigned as director of the Organizing Department after only 18 months in the position. The education program continued to create problems over the next five years. Bensinger's replacement, Kirk Adams (the AFL-CIO's southern regional director and a former organizing director at SEIU) resigned in January 2000 after only 16 months on the job. Adams' successor, Mark Splain (the federation's Western regional director and a former SEIU organizing director in California), was named as Adams' replacement in May 2000. But Splain resigned in October 2003. Stewart Acuff, deputy director of the organizing department, was named Splain's replacement.\n\nSee also\n National Labor College\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\"AFL-CIO to Beef Up Organizing.\" Chicago Tribune. September 25, 1995.\nAmber, Michelle. \"Federation Adopts Strategic Plan to Promote Organizing Efforts.\" Labor Relations Week. February 21, 1996.\nBensinger, Richard. Reaching Higher: A Handbook for Union Organizing Committee Members. Arlington, Va.: Organizing Resources, 2002. \nBensinger, Richard and Porter, Allison. \"Labor at the Crossroads.\" Boston Review. 18:5 (September–October 1993).\nBronfenbrenner, Kate and Hickey, Robert. \"Winning is Possible: Successful Union Organizing in the United States -- Clear Lessons, Too Few Examples.\" Multinational Monitor. 24:6 (June 2003).\nBronfenbrenner, Kate and Juravich, Tom. \"The Evolution of Strategic and Coordinated Bargaining Campaigns in the 1990s: The Steelworkers’ Experience.\" In Rekindling the Movement: Labor's Quest for Relevance in the Twenty-First Century. Lowell Turner, Harry C. Katz and Richard W. Hurd, eds. Ithaca, N.Y.: ILR Press, 2001. \nBuhle, Paul. Taking Care of Business: Samuel Gompers, George Meany, Lane Kirkland, and the Tragedy of American Labor. New York City: Monthly Review Press, 1999. \nDannin, Ellen. Taking Back the Workers' Law. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2006. \nEarly, Steve. \"AFL-CIO’s Organizing Summit Looks at ‘Best Practices’ - But Leaves Much Unexamined.\" Labor Notes. February 2003.\n\"FAQs About the Organizing Institute.\" AFL-CIO. No date. Accessed May 3, 2007.\nFoerster, Amy. \"Confronting the Dilemmas of Organizing: Obstacles and Innovations at the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute.\" In Rekindling the Movement: Labor's Quest for Relevance in the Twenty-First Century. Lowell Turner, Harry C. Katz, and Richard W. Hurd, eds. Ithaca, N.Y.: ILR Press, 2001. \nFoerster, Amy. \"Labor's Youth Brigade: What Can the Organizing Institute and Its Graduates Tell Us About the Future of Organized Labor?\" Labor Studies Journal. 28:3 (Fall 2003).\nGreenhouse, Steve. \"Janitors' Drive in Texas Gives Hope to Unions.\" New York Times. November 28, 2005.\nHarbrant, Bob. \"Comprehensive Campaigns.\" In Union Power in the Future: A Union Activist's Agenda. Ken Gagala, ed. Ithaca, N.Y.: ILR Press, 1987.\nHayes, Christopher. \"What Does the AFL-CIO Do, Anyway?\" In These Times. January 21, 2005.\nHurd, Richard. \"The Failure of Organizing, the New Unity Partnership, and the Future of the Labor Movement.\" WorkingUSA: The Journal of Labor and Society. September 2004.\nJohnson, William. \"The New Unity Partnership.\" Z Magazine. March 2004.\nLynem, Julie N. \"Campus Solidarity With Labor Grows.\" San Francisco Chronicle. September 2, 2002\nMoberg, David. \"Organize, Strategize, Revitalize: Unions Debate Best Way to Revive Labor's Fortunes.\" In These Times. January 16, 2004.\nRooks, Daisy. \"Sticking It Out or Packing It In?: Organizer Retention in the New Labor Movement.\" In Rebuilding Labor: Organizing and Organizers in the New Union Movement. Ruth Milkman and Kim Voss, eds. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2003. \nSerrin, William. \"Labor Faces Unmet Goals and New Challenge.\" New York Times. November 15, 1981.\nSmucker, Sam. \"Training Union Organizers in the Middle of a Fight: The AFL-CIO’s Organizing Institute.\" Labor Notes. November 2002.\nStern, Andrew. \"Change Labor, Change America.\" In These Times. January 16, 2004.\n\nExternal links\n\nAFL-CIO Organizing Institute Web site\n\nOrganizations established in 1989\nAFL–CIO\nHistory of labor relations in the United States\nLabor schools",
"The organizing model, as the term refers to trade unions (and sometimes other social-movement organizations), is a broad conception of how those organizations should recruit, operate, and advance the interests of their members, though the specific functions of the model are more detailed and are discussed at length below. It typically involves many full-time organizers, who work by building up confidence and strong networks and leaders within the workforce, and by confrontational campaigns involving large numbers of union members. The organizing model is strongly linked to social movement unionism and community unionism. The organizing model contributes to the discussion of how trade unions can reverse the trend of declining membership, which they are experiencing in most industrial nations, and how they can recapture some of the political power, which the labor movement has lost over the past century.\n\nThe organizing model is frequently compared and contrasted with other methods of union organization, such as the servicing model. There is disagreement as to the logistics of applying the organizing model and whether it should focus on organizing existing members, recruiting new members, or both. The prominence of the model and the debate over its worth are seen primarily in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom.\n\nDefining the Organizing Model\n\nThe principal aim of the organizing model is that of giving power directly to union members. The organizing model in its ideal type has these features:\n\n Strong emphasis on the importance of personal contact in organizing. Union officials are, according to Heery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon, \"paid,\" as opposed to being volunteers from the union itself. These are the same people who, had they been employing the service model in their union, would have been offering services to the members, but instead they focus their efforts on organizing the union members to act on their own behalf, rather than simply offering them services.\n To facilitate this type of organization, organizers will often put in long hours talking to workers about their situation, and what they believe the union can help them achieve. Visits to workers' homes will often be a component of this. \n Acceptance of the view that workers need to take some appreciable responsibility for winning union struggles and making the union strong. \n The identification and recruitment of volunteer leaders from among the workforce, to spread information about the union and encourage others to join and take action.\n Proactive recruitment drives conducted by either the paid organizers, the volunteers from the union, or both. The important part of the recruitment aspect of the organizing model is, according to Heery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon, ensuring \"the principle of 'like-recruits-like' such that the recruiters have the same demographic and occupational identity as those being recruited.\" Though, there can be unions that employ the organizing model without necessarily emphasizing recruitment. \n As a component of these recruitment drives, Heery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon also discuss \"mapping\" of workplaces as a key component of the organizing model, and they also make it clear that the goal of mapping is to \"...identify all members of the workplace and rank them systematically in terms of their propensity to become active in the union.\" \n Proactive campaigning, involving a large commitment of resources and large numbers of members. Heery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon assert that this campaigning has to be focused on specific \"issues and grievances,\" rather than campaigning without any specific, tangible goals in mind. \n Creative campaigning tactics - including demonstrations, street theatre, media stunts, direct action, civil disobedience, music etc.\n A conception of leadership in which leaders are those willing to take the initiative and contribute effort, rather than one based on authority. It is often the goal for leadership (as the confidence to initiate organization with others) will spread as broadly as possible.\n Heery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon also offer \"community support\" as a key to the success of the organizing model. As a way to maintain or even incite this support from the community, Heery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon suggest \"publicising concessions from the employer\". \n Typically a relatively high level of membership dues relative for industrial—as opposed to craft—unions.\n\nOrganizing versus Servicing\nThe development of the organizing model is as opposed to the servicing model, and there are various differences between the two models for union structure. Edmund Heery, Melanie Simms, Dave Simpson, Rick Delbridge, and John Salmon talk about how in the servicing model, \"...the function of the union is to deliver collective and individual services to members who are dependent on the formal organization and its hierarchy of officers to provide what they require.\" Heery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon state that the organizing model is different from the servicing model because it focuses instead on making union members feel \"empowered,\" rather than alienated from the whole union process and environment.\n\nJack Fiorito states that the organizing model and the servicing model cannot be considered separate and there needs to be provision for using both models at the same time; Fiorito's research about British union members showed that \"...a large number of responses express reservations about the OM or at least the organizing vs. servicing dichotomy suggested. Many of these responses emphasize the importance of service as an aid to organizing (18%) or something that is expected by the members (23%).\" Fiorito believes that the organizing model and the servicing model are not mutually exclusive in some cases; there are some instances when the two models could be complementary. The debate over the organizing model versus the servicing model is widespread and multifaceted. Even the goals of the organizing model are debated and disagreed upon.\n\nInternal versus External\nAccording to Bill Fletcher and Richard W. Hurd, unions that employ the organizing model often try to apply the above tactics in \"internal,\" not just \"external\" campaigns. Indeed, many unions that employ the organizing model attempt to win a greater right to organize non-union workers through pressuring an employer through using current members' collective strength. Richard Hurd says that \"Throughout the late 1980s the organizing model was used almost exclusively to apply to internal organizing;\" however, \"...by 1995 the organizing model concept was indiscriminately used to refer to both internal organizing to mobilize members and external organizing that promotes grassroots activism as a way to build support for union representation.\"\n\nThere is debate as to the proper role of the organizing model and whether it should focus on internal or on external applications. Bob Carter talks about the difference between internal organizing and external organizing in the context of the earliest British unions to use the organizing model. Carter says that \"...despite the core message of the American model - that organization, rather than recruitment as such, was primary - officers were given individual recruitment targets...placing an emphasis not so much on the changing nature of unionism but simply on short-term recruitment.\" There is an apparent disconnect between employing the organizing model primarily for recruitment purposes and using the organizing model to facilitate better union conditions for pre-existing members of the union.\n\nAccording to Fletcher and Hurd, exactly what constitutes internal organizing and what constitutes external organizing is unclear. Jack Fiorito offers an argument about internal vs. external organizing in the context of British unions. Fiorito says that external organizing is \"...organizing in new areas...\", while internal organizing is \"...recruitment in sites where the union has recognition...\" Fletcher and Hurd believe that the organizing model should be more focused on external, rather than internal, organizing, and they cite \"Organizing Locals\" as a good example of how that could be accomplished.\n\nHistory and Context of the Union Organizing Model\nTrade unions originally existed to organize their members democratically, and during their early growth, they typically put a strong emphasis on active recruitment and militant rank and file action, including strikes. By no means did they always unambiguously act in the interests of their members, but they were perceived as organizations that existed to struggle for collective action. Particularly since the end of World War II, however, the trade unions have tended more and more to act as service providers for their members: providing legal advice, training and so on; eschewing mass-based, militant action. During the '60s, '70s and onward, this trend deepened, with union density among the workforce falling all the while, until it could be measured at between 10% and 20% in many industrialized countries. In the context of this history, the organizing model is in principle not so much a new conception, as an attempt to recapture the essence of the labor movement.\n\nThe 1980s saw various attempts, in the United States, to compensate for falling union membership. Richard Hurd says that through the adoption of the \"Organizing Institute\" in the U.S., the organizing model was able to spread to other countries, as it \"...served as a prototype for Australia's Organizing Works and Britain's Organizing Academy.\" Bob Carter explains the logistics how the organizing model spread across the world. Carter says that \"After a visit to the US of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), the influence of the organising approach spread to Australia and New Zealand and back to Britain via MSF.\" Carter asserts that the organizing model started in the US, went to Australia and New Zealand next, and then went to the UK. David Peetz and Barbara Pocock state that the ways these various countries implemented the organizing model were quite different, and the model looked slightly different based upon these minor discrepancies.\n\nHistory in the United States\nAccording to Richard W. Hurd, the history of the organizing model in the U.S. began from the failure of a \"labor law\" to be passed in the 1970s. In addition, Hurd explains that the 1980s were a very troubling time for unions in the U.S. as a result of \"...the anti-union reign of Ronald Reagan...\" and \"Twin recessions.\" Both of these factors contributed to the decline of union membership that so infamously characterized the labor movement in the U.S. in the 1980s. In fact, Hurd says that, \"The labor movement lost more than one-fifth of its private sector members during the first half of the 1980s.\" Therefore, U.S. unions were forced to try some new tactics in the hopes of regaining the membership they were losing.\n\nIn response to this labor crisis, the AFL-CIO made many attempts to renew its labor movement in the 1980s, but none of them were successful. However, in 1988, an AFL-CIO organized teleconference of trade unionists recognized the potential of the nascent organizing model, gave it its name, and resolved to spread it throughout the trade-union movement: this was an element in the model's popularization. After the teleconference, the AFL-CIO, according to Hurd, established the \"Organizing Institute,\" and the goal of the institute was \"...to train union organizers.\" While, as Richard Hurd suggests, the attempts at reigniting the flame of union membership were largely unsuccessful, in 1995, former SEIU President John Sweeney was elected president of the AFL-CIO on the New Voice slate, on a platform of spreading the organizing model across the members of the federation. According to Richard Hurd, when Sweeney took over, he created an \"Organizing Department\" to enhance the strategy of employing the organizing model throughout the AFL-CIO, and he encouraged unions to begin \"...devoting 30% of their budgets to recruitment.\" The extent of the success of this is disputed, with some suggesting that more rhetoric has changed than anything, but it did have at least some effect. Richard Hurd suggests that \"The reality is that the individual national unions determine their own resource allocations and develop their own organizing programs,\" but \"Most unions have increased the funding of their organizing departments, and many have devoted substantial resources to the effort.\" This is how the AFL-CIO tried to implement the organizing model in response to the membership crisis.\n\nIn the mid-1980s, the SEIU union found itself in a similar state of crisis. A period of intense internal discussion gave rise to the view that a radical program was needed to rebuild the union and make it relevant to current and potential members. The Justice for Janitors campaign was launched as the organizational spearhead of the SEIU's attempt to reinvigorate their membership; beginning in Denver, Colorado in 1985. In addition to the Justice for Janitors campaign, according to Jennifer Jihye Chun, around the same time, the SEIU also engaged in campaigns for \"home care workers\" in Los Angeles. Chun says that \"Through a combination of aggressive grassroots organizing strategies, a focused political action campaign, and mass worker mobilizations, SEIU organizers were able to sign up 15,000 workers...\"\n\nWorking along the lines described above, the SEIU experienced huge growth in membership and a significant number of high-profile public victories for workers. (Though some proportion of the SEIU's membership growth has resulted from mergers, such as with 1199). The tactics and strategies of the SEIU and Justice for Janitors go beyond the organizing model which is, as has been described, an approach to local-level organizing and campaigning. It applies to a drive for the recruitment of members and leaders on the level of a firm or city. Other aspects of the SEIU's strategies are national or international. For instance, the drive to gain industry-wide coverage across a large geographical base - i.e. to organize janitors not only within one building but across a whole city, state and eventually all across the USA - or the advocacy of union mergers.\n\nHistory in Australia\nAfter a wave of massive industrial unrest and unprecedented increases in wages and conditions during the 1970s, the union movement became restrained in their demands, and part of the official apparatus of government during the ALP-led, neo-corporatist, Accord period (1983–96). According to Bob Carter and Rae Cooper, the ALP and the ACTU formed the \"Accord\" by establishing a formal \"relationship\" with each other While unions had amalgamated prior to the Accord, and the Australian Council of Trade Unions had itself absorbed other lesser peak industrial councils, the accord period and the later enterprise bargaining period encouraged mergers into super unions. These super unions often obliterated previous small union identities and loyalties (on both the \"left\" and \"right\" of the trade union movement) and created unions with a relatively artificial internal culture. Often the largest union in the merger imposed its internal culture on the other divisions of the new union. Additionally, during the period of mergers, the traditional links between members, local organisers, industrial officers, branches and the peak leaderships of unions broke down. This presented a challenge to the union movement. According to Bob Carter and Rae Cooper, the Accord period was very harmful to labor unions, and the super unions did not do anything drastic to improve the conditions of the unions.\n\nBob Carter and Rae Cooper state that the 1980s and 1990s were particularly bad decades for Australian unions. According to Carter and Cooper, the decline of union membership was worse, during the 1980s and the 1990s, in Australia than it was in the U.K. Carter and Cooper explain that the membership decline in Australian unions was the result of the \"...pro-active anti-union approach...\" by the \"...conservative Coalition federal government...,\" along with other \"...structural changes in the labor market.\" Peetz and Pocock state that during the 1980s and the 1990s, unions had to deal with \"...outright hostility...\" and \"...successive pieces of legislation...\" that were harmful to their membership and growth.\n\nThe response to this union crisis in Australia is the Organising Works program which was established in 1994 to recruit organizers from union members and university students. The Organizing Works Program, in Australia, was established after representatives from Australian unions visited the U.S. and observed the organizing model in practice. Organising Works is a relatively unique program in Australia, in that it combines explicit training in trade unionism with an apprenticeship system with specific trade unions. Bob Carter and Rae Cooper state that Organizing Works was successful in spreading the message of the model and recruiting new members for unions, and in general, Australian unions were more committed to the organizing model than were British unions. David Peetz and Barbara Pocock state that in the first six years of the Organizing Works Program in Australia, \"...it had produced over 300 trainees...\" Carter and Cooper discuss the \"Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU)\" as one of the main Australian unions to implement the organizing model on a large scale in response to union decline. Peetz and Pocock talk about the \"Unions@Work\" report that was published for unions in 1999, which even continued the mission of the Organizing Works program. Peetz and Pocock emphasize that the organizing model was implemented differently in different Australian unions and that the aspects of the organizing model that got implemented differed by union.\n\nHistory in the UK and Ireland\nAccording to Bob Carter and Rae Cooper, the U.K. went through several decades of uncertainty for unions. Specifically, conditions of the 1970s through the 1990s in the U.K. were particularly prone to hostile conditions for unions. Carter and Cooper state that British unions, like the \"Trades Union Congress (TUC)\" had to face \"government hostility\" and \"job losses.\" In response to unfavorable conditions for unions, according to Carter and Cooper, the TUC tried implementing the \"servicing\" model, but it failed to provide measurable improvements in the labor movement or in \"membership.\" According to Bob Carter, the \"first major British union\" to employ the organizing model was \"Manufacturing, Science and Finance (MSF),\" not necessarily the TUC. Bob Carter and Rae Cooper state that MSF was a combined union, which was formed from both the \"Association of Scientific, Technical, Managerial, and Supervisory Staffs (ASTMS)\" and the \"Technical Advisory Staffs (TASS).\" Bob Carter says that when ASTMS and TASS came together to form MSF, the merged organization more closely resembled ASTMS than TASS. According to Carter and Cooper, the history of the ASTMS showed that it was \"...a much looser form of organization,\", while TASS was more \"Communist.\" Carter states that MSF began implementing the \"MSF policy Organising Works\" in 1996. Carter makes the case that the MSF's implementation of the organizing model came after they tried \"Reinforcement of a servicing culture...,\" which was, overall, not very successful. This is why they switched their strategy toward using the organizing model, rather than the servicing model. However, according to Carter, MSF had many problems arise in the wake of the model's adoption, such as the fact that \"It was conceived and implemented from the top downwards...without wide discussion in the union.\" Carter sees this as a fundamental problem posed by the organizing model, and he thinks it must be overcome in order for it to be effective.\n\nCarter states that the same time period also saw the \"launch of the TUC's New Unionism project in 1996.\" Both unions, MSF and the TUC, were implementing new policies of employing the organizing model in an attempt to revitalize the conditions of their unions. The 1990s in the U.K. were especially geared toward experimentation and reorientation of the labor market toward being influential again. Carter and Cooper question how successful the New Unionism Project was in facilitating growth and organizing for unions. Carter and Cooper suggest that one of the main problems with the New Unionism was that it was too focused on negotiating with the \"employer,\" rather than just focusing on the goals of the workers. Carter and Cooper state that the TUC had no real power over its \"affiliates,\" except setting a good example and hoping that the affiliated unions follow their lead by implementing the organizing model.\n\nThe British Trades Union Congress (TUC) inaugurated an Organising Academy in 1998, to fulfill a similar role to that of the AFL-CIO's Organizing Institute in the USA (or ACTU's Organising Works programme in Australia). Carter and Cooper question how successful the Academy was in spreading the organizing model because of the lack of \"trainees\" from some unions. Heery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon state that, while the spread of the organizing model was the primary goal of the Academy, the Academy was actually dedicated to helping people traditionally underrepresented in the labor unions, such as \"women\" and the \"young\" or those with \"non-standard\" employment. While the graduates of the Academy have produced positive results, in general the model has not been implemented in the UK with the same comprehensive commitment as it has been by some unions in the USA. Heery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon state that U.K. unions are more likely to adopt the organizing model if they are or have been affiliated with \"the Academy,\" so the Academy has had a measurable impact on the implementation of the organizing model within the U.K.\n\nThere are questions raised by writers on Industrial Relations about whether the transfer of the SEIU's organizing model has been faithful, or whether a watered down, less radical version has been instantiated. Sarah Oxenbridge, for example, writes \"community organising and organising model methods provided the means by which Californian Unionists put their 'social movement unionism' philosophies and strategies into practice, on a daily basis (see Heery 1998). However, it may be that most British Trade Unionists will instead see the organising model as - more simply - a range of recruitment tactics, and will pick and choose from amongst these tactics.\" Heery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon have isolated several aspects of the organizing model that are likely to appear in the U.K., namely \"one-to-one recruitment,\" and \"petitions, surveys and demonstrations.\" Heery Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon emphasize that these are only some of the core aspects of the organizing model, not all of them. Heery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon state that British unions are more likely to employ the organizing model, rather than the serving model, if they are bigger and more open to influence from \"other countries\".\n\nAccording to Heery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon, British unions are more likely to focus on the ideological basis for the organizing model, rather than the practical applications of it. Jack Fiorito states that the U.K.'s adaptation of the organizing model has some very specific characteristics that may or may not be seen in other countries. Fiorito lists \"...less reliance on paid staff and much lower dues levels in U.K. unions...\" as important features of the organizing model in the U.K. Fiorito did extensive research about the condition of British unions in the 2000s, which demonstrated that the organizing model was influential in British unions in the 2000s. When Fiorito interviewed U.K. union members during this timeframe, \"Almost half of respondents (45%) volunteer that their union is adopting the OM,\" which is Fiorito's abbreviation for the organizing model. The organizing model was present in many British unions in the 2000s, and the workers were aware of its presence. The British union members largely felt that the organizing model was a good model to have implemented in their unions, and they were satisfied with its results. Fiorito states that \"Although the OM varies somewhat in meaning, a strong majority of unionists feel that their union is truly committed to recruiting and organizing new members...\".\n\nThe Irish general union SIPTU established an Organizing Unit in 2004 and its president, Jack O'Connor, set as his objective the transformation of SIPTU - hitherto firmly committed to a servicing agenda - into an organizing union. SIPTU is also seeking to learn from the experience of the SEIU. It remains to be seen how (and whether) a commitment to the organizing model of trade unionism can be reconciled with the union's traditional support for national 'Social Partnership'.\n\nThe Transport and General Workers Union (T&G) has begun to make some of the more serious moves of any of the larger British unions to learn from the SEIU's strategies - though some smaller unions (such as Community) have been applying the organizing model for some years. In 2005, the T&G launched a Justice for Cleaners campaign, which has been organizing workers in Canary Wharf, the Houses of Parliament, and, towards the end of the year, on the London Underground. In the former of these two, improvements in wages have been won by workers. The tactics of Social Movement Unionism have been utilized, insofar as the campaign organizers have worked closely with, for example, The East London Citizens Organisation (TELCO), which has brought in members of faith groups and other trade union branches. However, there remain concerns about the T&G's commitment to rank and file workers' action, considering how the union acted during the Gate Gourmet strike.\n\nAdvantages of the Organizing Model\nHeery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon assert that the organizing model has several key advantages that distinguish it from the servicing model, such as the fact that the organizing model promotes \"systematic,\" proactive, and well-thought out campaigns, which help the union's goals get satisfactorily and pragmatically achieved. More broadly, one of the obvious advantages of the organizing model is that it allows workers to actually be involved in the campaigns that most closely affect them, promoting both equity and equality. In addition, the organizing model, as opposed to the servicing model, provides for the union's future by broadening its support from the workers and giving them a sense of investment into the day-to-day functions of the union itself. Bob Carter and Rae Cooper, in their research about British trade unions and their use of the organizing model, state that, within the unions themselves, there was praise for the organizing model because it upheld the \"...core role of trade unions\". This is to say that the British union members felt the organizing model adhered to what unions should be doing in regard to their members.\n\nDisadvantages of the Organizing Model\n\nPractical Disadvantages\n\nHeery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon list several disadvantages of the union organizing model, with the most critical being that the model is very \"resource-intensive,\" in terms of both people and money. Since the organizing model is, at its core, about people, rather than services, it cannot be effective without people to both implement it and carry it out. Heery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon talk about \"...instances of a lack of support or even opposition to organizing within unions.\" Because the organizing model is so dependent upon worker motivation and action, if the workers themselves oppose the implementation of the organizing model, it cannot be effective. Fletcher and Hurd suggest that even if members are not resistant to adoption of the organizing model, they still have to learn how to perform tasks previously handled by organizers, and there have to be enough active members to facilitate this kind of action. This clear dependence on the support and actions of the workers is a disadvantage of the organizing model, as opposed to the servicing model, which, for the most part, does not require worker support or demand worker action. According to Heery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon, \"Employers are often resistant.\" Unions that have to deal with this problem would very clearly have a hard time using the organizing model, as it could antagonize the employer even further and erode any previously existing relationship between the employer and the union.\n\nFletcher and Hurd state that unions may also face issues of resistance by pre-existing \"staff,\" who may be hesitant or even suspicious at the adoption of the organizing model. Dealing with resistant staff would be a major disadvantage of using the organizing model, as opposed to the servicing model, to which the staff are both accustomed and familiar with. Fletcher and Hurd assert that, based on the fact that unions employing the organizing model have to reassign tasks and take time to train people, \"...following the organizing model creates more work than sticking to the servicing model.\" Richard Hurd argues that the organizing model can, at times, create \"...continual warfare...\" between the workers and the employer, which is a disadvantage because there is a trend of workers \"...preferring stability rather than on-going class struggle.\" If this is really the mindset of the workers, then it would be hard to actually maintain the organizing model for long periods of time. Fred Glass says that \"...an organizing model of unionism requires an organizing model of labor communications\" because the organizing model requires an effective way to share information with workers quickly and efficiently. Bob Carter, in regard to the organizing model in British unions, is concerned with the method of implementation and whether or not workers consent to switching from servicing to organizing. Carter says that \"A model which is premised on debate and involvement cannot be successfully introduced without discussion...\" Carter worries about whether or not workers are a part of the transition process and whether they consent to all of the implications that come with the organizing model.\n\nCriticisms from the Left\nMost practical criticism of the model has emerged as a criticism of the practice of the model by the SEIU and other organizing unions, especially in America. Criticisms from the left generally contrast (explicitly or not) the organizing model to a rank and file model, in which the confrontational style of organizing, and broad-based member involvement in campaigning is supplemented by broad-based member power. According to Bob Carter and Rae Cooper, the organizing model is not inherently \"democratic.\" In the organizing model, the workers are not as active as they could be, and staff are still responsible for many aspects of union organizing. Carter and Cooper believe that the organizing model is rather limited in terms of its scale, and it cannot start a \"...wider working class movement.\"\n\nCriticisms from the Right\nCritics argue that the organizing model is inappropriate to the task of unions in the modern global economy. They say that industrial disputes of the type that organising engenders are harmful to the national economies in which they occur: by increasing uncertainty and raising wages (labor costs), they will make economies less attractive to inward investment. Hence, working people will suffer in the long term, as the less investment, there is, the fewer jobs there will be. The conclusion of those who take this line is that unions should emphasize their service aspects, particularly those that contribute toward the well-being of the employer as well as the employee. In addition, there are the criticisms leveled by the anti-union Right, who often associate collective action with the tyranny of 'Big labor', contrasted to the free operation of the capitalist labor market.\n\nList of unions associated with the organizing model\n\nNote: the organizing model is claimed by a very broad group of bodies, this list will be indicative only:\n Service and Food Workers Union Nga Ringa Tota, New Zealand\n Service Employees International Union (SEIU), USA\n SIPTU, Ireland\n United Voice, Australia\n Unite Union, New Zealand \n UNITE-HERE, USA\n\nSee also\n\n Trade Unions\n Labour Movement\n Services model\n Community Unionism\n Social Movement Unionism\n Union Organizer\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\n The British TUC's New Unionism pages. The Resources section hosts a number of pamphlets which are useful contributions from both sides to the debate over Organising and Services.\n Article from Labor Notes summarizing five books which constructively criticize the SEIU from the Left.\n Article comparing Trade Union strategies in USA and New Zealand. Includes details of the origin of Organizing as a formally recognized concept in America. Sarah Oxenbridge, working paper, March 2000.\n Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Australian Union Revival. Hanley and Holland, working paper, May 2003\n Table contrasting the organizing and service models in a variety of respects. A useful summary from LA Labor.\n Real Organizing: A discussion on organising from a rank and file perspective. Also hosted by LA Labor.\n Organizing Committee Handbook from LA Labor.\n The Unite To Win proposals from the New Unity Partnership. The proposals concern the national level union structures that, they argue, are necessary to facilitate the organizing model.\n Argument against the NUP's Unite To Win proposals\n Articles hosted by Labor Notes on the NUP proposals\n Union Organising in Big Blue's backyard - case study by Findlay P; McKinlay A, published 2003 in the Industrial Relations Journal, on an ISTC (now Community) organizing campaign in Scotland. Article may only be available to those with an online subscription to the journal, such as many universities will have.\n \"Foundation Attorneys Provide True \"Justice for Janitors\"\" An article published by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Inc.\n\nTrade unions\nAustralian labour movement\nLabor relations"
]
|
[
"Ed Barrow",
"Return to baseball",
"What year did he return to baseball?",
"1910,",
"What had he been doing before that?",
"I don't know.",
"What did the return to baseball involve?",
"managing Montreal.",
"How did Montreal do under his management?",
"He served in this role from 1911 through 1917, and engineered the name change to \"International League\" before the 1912 season.",
"Did he buy the team?",
"I don't know.",
"Was their 1912 season successful?",
"unsuccessful.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Barrow attempted to organize the \"Union League\", to compete against the AL and NL as a third major league, by merging four International League clubs with four teams",
"Did he succeed in organizing the union league?",
"Several International League owners opposed Barrow's policies, including his attempt to form the Union League, and felt he was too close personally to Ban Johnson."
]
| C_fdd107875b0c4772925599906971c74a_0 | What else had he done to try to organize the union league? | 9 | Aside from his attempt to try to form the union league, what else did Ed Barrow do to try to organize the league? | Ed Barrow | Barrow returned to baseball in 1910, managing Montreal. The Eastern League hired Barrow as its president the next year, giving him an annual salary of $7,500 ($196,982 in current dollar terms). He served in this role from 1911 through 1917, and engineered the name change to "International League" before the 1912 season. As league president, he contended with the creation of the Federal League in 1914, which competed as a major league, and established franchises in International League cities, including Newark, New Jersey, Buffalo, New York, and Baltimore, Maryland. He attempted to gain major league status for the league in 1914, but was unsuccessful. When the Federal League collapsed, Barrow was the only league president to forbid the outlaw players from playing in his league. After the 1917 season, Barrow attempted to organize the "Union League", to compete against the AL and NL as a third major league, by merging four International League clubs with four teams from the American Association. Several International League owners opposed Barrow's policies, including his attempt to form the Union League, and felt he was too close personally to Ban Johnson. When the league's owners voted to cut his pay to $2,500 after the 1917 season ($47,753 in current dollar terms), Barrow resigned. Barrow became manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1918. As the team lost many of its better players during World War I, Barrow encouraged owner Harry Frazee to purchase Stuffy McInnis, Wally Schang, Bullet Joe Bush, and Amos Strunk from the Philadelphia Athletics for $75,000 ($1,220,243 in current dollar terms). During the season, Barrow feuded with his assistant, Johnny Evers, who undermined Barrow's leadership. The Red Sox won the 1918 World Series. Recognizing that star pitcher Babe Ruth was also a great power hitter, Barrow had Ruth pinch hit on days when he wasn't scheduled to pitch. When Ruth told Barrow that he could only pitch or hit, Barrow decided that Ruth's bat was more useful than his pitching, and transitioned him from a pitcher into an outfielder. After the 1918 season, Frazee, now in debt, began selling the contracts of star players. He traded Dutch Leonard, Duffy Lewis, and Ernie Shore to the New York Yankees, obtaining Ray Caldwell, Slim Love, Frank Gilhooley, Roxy Walters, and cash. Frazee sold Carl Mays to the Yankees during the 1919 season. The Red Sox struggled in 1919, finishing sixth in the AL. Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees after the season, against Barrow's warnings. The Red Sox finished in fifth in 1920. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Edward Grant Barrow (May 10, 1868 – December 15, 1953) was an American manager and front office executive in Major League Baseball. He served as the field manager of the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox. He served as business manager (de facto general manager) of the New York Yankees from 1921 to 1939 and as team president from 1939 to 1945, and is credited with building the Yankee dynasty. Barrow was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.
Born in a covered wagon in Springfield, Illinois, Barrow worked as a journalist and soap salesman before entering the business of baseball by selling concessions at games. From there, Barrow purchased minor league baseball teams, also serving as team manager, and served as president of the Atlantic League. After managing the Tigers in 1903 and 1904 and returning to the minor leagues, Barrow became disenchanted with baseball, and left the game to operate a hotel.
Barrow returned to baseball in 1910 as president of the Eastern League. After a seven-year tenure, Barrow managed the Red Sox from 1918 through 1920, leading the team to victory in the 1918 World Series. When Red Sox owner Harry Frazee began to sell his star players, Barrow joined the Yankees. During his quarter-century as their baseball operations chief, the Yankees won 14 AL pennants and 10 World Series titles.
Early life
Barrow was born in Springfield, Illinois, the oldest of four children, all male, born to Effie Ann Vinson-Heller and John Barrow. Barrow's father fought in the Ohio Volunteer Militia during the American Civil War. Following the war, Barrow's parents, with John's mother, brothers, and sisters, traveled in a covered wagon to Nebraska; Barrow was born on a hemp plantation belonging to relatives during the trip. The Barrows lived in Nebraska for six years before moving to Des Moines, Iowa. His middle name, Grant, was bestowed on him in honor of Ulysses S. Grant, the Civil War general.
Barrow worked as mailing clerk for the Des Moines News in 1887, receiving a promotion to circulation manager within a year. He became a reporter for the Des Moines Leader after graduating from high school. He became city editor, earning $35 a week ($ in current dollar terms). In his last two years living in Des Moines, Barrow established a baseball team, which included future baseball stars Fred Clarke, Ducky Holmes, and Herm McFarland.
Barrow moved to Pittsburgh in 1889, where he worked as a soap salesman, believing there was money in this business. However, Barrow lost all of money in this business, and went to work as a desk clerk in a Pittsburgh hotel.
Baseball career
Early career
Barrow partnered with Harry Stevens in 1894 to sell concessions at baseball games. He helped George Moreland form the Interstate League, a Class-C minor league, in 1894. Barrow, with Stevens and Al Buckenberger, purchased the Wheeling Nailers of the Interstate League in 1896. Barrow served as field manager until the collapse of the league that season. The team continued in the Iron and Oil League for the rest of the year.
Barrow then bought the Paterson Silk Weavers of the Class-A Atlantic League, managing them for the rest of the 1896 season. Barrow discovered Honus Wagner throwing lumps of coal at a railroad station in Pennsylvania, and signed him to his first professional contract. Barrow sold Wagner to the Louisville Colonels of the National League (NL) for $2,100 the next year ($ in current dollar terms). With poor attendance, Barrow brought in professional boxers as a draw: he had James J. Corbett play first base while John L. Sullivan and James J. Jeffries umpired. He also hired Lizzie Arlington, the first woman in professional baseball, to pitch a few innings a game.
From 1897 through 1899, Barrow served as president of the Atlantic League. During this time, in the winter of 1898–99, Barrow and Jake Wells established a movie theater in Richmond, Virginia. Barrow managed Paterson again in 1899, but the league folded after the season.
With the money earned from the sale of the Richmond movie theater, Barrow purchased a one-quarter share of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Class-A Eastern League in 1900 from Arthur Irwin, and served as the team's manager. Irwin, hired to be the manager of the Washington Senators of the NL, brought his most talented players with him. Rebuilding the Maple Leafs, Barrow acquired talented players, such as Nick Altrock, and the team improved from a fifth-place finish in 1899, to a third-place finish in 1900, and a second-place finish in 1901. The Maple Leafs won the league championship in 1902, even though they lost many of their most talented players, including Altrock, to the upstart American League (AL).
Barrow managed in the major leagues with the Detroit Tigers of the AL in 1903, finishing fifth, a 13-game improvement from their 1902 finish. With the Tigers, Barrow feuded with shortstop Kid Elberfeld. Tigers' owner Sam Angus sold the team to William H. Yawkey before the 1904 season. Barrow managed the Tigers again in 1904, but unable to coexist with Frank Navin, Yawkey's secretary-treasurer, Barrow tendered his resignation. He then managed the Montreal Royals of the Eastern League for the rest of the season. He managed the Indianapolis Indians of the Class-A American Association in 1905 and Toronto in 1906. Disheartened with baseball after finishing in last place, Barrow hired Joe Kelley to manage Toronto in 1907, and after signing the rest of the team's players, became manager of the Windsor Arms Hotel in Toronto.
Return to baseball
Barrow returned to baseball in 1910, managing Montreal. The Eastern League hired Barrow as its president the next year, giving him an annual salary of $7,500 ($ in current dollar terms). He served in this role from 1911 through 1917, and engineered the name change to "International League" before the 1912 season. As league president, he contended with the creation of the Federal League in 1914, which competed as a major league, and established franchises in International League cities, including Newark, New Jersey, Buffalo, New York, and Baltimore, Maryland. He attempted to gain major league status for the league in 1914, but was unsuccessful. When the Federal League collapsed, Barrow was the only league president to forbid the outlaw players from playing in his league.
After the 1917 season, Barrow attempted to organize the "Union League", to compete against the AL and NL as a third major league, by merging four International League clubs with four teams from the American Association. Several International League owners opposed Barrow's policies, including his attempt to form the Union League, and felt he was too close personally to Ban Johnson. When the league's owners voted to cut his pay to $2,500 after the 1917 season ($ in current dollar terms), Barrow resigned.
Barrow became manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1918. As the team lost many of its better players during World War I, Barrow encouraged owner Harry Frazee to purchase Stuffy McInnis, Wally Schang, Bullet Joe Bush, and Amos Strunk from the Philadelphia Athletics for $75,000 ($ in current dollar terms). During the season, Barrow feuded with his assistant, Johnny Evers, who undermined Barrow's leadership. The Red Sox won the 1918 World Series. Recognizing that star pitcher Babe Ruth was also a great power hitter, Barrow had Ruth pinch hit on days when he wasn't scheduled to pitch. When Ruth told Barrow that he could only pitch or hit, Barrow decided that Ruth's bat was more useful than his pitching, and transitioned him from a pitcher into an outfielder.
After the 1918 season, Frazee, now in debt, began selling the contracts of star players. He traded Dutch Leonard, Duffy Lewis, and Ernie Shore to the New York Yankees, obtaining Ray Caldwell, Slim Love, Frank Gilhooley, Roxy Walters, and cash. Frazee sold Carl Mays to the Yankees during the 1919 season. The Red Sox struggled in 1919, finishing sixth in the AL. Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees after the season, against Barrow's warnings. The Red Sox finished in fifth in 1920.
To date, Barrow is the only manager to win a World Series without previously playing in organized baseball, whether in the minors or majors.
New York Yankees
After the 1920 season, Barrow resigned from the Red Sox to become the business manager of the Yankees, replacing the deceased Harry Sparrow. He took control of building the roster, which was usually the field manager's responsibility in those days. With the Yankees, Barrow handled the signing of player contracts, although owner Jacob Ruppert personally handled the contracts of Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
Barrow installed himself in the Yankees' infrastructure between co-owner Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston and manager Miller Huggins, as Huston frequently criticized Huggins. Barrow told Huggins: "You're the manager, and you'll not be second guessed by me. Your job is to win; mine is to get you the players you need to win." When Huggins suspended Ruth indefinitely on August 29, 1925 for "misconduct off the playing field", while also fining him $5,000 ($ in current dollar terms), Barrow supported Huggins.
In his first move with the Yankees, Barrow brought Red Sox coach Paul Krichell with him to New York as a scout. He purchased a share in the club in 1924. He also discovered executive George Weiss, whom he mentored. Barrow also orchestrated a series of trades with his former club, mainly to keep Frazee afloat. These trades netted the Yankees such stars as Bullet Joe Bush, Joe Dugan and George Pipgras. It has been argued that these trades only looked lopsided in favor of the Yankees only because the players sent to Boston suffered a rash of injuries. However, this is belied by the fact that Barrow almost certainly knew who was coming to New York in these deals; he'd managed nearly all of them in Boston.
The Yankees sought to develop their own players, rather than buying them from other teams, especially after the investment of $100,000 ($ in current dollar terms) in Lyn Lary and Jimmie Reese in 1927. However, Weiss and Bill Essick convinced Barrow to approve the purchase of Joe DiMaggio from the Pacific Coast League.
Barrow was considered a potential successor to AL president Ban Johnson in 1927, but Barrow declared that he was not interested in the job. When Huggins died in 1929, Barrow chose Bob Shawkey to replace him as manager, passing over Ruth, who wanted the opportunity to become a player-manager. Barrow also effectively blackballed Ruth from MLB's managerial ranks by suggesting to executives of other teams that Ruth was not equipped to manage a baseball team. Although Ruth and Barrow had been together for all but one season from 1918 to 1934, the two never got along. The Sporting News named Barrow their Executive of the Year in 1937.
After Ruppert's death in 1939, his will left the Yankees and other assets in a trust for his descendants. The will also named Barrow president of the Yankees, with full authority over the team's day-to-day operations. Barrow was named Executive of the Year by The Sporting News in 1941, the second time he won the award. The estate sold the team to a group of Larry MacPhail, Dan Topping, and Del Webb in 1945, and Barrow sold his 10% stake in the team to the group. Barrow remained as chairman of the board and an informal adviser. Though he signed a five-year contract to remain with the team, he exercised a clause in his contract to free himself as of December 31, 1946, in order to officially retire from baseball. AL president Will Harridge offered Barrow the job of Commissioner of Baseball to succeed Kenesaw Mountain Landis; Barrow declined, as he felt he was too old and his health was in decline.
Managerial record
Personal life
Barrow was known as "Uncle Egbert" to his friends; according to writer Tom Meany, Babe Ruth referred to him as "Barrows," treating him as if he were "a butler in an English drawing room comedy." He resided in Rye, New York. He first married in 1898, but did not discuss it in any of his writings. His second marriage was to Fannie Taylor Briggs in January 1912; he raised her five-year-old daughter from her previous marriage, Audrey, as his own daughter.
Barrow was an able boxer. He once fought John L. Sullivan in an exhibition for four rounds.
Barrow was hospitalized on July 7, 1953 at the United Hospital of Port Chester, New York and died on December 15, at the age of 85, due to a malignancy. His body was kept at Campbell's Funeral Home and interred in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.
Legacy
Barrow was the first executive to put numbers on player uniforms. He also announced the retirement of Lou Gehrig's uniform number, the first number to be retired. Barrow was also the first executive to allow fans to keep foul balls that entered the stands. Barrow was also the first to require the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner", the United States' national anthem, before every game, not only on holidays.
In May 1950, an exhibition game was played in honor of Barrow, with Barrow managing a team of retired stars. Barrow was named on the Honor Rolls of Baseball in 1946 and elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1953.
On April 15, 1954, the Yankees dedicated a plaque to Barrow; the plaque first hung on the center field wall at Yankee Stadium, near the flagpole and the monuments to Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Miller Huggins. The plaques were later moved to the stadium's Monument Park.
References
Further reading
In-line citations
External links
Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees' First Dynasty
1868 births
1953 deaths
Sportspeople from Springfield, Illinois
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Minor league baseball executives
Major League Baseball general managers
Boston Red Sox managers
Detroit Tigers managers
Indianapolis Indians managers
Montreal Royals managers
Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) managers
New York Yankees executives
Burials at Kensico Cemetery
World Series-winning managers | false | [
"Phil Chesters (born 29 October 1987) is an English rugby union player who is currently playing for Chinnor in National League 1 having signed for the club for the 2017-18 season.\nPrior to that he had made his name at Ealing Trailfinders where he had also been part of the medical staff. His best position is winger and over his career he has proved to be a tremendous try scorer who has set multiple records in lower division English rugby with Ealing, notably all-time records of 42 tries in a season in tier 3 (National League 1) and an amazing 70 tries in a season in tier 4 (National League 2 South) – a record that is unlikely to ever be beaten. As of the end of the 2017-18 he has also become the National League 2 South all-time try scorer with 117 tries.\n\nSurprisingly, despite all the records he has set Phil has been relatively unheralded by the English mainstream press and he has not played at the highest level of English rugby in the Premiership. As well as appearing for Ealing, Phil has also represented his county side Devon as well as Barbarians and England Counties XV.\n\nRugby Union Career\n\nEarly career \n\nAlthough he grew up in Devon, Phil started his senior rugby union league career at the south-east London based club, Westcombe Park, during the 2008-09 season. Deployed as a full-back in what was a very competitive division, he found his chances limited at a club that would ultimately be relegated at the end of the season. After just one year at Wescombe Park, Phil would be signed by another local club, Ealing Trailfinders, who were playing in National League 2 South – the same division Park had just been demoted to. At Ealing Phil was switched from full-back to the wing where he was better able to make use of his speed and timing at a strong, attack focused team. Becoming a first team regular he had an outstanding debut season, scoring 29 tries to become the divisions top try scorer and helping his side to 3rd place in the 2009–10 National League 2 South, narrowly missing out on the playoff spot despite being tied on points with runners up, Rosslyn Park (who had a better for and against record).\n\nBreaking records \n\nIf his debut season was good, his second season at Trailfinders was record breaking. Having come close to promotion last time around, Ealing would be strong favorites for the title along with league newcomers Jersey. The national league record for tries in a season had been set by Chris Ashton who had scored 39 tries while helping Northampton Saints make an instant return to the Premiership by winning the 2007–08 National Division One league title, himself beating the record of 38 tries set by Richard Newton of Penzance & Newlyn (now known as Cornish Pirates) back in 2000. This record was blown out of the water by Phil who broke it by February when he scored his 40th try against Richmond, ultimately ending the season with an unbelievable 70 tries. As well as breaking the most tries scored in a season, Phil also equaled the divisional record of most tries per game set by James O'Brien back in 2004 – by scoring 7 tries in a game – twice. Unsurprisingly considering the number of tries scored by Phil and the team as a whole (over 1,400 points scored in total), Ealing finished as champions of the 2010–11 National League 2 South, run close by runners up Jersey, with both teams streets ahead of everyone else.\n\nHis third season at Ealing was another good one for Phil and the club. Although some doubted that in a stronger league he would be able to dominate defences as he did in National League 2 South, he continued his rich vein of form by finishing as the league's top try scorer and breaking the National League 1 try record with 40 tries – the third year in a row he had finished as his division's top try scorer. Ealing battled for the 2011–12 National League 1 title with Jersey, as the two promoted sides dominated the league, but in the end had to settle for second place (and missing out on the only promotion spot) as the Islanders had a tremendous season. His form for Ealing would lead to Phil being called up by Devon for the Bill Beaumont Cup in May, bagging 2 tries in a 20 – 33 group stage defeat against Somerset in his only appearance at the competition. Phil would also be honoured with a cap for the Barbarians later that month, scoring a try in a 40 – 17 win for the Ba-Bas against Loughborough Students. The final highlight of another great season was a call up by England Counties XV for their tour of East Africa. Phil scored 4 tries in 3 games played for the Counties which include a brace in the pre-tour game against an Irish XV in Preston, Lancashire as they won all their games.\n\nNear death and rehabilitation \n\nThe 2012-13 season was going well for Phil and his club. Ealing were top of National League 1 and Phil was having another prolific try scoring season with 29 tries to his name before March had drawn to close when disaster struck. Having helped Ealing to a 62 – 7 victory away to Sedgley Park in which he scored six tries, Phil had returned to London and had a night out with friends, during which he was hit by a car and suffered severe injuries including a fractured skull, broken jaw and injured shoulder. He was rushed to intensive care for surgery and spent a week in hospital until he was released to spend the rest of the season at his parents home to recover from his injuries. Despite missing their key try scorer, Ealing managed to win the league title and promotion to the RFU Championship for the first time in the club's history. Phil also finished as the top try scorer in the division as his 29 tries were enough to claim this accolade – now the fourth year in a row in which he had been the top try scorer in his division.\n\nChampionship up and downs \n\nDuring his rehabilitation Phil had been unsure if he would ever play rugby union again due to his injuries but after several months he was given the all-clear and returned to the Ealing Trailfinders squad for contact training in August 2013 in preparation for the 2013–14 RFU Championship season. He made the Trailfinders team for the first game of the season at Allianz Park (a neutral venue for what was billed as the \"Big Rugby Weekend\"), making history by being the first Ealing try scorer in the Championship, in what was otherwise a disappointing game for his side as they lost 13 – 44 to London Scottish. It was a huge step up in class for both Phil and his team as Championship defences were far meaner than they had been in either National League 1 or National League 2 South and they struggled throughout the season, falling out of the British and Irish Cup before Christmas and being involved in a relegation battle with old foes Jersey. Phil scored 12 tries over the season but in the end his team experienced the agony of a last day relegation losing at home to Rotherham Titans while the Islanders had a bonus point victory away to Bedford Blues – staying up by a single point as Ealing's two losing points were not enough to save them from an instant return to National League 1.\n\nThe 2014-15 season saw Phil and Ealing back in National League 1. During the course of the season Ealing proved to be far too strong for the majority of the teams in the division, winning 27 games out of 30 to take the league title and make an instant return to the Championship – nine points clear of second placed Rosslyn Park. In a division where defences were less tight and playing for a winning team, Phil rediscovered his lethal try scoring touch, finishing as the divisions top try scorer with 33 tries.\n\nAlthough Phil was not as prolific as he had been in the previous campaign, he still played an important role in ensuring that this time Ealing remained in the Championship, contributing 9 tries in the league over the 2015-16 season and condemning Moseley to the drop instead. The 2016-17 season saw Ealing go from strength to strength as they achieved a 3rd-place finish in the league and qualification to the playoffs where they lost to Yorkshire Carnegie despite winning the second leg. On a personal note Phil was relegated to more of a squad player this season despite appearing in one of the playoff semi-finals. In March 2017 he signed with Old Elthamians who would go on to achieve promotion from the 2016–17 National League 2 South via the playoffs, although Phil did not feature in the playoff victory.\n\nBack to National 2 South \n\nAfter his short spell with Old Elthamians, Phil decided to sign terms with Chinnor, signing for the club in June 2017. He scored 19 league tries during the 2017-18 as his side would go on to finish as league runners up in National League 2 South, and ultimately gain promotion after winning the play-off against Sedgley Park, although he did not play in this game.\n\nSeason-by-season playing stats\n\nHonours \n\nEaling Trailfinders\nNational League 2 South champions: 2010-11\nNational League 2 South top try scorer (2 times): 2009-10 (28 tries), 2010-11 (70 tries)\nNational League 1 champions (2 times): 2012-13, 2014-15\nNational League 1 top try scorer (3 times): 2011-12 (42 tries), 2012-13 (29 tries), 2014-15 (33 tries)\n\nChinnor\nNational League 2 (north v south) promotion play-off winners: 2017–18\n\nCounty/Representative\nSelected for Devon in County Championship: 2012\nRepresented England Counties XV on tour of East Africa: 2012\nRepresented Barbarians: 2012\n\nPlaying Records \n\nNational League 2 South All-time top try scorer: 117 tries\nNational League 2 South most times top try scorer: 2 times during 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons\nNational League 2 South most tries in a season: 70 tries during 2010-11 season\nNational League 2 South most tries in a match: 7 (x2) during 2010-11 season\nNational League 1 most tries in a season: 42 tries during 2011-12 season\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOld Elthamians RFC\nEaling Trailfinders Rugby Club\n\n1987 births\nLiving people\nBarbarian F.C. players\nEnglish rugby union players\nRugby union players from Devon",
"Ian Clark (born 1 September 1992) is an English semi-professional rugby union and rugby league player who plays as a .\nA prolific try scorer during his time at Hartpury College, he has also had a number of cup appearances for Gloucester. After a spell playing rugby league Ian is currently back playing union for Clifton.\n\nRugby career \n\nBorn in Bristol, England, Ian attended Colston's School until year 11 where his ability in school rugby union saw him progress on to Hartpury College for sixth form, helping the College win back-to-back Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) league titles. While at Hartpury College he was signed by Premiership side Gloucester as part of their academy and was dual registered with Hartpury College men's team, allowing him to combine league rugby with his studies. Ian would begin his adult career playing for Hartpury College in the 2011–12 National League 2 South season and he had an outstanding debut year, scoring 27 tries to become the divisions top try scorer and helping the club to 4th in the league. He also made his first team competitive debut for Gloucester in the second part of the season, making an instant impression with two tries in a 15 – 23 defeat away to London Irish in the LV Cup. The final highlight of an excellent season saw Ian head to Twickenham Stadium as part of the Hartpury College student team for the 2012 BUCS Cup. He contributed two tries in a 45 – 20 win for Hartpury over Durham.\n\nDuring the summer of 2012 Ian appeared for Gloucester in the 2012 JP Morgan Premiership Sevens in which he was the competition's top scorer with 10 tries in a Gloucester side that finished as runners up. Despite his excellent scoring record at the competition he was loaned back to Hartpury College for another season in National League 2 South, helping the club to go one better than the previous season, finishing 3rd, with Ian getting 20 tries and once more being the division's top try scorer (he was the joint top scorer but played less games). He also made several appearances for Gloucester in the European Rugby Challenge Cup and LV Cup.\n\nAlthough he had made several appearances for Gloucester, Ian left the club to join Coventry who were playing in National League 1 (a division higher than the league Hartpury College were in). Despite a decent try scoring record of 4 tries in just 6 appearances in the league, Ian was unable to gain a regular spot in the Coventry team and left at the end of the season, to rejoin old team Hartpury College whose student side he had helped to another BUCS cup final victory while still at Cov.\n\nAfter competing in sevens rugby with Harlequins during the summer Ian switched codes to play rugby league with the Gloucestershire All Golds. After a spell in rugby league he joined Clifton based in his home town of Bristol, playing in National League 2 South for the 2015–16 season scoring a try on his debut against Redingensians.\n\nRugby Union honours \n\nSchool/University Rugby\nAASE League champions with Hartpury College (2 times): 2010, 2011\nBUCS Cup winners (2 times): 2012, 2014\n\nHartpury College\nNational League 2 South top try scorer (27 tries): 2011–12\nNational League 2 South top try scorer (20 tries): 2012–13\n\nGloucester\nPremiership Rugby Sevens runners up: 2012\n\nReferences\n\n1992 births\nLiving people\nCoventry R.F.C. players\nEnglish rugby league players\nEnglish rugby union players\nGloucester Rugby players\nGloucestershire All Golds players\nRugby league players from Bristol\nRugby union players from Bristol"
]
|
[
"Dethklok",
"Nathan Explosion"
]
| C_3dd7b14198ba42b4a460f400e35aa5f0_1 | Who is Nathan? | 1 | Who is Nathan Explosion? | Dethklok | Voiced by: Brendon Small Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist and "lyrical visionary" of Dethklok. Portrayed as a tall, bulky figure, with long black hair, black nails, and green eyes, Nathan speaks with a death growl even when not singing. He did not speak a word until he was five years old and in high school excelled only in frog dissection and football. According to his dating profile, Nathan describes his ethnicity as "White/Native American". He was raised in New Port Richey, Florida. He is the lead songwriting force in Dethklok, and uses violent imagery or plot elements when writing and composing song material. Nathan is slightly more sensible than the rest of the band, and a great deal more emotionally stable, though he is still incompetent at most things in life such as the use of a grocery store or reading a cooking recipe. Despite this, he does seem to have some knowledge in specific areas, such as negotiating a contract, extensive knowledge of rock culture, and a proficiency in French. He attempts to get his GED in "Go Forth And Die", and only fails in part due to the band's influence, and in "Fatherklok" tells Murderface not to interfere with Skwisgaar's father issues. Nathan sometimes acts in a parental manner towards Toki, and in the first episode insisted that the band never drinks before a show (though they had all been drinking all day.) In the episode "Fatherklok", it was revealed that Nathan enjoys an excellent relationship with his father. He does, however find his parents embarrassing as they are normal parents and not "brutal" as seen in "Dethfam". A brief montage shows Nathan and his father fishing, racing go-karts, and playing Scrabble. He is the only member of the band who spends time with or likes his father, stating in the episode "Dethdad" he often drinks beer and goes hunting with his father regularly and would be very sad if his father died. Small described Nathan as a "quarterback", and based his character's appearance and performance style on Cannibal Corpse vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher. CANNOTANSWER | Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist | Dethklok is a fictional melodic death metal band featured in the Adult Swim animated television series Metalocalypse.
The first official Dethklok album was released on September 25, 2007, entitled The Dethalbum. The album debuted at number 21 on Billboard Magazine's Top 200 list. The band released Dethalbum II on September 29, 2009, and toured with Mastodon, High on Fire and Converge. The band's third album, Dethalbum III, was released on October 16, 2012. The soundtrack to the special episode, Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem was released on October 29, 2013.
A real band was set up in order to perform the band's music in live shows. Both bands were created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha. The music heard on Metalocalypse is performed by Brendon Small, with others needed for live concerts and albums. On August 25, 2017, Brendon Small released his second solo album, Brendon Small's Galaktikon II, which is considered to serve as "a new Dethklok album", due to Adult Swim holding the rights to the band name. However, after a five-year absence, the band returned to perform at Adult Swim Festival 2019.
The band is known for its satirical or parodic lyrical themes.
Fictional background
In the Metalocalypse series, Dethklok is depicted as the world's most popular and successful death metal band. The members of Dethklok reside in a colossal, fortress-like castle elevated high above ground called Mordhaus, which serves as their residence as well as their recording studio. Beyond their extremely wealthy financial status, they also oversee a massive personal organization of devoted workers known as Klokateers, who act as their personal servants, as well as their roadies, security personnel, and private military squadron. The band's fan base includes billions of metal fanatics, who frequently endanger themselves to watch the band perform live, as their incredibly expensive shows are frequently held in dangerous locations, and include numerous hazards such as excessive pyrotechnics, aircraft, lasers, and giant bladed pendulums, with many shows concluding in multiple attendee deaths. With their widespread commercial success and lucrative sponsorship contracts, Dethklok is ranked as the world's seventh largest economy by the end of the second season.
Despite their otherworldly success, the members of Dethklok are often portrayed as incompetent at almost everything not related to their profession. The band struggles to perform everyday tasks, including shopping for groceries, preparing food, and maintaining proper social relationships. Throughout the series, they are often assisted by their manager and lawyer, Charles Foster Offdensen, who frequently attempts to prevent the band from making poor decisions. The band's actions and uncanny misfortune have caught the attention of an Illuminati-style council, known as The Tribunal. The Tribunal is portrayed as Dethklok's antagonist throughout the series, and secretly monitors their actions in almost every episode. They describe Dethklok as the "world's greatest cultural force". The leader of The Tribunal (Mr. Salacia), however, frequently instructs the other members to allow Dethklok to do as they will.
Band members
Fictional band members
Nathan Explosion
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist and "lyrical visionary" of Dethklok. Portrayed as a tall and stocky guy with long black hair, black nails, and green eyes, Nathan speaks with a death growl even when not singing. He did not speak a word until he was five years old and in high school excelled only in frog dissection and football. According to his dating profile, Nathan describes his ethnicity as "White/Native American". He was raised in New Port Richey, Florida. He is the lead songwriting force in Dethklok, and uses violent imagery or plot elements when writing and composing song material. Nathan is slightly more sensible than the rest of the band, and a great deal more emotionally stable, though he is still incompetent at most things in life such as the use of a grocery store or reading a cooking recipe. Despite this, he does seem to have some knowledge in specific areas, such as negotiating a contract, extensive knowledge of rock culture, and a proficiency in French. He attempts to get his GED in "Go Forth And Die", and only fails in part due to the band's influence, and in "Fatherklok" tells Murderface not to interfere with Skwisgaar's father issues. Nathan sometimes acts in a parental manner towards Toki, and in the first episode insisted that the band never drinks before a show (though they had all been drinking all day.)
In the episode "Fatherklok", it was revealed that Nathan enjoys an excellent relationship with his father. He does, however, find his parents embarrassing as they are normal parents and not "brutal" as seen in "Dethfam". A brief montage shows Nathan and his father fishing, racing go-karts, and playing Scrabble. He is the only member of the band who spends time with or likes his father, stating in the episode "Dethdad" he often drinks beer and goes hunting with his father regularly and would be very sad if his father died.
Small described Nathan as a "quarterback", in part to his contribution to his high school football team, and based his character's appearance and performance style on Cannibal Corpse vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher.
Skwisgaar Skwigelf
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Skwisgaar Skwigelf is Dethklok's lead guitarist. He is described as "a handsome guy who thinks he's the greatest thing in the world". Show creator Brendon Small compares Skwisgaar's attitude and technical playing style to Yngwie Malmsteen. He is tall and thin with long blond hair, a studded belt with a skull buckle, and blue eyes. He played a Gibson Explorer for the first three seasons, but recently switched to the Gibson "Thunderhorse" Explorer for the fourth. He often carries around his guitars even when not playing. He is often referred to as the fastest guitar player in the world. He is depicted as having extreme sexual prowess and a preference for plump or elderly women. Hailing from Sweden, Skwisgaar has a marked Swedish accent and often makes mistakes when conjugating verbs. He is responsible for the majority of the arrangement of Dethklok's songs, writing the guitar lines as well as Murderface's bass lines. Skwisgaar also typically discards and re-records the rhythm guitar (and the bass guitar parts) recorded by Toki Wartooth for Dethklok's albums and frequently belittles him for his guitar playing skills, although he does appear to share something of a codependent relationship with him. This can be supported, as shown in The Doomstar Requiem during a flashback sequence in which the band holds auditions for a new rhythm guitarist. Skwisgaar originally disapproved of the idea, wanting Dethklok to be a four-piece. During Toki's audition, Toki was still inferior to Skwisgaar as a guitarist, and the rest of Dethklok originally were about to dismiss him, but Skwisgaar admitted that no other guitarist had made him play as well as he did, and requested that Toki stay in the band.
Toki Wartooth
Voiced by: Tommy Blacha, Mike Keneally (singing voice in Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem)
Toki Wartooth is Dethklok's rhythm guitarist. He typically played a Gibson Flying V, but has switched to the Brendon Small "Snow Falcon" V for the fourth season. A native of "an abandoned town near Lillehammer", Norway, he was forced to constantly perform manual labor by his abusive cultist parents. He has a distinct accent and often inappropriately pluralizes words, but refers to Pickles as "Pickle". Visually, he has a distinct Fu Manchu moustache, long brown hair, and very pale blue eyes. He is also shown to be extremely physically fit, in stark contrast to the rest of his bandmates.
Toki is the only Dethklok member with no prior band experience, as well as the only one not with the band in its initial form, having been chosen to replace the violent and egomaniacal Magnus Hammersmith. Small explains Toki's relationship with Skwisgaar as "...Norwegian to Skwisgaar's Swedish, pompous attitude. And, again, a second-class citizen in the same band", and compared his guitar playing style to that of Iron Maiden.
In contrast to the deep cynicism, grim outlook, promiscuity, and alcohol abuse of the other band members, Toki's character is generally childlike, innocent, and good-natured. He has a boyish bedroom complete with action figures, stuffed animals, and wall posters, and a prominent hobby of his is building model planes. He is a Type 2 diabetic and requires insulin shots.
A recurring plot point is the death of people Toki grows fond of, including a guitar teacher and his father; the Tribunal has described him as an "angel of death". Any living being that gets close to Toki (with the exception of Dr. Rockso, Charles and his bandmates) tends to die after a brief period of time.
Pickles
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Pickles is Dethklok's drummer. He was raised in Tomahawk, Wisconsin and speaks with an Upper Midwestern accent. He refers to himself as "very Irish American" and has long red hair, styled into dreadlocks and a comb-over skullet, and green eyes. He is depicted as having an average build with a strong propensity for drugs and alcohol abuse stemming from feelings of resentment towards his family. He comes off as the most socially-capable member of the band, able to grasp most concepts outside the scope of death metal that the other four cannot. In later seasons, this capacity often puts him at odds with Nathan, though ironically they are the only two the others can talk to on certain levels. Charles Offdensen refers to Nathan and Pickles as the "most responsible" members in the group, much to their disdain. Pickles is a multi-talented performer, whom IGN Magazine described as "the band's deepest thinker". Pickles is the former front-man of a group called Snakes 'n' Barrels, providing the vocals and performing as the lead guitarist.
Brendon Small used the voice of Pickles on The Dethalbum to sing the chorus of the song "Hatredcopter", as well as the entirety of "Kill You", a song by Snakes N' Barrels "covered" by Dethklok, which serves as a bonus track. Describing the character, Small said, "I thought the drummer should be able to do a bunch of stuff, like Roger Taylor in Queen. Even though it's not based on his personality, it's what he can do in the band and what parts of the songs he does contribute to."
The original design of the character was changed to avoid his looking too much like Devin Townsend.
William Murderface
Voiced by: Tommy Blacha
William Murderface is Dethklok's bassist, who plays a Gibson Thunderbird Studio 5-string. He has brown hair, green eyes, a heavy lateral lisp and a gap in his front teeth. He has tattoos on the top and bottom parts of his abdomen, the top reading "Pobody's Nerfect", and the bottom saying "This Mess Is A Place". When he was a baby, Murderface's father killed his wife – Murderface's mother – with a chainsaw before turning it upon himself in front of Murderface in a grisly murder-suicide (Murderface believes this happened because he was ugly). This left Murderface to be raised by his grandparents.
Murderface is "a self-hating bass player who's always trying to act like he's more important than he is", in part because his bass playing is usually mixed out completely. Although Murderface's musical contribution is apparently totally unnecessary to the group's sound, Dethklok realizes when they expel him from the band in "Dethsiduals" that he imposes a mentality of negativity and hatred upon the band that is crucial to their songwriting.
Brendon Small describes Murderface as "thin-skinned and incredibly sensitive and just wants to be accepted constantly but can't get that because he's such a dick and pushes people away". He is sensitive about his weight and appearance, which his bandmates often obliviously exacerbate. Murderface's voice was originally achieved by Tommy Blacha putting paper towels inside his mouth when voicing the character, but he has since refined his technique to forgo the paper towels.
Magnus Hammersmith
Voiced by: Marc Maron (speaking) and Brendon Small (singing)
Magnus Hammersmith was the first rhythm guitarist of Dethklok, but was kicked out of the band very early for his violent behavior. He returns to antagonize and threaten the band several times.
Real-life band members
Studio members:
Brendon Small – lead vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards (2006–present)
Pete Griffin – bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
Nili Brosh – guitar (2019–present)
Adam Felder – drums (2021–present)
Live members:
Brendon Small – lead vocals, guitar (2007–present)
Gene Hoglan – drums (2007–2021; studio member)
Bryan Beller – bass guitar, backing vocals (2007–2016; studio member since 2012)
Mike Keneally – guitar, backing vocals (2007–2016)
Pete Griffin – bass, backing vocals (2012, 2019–present)
Nili Brosh – guitar (2019–present)
Adam Felder – drums (2021–present)
Touring history
In late 2007, Adult Swim organized a promotional tour featuring Dethklok and ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. The tour comprised performances at twelve college campuses, with tickets available to students only (except for 50 tickets set aside for the UCLA show in the Los Angeles area). The band featured Brendon Small, guitarist Mike Keneally, bassist Bryan Beller and drummer Gene Hoglan. Tour information was made available on Adult Swim's promotional site. In an interview with Ultimate Guitar, Brendon Small described the tour as being "like Gorillaz, with the animated characters" with Small's ensemble of musicians performing visibly.
In a February 2008 interview on California radio station Indie 103.1 with Full Metal Jackie, plans for a summer 2008 tour were announced. Brendon Small described the tour as being like "a Disney ride but with murder". Dethklok toured the US in June and early July with Chimaira and Soilent Green. In April 2008, 27 seven dates were announced.
Dethklok performed at Heavy MTL on June 21, 2008. They then toured with Chimaira and Soilent Green during June and July 2008. During the June 5, 2008, show at The Fillmore in San Francisco, an electrical fire broke out during Soilent Green's set. Attendees were hesitant to leave the building thinking that it was part of the show (in their fictional universe, Dethklok is infamous for causing disasters that result in deaths), which created a dangerous situation, but they soon realized that the fire was real and evacuated and the concert was rescheduled.
Dethklok toured with co-headliner Mastodon, High on Fire, and Converge during October and November 2009. The band performed in San Bernardino on July 9, 2011, at the Mayhem Festival in place of Megadeth. Dethklok played a free show at San Diego Comic Con on July 13, 2012, on the USS Midway. Dethklok was scheduled to play in Toronto, Ontario at the Heavy T.O. festival on August 11, 2012, and also in Montreal, QC at Heavy MTL Festival on August 12, 2012; however, Dethklok's appearances at both festivals were cancelled. Dethklok was also scheduled to play the main stage for both days of Knotfest on August 17 and 18, 2012; however, Dethklok's appearance was cancelled. The band was scheduled to co-headline a tour in North America with Lamb of God (with special guest Gojira) in August 2012; this tour was cancelled due to bail hearings at the time for Randy Blythe in the Czech Republic.
Dethklok toured North America, in support of Dethalbum III, with Machine Head, All That Remains and The Black Dahlia Murder during November and December 2012. Bassist Pete Griffin filled in for several shows while Bryan Beller was touring with his band, The Aristocrats.
Dethklok performed at Festival Supreme on October 25, 2014, in Los Angeles, California. Dethklok then performed at Adult Swim Festival 2019.
Awards
Dethklok received the award for best international band during the 2009 Revolver Golden God Awards. A clip of the band's acceptance speech was played after they were announced as the recipients. They were presented the award by Chuck Billy, best known for his work as the vocalist for the thrash metal band Testament. In 2013, Dethalbum III won an Independent Music Award for Best Metal/Hardcore Album.
Discography
Studio albums
As Dethklok
As Brendon Small
EPs
Adult Swim Presents: ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead on Tour with Dethklok (split CD) (2007)
Singles
"Bloodrocuted" (2007)
"Thunderhorse" (2007)
"Bloodlines" (2009)
"I Ejaculate Fire" (2012)
"Blazing Star" (2013)
Guest appearances
Zimmers Hole – When You Were Shouting at the Devil... We Were in League with Satan (guest vocals on "The Vowel Song" by Nathan Explosion) (2008)
Music videos
As lead band
As featured band
References
External links
Official Myspace
Dethklok's page on Encyclopaedia Metallum
Animated musical groups
Fictional rock musicians
Recorded music characters
American melodic death metal musical groups
Metalocalypse
Musical groups established in 2006
Musical groups disestablished in 2016
Musical groups reestablished in 2019
Musical quintets
Comedy rock musical groups | true | [
"Dream Boy is a 1995 novel by Jim Grimsley.\n\nPlot summary\nNathan is an intelligent but shy teenage boy who wants to escape from his abusive and violent father, and fantasizes about a relationship with Roy, the boy who lives next door. Roy is a senior at the same high school as Nathan, and he drives the school bus. Gradually their relationship deepens and becomes sexual.\n\nDrunk one evening, Nathan's father tries to molest him. This is clearly not the first time it has happened and helps explain Nathan's desire to escape from his family. His mother avoids the issue, although she knows what is going on.\n\nNathan is accepted into Roy's social circle and is invited to go on a camping trip with Roy and his friends Randy and Burke. During the trip, they discover an abandoned and possibly haunted plantation house and Nathan and Roy are discovered in a compromising situation. Burke later on rapes and hits Nathan with a chair handle. The blow is clearly fatal and Nathan \"dies\" yet is still inside his body and aware of his surroundings. The book ends with Nathan leaving the abandoned house and finding Roy.\n\nFilm adaptation\n\nDream Boy has been adapted for a film, written and directed by James Bolton. It stars Stephan Bender as Nathan and Maximillian Roeg as Roy, and features musician Rickie Lee Jones as Roy's mother. The film was first screened on February 12, 2008 at the Berlin International Film Festival. Richard Buckner recorded the film's soundtrack.\n\nSee also\n\n Gay male teen fiction\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Chicago Review January 1996\n\n1995 American novels\nNovels with gay themes\nAlgonquin Books books\n1990s LGBT novels\nStonewall Book Award-winning works",
"Baron Nathan, of Churt in the County of Surrey, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 28 June 1940 for the lawyer and politician Harry Nathan. the title is held by his grandson, the third Baron, who succeeded his father in 2007.\n\nBarons Nathan (1940)\nHarry Louis Nathan, 1st Baron Nathan (1889–1963)\nRoger Carol Michael Nathan, 2nd Baron Nathan (1922–2007)\nRupert Harry Bernard Nathan, 3rd Baron Nathan (b. 26 May 1957), educated at Charterhouse School and Durham University (Hatfield College), Director of an import and export company\n\nThe heir apparent is the present holder's son, the Honourable Alasdair Harry S. Nathan (b. 1999)\n\nReferences\n\nKidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.\n\nBaronies in the Peerage of the United Kingdom\nNoble titles created in 1940\nNoble titles created for UK MPs"
]
|
[
"Dethklok",
"Nathan Explosion",
"Who is Nathan?",
"Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist"
]
| C_3dd7b14198ba42b4a460f400e35aa5f0_1 | How long was he with the band? | 2 | How long was Nathan with the band? | Dethklok | Voiced by: Brendon Small Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist and "lyrical visionary" of Dethklok. Portrayed as a tall, bulky figure, with long black hair, black nails, and green eyes, Nathan speaks with a death growl even when not singing. He did not speak a word until he was five years old and in high school excelled only in frog dissection and football. According to his dating profile, Nathan describes his ethnicity as "White/Native American". He was raised in New Port Richey, Florida. He is the lead songwriting force in Dethklok, and uses violent imagery or plot elements when writing and composing song material. Nathan is slightly more sensible than the rest of the band, and a great deal more emotionally stable, though he is still incompetent at most things in life such as the use of a grocery store or reading a cooking recipe. Despite this, he does seem to have some knowledge in specific areas, such as negotiating a contract, extensive knowledge of rock culture, and a proficiency in French. He attempts to get his GED in "Go Forth And Die", and only fails in part due to the band's influence, and in "Fatherklok" tells Murderface not to interfere with Skwisgaar's father issues. Nathan sometimes acts in a parental manner towards Toki, and in the first episode insisted that the band never drinks before a show (though they had all been drinking all day.) In the episode "Fatherklok", it was revealed that Nathan enjoys an excellent relationship with his father. He does, however find his parents embarrassing as they are normal parents and not "brutal" as seen in "Dethfam". A brief montage shows Nathan and his father fishing, racing go-karts, and playing Scrabble. He is the only member of the band who spends time with or likes his father, stating in the episode "Dethdad" he often drinks beer and goes hunting with his father regularly and would be very sad if his father died. Small described Nathan as a "quarterback", and based his character's appearance and performance style on Cannibal Corpse vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher. CANNOTANSWER | first episode | Dethklok is a fictional melodic death metal band featured in the Adult Swim animated television series Metalocalypse.
The first official Dethklok album was released on September 25, 2007, entitled The Dethalbum. The album debuted at number 21 on Billboard Magazine's Top 200 list. The band released Dethalbum II on September 29, 2009, and toured with Mastodon, High on Fire and Converge. The band's third album, Dethalbum III, was released on October 16, 2012. The soundtrack to the special episode, Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem was released on October 29, 2013.
A real band was set up in order to perform the band's music in live shows. Both bands were created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha. The music heard on Metalocalypse is performed by Brendon Small, with others needed for live concerts and albums. On August 25, 2017, Brendon Small released his second solo album, Brendon Small's Galaktikon II, which is considered to serve as "a new Dethklok album", due to Adult Swim holding the rights to the band name. However, after a five-year absence, the band returned to perform at Adult Swim Festival 2019.
The band is known for its satirical or parodic lyrical themes.
Fictional background
In the Metalocalypse series, Dethklok is depicted as the world's most popular and successful death metal band. The members of Dethklok reside in a colossal, fortress-like castle elevated high above ground called Mordhaus, which serves as their residence as well as their recording studio. Beyond their extremely wealthy financial status, they also oversee a massive personal organization of devoted workers known as Klokateers, who act as their personal servants, as well as their roadies, security personnel, and private military squadron. The band's fan base includes billions of metal fanatics, who frequently endanger themselves to watch the band perform live, as their incredibly expensive shows are frequently held in dangerous locations, and include numerous hazards such as excessive pyrotechnics, aircraft, lasers, and giant bladed pendulums, with many shows concluding in multiple attendee deaths. With their widespread commercial success and lucrative sponsorship contracts, Dethklok is ranked as the world's seventh largest economy by the end of the second season.
Despite their otherworldly success, the members of Dethklok are often portrayed as incompetent at almost everything not related to their profession. The band struggles to perform everyday tasks, including shopping for groceries, preparing food, and maintaining proper social relationships. Throughout the series, they are often assisted by their manager and lawyer, Charles Foster Offdensen, who frequently attempts to prevent the band from making poor decisions. The band's actions and uncanny misfortune have caught the attention of an Illuminati-style council, known as The Tribunal. The Tribunal is portrayed as Dethklok's antagonist throughout the series, and secretly monitors their actions in almost every episode. They describe Dethklok as the "world's greatest cultural force". The leader of The Tribunal (Mr. Salacia), however, frequently instructs the other members to allow Dethklok to do as they will.
Band members
Fictional band members
Nathan Explosion
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist and "lyrical visionary" of Dethklok. Portrayed as a tall and stocky guy with long black hair, black nails, and green eyes, Nathan speaks with a death growl even when not singing. He did not speak a word until he was five years old and in high school excelled only in frog dissection and football. According to his dating profile, Nathan describes his ethnicity as "White/Native American". He was raised in New Port Richey, Florida. He is the lead songwriting force in Dethklok, and uses violent imagery or plot elements when writing and composing song material. Nathan is slightly more sensible than the rest of the band, and a great deal more emotionally stable, though he is still incompetent at most things in life such as the use of a grocery store or reading a cooking recipe. Despite this, he does seem to have some knowledge in specific areas, such as negotiating a contract, extensive knowledge of rock culture, and a proficiency in French. He attempts to get his GED in "Go Forth And Die", and only fails in part due to the band's influence, and in "Fatherklok" tells Murderface not to interfere with Skwisgaar's father issues. Nathan sometimes acts in a parental manner towards Toki, and in the first episode insisted that the band never drinks before a show (though they had all been drinking all day.)
In the episode "Fatherklok", it was revealed that Nathan enjoys an excellent relationship with his father. He does, however, find his parents embarrassing as they are normal parents and not "brutal" as seen in "Dethfam". A brief montage shows Nathan and his father fishing, racing go-karts, and playing Scrabble. He is the only member of the band who spends time with or likes his father, stating in the episode "Dethdad" he often drinks beer and goes hunting with his father regularly and would be very sad if his father died.
Small described Nathan as a "quarterback", in part to his contribution to his high school football team, and based his character's appearance and performance style on Cannibal Corpse vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher.
Skwisgaar Skwigelf
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Skwisgaar Skwigelf is Dethklok's lead guitarist. He is described as "a handsome guy who thinks he's the greatest thing in the world". Show creator Brendon Small compares Skwisgaar's attitude and technical playing style to Yngwie Malmsteen. He is tall and thin with long blond hair, a studded belt with a skull buckle, and blue eyes. He played a Gibson Explorer for the first three seasons, but recently switched to the Gibson "Thunderhorse" Explorer for the fourth. He often carries around his guitars even when not playing. He is often referred to as the fastest guitar player in the world. He is depicted as having extreme sexual prowess and a preference for plump or elderly women. Hailing from Sweden, Skwisgaar has a marked Swedish accent and often makes mistakes when conjugating verbs. He is responsible for the majority of the arrangement of Dethklok's songs, writing the guitar lines as well as Murderface's bass lines. Skwisgaar also typically discards and re-records the rhythm guitar (and the bass guitar parts) recorded by Toki Wartooth for Dethklok's albums and frequently belittles him for his guitar playing skills, although he does appear to share something of a codependent relationship with him. This can be supported, as shown in The Doomstar Requiem during a flashback sequence in which the band holds auditions for a new rhythm guitarist. Skwisgaar originally disapproved of the idea, wanting Dethklok to be a four-piece. During Toki's audition, Toki was still inferior to Skwisgaar as a guitarist, and the rest of Dethklok originally were about to dismiss him, but Skwisgaar admitted that no other guitarist had made him play as well as he did, and requested that Toki stay in the band.
Toki Wartooth
Voiced by: Tommy Blacha, Mike Keneally (singing voice in Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem)
Toki Wartooth is Dethklok's rhythm guitarist. He typically played a Gibson Flying V, but has switched to the Brendon Small "Snow Falcon" V for the fourth season. A native of "an abandoned town near Lillehammer", Norway, he was forced to constantly perform manual labor by his abusive cultist parents. He has a distinct accent and often inappropriately pluralizes words, but refers to Pickles as "Pickle". Visually, he has a distinct Fu Manchu moustache, long brown hair, and very pale blue eyes. He is also shown to be extremely physically fit, in stark contrast to the rest of his bandmates.
Toki is the only Dethklok member with no prior band experience, as well as the only one not with the band in its initial form, having been chosen to replace the violent and egomaniacal Magnus Hammersmith. Small explains Toki's relationship with Skwisgaar as "...Norwegian to Skwisgaar's Swedish, pompous attitude. And, again, a second-class citizen in the same band", and compared his guitar playing style to that of Iron Maiden.
In contrast to the deep cynicism, grim outlook, promiscuity, and alcohol abuse of the other band members, Toki's character is generally childlike, innocent, and good-natured. He has a boyish bedroom complete with action figures, stuffed animals, and wall posters, and a prominent hobby of his is building model planes. He is a Type 2 diabetic and requires insulin shots.
A recurring plot point is the death of people Toki grows fond of, including a guitar teacher and his father; the Tribunal has described him as an "angel of death". Any living being that gets close to Toki (with the exception of Dr. Rockso, Charles and his bandmates) tends to die after a brief period of time.
Pickles
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Pickles is Dethklok's drummer. He was raised in Tomahawk, Wisconsin and speaks with an Upper Midwestern accent. He refers to himself as "very Irish American" and has long red hair, styled into dreadlocks and a comb-over skullet, and green eyes. He is depicted as having an average build with a strong propensity for drugs and alcohol abuse stemming from feelings of resentment towards his family. He comes off as the most socially-capable member of the band, able to grasp most concepts outside the scope of death metal that the other four cannot. In later seasons, this capacity often puts him at odds with Nathan, though ironically they are the only two the others can talk to on certain levels. Charles Offdensen refers to Nathan and Pickles as the "most responsible" members in the group, much to their disdain. Pickles is a multi-talented performer, whom IGN Magazine described as "the band's deepest thinker". Pickles is the former front-man of a group called Snakes 'n' Barrels, providing the vocals and performing as the lead guitarist.
Brendon Small used the voice of Pickles on The Dethalbum to sing the chorus of the song "Hatredcopter", as well as the entirety of "Kill You", a song by Snakes N' Barrels "covered" by Dethklok, which serves as a bonus track. Describing the character, Small said, "I thought the drummer should be able to do a bunch of stuff, like Roger Taylor in Queen. Even though it's not based on his personality, it's what he can do in the band and what parts of the songs he does contribute to."
The original design of the character was changed to avoid his looking too much like Devin Townsend.
William Murderface
Voiced by: Tommy Blacha
William Murderface is Dethklok's bassist, who plays a Gibson Thunderbird Studio 5-string. He has brown hair, green eyes, a heavy lateral lisp and a gap in his front teeth. He has tattoos on the top and bottom parts of his abdomen, the top reading "Pobody's Nerfect", and the bottom saying "This Mess Is A Place". When he was a baby, Murderface's father killed his wife – Murderface's mother – with a chainsaw before turning it upon himself in front of Murderface in a grisly murder-suicide (Murderface believes this happened because he was ugly). This left Murderface to be raised by his grandparents.
Murderface is "a self-hating bass player who's always trying to act like he's more important than he is", in part because his bass playing is usually mixed out completely. Although Murderface's musical contribution is apparently totally unnecessary to the group's sound, Dethklok realizes when they expel him from the band in "Dethsiduals" that he imposes a mentality of negativity and hatred upon the band that is crucial to their songwriting.
Brendon Small describes Murderface as "thin-skinned and incredibly sensitive and just wants to be accepted constantly but can't get that because he's such a dick and pushes people away". He is sensitive about his weight and appearance, which his bandmates often obliviously exacerbate. Murderface's voice was originally achieved by Tommy Blacha putting paper towels inside his mouth when voicing the character, but he has since refined his technique to forgo the paper towels.
Magnus Hammersmith
Voiced by: Marc Maron (speaking) and Brendon Small (singing)
Magnus Hammersmith was the first rhythm guitarist of Dethklok, but was kicked out of the band very early for his violent behavior. He returns to antagonize and threaten the band several times.
Real-life band members
Studio members:
Brendon Small – lead vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards (2006–present)
Pete Griffin – bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
Nili Brosh – guitar (2019–present)
Adam Felder – drums (2021–present)
Live members:
Brendon Small – lead vocals, guitar (2007–present)
Gene Hoglan – drums (2007–2021; studio member)
Bryan Beller – bass guitar, backing vocals (2007–2016; studio member since 2012)
Mike Keneally – guitar, backing vocals (2007–2016)
Pete Griffin – bass, backing vocals (2012, 2019–present)
Nili Brosh – guitar (2019–present)
Adam Felder – drums (2021–present)
Touring history
In late 2007, Adult Swim organized a promotional tour featuring Dethklok and ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. The tour comprised performances at twelve college campuses, with tickets available to students only (except for 50 tickets set aside for the UCLA show in the Los Angeles area). The band featured Brendon Small, guitarist Mike Keneally, bassist Bryan Beller and drummer Gene Hoglan. Tour information was made available on Adult Swim's promotional site. In an interview with Ultimate Guitar, Brendon Small described the tour as being "like Gorillaz, with the animated characters" with Small's ensemble of musicians performing visibly.
In a February 2008 interview on California radio station Indie 103.1 with Full Metal Jackie, plans for a summer 2008 tour were announced. Brendon Small described the tour as being like "a Disney ride but with murder". Dethklok toured the US in June and early July with Chimaira and Soilent Green. In April 2008, 27 seven dates were announced.
Dethklok performed at Heavy MTL on June 21, 2008. They then toured with Chimaira and Soilent Green during June and July 2008. During the June 5, 2008, show at The Fillmore in San Francisco, an electrical fire broke out during Soilent Green's set. Attendees were hesitant to leave the building thinking that it was part of the show (in their fictional universe, Dethklok is infamous for causing disasters that result in deaths), which created a dangerous situation, but they soon realized that the fire was real and evacuated and the concert was rescheduled.
Dethklok toured with co-headliner Mastodon, High on Fire, and Converge during October and November 2009. The band performed in San Bernardino on July 9, 2011, at the Mayhem Festival in place of Megadeth. Dethklok played a free show at San Diego Comic Con on July 13, 2012, on the USS Midway. Dethklok was scheduled to play in Toronto, Ontario at the Heavy T.O. festival on August 11, 2012, and also in Montreal, QC at Heavy MTL Festival on August 12, 2012; however, Dethklok's appearances at both festivals were cancelled. Dethklok was also scheduled to play the main stage for both days of Knotfest on August 17 and 18, 2012; however, Dethklok's appearance was cancelled. The band was scheduled to co-headline a tour in North America with Lamb of God (with special guest Gojira) in August 2012; this tour was cancelled due to bail hearings at the time for Randy Blythe in the Czech Republic.
Dethklok toured North America, in support of Dethalbum III, with Machine Head, All That Remains and The Black Dahlia Murder during November and December 2012. Bassist Pete Griffin filled in for several shows while Bryan Beller was touring with his band, The Aristocrats.
Dethklok performed at Festival Supreme on October 25, 2014, in Los Angeles, California. Dethklok then performed at Adult Swim Festival 2019.
Awards
Dethklok received the award for best international band during the 2009 Revolver Golden God Awards. A clip of the band's acceptance speech was played after they were announced as the recipients. They were presented the award by Chuck Billy, best known for his work as the vocalist for the thrash metal band Testament. In 2013, Dethalbum III won an Independent Music Award for Best Metal/Hardcore Album.
Discography
Studio albums
As Dethklok
As Brendon Small
EPs
Adult Swim Presents: ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead on Tour with Dethklok (split CD) (2007)
Singles
"Bloodrocuted" (2007)
"Thunderhorse" (2007)
"Bloodlines" (2009)
"I Ejaculate Fire" (2012)
"Blazing Star" (2013)
Guest appearances
Zimmers Hole – When You Were Shouting at the Devil... We Were in League with Satan (guest vocals on "The Vowel Song" by Nathan Explosion) (2008)
Music videos
As lead band
As featured band
References
External links
Official Myspace
Dethklok's page on Encyclopaedia Metallum
Animated musical groups
Fictional rock musicians
Recorded music characters
American melodic death metal musical groups
Metalocalypse
Musical groups established in 2006
Musical groups disestablished in 2016
Musical groups reestablished in 2019
Musical quintets
Comedy rock musical groups | true | [
"\"How Long\" is a song by American singer-songwriter J. D. Souther. Written in 1971 it was originally recorded by Souther for his 1972 debut solo album, John David Souther. It was given a limited release as a promotional 7-inch 45 rpm single in 1972 with Souther's \"The Fast One\" on the B-side.\n\nThe Eagles, longtime friends and collaborators with Souther, frequently performed \"How Long\" in concert during the early and mid-1970s. In 2007, the band covered the song for their album Long Road Out of Eden, the group's first full studio album since 1979. A year later, their version of the song won the Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. It was the band's first Grammy since 1979.\n\nPeak positions\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1972 songs\n2007 singles\nAnti-war songs\nEagles (band) songs\nJ. D. Souther songs\nSongs written by J. D. Souther\nLost Highway Records singles\nSong recordings produced by Bill Szymczyk",
"Crash The Calm is an American Post-Hardcore band from Long Island, New York, United States. The band's debut full length How've You Been? was released on May 19, 2017, on Downport Records. The band is currently releasing a three part concept record, titled A Town Named Nowhere.\n\nBackground and debut release\nCrash The Calm was formed in late 2014. After releasing their debut single \"Holes\"- produced by Phil Douglas of Iron Chic and Latterman in 2015- the band steadily performed and toured throughout the year before catching the eye of Long Island-based Downport Records. The band began recording their debut full length at VuDu Studios with Mike Watts, Nick Starrantino and Dom Nastasi. How've You Been? was released on May 19, 2017. The band then released a split with Long Island Post-Hardcore band Staleworth on August 10, 2018, also on Downport Records.\n\nA Town Named Nowhere \nThe band entered the studio again in May 2019 at Westfall Recordings with Anthony Lopardo and Ray Marte for their follow up release. In October 2020, they released the single \"Devils\" and announced the upcoming LP A Town Named Nowhere, a concept record about a town during the dust bowl era in the United States. Brooklyn Vegan premiered the music video for the lead single, 'My Nowhere', directed by James Morano, on July 21, 2021, calling it \"...a cross between the heavier Manchester Orchestra songs and Balance and Composure.\" The band says that it is \"a song about being addicted to your own tragedy\". The first EP, Volume I of A Town Named Nowhere was released on digital streaming platforms July 23, 2021, containing the tracks 'Spring '31', 'Dust & Dirt', 'Devils', and 'My Nowhere'.\n\nDiscography\n2017: How've You Been?\n2018: Split EP with Staleworth\n2020: Devils (Single)\n2021: A Town Named Nowhere: Volume I\n\nMembers\nBrian Dowling - Vocals, Guitar (2014–present)\nPat Smith - Guitar (2014–present)\nJohn Potocnik - Drums (2019-present)\nDan LeBrun - Guitar, Vocals (2019-present)\nDave Van Nostrand - Bass (2020-present)\nConnor Holzmann - Guitar (2014–2019)\nRyan Sweeney - Bass (2014–2019)\nMatt Bodt - Drums (2014–2019)\n\nReferences\n\nMusical groups established in 2014\nRock music groups from New York (state)\nMusical groups from Long Island\n2014 establishments in New York (state)"
]
|
[
"Dethklok",
"Nathan Explosion",
"Who is Nathan?",
"Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist",
"How long was he with the band?",
"first episode"
]
| C_3dd7b14198ba42b4a460f400e35aa5f0_1 | What important role did he play in the story? | 3 | What important role did Nathan play in the story? | Dethklok | Voiced by: Brendon Small Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist and "lyrical visionary" of Dethklok. Portrayed as a tall, bulky figure, with long black hair, black nails, and green eyes, Nathan speaks with a death growl even when not singing. He did not speak a word until he was five years old and in high school excelled only in frog dissection and football. According to his dating profile, Nathan describes his ethnicity as "White/Native American". He was raised in New Port Richey, Florida. He is the lead songwriting force in Dethklok, and uses violent imagery or plot elements when writing and composing song material. Nathan is slightly more sensible than the rest of the band, and a great deal more emotionally stable, though he is still incompetent at most things in life such as the use of a grocery store or reading a cooking recipe. Despite this, he does seem to have some knowledge in specific areas, such as negotiating a contract, extensive knowledge of rock culture, and a proficiency in French. He attempts to get his GED in "Go Forth And Die", and only fails in part due to the band's influence, and in "Fatherklok" tells Murderface not to interfere with Skwisgaar's father issues. Nathan sometimes acts in a parental manner towards Toki, and in the first episode insisted that the band never drinks before a show (though they had all been drinking all day.) In the episode "Fatherklok", it was revealed that Nathan enjoys an excellent relationship with his father. He does, however find his parents embarrassing as they are normal parents and not "brutal" as seen in "Dethfam". A brief montage shows Nathan and his father fishing, racing go-karts, and playing Scrabble. He is the only member of the band who spends time with or likes his father, stating in the episode "Dethdad" he often drinks beer and goes hunting with his father regularly and would be very sad if his father died. Small described Nathan as a "quarterback", and based his character's appearance and performance style on Cannibal Corpse vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher. CANNOTANSWER | Nathan is slightly more sensible than the rest of the band, and a great deal more emotionally stable, | Dethklok is a fictional melodic death metal band featured in the Adult Swim animated television series Metalocalypse.
The first official Dethklok album was released on September 25, 2007, entitled The Dethalbum. The album debuted at number 21 on Billboard Magazine's Top 200 list. The band released Dethalbum II on September 29, 2009, and toured with Mastodon, High on Fire and Converge. The band's third album, Dethalbum III, was released on October 16, 2012. The soundtrack to the special episode, Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem was released on October 29, 2013.
A real band was set up in order to perform the band's music in live shows. Both bands were created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha. The music heard on Metalocalypse is performed by Brendon Small, with others needed for live concerts and albums. On August 25, 2017, Brendon Small released his second solo album, Brendon Small's Galaktikon II, which is considered to serve as "a new Dethklok album", due to Adult Swim holding the rights to the band name. However, after a five-year absence, the band returned to perform at Adult Swim Festival 2019.
The band is known for its satirical or parodic lyrical themes.
Fictional background
In the Metalocalypse series, Dethklok is depicted as the world's most popular and successful death metal band. The members of Dethklok reside in a colossal, fortress-like castle elevated high above ground called Mordhaus, which serves as their residence as well as their recording studio. Beyond their extremely wealthy financial status, they also oversee a massive personal organization of devoted workers known as Klokateers, who act as their personal servants, as well as their roadies, security personnel, and private military squadron. The band's fan base includes billions of metal fanatics, who frequently endanger themselves to watch the band perform live, as their incredibly expensive shows are frequently held in dangerous locations, and include numerous hazards such as excessive pyrotechnics, aircraft, lasers, and giant bladed pendulums, with many shows concluding in multiple attendee deaths. With their widespread commercial success and lucrative sponsorship contracts, Dethklok is ranked as the world's seventh largest economy by the end of the second season.
Despite their otherworldly success, the members of Dethklok are often portrayed as incompetent at almost everything not related to their profession. The band struggles to perform everyday tasks, including shopping for groceries, preparing food, and maintaining proper social relationships. Throughout the series, they are often assisted by their manager and lawyer, Charles Foster Offdensen, who frequently attempts to prevent the band from making poor decisions. The band's actions and uncanny misfortune have caught the attention of an Illuminati-style council, known as The Tribunal. The Tribunal is portrayed as Dethklok's antagonist throughout the series, and secretly monitors their actions in almost every episode. They describe Dethklok as the "world's greatest cultural force". The leader of The Tribunal (Mr. Salacia), however, frequently instructs the other members to allow Dethklok to do as they will.
Band members
Fictional band members
Nathan Explosion
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist and "lyrical visionary" of Dethklok. Portrayed as a tall and stocky guy with long black hair, black nails, and green eyes, Nathan speaks with a death growl even when not singing. He did not speak a word until he was five years old and in high school excelled only in frog dissection and football. According to his dating profile, Nathan describes his ethnicity as "White/Native American". He was raised in New Port Richey, Florida. He is the lead songwriting force in Dethklok, and uses violent imagery or plot elements when writing and composing song material. Nathan is slightly more sensible than the rest of the band, and a great deal more emotionally stable, though he is still incompetent at most things in life such as the use of a grocery store or reading a cooking recipe. Despite this, he does seem to have some knowledge in specific areas, such as negotiating a contract, extensive knowledge of rock culture, and a proficiency in French. He attempts to get his GED in "Go Forth And Die", and only fails in part due to the band's influence, and in "Fatherklok" tells Murderface not to interfere with Skwisgaar's father issues. Nathan sometimes acts in a parental manner towards Toki, and in the first episode insisted that the band never drinks before a show (though they had all been drinking all day.)
In the episode "Fatherklok", it was revealed that Nathan enjoys an excellent relationship with his father. He does, however, find his parents embarrassing as they are normal parents and not "brutal" as seen in "Dethfam". A brief montage shows Nathan and his father fishing, racing go-karts, and playing Scrabble. He is the only member of the band who spends time with or likes his father, stating in the episode "Dethdad" he often drinks beer and goes hunting with his father regularly and would be very sad if his father died.
Small described Nathan as a "quarterback", in part to his contribution to his high school football team, and based his character's appearance and performance style on Cannibal Corpse vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher.
Skwisgaar Skwigelf
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Skwisgaar Skwigelf is Dethklok's lead guitarist. He is described as "a handsome guy who thinks he's the greatest thing in the world". Show creator Brendon Small compares Skwisgaar's attitude and technical playing style to Yngwie Malmsteen. He is tall and thin with long blond hair, a studded belt with a skull buckle, and blue eyes. He played a Gibson Explorer for the first three seasons, but recently switched to the Gibson "Thunderhorse" Explorer for the fourth. He often carries around his guitars even when not playing. He is often referred to as the fastest guitar player in the world. He is depicted as having extreme sexual prowess and a preference for plump or elderly women. Hailing from Sweden, Skwisgaar has a marked Swedish accent and often makes mistakes when conjugating verbs. He is responsible for the majority of the arrangement of Dethklok's songs, writing the guitar lines as well as Murderface's bass lines. Skwisgaar also typically discards and re-records the rhythm guitar (and the bass guitar parts) recorded by Toki Wartooth for Dethklok's albums and frequently belittles him for his guitar playing skills, although he does appear to share something of a codependent relationship with him. This can be supported, as shown in The Doomstar Requiem during a flashback sequence in which the band holds auditions for a new rhythm guitarist. Skwisgaar originally disapproved of the idea, wanting Dethklok to be a four-piece. During Toki's audition, Toki was still inferior to Skwisgaar as a guitarist, and the rest of Dethklok originally were about to dismiss him, but Skwisgaar admitted that no other guitarist had made him play as well as he did, and requested that Toki stay in the band.
Toki Wartooth
Voiced by: Tommy Blacha, Mike Keneally (singing voice in Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem)
Toki Wartooth is Dethklok's rhythm guitarist. He typically played a Gibson Flying V, but has switched to the Brendon Small "Snow Falcon" V for the fourth season. A native of "an abandoned town near Lillehammer", Norway, he was forced to constantly perform manual labor by his abusive cultist parents. He has a distinct accent and often inappropriately pluralizes words, but refers to Pickles as "Pickle". Visually, he has a distinct Fu Manchu moustache, long brown hair, and very pale blue eyes. He is also shown to be extremely physically fit, in stark contrast to the rest of his bandmates.
Toki is the only Dethklok member with no prior band experience, as well as the only one not with the band in its initial form, having been chosen to replace the violent and egomaniacal Magnus Hammersmith. Small explains Toki's relationship with Skwisgaar as "...Norwegian to Skwisgaar's Swedish, pompous attitude. And, again, a second-class citizen in the same band", and compared his guitar playing style to that of Iron Maiden.
In contrast to the deep cynicism, grim outlook, promiscuity, and alcohol abuse of the other band members, Toki's character is generally childlike, innocent, and good-natured. He has a boyish bedroom complete with action figures, stuffed animals, and wall posters, and a prominent hobby of his is building model planes. He is a Type 2 diabetic and requires insulin shots.
A recurring plot point is the death of people Toki grows fond of, including a guitar teacher and his father; the Tribunal has described him as an "angel of death". Any living being that gets close to Toki (with the exception of Dr. Rockso, Charles and his bandmates) tends to die after a brief period of time.
Pickles
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Pickles is Dethklok's drummer. He was raised in Tomahawk, Wisconsin and speaks with an Upper Midwestern accent. He refers to himself as "very Irish American" and has long red hair, styled into dreadlocks and a comb-over skullet, and green eyes. He is depicted as having an average build with a strong propensity for drugs and alcohol abuse stemming from feelings of resentment towards his family. He comes off as the most socially-capable member of the band, able to grasp most concepts outside the scope of death metal that the other four cannot. In later seasons, this capacity often puts him at odds with Nathan, though ironically they are the only two the others can talk to on certain levels. Charles Offdensen refers to Nathan and Pickles as the "most responsible" members in the group, much to their disdain. Pickles is a multi-talented performer, whom IGN Magazine described as "the band's deepest thinker". Pickles is the former front-man of a group called Snakes 'n' Barrels, providing the vocals and performing as the lead guitarist.
Brendon Small used the voice of Pickles on The Dethalbum to sing the chorus of the song "Hatredcopter", as well as the entirety of "Kill You", a song by Snakes N' Barrels "covered" by Dethklok, which serves as a bonus track. Describing the character, Small said, "I thought the drummer should be able to do a bunch of stuff, like Roger Taylor in Queen. Even though it's not based on his personality, it's what he can do in the band and what parts of the songs he does contribute to."
The original design of the character was changed to avoid his looking too much like Devin Townsend.
William Murderface
Voiced by: Tommy Blacha
William Murderface is Dethklok's bassist, who plays a Gibson Thunderbird Studio 5-string. He has brown hair, green eyes, a heavy lateral lisp and a gap in his front teeth. He has tattoos on the top and bottom parts of his abdomen, the top reading "Pobody's Nerfect", and the bottom saying "This Mess Is A Place". When he was a baby, Murderface's father killed his wife – Murderface's mother – with a chainsaw before turning it upon himself in front of Murderface in a grisly murder-suicide (Murderface believes this happened because he was ugly). This left Murderface to be raised by his grandparents.
Murderface is "a self-hating bass player who's always trying to act like he's more important than he is", in part because his bass playing is usually mixed out completely. Although Murderface's musical contribution is apparently totally unnecessary to the group's sound, Dethklok realizes when they expel him from the band in "Dethsiduals" that he imposes a mentality of negativity and hatred upon the band that is crucial to their songwriting.
Brendon Small describes Murderface as "thin-skinned and incredibly sensitive and just wants to be accepted constantly but can't get that because he's such a dick and pushes people away". He is sensitive about his weight and appearance, which his bandmates often obliviously exacerbate. Murderface's voice was originally achieved by Tommy Blacha putting paper towels inside his mouth when voicing the character, but he has since refined his technique to forgo the paper towels.
Magnus Hammersmith
Voiced by: Marc Maron (speaking) and Brendon Small (singing)
Magnus Hammersmith was the first rhythm guitarist of Dethklok, but was kicked out of the band very early for his violent behavior. He returns to antagonize and threaten the band several times.
Real-life band members
Studio members:
Brendon Small – lead vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards (2006–present)
Pete Griffin – bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
Nili Brosh – guitar (2019–present)
Adam Felder – drums (2021–present)
Live members:
Brendon Small – lead vocals, guitar (2007–present)
Gene Hoglan – drums (2007–2021; studio member)
Bryan Beller – bass guitar, backing vocals (2007–2016; studio member since 2012)
Mike Keneally – guitar, backing vocals (2007–2016)
Pete Griffin – bass, backing vocals (2012, 2019–present)
Nili Brosh – guitar (2019–present)
Adam Felder – drums (2021–present)
Touring history
In late 2007, Adult Swim organized a promotional tour featuring Dethklok and ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. The tour comprised performances at twelve college campuses, with tickets available to students only (except for 50 tickets set aside for the UCLA show in the Los Angeles area). The band featured Brendon Small, guitarist Mike Keneally, bassist Bryan Beller and drummer Gene Hoglan. Tour information was made available on Adult Swim's promotional site. In an interview with Ultimate Guitar, Brendon Small described the tour as being "like Gorillaz, with the animated characters" with Small's ensemble of musicians performing visibly.
In a February 2008 interview on California radio station Indie 103.1 with Full Metal Jackie, plans for a summer 2008 tour were announced. Brendon Small described the tour as being like "a Disney ride but with murder". Dethklok toured the US in June and early July with Chimaira and Soilent Green. In April 2008, 27 seven dates were announced.
Dethklok performed at Heavy MTL on June 21, 2008. They then toured with Chimaira and Soilent Green during June and July 2008. During the June 5, 2008, show at The Fillmore in San Francisco, an electrical fire broke out during Soilent Green's set. Attendees were hesitant to leave the building thinking that it was part of the show (in their fictional universe, Dethklok is infamous for causing disasters that result in deaths), which created a dangerous situation, but they soon realized that the fire was real and evacuated and the concert was rescheduled.
Dethklok toured with co-headliner Mastodon, High on Fire, and Converge during October and November 2009. The band performed in San Bernardino on July 9, 2011, at the Mayhem Festival in place of Megadeth. Dethklok played a free show at San Diego Comic Con on July 13, 2012, on the USS Midway. Dethklok was scheduled to play in Toronto, Ontario at the Heavy T.O. festival on August 11, 2012, and also in Montreal, QC at Heavy MTL Festival on August 12, 2012; however, Dethklok's appearances at both festivals were cancelled. Dethklok was also scheduled to play the main stage for both days of Knotfest on August 17 and 18, 2012; however, Dethklok's appearance was cancelled. The band was scheduled to co-headline a tour in North America with Lamb of God (with special guest Gojira) in August 2012; this tour was cancelled due to bail hearings at the time for Randy Blythe in the Czech Republic.
Dethklok toured North America, in support of Dethalbum III, with Machine Head, All That Remains and The Black Dahlia Murder during November and December 2012. Bassist Pete Griffin filled in for several shows while Bryan Beller was touring with his band, The Aristocrats.
Dethklok performed at Festival Supreme on October 25, 2014, in Los Angeles, California. Dethklok then performed at Adult Swim Festival 2019.
Awards
Dethklok received the award for best international band during the 2009 Revolver Golden God Awards. A clip of the band's acceptance speech was played after they were announced as the recipients. They were presented the award by Chuck Billy, best known for his work as the vocalist for the thrash metal band Testament. In 2013, Dethalbum III won an Independent Music Award for Best Metal/Hardcore Album.
Discography
Studio albums
As Dethklok
As Brendon Small
EPs
Adult Swim Presents: ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead on Tour with Dethklok (split CD) (2007)
Singles
"Bloodrocuted" (2007)
"Thunderhorse" (2007)
"Bloodlines" (2009)
"I Ejaculate Fire" (2012)
"Blazing Star" (2013)
Guest appearances
Zimmers Hole – When You Were Shouting at the Devil... We Were in League with Satan (guest vocals on "The Vowel Song" by Nathan Explosion) (2008)
Music videos
As lead band
As featured band
References
External links
Official Myspace
Dethklok's page on Encyclopaedia Metallum
Animated musical groups
Fictional rock musicians
Recorded music characters
American melodic death metal musical groups
Metalocalypse
Musical groups established in 2006
Musical groups disestablished in 2016
Musical groups reestablished in 2019
Musical quintets
Comedy rock musical groups | true | [
"The Mercian Trail is the name given to a group of museums and historical sites in the West Midlands of England that will be used to display objects from the Staffordshire Hoard. The trail is organised by a partnership of Lichfield District, Tamworth Borough Council, Staffordshire County Council, Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Birmingham City Council, and features the following locations:\n\n Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery ()\n Potteries Museum & Art Gallery ()\n Lichfield Cathedral ()\n Tamworth Castle ()\n\nMost of the objects from the Staffordshire Hoard will be put on display at these four locations, although other locations may be included in the trail in the future. In addition a touring exhibition will take some objects from the hoard to other parts of the West Midlands, starting with the Shire Hall Gallery in Stafford. This exhibition will tie in with a display in the nearby Ancient High House Museum, entitled: 'Out of the Dark Ages: Stafford's Anglo-Saxon Origins'. The Ancient High House exhibition, which runs from 28 June to 1 October, examines the coming of the Anglo Saxons and the emergence of the Kingdom of Mercia as well as telling the story of the Saxon burh founded in 913. The display cabinets include a selection of coins and artefacts including a wealth of domestic and personal items, these in contrast to the largely martial artefacts of the Hoard.\n\nBackground\n\nThe Staffordshire Hoard was discovered in a field in Hammerwich, near Lichfield in July 2009. After the hoard was declared treasure in September 2009, it was valued at £3.285 million, and a public appeal was launched to raise the money in order for Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery to jointly purchase the hoard. On 23 March 2010 it was announced that the required sum had been raised, and that the hoard would be purchased by these two museums for display in the West Midlands.\n\nPurpose\nThe Mercian Trail is not only intended to make the Staffordshire Hoard available for display to the public, but it is also intended to highlight the history and archaeology of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, which was centred on the area corresponding to the modern county of Staffordshire. The exhibits of the treasure will attempt to relate the items to other archaeological objects, and promote a greater understanding of the items in their historical context. The organisers of the trail have stated that the trail will attempt to provide answers to the following questions.\n\n How were such ornate items made in Anglo-Saxon times?\n What trading links were established in Anglo-Saxon times?\n How did the gold reach Britain's shores, and how was it carried here?\n What links are there to Birmingham's thriving jewellery industry today?\n What role did Staffordshire play in ancient Mercia?\n What was life like in Staffordshire during Anglo-Saxon times?\n What links are there to existing Staffordshire Anglo-Saxon finds?\n Why did the Hoard end up in Staffordshire?\n What are the links between the Hoard and early Christendom?\n What does the biblical inscription tell us?\n What are the links to the Lichfield Angel and St Chad?\n What is the significance of the folded up cross and serpents?\n Are there any links to the St Chad Gospels?\n What are the links to Offa, and key figures of the period?\n What battles took place, and what role did the Hoard play?\n Who were the owners of the Hoard, and what wars did they fight in?\n What role did Tamworth play in ancient Mercia?\n How did the archaeologists extract the Hoard?\n Why did the Hoard get laid down in Staffordshire?\n How can archaeology uncover the secrets of the Hoard?\n\nSee also\n Staffordshire Hoard\n Mercian Way\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n The Mercian Trail: the gateway to the Staffordshire Hoard\n LGA Mercian Trail Presentation\n\nMercia\nTourist attractions in Staffordshire",
"\"The Secret Place\" is a short story by the American writer Richard McKenna. It was among papers found after his death in 1964, and it was first published in 1966, in the anthology Orbit 1.\n\nStory summary\nThe narrator, Duard Campbell, recalls an important period in his life 16 years ago, knowing that his son will ask him what he did in the war. He was one of several geology graduates assigned by the army to search an area of desert in Oregon where it was believed uranium oxide was found. The scientists assume the search is futile. When fieldwork is complete, Campbell alone is told to remain, to give the impression that the project is continuing. He thinks this will blight his academic career.\n\nHe thinks there might be something in the local story, and he hires Helen, the sister of the boy found dead with a crystal of uranium oxide, as his secretary. She is \"made of frightened ice\". She and her brother Owen used to play fairy tales in the desert; she says the search area is \"full of just wonderful places\". In the desert, she becomes a child again and shows Campbell the places that are important in the fairy stories. He takes part in the make-believe, but Helen eventually says \"You're not Owen, you're just a man!\" A resident of the township, hearing that Helen is upset, warns him that local men would kill him if he was not careful.\n\nWhen he receives in the mail the maps showing the results of the fieldwork, and sees the details, he realizes the significance of the fairy stories.\n\nReception\n\"The Secret Place\" was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1967. It won the Nebula Award for Best Short Story in 1967, and was included in Nebula Award Stories Two; in the introduction to the story, the editors wrote: \"It is a sensitive piece of writing, a perfect example of second generation science fiction, the retelling and reexamination of a theme that originated in the pulp years of this medium.\"\n\nReferences\n\n1966 short stories\nNebula Award for Best Short Story-winning works\nShort stories published posthumously\nOregon in fiction"
]
|
[
"Dethklok",
"Nathan Explosion",
"Who is Nathan?",
"Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist",
"How long was he with the band?",
"first episode",
"What important role did he play in the story?",
"Nathan is slightly more sensible than the rest of the band, and a great deal more emotionally stable,"
]
| C_3dd7b14198ba42b4a460f400e35aa5f0_1 | Does he leave the band? | 4 | Does Nathan leave the band? | Dethklok | Voiced by: Brendon Small Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist and "lyrical visionary" of Dethklok. Portrayed as a tall, bulky figure, with long black hair, black nails, and green eyes, Nathan speaks with a death growl even when not singing. He did not speak a word until he was five years old and in high school excelled only in frog dissection and football. According to his dating profile, Nathan describes his ethnicity as "White/Native American". He was raised in New Port Richey, Florida. He is the lead songwriting force in Dethklok, and uses violent imagery or plot elements when writing and composing song material. Nathan is slightly more sensible than the rest of the band, and a great deal more emotionally stable, though he is still incompetent at most things in life such as the use of a grocery store or reading a cooking recipe. Despite this, he does seem to have some knowledge in specific areas, such as negotiating a contract, extensive knowledge of rock culture, and a proficiency in French. He attempts to get his GED in "Go Forth And Die", and only fails in part due to the band's influence, and in "Fatherklok" tells Murderface not to interfere with Skwisgaar's father issues. Nathan sometimes acts in a parental manner towards Toki, and in the first episode insisted that the band never drinks before a show (though they had all been drinking all day.) In the episode "Fatherklok", it was revealed that Nathan enjoys an excellent relationship with his father. He does, however find his parents embarrassing as they are normal parents and not "brutal" as seen in "Dethfam". A brief montage shows Nathan and his father fishing, racing go-karts, and playing Scrabble. He is the only member of the band who spends time with or likes his father, stating in the episode "Dethdad" he often drinks beer and goes hunting with his father regularly and would be very sad if his father died. Small described Nathan as a "quarterback", and based his character's appearance and performance style on Cannibal Corpse vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Dethklok is a fictional melodic death metal band featured in the Adult Swim animated television series Metalocalypse.
The first official Dethklok album was released on September 25, 2007, entitled The Dethalbum. The album debuted at number 21 on Billboard Magazine's Top 200 list. The band released Dethalbum II on September 29, 2009, and toured with Mastodon, High on Fire and Converge. The band's third album, Dethalbum III, was released on October 16, 2012. The soundtrack to the special episode, Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem was released on October 29, 2013.
A real band was set up in order to perform the band's music in live shows. Both bands were created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha. The music heard on Metalocalypse is performed by Brendon Small, with others needed for live concerts and albums. On August 25, 2017, Brendon Small released his second solo album, Brendon Small's Galaktikon II, which is considered to serve as "a new Dethklok album", due to Adult Swim holding the rights to the band name. However, after a five-year absence, the band returned to perform at Adult Swim Festival 2019.
The band is known for its satirical or parodic lyrical themes.
Fictional background
In the Metalocalypse series, Dethklok is depicted as the world's most popular and successful death metal band. The members of Dethklok reside in a colossal, fortress-like castle elevated high above ground called Mordhaus, which serves as their residence as well as their recording studio. Beyond their extremely wealthy financial status, they also oversee a massive personal organization of devoted workers known as Klokateers, who act as their personal servants, as well as their roadies, security personnel, and private military squadron. The band's fan base includes billions of metal fanatics, who frequently endanger themselves to watch the band perform live, as their incredibly expensive shows are frequently held in dangerous locations, and include numerous hazards such as excessive pyrotechnics, aircraft, lasers, and giant bladed pendulums, with many shows concluding in multiple attendee deaths. With their widespread commercial success and lucrative sponsorship contracts, Dethklok is ranked as the world's seventh largest economy by the end of the second season.
Despite their otherworldly success, the members of Dethklok are often portrayed as incompetent at almost everything not related to their profession. The band struggles to perform everyday tasks, including shopping for groceries, preparing food, and maintaining proper social relationships. Throughout the series, they are often assisted by their manager and lawyer, Charles Foster Offdensen, who frequently attempts to prevent the band from making poor decisions. The band's actions and uncanny misfortune have caught the attention of an Illuminati-style council, known as The Tribunal. The Tribunal is portrayed as Dethklok's antagonist throughout the series, and secretly monitors their actions in almost every episode. They describe Dethklok as the "world's greatest cultural force". The leader of The Tribunal (Mr. Salacia), however, frequently instructs the other members to allow Dethklok to do as they will.
Band members
Fictional band members
Nathan Explosion
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist and "lyrical visionary" of Dethklok. Portrayed as a tall and stocky guy with long black hair, black nails, and green eyes, Nathan speaks with a death growl even when not singing. He did not speak a word until he was five years old and in high school excelled only in frog dissection and football. According to his dating profile, Nathan describes his ethnicity as "White/Native American". He was raised in New Port Richey, Florida. He is the lead songwriting force in Dethklok, and uses violent imagery or plot elements when writing and composing song material. Nathan is slightly more sensible than the rest of the band, and a great deal more emotionally stable, though he is still incompetent at most things in life such as the use of a grocery store or reading a cooking recipe. Despite this, he does seem to have some knowledge in specific areas, such as negotiating a contract, extensive knowledge of rock culture, and a proficiency in French. He attempts to get his GED in "Go Forth And Die", and only fails in part due to the band's influence, and in "Fatherklok" tells Murderface not to interfere with Skwisgaar's father issues. Nathan sometimes acts in a parental manner towards Toki, and in the first episode insisted that the band never drinks before a show (though they had all been drinking all day.)
In the episode "Fatherklok", it was revealed that Nathan enjoys an excellent relationship with his father. He does, however, find his parents embarrassing as they are normal parents and not "brutal" as seen in "Dethfam". A brief montage shows Nathan and his father fishing, racing go-karts, and playing Scrabble. He is the only member of the band who spends time with or likes his father, stating in the episode "Dethdad" he often drinks beer and goes hunting with his father regularly and would be very sad if his father died.
Small described Nathan as a "quarterback", in part to his contribution to his high school football team, and based his character's appearance and performance style on Cannibal Corpse vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher.
Skwisgaar Skwigelf
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Skwisgaar Skwigelf is Dethklok's lead guitarist. He is described as "a handsome guy who thinks he's the greatest thing in the world". Show creator Brendon Small compares Skwisgaar's attitude and technical playing style to Yngwie Malmsteen. He is tall and thin with long blond hair, a studded belt with a skull buckle, and blue eyes. He played a Gibson Explorer for the first three seasons, but recently switched to the Gibson "Thunderhorse" Explorer for the fourth. He often carries around his guitars even when not playing. He is often referred to as the fastest guitar player in the world. He is depicted as having extreme sexual prowess and a preference for plump or elderly women. Hailing from Sweden, Skwisgaar has a marked Swedish accent and often makes mistakes when conjugating verbs. He is responsible for the majority of the arrangement of Dethklok's songs, writing the guitar lines as well as Murderface's bass lines. Skwisgaar also typically discards and re-records the rhythm guitar (and the bass guitar parts) recorded by Toki Wartooth for Dethklok's albums and frequently belittles him for his guitar playing skills, although he does appear to share something of a codependent relationship with him. This can be supported, as shown in The Doomstar Requiem during a flashback sequence in which the band holds auditions for a new rhythm guitarist. Skwisgaar originally disapproved of the idea, wanting Dethklok to be a four-piece. During Toki's audition, Toki was still inferior to Skwisgaar as a guitarist, and the rest of Dethklok originally were about to dismiss him, but Skwisgaar admitted that no other guitarist had made him play as well as he did, and requested that Toki stay in the band.
Toki Wartooth
Voiced by: Tommy Blacha, Mike Keneally (singing voice in Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem)
Toki Wartooth is Dethklok's rhythm guitarist. He typically played a Gibson Flying V, but has switched to the Brendon Small "Snow Falcon" V for the fourth season. A native of "an abandoned town near Lillehammer", Norway, he was forced to constantly perform manual labor by his abusive cultist parents. He has a distinct accent and often inappropriately pluralizes words, but refers to Pickles as "Pickle". Visually, he has a distinct Fu Manchu moustache, long brown hair, and very pale blue eyes. He is also shown to be extremely physically fit, in stark contrast to the rest of his bandmates.
Toki is the only Dethklok member with no prior band experience, as well as the only one not with the band in its initial form, having been chosen to replace the violent and egomaniacal Magnus Hammersmith. Small explains Toki's relationship with Skwisgaar as "...Norwegian to Skwisgaar's Swedish, pompous attitude. And, again, a second-class citizen in the same band", and compared his guitar playing style to that of Iron Maiden.
In contrast to the deep cynicism, grim outlook, promiscuity, and alcohol abuse of the other band members, Toki's character is generally childlike, innocent, and good-natured. He has a boyish bedroom complete with action figures, stuffed animals, and wall posters, and a prominent hobby of his is building model planes. He is a Type 2 diabetic and requires insulin shots.
A recurring plot point is the death of people Toki grows fond of, including a guitar teacher and his father; the Tribunal has described him as an "angel of death". Any living being that gets close to Toki (with the exception of Dr. Rockso, Charles and his bandmates) tends to die after a brief period of time.
Pickles
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Pickles is Dethklok's drummer. He was raised in Tomahawk, Wisconsin and speaks with an Upper Midwestern accent. He refers to himself as "very Irish American" and has long red hair, styled into dreadlocks and a comb-over skullet, and green eyes. He is depicted as having an average build with a strong propensity for drugs and alcohol abuse stemming from feelings of resentment towards his family. He comes off as the most socially-capable member of the band, able to grasp most concepts outside the scope of death metal that the other four cannot. In later seasons, this capacity often puts him at odds with Nathan, though ironically they are the only two the others can talk to on certain levels. Charles Offdensen refers to Nathan and Pickles as the "most responsible" members in the group, much to their disdain. Pickles is a multi-talented performer, whom IGN Magazine described as "the band's deepest thinker". Pickles is the former front-man of a group called Snakes 'n' Barrels, providing the vocals and performing as the lead guitarist.
Brendon Small used the voice of Pickles on The Dethalbum to sing the chorus of the song "Hatredcopter", as well as the entirety of "Kill You", a song by Snakes N' Barrels "covered" by Dethklok, which serves as a bonus track. Describing the character, Small said, "I thought the drummer should be able to do a bunch of stuff, like Roger Taylor in Queen. Even though it's not based on his personality, it's what he can do in the band and what parts of the songs he does contribute to."
The original design of the character was changed to avoid his looking too much like Devin Townsend.
William Murderface
Voiced by: Tommy Blacha
William Murderface is Dethklok's bassist, who plays a Gibson Thunderbird Studio 5-string. He has brown hair, green eyes, a heavy lateral lisp and a gap in his front teeth. He has tattoos on the top and bottom parts of his abdomen, the top reading "Pobody's Nerfect", and the bottom saying "This Mess Is A Place". When he was a baby, Murderface's father killed his wife – Murderface's mother – with a chainsaw before turning it upon himself in front of Murderface in a grisly murder-suicide (Murderface believes this happened because he was ugly). This left Murderface to be raised by his grandparents.
Murderface is "a self-hating bass player who's always trying to act like he's more important than he is", in part because his bass playing is usually mixed out completely. Although Murderface's musical contribution is apparently totally unnecessary to the group's sound, Dethklok realizes when they expel him from the band in "Dethsiduals" that he imposes a mentality of negativity and hatred upon the band that is crucial to their songwriting.
Brendon Small describes Murderface as "thin-skinned and incredibly sensitive and just wants to be accepted constantly but can't get that because he's such a dick and pushes people away". He is sensitive about his weight and appearance, which his bandmates often obliviously exacerbate. Murderface's voice was originally achieved by Tommy Blacha putting paper towels inside his mouth when voicing the character, but he has since refined his technique to forgo the paper towels.
Magnus Hammersmith
Voiced by: Marc Maron (speaking) and Brendon Small (singing)
Magnus Hammersmith was the first rhythm guitarist of Dethklok, but was kicked out of the band very early for his violent behavior. He returns to antagonize and threaten the band several times.
Real-life band members
Studio members:
Brendon Small – lead vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards (2006–present)
Pete Griffin – bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
Nili Brosh – guitar (2019–present)
Adam Felder – drums (2021–present)
Live members:
Brendon Small – lead vocals, guitar (2007–present)
Gene Hoglan – drums (2007–2021; studio member)
Bryan Beller – bass guitar, backing vocals (2007–2016; studio member since 2012)
Mike Keneally – guitar, backing vocals (2007–2016)
Pete Griffin – bass, backing vocals (2012, 2019–present)
Nili Brosh – guitar (2019–present)
Adam Felder – drums (2021–present)
Touring history
In late 2007, Adult Swim organized a promotional tour featuring Dethklok and ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. The tour comprised performances at twelve college campuses, with tickets available to students only (except for 50 tickets set aside for the UCLA show in the Los Angeles area). The band featured Brendon Small, guitarist Mike Keneally, bassist Bryan Beller and drummer Gene Hoglan. Tour information was made available on Adult Swim's promotional site. In an interview with Ultimate Guitar, Brendon Small described the tour as being "like Gorillaz, with the animated characters" with Small's ensemble of musicians performing visibly.
In a February 2008 interview on California radio station Indie 103.1 with Full Metal Jackie, plans for a summer 2008 tour were announced. Brendon Small described the tour as being like "a Disney ride but with murder". Dethklok toured the US in June and early July with Chimaira and Soilent Green. In April 2008, 27 seven dates were announced.
Dethklok performed at Heavy MTL on June 21, 2008. They then toured with Chimaira and Soilent Green during June and July 2008. During the June 5, 2008, show at The Fillmore in San Francisco, an electrical fire broke out during Soilent Green's set. Attendees were hesitant to leave the building thinking that it was part of the show (in their fictional universe, Dethklok is infamous for causing disasters that result in deaths), which created a dangerous situation, but they soon realized that the fire was real and evacuated and the concert was rescheduled.
Dethklok toured with co-headliner Mastodon, High on Fire, and Converge during October and November 2009. The band performed in San Bernardino on July 9, 2011, at the Mayhem Festival in place of Megadeth. Dethklok played a free show at San Diego Comic Con on July 13, 2012, on the USS Midway. Dethklok was scheduled to play in Toronto, Ontario at the Heavy T.O. festival on August 11, 2012, and also in Montreal, QC at Heavy MTL Festival on August 12, 2012; however, Dethklok's appearances at both festivals were cancelled. Dethklok was also scheduled to play the main stage for both days of Knotfest on August 17 and 18, 2012; however, Dethklok's appearance was cancelled. The band was scheduled to co-headline a tour in North America with Lamb of God (with special guest Gojira) in August 2012; this tour was cancelled due to bail hearings at the time for Randy Blythe in the Czech Republic.
Dethklok toured North America, in support of Dethalbum III, with Machine Head, All That Remains and The Black Dahlia Murder during November and December 2012. Bassist Pete Griffin filled in for several shows while Bryan Beller was touring with his band, The Aristocrats.
Dethklok performed at Festival Supreme on October 25, 2014, in Los Angeles, California. Dethklok then performed at Adult Swim Festival 2019.
Awards
Dethklok received the award for best international band during the 2009 Revolver Golden God Awards. A clip of the band's acceptance speech was played after they were announced as the recipients. They were presented the award by Chuck Billy, best known for his work as the vocalist for the thrash metal band Testament. In 2013, Dethalbum III won an Independent Music Award for Best Metal/Hardcore Album.
Discography
Studio albums
As Dethklok
As Brendon Small
EPs
Adult Swim Presents: ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead on Tour with Dethklok (split CD) (2007)
Singles
"Bloodrocuted" (2007)
"Thunderhorse" (2007)
"Bloodlines" (2009)
"I Ejaculate Fire" (2012)
"Blazing Star" (2013)
Guest appearances
Zimmers Hole – When You Were Shouting at the Devil... We Were in League with Satan (guest vocals on "The Vowel Song" by Nathan Explosion) (2008)
Music videos
As lead band
As featured band
References
External links
Official Myspace
Dethklok's page on Encyclopaedia Metallum
Animated musical groups
Fictional rock musicians
Recorded music characters
American melodic death metal musical groups
Metalocalypse
Musical groups established in 2006
Musical groups disestablished in 2016
Musical groups reestablished in 2019
Musical quintets
Comedy rock musical groups | false | [
"Spiders is a three-piece indie band from Rotherham, England. Close school friends, the band came together through \"lack of anything better to do and a similar taste in music.\" Main influences on the band are The Jam, Blur and The Libertines.\n\nComposed of brothers Rob Tingle, Adam Tingle, and friend Nick Monk, the band were taught by Alex Turner's father a Rawmarsh Comprehensive School. Spiders was a result of numerous bands and projects, which formed in the Summer of 2010.\n\nSince then the band have gigged almost constantly in and around Yorkshire. So far the band have recorded two EPs with Arctic Monkeys' producer, Alan Smyth; the first, Daring to Wish, Daring to Smile, Daring to Wonder, has received acclaim from regional press. In March 2011, the band formed Subtonic Records, and released their first promotional single \"Where Does this Leave us Now\", which has garnered 60,000 views on YouTube so far. Following up, and with further collaborations with filmmaker, Andy Little, the band has also released further promos: \"Ambitions of a Huckster's Daughter\", and \"Subtle Differences\".\n\nDiscography\n\nEPs\nDaring to Wish, Daring to Smile, Daring to Wonder\n\nSingles\n\"Where Does this Leave us Now\"\n\"Ambitions of a Huckster's Daughter\"\n\"Subtle Differences\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nSpiders blog\n\nEnglish indie rock groups\nMusical groups established in 2010\nMusic in Yorkshire\n2010 establishments in England",
"Leave Scars is the third studio album released by the American thrash metal band, Dark Angel, released on January 24, 1989. It was their first album with vocalist Ron Rinehart and bassist Mike Gonzalez (who joined just prior to the release of Darkness Descends), and the last to feature guitarist Jim Durkin. Leave Scars was Dark Angel's most successful release, peaking at number 159 on the Billboard 200.\n\nMusical style\nLeave Scars saw Dark Angel expand the thrash metal sound of their previous two albums, We Have Arrived and Darkness Descends. It introduced a more technical and progressive element to the band's music than the raw sound of its predecessors, presenting two instrumentals and several songs lasting more than five minutes. This album can also be seen as the genesis of the direction Dark Angel would take on their 1991 follow-up album Time Does Not Heal, which saw them expanding their technical sound even further.\n\nReception\n\nLeave Scars received a positive-to-mixed review from AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia, who gave the album a rating of two-and-a-half out of five. He noted that, with Leave Scars, Dark Angel \"continued to perfect their already quite impressive musical chops, while simultaneously refining their brutal thrashing\" and called it \"the album which inaugurates their progressive thrash phase, as increasingly complex structures and frequent, unexpected time changes result in numbers of epic proportions.\" In the closing in his review, however, Rivadavia wrote, \"Ultimately, Leave Scars only fails to score higher marks because Dark Angel forgot to add a final, crucial ingredient to its potent recipe: melody. And sure enough, addressing this small oversight would result in their magnum opus, 1991's colossal Time Does Not Heal.\"\n\nTrack listing\nAll songs written by Gene Hoglan and Jim Durkin, except where noted.\n\nCredits\nRon Rinehart - vocals\nEric Meyer - rhythm and lead guitar, backing vocals\nJim Durkin - rhythm and lead guitar, violin bow, assorted instruments, backing vocals\nMike Gonzalez - bass, backing vocals\nGene Hoglan - drums, rhythm guitar, assorted instruments, backing vocals\nRon Eriksen - guest vocals on \"The Promise of Agony\"\n\nReferences\n\nDark Angel (band) albums\n1989 albums\nCombat Records albums"
]
|
[
"Dethklok",
"Nathan Explosion",
"Who is Nathan?",
"Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist",
"How long was he with the band?",
"first episode",
"What important role did he play in the story?",
"Nathan is slightly more sensible than the rest of the band, and a great deal more emotionally stable,",
"Does he leave the band?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_3dd7b14198ba42b4a460f400e35aa5f0_1 | Is there an example of his emotional stablity? | 5 | Is there an example of Nathan's emotional stability? | Dethklok | Voiced by: Brendon Small Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist and "lyrical visionary" of Dethklok. Portrayed as a tall, bulky figure, with long black hair, black nails, and green eyes, Nathan speaks with a death growl even when not singing. He did not speak a word until he was five years old and in high school excelled only in frog dissection and football. According to his dating profile, Nathan describes his ethnicity as "White/Native American". He was raised in New Port Richey, Florida. He is the lead songwriting force in Dethklok, and uses violent imagery or plot elements when writing and composing song material. Nathan is slightly more sensible than the rest of the band, and a great deal more emotionally stable, though he is still incompetent at most things in life such as the use of a grocery store or reading a cooking recipe. Despite this, he does seem to have some knowledge in specific areas, such as negotiating a contract, extensive knowledge of rock culture, and a proficiency in French. He attempts to get his GED in "Go Forth And Die", and only fails in part due to the band's influence, and in "Fatherklok" tells Murderface not to interfere with Skwisgaar's father issues. Nathan sometimes acts in a parental manner towards Toki, and in the first episode insisted that the band never drinks before a show (though they had all been drinking all day.) In the episode "Fatherklok", it was revealed that Nathan enjoys an excellent relationship with his father. He does, however find his parents embarrassing as they are normal parents and not "brutal" as seen in "Dethfam". A brief montage shows Nathan and his father fishing, racing go-karts, and playing Scrabble. He is the only member of the band who spends time with or likes his father, stating in the episode "Dethdad" he often drinks beer and goes hunting with his father regularly and would be very sad if his father died. Small described Nathan as a "quarterback", and based his character's appearance and performance style on Cannibal Corpse vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher. CANNOTANSWER | a great deal more emotionally stable, though he is still incompetent at most things in life such as the use of a grocery store or reading a cooking recipe. | Dethklok is a fictional melodic death metal band featured in the Adult Swim animated television series Metalocalypse.
The first official Dethklok album was released on September 25, 2007, entitled The Dethalbum. The album debuted at number 21 on Billboard Magazine's Top 200 list. The band released Dethalbum II on September 29, 2009, and toured with Mastodon, High on Fire and Converge. The band's third album, Dethalbum III, was released on October 16, 2012. The soundtrack to the special episode, Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem was released on October 29, 2013.
A real band was set up in order to perform the band's music in live shows. Both bands were created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha. The music heard on Metalocalypse is performed by Brendon Small, with others needed for live concerts and albums. On August 25, 2017, Brendon Small released his second solo album, Brendon Small's Galaktikon II, which is considered to serve as "a new Dethklok album", due to Adult Swim holding the rights to the band name. However, after a five-year absence, the band returned to perform at Adult Swim Festival 2019.
The band is known for its satirical or parodic lyrical themes.
Fictional background
In the Metalocalypse series, Dethklok is depicted as the world's most popular and successful death metal band. The members of Dethklok reside in a colossal, fortress-like castle elevated high above ground called Mordhaus, which serves as their residence as well as their recording studio. Beyond their extremely wealthy financial status, they also oversee a massive personal organization of devoted workers known as Klokateers, who act as their personal servants, as well as their roadies, security personnel, and private military squadron. The band's fan base includes billions of metal fanatics, who frequently endanger themselves to watch the band perform live, as their incredibly expensive shows are frequently held in dangerous locations, and include numerous hazards such as excessive pyrotechnics, aircraft, lasers, and giant bladed pendulums, with many shows concluding in multiple attendee deaths. With their widespread commercial success and lucrative sponsorship contracts, Dethklok is ranked as the world's seventh largest economy by the end of the second season.
Despite their otherworldly success, the members of Dethklok are often portrayed as incompetent at almost everything not related to their profession. The band struggles to perform everyday tasks, including shopping for groceries, preparing food, and maintaining proper social relationships. Throughout the series, they are often assisted by their manager and lawyer, Charles Foster Offdensen, who frequently attempts to prevent the band from making poor decisions. The band's actions and uncanny misfortune have caught the attention of an Illuminati-style council, known as The Tribunal. The Tribunal is portrayed as Dethklok's antagonist throughout the series, and secretly monitors their actions in almost every episode. They describe Dethklok as the "world's greatest cultural force". The leader of The Tribunal (Mr. Salacia), however, frequently instructs the other members to allow Dethklok to do as they will.
Band members
Fictional band members
Nathan Explosion
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist and "lyrical visionary" of Dethklok. Portrayed as a tall and stocky guy with long black hair, black nails, and green eyes, Nathan speaks with a death growl even when not singing. He did not speak a word until he was five years old and in high school excelled only in frog dissection and football. According to his dating profile, Nathan describes his ethnicity as "White/Native American". He was raised in New Port Richey, Florida. He is the lead songwriting force in Dethklok, and uses violent imagery or plot elements when writing and composing song material. Nathan is slightly more sensible than the rest of the band, and a great deal more emotionally stable, though he is still incompetent at most things in life such as the use of a grocery store or reading a cooking recipe. Despite this, he does seem to have some knowledge in specific areas, such as negotiating a contract, extensive knowledge of rock culture, and a proficiency in French. He attempts to get his GED in "Go Forth And Die", and only fails in part due to the band's influence, and in "Fatherklok" tells Murderface not to interfere with Skwisgaar's father issues. Nathan sometimes acts in a parental manner towards Toki, and in the first episode insisted that the band never drinks before a show (though they had all been drinking all day.)
In the episode "Fatherklok", it was revealed that Nathan enjoys an excellent relationship with his father. He does, however, find his parents embarrassing as they are normal parents and not "brutal" as seen in "Dethfam". A brief montage shows Nathan and his father fishing, racing go-karts, and playing Scrabble. He is the only member of the band who spends time with or likes his father, stating in the episode "Dethdad" he often drinks beer and goes hunting with his father regularly and would be very sad if his father died.
Small described Nathan as a "quarterback", in part to his contribution to his high school football team, and based his character's appearance and performance style on Cannibal Corpse vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher.
Skwisgaar Skwigelf
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Skwisgaar Skwigelf is Dethklok's lead guitarist. He is described as "a handsome guy who thinks he's the greatest thing in the world". Show creator Brendon Small compares Skwisgaar's attitude and technical playing style to Yngwie Malmsteen. He is tall and thin with long blond hair, a studded belt with a skull buckle, and blue eyes. He played a Gibson Explorer for the first three seasons, but recently switched to the Gibson "Thunderhorse" Explorer for the fourth. He often carries around his guitars even when not playing. He is often referred to as the fastest guitar player in the world. He is depicted as having extreme sexual prowess and a preference for plump or elderly women. Hailing from Sweden, Skwisgaar has a marked Swedish accent and often makes mistakes when conjugating verbs. He is responsible for the majority of the arrangement of Dethklok's songs, writing the guitar lines as well as Murderface's bass lines. Skwisgaar also typically discards and re-records the rhythm guitar (and the bass guitar parts) recorded by Toki Wartooth for Dethklok's albums and frequently belittles him for his guitar playing skills, although he does appear to share something of a codependent relationship with him. This can be supported, as shown in The Doomstar Requiem during a flashback sequence in which the band holds auditions for a new rhythm guitarist. Skwisgaar originally disapproved of the idea, wanting Dethklok to be a four-piece. During Toki's audition, Toki was still inferior to Skwisgaar as a guitarist, and the rest of Dethklok originally were about to dismiss him, but Skwisgaar admitted that no other guitarist had made him play as well as he did, and requested that Toki stay in the band.
Toki Wartooth
Voiced by: Tommy Blacha, Mike Keneally (singing voice in Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem)
Toki Wartooth is Dethklok's rhythm guitarist. He typically played a Gibson Flying V, but has switched to the Brendon Small "Snow Falcon" V for the fourth season. A native of "an abandoned town near Lillehammer", Norway, he was forced to constantly perform manual labor by his abusive cultist parents. He has a distinct accent and often inappropriately pluralizes words, but refers to Pickles as "Pickle". Visually, he has a distinct Fu Manchu moustache, long brown hair, and very pale blue eyes. He is also shown to be extremely physically fit, in stark contrast to the rest of his bandmates.
Toki is the only Dethklok member with no prior band experience, as well as the only one not with the band in its initial form, having been chosen to replace the violent and egomaniacal Magnus Hammersmith. Small explains Toki's relationship with Skwisgaar as "...Norwegian to Skwisgaar's Swedish, pompous attitude. And, again, a second-class citizen in the same band", and compared his guitar playing style to that of Iron Maiden.
In contrast to the deep cynicism, grim outlook, promiscuity, and alcohol abuse of the other band members, Toki's character is generally childlike, innocent, and good-natured. He has a boyish bedroom complete with action figures, stuffed animals, and wall posters, and a prominent hobby of his is building model planes. He is a Type 2 diabetic and requires insulin shots.
A recurring plot point is the death of people Toki grows fond of, including a guitar teacher and his father; the Tribunal has described him as an "angel of death". Any living being that gets close to Toki (with the exception of Dr. Rockso, Charles and his bandmates) tends to die after a brief period of time.
Pickles
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Pickles is Dethklok's drummer. He was raised in Tomahawk, Wisconsin and speaks with an Upper Midwestern accent. He refers to himself as "very Irish American" and has long red hair, styled into dreadlocks and a comb-over skullet, and green eyes. He is depicted as having an average build with a strong propensity for drugs and alcohol abuse stemming from feelings of resentment towards his family. He comes off as the most socially-capable member of the band, able to grasp most concepts outside the scope of death metal that the other four cannot. In later seasons, this capacity often puts him at odds with Nathan, though ironically they are the only two the others can talk to on certain levels. Charles Offdensen refers to Nathan and Pickles as the "most responsible" members in the group, much to their disdain. Pickles is a multi-talented performer, whom IGN Magazine described as "the band's deepest thinker". Pickles is the former front-man of a group called Snakes 'n' Barrels, providing the vocals and performing as the lead guitarist.
Brendon Small used the voice of Pickles on The Dethalbum to sing the chorus of the song "Hatredcopter", as well as the entirety of "Kill You", a song by Snakes N' Barrels "covered" by Dethklok, which serves as a bonus track. Describing the character, Small said, "I thought the drummer should be able to do a bunch of stuff, like Roger Taylor in Queen. Even though it's not based on his personality, it's what he can do in the band and what parts of the songs he does contribute to."
The original design of the character was changed to avoid his looking too much like Devin Townsend.
William Murderface
Voiced by: Tommy Blacha
William Murderface is Dethklok's bassist, who plays a Gibson Thunderbird Studio 5-string. He has brown hair, green eyes, a heavy lateral lisp and a gap in his front teeth. He has tattoos on the top and bottom parts of his abdomen, the top reading "Pobody's Nerfect", and the bottom saying "This Mess Is A Place". When he was a baby, Murderface's father killed his wife – Murderface's mother – with a chainsaw before turning it upon himself in front of Murderface in a grisly murder-suicide (Murderface believes this happened because he was ugly). This left Murderface to be raised by his grandparents.
Murderface is "a self-hating bass player who's always trying to act like he's more important than he is", in part because his bass playing is usually mixed out completely. Although Murderface's musical contribution is apparently totally unnecessary to the group's sound, Dethklok realizes when they expel him from the band in "Dethsiduals" that he imposes a mentality of negativity and hatred upon the band that is crucial to their songwriting.
Brendon Small describes Murderface as "thin-skinned and incredibly sensitive and just wants to be accepted constantly but can't get that because he's such a dick and pushes people away". He is sensitive about his weight and appearance, which his bandmates often obliviously exacerbate. Murderface's voice was originally achieved by Tommy Blacha putting paper towels inside his mouth when voicing the character, but he has since refined his technique to forgo the paper towels.
Magnus Hammersmith
Voiced by: Marc Maron (speaking) and Brendon Small (singing)
Magnus Hammersmith was the first rhythm guitarist of Dethklok, but was kicked out of the band very early for his violent behavior. He returns to antagonize and threaten the band several times.
Real-life band members
Studio members:
Brendon Small – lead vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards (2006–present)
Pete Griffin – bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
Nili Brosh – guitar (2019–present)
Adam Felder – drums (2021–present)
Live members:
Brendon Small – lead vocals, guitar (2007–present)
Gene Hoglan – drums (2007–2021; studio member)
Bryan Beller – bass guitar, backing vocals (2007–2016; studio member since 2012)
Mike Keneally – guitar, backing vocals (2007–2016)
Pete Griffin – bass, backing vocals (2012, 2019–present)
Nili Brosh – guitar (2019–present)
Adam Felder – drums (2021–present)
Touring history
In late 2007, Adult Swim organized a promotional tour featuring Dethklok and ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. The tour comprised performances at twelve college campuses, with tickets available to students only (except for 50 tickets set aside for the UCLA show in the Los Angeles area). The band featured Brendon Small, guitarist Mike Keneally, bassist Bryan Beller and drummer Gene Hoglan. Tour information was made available on Adult Swim's promotional site. In an interview with Ultimate Guitar, Brendon Small described the tour as being "like Gorillaz, with the animated characters" with Small's ensemble of musicians performing visibly.
In a February 2008 interview on California radio station Indie 103.1 with Full Metal Jackie, plans for a summer 2008 tour were announced. Brendon Small described the tour as being like "a Disney ride but with murder". Dethklok toured the US in June and early July with Chimaira and Soilent Green. In April 2008, 27 seven dates were announced.
Dethklok performed at Heavy MTL on June 21, 2008. They then toured with Chimaira and Soilent Green during June and July 2008. During the June 5, 2008, show at The Fillmore in San Francisco, an electrical fire broke out during Soilent Green's set. Attendees were hesitant to leave the building thinking that it was part of the show (in their fictional universe, Dethklok is infamous for causing disasters that result in deaths), which created a dangerous situation, but they soon realized that the fire was real and evacuated and the concert was rescheduled.
Dethklok toured with co-headliner Mastodon, High on Fire, and Converge during October and November 2009. The band performed in San Bernardino on July 9, 2011, at the Mayhem Festival in place of Megadeth. Dethklok played a free show at San Diego Comic Con on July 13, 2012, on the USS Midway. Dethklok was scheduled to play in Toronto, Ontario at the Heavy T.O. festival on August 11, 2012, and also in Montreal, QC at Heavy MTL Festival on August 12, 2012; however, Dethklok's appearances at both festivals were cancelled. Dethklok was also scheduled to play the main stage for both days of Knotfest on August 17 and 18, 2012; however, Dethklok's appearance was cancelled. The band was scheduled to co-headline a tour in North America with Lamb of God (with special guest Gojira) in August 2012; this tour was cancelled due to bail hearings at the time for Randy Blythe in the Czech Republic.
Dethklok toured North America, in support of Dethalbum III, with Machine Head, All That Remains and The Black Dahlia Murder during November and December 2012. Bassist Pete Griffin filled in for several shows while Bryan Beller was touring with his band, The Aristocrats.
Dethklok performed at Festival Supreme on October 25, 2014, in Los Angeles, California. Dethklok then performed at Adult Swim Festival 2019.
Awards
Dethklok received the award for best international band during the 2009 Revolver Golden God Awards. A clip of the band's acceptance speech was played after they were announced as the recipients. They were presented the award by Chuck Billy, best known for his work as the vocalist for the thrash metal band Testament. In 2013, Dethalbum III won an Independent Music Award for Best Metal/Hardcore Album.
Discography
Studio albums
As Dethklok
As Brendon Small
EPs
Adult Swim Presents: ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead on Tour with Dethklok (split CD) (2007)
Singles
"Bloodrocuted" (2007)
"Thunderhorse" (2007)
"Bloodlines" (2009)
"I Ejaculate Fire" (2012)
"Blazing Star" (2013)
Guest appearances
Zimmers Hole – When You Were Shouting at the Devil... We Were in League with Satan (guest vocals on "The Vowel Song" by Nathan Explosion) (2008)
Music videos
As lead band
As featured band
References
External links
Official Myspace
Dethklok's page on Encyclopaedia Metallum
Animated musical groups
Fictional rock musicians
Recorded music characters
American melodic death metal musical groups
Metalocalypse
Musical groups established in 2006
Musical groups disestablished in 2016
Musical groups reestablished in 2019
Musical quintets
Comedy rock musical groups | true | [
"An affectional action (also known as an affectual, emotional, or affective action) is one of four major types of social action, as defined by Max Weber. Unlike the other social actions, an affectional action is an action that occurs as a result of a person's state of feeling, sometimes regardless of the consequences that follow it. Because the action is a result of our state of feeling, an affectional action may sometimes be described as irrational and reactive. An example of an affectional action can be the act of a father striking their daughter because of an action that she carried out that the father saw as frustrating.\n\nMax Weber's writings \nMax Weber describes the actions that we take as rarely occurring with the influence of only one of the four types of social actions. He describes the action as: \"an uncontrolled reaction to some exceptional stimulus.\" The action taken by the individual is also described as a reaction that consists of a release as a result of emotional tension. An affectional action may not always be uncontrolled and strictly reactive, as a person may act strictly on their emotions, but the emotions of the person may take some form of rationalization, resulting in an action that is not purely affectional anymore.\n\nIn The Managed Heart \nThe Managed Heart is a book that was written by Arlie Russell Hochschild. First published in 1979, the book speaks about the role of emotions and feelings in our society, \"feeling rules\", as well as the use of emotions and affectional action in the workplace. Hochschild presents the idea that actions that result from our emotions is rational, not irrational. She goes on to say that the relationship that we accept between irrationality and affectional action stems from our \"cultural policy toward emotional life...\"\n\nEmotions as described by sociologists \nHochschild speaks about emotions and our actions resulting from our feelings using the input from many other famous sociologists in The Managed Heart:\n Charles Darwin: Darwin believed that emotional gestures were biologically innate. He went on to say that the gestures that resulted from emotions and feelings were mainly universal and applied to all individuals, where some gestures like kissing and weeping were culturally specific.\n Sigmund Freud: Freud went through three major stages of his idea of emotions. First, he believed our emotions were a result of our blocked libido, presenting itself as tension and anxiety. Then, he believed emotions and emotional actions to accompany Id. And finally he came to see emotion and affectional action as \"signals of impending danger (from inside or outside) and as an impetus to action.\"\n William James: James believed that different emotions would accompany different body states, meaning, the manipulation of our body and mind also alters our emotions and how we would react to certain situations in which we react based upon our emotional state.\n\nAcross individuals \nPeople will react differently in certain situations, so an affectional action will always depend on the person performing the action. With this in mind, an affectional action will have a variety of factors like the personality of the person, or the cultural normalities, or even the setting in which the person is in. There will never be a universal action occurring out of emotional and state of feeling. A few examples of the variables that go into how the subject reacts can be:\n Whether the person tends to be more emotional than usual\n The cultural teachings from which the person comes from\n The environment in which the person is in\nAn affectional action has to take into account the individual, but the affectional action must also take into account the social norms in which the situation is occurring. This can affect the action an individual will take to an extreme level, as most individuals would react differently when in extremely different situations. Take for example, a waiter in a restaurant. He may become frustrated with clients and want to shout, however, because of his job and the norms that accompany it, he is barred from his typical action. This is an example of emotional labor, an idea developed by Arlie Russell Hochschild. The idea speaks about emotional regulation carried out in order to fit the \"emotional requirements of a job\". Emotional labor is one of the major modifiers of the action and individual will take, regardless of their feeling state. This will often occur when an individual is dealing with clients or customers and needs to give off a professional or \"good\" image, often suppressing the initial affectional action they may want to take.\n\nSee also \n\nGroup action (sociology)\nInstrumental and value-rational action\nInterpersonal relationship\nSymbolic interactionism\nTraditional action\n\nReferences \n\nSociological terminology",
"Emotional intimacy is an aspect of interpersonal relationships that varies in intensity from one relationship to another and varies from one time to another, much like physical intimacy. Emotional intimacy involves a perception of closeness to another that allows sharing of personal feelings, accompanied by expectations of understanding, affirmation, and demonstration of caring.\n\nDescription \n\nEmotional intimacy can be expressed in verbal and non-verbal communication. The degree of comfort, effectiveness, and mutual experience of closeness might indicate emotional intimacy between individuals. Intimate communication is both expressed (e.g. talking) and implied (e.g. friends sitting close on a park bench in silence).\n\nEmotional intimacy depends primarily on trust, as well as the nature of the relationship and the culture in which it is observed. Emotional intimacy is different from sexual intimacy. Sexual intimacy can take place with or without emotional intimacy. Sexual intimacy differs from emotional intimacy because it often does not occur within any kind of sexual context. Emotional intimacy is a psychological event that happens when trust levels and communication between two people are such that it fosters the mutual sharing of one another's deepest selves. Depending on the background and conventions of the participants, emotional intimacy might involve disclosing thoughts, feelings and emotions in order to reach an understanding, offer mutual support or build a sense of community. Or it might involve sharing a duty, without commentary.\n\nDeep intimacy requires a high level of transparency and openness. Conversation is a key point in every emotional intimate relationship. For example, a long-distance relationship is purely based on conversation. A long-distance relationship can be stronger, in comparison to a normal one, because it forces the two partners to enhance the conversation process. This involves a degree of vulnerability that can feel uncomfortable or anxiety-producing to many individuals. These feelings do, however, tend to diminish and even dissolve over time and with practice. Couples who partake in this act of emotional intimacy are able to be more comfortable with each other. They feel they can share their dreams and their positive characteristics, along with the negative characteristics that they may have. There are great moments and also tough moments that come along within a relationship. Emotional intimacy is being able to communicate your feelings to show how much you care. It is important to practice emotional intimacy in relationships. A lack of emotional intimacy could be solved by taking the time to be with your partner throughout the duration of your relationships. Many specialists suggest that talking about problems as soon as they arise is wise to continue emotional intimacy. Being honest, expressing appreciation, and routinely communicating also keeps stable emotional intimacy.\n\nEmotional Intimacy Scale \n\nThe 5-item Emotional Intimacy Scale (EIS) is a scale which enables an evaluation of the emotional intimacy in a relationship. Its goal is to predict the different outcomes produced by the existence of an intimate relationship.\n\nThis scale is created with a study of different items which are fundamental components of an intimate relationship. Some persons need to answer to a questionnaire. They answer to judge the degree of truth of each of these components in comparison with their actual situation. There are five of them: \n This person completely accepts me as I am\n I can openly share my deepest thoughts and feelings with this person\n This person cares deeply for me\n This person would willingly help me in any way\n My thoughts and feelings are understood and affirmed by this person\nThese results are putting in correlation with specific values which characterize an individual such as psychological and physical well-being, social support, and health.\n\nThe results provided by the scale prove a positive relationship between an increase of EIS and an increase for the individual of social support, self-efficiency, life satisfaction and other positive effects. It also shows the negative relation between a decrease of EIS and an increase of stress, pain, and fatigue for the individual. An intimate relationship gives a sentiment of purpose and belonging which increases the physiological and psychological well-being.\n\nSee also\n\nReferences\n\nCommunication\nInterpersonal relationships\nEmotion\nIntimate relationships"
]
|
[
"Dethklok",
"Nathan Explosion",
"Who is Nathan?",
"Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist",
"How long was he with the band?",
"first episode",
"What important role did he play in the story?",
"Nathan is slightly more sensible than the rest of the band, and a great deal more emotionally stable,",
"Does he leave the band?",
"I don't know.",
"Is there an example of his emotional stablity?",
"a great deal more emotionally stable, though he is still incompetent at most things in life such as the use of a grocery store or reading a cooking recipe."
]
| C_3dd7b14198ba42b4a460f400e35aa5f0_1 | What other role does Nathan play with the group? | 6 | Which other role does Nathan play with the group aside from lead vocalist? | Dethklok | Voiced by: Brendon Small Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist and "lyrical visionary" of Dethklok. Portrayed as a tall, bulky figure, with long black hair, black nails, and green eyes, Nathan speaks with a death growl even when not singing. He did not speak a word until he was five years old and in high school excelled only in frog dissection and football. According to his dating profile, Nathan describes his ethnicity as "White/Native American". He was raised in New Port Richey, Florida. He is the lead songwriting force in Dethklok, and uses violent imagery or plot elements when writing and composing song material. Nathan is slightly more sensible than the rest of the band, and a great deal more emotionally stable, though he is still incompetent at most things in life such as the use of a grocery store or reading a cooking recipe. Despite this, he does seem to have some knowledge in specific areas, such as negotiating a contract, extensive knowledge of rock culture, and a proficiency in French. He attempts to get his GED in "Go Forth And Die", and only fails in part due to the band's influence, and in "Fatherklok" tells Murderface not to interfere with Skwisgaar's father issues. Nathan sometimes acts in a parental manner towards Toki, and in the first episode insisted that the band never drinks before a show (though they had all been drinking all day.) In the episode "Fatherklok", it was revealed that Nathan enjoys an excellent relationship with his father. He does, however find his parents embarrassing as they are normal parents and not "brutal" as seen in "Dethfam". A brief montage shows Nathan and his father fishing, racing go-karts, and playing Scrabble. He is the only member of the band who spends time with or likes his father, stating in the episode "Dethdad" he often drinks beer and goes hunting with his father regularly and would be very sad if his father died. Small described Nathan as a "quarterback", and based his character's appearance and performance style on Cannibal Corpse vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher. CANNOTANSWER | In the episode "Fatherklok", it was revealed that Nathan enjoys an excellent relationship with his father. | Dethklok is a fictional melodic death metal band featured in the Adult Swim animated television series Metalocalypse.
The first official Dethklok album was released on September 25, 2007, entitled The Dethalbum. The album debuted at number 21 on Billboard Magazine's Top 200 list. The band released Dethalbum II on September 29, 2009, and toured with Mastodon, High on Fire and Converge. The band's third album, Dethalbum III, was released on October 16, 2012. The soundtrack to the special episode, Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem was released on October 29, 2013.
A real band was set up in order to perform the band's music in live shows. Both bands were created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha. The music heard on Metalocalypse is performed by Brendon Small, with others needed for live concerts and albums. On August 25, 2017, Brendon Small released his second solo album, Brendon Small's Galaktikon II, which is considered to serve as "a new Dethklok album", due to Adult Swim holding the rights to the band name. However, after a five-year absence, the band returned to perform at Adult Swim Festival 2019.
The band is known for its satirical or parodic lyrical themes.
Fictional background
In the Metalocalypse series, Dethklok is depicted as the world's most popular and successful death metal band. The members of Dethklok reside in a colossal, fortress-like castle elevated high above ground called Mordhaus, which serves as their residence as well as their recording studio. Beyond their extremely wealthy financial status, they also oversee a massive personal organization of devoted workers known as Klokateers, who act as their personal servants, as well as their roadies, security personnel, and private military squadron. The band's fan base includes billions of metal fanatics, who frequently endanger themselves to watch the band perform live, as their incredibly expensive shows are frequently held in dangerous locations, and include numerous hazards such as excessive pyrotechnics, aircraft, lasers, and giant bladed pendulums, with many shows concluding in multiple attendee deaths. With their widespread commercial success and lucrative sponsorship contracts, Dethklok is ranked as the world's seventh largest economy by the end of the second season.
Despite their otherworldly success, the members of Dethklok are often portrayed as incompetent at almost everything not related to their profession. The band struggles to perform everyday tasks, including shopping for groceries, preparing food, and maintaining proper social relationships. Throughout the series, they are often assisted by their manager and lawyer, Charles Foster Offdensen, who frequently attempts to prevent the band from making poor decisions. The band's actions and uncanny misfortune have caught the attention of an Illuminati-style council, known as The Tribunal. The Tribunal is portrayed as Dethklok's antagonist throughout the series, and secretly monitors their actions in almost every episode. They describe Dethklok as the "world's greatest cultural force". The leader of The Tribunal (Mr. Salacia), however, frequently instructs the other members to allow Dethklok to do as they will.
Band members
Fictional band members
Nathan Explosion
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist and "lyrical visionary" of Dethklok. Portrayed as a tall and stocky guy with long black hair, black nails, and green eyes, Nathan speaks with a death growl even when not singing. He did not speak a word until he was five years old and in high school excelled only in frog dissection and football. According to his dating profile, Nathan describes his ethnicity as "White/Native American". He was raised in New Port Richey, Florida. He is the lead songwriting force in Dethklok, and uses violent imagery or plot elements when writing and composing song material. Nathan is slightly more sensible than the rest of the band, and a great deal more emotionally stable, though he is still incompetent at most things in life such as the use of a grocery store or reading a cooking recipe. Despite this, he does seem to have some knowledge in specific areas, such as negotiating a contract, extensive knowledge of rock culture, and a proficiency in French. He attempts to get his GED in "Go Forth And Die", and only fails in part due to the band's influence, and in "Fatherklok" tells Murderface not to interfere with Skwisgaar's father issues. Nathan sometimes acts in a parental manner towards Toki, and in the first episode insisted that the band never drinks before a show (though they had all been drinking all day.)
In the episode "Fatherklok", it was revealed that Nathan enjoys an excellent relationship with his father. He does, however, find his parents embarrassing as they are normal parents and not "brutal" as seen in "Dethfam". A brief montage shows Nathan and his father fishing, racing go-karts, and playing Scrabble. He is the only member of the band who spends time with or likes his father, stating in the episode "Dethdad" he often drinks beer and goes hunting with his father regularly and would be very sad if his father died.
Small described Nathan as a "quarterback", in part to his contribution to his high school football team, and based his character's appearance and performance style on Cannibal Corpse vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher.
Skwisgaar Skwigelf
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Skwisgaar Skwigelf is Dethklok's lead guitarist. He is described as "a handsome guy who thinks he's the greatest thing in the world". Show creator Brendon Small compares Skwisgaar's attitude and technical playing style to Yngwie Malmsteen. He is tall and thin with long blond hair, a studded belt with a skull buckle, and blue eyes. He played a Gibson Explorer for the first three seasons, but recently switched to the Gibson "Thunderhorse" Explorer for the fourth. He often carries around his guitars even when not playing. He is often referred to as the fastest guitar player in the world. He is depicted as having extreme sexual prowess and a preference for plump or elderly women. Hailing from Sweden, Skwisgaar has a marked Swedish accent and often makes mistakes when conjugating verbs. He is responsible for the majority of the arrangement of Dethklok's songs, writing the guitar lines as well as Murderface's bass lines. Skwisgaar also typically discards and re-records the rhythm guitar (and the bass guitar parts) recorded by Toki Wartooth for Dethklok's albums and frequently belittles him for his guitar playing skills, although he does appear to share something of a codependent relationship with him. This can be supported, as shown in The Doomstar Requiem during a flashback sequence in which the band holds auditions for a new rhythm guitarist. Skwisgaar originally disapproved of the idea, wanting Dethklok to be a four-piece. During Toki's audition, Toki was still inferior to Skwisgaar as a guitarist, and the rest of Dethklok originally were about to dismiss him, but Skwisgaar admitted that no other guitarist had made him play as well as he did, and requested that Toki stay in the band.
Toki Wartooth
Voiced by: Tommy Blacha, Mike Keneally (singing voice in Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem)
Toki Wartooth is Dethklok's rhythm guitarist. He typically played a Gibson Flying V, but has switched to the Brendon Small "Snow Falcon" V for the fourth season. A native of "an abandoned town near Lillehammer", Norway, he was forced to constantly perform manual labor by his abusive cultist parents. He has a distinct accent and often inappropriately pluralizes words, but refers to Pickles as "Pickle". Visually, he has a distinct Fu Manchu moustache, long brown hair, and very pale blue eyes. He is also shown to be extremely physically fit, in stark contrast to the rest of his bandmates.
Toki is the only Dethklok member with no prior band experience, as well as the only one not with the band in its initial form, having been chosen to replace the violent and egomaniacal Magnus Hammersmith. Small explains Toki's relationship with Skwisgaar as "...Norwegian to Skwisgaar's Swedish, pompous attitude. And, again, a second-class citizen in the same band", and compared his guitar playing style to that of Iron Maiden.
In contrast to the deep cynicism, grim outlook, promiscuity, and alcohol abuse of the other band members, Toki's character is generally childlike, innocent, and good-natured. He has a boyish bedroom complete with action figures, stuffed animals, and wall posters, and a prominent hobby of his is building model planes. He is a Type 2 diabetic and requires insulin shots.
A recurring plot point is the death of people Toki grows fond of, including a guitar teacher and his father; the Tribunal has described him as an "angel of death". Any living being that gets close to Toki (with the exception of Dr. Rockso, Charles and his bandmates) tends to die after a brief period of time.
Pickles
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Pickles is Dethklok's drummer. He was raised in Tomahawk, Wisconsin and speaks with an Upper Midwestern accent. He refers to himself as "very Irish American" and has long red hair, styled into dreadlocks and a comb-over skullet, and green eyes. He is depicted as having an average build with a strong propensity for drugs and alcohol abuse stemming from feelings of resentment towards his family. He comes off as the most socially-capable member of the band, able to grasp most concepts outside the scope of death metal that the other four cannot. In later seasons, this capacity often puts him at odds with Nathan, though ironically they are the only two the others can talk to on certain levels. Charles Offdensen refers to Nathan and Pickles as the "most responsible" members in the group, much to their disdain. Pickles is a multi-talented performer, whom IGN Magazine described as "the band's deepest thinker". Pickles is the former front-man of a group called Snakes 'n' Barrels, providing the vocals and performing as the lead guitarist.
Brendon Small used the voice of Pickles on The Dethalbum to sing the chorus of the song "Hatredcopter", as well as the entirety of "Kill You", a song by Snakes N' Barrels "covered" by Dethklok, which serves as a bonus track. Describing the character, Small said, "I thought the drummer should be able to do a bunch of stuff, like Roger Taylor in Queen. Even though it's not based on his personality, it's what he can do in the band and what parts of the songs he does contribute to."
The original design of the character was changed to avoid his looking too much like Devin Townsend.
William Murderface
Voiced by: Tommy Blacha
William Murderface is Dethklok's bassist, who plays a Gibson Thunderbird Studio 5-string. He has brown hair, green eyes, a heavy lateral lisp and a gap in his front teeth. He has tattoos on the top and bottom parts of his abdomen, the top reading "Pobody's Nerfect", and the bottom saying "This Mess Is A Place". When he was a baby, Murderface's father killed his wife – Murderface's mother – with a chainsaw before turning it upon himself in front of Murderface in a grisly murder-suicide (Murderface believes this happened because he was ugly). This left Murderface to be raised by his grandparents.
Murderface is "a self-hating bass player who's always trying to act like he's more important than he is", in part because his bass playing is usually mixed out completely. Although Murderface's musical contribution is apparently totally unnecessary to the group's sound, Dethklok realizes when they expel him from the band in "Dethsiduals" that he imposes a mentality of negativity and hatred upon the band that is crucial to their songwriting.
Brendon Small describes Murderface as "thin-skinned and incredibly sensitive and just wants to be accepted constantly but can't get that because he's such a dick and pushes people away". He is sensitive about his weight and appearance, which his bandmates often obliviously exacerbate. Murderface's voice was originally achieved by Tommy Blacha putting paper towels inside his mouth when voicing the character, but he has since refined his technique to forgo the paper towels.
Magnus Hammersmith
Voiced by: Marc Maron (speaking) and Brendon Small (singing)
Magnus Hammersmith was the first rhythm guitarist of Dethklok, but was kicked out of the band very early for his violent behavior. He returns to antagonize and threaten the band several times.
Real-life band members
Studio members:
Brendon Small – lead vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards (2006–present)
Pete Griffin – bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
Nili Brosh – guitar (2019–present)
Adam Felder – drums (2021–present)
Live members:
Brendon Small – lead vocals, guitar (2007–present)
Gene Hoglan – drums (2007–2021; studio member)
Bryan Beller – bass guitar, backing vocals (2007–2016; studio member since 2012)
Mike Keneally – guitar, backing vocals (2007–2016)
Pete Griffin – bass, backing vocals (2012, 2019–present)
Nili Brosh – guitar (2019–present)
Adam Felder – drums (2021–present)
Touring history
In late 2007, Adult Swim organized a promotional tour featuring Dethklok and ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. The tour comprised performances at twelve college campuses, with tickets available to students only (except for 50 tickets set aside for the UCLA show in the Los Angeles area). The band featured Brendon Small, guitarist Mike Keneally, bassist Bryan Beller and drummer Gene Hoglan. Tour information was made available on Adult Swim's promotional site. In an interview with Ultimate Guitar, Brendon Small described the tour as being "like Gorillaz, with the animated characters" with Small's ensemble of musicians performing visibly.
In a February 2008 interview on California radio station Indie 103.1 with Full Metal Jackie, plans for a summer 2008 tour were announced. Brendon Small described the tour as being like "a Disney ride but with murder". Dethklok toured the US in June and early July with Chimaira and Soilent Green. In April 2008, 27 seven dates were announced.
Dethklok performed at Heavy MTL on June 21, 2008. They then toured with Chimaira and Soilent Green during June and July 2008. During the June 5, 2008, show at The Fillmore in San Francisco, an electrical fire broke out during Soilent Green's set. Attendees were hesitant to leave the building thinking that it was part of the show (in their fictional universe, Dethklok is infamous for causing disasters that result in deaths), which created a dangerous situation, but they soon realized that the fire was real and evacuated and the concert was rescheduled.
Dethklok toured with co-headliner Mastodon, High on Fire, and Converge during October and November 2009. The band performed in San Bernardino on July 9, 2011, at the Mayhem Festival in place of Megadeth. Dethklok played a free show at San Diego Comic Con on July 13, 2012, on the USS Midway. Dethklok was scheduled to play in Toronto, Ontario at the Heavy T.O. festival on August 11, 2012, and also in Montreal, QC at Heavy MTL Festival on August 12, 2012; however, Dethklok's appearances at both festivals were cancelled. Dethklok was also scheduled to play the main stage for both days of Knotfest on August 17 and 18, 2012; however, Dethklok's appearance was cancelled. The band was scheduled to co-headline a tour in North America with Lamb of God (with special guest Gojira) in August 2012; this tour was cancelled due to bail hearings at the time for Randy Blythe in the Czech Republic.
Dethklok toured North America, in support of Dethalbum III, with Machine Head, All That Remains and The Black Dahlia Murder during November and December 2012. Bassist Pete Griffin filled in for several shows while Bryan Beller was touring with his band, The Aristocrats.
Dethklok performed at Festival Supreme on October 25, 2014, in Los Angeles, California. Dethklok then performed at Adult Swim Festival 2019.
Awards
Dethklok received the award for best international band during the 2009 Revolver Golden God Awards. A clip of the band's acceptance speech was played after they were announced as the recipients. They were presented the award by Chuck Billy, best known for his work as the vocalist for the thrash metal band Testament. In 2013, Dethalbum III won an Independent Music Award for Best Metal/Hardcore Album.
Discography
Studio albums
As Dethklok
As Brendon Small
EPs
Adult Swim Presents: ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead on Tour with Dethklok (split CD) (2007)
Singles
"Bloodrocuted" (2007)
"Thunderhorse" (2007)
"Bloodlines" (2009)
"I Ejaculate Fire" (2012)
"Blazing Star" (2013)
Guest appearances
Zimmers Hole – When You Were Shouting at the Devil... We Were in League with Satan (guest vocals on "The Vowel Song" by Nathan Explosion) (2008)
Music videos
As lead band
As featured band
References
External links
Official Myspace
Dethklok's page on Encyclopaedia Metallum
Animated musical groups
Fictional rock musicians
Recorded music characters
American melodic death metal musical groups
Metalocalypse
Musical groups established in 2006
Musical groups disestablished in 2016
Musical groups reestablished in 2019
Musical quintets
Comedy rock musical groups | true | [
"Nathan the Wise (original German title: , ) is a play by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing in 1779. It is a fervent plea for religious tolerance. It was never performed during Lessing's lifetime and was first performed in 1783 at the Döbbelinsches Theater in Berlin.\n\nSet in Jerusalem during the Third Crusade, it describes how the wise Jewish merchant Nathan, the enlightened sultan Saladin, and the (initially anonymous) Templar, bridge their gaps between Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Its major themes are friendship, tolerance, relativism of God, a rejection of miracles and a need for communication.\n\nSynopsis\nThe events take place during the Third Crusade (1189–1192) during an armistice in Jerusalem.\n\nWhen Nathan, a wealthy Jew, returns home from business travel, he learns that his foster daughter Recha was saved from a house fire by a young Christian Templar. The knight, in turn, owes his life to the Muslim ruler of Jerusalem, Sultan Saladin, who pardoned him as the only one of twenty prisoners because he looks like Saladin's late brother Assad. Despite these fortunate circumstances, the rational-thinking Nathan is unwilling to believe the events to be a miracle and also convinces Recha that believing in the work of guardian angels is harmful.\n\nSaladin, somewhat indifferent in terms of money, is currently in financial trouble. That is why, on the advice of his more calculating sister Sittah, he has the wealthy Nathan brought to him to test his generosity, which is praised throughout Jerusalem: Instead of asking him directly for a loan, Saladin pretends that he wants to test Nathan's famous wisdom and asks him about the \"true religion\". Nathan, who had already been informed about Saladin's financial troubles by his friend Al-Hafi and warned of his financial recklessness, recognizes the trap. He decides to answer Saladin's question with a \"fairy tale\", the so-called \"ring parable\". Deeply impressed, Saladin immediately understands this parable as a message about the equality of the three major monotheistic religions. Moved by Nathan's humanity, he asks him to be his friend from now on. Nathan willingly agrees and, on top of that, grants Saladin a generous loan without being asked.\n\nThe Templar, who had saved Recha from the flames, but, until now, was not willing to meet her, is united with her by Nathan. He falls head over heels in love with her and wants to marry her on the spot. However, his name makes Nathan hesitate to give his consent, which insults the Templar. When he finds out from Recha's companion Daja, a Christian, that Recha is not Nathan's biological daughter, but is only adopted, and that her biological parents were Christians, he turns to the patriarch of Jerusalem for advice. Although the Templar frames his request as a hypothetical case, the fanatical head of the church guesses what this is about and wants to search for \"this Jew\" immediately and have him burned at the stake for temptation to apostasy. He does not consider Nathan's noble motives and the fact that Nathan did not raise the Christian child as a Jew, but on the contrary in no belief, does not soften the patriarch's stance, but aggravates him: \"That’s nothing! Still the Jew is to be burnt— / And for this very reason would deserve / To be thrice burnt.\"\n\nRecords of the friar who once brought Recha to Nathan as a toddler finally reveal that the Christian Templar and Recha are not only brother and sister – hence Nathan's reservations about marriage – but also the children of Saladin's brother Assad. These connections are revealed to everyone in the final scene at Saladin's palace, which ends with all main characters repeatedly embracing each other in silence.\n\nRing Parable\nThe centerpiece of the work is the \"Ring Parable\", narrated by Nathan when asked by Saladin which religion is true: an heirloom ring with the magical ability to render its owner pleasing in the eyes of God and mankind had been passed down from father to son. For generations, each father had bequeathed the ring to the son he loved most. When it came to a father with three sons whom he loved equally, he promised it (in \"pious weakness\") to each of them. Looking for a way to keep his promise, he had two replicas made, which were indistinguishable from the original, and gave on his deathbed a ring to each of them.\n\nThe brothers quarreled over who owned the real ring. A wise judge admonished them that it was impossible to tell at that time – that it even could not be discounted that all three rings were replicas, the original one having been lost at some point in the past; that to find out whether one of them had the real ring it was up to them to live in such a way that their ring's powers could be proven true, to live a life that is pleasant in the eyes of God and mankind rather than expecting the ring's miraculous powers to do so. Nathan compares this to religion, saying that each of us lives by the religion we have learned from those we respect.\n\nBackground\nThe character of Nathan is to a large part modeled after Lessing’s lifelong friend, the eminent philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. Like Nathan the Wise and Saladin, whom Lessing brings together over the chess-board, they shared a love for the game of chess.\n\nThe motif of the Ring Parable is derived from a complex of medieval tales. The first version of the story to appear in German was the tale of Saladin's table in the Weltchronik by Jans der Enikel. Lessing probably first read an older version of the story, the “Ring Parabale,” in Boccaccio's Decameron.\n\nEnglish language translations and stage adaptations\n Nathan the Wise: a Philosophical Drama, translated by Rudolf Erich Raspe. London, J. Fielding, 1781.\nNathan the Wise: a Dramatic Poem, translated by William Taylor. London, R. Philips, 1805.\nNathan the Wise: a dramatic poem in five acts, translated by Adolph Reich. London, A. W. Bennett, 1860.\nNathan, the Wise. A dramatic poem of five acts, translated by Isidor Kalisch. New York, Waldheimer & Zenn, 1869.\nPlays of Lessing: Nathan the Wise and Minna von Barnhelm, translated by Ernest Bell. London, G. Bell, 1888.\nNathan the Wise; a dramatic poem in five acts, translated and edited by Leo Markun. Girard, Kan., Haldeman-Julius Co., 1926.\nLaocoon, Nathan the Wise, Minna von Barnhelm, translated by William A. Steel. London, J. M. Dent & Sons, ltd.; New York, E. P. Dutton & co., inc., 1930.\nNathan the Wise, translated by Berthold August Eisenlohr. Ann Arbor, Mich., Lithoprinted by Edwards Brothers, inc., 1942.\nNathan the Wise, translated by Guenther Reinhardt. Brooklyn, Barron's Educational Series, inc., 1950.\nNathan the Wise; a dramatic poem in five acts, translated into English verse by Bayard Quincy Morgan. New York, Ungar, 1955. Morgan's translation was subsequently collected in Nathan the Wise, Minna von Barnhelm, and Other Plays and Writings, edited by Peter Demetz with a Foreword by Hannah Arendt. New York: Continuum, 1991.\nNathan the Wise, with Related Documents, translated, edited, and with an introduction by Ronald Schechter. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004.\nNathan the Wise, adapted and translated by Edward Kemp. Nick Hern Books, 2004. . The productions and Kemp's adaptation were reviewed favorably by Michael Billington and by Charles Spencer.\nNathan the Wise, adapted by Paul D'Andrea; translation by Gisela D'Andrea and Paul D'Andrea. Dramatic Publishing, 2005. . First produced at Theatre of the First Amendment in October 2001 with Mitchell Hébert in the title role. This adaptation was later produced as a staged reading by Theater of the First Amendment in 2002, and nominated for The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play with F. Murray Abraham playing Nathan.\n\nRevivals\nIn 1922 it was adapted into a silent film of the same title.\n\nIn 1933, the Kulturbund Deutscher Juden (Culture Association of German Jews) was created in Germany, enabling Jewish artists who had recently lost their jobs to perform to exclusively Jewish audiences. On October 1, Nathan the Wise became the first performance of this new federation. It was the only time the play was performed in Nazi Germany.\n\nIn the early 21st century, the Ring Parable of Nathan the Wise was taken up again in Peter Sloterdijk's God's Zeal: The Battle of the Three Monotheisms. Edward Kemp's 2003 version of the play, first produced by the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, was used in 2016 in New York by the Classic Stage Company with F. Murray Abraham in the lead. The play was produced at the Stratford Festival (May 25–October 11, 2019) with Diane Flacks as Nathan.\n\nNotes\n\nExternal links\n\n, in German\n, in English\nUnabridged German text at Zeno.org\n\nPlays by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing\n1779 plays\nIsrael in fiction\nFictional Jews\nFiction set in the 1190s\nPlays set in Jerusalem\nCultural depictions of Saladin",
"Avot de-Rabbi Nathan (), usually printed together with the minor tractates of the Talmud, is a Jewish aggadic work probably compiled in the geonic era (c.700–900 CE). Although Avot de-Rabbi Nathan is the first and longest of the \"minor tractates\", it probably does not belong in that collection chronologically, having more the character of a late midrash. In the form now extant it contains a mixture of Mishnah and Midrash, and may be technically designated as a homiletical exposition of the Mishnaic tractate Pirkei Avot, having for its foundation an older recension (version) of that tractate. It may be considered as a kind of \"tosefta\" or \"gemarah\" to the Mishna Avot, which does not possess a traditional gemarah. Avot de-Rabbi Nathan contains many teachings, proverbs, and incidents that are not found anywhere else in the early rabbinical literature. Other rabbinical sayings appear in a more informal style than what is found in Pirkei Avot.\n\nThe two existing forms (recensions) of Avot de-Rabbi Nathan \nTouching its original form, its age, and its dependence on earlier or later recensions of the Mishnah, there are many opinions, all of which are discussed in S. Schechter's introduction. There are two recensions of this work, one of which is usually printed with the Babylonian Talmud in the appendix to Seder Nezikin [the sixteenth volume], preceding the so-called Minor Treatises, and another, which, until the late 19th century, existed in manuscript only. In 1887 Solomon Schechter published the two recensions in parallel columns, contributing to the edition a critical introduction and valuable notes. There were likely other recensions as well, since the medieval rabbis quote from other versions.\n\nIn order to distinguish the two recensions, the one printed with the Talmud may be called A; and the other, B. The former is divided into forty-one chapters, and the latter into forty-eight. Schechter has proved that recension B is cited only by Spanish authors. Rashi knows of recension A only.\n\nA Hebrew manuscript of Avot de-Rabbi Nathan is today housed at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England, under the classification MS Oxford (Bodleiana) Heb. c. 24. In addition, MS Parma (Palatina) 2785 (de Rossi 327; Uncastillo/Spain, 1289), being a more precise copy of Avot de-Rabbi Nathan, has been used to correct errors in recension B.\n\nContents \nThe content of the two recensions differ from each other considerably, although the method is the same in both. The separate teachings of the Mishnah Avot are generally taken as texts, which are either briefly explained—the ethical lessons contained therein being supported by reference to Biblical passages—or fully illustrated by narratives and legends. Sometimes long digressions are made by introducing subjects connected only loosely with the text. This method may be illustrated by the following example: Commenting on the teaching of Simon the Just which designates charity as one of the three pillars on which the world rests, Avot de-Rabbi Nathan reads as follows:\n\nThe chapters of the two recensions of Avot de-Rabbi Nathan correspond with those of the Mishnah Avot as follows: \nChapters 1-11 of recension A and chapters 1-23 of recension B correspond with Pirkei Avot 1:1-11, dealing with saying of the Zugoth.\nChapters 12-19 of A and chapters 24-29 of B correspond with Pirkei Avot 1:12-18 and chapter 2, dealing with the teachings of Hillel, Shammai, Yohanan ben Zakkai and his disciples\nChapters 20-30 of A and chapters 30-35 of B correspond with Pirkei Avot chapters 3-4, an independent mishnaic collection\nChapters 31-41 of A and chapters 36-48 of B correspond with Pirkei Avot chapter 5, a collection of anonymous statements related by form\n\nAuthorship \n\nNathan the Babylonian, whose name appears in the title of the work under treatment, cannot possibly have been its only author, since he flourished about the middle of the 2nd century, or a generation prior to the author of the Mishnah. Besides, several authorities are quoted who flourished a long time after R. Nathan; for instance, Rabbi Joshua ben Levi. The designation \"De-Rabbi Nathan\" may be explained by the circumstance that R. Nathan is one of the first authorities mentioned in the opening chapter of the work (but not the first, that being Yose ha-Galili). Perhaps the school of the tannaite R. Nathan originated the work, however. Probably due to political differences that Rabbi Nathan had with Shimon ben Gamliel, Rabbi Nathan's name does not appear in the version of Avot compiled by redactor of the Mishna Rebbi (the son of the aforementioned Shimon ben Gamliel). However, it is known that Rabbi Nathan made an independent collection , and it is possible that Avot de-Rabbi Nathan derives from that source.\n\nIt is also called Tosefta to Avot. The two recensions of the work in their present shape evidently have different authors, but who they were cannot be ascertained. Probably they belonged to the period of the Geonim, between the 8th and 9th centuries.\n\nTranslations\nA Latin translation of Abot de-Rabbi Nathan was published by Franz Tayler, London, 1654: Tractatus de Patribus Rabbi Nathan Auctore, in Linguam Latinam Translatus.\nAn English version is given by M. L. Rodkinson in his translation of the Babylonian Talmud, i. 9, New York, 1900.\nThe Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan, translated by Judah Goldin, Yale University Press, 1955. (reprinted 1990)\n 'Aboth d'Rabbi Nathan, translated into English with Introduction and Notes, by Eli Cashdan, in The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, Soncino, 1965.\nFathers According to Rabbi Nathan: Abot De Rabbi Nathan, Anthony J. Saldarini, Brill Academic, 1975.\nThe Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan, Jacob Neusner, University of South Florida Press, 1986.\n\nCommentaries\nSchechter gives the commentaries to Avot de-Rabbi Nathan in his edition. Emendations were made by Benjamin Motal. Commentaries have been written by Eliezer Lipman of Zamość, Zolkiev, 1723; by Elijah ben Abraham with notes by the Vilna Gaon, by Abraham Witmand, and by Joshua Falk Lisser. Lisser's edition is reprinted in the Vilna Talmud.\n\nReferences \n\n.\n. The JE cites the following works\nLeopold Zunz, Gottesdienstliche Vorträge der Juden,, 1st ed., pp. 108 et seq.;\nSolomon Taussig, Neweh Shalom I, Munich, 1872, in which pamphlet a part of Abot de-Rabbi Nathan, recension B, was for the first time published, according to a manuscript of the Munich Library;\nSolomon Schechter, Abot de-Rabbi Nathan, Vienna, 1887;\nMonatsschrift, 1887, pp. 374–383;\nMoritz Steinschneider, Hebr. Bibl. xii. 75 et seq.\nMoritz Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 2034;\nIsaac ben Jacob Benjacob, Oẓar ha-Sefarim, p. 654.\n\nExternal links \nAvot de-Rabbi Natan, Schechter edition (Vienna, 1887) (full original text of both versions, with introduction and scholarly notes)\nJewish Encyclopedia article for Avot of Rabbi Nathan\nFull Hebrew text of Avot of Rabbi Natan\n Latin translation of Avot of Rabbi Nathan\n\n8th-century texts\n9th-century texts\nAggadic Midrashim\nJewish texts\nMinor tractates\nTexts in Hebrew"
]
|
[
"Dethklok",
"Nathan Explosion",
"Who is Nathan?",
"Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist",
"How long was he with the band?",
"first episode",
"What important role did he play in the story?",
"Nathan is slightly more sensible than the rest of the band, and a great deal more emotionally stable,",
"Does he leave the band?",
"I don't know.",
"Is there an example of his emotional stablity?",
"a great deal more emotionally stable, though he is still incompetent at most things in life such as the use of a grocery store or reading a cooking recipe.",
"What other role does Nathan play with the group?",
"In the episode \"Fatherklok\", it was revealed that Nathan enjoys an excellent relationship with his father."
]
| C_3dd7b14198ba42b4a460f400e35aa5f0_1 | Is he related to anyone in the band? | 7 | Is Nathan related to anyone in the band? | Dethklok | Voiced by: Brendon Small Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist and "lyrical visionary" of Dethklok. Portrayed as a tall, bulky figure, with long black hair, black nails, and green eyes, Nathan speaks with a death growl even when not singing. He did not speak a word until he was five years old and in high school excelled only in frog dissection and football. According to his dating profile, Nathan describes his ethnicity as "White/Native American". He was raised in New Port Richey, Florida. He is the lead songwriting force in Dethklok, and uses violent imagery or plot elements when writing and composing song material. Nathan is slightly more sensible than the rest of the band, and a great deal more emotionally stable, though he is still incompetent at most things in life such as the use of a grocery store or reading a cooking recipe. Despite this, he does seem to have some knowledge in specific areas, such as negotiating a contract, extensive knowledge of rock culture, and a proficiency in French. He attempts to get his GED in "Go Forth And Die", and only fails in part due to the band's influence, and in "Fatherklok" tells Murderface not to interfere with Skwisgaar's father issues. Nathan sometimes acts in a parental manner towards Toki, and in the first episode insisted that the band never drinks before a show (though they had all been drinking all day.) In the episode "Fatherklok", it was revealed that Nathan enjoys an excellent relationship with his father. He does, however find his parents embarrassing as they are normal parents and not "brutal" as seen in "Dethfam". A brief montage shows Nathan and his father fishing, racing go-karts, and playing Scrabble. He is the only member of the band who spends time with or likes his father, stating in the episode "Dethdad" he often drinks beer and goes hunting with his father regularly and would be very sad if his father died. Small described Nathan as a "quarterback", and based his character's appearance and performance style on Cannibal Corpse vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Dethklok is a fictional melodic death metal band featured in the Adult Swim animated television series Metalocalypse.
The first official Dethklok album was released on September 25, 2007, entitled The Dethalbum. The album debuted at number 21 on Billboard Magazine's Top 200 list. The band released Dethalbum II on September 29, 2009, and toured with Mastodon, High on Fire and Converge. The band's third album, Dethalbum III, was released on October 16, 2012. The soundtrack to the special episode, Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem was released on October 29, 2013.
A real band was set up in order to perform the band's music in live shows. Both bands were created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha. The music heard on Metalocalypse is performed by Brendon Small, with others needed for live concerts and albums. On August 25, 2017, Brendon Small released his second solo album, Brendon Small's Galaktikon II, which is considered to serve as "a new Dethklok album", due to Adult Swim holding the rights to the band name. However, after a five-year absence, the band returned to perform at Adult Swim Festival 2019.
The band is known for its satirical or parodic lyrical themes.
Fictional background
In the Metalocalypse series, Dethklok is depicted as the world's most popular and successful death metal band. The members of Dethklok reside in a colossal, fortress-like castle elevated high above ground called Mordhaus, which serves as their residence as well as their recording studio. Beyond their extremely wealthy financial status, they also oversee a massive personal organization of devoted workers known as Klokateers, who act as their personal servants, as well as their roadies, security personnel, and private military squadron. The band's fan base includes billions of metal fanatics, who frequently endanger themselves to watch the band perform live, as their incredibly expensive shows are frequently held in dangerous locations, and include numerous hazards such as excessive pyrotechnics, aircraft, lasers, and giant bladed pendulums, with many shows concluding in multiple attendee deaths. With their widespread commercial success and lucrative sponsorship contracts, Dethklok is ranked as the world's seventh largest economy by the end of the second season.
Despite their otherworldly success, the members of Dethklok are often portrayed as incompetent at almost everything not related to their profession. The band struggles to perform everyday tasks, including shopping for groceries, preparing food, and maintaining proper social relationships. Throughout the series, they are often assisted by their manager and lawyer, Charles Foster Offdensen, who frequently attempts to prevent the band from making poor decisions. The band's actions and uncanny misfortune have caught the attention of an Illuminati-style council, known as The Tribunal. The Tribunal is portrayed as Dethklok's antagonist throughout the series, and secretly monitors their actions in almost every episode. They describe Dethklok as the "world's greatest cultural force". The leader of The Tribunal (Mr. Salacia), however, frequently instructs the other members to allow Dethklok to do as they will.
Band members
Fictional band members
Nathan Explosion
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Nathan Explosion is the frontman, lead vocalist and "lyrical visionary" of Dethklok. Portrayed as a tall and stocky guy with long black hair, black nails, and green eyes, Nathan speaks with a death growl even when not singing. He did not speak a word until he was five years old and in high school excelled only in frog dissection and football. According to his dating profile, Nathan describes his ethnicity as "White/Native American". He was raised in New Port Richey, Florida. He is the lead songwriting force in Dethklok, and uses violent imagery or plot elements when writing and composing song material. Nathan is slightly more sensible than the rest of the band, and a great deal more emotionally stable, though he is still incompetent at most things in life such as the use of a grocery store or reading a cooking recipe. Despite this, he does seem to have some knowledge in specific areas, such as negotiating a contract, extensive knowledge of rock culture, and a proficiency in French. He attempts to get his GED in "Go Forth And Die", and only fails in part due to the band's influence, and in "Fatherklok" tells Murderface not to interfere with Skwisgaar's father issues. Nathan sometimes acts in a parental manner towards Toki, and in the first episode insisted that the band never drinks before a show (though they had all been drinking all day.)
In the episode "Fatherklok", it was revealed that Nathan enjoys an excellent relationship with his father. He does, however, find his parents embarrassing as they are normal parents and not "brutal" as seen in "Dethfam". A brief montage shows Nathan and his father fishing, racing go-karts, and playing Scrabble. He is the only member of the band who spends time with or likes his father, stating in the episode "Dethdad" he often drinks beer and goes hunting with his father regularly and would be very sad if his father died.
Small described Nathan as a "quarterback", in part to his contribution to his high school football team, and based his character's appearance and performance style on Cannibal Corpse vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher.
Skwisgaar Skwigelf
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Skwisgaar Skwigelf is Dethklok's lead guitarist. He is described as "a handsome guy who thinks he's the greatest thing in the world". Show creator Brendon Small compares Skwisgaar's attitude and technical playing style to Yngwie Malmsteen. He is tall and thin with long blond hair, a studded belt with a skull buckle, and blue eyes. He played a Gibson Explorer for the first three seasons, but recently switched to the Gibson "Thunderhorse" Explorer for the fourth. He often carries around his guitars even when not playing. He is often referred to as the fastest guitar player in the world. He is depicted as having extreme sexual prowess and a preference for plump or elderly women. Hailing from Sweden, Skwisgaar has a marked Swedish accent and often makes mistakes when conjugating verbs. He is responsible for the majority of the arrangement of Dethklok's songs, writing the guitar lines as well as Murderface's bass lines. Skwisgaar also typically discards and re-records the rhythm guitar (and the bass guitar parts) recorded by Toki Wartooth for Dethklok's albums and frequently belittles him for his guitar playing skills, although he does appear to share something of a codependent relationship with him. This can be supported, as shown in The Doomstar Requiem during a flashback sequence in which the band holds auditions for a new rhythm guitarist. Skwisgaar originally disapproved of the idea, wanting Dethklok to be a four-piece. During Toki's audition, Toki was still inferior to Skwisgaar as a guitarist, and the rest of Dethklok originally were about to dismiss him, but Skwisgaar admitted that no other guitarist had made him play as well as he did, and requested that Toki stay in the band.
Toki Wartooth
Voiced by: Tommy Blacha, Mike Keneally (singing voice in Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem)
Toki Wartooth is Dethklok's rhythm guitarist. He typically played a Gibson Flying V, but has switched to the Brendon Small "Snow Falcon" V for the fourth season. A native of "an abandoned town near Lillehammer", Norway, he was forced to constantly perform manual labor by his abusive cultist parents. He has a distinct accent and often inappropriately pluralizes words, but refers to Pickles as "Pickle". Visually, he has a distinct Fu Manchu moustache, long brown hair, and very pale blue eyes. He is also shown to be extremely physically fit, in stark contrast to the rest of his bandmates.
Toki is the only Dethklok member with no prior band experience, as well as the only one not with the band in its initial form, having been chosen to replace the violent and egomaniacal Magnus Hammersmith. Small explains Toki's relationship with Skwisgaar as "...Norwegian to Skwisgaar's Swedish, pompous attitude. And, again, a second-class citizen in the same band", and compared his guitar playing style to that of Iron Maiden.
In contrast to the deep cynicism, grim outlook, promiscuity, and alcohol abuse of the other band members, Toki's character is generally childlike, innocent, and good-natured. He has a boyish bedroom complete with action figures, stuffed animals, and wall posters, and a prominent hobby of his is building model planes. He is a Type 2 diabetic and requires insulin shots.
A recurring plot point is the death of people Toki grows fond of, including a guitar teacher and his father; the Tribunal has described him as an "angel of death". Any living being that gets close to Toki (with the exception of Dr. Rockso, Charles and his bandmates) tends to die after a brief period of time.
Pickles
Voiced by: Brendon Small
Pickles is Dethklok's drummer. He was raised in Tomahawk, Wisconsin and speaks with an Upper Midwestern accent. He refers to himself as "very Irish American" and has long red hair, styled into dreadlocks and a comb-over skullet, and green eyes. He is depicted as having an average build with a strong propensity for drugs and alcohol abuse stemming from feelings of resentment towards his family. He comes off as the most socially-capable member of the band, able to grasp most concepts outside the scope of death metal that the other four cannot. In later seasons, this capacity often puts him at odds with Nathan, though ironically they are the only two the others can talk to on certain levels. Charles Offdensen refers to Nathan and Pickles as the "most responsible" members in the group, much to their disdain. Pickles is a multi-talented performer, whom IGN Magazine described as "the band's deepest thinker". Pickles is the former front-man of a group called Snakes 'n' Barrels, providing the vocals and performing as the lead guitarist.
Brendon Small used the voice of Pickles on The Dethalbum to sing the chorus of the song "Hatredcopter", as well as the entirety of "Kill You", a song by Snakes N' Barrels "covered" by Dethklok, which serves as a bonus track. Describing the character, Small said, "I thought the drummer should be able to do a bunch of stuff, like Roger Taylor in Queen. Even though it's not based on his personality, it's what he can do in the band and what parts of the songs he does contribute to."
The original design of the character was changed to avoid his looking too much like Devin Townsend.
William Murderface
Voiced by: Tommy Blacha
William Murderface is Dethklok's bassist, who plays a Gibson Thunderbird Studio 5-string. He has brown hair, green eyes, a heavy lateral lisp and a gap in his front teeth. He has tattoos on the top and bottom parts of his abdomen, the top reading "Pobody's Nerfect", and the bottom saying "This Mess Is A Place". When he was a baby, Murderface's father killed his wife – Murderface's mother – with a chainsaw before turning it upon himself in front of Murderface in a grisly murder-suicide (Murderface believes this happened because he was ugly). This left Murderface to be raised by his grandparents.
Murderface is "a self-hating bass player who's always trying to act like he's more important than he is", in part because his bass playing is usually mixed out completely. Although Murderface's musical contribution is apparently totally unnecessary to the group's sound, Dethklok realizes when they expel him from the band in "Dethsiduals" that he imposes a mentality of negativity and hatred upon the band that is crucial to their songwriting.
Brendon Small describes Murderface as "thin-skinned and incredibly sensitive and just wants to be accepted constantly but can't get that because he's such a dick and pushes people away". He is sensitive about his weight and appearance, which his bandmates often obliviously exacerbate. Murderface's voice was originally achieved by Tommy Blacha putting paper towels inside his mouth when voicing the character, but he has since refined his technique to forgo the paper towels.
Magnus Hammersmith
Voiced by: Marc Maron (speaking) and Brendon Small (singing)
Magnus Hammersmith was the first rhythm guitarist of Dethklok, but was kicked out of the band very early for his violent behavior. He returns to antagonize and threaten the band several times.
Real-life band members
Studio members:
Brendon Small – lead vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards (2006–present)
Pete Griffin – bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
Nili Brosh – guitar (2019–present)
Adam Felder – drums (2021–present)
Live members:
Brendon Small – lead vocals, guitar (2007–present)
Gene Hoglan – drums (2007–2021; studio member)
Bryan Beller – bass guitar, backing vocals (2007–2016; studio member since 2012)
Mike Keneally – guitar, backing vocals (2007–2016)
Pete Griffin – bass, backing vocals (2012, 2019–present)
Nili Brosh – guitar (2019–present)
Adam Felder – drums (2021–present)
Touring history
In late 2007, Adult Swim organized a promotional tour featuring Dethklok and ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. The tour comprised performances at twelve college campuses, with tickets available to students only (except for 50 tickets set aside for the UCLA show in the Los Angeles area). The band featured Brendon Small, guitarist Mike Keneally, bassist Bryan Beller and drummer Gene Hoglan. Tour information was made available on Adult Swim's promotional site. In an interview with Ultimate Guitar, Brendon Small described the tour as being "like Gorillaz, with the animated characters" with Small's ensemble of musicians performing visibly.
In a February 2008 interview on California radio station Indie 103.1 with Full Metal Jackie, plans for a summer 2008 tour were announced. Brendon Small described the tour as being like "a Disney ride but with murder". Dethklok toured the US in June and early July with Chimaira and Soilent Green. In April 2008, 27 seven dates were announced.
Dethklok performed at Heavy MTL on June 21, 2008. They then toured with Chimaira and Soilent Green during June and July 2008. During the June 5, 2008, show at The Fillmore in San Francisco, an electrical fire broke out during Soilent Green's set. Attendees were hesitant to leave the building thinking that it was part of the show (in their fictional universe, Dethklok is infamous for causing disasters that result in deaths), which created a dangerous situation, but they soon realized that the fire was real and evacuated and the concert was rescheduled.
Dethklok toured with co-headliner Mastodon, High on Fire, and Converge during October and November 2009. The band performed in San Bernardino on July 9, 2011, at the Mayhem Festival in place of Megadeth. Dethklok played a free show at San Diego Comic Con on July 13, 2012, on the USS Midway. Dethklok was scheduled to play in Toronto, Ontario at the Heavy T.O. festival on August 11, 2012, and also in Montreal, QC at Heavy MTL Festival on August 12, 2012; however, Dethklok's appearances at both festivals were cancelled. Dethklok was also scheduled to play the main stage for both days of Knotfest on August 17 and 18, 2012; however, Dethklok's appearance was cancelled. The band was scheduled to co-headline a tour in North America with Lamb of God (with special guest Gojira) in August 2012; this tour was cancelled due to bail hearings at the time for Randy Blythe in the Czech Republic.
Dethklok toured North America, in support of Dethalbum III, with Machine Head, All That Remains and The Black Dahlia Murder during November and December 2012. Bassist Pete Griffin filled in for several shows while Bryan Beller was touring with his band, The Aristocrats.
Dethklok performed at Festival Supreme on October 25, 2014, in Los Angeles, California. Dethklok then performed at Adult Swim Festival 2019.
Awards
Dethklok received the award for best international band during the 2009 Revolver Golden God Awards. A clip of the band's acceptance speech was played after they were announced as the recipients. They were presented the award by Chuck Billy, best known for his work as the vocalist for the thrash metal band Testament. In 2013, Dethalbum III won an Independent Music Award for Best Metal/Hardcore Album.
Discography
Studio albums
As Dethklok
As Brendon Small
EPs
Adult Swim Presents: ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead on Tour with Dethklok (split CD) (2007)
Singles
"Bloodrocuted" (2007)
"Thunderhorse" (2007)
"Bloodlines" (2009)
"I Ejaculate Fire" (2012)
"Blazing Star" (2013)
Guest appearances
Zimmers Hole – When You Were Shouting at the Devil... We Were in League with Satan (guest vocals on "The Vowel Song" by Nathan Explosion) (2008)
Music videos
As lead band
As featured band
References
External links
Official Myspace
Dethklok's page on Encyclopaedia Metallum
Animated musical groups
Fictional rock musicians
Recorded music characters
American melodic death metal musical groups
Metalocalypse
Musical groups established in 2006
Musical groups disestablished in 2016
Musical groups reestablished in 2019
Musical quintets
Comedy rock musical groups | false | [
"Sigrún (Old Norse \"victory rune\") is a valkyrie in Norse mythology. Her story is related in Helgakviða Hundingsbana I and Helgakviða Hundingsbana II, in the Poetic Edda. The original editor annotated that she was Sváfa reborn.\n\nThe hero Helgi Hundingsbane first meets her when she leads a band of nine Valkyries:\n\nThe two fall in love, and Sigrún tells Helgi that her father Högni has promised her to Höðbroddr, the son of king Granmarr. Helgi invades Granmar's kingdom and slays anyone opposing their relationship. Only Sigrún's brother Dagr is left alive on condition that he swears fealty to Helgi.\n\nDagr is however obliged by honour to avenge his brothers and after having summoned Odin, the god gives him a spear. In a place called Fjoturlund, Dagr kills Helgi and goes back to his sister to tell her of his deed. Sigrún puts Dagr under a powerful curse after which he is obliged to live on carrion in the woods.\n\nHelgi is put in a barrow, but returns from Valhalla one last time so that the two can spend a night together.\n\nSigrún dies early from sadness, but is reborn again as a Valkyrie. In the next life, she is Kára and Helgi is Helgi Haddingjaskati, whose story is related in Hrómundar saga Gripssonar.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell. \n\nValkyries",
"No Good to Anyone is the eleventh studio album by American band Today Is the Day, released on February 28, 2020 through BMG and The End Records, the first recording by the group to be issued through a major label. The album went through a lengthy production process as a result of health complications frontman Steve Austin faced, and was released five years after the band's 2014 album Animal Mother, marking the longest gap between albums for the band. Jef Whitehead of black metal band Leviathan painted the cover artwork for the album.\n\nThe album was promoted with three digital-only singles: \"No Good to Anyone\", \"You're All Gonna Die\", and \"Burn in Hell\", the third of which had a music video produced for it.\n\nBackground\nProduction for the album begun in 2016, and shortly thereafter the band signed to The End Records for its release as well as the reissue of the band's back catalogue. Many of the album's lyrics were inspired by health problems Austin faced before and during production of the album: both he and his pet dog Callie contracted Lyme disease, and as a result Callie had to be euthanized. The track \"Callie\" was written to commemorate her. Before that, Austin had been involved in an accident in late 2014 during the band's tour in promotion of Animal Mother, in which the band's van collided with another vehicle, resulting in Austin breaking his ribs.\n\nThe track \"Orland\" was performed by Austin's son, Will Austin, who also played piano on \"Rockets and Dreams\".\n\nReception\n\nWriting for Kerrang!, Angela Davey wrote positively about the album stating that it's \"a disconcerting listening experience\" and \"one hell of a trip\", ultimately awarding the album four out of five stars. Similarly, writing for Blabbermouth.net, Jay H. Goraina praised the variety of styles used on the songs, stating that \"there is no weak link in No Good to Anyone\".\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel\nAdapted from the No Good to Anyone liner notes.\n\nToday Is the Day\nSteve Austin – vocals, guitar, production, engineering, mastering\nTom Bennett – drums, percussion\nDJ Cox – bass guitar, Moog\n\nAdditional musicians\nWill Austin – piano on \"Orland\" and \"Rockets and Dreams\"\nMark Ablasou – \"Agate\" and introduction to \"Mexico\"\nJon Morse – \"The Last Call\"\n\nArtwork\nJef Whitehead – Cover artwork\nGianni Tbay – Graphic layout\n\nRelease history\n\nSee also\nList of 2020 albums\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n2020 albums\nThe End Records albums\nToday Is the Day albums"
]
|
[
"Fugazi",
"Repeater and Steady Diet of Nothing (1990-1992)"
]
| C_f3934f2aa5f34a068e07920685725d0f_0 | What was Repeater | 1 | What was Repeater | Fugazi | With Picciotto playing guitar full-time, Fugazi made the transition into jamming and writing new material as a band as opposed to performing songs composed solely by MacKaye. In addition to working on new material, songs they had been performing live were refined, such as "Merchandise" and "Turnover", for inclusion on their first official full-length studio album. Released on April 19, 1990, through Dischord Records, Repeater did not initially reach the Billboard 200 charts or become a commercial success. However, the band spent most of 1990 and 1991 touring heavily behind Repeater, performing a total of 250 concerts between March 1990 and June 1991, routinely selling out 1,000-plus capacity venues throughout the world. By summer 1991, the album sold more than 300,000 copies, a large number for a label that relied on minimal promotion. While major labels began to court Fugazi, the band decided to stay with Dischord and refused the offers of those labels. Repeater ultimately went on to sell more than 1 million copies in the U.S. alone, and more than 2 million worldwide. The album was critically well received and featured an alternative rock sound that pre-dated significant releases such as Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten, which would unexpectedly go on to break the genre into the mainstream. For Fugazi's second studio-album Steady Diet of Nothing, released in July 1991, the band once again asked Ted Niceley to produce. Niceley had become a chef and had to reluctantly turn down the job, so the band members decided to produce the record themselves. After the success of Repeater and its subsequent world tour, Steady Diet was highly anticipated, six months prior to its release Dischord had pre-orders in excess of 160,000 for the album. CANNOTANSWER | songs they had been performing | Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C. in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their style-transcending music, DIY ethical stance, manner of business practice, and contempt for the music industry.
Fugazi has performed numerous worldwide tours and produced six studio albums, a film and a comprehensive live series, gaining the band critical acclaim and success around the world. Highly influential on punk and alternative music, the band has been on an indefinite hiatus since 2003.
History
Formation and early years (1986–1989)
After the hardcore punk group Minor Threat dissolved, MacKaye (vocals and guitar) was active with a few short-lived groups, most notably Embrace. He decided he wanted a project that was "like The Stooges with reggae", but was wary about forming another band after Embrace's breakup. MacKaye recalled, "My interests were not necessarily to be in a band, but to be with people who wanted to play music with me."
MacKaye recruited ex-Dag Nasty drummer Colin Sears and bass guitarist Lally, and the trio began practicing together in September 1986. After a few months of rehearsals, Sears returned to Dag Nasty and was replaced by Canty (earlier of Rites of Spring). One day, Picciotto, Canty's Rites of Spring bandmate, dropped by during a practice session to see how his friend was getting along; he later admitted he secretly harbored the idea of joining the group. But Picciotto was disappointed that there seemed to be no place for him.
After some uncertainty from Canty about what he wanted to do with his future, the trio regrouped and booked their first show at the Wilson Center in early September 1987. The group still needed a name, so MacKaye chose the word "fugazi" from Mark Baker's Nam, a compilation of stories of Vietnam War veterans, it there being a slang acronym for "Fucked Up, Got Ambushed, Zipped In [into a body bag]".
The band began inviting Picciotto to practices. Inspired by use of a foil in hip hop, Picciotto sang backup vocals. After his band Happy Go Licky broke up, he became more involved with Fugazi. MacKaye eventually asked Picciotto to become a full member, and he accepted.
Fugazi EP & Margin Walker – 13 Songs (1988–1989)
Fugazi embarked on its first tour in January 1988. In June 1988 the band recorded its debut EP Fugazi with producer Ted Niceley and producer/engineer Don Zientara (who became a longtime collaborator), and shortly afterward embarked on an arduous tour of Europe.
At the tour's conclusion in December, the band recorded songs for its intended debut album. But the band was spent from touring and found the resulting sessions were unsatisfactory. The track list was cut down to an EP and released as Margin Walker the next year. Both EPs were eventually combined into the 13 Songs release in late 1989. Upon the band's return from Europe, Picciotto, unsatisfied with singing, began playing guitar too.
Repeater and Steady Diet of Nothing (1990–1992)
With Picciotto playing guitar full-time, Fugazi made the transition into jamming and writing new material as a band as opposed to performing songs composed solely by MacKaye. In addition to working on new material, songs they had been performing live were refined, such as "Merchandise" and "Turnover", for inclusion on their first official full-length studio album.
Released on April 19, 1990, through Dischord Records, Repeater did not initially reach the Billboard 200 charts or become a commercial success. But the band spent most of 1990 and 1991 touring heavily behind Repeater, performing 250 concerts between March 1990 and June 1991, routinely selling out 1,000-plus capacity venues throughout the world. By summer 1991, the album sold more than 300,000 copies, a large number for a label that relied on minimal promotion. Major labels began to court Fugazi, but the band stayed with Dischord. It was critically well received and featured an alternative rock sound that predated significant releases such as Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten, which unexpectedly broke the genre into the mainstream.
For Fugazi's second studio album, Steady Diet of Nothing, released in July 1991, the band again asked Ted Niceley to produce. Niceley had become a chef and had to reluctantly turn down the job, so the band decided to produce the record itself. After the success of Repeater and its subsequent world tour, Steady Diet was highly anticipated. Six months before its release Dischord had more than 160,000 pre-orders for the album.
In on the Kill Taker and Red Medicine (1993–1996)
Fugazi recorded its third album, In on the Kill Taker, in the fall of 1992 with Steve Albini in Chicago, but the results were deemed unsatisfactory and the band rerecorded the album with Niceley and Don Zientara. With the breakthrough of alternative rock in the early 1990s, In on the Kill Taker; released on June 30, 1993, became the group's first record to enter the Billboard album charts, receiving critical praise from Spin, Time and Rolling Stone, and becoming the band's breakthrough album.
By the In on the Kill Taker tour, the group began to sell out large auditoriums and arenas and receive more lucrative major label offers. During its sold-out 3-night stint at New York City's Roseland Ballroom in September 1993, music mogul and Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun met with the band backstage in an attempt to sign them. Ertegun offered the band "anything you want", their own subsidiary label and more than $10 million just to sign with Atlantic. Fugazi declined. The organizers of Lollapalooza also attempted to recruit the band for a headlining slot on its 1993 tour, which the band considered but ultimately turned down.
Fugazi began writing the material for Red Medicine in late 1994, after touring in support of In on the Kill Taker. The band worked with Zientara but chose not to work with Niceley again. Fugazi opted to retreat from the in-your-face production values of In on the Kill Taker and instead worked to create an ambient sound that displayed greater range and depth. To achieve this, the band handled production duties itself, and in doing so, became more confident with in-studio experimentation. Red Medicine took Fugazi a step further toward art rock. The band began an extensive worldwide tour in support of the album, playing 172 shows between March 1995 and November 1996.
End Hits and The Argument (1997–2002)
After the grueling worldwide tour the band completed in support of Red Medicine, Fugazi took an extended break and also began writing material for a follow-up release. By March 1997 Fugazi had once again returned to Inner Ear Studios with Zientara to begin recording what became End Hits, with the intention of taking a more relaxed approach to recording and a longer amount of time to experiment with different songs and techniques in the studio. The group ultimately spent 7 months recording the album. Due to the title, rumors began circulating at the time that it was to be their last release. Released on April 28, 1998, the album was commercially successful and marked one of the band's highest debuts yet on the Billboard charts. Critical reaction to End Hits was mixed. Many critics praised its heavier tracks, while others questioned the inclusion of the group's longer, more experimental songs.
Fugazi began work on The Argument in 1999. This process saw the group taking more time than usual to write and demo material. Each member brought his own riffs and ideas to the band, jammed on them, and then began piecing the songs together into various configurations before deciding on the final versions. The album's recording sessions took place between January and April 2001 at Inner Ear Studios and Dischord House in Arlington, Virginia. The band once again worked with Zientara. During the recording process a considerable amount of time was spent finalizing each song's production, in particular the album's drum tracks, in an effort to give it a unique feel. Canty told Modern Drummer, "We recorded them all very differently in terms of the drum sounds. We used a lot of different cymbals, snares, and ways of miking."
The Argument was released by Dischord Records on October 16, 2001, along with the EP Furniture + 2. Arion Berger of Rolling Stone called the album "bracing" and "intellectual" and Chris True of AllMusic "spine-tingling and ear-shattering all at once", writing, "the band has raised the bar for themselves and others once again." He also wrote that the album had "touched on strange new territory". By this point Fugazi was on tour less, due in large part to other professional and personal commitments. It performed only 32 shows in 2001 and 2002.
Indefinite hiatus and reunion rumours (2003–present)
Fugazi went on what it has called an "indefinite hiatus" after the conclusion of its 2002 UK tour following three sold-out nights at the London Forum on November 2–4, 2002. The hiatus was brought on by the band members' insistence on spending more time with their families and pursuing other professional projects.
Since Fugazi went on hiatus in 2003, rumors began circulating about a reunion, with some insinuating that the band may get back together to headline the Coachella Festival. While the band has confirmed that it has been offered large sums of money to reunite and headline festivals, such as Coachella, it has so far declined the offers.
In March 2011, MacKaye reiterated that Fugazi has "been offered insane amounts of money to play reunions, but it's not going to be money that brings us back together, we would only play music together if we wanted to play music together and time allowed it".
In November 2011, when asked by The A.V. Club about the possibility of a reunion and a follow up to 2001's The Argument, Lally said, "The Argument was a great record that we should try and top. It'll take some time to come together and everything. To do that, we'd have to, the way the four of us are, we would take quite some time, I think, reassociating ourselves musically, and then just letting it come about naturally, because it would have to be a natural thing. So we'll just see."
In August 2014, Dischord announced an official release for First Demo, an album featuring 11 demo songs recorded in January 1988. The announcement included a preview of the demo for the Fugazi track "Merchandise". The album was released on November 18, 2014.
MacKaye insisted in a 2017 interview that Fugazi is not, in fact, broken up. While he admits any future public performance will have to contend with various confounding factors, the members have occasionally played music together, privately, since their 2003 hiatus. On March 21, 2018, in an interview on Vish Khanna's Kreative Kontrol podcast, Lally confirmed the band's irregular practice of casual get-togethers. He stated: "Yeah, when we're all in D.C., we totally hang out together and talk and spend a lot of time laughing. We have a great time together, go out to dinner, and we'll play some music together." Lally also stated that additional public performances or tours were unlikely: "There's so much to try to look after to allow Fugazi to do anything, that we do not have the time to give it the respect that it deserves. So unfortunately, it is where it is."
On February 13, 2019, Louder Sound asked Lally and Canty about the possibility of Fugazi returning, Lally responded "You never want to say never about anything, because how can you say that about the future? But there does seem to be a lack of time to allow it to happen, because the four of us would have to spend a lot of time together to figure out, 'Should we play old songs?' 'Who are we now?' 'What is it now?' We are not the kind of band to get together and just rehearse two hours of old songs to go out and play it, rake in the dough and come home." Canty added, "If we got back together it would have to be from the spirit of creativity. It would be different if we got back together."
Side projects and related work
In the hiatus, the members undertook side projects, with MacKaye forming the duo The Evens with drummer and singer Amy Farina (formerly of the Warmers).
In 2004, MacKaye produced the DC EP for Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, which also featured Jerry Busher.
Canty has been doing a variety of soundtrack scores and playing bass in the trio Garland Of Hours alongside frequent Fugazi guest contributors Jerry Busher and Amy Domingues, and has played bass live with Mary Timony. Canty also appears on Bob Mould's 2005 album Body of Song and on Mould's 2008 album District Line, and has toured with Mould, appearing in the live DVD Circle of Friends. He is currently working in the Burn to Shine DVD series which is being released by Trixie DVD. Now, he is playing in Deathfix alongside Devin Ocampo (Medications, Faraquet, Smart Went Crazy, Beauty Pill), Rich Morel (Bob Mould, Blow Off) and Mark Cisneros (Medications, The Make-Up). They will release their album in February 2013 on Dischord Records.
Lally has released three solo albums, There to Here (2006), Nothing Is Underrated (2007), and Why Should I Get Used To It (2011). He has also appeared on fellow DC post-punkers Decahedron's debut album Disconnection_Imminent, as well as on a project with Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarists John Frusciante and Josh Klinghoffer, known as Ataxia. The group has recorded two albums, Automatic Writing (2004) and AW II (2007).
Picciotto currently works as a record producer most notably with Blonde Redhead and The Blood Brothers, and he has performed alongside members of The Ex at the Jazz festival in Wels, Austria. Picciotto also contributed guitar on two Vic Chesnutt albums, 2007's "North Star Deserter and 2009's At the Cut (co-producing the latter), for Constellation Records and performed live with Chesnutt and members of Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra and The Quavers in Jem Cohen's program entitled, "Evening's Civil Twilight in Empires of Tin at the Vienna International Film Festival (Viennale) in 2007 (a DVD of the program was released in 2009). Picciotto played guitar on Chesnutt's Fall/Winter 2009 North American Tour. He has a daughter with musician Kathi Wilcox from the band Bikini Kill and The Frumpies.
In July 2011, Minneapolis based record label Doomtree released an album of mash-ups between Fugazi and east coast veteran rap crew the Wu-Tang Clan. The album is titled 13 Chambers, group name Wugazi. However, Fugazi itself did not have any involvement with the release. Bassist Joe Lally was asked about his thoughts on the Wugazi release, and stated "I think they could've found better Fugazi pieces to sample with Wu-Tang guys rapping on it. I mean, it's enjoyable, and I do appreciate it for the fact that somebody enjoys our music enough to bring it into that. But, you know, I don't know. I guess I should shut up, because I suppose I'm about to run into these people at the Fun Fun Fun Fest festival and talk to them. But I'm afraid that is my opinion on it. It's like, get better samples of our stuff, do better work."
In October 2012, Chris Lawhorn released Fugazi Edits. The album includes 22 instrumental tracks, which sample 100 songs from Fugazi's discography. As in other cases, the band had no involvement in the production. But, the album was authorized for release by MacKaye, with the proceeds going to charity.
In 2016, Canty and Lally joined with guitarist Anthony Pirog to form the Messthetics, Canty and Lally's first project together since Fugazi's hiatus.
In March 2018, the Messthetics released their self-titled debut album and embarked upon a tour of the US and Japan. The band toured further and released a second album entitled Anthropocosmic Nest in 2019.
In 2018, Ian MacKaye, Amy Farina and Joe Lally debuted a new band. In February 2020, it was announced that the band, now called Coriky, would release their first album on March 27, 2020. The debut single, "Clean Kill", was released on February 11, 2020. The band previewed their album at a free show in D.C.'s St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church on February 22, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the release of Coriky was delayed to June 12, 2020, in part to accommodate independent record stores closed due to the pandemic. Upon release the record was favorable reviewed in a few publications; often drawing comparisons and contrasts with MacKaye and Farina's other band The Evens, as well as Fugazi.
Live performances
Between 1987 and 2003, Fugazi played over 1000 concerts in all 50 US states and all over the world. Over 800 of these shows were recorded by the band's sound engineers. Beginning in 2004 and continuing into 2005, Fugazi launched a 30 CD Live Series that featured concerts from various points in their career, which were made available for sale via Dischord Records. Continuing with the live series concept and after several years of development on December 1, 2011, Fugazi launched a comprehensive Live Series website through Dischord Records that features 750 recordings available for download at the suggested price of $5 each or a "pay what you want" sliding scale option for each download between $1–100 with the goal of eventually making all 800 of the shows that have been recorded available for purchase. For $500 fans can also purchase an "All Access" privilege which will include access to any future concerts and downloads added to the site.
While each concert was professionally mastered, the recordings capture everything that happened onstage and for preservation's sake the band chose not to edit anything out, singer/guitarist Guy Picciotto explained to the New York Times, "We liked this idea of, 'Let's just let it be everything,' ... There doesn't have to be the idea that this is the great, golden document. It's all there, and it's not cleaned up. You get what you get." The sound quality also varies as the earliest recordings were made to cassettes, then eventually digital formats such as DAT, CD-R and ultimately hard-drives were used. Each concert page also includes flyers, photographs and ticket stubs. As a career-spanning archival project, the Fugazi Live Series has few equals, putting the band in the company of acts like the Grateful Dead, Phish and Pearl Jam, three notable examples of other artists with such a large volume of concerts available for purchase.
Musical style
Fugazi's style has been described as post-hardcore, art punk, alternative rock, and experimental rock. Fugazi's music was an intentional departure from that of the hardcore punk bands the members had played in previously. Fugazi combined punk with funk and reggae beats, irregular stop-start song structures, and heavy riffs inspired by popular rock bands such as Led Zeppelin and Queen, bands that the punk community of the time largely disdained.
Picciotto became the group's second guitarist when he realized MacKaye's typically chunky, low-end riffs and Lally's dub-influenced basslines allowed him to focus on high-pitched parts. In both vocal and guitar roles, Picciotto assumed the role of a foil to MacKaye; employing a Rickenbacker guitar for its scratchy single-coil sound in order to "cut through MacKaye's chunky chording like a laser beam." Picciotto's assumption of guitar duties allowed all four members of the band to jam together and write songs that way, where previously they had played songs largely as MacKaye had arranged them. When writing songs, the band often rearranges them with different structures and different singers. Spin has listed MacKaye and Picciotto together at No. 86 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time for their unique and interlocking guitar style in Fugazi.
Generally, MacKaye's lyrics and singing are more direct and anthemic (MacKaye admits that he loves audience sing-alongs and writes songs with shout-able slogans), while Picciotto usually favors a more abstract, oblique approach. Lally has contributed vocals to a few songs as well, in which he sings in a more relaxed, quiet style as opposed to MacKaye and Picciotto, whose lyrics and vocals often feature strong emotional intensity. Later, Fugazi more fully integrated elements of punk rock, hardcore, soul and noise with an inventively syncopated rhythm section. Notable is MacKaye and Picciotto's inventive, interlocking guitar playing, which often defies the traditional notion of "lead" and "rhythm" guitars. They often feature unusual and dissonant chords and progressions filtered through a hardcore punk lens.
Each of Fugazi's albums since Repeater have featured an instrumental. By the time of 1995's Red Medicine bassist Joe Lally also began contributing vocals to the band and the group was implementing many of their broader influences into the overall sound. Critics Ian McCaleb and Ira Robbins declared that Fugazi's music combined an "unprecedented dynamic range ... and previously unimagined elements" such as "clattering musique concrète ... piano and sound effects ... murky dub and lancing clarinet" and "loose-limbed jammy funk ... into an ambitious, experimental format that raises more stylistic questions than it answers."
Influences
When questioned by Guitar World in 2002 about the band's influences, singer/guitarist Ian MacKaye responded, "Too many to mention. And not just from the last few years. Some of them predate us by decades, and most of them wouldn't be punk. I would hope any musician would be inspired by a lot of different kinds of music." In a 2004 interview with Indonesian magazine Deathrockstar, Picciotto named "D.C. groups" such as Bad Brains ("who inspired all of us so much at the beginning"), the Faith and Void as influences, in addition to Minutemen, Black Flag, Sonic Youth, the Ex and the Beatles, the latter of which all the members "share[d] a major love for". Despite this, he similarly conceded that "[i]ts [sic] impossible to narrow it down to one band or record because we didn't just crib from one blueprint, we were grabbing ideas from all over the place and then filtering them through our own limited and personally shaped skills."
Business practices
On their first tours, Fugazi worked out its DIY ethic by trial and error. Their decisions were partly motivated by pragmatic considerations that were essentially a punk rock version of simple living: for example, selling merchandise on tour would require a full-time merchandise salesperson who would require lodging, food, and other costs, so Fugazi decided to simplify their touring by not selling merchandise. The band was also motivated by moral or ethical considerations: for example, Fugazi's members regarded pricey admission for rock concerts as tantamount to price gouging a performer's most loyal fans. Fugazi's inexpensive target goal of $5 admission was spawned during a conversation on an early tour when the band's members were debating the lowest profitable admission price. Everett True has said that MacKaye and Fugazi "had a mind-set that believed that any involvement with the system was corrupting and that you should create completely alternative structures outside".
In later years, Fugazi was unable to negotiate ticket prices below about $10–$15 total. However, it never saw the $5 rule as inviolable, instead aiming to charge a price that was both affordable and profitable. Unlike some similar, independent rock contemporaries, Fugazi's performances and tours were always profitable, due to the group's popularity, low business overhead costs, and MacKaye's keen sense of audience response in given regions. Many times the band performed sold-out shows multiple consecutive nights at the same venue.
Fugazi's early tours earned it a strong word-of-mouth reputation, both for its powerful performances, and also for the band's eagerness to play in unusual venues. The group sought out alternatives to traditional rock clubs partly to relieve the boredom of touring, but also hoping to show fans that there are other options to traditional ways of doing things. As Picciotto said, "You find the Elks Lodge, you find the guy who's got a space in the back of his pizzeria, you find the guy who has a gallery. Kids will do that stuff because they want to make stuff happen."
The group (MacKaye in particular) also made a point of discouraging violent, unwanted slam dancing and fistfights, which it saw as relics of the late 1970s/early 1980s hardcore punk era. Michael Azerrad quotes Mackaye, "See, [slam dancers] have one form of communication: violence ... So to disorient them, you don't give them violence. I'd say, 'Excuse me, sir ...'- I mean, it freaks them out – 'Excuse me, sir, would you please cut that crap out?'" Azerrad writes, "[MacKaye's] admonitions seemed preachy to some. And by and large, people would obey – it wasn't cool to disrespect Ian MacKaye." Occasionally, Fugazi would have an unrepentant slam-dancer escorted from the concert, and give them an envelope containing a $5 refund (the group kept a stock of such envelopes in their tour van for these occasions).
During the summer of 1990 MacKaye formed the corporation Lunar Atrocities Ltd. in order to shield his own and his bandmates' personal assets from the threat of lawsuits. As MacKaye's financial advisor, Seth Martin, explained to the Washington Post in a 1993 interview: "protection from liability is the main reason to form a corporation, and for these guys it makes sense. If someone got hurt stage-diving and decided to sue, it would be harder to go after their personal assets."
Influence and legacy
Fugazi's music and ethics have been immensely influential on punk and alternative music throughout the years, and has earned the band praise from many notable musicians as well. Sublime "thanked" the band by namedropping them on their debut album. At the Drive-In called the band an influence on their own music, as did other notable post-hardcore bands such as Refused, Quicksand, Drive Like Jehu, Mclusky, and Cursive. John Frusciante named them an influence on Red Hot Chili Peppers' Californication and on his solo album The Will to Death. Nirvana cited the band as an influence, and Kurt Cobain - who was friends with the members of Fugazi - was even spotted in a popular photo of the band with the word "Fugazi" misspelt on both shoes. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam remarked that witnessing the band live "was a life-changing experience" for him. Reportedly a huge fan, Elliott Smith was "super-obsessed" with the band and later admitted that his former band Heatmiser was "trying to be Fugazi". The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr offered the band praise, and called MacKaye one of his favorite guitarists. Towards the end of his life, Joe Strummer, lead vocalist of The Clash, recognized Fugazi as the band that best exemplified "the spirit of punk" in a 2000 Rolling Stone interview, besides offering them accolades on several other occasions. In 1993, Joey Ramone of The Ramones picked the band as a favorite, labeling them a "great social conscience".
Graham Coxon of Blur recalls his introduction to bands such as Fugazi (and the Picciotto-led Rites of Spring) in the mid 90s as being one of the most musically significant moments of his life: "They used the guitar in an incredible way; making quite restrained noisy music, which I'd never heard English bands doing." Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World named both MacKaye and Picciotto as an influence on his guitar playing as they made him "more open to the ideas behind guitar playing, as opposed to the technical difficulty of it.". Daniel Kessler of Interpol was also influenced by the band in his guitar-playing, as was Ben Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan and Colin Frangicetto of Circa Survive. Tim Commerford of Rage Against the Machine found the band's music on Repeater revelatory, as did Steve Holmes of American Football. Tom DeLonge of Blink-182 called the band a big influence as they "stood for something and never varied from that path." "Fugazi was probably my biggest influence as far as wanting to start a band", Modest Mouse founding member Jeremiah Green admitted, "It was really great music and just sounded like something I could possibly do." Gareth Liddiard, lead vocalist and guitarist of both the Drones and Tropical Fuck Storm, named Fugazi (amongst many others) as an influence on his guitar-playing, and praised the band's live performances. When asked to name some of his favorite records or discographies, Brian Cook of Botch (and later Russian Circles) included the band's entire discography amongst others. Gogol Bordello's Eugene Hutz called the band's debut EP "probably the best I ever heard. It's so together and everything sits in the right place." Jeff Rosenstock not only called the band a big influence on his music, but also on his strict DIY business practices & ethics. Sunny Day Real Estate cited the band as an influence for similar reasons.
In addition, the band was a formative influence on Tool bassist Justin Chancellor, Jack White, Daniel Johns of Silverchair, Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney, Sara Lund of Unwound, Iceage, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Dylan Baldi of Cloud Nothings, Arcade Fire lead singer Win Butler, Travis Morrison of The Dismemberment Plan, Efrim Menuck of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Alison Mosshart of The Kills, Brand New guitarist Jesse Lacey, Converge lead vocalist Jacob Bannon, Coalesce, Tad Kubler of The Hold Steady, Ben Lee, Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, Explosions in the Sky, Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, Trevor de Brauw of Pelican, Ted Leo, Matty Healy of The 1975, Mary Timony, Hayley Williams of Paramore, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park and Lorde.
Members
Current
Ian MacKaye – vocals, guitar (1986–2003)
Joe Lally – bass guitar, vocals (1986–2003)
Brendan Canty – drums (1987–2003)
Guy Picciotto – vocals, guitar (1988/1989–2003)
Former
Colin Sears – drums (1986)
Touring musicians
Jerry Busher – additional drums, trumpet (1998–2002)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Notes
References
External links
Fugazi's page at Dischord
Southern distribution page
[ Fugazi's page at Allmusic]
Rare recorded live Fugazi show, one of the last ever at Austin's Liberty Lunch venue in 1990.
Alternative rock groups from Washington, D.C.
American post-hardcore musical groups
Anti-corporate activism
American art rock groups
Dischord Records artists
Indie rock musical groups from Washington, D.C.
Musical groups established in 1987
Musical quartets
Punk rock groups from Washington, D.C.
American emo musical groups
Musical groups disestablished in 2003 | true | [
"We Walk from Safety is the second full-length studio album from post-hardcore band Repeater, released in August 2011. It was the second collaboration between Repeater and producer Ross Robinson (the first being Patterns EP). The title of the album is taken from a song with the same name which appears on Repeater's 2005 demo.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel\nMusicians\nSteve Krolikowski (vocals and guitar)\nRob Wallace (keyboards)\nVictor Cuevas (bass)\nAlex Forsythe (guitar)\nMatt Hanief (drums)\n\nTechnical\nProduced, engineered and mixed By Ross Robinson\nMastered by Alan Douches\n\nReception\n\nThe band launched a Kickstarter campaign that gained the attention of numerous blogs. The release of the album was highly anticipated. Similarly to Radiohead's Rainbows album, 'We Walk From Safety' was released for a \"Name Your Own Price\"\n\nThe album was released to positive reviews.\n (3 out of 4) (Rating 7.2 out of 10) (8.5 out of 10)\n\nThe album was chosen as #1 Album Pick of the Year by Popblerd and Editor's choice for #1 Album of 2011 at Sicmagazine.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Repeater, office website\nRepeater, on Facebook\nRepeater, on MySpace\n\n2010 albums\nRepeater (band) albums",
"Iron Flowers is the first full length release by Long Beach, California band, Repeater. This eight-song album was recorded at Bomb Shelter Studios in Los Angeles, California. It was recorded in 3 days and produced by Chris Fudurich.\n\nTrack listing \n \"A Second Home\"\n \"Missing\"\n \"Carved in Shadow\"\n \"The Gifted and the Damned\"\n \"Killing Without Question \"\n \"The Time Apart\"\n \"No Single Lover\"\n \"Last Conscience\"\n\nPersonnel\nSteve Krolikowski (vocals and guitar)\nRob Wallace (keyboards)\nVictor Cuevas (bass)\nNate Wainscott (guitar)\nMatt Hanief (drums)\n\nTechnical personnel\nProduced, engineered and mixed By Chris Fudurich\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Repeater, office website\nRepeater, on Facebook\nRepeater, on MySpace\n\n2008 albums\nRepeater (band) albums"
]
|
[
"Fugazi",
"Repeater and Steady Diet of Nothing (1990-1992)",
"What was Repeater",
"songs they had been performing"
]
| C_f3934f2aa5f34a068e07920685725d0f_0 | where was one of the popular songs | 2 | Where was one of the popular songs of Fugazi in the years of 1990-1992 | Fugazi | With Picciotto playing guitar full-time, Fugazi made the transition into jamming and writing new material as a band as opposed to performing songs composed solely by MacKaye. In addition to working on new material, songs they had been performing live were refined, such as "Merchandise" and "Turnover", for inclusion on their first official full-length studio album. Released on April 19, 1990, through Dischord Records, Repeater did not initially reach the Billboard 200 charts or become a commercial success. However, the band spent most of 1990 and 1991 touring heavily behind Repeater, performing a total of 250 concerts between March 1990 and June 1991, routinely selling out 1,000-plus capacity venues throughout the world. By summer 1991, the album sold more than 300,000 copies, a large number for a label that relied on minimal promotion. While major labels began to court Fugazi, the band decided to stay with Dischord and refused the offers of those labels. Repeater ultimately went on to sell more than 1 million copies in the U.S. alone, and more than 2 million worldwide. The album was critically well received and featured an alternative rock sound that pre-dated significant releases such as Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten, which would unexpectedly go on to break the genre into the mainstream. For Fugazi's second studio-album Steady Diet of Nothing, released in July 1991, the band once again asked Ted Niceley to produce. Niceley had become a chef and had to reluctantly turn down the job, so the band members decided to produce the record themselves. After the success of Repeater and its subsequent world tour, Steady Diet was highly anticipated, six months prior to its release Dischord had pre-orders in excess of 160,000 for the album. CANNOTANSWER | Merchandise" and "Turnover", for inclusion on their first official full-length studio album. | Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C. in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their style-transcending music, DIY ethical stance, manner of business practice, and contempt for the music industry.
Fugazi has performed numerous worldwide tours and produced six studio albums, a film and a comprehensive live series, gaining the band critical acclaim and success around the world. Highly influential on punk and alternative music, the band has been on an indefinite hiatus since 2003.
History
Formation and early years (1986–1989)
After the hardcore punk group Minor Threat dissolved, MacKaye (vocals and guitar) was active with a few short-lived groups, most notably Embrace. He decided he wanted a project that was "like The Stooges with reggae", but was wary about forming another band after Embrace's breakup. MacKaye recalled, "My interests were not necessarily to be in a band, but to be with people who wanted to play music with me."
MacKaye recruited ex-Dag Nasty drummer Colin Sears and bass guitarist Lally, and the trio began practicing together in September 1986. After a few months of rehearsals, Sears returned to Dag Nasty and was replaced by Canty (earlier of Rites of Spring). One day, Picciotto, Canty's Rites of Spring bandmate, dropped by during a practice session to see how his friend was getting along; he later admitted he secretly harbored the idea of joining the group. But Picciotto was disappointed that there seemed to be no place for him.
After some uncertainty from Canty about what he wanted to do with his future, the trio regrouped and booked their first show at the Wilson Center in early September 1987. The group still needed a name, so MacKaye chose the word "fugazi" from Mark Baker's Nam, a compilation of stories of Vietnam War veterans, it there being a slang acronym for "Fucked Up, Got Ambushed, Zipped In [into a body bag]".
The band began inviting Picciotto to practices. Inspired by use of a foil in hip hop, Picciotto sang backup vocals. After his band Happy Go Licky broke up, he became more involved with Fugazi. MacKaye eventually asked Picciotto to become a full member, and he accepted.
Fugazi EP & Margin Walker – 13 Songs (1988–1989)
Fugazi embarked on its first tour in January 1988. In June 1988 the band recorded its debut EP Fugazi with producer Ted Niceley and producer/engineer Don Zientara (who became a longtime collaborator), and shortly afterward embarked on an arduous tour of Europe.
At the tour's conclusion in December, the band recorded songs for its intended debut album. But the band was spent from touring and found the resulting sessions were unsatisfactory. The track list was cut down to an EP and released as Margin Walker the next year. Both EPs were eventually combined into the 13 Songs release in late 1989. Upon the band's return from Europe, Picciotto, unsatisfied with singing, began playing guitar too.
Repeater and Steady Diet of Nothing (1990–1992)
With Picciotto playing guitar full-time, Fugazi made the transition into jamming and writing new material as a band as opposed to performing songs composed solely by MacKaye. In addition to working on new material, songs they had been performing live were refined, such as "Merchandise" and "Turnover", for inclusion on their first official full-length studio album.
Released on April 19, 1990, through Dischord Records, Repeater did not initially reach the Billboard 200 charts or become a commercial success. But the band spent most of 1990 and 1991 touring heavily behind Repeater, performing 250 concerts between March 1990 and June 1991, routinely selling out 1,000-plus capacity venues throughout the world. By summer 1991, the album sold more than 300,000 copies, a large number for a label that relied on minimal promotion. Major labels began to court Fugazi, but the band stayed with Dischord. It was critically well received and featured an alternative rock sound that predated significant releases such as Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten, which unexpectedly broke the genre into the mainstream.
For Fugazi's second studio album, Steady Diet of Nothing, released in July 1991, the band again asked Ted Niceley to produce. Niceley had become a chef and had to reluctantly turn down the job, so the band decided to produce the record itself. After the success of Repeater and its subsequent world tour, Steady Diet was highly anticipated. Six months before its release Dischord had more than 160,000 pre-orders for the album.
In on the Kill Taker and Red Medicine (1993–1996)
Fugazi recorded its third album, In on the Kill Taker, in the fall of 1992 with Steve Albini in Chicago, but the results were deemed unsatisfactory and the band rerecorded the album with Niceley and Don Zientara. With the breakthrough of alternative rock in the early 1990s, In on the Kill Taker; released on June 30, 1993, became the group's first record to enter the Billboard album charts, receiving critical praise from Spin, Time and Rolling Stone, and becoming the band's breakthrough album.
By the In on the Kill Taker tour, the group began to sell out large auditoriums and arenas and receive more lucrative major label offers. During its sold-out 3-night stint at New York City's Roseland Ballroom in September 1993, music mogul and Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun met with the band backstage in an attempt to sign them. Ertegun offered the band "anything you want", their own subsidiary label and more than $10 million just to sign with Atlantic. Fugazi declined. The organizers of Lollapalooza also attempted to recruit the band for a headlining slot on its 1993 tour, which the band considered but ultimately turned down.
Fugazi began writing the material for Red Medicine in late 1994, after touring in support of In on the Kill Taker. The band worked with Zientara but chose not to work with Niceley again. Fugazi opted to retreat from the in-your-face production values of In on the Kill Taker and instead worked to create an ambient sound that displayed greater range and depth. To achieve this, the band handled production duties itself, and in doing so, became more confident with in-studio experimentation. Red Medicine took Fugazi a step further toward art rock. The band began an extensive worldwide tour in support of the album, playing 172 shows between March 1995 and November 1996.
End Hits and The Argument (1997–2002)
After the grueling worldwide tour the band completed in support of Red Medicine, Fugazi took an extended break and also began writing material for a follow-up release. By March 1997 Fugazi had once again returned to Inner Ear Studios with Zientara to begin recording what became End Hits, with the intention of taking a more relaxed approach to recording and a longer amount of time to experiment with different songs and techniques in the studio. The group ultimately spent 7 months recording the album. Due to the title, rumors began circulating at the time that it was to be their last release. Released on April 28, 1998, the album was commercially successful and marked one of the band's highest debuts yet on the Billboard charts. Critical reaction to End Hits was mixed. Many critics praised its heavier tracks, while others questioned the inclusion of the group's longer, more experimental songs.
Fugazi began work on The Argument in 1999. This process saw the group taking more time than usual to write and demo material. Each member brought his own riffs and ideas to the band, jammed on them, and then began piecing the songs together into various configurations before deciding on the final versions. The album's recording sessions took place between January and April 2001 at Inner Ear Studios and Dischord House in Arlington, Virginia. The band once again worked with Zientara. During the recording process a considerable amount of time was spent finalizing each song's production, in particular the album's drum tracks, in an effort to give it a unique feel. Canty told Modern Drummer, "We recorded them all very differently in terms of the drum sounds. We used a lot of different cymbals, snares, and ways of miking."
The Argument was released by Dischord Records on October 16, 2001, along with the EP Furniture + 2. Arion Berger of Rolling Stone called the album "bracing" and "intellectual" and Chris True of AllMusic "spine-tingling and ear-shattering all at once", writing, "the band has raised the bar for themselves and others once again." He also wrote that the album had "touched on strange new territory". By this point Fugazi was on tour less, due in large part to other professional and personal commitments. It performed only 32 shows in 2001 and 2002.
Indefinite hiatus and reunion rumours (2003–present)
Fugazi went on what it has called an "indefinite hiatus" after the conclusion of its 2002 UK tour following three sold-out nights at the London Forum on November 2–4, 2002. The hiatus was brought on by the band members' insistence on spending more time with their families and pursuing other professional projects.
Since Fugazi went on hiatus in 2003, rumors began circulating about a reunion, with some insinuating that the band may get back together to headline the Coachella Festival. While the band has confirmed that it has been offered large sums of money to reunite and headline festivals, such as Coachella, it has so far declined the offers.
In March 2011, MacKaye reiterated that Fugazi has "been offered insane amounts of money to play reunions, but it's not going to be money that brings us back together, we would only play music together if we wanted to play music together and time allowed it".
In November 2011, when asked by The A.V. Club about the possibility of a reunion and a follow up to 2001's The Argument, Lally said, "The Argument was a great record that we should try and top. It'll take some time to come together and everything. To do that, we'd have to, the way the four of us are, we would take quite some time, I think, reassociating ourselves musically, and then just letting it come about naturally, because it would have to be a natural thing. So we'll just see."
In August 2014, Dischord announced an official release for First Demo, an album featuring 11 demo songs recorded in January 1988. The announcement included a preview of the demo for the Fugazi track "Merchandise". The album was released on November 18, 2014.
MacKaye insisted in a 2017 interview that Fugazi is not, in fact, broken up. While he admits any future public performance will have to contend with various confounding factors, the members have occasionally played music together, privately, since their 2003 hiatus. On March 21, 2018, in an interview on Vish Khanna's Kreative Kontrol podcast, Lally confirmed the band's irregular practice of casual get-togethers. He stated: "Yeah, when we're all in D.C., we totally hang out together and talk and spend a lot of time laughing. We have a great time together, go out to dinner, and we'll play some music together." Lally also stated that additional public performances or tours were unlikely: "There's so much to try to look after to allow Fugazi to do anything, that we do not have the time to give it the respect that it deserves. So unfortunately, it is where it is."
On February 13, 2019, Louder Sound asked Lally and Canty about the possibility of Fugazi returning, Lally responded "You never want to say never about anything, because how can you say that about the future? But there does seem to be a lack of time to allow it to happen, because the four of us would have to spend a lot of time together to figure out, 'Should we play old songs?' 'Who are we now?' 'What is it now?' We are not the kind of band to get together and just rehearse two hours of old songs to go out and play it, rake in the dough and come home." Canty added, "If we got back together it would have to be from the spirit of creativity. It would be different if we got back together."
Side projects and related work
In the hiatus, the members undertook side projects, with MacKaye forming the duo The Evens with drummer and singer Amy Farina (formerly of the Warmers).
In 2004, MacKaye produced the DC EP for Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, which also featured Jerry Busher.
Canty has been doing a variety of soundtrack scores and playing bass in the trio Garland Of Hours alongside frequent Fugazi guest contributors Jerry Busher and Amy Domingues, and has played bass live with Mary Timony. Canty also appears on Bob Mould's 2005 album Body of Song and on Mould's 2008 album District Line, and has toured with Mould, appearing in the live DVD Circle of Friends. He is currently working in the Burn to Shine DVD series which is being released by Trixie DVD. Now, he is playing in Deathfix alongside Devin Ocampo (Medications, Faraquet, Smart Went Crazy, Beauty Pill), Rich Morel (Bob Mould, Blow Off) and Mark Cisneros (Medications, The Make-Up). They will release their album in February 2013 on Dischord Records.
Lally has released three solo albums, There to Here (2006), Nothing Is Underrated (2007), and Why Should I Get Used To It (2011). He has also appeared on fellow DC post-punkers Decahedron's debut album Disconnection_Imminent, as well as on a project with Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarists John Frusciante and Josh Klinghoffer, known as Ataxia. The group has recorded two albums, Automatic Writing (2004) and AW II (2007).
Picciotto currently works as a record producer most notably with Blonde Redhead and The Blood Brothers, and he has performed alongside members of The Ex at the Jazz festival in Wels, Austria. Picciotto also contributed guitar on two Vic Chesnutt albums, 2007's "North Star Deserter and 2009's At the Cut (co-producing the latter), for Constellation Records and performed live with Chesnutt and members of Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra and The Quavers in Jem Cohen's program entitled, "Evening's Civil Twilight in Empires of Tin at the Vienna International Film Festival (Viennale) in 2007 (a DVD of the program was released in 2009). Picciotto played guitar on Chesnutt's Fall/Winter 2009 North American Tour. He has a daughter with musician Kathi Wilcox from the band Bikini Kill and The Frumpies.
In July 2011, Minneapolis based record label Doomtree released an album of mash-ups between Fugazi and east coast veteran rap crew the Wu-Tang Clan. The album is titled 13 Chambers, group name Wugazi. However, Fugazi itself did not have any involvement with the release. Bassist Joe Lally was asked about his thoughts on the Wugazi release, and stated "I think they could've found better Fugazi pieces to sample with Wu-Tang guys rapping on it. I mean, it's enjoyable, and I do appreciate it for the fact that somebody enjoys our music enough to bring it into that. But, you know, I don't know. I guess I should shut up, because I suppose I'm about to run into these people at the Fun Fun Fun Fest festival and talk to them. But I'm afraid that is my opinion on it. It's like, get better samples of our stuff, do better work."
In October 2012, Chris Lawhorn released Fugazi Edits. The album includes 22 instrumental tracks, which sample 100 songs from Fugazi's discography. As in other cases, the band had no involvement in the production. But, the album was authorized for release by MacKaye, with the proceeds going to charity.
In 2016, Canty and Lally joined with guitarist Anthony Pirog to form the Messthetics, Canty and Lally's first project together since Fugazi's hiatus.
In March 2018, the Messthetics released their self-titled debut album and embarked upon a tour of the US and Japan. The band toured further and released a second album entitled Anthropocosmic Nest in 2019.
In 2018, Ian MacKaye, Amy Farina and Joe Lally debuted a new band. In February 2020, it was announced that the band, now called Coriky, would release their first album on March 27, 2020. The debut single, "Clean Kill", was released on February 11, 2020. The band previewed their album at a free show in D.C.'s St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church on February 22, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the release of Coriky was delayed to June 12, 2020, in part to accommodate independent record stores closed due to the pandemic. Upon release the record was favorable reviewed in a few publications; often drawing comparisons and contrasts with MacKaye and Farina's other band The Evens, as well as Fugazi.
Live performances
Between 1987 and 2003, Fugazi played over 1000 concerts in all 50 US states and all over the world. Over 800 of these shows were recorded by the band's sound engineers. Beginning in 2004 and continuing into 2005, Fugazi launched a 30 CD Live Series that featured concerts from various points in their career, which were made available for sale via Dischord Records. Continuing with the live series concept and after several years of development on December 1, 2011, Fugazi launched a comprehensive Live Series website through Dischord Records that features 750 recordings available for download at the suggested price of $5 each or a "pay what you want" sliding scale option for each download between $1–100 with the goal of eventually making all 800 of the shows that have been recorded available for purchase. For $500 fans can also purchase an "All Access" privilege which will include access to any future concerts and downloads added to the site.
While each concert was professionally mastered, the recordings capture everything that happened onstage and for preservation's sake the band chose not to edit anything out, singer/guitarist Guy Picciotto explained to the New York Times, "We liked this idea of, 'Let's just let it be everything,' ... There doesn't have to be the idea that this is the great, golden document. It's all there, and it's not cleaned up. You get what you get." The sound quality also varies as the earliest recordings were made to cassettes, then eventually digital formats such as DAT, CD-R and ultimately hard-drives were used. Each concert page also includes flyers, photographs and ticket stubs. As a career-spanning archival project, the Fugazi Live Series has few equals, putting the band in the company of acts like the Grateful Dead, Phish and Pearl Jam, three notable examples of other artists with such a large volume of concerts available for purchase.
Musical style
Fugazi's style has been described as post-hardcore, art punk, alternative rock, and experimental rock. Fugazi's music was an intentional departure from that of the hardcore punk bands the members had played in previously. Fugazi combined punk with funk and reggae beats, irregular stop-start song structures, and heavy riffs inspired by popular rock bands such as Led Zeppelin and Queen, bands that the punk community of the time largely disdained.
Picciotto became the group's second guitarist when he realized MacKaye's typically chunky, low-end riffs and Lally's dub-influenced basslines allowed him to focus on high-pitched parts. In both vocal and guitar roles, Picciotto assumed the role of a foil to MacKaye; employing a Rickenbacker guitar for its scratchy single-coil sound in order to "cut through MacKaye's chunky chording like a laser beam." Picciotto's assumption of guitar duties allowed all four members of the band to jam together and write songs that way, where previously they had played songs largely as MacKaye had arranged them. When writing songs, the band often rearranges them with different structures and different singers. Spin has listed MacKaye and Picciotto together at No. 86 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time for their unique and interlocking guitar style in Fugazi.
Generally, MacKaye's lyrics and singing are more direct and anthemic (MacKaye admits that he loves audience sing-alongs and writes songs with shout-able slogans), while Picciotto usually favors a more abstract, oblique approach. Lally has contributed vocals to a few songs as well, in which he sings in a more relaxed, quiet style as opposed to MacKaye and Picciotto, whose lyrics and vocals often feature strong emotional intensity. Later, Fugazi more fully integrated elements of punk rock, hardcore, soul and noise with an inventively syncopated rhythm section. Notable is MacKaye and Picciotto's inventive, interlocking guitar playing, which often defies the traditional notion of "lead" and "rhythm" guitars. They often feature unusual and dissonant chords and progressions filtered through a hardcore punk lens.
Each of Fugazi's albums since Repeater have featured an instrumental. By the time of 1995's Red Medicine bassist Joe Lally also began contributing vocals to the band and the group was implementing many of their broader influences into the overall sound. Critics Ian McCaleb and Ira Robbins declared that Fugazi's music combined an "unprecedented dynamic range ... and previously unimagined elements" such as "clattering musique concrète ... piano and sound effects ... murky dub and lancing clarinet" and "loose-limbed jammy funk ... into an ambitious, experimental format that raises more stylistic questions than it answers."
Influences
When questioned by Guitar World in 2002 about the band's influences, singer/guitarist Ian MacKaye responded, "Too many to mention. And not just from the last few years. Some of them predate us by decades, and most of them wouldn't be punk. I would hope any musician would be inspired by a lot of different kinds of music." In a 2004 interview with Indonesian magazine Deathrockstar, Picciotto named "D.C. groups" such as Bad Brains ("who inspired all of us so much at the beginning"), the Faith and Void as influences, in addition to Minutemen, Black Flag, Sonic Youth, the Ex and the Beatles, the latter of which all the members "share[d] a major love for". Despite this, he similarly conceded that "[i]ts [sic] impossible to narrow it down to one band or record because we didn't just crib from one blueprint, we were grabbing ideas from all over the place and then filtering them through our own limited and personally shaped skills."
Business practices
On their first tours, Fugazi worked out its DIY ethic by trial and error. Their decisions were partly motivated by pragmatic considerations that were essentially a punk rock version of simple living: for example, selling merchandise on tour would require a full-time merchandise salesperson who would require lodging, food, and other costs, so Fugazi decided to simplify their touring by not selling merchandise. The band was also motivated by moral or ethical considerations: for example, Fugazi's members regarded pricey admission for rock concerts as tantamount to price gouging a performer's most loyal fans. Fugazi's inexpensive target goal of $5 admission was spawned during a conversation on an early tour when the band's members were debating the lowest profitable admission price. Everett True has said that MacKaye and Fugazi "had a mind-set that believed that any involvement with the system was corrupting and that you should create completely alternative structures outside".
In later years, Fugazi was unable to negotiate ticket prices below about $10–$15 total. However, it never saw the $5 rule as inviolable, instead aiming to charge a price that was both affordable and profitable. Unlike some similar, independent rock contemporaries, Fugazi's performances and tours were always profitable, due to the group's popularity, low business overhead costs, and MacKaye's keen sense of audience response in given regions. Many times the band performed sold-out shows multiple consecutive nights at the same venue.
Fugazi's early tours earned it a strong word-of-mouth reputation, both for its powerful performances, and also for the band's eagerness to play in unusual venues. The group sought out alternatives to traditional rock clubs partly to relieve the boredom of touring, but also hoping to show fans that there are other options to traditional ways of doing things. As Picciotto said, "You find the Elks Lodge, you find the guy who's got a space in the back of his pizzeria, you find the guy who has a gallery. Kids will do that stuff because they want to make stuff happen."
The group (MacKaye in particular) also made a point of discouraging violent, unwanted slam dancing and fistfights, which it saw as relics of the late 1970s/early 1980s hardcore punk era. Michael Azerrad quotes Mackaye, "See, [slam dancers] have one form of communication: violence ... So to disorient them, you don't give them violence. I'd say, 'Excuse me, sir ...'- I mean, it freaks them out – 'Excuse me, sir, would you please cut that crap out?'" Azerrad writes, "[MacKaye's] admonitions seemed preachy to some. And by and large, people would obey – it wasn't cool to disrespect Ian MacKaye." Occasionally, Fugazi would have an unrepentant slam-dancer escorted from the concert, and give them an envelope containing a $5 refund (the group kept a stock of such envelopes in their tour van for these occasions).
During the summer of 1990 MacKaye formed the corporation Lunar Atrocities Ltd. in order to shield his own and his bandmates' personal assets from the threat of lawsuits. As MacKaye's financial advisor, Seth Martin, explained to the Washington Post in a 1993 interview: "protection from liability is the main reason to form a corporation, and for these guys it makes sense. If someone got hurt stage-diving and decided to sue, it would be harder to go after their personal assets."
Influence and legacy
Fugazi's music and ethics have been immensely influential on punk and alternative music throughout the years, and has earned the band praise from many notable musicians as well. Sublime "thanked" the band by namedropping them on their debut album. At the Drive-In called the band an influence on their own music, as did other notable post-hardcore bands such as Refused, Quicksand, Drive Like Jehu, Mclusky, and Cursive. John Frusciante named them an influence on Red Hot Chili Peppers' Californication and on his solo album The Will to Death. Nirvana cited the band as an influence, and Kurt Cobain - who was friends with the members of Fugazi - was even spotted in a popular photo of the band with the word "Fugazi" misspelt on both shoes. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam remarked that witnessing the band live "was a life-changing experience" for him. Reportedly a huge fan, Elliott Smith was "super-obsessed" with the band and later admitted that his former band Heatmiser was "trying to be Fugazi". The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr offered the band praise, and called MacKaye one of his favorite guitarists. Towards the end of his life, Joe Strummer, lead vocalist of The Clash, recognized Fugazi as the band that best exemplified "the spirit of punk" in a 2000 Rolling Stone interview, besides offering them accolades on several other occasions. In 1993, Joey Ramone of The Ramones picked the band as a favorite, labeling them a "great social conscience".
Graham Coxon of Blur recalls his introduction to bands such as Fugazi (and the Picciotto-led Rites of Spring) in the mid 90s as being one of the most musically significant moments of his life: "They used the guitar in an incredible way; making quite restrained noisy music, which I'd never heard English bands doing." Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World named both MacKaye and Picciotto as an influence on his guitar playing as they made him "more open to the ideas behind guitar playing, as opposed to the technical difficulty of it.". Daniel Kessler of Interpol was also influenced by the band in his guitar-playing, as was Ben Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan and Colin Frangicetto of Circa Survive. Tim Commerford of Rage Against the Machine found the band's music on Repeater revelatory, as did Steve Holmes of American Football. Tom DeLonge of Blink-182 called the band a big influence as they "stood for something and never varied from that path." "Fugazi was probably my biggest influence as far as wanting to start a band", Modest Mouse founding member Jeremiah Green admitted, "It was really great music and just sounded like something I could possibly do." Gareth Liddiard, lead vocalist and guitarist of both the Drones and Tropical Fuck Storm, named Fugazi (amongst many others) as an influence on his guitar-playing, and praised the band's live performances. When asked to name some of his favorite records or discographies, Brian Cook of Botch (and later Russian Circles) included the band's entire discography amongst others. Gogol Bordello's Eugene Hutz called the band's debut EP "probably the best I ever heard. It's so together and everything sits in the right place." Jeff Rosenstock not only called the band a big influence on his music, but also on his strict DIY business practices & ethics. Sunny Day Real Estate cited the band as an influence for similar reasons.
In addition, the band was a formative influence on Tool bassist Justin Chancellor, Jack White, Daniel Johns of Silverchair, Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney, Sara Lund of Unwound, Iceage, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Dylan Baldi of Cloud Nothings, Arcade Fire lead singer Win Butler, Travis Morrison of The Dismemberment Plan, Efrim Menuck of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Alison Mosshart of The Kills, Brand New guitarist Jesse Lacey, Converge lead vocalist Jacob Bannon, Coalesce, Tad Kubler of The Hold Steady, Ben Lee, Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, Explosions in the Sky, Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, Trevor de Brauw of Pelican, Ted Leo, Matty Healy of The 1975, Mary Timony, Hayley Williams of Paramore, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park and Lorde.
Members
Current
Ian MacKaye – vocals, guitar (1986–2003)
Joe Lally – bass guitar, vocals (1986–2003)
Brendan Canty – drums (1987–2003)
Guy Picciotto – vocals, guitar (1988/1989–2003)
Former
Colin Sears – drums (1986)
Touring musicians
Jerry Busher – additional drums, trumpet (1998–2002)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Notes
References
External links
Fugazi's page at Dischord
Southern distribution page
[ Fugazi's page at Allmusic]
Rare recorded live Fugazi show, one of the last ever at Austin's Liberty Lunch venue in 1990.
Alternative rock groups from Washington, D.C.
American post-hardcore musical groups
Anti-corporate activism
American art rock groups
Dischord Records artists
Indie rock musical groups from Washington, D.C.
Musical groups established in 1987
Musical quartets
Punk rock groups from Washington, D.C.
American emo musical groups
Musical groups disestablished in 2003 | true | [
"Neeti Mohan is an Indian popular singer. She was one of the winners of the Channel V show Popstars and as such, became a member of the Indian pop group Aasma with the other winners of the show. She was also on the Star Plus show Music Ka Maha Muqqabla, where she was part of the winning team Shankar's Rockstars led by Shankar Mahadevan. She is a regular on A. R. Rahman live shows.\n\nHindi songs\n\n2009\n\n2010\n\n2012\n\n2013\n\n2014\n\n2015\n\n2016\n\n2017\n\n2018\n\n2019\n\n2020\n\n2021\n\n2022\n\nOther languages\n\nTamil songs\n\nTelugu songs\n\nBengali songs\n\nEnglish songs\n\nMarathi songs\n\nGujarati songs\n\nKannada songs\n\nPunjabi songs\n\nMalayalam songs\n\nReferences\n\n{{|date=jan 29 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}\nMohan, Neeti",
"\"The Earth is Dancing\" (in Slovene: \"Zemlja pleše\") is a 1962 pop song, music of which was written by Mojmir Sepe based on a lyrics by Slovene poet Gregor Strniša that was awarded at the first edition of the Slovenian song festival where it was sung by a notable singer Marijana Držaj. The song became an evergreen, a popular and enduring example of Slovenian popular music. It has been since then released in a number of re-mixes. It also inspired one of the first musical videospots made in 1980s in Slovenia, at the time part of Yugoslavia, where both the videospot and the song were also popular.\n\nThe 1980s remake and videospot\nIn 1986, the song was remade in synthpop style by a Slovenian teenage group Videosex and sung by singer Anja Rupel. The remake inspired Max Marijan Osole, one of the first videomakers in Slovenia, to make a musical videospot with a 1980s computer animated background.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nlyrics with translations\nVideospot of the 1980s remake with computer animated background\n\nSlovenian songs\n1962 songs"
]
|
[
"Fugazi",
"Repeater and Steady Diet of Nothing (1990-1992)",
"What was Repeater",
"songs they had been performing",
"where was one of the popular songs",
"Merchandise\" and \"Turnover\", for inclusion on their first official full-length studio album."
]
| C_f3934f2aa5f34a068e07920685725d0f_0 | did they win any awards | 3 | Did Fugazi win any awards during the 1990-1992 time frame?. | Fugazi | With Picciotto playing guitar full-time, Fugazi made the transition into jamming and writing new material as a band as opposed to performing songs composed solely by MacKaye. In addition to working on new material, songs they had been performing live were refined, such as "Merchandise" and "Turnover", for inclusion on their first official full-length studio album. Released on April 19, 1990, through Dischord Records, Repeater did not initially reach the Billboard 200 charts or become a commercial success. However, the band spent most of 1990 and 1991 touring heavily behind Repeater, performing a total of 250 concerts between March 1990 and June 1991, routinely selling out 1,000-plus capacity venues throughout the world. By summer 1991, the album sold more than 300,000 copies, a large number for a label that relied on minimal promotion. While major labels began to court Fugazi, the band decided to stay with Dischord and refused the offers of those labels. Repeater ultimately went on to sell more than 1 million copies in the U.S. alone, and more than 2 million worldwide. The album was critically well received and featured an alternative rock sound that pre-dated significant releases such as Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten, which would unexpectedly go on to break the genre into the mainstream. For Fugazi's second studio-album Steady Diet of Nothing, released in July 1991, the band once again asked Ted Niceley to produce. Niceley had become a chef and had to reluctantly turn down the job, so the band members decided to produce the record themselves. After the success of Repeater and its subsequent world tour, Steady Diet was highly anticipated, six months prior to its release Dischord had pre-orders in excess of 160,000 for the album. CANNOTANSWER | Repeater ultimately went on to sell more than 1 million copies in the U.S. alone, and more than 2 million worldwide. | Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C. in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their style-transcending music, DIY ethical stance, manner of business practice, and contempt for the music industry.
Fugazi has performed numerous worldwide tours and produced six studio albums, a film and a comprehensive live series, gaining the band critical acclaim and success around the world. Highly influential on punk and alternative music, the band has been on an indefinite hiatus since 2003.
History
Formation and early years (1986–1989)
After the hardcore punk group Minor Threat dissolved, MacKaye (vocals and guitar) was active with a few short-lived groups, most notably Embrace. He decided he wanted a project that was "like The Stooges with reggae", but was wary about forming another band after Embrace's breakup. MacKaye recalled, "My interests were not necessarily to be in a band, but to be with people who wanted to play music with me."
MacKaye recruited ex-Dag Nasty drummer Colin Sears and bass guitarist Lally, and the trio began practicing together in September 1986. After a few months of rehearsals, Sears returned to Dag Nasty and was replaced by Canty (earlier of Rites of Spring). One day, Picciotto, Canty's Rites of Spring bandmate, dropped by during a practice session to see how his friend was getting along; he later admitted he secretly harbored the idea of joining the group. But Picciotto was disappointed that there seemed to be no place for him.
After some uncertainty from Canty about what he wanted to do with his future, the trio regrouped and booked their first show at the Wilson Center in early September 1987. The group still needed a name, so MacKaye chose the word "fugazi" from Mark Baker's Nam, a compilation of stories of Vietnam War veterans, it there being a slang acronym for "Fucked Up, Got Ambushed, Zipped In [into a body bag]".
The band began inviting Picciotto to practices. Inspired by use of a foil in hip hop, Picciotto sang backup vocals. After his band Happy Go Licky broke up, he became more involved with Fugazi. MacKaye eventually asked Picciotto to become a full member, and he accepted.
Fugazi EP & Margin Walker – 13 Songs (1988–1989)
Fugazi embarked on its first tour in January 1988. In June 1988 the band recorded its debut EP Fugazi with producer Ted Niceley and producer/engineer Don Zientara (who became a longtime collaborator), and shortly afterward embarked on an arduous tour of Europe.
At the tour's conclusion in December, the band recorded songs for its intended debut album. But the band was spent from touring and found the resulting sessions were unsatisfactory. The track list was cut down to an EP and released as Margin Walker the next year. Both EPs were eventually combined into the 13 Songs release in late 1989. Upon the band's return from Europe, Picciotto, unsatisfied with singing, began playing guitar too.
Repeater and Steady Diet of Nothing (1990–1992)
With Picciotto playing guitar full-time, Fugazi made the transition into jamming and writing new material as a band as opposed to performing songs composed solely by MacKaye. In addition to working on new material, songs they had been performing live were refined, such as "Merchandise" and "Turnover", for inclusion on their first official full-length studio album.
Released on April 19, 1990, through Dischord Records, Repeater did not initially reach the Billboard 200 charts or become a commercial success. But the band spent most of 1990 and 1991 touring heavily behind Repeater, performing 250 concerts between March 1990 and June 1991, routinely selling out 1,000-plus capacity venues throughout the world. By summer 1991, the album sold more than 300,000 copies, a large number for a label that relied on minimal promotion. Major labels began to court Fugazi, but the band stayed with Dischord. It was critically well received and featured an alternative rock sound that predated significant releases such as Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten, which unexpectedly broke the genre into the mainstream.
For Fugazi's second studio album, Steady Diet of Nothing, released in July 1991, the band again asked Ted Niceley to produce. Niceley had become a chef and had to reluctantly turn down the job, so the band decided to produce the record itself. After the success of Repeater and its subsequent world tour, Steady Diet was highly anticipated. Six months before its release Dischord had more than 160,000 pre-orders for the album.
In on the Kill Taker and Red Medicine (1993–1996)
Fugazi recorded its third album, In on the Kill Taker, in the fall of 1992 with Steve Albini in Chicago, but the results were deemed unsatisfactory and the band rerecorded the album with Niceley and Don Zientara. With the breakthrough of alternative rock in the early 1990s, In on the Kill Taker; released on June 30, 1993, became the group's first record to enter the Billboard album charts, receiving critical praise from Spin, Time and Rolling Stone, and becoming the band's breakthrough album.
By the In on the Kill Taker tour, the group began to sell out large auditoriums and arenas and receive more lucrative major label offers. During its sold-out 3-night stint at New York City's Roseland Ballroom in September 1993, music mogul and Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun met with the band backstage in an attempt to sign them. Ertegun offered the band "anything you want", their own subsidiary label and more than $10 million just to sign with Atlantic. Fugazi declined. The organizers of Lollapalooza also attempted to recruit the band for a headlining slot on its 1993 tour, which the band considered but ultimately turned down.
Fugazi began writing the material for Red Medicine in late 1994, after touring in support of In on the Kill Taker. The band worked with Zientara but chose not to work with Niceley again. Fugazi opted to retreat from the in-your-face production values of In on the Kill Taker and instead worked to create an ambient sound that displayed greater range and depth. To achieve this, the band handled production duties itself, and in doing so, became more confident with in-studio experimentation. Red Medicine took Fugazi a step further toward art rock. The band began an extensive worldwide tour in support of the album, playing 172 shows between March 1995 and November 1996.
End Hits and The Argument (1997–2002)
After the grueling worldwide tour the band completed in support of Red Medicine, Fugazi took an extended break and also began writing material for a follow-up release. By March 1997 Fugazi had once again returned to Inner Ear Studios with Zientara to begin recording what became End Hits, with the intention of taking a more relaxed approach to recording and a longer amount of time to experiment with different songs and techniques in the studio. The group ultimately spent 7 months recording the album. Due to the title, rumors began circulating at the time that it was to be their last release. Released on April 28, 1998, the album was commercially successful and marked one of the band's highest debuts yet on the Billboard charts. Critical reaction to End Hits was mixed. Many critics praised its heavier tracks, while others questioned the inclusion of the group's longer, more experimental songs.
Fugazi began work on The Argument in 1999. This process saw the group taking more time than usual to write and demo material. Each member brought his own riffs and ideas to the band, jammed on them, and then began piecing the songs together into various configurations before deciding on the final versions. The album's recording sessions took place between January and April 2001 at Inner Ear Studios and Dischord House in Arlington, Virginia. The band once again worked with Zientara. During the recording process a considerable amount of time was spent finalizing each song's production, in particular the album's drum tracks, in an effort to give it a unique feel. Canty told Modern Drummer, "We recorded them all very differently in terms of the drum sounds. We used a lot of different cymbals, snares, and ways of miking."
The Argument was released by Dischord Records on October 16, 2001, along with the EP Furniture + 2. Arion Berger of Rolling Stone called the album "bracing" and "intellectual" and Chris True of AllMusic "spine-tingling and ear-shattering all at once", writing, "the band has raised the bar for themselves and others once again." He also wrote that the album had "touched on strange new territory". By this point Fugazi was on tour less, due in large part to other professional and personal commitments. It performed only 32 shows in 2001 and 2002.
Indefinite hiatus and reunion rumours (2003–present)
Fugazi went on what it has called an "indefinite hiatus" after the conclusion of its 2002 UK tour following three sold-out nights at the London Forum on November 2–4, 2002. The hiatus was brought on by the band members' insistence on spending more time with their families and pursuing other professional projects.
Since Fugazi went on hiatus in 2003, rumors began circulating about a reunion, with some insinuating that the band may get back together to headline the Coachella Festival. While the band has confirmed that it has been offered large sums of money to reunite and headline festivals, such as Coachella, it has so far declined the offers.
In March 2011, MacKaye reiterated that Fugazi has "been offered insane amounts of money to play reunions, but it's not going to be money that brings us back together, we would only play music together if we wanted to play music together and time allowed it".
In November 2011, when asked by The A.V. Club about the possibility of a reunion and a follow up to 2001's The Argument, Lally said, "The Argument was a great record that we should try and top. It'll take some time to come together and everything. To do that, we'd have to, the way the four of us are, we would take quite some time, I think, reassociating ourselves musically, and then just letting it come about naturally, because it would have to be a natural thing. So we'll just see."
In August 2014, Dischord announced an official release for First Demo, an album featuring 11 demo songs recorded in January 1988. The announcement included a preview of the demo for the Fugazi track "Merchandise". The album was released on November 18, 2014.
MacKaye insisted in a 2017 interview that Fugazi is not, in fact, broken up. While he admits any future public performance will have to contend with various confounding factors, the members have occasionally played music together, privately, since their 2003 hiatus. On March 21, 2018, in an interview on Vish Khanna's Kreative Kontrol podcast, Lally confirmed the band's irregular practice of casual get-togethers. He stated: "Yeah, when we're all in D.C., we totally hang out together and talk and spend a lot of time laughing. We have a great time together, go out to dinner, and we'll play some music together." Lally also stated that additional public performances or tours were unlikely: "There's so much to try to look after to allow Fugazi to do anything, that we do not have the time to give it the respect that it deserves. So unfortunately, it is where it is."
On February 13, 2019, Louder Sound asked Lally and Canty about the possibility of Fugazi returning, Lally responded "You never want to say never about anything, because how can you say that about the future? But there does seem to be a lack of time to allow it to happen, because the four of us would have to spend a lot of time together to figure out, 'Should we play old songs?' 'Who are we now?' 'What is it now?' We are not the kind of band to get together and just rehearse two hours of old songs to go out and play it, rake in the dough and come home." Canty added, "If we got back together it would have to be from the spirit of creativity. It would be different if we got back together."
Side projects and related work
In the hiatus, the members undertook side projects, with MacKaye forming the duo The Evens with drummer and singer Amy Farina (formerly of the Warmers).
In 2004, MacKaye produced the DC EP for Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, which also featured Jerry Busher.
Canty has been doing a variety of soundtrack scores and playing bass in the trio Garland Of Hours alongside frequent Fugazi guest contributors Jerry Busher and Amy Domingues, and has played bass live with Mary Timony. Canty also appears on Bob Mould's 2005 album Body of Song and on Mould's 2008 album District Line, and has toured with Mould, appearing in the live DVD Circle of Friends. He is currently working in the Burn to Shine DVD series which is being released by Trixie DVD. Now, he is playing in Deathfix alongside Devin Ocampo (Medications, Faraquet, Smart Went Crazy, Beauty Pill), Rich Morel (Bob Mould, Blow Off) and Mark Cisneros (Medications, The Make-Up). They will release their album in February 2013 on Dischord Records.
Lally has released three solo albums, There to Here (2006), Nothing Is Underrated (2007), and Why Should I Get Used To It (2011). He has also appeared on fellow DC post-punkers Decahedron's debut album Disconnection_Imminent, as well as on a project with Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarists John Frusciante and Josh Klinghoffer, known as Ataxia. The group has recorded two albums, Automatic Writing (2004) and AW II (2007).
Picciotto currently works as a record producer most notably with Blonde Redhead and The Blood Brothers, and he has performed alongside members of The Ex at the Jazz festival in Wels, Austria. Picciotto also contributed guitar on two Vic Chesnutt albums, 2007's "North Star Deserter and 2009's At the Cut (co-producing the latter), for Constellation Records and performed live with Chesnutt and members of Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra and The Quavers in Jem Cohen's program entitled, "Evening's Civil Twilight in Empires of Tin at the Vienna International Film Festival (Viennale) in 2007 (a DVD of the program was released in 2009). Picciotto played guitar on Chesnutt's Fall/Winter 2009 North American Tour. He has a daughter with musician Kathi Wilcox from the band Bikini Kill and The Frumpies.
In July 2011, Minneapolis based record label Doomtree released an album of mash-ups between Fugazi and east coast veteran rap crew the Wu-Tang Clan. The album is titled 13 Chambers, group name Wugazi. However, Fugazi itself did not have any involvement with the release. Bassist Joe Lally was asked about his thoughts on the Wugazi release, and stated "I think they could've found better Fugazi pieces to sample with Wu-Tang guys rapping on it. I mean, it's enjoyable, and I do appreciate it for the fact that somebody enjoys our music enough to bring it into that. But, you know, I don't know. I guess I should shut up, because I suppose I'm about to run into these people at the Fun Fun Fun Fest festival and talk to them. But I'm afraid that is my opinion on it. It's like, get better samples of our stuff, do better work."
In October 2012, Chris Lawhorn released Fugazi Edits. The album includes 22 instrumental tracks, which sample 100 songs from Fugazi's discography. As in other cases, the band had no involvement in the production. But, the album was authorized for release by MacKaye, with the proceeds going to charity.
In 2016, Canty and Lally joined with guitarist Anthony Pirog to form the Messthetics, Canty and Lally's first project together since Fugazi's hiatus.
In March 2018, the Messthetics released their self-titled debut album and embarked upon a tour of the US and Japan. The band toured further and released a second album entitled Anthropocosmic Nest in 2019.
In 2018, Ian MacKaye, Amy Farina and Joe Lally debuted a new band. In February 2020, it was announced that the band, now called Coriky, would release their first album on March 27, 2020. The debut single, "Clean Kill", was released on February 11, 2020. The band previewed their album at a free show in D.C.'s St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church on February 22, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the release of Coriky was delayed to June 12, 2020, in part to accommodate independent record stores closed due to the pandemic. Upon release the record was favorable reviewed in a few publications; often drawing comparisons and contrasts with MacKaye and Farina's other band The Evens, as well as Fugazi.
Live performances
Between 1987 and 2003, Fugazi played over 1000 concerts in all 50 US states and all over the world. Over 800 of these shows were recorded by the band's sound engineers. Beginning in 2004 and continuing into 2005, Fugazi launched a 30 CD Live Series that featured concerts from various points in their career, which were made available for sale via Dischord Records. Continuing with the live series concept and after several years of development on December 1, 2011, Fugazi launched a comprehensive Live Series website through Dischord Records that features 750 recordings available for download at the suggested price of $5 each or a "pay what you want" sliding scale option for each download between $1–100 with the goal of eventually making all 800 of the shows that have been recorded available for purchase. For $500 fans can also purchase an "All Access" privilege which will include access to any future concerts and downloads added to the site.
While each concert was professionally mastered, the recordings capture everything that happened onstage and for preservation's sake the band chose not to edit anything out, singer/guitarist Guy Picciotto explained to the New York Times, "We liked this idea of, 'Let's just let it be everything,' ... There doesn't have to be the idea that this is the great, golden document. It's all there, and it's not cleaned up. You get what you get." The sound quality also varies as the earliest recordings were made to cassettes, then eventually digital formats such as DAT, CD-R and ultimately hard-drives were used. Each concert page also includes flyers, photographs and ticket stubs. As a career-spanning archival project, the Fugazi Live Series has few equals, putting the band in the company of acts like the Grateful Dead, Phish and Pearl Jam, three notable examples of other artists with such a large volume of concerts available for purchase.
Musical style
Fugazi's style has been described as post-hardcore, art punk, alternative rock, and experimental rock. Fugazi's music was an intentional departure from that of the hardcore punk bands the members had played in previously. Fugazi combined punk with funk and reggae beats, irregular stop-start song structures, and heavy riffs inspired by popular rock bands such as Led Zeppelin and Queen, bands that the punk community of the time largely disdained.
Picciotto became the group's second guitarist when he realized MacKaye's typically chunky, low-end riffs and Lally's dub-influenced basslines allowed him to focus on high-pitched parts. In both vocal and guitar roles, Picciotto assumed the role of a foil to MacKaye; employing a Rickenbacker guitar for its scratchy single-coil sound in order to "cut through MacKaye's chunky chording like a laser beam." Picciotto's assumption of guitar duties allowed all four members of the band to jam together and write songs that way, where previously they had played songs largely as MacKaye had arranged them. When writing songs, the band often rearranges them with different structures and different singers. Spin has listed MacKaye and Picciotto together at No. 86 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time for their unique and interlocking guitar style in Fugazi.
Generally, MacKaye's lyrics and singing are more direct and anthemic (MacKaye admits that he loves audience sing-alongs and writes songs with shout-able slogans), while Picciotto usually favors a more abstract, oblique approach. Lally has contributed vocals to a few songs as well, in which he sings in a more relaxed, quiet style as opposed to MacKaye and Picciotto, whose lyrics and vocals often feature strong emotional intensity. Later, Fugazi more fully integrated elements of punk rock, hardcore, soul and noise with an inventively syncopated rhythm section. Notable is MacKaye and Picciotto's inventive, interlocking guitar playing, which often defies the traditional notion of "lead" and "rhythm" guitars. They often feature unusual and dissonant chords and progressions filtered through a hardcore punk lens.
Each of Fugazi's albums since Repeater have featured an instrumental. By the time of 1995's Red Medicine bassist Joe Lally also began contributing vocals to the band and the group was implementing many of their broader influences into the overall sound. Critics Ian McCaleb and Ira Robbins declared that Fugazi's music combined an "unprecedented dynamic range ... and previously unimagined elements" such as "clattering musique concrète ... piano and sound effects ... murky dub and lancing clarinet" and "loose-limbed jammy funk ... into an ambitious, experimental format that raises more stylistic questions than it answers."
Influences
When questioned by Guitar World in 2002 about the band's influences, singer/guitarist Ian MacKaye responded, "Too many to mention. And not just from the last few years. Some of them predate us by decades, and most of them wouldn't be punk. I would hope any musician would be inspired by a lot of different kinds of music." In a 2004 interview with Indonesian magazine Deathrockstar, Picciotto named "D.C. groups" such as Bad Brains ("who inspired all of us so much at the beginning"), the Faith and Void as influences, in addition to Minutemen, Black Flag, Sonic Youth, the Ex and the Beatles, the latter of which all the members "share[d] a major love for". Despite this, he similarly conceded that "[i]ts [sic] impossible to narrow it down to one band or record because we didn't just crib from one blueprint, we were grabbing ideas from all over the place and then filtering them through our own limited and personally shaped skills."
Business practices
On their first tours, Fugazi worked out its DIY ethic by trial and error. Their decisions were partly motivated by pragmatic considerations that were essentially a punk rock version of simple living: for example, selling merchandise on tour would require a full-time merchandise salesperson who would require lodging, food, and other costs, so Fugazi decided to simplify their touring by not selling merchandise. The band was also motivated by moral or ethical considerations: for example, Fugazi's members regarded pricey admission for rock concerts as tantamount to price gouging a performer's most loyal fans. Fugazi's inexpensive target goal of $5 admission was spawned during a conversation on an early tour when the band's members were debating the lowest profitable admission price. Everett True has said that MacKaye and Fugazi "had a mind-set that believed that any involvement with the system was corrupting and that you should create completely alternative structures outside".
In later years, Fugazi was unable to negotiate ticket prices below about $10–$15 total. However, it never saw the $5 rule as inviolable, instead aiming to charge a price that was both affordable and profitable. Unlike some similar, independent rock contemporaries, Fugazi's performances and tours were always profitable, due to the group's popularity, low business overhead costs, and MacKaye's keen sense of audience response in given regions. Many times the band performed sold-out shows multiple consecutive nights at the same venue.
Fugazi's early tours earned it a strong word-of-mouth reputation, both for its powerful performances, and also for the band's eagerness to play in unusual venues. The group sought out alternatives to traditional rock clubs partly to relieve the boredom of touring, but also hoping to show fans that there are other options to traditional ways of doing things. As Picciotto said, "You find the Elks Lodge, you find the guy who's got a space in the back of his pizzeria, you find the guy who has a gallery. Kids will do that stuff because they want to make stuff happen."
The group (MacKaye in particular) also made a point of discouraging violent, unwanted slam dancing and fistfights, which it saw as relics of the late 1970s/early 1980s hardcore punk era. Michael Azerrad quotes Mackaye, "See, [slam dancers] have one form of communication: violence ... So to disorient them, you don't give them violence. I'd say, 'Excuse me, sir ...'- I mean, it freaks them out – 'Excuse me, sir, would you please cut that crap out?'" Azerrad writes, "[MacKaye's] admonitions seemed preachy to some. And by and large, people would obey – it wasn't cool to disrespect Ian MacKaye." Occasionally, Fugazi would have an unrepentant slam-dancer escorted from the concert, and give them an envelope containing a $5 refund (the group kept a stock of such envelopes in their tour van for these occasions).
During the summer of 1990 MacKaye formed the corporation Lunar Atrocities Ltd. in order to shield his own and his bandmates' personal assets from the threat of lawsuits. As MacKaye's financial advisor, Seth Martin, explained to the Washington Post in a 1993 interview: "protection from liability is the main reason to form a corporation, and for these guys it makes sense. If someone got hurt stage-diving and decided to sue, it would be harder to go after their personal assets."
Influence and legacy
Fugazi's music and ethics have been immensely influential on punk and alternative music throughout the years, and has earned the band praise from many notable musicians as well. Sublime "thanked" the band by namedropping them on their debut album. At the Drive-In called the band an influence on their own music, as did other notable post-hardcore bands such as Refused, Quicksand, Drive Like Jehu, Mclusky, and Cursive. John Frusciante named them an influence on Red Hot Chili Peppers' Californication and on his solo album The Will to Death. Nirvana cited the band as an influence, and Kurt Cobain - who was friends with the members of Fugazi - was even spotted in a popular photo of the band with the word "Fugazi" misspelt on both shoes. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam remarked that witnessing the band live "was a life-changing experience" for him. Reportedly a huge fan, Elliott Smith was "super-obsessed" with the band and later admitted that his former band Heatmiser was "trying to be Fugazi". The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr offered the band praise, and called MacKaye one of his favorite guitarists. Towards the end of his life, Joe Strummer, lead vocalist of The Clash, recognized Fugazi as the band that best exemplified "the spirit of punk" in a 2000 Rolling Stone interview, besides offering them accolades on several other occasions. In 1993, Joey Ramone of The Ramones picked the band as a favorite, labeling them a "great social conscience".
Graham Coxon of Blur recalls his introduction to bands such as Fugazi (and the Picciotto-led Rites of Spring) in the mid 90s as being one of the most musically significant moments of his life: "They used the guitar in an incredible way; making quite restrained noisy music, which I'd never heard English bands doing." Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World named both MacKaye and Picciotto as an influence on his guitar playing as they made him "more open to the ideas behind guitar playing, as opposed to the technical difficulty of it.". Daniel Kessler of Interpol was also influenced by the band in his guitar-playing, as was Ben Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan and Colin Frangicetto of Circa Survive. Tim Commerford of Rage Against the Machine found the band's music on Repeater revelatory, as did Steve Holmes of American Football. Tom DeLonge of Blink-182 called the band a big influence as they "stood for something and never varied from that path." "Fugazi was probably my biggest influence as far as wanting to start a band", Modest Mouse founding member Jeremiah Green admitted, "It was really great music and just sounded like something I could possibly do." Gareth Liddiard, lead vocalist and guitarist of both the Drones and Tropical Fuck Storm, named Fugazi (amongst many others) as an influence on his guitar-playing, and praised the band's live performances. When asked to name some of his favorite records or discographies, Brian Cook of Botch (and later Russian Circles) included the band's entire discography amongst others. Gogol Bordello's Eugene Hutz called the band's debut EP "probably the best I ever heard. It's so together and everything sits in the right place." Jeff Rosenstock not only called the band a big influence on his music, but also on his strict DIY business practices & ethics. Sunny Day Real Estate cited the band as an influence for similar reasons.
In addition, the band was a formative influence on Tool bassist Justin Chancellor, Jack White, Daniel Johns of Silverchair, Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney, Sara Lund of Unwound, Iceage, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Dylan Baldi of Cloud Nothings, Arcade Fire lead singer Win Butler, Travis Morrison of The Dismemberment Plan, Efrim Menuck of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Alison Mosshart of The Kills, Brand New guitarist Jesse Lacey, Converge lead vocalist Jacob Bannon, Coalesce, Tad Kubler of The Hold Steady, Ben Lee, Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, Explosions in the Sky, Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, Trevor de Brauw of Pelican, Ted Leo, Matty Healy of The 1975, Mary Timony, Hayley Williams of Paramore, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park and Lorde.
Members
Current
Ian MacKaye – vocals, guitar (1986–2003)
Joe Lally – bass guitar, vocals (1986–2003)
Brendan Canty – drums (1987–2003)
Guy Picciotto – vocals, guitar (1988/1989–2003)
Former
Colin Sears – drums (1986)
Touring musicians
Jerry Busher – additional drums, trumpet (1998–2002)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Notes
References
External links
Fugazi's page at Dischord
Southern distribution page
[ Fugazi's page at Allmusic]
Rare recorded live Fugazi show, one of the last ever at Austin's Liberty Lunch venue in 1990.
Alternative rock groups from Washington, D.C.
American post-hardcore musical groups
Anti-corporate activism
American art rock groups
Dischord Records artists
Indie rock musical groups from Washington, D.C.
Musical groups established in 1987
Musical quartets
Punk rock groups from Washington, D.C.
American emo musical groups
Musical groups disestablished in 2003 | false | [
"Le Cousin is a 1997 French film directed by Alain Corneau.\n\nPlot \nThe film deals with the relationship of the police and an informant in the drug scene.\n\nAwards and nominations\nLe Cousin was nominated for 5 César Awards but did not win in any category.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1997 films\n1997 crime films\nFilms about drugs\nFilms directed by Alain Corneau\nFrench crime films\nFrench films\nFrench-language films",
"The African National Congress was a political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party first contested national elections in 1961, when it received just 0.5% of the vote and failed to win a seat. They did not put forward any candidates for the 1966 elections, but returned for the 1971 elections, in which they received 2.4% of the vote, but again failed to win a seat as the People's National Movement won all 36. The party did not contest any further elections.\n\nReferences\n\nDefunct political parties in Trinidad and Tobago"
]
|
[
"Fugazi",
"Repeater and Steady Diet of Nothing (1990-1992)",
"What was Repeater",
"songs they had been performing",
"where was one of the popular songs",
"Merchandise\" and \"Turnover\", for inclusion on their first official full-length studio album.",
"did they win any awards",
"Repeater ultimately went on to sell more than 1 million copies in the U.S. alone, and more than 2 million worldwide."
]
| C_f3934f2aa5f34a068e07920685725d0f_0 | How did Steady diet of nothing do | 4 | How did Fugazi's Steady diet of nothing do between 1990 and 1992? | Fugazi | With Picciotto playing guitar full-time, Fugazi made the transition into jamming and writing new material as a band as opposed to performing songs composed solely by MacKaye. In addition to working on new material, songs they had been performing live were refined, such as "Merchandise" and "Turnover", for inclusion on their first official full-length studio album. Released on April 19, 1990, through Dischord Records, Repeater did not initially reach the Billboard 200 charts or become a commercial success. However, the band spent most of 1990 and 1991 touring heavily behind Repeater, performing a total of 250 concerts between March 1990 and June 1991, routinely selling out 1,000-plus capacity venues throughout the world. By summer 1991, the album sold more than 300,000 copies, a large number for a label that relied on minimal promotion. While major labels began to court Fugazi, the band decided to stay with Dischord and refused the offers of those labels. Repeater ultimately went on to sell more than 1 million copies in the U.S. alone, and more than 2 million worldwide. The album was critically well received and featured an alternative rock sound that pre-dated significant releases such as Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten, which would unexpectedly go on to break the genre into the mainstream. For Fugazi's second studio-album Steady Diet of Nothing, released in July 1991, the band once again asked Ted Niceley to produce. Niceley had become a chef and had to reluctantly turn down the job, so the band members decided to produce the record themselves. After the success of Repeater and its subsequent world tour, Steady Diet was highly anticipated, six months prior to its release Dischord had pre-orders in excess of 160,000 for the album. CANNOTANSWER | Steady Diet was highly anticipated, six months prior to its release Dischord had pre-orders in excess of 160,000 for the album. | Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C. in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their style-transcending music, DIY ethical stance, manner of business practice, and contempt for the music industry.
Fugazi has performed numerous worldwide tours and produced six studio albums, a film and a comprehensive live series, gaining the band critical acclaim and success around the world. Highly influential on punk and alternative music, the band has been on an indefinite hiatus since 2003.
History
Formation and early years (1986–1989)
After the hardcore punk group Minor Threat dissolved, MacKaye (vocals and guitar) was active with a few short-lived groups, most notably Embrace. He decided he wanted a project that was "like The Stooges with reggae", but was wary about forming another band after Embrace's breakup. MacKaye recalled, "My interests were not necessarily to be in a band, but to be with people who wanted to play music with me."
MacKaye recruited ex-Dag Nasty drummer Colin Sears and bass guitarist Lally, and the trio began practicing together in September 1986. After a few months of rehearsals, Sears returned to Dag Nasty and was replaced by Canty (earlier of Rites of Spring). One day, Picciotto, Canty's Rites of Spring bandmate, dropped by during a practice session to see how his friend was getting along; he later admitted he secretly harbored the idea of joining the group. But Picciotto was disappointed that there seemed to be no place for him.
After some uncertainty from Canty about what he wanted to do with his future, the trio regrouped and booked their first show at the Wilson Center in early September 1987. The group still needed a name, so MacKaye chose the word "fugazi" from Mark Baker's Nam, a compilation of stories of Vietnam War veterans, it there being a slang acronym for "Fucked Up, Got Ambushed, Zipped In [into a body bag]".
The band began inviting Picciotto to practices. Inspired by use of a foil in hip hop, Picciotto sang backup vocals. After his band Happy Go Licky broke up, he became more involved with Fugazi. MacKaye eventually asked Picciotto to become a full member, and he accepted.
Fugazi EP & Margin Walker – 13 Songs (1988–1989)
Fugazi embarked on its first tour in January 1988. In June 1988 the band recorded its debut EP Fugazi with producer Ted Niceley and producer/engineer Don Zientara (who became a longtime collaborator), and shortly afterward embarked on an arduous tour of Europe.
At the tour's conclusion in December, the band recorded songs for its intended debut album. But the band was spent from touring and found the resulting sessions were unsatisfactory. The track list was cut down to an EP and released as Margin Walker the next year. Both EPs were eventually combined into the 13 Songs release in late 1989. Upon the band's return from Europe, Picciotto, unsatisfied with singing, began playing guitar too.
Repeater and Steady Diet of Nothing (1990–1992)
With Picciotto playing guitar full-time, Fugazi made the transition into jamming and writing new material as a band as opposed to performing songs composed solely by MacKaye. In addition to working on new material, songs they had been performing live were refined, such as "Merchandise" and "Turnover", for inclusion on their first official full-length studio album.
Released on April 19, 1990, through Dischord Records, Repeater did not initially reach the Billboard 200 charts or become a commercial success. But the band spent most of 1990 and 1991 touring heavily behind Repeater, performing 250 concerts between March 1990 and June 1991, routinely selling out 1,000-plus capacity venues throughout the world. By summer 1991, the album sold more than 300,000 copies, a large number for a label that relied on minimal promotion. Major labels began to court Fugazi, but the band stayed with Dischord. It was critically well received and featured an alternative rock sound that predated significant releases such as Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten, which unexpectedly broke the genre into the mainstream.
For Fugazi's second studio album, Steady Diet of Nothing, released in July 1991, the band again asked Ted Niceley to produce. Niceley had become a chef and had to reluctantly turn down the job, so the band decided to produce the record itself. After the success of Repeater and its subsequent world tour, Steady Diet was highly anticipated. Six months before its release Dischord had more than 160,000 pre-orders for the album.
In on the Kill Taker and Red Medicine (1993–1996)
Fugazi recorded its third album, In on the Kill Taker, in the fall of 1992 with Steve Albini in Chicago, but the results were deemed unsatisfactory and the band rerecorded the album with Niceley and Don Zientara. With the breakthrough of alternative rock in the early 1990s, In on the Kill Taker; released on June 30, 1993, became the group's first record to enter the Billboard album charts, receiving critical praise from Spin, Time and Rolling Stone, and becoming the band's breakthrough album.
By the In on the Kill Taker tour, the group began to sell out large auditoriums and arenas and receive more lucrative major label offers. During its sold-out 3-night stint at New York City's Roseland Ballroom in September 1993, music mogul and Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun met with the band backstage in an attempt to sign them. Ertegun offered the band "anything you want", their own subsidiary label and more than $10 million just to sign with Atlantic. Fugazi declined. The organizers of Lollapalooza also attempted to recruit the band for a headlining slot on its 1993 tour, which the band considered but ultimately turned down.
Fugazi began writing the material for Red Medicine in late 1994, after touring in support of In on the Kill Taker. The band worked with Zientara but chose not to work with Niceley again. Fugazi opted to retreat from the in-your-face production values of In on the Kill Taker and instead worked to create an ambient sound that displayed greater range and depth. To achieve this, the band handled production duties itself, and in doing so, became more confident with in-studio experimentation. Red Medicine took Fugazi a step further toward art rock. The band began an extensive worldwide tour in support of the album, playing 172 shows between March 1995 and November 1996.
End Hits and The Argument (1997–2002)
After the grueling worldwide tour the band completed in support of Red Medicine, Fugazi took an extended break and also began writing material for a follow-up release. By March 1997 Fugazi had once again returned to Inner Ear Studios with Zientara to begin recording what became End Hits, with the intention of taking a more relaxed approach to recording and a longer amount of time to experiment with different songs and techniques in the studio. The group ultimately spent 7 months recording the album. Due to the title, rumors began circulating at the time that it was to be their last release. Released on April 28, 1998, the album was commercially successful and marked one of the band's highest debuts yet on the Billboard charts. Critical reaction to End Hits was mixed. Many critics praised its heavier tracks, while others questioned the inclusion of the group's longer, more experimental songs.
Fugazi began work on The Argument in 1999. This process saw the group taking more time than usual to write and demo material. Each member brought his own riffs and ideas to the band, jammed on them, and then began piecing the songs together into various configurations before deciding on the final versions. The album's recording sessions took place between January and April 2001 at Inner Ear Studios and Dischord House in Arlington, Virginia. The band once again worked with Zientara. During the recording process a considerable amount of time was spent finalizing each song's production, in particular the album's drum tracks, in an effort to give it a unique feel. Canty told Modern Drummer, "We recorded them all very differently in terms of the drum sounds. We used a lot of different cymbals, snares, and ways of miking."
The Argument was released by Dischord Records on October 16, 2001, along with the EP Furniture + 2. Arion Berger of Rolling Stone called the album "bracing" and "intellectual" and Chris True of AllMusic "spine-tingling and ear-shattering all at once", writing, "the band has raised the bar for themselves and others once again." He also wrote that the album had "touched on strange new territory". By this point Fugazi was on tour less, due in large part to other professional and personal commitments. It performed only 32 shows in 2001 and 2002.
Indefinite hiatus and reunion rumours (2003–present)
Fugazi went on what it has called an "indefinite hiatus" after the conclusion of its 2002 UK tour following three sold-out nights at the London Forum on November 2–4, 2002. The hiatus was brought on by the band members' insistence on spending more time with their families and pursuing other professional projects.
Since Fugazi went on hiatus in 2003, rumors began circulating about a reunion, with some insinuating that the band may get back together to headline the Coachella Festival. While the band has confirmed that it has been offered large sums of money to reunite and headline festivals, such as Coachella, it has so far declined the offers.
In March 2011, MacKaye reiterated that Fugazi has "been offered insane amounts of money to play reunions, but it's not going to be money that brings us back together, we would only play music together if we wanted to play music together and time allowed it".
In November 2011, when asked by The A.V. Club about the possibility of a reunion and a follow up to 2001's The Argument, Lally said, "The Argument was a great record that we should try and top. It'll take some time to come together and everything. To do that, we'd have to, the way the four of us are, we would take quite some time, I think, reassociating ourselves musically, and then just letting it come about naturally, because it would have to be a natural thing. So we'll just see."
In August 2014, Dischord announced an official release for First Demo, an album featuring 11 demo songs recorded in January 1988. The announcement included a preview of the demo for the Fugazi track "Merchandise". The album was released on November 18, 2014.
MacKaye insisted in a 2017 interview that Fugazi is not, in fact, broken up. While he admits any future public performance will have to contend with various confounding factors, the members have occasionally played music together, privately, since their 2003 hiatus. On March 21, 2018, in an interview on Vish Khanna's Kreative Kontrol podcast, Lally confirmed the band's irregular practice of casual get-togethers. He stated: "Yeah, when we're all in D.C., we totally hang out together and talk and spend a lot of time laughing. We have a great time together, go out to dinner, and we'll play some music together." Lally also stated that additional public performances or tours were unlikely: "There's so much to try to look after to allow Fugazi to do anything, that we do not have the time to give it the respect that it deserves. So unfortunately, it is where it is."
On February 13, 2019, Louder Sound asked Lally and Canty about the possibility of Fugazi returning, Lally responded "You never want to say never about anything, because how can you say that about the future? But there does seem to be a lack of time to allow it to happen, because the four of us would have to spend a lot of time together to figure out, 'Should we play old songs?' 'Who are we now?' 'What is it now?' We are not the kind of band to get together and just rehearse two hours of old songs to go out and play it, rake in the dough and come home." Canty added, "If we got back together it would have to be from the spirit of creativity. It would be different if we got back together."
Side projects and related work
In the hiatus, the members undertook side projects, with MacKaye forming the duo The Evens with drummer and singer Amy Farina (formerly of the Warmers).
In 2004, MacKaye produced the DC EP for Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, which also featured Jerry Busher.
Canty has been doing a variety of soundtrack scores and playing bass in the trio Garland Of Hours alongside frequent Fugazi guest contributors Jerry Busher and Amy Domingues, and has played bass live with Mary Timony. Canty also appears on Bob Mould's 2005 album Body of Song and on Mould's 2008 album District Line, and has toured with Mould, appearing in the live DVD Circle of Friends. He is currently working in the Burn to Shine DVD series which is being released by Trixie DVD. Now, he is playing in Deathfix alongside Devin Ocampo (Medications, Faraquet, Smart Went Crazy, Beauty Pill), Rich Morel (Bob Mould, Blow Off) and Mark Cisneros (Medications, The Make-Up). They will release their album in February 2013 on Dischord Records.
Lally has released three solo albums, There to Here (2006), Nothing Is Underrated (2007), and Why Should I Get Used To It (2011). He has also appeared on fellow DC post-punkers Decahedron's debut album Disconnection_Imminent, as well as on a project with Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarists John Frusciante and Josh Klinghoffer, known as Ataxia. The group has recorded two albums, Automatic Writing (2004) and AW II (2007).
Picciotto currently works as a record producer most notably with Blonde Redhead and The Blood Brothers, and he has performed alongside members of The Ex at the Jazz festival in Wels, Austria. Picciotto also contributed guitar on two Vic Chesnutt albums, 2007's "North Star Deserter and 2009's At the Cut (co-producing the latter), for Constellation Records and performed live with Chesnutt and members of Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra and The Quavers in Jem Cohen's program entitled, "Evening's Civil Twilight in Empires of Tin at the Vienna International Film Festival (Viennale) in 2007 (a DVD of the program was released in 2009). Picciotto played guitar on Chesnutt's Fall/Winter 2009 North American Tour. He has a daughter with musician Kathi Wilcox from the band Bikini Kill and The Frumpies.
In July 2011, Minneapolis based record label Doomtree released an album of mash-ups between Fugazi and east coast veteran rap crew the Wu-Tang Clan. The album is titled 13 Chambers, group name Wugazi. However, Fugazi itself did not have any involvement with the release. Bassist Joe Lally was asked about his thoughts on the Wugazi release, and stated "I think they could've found better Fugazi pieces to sample with Wu-Tang guys rapping on it. I mean, it's enjoyable, and I do appreciate it for the fact that somebody enjoys our music enough to bring it into that. But, you know, I don't know. I guess I should shut up, because I suppose I'm about to run into these people at the Fun Fun Fun Fest festival and talk to them. But I'm afraid that is my opinion on it. It's like, get better samples of our stuff, do better work."
In October 2012, Chris Lawhorn released Fugazi Edits. The album includes 22 instrumental tracks, which sample 100 songs from Fugazi's discography. As in other cases, the band had no involvement in the production. But, the album was authorized for release by MacKaye, with the proceeds going to charity.
In 2016, Canty and Lally joined with guitarist Anthony Pirog to form the Messthetics, Canty and Lally's first project together since Fugazi's hiatus.
In March 2018, the Messthetics released their self-titled debut album and embarked upon a tour of the US and Japan. The band toured further and released a second album entitled Anthropocosmic Nest in 2019.
In 2018, Ian MacKaye, Amy Farina and Joe Lally debuted a new band. In February 2020, it was announced that the band, now called Coriky, would release their first album on March 27, 2020. The debut single, "Clean Kill", was released on February 11, 2020. The band previewed their album at a free show in D.C.'s St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church on February 22, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the release of Coriky was delayed to June 12, 2020, in part to accommodate independent record stores closed due to the pandemic. Upon release the record was favorable reviewed in a few publications; often drawing comparisons and contrasts with MacKaye and Farina's other band The Evens, as well as Fugazi.
Live performances
Between 1987 and 2003, Fugazi played over 1000 concerts in all 50 US states and all over the world. Over 800 of these shows were recorded by the band's sound engineers. Beginning in 2004 and continuing into 2005, Fugazi launched a 30 CD Live Series that featured concerts from various points in their career, which were made available for sale via Dischord Records. Continuing with the live series concept and after several years of development on December 1, 2011, Fugazi launched a comprehensive Live Series website through Dischord Records that features 750 recordings available for download at the suggested price of $5 each or a "pay what you want" sliding scale option for each download between $1–100 with the goal of eventually making all 800 of the shows that have been recorded available for purchase. For $500 fans can also purchase an "All Access" privilege which will include access to any future concerts and downloads added to the site.
While each concert was professionally mastered, the recordings capture everything that happened onstage and for preservation's sake the band chose not to edit anything out, singer/guitarist Guy Picciotto explained to the New York Times, "We liked this idea of, 'Let's just let it be everything,' ... There doesn't have to be the idea that this is the great, golden document. It's all there, and it's not cleaned up. You get what you get." The sound quality also varies as the earliest recordings were made to cassettes, then eventually digital formats such as DAT, CD-R and ultimately hard-drives were used. Each concert page also includes flyers, photographs and ticket stubs. As a career-spanning archival project, the Fugazi Live Series has few equals, putting the band in the company of acts like the Grateful Dead, Phish and Pearl Jam, three notable examples of other artists with such a large volume of concerts available for purchase.
Musical style
Fugazi's style has been described as post-hardcore, art punk, alternative rock, and experimental rock. Fugazi's music was an intentional departure from that of the hardcore punk bands the members had played in previously. Fugazi combined punk with funk and reggae beats, irregular stop-start song structures, and heavy riffs inspired by popular rock bands such as Led Zeppelin and Queen, bands that the punk community of the time largely disdained.
Picciotto became the group's second guitarist when he realized MacKaye's typically chunky, low-end riffs and Lally's dub-influenced basslines allowed him to focus on high-pitched parts. In both vocal and guitar roles, Picciotto assumed the role of a foil to MacKaye; employing a Rickenbacker guitar for its scratchy single-coil sound in order to "cut through MacKaye's chunky chording like a laser beam." Picciotto's assumption of guitar duties allowed all four members of the band to jam together and write songs that way, where previously they had played songs largely as MacKaye had arranged them. When writing songs, the band often rearranges them with different structures and different singers. Spin has listed MacKaye and Picciotto together at No. 86 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time for their unique and interlocking guitar style in Fugazi.
Generally, MacKaye's lyrics and singing are more direct and anthemic (MacKaye admits that he loves audience sing-alongs and writes songs with shout-able slogans), while Picciotto usually favors a more abstract, oblique approach. Lally has contributed vocals to a few songs as well, in which he sings in a more relaxed, quiet style as opposed to MacKaye and Picciotto, whose lyrics and vocals often feature strong emotional intensity. Later, Fugazi more fully integrated elements of punk rock, hardcore, soul and noise with an inventively syncopated rhythm section. Notable is MacKaye and Picciotto's inventive, interlocking guitar playing, which often defies the traditional notion of "lead" and "rhythm" guitars. They often feature unusual and dissonant chords and progressions filtered through a hardcore punk lens.
Each of Fugazi's albums since Repeater have featured an instrumental. By the time of 1995's Red Medicine bassist Joe Lally also began contributing vocals to the band and the group was implementing many of their broader influences into the overall sound. Critics Ian McCaleb and Ira Robbins declared that Fugazi's music combined an "unprecedented dynamic range ... and previously unimagined elements" such as "clattering musique concrète ... piano and sound effects ... murky dub and lancing clarinet" and "loose-limbed jammy funk ... into an ambitious, experimental format that raises more stylistic questions than it answers."
Influences
When questioned by Guitar World in 2002 about the band's influences, singer/guitarist Ian MacKaye responded, "Too many to mention. And not just from the last few years. Some of them predate us by decades, and most of them wouldn't be punk. I would hope any musician would be inspired by a lot of different kinds of music." In a 2004 interview with Indonesian magazine Deathrockstar, Picciotto named "D.C. groups" such as Bad Brains ("who inspired all of us so much at the beginning"), the Faith and Void as influences, in addition to Minutemen, Black Flag, Sonic Youth, the Ex and the Beatles, the latter of which all the members "share[d] a major love for". Despite this, he similarly conceded that "[i]ts [sic] impossible to narrow it down to one band or record because we didn't just crib from one blueprint, we were grabbing ideas from all over the place and then filtering them through our own limited and personally shaped skills."
Business practices
On their first tours, Fugazi worked out its DIY ethic by trial and error. Their decisions were partly motivated by pragmatic considerations that were essentially a punk rock version of simple living: for example, selling merchandise on tour would require a full-time merchandise salesperson who would require lodging, food, and other costs, so Fugazi decided to simplify their touring by not selling merchandise. The band was also motivated by moral or ethical considerations: for example, Fugazi's members regarded pricey admission for rock concerts as tantamount to price gouging a performer's most loyal fans. Fugazi's inexpensive target goal of $5 admission was spawned during a conversation on an early tour when the band's members were debating the lowest profitable admission price. Everett True has said that MacKaye and Fugazi "had a mind-set that believed that any involvement with the system was corrupting and that you should create completely alternative structures outside".
In later years, Fugazi was unable to negotiate ticket prices below about $10–$15 total. However, it never saw the $5 rule as inviolable, instead aiming to charge a price that was both affordable and profitable. Unlike some similar, independent rock contemporaries, Fugazi's performances and tours were always profitable, due to the group's popularity, low business overhead costs, and MacKaye's keen sense of audience response in given regions. Many times the band performed sold-out shows multiple consecutive nights at the same venue.
Fugazi's early tours earned it a strong word-of-mouth reputation, both for its powerful performances, and also for the band's eagerness to play in unusual venues. The group sought out alternatives to traditional rock clubs partly to relieve the boredom of touring, but also hoping to show fans that there are other options to traditional ways of doing things. As Picciotto said, "You find the Elks Lodge, you find the guy who's got a space in the back of his pizzeria, you find the guy who has a gallery. Kids will do that stuff because they want to make stuff happen."
The group (MacKaye in particular) also made a point of discouraging violent, unwanted slam dancing and fistfights, which it saw as relics of the late 1970s/early 1980s hardcore punk era. Michael Azerrad quotes Mackaye, "See, [slam dancers] have one form of communication: violence ... So to disorient them, you don't give them violence. I'd say, 'Excuse me, sir ...'- I mean, it freaks them out – 'Excuse me, sir, would you please cut that crap out?'" Azerrad writes, "[MacKaye's] admonitions seemed preachy to some. And by and large, people would obey – it wasn't cool to disrespect Ian MacKaye." Occasionally, Fugazi would have an unrepentant slam-dancer escorted from the concert, and give them an envelope containing a $5 refund (the group kept a stock of such envelopes in their tour van for these occasions).
During the summer of 1990 MacKaye formed the corporation Lunar Atrocities Ltd. in order to shield his own and his bandmates' personal assets from the threat of lawsuits. As MacKaye's financial advisor, Seth Martin, explained to the Washington Post in a 1993 interview: "protection from liability is the main reason to form a corporation, and for these guys it makes sense. If someone got hurt stage-diving and decided to sue, it would be harder to go after their personal assets."
Influence and legacy
Fugazi's music and ethics have been immensely influential on punk and alternative music throughout the years, and has earned the band praise from many notable musicians as well. Sublime "thanked" the band by namedropping them on their debut album. At the Drive-In called the band an influence on their own music, as did other notable post-hardcore bands such as Refused, Quicksand, Drive Like Jehu, Mclusky, and Cursive. John Frusciante named them an influence on Red Hot Chili Peppers' Californication and on his solo album The Will to Death. Nirvana cited the band as an influence, and Kurt Cobain - who was friends with the members of Fugazi - was even spotted in a popular photo of the band with the word "Fugazi" misspelt on both shoes. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam remarked that witnessing the band live "was a life-changing experience" for him. Reportedly a huge fan, Elliott Smith was "super-obsessed" with the band and later admitted that his former band Heatmiser was "trying to be Fugazi". The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr offered the band praise, and called MacKaye one of his favorite guitarists. Towards the end of his life, Joe Strummer, lead vocalist of The Clash, recognized Fugazi as the band that best exemplified "the spirit of punk" in a 2000 Rolling Stone interview, besides offering them accolades on several other occasions. In 1993, Joey Ramone of The Ramones picked the band as a favorite, labeling them a "great social conscience".
Graham Coxon of Blur recalls his introduction to bands such as Fugazi (and the Picciotto-led Rites of Spring) in the mid 90s as being one of the most musically significant moments of his life: "They used the guitar in an incredible way; making quite restrained noisy music, which I'd never heard English bands doing." Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World named both MacKaye and Picciotto as an influence on his guitar playing as they made him "more open to the ideas behind guitar playing, as opposed to the technical difficulty of it.". Daniel Kessler of Interpol was also influenced by the band in his guitar-playing, as was Ben Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan and Colin Frangicetto of Circa Survive. Tim Commerford of Rage Against the Machine found the band's music on Repeater revelatory, as did Steve Holmes of American Football. Tom DeLonge of Blink-182 called the band a big influence as they "stood for something and never varied from that path." "Fugazi was probably my biggest influence as far as wanting to start a band", Modest Mouse founding member Jeremiah Green admitted, "It was really great music and just sounded like something I could possibly do." Gareth Liddiard, lead vocalist and guitarist of both the Drones and Tropical Fuck Storm, named Fugazi (amongst many others) as an influence on his guitar-playing, and praised the band's live performances. When asked to name some of his favorite records or discographies, Brian Cook of Botch (and later Russian Circles) included the band's entire discography amongst others. Gogol Bordello's Eugene Hutz called the band's debut EP "probably the best I ever heard. It's so together and everything sits in the right place." Jeff Rosenstock not only called the band a big influence on his music, but also on his strict DIY business practices & ethics. Sunny Day Real Estate cited the band as an influence for similar reasons.
In addition, the band was a formative influence on Tool bassist Justin Chancellor, Jack White, Daniel Johns of Silverchair, Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney, Sara Lund of Unwound, Iceage, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Dylan Baldi of Cloud Nothings, Arcade Fire lead singer Win Butler, Travis Morrison of The Dismemberment Plan, Efrim Menuck of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Alison Mosshart of The Kills, Brand New guitarist Jesse Lacey, Converge lead vocalist Jacob Bannon, Coalesce, Tad Kubler of The Hold Steady, Ben Lee, Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, Explosions in the Sky, Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, Trevor de Brauw of Pelican, Ted Leo, Matty Healy of The 1975, Mary Timony, Hayley Williams of Paramore, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park and Lorde.
Members
Current
Ian MacKaye – vocals, guitar (1986–2003)
Joe Lally – bass guitar, vocals (1986–2003)
Brendan Canty – drums (1987–2003)
Guy Picciotto – vocals, guitar (1988/1989–2003)
Former
Colin Sears – drums (1986)
Touring musicians
Jerry Busher – additional drums, trumpet (1998–2002)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Notes
References
External links
Fugazi's page at Dischord
Southern distribution page
[ Fugazi's page at Allmusic]
Rare recorded live Fugazi show, one of the last ever at Austin's Liberty Lunch venue in 1990.
Alternative rock groups from Washington, D.C.
American post-hardcore musical groups
Anti-corporate activism
American art rock groups
Dischord Records artists
Indie rock musical groups from Washington, D.C.
Musical groups established in 1987
Musical quartets
Punk rock groups from Washington, D.C.
American emo musical groups
Musical groups disestablished in 2003 | false | [
"Steady Diet of Nothing is the second studio album by American post-hardcore band Fugazi, released in July 1991 by Dischord Records. Although a persistent rumor alleges that the title is an allusion to a quote by the late American stand-up comedian Bill Hicks, the album title predates the Hicks quote by several years and was actually thought up by bassist Joe Lally.\n\nAlthough well received and popular at the time of its release, Steady Diet is often overlooked by many music journalists when writing about Fugazi's career, but remains a favorite among fans of the band.\n\nRecording\nSteady Diet of Nothing was recorded during January and February 1991 at Inner Ear Studios and is notable for being the group's first self-produced release. As a result of not having an outside producer besides engineer Don Zientara, the album's recording and mixing sessions were tough on the band. Guy Picciotto said of making the record, \"[it] was a tough record for us to make. It was our first attempt at producing and mixing by ourselves, and we didn’t feel like we had a really good handle, technically, on what we wanted to do. And we were also pretty fried from a shitload of back-to-back touring. I appreciate Steady Diet for a lot of things, but there was a flatness to both the performances and the sound that was weird to us.\" Singer/guitarist Ian MacKaye explained, \"It was like we were walking on eggshells, trying not to offend each other. No one would say, \"Turn your guitar down,\" or, \"Turn the drums down.\" So we ended up getting a democratic mix, and a lot of times democratic mixes equal bad mixes. And I feel Steady Diet is a classic example of us being very conservative, although a lot of people think it's our best record.\"\n\nMusic & lyrics\nThe lyrical content of Steady Diet is more overtly political than any other record Fugazi has released. This is most evident on \"Dear Justice Letter\" which was inspired by Supreme Court liberal stalwart William J. Brennan, who had recently retired. While obviously emotional, the language of the \"letter\" is more than a little obscure. Brennan's politics and defense of individual rights were largely quite in tune with Fugazi's so \"Dear...\", on one level, can be read as a rant against abandonment of duty to the liberal block of the Supreme Court. \"Here comes the kiss off..\"\n\nThe band addressed the subject of personal freedom on \"Reclamation\" and Ian also dedicated \"KYEO\" to Rodney King during the 'Steady Diet' tour.\n\nMusically the album is far more sparse than the band's other works, with the conservative, dry production serving to highlight the rhythm section of bassist Joe Lally and drummer Brendan Canty. \"Long Division\" and its melodic inter-weaving bass and guitar lines was the band's first foray into pop melodies, while \"Latin Roots\" recalled the band's earlier dub-influenced stylings, with Canty laying down a Stewart Copeland-influenced drum beat.\n\nRelease\n\nSix months before the release, Dischord had pre-orders of over 160,000 for the album.\n\nAccolades \nLost At Sea ranked it the 84th greatest album of the nineties.\n\nCovers \nSuuns and Buke and Gase covered the track \"Long Division\".\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel\nJoe Lally – bass\nIan MacKaye – guitar, vocals\nGuy Picciotto – guitar, vocals\nBrendan Canty – drums\n\nTechnical\nDon Zientara – engineer\nLucy Capehart – photography\nAdam Cohen – photography\nJohn Falls – photography\n\nReferences\n\nFugazi albums\n1991 albums\nDischord Records albums\nAlbums produced by Ian MacKaye",
"Robert Paul Smith (April 16, 1915 – January 30, 1977) was an American author, most famous for his classic evocation of childhood, Where Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing.\n\nBiography\nRobert Paul Smith was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Mount Vernon, NY, and graduated from Columbia College in 1936. He worked as a writer for CBS Radio and wrote four novels: So It Doesn't Whistle (1946) (1941, according to Avon Publishing Co., Inc., reprint edition ... Plus Blood in Their Veins copyright 1952); The Journey, (1943); Because of My Love (1946); The Time and the Place (1951).\n\nThe Tender Trap, a play by Smith and Dobie Gillis creator Max Shulman, opened in 1954 with Robert Preston in the leading role. It was later made into a movie starring Frank Sinatra and Debbie Reynolds. A classic example of the \"battle-of-the-sexes\" comedy, it revolves around the mutual envy of a bachelor living in New York City and a settled family man living in the New York suburbs.\n\nWhere Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing is a nostalgic evocation of the inner life of childhood. It advocates the value of privacy to children; the importance of unstructured time; the joys of boredom; and the virtues of freedom from adult supervision. He opens by saying \"The thing is, I don't understand what kids do with themselves any more.\" He contrasts the overstructured, overscheduled, oversupervised suburban life of the child in the suburban 1950's with reminiscences of his own childhood. He concludes \"I guess what I am saying is that people who don't have nightmares don't have dreams. If you will excuse me, I have an appointment with myself to sit on the front steps and watch some grass growing.\"\n\nTranslations from the English (1958) collects a series of articles originally published in Good Housekeeping magazine. The first, \"Translations from the Children,\" may be the earliest known example of the genre of humor that consists of a series of translations from what is said (e.g. \"I don't know why. He just hit me\") into what is meant (e.g. \"He hit his brother.\")\n\nHow to Do Nothing With Nobody All Alone By Yourself (1958) is a how-to book, illustrated by Robert Paul Smith's wife Elinor Goulding Smith. It gives step-by-step directions on how to: play mumbly-peg; build a spool tank; make polly-noses; construct an indoor boomerang, etc. It was republished in 2010 by Tin House Books.\n\nList of works\n\nEssays and humor\nWhere Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing (1957)\nTranslations from the English (1958) \nCrank: A Book of Lamentations, Exhortations, Mixed Memories and Desires, All Hard Or Chewy Centers, No Creams(1962)\nHow to Grow Up in One Piece (1963)\nGot to Stop Draggin’ that Little Red Wagon Around (1969)\nRobert Paul Smith’s Lost & Found (1973)\n\nFor children\nJack Mack, illus. Erik Blegvad (1960)\nWhen I Am Big, illus. Lillian Hoban (1965)\nNothingatall, Nothingatall, Nothingatall, illus. Allan E. Cober (1965)\nHow To Do Nothing With No One All Alone By Yourself, illus Elinor Goulding Smith (1958) Republished by Tin House Books (2010)\n\nNovels\nSo It Doesn't Whistle (1941) \nThe Journey (1943) \nBecause of My Love (1946) \nThe Time and the Place (1952)\nWhere He Went: Three Novels (1958)\n\nTheatre\nThe Tender Trap, by Max Shulman and Robert Paul Smith (first Broadway performance, 1954; Random House edition, 1955)\n\nVerse\nThe Man with the Gold-headed Cane (1943)\n…and Another Thing (1959)\n\nExternal links\n\n1915 births\n1977 deaths\n20th-century American novelists\nAmerican children's writers\nAmerican humorists\nAmerican instructional writers\nAmerican male novelists\n20th-century American dramatists and playwrights\nAmerican male dramatists and playwrights\n20th-century American male writers\n20th-century American non-fiction writers\nAmerican male non-fiction writers\nColumbia College (New York) alumni"
]
|
[
"Fugazi",
"Repeater and Steady Diet of Nothing (1990-1992)",
"What was Repeater",
"songs they had been performing",
"where was one of the popular songs",
"Merchandise\" and \"Turnover\", for inclusion on their first official full-length studio album.",
"did they win any awards",
"Repeater ultimately went on to sell more than 1 million copies in the U.S. alone, and more than 2 million worldwide.",
"How did Steady diet of nothing do",
"Steady Diet was highly anticipated, six months prior to its release Dischord had pre-orders in excess of 160,000 for the album."
]
| C_f3934f2aa5f34a068e07920685725d0f_0 | how many did they sell once it released | 5 | How many Steady Diet of Nothing albums did Fugazi sell once Steady Diet was released? | Fugazi | With Picciotto playing guitar full-time, Fugazi made the transition into jamming and writing new material as a band as opposed to performing songs composed solely by MacKaye. In addition to working on new material, songs they had been performing live were refined, such as "Merchandise" and "Turnover", for inclusion on their first official full-length studio album. Released on April 19, 1990, through Dischord Records, Repeater did not initially reach the Billboard 200 charts or become a commercial success. However, the band spent most of 1990 and 1991 touring heavily behind Repeater, performing a total of 250 concerts between March 1990 and June 1991, routinely selling out 1,000-plus capacity venues throughout the world. By summer 1991, the album sold more than 300,000 copies, a large number for a label that relied on minimal promotion. While major labels began to court Fugazi, the band decided to stay with Dischord and refused the offers of those labels. Repeater ultimately went on to sell more than 1 million copies in the U.S. alone, and more than 2 million worldwide. The album was critically well received and featured an alternative rock sound that pre-dated significant releases such as Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten, which would unexpectedly go on to break the genre into the mainstream. For Fugazi's second studio-album Steady Diet of Nothing, released in July 1991, the band once again asked Ted Niceley to produce. Niceley had become a chef and had to reluctantly turn down the job, so the band members decided to produce the record themselves. After the success of Repeater and its subsequent world tour, Steady Diet was highly anticipated, six months prior to its release Dischord had pre-orders in excess of 160,000 for the album. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C. in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their style-transcending music, DIY ethical stance, manner of business practice, and contempt for the music industry.
Fugazi has performed numerous worldwide tours and produced six studio albums, a film and a comprehensive live series, gaining the band critical acclaim and success around the world. Highly influential on punk and alternative music, the band has been on an indefinite hiatus since 2003.
History
Formation and early years (1986–1989)
After the hardcore punk group Minor Threat dissolved, MacKaye (vocals and guitar) was active with a few short-lived groups, most notably Embrace. He decided he wanted a project that was "like The Stooges with reggae", but was wary about forming another band after Embrace's breakup. MacKaye recalled, "My interests were not necessarily to be in a band, but to be with people who wanted to play music with me."
MacKaye recruited ex-Dag Nasty drummer Colin Sears and bass guitarist Lally, and the trio began practicing together in September 1986. After a few months of rehearsals, Sears returned to Dag Nasty and was replaced by Canty (earlier of Rites of Spring). One day, Picciotto, Canty's Rites of Spring bandmate, dropped by during a practice session to see how his friend was getting along; he later admitted he secretly harbored the idea of joining the group. But Picciotto was disappointed that there seemed to be no place for him.
After some uncertainty from Canty about what he wanted to do with his future, the trio regrouped and booked their first show at the Wilson Center in early September 1987. The group still needed a name, so MacKaye chose the word "fugazi" from Mark Baker's Nam, a compilation of stories of Vietnam War veterans, it there being a slang acronym for "Fucked Up, Got Ambushed, Zipped In [into a body bag]".
The band began inviting Picciotto to practices. Inspired by use of a foil in hip hop, Picciotto sang backup vocals. After his band Happy Go Licky broke up, he became more involved with Fugazi. MacKaye eventually asked Picciotto to become a full member, and he accepted.
Fugazi EP & Margin Walker – 13 Songs (1988–1989)
Fugazi embarked on its first tour in January 1988. In June 1988 the band recorded its debut EP Fugazi with producer Ted Niceley and producer/engineer Don Zientara (who became a longtime collaborator), and shortly afterward embarked on an arduous tour of Europe.
At the tour's conclusion in December, the band recorded songs for its intended debut album. But the band was spent from touring and found the resulting sessions were unsatisfactory. The track list was cut down to an EP and released as Margin Walker the next year. Both EPs were eventually combined into the 13 Songs release in late 1989. Upon the band's return from Europe, Picciotto, unsatisfied with singing, began playing guitar too.
Repeater and Steady Diet of Nothing (1990–1992)
With Picciotto playing guitar full-time, Fugazi made the transition into jamming and writing new material as a band as opposed to performing songs composed solely by MacKaye. In addition to working on new material, songs they had been performing live were refined, such as "Merchandise" and "Turnover", for inclusion on their first official full-length studio album.
Released on April 19, 1990, through Dischord Records, Repeater did not initially reach the Billboard 200 charts or become a commercial success. But the band spent most of 1990 and 1991 touring heavily behind Repeater, performing 250 concerts between March 1990 and June 1991, routinely selling out 1,000-plus capacity venues throughout the world. By summer 1991, the album sold more than 300,000 copies, a large number for a label that relied on minimal promotion. Major labels began to court Fugazi, but the band stayed with Dischord. It was critically well received and featured an alternative rock sound that predated significant releases such as Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten, which unexpectedly broke the genre into the mainstream.
For Fugazi's second studio album, Steady Diet of Nothing, released in July 1991, the band again asked Ted Niceley to produce. Niceley had become a chef and had to reluctantly turn down the job, so the band decided to produce the record itself. After the success of Repeater and its subsequent world tour, Steady Diet was highly anticipated. Six months before its release Dischord had more than 160,000 pre-orders for the album.
In on the Kill Taker and Red Medicine (1993–1996)
Fugazi recorded its third album, In on the Kill Taker, in the fall of 1992 with Steve Albini in Chicago, but the results were deemed unsatisfactory and the band rerecorded the album with Niceley and Don Zientara. With the breakthrough of alternative rock in the early 1990s, In on the Kill Taker; released on June 30, 1993, became the group's first record to enter the Billboard album charts, receiving critical praise from Spin, Time and Rolling Stone, and becoming the band's breakthrough album.
By the In on the Kill Taker tour, the group began to sell out large auditoriums and arenas and receive more lucrative major label offers. During its sold-out 3-night stint at New York City's Roseland Ballroom in September 1993, music mogul and Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun met with the band backstage in an attempt to sign them. Ertegun offered the band "anything you want", their own subsidiary label and more than $10 million just to sign with Atlantic. Fugazi declined. The organizers of Lollapalooza also attempted to recruit the band for a headlining slot on its 1993 tour, which the band considered but ultimately turned down.
Fugazi began writing the material for Red Medicine in late 1994, after touring in support of In on the Kill Taker. The band worked with Zientara but chose not to work with Niceley again. Fugazi opted to retreat from the in-your-face production values of In on the Kill Taker and instead worked to create an ambient sound that displayed greater range and depth. To achieve this, the band handled production duties itself, and in doing so, became more confident with in-studio experimentation. Red Medicine took Fugazi a step further toward art rock. The band began an extensive worldwide tour in support of the album, playing 172 shows between March 1995 and November 1996.
End Hits and The Argument (1997–2002)
After the grueling worldwide tour the band completed in support of Red Medicine, Fugazi took an extended break and also began writing material for a follow-up release. By March 1997 Fugazi had once again returned to Inner Ear Studios with Zientara to begin recording what became End Hits, with the intention of taking a more relaxed approach to recording and a longer amount of time to experiment with different songs and techniques in the studio. The group ultimately spent 7 months recording the album. Due to the title, rumors began circulating at the time that it was to be their last release. Released on April 28, 1998, the album was commercially successful and marked one of the band's highest debuts yet on the Billboard charts. Critical reaction to End Hits was mixed. Many critics praised its heavier tracks, while others questioned the inclusion of the group's longer, more experimental songs.
Fugazi began work on The Argument in 1999. This process saw the group taking more time than usual to write and demo material. Each member brought his own riffs and ideas to the band, jammed on them, and then began piecing the songs together into various configurations before deciding on the final versions. The album's recording sessions took place between January and April 2001 at Inner Ear Studios and Dischord House in Arlington, Virginia. The band once again worked with Zientara. During the recording process a considerable amount of time was spent finalizing each song's production, in particular the album's drum tracks, in an effort to give it a unique feel. Canty told Modern Drummer, "We recorded them all very differently in terms of the drum sounds. We used a lot of different cymbals, snares, and ways of miking."
The Argument was released by Dischord Records on October 16, 2001, along with the EP Furniture + 2. Arion Berger of Rolling Stone called the album "bracing" and "intellectual" and Chris True of AllMusic "spine-tingling and ear-shattering all at once", writing, "the band has raised the bar for themselves and others once again." He also wrote that the album had "touched on strange new territory". By this point Fugazi was on tour less, due in large part to other professional and personal commitments. It performed only 32 shows in 2001 and 2002.
Indefinite hiatus and reunion rumours (2003–present)
Fugazi went on what it has called an "indefinite hiatus" after the conclusion of its 2002 UK tour following three sold-out nights at the London Forum on November 2–4, 2002. The hiatus was brought on by the band members' insistence on spending more time with their families and pursuing other professional projects.
Since Fugazi went on hiatus in 2003, rumors began circulating about a reunion, with some insinuating that the band may get back together to headline the Coachella Festival. While the band has confirmed that it has been offered large sums of money to reunite and headline festivals, such as Coachella, it has so far declined the offers.
In March 2011, MacKaye reiterated that Fugazi has "been offered insane amounts of money to play reunions, but it's not going to be money that brings us back together, we would only play music together if we wanted to play music together and time allowed it".
In November 2011, when asked by The A.V. Club about the possibility of a reunion and a follow up to 2001's The Argument, Lally said, "The Argument was a great record that we should try and top. It'll take some time to come together and everything. To do that, we'd have to, the way the four of us are, we would take quite some time, I think, reassociating ourselves musically, and then just letting it come about naturally, because it would have to be a natural thing. So we'll just see."
In August 2014, Dischord announced an official release for First Demo, an album featuring 11 demo songs recorded in January 1988. The announcement included a preview of the demo for the Fugazi track "Merchandise". The album was released on November 18, 2014.
MacKaye insisted in a 2017 interview that Fugazi is not, in fact, broken up. While he admits any future public performance will have to contend with various confounding factors, the members have occasionally played music together, privately, since their 2003 hiatus. On March 21, 2018, in an interview on Vish Khanna's Kreative Kontrol podcast, Lally confirmed the band's irregular practice of casual get-togethers. He stated: "Yeah, when we're all in D.C., we totally hang out together and talk and spend a lot of time laughing. We have a great time together, go out to dinner, and we'll play some music together." Lally also stated that additional public performances or tours were unlikely: "There's so much to try to look after to allow Fugazi to do anything, that we do not have the time to give it the respect that it deserves. So unfortunately, it is where it is."
On February 13, 2019, Louder Sound asked Lally and Canty about the possibility of Fugazi returning, Lally responded "You never want to say never about anything, because how can you say that about the future? But there does seem to be a lack of time to allow it to happen, because the four of us would have to spend a lot of time together to figure out, 'Should we play old songs?' 'Who are we now?' 'What is it now?' We are not the kind of band to get together and just rehearse two hours of old songs to go out and play it, rake in the dough and come home." Canty added, "If we got back together it would have to be from the spirit of creativity. It would be different if we got back together."
Side projects and related work
In the hiatus, the members undertook side projects, with MacKaye forming the duo The Evens with drummer and singer Amy Farina (formerly of the Warmers).
In 2004, MacKaye produced the DC EP for Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, which also featured Jerry Busher.
Canty has been doing a variety of soundtrack scores and playing bass in the trio Garland Of Hours alongside frequent Fugazi guest contributors Jerry Busher and Amy Domingues, and has played bass live with Mary Timony. Canty also appears on Bob Mould's 2005 album Body of Song and on Mould's 2008 album District Line, and has toured with Mould, appearing in the live DVD Circle of Friends. He is currently working in the Burn to Shine DVD series which is being released by Trixie DVD. Now, he is playing in Deathfix alongside Devin Ocampo (Medications, Faraquet, Smart Went Crazy, Beauty Pill), Rich Morel (Bob Mould, Blow Off) and Mark Cisneros (Medications, The Make-Up). They will release their album in February 2013 on Dischord Records.
Lally has released three solo albums, There to Here (2006), Nothing Is Underrated (2007), and Why Should I Get Used To It (2011). He has also appeared on fellow DC post-punkers Decahedron's debut album Disconnection_Imminent, as well as on a project with Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarists John Frusciante and Josh Klinghoffer, known as Ataxia. The group has recorded two albums, Automatic Writing (2004) and AW II (2007).
Picciotto currently works as a record producer most notably with Blonde Redhead and The Blood Brothers, and he has performed alongside members of The Ex at the Jazz festival in Wels, Austria. Picciotto also contributed guitar on two Vic Chesnutt albums, 2007's "North Star Deserter and 2009's At the Cut (co-producing the latter), for Constellation Records and performed live with Chesnutt and members of Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra and The Quavers in Jem Cohen's program entitled, "Evening's Civil Twilight in Empires of Tin at the Vienna International Film Festival (Viennale) in 2007 (a DVD of the program was released in 2009). Picciotto played guitar on Chesnutt's Fall/Winter 2009 North American Tour. He has a daughter with musician Kathi Wilcox from the band Bikini Kill and The Frumpies.
In July 2011, Minneapolis based record label Doomtree released an album of mash-ups between Fugazi and east coast veteran rap crew the Wu-Tang Clan. The album is titled 13 Chambers, group name Wugazi. However, Fugazi itself did not have any involvement with the release. Bassist Joe Lally was asked about his thoughts on the Wugazi release, and stated "I think they could've found better Fugazi pieces to sample with Wu-Tang guys rapping on it. I mean, it's enjoyable, and I do appreciate it for the fact that somebody enjoys our music enough to bring it into that. But, you know, I don't know. I guess I should shut up, because I suppose I'm about to run into these people at the Fun Fun Fun Fest festival and talk to them. But I'm afraid that is my opinion on it. It's like, get better samples of our stuff, do better work."
In October 2012, Chris Lawhorn released Fugazi Edits. The album includes 22 instrumental tracks, which sample 100 songs from Fugazi's discography. As in other cases, the band had no involvement in the production. But, the album was authorized for release by MacKaye, with the proceeds going to charity.
In 2016, Canty and Lally joined with guitarist Anthony Pirog to form the Messthetics, Canty and Lally's first project together since Fugazi's hiatus.
In March 2018, the Messthetics released their self-titled debut album and embarked upon a tour of the US and Japan. The band toured further and released a second album entitled Anthropocosmic Nest in 2019.
In 2018, Ian MacKaye, Amy Farina and Joe Lally debuted a new band. In February 2020, it was announced that the band, now called Coriky, would release their first album on March 27, 2020. The debut single, "Clean Kill", was released on February 11, 2020. The band previewed their album at a free show in D.C.'s St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church on February 22, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the release of Coriky was delayed to June 12, 2020, in part to accommodate independent record stores closed due to the pandemic. Upon release the record was favorable reviewed in a few publications; often drawing comparisons and contrasts with MacKaye and Farina's other band The Evens, as well as Fugazi.
Live performances
Between 1987 and 2003, Fugazi played over 1000 concerts in all 50 US states and all over the world. Over 800 of these shows were recorded by the band's sound engineers. Beginning in 2004 and continuing into 2005, Fugazi launched a 30 CD Live Series that featured concerts from various points in their career, which were made available for sale via Dischord Records. Continuing with the live series concept and after several years of development on December 1, 2011, Fugazi launched a comprehensive Live Series website through Dischord Records that features 750 recordings available for download at the suggested price of $5 each or a "pay what you want" sliding scale option for each download between $1–100 with the goal of eventually making all 800 of the shows that have been recorded available for purchase. For $500 fans can also purchase an "All Access" privilege which will include access to any future concerts and downloads added to the site.
While each concert was professionally mastered, the recordings capture everything that happened onstage and for preservation's sake the band chose not to edit anything out, singer/guitarist Guy Picciotto explained to the New York Times, "We liked this idea of, 'Let's just let it be everything,' ... There doesn't have to be the idea that this is the great, golden document. It's all there, and it's not cleaned up. You get what you get." The sound quality also varies as the earliest recordings were made to cassettes, then eventually digital formats such as DAT, CD-R and ultimately hard-drives were used. Each concert page also includes flyers, photographs and ticket stubs. As a career-spanning archival project, the Fugazi Live Series has few equals, putting the band in the company of acts like the Grateful Dead, Phish and Pearl Jam, three notable examples of other artists with such a large volume of concerts available for purchase.
Musical style
Fugazi's style has been described as post-hardcore, art punk, alternative rock, and experimental rock. Fugazi's music was an intentional departure from that of the hardcore punk bands the members had played in previously. Fugazi combined punk with funk and reggae beats, irregular stop-start song structures, and heavy riffs inspired by popular rock bands such as Led Zeppelin and Queen, bands that the punk community of the time largely disdained.
Picciotto became the group's second guitarist when he realized MacKaye's typically chunky, low-end riffs and Lally's dub-influenced basslines allowed him to focus on high-pitched parts. In both vocal and guitar roles, Picciotto assumed the role of a foil to MacKaye; employing a Rickenbacker guitar for its scratchy single-coil sound in order to "cut through MacKaye's chunky chording like a laser beam." Picciotto's assumption of guitar duties allowed all four members of the band to jam together and write songs that way, where previously they had played songs largely as MacKaye had arranged them. When writing songs, the band often rearranges them with different structures and different singers. Spin has listed MacKaye and Picciotto together at No. 86 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time for their unique and interlocking guitar style in Fugazi.
Generally, MacKaye's lyrics and singing are more direct and anthemic (MacKaye admits that he loves audience sing-alongs and writes songs with shout-able slogans), while Picciotto usually favors a more abstract, oblique approach. Lally has contributed vocals to a few songs as well, in which he sings in a more relaxed, quiet style as opposed to MacKaye and Picciotto, whose lyrics and vocals often feature strong emotional intensity. Later, Fugazi more fully integrated elements of punk rock, hardcore, soul and noise with an inventively syncopated rhythm section. Notable is MacKaye and Picciotto's inventive, interlocking guitar playing, which often defies the traditional notion of "lead" and "rhythm" guitars. They often feature unusual and dissonant chords and progressions filtered through a hardcore punk lens.
Each of Fugazi's albums since Repeater have featured an instrumental. By the time of 1995's Red Medicine bassist Joe Lally also began contributing vocals to the band and the group was implementing many of their broader influences into the overall sound. Critics Ian McCaleb and Ira Robbins declared that Fugazi's music combined an "unprecedented dynamic range ... and previously unimagined elements" such as "clattering musique concrète ... piano and sound effects ... murky dub and lancing clarinet" and "loose-limbed jammy funk ... into an ambitious, experimental format that raises more stylistic questions than it answers."
Influences
When questioned by Guitar World in 2002 about the band's influences, singer/guitarist Ian MacKaye responded, "Too many to mention. And not just from the last few years. Some of them predate us by decades, and most of them wouldn't be punk. I would hope any musician would be inspired by a lot of different kinds of music." In a 2004 interview with Indonesian magazine Deathrockstar, Picciotto named "D.C. groups" such as Bad Brains ("who inspired all of us so much at the beginning"), the Faith and Void as influences, in addition to Minutemen, Black Flag, Sonic Youth, the Ex and the Beatles, the latter of which all the members "share[d] a major love for". Despite this, he similarly conceded that "[i]ts [sic] impossible to narrow it down to one band or record because we didn't just crib from one blueprint, we were grabbing ideas from all over the place and then filtering them through our own limited and personally shaped skills."
Business practices
On their first tours, Fugazi worked out its DIY ethic by trial and error. Their decisions were partly motivated by pragmatic considerations that were essentially a punk rock version of simple living: for example, selling merchandise on tour would require a full-time merchandise salesperson who would require lodging, food, and other costs, so Fugazi decided to simplify their touring by not selling merchandise. The band was also motivated by moral or ethical considerations: for example, Fugazi's members regarded pricey admission for rock concerts as tantamount to price gouging a performer's most loyal fans. Fugazi's inexpensive target goal of $5 admission was spawned during a conversation on an early tour when the band's members were debating the lowest profitable admission price. Everett True has said that MacKaye and Fugazi "had a mind-set that believed that any involvement with the system was corrupting and that you should create completely alternative structures outside".
In later years, Fugazi was unable to negotiate ticket prices below about $10–$15 total. However, it never saw the $5 rule as inviolable, instead aiming to charge a price that was both affordable and profitable. Unlike some similar, independent rock contemporaries, Fugazi's performances and tours were always profitable, due to the group's popularity, low business overhead costs, and MacKaye's keen sense of audience response in given regions. Many times the band performed sold-out shows multiple consecutive nights at the same venue.
Fugazi's early tours earned it a strong word-of-mouth reputation, both for its powerful performances, and also for the band's eagerness to play in unusual venues. The group sought out alternatives to traditional rock clubs partly to relieve the boredom of touring, but also hoping to show fans that there are other options to traditional ways of doing things. As Picciotto said, "You find the Elks Lodge, you find the guy who's got a space in the back of his pizzeria, you find the guy who has a gallery. Kids will do that stuff because they want to make stuff happen."
The group (MacKaye in particular) also made a point of discouraging violent, unwanted slam dancing and fistfights, which it saw as relics of the late 1970s/early 1980s hardcore punk era. Michael Azerrad quotes Mackaye, "See, [slam dancers] have one form of communication: violence ... So to disorient them, you don't give them violence. I'd say, 'Excuse me, sir ...'- I mean, it freaks them out – 'Excuse me, sir, would you please cut that crap out?'" Azerrad writes, "[MacKaye's] admonitions seemed preachy to some. And by and large, people would obey – it wasn't cool to disrespect Ian MacKaye." Occasionally, Fugazi would have an unrepentant slam-dancer escorted from the concert, and give them an envelope containing a $5 refund (the group kept a stock of such envelopes in their tour van for these occasions).
During the summer of 1990 MacKaye formed the corporation Lunar Atrocities Ltd. in order to shield his own and his bandmates' personal assets from the threat of lawsuits. As MacKaye's financial advisor, Seth Martin, explained to the Washington Post in a 1993 interview: "protection from liability is the main reason to form a corporation, and for these guys it makes sense. If someone got hurt stage-diving and decided to sue, it would be harder to go after their personal assets."
Influence and legacy
Fugazi's music and ethics have been immensely influential on punk and alternative music throughout the years, and has earned the band praise from many notable musicians as well. Sublime "thanked" the band by namedropping them on their debut album. At the Drive-In called the band an influence on their own music, as did other notable post-hardcore bands such as Refused, Quicksand, Drive Like Jehu, Mclusky, and Cursive. John Frusciante named them an influence on Red Hot Chili Peppers' Californication and on his solo album The Will to Death. Nirvana cited the band as an influence, and Kurt Cobain - who was friends with the members of Fugazi - was even spotted in a popular photo of the band with the word "Fugazi" misspelt on both shoes. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam remarked that witnessing the band live "was a life-changing experience" for him. Reportedly a huge fan, Elliott Smith was "super-obsessed" with the band and later admitted that his former band Heatmiser was "trying to be Fugazi". The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr offered the band praise, and called MacKaye one of his favorite guitarists. Towards the end of his life, Joe Strummer, lead vocalist of The Clash, recognized Fugazi as the band that best exemplified "the spirit of punk" in a 2000 Rolling Stone interview, besides offering them accolades on several other occasions. In 1993, Joey Ramone of The Ramones picked the band as a favorite, labeling them a "great social conscience".
Graham Coxon of Blur recalls his introduction to bands such as Fugazi (and the Picciotto-led Rites of Spring) in the mid 90s as being one of the most musically significant moments of his life: "They used the guitar in an incredible way; making quite restrained noisy music, which I'd never heard English bands doing." Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World named both MacKaye and Picciotto as an influence on his guitar playing as they made him "more open to the ideas behind guitar playing, as opposed to the technical difficulty of it.". Daniel Kessler of Interpol was also influenced by the band in his guitar-playing, as was Ben Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan and Colin Frangicetto of Circa Survive. Tim Commerford of Rage Against the Machine found the band's music on Repeater revelatory, as did Steve Holmes of American Football. Tom DeLonge of Blink-182 called the band a big influence as they "stood for something and never varied from that path." "Fugazi was probably my biggest influence as far as wanting to start a band", Modest Mouse founding member Jeremiah Green admitted, "It was really great music and just sounded like something I could possibly do." Gareth Liddiard, lead vocalist and guitarist of both the Drones and Tropical Fuck Storm, named Fugazi (amongst many others) as an influence on his guitar-playing, and praised the band's live performances. When asked to name some of his favorite records or discographies, Brian Cook of Botch (and later Russian Circles) included the band's entire discography amongst others. Gogol Bordello's Eugene Hutz called the band's debut EP "probably the best I ever heard. It's so together and everything sits in the right place." Jeff Rosenstock not only called the band a big influence on his music, but also on his strict DIY business practices & ethics. Sunny Day Real Estate cited the band as an influence for similar reasons.
In addition, the band was a formative influence on Tool bassist Justin Chancellor, Jack White, Daniel Johns of Silverchair, Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney, Sara Lund of Unwound, Iceage, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Dylan Baldi of Cloud Nothings, Arcade Fire lead singer Win Butler, Travis Morrison of The Dismemberment Plan, Efrim Menuck of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Alison Mosshart of The Kills, Brand New guitarist Jesse Lacey, Converge lead vocalist Jacob Bannon, Coalesce, Tad Kubler of The Hold Steady, Ben Lee, Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, Explosions in the Sky, Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, Trevor de Brauw of Pelican, Ted Leo, Matty Healy of The 1975, Mary Timony, Hayley Williams of Paramore, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park and Lorde.
Members
Current
Ian MacKaye – vocals, guitar (1986–2003)
Joe Lally – bass guitar, vocals (1986–2003)
Brendan Canty – drums (1987–2003)
Guy Picciotto – vocals, guitar (1988/1989–2003)
Former
Colin Sears – drums (1986)
Touring musicians
Jerry Busher – additional drums, trumpet (1998–2002)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Notes
References
External links
Fugazi's page at Dischord
Southern distribution page
[ Fugazi's page at Allmusic]
Rare recorded live Fugazi show, one of the last ever at Austin's Liberty Lunch venue in 1990.
Alternative rock groups from Washington, D.C.
American post-hardcore musical groups
Anti-corporate activism
American art rock groups
Dischord Records artists
Indie rock musical groups from Washington, D.C.
Musical groups established in 1987
Musical quartets
Punk rock groups from Washington, D.C.
American emo musical groups
Musical groups disestablished in 2003 | false | [
"Assist-2-Sell is an American real estate franchise organization operating in the United States and Canada. It was founded in 1987 by Mary LaMeres-Pomin and Lyle E. Martin and is based in Reno, Nevada.\n\nHistory\nAssist-2-Sell was founded in 1987 by Mary LaMeres-Pomin and Lyle E. Martin, who had been conventional real estate agents for 10 years prior to founding Assist-2-Sell. They did not want to spend a significant portion of their time looking for clients so created a discount real estate firm in the hopes that with lower prices, clients would directly come to Assist-2-Sell. Assist-2-Sell is founded in and based in Reno.\n\nAccording to The Commercial Appeal, Assist-2-Sell \"falls between using a traditional real estate firm and selling your home yourself\". The Portland Press Herald said in 2000, \"Word of Assist-2-Sell's rates and reputation has gotten around the realty circle with reaction ranging from skepticism to intimidation.\"\n\nReno Gazette-Journal in 2002 called Assist-2-Sell \"[o]ne of North America's largest residential discount realty companies\". In 2006, it had 630 offices in Canada and 46 American states.\n\nIts main competitor is the company Help-U-Sell. Newsweek said Help-U-Sell and Assist-2-Sell are \"the two largest flat-fee brokerages\" that in 2004 had a combined almost 900 offices.\n\nServices and franchise program\nAssist-2-Sell has two advertising options for clients to choose from. In the first option, \"Direct to Buyer\", the real estate agent acts like a conventional agent by marketing the property and dealing with the documents. In the second option, \"MLS for Less\", sellers get all of the benefits from the previous method as well as having their house listed on the MLS. It advertises houses through newspapers, magazines, mail, and signs, as well as the iHouse2000.com website. The company receives a commission only after a house is sold.\n\nAssist-2-Sell started its franchise program in 1995. Every franchisee is managed and held independently. Assist-2-Sell provides coaching for its franchisees by teaching them how to establish and operate a back office, how to hire real estate agents, how to draw in customers, and how to display houses. In 2004, Assist-2-Sell charged franchisees $19,500 in addition to a 5% cut of each sold home.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Official website\n\nCompanies based in Reno, Nevada\nReal estate companies established in 1987\nFranchises\nReal estate services companies of the United States\n1987 establishments in Nevada",
"Louis M. Groen (August 8, 1917 – May 30, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, businessman, and lifelong resident of Cincinnati, Ohio. Groen invented the Filet-O-Fish sandwich in 1962. He invented the sandwich at his floundering McDonald's restaurant to satisfy his customers. At the time, most of his customers were Roman Catholic, who had to abstain from eating meat on Friday. The Filet-O-Fish, served with cheese and tartar sauce, is now served at McDonald's restaurants throughout the world.\n\nBiography\n\nEarly life and career\nBorn and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Groen graduated from North College Hill High School in 1935. At his peak, Groen owned 43 McDonald's restaurants in the Ohio and northern Kentucky region, eventually selling them back to the McDonald's corporation, including a longtime business partner Ed Cummings's brother and son. He held on to two, in Northgate and Tylersville, until his own son Paul took them over in 1994.\n\nCareer with McDonald's\nA prominent McDonald's hamburger restaurant franchisee from 1959 to 1986, after he introduced his sandwich in 1962, McDonald's Corp. founder and CEO Ray Kroc was not exactly thrilled at the idea of a fish sandwich on his franchise menu, for he thought that he had a better idea, a \"Hula\" burger, which had simply a breaded, fried pineapple slice in between a toasted bun and a slice of cheese. Recalls Groen: \"I told Ray (Kroc) about it (the idea of the Filet-O-Fish sandwich) and he said, “You’re always coming up here with a bunch of crap!” “I don’t want my stores stunk up with the smell of fish.” Groen engaged in a wager with Kroc on whose idea would sell better. Groen recalls again: \"I called in (McDonald's) and asked, \"How many sandwiches did (Kroc) sell?\" They (McDonald's Corp.) said “I can't tell you.” They asked “How many did you sell?” I said “350!” Then, they said “It's on the menu!”\n\nDeath\nGroen died peacefully of natural causes on May 30, 2011 in Cincinnati.\n\nSee also\nHistory of McDonald's\n\nReferences\n\n1917 births\n2011 deaths\nBusinesspeople from Cincinnati\nPeople from North College Hill, Ohio\nMcDonald's people\n20th-century American businesspeople"
]
|
[
"Fugazi",
"Repeater and Steady Diet of Nothing (1990-1992)",
"What was Repeater",
"songs they had been performing",
"where was one of the popular songs",
"Merchandise\" and \"Turnover\", for inclusion on their first official full-length studio album.",
"did they win any awards",
"Repeater ultimately went on to sell more than 1 million copies in the U.S. alone, and more than 2 million worldwide.",
"How did Steady diet of nothing do",
"Steady Diet was highly anticipated, six months prior to its release Dischord had pre-orders in excess of 160,000 for the album.",
"how many did they sell once it released",
"I don't know."
]
| C_f3934f2aa5f34a068e07920685725d0f_0 | did they tour for either of these | 6 | Did Fugazi tour for Repeater or Steady Diet of Nothing? | Fugazi | With Picciotto playing guitar full-time, Fugazi made the transition into jamming and writing new material as a band as opposed to performing songs composed solely by MacKaye. In addition to working on new material, songs they had been performing live were refined, such as "Merchandise" and "Turnover", for inclusion on their first official full-length studio album. Released on April 19, 1990, through Dischord Records, Repeater did not initially reach the Billboard 200 charts or become a commercial success. However, the band spent most of 1990 and 1991 touring heavily behind Repeater, performing a total of 250 concerts between March 1990 and June 1991, routinely selling out 1,000-plus capacity venues throughout the world. By summer 1991, the album sold more than 300,000 copies, a large number for a label that relied on minimal promotion. While major labels began to court Fugazi, the band decided to stay with Dischord and refused the offers of those labels. Repeater ultimately went on to sell more than 1 million copies in the U.S. alone, and more than 2 million worldwide. The album was critically well received and featured an alternative rock sound that pre-dated significant releases such as Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten, which would unexpectedly go on to break the genre into the mainstream. For Fugazi's second studio-album Steady Diet of Nothing, released in July 1991, the band once again asked Ted Niceley to produce. Niceley had become a chef and had to reluctantly turn down the job, so the band members decided to produce the record themselves. After the success of Repeater and its subsequent world tour, Steady Diet was highly anticipated, six months prior to its release Dischord had pre-orders in excess of 160,000 for the album. CANNOTANSWER | However, the band spent most of 1990 and 1991 touring heavily behind Repeater, performing a total of 250 concerts between March 1990 and June 1991, | Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C. in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their style-transcending music, DIY ethical stance, manner of business practice, and contempt for the music industry.
Fugazi has performed numerous worldwide tours and produced six studio albums, a film and a comprehensive live series, gaining the band critical acclaim and success around the world. Highly influential on punk and alternative music, the band has been on an indefinite hiatus since 2003.
History
Formation and early years (1986–1989)
After the hardcore punk group Minor Threat dissolved, MacKaye (vocals and guitar) was active with a few short-lived groups, most notably Embrace. He decided he wanted a project that was "like The Stooges with reggae", but was wary about forming another band after Embrace's breakup. MacKaye recalled, "My interests were not necessarily to be in a band, but to be with people who wanted to play music with me."
MacKaye recruited ex-Dag Nasty drummer Colin Sears and bass guitarist Lally, and the trio began practicing together in September 1986. After a few months of rehearsals, Sears returned to Dag Nasty and was replaced by Canty (earlier of Rites of Spring). One day, Picciotto, Canty's Rites of Spring bandmate, dropped by during a practice session to see how his friend was getting along; he later admitted he secretly harbored the idea of joining the group. But Picciotto was disappointed that there seemed to be no place for him.
After some uncertainty from Canty about what he wanted to do with his future, the trio regrouped and booked their first show at the Wilson Center in early September 1987. The group still needed a name, so MacKaye chose the word "fugazi" from Mark Baker's Nam, a compilation of stories of Vietnam War veterans, it there being a slang acronym for "Fucked Up, Got Ambushed, Zipped In [into a body bag]".
The band began inviting Picciotto to practices. Inspired by use of a foil in hip hop, Picciotto sang backup vocals. After his band Happy Go Licky broke up, he became more involved with Fugazi. MacKaye eventually asked Picciotto to become a full member, and he accepted.
Fugazi EP & Margin Walker – 13 Songs (1988–1989)
Fugazi embarked on its first tour in January 1988. In June 1988 the band recorded its debut EP Fugazi with producer Ted Niceley and producer/engineer Don Zientara (who became a longtime collaborator), and shortly afterward embarked on an arduous tour of Europe.
At the tour's conclusion in December, the band recorded songs for its intended debut album. But the band was spent from touring and found the resulting sessions were unsatisfactory. The track list was cut down to an EP and released as Margin Walker the next year. Both EPs were eventually combined into the 13 Songs release in late 1989. Upon the band's return from Europe, Picciotto, unsatisfied with singing, began playing guitar too.
Repeater and Steady Diet of Nothing (1990–1992)
With Picciotto playing guitar full-time, Fugazi made the transition into jamming and writing new material as a band as opposed to performing songs composed solely by MacKaye. In addition to working on new material, songs they had been performing live were refined, such as "Merchandise" and "Turnover", for inclusion on their first official full-length studio album.
Released on April 19, 1990, through Dischord Records, Repeater did not initially reach the Billboard 200 charts or become a commercial success. But the band spent most of 1990 and 1991 touring heavily behind Repeater, performing 250 concerts between March 1990 and June 1991, routinely selling out 1,000-plus capacity venues throughout the world. By summer 1991, the album sold more than 300,000 copies, a large number for a label that relied on minimal promotion. Major labels began to court Fugazi, but the band stayed with Dischord. It was critically well received and featured an alternative rock sound that predated significant releases such as Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten, which unexpectedly broke the genre into the mainstream.
For Fugazi's second studio album, Steady Diet of Nothing, released in July 1991, the band again asked Ted Niceley to produce. Niceley had become a chef and had to reluctantly turn down the job, so the band decided to produce the record itself. After the success of Repeater and its subsequent world tour, Steady Diet was highly anticipated. Six months before its release Dischord had more than 160,000 pre-orders for the album.
In on the Kill Taker and Red Medicine (1993–1996)
Fugazi recorded its third album, In on the Kill Taker, in the fall of 1992 with Steve Albini in Chicago, but the results were deemed unsatisfactory and the band rerecorded the album with Niceley and Don Zientara. With the breakthrough of alternative rock in the early 1990s, In on the Kill Taker; released on June 30, 1993, became the group's first record to enter the Billboard album charts, receiving critical praise from Spin, Time and Rolling Stone, and becoming the band's breakthrough album.
By the In on the Kill Taker tour, the group began to sell out large auditoriums and arenas and receive more lucrative major label offers. During its sold-out 3-night stint at New York City's Roseland Ballroom in September 1993, music mogul and Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun met with the band backstage in an attempt to sign them. Ertegun offered the band "anything you want", their own subsidiary label and more than $10 million just to sign with Atlantic. Fugazi declined. The organizers of Lollapalooza also attempted to recruit the band for a headlining slot on its 1993 tour, which the band considered but ultimately turned down.
Fugazi began writing the material for Red Medicine in late 1994, after touring in support of In on the Kill Taker. The band worked with Zientara but chose not to work with Niceley again. Fugazi opted to retreat from the in-your-face production values of In on the Kill Taker and instead worked to create an ambient sound that displayed greater range and depth. To achieve this, the band handled production duties itself, and in doing so, became more confident with in-studio experimentation. Red Medicine took Fugazi a step further toward art rock. The band began an extensive worldwide tour in support of the album, playing 172 shows between March 1995 and November 1996.
End Hits and The Argument (1997–2002)
After the grueling worldwide tour the band completed in support of Red Medicine, Fugazi took an extended break and also began writing material for a follow-up release. By March 1997 Fugazi had once again returned to Inner Ear Studios with Zientara to begin recording what became End Hits, with the intention of taking a more relaxed approach to recording and a longer amount of time to experiment with different songs and techniques in the studio. The group ultimately spent 7 months recording the album. Due to the title, rumors began circulating at the time that it was to be their last release. Released on April 28, 1998, the album was commercially successful and marked one of the band's highest debuts yet on the Billboard charts. Critical reaction to End Hits was mixed. Many critics praised its heavier tracks, while others questioned the inclusion of the group's longer, more experimental songs.
Fugazi began work on The Argument in 1999. This process saw the group taking more time than usual to write and demo material. Each member brought his own riffs and ideas to the band, jammed on them, and then began piecing the songs together into various configurations before deciding on the final versions. The album's recording sessions took place between January and April 2001 at Inner Ear Studios and Dischord House in Arlington, Virginia. The band once again worked with Zientara. During the recording process a considerable amount of time was spent finalizing each song's production, in particular the album's drum tracks, in an effort to give it a unique feel. Canty told Modern Drummer, "We recorded them all very differently in terms of the drum sounds. We used a lot of different cymbals, snares, and ways of miking."
The Argument was released by Dischord Records on October 16, 2001, along with the EP Furniture + 2. Arion Berger of Rolling Stone called the album "bracing" and "intellectual" and Chris True of AllMusic "spine-tingling and ear-shattering all at once", writing, "the band has raised the bar for themselves and others once again." He also wrote that the album had "touched on strange new territory". By this point Fugazi was on tour less, due in large part to other professional and personal commitments. It performed only 32 shows in 2001 and 2002.
Indefinite hiatus and reunion rumours (2003–present)
Fugazi went on what it has called an "indefinite hiatus" after the conclusion of its 2002 UK tour following three sold-out nights at the London Forum on November 2–4, 2002. The hiatus was brought on by the band members' insistence on spending more time with their families and pursuing other professional projects.
Since Fugazi went on hiatus in 2003, rumors began circulating about a reunion, with some insinuating that the band may get back together to headline the Coachella Festival. While the band has confirmed that it has been offered large sums of money to reunite and headline festivals, such as Coachella, it has so far declined the offers.
In March 2011, MacKaye reiterated that Fugazi has "been offered insane amounts of money to play reunions, but it's not going to be money that brings us back together, we would only play music together if we wanted to play music together and time allowed it".
In November 2011, when asked by The A.V. Club about the possibility of a reunion and a follow up to 2001's The Argument, Lally said, "The Argument was a great record that we should try and top. It'll take some time to come together and everything. To do that, we'd have to, the way the four of us are, we would take quite some time, I think, reassociating ourselves musically, and then just letting it come about naturally, because it would have to be a natural thing. So we'll just see."
In August 2014, Dischord announced an official release for First Demo, an album featuring 11 demo songs recorded in January 1988. The announcement included a preview of the demo for the Fugazi track "Merchandise". The album was released on November 18, 2014.
MacKaye insisted in a 2017 interview that Fugazi is not, in fact, broken up. While he admits any future public performance will have to contend with various confounding factors, the members have occasionally played music together, privately, since their 2003 hiatus. On March 21, 2018, in an interview on Vish Khanna's Kreative Kontrol podcast, Lally confirmed the band's irregular practice of casual get-togethers. He stated: "Yeah, when we're all in D.C., we totally hang out together and talk and spend a lot of time laughing. We have a great time together, go out to dinner, and we'll play some music together." Lally also stated that additional public performances or tours were unlikely: "There's so much to try to look after to allow Fugazi to do anything, that we do not have the time to give it the respect that it deserves. So unfortunately, it is where it is."
On February 13, 2019, Louder Sound asked Lally and Canty about the possibility of Fugazi returning, Lally responded "You never want to say never about anything, because how can you say that about the future? But there does seem to be a lack of time to allow it to happen, because the four of us would have to spend a lot of time together to figure out, 'Should we play old songs?' 'Who are we now?' 'What is it now?' We are not the kind of band to get together and just rehearse two hours of old songs to go out and play it, rake in the dough and come home." Canty added, "If we got back together it would have to be from the spirit of creativity. It would be different if we got back together."
Side projects and related work
In the hiatus, the members undertook side projects, with MacKaye forming the duo The Evens with drummer and singer Amy Farina (formerly of the Warmers).
In 2004, MacKaye produced the DC EP for Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, which also featured Jerry Busher.
Canty has been doing a variety of soundtrack scores and playing bass in the trio Garland Of Hours alongside frequent Fugazi guest contributors Jerry Busher and Amy Domingues, and has played bass live with Mary Timony. Canty also appears on Bob Mould's 2005 album Body of Song and on Mould's 2008 album District Line, and has toured with Mould, appearing in the live DVD Circle of Friends. He is currently working in the Burn to Shine DVD series which is being released by Trixie DVD. Now, he is playing in Deathfix alongside Devin Ocampo (Medications, Faraquet, Smart Went Crazy, Beauty Pill), Rich Morel (Bob Mould, Blow Off) and Mark Cisneros (Medications, The Make-Up). They will release their album in February 2013 on Dischord Records.
Lally has released three solo albums, There to Here (2006), Nothing Is Underrated (2007), and Why Should I Get Used To It (2011). He has also appeared on fellow DC post-punkers Decahedron's debut album Disconnection_Imminent, as well as on a project with Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarists John Frusciante and Josh Klinghoffer, known as Ataxia. The group has recorded two albums, Automatic Writing (2004) and AW II (2007).
Picciotto currently works as a record producer most notably with Blonde Redhead and The Blood Brothers, and he has performed alongside members of The Ex at the Jazz festival in Wels, Austria. Picciotto also contributed guitar on two Vic Chesnutt albums, 2007's "North Star Deserter and 2009's At the Cut (co-producing the latter), for Constellation Records and performed live with Chesnutt and members of Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra and The Quavers in Jem Cohen's program entitled, "Evening's Civil Twilight in Empires of Tin at the Vienna International Film Festival (Viennale) in 2007 (a DVD of the program was released in 2009). Picciotto played guitar on Chesnutt's Fall/Winter 2009 North American Tour. He has a daughter with musician Kathi Wilcox from the band Bikini Kill and The Frumpies.
In July 2011, Minneapolis based record label Doomtree released an album of mash-ups between Fugazi and east coast veteran rap crew the Wu-Tang Clan. The album is titled 13 Chambers, group name Wugazi. However, Fugazi itself did not have any involvement with the release. Bassist Joe Lally was asked about his thoughts on the Wugazi release, and stated "I think they could've found better Fugazi pieces to sample with Wu-Tang guys rapping on it. I mean, it's enjoyable, and I do appreciate it for the fact that somebody enjoys our music enough to bring it into that. But, you know, I don't know. I guess I should shut up, because I suppose I'm about to run into these people at the Fun Fun Fun Fest festival and talk to them. But I'm afraid that is my opinion on it. It's like, get better samples of our stuff, do better work."
In October 2012, Chris Lawhorn released Fugazi Edits. The album includes 22 instrumental tracks, which sample 100 songs from Fugazi's discography. As in other cases, the band had no involvement in the production. But, the album was authorized for release by MacKaye, with the proceeds going to charity.
In 2016, Canty and Lally joined with guitarist Anthony Pirog to form the Messthetics, Canty and Lally's first project together since Fugazi's hiatus.
In March 2018, the Messthetics released their self-titled debut album and embarked upon a tour of the US and Japan. The band toured further and released a second album entitled Anthropocosmic Nest in 2019.
In 2018, Ian MacKaye, Amy Farina and Joe Lally debuted a new band. In February 2020, it was announced that the band, now called Coriky, would release their first album on March 27, 2020. The debut single, "Clean Kill", was released on February 11, 2020. The band previewed their album at a free show in D.C.'s St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church on February 22, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the release of Coriky was delayed to June 12, 2020, in part to accommodate independent record stores closed due to the pandemic. Upon release the record was favorable reviewed in a few publications; often drawing comparisons and contrasts with MacKaye and Farina's other band The Evens, as well as Fugazi.
Live performances
Between 1987 and 2003, Fugazi played over 1000 concerts in all 50 US states and all over the world. Over 800 of these shows were recorded by the band's sound engineers. Beginning in 2004 and continuing into 2005, Fugazi launched a 30 CD Live Series that featured concerts from various points in their career, which were made available for sale via Dischord Records. Continuing with the live series concept and after several years of development on December 1, 2011, Fugazi launched a comprehensive Live Series website through Dischord Records that features 750 recordings available for download at the suggested price of $5 each or a "pay what you want" sliding scale option for each download between $1–100 with the goal of eventually making all 800 of the shows that have been recorded available for purchase. For $500 fans can also purchase an "All Access" privilege which will include access to any future concerts and downloads added to the site.
While each concert was professionally mastered, the recordings capture everything that happened onstage and for preservation's sake the band chose not to edit anything out, singer/guitarist Guy Picciotto explained to the New York Times, "We liked this idea of, 'Let's just let it be everything,' ... There doesn't have to be the idea that this is the great, golden document. It's all there, and it's not cleaned up. You get what you get." The sound quality also varies as the earliest recordings were made to cassettes, then eventually digital formats such as DAT, CD-R and ultimately hard-drives were used. Each concert page also includes flyers, photographs and ticket stubs. As a career-spanning archival project, the Fugazi Live Series has few equals, putting the band in the company of acts like the Grateful Dead, Phish and Pearl Jam, three notable examples of other artists with such a large volume of concerts available for purchase.
Musical style
Fugazi's style has been described as post-hardcore, art punk, alternative rock, and experimental rock. Fugazi's music was an intentional departure from that of the hardcore punk bands the members had played in previously. Fugazi combined punk with funk and reggae beats, irregular stop-start song structures, and heavy riffs inspired by popular rock bands such as Led Zeppelin and Queen, bands that the punk community of the time largely disdained.
Picciotto became the group's second guitarist when he realized MacKaye's typically chunky, low-end riffs and Lally's dub-influenced basslines allowed him to focus on high-pitched parts. In both vocal and guitar roles, Picciotto assumed the role of a foil to MacKaye; employing a Rickenbacker guitar for its scratchy single-coil sound in order to "cut through MacKaye's chunky chording like a laser beam." Picciotto's assumption of guitar duties allowed all four members of the band to jam together and write songs that way, where previously they had played songs largely as MacKaye had arranged them. When writing songs, the band often rearranges them with different structures and different singers. Spin has listed MacKaye and Picciotto together at No. 86 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time for their unique and interlocking guitar style in Fugazi.
Generally, MacKaye's lyrics and singing are more direct and anthemic (MacKaye admits that he loves audience sing-alongs and writes songs with shout-able slogans), while Picciotto usually favors a more abstract, oblique approach. Lally has contributed vocals to a few songs as well, in which he sings in a more relaxed, quiet style as opposed to MacKaye and Picciotto, whose lyrics and vocals often feature strong emotional intensity. Later, Fugazi more fully integrated elements of punk rock, hardcore, soul and noise with an inventively syncopated rhythm section. Notable is MacKaye and Picciotto's inventive, interlocking guitar playing, which often defies the traditional notion of "lead" and "rhythm" guitars. They often feature unusual and dissonant chords and progressions filtered through a hardcore punk lens.
Each of Fugazi's albums since Repeater have featured an instrumental. By the time of 1995's Red Medicine bassist Joe Lally also began contributing vocals to the band and the group was implementing many of their broader influences into the overall sound. Critics Ian McCaleb and Ira Robbins declared that Fugazi's music combined an "unprecedented dynamic range ... and previously unimagined elements" such as "clattering musique concrète ... piano and sound effects ... murky dub and lancing clarinet" and "loose-limbed jammy funk ... into an ambitious, experimental format that raises more stylistic questions than it answers."
Influences
When questioned by Guitar World in 2002 about the band's influences, singer/guitarist Ian MacKaye responded, "Too many to mention. And not just from the last few years. Some of them predate us by decades, and most of them wouldn't be punk. I would hope any musician would be inspired by a lot of different kinds of music." In a 2004 interview with Indonesian magazine Deathrockstar, Picciotto named "D.C. groups" such as Bad Brains ("who inspired all of us so much at the beginning"), the Faith and Void as influences, in addition to Minutemen, Black Flag, Sonic Youth, the Ex and the Beatles, the latter of which all the members "share[d] a major love for". Despite this, he similarly conceded that "[i]ts [sic] impossible to narrow it down to one band or record because we didn't just crib from one blueprint, we were grabbing ideas from all over the place and then filtering them through our own limited and personally shaped skills."
Business practices
On their first tours, Fugazi worked out its DIY ethic by trial and error. Their decisions were partly motivated by pragmatic considerations that were essentially a punk rock version of simple living: for example, selling merchandise on tour would require a full-time merchandise salesperson who would require lodging, food, and other costs, so Fugazi decided to simplify their touring by not selling merchandise. The band was also motivated by moral or ethical considerations: for example, Fugazi's members regarded pricey admission for rock concerts as tantamount to price gouging a performer's most loyal fans. Fugazi's inexpensive target goal of $5 admission was spawned during a conversation on an early tour when the band's members were debating the lowest profitable admission price. Everett True has said that MacKaye and Fugazi "had a mind-set that believed that any involvement with the system was corrupting and that you should create completely alternative structures outside".
In later years, Fugazi was unable to negotiate ticket prices below about $10–$15 total. However, it never saw the $5 rule as inviolable, instead aiming to charge a price that was both affordable and profitable. Unlike some similar, independent rock contemporaries, Fugazi's performances and tours were always profitable, due to the group's popularity, low business overhead costs, and MacKaye's keen sense of audience response in given regions. Many times the band performed sold-out shows multiple consecutive nights at the same venue.
Fugazi's early tours earned it a strong word-of-mouth reputation, both for its powerful performances, and also for the band's eagerness to play in unusual venues. The group sought out alternatives to traditional rock clubs partly to relieve the boredom of touring, but also hoping to show fans that there are other options to traditional ways of doing things. As Picciotto said, "You find the Elks Lodge, you find the guy who's got a space in the back of his pizzeria, you find the guy who has a gallery. Kids will do that stuff because they want to make stuff happen."
The group (MacKaye in particular) also made a point of discouraging violent, unwanted slam dancing and fistfights, which it saw as relics of the late 1970s/early 1980s hardcore punk era. Michael Azerrad quotes Mackaye, "See, [slam dancers] have one form of communication: violence ... So to disorient them, you don't give them violence. I'd say, 'Excuse me, sir ...'- I mean, it freaks them out – 'Excuse me, sir, would you please cut that crap out?'" Azerrad writes, "[MacKaye's] admonitions seemed preachy to some. And by and large, people would obey – it wasn't cool to disrespect Ian MacKaye." Occasionally, Fugazi would have an unrepentant slam-dancer escorted from the concert, and give them an envelope containing a $5 refund (the group kept a stock of such envelopes in their tour van for these occasions).
During the summer of 1990 MacKaye formed the corporation Lunar Atrocities Ltd. in order to shield his own and his bandmates' personal assets from the threat of lawsuits. As MacKaye's financial advisor, Seth Martin, explained to the Washington Post in a 1993 interview: "protection from liability is the main reason to form a corporation, and for these guys it makes sense. If someone got hurt stage-diving and decided to sue, it would be harder to go after their personal assets."
Influence and legacy
Fugazi's music and ethics have been immensely influential on punk and alternative music throughout the years, and has earned the band praise from many notable musicians as well. Sublime "thanked" the band by namedropping them on their debut album. At the Drive-In called the band an influence on their own music, as did other notable post-hardcore bands such as Refused, Quicksand, Drive Like Jehu, Mclusky, and Cursive. John Frusciante named them an influence on Red Hot Chili Peppers' Californication and on his solo album The Will to Death. Nirvana cited the band as an influence, and Kurt Cobain - who was friends with the members of Fugazi - was even spotted in a popular photo of the band with the word "Fugazi" misspelt on both shoes. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam remarked that witnessing the band live "was a life-changing experience" for him. Reportedly a huge fan, Elliott Smith was "super-obsessed" with the band and later admitted that his former band Heatmiser was "trying to be Fugazi". The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr offered the band praise, and called MacKaye one of his favorite guitarists. Towards the end of his life, Joe Strummer, lead vocalist of The Clash, recognized Fugazi as the band that best exemplified "the spirit of punk" in a 2000 Rolling Stone interview, besides offering them accolades on several other occasions. In 1993, Joey Ramone of The Ramones picked the band as a favorite, labeling them a "great social conscience".
Graham Coxon of Blur recalls his introduction to bands such as Fugazi (and the Picciotto-led Rites of Spring) in the mid 90s as being one of the most musically significant moments of his life: "They used the guitar in an incredible way; making quite restrained noisy music, which I'd never heard English bands doing." Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World named both MacKaye and Picciotto as an influence on his guitar playing as they made him "more open to the ideas behind guitar playing, as opposed to the technical difficulty of it.". Daniel Kessler of Interpol was also influenced by the band in his guitar-playing, as was Ben Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan and Colin Frangicetto of Circa Survive. Tim Commerford of Rage Against the Machine found the band's music on Repeater revelatory, as did Steve Holmes of American Football. Tom DeLonge of Blink-182 called the band a big influence as they "stood for something and never varied from that path." "Fugazi was probably my biggest influence as far as wanting to start a band", Modest Mouse founding member Jeremiah Green admitted, "It was really great music and just sounded like something I could possibly do." Gareth Liddiard, lead vocalist and guitarist of both the Drones and Tropical Fuck Storm, named Fugazi (amongst many others) as an influence on his guitar-playing, and praised the band's live performances. When asked to name some of his favorite records or discographies, Brian Cook of Botch (and later Russian Circles) included the band's entire discography amongst others. Gogol Bordello's Eugene Hutz called the band's debut EP "probably the best I ever heard. It's so together and everything sits in the right place." Jeff Rosenstock not only called the band a big influence on his music, but also on his strict DIY business practices & ethics. Sunny Day Real Estate cited the band as an influence for similar reasons.
In addition, the band was a formative influence on Tool bassist Justin Chancellor, Jack White, Daniel Johns of Silverchair, Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney, Sara Lund of Unwound, Iceage, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Dylan Baldi of Cloud Nothings, Arcade Fire lead singer Win Butler, Travis Morrison of The Dismemberment Plan, Efrim Menuck of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Alison Mosshart of The Kills, Brand New guitarist Jesse Lacey, Converge lead vocalist Jacob Bannon, Coalesce, Tad Kubler of The Hold Steady, Ben Lee, Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, Explosions in the Sky, Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, Trevor de Brauw of Pelican, Ted Leo, Matty Healy of The 1975, Mary Timony, Hayley Williams of Paramore, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park and Lorde.
Members
Current
Ian MacKaye – vocals, guitar (1986–2003)
Joe Lally – bass guitar, vocals (1986–2003)
Brendan Canty – drums (1987–2003)
Guy Picciotto – vocals, guitar (1988/1989–2003)
Former
Colin Sears – drums (1986)
Touring musicians
Jerry Busher – additional drums, trumpet (1998–2002)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Notes
References
External links
Fugazi's page at Dischord
Southern distribution page
[ Fugazi's page at Allmusic]
Rare recorded live Fugazi show, one of the last ever at Austin's Liberty Lunch venue in 1990.
Alternative rock groups from Washington, D.C.
American post-hardcore musical groups
Anti-corporate activism
American art rock groups
Dischord Records artists
Indie rock musical groups from Washington, D.C.
Musical groups established in 1987
Musical quartets
Punk rock groups from Washington, D.C.
American emo musical groups
Musical groups disestablished in 2003 | false | [
"The 2009 PGA Tour season ran from January 8 to November 15. The season consisted of 46 official money events, one of which was canceled. This included four major championships and three World Golf Championships, which are also sanctioned by the European Tour.\n\nSchedule\nThe following table lists the main season events for 2009. The numbers in parentheses after the winners' names are the number of wins they had on the tour up to and including that event.\n\nUnofficial events\nThe following events did not carry official money.\n\nSource:\n\nLocation of tournaments\n\nMoney leaders\nThis shows the money leaders for the 2009 PGA Tour season. These figures do not include FedEx Cup bonus money.\n\nSource:\n\nAwards\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n2009 PGA Tour at ESPN\n\nPGA Tour seasons\nPGA Tour",
"Bob Pugh was a Welsh professional footballer who played for Newport County and Nottingham Forest\n\nIn 1929 Pugh was selected for the Football Association of Wales tour of Canada but these matches were not classed as international cap matches. His Newport County teammate Albert 'Nippy' Wardell was also selected for the tour. Pugh and Tommy Lewis of New Brighton were the only two players in the squad not to attain full international caps either before or after the tour.\nHe was transferred to Nottingham Forest in January 1931.\n\nReferences\n\nWelsh footballers\nNewport County A.F.C. players\nNottingham Forest F.C. players\nEnglish Football League players\nYear of death missing\nYear of birth missing\nAssociation football forwards"
]
|
[
"William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin",
"Calculations on data rate"
]
| C_c6c79a4f96a74f119c45191b1aa2ab43_0 | What does William have to do with calculations on data rate? | 1 | What does William Thomson have to do with calculations on data rate? | William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin | Though now eminent in the academic field, Thomson was obscure to the general public. In September 1852, he married childhood sweetheart Margaret Crum, daughter of Walter Crum; but her health broke down on their honeymoon and, over the next seventeen years, Thomson was distracted by her suffering. On 16 October 1854, George Gabriel Stokes wrote to Thomson to try to re-interest him in work by asking his opinion on some experiments of Michael Faraday on the proposed transatlantic telegraph cable. Faraday had demonstrated how the construction of a cable would limit the rate at which messages could be sent - in modern terms, the bandwidth. Thomson jumped at the problem and published his response that month. He expressed his results in terms of the data rate that could be achieved and the economic consequences in terms of the potential revenue of the transatlantic undertaking. In a further 1855 analysis, Thomson stressed the impact that the design of the cable would have on its profitability. Thomson contended that the signalling speed through a given cable was inversely proportional to the square of the length of the cable. Thomson's results were disputed at a meeting of the British Association in 1856 by Wildman Whitehouse, the electrician of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Whitehouse had possibly misinterpreted the results of his own experiments but was doubtless feeling financial pressure as plans for the cable were already well under way. He believed that Thomson's calculations implied that the cable must be "abandoned as being practically and commercially impossible." Thomson attacked Whitehouse's contention in a letter to the popular Athenaeum magazine, pitching himself into the public eye. Thomson recommended a larger conductor with a larger cross section of insulation. However, he thought Whitehouse no fool and suspected that he might have the practical skill to make the existing design work. Thomson's work had, however, caught the eye of the project's undertakers and in December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. CANNOTANSWER | Thomson contended that the signalling speed through a given cable was inversely proportional to the square of the length of the cable. | William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (26 June 182417 December 1907) was a British mathematician, mathematical physicist and engineer born in Belfast. Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, he did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and did much to unify the emerging discipline of physics in its contemporary form. He received the Royal Society's Copley Medal in 1883, was its President 1890–1895, and in 1892 was the first British scientist to be elevated to the House of Lords.
Absolute temperatures are stated in units of kelvin in his honour. While the existence of a lower limit to temperature (absolute zero) was known prior to his work, Kelvin is known for determining its correct value as approximately −273.15 degrees Celsius or −459.67 degrees Fahrenheit. The Joule–Thomson effect is also named in his honour.
He worked closely with mathematics professor Hugh Blackburn in his work. He also had a career as an electric telegraph engineer and inventor, which propelled him into the public eye and ensured his wealth, fame and honour. For his work on the transatlantic telegraph project he was knighted in 1866 by Queen Victoria, becoming Sir William Thomson. He had extensive maritime interests and was most noted for his work on the mariner's compass, which previously had limited reliability.
He was ennobled in 1892 in recognition of his achievements in thermodynamics, and of his opposition to Irish Home Rule, becoming Baron Kelvin, of Largs in the County of Ayr. The title refers to the River Kelvin, which flows near his laboratory at the University of Glasgow's Gilmorehill home at Hillhead. Despite offers of elevated posts from several world-renowned universities, Kelvin refused to leave Glasgow, remaining until his eventual retirement from that post in 1899. Active in industrial research and development, he was recruited around 1899 by George Eastman to serve as vice-chairman of the board of the British company Kodak Limited, affiliated with Eastman Kodak. In 1904 he became Chancellor of the University of Glasgow.
His home was the red sandstone mansion Netherhall, in Largs, which he built in the 1870s and where he died. The Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow has a permanent exhibition on the work of Kelvin including many of his original papers, instruments, and other artefacts, such as his smoking pipe.
Early life and work
Family
William Thomson's father, James Thomson, was a teacher of mathematics and engineering at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and the son of a farmer. James Thomson married Margaret Gardner in 1817 and, of their children, four boys and two girls survived infancy. Margaret Thomson died in 1830 when William was six years old.
William and his elder brother James were tutored at home by their father while the younger boys were tutored by their elder sisters. James was intended to benefit from the major share of his father's encouragement, affection and financial support and was prepared for a career in engineering.
In 1832, his father was appointed professor of mathematics at Glasgow and the family moved there in October 1833. The Thomson children were introduced to a broader cosmopolitan experience than their father's rural upbringing, spending mid-1839 in London and the boys were tutored in French in Paris. Much of Thomson's life during the mid-1840s was spent in Germany and the Netherlands. Language study was given a high priority.
His sister, Anna Thomson, was the mother of James Thomson Bottomley FRSE (1845–1926).
Youth
Thomson had heart problems and nearly died when he was 9 years old. He attended the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, where his father was a professor in the university department, before beginning study at Glasgow University in 1834 at the age of 10, not out of any precociousness; the University provided many of the facilities of an elementary school for able pupils, and this was a typical starting age.
In school, Thomson showed a keen interest in the classics along with his natural interest in the sciences. At the age of 12 he won a prize for translating Lucian of Samosata's Dialogues of the Gods from Latin to English.
In the academic year 1839/1840, Thomson won the class prize in astronomy for his Essay on the figure of the Earth which showed an early facility for mathematical analysis and creativity. His physics tutor at this time was his namesake, David Thomson.
Throughout his life, he would work on the problems raised in the essay as a coping strategy during times of personal stress. On the title page of this essay Thomson wrote the following lines from Alexander Pope's Essay on Man. These lines inspired Thomson to understand the natural world using the power and method of science:
Thomson became intrigued with Fourier's Théorie analytique de la chaleur and committed himself to study the "Continental" mathematics resisted by a British establishment still working in the shadow of Sir Isaac Newton. Unsurprisingly, Fourier's work had been attacked by domestic mathematicians, Philip Kelland authoring a critical book. The book motivated Thomson to write his first published scientific paper under the pseudonym P.Q.R., defending Fourier, and submitted to the Cambridge Mathematical Journal by his father. A second P.Q.R. paper followed almost immediately.
While on holiday with his family in Lamlash in 1841, he wrote a third, more substantial P.Q.R. paper On the uniform motion of heat in homogeneous solid bodies, and its connection with the mathematical theory of electricity. In the paper he made remarkable connections between the mathematical theories of heat conduction and electrostatics, an analogy that James Clerk Maxwell was ultimately to describe as one of the most valuable science-forming ideas.
Cambridge
William's father was able to make a generous provision for his favourite son's education and, in 1841, installed him, with extensive letters of introduction and ample accommodation, at Peterhouse, Cambridge. While at Cambridge, Thomson was active in sports, athletics and sculling, winning the Colquhoun Sculls in 1843. He also took a lively interest in the classics, music, and literature; but the real love of his intellectual life was the pursuit of science. The study of mathematics, physics, and in particular, of electricity, had captivated his imagination. In 1845 Thomson graduated as Second Wrangler. He also won the First Smith's Prize, which, unlike the tripos, is a test of original research. Robert Leslie Ellis, one of the examiners, is said to have declared to another examiner "You and I are just about fit to mend his pens."
In 1845, he gave the first mathematical development of Michael Faraday's idea that electric induction takes place through an intervening medium, or "dielectric", and not by some incomprehensible "action at a distance". He also devised the mathematical technique of electrical images, which became a powerful agent in solving problems of electrostatics, the science which deals with the forces between electrically charged bodies at rest. It was partly in response to his encouragement that Faraday undertook the research in September 1845 that led to the discovery of the Faraday effect, which established that light and magnetic (and thus electric) phenomena were related.
He was elected a fellow of St. Peter's (as Peterhouse was often called at the time) in June 1845. On gaining the fellowship, he spent some time in the laboratory of the celebrated Henri Victor Regnault, at Paris; but in 1846 he was appointed to the chair of natural philosophy in the University of Glasgow. At twenty-two he found himself wearing the gown of a professor in one of the oldest Universities in the country, and lecturing to the class of which he was a first year student a few years before.
Thermodynamics
By 1847, Thomson had already gained a reputation as a precocious and maverick scientist when he attended the British Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Oxford. At that meeting, he heard James Prescott Joule making yet another of his, so far, ineffective attempts to discredit the caloric theory of heat and the theory of the heat engine built upon it by Sadi Carnot and Émile Clapeyron. Joule argued for the mutual convertibility of heat and mechanical work and for their mechanical equivalence.
Thomson was intrigued but sceptical. Though he felt that Joule's results demanded theoretical explanation, he retreated into an even deeper commitment to the Carnot–Clapeyron school. He predicted that the melting point of ice must fall with pressure, otherwise its expansion on freezing could be exploited in a perpetuum mobile. Experimental confirmation in his laboratory did much to bolster his beliefs.
In 1848, he extended the Carnot–Clapeyron theory further through his dissatisfaction that the gas thermometer provided only an operational definition of temperature. He proposed an absolute temperature scale in which a unit of heat descending from a body A at the temperature T° of this scale, to a body B at the temperature (T−1)°, would give out the same mechanical effect [work], whatever be the number T. Such a scale would be quite independent of the physical properties of any specific substance. By employing such a "waterfall", Thomson postulated that a point would be reached at which no further heat (caloric) could be transferred, the point of absolute zero about which Guillaume Amontons had speculated in 1702. "Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat", published by Carnot in French in 1824, the year of Lord Kelvin's birth, used −267 as an estimate of the absolute zero temperature. Thomson used data published by Regnault to calibrate his scale against established measurements.
In his publication, Thomson wrote:
—But a footnote signalled his first doubts about the caloric theory, referring to Joule's very remarkable discoveries. Surprisingly, Thomson did not send Joule a copy of his paper, but when Joule eventually read it he wrote to Thomson on 6 October, claiming that his studies had demonstrated conversion of heat into work but that he was planning further experiments. Thomson replied on 27 October, revealing that he was planning his own experiments and hoping for a reconciliation of their two views.
Thomson returned to critique Carnot's original publication and read his analysis to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in January 1849, still convinced that the theory was fundamentally sound. However, though Thomson conducted no new experiments, over the next two years he became increasingly dissatisfied with Carnot's theory and convinced of Joule's. In February 1851 he sat down to articulate his new thinking. He was uncertain of how to frame his theory and the paper went through several drafts before he settled on an attempt to reconcile Carnot and Joule. During his rewriting, he seems to have considered ideas that would subsequently give rise to the second law of thermodynamics. In Carnot's theory, lost heat was absolutely lost but Thomson contended that it was "lost to man irrecoverably; but not lost in the material world". Moreover, his theological beliefs led Thompson to extrapolate the second law to the cosmos, originating the idea of universal heat death.
Compensation would require a creative act or an act possessing similar power, resulting in a rejuvenating universe (as Thompson had previously compared universal heat death to a clock running slower and slower, although he was unsure whether it would eventually reach thermodynamic equilibrium and stop for ever). Kelvin also formulated the heat death paradox (Kelvin’s paradox) in 1862, which uses the second law of thermodynamics to disprove the possibility of an infinitely old universe; this paradox was later extended by Rankine.
In final publication, Thomson retreated from a radical departure and declared "the whole theory of the motive power of heat is founded on ... two ... propositions, due respectively to Joule, and to Carnot and Clausius." Thomson went on to state a form of the second law:
In the paper, Thomson supported the theory that heat was a form of motion but admitted that he had been influenced only by the thought of Sir Humphry Davy and the experiments of Joule and Julius Robert von Mayer, maintaining that experimental demonstration of the conversion of heat into work was still outstanding.
As soon as Joule read the paper he wrote to Thomson with his comments and questions. Thus began a fruitful, though largely epistolary, collaboration between the two men, Joule conducting experiments, Thomson analysing the results and suggesting further experiments. The collaboration lasted from 1852 to 1856, its discoveries including the Joule–Thomson effect, sometimes called the Kelvin–Joule effect, and the published results did much to bring about general acceptance of Joule's work and the kinetic theory.
Thomson published more than 650 scientific papers and applied for 70 patents (not all were issued). Regarding science, Thomson wrote the following:
Transatlantic cable
Calculations on data rate
Though now eminent in the academic field, Thomson was obscure to the general public. In September 1852, he married childhood sweetheart Margaret Crum, daughter of Walter Crum; but her health broke down on their honeymoon, and over the next seventeen years, Thomson was distracted by her suffering. On 16 October 1854, George Gabriel Stokes wrote to Thomson to try to re-interest him in work by asking his opinion on some experiments of Michael Faraday on the proposed transatlantic telegraph cable.
Faraday had demonstrated how the construction of a cable would limit the rate at which messages could be sent – in modern terms, the bandwidth. Thomson jumped at the problem and published his response that month. He expressed his results in terms of the data rate that could be achieved and the economic consequences in terms of the potential revenue of the transatlantic undertaking. In a further 1855 analysis, Thomson stressed the impact that the design of the cable would have on its profitability.
Thomson contended that the signalling speed through a given cable was inversely proportional to the square of the length of the cable. Thomson's results were disputed at a meeting of the British Association in 1856 by Wildman Whitehouse, the electrician of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Whitehouse had possibly misinterpreted the results of his own experiments but was doubtless feeling financial pressure as plans for the cable were already well under way. He believed that Thomson's calculations implied that the cable must be "abandoned as being practically and commercially impossible".
Thomson attacked Whitehouse's contention in a letter to the popular Athenaeum magazine, pitching himself into the public eye. Thomson recommended a larger conductor with a larger cross section of insulation. He thought Whitehouse no fool, and suspected that he might have the practical skill to make the existing design work. Thomson's work had attracted the attention of the project's undertakers. In December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company.
Scientist to engineer
Thomson became scientific adviser to a team with Whitehouse as chief electrician and Sir Charles Tilston Bright as chief engineer but Whitehouse had his way with the specification, supported by Faraday and Samuel F. B. Morse.
Thomson sailed on board the cable-laying ship in August 1857, with Whitehouse confined to land owing to illness, but the voyage ended after when the cable parted. Thomson contributed to the effort by publishing in the Engineer the whole theory of the stresses involved in the laying of a submarine cable, and showed that when the line is running out of the ship, at a constant speed, in a uniform depth of water, it sinks in a slant or straight incline from the point where it enters the water to that where it touches the bottom.
Thomson developed a complete system for operating a submarine telegraph that was capable of sending a character every 3.5 seconds. He patented the key elements of his system, the mirror galvanometer and the siphon recorder, in 1858.
Whitehouse still felt able to ignore Thomson's many suggestions and proposals. It was not until Thomson convinced the board that using purer copper for replacing the lost section of cable would improve data capacity, that he first made a difference to the execution of the project.
The board insisted that Thomson join the 1858 cable-laying expedition, without any financial compensation, and take an active part in the project. In return, Thomson secured a trial for his mirror galvanometer, which the board had been unenthusiastic about, alongside Whitehouse's equipment. Thomson found the access he was given unsatisfactory and the Agamemnon had to return home following the disastrous storm of June 1858. In London, the board was about to abandon the project and mitigate their losses by selling the cable. Thomson, Cyrus West Field and Curtis M. Lampson argued for another attempt and prevailed, Thomson insisting that the technical problems were tractable. Though employed in an advisory capacity, Thomson had, during the voyages, developed a real engineer's instincts and skill at practical problem-solving under pressure, often taking the lead in dealing with emergencies and being unafraid to assist in manual work. A cable was completed on 5 August.
Disaster and triumph
Thomson's fears were realized when Whitehouse's apparatus proved insufficiently sensitive and had to be replaced by Thomson's mirror galvanometer. Whitehouse continued to maintain that it was his equipment that was providing the service and started to engage in desperate measures to remedy some of the problems. He succeeded in fatally damaging the cable by applying 2,000 V. When the cable failed completely Whitehouse was dismissed, though Thomson objected and was reprimanded by the board for his interference. Thomson subsequently regretted that he had acquiesced too readily to many of Whitehouse's proposals and had not challenged him with sufficient vigour.
A joint committee of inquiry was established by the Board of Trade and the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Most of the blame for the cable's failure was found to rest with Whitehouse. The committee found that, though underwater cables were notorious in their lack of reliability, most of the problems arose from known and avoidable causes. Thomson was appointed one of a five-member committee to recommend a specification for a new cable. The committee reported in October 1863.
In July 1865, Thomson sailed on the cable-laying expedition of the but the voyage was dogged by technical problems. The cable was lost after had been laid and the project was abandoned. A further attempt in 1866 laid a new cable in two weeks, and then recovered and completed the 1865 cable. The enterprise was now feted as a triumph by the public and Thomson enjoyed a large share of the adulation. Thomson, along with the other principals of the project, was knighted on 10 November 1866.
To exploit his inventions for signalling on long submarine cables, Thomson now entered into a partnership with C. F. Varley and Fleeming Jenkin. In conjunction with the latter, he also devised an automatic curb sender, a kind of telegraph key for sending messages on a cable.
Later expeditions
Thomson took part in the laying of the French Atlantic submarine communications cable of 1869, and with Jenkin was engineer of the Western and Brazilian and Platino-Brazilian cables, assisted by vacation student James Alfred Ewing. He was present at the laying of the Pará to Pernambuco section of the Brazilian coast cables in 1873.
Thomson's wife died on 17 June 1870, and he resolved to make changes in his life. Already addicted to seafaring, in September he purchased a 126-ton schooner, the Lalla Rookh and used it as a base for entertaining friends and scientific colleagues. His maritime interests continued in 1871 when he was appointed to the board of enquiry into the sinking of .
In June 1873, Thomson and Jenkin were on board the Hooper, bound for Lisbon with of cable when the cable developed a fault. An unscheduled 16-day stop-over in Madeira followed and Thomson became good friends with Charles R. Blandy and his three daughters. On 2 May 1874 he set sail for Madeira on the Lalla Rookh. As he approached the harbour, he signaled to the Blandy residence "Will you marry me?" and Fanny (Blandy's daughter Frances Anna Blandy) signaled back "Yes". Thomson married Fanny, 13 years his junior, on 24 June 1874.
Other contributions
Thomson and Tait: Treatise on Natural Philosophy
Over the period 1855 to 1867, Thomson collaborated with Peter Guthrie Tait on a text book that founded the study of mechanics first on the mathematics of kinematics, the description of motion without regard to force. The text developed dynamics in various areas but with constant attention to energy as a unifying principle.
A second edition appeared in 1879, expanded to two separately bound parts. The textbook set a standard for early education in mathematical physics.
Atmospheric electricity
Kelvin made significant contributions to atmospheric electricity for the relatively short time for which he worked on the subject, around 1859. He developed several instruments for measuring the atmospheric electric field, using some of the electrometers he had initially developed for telegraph work, which he tested at Glasgow and whilst on holiday on Arran. His measurements on Arran were sufficiently rigorous and well-calibrated that they could be used to deduce air pollution from the Glasgow area, through its effects on the atmospheric electric field. Kelvin's water dropper electrometer was used for measuring the atmospheric electric field at Kew Observatory and Eskdalemuir Observatory for many years, and one was still in use operationally at Kakioka Observatory in Japan until early 2021. Kelvin may have unwittingly observed atmospheric electrical effects caused by the Carrington event (a significant geomagnetic storm) in early September 1859.
Kelvin's vortex theory of the atom
Between 1870 and 1890 the vortex atom theory, which purported that an atom was a vortex in the aether, was popular among British physicists and mathematicians. Thomson pioneered the theory, which was distinct from the seventeenth century vortex theory of Descartes in that Thomson was thinking in terms of a unitary continuum theory, whereas Descartes was thinking in terms of three different types of matter, each relating respectively to emission, transmission, and reflection of light. About 60 scientific papers were written by approximately 25 scientists. Following the lead of Thomson and Tait, the branch of topology called knot theory was developed. Kelvin's initiative in this complex study that continues to inspire new mathematics has led to persistence of the topic in history of science.
Marine
Thomson was an enthusiastic yachtsman, his interest in all things relating to the sea perhaps arising from, or fostered by, his experiences on the Agamemnon and the Great Eastern.
Thomson introduced a method of deep-sea depth sounding, in which a steel piano wire replaces the ordinary hand line. The wire glides so easily to the bottom that "flying soundings" can be taken while the ship is at full speed. A pressure gauge to register the depth of the sinker was added by Thomson.
About the same time he revived the Sumner method of finding a ship's position, and calculated a set of tables for its ready application.
During the 1880s, Thomson worked to perfect the adjustable compass to correct errors arising from magnetic deviation owing to the increased use of iron in naval architecture. Thomson's design was a great improvement on the older instruments, being steadier and less hampered by friction. The deviation due to the ship's magnetism was corrected by movable iron masses at the binnacle. Thomson's innovations involved much detailed work to develop principles identified by George Biddell Airy and others, but contributed little in terms of novel physical thinking. Thomson's energetic lobbying and networking proved effective in gaining acceptance of his instrument by The Admiralty.
Charles Babbage had been among the first to suggest that a lighthouse might be made to signal a distinctive number by occultations of its light, but Thomson pointed out the merits of the Morse code for the purpose, and urged that the signals should consist of short and long flashes of the light to represent the dots and dashes.
Electrical standards
Thomson did more than any other electrician up to his time in introducing accurate methods and apparatus for measuring electricity. As early as 1845 he pointed out that the experimental results of William Snow Harris were in accordance with the laws of Coulomb. In the Memoirs of the Roman Academy of Sciences for 1857 he published a description of his new divided ring electrometer, based on the old electroscope of Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger and he introduced a chain or series of effective instruments, including the quadrant electrometer, which cover the entire field of electrostatic measurement. He invented the current balance, also known as the Kelvin balance or Ampere balance (SiC), for the precise specification of the ampere, the standard unit of electric current. From around 1880 he was aided by the electrical engineer Magnus Maclean FRSE in his electrical experiments.
In 1893, Thomson headed an international commission to decide on the design of the Niagara Falls power station. Despite his belief in the superiority of direct current electric power transmission, he endorsed Westinghouse's alternating current system which had been demonstrated at the Chicago World's Fair of that year. Even after Niagara Falls Thomson still held to his belief that direct current was the superior system.
Acknowledging his contribution to electrical standardisation, the International Electrotechnical Commission elected Thomson as its first President at its preliminary meeting, held in London on 26–27 June 1906. "On the proposal of the President [Mr Alexander Siemens, Great Britain], secounded [sic] by Mr Mailloux [US Institute of Electrical Engineers] the Right Honorable Lord Kelvin, G.C.V.O., O.M., was unanimously elected first President of the Commission", minutes of the Preliminary Meeting Report read.
Age of the Earth: geology
Kelvin estimated the age of the Earth. Given his youthful work on the figure of the Earth and his interest in heat conduction, it is no surprise that he chose to investigate the Earth's cooling and to make historical inferences of the Earth's age from his calculations. Thomson was a creationist in a broad sense, but he was not a 'flood geologist' (a view that had lost mainstream scientific support by the 1840s). He contended that the laws of thermodynamics operated from the birth of the universe and envisaged a dynamic process that saw the organisation and evolution of the Solar System and other structures, followed by a gradual "heat death". He developed the view that the Earth had once been too hot to support life and contrasted this view with that of uniformitarianism, that conditions had remained constant since the indefinite past. He contended that "This earth, certainly a moderate number of millions of years ago, was a red-hot globe … ."
After the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species in 1859, Thomson saw evidence of the relatively short habitable age of the Earth as tending to contradict Darwin's gradualist explanation of slow natural selection bringing about biological diversity. Thomson's own views favoured a version of theistic evolution sped up by divine guidance. His calculations showed that the Sun could not have possibly existed long enough to allow the slow incremental development by evolution – unless some energy source beyond what he or any other Victorian era person knew of was found. He was soon drawn into public disagreement with geologists, and with Darwin's supporters John Tyndall and T. H. Huxley. In his response to Huxley's address to the Geological Society of London (1868) he presented his address "Of Geological Dynamics" (1869) which, among his other writings, challenged the geologists' acceptance that the earth must be of indefinite age.
Thomson's initial 1864 estimate of the Earth's age was from 20 to 400 million years old. These wide limits were due to his uncertainty about the melting temperature of rock, to which he equated the Earth's interior temperature, as well as the uncertainty in thermal conductivities and specific heats of rocks. Over the years he refined his arguments and reduced the upper bound by a factor of ten, and in 1897 Thomson, now Lord Kelvin, ultimately settled on an estimate that the Earth was 20–40 million years old. In a letter published in Scientific American Supplement 1895 Kelvin criticized geologists' estimates of the age of rocks and the age of the earth, including the views published by Charles Darwin, as "vaguely vast age".
His exploration of this estimate can be found in his 1897 address to the Victoria Institute, given at the request of the Institute's president George Stokes, as recorded in that Institute's journal Transactions. Although his former assistant John Perry published a paper in 1895 challenging Kelvin's assumption of low thermal conductivity inside the Earth, and thus showing a much greater age, this had little immediate impact. The discovery in 1903 that radioactive decay releases heat led to Kelvin's estimate being challenged, and Ernest Rutherford famously made the argument in a 1904 lecture attended by Kelvin that this provided the unknown energy source Kelvin had suggested, but the estimate was not overturned until the development in 1907 of radiometric dating of rocks.
It was widely believed that the discovery of radioactivity had invalidated Thomson's estimate of the age of the Earth. Thomson himself never publicly acknowledged this because he thought he had a much stronger argument restricting the age of the Sun to no more than 20 million years. Without sunlight, there could be no explanation for the sediment record on the Earth's surface. At the time, the only known source for the solar power output was gravitational collapse. It was only when thermonuclear fusion was recognised in the 1930s that Thomson's age paradox was truly resolved.
Later life and death
In the winter of 1860–1861 Kelvin slipped on the ice while curling near his home at Netherhall and fractured his leg, causing him to miss the 1861 Manchester meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and to limp thereafter. He remained something of a celebrity on both sides of the Atlantic until his death.
Thomson remained a devout believer in Christianity throughout his life; attendance at chapel was part of his daily routine. He saw his Christian faith as supporting and informing his scientific work, as is evident from his address to the annual meeting of the Christian Evidence Society, 23 May 1889.
In the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902 (the original day of the coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra), Kelvin was appointed a Privy Councillor and one of the first members of the new Order of Merit (OM). He received the order from the King on 8 August 1902, and was sworn a member of the council at Buckingham Palace on 11 August 1902. In his later years he often travelled to his town house at 15 Eaton Place, off Eaton Square in London's Belgravia.
In November 1907 he caught a chill and his condition deteriorated until he died at his Scottish country seat, Netherhall, in Largs on 17 December.
At the request of Westminster Abbey, the undertakers Wylie & Lochhead prepared an oak coffin, lined with lead. In the dark of the winter evening the cortege set off from Netherhall for Largs railway station, a distance of about a mile. Large crowds witnessed the passing of the cortege, and shopkeepers closed their premises and dimmed their lights. The coffin was placed in a special Midland and Glasgow and South Western Railway van. The train set off at 8.30 pm for Kilmarnock, where the van was attached to the overnight express to St Pancras railway station in London.
Kelvin's funeral was to be held on 23 December 1907. The coffin was taken from St Pancras by hearse to Westminster Abbey, where it rested overnight in St Faith's Chapel. The following day the Abbey was crowded for the funeral, including representatives from the University of Glasgow and the University of Cambridge, along with representatives from France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Russia, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Monaco. Kelvin's grave is in the nave, near the choir screen, and close to the graves of Isaac Newton, John Herschel, and Charles Darwin. The pall-bearers included Darwin's son, Sir George Darwin.
Back in Scotland the University of Glasgow held a memorial service for Kelvin in the Bute Hall. Kelvin had been a member of the Scottish Episcopal Church, attached to St Columba's Episcopal Church in Largs, and when in Glasgow to St Mary's Episcopal Church (now, St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow). At the same time as the funeral in Westminster Abbey, a service was held in St Columba's Episcopal Church, Largs, attended by a large congregation including burgh dignitaries.
William Thomson is also memorialised on the Thomson family grave in Glasgow Necropolis. The family grave has a second modern memorial to William alongside, erected by the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow; a society of which he was president in the periods 1856–1858 and 1874–1877.
Aftermath and legacy
Limits of classical physics
In 1884, Thomson led a master class on "Molecular Dynamics and the Wave Theory of Light" at Johns Hopkins University. Kelvin referred to the acoustic wave equation describing sound as waves of pressure in air and attempted to describe also an electromagnetic wave equation, presuming a luminiferous aether susceptible to vibration. The study group included Michelson and Morley who subsequently performed the Michelson–Morley experiment that undercut the aether theory. Thomson did not provide a text but A. S. Hathaway took notes and duplicated them with a Papyrograph. As the subject matter was under active development, Thomson amended that text and in 1904 it was typeset and published. Thomson's attempts to provide mechanical models ultimately failed in the electromagnetic regime. Starting from his lecture in 1884, Kelvin was also the first scientist to formulate the hypothetical concept of dark matter; he then attempted to define and locate some “dark bodies” in the Milky Way.
On 27 April 1900 he gave a widely reported lecture titled Nineteenth-Century Clouds over the Dynamical Theory of Heat and Light to the Royal Institution. The two "dark clouds" he was alluding to were confusion surrounding how matter moves through the aether (including the puzzling results of the Michelson–Morley experiment) and indications that the Law of Equipartition in statistical mechanics might break down. Two major physical theories were developed during the twentieth century starting from these issues: for the former, the theory of relativity; for the second, quantum mechanics. Albert Einstein, in 1905, published the so-called "Annus Mirabilis papers", one of which explained the photoelectric effect, based on Max Planck's discovery of energy quanta which was the foundation of quantum mechanics, another of which described special relativity, and the last of which explained Brownian motion in terms of statistical mechanics, providing a strong argument for the existence of atoms.
Pronouncements later proven to be false
Like many scientists, Thomson made some mistakes in predicting the future of technology.
His biographer Silvanus P. Thompson writes that "When Röntgen's discovery of the X-rays was announced at the end of 1895, Lord Kelvin was entirely skeptical, and regarded the announcement as a hoax. The papers had been full of the wonders of Röntgen's rays, about which Lord Kelvin was intensely skeptical until Röntgen himself sent him a copy of his Memoir"; on 17 January 1896, having read the paper and seen the photographs, he wrote Röntgen a letter saying that "I need not tell you that when I read the paper I was very much astonished and delighted. I can say no more now than to congratulate you warmly on the great discovery you have made" He would have his own hand X-rayed in May 1896. (See also N rays.)
His forecast for practical aviation (i.e., heavier-than-air aircraft) was negative. In 1896 he refused an invitation to join the Aeronautical Society, writing that "I have not the smallest molecule of faith in aerial navigation other than ballooning or of expectation of good results from any of the trials we hear of." And in a 1902 newspaper interview he predicted that "No balloon and no aeroplane will ever be practically successful."
The statement "There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement" has been widely misattributed to Kelvin since the 1980s, either without citation or stating that it was made in an address to the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1900). There is no evidence that Kelvin said this, and the quote is instead a paraphrase of Albert A. Michelson, who in 1894 stated: "… it seems probable that most of the grand underlying principles have been firmly established … An eminent physicist remarked that the future truths of physical science are to be looked for in the sixth place of decimals." Similar statements were given earlier by others, such as Philipp von Jolly. The attribution to Kelvin giving an address in 1900 is presumably a confusion with his "Two clouds" speech, delivered to the Royal Institution in 1900 (see above), and which on the contrary pointed out areas that would subsequently see revolutions.
In 1898, Kelvin predicted that only 400 years of oxygen supply remained on the planet, due to the rate of burning combustibles. In his calculation, Kelvin assumed that photosynthesis was the only source of free oxygen; he did not know all of the components of the oxygen cycle. He could not even have known all of the sources of photosynthesis: for example the cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus—which accounts for more than half of marine photosynthesis—was not discovered until 1986.
Eponyms
A variety of physical phenomena and concepts with which Thomson is associated are named Kelvin, including:
Kelvin bridge (also known as Thomson bridge)
Kelvin functions
Kelvin–Helmholtz instability
Kelvin–Helmholtz luminosity
Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism
Kelvin material
Joule-Kelvin effect
Kelvin sensing
Kelvin transform in potential theory
Kelvin water dropper
Kelvin wave
Kelvin’s heat death paradox
Kelvin's circulation theorem
Kelvin–Stokes theorem
Kelvin–Varley divider
The SI unit of temperature, kelvin
Honours
Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1847.
Keith Medal, 1864.
Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize, 1887.
President, 1873–1878, 1886–1890, 1895–1907.
Foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 1851.
Fellow of the Royal Society, 1851.
Royal Medal, 1856.
Copley Medal, 1883.
President, 1890–1895.
Hon. Member of the Royal College of Preceptors (College of Teachers), 1858.
Hon. Member of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, 1859.
Knighted 1866.
Commander of the Imperial Order of the Rose (Brazil), 1873.
Commander of the Legion of Honour (France), 1881.
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour, 1889.
Knight of the Prussian Order Pour le Mérite, 1884.
Commander of the Order of Leopold (Belgium), 1890.
Baron Kelvin, of Largs in the County of Ayr, 1892. The title derives from the River Kelvin, which runs by the grounds of the University of Glasgow. His title died with him, as he was survived by neither heirs nor close relations.
Knight Grand Cross of the Victorian Order, 1896.
Honorary degree Legum doctor (LL.D.), Yale University, 5 May 1902.
One of the first members of the Order of Merit, 1902.
Privy Counsellor, 11 August 1902.
Honorary degree Doctor mathematicae from the Royal Frederick University on 6 September 1902, when they celebrated the centennial of the birth of mathematician Niels Henrik Abel.
First international recipient of John Fritz Medal, 1905.
Order of the First Class of the Sacred Treasure of Japan, 1901.
He is buried in Westminster Abbey, London next to Isaac Newton.
Lord Kelvin was commemorated on the £20 note issued by the Clydesdale Bank in 1971; in the current issue of banknotes, his image appears on the bank's £100 note. He is shown holding his adjustable compass and in the background is a map of the transatlantic cable.
The town of Kelvin, Arizona, is named in his honour, as he was reputedly a large investor in the mining operations there.
In 2011 he was one of seven inaugural inductees to the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame.
World Refrigeration Day, is 26 June. It was chosen to celebrate his birth date and has been held annually, since 2019.
Arms
See also
Taylor column
People on Scottish banknotes
List of things named after Lord Kelvin
References
Kelvin's works
2nd edition, 1883. (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009. )
Treatise on Natural Philosophy (Part I) (Internet Archive)
Treatise on Natural Philosophy (Part II) (Internet Archive)
(reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. ) 2nd edition, 1879.
(reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. ) 2nd edition, 1879.
(6 volumes)
Volume I. 1841-1853 (Internet Archive)
Volume II. 1853-1856 (Internet Archive)
Volume III. Elasticity, heat, electro-magnetism (Internet Archive)
Volume IV. Hydrodynamics and general dynamics (Hathitrust)
Volume V. Thermodynamics, cosmical and geological physics, molecular and crystalline theory, electrodynamics (Internet Archive)
Volume VI. Voltaic theory, radioactivity, electrions, navigation and tides, miscellaneous (Internet Archive)
(reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. )
Biography, history of ideas and criticism
In two volumes Volume 1 Volume 2
External links
Heroes of the Telegraph at The Online Books Page
"Horses on Mars", from Lord Kelvin
William Thomson: king of Victorian physics at Institute of Physics website
Measuring the Absolute: William Thomson and Temperature, Hasok Chang and Sang Wook Yi (PDF file)
Reprint of papers on electrostatics and magnetism (gallica)
The molecular tactics of a crystal (Internet Archive)
Quotations. This collection includes sources for many quotes.
Kelvin Building Opening – The Leys School, Cambridge (1893)
The Kelvin Library
1824 births
1907 deaths
19th-century British mathematicians
20th-century British mathematicians
Academics of the University of Glasgow
Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
British physicists
Burials at Westminster Abbey
Catastrophism
Chancellors of the University of Glasgow
Elders of the Church of Scotland
Fellows of the Royal Society
Fluid dynamicists
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
John Fritz Medal recipients
Knights Bachelor
Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
Members of the Order of Merit
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Ordained peers
People associated with electricity
People educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution
People of the Industrial Revolution
Physicists from Northern Ireland
Presidents of the Physical Society
Presidents of the Royal Society
Presidents of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Recipients of the Copley Medal
Royal Medal winners
Second Wranglers
Scientists from Belfast
Theistic evolutionists
Creators of temperature scales
Ulster Scots people
Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame inductees
Recipients of the Matteucci Medal
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria | true | [
"This is a list of countries by literacy rate. The figures represented are almost entirely collected by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) on behalf of UNESCO, with 2015 estimates based on people aged 15 or over who can read and write. Where data is taken from a different source, notes are provided. The data is collated by mostly using surveys within the last ten years which are self-declared by the persons in question. UIS provide estimates based on these for the year 2015 with a ''Global Age-specific Literacy Projections Model (GALP).\n\nThe global literacy rate for all people aged 15 and above is 86.3%. The global literacy rate for all males is 90.0%, and the rate for all females is 82.7%. The rate varies throughout the world, with developed nations having a rate of 99.2% (2013), South and West Asia having 70.2% (2015), and sub-Saharan Africa at 64.0% (2015). Over 75% of the world's 781 million illiterate adults are found in South Asia, West Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, and women represent almost two-thirds of all illiterate adults globally.\n\nList of UN member states by age group and gender disparity \nData published by UNESCO in 2018 (last informed rates and year), using the following definitions:Youth: Percentage of people aged 15 to 24 years who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement on their everyday life. Generally, \"literacy\" also encompasses \"numeracy\", the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations.Adult: Percentage of the population aged 15 years and over who can both read and write, with understanding a short simple statement on his/her everyday life. Generally, \"literacy\" also encompasses \"numeracy\", the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations.Elderly: Percentage of the population aged 65 years and over who can both read and write, with understanding a short simple statement on their everyday life. Generally, \"literacy\" also encompasses \"numeracy\", the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations.Gender Parity Index (GPI): The gender parity index (GPI) of the youth literacy rate is the ratio of the female to male literacy rates of the population aged 15 to 24 years. A GPI value between 0.97 and 1.03 is usually interpreted to indicate gender parity.\n\n* indicates \"Literacy in COUNTRY or TERRITORY\" or \"Education in COUNTRY or TERRITORY\" links.\n\nList of UN member and observer states by adult literacy rate\n\n* indicates \"Literacy in COUNTRY or TERRITORY\" or \"Education in COUNTRY or TERRITORY\" links.\n\nList of other states and territories\n\nSee also\nInternational Literacy Day\nCompulsory education\nList of Indian states and union territories by literacy rate\nList of Brazilian states by literacy rate\nProgramme for International Student Assessment, which focuses on developed countries\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nWorld Bank – Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above), for historical use.\n\nLiteracy\n\nLiteracy",
"OpenEpi is a free, web-based, open source, operating system-independent series of programs for use in epidemiology, biostatistics, public health, and medicine, providing a number of epidemiologic and statistical tools for summary data. OpenEpi was developed in JavaScript and HTML, and can be run in modern web browsers. The program can be run from the OpenEpi website or downloaded and run without a web connection. The source code and documentation is downloadable and freely available for use by other investigators. OpenEpi has been reviewed, both by media organizations and in research journals.\n\nThe OpenEpi developers have had extensive experience in the development and testing of Epi Info, a program developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and widely used around the world for data entry and analysis. OpenEpi was developed to perform analyses found in the DOS version of Epi Info modules StatCalc and EpiTable, to improve upon the types of analyses provided by these modules, and to provide a number of tools and calculations not currently available in Epi Info. It is the first step toward an entirely web-based set of epidemiologic software tools. OpenEpi can be thought of as an important companion to Epi Info and to other programs such as SAS, PSPP, SPSS, Stata, SYSTAT, Minitab, Epidata, and R (see the R programming language). Another functionally similar Windows-based program is Winpepi. See also list of statistical packages and comparison of statistical packages. Both OpenEpi and Epi Info were developed with the goal of providing tools for low and moderate resource areas of the world. The initial development of OpenEpi was supported by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to Emory University.\n\nThe types of calculations currently performed by OpenEpi include:\n\n Various confidence intervals for proportions, rates, standardized mortality ratio, mean, median, percentiles\n 2x2 crude and stratified tables for count and rate data\n Matched case-control analysis\n Test for trend with count data\n Independent t-test and one-way ANOVA\n Diagnostic and screening test analyses with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves\n Sample size for proportions, cross-sectional surveys, unmatched case-control, cohort, randomized controlled trials, and comparison of two means\n Power calculations for proportions (unmatched case-control, cross-sectional, cohort, randomized controlled trials) and for the comparison of two means\n Random number generator\n\nFor epidemiologists and other health researchers, OpenEpi performs a number of calculations based on tables not found in most epidemiologic and statistical packages. For example, for a single 2x2 table, in addition to the results presented in other programs, OpenEpi provides estimates for:\n\n Etiologic or prevented fraction in the population and in exposed with confidence intervals, based on risk, odds, or rate data\n The cross-product and MLE odds ratio estimate\n Mid-p exact p-values and confidence limits for the odds ratio\n Calculations of rate ratios and rate differences with confidence intervals and statistical tests.\n\nFor stratified 2x2 tables with count data, OpenEpi provides:\n\n Mantel-Haenszel (MH) and precision-based estimates of the risk ratio and odds ratio\n Precision-based adjusted risk difference\n Tests for interaction for the risk ratio, odds ratio, and risk difference\n Four different confidence limit methods for the odds ratio.\n\nSimilar to Epi Info, in a stratified analysis, both crude and adjusted estimates are provided so that the assessment of confounding can be made. With rate data, OpenEpi provides adjusted rate ratio’s and rate differences, and tests for interaction. Finally, with count data, OpenEpi also performs a test for trend, for both crude data and stratified data.\n\nIn addition to being used to analyze data by health researchers, OpenEpi has been used as a training tool for teaching epidemiology to students at: Emory University, University of Massachusetts, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Morehouse College, Columbia University, University of Wisconsin, San Jose State University, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, University of Washington, and elsewhere. This includes campus-based and distance learning courses. Because OpenEpi is easy to use, requires no programming experience, and can be run on the internet, students can use the program and focus on the interpretation of results. Users can run the program in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese or Italian.\n\nComments and suggestions for improvements are welcomed and the developers respond to user queries. The developers encourage others to develop modules that could be added to OpenEpi and provide a developer’s tool at the website. Planned future development include improvements to existing modules, development of new modules, translation into other languages, and add the ability to cut and paste data and/or read data files.\n\nSee also\n\n Free statistical software\n Web based simulation\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nBiostatistics\nEpidemiology\nFree statistical software\nSoftware using the MIT license"
]
|
[
"William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin",
"Calculations on data rate",
"What does William have to do with calculations on data rate?",
"Thomson contended that the signalling speed through a given cable was inversely proportional to the square of the length of the cable."
]
| C_c6c79a4f96a74f119c45191b1aa2ab43_0 | How were his contributions helpful to society? | 2 | How were William Thomson's contributions helpful to society? | William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin | Though now eminent in the academic field, Thomson was obscure to the general public. In September 1852, he married childhood sweetheart Margaret Crum, daughter of Walter Crum; but her health broke down on their honeymoon and, over the next seventeen years, Thomson was distracted by her suffering. On 16 October 1854, George Gabriel Stokes wrote to Thomson to try to re-interest him in work by asking his opinion on some experiments of Michael Faraday on the proposed transatlantic telegraph cable. Faraday had demonstrated how the construction of a cable would limit the rate at which messages could be sent - in modern terms, the bandwidth. Thomson jumped at the problem and published his response that month. He expressed his results in terms of the data rate that could be achieved and the economic consequences in terms of the potential revenue of the transatlantic undertaking. In a further 1855 analysis, Thomson stressed the impact that the design of the cable would have on its profitability. Thomson contended that the signalling speed through a given cable was inversely proportional to the square of the length of the cable. Thomson's results were disputed at a meeting of the British Association in 1856 by Wildman Whitehouse, the electrician of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Whitehouse had possibly misinterpreted the results of his own experiments but was doubtless feeling financial pressure as plans for the cable were already well under way. He believed that Thomson's calculations implied that the cable must be "abandoned as being practically and commercially impossible." Thomson attacked Whitehouse's contention in a letter to the popular Athenaeum magazine, pitching himself into the public eye. Thomson recommended a larger conductor with a larger cross section of insulation. However, he thought Whitehouse no fool and suspected that he might have the practical skill to make the existing design work. Thomson's work had, however, caught the eye of the project's undertakers and in December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. CANNOTANSWER | December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. | William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (26 June 182417 December 1907) was a British mathematician, mathematical physicist and engineer born in Belfast. Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, he did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and did much to unify the emerging discipline of physics in its contemporary form. He received the Royal Society's Copley Medal in 1883, was its President 1890–1895, and in 1892 was the first British scientist to be elevated to the House of Lords.
Absolute temperatures are stated in units of kelvin in his honour. While the existence of a lower limit to temperature (absolute zero) was known prior to his work, Kelvin is known for determining its correct value as approximately −273.15 degrees Celsius or −459.67 degrees Fahrenheit. The Joule–Thomson effect is also named in his honour.
He worked closely with mathematics professor Hugh Blackburn in his work. He also had a career as an electric telegraph engineer and inventor, which propelled him into the public eye and ensured his wealth, fame and honour. For his work on the transatlantic telegraph project he was knighted in 1866 by Queen Victoria, becoming Sir William Thomson. He had extensive maritime interests and was most noted for his work on the mariner's compass, which previously had limited reliability.
He was ennobled in 1892 in recognition of his achievements in thermodynamics, and of his opposition to Irish Home Rule, becoming Baron Kelvin, of Largs in the County of Ayr. The title refers to the River Kelvin, which flows near his laboratory at the University of Glasgow's Gilmorehill home at Hillhead. Despite offers of elevated posts from several world-renowned universities, Kelvin refused to leave Glasgow, remaining until his eventual retirement from that post in 1899. Active in industrial research and development, he was recruited around 1899 by George Eastman to serve as vice-chairman of the board of the British company Kodak Limited, affiliated with Eastman Kodak. In 1904 he became Chancellor of the University of Glasgow.
His home was the red sandstone mansion Netherhall, in Largs, which he built in the 1870s and where he died. The Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow has a permanent exhibition on the work of Kelvin including many of his original papers, instruments, and other artefacts, such as his smoking pipe.
Early life and work
Family
William Thomson's father, James Thomson, was a teacher of mathematics and engineering at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and the son of a farmer. James Thomson married Margaret Gardner in 1817 and, of their children, four boys and two girls survived infancy. Margaret Thomson died in 1830 when William was six years old.
William and his elder brother James were tutored at home by their father while the younger boys were tutored by their elder sisters. James was intended to benefit from the major share of his father's encouragement, affection and financial support and was prepared for a career in engineering.
In 1832, his father was appointed professor of mathematics at Glasgow and the family moved there in October 1833. The Thomson children were introduced to a broader cosmopolitan experience than their father's rural upbringing, spending mid-1839 in London and the boys were tutored in French in Paris. Much of Thomson's life during the mid-1840s was spent in Germany and the Netherlands. Language study was given a high priority.
His sister, Anna Thomson, was the mother of James Thomson Bottomley FRSE (1845–1926).
Youth
Thomson had heart problems and nearly died when he was 9 years old. He attended the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, where his father was a professor in the university department, before beginning study at Glasgow University in 1834 at the age of 10, not out of any precociousness; the University provided many of the facilities of an elementary school for able pupils, and this was a typical starting age.
In school, Thomson showed a keen interest in the classics along with his natural interest in the sciences. At the age of 12 he won a prize for translating Lucian of Samosata's Dialogues of the Gods from Latin to English.
In the academic year 1839/1840, Thomson won the class prize in astronomy for his Essay on the figure of the Earth which showed an early facility for mathematical analysis and creativity. His physics tutor at this time was his namesake, David Thomson.
Throughout his life, he would work on the problems raised in the essay as a coping strategy during times of personal stress. On the title page of this essay Thomson wrote the following lines from Alexander Pope's Essay on Man. These lines inspired Thomson to understand the natural world using the power and method of science:
Thomson became intrigued with Fourier's Théorie analytique de la chaleur and committed himself to study the "Continental" mathematics resisted by a British establishment still working in the shadow of Sir Isaac Newton. Unsurprisingly, Fourier's work had been attacked by domestic mathematicians, Philip Kelland authoring a critical book. The book motivated Thomson to write his first published scientific paper under the pseudonym P.Q.R., defending Fourier, and submitted to the Cambridge Mathematical Journal by his father. A second P.Q.R. paper followed almost immediately.
While on holiday with his family in Lamlash in 1841, he wrote a third, more substantial P.Q.R. paper On the uniform motion of heat in homogeneous solid bodies, and its connection with the mathematical theory of electricity. In the paper he made remarkable connections between the mathematical theories of heat conduction and electrostatics, an analogy that James Clerk Maxwell was ultimately to describe as one of the most valuable science-forming ideas.
Cambridge
William's father was able to make a generous provision for his favourite son's education and, in 1841, installed him, with extensive letters of introduction and ample accommodation, at Peterhouse, Cambridge. While at Cambridge, Thomson was active in sports, athletics and sculling, winning the Colquhoun Sculls in 1843. He also took a lively interest in the classics, music, and literature; but the real love of his intellectual life was the pursuit of science. The study of mathematics, physics, and in particular, of electricity, had captivated his imagination. In 1845 Thomson graduated as Second Wrangler. He also won the First Smith's Prize, which, unlike the tripos, is a test of original research. Robert Leslie Ellis, one of the examiners, is said to have declared to another examiner "You and I are just about fit to mend his pens."
In 1845, he gave the first mathematical development of Michael Faraday's idea that electric induction takes place through an intervening medium, or "dielectric", and not by some incomprehensible "action at a distance". He also devised the mathematical technique of electrical images, which became a powerful agent in solving problems of electrostatics, the science which deals with the forces between electrically charged bodies at rest. It was partly in response to his encouragement that Faraday undertook the research in September 1845 that led to the discovery of the Faraday effect, which established that light and magnetic (and thus electric) phenomena were related.
He was elected a fellow of St. Peter's (as Peterhouse was often called at the time) in June 1845. On gaining the fellowship, he spent some time in the laboratory of the celebrated Henri Victor Regnault, at Paris; but in 1846 he was appointed to the chair of natural philosophy in the University of Glasgow. At twenty-two he found himself wearing the gown of a professor in one of the oldest Universities in the country, and lecturing to the class of which he was a first year student a few years before.
Thermodynamics
By 1847, Thomson had already gained a reputation as a precocious and maverick scientist when he attended the British Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Oxford. At that meeting, he heard James Prescott Joule making yet another of his, so far, ineffective attempts to discredit the caloric theory of heat and the theory of the heat engine built upon it by Sadi Carnot and Émile Clapeyron. Joule argued for the mutual convertibility of heat and mechanical work and for their mechanical equivalence.
Thomson was intrigued but sceptical. Though he felt that Joule's results demanded theoretical explanation, he retreated into an even deeper commitment to the Carnot–Clapeyron school. He predicted that the melting point of ice must fall with pressure, otherwise its expansion on freezing could be exploited in a perpetuum mobile. Experimental confirmation in his laboratory did much to bolster his beliefs.
In 1848, he extended the Carnot–Clapeyron theory further through his dissatisfaction that the gas thermometer provided only an operational definition of temperature. He proposed an absolute temperature scale in which a unit of heat descending from a body A at the temperature T° of this scale, to a body B at the temperature (T−1)°, would give out the same mechanical effect [work], whatever be the number T. Such a scale would be quite independent of the physical properties of any specific substance. By employing such a "waterfall", Thomson postulated that a point would be reached at which no further heat (caloric) could be transferred, the point of absolute zero about which Guillaume Amontons had speculated in 1702. "Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat", published by Carnot in French in 1824, the year of Lord Kelvin's birth, used −267 as an estimate of the absolute zero temperature. Thomson used data published by Regnault to calibrate his scale against established measurements.
In his publication, Thomson wrote:
—But a footnote signalled his first doubts about the caloric theory, referring to Joule's very remarkable discoveries. Surprisingly, Thomson did not send Joule a copy of his paper, but when Joule eventually read it he wrote to Thomson on 6 October, claiming that his studies had demonstrated conversion of heat into work but that he was planning further experiments. Thomson replied on 27 October, revealing that he was planning his own experiments and hoping for a reconciliation of their two views.
Thomson returned to critique Carnot's original publication and read his analysis to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in January 1849, still convinced that the theory was fundamentally sound. However, though Thomson conducted no new experiments, over the next two years he became increasingly dissatisfied with Carnot's theory and convinced of Joule's. In February 1851 he sat down to articulate his new thinking. He was uncertain of how to frame his theory and the paper went through several drafts before he settled on an attempt to reconcile Carnot and Joule. During his rewriting, he seems to have considered ideas that would subsequently give rise to the second law of thermodynamics. In Carnot's theory, lost heat was absolutely lost but Thomson contended that it was "lost to man irrecoverably; but not lost in the material world". Moreover, his theological beliefs led Thompson to extrapolate the second law to the cosmos, originating the idea of universal heat death.
Compensation would require a creative act or an act possessing similar power, resulting in a rejuvenating universe (as Thompson had previously compared universal heat death to a clock running slower and slower, although he was unsure whether it would eventually reach thermodynamic equilibrium and stop for ever). Kelvin also formulated the heat death paradox (Kelvin’s paradox) in 1862, which uses the second law of thermodynamics to disprove the possibility of an infinitely old universe; this paradox was later extended by Rankine.
In final publication, Thomson retreated from a radical departure and declared "the whole theory of the motive power of heat is founded on ... two ... propositions, due respectively to Joule, and to Carnot and Clausius." Thomson went on to state a form of the second law:
In the paper, Thomson supported the theory that heat was a form of motion but admitted that he had been influenced only by the thought of Sir Humphry Davy and the experiments of Joule and Julius Robert von Mayer, maintaining that experimental demonstration of the conversion of heat into work was still outstanding.
As soon as Joule read the paper he wrote to Thomson with his comments and questions. Thus began a fruitful, though largely epistolary, collaboration between the two men, Joule conducting experiments, Thomson analysing the results and suggesting further experiments. The collaboration lasted from 1852 to 1856, its discoveries including the Joule–Thomson effect, sometimes called the Kelvin–Joule effect, and the published results did much to bring about general acceptance of Joule's work and the kinetic theory.
Thomson published more than 650 scientific papers and applied for 70 patents (not all were issued). Regarding science, Thomson wrote the following:
Transatlantic cable
Calculations on data rate
Though now eminent in the academic field, Thomson was obscure to the general public. In September 1852, he married childhood sweetheart Margaret Crum, daughter of Walter Crum; but her health broke down on their honeymoon, and over the next seventeen years, Thomson was distracted by her suffering. On 16 October 1854, George Gabriel Stokes wrote to Thomson to try to re-interest him in work by asking his opinion on some experiments of Michael Faraday on the proposed transatlantic telegraph cable.
Faraday had demonstrated how the construction of a cable would limit the rate at which messages could be sent – in modern terms, the bandwidth. Thomson jumped at the problem and published his response that month. He expressed his results in terms of the data rate that could be achieved and the economic consequences in terms of the potential revenue of the transatlantic undertaking. In a further 1855 analysis, Thomson stressed the impact that the design of the cable would have on its profitability.
Thomson contended that the signalling speed through a given cable was inversely proportional to the square of the length of the cable. Thomson's results were disputed at a meeting of the British Association in 1856 by Wildman Whitehouse, the electrician of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Whitehouse had possibly misinterpreted the results of his own experiments but was doubtless feeling financial pressure as plans for the cable were already well under way. He believed that Thomson's calculations implied that the cable must be "abandoned as being practically and commercially impossible".
Thomson attacked Whitehouse's contention in a letter to the popular Athenaeum magazine, pitching himself into the public eye. Thomson recommended a larger conductor with a larger cross section of insulation. He thought Whitehouse no fool, and suspected that he might have the practical skill to make the existing design work. Thomson's work had attracted the attention of the project's undertakers. In December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company.
Scientist to engineer
Thomson became scientific adviser to a team with Whitehouse as chief electrician and Sir Charles Tilston Bright as chief engineer but Whitehouse had his way with the specification, supported by Faraday and Samuel F. B. Morse.
Thomson sailed on board the cable-laying ship in August 1857, with Whitehouse confined to land owing to illness, but the voyage ended after when the cable parted. Thomson contributed to the effort by publishing in the Engineer the whole theory of the stresses involved in the laying of a submarine cable, and showed that when the line is running out of the ship, at a constant speed, in a uniform depth of water, it sinks in a slant or straight incline from the point where it enters the water to that where it touches the bottom.
Thomson developed a complete system for operating a submarine telegraph that was capable of sending a character every 3.5 seconds. He patented the key elements of his system, the mirror galvanometer and the siphon recorder, in 1858.
Whitehouse still felt able to ignore Thomson's many suggestions and proposals. It was not until Thomson convinced the board that using purer copper for replacing the lost section of cable would improve data capacity, that he first made a difference to the execution of the project.
The board insisted that Thomson join the 1858 cable-laying expedition, without any financial compensation, and take an active part in the project. In return, Thomson secured a trial for his mirror galvanometer, which the board had been unenthusiastic about, alongside Whitehouse's equipment. Thomson found the access he was given unsatisfactory and the Agamemnon had to return home following the disastrous storm of June 1858. In London, the board was about to abandon the project and mitigate their losses by selling the cable. Thomson, Cyrus West Field and Curtis M. Lampson argued for another attempt and prevailed, Thomson insisting that the technical problems were tractable. Though employed in an advisory capacity, Thomson had, during the voyages, developed a real engineer's instincts and skill at practical problem-solving under pressure, often taking the lead in dealing with emergencies and being unafraid to assist in manual work. A cable was completed on 5 August.
Disaster and triumph
Thomson's fears were realized when Whitehouse's apparatus proved insufficiently sensitive and had to be replaced by Thomson's mirror galvanometer. Whitehouse continued to maintain that it was his equipment that was providing the service and started to engage in desperate measures to remedy some of the problems. He succeeded in fatally damaging the cable by applying 2,000 V. When the cable failed completely Whitehouse was dismissed, though Thomson objected and was reprimanded by the board for his interference. Thomson subsequently regretted that he had acquiesced too readily to many of Whitehouse's proposals and had not challenged him with sufficient vigour.
A joint committee of inquiry was established by the Board of Trade and the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Most of the blame for the cable's failure was found to rest with Whitehouse. The committee found that, though underwater cables were notorious in their lack of reliability, most of the problems arose from known and avoidable causes. Thomson was appointed one of a five-member committee to recommend a specification for a new cable. The committee reported in October 1863.
In July 1865, Thomson sailed on the cable-laying expedition of the but the voyage was dogged by technical problems. The cable was lost after had been laid and the project was abandoned. A further attempt in 1866 laid a new cable in two weeks, and then recovered and completed the 1865 cable. The enterprise was now feted as a triumph by the public and Thomson enjoyed a large share of the adulation. Thomson, along with the other principals of the project, was knighted on 10 November 1866.
To exploit his inventions for signalling on long submarine cables, Thomson now entered into a partnership with C. F. Varley and Fleeming Jenkin. In conjunction with the latter, he also devised an automatic curb sender, a kind of telegraph key for sending messages on a cable.
Later expeditions
Thomson took part in the laying of the French Atlantic submarine communications cable of 1869, and with Jenkin was engineer of the Western and Brazilian and Platino-Brazilian cables, assisted by vacation student James Alfred Ewing. He was present at the laying of the Pará to Pernambuco section of the Brazilian coast cables in 1873.
Thomson's wife died on 17 June 1870, and he resolved to make changes in his life. Already addicted to seafaring, in September he purchased a 126-ton schooner, the Lalla Rookh and used it as a base for entertaining friends and scientific colleagues. His maritime interests continued in 1871 when he was appointed to the board of enquiry into the sinking of .
In June 1873, Thomson and Jenkin were on board the Hooper, bound for Lisbon with of cable when the cable developed a fault. An unscheduled 16-day stop-over in Madeira followed and Thomson became good friends with Charles R. Blandy and his three daughters. On 2 May 1874 he set sail for Madeira on the Lalla Rookh. As he approached the harbour, he signaled to the Blandy residence "Will you marry me?" and Fanny (Blandy's daughter Frances Anna Blandy) signaled back "Yes". Thomson married Fanny, 13 years his junior, on 24 June 1874.
Other contributions
Thomson and Tait: Treatise on Natural Philosophy
Over the period 1855 to 1867, Thomson collaborated with Peter Guthrie Tait on a text book that founded the study of mechanics first on the mathematics of kinematics, the description of motion without regard to force. The text developed dynamics in various areas but with constant attention to energy as a unifying principle.
A second edition appeared in 1879, expanded to two separately bound parts. The textbook set a standard for early education in mathematical physics.
Atmospheric electricity
Kelvin made significant contributions to atmospheric electricity for the relatively short time for which he worked on the subject, around 1859. He developed several instruments for measuring the atmospheric electric field, using some of the electrometers he had initially developed for telegraph work, which he tested at Glasgow and whilst on holiday on Arran. His measurements on Arran were sufficiently rigorous and well-calibrated that they could be used to deduce air pollution from the Glasgow area, through its effects on the atmospheric electric field. Kelvin's water dropper electrometer was used for measuring the atmospheric electric field at Kew Observatory and Eskdalemuir Observatory for many years, and one was still in use operationally at Kakioka Observatory in Japan until early 2021. Kelvin may have unwittingly observed atmospheric electrical effects caused by the Carrington event (a significant geomagnetic storm) in early September 1859.
Kelvin's vortex theory of the atom
Between 1870 and 1890 the vortex atom theory, which purported that an atom was a vortex in the aether, was popular among British physicists and mathematicians. Thomson pioneered the theory, which was distinct from the seventeenth century vortex theory of Descartes in that Thomson was thinking in terms of a unitary continuum theory, whereas Descartes was thinking in terms of three different types of matter, each relating respectively to emission, transmission, and reflection of light. About 60 scientific papers were written by approximately 25 scientists. Following the lead of Thomson and Tait, the branch of topology called knot theory was developed. Kelvin's initiative in this complex study that continues to inspire new mathematics has led to persistence of the topic in history of science.
Marine
Thomson was an enthusiastic yachtsman, his interest in all things relating to the sea perhaps arising from, or fostered by, his experiences on the Agamemnon and the Great Eastern.
Thomson introduced a method of deep-sea depth sounding, in which a steel piano wire replaces the ordinary hand line. The wire glides so easily to the bottom that "flying soundings" can be taken while the ship is at full speed. A pressure gauge to register the depth of the sinker was added by Thomson.
About the same time he revived the Sumner method of finding a ship's position, and calculated a set of tables for its ready application.
During the 1880s, Thomson worked to perfect the adjustable compass to correct errors arising from magnetic deviation owing to the increased use of iron in naval architecture. Thomson's design was a great improvement on the older instruments, being steadier and less hampered by friction. The deviation due to the ship's magnetism was corrected by movable iron masses at the binnacle. Thomson's innovations involved much detailed work to develop principles identified by George Biddell Airy and others, but contributed little in terms of novel physical thinking. Thomson's energetic lobbying and networking proved effective in gaining acceptance of his instrument by The Admiralty.
Charles Babbage had been among the first to suggest that a lighthouse might be made to signal a distinctive number by occultations of its light, but Thomson pointed out the merits of the Morse code for the purpose, and urged that the signals should consist of short and long flashes of the light to represent the dots and dashes.
Electrical standards
Thomson did more than any other electrician up to his time in introducing accurate methods and apparatus for measuring electricity. As early as 1845 he pointed out that the experimental results of William Snow Harris were in accordance with the laws of Coulomb. In the Memoirs of the Roman Academy of Sciences for 1857 he published a description of his new divided ring electrometer, based on the old electroscope of Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger and he introduced a chain or series of effective instruments, including the quadrant electrometer, which cover the entire field of electrostatic measurement. He invented the current balance, also known as the Kelvin balance or Ampere balance (SiC), for the precise specification of the ampere, the standard unit of electric current. From around 1880 he was aided by the electrical engineer Magnus Maclean FRSE in his electrical experiments.
In 1893, Thomson headed an international commission to decide on the design of the Niagara Falls power station. Despite his belief in the superiority of direct current electric power transmission, he endorsed Westinghouse's alternating current system which had been demonstrated at the Chicago World's Fair of that year. Even after Niagara Falls Thomson still held to his belief that direct current was the superior system.
Acknowledging his contribution to electrical standardisation, the International Electrotechnical Commission elected Thomson as its first President at its preliminary meeting, held in London on 26–27 June 1906. "On the proposal of the President [Mr Alexander Siemens, Great Britain], secounded [sic] by Mr Mailloux [US Institute of Electrical Engineers] the Right Honorable Lord Kelvin, G.C.V.O., O.M., was unanimously elected first President of the Commission", minutes of the Preliminary Meeting Report read.
Age of the Earth: geology
Kelvin estimated the age of the Earth. Given his youthful work on the figure of the Earth and his interest in heat conduction, it is no surprise that he chose to investigate the Earth's cooling and to make historical inferences of the Earth's age from his calculations. Thomson was a creationist in a broad sense, but he was not a 'flood geologist' (a view that had lost mainstream scientific support by the 1840s). He contended that the laws of thermodynamics operated from the birth of the universe and envisaged a dynamic process that saw the organisation and evolution of the Solar System and other structures, followed by a gradual "heat death". He developed the view that the Earth had once been too hot to support life and contrasted this view with that of uniformitarianism, that conditions had remained constant since the indefinite past. He contended that "This earth, certainly a moderate number of millions of years ago, was a red-hot globe … ."
After the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species in 1859, Thomson saw evidence of the relatively short habitable age of the Earth as tending to contradict Darwin's gradualist explanation of slow natural selection bringing about biological diversity. Thomson's own views favoured a version of theistic evolution sped up by divine guidance. His calculations showed that the Sun could not have possibly existed long enough to allow the slow incremental development by evolution – unless some energy source beyond what he or any other Victorian era person knew of was found. He was soon drawn into public disagreement with geologists, and with Darwin's supporters John Tyndall and T. H. Huxley. In his response to Huxley's address to the Geological Society of London (1868) he presented his address "Of Geological Dynamics" (1869) which, among his other writings, challenged the geologists' acceptance that the earth must be of indefinite age.
Thomson's initial 1864 estimate of the Earth's age was from 20 to 400 million years old. These wide limits were due to his uncertainty about the melting temperature of rock, to which he equated the Earth's interior temperature, as well as the uncertainty in thermal conductivities and specific heats of rocks. Over the years he refined his arguments and reduced the upper bound by a factor of ten, and in 1897 Thomson, now Lord Kelvin, ultimately settled on an estimate that the Earth was 20–40 million years old. In a letter published in Scientific American Supplement 1895 Kelvin criticized geologists' estimates of the age of rocks and the age of the earth, including the views published by Charles Darwin, as "vaguely vast age".
His exploration of this estimate can be found in his 1897 address to the Victoria Institute, given at the request of the Institute's president George Stokes, as recorded in that Institute's journal Transactions. Although his former assistant John Perry published a paper in 1895 challenging Kelvin's assumption of low thermal conductivity inside the Earth, and thus showing a much greater age, this had little immediate impact. The discovery in 1903 that radioactive decay releases heat led to Kelvin's estimate being challenged, and Ernest Rutherford famously made the argument in a 1904 lecture attended by Kelvin that this provided the unknown energy source Kelvin had suggested, but the estimate was not overturned until the development in 1907 of radiometric dating of rocks.
It was widely believed that the discovery of radioactivity had invalidated Thomson's estimate of the age of the Earth. Thomson himself never publicly acknowledged this because he thought he had a much stronger argument restricting the age of the Sun to no more than 20 million years. Without sunlight, there could be no explanation for the sediment record on the Earth's surface. At the time, the only known source for the solar power output was gravitational collapse. It was only when thermonuclear fusion was recognised in the 1930s that Thomson's age paradox was truly resolved.
Later life and death
In the winter of 1860–1861 Kelvin slipped on the ice while curling near his home at Netherhall and fractured his leg, causing him to miss the 1861 Manchester meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and to limp thereafter. He remained something of a celebrity on both sides of the Atlantic until his death.
Thomson remained a devout believer in Christianity throughout his life; attendance at chapel was part of his daily routine. He saw his Christian faith as supporting and informing his scientific work, as is evident from his address to the annual meeting of the Christian Evidence Society, 23 May 1889.
In the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902 (the original day of the coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra), Kelvin was appointed a Privy Councillor and one of the first members of the new Order of Merit (OM). He received the order from the King on 8 August 1902, and was sworn a member of the council at Buckingham Palace on 11 August 1902. In his later years he often travelled to his town house at 15 Eaton Place, off Eaton Square in London's Belgravia.
In November 1907 he caught a chill and his condition deteriorated until he died at his Scottish country seat, Netherhall, in Largs on 17 December.
At the request of Westminster Abbey, the undertakers Wylie & Lochhead prepared an oak coffin, lined with lead. In the dark of the winter evening the cortege set off from Netherhall for Largs railway station, a distance of about a mile. Large crowds witnessed the passing of the cortege, and shopkeepers closed their premises and dimmed their lights. The coffin was placed in a special Midland and Glasgow and South Western Railway van. The train set off at 8.30 pm for Kilmarnock, where the van was attached to the overnight express to St Pancras railway station in London.
Kelvin's funeral was to be held on 23 December 1907. The coffin was taken from St Pancras by hearse to Westminster Abbey, where it rested overnight in St Faith's Chapel. The following day the Abbey was crowded for the funeral, including representatives from the University of Glasgow and the University of Cambridge, along with representatives from France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Russia, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Monaco. Kelvin's grave is in the nave, near the choir screen, and close to the graves of Isaac Newton, John Herschel, and Charles Darwin. The pall-bearers included Darwin's son, Sir George Darwin.
Back in Scotland the University of Glasgow held a memorial service for Kelvin in the Bute Hall. Kelvin had been a member of the Scottish Episcopal Church, attached to St Columba's Episcopal Church in Largs, and when in Glasgow to St Mary's Episcopal Church (now, St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow). At the same time as the funeral in Westminster Abbey, a service was held in St Columba's Episcopal Church, Largs, attended by a large congregation including burgh dignitaries.
William Thomson is also memorialised on the Thomson family grave in Glasgow Necropolis. The family grave has a second modern memorial to William alongside, erected by the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow; a society of which he was president in the periods 1856–1858 and 1874–1877.
Aftermath and legacy
Limits of classical physics
In 1884, Thomson led a master class on "Molecular Dynamics and the Wave Theory of Light" at Johns Hopkins University. Kelvin referred to the acoustic wave equation describing sound as waves of pressure in air and attempted to describe also an electromagnetic wave equation, presuming a luminiferous aether susceptible to vibration. The study group included Michelson and Morley who subsequently performed the Michelson–Morley experiment that undercut the aether theory. Thomson did not provide a text but A. S. Hathaway took notes and duplicated them with a Papyrograph. As the subject matter was under active development, Thomson amended that text and in 1904 it was typeset and published. Thomson's attempts to provide mechanical models ultimately failed in the electromagnetic regime. Starting from his lecture in 1884, Kelvin was also the first scientist to formulate the hypothetical concept of dark matter; he then attempted to define and locate some “dark bodies” in the Milky Way.
On 27 April 1900 he gave a widely reported lecture titled Nineteenth-Century Clouds over the Dynamical Theory of Heat and Light to the Royal Institution. The two "dark clouds" he was alluding to were confusion surrounding how matter moves through the aether (including the puzzling results of the Michelson–Morley experiment) and indications that the Law of Equipartition in statistical mechanics might break down. Two major physical theories were developed during the twentieth century starting from these issues: for the former, the theory of relativity; for the second, quantum mechanics. Albert Einstein, in 1905, published the so-called "Annus Mirabilis papers", one of which explained the photoelectric effect, based on Max Planck's discovery of energy quanta which was the foundation of quantum mechanics, another of which described special relativity, and the last of which explained Brownian motion in terms of statistical mechanics, providing a strong argument for the existence of atoms.
Pronouncements later proven to be false
Like many scientists, Thomson made some mistakes in predicting the future of technology.
His biographer Silvanus P. Thompson writes that "When Röntgen's discovery of the X-rays was announced at the end of 1895, Lord Kelvin was entirely skeptical, and regarded the announcement as a hoax. The papers had been full of the wonders of Röntgen's rays, about which Lord Kelvin was intensely skeptical until Röntgen himself sent him a copy of his Memoir"; on 17 January 1896, having read the paper and seen the photographs, he wrote Röntgen a letter saying that "I need not tell you that when I read the paper I was very much astonished and delighted. I can say no more now than to congratulate you warmly on the great discovery you have made" He would have his own hand X-rayed in May 1896. (See also N rays.)
His forecast for practical aviation (i.e., heavier-than-air aircraft) was negative. In 1896 he refused an invitation to join the Aeronautical Society, writing that "I have not the smallest molecule of faith in aerial navigation other than ballooning or of expectation of good results from any of the trials we hear of." And in a 1902 newspaper interview he predicted that "No balloon and no aeroplane will ever be practically successful."
The statement "There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement" has been widely misattributed to Kelvin since the 1980s, either without citation or stating that it was made in an address to the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1900). There is no evidence that Kelvin said this, and the quote is instead a paraphrase of Albert A. Michelson, who in 1894 stated: "… it seems probable that most of the grand underlying principles have been firmly established … An eminent physicist remarked that the future truths of physical science are to be looked for in the sixth place of decimals." Similar statements were given earlier by others, such as Philipp von Jolly. The attribution to Kelvin giving an address in 1900 is presumably a confusion with his "Two clouds" speech, delivered to the Royal Institution in 1900 (see above), and which on the contrary pointed out areas that would subsequently see revolutions.
In 1898, Kelvin predicted that only 400 years of oxygen supply remained on the planet, due to the rate of burning combustibles. In his calculation, Kelvin assumed that photosynthesis was the only source of free oxygen; he did not know all of the components of the oxygen cycle. He could not even have known all of the sources of photosynthesis: for example the cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus—which accounts for more than half of marine photosynthesis—was not discovered until 1986.
Eponyms
A variety of physical phenomena and concepts with which Thomson is associated are named Kelvin, including:
Kelvin bridge (also known as Thomson bridge)
Kelvin functions
Kelvin–Helmholtz instability
Kelvin–Helmholtz luminosity
Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism
Kelvin material
Joule-Kelvin effect
Kelvin sensing
Kelvin transform in potential theory
Kelvin water dropper
Kelvin wave
Kelvin’s heat death paradox
Kelvin's circulation theorem
Kelvin–Stokes theorem
Kelvin–Varley divider
The SI unit of temperature, kelvin
Honours
Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1847.
Keith Medal, 1864.
Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize, 1887.
President, 1873–1878, 1886–1890, 1895–1907.
Foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 1851.
Fellow of the Royal Society, 1851.
Royal Medal, 1856.
Copley Medal, 1883.
President, 1890–1895.
Hon. Member of the Royal College of Preceptors (College of Teachers), 1858.
Hon. Member of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, 1859.
Knighted 1866.
Commander of the Imperial Order of the Rose (Brazil), 1873.
Commander of the Legion of Honour (France), 1881.
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour, 1889.
Knight of the Prussian Order Pour le Mérite, 1884.
Commander of the Order of Leopold (Belgium), 1890.
Baron Kelvin, of Largs in the County of Ayr, 1892. The title derives from the River Kelvin, which runs by the grounds of the University of Glasgow. His title died with him, as he was survived by neither heirs nor close relations.
Knight Grand Cross of the Victorian Order, 1896.
Honorary degree Legum doctor (LL.D.), Yale University, 5 May 1902.
One of the first members of the Order of Merit, 1902.
Privy Counsellor, 11 August 1902.
Honorary degree Doctor mathematicae from the Royal Frederick University on 6 September 1902, when they celebrated the centennial of the birth of mathematician Niels Henrik Abel.
First international recipient of John Fritz Medal, 1905.
Order of the First Class of the Sacred Treasure of Japan, 1901.
He is buried in Westminster Abbey, London next to Isaac Newton.
Lord Kelvin was commemorated on the £20 note issued by the Clydesdale Bank in 1971; in the current issue of banknotes, his image appears on the bank's £100 note. He is shown holding his adjustable compass and in the background is a map of the transatlantic cable.
The town of Kelvin, Arizona, is named in his honour, as he was reputedly a large investor in the mining operations there.
In 2011 he was one of seven inaugural inductees to the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame.
World Refrigeration Day, is 26 June. It was chosen to celebrate his birth date and has been held annually, since 2019.
Arms
See also
Taylor column
People on Scottish banknotes
List of things named after Lord Kelvin
References
Kelvin's works
2nd edition, 1883. (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009. )
Treatise on Natural Philosophy (Part I) (Internet Archive)
Treatise on Natural Philosophy (Part II) (Internet Archive)
(reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. ) 2nd edition, 1879.
(reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. ) 2nd edition, 1879.
(6 volumes)
Volume I. 1841-1853 (Internet Archive)
Volume II. 1853-1856 (Internet Archive)
Volume III. Elasticity, heat, electro-magnetism (Internet Archive)
Volume IV. Hydrodynamics and general dynamics (Hathitrust)
Volume V. Thermodynamics, cosmical and geological physics, molecular and crystalline theory, electrodynamics (Internet Archive)
Volume VI. Voltaic theory, radioactivity, electrions, navigation and tides, miscellaneous (Internet Archive)
(reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. )
Biography, history of ideas and criticism
In two volumes Volume 1 Volume 2
External links
Heroes of the Telegraph at The Online Books Page
"Horses on Mars", from Lord Kelvin
William Thomson: king of Victorian physics at Institute of Physics website
Measuring the Absolute: William Thomson and Temperature, Hasok Chang and Sang Wook Yi (PDF file)
Reprint of papers on electrostatics and magnetism (gallica)
The molecular tactics of a crystal (Internet Archive)
Quotations. This collection includes sources for many quotes.
Kelvin Building Opening – The Leys School, Cambridge (1893)
The Kelvin Library
1824 births
1907 deaths
19th-century British mathematicians
20th-century British mathematicians
Academics of the University of Glasgow
Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
British physicists
Burials at Westminster Abbey
Catastrophism
Chancellors of the University of Glasgow
Elders of the Church of Scotland
Fellows of the Royal Society
Fluid dynamicists
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
John Fritz Medal recipients
Knights Bachelor
Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
Members of the Order of Merit
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Ordained peers
People associated with electricity
People educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution
People of the Industrial Revolution
Physicists from Northern Ireland
Presidents of the Physical Society
Presidents of the Royal Society
Presidents of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Recipients of the Copley Medal
Royal Medal winners
Second Wranglers
Scientists from Belfast
Theistic evolutionists
Creators of temperature scales
Ulster Scots people
Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame inductees
Recipients of the Matteucci Medal
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria | true | [
"Peter Venables (3 April 1923 – 26 April 2017) was a British psychologist who was the founder and former head of the department of Psychology at the University of York. He retired in 1988 to become Emeritus Professor at the University of York, where he continued to research.\n\nVenables was one of the founders of the Open University. He was also a former President of the British Psychological Society (1979–1980), the Society for Psychophysiological Research (U.S., 1977–1978), and the Experimental Psychology Society (UK, 1968–1970). His awards included one for Distinguished Contributions to Psychophysiology (U.S., Society for Psychophysiological Research, 1987), the Zubin Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Discipline from the Society for Research in Psychopathology (U.S., 1990), Honorary Membership of the Experimental Psychology Society (UK, 1993), an award from the British Association for Cognitive Neuroscience for Outstanding Contributions to British Psychophysiology (UK, 2009), and most recently the Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychological Knowledge (British Psychological Society, 2014).\n\nVenables published over 260 journal articles, book chapters, and books. Three of his articles have been recognized as citation classics. His contributions in the fields of schizophrenia and psychophysiology embraced a wide range of topics that included clinical, cognitive, neuroanatomical, psychophysiological, and neurodevelopmental issues.\n\nReferences\n\nBritish psychologists\nAcademics of the University of York\nPresidents of the British Psychological Society\n1923 births\n2017 deaths\nSchizophrenia researchers",
"The Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize Lectureship is a quadrennial award made by the Royal Society of Edinburgh to recognise original work done by scientists resident in or connected with Scotland.\n\nThe award was founded in 1887 by Dr Robert Halliday Gunning, a Scottish surgeon, entrepreneur and philanthropist who spent much of his life in Brazil.\n\nAwards by a similar name have also been awarded by the University of Edinburgh.\n\nPrizewinners\nSource: Royal Society of Edinburgh\n\n1887: Sir William Thomson, for a series of papers on Hydrokinetics\n1887–1890: Peter Guthrie Tait, for work done on the Challenger Expedition\n1890–1893: Alexander Buchan, for his contributions on meteorology\n1893–1896: John Aitken, for his work on the formation and condensation of aqueous vapour\n1896–1899: Rev. Thomas David Anderson, for his discoveries of new and variable stars\n1900–1904: Sir James Dewar, for his researches on the liquefaction of gases\n1904–1908: George Chrystal, for a series of papers on Seiches\n1908–1912: John Norman Collie, for his contributions to organic and inorganic chemistry\n1912–1916: Thomas Muir, for his memoirs on the theory and history of determinants\n1916–1920: Charles Thomas Rees Wilson, for his studies in connection with condensation nuclei, ionisation of gases and atmospheric electricity\n1920–1924: Sir Joseph John Thomson, for his discoveries in physics\n1924–1928: E.T. Whittaker, for his contributions to mathematics\n1928–1932: Sir James Walker, for contributions to physical and general chemistry\n1932–1936: Charles Galton Darwin, for his contributions to mathematical physics\n1936–1940: James Colquhoun Irvine, for contributions to organic chemistry\n1940–1944: Herbert Westren Turnbull, for his contributions to mathematical science\n1944–1948: Max Born, for contributions to theoretical physics\n1948–1952: Alexander Craig Aitken, for his contributions to pure mathematics\n1952–1956: Harry Melville, for contributions to reaction kinetics and physics and chemistry of high polymers\n1956–1960: Sir Edward Victor Appleton, contributions to ionospheric and radio physics\n1960–1964: Sir Edmund Hirst, for contributions to the chemistry of carbohydrates\n1964–1968: Sir William Vallance Douglas Hodge, for contributions to geometry\n1968–1972: Philip Ivor Dee, for contributions to nuclear physics\n1972–1976: Arthur Erdelyi, for contributions to mathematics especially the theory of special functions\n1976–1980: Charles Kemball, for contributions to the study of analysis\n1984: Nicholas Kemmer, for his contributions to the theory of elementary particles\n1988: Sir Michael Atiyah, for his contribution to mathematics\n1992: Peter Ludwig Pauson, for his contributions to the chemistry of diene- and triene-metal carbonyl complexes\n1996: Kathryn A Whaler, for her contribution to the development of mathematical models on the long wave length component of the geomagnetic field\n2000: Angus Macintyre, for his contributions to logic, model theory, algebra, analysis and computer science2004: Peter George Bruce, for contributions to solid state chemistry2008: James Hough, for his work on gravitational waves''\n\nSee also \n\n List of general science and technology awards \n List of mathematics awards\n\nReferences\n\nBritish science and technology awards\nMathematics awards\nRoyal Society of Edinburgh\nScottish awards\n1887 establishments in Scotland\nAwards established in 1887"
]
|
[
"William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin",
"Calculations on data rate",
"What does William have to do with calculations on data rate?",
"Thomson contended that the signalling speed through a given cable was inversely proportional to the square of the length of the cable.",
"How were his contributions helpful to society?",
"December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company."
]
| C_c6c79a4f96a74f119c45191b1aa2ab43_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 3 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article besides Calculations on data rate? | William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin | Though now eminent in the academic field, Thomson was obscure to the general public. In September 1852, he married childhood sweetheart Margaret Crum, daughter of Walter Crum; but her health broke down on their honeymoon and, over the next seventeen years, Thomson was distracted by her suffering. On 16 October 1854, George Gabriel Stokes wrote to Thomson to try to re-interest him in work by asking his opinion on some experiments of Michael Faraday on the proposed transatlantic telegraph cable. Faraday had demonstrated how the construction of a cable would limit the rate at which messages could be sent - in modern terms, the bandwidth. Thomson jumped at the problem and published his response that month. He expressed his results in terms of the data rate that could be achieved and the economic consequences in terms of the potential revenue of the transatlantic undertaking. In a further 1855 analysis, Thomson stressed the impact that the design of the cable would have on its profitability. Thomson contended that the signalling speed through a given cable was inversely proportional to the square of the length of the cable. Thomson's results were disputed at a meeting of the British Association in 1856 by Wildman Whitehouse, the electrician of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Whitehouse had possibly misinterpreted the results of his own experiments but was doubtless feeling financial pressure as plans for the cable were already well under way. He believed that Thomson's calculations implied that the cable must be "abandoned as being practically and commercially impossible." Thomson attacked Whitehouse's contention in a letter to the popular Athenaeum magazine, pitching himself into the public eye. Thomson recommended a larger conductor with a larger cross section of insulation. However, he thought Whitehouse no fool and suspected that he might have the practical skill to make the existing design work. Thomson's work had, however, caught the eye of the project's undertakers and in December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. CANNOTANSWER | Thomson attacked Whitehouse's contention in a letter to the popular Athenaeum magazine, pitching himself into the public eye. | William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (26 June 182417 December 1907) was a British mathematician, mathematical physicist and engineer born in Belfast. Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, he did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and did much to unify the emerging discipline of physics in its contemporary form. He received the Royal Society's Copley Medal in 1883, was its President 1890–1895, and in 1892 was the first British scientist to be elevated to the House of Lords.
Absolute temperatures are stated in units of kelvin in his honour. While the existence of a lower limit to temperature (absolute zero) was known prior to his work, Kelvin is known for determining its correct value as approximately −273.15 degrees Celsius or −459.67 degrees Fahrenheit. The Joule–Thomson effect is also named in his honour.
He worked closely with mathematics professor Hugh Blackburn in his work. He also had a career as an electric telegraph engineer and inventor, which propelled him into the public eye and ensured his wealth, fame and honour. For his work on the transatlantic telegraph project he was knighted in 1866 by Queen Victoria, becoming Sir William Thomson. He had extensive maritime interests and was most noted for his work on the mariner's compass, which previously had limited reliability.
He was ennobled in 1892 in recognition of his achievements in thermodynamics, and of his opposition to Irish Home Rule, becoming Baron Kelvin, of Largs in the County of Ayr. The title refers to the River Kelvin, which flows near his laboratory at the University of Glasgow's Gilmorehill home at Hillhead. Despite offers of elevated posts from several world-renowned universities, Kelvin refused to leave Glasgow, remaining until his eventual retirement from that post in 1899. Active in industrial research and development, he was recruited around 1899 by George Eastman to serve as vice-chairman of the board of the British company Kodak Limited, affiliated with Eastman Kodak. In 1904 he became Chancellor of the University of Glasgow.
His home was the red sandstone mansion Netherhall, in Largs, which he built in the 1870s and where he died. The Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow has a permanent exhibition on the work of Kelvin including many of his original papers, instruments, and other artefacts, such as his smoking pipe.
Early life and work
Family
William Thomson's father, James Thomson, was a teacher of mathematics and engineering at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and the son of a farmer. James Thomson married Margaret Gardner in 1817 and, of their children, four boys and two girls survived infancy. Margaret Thomson died in 1830 when William was six years old.
William and his elder brother James were tutored at home by their father while the younger boys were tutored by their elder sisters. James was intended to benefit from the major share of his father's encouragement, affection and financial support and was prepared for a career in engineering.
In 1832, his father was appointed professor of mathematics at Glasgow and the family moved there in October 1833. The Thomson children were introduced to a broader cosmopolitan experience than their father's rural upbringing, spending mid-1839 in London and the boys were tutored in French in Paris. Much of Thomson's life during the mid-1840s was spent in Germany and the Netherlands. Language study was given a high priority.
His sister, Anna Thomson, was the mother of James Thomson Bottomley FRSE (1845–1926).
Youth
Thomson had heart problems and nearly died when he was 9 years old. He attended the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, where his father was a professor in the university department, before beginning study at Glasgow University in 1834 at the age of 10, not out of any precociousness; the University provided many of the facilities of an elementary school for able pupils, and this was a typical starting age.
In school, Thomson showed a keen interest in the classics along with his natural interest in the sciences. At the age of 12 he won a prize for translating Lucian of Samosata's Dialogues of the Gods from Latin to English.
In the academic year 1839/1840, Thomson won the class prize in astronomy for his Essay on the figure of the Earth which showed an early facility for mathematical analysis and creativity. His physics tutor at this time was his namesake, David Thomson.
Throughout his life, he would work on the problems raised in the essay as a coping strategy during times of personal stress. On the title page of this essay Thomson wrote the following lines from Alexander Pope's Essay on Man. These lines inspired Thomson to understand the natural world using the power and method of science:
Thomson became intrigued with Fourier's Théorie analytique de la chaleur and committed himself to study the "Continental" mathematics resisted by a British establishment still working in the shadow of Sir Isaac Newton. Unsurprisingly, Fourier's work had been attacked by domestic mathematicians, Philip Kelland authoring a critical book. The book motivated Thomson to write his first published scientific paper under the pseudonym P.Q.R., defending Fourier, and submitted to the Cambridge Mathematical Journal by his father. A second P.Q.R. paper followed almost immediately.
While on holiday with his family in Lamlash in 1841, he wrote a third, more substantial P.Q.R. paper On the uniform motion of heat in homogeneous solid bodies, and its connection with the mathematical theory of electricity. In the paper he made remarkable connections between the mathematical theories of heat conduction and electrostatics, an analogy that James Clerk Maxwell was ultimately to describe as one of the most valuable science-forming ideas.
Cambridge
William's father was able to make a generous provision for his favourite son's education and, in 1841, installed him, with extensive letters of introduction and ample accommodation, at Peterhouse, Cambridge. While at Cambridge, Thomson was active in sports, athletics and sculling, winning the Colquhoun Sculls in 1843. He also took a lively interest in the classics, music, and literature; but the real love of his intellectual life was the pursuit of science. The study of mathematics, physics, and in particular, of electricity, had captivated his imagination. In 1845 Thomson graduated as Second Wrangler. He also won the First Smith's Prize, which, unlike the tripos, is a test of original research. Robert Leslie Ellis, one of the examiners, is said to have declared to another examiner "You and I are just about fit to mend his pens."
In 1845, he gave the first mathematical development of Michael Faraday's idea that electric induction takes place through an intervening medium, or "dielectric", and not by some incomprehensible "action at a distance". He also devised the mathematical technique of electrical images, which became a powerful agent in solving problems of electrostatics, the science which deals with the forces between electrically charged bodies at rest. It was partly in response to his encouragement that Faraday undertook the research in September 1845 that led to the discovery of the Faraday effect, which established that light and magnetic (and thus electric) phenomena were related.
He was elected a fellow of St. Peter's (as Peterhouse was often called at the time) in June 1845. On gaining the fellowship, he spent some time in the laboratory of the celebrated Henri Victor Regnault, at Paris; but in 1846 he was appointed to the chair of natural philosophy in the University of Glasgow. At twenty-two he found himself wearing the gown of a professor in one of the oldest Universities in the country, and lecturing to the class of which he was a first year student a few years before.
Thermodynamics
By 1847, Thomson had already gained a reputation as a precocious and maverick scientist when he attended the British Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Oxford. At that meeting, he heard James Prescott Joule making yet another of his, so far, ineffective attempts to discredit the caloric theory of heat and the theory of the heat engine built upon it by Sadi Carnot and Émile Clapeyron. Joule argued for the mutual convertibility of heat and mechanical work and for their mechanical equivalence.
Thomson was intrigued but sceptical. Though he felt that Joule's results demanded theoretical explanation, he retreated into an even deeper commitment to the Carnot–Clapeyron school. He predicted that the melting point of ice must fall with pressure, otherwise its expansion on freezing could be exploited in a perpetuum mobile. Experimental confirmation in his laboratory did much to bolster his beliefs.
In 1848, he extended the Carnot–Clapeyron theory further through his dissatisfaction that the gas thermometer provided only an operational definition of temperature. He proposed an absolute temperature scale in which a unit of heat descending from a body A at the temperature T° of this scale, to a body B at the temperature (T−1)°, would give out the same mechanical effect [work], whatever be the number T. Such a scale would be quite independent of the physical properties of any specific substance. By employing such a "waterfall", Thomson postulated that a point would be reached at which no further heat (caloric) could be transferred, the point of absolute zero about which Guillaume Amontons had speculated in 1702. "Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat", published by Carnot in French in 1824, the year of Lord Kelvin's birth, used −267 as an estimate of the absolute zero temperature. Thomson used data published by Regnault to calibrate his scale against established measurements.
In his publication, Thomson wrote:
—But a footnote signalled his first doubts about the caloric theory, referring to Joule's very remarkable discoveries. Surprisingly, Thomson did not send Joule a copy of his paper, but when Joule eventually read it he wrote to Thomson on 6 October, claiming that his studies had demonstrated conversion of heat into work but that he was planning further experiments. Thomson replied on 27 October, revealing that he was planning his own experiments and hoping for a reconciliation of their two views.
Thomson returned to critique Carnot's original publication and read his analysis to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in January 1849, still convinced that the theory was fundamentally sound. However, though Thomson conducted no new experiments, over the next two years he became increasingly dissatisfied with Carnot's theory and convinced of Joule's. In February 1851 he sat down to articulate his new thinking. He was uncertain of how to frame his theory and the paper went through several drafts before he settled on an attempt to reconcile Carnot and Joule. During his rewriting, he seems to have considered ideas that would subsequently give rise to the second law of thermodynamics. In Carnot's theory, lost heat was absolutely lost but Thomson contended that it was "lost to man irrecoverably; but not lost in the material world". Moreover, his theological beliefs led Thompson to extrapolate the second law to the cosmos, originating the idea of universal heat death.
Compensation would require a creative act or an act possessing similar power, resulting in a rejuvenating universe (as Thompson had previously compared universal heat death to a clock running slower and slower, although he was unsure whether it would eventually reach thermodynamic equilibrium and stop for ever). Kelvin also formulated the heat death paradox (Kelvin’s paradox) in 1862, which uses the second law of thermodynamics to disprove the possibility of an infinitely old universe; this paradox was later extended by Rankine.
In final publication, Thomson retreated from a radical departure and declared "the whole theory of the motive power of heat is founded on ... two ... propositions, due respectively to Joule, and to Carnot and Clausius." Thomson went on to state a form of the second law:
In the paper, Thomson supported the theory that heat was a form of motion but admitted that he had been influenced only by the thought of Sir Humphry Davy and the experiments of Joule and Julius Robert von Mayer, maintaining that experimental demonstration of the conversion of heat into work was still outstanding.
As soon as Joule read the paper he wrote to Thomson with his comments and questions. Thus began a fruitful, though largely epistolary, collaboration between the two men, Joule conducting experiments, Thomson analysing the results and suggesting further experiments. The collaboration lasted from 1852 to 1856, its discoveries including the Joule–Thomson effect, sometimes called the Kelvin–Joule effect, and the published results did much to bring about general acceptance of Joule's work and the kinetic theory.
Thomson published more than 650 scientific papers and applied for 70 patents (not all were issued). Regarding science, Thomson wrote the following:
Transatlantic cable
Calculations on data rate
Though now eminent in the academic field, Thomson was obscure to the general public. In September 1852, he married childhood sweetheart Margaret Crum, daughter of Walter Crum; but her health broke down on their honeymoon, and over the next seventeen years, Thomson was distracted by her suffering. On 16 October 1854, George Gabriel Stokes wrote to Thomson to try to re-interest him in work by asking his opinion on some experiments of Michael Faraday on the proposed transatlantic telegraph cable.
Faraday had demonstrated how the construction of a cable would limit the rate at which messages could be sent – in modern terms, the bandwidth. Thomson jumped at the problem and published his response that month. He expressed his results in terms of the data rate that could be achieved and the economic consequences in terms of the potential revenue of the transatlantic undertaking. In a further 1855 analysis, Thomson stressed the impact that the design of the cable would have on its profitability.
Thomson contended that the signalling speed through a given cable was inversely proportional to the square of the length of the cable. Thomson's results were disputed at a meeting of the British Association in 1856 by Wildman Whitehouse, the electrician of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Whitehouse had possibly misinterpreted the results of his own experiments but was doubtless feeling financial pressure as plans for the cable were already well under way. He believed that Thomson's calculations implied that the cable must be "abandoned as being practically and commercially impossible".
Thomson attacked Whitehouse's contention in a letter to the popular Athenaeum magazine, pitching himself into the public eye. Thomson recommended a larger conductor with a larger cross section of insulation. He thought Whitehouse no fool, and suspected that he might have the practical skill to make the existing design work. Thomson's work had attracted the attention of the project's undertakers. In December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company.
Scientist to engineer
Thomson became scientific adviser to a team with Whitehouse as chief electrician and Sir Charles Tilston Bright as chief engineer but Whitehouse had his way with the specification, supported by Faraday and Samuel F. B. Morse.
Thomson sailed on board the cable-laying ship in August 1857, with Whitehouse confined to land owing to illness, but the voyage ended after when the cable parted. Thomson contributed to the effort by publishing in the Engineer the whole theory of the stresses involved in the laying of a submarine cable, and showed that when the line is running out of the ship, at a constant speed, in a uniform depth of water, it sinks in a slant or straight incline from the point where it enters the water to that where it touches the bottom.
Thomson developed a complete system for operating a submarine telegraph that was capable of sending a character every 3.5 seconds. He patented the key elements of his system, the mirror galvanometer and the siphon recorder, in 1858.
Whitehouse still felt able to ignore Thomson's many suggestions and proposals. It was not until Thomson convinced the board that using purer copper for replacing the lost section of cable would improve data capacity, that he first made a difference to the execution of the project.
The board insisted that Thomson join the 1858 cable-laying expedition, without any financial compensation, and take an active part in the project. In return, Thomson secured a trial for his mirror galvanometer, which the board had been unenthusiastic about, alongside Whitehouse's equipment. Thomson found the access he was given unsatisfactory and the Agamemnon had to return home following the disastrous storm of June 1858. In London, the board was about to abandon the project and mitigate their losses by selling the cable. Thomson, Cyrus West Field and Curtis M. Lampson argued for another attempt and prevailed, Thomson insisting that the technical problems were tractable. Though employed in an advisory capacity, Thomson had, during the voyages, developed a real engineer's instincts and skill at practical problem-solving under pressure, often taking the lead in dealing with emergencies and being unafraid to assist in manual work. A cable was completed on 5 August.
Disaster and triumph
Thomson's fears were realized when Whitehouse's apparatus proved insufficiently sensitive and had to be replaced by Thomson's mirror galvanometer. Whitehouse continued to maintain that it was his equipment that was providing the service and started to engage in desperate measures to remedy some of the problems. He succeeded in fatally damaging the cable by applying 2,000 V. When the cable failed completely Whitehouse was dismissed, though Thomson objected and was reprimanded by the board for his interference. Thomson subsequently regretted that he had acquiesced too readily to many of Whitehouse's proposals and had not challenged him with sufficient vigour.
A joint committee of inquiry was established by the Board of Trade and the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Most of the blame for the cable's failure was found to rest with Whitehouse. The committee found that, though underwater cables were notorious in their lack of reliability, most of the problems arose from known and avoidable causes. Thomson was appointed one of a five-member committee to recommend a specification for a new cable. The committee reported in October 1863.
In July 1865, Thomson sailed on the cable-laying expedition of the but the voyage was dogged by technical problems. The cable was lost after had been laid and the project was abandoned. A further attempt in 1866 laid a new cable in two weeks, and then recovered and completed the 1865 cable. The enterprise was now feted as a triumph by the public and Thomson enjoyed a large share of the adulation. Thomson, along with the other principals of the project, was knighted on 10 November 1866.
To exploit his inventions for signalling on long submarine cables, Thomson now entered into a partnership with C. F. Varley and Fleeming Jenkin. In conjunction with the latter, he also devised an automatic curb sender, a kind of telegraph key for sending messages on a cable.
Later expeditions
Thomson took part in the laying of the French Atlantic submarine communications cable of 1869, and with Jenkin was engineer of the Western and Brazilian and Platino-Brazilian cables, assisted by vacation student James Alfred Ewing. He was present at the laying of the Pará to Pernambuco section of the Brazilian coast cables in 1873.
Thomson's wife died on 17 June 1870, and he resolved to make changes in his life. Already addicted to seafaring, in September he purchased a 126-ton schooner, the Lalla Rookh and used it as a base for entertaining friends and scientific colleagues. His maritime interests continued in 1871 when he was appointed to the board of enquiry into the sinking of .
In June 1873, Thomson and Jenkin were on board the Hooper, bound for Lisbon with of cable when the cable developed a fault. An unscheduled 16-day stop-over in Madeira followed and Thomson became good friends with Charles R. Blandy and his three daughters. On 2 May 1874 he set sail for Madeira on the Lalla Rookh. As he approached the harbour, he signaled to the Blandy residence "Will you marry me?" and Fanny (Blandy's daughter Frances Anna Blandy) signaled back "Yes". Thomson married Fanny, 13 years his junior, on 24 June 1874.
Other contributions
Thomson and Tait: Treatise on Natural Philosophy
Over the period 1855 to 1867, Thomson collaborated with Peter Guthrie Tait on a text book that founded the study of mechanics first on the mathematics of kinematics, the description of motion without regard to force. The text developed dynamics in various areas but with constant attention to energy as a unifying principle.
A second edition appeared in 1879, expanded to two separately bound parts. The textbook set a standard for early education in mathematical physics.
Atmospheric electricity
Kelvin made significant contributions to atmospheric electricity for the relatively short time for which he worked on the subject, around 1859. He developed several instruments for measuring the atmospheric electric field, using some of the electrometers he had initially developed for telegraph work, which he tested at Glasgow and whilst on holiday on Arran. His measurements on Arran were sufficiently rigorous and well-calibrated that they could be used to deduce air pollution from the Glasgow area, through its effects on the atmospheric electric field. Kelvin's water dropper electrometer was used for measuring the atmospheric electric field at Kew Observatory and Eskdalemuir Observatory for many years, and one was still in use operationally at Kakioka Observatory in Japan until early 2021. Kelvin may have unwittingly observed atmospheric electrical effects caused by the Carrington event (a significant geomagnetic storm) in early September 1859.
Kelvin's vortex theory of the atom
Between 1870 and 1890 the vortex atom theory, which purported that an atom was a vortex in the aether, was popular among British physicists and mathematicians. Thomson pioneered the theory, which was distinct from the seventeenth century vortex theory of Descartes in that Thomson was thinking in terms of a unitary continuum theory, whereas Descartes was thinking in terms of three different types of matter, each relating respectively to emission, transmission, and reflection of light. About 60 scientific papers were written by approximately 25 scientists. Following the lead of Thomson and Tait, the branch of topology called knot theory was developed. Kelvin's initiative in this complex study that continues to inspire new mathematics has led to persistence of the topic in history of science.
Marine
Thomson was an enthusiastic yachtsman, his interest in all things relating to the sea perhaps arising from, or fostered by, his experiences on the Agamemnon and the Great Eastern.
Thomson introduced a method of deep-sea depth sounding, in which a steel piano wire replaces the ordinary hand line. The wire glides so easily to the bottom that "flying soundings" can be taken while the ship is at full speed. A pressure gauge to register the depth of the sinker was added by Thomson.
About the same time he revived the Sumner method of finding a ship's position, and calculated a set of tables for its ready application.
During the 1880s, Thomson worked to perfect the adjustable compass to correct errors arising from magnetic deviation owing to the increased use of iron in naval architecture. Thomson's design was a great improvement on the older instruments, being steadier and less hampered by friction. The deviation due to the ship's magnetism was corrected by movable iron masses at the binnacle. Thomson's innovations involved much detailed work to develop principles identified by George Biddell Airy and others, but contributed little in terms of novel physical thinking. Thomson's energetic lobbying and networking proved effective in gaining acceptance of his instrument by The Admiralty.
Charles Babbage had been among the first to suggest that a lighthouse might be made to signal a distinctive number by occultations of its light, but Thomson pointed out the merits of the Morse code for the purpose, and urged that the signals should consist of short and long flashes of the light to represent the dots and dashes.
Electrical standards
Thomson did more than any other electrician up to his time in introducing accurate methods and apparatus for measuring electricity. As early as 1845 he pointed out that the experimental results of William Snow Harris were in accordance with the laws of Coulomb. In the Memoirs of the Roman Academy of Sciences for 1857 he published a description of his new divided ring electrometer, based on the old electroscope of Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger and he introduced a chain or series of effective instruments, including the quadrant electrometer, which cover the entire field of electrostatic measurement. He invented the current balance, also known as the Kelvin balance or Ampere balance (SiC), for the precise specification of the ampere, the standard unit of electric current. From around 1880 he was aided by the electrical engineer Magnus Maclean FRSE in his electrical experiments.
In 1893, Thomson headed an international commission to decide on the design of the Niagara Falls power station. Despite his belief in the superiority of direct current electric power transmission, he endorsed Westinghouse's alternating current system which had been demonstrated at the Chicago World's Fair of that year. Even after Niagara Falls Thomson still held to his belief that direct current was the superior system.
Acknowledging his contribution to electrical standardisation, the International Electrotechnical Commission elected Thomson as its first President at its preliminary meeting, held in London on 26–27 June 1906. "On the proposal of the President [Mr Alexander Siemens, Great Britain], secounded [sic] by Mr Mailloux [US Institute of Electrical Engineers] the Right Honorable Lord Kelvin, G.C.V.O., O.M., was unanimously elected first President of the Commission", minutes of the Preliminary Meeting Report read.
Age of the Earth: geology
Kelvin estimated the age of the Earth. Given his youthful work on the figure of the Earth and his interest in heat conduction, it is no surprise that he chose to investigate the Earth's cooling and to make historical inferences of the Earth's age from his calculations. Thomson was a creationist in a broad sense, but he was not a 'flood geologist' (a view that had lost mainstream scientific support by the 1840s). He contended that the laws of thermodynamics operated from the birth of the universe and envisaged a dynamic process that saw the organisation and evolution of the Solar System and other structures, followed by a gradual "heat death". He developed the view that the Earth had once been too hot to support life and contrasted this view with that of uniformitarianism, that conditions had remained constant since the indefinite past. He contended that "This earth, certainly a moderate number of millions of years ago, was a red-hot globe … ."
After the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species in 1859, Thomson saw evidence of the relatively short habitable age of the Earth as tending to contradict Darwin's gradualist explanation of slow natural selection bringing about biological diversity. Thomson's own views favoured a version of theistic evolution sped up by divine guidance. His calculations showed that the Sun could not have possibly existed long enough to allow the slow incremental development by evolution – unless some energy source beyond what he or any other Victorian era person knew of was found. He was soon drawn into public disagreement with geologists, and with Darwin's supporters John Tyndall and T. H. Huxley. In his response to Huxley's address to the Geological Society of London (1868) he presented his address "Of Geological Dynamics" (1869) which, among his other writings, challenged the geologists' acceptance that the earth must be of indefinite age.
Thomson's initial 1864 estimate of the Earth's age was from 20 to 400 million years old. These wide limits were due to his uncertainty about the melting temperature of rock, to which he equated the Earth's interior temperature, as well as the uncertainty in thermal conductivities and specific heats of rocks. Over the years he refined his arguments and reduced the upper bound by a factor of ten, and in 1897 Thomson, now Lord Kelvin, ultimately settled on an estimate that the Earth was 20–40 million years old. In a letter published in Scientific American Supplement 1895 Kelvin criticized geologists' estimates of the age of rocks and the age of the earth, including the views published by Charles Darwin, as "vaguely vast age".
His exploration of this estimate can be found in his 1897 address to the Victoria Institute, given at the request of the Institute's president George Stokes, as recorded in that Institute's journal Transactions. Although his former assistant John Perry published a paper in 1895 challenging Kelvin's assumption of low thermal conductivity inside the Earth, and thus showing a much greater age, this had little immediate impact. The discovery in 1903 that radioactive decay releases heat led to Kelvin's estimate being challenged, and Ernest Rutherford famously made the argument in a 1904 lecture attended by Kelvin that this provided the unknown energy source Kelvin had suggested, but the estimate was not overturned until the development in 1907 of radiometric dating of rocks.
It was widely believed that the discovery of radioactivity had invalidated Thomson's estimate of the age of the Earth. Thomson himself never publicly acknowledged this because he thought he had a much stronger argument restricting the age of the Sun to no more than 20 million years. Without sunlight, there could be no explanation for the sediment record on the Earth's surface. At the time, the only known source for the solar power output was gravitational collapse. It was only when thermonuclear fusion was recognised in the 1930s that Thomson's age paradox was truly resolved.
Later life and death
In the winter of 1860–1861 Kelvin slipped on the ice while curling near his home at Netherhall and fractured his leg, causing him to miss the 1861 Manchester meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and to limp thereafter. He remained something of a celebrity on both sides of the Atlantic until his death.
Thomson remained a devout believer in Christianity throughout his life; attendance at chapel was part of his daily routine. He saw his Christian faith as supporting and informing his scientific work, as is evident from his address to the annual meeting of the Christian Evidence Society, 23 May 1889.
In the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902 (the original day of the coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra), Kelvin was appointed a Privy Councillor and one of the first members of the new Order of Merit (OM). He received the order from the King on 8 August 1902, and was sworn a member of the council at Buckingham Palace on 11 August 1902. In his later years he often travelled to his town house at 15 Eaton Place, off Eaton Square in London's Belgravia.
In November 1907 he caught a chill and his condition deteriorated until he died at his Scottish country seat, Netherhall, in Largs on 17 December.
At the request of Westminster Abbey, the undertakers Wylie & Lochhead prepared an oak coffin, lined with lead. In the dark of the winter evening the cortege set off from Netherhall for Largs railway station, a distance of about a mile. Large crowds witnessed the passing of the cortege, and shopkeepers closed their premises and dimmed their lights. The coffin was placed in a special Midland and Glasgow and South Western Railway van. The train set off at 8.30 pm for Kilmarnock, where the van was attached to the overnight express to St Pancras railway station in London.
Kelvin's funeral was to be held on 23 December 1907. The coffin was taken from St Pancras by hearse to Westminster Abbey, where it rested overnight in St Faith's Chapel. The following day the Abbey was crowded for the funeral, including representatives from the University of Glasgow and the University of Cambridge, along with representatives from France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Russia, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Monaco. Kelvin's grave is in the nave, near the choir screen, and close to the graves of Isaac Newton, John Herschel, and Charles Darwin. The pall-bearers included Darwin's son, Sir George Darwin.
Back in Scotland the University of Glasgow held a memorial service for Kelvin in the Bute Hall. Kelvin had been a member of the Scottish Episcopal Church, attached to St Columba's Episcopal Church in Largs, and when in Glasgow to St Mary's Episcopal Church (now, St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow). At the same time as the funeral in Westminster Abbey, a service was held in St Columba's Episcopal Church, Largs, attended by a large congregation including burgh dignitaries.
William Thomson is also memorialised on the Thomson family grave in Glasgow Necropolis. The family grave has a second modern memorial to William alongside, erected by the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow; a society of which he was president in the periods 1856–1858 and 1874–1877.
Aftermath and legacy
Limits of classical physics
In 1884, Thomson led a master class on "Molecular Dynamics and the Wave Theory of Light" at Johns Hopkins University. Kelvin referred to the acoustic wave equation describing sound as waves of pressure in air and attempted to describe also an electromagnetic wave equation, presuming a luminiferous aether susceptible to vibration. The study group included Michelson and Morley who subsequently performed the Michelson–Morley experiment that undercut the aether theory. Thomson did not provide a text but A. S. Hathaway took notes and duplicated them with a Papyrograph. As the subject matter was under active development, Thomson amended that text and in 1904 it was typeset and published. Thomson's attempts to provide mechanical models ultimately failed in the electromagnetic regime. Starting from his lecture in 1884, Kelvin was also the first scientist to formulate the hypothetical concept of dark matter; he then attempted to define and locate some “dark bodies” in the Milky Way.
On 27 April 1900 he gave a widely reported lecture titled Nineteenth-Century Clouds over the Dynamical Theory of Heat and Light to the Royal Institution. The two "dark clouds" he was alluding to were confusion surrounding how matter moves through the aether (including the puzzling results of the Michelson–Morley experiment) and indications that the Law of Equipartition in statistical mechanics might break down. Two major physical theories were developed during the twentieth century starting from these issues: for the former, the theory of relativity; for the second, quantum mechanics. Albert Einstein, in 1905, published the so-called "Annus Mirabilis papers", one of which explained the photoelectric effect, based on Max Planck's discovery of energy quanta which was the foundation of quantum mechanics, another of which described special relativity, and the last of which explained Brownian motion in terms of statistical mechanics, providing a strong argument for the existence of atoms.
Pronouncements later proven to be false
Like many scientists, Thomson made some mistakes in predicting the future of technology.
His biographer Silvanus P. Thompson writes that "When Röntgen's discovery of the X-rays was announced at the end of 1895, Lord Kelvin was entirely skeptical, and regarded the announcement as a hoax. The papers had been full of the wonders of Röntgen's rays, about which Lord Kelvin was intensely skeptical until Röntgen himself sent him a copy of his Memoir"; on 17 January 1896, having read the paper and seen the photographs, he wrote Röntgen a letter saying that "I need not tell you that when I read the paper I was very much astonished and delighted. I can say no more now than to congratulate you warmly on the great discovery you have made" He would have his own hand X-rayed in May 1896. (See also N rays.)
His forecast for practical aviation (i.e., heavier-than-air aircraft) was negative. In 1896 he refused an invitation to join the Aeronautical Society, writing that "I have not the smallest molecule of faith in aerial navigation other than ballooning or of expectation of good results from any of the trials we hear of." And in a 1902 newspaper interview he predicted that "No balloon and no aeroplane will ever be practically successful."
The statement "There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement" has been widely misattributed to Kelvin since the 1980s, either without citation or stating that it was made in an address to the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1900). There is no evidence that Kelvin said this, and the quote is instead a paraphrase of Albert A. Michelson, who in 1894 stated: "… it seems probable that most of the grand underlying principles have been firmly established … An eminent physicist remarked that the future truths of physical science are to be looked for in the sixth place of decimals." Similar statements were given earlier by others, such as Philipp von Jolly. The attribution to Kelvin giving an address in 1900 is presumably a confusion with his "Two clouds" speech, delivered to the Royal Institution in 1900 (see above), and which on the contrary pointed out areas that would subsequently see revolutions.
In 1898, Kelvin predicted that only 400 years of oxygen supply remained on the planet, due to the rate of burning combustibles. In his calculation, Kelvin assumed that photosynthesis was the only source of free oxygen; he did not know all of the components of the oxygen cycle. He could not even have known all of the sources of photosynthesis: for example the cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus—which accounts for more than half of marine photosynthesis—was not discovered until 1986.
Eponyms
A variety of physical phenomena and concepts with which Thomson is associated are named Kelvin, including:
Kelvin bridge (also known as Thomson bridge)
Kelvin functions
Kelvin–Helmholtz instability
Kelvin–Helmholtz luminosity
Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism
Kelvin material
Joule-Kelvin effect
Kelvin sensing
Kelvin transform in potential theory
Kelvin water dropper
Kelvin wave
Kelvin’s heat death paradox
Kelvin's circulation theorem
Kelvin–Stokes theorem
Kelvin–Varley divider
The SI unit of temperature, kelvin
Honours
Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1847.
Keith Medal, 1864.
Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize, 1887.
President, 1873–1878, 1886–1890, 1895–1907.
Foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 1851.
Fellow of the Royal Society, 1851.
Royal Medal, 1856.
Copley Medal, 1883.
President, 1890–1895.
Hon. Member of the Royal College of Preceptors (College of Teachers), 1858.
Hon. Member of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, 1859.
Knighted 1866.
Commander of the Imperial Order of the Rose (Brazil), 1873.
Commander of the Legion of Honour (France), 1881.
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour, 1889.
Knight of the Prussian Order Pour le Mérite, 1884.
Commander of the Order of Leopold (Belgium), 1890.
Baron Kelvin, of Largs in the County of Ayr, 1892. The title derives from the River Kelvin, which runs by the grounds of the University of Glasgow. His title died with him, as he was survived by neither heirs nor close relations.
Knight Grand Cross of the Victorian Order, 1896.
Honorary degree Legum doctor (LL.D.), Yale University, 5 May 1902.
One of the first members of the Order of Merit, 1902.
Privy Counsellor, 11 August 1902.
Honorary degree Doctor mathematicae from the Royal Frederick University on 6 September 1902, when they celebrated the centennial of the birth of mathematician Niels Henrik Abel.
First international recipient of John Fritz Medal, 1905.
Order of the First Class of the Sacred Treasure of Japan, 1901.
He is buried in Westminster Abbey, London next to Isaac Newton.
Lord Kelvin was commemorated on the £20 note issued by the Clydesdale Bank in 1971; in the current issue of banknotes, his image appears on the bank's £100 note. He is shown holding his adjustable compass and in the background is a map of the transatlantic cable.
The town of Kelvin, Arizona, is named in his honour, as he was reputedly a large investor in the mining operations there.
In 2011 he was one of seven inaugural inductees to the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame.
World Refrigeration Day, is 26 June. It was chosen to celebrate his birth date and has been held annually, since 2019.
Arms
See also
Taylor column
People on Scottish banknotes
List of things named after Lord Kelvin
References
Kelvin's works
2nd edition, 1883. (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009. )
Treatise on Natural Philosophy (Part I) (Internet Archive)
Treatise on Natural Philosophy (Part II) (Internet Archive)
(reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. ) 2nd edition, 1879.
(reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. ) 2nd edition, 1879.
(6 volumes)
Volume I. 1841-1853 (Internet Archive)
Volume II. 1853-1856 (Internet Archive)
Volume III. Elasticity, heat, electro-magnetism (Internet Archive)
Volume IV. Hydrodynamics and general dynamics (Hathitrust)
Volume V. Thermodynamics, cosmical and geological physics, molecular and crystalline theory, electrodynamics (Internet Archive)
Volume VI. Voltaic theory, radioactivity, electrions, navigation and tides, miscellaneous (Internet Archive)
(reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. )
Biography, history of ideas and criticism
In two volumes Volume 1 Volume 2
External links
Heroes of the Telegraph at The Online Books Page
"Horses on Mars", from Lord Kelvin
William Thomson: king of Victorian physics at Institute of Physics website
Measuring the Absolute: William Thomson and Temperature, Hasok Chang and Sang Wook Yi (PDF file)
Reprint of papers on electrostatics and magnetism (gallica)
The molecular tactics of a crystal (Internet Archive)
Quotations. This collection includes sources for many quotes.
Kelvin Building Opening – The Leys School, Cambridge (1893)
The Kelvin Library
1824 births
1907 deaths
19th-century British mathematicians
20th-century British mathematicians
Academics of the University of Glasgow
Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
British physicists
Burials at Westminster Abbey
Catastrophism
Chancellors of the University of Glasgow
Elders of the Church of Scotland
Fellows of the Royal Society
Fluid dynamicists
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
John Fritz Medal recipients
Knights Bachelor
Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
Members of the Order of Merit
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Ordained peers
People associated with electricity
People educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution
People of the Industrial Revolution
Physicists from Northern Ireland
Presidents of the Physical Society
Presidents of the Royal Society
Presidents of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Recipients of the Copley Medal
Royal Medal winners
Second Wranglers
Scientists from Belfast
Theistic evolutionists
Creators of temperature scales
Ulster Scots people
Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame inductees
Recipients of the Matteucci Medal
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria | 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"
]
|
[
"William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin",
"Calculations on data rate",
"What does William have to do with calculations on data rate?",
"Thomson contended that the signalling speed through a given cable was inversely proportional to the square of the length of the cable.",
"How were his contributions helpful to society?",
"December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Thomson attacked Whitehouse's contention in a letter to the popular Athenaeum magazine, pitching himself into the public eye."
]
| C_c6c79a4f96a74f119c45191b1aa2ab43_0 | How did the public react to this letter? | 4 | How did the public react to William Thomson's letter to to the popular Athenaeum magazine?? | William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin | Though now eminent in the academic field, Thomson was obscure to the general public. In September 1852, he married childhood sweetheart Margaret Crum, daughter of Walter Crum; but her health broke down on their honeymoon and, over the next seventeen years, Thomson was distracted by her suffering. On 16 October 1854, George Gabriel Stokes wrote to Thomson to try to re-interest him in work by asking his opinion on some experiments of Michael Faraday on the proposed transatlantic telegraph cable. Faraday had demonstrated how the construction of a cable would limit the rate at which messages could be sent - in modern terms, the bandwidth. Thomson jumped at the problem and published his response that month. He expressed his results in terms of the data rate that could be achieved and the economic consequences in terms of the potential revenue of the transatlantic undertaking. In a further 1855 analysis, Thomson stressed the impact that the design of the cable would have on its profitability. Thomson contended that the signalling speed through a given cable was inversely proportional to the square of the length of the cable. Thomson's results were disputed at a meeting of the British Association in 1856 by Wildman Whitehouse, the electrician of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Whitehouse had possibly misinterpreted the results of his own experiments but was doubtless feeling financial pressure as plans for the cable were already well under way. He believed that Thomson's calculations implied that the cable must be "abandoned as being practically and commercially impossible." Thomson attacked Whitehouse's contention in a letter to the popular Athenaeum magazine, pitching himself into the public eye. Thomson recommended a larger conductor with a larger cross section of insulation. However, he thought Whitehouse no fool and suspected that he might have the practical skill to make the existing design work. Thomson's work had, however, caught the eye of the project's undertakers and in December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. CANNOTANSWER | caught the eye of the project's undertakers and in December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. | William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (26 June 182417 December 1907) was a British mathematician, mathematical physicist and engineer born in Belfast. Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, he did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and did much to unify the emerging discipline of physics in its contemporary form. He received the Royal Society's Copley Medal in 1883, was its President 1890–1895, and in 1892 was the first British scientist to be elevated to the House of Lords.
Absolute temperatures are stated in units of kelvin in his honour. While the existence of a lower limit to temperature (absolute zero) was known prior to his work, Kelvin is known for determining its correct value as approximately −273.15 degrees Celsius or −459.67 degrees Fahrenheit. The Joule–Thomson effect is also named in his honour.
He worked closely with mathematics professor Hugh Blackburn in his work. He also had a career as an electric telegraph engineer and inventor, which propelled him into the public eye and ensured his wealth, fame and honour. For his work on the transatlantic telegraph project he was knighted in 1866 by Queen Victoria, becoming Sir William Thomson. He had extensive maritime interests and was most noted for his work on the mariner's compass, which previously had limited reliability.
He was ennobled in 1892 in recognition of his achievements in thermodynamics, and of his opposition to Irish Home Rule, becoming Baron Kelvin, of Largs in the County of Ayr. The title refers to the River Kelvin, which flows near his laboratory at the University of Glasgow's Gilmorehill home at Hillhead. Despite offers of elevated posts from several world-renowned universities, Kelvin refused to leave Glasgow, remaining until his eventual retirement from that post in 1899. Active in industrial research and development, he was recruited around 1899 by George Eastman to serve as vice-chairman of the board of the British company Kodak Limited, affiliated with Eastman Kodak. In 1904 he became Chancellor of the University of Glasgow.
His home was the red sandstone mansion Netherhall, in Largs, which he built in the 1870s and where he died. The Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow has a permanent exhibition on the work of Kelvin including many of his original papers, instruments, and other artefacts, such as his smoking pipe.
Early life and work
Family
William Thomson's father, James Thomson, was a teacher of mathematics and engineering at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and the son of a farmer. James Thomson married Margaret Gardner in 1817 and, of their children, four boys and two girls survived infancy. Margaret Thomson died in 1830 when William was six years old.
William and his elder brother James were tutored at home by their father while the younger boys were tutored by their elder sisters. James was intended to benefit from the major share of his father's encouragement, affection and financial support and was prepared for a career in engineering.
In 1832, his father was appointed professor of mathematics at Glasgow and the family moved there in October 1833. The Thomson children were introduced to a broader cosmopolitan experience than their father's rural upbringing, spending mid-1839 in London and the boys were tutored in French in Paris. Much of Thomson's life during the mid-1840s was spent in Germany and the Netherlands. Language study was given a high priority.
His sister, Anna Thomson, was the mother of James Thomson Bottomley FRSE (1845–1926).
Youth
Thomson had heart problems and nearly died when he was 9 years old. He attended the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, where his father was a professor in the university department, before beginning study at Glasgow University in 1834 at the age of 10, not out of any precociousness; the University provided many of the facilities of an elementary school for able pupils, and this was a typical starting age.
In school, Thomson showed a keen interest in the classics along with his natural interest in the sciences. At the age of 12 he won a prize for translating Lucian of Samosata's Dialogues of the Gods from Latin to English.
In the academic year 1839/1840, Thomson won the class prize in astronomy for his Essay on the figure of the Earth which showed an early facility for mathematical analysis and creativity. His physics tutor at this time was his namesake, David Thomson.
Throughout his life, he would work on the problems raised in the essay as a coping strategy during times of personal stress. On the title page of this essay Thomson wrote the following lines from Alexander Pope's Essay on Man. These lines inspired Thomson to understand the natural world using the power and method of science:
Thomson became intrigued with Fourier's Théorie analytique de la chaleur and committed himself to study the "Continental" mathematics resisted by a British establishment still working in the shadow of Sir Isaac Newton. Unsurprisingly, Fourier's work had been attacked by domestic mathematicians, Philip Kelland authoring a critical book. The book motivated Thomson to write his first published scientific paper under the pseudonym P.Q.R., defending Fourier, and submitted to the Cambridge Mathematical Journal by his father. A second P.Q.R. paper followed almost immediately.
While on holiday with his family in Lamlash in 1841, he wrote a third, more substantial P.Q.R. paper On the uniform motion of heat in homogeneous solid bodies, and its connection with the mathematical theory of electricity. In the paper he made remarkable connections between the mathematical theories of heat conduction and electrostatics, an analogy that James Clerk Maxwell was ultimately to describe as one of the most valuable science-forming ideas.
Cambridge
William's father was able to make a generous provision for his favourite son's education and, in 1841, installed him, with extensive letters of introduction and ample accommodation, at Peterhouse, Cambridge. While at Cambridge, Thomson was active in sports, athletics and sculling, winning the Colquhoun Sculls in 1843. He also took a lively interest in the classics, music, and literature; but the real love of his intellectual life was the pursuit of science. The study of mathematics, physics, and in particular, of electricity, had captivated his imagination. In 1845 Thomson graduated as Second Wrangler. He also won the First Smith's Prize, which, unlike the tripos, is a test of original research. Robert Leslie Ellis, one of the examiners, is said to have declared to another examiner "You and I are just about fit to mend his pens."
In 1845, he gave the first mathematical development of Michael Faraday's idea that electric induction takes place through an intervening medium, or "dielectric", and not by some incomprehensible "action at a distance". He also devised the mathematical technique of electrical images, which became a powerful agent in solving problems of electrostatics, the science which deals with the forces between electrically charged bodies at rest. It was partly in response to his encouragement that Faraday undertook the research in September 1845 that led to the discovery of the Faraday effect, which established that light and magnetic (and thus electric) phenomena were related.
He was elected a fellow of St. Peter's (as Peterhouse was often called at the time) in June 1845. On gaining the fellowship, he spent some time in the laboratory of the celebrated Henri Victor Regnault, at Paris; but in 1846 he was appointed to the chair of natural philosophy in the University of Glasgow. At twenty-two he found himself wearing the gown of a professor in one of the oldest Universities in the country, and lecturing to the class of which he was a first year student a few years before.
Thermodynamics
By 1847, Thomson had already gained a reputation as a precocious and maverick scientist when he attended the British Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Oxford. At that meeting, he heard James Prescott Joule making yet another of his, so far, ineffective attempts to discredit the caloric theory of heat and the theory of the heat engine built upon it by Sadi Carnot and Émile Clapeyron. Joule argued for the mutual convertibility of heat and mechanical work and for their mechanical equivalence.
Thomson was intrigued but sceptical. Though he felt that Joule's results demanded theoretical explanation, he retreated into an even deeper commitment to the Carnot–Clapeyron school. He predicted that the melting point of ice must fall with pressure, otherwise its expansion on freezing could be exploited in a perpetuum mobile. Experimental confirmation in his laboratory did much to bolster his beliefs.
In 1848, he extended the Carnot–Clapeyron theory further through his dissatisfaction that the gas thermometer provided only an operational definition of temperature. He proposed an absolute temperature scale in which a unit of heat descending from a body A at the temperature T° of this scale, to a body B at the temperature (T−1)°, would give out the same mechanical effect [work], whatever be the number T. Such a scale would be quite independent of the physical properties of any specific substance. By employing such a "waterfall", Thomson postulated that a point would be reached at which no further heat (caloric) could be transferred, the point of absolute zero about which Guillaume Amontons had speculated in 1702. "Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat", published by Carnot in French in 1824, the year of Lord Kelvin's birth, used −267 as an estimate of the absolute zero temperature. Thomson used data published by Regnault to calibrate his scale against established measurements.
In his publication, Thomson wrote:
—But a footnote signalled his first doubts about the caloric theory, referring to Joule's very remarkable discoveries. Surprisingly, Thomson did not send Joule a copy of his paper, but when Joule eventually read it he wrote to Thomson on 6 October, claiming that his studies had demonstrated conversion of heat into work but that he was planning further experiments. Thomson replied on 27 October, revealing that he was planning his own experiments and hoping for a reconciliation of their two views.
Thomson returned to critique Carnot's original publication and read his analysis to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in January 1849, still convinced that the theory was fundamentally sound. However, though Thomson conducted no new experiments, over the next two years he became increasingly dissatisfied with Carnot's theory and convinced of Joule's. In February 1851 he sat down to articulate his new thinking. He was uncertain of how to frame his theory and the paper went through several drafts before he settled on an attempt to reconcile Carnot and Joule. During his rewriting, he seems to have considered ideas that would subsequently give rise to the second law of thermodynamics. In Carnot's theory, lost heat was absolutely lost but Thomson contended that it was "lost to man irrecoverably; but not lost in the material world". Moreover, his theological beliefs led Thompson to extrapolate the second law to the cosmos, originating the idea of universal heat death.
Compensation would require a creative act or an act possessing similar power, resulting in a rejuvenating universe (as Thompson had previously compared universal heat death to a clock running slower and slower, although he was unsure whether it would eventually reach thermodynamic equilibrium and stop for ever). Kelvin also formulated the heat death paradox (Kelvin’s paradox) in 1862, which uses the second law of thermodynamics to disprove the possibility of an infinitely old universe; this paradox was later extended by Rankine.
In final publication, Thomson retreated from a radical departure and declared "the whole theory of the motive power of heat is founded on ... two ... propositions, due respectively to Joule, and to Carnot and Clausius." Thomson went on to state a form of the second law:
In the paper, Thomson supported the theory that heat was a form of motion but admitted that he had been influenced only by the thought of Sir Humphry Davy and the experiments of Joule and Julius Robert von Mayer, maintaining that experimental demonstration of the conversion of heat into work was still outstanding.
As soon as Joule read the paper he wrote to Thomson with his comments and questions. Thus began a fruitful, though largely epistolary, collaboration between the two men, Joule conducting experiments, Thomson analysing the results and suggesting further experiments. The collaboration lasted from 1852 to 1856, its discoveries including the Joule–Thomson effect, sometimes called the Kelvin–Joule effect, and the published results did much to bring about general acceptance of Joule's work and the kinetic theory.
Thomson published more than 650 scientific papers and applied for 70 patents (not all were issued). Regarding science, Thomson wrote the following:
Transatlantic cable
Calculations on data rate
Though now eminent in the academic field, Thomson was obscure to the general public. In September 1852, he married childhood sweetheart Margaret Crum, daughter of Walter Crum; but her health broke down on their honeymoon, and over the next seventeen years, Thomson was distracted by her suffering. On 16 October 1854, George Gabriel Stokes wrote to Thomson to try to re-interest him in work by asking his opinion on some experiments of Michael Faraday on the proposed transatlantic telegraph cable.
Faraday had demonstrated how the construction of a cable would limit the rate at which messages could be sent – in modern terms, the bandwidth. Thomson jumped at the problem and published his response that month. He expressed his results in terms of the data rate that could be achieved and the economic consequences in terms of the potential revenue of the transatlantic undertaking. In a further 1855 analysis, Thomson stressed the impact that the design of the cable would have on its profitability.
Thomson contended that the signalling speed through a given cable was inversely proportional to the square of the length of the cable. Thomson's results were disputed at a meeting of the British Association in 1856 by Wildman Whitehouse, the electrician of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Whitehouse had possibly misinterpreted the results of his own experiments but was doubtless feeling financial pressure as plans for the cable were already well under way. He believed that Thomson's calculations implied that the cable must be "abandoned as being practically and commercially impossible".
Thomson attacked Whitehouse's contention in a letter to the popular Athenaeum magazine, pitching himself into the public eye. Thomson recommended a larger conductor with a larger cross section of insulation. He thought Whitehouse no fool, and suspected that he might have the practical skill to make the existing design work. Thomson's work had attracted the attention of the project's undertakers. In December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company.
Scientist to engineer
Thomson became scientific adviser to a team with Whitehouse as chief electrician and Sir Charles Tilston Bright as chief engineer but Whitehouse had his way with the specification, supported by Faraday and Samuel F. B. Morse.
Thomson sailed on board the cable-laying ship in August 1857, with Whitehouse confined to land owing to illness, but the voyage ended after when the cable parted. Thomson contributed to the effort by publishing in the Engineer the whole theory of the stresses involved in the laying of a submarine cable, and showed that when the line is running out of the ship, at a constant speed, in a uniform depth of water, it sinks in a slant or straight incline from the point where it enters the water to that where it touches the bottom.
Thomson developed a complete system for operating a submarine telegraph that was capable of sending a character every 3.5 seconds. He patented the key elements of his system, the mirror galvanometer and the siphon recorder, in 1858.
Whitehouse still felt able to ignore Thomson's many suggestions and proposals. It was not until Thomson convinced the board that using purer copper for replacing the lost section of cable would improve data capacity, that he first made a difference to the execution of the project.
The board insisted that Thomson join the 1858 cable-laying expedition, without any financial compensation, and take an active part in the project. In return, Thomson secured a trial for his mirror galvanometer, which the board had been unenthusiastic about, alongside Whitehouse's equipment. Thomson found the access he was given unsatisfactory and the Agamemnon had to return home following the disastrous storm of June 1858. In London, the board was about to abandon the project and mitigate their losses by selling the cable. Thomson, Cyrus West Field and Curtis M. Lampson argued for another attempt and prevailed, Thomson insisting that the technical problems were tractable. Though employed in an advisory capacity, Thomson had, during the voyages, developed a real engineer's instincts and skill at practical problem-solving under pressure, often taking the lead in dealing with emergencies and being unafraid to assist in manual work. A cable was completed on 5 August.
Disaster and triumph
Thomson's fears were realized when Whitehouse's apparatus proved insufficiently sensitive and had to be replaced by Thomson's mirror galvanometer. Whitehouse continued to maintain that it was his equipment that was providing the service and started to engage in desperate measures to remedy some of the problems. He succeeded in fatally damaging the cable by applying 2,000 V. When the cable failed completely Whitehouse was dismissed, though Thomson objected and was reprimanded by the board for his interference. Thomson subsequently regretted that he had acquiesced too readily to many of Whitehouse's proposals and had not challenged him with sufficient vigour.
A joint committee of inquiry was established by the Board of Trade and the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Most of the blame for the cable's failure was found to rest with Whitehouse. The committee found that, though underwater cables were notorious in their lack of reliability, most of the problems arose from known and avoidable causes. Thomson was appointed one of a five-member committee to recommend a specification for a new cable. The committee reported in October 1863.
In July 1865, Thomson sailed on the cable-laying expedition of the but the voyage was dogged by technical problems. The cable was lost after had been laid and the project was abandoned. A further attempt in 1866 laid a new cable in two weeks, and then recovered and completed the 1865 cable. The enterprise was now feted as a triumph by the public and Thomson enjoyed a large share of the adulation. Thomson, along with the other principals of the project, was knighted on 10 November 1866.
To exploit his inventions for signalling on long submarine cables, Thomson now entered into a partnership with C. F. Varley and Fleeming Jenkin. In conjunction with the latter, he also devised an automatic curb sender, a kind of telegraph key for sending messages on a cable.
Later expeditions
Thomson took part in the laying of the French Atlantic submarine communications cable of 1869, and with Jenkin was engineer of the Western and Brazilian and Platino-Brazilian cables, assisted by vacation student James Alfred Ewing. He was present at the laying of the Pará to Pernambuco section of the Brazilian coast cables in 1873.
Thomson's wife died on 17 June 1870, and he resolved to make changes in his life. Already addicted to seafaring, in September he purchased a 126-ton schooner, the Lalla Rookh and used it as a base for entertaining friends and scientific colleagues. His maritime interests continued in 1871 when he was appointed to the board of enquiry into the sinking of .
In June 1873, Thomson and Jenkin were on board the Hooper, bound for Lisbon with of cable when the cable developed a fault. An unscheduled 16-day stop-over in Madeira followed and Thomson became good friends with Charles R. Blandy and his three daughters. On 2 May 1874 he set sail for Madeira on the Lalla Rookh. As he approached the harbour, he signaled to the Blandy residence "Will you marry me?" and Fanny (Blandy's daughter Frances Anna Blandy) signaled back "Yes". Thomson married Fanny, 13 years his junior, on 24 June 1874.
Other contributions
Thomson and Tait: Treatise on Natural Philosophy
Over the period 1855 to 1867, Thomson collaborated with Peter Guthrie Tait on a text book that founded the study of mechanics first on the mathematics of kinematics, the description of motion without regard to force. The text developed dynamics in various areas but with constant attention to energy as a unifying principle.
A second edition appeared in 1879, expanded to two separately bound parts. The textbook set a standard for early education in mathematical physics.
Atmospheric electricity
Kelvin made significant contributions to atmospheric electricity for the relatively short time for which he worked on the subject, around 1859. He developed several instruments for measuring the atmospheric electric field, using some of the electrometers he had initially developed for telegraph work, which he tested at Glasgow and whilst on holiday on Arran. His measurements on Arran were sufficiently rigorous and well-calibrated that they could be used to deduce air pollution from the Glasgow area, through its effects on the atmospheric electric field. Kelvin's water dropper electrometer was used for measuring the atmospheric electric field at Kew Observatory and Eskdalemuir Observatory for many years, and one was still in use operationally at Kakioka Observatory in Japan until early 2021. Kelvin may have unwittingly observed atmospheric electrical effects caused by the Carrington event (a significant geomagnetic storm) in early September 1859.
Kelvin's vortex theory of the atom
Between 1870 and 1890 the vortex atom theory, which purported that an atom was a vortex in the aether, was popular among British physicists and mathematicians. Thomson pioneered the theory, which was distinct from the seventeenth century vortex theory of Descartes in that Thomson was thinking in terms of a unitary continuum theory, whereas Descartes was thinking in terms of three different types of matter, each relating respectively to emission, transmission, and reflection of light. About 60 scientific papers were written by approximately 25 scientists. Following the lead of Thomson and Tait, the branch of topology called knot theory was developed. Kelvin's initiative in this complex study that continues to inspire new mathematics has led to persistence of the topic in history of science.
Marine
Thomson was an enthusiastic yachtsman, his interest in all things relating to the sea perhaps arising from, or fostered by, his experiences on the Agamemnon and the Great Eastern.
Thomson introduced a method of deep-sea depth sounding, in which a steel piano wire replaces the ordinary hand line. The wire glides so easily to the bottom that "flying soundings" can be taken while the ship is at full speed. A pressure gauge to register the depth of the sinker was added by Thomson.
About the same time he revived the Sumner method of finding a ship's position, and calculated a set of tables for its ready application.
During the 1880s, Thomson worked to perfect the adjustable compass to correct errors arising from magnetic deviation owing to the increased use of iron in naval architecture. Thomson's design was a great improvement on the older instruments, being steadier and less hampered by friction. The deviation due to the ship's magnetism was corrected by movable iron masses at the binnacle. Thomson's innovations involved much detailed work to develop principles identified by George Biddell Airy and others, but contributed little in terms of novel physical thinking. Thomson's energetic lobbying and networking proved effective in gaining acceptance of his instrument by The Admiralty.
Charles Babbage had been among the first to suggest that a lighthouse might be made to signal a distinctive number by occultations of its light, but Thomson pointed out the merits of the Morse code for the purpose, and urged that the signals should consist of short and long flashes of the light to represent the dots and dashes.
Electrical standards
Thomson did more than any other electrician up to his time in introducing accurate methods and apparatus for measuring electricity. As early as 1845 he pointed out that the experimental results of William Snow Harris were in accordance with the laws of Coulomb. In the Memoirs of the Roman Academy of Sciences for 1857 he published a description of his new divided ring electrometer, based on the old electroscope of Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger and he introduced a chain or series of effective instruments, including the quadrant electrometer, which cover the entire field of electrostatic measurement. He invented the current balance, also known as the Kelvin balance or Ampere balance (SiC), for the precise specification of the ampere, the standard unit of electric current. From around 1880 he was aided by the electrical engineer Magnus Maclean FRSE in his electrical experiments.
In 1893, Thomson headed an international commission to decide on the design of the Niagara Falls power station. Despite his belief in the superiority of direct current electric power transmission, he endorsed Westinghouse's alternating current system which had been demonstrated at the Chicago World's Fair of that year. Even after Niagara Falls Thomson still held to his belief that direct current was the superior system.
Acknowledging his contribution to electrical standardisation, the International Electrotechnical Commission elected Thomson as its first President at its preliminary meeting, held in London on 26–27 June 1906. "On the proposal of the President [Mr Alexander Siemens, Great Britain], secounded [sic] by Mr Mailloux [US Institute of Electrical Engineers] the Right Honorable Lord Kelvin, G.C.V.O., O.M., was unanimously elected first President of the Commission", minutes of the Preliminary Meeting Report read.
Age of the Earth: geology
Kelvin estimated the age of the Earth. Given his youthful work on the figure of the Earth and his interest in heat conduction, it is no surprise that he chose to investigate the Earth's cooling and to make historical inferences of the Earth's age from his calculations. Thomson was a creationist in a broad sense, but he was not a 'flood geologist' (a view that had lost mainstream scientific support by the 1840s). He contended that the laws of thermodynamics operated from the birth of the universe and envisaged a dynamic process that saw the organisation and evolution of the Solar System and other structures, followed by a gradual "heat death". He developed the view that the Earth had once been too hot to support life and contrasted this view with that of uniformitarianism, that conditions had remained constant since the indefinite past. He contended that "This earth, certainly a moderate number of millions of years ago, was a red-hot globe … ."
After the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species in 1859, Thomson saw evidence of the relatively short habitable age of the Earth as tending to contradict Darwin's gradualist explanation of slow natural selection bringing about biological diversity. Thomson's own views favoured a version of theistic evolution sped up by divine guidance. His calculations showed that the Sun could not have possibly existed long enough to allow the slow incremental development by evolution – unless some energy source beyond what he or any other Victorian era person knew of was found. He was soon drawn into public disagreement with geologists, and with Darwin's supporters John Tyndall and T. H. Huxley. In his response to Huxley's address to the Geological Society of London (1868) he presented his address "Of Geological Dynamics" (1869) which, among his other writings, challenged the geologists' acceptance that the earth must be of indefinite age.
Thomson's initial 1864 estimate of the Earth's age was from 20 to 400 million years old. These wide limits were due to his uncertainty about the melting temperature of rock, to which he equated the Earth's interior temperature, as well as the uncertainty in thermal conductivities and specific heats of rocks. Over the years he refined his arguments and reduced the upper bound by a factor of ten, and in 1897 Thomson, now Lord Kelvin, ultimately settled on an estimate that the Earth was 20–40 million years old. In a letter published in Scientific American Supplement 1895 Kelvin criticized geologists' estimates of the age of rocks and the age of the earth, including the views published by Charles Darwin, as "vaguely vast age".
His exploration of this estimate can be found in his 1897 address to the Victoria Institute, given at the request of the Institute's president George Stokes, as recorded in that Institute's journal Transactions. Although his former assistant John Perry published a paper in 1895 challenging Kelvin's assumption of low thermal conductivity inside the Earth, and thus showing a much greater age, this had little immediate impact. The discovery in 1903 that radioactive decay releases heat led to Kelvin's estimate being challenged, and Ernest Rutherford famously made the argument in a 1904 lecture attended by Kelvin that this provided the unknown energy source Kelvin had suggested, but the estimate was not overturned until the development in 1907 of radiometric dating of rocks.
It was widely believed that the discovery of radioactivity had invalidated Thomson's estimate of the age of the Earth. Thomson himself never publicly acknowledged this because he thought he had a much stronger argument restricting the age of the Sun to no more than 20 million years. Without sunlight, there could be no explanation for the sediment record on the Earth's surface. At the time, the only known source for the solar power output was gravitational collapse. It was only when thermonuclear fusion was recognised in the 1930s that Thomson's age paradox was truly resolved.
Later life and death
In the winter of 1860–1861 Kelvin slipped on the ice while curling near his home at Netherhall and fractured his leg, causing him to miss the 1861 Manchester meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and to limp thereafter. He remained something of a celebrity on both sides of the Atlantic until his death.
Thomson remained a devout believer in Christianity throughout his life; attendance at chapel was part of his daily routine. He saw his Christian faith as supporting and informing his scientific work, as is evident from his address to the annual meeting of the Christian Evidence Society, 23 May 1889.
In the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902 (the original day of the coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra), Kelvin was appointed a Privy Councillor and one of the first members of the new Order of Merit (OM). He received the order from the King on 8 August 1902, and was sworn a member of the council at Buckingham Palace on 11 August 1902. In his later years he often travelled to his town house at 15 Eaton Place, off Eaton Square in London's Belgravia.
In November 1907 he caught a chill and his condition deteriorated until he died at his Scottish country seat, Netherhall, in Largs on 17 December.
At the request of Westminster Abbey, the undertakers Wylie & Lochhead prepared an oak coffin, lined with lead. In the dark of the winter evening the cortege set off from Netherhall for Largs railway station, a distance of about a mile. Large crowds witnessed the passing of the cortege, and shopkeepers closed their premises and dimmed their lights. The coffin was placed in a special Midland and Glasgow and South Western Railway van. The train set off at 8.30 pm for Kilmarnock, where the van was attached to the overnight express to St Pancras railway station in London.
Kelvin's funeral was to be held on 23 December 1907. The coffin was taken from St Pancras by hearse to Westminster Abbey, where it rested overnight in St Faith's Chapel. The following day the Abbey was crowded for the funeral, including representatives from the University of Glasgow and the University of Cambridge, along with representatives from France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Russia, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Monaco. Kelvin's grave is in the nave, near the choir screen, and close to the graves of Isaac Newton, John Herschel, and Charles Darwin. The pall-bearers included Darwin's son, Sir George Darwin.
Back in Scotland the University of Glasgow held a memorial service for Kelvin in the Bute Hall. Kelvin had been a member of the Scottish Episcopal Church, attached to St Columba's Episcopal Church in Largs, and when in Glasgow to St Mary's Episcopal Church (now, St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow). At the same time as the funeral in Westminster Abbey, a service was held in St Columba's Episcopal Church, Largs, attended by a large congregation including burgh dignitaries.
William Thomson is also memorialised on the Thomson family grave in Glasgow Necropolis. The family grave has a second modern memorial to William alongside, erected by the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow; a society of which he was president in the periods 1856–1858 and 1874–1877.
Aftermath and legacy
Limits of classical physics
In 1884, Thomson led a master class on "Molecular Dynamics and the Wave Theory of Light" at Johns Hopkins University. Kelvin referred to the acoustic wave equation describing sound as waves of pressure in air and attempted to describe also an electromagnetic wave equation, presuming a luminiferous aether susceptible to vibration. The study group included Michelson and Morley who subsequently performed the Michelson–Morley experiment that undercut the aether theory. Thomson did not provide a text but A. S. Hathaway took notes and duplicated them with a Papyrograph. As the subject matter was under active development, Thomson amended that text and in 1904 it was typeset and published. Thomson's attempts to provide mechanical models ultimately failed in the electromagnetic regime. Starting from his lecture in 1884, Kelvin was also the first scientist to formulate the hypothetical concept of dark matter; he then attempted to define and locate some “dark bodies” in the Milky Way.
On 27 April 1900 he gave a widely reported lecture titled Nineteenth-Century Clouds over the Dynamical Theory of Heat and Light to the Royal Institution. The two "dark clouds" he was alluding to were confusion surrounding how matter moves through the aether (including the puzzling results of the Michelson–Morley experiment) and indications that the Law of Equipartition in statistical mechanics might break down. Two major physical theories were developed during the twentieth century starting from these issues: for the former, the theory of relativity; for the second, quantum mechanics. Albert Einstein, in 1905, published the so-called "Annus Mirabilis papers", one of which explained the photoelectric effect, based on Max Planck's discovery of energy quanta which was the foundation of quantum mechanics, another of which described special relativity, and the last of which explained Brownian motion in terms of statistical mechanics, providing a strong argument for the existence of atoms.
Pronouncements later proven to be false
Like many scientists, Thomson made some mistakes in predicting the future of technology.
His biographer Silvanus P. Thompson writes that "When Röntgen's discovery of the X-rays was announced at the end of 1895, Lord Kelvin was entirely skeptical, and regarded the announcement as a hoax. The papers had been full of the wonders of Röntgen's rays, about which Lord Kelvin was intensely skeptical until Röntgen himself sent him a copy of his Memoir"; on 17 January 1896, having read the paper and seen the photographs, he wrote Röntgen a letter saying that "I need not tell you that when I read the paper I was very much astonished and delighted. I can say no more now than to congratulate you warmly on the great discovery you have made" He would have his own hand X-rayed in May 1896. (See also N rays.)
His forecast for practical aviation (i.e., heavier-than-air aircraft) was negative. In 1896 he refused an invitation to join the Aeronautical Society, writing that "I have not the smallest molecule of faith in aerial navigation other than ballooning or of expectation of good results from any of the trials we hear of." And in a 1902 newspaper interview he predicted that "No balloon and no aeroplane will ever be practically successful."
The statement "There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement" has been widely misattributed to Kelvin since the 1980s, either without citation or stating that it was made in an address to the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1900). There is no evidence that Kelvin said this, and the quote is instead a paraphrase of Albert A. Michelson, who in 1894 stated: "… it seems probable that most of the grand underlying principles have been firmly established … An eminent physicist remarked that the future truths of physical science are to be looked for in the sixth place of decimals." Similar statements were given earlier by others, such as Philipp von Jolly. The attribution to Kelvin giving an address in 1900 is presumably a confusion with his "Two clouds" speech, delivered to the Royal Institution in 1900 (see above), and which on the contrary pointed out areas that would subsequently see revolutions.
In 1898, Kelvin predicted that only 400 years of oxygen supply remained on the planet, due to the rate of burning combustibles. In his calculation, Kelvin assumed that photosynthesis was the only source of free oxygen; he did not know all of the components of the oxygen cycle. He could not even have known all of the sources of photosynthesis: for example the cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus—which accounts for more than half of marine photosynthesis—was not discovered until 1986.
Eponyms
A variety of physical phenomena and concepts with which Thomson is associated are named Kelvin, including:
Kelvin bridge (also known as Thomson bridge)
Kelvin functions
Kelvin–Helmholtz instability
Kelvin–Helmholtz luminosity
Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism
Kelvin material
Joule-Kelvin effect
Kelvin sensing
Kelvin transform in potential theory
Kelvin water dropper
Kelvin wave
Kelvin’s heat death paradox
Kelvin's circulation theorem
Kelvin–Stokes theorem
Kelvin–Varley divider
The SI unit of temperature, kelvin
Honours
Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1847.
Keith Medal, 1864.
Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize, 1887.
President, 1873–1878, 1886–1890, 1895–1907.
Foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 1851.
Fellow of the Royal Society, 1851.
Royal Medal, 1856.
Copley Medal, 1883.
President, 1890–1895.
Hon. Member of the Royal College of Preceptors (College of Teachers), 1858.
Hon. Member of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, 1859.
Knighted 1866.
Commander of the Imperial Order of the Rose (Brazil), 1873.
Commander of the Legion of Honour (France), 1881.
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour, 1889.
Knight of the Prussian Order Pour le Mérite, 1884.
Commander of the Order of Leopold (Belgium), 1890.
Baron Kelvin, of Largs in the County of Ayr, 1892. The title derives from the River Kelvin, which runs by the grounds of the University of Glasgow. His title died with him, as he was survived by neither heirs nor close relations.
Knight Grand Cross of the Victorian Order, 1896.
Honorary degree Legum doctor (LL.D.), Yale University, 5 May 1902.
One of the first members of the Order of Merit, 1902.
Privy Counsellor, 11 August 1902.
Honorary degree Doctor mathematicae from the Royal Frederick University on 6 September 1902, when they celebrated the centennial of the birth of mathematician Niels Henrik Abel.
First international recipient of John Fritz Medal, 1905.
Order of the First Class of the Sacred Treasure of Japan, 1901.
He is buried in Westminster Abbey, London next to Isaac Newton.
Lord Kelvin was commemorated on the £20 note issued by the Clydesdale Bank in 1971; in the current issue of banknotes, his image appears on the bank's £100 note. He is shown holding his adjustable compass and in the background is a map of the transatlantic cable.
The town of Kelvin, Arizona, is named in his honour, as he was reputedly a large investor in the mining operations there.
In 2011 he was one of seven inaugural inductees to the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame.
World Refrigeration Day, is 26 June. It was chosen to celebrate his birth date and has been held annually, since 2019.
Arms
See also
Taylor column
People on Scottish banknotes
List of things named after Lord Kelvin
References
Kelvin's works
2nd edition, 1883. (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009. )
Treatise on Natural Philosophy (Part I) (Internet Archive)
Treatise on Natural Philosophy (Part II) (Internet Archive)
(reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. ) 2nd edition, 1879.
(reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. ) 2nd edition, 1879.
(6 volumes)
Volume I. 1841-1853 (Internet Archive)
Volume II. 1853-1856 (Internet Archive)
Volume III. Elasticity, heat, electro-magnetism (Internet Archive)
Volume IV. Hydrodynamics and general dynamics (Hathitrust)
Volume V. Thermodynamics, cosmical and geological physics, molecular and crystalline theory, electrodynamics (Internet Archive)
Volume VI. Voltaic theory, radioactivity, electrions, navigation and tides, miscellaneous (Internet Archive)
(reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. )
Biography, history of ideas and criticism
In two volumes Volume 1 Volume 2
External links
Heroes of the Telegraph at The Online Books Page
"Horses on Mars", from Lord Kelvin
William Thomson: king of Victorian physics at Institute of Physics website
Measuring the Absolute: William Thomson and Temperature, Hasok Chang and Sang Wook Yi (PDF file)
Reprint of papers on electrostatics and magnetism (gallica)
The molecular tactics of a crystal (Internet Archive)
Quotations. This collection includes sources for many quotes.
Kelvin Building Opening – The Leys School, Cambridge (1893)
The Kelvin Library
1824 births
1907 deaths
19th-century British mathematicians
20th-century British mathematicians
Academics of the University of Glasgow
Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
British physicists
Burials at Westminster Abbey
Catastrophism
Chancellors of the University of Glasgow
Elders of the Church of Scotland
Fellows of the Royal Society
Fluid dynamicists
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
John Fritz Medal recipients
Knights Bachelor
Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
Members of the Order of Merit
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Ordained peers
People associated with electricity
People educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution
People of the Industrial Revolution
Physicists from Northern Ireland
Presidents of the Physical Society
Presidents of the Royal Society
Presidents of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Recipients of the Copley Medal
Royal Medal winners
Second Wranglers
Scientists from Belfast
Theistic evolutionists
Creators of temperature scales
Ulster Scots people
Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame inductees
Recipients of the Matteucci Medal
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria | false | [
"REACT (Radio Emergency Associated Communication Teams) began as a CB radio Emergency Channel 9 monitoring organization across the United States and Canada in 1962. Initially, the primary role of REACT volunteers was to monitor Channel 9, the CB Emergency Channel, to help motorists. Later, duties grew to include communications after disasters (such as tornadoes and floods), and in some places before disasters (storm spotting). As well, REACT safety communications for parades, runs/walks and other community events became prominent. Now, REACT Teams rarely use CB primarily, a large percentage have now added amateur, FRS, GMRS, Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS), Trunked radio systems and business band radio (LMR) to their public service capabilities. Their original purpose, to monitor CB, has largely gone by the wayside.\n\nServices Provided \nEach REACT Team is unique and fills a local purpose. The original purpose of monitoring Emergency Channel 9 for distress calls is not as needed as once was due to the availability of cellular phones, but is still done in some remote locations. Some teams disbanded when the need for CB 9 monitoring waned; however, other Teams became creative and found other things to do in their communities. \n\nMany REACT Teams go beyond just communications and provide services such as traffic and parking control, search and rescue support, assistance with large public events, helping with safety breaks along roadways, help monitor traffic flow, assist with their local emergency management offices, law enforcement and also some participate in the Skywarn program of storm spotters. However many of these functions require the mobile communications that many REACT Teams utilize.\n\nObjectives \n(a) To develop the use of the personal radio services as an additional source of communications for emergencies. disasters, and as an emergency aid to individuals;\n(b) To establish 24-hour volunteer monitoring of emergency calls, particularly over officially designated emergency frequencies, from personal radio service operators, and reporting such calls to appropriate emergency authorities;\n(c) To promote transportation safety by developing programs that provide information and communications assistance to motorists;\n(d) To coordinate efforts with and provide communication help to other groups, e.g., Red Cross, Emergency Management, and local, state, and federal authorities, during emergencies and disasters;\n(e) To develop, administer, and promote public information projects demonstrating and publicizing the potential benefits and the proper use of the personal radio service to individuals, organizations, industry, and government; and\n(f) To participate in citizens crime prevention programs where established by appropriate law enforcement agencies.\n\nHistory \n\n1962 - A sick infant, a disabled car on a Chicago freeway, and a January blizzard prompted Henry B. (Pete) Kreer to envision using CB radio to get help in such emergencies. By April, REACT was founded, with Hallicrafters Radio as its first sponsor and Kreer as its executive director.\n\n1967 - REACT approached FCC for a designated CB Emergency Channel.\n\n1969 - REACT gained General Motors Research Labs as its new sponsor.\n\n1970 - CB-9 was designated the 'Emergency and Travelers' Assistance Channel' by the FCC. The Ohio REACT Network was created. It worked with Ohio State Police to demonstrate how CB-9 could enhance highway safety. It later became the first REACT Council.\nREACT signed its first MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the American Red Cross.\n\n1973 - REACT's Pete Kreer and Jerry Reese were interviewed on the NBC 'Today' show about the potential for highway safety of CB radio.\n\n1975 - REACT became an Illinois not-for-profit corporation.\n\n1976 - REACT held its first convention in Deerfield, Ill. REACT participated in the White House Conference on CB Radio.\n\n1977 - REACT launched its highway Safety Break program in cooperation with the American Trucking Association. REACT developed the NEAR (National Emergency Aid Radio) safety program for the U.S. government.\n\n1978 - REACT signed an MOU with Special Olympics.\n\n1982 - REACT was honored with the first President's Volunteer Action Award (16 awarded out of 2300 nominations).\n\n1984 - REACT assisted in introducing FRS (Family Radio Service).\n\n1985 - REACT office moved from Chicago, Ill., to Wichita, Kans.\n\n1986 -'REACT Month' was observed for the first time.\n\n1988 - REACT developed its 'Team Topics' newsletter for Teams.\nREACT introduced the CB-9 road sign to advise travelers of monitoring.\n\n1991 - REACT published the first in a series of 'Team Training Modules' to advance its monitors' skills.\n\n1993 - REACT agreed to Memorandums of Understanding with the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, and National Weather Service.\n\n1994 - Dallas County REACT, at HamCom in Arlington, Tex., became the fourth local group to host remote operation of the ARRL's station W1AW.\n\n1995 - REACT HQ established its first website on the Internet.\nRose City Windsor REACT, Ontario, launched the first REACT Team website.\nSeveral Teams responded to and assisted with the response to the bombing of the Alfred P Murrah Building (Oklahoma City Bombing).\n\n1998 - REACT moved its headquarters from Wichita, Kans., to the D.C. area. REACT Teams in Florida respond to wildfires, receive recognition from governor. \n\n2001 - Several Teams assisted the Salvation Army in response to the World Trade Center attacks in New York City.\nREACT agreed to Memorandum of Understanding with the American Radio Relay League (ARRL).\n\n2002 - REACT assisted with Olympic Torch Run.\nREACT presented the first \"Radio Hero Award\" to an Indiana State Trooper.\n\n2004 - Dallas County REACT was again selected to host ARRL station W1AW at HamCom in Arlington, Texas.\n\n2010 - REACT moved its headquarters from Suitland, Md., to Dinwiddie, Va.\nREACT joins GERC - Global Emergency Radio Coalition - as a Charter Member.\n\n2011 - REACT Announced 50th Anniversary Logo and 2012 Convention Site at Las Vegas, Nev.\nFor the third time, Dallas County REACT hosted ARRL station W1AW at HamCom in Plano, Texas.\nREACT Teams involved in response to Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Lee.\n\n2012 - REACT official office returned to Chicago; administrative office moved to Glendale, Calif.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nREACT International, Inc. Official Website\n\nwww.swreact.com\n\nAmateur radio emergency communications organizations\nEmergency communication",
"React is a media franchise used by the Fine Brothers consisting of several online series centering on a group of individuals reacting to viral videos, trends, video games, film trailers, or music videos. The franchise was launched with the YouTube debut of Kids React in October 2010, and then grew to encompass four more series uploaded on the Fine Brothers' primary YouTube channel, a separate YouTube channel with various reaction-related content, as well as a television series titled React to That.\n\nIn 2016, the duo announced React World, a program and channel in which they would license the format of their React shows to creators, which led to widespread negative reception from viewers and fellow content creators, as well as confusion about what their format is. This eventually lead to the Fine Brothers removing all videos related to React World, essentially pulling the plug on the React World program.\n\nYouTube series\n\nKids React\nBenny and Rafi Fine launched a series titled Kids React on October 16, 2010, the first video being \"Kids React to Viral Videos (Double Rainbow, Obama Fail, Twin Rabbits, Snickers Halloween)\". The Kids React series features The Fine Brothers (and one of the staff members since 2016), off-camera, showing kids ages 4–14 (7-13 as of September 2016, 7-11 as of October 2016) several viral videos or popular YouTubers and having the kids react to the videos.\n\nThe most popular Kids React episode to date is “Kids React to Gay Marriage\", with over 40.2 million views as of September 2, 2018. The popularity of Kids React made it possible for the online series to win a special Emmy Award at the 39th Daytime Emmy Awards in 2012. The Emmy Award, that was given in cooperation with AOL, was awarded to the Fine Brothers for \"Best Viral Video Series\". After their Emmy win, the brothers explained, \"Not a lot has changed [after winning the Emmy] other than realizing that there are shows on YouTube like React that can get similar if not better viewership than mainstream entertainment can.\"\n\nVideos and YouTube stars that have been reacted to by the kids include Smosh (who later reacted to the kids' reactions), planking and President Obama addressing the death of Osama bin Laden, among several other topics. Kids React has been compared to Kids Say the Darndest Things. In October 2012, the kids of the show were shown videos of the 2012 U.S. Presidential debates. Kids React won the Streamy Award for Best Non-Fiction or Reality Series in 2013.\n\nTeens React\nDue to the popularity of Kids React, The Fine Brothers spawned a spin-off dubbed Teens React on November 17, 2011 with \"TEENS REACT TO TWILIGHT\". The show has a similar premise to Kids React, however the younger stars are replaced with high school teenagers aged 14-18, some of whom have aged out of the Kids React series. Due to this, the Fine Brothers are able to show more mature and less \"kid-friendly\" videos such as videos on topics like Toddlers & Tiaras, Rick Perry's Strong commercial, Amanda Todd's death, and the 2012 U.S. Presidential debates. Other viral videos and YouTube stars that have been reacted to include Salad Fingers, the Overly Attached Girlfriend, \"Gangnam Style\", The Hunger Games trailer, Shane Dawson, and One Direction, among other topics. Later on, The Fine Brothers launched a series titled Teens React: Gaming consisting videos of teenagers reacting to popular games such as Mario Kart 64, Flappy Bird, Rocket League, and Five Nights at Freddy’s. Teens React launched the career of Lia Marie Johnson, it also featured some \"famous\" 'reactors' as guest stars, including Lisa Cimorelli, Amy Cimorelli, Lucas Cruikshank (who later appears in YouTubers React), Alex Steele, Jake Short, and Maisie Williams.\n\nElders React\nElders React was debuted in 2012 and it included seniors over the age of 55. In 2021, it became a subseries for Adults React.\n\nYouTubers React\nYouTubers React was debuted in 2012 and it included famous YouTubers. On November 2020, it is retitled Creators React due to the success of other social medias and is currently airing its one-off episodes as of June 2021.\n\nAdults React\nOn May 30, 2015, the Fine Brothers announced Adults React, which premiered on July 16 later that year. It consists of people ages 20 to 55, including former stars of Teens React that have aged out of the series. Depending on the video or topic, Adults React will be specific of which type of adults are going to be reacting, such as parents or college kids.\n\nParents React\n\nThe first episode of Parents React premiered on August 6, 2015 with “Parents React to Don’t Stay At School”. This series involves parents reacting to stuff that kids were getting into.\n\nCollege Kids React\nThe first episode of College Kids React premiered on June 23, 2016 with \"College Kids React to The 1975\". This series includes stars who have aged out of Teens React along with new stars, as well as stars that have not yet aged out of Teens React but have begun college. The content of College Kids React is similar to the content found in Teens React but more mature.\n\nOne-off episodes\nIn April 2014, as an April Fools joke, the Fine Brothers teamed up with Friskies and released Cats React, which went viral. In July 2016 they released another part of Cats React.\n\nIn August 2014, they released Celebrities React to Viral Videos, and now re-released yearly.\n\nIn April 2018, in another April Fools joke, they released \"Teens React to Nothing\" where they showed the teenagers on a blank screen. The following year, they released a sequel, \"nothing reacts to teens react to nothing.\", which featured the original video being played in an empty studio.\n\nReact YouTube channel\nAfter creating four individual successful React series on their primary YouTube channel, the Fine Brothers launched a separate YouTube channel in 2014, for reaction-related content, simply dubbed \"React\". With the intent of running programming five days a week, the channel launched with five series: React Gaming (a Let's Play-style series with real youths from their primary React series), Advice (a series featuring real youths respond to questions from viewers), React Remix (musical remixes of past React footage), People Vs. Foods (originally Kids Vs. Food until 2016) (a series featuring Reactors taste-test \"Weird\" or international foods), and Lyric Breakdown (a series in which Reactors break down the meaning of various songs). The channel launched with a teenage-focused playthrough of Goat Simulator.\nFrom September 18th 2020 to May 31st 2021, the React YouTube channel was retitled to \"REPLAY\", following the renaming of the main FBE channel to \"REACT\" in the wake of FBE's distancing from Benny and Rafi Fine as a consequence of the scandal in Summer 2020 that led to many reactors leaving the channel.\nOn June 1st 2021, REPLAY is retitled \"PEOPLE VS FOOD\" and moved all the non-food videos to REACT.\n\nReact to That\nIn early 2014, it was announced that the Fine Brothers made a deal with NCredible Entertainment, a production studio founded by Nick Cannon to develop a television series for Nickelodeon. The series, dubbed React to That, was \"entirely re-envisioned for television,\" as the reactors \"not only watch and respond to viral videos, but pop out of the reaction room and into showdowns where the clips come to life as each reactor is confronted with a challenge based on the video they just watched.\" Following the announcement of the series, Benny Fine explained, \"All these viewers now watching are also pioneering what it is to be a viewer of content. They follow us through all of our different endeavors, all our different series, and now will have the opportunity to follow us to another medium.\" Nickelodeon ordered 13 episodes to be produced, but only 12 were made and aired.\n\nReact World\n\nBackground\nIn July 2015, the Fine Brothers filed for trademark protection on \"React\" with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The trademark was filed for \"Entertainment services, namely, providing an ongoing series of programs and webisodes via the internet in the field of observing and interviewing various groups of people.\" The USPTO approved for a 30-day opposition period which was set to begin on February 2, 2016; if no parties filed an opposition to the Fines' trademark request, it would have proceeded through the process. The brothers had recently filed for and been granted trademark registrations for \"Elders React\" and \"Teens React\" in 2013 as well as \"Kids React\" in 2012.\n\nAnnouncement details\nOn January 26, 2016, the Fines announced that they would be launching React World, a way to grant content creators the license to create their own versions of the React shows. Specifically, the Fine Brothers explained they were going to license the format of their React shows. A Variety report detailed that React World would \"aggregate videos in a channel to launch later this year to promote, support and feature fan-produced programming based on their shows.\" The brothers' company, Fine Brothers Entertainment (FBE) explained they would be working with YouTube and ChannelMeter on the launch of React World. FBE also expressed they would be able to monetize React-style videos uploaded under their license. On monetization, Digital Trends detailed \"Although licenses are free, React World creators must agree to share 20 percent of AdSense revenue and 30 percent of premium brand deals with FBE.\" Additionally, the Fines explained they would provide ongoing production guidance, creative guidelines, format bibles, and other resources, as well as promotional and technical support to those creators who participated with the brothers on React World.\n\nReception\nAlthough YouTube's VP on content partnerships, Kelly Merryman, originally proclaimed \"This is brand-building in the YouTube age — rising media companies building their brands through collaborations with creators around the world,\" the Fine Brothers were met with overwhelmingly negative reception to their React World announcement. BBC News reported that \"critics of the Fine Brothers have expressed concern they may use the trademarks to stifle competition,\" and quoted one YouTuber who detailed \"People don't trust them because a few years ago when Ellen DeGeneres did a similar video—not that similar, it didn't have the same format or branding—they claimed it was their format.\" Viewers and fellow content creators alike condemned the Fines for their announcement, with The Daily Dot reporting, \"Backlash poured in on Reddit and social media, and other YouTubers posted their own reactions and parodies of the enthusiastically corporate React World announcement video.\" The backlash led to a dramatic drop in subscribers, with upwards of 675,000 accounts collectively unsubscribing from the React and Fine Bros Entertainment channels as well as recent videos getting many dislikes in protest as of February 22, 2016. Mashable described that one Reddit post \"ignited a thread of haters, defenders and overall discussion about whether what Fine Brothers Entertainment is doing is fair.\" Ryan Morrison, a gamer, lawyer and Reddit user, declared that he would file a legal challenge to the Fine Brothers' trademark request on \"React\", writing \"These guys didn’t come up with the idea of filming funny reactions from kids. And they certainly don’t own an entire genre of YouTube videos. It wasn’t their idea, and it’s not theirs to own or police.\"\n\nThough there was an overwhelmingly negative response to the React World announcement, other personalities expressed milder opinions; Internet personality Hank Green wrote \"This could actually be a very cool project if it could be divorced from the idea of two very powerful creators attempting to control a very popular YouTube video format. Franchising one of YouTube's biggest shows? Yeah, I’d love to see how that goes.\" New York reporter Jay Hathaway wrote \"The trademark and React World are dead. And that's a shame, because it was an interesting idea that suffered from tone-deaf execution.\"\n\nResponses and discontinuation by the Fine Brothers\nAfter seeing the initial backlash from their announcement, The Fine Brothers posted comments on various social media websites including Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and the comment section of their YouTube announcement video. On Facebook the Fines wrote, \"We do not own the idea or copyright for reaction videos overall, nor did we ever say we did. You don’t need anyone’s permission to make these kinds of videos, and we’re not coming after anyone\", adding \"We are in no way claiming reaction content in general is our intellectual property. This is purely a voluntary program for people wanting direct support from us, and we continue to be so excited to work with all of you who may want to participate\". They additionally tweeted \"We're not saying we hold a copyright on reaction videos overall, no one can. We're licensing our specific shows, like TV has done for years\". The brothers also explained they would \"not be trying to take revenue from other types of reaction videos, and will not be copyright-striking\". However, other YouTubers have reported multiple copyright related video takedowns. The Guardian also reported that unrelated channels featuring diverse groups of people reacting to videos were also removed after takedown requests from the Fine Brothers; the \"Seniors React\" video was noted to be released prior to the Fines launching their Elders React series. The Fines also posted an update video in response to what they described as \"confusion and negative response\" to React World, in which they try to clear up confusion on what their format encompasses, as well as inviting viewers to e-mail them about any further questions.\n\nUltimately, the Fine Brothers removed all React World videos, and posted a statement on Medium, declaring they have filed the paperwork to rescind all their \"React\" trademarks and applications, will discontinue the React World program, and will release all past Content ID claims. In their post, the brothers expressed \"It makes perfect sense for people to distrust our motives here, but we are confident that our actions will speak louder than these words moving forward\". Reaction to this Medium post was negative on Reddit, where users were reported commenting they would not forgive the Fine Brothers.\n\nAccolades\n\nReferences\n\nCitations\n\nSources\n\nFootnotes\n\nSee also \n Reaction video\n\n2010 web series debuts\nFullscreen (company) channels\nFullscreen Media franchises\nYouTube original programming"
]
|
[
"William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin",
"Calculations on data rate",
"What does William have to do with calculations on data rate?",
"Thomson contended that the signalling speed through a given cable was inversely proportional to the square of the length of the cable.",
"How were his contributions helpful to society?",
"December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Thomson attacked Whitehouse's contention in a letter to the popular Athenaeum magazine, pitching himself into the public eye.",
"How did the public react to this letter?",
"caught the eye of the project's undertakers and in December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company."
]
| C_c6c79a4f96a74f119c45191b1aa2ab43_0 | What did he do once in the board of directors? | 5 | What did William Thomson do once in the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company? | William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin | Though now eminent in the academic field, Thomson was obscure to the general public. In September 1852, he married childhood sweetheart Margaret Crum, daughter of Walter Crum; but her health broke down on their honeymoon and, over the next seventeen years, Thomson was distracted by her suffering. On 16 October 1854, George Gabriel Stokes wrote to Thomson to try to re-interest him in work by asking his opinion on some experiments of Michael Faraday on the proposed transatlantic telegraph cable. Faraday had demonstrated how the construction of a cable would limit the rate at which messages could be sent - in modern terms, the bandwidth. Thomson jumped at the problem and published his response that month. He expressed his results in terms of the data rate that could be achieved and the economic consequences in terms of the potential revenue of the transatlantic undertaking. In a further 1855 analysis, Thomson stressed the impact that the design of the cable would have on its profitability. Thomson contended that the signalling speed through a given cable was inversely proportional to the square of the length of the cable. Thomson's results were disputed at a meeting of the British Association in 1856 by Wildman Whitehouse, the electrician of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Whitehouse had possibly misinterpreted the results of his own experiments but was doubtless feeling financial pressure as plans for the cable were already well under way. He believed that Thomson's calculations implied that the cable must be "abandoned as being practically and commercially impossible." Thomson attacked Whitehouse's contention in a letter to the popular Athenaeum magazine, pitching himself into the public eye. Thomson recommended a larger conductor with a larger cross section of insulation. However, he thought Whitehouse no fool and suspected that he might have the practical skill to make the existing design work. Thomson's work had, however, caught the eye of the project's undertakers and in December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (26 June 182417 December 1907) was a British mathematician, mathematical physicist and engineer born in Belfast. Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, he did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and did much to unify the emerging discipline of physics in its contemporary form. He received the Royal Society's Copley Medal in 1883, was its President 1890–1895, and in 1892 was the first British scientist to be elevated to the House of Lords.
Absolute temperatures are stated in units of kelvin in his honour. While the existence of a lower limit to temperature (absolute zero) was known prior to his work, Kelvin is known for determining its correct value as approximately −273.15 degrees Celsius or −459.67 degrees Fahrenheit. The Joule–Thomson effect is also named in his honour.
He worked closely with mathematics professor Hugh Blackburn in his work. He also had a career as an electric telegraph engineer and inventor, which propelled him into the public eye and ensured his wealth, fame and honour. For his work on the transatlantic telegraph project he was knighted in 1866 by Queen Victoria, becoming Sir William Thomson. He had extensive maritime interests and was most noted for his work on the mariner's compass, which previously had limited reliability.
He was ennobled in 1892 in recognition of his achievements in thermodynamics, and of his opposition to Irish Home Rule, becoming Baron Kelvin, of Largs in the County of Ayr. The title refers to the River Kelvin, which flows near his laboratory at the University of Glasgow's Gilmorehill home at Hillhead. Despite offers of elevated posts from several world-renowned universities, Kelvin refused to leave Glasgow, remaining until his eventual retirement from that post in 1899. Active in industrial research and development, he was recruited around 1899 by George Eastman to serve as vice-chairman of the board of the British company Kodak Limited, affiliated with Eastman Kodak. In 1904 he became Chancellor of the University of Glasgow.
His home was the red sandstone mansion Netherhall, in Largs, which he built in the 1870s and where he died. The Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow has a permanent exhibition on the work of Kelvin including many of his original papers, instruments, and other artefacts, such as his smoking pipe.
Early life and work
Family
William Thomson's father, James Thomson, was a teacher of mathematics and engineering at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and the son of a farmer. James Thomson married Margaret Gardner in 1817 and, of their children, four boys and two girls survived infancy. Margaret Thomson died in 1830 when William was six years old.
William and his elder brother James were tutored at home by their father while the younger boys were tutored by their elder sisters. James was intended to benefit from the major share of his father's encouragement, affection and financial support and was prepared for a career in engineering.
In 1832, his father was appointed professor of mathematics at Glasgow and the family moved there in October 1833. The Thomson children were introduced to a broader cosmopolitan experience than their father's rural upbringing, spending mid-1839 in London and the boys were tutored in French in Paris. Much of Thomson's life during the mid-1840s was spent in Germany and the Netherlands. Language study was given a high priority.
His sister, Anna Thomson, was the mother of James Thomson Bottomley FRSE (1845–1926).
Youth
Thomson had heart problems and nearly died when he was 9 years old. He attended the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, where his father was a professor in the university department, before beginning study at Glasgow University in 1834 at the age of 10, not out of any precociousness; the University provided many of the facilities of an elementary school for able pupils, and this was a typical starting age.
In school, Thomson showed a keen interest in the classics along with his natural interest in the sciences. At the age of 12 he won a prize for translating Lucian of Samosata's Dialogues of the Gods from Latin to English.
In the academic year 1839/1840, Thomson won the class prize in astronomy for his Essay on the figure of the Earth which showed an early facility for mathematical analysis and creativity. His physics tutor at this time was his namesake, David Thomson.
Throughout his life, he would work on the problems raised in the essay as a coping strategy during times of personal stress. On the title page of this essay Thomson wrote the following lines from Alexander Pope's Essay on Man. These lines inspired Thomson to understand the natural world using the power and method of science:
Thomson became intrigued with Fourier's Théorie analytique de la chaleur and committed himself to study the "Continental" mathematics resisted by a British establishment still working in the shadow of Sir Isaac Newton. Unsurprisingly, Fourier's work had been attacked by domestic mathematicians, Philip Kelland authoring a critical book. The book motivated Thomson to write his first published scientific paper under the pseudonym P.Q.R., defending Fourier, and submitted to the Cambridge Mathematical Journal by his father. A second P.Q.R. paper followed almost immediately.
While on holiday with his family in Lamlash in 1841, he wrote a third, more substantial P.Q.R. paper On the uniform motion of heat in homogeneous solid bodies, and its connection with the mathematical theory of electricity. In the paper he made remarkable connections between the mathematical theories of heat conduction and electrostatics, an analogy that James Clerk Maxwell was ultimately to describe as one of the most valuable science-forming ideas.
Cambridge
William's father was able to make a generous provision for his favourite son's education and, in 1841, installed him, with extensive letters of introduction and ample accommodation, at Peterhouse, Cambridge. While at Cambridge, Thomson was active in sports, athletics and sculling, winning the Colquhoun Sculls in 1843. He also took a lively interest in the classics, music, and literature; but the real love of his intellectual life was the pursuit of science. The study of mathematics, physics, and in particular, of electricity, had captivated his imagination. In 1845 Thomson graduated as Second Wrangler. He also won the First Smith's Prize, which, unlike the tripos, is a test of original research. Robert Leslie Ellis, one of the examiners, is said to have declared to another examiner "You and I are just about fit to mend his pens."
In 1845, he gave the first mathematical development of Michael Faraday's idea that electric induction takes place through an intervening medium, or "dielectric", and not by some incomprehensible "action at a distance". He also devised the mathematical technique of electrical images, which became a powerful agent in solving problems of electrostatics, the science which deals with the forces between electrically charged bodies at rest. It was partly in response to his encouragement that Faraday undertook the research in September 1845 that led to the discovery of the Faraday effect, which established that light and magnetic (and thus electric) phenomena were related.
He was elected a fellow of St. Peter's (as Peterhouse was often called at the time) in June 1845. On gaining the fellowship, he spent some time in the laboratory of the celebrated Henri Victor Regnault, at Paris; but in 1846 he was appointed to the chair of natural philosophy in the University of Glasgow. At twenty-two he found himself wearing the gown of a professor in one of the oldest Universities in the country, and lecturing to the class of which he was a first year student a few years before.
Thermodynamics
By 1847, Thomson had already gained a reputation as a precocious and maverick scientist when he attended the British Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Oxford. At that meeting, he heard James Prescott Joule making yet another of his, so far, ineffective attempts to discredit the caloric theory of heat and the theory of the heat engine built upon it by Sadi Carnot and Émile Clapeyron. Joule argued for the mutual convertibility of heat and mechanical work and for their mechanical equivalence.
Thomson was intrigued but sceptical. Though he felt that Joule's results demanded theoretical explanation, he retreated into an even deeper commitment to the Carnot–Clapeyron school. He predicted that the melting point of ice must fall with pressure, otherwise its expansion on freezing could be exploited in a perpetuum mobile. Experimental confirmation in his laboratory did much to bolster his beliefs.
In 1848, he extended the Carnot–Clapeyron theory further through his dissatisfaction that the gas thermometer provided only an operational definition of temperature. He proposed an absolute temperature scale in which a unit of heat descending from a body A at the temperature T° of this scale, to a body B at the temperature (T−1)°, would give out the same mechanical effect [work], whatever be the number T. Such a scale would be quite independent of the physical properties of any specific substance. By employing such a "waterfall", Thomson postulated that a point would be reached at which no further heat (caloric) could be transferred, the point of absolute zero about which Guillaume Amontons had speculated in 1702. "Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat", published by Carnot in French in 1824, the year of Lord Kelvin's birth, used −267 as an estimate of the absolute zero temperature. Thomson used data published by Regnault to calibrate his scale against established measurements.
In his publication, Thomson wrote:
—But a footnote signalled his first doubts about the caloric theory, referring to Joule's very remarkable discoveries. Surprisingly, Thomson did not send Joule a copy of his paper, but when Joule eventually read it he wrote to Thomson on 6 October, claiming that his studies had demonstrated conversion of heat into work but that he was planning further experiments. Thomson replied on 27 October, revealing that he was planning his own experiments and hoping for a reconciliation of their two views.
Thomson returned to critique Carnot's original publication and read his analysis to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in January 1849, still convinced that the theory was fundamentally sound. However, though Thomson conducted no new experiments, over the next two years he became increasingly dissatisfied with Carnot's theory and convinced of Joule's. In February 1851 he sat down to articulate his new thinking. He was uncertain of how to frame his theory and the paper went through several drafts before he settled on an attempt to reconcile Carnot and Joule. During his rewriting, he seems to have considered ideas that would subsequently give rise to the second law of thermodynamics. In Carnot's theory, lost heat was absolutely lost but Thomson contended that it was "lost to man irrecoverably; but not lost in the material world". Moreover, his theological beliefs led Thompson to extrapolate the second law to the cosmos, originating the idea of universal heat death.
Compensation would require a creative act or an act possessing similar power, resulting in a rejuvenating universe (as Thompson had previously compared universal heat death to a clock running slower and slower, although he was unsure whether it would eventually reach thermodynamic equilibrium and stop for ever). Kelvin also formulated the heat death paradox (Kelvin’s paradox) in 1862, which uses the second law of thermodynamics to disprove the possibility of an infinitely old universe; this paradox was later extended by Rankine.
In final publication, Thomson retreated from a radical departure and declared "the whole theory of the motive power of heat is founded on ... two ... propositions, due respectively to Joule, and to Carnot and Clausius." Thomson went on to state a form of the second law:
In the paper, Thomson supported the theory that heat was a form of motion but admitted that he had been influenced only by the thought of Sir Humphry Davy and the experiments of Joule and Julius Robert von Mayer, maintaining that experimental demonstration of the conversion of heat into work was still outstanding.
As soon as Joule read the paper he wrote to Thomson with his comments and questions. Thus began a fruitful, though largely epistolary, collaboration between the two men, Joule conducting experiments, Thomson analysing the results and suggesting further experiments. The collaboration lasted from 1852 to 1856, its discoveries including the Joule–Thomson effect, sometimes called the Kelvin–Joule effect, and the published results did much to bring about general acceptance of Joule's work and the kinetic theory.
Thomson published more than 650 scientific papers and applied for 70 patents (not all were issued). Regarding science, Thomson wrote the following:
Transatlantic cable
Calculations on data rate
Though now eminent in the academic field, Thomson was obscure to the general public. In September 1852, he married childhood sweetheart Margaret Crum, daughter of Walter Crum; but her health broke down on their honeymoon, and over the next seventeen years, Thomson was distracted by her suffering. On 16 October 1854, George Gabriel Stokes wrote to Thomson to try to re-interest him in work by asking his opinion on some experiments of Michael Faraday on the proposed transatlantic telegraph cable.
Faraday had demonstrated how the construction of a cable would limit the rate at which messages could be sent – in modern terms, the bandwidth. Thomson jumped at the problem and published his response that month. He expressed his results in terms of the data rate that could be achieved and the economic consequences in terms of the potential revenue of the transatlantic undertaking. In a further 1855 analysis, Thomson stressed the impact that the design of the cable would have on its profitability.
Thomson contended that the signalling speed through a given cable was inversely proportional to the square of the length of the cable. Thomson's results were disputed at a meeting of the British Association in 1856 by Wildman Whitehouse, the electrician of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Whitehouse had possibly misinterpreted the results of his own experiments but was doubtless feeling financial pressure as plans for the cable were already well under way. He believed that Thomson's calculations implied that the cable must be "abandoned as being practically and commercially impossible".
Thomson attacked Whitehouse's contention in a letter to the popular Athenaeum magazine, pitching himself into the public eye. Thomson recommended a larger conductor with a larger cross section of insulation. He thought Whitehouse no fool, and suspected that he might have the practical skill to make the existing design work. Thomson's work had attracted the attention of the project's undertakers. In December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company.
Scientist to engineer
Thomson became scientific adviser to a team with Whitehouse as chief electrician and Sir Charles Tilston Bright as chief engineer but Whitehouse had his way with the specification, supported by Faraday and Samuel F. B. Morse.
Thomson sailed on board the cable-laying ship in August 1857, with Whitehouse confined to land owing to illness, but the voyage ended after when the cable parted. Thomson contributed to the effort by publishing in the Engineer the whole theory of the stresses involved in the laying of a submarine cable, and showed that when the line is running out of the ship, at a constant speed, in a uniform depth of water, it sinks in a slant or straight incline from the point where it enters the water to that where it touches the bottom.
Thomson developed a complete system for operating a submarine telegraph that was capable of sending a character every 3.5 seconds. He patented the key elements of his system, the mirror galvanometer and the siphon recorder, in 1858.
Whitehouse still felt able to ignore Thomson's many suggestions and proposals. It was not until Thomson convinced the board that using purer copper for replacing the lost section of cable would improve data capacity, that he first made a difference to the execution of the project.
The board insisted that Thomson join the 1858 cable-laying expedition, without any financial compensation, and take an active part in the project. In return, Thomson secured a trial for his mirror galvanometer, which the board had been unenthusiastic about, alongside Whitehouse's equipment. Thomson found the access he was given unsatisfactory and the Agamemnon had to return home following the disastrous storm of June 1858. In London, the board was about to abandon the project and mitigate their losses by selling the cable. Thomson, Cyrus West Field and Curtis M. Lampson argued for another attempt and prevailed, Thomson insisting that the technical problems were tractable. Though employed in an advisory capacity, Thomson had, during the voyages, developed a real engineer's instincts and skill at practical problem-solving under pressure, often taking the lead in dealing with emergencies and being unafraid to assist in manual work. A cable was completed on 5 August.
Disaster and triumph
Thomson's fears were realized when Whitehouse's apparatus proved insufficiently sensitive and had to be replaced by Thomson's mirror galvanometer. Whitehouse continued to maintain that it was his equipment that was providing the service and started to engage in desperate measures to remedy some of the problems. He succeeded in fatally damaging the cable by applying 2,000 V. When the cable failed completely Whitehouse was dismissed, though Thomson objected and was reprimanded by the board for his interference. Thomson subsequently regretted that he had acquiesced too readily to many of Whitehouse's proposals and had not challenged him with sufficient vigour.
A joint committee of inquiry was established by the Board of Trade and the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Most of the blame for the cable's failure was found to rest with Whitehouse. The committee found that, though underwater cables were notorious in their lack of reliability, most of the problems arose from known and avoidable causes. Thomson was appointed one of a five-member committee to recommend a specification for a new cable. The committee reported in October 1863.
In July 1865, Thomson sailed on the cable-laying expedition of the but the voyage was dogged by technical problems. The cable was lost after had been laid and the project was abandoned. A further attempt in 1866 laid a new cable in two weeks, and then recovered and completed the 1865 cable. The enterprise was now feted as a triumph by the public and Thomson enjoyed a large share of the adulation. Thomson, along with the other principals of the project, was knighted on 10 November 1866.
To exploit his inventions for signalling on long submarine cables, Thomson now entered into a partnership with C. F. Varley and Fleeming Jenkin. In conjunction with the latter, he also devised an automatic curb sender, a kind of telegraph key for sending messages on a cable.
Later expeditions
Thomson took part in the laying of the French Atlantic submarine communications cable of 1869, and with Jenkin was engineer of the Western and Brazilian and Platino-Brazilian cables, assisted by vacation student James Alfred Ewing. He was present at the laying of the Pará to Pernambuco section of the Brazilian coast cables in 1873.
Thomson's wife died on 17 June 1870, and he resolved to make changes in his life. Already addicted to seafaring, in September he purchased a 126-ton schooner, the Lalla Rookh and used it as a base for entertaining friends and scientific colleagues. His maritime interests continued in 1871 when he was appointed to the board of enquiry into the sinking of .
In June 1873, Thomson and Jenkin were on board the Hooper, bound for Lisbon with of cable when the cable developed a fault. An unscheduled 16-day stop-over in Madeira followed and Thomson became good friends with Charles R. Blandy and his three daughters. On 2 May 1874 he set sail for Madeira on the Lalla Rookh. As he approached the harbour, he signaled to the Blandy residence "Will you marry me?" and Fanny (Blandy's daughter Frances Anna Blandy) signaled back "Yes". Thomson married Fanny, 13 years his junior, on 24 June 1874.
Other contributions
Thomson and Tait: Treatise on Natural Philosophy
Over the period 1855 to 1867, Thomson collaborated with Peter Guthrie Tait on a text book that founded the study of mechanics first on the mathematics of kinematics, the description of motion without regard to force. The text developed dynamics in various areas but with constant attention to energy as a unifying principle.
A second edition appeared in 1879, expanded to two separately bound parts. The textbook set a standard for early education in mathematical physics.
Atmospheric electricity
Kelvin made significant contributions to atmospheric electricity for the relatively short time for which he worked on the subject, around 1859. He developed several instruments for measuring the atmospheric electric field, using some of the electrometers he had initially developed for telegraph work, which he tested at Glasgow and whilst on holiday on Arran. His measurements on Arran were sufficiently rigorous and well-calibrated that they could be used to deduce air pollution from the Glasgow area, through its effects on the atmospheric electric field. Kelvin's water dropper electrometer was used for measuring the atmospheric electric field at Kew Observatory and Eskdalemuir Observatory for many years, and one was still in use operationally at Kakioka Observatory in Japan until early 2021. Kelvin may have unwittingly observed atmospheric electrical effects caused by the Carrington event (a significant geomagnetic storm) in early September 1859.
Kelvin's vortex theory of the atom
Between 1870 and 1890 the vortex atom theory, which purported that an atom was a vortex in the aether, was popular among British physicists and mathematicians. Thomson pioneered the theory, which was distinct from the seventeenth century vortex theory of Descartes in that Thomson was thinking in terms of a unitary continuum theory, whereas Descartes was thinking in terms of three different types of matter, each relating respectively to emission, transmission, and reflection of light. About 60 scientific papers were written by approximately 25 scientists. Following the lead of Thomson and Tait, the branch of topology called knot theory was developed. Kelvin's initiative in this complex study that continues to inspire new mathematics has led to persistence of the topic in history of science.
Marine
Thomson was an enthusiastic yachtsman, his interest in all things relating to the sea perhaps arising from, or fostered by, his experiences on the Agamemnon and the Great Eastern.
Thomson introduced a method of deep-sea depth sounding, in which a steel piano wire replaces the ordinary hand line. The wire glides so easily to the bottom that "flying soundings" can be taken while the ship is at full speed. A pressure gauge to register the depth of the sinker was added by Thomson.
About the same time he revived the Sumner method of finding a ship's position, and calculated a set of tables for its ready application.
During the 1880s, Thomson worked to perfect the adjustable compass to correct errors arising from magnetic deviation owing to the increased use of iron in naval architecture. Thomson's design was a great improvement on the older instruments, being steadier and less hampered by friction. The deviation due to the ship's magnetism was corrected by movable iron masses at the binnacle. Thomson's innovations involved much detailed work to develop principles identified by George Biddell Airy and others, but contributed little in terms of novel physical thinking. Thomson's energetic lobbying and networking proved effective in gaining acceptance of his instrument by The Admiralty.
Charles Babbage had been among the first to suggest that a lighthouse might be made to signal a distinctive number by occultations of its light, but Thomson pointed out the merits of the Morse code for the purpose, and urged that the signals should consist of short and long flashes of the light to represent the dots and dashes.
Electrical standards
Thomson did more than any other electrician up to his time in introducing accurate methods and apparatus for measuring electricity. As early as 1845 he pointed out that the experimental results of William Snow Harris were in accordance with the laws of Coulomb. In the Memoirs of the Roman Academy of Sciences for 1857 he published a description of his new divided ring electrometer, based on the old electroscope of Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger and he introduced a chain or series of effective instruments, including the quadrant electrometer, which cover the entire field of electrostatic measurement. He invented the current balance, also known as the Kelvin balance or Ampere balance (SiC), for the precise specification of the ampere, the standard unit of electric current. From around 1880 he was aided by the electrical engineer Magnus Maclean FRSE in his electrical experiments.
In 1893, Thomson headed an international commission to decide on the design of the Niagara Falls power station. Despite his belief in the superiority of direct current electric power transmission, he endorsed Westinghouse's alternating current system which had been demonstrated at the Chicago World's Fair of that year. Even after Niagara Falls Thomson still held to his belief that direct current was the superior system.
Acknowledging his contribution to electrical standardisation, the International Electrotechnical Commission elected Thomson as its first President at its preliminary meeting, held in London on 26–27 June 1906. "On the proposal of the President [Mr Alexander Siemens, Great Britain], secounded [sic] by Mr Mailloux [US Institute of Electrical Engineers] the Right Honorable Lord Kelvin, G.C.V.O., O.M., was unanimously elected first President of the Commission", minutes of the Preliminary Meeting Report read.
Age of the Earth: geology
Kelvin estimated the age of the Earth. Given his youthful work on the figure of the Earth and his interest in heat conduction, it is no surprise that he chose to investigate the Earth's cooling and to make historical inferences of the Earth's age from his calculations. Thomson was a creationist in a broad sense, but he was not a 'flood geologist' (a view that had lost mainstream scientific support by the 1840s). He contended that the laws of thermodynamics operated from the birth of the universe and envisaged a dynamic process that saw the organisation and evolution of the Solar System and other structures, followed by a gradual "heat death". He developed the view that the Earth had once been too hot to support life and contrasted this view with that of uniformitarianism, that conditions had remained constant since the indefinite past. He contended that "This earth, certainly a moderate number of millions of years ago, was a red-hot globe … ."
After the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species in 1859, Thomson saw evidence of the relatively short habitable age of the Earth as tending to contradict Darwin's gradualist explanation of slow natural selection bringing about biological diversity. Thomson's own views favoured a version of theistic evolution sped up by divine guidance. His calculations showed that the Sun could not have possibly existed long enough to allow the slow incremental development by evolution – unless some energy source beyond what he or any other Victorian era person knew of was found. He was soon drawn into public disagreement with geologists, and with Darwin's supporters John Tyndall and T. H. Huxley. In his response to Huxley's address to the Geological Society of London (1868) he presented his address "Of Geological Dynamics" (1869) which, among his other writings, challenged the geologists' acceptance that the earth must be of indefinite age.
Thomson's initial 1864 estimate of the Earth's age was from 20 to 400 million years old. These wide limits were due to his uncertainty about the melting temperature of rock, to which he equated the Earth's interior temperature, as well as the uncertainty in thermal conductivities and specific heats of rocks. Over the years he refined his arguments and reduced the upper bound by a factor of ten, and in 1897 Thomson, now Lord Kelvin, ultimately settled on an estimate that the Earth was 20–40 million years old. In a letter published in Scientific American Supplement 1895 Kelvin criticized geologists' estimates of the age of rocks and the age of the earth, including the views published by Charles Darwin, as "vaguely vast age".
His exploration of this estimate can be found in his 1897 address to the Victoria Institute, given at the request of the Institute's president George Stokes, as recorded in that Institute's journal Transactions. Although his former assistant John Perry published a paper in 1895 challenging Kelvin's assumption of low thermal conductivity inside the Earth, and thus showing a much greater age, this had little immediate impact. The discovery in 1903 that radioactive decay releases heat led to Kelvin's estimate being challenged, and Ernest Rutherford famously made the argument in a 1904 lecture attended by Kelvin that this provided the unknown energy source Kelvin had suggested, but the estimate was not overturned until the development in 1907 of radiometric dating of rocks.
It was widely believed that the discovery of radioactivity had invalidated Thomson's estimate of the age of the Earth. Thomson himself never publicly acknowledged this because he thought he had a much stronger argument restricting the age of the Sun to no more than 20 million years. Without sunlight, there could be no explanation for the sediment record on the Earth's surface. At the time, the only known source for the solar power output was gravitational collapse. It was only when thermonuclear fusion was recognised in the 1930s that Thomson's age paradox was truly resolved.
Later life and death
In the winter of 1860–1861 Kelvin slipped on the ice while curling near his home at Netherhall and fractured his leg, causing him to miss the 1861 Manchester meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and to limp thereafter. He remained something of a celebrity on both sides of the Atlantic until his death.
Thomson remained a devout believer in Christianity throughout his life; attendance at chapel was part of his daily routine. He saw his Christian faith as supporting and informing his scientific work, as is evident from his address to the annual meeting of the Christian Evidence Society, 23 May 1889.
In the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902 (the original day of the coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra), Kelvin was appointed a Privy Councillor and one of the first members of the new Order of Merit (OM). He received the order from the King on 8 August 1902, and was sworn a member of the council at Buckingham Palace on 11 August 1902. In his later years he often travelled to his town house at 15 Eaton Place, off Eaton Square in London's Belgravia.
In November 1907 he caught a chill and his condition deteriorated until he died at his Scottish country seat, Netherhall, in Largs on 17 December.
At the request of Westminster Abbey, the undertakers Wylie & Lochhead prepared an oak coffin, lined with lead. In the dark of the winter evening the cortege set off from Netherhall for Largs railway station, a distance of about a mile. Large crowds witnessed the passing of the cortege, and shopkeepers closed their premises and dimmed their lights. The coffin was placed in a special Midland and Glasgow and South Western Railway van. The train set off at 8.30 pm for Kilmarnock, where the van was attached to the overnight express to St Pancras railway station in London.
Kelvin's funeral was to be held on 23 December 1907. The coffin was taken from St Pancras by hearse to Westminster Abbey, where it rested overnight in St Faith's Chapel. The following day the Abbey was crowded for the funeral, including representatives from the University of Glasgow and the University of Cambridge, along with representatives from France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Russia, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Monaco. Kelvin's grave is in the nave, near the choir screen, and close to the graves of Isaac Newton, John Herschel, and Charles Darwin. The pall-bearers included Darwin's son, Sir George Darwin.
Back in Scotland the University of Glasgow held a memorial service for Kelvin in the Bute Hall. Kelvin had been a member of the Scottish Episcopal Church, attached to St Columba's Episcopal Church in Largs, and when in Glasgow to St Mary's Episcopal Church (now, St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow). At the same time as the funeral in Westminster Abbey, a service was held in St Columba's Episcopal Church, Largs, attended by a large congregation including burgh dignitaries.
William Thomson is also memorialised on the Thomson family grave in Glasgow Necropolis. The family grave has a second modern memorial to William alongside, erected by the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow; a society of which he was president in the periods 1856–1858 and 1874–1877.
Aftermath and legacy
Limits of classical physics
In 1884, Thomson led a master class on "Molecular Dynamics and the Wave Theory of Light" at Johns Hopkins University. Kelvin referred to the acoustic wave equation describing sound as waves of pressure in air and attempted to describe also an electromagnetic wave equation, presuming a luminiferous aether susceptible to vibration. The study group included Michelson and Morley who subsequently performed the Michelson–Morley experiment that undercut the aether theory. Thomson did not provide a text but A. S. Hathaway took notes and duplicated them with a Papyrograph. As the subject matter was under active development, Thomson amended that text and in 1904 it was typeset and published. Thomson's attempts to provide mechanical models ultimately failed in the electromagnetic regime. Starting from his lecture in 1884, Kelvin was also the first scientist to formulate the hypothetical concept of dark matter; he then attempted to define and locate some “dark bodies” in the Milky Way.
On 27 April 1900 he gave a widely reported lecture titled Nineteenth-Century Clouds over the Dynamical Theory of Heat and Light to the Royal Institution. The two "dark clouds" he was alluding to were confusion surrounding how matter moves through the aether (including the puzzling results of the Michelson–Morley experiment) and indications that the Law of Equipartition in statistical mechanics might break down. Two major physical theories were developed during the twentieth century starting from these issues: for the former, the theory of relativity; for the second, quantum mechanics. Albert Einstein, in 1905, published the so-called "Annus Mirabilis papers", one of which explained the photoelectric effect, based on Max Planck's discovery of energy quanta which was the foundation of quantum mechanics, another of which described special relativity, and the last of which explained Brownian motion in terms of statistical mechanics, providing a strong argument for the existence of atoms.
Pronouncements later proven to be false
Like many scientists, Thomson made some mistakes in predicting the future of technology.
His biographer Silvanus P. Thompson writes that "When Röntgen's discovery of the X-rays was announced at the end of 1895, Lord Kelvin was entirely skeptical, and regarded the announcement as a hoax. The papers had been full of the wonders of Röntgen's rays, about which Lord Kelvin was intensely skeptical until Röntgen himself sent him a copy of his Memoir"; on 17 January 1896, having read the paper and seen the photographs, he wrote Röntgen a letter saying that "I need not tell you that when I read the paper I was very much astonished and delighted. I can say no more now than to congratulate you warmly on the great discovery you have made" He would have his own hand X-rayed in May 1896. (See also N rays.)
His forecast for practical aviation (i.e., heavier-than-air aircraft) was negative. In 1896 he refused an invitation to join the Aeronautical Society, writing that "I have not the smallest molecule of faith in aerial navigation other than ballooning or of expectation of good results from any of the trials we hear of." And in a 1902 newspaper interview he predicted that "No balloon and no aeroplane will ever be practically successful."
The statement "There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement" has been widely misattributed to Kelvin since the 1980s, either without citation or stating that it was made in an address to the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1900). There is no evidence that Kelvin said this, and the quote is instead a paraphrase of Albert A. Michelson, who in 1894 stated: "… it seems probable that most of the grand underlying principles have been firmly established … An eminent physicist remarked that the future truths of physical science are to be looked for in the sixth place of decimals." Similar statements were given earlier by others, such as Philipp von Jolly. The attribution to Kelvin giving an address in 1900 is presumably a confusion with his "Two clouds" speech, delivered to the Royal Institution in 1900 (see above), and which on the contrary pointed out areas that would subsequently see revolutions.
In 1898, Kelvin predicted that only 400 years of oxygen supply remained on the planet, due to the rate of burning combustibles. In his calculation, Kelvin assumed that photosynthesis was the only source of free oxygen; he did not know all of the components of the oxygen cycle. He could not even have known all of the sources of photosynthesis: for example the cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus—which accounts for more than half of marine photosynthesis—was not discovered until 1986.
Eponyms
A variety of physical phenomena and concepts with which Thomson is associated are named Kelvin, including:
Kelvin bridge (also known as Thomson bridge)
Kelvin functions
Kelvin–Helmholtz instability
Kelvin–Helmholtz luminosity
Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism
Kelvin material
Joule-Kelvin effect
Kelvin sensing
Kelvin transform in potential theory
Kelvin water dropper
Kelvin wave
Kelvin’s heat death paradox
Kelvin's circulation theorem
Kelvin–Stokes theorem
Kelvin–Varley divider
The SI unit of temperature, kelvin
Honours
Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1847.
Keith Medal, 1864.
Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize, 1887.
President, 1873–1878, 1886–1890, 1895–1907.
Foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 1851.
Fellow of the Royal Society, 1851.
Royal Medal, 1856.
Copley Medal, 1883.
President, 1890–1895.
Hon. Member of the Royal College of Preceptors (College of Teachers), 1858.
Hon. Member of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, 1859.
Knighted 1866.
Commander of the Imperial Order of the Rose (Brazil), 1873.
Commander of the Legion of Honour (France), 1881.
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour, 1889.
Knight of the Prussian Order Pour le Mérite, 1884.
Commander of the Order of Leopold (Belgium), 1890.
Baron Kelvin, of Largs in the County of Ayr, 1892. The title derives from the River Kelvin, which runs by the grounds of the University of Glasgow. His title died with him, as he was survived by neither heirs nor close relations.
Knight Grand Cross of the Victorian Order, 1896.
Honorary degree Legum doctor (LL.D.), Yale University, 5 May 1902.
One of the first members of the Order of Merit, 1902.
Privy Counsellor, 11 August 1902.
Honorary degree Doctor mathematicae from the Royal Frederick University on 6 September 1902, when they celebrated the centennial of the birth of mathematician Niels Henrik Abel.
First international recipient of John Fritz Medal, 1905.
Order of the First Class of the Sacred Treasure of Japan, 1901.
He is buried in Westminster Abbey, London next to Isaac Newton.
Lord Kelvin was commemorated on the £20 note issued by the Clydesdale Bank in 1971; in the current issue of banknotes, his image appears on the bank's £100 note. He is shown holding his adjustable compass and in the background is a map of the transatlantic cable.
The town of Kelvin, Arizona, is named in his honour, as he was reputedly a large investor in the mining operations there.
In 2011 he was one of seven inaugural inductees to the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame.
World Refrigeration Day, is 26 June. It was chosen to celebrate his birth date and has been held annually, since 2019.
Arms
See also
Taylor column
People on Scottish banknotes
List of things named after Lord Kelvin
References
Kelvin's works
2nd edition, 1883. (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009. )
Treatise on Natural Philosophy (Part I) (Internet Archive)
Treatise on Natural Philosophy (Part II) (Internet Archive)
(reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. ) 2nd edition, 1879.
(reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. ) 2nd edition, 1879.
(6 volumes)
Volume I. 1841-1853 (Internet Archive)
Volume II. 1853-1856 (Internet Archive)
Volume III. Elasticity, heat, electro-magnetism (Internet Archive)
Volume IV. Hydrodynamics and general dynamics (Hathitrust)
Volume V. Thermodynamics, cosmical and geological physics, molecular and crystalline theory, electrodynamics (Internet Archive)
Volume VI. Voltaic theory, radioactivity, electrions, navigation and tides, miscellaneous (Internet Archive)
(reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. )
Biography, history of ideas and criticism
In two volumes Volume 1 Volume 2
External links
Heroes of the Telegraph at The Online Books Page
"Horses on Mars", from Lord Kelvin
William Thomson: king of Victorian physics at Institute of Physics website
Measuring the Absolute: William Thomson and Temperature, Hasok Chang and Sang Wook Yi (PDF file)
Reprint of papers on electrostatics and magnetism (gallica)
The molecular tactics of a crystal (Internet Archive)
Quotations. This collection includes sources for many quotes.
Kelvin Building Opening – The Leys School, Cambridge (1893)
The Kelvin Library
1824 births
1907 deaths
19th-century British mathematicians
20th-century British mathematicians
Academics of the University of Glasgow
Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
British physicists
Burials at Westminster Abbey
Catastrophism
Chancellors of the University of Glasgow
Elders of the Church of Scotland
Fellows of the Royal Society
Fluid dynamicists
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
John Fritz Medal recipients
Knights Bachelor
Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
Members of the Order of Merit
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Ordained peers
People associated with electricity
People educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution
People of the Industrial Revolution
Physicists from Northern Ireland
Presidents of the Physical Society
Presidents of the Royal Society
Presidents of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Recipients of the Copley Medal
Royal Medal winners
Second Wranglers
Scientists from Belfast
Theistic evolutionists
Creators of temperature scales
Ulster Scots people
Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame inductees
Recipients of the Matteucci Medal
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria | false | [
"Re Hydrodan (Corby) Ltd [1994] 2 BCLC 180 is a UK company law case, concerning the meaning of a shadow director. It is sometimes incorrectly cited in sources as Re: Hydrodam.\n\nFacts\n\nThere were two corporate directors of a parent company of Hydrodan (Corby) Ltd, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Landsaver MCP Ltd, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Midland City Partnerships Ltd, which was, finally, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eagle Trust plc, a TV conglomerate chaired by David James, Baron James of Blackheath. The liquidator alleged that the two directors of Eagle Trust, Leslie Thomas and Dr Hardwick, were liable for wrongful trading, and contended they were liable as shadow directors under the Companies Act 2006 section 251.\n\nJudgment\nMillett J held the directors of the parent were not shadow directors of the subsidiary, just by being members of the parent company’s board. It would need to be shown that they personally instructed and directed the subsidiary’s board. The first step is to identify the de jure and de facto directors, then to say that they had been directed, then that the real directors acted in accordance with the directions, and then that they were accustomed to do so. For instance there must be a pattern ‘in which the board did not exercise any discretion or judgment of its own but acted in accordance with the directions of others’. De facto directors are those who ‘undertook functions in relation to the company which could properly be discharged only by a director. It is not sufficient to show that he was concerned in the management of the company’s affairs or undertook tasks in relation to its business which can properly be performed by a manager below board level.’\n\nSee also\n (directors of a corporate director are not necessarily shadow directors)\n\nReferences\n\nUnited Kingdom company case law\nHigh Court of Justice cases\n1993 in case law\n1993 in British law",
"In re Caremark International Inc. Derivative Litigation, 698 A.2d 959 (Del. Ch. 1996), is a civil action that came before the Delaware Court of Chancery. It is an important case in United States corporate law and discusses a director's duty of care in the oversight context. It raised the question regarding compliance, \"what is the board's responsibility with respect to the organization and monitoring of the enterprise to assure that the corporation functions within the law to achieve its purposes?\" Chancellor Allen wrote the opinion.\n\nFacts\nThe shareholders of Caremark International, Inc. brought a derivative action, alleging the directors breached their duty of care by failing to put in place adequate internal control systems. This in turn was said to enable the company's employees to commit criminal offences, resulting in substantial fines and civil penalties amounting to over $250 million.\n\nJudgment\nThe settlement contract requiring stricter oversight of corporate employees was approved. Chancellor Allen noted that most company decisions do not need director supervision. \"Legally, the board itself will be required only to authorize the most significant corporate acts or transactions: mergers, changes in capital structure, fundamental changes in business, appointment and compensation of the CEO, etc.\"\n\nHe pointed to Graham v. Allis-Chalmers Mfg. Co., where the company violated antitrust law, without the directors knowing what the employees had done. But the court rejected that the directors ought to have known, because 'absent cause for suspicion there is no duty upon the directors to install and operate a corporate system of espionage to ferret out wrongdoing which they have no reason to suspect exists.' There were no grounds for suspicion here. He said this means that boards do no wrong 'simply for assuming the integrity of employees and the honesty of their dealings.'\n\nBut, since Smith v. Van Gorkom, it was clear that 'relevant and timely information is an essential predicate for satisfaction of the board's supervisory and monitoring role under s 141 of the DGCL.' Directors must be 'assuring themselves that information and reporting systems exist in the organization that are reasonably designed to provide senior management and to the board itself timely, accurate information sufficient to allow management and the board, each within its scope, to reach informed judgments concerning both the corporation's compliance with law and its business performance.' The level of detail for any such system is a business judgment matter. But failure to have some reasonable system may 'render a director liable for losses caused by non-compliance with applicable legal standards.'\n\nA director's obligation includes a duty to attempt in good faith to assure that a corporate information and reporting system, which the board concludes is adequate, exists, and that failure to do so under some circumstances may, in theory at least, render a director liable for losses.\n\nSignificance\nThe court went on to define a multi-factor test designed to determine when this duty of care is breached. To show that directors breached their oversight duty (a duty later held to fall under the broader category of the duty of loyalty), plaintiffs must show that: \n The directors knew OR should have known that violations of the law were occurring, and in either event\n The directors took no steps in a good faith effort to prevent or remedy the situation, and\n Such failure proximately resulted in the losses complained of (though this last element may be thought to constitute an affirmative defense).\n\nCaremark is most widely known and cited for this expanded vision of the duty of oversight. Because of this holding, corporations strengthened their compliance programs.\n\nIn Marchand v. Barnhill et al., No. 533, 2018 (Del. June 19, 2019), in which the Delaware Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s dismissal of a stockholder lawsuit against the members of the board of directors and two officers of Blue Bell Creameries, the court’s Chief Justice Strine wrote the court’s unanimous opinion that the justices hold the board of directors “failed to implement any system to monitor Blue Bell’s food safety performance or compliance and applied the “duty to monitor” doctrine enunciated the In re Caremark Int’l Inc. Derivative Litig., 698 A.2d 959, 971 (Del. Ch.1996). Chief Justice Strine quoted Caremark, in adding that “A board’s “utter failure to attempt to assure a reasonable information and reporting system exists” is an act of bad faith in breach of the duty of loyalty.”\n\nSee also\n\nUS corporate law\nRe Barings plc (No 5) [1999] 1 BCLC 433\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nDelaware state case law\nUnited States corporate case law\n1996 in United States case law\n1996 in Delaware"
]
|
[
"William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin",
"Calculations on data rate",
"What does William have to do with calculations on data rate?",
"Thomson contended that the signalling speed through a given cable was inversely proportional to the square of the length of the cable.",
"How were his contributions helpful to society?",
"December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Thomson attacked Whitehouse's contention in a letter to the popular Athenaeum magazine, pitching himself into the public eye.",
"How did the public react to this letter?",
"caught the eye of the project's undertakers and in December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company.",
"What did he do once in the board of directors?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_c6c79a4f96a74f119c45191b1aa2ab43_0 | What are other interesting aspects of his calculation methods? | 6 | In addition to calculations on data rate,what are other interesting aspects of William Thomson's calculation methods? | William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin | Though now eminent in the academic field, Thomson was obscure to the general public. In September 1852, he married childhood sweetheart Margaret Crum, daughter of Walter Crum; but her health broke down on their honeymoon and, over the next seventeen years, Thomson was distracted by her suffering. On 16 October 1854, George Gabriel Stokes wrote to Thomson to try to re-interest him in work by asking his opinion on some experiments of Michael Faraday on the proposed transatlantic telegraph cable. Faraday had demonstrated how the construction of a cable would limit the rate at which messages could be sent - in modern terms, the bandwidth. Thomson jumped at the problem and published his response that month. He expressed his results in terms of the data rate that could be achieved and the economic consequences in terms of the potential revenue of the transatlantic undertaking. In a further 1855 analysis, Thomson stressed the impact that the design of the cable would have on its profitability. Thomson contended that the signalling speed through a given cable was inversely proportional to the square of the length of the cable. Thomson's results were disputed at a meeting of the British Association in 1856 by Wildman Whitehouse, the electrician of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Whitehouse had possibly misinterpreted the results of his own experiments but was doubtless feeling financial pressure as plans for the cable were already well under way. He believed that Thomson's calculations implied that the cable must be "abandoned as being practically and commercially impossible." Thomson attacked Whitehouse's contention in a letter to the popular Athenaeum magazine, pitching himself into the public eye. Thomson recommended a larger conductor with a larger cross section of insulation. However, he thought Whitehouse no fool and suspected that he might have the practical skill to make the existing design work. Thomson's work had, however, caught the eye of the project's undertakers and in December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. CANNOTANSWER | Thomson recommended a larger conductor with a larger cross section of insulation. | William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (26 June 182417 December 1907) was a British mathematician, mathematical physicist and engineer born in Belfast. Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, he did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and did much to unify the emerging discipline of physics in its contemporary form. He received the Royal Society's Copley Medal in 1883, was its President 1890–1895, and in 1892 was the first British scientist to be elevated to the House of Lords.
Absolute temperatures are stated in units of kelvin in his honour. While the existence of a lower limit to temperature (absolute zero) was known prior to his work, Kelvin is known for determining its correct value as approximately −273.15 degrees Celsius or −459.67 degrees Fahrenheit. The Joule–Thomson effect is also named in his honour.
He worked closely with mathematics professor Hugh Blackburn in his work. He also had a career as an electric telegraph engineer and inventor, which propelled him into the public eye and ensured his wealth, fame and honour. For his work on the transatlantic telegraph project he was knighted in 1866 by Queen Victoria, becoming Sir William Thomson. He had extensive maritime interests and was most noted for his work on the mariner's compass, which previously had limited reliability.
He was ennobled in 1892 in recognition of his achievements in thermodynamics, and of his opposition to Irish Home Rule, becoming Baron Kelvin, of Largs in the County of Ayr. The title refers to the River Kelvin, which flows near his laboratory at the University of Glasgow's Gilmorehill home at Hillhead. Despite offers of elevated posts from several world-renowned universities, Kelvin refused to leave Glasgow, remaining until his eventual retirement from that post in 1899. Active in industrial research and development, he was recruited around 1899 by George Eastman to serve as vice-chairman of the board of the British company Kodak Limited, affiliated with Eastman Kodak. In 1904 he became Chancellor of the University of Glasgow.
His home was the red sandstone mansion Netherhall, in Largs, which he built in the 1870s and where he died. The Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow has a permanent exhibition on the work of Kelvin including many of his original papers, instruments, and other artefacts, such as his smoking pipe.
Early life and work
Family
William Thomson's father, James Thomson, was a teacher of mathematics and engineering at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and the son of a farmer. James Thomson married Margaret Gardner in 1817 and, of their children, four boys and two girls survived infancy. Margaret Thomson died in 1830 when William was six years old.
William and his elder brother James were tutored at home by their father while the younger boys were tutored by their elder sisters. James was intended to benefit from the major share of his father's encouragement, affection and financial support and was prepared for a career in engineering.
In 1832, his father was appointed professor of mathematics at Glasgow and the family moved there in October 1833. The Thomson children were introduced to a broader cosmopolitan experience than their father's rural upbringing, spending mid-1839 in London and the boys were tutored in French in Paris. Much of Thomson's life during the mid-1840s was spent in Germany and the Netherlands. Language study was given a high priority.
His sister, Anna Thomson, was the mother of James Thomson Bottomley FRSE (1845–1926).
Youth
Thomson had heart problems and nearly died when he was 9 years old. He attended the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, where his father was a professor in the university department, before beginning study at Glasgow University in 1834 at the age of 10, not out of any precociousness; the University provided many of the facilities of an elementary school for able pupils, and this was a typical starting age.
In school, Thomson showed a keen interest in the classics along with his natural interest in the sciences. At the age of 12 he won a prize for translating Lucian of Samosata's Dialogues of the Gods from Latin to English.
In the academic year 1839/1840, Thomson won the class prize in astronomy for his Essay on the figure of the Earth which showed an early facility for mathematical analysis and creativity. His physics tutor at this time was his namesake, David Thomson.
Throughout his life, he would work on the problems raised in the essay as a coping strategy during times of personal stress. On the title page of this essay Thomson wrote the following lines from Alexander Pope's Essay on Man. These lines inspired Thomson to understand the natural world using the power and method of science:
Thomson became intrigued with Fourier's Théorie analytique de la chaleur and committed himself to study the "Continental" mathematics resisted by a British establishment still working in the shadow of Sir Isaac Newton. Unsurprisingly, Fourier's work had been attacked by domestic mathematicians, Philip Kelland authoring a critical book. The book motivated Thomson to write his first published scientific paper under the pseudonym P.Q.R., defending Fourier, and submitted to the Cambridge Mathematical Journal by his father. A second P.Q.R. paper followed almost immediately.
While on holiday with his family in Lamlash in 1841, he wrote a third, more substantial P.Q.R. paper On the uniform motion of heat in homogeneous solid bodies, and its connection with the mathematical theory of electricity. In the paper he made remarkable connections between the mathematical theories of heat conduction and electrostatics, an analogy that James Clerk Maxwell was ultimately to describe as one of the most valuable science-forming ideas.
Cambridge
William's father was able to make a generous provision for his favourite son's education and, in 1841, installed him, with extensive letters of introduction and ample accommodation, at Peterhouse, Cambridge. While at Cambridge, Thomson was active in sports, athletics and sculling, winning the Colquhoun Sculls in 1843. He also took a lively interest in the classics, music, and literature; but the real love of his intellectual life was the pursuit of science. The study of mathematics, physics, and in particular, of electricity, had captivated his imagination. In 1845 Thomson graduated as Second Wrangler. He also won the First Smith's Prize, which, unlike the tripos, is a test of original research. Robert Leslie Ellis, one of the examiners, is said to have declared to another examiner "You and I are just about fit to mend his pens."
In 1845, he gave the first mathematical development of Michael Faraday's idea that electric induction takes place through an intervening medium, or "dielectric", and not by some incomprehensible "action at a distance". He also devised the mathematical technique of electrical images, which became a powerful agent in solving problems of electrostatics, the science which deals with the forces between electrically charged bodies at rest. It was partly in response to his encouragement that Faraday undertook the research in September 1845 that led to the discovery of the Faraday effect, which established that light and magnetic (and thus electric) phenomena were related.
He was elected a fellow of St. Peter's (as Peterhouse was often called at the time) in June 1845. On gaining the fellowship, he spent some time in the laboratory of the celebrated Henri Victor Regnault, at Paris; but in 1846 he was appointed to the chair of natural philosophy in the University of Glasgow. At twenty-two he found himself wearing the gown of a professor in one of the oldest Universities in the country, and lecturing to the class of which he was a first year student a few years before.
Thermodynamics
By 1847, Thomson had already gained a reputation as a precocious and maverick scientist when he attended the British Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Oxford. At that meeting, he heard James Prescott Joule making yet another of his, so far, ineffective attempts to discredit the caloric theory of heat and the theory of the heat engine built upon it by Sadi Carnot and Émile Clapeyron. Joule argued for the mutual convertibility of heat and mechanical work and for their mechanical equivalence.
Thomson was intrigued but sceptical. Though he felt that Joule's results demanded theoretical explanation, he retreated into an even deeper commitment to the Carnot–Clapeyron school. He predicted that the melting point of ice must fall with pressure, otherwise its expansion on freezing could be exploited in a perpetuum mobile. Experimental confirmation in his laboratory did much to bolster his beliefs.
In 1848, he extended the Carnot–Clapeyron theory further through his dissatisfaction that the gas thermometer provided only an operational definition of temperature. He proposed an absolute temperature scale in which a unit of heat descending from a body A at the temperature T° of this scale, to a body B at the temperature (T−1)°, would give out the same mechanical effect [work], whatever be the number T. Such a scale would be quite independent of the physical properties of any specific substance. By employing such a "waterfall", Thomson postulated that a point would be reached at which no further heat (caloric) could be transferred, the point of absolute zero about which Guillaume Amontons had speculated in 1702. "Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat", published by Carnot in French in 1824, the year of Lord Kelvin's birth, used −267 as an estimate of the absolute zero temperature. Thomson used data published by Regnault to calibrate his scale against established measurements.
In his publication, Thomson wrote:
—But a footnote signalled his first doubts about the caloric theory, referring to Joule's very remarkable discoveries. Surprisingly, Thomson did not send Joule a copy of his paper, but when Joule eventually read it he wrote to Thomson on 6 October, claiming that his studies had demonstrated conversion of heat into work but that he was planning further experiments. Thomson replied on 27 October, revealing that he was planning his own experiments and hoping for a reconciliation of their two views.
Thomson returned to critique Carnot's original publication and read his analysis to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in January 1849, still convinced that the theory was fundamentally sound. However, though Thomson conducted no new experiments, over the next two years he became increasingly dissatisfied with Carnot's theory and convinced of Joule's. In February 1851 he sat down to articulate his new thinking. He was uncertain of how to frame his theory and the paper went through several drafts before he settled on an attempt to reconcile Carnot and Joule. During his rewriting, he seems to have considered ideas that would subsequently give rise to the second law of thermodynamics. In Carnot's theory, lost heat was absolutely lost but Thomson contended that it was "lost to man irrecoverably; but not lost in the material world". Moreover, his theological beliefs led Thompson to extrapolate the second law to the cosmos, originating the idea of universal heat death.
Compensation would require a creative act or an act possessing similar power, resulting in a rejuvenating universe (as Thompson had previously compared universal heat death to a clock running slower and slower, although he was unsure whether it would eventually reach thermodynamic equilibrium and stop for ever). Kelvin also formulated the heat death paradox (Kelvin’s paradox) in 1862, which uses the second law of thermodynamics to disprove the possibility of an infinitely old universe; this paradox was later extended by Rankine.
In final publication, Thomson retreated from a radical departure and declared "the whole theory of the motive power of heat is founded on ... two ... propositions, due respectively to Joule, and to Carnot and Clausius." Thomson went on to state a form of the second law:
In the paper, Thomson supported the theory that heat was a form of motion but admitted that he had been influenced only by the thought of Sir Humphry Davy and the experiments of Joule and Julius Robert von Mayer, maintaining that experimental demonstration of the conversion of heat into work was still outstanding.
As soon as Joule read the paper he wrote to Thomson with his comments and questions. Thus began a fruitful, though largely epistolary, collaboration between the two men, Joule conducting experiments, Thomson analysing the results and suggesting further experiments. The collaboration lasted from 1852 to 1856, its discoveries including the Joule–Thomson effect, sometimes called the Kelvin–Joule effect, and the published results did much to bring about general acceptance of Joule's work and the kinetic theory.
Thomson published more than 650 scientific papers and applied for 70 patents (not all were issued). Regarding science, Thomson wrote the following:
Transatlantic cable
Calculations on data rate
Though now eminent in the academic field, Thomson was obscure to the general public. In September 1852, he married childhood sweetheart Margaret Crum, daughter of Walter Crum; but her health broke down on their honeymoon, and over the next seventeen years, Thomson was distracted by her suffering. On 16 October 1854, George Gabriel Stokes wrote to Thomson to try to re-interest him in work by asking his opinion on some experiments of Michael Faraday on the proposed transatlantic telegraph cable.
Faraday had demonstrated how the construction of a cable would limit the rate at which messages could be sent – in modern terms, the bandwidth. Thomson jumped at the problem and published his response that month. He expressed his results in terms of the data rate that could be achieved and the economic consequences in terms of the potential revenue of the transatlantic undertaking. In a further 1855 analysis, Thomson stressed the impact that the design of the cable would have on its profitability.
Thomson contended that the signalling speed through a given cable was inversely proportional to the square of the length of the cable. Thomson's results were disputed at a meeting of the British Association in 1856 by Wildman Whitehouse, the electrician of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Whitehouse had possibly misinterpreted the results of his own experiments but was doubtless feeling financial pressure as plans for the cable were already well under way. He believed that Thomson's calculations implied that the cable must be "abandoned as being practically and commercially impossible".
Thomson attacked Whitehouse's contention in a letter to the popular Athenaeum magazine, pitching himself into the public eye. Thomson recommended a larger conductor with a larger cross section of insulation. He thought Whitehouse no fool, and suspected that he might have the practical skill to make the existing design work. Thomson's work had attracted the attention of the project's undertakers. In December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company.
Scientist to engineer
Thomson became scientific adviser to a team with Whitehouse as chief electrician and Sir Charles Tilston Bright as chief engineer but Whitehouse had his way with the specification, supported by Faraday and Samuel F. B. Morse.
Thomson sailed on board the cable-laying ship in August 1857, with Whitehouse confined to land owing to illness, but the voyage ended after when the cable parted. Thomson contributed to the effort by publishing in the Engineer the whole theory of the stresses involved in the laying of a submarine cable, and showed that when the line is running out of the ship, at a constant speed, in a uniform depth of water, it sinks in a slant or straight incline from the point where it enters the water to that where it touches the bottom.
Thomson developed a complete system for operating a submarine telegraph that was capable of sending a character every 3.5 seconds. He patented the key elements of his system, the mirror galvanometer and the siphon recorder, in 1858.
Whitehouse still felt able to ignore Thomson's many suggestions and proposals. It was not until Thomson convinced the board that using purer copper for replacing the lost section of cable would improve data capacity, that he first made a difference to the execution of the project.
The board insisted that Thomson join the 1858 cable-laying expedition, without any financial compensation, and take an active part in the project. In return, Thomson secured a trial for his mirror galvanometer, which the board had been unenthusiastic about, alongside Whitehouse's equipment. Thomson found the access he was given unsatisfactory and the Agamemnon had to return home following the disastrous storm of June 1858. In London, the board was about to abandon the project and mitigate their losses by selling the cable. Thomson, Cyrus West Field and Curtis M. Lampson argued for another attempt and prevailed, Thomson insisting that the technical problems were tractable. Though employed in an advisory capacity, Thomson had, during the voyages, developed a real engineer's instincts and skill at practical problem-solving under pressure, often taking the lead in dealing with emergencies and being unafraid to assist in manual work. A cable was completed on 5 August.
Disaster and triumph
Thomson's fears were realized when Whitehouse's apparatus proved insufficiently sensitive and had to be replaced by Thomson's mirror galvanometer. Whitehouse continued to maintain that it was his equipment that was providing the service and started to engage in desperate measures to remedy some of the problems. He succeeded in fatally damaging the cable by applying 2,000 V. When the cable failed completely Whitehouse was dismissed, though Thomson objected and was reprimanded by the board for his interference. Thomson subsequently regretted that he had acquiesced too readily to many of Whitehouse's proposals and had not challenged him with sufficient vigour.
A joint committee of inquiry was established by the Board of Trade and the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Most of the blame for the cable's failure was found to rest with Whitehouse. The committee found that, though underwater cables were notorious in their lack of reliability, most of the problems arose from known and avoidable causes. Thomson was appointed one of a five-member committee to recommend a specification for a new cable. The committee reported in October 1863.
In July 1865, Thomson sailed on the cable-laying expedition of the but the voyage was dogged by technical problems. The cable was lost after had been laid and the project was abandoned. A further attempt in 1866 laid a new cable in two weeks, and then recovered and completed the 1865 cable. The enterprise was now feted as a triumph by the public and Thomson enjoyed a large share of the adulation. Thomson, along with the other principals of the project, was knighted on 10 November 1866.
To exploit his inventions for signalling on long submarine cables, Thomson now entered into a partnership with C. F. Varley and Fleeming Jenkin. In conjunction with the latter, he also devised an automatic curb sender, a kind of telegraph key for sending messages on a cable.
Later expeditions
Thomson took part in the laying of the French Atlantic submarine communications cable of 1869, and with Jenkin was engineer of the Western and Brazilian and Platino-Brazilian cables, assisted by vacation student James Alfred Ewing. He was present at the laying of the Pará to Pernambuco section of the Brazilian coast cables in 1873.
Thomson's wife died on 17 June 1870, and he resolved to make changes in his life. Already addicted to seafaring, in September he purchased a 126-ton schooner, the Lalla Rookh and used it as a base for entertaining friends and scientific colleagues. His maritime interests continued in 1871 when he was appointed to the board of enquiry into the sinking of .
In June 1873, Thomson and Jenkin were on board the Hooper, bound for Lisbon with of cable when the cable developed a fault. An unscheduled 16-day stop-over in Madeira followed and Thomson became good friends with Charles R. Blandy and his three daughters. On 2 May 1874 he set sail for Madeira on the Lalla Rookh. As he approached the harbour, he signaled to the Blandy residence "Will you marry me?" and Fanny (Blandy's daughter Frances Anna Blandy) signaled back "Yes". Thomson married Fanny, 13 years his junior, on 24 June 1874.
Other contributions
Thomson and Tait: Treatise on Natural Philosophy
Over the period 1855 to 1867, Thomson collaborated with Peter Guthrie Tait on a text book that founded the study of mechanics first on the mathematics of kinematics, the description of motion without regard to force. The text developed dynamics in various areas but with constant attention to energy as a unifying principle.
A second edition appeared in 1879, expanded to two separately bound parts. The textbook set a standard for early education in mathematical physics.
Atmospheric electricity
Kelvin made significant contributions to atmospheric electricity for the relatively short time for which he worked on the subject, around 1859. He developed several instruments for measuring the atmospheric electric field, using some of the electrometers he had initially developed for telegraph work, which he tested at Glasgow and whilst on holiday on Arran. His measurements on Arran were sufficiently rigorous and well-calibrated that they could be used to deduce air pollution from the Glasgow area, through its effects on the atmospheric electric field. Kelvin's water dropper electrometer was used for measuring the atmospheric electric field at Kew Observatory and Eskdalemuir Observatory for many years, and one was still in use operationally at Kakioka Observatory in Japan until early 2021. Kelvin may have unwittingly observed atmospheric electrical effects caused by the Carrington event (a significant geomagnetic storm) in early September 1859.
Kelvin's vortex theory of the atom
Between 1870 and 1890 the vortex atom theory, which purported that an atom was a vortex in the aether, was popular among British physicists and mathematicians. Thomson pioneered the theory, which was distinct from the seventeenth century vortex theory of Descartes in that Thomson was thinking in terms of a unitary continuum theory, whereas Descartes was thinking in terms of three different types of matter, each relating respectively to emission, transmission, and reflection of light. About 60 scientific papers were written by approximately 25 scientists. Following the lead of Thomson and Tait, the branch of topology called knot theory was developed. Kelvin's initiative in this complex study that continues to inspire new mathematics has led to persistence of the topic in history of science.
Marine
Thomson was an enthusiastic yachtsman, his interest in all things relating to the sea perhaps arising from, or fostered by, his experiences on the Agamemnon and the Great Eastern.
Thomson introduced a method of deep-sea depth sounding, in which a steel piano wire replaces the ordinary hand line. The wire glides so easily to the bottom that "flying soundings" can be taken while the ship is at full speed. A pressure gauge to register the depth of the sinker was added by Thomson.
About the same time he revived the Sumner method of finding a ship's position, and calculated a set of tables for its ready application.
During the 1880s, Thomson worked to perfect the adjustable compass to correct errors arising from magnetic deviation owing to the increased use of iron in naval architecture. Thomson's design was a great improvement on the older instruments, being steadier and less hampered by friction. The deviation due to the ship's magnetism was corrected by movable iron masses at the binnacle. Thomson's innovations involved much detailed work to develop principles identified by George Biddell Airy and others, but contributed little in terms of novel physical thinking. Thomson's energetic lobbying and networking proved effective in gaining acceptance of his instrument by The Admiralty.
Charles Babbage had been among the first to suggest that a lighthouse might be made to signal a distinctive number by occultations of its light, but Thomson pointed out the merits of the Morse code for the purpose, and urged that the signals should consist of short and long flashes of the light to represent the dots and dashes.
Electrical standards
Thomson did more than any other electrician up to his time in introducing accurate methods and apparatus for measuring electricity. As early as 1845 he pointed out that the experimental results of William Snow Harris were in accordance with the laws of Coulomb. In the Memoirs of the Roman Academy of Sciences for 1857 he published a description of his new divided ring electrometer, based on the old electroscope of Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger and he introduced a chain or series of effective instruments, including the quadrant electrometer, which cover the entire field of electrostatic measurement. He invented the current balance, also known as the Kelvin balance or Ampere balance (SiC), for the precise specification of the ampere, the standard unit of electric current. From around 1880 he was aided by the electrical engineer Magnus Maclean FRSE in his electrical experiments.
In 1893, Thomson headed an international commission to decide on the design of the Niagara Falls power station. Despite his belief in the superiority of direct current electric power transmission, he endorsed Westinghouse's alternating current system which had been demonstrated at the Chicago World's Fair of that year. Even after Niagara Falls Thomson still held to his belief that direct current was the superior system.
Acknowledging his contribution to electrical standardisation, the International Electrotechnical Commission elected Thomson as its first President at its preliminary meeting, held in London on 26–27 June 1906. "On the proposal of the President [Mr Alexander Siemens, Great Britain], secounded [sic] by Mr Mailloux [US Institute of Electrical Engineers] the Right Honorable Lord Kelvin, G.C.V.O., O.M., was unanimously elected first President of the Commission", minutes of the Preliminary Meeting Report read.
Age of the Earth: geology
Kelvin estimated the age of the Earth. Given his youthful work on the figure of the Earth and his interest in heat conduction, it is no surprise that he chose to investigate the Earth's cooling and to make historical inferences of the Earth's age from his calculations. Thomson was a creationist in a broad sense, but he was not a 'flood geologist' (a view that had lost mainstream scientific support by the 1840s). He contended that the laws of thermodynamics operated from the birth of the universe and envisaged a dynamic process that saw the organisation and evolution of the Solar System and other structures, followed by a gradual "heat death". He developed the view that the Earth had once been too hot to support life and contrasted this view with that of uniformitarianism, that conditions had remained constant since the indefinite past. He contended that "This earth, certainly a moderate number of millions of years ago, was a red-hot globe … ."
After the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species in 1859, Thomson saw evidence of the relatively short habitable age of the Earth as tending to contradict Darwin's gradualist explanation of slow natural selection bringing about biological diversity. Thomson's own views favoured a version of theistic evolution sped up by divine guidance. His calculations showed that the Sun could not have possibly existed long enough to allow the slow incremental development by evolution – unless some energy source beyond what he or any other Victorian era person knew of was found. He was soon drawn into public disagreement with geologists, and with Darwin's supporters John Tyndall and T. H. Huxley. In his response to Huxley's address to the Geological Society of London (1868) he presented his address "Of Geological Dynamics" (1869) which, among his other writings, challenged the geologists' acceptance that the earth must be of indefinite age.
Thomson's initial 1864 estimate of the Earth's age was from 20 to 400 million years old. These wide limits were due to his uncertainty about the melting temperature of rock, to which he equated the Earth's interior temperature, as well as the uncertainty in thermal conductivities and specific heats of rocks. Over the years he refined his arguments and reduced the upper bound by a factor of ten, and in 1897 Thomson, now Lord Kelvin, ultimately settled on an estimate that the Earth was 20–40 million years old. In a letter published in Scientific American Supplement 1895 Kelvin criticized geologists' estimates of the age of rocks and the age of the earth, including the views published by Charles Darwin, as "vaguely vast age".
His exploration of this estimate can be found in his 1897 address to the Victoria Institute, given at the request of the Institute's president George Stokes, as recorded in that Institute's journal Transactions. Although his former assistant John Perry published a paper in 1895 challenging Kelvin's assumption of low thermal conductivity inside the Earth, and thus showing a much greater age, this had little immediate impact. The discovery in 1903 that radioactive decay releases heat led to Kelvin's estimate being challenged, and Ernest Rutherford famously made the argument in a 1904 lecture attended by Kelvin that this provided the unknown energy source Kelvin had suggested, but the estimate was not overturned until the development in 1907 of radiometric dating of rocks.
It was widely believed that the discovery of radioactivity had invalidated Thomson's estimate of the age of the Earth. Thomson himself never publicly acknowledged this because he thought he had a much stronger argument restricting the age of the Sun to no more than 20 million years. Without sunlight, there could be no explanation for the sediment record on the Earth's surface. At the time, the only known source for the solar power output was gravitational collapse. It was only when thermonuclear fusion was recognised in the 1930s that Thomson's age paradox was truly resolved.
Later life and death
In the winter of 1860–1861 Kelvin slipped on the ice while curling near his home at Netherhall and fractured his leg, causing him to miss the 1861 Manchester meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and to limp thereafter. He remained something of a celebrity on both sides of the Atlantic until his death.
Thomson remained a devout believer in Christianity throughout his life; attendance at chapel was part of his daily routine. He saw his Christian faith as supporting and informing his scientific work, as is evident from his address to the annual meeting of the Christian Evidence Society, 23 May 1889.
In the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902 (the original day of the coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra), Kelvin was appointed a Privy Councillor and one of the first members of the new Order of Merit (OM). He received the order from the King on 8 August 1902, and was sworn a member of the council at Buckingham Palace on 11 August 1902. In his later years he often travelled to his town house at 15 Eaton Place, off Eaton Square in London's Belgravia.
In November 1907 he caught a chill and his condition deteriorated until he died at his Scottish country seat, Netherhall, in Largs on 17 December.
At the request of Westminster Abbey, the undertakers Wylie & Lochhead prepared an oak coffin, lined with lead. In the dark of the winter evening the cortege set off from Netherhall for Largs railway station, a distance of about a mile. Large crowds witnessed the passing of the cortege, and shopkeepers closed their premises and dimmed their lights. The coffin was placed in a special Midland and Glasgow and South Western Railway van. The train set off at 8.30 pm for Kilmarnock, where the van was attached to the overnight express to St Pancras railway station in London.
Kelvin's funeral was to be held on 23 December 1907. The coffin was taken from St Pancras by hearse to Westminster Abbey, where it rested overnight in St Faith's Chapel. The following day the Abbey was crowded for the funeral, including representatives from the University of Glasgow and the University of Cambridge, along with representatives from France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Russia, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Monaco. Kelvin's grave is in the nave, near the choir screen, and close to the graves of Isaac Newton, John Herschel, and Charles Darwin. The pall-bearers included Darwin's son, Sir George Darwin.
Back in Scotland the University of Glasgow held a memorial service for Kelvin in the Bute Hall. Kelvin had been a member of the Scottish Episcopal Church, attached to St Columba's Episcopal Church in Largs, and when in Glasgow to St Mary's Episcopal Church (now, St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow). At the same time as the funeral in Westminster Abbey, a service was held in St Columba's Episcopal Church, Largs, attended by a large congregation including burgh dignitaries.
William Thomson is also memorialised on the Thomson family grave in Glasgow Necropolis. The family grave has a second modern memorial to William alongside, erected by the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow; a society of which he was president in the periods 1856–1858 and 1874–1877.
Aftermath and legacy
Limits of classical physics
In 1884, Thomson led a master class on "Molecular Dynamics and the Wave Theory of Light" at Johns Hopkins University. Kelvin referred to the acoustic wave equation describing sound as waves of pressure in air and attempted to describe also an electromagnetic wave equation, presuming a luminiferous aether susceptible to vibration. The study group included Michelson and Morley who subsequently performed the Michelson–Morley experiment that undercut the aether theory. Thomson did not provide a text but A. S. Hathaway took notes and duplicated them with a Papyrograph. As the subject matter was under active development, Thomson amended that text and in 1904 it was typeset and published. Thomson's attempts to provide mechanical models ultimately failed in the electromagnetic regime. Starting from his lecture in 1884, Kelvin was also the first scientist to formulate the hypothetical concept of dark matter; he then attempted to define and locate some “dark bodies” in the Milky Way.
On 27 April 1900 he gave a widely reported lecture titled Nineteenth-Century Clouds over the Dynamical Theory of Heat and Light to the Royal Institution. The two "dark clouds" he was alluding to were confusion surrounding how matter moves through the aether (including the puzzling results of the Michelson–Morley experiment) and indications that the Law of Equipartition in statistical mechanics might break down. Two major physical theories were developed during the twentieth century starting from these issues: for the former, the theory of relativity; for the second, quantum mechanics. Albert Einstein, in 1905, published the so-called "Annus Mirabilis papers", one of which explained the photoelectric effect, based on Max Planck's discovery of energy quanta which was the foundation of quantum mechanics, another of which described special relativity, and the last of which explained Brownian motion in terms of statistical mechanics, providing a strong argument for the existence of atoms.
Pronouncements later proven to be false
Like many scientists, Thomson made some mistakes in predicting the future of technology.
His biographer Silvanus P. Thompson writes that "When Röntgen's discovery of the X-rays was announced at the end of 1895, Lord Kelvin was entirely skeptical, and regarded the announcement as a hoax. The papers had been full of the wonders of Röntgen's rays, about which Lord Kelvin was intensely skeptical until Röntgen himself sent him a copy of his Memoir"; on 17 January 1896, having read the paper and seen the photographs, he wrote Röntgen a letter saying that "I need not tell you that when I read the paper I was very much astonished and delighted. I can say no more now than to congratulate you warmly on the great discovery you have made" He would have his own hand X-rayed in May 1896. (See also N rays.)
His forecast for practical aviation (i.e., heavier-than-air aircraft) was negative. In 1896 he refused an invitation to join the Aeronautical Society, writing that "I have not the smallest molecule of faith in aerial navigation other than ballooning or of expectation of good results from any of the trials we hear of." And in a 1902 newspaper interview he predicted that "No balloon and no aeroplane will ever be practically successful."
The statement "There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement" has been widely misattributed to Kelvin since the 1980s, either without citation or stating that it was made in an address to the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1900). There is no evidence that Kelvin said this, and the quote is instead a paraphrase of Albert A. Michelson, who in 1894 stated: "… it seems probable that most of the grand underlying principles have been firmly established … An eminent physicist remarked that the future truths of physical science are to be looked for in the sixth place of decimals." Similar statements were given earlier by others, such as Philipp von Jolly. The attribution to Kelvin giving an address in 1900 is presumably a confusion with his "Two clouds" speech, delivered to the Royal Institution in 1900 (see above), and which on the contrary pointed out areas that would subsequently see revolutions.
In 1898, Kelvin predicted that only 400 years of oxygen supply remained on the planet, due to the rate of burning combustibles. In his calculation, Kelvin assumed that photosynthesis was the only source of free oxygen; he did not know all of the components of the oxygen cycle. He could not even have known all of the sources of photosynthesis: for example the cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus—which accounts for more than half of marine photosynthesis—was not discovered until 1986.
Eponyms
A variety of physical phenomena and concepts with which Thomson is associated are named Kelvin, including:
Kelvin bridge (also known as Thomson bridge)
Kelvin functions
Kelvin–Helmholtz instability
Kelvin–Helmholtz luminosity
Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism
Kelvin material
Joule-Kelvin effect
Kelvin sensing
Kelvin transform in potential theory
Kelvin water dropper
Kelvin wave
Kelvin’s heat death paradox
Kelvin's circulation theorem
Kelvin–Stokes theorem
Kelvin–Varley divider
The SI unit of temperature, kelvin
Honours
Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1847.
Keith Medal, 1864.
Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize, 1887.
President, 1873–1878, 1886–1890, 1895–1907.
Foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 1851.
Fellow of the Royal Society, 1851.
Royal Medal, 1856.
Copley Medal, 1883.
President, 1890–1895.
Hon. Member of the Royal College of Preceptors (College of Teachers), 1858.
Hon. Member of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, 1859.
Knighted 1866.
Commander of the Imperial Order of the Rose (Brazil), 1873.
Commander of the Legion of Honour (France), 1881.
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour, 1889.
Knight of the Prussian Order Pour le Mérite, 1884.
Commander of the Order of Leopold (Belgium), 1890.
Baron Kelvin, of Largs in the County of Ayr, 1892. The title derives from the River Kelvin, which runs by the grounds of the University of Glasgow. His title died with him, as he was survived by neither heirs nor close relations.
Knight Grand Cross of the Victorian Order, 1896.
Honorary degree Legum doctor (LL.D.), Yale University, 5 May 1902.
One of the first members of the Order of Merit, 1902.
Privy Counsellor, 11 August 1902.
Honorary degree Doctor mathematicae from the Royal Frederick University on 6 September 1902, when they celebrated the centennial of the birth of mathematician Niels Henrik Abel.
First international recipient of John Fritz Medal, 1905.
Order of the First Class of the Sacred Treasure of Japan, 1901.
He is buried in Westminster Abbey, London next to Isaac Newton.
Lord Kelvin was commemorated on the £20 note issued by the Clydesdale Bank in 1971; in the current issue of banknotes, his image appears on the bank's £100 note. He is shown holding his adjustable compass and in the background is a map of the transatlantic cable.
The town of Kelvin, Arizona, is named in his honour, as he was reputedly a large investor in the mining operations there.
In 2011 he was one of seven inaugural inductees to the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame.
World Refrigeration Day, is 26 June. It was chosen to celebrate his birth date and has been held annually, since 2019.
Arms
See also
Taylor column
People on Scottish banknotes
List of things named after Lord Kelvin
References
Kelvin's works
2nd edition, 1883. (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009. )
Treatise on Natural Philosophy (Part I) (Internet Archive)
Treatise on Natural Philosophy (Part II) (Internet Archive)
(reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. ) 2nd edition, 1879.
(reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. ) 2nd edition, 1879.
(6 volumes)
Volume I. 1841-1853 (Internet Archive)
Volume II. 1853-1856 (Internet Archive)
Volume III. Elasticity, heat, electro-magnetism (Internet Archive)
Volume IV. Hydrodynamics and general dynamics (Hathitrust)
Volume V. Thermodynamics, cosmical and geological physics, molecular and crystalline theory, electrodynamics (Internet Archive)
Volume VI. Voltaic theory, radioactivity, electrions, navigation and tides, miscellaneous (Internet Archive)
(reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. )
Biography, history of ideas and criticism
In two volumes Volume 1 Volume 2
External links
Heroes of the Telegraph at The Online Books Page
"Horses on Mars", from Lord Kelvin
William Thomson: king of Victorian physics at Institute of Physics website
Measuring the Absolute: William Thomson and Temperature, Hasok Chang and Sang Wook Yi (PDF file)
Reprint of papers on electrostatics and magnetism (gallica)
The molecular tactics of a crystal (Internet Archive)
Quotations. This collection includes sources for many quotes.
Kelvin Building Opening – The Leys School, Cambridge (1893)
The Kelvin Library
1824 births
1907 deaths
19th-century British mathematicians
20th-century British mathematicians
Academics of the University of Glasgow
Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
British physicists
Burials at Westminster Abbey
Catastrophism
Chancellors of the University of Glasgow
Elders of the Church of Scotland
Fellows of the Royal Society
Fluid dynamicists
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
John Fritz Medal recipients
Knights Bachelor
Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
Members of the Order of Merit
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Ordained peers
People associated with electricity
People educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution
People of the Industrial Revolution
Physicists from Northern Ireland
Presidents of the Physical Society
Presidents of the Royal Society
Presidents of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Recipients of the Copley Medal
Royal Medal winners
Second Wranglers
Scientists from Belfast
Theistic evolutionists
Creators of temperature scales
Ulster Scots people
Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame inductees
Recipients of the Matteucci Medal
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria | true | [
"\nCalculation in kind or calculation in-natura is a way of valuating resources and a system of accounting that uses disaggregated physical magnitudes as opposed to a common unit of calculation. As the basis for a socialist economy it was proposed to replace money and financial calculation. Calculation in kind would value each commodity based only on its use value, for purposes of economic accounting. By contrast, in money-based economies, a commodity's value includes an exchange value.\n\nCalculation in kind would quantify the utility of an object directly without recourse to a general unit of calculation. This differs from other proposed methods of socialist calculation, such as simultaneous equations, Taylor-Lange accounting prices, and the use of labor time as a measure of cost.\n\nCalculation in kind was strongly advocated by the positivist philosopher and political economist Otto Neurath when employed by the Bavarian Soviet Republic. This led to a discussion in the early 1920s, in which much of the discussion about socialism centered on whether economic planning should be based on physical quantities or monetary accounting. Neurath was the most forceful advocate of physical planning (economic planning using calculation-in-kind) in contrast to market socialist neoclassical economists who advocated use of notional prices computed by solving simultaneous equations. Austrian school critics of socialism, particularly Ludwig von Mises, based his critique of socialism on the calculation problem.\n\nProponents of in-kind calculation argue that the use of a common medium like money distorts information about the utility of an object. Socialists in favor of calculation in kind argued that, in a system of in-kind calculation, waste associated with the monetary system would be eliminated, and in particular objects would no longer be desired for functionally useless purposes like resale and speculation – they would only be desired for their use-value.\n\nSee also\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n Cockshott, Paul. \"Calculation in-Natura, from Neurath to Kantorovich\" University of Glasgow, 15 May 2008.\n O'Neil, John (2002). \"Socialist Calculation and Environmental Valuation: Money, Markets and Ecology\". Science and Society 66. 1: 137-158.\n\nExternal links\n World Socialist Party (US) (the wspus.org quoted above)\n An Anarchist FAQ, I.4.5, \"What about supply and demand?\"\n\nSocialism\nSocialist calculation\nEconomic planning\nTheory of value (economics)\nSchools of economic thought",
"A calculation is a deliberate process that transforms one or more inputs into one or more results. The term is used in a variety of senses, from the very definite arithmetical calculation of using an algorithm, to the vague heuristics of calculating a strategy in a competition, or calculating the chance of a successful relationship between two people.\n\nFor example, multiplying 7 by 6 is a simple algorithmic calculation. Estimating the fair price for financial instruments using the Black–Scholes model is a more complex algorithmic calculation.\n\nStatistical estimations of the likely election results from opinion polls also involve algorithmic calculations, but produces ranges of possibilities rather than exact answers.\n\nTo calculate means to determine mathematically in the case of a number or amount, or in the case of an abstract problem to deduce the answer using logic, reason or common sense. The English word derives from the Latin calculus, which originally meant a small stone in the gall-bladder (from Latin calx). It also meant a pebble used for calculating, or a small stone used as a counter in an abacus (Latin abacus, Greek abax). The abacus was an instrument used by Greeks and Romans for arithmetic calculations, preceding the slide-rule and the electronic calculator, and consisted of perforated pebbles sliding on iron bars.\n\nComparison to computation\n\nCalculation is a prerequisite for computation. The difference in the meaning of calculation and computation appears to originate from the late medieval period.\n\nSee also\n\n Calculus (disambiguation) — list of general methods of calculation by application area\n Complexity class — theoretical notion to categorize calculability\n Cost accounting — business application of calculation\n List of algorithms — fully formalized, computer-executable methods of calculation\n Mental calculation — performing arithmetics using one's brain only\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n \"The Lifting of the Veil in the Operations of Calculation\" is a manuscript, from the 18th-century, in Arabic, by Ibn al-Banna' al-Marrakushi, about calculation processes\n\nElementary arithmetic\nInformation"
]
|
[
"James Brown",
"Death"
]
| C_185d6e4eab0446b1aa68bcc9a108fa5d_0 | When was his death? | 1 | When was James Brown's death? | James Brown | On December 23, 2006, Brown became very ill and arrived at his dentist's office in Atlanta, Georgia, several hours late. His appointment was for dental implant work. During that visit, Brown's dentist observed that he looked "very bad... weak and dazed." Instead of performing the work, the dentist advised Brown to see a doctor right away about his medical condition. Brown went to the Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital the next day for medical evaluation and was admitted for observation and treatment. According to Charles Bobbit, his longtime personal manager and friend, Brown had been struggling with a noisy cough since returning from a November trip to Europe. Yet, Bobbit said, the singer had a history of never complaining about being sick and often performed while ill. Although Brown had to cancel upcoming concerts in Waterbury, Connecticut, and Englewood, New Jersey, he was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time for his scheduled New Year's Eve shows at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey and the B. B. King Blues Club in New York, in addition to performing a song live on CNN for the Anderson Cooper New Year's Eve special. Brown remained hospitalized, however, and his condition worsened throughout the day. On Christmas Day, 2006, Brown died at approximately 1:45 am EST (06:45 UTC), at age 73, from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia. Bobbit was at his bedside and later reported that Brown stuttered, "I'm going away tonight," then took three long, quiet breaths and fell asleep before dying. CANNOTANSWER | On Christmas Day, 2006, | James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer, and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honorific nicknames "Godfather of Soul", "Mr. Dynamite", and "Soul Brother No. 1". In a career that lasted more than 50 years, he influenced the development of several music genres. Brown was one of the first 10 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction in New York on January 23, 1986.
Brown began his career as a gospel singer in Toccoa, Georgia. He first came to national public attention in the mid-1950s as the lead singer of the Famous Flames, a rhythm and blues vocal group founded by Bobby Byrd. With the hit ballads "Please, Please, Please" and "Try Me", Brown built a reputation as a dynamic live performer with the Famous Flames and his backing band, sometimes known as the James Brown Band or the James Brown Orchestra. His success peaked in the 1960s with the live album Live at the Apollo and hit singles such as "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "It's a Man's Man's Man's World".
During the late 1960s, Brown moved from a continuum of blues and gospel-based forms and styles to a profoundly "Africanized" approach to music-making, emphasizing stripped-down interlocking rhythms that influenced the development of funk music. By the early 1970s, Brown had fully established the funk sound after the formation of the J.B.s with records such as "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" and "The Payback". He also became noted for songs of social commentary, including the 1968 hit "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud". Brown continued to perform and record until his death from pneumonia in 2006.
Brown recorded 17 singles that reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts. He also holds the record for the most singles listed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that did not reach No. 1. Brown was inducted into the first class of the Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013 as an artist and then in 2017 as a songwriter. He also received honors from several other institutions, including inductions into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In Joel Whitburn's analysis of the Billboard R&B charts from 1942 to 2010, Brown is ranked No. 1 in The Top 500 Artists. He is ranked seventh on Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Early life
Brown was born on May 3, 1933, in Barnwell, South Carolina, to 16-year-old Susie (née Behling; 1916–2004) and 21-year-old Joseph Gardner Brown (1912–1993) in a small wooden shack. Brown's name was supposed to have been Joseph James Brown, but his first and middle names were mistakenly reversed on his birth certificate. In his autobiography, Brown stated that he had Chinese and Native American ancestry and that his father was of mixed African-American and Native American descent, while his mother was of mixed African-American and Asian descent.
The Brown family lived in extreme poverty in Elko, South Carolina, which was an impoverished town at the time. They later moved to Augusta, Georgia, when James was four or five. His family first settled at one of his aunts' brothels. They later moved into a house shared with another aunt. Brown's mother eventually left the family after a contentious and abusive marriage and moved to New York. Brown spent long stretches of time on his own, hanging out in the streets and hustling to get by. He managed to stay in school until the sixth grade.
He began singing in talent shows as a young child, first appearing at Augusta's Lenox Theater in 1944, winning the show after singing the ballad "So Long". While in Augusta, Brown performed buck dances for change to entertain troops from Camp Gordon at the start of World War II as their convoys traveled over a canal bridge near his aunt's home. He learned to play the piano, guitar, and harmonica during this period. He became inspired to become an entertainer after hearing "Caldonia" by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five. In his teen years, Brown briefly had a career as a boxer.
At the age of 16, he was convicted of robbery and sent to a juvenile detention center in Toccoa. There, he formed a gospel quartet with four fellow cellmates, including Johnny Terry. Brown met singer Bobby Byrd when the two played against each other in a baseball game outside the detention center. Byrd also discovered that Brown could sing after hearing of "a guy called Music Box", which was Brown's musical nickname at the prison. Byrd has since claimed he and his family helped to secure an early release, which led to Brown promising the court he would "sing for the Lord". Brown was released on a work sponsorship with Toccoa business owner S.C. Lawson. Lawson was impressed with Brown's work ethic and secured his release with a promise to keep him employed for two years. Brown was paroled on June 14, 1952. Brown went on to work with both of Lawson's sons, and would come back to visit the family from time to time throughout his career. Shortly after being paroled he joined the gospel group the Ever-Ready Gospel Singers, featuring Byrd's sister Sarah.
Music career
1953–1961: The Famous Flames
Brown eventually joined Bobby Byrd's group in 1954. The group had evolved from the Gospel Starlighters, an a cappella gospel group, to an R&B group with the name the Avons. He reputedly joined the band after one of its members, Troy Collins, died in a car crash. Along with Brown and Byrd, the group consisted of Sylvester Keels, Doyle Oglesby, Fred Pulliam, Nash Knox and Nafloyd Scott. Influenced by R&B groups such as Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, the Orioles and Billy Ward and his Dominoes, the group changed its name, first to the Toccoa Band and then to the Flames. Nafloyd's brother Baroy later joined the group on bass guitar, and Brown, Byrd and Keels switched lead positions and instruments, often playing drums and piano. Johnny Terry later joined, by which time Pulliam and Oglesby had long left. one of his 10 children commited suicide.
Berry Trimier became the group's first manager, booking them at parties near college campuses in Georgia and South Carolina. The group had already gained a reputation as a good live act when they renamed themselves the Famous Flames. In 1955, the group had contacted Little Richard while performing in Macon. Richard convinced the group to get in contact with his manager at the time, Clint Brantley, at his nightclub. Brantley agreed to manage them after seeing the group audition. He then sent them to a local radio station to record a demo session, where they performed their own composition "Please, Please, Please", which was inspired when Little Richard wrote the words of the title on a napkin and Brown was determined to make a song out of it. The Famous Flames eventually signed with King Records' Federal subsidiary in Cincinnati, Ohio, and issued a re-recorded version of "Please, Please, Please" in March 1956. The song became the group's first R&B hit, selling over a million copies. None of their follow-ups gained similar success. By 1957, Brown had replaced Clint Brantley as manager and hired Ben Bart, chief of Universal Attractions Agency. That year the original Flames broke up, after Bart changed the name of the group to "James Brown and The Famous Flames".
In October 1958, Brown released the ballad "Try Me", which hit number one on the R&B chart in the beginning of 1959, becoming the first of seventeen chart-topping R&B hits. Shortly afterwards, he recruited his first band, led by J. C. Davis, and reunited with Bobby Byrd who joined a revived Famous Flames lineup that included Eugene "Baby" Lloyd Stallworth and Bobby Bennett, with Johnny Terry sometimes coming in as the "fifth Flame". Brown, the Flames, and his entire band debuted at the Apollo Theater on April 24, 1959, opening for Brown's idol, Little Willie John. Federal Records issued two albums credited to Brown and the Famous Flames (both contained previously released singles). By 1960, Brown began multi-tasking in the recording studio involving himself, his singing group, the Famous Flames, and his band, a separate entity from The Flames, sometimes named the James Brown Orchestra or the James Brown Band. That year the band released the top ten R&B hit "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes" on Dade Records, owned by Henry Stone, billed under the pseudonym "Nat Kendrick & the Swans" due to label issues. As a result of its success, King president Syd Nathan shifted Brown's contract from Federal to the parent label, King, which according to Brown in his autobiography meant "you got more support from the company". While with King, Brown, under the Famous Flames lineup, released the hit-filled album Think! and the following year released two albums with the James Brown Band earning second billing. With the Famous Flames, Brown sang lead on several more hits, including"Bewildered", "I'll Go Crazy" and "Think", songs that hinted at his emerging style.
1962–1966: Mr. Dynamite
In 1962, Brown and his band scored a hit with their cover of the instrumental "Night Train", becoming a top five R&B single. That same year, the ballads "Lost Someone" and "Baby You're Right", the latter a Joe Tex composition, added to his repertoire and increased his reputation with R&B audiences. On October 24, 1962, Brown financed a live recording of a performance at the Apollo and convinced Syd Nathan to release the album, despite Nathan's belief that no one would buy a live album due to the fact that Brown's singles had already been bought and that live albums were usually bad sellers.
Live at the Apollo was released the following June and became an immediate hit, eventually reaching number two on the Top LPs chart and selling over a million copies, staying on the charts for 14 months. In 1963, Brown scored his first top 20 pop hit with his rendition of the standard "Prisoner of Love". He also launched his first label, Try Me Records, which included recordings by the likes of Tammy Montgomery (later to be famous as Tammi Terrell), Johnny & Bill (Famous Flames associates Johnny Terry and Bill Hollings) and the Poets, which was another name used for Brown's backing band. During this time Brown began an ill-fated two-year relationship with 17-year-old Tammi Terrell when she sang in his revue. Terrell ended their personal and professional relationship because of his abusive behavior.
In 1964, seeking bigger commercial success, Brown and Bobby Byrd formed the production company, Fair Deal, linking the operation to the Mercury imprint, Smash Records. King Records, however, fought against this and was granted an injunction preventing Brown from releasing any recordings for the label. Prior to the injunction, Brown had released three vocal singles, including the blues-oriented hit "Out of Sight", which further indicated the direction his music was going to take. Touring throughout the year, Brown and the Famous Flames grabbed more national attention after giving an explosive show-stopping performance on the live concert film The T.A.M.I. Show. The Flames' dynamic gospel-tinged vocals, polished choreography and timing as well as Brown's energetic dance moves and high-octane singing upstaged the proposed closing act, the Rolling Stones.
Having signed a new deal with King, Brown released his song "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" in 1965, which became his first top ten pop hit and won him his first Grammy Award. Brown also signed a production deal with Loma Records. Later in 1965, he issued "I Got You", which became his second single in a row to reach number-one on the R&B chart and top ten on the pop chart. Brown followed that up with the ballad "It's a Man's Man's Man's World", a third Top 10 Pop hit (No. 1 R&B) which confirmed his stance as a top-ranking performer, especially with R&B audiences from that point on.
1967–1970: Soul Brother No. 1
By 1967, Brown's emerging sound had begun to be defined as funk music. That year he released what some critics cited as the first true funk song, "Cold Sweat", which hit number-one on the R&B chart (Top 10 Pop) and became one of his first recordings to contain a drum break and also the first that featured a harmony that was reduced to a single chord. The instrumental arrangements on tracks such as "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" and "Licking Stick-Licking Stick" (both recorded in 1968) and "Funky Drummer" (recorded in 1969) featured a more developed version of Brown's mid-1960s style, with the horn section, guitars, bass and drums meshed together in intricate rhythmic patterns based on multiple interlocking riffs.
Changes in Brown's style that started with "Cold Sweat" also established the musical foundation for Brown's later hits, such as "I Got the Feelin'" (1968) and "Mother Popcorn" (1969). By this time Brown's vocals frequently took the form of a kind of rhythmic declamation, not quite sung but not quite spoken, that only intermittently featured traces of pitch or melody. This would become a major influence on the techniques of rapping, which would come to maturity along with hip hop music in the coming decades. Brown's style of funk in the late 1960s was based on interlocking syncopated parts: strutting bass lines, syncopated drum patterns, and iconic percussive guitar riffs. The main guitar ostinatos for "Ain't It Funky" and "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" (both 1969), are examples of Brown's refinement of New Orleans funk; irresistibly danceable riffs, stripped down to their rhythmic essence. On both recordings the tonal structure is bare bones. The pattern of attack-points is the emphasis, not the pattern of pitches, as if the guitar were an African drum, or idiophone. Alexander Stewart states that this popular feel was passed along from "New Orleans—through James Brown's music, to the popular music of the 1970s". Those same tracks were later resurrected by countless hip-hop musicians from the 1970s onward. As a result, James Brown remains to this day the world's most sampled recording artist, but, two tracks that he wrote, are also synonymous with modern dance, especially with house music, jungle music, and drum and bass music, (which were sped up exponentially, in the latter two genres).
"Bring it Up" has an Afro-Cuban guajeo-like structure. All three of these guitar riffs are based on an onbeat/offbeat structure. Stewart says that it "is different from a time line (such as clave and tresillo) in that it is not an exact pattern, but more of a loose organizing principle."
It was around this time as the musician's popularity increased that he acquired the nickname "Soul Brother No. 1", after failing to win the title "King of Soul" from Solomon Burke during a Chicago gig two years prior. Brown's recordings during this period influenced musicians across the industry, most notably groups such as Sly and the Family Stone, Funkadelic, Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Booker T. & the M.G.s as well as vocalists such as Edwin Starr, David Ruffin and Dennis Edwards from The Temptations, and Michael Jackson, who, throughout his career, cited Brown as his ultimate idol.
Brown's band during this period employed musicians and arrangers who had come up through the jazz tradition. He was noted for his ability as a bandleader and songwriter to blend the simplicity and drive of R&B with the rhythmic complexity and precision of jazz. Trumpeter Lewis Hamlin and saxophonist/keyboardist Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis (the successor to previous bandleader Nat Jones) led the band. Guitarist Jimmy Nolen provided percussive, deceptively simple riffs for each song, and Maceo Parker's prominent saxophone solos provided a focal point for many performances. Other members of Brown's band included stalwart Famous Flames singer and sideman Bobby Byrd, trombonist Fred Wesley, drummers John "Jabo" Starks, Clyde Stubblefield and Melvin Parker, saxophonist St. Clair Pinckney, guitarist Alphonso "Country" Kellum and bassist Bernard Odum.
In addition to a torrent of singles and studio albums, Brown's output during this period included two more successful live albums, Live at the Garden (1967) and Live at the Apollo, Volume II (1968), and a 1968 television special, James Brown: Man to Man. His music empire expanded along with his influence on the music scene. As Brown's music empire grew, his desire for financial and artistic independence grew as well. Brown bought radio stations during the late 1960s, including WRDW in his native Augusta, where he shined shoes as a boy. In November 1967, James Brown purchased radio station WGYW in Knoxville, Tennessee, for a reported $75,000, according to the January 20, 1968 Record World magazine. The call letters were changed to WJBE reflecting his initials. WJBE began on January 15, 1968, and broadcast a Rhythm & Blues format. The station slogan was "WJBE 1430 Raw Soul". Brown also bought WEBB in Baltimore in 1970.
Brown branched out to make several recordings with musicians outside his own band. In an attempt to appeal to the older, more affluent, and predominantly white adult contemporary audience, Brown recorded Gettin' Down To It (1969) and Soul on Top (1970)—two albums consisting mostly of romantic ballads, jazz standards, and homologous reinterpretations of his earlier hits—with the Dee Felice Trio and the Louie Bellson Orchestra. In 1968, he recorded a number of funk-oriented tracks with The Dapps, a white Cincinnati band, including the hit "I Can't Stand Myself". He also released three albums of Christmas music with his own band.
1970–1975: Godfather of Soul
In March 1970, most of Brown's mid-to-late 1960s road band walked out on him due to money disputes, a development augured by the prior disbandment of The Famous Flames singing group for the same reason in 1968. Brown and erstwhile Famous Flames singer Bobby Byrd (who chose to remain in the band during this tumultuous period) subsequently recruited several members of the Cincinnati-based The Pacemakers, which included Bootsy Collins and his brother Phelps "Catfish" Collins; augmented by the remaining members of the 1960s road band (including Fred Wesley, who rejoined Brown's outfit in December 1970) and other newer musicians, they would form the nucleus of The J.B.'s, Brown's new backing ensemble. Shortly following their first performance together, the band entered the studio to record the Brown-Byrd composition, "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine"; the song and other contemporaneous singles would further cement Brown's influence in the nascent genre of funk music. This iteration of the J.B.'s dissolved after a March 1971 European tour (documented on the 1991 archival release Love Power Peace) due to additional money disputes and Bootsy Collins' use of LSD; the Collins brothers would soon become integral members of Parliament-Funkadelic, while a new lineup of the J.B.'s coalesced around Wesley, St. Clair Pinckney and drummer John Starks.
In 1971, Brown began recording for Polydor Records which also took over distribution of Brown's King Records catalog. Many of his sidemen and supporting players, including Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s, Bobby Byrd, Lyn Collins, Vicki Anderson and former rival Hank Ballard, released records on the People label, an imprint founded by Brown that was purchased by Polydor as part of Brown's new contract. The recordings on the People label, almost all of which were produced by Brown himself, exemplified the mature flowering of his "house style". Several tracks thought by critics to be excessively sexual were released at this time. He would later soften his vocal approach. Songs such as "I Know You Got Soul" by Bobby Byrd, "Think" by Lyn Collins and "Doing It to Death" by Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s are considered as much a part of Brown's recorded legacy as the recordings released under his own name. That year, he also began touring African countries and was received well by audiences there. During the 1972 presidential election, James Brown openly proclaimed his support of Richard Nixon for reelection to the presidency over Democratic candidate George McGovern. The decision led to a boycott of his performances and, according to Brown, cost him a big portion of his black audience. As a result, Brown's record sales and concerts in the United States reached a lull in 1973 as he failed to land a number-one R&B single that year. Brown relied more on touring outside the United States where he continued to perform for sold-out crowds in cities such as London, Paris and Lausanne. That year he also faced problems with the IRS for failure to pay back taxes, charging he hadn't paid upwards of $4.5 million; five years earlier, the IRS had claimed he owed nearly $2 million.
In 1973, Brown provided the score for the blaxploitation film Black Caesar. He also recorded another soundtrack for the film, Slaughter's Big Rip-Off. Following the release of these soundtracks, Brown acquired a self-styled nickname, "The Godfather of Soul", which remains his most popular nickname. In 1974 he returned to the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts with "The Payback", with the parent album reaching the same spot on the album charts; he would reach No. 1 two more times in 1974, with "My Thang" and "Papa Don't Take No Mess". Later that year, he returned to Africa and performed in Kinshasa as part of the buildup to The Rumble in the Jungle fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Admirers of Brown's music, including Miles Davis and other jazz musicians, began to cite him as a major influence on their own styles. However, Brown, like others who were influenced by his music, also "borrowed" from other musicians. His 1976 single, "Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)" (R&B No. 31), interpolated the main riff from "Fame" by David Bowie while omitting any attribution to the latter song's composers (including Bowie, John Lennon and guitarist Carlos Alomar), not the other way around as was often believed.
"Papa Don't Take No Mess" would prove to be his final single to reach the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts and his final Top 40 pop single of the 1970s, though he continued to occasionally have Top 10 R&B recordings. Among his top ten R&B hits during this latter period included "Funky President" (R&B No. 4) and "Get Up Offa That Thing" (R&B No. 4), the latter song released in 1976 and aimed at musical rivals such as Barry White, The Ohio Players and K.C. and the Sunshine Band. Brown credited his then-wife and two of their children as writers of the song to avoid concurrent tax problems with the IRS. Starting in October 1975, Brown produced, directed, and hosted Future Shock, an Atlanta-based television variety show that ran for three years.
1975–1991: Decline and resurgence
Although his records were mainstays of the vanguard New York underground disco scene (exemplified by DJs such as David Mancuso and Francis Grasso) from 1969 onwards, Brown did not consciously yield to the trend until 1975's Sex Machine Today. By 1977, he was no longer a dominant force in R&B. After "Get Up Offa That Thing", thirteen of Brown's late 1970s recordings for Polydor failed to reach the Top 10 of the R&B chart, with only "Bodyheat" in 1976 and the disco-oriented "It's Too Funky in Here" in 1979 reaching the R&B Top 15 and the ballad "Kiss in '77" reaching the Top 20. After 1976's "Bodyheat", he also failed to appear on the Billboard Hot 100. As a result, Brown's concert attendance began dropping and his reported disputes with the IRS caused his business empire to collapse. In addition, Brown's former bandmates, including Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker and the Collins brothers, had found bigger success as members of George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic collective. The emergence of disco also stopped Brown's success on the R&B charts because its slicker, more commercial style had superseded his more raw funk productions.
By the release of 1979's The Original Disco Man, Brown was not providing much production or writing, leaving most of it to producer Brad Shapiro, resulting in the song "It's Too Funky in Here" becoming Brown's most successful single in this period. After two more albums failed to chart, Brown left Polydor in 1981. It was around this time that Brown changed the name of his band from the J.B.'s to the Soul Generals (or Soul G's). The band retained that name until his death. Despite Brown's declining record sales, promoters Gary LoConti and Jim Rissmiller helped Brown sell out a string of residency shows at the Country Club in Reseda. Brown's compromised commercial standing prevented him from charging a large live fee to the promoters for these shows. However, the great success of these shows marked a turning point for Brown's career, and soon he was back on top in Hollywood. Movies followed, starting with appearances in the feature films The Blues Brothers, Doctor Detroit and Rocky IV, as well as guest-starring in the Miami Vice episode "Missing Hours" (1987). In 1984, he teamed with rap musician Afrika Bambaataa on the song "Unity". A year later he signed with Scotti Brothers Records and issued the moderately successful album Gravity in 1986. It included Brown's final Top 10 pop hit, "Living in America", marking his first Top 40 entry since 1974 and his first Top 10 pop entry since 1968. Produced and written by Dan Hartman, it was also featured prominently on the Rocky IV film and soundtrack. Brown performed the song in the film at Apollo Creed's final fight, shot in the Ziegfeld Room at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and was credited in the film as "The Godfather of Soul". 1986 also saw the publication of his autobiography, James Brown: The Godfather of Soul, co-written with Bruce Tucker. In 1987, Brown won the Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Living in America".
In 1988, Brown worked with the production team Full Force on the new jack swing-influenced I'm Real. It spawned his final two Top 10 R&B hits, "I'm Real" and "Static", which peaked at No. 2 and No. 5, respectively, on the R&B charts. Meanwhile, the drum break from the second version of the original 1969 hit "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" (the recording included on the compilation album In the Jungle Groove) became so popular at hip hop dance parties (especially for breakdance) during the early 1980s that hip hop pioneer Kurtis Blow called the song "the national anthem of hip hop".
1991–2006: Final years
After his stint in prison during the late 1980s, Brown met Larry Fridie and Thomas Hart who produced the first James Brown biopic, entitled James Brown: The Man, the Message, the Music, released in 1992. He returned to music with the album Love Over-Due in 1991. It included the single "(So Tired of Standing Still We Got to) Move On", which peaked at No. 48 on the R&B chart. His former record label Polydor also released the four-CD box set Star Time, spanning Brown's career to date. Brown's release from prison also prompted his former record labels to reissue his albums on CD, featuring additional tracks and commentary by music critics and historians. That same year, Brown appeared on rapper MC Hammer's video for "Too Legit to Quit". Hammer had been noted, alongside Big Daddy Kane, for bringing Brown's unique stage shows and their own energetic dance moves to the hip-hop generation; both listed Brown as their idol. Both musicians also sampled his work, with Hammer having sampled the rhythms from "Super Bad" for his song "Here Comes the Hammer", from his best-selling album Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em. Big Daddy Kane sampled many times. Before the year was over, Brown–who had immediately returned to work with his band following his release–organized a pay-per-view concert following a show at Los Angeles' Wiltern Theatre, that was well received.
On June 10, 1991, James Brown and a star-filled line up performed before a crowd at the Wiltern Theatre for a live pay-per-view at-home audience. James Brown: Living in America – Live! was the brainchild of Indiana producer Danny Hubbard. It featured
M.C. Hammer as well as Bell Biv Devoe, Heavy D & the Boys, En Vogue, C+C Music Factory, Quincy Jones, Sherman Hemsley and Keenen Ivory Wayans. Ice-T, Tone Loc and Kool Moe Dee performed paying homage to Brown. This was Brown's first public performance since his parole from the South Carolina prison system in February. He had served two-and-a-half years of two concurrent six-year sentences for aggravated assault and other felonies.
Brown continued making recordings. In 1993 his album Universal James was released. It included his final Billboard charting single, "Can't Get Any Harder", which peaked at No. 76 on the US R&B chart and reached No. 59 on the UK chart. Its brief charting in the UK was probably due to the success of a remixed version of "I Feel Good" featuring Dakeyne. Brown also released the singles "How Long" and "Georgia-Lina", which failed to chart. In 1995, Brown returned to the Apollo and recorded Live at the Apollo 1995. It included a studio track titled "Respect Me", which was released as a single; again it failed to chart. Brown's final studio albums, I'm Back and The Next Step, were released in 1998 and 2002 respectively. I'm Back featured the song "Funk on Ah Roll", which peaked at No. 40 in the UK but did not chart in his native US. The Next Step included Brown's final single, "Killing Is Out, School Is In". Both albums were produced by Derrick Monk. Brown's concert success, however, remained unabated and he kept up with a grueling schedule throughout the remainder of his life, living up to his previous nickname, "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business", in spite of his advanced age. In 2003, Brown participated in the PBS American Masters television documentary James Brown: Soul Survivor, which was directed by Jeremy Marre.
Brown performed in the Super Bowl XXXI halftime show.
Brown celebrated his status as an icon by appearing in a variety of entertainment and sports events, including an appearance on the WCW pay-per-view event, SuperBrawl X, where he danced alongside wrestler Ernest "The Cat" Miller, who based his character on Brown, during his in-ring skit with The Maestro. Brown then appeared in Tony Scott's short film Beat the Devil in 2001. He was featured alongside Clive Owen, Gary Oldman, Danny Trejo and Marilyn Manson. Brown also made a cameo appearance in the 2002 Jackie Chan film The Tuxedo, in which Chan was required to finish Brown's act after having accidentally knocked out the singer. In 2002, Brown appeared in Undercover Brother, playing himself.
In 2004, Brown performed in Hyde Park, London as a support act for Red Hot Chili Peppers concerts. The beginning of 2005 saw the publication of Brown's second book, I Feel Good: A Memoir of a Life of Soul, written with Marc Eliot. In February and March, he participated in recording sessions for an intended studio album with Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, and other longtime collaborators. Though he lost interest in the album, which remains unreleased, a track from the sessions, "Gut Bucket", appeared on a compilation CD included with the August 2006 issue of MOJO. He appeared at Edinburgh 50,000 – The Final Push, the final Live 8 concert on July 6, 2005, where he performed a duet with British pop star Will Young on "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag". In the Black Eyed Peas album "Monkey Business", Brown was featured on a track called, "They Don't Want Music". The previous week he had performed a duet with another British pop star, Joss Stone, on the United Kingdom chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. In 2006, Brown continued his "Seven Decades of Funk World Tour", his last concert tour where he performed all over the world. His final U.S. performances were in San Francisco on August 20, 2006, as headliner at the Festival of the Golden Gate (Foggfest) on the Great Meadow at Fort Mason. The following day, August 21, he performed at Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA, at a small theatre (800 seats) on campus. His last shows were greeted with positive reviews, and one of his final concert appearances at the Irish Oxegen festival in Punchestown in 2006 was performed for a record crowd of 80,000 people. He played a full concert as part of the BBC's Electric Proms on October 27, 2006, at The Roundhouse, supported by The Zutons, with special appearances from Max Beasley and The Sugababes.
Brown's last televised appearance was at his induction into the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2006, before his death the following month. Before his death, Brown had been scheduled to perform a duet with singer Annie Lennox on the song "Vengeance" for her new album Venus, which was released in 2007.
Artistry
As a vocalist, Brown performed in a forceful shout style derived from gospel music. Meanwhile, "his rhythmic grunts and expressive shrieks harked back farther still to ring shouts, work songs, and field cries", according to the Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History (1996): "He reimported the rhythmic complexity from which rhythm and blues, under the dual pressure of rock 'n' roll and pop, had progressively fallen away since its birth from jazz and blues."
For many years, Brown's touring show was one of the most extravagant productions in American popular music. At the time of Brown's death, his band included three guitarists, two bass guitar players, two drummers, three horns and a percussionist. The bands that he maintained during the late 1960s and 1970s were of comparable size, and the bands also included a three-piece amplified string section that played during the ballads. Brown employed between 40 and 50 people for the James Brown Revue, and members of the revue traveled with him in a bus to cities and towns all over the country, performing upwards of 330 shows a year with almost all of the shows as one-nighters.
Concert style
Before James Brown appeared on stage, his personal MC gave him an elaborate introduction accompanied by drumrolls, as the MC worked in Brown's various sobriquets along with the names of many of his hit songs. The introduction by Fats Gonder, captured on Brown's 1963 album Live at the Apollo is a representative example:
James Brown's performances were famous for their intensity and length. His own stated goal was to "give people more than what they came for — make them tired, 'cause that's what they came for.'" Brown's concert repertoire consisted mostly of his own hits and recent songs, with a few R&B covers mixed in. Brown danced vigorously as he sang, working popular dance steps such as the Mashed Potato into his routine along with dramatic leaps, splits and slides. In addition, his horn players and singing group (The Famous Flames) typically performed choreographed dance routines, and later incarnations of the Revue included backup dancers. Male performers in the Revue were required to wear tuxedoes and cummerbunds long after more casual concert wear became the norm among the younger musical acts. Brown's own extravagant outfits and his elaborate processed hairdo completed the visual impression. A James Brown concert typically included a performance by a featured vocalist, such as Vicki Anderson or Marva Whitney, and an instrumental feature for the band, which sometimes served as the opening act for the show.
A trademark feature of Brown's stage shows, usually during the song "Please, Please, Please", involved Brown dropping to his knees while clutching the microphone stand in his hands, prompting the show's longtime MC, Danny Ray, to come out, drape a cape over Brown's shoulders and escort him off the stage after he had worked himself to exhaustion during his performance. As Brown was escorted off the stage by the MC, Brown's vocal group, the Famous Flames (Bobby Byrd, Lloyd Stallworth, and Bobby Bennett), continued singing the background vocals "Please, please don't go-oh". Brown would then shake off the cape and stagger back to the microphone to perform an encore. Brown's routine was inspired by a similar one used by the professional wrestler Gorgeous George, as well as Little Richard. In his 2005 autobiography I Feel Good: A Memoir in a Life of Soul, Brown, who was a fan of Gorgeous George, credited the wrestler as the inspiration for both his cape routine and concert attire, stating, "Seeing him on TV helped create the James Brown you see on stage". Brown performs a version of the cape routine in the film of the T.A.M.I. Show (1964) in which he and The Famous Flames upstaged The Rolling Stones, and over the closing credits of the film Blues Brothers 2000. The Police refer to "James Brown on the T.A.M.I. Show" in their 1980 song "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around".
Band leadership
Brown demanded extreme discipline, perfection and precision from his musicians and dancers – performers in his Revue showed up for rehearsals and members wore the right "uniform" or "costume" for concert performances. During an interview conducted by Terri Gross during the NPR segment "Fresh Air" with Maceo Parker, a former saxophonist in Brown's band for most of the 1960s and part of the 1970s and 1980s, Parker offered his experience with the discipline that Brown demanded of the band:
Brown also had a practice of directing, correcting and assessing fines on members of his band who broke his rules, such as wearing unshined shoes, dancing out of sync or showing up late on stage. During some of his concert performances, Brown danced in front of his band with his back to the audience as he slid across the floor, flashing hand signals and splaying his pulsating fingers to the beat of the music. Although audiences thought Brown's dance routine was part of his act, this practice was actually his way of pointing to the offending member of his troupe who played or sang the wrong note or committed some other infraction. Brown used his splayed fingers and hand signals to alert the offending person of the fine that person must pay to him for breaking his rules.
Brown's demands of his support acts were, meanwhile, quite the reverse. As Fred Wesley recalled of his time as musical director of the JBs, if Brown felt intimidated by a support act he would try to "undermine their performances by shortening their sets without notice, demanding that they not do certain showstopping songs, and even insisting on doing the unthinkable, playing drums on some of their songs. A sure set killer."
Social activism
Education advocacy and humanitarianism
Brown's main social activism was in preserving the need for education among youths, influenced by his own troubled childhood and his being forced to drop out of the seventh grade for wearing "insufficient clothes". Due to heavy dropout rates in the 1960s, Brown released the pro-education song, "Don't Be a Drop-Out". Royalties of the song were donated to dropout-prevention charity programs. The success of this led to Brown meeting with President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House. Johnson cited Brown for being a positive role model to the youth. A lifelong Republican, Brown gained the confidence of President Richard Nixon, to whom he found he had to explain the plight of Black Americans.
Throughout the remainder of his life, Brown made public speeches in schools and continued to advocate the importance of education in school. Upon filing his will in 2002, Brown advised that most of the money in his estate go into creating the I Feel Good, Inc. Trust to benefit disadvantaged children and provide scholarships for his grandchildren. His final single, "Killing Is Out, School Is In", advocated against murders of young children in the streets. Brown often gave out money and other items to children while traveling to his childhood hometown of Augusta. A week before his death, while looking gravely ill, Brown gave out toys and turkeys to kids at an Atlanta orphanage, something he had done several times over the years.
Civil rights and self-reliance
Though Brown performed at benefit rallies for civil rights organizations in the mid-1960s, Brown often shied away from discussing civil rights in his songs in fear of alienating his crossover audience. In 1968, in response to a growing urge of anti-war advocacy during the Vietnam War, Brown recorded the song, "America Is My Home". In the song, Brown performed a rap, advocating patriotism and exhorting listeners to "stop pitying yoursel[ves] and get up and fight". At the time of the song's release, Brown had been participating in performing for troops stationed in Vietnam.
The Boston Garden concert
On April 5, 1968, a day after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee, Brown provided a free citywide televised concert at the Boston Garden to maintain public order and calm concerned Boston residents (over the objections of the police chief, who wanted to call off the concert, which he thought would incite violence). The show was later released on DVD as Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968. According to the documentary The Night James Brown Saved Boston, then-mayor Kevin White had strongly restrained the Boston police from cracking down on minor violence and protests after the assassination, while religious and community leaders worked to keep tempers from flaring. White arranged to have Brown's performance broadcast multiple times on Boston's public television station, WGBH, thus keeping potential rioters off the streets, watching the concert for free. Angered by not being told of this, Brown demanded $60,000 for "gate" fees (money he thought would be lost from ticket sales on account of the concert being broadcast for free) and then threatened to go public about the secret arrangement when the city balked at paying up afterwards, news of which would have been a political death blow to White and spark riots of its own. White eventually lobbied the behind-the-scenes power-brokering group known as "The Vault" to come up with money for Brown's gate fee and other social programs, contributing $100,000. Brown received $15,000 from them via the city. White also persuaded management at the Garden to give up their share of receipts to make up the differences. Following this successful performance, Brown was counseled by President Johnson to urge cities ravaged from riots following King's assassination to not resort to violence, telling them to "cool it, there's another way".
Responding to pressure from black activists, including H. Rap Brown, to take a bigger stance on their issues and from footage of black on black crime committed in inner cities, Brown wrote the lyrics to the song "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud", which his bandleader Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis accompanied with a musical composition. Released late that summer, the song's lyrics helped to make it an anthem for the civil rights movement. Brown only performed the song sporadically following its initial release and later stated he had regrets about recording it, saying in 1984, "Now 'Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud' has done more for the black race than any other record, but if I had my choice, I wouldn't have done it, because I don't like defining anyone by race. To teach race is to teach separatism." In his autobiography he stated:
The song is obsolete now ... But it was necessary to teach pride then, and I think the song did a lot of good for a lot of people ... People called "Black and Proud" militant and angry – maybe because of the line about dying on your feet instead of living on your knees. But really, if you listen to it, it sounds like a children's song. That's why I had children in it, so children who heard it could grow up feeling pride ... The song cost me a lot of my crossover audience. The racial makeup at my concerts was mostly black after that. I don't regret it, though, even if it was misunderstood.
In 1969, Brown recorded two more songs of social commentary, "World" and "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing", the latter song pleading for equal opportunity and self-reliance rather than entitlement. In 1970, in response to some black leaders for not being outspoken enough, he recorded "Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved" and "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing". In 1971, he began touring Africa, including Zambia and Nigeria. He was made "freeman of the city" in Lagos, Nigeria, by Oba Adeyinka Oyekan, for his "influence on black people all over the world". With his company, James Brown Enterprises, Brown helped to provide jobs for blacks in business in the communities. As the 1970s continued, Brown continued to record songs of social commentary, most prominently 1972's "King Heroin" and the two-part ballad "Public Enemy", which dealt with drug addiction.
Political views
During the 1968 presidential campaign, Brown endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey and appeared with Humphrey at political rallies. Brown was labeled an "Uncle Tom" for supporting Humphrey and also for releasing the pro-American funk song, "America Is My Home", in which Brown had lambasted protesters of the Vietnam War as well as the politics of pro-black activists. Brown began supporting Republican president Richard Nixon after being invited to perform at Nixon's inaugural ball in January 1969. Brown's endorsement of Nixon during the 1972 presidential election negatively impacted his career during that period with several national Black organizations boycotting his records and protesting at his concert shows; a November 1972 show in Cincinnati was picketed with signs saying, "James Brown: Nixon's Clown". Brown initially was invited to perform at a Youth Concert following Nixon's inauguration in January 1973 but bailed out due to the backlash he suffered from supporting Nixon. Brown joined fellow black entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., who faced similar backlash, to back out of the concert. Brown blamed it on "fatigue". Brown later reversed his support of Nixon and composed the song, "You Can Have Watergate (Just Gimme Some Bucks And I'll Be Straight)" as a result. After Nixon resigned from office, Brown composed the 1974 hit, "Funky President (People It's Bad)", right after Gerald Ford took Nixon's place. Brown later supported Democratic President Jimmy Carter, attending one of Carter's inaugural balls in 1977. Brown also openly supported President Ronald Reagan's reelection in 1984.
Brown stated he was neither Democratic nor Republican despite his support of Republican presidents such as Nixon and Reagan as well as Democratic presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Carter. In 1999, when being interviewed by Rolling Stone, the magazine asked him to name a hero in the 20th century; Brown mentioned John F. Kennedy and then-96-year-old U.S. Senator, and former Dixiecrat, Strom Thurmond, stating "when the young whippersnappers get out of line, whether Democratic or Republican, an old man can walk up and say 'Wait a minute, son, it goes this way.' And that's great for our country. He's like a grandfather to me." In 2003, Brown was the featured attraction of a Washington D.C. fundraiser for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Following the deaths of Ronald Reagan and his friend Ray Charles, Brown said to CNN, "I'm kind of in an uproar. I love the country and I got – you know I've been around a long time, through many presidents and everything. So after losing Mr. Reagan, who I knew very well, then Mr. Ray Charles, who I worked with and lived with like, all our life, we had a show together in Oakland many, many years ago and it's like you found the placard." Despite his contrarian political views, Brown mentored black activist Rev. Al Sharpton during the 1970s.
Personal life
At the end of his life, James Brown lived in Beech Island, South Carolina, directly across the Savannah River from Augusta, Georgia. Brown had diabetes that went undiagnosed for years, according to his longtime manager Charles Bobbit. In 2004, Brown was successfully treated for prostate cancer. Regardless of his health, Brown maintained his reputation as the "hardest working man in show business" by keeping up with his grueling performance schedule.
In 1962, Tammi Terrell joined the James Brown Revue. Brown became sexually involved with Terrell even though she was only 17 in a relationship that continued until she escaped his abuse. Bobby Bennett, former member of the Famous Flames, told Rolling Stone about the abuse he witnessed: "He beat Tammi Terrell terrible", said Bennett. "She was bleeding, shedding blood." Terrell, who died in 1970, was Brown's girlfriend before she became famous as Marvin Gaye's singing partner in the mid-'60s. "Tammi left him because she didn't want her butt whipped", said Bennett, who also claimed he saw Brown kick one pregnant girlfriend down a flight of stairs.
Marriages and children
Brown was married four times. His first marriage was to Velma Warren in 1953, and they had one son together. Over a decade later, the couple had separated and the final divorce decree was issued in 1969. They maintained a close friendship that lasted until Brown's death. Brown's second marriage was to Deidre "Deedee" Jenkins, on October 22, 1970. They had two daughters together. The couple were separated by 1979, after what his daughter describes as years of domestic abuse, and the final divorce decree was issued on January 10, 1981. His third marriage was to Adrienne Lois Rodriguez (March 9, 1950 – January 6, 1996), in 1984. It was a contentious marriage that made headlines due to domestic abuse complaints. Rodriguez filed for divorce in 1988, "citing years of cruelty treatment", but they reconciled. Less than a year after Rodriguez died in 1996, Brown hired Tomi Rae Hynie to be a background singer for his band and she later became his fourth wife.
On December 23, 2002, Brown and Hynie held a wedding ceremony that was officiated by the Rev. Larry Flyer. Following Brown's death, controversy surrounded the circumstances of the marriage, with Brown's attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, reporting that the marriage was not valid; Hynie was still married to Javed Ahmed, a man from Bangladesh. Hynie claimed Ahmed married her to obtain residency through a Green Card and that the marriage was annulled but the annulment did not occur until April 2004. In an attempt to prove her marriage to Brown was valid, Hynie produced a 2001 marriage certificate as proof of her marriage to Brown, but she did not provide King with court records pointing to an annulment of her marriage to him or to Ahmed. According to Dallas, Brown was angry and hurt that Hynie had concealed her prior marriage from him and Brown moved to file for annulment from Hynie. Dallas added that though Hynie's marriage to Ahmed was annulled after she married Brown, the Brown–Hynie marriage was not valid under South Carolina law because Brown and Hynie did not remarry after the annulment. In August 2003, Brown took out a full-page public notice in Variety featuring Hynie, James II and himself on vacation at Disney World to announce that he and Hynie were going their separate ways. In 2015, a judge ruled Hynie as Brown's legal widow.
Brown had numerous children and acknowledged nine of them including five sons – Teddy (1954–1973), Terry, Larry, Daryl, and James Joseph Brown Jr. and four daughters – Lisa, Dr. Yamma Noyola Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas, and Venisha Brown (1964–2018). Brown also had eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Brown's eldest son, Teddy, died in a car crash on June 14, 1973. According to an August 22, 2007, article published in the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, DNA tests indicate that Brown also fathered at least three extramarital children. The first one of them to be identified is LaRhonda Pettit (born 1962), a retired flight attendant and teacher who lives in Houston. During contesting of Brown's will, another of the Brown family attorneys, Debra Opri, revealed to Larry King that Brown wanted a DNA test performed after his death to confirm the paternity of James Brown Jr. (born 2001)—not for Brown's sake but for the sake of the other family members. In April 2007, Hynie selected a guardian ad litem whom she wanted appointed by the court to represent her son, James Brown Jr., in the paternity proceedings. James Brown Jr. was confirmed to be his biological son.
Drug abuse
For most of his career, Brown had a strict drug- and alcohol-free policy for any member in his entourage, including band members, and would fire people who disobeyed orders, particularly those who used or abused drugs. Although early members of the Famous Flames were fired for using alcohol, Brown often served a highball consisting of Delaware Punch and moonshine at his St. Albans, Queens house in the mid-1960s. Some of the original members of Brown's 1970s band, the J.B.'s, including Catfish and Bootsy Collins, intentionally took LSD during a performance in 1971, causing Brown to fire them after the show because he had suspected them of being on drugs all along.
Aide Bob Patton has asserted that he accidentally shared a PCP-laced cannabis joint with Brown in the mid-1970s and "hallucinated for hours", although Brown "talked about it as if it was only marijuana he was smoking". By the mid-1980s, it was widely alleged that Brown was using drugs, with Vicki Anderson confirming to journalist Barney Hoskyns that Brown's regular use of PCP (colloquially known as "angel dust") "began before 1982". After he met and later married Adrienne Rodriguez in 1984, she and Brown began using PCP together. This drug usage often resulted in violent outbursts from him, and he was arrested several times for domestic violence against Rodriguez while high on the drug. By January 1988, Brown faced four criminal charges within a 12-month span relating to driving, PCP, and gun possession. After an April 1988 arrest for domestic abuse, Brown went on the CNN program Sonya Live in L.A. with host Sonya Friedman. The interview became notorious for Brown's irreverent demeanor, with some asserting that Brown was high.
One of Brown's former mistresses recalled in a GQ magazine article on Brown some years after his death that Brown would smoke PCP ("until that got hard to find") and cocaine, mixed with tobacco in Kool cigarettes. He also engaged in the off-label use of sildenafil, maintaining that it gave him "extra energy". While once under the influence of PCP (which he continued to procure dependent on its availability) when traveling in a car, Brown alleged that passing trees contained psychotronic surveillance technology.
In January 1998, he spent a week in rehab to deal with an addiction to unspecified prescription drugs. A week after his release, he was arrested for an unlawful use of a handgun and possession of cannabis. Prior to his death in December 2006, when Brown entered Emory University Hospital, traces of cocaine were found in the singer's urine. His widow suggested Brown would "do crack" with a female acquaintance.
Theft and assault convictions
Brown's personal life was marred by several brushes with the law. At the age of 16, he was convicted of theft and served three years in juvenile prison. During a concert held at Club 15 in Macon, Georgia in 1963, while Otis Redding was performing alongside his former band Johnny Jenkins and the Pinetoppers, Brown reportedly tried to shoot his musical rival Joe Tex. The incident led to multiple people being shot and stabbed. Since Brown was still on parole at the time, he relied on his agent Clint Brantley "and a few thousand dollars to make the situation disappear". According to Jenkins, "seven people got shot", and after the shootout ended, a man appeared and gave "each one of the injured a hundred dollars apiece not to carry it no further and not to talk to the press". Brown was never charged for the incident.
On July 16, 1978, after performing at the Apollo, Brown was arrested for reportedly failing to turn in records from one of his radio stations after the station was forced to file for bankruptcy. Brown was arrested on April 3, 1988, for assault, and again in May 1988 on drug and weapons charges, and again on September 24, 1988, following a high-speed car chase on Interstate 20 near the Georgia–South Carolina state border. He was convicted of carrying an unlicensed pistol and assaulting a police officer, along with various drug-related and driving offenses. Although he was sentenced to six years in prison, he was eventually released on parole on February 27, 1991, after serving two years of his sentence. Brown's FBI file, released to The Washington Post in 2007 under the Freedom of Information Act, related Brown's claim that the high-speed chase did not occur as claimed by the police, and that local police shot at his car several times during an incident of police harassment and assaulted him after his arrest. Local authorities found no merit to Brown's accusations.
In 1998, a woman named Mary Simons accused Brown in a civil suit of holding her captive for three days, demanding oral sex and firing a gun in his office; Simons' charge was eventually dismissed. In another civil suit, filed by former background singer Lisa Rushton alleged that between 1994 and 1999, Brown allegedly demanded sexual favors and when refused, would cut off her pay and kept her offstage. She also claimed Brown would "place a hand on her buttocks and loudly told her in a crowded restaurant to not look or speak to any other man besides himself;" Rushton eventually withdrew her lawsuit. In yet another civil suit, a woman named Lisa Agbalaya, who worked for Brown, said the singer would tell her he had "bull testicles", handed her a pair of zebra-print underwear, told her to wear them while he massaged her with oil, and fired her after she refused. A Los Angeles jury cleared the singer of sexual harassment but found him liable for wrongful termination.
The police were summoned to Brown's residence on July 3, 2000, after he was accused of charging at an electric company repairman with a steak knife when the repairman visited Brown's house to investigate a complaint about having no lights at the residence. In 2003, Brown was pardoned by the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services for past crimes that he was convicted of committing in South Carolina.
Domestic violence arrests
Brown was repeatedly arrested for domestic violence. Adrienne Rodriguez, his third wife, had him arrested four times between 1987 and 1995 on charges of assault. In one incident, Rodriguez reported to authorities that Brown beat her with an iron pipe and shot at her car. Rodriguez was hospitalized after the last assault in October 1995, but charges were dropped after she died in January 1996.
In January 2004, Brown was arrested in South Carolina on a domestic violence charge after Tomi Rae Hynie accused him of pushing her to the floor during an argument at their home, where she suffered scratches and bruises to her right arm and hip. In June, Brown pleaded no contest to the domestic violence incident, but served no jail time. Instead, Brown was required to forfeit a US$1,087 bond as punishment.
Rape accusation
In January 2005, a woman named Jacque Hollander filed a lawsuit against James Brown, which stemmed from an alleged 1988 rape. When the case was initially heard before a judge in 2002, Hollander's claims against Brown were dismissed by the court as the limitations period for filing the suit had expired. Hollander claimed that stress from the alleged assault later caused her to contract Graves' disease, a thyroid condition. Hollander claimed that the incident took place in South Carolina while she was employed by Brown as a publicist. Hollander alleged that, during her ride in a van with Brown, Brown pulled over to the side of the road and sexually assaulted her while he threatened her with a shotgun. In her case against Brown, Hollander entered as evidence a DNA sample and a polygraph result, but the evidence was not considered due to the limitations defense. Hollander later attempted to bring her case before the Supreme Court, but nothing came of her complaint.
Later life and death
Illness
On December 23, 2006, Brown became very ill and arrived at his dentist's office in Atlanta, Georgia, several hours late. His appointment was for dental implant work. During that visit, Brown's dentist observed that he looked "very bad ... weak and dazed". Instead of performing the work, the dentist advised Brown to see a doctor right away about his medical condition.
Brown went to the Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital the next day for medical evaluation and was admitted for observation and treatment. According to Charles Bobbit, his longtime personal manager and friend, Brown had been struggling with a noisy cough since returning from a November trip to Europe. Yet, Bobbit said, the singer had a history of never complaining about being sick and often performed while ill. Although Brown had to cancel upcoming concerts in Waterbury, Connecticut, and Englewood, New Jersey, he was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time for his scheduled New Year's Eve shows at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey and the B. B. King Blues Club in New York, in addition to performing a song live on CNN for the Anderson Cooper New Year's Eve special. Brown remained hospitalized, however, and his condition worsened throughout the day.
Death
On Christmas Day 2006, Brown died at approximately 1:45 a.m. EST (06:45 UTC), at age 73, from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia. Bobbit was at his bedside and later reported that Brown stuttered, "I'm going away tonight", then took three long, quiet breaths and fell asleep before dying.
In 2019, an investigation by CNN and other journalists led to suggestions that Brown had been murdered.
Memorial services
After Brown's death, his relatives, a host of celebrities, and thousands of fans gathered, on December 28, 2006, for a public memorial service at the Apollo Theater in New York City and, on December 30, 2006, at the James Brown Arena in Augusta, Georgia. A separate, private ceremony was held in North Augusta, South Carolina, on December 29, 2006, with Brown's family in attendance. Celebrities at these various memorial events included Michael Jackson, Jimmy Cliff, Joe Frazier, Buddy Guy, Ice Cube, Ludacris, Dr. Dre, Little Richard, Dick Gregory, MC Hammer, Prince, Jesse Jackson, Ice-T, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bootsy Collins, LL Cool J, Lil Wayne, Lenny Kravitz, 50 Cent, Stevie Wonder, and Don King. Rev. Al Sharpton officiated at all of Brown's public and private memorial services.
Brown's memorial ceremonies were all elaborate, complete with costume changes for the deceased and videos featuring him in concert. His body, placed in a Promethean casket—bronze polished to a golden shine—was driven through the streets of New York to the Apollo Theater in a white, glass-encased horse-drawn carriage. In Augusta, Georgia, his memorial procession stopped to pay respects at his statue, en route to the James Brown Arena. During the public memorial there, a video showed Brown's last performance in Augusta, Georgia, with the Ray Charles version of "Georgia on My Mind" playing soulfully in the background. His last backup band, The Soul Generals, also played some of his hits during that tribute at the arena. The group was joined by Bootsy Collins on bass, with MC Hammer performing a dance in James Brown style. Former Temptations lead singer Ali-Ollie Woodson performed "Walk Around Heaven All Day" at the memorial services.
Last will and testament
Brown signed his last will and testament on August 1, 2000, before J. Strom Thurmond Jr., an attorney for the estate. The irrevocable trust, separate and apart from Brown's will, was created on his behalf, that same year, by his attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, one of three personal representatives of Brown's estate. His will covered the disposition of his personal assets, such as clothing, cars, and jewelry, while the irrevocable trust covered the disposition of the music rights, business assets of James Brown Enterprises, and his Beech Island, South Carolina estate.
During the reading of the will on January 11, 2007, Thurmond revealed that Brown's six adult living children (Terry Brown, Larry Brown, Daryl Brown, Yamma Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas and Venisha Brown) were named in the document, while Hynie and James II were not mentioned as heirs. Brown's will had been signed 10 months before James II was born and more than a year before Brown's marriage to Tomi Rae Hynie. Like Brown's will, his irrevocable trust omitted Hynie and James II as recipients of Brown's property. The irrevocable trust had also been established before, and not amended since, the birth of James II.
On January 24, 2007, Brown's children filed a lawsuit, petitioning the court to remove the personal representatives from the estate (including Brown's attorney, as well as trustee Albert "Buddy" Dallas) and appoint a special administrator because of perceived impropriety and alleged mismanagement of Brown's assets. On January 31, 2007, Hynie also filed a lawsuit against Brown's estate, challenging the validity of the will and the irrevocable trust. Hynie's suit asked the court both to recognize her as Brown's widow and to appoint a special administrator for the estate.
On January 27, 2015, Judge Doyet Early III ruled that Tomi Rae Hynie Brown was officially the widow of James Brown. The decision was based on the grounds that Hynie's previous marriage was invalid and that James Brown had abandoned his efforts to annul his own marriage to Hynie.
On February 19, 2015, the South Carolina Supreme Court intervened, halting all lower court actions in the estate and undertaking to review previous actions itself. The South Carolina Court of Appeals in July 2018 ruled that Hynie was, in fact, Mr. Brown's wife. In 2020, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that Hynie had not been legally married to Brown and did not have a right to his estate. It was reported in July 2021 that Brown's family had reached a settlement ending the 15-year battle over the estate.
Legacy
Brown received awards and honors throughout his lifetime and after his death. In 1993 the City Council of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, conducted a poll of residents to choose a new name for the bridge that crossed the Yampa River on Shield Drive. The winning name, with 7,717 votes, was "James Brown Soul Center of the Universe Bridge". The bridge was officially dedicated in September 1993, and Brown appeared at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the event. A petition was started by local ranchers to return the name to "Stockbridge" for historical reasons, but they backed off after citizens defeated their efforts because of the popularity of Brown's name. Brown returned to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, on July 4, 2002, for an outdoor festival, performing with bands such as The String Cheese Incident.
During his long career, Brown received many prestigious music industry awards and honors. In 1983 he was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. Brown was one of the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction dinner in New York on January 23, 1986. At that time, the members of his original vocal group, The Famous Flames (Bobby Byrd, Johnny Terry, Bobby Bennett, and Lloyd Stallworth) were not inducted. However, on April 14, 2012, The Famous Flames were automatically and retroactively inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Brown, without the need for nomination and voting, on the basis that they should have been inducted with him in 1986. On February 25, 1992, Brown was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 34th annual Grammy Awards. Exactly a year later, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 4th annual Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Awards. A ceremony was held for Brown on January 10, 1997, to honor him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
On June 15, 2000, Brown was honored as an inductee to the New York Songwriters Hall of Fame. On August 6, 2002, he was honored as the first BMI Urban Icon at the BMI Urban Awards. His BMI accolades include an impressive ten R&B Awards and six Pop Awards. On November 14, 2006, Brown was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, and he was one of several inductees to perform at the ceremony. In recognition of his accomplishments as an entertainer, Brown was a recipient of Kennedy Center Honors on December 7, 2003. In 2004 Rolling Stone magazine ranked James Brown as No. 7 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In an article for Rolling Stone, critic Robert Christgau cited Brown as "the greatest musician of the rock era". He appeared on the BET Awards June 24, 2003, and received the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Michael Jackson, and performed with him. In 2004, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Aretha Franklin.
Brown was also honored in his hometown of Augusta, Georgia, for his philanthropy and civic activities. On November 20, 1993, Mayor Charles DeVaney of Augusta held a ceremony to dedicate a section of 9th Street between Broad and Twiggs Streets, renamed "James Brown Boulevard", in the entertainer's honor. On May 6, 2005, as a 72nd birthday present for Brown, the city of Augusta unveiled a life-sized bronze James Brown statue on Broad Street. The statue was to have been dedicated a year earlier, but the ceremony was put on hold because of a domestic abuse charge that Brown faced at the time. In 2005, Charles "Champ" Walker and the We Feel Good Committee went before the County commission and received approval to change Augusta's slogan to "We Feel Good". Afterward, officials renamed the city's civic center the James Brown Arena, and James Brown attended a ceremony for the unveiling of the namesake center on October 15, 2006.
On December 30, 2006, during the public memorial service at the James Brown Arena, Dr. Shirley A.R. Lewis, president of Paine College, a historically black college in Augusta, Georgia, bestowed posthumously upon Brown an honorary doctorate in recognition and honor of his many contributions to the school in its times of need. Brown had originally been scheduled to receive the honorary doctorate from Paine College during its May 2007 commencement.
During the 49th Annual Grammy Awards presentation on February 11, 2007, James Brown's famous cape was draped over a microphone by Danny Ray at the end of a montage in honor of notable people in the music industry who died during the previous year. Earlier that evening, Christina Aguilera delivered an impassioned performance of Brown's hit "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" followed by a standing ovation, while Chris Brown performed a dance routine in honor of James Brown.
On August 17, 2013, the official R&B Music Hall of Fame honored and inducted James Brown at a ceremony held at the Waetjen Auditorium at Cleveland State University.
ART THE BOX began in early 2015 as a collaboration between three organizations: the City of Augusta, the Downtown Development Authority and the Greater Augusta Arts Council. 19 local artists were selected by a committee to create art on 23 local traffic signal control cabinets (TSCCs). A competition was held to create the James Brown Tribute Box on the corner of James Brown Blvd. (9th Ave.) and Broad St. This box was designed and painted by local artist, Ms. Robbie Pitts Bellamy and has become a favorite photo opportunity to visitors and locals in Augusta, Georgia.
"I have a lot of musical heroes but I think James Brown is at the top of the list", remarked Public Enemy's Chuck D. "Absolutely the funkiest man on Earth ... In a black household, James Brown is part of the fabric – Motown, Stax, Atlantic and James Brown."
Tributes
As a tribute to James Brown, the Rolling Stones covered the song, "I'll Go Crazy" from Brown's Live at the Apollo album, during their 2007 European tour. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has remarked, "He [James Brown] was almost a musical genre in his own right and he changed and moved forward the whole time so people were able to learn from him."
On December 22, 2007, the first annual "Tribute Fit For the King of King Records" in honor of James Brown was held at the Madison Theater in Covington, Kentucky. The tribute, organized by Bootsy Collins, featured Tony Wilson as Young James Brown with appearances by Afrika Bambaataa, Chuck D of Public Enemy, The Soul Generals, Buckethead, Freekbass, Triage and many of Brown's surviving family members. Comedian Michael Coyer was the MC for the event. During the show, the mayor of Cincinnati proclaimed December 22 as James Brown Day.
As of September 2021, a significant collection of James Brown clothing, memorabilia, and personal artifacts are on exhibit in downtown Augusta, Georgia at the Augusta History Museum.
Discography
Studio albums
Please Please Please (1958)
Try Me! (1959)
Think! (1960)
The Amazing James Brown (1961)
James Brown and His Famous Flames Tour the U.S.A. (1962)
Prisoner of Love (1963)
Grits & Soul (1964)
Showtime (1964)
Out of Sight (1964)
James Brown Plays James Brown Today & Yesterday (1965)
Mighty Instrumentals (1966)
James Brown Plays New Breed (The Boo-Ga-Loo) (1966)
James Brown Sings Christmas Songs (1966)
Handful of Soul (1966)
James Brown Sings Raw Soul (1967)
James Brown Plays the Real Thing (1967)
Cold Sweat (1967)
I Can't Stand Myself When You Touch Me (1968)
I Got the Feelin' (1968)
James Brown Plays Nothing But Soul (1968)
Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things (1968)
A Soulful Christmas (1968)
Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud (1969)
Gettin' Down to It (1969)
The Popcorn (1969)
It's a Mother (1969)
Ain't It Funky (1970)
Soul on Top (1970)
It's a New Day – Let a Man Come In (1970)
Hey America (1970)
Sho Is Funky Down Here (1971)
Hot Pants (1971)
There It Is (1972)
Get on the Good Foot (1972)
Black Caesar (1973)
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973)
The Payback (1973)
Hell (1974)
Reality (1974)
Sex Machine Today (1975)
Everybody's Doin' the Hustle & Dead on the Double Bump (1975)
Hot (1976)
Get Up Offa That Thing (1976)
Bodyheat (1976)
Mutha's Nature (1977)
Jam 1980's (1978)
Take a Look at Those Cakes (1978)
The Original Disco Man (1979)
People (1980)
Soul Syndrome (1980)
Nonstop! (1981)
Bring It On! (1983)
Gravity (1986)
I'm Real (1988)
Love Over-Due (1991)
Universal James (1992)
I'm Back (1998)
The Merry Christmas Album (1999)
The Next Step (2002)
Filmography
The T.A.M.I. Show (1964) (concert film)- with The Famous Flames
Ski Party (1965)- with The Famous Flames
James Brown: Man to Man (1968) (concert film)
The Phynx (1970)
Black Caesar (1973) (soundtrack only)
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973) (soundtrack only)
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Doctor Detroit (1983)
Rocky IV (1985)
Miami Vice (1987)
James Brown: Live in East Berlin (1989)
The Simpsons (1993)
When We Were Kings (1996) (documentary)
Duckman (1997)
Soulmates (1997)
Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
Holy Man (1998)
Undercover Brother (2002)
The Tuxedo (2002)
The Hire: Beat the Devil (2002) (short film)
Paper Chasers (2003) (documentary)
Soul Survivor (2003) (documentary)
Sid Bernstein Presents ... (2005) (documentary)
Glastonbury (2006) (documentary)
Life on the Road with Mr. and Mrs. Brown (2007) (documentary; release pending)
Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968 (2008) (concert film)
I Got The Feelin': James Brown in the '60s, three-DVD set featuring Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968, Live at the Apollo '68 [DVD version of James Brown: Man to Man], and the documentary The Night James Brown Saved Boston
Soul Power (2009) (documentary)
Get on Up (2014)
Biopics
Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown (2014), released in April 2014, written and directed by Alex Gibney, produced by Mick Jagger.
Get on Up (2014), released in theaters on August 1, 2014. Chadwick Boseman plays the role of James Brown in the film. Originally, Mick Jagger and Brian Grazer had begun producing a documentary film on Brown in 2013. A fiction film had been in the planning stages for many years and was revived when Jagger read the script by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth.
In other media
Games
In the video game World of Warcraft, the first boss character of the Forge of Souls dungeon is Bronjahm, "the Godfather of Souls". His quotes during the fight are musical references, and he has a chance of dropping an item called "Papa's Brand New Bag".
Television
As himself (voice) in the 1993 The Simpsons episode "Bart's Inner Child".
In 1991, Brown did a Pay Per View Special with top celebrities such as Quincy Jones, Rick James, Dan Aykroyd, Gladys Knight, Denzel Washington, MC Hammer and others attended or were opening acts. This was produced with boxing promoter Buddy Dallas. 15.5 million households tuned in at a cost $19.99.
In 2002, Brown starred in the Jackie Chan movie The Tuxedo as himself
See also
Progressive soul
References
Footnotes
Sources
Further reading
Danielsen, Anne (2006). Presence and pleasure: The funk grooves of James Brown and Parliament. Wesleyan University Press.
George, Nelson, and Leeds, Alan (editors). (2008). The James Brown Reader: 50 Years of Writing about the Godfather of Soul. New York: Plume.
Lethem, J. (June 12, 2006). "Being James Brown", Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved January 14, 2007.
McBride, James (2016) Kill 'Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul. New York: Spiegel & Grau
Sullivan, James. (2008). The Hardest Working Man: How James Brown Saved The Soul Of America. New York: Gotham Books.
Sussman, M. (producer). (December 25, 2006). Arts: Soul classics by James Brown (multimedia presentation). The New York Times. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
Wesley, Fred. (2002). Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Sideman. Durham: Duke University Press.
Whitney, Marva and Waring, Charles. (2013) God, The Devil & James Brown:(Memoirs of a Funky Diva). New Romney: Bank House Books
External links
1933 births
2006 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American composers
21st-century American singers
Activists for African-American civil rights
African-American composers
African-American male composers
African-American male dancers
African-American male singers
African-American record producers
African-American rock musicians
African-American songwriters
American expatriates in Nigeria
American expatriates in Zambia
American funk keyboardists
American funk singers
American male composers
American male dancers
American male organists
American male singers
American multi-instrumentalists
American people convicted of assault
American people convicted of drug offenses
American people convicted of robbery
American people of Chinese descent
American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent
American rhythm and blues singers
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American robbers
American soul keyboardists
American soul singers
American tenors
Black conservatism in the United States
Burials in South Carolina
Deaths from pneumonia in Georgia (U.S. state)
Education activists
Federal Records artists
Grammy Award winners
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
James Brown Orchestra members
Kennedy Center honorees
King Records artists
Musicians from Atlanta
Musicians from Augusta, Georgia
People from Barnwell, South Carolina
People from Beech Island, South Carolina
People from Toccoa, Georgia
Polydor Records artists
Recipients of American gubernatorial pardons
Record producers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Record producers from South Carolina
Scotti Brothers Records artists
Sexual assaults in the United States
Singers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Singers from South Carolina
Smash Records artists
The J.B.'s members
The Famous Flames members | false | [
"Ascwulf (or Æscwulf) was a medieval Bishop of Dunwich. He was bishop in the 8th century, but it is not known exactly when he was consecrated or his date of death.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nBishops of Dunwich (ancient)\nDate of death unknown\nYear of birth unknown\nYear of death unknown",
"Abel Ward was Archdeacon of Chester from his installation on 20 April 1751 until his death on 1 October 1785.\n\nWard was born in Staffordshire. He was admitted Sizar at Queens' College, Cambridge on 12 October 1736. He was a Fellow of his college until 1744 when he was incorporated at Oxford. He was Rector of St Ann's Church, Manchester from 1745 until 1758; and then of St Mary's Church, Dodleston until his death on 9 October 1785.\n\nReferences\n\n1785 deaths\nClergy from Staffordshire\n18th-century English Anglican priests\nArchdeacons of Chester\nFellows of Queens' College, Cambridge"
]
|
[
"James Brown",
"Death",
"When was his death?",
"On Christmas Day, 2006,"
]
| C_185d6e4eab0446b1aa68bcc9a108fa5d_0 | What was the cause of death? | 2 | What was the cause of James Brown's death? | James Brown | On December 23, 2006, Brown became very ill and arrived at his dentist's office in Atlanta, Georgia, several hours late. His appointment was for dental implant work. During that visit, Brown's dentist observed that he looked "very bad... weak and dazed." Instead of performing the work, the dentist advised Brown to see a doctor right away about his medical condition. Brown went to the Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital the next day for medical evaluation and was admitted for observation and treatment. According to Charles Bobbit, his longtime personal manager and friend, Brown had been struggling with a noisy cough since returning from a November trip to Europe. Yet, Bobbit said, the singer had a history of never complaining about being sick and often performed while ill. Although Brown had to cancel upcoming concerts in Waterbury, Connecticut, and Englewood, New Jersey, he was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time for his scheduled New Year's Eve shows at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey and the B. B. King Blues Club in New York, in addition to performing a song live on CNN for the Anderson Cooper New Year's Eve special. Brown remained hospitalized, however, and his condition worsened throughout the day. On Christmas Day, 2006, Brown died at approximately 1:45 am EST (06:45 UTC), at age 73, from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia. Bobbit was at his bedside and later reported that Brown stuttered, "I'm going away tonight," then took three long, quiet breaths and fell asleep before dying. CANNOTANSWER | from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia. | James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer, and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honorific nicknames "Godfather of Soul", "Mr. Dynamite", and "Soul Brother No. 1". In a career that lasted more than 50 years, he influenced the development of several music genres. Brown was one of the first 10 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction in New York on January 23, 1986.
Brown began his career as a gospel singer in Toccoa, Georgia. He first came to national public attention in the mid-1950s as the lead singer of the Famous Flames, a rhythm and blues vocal group founded by Bobby Byrd. With the hit ballads "Please, Please, Please" and "Try Me", Brown built a reputation as a dynamic live performer with the Famous Flames and his backing band, sometimes known as the James Brown Band or the James Brown Orchestra. His success peaked in the 1960s with the live album Live at the Apollo and hit singles such as "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "It's a Man's Man's Man's World".
During the late 1960s, Brown moved from a continuum of blues and gospel-based forms and styles to a profoundly "Africanized" approach to music-making, emphasizing stripped-down interlocking rhythms that influenced the development of funk music. By the early 1970s, Brown had fully established the funk sound after the formation of the J.B.s with records such as "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" and "The Payback". He also became noted for songs of social commentary, including the 1968 hit "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud". Brown continued to perform and record until his death from pneumonia in 2006.
Brown recorded 17 singles that reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts. He also holds the record for the most singles listed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that did not reach No. 1. Brown was inducted into the first class of the Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013 as an artist and then in 2017 as a songwriter. He also received honors from several other institutions, including inductions into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In Joel Whitburn's analysis of the Billboard R&B charts from 1942 to 2010, Brown is ranked No. 1 in The Top 500 Artists. He is ranked seventh on Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Early life
Brown was born on May 3, 1933, in Barnwell, South Carolina, to 16-year-old Susie (née Behling; 1916–2004) and 21-year-old Joseph Gardner Brown (1912–1993) in a small wooden shack. Brown's name was supposed to have been Joseph James Brown, but his first and middle names were mistakenly reversed on his birth certificate. In his autobiography, Brown stated that he had Chinese and Native American ancestry and that his father was of mixed African-American and Native American descent, while his mother was of mixed African-American and Asian descent.
The Brown family lived in extreme poverty in Elko, South Carolina, which was an impoverished town at the time. They later moved to Augusta, Georgia, when James was four or five. His family first settled at one of his aunts' brothels. They later moved into a house shared with another aunt. Brown's mother eventually left the family after a contentious and abusive marriage and moved to New York. Brown spent long stretches of time on his own, hanging out in the streets and hustling to get by. He managed to stay in school until the sixth grade.
He began singing in talent shows as a young child, first appearing at Augusta's Lenox Theater in 1944, winning the show after singing the ballad "So Long". While in Augusta, Brown performed buck dances for change to entertain troops from Camp Gordon at the start of World War II as their convoys traveled over a canal bridge near his aunt's home. He learned to play the piano, guitar, and harmonica during this period. He became inspired to become an entertainer after hearing "Caldonia" by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five. In his teen years, Brown briefly had a career as a boxer.
At the age of 16, he was convicted of robbery and sent to a juvenile detention center in Toccoa. There, he formed a gospel quartet with four fellow cellmates, including Johnny Terry. Brown met singer Bobby Byrd when the two played against each other in a baseball game outside the detention center. Byrd also discovered that Brown could sing after hearing of "a guy called Music Box", which was Brown's musical nickname at the prison. Byrd has since claimed he and his family helped to secure an early release, which led to Brown promising the court he would "sing for the Lord". Brown was released on a work sponsorship with Toccoa business owner S.C. Lawson. Lawson was impressed with Brown's work ethic and secured his release with a promise to keep him employed for two years. Brown was paroled on June 14, 1952. Brown went on to work with both of Lawson's sons, and would come back to visit the family from time to time throughout his career. Shortly after being paroled he joined the gospel group the Ever-Ready Gospel Singers, featuring Byrd's sister Sarah.
Music career
1953–1961: The Famous Flames
Brown eventually joined Bobby Byrd's group in 1954. The group had evolved from the Gospel Starlighters, an a cappella gospel group, to an R&B group with the name the Avons. He reputedly joined the band after one of its members, Troy Collins, died in a car crash. Along with Brown and Byrd, the group consisted of Sylvester Keels, Doyle Oglesby, Fred Pulliam, Nash Knox and Nafloyd Scott. Influenced by R&B groups such as Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, the Orioles and Billy Ward and his Dominoes, the group changed its name, first to the Toccoa Band and then to the Flames. Nafloyd's brother Baroy later joined the group on bass guitar, and Brown, Byrd and Keels switched lead positions and instruments, often playing drums and piano. Johnny Terry later joined, by which time Pulliam and Oglesby had long left. one of his 10 children commited suicide.
Berry Trimier became the group's first manager, booking them at parties near college campuses in Georgia and South Carolina. The group had already gained a reputation as a good live act when they renamed themselves the Famous Flames. In 1955, the group had contacted Little Richard while performing in Macon. Richard convinced the group to get in contact with his manager at the time, Clint Brantley, at his nightclub. Brantley agreed to manage them after seeing the group audition. He then sent them to a local radio station to record a demo session, where they performed their own composition "Please, Please, Please", which was inspired when Little Richard wrote the words of the title on a napkin and Brown was determined to make a song out of it. The Famous Flames eventually signed with King Records' Federal subsidiary in Cincinnati, Ohio, and issued a re-recorded version of "Please, Please, Please" in March 1956. The song became the group's first R&B hit, selling over a million copies. None of their follow-ups gained similar success. By 1957, Brown had replaced Clint Brantley as manager and hired Ben Bart, chief of Universal Attractions Agency. That year the original Flames broke up, after Bart changed the name of the group to "James Brown and The Famous Flames".
In October 1958, Brown released the ballad "Try Me", which hit number one on the R&B chart in the beginning of 1959, becoming the first of seventeen chart-topping R&B hits. Shortly afterwards, he recruited his first band, led by J. C. Davis, and reunited with Bobby Byrd who joined a revived Famous Flames lineup that included Eugene "Baby" Lloyd Stallworth and Bobby Bennett, with Johnny Terry sometimes coming in as the "fifth Flame". Brown, the Flames, and his entire band debuted at the Apollo Theater on April 24, 1959, opening for Brown's idol, Little Willie John. Federal Records issued two albums credited to Brown and the Famous Flames (both contained previously released singles). By 1960, Brown began multi-tasking in the recording studio involving himself, his singing group, the Famous Flames, and his band, a separate entity from The Flames, sometimes named the James Brown Orchestra or the James Brown Band. That year the band released the top ten R&B hit "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes" on Dade Records, owned by Henry Stone, billed under the pseudonym "Nat Kendrick & the Swans" due to label issues. As a result of its success, King president Syd Nathan shifted Brown's contract from Federal to the parent label, King, which according to Brown in his autobiography meant "you got more support from the company". While with King, Brown, under the Famous Flames lineup, released the hit-filled album Think! and the following year released two albums with the James Brown Band earning second billing. With the Famous Flames, Brown sang lead on several more hits, including"Bewildered", "I'll Go Crazy" and "Think", songs that hinted at his emerging style.
1962–1966: Mr. Dynamite
In 1962, Brown and his band scored a hit with their cover of the instrumental "Night Train", becoming a top five R&B single. That same year, the ballads "Lost Someone" and "Baby You're Right", the latter a Joe Tex composition, added to his repertoire and increased his reputation with R&B audiences. On October 24, 1962, Brown financed a live recording of a performance at the Apollo and convinced Syd Nathan to release the album, despite Nathan's belief that no one would buy a live album due to the fact that Brown's singles had already been bought and that live albums were usually bad sellers.
Live at the Apollo was released the following June and became an immediate hit, eventually reaching number two on the Top LPs chart and selling over a million copies, staying on the charts for 14 months. In 1963, Brown scored his first top 20 pop hit with his rendition of the standard "Prisoner of Love". He also launched his first label, Try Me Records, which included recordings by the likes of Tammy Montgomery (later to be famous as Tammi Terrell), Johnny & Bill (Famous Flames associates Johnny Terry and Bill Hollings) and the Poets, which was another name used for Brown's backing band. During this time Brown began an ill-fated two-year relationship with 17-year-old Tammi Terrell when she sang in his revue. Terrell ended their personal and professional relationship because of his abusive behavior.
In 1964, seeking bigger commercial success, Brown and Bobby Byrd formed the production company, Fair Deal, linking the operation to the Mercury imprint, Smash Records. King Records, however, fought against this and was granted an injunction preventing Brown from releasing any recordings for the label. Prior to the injunction, Brown had released three vocal singles, including the blues-oriented hit "Out of Sight", which further indicated the direction his music was going to take. Touring throughout the year, Brown and the Famous Flames grabbed more national attention after giving an explosive show-stopping performance on the live concert film The T.A.M.I. Show. The Flames' dynamic gospel-tinged vocals, polished choreography and timing as well as Brown's energetic dance moves and high-octane singing upstaged the proposed closing act, the Rolling Stones.
Having signed a new deal with King, Brown released his song "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" in 1965, which became his first top ten pop hit and won him his first Grammy Award. Brown also signed a production deal with Loma Records. Later in 1965, he issued "I Got You", which became his second single in a row to reach number-one on the R&B chart and top ten on the pop chart. Brown followed that up with the ballad "It's a Man's Man's Man's World", a third Top 10 Pop hit (No. 1 R&B) which confirmed his stance as a top-ranking performer, especially with R&B audiences from that point on.
1967–1970: Soul Brother No. 1
By 1967, Brown's emerging sound had begun to be defined as funk music. That year he released what some critics cited as the first true funk song, "Cold Sweat", which hit number-one on the R&B chart (Top 10 Pop) and became one of his first recordings to contain a drum break and also the first that featured a harmony that was reduced to a single chord. The instrumental arrangements on tracks such as "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" and "Licking Stick-Licking Stick" (both recorded in 1968) and "Funky Drummer" (recorded in 1969) featured a more developed version of Brown's mid-1960s style, with the horn section, guitars, bass and drums meshed together in intricate rhythmic patterns based on multiple interlocking riffs.
Changes in Brown's style that started with "Cold Sweat" also established the musical foundation for Brown's later hits, such as "I Got the Feelin'" (1968) and "Mother Popcorn" (1969). By this time Brown's vocals frequently took the form of a kind of rhythmic declamation, not quite sung but not quite spoken, that only intermittently featured traces of pitch or melody. This would become a major influence on the techniques of rapping, which would come to maturity along with hip hop music in the coming decades. Brown's style of funk in the late 1960s was based on interlocking syncopated parts: strutting bass lines, syncopated drum patterns, and iconic percussive guitar riffs. The main guitar ostinatos for "Ain't It Funky" and "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" (both 1969), are examples of Brown's refinement of New Orleans funk; irresistibly danceable riffs, stripped down to their rhythmic essence. On both recordings the tonal structure is bare bones. The pattern of attack-points is the emphasis, not the pattern of pitches, as if the guitar were an African drum, or idiophone. Alexander Stewart states that this popular feel was passed along from "New Orleans—through James Brown's music, to the popular music of the 1970s". Those same tracks were later resurrected by countless hip-hop musicians from the 1970s onward. As a result, James Brown remains to this day the world's most sampled recording artist, but, two tracks that he wrote, are also synonymous with modern dance, especially with house music, jungle music, and drum and bass music, (which were sped up exponentially, in the latter two genres).
"Bring it Up" has an Afro-Cuban guajeo-like structure. All three of these guitar riffs are based on an onbeat/offbeat structure. Stewart says that it "is different from a time line (such as clave and tresillo) in that it is not an exact pattern, but more of a loose organizing principle."
It was around this time as the musician's popularity increased that he acquired the nickname "Soul Brother No. 1", after failing to win the title "King of Soul" from Solomon Burke during a Chicago gig two years prior. Brown's recordings during this period influenced musicians across the industry, most notably groups such as Sly and the Family Stone, Funkadelic, Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Booker T. & the M.G.s as well as vocalists such as Edwin Starr, David Ruffin and Dennis Edwards from The Temptations, and Michael Jackson, who, throughout his career, cited Brown as his ultimate idol.
Brown's band during this period employed musicians and arrangers who had come up through the jazz tradition. He was noted for his ability as a bandleader and songwriter to blend the simplicity and drive of R&B with the rhythmic complexity and precision of jazz. Trumpeter Lewis Hamlin and saxophonist/keyboardist Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis (the successor to previous bandleader Nat Jones) led the band. Guitarist Jimmy Nolen provided percussive, deceptively simple riffs for each song, and Maceo Parker's prominent saxophone solos provided a focal point for many performances. Other members of Brown's band included stalwart Famous Flames singer and sideman Bobby Byrd, trombonist Fred Wesley, drummers John "Jabo" Starks, Clyde Stubblefield and Melvin Parker, saxophonist St. Clair Pinckney, guitarist Alphonso "Country" Kellum and bassist Bernard Odum.
In addition to a torrent of singles and studio albums, Brown's output during this period included two more successful live albums, Live at the Garden (1967) and Live at the Apollo, Volume II (1968), and a 1968 television special, James Brown: Man to Man. His music empire expanded along with his influence on the music scene. As Brown's music empire grew, his desire for financial and artistic independence grew as well. Brown bought radio stations during the late 1960s, including WRDW in his native Augusta, where he shined shoes as a boy. In November 1967, James Brown purchased radio station WGYW in Knoxville, Tennessee, for a reported $75,000, according to the January 20, 1968 Record World magazine. The call letters were changed to WJBE reflecting his initials. WJBE began on January 15, 1968, and broadcast a Rhythm & Blues format. The station slogan was "WJBE 1430 Raw Soul". Brown also bought WEBB in Baltimore in 1970.
Brown branched out to make several recordings with musicians outside his own band. In an attempt to appeal to the older, more affluent, and predominantly white adult contemporary audience, Brown recorded Gettin' Down To It (1969) and Soul on Top (1970)—two albums consisting mostly of romantic ballads, jazz standards, and homologous reinterpretations of his earlier hits—with the Dee Felice Trio and the Louie Bellson Orchestra. In 1968, he recorded a number of funk-oriented tracks with The Dapps, a white Cincinnati band, including the hit "I Can't Stand Myself". He also released three albums of Christmas music with his own band.
1970–1975: Godfather of Soul
In March 1970, most of Brown's mid-to-late 1960s road band walked out on him due to money disputes, a development augured by the prior disbandment of The Famous Flames singing group for the same reason in 1968. Brown and erstwhile Famous Flames singer Bobby Byrd (who chose to remain in the band during this tumultuous period) subsequently recruited several members of the Cincinnati-based The Pacemakers, which included Bootsy Collins and his brother Phelps "Catfish" Collins; augmented by the remaining members of the 1960s road band (including Fred Wesley, who rejoined Brown's outfit in December 1970) and other newer musicians, they would form the nucleus of The J.B.'s, Brown's new backing ensemble. Shortly following their first performance together, the band entered the studio to record the Brown-Byrd composition, "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine"; the song and other contemporaneous singles would further cement Brown's influence in the nascent genre of funk music. This iteration of the J.B.'s dissolved after a March 1971 European tour (documented on the 1991 archival release Love Power Peace) due to additional money disputes and Bootsy Collins' use of LSD; the Collins brothers would soon become integral members of Parliament-Funkadelic, while a new lineup of the J.B.'s coalesced around Wesley, St. Clair Pinckney and drummer John Starks.
In 1971, Brown began recording for Polydor Records which also took over distribution of Brown's King Records catalog. Many of his sidemen and supporting players, including Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s, Bobby Byrd, Lyn Collins, Vicki Anderson and former rival Hank Ballard, released records on the People label, an imprint founded by Brown that was purchased by Polydor as part of Brown's new contract. The recordings on the People label, almost all of which were produced by Brown himself, exemplified the mature flowering of his "house style". Several tracks thought by critics to be excessively sexual were released at this time. He would later soften his vocal approach. Songs such as "I Know You Got Soul" by Bobby Byrd, "Think" by Lyn Collins and "Doing It to Death" by Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s are considered as much a part of Brown's recorded legacy as the recordings released under his own name. That year, he also began touring African countries and was received well by audiences there. During the 1972 presidential election, James Brown openly proclaimed his support of Richard Nixon for reelection to the presidency over Democratic candidate George McGovern. The decision led to a boycott of his performances and, according to Brown, cost him a big portion of his black audience. As a result, Brown's record sales and concerts in the United States reached a lull in 1973 as he failed to land a number-one R&B single that year. Brown relied more on touring outside the United States where he continued to perform for sold-out crowds in cities such as London, Paris and Lausanne. That year he also faced problems with the IRS for failure to pay back taxes, charging he hadn't paid upwards of $4.5 million; five years earlier, the IRS had claimed he owed nearly $2 million.
In 1973, Brown provided the score for the blaxploitation film Black Caesar. He also recorded another soundtrack for the film, Slaughter's Big Rip-Off. Following the release of these soundtracks, Brown acquired a self-styled nickname, "The Godfather of Soul", which remains his most popular nickname. In 1974 he returned to the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts with "The Payback", with the parent album reaching the same spot on the album charts; he would reach No. 1 two more times in 1974, with "My Thang" and "Papa Don't Take No Mess". Later that year, he returned to Africa and performed in Kinshasa as part of the buildup to The Rumble in the Jungle fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Admirers of Brown's music, including Miles Davis and other jazz musicians, began to cite him as a major influence on their own styles. However, Brown, like others who were influenced by his music, also "borrowed" from other musicians. His 1976 single, "Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)" (R&B No. 31), interpolated the main riff from "Fame" by David Bowie while omitting any attribution to the latter song's composers (including Bowie, John Lennon and guitarist Carlos Alomar), not the other way around as was often believed.
"Papa Don't Take No Mess" would prove to be his final single to reach the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts and his final Top 40 pop single of the 1970s, though he continued to occasionally have Top 10 R&B recordings. Among his top ten R&B hits during this latter period included "Funky President" (R&B No. 4) and "Get Up Offa That Thing" (R&B No. 4), the latter song released in 1976 and aimed at musical rivals such as Barry White, The Ohio Players and K.C. and the Sunshine Band. Brown credited his then-wife and two of their children as writers of the song to avoid concurrent tax problems with the IRS. Starting in October 1975, Brown produced, directed, and hosted Future Shock, an Atlanta-based television variety show that ran for three years.
1975–1991: Decline and resurgence
Although his records were mainstays of the vanguard New York underground disco scene (exemplified by DJs such as David Mancuso and Francis Grasso) from 1969 onwards, Brown did not consciously yield to the trend until 1975's Sex Machine Today. By 1977, he was no longer a dominant force in R&B. After "Get Up Offa That Thing", thirteen of Brown's late 1970s recordings for Polydor failed to reach the Top 10 of the R&B chart, with only "Bodyheat" in 1976 and the disco-oriented "It's Too Funky in Here" in 1979 reaching the R&B Top 15 and the ballad "Kiss in '77" reaching the Top 20. After 1976's "Bodyheat", he also failed to appear on the Billboard Hot 100. As a result, Brown's concert attendance began dropping and his reported disputes with the IRS caused his business empire to collapse. In addition, Brown's former bandmates, including Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker and the Collins brothers, had found bigger success as members of George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic collective. The emergence of disco also stopped Brown's success on the R&B charts because its slicker, more commercial style had superseded his more raw funk productions.
By the release of 1979's The Original Disco Man, Brown was not providing much production or writing, leaving most of it to producer Brad Shapiro, resulting in the song "It's Too Funky in Here" becoming Brown's most successful single in this period. After two more albums failed to chart, Brown left Polydor in 1981. It was around this time that Brown changed the name of his band from the J.B.'s to the Soul Generals (or Soul G's). The band retained that name until his death. Despite Brown's declining record sales, promoters Gary LoConti and Jim Rissmiller helped Brown sell out a string of residency shows at the Country Club in Reseda. Brown's compromised commercial standing prevented him from charging a large live fee to the promoters for these shows. However, the great success of these shows marked a turning point for Brown's career, and soon he was back on top in Hollywood. Movies followed, starting with appearances in the feature films The Blues Brothers, Doctor Detroit and Rocky IV, as well as guest-starring in the Miami Vice episode "Missing Hours" (1987). In 1984, he teamed with rap musician Afrika Bambaataa on the song "Unity". A year later he signed with Scotti Brothers Records and issued the moderately successful album Gravity in 1986. It included Brown's final Top 10 pop hit, "Living in America", marking his first Top 40 entry since 1974 and his first Top 10 pop entry since 1968. Produced and written by Dan Hartman, it was also featured prominently on the Rocky IV film and soundtrack. Brown performed the song in the film at Apollo Creed's final fight, shot in the Ziegfeld Room at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and was credited in the film as "The Godfather of Soul". 1986 also saw the publication of his autobiography, James Brown: The Godfather of Soul, co-written with Bruce Tucker. In 1987, Brown won the Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Living in America".
In 1988, Brown worked with the production team Full Force on the new jack swing-influenced I'm Real. It spawned his final two Top 10 R&B hits, "I'm Real" and "Static", which peaked at No. 2 and No. 5, respectively, on the R&B charts. Meanwhile, the drum break from the second version of the original 1969 hit "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" (the recording included on the compilation album In the Jungle Groove) became so popular at hip hop dance parties (especially for breakdance) during the early 1980s that hip hop pioneer Kurtis Blow called the song "the national anthem of hip hop".
1991–2006: Final years
After his stint in prison during the late 1980s, Brown met Larry Fridie and Thomas Hart who produced the first James Brown biopic, entitled James Brown: The Man, the Message, the Music, released in 1992. He returned to music with the album Love Over-Due in 1991. It included the single "(So Tired of Standing Still We Got to) Move On", which peaked at No. 48 on the R&B chart. His former record label Polydor also released the four-CD box set Star Time, spanning Brown's career to date. Brown's release from prison also prompted his former record labels to reissue his albums on CD, featuring additional tracks and commentary by music critics and historians. That same year, Brown appeared on rapper MC Hammer's video for "Too Legit to Quit". Hammer had been noted, alongside Big Daddy Kane, for bringing Brown's unique stage shows and their own energetic dance moves to the hip-hop generation; both listed Brown as their idol. Both musicians also sampled his work, with Hammer having sampled the rhythms from "Super Bad" for his song "Here Comes the Hammer", from his best-selling album Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em. Big Daddy Kane sampled many times. Before the year was over, Brown–who had immediately returned to work with his band following his release–organized a pay-per-view concert following a show at Los Angeles' Wiltern Theatre, that was well received.
On June 10, 1991, James Brown and a star-filled line up performed before a crowd at the Wiltern Theatre for a live pay-per-view at-home audience. James Brown: Living in America – Live! was the brainchild of Indiana producer Danny Hubbard. It featured
M.C. Hammer as well as Bell Biv Devoe, Heavy D & the Boys, En Vogue, C+C Music Factory, Quincy Jones, Sherman Hemsley and Keenen Ivory Wayans. Ice-T, Tone Loc and Kool Moe Dee performed paying homage to Brown. This was Brown's first public performance since his parole from the South Carolina prison system in February. He had served two-and-a-half years of two concurrent six-year sentences for aggravated assault and other felonies.
Brown continued making recordings. In 1993 his album Universal James was released. It included his final Billboard charting single, "Can't Get Any Harder", which peaked at No. 76 on the US R&B chart and reached No. 59 on the UK chart. Its brief charting in the UK was probably due to the success of a remixed version of "I Feel Good" featuring Dakeyne. Brown also released the singles "How Long" and "Georgia-Lina", which failed to chart. In 1995, Brown returned to the Apollo and recorded Live at the Apollo 1995. It included a studio track titled "Respect Me", which was released as a single; again it failed to chart. Brown's final studio albums, I'm Back and The Next Step, were released in 1998 and 2002 respectively. I'm Back featured the song "Funk on Ah Roll", which peaked at No. 40 in the UK but did not chart in his native US. The Next Step included Brown's final single, "Killing Is Out, School Is In". Both albums were produced by Derrick Monk. Brown's concert success, however, remained unabated and he kept up with a grueling schedule throughout the remainder of his life, living up to his previous nickname, "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business", in spite of his advanced age. In 2003, Brown participated in the PBS American Masters television documentary James Brown: Soul Survivor, which was directed by Jeremy Marre.
Brown performed in the Super Bowl XXXI halftime show.
Brown celebrated his status as an icon by appearing in a variety of entertainment and sports events, including an appearance on the WCW pay-per-view event, SuperBrawl X, where he danced alongside wrestler Ernest "The Cat" Miller, who based his character on Brown, during his in-ring skit with The Maestro. Brown then appeared in Tony Scott's short film Beat the Devil in 2001. He was featured alongside Clive Owen, Gary Oldman, Danny Trejo and Marilyn Manson. Brown also made a cameo appearance in the 2002 Jackie Chan film The Tuxedo, in which Chan was required to finish Brown's act after having accidentally knocked out the singer. In 2002, Brown appeared in Undercover Brother, playing himself.
In 2004, Brown performed in Hyde Park, London as a support act for Red Hot Chili Peppers concerts. The beginning of 2005 saw the publication of Brown's second book, I Feel Good: A Memoir of a Life of Soul, written with Marc Eliot. In February and March, he participated in recording sessions for an intended studio album with Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, and other longtime collaborators. Though he lost interest in the album, which remains unreleased, a track from the sessions, "Gut Bucket", appeared on a compilation CD included with the August 2006 issue of MOJO. He appeared at Edinburgh 50,000 – The Final Push, the final Live 8 concert on July 6, 2005, where he performed a duet with British pop star Will Young on "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag". In the Black Eyed Peas album "Monkey Business", Brown was featured on a track called, "They Don't Want Music". The previous week he had performed a duet with another British pop star, Joss Stone, on the United Kingdom chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. In 2006, Brown continued his "Seven Decades of Funk World Tour", his last concert tour where he performed all over the world. His final U.S. performances were in San Francisco on August 20, 2006, as headliner at the Festival of the Golden Gate (Foggfest) on the Great Meadow at Fort Mason. The following day, August 21, he performed at Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA, at a small theatre (800 seats) on campus. His last shows were greeted with positive reviews, and one of his final concert appearances at the Irish Oxegen festival in Punchestown in 2006 was performed for a record crowd of 80,000 people. He played a full concert as part of the BBC's Electric Proms on October 27, 2006, at The Roundhouse, supported by The Zutons, with special appearances from Max Beasley and The Sugababes.
Brown's last televised appearance was at his induction into the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2006, before his death the following month. Before his death, Brown had been scheduled to perform a duet with singer Annie Lennox on the song "Vengeance" for her new album Venus, which was released in 2007.
Artistry
As a vocalist, Brown performed in a forceful shout style derived from gospel music. Meanwhile, "his rhythmic grunts and expressive shrieks harked back farther still to ring shouts, work songs, and field cries", according to the Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History (1996): "He reimported the rhythmic complexity from which rhythm and blues, under the dual pressure of rock 'n' roll and pop, had progressively fallen away since its birth from jazz and blues."
For many years, Brown's touring show was one of the most extravagant productions in American popular music. At the time of Brown's death, his band included three guitarists, two bass guitar players, two drummers, three horns and a percussionist. The bands that he maintained during the late 1960s and 1970s were of comparable size, and the bands also included a three-piece amplified string section that played during the ballads. Brown employed between 40 and 50 people for the James Brown Revue, and members of the revue traveled with him in a bus to cities and towns all over the country, performing upwards of 330 shows a year with almost all of the shows as one-nighters.
Concert style
Before James Brown appeared on stage, his personal MC gave him an elaborate introduction accompanied by drumrolls, as the MC worked in Brown's various sobriquets along with the names of many of his hit songs. The introduction by Fats Gonder, captured on Brown's 1963 album Live at the Apollo is a representative example:
James Brown's performances were famous for their intensity and length. His own stated goal was to "give people more than what they came for — make them tired, 'cause that's what they came for.'" Brown's concert repertoire consisted mostly of his own hits and recent songs, with a few R&B covers mixed in. Brown danced vigorously as he sang, working popular dance steps such as the Mashed Potato into his routine along with dramatic leaps, splits and slides. In addition, his horn players and singing group (The Famous Flames) typically performed choreographed dance routines, and later incarnations of the Revue included backup dancers. Male performers in the Revue were required to wear tuxedoes and cummerbunds long after more casual concert wear became the norm among the younger musical acts. Brown's own extravagant outfits and his elaborate processed hairdo completed the visual impression. A James Brown concert typically included a performance by a featured vocalist, such as Vicki Anderson or Marva Whitney, and an instrumental feature for the band, which sometimes served as the opening act for the show.
A trademark feature of Brown's stage shows, usually during the song "Please, Please, Please", involved Brown dropping to his knees while clutching the microphone stand in his hands, prompting the show's longtime MC, Danny Ray, to come out, drape a cape over Brown's shoulders and escort him off the stage after he had worked himself to exhaustion during his performance. As Brown was escorted off the stage by the MC, Brown's vocal group, the Famous Flames (Bobby Byrd, Lloyd Stallworth, and Bobby Bennett), continued singing the background vocals "Please, please don't go-oh". Brown would then shake off the cape and stagger back to the microphone to perform an encore. Brown's routine was inspired by a similar one used by the professional wrestler Gorgeous George, as well as Little Richard. In his 2005 autobiography I Feel Good: A Memoir in a Life of Soul, Brown, who was a fan of Gorgeous George, credited the wrestler as the inspiration for both his cape routine and concert attire, stating, "Seeing him on TV helped create the James Brown you see on stage". Brown performs a version of the cape routine in the film of the T.A.M.I. Show (1964) in which he and The Famous Flames upstaged The Rolling Stones, and over the closing credits of the film Blues Brothers 2000. The Police refer to "James Brown on the T.A.M.I. Show" in their 1980 song "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around".
Band leadership
Brown demanded extreme discipline, perfection and precision from his musicians and dancers – performers in his Revue showed up for rehearsals and members wore the right "uniform" or "costume" for concert performances. During an interview conducted by Terri Gross during the NPR segment "Fresh Air" with Maceo Parker, a former saxophonist in Brown's band for most of the 1960s and part of the 1970s and 1980s, Parker offered his experience with the discipline that Brown demanded of the band:
Brown also had a practice of directing, correcting and assessing fines on members of his band who broke his rules, such as wearing unshined shoes, dancing out of sync or showing up late on stage. During some of his concert performances, Brown danced in front of his band with his back to the audience as he slid across the floor, flashing hand signals and splaying his pulsating fingers to the beat of the music. Although audiences thought Brown's dance routine was part of his act, this practice was actually his way of pointing to the offending member of his troupe who played or sang the wrong note or committed some other infraction. Brown used his splayed fingers and hand signals to alert the offending person of the fine that person must pay to him for breaking his rules.
Brown's demands of his support acts were, meanwhile, quite the reverse. As Fred Wesley recalled of his time as musical director of the JBs, if Brown felt intimidated by a support act he would try to "undermine their performances by shortening their sets without notice, demanding that they not do certain showstopping songs, and even insisting on doing the unthinkable, playing drums on some of their songs. A sure set killer."
Social activism
Education advocacy and humanitarianism
Brown's main social activism was in preserving the need for education among youths, influenced by his own troubled childhood and his being forced to drop out of the seventh grade for wearing "insufficient clothes". Due to heavy dropout rates in the 1960s, Brown released the pro-education song, "Don't Be a Drop-Out". Royalties of the song were donated to dropout-prevention charity programs. The success of this led to Brown meeting with President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House. Johnson cited Brown for being a positive role model to the youth. A lifelong Republican, Brown gained the confidence of President Richard Nixon, to whom he found he had to explain the plight of Black Americans.
Throughout the remainder of his life, Brown made public speeches in schools and continued to advocate the importance of education in school. Upon filing his will in 2002, Brown advised that most of the money in his estate go into creating the I Feel Good, Inc. Trust to benefit disadvantaged children and provide scholarships for his grandchildren. His final single, "Killing Is Out, School Is In", advocated against murders of young children in the streets. Brown often gave out money and other items to children while traveling to his childhood hometown of Augusta. A week before his death, while looking gravely ill, Brown gave out toys and turkeys to kids at an Atlanta orphanage, something he had done several times over the years.
Civil rights and self-reliance
Though Brown performed at benefit rallies for civil rights organizations in the mid-1960s, Brown often shied away from discussing civil rights in his songs in fear of alienating his crossover audience. In 1968, in response to a growing urge of anti-war advocacy during the Vietnam War, Brown recorded the song, "America Is My Home". In the song, Brown performed a rap, advocating patriotism and exhorting listeners to "stop pitying yoursel[ves] and get up and fight". At the time of the song's release, Brown had been participating in performing for troops stationed in Vietnam.
The Boston Garden concert
On April 5, 1968, a day after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee, Brown provided a free citywide televised concert at the Boston Garden to maintain public order and calm concerned Boston residents (over the objections of the police chief, who wanted to call off the concert, which he thought would incite violence). The show was later released on DVD as Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968. According to the documentary The Night James Brown Saved Boston, then-mayor Kevin White had strongly restrained the Boston police from cracking down on minor violence and protests after the assassination, while religious and community leaders worked to keep tempers from flaring. White arranged to have Brown's performance broadcast multiple times on Boston's public television station, WGBH, thus keeping potential rioters off the streets, watching the concert for free. Angered by not being told of this, Brown demanded $60,000 for "gate" fees (money he thought would be lost from ticket sales on account of the concert being broadcast for free) and then threatened to go public about the secret arrangement when the city balked at paying up afterwards, news of which would have been a political death blow to White and spark riots of its own. White eventually lobbied the behind-the-scenes power-brokering group known as "The Vault" to come up with money for Brown's gate fee and other social programs, contributing $100,000. Brown received $15,000 from them via the city. White also persuaded management at the Garden to give up their share of receipts to make up the differences. Following this successful performance, Brown was counseled by President Johnson to urge cities ravaged from riots following King's assassination to not resort to violence, telling them to "cool it, there's another way".
Responding to pressure from black activists, including H. Rap Brown, to take a bigger stance on their issues and from footage of black on black crime committed in inner cities, Brown wrote the lyrics to the song "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud", which his bandleader Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis accompanied with a musical composition. Released late that summer, the song's lyrics helped to make it an anthem for the civil rights movement. Brown only performed the song sporadically following its initial release and later stated he had regrets about recording it, saying in 1984, "Now 'Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud' has done more for the black race than any other record, but if I had my choice, I wouldn't have done it, because I don't like defining anyone by race. To teach race is to teach separatism." In his autobiography he stated:
The song is obsolete now ... But it was necessary to teach pride then, and I think the song did a lot of good for a lot of people ... People called "Black and Proud" militant and angry – maybe because of the line about dying on your feet instead of living on your knees. But really, if you listen to it, it sounds like a children's song. That's why I had children in it, so children who heard it could grow up feeling pride ... The song cost me a lot of my crossover audience. The racial makeup at my concerts was mostly black after that. I don't regret it, though, even if it was misunderstood.
In 1969, Brown recorded two more songs of social commentary, "World" and "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing", the latter song pleading for equal opportunity and self-reliance rather than entitlement. In 1970, in response to some black leaders for not being outspoken enough, he recorded "Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved" and "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing". In 1971, he began touring Africa, including Zambia and Nigeria. He was made "freeman of the city" in Lagos, Nigeria, by Oba Adeyinka Oyekan, for his "influence on black people all over the world". With his company, James Brown Enterprises, Brown helped to provide jobs for blacks in business in the communities. As the 1970s continued, Brown continued to record songs of social commentary, most prominently 1972's "King Heroin" and the two-part ballad "Public Enemy", which dealt with drug addiction.
Political views
During the 1968 presidential campaign, Brown endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey and appeared with Humphrey at political rallies. Brown was labeled an "Uncle Tom" for supporting Humphrey and also for releasing the pro-American funk song, "America Is My Home", in which Brown had lambasted protesters of the Vietnam War as well as the politics of pro-black activists. Brown began supporting Republican president Richard Nixon after being invited to perform at Nixon's inaugural ball in January 1969. Brown's endorsement of Nixon during the 1972 presidential election negatively impacted his career during that period with several national Black organizations boycotting his records and protesting at his concert shows; a November 1972 show in Cincinnati was picketed with signs saying, "James Brown: Nixon's Clown". Brown initially was invited to perform at a Youth Concert following Nixon's inauguration in January 1973 but bailed out due to the backlash he suffered from supporting Nixon. Brown joined fellow black entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., who faced similar backlash, to back out of the concert. Brown blamed it on "fatigue". Brown later reversed his support of Nixon and composed the song, "You Can Have Watergate (Just Gimme Some Bucks And I'll Be Straight)" as a result. After Nixon resigned from office, Brown composed the 1974 hit, "Funky President (People It's Bad)", right after Gerald Ford took Nixon's place. Brown later supported Democratic President Jimmy Carter, attending one of Carter's inaugural balls in 1977. Brown also openly supported President Ronald Reagan's reelection in 1984.
Brown stated he was neither Democratic nor Republican despite his support of Republican presidents such as Nixon and Reagan as well as Democratic presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Carter. In 1999, when being interviewed by Rolling Stone, the magazine asked him to name a hero in the 20th century; Brown mentioned John F. Kennedy and then-96-year-old U.S. Senator, and former Dixiecrat, Strom Thurmond, stating "when the young whippersnappers get out of line, whether Democratic or Republican, an old man can walk up and say 'Wait a minute, son, it goes this way.' And that's great for our country. He's like a grandfather to me." In 2003, Brown was the featured attraction of a Washington D.C. fundraiser for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Following the deaths of Ronald Reagan and his friend Ray Charles, Brown said to CNN, "I'm kind of in an uproar. I love the country and I got – you know I've been around a long time, through many presidents and everything. So after losing Mr. Reagan, who I knew very well, then Mr. Ray Charles, who I worked with and lived with like, all our life, we had a show together in Oakland many, many years ago and it's like you found the placard." Despite his contrarian political views, Brown mentored black activist Rev. Al Sharpton during the 1970s.
Personal life
At the end of his life, James Brown lived in Beech Island, South Carolina, directly across the Savannah River from Augusta, Georgia. Brown had diabetes that went undiagnosed for years, according to his longtime manager Charles Bobbit. In 2004, Brown was successfully treated for prostate cancer. Regardless of his health, Brown maintained his reputation as the "hardest working man in show business" by keeping up with his grueling performance schedule.
In 1962, Tammi Terrell joined the James Brown Revue. Brown became sexually involved with Terrell even though she was only 17 in a relationship that continued until she escaped his abuse. Bobby Bennett, former member of the Famous Flames, told Rolling Stone about the abuse he witnessed: "He beat Tammi Terrell terrible", said Bennett. "She was bleeding, shedding blood." Terrell, who died in 1970, was Brown's girlfriend before she became famous as Marvin Gaye's singing partner in the mid-'60s. "Tammi left him because she didn't want her butt whipped", said Bennett, who also claimed he saw Brown kick one pregnant girlfriend down a flight of stairs.
Marriages and children
Brown was married four times. His first marriage was to Velma Warren in 1953, and they had one son together. Over a decade later, the couple had separated and the final divorce decree was issued in 1969. They maintained a close friendship that lasted until Brown's death. Brown's second marriage was to Deidre "Deedee" Jenkins, on October 22, 1970. They had two daughters together. The couple were separated by 1979, after what his daughter describes as years of domestic abuse, and the final divorce decree was issued on January 10, 1981. His third marriage was to Adrienne Lois Rodriguez (March 9, 1950 – January 6, 1996), in 1984. It was a contentious marriage that made headlines due to domestic abuse complaints. Rodriguez filed for divorce in 1988, "citing years of cruelty treatment", but they reconciled. Less than a year after Rodriguez died in 1996, Brown hired Tomi Rae Hynie to be a background singer for his band and she later became his fourth wife.
On December 23, 2002, Brown and Hynie held a wedding ceremony that was officiated by the Rev. Larry Flyer. Following Brown's death, controversy surrounded the circumstances of the marriage, with Brown's attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, reporting that the marriage was not valid; Hynie was still married to Javed Ahmed, a man from Bangladesh. Hynie claimed Ahmed married her to obtain residency through a Green Card and that the marriage was annulled but the annulment did not occur until April 2004. In an attempt to prove her marriage to Brown was valid, Hynie produced a 2001 marriage certificate as proof of her marriage to Brown, but she did not provide King with court records pointing to an annulment of her marriage to him or to Ahmed. According to Dallas, Brown was angry and hurt that Hynie had concealed her prior marriage from him and Brown moved to file for annulment from Hynie. Dallas added that though Hynie's marriage to Ahmed was annulled after she married Brown, the Brown–Hynie marriage was not valid under South Carolina law because Brown and Hynie did not remarry after the annulment. In August 2003, Brown took out a full-page public notice in Variety featuring Hynie, James II and himself on vacation at Disney World to announce that he and Hynie were going their separate ways. In 2015, a judge ruled Hynie as Brown's legal widow.
Brown had numerous children and acknowledged nine of them including five sons – Teddy (1954–1973), Terry, Larry, Daryl, and James Joseph Brown Jr. and four daughters – Lisa, Dr. Yamma Noyola Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas, and Venisha Brown (1964–2018). Brown also had eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Brown's eldest son, Teddy, died in a car crash on June 14, 1973. According to an August 22, 2007, article published in the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, DNA tests indicate that Brown also fathered at least three extramarital children. The first one of them to be identified is LaRhonda Pettit (born 1962), a retired flight attendant and teacher who lives in Houston. During contesting of Brown's will, another of the Brown family attorneys, Debra Opri, revealed to Larry King that Brown wanted a DNA test performed after his death to confirm the paternity of James Brown Jr. (born 2001)—not for Brown's sake but for the sake of the other family members. In April 2007, Hynie selected a guardian ad litem whom she wanted appointed by the court to represent her son, James Brown Jr., in the paternity proceedings. James Brown Jr. was confirmed to be his biological son.
Drug abuse
For most of his career, Brown had a strict drug- and alcohol-free policy for any member in his entourage, including band members, and would fire people who disobeyed orders, particularly those who used or abused drugs. Although early members of the Famous Flames were fired for using alcohol, Brown often served a highball consisting of Delaware Punch and moonshine at his St. Albans, Queens house in the mid-1960s. Some of the original members of Brown's 1970s band, the J.B.'s, including Catfish and Bootsy Collins, intentionally took LSD during a performance in 1971, causing Brown to fire them after the show because he had suspected them of being on drugs all along.
Aide Bob Patton has asserted that he accidentally shared a PCP-laced cannabis joint with Brown in the mid-1970s and "hallucinated for hours", although Brown "talked about it as if it was only marijuana he was smoking". By the mid-1980s, it was widely alleged that Brown was using drugs, with Vicki Anderson confirming to journalist Barney Hoskyns that Brown's regular use of PCP (colloquially known as "angel dust") "began before 1982". After he met and later married Adrienne Rodriguez in 1984, she and Brown began using PCP together. This drug usage often resulted in violent outbursts from him, and he was arrested several times for domestic violence against Rodriguez while high on the drug. By January 1988, Brown faced four criminal charges within a 12-month span relating to driving, PCP, and gun possession. After an April 1988 arrest for domestic abuse, Brown went on the CNN program Sonya Live in L.A. with host Sonya Friedman. The interview became notorious for Brown's irreverent demeanor, with some asserting that Brown was high.
One of Brown's former mistresses recalled in a GQ magazine article on Brown some years after his death that Brown would smoke PCP ("until that got hard to find") and cocaine, mixed with tobacco in Kool cigarettes. He also engaged in the off-label use of sildenafil, maintaining that it gave him "extra energy". While once under the influence of PCP (which he continued to procure dependent on its availability) when traveling in a car, Brown alleged that passing trees contained psychotronic surveillance technology.
In January 1998, he spent a week in rehab to deal with an addiction to unspecified prescription drugs. A week after his release, he was arrested for an unlawful use of a handgun and possession of cannabis. Prior to his death in December 2006, when Brown entered Emory University Hospital, traces of cocaine were found in the singer's urine. His widow suggested Brown would "do crack" with a female acquaintance.
Theft and assault convictions
Brown's personal life was marred by several brushes with the law. At the age of 16, he was convicted of theft and served three years in juvenile prison. During a concert held at Club 15 in Macon, Georgia in 1963, while Otis Redding was performing alongside his former band Johnny Jenkins and the Pinetoppers, Brown reportedly tried to shoot his musical rival Joe Tex. The incident led to multiple people being shot and stabbed. Since Brown was still on parole at the time, he relied on his agent Clint Brantley "and a few thousand dollars to make the situation disappear". According to Jenkins, "seven people got shot", and after the shootout ended, a man appeared and gave "each one of the injured a hundred dollars apiece not to carry it no further and not to talk to the press". Brown was never charged for the incident.
On July 16, 1978, after performing at the Apollo, Brown was arrested for reportedly failing to turn in records from one of his radio stations after the station was forced to file for bankruptcy. Brown was arrested on April 3, 1988, for assault, and again in May 1988 on drug and weapons charges, and again on September 24, 1988, following a high-speed car chase on Interstate 20 near the Georgia–South Carolina state border. He was convicted of carrying an unlicensed pistol and assaulting a police officer, along with various drug-related and driving offenses. Although he was sentenced to six years in prison, he was eventually released on parole on February 27, 1991, after serving two years of his sentence. Brown's FBI file, released to The Washington Post in 2007 under the Freedom of Information Act, related Brown's claim that the high-speed chase did not occur as claimed by the police, and that local police shot at his car several times during an incident of police harassment and assaulted him after his arrest. Local authorities found no merit to Brown's accusations.
In 1998, a woman named Mary Simons accused Brown in a civil suit of holding her captive for three days, demanding oral sex and firing a gun in his office; Simons' charge was eventually dismissed. In another civil suit, filed by former background singer Lisa Rushton alleged that between 1994 and 1999, Brown allegedly demanded sexual favors and when refused, would cut off her pay and kept her offstage. She also claimed Brown would "place a hand on her buttocks and loudly told her in a crowded restaurant to not look or speak to any other man besides himself;" Rushton eventually withdrew her lawsuit. In yet another civil suit, a woman named Lisa Agbalaya, who worked for Brown, said the singer would tell her he had "bull testicles", handed her a pair of zebra-print underwear, told her to wear them while he massaged her with oil, and fired her after she refused. A Los Angeles jury cleared the singer of sexual harassment but found him liable for wrongful termination.
The police were summoned to Brown's residence on July 3, 2000, after he was accused of charging at an electric company repairman with a steak knife when the repairman visited Brown's house to investigate a complaint about having no lights at the residence. In 2003, Brown was pardoned by the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services for past crimes that he was convicted of committing in South Carolina.
Domestic violence arrests
Brown was repeatedly arrested for domestic violence. Adrienne Rodriguez, his third wife, had him arrested four times between 1987 and 1995 on charges of assault. In one incident, Rodriguez reported to authorities that Brown beat her with an iron pipe and shot at her car. Rodriguez was hospitalized after the last assault in October 1995, but charges were dropped after she died in January 1996.
In January 2004, Brown was arrested in South Carolina on a domestic violence charge after Tomi Rae Hynie accused him of pushing her to the floor during an argument at their home, where she suffered scratches and bruises to her right arm and hip. In June, Brown pleaded no contest to the domestic violence incident, but served no jail time. Instead, Brown was required to forfeit a US$1,087 bond as punishment.
Rape accusation
In January 2005, a woman named Jacque Hollander filed a lawsuit against James Brown, which stemmed from an alleged 1988 rape. When the case was initially heard before a judge in 2002, Hollander's claims against Brown were dismissed by the court as the limitations period for filing the suit had expired. Hollander claimed that stress from the alleged assault later caused her to contract Graves' disease, a thyroid condition. Hollander claimed that the incident took place in South Carolina while she was employed by Brown as a publicist. Hollander alleged that, during her ride in a van with Brown, Brown pulled over to the side of the road and sexually assaulted her while he threatened her with a shotgun. In her case against Brown, Hollander entered as evidence a DNA sample and a polygraph result, but the evidence was not considered due to the limitations defense. Hollander later attempted to bring her case before the Supreme Court, but nothing came of her complaint.
Later life and death
Illness
On December 23, 2006, Brown became very ill and arrived at his dentist's office in Atlanta, Georgia, several hours late. His appointment was for dental implant work. During that visit, Brown's dentist observed that he looked "very bad ... weak and dazed". Instead of performing the work, the dentist advised Brown to see a doctor right away about his medical condition.
Brown went to the Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital the next day for medical evaluation and was admitted for observation and treatment. According to Charles Bobbit, his longtime personal manager and friend, Brown had been struggling with a noisy cough since returning from a November trip to Europe. Yet, Bobbit said, the singer had a history of never complaining about being sick and often performed while ill. Although Brown had to cancel upcoming concerts in Waterbury, Connecticut, and Englewood, New Jersey, he was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time for his scheduled New Year's Eve shows at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey and the B. B. King Blues Club in New York, in addition to performing a song live on CNN for the Anderson Cooper New Year's Eve special. Brown remained hospitalized, however, and his condition worsened throughout the day.
Death
On Christmas Day 2006, Brown died at approximately 1:45 a.m. EST (06:45 UTC), at age 73, from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia. Bobbit was at his bedside and later reported that Brown stuttered, "I'm going away tonight", then took three long, quiet breaths and fell asleep before dying.
In 2019, an investigation by CNN and other journalists led to suggestions that Brown had been murdered.
Memorial services
After Brown's death, his relatives, a host of celebrities, and thousands of fans gathered, on December 28, 2006, for a public memorial service at the Apollo Theater in New York City and, on December 30, 2006, at the James Brown Arena in Augusta, Georgia. A separate, private ceremony was held in North Augusta, South Carolina, on December 29, 2006, with Brown's family in attendance. Celebrities at these various memorial events included Michael Jackson, Jimmy Cliff, Joe Frazier, Buddy Guy, Ice Cube, Ludacris, Dr. Dre, Little Richard, Dick Gregory, MC Hammer, Prince, Jesse Jackson, Ice-T, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bootsy Collins, LL Cool J, Lil Wayne, Lenny Kravitz, 50 Cent, Stevie Wonder, and Don King. Rev. Al Sharpton officiated at all of Brown's public and private memorial services.
Brown's memorial ceremonies were all elaborate, complete with costume changes for the deceased and videos featuring him in concert. His body, placed in a Promethean casket—bronze polished to a golden shine—was driven through the streets of New York to the Apollo Theater in a white, glass-encased horse-drawn carriage. In Augusta, Georgia, his memorial procession stopped to pay respects at his statue, en route to the James Brown Arena. During the public memorial there, a video showed Brown's last performance in Augusta, Georgia, with the Ray Charles version of "Georgia on My Mind" playing soulfully in the background. His last backup band, The Soul Generals, also played some of his hits during that tribute at the arena. The group was joined by Bootsy Collins on bass, with MC Hammer performing a dance in James Brown style. Former Temptations lead singer Ali-Ollie Woodson performed "Walk Around Heaven All Day" at the memorial services.
Last will and testament
Brown signed his last will and testament on August 1, 2000, before J. Strom Thurmond Jr., an attorney for the estate. The irrevocable trust, separate and apart from Brown's will, was created on his behalf, that same year, by his attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, one of three personal representatives of Brown's estate. His will covered the disposition of his personal assets, such as clothing, cars, and jewelry, while the irrevocable trust covered the disposition of the music rights, business assets of James Brown Enterprises, and his Beech Island, South Carolina estate.
During the reading of the will on January 11, 2007, Thurmond revealed that Brown's six adult living children (Terry Brown, Larry Brown, Daryl Brown, Yamma Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas and Venisha Brown) were named in the document, while Hynie and James II were not mentioned as heirs. Brown's will had been signed 10 months before James II was born and more than a year before Brown's marriage to Tomi Rae Hynie. Like Brown's will, his irrevocable trust omitted Hynie and James II as recipients of Brown's property. The irrevocable trust had also been established before, and not amended since, the birth of James II.
On January 24, 2007, Brown's children filed a lawsuit, petitioning the court to remove the personal representatives from the estate (including Brown's attorney, as well as trustee Albert "Buddy" Dallas) and appoint a special administrator because of perceived impropriety and alleged mismanagement of Brown's assets. On January 31, 2007, Hynie also filed a lawsuit against Brown's estate, challenging the validity of the will and the irrevocable trust. Hynie's suit asked the court both to recognize her as Brown's widow and to appoint a special administrator for the estate.
On January 27, 2015, Judge Doyet Early III ruled that Tomi Rae Hynie Brown was officially the widow of James Brown. The decision was based on the grounds that Hynie's previous marriage was invalid and that James Brown had abandoned his efforts to annul his own marriage to Hynie.
On February 19, 2015, the South Carolina Supreme Court intervened, halting all lower court actions in the estate and undertaking to review previous actions itself. The South Carolina Court of Appeals in July 2018 ruled that Hynie was, in fact, Mr. Brown's wife. In 2020, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that Hynie had not been legally married to Brown and did not have a right to his estate. It was reported in July 2021 that Brown's family had reached a settlement ending the 15-year battle over the estate.
Legacy
Brown received awards and honors throughout his lifetime and after his death. In 1993 the City Council of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, conducted a poll of residents to choose a new name for the bridge that crossed the Yampa River on Shield Drive. The winning name, with 7,717 votes, was "James Brown Soul Center of the Universe Bridge". The bridge was officially dedicated in September 1993, and Brown appeared at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the event. A petition was started by local ranchers to return the name to "Stockbridge" for historical reasons, but they backed off after citizens defeated their efforts because of the popularity of Brown's name. Brown returned to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, on July 4, 2002, for an outdoor festival, performing with bands such as The String Cheese Incident.
During his long career, Brown received many prestigious music industry awards and honors. In 1983 he was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. Brown was one of the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction dinner in New York on January 23, 1986. At that time, the members of his original vocal group, The Famous Flames (Bobby Byrd, Johnny Terry, Bobby Bennett, and Lloyd Stallworth) were not inducted. However, on April 14, 2012, The Famous Flames were automatically and retroactively inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Brown, without the need for nomination and voting, on the basis that they should have been inducted with him in 1986. On February 25, 1992, Brown was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 34th annual Grammy Awards. Exactly a year later, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 4th annual Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Awards. A ceremony was held for Brown on January 10, 1997, to honor him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
On June 15, 2000, Brown was honored as an inductee to the New York Songwriters Hall of Fame. On August 6, 2002, he was honored as the first BMI Urban Icon at the BMI Urban Awards. His BMI accolades include an impressive ten R&B Awards and six Pop Awards. On November 14, 2006, Brown was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, and he was one of several inductees to perform at the ceremony. In recognition of his accomplishments as an entertainer, Brown was a recipient of Kennedy Center Honors on December 7, 2003. In 2004 Rolling Stone magazine ranked James Brown as No. 7 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In an article for Rolling Stone, critic Robert Christgau cited Brown as "the greatest musician of the rock era". He appeared on the BET Awards June 24, 2003, and received the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Michael Jackson, and performed with him. In 2004, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Aretha Franklin.
Brown was also honored in his hometown of Augusta, Georgia, for his philanthropy and civic activities. On November 20, 1993, Mayor Charles DeVaney of Augusta held a ceremony to dedicate a section of 9th Street between Broad and Twiggs Streets, renamed "James Brown Boulevard", in the entertainer's honor. On May 6, 2005, as a 72nd birthday present for Brown, the city of Augusta unveiled a life-sized bronze James Brown statue on Broad Street. The statue was to have been dedicated a year earlier, but the ceremony was put on hold because of a domestic abuse charge that Brown faced at the time. In 2005, Charles "Champ" Walker and the We Feel Good Committee went before the County commission and received approval to change Augusta's slogan to "We Feel Good". Afterward, officials renamed the city's civic center the James Brown Arena, and James Brown attended a ceremony for the unveiling of the namesake center on October 15, 2006.
On December 30, 2006, during the public memorial service at the James Brown Arena, Dr. Shirley A.R. Lewis, president of Paine College, a historically black college in Augusta, Georgia, bestowed posthumously upon Brown an honorary doctorate in recognition and honor of his many contributions to the school in its times of need. Brown had originally been scheduled to receive the honorary doctorate from Paine College during its May 2007 commencement.
During the 49th Annual Grammy Awards presentation on February 11, 2007, James Brown's famous cape was draped over a microphone by Danny Ray at the end of a montage in honor of notable people in the music industry who died during the previous year. Earlier that evening, Christina Aguilera delivered an impassioned performance of Brown's hit "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" followed by a standing ovation, while Chris Brown performed a dance routine in honor of James Brown.
On August 17, 2013, the official R&B Music Hall of Fame honored and inducted James Brown at a ceremony held at the Waetjen Auditorium at Cleveland State University.
ART THE BOX began in early 2015 as a collaboration between three organizations: the City of Augusta, the Downtown Development Authority and the Greater Augusta Arts Council. 19 local artists were selected by a committee to create art on 23 local traffic signal control cabinets (TSCCs). A competition was held to create the James Brown Tribute Box on the corner of James Brown Blvd. (9th Ave.) and Broad St. This box was designed and painted by local artist, Ms. Robbie Pitts Bellamy and has become a favorite photo opportunity to visitors and locals in Augusta, Georgia.
"I have a lot of musical heroes but I think James Brown is at the top of the list", remarked Public Enemy's Chuck D. "Absolutely the funkiest man on Earth ... In a black household, James Brown is part of the fabric – Motown, Stax, Atlantic and James Brown."
Tributes
As a tribute to James Brown, the Rolling Stones covered the song, "I'll Go Crazy" from Brown's Live at the Apollo album, during their 2007 European tour. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has remarked, "He [James Brown] was almost a musical genre in his own right and he changed and moved forward the whole time so people were able to learn from him."
On December 22, 2007, the first annual "Tribute Fit For the King of King Records" in honor of James Brown was held at the Madison Theater in Covington, Kentucky. The tribute, organized by Bootsy Collins, featured Tony Wilson as Young James Brown with appearances by Afrika Bambaataa, Chuck D of Public Enemy, The Soul Generals, Buckethead, Freekbass, Triage and many of Brown's surviving family members. Comedian Michael Coyer was the MC for the event. During the show, the mayor of Cincinnati proclaimed December 22 as James Brown Day.
As of September 2021, a significant collection of James Brown clothing, memorabilia, and personal artifacts are on exhibit in downtown Augusta, Georgia at the Augusta History Museum.
Discography
Studio albums
Please Please Please (1958)
Try Me! (1959)
Think! (1960)
The Amazing James Brown (1961)
James Brown and His Famous Flames Tour the U.S.A. (1962)
Prisoner of Love (1963)
Grits & Soul (1964)
Showtime (1964)
Out of Sight (1964)
James Brown Plays James Brown Today & Yesterday (1965)
Mighty Instrumentals (1966)
James Brown Plays New Breed (The Boo-Ga-Loo) (1966)
James Brown Sings Christmas Songs (1966)
Handful of Soul (1966)
James Brown Sings Raw Soul (1967)
James Brown Plays the Real Thing (1967)
Cold Sweat (1967)
I Can't Stand Myself When You Touch Me (1968)
I Got the Feelin' (1968)
James Brown Plays Nothing But Soul (1968)
Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things (1968)
A Soulful Christmas (1968)
Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud (1969)
Gettin' Down to It (1969)
The Popcorn (1969)
It's a Mother (1969)
Ain't It Funky (1970)
Soul on Top (1970)
It's a New Day – Let a Man Come In (1970)
Hey America (1970)
Sho Is Funky Down Here (1971)
Hot Pants (1971)
There It Is (1972)
Get on the Good Foot (1972)
Black Caesar (1973)
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973)
The Payback (1973)
Hell (1974)
Reality (1974)
Sex Machine Today (1975)
Everybody's Doin' the Hustle & Dead on the Double Bump (1975)
Hot (1976)
Get Up Offa That Thing (1976)
Bodyheat (1976)
Mutha's Nature (1977)
Jam 1980's (1978)
Take a Look at Those Cakes (1978)
The Original Disco Man (1979)
People (1980)
Soul Syndrome (1980)
Nonstop! (1981)
Bring It On! (1983)
Gravity (1986)
I'm Real (1988)
Love Over-Due (1991)
Universal James (1992)
I'm Back (1998)
The Merry Christmas Album (1999)
The Next Step (2002)
Filmography
The T.A.M.I. Show (1964) (concert film)- with The Famous Flames
Ski Party (1965)- with The Famous Flames
James Brown: Man to Man (1968) (concert film)
The Phynx (1970)
Black Caesar (1973) (soundtrack only)
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973) (soundtrack only)
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Doctor Detroit (1983)
Rocky IV (1985)
Miami Vice (1987)
James Brown: Live in East Berlin (1989)
The Simpsons (1993)
When We Were Kings (1996) (documentary)
Duckman (1997)
Soulmates (1997)
Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
Holy Man (1998)
Undercover Brother (2002)
The Tuxedo (2002)
The Hire: Beat the Devil (2002) (short film)
Paper Chasers (2003) (documentary)
Soul Survivor (2003) (documentary)
Sid Bernstein Presents ... (2005) (documentary)
Glastonbury (2006) (documentary)
Life on the Road with Mr. and Mrs. Brown (2007) (documentary; release pending)
Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968 (2008) (concert film)
I Got The Feelin': James Brown in the '60s, three-DVD set featuring Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968, Live at the Apollo '68 [DVD version of James Brown: Man to Man], and the documentary The Night James Brown Saved Boston
Soul Power (2009) (documentary)
Get on Up (2014)
Biopics
Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown (2014), released in April 2014, written and directed by Alex Gibney, produced by Mick Jagger.
Get on Up (2014), released in theaters on August 1, 2014. Chadwick Boseman plays the role of James Brown in the film. Originally, Mick Jagger and Brian Grazer had begun producing a documentary film on Brown in 2013. A fiction film had been in the planning stages for many years and was revived when Jagger read the script by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth.
In other media
Games
In the video game World of Warcraft, the first boss character of the Forge of Souls dungeon is Bronjahm, "the Godfather of Souls". His quotes during the fight are musical references, and he has a chance of dropping an item called "Papa's Brand New Bag".
Television
As himself (voice) in the 1993 The Simpsons episode "Bart's Inner Child".
In 1991, Brown did a Pay Per View Special with top celebrities such as Quincy Jones, Rick James, Dan Aykroyd, Gladys Knight, Denzel Washington, MC Hammer and others attended or were opening acts. This was produced with boxing promoter Buddy Dallas. 15.5 million households tuned in at a cost $19.99.
In 2002, Brown starred in the Jackie Chan movie The Tuxedo as himself
See also
Progressive soul
References
Footnotes
Sources
Further reading
Danielsen, Anne (2006). Presence and pleasure: The funk grooves of James Brown and Parliament. Wesleyan University Press.
George, Nelson, and Leeds, Alan (editors). (2008). The James Brown Reader: 50 Years of Writing about the Godfather of Soul. New York: Plume.
Lethem, J. (June 12, 2006). "Being James Brown", Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved January 14, 2007.
McBride, James (2016) Kill 'Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul. New York: Spiegel & Grau
Sullivan, James. (2008). The Hardest Working Man: How James Brown Saved The Soul Of America. New York: Gotham Books.
Sussman, M. (producer). (December 25, 2006). Arts: Soul classics by James Brown (multimedia presentation). The New York Times. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
Wesley, Fred. (2002). Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Sideman. Durham: Duke University Press.
Whitney, Marva and Waring, Charles. (2013) God, The Devil & James Brown:(Memoirs of a Funky Diva). New Romney: Bank House Books
External links
1933 births
2006 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American composers
21st-century American singers
Activists for African-American civil rights
African-American composers
African-American male composers
African-American male dancers
African-American male singers
African-American record producers
African-American rock musicians
African-American songwriters
American expatriates in Nigeria
American expatriates in Zambia
American funk keyboardists
American funk singers
American male composers
American male dancers
American male organists
American male singers
American multi-instrumentalists
American people convicted of assault
American people convicted of drug offenses
American people convicted of robbery
American people of Chinese descent
American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent
American rhythm and blues singers
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American robbers
American soul keyboardists
American soul singers
American tenors
Black conservatism in the United States
Burials in South Carolina
Deaths from pneumonia in Georgia (U.S. state)
Education activists
Federal Records artists
Grammy Award winners
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
James Brown Orchestra members
Kennedy Center honorees
King Records artists
Musicians from Atlanta
Musicians from Augusta, Georgia
People from Barnwell, South Carolina
People from Beech Island, South Carolina
People from Toccoa, Georgia
Polydor Records artists
Recipients of American gubernatorial pardons
Record producers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Record producers from South Carolina
Scotti Brothers Records artists
Sexual assaults in the United States
Singers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Singers from South Carolina
Smash Records artists
The J.B.'s members
The Famous Flames members | true | [
"R. v. Smithers, [1978] 1 S.C.R. 506 is a leading Supreme Court of Canada decision on determining criminal causation in an offence of manslaughter. The Court held that the Crown must show that the accused's acts were a \"contributing cause of death outside of the de minimis range.\" In practice, this test applied to all criminal offences requiring proof of causation.\n\nBackground\nOn February 18, 1973, Smithers, a black teen, played in a hockey game against a team including Barrie Cobby, a white teen, in a Mississauga rink. During the game, Smithers was subject to numerous racial slurs by Cobby. Evidence given by numerous witnesses at the trial indicated both had a dislike for each other's behaviour and Cobby had often been using racial slurs toward Smithers. During their final game, Cobby was given a penalty for spearing Smithers during the game while Cobby was in the penalty box Smithers scored a goal and laughed in Cobby's direction. Cobby shouted further racial slurs and Smithers threatened Cobby that he was going to \"get him\" if Cobby did not apologize for making the ongoing racial insults.\n\nAfter the game Smithers waited outside the rink for Cobby to leave. When Cobby came out Smithers chased him and was grabbed by at least 3 of Cobby's friends, Smithers grabbed Cobby's jacket and kicked Cobby once in the stomach area. Immediately Cobby fell to the ground and started to gasp for air. Cobby soon passed out and died shortly afterwards. It was discovered that he died from inhaling vomit after being kicked due to a rare condition in which his epiglottis failed. Although Smithers was unsure if the kick even landed (there were no marks on Cobby), he was still responsible. \n\nSmithers was charged for manslaughter under section 205 of the Criminal Code (now section 222) for \"caus[ing] the death of a human being\". In his defence, Smithers argued that it was the epiglottis condition that caused death, not the blow.\n\nThe issue before the Supreme Court was whether the kick was a sufficient cause of the death to attract criminal liability.\n\nA unanimous Court held that Smithers was guilty of causing death of a human being. The decision was written by Justice Dickson.\n\nOpinion of the court\nDickson adopted the comments of G. Arthur Martin from a 1943 case note on the English Larkin case, where it was stated that \"[t]here are many unlawful acts which are not dangerous in themselves and are not likely to cause injury which, nevertheless if they cause death, render the actor guilty of culpable homicide ... In the case of so-called intentional crimes where death is an unintended consequence the actor is always guilty of manslaughter at least.\"\n\nThe question Dickson considered was what degree of causation is required to prove guilt. Where consequences need not be intended such as manslaughter, he proposed the degree of contribution to the cause of death need only pass a de minimis test. That is, the Crown need only show that the amount contributed to the cause of death be more than trivial. \n\nDickson also reaffirmed the application of the thin skull doctrine in homicide, where the fact that Cobby was susceptible to failure of the epiglottis should not absolve Smithers from liability. Consequently, since the kick may have killed Cobby, its contribution to his death was more than trivial and so Smithers is criminally liable.\n\nSee also\nList of Supreme Court of Canada cases (Laskin Court)\n\nExternal links\nfull text at CanLII.org\n\nSupreme Court of Canada cases\n1978 in Canadian case law\nCanadian criminal case law\nManslaughter\nHistory of Mississauga",
"Sophia Mirza (1973–25 November 2005) was a woman in the United Kingdom who had chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) listed as a contributory cause of her death. An inquest was conducted to determine her cause of death, with the coroner ultimately recording it as acute anueric kidney failure due to dehydration, caused by CFS. Advocacy groups such as Invest in ME and the ME Association say that Mirza's inquest shows that CFS is a neurological illness.\n\nBackground\nMirza was born in the United Kingdom in 1973, one of four children to Irish/Asian parents. She visited Africa at the age of 19, traveling and working throughout the continent and was infected with malaria twice while there. At the age of 26 Mirza fell ill with what appeared to be the flu and shortly afterward became convalescent.\n\nIn July 2003 Mirza was forceably removed from her home and sectioned for two weeks by her doctors, who had come to believe her condition was psychosomatic, an action which her mother and sister believed severely worsened her condition. Her mother and sister stated that Mirza's physical symptoms were treated as a mental condition rather than a physical illness, and her caregiver mother was accused of 'enabling' her.\n\nDeath\nFor two years following her sectioning, Mirza's health deteriorated. By September 2005 she took a significant turn for the worse, developing intolerance to most of the food she consumed, ear infection and severe pain, and was only able to consume a small amount of water. Mirza died on 25 November 2005. Initial autopsy results were inconclusive for her cause of death, but a second autopsy and the results of an inquest released on 13 June 2006 determined the cause of death to be \"acute anueric kidney failure due to dehydration caused by CFS\". Though initially reported by New Scientist as the first death worldwide ascribed to CFS, the magazine later acknowledged that other deaths had been directly attributed to CFS in the United States and Australia. Fatalities have been attributed to CFS or myalgic encephalomyelitis since at least 1956.\n\nInquest \n\nAn official inquest was held to determine Mirza's cause of death, including an autopsy. The coroner concluded Mirza died as a result of CFS. Considered and eliminated were sleep apnea, drug use, and all other possible causes of death that could have been consistent with the autopsy results. A neuropathologist testified at the inquest that four out of five of Mirza's dorsal root ganglia showed abnormalities and evidence of dorsal root ganglionitis, inflammation of the dorsal root ganglion. A neurologist who consulted on the inquest stated the changes in the spinal cord may have been the cause of the symptoms Mirza experienced as part of her CFS.\n\nAccording to the BBC, advocacy groups such as the ME Association saw the inquest's verdict as proof that Mirza's condition was neurological.\n\nSee also\n\n List of people with chronic fatigue syndrome\n Lynn Gilderdale\n\nReferences \n\n1974 births\n2005 deaths\nPeople from Brighton"
]
|
[
"James Brown",
"Death",
"When was his death?",
"On Christmas Day, 2006,",
"What was the cause of death?",
"from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia."
]
| C_185d6e4eab0446b1aa68bcc9a108fa5d_0 | Was he still making music up to his death? | 3 | Was James Brown still making music up to his death? | James Brown | On December 23, 2006, Brown became very ill and arrived at his dentist's office in Atlanta, Georgia, several hours late. His appointment was for dental implant work. During that visit, Brown's dentist observed that he looked "very bad... weak and dazed." Instead of performing the work, the dentist advised Brown to see a doctor right away about his medical condition. Brown went to the Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital the next day for medical evaluation and was admitted for observation and treatment. According to Charles Bobbit, his longtime personal manager and friend, Brown had been struggling with a noisy cough since returning from a November trip to Europe. Yet, Bobbit said, the singer had a history of never complaining about being sick and often performed while ill. Although Brown had to cancel upcoming concerts in Waterbury, Connecticut, and Englewood, New Jersey, he was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time for his scheduled New Year's Eve shows at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey and the B. B. King Blues Club in New York, in addition to performing a song live on CNN for the Anderson Cooper New Year's Eve special. Brown remained hospitalized, however, and his condition worsened throughout the day. On Christmas Day, 2006, Brown died at approximately 1:45 am EST (06:45 UTC), at age 73, from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia. Bobbit was at his bedside and later reported that Brown stuttered, "I'm going away tonight," then took three long, quiet breaths and fell asleep before dying. CANNOTANSWER | he was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time for his scheduled New Year's Eve shows | James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer, and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honorific nicknames "Godfather of Soul", "Mr. Dynamite", and "Soul Brother No. 1". In a career that lasted more than 50 years, he influenced the development of several music genres. Brown was one of the first 10 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction in New York on January 23, 1986.
Brown began his career as a gospel singer in Toccoa, Georgia. He first came to national public attention in the mid-1950s as the lead singer of the Famous Flames, a rhythm and blues vocal group founded by Bobby Byrd. With the hit ballads "Please, Please, Please" and "Try Me", Brown built a reputation as a dynamic live performer with the Famous Flames and his backing band, sometimes known as the James Brown Band or the James Brown Orchestra. His success peaked in the 1960s with the live album Live at the Apollo and hit singles such as "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "It's a Man's Man's Man's World".
During the late 1960s, Brown moved from a continuum of blues and gospel-based forms and styles to a profoundly "Africanized" approach to music-making, emphasizing stripped-down interlocking rhythms that influenced the development of funk music. By the early 1970s, Brown had fully established the funk sound after the formation of the J.B.s with records such as "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" and "The Payback". He also became noted for songs of social commentary, including the 1968 hit "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud". Brown continued to perform and record until his death from pneumonia in 2006.
Brown recorded 17 singles that reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts. He also holds the record for the most singles listed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that did not reach No. 1. Brown was inducted into the first class of the Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013 as an artist and then in 2017 as a songwriter. He also received honors from several other institutions, including inductions into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In Joel Whitburn's analysis of the Billboard R&B charts from 1942 to 2010, Brown is ranked No. 1 in The Top 500 Artists. He is ranked seventh on Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Early life
Brown was born on May 3, 1933, in Barnwell, South Carolina, to 16-year-old Susie (née Behling; 1916–2004) and 21-year-old Joseph Gardner Brown (1912–1993) in a small wooden shack. Brown's name was supposed to have been Joseph James Brown, but his first and middle names were mistakenly reversed on his birth certificate. In his autobiography, Brown stated that he had Chinese and Native American ancestry and that his father was of mixed African-American and Native American descent, while his mother was of mixed African-American and Asian descent.
The Brown family lived in extreme poverty in Elko, South Carolina, which was an impoverished town at the time. They later moved to Augusta, Georgia, when James was four or five. His family first settled at one of his aunts' brothels. They later moved into a house shared with another aunt. Brown's mother eventually left the family after a contentious and abusive marriage and moved to New York. Brown spent long stretches of time on his own, hanging out in the streets and hustling to get by. He managed to stay in school until the sixth grade.
He began singing in talent shows as a young child, first appearing at Augusta's Lenox Theater in 1944, winning the show after singing the ballad "So Long". While in Augusta, Brown performed buck dances for change to entertain troops from Camp Gordon at the start of World War II as their convoys traveled over a canal bridge near his aunt's home. He learned to play the piano, guitar, and harmonica during this period. He became inspired to become an entertainer after hearing "Caldonia" by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five. In his teen years, Brown briefly had a career as a boxer.
At the age of 16, he was convicted of robbery and sent to a juvenile detention center in Toccoa. There, he formed a gospel quartet with four fellow cellmates, including Johnny Terry. Brown met singer Bobby Byrd when the two played against each other in a baseball game outside the detention center. Byrd also discovered that Brown could sing after hearing of "a guy called Music Box", which was Brown's musical nickname at the prison. Byrd has since claimed he and his family helped to secure an early release, which led to Brown promising the court he would "sing for the Lord". Brown was released on a work sponsorship with Toccoa business owner S.C. Lawson. Lawson was impressed with Brown's work ethic and secured his release with a promise to keep him employed for two years. Brown was paroled on June 14, 1952. Brown went on to work with both of Lawson's sons, and would come back to visit the family from time to time throughout his career. Shortly after being paroled he joined the gospel group the Ever-Ready Gospel Singers, featuring Byrd's sister Sarah.
Music career
1953–1961: The Famous Flames
Brown eventually joined Bobby Byrd's group in 1954. The group had evolved from the Gospel Starlighters, an a cappella gospel group, to an R&B group with the name the Avons. He reputedly joined the band after one of its members, Troy Collins, died in a car crash. Along with Brown and Byrd, the group consisted of Sylvester Keels, Doyle Oglesby, Fred Pulliam, Nash Knox and Nafloyd Scott. Influenced by R&B groups such as Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, the Orioles and Billy Ward and his Dominoes, the group changed its name, first to the Toccoa Band and then to the Flames. Nafloyd's brother Baroy later joined the group on bass guitar, and Brown, Byrd and Keels switched lead positions and instruments, often playing drums and piano. Johnny Terry later joined, by which time Pulliam and Oglesby had long left. one of his 10 children commited suicide.
Berry Trimier became the group's first manager, booking them at parties near college campuses in Georgia and South Carolina. The group had already gained a reputation as a good live act when they renamed themselves the Famous Flames. In 1955, the group had contacted Little Richard while performing in Macon. Richard convinced the group to get in contact with his manager at the time, Clint Brantley, at his nightclub. Brantley agreed to manage them after seeing the group audition. He then sent them to a local radio station to record a demo session, where they performed their own composition "Please, Please, Please", which was inspired when Little Richard wrote the words of the title on a napkin and Brown was determined to make a song out of it. The Famous Flames eventually signed with King Records' Federal subsidiary in Cincinnati, Ohio, and issued a re-recorded version of "Please, Please, Please" in March 1956. The song became the group's first R&B hit, selling over a million copies. None of their follow-ups gained similar success. By 1957, Brown had replaced Clint Brantley as manager and hired Ben Bart, chief of Universal Attractions Agency. That year the original Flames broke up, after Bart changed the name of the group to "James Brown and The Famous Flames".
In October 1958, Brown released the ballad "Try Me", which hit number one on the R&B chart in the beginning of 1959, becoming the first of seventeen chart-topping R&B hits. Shortly afterwards, he recruited his first band, led by J. C. Davis, and reunited with Bobby Byrd who joined a revived Famous Flames lineup that included Eugene "Baby" Lloyd Stallworth and Bobby Bennett, with Johnny Terry sometimes coming in as the "fifth Flame". Brown, the Flames, and his entire band debuted at the Apollo Theater on April 24, 1959, opening for Brown's idol, Little Willie John. Federal Records issued two albums credited to Brown and the Famous Flames (both contained previously released singles). By 1960, Brown began multi-tasking in the recording studio involving himself, his singing group, the Famous Flames, and his band, a separate entity from The Flames, sometimes named the James Brown Orchestra or the James Brown Band. That year the band released the top ten R&B hit "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes" on Dade Records, owned by Henry Stone, billed under the pseudonym "Nat Kendrick & the Swans" due to label issues. As a result of its success, King president Syd Nathan shifted Brown's contract from Federal to the parent label, King, which according to Brown in his autobiography meant "you got more support from the company". While with King, Brown, under the Famous Flames lineup, released the hit-filled album Think! and the following year released two albums with the James Brown Band earning second billing. With the Famous Flames, Brown sang lead on several more hits, including"Bewildered", "I'll Go Crazy" and "Think", songs that hinted at his emerging style.
1962–1966: Mr. Dynamite
In 1962, Brown and his band scored a hit with their cover of the instrumental "Night Train", becoming a top five R&B single. That same year, the ballads "Lost Someone" and "Baby You're Right", the latter a Joe Tex composition, added to his repertoire and increased his reputation with R&B audiences. On October 24, 1962, Brown financed a live recording of a performance at the Apollo and convinced Syd Nathan to release the album, despite Nathan's belief that no one would buy a live album due to the fact that Brown's singles had already been bought and that live albums were usually bad sellers.
Live at the Apollo was released the following June and became an immediate hit, eventually reaching number two on the Top LPs chart and selling over a million copies, staying on the charts for 14 months. In 1963, Brown scored his first top 20 pop hit with his rendition of the standard "Prisoner of Love". He also launched his first label, Try Me Records, which included recordings by the likes of Tammy Montgomery (later to be famous as Tammi Terrell), Johnny & Bill (Famous Flames associates Johnny Terry and Bill Hollings) and the Poets, which was another name used for Brown's backing band. During this time Brown began an ill-fated two-year relationship with 17-year-old Tammi Terrell when she sang in his revue. Terrell ended their personal and professional relationship because of his abusive behavior.
In 1964, seeking bigger commercial success, Brown and Bobby Byrd formed the production company, Fair Deal, linking the operation to the Mercury imprint, Smash Records. King Records, however, fought against this and was granted an injunction preventing Brown from releasing any recordings for the label. Prior to the injunction, Brown had released three vocal singles, including the blues-oriented hit "Out of Sight", which further indicated the direction his music was going to take. Touring throughout the year, Brown and the Famous Flames grabbed more national attention after giving an explosive show-stopping performance on the live concert film The T.A.M.I. Show. The Flames' dynamic gospel-tinged vocals, polished choreography and timing as well as Brown's energetic dance moves and high-octane singing upstaged the proposed closing act, the Rolling Stones.
Having signed a new deal with King, Brown released his song "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" in 1965, which became his first top ten pop hit and won him his first Grammy Award. Brown also signed a production deal with Loma Records. Later in 1965, he issued "I Got You", which became his second single in a row to reach number-one on the R&B chart and top ten on the pop chart. Brown followed that up with the ballad "It's a Man's Man's Man's World", a third Top 10 Pop hit (No. 1 R&B) which confirmed his stance as a top-ranking performer, especially with R&B audiences from that point on.
1967–1970: Soul Brother No. 1
By 1967, Brown's emerging sound had begun to be defined as funk music. That year he released what some critics cited as the first true funk song, "Cold Sweat", which hit number-one on the R&B chart (Top 10 Pop) and became one of his first recordings to contain a drum break and also the first that featured a harmony that was reduced to a single chord. The instrumental arrangements on tracks such as "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" and "Licking Stick-Licking Stick" (both recorded in 1968) and "Funky Drummer" (recorded in 1969) featured a more developed version of Brown's mid-1960s style, with the horn section, guitars, bass and drums meshed together in intricate rhythmic patterns based on multiple interlocking riffs.
Changes in Brown's style that started with "Cold Sweat" also established the musical foundation for Brown's later hits, such as "I Got the Feelin'" (1968) and "Mother Popcorn" (1969). By this time Brown's vocals frequently took the form of a kind of rhythmic declamation, not quite sung but not quite spoken, that only intermittently featured traces of pitch or melody. This would become a major influence on the techniques of rapping, which would come to maturity along with hip hop music in the coming decades. Brown's style of funk in the late 1960s was based on interlocking syncopated parts: strutting bass lines, syncopated drum patterns, and iconic percussive guitar riffs. The main guitar ostinatos for "Ain't It Funky" and "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" (both 1969), are examples of Brown's refinement of New Orleans funk; irresistibly danceable riffs, stripped down to their rhythmic essence. On both recordings the tonal structure is bare bones. The pattern of attack-points is the emphasis, not the pattern of pitches, as if the guitar were an African drum, or idiophone. Alexander Stewart states that this popular feel was passed along from "New Orleans—through James Brown's music, to the popular music of the 1970s". Those same tracks were later resurrected by countless hip-hop musicians from the 1970s onward. As a result, James Brown remains to this day the world's most sampled recording artist, but, two tracks that he wrote, are also synonymous with modern dance, especially with house music, jungle music, and drum and bass music, (which were sped up exponentially, in the latter two genres).
"Bring it Up" has an Afro-Cuban guajeo-like structure. All three of these guitar riffs are based on an onbeat/offbeat structure. Stewart says that it "is different from a time line (such as clave and tresillo) in that it is not an exact pattern, but more of a loose organizing principle."
It was around this time as the musician's popularity increased that he acquired the nickname "Soul Brother No. 1", after failing to win the title "King of Soul" from Solomon Burke during a Chicago gig two years prior. Brown's recordings during this period influenced musicians across the industry, most notably groups such as Sly and the Family Stone, Funkadelic, Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Booker T. & the M.G.s as well as vocalists such as Edwin Starr, David Ruffin and Dennis Edwards from The Temptations, and Michael Jackson, who, throughout his career, cited Brown as his ultimate idol.
Brown's band during this period employed musicians and arrangers who had come up through the jazz tradition. He was noted for his ability as a bandleader and songwriter to blend the simplicity and drive of R&B with the rhythmic complexity and precision of jazz. Trumpeter Lewis Hamlin and saxophonist/keyboardist Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis (the successor to previous bandleader Nat Jones) led the band. Guitarist Jimmy Nolen provided percussive, deceptively simple riffs for each song, and Maceo Parker's prominent saxophone solos provided a focal point for many performances. Other members of Brown's band included stalwart Famous Flames singer and sideman Bobby Byrd, trombonist Fred Wesley, drummers John "Jabo" Starks, Clyde Stubblefield and Melvin Parker, saxophonist St. Clair Pinckney, guitarist Alphonso "Country" Kellum and bassist Bernard Odum.
In addition to a torrent of singles and studio albums, Brown's output during this period included two more successful live albums, Live at the Garden (1967) and Live at the Apollo, Volume II (1968), and a 1968 television special, James Brown: Man to Man. His music empire expanded along with his influence on the music scene. As Brown's music empire grew, his desire for financial and artistic independence grew as well. Brown bought radio stations during the late 1960s, including WRDW in his native Augusta, where he shined shoes as a boy. In November 1967, James Brown purchased radio station WGYW in Knoxville, Tennessee, for a reported $75,000, according to the January 20, 1968 Record World magazine. The call letters were changed to WJBE reflecting his initials. WJBE began on January 15, 1968, and broadcast a Rhythm & Blues format. The station slogan was "WJBE 1430 Raw Soul". Brown also bought WEBB in Baltimore in 1970.
Brown branched out to make several recordings with musicians outside his own band. In an attempt to appeal to the older, more affluent, and predominantly white adult contemporary audience, Brown recorded Gettin' Down To It (1969) and Soul on Top (1970)—two albums consisting mostly of romantic ballads, jazz standards, and homologous reinterpretations of his earlier hits—with the Dee Felice Trio and the Louie Bellson Orchestra. In 1968, he recorded a number of funk-oriented tracks with The Dapps, a white Cincinnati band, including the hit "I Can't Stand Myself". He also released three albums of Christmas music with his own band.
1970–1975: Godfather of Soul
In March 1970, most of Brown's mid-to-late 1960s road band walked out on him due to money disputes, a development augured by the prior disbandment of The Famous Flames singing group for the same reason in 1968. Brown and erstwhile Famous Flames singer Bobby Byrd (who chose to remain in the band during this tumultuous period) subsequently recruited several members of the Cincinnati-based The Pacemakers, which included Bootsy Collins and his brother Phelps "Catfish" Collins; augmented by the remaining members of the 1960s road band (including Fred Wesley, who rejoined Brown's outfit in December 1970) and other newer musicians, they would form the nucleus of The J.B.'s, Brown's new backing ensemble. Shortly following their first performance together, the band entered the studio to record the Brown-Byrd composition, "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine"; the song and other contemporaneous singles would further cement Brown's influence in the nascent genre of funk music. This iteration of the J.B.'s dissolved after a March 1971 European tour (documented on the 1991 archival release Love Power Peace) due to additional money disputes and Bootsy Collins' use of LSD; the Collins brothers would soon become integral members of Parliament-Funkadelic, while a new lineup of the J.B.'s coalesced around Wesley, St. Clair Pinckney and drummer John Starks.
In 1971, Brown began recording for Polydor Records which also took over distribution of Brown's King Records catalog. Many of his sidemen and supporting players, including Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s, Bobby Byrd, Lyn Collins, Vicki Anderson and former rival Hank Ballard, released records on the People label, an imprint founded by Brown that was purchased by Polydor as part of Brown's new contract. The recordings on the People label, almost all of which were produced by Brown himself, exemplified the mature flowering of his "house style". Several tracks thought by critics to be excessively sexual were released at this time. He would later soften his vocal approach. Songs such as "I Know You Got Soul" by Bobby Byrd, "Think" by Lyn Collins and "Doing It to Death" by Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s are considered as much a part of Brown's recorded legacy as the recordings released under his own name. That year, he also began touring African countries and was received well by audiences there. During the 1972 presidential election, James Brown openly proclaimed his support of Richard Nixon for reelection to the presidency over Democratic candidate George McGovern. The decision led to a boycott of his performances and, according to Brown, cost him a big portion of his black audience. As a result, Brown's record sales and concerts in the United States reached a lull in 1973 as he failed to land a number-one R&B single that year. Brown relied more on touring outside the United States where he continued to perform for sold-out crowds in cities such as London, Paris and Lausanne. That year he also faced problems with the IRS for failure to pay back taxes, charging he hadn't paid upwards of $4.5 million; five years earlier, the IRS had claimed he owed nearly $2 million.
In 1973, Brown provided the score for the blaxploitation film Black Caesar. He also recorded another soundtrack for the film, Slaughter's Big Rip-Off. Following the release of these soundtracks, Brown acquired a self-styled nickname, "The Godfather of Soul", which remains his most popular nickname. In 1974 he returned to the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts with "The Payback", with the parent album reaching the same spot on the album charts; he would reach No. 1 two more times in 1974, with "My Thang" and "Papa Don't Take No Mess". Later that year, he returned to Africa and performed in Kinshasa as part of the buildup to The Rumble in the Jungle fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Admirers of Brown's music, including Miles Davis and other jazz musicians, began to cite him as a major influence on their own styles. However, Brown, like others who were influenced by his music, also "borrowed" from other musicians. His 1976 single, "Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)" (R&B No. 31), interpolated the main riff from "Fame" by David Bowie while omitting any attribution to the latter song's composers (including Bowie, John Lennon and guitarist Carlos Alomar), not the other way around as was often believed.
"Papa Don't Take No Mess" would prove to be his final single to reach the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts and his final Top 40 pop single of the 1970s, though he continued to occasionally have Top 10 R&B recordings. Among his top ten R&B hits during this latter period included "Funky President" (R&B No. 4) and "Get Up Offa That Thing" (R&B No. 4), the latter song released in 1976 and aimed at musical rivals such as Barry White, The Ohio Players and K.C. and the Sunshine Band. Brown credited his then-wife and two of their children as writers of the song to avoid concurrent tax problems with the IRS. Starting in October 1975, Brown produced, directed, and hosted Future Shock, an Atlanta-based television variety show that ran for three years.
1975–1991: Decline and resurgence
Although his records were mainstays of the vanguard New York underground disco scene (exemplified by DJs such as David Mancuso and Francis Grasso) from 1969 onwards, Brown did not consciously yield to the trend until 1975's Sex Machine Today. By 1977, he was no longer a dominant force in R&B. After "Get Up Offa That Thing", thirteen of Brown's late 1970s recordings for Polydor failed to reach the Top 10 of the R&B chart, with only "Bodyheat" in 1976 and the disco-oriented "It's Too Funky in Here" in 1979 reaching the R&B Top 15 and the ballad "Kiss in '77" reaching the Top 20. After 1976's "Bodyheat", he also failed to appear on the Billboard Hot 100. As a result, Brown's concert attendance began dropping and his reported disputes with the IRS caused his business empire to collapse. In addition, Brown's former bandmates, including Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker and the Collins brothers, had found bigger success as members of George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic collective. The emergence of disco also stopped Brown's success on the R&B charts because its slicker, more commercial style had superseded his more raw funk productions.
By the release of 1979's The Original Disco Man, Brown was not providing much production or writing, leaving most of it to producer Brad Shapiro, resulting in the song "It's Too Funky in Here" becoming Brown's most successful single in this period. After two more albums failed to chart, Brown left Polydor in 1981. It was around this time that Brown changed the name of his band from the J.B.'s to the Soul Generals (or Soul G's). The band retained that name until his death. Despite Brown's declining record sales, promoters Gary LoConti and Jim Rissmiller helped Brown sell out a string of residency shows at the Country Club in Reseda. Brown's compromised commercial standing prevented him from charging a large live fee to the promoters for these shows. However, the great success of these shows marked a turning point for Brown's career, and soon he was back on top in Hollywood. Movies followed, starting with appearances in the feature films The Blues Brothers, Doctor Detroit and Rocky IV, as well as guest-starring in the Miami Vice episode "Missing Hours" (1987). In 1984, he teamed with rap musician Afrika Bambaataa on the song "Unity". A year later he signed with Scotti Brothers Records and issued the moderately successful album Gravity in 1986. It included Brown's final Top 10 pop hit, "Living in America", marking his first Top 40 entry since 1974 and his first Top 10 pop entry since 1968. Produced and written by Dan Hartman, it was also featured prominently on the Rocky IV film and soundtrack. Brown performed the song in the film at Apollo Creed's final fight, shot in the Ziegfeld Room at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and was credited in the film as "The Godfather of Soul". 1986 also saw the publication of his autobiography, James Brown: The Godfather of Soul, co-written with Bruce Tucker. In 1987, Brown won the Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Living in America".
In 1988, Brown worked with the production team Full Force on the new jack swing-influenced I'm Real. It spawned his final two Top 10 R&B hits, "I'm Real" and "Static", which peaked at No. 2 and No. 5, respectively, on the R&B charts. Meanwhile, the drum break from the second version of the original 1969 hit "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" (the recording included on the compilation album In the Jungle Groove) became so popular at hip hop dance parties (especially for breakdance) during the early 1980s that hip hop pioneer Kurtis Blow called the song "the national anthem of hip hop".
1991–2006: Final years
After his stint in prison during the late 1980s, Brown met Larry Fridie and Thomas Hart who produced the first James Brown biopic, entitled James Brown: The Man, the Message, the Music, released in 1992. He returned to music with the album Love Over-Due in 1991. It included the single "(So Tired of Standing Still We Got to) Move On", which peaked at No. 48 on the R&B chart. His former record label Polydor also released the four-CD box set Star Time, spanning Brown's career to date. Brown's release from prison also prompted his former record labels to reissue his albums on CD, featuring additional tracks and commentary by music critics and historians. That same year, Brown appeared on rapper MC Hammer's video for "Too Legit to Quit". Hammer had been noted, alongside Big Daddy Kane, for bringing Brown's unique stage shows and their own energetic dance moves to the hip-hop generation; both listed Brown as their idol. Both musicians also sampled his work, with Hammer having sampled the rhythms from "Super Bad" for his song "Here Comes the Hammer", from his best-selling album Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em. Big Daddy Kane sampled many times. Before the year was over, Brown–who had immediately returned to work with his band following his release–organized a pay-per-view concert following a show at Los Angeles' Wiltern Theatre, that was well received.
On June 10, 1991, James Brown and a star-filled line up performed before a crowd at the Wiltern Theatre for a live pay-per-view at-home audience. James Brown: Living in America – Live! was the brainchild of Indiana producer Danny Hubbard. It featured
M.C. Hammer as well as Bell Biv Devoe, Heavy D & the Boys, En Vogue, C+C Music Factory, Quincy Jones, Sherman Hemsley and Keenen Ivory Wayans. Ice-T, Tone Loc and Kool Moe Dee performed paying homage to Brown. This was Brown's first public performance since his parole from the South Carolina prison system in February. He had served two-and-a-half years of two concurrent six-year sentences for aggravated assault and other felonies.
Brown continued making recordings. In 1993 his album Universal James was released. It included his final Billboard charting single, "Can't Get Any Harder", which peaked at No. 76 on the US R&B chart and reached No. 59 on the UK chart. Its brief charting in the UK was probably due to the success of a remixed version of "I Feel Good" featuring Dakeyne. Brown also released the singles "How Long" and "Georgia-Lina", which failed to chart. In 1995, Brown returned to the Apollo and recorded Live at the Apollo 1995. It included a studio track titled "Respect Me", which was released as a single; again it failed to chart. Brown's final studio albums, I'm Back and The Next Step, were released in 1998 and 2002 respectively. I'm Back featured the song "Funk on Ah Roll", which peaked at No. 40 in the UK but did not chart in his native US. The Next Step included Brown's final single, "Killing Is Out, School Is In". Both albums were produced by Derrick Monk. Brown's concert success, however, remained unabated and he kept up with a grueling schedule throughout the remainder of his life, living up to his previous nickname, "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business", in spite of his advanced age. In 2003, Brown participated in the PBS American Masters television documentary James Brown: Soul Survivor, which was directed by Jeremy Marre.
Brown performed in the Super Bowl XXXI halftime show.
Brown celebrated his status as an icon by appearing in a variety of entertainment and sports events, including an appearance on the WCW pay-per-view event, SuperBrawl X, where he danced alongside wrestler Ernest "The Cat" Miller, who based his character on Brown, during his in-ring skit with The Maestro. Brown then appeared in Tony Scott's short film Beat the Devil in 2001. He was featured alongside Clive Owen, Gary Oldman, Danny Trejo and Marilyn Manson. Brown also made a cameo appearance in the 2002 Jackie Chan film The Tuxedo, in which Chan was required to finish Brown's act after having accidentally knocked out the singer. In 2002, Brown appeared in Undercover Brother, playing himself.
In 2004, Brown performed in Hyde Park, London as a support act for Red Hot Chili Peppers concerts. The beginning of 2005 saw the publication of Brown's second book, I Feel Good: A Memoir of a Life of Soul, written with Marc Eliot. In February and March, he participated in recording sessions for an intended studio album with Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, and other longtime collaborators. Though he lost interest in the album, which remains unreleased, a track from the sessions, "Gut Bucket", appeared on a compilation CD included with the August 2006 issue of MOJO. He appeared at Edinburgh 50,000 – The Final Push, the final Live 8 concert on July 6, 2005, where he performed a duet with British pop star Will Young on "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag". In the Black Eyed Peas album "Monkey Business", Brown was featured on a track called, "They Don't Want Music". The previous week he had performed a duet with another British pop star, Joss Stone, on the United Kingdom chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. In 2006, Brown continued his "Seven Decades of Funk World Tour", his last concert tour where he performed all over the world. His final U.S. performances were in San Francisco on August 20, 2006, as headliner at the Festival of the Golden Gate (Foggfest) on the Great Meadow at Fort Mason. The following day, August 21, he performed at Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA, at a small theatre (800 seats) on campus. His last shows were greeted with positive reviews, and one of his final concert appearances at the Irish Oxegen festival in Punchestown in 2006 was performed for a record crowd of 80,000 people. He played a full concert as part of the BBC's Electric Proms on October 27, 2006, at The Roundhouse, supported by The Zutons, with special appearances from Max Beasley and The Sugababes.
Brown's last televised appearance was at his induction into the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2006, before his death the following month. Before his death, Brown had been scheduled to perform a duet with singer Annie Lennox on the song "Vengeance" for her new album Venus, which was released in 2007.
Artistry
As a vocalist, Brown performed in a forceful shout style derived from gospel music. Meanwhile, "his rhythmic grunts and expressive shrieks harked back farther still to ring shouts, work songs, and field cries", according to the Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History (1996): "He reimported the rhythmic complexity from which rhythm and blues, under the dual pressure of rock 'n' roll and pop, had progressively fallen away since its birth from jazz and blues."
For many years, Brown's touring show was one of the most extravagant productions in American popular music. At the time of Brown's death, his band included three guitarists, two bass guitar players, two drummers, three horns and a percussionist. The bands that he maintained during the late 1960s and 1970s were of comparable size, and the bands also included a three-piece amplified string section that played during the ballads. Brown employed between 40 and 50 people for the James Brown Revue, and members of the revue traveled with him in a bus to cities and towns all over the country, performing upwards of 330 shows a year with almost all of the shows as one-nighters.
Concert style
Before James Brown appeared on stage, his personal MC gave him an elaborate introduction accompanied by drumrolls, as the MC worked in Brown's various sobriquets along with the names of many of his hit songs. The introduction by Fats Gonder, captured on Brown's 1963 album Live at the Apollo is a representative example:
James Brown's performances were famous for their intensity and length. His own stated goal was to "give people more than what they came for — make them tired, 'cause that's what they came for.'" Brown's concert repertoire consisted mostly of his own hits and recent songs, with a few R&B covers mixed in. Brown danced vigorously as he sang, working popular dance steps such as the Mashed Potato into his routine along with dramatic leaps, splits and slides. In addition, his horn players and singing group (The Famous Flames) typically performed choreographed dance routines, and later incarnations of the Revue included backup dancers. Male performers in the Revue were required to wear tuxedoes and cummerbunds long after more casual concert wear became the norm among the younger musical acts. Brown's own extravagant outfits and his elaborate processed hairdo completed the visual impression. A James Brown concert typically included a performance by a featured vocalist, such as Vicki Anderson or Marva Whitney, and an instrumental feature for the band, which sometimes served as the opening act for the show.
A trademark feature of Brown's stage shows, usually during the song "Please, Please, Please", involved Brown dropping to his knees while clutching the microphone stand in his hands, prompting the show's longtime MC, Danny Ray, to come out, drape a cape over Brown's shoulders and escort him off the stage after he had worked himself to exhaustion during his performance. As Brown was escorted off the stage by the MC, Brown's vocal group, the Famous Flames (Bobby Byrd, Lloyd Stallworth, and Bobby Bennett), continued singing the background vocals "Please, please don't go-oh". Brown would then shake off the cape and stagger back to the microphone to perform an encore. Brown's routine was inspired by a similar one used by the professional wrestler Gorgeous George, as well as Little Richard. In his 2005 autobiography I Feel Good: A Memoir in a Life of Soul, Brown, who was a fan of Gorgeous George, credited the wrestler as the inspiration for both his cape routine and concert attire, stating, "Seeing him on TV helped create the James Brown you see on stage". Brown performs a version of the cape routine in the film of the T.A.M.I. Show (1964) in which he and The Famous Flames upstaged The Rolling Stones, and over the closing credits of the film Blues Brothers 2000. The Police refer to "James Brown on the T.A.M.I. Show" in their 1980 song "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around".
Band leadership
Brown demanded extreme discipline, perfection and precision from his musicians and dancers – performers in his Revue showed up for rehearsals and members wore the right "uniform" or "costume" for concert performances. During an interview conducted by Terri Gross during the NPR segment "Fresh Air" with Maceo Parker, a former saxophonist in Brown's band for most of the 1960s and part of the 1970s and 1980s, Parker offered his experience with the discipline that Brown demanded of the band:
Brown also had a practice of directing, correcting and assessing fines on members of his band who broke his rules, such as wearing unshined shoes, dancing out of sync or showing up late on stage. During some of his concert performances, Brown danced in front of his band with his back to the audience as he slid across the floor, flashing hand signals and splaying his pulsating fingers to the beat of the music. Although audiences thought Brown's dance routine was part of his act, this practice was actually his way of pointing to the offending member of his troupe who played or sang the wrong note or committed some other infraction. Brown used his splayed fingers and hand signals to alert the offending person of the fine that person must pay to him for breaking his rules.
Brown's demands of his support acts were, meanwhile, quite the reverse. As Fred Wesley recalled of his time as musical director of the JBs, if Brown felt intimidated by a support act he would try to "undermine their performances by shortening their sets without notice, demanding that they not do certain showstopping songs, and even insisting on doing the unthinkable, playing drums on some of their songs. A sure set killer."
Social activism
Education advocacy and humanitarianism
Brown's main social activism was in preserving the need for education among youths, influenced by his own troubled childhood and his being forced to drop out of the seventh grade for wearing "insufficient clothes". Due to heavy dropout rates in the 1960s, Brown released the pro-education song, "Don't Be a Drop-Out". Royalties of the song were donated to dropout-prevention charity programs. The success of this led to Brown meeting with President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House. Johnson cited Brown for being a positive role model to the youth. A lifelong Republican, Brown gained the confidence of President Richard Nixon, to whom he found he had to explain the plight of Black Americans.
Throughout the remainder of his life, Brown made public speeches in schools and continued to advocate the importance of education in school. Upon filing his will in 2002, Brown advised that most of the money in his estate go into creating the I Feel Good, Inc. Trust to benefit disadvantaged children and provide scholarships for his grandchildren. His final single, "Killing Is Out, School Is In", advocated against murders of young children in the streets. Brown often gave out money and other items to children while traveling to his childhood hometown of Augusta. A week before his death, while looking gravely ill, Brown gave out toys and turkeys to kids at an Atlanta orphanage, something he had done several times over the years.
Civil rights and self-reliance
Though Brown performed at benefit rallies for civil rights organizations in the mid-1960s, Brown often shied away from discussing civil rights in his songs in fear of alienating his crossover audience. In 1968, in response to a growing urge of anti-war advocacy during the Vietnam War, Brown recorded the song, "America Is My Home". In the song, Brown performed a rap, advocating patriotism and exhorting listeners to "stop pitying yoursel[ves] and get up and fight". At the time of the song's release, Brown had been participating in performing for troops stationed in Vietnam.
The Boston Garden concert
On April 5, 1968, a day after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee, Brown provided a free citywide televised concert at the Boston Garden to maintain public order and calm concerned Boston residents (over the objections of the police chief, who wanted to call off the concert, which he thought would incite violence). The show was later released on DVD as Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968. According to the documentary The Night James Brown Saved Boston, then-mayor Kevin White had strongly restrained the Boston police from cracking down on minor violence and protests after the assassination, while religious and community leaders worked to keep tempers from flaring. White arranged to have Brown's performance broadcast multiple times on Boston's public television station, WGBH, thus keeping potential rioters off the streets, watching the concert for free. Angered by not being told of this, Brown demanded $60,000 for "gate" fees (money he thought would be lost from ticket sales on account of the concert being broadcast for free) and then threatened to go public about the secret arrangement when the city balked at paying up afterwards, news of which would have been a political death blow to White and spark riots of its own. White eventually lobbied the behind-the-scenes power-brokering group known as "The Vault" to come up with money for Brown's gate fee and other social programs, contributing $100,000. Brown received $15,000 from them via the city. White also persuaded management at the Garden to give up their share of receipts to make up the differences. Following this successful performance, Brown was counseled by President Johnson to urge cities ravaged from riots following King's assassination to not resort to violence, telling them to "cool it, there's another way".
Responding to pressure from black activists, including H. Rap Brown, to take a bigger stance on their issues and from footage of black on black crime committed in inner cities, Brown wrote the lyrics to the song "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud", which his bandleader Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis accompanied with a musical composition. Released late that summer, the song's lyrics helped to make it an anthem for the civil rights movement. Brown only performed the song sporadically following its initial release and later stated he had regrets about recording it, saying in 1984, "Now 'Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud' has done more for the black race than any other record, but if I had my choice, I wouldn't have done it, because I don't like defining anyone by race. To teach race is to teach separatism." In his autobiography he stated:
The song is obsolete now ... But it was necessary to teach pride then, and I think the song did a lot of good for a lot of people ... People called "Black and Proud" militant and angry – maybe because of the line about dying on your feet instead of living on your knees. But really, if you listen to it, it sounds like a children's song. That's why I had children in it, so children who heard it could grow up feeling pride ... The song cost me a lot of my crossover audience. The racial makeup at my concerts was mostly black after that. I don't regret it, though, even if it was misunderstood.
In 1969, Brown recorded two more songs of social commentary, "World" and "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing", the latter song pleading for equal opportunity and self-reliance rather than entitlement. In 1970, in response to some black leaders for not being outspoken enough, he recorded "Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved" and "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing". In 1971, he began touring Africa, including Zambia and Nigeria. He was made "freeman of the city" in Lagos, Nigeria, by Oba Adeyinka Oyekan, for his "influence on black people all over the world". With his company, James Brown Enterprises, Brown helped to provide jobs for blacks in business in the communities. As the 1970s continued, Brown continued to record songs of social commentary, most prominently 1972's "King Heroin" and the two-part ballad "Public Enemy", which dealt with drug addiction.
Political views
During the 1968 presidential campaign, Brown endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey and appeared with Humphrey at political rallies. Brown was labeled an "Uncle Tom" for supporting Humphrey and also for releasing the pro-American funk song, "America Is My Home", in which Brown had lambasted protesters of the Vietnam War as well as the politics of pro-black activists. Brown began supporting Republican president Richard Nixon after being invited to perform at Nixon's inaugural ball in January 1969. Brown's endorsement of Nixon during the 1972 presidential election negatively impacted his career during that period with several national Black organizations boycotting his records and protesting at his concert shows; a November 1972 show in Cincinnati was picketed with signs saying, "James Brown: Nixon's Clown". Brown initially was invited to perform at a Youth Concert following Nixon's inauguration in January 1973 but bailed out due to the backlash he suffered from supporting Nixon. Brown joined fellow black entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., who faced similar backlash, to back out of the concert. Brown blamed it on "fatigue". Brown later reversed his support of Nixon and composed the song, "You Can Have Watergate (Just Gimme Some Bucks And I'll Be Straight)" as a result. After Nixon resigned from office, Brown composed the 1974 hit, "Funky President (People It's Bad)", right after Gerald Ford took Nixon's place. Brown later supported Democratic President Jimmy Carter, attending one of Carter's inaugural balls in 1977. Brown also openly supported President Ronald Reagan's reelection in 1984.
Brown stated he was neither Democratic nor Republican despite his support of Republican presidents such as Nixon and Reagan as well as Democratic presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Carter. In 1999, when being interviewed by Rolling Stone, the magazine asked him to name a hero in the 20th century; Brown mentioned John F. Kennedy and then-96-year-old U.S. Senator, and former Dixiecrat, Strom Thurmond, stating "when the young whippersnappers get out of line, whether Democratic or Republican, an old man can walk up and say 'Wait a minute, son, it goes this way.' And that's great for our country. He's like a grandfather to me." In 2003, Brown was the featured attraction of a Washington D.C. fundraiser for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Following the deaths of Ronald Reagan and his friend Ray Charles, Brown said to CNN, "I'm kind of in an uproar. I love the country and I got – you know I've been around a long time, through many presidents and everything. So after losing Mr. Reagan, who I knew very well, then Mr. Ray Charles, who I worked with and lived with like, all our life, we had a show together in Oakland many, many years ago and it's like you found the placard." Despite his contrarian political views, Brown mentored black activist Rev. Al Sharpton during the 1970s.
Personal life
At the end of his life, James Brown lived in Beech Island, South Carolina, directly across the Savannah River from Augusta, Georgia. Brown had diabetes that went undiagnosed for years, according to his longtime manager Charles Bobbit. In 2004, Brown was successfully treated for prostate cancer. Regardless of his health, Brown maintained his reputation as the "hardest working man in show business" by keeping up with his grueling performance schedule.
In 1962, Tammi Terrell joined the James Brown Revue. Brown became sexually involved with Terrell even though she was only 17 in a relationship that continued until she escaped his abuse. Bobby Bennett, former member of the Famous Flames, told Rolling Stone about the abuse he witnessed: "He beat Tammi Terrell terrible", said Bennett. "She was bleeding, shedding blood." Terrell, who died in 1970, was Brown's girlfriend before she became famous as Marvin Gaye's singing partner in the mid-'60s. "Tammi left him because she didn't want her butt whipped", said Bennett, who also claimed he saw Brown kick one pregnant girlfriend down a flight of stairs.
Marriages and children
Brown was married four times. His first marriage was to Velma Warren in 1953, and they had one son together. Over a decade later, the couple had separated and the final divorce decree was issued in 1969. They maintained a close friendship that lasted until Brown's death. Brown's second marriage was to Deidre "Deedee" Jenkins, on October 22, 1970. They had two daughters together. The couple were separated by 1979, after what his daughter describes as years of domestic abuse, and the final divorce decree was issued on January 10, 1981. His third marriage was to Adrienne Lois Rodriguez (March 9, 1950 – January 6, 1996), in 1984. It was a contentious marriage that made headlines due to domestic abuse complaints. Rodriguez filed for divorce in 1988, "citing years of cruelty treatment", but they reconciled. Less than a year after Rodriguez died in 1996, Brown hired Tomi Rae Hynie to be a background singer for his band and she later became his fourth wife.
On December 23, 2002, Brown and Hynie held a wedding ceremony that was officiated by the Rev. Larry Flyer. Following Brown's death, controversy surrounded the circumstances of the marriage, with Brown's attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, reporting that the marriage was not valid; Hynie was still married to Javed Ahmed, a man from Bangladesh. Hynie claimed Ahmed married her to obtain residency through a Green Card and that the marriage was annulled but the annulment did not occur until April 2004. In an attempt to prove her marriage to Brown was valid, Hynie produced a 2001 marriage certificate as proof of her marriage to Brown, but she did not provide King with court records pointing to an annulment of her marriage to him or to Ahmed. According to Dallas, Brown was angry and hurt that Hynie had concealed her prior marriage from him and Brown moved to file for annulment from Hynie. Dallas added that though Hynie's marriage to Ahmed was annulled after she married Brown, the Brown–Hynie marriage was not valid under South Carolina law because Brown and Hynie did not remarry after the annulment. In August 2003, Brown took out a full-page public notice in Variety featuring Hynie, James II and himself on vacation at Disney World to announce that he and Hynie were going their separate ways. In 2015, a judge ruled Hynie as Brown's legal widow.
Brown had numerous children and acknowledged nine of them including five sons – Teddy (1954–1973), Terry, Larry, Daryl, and James Joseph Brown Jr. and four daughters – Lisa, Dr. Yamma Noyola Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas, and Venisha Brown (1964–2018). Brown also had eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Brown's eldest son, Teddy, died in a car crash on June 14, 1973. According to an August 22, 2007, article published in the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, DNA tests indicate that Brown also fathered at least three extramarital children. The first one of them to be identified is LaRhonda Pettit (born 1962), a retired flight attendant and teacher who lives in Houston. During contesting of Brown's will, another of the Brown family attorneys, Debra Opri, revealed to Larry King that Brown wanted a DNA test performed after his death to confirm the paternity of James Brown Jr. (born 2001)—not for Brown's sake but for the sake of the other family members. In April 2007, Hynie selected a guardian ad litem whom she wanted appointed by the court to represent her son, James Brown Jr., in the paternity proceedings. James Brown Jr. was confirmed to be his biological son.
Drug abuse
For most of his career, Brown had a strict drug- and alcohol-free policy for any member in his entourage, including band members, and would fire people who disobeyed orders, particularly those who used or abused drugs. Although early members of the Famous Flames were fired for using alcohol, Brown often served a highball consisting of Delaware Punch and moonshine at his St. Albans, Queens house in the mid-1960s. Some of the original members of Brown's 1970s band, the J.B.'s, including Catfish and Bootsy Collins, intentionally took LSD during a performance in 1971, causing Brown to fire them after the show because he had suspected them of being on drugs all along.
Aide Bob Patton has asserted that he accidentally shared a PCP-laced cannabis joint with Brown in the mid-1970s and "hallucinated for hours", although Brown "talked about it as if it was only marijuana he was smoking". By the mid-1980s, it was widely alleged that Brown was using drugs, with Vicki Anderson confirming to journalist Barney Hoskyns that Brown's regular use of PCP (colloquially known as "angel dust") "began before 1982". After he met and later married Adrienne Rodriguez in 1984, she and Brown began using PCP together. This drug usage often resulted in violent outbursts from him, and he was arrested several times for domestic violence against Rodriguez while high on the drug. By January 1988, Brown faced four criminal charges within a 12-month span relating to driving, PCP, and gun possession. After an April 1988 arrest for domestic abuse, Brown went on the CNN program Sonya Live in L.A. with host Sonya Friedman. The interview became notorious for Brown's irreverent demeanor, with some asserting that Brown was high.
One of Brown's former mistresses recalled in a GQ magazine article on Brown some years after his death that Brown would smoke PCP ("until that got hard to find") and cocaine, mixed with tobacco in Kool cigarettes. He also engaged in the off-label use of sildenafil, maintaining that it gave him "extra energy". While once under the influence of PCP (which he continued to procure dependent on its availability) when traveling in a car, Brown alleged that passing trees contained psychotronic surveillance technology.
In January 1998, he spent a week in rehab to deal with an addiction to unspecified prescription drugs. A week after his release, he was arrested for an unlawful use of a handgun and possession of cannabis. Prior to his death in December 2006, when Brown entered Emory University Hospital, traces of cocaine were found in the singer's urine. His widow suggested Brown would "do crack" with a female acquaintance.
Theft and assault convictions
Brown's personal life was marred by several brushes with the law. At the age of 16, he was convicted of theft and served three years in juvenile prison. During a concert held at Club 15 in Macon, Georgia in 1963, while Otis Redding was performing alongside his former band Johnny Jenkins and the Pinetoppers, Brown reportedly tried to shoot his musical rival Joe Tex. The incident led to multiple people being shot and stabbed. Since Brown was still on parole at the time, he relied on his agent Clint Brantley "and a few thousand dollars to make the situation disappear". According to Jenkins, "seven people got shot", and after the shootout ended, a man appeared and gave "each one of the injured a hundred dollars apiece not to carry it no further and not to talk to the press". Brown was never charged for the incident.
On July 16, 1978, after performing at the Apollo, Brown was arrested for reportedly failing to turn in records from one of his radio stations after the station was forced to file for bankruptcy. Brown was arrested on April 3, 1988, for assault, and again in May 1988 on drug and weapons charges, and again on September 24, 1988, following a high-speed car chase on Interstate 20 near the Georgia–South Carolina state border. He was convicted of carrying an unlicensed pistol and assaulting a police officer, along with various drug-related and driving offenses. Although he was sentenced to six years in prison, he was eventually released on parole on February 27, 1991, after serving two years of his sentence. Brown's FBI file, released to The Washington Post in 2007 under the Freedom of Information Act, related Brown's claim that the high-speed chase did not occur as claimed by the police, and that local police shot at his car several times during an incident of police harassment and assaulted him after his arrest. Local authorities found no merit to Brown's accusations.
In 1998, a woman named Mary Simons accused Brown in a civil suit of holding her captive for three days, demanding oral sex and firing a gun in his office; Simons' charge was eventually dismissed. In another civil suit, filed by former background singer Lisa Rushton alleged that between 1994 and 1999, Brown allegedly demanded sexual favors and when refused, would cut off her pay and kept her offstage. She also claimed Brown would "place a hand on her buttocks and loudly told her in a crowded restaurant to not look or speak to any other man besides himself;" Rushton eventually withdrew her lawsuit. In yet another civil suit, a woman named Lisa Agbalaya, who worked for Brown, said the singer would tell her he had "bull testicles", handed her a pair of zebra-print underwear, told her to wear them while he massaged her with oil, and fired her after she refused. A Los Angeles jury cleared the singer of sexual harassment but found him liable for wrongful termination.
The police were summoned to Brown's residence on July 3, 2000, after he was accused of charging at an electric company repairman with a steak knife when the repairman visited Brown's house to investigate a complaint about having no lights at the residence. In 2003, Brown was pardoned by the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services for past crimes that he was convicted of committing in South Carolina.
Domestic violence arrests
Brown was repeatedly arrested for domestic violence. Adrienne Rodriguez, his third wife, had him arrested four times between 1987 and 1995 on charges of assault. In one incident, Rodriguez reported to authorities that Brown beat her with an iron pipe and shot at her car. Rodriguez was hospitalized after the last assault in October 1995, but charges were dropped after she died in January 1996.
In January 2004, Brown was arrested in South Carolina on a domestic violence charge after Tomi Rae Hynie accused him of pushing her to the floor during an argument at their home, where she suffered scratches and bruises to her right arm and hip. In June, Brown pleaded no contest to the domestic violence incident, but served no jail time. Instead, Brown was required to forfeit a US$1,087 bond as punishment.
Rape accusation
In January 2005, a woman named Jacque Hollander filed a lawsuit against James Brown, which stemmed from an alleged 1988 rape. When the case was initially heard before a judge in 2002, Hollander's claims against Brown were dismissed by the court as the limitations period for filing the suit had expired. Hollander claimed that stress from the alleged assault later caused her to contract Graves' disease, a thyroid condition. Hollander claimed that the incident took place in South Carolina while she was employed by Brown as a publicist. Hollander alleged that, during her ride in a van with Brown, Brown pulled over to the side of the road and sexually assaulted her while he threatened her with a shotgun. In her case against Brown, Hollander entered as evidence a DNA sample and a polygraph result, but the evidence was not considered due to the limitations defense. Hollander later attempted to bring her case before the Supreme Court, but nothing came of her complaint.
Later life and death
Illness
On December 23, 2006, Brown became very ill and arrived at his dentist's office in Atlanta, Georgia, several hours late. His appointment was for dental implant work. During that visit, Brown's dentist observed that he looked "very bad ... weak and dazed". Instead of performing the work, the dentist advised Brown to see a doctor right away about his medical condition.
Brown went to the Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital the next day for medical evaluation and was admitted for observation and treatment. According to Charles Bobbit, his longtime personal manager and friend, Brown had been struggling with a noisy cough since returning from a November trip to Europe. Yet, Bobbit said, the singer had a history of never complaining about being sick and often performed while ill. Although Brown had to cancel upcoming concerts in Waterbury, Connecticut, and Englewood, New Jersey, he was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time for his scheduled New Year's Eve shows at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey and the B. B. King Blues Club in New York, in addition to performing a song live on CNN for the Anderson Cooper New Year's Eve special. Brown remained hospitalized, however, and his condition worsened throughout the day.
Death
On Christmas Day 2006, Brown died at approximately 1:45 a.m. EST (06:45 UTC), at age 73, from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia. Bobbit was at his bedside and later reported that Brown stuttered, "I'm going away tonight", then took three long, quiet breaths and fell asleep before dying.
In 2019, an investigation by CNN and other journalists led to suggestions that Brown had been murdered.
Memorial services
After Brown's death, his relatives, a host of celebrities, and thousands of fans gathered, on December 28, 2006, for a public memorial service at the Apollo Theater in New York City and, on December 30, 2006, at the James Brown Arena in Augusta, Georgia. A separate, private ceremony was held in North Augusta, South Carolina, on December 29, 2006, with Brown's family in attendance. Celebrities at these various memorial events included Michael Jackson, Jimmy Cliff, Joe Frazier, Buddy Guy, Ice Cube, Ludacris, Dr. Dre, Little Richard, Dick Gregory, MC Hammer, Prince, Jesse Jackson, Ice-T, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bootsy Collins, LL Cool J, Lil Wayne, Lenny Kravitz, 50 Cent, Stevie Wonder, and Don King. Rev. Al Sharpton officiated at all of Brown's public and private memorial services.
Brown's memorial ceremonies were all elaborate, complete with costume changes for the deceased and videos featuring him in concert. His body, placed in a Promethean casket—bronze polished to a golden shine—was driven through the streets of New York to the Apollo Theater in a white, glass-encased horse-drawn carriage. In Augusta, Georgia, his memorial procession stopped to pay respects at his statue, en route to the James Brown Arena. During the public memorial there, a video showed Brown's last performance in Augusta, Georgia, with the Ray Charles version of "Georgia on My Mind" playing soulfully in the background. His last backup band, The Soul Generals, also played some of his hits during that tribute at the arena. The group was joined by Bootsy Collins on bass, with MC Hammer performing a dance in James Brown style. Former Temptations lead singer Ali-Ollie Woodson performed "Walk Around Heaven All Day" at the memorial services.
Last will and testament
Brown signed his last will and testament on August 1, 2000, before J. Strom Thurmond Jr., an attorney for the estate. The irrevocable trust, separate and apart from Brown's will, was created on his behalf, that same year, by his attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, one of three personal representatives of Brown's estate. His will covered the disposition of his personal assets, such as clothing, cars, and jewelry, while the irrevocable trust covered the disposition of the music rights, business assets of James Brown Enterprises, and his Beech Island, South Carolina estate.
During the reading of the will on January 11, 2007, Thurmond revealed that Brown's six adult living children (Terry Brown, Larry Brown, Daryl Brown, Yamma Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas and Venisha Brown) were named in the document, while Hynie and James II were not mentioned as heirs. Brown's will had been signed 10 months before James II was born and more than a year before Brown's marriage to Tomi Rae Hynie. Like Brown's will, his irrevocable trust omitted Hynie and James II as recipients of Brown's property. The irrevocable trust had also been established before, and not amended since, the birth of James II.
On January 24, 2007, Brown's children filed a lawsuit, petitioning the court to remove the personal representatives from the estate (including Brown's attorney, as well as trustee Albert "Buddy" Dallas) and appoint a special administrator because of perceived impropriety and alleged mismanagement of Brown's assets. On January 31, 2007, Hynie also filed a lawsuit against Brown's estate, challenging the validity of the will and the irrevocable trust. Hynie's suit asked the court both to recognize her as Brown's widow and to appoint a special administrator for the estate.
On January 27, 2015, Judge Doyet Early III ruled that Tomi Rae Hynie Brown was officially the widow of James Brown. The decision was based on the grounds that Hynie's previous marriage was invalid and that James Brown had abandoned his efforts to annul his own marriage to Hynie.
On February 19, 2015, the South Carolina Supreme Court intervened, halting all lower court actions in the estate and undertaking to review previous actions itself. The South Carolina Court of Appeals in July 2018 ruled that Hynie was, in fact, Mr. Brown's wife. In 2020, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that Hynie had not been legally married to Brown and did not have a right to his estate. It was reported in July 2021 that Brown's family had reached a settlement ending the 15-year battle over the estate.
Legacy
Brown received awards and honors throughout his lifetime and after his death. In 1993 the City Council of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, conducted a poll of residents to choose a new name for the bridge that crossed the Yampa River on Shield Drive. The winning name, with 7,717 votes, was "James Brown Soul Center of the Universe Bridge". The bridge was officially dedicated in September 1993, and Brown appeared at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the event. A petition was started by local ranchers to return the name to "Stockbridge" for historical reasons, but they backed off after citizens defeated their efforts because of the popularity of Brown's name. Brown returned to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, on July 4, 2002, for an outdoor festival, performing with bands such as The String Cheese Incident.
During his long career, Brown received many prestigious music industry awards and honors. In 1983 he was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. Brown was one of the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction dinner in New York on January 23, 1986. At that time, the members of his original vocal group, The Famous Flames (Bobby Byrd, Johnny Terry, Bobby Bennett, and Lloyd Stallworth) were not inducted. However, on April 14, 2012, The Famous Flames were automatically and retroactively inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Brown, without the need for nomination and voting, on the basis that they should have been inducted with him in 1986. On February 25, 1992, Brown was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 34th annual Grammy Awards. Exactly a year later, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 4th annual Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Awards. A ceremony was held for Brown on January 10, 1997, to honor him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
On June 15, 2000, Brown was honored as an inductee to the New York Songwriters Hall of Fame. On August 6, 2002, he was honored as the first BMI Urban Icon at the BMI Urban Awards. His BMI accolades include an impressive ten R&B Awards and six Pop Awards. On November 14, 2006, Brown was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, and he was one of several inductees to perform at the ceremony. In recognition of his accomplishments as an entertainer, Brown was a recipient of Kennedy Center Honors on December 7, 2003. In 2004 Rolling Stone magazine ranked James Brown as No. 7 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In an article for Rolling Stone, critic Robert Christgau cited Brown as "the greatest musician of the rock era". He appeared on the BET Awards June 24, 2003, and received the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Michael Jackson, and performed with him. In 2004, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Aretha Franklin.
Brown was also honored in his hometown of Augusta, Georgia, for his philanthropy and civic activities. On November 20, 1993, Mayor Charles DeVaney of Augusta held a ceremony to dedicate a section of 9th Street between Broad and Twiggs Streets, renamed "James Brown Boulevard", in the entertainer's honor. On May 6, 2005, as a 72nd birthday present for Brown, the city of Augusta unveiled a life-sized bronze James Brown statue on Broad Street. The statue was to have been dedicated a year earlier, but the ceremony was put on hold because of a domestic abuse charge that Brown faced at the time. In 2005, Charles "Champ" Walker and the We Feel Good Committee went before the County commission and received approval to change Augusta's slogan to "We Feel Good". Afterward, officials renamed the city's civic center the James Brown Arena, and James Brown attended a ceremony for the unveiling of the namesake center on October 15, 2006.
On December 30, 2006, during the public memorial service at the James Brown Arena, Dr. Shirley A.R. Lewis, president of Paine College, a historically black college in Augusta, Georgia, bestowed posthumously upon Brown an honorary doctorate in recognition and honor of his many contributions to the school in its times of need. Brown had originally been scheduled to receive the honorary doctorate from Paine College during its May 2007 commencement.
During the 49th Annual Grammy Awards presentation on February 11, 2007, James Brown's famous cape was draped over a microphone by Danny Ray at the end of a montage in honor of notable people in the music industry who died during the previous year. Earlier that evening, Christina Aguilera delivered an impassioned performance of Brown's hit "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" followed by a standing ovation, while Chris Brown performed a dance routine in honor of James Brown.
On August 17, 2013, the official R&B Music Hall of Fame honored and inducted James Brown at a ceremony held at the Waetjen Auditorium at Cleveland State University.
ART THE BOX began in early 2015 as a collaboration between three organizations: the City of Augusta, the Downtown Development Authority and the Greater Augusta Arts Council. 19 local artists were selected by a committee to create art on 23 local traffic signal control cabinets (TSCCs). A competition was held to create the James Brown Tribute Box on the corner of James Brown Blvd. (9th Ave.) and Broad St. This box was designed and painted by local artist, Ms. Robbie Pitts Bellamy and has become a favorite photo opportunity to visitors and locals in Augusta, Georgia.
"I have a lot of musical heroes but I think James Brown is at the top of the list", remarked Public Enemy's Chuck D. "Absolutely the funkiest man on Earth ... In a black household, James Brown is part of the fabric – Motown, Stax, Atlantic and James Brown."
Tributes
As a tribute to James Brown, the Rolling Stones covered the song, "I'll Go Crazy" from Brown's Live at the Apollo album, during their 2007 European tour. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has remarked, "He [James Brown] was almost a musical genre in his own right and he changed and moved forward the whole time so people were able to learn from him."
On December 22, 2007, the first annual "Tribute Fit For the King of King Records" in honor of James Brown was held at the Madison Theater in Covington, Kentucky. The tribute, organized by Bootsy Collins, featured Tony Wilson as Young James Brown with appearances by Afrika Bambaataa, Chuck D of Public Enemy, The Soul Generals, Buckethead, Freekbass, Triage and many of Brown's surviving family members. Comedian Michael Coyer was the MC for the event. During the show, the mayor of Cincinnati proclaimed December 22 as James Brown Day.
As of September 2021, a significant collection of James Brown clothing, memorabilia, and personal artifacts are on exhibit in downtown Augusta, Georgia at the Augusta History Museum.
Discography
Studio albums
Please Please Please (1958)
Try Me! (1959)
Think! (1960)
The Amazing James Brown (1961)
James Brown and His Famous Flames Tour the U.S.A. (1962)
Prisoner of Love (1963)
Grits & Soul (1964)
Showtime (1964)
Out of Sight (1964)
James Brown Plays James Brown Today & Yesterday (1965)
Mighty Instrumentals (1966)
James Brown Plays New Breed (The Boo-Ga-Loo) (1966)
James Brown Sings Christmas Songs (1966)
Handful of Soul (1966)
James Brown Sings Raw Soul (1967)
James Brown Plays the Real Thing (1967)
Cold Sweat (1967)
I Can't Stand Myself When You Touch Me (1968)
I Got the Feelin' (1968)
James Brown Plays Nothing But Soul (1968)
Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things (1968)
A Soulful Christmas (1968)
Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud (1969)
Gettin' Down to It (1969)
The Popcorn (1969)
It's a Mother (1969)
Ain't It Funky (1970)
Soul on Top (1970)
It's a New Day – Let a Man Come In (1970)
Hey America (1970)
Sho Is Funky Down Here (1971)
Hot Pants (1971)
There It Is (1972)
Get on the Good Foot (1972)
Black Caesar (1973)
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973)
The Payback (1973)
Hell (1974)
Reality (1974)
Sex Machine Today (1975)
Everybody's Doin' the Hustle & Dead on the Double Bump (1975)
Hot (1976)
Get Up Offa That Thing (1976)
Bodyheat (1976)
Mutha's Nature (1977)
Jam 1980's (1978)
Take a Look at Those Cakes (1978)
The Original Disco Man (1979)
People (1980)
Soul Syndrome (1980)
Nonstop! (1981)
Bring It On! (1983)
Gravity (1986)
I'm Real (1988)
Love Over-Due (1991)
Universal James (1992)
I'm Back (1998)
The Merry Christmas Album (1999)
The Next Step (2002)
Filmography
The T.A.M.I. Show (1964) (concert film)- with The Famous Flames
Ski Party (1965)- with The Famous Flames
James Brown: Man to Man (1968) (concert film)
The Phynx (1970)
Black Caesar (1973) (soundtrack only)
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973) (soundtrack only)
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Doctor Detroit (1983)
Rocky IV (1985)
Miami Vice (1987)
James Brown: Live in East Berlin (1989)
The Simpsons (1993)
When We Were Kings (1996) (documentary)
Duckman (1997)
Soulmates (1997)
Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
Holy Man (1998)
Undercover Brother (2002)
The Tuxedo (2002)
The Hire: Beat the Devil (2002) (short film)
Paper Chasers (2003) (documentary)
Soul Survivor (2003) (documentary)
Sid Bernstein Presents ... (2005) (documentary)
Glastonbury (2006) (documentary)
Life on the Road with Mr. and Mrs. Brown (2007) (documentary; release pending)
Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968 (2008) (concert film)
I Got The Feelin': James Brown in the '60s, three-DVD set featuring Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968, Live at the Apollo '68 [DVD version of James Brown: Man to Man], and the documentary The Night James Brown Saved Boston
Soul Power (2009) (documentary)
Get on Up (2014)
Biopics
Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown (2014), released in April 2014, written and directed by Alex Gibney, produced by Mick Jagger.
Get on Up (2014), released in theaters on August 1, 2014. Chadwick Boseman plays the role of James Brown in the film. Originally, Mick Jagger and Brian Grazer had begun producing a documentary film on Brown in 2013. A fiction film had been in the planning stages for many years and was revived when Jagger read the script by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth.
In other media
Games
In the video game World of Warcraft, the first boss character of the Forge of Souls dungeon is Bronjahm, "the Godfather of Souls". His quotes during the fight are musical references, and he has a chance of dropping an item called "Papa's Brand New Bag".
Television
As himself (voice) in the 1993 The Simpsons episode "Bart's Inner Child".
In 1991, Brown did a Pay Per View Special with top celebrities such as Quincy Jones, Rick James, Dan Aykroyd, Gladys Knight, Denzel Washington, MC Hammer and others attended or were opening acts. This was produced with boxing promoter Buddy Dallas. 15.5 million households tuned in at a cost $19.99.
In 2002, Brown starred in the Jackie Chan movie The Tuxedo as himself
See also
Progressive soul
References
Footnotes
Sources
Further reading
Danielsen, Anne (2006). Presence and pleasure: The funk grooves of James Brown and Parliament. Wesleyan University Press.
George, Nelson, and Leeds, Alan (editors). (2008). The James Brown Reader: 50 Years of Writing about the Godfather of Soul. New York: Plume.
Lethem, J. (June 12, 2006). "Being James Brown", Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved January 14, 2007.
McBride, James (2016) Kill 'Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul. New York: Spiegel & Grau
Sullivan, James. (2008). The Hardest Working Man: How James Brown Saved The Soul Of America. New York: Gotham Books.
Sussman, M. (producer). (December 25, 2006). Arts: Soul classics by James Brown (multimedia presentation). The New York Times. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
Wesley, Fred. (2002). Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Sideman. Durham: Duke University Press.
Whitney, Marva and Waring, Charles. (2013) God, The Devil & James Brown:(Memoirs of a Funky Diva). New Romney: Bank House Books
External links
1933 births
2006 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American composers
21st-century American singers
Activists for African-American civil rights
African-American composers
African-American male composers
African-American male dancers
African-American male singers
African-American record producers
African-American rock musicians
African-American songwriters
American expatriates in Nigeria
American expatriates in Zambia
American funk keyboardists
American funk singers
American male composers
American male dancers
American male organists
American male singers
American multi-instrumentalists
American people convicted of assault
American people convicted of drug offenses
American people convicted of robbery
American people of Chinese descent
American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent
American rhythm and blues singers
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American robbers
American soul keyboardists
American soul singers
American tenors
Black conservatism in the United States
Burials in South Carolina
Deaths from pneumonia in Georgia (U.S. state)
Education activists
Federal Records artists
Grammy Award winners
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
James Brown Orchestra members
Kennedy Center honorees
King Records artists
Musicians from Atlanta
Musicians from Augusta, Georgia
People from Barnwell, South Carolina
People from Beech Island, South Carolina
People from Toccoa, Georgia
Polydor Records artists
Recipients of American gubernatorial pardons
Record producers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Record producers from South Carolina
Scotti Brothers Records artists
Sexual assaults in the United States
Singers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Singers from South Carolina
Smash Records artists
The J.B.'s members
The Famous Flames members | true | [
"The Buffet family was a family of French musical instrument makers.\n\nDenis Buffet-Auger\n\nDenis Buffet-Auger, born Denis Buffet, was born 28 July 1783 in La Couture, near Dreux into a family of woodturners. He became known as Buffet-Auger after his marriage to Marie-Anne Auger. In 1825 he set up a workshop in Paris making instruments, a business that was to become the Buffet Crampon company, still in operation and one of the foremost manufacturers of woodwind instruments. Jean Louis Buffet was his son. Denis Buffet-Auger died on 24 Sep 1841 in Paris.\n\nAuguste Buffet jeune\n\nAuguste Buffet jeune (full name Louis-Auguste Buffet) was born 6 August 1789 in La Couture, a younger brother of Denis Buffet-Auger. Auguste was making musical instruments in La Couture by 1813, but by 1830 had moved his workshop to Paris. In the 1830s he designed and built two new bass clarinets, developed an improved Boehm system flute (with flutist Victor Coche), and, with H.E. Klosé, invented the so-called Boehm system clarinet, the system still most commonly in use outside of Germany, Austria, and Russia for clarinets. In the early 1840s, with P.J.R. Soler, he developed a Boehm system oboe; this, however, was less successful. Louis-Auguste Buffet was his son. Auguste Buffet jeune died on 30 Sep 1864 in Anet.\n\nJean Louis Buffet\nJean Louis Buffet, also known as Jean Louis Buffet-Crampon, was born 18 July 1813 in La Couture, son of Denis Buffet-Auger. By about 1830 he had begun to work at the musical instrument manufacturing firm established by his father, and at the latter's death in 1841 he took over the company. Buffet married Zoë Crampon in 1836, and by 1844 his firm was known as Buffet Crampon. He died in Paris on 17 April 1865.\n\nLouis Auguste Buffet\nLouis Auguste Buffet was born 15 July 1816 in Anet, son of Auguste Buffet jeune. By 1845 Auguste (as Louis Auguste called himself) was working in his father's workshop in Paris. Between 1859 and 1862 he was awarded several patents relating to woodwind instrument making, and in 1864, when his father died, he took over operation of the business. He died on 7 April 1884 in Paris.\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\nAnthony Béthune, William McBride. \"Buffet-Auger, Denis\", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed November 18, 2006), grovemusic.com (subscription access).\nAnthony Béthune, William McBride. \"Buffet-Crampon\", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed November 18, 2006), grovemusic.com (subscription access).\nAnthony Béthune, William McBride. \"Buffet, Louis Auguste [jeune]\", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed November 18, 2006), grovemusic.com (subscription access).\n\nFrench musical instrument makers\nClarinet makers",
"The murder of Jermaine Goupall occurred in South London on the evening of 8 August 2017. Jermaine, a 15-year-old student at St. Joseph's College, was stabbed by a group of teenagers as part of a premeditated attack. This was one of the most prominent cases linking knife crime to Drill music, as it is believed that his death was foreshadowed in a drill music video.\n\nBackground \nAspiring architect Jermaine Goupall, 15, was a student at St. Joseph's College and attended Saturday school at Croydon Supplementary Education Project.\n\nAfter an evening with friends at a cinema in the summer holidays, the group were ambushed by masked thugs armed with knives in the Thornton Heath area.\n\nJermaine was stabbed seven times and the fatal wound being to his femoral artery to his right thigh. Despite best efforts from bystanders and emergency services, Jermaine bled to death and was pronounced dead at the scene, Jermaine was less than 100 yards from his home.\n[NK1]\n\nTrial \nOn 8 January 2018 the trial for Jermaine's murder took place at the Old Bailey. Four out of the five youths were convicted on 14 February 2018, resulting in three of the offenders being sentenced to a total of 72 years for premeditated murder.[1]r.\n\nAdam Benzahi, 21, Samuel Oliver-Rowland, 18, Junior Simpson, 17 were found guilty of murder. Saskia Haye-Elliot,18 was found guilty of manslaughter.\n\nOn the first day of the trial, the court was told by Mukul Chawla QC (Jermaine's Barrister) that Haye-Elliot says she thought they were going to \"annoy or irate\" members of the CR7 gang by videoing them for Snapchat and or YouTube. Though Jermaine was not a member of the CR7 gang he sadly was caught by the offenders based on an assumption because he lived in the area. Haye-Elliot and Simpson both accept they were in the Ford Focus car that was driven to the scene on the night of Jermaine's death.\n\nDuring the trial Simpson said he was not aware that anyone was hurt until the three other passengers in the car returned. He also denied knowledge stating he was unaware of any knives, masks or balaclavas being in the car, as the prosecution alleges.\n\nThe court heard how Simpson has a previous conviction of possessing a knife, in 2015, to which he pleaded guilty.\n\nCroydon Advertiser and BBC News reported heavily on Jermaine's case throughout. Croydon Advertiser, spoke to the Goupall family after perpetrators were convicted.\n\nJermaine was unknown to the offenders and during the court trial, all of the offenders stated that they never knew who he was and never had an issue with him. Extensive detail on what happened to Jermaine that fatal night was highlighted in court, brining to light that they were out to catch anyone they thought and believed to be in the opposing gang.\n\nAftermath \nJermaine Goupall's case has been influential because it was one of the first cases to highlight YouTube and Drill music as evidence for a murder. After, Jermaine's trial the director of public prosecutions, Max Hill stated that \"Violent social media posts must be used by prosecutors to crackdown on gangs.\" His death has been a point of reference highlighting bans and sanctions from making music which may initiate a threat of violence. Notably the music group, 1011 were banned from making music.\n\nJermaine's death featured on episode 5 of the Channel 5 show Gangland, a show that exposes the violent world of London's violent gangs and how children are being recruited into gangs that plague the capital's streets. Another documentary which highlighted Jermaine's murder was the Channel 5 Star series 'When Teens Kill'. As well as this, Jermaine's death had made two BBC documentaries on 1 May 2018 - \"How a drill music video foreshadowed a murder\" & 26 September 2018 - \"London knife crime: Who was Jermaine Goupall?\". In 2019, Who was Jermaine Goupall, BBC video was nominated for an award at the BBC Awards Ceremony.\n\nIn April 2018, there was backlash from the Goupall family because the YouTube videos were still available on-line.\n\nOn 29 May 2018, it was announced on the BBC's news outlet that YouTube had removed more than 30 Drill music video's, following the conversations with the Metropolitan Police, The police have also referenced short clips about Jermaine from BBC videos.\n \nIn October 2019, Stanley Goupall was invited on the Victoria Derbyshire Show along with other men who had lost loved ones to knife crime, which included a short documentary \"Men who lost loved ones to knife crime\" which was up for a BAFA award in July 2020. Which left such a powerful impact on others.\n\nJermaine's death gained worldwide attention and opened conversation on the impact of drill music as well as the increase of knife crime across the London.\n\nReferences \n\n2001 births\n2017 deaths\nDeaths by stabbing in London\nAugust 2017 crimes in Europe\n2017 murders in the United Kingdom"
]
|
[
"James Brown",
"Death",
"When was his death?",
"On Christmas Day, 2006,",
"What was the cause of death?",
"from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia.",
"Was he still making music up to his death?",
"he was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time for his scheduled New Year's Eve shows"
]
| C_185d6e4eab0446b1aa68bcc9a108fa5d_0 | What was the funeral like? | 4 | What was James Brown's funeral like? | James Brown | On December 23, 2006, Brown became very ill and arrived at his dentist's office in Atlanta, Georgia, several hours late. His appointment was for dental implant work. During that visit, Brown's dentist observed that he looked "very bad... weak and dazed." Instead of performing the work, the dentist advised Brown to see a doctor right away about his medical condition. Brown went to the Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital the next day for medical evaluation and was admitted for observation and treatment. According to Charles Bobbit, his longtime personal manager and friend, Brown had been struggling with a noisy cough since returning from a November trip to Europe. Yet, Bobbit said, the singer had a history of never complaining about being sick and often performed while ill. Although Brown had to cancel upcoming concerts in Waterbury, Connecticut, and Englewood, New Jersey, he was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time for his scheduled New Year's Eve shows at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey and the B. B. King Blues Club in New York, in addition to performing a song live on CNN for the Anderson Cooper New Year's Eve special. Brown remained hospitalized, however, and his condition worsened throughout the day. On Christmas Day, 2006, Brown died at approximately 1:45 am EST (06:45 UTC), at age 73, from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia. Bobbit was at his bedside and later reported that Brown stuttered, "I'm going away tonight," then took three long, quiet breaths and fell asleep before dying. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer, and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honorific nicknames "Godfather of Soul", "Mr. Dynamite", and "Soul Brother No. 1". In a career that lasted more than 50 years, he influenced the development of several music genres. Brown was one of the first 10 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction in New York on January 23, 1986.
Brown began his career as a gospel singer in Toccoa, Georgia. He first came to national public attention in the mid-1950s as the lead singer of the Famous Flames, a rhythm and blues vocal group founded by Bobby Byrd. With the hit ballads "Please, Please, Please" and "Try Me", Brown built a reputation as a dynamic live performer with the Famous Flames and his backing band, sometimes known as the James Brown Band or the James Brown Orchestra. His success peaked in the 1960s with the live album Live at the Apollo and hit singles such as "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "It's a Man's Man's Man's World".
During the late 1960s, Brown moved from a continuum of blues and gospel-based forms and styles to a profoundly "Africanized" approach to music-making, emphasizing stripped-down interlocking rhythms that influenced the development of funk music. By the early 1970s, Brown had fully established the funk sound after the formation of the J.B.s with records such as "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" and "The Payback". He also became noted for songs of social commentary, including the 1968 hit "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud". Brown continued to perform and record until his death from pneumonia in 2006.
Brown recorded 17 singles that reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts. He also holds the record for the most singles listed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that did not reach No. 1. Brown was inducted into the first class of the Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013 as an artist and then in 2017 as a songwriter. He also received honors from several other institutions, including inductions into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In Joel Whitburn's analysis of the Billboard R&B charts from 1942 to 2010, Brown is ranked No. 1 in The Top 500 Artists. He is ranked seventh on Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Early life
Brown was born on May 3, 1933, in Barnwell, South Carolina, to 16-year-old Susie (née Behling; 1916–2004) and 21-year-old Joseph Gardner Brown (1912–1993) in a small wooden shack. Brown's name was supposed to have been Joseph James Brown, but his first and middle names were mistakenly reversed on his birth certificate. In his autobiography, Brown stated that he had Chinese and Native American ancestry and that his father was of mixed African-American and Native American descent, while his mother was of mixed African-American and Asian descent.
The Brown family lived in extreme poverty in Elko, South Carolina, which was an impoverished town at the time. They later moved to Augusta, Georgia, when James was four or five. His family first settled at one of his aunts' brothels. They later moved into a house shared with another aunt. Brown's mother eventually left the family after a contentious and abusive marriage and moved to New York. Brown spent long stretches of time on his own, hanging out in the streets and hustling to get by. He managed to stay in school until the sixth grade.
He began singing in talent shows as a young child, first appearing at Augusta's Lenox Theater in 1944, winning the show after singing the ballad "So Long". While in Augusta, Brown performed buck dances for change to entertain troops from Camp Gordon at the start of World War II as their convoys traveled over a canal bridge near his aunt's home. He learned to play the piano, guitar, and harmonica during this period. He became inspired to become an entertainer after hearing "Caldonia" by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five. In his teen years, Brown briefly had a career as a boxer.
At the age of 16, he was convicted of robbery and sent to a juvenile detention center in Toccoa. There, he formed a gospel quartet with four fellow cellmates, including Johnny Terry. Brown met singer Bobby Byrd when the two played against each other in a baseball game outside the detention center. Byrd also discovered that Brown could sing after hearing of "a guy called Music Box", which was Brown's musical nickname at the prison. Byrd has since claimed he and his family helped to secure an early release, which led to Brown promising the court he would "sing for the Lord". Brown was released on a work sponsorship with Toccoa business owner S.C. Lawson. Lawson was impressed with Brown's work ethic and secured his release with a promise to keep him employed for two years. Brown was paroled on June 14, 1952. Brown went on to work with both of Lawson's sons, and would come back to visit the family from time to time throughout his career. Shortly after being paroled he joined the gospel group the Ever-Ready Gospel Singers, featuring Byrd's sister Sarah.
Music career
1953–1961: The Famous Flames
Brown eventually joined Bobby Byrd's group in 1954. The group had evolved from the Gospel Starlighters, an a cappella gospel group, to an R&B group with the name the Avons. He reputedly joined the band after one of its members, Troy Collins, died in a car crash. Along with Brown and Byrd, the group consisted of Sylvester Keels, Doyle Oglesby, Fred Pulliam, Nash Knox and Nafloyd Scott. Influenced by R&B groups such as Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, the Orioles and Billy Ward and his Dominoes, the group changed its name, first to the Toccoa Band and then to the Flames. Nafloyd's brother Baroy later joined the group on bass guitar, and Brown, Byrd and Keels switched lead positions and instruments, often playing drums and piano. Johnny Terry later joined, by which time Pulliam and Oglesby had long left. one of his 10 children commited suicide.
Berry Trimier became the group's first manager, booking them at parties near college campuses in Georgia and South Carolina. The group had already gained a reputation as a good live act when they renamed themselves the Famous Flames. In 1955, the group had contacted Little Richard while performing in Macon. Richard convinced the group to get in contact with his manager at the time, Clint Brantley, at his nightclub. Brantley agreed to manage them after seeing the group audition. He then sent them to a local radio station to record a demo session, where they performed their own composition "Please, Please, Please", which was inspired when Little Richard wrote the words of the title on a napkin and Brown was determined to make a song out of it. The Famous Flames eventually signed with King Records' Federal subsidiary in Cincinnati, Ohio, and issued a re-recorded version of "Please, Please, Please" in March 1956. The song became the group's first R&B hit, selling over a million copies. None of their follow-ups gained similar success. By 1957, Brown had replaced Clint Brantley as manager and hired Ben Bart, chief of Universal Attractions Agency. That year the original Flames broke up, after Bart changed the name of the group to "James Brown and The Famous Flames".
In October 1958, Brown released the ballad "Try Me", which hit number one on the R&B chart in the beginning of 1959, becoming the first of seventeen chart-topping R&B hits. Shortly afterwards, he recruited his first band, led by J. C. Davis, and reunited with Bobby Byrd who joined a revived Famous Flames lineup that included Eugene "Baby" Lloyd Stallworth and Bobby Bennett, with Johnny Terry sometimes coming in as the "fifth Flame". Brown, the Flames, and his entire band debuted at the Apollo Theater on April 24, 1959, opening for Brown's idol, Little Willie John. Federal Records issued two albums credited to Brown and the Famous Flames (both contained previously released singles). By 1960, Brown began multi-tasking in the recording studio involving himself, his singing group, the Famous Flames, and his band, a separate entity from The Flames, sometimes named the James Brown Orchestra or the James Brown Band. That year the band released the top ten R&B hit "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes" on Dade Records, owned by Henry Stone, billed under the pseudonym "Nat Kendrick & the Swans" due to label issues. As a result of its success, King president Syd Nathan shifted Brown's contract from Federal to the parent label, King, which according to Brown in his autobiography meant "you got more support from the company". While with King, Brown, under the Famous Flames lineup, released the hit-filled album Think! and the following year released two albums with the James Brown Band earning second billing. With the Famous Flames, Brown sang lead on several more hits, including"Bewildered", "I'll Go Crazy" and "Think", songs that hinted at his emerging style.
1962–1966: Mr. Dynamite
In 1962, Brown and his band scored a hit with their cover of the instrumental "Night Train", becoming a top five R&B single. That same year, the ballads "Lost Someone" and "Baby You're Right", the latter a Joe Tex composition, added to his repertoire and increased his reputation with R&B audiences. On October 24, 1962, Brown financed a live recording of a performance at the Apollo and convinced Syd Nathan to release the album, despite Nathan's belief that no one would buy a live album due to the fact that Brown's singles had already been bought and that live albums were usually bad sellers.
Live at the Apollo was released the following June and became an immediate hit, eventually reaching number two on the Top LPs chart and selling over a million copies, staying on the charts for 14 months. In 1963, Brown scored his first top 20 pop hit with his rendition of the standard "Prisoner of Love". He also launched his first label, Try Me Records, which included recordings by the likes of Tammy Montgomery (later to be famous as Tammi Terrell), Johnny & Bill (Famous Flames associates Johnny Terry and Bill Hollings) and the Poets, which was another name used for Brown's backing band. During this time Brown began an ill-fated two-year relationship with 17-year-old Tammi Terrell when she sang in his revue. Terrell ended their personal and professional relationship because of his abusive behavior.
In 1964, seeking bigger commercial success, Brown and Bobby Byrd formed the production company, Fair Deal, linking the operation to the Mercury imprint, Smash Records. King Records, however, fought against this and was granted an injunction preventing Brown from releasing any recordings for the label. Prior to the injunction, Brown had released three vocal singles, including the blues-oriented hit "Out of Sight", which further indicated the direction his music was going to take. Touring throughout the year, Brown and the Famous Flames grabbed more national attention after giving an explosive show-stopping performance on the live concert film The T.A.M.I. Show. The Flames' dynamic gospel-tinged vocals, polished choreography and timing as well as Brown's energetic dance moves and high-octane singing upstaged the proposed closing act, the Rolling Stones.
Having signed a new deal with King, Brown released his song "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" in 1965, which became his first top ten pop hit and won him his first Grammy Award. Brown also signed a production deal with Loma Records. Later in 1965, he issued "I Got You", which became his second single in a row to reach number-one on the R&B chart and top ten on the pop chart. Brown followed that up with the ballad "It's a Man's Man's Man's World", a third Top 10 Pop hit (No. 1 R&B) which confirmed his stance as a top-ranking performer, especially with R&B audiences from that point on.
1967–1970: Soul Brother No. 1
By 1967, Brown's emerging sound had begun to be defined as funk music. That year he released what some critics cited as the first true funk song, "Cold Sweat", which hit number-one on the R&B chart (Top 10 Pop) and became one of his first recordings to contain a drum break and also the first that featured a harmony that was reduced to a single chord. The instrumental arrangements on tracks such as "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" and "Licking Stick-Licking Stick" (both recorded in 1968) and "Funky Drummer" (recorded in 1969) featured a more developed version of Brown's mid-1960s style, with the horn section, guitars, bass and drums meshed together in intricate rhythmic patterns based on multiple interlocking riffs.
Changes in Brown's style that started with "Cold Sweat" also established the musical foundation for Brown's later hits, such as "I Got the Feelin'" (1968) and "Mother Popcorn" (1969). By this time Brown's vocals frequently took the form of a kind of rhythmic declamation, not quite sung but not quite spoken, that only intermittently featured traces of pitch or melody. This would become a major influence on the techniques of rapping, which would come to maturity along with hip hop music in the coming decades. Brown's style of funk in the late 1960s was based on interlocking syncopated parts: strutting bass lines, syncopated drum patterns, and iconic percussive guitar riffs. The main guitar ostinatos for "Ain't It Funky" and "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" (both 1969), are examples of Brown's refinement of New Orleans funk; irresistibly danceable riffs, stripped down to their rhythmic essence. On both recordings the tonal structure is bare bones. The pattern of attack-points is the emphasis, not the pattern of pitches, as if the guitar were an African drum, or idiophone. Alexander Stewart states that this popular feel was passed along from "New Orleans—through James Brown's music, to the popular music of the 1970s". Those same tracks were later resurrected by countless hip-hop musicians from the 1970s onward. As a result, James Brown remains to this day the world's most sampled recording artist, but, two tracks that he wrote, are also synonymous with modern dance, especially with house music, jungle music, and drum and bass music, (which were sped up exponentially, in the latter two genres).
"Bring it Up" has an Afro-Cuban guajeo-like structure. All three of these guitar riffs are based on an onbeat/offbeat structure. Stewart says that it "is different from a time line (such as clave and tresillo) in that it is not an exact pattern, but more of a loose organizing principle."
It was around this time as the musician's popularity increased that he acquired the nickname "Soul Brother No. 1", after failing to win the title "King of Soul" from Solomon Burke during a Chicago gig two years prior. Brown's recordings during this period influenced musicians across the industry, most notably groups such as Sly and the Family Stone, Funkadelic, Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Booker T. & the M.G.s as well as vocalists such as Edwin Starr, David Ruffin and Dennis Edwards from The Temptations, and Michael Jackson, who, throughout his career, cited Brown as his ultimate idol.
Brown's band during this period employed musicians and arrangers who had come up through the jazz tradition. He was noted for his ability as a bandleader and songwriter to blend the simplicity and drive of R&B with the rhythmic complexity and precision of jazz. Trumpeter Lewis Hamlin and saxophonist/keyboardist Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis (the successor to previous bandleader Nat Jones) led the band. Guitarist Jimmy Nolen provided percussive, deceptively simple riffs for each song, and Maceo Parker's prominent saxophone solos provided a focal point for many performances. Other members of Brown's band included stalwart Famous Flames singer and sideman Bobby Byrd, trombonist Fred Wesley, drummers John "Jabo" Starks, Clyde Stubblefield and Melvin Parker, saxophonist St. Clair Pinckney, guitarist Alphonso "Country" Kellum and bassist Bernard Odum.
In addition to a torrent of singles and studio albums, Brown's output during this period included two more successful live albums, Live at the Garden (1967) and Live at the Apollo, Volume II (1968), and a 1968 television special, James Brown: Man to Man. His music empire expanded along with his influence on the music scene. As Brown's music empire grew, his desire for financial and artistic independence grew as well. Brown bought radio stations during the late 1960s, including WRDW in his native Augusta, where he shined shoes as a boy. In November 1967, James Brown purchased radio station WGYW in Knoxville, Tennessee, for a reported $75,000, according to the January 20, 1968 Record World magazine. The call letters were changed to WJBE reflecting his initials. WJBE began on January 15, 1968, and broadcast a Rhythm & Blues format. The station slogan was "WJBE 1430 Raw Soul". Brown also bought WEBB in Baltimore in 1970.
Brown branched out to make several recordings with musicians outside his own band. In an attempt to appeal to the older, more affluent, and predominantly white adult contemporary audience, Brown recorded Gettin' Down To It (1969) and Soul on Top (1970)—two albums consisting mostly of romantic ballads, jazz standards, and homologous reinterpretations of his earlier hits—with the Dee Felice Trio and the Louie Bellson Orchestra. In 1968, he recorded a number of funk-oriented tracks with The Dapps, a white Cincinnati band, including the hit "I Can't Stand Myself". He also released three albums of Christmas music with his own band.
1970–1975: Godfather of Soul
In March 1970, most of Brown's mid-to-late 1960s road band walked out on him due to money disputes, a development augured by the prior disbandment of The Famous Flames singing group for the same reason in 1968. Brown and erstwhile Famous Flames singer Bobby Byrd (who chose to remain in the band during this tumultuous period) subsequently recruited several members of the Cincinnati-based The Pacemakers, which included Bootsy Collins and his brother Phelps "Catfish" Collins; augmented by the remaining members of the 1960s road band (including Fred Wesley, who rejoined Brown's outfit in December 1970) and other newer musicians, they would form the nucleus of The J.B.'s, Brown's new backing ensemble. Shortly following their first performance together, the band entered the studio to record the Brown-Byrd composition, "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine"; the song and other contemporaneous singles would further cement Brown's influence in the nascent genre of funk music. This iteration of the J.B.'s dissolved after a March 1971 European tour (documented on the 1991 archival release Love Power Peace) due to additional money disputes and Bootsy Collins' use of LSD; the Collins brothers would soon become integral members of Parliament-Funkadelic, while a new lineup of the J.B.'s coalesced around Wesley, St. Clair Pinckney and drummer John Starks.
In 1971, Brown began recording for Polydor Records which also took over distribution of Brown's King Records catalog. Many of his sidemen and supporting players, including Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s, Bobby Byrd, Lyn Collins, Vicki Anderson and former rival Hank Ballard, released records on the People label, an imprint founded by Brown that was purchased by Polydor as part of Brown's new contract. The recordings on the People label, almost all of which were produced by Brown himself, exemplified the mature flowering of his "house style". Several tracks thought by critics to be excessively sexual were released at this time. He would later soften his vocal approach. Songs such as "I Know You Got Soul" by Bobby Byrd, "Think" by Lyn Collins and "Doing It to Death" by Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s are considered as much a part of Brown's recorded legacy as the recordings released under his own name. That year, he also began touring African countries and was received well by audiences there. During the 1972 presidential election, James Brown openly proclaimed his support of Richard Nixon for reelection to the presidency over Democratic candidate George McGovern. The decision led to a boycott of his performances and, according to Brown, cost him a big portion of his black audience. As a result, Brown's record sales and concerts in the United States reached a lull in 1973 as he failed to land a number-one R&B single that year. Brown relied more on touring outside the United States where he continued to perform for sold-out crowds in cities such as London, Paris and Lausanne. That year he also faced problems with the IRS for failure to pay back taxes, charging he hadn't paid upwards of $4.5 million; five years earlier, the IRS had claimed he owed nearly $2 million.
In 1973, Brown provided the score for the blaxploitation film Black Caesar. He also recorded another soundtrack for the film, Slaughter's Big Rip-Off. Following the release of these soundtracks, Brown acquired a self-styled nickname, "The Godfather of Soul", which remains his most popular nickname. In 1974 he returned to the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts with "The Payback", with the parent album reaching the same spot on the album charts; he would reach No. 1 two more times in 1974, with "My Thang" and "Papa Don't Take No Mess". Later that year, he returned to Africa and performed in Kinshasa as part of the buildup to The Rumble in the Jungle fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Admirers of Brown's music, including Miles Davis and other jazz musicians, began to cite him as a major influence on their own styles. However, Brown, like others who were influenced by his music, also "borrowed" from other musicians. His 1976 single, "Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)" (R&B No. 31), interpolated the main riff from "Fame" by David Bowie while omitting any attribution to the latter song's composers (including Bowie, John Lennon and guitarist Carlos Alomar), not the other way around as was often believed.
"Papa Don't Take No Mess" would prove to be his final single to reach the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts and his final Top 40 pop single of the 1970s, though he continued to occasionally have Top 10 R&B recordings. Among his top ten R&B hits during this latter period included "Funky President" (R&B No. 4) and "Get Up Offa That Thing" (R&B No. 4), the latter song released in 1976 and aimed at musical rivals such as Barry White, The Ohio Players and K.C. and the Sunshine Band. Brown credited his then-wife and two of their children as writers of the song to avoid concurrent tax problems with the IRS. Starting in October 1975, Brown produced, directed, and hosted Future Shock, an Atlanta-based television variety show that ran for three years.
1975–1991: Decline and resurgence
Although his records were mainstays of the vanguard New York underground disco scene (exemplified by DJs such as David Mancuso and Francis Grasso) from 1969 onwards, Brown did not consciously yield to the trend until 1975's Sex Machine Today. By 1977, he was no longer a dominant force in R&B. After "Get Up Offa That Thing", thirteen of Brown's late 1970s recordings for Polydor failed to reach the Top 10 of the R&B chart, with only "Bodyheat" in 1976 and the disco-oriented "It's Too Funky in Here" in 1979 reaching the R&B Top 15 and the ballad "Kiss in '77" reaching the Top 20. After 1976's "Bodyheat", he also failed to appear on the Billboard Hot 100. As a result, Brown's concert attendance began dropping and his reported disputes with the IRS caused his business empire to collapse. In addition, Brown's former bandmates, including Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker and the Collins brothers, had found bigger success as members of George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic collective. The emergence of disco also stopped Brown's success on the R&B charts because its slicker, more commercial style had superseded his more raw funk productions.
By the release of 1979's The Original Disco Man, Brown was not providing much production or writing, leaving most of it to producer Brad Shapiro, resulting in the song "It's Too Funky in Here" becoming Brown's most successful single in this period. After two more albums failed to chart, Brown left Polydor in 1981. It was around this time that Brown changed the name of his band from the J.B.'s to the Soul Generals (or Soul G's). The band retained that name until his death. Despite Brown's declining record sales, promoters Gary LoConti and Jim Rissmiller helped Brown sell out a string of residency shows at the Country Club in Reseda. Brown's compromised commercial standing prevented him from charging a large live fee to the promoters for these shows. However, the great success of these shows marked a turning point for Brown's career, and soon he was back on top in Hollywood. Movies followed, starting with appearances in the feature films The Blues Brothers, Doctor Detroit and Rocky IV, as well as guest-starring in the Miami Vice episode "Missing Hours" (1987). In 1984, he teamed with rap musician Afrika Bambaataa on the song "Unity". A year later he signed with Scotti Brothers Records and issued the moderately successful album Gravity in 1986. It included Brown's final Top 10 pop hit, "Living in America", marking his first Top 40 entry since 1974 and his first Top 10 pop entry since 1968. Produced and written by Dan Hartman, it was also featured prominently on the Rocky IV film and soundtrack. Brown performed the song in the film at Apollo Creed's final fight, shot in the Ziegfeld Room at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and was credited in the film as "The Godfather of Soul". 1986 also saw the publication of his autobiography, James Brown: The Godfather of Soul, co-written with Bruce Tucker. In 1987, Brown won the Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Living in America".
In 1988, Brown worked with the production team Full Force on the new jack swing-influenced I'm Real. It spawned his final two Top 10 R&B hits, "I'm Real" and "Static", which peaked at No. 2 and No. 5, respectively, on the R&B charts. Meanwhile, the drum break from the second version of the original 1969 hit "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" (the recording included on the compilation album In the Jungle Groove) became so popular at hip hop dance parties (especially for breakdance) during the early 1980s that hip hop pioneer Kurtis Blow called the song "the national anthem of hip hop".
1991–2006: Final years
After his stint in prison during the late 1980s, Brown met Larry Fridie and Thomas Hart who produced the first James Brown biopic, entitled James Brown: The Man, the Message, the Music, released in 1992. He returned to music with the album Love Over-Due in 1991. It included the single "(So Tired of Standing Still We Got to) Move On", which peaked at No. 48 on the R&B chart. His former record label Polydor also released the four-CD box set Star Time, spanning Brown's career to date. Brown's release from prison also prompted his former record labels to reissue his albums on CD, featuring additional tracks and commentary by music critics and historians. That same year, Brown appeared on rapper MC Hammer's video for "Too Legit to Quit". Hammer had been noted, alongside Big Daddy Kane, for bringing Brown's unique stage shows and their own energetic dance moves to the hip-hop generation; both listed Brown as their idol. Both musicians also sampled his work, with Hammer having sampled the rhythms from "Super Bad" for his song "Here Comes the Hammer", from his best-selling album Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em. Big Daddy Kane sampled many times. Before the year was over, Brown–who had immediately returned to work with his band following his release–organized a pay-per-view concert following a show at Los Angeles' Wiltern Theatre, that was well received.
On June 10, 1991, James Brown and a star-filled line up performed before a crowd at the Wiltern Theatre for a live pay-per-view at-home audience. James Brown: Living in America – Live! was the brainchild of Indiana producer Danny Hubbard. It featured
M.C. Hammer as well as Bell Biv Devoe, Heavy D & the Boys, En Vogue, C+C Music Factory, Quincy Jones, Sherman Hemsley and Keenen Ivory Wayans. Ice-T, Tone Loc and Kool Moe Dee performed paying homage to Brown. This was Brown's first public performance since his parole from the South Carolina prison system in February. He had served two-and-a-half years of two concurrent six-year sentences for aggravated assault and other felonies.
Brown continued making recordings. In 1993 his album Universal James was released. It included his final Billboard charting single, "Can't Get Any Harder", which peaked at No. 76 on the US R&B chart and reached No. 59 on the UK chart. Its brief charting in the UK was probably due to the success of a remixed version of "I Feel Good" featuring Dakeyne. Brown also released the singles "How Long" and "Georgia-Lina", which failed to chart. In 1995, Brown returned to the Apollo and recorded Live at the Apollo 1995. It included a studio track titled "Respect Me", which was released as a single; again it failed to chart. Brown's final studio albums, I'm Back and The Next Step, were released in 1998 and 2002 respectively. I'm Back featured the song "Funk on Ah Roll", which peaked at No. 40 in the UK but did not chart in his native US. The Next Step included Brown's final single, "Killing Is Out, School Is In". Both albums were produced by Derrick Monk. Brown's concert success, however, remained unabated and he kept up with a grueling schedule throughout the remainder of his life, living up to his previous nickname, "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business", in spite of his advanced age. In 2003, Brown participated in the PBS American Masters television documentary James Brown: Soul Survivor, which was directed by Jeremy Marre.
Brown performed in the Super Bowl XXXI halftime show.
Brown celebrated his status as an icon by appearing in a variety of entertainment and sports events, including an appearance on the WCW pay-per-view event, SuperBrawl X, where he danced alongside wrestler Ernest "The Cat" Miller, who based his character on Brown, during his in-ring skit with The Maestro. Brown then appeared in Tony Scott's short film Beat the Devil in 2001. He was featured alongside Clive Owen, Gary Oldman, Danny Trejo and Marilyn Manson. Brown also made a cameo appearance in the 2002 Jackie Chan film The Tuxedo, in which Chan was required to finish Brown's act after having accidentally knocked out the singer. In 2002, Brown appeared in Undercover Brother, playing himself.
In 2004, Brown performed in Hyde Park, London as a support act for Red Hot Chili Peppers concerts. The beginning of 2005 saw the publication of Brown's second book, I Feel Good: A Memoir of a Life of Soul, written with Marc Eliot. In February and March, he participated in recording sessions for an intended studio album with Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, and other longtime collaborators. Though he lost interest in the album, which remains unreleased, a track from the sessions, "Gut Bucket", appeared on a compilation CD included with the August 2006 issue of MOJO. He appeared at Edinburgh 50,000 – The Final Push, the final Live 8 concert on July 6, 2005, where he performed a duet with British pop star Will Young on "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag". In the Black Eyed Peas album "Monkey Business", Brown was featured on a track called, "They Don't Want Music". The previous week he had performed a duet with another British pop star, Joss Stone, on the United Kingdom chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. In 2006, Brown continued his "Seven Decades of Funk World Tour", his last concert tour where he performed all over the world. His final U.S. performances were in San Francisco on August 20, 2006, as headliner at the Festival of the Golden Gate (Foggfest) on the Great Meadow at Fort Mason. The following day, August 21, he performed at Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA, at a small theatre (800 seats) on campus. His last shows were greeted with positive reviews, and one of his final concert appearances at the Irish Oxegen festival in Punchestown in 2006 was performed for a record crowd of 80,000 people. He played a full concert as part of the BBC's Electric Proms on October 27, 2006, at The Roundhouse, supported by The Zutons, with special appearances from Max Beasley and The Sugababes.
Brown's last televised appearance was at his induction into the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2006, before his death the following month. Before his death, Brown had been scheduled to perform a duet with singer Annie Lennox on the song "Vengeance" for her new album Venus, which was released in 2007.
Artistry
As a vocalist, Brown performed in a forceful shout style derived from gospel music. Meanwhile, "his rhythmic grunts and expressive shrieks harked back farther still to ring shouts, work songs, and field cries", according to the Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History (1996): "He reimported the rhythmic complexity from which rhythm and blues, under the dual pressure of rock 'n' roll and pop, had progressively fallen away since its birth from jazz and blues."
For many years, Brown's touring show was one of the most extravagant productions in American popular music. At the time of Brown's death, his band included three guitarists, two bass guitar players, two drummers, three horns and a percussionist. The bands that he maintained during the late 1960s and 1970s were of comparable size, and the bands also included a three-piece amplified string section that played during the ballads. Brown employed between 40 and 50 people for the James Brown Revue, and members of the revue traveled with him in a bus to cities and towns all over the country, performing upwards of 330 shows a year with almost all of the shows as one-nighters.
Concert style
Before James Brown appeared on stage, his personal MC gave him an elaborate introduction accompanied by drumrolls, as the MC worked in Brown's various sobriquets along with the names of many of his hit songs. The introduction by Fats Gonder, captured on Brown's 1963 album Live at the Apollo is a representative example:
James Brown's performances were famous for their intensity and length. His own stated goal was to "give people more than what they came for — make them tired, 'cause that's what they came for.'" Brown's concert repertoire consisted mostly of his own hits and recent songs, with a few R&B covers mixed in. Brown danced vigorously as he sang, working popular dance steps such as the Mashed Potato into his routine along with dramatic leaps, splits and slides. In addition, his horn players and singing group (The Famous Flames) typically performed choreographed dance routines, and later incarnations of the Revue included backup dancers. Male performers in the Revue were required to wear tuxedoes and cummerbunds long after more casual concert wear became the norm among the younger musical acts. Brown's own extravagant outfits and his elaborate processed hairdo completed the visual impression. A James Brown concert typically included a performance by a featured vocalist, such as Vicki Anderson or Marva Whitney, and an instrumental feature for the band, which sometimes served as the opening act for the show.
A trademark feature of Brown's stage shows, usually during the song "Please, Please, Please", involved Brown dropping to his knees while clutching the microphone stand in his hands, prompting the show's longtime MC, Danny Ray, to come out, drape a cape over Brown's shoulders and escort him off the stage after he had worked himself to exhaustion during his performance. As Brown was escorted off the stage by the MC, Brown's vocal group, the Famous Flames (Bobby Byrd, Lloyd Stallworth, and Bobby Bennett), continued singing the background vocals "Please, please don't go-oh". Brown would then shake off the cape and stagger back to the microphone to perform an encore. Brown's routine was inspired by a similar one used by the professional wrestler Gorgeous George, as well as Little Richard. In his 2005 autobiography I Feel Good: A Memoir in a Life of Soul, Brown, who was a fan of Gorgeous George, credited the wrestler as the inspiration for both his cape routine and concert attire, stating, "Seeing him on TV helped create the James Brown you see on stage". Brown performs a version of the cape routine in the film of the T.A.M.I. Show (1964) in which he and The Famous Flames upstaged The Rolling Stones, and over the closing credits of the film Blues Brothers 2000. The Police refer to "James Brown on the T.A.M.I. Show" in their 1980 song "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around".
Band leadership
Brown demanded extreme discipline, perfection and precision from his musicians and dancers – performers in his Revue showed up for rehearsals and members wore the right "uniform" or "costume" for concert performances. During an interview conducted by Terri Gross during the NPR segment "Fresh Air" with Maceo Parker, a former saxophonist in Brown's band for most of the 1960s and part of the 1970s and 1980s, Parker offered his experience with the discipline that Brown demanded of the band:
Brown also had a practice of directing, correcting and assessing fines on members of his band who broke his rules, such as wearing unshined shoes, dancing out of sync or showing up late on stage. During some of his concert performances, Brown danced in front of his band with his back to the audience as he slid across the floor, flashing hand signals and splaying his pulsating fingers to the beat of the music. Although audiences thought Brown's dance routine was part of his act, this practice was actually his way of pointing to the offending member of his troupe who played or sang the wrong note or committed some other infraction. Brown used his splayed fingers and hand signals to alert the offending person of the fine that person must pay to him for breaking his rules.
Brown's demands of his support acts were, meanwhile, quite the reverse. As Fred Wesley recalled of his time as musical director of the JBs, if Brown felt intimidated by a support act he would try to "undermine their performances by shortening their sets without notice, demanding that they not do certain showstopping songs, and even insisting on doing the unthinkable, playing drums on some of their songs. A sure set killer."
Social activism
Education advocacy and humanitarianism
Brown's main social activism was in preserving the need for education among youths, influenced by his own troubled childhood and his being forced to drop out of the seventh grade for wearing "insufficient clothes". Due to heavy dropout rates in the 1960s, Brown released the pro-education song, "Don't Be a Drop-Out". Royalties of the song were donated to dropout-prevention charity programs. The success of this led to Brown meeting with President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House. Johnson cited Brown for being a positive role model to the youth. A lifelong Republican, Brown gained the confidence of President Richard Nixon, to whom he found he had to explain the plight of Black Americans.
Throughout the remainder of his life, Brown made public speeches in schools and continued to advocate the importance of education in school. Upon filing his will in 2002, Brown advised that most of the money in his estate go into creating the I Feel Good, Inc. Trust to benefit disadvantaged children and provide scholarships for his grandchildren. His final single, "Killing Is Out, School Is In", advocated against murders of young children in the streets. Brown often gave out money and other items to children while traveling to his childhood hometown of Augusta. A week before his death, while looking gravely ill, Brown gave out toys and turkeys to kids at an Atlanta orphanage, something he had done several times over the years.
Civil rights and self-reliance
Though Brown performed at benefit rallies for civil rights organizations in the mid-1960s, Brown often shied away from discussing civil rights in his songs in fear of alienating his crossover audience. In 1968, in response to a growing urge of anti-war advocacy during the Vietnam War, Brown recorded the song, "America Is My Home". In the song, Brown performed a rap, advocating patriotism and exhorting listeners to "stop pitying yoursel[ves] and get up and fight". At the time of the song's release, Brown had been participating in performing for troops stationed in Vietnam.
The Boston Garden concert
On April 5, 1968, a day after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee, Brown provided a free citywide televised concert at the Boston Garden to maintain public order and calm concerned Boston residents (over the objections of the police chief, who wanted to call off the concert, which he thought would incite violence). The show was later released on DVD as Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968. According to the documentary The Night James Brown Saved Boston, then-mayor Kevin White had strongly restrained the Boston police from cracking down on minor violence and protests after the assassination, while religious and community leaders worked to keep tempers from flaring. White arranged to have Brown's performance broadcast multiple times on Boston's public television station, WGBH, thus keeping potential rioters off the streets, watching the concert for free. Angered by not being told of this, Brown demanded $60,000 for "gate" fees (money he thought would be lost from ticket sales on account of the concert being broadcast for free) and then threatened to go public about the secret arrangement when the city balked at paying up afterwards, news of which would have been a political death blow to White and spark riots of its own. White eventually lobbied the behind-the-scenes power-brokering group known as "The Vault" to come up with money for Brown's gate fee and other social programs, contributing $100,000. Brown received $15,000 from them via the city. White also persuaded management at the Garden to give up their share of receipts to make up the differences. Following this successful performance, Brown was counseled by President Johnson to urge cities ravaged from riots following King's assassination to not resort to violence, telling them to "cool it, there's another way".
Responding to pressure from black activists, including H. Rap Brown, to take a bigger stance on their issues and from footage of black on black crime committed in inner cities, Brown wrote the lyrics to the song "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud", which his bandleader Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis accompanied with a musical composition. Released late that summer, the song's lyrics helped to make it an anthem for the civil rights movement. Brown only performed the song sporadically following its initial release and later stated he had regrets about recording it, saying in 1984, "Now 'Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud' has done more for the black race than any other record, but if I had my choice, I wouldn't have done it, because I don't like defining anyone by race. To teach race is to teach separatism." In his autobiography he stated:
The song is obsolete now ... But it was necessary to teach pride then, and I think the song did a lot of good for a lot of people ... People called "Black and Proud" militant and angry – maybe because of the line about dying on your feet instead of living on your knees. But really, if you listen to it, it sounds like a children's song. That's why I had children in it, so children who heard it could grow up feeling pride ... The song cost me a lot of my crossover audience. The racial makeup at my concerts was mostly black after that. I don't regret it, though, even if it was misunderstood.
In 1969, Brown recorded two more songs of social commentary, "World" and "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing", the latter song pleading for equal opportunity and self-reliance rather than entitlement. In 1970, in response to some black leaders for not being outspoken enough, he recorded "Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved" and "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing". In 1971, he began touring Africa, including Zambia and Nigeria. He was made "freeman of the city" in Lagos, Nigeria, by Oba Adeyinka Oyekan, for his "influence on black people all over the world". With his company, James Brown Enterprises, Brown helped to provide jobs for blacks in business in the communities. As the 1970s continued, Brown continued to record songs of social commentary, most prominently 1972's "King Heroin" and the two-part ballad "Public Enemy", which dealt with drug addiction.
Political views
During the 1968 presidential campaign, Brown endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey and appeared with Humphrey at political rallies. Brown was labeled an "Uncle Tom" for supporting Humphrey and also for releasing the pro-American funk song, "America Is My Home", in which Brown had lambasted protesters of the Vietnam War as well as the politics of pro-black activists. Brown began supporting Republican president Richard Nixon after being invited to perform at Nixon's inaugural ball in January 1969. Brown's endorsement of Nixon during the 1972 presidential election negatively impacted his career during that period with several national Black organizations boycotting his records and protesting at his concert shows; a November 1972 show in Cincinnati was picketed with signs saying, "James Brown: Nixon's Clown". Brown initially was invited to perform at a Youth Concert following Nixon's inauguration in January 1973 but bailed out due to the backlash he suffered from supporting Nixon. Brown joined fellow black entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., who faced similar backlash, to back out of the concert. Brown blamed it on "fatigue". Brown later reversed his support of Nixon and composed the song, "You Can Have Watergate (Just Gimme Some Bucks And I'll Be Straight)" as a result. After Nixon resigned from office, Brown composed the 1974 hit, "Funky President (People It's Bad)", right after Gerald Ford took Nixon's place. Brown later supported Democratic President Jimmy Carter, attending one of Carter's inaugural balls in 1977. Brown also openly supported President Ronald Reagan's reelection in 1984.
Brown stated he was neither Democratic nor Republican despite his support of Republican presidents such as Nixon and Reagan as well as Democratic presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Carter. In 1999, when being interviewed by Rolling Stone, the magazine asked him to name a hero in the 20th century; Brown mentioned John F. Kennedy and then-96-year-old U.S. Senator, and former Dixiecrat, Strom Thurmond, stating "when the young whippersnappers get out of line, whether Democratic or Republican, an old man can walk up and say 'Wait a minute, son, it goes this way.' And that's great for our country. He's like a grandfather to me." In 2003, Brown was the featured attraction of a Washington D.C. fundraiser for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Following the deaths of Ronald Reagan and his friend Ray Charles, Brown said to CNN, "I'm kind of in an uproar. I love the country and I got – you know I've been around a long time, through many presidents and everything. So after losing Mr. Reagan, who I knew very well, then Mr. Ray Charles, who I worked with and lived with like, all our life, we had a show together in Oakland many, many years ago and it's like you found the placard." Despite his contrarian political views, Brown mentored black activist Rev. Al Sharpton during the 1970s.
Personal life
At the end of his life, James Brown lived in Beech Island, South Carolina, directly across the Savannah River from Augusta, Georgia. Brown had diabetes that went undiagnosed for years, according to his longtime manager Charles Bobbit. In 2004, Brown was successfully treated for prostate cancer. Regardless of his health, Brown maintained his reputation as the "hardest working man in show business" by keeping up with his grueling performance schedule.
In 1962, Tammi Terrell joined the James Brown Revue. Brown became sexually involved with Terrell even though she was only 17 in a relationship that continued until she escaped his abuse. Bobby Bennett, former member of the Famous Flames, told Rolling Stone about the abuse he witnessed: "He beat Tammi Terrell terrible", said Bennett. "She was bleeding, shedding blood." Terrell, who died in 1970, was Brown's girlfriend before she became famous as Marvin Gaye's singing partner in the mid-'60s. "Tammi left him because she didn't want her butt whipped", said Bennett, who also claimed he saw Brown kick one pregnant girlfriend down a flight of stairs.
Marriages and children
Brown was married four times. His first marriage was to Velma Warren in 1953, and they had one son together. Over a decade later, the couple had separated and the final divorce decree was issued in 1969. They maintained a close friendship that lasted until Brown's death. Brown's second marriage was to Deidre "Deedee" Jenkins, on October 22, 1970. They had two daughters together. The couple were separated by 1979, after what his daughter describes as years of domestic abuse, and the final divorce decree was issued on January 10, 1981. His third marriage was to Adrienne Lois Rodriguez (March 9, 1950 – January 6, 1996), in 1984. It was a contentious marriage that made headlines due to domestic abuse complaints. Rodriguez filed for divorce in 1988, "citing years of cruelty treatment", but they reconciled. Less than a year after Rodriguez died in 1996, Brown hired Tomi Rae Hynie to be a background singer for his band and she later became his fourth wife.
On December 23, 2002, Brown and Hynie held a wedding ceremony that was officiated by the Rev. Larry Flyer. Following Brown's death, controversy surrounded the circumstances of the marriage, with Brown's attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, reporting that the marriage was not valid; Hynie was still married to Javed Ahmed, a man from Bangladesh. Hynie claimed Ahmed married her to obtain residency through a Green Card and that the marriage was annulled but the annulment did not occur until April 2004. In an attempt to prove her marriage to Brown was valid, Hynie produced a 2001 marriage certificate as proof of her marriage to Brown, but she did not provide King with court records pointing to an annulment of her marriage to him or to Ahmed. According to Dallas, Brown was angry and hurt that Hynie had concealed her prior marriage from him and Brown moved to file for annulment from Hynie. Dallas added that though Hynie's marriage to Ahmed was annulled after she married Brown, the Brown–Hynie marriage was not valid under South Carolina law because Brown and Hynie did not remarry after the annulment. In August 2003, Brown took out a full-page public notice in Variety featuring Hynie, James II and himself on vacation at Disney World to announce that he and Hynie were going their separate ways. In 2015, a judge ruled Hynie as Brown's legal widow.
Brown had numerous children and acknowledged nine of them including five sons – Teddy (1954–1973), Terry, Larry, Daryl, and James Joseph Brown Jr. and four daughters – Lisa, Dr. Yamma Noyola Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas, and Venisha Brown (1964–2018). Brown also had eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Brown's eldest son, Teddy, died in a car crash on June 14, 1973. According to an August 22, 2007, article published in the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, DNA tests indicate that Brown also fathered at least three extramarital children. The first one of them to be identified is LaRhonda Pettit (born 1962), a retired flight attendant and teacher who lives in Houston. During contesting of Brown's will, another of the Brown family attorneys, Debra Opri, revealed to Larry King that Brown wanted a DNA test performed after his death to confirm the paternity of James Brown Jr. (born 2001)—not for Brown's sake but for the sake of the other family members. In April 2007, Hynie selected a guardian ad litem whom she wanted appointed by the court to represent her son, James Brown Jr., in the paternity proceedings. James Brown Jr. was confirmed to be his biological son.
Drug abuse
For most of his career, Brown had a strict drug- and alcohol-free policy for any member in his entourage, including band members, and would fire people who disobeyed orders, particularly those who used or abused drugs. Although early members of the Famous Flames were fired for using alcohol, Brown often served a highball consisting of Delaware Punch and moonshine at his St. Albans, Queens house in the mid-1960s. Some of the original members of Brown's 1970s band, the J.B.'s, including Catfish and Bootsy Collins, intentionally took LSD during a performance in 1971, causing Brown to fire them after the show because he had suspected them of being on drugs all along.
Aide Bob Patton has asserted that he accidentally shared a PCP-laced cannabis joint with Brown in the mid-1970s and "hallucinated for hours", although Brown "talked about it as if it was only marijuana he was smoking". By the mid-1980s, it was widely alleged that Brown was using drugs, with Vicki Anderson confirming to journalist Barney Hoskyns that Brown's regular use of PCP (colloquially known as "angel dust") "began before 1982". After he met and later married Adrienne Rodriguez in 1984, she and Brown began using PCP together. This drug usage often resulted in violent outbursts from him, and he was arrested several times for domestic violence against Rodriguez while high on the drug. By January 1988, Brown faced four criminal charges within a 12-month span relating to driving, PCP, and gun possession. After an April 1988 arrest for domestic abuse, Brown went on the CNN program Sonya Live in L.A. with host Sonya Friedman. The interview became notorious for Brown's irreverent demeanor, with some asserting that Brown was high.
One of Brown's former mistresses recalled in a GQ magazine article on Brown some years after his death that Brown would smoke PCP ("until that got hard to find") and cocaine, mixed with tobacco in Kool cigarettes. He also engaged in the off-label use of sildenafil, maintaining that it gave him "extra energy". While once under the influence of PCP (which he continued to procure dependent on its availability) when traveling in a car, Brown alleged that passing trees contained psychotronic surveillance technology.
In January 1998, he spent a week in rehab to deal with an addiction to unspecified prescription drugs. A week after his release, he was arrested for an unlawful use of a handgun and possession of cannabis. Prior to his death in December 2006, when Brown entered Emory University Hospital, traces of cocaine were found in the singer's urine. His widow suggested Brown would "do crack" with a female acquaintance.
Theft and assault convictions
Brown's personal life was marred by several brushes with the law. At the age of 16, he was convicted of theft and served three years in juvenile prison. During a concert held at Club 15 in Macon, Georgia in 1963, while Otis Redding was performing alongside his former band Johnny Jenkins and the Pinetoppers, Brown reportedly tried to shoot his musical rival Joe Tex. The incident led to multiple people being shot and stabbed. Since Brown was still on parole at the time, he relied on his agent Clint Brantley "and a few thousand dollars to make the situation disappear". According to Jenkins, "seven people got shot", and after the shootout ended, a man appeared and gave "each one of the injured a hundred dollars apiece not to carry it no further and not to talk to the press". Brown was never charged for the incident.
On July 16, 1978, after performing at the Apollo, Brown was arrested for reportedly failing to turn in records from one of his radio stations after the station was forced to file for bankruptcy. Brown was arrested on April 3, 1988, for assault, and again in May 1988 on drug and weapons charges, and again on September 24, 1988, following a high-speed car chase on Interstate 20 near the Georgia–South Carolina state border. He was convicted of carrying an unlicensed pistol and assaulting a police officer, along with various drug-related and driving offenses. Although he was sentenced to six years in prison, he was eventually released on parole on February 27, 1991, after serving two years of his sentence. Brown's FBI file, released to The Washington Post in 2007 under the Freedom of Information Act, related Brown's claim that the high-speed chase did not occur as claimed by the police, and that local police shot at his car several times during an incident of police harassment and assaulted him after his arrest. Local authorities found no merit to Brown's accusations.
In 1998, a woman named Mary Simons accused Brown in a civil suit of holding her captive for three days, demanding oral sex and firing a gun in his office; Simons' charge was eventually dismissed. In another civil suit, filed by former background singer Lisa Rushton alleged that between 1994 and 1999, Brown allegedly demanded sexual favors and when refused, would cut off her pay and kept her offstage. She also claimed Brown would "place a hand on her buttocks and loudly told her in a crowded restaurant to not look or speak to any other man besides himself;" Rushton eventually withdrew her lawsuit. In yet another civil suit, a woman named Lisa Agbalaya, who worked for Brown, said the singer would tell her he had "bull testicles", handed her a pair of zebra-print underwear, told her to wear them while he massaged her with oil, and fired her after she refused. A Los Angeles jury cleared the singer of sexual harassment but found him liable for wrongful termination.
The police were summoned to Brown's residence on July 3, 2000, after he was accused of charging at an electric company repairman with a steak knife when the repairman visited Brown's house to investigate a complaint about having no lights at the residence. In 2003, Brown was pardoned by the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services for past crimes that he was convicted of committing in South Carolina.
Domestic violence arrests
Brown was repeatedly arrested for domestic violence. Adrienne Rodriguez, his third wife, had him arrested four times between 1987 and 1995 on charges of assault. In one incident, Rodriguez reported to authorities that Brown beat her with an iron pipe and shot at her car. Rodriguez was hospitalized after the last assault in October 1995, but charges were dropped after she died in January 1996.
In January 2004, Brown was arrested in South Carolina on a domestic violence charge after Tomi Rae Hynie accused him of pushing her to the floor during an argument at their home, where she suffered scratches and bruises to her right arm and hip. In June, Brown pleaded no contest to the domestic violence incident, but served no jail time. Instead, Brown was required to forfeit a US$1,087 bond as punishment.
Rape accusation
In January 2005, a woman named Jacque Hollander filed a lawsuit against James Brown, which stemmed from an alleged 1988 rape. When the case was initially heard before a judge in 2002, Hollander's claims against Brown were dismissed by the court as the limitations period for filing the suit had expired. Hollander claimed that stress from the alleged assault later caused her to contract Graves' disease, a thyroid condition. Hollander claimed that the incident took place in South Carolina while she was employed by Brown as a publicist. Hollander alleged that, during her ride in a van with Brown, Brown pulled over to the side of the road and sexually assaulted her while he threatened her with a shotgun. In her case against Brown, Hollander entered as evidence a DNA sample and a polygraph result, but the evidence was not considered due to the limitations defense. Hollander later attempted to bring her case before the Supreme Court, but nothing came of her complaint.
Later life and death
Illness
On December 23, 2006, Brown became very ill and arrived at his dentist's office in Atlanta, Georgia, several hours late. His appointment was for dental implant work. During that visit, Brown's dentist observed that he looked "very bad ... weak and dazed". Instead of performing the work, the dentist advised Brown to see a doctor right away about his medical condition.
Brown went to the Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital the next day for medical evaluation and was admitted for observation and treatment. According to Charles Bobbit, his longtime personal manager and friend, Brown had been struggling with a noisy cough since returning from a November trip to Europe. Yet, Bobbit said, the singer had a history of never complaining about being sick and often performed while ill. Although Brown had to cancel upcoming concerts in Waterbury, Connecticut, and Englewood, New Jersey, he was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time for his scheduled New Year's Eve shows at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey and the B. B. King Blues Club in New York, in addition to performing a song live on CNN for the Anderson Cooper New Year's Eve special. Brown remained hospitalized, however, and his condition worsened throughout the day.
Death
On Christmas Day 2006, Brown died at approximately 1:45 a.m. EST (06:45 UTC), at age 73, from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia. Bobbit was at his bedside and later reported that Brown stuttered, "I'm going away tonight", then took three long, quiet breaths and fell asleep before dying.
In 2019, an investigation by CNN and other journalists led to suggestions that Brown had been murdered.
Memorial services
After Brown's death, his relatives, a host of celebrities, and thousands of fans gathered, on December 28, 2006, for a public memorial service at the Apollo Theater in New York City and, on December 30, 2006, at the James Brown Arena in Augusta, Georgia. A separate, private ceremony was held in North Augusta, South Carolina, on December 29, 2006, with Brown's family in attendance. Celebrities at these various memorial events included Michael Jackson, Jimmy Cliff, Joe Frazier, Buddy Guy, Ice Cube, Ludacris, Dr. Dre, Little Richard, Dick Gregory, MC Hammer, Prince, Jesse Jackson, Ice-T, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bootsy Collins, LL Cool J, Lil Wayne, Lenny Kravitz, 50 Cent, Stevie Wonder, and Don King. Rev. Al Sharpton officiated at all of Brown's public and private memorial services.
Brown's memorial ceremonies were all elaborate, complete with costume changes for the deceased and videos featuring him in concert. His body, placed in a Promethean casket—bronze polished to a golden shine—was driven through the streets of New York to the Apollo Theater in a white, glass-encased horse-drawn carriage. In Augusta, Georgia, his memorial procession stopped to pay respects at his statue, en route to the James Brown Arena. During the public memorial there, a video showed Brown's last performance in Augusta, Georgia, with the Ray Charles version of "Georgia on My Mind" playing soulfully in the background. His last backup band, The Soul Generals, also played some of his hits during that tribute at the arena. The group was joined by Bootsy Collins on bass, with MC Hammer performing a dance in James Brown style. Former Temptations lead singer Ali-Ollie Woodson performed "Walk Around Heaven All Day" at the memorial services.
Last will and testament
Brown signed his last will and testament on August 1, 2000, before J. Strom Thurmond Jr., an attorney for the estate. The irrevocable trust, separate and apart from Brown's will, was created on his behalf, that same year, by his attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, one of three personal representatives of Brown's estate. His will covered the disposition of his personal assets, such as clothing, cars, and jewelry, while the irrevocable trust covered the disposition of the music rights, business assets of James Brown Enterprises, and his Beech Island, South Carolina estate.
During the reading of the will on January 11, 2007, Thurmond revealed that Brown's six adult living children (Terry Brown, Larry Brown, Daryl Brown, Yamma Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas and Venisha Brown) were named in the document, while Hynie and James II were not mentioned as heirs. Brown's will had been signed 10 months before James II was born and more than a year before Brown's marriage to Tomi Rae Hynie. Like Brown's will, his irrevocable trust omitted Hynie and James II as recipients of Brown's property. The irrevocable trust had also been established before, and not amended since, the birth of James II.
On January 24, 2007, Brown's children filed a lawsuit, petitioning the court to remove the personal representatives from the estate (including Brown's attorney, as well as trustee Albert "Buddy" Dallas) and appoint a special administrator because of perceived impropriety and alleged mismanagement of Brown's assets. On January 31, 2007, Hynie also filed a lawsuit against Brown's estate, challenging the validity of the will and the irrevocable trust. Hynie's suit asked the court both to recognize her as Brown's widow and to appoint a special administrator for the estate.
On January 27, 2015, Judge Doyet Early III ruled that Tomi Rae Hynie Brown was officially the widow of James Brown. The decision was based on the grounds that Hynie's previous marriage was invalid and that James Brown had abandoned his efforts to annul his own marriage to Hynie.
On February 19, 2015, the South Carolina Supreme Court intervened, halting all lower court actions in the estate and undertaking to review previous actions itself. The South Carolina Court of Appeals in July 2018 ruled that Hynie was, in fact, Mr. Brown's wife. In 2020, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that Hynie had not been legally married to Brown and did not have a right to his estate. It was reported in July 2021 that Brown's family had reached a settlement ending the 15-year battle over the estate.
Legacy
Brown received awards and honors throughout his lifetime and after his death. In 1993 the City Council of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, conducted a poll of residents to choose a new name for the bridge that crossed the Yampa River on Shield Drive. The winning name, with 7,717 votes, was "James Brown Soul Center of the Universe Bridge". The bridge was officially dedicated in September 1993, and Brown appeared at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the event. A petition was started by local ranchers to return the name to "Stockbridge" for historical reasons, but they backed off after citizens defeated their efforts because of the popularity of Brown's name. Brown returned to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, on July 4, 2002, for an outdoor festival, performing with bands such as The String Cheese Incident.
During his long career, Brown received many prestigious music industry awards and honors. In 1983 he was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. Brown was one of the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction dinner in New York on January 23, 1986. At that time, the members of his original vocal group, The Famous Flames (Bobby Byrd, Johnny Terry, Bobby Bennett, and Lloyd Stallworth) were not inducted. However, on April 14, 2012, The Famous Flames were automatically and retroactively inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Brown, without the need for nomination and voting, on the basis that they should have been inducted with him in 1986. On February 25, 1992, Brown was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 34th annual Grammy Awards. Exactly a year later, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 4th annual Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Awards. A ceremony was held for Brown on January 10, 1997, to honor him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
On June 15, 2000, Brown was honored as an inductee to the New York Songwriters Hall of Fame. On August 6, 2002, he was honored as the first BMI Urban Icon at the BMI Urban Awards. His BMI accolades include an impressive ten R&B Awards and six Pop Awards. On November 14, 2006, Brown was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, and he was one of several inductees to perform at the ceremony. In recognition of his accomplishments as an entertainer, Brown was a recipient of Kennedy Center Honors on December 7, 2003. In 2004 Rolling Stone magazine ranked James Brown as No. 7 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In an article for Rolling Stone, critic Robert Christgau cited Brown as "the greatest musician of the rock era". He appeared on the BET Awards June 24, 2003, and received the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Michael Jackson, and performed with him. In 2004, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Aretha Franklin.
Brown was also honored in his hometown of Augusta, Georgia, for his philanthropy and civic activities. On November 20, 1993, Mayor Charles DeVaney of Augusta held a ceremony to dedicate a section of 9th Street between Broad and Twiggs Streets, renamed "James Brown Boulevard", in the entertainer's honor. On May 6, 2005, as a 72nd birthday present for Brown, the city of Augusta unveiled a life-sized bronze James Brown statue on Broad Street. The statue was to have been dedicated a year earlier, but the ceremony was put on hold because of a domestic abuse charge that Brown faced at the time. In 2005, Charles "Champ" Walker and the We Feel Good Committee went before the County commission and received approval to change Augusta's slogan to "We Feel Good". Afterward, officials renamed the city's civic center the James Brown Arena, and James Brown attended a ceremony for the unveiling of the namesake center on October 15, 2006.
On December 30, 2006, during the public memorial service at the James Brown Arena, Dr. Shirley A.R. Lewis, president of Paine College, a historically black college in Augusta, Georgia, bestowed posthumously upon Brown an honorary doctorate in recognition and honor of his many contributions to the school in its times of need. Brown had originally been scheduled to receive the honorary doctorate from Paine College during its May 2007 commencement.
During the 49th Annual Grammy Awards presentation on February 11, 2007, James Brown's famous cape was draped over a microphone by Danny Ray at the end of a montage in honor of notable people in the music industry who died during the previous year. Earlier that evening, Christina Aguilera delivered an impassioned performance of Brown's hit "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" followed by a standing ovation, while Chris Brown performed a dance routine in honor of James Brown.
On August 17, 2013, the official R&B Music Hall of Fame honored and inducted James Brown at a ceremony held at the Waetjen Auditorium at Cleveland State University.
ART THE BOX began in early 2015 as a collaboration between three organizations: the City of Augusta, the Downtown Development Authority and the Greater Augusta Arts Council. 19 local artists were selected by a committee to create art on 23 local traffic signal control cabinets (TSCCs). A competition was held to create the James Brown Tribute Box on the corner of James Brown Blvd. (9th Ave.) and Broad St. This box was designed and painted by local artist, Ms. Robbie Pitts Bellamy and has become a favorite photo opportunity to visitors and locals in Augusta, Georgia.
"I have a lot of musical heroes but I think James Brown is at the top of the list", remarked Public Enemy's Chuck D. "Absolutely the funkiest man on Earth ... In a black household, James Brown is part of the fabric – Motown, Stax, Atlantic and James Brown."
Tributes
As a tribute to James Brown, the Rolling Stones covered the song, "I'll Go Crazy" from Brown's Live at the Apollo album, during their 2007 European tour. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has remarked, "He [James Brown] was almost a musical genre in his own right and he changed and moved forward the whole time so people were able to learn from him."
On December 22, 2007, the first annual "Tribute Fit For the King of King Records" in honor of James Brown was held at the Madison Theater in Covington, Kentucky. The tribute, organized by Bootsy Collins, featured Tony Wilson as Young James Brown with appearances by Afrika Bambaataa, Chuck D of Public Enemy, The Soul Generals, Buckethead, Freekbass, Triage and many of Brown's surviving family members. Comedian Michael Coyer was the MC for the event. During the show, the mayor of Cincinnati proclaimed December 22 as James Brown Day.
As of September 2021, a significant collection of James Brown clothing, memorabilia, and personal artifacts are on exhibit in downtown Augusta, Georgia at the Augusta History Museum.
Discography
Studio albums
Please Please Please (1958)
Try Me! (1959)
Think! (1960)
The Amazing James Brown (1961)
James Brown and His Famous Flames Tour the U.S.A. (1962)
Prisoner of Love (1963)
Grits & Soul (1964)
Showtime (1964)
Out of Sight (1964)
James Brown Plays James Brown Today & Yesterday (1965)
Mighty Instrumentals (1966)
James Brown Plays New Breed (The Boo-Ga-Loo) (1966)
James Brown Sings Christmas Songs (1966)
Handful of Soul (1966)
James Brown Sings Raw Soul (1967)
James Brown Plays the Real Thing (1967)
Cold Sweat (1967)
I Can't Stand Myself When You Touch Me (1968)
I Got the Feelin' (1968)
James Brown Plays Nothing But Soul (1968)
Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things (1968)
A Soulful Christmas (1968)
Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud (1969)
Gettin' Down to It (1969)
The Popcorn (1969)
It's a Mother (1969)
Ain't It Funky (1970)
Soul on Top (1970)
It's a New Day – Let a Man Come In (1970)
Hey America (1970)
Sho Is Funky Down Here (1971)
Hot Pants (1971)
There It Is (1972)
Get on the Good Foot (1972)
Black Caesar (1973)
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973)
The Payback (1973)
Hell (1974)
Reality (1974)
Sex Machine Today (1975)
Everybody's Doin' the Hustle & Dead on the Double Bump (1975)
Hot (1976)
Get Up Offa That Thing (1976)
Bodyheat (1976)
Mutha's Nature (1977)
Jam 1980's (1978)
Take a Look at Those Cakes (1978)
The Original Disco Man (1979)
People (1980)
Soul Syndrome (1980)
Nonstop! (1981)
Bring It On! (1983)
Gravity (1986)
I'm Real (1988)
Love Over-Due (1991)
Universal James (1992)
I'm Back (1998)
The Merry Christmas Album (1999)
The Next Step (2002)
Filmography
The T.A.M.I. Show (1964) (concert film)- with The Famous Flames
Ski Party (1965)- with The Famous Flames
James Brown: Man to Man (1968) (concert film)
The Phynx (1970)
Black Caesar (1973) (soundtrack only)
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973) (soundtrack only)
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Doctor Detroit (1983)
Rocky IV (1985)
Miami Vice (1987)
James Brown: Live in East Berlin (1989)
The Simpsons (1993)
When We Were Kings (1996) (documentary)
Duckman (1997)
Soulmates (1997)
Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
Holy Man (1998)
Undercover Brother (2002)
The Tuxedo (2002)
The Hire: Beat the Devil (2002) (short film)
Paper Chasers (2003) (documentary)
Soul Survivor (2003) (documentary)
Sid Bernstein Presents ... (2005) (documentary)
Glastonbury (2006) (documentary)
Life on the Road with Mr. and Mrs. Brown (2007) (documentary; release pending)
Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968 (2008) (concert film)
I Got The Feelin': James Brown in the '60s, three-DVD set featuring Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968, Live at the Apollo '68 [DVD version of James Brown: Man to Man], and the documentary The Night James Brown Saved Boston
Soul Power (2009) (documentary)
Get on Up (2014)
Biopics
Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown (2014), released in April 2014, written and directed by Alex Gibney, produced by Mick Jagger.
Get on Up (2014), released in theaters on August 1, 2014. Chadwick Boseman plays the role of James Brown in the film. Originally, Mick Jagger and Brian Grazer had begun producing a documentary film on Brown in 2013. A fiction film had been in the planning stages for many years and was revived when Jagger read the script by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth.
In other media
Games
In the video game World of Warcraft, the first boss character of the Forge of Souls dungeon is Bronjahm, "the Godfather of Souls". His quotes during the fight are musical references, and he has a chance of dropping an item called "Papa's Brand New Bag".
Television
As himself (voice) in the 1993 The Simpsons episode "Bart's Inner Child".
In 1991, Brown did a Pay Per View Special with top celebrities such as Quincy Jones, Rick James, Dan Aykroyd, Gladys Knight, Denzel Washington, MC Hammer and others attended or were opening acts. This was produced with boxing promoter Buddy Dallas. 15.5 million households tuned in at a cost $19.99.
In 2002, Brown starred in the Jackie Chan movie The Tuxedo as himself
See also
Progressive soul
References
Footnotes
Sources
Further reading
Danielsen, Anne (2006). Presence and pleasure: The funk grooves of James Brown and Parliament. Wesleyan University Press.
George, Nelson, and Leeds, Alan (editors). (2008). The James Brown Reader: 50 Years of Writing about the Godfather of Soul. New York: Plume.
Lethem, J. (June 12, 2006). "Being James Brown", Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved January 14, 2007.
McBride, James (2016) Kill 'Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul. New York: Spiegel & Grau
Sullivan, James. (2008). The Hardest Working Man: How James Brown Saved The Soul Of America. New York: Gotham Books.
Sussman, M. (producer). (December 25, 2006). Arts: Soul classics by James Brown (multimedia presentation). The New York Times. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
Wesley, Fred. (2002). Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Sideman. Durham: Duke University Press.
Whitney, Marva and Waring, Charles. (2013) God, The Devil & James Brown:(Memoirs of a Funky Diva). New Romney: Bank House Books
External links
1933 births
2006 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American composers
21st-century American singers
Activists for African-American civil rights
African-American composers
African-American male composers
African-American male dancers
African-American male singers
African-American record producers
African-American rock musicians
African-American songwriters
American expatriates in Nigeria
American expatriates in Zambia
American funk keyboardists
American funk singers
American male composers
American male dancers
American male organists
American male singers
American multi-instrumentalists
American people convicted of assault
American people convicted of drug offenses
American people convicted of robbery
American people of Chinese descent
American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent
American rhythm and blues singers
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American robbers
American soul keyboardists
American soul singers
American tenors
Black conservatism in the United States
Burials in South Carolina
Deaths from pneumonia in Georgia (U.S. state)
Education activists
Federal Records artists
Grammy Award winners
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
James Brown Orchestra members
Kennedy Center honorees
King Records artists
Musicians from Atlanta
Musicians from Augusta, Georgia
People from Barnwell, South Carolina
People from Beech Island, South Carolina
People from Toccoa, Georgia
Polydor Records artists
Recipients of American gubernatorial pardons
Record producers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Record producers from South Carolina
Scotti Brothers Records artists
Sexual assaults in the United States
Singers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Singers from South Carolina
Smash Records artists
The J.B.'s members
The Famous Flames members | false | [
"\"The Funeral of Hearts\" is a song by the Finnish band HIM, released in 2003. It is the second track and first single from the album Love Metal. It is one of HIM's most popular songs and was usually used to close live shows. It was nominated for the Kerrang! Award for Best Single.\n\nA music video was filmed for the song, produced by Stefan Lindfors. It was filmed in the surroundings of Umeå, Sweden. It shows the band performing in a dream-like winter atmosphere in Lapland, and encountering mythical creatures. In 2004 it won a Kerrang! award for Best Video.\n\nTrack listing\nInternational release\n\"The Funeral of Hearts\" (Radio edit) \n\"The Funeral of Hearts\" (Album version) \n\"The Funeral of Hearts\" (Acoustic version)\n\nFinnish, German and Russian - EP\n\"The Funeral of Hearts\" (Radio edit) \n\"The Funeral of Hearts\" (Album version) \n\"The Funeral of Hearts\" (Acoustic version) \n\"Soul on Fire\" (Erich Zann's Supernatural remix) \n\"The Funeral of Hearts\" (Dr. Dagon's Dub) \n\"Enhanced CD content\":\nThe Funeral of Hearts (Video)\n\nUK Vol. 1 DVD release\n\"The Funeral of Hearts\" (Video) - 3:37 \n\"Join Me in Death\" (Video - Ice Version) (Fan's Choice) - 3:39\nVideo documentary footage - from Bam Margera's making of \"Sacrament\" (video excerpts) - 2:00\nMetal Hammer's photo gallery with \"Sacrament\" Disrhythm Remix audio accompaniment\n\"Lonely Road\" (live - audio) (Daniel Lioneye cover) - 3:38 \n\"The Funeral of Hearts\" (Acoustic version - audio) - 4:02 \n\"The Funeral of Hearts\" (Dr. Dagon's Dub - audio) - 4:09\n\nUK Vol. 2 release\n\"The Funeral of Hearts\" (Radio edit) \n\"Hand of Doom\" (Live edit in Turku) (Black Sabbath cover)\n\nUK Vol. 3 release\n\"The Funeral of Hearts\" (Radio edit) \n\"Buried Alive By Love\" (Deliverance version)\n\"The Funeral of Hearts\" (Acoustic version)\n\"The Funeral of Hearts\" (Radio edit)\n\"The Sacrament\" (Disrhythm Remix)\n\"The Funeral of Hearts\" (Album version)\n\n2003 singles\nHIM (Finnish band) songs\nNumber-one singles in Finland\n2003 songs\nSongs written by Ville Valo",
"Your Funeral... My Trial is the fourth studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 3 November 1986 by Mute Records. Your Funeral... My Trial was originally released as a double EP. The album was issued on CD with a different running order and the additional track \"Scum\". During this period in his life, Cave was steeped in heroin addiction, perhaps evidenced by the melancholy, desperate mood of this album. \nThis was the final Bad Seeds album to feature Barry Adamson until he returned for Push the Sky Away (2013).\n\nCave later said, \"That particular record, which is my favourite of the records we've done, is very special to me and a lot of amazing things happened, musically, in the studio. There are some songs on that record that as far as I'm concerned are just about perfect as we can get really- songs like \"The Carny\", \"Your Funeral, My Trial\", and \"Stranger Than Kindness\", I think are really quite brilliant.\" Your Funeral... My Trial was the band's first album to reach the ARIA Top 100 Albums Chart, where it peaked at number 98, and also reached number one on the UK Independent Albums Chart.\n\nThe album was remastered and reissued on 27 April 2009 as a collector's edition CD/DVD set. The CD features the original 8-song vinyl double EP's track listing and track order, while \"Scum\" is featured as a bonus audio track on the accompanying DVD.\n\nRecording\nProducer Flood said, \"I remember Mick Harvey arrived in the studio with the guts of an old grand piano, that was the basis of the sound. It was just the strings, attached to a metal frame. He tuned certain notes, and used a guitar plectrum to pick the notes. It then ended up as \"The Carny\". That was the first day of recording Your Funeral… My Trial, and that kind of set the tone for the whole record.\"\n\nReflecting on the album in 2020, guitarist Mick Harvey noted: \"[The album] gave us the template to go forward with. It was organised rather than rambling. It all felt complete even though it was a disparate set of sounds and styles. It felt like it belonged to us. It sounded like The Bad Seeds.\"\n\nMovies\nNick Cave and the Bad Seeds appeared in the 1987 Wim Wenders film Der Himmel über Berlin, performing \"The Carny\" (which is heard once before the performance scene) and \"From Her to Eternity\". \"The Carny\" also inspired the 2003 animated short film Jo Jo in the Stars, which won the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Short Film. The film was created and directed by Marc Craste, who said about \"The Carny\": \"The lyrics read like a short story, it seemed to suggest a film – a straight visual interpretation of the text ...\"\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel\nNick Cave and the Bad Seeds\nNick Cave – vocals (1–9), piano (5, 7, 8), hammond (1, 3, 4, 6), harmonica (1, 2)\nMick Harvey – bass guitar (1, 6–9), guitar (1, 3, 5–8), drums (1, 3, 4, 8), snare drum (7), piano (2, 3), organ (2), glockenspiel (2), xylophone (2, 7), backing vocals (6)\nBlixa Bargeld – guitar (1–9), co-lead vocals (2)\nBarry Adamson – bass (3, 5)\nThomas Wydler – drums (2, 3, 5, 7, 9), fire extinguisher (7)\n\nTechnical personnel \nFlood – producer, engineer, mixing\nTony Cohen – producer, engineer\n\nDesign personnel\nNick Cave – art direction\nPaul White – art direction\nChristoph Dreher – photography\n\nPersonnel for Your Funeral... My Trial adapted from the album's liner notes.\n\nChart positions\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Your Funeral... My Trial on the band's official web site\n Your Funeral... My Trial at Discogs\n \n\n1986 albums\nNick Cave albums\nMute Records albums\nAlbums produced by Flood (producer)\nAlbums produced by Tony Cohen"
]
|
[
"James Brown",
"Death",
"When was his death?",
"On Christmas Day, 2006,",
"What was the cause of death?",
"from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia.",
"Was he still making music up to his death?",
"he was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time for his scheduled New Year's Eve shows",
"What was the funeral like?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_185d6e4eab0446b1aa68bcc9a108fa5d_0 | Did he leave family behind? | 5 | Did James Brown leave family behind? | James Brown | On December 23, 2006, Brown became very ill and arrived at his dentist's office in Atlanta, Georgia, several hours late. His appointment was for dental implant work. During that visit, Brown's dentist observed that he looked "very bad... weak and dazed." Instead of performing the work, the dentist advised Brown to see a doctor right away about his medical condition. Brown went to the Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital the next day for medical evaluation and was admitted for observation and treatment. According to Charles Bobbit, his longtime personal manager and friend, Brown had been struggling with a noisy cough since returning from a November trip to Europe. Yet, Bobbit said, the singer had a history of never complaining about being sick and often performed while ill. Although Brown had to cancel upcoming concerts in Waterbury, Connecticut, and Englewood, New Jersey, he was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time for his scheduled New Year's Eve shows at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey and the B. B. King Blues Club in New York, in addition to performing a song live on CNN for the Anderson Cooper New Year's Eve special. Brown remained hospitalized, however, and his condition worsened throughout the day. On Christmas Day, 2006, Brown died at approximately 1:45 am EST (06:45 UTC), at age 73, from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia. Bobbit was at his bedside and later reported that Brown stuttered, "I'm going away tonight," then took three long, quiet breaths and fell asleep before dying. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer, and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honorific nicknames "Godfather of Soul", "Mr. Dynamite", and "Soul Brother No. 1". In a career that lasted more than 50 years, he influenced the development of several music genres. Brown was one of the first 10 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction in New York on January 23, 1986.
Brown began his career as a gospel singer in Toccoa, Georgia. He first came to national public attention in the mid-1950s as the lead singer of the Famous Flames, a rhythm and blues vocal group founded by Bobby Byrd. With the hit ballads "Please, Please, Please" and "Try Me", Brown built a reputation as a dynamic live performer with the Famous Flames and his backing band, sometimes known as the James Brown Band or the James Brown Orchestra. His success peaked in the 1960s with the live album Live at the Apollo and hit singles such as "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "It's a Man's Man's Man's World".
During the late 1960s, Brown moved from a continuum of blues and gospel-based forms and styles to a profoundly "Africanized" approach to music-making, emphasizing stripped-down interlocking rhythms that influenced the development of funk music. By the early 1970s, Brown had fully established the funk sound after the formation of the J.B.s with records such as "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" and "The Payback". He also became noted for songs of social commentary, including the 1968 hit "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud". Brown continued to perform and record until his death from pneumonia in 2006.
Brown recorded 17 singles that reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts. He also holds the record for the most singles listed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that did not reach No. 1. Brown was inducted into the first class of the Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013 as an artist and then in 2017 as a songwriter. He also received honors from several other institutions, including inductions into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In Joel Whitburn's analysis of the Billboard R&B charts from 1942 to 2010, Brown is ranked No. 1 in The Top 500 Artists. He is ranked seventh on Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Early life
Brown was born on May 3, 1933, in Barnwell, South Carolina, to 16-year-old Susie (née Behling; 1916–2004) and 21-year-old Joseph Gardner Brown (1912–1993) in a small wooden shack. Brown's name was supposed to have been Joseph James Brown, but his first and middle names were mistakenly reversed on his birth certificate. In his autobiography, Brown stated that he had Chinese and Native American ancestry and that his father was of mixed African-American and Native American descent, while his mother was of mixed African-American and Asian descent.
The Brown family lived in extreme poverty in Elko, South Carolina, which was an impoverished town at the time. They later moved to Augusta, Georgia, when James was four or five. His family first settled at one of his aunts' brothels. They later moved into a house shared with another aunt. Brown's mother eventually left the family after a contentious and abusive marriage and moved to New York. Brown spent long stretches of time on his own, hanging out in the streets and hustling to get by. He managed to stay in school until the sixth grade.
He began singing in talent shows as a young child, first appearing at Augusta's Lenox Theater in 1944, winning the show after singing the ballad "So Long". While in Augusta, Brown performed buck dances for change to entertain troops from Camp Gordon at the start of World War II as their convoys traveled over a canal bridge near his aunt's home. He learned to play the piano, guitar, and harmonica during this period. He became inspired to become an entertainer after hearing "Caldonia" by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five. In his teen years, Brown briefly had a career as a boxer.
At the age of 16, he was convicted of robbery and sent to a juvenile detention center in Toccoa. There, he formed a gospel quartet with four fellow cellmates, including Johnny Terry. Brown met singer Bobby Byrd when the two played against each other in a baseball game outside the detention center. Byrd also discovered that Brown could sing after hearing of "a guy called Music Box", which was Brown's musical nickname at the prison. Byrd has since claimed he and his family helped to secure an early release, which led to Brown promising the court he would "sing for the Lord". Brown was released on a work sponsorship with Toccoa business owner S.C. Lawson. Lawson was impressed with Brown's work ethic and secured his release with a promise to keep him employed for two years. Brown was paroled on June 14, 1952. Brown went on to work with both of Lawson's sons, and would come back to visit the family from time to time throughout his career. Shortly after being paroled he joined the gospel group the Ever-Ready Gospel Singers, featuring Byrd's sister Sarah.
Music career
1953–1961: The Famous Flames
Brown eventually joined Bobby Byrd's group in 1954. The group had evolved from the Gospel Starlighters, an a cappella gospel group, to an R&B group with the name the Avons. He reputedly joined the band after one of its members, Troy Collins, died in a car crash. Along with Brown and Byrd, the group consisted of Sylvester Keels, Doyle Oglesby, Fred Pulliam, Nash Knox and Nafloyd Scott. Influenced by R&B groups such as Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, the Orioles and Billy Ward and his Dominoes, the group changed its name, first to the Toccoa Band and then to the Flames. Nafloyd's brother Baroy later joined the group on bass guitar, and Brown, Byrd and Keels switched lead positions and instruments, often playing drums and piano. Johnny Terry later joined, by which time Pulliam and Oglesby had long left. one of his 10 children commited suicide.
Berry Trimier became the group's first manager, booking them at parties near college campuses in Georgia and South Carolina. The group had already gained a reputation as a good live act when they renamed themselves the Famous Flames. In 1955, the group had contacted Little Richard while performing in Macon. Richard convinced the group to get in contact with his manager at the time, Clint Brantley, at his nightclub. Brantley agreed to manage them after seeing the group audition. He then sent them to a local radio station to record a demo session, where they performed their own composition "Please, Please, Please", which was inspired when Little Richard wrote the words of the title on a napkin and Brown was determined to make a song out of it. The Famous Flames eventually signed with King Records' Federal subsidiary in Cincinnati, Ohio, and issued a re-recorded version of "Please, Please, Please" in March 1956. The song became the group's first R&B hit, selling over a million copies. None of their follow-ups gained similar success. By 1957, Brown had replaced Clint Brantley as manager and hired Ben Bart, chief of Universal Attractions Agency. That year the original Flames broke up, after Bart changed the name of the group to "James Brown and The Famous Flames".
In October 1958, Brown released the ballad "Try Me", which hit number one on the R&B chart in the beginning of 1959, becoming the first of seventeen chart-topping R&B hits. Shortly afterwards, he recruited his first band, led by J. C. Davis, and reunited with Bobby Byrd who joined a revived Famous Flames lineup that included Eugene "Baby" Lloyd Stallworth and Bobby Bennett, with Johnny Terry sometimes coming in as the "fifth Flame". Brown, the Flames, and his entire band debuted at the Apollo Theater on April 24, 1959, opening for Brown's idol, Little Willie John. Federal Records issued two albums credited to Brown and the Famous Flames (both contained previously released singles). By 1960, Brown began multi-tasking in the recording studio involving himself, his singing group, the Famous Flames, and his band, a separate entity from The Flames, sometimes named the James Brown Orchestra or the James Brown Band. That year the band released the top ten R&B hit "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes" on Dade Records, owned by Henry Stone, billed under the pseudonym "Nat Kendrick & the Swans" due to label issues. As a result of its success, King president Syd Nathan shifted Brown's contract from Federal to the parent label, King, which according to Brown in his autobiography meant "you got more support from the company". While with King, Brown, under the Famous Flames lineup, released the hit-filled album Think! and the following year released two albums with the James Brown Band earning second billing. With the Famous Flames, Brown sang lead on several more hits, including"Bewildered", "I'll Go Crazy" and "Think", songs that hinted at his emerging style.
1962–1966: Mr. Dynamite
In 1962, Brown and his band scored a hit with their cover of the instrumental "Night Train", becoming a top five R&B single. That same year, the ballads "Lost Someone" and "Baby You're Right", the latter a Joe Tex composition, added to his repertoire and increased his reputation with R&B audiences. On October 24, 1962, Brown financed a live recording of a performance at the Apollo and convinced Syd Nathan to release the album, despite Nathan's belief that no one would buy a live album due to the fact that Brown's singles had already been bought and that live albums were usually bad sellers.
Live at the Apollo was released the following June and became an immediate hit, eventually reaching number two on the Top LPs chart and selling over a million copies, staying on the charts for 14 months. In 1963, Brown scored his first top 20 pop hit with his rendition of the standard "Prisoner of Love". He also launched his first label, Try Me Records, which included recordings by the likes of Tammy Montgomery (later to be famous as Tammi Terrell), Johnny & Bill (Famous Flames associates Johnny Terry and Bill Hollings) and the Poets, which was another name used for Brown's backing band. During this time Brown began an ill-fated two-year relationship with 17-year-old Tammi Terrell when she sang in his revue. Terrell ended their personal and professional relationship because of his abusive behavior.
In 1964, seeking bigger commercial success, Brown and Bobby Byrd formed the production company, Fair Deal, linking the operation to the Mercury imprint, Smash Records. King Records, however, fought against this and was granted an injunction preventing Brown from releasing any recordings for the label. Prior to the injunction, Brown had released three vocal singles, including the blues-oriented hit "Out of Sight", which further indicated the direction his music was going to take. Touring throughout the year, Brown and the Famous Flames grabbed more national attention after giving an explosive show-stopping performance on the live concert film The T.A.M.I. Show. The Flames' dynamic gospel-tinged vocals, polished choreography and timing as well as Brown's energetic dance moves and high-octane singing upstaged the proposed closing act, the Rolling Stones.
Having signed a new deal with King, Brown released his song "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" in 1965, which became his first top ten pop hit and won him his first Grammy Award. Brown also signed a production deal with Loma Records. Later in 1965, he issued "I Got You", which became his second single in a row to reach number-one on the R&B chart and top ten on the pop chart. Brown followed that up with the ballad "It's a Man's Man's Man's World", a third Top 10 Pop hit (No. 1 R&B) which confirmed his stance as a top-ranking performer, especially with R&B audiences from that point on.
1967–1970: Soul Brother No. 1
By 1967, Brown's emerging sound had begun to be defined as funk music. That year he released what some critics cited as the first true funk song, "Cold Sweat", which hit number-one on the R&B chart (Top 10 Pop) and became one of his first recordings to contain a drum break and also the first that featured a harmony that was reduced to a single chord. The instrumental arrangements on tracks such as "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" and "Licking Stick-Licking Stick" (both recorded in 1968) and "Funky Drummer" (recorded in 1969) featured a more developed version of Brown's mid-1960s style, with the horn section, guitars, bass and drums meshed together in intricate rhythmic patterns based on multiple interlocking riffs.
Changes in Brown's style that started with "Cold Sweat" also established the musical foundation for Brown's later hits, such as "I Got the Feelin'" (1968) and "Mother Popcorn" (1969). By this time Brown's vocals frequently took the form of a kind of rhythmic declamation, not quite sung but not quite spoken, that only intermittently featured traces of pitch or melody. This would become a major influence on the techniques of rapping, which would come to maturity along with hip hop music in the coming decades. Brown's style of funk in the late 1960s was based on interlocking syncopated parts: strutting bass lines, syncopated drum patterns, and iconic percussive guitar riffs. The main guitar ostinatos for "Ain't It Funky" and "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" (both 1969), are examples of Brown's refinement of New Orleans funk; irresistibly danceable riffs, stripped down to their rhythmic essence. On both recordings the tonal structure is bare bones. The pattern of attack-points is the emphasis, not the pattern of pitches, as if the guitar were an African drum, or idiophone. Alexander Stewart states that this popular feel was passed along from "New Orleans—through James Brown's music, to the popular music of the 1970s". Those same tracks were later resurrected by countless hip-hop musicians from the 1970s onward. As a result, James Brown remains to this day the world's most sampled recording artist, but, two tracks that he wrote, are also synonymous with modern dance, especially with house music, jungle music, and drum and bass music, (which were sped up exponentially, in the latter two genres).
"Bring it Up" has an Afro-Cuban guajeo-like structure. All three of these guitar riffs are based on an onbeat/offbeat structure. Stewart says that it "is different from a time line (such as clave and tresillo) in that it is not an exact pattern, but more of a loose organizing principle."
It was around this time as the musician's popularity increased that he acquired the nickname "Soul Brother No. 1", after failing to win the title "King of Soul" from Solomon Burke during a Chicago gig two years prior. Brown's recordings during this period influenced musicians across the industry, most notably groups such as Sly and the Family Stone, Funkadelic, Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Booker T. & the M.G.s as well as vocalists such as Edwin Starr, David Ruffin and Dennis Edwards from The Temptations, and Michael Jackson, who, throughout his career, cited Brown as his ultimate idol.
Brown's band during this period employed musicians and arrangers who had come up through the jazz tradition. He was noted for his ability as a bandleader and songwriter to blend the simplicity and drive of R&B with the rhythmic complexity and precision of jazz. Trumpeter Lewis Hamlin and saxophonist/keyboardist Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis (the successor to previous bandleader Nat Jones) led the band. Guitarist Jimmy Nolen provided percussive, deceptively simple riffs for each song, and Maceo Parker's prominent saxophone solos provided a focal point for many performances. Other members of Brown's band included stalwart Famous Flames singer and sideman Bobby Byrd, trombonist Fred Wesley, drummers John "Jabo" Starks, Clyde Stubblefield and Melvin Parker, saxophonist St. Clair Pinckney, guitarist Alphonso "Country" Kellum and bassist Bernard Odum.
In addition to a torrent of singles and studio albums, Brown's output during this period included two more successful live albums, Live at the Garden (1967) and Live at the Apollo, Volume II (1968), and a 1968 television special, James Brown: Man to Man. His music empire expanded along with his influence on the music scene. As Brown's music empire grew, his desire for financial and artistic independence grew as well. Brown bought radio stations during the late 1960s, including WRDW in his native Augusta, where he shined shoes as a boy. In November 1967, James Brown purchased radio station WGYW in Knoxville, Tennessee, for a reported $75,000, according to the January 20, 1968 Record World magazine. The call letters were changed to WJBE reflecting his initials. WJBE began on January 15, 1968, and broadcast a Rhythm & Blues format. The station slogan was "WJBE 1430 Raw Soul". Brown also bought WEBB in Baltimore in 1970.
Brown branched out to make several recordings with musicians outside his own band. In an attempt to appeal to the older, more affluent, and predominantly white adult contemporary audience, Brown recorded Gettin' Down To It (1969) and Soul on Top (1970)—two albums consisting mostly of romantic ballads, jazz standards, and homologous reinterpretations of his earlier hits—with the Dee Felice Trio and the Louie Bellson Orchestra. In 1968, he recorded a number of funk-oriented tracks with The Dapps, a white Cincinnati band, including the hit "I Can't Stand Myself". He also released three albums of Christmas music with his own band.
1970–1975: Godfather of Soul
In March 1970, most of Brown's mid-to-late 1960s road band walked out on him due to money disputes, a development augured by the prior disbandment of The Famous Flames singing group for the same reason in 1968. Brown and erstwhile Famous Flames singer Bobby Byrd (who chose to remain in the band during this tumultuous period) subsequently recruited several members of the Cincinnati-based The Pacemakers, which included Bootsy Collins and his brother Phelps "Catfish" Collins; augmented by the remaining members of the 1960s road band (including Fred Wesley, who rejoined Brown's outfit in December 1970) and other newer musicians, they would form the nucleus of The J.B.'s, Brown's new backing ensemble. Shortly following their first performance together, the band entered the studio to record the Brown-Byrd composition, "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine"; the song and other contemporaneous singles would further cement Brown's influence in the nascent genre of funk music. This iteration of the J.B.'s dissolved after a March 1971 European tour (documented on the 1991 archival release Love Power Peace) due to additional money disputes and Bootsy Collins' use of LSD; the Collins brothers would soon become integral members of Parliament-Funkadelic, while a new lineup of the J.B.'s coalesced around Wesley, St. Clair Pinckney and drummer John Starks.
In 1971, Brown began recording for Polydor Records which also took over distribution of Brown's King Records catalog. Many of his sidemen and supporting players, including Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s, Bobby Byrd, Lyn Collins, Vicki Anderson and former rival Hank Ballard, released records on the People label, an imprint founded by Brown that was purchased by Polydor as part of Brown's new contract. The recordings on the People label, almost all of which were produced by Brown himself, exemplified the mature flowering of his "house style". Several tracks thought by critics to be excessively sexual were released at this time. He would later soften his vocal approach. Songs such as "I Know You Got Soul" by Bobby Byrd, "Think" by Lyn Collins and "Doing It to Death" by Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s are considered as much a part of Brown's recorded legacy as the recordings released under his own name. That year, he also began touring African countries and was received well by audiences there. During the 1972 presidential election, James Brown openly proclaimed his support of Richard Nixon for reelection to the presidency over Democratic candidate George McGovern. The decision led to a boycott of his performances and, according to Brown, cost him a big portion of his black audience. As a result, Brown's record sales and concerts in the United States reached a lull in 1973 as he failed to land a number-one R&B single that year. Brown relied more on touring outside the United States where he continued to perform for sold-out crowds in cities such as London, Paris and Lausanne. That year he also faced problems with the IRS for failure to pay back taxes, charging he hadn't paid upwards of $4.5 million; five years earlier, the IRS had claimed he owed nearly $2 million.
In 1973, Brown provided the score for the blaxploitation film Black Caesar. He also recorded another soundtrack for the film, Slaughter's Big Rip-Off. Following the release of these soundtracks, Brown acquired a self-styled nickname, "The Godfather of Soul", which remains his most popular nickname. In 1974 he returned to the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts with "The Payback", with the parent album reaching the same spot on the album charts; he would reach No. 1 two more times in 1974, with "My Thang" and "Papa Don't Take No Mess". Later that year, he returned to Africa and performed in Kinshasa as part of the buildup to The Rumble in the Jungle fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Admirers of Brown's music, including Miles Davis and other jazz musicians, began to cite him as a major influence on their own styles. However, Brown, like others who were influenced by his music, also "borrowed" from other musicians. His 1976 single, "Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)" (R&B No. 31), interpolated the main riff from "Fame" by David Bowie while omitting any attribution to the latter song's composers (including Bowie, John Lennon and guitarist Carlos Alomar), not the other way around as was often believed.
"Papa Don't Take No Mess" would prove to be his final single to reach the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts and his final Top 40 pop single of the 1970s, though he continued to occasionally have Top 10 R&B recordings. Among his top ten R&B hits during this latter period included "Funky President" (R&B No. 4) and "Get Up Offa That Thing" (R&B No. 4), the latter song released in 1976 and aimed at musical rivals such as Barry White, The Ohio Players and K.C. and the Sunshine Band. Brown credited his then-wife and two of their children as writers of the song to avoid concurrent tax problems with the IRS. Starting in October 1975, Brown produced, directed, and hosted Future Shock, an Atlanta-based television variety show that ran for three years.
1975–1991: Decline and resurgence
Although his records were mainstays of the vanguard New York underground disco scene (exemplified by DJs such as David Mancuso and Francis Grasso) from 1969 onwards, Brown did not consciously yield to the trend until 1975's Sex Machine Today. By 1977, he was no longer a dominant force in R&B. After "Get Up Offa That Thing", thirteen of Brown's late 1970s recordings for Polydor failed to reach the Top 10 of the R&B chart, with only "Bodyheat" in 1976 and the disco-oriented "It's Too Funky in Here" in 1979 reaching the R&B Top 15 and the ballad "Kiss in '77" reaching the Top 20. After 1976's "Bodyheat", he also failed to appear on the Billboard Hot 100. As a result, Brown's concert attendance began dropping and his reported disputes with the IRS caused his business empire to collapse. In addition, Brown's former bandmates, including Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker and the Collins brothers, had found bigger success as members of George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic collective. The emergence of disco also stopped Brown's success on the R&B charts because its slicker, more commercial style had superseded his more raw funk productions.
By the release of 1979's The Original Disco Man, Brown was not providing much production or writing, leaving most of it to producer Brad Shapiro, resulting in the song "It's Too Funky in Here" becoming Brown's most successful single in this period. After two more albums failed to chart, Brown left Polydor in 1981. It was around this time that Brown changed the name of his band from the J.B.'s to the Soul Generals (or Soul G's). The band retained that name until his death. Despite Brown's declining record sales, promoters Gary LoConti and Jim Rissmiller helped Brown sell out a string of residency shows at the Country Club in Reseda. Brown's compromised commercial standing prevented him from charging a large live fee to the promoters for these shows. However, the great success of these shows marked a turning point for Brown's career, and soon he was back on top in Hollywood. Movies followed, starting with appearances in the feature films The Blues Brothers, Doctor Detroit and Rocky IV, as well as guest-starring in the Miami Vice episode "Missing Hours" (1987). In 1984, he teamed with rap musician Afrika Bambaataa on the song "Unity". A year later he signed with Scotti Brothers Records and issued the moderately successful album Gravity in 1986. It included Brown's final Top 10 pop hit, "Living in America", marking his first Top 40 entry since 1974 and his first Top 10 pop entry since 1968. Produced and written by Dan Hartman, it was also featured prominently on the Rocky IV film and soundtrack. Brown performed the song in the film at Apollo Creed's final fight, shot in the Ziegfeld Room at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and was credited in the film as "The Godfather of Soul". 1986 also saw the publication of his autobiography, James Brown: The Godfather of Soul, co-written with Bruce Tucker. In 1987, Brown won the Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Living in America".
In 1988, Brown worked with the production team Full Force on the new jack swing-influenced I'm Real. It spawned his final two Top 10 R&B hits, "I'm Real" and "Static", which peaked at No. 2 and No. 5, respectively, on the R&B charts. Meanwhile, the drum break from the second version of the original 1969 hit "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" (the recording included on the compilation album In the Jungle Groove) became so popular at hip hop dance parties (especially for breakdance) during the early 1980s that hip hop pioneer Kurtis Blow called the song "the national anthem of hip hop".
1991–2006: Final years
After his stint in prison during the late 1980s, Brown met Larry Fridie and Thomas Hart who produced the first James Brown biopic, entitled James Brown: The Man, the Message, the Music, released in 1992. He returned to music with the album Love Over-Due in 1991. It included the single "(So Tired of Standing Still We Got to) Move On", which peaked at No. 48 on the R&B chart. His former record label Polydor also released the four-CD box set Star Time, spanning Brown's career to date. Brown's release from prison also prompted his former record labels to reissue his albums on CD, featuring additional tracks and commentary by music critics and historians. That same year, Brown appeared on rapper MC Hammer's video for "Too Legit to Quit". Hammer had been noted, alongside Big Daddy Kane, for bringing Brown's unique stage shows and their own energetic dance moves to the hip-hop generation; both listed Brown as their idol. Both musicians also sampled his work, with Hammer having sampled the rhythms from "Super Bad" for his song "Here Comes the Hammer", from his best-selling album Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em. Big Daddy Kane sampled many times. Before the year was over, Brown–who had immediately returned to work with his band following his release–organized a pay-per-view concert following a show at Los Angeles' Wiltern Theatre, that was well received.
On June 10, 1991, James Brown and a star-filled line up performed before a crowd at the Wiltern Theatre for a live pay-per-view at-home audience. James Brown: Living in America – Live! was the brainchild of Indiana producer Danny Hubbard. It featured
M.C. Hammer as well as Bell Biv Devoe, Heavy D & the Boys, En Vogue, C+C Music Factory, Quincy Jones, Sherman Hemsley and Keenen Ivory Wayans. Ice-T, Tone Loc and Kool Moe Dee performed paying homage to Brown. This was Brown's first public performance since his parole from the South Carolina prison system in February. He had served two-and-a-half years of two concurrent six-year sentences for aggravated assault and other felonies.
Brown continued making recordings. In 1993 his album Universal James was released. It included his final Billboard charting single, "Can't Get Any Harder", which peaked at No. 76 on the US R&B chart and reached No. 59 on the UK chart. Its brief charting in the UK was probably due to the success of a remixed version of "I Feel Good" featuring Dakeyne. Brown also released the singles "How Long" and "Georgia-Lina", which failed to chart. In 1995, Brown returned to the Apollo and recorded Live at the Apollo 1995. It included a studio track titled "Respect Me", which was released as a single; again it failed to chart. Brown's final studio albums, I'm Back and The Next Step, were released in 1998 and 2002 respectively. I'm Back featured the song "Funk on Ah Roll", which peaked at No. 40 in the UK but did not chart in his native US. The Next Step included Brown's final single, "Killing Is Out, School Is In". Both albums were produced by Derrick Monk. Brown's concert success, however, remained unabated and he kept up with a grueling schedule throughout the remainder of his life, living up to his previous nickname, "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business", in spite of his advanced age. In 2003, Brown participated in the PBS American Masters television documentary James Brown: Soul Survivor, which was directed by Jeremy Marre.
Brown performed in the Super Bowl XXXI halftime show.
Brown celebrated his status as an icon by appearing in a variety of entertainment and sports events, including an appearance on the WCW pay-per-view event, SuperBrawl X, where he danced alongside wrestler Ernest "The Cat" Miller, who based his character on Brown, during his in-ring skit with The Maestro. Brown then appeared in Tony Scott's short film Beat the Devil in 2001. He was featured alongside Clive Owen, Gary Oldman, Danny Trejo and Marilyn Manson. Brown also made a cameo appearance in the 2002 Jackie Chan film The Tuxedo, in which Chan was required to finish Brown's act after having accidentally knocked out the singer. In 2002, Brown appeared in Undercover Brother, playing himself.
In 2004, Brown performed in Hyde Park, London as a support act for Red Hot Chili Peppers concerts. The beginning of 2005 saw the publication of Brown's second book, I Feel Good: A Memoir of a Life of Soul, written with Marc Eliot. In February and March, he participated in recording sessions for an intended studio album with Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, and other longtime collaborators. Though he lost interest in the album, which remains unreleased, a track from the sessions, "Gut Bucket", appeared on a compilation CD included with the August 2006 issue of MOJO. He appeared at Edinburgh 50,000 – The Final Push, the final Live 8 concert on July 6, 2005, where he performed a duet with British pop star Will Young on "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag". In the Black Eyed Peas album "Monkey Business", Brown was featured on a track called, "They Don't Want Music". The previous week he had performed a duet with another British pop star, Joss Stone, on the United Kingdom chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. In 2006, Brown continued his "Seven Decades of Funk World Tour", his last concert tour where he performed all over the world. His final U.S. performances were in San Francisco on August 20, 2006, as headliner at the Festival of the Golden Gate (Foggfest) on the Great Meadow at Fort Mason. The following day, August 21, he performed at Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA, at a small theatre (800 seats) on campus. His last shows were greeted with positive reviews, and one of his final concert appearances at the Irish Oxegen festival in Punchestown in 2006 was performed for a record crowd of 80,000 people. He played a full concert as part of the BBC's Electric Proms on October 27, 2006, at The Roundhouse, supported by The Zutons, with special appearances from Max Beasley and The Sugababes.
Brown's last televised appearance was at his induction into the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2006, before his death the following month. Before his death, Brown had been scheduled to perform a duet with singer Annie Lennox on the song "Vengeance" for her new album Venus, which was released in 2007.
Artistry
As a vocalist, Brown performed in a forceful shout style derived from gospel music. Meanwhile, "his rhythmic grunts and expressive shrieks harked back farther still to ring shouts, work songs, and field cries", according to the Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History (1996): "He reimported the rhythmic complexity from which rhythm and blues, under the dual pressure of rock 'n' roll and pop, had progressively fallen away since its birth from jazz and blues."
For many years, Brown's touring show was one of the most extravagant productions in American popular music. At the time of Brown's death, his band included three guitarists, two bass guitar players, two drummers, three horns and a percussionist. The bands that he maintained during the late 1960s and 1970s were of comparable size, and the bands also included a three-piece amplified string section that played during the ballads. Brown employed between 40 and 50 people for the James Brown Revue, and members of the revue traveled with him in a bus to cities and towns all over the country, performing upwards of 330 shows a year with almost all of the shows as one-nighters.
Concert style
Before James Brown appeared on stage, his personal MC gave him an elaborate introduction accompanied by drumrolls, as the MC worked in Brown's various sobriquets along with the names of many of his hit songs. The introduction by Fats Gonder, captured on Brown's 1963 album Live at the Apollo is a representative example:
James Brown's performances were famous for their intensity and length. His own stated goal was to "give people more than what they came for — make them tired, 'cause that's what they came for.'" Brown's concert repertoire consisted mostly of his own hits and recent songs, with a few R&B covers mixed in. Brown danced vigorously as he sang, working popular dance steps such as the Mashed Potato into his routine along with dramatic leaps, splits and slides. In addition, his horn players and singing group (The Famous Flames) typically performed choreographed dance routines, and later incarnations of the Revue included backup dancers. Male performers in the Revue were required to wear tuxedoes and cummerbunds long after more casual concert wear became the norm among the younger musical acts. Brown's own extravagant outfits and his elaborate processed hairdo completed the visual impression. A James Brown concert typically included a performance by a featured vocalist, such as Vicki Anderson or Marva Whitney, and an instrumental feature for the band, which sometimes served as the opening act for the show.
A trademark feature of Brown's stage shows, usually during the song "Please, Please, Please", involved Brown dropping to his knees while clutching the microphone stand in his hands, prompting the show's longtime MC, Danny Ray, to come out, drape a cape over Brown's shoulders and escort him off the stage after he had worked himself to exhaustion during his performance. As Brown was escorted off the stage by the MC, Brown's vocal group, the Famous Flames (Bobby Byrd, Lloyd Stallworth, and Bobby Bennett), continued singing the background vocals "Please, please don't go-oh". Brown would then shake off the cape and stagger back to the microphone to perform an encore. Brown's routine was inspired by a similar one used by the professional wrestler Gorgeous George, as well as Little Richard. In his 2005 autobiography I Feel Good: A Memoir in a Life of Soul, Brown, who was a fan of Gorgeous George, credited the wrestler as the inspiration for both his cape routine and concert attire, stating, "Seeing him on TV helped create the James Brown you see on stage". Brown performs a version of the cape routine in the film of the T.A.M.I. Show (1964) in which he and The Famous Flames upstaged The Rolling Stones, and over the closing credits of the film Blues Brothers 2000. The Police refer to "James Brown on the T.A.M.I. Show" in their 1980 song "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around".
Band leadership
Brown demanded extreme discipline, perfection and precision from his musicians and dancers – performers in his Revue showed up for rehearsals and members wore the right "uniform" or "costume" for concert performances. During an interview conducted by Terri Gross during the NPR segment "Fresh Air" with Maceo Parker, a former saxophonist in Brown's band for most of the 1960s and part of the 1970s and 1980s, Parker offered his experience with the discipline that Brown demanded of the band:
Brown also had a practice of directing, correcting and assessing fines on members of his band who broke his rules, such as wearing unshined shoes, dancing out of sync or showing up late on stage. During some of his concert performances, Brown danced in front of his band with his back to the audience as he slid across the floor, flashing hand signals and splaying his pulsating fingers to the beat of the music. Although audiences thought Brown's dance routine was part of his act, this practice was actually his way of pointing to the offending member of his troupe who played or sang the wrong note or committed some other infraction. Brown used his splayed fingers and hand signals to alert the offending person of the fine that person must pay to him for breaking his rules.
Brown's demands of his support acts were, meanwhile, quite the reverse. As Fred Wesley recalled of his time as musical director of the JBs, if Brown felt intimidated by a support act he would try to "undermine their performances by shortening their sets without notice, demanding that they not do certain showstopping songs, and even insisting on doing the unthinkable, playing drums on some of their songs. A sure set killer."
Social activism
Education advocacy and humanitarianism
Brown's main social activism was in preserving the need for education among youths, influenced by his own troubled childhood and his being forced to drop out of the seventh grade for wearing "insufficient clothes". Due to heavy dropout rates in the 1960s, Brown released the pro-education song, "Don't Be a Drop-Out". Royalties of the song were donated to dropout-prevention charity programs. The success of this led to Brown meeting with President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House. Johnson cited Brown for being a positive role model to the youth. A lifelong Republican, Brown gained the confidence of President Richard Nixon, to whom he found he had to explain the plight of Black Americans.
Throughout the remainder of his life, Brown made public speeches in schools and continued to advocate the importance of education in school. Upon filing his will in 2002, Brown advised that most of the money in his estate go into creating the I Feel Good, Inc. Trust to benefit disadvantaged children and provide scholarships for his grandchildren. His final single, "Killing Is Out, School Is In", advocated against murders of young children in the streets. Brown often gave out money and other items to children while traveling to his childhood hometown of Augusta. A week before his death, while looking gravely ill, Brown gave out toys and turkeys to kids at an Atlanta orphanage, something he had done several times over the years.
Civil rights and self-reliance
Though Brown performed at benefit rallies for civil rights organizations in the mid-1960s, Brown often shied away from discussing civil rights in his songs in fear of alienating his crossover audience. In 1968, in response to a growing urge of anti-war advocacy during the Vietnam War, Brown recorded the song, "America Is My Home". In the song, Brown performed a rap, advocating patriotism and exhorting listeners to "stop pitying yoursel[ves] and get up and fight". At the time of the song's release, Brown had been participating in performing for troops stationed in Vietnam.
The Boston Garden concert
On April 5, 1968, a day after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee, Brown provided a free citywide televised concert at the Boston Garden to maintain public order and calm concerned Boston residents (over the objections of the police chief, who wanted to call off the concert, which he thought would incite violence). The show was later released on DVD as Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968. According to the documentary The Night James Brown Saved Boston, then-mayor Kevin White had strongly restrained the Boston police from cracking down on minor violence and protests after the assassination, while religious and community leaders worked to keep tempers from flaring. White arranged to have Brown's performance broadcast multiple times on Boston's public television station, WGBH, thus keeping potential rioters off the streets, watching the concert for free. Angered by not being told of this, Brown demanded $60,000 for "gate" fees (money he thought would be lost from ticket sales on account of the concert being broadcast for free) and then threatened to go public about the secret arrangement when the city balked at paying up afterwards, news of which would have been a political death blow to White and spark riots of its own. White eventually lobbied the behind-the-scenes power-brokering group known as "The Vault" to come up with money for Brown's gate fee and other social programs, contributing $100,000. Brown received $15,000 from them via the city. White also persuaded management at the Garden to give up their share of receipts to make up the differences. Following this successful performance, Brown was counseled by President Johnson to urge cities ravaged from riots following King's assassination to not resort to violence, telling them to "cool it, there's another way".
Responding to pressure from black activists, including H. Rap Brown, to take a bigger stance on their issues and from footage of black on black crime committed in inner cities, Brown wrote the lyrics to the song "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud", which his bandleader Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis accompanied with a musical composition. Released late that summer, the song's lyrics helped to make it an anthem for the civil rights movement. Brown only performed the song sporadically following its initial release and later stated he had regrets about recording it, saying in 1984, "Now 'Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud' has done more for the black race than any other record, but if I had my choice, I wouldn't have done it, because I don't like defining anyone by race. To teach race is to teach separatism." In his autobiography he stated:
The song is obsolete now ... But it was necessary to teach pride then, and I think the song did a lot of good for a lot of people ... People called "Black and Proud" militant and angry – maybe because of the line about dying on your feet instead of living on your knees. But really, if you listen to it, it sounds like a children's song. That's why I had children in it, so children who heard it could grow up feeling pride ... The song cost me a lot of my crossover audience. The racial makeup at my concerts was mostly black after that. I don't regret it, though, even if it was misunderstood.
In 1969, Brown recorded two more songs of social commentary, "World" and "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing", the latter song pleading for equal opportunity and self-reliance rather than entitlement. In 1970, in response to some black leaders for not being outspoken enough, he recorded "Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved" and "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing". In 1971, he began touring Africa, including Zambia and Nigeria. He was made "freeman of the city" in Lagos, Nigeria, by Oba Adeyinka Oyekan, for his "influence on black people all over the world". With his company, James Brown Enterprises, Brown helped to provide jobs for blacks in business in the communities. As the 1970s continued, Brown continued to record songs of social commentary, most prominently 1972's "King Heroin" and the two-part ballad "Public Enemy", which dealt with drug addiction.
Political views
During the 1968 presidential campaign, Brown endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey and appeared with Humphrey at political rallies. Brown was labeled an "Uncle Tom" for supporting Humphrey and also for releasing the pro-American funk song, "America Is My Home", in which Brown had lambasted protesters of the Vietnam War as well as the politics of pro-black activists. Brown began supporting Republican president Richard Nixon after being invited to perform at Nixon's inaugural ball in January 1969. Brown's endorsement of Nixon during the 1972 presidential election negatively impacted his career during that period with several national Black organizations boycotting his records and protesting at his concert shows; a November 1972 show in Cincinnati was picketed with signs saying, "James Brown: Nixon's Clown". Brown initially was invited to perform at a Youth Concert following Nixon's inauguration in January 1973 but bailed out due to the backlash he suffered from supporting Nixon. Brown joined fellow black entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., who faced similar backlash, to back out of the concert. Brown blamed it on "fatigue". Brown later reversed his support of Nixon and composed the song, "You Can Have Watergate (Just Gimme Some Bucks And I'll Be Straight)" as a result. After Nixon resigned from office, Brown composed the 1974 hit, "Funky President (People It's Bad)", right after Gerald Ford took Nixon's place. Brown later supported Democratic President Jimmy Carter, attending one of Carter's inaugural balls in 1977. Brown also openly supported President Ronald Reagan's reelection in 1984.
Brown stated he was neither Democratic nor Republican despite his support of Republican presidents such as Nixon and Reagan as well as Democratic presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Carter. In 1999, when being interviewed by Rolling Stone, the magazine asked him to name a hero in the 20th century; Brown mentioned John F. Kennedy and then-96-year-old U.S. Senator, and former Dixiecrat, Strom Thurmond, stating "when the young whippersnappers get out of line, whether Democratic or Republican, an old man can walk up and say 'Wait a minute, son, it goes this way.' And that's great for our country. He's like a grandfather to me." In 2003, Brown was the featured attraction of a Washington D.C. fundraiser for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Following the deaths of Ronald Reagan and his friend Ray Charles, Brown said to CNN, "I'm kind of in an uproar. I love the country and I got – you know I've been around a long time, through many presidents and everything. So after losing Mr. Reagan, who I knew very well, then Mr. Ray Charles, who I worked with and lived with like, all our life, we had a show together in Oakland many, many years ago and it's like you found the placard." Despite his contrarian political views, Brown mentored black activist Rev. Al Sharpton during the 1970s.
Personal life
At the end of his life, James Brown lived in Beech Island, South Carolina, directly across the Savannah River from Augusta, Georgia. Brown had diabetes that went undiagnosed for years, according to his longtime manager Charles Bobbit. In 2004, Brown was successfully treated for prostate cancer. Regardless of his health, Brown maintained his reputation as the "hardest working man in show business" by keeping up with his grueling performance schedule.
In 1962, Tammi Terrell joined the James Brown Revue. Brown became sexually involved with Terrell even though she was only 17 in a relationship that continued until she escaped his abuse. Bobby Bennett, former member of the Famous Flames, told Rolling Stone about the abuse he witnessed: "He beat Tammi Terrell terrible", said Bennett. "She was bleeding, shedding blood." Terrell, who died in 1970, was Brown's girlfriend before she became famous as Marvin Gaye's singing partner in the mid-'60s. "Tammi left him because she didn't want her butt whipped", said Bennett, who also claimed he saw Brown kick one pregnant girlfriend down a flight of stairs.
Marriages and children
Brown was married four times. His first marriage was to Velma Warren in 1953, and they had one son together. Over a decade later, the couple had separated and the final divorce decree was issued in 1969. They maintained a close friendship that lasted until Brown's death. Brown's second marriage was to Deidre "Deedee" Jenkins, on October 22, 1970. They had two daughters together. The couple were separated by 1979, after what his daughter describes as years of domestic abuse, and the final divorce decree was issued on January 10, 1981. His third marriage was to Adrienne Lois Rodriguez (March 9, 1950 – January 6, 1996), in 1984. It was a contentious marriage that made headlines due to domestic abuse complaints. Rodriguez filed for divorce in 1988, "citing years of cruelty treatment", but they reconciled. Less than a year after Rodriguez died in 1996, Brown hired Tomi Rae Hynie to be a background singer for his band and she later became his fourth wife.
On December 23, 2002, Brown and Hynie held a wedding ceremony that was officiated by the Rev. Larry Flyer. Following Brown's death, controversy surrounded the circumstances of the marriage, with Brown's attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, reporting that the marriage was not valid; Hynie was still married to Javed Ahmed, a man from Bangladesh. Hynie claimed Ahmed married her to obtain residency through a Green Card and that the marriage was annulled but the annulment did not occur until April 2004. In an attempt to prove her marriage to Brown was valid, Hynie produced a 2001 marriage certificate as proof of her marriage to Brown, but she did not provide King with court records pointing to an annulment of her marriage to him or to Ahmed. According to Dallas, Brown was angry and hurt that Hynie had concealed her prior marriage from him and Brown moved to file for annulment from Hynie. Dallas added that though Hynie's marriage to Ahmed was annulled after she married Brown, the Brown–Hynie marriage was not valid under South Carolina law because Brown and Hynie did not remarry after the annulment. In August 2003, Brown took out a full-page public notice in Variety featuring Hynie, James II and himself on vacation at Disney World to announce that he and Hynie were going their separate ways. In 2015, a judge ruled Hynie as Brown's legal widow.
Brown had numerous children and acknowledged nine of them including five sons – Teddy (1954–1973), Terry, Larry, Daryl, and James Joseph Brown Jr. and four daughters – Lisa, Dr. Yamma Noyola Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas, and Venisha Brown (1964–2018). Brown also had eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Brown's eldest son, Teddy, died in a car crash on June 14, 1973. According to an August 22, 2007, article published in the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, DNA tests indicate that Brown also fathered at least three extramarital children. The first one of them to be identified is LaRhonda Pettit (born 1962), a retired flight attendant and teacher who lives in Houston. During contesting of Brown's will, another of the Brown family attorneys, Debra Opri, revealed to Larry King that Brown wanted a DNA test performed after his death to confirm the paternity of James Brown Jr. (born 2001)—not for Brown's sake but for the sake of the other family members. In April 2007, Hynie selected a guardian ad litem whom she wanted appointed by the court to represent her son, James Brown Jr., in the paternity proceedings. James Brown Jr. was confirmed to be his biological son.
Drug abuse
For most of his career, Brown had a strict drug- and alcohol-free policy for any member in his entourage, including band members, and would fire people who disobeyed orders, particularly those who used or abused drugs. Although early members of the Famous Flames were fired for using alcohol, Brown often served a highball consisting of Delaware Punch and moonshine at his St. Albans, Queens house in the mid-1960s. Some of the original members of Brown's 1970s band, the J.B.'s, including Catfish and Bootsy Collins, intentionally took LSD during a performance in 1971, causing Brown to fire them after the show because he had suspected them of being on drugs all along.
Aide Bob Patton has asserted that he accidentally shared a PCP-laced cannabis joint with Brown in the mid-1970s and "hallucinated for hours", although Brown "talked about it as if it was only marijuana he was smoking". By the mid-1980s, it was widely alleged that Brown was using drugs, with Vicki Anderson confirming to journalist Barney Hoskyns that Brown's regular use of PCP (colloquially known as "angel dust") "began before 1982". After he met and later married Adrienne Rodriguez in 1984, she and Brown began using PCP together. This drug usage often resulted in violent outbursts from him, and he was arrested several times for domestic violence against Rodriguez while high on the drug. By January 1988, Brown faced four criminal charges within a 12-month span relating to driving, PCP, and gun possession. After an April 1988 arrest for domestic abuse, Brown went on the CNN program Sonya Live in L.A. with host Sonya Friedman. The interview became notorious for Brown's irreverent demeanor, with some asserting that Brown was high.
One of Brown's former mistresses recalled in a GQ magazine article on Brown some years after his death that Brown would smoke PCP ("until that got hard to find") and cocaine, mixed with tobacco in Kool cigarettes. He also engaged in the off-label use of sildenafil, maintaining that it gave him "extra energy". While once under the influence of PCP (which he continued to procure dependent on its availability) when traveling in a car, Brown alleged that passing trees contained psychotronic surveillance technology.
In January 1998, he spent a week in rehab to deal with an addiction to unspecified prescription drugs. A week after his release, he was arrested for an unlawful use of a handgun and possession of cannabis. Prior to his death in December 2006, when Brown entered Emory University Hospital, traces of cocaine were found in the singer's urine. His widow suggested Brown would "do crack" with a female acquaintance.
Theft and assault convictions
Brown's personal life was marred by several brushes with the law. At the age of 16, he was convicted of theft and served three years in juvenile prison. During a concert held at Club 15 in Macon, Georgia in 1963, while Otis Redding was performing alongside his former band Johnny Jenkins and the Pinetoppers, Brown reportedly tried to shoot his musical rival Joe Tex. The incident led to multiple people being shot and stabbed. Since Brown was still on parole at the time, he relied on his agent Clint Brantley "and a few thousand dollars to make the situation disappear". According to Jenkins, "seven people got shot", and after the shootout ended, a man appeared and gave "each one of the injured a hundred dollars apiece not to carry it no further and not to talk to the press". Brown was never charged for the incident.
On July 16, 1978, after performing at the Apollo, Brown was arrested for reportedly failing to turn in records from one of his radio stations after the station was forced to file for bankruptcy. Brown was arrested on April 3, 1988, for assault, and again in May 1988 on drug and weapons charges, and again on September 24, 1988, following a high-speed car chase on Interstate 20 near the Georgia–South Carolina state border. He was convicted of carrying an unlicensed pistol and assaulting a police officer, along with various drug-related and driving offenses. Although he was sentenced to six years in prison, he was eventually released on parole on February 27, 1991, after serving two years of his sentence. Brown's FBI file, released to The Washington Post in 2007 under the Freedom of Information Act, related Brown's claim that the high-speed chase did not occur as claimed by the police, and that local police shot at his car several times during an incident of police harassment and assaulted him after his arrest. Local authorities found no merit to Brown's accusations.
In 1998, a woman named Mary Simons accused Brown in a civil suit of holding her captive for three days, demanding oral sex and firing a gun in his office; Simons' charge was eventually dismissed. In another civil suit, filed by former background singer Lisa Rushton alleged that between 1994 and 1999, Brown allegedly demanded sexual favors and when refused, would cut off her pay and kept her offstage. She also claimed Brown would "place a hand on her buttocks and loudly told her in a crowded restaurant to not look or speak to any other man besides himself;" Rushton eventually withdrew her lawsuit. In yet another civil suit, a woman named Lisa Agbalaya, who worked for Brown, said the singer would tell her he had "bull testicles", handed her a pair of zebra-print underwear, told her to wear them while he massaged her with oil, and fired her after she refused. A Los Angeles jury cleared the singer of sexual harassment but found him liable for wrongful termination.
The police were summoned to Brown's residence on July 3, 2000, after he was accused of charging at an electric company repairman with a steak knife when the repairman visited Brown's house to investigate a complaint about having no lights at the residence. In 2003, Brown was pardoned by the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services for past crimes that he was convicted of committing in South Carolina.
Domestic violence arrests
Brown was repeatedly arrested for domestic violence. Adrienne Rodriguez, his third wife, had him arrested four times between 1987 and 1995 on charges of assault. In one incident, Rodriguez reported to authorities that Brown beat her with an iron pipe and shot at her car. Rodriguez was hospitalized after the last assault in October 1995, but charges were dropped after she died in January 1996.
In January 2004, Brown was arrested in South Carolina on a domestic violence charge after Tomi Rae Hynie accused him of pushing her to the floor during an argument at their home, where she suffered scratches and bruises to her right arm and hip. In June, Brown pleaded no contest to the domestic violence incident, but served no jail time. Instead, Brown was required to forfeit a US$1,087 bond as punishment.
Rape accusation
In January 2005, a woman named Jacque Hollander filed a lawsuit against James Brown, which stemmed from an alleged 1988 rape. When the case was initially heard before a judge in 2002, Hollander's claims against Brown were dismissed by the court as the limitations period for filing the suit had expired. Hollander claimed that stress from the alleged assault later caused her to contract Graves' disease, a thyroid condition. Hollander claimed that the incident took place in South Carolina while she was employed by Brown as a publicist. Hollander alleged that, during her ride in a van with Brown, Brown pulled over to the side of the road and sexually assaulted her while he threatened her with a shotgun. In her case against Brown, Hollander entered as evidence a DNA sample and a polygraph result, but the evidence was not considered due to the limitations defense. Hollander later attempted to bring her case before the Supreme Court, but nothing came of her complaint.
Later life and death
Illness
On December 23, 2006, Brown became very ill and arrived at his dentist's office in Atlanta, Georgia, several hours late. His appointment was for dental implant work. During that visit, Brown's dentist observed that he looked "very bad ... weak and dazed". Instead of performing the work, the dentist advised Brown to see a doctor right away about his medical condition.
Brown went to the Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital the next day for medical evaluation and was admitted for observation and treatment. According to Charles Bobbit, his longtime personal manager and friend, Brown had been struggling with a noisy cough since returning from a November trip to Europe. Yet, Bobbit said, the singer had a history of never complaining about being sick and often performed while ill. Although Brown had to cancel upcoming concerts in Waterbury, Connecticut, and Englewood, New Jersey, he was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time for his scheduled New Year's Eve shows at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey and the B. B. King Blues Club in New York, in addition to performing a song live on CNN for the Anderson Cooper New Year's Eve special. Brown remained hospitalized, however, and his condition worsened throughout the day.
Death
On Christmas Day 2006, Brown died at approximately 1:45 a.m. EST (06:45 UTC), at age 73, from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia. Bobbit was at his bedside and later reported that Brown stuttered, "I'm going away tonight", then took three long, quiet breaths and fell asleep before dying.
In 2019, an investigation by CNN and other journalists led to suggestions that Brown had been murdered.
Memorial services
After Brown's death, his relatives, a host of celebrities, and thousands of fans gathered, on December 28, 2006, for a public memorial service at the Apollo Theater in New York City and, on December 30, 2006, at the James Brown Arena in Augusta, Georgia. A separate, private ceremony was held in North Augusta, South Carolina, on December 29, 2006, with Brown's family in attendance. Celebrities at these various memorial events included Michael Jackson, Jimmy Cliff, Joe Frazier, Buddy Guy, Ice Cube, Ludacris, Dr. Dre, Little Richard, Dick Gregory, MC Hammer, Prince, Jesse Jackson, Ice-T, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bootsy Collins, LL Cool J, Lil Wayne, Lenny Kravitz, 50 Cent, Stevie Wonder, and Don King. Rev. Al Sharpton officiated at all of Brown's public and private memorial services.
Brown's memorial ceremonies were all elaborate, complete with costume changes for the deceased and videos featuring him in concert. His body, placed in a Promethean casket—bronze polished to a golden shine—was driven through the streets of New York to the Apollo Theater in a white, glass-encased horse-drawn carriage. In Augusta, Georgia, his memorial procession stopped to pay respects at his statue, en route to the James Brown Arena. During the public memorial there, a video showed Brown's last performance in Augusta, Georgia, with the Ray Charles version of "Georgia on My Mind" playing soulfully in the background. His last backup band, The Soul Generals, also played some of his hits during that tribute at the arena. The group was joined by Bootsy Collins on bass, with MC Hammer performing a dance in James Brown style. Former Temptations lead singer Ali-Ollie Woodson performed "Walk Around Heaven All Day" at the memorial services.
Last will and testament
Brown signed his last will and testament on August 1, 2000, before J. Strom Thurmond Jr., an attorney for the estate. The irrevocable trust, separate and apart from Brown's will, was created on his behalf, that same year, by his attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, one of three personal representatives of Brown's estate. His will covered the disposition of his personal assets, such as clothing, cars, and jewelry, while the irrevocable trust covered the disposition of the music rights, business assets of James Brown Enterprises, and his Beech Island, South Carolina estate.
During the reading of the will on January 11, 2007, Thurmond revealed that Brown's six adult living children (Terry Brown, Larry Brown, Daryl Brown, Yamma Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas and Venisha Brown) were named in the document, while Hynie and James II were not mentioned as heirs. Brown's will had been signed 10 months before James II was born and more than a year before Brown's marriage to Tomi Rae Hynie. Like Brown's will, his irrevocable trust omitted Hynie and James II as recipients of Brown's property. The irrevocable trust had also been established before, and not amended since, the birth of James II.
On January 24, 2007, Brown's children filed a lawsuit, petitioning the court to remove the personal representatives from the estate (including Brown's attorney, as well as trustee Albert "Buddy" Dallas) and appoint a special administrator because of perceived impropriety and alleged mismanagement of Brown's assets. On January 31, 2007, Hynie also filed a lawsuit against Brown's estate, challenging the validity of the will and the irrevocable trust. Hynie's suit asked the court both to recognize her as Brown's widow and to appoint a special administrator for the estate.
On January 27, 2015, Judge Doyet Early III ruled that Tomi Rae Hynie Brown was officially the widow of James Brown. The decision was based on the grounds that Hynie's previous marriage was invalid and that James Brown had abandoned his efforts to annul his own marriage to Hynie.
On February 19, 2015, the South Carolina Supreme Court intervened, halting all lower court actions in the estate and undertaking to review previous actions itself. The South Carolina Court of Appeals in July 2018 ruled that Hynie was, in fact, Mr. Brown's wife. In 2020, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that Hynie had not been legally married to Brown and did not have a right to his estate. It was reported in July 2021 that Brown's family had reached a settlement ending the 15-year battle over the estate.
Legacy
Brown received awards and honors throughout his lifetime and after his death. In 1993 the City Council of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, conducted a poll of residents to choose a new name for the bridge that crossed the Yampa River on Shield Drive. The winning name, with 7,717 votes, was "James Brown Soul Center of the Universe Bridge". The bridge was officially dedicated in September 1993, and Brown appeared at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the event. A petition was started by local ranchers to return the name to "Stockbridge" for historical reasons, but they backed off after citizens defeated their efforts because of the popularity of Brown's name. Brown returned to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, on July 4, 2002, for an outdoor festival, performing with bands such as The String Cheese Incident.
During his long career, Brown received many prestigious music industry awards and honors. In 1983 he was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. Brown was one of the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction dinner in New York on January 23, 1986. At that time, the members of his original vocal group, The Famous Flames (Bobby Byrd, Johnny Terry, Bobby Bennett, and Lloyd Stallworth) were not inducted. However, on April 14, 2012, The Famous Flames were automatically and retroactively inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Brown, without the need for nomination and voting, on the basis that they should have been inducted with him in 1986. On February 25, 1992, Brown was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 34th annual Grammy Awards. Exactly a year later, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 4th annual Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Awards. A ceremony was held for Brown on January 10, 1997, to honor him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
On June 15, 2000, Brown was honored as an inductee to the New York Songwriters Hall of Fame. On August 6, 2002, he was honored as the first BMI Urban Icon at the BMI Urban Awards. His BMI accolades include an impressive ten R&B Awards and six Pop Awards. On November 14, 2006, Brown was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, and he was one of several inductees to perform at the ceremony. In recognition of his accomplishments as an entertainer, Brown was a recipient of Kennedy Center Honors on December 7, 2003. In 2004 Rolling Stone magazine ranked James Brown as No. 7 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In an article for Rolling Stone, critic Robert Christgau cited Brown as "the greatest musician of the rock era". He appeared on the BET Awards June 24, 2003, and received the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Michael Jackson, and performed with him. In 2004, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Aretha Franklin.
Brown was also honored in his hometown of Augusta, Georgia, for his philanthropy and civic activities. On November 20, 1993, Mayor Charles DeVaney of Augusta held a ceremony to dedicate a section of 9th Street between Broad and Twiggs Streets, renamed "James Brown Boulevard", in the entertainer's honor. On May 6, 2005, as a 72nd birthday present for Brown, the city of Augusta unveiled a life-sized bronze James Brown statue on Broad Street. The statue was to have been dedicated a year earlier, but the ceremony was put on hold because of a domestic abuse charge that Brown faced at the time. In 2005, Charles "Champ" Walker and the We Feel Good Committee went before the County commission and received approval to change Augusta's slogan to "We Feel Good". Afterward, officials renamed the city's civic center the James Brown Arena, and James Brown attended a ceremony for the unveiling of the namesake center on October 15, 2006.
On December 30, 2006, during the public memorial service at the James Brown Arena, Dr. Shirley A.R. Lewis, president of Paine College, a historically black college in Augusta, Georgia, bestowed posthumously upon Brown an honorary doctorate in recognition and honor of his many contributions to the school in its times of need. Brown had originally been scheduled to receive the honorary doctorate from Paine College during its May 2007 commencement.
During the 49th Annual Grammy Awards presentation on February 11, 2007, James Brown's famous cape was draped over a microphone by Danny Ray at the end of a montage in honor of notable people in the music industry who died during the previous year. Earlier that evening, Christina Aguilera delivered an impassioned performance of Brown's hit "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" followed by a standing ovation, while Chris Brown performed a dance routine in honor of James Brown.
On August 17, 2013, the official R&B Music Hall of Fame honored and inducted James Brown at a ceremony held at the Waetjen Auditorium at Cleveland State University.
ART THE BOX began in early 2015 as a collaboration between three organizations: the City of Augusta, the Downtown Development Authority and the Greater Augusta Arts Council. 19 local artists were selected by a committee to create art on 23 local traffic signal control cabinets (TSCCs). A competition was held to create the James Brown Tribute Box on the corner of James Brown Blvd. (9th Ave.) and Broad St. This box was designed and painted by local artist, Ms. Robbie Pitts Bellamy and has become a favorite photo opportunity to visitors and locals in Augusta, Georgia.
"I have a lot of musical heroes but I think James Brown is at the top of the list", remarked Public Enemy's Chuck D. "Absolutely the funkiest man on Earth ... In a black household, James Brown is part of the fabric – Motown, Stax, Atlantic and James Brown."
Tributes
As a tribute to James Brown, the Rolling Stones covered the song, "I'll Go Crazy" from Brown's Live at the Apollo album, during their 2007 European tour. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has remarked, "He [James Brown] was almost a musical genre in his own right and he changed and moved forward the whole time so people were able to learn from him."
On December 22, 2007, the first annual "Tribute Fit For the King of King Records" in honor of James Brown was held at the Madison Theater in Covington, Kentucky. The tribute, organized by Bootsy Collins, featured Tony Wilson as Young James Brown with appearances by Afrika Bambaataa, Chuck D of Public Enemy, The Soul Generals, Buckethead, Freekbass, Triage and many of Brown's surviving family members. Comedian Michael Coyer was the MC for the event. During the show, the mayor of Cincinnati proclaimed December 22 as James Brown Day.
As of September 2021, a significant collection of James Brown clothing, memorabilia, and personal artifacts are on exhibit in downtown Augusta, Georgia at the Augusta History Museum.
Discography
Studio albums
Please Please Please (1958)
Try Me! (1959)
Think! (1960)
The Amazing James Brown (1961)
James Brown and His Famous Flames Tour the U.S.A. (1962)
Prisoner of Love (1963)
Grits & Soul (1964)
Showtime (1964)
Out of Sight (1964)
James Brown Plays James Brown Today & Yesterday (1965)
Mighty Instrumentals (1966)
James Brown Plays New Breed (The Boo-Ga-Loo) (1966)
James Brown Sings Christmas Songs (1966)
Handful of Soul (1966)
James Brown Sings Raw Soul (1967)
James Brown Plays the Real Thing (1967)
Cold Sweat (1967)
I Can't Stand Myself When You Touch Me (1968)
I Got the Feelin' (1968)
James Brown Plays Nothing But Soul (1968)
Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things (1968)
A Soulful Christmas (1968)
Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud (1969)
Gettin' Down to It (1969)
The Popcorn (1969)
It's a Mother (1969)
Ain't It Funky (1970)
Soul on Top (1970)
It's a New Day – Let a Man Come In (1970)
Hey America (1970)
Sho Is Funky Down Here (1971)
Hot Pants (1971)
There It Is (1972)
Get on the Good Foot (1972)
Black Caesar (1973)
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973)
The Payback (1973)
Hell (1974)
Reality (1974)
Sex Machine Today (1975)
Everybody's Doin' the Hustle & Dead on the Double Bump (1975)
Hot (1976)
Get Up Offa That Thing (1976)
Bodyheat (1976)
Mutha's Nature (1977)
Jam 1980's (1978)
Take a Look at Those Cakes (1978)
The Original Disco Man (1979)
People (1980)
Soul Syndrome (1980)
Nonstop! (1981)
Bring It On! (1983)
Gravity (1986)
I'm Real (1988)
Love Over-Due (1991)
Universal James (1992)
I'm Back (1998)
The Merry Christmas Album (1999)
The Next Step (2002)
Filmography
The T.A.M.I. Show (1964) (concert film)- with The Famous Flames
Ski Party (1965)- with The Famous Flames
James Brown: Man to Man (1968) (concert film)
The Phynx (1970)
Black Caesar (1973) (soundtrack only)
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973) (soundtrack only)
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Doctor Detroit (1983)
Rocky IV (1985)
Miami Vice (1987)
James Brown: Live in East Berlin (1989)
The Simpsons (1993)
When We Were Kings (1996) (documentary)
Duckman (1997)
Soulmates (1997)
Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
Holy Man (1998)
Undercover Brother (2002)
The Tuxedo (2002)
The Hire: Beat the Devil (2002) (short film)
Paper Chasers (2003) (documentary)
Soul Survivor (2003) (documentary)
Sid Bernstein Presents ... (2005) (documentary)
Glastonbury (2006) (documentary)
Life on the Road with Mr. and Mrs. Brown (2007) (documentary; release pending)
Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968 (2008) (concert film)
I Got The Feelin': James Brown in the '60s, three-DVD set featuring Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968, Live at the Apollo '68 [DVD version of James Brown: Man to Man], and the documentary The Night James Brown Saved Boston
Soul Power (2009) (documentary)
Get on Up (2014)
Biopics
Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown (2014), released in April 2014, written and directed by Alex Gibney, produced by Mick Jagger.
Get on Up (2014), released in theaters on August 1, 2014. Chadwick Boseman plays the role of James Brown in the film. Originally, Mick Jagger and Brian Grazer had begun producing a documentary film on Brown in 2013. A fiction film had been in the planning stages for many years and was revived when Jagger read the script by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth.
In other media
Games
In the video game World of Warcraft, the first boss character of the Forge of Souls dungeon is Bronjahm, "the Godfather of Souls". His quotes during the fight are musical references, and he has a chance of dropping an item called "Papa's Brand New Bag".
Television
As himself (voice) in the 1993 The Simpsons episode "Bart's Inner Child".
In 1991, Brown did a Pay Per View Special with top celebrities such as Quincy Jones, Rick James, Dan Aykroyd, Gladys Knight, Denzel Washington, MC Hammer and others attended or were opening acts. This was produced with boxing promoter Buddy Dallas. 15.5 million households tuned in at a cost $19.99.
In 2002, Brown starred in the Jackie Chan movie The Tuxedo as himself
See also
Progressive soul
References
Footnotes
Sources
Further reading
Danielsen, Anne (2006). Presence and pleasure: The funk grooves of James Brown and Parliament. Wesleyan University Press.
George, Nelson, and Leeds, Alan (editors). (2008). The James Brown Reader: 50 Years of Writing about the Godfather of Soul. New York: Plume.
Lethem, J. (June 12, 2006). "Being James Brown", Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved January 14, 2007.
McBride, James (2016) Kill 'Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul. New York: Spiegel & Grau
Sullivan, James. (2008). The Hardest Working Man: How James Brown Saved The Soul Of America. New York: Gotham Books.
Sussman, M. (producer). (December 25, 2006). Arts: Soul classics by James Brown (multimedia presentation). The New York Times. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
Wesley, Fred. (2002). Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Sideman. Durham: Duke University Press.
Whitney, Marva and Waring, Charles. (2013) God, The Devil & James Brown:(Memoirs of a Funky Diva). New Romney: Bank House Books
External links
1933 births
2006 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American composers
21st-century American singers
Activists for African-American civil rights
African-American composers
African-American male composers
African-American male dancers
African-American male singers
African-American record producers
African-American rock musicians
African-American songwriters
American expatriates in Nigeria
American expatriates in Zambia
American funk keyboardists
American funk singers
American male composers
American male dancers
American male organists
American male singers
American multi-instrumentalists
American people convicted of assault
American people convicted of drug offenses
American people convicted of robbery
American people of Chinese descent
American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent
American rhythm and blues singers
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American robbers
American soul keyboardists
American soul singers
American tenors
Black conservatism in the United States
Burials in South Carolina
Deaths from pneumonia in Georgia (U.S. state)
Education activists
Federal Records artists
Grammy Award winners
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
James Brown Orchestra members
Kennedy Center honorees
King Records artists
Musicians from Atlanta
Musicians from Augusta, Georgia
People from Barnwell, South Carolina
People from Beech Island, South Carolina
People from Toccoa, Georgia
Polydor Records artists
Recipients of American gubernatorial pardons
Record producers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Record producers from South Carolina
Scotti Brothers Records artists
Sexual assaults in the United States
Singers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Singers from South Carolina
Smash Records artists
The J.B.'s members
The Famous Flames members | false | [
"Lunatic Calm were an English electronic music group formed in 1996. Despite a wide-ranging sound palette, the group was best known for their high impact, industrial-tinged big beat compositions.\n\nHistory\n\nFormed in 1996 and composed of Simon \"sHack\" Shackleton and Howard \"Howie\" Saunders, they released two well received albums, as well as several singles and a wide range of remixes. The two had known each other since an early age, and prior to forming Lunatic Calm, they also played in several bands with Thom Yorke (Radiohead frontman), namely Headless Chickens and Flicker Noise.\n\nMetropol (1997)\nTheir debut album Metropol was often compared to the works of The Prodigy and other bands, although it ranged from offbeat and psychedelic trip hop to heavy turbo-charged big beat. Record company MCA failed to support the band and they switched their attentions to the American market where they enjoyed a series of successful tours with other groups including Crystal Method. The most notable track from that album, and the one for which the group remains best known, is \"Leave You Far Behind\". This track has appeared on numerous movie soundtracks including The Matrix, Charlie's Angels, and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, also including The Crow in 1998-1999. A number of Lunatic Calm's tracks were used on video games, and the group did numerous remixes for various artists including Bush, DJ Scissorkicks, and Curve.\n\nBreaking Point (2002)\nThe group's second album, Breaking Point was released in 2002, after several years of wrangling with record companies, and with little to no promotion. As the album was due to be released, the record label City of Angels went bankrupt. Without label support the band were unable to continue and Lunatic Calm disbanded in 2003.\n\nAftermath \n\nSimon Shackleton has been highly active as a solo producer and DJ ever since, operating primarily under the name Elite Force, but also under aliases such as Killer Elite, Futurecore, Double Black, pHrack R and Zodiac Cartel. He has run labels such as U&A Recordings (2006–present) and the Fused & Bruised imprint between 1996–2002, and is often cited as one of the leading proponents of the emergent Tech-Funk movement, fusing house, breaks, Electro and Techno. Some of his songs (both remixes and new tracks) have appeared on the Crystal Method remix albums, Community Service and Community Service II amongst others. He is currently recording an album as Simon Shackleton which is scheduled for release in early 2016 and has become a regular performer and attendee at the Burning Man Festival in Nevada each summer.\n\nHowie is now one half of DoubleDose, a music production and sound design partnership he set up in 2004 with BAFTA award winner Nick Ryan, devising multimedia marketing campaigns, live event productions and sonic branding for companies such as Nokia, Shell, Ernst & Young, Ford, Mazda, Land Rover, Intel and Formula One motor racing across Europe, North America & Asia Pacific. Howie is also a Director at AudioFuel, which launched in December 2008 and offers music that is custom-composed for runners and personal fitness training programs.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\n Metropol (1997)\n Breaking Point (2002)\n\nSingles\n\"Centista\" (1996)\n\"Leave You Far Behind\" (1997)\n\"Roll the Dice\" (1997)\n\"LC Double '0' Series\" (1998)\n\"One Step\" (1999)\n\nRemixes\n The Heads - \"Don't Take My Kindness for Weakness\" (1996)\n Amen - \"Vacuum\" (1996)\n Collapsed Lung - \"Ballad Night\" (1996)\n Hurricane #1 - \"Chain Reaction\" (1997)\n Black Grape - \"Get Higher\" (1997)\n Bush - \"Comedown\" (1997)\n Curve - \"Chinese Burn\" (1997)\n Definition of Sound - \"Outsider\" (1997)\n Elite Force - \"Cool Like The Man\" (1997)\n Meat Katie - \"Boned\"(1997)\n Pitchshifter - \"Genius\" (1998)\n Mankind Liberation Front - \"Isolated\" (1999)\n DJ Scissorkicks - \"Clap Yo' Hands\" (1999)\n Earl Hagen - \"I Spy\" (2001)\n\nSoundtrack appearances\n The Jackal (1997) - \"Leave You Far Behind\"\n Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997) - \"Leave You Far Behind\" (V2. Instrumental Mix)\n Head On (1998) - \"Leave You Far Behind\"\n ESPN X-Games Pro Boarder (1998) - \"Leave You Far Behind\"\n The Matrix (1999) - \"Leave You Far Behind\" (Lunatic vs. Lunatic Rollercoaster Remix)\n Twin Dragons (Theatrical Trailer) (1999) - ″Leave You Far Behind″\n Arlington Road (1999) - \"Neon Reprise\"\n Need for Speed: High Stakes (1999) - \"Roll the Dice\"\n Test Drive 6 (1999) - \"Leave You Far Behind\"\n FIFA 2000 (1999) - \"LC001\" (Neon Ray Mix)\n La Femme Nikita: Getting Out of the Reverse (2000) - \"Leave You Far Behind\"\n Charlie's Angels (2000) - \"Leave You Far Behind\" (V2. Instrumental Mix)\n The Guilty (2000) - \"Leave You Far Behind\"\n Titan A.E. (Trailer) (2000) - \"Leave You Far Behind\"\n Formula One 2001 (2001) - \"Shockwave\"\n Jeremy McGrath Supercross World (2001) - \"Leave You Far Behind\"\n Tomcats (2001) - \"Roll the Dice\" (Fatboy Slim vocal mix)\n Spider-Man (Teaser Trailer) (2002) - \"Leave You Far Behind\"\n Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Radio Sunnydale (2003) - \"Sound of the Revolution\"\n Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture (2003) - \"Leave You Far Behind\"\n MotorStorm (2007) - \"Leave You Far Behind\"\n Drive (2007) - \"Leave You Far Behind\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Simon Shackleton site\n\nEnglish electronic music groups\nMusical groups established in 1996\nMusical groups disestablished in 2003\nMCA Records artists\nBig beat groups",
"Leave the World Behind is the title of:\n Leave the World Behind (song), a dance song by Swedish House Mafia\n Leave the World Behind (novel), a novel by Rumaan Alam\n\nSee also\n Leave This World Behind"
]
|
[
"James Brown",
"Death",
"When was his death?",
"On Christmas Day, 2006,",
"What was the cause of death?",
"from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia.",
"Was he still making music up to his death?",
"he was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time for his scheduled New Year's Eve shows",
"What was the funeral like?",
"I don't know.",
"Did he leave family behind?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_185d6e4eab0446b1aa68bcc9a108fa5d_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 6 | Besides James Brown's death, re there any other interesting aspects about this article? | James Brown | On December 23, 2006, Brown became very ill and arrived at his dentist's office in Atlanta, Georgia, several hours late. His appointment was for dental implant work. During that visit, Brown's dentist observed that he looked "very bad... weak and dazed." Instead of performing the work, the dentist advised Brown to see a doctor right away about his medical condition. Brown went to the Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital the next day for medical evaluation and was admitted for observation and treatment. According to Charles Bobbit, his longtime personal manager and friend, Brown had been struggling with a noisy cough since returning from a November trip to Europe. Yet, Bobbit said, the singer had a history of never complaining about being sick and often performed while ill. Although Brown had to cancel upcoming concerts in Waterbury, Connecticut, and Englewood, New Jersey, he was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time for his scheduled New Year's Eve shows at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey and the B. B. King Blues Club in New York, in addition to performing a song live on CNN for the Anderson Cooper New Year's Eve special. Brown remained hospitalized, however, and his condition worsened throughout the day. On Christmas Day, 2006, Brown died at approximately 1:45 am EST (06:45 UTC), at age 73, from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia. Bobbit was at his bedside and later reported that Brown stuttered, "I'm going away tonight," then took three long, quiet breaths and fell asleep before dying. CANNOTANSWER | Bobbit was at his bedside and later reported that Brown stuttered, "I'm going away tonight," then took three long, quiet breaths and fell asleep before dying. | James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer, and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honorific nicknames "Godfather of Soul", "Mr. Dynamite", and "Soul Brother No. 1". In a career that lasted more than 50 years, he influenced the development of several music genres. Brown was one of the first 10 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction in New York on January 23, 1986.
Brown began his career as a gospel singer in Toccoa, Georgia. He first came to national public attention in the mid-1950s as the lead singer of the Famous Flames, a rhythm and blues vocal group founded by Bobby Byrd. With the hit ballads "Please, Please, Please" and "Try Me", Brown built a reputation as a dynamic live performer with the Famous Flames and his backing band, sometimes known as the James Brown Band or the James Brown Orchestra. His success peaked in the 1960s with the live album Live at the Apollo and hit singles such as "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "It's a Man's Man's Man's World".
During the late 1960s, Brown moved from a continuum of blues and gospel-based forms and styles to a profoundly "Africanized" approach to music-making, emphasizing stripped-down interlocking rhythms that influenced the development of funk music. By the early 1970s, Brown had fully established the funk sound after the formation of the J.B.s with records such as "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" and "The Payback". He also became noted for songs of social commentary, including the 1968 hit "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud". Brown continued to perform and record until his death from pneumonia in 2006.
Brown recorded 17 singles that reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts. He also holds the record for the most singles listed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that did not reach No. 1. Brown was inducted into the first class of the Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013 as an artist and then in 2017 as a songwriter. He also received honors from several other institutions, including inductions into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In Joel Whitburn's analysis of the Billboard R&B charts from 1942 to 2010, Brown is ranked No. 1 in The Top 500 Artists. He is ranked seventh on Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Early life
Brown was born on May 3, 1933, in Barnwell, South Carolina, to 16-year-old Susie (née Behling; 1916–2004) and 21-year-old Joseph Gardner Brown (1912–1993) in a small wooden shack. Brown's name was supposed to have been Joseph James Brown, but his first and middle names were mistakenly reversed on his birth certificate. In his autobiography, Brown stated that he had Chinese and Native American ancestry and that his father was of mixed African-American and Native American descent, while his mother was of mixed African-American and Asian descent.
The Brown family lived in extreme poverty in Elko, South Carolina, which was an impoverished town at the time. They later moved to Augusta, Georgia, when James was four or five. His family first settled at one of his aunts' brothels. They later moved into a house shared with another aunt. Brown's mother eventually left the family after a contentious and abusive marriage and moved to New York. Brown spent long stretches of time on his own, hanging out in the streets and hustling to get by. He managed to stay in school until the sixth grade.
He began singing in talent shows as a young child, first appearing at Augusta's Lenox Theater in 1944, winning the show after singing the ballad "So Long". While in Augusta, Brown performed buck dances for change to entertain troops from Camp Gordon at the start of World War II as their convoys traveled over a canal bridge near his aunt's home. He learned to play the piano, guitar, and harmonica during this period. He became inspired to become an entertainer after hearing "Caldonia" by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five. In his teen years, Brown briefly had a career as a boxer.
At the age of 16, he was convicted of robbery and sent to a juvenile detention center in Toccoa. There, he formed a gospel quartet with four fellow cellmates, including Johnny Terry. Brown met singer Bobby Byrd when the two played against each other in a baseball game outside the detention center. Byrd also discovered that Brown could sing after hearing of "a guy called Music Box", which was Brown's musical nickname at the prison. Byrd has since claimed he and his family helped to secure an early release, which led to Brown promising the court he would "sing for the Lord". Brown was released on a work sponsorship with Toccoa business owner S.C. Lawson. Lawson was impressed with Brown's work ethic and secured his release with a promise to keep him employed for two years. Brown was paroled on June 14, 1952. Brown went on to work with both of Lawson's sons, and would come back to visit the family from time to time throughout his career. Shortly after being paroled he joined the gospel group the Ever-Ready Gospel Singers, featuring Byrd's sister Sarah.
Music career
1953–1961: The Famous Flames
Brown eventually joined Bobby Byrd's group in 1954. The group had evolved from the Gospel Starlighters, an a cappella gospel group, to an R&B group with the name the Avons. He reputedly joined the band after one of its members, Troy Collins, died in a car crash. Along with Brown and Byrd, the group consisted of Sylvester Keels, Doyle Oglesby, Fred Pulliam, Nash Knox and Nafloyd Scott. Influenced by R&B groups such as Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, the Orioles and Billy Ward and his Dominoes, the group changed its name, first to the Toccoa Band and then to the Flames. Nafloyd's brother Baroy later joined the group on bass guitar, and Brown, Byrd and Keels switched lead positions and instruments, often playing drums and piano. Johnny Terry later joined, by which time Pulliam and Oglesby had long left. one of his 10 children commited suicide.
Berry Trimier became the group's first manager, booking them at parties near college campuses in Georgia and South Carolina. The group had already gained a reputation as a good live act when they renamed themselves the Famous Flames. In 1955, the group had contacted Little Richard while performing in Macon. Richard convinced the group to get in contact with his manager at the time, Clint Brantley, at his nightclub. Brantley agreed to manage them after seeing the group audition. He then sent them to a local radio station to record a demo session, where they performed their own composition "Please, Please, Please", which was inspired when Little Richard wrote the words of the title on a napkin and Brown was determined to make a song out of it. The Famous Flames eventually signed with King Records' Federal subsidiary in Cincinnati, Ohio, and issued a re-recorded version of "Please, Please, Please" in March 1956. The song became the group's first R&B hit, selling over a million copies. None of their follow-ups gained similar success. By 1957, Brown had replaced Clint Brantley as manager and hired Ben Bart, chief of Universal Attractions Agency. That year the original Flames broke up, after Bart changed the name of the group to "James Brown and The Famous Flames".
In October 1958, Brown released the ballad "Try Me", which hit number one on the R&B chart in the beginning of 1959, becoming the first of seventeen chart-topping R&B hits. Shortly afterwards, he recruited his first band, led by J. C. Davis, and reunited with Bobby Byrd who joined a revived Famous Flames lineup that included Eugene "Baby" Lloyd Stallworth and Bobby Bennett, with Johnny Terry sometimes coming in as the "fifth Flame". Brown, the Flames, and his entire band debuted at the Apollo Theater on April 24, 1959, opening for Brown's idol, Little Willie John. Federal Records issued two albums credited to Brown and the Famous Flames (both contained previously released singles). By 1960, Brown began multi-tasking in the recording studio involving himself, his singing group, the Famous Flames, and his band, a separate entity from The Flames, sometimes named the James Brown Orchestra or the James Brown Band. That year the band released the top ten R&B hit "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes" on Dade Records, owned by Henry Stone, billed under the pseudonym "Nat Kendrick & the Swans" due to label issues. As a result of its success, King president Syd Nathan shifted Brown's contract from Federal to the parent label, King, which according to Brown in his autobiography meant "you got more support from the company". While with King, Brown, under the Famous Flames lineup, released the hit-filled album Think! and the following year released two albums with the James Brown Band earning second billing. With the Famous Flames, Brown sang lead on several more hits, including"Bewildered", "I'll Go Crazy" and "Think", songs that hinted at his emerging style.
1962–1966: Mr. Dynamite
In 1962, Brown and his band scored a hit with their cover of the instrumental "Night Train", becoming a top five R&B single. That same year, the ballads "Lost Someone" and "Baby You're Right", the latter a Joe Tex composition, added to his repertoire and increased his reputation with R&B audiences. On October 24, 1962, Brown financed a live recording of a performance at the Apollo and convinced Syd Nathan to release the album, despite Nathan's belief that no one would buy a live album due to the fact that Brown's singles had already been bought and that live albums were usually bad sellers.
Live at the Apollo was released the following June and became an immediate hit, eventually reaching number two on the Top LPs chart and selling over a million copies, staying on the charts for 14 months. In 1963, Brown scored his first top 20 pop hit with his rendition of the standard "Prisoner of Love". He also launched his first label, Try Me Records, which included recordings by the likes of Tammy Montgomery (later to be famous as Tammi Terrell), Johnny & Bill (Famous Flames associates Johnny Terry and Bill Hollings) and the Poets, which was another name used for Brown's backing band. During this time Brown began an ill-fated two-year relationship with 17-year-old Tammi Terrell when she sang in his revue. Terrell ended their personal and professional relationship because of his abusive behavior.
In 1964, seeking bigger commercial success, Brown and Bobby Byrd formed the production company, Fair Deal, linking the operation to the Mercury imprint, Smash Records. King Records, however, fought against this and was granted an injunction preventing Brown from releasing any recordings for the label. Prior to the injunction, Brown had released three vocal singles, including the blues-oriented hit "Out of Sight", which further indicated the direction his music was going to take. Touring throughout the year, Brown and the Famous Flames grabbed more national attention after giving an explosive show-stopping performance on the live concert film The T.A.M.I. Show. The Flames' dynamic gospel-tinged vocals, polished choreography and timing as well as Brown's energetic dance moves and high-octane singing upstaged the proposed closing act, the Rolling Stones.
Having signed a new deal with King, Brown released his song "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" in 1965, which became his first top ten pop hit and won him his first Grammy Award. Brown also signed a production deal with Loma Records. Later in 1965, he issued "I Got You", which became his second single in a row to reach number-one on the R&B chart and top ten on the pop chart. Brown followed that up with the ballad "It's a Man's Man's Man's World", a third Top 10 Pop hit (No. 1 R&B) which confirmed his stance as a top-ranking performer, especially with R&B audiences from that point on.
1967–1970: Soul Brother No. 1
By 1967, Brown's emerging sound had begun to be defined as funk music. That year he released what some critics cited as the first true funk song, "Cold Sweat", which hit number-one on the R&B chart (Top 10 Pop) and became one of his first recordings to contain a drum break and also the first that featured a harmony that was reduced to a single chord. The instrumental arrangements on tracks such as "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" and "Licking Stick-Licking Stick" (both recorded in 1968) and "Funky Drummer" (recorded in 1969) featured a more developed version of Brown's mid-1960s style, with the horn section, guitars, bass and drums meshed together in intricate rhythmic patterns based on multiple interlocking riffs.
Changes in Brown's style that started with "Cold Sweat" also established the musical foundation for Brown's later hits, such as "I Got the Feelin'" (1968) and "Mother Popcorn" (1969). By this time Brown's vocals frequently took the form of a kind of rhythmic declamation, not quite sung but not quite spoken, that only intermittently featured traces of pitch or melody. This would become a major influence on the techniques of rapping, which would come to maturity along with hip hop music in the coming decades. Brown's style of funk in the late 1960s was based on interlocking syncopated parts: strutting bass lines, syncopated drum patterns, and iconic percussive guitar riffs. The main guitar ostinatos for "Ain't It Funky" and "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" (both 1969), are examples of Brown's refinement of New Orleans funk; irresistibly danceable riffs, stripped down to their rhythmic essence. On both recordings the tonal structure is bare bones. The pattern of attack-points is the emphasis, not the pattern of pitches, as if the guitar were an African drum, or idiophone. Alexander Stewart states that this popular feel was passed along from "New Orleans—through James Brown's music, to the popular music of the 1970s". Those same tracks were later resurrected by countless hip-hop musicians from the 1970s onward. As a result, James Brown remains to this day the world's most sampled recording artist, but, two tracks that he wrote, are also synonymous with modern dance, especially with house music, jungle music, and drum and bass music, (which were sped up exponentially, in the latter two genres).
"Bring it Up" has an Afro-Cuban guajeo-like structure. All three of these guitar riffs are based on an onbeat/offbeat structure. Stewart says that it "is different from a time line (such as clave and tresillo) in that it is not an exact pattern, but more of a loose organizing principle."
It was around this time as the musician's popularity increased that he acquired the nickname "Soul Brother No. 1", after failing to win the title "King of Soul" from Solomon Burke during a Chicago gig two years prior. Brown's recordings during this period influenced musicians across the industry, most notably groups such as Sly and the Family Stone, Funkadelic, Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Booker T. & the M.G.s as well as vocalists such as Edwin Starr, David Ruffin and Dennis Edwards from The Temptations, and Michael Jackson, who, throughout his career, cited Brown as his ultimate idol.
Brown's band during this period employed musicians and arrangers who had come up through the jazz tradition. He was noted for his ability as a bandleader and songwriter to blend the simplicity and drive of R&B with the rhythmic complexity and precision of jazz. Trumpeter Lewis Hamlin and saxophonist/keyboardist Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis (the successor to previous bandleader Nat Jones) led the band. Guitarist Jimmy Nolen provided percussive, deceptively simple riffs for each song, and Maceo Parker's prominent saxophone solos provided a focal point for many performances. Other members of Brown's band included stalwart Famous Flames singer and sideman Bobby Byrd, trombonist Fred Wesley, drummers John "Jabo" Starks, Clyde Stubblefield and Melvin Parker, saxophonist St. Clair Pinckney, guitarist Alphonso "Country" Kellum and bassist Bernard Odum.
In addition to a torrent of singles and studio albums, Brown's output during this period included two more successful live albums, Live at the Garden (1967) and Live at the Apollo, Volume II (1968), and a 1968 television special, James Brown: Man to Man. His music empire expanded along with his influence on the music scene. As Brown's music empire grew, his desire for financial and artistic independence grew as well. Brown bought radio stations during the late 1960s, including WRDW in his native Augusta, where he shined shoes as a boy. In November 1967, James Brown purchased radio station WGYW in Knoxville, Tennessee, for a reported $75,000, according to the January 20, 1968 Record World magazine. The call letters were changed to WJBE reflecting his initials. WJBE began on January 15, 1968, and broadcast a Rhythm & Blues format. The station slogan was "WJBE 1430 Raw Soul". Brown also bought WEBB in Baltimore in 1970.
Brown branched out to make several recordings with musicians outside his own band. In an attempt to appeal to the older, more affluent, and predominantly white adult contemporary audience, Brown recorded Gettin' Down To It (1969) and Soul on Top (1970)—two albums consisting mostly of romantic ballads, jazz standards, and homologous reinterpretations of his earlier hits—with the Dee Felice Trio and the Louie Bellson Orchestra. In 1968, he recorded a number of funk-oriented tracks with The Dapps, a white Cincinnati band, including the hit "I Can't Stand Myself". He also released three albums of Christmas music with his own band.
1970–1975: Godfather of Soul
In March 1970, most of Brown's mid-to-late 1960s road band walked out on him due to money disputes, a development augured by the prior disbandment of The Famous Flames singing group for the same reason in 1968. Brown and erstwhile Famous Flames singer Bobby Byrd (who chose to remain in the band during this tumultuous period) subsequently recruited several members of the Cincinnati-based The Pacemakers, which included Bootsy Collins and his brother Phelps "Catfish" Collins; augmented by the remaining members of the 1960s road band (including Fred Wesley, who rejoined Brown's outfit in December 1970) and other newer musicians, they would form the nucleus of The J.B.'s, Brown's new backing ensemble. Shortly following their first performance together, the band entered the studio to record the Brown-Byrd composition, "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine"; the song and other contemporaneous singles would further cement Brown's influence in the nascent genre of funk music. This iteration of the J.B.'s dissolved after a March 1971 European tour (documented on the 1991 archival release Love Power Peace) due to additional money disputes and Bootsy Collins' use of LSD; the Collins brothers would soon become integral members of Parliament-Funkadelic, while a new lineup of the J.B.'s coalesced around Wesley, St. Clair Pinckney and drummer John Starks.
In 1971, Brown began recording for Polydor Records which also took over distribution of Brown's King Records catalog. Many of his sidemen and supporting players, including Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s, Bobby Byrd, Lyn Collins, Vicki Anderson and former rival Hank Ballard, released records on the People label, an imprint founded by Brown that was purchased by Polydor as part of Brown's new contract. The recordings on the People label, almost all of which were produced by Brown himself, exemplified the mature flowering of his "house style". Several tracks thought by critics to be excessively sexual were released at this time. He would later soften his vocal approach. Songs such as "I Know You Got Soul" by Bobby Byrd, "Think" by Lyn Collins and "Doing It to Death" by Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s are considered as much a part of Brown's recorded legacy as the recordings released under his own name. That year, he also began touring African countries and was received well by audiences there. During the 1972 presidential election, James Brown openly proclaimed his support of Richard Nixon for reelection to the presidency over Democratic candidate George McGovern. The decision led to a boycott of his performances and, according to Brown, cost him a big portion of his black audience. As a result, Brown's record sales and concerts in the United States reached a lull in 1973 as he failed to land a number-one R&B single that year. Brown relied more on touring outside the United States where he continued to perform for sold-out crowds in cities such as London, Paris and Lausanne. That year he also faced problems with the IRS for failure to pay back taxes, charging he hadn't paid upwards of $4.5 million; five years earlier, the IRS had claimed he owed nearly $2 million.
In 1973, Brown provided the score for the blaxploitation film Black Caesar. He also recorded another soundtrack for the film, Slaughter's Big Rip-Off. Following the release of these soundtracks, Brown acquired a self-styled nickname, "The Godfather of Soul", which remains his most popular nickname. In 1974 he returned to the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts with "The Payback", with the parent album reaching the same spot on the album charts; he would reach No. 1 two more times in 1974, with "My Thang" and "Papa Don't Take No Mess". Later that year, he returned to Africa and performed in Kinshasa as part of the buildup to The Rumble in the Jungle fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Admirers of Brown's music, including Miles Davis and other jazz musicians, began to cite him as a major influence on their own styles. However, Brown, like others who were influenced by his music, also "borrowed" from other musicians. His 1976 single, "Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)" (R&B No. 31), interpolated the main riff from "Fame" by David Bowie while omitting any attribution to the latter song's composers (including Bowie, John Lennon and guitarist Carlos Alomar), not the other way around as was often believed.
"Papa Don't Take No Mess" would prove to be his final single to reach the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts and his final Top 40 pop single of the 1970s, though he continued to occasionally have Top 10 R&B recordings. Among his top ten R&B hits during this latter period included "Funky President" (R&B No. 4) and "Get Up Offa That Thing" (R&B No. 4), the latter song released in 1976 and aimed at musical rivals such as Barry White, The Ohio Players and K.C. and the Sunshine Band. Brown credited his then-wife and two of their children as writers of the song to avoid concurrent tax problems with the IRS. Starting in October 1975, Brown produced, directed, and hosted Future Shock, an Atlanta-based television variety show that ran for three years.
1975–1991: Decline and resurgence
Although his records were mainstays of the vanguard New York underground disco scene (exemplified by DJs such as David Mancuso and Francis Grasso) from 1969 onwards, Brown did not consciously yield to the trend until 1975's Sex Machine Today. By 1977, he was no longer a dominant force in R&B. After "Get Up Offa That Thing", thirteen of Brown's late 1970s recordings for Polydor failed to reach the Top 10 of the R&B chart, with only "Bodyheat" in 1976 and the disco-oriented "It's Too Funky in Here" in 1979 reaching the R&B Top 15 and the ballad "Kiss in '77" reaching the Top 20. After 1976's "Bodyheat", he also failed to appear on the Billboard Hot 100. As a result, Brown's concert attendance began dropping and his reported disputes with the IRS caused his business empire to collapse. In addition, Brown's former bandmates, including Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker and the Collins brothers, had found bigger success as members of George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic collective. The emergence of disco also stopped Brown's success on the R&B charts because its slicker, more commercial style had superseded his more raw funk productions.
By the release of 1979's The Original Disco Man, Brown was not providing much production or writing, leaving most of it to producer Brad Shapiro, resulting in the song "It's Too Funky in Here" becoming Brown's most successful single in this period. After two more albums failed to chart, Brown left Polydor in 1981. It was around this time that Brown changed the name of his band from the J.B.'s to the Soul Generals (or Soul G's). The band retained that name until his death. Despite Brown's declining record sales, promoters Gary LoConti and Jim Rissmiller helped Brown sell out a string of residency shows at the Country Club in Reseda. Brown's compromised commercial standing prevented him from charging a large live fee to the promoters for these shows. However, the great success of these shows marked a turning point for Brown's career, and soon he was back on top in Hollywood. Movies followed, starting with appearances in the feature films The Blues Brothers, Doctor Detroit and Rocky IV, as well as guest-starring in the Miami Vice episode "Missing Hours" (1987). In 1984, he teamed with rap musician Afrika Bambaataa on the song "Unity". A year later he signed with Scotti Brothers Records and issued the moderately successful album Gravity in 1986. It included Brown's final Top 10 pop hit, "Living in America", marking his first Top 40 entry since 1974 and his first Top 10 pop entry since 1968. Produced and written by Dan Hartman, it was also featured prominently on the Rocky IV film and soundtrack. Brown performed the song in the film at Apollo Creed's final fight, shot in the Ziegfeld Room at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and was credited in the film as "The Godfather of Soul". 1986 also saw the publication of his autobiography, James Brown: The Godfather of Soul, co-written with Bruce Tucker. In 1987, Brown won the Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Living in America".
In 1988, Brown worked with the production team Full Force on the new jack swing-influenced I'm Real. It spawned his final two Top 10 R&B hits, "I'm Real" and "Static", which peaked at No. 2 and No. 5, respectively, on the R&B charts. Meanwhile, the drum break from the second version of the original 1969 hit "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" (the recording included on the compilation album In the Jungle Groove) became so popular at hip hop dance parties (especially for breakdance) during the early 1980s that hip hop pioneer Kurtis Blow called the song "the national anthem of hip hop".
1991–2006: Final years
After his stint in prison during the late 1980s, Brown met Larry Fridie and Thomas Hart who produced the first James Brown biopic, entitled James Brown: The Man, the Message, the Music, released in 1992. He returned to music with the album Love Over-Due in 1991. It included the single "(So Tired of Standing Still We Got to) Move On", which peaked at No. 48 on the R&B chart. His former record label Polydor also released the four-CD box set Star Time, spanning Brown's career to date. Brown's release from prison also prompted his former record labels to reissue his albums on CD, featuring additional tracks and commentary by music critics and historians. That same year, Brown appeared on rapper MC Hammer's video for "Too Legit to Quit". Hammer had been noted, alongside Big Daddy Kane, for bringing Brown's unique stage shows and their own energetic dance moves to the hip-hop generation; both listed Brown as their idol. Both musicians also sampled his work, with Hammer having sampled the rhythms from "Super Bad" for his song "Here Comes the Hammer", from his best-selling album Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em. Big Daddy Kane sampled many times. Before the year was over, Brown–who had immediately returned to work with his band following his release–organized a pay-per-view concert following a show at Los Angeles' Wiltern Theatre, that was well received.
On June 10, 1991, James Brown and a star-filled line up performed before a crowd at the Wiltern Theatre for a live pay-per-view at-home audience. James Brown: Living in America – Live! was the brainchild of Indiana producer Danny Hubbard. It featured
M.C. Hammer as well as Bell Biv Devoe, Heavy D & the Boys, En Vogue, C+C Music Factory, Quincy Jones, Sherman Hemsley and Keenen Ivory Wayans. Ice-T, Tone Loc and Kool Moe Dee performed paying homage to Brown. This was Brown's first public performance since his parole from the South Carolina prison system in February. He had served two-and-a-half years of two concurrent six-year sentences for aggravated assault and other felonies.
Brown continued making recordings. In 1993 his album Universal James was released. It included his final Billboard charting single, "Can't Get Any Harder", which peaked at No. 76 on the US R&B chart and reached No. 59 on the UK chart. Its brief charting in the UK was probably due to the success of a remixed version of "I Feel Good" featuring Dakeyne. Brown also released the singles "How Long" and "Georgia-Lina", which failed to chart. In 1995, Brown returned to the Apollo and recorded Live at the Apollo 1995. It included a studio track titled "Respect Me", which was released as a single; again it failed to chart. Brown's final studio albums, I'm Back and The Next Step, were released in 1998 and 2002 respectively. I'm Back featured the song "Funk on Ah Roll", which peaked at No. 40 in the UK but did not chart in his native US. The Next Step included Brown's final single, "Killing Is Out, School Is In". Both albums were produced by Derrick Monk. Brown's concert success, however, remained unabated and he kept up with a grueling schedule throughout the remainder of his life, living up to his previous nickname, "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business", in spite of his advanced age. In 2003, Brown participated in the PBS American Masters television documentary James Brown: Soul Survivor, which was directed by Jeremy Marre.
Brown performed in the Super Bowl XXXI halftime show.
Brown celebrated his status as an icon by appearing in a variety of entertainment and sports events, including an appearance on the WCW pay-per-view event, SuperBrawl X, where he danced alongside wrestler Ernest "The Cat" Miller, who based his character on Brown, during his in-ring skit with The Maestro. Brown then appeared in Tony Scott's short film Beat the Devil in 2001. He was featured alongside Clive Owen, Gary Oldman, Danny Trejo and Marilyn Manson. Brown also made a cameo appearance in the 2002 Jackie Chan film The Tuxedo, in which Chan was required to finish Brown's act after having accidentally knocked out the singer. In 2002, Brown appeared in Undercover Brother, playing himself.
In 2004, Brown performed in Hyde Park, London as a support act for Red Hot Chili Peppers concerts. The beginning of 2005 saw the publication of Brown's second book, I Feel Good: A Memoir of a Life of Soul, written with Marc Eliot. In February and March, he participated in recording sessions for an intended studio album with Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, and other longtime collaborators. Though he lost interest in the album, which remains unreleased, a track from the sessions, "Gut Bucket", appeared on a compilation CD included with the August 2006 issue of MOJO. He appeared at Edinburgh 50,000 – The Final Push, the final Live 8 concert on July 6, 2005, where he performed a duet with British pop star Will Young on "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag". In the Black Eyed Peas album "Monkey Business", Brown was featured on a track called, "They Don't Want Music". The previous week he had performed a duet with another British pop star, Joss Stone, on the United Kingdom chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. In 2006, Brown continued his "Seven Decades of Funk World Tour", his last concert tour where he performed all over the world. His final U.S. performances were in San Francisco on August 20, 2006, as headliner at the Festival of the Golden Gate (Foggfest) on the Great Meadow at Fort Mason. The following day, August 21, he performed at Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA, at a small theatre (800 seats) on campus. His last shows were greeted with positive reviews, and one of his final concert appearances at the Irish Oxegen festival in Punchestown in 2006 was performed for a record crowd of 80,000 people. He played a full concert as part of the BBC's Electric Proms on October 27, 2006, at The Roundhouse, supported by The Zutons, with special appearances from Max Beasley and The Sugababes.
Brown's last televised appearance was at his induction into the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2006, before his death the following month. Before his death, Brown had been scheduled to perform a duet with singer Annie Lennox on the song "Vengeance" for her new album Venus, which was released in 2007.
Artistry
As a vocalist, Brown performed in a forceful shout style derived from gospel music. Meanwhile, "his rhythmic grunts and expressive shrieks harked back farther still to ring shouts, work songs, and field cries", according to the Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History (1996): "He reimported the rhythmic complexity from which rhythm and blues, under the dual pressure of rock 'n' roll and pop, had progressively fallen away since its birth from jazz and blues."
For many years, Brown's touring show was one of the most extravagant productions in American popular music. At the time of Brown's death, his band included three guitarists, two bass guitar players, two drummers, three horns and a percussionist. The bands that he maintained during the late 1960s and 1970s were of comparable size, and the bands also included a three-piece amplified string section that played during the ballads. Brown employed between 40 and 50 people for the James Brown Revue, and members of the revue traveled with him in a bus to cities and towns all over the country, performing upwards of 330 shows a year with almost all of the shows as one-nighters.
Concert style
Before James Brown appeared on stage, his personal MC gave him an elaborate introduction accompanied by drumrolls, as the MC worked in Brown's various sobriquets along with the names of many of his hit songs. The introduction by Fats Gonder, captured on Brown's 1963 album Live at the Apollo is a representative example:
James Brown's performances were famous for their intensity and length. His own stated goal was to "give people more than what they came for — make them tired, 'cause that's what they came for.'" Brown's concert repertoire consisted mostly of his own hits and recent songs, with a few R&B covers mixed in. Brown danced vigorously as he sang, working popular dance steps such as the Mashed Potato into his routine along with dramatic leaps, splits and slides. In addition, his horn players and singing group (The Famous Flames) typically performed choreographed dance routines, and later incarnations of the Revue included backup dancers. Male performers in the Revue were required to wear tuxedoes and cummerbunds long after more casual concert wear became the norm among the younger musical acts. Brown's own extravagant outfits and his elaborate processed hairdo completed the visual impression. A James Brown concert typically included a performance by a featured vocalist, such as Vicki Anderson or Marva Whitney, and an instrumental feature for the band, which sometimes served as the opening act for the show.
A trademark feature of Brown's stage shows, usually during the song "Please, Please, Please", involved Brown dropping to his knees while clutching the microphone stand in his hands, prompting the show's longtime MC, Danny Ray, to come out, drape a cape over Brown's shoulders and escort him off the stage after he had worked himself to exhaustion during his performance. As Brown was escorted off the stage by the MC, Brown's vocal group, the Famous Flames (Bobby Byrd, Lloyd Stallworth, and Bobby Bennett), continued singing the background vocals "Please, please don't go-oh". Brown would then shake off the cape and stagger back to the microphone to perform an encore. Brown's routine was inspired by a similar one used by the professional wrestler Gorgeous George, as well as Little Richard. In his 2005 autobiography I Feel Good: A Memoir in a Life of Soul, Brown, who was a fan of Gorgeous George, credited the wrestler as the inspiration for both his cape routine and concert attire, stating, "Seeing him on TV helped create the James Brown you see on stage". Brown performs a version of the cape routine in the film of the T.A.M.I. Show (1964) in which he and The Famous Flames upstaged The Rolling Stones, and over the closing credits of the film Blues Brothers 2000. The Police refer to "James Brown on the T.A.M.I. Show" in their 1980 song "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around".
Band leadership
Brown demanded extreme discipline, perfection and precision from his musicians and dancers – performers in his Revue showed up for rehearsals and members wore the right "uniform" or "costume" for concert performances. During an interview conducted by Terri Gross during the NPR segment "Fresh Air" with Maceo Parker, a former saxophonist in Brown's band for most of the 1960s and part of the 1970s and 1980s, Parker offered his experience with the discipline that Brown demanded of the band:
Brown also had a practice of directing, correcting and assessing fines on members of his band who broke his rules, such as wearing unshined shoes, dancing out of sync or showing up late on stage. During some of his concert performances, Brown danced in front of his band with his back to the audience as he slid across the floor, flashing hand signals and splaying his pulsating fingers to the beat of the music. Although audiences thought Brown's dance routine was part of his act, this practice was actually his way of pointing to the offending member of his troupe who played or sang the wrong note or committed some other infraction. Brown used his splayed fingers and hand signals to alert the offending person of the fine that person must pay to him for breaking his rules.
Brown's demands of his support acts were, meanwhile, quite the reverse. As Fred Wesley recalled of his time as musical director of the JBs, if Brown felt intimidated by a support act he would try to "undermine their performances by shortening their sets without notice, demanding that they not do certain showstopping songs, and even insisting on doing the unthinkable, playing drums on some of their songs. A sure set killer."
Social activism
Education advocacy and humanitarianism
Brown's main social activism was in preserving the need for education among youths, influenced by his own troubled childhood and his being forced to drop out of the seventh grade for wearing "insufficient clothes". Due to heavy dropout rates in the 1960s, Brown released the pro-education song, "Don't Be a Drop-Out". Royalties of the song were donated to dropout-prevention charity programs. The success of this led to Brown meeting with President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House. Johnson cited Brown for being a positive role model to the youth. A lifelong Republican, Brown gained the confidence of President Richard Nixon, to whom he found he had to explain the plight of Black Americans.
Throughout the remainder of his life, Brown made public speeches in schools and continued to advocate the importance of education in school. Upon filing his will in 2002, Brown advised that most of the money in his estate go into creating the I Feel Good, Inc. Trust to benefit disadvantaged children and provide scholarships for his grandchildren. His final single, "Killing Is Out, School Is In", advocated against murders of young children in the streets. Brown often gave out money and other items to children while traveling to his childhood hometown of Augusta. A week before his death, while looking gravely ill, Brown gave out toys and turkeys to kids at an Atlanta orphanage, something he had done several times over the years.
Civil rights and self-reliance
Though Brown performed at benefit rallies for civil rights organizations in the mid-1960s, Brown often shied away from discussing civil rights in his songs in fear of alienating his crossover audience. In 1968, in response to a growing urge of anti-war advocacy during the Vietnam War, Brown recorded the song, "America Is My Home". In the song, Brown performed a rap, advocating patriotism and exhorting listeners to "stop pitying yoursel[ves] and get up and fight". At the time of the song's release, Brown had been participating in performing for troops stationed in Vietnam.
The Boston Garden concert
On April 5, 1968, a day after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee, Brown provided a free citywide televised concert at the Boston Garden to maintain public order and calm concerned Boston residents (over the objections of the police chief, who wanted to call off the concert, which he thought would incite violence). The show was later released on DVD as Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968. According to the documentary The Night James Brown Saved Boston, then-mayor Kevin White had strongly restrained the Boston police from cracking down on minor violence and protests after the assassination, while religious and community leaders worked to keep tempers from flaring. White arranged to have Brown's performance broadcast multiple times on Boston's public television station, WGBH, thus keeping potential rioters off the streets, watching the concert for free. Angered by not being told of this, Brown demanded $60,000 for "gate" fees (money he thought would be lost from ticket sales on account of the concert being broadcast for free) and then threatened to go public about the secret arrangement when the city balked at paying up afterwards, news of which would have been a political death blow to White and spark riots of its own. White eventually lobbied the behind-the-scenes power-brokering group known as "The Vault" to come up with money for Brown's gate fee and other social programs, contributing $100,000. Brown received $15,000 from them via the city. White also persuaded management at the Garden to give up their share of receipts to make up the differences. Following this successful performance, Brown was counseled by President Johnson to urge cities ravaged from riots following King's assassination to not resort to violence, telling them to "cool it, there's another way".
Responding to pressure from black activists, including H. Rap Brown, to take a bigger stance on their issues and from footage of black on black crime committed in inner cities, Brown wrote the lyrics to the song "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud", which his bandleader Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis accompanied with a musical composition. Released late that summer, the song's lyrics helped to make it an anthem for the civil rights movement. Brown only performed the song sporadically following its initial release and later stated he had regrets about recording it, saying in 1984, "Now 'Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud' has done more for the black race than any other record, but if I had my choice, I wouldn't have done it, because I don't like defining anyone by race. To teach race is to teach separatism." In his autobiography he stated:
The song is obsolete now ... But it was necessary to teach pride then, and I think the song did a lot of good for a lot of people ... People called "Black and Proud" militant and angry – maybe because of the line about dying on your feet instead of living on your knees. But really, if you listen to it, it sounds like a children's song. That's why I had children in it, so children who heard it could grow up feeling pride ... The song cost me a lot of my crossover audience. The racial makeup at my concerts was mostly black after that. I don't regret it, though, even if it was misunderstood.
In 1969, Brown recorded two more songs of social commentary, "World" and "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing", the latter song pleading for equal opportunity and self-reliance rather than entitlement. In 1970, in response to some black leaders for not being outspoken enough, he recorded "Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved" and "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing". In 1971, he began touring Africa, including Zambia and Nigeria. He was made "freeman of the city" in Lagos, Nigeria, by Oba Adeyinka Oyekan, for his "influence on black people all over the world". With his company, James Brown Enterprises, Brown helped to provide jobs for blacks in business in the communities. As the 1970s continued, Brown continued to record songs of social commentary, most prominently 1972's "King Heroin" and the two-part ballad "Public Enemy", which dealt with drug addiction.
Political views
During the 1968 presidential campaign, Brown endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey and appeared with Humphrey at political rallies. Brown was labeled an "Uncle Tom" for supporting Humphrey and also for releasing the pro-American funk song, "America Is My Home", in which Brown had lambasted protesters of the Vietnam War as well as the politics of pro-black activists. Brown began supporting Republican president Richard Nixon after being invited to perform at Nixon's inaugural ball in January 1969. Brown's endorsement of Nixon during the 1972 presidential election negatively impacted his career during that period with several national Black organizations boycotting his records and protesting at his concert shows; a November 1972 show in Cincinnati was picketed with signs saying, "James Brown: Nixon's Clown". Brown initially was invited to perform at a Youth Concert following Nixon's inauguration in January 1973 but bailed out due to the backlash he suffered from supporting Nixon. Brown joined fellow black entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., who faced similar backlash, to back out of the concert. Brown blamed it on "fatigue". Brown later reversed his support of Nixon and composed the song, "You Can Have Watergate (Just Gimme Some Bucks And I'll Be Straight)" as a result. After Nixon resigned from office, Brown composed the 1974 hit, "Funky President (People It's Bad)", right after Gerald Ford took Nixon's place. Brown later supported Democratic President Jimmy Carter, attending one of Carter's inaugural balls in 1977. Brown also openly supported President Ronald Reagan's reelection in 1984.
Brown stated he was neither Democratic nor Republican despite his support of Republican presidents such as Nixon and Reagan as well as Democratic presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Carter. In 1999, when being interviewed by Rolling Stone, the magazine asked him to name a hero in the 20th century; Brown mentioned John F. Kennedy and then-96-year-old U.S. Senator, and former Dixiecrat, Strom Thurmond, stating "when the young whippersnappers get out of line, whether Democratic or Republican, an old man can walk up and say 'Wait a minute, son, it goes this way.' And that's great for our country. He's like a grandfather to me." In 2003, Brown was the featured attraction of a Washington D.C. fundraiser for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Following the deaths of Ronald Reagan and his friend Ray Charles, Brown said to CNN, "I'm kind of in an uproar. I love the country and I got – you know I've been around a long time, through many presidents and everything. So after losing Mr. Reagan, who I knew very well, then Mr. Ray Charles, who I worked with and lived with like, all our life, we had a show together in Oakland many, many years ago and it's like you found the placard." Despite his contrarian political views, Brown mentored black activist Rev. Al Sharpton during the 1970s.
Personal life
At the end of his life, James Brown lived in Beech Island, South Carolina, directly across the Savannah River from Augusta, Georgia. Brown had diabetes that went undiagnosed for years, according to his longtime manager Charles Bobbit. In 2004, Brown was successfully treated for prostate cancer. Regardless of his health, Brown maintained his reputation as the "hardest working man in show business" by keeping up with his grueling performance schedule.
In 1962, Tammi Terrell joined the James Brown Revue. Brown became sexually involved with Terrell even though she was only 17 in a relationship that continued until she escaped his abuse. Bobby Bennett, former member of the Famous Flames, told Rolling Stone about the abuse he witnessed: "He beat Tammi Terrell terrible", said Bennett. "She was bleeding, shedding blood." Terrell, who died in 1970, was Brown's girlfriend before she became famous as Marvin Gaye's singing partner in the mid-'60s. "Tammi left him because she didn't want her butt whipped", said Bennett, who also claimed he saw Brown kick one pregnant girlfriend down a flight of stairs.
Marriages and children
Brown was married four times. His first marriage was to Velma Warren in 1953, and they had one son together. Over a decade later, the couple had separated and the final divorce decree was issued in 1969. They maintained a close friendship that lasted until Brown's death. Brown's second marriage was to Deidre "Deedee" Jenkins, on October 22, 1970. They had two daughters together. The couple were separated by 1979, after what his daughter describes as years of domestic abuse, and the final divorce decree was issued on January 10, 1981. His third marriage was to Adrienne Lois Rodriguez (March 9, 1950 – January 6, 1996), in 1984. It was a contentious marriage that made headlines due to domestic abuse complaints. Rodriguez filed for divorce in 1988, "citing years of cruelty treatment", but they reconciled. Less than a year after Rodriguez died in 1996, Brown hired Tomi Rae Hynie to be a background singer for his band and she later became his fourth wife.
On December 23, 2002, Brown and Hynie held a wedding ceremony that was officiated by the Rev. Larry Flyer. Following Brown's death, controversy surrounded the circumstances of the marriage, with Brown's attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, reporting that the marriage was not valid; Hynie was still married to Javed Ahmed, a man from Bangladesh. Hynie claimed Ahmed married her to obtain residency through a Green Card and that the marriage was annulled but the annulment did not occur until April 2004. In an attempt to prove her marriage to Brown was valid, Hynie produced a 2001 marriage certificate as proof of her marriage to Brown, but she did not provide King with court records pointing to an annulment of her marriage to him or to Ahmed. According to Dallas, Brown was angry and hurt that Hynie had concealed her prior marriage from him and Brown moved to file for annulment from Hynie. Dallas added that though Hynie's marriage to Ahmed was annulled after she married Brown, the Brown–Hynie marriage was not valid under South Carolina law because Brown and Hynie did not remarry after the annulment. In August 2003, Brown took out a full-page public notice in Variety featuring Hynie, James II and himself on vacation at Disney World to announce that he and Hynie were going their separate ways. In 2015, a judge ruled Hynie as Brown's legal widow.
Brown had numerous children and acknowledged nine of them including five sons – Teddy (1954–1973), Terry, Larry, Daryl, and James Joseph Brown Jr. and four daughters – Lisa, Dr. Yamma Noyola Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas, and Venisha Brown (1964–2018). Brown also had eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Brown's eldest son, Teddy, died in a car crash on June 14, 1973. According to an August 22, 2007, article published in the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, DNA tests indicate that Brown also fathered at least three extramarital children. The first one of them to be identified is LaRhonda Pettit (born 1962), a retired flight attendant and teacher who lives in Houston. During contesting of Brown's will, another of the Brown family attorneys, Debra Opri, revealed to Larry King that Brown wanted a DNA test performed after his death to confirm the paternity of James Brown Jr. (born 2001)—not for Brown's sake but for the sake of the other family members. In April 2007, Hynie selected a guardian ad litem whom she wanted appointed by the court to represent her son, James Brown Jr., in the paternity proceedings. James Brown Jr. was confirmed to be his biological son.
Drug abuse
For most of his career, Brown had a strict drug- and alcohol-free policy for any member in his entourage, including band members, and would fire people who disobeyed orders, particularly those who used or abused drugs. Although early members of the Famous Flames were fired for using alcohol, Brown often served a highball consisting of Delaware Punch and moonshine at his St. Albans, Queens house in the mid-1960s. Some of the original members of Brown's 1970s band, the J.B.'s, including Catfish and Bootsy Collins, intentionally took LSD during a performance in 1971, causing Brown to fire them after the show because he had suspected them of being on drugs all along.
Aide Bob Patton has asserted that he accidentally shared a PCP-laced cannabis joint with Brown in the mid-1970s and "hallucinated for hours", although Brown "talked about it as if it was only marijuana he was smoking". By the mid-1980s, it was widely alleged that Brown was using drugs, with Vicki Anderson confirming to journalist Barney Hoskyns that Brown's regular use of PCP (colloquially known as "angel dust") "began before 1982". After he met and later married Adrienne Rodriguez in 1984, she and Brown began using PCP together. This drug usage often resulted in violent outbursts from him, and he was arrested several times for domestic violence against Rodriguez while high on the drug. By January 1988, Brown faced four criminal charges within a 12-month span relating to driving, PCP, and gun possession. After an April 1988 arrest for domestic abuse, Brown went on the CNN program Sonya Live in L.A. with host Sonya Friedman. The interview became notorious for Brown's irreverent demeanor, with some asserting that Brown was high.
One of Brown's former mistresses recalled in a GQ magazine article on Brown some years after his death that Brown would smoke PCP ("until that got hard to find") and cocaine, mixed with tobacco in Kool cigarettes. He also engaged in the off-label use of sildenafil, maintaining that it gave him "extra energy". While once under the influence of PCP (which he continued to procure dependent on its availability) when traveling in a car, Brown alleged that passing trees contained psychotronic surveillance technology.
In January 1998, he spent a week in rehab to deal with an addiction to unspecified prescription drugs. A week after his release, he was arrested for an unlawful use of a handgun and possession of cannabis. Prior to his death in December 2006, when Brown entered Emory University Hospital, traces of cocaine were found in the singer's urine. His widow suggested Brown would "do crack" with a female acquaintance.
Theft and assault convictions
Brown's personal life was marred by several brushes with the law. At the age of 16, he was convicted of theft and served three years in juvenile prison. During a concert held at Club 15 in Macon, Georgia in 1963, while Otis Redding was performing alongside his former band Johnny Jenkins and the Pinetoppers, Brown reportedly tried to shoot his musical rival Joe Tex. The incident led to multiple people being shot and stabbed. Since Brown was still on parole at the time, he relied on his agent Clint Brantley "and a few thousand dollars to make the situation disappear". According to Jenkins, "seven people got shot", and after the shootout ended, a man appeared and gave "each one of the injured a hundred dollars apiece not to carry it no further and not to talk to the press". Brown was never charged for the incident.
On July 16, 1978, after performing at the Apollo, Brown was arrested for reportedly failing to turn in records from one of his radio stations after the station was forced to file for bankruptcy. Brown was arrested on April 3, 1988, for assault, and again in May 1988 on drug and weapons charges, and again on September 24, 1988, following a high-speed car chase on Interstate 20 near the Georgia–South Carolina state border. He was convicted of carrying an unlicensed pistol and assaulting a police officer, along with various drug-related and driving offenses. Although he was sentenced to six years in prison, he was eventually released on parole on February 27, 1991, after serving two years of his sentence. Brown's FBI file, released to The Washington Post in 2007 under the Freedom of Information Act, related Brown's claim that the high-speed chase did not occur as claimed by the police, and that local police shot at his car several times during an incident of police harassment and assaulted him after his arrest. Local authorities found no merit to Brown's accusations.
In 1998, a woman named Mary Simons accused Brown in a civil suit of holding her captive for three days, demanding oral sex and firing a gun in his office; Simons' charge was eventually dismissed. In another civil suit, filed by former background singer Lisa Rushton alleged that between 1994 and 1999, Brown allegedly demanded sexual favors and when refused, would cut off her pay and kept her offstage. She also claimed Brown would "place a hand on her buttocks and loudly told her in a crowded restaurant to not look or speak to any other man besides himself;" Rushton eventually withdrew her lawsuit. In yet another civil suit, a woman named Lisa Agbalaya, who worked for Brown, said the singer would tell her he had "bull testicles", handed her a pair of zebra-print underwear, told her to wear them while he massaged her with oil, and fired her after she refused. A Los Angeles jury cleared the singer of sexual harassment but found him liable for wrongful termination.
The police were summoned to Brown's residence on July 3, 2000, after he was accused of charging at an electric company repairman with a steak knife when the repairman visited Brown's house to investigate a complaint about having no lights at the residence. In 2003, Brown was pardoned by the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services for past crimes that he was convicted of committing in South Carolina.
Domestic violence arrests
Brown was repeatedly arrested for domestic violence. Adrienne Rodriguez, his third wife, had him arrested four times between 1987 and 1995 on charges of assault. In one incident, Rodriguez reported to authorities that Brown beat her with an iron pipe and shot at her car. Rodriguez was hospitalized after the last assault in October 1995, but charges were dropped after she died in January 1996.
In January 2004, Brown was arrested in South Carolina on a domestic violence charge after Tomi Rae Hynie accused him of pushing her to the floor during an argument at their home, where she suffered scratches and bruises to her right arm and hip. In June, Brown pleaded no contest to the domestic violence incident, but served no jail time. Instead, Brown was required to forfeit a US$1,087 bond as punishment.
Rape accusation
In January 2005, a woman named Jacque Hollander filed a lawsuit against James Brown, which stemmed from an alleged 1988 rape. When the case was initially heard before a judge in 2002, Hollander's claims against Brown were dismissed by the court as the limitations period for filing the suit had expired. Hollander claimed that stress from the alleged assault later caused her to contract Graves' disease, a thyroid condition. Hollander claimed that the incident took place in South Carolina while she was employed by Brown as a publicist. Hollander alleged that, during her ride in a van with Brown, Brown pulled over to the side of the road and sexually assaulted her while he threatened her with a shotgun. In her case against Brown, Hollander entered as evidence a DNA sample and a polygraph result, but the evidence was not considered due to the limitations defense. Hollander later attempted to bring her case before the Supreme Court, but nothing came of her complaint.
Later life and death
Illness
On December 23, 2006, Brown became very ill and arrived at his dentist's office in Atlanta, Georgia, several hours late. His appointment was for dental implant work. During that visit, Brown's dentist observed that he looked "very bad ... weak and dazed". Instead of performing the work, the dentist advised Brown to see a doctor right away about his medical condition.
Brown went to the Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital the next day for medical evaluation and was admitted for observation and treatment. According to Charles Bobbit, his longtime personal manager and friend, Brown had been struggling with a noisy cough since returning from a November trip to Europe. Yet, Bobbit said, the singer had a history of never complaining about being sick and often performed while ill. Although Brown had to cancel upcoming concerts in Waterbury, Connecticut, and Englewood, New Jersey, he was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time for his scheduled New Year's Eve shows at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey and the B. B. King Blues Club in New York, in addition to performing a song live on CNN for the Anderson Cooper New Year's Eve special. Brown remained hospitalized, however, and his condition worsened throughout the day.
Death
On Christmas Day 2006, Brown died at approximately 1:45 a.m. EST (06:45 UTC), at age 73, from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia. Bobbit was at his bedside and later reported that Brown stuttered, "I'm going away tonight", then took three long, quiet breaths and fell asleep before dying.
In 2019, an investigation by CNN and other journalists led to suggestions that Brown had been murdered.
Memorial services
After Brown's death, his relatives, a host of celebrities, and thousands of fans gathered, on December 28, 2006, for a public memorial service at the Apollo Theater in New York City and, on December 30, 2006, at the James Brown Arena in Augusta, Georgia. A separate, private ceremony was held in North Augusta, South Carolina, on December 29, 2006, with Brown's family in attendance. Celebrities at these various memorial events included Michael Jackson, Jimmy Cliff, Joe Frazier, Buddy Guy, Ice Cube, Ludacris, Dr. Dre, Little Richard, Dick Gregory, MC Hammer, Prince, Jesse Jackson, Ice-T, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bootsy Collins, LL Cool J, Lil Wayne, Lenny Kravitz, 50 Cent, Stevie Wonder, and Don King. Rev. Al Sharpton officiated at all of Brown's public and private memorial services.
Brown's memorial ceremonies were all elaborate, complete with costume changes for the deceased and videos featuring him in concert. His body, placed in a Promethean casket—bronze polished to a golden shine—was driven through the streets of New York to the Apollo Theater in a white, glass-encased horse-drawn carriage. In Augusta, Georgia, his memorial procession stopped to pay respects at his statue, en route to the James Brown Arena. During the public memorial there, a video showed Brown's last performance in Augusta, Georgia, with the Ray Charles version of "Georgia on My Mind" playing soulfully in the background. His last backup band, The Soul Generals, also played some of his hits during that tribute at the arena. The group was joined by Bootsy Collins on bass, with MC Hammer performing a dance in James Brown style. Former Temptations lead singer Ali-Ollie Woodson performed "Walk Around Heaven All Day" at the memorial services.
Last will and testament
Brown signed his last will and testament on August 1, 2000, before J. Strom Thurmond Jr., an attorney for the estate. The irrevocable trust, separate and apart from Brown's will, was created on his behalf, that same year, by his attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, one of three personal representatives of Brown's estate. His will covered the disposition of his personal assets, such as clothing, cars, and jewelry, while the irrevocable trust covered the disposition of the music rights, business assets of James Brown Enterprises, and his Beech Island, South Carolina estate.
During the reading of the will on January 11, 2007, Thurmond revealed that Brown's six adult living children (Terry Brown, Larry Brown, Daryl Brown, Yamma Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas and Venisha Brown) were named in the document, while Hynie and James II were not mentioned as heirs. Brown's will had been signed 10 months before James II was born and more than a year before Brown's marriage to Tomi Rae Hynie. Like Brown's will, his irrevocable trust omitted Hynie and James II as recipients of Brown's property. The irrevocable trust had also been established before, and not amended since, the birth of James II.
On January 24, 2007, Brown's children filed a lawsuit, petitioning the court to remove the personal representatives from the estate (including Brown's attorney, as well as trustee Albert "Buddy" Dallas) and appoint a special administrator because of perceived impropriety and alleged mismanagement of Brown's assets. On January 31, 2007, Hynie also filed a lawsuit against Brown's estate, challenging the validity of the will and the irrevocable trust. Hynie's suit asked the court both to recognize her as Brown's widow and to appoint a special administrator for the estate.
On January 27, 2015, Judge Doyet Early III ruled that Tomi Rae Hynie Brown was officially the widow of James Brown. The decision was based on the grounds that Hynie's previous marriage was invalid and that James Brown had abandoned his efforts to annul his own marriage to Hynie.
On February 19, 2015, the South Carolina Supreme Court intervened, halting all lower court actions in the estate and undertaking to review previous actions itself. The South Carolina Court of Appeals in July 2018 ruled that Hynie was, in fact, Mr. Brown's wife. In 2020, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that Hynie had not been legally married to Brown and did not have a right to his estate. It was reported in July 2021 that Brown's family had reached a settlement ending the 15-year battle over the estate.
Legacy
Brown received awards and honors throughout his lifetime and after his death. In 1993 the City Council of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, conducted a poll of residents to choose a new name for the bridge that crossed the Yampa River on Shield Drive. The winning name, with 7,717 votes, was "James Brown Soul Center of the Universe Bridge". The bridge was officially dedicated in September 1993, and Brown appeared at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the event. A petition was started by local ranchers to return the name to "Stockbridge" for historical reasons, but they backed off after citizens defeated their efforts because of the popularity of Brown's name. Brown returned to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, on July 4, 2002, for an outdoor festival, performing with bands such as The String Cheese Incident.
During his long career, Brown received many prestigious music industry awards and honors. In 1983 he was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. Brown was one of the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction dinner in New York on January 23, 1986. At that time, the members of his original vocal group, The Famous Flames (Bobby Byrd, Johnny Terry, Bobby Bennett, and Lloyd Stallworth) were not inducted. However, on April 14, 2012, The Famous Flames were automatically and retroactively inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Brown, without the need for nomination and voting, on the basis that they should have been inducted with him in 1986. On February 25, 1992, Brown was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 34th annual Grammy Awards. Exactly a year later, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 4th annual Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Awards. A ceremony was held for Brown on January 10, 1997, to honor him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
On June 15, 2000, Brown was honored as an inductee to the New York Songwriters Hall of Fame. On August 6, 2002, he was honored as the first BMI Urban Icon at the BMI Urban Awards. His BMI accolades include an impressive ten R&B Awards and six Pop Awards. On November 14, 2006, Brown was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, and he was one of several inductees to perform at the ceremony. In recognition of his accomplishments as an entertainer, Brown was a recipient of Kennedy Center Honors on December 7, 2003. In 2004 Rolling Stone magazine ranked James Brown as No. 7 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In an article for Rolling Stone, critic Robert Christgau cited Brown as "the greatest musician of the rock era". He appeared on the BET Awards June 24, 2003, and received the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Michael Jackson, and performed with him. In 2004, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Aretha Franklin.
Brown was also honored in his hometown of Augusta, Georgia, for his philanthropy and civic activities. On November 20, 1993, Mayor Charles DeVaney of Augusta held a ceremony to dedicate a section of 9th Street between Broad and Twiggs Streets, renamed "James Brown Boulevard", in the entertainer's honor. On May 6, 2005, as a 72nd birthday present for Brown, the city of Augusta unveiled a life-sized bronze James Brown statue on Broad Street. The statue was to have been dedicated a year earlier, but the ceremony was put on hold because of a domestic abuse charge that Brown faced at the time. In 2005, Charles "Champ" Walker and the We Feel Good Committee went before the County commission and received approval to change Augusta's slogan to "We Feel Good". Afterward, officials renamed the city's civic center the James Brown Arena, and James Brown attended a ceremony for the unveiling of the namesake center on October 15, 2006.
On December 30, 2006, during the public memorial service at the James Brown Arena, Dr. Shirley A.R. Lewis, president of Paine College, a historically black college in Augusta, Georgia, bestowed posthumously upon Brown an honorary doctorate in recognition and honor of his many contributions to the school in its times of need. Brown had originally been scheduled to receive the honorary doctorate from Paine College during its May 2007 commencement.
During the 49th Annual Grammy Awards presentation on February 11, 2007, James Brown's famous cape was draped over a microphone by Danny Ray at the end of a montage in honor of notable people in the music industry who died during the previous year. Earlier that evening, Christina Aguilera delivered an impassioned performance of Brown's hit "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" followed by a standing ovation, while Chris Brown performed a dance routine in honor of James Brown.
On August 17, 2013, the official R&B Music Hall of Fame honored and inducted James Brown at a ceremony held at the Waetjen Auditorium at Cleveland State University.
ART THE BOX began in early 2015 as a collaboration between three organizations: the City of Augusta, the Downtown Development Authority and the Greater Augusta Arts Council. 19 local artists were selected by a committee to create art on 23 local traffic signal control cabinets (TSCCs). A competition was held to create the James Brown Tribute Box on the corner of James Brown Blvd. (9th Ave.) and Broad St. This box was designed and painted by local artist, Ms. Robbie Pitts Bellamy and has become a favorite photo opportunity to visitors and locals in Augusta, Georgia.
"I have a lot of musical heroes but I think James Brown is at the top of the list", remarked Public Enemy's Chuck D. "Absolutely the funkiest man on Earth ... In a black household, James Brown is part of the fabric – Motown, Stax, Atlantic and James Brown."
Tributes
As a tribute to James Brown, the Rolling Stones covered the song, "I'll Go Crazy" from Brown's Live at the Apollo album, during their 2007 European tour. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has remarked, "He [James Brown] was almost a musical genre in his own right and he changed and moved forward the whole time so people were able to learn from him."
On December 22, 2007, the first annual "Tribute Fit For the King of King Records" in honor of James Brown was held at the Madison Theater in Covington, Kentucky. The tribute, organized by Bootsy Collins, featured Tony Wilson as Young James Brown with appearances by Afrika Bambaataa, Chuck D of Public Enemy, The Soul Generals, Buckethead, Freekbass, Triage and many of Brown's surviving family members. Comedian Michael Coyer was the MC for the event. During the show, the mayor of Cincinnati proclaimed December 22 as James Brown Day.
As of September 2021, a significant collection of James Brown clothing, memorabilia, and personal artifacts are on exhibit in downtown Augusta, Georgia at the Augusta History Museum.
Discography
Studio albums
Please Please Please (1958)
Try Me! (1959)
Think! (1960)
The Amazing James Brown (1961)
James Brown and His Famous Flames Tour the U.S.A. (1962)
Prisoner of Love (1963)
Grits & Soul (1964)
Showtime (1964)
Out of Sight (1964)
James Brown Plays James Brown Today & Yesterday (1965)
Mighty Instrumentals (1966)
James Brown Plays New Breed (The Boo-Ga-Loo) (1966)
James Brown Sings Christmas Songs (1966)
Handful of Soul (1966)
James Brown Sings Raw Soul (1967)
James Brown Plays the Real Thing (1967)
Cold Sweat (1967)
I Can't Stand Myself When You Touch Me (1968)
I Got the Feelin' (1968)
James Brown Plays Nothing But Soul (1968)
Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things (1968)
A Soulful Christmas (1968)
Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud (1969)
Gettin' Down to It (1969)
The Popcorn (1969)
It's a Mother (1969)
Ain't It Funky (1970)
Soul on Top (1970)
It's a New Day – Let a Man Come In (1970)
Hey America (1970)
Sho Is Funky Down Here (1971)
Hot Pants (1971)
There It Is (1972)
Get on the Good Foot (1972)
Black Caesar (1973)
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973)
The Payback (1973)
Hell (1974)
Reality (1974)
Sex Machine Today (1975)
Everybody's Doin' the Hustle & Dead on the Double Bump (1975)
Hot (1976)
Get Up Offa That Thing (1976)
Bodyheat (1976)
Mutha's Nature (1977)
Jam 1980's (1978)
Take a Look at Those Cakes (1978)
The Original Disco Man (1979)
People (1980)
Soul Syndrome (1980)
Nonstop! (1981)
Bring It On! (1983)
Gravity (1986)
I'm Real (1988)
Love Over-Due (1991)
Universal James (1992)
I'm Back (1998)
The Merry Christmas Album (1999)
The Next Step (2002)
Filmography
The T.A.M.I. Show (1964) (concert film)- with The Famous Flames
Ski Party (1965)- with The Famous Flames
James Brown: Man to Man (1968) (concert film)
The Phynx (1970)
Black Caesar (1973) (soundtrack only)
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973) (soundtrack only)
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Doctor Detroit (1983)
Rocky IV (1985)
Miami Vice (1987)
James Brown: Live in East Berlin (1989)
The Simpsons (1993)
When We Were Kings (1996) (documentary)
Duckman (1997)
Soulmates (1997)
Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
Holy Man (1998)
Undercover Brother (2002)
The Tuxedo (2002)
The Hire: Beat the Devil (2002) (short film)
Paper Chasers (2003) (documentary)
Soul Survivor (2003) (documentary)
Sid Bernstein Presents ... (2005) (documentary)
Glastonbury (2006) (documentary)
Life on the Road with Mr. and Mrs. Brown (2007) (documentary; release pending)
Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968 (2008) (concert film)
I Got The Feelin': James Brown in the '60s, three-DVD set featuring Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968, Live at the Apollo '68 [DVD version of James Brown: Man to Man], and the documentary The Night James Brown Saved Boston
Soul Power (2009) (documentary)
Get on Up (2014)
Biopics
Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown (2014), released in April 2014, written and directed by Alex Gibney, produced by Mick Jagger.
Get on Up (2014), released in theaters on August 1, 2014. Chadwick Boseman plays the role of James Brown in the film. Originally, Mick Jagger and Brian Grazer had begun producing a documentary film on Brown in 2013. A fiction film had been in the planning stages for many years and was revived when Jagger read the script by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth.
In other media
Games
In the video game World of Warcraft, the first boss character of the Forge of Souls dungeon is Bronjahm, "the Godfather of Souls". His quotes during the fight are musical references, and he has a chance of dropping an item called "Papa's Brand New Bag".
Television
As himself (voice) in the 1993 The Simpsons episode "Bart's Inner Child".
In 1991, Brown did a Pay Per View Special with top celebrities such as Quincy Jones, Rick James, Dan Aykroyd, Gladys Knight, Denzel Washington, MC Hammer and others attended or were opening acts. This was produced with boxing promoter Buddy Dallas. 15.5 million households tuned in at a cost $19.99.
In 2002, Brown starred in the Jackie Chan movie The Tuxedo as himself
See also
Progressive soul
References
Footnotes
Sources
Further reading
Danielsen, Anne (2006). Presence and pleasure: The funk grooves of James Brown and Parliament. Wesleyan University Press.
George, Nelson, and Leeds, Alan (editors). (2008). The James Brown Reader: 50 Years of Writing about the Godfather of Soul. New York: Plume.
Lethem, J. (June 12, 2006). "Being James Brown", Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved January 14, 2007.
McBride, James (2016) Kill 'Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul. New York: Spiegel & Grau
Sullivan, James. (2008). The Hardest Working Man: How James Brown Saved The Soul Of America. New York: Gotham Books.
Sussman, M. (producer). (December 25, 2006). Arts: Soul classics by James Brown (multimedia presentation). The New York Times. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
Wesley, Fred. (2002). Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Sideman. Durham: Duke University Press.
Whitney, Marva and Waring, Charles. (2013) God, The Devil & James Brown:(Memoirs of a Funky Diva). New Romney: Bank House Books
External links
1933 births
2006 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American composers
21st-century American singers
Activists for African-American civil rights
African-American composers
African-American male composers
African-American male dancers
African-American male singers
African-American record producers
African-American rock musicians
African-American songwriters
American expatriates in Nigeria
American expatriates in Zambia
American funk keyboardists
American funk singers
American male composers
American male dancers
American male organists
American male singers
American multi-instrumentalists
American people convicted of assault
American people convicted of drug offenses
American people convicted of robbery
American people of Chinese descent
American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent
American rhythm and blues singers
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American robbers
American soul keyboardists
American soul singers
American tenors
Black conservatism in the United States
Burials in South Carolina
Deaths from pneumonia in Georgia (U.S. state)
Education activists
Federal Records artists
Grammy Award winners
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
James Brown Orchestra members
Kennedy Center honorees
King Records artists
Musicians from Atlanta
Musicians from Augusta, Georgia
People from Barnwell, South Carolina
People from Beech Island, South Carolina
People from Toccoa, Georgia
Polydor Records artists
Recipients of American gubernatorial pardons
Record producers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Record producers from South Carolina
Scotti Brothers Records artists
Sexual assaults in the United States
Singers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Singers from South Carolina
Smash Records artists
The J.B.'s members
The Famous Flames members | 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"
]
|
[
"James Brown",
"Death",
"When was his death?",
"On Christmas Day, 2006,",
"What was the cause of death?",
"from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia.",
"Was he still making music up to his death?",
"he was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time for his scheduled New Year's Eve shows",
"What was the funeral like?",
"I don't know.",
"Did he leave family behind?",
"I don't know.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Bobbit was at his bedside and later reported that Brown stuttered, \"I'm going away tonight,\" then took three long, quiet breaths and fell asleep before dying."
]
| C_185d6e4eab0446b1aa68bcc9a108fa5d_0 | What else did Bobbit say about him? | 7 | Besides James Brown's last words, what else did Bobbit say about James Brown? | James Brown | On December 23, 2006, Brown became very ill and arrived at his dentist's office in Atlanta, Georgia, several hours late. His appointment was for dental implant work. During that visit, Brown's dentist observed that he looked "very bad... weak and dazed." Instead of performing the work, the dentist advised Brown to see a doctor right away about his medical condition. Brown went to the Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital the next day for medical evaluation and was admitted for observation and treatment. According to Charles Bobbit, his longtime personal manager and friend, Brown had been struggling with a noisy cough since returning from a November trip to Europe. Yet, Bobbit said, the singer had a history of never complaining about being sick and often performed while ill. Although Brown had to cancel upcoming concerts in Waterbury, Connecticut, and Englewood, New Jersey, he was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time for his scheduled New Year's Eve shows at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey and the B. B. King Blues Club in New York, in addition to performing a song live on CNN for the Anderson Cooper New Year's Eve special. Brown remained hospitalized, however, and his condition worsened throughout the day. On Christmas Day, 2006, Brown died at approximately 1:45 am EST (06:45 UTC), at age 73, from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia. Bobbit was at his bedside and later reported that Brown stuttered, "I'm going away tonight," then took three long, quiet breaths and fell asleep before dying. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer, and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honorific nicknames "Godfather of Soul", "Mr. Dynamite", and "Soul Brother No. 1". In a career that lasted more than 50 years, he influenced the development of several music genres. Brown was one of the first 10 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction in New York on January 23, 1986.
Brown began his career as a gospel singer in Toccoa, Georgia. He first came to national public attention in the mid-1950s as the lead singer of the Famous Flames, a rhythm and blues vocal group founded by Bobby Byrd. With the hit ballads "Please, Please, Please" and "Try Me", Brown built a reputation as a dynamic live performer with the Famous Flames and his backing band, sometimes known as the James Brown Band or the James Brown Orchestra. His success peaked in the 1960s with the live album Live at the Apollo and hit singles such as "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "It's a Man's Man's Man's World".
During the late 1960s, Brown moved from a continuum of blues and gospel-based forms and styles to a profoundly "Africanized" approach to music-making, emphasizing stripped-down interlocking rhythms that influenced the development of funk music. By the early 1970s, Brown had fully established the funk sound after the formation of the J.B.s with records such as "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" and "The Payback". He also became noted for songs of social commentary, including the 1968 hit "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud". Brown continued to perform and record until his death from pneumonia in 2006.
Brown recorded 17 singles that reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts. He also holds the record for the most singles listed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that did not reach No. 1. Brown was inducted into the first class of the Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013 as an artist and then in 2017 as a songwriter. He also received honors from several other institutions, including inductions into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In Joel Whitburn's analysis of the Billboard R&B charts from 1942 to 2010, Brown is ranked No. 1 in The Top 500 Artists. He is ranked seventh on Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Early life
Brown was born on May 3, 1933, in Barnwell, South Carolina, to 16-year-old Susie (née Behling; 1916–2004) and 21-year-old Joseph Gardner Brown (1912–1993) in a small wooden shack. Brown's name was supposed to have been Joseph James Brown, but his first and middle names were mistakenly reversed on his birth certificate. In his autobiography, Brown stated that he had Chinese and Native American ancestry and that his father was of mixed African-American and Native American descent, while his mother was of mixed African-American and Asian descent.
The Brown family lived in extreme poverty in Elko, South Carolina, which was an impoverished town at the time. They later moved to Augusta, Georgia, when James was four or five. His family first settled at one of his aunts' brothels. They later moved into a house shared with another aunt. Brown's mother eventually left the family after a contentious and abusive marriage and moved to New York. Brown spent long stretches of time on his own, hanging out in the streets and hustling to get by. He managed to stay in school until the sixth grade.
He began singing in talent shows as a young child, first appearing at Augusta's Lenox Theater in 1944, winning the show after singing the ballad "So Long". While in Augusta, Brown performed buck dances for change to entertain troops from Camp Gordon at the start of World War II as their convoys traveled over a canal bridge near his aunt's home. He learned to play the piano, guitar, and harmonica during this period. He became inspired to become an entertainer after hearing "Caldonia" by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five. In his teen years, Brown briefly had a career as a boxer.
At the age of 16, he was convicted of robbery and sent to a juvenile detention center in Toccoa. There, he formed a gospel quartet with four fellow cellmates, including Johnny Terry. Brown met singer Bobby Byrd when the two played against each other in a baseball game outside the detention center. Byrd also discovered that Brown could sing after hearing of "a guy called Music Box", which was Brown's musical nickname at the prison. Byrd has since claimed he and his family helped to secure an early release, which led to Brown promising the court he would "sing for the Lord". Brown was released on a work sponsorship with Toccoa business owner S.C. Lawson. Lawson was impressed with Brown's work ethic and secured his release with a promise to keep him employed for two years. Brown was paroled on June 14, 1952. Brown went on to work with both of Lawson's sons, and would come back to visit the family from time to time throughout his career. Shortly after being paroled he joined the gospel group the Ever-Ready Gospel Singers, featuring Byrd's sister Sarah.
Music career
1953–1961: The Famous Flames
Brown eventually joined Bobby Byrd's group in 1954. The group had evolved from the Gospel Starlighters, an a cappella gospel group, to an R&B group with the name the Avons. He reputedly joined the band after one of its members, Troy Collins, died in a car crash. Along with Brown and Byrd, the group consisted of Sylvester Keels, Doyle Oglesby, Fred Pulliam, Nash Knox and Nafloyd Scott. Influenced by R&B groups such as Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, the Orioles and Billy Ward and his Dominoes, the group changed its name, first to the Toccoa Band and then to the Flames. Nafloyd's brother Baroy later joined the group on bass guitar, and Brown, Byrd and Keels switched lead positions and instruments, often playing drums and piano. Johnny Terry later joined, by which time Pulliam and Oglesby had long left. one of his 10 children commited suicide.
Berry Trimier became the group's first manager, booking them at parties near college campuses in Georgia and South Carolina. The group had already gained a reputation as a good live act when they renamed themselves the Famous Flames. In 1955, the group had contacted Little Richard while performing in Macon. Richard convinced the group to get in contact with his manager at the time, Clint Brantley, at his nightclub. Brantley agreed to manage them after seeing the group audition. He then sent them to a local radio station to record a demo session, where they performed their own composition "Please, Please, Please", which was inspired when Little Richard wrote the words of the title on a napkin and Brown was determined to make a song out of it. The Famous Flames eventually signed with King Records' Federal subsidiary in Cincinnati, Ohio, and issued a re-recorded version of "Please, Please, Please" in March 1956. The song became the group's first R&B hit, selling over a million copies. None of their follow-ups gained similar success. By 1957, Brown had replaced Clint Brantley as manager and hired Ben Bart, chief of Universal Attractions Agency. That year the original Flames broke up, after Bart changed the name of the group to "James Brown and The Famous Flames".
In October 1958, Brown released the ballad "Try Me", which hit number one on the R&B chart in the beginning of 1959, becoming the first of seventeen chart-topping R&B hits. Shortly afterwards, he recruited his first band, led by J. C. Davis, and reunited with Bobby Byrd who joined a revived Famous Flames lineup that included Eugene "Baby" Lloyd Stallworth and Bobby Bennett, with Johnny Terry sometimes coming in as the "fifth Flame". Brown, the Flames, and his entire band debuted at the Apollo Theater on April 24, 1959, opening for Brown's idol, Little Willie John. Federal Records issued two albums credited to Brown and the Famous Flames (both contained previously released singles). By 1960, Brown began multi-tasking in the recording studio involving himself, his singing group, the Famous Flames, and his band, a separate entity from The Flames, sometimes named the James Brown Orchestra or the James Brown Band. That year the band released the top ten R&B hit "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes" on Dade Records, owned by Henry Stone, billed under the pseudonym "Nat Kendrick & the Swans" due to label issues. As a result of its success, King president Syd Nathan shifted Brown's contract from Federal to the parent label, King, which according to Brown in his autobiography meant "you got more support from the company". While with King, Brown, under the Famous Flames lineup, released the hit-filled album Think! and the following year released two albums with the James Brown Band earning second billing. With the Famous Flames, Brown sang lead on several more hits, including"Bewildered", "I'll Go Crazy" and "Think", songs that hinted at his emerging style.
1962–1966: Mr. Dynamite
In 1962, Brown and his band scored a hit with their cover of the instrumental "Night Train", becoming a top five R&B single. That same year, the ballads "Lost Someone" and "Baby You're Right", the latter a Joe Tex composition, added to his repertoire and increased his reputation with R&B audiences. On October 24, 1962, Brown financed a live recording of a performance at the Apollo and convinced Syd Nathan to release the album, despite Nathan's belief that no one would buy a live album due to the fact that Brown's singles had already been bought and that live albums were usually bad sellers.
Live at the Apollo was released the following June and became an immediate hit, eventually reaching number two on the Top LPs chart and selling over a million copies, staying on the charts for 14 months. In 1963, Brown scored his first top 20 pop hit with his rendition of the standard "Prisoner of Love". He also launched his first label, Try Me Records, which included recordings by the likes of Tammy Montgomery (later to be famous as Tammi Terrell), Johnny & Bill (Famous Flames associates Johnny Terry and Bill Hollings) and the Poets, which was another name used for Brown's backing band. During this time Brown began an ill-fated two-year relationship with 17-year-old Tammi Terrell when she sang in his revue. Terrell ended their personal and professional relationship because of his abusive behavior.
In 1964, seeking bigger commercial success, Brown and Bobby Byrd formed the production company, Fair Deal, linking the operation to the Mercury imprint, Smash Records. King Records, however, fought against this and was granted an injunction preventing Brown from releasing any recordings for the label. Prior to the injunction, Brown had released three vocal singles, including the blues-oriented hit "Out of Sight", which further indicated the direction his music was going to take. Touring throughout the year, Brown and the Famous Flames grabbed more national attention after giving an explosive show-stopping performance on the live concert film The T.A.M.I. Show. The Flames' dynamic gospel-tinged vocals, polished choreography and timing as well as Brown's energetic dance moves and high-octane singing upstaged the proposed closing act, the Rolling Stones.
Having signed a new deal with King, Brown released his song "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" in 1965, which became his first top ten pop hit and won him his first Grammy Award. Brown also signed a production deal with Loma Records. Later in 1965, he issued "I Got You", which became his second single in a row to reach number-one on the R&B chart and top ten on the pop chart. Brown followed that up with the ballad "It's a Man's Man's Man's World", a third Top 10 Pop hit (No. 1 R&B) which confirmed his stance as a top-ranking performer, especially with R&B audiences from that point on.
1967–1970: Soul Brother No. 1
By 1967, Brown's emerging sound had begun to be defined as funk music. That year he released what some critics cited as the first true funk song, "Cold Sweat", which hit number-one on the R&B chart (Top 10 Pop) and became one of his first recordings to contain a drum break and also the first that featured a harmony that was reduced to a single chord. The instrumental arrangements on tracks such as "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" and "Licking Stick-Licking Stick" (both recorded in 1968) and "Funky Drummer" (recorded in 1969) featured a more developed version of Brown's mid-1960s style, with the horn section, guitars, bass and drums meshed together in intricate rhythmic patterns based on multiple interlocking riffs.
Changes in Brown's style that started with "Cold Sweat" also established the musical foundation for Brown's later hits, such as "I Got the Feelin'" (1968) and "Mother Popcorn" (1969). By this time Brown's vocals frequently took the form of a kind of rhythmic declamation, not quite sung but not quite spoken, that only intermittently featured traces of pitch or melody. This would become a major influence on the techniques of rapping, which would come to maturity along with hip hop music in the coming decades. Brown's style of funk in the late 1960s was based on interlocking syncopated parts: strutting bass lines, syncopated drum patterns, and iconic percussive guitar riffs. The main guitar ostinatos for "Ain't It Funky" and "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" (both 1969), are examples of Brown's refinement of New Orleans funk; irresistibly danceable riffs, stripped down to their rhythmic essence. On both recordings the tonal structure is bare bones. The pattern of attack-points is the emphasis, not the pattern of pitches, as if the guitar were an African drum, or idiophone. Alexander Stewart states that this popular feel was passed along from "New Orleans—through James Brown's music, to the popular music of the 1970s". Those same tracks were later resurrected by countless hip-hop musicians from the 1970s onward. As a result, James Brown remains to this day the world's most sampled recording artist, but, two tracks that he wrote, are also synonymous with modern dance, especially with house music, jungle music, and drum and bass music, (which were sped up exponentially, in the latter two genres).
"Bring it Up" has an Afro-Cuban guajeo-like structure. All three of these guitar riffs are based on an onbeat/offbeat structure. Stewart says that it "is different from a time line (such as clave and tresillo) in that it is not an exact pattern, but more of a loose organizing principle."
It was around this time as the musician's popularity increased that he acquired the nickname "Soul Brother No. 1", after failing to win the title "King of Soul" from Solomon Burke during a Chicago gig two years prior. Brown's recordings during this period influenced musicians across the industry, most notably groups such as Sly and the Family Stone, Funkadelic, Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Booker T. & the M.G.s as well as vocalists such as Edwin Starr, David Ruffin and Dennis Edwards from The Temptations, and Michael Jackson, who, throughout his career, cited Brown as his ultimate idol.
Brown's band during this period employed musicians and arrangers who had come up through the jazz tradition. He was noted for his ability as a bandleader and songwriter to blend the simplicity and drive of R&B with the rhythmic complexity and precision of jazz. Trumpeter Lewis Hamlin and saxophonist/keyboardist Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis (the successor to previous bandleader Nat Jones) led the band. Guitarist Jimmy Nolen provided percussive, deceptively simple riffs for each song, and Maceo Parker's prominent saxophone solos provided a focal point for many performances. Other members of Brown's band included stalwart Famous Flames singer and sideman Bobby Byrd, trombonist Fred Wesley, drummers John "Jabo" Starks, Clyde Stubblefield and Melvin Parker, saxophonist St. Clair Pinckney, guitarist Alphonso "Country" Kellum and bassist Bernard Odum.
In addition to a torrent of singles and studio albums, Brown's output during this period included two more successful live albums, Live at the Garden (1967) and Live at the Apollo, Volume II (1968), and a 1968 television special, James Brown: Man to Man. His music empire expanded along with his influence on the music scene. As Brown's music empire grew, his desire for financial and artistic independence grew as well. Brown bought radio stations during the late 1960s, including WRDW in his native Augusta, where he shined shoes as a boy. In November 1967, James Brown purchased radio station WGYW in Knoxville, Tennessee, for a reported $75,000, according to the January 20, 1968 Record World magazine. The call letters were changed to WJBE reflecting his initials. WJBE began on January 15, 1968, and broadcast a Rhythm & Blues format. The station slogan was "WJBE 1430 Raw Soul". Brown also bought WEBB in Baltimore in 1970.
Brown branched out to make several recordings with musicians outside his own band. In an attempt to appeal to the older, more affluent, and predominantly white adult contemporary audience, Brown recorded Gettin' Down To It (1969) and Soul on Top (1970)—two albums consisting mostly of romantic ballads, jazz standards, and homologous reinterpretations of his earlier hits—with the Dee Felice Trio and the Louie Bellson Orchestra. In 1968, he recorded a number of funk-oriented tracks with The Dapps, a white Cincinnati band, including the hit "I Can't Stand Myself". He also released three albums of Christmas music with his own band.
1970–1975: Godfather of Soul
In March 1970, most of Brown's mid-to-late 1960s road band walked out on him due to money disputes, a development augured by the prior disbandment of The Famous Flames singing group for the same reason in 1968. Brown and erstwhile Famous Flames singer Bobby Byrd (who chose to remain in the band during this tumultuous period) subsequently recruited several members of the Cincinnati-based The Pacemakers, which included Bootsy Collins and his brother Phelps "Catfish" Collins; augmented by the remaining members of the 1960s road band (including Fred Wesley, who rejoined Brown's outfit in December 1970) and other newer musicians, they would form the nucleus of The J.B.'s, Brown's new backing ensemble. Shortly following their first performance together, the band entered the studio to record the Brown-Byrd composition, "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine"; the song and other contemporaneous singles would further cement Brown's influence in the nascent genre of funk music. This iteration of the J.B.'s dissolved after a March 1971 European tour (documented on the 1991 archival release Love Power Peace) due to additional money disputes and Bootsy Collins' use of LSD; the Collins brothers would soon become integral members of Parliament-Funkadelic, while a new lineup of the J.B.'s coalesced around Wesley, St. Clair Pinckney and drummer John Starks.
In 1971, Brown began recording for Polydor Records which also took over distribution of Brown's King Records catalog. Many of his sidemen and supporting players, including Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s, Bobby Byrd, Lyn Collins, Vicki Anderson and former rival Hank Ballard, released records on the People label, an imprint founded by Brown that was purchased by Polydor as part of Brown's new contract. The recordings on the People label, almost all of which were produced by Brown himself, exemplified the mature flowering of his "house style". Several tracks thought by critics to be excessively sexual were released at this time. He would later soften his vocal approach. Songs such as "I Know You Got Soul" by Bobby Byrd, "Think" by Lyn Collins and "Doing It to Death" by Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s are considered as much a part of Brown's recorded legacy as the recordings released under his own name. That year, he also began touring African countries and was received well by audiences there. During the 1972 presidential election, James Brown openly proclaimed his support of Richard Nixon for reelection to the presidency over Democratic candidate George McGovern. The decision led to a boycott of his performances and, according to Brown, cost him a big portion of his black audience. As a result, Brown's record sales and concerts in the United States reached a lull in 1973 as he failed to land a number-one R&B single that year. Brown relied more on touring outside the United States where he continued to perform for sold-out crowds in cities such as London, Paris and Lausanne. That year he also faced problems with the IRS for failure to pay back taxes, charging he hadn't paid upwards of $4.5 million; five years earlier, the IRS had claimed he owed nearly $2 million.
In 1973, Brown provided the score for the blaxploitation film Black Caesar. He also recorded another soundtrack for the film, Slaughter's Big Rip-Off. Following the release of these soundtracks, Brown acquired a self-styled nickname, "The Godfather of Soul", which remains his most popular nickname. In 1974 he returned to the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts with "The Payback", with the parent album reaching the same spot on the album charts; he would reach No. 1 two more times in 1974, with "My Thang" and "Papa Don't Take No Mess". Later that year, he returned to Africa and performed in Kinshasa as part of the buildup to The Rumble in the Jungle fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Admirers of Brown's music, including Miles Davis and other jazz musicians, began to cite him as a major influence on their own styles. However, Brown, like others who were influenced by his music, also "borrowed" from other musicians. His 1976 single, "Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)" (R&B No. 31), interpolated the main riff from "Fame" by David Bowie while omitting any attribution to the latter song's composers (including Bowie, John Lennon and guitarist Carlos Alomar), not the other way around as was often believed.
"Papa Don't Take No Mess" would prove to be his final single to reach the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts and his final Top 40 pop single of the 1970s, though he continued to occasionally have Top 10 R&B recordings. Among his top ten R&B hits during this latter period included "Funky President" (R&B No. 4) and "Get Up Offa That Thing" (R&B No. 4), the latter song released in 1976 and aimed at musical rivals such as Barry White, The Ohio Players and K.C. and the Sunshine Band. Brown credited his then-wife and two of their children as writers of the song to avoid concurrent tax problems with the IRS. Starting in October 1975, Brown produced, directed, and hosted Future Shock, an Atlanta-based television variety show that ran for three years.
1975–1991: Decline and resurgence
Although his records were mainstays of the vanguard New York underground disco scene (exemplified by DJs such as David Mancuso and Francis Grasso) from 1969 onwards, Brown did not consciously yield to the trend until 1975's Sex Machine Today. By 1977, he was no longer a dominant force in R&B. After "Get Up Offa That Thing", thirteen of Brown's late 1970s recordings for Polydor failed to reach the Top 10 of the R&B chart, with only "Bodyheat" in 1976 and the disco-oriented "It's Too Funky in Here" in 1979 reaching the R&B Top 15 and the ballad "Kiss in '77" reaching the Top 20. After 1976's "Bodyheat", he also failed to appear on the Billboard Hot 100. As a result, Brown's concert attendance began dropping and his reported disputes with the IRS caused his business empire to collapse. In addition, Brown's former bandmates, including Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker and the Collins brothers, had found bigger success as members of George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic collective. The emergence of disco also stopped Brown's success on the R&B charts because its slicker, more commercial style had superseded his more raw funk productions.
By the release of 1979's The Original Disco Man, Brown was not providing much production or writing, leaving most of it to producer Brad Shapiro, resulting in the song "It's Too Funky in Here" becoming Brown's most successful single in this period. After two more albums failed to chart, Brown left Polydor in 1981. It was around this time that Brown changed the name of his band from the J.B.'s to the Soul Generals (or Soul G's). The band retained that name until his death. Despite Brown's declining record sales, promoters Gary LoConti and Jim Rissmiller helped Brown sell out a string of residency shows at the Country Club in Reseda. Brown's compromised commercial standing prevented him from charging a large live fee to the promoters for these shows. However, the great success of these shows marked a turning point for Brown's career, and soon he was back on top in Hollywood. Movies followed, starting with appearances in the feature films The Blues Brothers, Doctor Detroit and Rocky IV, as well as guest-starring in the Miami Vice episode "Missing Hours" (1987). In 1984, he teamed with rap musician Afrika Bambaataa on the song "Unity". A year later he signed with Scotti Brothers Records and issued the moderately successful album Gravity in 1986. It included Brown's final Top 10 pop hit, "Living in America", marking his first Top 40 entry since 1974 and his first Top 10 pop entry since 1968. Produced and written by Dan Hartman, it was also featured prominently on the Rocky IV film and soundtrack. Brown performed the song in the film at Apollo Creed's final fight, shot in the Ziegfeld Room at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and was credited in the film as "The Godfather of Soul". 1986 also saw the publication of his autobiography, James Brown: The Godfather of Soul, co-written with Bruce Tucker. In 1987, Brown won the Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Living in America".
In 1988, Brown worked with the production team Full Force on the new jack swing-influenced I'm Real. It spawned his final two Top 10 R&B hits, "I'm Real" and "Static", which peaked at No. 2 and No. 5, respectively, on the R&B charts. Meanwhile, the drum break from the second version of the original 1969 hit "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" (the recording included on the compilation album In the Jungle Groove) became so popular at hip hop dance parties (especially for breakdance) during the early 1980s that hip hop pioneer Kurtis Blow called the song "the national anthem of hip hop".
1991–2006: Final years
After his stint in prison during the late 1980s, Brown met Larry Fridie and Thomas Hart who produced the first James Brown biopic, entitled James Brown: The Man, the Message, the Music, released in 1992. He returned to music with the album Love Over-Due in 1991. It included the single "(So Tired of Standing Still We Got to) Move On", which peaked at No. 48 on the R&B chart. His former record label Polydor also released the four-CD box set Star Time, spanning Brown's career to date. Brown's release from prison also prompted his former record labels to reissue his albums on CD, featuring additional tracks and commentary by music critics and historians. That same year, Brown appeared on rapper MC Hammer's video for "Too Legit to Quit". Hammer had been noted, alongside Big Daddy Kane, for bringing Brown's unique stage shows and their own energetic dance moves to the hip-hop generation; both listed Brown as their idol. Both musicians also sampled his work, with Hammer having sampled the rhythms from "Super Bad" for his song "Here Comes the Hammer", from his best-selling album Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em. Big Daddy Kane sampled many times. Before the year was over, Brown–who had immediately returned to work with his band following his release–organized a pay-per-view concert following a show at Los Angeles' Wiltern Theatre, that was well received.
On June 10, 1991, James Brown and a star-filled line up performed before a crowd at the Wiltern Theatre for a live pay-per-view at-home audience. James Brown: Living in America – Live! was the brainchild of Indiana producer Danny Hubbard. It featured
M.C. Hammer as well as Bell Biv Devoe, Heavy D & the Boys, En Vogue, C+C Music Factory, Quincy Jones, Sherman Hemsley and Keenen Ivory Wayans. Ice-T, Tone Loc and Kool Moe Dee performed paying homage to Brown. This was Brown's first public performance since his parole from the South Carolina prison system in February. He had served two-and-a-half years of two concurrent six-year sentences for aggravated assault and other felonies.
Brown continued making recordings. In 1993 his album Universal James was released. It included his final Billboard charting single, "Can't Get Any Harder", which peaked at No. 76 on the US R&B chart and reached No. 59 on the UK chart. Its brief charting in the UK was probably due to the success of a remixed version of "I Feel Good" featuring Dakeyne. Brown also released the singles "How Long" and "Georgia-Lina", which failed to chart. In 1995, Brown returned to the Apollo and recorded Live at the Apollo 1995. It included a studio track titled "Respect Me", which was released as a single; again it failed to chart. Brown's final studio albums, I'm Back and The Next Step, were released in 1998 and 2002 respectively. I'm Back featured the song "Funk on Ah Roll", which peaked at No. 40 in the UK but did not chart in his native US. The Next Step included Brown's final single, "Killing Is Out, School Is In". Both albums were produced by Derrick Monk. Brown's concert success, however, remained unabated and he kept up with a grueling schedule throughout the remainder of his life, living up to his previous nickname, "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business", in spite of his advanced age. In 2003, Brown participated in the PBS American Masters television documentary James Brown: Soul Survivor, which was directed by Jeremy Marre.
Brown performed in the Super Bowl XXXI halftime show.
Brown celebrated his status as an icon by appearing in a variety of entertainment and sports events, including an appearance on the WCW pay-per-view event, SuperBrawl X, where he danced alongside wrestler Ernest "The Cat" Miller, who based his character on Brown, during his in-ring skit with The Maestro. Brown then appeared in Tony Scott's short film Beat the Devil in 2001. He was featured alongside Clive Owen, Gary Oldman, Danny Trejo and Marilyn Manson. Brown also made a cameo appearance in the 2002 Jackie Chan film The Tuxedo, in which Chan was required to finish Brown's act after having accidentally knocked out the singer. In 2002, Brown appeared in Undercover Brother, playing himself.
In 2004, Brown performed in Hyde Park, London as a support act for Red Hot Chili Peppers concerts. The beginning of 2005 saw the publication of Brown's second book, I Feel Good: A Memoir of a Life of Soul, written with Marc Eliot. In February and March, he participated in recording sessions for an intended studio album with Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, and other longtime collaborators. Though he lost interest in the album, which remains unreleased, a track from the sessions, "Gut Bucket", appeared on a compilation CD included with the August 2006 issue of MOJO. He appeared at Edinburgh 50,000 – The Final Push, the final Live 8 concert on July 6, 2005, where he performed a duet with British pop star Will Young on "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag". In the Black Eyed Peas album "Monkey Business", Brown was featured on a track called, "They Don't Want Music". The previous week he had performed a duet with another British pop star, Joss Stone, on the United Kingdom chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. In 2006, Brown continued his "Seven Decades of Funk World Tour", his last concert tour where he performed all over the world. His final U.S. performances were in San Francisco on August 20, 2006, as headliner at the Festival of the Golden Gate (Foggfest) on the Great Meadow at Fort Mason. The following day, August 21, he performed at Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA, at a small theatre (800 seats) on campus. His last shows were greeted with positive reviews, and one of his final concert appearances at the Irish Oxegen festival in Punchestown in 2006 was performed for a record crowd of 80,000 people. He played a full concert as part of the BBC's Electric Proms on October 27, 2006, at The Roundhouse, supported by The Zutons, with special appearances from Max Beasley and The Sugababes.
Brown's last televised appearance was at his induction into the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2006, before his death the following month. Before his death, Brown had been scheduled to perform a duet with singer Annie Lennox on the song "Vengeance" for her new album Venus, which was released in 2007.
Artistry
As a vocalist, Brown performed in a forceful shout style derived from gospel music. Meanwhile, "his rhythmic grunts and expressive shrieks harked back farther still to ring shouts, work songs, and field cries", according to the Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History (1996): "He reimported the rhythmic complexity from which rhythm and blues, under the dual pressure of rock 'n' roll and pop, had progressively fallen away since its birth from jazz and blues."
For many years, Brown's touring show was one of the most extravagant productions in American popular music. At the time of Brown's death, his band included three guitarists, two bass guitar players, two drummers, three horns and a percussionist. The bands that he maintained during the late 1960s and 1970s were of comparable size, and the bands also included a three-piece amplified string section that played during the ballads. Brown employed between 40 and 50 people for the James Brown Revue, and members of the revue traveled with him in a bus to cities and towns all over the country, performing upwards of 330 shows a year with almost all of the shows as one-nighters.
Concert style
Before James Brown appeared on stage, his personal MC gave him an elaborate introduction accompanied by drumrolls, as the MC worked in Brown's various sobriquets along with the names of many of his hit songs. The introduction by Fats Gonder, captured on Brown's 1963 album Live at the Apollo is a representative example:
James Brown's performances were famous for their intensity and length. His own stated goal was to "give people more than what they came for — make them tired, 'cause that's what they came for.'" Brown's concert repertoire consisted mostly of his own hits and recent songs, with a few R&B covers mixed in. Brown danced vigorously as he sang, working popular dance steps such as the Mashed Potato into his routine along with dramatic leaps, splits and slides. In addition, his horn players and singing group (The Famous Flames) typically performed choreographed dance routines, and later incarnations of the Revue included backup dancers. Male performers in the Revue were required to wear tuxedoes and cummerbunds long after more casual concert wear became the norm among the younger musical acts. Brown's own extravagant outfits and his elaborate processed hairdo completed the visual impression. A James Brown concert typically included a performance by a featured vocalist, such as Vicki Anderson or Marva Whitney, and an instrumental feature for the band, which sometimes served as the opening act for the show.
A trademark feature of Brown's stage shows, usually during the song "Please, Please, Please", involved Brown dropping to his knees while clutching the microphone stand in his hands, prompting the show's longtime MC, Danny Ray, to come out, drape a cape over Brown's shoulders and escort him off the stage after he had worked himself to exhaustion during his performance. As Brown was escorted off the stage by the MC, Brown's vocal group, the Famous Flames (Bobby Byrd, Lloyd Stallworth, and Bobby Bennett), continued singing the background vocals "Please, please don't go-oh". Brown would then shake off the cape and stagger back to the microphone to perform an encore. Brown's routine was inspired by a similar one used by the professional wrestler Gorgeous George, as well as Little Richard. In his 2005 autobiography I Feel Good: A Memoir in a Life of Soul, Brown, who was a fan of Gorgeous George, credited the wrestler as the inspiration for both his cape routine and concert attire, stating, "Seeing him on TV helped create the James Brown you see on stage". Brown performs a version of the cape routine in the film of the T.A.M.I. Show (1964) in which he and The Famous Flames upstaged The Rolling Stones, and over the closing credits of the film Blues Brothers 2000. The Police refer to "James Brown on the T.A.M.I. Show" in their 1980 song "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around".
Band leadership
Brown demanded extreme discipline, perfection and precision from his musicians and dancers – performers in his Revue showed up for rehearsals and members wore the right "uniform" or "costume" for concert performances. During an interview conducted by Terri Gross during the NPR segment "Fresh Air" with Maceo Parker, a former saxophonist in Brown's band for most of the 1960s and part of the 1970s and 1980s, Parker offered his experience with the discipline that Brown demanded of the band:
Brown also had a practice of directing, correcting and assessing fines on members of his band who broke his rules, such as wearing unshined shoes, dancing out of sync or showing up late on stage. During some of his concert performances, Brown danced in front of his band with his back to the audience as he slid across the floor, flashing hand signals and splaying his pulsating fingers to the beat of the music. Although audiences thought Brown's dance routine was part of his act, this practice was actually his way of pointing to the offending member of his troupe who played or sang the wrong note or committed some other infraction. Brown used his splayed fingers and hand signals to alert the offending person of the fine that person must pay to him for breaking his rules.
Brown's demands of his support acts were, meanwhile, quite the reverse. As Fred Wesley recalled of his time as musical director of the JBs, if Brown felt intimidated by a support act he would try to "undermine their performances by shortening their sets without notice, demanding that they not do certain showstopping songs, and even insisting on doing the unthinkable, playing drums on some of their songs. A sure set killer."
Social activism
Education advocacy and humanitarianism
Brown's main social activism was in preserving the need for education among youths, influenced by his own troubled childhood and his being forced to drop out of the seventh grade for wearing "insufficient clothes". Due to heavy dropout rates in the 1960s, Brown released the pro-education song, "Don't Be a Drop-Out". Royalties of the song were donated to dropout-prevention charity programs. The success of this led to Brown meeting with President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House. Johnson cited Brown for being a positive role model to the youth. A lifelong Republican, Brown gained the confidence of President Richard Nixon, to whom he found he had to explain the plight of Black Americans.
Throughout the remainder of his life, Brown made public speeches in schools and continued to advocate the importance of education in school. Upon filing his will in 2002, Brown advised that most of the money in his estate go into creating the I Feel Good, Inc. Trust to benefit disadvantaged children and provide scholarships for his grandchildren. His final single, "Killing Is Out, School Is In", advocated against murders of young children in the streets. Brown often gave out money and other items to children while traveling to his childhood hometown of Augusta. A week before his death, while looking gravely ill, Brown gave out toys and turkeys to kids at an Atlanta orphanage, something he had done several times over the years.
Civil rights and self-reliance
Though Brown performed at benefit rallies for civil rights organizations in the mid-1960s, Brown often shied away from discussing civil rights in his songs in fear of alienating his crossover audience. In 1968, in response to a growing urge of anti-war advocacy during the Vietnam War, Brown recorded the song, "America Is My Home". In the song, Brown performed a rap, advocating patriotism and exhorting listeners to "stop pitying yoursel[ves] and get up and fight". At the time of the song's release, Brown had been participating in performing for troops stationed in Vietnam.
The Boston Garden concert
On April 5, 1968, a day after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee, Brown provided a free citywide televised concert at the Boston Garden to maintain public order and calm concerned Boston residents (over the objections of the police chief, who wanted to call off the concert, which he thought would incite violence). The show was later released on DVD as Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968. According to the documentary The Night James Brown Saved Boston, then-mayor Kevin White had strongly restrained the Boston police from cracking down on minor violence and protests after the assassination, while religious and community leaders worked to keep tempers from flaring. White arranged to have Brown's performance broadcast multiple times on Boston's public television station, WGBH, thus keeping potential rioters off the streets, watching the concert for free. Angered by not being told of this, Brown demanded $60,000 for "gate" fees (money he thought would be lost from ticket sales on account of the concert being broadcast for free) and then threatened to go public about the secret arrangement when the city balked at paying up afterwards, news of which would have been a political death blow to White and spark riots of its own. White eventually lobbied the behind-the-scenes power-brokering group known as "The Vault" to come up with money for Brown's gate fee and other social programs, contributing $100,000. Brown received $15,000 from them via the city. White also persuaded management at the Garden to give up their share of receipts to make up the differences. Following this successful performance, Brown was counseled by President Johnson to urge cities ravaged from riots following King's assassination to not resort to violence, telling them to "cool it, there's another way".
Responding to pressure from black activists, including H. Rap Brown, to take a bigger stance on their issues and from footage of black on black crime committed in inner cities, Brown wrote the lyrics to the song "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud", which his bandleader Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis accompanied with a musical composition. Released late that summer, the song's lyrics helped to make it an anthem for the civil rights movement. Brown only performed the song sporadically following its initial release and later stated he had regrets about recording it, saying in 1984, "Now 'Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud' has done more for the black race than any other record, but if I had my choice, I wouldn't have done it, because I don't like defining anyone by race. To teach race is to teach separatism." In his autobiography he stated:
The song is obsolete now ... But it was necessary to teach pride then, and I think the song did a lot of good for a lot of people ... People called "Black and Proud" militant and angry – maybe because of the line about dying on your feet instead of living on your knees. But really, if you listen to it, it sounds like a children's song. That's why I had children in it, so children who heard it could grow up feeling pride ... The song cost me a lot of my crossover audience. The racial makeup at my concerts was mostly black after that. I don't regret it, though, even if it was misunderstood.
In 1969, Brown recorded two more songs of social commentary, "World" and "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing", the latter song pleading for equal opportunity and self-reliance rather than entitlement. In 1970, in response to some black leaders for not being outspoken enough, he recorded "Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved" and "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing". In 1971, he began touring Africa, including Zambia and Nigeria. He was made "freeman of the city" in Lagos, Nigeria, by Oba Adeyinka Oyekan, for his "influence on black people all over the world". With his company, James Brown Enterprises, Brown helped to provide jobs for blacks in business in the communities. As the 1970s continued, Brown continued to record songs of social commentary, most prominently 1972's "King Heroin" and the two-part ballad "Public Enemy", which dealt with drug addiction.
Political views
During the 1968 presidential campaign, Brown endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey and appeared with Humphrey at political rallies. Brown was labeled an "Uncle Tom" for supporting Humphrey and also for releasing the pro-American funk song, "America Is My Home", in which Brown had lambasted protesters of the Vietnam War as well as the politics of pro-black activists. Brown began supporting Republican president Richard Nixon after being invited to perform at Nixon's inaugural ball in January 1969. Brown's endorsement of Nixon during the 1972 presidential election negatively impacted his career during that period with several national Black organizations boycotting his records and protesting at his concert shows; a November 1972 show in Cincinnati was picketed with signs saying, "James Brown: Nixon's Clown". Brown initially was invited to perform at a Youth Concert following Nixon's inauguration in January 1973 but bailed out due to the backlash he suffered from supporting Nixon. Brown joined fellow black entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., who faced similar backlash, to back out of the concert. Brown blamed it on "fatigue". Brown later reversed his support of Nixon and composed the song, "You Can Have Watergate (Just Gimme Some Bucks And I'll Be Straight)" as a result. After Nixon resigned from office, Brown composed the 1974 hit, "Funky President (People It's Bad)", right after Gerald Ford took Nixon's place. Brown later supported Democratic President Jimmy Carter, attending one of Carter's inaugural balls in 1977. Brown also openly supported President Ronald Reagan's reelection in 1984.
Brown stated he was neither Democratic nor Republican despite his support of Republican presidents such as Nixon and Reagan as well as Democratic presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Carter. In 1999, when being interviewed by Rolling Stone, the magazine asked him to name a hero in the 20th century; Brown mentioned John F. Kennedy and then-96-year-old U.S. Senator, and former Dixiecrat, Strom Thurmond, stating "when the young whippersnappers get out of line, whether Democratic or Republican, an old man can walk up and say 'Wait a minute, son, it goes this way.' And that's great for our country. He's like a grandfather to me." In 2003, Brown was the featured attraction of a Washington D.C. fundraiser for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Following the deaths of Ronald Reagan and his friend Ray Charles, Brown said to CNN, "I'm kind of in an uproar. I love the country and I got – you know I've been around a long time, through many presidents and everything. So after losing Mr. Reagan, who I knew very well, then Mr. Ray Charles, who I worked with and lived with like, all our life, we had a show together in Oakland many, many years ago and it's like you found the placard." Despite his contrarian political views, Brown mentored black activist Rev. Al Sharpton during the 1970s.
Personal life
At the end of his life, James Brown lived in Beech Island, South Carolina, directly across the Savannah River from Augusta, Georgia. Brown had diabetes that went undiagnosed for years, according to his longtime manager Charles Bobbit. In 2004, Brown was successfully treated for prostate cancer. Regardless of his health, Brown maintained his reputation as the "hardest working man in show business" by keeping up with his grueling performance schedule.
In 1962, Tammi Terrell joined the James Brown Revue. Brown became sexually involved with Terrell even though she was only 17 in a relationship that continued until she escaped his abuse. Bobby Bennett, former member of the Famous Flames, told Rolling Stone about the abuse he witnessed: "He beat Tammi Terrell terrible", said Bennett. "She was bleeding, shedding blood." Terrell, who died in 1970, was Brown's girlfriend before she became famous as Marvin Gaye's singing partner in the mid-'60s. "Tammi left him because she didn't want her butt whipped", said Bennett, who also claimed he saw Brown kick one pregnant girlfriend down a flight of stairs.
Marriages and children
Brown was married four times. His first marriage was to Velma Warren in 1953, and they had one son together. Over a decade later, the couple had separated and the final divorce decree was issued in 1969. They maintained a close friendship that lasted until Brown's death. Brown's second marriage was to Deidre "Deedee" Jenkins, on October 22, 1970. They had two daughters together. The couple were separated by 1979, after what his daughter describes as years of domestic abuse, and the final divorce decree was issued on January 10, 1981. His third marriage was to Adrienne Lois Rodriguez (March 9, 1950 – January 6, 1996), in 1984. It was a contentious marriage that made headlines due to domestic abuse complaints. Rodriguez filed for divorce in 1988, "citing years of cruelty treatment", but they reconciled. Less than a year after Rodriguez died in 1996, Brown hired Tomi Rae Hynie to be a background singer for his band and she later became his fourth wife.
On December 23, 2002, Brown and Hynie held a wedding ceremony that was officiated by the Rev. Larry Flyer. Following Brown's death, controversy surrounded the circumstances of the marriage, with Brown's attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, reporting that the marriage was not valid; Hynie was still married to Javed Ahmed, a man from Bangladesh. Hynie claimed Ahmed married her to obtain residency through a Green Card and that the marriage was annulled but the annulment did not occur until April 2004. In an attempt to prove her marriage to Brown was valid, Hynie produced a 2001 marriage certificate as proof of her marriage to Brown, but she did not provide King with court records pointing to an annulment of her marriage to him or to Ahmed. According to Dallas, Brown was angry and hurt that Hynie had concealed her prior marriage from him and Brown moved to file for annulment from Hynie. Dallas added that though Hynie's marriage to Ahmed was annulled after she married Brown, the Brown–Hynie marriage was not valid under South Carolina law because Brown and Hynie did not remarry after the annulment. In August 2003, Brown took out a full-page public notice in Variety featuring Hynie, James II and himself on vacation at Disney World to announce that he and Hynie were going their separate ways. In 2015, a judge ruled Hynie as Brown's legal widow.
Brown had numerous children and acknowledged nine of them including five sons – Teddy (1954–1973), Terry, Larry, Daryl, and James Joseph Brown Jr. and four daughters – Lisa, Dr. Yamma Noyola Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas, and Venisha Brown (1964–2018). Brown also had eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Brown's eldest son, Teddy, died in a car crash on June 14, 1973. According to an August 22, 2007, article published in the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, DNA tests indicate that Brown also fathered at least three extramarital children. The first one of them to be identified is LaRhonda Pettit (born 1962), a retired flight attendant and teacher who lives in Houston. During contesting of Brown's will, another of the Brown family attorneys, Debra Opri, revealed to Larry King that Brown wanted a DNA test performed after his death to confirm the paternity of James Brown Jr. (born 2001)—not for Brown's sake but for the sake of the other family members. In April 2007, Hynie selected a guardian ad litem whom she wanted appointed by the court to represent her son, James Brown Jr., in the paternity proceedings. James Brown Jr. was confirmed to be his biological son.
Drug abuse
For most of his career, Brown had a strict drug- and alcohol-free policy for any member in his entourage, including band members, and would fire people who disobeyed orders, particularly those who used or abused drugs. Although early members of the Famous Flames were fired for using alcohol, Brown often served a highball consisting of Delaware Punch and moonshine at his St. Albans, Queens house in the mid-1960s. Some of the original members of Brown's 1970s band, the J.B.'s, including Catfish and Bootsy Collins, intentionally took LSD during a performance in 1971, causing Brown to fire them after the show because he had suspected them of being on drugs all along.
Aide Bob Patton has asserted that he accidentally shared a PCP-laced cannabis joint with Brown in the mid-1970s and "hallucinated for hours", although Brown "talked about it as if it was only marijuana he was smoking". By the mid-1980s, it was widely alleged that Brown was using drugs, with Vicki Anderson confirming to journalist Barney Hoskyns that Brown's regular use of PCP (colloquially known as "angel dust") "began before 1982". After he met and later married Adrienne Rodriguez in 1984, she and Brown began using PCP together. This drug usage often resulted in violent outbursts from him, and he was arrested several times for domestic violence against Rodriguez while high on the drug. By January 1988, Brown faced four criminal charges within a 12-month span relating to driving, PCP, and gun possession. After an April 1988 arrest for domestic abuse, Brown went on the CNN program Sonya Live in L.A. with host Sonya Friedman. The interview became notorious for Brown's irreverent demeanor, with some asserting that Brown was high.
One of Brown's former mistresses recalled in a GQ magazine article on Brown some years after his death that Brown would smoke PCP ("until that got hard to find") and cocaine, mixed with tobacco in Kool cigarettes. He also engaged in the off-label use of sildenafil, maintaining that it gave him "extra energy". While once under the influence of PCP (which he continued to procure dependent on its availability) when traveling in a car, Brown alleged that passing trees contained psychotronic surveillance technology.
In January 1998, he spent a week in rehab to deal with an addiction to unspecified prescription drugs. A week after his release, he was arrested for an unlawful use of a handgun and possession of cannabis. Prior to his death in December 2006, when Brown entered Emory University Hospital, traces of cocaine were found in the singer's urine. His widow suggested Brown would "do crack" with a female acquaintance.
Theft and assault convictions
Brown's personal life was marred by several brushes with the law. At the age of 16, he was convicted of theft and served three years in juvenile prison. During a concert held at Club 15 in Macon, Georgia in 1963, while Otis Redding was performing alongside his former band Johnny Jenkins and the Pinetoppers, Brown reportedly tried to shoot his musical rival Joe Tex. The incident led to multiple people being shot and stabbed. Since Brown was still on parole at the time, he relied on his agent Clint Brantley "and a few thousand dollars to make the situation disappear". According to Jenkins, "seven people got shot", and after the shootout ended, a man appeared and gave "each one of the injured a hundred dollars apiece not to carry it no further and not to talk to the press". Brown was never charged for the incident.
On July 16, 1978, after performing at the Apollo, Brown was arrested for reportedly failing to turn in records from one of his radio stations after the station was forced to file for bankruptcy. Brown was arrested on April 3, 1988, for assault, and again in May 1988 on drug and weapons charges, and again on September 24, 1988, following a high-speed car chase on Interstate 20 near the Georgia–South Carolina state border. He was convicted of carrying an unlicensed pistol and assaulting a police officer, along with various drug-related and driving offenses. Although he was sentenced to six years in prison, he was eventually released on parole on February 27, 1991, after serving two years of his sentence. Brown's FBI file, released to The Washington Post in 2007 under the Freedom of Information Act, related Brown's claim that the high-speed chase did not occur as claimed by the police, and that local police shot at his car several times during an incident of police harassment and assaulted him after his arrest. Local authorities found no merit to Brown's accusations.
In 1998, a woman named Mary Simons accused Brown in a civil suit of holding her captive for three days, demanding oral sex and firing a gun in his office; Simons' charge was eventually dismissed. In another civil suit, filed by former background singer Lisa Rushton alleged that between 1994 and 1999, Brown allegedly demanded sexual favors and when refused, would cut off her pay and kept her offstage. She also claimed Brown would "place a hand on her buttocks and loudly told her in a crowded restaurant to not look or speak to any other man besides himself;" Rushton eventually withdrew her lawsuit. In yet another civil suit, a woman named Lisa Agbalaya, who worked for Brown, said the singer would tell her he had "bull testicles", handed her a pair of zebra-print underwear, told her to wear them while he massaged her with oil, and fired her after she refused. A Los Angeles jury cleared the singer of sexual harassment but found him liable for wrongful termination.
The police were summoned to Brown's residence on July 3, 2000, after he was accused of charging at an electric company repairman with a steak knife when the repairman visited Brown's house to investigate a complaint about having no lights at the residence. In 2003, Brown was pardoned by the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services for past crimes that he was convicted of committing in South Carolina.
Domestic violence arrests
Brown was repeatedly arrested for domestic violence. Adrienne Rodriguez, his third wife, had him arrested four times between 1987 and 1995 on charges of assault. In one incident, Rodriguez reported to authorities that Brown beat her with an iron pipe and shot at her car. Rodriguez was hospitalized after the last assault in October 1995, but charges were dropped after she died in January 1996.
In January 2004, Brown was arrested in South Carolina on a domestic violence charge after Tomi Rae Hynie accused him of pushing her to the floor during an argument at their home, where she suffered scratches and bruises to her right arm and hip. In June, Brown pleaded no contest to the domestic violence incident, but served no jail time. Instead, Brown was required to forfeit a US$1,087 bond as punishment.
Rape accusation
In January 2005, a woman named Jacque Hollander filed a lawsuit against James Brown, which stemmed from an alleged 1988 rape. When the case was initially heard before a judge in 2002, Hollander's claims against Brown were dismissed by the court as the limitations period for filing the suit had expired. Hollander claimed that stress from the alleged assault later caused her to contract Graves' disease, a thyroid condition. Hollander claimed that the incident took place in South Carolina while she was employed by Brown as a publicist. Hollander alleged that, during her ride in a van with Brown, Brown pulled over to the side of the road and sexually assaulted her while he threatened her with a shotgun. In her case against Brown, Hollander entered as evidence a DNA sample and a polygraph result, but the evidence was not considered due to the limitations defense. Hollander later attempted to bring her case before the Supreme Court, but nothing came of her complaint.
Later life and death
Illness
On December 23, 2006, Brown became very ill and arrived at his dentist's office in Atlanta, Georgia, several hours late. His appointment was for dental implant work. During that visit, Brown's dentist observed that he looked "very bad ... weak and dazed". Instead of performing the work, the dentist advised Brown to see a doctor right away about his medical condition.
Brown went to the Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital the next day for medical evaluation and was admitted for observation and treatment. According to Charles Bobbit, his longtime personal manager and friend, Brown had been struggling with a noisy cough since returning from a November trip to Europe. Yet, Bobbit said, the singer had a history of never complaining about being sick and often performed while ill. Although Brown had to cancel upcoming concerts in Waterbury, Connecticut, and Englewood, New Jersey, he was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time for his scheduled New Year's Eve shows at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey and the B. B. King Blues Club in New York, in addition to performing a song live on CNN for the Anderson Cooper New Year's Eve special. Brown remained hospitalized, however, and his condition worsened throughout the day.
Death
On Christmas Day 2006, Brown died at approximately 1:45 a.m. EST (06:45 UTC), at age 73, from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia. Bobbit was at his bedside and later reported that Brown stuttered, "I'm going away tonight", then took three long, quiet breaths and fell asleep before dying.
In 2019, an investigation by CNN and other journalists led to suggestions that Brown had been murdered.
Memorial services
After Brown's death, his relatives, a host of celebrities, and thousands of fans gathered, on December 28, 2006, for a public memorial service at the Apollo Theater in New York City and, on December 30, 2006, at the James Brown Arena in Augusta, Georgia. A separate, private ceremony was held in North Augusta, South Carolina, on December 29, 2006, with Brown's family in attendance. Celebrities at these various memorial events included Michael Jackson, Jimmy Cliff, Joe Frazier, Buddy Guy, Ice Cube, Ludacris, Dr. Dre, Little Richard, Dick Gregory, MC Hammer, Prince, Jesse Jackson, Ice-T, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bootsy Collins, LL Cool J, Lil Wayne, Lenny Kravitz, 50 Cent, Stevie Wonder, and Don King. Rev. Al Sharpton officiated at all of Brown's public and private memorial services.
Brown's memorial ceremonies were all elaborate, complete with costume changes for the deceased and videos featuring him in concert. His body, placed in a Promethean casket—bronze polished to a golden shine—was driven through the streets of New York to the Apollo Theater in a white, glass-encased horse-drawn carriage. In Augusta, Georgia, his memorial procession stopped to pay respects at his statue, en route to the James Brown Arena. During the public memorial there, a video showed Brown's last performance in Augusta, Georgia, with the Ray Charles version of "Georgia on My Mind" playing soulfully in the background. His last backup band, The Soul Generals, also played some of his hits during that tribute at the arena. The group was joined by Bootsy Collins on bass, with MC Hammer performing a dance in James Brown style. Former Temptations lead singer Ali-Ollie Woodson performed "Walk Around Heaven All Day" at the memorial services.
Last will and testament
Brown signed his last will and testament on August 1, 2000, before J. Strom Thurmond Jr., an attorney for the estate. The irrevocable trust, separate and apart from Brown's will, was created on his behalf, that same year, by his attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, one of three personal representatives of Brown's estate. His will covered the disposition of his personal assets, such as clothing, cars, and jewelry, while the irrevocable trust covered the disposition of the music rights, business assets of James Brown Enterprises, and his Beech Island, South Carolina estate.
During the reading of the will on January 11, 2007, Thurmond revealed that Brown's six adult living children (Terry Brown, Larry Brown, Daryl Brown, Yamma Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas and Venisha Brown) were named in the document, while Hynie and James II were not mentioned as heirs. Brown's will had been signed 10 months before James II was born and more than a year before Brown's marriage to Tomi Rae Hynie. Like Brown's will, his irrevocable trust omitted Hynie and James II as recipients of Brown's property. The irrevocable trust had also been established before, and not amended since, the birth of James II.
On January 24, 2007, Brown's children filed a lawsuit, petitioning the court to remove the personal representatives from the estate (including Brown's attorney, as well as trustee Albert "Buddy" Dallas) and appoint a special administrator because of perceived impropriety and alleged mismanagement of Brown's assets. On January 31, 2007, Hynie also filed a lawsuit against Brown's estate, challenging the validity of the will and the irrevocable trust. Hynie's suit asked the court both to recognize her as Brown's widow and to appoint a special administrator for the estate.
On January 27, 2015, Judge Doyet Early III ruled that Tomi Rae Hynie Brown was officially the widow of James Brown. The decision was based on the grounds that Hynie's previous marriage was invalid and that James Brown had abandoned his efforts to annul his own marriage to Hynie.
On February 19, 2015, the South Carolina Supreme Court intervened, halting all lower court actions in the estate and undertaking to review previous actions itself. The South Carolina Court of Appeals in July 2018 ruled that Hynie was, in fact, Mr. Brown's wife. In 2020, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that Hynie had not been legally married to Brown and did not have a right to his estate. It was reported in July 2021 that Brown's family had reached a settlement ending the 15-year battle over the estate.
Legacy
Brown received awards and honors throughout his lifetime and after his death. In 1993 the City Council of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, conducted a poll of residents to choose a new name for the bridge that crossed the Yampa River on Shield Drive. The winning name, with 7,717 votes, was "James Brown Soul Center of the Universe Bridge". The bridge was officially dedicated in September 1993, and Brown appeared at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the event. A petition was started by local ranchers to return the name to "Stockbridge" for historical reasons, but they backed off after citizens defeated their efforts because of the popularity of Brown's name. Brown returned to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, on July 4, 2002, for an outdoor festival, performing with bands such as The String Cheese Incident.
During his long career, Brown received many prestigious music industry awards and honors. In 1983 he was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. Brown was one of the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction dinner in New York on January 23, 1986. At that time, the members of his original vocal group, The Famous Flames (Bobby Byrd, Johnny Terry, Bobby Bennett, and Lloyd Stallworth) were not inducted. However, on April 14, 2012, The Famous Flames were automatically and retroactively inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Brown, without the need for nomination and voting, on the basis that they should have been inducted with him in 1986. On February 25, 1992, Brown was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 34th annual Grammy Awards. Exactly a year later, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 4th annual Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Awards. A ceremony was held for Brown on January 10, 1997, to honor him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
On June 15, 2000, Brown was honored as an inductee to the New York Songwriters Hall of Fame. On August 6, 2002, he was honored as the first BMI Urban Icon at the BMI Urban Awards. His BMI accolades include an impressive ten R&B Awards and six Pop Awards. On November 14, 2006, Brown was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, and he was one of several inductees to perform at the ceremony. In recognition of his accomplishments as an entertainer, Brown was a recipient of Kennedy Center Honors on December 7, 2003. In 2004 Rolling Stone magazine ranked James Brown as No. 7 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In an article for Rolling Stone, critic Robert Christgau cited Brown as "the greatest musician of the rock era". He appeared on the BET Awards June 24, 2003, and received the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Michael Jackson, and performed with him. In 2004, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Aretha Franklin.
Brown was also honored in his hometown of Augusta, Georgia, for his philanthropy and civic activities. On November 20, 1993, Mayor Charles DeVaney of Augusta held a ceremony to dedicate a section of 9th Street between Broad and Twiggs Streets, renamed "James Brown Boulevard", in the entertainer's honor. On May 6, 2005, as a 72nd birthday present for Brown, the city of Augusta unveiled a life-sized bronze James Brown statue on Broad Street. The statue was to have been dedicated a year earlier, but the ceremony was put on hold because of a domestic abuse charge that Brown faced at the time. In 2005, Charles "Champ" Walker and the We Feel Good Committee went before the County commission and received approval to change Augusta's slogan to "We Feel Good". Afterward, officials renamed the city's civic center the James Brown Arena, and James Brown attended a ceremony for the unveiling of the namesake center on October 15, 2006.
On December 30, 2006, during the public memorial service at the James Brown Arena, Dr. Shirley A.R. Lewis, president of Paine College, a historically black college in Augusta, Georgia, bestowed posthumously upon Brown an honorary doctorate in recognition and honor of his many contributions to the school in its times of need. Brown had originally been scheduled to receive the honorary doctorate from Paine College during its May 2007 commencement.
During the 49th Annual Grammy Awards presentation on February 11, 2007, James Brown's famous cape was draped over a microphone by Danny Ray at the end of a montage in honor of notable people in the music industry who died during the previous year. Earlier that evening, Christina Aguilera delivered an impassioned performance of Brown's hit "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" followed by a standing ovation, while Chris Brown performed a dance routine in honor of James Brown.
On August 17, 2013, the official R&B Music Hall of Fame honored and inducted James Brown at a ceremony held at the Waetjen Auditorium at Cleveland State University.
ART THE BOX began in early 2015 as a collaboration between three organizations: the City of Augusta, the Downtown Development Authority and the Greater Augusta Arts Council. 19 local artists were selected by a committee to create art on 23 local traffic signal control cabinets (TSCCs). A competition was held to create the James Brown Tribute Box on the corner of James Brown Blvd. (9th Ave.) and Broad St. This box was designed and painted by local artist, Ms. Robbie Pitts Bellamy and has become a favorite photo opportunity to visitors and locals in Augusta, Georgia.
"I have a lot of musical heroes but I think James Brown is at the top of the list", remarked Public Enemy's Chuck D. "Absolutely the funkiest man on Earth ... In a black household, James Brown is part of the fabric – Motown, Stax, Atlantic and James Brown."
Tributes
As a tribute to James Brown, the Rolling Stones covered the song, "I'll Go Crazy" from Brown's Live at the Apollo album, during their 2007 European tour. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has remarked, "He [James Brown] was almost a musical genre in his own right and he changed and moved forward the whole time so people were able to learn from him."
On December 22, 2007, the first annual "Tribute Fit For the King of King Records" in honor of James Brown was held at the Madison Theater in Covington, Kentucky. The tribute, organized by Bootsy Collins, featured Tony Wilson as Young James Brown with appearances by Afrika Bambaataa, Chuck D of Public Enemy, The Soul Generals, Buckethead, Freekbass, Triage and many of Brown's surviving family members. Comedian Michael Coyer was the MC for the event. During the show, the mayor of Cincinnati proclaimed December 22 as James Brown Day.
As of September 2021, a significant collection of James Brown clothing, memorabilia, and personal artifacts are on exhibit in downtown Augusta, Georgia at the Augusta History Museum.
Discography
Studio albums
Please Please Please (1958)
Try Me! (1959)
Think! (1960)
The Amazing James Brown (1961)
James Brown and His Famous Flames Tour the U.S.A. (1962)
Prisoner of Love (1963)
Grits & Soul (1964)
Showtime (1964)
Out of Sight (1964)
James Brown Plays James Brown Today & Yesterday (1965)
Mighty Instrumentals (1966)
James Brown Plays New Breed (The Boo-Ga-Loo) (1966)
James Brown Sings Christmas Songs (1966)
Handful of Soul (1966)
James Brown Sings Raw Soul (1967)
James Brown Plays the Real Thing (1967)
Cold Sweat (1967)
I Can't Stand Myself When You Touch Me (1968)
I Got the Feelin' (1968)
James Brown Plays Nothing But Soul (1968)
Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things (1968)
A Soulful Christmas (1968)
Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud (1969)
Gettin' Down to It (1969)
The Popcorn (1969)
It's a Mother (1969)
Ain't It Funky (1970)
Soul on Top (1970)
It's a New Day – Let a Man Come In (1970)
Hey America (1970)
Sho Is Funky Down Here (1971)
Hot Pants (1971)
There It Is (1972)
Get on the Good Foot (1972)
Black Caesar (1973)
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973)
The Payback (1973)
Hell (1974)
Reality (1974)
Sex Machine Today (1975)
Everybody's Doin' the Hustle & Dead on the Double Bump (1975)
Hot (1976)
Get Up Offa That Thing (1976)
Bodyheat (1976)
Mutha's Nature (1977)
Jam 1980's (1978)
Take a Look at Those Cakes (1978)
The Original Disco Man (1979)
People (1980)
Soul Syndrome (1980)
Nonstop! (1981)
Bring It On! (1983)
Gravity (1986)
I'm Real (1988)
Love Over-Due (1991)
Universal James (1992)
I'm Back (1998)
The Merry Christmas Album (1999)
The Next Step (2002)
Filmography
The T.A.M.I. Show (1964) (concert film)- with The Famous Flames
Ski Party (1965)- with The Famous Flames
James Brown: Man to Man (1968) (concert film)
The Phynx (1970)
Black Caesar (1973) (soundtrack only)
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973) (soundtrack only)
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Doctor Detroit (1983)
Rocky IV (1985)
Miami Vice (1987)
James Brown: Live in East Berlin (1989)
The Simpsons (1993)
When We Were Kings (1996) (documentary)
Duckman (1997)
Soulmates (1997)
Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
Holy Man (1998)
Undercover Brother (2002)
The Tuxedo (2002)
The Hire: Beat the Devil (2002) (short film)
Paper Chasers (2003) (documentary)
Soul Survivor (2003) (documentary)
Sid Bernstein Presents ... (2005) (documentary)
Glastonbury (2006) (documentary)
Life on the Road with Mr. and Mrs. Brown (2007) (documentary; release pending)
Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968 (2008) (concert film)
I Got The Feelin': James Brown in the '60s, three-DVD set featuring Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968, Live at the Apollo '68 [DVD version of James Brown: Man to Man], and the documentary The Night James Brown Saved Boston
Soul Power (2009) (documentary)
Get on Up (2014)
Biopics
Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown (2014), released in April 2014, written and directed by Alex Gibney, produced by Mick Jagger.
Get on Up (2014), released in theaters on August 1, 2014. Chadwick Boseman plays the role of James Brown in the film. Originally, Mick Jagger and Brian Grazer had begun producing a documentary film on Brown in 2013. A fiction film had been in the planning stages for many years and was revived when Jagger read the script by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth.
In other media
Games
In the video game World of Warcraft, the first boss character of the Forge of Souls dungeon is Bronjahm, "the Godfather of Souls". His quotes during the fight are musical references, and he has a chance of dropping an item called "Papa's Brand New Bag".
Television
As himself (voice) in the 1993 The Simpsons episode "Bart's Inner Child".
In 1991, Brown did a Pay Per View Special with top celebrities such as Quincy Jones, Rick James, Dan Aykroyd, Gladys Knight, Denzel Washington, MC Hammer and others attended or were opening acts. This was produced with boxing promoter Buddy Dallas. 15.5 million households tuned in at a cost $19.99.
In 2002, Brown starred in the Jackie Chan movie The Tuxedo as himself
See also
Progressive soul
References
Footnotes
Sources
Further reading
Danielsen, Anne (2006). Presence and pleasure: The funk grooves of James Brown and Parliament. Wesleyan University Press.
George, Nelson, and Leeds, Alan (editors). (2008). The James Brown Reader: 50 Years of Writing about the Godfather of Soul. New York: Plume.
Lethem, J. (June 12, 2006). "Being James Brown", Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved January 14, 2007.
McBride, James (2016) Kill 'Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul. New York: Spiegel & Grau
Sullivan, James. (2008). The Hardest Working Man: How James Brown Saved The Soul Of America. New York: Gotham Books.
Sussman, M. (producer). (December 25, 2006). Arts: Soul classics by James Brown (multimedia presentation). The New York Times. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
Wesley, Fred. (2002). Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Sideman. Durham: Duke University Press.
Whitney, Marva and Waring, Charles. (2013) God, The Devil & James Brown:(Memoirs of a Funky Diva). New Romney: Bank House Books
External links
1933 births
2006 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American composers
21st-century American singers
Activists for African-American civil rights
African-American composers
African-American male composers
African-American male dancers
African-American male singers
African-American record producers
African-American rock musicians
African-American songwriters
American expatriates in Nigeria
American expatriates in Zambia
American funk keyboardists
American funk singers
American male composers
American male dancers
American male organists
American male singers
American multi-instrumentalists
American people convicted of assault
American people convicted of drug offenses
American people convicted of robbery
American people of Chinese descent
American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent
American rhythm and blues singers
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American robbers
American soul keyboardists
American soul singers
American tenors
Black conservatism in the United States
Burials in South Carolina
Deaths from pneumonia in Georgia (U.S. state)
Education activists
Federal Records artists
Grammy Award winners
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
James Brown Orchestra members
Kennedy Center honorees
King Records artists
Musicians from Atlanta
Musicians from Augusta, Georgia
People from Barnwell, South Carolina
People from Beech Island, South Carolina
People from Toccoa, Georgia
Polydor Records artists
Recipients of American gubernatorial pardons
Record producers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Record producers from South Carolina
Scotti Brothers Records artists
Sexual assaults in the United States
Singers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Singers from South Carolina
Smash Records artists
The J.B.'s members
The Famous Flames members | false | [
"\"Milton Bobbit\" is the eighteenth episode of the first season of the American crime drama The Blacklist. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on March 31, 2014.\n\nPlot\nA series of seemingly unconnected murder-suicides are attributed by Red to a life insurance claims adjuster named Milton Bobbit (Damian Young), who is able to convince terminally ill people to carry out the acts in exchange for financial rewards for their surviving family members. The targets of the murders are ultimately discovered to all be part of a clinical drug trial for type 2 diabetes that caused people to die, and Bobbit himself is found to be terminal. Elizabeth, Ressler and the team must catch up with Bobbit before he himself takes out the next victim: the doctor who headed up the trial. They manage to arrest the doctor and let Bobbit commit suicide. In Cooper's office, Red has a look at Bobbit's client list which seems to matter much to him. \n\nAfter Red gets some DNA results on Tom, he determines that Craig (real name \"Christopher\") is not Tom's brother. Elizabeth traps Chris in his hotel room and tries to get answers. Tom calls Chris while Elizabeth, Red and Dembe are in the room, and mentions \"Berlin\". Red demands to know what's in Berlin, but a frightened-looking Chris says he cannot say anything. After Red threatens that he'll find a way to make him talk, Chris hurls himself through the hotel room's window, falling to his death, after which Tom attempts to convince Liz that Craig had to fly home.\n\nReception\n\nRatings\n\"Milton Bobbit\" premiered on NBC on March 31, 2014 in the 10–11 p.m. time slot. The episode garnered a 2.8/8 Nielsen rating with 11.39 million viewers, making it the highest rated show in its time slot and the eighth most watched television show of the week.\n\nReviews\nGwen Orel of The Wall Street Journal gave a positive review of the episode. She compared the episode to Patricia Highsmith's 1956 psychological thriller novel Strangers on a Train and noted that several of the show's \"big bad secrets are out\".\n\nRoss Bonaime of Paste gave the episode a 5.0/10, calling the show \"dumb\". He further stated: \"Many times, it combines intentionally frustrating choices, stupid decision making and illogical plot developments in a way that is literally laughable. At one point in the latest episode, Elizabeth yells at Reddington to just stop playing these ridiculous games, and it felt like she was reading directly from my notes.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n2014 American television episodes\nThe Blacklist (season 1) episodes",
"Scolopsis affinis, or Peters' monocle bream, is a fish native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans.\n\nFish performs behaviour of mobbing the Bobbit worm. The fish swims to the entrance of the worm's burrow, positions itself nearly vertically face-down above it, and blows sharp jets of water in the Bobbit's direction.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Fishes of Australia : Scolopsis affinis\n \n\naffinis\nMarine fish of Northern Australia\nFish described in 1877"
]
|
[
"Randy Moss",
"Early years"
]
| C_851e2cea33364400ac299a7537e94da3_1 | Did he always play sports? | 1 | Did Randy Moss always play sports? | Randy Moss | Moss was born and lived in Rand, West Virginia. He attended DuPont High School, one of two schools that later consolidated into Riverside High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Randy was also on the school's debate team. On the football field, Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He was a star at wide receiver, but also played free safety, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the team's kicker and punter. In 1994, he was honored with the Kennedy Award as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Parade magazine named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995 and in 2009 named him one of the 50 greatest high school football players of all time. At DuPont, he was a teammate of future Chicago Bears linebacker Bobbie Howard. In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (1993, 1994), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams. As a sophomore in 1992, at the age of 15, Moss joined the track & field team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.94 seconds and 21.95 seconds, respectively. This was the only year he competed on the school's track team, but he would later join the Marshall track team and lower his 200 m time to 21.15 seconds. He also played center field for the baseball team. CANNOTANSWER | excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track. | Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is a former American football player. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, and the San Francisco 49ers. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wide receivers of all time, he holds the NFL single-season touchdown reception record (23 in 2007), the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie (17 in 1998) and is second on the NFL all-time regular season touchdown reception list with 156. Moss was well known for his prowess in securing contested catches and the word "mossed" has entered football vernacular. Post-football, he began working for ESPN as a studio analyst for its Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown programs.
Moss played college football for Marshall University, and twice earned All-America honors. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft, where he played for seven years before a trade in 2005 brought him to the Oakland Raiders. In 2007, Moss was traded to the New England Patriots, where he set the single-season record for touchdown receptions. In October 2010, Moss returned to the Vikings in a trade from the Patriots but was waived less than a month later and then claimed by the Tennessee Titans. After sitting out the 2011 season, Moss signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers in 2012 before retiring following the season. He played in two Super Bowl games, XLII with the Patriots and XLVII with the 49ers, both losses. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
Early years
Moss was born in Rand, West Virginia. He attended DuPont High School, one of two schools that later consolidated into Riverside High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Randy was also on the school's debate team. On the football field, Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He was a star at wide receiver, but also played free safety, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the team's kicker and punter. In 1994, he was honored with the Kennedy Award as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Parade magazine named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995 and in 2009 named him one of the 50 greatest high school football players of all time. At DuPont, he was a teammate of future Chicago Bears linebacker Bobbie Howard.
In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (in 1994 when he was co-player of the year and in 1995), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams. In his senior season of basketball, Moss averaged 30.2 points, 13.7 rebounds, 5.1 steals, 3.8 blocks, and 3.1 assists while shooting 60% from field; he scored a school-record 1,713 career points.
As a sophomore in 1992, at the age of 15, Moss joined the track & field team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.94 seconds and 21.95 seconds, respectively. This was the only year he competed on the school's track team, but he would later join the Marshall track team and lower his 200 m time to 21.15 seconds. He also played center field for the baseball team.
College football career
Moss's dream was to play for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but he also considered going to Ohio State, where his half-brother, Eric, had played offensive tackle. Former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz said "Randy Moss was the best high school football player I've ever seen." Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden said "He was as good as Deion Sanders. Deion's my measuring stick for athletic ability, and this kid was just a bigger Deion."
After originally signing a letter of intent to play college football with Notre Dame in 1995, Moss took part in a racially charged fight at his high school that left one person hospitalized. On March 23, 1995, Moss had backed a friend in a hallway fight against a white student who had allegedly used racist comments towards Randy's friend. Moss was initially charged with a felony for kicking the student, but it was later reduced to a misdemeanor. On August 1, 1995, Moss pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor battery and was sentenced to 30 days behind bars at the South-Central Regional Jail in Charleston, West Virginia. He served 3 days in jail starting that night and would be required to serve the remaining 27 days within the following 18 months, after he completed his freshman year in college. Moss was expelled from DuPont and completed his education at Cabell Alternative School.
Notre Dame subsequently denied his enrollment application, but this did not stop another high-profile college football program from giving him a chance. Notre Dame officials suggested he attend Florida State due to the reputation of its coach, Bobby Bowden, for handling troubled players.
Freshman (1995)
Because of his signed letter of intent at Notre Dame, the NCAA considered him a transfer student to Florida State, so he had to redshirt the 1995 football season.
Redshirt Freshman season (1996)
In 1996, while serving his 30-day jail sentence in a work-release program from 1995, Moss tested positive for marijuana, thus violating his probation, and was dismissed from Florida State. He served an additional 60 days in jail for the probation violation.
Ultimately, Moss transferred to Marshall University, about an hour's drive from his home. Because Marshall was then a Division I-AA school, NCAA rules allowed him to transfer there without losing any further eligibility. In 1996, he set the NCAA Division I-AA records for the most games with a touchdown catch in a season (14), most consecutive games with a touchdown catch (13), most touchdown passes caught in a season (28 – tying Jerry Rice's 1984 record), and most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season (1,709 on 78 catches), a record which still stands. Moss was also the leading kickoff returner in Division I-AA on the season, with 612 total yards and a 34.0-yard average. The 1996 Marshall Thundering Herd went undefeated and won the Division I-AA title, with Moss having four touchdown receptions in the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game. It was Marshall's last season before moving to Division I-A.
At the Southern Conference indoor track championships, Moss ran the 200 meters in 21.15 seconds, missing the conference record by only .02 seconds. Although Moss had not raced competitively for four years, his time was one of the best in the country that year.
Sophomore season (1997)
In the 1997 season, Marshall's first in Division I-A, Moss and Quarterback Chad Pennington were the centerpiece of an explosive offense that led the Thundering Herd to the Mid-American Conference title. Moss caught 26 touchdown passes that season, at the time a Division I-A record, and was a first-team All-American.
The first game of the season was at West Virginia University where Marshall lost. The second game of the season saw Moss pick up right where he left off in 1996. Facing Army, Moss caught 5 balls for 186 yards and two touchdowns. One touchdown went for 79 yards in which Pennington lobbed the ball down the left sideline. Moss leaped over an Army defender to snag the ball out of the air at the 40-yard line while the safety crashed into his teammate, knocking both men down. Moss galloped the last 50 yards untouched for the score. The other touchdown reception was his career-long of 90 yards that came on a short screen pass on third down. Moss caught the ball on the right side of the field at his own 8-yard line, ran past 3 defenders in the middle of the field at the 15-yard line, hurdled two defenders coming from both sides of the left hash marks at the 25-yard line, then raced past the last defender at the 50-yard line before finally seeing daylight down the left sideline.
A week later, Moss posted his third career 200+ yard receiving game, against Kent State. Two weeks after that was his fourth and final 200+ yard game in college, recording 13 catches for 205 yards and a Marshall single-game record of 5 touchdown receptions against Ball State.
In the 1997 Ford Motor City Bowl against Ole Miss, Moss added his 26th touchdown of the season on Marshall's first offensive play from scrimmage. He streaked down the right sideline and caught an 80-yard touchdown pass from Pennington to tie the score at 7–7. NCAA rules at the time did not allow for statistics from bowl games to be combined with regular-season stats, so the touchdown did not officially increase his season touchdown record. The two teams traded the lead several times in the fourth quarter before Ole Miss running back Deuce McAllister scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds to play, giving them a 34–31 lead. Trying to pull out a last-second win, Pennington connected with Moss on a 40-yard pass on the final play of the game, but he was stripped of the ball as time expired. Moss finished the game with 6 receptions for 173 yards.
Moss finished his career at Marshall having scored at least one touchdown in all 28 games that he played. He won the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the season's outstanding receiver regardless of position, and was a finalist for the 1997 Heisman Trophy (finishing fourth in the balloting, behind Ryan Leaf, Peyton Manning, and Charles Woodson, who won the award). A controversial comment was made by Randy Moss in 1997 at a ceremony at Marshall University where he was commenting in regards to the 1970 plane crash that killed most their football team that the crash "was a tragedy, but it really wasn't nothing big". Moss later claimed that the quotes were taken out of context. Nate Ruffin, who is a surviving member of the 1970 Football Team, later met with Randy Moss.
College statistics
Includes stats from the 1997 Motor City Bowl against Ole Miss
NCAA records
Division I-AA – regular season
Most games with a touchdown reception in a season – 11 (1996)
Most consecutive games with a touchdown reception in a season – 11 (1996)
Most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season – 1073 (1996)
Most touchdown receptions caught by a freshman in a season – 19 (1996 – record for all NCAA divisions)
Division I-AA – playoffs
Most touchdown receptions in a single game – 4 (vs. Montana, December 21, 1996)
Most yards receiving in a single game – 288 (vs. Delaware, November 30, 1996)
Most touchdown receptions in a tournament – 9 (4 games in 1996)
Most yards receiving in a tournament – 636 (4 games in 1996)
Professional football career
1998 NFL Draft
Moss skipped his senior season at Marshall and entered the NFL Draft. He did not attend the NFL Combine, opting instead for an individual workout at Marshall's pro day. Moss ran the 40 yard dash in the 4.24-4.28 range by scouts' hand timers and posted vertical leaps of 47 and 51 inches. Numerous teams had scouts on hand with many noting the work-out was jaw dropping.
During the 1998 NFL Draft, Moss, who was projected as a high first-round pick, was taken by the Minnesota Vikings with the 21st overall pick after a number of NFL clubs—even those in need of a WR—were concerned with Moss's well-documented legal problems. Before the draft Moss was quoted as saying teams that passed on him "will regret it once they see what kind of a player I am and what kind of guy I really am." The team most often cited for passing on Moss is the Dallas Cowboys. Moss grew up a Cowboys fan and wanted to play for the Cowboys. The Cowboys wanted Moss, but because of many off-field incidents of their own, team owner and GM Jerry Jones did not feel the team could draft Moss. Moss felt that the Cowboys lied to him because they had told him they would draft him. On draft day, Dallas went so far as to have a scout in Charleston, West Virginia, the same town where Moss and his mother were watching the draft. Dallas star receiver Michael Irvin even called to apologize to Moss, because Irvin's own off-field problems were a main reason Moss was not drafted by Dallas. After the draft, Moss made a point of beating the Cowboys any time he faced them, getting his first opportunity to do so in Week 13 of his rookie season. In a game held at Texas Stadium, Moss torched Dallas with a 163-yard, 3-touchdown performance.
After the draft, Moss signed a 4-year, $4.5 million contract that included an additional $4 million in bonuses and incentives. As part of the deal, he received a $2 million signing bonus. Moss originally wore #18 in training camp (a number he would eventually wear for Oakland) but switched to the more conventional #84 before the regular season began.
Minnesota Vikings
1998 season
In 1998, Moss helped the Vikings to become the number 1 rated offense ever at the time, setting the single-season record for scoring (later surpassed by the 2007 New England Patriots, a team that also featured Moss) with 556 points.
The Vikings opened the season with a 31–7 rout against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Moss's first NFL game would also be his first multi-touchdown game as he recorded 4 receptions for 95 yards and two touchdowns. His first NFL reception came on the third play of the game on an 11-yard pass from Brad Johnson. His first touchdown was a 48-yard acrobatic grab over defensive back Floyd Young late in the first quarter, in which Moss juggled the ball 3 times before securing it for the score. He added a 31-yard touchdown reception on the Vikings' first possession of the second quarter to give the Vikings a 21–0 lead.
His first Monday Night Football game came in Week 5 against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. He had 5 receptions for 190 yards and two touchdowns, including touchdown grabs of 52 yards and 44 yards, and two other receptions of 46 yards and 41 yards. He also had a 75-yard touchdown catch on the Vikings' first possession of the game that was nullified due to an offensive holding penalty.
Against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, Moss finished with 3 catches for 163 yards and 3 touchdowns all for 50+ yards as the Vikings beat the Cowboys 46–36. Moss was the first rookie to score 3 touchdowns on Thanksgiving.
They finished with a 15–1 record and were poised to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XXXIII. However, the Atlanta Falcons stunned the Vikings by winning the NFC Championship Game 30–27 in overtime.
At the end of the 1998 regular season, Moss was named a Pro Bowl starter and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year for his rookie-record 17 touchdown receptions and the third-highest receiving yardage (1,313) total.
1999 season
In 1999, Moss had another impressive season, catching 80 passes for 1,413 yards and 11 touchdowns, including a punt return for a touchdown. He went on to record five receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown in the Vikings 27–10 NFC wildcard playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys. Minnesota lost in the divisional round to the St. Louis Rams 49–37, despite Moss catching nine passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Moss was fined $40,000, which was later reduced to $25,000, during that game due to squirting an NFL referee with a water bottle. There was a stipulation that he would have to pay the difference in addition to any other fine if he had another run-in with the league.
Moss earned his second straight Pro Bowl appearance, and turned in a record-breaking performance. He had 9 receptions for a Pro Bowl record 212 yards and was given the game's Most Valuable Player award.
2000 season
The 2000 season featured second-year quarterback Daunte Culpepper leading the team. Culpepper had been the team's first-round draft pick in 1999; with a pick they received from the Redskins for quarterback Brad Johnson. He had been selected largely due to his extremely strong arm, which the team believed was perfectly suited for Moss's deep routes. The decision proved correct. Culpepper was a rookie sensation, the Vikings started 7–0, and Moss was a leading MVP candidate. For the second time in three seasons, Moss punished the Dallas Cowboys in Dallas on Thanksgiving Day, including a spectacular 2nd-half touchdown in which Moss caught the ball with his entire body out of bounds, aside from his toes. The play would be the feature shot in NFL commercials for years to come. Moss finished the season with a career-high 1,437 yards and league-leading 15 touchdown catches. In doing so, he became the youngest and fastest player to ever catch over 3,000 yards and 45 touchdowns, earning him his 3rd consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl, and 2nd selection to the All Pro team. The Vikings would make it to the NFC Championship game, only to be blown out 41–0 by the New York Giants.
2001 season
In the offseason, Moss and his agent Danté DiTrapano began negotiating a new contract with the Minnesota Vikings. He was scheduled to earn $3.5 million in 2001. But Moss, who was entering the final year of the rookie contract he signed in 1998, was seeking a long-term deal that would make him the highest-paid player in the NFL. His agent said, "We want to break the tradition of quarterbacks being the highest-paid players." One option the Vikings had would be to apply the franchise tag after the season ended, but sources stated that Moss would request a trade if that happened because it would still be less than what he could command on the open market.
Just prior to the start of training camp in July, Vikings owner Red McCombs signed Moss to an 8-year, $75 million contract extension. The extension included a $10 million signing bonus and another $8 million in guarantees.
Despite finishing the season with 10 touchdowns and posting at least 1,000 receiving yards for the fourth consecutive season, Moss failed to make the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career.
2002 season
After replacing Dennis Green on an interim basis to end the 2001 season, Mike Tice was officially named head coach on January 10, 2002. One of the strategies the Vikings' first-year head coach came up with was a formula to get Moss the ball more often. Coach Tice called it the Randy Ratio. It was an effort on the coaches part to throw 40% of the passes to Moss as a way to keep him involved in the offense more than he had been in the 2001 season when he had stretches in games where he was being shut out, and partly to use more game clock by sustaining long drives to give the Vikings defense a chance to rest. An assistant coach would stand on the sidelines during games and track how many times Moss had been thrown to, and then inform Tice of the percentages so that he is always aware of it. In the 2001 season, the Vikings record was 4–1 when Moss had 40% of the passes thrown his direction, and 1–10 in other games.
The strategy was a response to the 'Randy Rules,' as Vikings receiver Chris Walsh called them. The Randy Rules, similar to the Jordan Rules, were a defensive strategy that teams employed when facing the Vikings to try and eliminate or reduce Randy's impact on the game, and to prevent Moss from being matched up one-on-one with defenders because of his ability to burn them deep or outjump them in single coverage. Opposing teams would routinely double cover Moss with techniques such as having a cornerback attempt to jam him at the line of scrimmage, having a corner defend underneath with a safety defending against the deep ball, having a zone defense roll to Moss's side of the field, and assigning "spies" to follow Moss everywhere he went.
Coach Tice discussed the strategy, explaining that Moss would be running more short and intermediate routes and fewer deep patterns. In training camp, Moss worked specifically on 12 new routes that he had rarely run in his first 4 NFL seasons, such as crossing patterns over the middle of the field and hook routes. Coach Tice said, "When we say Randy Ratio, everybody in the league thinks, 'OK, now they're going to throw the ball down the field to Randy more and more and more.' That's so far from the truth. In fact, we'll probably throw the ball down the field to Randy this year even less."
The Randy Ratio did not last very long, as Tice scrapped the idea midway through the 2002 season. Randy Moss said "I didn't really care much about the Randy Ratio when it was brought up. I just wanted to win." While Moss caught a career-high 106 passes, he also had a career-low 7 touchdown receptions, and the Vikings struggled to a 6–10 record. Tice suggested after the season that it was a mistake to inform opponents about his offensive gameplan, but that it was a tool "to motivate [Moss] and say he was the guy."
2003 season
Moss's fortunes took a better turn on the football field during the 2003 regular season, where he became the second wide receiver in NFL history (behind Jerry Rice in 1995) to play more than 12 games (he played 16) while averaging over 100 yards and one touchdown per contest. He finished with 111 receptions for 1,632 yards and 17 touchdowns. All three numbers either tied or became a new personal best for Moss. The Vikings finished the season 9–7. One of Moss's memorable highlights that year was when he lateraled to Moe Williams for a last-second touchdown during a home game against Denver.
In the offseason, he attended the Vikings strength and conditioning program and added five pounds of muscle to his frame.
2004 season
Moss started the season strong catching 8 touchdowns in his first 5 games of the season. However, he sustained a hamstring injury to his right leg against New Orleans in Week 6 that hampered him for the next five weeks. He played in Week 7 against Tennessee, but had no receptions in a game for the first time in his career. He also played the following week against the Giants, but again recorded no receptions and was used mainly as a decoy. The injury eventually sidelined him for 3 straight weeks. He returned to the lineup in Week 12 with a touchdown catch against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Even though he finished the season with 13 touchdowns in 13 games, he posted career lows in receptions (49) and receiving yards (767). 2004 was the first season in his career that he failed to reach the 1,000-yard mark.
On January 9, 2005, the Minnesota Vikings played division rival Green Bay Packers in an NFC wildcard playoff game. Moss finished the game with 4 catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns in the 31–17 win. After the second score, Moss trotted to the end zone goalpost and feigned pulling down his pants to moon the Green Bay fans. NFL on Fox announcer Joe Buck called it a "disgusting act.” Moss was fined $10,000 for his actions. Though the Vikings would win the game, they would lose in the next round of the playoffs to the Philadelphia Eagles, and Moss would be traded at the end of the season.
Oakland Raiders
On March 2, 2005, Moss was traded to the Oakland Raiders for linebacker Napoleon Harris and the Raiders' first (7th overall, which Minnesota parlayed into wide receiver Troy Williamson) and seventh-round picks in the NFL draft. Adding a player of Moss's caliber generated optimism in Oakland, but the Raiders' poor play continued, while Moss suffered nagging injuries which limited his production. He surpassed the 1,000 mark on the final day of the 2005 season, finishing the year with 1,005 receiving yards on 60 catches. However, Moss only managed 553 yards on 42 balls in 2006.
Moss was not happy in Oakland, and on November 14, 2006, when he was honored as a kick returner by having an award named after him, he responded to questions about his dropped passes and lackluster effort in several games. Moss said, "Maybe because I'm unhappy and I'm not too much excited about what's going on, so, my concentration and focus level tend to go down sometimes when I'm in a bad mood". Days later, he reiterated his unhappiness with losing games and being a member of the Raiders on his weekly segment with Fox Sports Radio, saying, "I might want to look forward to moving somewhere else next year to have another start and really feel good about going out here and playing football".
New England Patriots
2007 season
There were rumors leading up to the 2007 NFL Draft that the Raiders were eager to part ways with Randy Moss through a trade. First-year Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin went so far as to contact their division rival Denver Broncos to "gauge interest", but the Patriots and Green Bay Packers were the two teams most interested in acquiring Moss. Packers QB Brett Favre, who once said, "There is no one in this league who puts fear in people more than Randy Moss," tried to persuade team management to trade for him, but a deal that both sides could agree to did not get done.
During the first day of the NFL Draft, the Patriots and Raiders discussed the trade several times before reaching an agreement. Bill Belichick spoke with Moss for the first time about the possibility of joining the Patriots at 2:30 Sunday morning. Moss then boarded a plane and arrived in Boston later that morning on April 29 and was required to pass a team administered physical. Once he was cleared by Patriots officials, the teams completed a trade that sent Randy Moss to New England for a fourth-round selection in the 2007 NFL Draft. The Patriots had acquired the draft pick the previous day from the San Francisco 49ers, and the Raiders selected John Bowie.
One of the conditions of the trade was that Randy Moss would have to restructure his contract for salary cap reasons. Just hours before the Moss trade was completed, New England quarterback Tom Brady converted $5.28 million of his 2007 base salary into a signing bonus that was spread out over the remaining portion of his contract so that it could free up cap room. This enabled the Patriots to absorb Moss's incoming contract under the salary cap. Moss had two years remaining on his current deal and was scheduled to earn $9.75 million in 2007 and $11.25 million in 2008. Once the Patriots had Moss on their roster, he quickly agreed to a new one-year contract to replace his old one. The new deal gave him a $500,000 signing bonus, a base salary of $2.5 million, and the ability to earn an additional $1.75 million in incentives.
"I’m still in awe that I’m a part of this organization," Moss said, clearly thrilled to join a team that could contend for the Super Bowl and to work with Coach Belichick. "I think that he's the kind of coach that can motivate me. He has a proven track record."
In the first week of training camp, during an 11-on-11 passing drill, Moss suffered a hamstring injury to his left leg. As a precaution, the injury prevented Moss from participating in any preseason games and he missed much of the rest of camp.
His first action in a Patriots uniform came against the New York Jets in Week 1. He quickly quieted critics who claimed that his skills had deteriorated by hauling in nine receptions for 181 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown pass in which he ran past three Jets defenders.
On November 4, 2007, James Black, NFL Editor for Yahoo! Sports wrote, "Every week, in addition to out-leaping at least one defender for a touchdown, [Moss] keeps making incredible one-handed grabs that make you mutter, 'How the heck did he come up with that?'" Two weeks later, he caught a career-high four touchdowns in a single game against Buffalo.
On December 29, the Patriots defeated the New York Giants 38–35, finishing their regular season with a perfect 16–0 record. Moss caught two touchdown passes for a total of 23, breaking the single-season record of 22 touchdown receptions previously set by Jerry Rice (in 12 games in the strike-shortened 1987 season). On the same play, Tom Brady broke Peyton Manning's single-season record set in 2004 with his 50th touchdown pass. Moss recorded 98 catches for 1,493 yards in 2007, the highest yardage total in Patriots franchise history and the third-highest total number of catches, after teammate Wes Welker's 112 catches that same season and Troy Brown's 101 in 2001. He also earned his sixth Pro Bowl selection. His 2007 season featured touchdowns in 13 of 16 games (including eight multi-touchdown games), nine 100-yard games, and six touchdown receptions of 40 or more yards.
Despite his record-breaking 2007 season, Moss was relatively quiet in the playoffs, going two consecutive games without a touchdown for the first time all season. However, in Super Bowl XLII, he scored the go-ahead touchdown with 2:42 left in the fourth quarter on a six-yard pass from Tom Brady. The score was not enough for the heavily favored Patriots to end their only undefeated season with a Super Bowl win. Eli Manning drove the Giants down the field, connecting with Plaxico Burress for the game-winning touchdown and an upset over the Patriots.
2008 season
On February 28, 2008, Moss became a free agent after the Patriots decided not to place the franchise tag on Moss. Although the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, and Green Bay Packers were rumored to have interest in Moss, he decided to return to the Patriots, signing a three-year, $27 million deal on March 3, 2008. The contract included a $12 million signing bonus, and a total of $14.1 million guaranteed.
The first game of the 2008 season saw Brady suffer a torn ACL in his left knee while attempting a pass to Randy Moss. The play occurred in the first half against the Kansas City Chiefs when safety Bernard Pollard dove at Brady's leg while in his throwing motion. Moss described what he saw on the play by saying "any time you see something like that, that looks foul, it looks dirty, it opens your eyes. So, me personally, it looked dirty." Matt Cassel replaced Brady for the rest of the season.
In 2008, Moss hauled in 69 catches for 1,008 yards and 11 touchdowns despite losing quarterback Tom Brady in the first game of the season.
2009 season
In the season opener of 2009, Moss caught a career-high 12 passes for 141 yards in a comeback 25–24 victory over the Bills. In Week 5 against the Denver Broncos, Moss was placed deep in coverage on a Broncos Hail Mary attempt to end the first half, and intercepted Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton. In a snowy Week 6 game against the winless Tennessee Titans, Moss caught three touchdown passes from Tom Brady, two of them in the 2nd quarter as Brady set a record for most touchdown passes in a single quarter with five. This was Moss's 34th multi-touchdown game, and his 8th game with three or more touchdowns.
During the Patriots' bye week, Belichick stated that Moss "is the smartest receiver he's ever been around." He compared Moss's ability to see the field and anticipate plays to that of Tom Brady, and to Lawrence Taylor, who Belichick coached with the New York Giants. He said Moss not only knows what he's doing on a play, but what everybody else on the field is doing as well. "That's what makes them special. They just have a sixth, seventh sense", Belichick said. This sentiment was repeated when Moss was inducted into the Hall of Fame, as Belichick went further to say he learned from Moss.
In Week 9 against the Miami Dolphins Moss added six catches for 147 yards and 1 touchdown. The touchdown reception was the 140th of his career, which moved him into a tie for second place with Terrell Owens.
The following week, in a prime time Sunday night matchup against the Indianapolis Colts, Moss had 179 yards and two touchdowns, including a 63-yard touchdown in the 2nd quarter that moved him ahead of Terrell Owens for sole possession of second place in career touchdown receptions. In the same game, he became just the 11th player in NFL history with 900+ receptions and the seventh player to reach 14,000+ career receiving yards.
He finished the season with 83 receptions for 1,264 yards and an NFL-high 13 touchdowns. New England would lose the AFC Wild Card playoff to the Baltimore Ravens 33–14.
2010 season
In the week leading up to the Patriots' 2010 season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, Moss, who was entering the final year of his contract told CBS Sports that he "did not feel wanted" in New England absent a contract extension offer. Moss would go on to catch 5 passes for 59 yards in Week 1. After the game, Moss told reporters that it would be his final season with the Patriots. The Boston Herald reported weeks later that Moss requested a trade following the game.
Moss had two receptions in Week 2 against the New York Jets, including a 34-yard touchdown that he caught one-handed after beating All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis. The following week against the Buffalo Bills, Moss had two more catches, both for touchdowns. His final game in New England came in Week 4 on Monday Night Football against the Miami Dolphins; he did not record a catch in the game for the first time in his Patriots career as a touchdown pass attempt off a fake spike bounced off his hands in the end zone.
Return to Minnesota
Two days after the Patriots' game against Miami, Moss was traded to the Minnesota Vikings, in exchange for the Vikings' third-round selection (later used to select quarterback Ryan Mallett) in the 2011 NFL Draft. The Patriots also sent a 2012 seventh-round selection to the Vikings as part of the trade.
On November 1, less than four weeks after being traded to Minnesota, Vikings head coach Brad Childress told Vikings players in a team meeting that Moss was going to be waived by the team, one day after he criticized Childress and teammates in a press conference following the Vikings' loss to the Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Just before the press conference, Moss reportedly told team owner Zygi Wilf that Childress was unfit to coach in the NFL and should be fired. Wilf reportedly considered firing Childress and keeping Moss, but Moss was officially waived the next day, November 2. Childress was eventually fired on November 22.
Tennessee Titans
Moss was claimed off waivers by the Tennessee Titans, the only team to submit a claim, on November 3, 2010. Moss played eight games with the Titans, starting four. He made six catches for 80 yards and no touchdowns.
Moss finished the 2010 season with career lows in receptions (28) and receiving yards (393). The Titans stated that they did not plan to re-sign Moss for the 2011 season, and he became a free agent.
Initial retirement and comeback
On August 1, 2011, Moss's agent, Joel Segal, announced Moss's decision to retire from professional football.
On February 13, 2012, his 35th birthday, Moss announced that he was coming out of retirement and was ready to play again. In a live video chat with his fans via Ustream, Moss stated, "I wanna play football. Your boy is going to come back here and play some football, so I'm really excited. I had some things I had to adjust in my life."
San Francisco 49ers
On March 12, 2012, Moss signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers for undisclosed financial terms after a workout with the team's head coach Jim Harbaugh. On September 9, 2012, Moss caught his 154th touchdown reception, and subsequently passed Terrell Owens for sole possession of 2nd on the all-time receiving touchdown list. After Alex Smith suffered a concussion against the St. Louis Rams in week 10, Colin Kaepernick took over as the team's quarterback, and Moss had at least two receptions in each of the remaining five games of the regular season. He finished the season with 28 catches for 434 yards and three touchdowns. Since the retirement of Terrell Owens at the end of 2010, he had been the NFL's active leader in receiving yards. Moss would eventually go on to play in Super Bowl XLVII, where he had two receptions for 41 yards in a 31–34 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
NFL career statistics
Regular season
NFL records
Most touchdown receptions in a season – 23 (2007)
Most touchdown receptions by a rookie in a season – 17 (1998)
Most seasons with 17 or more touchdown receptions – 3 (1998, 2003, 2007)
Most seasons with 16 or more touchdown receptions – 3 (1998, 2003, 2007)
Most seasons with 11 or more touchdown receptions – 8 – tied with Jerry Rice
Most seasons with 10 or more touchdown receptions – 9 – tied with Jerry Rice
Most games in a season with at least 2 touchdown receptions – 8 (2007)
One of two players to have 1,600+ receiving yards and 16+ receiving touchdowns in a season (2003), the other being Calvin Johnson (2011)
Most yards receiving in a Pro Bowl game – 212 (2000)
Most touchdowns scored in first 10 games with a new team – 16 (2007)
Most 1,200+ yard receiving seasons to start a career – 6 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003)
Moss has averaged at least one receiving touchdown per game played in four different seasons: 1998 (17 TDs in 16 games), 2003 (17 in 16), 2004 (13 in 13), and 2007 (23 in 16)
At the end of the 2008 season, Moss averaged 12.3 receiving TDs per season
4× 100+ yard games in his first four games with a new team in 2007
Youngest player in NFL history to record his 100th receiving touchdown (29 years and 235 days)
Youngest player in NFL history to record his 120th receiving touchdown (30 years, 313 days)
Most receiving yards before 30th birthday – 10,700
Most TD receptions before 30th birthday – 101
Youngest player to reach 6,000 career receiving yards (25 years and 270 days; later broken by Mike Evans)
Fastest player to reach 5,000 career receiving yards – 59 games (broke record of 61 games by Jerry Rice)
Youngest player to reach 5,000 career receiving yards - 24 years 292 days
Highest career yards per catch average for any player with 900+ receptions – 15.6 yards per reception
Youngest player to have 3 touchdown receptions in a game (21 years, 286 days; later broken by Rob Gronkowski)
Most offensive touchdowns in first two seasons: 28 (Tied with Rob Gronkowski)
Career highlights
6× Pro Bowl selection
4× All-Pro selection
2007 AFC Champion
2012 NFC Champion
Is second on the Minnesota Vikings all-time receiving touchdown list with 92. Cris Carter holds the record with 110 receiving scores
Caught his 100th touchdown pass in 2006 against San Francisco, the seventh player to do so
Holds the record for most touchdowns in Minnesota Vikings playoff history with 9
10× 1,000+ yard receiving seasons – 2nd all-time
64 career 100-yard games – 2nd all-time; most recent November 15, 2009
156 touchdown receptions – 2nd all-time
73.6 receiving yards per game – 7th all-time
15,292 receiving yards – 4th all-time
954 career receptions – 10th all-time
Has completed 4 of 8 passes for 106 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 1 interception, giving him a 95.8 passer rating
Only player to catch 90+ touchdown passes, return a punt for a touchdown, and throw 2 touchdown passes
Has played on two of the five highest-scoring teams (for a single season) in NFL history: 2007 Patriots (589 points) and the 1998 Vikings (556 points); both were the highest-scoring teams in NFL history thitherto
Had a career-high 12 receptions for 204 yards against the Chicago Bears, at Soldier Field, on November 14, 1999, in a 27–24 overtime win
Holds the Vikings record for most 100-yard receiving games with 41
Has two touchdowns or more in 39 different games (including 3 in the postseason); most recent September 26, 2010
Has two touchdown receptions or more in 37 different games – (2nd all-time)
Has three touchdown receptions or more in 9 different games – (2nd all-time): at Dallas (November 26, 1998), a 46–36 victory; vs. Chicago (December 6, 1998), a 48–22 victory; at Detroit (October 1, 2000), a 31–24 victory; vs. New York Giants (November 19, 2001) a 28–16 victory; vs. San Francisco (September 28, 2003), a 35–7 victory; at Buffalo (November 18, 2007), a 56–10 victory; at Miami (November 23, 2008), a 48–28 victory; vs. Tennessee (October 18, 2009), a 59–0 victory; vs. Jacksonville (December 27, 2009), a 35–7 victory
Caught a career-high four touchdowns at Buffalo (all in the first half) – November 18, 2007
Had an interception while playing defense in the last few seconds of the first half of the Patriots' game against the Denver Broncos on October 11, 2009
Has 4 career two-point conversions
Randy Moss Motorsports
On April 29, 2008, Moss announced the formation of Randy Moss Motorsports, an auto racing team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In July 2008, Moss announced that he had bought a 50 percent share in Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, with the team's No. 46 entry switching to No. 81. The team was reportedly shut down in 2012.
Post-football career
Upon his release from the 49ers, Moss was hired as an analyst for Fox Sports 1's Fox Football Daily show. Moss was hired as an associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Victory Christian Center High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, in June 2014, where his son was attending high school and playing football.
In July 2016, Moss joined ESPN as an analyst, appearing on Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018. In 2019, Moss was named to the National Football League 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Charity
Moss has participated in, founded, and financed many charitable endeavors since joining the NFL, particularly aimed at helping children. Many times when talking about his charity work, he has said he just looks forward to "seeing smiles." He has donated clothing and food to needy families, given away free backpacks to Boston area school-children, and hosted autograph signings. He has also bussed children to amusement parks, NBA games, and even NFL games in which he has played.
On June 29, 2005, he hosted the Randy Moss Celebrity Charity Invitational Bass Tournament. The tournament was a one-day event that paired celebrities and corporate sponsors with pro fishermen to raise money for the Smile Network, which is a foundation that provides financial assistance to children with treatable mouth problems, such as cleft palate. The tournaments motto is "fish for a smile."
In 2008, Moss formed the Links for Learning foundation, which was established to help children in his home state of West Virginia, and to build learning centers for the most needy student populations. In June, he and his former high school teammate Jason Williams hosted the foundations first annual charity golf tournament at the Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Hurricane, West Virginia. In March 2009, Moss's foundation made a donation that enabled the Women and Children's Hospital of Charleston, West Virginia to purchase a Starlight Children's Foundation 'Fun Center' for their patients. The 'Fun Center' is a portable bedside entertainment system equipped with a TV, DVD player, and 22 Nintendo Wii games.
Personal life
Moss's parents are Maxine Moss and Randy Pratt. Moss has little contact with his father. He has a sister named Lutisia and had a brother Eric, who had a short stint in the NFL as an offensive tackle with the Minnesota Vikings. Moss has five children: Lexi Adkins, Sydney, Senali, Thaddeus, and Montigo. Thaddeus is a tight end on the Cincinnati Bengals. Moss is also a Christian, attested by his NFL Hall of Fame Speech.
Traffic incident
On September 24, 2002, in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, Moss was driving and was preparing to make an illegal turn. A traffic control officer, noticing what he was about to do, stood in front of his vehicle and ordered him to stop. Eyewitness accounts of the event differ at this point, but Moss did not comply with the officer's order, and she was bumped by his vehicle and fell to the ground. Moss was arrested, and a search of his vehicle revealed a joint amounting to less than a gram of marijuana in his ashtray. Initially charged with felony Suspicion of Assault with a Deadly Weapon and a misdemeanor marijuana possession, Moss spent the night in jail and was released the following morning. Moss pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor traffic violation and was ordered to pay a $1,200 fine and perform 40 hours of community service. While the criminal charges were thus disposed of, the civil lawsuit filed by the traffic control officer brought a substantial penalty fine "in the low to mid six figures". Moss claimed that the joint was not his, and that he had let friends use his car prior to the accident.
Marijuana use
In April 1996, Moss smoked a joint just prior to turning himself in to jail. He was scheduled to finish the remainder of his 30-day sentence for misdemeanor battery while in high school. During his first week in jail, Moss was given a drug test that came back positive. He was placed in solitary confinement for a week and had 60 days attached to his 27-day sentence. Coach Bobby Bowden revoked his scholarship and Moss was dismissed from Florida State University for the failed drug test.
Moss tested positive in 2001 for marijuana under the NFL's substance abuse program and was subject to additional random drug screening for two years. A first time violation of the NFL's drug policy can result in up to 10 tests per month. Moss did not fail an NFL drug test again, and was rotated out of the program after two years.
In August 2005, during an interview with Bryant Gumbel, Moss admitted that he has smoked marijuana during his NFL career "every blue moon." When asked whether he still used marijuana currently, Moss replied "I might. I might have fun. And, you know, hopefully ... I won't get into any trouble by the NFL by saying that, you know. I have had fun throughout my years and, you know, predominantly in the offseason." The interview drew criticism from the league office, and his agent tried to spin it that his words were taken out of context. In response, Moss said "That was really me talking in the past tense of way back in the beginning of my career and my childhood – especially in high school and college."
Dating violence allegations
On January 15, 2008, Orlando-based radio station WDBO reported that Moss "had" been hit with a temporary injunction for protection against dating violence. According to the affidavit, Moss committed a battery upon Rachelle Washington, causing serious injury, and then refused to allow her to seek medical attention. The affidavit out of Broward County reveals Moss cannot come within 500 feet of the victim and cannot use or possess firearms.
The next day, in a locker room press conference, Moss claimed the woman was simply looking for money "over an accident," because her lawyer came to his lawyer, threatening a lawsuit, and asking for money to settle before she went public to the media. Moss stated he had known Washington for about 11 years. He also stated in his defense that he has never assaulted a woman in his entire life, and asked that the media and fans "find out the facts" before "rush[ing] to judgment." Moreover, Moss's lawyer, in an e-mail to the Boston Globe accused the woman's lawyer of "blatant threats and attempts to extort money" from Moss. On March 3, 2008, Rachelle Washington filed papers with the Broward County Circuit Court clerk's office requesting that the restraining order be dissolved and the case closed. No criminal charges were ever filed in the incident.
See also
List of NCAA major college football yearly receiving leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders
References
External links
1977 births
Living people
10,000 receiving yards club
African-American motorsport people
African-American players of American football
African-American sports journalists
All-American college football players
American Conference Pro Bowl players
American football wide receivers
ESPN people
Florida State Seminoles football players
Marshall Thundering Herd football players
Marshall Thundering Herd men's track and field athletes
Minnesota Vikings players
NASCAR team owners
National Conference Pro Bowl players
National Football League Offensive Rookie of the Year Award winners
New England Patriots players
Oakland Raiders players
People from Kanawha County, West Virginia
Players of American football from West Virginia
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
San Francisco 49ers players
Sportspeople from Charleston, West Virginia
Tennessee Titans players | true | [
"Bryan Hall (born August 19, 1934) nicknamed \"Hallsy\", is a Canadian radio and television personality and retired radio play-by-play broadcaster for the Edmonton Eskimos on 630 CHED in Edmonton, Alberta.\n\nCareer\nHall was born on August 19, 1934 in Toronto, Ontario. His father was a lawyer, who died when Hall was 9, and his mother a nurse. Hall got his first broadcasting job at the age of 19, after moving to Edmonton, at CKUA where he did news, a jazz show, and sports. At the suggestion of a columnist for the Edmonton Journal, Hall also took up a vacant sportscaster job at CHED, which he held from 1955 to 1962. In 1962, Hall moved to Toronto to take up a job covering sports with CHUM, but quickly moved back to Edmonton 3 years later, this time, back to CJCA, where he did play-by-play for the CFL's Edmonton Eskimos with the network from 1965 to 1993. During his time with CJCA, he also pioneered the first open-line sports talk radio show in Edmonton. In the decade of the 70s, Hall worked as a racetrack announcer at Edmonton Northlands Park calling over 10,000 thoroughbred races. When CJCA ceased broadcasting operations in 1993, Hall moved back to CHED to take up the position of sports director - continuing to do play-by-play of Edmonton Eskimos games until 2009.\nAfter 45 years of play-by-play for Edmonton Eskimos games, Hall retired in 2009. During his play-by-play career, he also did play-by-play for the Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Oil Kings, and Edmonton Flyers. The media centre, The Bryan Hall Media Centre, in Commonwealth Stadium was named after Hall when he retired in 2009. Though retired from doing play-by-play, Hall, in his 65th year of broadcasting, currently does 14 daily shows in the morning on CHED, I News and Global Television. Hall is also known for doing radio advertisements on CHED for local Christenson Developments, Crosstown Motors, and Lay-z-boy Furniture He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1989, and the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.\n\nBroadcasting positions\nCKUA - 1953–55\nCHED - 1955–62\nCHUM - 1962–65\nCJCA - 1965–93\nCHED - 1993–current\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1934 births\nLiving people\nAlberta Sports Hall of Fame inductees\nCanadian Football Hall of Fame inductees\nCanadian Football League announcers\nCanadian radio sportscasters\nEdmonton Elks personnel\nEdmonton Oilers announcers\nSportspeople from Toronto\nWorld Hockey Association broadcasters",
"\n\nTelevision\n\n2020s\n\n2010s\n\n2000s\n\nFor the first two games of the 2008-09 season, in Prague, WEPN carried a simulcast of MSG audio with Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti in Prague, and Don La Greca and Pete Stemkowski in the New York studio for intermissions.\n\n1990s\n\n1980s\n\n1970s\n\nHBO's first sports broadcast was of a New York Rangers-Vancouver Canucks NHL game, transmitted to a Service Electric cable system in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on November 8, 1972. From 1972-74, HBO used only one announcer on Rangers games so Marty Glickman, who was in charge of HBO Sports, hired other announcers to replace him when he was unavailable, generally owing to his radio commitments to Giants football.\n\n1960s\n\nWin Eliot called the Rangers games on WPIX-11 as part of The Saturday Night Sports Special. In the early 1960s, the Rangers played Saturday afternoon games, which were tape delayed for evening re-broadcast on Channel 11. The Saturday night hockey games were almost always shown at 9 p.m. Road games were usually aired live if the Rangers were at Chicago, where the game was at 8:30 p.m., and after expansion, in St. Louis or Minnesota, where 9 p.m. would be the actual start time. In the 1964-65 season, Win Elliott did all the Saturday night games until March 20, which was the first Saturday of the racing season at Aqueduct, where Elliott hosted a Saturday afternoon series. Jim Gordon therefore, did the last two Saturday nights of the season. When the Rangers weren't scheduled on Saturday nights, Channel 11 would run events such as track and field and ECAC Basketball. This occurred from 1962–65, before the Knicks and Rangers moved to Channel 9. They even showed a different NHL game on occasion, which was the case on March 27, 1965, when Jim Gordon went to Toronto to do a Detroit-Toronto game for WPIX.\n\n1950s\n\n1940s\n\nThe Rangers' home game against the Montreal Canadiens on February 25, 1940 was the first National Hockey League game to ever be broadcast on television.\n\nRadio\n\n2020s\n\n2010s\n\n2000s\n\n1990s\n\n1980s\n\n1970s\n\nNotes \nFor many years when he was the radio voice of the Rangers, Marv Albert missed more games than he called. Marv had multiple commitments that forced him to miss games. The alternate radio play-by-play announcers from 1985–1987 actually did more games than Marv Albert. In his 19 year career as the color commentator, Sal Messina worked with 18 different play-by-play partners, even though nominally his only partners were Marv or Kenny Albert. Messina also did play-by-play on several games. Sal Messina also sometimes did TV, filling in for Bill Chadwick, and later John Davidson. So there were some additional radio analysts at times. Pete Stemkowski, Dave Maloney, Ron Greschner, Pierre Larouche, Emile Francis, Chris Nilan, and Ulf Nilsson filled in for Messina. During the years when only the non-televised road games were broadcast, at times the TV crew, Sal Marchiano/Bill Chadwick (in 1972–73), Jim Gordon/Chadwick, and Gordon/Phil Esposito later did the games on radio, especially on lengthy road trips.\n\n1960s\n\n1950s\n\n1940s\n\n1930s\n\nIt was not until the 1987-88 season that all Rangers' games was broadcast locally on radio in New York; for many years prior to that, only home games and (after the late 1940s) a handful of away games were heard. Regular-season away games heard on radio after the early 1960s were generally not broadcast locally on television.\n\nAlternate announcers\n\nTelevision\n\nPlay-by-play\nBruce Beck: 1982–1984\nMike Crispino: 2005–2007\nJohn Giannone: 2005–Present\nBob Wischusen: 2006–2007\n\nColor commentator\nSal Messina: 1972–2004\nDave Maloney: 2005–2007\n\nStudio host\nJohn Giannone: 2005–Present\nBill Pidto: 2009–Present\n\nRadio\n\nPlay-by-play\nBob Wolff: 1970–1980\nTim Ryan: 1971–1972\nSpencer Ross: 1973-2007\nJohn Sterling: 1973–1974\nJim Gordon: 1973–1984\nSal Messina: 1975–1982\nBarry Landers: 1976–1977, 1999–2000\nSam Rosen: 1977–1989\nAl Albert: 1982–1983\nMike Emrick: 1983–1988\nJohn Kelly: 1988–1989\nHowie Rose: 1985–1995\nKenny Albert: 1995–1997\nAl Trautwig: 1995–1997\nGary Cohen: 1995–1997\nChris Moore: 1995–1996\nJoe Beninati: 1996–1997\nSteve Albert: 1996–1997\nBob Wischusen: 2000–2007\nJoe Tolleson: 2002–present\nMike Crispino: 2005–2007\nJohn Giannone: 2006–2008\nDon LaGreca: 2008–present\n\nColor commentator\nPete Stemkowski: 2005–Present\n\nStudio host\nSteve Somers: 1990s\n\nReferences\n\nNew York Rangers\nNew York Rangers lists\n \nUSA Network Sports\nPrime Sports\nMadison Square Garden Sports"
]
|
[
"Randy Moss",
"Early years",
"Did he always play sports?",
"excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track."
]
| C_851e2cea33364400ac299a7537e94da3_1 | Did anyone in his family play sports as well | 2 | Did anyone in Randy Moss's family play sports as well? | Randy Moss | Moss was born and lived in Rand, West Virginia. He attended DuPont High School, one of two schools that later consolidated into Riverside High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Randy was also on the school's debate team. On the football field, Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He was a star at wide receiver, but also played free safety, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the team's kicker and punter. In 1994, he was honored with the Kennedy Award as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Parade magazine named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995 and in 2009 named him one of the 50 greatest high school football players of all time. At DuPont, he was a teammate of future Chicago Bears linebacker Bobbie Howard. In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (1993, 1994), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams. As a sophomore in 1992, at the age of 15, Moss joined the track & field team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.94 seconds and 21.95 seconds, respectively. This was the only year he competed on the school's track team, but he would later join the Marshall track team and lower his 200 m time to 21.15 seconds. He also played center field for the baseball team. CANNOTANSWER | Randy was also on the school's debate team. | Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is a former American football player. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, and the San Francisco 49ers. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wide receivers of all time, he holds the NFL single-season touchdown reception record (23 in 2007), the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie (17 in 1998) and is second on the NFL all-time regular season touchdown reception list with 156. Moss was well known for his prowess in securing contested catches and the word "mossed" has entered football vernacular. Post-football, he began working for ESPN as a studio analyst for its Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown programs.
Moss played college football for Marshall University, and twice earned All-America honors. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft, where he played for seven years before a trade in 2005 brought him to the Oakland Raiders. In 2007, Moss was traded to the New England Patriots, where he set the single-season record for touchdown receptions. In October 2010, Moss returned to the Vikings in a trade from the Patriots but was waived less than a month later and then claimed by the Tennessee Titans. After sitting out the 2011 season, Moss signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers in 2012 before retiring following the season. He played in two Super Bowl games, XLII with the Patriots and XLVII with the 49ers, both losses. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
Early years
Moss was born in Rand, West Virginia. He attended DuPont High School, one of two schools that later consolidated into Riverside High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Randy was also on the school's debate team. On the football field, Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He was a star at wide receiver, but also played free safety, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the team's kicker and punter. In 1994, he was honored with the Kennedy Award as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Parade magazine named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995 and in 2009 named him one of the 50 greatest high school football players of all time. At DuPont, he was a teammate of future Chicago Bears linebacker Bobbie Howard.
In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (in 1994 when he was co-player of the year and in 1995), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams. In his senior season of basketball, Moss averaged 30.2 points, 13.7 rebounds, 5.1 steals, 3.8 blocks, and 3.1 assists while shooting 60% from field; he scored a school-record 1,713 career points.
As a sophomore in 1992, at the age of 15, Moss joined the track & field team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.94 seconds and 21.95 seconds, respectively. This was the only year he competed on the school's track team, but he would later join the Marshall track team and lower his 200 m time to 21.15 seconds. He also played center field for the baseball team.
College football career
Moss's dream was to play for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but he also considered going to Ohio State, where his half-brother, Eric, had played offensive tackle. Former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz said "Randy Moss was the best high school football player I've ever seen." Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden said "He was as good as Deion Sanders. Deion's my measuring stick for athletic ability, and this kid was just a bigger Deion."
After originally signing a letter of intent to play college football with Notre Dame in 1995, Moss took part in a racially charged fight at his high school that left one person hospitalized. On March 23, 1995, Moss had backed a friend in a hallway fight against a white student who had allegedly used racist comments towards Randy's friend. Moss was initially charged with a felony for kicking the student, but it was later reduced to a misdemeanor. On August 1, 1995, Moss pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor battery and was sentenced to 30 days behind bars at the South-Central Regional Jail in Charleston, West Virginia. He served 3 days in jail starting that night and would be required to serve the remaining 27 days within the following 18 months, after he completed his freshman year in college. Moss was expelled from DuPont and completed his education at Cabell Alternative School.
Notre Dame subsequently denied his enrollment application, but this did not stop another high-profile college football program from giving him a chance. Notre Dame officials suggested he attend Florida State due to the reputation of its coach, Bobby Bowden, for handling troubled players.
Freshman (1995)
Because of his signed letter of intent at Notre Dame, the NCAA considered him a transfer student to Florida State, so he had to redshirt the 1995 football season.
Redshirt Freshman season (1996)
In 1996, while serving his 30-day jail sentence in a work-release program from 1995, Moss tested positive for marijuana, thus violating his probation, and was dismissed from Florida State. He served an additional 60 days in jail for the probation violation.
Ultimately, Moss transferred to Marshall University, about an hour's drive from his home. Because Marshall was then a Division I-AA school, NCAA rules allowed him to transfer there without losing any further eligibility. In 1996, he set the NCAA Division I-AA records for the most games with a touchdown catch in a season (14), most consecutive games with a touchdown catch (13), most touchdown passes caught in a season (28 – tying Jerry Rice's 1984 record), and most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season (1,709 on 78 catches), a record which still stands. Moss was also the leading kickoff returner in Division I-AA on the season, with 612 total yards and a 34.0-yard average. The 1996 Marshall Thundering Herd went undefeated and won the Division I-AA title, with Moss having four touchdown receptions in the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game. It was Marshall's last season before moving to Division I-A.
At the Southern Conference indoor track championships, Moss ran the 200 meters in 21.15 seconds, missing the conference record by only .02 seconds. Although Moss had not raced competitively for four years, his time was one of the best in the country that year.
Sophomore season (1997)
In the 1997 season, Marshall's first in Division I-A, Moss and Quarterback Chad Pennington were the centerpiece of an explosive offense that led the Thundering Herd to the Mid-American Conference title. Moss caught 26 touchdown passes that season, at the time a Division I-A record, and was a first-team All-American.
The first game of the season was at West Virginia University where Marshall lost. The second game of the season saw Moss pick up right where he left off in 1996. Facing Army, Moss caught 5 balls for 186 yards and two touchdowns. One touchdown went for 79 yards in which Pennington lobbed the ball down the left sideline. Moss leaped over an Army defender to snag the ball out of the air at the 40-yard line while the safety crashed into his teammate, knocking both men down. Moss galloped the last 50 yards untouched for the score. The other touchdown reception was his career-long of 90 yards that came on a short screen pass on third down. Moss caught the ball on the right side of the field at his own 8-yard line, ran past 3 defenders in the middle of the field at the 15-yard line, hurdled two defenders coming from both sides of the left hash marks at the 25-yard line, then raced past the last defender at the 50-yard line before finally seeing daylight down the left sideline.
A week later, Moss posted his third career 200+ yard receiving game, against Kent State. Two weeks after that was his fourth and final 200+ yard game in college, recording 13 catches for 205 yards and a Marshall single-game record of 5 touchdown receptions against Ball State.
In the 1997 Ford Motor City Bowl against Ole Miss, Moss added his 26th touchdown of the season on Marshall's first offensive play from scrimmage. He streaked down the right sideline and caught an 80-yard touchdown pass from Pennington to tie the score at 7–7. NCAA rules at the time did not allow for statistics from bowl games to be combined with regular-season stats, so the touchdown did not officially increase his season touchdown record. The two teams traded the lead several times in the fourth quarter before Ole Miss running back Deuce McAllister scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds to play, giving them a 34–31 lead. Trying to pull out a last-second win, Pennington connected with Moss on a 40-yard pass on the final play of the game, but he was stripped of the ball as time expired. Moss finished the game with 6 receptions for 173 yards.
Moss finished his career at Marshall having scored at least one touchdown in all 28 games that he played. He won the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the season's outstanding receiver regardless of position, and was a finalist for the 1997 Heisman Trophy (finishing fourth in the balloting, behind Ryan Leaf, Peyton Manning, and Charles Woodson, who won the award). A controversial comment was made by Randy Moss in 1997 at a ceremony at Marshall University where he was commenting in regards to the 1970 plane crash that killed most their football team that the crash "was a tragedy, but it really wasn't nothing big". Moss later claimed that the quotes were taken out of context. Nate Ruffin, who is a surviving member of the 1970 Football Team, later met with Randy Moss.
College statistics
Includes stats from the 1997 Motor City Bowl against Ole Miss
NCAA records
Division I-AA – regular season
Most games with a touchdown reception in a season – 11 (1996)
Most consecutive games with a touchdown reception in a season – 11 (1996)
Most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season – 1073 (1996)
Most touchdown receptions caught by a freshman in a season – 19 (1996 – record for all NCAA divisions)
Division I-AA – playoffs
Most touchdown receptions in a single game – 4 (vs. Montana, December 21, 1996)
Most yards receiving in a single game – 288 (vs. Delaware, November 30, 1996)
Most touchdown receptions in a tournament – 9 (4 games in 1996)
Most yards receiving in a tournament – 636 (4 games in 1996)
Professional football career
1998 NFL Draft
Moss skipped his senior season at Marshall and entered the NFL Draft. He did not attend the NFL Combine, opting instead for an individual workout at Marshall's pro day. Moss ran the 40 yard dash in the 4.24-4.28 range by scouts' hand timers and posted vertical leaps of 47 and 51 inches. Numerous teams had scouts on hand with many noting the work-out was jaw dropping.
During the 1998 NFL Draft, Moss, who was projected as a high first-round pick, was taken by the Minnesota Vikings with the 21st overall pick after a number of NFL clubs—even those in need of a WR—were concerned with Moss's well-documented legal problems. Before the draft Moss was quoted as saying teams that passed on him "will regret it once they see what kind of a player I am and what kind of guy I really am." The team most often cited for passing on Moss is the Dallas Cowboys. Moss grew up a Cowboys fan and wanted to play for the Cowboys. The Cowboys wanted Moss, but because of many off-field incidents of their own, team owner and GM Jerry Jones did not feel the team could draft Moss. Moss felt that the Cowboys lied to him because they had told him they would draft him. On draft day, Dallas went so far as to have a scout in Charleston, West Virginia, the same town where Moss and his mother were watching the draft. Dallas star receiver Michael Irvin even called to apologize to Moss, because Irvin's own off-field problems were a main reason Moss was not drafted by Dallas. After the draft, Moss made a point of beating the Cowboys any time he faced them, getting his first opportunity to do so in Week 13 of his rookie season. In a game held at Texas Stadium, Moss torched Dallas with a 163-yard, 3-touchdown performance.
After the draft, Moss signed a 4-year, $4.5 million contract that included an additional $4 million in bonuses and incentives. As part of the deal, he received a $2 million signing bonus. Moss originally wore #18 in training camp (a number he would eventually wear for Oakland) but switched to the more conventional #84 before the regular season began.
Minnesota Vikings
1998 season
In 1998, Moss helped the Vikings to become the number 1 rated offense ever at the time, setting the single-season record for scoring (later surpassed by the 2007 New England Patriots, a team that also featured Moss) with 556 points.
The Vikings opened the season with a 31–7 rout against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Moss's first NFL game would also be his first multi-touchdown game as he recorded 4 receptions for 95 yards and two touchdowns. His first NFL reception came on the third play of the game on an 11-yard pass from Brad Johnson. His first touchdown was a 48-yard acrobatic grab over defensive back Floyd Young late in the first quarter, in which Moss juggled the ball 3 times before securing it for the score. He added a 31-yard touchdown reception on the Vikings' first possession of the second quarter to give the Vikings a 21–0 lead.
His first Monday Night Football game came in Week 5 against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. He had 5 receptions for 190 yards and two touchdowns, including touchdown grabs of 52 yards and 44 yards, and two other receptions of 46 yards and 41 yards. He also had a 75-yard touchdown catch on the Vikings' first possession of the game that was nullified due to an offensive holding penalty.
Against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, Moss finished with 3 catches for 163 yards and 3 touchdowns all for 50+ yards as the Vikings beat the Cowboys 46–36. Moss was the first rookie to score 3 touchdowns on Thanksgiving.
They finished with a 15–1 record and were poised to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XXXIII. However, the Atlanta Falcons stunned the Vikings by winning the NFC Championship Game 30–27 in overtime.
At the end of the 1998 regular season, Moss was named a Pro Bowl starter and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year for his rookie-record 17 touchdown receptions and the third-highest receiving yardage (1,313) total.
1999 season
In 1999, Moss had another impressive season, catching 80 passes for 1,413 yards and 11 touchdowns, including a punt return for a touchdown. He went on to record five receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown in the Vikings 27–10 NFC wildcard playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys. Minnesota lost in the divisional round to the St. Louis Rams 49–37, despite Moss catching nine passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Moss was fined $40,000, which was later reduced to $25,000, during that game due to squirting an NFL referee with a water bottle. There was a stipulation that he would have to pay the difference in addition to any other fine if he had another run-in with the league.
Moss earned his second straight Pro Bowl appearance, and turned in a record-breaking performance. He had 9 receptions for a Pro Bowl record 212 yards and was given the game's Most Valuable Player award.
2000 season
The 2000 season featured second-year quarterback Daunte Culpepper leading the team. Culpepper had been the team's first-round draft pick in 1999; with a pick they received from the Redskins for quarterback Brad Johnson. He had been selected largely due to his extremely strong arm, which the team believed was perfectly suited for Moss's deep routes. The decision proved correct. Culpepper was a rookie sensation, the Vikings started 7–0, and Moss was a leading MVP candidate. For the second time in three seasons, Moss punished the Dallas Cowboys in Dallas on Thanksgiving Day, including a spectacular 2nd-half touchdown in which Moss caught the ball with his entire body out of bounds, aside from his toes. The play would be the feature shot in NFL commercials for years to come. Moss finished the season with a career-high 1,437 yards and league-leading 15 touchdown catches. In doing so, he became the youngest and fastest player to ever catch over 3,000 yards and 45 touchdowns, earning him his 3rd consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl, and 2nd selection to the All Pro team. The Vikings would make it to the NFC Championship game, only to be blown out 41–0 by the New York Giants.
2001 season
In the offseason, Moss and his agent Danté DiTrapano began negotiating a new contract with the Minnesota Vikings. He was scheduled to earn $3.5 million in 2001. But Moss, who was entering the final year of the rookie contract he signed in 1998, was seeking a long-term deal that would make him the highest-paid player in the NFL. His agent said, "We want to break the tradition of quarterbacks being the highest-paid players." One option the Vikings had would be to apply the franchise tag after the season ended, but sources stated that Moss would request a trade if that happened because it would still be less than what he could command on the open market.
Just prior to the start of training camp in July, Vikings owner Red McCombs signed Moss to an 8-year, $75 million contract extension. The extension included a $10 million signing bonus and another $8 million in guarantees.
Despite finishing the season with 10 touchdowns and posting at least 1,000 receiving yards for the fourth consecutive season, Moss failed to make the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career.
2002 season
After replacing Dennis Green on an interim basis to end the 2001 season, Mike Tice was officially named head coach on January 10, 2002. One of the strategies the Vikings' first-year head coach came up with was a formula to get Moss the ball more often. Coach Tice called it the Randy Ratio. It was an effort on the coaches part to throw 40% of the passes to Moss as a way to keep him involved in the offense more than he had been in the 2001 season when he had stretches in games where he was being shut out, and partly to use more game clock by sustaining long drives to give the Vikings defense a chance to rest. An assistant coach would stand on the sidelines during games and track how many times Moss had been thrown to, and then inform Tice of the percentages so that he is always aware of it. In the 2001 season, the Vikings record was 4–1 when Moss had 40% of the passes thrown his direction, and 1–10 in other games.
The strategy was a response to the 'Randy Rules,' as Vikings receiver Chris Walsh called them. The Randy Rules, similar to the Jordan Rules, were a defensive strategy that teams employed when facing the Vikings to try and eliminate or reduce Randy's impact on the game, and to prevent Moss from being matched up one-on-one with defenders because of his ability to burn them deep or outjump them in single coverage. Opposing teams would routinely double cover Moss with techniques such as having a cornerback attempt to jam him at the line of scrimmage, having a corner defend underneath with a safety defending against the deep ball, having a zone defense roll to Moss's side of the field, and assigning "spies" to follow Moss everywhere he went.
Coach Tice discussed the strategy, explaining that Moss would be running more short and intermediate routes and fewer deep patterns. In training camp, Moss worked specifically on 12 new routes that he had rarely run in his first 4 NFL seasons, such as crossing patterns over the middle of the field and hook routes. Coach Tice said, "When we say Randy Ratio, everybody in the league thinks, 'OK, now they're going to throw the ball down the field to Randy more and more and more.' That's so far from the truth. In fact, we'll probably throw the ball down the field to Randy this year even less."
The Randy Ratio did not last very long, as Tice scrapped the idea midway through the 2002 season. Randy Moss said "I didn't really care much about the Randy Ratio when it was brought up. I just wanted to win." While Moss caught a career-high 106 passes, he also had a career-low 7 touchdown receptions, and the Vikings struggled to a 6–10 record. Tice suggested after the season that it was a mistake to inform opponents about his offensive gameplan, but that it was a tool "to motivate [Moss] and say he was the guy."
2003 season
Moss's fortunes took a better turn on the football field during the 2003 regular season, where he became the second wide receiver in NFL history (behind Jerry Rice in 1995) to play more than 12 games (he played 16) while averaging over 100 yards and one touchdown per contest. He finished with 111 receptions for 1,632 yards and 17 touchdowns. All three numbers either tied or became a new personal best for Moss. The Vikings finished the season 9–7. One of Moss's memorable highlights that year was when he lateraled to Moe Williams for a last-second touchdown during a home game against Denver.
In the offseason, he attended the Vikings strength and conditioning program and added five pounds of muscle to his frame.
2004 season
Moss started the season strong catching 8 touchdowns in his first 5 games of the season. However, he sustained a hamstring injury to his right leg against New Orleans in Week 6 that hampered him for the next five weeks. He played in Week 7 against Tennessee, but had no receptions in a game for the first time in his career. He also played the following week against the Giants, but again recorded no receptions and was used mainly as a decoy. The injury eventually sidelined him for 3 straight weeks. He returned to the lineup in Week 12 with a touchdown catch against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Even though he finished the season with 13 touchdowns in 13 games, he posted career lows in receptions (49) and receiving yards (767). 2004 was the first season in his career that he failed to reach the 1,000-yard mark.
On January 9, 2005, the Minnesota Vikings played division rival Green Bay Packers in an NFC wildcard playoff game. Moss finished the game with 4 catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns in the 31–17 win. After the second score, Moss trotted to the end zone goalpost and feigned pulling down his pants to moon the Green Bay fans. NFL on Fox announcer Joe Buck called it a "disgusting act.” Moss was fined $10,000 for his actions. Though the Vikings would win the game, they would lose in the next round of the playoffs to the Philadelphia Eagles, and Moss would be traded at the end of the season.
Oakland Raiders
On March 2, 2005, Moss was traded to the Oakland Raiders for linebacker Napoleon Harris and the Raiders' first (7th overall, which Minnesota parlayed into wide receiver Troy Williamson) and seventh-round picks in the NFL draft. Adding a player of Moss's caliber generated optimism in Oakland, but the Raiders' poor play continued, while Moss suffered nagging injuries which limited his production. He surpassed the 1,000 mark on the final day of the 2005 season, finishing the year with 1,005 receiving yards on 60 catches. However, Moss only managed 553 yards on 42 balls in 2006.
Moss was not happy in Oakland, and on November 14, 2006, when he was honored as a kick returner by having an award named after him, he responded to questions about his dropped passes and lackluster effort in several games. Moss said, "Maybe because I'm unhappy and I'm not too much excited about what's going on, so, my concentration and focus level tend to go down sometimes when I'm in a bad mood". Days later, he reiterated his unhappiness with losing games and being a member of the Raiders on his weekly segment with Fox Sports Radio, saying, "I might want to look forward to moving somewhere else next year to have another start and really feel good about going out here and playing football".
New England Patriots
2007 season
There were rumors leading up to the 2007 NFL Draft that the Raiders were eager to part ways with Randy Moss through a trade. First-year Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin went so far as to contact their division rival Denver Broncos to "gauge interest", but the Patriots and Green Bay Packers were the two teams most interested in acquiring Moss. Packers QB Brett Favre, who once said, "There is no one in this league who puts fear in people more than Randy Moss," tried to persuade team management to trade for him, but a deal that both sides could agree to did not get done.
During the first day of the NFL Draft, the Patriots and Raiders discussed the trade several times before reaching an agreement. Bill Belichick spoke with Moss for the first time about the possibility of joining the Patriots at 2:30 Sunday morning. Moss then boarded a plane and arrived in Boston later that morning on April 29 and was required to pass a team administered physical. Once he was cleared by Patriots officials, the teams completed a trade that sent Randy Moss to New England for a fourth-round selection in the 2007 NFL Draft. The Patriots had acquired the draft pick the previous day from the San Francisco 49ers, and the Raiders selected John Bowie.
One of the conditions of the trade was that Randy Moss would have to restructure his contract for salary cap reasons. Just hours before the Moss trade was completed, New England quarterback Tom Brady converted $5.28 million of his 2007 base salary into a signing bonus that was spread out over the remaining portion of his contract so that it could free up cap room. This enabled the Patriots to absorb Moss's incoming contract under the salary cap. Moss had two years remaining on his current deal and was scheduled to earn $9.75 million in 2007 and $11.25 million in 2008. Once the Patriots had Moss on their roster, he quickly agreed to a new one-year contract to replace his old one. The new deal gave him a $500,000 signing bonus, a base salary of $2.5 million, and the ability to earn an additional $1.75 million in incentives.
"I’m still in awe that I’m a part of this organization," Moss said, clearly thrilled to join a team that could contend for the Super Bowl and to work with Coach Belichick. "I think that he's the kind of coach that can motivate me. He has a proven track record."
In the first week of training camp, during an 11-on-11 passing drill, Moss suffered a hamstring injury to his left leg. As a precaution, the injury prevented Moss from participating in any preseason games and he missed much of the rest of camp.
His first action in a Patriots uniform came against the New York Jets in Week 1. He quickly quieted critics who claimed that his skills had deteriorated by hauling in nine receptions for 181 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown pass in which he ran past three Jets defenders.
On November 4, 2007, James Black, NFL Editor for Yahoo! Sports wrote, "Every week, in addition to out-leaping at least one defender for a touchdown, [Moss] keeps making incredible one-handed grabs that make you mutter, 'How the heck did he come up with that?'" Two weeks later, he caught a career-high four touchdowns in a single game against Buffalo.
On December 29, the Patriots defeated the New York Giants 38–35, finishing their regular season with a perfect 16–0 record. Moss caught two touchdown passes for a total of 23, breaking the single-season record of 22 touchdown receptions previously set by Jerry Rice (in 12 games in the strike-shortened 1987 season). On the same play, Tom Brady broke Peyton Manning's single-season record set in 2004 with his 50th touchdown pass. Moss recorded 98 catches for 1,493 yards in 2007, the highest yardage total in Patriots franchise history and the third-highest total number of catches, after teammate Wes Welker's 112 catches that same season and Troy Brown's 101 in 2001. He also earned his sixth Pro Bowl selection. His 2007 season featured touchdowns in 13 of 16 games (including eight multi-touchdown games), nine 100-yard games, and six touchdown receptions of 40 or more yards.
Despite his record-breaking 2007 season, Moss was relatively quiet in the playoffs, going two consecutive games without a touchdown for the first time all season. However, in Super Bowl XLII, he scored the go-ahead touchdown with 2:42 left in the fourth quarter on a six-yard pass from Tom Brady. The score was not enough for the heavily favored Patriots to end their only undefeated season with a Super Bowl win. Eli Manning drove the Giants down the field, connecting with Plaxico Burress for the game-winning touchdown and an upset over the Patriots.
2008 season
On February 28, 2008, Moss became a free agent after the Patriots decided not to place the franchise tag on Moss. Although the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, and Green Bay Packers were rumored to have interest in Moss, he decided to return to the Patriots, signing a three-year, $27 million deal on March 3, 2008. The contract included a $12 million signing bonus, and a total of $14.1 million guaranteed.
The first game of the 2008 season saw Brady suffer a torn ACL in his left knee while attempting a pass to Randy Moss. The play occurred in the first half against the Kansas City Chiefs when safety Bernard Pollard dove at Brady's leg while in his throwing motion. Moss described what he saw on the play by saying "any time you see something like that, that looks foul, it looks dirty, it opens your eyes. So, me personally, it looked dirty." Matt Cassel replaced Brady for the rest of the season.
In 2008, Moss hauled in 69 catches for 1,008 yards and 11 touchdowns despite losing quarterback Tom Brady in the first game of the season.
2009 season
In the season opener of 2009, Moss caught a career-high 12 passes for 141 yards in a comeback 25–24 victory over the Bills. In Week 5 against the Denver Broncos, Moss was placed deep in coverage on a Broncos Hail Mary attempt to end the first half, and intercepted Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton. In a snowy Week 6 game against the winless Tennessee Titans, Moss caught three touchdown passes from Tom Brady, two of them in the 2nd quarter as Brady set a record for most touchdown passes in a single quarter with five. This was Moss's 34th multi-touchdown game, and his 8th game with three or more touchdowns.
During the Patriots' bye week, Belichick stated that Moss "is the smartest receiver he's ever been around." He compared Moss's ability to see the field and anticipate plays to that of Tom Brady, and to Lawrence Taylor, who Belichick coached with the New York Giants. He said Moss not only knows what he's doing on a play, but what everybody else on the field is doing as well. "That's what makes them special. They just have a sixth, seventh sense", Belichick said. This sentiment was repeated when Moss was inducted into the Hall of Fame, as Belichick went further to say he learned from Moss.
In Week 9 against the Miami Dolphins Moss added six catches for 147 yards and 1 touchdown. The touchdown reception was the 140th of his career, which moved him into a tie for second place with Terrell Owens.
The following week, in a prime time Sunday night matchup against the Indianapolis Colts, Moss had 179 yards and two touchdowns, including a 63-yard touchdown in the 2nd quarter that moved him ahead of Terrell Owens for sole possession of second place in career touchdown receptions. In the same game, he became just the 11th player in NFL history with 900+ receptions and the seventh player to reach 14,000+ career receiving yards.
He finished the season with 83 receptions for 1,264 yards and an NFL-high 13 touchdowns. New England would lose the AFC Wild Card playoff to the Baltimore Ravens 33–14.
2010 season
In the week leading up to the Patriots' 2010 season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, Moss, who was entering the final year of his contract told CBS Sports that he "did not feel wanted" in New England absent a contract extension offer. Moss would go on to catch 5 passes for 59 yards in Week 1. After the game, Moss told reporters that it would be his final season with the Patriots. The Boston Herald reported weeks later that Moss requested a trade following the game.
Moss had two receptions in Week 2 against the New York Jets, including a 34-yard touchdown that he caught one-handed after beating All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis. The following week against the Buffalo Bills, Moss had two more catches, both for touchdowns. His final game in New England came in Week 4 on Monday Night Football against the Miami Dolphins; he did not record a catch in the game for the first time in his Patriots career as a touchdown pass attempt off a fake spike bounced off his hands in the end zone.
Return to Minnesota
Two days after the Patriots' game against Miami, Moss was traded to the Minnesota Vikings, in exchange for the Vikings' third-round selection (later used to select quarterback Ryan Mallett) in the 2011 NFL Draft. The Patriots also sent a 2012 seventh-round selection to the Vikings as part of the trade.
On November 1, less than four weeks after being traded to Minnesota, Vikings head coach Brad Childress told Vikings players in a team meeting that Moss was going to be waived by the team, one day after he criticized Childress and teammates in a press conference following the Vikings' loss to the Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Just before the press conference, Moss reportedly told team owner Zygi Wilf that Childress was unfit to coach in the NFL and should be fired. Wilf reportedly considered firing Childress and keeping Moss, but Moss was officially waived the next day, November 2. Childress was eventually fired on November 22.
Tennessee Titans
Moss was claimed off waivers by the Tennessee Titans, the only team to submit a claim, on November 3, 2010. Moss played eight games with the Titans, starting four. He made six catches for 80 yards and no touchdowns.
Moss finished the 2010 season with career lows in receptions (28) and receiving yards (393). The Titans stated that they did not plan to re-sign Moss for the 2011 season, and he became a free agent.
Initial retirement and comeback
On August 1, 2011, Moss's agent, Joel Segal, announced Moss's decision to retire from professional football.
On February 13, 2012, his 35th birthday, Moss announced that he was coming out of retirement and was ready to play again. In a live video chat with his fans via Ustream, Moss stated, "I wanna play football. Your boy is going to come back here and play some football, so I'm really excited. I had some things I had to adjust in my life."
San Francisco 49ers
On March 12, 2012, Moss signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers for undisclosed financial terms after a workout with the team's head coach Jim Harbaugh. On September 9, 2012, Moss caught his 154th touchdown reception, and subsequently passed Terrell Owens for sole possession of 2nd on the all-time receiving touchdown list. After Alex Smith suffered a concussion against the St. Louis Rams in week 10, Colin Kaepernick took over as the team's quarterback, and Moss had at least two receptions in each of the remaining five games of the regular season. He finished the season with 28 catches for 434 yards and three touchdowns. Since the retirement of Terrell Owens at the end of 2010, he had been the NFL's active leader in receiving yards. Moss would eventually go on to play in Super Bowl XLVII, where he had two receptions for 41 yards in a 31–34 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
NFL career statistics
Regular season
NFL records
Most touchdown receptions in a season – 23 (2007)
Most touchdown receptions by a rookie in a season – 17 (1998)
Most seasons with 17 or more touchdown receptions – 3 (1998, 2003, 2007)
Most seasons with 16 or more touchdown receptions – 3 (1998, 2003, 2007)
Most seasons with 11 or more touchdown receptions – 8 – tied with Jerry Rice
Most seasons with 10 or more touchdown receptions – 9 – tied with Jerry Rice
Most games in a season with at least 2 touchdown receptions – 8 (2007)
One of two players to have 1,600+ receiving yards and 16+ receiving touchdowns in a season (2003), the other being Calvin Johnson (2011)
Most yards receiving in a Pro Bowl game – 212 (2000)
Most touchdowns scored in first 10 games with a new team – 16 (2007)
Most 1,200+ yard receiving seasons to start a career – 6 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003)
Moss has averaged at least one receiving touchdown per game played in four different seasons: 1998 (17 TDs in 16 games), 2003 (17 in 16), 2004 (13 in 13), and 2007 (23 in 16)
At the end of the 2008 season, Moss averaged 12.3 receiving TDs per season
4× 100+ yard games in his first four games with a new team in 2007
Youngest player in NFL history to record his 100th receiving touchdown (29 years and 235 days)
Youngest player in NFL history to record his 120th receiving touchdown (30 years, 313 days)
Most receiving yards before 30th birthday – 10,700
Most TD receptions before 30th birthday – 101
Youngest player to reach 6,000 career receiving yards (25 years and 270 days; later broken by Mike Evans)
Fastest player to reach 5,000 career receiving yards – 59 games (broke record of 61 games by Jerry Rice)
Youngest player to reach 5,000 career receiving yards - 24 years 292 days
Highest career yards per catch average for any player with 900+ receptions – 15.6 yards per reception
Youngest player to have 3 touchdown receptions in a game (21 years, 286 days; later broken by Rob Gronkowski)
Most offensive touchdowns in first two seasons: 28 (Tied with Rob Gronkowski)
Career highlights
6× Pro Bowl selection
4× All-Pro selection
2007 AFC Champion
2012 NFC Champion
Is second on the Minnesota Vikings all-time receiving touchdown list with 92. Cris Carter holds the record with 110 receiving scores
Caught his 100th touchdown pass in 2006 against San Francisco, the seventh player to do so
Holds the record for most touchdowns in Minnesota Vikings playoff history with 9
10× 1,000+ yard receiving seasons – 2nd all-time
64 career 100-yard games – 2nd all-time; most recent November 15, 2009
156 touchdown receptions – 2nd all-time
73.6 receiving yards per game – 7th all-time
15,292 receiving yards – 4th all-time
954 career receptions – 10th all-time
Has completed 4 of 8 passes for 106 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 1 interception, giving him a 95.8 passer rating
Only player to catch 90+ touchdown passes, return a punt for a touchdown, and throw 2 touchdown passes
Has played on two of the five highest-scoring teams (for a single season) in NFL history: 2007 Patriots (589 points) and the 1998 Vikings (556 points); both were the highest-scoring teams in NFL history thitherto
Had a career-high 12 receptions for 204 yards against the Chicago Bears, at Soldier Field, on November 14, 1999, in a 27–24 overtime win
Holds the Vikings record for most 100-yard receiving games with 41
Has two touchdowns or more in 39 different games (including 3 in the postseason); most recent September 26, 2010
Has two touchdown receptions or more in 37 different games – (2nd all-time)
Has three touchdown receptions or more in 9 different games – (2nd all-time): at Dallas (November 26, 1998), a 46–36 victory; vs. Chicago (December 6, 1998), a 48–22 victory; at Detroit (October 1, 2000), a 31–24 victory; vs. New York Giants (November 19, 2001) a 28–16 victory; vs. San Francisco (September 28, 2003), a 35–7 victory; at Buffalo (November 18, 2007), a 56–10 victory; at Miami (November 23, 2008), a 48–28 victory; vs. Tennessee (October 18, 2009), a 59–0 victory; vs. Jacksonville (December 27, 2009), a 35–7 victory
Caught a career-high four touchdowns at Buffalo (all in the first half) – November 18, 2007
Had an interception while playing defense in the last few seconds of the first half of the Patriots' game against the Denver Broncos on October 11, 2009
Has 4 career two-point conversions
Randy Moss Motorsports
On April 29, 2008, Moss announced the formation of Randy Moss Motorsports, an auto racing team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In July 2008, Moss announced that he had bought a 50 percent share in Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, with the team's No. 46 entry switching to No. 81. The team was reportedly shut down in 2012.
Post-football career
Upon his release from the 49ers, Moss was hired as an analyst for Fox Sports 1's Fox Football Daily show. Moss was hired as an associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Victory Christian Center High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, in June 2014, where his son was attending high school and playing football.
In July 2016, Moss joined ESPN as an analyst, appearing on Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018. In 2019, Moss was named to the National Football League 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Charity
Moss has participated in, founded, and financed many charitable endeavors since joining the NFL, particularly aimed at helping children. Many times when talking about his charity work, he has said he just looks forward to "seeing smiles." He has donated clothing and food to needy families, given away free backpacks to Boston area school-children, and hosted autograph signings. He has also bussed children to amusement parks, NBA games, and even NFL games in which he has played.
On June 29, 2005, he hosted the Randy Moss Celebrity Charity Invitational Bass Tournament. The tournament was a one-day event that paired celebrities and corporate sponsors with pro fishermen to raise money for the Smile Network, which is a foundation that provides financial assistance to children with treatable mouth problems, such as cleft palate. The tournaments motto is "fish for a smile."
In 2008, Moss formed the Links for Learning foundation, which was established to help children in his home state of West Virginia, and to build learning centers for the most needy student populations. In June, he and his former high school teammate Jason Williams hosted the foundations first annual charity golf tournament at the Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Hurricane, West Virginia. In March 2009, Moss's foundation made a donation that enabled the Women and Children's Hospital of Charleston, West Virginia to purchase a Starlight Children's Foundation 'Fun Center' for their patients. The 'Fun Center' is a portable bedside entertainment system equipped with a TV, DVD player, and 22 Nintendo Wii games.
Personal life
Moss's parents are Maxine Moss and Randy Pratt. Moss has little contact with his father. He has a sister named Lutisia and had a brother Eric, who had a short stint in the NFL as an offensive tackle with the Minnesota Vikings. Moss has five children: Lexi Adkins, Sydney, Senali, Thaddeus, and Montigo. Thaddeus is a tight end on the Cincinnati Bengals. Moss is also a Christian, attested by his NFL Hall of Fame Speech.
Traffic incident
On September 24, 2002, in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, Moss was driving and was preparing to make an illegal turn. A traffic control officer, noticing what he was about to do, stood in front of his vehicle and ordered him to stop. Eyewitness accounts of the event differ at this point, but Moss did not comply with the officer's order, and she was bumped by his vehicle and fell to the ground. Moss was arrested, and a search of his vehicle revealed a joint amounting to less than a gram of marijuana in his ashtray. Initially charged with felony Suspicion of Assault with a Deadly Weapon and a misdemeanor marijuana possession, Moss spent the night in jail and was released the following morning. Moss pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor traffic violation and was ordered to pay a $1,200 fine and perform 40 hours of community service. While the criminal charges were thus disposed of, the civil lawsuit filed by the traffic control officer brought a substantial penalty fine "in the low to mid six figures". Moss claimed that the joint was not his, and that he had let friends use his car prior to the accident.
Marijuana use
In April 1996, Moss smoked a joint just prior to turning himself in to jail. He was scheduled to finish the remainder of his 30-day sentence for misdemeanor battery while in high school. During his first week in jail, Moss was given a drug test that came back positive. He was placed in solitary confinement for a week and had 60 days attached to his 27-day sentence. Coach Bobby Bowden revoked his scholarship and Moss was dismissed from Florida State University for the failed drug test.
Moss tested positive in 2001 for marijuana under the NFL's substance abuse program and was subject to additional random drug screening for two years. A first time violation of the NFL's drug policy can result in up to 10 tests per month. Moss did not fail an NFL drug test again, and was rotated out of the program after two years.
In August 2005, during an interview with Bryant Gumbel, Moss admitted that he has smoked marijuana during his NFL career "every blue moon." When asked whether he still used marijuana currently, Moss replied "I might. I might have fun. And, you know, hopefully ... I won't get into any trouble by the NFL by saying that, you know. I have had fun throughout my years and, you know, predominantly in the offseason." The interview drew criticism from the league office, and his agent tried to spin it that his words were taken out of context. In response, Moss said "That was really me talking in the past tense of way back in the beginning of my career and my childhood – especially in high school and college."
Dating violence allegations
On January 15, 2008, Orlando-based radio station WDBO reported that Moss "had" been hit with a temporary injunction for protection against dating violence. According to the affidavit, Moss committed a battery upon Rachelle Washington, causing serious injury, and then refused to allow her to seek medical attention. The affidavit out of Broward County reveals Moss cannot come within 500 feet of the victim and cannot use or possess firearms.
The next day, in a locker room press conference, Moss claimed the woman was simply looking for money "over an accident," because her lawyer came to his lawyer, threatening a lawsuit, and asking for money to settle before she went public to the media. Moss stated he had known Washington for about 11 years. He also stated in his defense that he has never assaulted a woman in his entire life, and asked that the media and fans "find out the facts" before "rush[ing] to judgment." Moreover, Moss's lawyer, in an e-mail to the Boston Globe accused the woman's lawyer of "blatant threats and attempts to extort money" from Moss. On March 3, 2008, Rachelle Washington filed papers with the Broward County Circuit Court clerk's office requesting that the restraining order be dissolved and the case closed. No criminal charges were ever filed in the incident.
See also
List of NCAA major college football yearly receiving leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders
References
External links
1977 births
Living people
10,000 receiving yards club
African-American motorsport people
African-American players of American football
African-American sports journalists
All-American college football players
American Conference Pro Bowl players
American football wide receivers
ESPN people
Florida State Seminoles football players
Marshall Thundering Herd football players
Marshall Thundering Herd men's track and field athletes
Minnesota Vikings players
NASCAR team owners
National Conference Pro Bowl players
National Football League Offensive Rookie of the Year Award winners
New England Patriots players
Oakland Raiders players
People from Kanawha County, West Virginia
Players of American football from West Virginia
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
San Francisco 49ers players
Sportspeople from Charleston, West Virginia
Tennessee Titans players | true | [
"Michael Patrick (born September 9, 1944) is a retired American sportscaster, known for his long tenure with ESPN.\n\nEarly career\nPatrick began his broadcasting career in the fall of 1966 at WVSC-Radio in Somerset, Pennsylvania. In 1970, he was named Sports Director at WJXT-TV in Jacksonville, Florida, where he provided play-by-play for Jacksonville Sharks' World Football League (WFL) telecasts (1973–74). He also called Jacksonville University basketball games on both radio and television.\n\nFrom 1975 until 1982, he worked for WJLA-TV as a sports reporter and weekend anchor. During this period, Patrick also did play-by-play for Maryland Terrapins football and basketball broadcasts as well as pre-season games for the Washington Football Team when WJLA had the TV rights to broadcast those games.\n\nESPN\n\nBeginning in 1982, Patrick worked for ESPN, where he is best known for his role as play-by-play announcer on the network's Sunday Night Football telecasts, with Paul Maguire and Joe Theismann from 1987–2005. Patrick was briefly replaced in 2004 by Pat Summerall, while he recovered from heart bypass surgery.\n\nHe has also called college football, men's and women's college basketball, and the College World Series for the network, as well as several NFL playoff games for ABC Sports while the network held the Monday Night Football television package.\n\nIn 2006, Patrick became the lead play-by-play announcer for ESPN on College Football Primetime, along with Todd Blackledge and field reporter Holly Rowe. In July 2009, ESPN announced that Patrick would begin calling Saturday afternoon ESPN/ABC college football for the 2009 college football season, which he did through 2017.\n\nIn addition, Patrick called the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship from 1996 through 2009 and the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska from 2003 until 2014.\n\nOn February 21, 2018, Patrick retired from ESPN after 35 years with the network.\n\nNon ESPN-related assignments\n\nPatrick also did play-by-play of Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) football and basketball games for Jefferson-Pilot (now Lincoln Financial Sports) between 1984 and 1986.\n\nPatrick is the play-by-play man for MVP 06: NCAA Baseball as well as MVP 07: NCAA Baseball.\n\nFor 2015, 2016 and 2017, Patrick did play-by-play for the Cleveland Browns preseason football games.\n\nPatrick resides in northern Virginia with his wife, Janet.\n\nReferences\n\n1944 births\nLiving people\nAmerican television sports announcers\nCollege baseball announcers in the United States\nWomen's college basketball announcers in the United States\nCollege basketball announcers in the United States\nCollege football announcers\nGeorge Washington University alumni\nMaryland Terrapins men's basketball announcers\nMaryland Terrapins football announcers\nNational Football League announcers\nPeople from Clarksburg, West Virginia\nWorld Football League announcers\nJournalists from West Virginia\nTelevision anchors from Jacksonville, Florida",
"Joseph Daniel Davis (born December 6, 1987) is an American television sportscaster who serves as the play-by-play broadcast announcer for Los Angeles Dodgers telecasts on Spectrum SportsNet LA. He also calls college football, college basketball, MLB baseball and NFL for Fox Sports and NFL Network.\n\nEarly years\n\nDavis grew up in Potterville, Michigan, and graduated from Beloit College in 2010 with a degree in communications and journalism.\n\nBroadcasting career\nDavis started his professional career calling football, basketball, baseball and hockey for ESPN and was formerly the voice of the Montgomery Biscuits. From 2010 to 2012, Davis called college football, basketball, and baseball for Comcast Sports Southeast and served as a studio host for the Baylor ISP Network for the Baylor Bears and called NCAA Division III football and basketball for D3Sports.com. He is one of the very few broadcasters who has announced Division I sports along with Division III sports as well. For one season, Joe was the lead voice of the 2009 Illinois High School Volleyball State Championships and was the manager of broadcasting and media as well as calling games for the Schaumburg Flyers. His past work includes Beloit College basketball (men's and women's) and baseball as well as fill-in work for the Loyola Ramblers men's volleyball and women's basketball. He also called Sun Belt football and basketball for the Sun Belt Network. In 2012, he worked college football for ESPN, including the memorable Texas A&M win over Louisiana Tech with Johnny Manziel.\n\nFox Sports, NFL Network and FS1\nIn July 2014 Davis was hired by Fox Sports, where he calls college football and basketball, plus Major League Baseball and select National Football League games for the network and FS1. Davis handles Division Series broadcasts on Fox/FS1 and filled in on Game 4 of the 2019 American League Championship Series while Joe Buck called Thursday Night Football the same evening. Davis also filled in on Game 7 of the 2020 National League Championship Series while Joe Buck called NFL on Fox. Later that year, Davis replaced Mike Tirico on the NFL Network broadcast of a Saturday night game between the Carolina Panthers and Green Bay Packers after Tirico was dispatched to fill-in for Al Michaels on NBC Sunday Night Football.\n\nLos Angeles Dodgers\nIn November 2015, Davis was hired by SportsNet LA to serve as an alternate play-by-play commentator for the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 2016 season. He split the play-by-play role with Charley Steiner for games that were not called by Vin Scully, who would be retiring as the team's television broadcaster at the end of the season. Davis subsequently became Scully's successor for the 2017 season, alongside Orel Hershiser on color. In interviews, Davis stated that he did not plan to entirely emulate Vin Scully's style, use his catchphrases, or be viewed as a \"replacement\" of him, arguing that one cannot \"replace the greatest anyone of all time in anything\". He did, however, state that he wanted to maintain Scully's focus upon storytelling as a reminder of the traits of Scully. In regard to his transition to the role, Davis explained that \"hopefully, some have listened and at least learned to tolerate me. But for my comfort level, last year was very important, and having Orel in the booth has been the best part, and biggest reason, for this being an enjoyable experience so far, personally and professionally. I'm eternally grateful to him for how he has gone out of his way.\"\n\nPersonal life\nDavis resides in South Pasadena, California, with his wife Libby and three children. One son is named in honor of Davis's colleague and friend, Orel Hershiser.\n\nHis brother, Sam A. Davis, is the cinematographer and co-producer of the film Period. End of Sentence., the winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) at the 91st Academy Awards.\n\nCareer timeline\n2020–present: NFL Network Saturday Special play-by-play\n2017–present: MLB Postseason for FS1 play-by-play (Division Series and Championship Series)\n2016–present: Los Angeles Dodgers on SportsNet LA play-by-play\n2015–present: Fox NFL play-by-play (Select Weeks)\n2014–present: Fox MLB play-by-play \n2014–present: College football, basketball, and baseball on FS1 play-by-play\n2012–2014: College football, basketball, baseball, and hockey on ESPN play-by-play\n2011–2012: College football, basketball, and baseball on Comcast Sports Southeast play-by-play\n2010–2012: Montgomery Biscuits play-by-play \n2010–2011: Baylor ISP Network Studio Host\n2007–2010: D3Sports.com football and basketball play-by-play\n2009: Illinois State High School Volleyball State Championships play-by-play on IHSA TV\n2009: Schaumburg Flyers manager of broadcasting & media and play-by-play\n2009: Loyola Ramblers men's volleyball and women's volleyball fill-in play-by-play \n2006–2009 Beloit College baseball and basketball (men's and women's) play-by-play\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nFox Sports Bio\nLos Angeles Times article\n\n1987 births\nLiving people\nAmerican radio sports announcers\nAmerican television sports anchors\nAmerican television sports announcers\nBeloit Buccaneers football players\nCollege baseball announcers in the United States\nCollege basketball announcers in the United States\nCollege football announcers\nCollege hockey announcers in the United States\nHigh school basketball announcers in the United States\nHigh school football announcers in the United States\nLos Angeles Dodgers announcers\nMajor League Baseball broadcasters\nMinor League Baseball broadcasters\nNational Football League announcers\nPeople from Lansing, Michigan\nVolleyball commentators\nWomen's college basketball announcers in the United States\nSoftball announcers"
]
|
[
"Randy Moss",
"Early years",
"Did he always play sports?",
"excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track.",
"Did anyone in his family play sports as well",
"Randy was also on the school's debate team."
]
| C_851e2cea33364400ac299a7537e94da3_1 | Did he ever have aspirations of a specific pro team | 3 | Did Randy Moss ever have aspirations of a specific pro team? | Randy Moss | Moss was born and lived in Rand, West Virginia. He attended DuPont High School, one of two schools that later consolidated into Riverside High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Randy was also on the school's debate team. On the football field, Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He was a star at wide receiver, but also played free safety, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the team's kicker and punter. In 1994, he was honored with the Kennedy Award as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Parade magazine named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995 and in 2009 named him one of the 50 greatest high school football players of all time. At DuPont, he was a teammate of future Chicago Bears linebacker Bobbie Howard. In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (1993, 1994), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams. As a sophomore in 1992, at the age of 15, Moss joined the track & field team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.94 seconds and 21.95 seconds, respectively. This was the only year he competed on the school's track team, but he would later join the Marshall track team and lower his 200 m time to 21.15 seconds. He also played center field for the baseball team. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is a former American football player. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, and the San Francisco 49ers. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wide receivers of all time, he holds the NFL single-season touchdown reception record (23 in 2007), the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie (17 in 1998) and is second on the NFL all-time regular season touchdown reception list with 156. Moss was well known for his prowess in securing contested catches and the word "mossed" has entered football vernacular. Post-football, he began working for ESPN as a studio analyst for its Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown programs.
Moss played college football for Marshall University, and twice earned All-America honors. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft, where he played for seven years before a trade in 2005 brought him to the Oakland Raiders. In 2007, Moss was traded to the New England Patriots, where he set the single-season record for touchdown receptions. In October 2010, Moss returned to the Vikings in a trade from the Patriots but was waived less than a month later and then claimed by the Tennessee Titans. After sitting out the 2011 season, Moss signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers in 2012 before retiring following the season. He played in two Super Bowl games, XLII with the Patriots and XLVII with the 49ers, both losses. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
Early years
Moss was born in Rand, West Virginia. He attended DuPont High School, one of two schools that later consolidated into Riverside High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Randy was also on the school's debate team. On the football field, Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He was a star at wide receiver, but also played free safety, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the team's kicker and punter. In 1994, he was honored with the Kennedy Award as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Parade magazine named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995 and in 2009 named him one of the 50 greatest high school football players of all time. At DuPont, he was a teammate of future Chicago Bears linebacker Bobbie Howard.
In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (in 1994 when he was co-player of the year and in 1995), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams. In his senior season of basketball, Moss averaged 30.2 points, 13.7 rebounds, 5.1 steals, 3.8 blocks, and 3.1 assists while shooting 60% from field; he scored a school-record 1,713 career points.
As a sophomore in 1992, at the age of 15, Moss joined the track & field team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.94 seconds and 21.95 seconds, respectively. This was the only year he competed on the school's track team, but he would later join the Marshall track team and lower his 200 m time to 21.15 seconds. He also played center field for the baseball team.
College football career
Moss's dream was to play for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but he also considered going to Ohio State, where his half-brother, Eric, had played offensive tackle. Former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz said "Randy Moss was the best high school football player I've ever seen." Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden said "He was as good as Deion Sanders. Deion's my measuring stick for athletic ability, and this kid was just a bigger Deion."
After originally signing a letter of intent to play college football with Notre Dame in 1995, Moss took part in a racially charged fight at his high school that left one person hospitalized. On March 23, 1995, Moss had backed a friend in a hallway fight against a white student who had allegedly used racist comments towards Randy's friend. Moss was initially charged with a felony for kicking the student, but it was later reduced to a misdemeanor. On August 1, 1995, Moss pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor battery and was sentenced to 30 days behind bars at the South-Central Regional Jail in Charleston, West Virginia. He served 3 days in jail starting that night and would be required to serve the remaining 27 days within the following 18 months, after he completed his freshman year in college. Moss was expelled from DuPont and completed his education at Cabell Alternative School.
Notre Dame subsequently denied his enrollment application, but this did not stop another high-profile college football program from giving him a chance. Notre Dame officials suggested he attend Florida State due to the reputation of its coach, Bobby Bowden, for handling troubled players.
Freshman (1995)
Because of his signed letter of intent at Notre Dame, the NCAA considered him a transfer student to Florida State, so he had to redshirt the 1995 football season.
Redshirt Freshman season (1996)
In 1996, while serving his 30-day jail sentence in a work-release program from 1995, Moss tested positive for marijuana, thus violating his probation, and was dismissed from Florida State. He served an additional 60 days in jail for the probation violation.
Ultimately, Moss transferred to Marshall University, about an hour's drive from his home. Because Marshall was then a Division I-AA school, NCAA rules allowed him to transfer there without losing any further eligibility. In 1996, he set the NCAA Division I-AA records for the most games with a touchdown catch in a season (14), most consecutive games with a touchdown catch (13), most touchdown passes caught in a season (28 – tying Jerry Rice's 1984 record), and most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season (1,709 on 78 catches), a record which still stands. Moss was also the leading kickoff returner in Division I-AA on the season, with 612 total yards and a 34.0-yard average. The 1996 Marshall Thundering Herd went undefeated and won the Division I-AA title, with Moss having four touchdown receptions in the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game. It was Marshall's last season before moving to Division I-A.
At the Southern Conference indoor track championships, Moss ran the 200 meters in 21.15 seconds, missing the conference record by only .02 seconds. Although Moss had not raced competitively for four years, his time was one of the best in the country that year.
Sophomore season (1997)
In the 1997 season, Marshall's first in Division I-A, Moss and Quarterback Chad Pennington were the centerpiece of an explosive offense that led the Thundering Herd to the Mid-American Conference title. Moss caught 26 touchdown passes that season, at the time a Division I-A record, and was a first-team All-American.
The first game of the season was at West Virginia University where Marshall lost. The second game of the season saw Moss pick up right where he left off in 1996. Facing Army, Moss caught 5 balls for 186 yards and two touchdowns. One touchdown went for 79 yards in which Pennington lobbed the ball down the left sideline. Moss leaped over an Army defender to snag the ball out of the air at the 40-yard line while the safety crashed into his teammate, knocking both men down. Moss galloped the last 50 yards untouched for the score. The other touchdown reception was his career-long of 90 yards that came on a short screen pass on third down. Moss caught the ball on the right side of the field at his own 8-yard line, ran past 3 defenders in the middle of the field at the 15-yard line, hurdled two defenders coming from both sides of the left hash marks at the 25-yard line, then raced past the last defender at the 50-yard line before finally seeing daylight down the left sideline.
A week later, Moss posted his third career 200+ yard receiving game, against Kent State. Two weeks after that was his fourth and final 200+ yard game in college, recording 13 catches for 205 yards and a Marshall single-game record of 5 touchdown receptions against Ball State.
In the 1997 Ford Motor City Bowl against Ole Miss, Moss added his 26th touchdown of the season on Marshall's first offensive play from scrimmage. He streaked down the right sideline and caught an 80-yard touchdown pass from Pennington to tie the score at 7–7. NCAA rules at the time did not allow for statistics from bowl games to be combined with regular-season stats, so the touchdown did not officially increase his season touchdown record. The two teams traded the lead several times in the fourth quarter before Ole Miss running back Deuce McAllister scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds to play, giving them a 34–31 lead. Trying to pull out a last-second win, Pennington connected with Moss on a 40-yard pass on the final play of the game, but he was stripped of the ball as time expired. Moss finished the game with 6 receptions for 173 yards.
Moss finished his career at Marshall having scored at least one touchdown in all 28 games that he played. He won the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the season's outstanding receiver regardless of position, and was a finalist for the 1997 Heisman Trophy (finishing fourth in the balloting, behind Ryan Leaf, Peyton Manning, and Charles Woodson, who won the award). A controversial comment was made by Randy Moss in 1997 at a ceremony at Marshall University where he was commenting in regards to the 1970 plane crash that killed most their football team that the crash "was a tragedy, but it really wasn't nothing big". Moss later claimed that the quotes were taken out of context. Nate Ruffin, who is a surviving member of the 1970 Football Team, later met with Randy Moss.
College statistics
Includes stats from the 1997 Motor City Bowl against Ole Miss
NCAA records
Division I-AA – regular season
Most games with a touchdown reception in a season – 11 (1996)
Most consecutive games with a touchdown reception in a season – 11 (1996)
Most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season – 1073 (1996)
Most touchdown receptions caught by a freshman in a season – 19 (1996 – record for all NCAA divisions)
Division I-AA – playoffs
Most touchdown receptions in a single game – 4 (vs. Montana, December 21, 1996)
Most yards receiving in a single game – 288 (vs. Delaware, November 30, 1996)
Most touchdown receptions in a tournament – 9 (4 games in 1996)
Most yards receiving in a tournament – 636 (4 games in 1996)
Professional football career
1998 NFL Draft
Moss skipped his senior season at Marshall and entered the NFL Draft. He did not attend the NFL Combine, opting instead for an individual workout at Marshall's pro day. Moss ran the 40 yard dash in the 4.24-4.28 range by scouts' hand timers and posted vertical leaps of 47 and 51 inches. Numerous teams had scouts on hand with many noting the work-out was jaw dropping.
During the 1998 NFL Draft, Moss, who was projected as a high first-round pick, was taken by the Minnesota Vikings with the 21st overall pick after a number of NFL clubs—even those in need of a WR—were concerned with Moss's well-documented legal problems. Before the draft Moss was quoted as saying teams that passed on him "will regret it once they see what kind of a player I am and what kind of guy I really am." The team most often cited for passing on Moss is the Dallas Cowboys. Moss grew up a Cowboys fan and wanted to play for the Cowboys. The Cowboys wanted Moss, but because of many off-field incidents of their own, team owner and GM Jerry Jones did not feel the team could draft Moss. Moss felt that the Cowboys lied to him because they had told him they would draft him. On draft day, Dallas went so far as to have a scout in Charleston, West Virginia, the same town where Moss and his mother were watching the draft. Dallas star receiver Michael Irvin even called to apologize to Moss, because Irvin's own off-field problems were a main reason Moss was not drafted by Dallas. After the draft, Moss made a point of beating the Cowboys any time he faced them, getting his first opportunity to do so in Week 13 of his rookie season. In a game held at Texas Stadium, Moss torched Dallas with a 163-yard, 3-touchdown performance.
After the draft, Moss signed a 4-year, $4.5 million contract that included an additional $4 million in bonuses and incentives. As part of the deal, he received a $2 million signing bonus. Moss originally wore #18 in training camp (a number he would eventually wear for Oakland) but switched to the more conventional #84 before the regular season began.
Minnesota Vikings
1998 season
In 1998, Moss helped the Vikings to become the number 1 rated offense ever at the time, setting the single-season record for scoring (later surpassed by the 2007 New England Patriots, a team that also featured Moss) with 556 points.
The Vikings opened the season with a 31–7 rout against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Moss's first NFL game would also be his first multi-touchdown game as he recorded 4 receptions for 95 yards and two touchdowns. His first NFL reception came on the third play of the game on an 11-yard pass from Brad Johnson. His first touchdown was a 48-yard acrobatic grab over defensive back Floyd Young late in the first quarter, in which Moss juggled the ball 3 times before securing it for the score. He added a 31-yard touchdown reception on the Vikings' first possession of the second quarter to give the Vikings a 21–0 lead.
His first Monday Night Football game came in Week 5 against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. He had 5 receptions for 190 yards and two touchdowns, including touchdown grabs of 52 yards and 44 yards, and two other receptions of 46 yards and 41 yards. He also had a 75-yard touchdown catch on the Vikings' first possession of the game that was nullified due to an offensive holding penalty.
Against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, Moss finished with 3 catches for 163 yards and 3 touchdowns all for 50+ yards as the Vikings beat the Cowboys 46–36. Moss was the first rookie to score 3 touchdowns on Thanksgiving.
They finished with a 15–1 record and were poised to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XXXIII. However, the Atlanta Falcons stunned the Vikings by winning the NFC Championship Game 30–27 in overtime.
At the end of the 1998 regular season, Moss was named a Pro Bowl starter and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year for his rookie-record 17 touchdown receptions and the third-highest receiving yardage (1,313) total.
1999 season
In 1999, Moss had another impressive season, catching 80 passes for 1,413 yards and 11 touchdowns, including a punt return for a touchdown. He went on to record five receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown in the Vikings 27–10 NFC wildcard playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys. Minnesota lost in the divisional round to the St. Louis Rams 49–37, despite Moss catching nine passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Moss was fined $40,000, which was later reduced to $25,000, during that game due to squirting an NFL referee with a water bottle. There was a stipulation that he would have to pay the difference in addition to any other fine if he had another run-in with the league.
Moss earned his second straight Pro Bowl appearance, and turned in a record-breaking performance. He had 9 receptions for a Pro Bowl record 212 yards and was given the game's Most Valuable Player award.
2000 season
The 2000 season featured second-year quarterback Daunte Culpepper leading the team. Culpepper had been the team's first-round draft pick in 1999; with a pick they received from the Redskins for quarterback Brad Johnson. He had been selected largely due to his extremely strong arm, which the team believed was perfectly suited for Moss's deep routes. The decision proved correct. Culpepper was a rookie sensation, the Vikings started 7–0, and Moss was a leading MVP candidate. For the second time in three seasons, Moss punished the Dallas Cowboys in Dallas on Thanksgiving Day, including a spectacular 2nd-half touchdown in which Moss caught the ball with his entire body out of bounds, aside from his toes. The play would be the feature shot in NFL commercials for years to come. Moss finished the season with a career-high 1,437 yards and league-leading 15 touchdown catches. In doing so, he became the youngest and fastest player to ever catch over 3,000 yards and 45 touchdowns, earning him his 3rd consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl, and 2nd selection to the All Pro team. The Vikings would make it to the NFC Championship game, only to be blown out 41–0 by the New York Giants.
2001 season
In the offseason, Moss and his agent Danté DiTrapano began negotiating a new contract with the Minnesota Vikings. He was scheduled to earn $3.5 million in 2001. But Moss, who was entering the final year of the rookie contract he signed in 1998, was seeking a long-term deal that would make him the highest-paid player in the NFL. His agent said, "We want to break the tradition of quarterbacks being the highest-paid players." One option the Vikings had would be to apply the franchise tag after the season ended, but sources stated that Moss would request a trade if that happened because it would still be less than what he could command on the open market.
Just prior to the start of training camp in July, Vikings owner Red McCombs signed Moss to an 8-year, $75 million contract extension. The extension included a $10 million signing bonus and another $8 million in guarantees.
Despite finishing the season with 10 touchdowns and posting at least 1,000 receiving yards for the fourth consecutive season, Moss failed to make the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career.
2002 season
After replacing Dennis Green on an interim basis to end the 2001 season, Mike Tice was officially named head coach on January 10, 2002. One of the strategies the Vikings' first-year head coach came up with was a formula to get Moss the ball more often. Coach Tice called it the Randy Ratio. It was an effort on the coaches part to throw 40% of the passes to Moss as a way to keep him involved in the offense more than he had been in the 2001 season when he had stretches in games where he was being shut out, and partly to use more game clock by sustaining long drives to give the Vikings defense a chance to rest. An assistant coach would stand on the sidelines during games and track how many times Moss had been thrown to, and then inform Tice of the percentages so that he is always aware of it. In the 2001 season, the Vikings record was 4–1 when Moss had 40% of the passes thrown his direction, and 1–10 in other games.
The strategy was a response to the 'Randy Rules,' as Vikings receiver Chris Walsh called them. The Randy Rules, similar to the Jordan Rules, were a defensive strategy that teams employed when facing the Vikings to try and eliminate or reduce Randy's impact on the game, and to prevent Moss from being matched up one-on-one with defenders because of his ability to burn them deep or outjump them in single coverage. Opposing teams would routinely double cover Moss with techniques such as having a cornerback attempt to jam him at the line of scrimmage, having a corner defend underneath with a safety defending against the deep ball, having a zone defense roll to Moss's side of the field, and assigning "spies" to follow Moss everywhere he went.
Coach Tice discussed the strategy, explaining that Moss would be running more short and intermediate routes and fewer deep patterns. In training camp, Moss worked specifically on 12 new routes that he had rarely run in his first 4 NFL seasons, such as crossing patterns over the middle of the field and hook routes. Coach Tice said, "When we say Randy Ratio, everybody in the league thinks, 'OK, now they're going to throw the ball down the field to Randy more and more and more.' That's so far from the truth. In fact, we'll probably throw the ball down the field to Randy this year even less."
The Randy Ratio did not last very long, as Tice scrapped the idea midway through the 2002 season. Randy Moss said "I didn't really care much about the Randy Ratio when it was brought up. I just wanted to win." While Moss caught a career-high 106 passes, he also had a career-low 7 touchdown receptions, and the Vikings struggled to a 6–10 record. Tice suggested after the season that it was a mistake to inform opponents about his offensive gameplan, but that it was a tool "to motivate [Moss] and say he was the guy."
2003 season
Moss's fortunes took a better turn on the football field during the 2003 regular season, where he became the second wide receiver in NFL history (behind Jerry Rice in 1995) to play more than 12 games (he played 16) while averaging over 100 yards and one touchdown per contest. He finished with 111 receptions for 1,632 yards and 17 touchdowns. All three numbers either tied or became a new personal best for Moss. The Vikings finished the season 9–7. One of Moss's memorable highlights that year was when he lateraled to Moe Williams for a last-second touchdown during a home game against Denver.
In the offseason, he attended the Vikings strength and conditioning program and added five pounds of muscle to his frame.
2004 season
Moss started the season strong catching 8 touchdowns in his first 5 games of the season. However, he sustained a hamstring injury to his right leg against New Orleans in Week 6 that hampered him for the next five weeks. He played in Week 7 against Tennessee, but had no receptions in a game for the first time in his career. He also played the following week against the Giants, but again recorded no receptions and was used mainly as a decoy. The injury eventually sidelined him for 3 straight weeks. He returned to the lineup in Week 12 with a touchdown catch against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Even though he finished the season with 13 touchdowns in 13 games, he posted career lows in receptions (49) and receiving yards (767). 2004 was the first season in his career that he failed to reach the 1,000-yard mark.
On January 9, 2005, the Minnesota Vikings played division rival Green Bay Packers in an NFC wildcard playoff game. Moss finished the game with 4 catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns in the 31–17 win. After the second score, Moss trotted to the end zone goalpost and feigned pulling down his pants to moon the Green Bay fans. NFL on Fox announcer Joe Buck called it a "disgusting act.” Moss was fined $10,000 for his actions. Though the Vikings would win the game, they would lose in the next round of the playoffs to the Philadelphia Eagles, and Moss would be traded at the end of the season.
Oakland Raiders
On March 2, 2005, Moss was traded to the Oakland Raiders for linebacker Napoleon Harris and the Raiders' first (7th overall, which Minnesota parlayed into wide receiver Troy Williamson) and seventh-round picks in the NFL draft. Adding a player of Moss's caliber generated optimism in Oakland, but the Raiders' poor play continued, while Moss suffered nagging injuries which limited his production. He surpassed the 1,000 mark on the final day of the 2005 season, finishing the year with 1,005 receiving yards on 60 catches. However, Moss only managed 553 yards on 42 balls in 2006.
Moss was not happy in Oakland, and on November 14, 2006, when he was honored as a kick returner by having an award named after him, he responded to questions about his dropped passes and lackluster effort in several games. Moss said, "Maybe because I'm unhappy and I'm not too much excited about what's going on, so, my concentration and focus level tend to go down sometimes when I'm in a bad mood". Days later, he reiterated his unhappiness with losing games and being a member of the Raiders on his weekly segment with Fox Sports Radio, saying, "I might want to look forward to moving somewhere else next year to have another start and really feel good about going out here and playing football".
New England Patriots
2007 season
There were rumors leading up to the 2007 NFL Draft that the Raiders were eager to part ways with Randy Moss through a trade. First-year Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin went so far as to contact their division rival Denver Broncos to "gauge interest", but the Patriots and Green Bay Packers were the two teams most interested in acquiring Moss. Packers QB Brett Favre, who once said, "There is no one in this league who puts fear in people more than Randy Moss," tried to persuade team management to trade for him, but a deal that both sides could agree to did not get done.
During the first day of the NFL Draft, the Patriots and Raiders discussed the trade several times before reaching an agreement. Bill Belichick spoke with Moss for the first time about the possibility of joining the Patriots at 2:30 Sunday morning. Moss then boarded a plane and arrived in Boston later that morning on April 29 and was required to pass a team administered physical. Once he was cleared by Patriots officials, the teams completed a trade that sent Randy Moss to New England for a fourth-round selection in the 2007 NFL Draft. The Patriots had acquired the draft pick the previous day from the San Francisco 49ers, and the Raiders selected John Bowie.
One of the conditions of the trade was that Randy Moss would have to restructure his contract for salary cap reasons. Just hours before the Moss trade was completed, New England quarterback Tom Brady converted $5.28 million of his 2007 base salary into a signing bonus that was spread out over the remaining portion of his contract so that it could free up cap room. This enabled the Patriots to absorb Moss's incoming contract under the salary cap. Moss had two years remaining on his current deal and was scheduled to earn $9.75 million in 2007 and $11.25 million in 2008. Once the Patriots had Moss on their roster, he quickly agreed to a new one-year contract to replace his old one. The new deal gave him a $500,000 signing bonus, a base salary of $2.5 million, and the ability to earn an additional $1.75 million in incentives.
"I’m still in awe that I’m a part of this organization," Moss said, clearly thrilled to join a team that could contend for the Super Bowl and to work with Coach Belichick. "I think that he's the kind of coach that can motivate me. He has a proven track record."
In the first week of training camp, during an 11-on-11 passing drill, Moss suffered a hamstring injury to his left leg. As a precaution, the injury prevented Moss from participating in any preseason games and he missed much of the rest of camp.
His first action in a Patriots uniform came against the New York Jets in Week 1. He quickly quieted critics who claimed that his skills had deteriorated by hauling in nine receptions for 181 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown pass in which he ran past three Jets defenders.
On November 4, 2007, James Black, NFL Editor for Yahoo! Sports wrote, "Every week, in addition to out-leaping at least one defender for a touchdown, [Moss] keeps making incredible one-handed grabs that make you mutter, 'How the heck did he come up with that?'" Two weeks later, he caught a career-high four touchdowns in a single game against Buffalo.
On December 29, the Patriots defeated the New York Giants 38–35, finishing their regular season with a perfect 16–0 record. Moss caught two touchdown passes for a total of 23, breaking the single-season record of 22 touchdown receptions previously set by Jerry Rice (in 12 games in the strike-shortened 1987 season). On the same play, Tom Brady broke Peyton Manning's single-season record set in 2004 with his 50th touchdown pass. Moss recorded 98 catches for 1,493 yards in 2007, the highest yardage total in Patriots franchise history and the third-highest total number of catches, after teammate Wes Welker's 112 catches that same season and Troy Brown's 101 in 2001. He also earned his sixth Pro Bowl selection. His 2007 season featured touchdowns in 13 of 16 games (including eight multi-touchdown games), nine 100-yard games, and six touchdown receptions of 40 or more yards.
Despite his record-breaking 2007 season, Moss was relatively quiet in the playoffs, going two consecutive games without a touchdown for the first time all season. However, in Super Bowl XLII, he scored the go-ahead touchdown with 2:42 left in the fourth quarter on a six-yard pass from Tom Brady. The score was not enough for the heavily favored Patriots to end their only undefeated season with a Super Bowl win. Eli Manning drove the Giants down the field, connecting with Plaxico Burress for the game-winning touchdown and an upset over the Patriots.
2008 season
On February 28, 2008, Moss became a free agent after the Patriots decided not to place the franchise tag on Moss. Although the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, and Green Bay Packers were rumored to have interest in Moss, he decided to return to the Patriots, signing a three-year, $27 million deal on March 3, 2008. The contract included a $12 million signing bonus, and a total of $14.1 million guaranteed.
The first game of the 2008 season saw Brady suffer a torn ACL in his left knee while attempting a pass to Randy Moss. The play occurred in the first half against the Kansas City Chiefs when safety Bernard Pollard dove at Brady's leg while in his throwing motion. Moss described what he saw on the play by saying "any time you see something like that, that looks foul, it looks dirty, it opens your eyes. So, me personally, it looked dirty." Matt Cassel replaced Brady for the rest of the season.
In 2008, Moss hauled in 69 catches for 1,008 yards and 11 touchdowns despite losing quarterback Tom Brady in the first game of the season.
2009 season
In the season opener of 2009, Moss caught a career-high 12 passes for 141 yards in a comeback 25–24 victory over the Bills. In Week 5 against the Denver Broncos, Moss was placed deep in coverage on a Broncos Hail Mary attempt to end the first half, and intercepted Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton. In a snowy Week 6 game against the winless Tennessee Titans, Moss caught three touchdown passes from Tom Brady, two of them in the 2nd quarter as Brady set a record for most touchdown passes in a single quarter with five. This was Moss's 34th multi-touchdown game, and his 8th game with three or more touchdowns.
During the Patriots' bye week, Belichick stated that Moss "is the smartest receiver he's ever been around." He compared Moss's ability to see the field and anticipate plays to that of Tom Brady, and to Lawrence Taylor, who Belichick coached with the New York Giants. He said Moss not only knows what he's doing on a play, but what everybody else on the field is doing as well. "That's what makes them special. They just have a sixth, seventh sense", Belichick said. This sentiment was repeated when Moss was inducted into the Hall of Fame, as Belichick went further to say he learned from Moss.
In Week 9 against the Miami Dolphins Moss added six catches for 147 yards and 1 touchdown. The touchdown reception was the 140th of his career, which moved him into a tie for second place with Terrell Owens.
The following week, in a prime time Sunday night matchup against the Indianapolis Colts, Moss had 179 yards and two touchdowns, including a 63-yard touchdown in the 2nd quarter that moved him ahead of Terrell Owens for sole possession of second place in career touchdown receptions. In the same game, he became just the 11th player in NFL history with 900+ receptions and the seventh player to reach 14,000+ career receiving yards.
He finished the season with 83 receptions for 1,264 yards and an NFL-high 13 touchdowns. New England would lose the AFC Wild Card playoff to the Baltimore Ravens 33–14.
2010 season
In the week leading up to the Patriots' 2010 season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, Moss, who was entering the final year of his contract told CBS Sports that he "did not feel wanted" in New England absent a contract extension offer. Moss would go on to catch 5 passes for 59 yards in Week 1. After the game, Moss told reporters that it would be his final season with the Patriots. The Boston Herald reported weeks later that Moss requested a trade following the game.
Moss had two receptions in Week 2 against the New York Jets, including a 34-yard touchdown that he caught one-handed after beating All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis. The following week against the Buffalo Bills, Moss had two more catches, both for touchdowns. His final game in New England came in Week 4 on Monday Night Football against the Miami Dolphins; he did not record a catch in the game for the first time in his Patriots career as a touchdown pass attempt off a fake spike bounced off his hands in the end zone.
Return to Minnesota
Two days after the Patriots' game against Miami, Moss was traded to the Minnesota Vikings, in exchange for the Vikings' third-round selection (later used to select quarterback Ryan Mallett) in the 2011 NFL Draft. The Patriots also sent a 2012 seventh-round selection to the Vikings as part of the trade.
On November 1, less than four weeks after being traded to Minnesota, Vikings head coach Brad Childress told Vikings players in a team meeting that Moss was going to be waived by the team, one day after he criticized Childress and teammates in a press conference following the Vikings' loss to the Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Just before the press conference, Moss reportedly told team owner Zygi Wilf that Childress was unfit to coach in the NFL and should be fired. Wilf reportedly considered firing Childress and keeping Moss, but Moss was officially waived the next day, November 2. Childress was eventually fired on November 22.
Tennessee Titans
Moss was claimed off waivers by the Tennessee Titans, the only team to submit a claim, on November 3, 2010. Moss played eight games with the Titans, starting four. He made six catches for 80 yards and no touchdowns.
Moss finished the 2010 season with career lows in receptions (28) and receiving yards (393). The Titans stated that they did not plan to re-sign Moss for the 2011 season, and he became a free agent.
Initial retirement and comeback
On August 1, 2011, Moss's agent, Joel Segal, announced Moss's decision to retire from professional football.
On February 13, 2012, his 35th birthday, Moss announced that he was coming out of retirement and was ready to play again. In a live video chat with his fans via Ustream, Moss stated, "I wanna play football. Your boy is going to come back here and play some football, so I'm really excited. I had some things I had to adjust in my life."
San Francisco 49ers
On March 12, 2012, Moss signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers for undisclosed financial terms after a workout with the team's head coach Jim Harbaugh. On September 9, 2012, Moss caught his 154th touchdown reception, and subsequently passed Terrell Owens for sole possession of 2nd on the all-time receiving touchdown list. After Alex Smith suffered a concussion against the St. Louis Rams in week 10, Colin Kaepernick took over as the team's quarterback, and Moss had at least two receptions in each of the remaining five games of the regular season. He finished the season with 28 catches for 434 yards and three touchdowns. Since the retirement of Terrell Owens at the end of 2010, he had been the NFL's active leader in receiving yards. Moss would eventually go on to play in Super Bowl XLVII, where he had two receptions for 41 yards in a 31–34 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
NFL career statistics
Regular season
NFL records
Most touchdown receptions in a season – 23 (2007)
Most touchdown receptions by a rookie in a season – 17 (1998)
Most seasons with 17 or more touchdown receptions – 3 (1998, 2003, 2007)
Most seasons with 16 or more touchdown receptions – 3 (1998, 2003, 2007)
Most seasons with 11 or more touchdown receptions – 8 – tied with Jerry Rice
Most seasons with 10 or more touchdown receptions – 9 – tied with Jerry Rice
Most games in a season with at least 2 touchdown receptions – 8 (2007)
One of two players to have 1,600+ receiving yards and 16+ receiving touchdowns in a season (2003), the other being Calvin Johnson (2011)
Most yards receiving in a Pro Bowl game – 212 (2000)
Most touchdowns scored in first 10 games with a new team – 16 (2007)
Most 1,200+ yard receiving seasons to start a career – 6 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003)
Moss has averaged at least one receiving touchdown per game played in four different seasons: 1998 (17 TDs in 16 games), 2003 (17 in 16), 2004 (13 in 13), and 2007 (23 in 16)
At the end of the 2008 season, Moss averaged 12.3 receiving TDs per season
4× 100+ yard games in his first four games with a new team in 2007
Youngest player in NFL history to record his 100th receiving touchdown (29 years and 235 days)
Youngest player in NFL history to record his 120th receiving touchdown (30 years, 313 days)
Most receiving yards before 30th birthday – 10,700
Most TD receptions before 30th birthday – 101
Youngest player to reach 6,000 career receiving yards (25 years and 270 days; later broken by Mike Evans)
Fastest player to reach 5,000 career receiving yards – 59 games (broke record of 61 games by Jerry Rice)
Youngest player to reach 5,000 career receiving yards - 24 years 292 days
Highest career yards per catch average for any player with 900+ receptions – 15.6 yards per reception
Youngest player to have 3 touchdown receptions in a game (21 years, 286 days; later broken by Rob Gronkowski)
Most offensive touchdowns in first two seasons: 28 (Tied with Rob Gronkowski)
Career highlights
6× Pro Bowl selection
4× All-Pro selection
2007 AFC Champion
2012 NFC Champion
Is second on the Minnesota Vikings all-time receiving touchdown list with 92. Cris Carter holds the record with 110 receiving scores
Caught his 100th touchdown pass in 2006 against San Francisco, the seventh player to do so
Holds the record for most touchdowns in Minnesota Vikings playoff history with 9
10× 1,000+ yard receiving seasons – 2nd all-time
64 career 100-yard games – 2nd all-time; most recent November 15, 2009
156 touchdown receptions – 2nd all-time
73.6 receiving yards per game – 7th all-time
15,292 receiving yards – 4th all-time
954 career receptions – 10th all-time
Has completed 4 of 8 passes for 106 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 1 interception, giving him a 95.8 passer rating
Only player to catch 90+ touchdown passes, return a punt for a touchdown, and throw 2 touchdown passes
Has played on two of the five highest-scoring teams (for a single season) in NFL history: 2007 Patriots (589 points) and the 1998 Vikings (556 points); both were the highest-scoring teams in NFL history thitherto
Had a career-high 12 receptions for 204 yards against the Chicago Bears, at Soldier Field, on November 14, 1999, in a 27–24 overtime win
Holds the Vikings record for most 100-yard receiving games with 41
Has two touchdowns or more in 39 different games (including 3 in the postseason); most recent September 26, 2010
Has two touchdown receptions or more in 37 different games – (2nd all-time)
Has three touchdown receptions or more in 9 different games – (2nd all-time): at Dallas (November 26, 1998), a 46–36 victory; vs. Chicago (December 6, 1998), a 48–22 victory; at Detroit (October 1, 2000), a 31–24 victory; vs. New York Giants (November 19, 2001) a 28–16 victory; vs. San Francisco (September 28, 2003), a 35–7 victory; at Buffalo (November 18, 2007), a 56–10 victory; at Miami (November 23, 2008), a 48–28 victory; vs. Tennessee (October 18, 2009), a 59–0 victory; vs. Jacksonville (December 27, 2009), a 35–7 victory
Caught a career-high four touchdowns at Buffalo (all in the first half) – November 18, 2007
Had an interception while playing defense in the last few seconds of the first half of the Patriots' game against the Denver Broncos on October 11, 2009
Has 4 career two-point conversions
Randy Moss Motorsports
On April 29, 2008, Moss announced the formation of Randy Moss Motorsports, an auto racing team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In July 2008, Moss announced that he had bought a 50 percent share in Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, with the team's No. 46 entry switching to No. 81. The team was reportedly shut down in 2012.
Post-football career
Upon his release from the 49ers, Moss was hired as an analyst for Fox Sports 1's Fox Football Daily show. Moss was hired as an associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Victory Christian Center High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, in June 2014, where his son was attending high school and playing football.
In July 2016, Moss joined ESPN as an analyst, appearing on Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018. In 2019, Moss was named to the National Football League 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Charity
Moss has participated in, founded, and financed many charitable endeavors since joining the NFL, particularly aimed at helping children. Many times when talking about his charity work, he has said he just looks forward to "seeing smiles." He has donated clothing and food to needy families, given away free backpacks to Boston area school-children, and hosted autograph signings. He has also bussed children to amusement parks, NBA games, and even NFL games in which he has played.
On June 29, 2005, he hosted the Randy Moss Celebrity Charity Invitational Bass Tournament. The tournament was a one-day event that paired celebrities and corporate sponsors with pro fishermen to raise money for the Smile Network, which is a foundation that provides financial assistance to children with treatable mouth problems, such as cleft palate. The tournaments motto is "fish for a smile."
In 2008, Moss formed the Links for Learning foundation, which was established to help children in his home state of West Virginia, and to build learning centers for the most needy student populations. In June, he and his former high school teammate Jason Williams hosted the foundations first annual charity golf tournament at the Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Hurricane, West Virginia. In March 2009, Moss's foundation made a donation that enabled the Women and Children's Hospital of Charleston, West Virginia to purchase a Starlight Children's Foundation 'Fun Center' for their patients. The 'Fun Center' is a portable bedside entertainment system equipped with a TV, DVD player, and 22 Nintendo Wii games.
Personal life
Moss's parents are Maxine Moss and Randy Pratt. Moss has little contact with his father. He has a sister named Lutisia and had a brother Eric, who had a short stint in the NFL as an offensive tackle with the Minnesota Vikings. Moss has five children: Lexi Adkins, Sydney, Senali, Thaddeus, and Montigo. Thaddeus is a tight end on the Cincinnati Bengals. Moss is also a Christian, attested by his NFL Hall of Fame Speech.
Traffic incident
On September 24, 2002, in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, Moss was driving and was preparing to make an illegal turn. A traffic control officer, noticing what he was about to do, stood in front of his vehicle and ordered him to stop. Eyewitness accounts of the event differ at this point, but Moss did not comply with the officer's order, and she was bumped by his vehicle and fell to the ground. Moss was arrested, and a search of his vehicle revealed a joint amounting to less than a gram of marijuana in his ashtray. Initially charged with felony Suspicion of Assault with a Deadly Weapon and a misdemeanor marijuana possession, Moss spent the night in jail and was released the following morning. Moss pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor traffic violation and was ordered to pay a $1,200 fine and perform 40 hours of community service. While the criminal charges were thus disposed of, the civil lawsuit filed by the traffic control officer brought a substantial penalty fine "in the low to mid six figures". Moss claimed that the joint was not his, and that he had let friends use his car prior to the accident.
Marijuana use
In April 1996, Moss smoked a joint just prior to turning himself in to jail. He was scheduled to finish the remainder of his 30-day sentence for misdemeanor battery while in high school. During his first week in jail, Moss was given a drug test that came back positive. He was placed in solitary confinement for a week and had 60 days attached to his 27-day sentence. Coach Bobby Bowden revoked his scholarship and Moss was dismissed from Florida State University for the failed drug test.
Moss tested positive in 2001 for marijuana under the NFL's substance abuse program and was subject to additional random drug screening for two years. A first time violation of the NFL's drug policy can result in up to 10 tests per month. Moss did not fail an NFL drug test again, and was rotated out of the program after two years.
In August 2005, during an interview with Bryant Gumbel, Moss admitted that he has smoked marijuana during his NFL career "every blue moon." When asked whether he still used marijuana currently, Moss replied "I might. I might have fun. And, you know, hopefully ... I won't get into any trouble by the NFL by saying that, you know. I have had fun throughout my years and, you know, predominantly in the offseason." The interview drew criticism from the league office, and his agent tried to spin it that his words were taken out of context. In response, Moss said "That was really me talking in the past tense of way back in the beginning of my career and my childhood – especially in high school and college."
Dating violence allegations
On January 15, 2008, Orlando-based radio station WDBO reported that Moss "had" been hit with a temporary injunction for protection against dating violence. According to the affidavit, Moss committed a battery upon Rachelle Washington, causing serious injury, and then refused to allow her to seek medical attention. The affidavit out of Broward County reveals Moss cannot come within 500 feet of the victim and cannot use or possess firearms.
The next day, in a locker room press conference, Moss claimed the woman was simply looking for money "over an accident," because her lawyer came to his lawyer, threatening a lawsuit, and asking for money to settle before she went public to the media. Moss stated he had known Washington for about 11 years. He also stated in his defense that he has never assaulted a woman in his entire life, and asked that the media and fans "find out the facts" before "rush[ing] to judgment." Moreover, Moss's lawyer, in an e-mail to the Boston Globe accused the woman's lawyer of "blatant threats and attempts to extort money" from Moss. On March 3, 2008, Rachelle Washington filed papers with the Broward County Circuit Court clerk's office requesting that the restraining order be dissolved and the case closed. No criminal charges were ever filed in the incident.
See also
List of NCAA major college football yearly receiving leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders
References
External links
1977 births
Living people
10,000 receiving yards club
African-American motorsport people
African-American players of American football
African-American sports journalists
All-American college football players
American Conference Pro Bowl players
American football wide receivers
ESPN people
Florida State Seminoles football players
Marshall Thundering Herd football players
Marshall Thundering Herd men's track and field athletes
Minnesota Vikings players
NASCAR team owners
National Conference Pro Bowl players
National Football League Offensive Rookie of the Year Award winners
New England Patriots players
Oakland Raiders players
People from Kanawha County, West Virginia
Players of American football from West Virginia
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
San Francisco 49ers players
Sportspeople from Charleston, West Virginia
Tennessee Titans players | false | [
"The 2018 All-Pro teams were named by the Associated Press (AP), Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA), and Sporting News (SN) for performance in the 2018 NFL season. While none of the All-Pro teams have the official imprimatur of the NFL (whose official recognition is nomination to the 2019 Pro Bowl), they are included in the NFL Record and Fact Book and also part of the language of the 2011 NFLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement. Any player selected to the first-team of any of the teams can be described as an \"All-Pro.\" The AP team, with first-team and second-team selections, was chosen by a national panel of fifty NFL writers and broadcasters. The Sporting News All-NFL team is voted on by NFL players and executives and will be released at a later date. The PFWA team is selected by its more than 300 national members who are accredited media members covering the NFL.\n\nTeams\n\nAP = Associated Press first-team All-Pro\n\nAP-2 = Associated Press second-team All-Pro\n\nAP-2t = Tied for second-team All-Pro in the AP vote\n\nPFWA = Pro Football Writers Association All-NFL\n\nSN = Sporting News All-Pro\n\nPosition differences:\n\nPFWA and SN did not separate the tackles and guards into more specific positions as the AP did.\n\nBy NFL Team\n\nAP = Associated Press first-team All-Pro\n\nAP-2 = Associated Press second-team All-Pro\n\nAP-2t = Tied for second-team All-Pro in the AP vote\n\nPFWA = Pro Football Writers Association All-NFL\n\nSN = Sporting News All-Pro\n\nPosition differences:\n\nPFWA and SN did not separate the tackles and guards into more specific positions as the AP did.\n\nReferences\n\nAll-Pro Teams\nAllpro",
"The 2016 All-Pro teams were named by the Associated Press (AP), Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA), and Sporting News (SN) for performance in the 2016 NFL season. While none of the All-Pro teams have the official imprimatur of the NFL (whose official recognition is nomination to the 2017 Pro Bowl), they are included in the NFL Record and Fact Book and also part of the language of the 2011 NFLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement. Any player selected to the first-team of any of the teams can be described as an \"All-Pro.\" The AP team, with first-team and second-team selections, was chosen by a national panel of fifty NFL writers and broadcasters. For the first time, the nationwide panel of 60 sports writers and broadcasters who regularly cover the NFL voted for specific positions on the offensive line, a \"flex\" player on offense, a fifth defensive back, and a punt returner and special teamer. The Sporting News All-NFL team is voted on by NFL players and executives and will be released at a later date. The PFWA team is selected by its more than 300 national members who are accredited media members covering the NFL.\n\nTeams\n\nKey\nAP = Associated Press first-team All-Pro\n\nAP-2 = Associated Press second-team All-Pro\nAP-2t = Tied for second-team All-Pro in the AP vote\nPFWA = Pro Football Writers Association All-NFL\nSN = Sporting News All-Pro\n\nPosition differences:\n\nPFWA and SN did not separate the tackles and guards into more specific positions as the AP did.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nAll-Pro Teams\n2016 National Football League season"
]
|
[
"Randy Moss",
"Early years",
"Did he always play sports?",
"excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track.",
"Did anyone in his family play sports as well",
"Randy was also on the school's debate team.",
"Did he ever have aspirations of a specific pro team",
"I don't know."
]
| C_851e2cea33364400ac299a7537e94da3_1 | Was his past always troublesome | 4 | Was Randy Moss's past always troublesome? | Randy Moss | Moss was born and lived in Rand, West Virginia. He attended DuPont High School, one of two schools that later consolidated into Riverside High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Randy was also on the school's debate team. On the football field, Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He was a star at wide receiver, but also played free safety, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the team's kicker and punter. In 1994, he was honored with the Kennedy Award as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Parade magazine named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995 and in 2009 named him one of the 50 greatest high school football players of all time. At DuPont, he was a teammate of future Chicago Bears linebacker Bobbie Howard. In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (1993, 1994), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams. As a sophomore in 1992, at the age of 15, Moss joined the track & field team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.94 seconds and 21.95 seconds, respectively. This was the only year he competed on the school's track team, but he would later join the Marshall track team and lower his 200 m time to 21.15 seconds. He also played center field for the baseball team. CANNOTANSWER | named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995 | Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is a former American football player. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, and the San Francisco 49ers. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wide receivers of all time, he holds the NFL single-season touchdown reception record (23 in 2007), the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie (17 in 1998) and is second on the NFL all-time regular season touchdown reception list with 156. Moss was well known for his prowess in securing contested catches and the word "mossed" has entered football vernacular. Post-football, he began working for ESPN as a studio analyst for its Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown programs.
Moss played college football for Marshall University, and twice earned All-America honors. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft, where he played for seven years before a trade in 2005 brought him to the Oakland Raiders. In 2007, Moss was traded to the New England Patriots, where he set the single-season record for touchdown receptions. In October 2010, Moss returned to the Vikings in a trade from the Patriots but was waived less than a month later and then claimed by the Tennessee Titans. After sitting out the 2011 season, Moss signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers in 2012 before retiring following the season. He played in two Super Bowl games, XLII with the Patriots and XLVII with the 49ers, both losses. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
Early years
Moss was born in Rand, West Virginia. He attended DuPont High School, one of two schools that later consolidated into Riverside High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Randy was also on the school's debate team. On the football field, Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He was a star at wide receiver, but also played free safety, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the team's kicker and punter. In 1994, he was honored with the Kennedy Award as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Parade magazine named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995 and in 2009 named him one of the 50 greatest high school football players of all time. At DuPont, he was a teammate of future Chicago Bears linebacker Bobbie Howard.
In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (in 1994 when he was co-player of the year and in 1995), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams. In his senior season of basketball, Moss averaged 30.2 points, 13.7 rebounds, 5.1 steals, 3.8 blocks, and 3.1 assists while shooting 60% from field; he scored a school-record 1,713 career points.
As a sophomore in 1992, at the age of 15, Moss joined the track & field team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.94 seconds and 21.95 seconds, respectively. This was the only year he competed on the school's track team, but he would later join the Marshall track team and lower his 200 m time to 21.15 seconds. He also played center field for the baseball team.
College football career
Moss's dream was to play for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but he also considered going to Ohio State, where his half-brother, Eric, had played offensive tackle. Former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz said "Randy Moss was the best high school football player I've ever seen." Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden said "He was as good as Deion Sanders. Deion's my measuring stick for athletic ability, and this kid was just a bigger Deion."
After originally signing a letter of intent to play college football with Notre Dame in 1995, Moss took part in a racially charged fight at his high school that left one person hospitalized. On March 23, 1995, Moss had backed a friend in a hallway fight against a white student who had allegedly used racist comments towards Randy's friend. Moss was initially charged with a felony for kicking the student, but it was later reduced to a misdemeanor. On August 1, 1995, Moss pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor battery and was sentenced to 30 days behind bars at the South-Central Regional Jail in Charleston, West Virginia. He served 3 days in jail starting that night and would be required to serve the remaining 27 days within the following 18 months, after he completed his freshman year in college. Moss was expelled from DuPont and completed his education at Cabell Alternative School.
Notre Dame subsequently denied his enrollment application, but this did not stop another high-profile college football program from giving him a chance. Notre Dame officials suggested he attend Florida State due to the reputation of its coach, Bobby Bowden, for handling troubled players.
Freshman (1995)
Because of his signed letter of intent at Notre Dame, the NCAA considered him a transfer student to Florida State, so he had to redshirt the 1995 football season.
Redshirt Freshman season (1996)
In 1996, while serving his 30-day jail sentence in a work-release program from 1995, Moss tested positive for marijuana, thus violating his probation, and was dismissed from Florida State. He served an additional 60 days in jail for the probation violation.
Ultimately, Moss transferred to Marshall University, about an hour's drive from his home. Because Marshall was then a Division I-AA school, NCAA rules allowed him to transfer there without losing any further eligibility. In 1996, he set the NCAA Division I-AA records for the most games with a touchdown catch in a season (14), most consecutive games with a touchdown catch (13), most touchdown passes caught in a season (28 – tying Jerry Rice's 1984 record), and most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season (1,709 on 78 catches), a record which still stands. Moss was also the leading kickoff returner in Division I-AA on the season, with 612 total yards and a 34.0-yard average. The 1996 Marshall Thundering Herd went undefeated and won the Division I-AA title, with Moss having four touchdown receptions in the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game. It was Marshall's last season before moving to Division I-A.
At the Southern Conference indoor track championships, Moss ran the 200 meters in 21.15 seconds, missing the conference record by only .02 seconds. Although Moss had not raced competitively for four years, his time was one of the best in the country that year.
Sophomore season (1997)
In the 1997 season, Marshall's first in Division I-A, Moss and Quarterback Chad Pennington were the centerpiece of an explosive offense that led the Thundering Herd to the Mid-American Conference title. Moss caught 26 touchdown passes that season, at the time a Division I-A record, and was a first-team All-American.
The first game of the season was at West Virginia University where Marshall lost. The second game of the season saw Moss pick up right where he left off in 1996. Facing Army, Moss caught 5 balls for 186 yards and two touchdowns. One touchdown went for 79 yards in which Pennington lobbed the ball down the left sideline. Moss leaped over an Army defender to snag the ball out of the air at the 40-yard line while the safety crashed into his teammate, knocking both men down. Moss galloped the last 50 yards untouched for the score. The other touchdown reception was his career-long of 90 yards that came on a short screen pass on third down. Moss caught the ball on the right side of the field at his own 8-yard line, ran past 3 defenders in the middle of the field at the 15-yard line, hurdled two defenders coming from both sides of the left hash marks at the 25-yard line, then raced past the last defender at the 50-yard line before finally seeing daylight down the left sideline.
A week later, Moss posted his third career 200+ yard receiving game, against Kent State. Two weeks after that was his fourth and final 200+ yard game in college, recording 13 catches for 205 yards and a Marshall single-game record of 5 touchdown receptions against Ball State.
In the 1997 Ford Motor City Bowl against Ole Miss, Moss added his 26th touchdown of the season on Marshall's first offensive play from scrimmage. He streaked down the right sideline and caught an 80-yard touchdown pass from Pennington to tie the score at 7–7. NCAA rules at the time did not allow for statistics from bowl games to be combined with regular-season stats, so the touchdown did not officially increase his season touchdown record. The two teams traded the lead several times in the fourth quarter before Ole Miss running back Deuce McAllister scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds to play, giving them a 34–31 lead. Trying to pull out a last-second win, Pennington connected with Moss on a 40-yard pass on the final play of the game, but he was stripped of the ball as time expired. Moss finished the game with 6 receptions for 173 yards.
Moss finished his career at Marshall having scored at least one touchdown in all 28 games that he played. He won the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the season's outstanding receiver regardless of position, and was a finalist for the 1997 Heisman Trophy (finishing fourth in the balloting, behind Ryan Leaf, Peyton Manning, and Charles Woodson, who won the award). A controversial comment was made by Randy Moss in 1997 at a ceremony at Marshall University where he was commenting in regards to the 1970 plane crash that killed most their football team that the crash "was a tragedy, but it really wasn't nothing big". Moss later claimed that the quotes were taken out of context. Nate Ruffin, who is a surviving member of the 1970 Football Team, later met with Randy Moss.
College statistics
Includes stats from the 1997 Motor City Bowl against Ole Miss
NCAA records
Division I-AA – regular season
Most games with a touchdown reception in a season – 11 (1996)
Most consecutive games with a touchdown reception in a season – 11 (1996)
Most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season – 1073 (1996)
Most touchdown receptions caught by a freshman in a season – 19 (1996 – record for all NCAA divisions)
Division I-AA – playoffs
Most touchdown receptions in a single game – 4 (vs. Montana, December 21, 1996)
Most yards receiving in a single game – 288 (vs. Delaware, November 30, 1996)
Most touchdown receptions in a tournament – 9 (4 games in 1996)
Most yards receiving in a tournament – 636 (4 games in 1996)
Professional football career
1998 NFL Draft
Moss skipped his senior season at Marshall and entered the NFL Draft. He did not attend the NFL Combine, opting instead for an individual workout at Marshall's pro day. Moss ran the 40 yard dash in the 4.24-4.28 range by scouts' hand timers and posted vertical leaps of 47 and 51 inches. Numerous teams had scouts on hand with many noting the work-out was jaw dropping.
During the 1998 NFL Draft, Moss, who was projected as a high first-round pick, was taken by the Minnesota Vikings with the 21st overall pick after a number of NFL clubs—even those in need of a WR—were concerned with Moss's well-documented legal problems. Before the draft Moss was quoted as saying teams that passed on him "will regret it once they see what kind of a player I am and what kind of guy I really am." The team most often cited for passing on Moss is the Dallas Cowboys. Moss grew up a Cowboys fan and wanted to play for the Cowboys. The Cowboys wanted Moss, but because of many off-field incidents of their own, team owner and GM Jerry Jones did not feel the team could draft Moss. Moss felt that the Cowboys lied to him because they had told him they would draft him. On draft day, Dallas went so far as to have a scout in Charleston, West Virginia, the same town where Moss and his mother were watching the draft. Dallas star receiver Michael Irvin even called to apologize to Moss, because Irvin's own off-field problems were a main reason Moss was not drafted by Dallas. After the draft, Moss made a point of beating the Cowboys any time he faced them, getting his first opportunity to do so in Week 13 of his rookie season. In a game held at Texas Stadium, Moss torched Dallas with a 163-yard, 3-touchdown performance.
After the draft, Moss signed a 4-year, $4.5 million contract that included an additional $4 million in bonuses and incentives. As part of the deal, he received a $2 million signing bonus. Moss originally wore #18 in training camp (a number he would eventually wear for Oakland) but switched to the more conventional #84 before the regular season began.
Minnesota Vikings
1998 season
In 1998, Moss helped the Vikings to become the number 1 rated offense ever at the time, setting the single-season record for scoring (later surpassed by the 2007 New England Patriots, a team that also featured Moss) with 556 points.
The Vikings opened the season with a 31–7 rout against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Moss's first NFL game would also be his first multi-touchdown game as he recorded 4 receptions for 95 yards and two touchdowns. His first NFL reception came on the third play of the game on an 11-yard pass from Brad Johnson. His first touchdown was a 48-yard acrobatic grab over defensive back Floyd Young late in the first quarter, in which Moss juggled the ball 3 times before securing it for the score. He added a 31-yard touchdown reception on the Vikings' first possession of the second quarter to give the Vikings a 21–0 lead.
His first Monday Night Football game came in Week 5 against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. He had 5 receptions for 190 yards and two touchdowns, including touchdown grabs of 52 yards and 44 yards, and two other receptions of 46 yards and 41 yards. He also had a 75-yard touchdown catch on the Vikings' first possession of the game that was nullified due to an offensive holding penalty.
Against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, Moss finished with 3 catches for 163 yards and 3 touchdowns all for 50+ yards as the Vikings beat the Cowboys 46–36. Moss was the first rookie to score 3 touchdowns on Thanksgiving.
They finished with a 15–1 record and were poised to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XXXIII. However, the Atlanta Falcons stunned the Vikings by winning the NFC Championship Game 30–27 in overtime.
At the end of the 1998 regular season, Moss was named a Pro Bowl starter and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year for his rookie-record 17 touchdown receptions and the third-highest receiving yardage (1,313) total.
1999 season
In 1999, Moss had another impressive season, catching 80 passes for 1,413 yards and 11 touchdowns, including a punt return for a touchdown. He went on to record five receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown in the Vikings 27–10 NFC wildcard playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys. Minnesota lost in the divisional round to the St. Louis Rams 49–37, despite Moss catching nine passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Moss was fined $40,000, which was later reduced to $25,000, during that game due to squirting an NFL referee with a water bottle. There was a stipulation that he would have to pay the difference in addition to any other fine if he had another run-in with the league.
Moss earned his second straight Pro Bowl appearance, and turned in a record-breaking performance. He had 9 receptions for a Pro Bowl record 212 yards and was given the game's Most Valuable Player award.
2000 season
The 2000 season featured second-year quarterback Daunte Culpepper leading the team. Culpepper had been the team's first-round draft pick in 1999; with a pick they received from the Redskins for quarterback Brad Johnson. He had been selected largely due to his extremely strong arm, which the team believed was perfectly suited for Moss's deep routes. The decision proved correct. Culpepper was a rookie sensation, the Vikings started 7–0, and Moss was a leading MVP candidate. For the second time in three seasons, Moss punished the Dallas Cowboys in Dallas on Thanksgiving Day, including a spectacular 2nd-half touchdown in which Moss caught the ball with his entire body out of bounds, aside from his toes. The play would be the feature shot in NFL commercials for years to come. Moss finished the season with a career-high 1,437 yards and league-leading 15 touchdown catches. In doing so, he became the youngest and fastest player to ever catch over 3,000 yards and 45 touchdowns, earning him his 3rd consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl, and 2nd selection to the All Pro team. The Vikings would make it to the NFC Championship game, only to be blown out 41–0 by the New York Giants.
2001 season
In the offseason, Moss and his agent Danté DiTrapano began negotiating a new contract with the Minnesota Vikings. He was scheduled to earn $3.5 million in 2001. But Moss, who was entering the final year of the rookie contract he signed in 1998, was seeking a long-term deal that would make him the highest-paid player in the NFL. His agent said, "We want to break the tradition of quarterbacks being the highest-paid players." One option the Vikings had would be to apply the franchise tag after the season ended, but sources stated that Moss would request a trade if that happened because it would still be less than what he could command on the open market.
Just prior to the start of training camp in July, Vikings owner Red McCombs signed Moss to an 8-year, $75 million contract extension. The extension included a $10 million signing bonus and another $8 million in guarantees.
Despite finishing the season with 10 touchdowns and posting at least 1,000 receiving yards for the fourth consecutive season, Moss failed to make the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career.
2002 season
After replacing Dennis Green on an interim basis to end the 2001 season, Mike Tice was officially named head coach on January 10, 2002. One of the strategies the Vikings' first-year head coach came up with was a formula to get Moss the ball more often. Coach Tice called it the Randy Ratio. It was an effort on the coaches part to throw 40% of the passes to Moss as a way to keep him involved in the offense more than he had been in the 2001 season when he had stretches in games where he was being shut out, and partly to use more game clock by sustaining long drives to give the Vikings defense a chance to rest. An assistant coach would stand on the sidelines during games and track how many times Moss had been thrown to, and then inform Tice of the percentages so that he is always aware of it. In the 2001 season, the Vikings record was 4–1 when Moss had 40% of the passes thrown his direction, and 1–10 in other games.
The strategy was a response to the 'Randy Rules,' as Vikings receiver Chris Walsh called them. The Randy Rules, similar to the Jordan Rules, were a defensive strategy that teams employed when facing the Vikings to try and eliminate or reduce Randy's impact on the game, and to prevent Moss from being matched up one-on-one with defenders because of his ability to burn them deep or outjump them in single coverage. Opposing teams would routinely double cover Moss with techniques such as having a cornerback attempt to jam him at the line of scrimmage, having a corner defend underneath with a safety defending against the deep ball, having a zone defense roll to Moss's side of the field, and assigning "spies" to follow Moss everywhere he went.
Coach Tice discussed the strategy, explaining that Moss would be running more short and intermediate routes and fewer deep patterns. In training camp, Moss worked specifically on 12 new routes that he had rarely run in his first 4 NFL seasons, such as crossing patterns over the middle of the field and hook routes. Coach Tice said, "When we say Randy Ratio, everybody in the league thinks, 'OK, now they're going to throw the ball down the field to Randy more and more and more.' That's so far from the truth. In fact, we'll probably throw the ball down the field to Randy this year even less."
The Randy Ratio did not last very long, as Tice scrapped the idea midway through the 2002 season. Randy Moss said "I didn't really care much about the Randy Ratio when it was brought up. I just wanted to win." While Moss caught a career-high 106 passes, he also had a career-low 7 touchdown receptions, and the Vikings struggled to a 6–10 record. Tice suggested after the season that it was a mistake to inform opponents about his offensive gameplan, but that it was a tool "to motivate [Moss] and say he was the guy."
2003 season
Moss's fortunes took a better turn on the football field during the 2003 regular season, where he became the second wide receiver in NFL history (behind Jerry Rice in 1995) to play more than 12 games (he played 16) while averaging over 100 yards and one touchdown per contest. He finished with 111 receptions for 1,632 yards and 17 touchdowns. All three numbers either tied or became a new personal best for Moss. The Vikings finished the season 9–7. One of Moss's memorable highlights that year was when he lateraled to Moe Williams for a last-second touchdown during a home game against Denver.
In the offseason, he attended the Vikings strength and conditioning program and added five pounds of muscle to his frame.
2004 season
Moss started the season strong catching 8 touchdowns in his first 5 games of the season. However, he sustained a hamstring injury to his right leg against New Orleans in Week 6 that hampered him for the next five weeks. He played in Week 7 against Tennessee, but had no receptions in a game for the first time in his career. He also played the following week against the Giants, but again recorded no receptions and was used mainly as a decoy. The injury eventually sidelined him for 3 straight weeks. He returned to the lineup in Week 12 with a touchdown catch against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Even though he finished the season with 13 touchdowns in 13 games, he posted career lows in receptions (49) and receiving yards (767). 2004 was the first season in his career that he failed to reach the 1,000-yard mark.
On January 9, 2005, the Minnesota Vikings played division rival Green Bay Packers in an NFC wildcard playoff game. Moss finished the game with 4 catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns in the 31–17 win. After the second score, Moss trotted to the end zone goalpost and feigned pulling down his pants to moon the Green Bay fans. NFL on Fox announcer Joe Buck called it a "disgusting act.” Moss was fined $10,000 for his actions. Though the Vikings would win the game, they would lose in the next round of the playoffs to the Philadelphia Eagles, and Moss would be traded at the end of the season.
Oakland Raiders
On March 2, 2005, Moss was traded to the Oakland Raiders for linebacker Napoleon Harris and the Raiders' first (7th overall, which Minnesota parlayed into wide receiver Troy Williamson) and seventh-round picks in the NFL draft. Adding a player of Moss's caliber generated optimism in Oakland, but the Raiders' poor play continued, while Moss suffered nagging injuries which limited his production. He surpassed the 1,000 mark on the final day of the 2005 season, finishing the year with 1,005 receiving yards on 60 catches. However, Moss only managed 553 yards on 42 balls in 2006.
Moss was not happy in Oakland, and on November 14, 2006, when he was honored as a kick returner by having an award named after him, he responded to questions about his dropped passes and lackluster effort in several games. Moss said, "Maybe because I'm unhappy and I'm not too much excited about what's going on, so, my concentration and focus level tend to go down sometimes when I'm in a bad mood". Days later, he reiterated his unhappiness with losing games and being a member of the Raiders on his weekly segment with Fox Sports Radio, saying, "I might want to look forward to moving somewhere else next year to have another start and really feel good about going out here and playing football".
New England Patriots
2007 season
There were rumors leading up to the 2007 NFL Draft that the Raiders were eager to part ways with Randy Moss through a trade. First-year Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin went so far as to contact their division rival Denver Broncos to "gauge interest", but the Patriots and Green Bay Packers were the two teams most interested in acquiring Moss. Packers QB Brett Favre, who once said, "There is no one in this league who puts fear in people more than Randy Moss," tried to persuade team management to trade for him, but a deal that both sides could agree to did not get done.
During the first day of the NFL Draft, the Patriots and Raiders discussed the trade several times before reaching an agreement. Bill Belichick spoke with Moss for the first time about the possibility of joining the Patriots at 2:30 Sunday morning. Moss then boarded a plane and arrived in Boston later that morning on April 29 and was required to pass a team administered physical. Once he was cleared by Patriots officials, the teams completed a trade that sent Randy Moss to New England for a fourth-round selection in the 2007 NFL Draft. The Patriots had acquired the draft pick the previous day from the San Francisco 49ers, and the Raiders selected John Bowie.
One of the conditions of the trade was that Randy Moss would have to restructure his contract for salary cap reasons. Just hours before the Moss trade was completed, New England quarterback Tom Brady converted $5.28 million of his 2007 base salary into a signing bonus that was spread out over the remaining portion of his contract so that it could free up cap room. This enabled the Patriots to absorb Moss's incoming contract under the salary cap. Moss had two years remaining on his current deal and was scheduled to earn $9.75 million in 2007 and $11.25 million in 2008. Once the Patriots had Moss on their roster, he quickly agreed to a new one-year contract to replace his old one. The new deal gave him a $500,000 signing bonus, a base salary of $2.5 million, and the ability to earn an additional $1.75 million in incentives.
"I’m still in awe that I’m a part of this organization," Moss said, clearly thrilled to join a team that could contend for the Super Bowl and to work with Coach Belichick. "I think that he's the kind of coach that can motivate me. He has a proven track record."
In the first week of training camp, during an 11-on-11 passing drill, Moss suffered a hamstring injury to his left leg. As a precaution, the injury prevented Moss from participating in any preseason games and he missed much of the rest of camp.
His first action in a Patriots uniform came against the New York Jets in Week 1. He quickly quieted critics who claimed that his skills had deteriorated by hauling in nine receptions for 181 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown pass in which he ran past three Jets defenders.
On November 4, 2007, James Black, NFL Editor for Yahoo! Sports wrote, "Every week, in addition to out-leaping at least one defender for a touchdown, [Moss] keeps making incredible one-handed grabs that make you mutter, 'How the heck did he come up with that?'" Two weeks later, he caught a career-high four touchdowns in a single game against Buffalo.
On December 29, the Patriots defeated the New York Giants 38–35, finishing their regular season with a perfect 16–0 record. Moss caught two touchdown passes for a total of 23, breaking the single-season record of 22 touchdown receptions previously set by Jerry Rice (in 12 games in the strike-shortened 1987 season). On the same play, Tom Brady broke Peyton Manning's single-season record set in 2004 with his 50th touchdown pass. Moss recorded 98 catches for 1,493 yards in 2007, the highest yardage total in Patriots franchise history and the third-highest total number of catches, after teammate Wes Welker's 112 catches that same season and Troy Brown's 101 in 2001. He also earned his sixth Pro Bowl selection. His 2007 season featured touchdowns in 13 of 16 games (including eight multi-touchdown games), nine 100-yard games, and six touchdown receptions of 40 or more yards.
Despite his record-breaking 2007 season, Moss was relatively quiet in the playoffs, going two consecutive games without a touchdown for the first time all season. However, in Super Bowl XLII, he scored the go-ahead touchdown with 2:42 left in the fourth quarter on a six-yard pass from Tom Brady. The score was not enough for the heavily favored Patriots to end their only undefeated season with a Super Bowl win. Eli Manning drove the Giants down the field, connecting with Plaxico Burress for the game-winning touchdown and an upset over the Patriots.
2008 season
On February 28, 2008, Moss became a free agent after the Patriots decided not to place the franchise tag on Moss. Although the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, and Green Bay Packers were rumored to have interest in Moss, he decided to return to the Patriots, signing a three-year, $27 million deal on March 3, 2008. The contract included a $12 million signing bonus, and a total of $14.1 million guaranteed.
The first game of the 2008 season saw Brady suffer a torn ACL in his left knee while attempting a pass to Randy Moss. The play occurred in the first half against the Kansas City Chiefs when safety Bernard Pollard dove at Brady's leg while in his throwing motion. Moss described what he saw on the play by saying "any time you see something like that, that looks foul, it looks dirty, it opens your eyes. So, me personally, it looked dirty." Matt Cassel replaced Brady for the rest of the season.
In 2008, Moss hauled in 69 catches for 1,008 yards and 11 touchdowns despite losing quarterback Tom Brady in the first game of the season.
2009 season
In the season opener of 2009, Moss caught a career-high 12 passes for 141 yards in a comeback 25–24 victory over the Bills. In Week 5 against the Denver Broncos, Moss was placed deep in coverage on a Broncos Hail Mary attempt to end the first half, and intercepted Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton. In a snowy Week 6 game against the winless Tennessee Titans, Moss caught three touchdown passes from Tom Brady, two of them in the 2nd quarter as Brady set a record for most touchdown passes in a single quarter with five. This was Moss's 34th multi-touchdown game, and his 8th game with three or more touchdowns.
During the Patriots' bye week, Belichick stated that Moss "is the smartest receiver he's ever been around." He compared Moss's ability to see the field and anticipate plays to that of Tom Brady, and to Lawrence Taylor, who Belichick coached with the New York Giants. He said Moss not only knows what he's doing on a play, but what everybody else on the field is doing as well. "That's what makes them special. They just have a sixth, seventh sense", Belichick said. This sentiment was repeated when Moss was inducted into the Hall of Fame, as Belichick went further to say he learned from Moss.
In Week 9 against the Miami Dolphins Moss added six catches for 147 yards and 1 touchdown. The touchdown reception was the 140th of his career, which moved him into a tie for second place with Terrell Owens.
The following week, in a prime time Sunday night matchup against the Indianapolis Colts, Moss had 179 yards and two touchdowns, including a 63-yard touchdown in the 2nd quarter that moved him ahead of Terrell Owens for sole possession of second place in career touchdown receptions. In the same game, he became just the 11th player in NFL history with 900+ receptions and the seventh player to reach 14,000+ career receiving yards.
He finished the season with 83 receptions for 1,264 yards and an NFL-high 13 touchdowns. New England would lose the AFC Wild Card playoff to the Baltimore Ravens 33–14.
2010 season
In the week leading up to the Patriots' 2010 season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, Moss, who was entering the final year of his contract told CBS Sports that he "did not feel wanted" in New England absent a contract extension offer. Moss would go on to catch 5 passes for 59 yards in Week 1. After the game, Moss told reporters that it would be his final season with the Patriots. The Boston Herald reported weeks later that Moss requested a trade following the game.
Moss had two receptions in Week 2 against the New York Jets, including a 34-yard touchdown that he caught one-handed after beating All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis. The following week against the Buffalo Bills, Moss had two more catches, both for touchdowns. His final game in New England came in Week 4 on Monday Night Football against the Miami Dolphins; he did not record a catch in the game for the first time in his Patriots career as a touchdown pass attempt off a fake spike bounced off his hands in the end zone.
Return to Minnesota
Two days after the Patriots' game against Miami, Moss was traded to the Minnesota Vikings, in exchange for the Vikings' third-round selection (later used to select quarterback Ryan Mallett) in the 2011 NFL Draft. The Patriots also sent a 2012 seventh-round selection to the Vikings as part of the trade.
On November 1, less than four weeks after being traded to Minnesota, Vikings head coach Brad Childress told Vikings players in a team meeting that Moss was going to be waived by the team, one day after he criticized Childress and teammates in a press conference following the Vikings' loss to the Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Just before the press conference, Moss reportedly told team owner Zygi Wilf that Childress was unfit to coach in the NFL and should be fired. Wilf reportedly considered firing Childress and keeping Moss, but Moss was officially waived the next day, November 2. Childress was eventually fired on November 22.
Tennessee Titans
Moss was claimed off waivers by the Tennessee Titans, the only team to submit a claim, on November 3, 2010. Moss played eight games with the Titans, starting four. He made six catches for 80 yards and no touchdowns.
Moss finished the 2010 season with career lows in receptions (28) and receiving yards (393). The Titans stated that they did not plan to re-sign Moss for the 2011 season, and he became a free agent.
Initial retirement and comeback
On August 1, 2011, Moss's agent, Joel Segal, announced Moss's decision to retire from professional football.
On February 13, 2012, his 35th birthday, Moss announced that he was coming out of retirement and was ready to play again. In a live video chat with his fans via Ustream, Moss stated, "I wanna play football. Your boy is going to come back here and play some football, so I'm really excited. I had some things I had to adjust in my life."
San Francisco 49ers
On March 12, 2012, Moss signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers for undisclosed financial terms after a workout with the team's head coach Jim Harbaugh. On September 9, 2012, Moss caught his 154th touchdown reception, and subsequently passed Terrell Owens for sole possession of 2nd on the all-time receiving touchdown list. After Alex Smith suffered a concussion against the St. Louis Rams in week 10, Colin Kaepernick took over as the team's quarterback, and Moss had at least two receptions in each of the remaining five games of the regular season. He finished the season with 28 catches for 434 yards and three touchdowns. Since the retirement of Terrell Owens at the end of 2010, he had been the NFL's active leader in receiving yards. Moss would eventually go on to play in Super Bowl XLVII, where he had two receptions for 41 yards in a 31–34 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
NFL career statistics
Regular season
NFL records
Most touchdown receptions in a season – 23 (2007)
Most touchdown receptions by a rookie in a season – 17 (1998)
Most seasons with 17 or more touchdown receptions – 3 (1998, 2003, 2007)
Most seasons with 16 or more touchdown receptions – 3 (1998, 2003, 2007)
Most seasons with 11 or more touchdown receptions – 8 – tied with Jerry Rice
Most seasons with 10 or more touchdown receptions – 9 – tied with Jerry Rice
Most games in a season with at least 2 touchdown receptions – 8 (2007)
One of two players to have 1,600+ receiving yards and 16+ receiving touchdowns in a season (2003), the other being Calvin Johnson (2011)
Most yards receiving in a Pro Bowl game – 212 (2000)
Most touchdowns scored in first 10 games with a new team – 16 (2007)
Most 1,200+ yard receiving seasons to start a career – 6 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003)
Moss has averaged at least one receiving touchdown per game played in four different seasons: 1998 (17 TDs in 16 games), 2003 (17 in 16), 2004 (13 in 13), and 2007 (23 in 16)
At the end of the 2008 season, Moss averaged 12.3 receiving TDs per season
4× 100+ yard games in his first four games with a new team in 2007
Youngest player in NFL history to record his 100th receiving touchdown (29 years and 235 days)
Youngest player in NFL history to record his 120th receiving touchdown (30 years, 313 days)
Most receiving yards before 30th birthday – 10,700
Most TD receptions before 30th birthday – 101
Youngest player to reach 6,000 career receiving yards (25 years and 270 days; later broken by Mike Evans)
Fastest player to reach 5,000 career receiving yards – 59 games (broke record of 61 games by Jerry Rice)
Youngest player to reach 5,000 career receiving yards - 24 years 292 days
Highest career yards per catch average for any player with 900+ receptions – 15.6 yards per reception
Youngest player to have 3 touchdown receptions in a game (21 years, 286 days; later broken by Rob Gronkowski)
Most offensive touchdowns in first two seasons: 28 (Tied with Rob Gronkowski)
Career highlights
6× Pro Bowl selection
4× All-Pro selection
2007 AFC Champion
2012 NFC Champion
Is second on the Minnesota Vikings all-time receiving touchdown list with 92. Cris Carter holds the record with 110 receiving scores
Caught his 100th touchdown pass in 2006 against San Francisco, the seventh player to do so
Holds the record for most touchdowns in Minnesota Vikings playoff history with 9
10× 1,000+ yard receiving seasons – 2nd all-time
64 career 100-yard games – 2nd all-time; most recent November 15, 2009
156 touchdown receptions – 2nd all-time
73.6 receiving yards per game – 7th all-time
15,292 receiving yards – 4th all-time
954 career receptions – 10th all-time
Has completed 4 of 8 passes for 106 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 1 interception, giving him a 95.8 passer rating
Only player to catch 90+ touchdown passes, return a punt for a touchdown, and throw 2 touchdown passes
Has played on two of the five highest-scoring teams (for a single season) in NFL history: 2007 Patriots (589 points) and the 1998 Vikings (556 points); both were the highest-scoring teams in NFL history thitherto
Had a career-high 12 receptions for 204 yards against the Chicago Bears, at Soldier Field, on November 14, 1999, in a 27–24 overtime win
Holds the Vikings record for most 100-yard receiving games with 41
Has two touchdowns or more in 39 different games (including 3 in the postseason); most recent September 26, 2010
Has two touchdown receptions or more in 37 different games – (2nd all-time)
Has three touchdown receptions or more in 9 different games – (2nd all-time): at Dallas (November 26, 1998), a 46–36 victory; vs. Chicago (December 6, 1998), a 48–22 victory; at Detroit (October 1, 2000), a 31–24 victory; vs. New York Giants (November 19, 2001) a 28–16 victory; vs. San Francisco (September 28, 2003), a 35–7 victory; at Buffalo (November 18, 2007), a 56–10 victory; at Miami (November 23, 2008), a 48–28 victory; vs. Tennessee (October 18, 2009), a 59–0 victory; vs. Jacksonville (December 27, 2009), a 35–7 victory
Caught a career-high four touchdowns at Buffalo (all in the first half) – November 18, 2007
Had an interception while playing defense in the last few seconds of the first half of the Patriots' game against the Denver Broncos on October 11, 2009
Has 4 career two-point conversions
Randy Moss Motorsports
On April 29, 2008, Moss announced the formation of Randy Moss Motorsports, an auto racing team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In July 2008, Moss announced that he had bought a 50 percent share in Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, with the team's No. 46 entry switching to No. 81. The team was reportedly shut down in 2012.
Post-football career
Upon his release from the 49ers, Moss was hired as an analyst for Fox Sports 1's Fox Football Daily show. Moss was hired as an associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Victory Christian Center High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, in June 2014, where his son was attending high school and playing football.
In July 2016, Moss joined ESPN as an analyst, appearing on Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018. In 2019, Moss was named to the National Football League 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Charity
Moss has participated in, founded, and financed many charitable endeavors since joining the NFL, particularly aimed at helping children. Many times when talking about his charity work, he has said he just looks forward to "seeing smiles." He has donated clothing and food to needy families, given away free backpacks to Boston area school-children, and hosted autograph signings. He has also bussed children to amusement parks, NBA games, and even NFL games in which he has played.
On June 29, 2005, he hosted the Randy Moss Celebrity Charity Invitational Bass Tournament. The tournament was a one-day event that paired celebrities and corporate sponsors with pro fishermen to raise money for the Smile Network, which is a foundation that provides financial assistance to children with treatable mouth problems, such as cleft palate. The tournaments motto is "fish for a smile."
In 2008, Moss formed the Links for Learning foundation, which was established to help children in his home state of West Virginia, and to build learning centers for the most needy student populations. In June, he and his former high school teammate Jason Williams hosted the foundations first annual charity golf tournament at the Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Hurricane, West Virginia. In March 2009, Moss's foundation made a donation that enabled the Women and Children's Hospital of Charleston, West Virginia to purchase a Starlight Children's Foundation 'Fun Center' for their patients. The 'Fun Center' is a portable bedside entertainment system equipped with a TV, DVD player, and 22 Nintendo Wii games.
Personal life
Moss's parents are Maxine Moss and Randy Pratt. Moss has little contact with his father. He has a sister named Lutisia and had a brother Eric, who had a short stint in the NFL as an offensive tackle with the Minnesota Vikings. Moss has five children: Lexi Adkins, Sydney, Senali, Thaddeus, and Montigo. Thaddeus is a tight end on the Cincinnati Bengals. Moss is also a Christian, attested by his NFL Hall of Fame Speech.
Traffic incident
On September 24, 2002, in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, Moss was driving and was preparing to make an illegal turn. A traffic control officer, noticing what he was about to do, stood in front of his vehicle and ordered him to stop. Eyewitness accounts of the event differ at this point, but Moss did not comply with the officer's order, and she was bumped by his vehicle and fell to the ground. Moss was arrested, and a search of his vehicle revealed a joint amounting to less than a gram of marijuana in his ashtray. Initially charged with felony Suspicion of Assault with a Deadly Weapon and a misdemeanor marijuana possession, Moss spent the night in jail and was released the following morning. Moss pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor traffic violation and was ordered to pay a $1,200 fine and perform 40 hours of community service. While the criminal charges were thus disposed of, the civil lawsuit filed by the traffic control officer brought a substantial penalty fine "in the low to mid six figures". Moss claimed that the joint was not his, and that he had let friends use his car prior to the accident.
Marijuana use
In April 1996, Moss smoked a joint just prior to turning himself in to jail. He was scheduled to finish the remainder of his 30-day sentence for misdemeanor battery while in high school. During his first week in jail, Moss was given a drug test that came back positive. He was placed in solitary confinement for a week and had 60 days attached to his 27-day sentence. Coach Bobby Bowden revoked his scholarship and Moss was dismissed from Florida State University for the failed drug test.
Moss tested positive in 2001 for marijuana under the NFL's substance abuse program and was subject to additional random drug screening for two years. A first time violation of the NFL's drug policy can result in up to 10 tests per month. Moss did not fail an NFL drug test again, and was rotated out of the program after two years.
In August 2005, during an interview with Bryant Gumbel, Moss admitted that he has smoked marijuana during his NFL career "every blue moon." When asked whether he still used marijuana currently, Moss replied "I might. I might have fun. And, you know, hopefully ... I won't get into any trouble by the NFL by saying that, you know. I have had fun throughout my years and, you know, predominantly in the offseason." The interview drew criticism from the league office, and his agent tried to spin it that his words were taken out of context. In response, Moss said "That was really me talking in the past tense of way back in the beginning of my career and my childhood – especially in high school and college."
Dating violence allegations
On January 15, 2008, Orlando-based radio station WDBO reported that Moss "had" been hit with a temporary injunction for protection against dating violence. According to the affidavit, Moss committed a battery upon Rachelle Washington, causing serious injury, and then refused to allow her to seek medical attention. The affidavit out of Broward County reveals Moss cannot come within 500 feet of the victim and cannot use or possess firearms.
The next day, in a locker room press conference, Moss claimed the woman was simply looking for money "over an accident," because her lawyer came to his lawyer, threatening a lawsuit, and asking for money to settle before she went public to the media. Moss stated he had known Washington for about 11 years. He also stated in his defense that he has never assaulted a woman in his entire life, and asked that the media and fans "find out the facts" before "rush[ing] to judgment." Moreover, Moss's lawyer, in an e-mail to the Boston Globe accused the woman's lawyer of "blatant threats and attempts to extort money" from Moss. On March 3, 2008, Rachelle Washington filed papers with the Broward County Circuit Court clerk's office requesting that the restraining order be dissolved and the case closed. No criminal charges were ever filed in the incident.
See also
List of NCAA major college football yearly receiving leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders
References
External links
1977 births
Living people
10,000 receiving yards club
African-American motorsport people
African-American players of American football
African-American sports journalists
All-American college football players
American Conference Pro Bowl players
American football wide receivers
ESPN people
Florida State Seminoles football players
Marshall Thundering Herd football players
Marshall Thundering Herd men's track and field athletes
Minnesota Vikings players
NASCAR team owners
National Conference Pro Bowl players
National Football League Offensive Rookie of the Year Award winners
New England Patriots players
Oakland Raiders players
People from Kanawha County, West Virginia
Players of American football from West Virginia
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
San Francisco 49ers players
Sportspeople from Charleston, West Virginia
Tennessee Titans players | true | [
"Troublesome Night is a comedy-horror anthology film series from Hong Kong. As of 2020 the series has 20 entries.\n\nHistory\nThe original run of films lasted between 1997 and 2003 and had 19 films. which means that the original Troublesome Night spawned more sequels than any other horror film at the time. The first six films were directed by Herman Yau but after that he lost interest and producer Nam Yin kept the series alive. A 20th installment was released in 2017 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first film.\n\nInstalments\n Troublesome Night\n Troublesome Night 2\n Troublesome Night 3\n Troublesome Night 4\n Troublesome Night 5\n Troublesome Night 6\n Troublesome Night 7\n Troublesome Night 8\n Troublesome Night 9\n Troublesome Night 10\n Troublesome Night 11\n Troublesome Night 12\n Troublesome Night 13\n Troublesome Night 14\n Troublesome Night 15\n Troublesome Night 16\n Troublesome Night 17\n Troublesome Night 18\n Troublesome Night 19\n Always Be with You\n\nSee also\n Cantonese culture\n Chinese horror film\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Troublesome Night Series at YesAsia\n\n \nFilm series introduced in 1997\nHong Kong film series\nHorror film series\nCantonese-language films\nAnthology film series\nComedy film series",
"Law Lan () MH (born Lo Yin-ying (); 13 November 1934), is a veteran Hong Kong actress in both the film and TV industry.\n\nCareer\nShe first started out in the film industry in 1939, cast in antagonistic roles during the black and white film era. It was during this time that she took the stage name of \"Law Lan\" based on the advice of her boss because he said the name was reminiscent of Shanghai socialites (交際花), and this name better suited the type of roles that she played.\n\nIn 1971, Law Lan joined TVB and took part in numerous drama series. Here, she played a variety of different characters instead of only being cast in antagonistic roles as she had previously. She also took part in the popular nightly variety show, Enjoy Yourself Tonight, which included skits, singing, dancing, and variety games, filmed in front of a live audience.\n\nAs well, Law Lan has been popularly cast playing roles as a supernatural medium in over 36 Hong Kong horror movies, despite the fact that she is a devout Roman Catholic. It was her performance as 四婆 (which is fourth granny literally) in the movie, Bullets Over Summer, which garnered her the \"Best Actress\" award at the 19th Hong Kong Film Award in 2000, making her the oldest winner of this coveted award.\n\nPersonal life\nLaw's father died during World War II aged 34 after complications from opium withdrawals. She has been living alone since 1994 when her Indian mother died, thus saving her from immigrating to Canada.\n\nFilmography\n\nTelevision dramas\n\nFilm\nThe Kid (1950)\nStory of the White-Haired Demon Girl (1959)\nLes Belles (1961)\nYoung, Pregnant and Unmarried (1968)\nLucky Seven (1970)\nThe House of 72 Tenants (1972)\nPolice Woman (1973)\nGames Gamblers Play (1974)\nAces Go Places 3 (1984)\nThe Greatest Lover (1988)\nThe Bride with White Hair 2 (1993)\nTroublesome Night (1997)\nHaunted Mansion (1998)\nTroublesome Night 3 (1998)\nBullets Over Summer (1999)\nTroublesome Night 5 (1999)\nTroublesome Night 6 (1999)\nTroublesome Night 7 (2000)\nTroublesome Night 8 (2000)\nTroublesome Night 9 (2001)\nTroublesome Night 10 (2001)\nTroublesome Night 11 (2001)\nTroublesome Night 12 (2001)\nTroublesome Night 13 (2002)\nTroublesome Night 14 (2002)\nTroublesome Night 15 (2002)\nTroublesome Night 16 (2002)\nTroublesome Night 17 (2002)\nTroublesome Night 18 (2003)\nTroublesome Night 19 (2003)\nThe Unusual Youth (2005)\nDon't Open Your Eyes (2006)\nFlash Point (2007)\nThe Haunting Lover (2010)\nA Simple Life (2011)\nBlue Magic (2013)\nThe White Storm (2013)\nOverheard 3 (2014)\nFlirting in the Air (2014)\nTales of Mystery (2015)\nAn Inspector Calls (2015)\nAre You Here (2015)\nBig Fortune Hotel (2015)\nHeaven in the Dark (2016)\nCook Up a Storm (2017)\nAlways Be With You (2017)\nAgent Mr Chan (2018)\nA Beautiful Moment (2018)\nHotel Soul Good (2018)\nI Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change! (2019)\nGirl Dorm (2019)\n\nHonours and awards\nMedal of Honour (2002)\n\nHong Kong Film Critics Society Awards\nBest Actress for Bullets Over Summer (2000)\n\nHong Kong Film Awards\nBest Supporting Actress Nomination for Thou Shalt Not Swear (1994)\nBest Supporting Actress Nomination for 13 July (1997)\nBest Actress for Bullets Over Summer (2000)\n\nGolden Bauhinia Awards\nBest Supporting Actress for Bullets Over Summer (2000)\n\nTVB Anniversary Awards\nLife Achievement Award (2002)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1934 births\nHong Kong Roman Catholics\nTVB actors\nHong Kong television actresses\nLiving people\n20th-century Hong Kong actresses\n21st-century Hong Kong actresses\nHong Kong film actresses"
]
|
[
"Randy Moss",
"Early years",
"Did he always play sports?",
"excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track.",
"Did anyone in his family play sports as well",
"Randy was also on the school's debate team.",
"Did he ever have aspirations of a specific pro team",
"I don't know.",
"Was his past always troublesome",
"named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995"
]
| C_851e2cea33364400ac299a7537e94da3_1 | Did he ever get injured | 5 | Did Randy Moss ever get injured? | Randy Moss | Moss was born and lived in Rand, West Virginia. He attended DuPont High School, one of two schools that later consolidated into Riverside High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Randy was also on the school's debate team. On the football field, Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He was a star at wide receiver, but also played free safety, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the team's kicker and punter. In 1994, he was honored with the Kennedy Award as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Parade magazine named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995 and in 2009 named him one of the 50 greatest high school football players of all time. At DuPont, he was a teammate of future Chicago Bears linebacker Bobbie Howard. In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (1993, 1994), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams. As a sophomore in 1992, at the age of 15, Moss joined the track & field team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.94 seconds and 21.95 seconds, respectively. This was the only year he competed on the school's track team, but he would later join the Marshall track team and lower his 200 m time to 21.15 seconds. He also played center field for the baseball team. CANNOTANSWER | He also played center field for the baseball team. | Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is a former American football player. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, and the San Francisco 49ers. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wide receivers of all time, he holds the NFL single-season touchdown reception record (23 in 2007), the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie (17 in 1998) and is second on the NFL all-time regular season touchdown reception list with 156. Moss was well known for his prowess in securing contested catches and the word "mossed" has entered football vernacular. Post-football, he began working for ESPN as a studio analyst for its Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown programs.
Moss played college football for Marshall University, and twice earned All-America honors. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft, where he played for seven years before a trade in 2005 brought him to the Oakland Raiders. In 2007, Moss was traded to the New England Patriots, where he set the single-season record for touchdown receptions. In October 2010, Moss returned to the Vikings in a trade from the Patriots but was waived less than a month later and then claimed by the Tennessee Titans. After sitting out the 2011 season, Moss signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers in 2012 before retiring following the season. He played in two Super Bowl games, XLII with the Patriots and XLVII with the 49ers, both losses. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
Early years
Moss was born in Rand, West Virginia. He attended DuPont High School, one of two schools that later consolidated into Riverside High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Randy was also on the school's debate team. On the football field, Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He was a star at wide receiver, but also played free safety, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the team's kicker and punter. In 1994, he was honored with the Kennedy Award as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Parade magazine named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995 and in 2009 named him one of the 50 greatest high school football players of all time. At DuPont, he was a teammate of future Chicago Bears linebacker Bobbie Howard.
In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (in 1994 when he was co-player of the year and in 1995), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams. In his senior season of basketball, Moss averaged 30.2 points, 13.7 rebounds, 5.1 steals, 3.8 blocks, and 3.1 assists while shooting 60% from field; he scored a school-record 1,713 career points.
As a sophomore in 1992, at the age of 15, Moss joined the track & field team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.94 seconds and 21.95 seconds, respectively. This was the only year he competed on the school's track team, but he would later join the Marshall track team and lower his 200 m time to 21.15 seconds. He also played center field for the baseball team.
College football career
Moss's dream was to play for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but he also considered going to Ohio State, where his half-brother, Eric, had played offensive tackle. Former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz said "Randy Moss was the best high school football player I've ever seen." Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden said "He was as good as Deion Sanders. Deion's my measuring stick for athletic ability, and this kid was just a bigger Deion."
After originally signing a letter of intent to play college football with Notre Dame in 1995, Moss took part in a racially charged fight at his high school that left one person hospitalized. On March 23, 1995, Moss had backed a friend in a hallway fight against a white student who had allegedly used racist comments towards Randy's friend. Moss was initially charged with a felony for kicking the student, but it was later reduced to a misdemeanor. On August 1, 1995, Moss pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor battery and was sentenced to 30 days behind bars at the South-Central Regional Jail in Charleston, West Virginia. He served 3 days in jail starting that night and would be required to serve the remaining 27 days within the following 18 months, after he completed his freshman year in college. Moss was expelled from DuPont and completed his education at Cabell Alternative School.
Notre Dame subsequently denied his enrollment application, but this did not stop another high-profile college football program from giving him a chance. Notre Dame officials suggested he attend Florida State due to the reputation of its coach, Bobby Bowden, for handling troubled players.
Freshman (1995)
Because of his signed letter of intent at Notre Dame, the NCAA considered him a transfer student to Florida State, so he had to redshirt the 1995 football season.
Redshirt Freshman season (1996)
In 1996, while serving his 30-day jail sentence in a work-release program from 1995, Moss tested positive for marijuana, thus violating his probation, and was dismissed from Florida State. He served an additional 60 days in jail for the probation violation.
Ultimately, Moss transferred to Marshall University, about an hour's drive from his home. Because Marshall was then a Division I-AA school, NCAA rules allowed him to transfer there without losing any further eligibility. In 1996, he set the NCAA Division I-AA records for the most games with a touchdown catch in a season (14), most consecutive games with a touchdown catch (13), most touchdown passes caught in a season (28 – tying Jerry Rice's 1984 record), and most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season (1,709 on 78 catches), a record which still stands. Moss was also the leading kickoff returner in Division I-AA on the season, with 612 total yards and a 34.0-yard average. The 1996 Marshall Thundering Herd went undefeated and won the Division I-AA title, with Moss having four touchdown receptions in the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game. It was Marshall's last season before moving to Division I-A.
At the Southern Conference indoor track championships, Moss ran the 200 meters in 21.15 seconds, missing the conference record by only .02 seconds. Although Moss had not raced competitively for four years, his time was one of the best in the country that year.
Sophomore season (1997)
In the 1997 season, Marshall's first in Division I-A, Moss and Quarterback Chad Pennington were the centerpiece of an explosive offense that led the Thundering Herd to the Mid-American Conference title. Moss caught 26 touchdown passes that season, at the time a Division I-A record, and was a first-team All-American.
The first game of the season was at West Virginia University where Marshall lost. The second game of the season saw Moss pick up right where he left off in 1996. Facing Army, Moss caught 5 balls for 186 yards and two touchdowns. One touchdown went for 79 yards in which Pennington lobbed the ball down the left sideline. Moss leaped over an Army defender to snag the ball out of the air at the 40-yard line while the safety crashed into his teammate, knocking both men down. Moss galloped the last 50 yards untouched for the score. The other touchdown reception was his career-long of 90 yards that came on a short screen pass on third down. Moss caught the ball on the right side of the field at his own 8-yard line, ran past 3 defenders in the middle of the field at the 15-yard line, hurdled two defenders coming from both sides of the left hash marks at the 25-yard line, then raced past the last defender at the 50-yard line before finally seeing daylight down the left sideline.
A week later, Moss posted his third career 200+ yard receiving game, against Kent State. Two weeks after that was his fourth and final 200+ yard game in college, recording 13 catches for 205 yards and a Marshall single-game record of 5 touchdown receptions against Ball State.
In the 1997 Ford Motor City Bowl against Ole Miss, Moss added his 26th touchdown of the season on Marshall's first offensive play from scrimmage. He streaked down the right sideline and caught an 80-yard touchdown pass from Pennington to tie the score at 7–7. NCAA rules at the time did not allow for statistics from bowl games to be combined with regular-season stats, so the touchdown did not officially increase his season touchdown record. The two teams traded the lead several times in the fourth quarter before Ole Miss running back Deuce McAllister scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds to play, giving them a 34–31 lead. Trying to pull out a last-second win, Pennington connected with Moss on a 40-yard pass on the final play of the game, but he was stripped of the ball as time expired. Moss finished the game with 6 receptions for 173 yards.
Moss finished his career at Marshall having scored at least one touchdown in all 28 games that he played. He won the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the season's outstanding receiver regardless of position, and was a finalist for the 1997 Heisman Trophy (finishing fourth in the balloting, behind Ryan Leaf, Peyton Manning, and Charles Woodson, who won the award). A controversial comment was made by Randy Moss in 1997 at a ceremony at Marshall University where he was commenting in regards to the 1970 plane crash that killed most their football team that the crash "was a tragedy, but it really wasn't nothing big". Moss later claimed that the quotes were taken out of context. Nate Ruffin, who is a surviving member of the 1970 Football Team, later met with Randy Moss.
College statistics
Includes stats from the 1997 Motor City Bowl against Ole Miss
NCAA records
Division I-AA – regular season
Most games with a touchdown reception in a season – 11 (1996)
Most consecutive games with a touchdown reception in a season – 11 (1996)
Most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season – 1073 (1996)
Most touchdown receptions caught by a freshman in a season – 19 (1996 – record for all NCAA divisions)
Division I-AA – playoffs
Most touchdown receptions in a single game – 4 (vs. Montana, December 21, 1996)
Most yards receiving in a single game – 288 (vs. Delaware, November 30, 1996)
Most touchdown receptions in a tournament – 9 (4 games in 1996)
Most yards receiving in a tournament – 636 (4 games in 1996)
Professional football career
1998 NFL Draft
Moss skipped his senior season at Marshall and entered the NFL Draft. He did not attend the NFL Combine, opting instead for an individual workout at Marshall's pro day. Moss ran the 40 yard dash in the 4.24-4.28 range by scouts' hand timers and posted vertical leaps of 47 and 51 inches. Numerous teams had scouts on hand with many noting the work-out was jaw dropping.
During the 1998 NFL Draft, Moss, who was projected as a high first-round pick, was taken by the Minnesota Vikings with the 21st overall pick after a number of NFL clubs—even those in need of a WR—were concerned with Moss's well-documented legal problems. Before the draft Moss was quoted as saying teams that passed on him "will regret it once they see what kind of a player I am and what kind of guy I really am." The team most often cited for passing on Moss is the Dallas Cowboys. Moss grew up a Cowboys fan and wanted to play for the Cowboys. The Cowboys wanted Moss, but because of many off-field incidents of their own, team owner and GM Jerry Jones did not feel the team could draft Moss. Moss felt that the Cowboys lied to him because they had told him they would draft him. On draft day, Dallas went so far as to have a scout in Charleston, West Virginia, the same town where Moss and his mother were watching the draft. Dallas star receiver Michael Irvin even called to apologize to Moss, because Irvin's own off-field problems were a main reason Moss was not drafted by Dallas. After the draft, Moss made a point of beating the Cowboys any time he faced them, getting his first opportunity to do so in Week 13 of his rookie season. In a game held at Texas Stadium, Moss torched Dallas with a 163-yard, 3-touchdown performance.
After the draft, Moss signed a 4-year, $4.5 million contract that included an additional $4 million in bonuses and incentives. As part of the deal, he received a $2 million signing bonus. Moss originally wore #18 in training camp (a number he would eventually wear for Oakland) but switched to the more conventional #84 before the regular season began.
Minnesota Vikings
1998 season
In 1998, Moss helped the Vikings to become the number 1 rated offense ever at the time, setting the single-season record for scoring (later surpassed by the 2007 New England Patriots, a team that also featured Moss) with 556 points.
The Vikings opened the season with a 31–7 rout against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Moss's first NFL game would also be his first multi-touchdown game as he recorded 4 receptions for 95 yards and two touchdowns. His first NFL reception came on the third play of the game on an 11-yard pass from Brad Johnson. His first touchdown was a 48-yard acrobatic grab over defensive back Floyd Young late in the first quarter, in which Moss juggled the ball 3 times before securing it for the score. He added a 31-yard touchdown reception on the Vikings' first possession of the second quarter to give the Vikings a 21–0 lead.
His first Monday Night Football game came in Week 5 against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. He had 5 receptions for 190 yards and two touchdowns, including touchdown grabs of 52 yards and 44 yards, and two other receptions of 46 yards and 41 yards. He also had a 75-yard touchdown catch on the Vikings' first possession of the game that was nullified due to an offensive holding penalty.
Against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, Moss finished with 3 catches for 163 yards and 3 touchdowns all for 50+ yards as the Vikings beat the Cowboys 46–36. Moss was the first rookie to score 3 touchdowns on Thanksgiving.
They finished with a 15–1 record and were poised to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XXXIII. However, the Atlanta Falcons stunned the Vikings by winning the NFC Championship Game 30–27 in overtime.
At the end of the 1998 regular season, Moss was named a Pro Bowl starter and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year for his rookie-record 17 touchdown receptions and the third-highest receiving yardage (1,313) total.
1999 season
In 1999, Moss had another impressive season, catching 80 passes for 1,413 yards and 11 touchdowns, including a punt return for a touchdown. He went on to record five receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown in the Vikings 27–10 NFC wildcard playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys. Minnesota lost in the divisional round to the St. Louis Rams 49–37, despite Moss catching nine passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Moss was fined $40,000, which was later reduced to $25,000, during that game due to squirting an NFL referee with a water bottle. There was a stipulation that he would have to pay the difference in addition to any other fine if he had another run-in with the league.
Moss earned his second straight Pro Bowl appearance, and turned in a record-breaking performance. He had 9 receptions for a Pro Bowl record 212 yards and was given the game's Most Valuable Player award.
2000 season
The 2000 season featured second-year quarterback Daunte Culpepper leading the team. Culpepper had been the team's first-round draft pick in 1999; with a pick they received from the Redskins for quarterback Brad Johnson. He had been selected largely due to his extremely strong arm, which the team believed was perfectly suited for Moss's deep routes. The decision proved correct. Culpepper was a rookie sensation, the Vikings started 7–0, and Moss was a leading MVP candidate. For the second time in three seasons, Moss punished the Dallas Cowboys in Dallas on Thanksgiving Day, including a spectacular 2nd-half touchdown in which Moss caught the ball with his entire body out of bounds, aside from his toes. The play would be the feature shot in NFL commercials for years to come. Moss finished the season with a career-high 1,437 yards and league-leading 15 touchdown catches. In doing so, he became the youngest and fastest player to ever catch over 3,000 yards and 45 touchdowns, earning him his 3rd consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl, and 2nd selection to the All Pro team. The Vikings would make it to the NFC Championship game, only to be blown out 41–0 by the New York Giants.
2001 season
In the offseason, Moss and his agent Danté DiTrapano began negotiating a new contract with the Minnesota Vikings. He was scheduled to earn $3.5 million in 2001. But Moss, who was entering the final year of the rookie contract he signed in 1998, was seeking a long-term deal that would make him the highest-paid player in the NFL. His agent said, "We want to break the tradition of quarterbacks being the highest-paid players." One option the Vikings had would be to apply the franchise tag after the season ended, but sources stated that Moss would request a trade if that happened because it would still be less than what he could command on the open market.
Just prior to the start of training camp in July, Vikings owner Red McCombs signed Moss to an 8-year, $75 million contract extension. The extension included a $10 million signing bonus and another $8 million in guarantees.
Despite finishing the season with 10 touchdowns and posting at least 1,000 receiving yards for the fourth consecutive season, Moss failed to make the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career.
2002 season
After replacing Dennis Green on an interim basis to end the 2001 season, Mike Tice was officially named head coach on January 10, 2002. One of the strategies the Vikings' first-year head coach came up with was a formula to get Moss the ball more often. Coach Tice called it the Randy Ratio. It was an effort on the coaches part to throw 40% of the passes to Moss as a way to keep him involved in the offense more than he had been in the 2001 season when he had stretches in games where he was being shut out, and partly to use more game clock by sustaining long drives to give the Vikings defense a chance to rest. An assistant coach would stand on the sidelines during games and track how many times Moss had been thrown to, and then inform Tice of the percentages so that he is always aware of it. In the 2001 season, the Vikings record was 4–1 when Moss had 40% of the passes thrown his direction, and 1–10 in other games.
The strategy was a response to the 'Randy Rules,' as Vikings receiver Chris Walsh called them. The Randy Rules, similar to the Jordan Rules, were a defensive strategy that teams employed when facing the Vikings to try and eliminate or reduce Randy's impact on the game, and to prevent Moss from being matched up one-on-one with defenders because of his ability to burn them deep or outjump them in single coverage. Opposing teams would routinely double cover Moss with techniques such as having a cornerback attempt to jam him at the line of scrimmage, having a corner defend underneath with a safety defending against the deep ball, having a zone defense roll to Moss's side of the field, and assigning "spies" to follow Moss everywhere he went.
Coach Tice discussed the strategy, explaining that Moss would be running more short and intermediate routes and fewer deep patterns. In training camp, Moss worked specifically on 12 new routes that he had rarely run in his first 4 NFL seasons, such as crossing patterns over the middle of the field and hook routes. Coach Tice said, "When we say Randy Ratio, everybody in the league thinks, 'OK, now they're going to throw the ball down the field to Randy more and more and more.' That's so far from the truth. In fact, we'll probably throw the ball down the field to Randy this year even less."
The Randy Ratio did not last very long, as Tice scrapped the idea midway through the 2002 season. Randy Moss said "I didn't really care much about the Randy Ratio when it was brought up. I just wanted to win." While Moss caught a career-high 106 passes, he also had a career-low 7 touchdown receptions, and the Vikings struggled to a 6–10 record. Tice suggested after the season that it was a mistake to inform opponents about his offensive gameplan, but that it was a tool "to motivate [Moss] and say he was the guy."
2003 season
Moss's fortunes took a better turn on the football field during the 2003 regular season, where he became the second wide receiver in NFL history (behind Jerry Rice in 1995) to play more than 12 games (he played 16) while averaging over 100 yards and one touchdown per contest. He finished with 111 receptions for 1,632 yards and 17 touchdowns. All three numbers either tied or became a new personal best for Moss. The Vikings finished the season 9–7. One of Moss's memorable highlights that year was when he lateraled to Moe Williams for a last-second touchdown during a home game against Denver.
In the offseason, he attended the Vikings strength and conditioning program and added five pounds of muscle to his frame.
2004 season
Moss started the season strong catching 8 touchdowns in his first 5 games of the season. However, he sustained a hamstring injury to his right leg against New Orleans in Week 6 that hampered him for the next five weeks. He played in Week 7 against Tennessee, but had no receptions in a game for the first time in his career. He also played the following week against the Giants, but again recorded no receptions and was used mainly as a decoy. The injury eventually sidelined him for 3 straight weeks. He returned to the lineup in Week 12 with a touchdown catch against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Even though he finished the season with 13 touchdowns in 13 games, he posted career lows in receptions (49) and receiving yards (767). 2004 was the first season in his career that he failed to reach the 1,000-yard mark.
On January 9, 2005, the Minnesota Vikings played division rival Green Bay Packers in an NFC wildcard playoff game. Moss finished the game with 4 catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns in the 31–17 win. After the second score, Moss trotted to the end zone goalpost and feigned pulling down his pants to moon the Green Bay fans. NFL on Fox announcer Joe Buck called it a "disgusting act.” Moss was fined $10,000 for his actions. Though the Vikings would win the game, they would lose in the next round of the playoffs to the Philadelphia Eagles, and Moss would be traded at the end of the season.
Oakland Raiders
On March 2, 2005, Moss was traded to the Oakland Raiders for linebacker Napoleon Harris and the Raiders' first (7th overall, which Minnesota parlayed into wide receiver Troy Williamson) and seventh-round picks in the NFL draft. Adding a player of Moss's caliber generated optimism in Oakland, but the Raiders' poor play continued, while Moss suffered nagging injuries which limited his production. He surpassed the 1,000 mark on the final day of the 2005 season, finishing the year with 1,005 receiving yards on 60 catches. However, Moss only managed 553 yards on 42 balls in 2006.
Moss was not happy in Oakland, and on November 14, 2006, when he was honored as a kick returner by having an award named after him, he responded to questions about his dropped passes and lackluster effort in several games. Moss said, "Maybe because I'm unhappy and I'm not too much excited about what's going on, so, my concentration and focus level tend to go down sometimes when I'm in a bad mood". Days later, he reiterated his unhappiness with losing games and being a member of the Raiders on his weekly segment with Fox Sports Radio, saying, "I might want to look forward to moving somewhere else next year to have another start and really feel good about going out here and playing football".
New England Patriots
2007 season
There were rumors leading up to the 2007 NFL Draft that the Raiders were eager to part ways with Randy Moss through a trade. First-year Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin went so far as to contact their division rival Denver Broncos to "gauge interest", but the Patriots and Green Bay Packers were the two teams most interested in acquiring Moss. Packers QB Brett Favre, who once said, "There is no one in this league who puts fear in people more than Randy Moss," tried to persuade team management to trade for him, but a deal that both sides could agree to did not get done.
During the first day of the NFL Draft, the Patriots and Raiders discussed the trade several times before reaching an agreement. Bill Belichick spoke with Moss for the first time about the possibility of joining the Patriots at 2:30 Sunday morning. Moss then boarded a plane and arrived in Boston later that morning on April 29 and was required to pass a team administered physical. Once he was cleared by Patriots officials, the teams completed a trade that sent Randy Moss to New England for a fourth-round selection in the 2007 NFL Draft. The Patriots had acquired the draft pick the previous day from the San Francisco 49ers, and the Raiders selected John Bowie.
One of the conditions of the trade was that Randy Moss would have to restructure his contract for salary cap reasons. Just hours before the Moss trade was completed, New England quarterback Tom Brady converted $5.28 million of his 2007 base salary into a signing bonus that was spread out over the remaining portion of his contract so that it could free up cap room. This enabled the Patriots to absorb Moss's incoming contract under the salary cap. Moss had two years remaining on his current deal and was scheduled to earn $9.75 million in 2007 and $11.25 million in 2008. Once the Patriots had Moss on their roster, he quickly agreed to a new one-year contract to replace his old one. The new deal gave him a $500,000 signing bonus, a base salary of $2.5 million, and the ability to earn an additional $1.75 million in incentives.
"I’m still in awe that I’m a part of this organization," Moss said, clearly thrilled to join a team that could contend for the Super Bowl and to work with Coach Belichick. "I think that he's the kind of coach that can motivate me. He has a proven track record."
In the first week of training camp, during an 11-on-11 passing drill, Moss suffered a hamstring injury to his left leg. As a precaution, the injury prevented Moss from participating in any preseason games and he missed much of the rest of camp.
His first action in a Patriots uniform came against the New York Jets in Week 1. He quickly quieted critics who claimed that his skills had deteriorated by hauling in nine receptions for 181 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown pass in which he ran past three Jets defenders.
On November 4, 2007, James Black, NFL Editor for Yahoo! Sports wrote, "Every week, in addition to out-leaping at least one defender for a touchdown, [Moss] keeps making incredible one-handed grabs that make you mutter, 'How the heck did he come up with that?'" Two weeks later, he caught a career-high four touchdowns in a single game against Buffalo.
On December 29, the Patriots defeated the New York Giants 38–35, finishing their regular season with a perfect 16–0 record. Moss caught two touchdown passes for a total of 23, breaking the single-season record of 22 touchdown receptions previously set by Jerry Rice (in 12 games in the strike-shortened 1987 season). On the same play, Tom Brady broke Peyton Manning's single-season record set in 2004 with his 50th touchdown pass. Moss recorded 98 catches for 1,493 yards in 2007, the highest yardage total in Patriots franchise history and the third-highest total number of catches, after teammate Wes Welker's 112 catches that same season and Troy Brown's 101 in 2001. He also earned his sixth Pro Bowl selection. His 2007 season featured touchdowns in 13 of 16 games (including eight multi-touchdown games), nine 100-yard games, and six touchdown receptions of 40 or more yards.
Despite his record-breaking 2007 season, Moss was relatively quiet in the playoffs, going two consecutive games without a touchdown for the first time all season. However, in Super Bowl XLII, he scored the go-ahead touchdown with 2:42 left in the fourth quarter on a six-yard pass from Tom Brady. The score was not enough for the heavily favored Patriots to end their only undefeated season with a Super Bowl win. Eli Manning drove the Giants down the field, connecting with Plaxico Burress for the game-winning touchdown and an upset over the Patriots.
2008 season
On February 28, 2008, Moss became a free agent after the Patriots decided not to place the franchise tag on Moss. Although the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, and Green Bay Packers were rumored to have interest in Moss, he decided to return to the Patriots, signing a three-year, $27 million deal on March 3, 2008. The contract included a $12 million signing bonus, and a total of $14.1 million guaranteed.
The first game of the 2008 season saw Brady suffer a torn ACL in his left knee while attempting a pass to Randy Moss. The play occurred in the first half against the Kansas City Chiefs when safety Bernard Pollard dove at Brady's leg while in his throwing motion. Moss described what he saw on the play by saying "any time you see something like that, that looks foul, it looks dirty, it opens your eyes. So, me personally, it looked dirty." Matt Cassel replaced Brady for the rest of the season.
In 2008, Moss hauled in 69 catches for 1,008 yards and 11 touchdowns despite losing quarterback Tom Brady in the first game of the season.
2009 season
In the season opener of 2009, Moss caught a career-high 12 passes for 141 yards in a comeback 25–24 victory over the Bills. In Week 5 against the Denver Broncos, Moss was placed deep in coverage on a Broncos Hail Mary attempt to end the first half, and intercepted Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton. In a snowy Week 6 game against the winless Tennessee Titans, Moss caught three touchdown passes from Tom Brady, two of them in the 2nd quarter as Brady set a record for most touchdown passes in a single quarter with five. This was Moss's 34th multi-touchdown game, and his 8th game with three or more touchdowns.
During the Patriots' bye week, Belichick stated that Moss "is the smartest receiver he's ever been around." He compared Moss's ability to see the field and anticipate plays to that of Tom Brady, and to Lawrence Taylor, who Belichick coached with the New York Giants. He said Moss not only knows what he's doing on a play, but what everybody else on the field is doing as well. "That's what makes them special. They just have a sixth, seventh sense", Belichick said. This sentiment was repeated when Moss was inducted into the Hall of Fame, as Belichick went further to say he learned from Moss.
In Week 9 against the Miami Dolphins Moss added six catches for 147 yards and 1 touchdown. The touchdown reception was the 140th of his career, which moved him into a tie for second place with Terrell Owens.
The following week, in a prime time Sunday night matchup against the Indianapolis Colts, Moss had 179 yards and two touchdowns, including a 63-yard touchdown in the 2nd quarter that moved him ahead of Terrell Owens for sole possession of second place in career touchdown receptions. In the same game, he became just the 11th player in NFL history with 900+ receptions and the seventh player to reach 14,000+ career receiving yards.
He finished the season with 83 receptions for 1,264 yards and an NFL-high 13 touchdowns. New England would lose the AFC Wild Card playoff to the Baltimore Ravens 33–14.
2010 season
In the week leading up to the Patriots' 2010 season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, Moss, who was entering the final year of his contract told CBS Sports that he "did not feel wanted" in New England absent a contract extension offer. Moss would go on to catch 5 passes for 59 yards in Week 1. After the game, Moss told reporters that it would be his final season with the Patriots. The Boston Herald reported weeks later that Moss requested a trade following the game.
Moss had two receptions in Week 2 against the New York Jets, including a 34-yard touchdown that he caught one-handed after beating All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis. The following week against the Buffalo Bills, Moss had two more catches, both for touchdowns. His final game in New England came in Week 4 on Monday Night Football against the Miami Dolphins; he did not record a catch in the game for the first time in his Patriots career as a touchdown pass attempt off a fake spike bounced off his hands in the end zone.
Return to Minnesota
Two days after the Patriots' game against Miami, Moss was traded to the Minnesota Vikings, in exchange for the Vikings' third-round selection (later used to select quarterback Ryan Mallett) in the 2011 NFL Draft. The Patriots also sent a 2012 seventh-round selection to the Vikings as part of the trade.
On November 1, less than four weeks after being traded to Minnesota, Vikings head coach Brad Childress told Vikings players in a team meeting that Moss was going to be waived by the team, one day after he criticized Childress and teammates in a press conference following the Vikings' loss to the Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Just before the press conference, Moss reportedly told team owner Zygi Wilf that Childress was unfit to coach in the NFL and should be fired. Wilf reportedly considered firing Childress and keeping Moss, but Moss was officially waived the next day, November 2. Childress was eventually fired on November 22.
Tennessee Titans
Moss was claimed off waivers by the Tennessee Titans, the only team to submit a claim, on November 3, 2010. Moss played eight games with the Titans, starting four. He made six catches for 80 yards and no touchdowns.
Moss finished the 2010 season with career lows in receptions (28) and receiving yards (393). The Titans stated that they did not plan to re-sign Moss for the 2011 season, and he became a free agent.
Initial retirement and comeback
On August 1, 2011, Moss's agent, Joel Segal, announced Moss's decision to retire from professional football.
On February 13, 2012, his 35th birthday, Moss announced that he was coming out of retirement and was ready to play again. In a live video chat with his fans via Ustream, Moss stated, "I wanna play football. Your boy is going to come back here and play some football, so I'm really excited. I had some things I had to adjust in my life."
San Francisco 49ers
On March 12, 2012, Moss signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers for undisclosed financial terms after a workout with the team's head coach Jim Harbaugh. On September 9, 2012, Moss caught his 154th touchdown reception, and subsequently passed Terrell Owens for sole possession of 2nd on the all-time receiving touchdown list. After Alex Smith suffered a concussion against the St. Louis Rams in week 10, Colin Kaepernick took over as the team's quarterback, and Moss had at least two receptions in each of the remaining five games of the regular season. He finished the season with 28 catches for 434 yards and three touchdowns. Since the retirement of Terrell Owens at the end of 2010, he had been the NFL's active leader in receiving yards. Moss would eventually go on to play in Super Bowl XLVII, where he had two receptions for 41 yards in a 31–34 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
NFL career statistics
Regular season
NFL records
Most touchdown receptions in a season – 23 (2007)
Most touchdown receptions by a rookie in a season – 17 (1998)
Most seasons with 17 or more touchdown receptions – 3 (1998, 2003, 2007)
Most seasons with 16 or more touchdown receptions – 3 (1998, 2003, 2007)
Most seasons with 11 or more touchdown receptions – 8 – tied with Jerry Rice
Most seasons with 10 or more touchdown receptions – 9 – tied with Jerry Rice
Most games in a season with at least 2 touchdown receptions – 8 (2007)
One of two players to have 1,600+ receiving yards and 16+ receiving touchdowns in a season (2003), the other being Calvin Johnson (2011)
Most yards receiving in a Pro Bowl game – 212 (2000)
Most touchdowns scored in first 10 games with a new team – 16 (2007)
Most 1,200+ yard receiving seasons to start a career – 6 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003)
Moss has averaged at least one receiving touchdown per game played in four different seasons: 1998 (17 TDs in 16 games), 2003 (17 in 16), 2004 (13 in 13), and 2007 (23 in 16)
At the end of the 2008 season, Moss averaged 12.3 receiving TDs per season
4× 100+ yard games in his first four games with a new team in 2007
Youngest player in NFL history to record his 100th receiving touchdown (29 years and 235 days)
Youngest player in NFL history to record his 120th receiving touchdown (30 years, 313 days)
Most receiving yards before 30th birthday – 10,700
Most TD receptions before 30th birthday – 101
Youngest player to reach 6,000 career receiving yards (25 years and 270 days; later broken by Mike Evans)
Fastest player to reach 5,000 career receiving yards – 59 games (broke record of 61 games by Jerry Rice)
Youngest player to reach 5,000 career receiving yards - 24 years 292 days
Highest career yards per catch average for any player with 900+ receptions – 15.6 yards per reception
Youngest player to have 3 touchdown receptions in a game (21 years, 286 days; later broken by Rob Gronkowski)
Most offensive touchdowns in first two seasons: 28 (Tied with Rob Gronkowski)
Career highlights
6× Pro Bowl selection
4× All-Pro selection
2007 AFC Champion
2012 NFC Champion
Is second on the Minnesota Vikings all-time receiving touchdown list with 92. Cris Carter holds the record with 110 receiving scores
Caught his 100th touchdown pass in 2006 against San Francisco, the seventh player to do so
Holds the record for most touchdowns in Minnesota Vikings playoff history with 9
10× 1,000+ yard receiving seasons – 2nd all-time
64 career 100-yard games – 2nd all-time; most recent November 15, 2009
156 touchdown receptions – 2nd all-time
73.6 receiving yards per game – 7th all-time
15,292 receiving yards – 4th all-time
954 career receptions – 10th all-time
Has completed 4 of 8 passes for 106 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 1 interception, giving him a 95.8 passer rating
Only player to catch 90+ touchdown passes, return a punt for a touchdown, and throw 2 touchdown passes
Has played on two of the five highest-scoring teams (for a single season) in NFL history: 2007 Patriots (589 points) and the 1998 Vikings (556 points); both were the highest-scoring teams in NFL history thitherto
Had a career-high 12 receptions for 204 yards against the Chicago Bears, at Soldier Field, on November 14, 1999, in a 27–24 overtime win
Holds the Vikings record for most 100-yard receiving games with 41
Has two touchdowns or more in 39 different games (including 3 in the postseason); most recent September 26, 2010
Has two touchdown receptions or more in 37 different games – (2nd all-time)
Has three touchdown receptions or more in 9 different games – (2nd all-time): at Dallas (November 26, 1998), a 46–36 victory; vs. Chicago (December 6, 1998), a 48–22 victory; at Detroit (October 1, 2000), a 31–24 victory; vs. New York Giants (November 19, 2001) a 28–16 victory; vs. San Francisco (September 28, 2003), a 35–7 victory; at Buffalo (November 18, 2007), a 56–10 victory; at Miami (November 23, 2008), a 48–28 victory; vs. Tennessee (October 18, 2009), a 59–0 victory; vs. Jacksonville (December 27, 2009), a 35–7 victory
Caught a career-high four touchdowns at Buffalo (all in the first half) – November 18, 2007
Had an interception while playing defense in the last few seconds of the first half of the Patriots' game against the Denver Broncos on October 11, 2009
Has 4 career two-point conversions
Randy Moss Motorsports
On April 29, 2008, Moss announced the formation of Randy Moss Motorsports, an auto racing team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In July 2008, Moss announced that he had bought a 50 percent share in Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, with the team's No. 46 entry switching to No. 81. The team was reportedly shut down in 2012.
Post-football career
Upon his release from the 49ers, Moss was hired as an analyst for Fox Sports 1's Fox Football Daily show. Moss was hired as an associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Victory Christian Center High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, in June 2014, where his son was attending high school and playing football.
In July 2016, Moss joined ESPN as an analyst, appearing on Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018. In 2019, Moss was named to the National Football League 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Charity
Moss has participated in, founded, and financed many charitable endeavors since joining the NFL, particularly aimed at helping children. Many times when talking about his charity work, he has said he just looks forward to "seeing smiles." He has donated clothing and food to needy families, given away free backpacks to Boston area school-children, and hosted autograph signings. He has also bussed children to amusement parks, NBA games, and even NFL games in which he has played.
On June 29, 2005, he hosted the Randy Moss Celebrity Charity Invitational Bass Tournament. The tournament was a one-day event that paired celebrities and corporate sponsors with pro fishermen to raise money for the Smile Network, which is a foundation that provides financial assistance to children with treatable mouth problems, such as cleft palate. The tournaments motto is "fish for a smile."
In 2008, Moss formed the Links for Learning foundation, which was established to help children in his home state of West Virginia, and to build learning centers for the most needy student populations. In June, he and his former high school teammate Jason Williams hosted the foundations first annual charity golf tournament at the Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Hurricane, West Virginia. In March 2009, Moss's foundation made a donation that enabled the Women and Children's Hospital of Charleston, West Virginia to purchase a Starlight Children's Foundation 'Fun Center' for their patients. The 'Fun Center' is a portable bedside entertainment system equipped with a TV, DVD player, and 22 Nintendo Wii games.
Personal life
Moss's parents are Maxine Moss and Randy Pratt. Moss has little contact with his father. He has a sister named Lutisia and had a brother Eric, who had a short stint in the NFL as an offensive tackle with the Minnesota Vikings. Moss has five children: Lexi Adkins, Sydney, Senali, Thaddeus, and Montigo. Thaddeus is a tight end on the Cincinnati Bengals. Moss is also a Christian, attested by his NFL Hall of Fame Speech.
Traffic incident
On September 24, 2002, in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, Moss was driving and was preparing to make an illegal turn. A traffic control officer, noticing what he was about to do, stood in front of his vehicle and ordered him to stop. Eyewitness accounts of the event differ at this point, but Moss did not comply with the officer's order, and she was bumped by his vehicle and fell to the ground. Moss was arrested, and a search of his vehicle revealed a joint amounting to less than a gram of marijuana in his ashtray. Initially charged with felony Suspicion of Assault with a Deadly Weapon and a misdemeanor marijuana possession, Moss spent the night in jail and was released the following morning. Moss pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor traffic violation and was ordered to pay a $1,200 fine and perform 40 hours of community service. While the criminal charges were thus disposed of, the civil lawsuit filed by the traffic control officer brought a substantial penalty fine "in the low to mid six figures". Moss claimed that the joint was not his, and that he had let friends use his car prior to the accident.
Marijuana use
In April 1996, Moss smoked a joint just prior to turning himself in to jail. He was scheduled to finish the remainder of his 30-day sentence for misdemeanor battery while in high school. During his first week in jail, Moss was given a drug test that came back positive. He was placed in solitary confinement for a week and had 60 days attached to his 27-day sentence. Coach Bobby Bowden revoked his scholarship and Moss was dismissed from Florida State University for the failed drug test.
Moss tested positive in 2001 for marijuana under the NFL's substance abuse program and was subject to additional random drug screening for two years. A first time violation of the NFL's drug policy can result in up to 10 tests per month. Moss did not fail an NFL drug test again, and was rotated out of the program after two years.
In August 2005, during an interview with Bryant Gumbel, Moss admitted that he has smoked marijuana during his NFL career "every blue moon." When asked whether he still used marijuana currently, Moss replied "I might. I might have fun. And, you know, hopefully ... I won't get into any trouble by the NFL by saying that, you know. I have had fun throughout my years and, you know, predominantly in the offseason." The interview drew criticism from the league office, and his agent tried to spin it that his words were taken out of context. In response, Moss said "That was really me talking in the past tense of way back in the beginning of my career and my childhood – especially in high school and college."
Dating violence allegations
On January 15, 2008, Orlando-based radio station WDBO reported that Moss "had" been hit with a temporary injunction for protection against dating violence. According to the affidavit, Moss committed a battery upon Rachelle Washington, causing serious injury, and then refused to allow her to seek medical attention. The affidavit out of Broward County reveals Moss cannot come within 500 feet of the victim and cannot use or possess firearms.
The next day, in a locker room press conference, Moss claimed the woman was simply looking for money "over an accident," because her lawyer came to his lawyer, threatening a lawsuit, and asking for money to settle before she went public to the media. Moss stated he had known Washington for about 11 years. He also stated in his defense that he has never assaulted a woman in his entire life, and asked that the media and fans "find out the facts" before "rush[ing] to judgment." Moreover, Moss's lawyer, in an e-mail to the Boston Globe accused the woman's lawyer of "blatant threats and attempts to extort money" from Moss. On March 3, 2008, Rachelle Washington filed papers with the Broward County Circuit Court clerk's office requesting that the restraining order be dissolved and the case closed. No criminal charges were ever filed in the incident.
See also
List of NCAA major college football yearly receiving leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders
References
External links
1977 births
Living people
10,000 receiving yards club
African-American motorsport people
African-American players of American football
African-American sports journalists
All-American college football players
American Conference Pro Bowl players
American football wide receivers
ESPN people
Florida State Seminoles football players
Marshall Thundering Herd football players
Marshall Thundering Herd men's track and field athletes
Minnesota Vikings players
NASCAR team owners
National Conference Pro Bowl players
National Football League Offensive Rookie of the Year Award winners
New England Patriots players
Oakland Raiders players
People from Kanawha County, West Virginia
Players of American football from West Virginia
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
San Francisco 49ers players
Sportspeople from Charleston, West Virginia
Tennessee Titans players | true | [
"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"
]
|
[
"Randy Moss",
"Early years",
"Did he always play sports?",
"excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track.",
"Did anyone in his family play sports as well",
"Randy was also on the school's debate team.",
"Did he ever have aspirations of a specific pro team",
"I don't know.",
"Was his past always troublesome",
"named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995",
"Did he ever get injured",
"He also played center field for the baseball team."
]
| C_851e2cea33364400ac299a7537e94da3_1 | Did he ever think to play other sports in college | 6 | Did Randy Moss ever think to play sports in college besides football and baseball? | Randy Moss | Moss was born and lived in Rand, West Virginia. He attended DuPont High School, one of two schools that later consolidated into Riverside High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Randy was also on the school's debate team. On the football field, Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He was a star at wide receiver, but also played free safety, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the team's kicker and punter. In 1994, he was honored with the Kennedy Award as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Parade magazine named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995 and in 2009 named him one of the 50 greatest high school football players of all time. At DuPont, he was a teammate of future Chicago Bears linebacker Bobbie Howard. In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (1993, 1994), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams. As a sophomore in 1992, at the age of 15, Moss joined the track & field team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.94 seconds and 21.95 seconds, respectively. This was the only year he competed on the school's track team, but he would later join the Marshall track team and lower his 200 m time to 21.15 seconds. He also played center field for the baseball team. CANNOTANSWER | Marshall track team and lower his 200 m time to 21.15 seconds. | Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is a former American football player. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, and the San Francisco 49ers. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wide receivers of all time, he holds the NFL single-season touchdown reception record (23 in 2007), the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie (17 in 1998) and is second on the NFL all-time regular season touchdown reception list with 156. Moss was well known for his prowess in securing contested catches and the word "mossed" has entered football vernacular. Post-football, he began working for ESPN as a studio analyst for its Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown programs.
Moss played college football for Marshall University, and twice earned All-America honors. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft, where he played for seven years before a trade in 2005 brought him to the Oakland Raiders. In 2007, Moss was traded to the New England Patriots, where he set the single-season record for touchdown receptions. In October 2010, Moss returned to the Vikings in a trade from the Patriots but was waived less than a month later and then claimed by the Tennessee Titans. After sitting out the 2011 season, Moss signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers in 2012 before retiring following the season. He played in two Super Bowl games, XLII with the Patriots and XLVII with the 49ers, both losses. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
Early years
Moss was born in Rand, West Virginia. He attended DuPont High School, one of two schools that later consolidated into Riverside High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Randy was also on the school's debate team. On the football field, Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He was a star at wide receiver, but also played free safety, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the team's kicker and punter. In 1994, he was honored with the Kennedy Award as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Parade magazine named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995 and in 2009 named him one of the 50 greatest high school football players of all time. At DuPont, he was a teammate of future Chicago Bears linebacker Bobbie Howard.
In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (in 1994 when he was co-player of the year and in 1995), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams. In his senior season of basketball, Moss averaged 30.2 points, 13.7 rebounds, 5.1 steals, 3.8 blocks, and 3.1 assists while shooting 60% from field; he scored a school-record 1,713 career points.
As a sophomore in 1992, at the age of 15, Moss joined the track & field team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.94 seconds and 21.95 seconds, respectively. This was the only year he competed on the school's track team, but he would later join the Marshall track team and lower his 200 m time to 21.15 seconds. He also played center field for the baseball team.
College football career
Moss's dream was to play for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but he also considered going to Ohio State, where his half-brother, Eric, had played offensive tackle. Former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz said "Randy Moss was the best high school football player I've ever seen." Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden said "He was as good as Deion Sanders. Deion's my measuring stick for athletic ability, and this kid was just a bigger Deion."
After originally signing a letter of intent to play college football with Notre Dame in 1995, Moss took part in a racially charged fight at his high school that left one person hospitalized. On March 23, 1995, Moss had backed a friend in a hallway fight against a white student who had allegedly used racist comments towards Randy's friend. Moss was initially charged with a felony for kicking the student, but it was later reduced to a misdemeanor. On August 1, 1995, Moss pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor battery and was sentenced to 30 days behind bars at the South-Central Regional Jail in Charleston, West Virginia. He served 3 days in jail starting that night and would be required to serve the remaining 27 days within the following 18 months, after he completed his freshman year in college. Moss was expelled from DuPont and completed his education at Cabell Alternative School.
Notre Dame subsequently denied his enrollment application, but this did not stop another high-profile college football program from giving him a chance. Notre Dame officials suggested he attend Florida State due to the reputation of its coach, Bobby Bowden, for handling troubled players.
Freshman (1995)
Because of his signed letter of intent at Notre Dame, the NCAA considered him a transfer student to Florida State, so he had to redshirt the 1995 football season.
Redshirt Freshman season (1996)
In 1996, while serving his 30-day jail sentence in a work-release program from 1995, Moss tested positive for marijuana, thus violating his probation, and was dismissed from Florida State. He served an additional 60 days in jail for the probation violation.
Ultimately, Moss transferred to Marshall University, about an hour's drive from his home. Because Marshall was then a Division I-AA school, NCAA rules allowed him to transfer there without losing any further eligibility. In 1996, he set the NCAA Division I-AA records for the most games with a touchdown catch in a season (14), most consecutive games with a touchdown catch (13), most touchdown passes caught in a season (28 – tying Jerry Rice's 1984 record), and most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season (1,709 on 78 catches), a record which still stands. Moss was also the leading kickoff returner in Division I-AA on the season, with 612 total yards and a 34.0-yard average. The 1996 Marshall Thundering Herd went undefeated and won the Division I-AA title, with Moss having four touchdown receptions in the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game. It was Marshall's last season before moving to Division I-A.
At the Southern Conference indoor track championships, Moss ran the 200 meters in 21.15 seconds, missing the conference record by only .02 seconds. Although Moss had not raced competitively for four years, his time was one of the best in the country that year.
Sophomore season (1997)
In the 1997 season, Marshall's first in Division I-A, Moss and Quarterback Chad Pennington were the centerpiece of an explosive offense that led the Thundering Herd to the Mid-American Conference title. Moss caught 26 touchdown passes that season, at the time a Division I-A record, and was a first-team All-American.
The first game of the season was at West Virginia University where Marshall lost. The second game of the season saw Moss pick up right where he left off in 1996. Facing Army, Moss caught 5 balls for 186 yards and two touchdowns. One touchdown went for 79 yards in which Pennington lobbed the ball down the left sideline. Moss leaped over an Army defender to snag the ball out of the air at the 40-yard line while the safety crashed into his teammate, knocking both men down. Moss galloped the last 50 yards untouched for the score. The other touchdown reception was his career-long of 90 yards that came on a short screen pass on third down. Moss caught the ball on the right side of the field at his own 8-yard line, ran past 3 defenders in the middle of the field at the 15-yard line, hurdled two defenders coming from both sides of the left hash marks at the 25-yard line, then raced past the last defender at the 50-yard line before finally seeing daylight down the left sideline.
A week later, Moss posted his third career 200+ yard receiving game, against Kent State. Two weeks after that was his fourth and final 200+ yard game in college, recording 13 catches for 205 yards and a Marshall single-game record of 5 touchdown receptions against Ball State.
In the 1997 Ford Motor City Bowl against Ole Miss, Moss added his 26th touchdown of the season on Marshall's first offensive play from scrimmage. He streaked down the right sideline and caught an 80-yard touchdown pass from Pennington to tie the score at 7–7. NCAA rules at the time did not allow for statistics from bowl games to be combined with regular-season stats, so the touchdown did not officially increase his season touchdown record. The two teams traded the lead several times in the fourth quarter before Ole Miss running back Deuce McAllister scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds to play, giving them a 34–31 lead. Trying to pull out a last-second win, Pennington connected with Moss on a 40-yard pass on the final play of the game, but he was stripped of the ball as time expired. Moss finished the game with 6 receptions for 173 yards.
Moss finished his career at Marshall having scored at least one touchdown in all 28 games that he played. He won the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the season's outstanding receiver regardless of position, and was a finalist for the 1997 Heisman Trophy (finishing fourth in the balloting, behind Ryan Leaf, Peyton Manning, and Charles Woodson, who won the award). A controversial comment was made by Randy Moss in 1997 at a ceremony at Marshall University where he was commenting in regards to the 1970 plane crash that killed most their football team that the crash "was a tragedy, but it really wasn't nothing big". Moss later claimed that the quotes were taken out of context. Nate Ruffin, who is a surviving member of the 1970 Football Team, later met with Randy Moss.
College statistics
Includes stats from the 1997 Motor City Bowl against Ole Miss
NCAA records
Division I-AA – regular season
Most games with a touchdown reception in a season – 11 (1996)
Most consecutive games with a touchdown reception in a season – 11 (1996)
Most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season – 1073 (1996)
Most touchdown receptions caught by a freshman in a season – 19 (1996 – record for all NCAA divisions)
Division I-AA – playoffs
Most touchdown receptions in a single game – 4 (vs. Montana, December 21, 1996)
Most yards receiving in a single game – 288 (vs. Delaware, November 30, 1996)
Most touchdown receptions in a tournament – 9 (4 games in 1996)
Most yards receiving in a tournament – 636 (4 games in 1996)
Professional football career
1998 NFL Draft
Moss skipped his senior season at Marshall and entered the NFL Draft. He did not attend the NFL Combine, opting instead for an individual workout at Marshall's pro day. Moss ran the 40 yard dash in the 4.24-4.28 range by scouts' hand timers and posted vertical leaps of 47 and 51 inches. Numerous teams had scouts on hand with many noting the work-out was jaw dropping.
During the 1998 NFL Draft, Moss, who was projected as a high first-round pick, was taken by the Minnesota Vikings with the 21st overall pick after a number of NFL clubs—even those in need of a WR—were concerned with Moss's well-documented legal problems. Before the draft Moss was quoted as saying teams that passed on him "will regret it once they see what kind of a player I am and what kind of guy I really am." The team most often cited for passing on Moss is the Dallas Cowboys. Moss grew up a Cowboys fan and wanted to play for the Cowboys. The Cowboys wanted Moss, but because of many off-field incidents of their own, team owner and GM Jerry Jones did not feel the team could draft Moss. Moss felt that the Cowboys lied to him because they had told him they would draft him. On draft day, Dallas went so far as to have a scout in Charleston, West Virginia, the same town where Moss and his mother were watching the draft. Dallas star receiver Michael Irvin even called to apologize to Moss, because Irvin's own off-field problems were a main reason Moss was not drafted by Dallas. After the draft, Moss made a point of beating the Cowboys any time he faced them, getting his first opportunity to do so in Week 13 of his rookie season. In a game held at Texas Stadium, Moss torched Dallas with a 163-yard, 3-touchdown performance.
After the draft, Moss signed a 4-year, $4.5 million contract that included an additional $4 million in bonuses and incentives. As part of the deal, he received a $2 million signing bonus. Moss originally wore #18 in training camp (a number he would eventually wear for Oakland) but switched to the more conventional #84 before the regular season began.
Minnesota Vikings
1998 season
In 1998, Moss helped the Vikings to become the number 1 rated offense ever at the time, setting the single-season record for scoring (later surpassed by the 2007 New England Patriots, a team that also featured Moss) with 556 points.
The Vikings opened the season with a 31–7 rout against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Moss's first NFL game would also be his first multi-touchdown game as he recorded 4 receptions for 95 yards and two touchdowns. His first NFL reception came on the third play of the game on an 11-yard pass from Brad Johnson. His first touchdown was a 48-yard acrobatic grab over defensive back Floyd Young late in the first quarter, in which Moss juggled the ball 3 times before securing it for the score. He added a 31-yard touchdown reception on the Vikings' first possession of the second quarter to give the Vikings a 21–0 lead.
His first Monday Night Football game came in Week 5 against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. He had 5 receptions for 190 yards and two touchdowns, including touchdown grabs of 52 yards and 44 yards, and two other receptions of 46 yards and 41 yards. He also had a 75-yard touchdown catch on the Vikings' first possession of the game that was nullified due to an offensive holding penalty.
Against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, Moss finished with 3 catches for 163 yards and 3 touchdowns all for 50+ yards as the Vikings beat the Cowboys 46–36. Moss was the first rookie to score 3 touchdowns on Thanksgiving.
They finished with a 15–1 record and were poised to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XXXIII. However, the Atlanta Falcons stunned the Vikings by winning the NFC Championship Game 30–27 in overtime.
At the end of the 1998 regular season, Moss was named a Pro Bowl starter and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year for his rookie-record 17 touchdown receptions and the third-highest receiving yardage (1,313) total.
1999 season
In 1999, Moss had another impressive season, catching 80 passes for 1,413 yards and 11 touchdowns, including a punt return for a touchdown. He went on to record five receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown in the Vikings 27–10 NFC wildcard playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys. Minnesota lost in the divisional round to the St. Louis Rams 49–37, despite Moss catching nine passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Moss was fined $40,000, which was later reduced to $25,000, during that game due to squirting an NFL referee with a water bottle. There was a stipulation that he would have to pay the difference in addition to any other fine if he had another run-in with the league.
Moss earned his second straight Pro Bowl appearance, and turned in a record-breaking performance. He had 9 receptions for a Pro Bowl record 212 yards and was given the game's Most Valuable Player award.
2000 season
The 2000 season featured second-year quarterback Daunte Culpepper leading the team. Culpepper had been the team's first-round draft pick in 1999; with a pick they received from the Redskins for quarterback Brad Johnson. He had been selected largely due to his extremely strong arm, which the team believed was perfectly suited for Moss's deep routes. The decision proved correct. Culpepper was a rookie sensation, the Vikings started 7–0, and Moss was a leading MVP candidate. For the second time in three seasons, Moss punished the Dallas Cowboys in Dallas on Thanksgiving Day, including a spectacular 2nd-half touchdown in which Moss caught the ball with his entire body out of bounds, aside from his toes. The play would be the feature shot in NFL commercials for years to come. Moss finished the season with a career-high 1,437 yards and league-leading 15 touchdown catches. In doing so, he became the youngest and fastest player to ever catch over 3,000 yards and 45 touchdowns, earning him his 3rd consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl, and 2nd selection to the All Pro team. The Vikings would make it to the NFC Championship game, only to be blown out 41–0 by the New York Giants.
2001 season
In the offseason, Moss and his agent Danté DiTrapano began negotiating a new contract with the Minnesota Vikings. He was scheduled to earn $3.5 million in 2001. But Moss, who was entering the final year of the rookie contract he signed in 1998, was seeking a long-term deal that would make him the highest-paid player in the NFL. His agent said, "We want to break the tradition of quarterbacks being the highest-paid players." One option the Vikings had would be to apply the franchise tag after the season ended, but sources stated that Moss would request a trade if that happened because it would still be less than what he could command on the open market.
Just prior to the start of training camp in July, Vikings owner Red McCombs signed Moss to an 8-year, $75 million contract extension. The extension included a $10 million signing bonus and another $8 million in guarantees.
Despite finishing the season with 10 touchdowns and posting at least 1,000 receiving yards for the fourth consecutive season, Moss failed to make the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career.
2002 season
After replacing Dennis Green on an interim basis to end the 2001 season, Mike Tice was officially named head coach on January 10, 2002. One of the strategies the Vikings' first-year head coach came up with was a formula to get Moss the ball more often. Coach Tice called it the Randy Ratio. It was an effort on the coaches part to throw 40% of the passes to Moss as a way to keep him involved in the offense more than he had been in the 2001 season when he had stretches in games where he was being shut out, and partly to use more game clock by sustaining long drives to give the Vikings defense a chance to rest. An assistant coach would stand on the sidelines during games and track how many times Moss had been thrown to, and then inform Tice of the percentages so that he is always aware of it. In the 2001 season, the Vikings record was 4–1 when Moss had 40% of the passes thrown his direction, and 1–10 in other games.
The strategy was a response to the 'Randy Rules,' as Vikings receiver Chris Walsh called them. The Randy Rules, similar to the Jordan Rules, were a defensive strategy that teams employed when facing the Vikings to try and eliminate or reduce Randy's impact on the game, and to prevent Moss from being matched up one-on-one with defenders because of his ability to burn them deep or outjump them in single coverage. Opposing teams would routinely double cover Moss with techniques such as having a cornerback attempt to jam him at the line of scrimmage, having a corner defend underneath with a safety defending against the deep ball, having a zone defense roll to Moss's side of the field, and assigning "spies" to follow Moss everywhere he went.
Coach Tice discussed the strategy, explaining that Moss would be running more short and intermediate routes and fewer deep patterns. In training camp, Moss worked specifically on 12 new routes that he had rarely run in his first 4 NFL seasons, such as crossing patterns over the middle of the field and hook routes. Coach Tice said, "When we say Randy Ratio, everybody in the league thinks, 'OK, now they're going to throw the ball down the field to Randy more and more and more.' That's so far from the truth. In fact, we'll probably throw the ball down the field to Randy this year even less."
The Randy Ratio did not last very long, as Tice scrapped the idea midway through the 2002 season. Randy Moss said "I didn't really care much about the Randy Ratio when it was brought up. I just wanted to win." While Moss caught a career-high 106 passes, he also had a career-low 7 touchdown receptions, and the Vikings struggled to a 6–10 record. Tice suggested after the season that it was a mistake to inform opponents about his offensive gameplan, but that it was a tool "to motivate [Moss] and say he was the guy."
2003 season
Moss's fortunes took a better turn on the football field during the 2003 regular season, where he became the second wide receiver in NFL history (behind Jerry Rice in 1995) to play more than 12 games (he played 16) while averaging over 100 yards and one touchdown per contest. He finished with 111 receptions for 1,632 yards and 17 touchdowns. All three numbers either tied or became a new personal best for Moss. The Vikings finished the season 9–7. One of Moss's memorable highlights that year was when he lateraled to Moe Williams for a last-second touchdown during a home game against Denver.
In the offseason, he attended the Vikings strength and conditioning program and added five pounds of muscle to his frame.
2004 season
Moss started the season strong catching 8 touchdowns in his first 5 games of the season. However, he sustained a hamstring injury to his right leg against New Orleans in Week 6 that hampered him for the next five weeks. He played in Week 7 against Tennessee, but had no receptions in a game for the first time in his career. He also played the following week against the Giants, but again recorded no receptions and was used mainly as a decoy. The injury eventually sidelined him for 3 straight weeks. He returned to the lineup in Week 12 with a touchdown catch against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Even though he finished the season with 13 touchdowns in 13 games, he posted career lows in receptions (49) and receiving yards (767). 2004 was the first season in his career that he failed to reach the 1,000-yard mark.
On January 9, 2005, the Minnesota Vikings played division rival Green Bay Packers in an NFC wildcard playoff game. Moss finished the game with 4 catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns in the 31–17 win. After the second score, Moss trotted to the end zone goalpost and feigned pulling down his pants to moon the Green Bay fans. NFL on Fox announcer Joe Buck called it a "disgusting act.” Moss was fined $10,000 for his actions. Though the Vikings would win the game, they would lose in the next round of the playoffs to the Philadelphia Eagles, and Moss would be traded at the end of the season.
Oakland Raiders
On March 2, 2005, Moss was traded to the Oakland Raiders for linebacker Napoleon Harris and the Raiders' first (7th overall, which Minnesota parlayed into wide receiver Troy Williamson) and seventh-round picks in the NFL draft. Adding a player of Moss's caliber generated optimism in Oakland, but the Raiders' poor play continued, while Moss suffered nagging injuries which limited his production. He surpassed the 1,000 mark on the final day of the 2005 season, finishing the year with 1,005 receiving yards on 60 catches. However, Moss only managed 553 yards on 42 balls in 2006.
Moss was not happy in Oakland, and on November 14, 2006, when he was honored as a kick returner by having an award named after him, he responded to questions about his dropped passes and lackluster effort in several games. Moss said, "Maybe because I'm unhappy and I'm not too much excited about what's going on, so, my concentration and focus level tend to go down sometimes when I'm in a bad mood". Days later, he reiterated his unhappiness with losing games and being a member of the Raiders on his weekly segment with Fox Sports Radio, saying, "I might want to look forward to moving somewhere else next year to have another start and really feel good about going out here and playing football".
New England Patriots
2007 season
There were rumors leading up to the 2007 NFL Draft that the Raiders were eager to part ways with Randy Moss through a trade. First-year Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin went so far as to contact their division rival Denver Broncos to "gauge interest", but the Patriots and Green Bay Packers were the two teams most interested in acquiring Moss. Packers QB Brett Favre, who once said, "There is no one in this league who puts fear in people more than Randy Moss," tried to persuade team management to trade for him, but a deal that both sides could agree to did not get done.
During the first day of the NFL Draft, the Patriots and Raiders discussed the trade several times before reaching an agreement. Bill Belichick spoke with Moss for the first time about the possibility of joining the Patriots at 2:30 Sunday morning. Moss then boarded a plane and arrived in Boston later that morning on April 29 and was required to pass a team administered physical. Once he was cleared by Patriots officials, the teams completed a trade that sent Randy Moss to New England for a fourth-round selection in the 2007 NFL Draft. The Patriots had acquired the draft pick the previous day from the San Francisco 49ers, and the Raiders selected John Bowie.
One of the conditions of the trade was that Randy Moss would have to restructure his contract for salary cap reasons. Just hours before the Moss trade was completed, New England quarterback Tom Brady converted $5.28 million of his 2007 base salary into a signing bonus that was spread out over the remaining portion of his contract so that it could free up cap room. This enabled the Patriots to absorb Moss's incoming contract under the salary cap. Moss had two years remaining on his current deal and was scheduled to earn $9.75 million in 2007 and $11.25 million in 2008. Once the Patriots had Moss on their roster, he quickly agreed to a new one-year contract to replace his old one. The new deal gave him a $500,000 signing bonus, a base salary of $2.5 million, and the ability to earn an additional $1.75 million in incentives.
"I’m still in awe that I’m a part of this organization," Moss said, clearly thrilled to join a team that could contend for the Super Bowl and to work with Coach Belichick. "I think that he's the kind of coach that can motivate me. He has a proven track record."
In the first week of training camp, during an 11-on-11 passing drill, Moss suffered a hamstring injury to his left leg. As a precaution, the injury prevented Moss from participating in any preseason games and he missed much of the rest of camp.
His first action in a Patriots uniform came against the New York Jets in Week 1. He quickly quieted critics who claimed that his skills had deteriorated by hauling in nine receptions for 181 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown pass in which he ran past three Jets defenders.
On November 4, 2007, James Black, NFL Editor for Yahoo! Sports wrote, "Every week, in addition to out-leaping at least one defender for a touchdown, [Moss] keeps making incredible one-handed grabs that make you mutter, 'How the heck did he come up with that?'" Two weeks later, he caught a career-high four touchdowns in a single game against Buffalo.
On December 29, the Patriots defeated the New York Giants 38–35, finishing their regular season with a perfect 16–0 record. Moss caught two touchdown passes for a total of 23, breaking the single-season record of 22 touchdown receptions previously set by Jerry Rice (in 12 games in the strike-shortened 1987 season). On the same play, Tom Brady broke Peyton Manning's single-season record set in 2004 with his 50th touchdown pass. Moss recorded 98 catches for 1,493 yards in 2007, the highest yardage total in Patriots franchise history and the third-highest total number of catches, after teammate Wes Welker's 112 catches that same season and Troy Brown's 101 in 2001. He also earned his sixth Pro Bowl selection. His 2007 season featured touchdowns in 13 of 16 games (including eight multi-touchdown games), nine 100-yard games, and six touchdown receptions of 40 or more yards.
Despite his record-breaking 2007 season, Moss was relatively quiet in the playoffs, going two consecutive games without a touchdown for the first time all season. However, in Super Bowl XLII, he scored the go-ahead touchdown with 2:42 left in the fourth quarter on a six-yard pass from Tom Brady. The score was not enough for the heavily favored Patriots to end their only undefeated season with a Super Bowl win. Eli Manning drove the Giants down the field, connecting with Plaxico Burress for the game-winning touchdown and an upset over the Patriots.
2008 season
On February 28, 2008, Moss became a free agent after the Patriots decided not to place the franchise tag on Moss. Although the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, and Green Bay Packers were rumored to have interest in Moss, he decided to return to the Patriots, signing a three-year, $27 million deal on March 3, 2008. The contract included a $12 million signing bonus, and a total of $14.1 million guaranteed.
The first game of the 2008 season saw Brady suffer a torn ACL in his left knee while attempting a pass to Randy Moss. The play occurred in the first half against the Kansas City Chiefs when safety Bernard Pollard dove at Brady's leg while in his throwing motion. Moss described what he saw on the play by saying "any time you see something like that, that looks foul, it looks dirty, it opens your eyes. So, me personally, it looked dirty." Matt Cassel replaced Brady for the rest of the season.
In 2008, Moss hauled in 69 catches for 1,008 yards and 11 touchdowns despite losing quarterback Tom Brady in the first game of the season.
2009 season
In the season opener of 2009, Moss caught a career-high 12 passes for 141 yards in a comeback 25–24 victory over the Bills. In Week 5 against the Denver Broncos, Moss was placed deep in coverage on a Broncos Hail Mary attempt to end the first half, and intercepted Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton. In a snowy Week 6 game against the winless Tennessee Titans, Moss caught three touchdown passes from Tom Brady, two of them in the 2nd quarter as Brady set a record for most touchdown passes in a single quarter with five. This was Moss's 34th multi-touchdown game, and his 8th game with three or more touchdowns.
During the Patriots' bye week, Belichick stated that Moss "is the smartest receiver he's ever been around." He compared Moss's ability to see the field and anticipate plays to that of Tom Brady, and to Lawrence Taylor, who Belichick coached with the New York Giants. He said Moss not only knows what he's doing on a play, but what everybody else on the field is doing as well. "That's what makes them special. They just have a sixth, seventh sense", Belichick said. This sentiment was repeated when Moss was inducted into the Hall of Fame, as Belichick went further to say he learned from Moss.
In Week 9 against the Miami Dolphins Moss added six catches for 147 yards and 1 touchdown. The touchdown reception was the 140th of his career, which moved him into a tie for second place with Terrell Owens.
The following week, in a prime time Sunday night matchup against the Indianapolis Colts, Moss had 179 yards and two touchdowns, including a 63-yard touchdown in the 2nd quarter that moved him ahead of Terrell Owens for sole possession of second place in career touchdown receptions. In the same game, he became just the 11th player in NFL history with 900+ receptions and the seventh player to reach 14,000+ career receiving yards.
He finished the season with 83 receptions for 1,264 yards and an NFL-high 13 touchdowns. New England would lose the AFC Wild Card playoff to the Baltimore Ravens 33–14.
2010 season
In the week leading up to the Patriots' 2010 season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, Moss, who was entering the final year of his contract told CBS Sports that he "did not feel wanted" in New England absent a contract extension offer. Moss would go on to catch 5 passes for 59 yards in Week 1. After the game, Moss told reporters that it would be his final season with the Patriots. The Boston Herald reported weeks later that Moss requested a trade following the game.
Moss had two receptions in Week 2 against the New York Jets, including a 34-yard touchdown that he caught one-handed after beating All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis. The following week against the Buffalo Bills, Moss had two more catches, both for touchdowns. His final game in New England came in Week 4 on Monday Night Football against the Miami Dolphins; he did not record a catch in the game for the first time in his Patriots career as a touchdown pass attempt off a fake spike bounced off his hands in the end zone.
Return to Minnesota
Two days after the Patriots' game against Miami, Moss was traded to the Minnesota Vikings, in exchange for the Vikings' third-round selection (later used to select quarterback Ryan Mallett) in the 2011 NFL Draft. The Patriots also sent a 2012 seventh-round selection to the Vikings as part of the trade.
On November 1, less than four weeks after being traded to Minnesota, Vikings head coach Brad Childress told Vikings players in a team meeting that Moss was going to be waived by the team, one day after he criticized Childress and teammates in a press conference following the Vikings' loss to the Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Just before the press conference, Moss reportedly told team owner Zygi Wilf that Childress was unfit to coach in the NFL and should be fired. Wilf reportedly considered firing Childress and keeping Moss, but Moss was officially waived the next day, November 2. Childress was eventually fired on November 22.
Tennessee Titans
Moss was claimed off waivers by the Tennessee Titans, the only team to submit a claim, on November 3, 2010. Moss played eight games with the Titans, starting four. He made six catches for 80 yards and no touchdowns.
Moss finished the 2010 season with career lows in receptions (28) and receiving yards (393). The Titans stated that they did not plan to re-sign Moss for the 2011 season, and he became a free agent.
Initial retirement and comeback
On August 1, 2011, Moss's agent, Joel Segal, announced Moss's decision to retire from professional football.
On February 13, 2012, his 35th birthday, Moss announced that he was coming out of retirement and was ready to play again. In a live video chat with his fans via Ustream, Moss stated, "I wanna play football. Your boy is going to come back here and play some football, so I'm really excited. I had some things I had to adjust in my life."
San Francisco 49ers
On March 12, 2012, Moss signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers for undisclosed financial terms after a workout with the team's head coach Jim Harbaugh. On September 9, 2012, Moss caught his 154th touchdown reception, and subsequently passed Terrell Owens for sole possession of 2nd on the all-time receiving touchdown list. After Alex Smith suffered a concussion against the St. Louis Rams in week 10, Colin Kaepernick took over as the team's quarterback, and Moss had at least two receptions in each of the remaining five games of the regular season. He finished the season with 28 catches for 434 yards and three touchdowns. Since the retirement of Terrell Owens at the end of 2010, he had been the NFL's active leader in receiving yards. Moss would eventually go on to play in Super Bowl XLVII, where he had two receptions for 41 yards in a 31–34 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
NFL career statistics
Regular season
NFL records
Most touchdown receptions in a season – 23 (2007)
Most touchdown receptions by a rookie in a season – 17 (1998)
Most seasons with 17 or more touchdown receptions – 3 (1998, 2003, 2007)
Most seasons with 16 or more touchdown receptions – 3 (1998, 2003, 2007)
Most seasons with 11 or more touchdown receptions – 8 – tied with Jerry Rice
Most seasons with 10 or more touchdown receptions – 9 – tied with Jerry Rice
Most games in a season with at least 2 touchdown receptions – 8 (2007)
One of two players to have 1,600+ receiving yards and 16+ receiving touchdowns in a season (2003), the other being Calvin Johnson (2011)
Most yards receiving in a Pro Bowl game – 212 (2000)
Most touchdowns scored in first 10 games with a new team – 16 (2007)
Most 1,200+ yard receiving seasons to start a career – 6 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003)
Moss has averaged at least one receiving touchdown per game played in four different seasons: 1998 (17 TDs in 16 games), 2003 (17 in 16), 2004 (13 in 13), and 2007 (23 in 16)
At the end of the 2008 season, Moss averaged 12.3 receiving TDs per season
4× 100+ yard games in his first four games with a new team in 2007
Youngest player in NFL history to record his 100th receiving touchdown (29 years and 235 days)
Youngest player in NFL history to record his 120th receiving touchdown (30 years, 313 days)
Most receiving yards before 30th birthday – 10,700
Most TD receptions before 30th birthday – 101
Youngest player to reach 6,000 career receiving yards (25 years and 270 days; later broken by Mike Evans)
Fastest player to reach 5,000 career receiving yards – 59 games (broke record of 61 games by Jerry Rice)
Youngest player to reach 5,000 career receiving yards - 24 years 292 days
Highest career yards per catch average for any player with 900+ receptions – 15.6 yards per reception
Youngest player to have 3 touchdown receptions in a game (21 years, 286 days; later broken by Rob Gronkowski)
Most offensive touchdowns in first two seasons: 28 (Tied with Rob Gronkowski)
Career highlights
6× Pro Bowl selection
4× All-Pro selection
2007 AFC Champion
2012 NFC Champion
Is second on the Minnesota Vikings all-time receiving touchdown list with 92. Cris Carter holds the record with 110 receiving scores
Caught his 100th touchdown pass in 2006 against San Francisco, the seventh player to do so
Holds the record for most touchdowns in Minnesota Vikings playoff history with 9
10× 1,000+ yard receiving seasons – 2nd all-time
64 career 100-yard games – 2nd all-time; most recent November 15, 2009
156 touchdown receptions – 2nd all-time
73.6 receiving yards per game – 7th all-time
15,292 receiving yards – 4th all-time
954 career receptions – 10th all-time
Has completed 4 of 8 passes for 106 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 1 interception, giving him a 95.8 passer rating
Only player to catch 90+ touchdown passes, return a punt for a touchdown, and throw 2 touchdown passes
Has played on two of the five highest-scoring teams (for a single season) in NFL history: 2007 Patriots (589 points) and the 1998 Vikings (556 points); both were the highest-scoring teams in NFL history thitherto
Had a career-high 12 receptions for 204 yards against the Chicago Bears, at Soldier Field, on November 14, 1999, in a 27–24 overtime win
Holds the Vikings record for most 100-yard receiving games with 41
Has two touchdowns or more in 39 different games (including 3 in the postseason); most recent September 26, 2010
Has two touchdown receptions or more in 37 different games – (2nd all-time)
Has three touchdown receptions or more in 9 different games – (2nd all-time): at Dallas (November 26, 1998), a 46–36 victory; vs. Chicago (December 6, 1998), a 48–22 victory; at Detroit (October 1, 2000), a 31–24 victory; vs. New York Giants (November 19, 2001) a 28–16 victory; vs. San Francisco (September 28, 2003), a 35–7 victory; at Buffalo (November 18, 2007), a 56–10 victory; at Miami (November 23, 2008), a 48–28 victory; vs. Tennessee (October 18, 2009), a 59–0 victory; vs. Jacksonville (December 27, 2009), a 35–7 victory
Caught a career-high four touchdowns at Buffalo (all in the first half) – November 18, 2007
Had an interception while playing defense in the last few seconds of the first half of the Patriots' game against the Denver Broncos on October 11, 2009
Has 4 career two-point conversions
Randy Moss Motorsports
On April 29, 2008, Moss announced the formation of Randy Moss Motorsports, an auto racing team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In July 2008, Moss announced that he had bought a 50 percent share in Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, with the team's No. 46 entry switching to No. 81. The team was reportedly shut down in 2012.
Post-football career
Upon his release from the 49ers, Moss was hired as an analyst for Fox Sports 1's Fox Football Daily show. Moss was hired as an associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Victory Christian Center High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, in June 2014, where his son was attending high school and playing football.
In July 2016, Moss joined ESPN as an analyst, appearing on Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018. In 2019, Moss was named to the National Football League 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Charity
Moss has participated in, founded, and financed many charitable endeavors since joining the NFL, particularly aimed at helping children. Many times when talking about his charity work, he has said he just looks forward to "seeing smiles." He has donated clothing and food to needy families, given away free backpacks to Boston area school-children, and hosted autograph signings. He has also bussed children to amusement parks, NBA games, and even NFL games in which he has played.
On June 29, 2005, he hosted the Randy Moss Celebrity Charity Invitational Bass Tournament. The tournament was a one-day event that paired celebrities and corporate sponsors with pro fishermen to raise money for the Smile Network, which is a foundation that provides financial assistance to children with treatable mouth problems, such as cleft palate. The tournaments motto is "fish for a smile."
In 2008, Moss formed the Links for Learning foundation, which was established to help children in his home state of West Virginia, and to build learning centers for the most needy student populations. In June, he and his former high school teammate Jason Williams hosted the foundations first annual charity golf tournament at the Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Hurricane, West Virginia. In March 2009, Moss's foundation made a donation that enabled the Women and Children's Hospital of Charleston, West Virginia to purchase a Starlight Children's Foundation 'Fun Center' for their patients. The 'Fun Center' is a portable bedside entertainment system equipped with a TV, DVD player, and 22 Nintendo Wii games.
Personal life
Moss's parents are Maxine Moss and Randy Pratt. Moss has little contact with his father. He has a sister named Lutisia and had a brother Eric, who had a short stint in the NFL as an offensive tackle with the Minnesota Vikings. Moss has five children: Lexi Adkins, Sydney, Senali, Thaddeus, and Montigo. Thaddeus is a tight end on the Cincinnati Bengals. Moss is also a Christian, attested by his NFL Hall of Fame Speech.
Traffic incident
On September 24, 2002, in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, Moss was driving and was preparing to make an illegal turn. A traffic control officer, noticing what he was about to do, stood in front of his vehicle and ordered him to stop. Eyewitness accounts of the event differ at this point, but Moss did not comply with the officer's order, and she was bumped by his vehicle and fell to the ground. Moss was arrested, and a search of his vehicle revealed a joint amounting to less than a gram of marijuana in his ashtray. Initially charged with felony Suspicion of Assault with a Deadly Weapon and a misdemeanor marijuana possession, Moss spent the night in jail and was released the following morning. Moss pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor traffic violation and was ordered to pay a $1,200 fine and perform 40 hours of community service. While the criminal charges were thus disposed of, the civil lawsuit filed by the traffic control officer brought a substantial penalty fine "in the low to mid six figures". Moss claimed that the joint was not his, and that he had let friends use his car prior to the accident.
Marijuana use
In April 1996, Moss smoked a joint just prior to turning himself in to jail. He was scheduled to finish the remainder of his 30-day sentence for misdemeanor battery while in high school. During his first week in jail, Moss was given a drug test that came back positive. He was placed in solitary confinement for a week and had 60 days attached to his 27-day sentence. Coach Bobby Bowden revoked his scholarship and Moss was dismissed from Florida State University for the failed drug test.
Moss tested positive in 2001 for marijuana under the NFL's substance abuse program and was subject to additional random drug screening for two years. A first time violation of the NFL's drug policy can result in up to 10 tests per month. Moss did not fail an NFL drug test again, and was rotated out of the program after two years.
In August 2005, during an interview with Bryant Gumbel, Moss admitted that he has smoked marijuana during his NFL career "every blue moon." When asked whether he still used marijuana currently, Moss replied "I might. I might have fun. And, you know, hopefully ... I won't get into any trouble by the NFL by saying that, you know. I have had fun throughout my years and, you know, predominantly in the offseason." The interview drew criticism from the league office, and his agent tried to spin it that his words were taken out of context. In response, Moss said "That was really me talking in the past tense of way back in the beginning of my career and my childhood – especially in high school and college."
Dating violence allegations
On January 15, 2008, Orlando-based radio station WDBO reported that Moss "had" been hit with a temporary injunction for protection against dating violence. According to the affidavit, Moss committed a battery upon Rachelle Washington, causing serious injury, and then refused to allow her to seek medical attention. The affidavit out of Broward County reveals Moss cannot come within 500 feet of the victim and cannot use or possess firearms.
The next day, in a locker room press conference, Moss claimed the woman was simply looking for money "over an accident," because her lawyer came to his lawyer, threatening a lawsuit, and asking for money to settle before she went public to the media. Moss stated he had known Washington for about 11 years. He also stated in his defense that he has never assaulted a woman in his entire life, and asked that the media and fans "find out the facts" before "rush[ing] to judgment." Moreover, Moss's lawyer, in an e-mail to the Boston Globe accused the woman's lawyer of "blatant threats and attempts to extort money" from Moss. On March 3, 2008, Rachelle Washington filed papers with the Broward County Circuit Court clerk's office requesting that the restraining order be dissolved and the case closed. No criminal charges were ever filed in the incident.
See also
List of NCAA major college football yearly receiving leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders
References
External links
1977 births
Living people
10,000 receiving yards club
African-American motorsport people
African-American players of American football
African-American sports journalists
All-American college football players
American Conference Pro Bowl players
American football wide receivers
ESPN people
Florida State Seminoles football players
Marshall Thundering Herd football players
Marshall Thundering Herd men's track and field athletes
Minnesota Vikings players
NASCAR team owners
National Conference Pro Bowl players
National Football League Offensive Rookie of the Year Award winners
New England Patriots players
Oakland Raiders players
People from Kanawha County, West Virginia
Players of American football from West Virginia
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
San Francisco 49ers players
Sportspeople from Charleston, West Virginia
Tennessee Titans players | true | [
"Drew Ian Goodman (born April 13, 1963) is an American sportscaster. He is the television play-by-play broadcaster for the Colorado Rockies and college basketball and football on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.\n\nGoodman's signature home run call is \"Take a good look; you won't see it for long!\"\n\nBiography\nGoodman's Alma Mater are Ithaca College and University of Missouri. Goodman is one of the original employees of Prime Sports Rocky Mountain (now AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain), joining the regional sports network in 1988. He has been broadcasting Rockies games since 2002. He had been the host of the Rockies pre-game show before moving into the play-by-play slot.\n\nGoodman has also had extensive work in football, including stints with the NFL on NBC and the NFL on Fox. While with NFL on NBC, he was slated to join Todd Christensen as the #4 announcing team in 1994, then in the next two years, he was slated to join the #7 team, to be paired in 1995 with Tunch Ilkin then with Bob Golic in 1996. However, Jim Lampley moved from the studio host to play-by-play in 1994, with Greg Gumbel taking over as the studio host, so Goodman was not placed into the lineup after all.\n\nGoodman also works college football and occasional NFL games for ESPN radio. In addition to NFL games, Goodman has called games for Baseball Night in America on FOX Sports, college football games for the Big 12, ACC, MWC and WAC Conferences. From 2000 to 2002, he called Denver Broncos preseason games on the Broncos radio network. He also spent five seasons hosting the Broncos postgame report on KOA.\n\nFrom 1994 to 2004, Goodman was the TV play-by-play announcer for Denver Nuggets telecasts. For three years he was one of a couple announcers nationally to be the lead PXP voice for two professional teams simultaneously. In 1996, he added NHL games to his resume when he started hosting the Avalanche Pregame Report for then, FSN Rocky Mountain. He held the job for six years before becoming the Rockies play-by-play man.\n\nIn 1990, Goodman called the initial year of ATP tour coverage for Prime Sports. He also did the play-by-play for the first-ever ATP tennis event in Mainland China for worldwide distribution on Prime International in 1993. He co-hosted the top midday sports radio show with Scott hastings on 104.3 The Fan in Denver from 2012 to 2014.\n\nFor eight years, Goodman covered the men's and women's World Cup, ski racing, college baseball, track and field, gymnastics, wrestling and golf for ESPN.\nIn 2016, he was awarded with his 13th \"Colorado Sportscaster of the Year\" from the National association of sportscasters and sportswriters. Married to Kristi, they live in the Denver area with their three boys, Jacob, Zach, and Gabriel. He is a 1985 graduate of Ithaca College and its Park School of Communications.\n\nReferences\n\n1963 births\nLiving people\nAmerican television sports announcers\nAssociation football commentators\nCollege basketball announcers in the United States\nCollege football announcers\nColorado Rockies announcers\nGolf writers and broadcasters\nGymnastics broadcasters\nIthaca College alumni\nMajor League Baseball broadcasters\nNational Basketball Association broadcasters\nNational Football League announcers\nNational Hockey League broadcasters\nPeople from Pound Ridge, New York\nTennis commentators\nTrack and field broadcasters\nUniversity of Missouri alumni",
"The 1919–20 Michigan College of Mines Huskies men's ice hockey season was the inaugural season of play for the program.\n\nSeason\nAfter World War I college hockey began to expand west from its heartland in New England. Michigan College of Mines was one of two schools in the midwest to begin play in the 1919–20 season (the other being Notre Dame). Due to the lack of collegiate opponents, MCM didn't play any other colleges during their first season, nor did they play any home games as the school did not own or lease any of the local rinks.\n\nRoster\n\nStandings\n\nSchedule and Results\n\n|-\n!colspan=12 style=\";\" | Regular Season\n\nReferences\n\nMichigan Tech Huskies men's ice hockey seasons\nMichigan College of Mines Huskies \nMichigan College of Mines Huskies \n1920 in sports in Michigan"
]
|
[
"Randy Moss",
"Early years",
"Did he always play sports?",
"excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track.",
"Did anyone in his family play sports as well",
"Randy was also on the school's debate team.",
"Did he ever have aspirations of a specific pro team",
"I don't know.",
"Was his past always troublesome",
"named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995",
"Did he ever get injured",
"He also played center field for the baseball team.",
"Did he ever think to play other sports in college",
"Marshall track team and lower his 200 m time to 21.15 seconds."
]
| C_851e2cea33364400ac299a7537e94da3_1 | Was his family ever at any of his games | 7 | Was Randy Moss's family ever at any of his games? | Randy Moss | Moss was born and lived in Rand, West Virginia. He attended DuPont High School, one of two schools that later consolidated into Riverside High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Randy was also on the school's debate team. On the football field, Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He was a star at wide receiver, but also played free safety, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the team's kicker and punter. In 1994, he was honored with the Kennedy Award as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Parade magazine named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995 and in 2009 named him one of the 50 greatest high school football players of all time. At DuPont, he was a teammate of future Chicago Bears linebacker Bobbie Howard. In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (1993, 1994), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams. As a sophomore in 1992, at the age of 15, Moss joined the track & field team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.94 seconds and 21.95 seconds, respectively. This was the only year he competed on the school's track team, but he would later join the Marshall track team and lower his 200 m time to 21.15 seconds. He also played center field for the baseball team. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is a former American football player. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, and the San Francisco 49ers. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wide receivers of all time, he holds the NFL single-season touchdown reception record (23 in 2007), the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie (17 in 1998) and is second on the NFL all-time regular season touchdown reception list with 156. Moss was well known for his prowess in securing contested catches and the word "mossed" has entered football vernacular. Post-football, he began working for ESPN as a studio analyst for its Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown programs.
Moss played college football for Marshall University, and twice earned All-America honors. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft, where he played for seven years before a trade in 2005 brought him to the Oakland Raiders. In 2007, Moss was traded to the New England Patriots, where he set the single-season record for touchdown receptions. In October 2010, Moss returned to the Vikings in a trade from the Patriots but was waived less than a month later and then claimed by the Tennessee Titans. After sitting out the 2011 season, Moss signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers in 2012 before retiring following the season. He played in two Super Bowl games, XLII with the Patriots and XLVII with the 49ers, both losses. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
Early years
Moss was born in Rand, West Virginia. He attended DuPont High School, one of two schools that later consolidated into Riverside High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Randy was also on the school's debate team. On the football field, Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He was a star at wide receiver, but also played free safety, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the team's kicker and punter. In 1994, he was honored with the Kennedy Award as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Parade magazine named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995 and in 2009 named him one of the 50 greatest high school football players of all time. At DuPont, he was a teammate of future Chicago Bears linebacker Bobbie Howard.
In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (in 1994 when he was co-player of the year and in 1995), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams. In his senior season of basketball, Moss averaged 30.2 points, 13.7 rebounds, 5.1 steals, 3.8 blocks, and 3.1 assists while shooting 60% from field; he scored a school-record 1,713 career points.
As a sophomore in 1992, at the age of 15, Moss joined the track & field team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.94 seconds and 21.95 seconds, respectively. This was the only year he competed on the school's track team, but he would later join the Marshall track team and lower his 200 m time to 21.15 seconds. He also played center field for the baseball team.
College football career
Moss's dream was to play for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but he also considered going to Ohio State, where his half-brother, Eric, had played offensive tackle. Former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz said "Randy Moss was the best high school football player I've ever seen." Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden said "He was as good as Deion Sanders. Deion's my measuring stick for athletic ability, and this kid was just a bigger Deion."
After originally signing a letter of intent to play college football with Notre Dame in 1995, Moss took part in a racially charged fight at his high school that left one person hospitalized. On March 23, 1995, Moss had backed a friend in a hallway fight against a white student who had allegedly used racist comments towards Randy's friend. Moss was initially charged with a felony for kicking the student, but it was later reduced to a misdemeanor. On August 1, 1995, Moss pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor battery and was sentenced to 30 days behind bars at the South-Central Regional Jail in Charleston, West Virginia. He served 3 days in jail starting that night and would be required to serve the remaining 27 days within the following 18 months, after he completed his freshman year in college. Moss was expelled from DuPont and completed his education at Cabell Alternative School.
Notre Dame subsequently denied his enrollment application, but this did not stop another high-profile college football program from giving him a chance. Notre Dame officials suggested he attend Florida State due to the reputation of its coach, Bobby Bowden, for handling troubled players.
Freshman (1995)
Because of his signed letter of intent at Notre Dame, the NCAA considered him a transfer student to Florida State, so he had to redshirt the 1995 football season.
Redshirt Freshman season (1996)
In 1996, while serving his 30-day jail sentence in a work-release program from 1995, Moss tested positive for marijuana, thus violating his probation, and was dismissed from Florida State. He served an additional 60 days in jail for the probation violation.
Ultimately, Moss transferred to Marshall University, about an hour's drive from his home. Because Marshall was then a Division I-AA school, NCAA rules allowed him to transfer there without losing any further eligibility. In 1996, he set the NCAA Division I-AA records for the most games with a touchdown catch in a season (14), most consecutive games with a touchdown catch (13), most touchdown passes caught in a season (28 – tying Jerry Rice's 1984 record), and most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season (1,709 on 78 catches), a record which still stands. Moss was also the leading kickoff returner in Division I-AA on the season, with 612 total yards and a 34.0-yard average. The 1996 Marshall Thundering Herd went undefeated and won the Division I-AA title, with Moss having four touchdown receptions in the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game. It was Marshall's last season before moving to Division I-A.
At the Southern Conference indoor track championships, Moss ran the 200 meters in 21.15 seconds, missing the conference record by only .02 seconds. Although Moss had not raced competitively for four years, his time was one of the best in the country that year.
Sophomore season (1997)
In the 1997 season, Marshall's first in Division I-A, Moss and Quarterback Chad Pennington were the centerpiece of an explosive offense that led the Thundering Herd to the Mid-American Conference title. Moss caught 26 touchdown passes that season, at the time a Division I-A record, and was a first-team All-American.
The first game of the season was at West Virginia University where Marshall lost. The second game of the season saw Moss pick up right where he left off in 1996. Facing Army, Moss caught 5 balls for 186 yards and two touchdowns. One touchdown went for 79 yards in which Pennington lobbed the ball down the left sideline. Moss leaped over an Army defender to snag the ball out of the air at the 40-yard line while the safety crashed into his teammate, knocking both men down. Moss galloped the last 50 yards untouched for the score. The other touchdown reception was his career-long of 90 yards that came on a short screen pass on third down. Moss caught the ball on the right side of the field at his own 8-yard line, ran past 3 defenders in the middle of the field at the 15-yard line, hurdled two defenders coming from both sides of the left hash marks at the 25-yard line, then raced past the last defender at the 50-yard line before finally seeing daylight down the left sideline.
A week later, Moss posted his third career 200+ yard receiving game, against Kent State. Two weeks after that was his fourth and final 200+ yard game in college, recording 13 catches for 205 yards and a Marshall single-game record of 5 touchdown receptions against Ball State.
In the 1997 Ford Motor City Bowl against Ole Miss, Moss added his 26th touchdown of the season on Marshall's first offensive play from scrimmage. He streaked down the right sideline and caught an 80-yard touchdown pass from Pennington to tie the score at 7–7. NCAA rules at the time did not allow for statistics from bowl games to be combined with regular-season stats, so the touchdown did not officially increase his season touchdown record. The two teams traded the lead several times in the fourth quarter before Ole Miss running back Deuce McAllister scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds to play, giving them a 34–31 lead. Trying to pull out a last-second win, Pennington connected with Moss on a 40-yard pass on the final play of the game, but he was stripped of the ball as time expired. Moss finished the game with 6 receptions for 173 yards.
Moss finished his career at Marshall having scored at least one touchdown in all 28 games that he played. He won the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the season's outstanding receiver regardless of position, and was a finalist for the 1997 Heisman Trophy (finishing fourth in the balloting, behind Ryan Leaf, Peyton Manning, and Charles Woodson, who won the award). A controversial comment was made by Randy Moss in 1997 at a ceremony at Marshall University where he was commenting in regards to the 1970 plane crash that killed most their football team that the crash "was a tragedy, but it really wasn't nothing big". Moss later claimed that the quotes were taken out of context. Nate Ruffin, who is a surviving member of the 1970 Football Team, later met with Randy Moss.
College statistics
Includes stats from the 1997 Motor City Bowl against Ole Miss
NCAA records
Division I-AA – regular season
Most games with a touchdown reception in a season – 11 (1996)
Most consecutive games with a touchdown reception in a season – 11 (1996)
Most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season – 1073 (1996)
Most touchdown receptions caught by a freshman in a season – 19 (1996 – record for all NCAA divisions)
Division I-AA – playoffs
Most touchdown receptions in a single game – 4 (vs. Montana, December 21, 1996)
Most yards receiving in a single game – 288 (vs. Delaware, November 30, 1996)
Most touchdown receptions in a tournament – 9 (4 games in 1996)
Most yards receiving in a tournament – 636 (4 games in 1996)
Professional football career
1998 NFL Draft
Moss skipped his senior season at Marshall and entered the NFL Draft. He did not attend the NFL Combine, opting instead for an individual workout at Marshall's pro day. Moss ran the 40 yard dash in the 4.24-4.28 range by scouts' hand timers and posted vertical leaps of 47 and 51 inches. Numerous teams had scouts on hand with many noting the work-out was jaw dropping.
During the 1998 NFL Draft, Moss, who was projected as a high first-round pick, was taken by the Minnesota Vikings with the 21st overall pick after a number of NFL clubs—even those in need of a WR—were concerned with Moss's well-documented legal problems. Before the draft Moss was quoted as saying teams that passed on him "will regret it once they see what kind of a player I am and what kind of guy I really am." The team most often cited for passing on Moss is the Dallas Cowboys. Moss grew up a Cowboys fan and wanted to play for the Cowboys. The Cowboys wanted Moss, but because of many off-field incidents of their own, team owner and GM Jerry Jones did not feel the team could draft Moss. Moss felt that the Cowboys lied to him because they had told him they would draft him. On draft day, Dallas went so far as to have a scout in Charleston, West Virginia, the same town where Moss and his mother were watching the draft. Dallas star receiver Michael Irvin even called to apologize to Moss, because Irvin's own off-field problems were a main reason Moss was not drafted by Dallas. After the draft, Moss made a point of beating the Cowboys any time he faced them, getting his first opportunity to do so in Week 13 of his rookie season. In a game held at Texas Stadium, Moss torched Dallas with a 163-yard, 3-touchdown performance.
After the draft, Moss signed a 4-year, $4.5 million contract that included an additional $4 million in bonuses and incentives. As part of the deal, he received a $2 million signing bonus. Moss originally wore #18 in training camp (a number he would eventually wear for Oakland) but switched to the more conventional #84 before the regular season began.
Minnesota Vikings
1998 season
In 1998, Moss helped the Vikings to become the number 1 rated offense ever at the time, setting the single-season record for scoring (later surpassed by the 2007 New England Patriots, a team that also featured Moss) with 556 points.
The Vikings opened the season with a 31–7 rout against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Moss's first NFL game would also be his first multi-touchdown game as he recorded 4 receptions for 95 yards and two touchdowns. His first NFL reception came on the third play of the game on an 11-yard pass from Brad Johnson. His first touchdown was a 48-yard acrobatic grab over defensive back Floyd Young late in the first quarter, in which Moss juggled the ball 3 times before securing it for the score. He added a 31-yard touchdown reception on the Vikings' first possession of the second quarter to give the Vikings a 21–0 lead.
His first Monday Night Football game came in Week 5 against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. He had 5 receptions for 190 yards and two touchdowns, including touchdown grabs of 52 yards and 44 yards, and two other receptions of 46 yards and 41 yards. He also had a 75-yard touchdown catch on the Vikings' first possession of the game that was nullified due to an offensive holding penalty.
Against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, Moss finished with 3 catches for 163 yards and 3 touchdowns all for 50+ yards as the Vikings beat the Cowboys 46–36. Moss was the first rookie to score 3 touchdowns on Thanksgiving.
They finished with a 15–1 record and were poised to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XXXIII. However, the Atlanta Falcons stunned the Vikings by winning the NFC Championship Game 30–27 in overtime.
At the end of the 1998 regular season, Moss was named a Pro Bowl starter and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year for his rookie-record 17 touchdown receptions and the third-highest receiving yardage (1,313) total.
1999 season
In 1999, Moss had another impressive season, catching 80 passes for 1,413 yards and 11 touchdowns, including a punt return for a touchdown. He went on to record five receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown in the Vikings 27–10 NFC wildcard playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys. Minnesota lost in the divisional round to the St. Louis Rams 49–37, despite Moss catching nine passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Moss was fined $40,000, which was later reduced to $25,000, during that game due to squirting an NFL referee with a water bottle. There was a stipulation that he would have to pay the difference in addition to any other fine if he had another run-in with the league.
Moss earned his second straight Pro Bowl appearance, and turned in a record-breaking performance. He had 9 receptions for a Pro Bowl record 212 yards and was given the game's Most Valuable Player award.
2000 season
The 2000 season featured second-year quarterback Daunte Culpepper leading the team. Culpepper had been the team's first-round draft pick in 1999; with a pick they received from the Redskins for quarterback Brad Johnson. He had been selected largely due to his extremely strong arm, which the team believed was perfectly suited for Moss's deep routes. The decision proved correct. Culpepper was a rookie sensation, the Vikings started 7–0, and Moss was a leading MVP candidate. For the second time in three seasons, Moss punished the Dallas Cowboys in Dallas on Thanksgiving Day, including a spectacular 2nd-half touchdown in which Moss caught the ball with his entire body out of bounds, aside from his toes. The play would be the feature shot in NFL commercials for years to come. Moss finished the season with a career-high 1,437 yards and league-leading 15 touchdown catches. In doing so, he became the youngest and fastest player to ever catch over 3,000 yards and 45 touchdowns, earning him his 3rd consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl, and 2nd selection to the All Pro team. The Vikings would make it to the NFC Championship game, only to be blown out 41–0 by the New York Giants.
2001 season
In the offseason, Moss and his agent Danté DiTrapano began negotiating a new contract with the Minnesota Vikings. He was scheduled to earn $3.5 million in 2001. But Moss, who was entering the final year of the rookie contract he signed in 1998, was seeking a long-term deal that would make him the highest-paid player in the NFL. His agent said, "We want to break the tradition of quarterbacks being the highest-paid players." One option the Vikings had would be to apply the franchise tag after the season ended, but sources stated that Moss would request a trade if that happened because it would still be less than what he could command on the open market.
Just prior to the start of training camp in July, Vikings owner Red McCombs signed Moss to an 8-year, $75 million contract extension. The extension included a $10 million signing bonus and another $8 million in guarantees.
Despite finishing the season with 10 touchdowns and posting at least 1,000 receiving yards for the fourth consecutive season, Moss failed to make the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career.
2002 season
After replacing Dennis Green on an interim basis to end the 2001 season, Mike Tice was officially named head coach on January 10, 2002. One of the strategies the Vikings' first-year head coach came up with was a formula to get Moss the ball more often. Coach Tice called it the Randy Ratio. It was an effort on the coaches part to throw 40% of the passes to Moss as a way to keep him involved in the offense more than he had been in the 2001 season when he had stretches in games where he was being shut out, and partly to use more game clock by sustaining long drives to give the Vikings defense a chance to rest. An assistant coach would stand on the sidelines during games and track how many times Moss had been thrown to, and then inform Tice of the percentages so that he is always aware of it. In the 2001 season, the Vikings record was 4–1 when Moss had 40% of the passes thrown his direction, and 1–10 in other games.
The strategy was a response to the 'Randy Rules,' as Vikings receiver Chris Walsh called them. The Randy Rules, similar to the Jordan Rules, were a defensive strategy that teams employed when facing the Vikings to try and eliminate or reduce Randy's impact on the game, and to prevent Moss from being matched up one-on-one with defenders because of his ability to burn them deep or outjump them in single coverage. Opposing teams would routinely double cover Moss with techniques such as having a cornerback attempt to jam him at the line of scrimmage, having a corner defend underneath with a safety defending against the deep ball, having a zone defense roll to Moss's side of the field, and assigning "spies" to follow Moss everywhere he went.
Coach Tice discussed the strategy, explaining that Moss would be running more short and intermediate routes and fewer deep patterns. In training camp, Moss worked specifically on 12 new routes that he had rarely run in his first 4 NFL seasons, such as crossing patterns over the middle of the field and hook routes. Coach Tice said, "When we say Randy Ratio, everybody in the league thinks, 'OK, now they're going to throw the ball down the field to Randy more and more and more.' That's so far from the truth. In fact, we'll probably throw the ball down the field to Randy this year even less."
The Randy Ratio did not last very long, as Tice scrapped the idea midway through the 2002 season. Randy Moss said "I didn't really care much about the Randy Ratio when it was brought up. I just wanted to win." While Moss caught a career-high 106 passes, he also had a career-low 7 touchdown receptions, and the Vikings struggled to a 6–10 record. Tice suggested after the season that it was a mistake to inform opponents about his offensive gameplan, but that it was a tool "to motivate [Moss] and say he was the guy."
2003 season
Moss's fortunes took a better turn on the football field during the 2003 regular season, where he became the second wide receiver in NFL history (behind Jerry Rice in 1995) to play more than 12 games (he played 16) while averaging over 100 yards and one touchdown per contest. He finished with 111 receptions for 1,632 yards and 17 touchdowns. All three numbers either tied or became a new personal best for Moss. The Vikings finished the season 9–7. One of Moss's memorable highlights that year was when he lateraled to Moe Williams for a last-second touchdown during a home game against Denver.
In the offseason, he attended the Vikings strength and conditioning program and added five pounds of muscle to his frame.
2004 season
Moss started the season strong catching 8 touchdowns in his first 5 games of the season. However, he sustained a hamstring injury to his right leg against New Orleans in Week 6 that hampered him for the next five weeks. He played in Week 7 against Tennessee, but had no receptions in a game for the first time in his career. He also played the following week against the Giants, but again recorded no receptions and was used mainly as a decoy. The injury eventually sidelined him for 3 straight weeks. He returned to the lineup in Week 12 with a touchdown catch against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Even though he finished the season with 13 touchdowns in 13 games, he posted career lows in receptions (49) and receiving yards (767). 2004 was the first season in his career that he failed to reach the 1,000-yard mark.
On January 9, 2005, the Minnesota Vikings played division rival Green Bay Packers in an NFC wildcard playoff game. Moss finished the game with 4 catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns in the 31–17 win. After the second score, Moss trotted to the end zone goalpost and feigned pulling down his pants to moon the Green Bay fans. NFL on Fox announcer Joe Buck called it a "disgusting act.” Moss was fined $10,000 for his actions. Though the Vikings would win the game, they would lose in the next round of the playoffs to the Philadelphia Eagles, and Moss would be traded at the end of the season.
Oakland Raiders
On March 2, 2005, Moss was traded to the Oakland Raiders for linebacker Napoleon Harris and the Raiders' first (7th overall, which Minnesota parlayed into wide receiver Troy Williamson) and seventh-round picks in the NFL draft. Adding a player of Moss's caliber generated optimism in Oakland, but the Raiders' poor play continued, while Moss suffered nagging injuries which limited his production. He surpassed the 1,000 mark on the final day of the 2005 season, finishing the year with 1,005 receiving yards on 60 catches. However, Moss only managed 553 yards on 42 balls in 2006.
Moss was not happy in Oakland, and on November 14, 2006, when he was honored as a kick returner by having an award named after him, he responded to questions about his dropped passes and lackluster effort in several games. Moss said, "Maybe because I'm unhappy and I'm not too much excited about what's going on, so, my concentration and focus level tend to go down sometimes when I'm in a bad mood". Days later, he reiterated his unhappiness with losing games and being a member of the Raiders on his weekly segment with Fox Sports Radio, saying, "I might want to look forward to moving somewhere else next year to have another start and really feel good about going out here and playing football".
New England Patriots
2007 season
There were rumors leading up to the 2007 NFL Draft that the Raiders were eager to part ways with Randy Moss through a trade. First-year Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin went so far as to contact their division rival Denver Broncos to "gauge interest", but the Patriots and Green Bay Packers were the two teams most interested in acquiring Moss. Packers QB Brett Favre, who once said, "There is no one in this league who puts fear in people more than Randy Moss," tried to persuade team management to trade for him, but a deal that both sides could agree to did not get done.
During the first day of the NFL Draft, the Patriots and Raiders discussed the trade several times before reaching an agreement. Bill Belichick spoke with Moss for the first time about the possibility of joining the Patriots at 2:30 Sunday morning. Moss then boarded a plane and arrived in Boston later that morning on April 29 and was required to pass a team administered physical. Once he was cleared by Patriots officials, the teams completed a trade that sent Randy Moss to New England for a fourth-round selection in the 2007 NFL Draft. The Patriots had acquired the draft pick the previous day from the San Francisco 49ers, and the Raiders selected John Bowie.
One of the conditions of the trade was that Randy Moss would have to restructure his contract for salary cap reasons. Just hours before the Moss trade was completed, New England quarterback Tom Brady converted $5.28 million of his 2007 base salary into a signing bonus that was spread out over the remaining portion of his contract so that it could free up cap room. This enabled the Patriots to absorb Moss's incoming contract under the salary cap. Moss had two years remaining on his current deal and was scheduled to earn $9.75 million in 2007 and $11.25 million in 2008. Once the Patriots had Moss on their roster, he quickly agreed to a new one-year contract to replace his old one. The new deal gave him a $500,000 signing bonus, a base salary of $2.5 million, and the ability to earn an additional $1.75 million in incentives.
"I’m still in awe that I’m a part of this organization," Moss said, clearly thrilled to join a team that could contend for the Super Bowl and to work with Coach Belichick. "I think that he's the kind of coach that can motivate me. He has a proven track record."
In the first week of training camp, during an 11-on-11 passing drill, Moss suffered a hamstring injury to his left leg. As a precaution, the injury prevented Moss from participating in any preseason games and he missed much of the rest of camp.
His first action in a Patriots uniform came against the New York Jets in Week 1. He quickly quieted critics who claimed that his skills had deteriorated by hauling in nine receptions for 181 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown pass in which he ran past three Jets defenders.
On November 4, 2007, James Black, NFL Editor for Yahoo! Sports wrote, "Every week, in addition to out-leaping at least one defender for a touchdown, [Moss] keeps making incredible one-handed grabs that make you mutter, 'How the heck did he come up with that?'" Two weeks later, he caught a career-high four touchdowns in a single game against Buffalo.
On December 29, the Patriots defeated the New York Giants 38–35, finishing their regular season with a perfect 16–0 record. Moss caught two touchdown passes for a total of 23, breaking the single-season record of 22 touchdown receptions previously set by Jerry Rice (in 12 games in the strike-shortened 1987 season). On the same play, Tom Brady broke Peyton Manning's single-season record set in 2004 with his 50th touchdown pass. Moss recorded 98 catches for 1,493 yards in 2007, the highest yardage total in Patriots franchise history and the third-highest total number of catches, after teammate Wes Welker's 112 catches that same season and Troy Brown's 101 in 2001. He also earned his sixth Pro Bowl selection. His 2007 season featured touchdowns in 13 of 16 games (including eight multi-touchdown games), nine 100-yard games, and six touchdown receptions of 40 or more yards.
Despite his record-breaking 2007 season, Moss was relatively quiet in the playoffs, going two consecutive games without a touchdown for the first time all season. However, in Super Bowl XLII, he scored the go-ahead touchdown with 2:42 left in the fourth quarter on a six-yard pass from Tom Brady. The score was not enough for the heavily favored Patriots to end their only undefeated season with a Super Bowl win. Eli Manning drove the Giants down the field, connecting with Plaxico Burress for the game-winning touchdown and an upset over the Patriots.
2008 season
On February 28, 2008, Moss became a free agent after the Patriots decided not to place the franchise tag on Moss. Although the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, and Green Bay Packers were rumored to have interest in Moss, he decided to return to the Patriots, signing a three-year, $27 million deal on March 3, 2008. The contract included a $12 million signing bonus, and a total of $14.1 million guaranteed.
The first game of the 2008 season saw Brady suffer a torn ACL in his left knee while attempting a pass to Randy Moss. The play occurred in the first half against the Kansas City Chiefs when safety Bernard Pollard dove at Brady's leg while in his throwing motion. Moss described what he saw on the play by saying "any time you see something like that, that looks foul, it looks dirty, it opens your eyes. So, me personally, it looked dirty." Matt Cassel replaced Brady for the rest of the season.
In 2008, Moss hauled in 69 catches for 1,008 yards and 11 touchdowns despite losing quarterback Tom Brady in the first game of the season.
2009 season
In the season opener of 2009, Moss caught a career-high 12 passes for 141 yards in a comeback 25–24 victory over the Bills. In Week 5 against the Denver Broncos, Moss was placed deep in coverage on a Broncos Hail Mary attempt to end the first half, and intercepted Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton. In a snowy Week 6 game against the winless Tennessee Titans, Moss caught three touchdown passes from Tom Brady, two of them in the 2nd quarter as Brady set a record for most touchdown passes in a single quarter with five. This was Moss's 34th multi-touchdown game, and his 8th game with three or more touchdowns.
During the Patriots' bye week, Belichick stated that Moss "is the smartest receiver he's ever been around." He compared Moss's ability to see the field and anticipate plays to that of Tom Brady, and to Lawrence Taylor, who Belichick coached with the New York Giants. He said Moss not only knows what he's doing on a play, but what everybody else on the field is doing as well. "That's what makes them special. They just have a sixth, seventh sense", Belichick said. This sentiment was repeated when Moss was inducted into the Hall of Fame, as Belichick went further to say he learned from Moss.
In Week 9 against the Miami Dolphins Moss added six catches for 147 yards and 1 touchdown. The touchdown reception was the 140th of his career, which moved him into a tie for second place with Terrell Owens.
The following week, in a prime time Sunday night matchup against the Indianapolis Colts, Moss had 179 yards and two touchdowns, including a 63-yard touchdown in the 2nd quarter that moved him ahead of Terrell Owens for sole possession of second place in career touchdown receptions. In the same game, he became just the 11th player in NFL history with 900+ receptions and the seventh player to reach 14,000+ career receiving yards.
He finished the season with 83 receptions for 1,264 yards and an NFL-high 13 touchdowns. New England would lose the AFC Wild Card playoff to the Baltimore Ravens 33–14.
2010 season
In the week leading up to the Patriots' 2010 season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, Moss, who was entering the final year of his contract told CBS Sports that he "did not feel wanted" in New England absent a contract extension offer. Moss would go on to catch 5 passes for 59 yards in Week 1. After the game, Moss told reporters that it would be his final season with the Patriots. The Boston Herald reported weeks later that Moss requested a trade following the game.
Moss had two receptions in Week 2 against the New York Jets, including a 34-yard touchdown that he caught one-handed after beating All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis. The following week against the Buffalo Bills, Moss had two more catches, both for touchdowns. His final game in New England came in Week 4 on Monday Night Football against the Miami Dolphins; he did not record a catch in the game for the first time in his Patriots career as a touchdown pass attempt off a fake spike bounced off his hands in the end zone.
Return to Minnesota
Two days after the Patriots' game against Miami, Moss was traded to the Minnesota Vikings, in exchange for the Vikings' third-round selection (later used to select quarterback Ryan Mallett) in the 2011 NFL Draft. The Patriots also sent a 2012 seventh-round selection to the Vikings as part of the trade.
On November 1, less than four weeks after being traded to Minnesota, Vikings head coach Brad Childress told Vikings players in a team meeting that Moss was going to be waived by the team, one day after he criticized Childress and teammates in a press conference following the Vikings' loss to the Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Just before the press conference, Moss reportedly told team owner Zygi Wilf that Childress was unfit to coach in the NFL and should be fired. Wilf reportedly considered firing Childress and keeping Moss, but Moss was officially waived the next day, November 2. Childress was eventually fired on November 22.
Tennessee Titans
Moss was claimed off waivers by the Tennessee Titans, the only team to submit a claim, on November 3, 2010. Moss played eight games with the Titans, starting four. He made six catches for 80 yards and no touchdowns.
Moss finished the 2010 season with career lows in receptions (28) and receiving yards (393). The Titans stated that they did not plan to re-sign Moss for the 2011 season, and he became a free agent.
Initial retirement and comeback
On August 1, 2011, Moss's agent, Joel Segal, announced Moss's decision to retire from professional football.
On February 13, 2012, his 35th birthday, Moss announced that he was coming out of retirement and was ready to play again. In a live video chat with his fans via Ustream, Moss stated, "I wanna play football. Your boy is going to come back here and play some football, so I'm really excited. I had some things I had to adjust in my life."
San Francisco 49ers
On March 12, 2012, Moss signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers for undisclosed financial terms after a workout with the team's head coach Jim Harbaugh. On September 9, 2012, Moss caught his 154th touchdown reception, and subsequently passed Terrell Owens for sole possession of 2nd on the all-time receiving touchdown list. After Alex Smith suffered a concussion against the St. Louis Rams in week 10, Colin Kaepernick took over as the team's quarterback, and Moss had at least two receptions in each of the remaining five games of the regular season. He finished the season with 28 catches for 434 yards and three touchdowns. Since the retirement of Terrell Owens at the end of 2010, he had been the NFL's active leader in receiving yards. Moss would eventually go on to play in Super Bowl XLVII, where he had two receptions for 41 yards in a 31–34 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
NFL career statistics
Regular season
NFL records
Most touchdown receptions in a season – 23 (2007)
Most touchdown receptions by a rookie in a season – 17 (1998)
Most seasons with 17 or more touchdown receptions – 3 (1998, 2003, 2007)
Most seasons with 16 or more touchdown receptions – 3 (1998, 2003, 2007)
Most seasons with 11 or more touchdown receptions – 8 – tied with Jerry Rice
Most seasons with 10 or more touchdown receptions – 9 – tied with Jerry Rice
Most games in a season with at least 2 touchdown receptions – 8 (2007)
One of two players to have 1,600+ receiving yards and 16+ receiving touchdowns in a season (2003), the other being Calvin Johnson (2011)
Most yards receiving in a Pro Bowl game – 212 (2000)
Most touchdowns scored in first 10 games with a new team – 16 (2007)
Most 1,200+ yard receiving seasons to start a career – 6 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003)
Moss has averaged at least one receiving touchdown per game played in four different seasons: 1998 (17 TDs in 16 games), 2003 (17 in 16), 2004 (13 in 13), and 2007 (23 in 16)
At the end of the 2008 season, Moss averaged 12.3 receiving TDs per season
4× 100+ yard games in his first four games with a new team in 2007
Youngest player in NFL history to record his 100th receiving touchdown (29 years and 235 days)
Youngest player in NFL history to record his 120th receiving touchdown (30 years, 313 days)
Most receiving yards before 30th birthday – 10,700
Most TD receptions before 30th birthday – 101
Youngest player to reach 6,000 career receiving yards (25 years and 270 days; later broken by Mike Evans)
Fastest player to reach 5,000 career receiving yards – 59 games (broke record of 61 games by Jerry Rice)
Youngest player to reach 5,000 career receiving yards - 24 years 292 days
Highest career yards per catch average for any player with 900+ receptions – 15.6 yards per reception
Youngest player to have 3 touchdown receptions in a game (21 years, 286 days; later broken by Rob Gronkowski)
Most offensive touchdowns in first two seasons: 28 (Tied with Rob Gronkowski)
Career highlights
6× Pro Bowl selection
4× All-Pro selection
2007 AFC Champion
2012 NFC Champion
Is second on the Minnesota Vikings all-time receiving touchdown list with 92. Cris Carter holds the record with 110 receiving scores
Caught his 100th touchdown pass in 2006 against San Francisco, the seventh player to do so
Holds the record for most touchdowns in Minnesota Vikings playoff history with 9
10× 1,000+ yard receiving seasons – 2nd all-time
64 career 100-yard games – 2nd all-time; most recent November 15, 2009
156 touchdown receptions – 2nd all-time
73.6 receiving yards per game – 7th all-time
15,292 receiving yards – 4th all-time
954 career receptions – 10th all-time
Has completed 4 of 8 passes for 106 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 1 interception, giving him a 95.8 passer rating
Only player to catch 90+ touchdown passes, return a punt for a touchdown, and throw 2 touchdown passes
Has played on two of the five highest-scoring teams (for a single season) in NFL history: 2007 Patriots (589 points) and the 1998 Vikings (556 points); both were the highest-scoring teams in NFL history thitherto
Had a career-high 12 receptions for 204 yards against the Chicago Bears, at Soldier Field, on November 14, 1999, in a 27–24 overtime win
Holds the Vikings record for most 100-yard receiving games with 41
Has two touchdowns or more in 39 different games (including 3 in the postseason); most recent September 26, 2010
Has two touchdown receptions or more in 37 different games – (2nd all-time)
Has three touchdown receptions or more in 9 different games – (2nd all-time): at Dallas (November 26, 1998), a 46–36 victory; vs. Chicago (December 6, 1998), a 48–22 victory; at Detroit (October 1, 2000), a 31–24 victory; vs. New York Giants (November 19, 2001) a 28–16 victory; vs. San Francisco (September 28, 2003), a 35–7 victory; at Buffalo (November 18, 2007), a 56–10 victory; at Miami (November 23, 2008), a 48–28 victory; vs. Tennessee (October 18, 2009), a 59–0 victory; vs. Jacksonville (December 27, 2009), a 35–7 victory
Caught a career-high four touchdowns at Buffalo (all in the first half) – November 18, 2007
Had an interception while playing defense in the last few seconds of the first half of the Patriots' game against the Denver Broncos on October 11, 2009
Has 4 career two-point conversions
Randy Moss Motorsports
On April 29, 2008, Moss announced the formation of Randy Moss Motorsports, an auto racing team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In July 2008, Moss announced that he had bought a 50 percent share in Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, with the team's No. 46 entry switching to No. 81. The team was reportedly shut down in 2012.
Post-football career
Upon his release from the 49ers, Moss was hired as an analyst for Fox Sports 1's Fox Football Daily show. Moss was hired as an associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Victory Christian Center High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, in June 2014, where his son was attending high school and playing football.
In July 2016, Moss joined ESPN as an analyst, appearing on Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018. In 2019, Moss was named to the National Football League 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Charity
Moss has participated in, founded, and financed many charitable endeavors since joining the NFL, particularly aimed at helping children. Many times when talking about his charity work, he has said he just looks forward to "seeing smiles." He has donated clothing and food to needy families, given away free backpacks to Boston area school-children, and hosted autograph signings. He has also bussed children to amusement parks, NBA games, and even NFL games in which he has played.
On June 29, 2005, he hosted the Randy Moss Celebrity Charity Invitational Bass Tournament. The tournament was a one-day event that paired celebrities and corporate sponsors with pro fishermen to raise money for the Smile Network, which is a foundation that provides financial assistance to children with treatable mouth problems, such as cleft palate. The tournaments motto is "fish for a smile."
In 2008, Moss formed the Links for Learning foundation, which was established to help children in his home state of West Virginia, and to build learning centers for the most needy student populations. In June, he and his former high school teammate Jason Williams hosted the foundations first annual charity golf tournament at the Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Hurricane, West Virginia. In March 2009, Moss's foundation made a donation that enabled the Women and Children's Hospital of Charleston, West Virginia to purchase a Starlight Children's Foundation 'Fun Center' for their patients. The 'Fun Center' is a portable bedside entertainment system equipped with a TV, DVD player, and 22 Nintendo Wii games.
Personal life
Moss's parents are Maxine Moss and Randy Pratt. Moss has little contact with his father. He has a sister named Lutisia and had a brother Eric, who had a short stint in the NFL as an offensive tackle with the Minnesota Vikings. Moss has five children: Lexi Adkins, Sydney, Senali, Thaddeus, and Montigo. Thaddeus is a tight end on the Cincinnati Bengals. Moss is also a Christian, attested by his NFL Hall of Fame Speech.
Traffic incident
On September 24, 2002, in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, Moss was driving and was preparing to make an illegal turn. A traffic control officer, noticing what he was about to do, stood in front of his vehicle and ordered him to stop. Eyewitness accounts of the event differ at this point, but Moss did not comply with the officer's order, and she was bumped by his vehicle and fell to the ground. Moss was arrested, and a search of his vehicle revealed a joint amounting to less than a gram of marijuana in his ashtray. Initially charged with felony Suspicion of Assault with a Deadly Weapon and a misdemeanor marijuana possession, Moss spent the night in jail and was released the following morning. Moss pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor traffic violation and was ordered to pay a $1,200 fine and perform 40 hours of community service. While the criminal charges were thus disposed of, the civil lawsuit filed by the traffic control officer brought a substantial penalty fine "in the low to mid six figures". Moss claimed that the joint was not his, and that he had let friends use his car prior to the accident.
Marijuana use
In April 1996, Moss smoked a joint just prior to turning himself in to jail. He was scheduled to finish the remainder of his 30-day sentence for misdemeanor battery while in high school. During his first week in jail, Moss was given a drug test that came back positive. He was placed in solitary confinement for a week and had 60 days attached to his 27-day sentence. Coach Bobby Bowden revoked his scholarship and Moss was dismissed from Florida State University for the failed drug test.
Moss tested positive in 2001 for marijuana under the NFL's substance abuse program and was subject to additional random drug screening for two years. A first time violation of the NFL's drug policy can result in up to 10 tests per month. Moss did not fail an NFL drug test again, and was rotated out of the program after two years.
In August 2005, during an interview with Bryant Gumbel, Moss admitted that he has smoked marijuana during his NFL career "every blue moon." When asked whether he still used marijuana currently, Moss replied "I might. I might have fun. And, you know, hopefully ... I won't get into any trouble by the NFL by saying that, you know. I have had fun throughout my years and, you know, predominantly in the offseason." The interview drew criticism from the league office, and his agent tried to spin it that his words were taken out of context. In response, Moss said "That was really me talking in the past tense of way back in the beginning of my career and my childhood – especially in high school and college."
Dating violence allegations
On January 15, 2008, Orlando-based radio station WDBO reported that Moss "had" been hit with a temporary injunction for protection against dating violence. According to the affidavit, Moss committed a battery upon Rachelle Washington, causing serious injury, and then refused to allow her to seek medical attention. The affidavit out of Broward County reveals Moss cannot come within 500 feet of the victim and cannot use or possess firearms.
The next day, in a locker room press conference, Moss claimed the woman was simply looking for money "over an accident," because her lawyer came to his lawyer, threatening a lawsuit, and asking for money to settle before she went public to the media. Moss stated he had known Washington for about 11 years. He also stated in his defense that he has never assaulted a woman in his entire life, and asked that the media and fans "find out the facts" before "rush[ing] to judgment." Moreover, Moss's lawyer, in an e-mail to the Boston Globe accused the woman's lawyer of "blatant threats and attempts to extort money" from Moss. On March 3, 2008, Rachelle Washington filed papers with the Broward County Circuit Court clerk's office requesting that the restraining order be dissolved and the case closed. No criminal charges were ever filed in the incident.
See also
List of NCAA major college football yearly receiving leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders
References
External links
1977 births
Living people
10,000 receiving yards club
African-American motorsport people
African-American players of American football
African-American sports journalists
All-American college football players
American Conference Pro Bowl players
American football wide receivers
ESPN people
Florida State Seminoles football players
Marshall Thundering Herd football players
Marshall Thundering Herd men's track and field athletes
Minnesota Vikings players
NASCAR team owners
National Conference Pro Bowl players
National Football League Offensive Rookie of the Year Award winners
New England Patriots players
Oakland Raiders players
People from Kanawha County, West Virginia
Players of American football from West Virginia
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
San Francisco 49ers players
Sportspeople from Charleston, West Virginia
Tennessee Titans players | false | [
"Carl August Verner Kronlund (25 August 1865 – 15 August 1937) was a Swedish curler who won a silver medal at the 1924 Winter Olympics. Aged 58, he was the oldest competitor at those Games and the oldest competitor ever in the modern era Winter Olympics. For the 1924 winter games, he played lead right-handed for the second Swedish team.\n\nHe lived most of his life in Stockholm with his wife Elin. He was a chimney sweeper for much of his working life. \n\nHe died at the age of 71 in Stockholm of a stroke. Part of his family emigrated to the United States; his great-granddaughter grew up in the United States and is a dermatologist in Plano, Texas, Karen Lund.\n\nReferences\n\n1865 births\n1937 deaths\nSwedish male curlers\nOlympic curlers of Sweden\nOlympic silver medalists for Sweden\nCurlers at the 1924 Winter Olympics\nMedalists at the 1924 Winter Olympics",
"David Katoatau (born July 17, 1984) is an I-Kiribati weightlifter.\n\nAt the 2007 World Weightlifting Championships he ranked 37th in the 85 kg category, with a total of 281 kg.\n\nHe ranked 4th in the 85 kg category at the 2008 Oceania Weightlifting Championships, with a total of 292 kg.\n\nCareer\nKatoatau represented Kiribati in weightlifting at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, and also was the national flag bearer at the opening ceremony. In the Olympic tournament he ranked 15th in the 85 kg category, with a total of 313 kg.\n\nIn 2012, he was the first I-Kiribati ever to qualify on merit for the Olympic Games (rather than receive a wildcard invitation), in any sport. He finished first in the Oceania Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which also made him Commonwealth champion. As part of Kiribati's delegation at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, he competed in the 94 kg event, and finished 17th out of 21, with a total lift of 325 kg. He was, again, his country's national flag bearer during the Games' opening ceremony.\n\nAt the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games he won gold in the 105 kg group A, the first ever Commonwealth Games medal for Kiribati.\n\nAt the 2016 Summer Olympics, he became famous for his dance routines, which he did to bring awareness of the effects of global warming on his small island nation, upon completion of a clean & jerk lift.\n\nHis younger brother Ruben Katoatau is also a weightlifter who qualified for 2020 Summer Olympics and finished 15th.\n\nOlympics Stats\n\nSee also \nKiribati at the 2008 Summer Olympics\n\nNote\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n Pacific Magazine: Kiribati Sends Three Athletes To Beijing Olympics\n Athlete Biography at beijing2008\n\n1984 births\nLiving people\nWeightlifters at the 2008 Summer Olympics\nWeightlifters at the 2012 Summer Olympics\nWeightlifters at the 2016 Summer Olympics\nOlympic weightlifters of Kiribati\nI-Kiribati male weightlifters\nPeople from Nonouti\nWeightlifters at the 2014 Commonwealth Games\nWeightlifters at the 2010 Commonwealth Games\nCommonwealth Games gold medallists for Kiribati\nCommonwealth Games medallists in weightlifting"
]
|
[
"Randy Moss",
"Early years",
"Did he always play sports?",
"excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track.",
"Did anyone in his family play sports as well",
"Randy was also on the school's debate team.",
"Did he ever have aspirations of a specific pro team",
"I don't know.",
"Was his past always troublesome",
"named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995",
"Did he ever get injured",
"He also played center field for the baseball team.",
"Did he ever think to play other sports in college",
"Marshall track team and lower his 200 m time to 21.15 seconds.",
"Was his family ever at any of his games",
"I don't know."
]
| C_851e2cea33364400ac299a7537e94da3_1 | Did he receive any scholarships | 8 | Did Randy Moss receive any scholarships? | Randy Moss | Moss was born and lived in Rand, West Virginia. He attended DuPont High School, one of two schools that later consolidated into Riverside High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Randy was also on the school's debate team. On the football field, Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He was a star at wide receiver, but also played free safety, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the team's kicker and punter. In 1994, he was honored with the Kennedy Award as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Parade magazine named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995 and in 2009 named him one of the 50 greatest high school football players of all time. At DuPont, he was a teammate of future Chicago Bears linebacker Bobbie Howard. In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (1993, 1994), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams. As a sophomore in 1992, at the age of 15, Moss joined the track & field team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.94 seconds and 21.95 seconds, respectively. This was the only year he competed on the school's track team, but he would later join the Marshall track team and lower his 200 m time to 21.15 seconds. He also played center field for the baseball team. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is a former American football player. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, and the San Francisco 49ers. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wide receivers of all time, he holds the NFL single-season touchdown reception record (23 in 2007), the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie (17 in 1998) and is second on the NFL all-time regular season touchdown reception list with 156. Moss was well known for his prowess in securing contested catches and the word "mossed" has entered football vernacular. Post-football, he began working for ESPN as a studio analyst for its Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown programs.
Moss played college football for Marshall University, and twice earned All-America honors. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft, where he played for seven years before a trade in 2005 brought him to the Oakland Raiders. In 2007, Moss was traded to the New England Patriots, where he set the single-season record for touchdown receptions. In October 2010, Moss returned to the Vikings in a trade from the Patriots but was waived less than a month later and then claimed by the Tennessee Titans. After sitting out the 2011 season, Moss signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers in 2012 before retiring following the season. He played in two Super Bowl games, XLII with the Patriots and XLVII with the 49ers, both losses. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
Early years
Moss was born in Rand, West Virginia. He attended DuPont High School, one of two schools that later consolidated into Riverside High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Randy was also on the school's debate team. On the football field, Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He was a star at wide receiver, but also played free safety, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the team's kicker and punter. In 1994, he was honored with the Kennedy Award as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Parade magazine named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995 and in 2009 named him one of the 50 greatest high school football players of all time. At DuPont, he was a teammate of future Chicago Bears linebacker Bobbie Howard.
In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (in 1994 when he was co-player of the year and in 1995), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams. In his senior season of basketball, Moss averaged 30.2 points, 13.7 rebounds, 5.1 steals, 3.8 blocks, and 3.1 assists while shooting 60% from field; he scored a school-record 1,713 career points.
As a sophomore in 1992, at the age of 15, Moss joined the track & field team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.94 seconds and 21.95 seconds, respectively. This was the only year he competed on the school's track team, but he would later join the Marshall track team and lower his 200 m time to 21.15 seconds. He also played center field for the baseball team.
College football career
Moss's dream was to play for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but he also considered going to Ohio State, where his half-brother, Eric, had played offensive tackle. Former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz said "Randy Moss was the best high school football player I've ever seen." Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden said "He was as good as Deion Sanders. Deion's my measuring stick for athletic ability, and this kid was just a bigger Deion."
After originally signing a letter of intent to play college football with Notre Dame in 1995, Moss took part in a racially charged fight at his high school that left one person hospitalized. On March 23, 1995, Moss had backed a friend in a hallway fight against a white student who had allegedly used racist comments towards Randy's friend. Moss was initially charged with a felony for kicking the student, but it was later reduced to a misdemeanor. On August 1, 1995, Moss pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor battery and was sentenced to 30 days behind bars at the South-Central Regional Jail in Charleston, West Virginia. He served 3 days in jail starting that night and would be required to serve the remaining 27 days within the following 18 months, after he completed his freshman year in college. Moss was expelled from DuPont and completed his education at Cabell Alternative School.
Notre Dame subsequently denied his enrollment application, but this did not stop another high-profile college football program from giving him a chance. Notre Dame officials suggested he attend Florida State due to the reputation of its coach, Bobby Bowden, for handling troubled players.
Freshman (1995)
Because of his signed letter of intent at Notre Dame, the NCAA considered him a transfer student to Florida State, so he had to redshirt the 1995 football season.
Redshirt Freshman season (1996)
In 1996, while serving his 30-day jail sentence in a work-release program from 1995, Moss tested positive for marijuana, thus violating his probation, and was dismissed from Florida State. He served an additional 60 days in jail for the probation violation.
Ultimately, Moss transferred to Marshall University, about an hour's drive from his home. Because Marshall was then a Division I-AA school, NCAA rules allowed him to transfer there without losing any further eligibility. In 1996, he set the NCAA Division I-AA records for the most games with a touchdown catch in a season (14), most consecutive games with a touchdown catch (13), most touchdown passes caught in a season (28 – tying Jerry Rice's 1984 record), and most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season (1,709 on 78 catches), a record which still stands. Moss was also the leading kickoff returner in Division I-AA on the season, with 612 total yards and a 34.0-yard average. The 1996 Marshall Thundering Herd went undefeated and won the Division I-AA title, with Moss having four touchdown receptions in the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game. It was Marshall's last season before moving to Division I-A.
At the Southern Conference indoor track championships, Moss ran the 200 meters in 21.15 seconds, missing the conference record by only .02 seconds. Although Moss had not raced competitively for four years, his time was one of the best in the country that year.
Sophomore season (1997)
In the 1997 season, Marshall's first in Division I-A, Moss and Quarterback Chad Pennington were the centerpiece of an explosive offense that led the Thundering Herd to the Mid-American Conference title. Moss caught 26 touchdown passes that season, at the time a Division I-A record, and was a first-team All-American.
The first game of the season was at West Virginia University where Marshall lost. The second game of the season saw Moss pick up right where he left off in 1996. Facing Army, Moss caught 5 balls for 186 yards and two touchdowns. One touchdown went for 79 yards in which Pennington lobbed the ball down the left sideline. Moss leaped over an Army defender to snag the ball out of the air at the 40-yard line while the safety crashed into his teammate, knocking both men down. Moss galloped the last 50 yards untouched for the score. The other touchdown reception was his career-long of 90 yards that came on a short screen pass on third down. Moss caught the ball on the right side of the field at his own 8-yard line, ran past 3 defenders in the middle of the field at the 15-yard line, hurdled two defenders coming from both sides of the left hash marks at the 25-yard line, then raced past the last defender at the 50-yard line before finally seeing daylight down the left sideline.
A week later, Moss posted his third career 200+ yard receiving game, against Kent State. Two weeks after that was his fourth and final 200+ yard game in college, recording 13 catches for 205 yards and a Marshall single-game record of 5 touchdown receptions against Ball State.
In the 1997 Ford Motor City Bowl against Ole Miss, Moss added his 26th touchdown of the season on Marshall's first offensive play from scrimmage. He streaked down the right sideline and caught an 80-yard touchdown pass from Pennington to tie the score at 7–7. NCAA rules at the time did not allow for statistics from bowl games to be combined with regular-season stats, so the touchdown did not officially increase his season touchdown record. The two teams traded the lead several times in the fourth quarter before Ole Miss running back Deuce McAllister scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds to play, giving them a 34–31 lead. Trying to pull out a last-second win, Pennington connected with Moss on a 40-yard pass on the final play of the game, but he was stripped of the ball as time expired. Moss finished the game with 6 receptions for 173 yards.
Moss finished his career at Marshall having scored at least one touchdown in all 28 games that he played. He won the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the season's outstanding receiver regardless of position, and was a finalist for the 1997 Heisman Trophy (finishing fourth in the balloting, behind Ryan Leaf, Peyton Manning, and Charles Woodson, who won the award). A controversial comment was made by Randy Moss in 1997 at a ceremony at Marshall University where he was commenting in regards to the 1970 plane crash that killed most their football team that the crash "was a tragedy, but it really wasn't nothing big". Moss later claimed that the quotes were taken out of context. Nate Ruffin, who is a surviving member of the 1970 Football Team, later met with Randy Moss.
College statistics
Includes stats from the 1997 Motor City Bowl against Ole Miss
NCAA records
Division I-AA – regular season
Most games with a touchdown reception in a season – 11 (1996)
Most consecutive games with a touchdown reception in a season – 11 (1996)
Most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season – 1073 (1996)
Most touchdown receptions caught by a freshman in a season – 19 (1996 – record for all NCAA divisions)
Division I-AA – playoffs
Most touchdown receptions in a single game – 4 (vs. Montana, December 21, 1996)
Most yards receiving in a single game – 288 (vs. Delaware, November 30, 1996)
Most touchdown receptions in a tournament – 9 (4 games in 1996)
Most yards receiving in a tournament – 636 (4 games in 1996)
Professional football career
1998 NFL Draft
Moss skipped his senior season at Marshall and entered the NFL Draft. He did not attend the NFL Combine, opting instead for an individual workout at Marshall's pro day. Moss ran the 40 yard dash in the 4.24-4.28 range by scouts' hand timers and posted vertical leaps of 47 and 51 inches. Numerous teams had scouts on hand with many noting the work-out was jaw dropping.
During the 1998 NFL Draft, Moss, who was projected as a high first-round pick, was taken by the Minnesota Vikings with the 21st overall pick after a number of NFL clubs—even those in need of a WR—were concerned with Moss's well-documented legal problems. Before the draft Moss was quoted as saying teams that passed on him "will regret it once they see what kind of a player I am and what kind of guy I really am." The team most often cited for passing on Moss is the Dallas Cowboys. Moss grew up a Cowboys fan and wanted to play for the Cowboys. The Cowboys wanted Moss, but because of many off-field incidents of their own, team owner and GM Jerry Jones did not feel the team could draft Moss. Moss felt that the Cowboys lied to him because they had told him they would draft him. On draft day, Dallas went so far as to have a scout in Charleston, West Virginia, the same town where Moss and his mother were watching the draft. Dallas star receiver Michael Irvin even called to apologize to Moss, because Irvin's own off-field problems were a main reason Moss was not drafted by Dallas. After the draft, Moss made a point of beating the Cowboys any time he faced them, getting his first opportunity to do so in Week 13 of his rookie season. In a game held at Texas Stadium, Moss torched Dallas with a 163-yard, 3-touchdown performance.
After the draft, Moss signed a 4-year, $4.5 million contract that included an additional $4 million in bonuses and incentives. As part of the deal, he received a $2 million signing bonus. Moss originally wore #18 in training camp (a number he would eventually wear for Oakland) but switched to the more conventional #84 before the regular season began.
Minnesota Vikings
1998 season
In 1998, Moss helped the Vikings to become the number 1 rated offense ever at the time, setting the single-season record for scoring (later surpassed by the 2007 New England Patriots, a team that also featured Moss) with 556 points.
The Vikings opened the season with a 31–7 rout against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Moss's first NFL game would also be his first multi-touchdown game as he recorded 4 receptions for 95 yards and two touchdowns. His first NFL reception came on the third play of the game on an 11-yard pass from Brad Johnson. His first touchdown was a 48-yard acrobatic grab over defensive back Floyd Young late in the first quarter, in which Moss juggled the ball 3 times before securing it for the score. He added a 31-yard touchdown reception on the Vikings' first possession of the second quarter to give the Vikings a 21–0 lead.
His first Monday Night Football game came in Week 5 against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. He had 5 receptions for 190 yards and two touchdowns, including touchdown grabs of 52 yards and 44 yards, and two other receptions of 46 yards and 41 yards. He also had a 75-yard touchdown catch on the Vikings' first possession of the game that was nullified due to an offensive holding penalty.
Against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, Moss finished with 3 catches for 163 yards and 3 touchdowns all for 50+ yards as the Vikings beat the Cowboys 46–36. Moss was the first rookie to score 3 touchdowns on Thanksgiving.
They finished with a 15–1 record and were poised to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XXXIII. However, the Atlanta Falcons stunned the Vikings by winning the NFC Championship Game 30–27 in overtime.
At the end of the 1998 regular season, Moss was named a Pro Bowl starter and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year for his rookie-record 17 touchdown receptions and the third-highest receiving yardage (1,313) total.
1999 season
In 1999, Moss had another impressive season, catching 80 passes for 1,413 yards and 11 touchdowns, including a punt return for a touchdown. He went on to record five receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown in the Vikings 27–10 NFC wildcard playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys. Minnesota lost in the divisional round to the St. Louis Rams 49–37, despite Moss catching nine passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Moss was fined $40,000, which was later reduced to $25,000, during that game due to squirting an NFL referee with a water bottle. There was a stipulation that he would have to pay the difference in addition to any other fine if he had another run-in with the league.
Moss earned his second straight Pro Bowl appearance, and turned in a record-breaking performance. He had 9 receptions for a Pro Bowl record 212 yards and was given the game's Most Valuable Player award.
2000 season
The 2000 season featured second-year quarterback Daunte Culpepper leading the team. Culpepper had been the team's first-round draft pick in 1999; with a pick they received from the Redskins for quarterback Brad Johnson. He had been selected largely due to his extremely strong arm, which the team believed was perfectly suited for Moss's deep routes. The decision proved correct. Culpepper was a rookie sensation, the Vikings started 7–0, and Moss was a leading MVP candidate. For the second time in three seasons, Moss punished the Dallas Cowboys in Dallas on Thanksgiving Day, including a spectacular 2nd-half touchdown in which Moss caught the ball with his entire body out of bounds, aside from his toes. The play would be the feature shot in NFL commercials for years to come. Moss finished the season with a career-high 1,437 yards and league-leading 15 touchdown catches. In doing so, he became the youngest and fastest player to ever catch over 3,000 yards and 45 touchdowns, earning him his 3rd consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl, and 2nd selection to the All Pro team. The Vikings would make it to the NFC Championship game, only to be blown out 41–0 by the New York Giants.
2001 season
In the offseason, Moss and his agent Danté DiTrapano began negotiating a new contract with the Minnesota Vikings. He was scheduled to earn $3.5 million in 2001. But Moss, who was entering the final year of the rookie contract he signed in 1998, was seeking a long-term deal that would make him the highest-paid player in the NFL. His agent said, "We want to break the tradition of quarterbacks being the highest-paid players." One option the Vikings had would be to apply the franchise tag after the season ended, but sources stated that Moss would request a trade if that happened because it would still be less than what he could command on the open market.
Just prior to the start of training camp in July, Vikings owner Red McCombs signed Moss to an 8-year, $75 million contract extension. The extension included a $10 million signing bonus and another $8 million in guarantees.
Despite finishing the season with 10 touchdowns and posting at least 1,000 receiving yards for the fourth consecutive season, Moss failed to make the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career.
2002 season
After replacing Dennis Green on an interim basis to end the 2001 season, Mike Tice was officially named head coach on January 10, 2002. One of the strategies the Vikings' first-year head coach came up with was a formula to get Moss the ball more often. Coach Tice called it the Randy Ratio. It was an effort on the coaches part to throw 40% of the passes to Moss as a way to keep him involved in the offense more than he had been in the 2001 season when he had stretches in games where he was being shut out, and partly to use more game clock by sustaining long drives to give the Vikings defense a chance to rest. An assistant coach would stand on the sidelines during games and track how many times Moss had been thrown to, and then inform Tice of the percentages so that he is always aware of it. In the 2001 season, the Vikings record was 4–1 when Moss had 40% of the passes thrown his direction, and 1–10 in other games.
The strategy was a response to the 'Randy Rules,' as Vikings receiver Chris Walsh called them. The Randy Rules, similar to the Jordan Rules, were a defensive strategy that teams employed when facing the Vikings to try and eliminate or reduce Randy's impact on the game, and to prevent Moss from being matched up one-on-one with defenders because of his ability to burn them deep or outjump them in single coverage. Opposing teams would routinely double cover Moss with techniques such as having a cornerback attempt to jam him at the line of scrimmage, having a corner defend underneath with a safety defending against the deep ball, having a zone defense roll to Moss's side of the field, and assigning "spies" to follow Moss everywhere he went.
Coach Tice discussed the strategy, explaining that Moss would be running more short and intermediate routes and fewer deep patterns. In training camp, Moss worked specifically on 12 new routes that he had rarely run in his first 4 NFL seasons, such as crossing patterns over the middle of the field and hook routes. Coach Tice said, "When we say Randy Ratio, everybody in the league thinks, 'OK, now they're going to throw the ball down the field to Randy more and more and more.' That's so far from the truth. In fact, we'll probably throw the ball down the field to Randy this year even less."
The Randy Ratio did not last very long, as Tice scrapped the idea midway through the 2002 season. Randy Moss said "I didn't really care much about the Randy Ratio when it was brought up. I just wanted to win." While Moss caught a career-high 106 passes, he also had a career-low 7 touchdown receptions, and the Vikings struggled to a 6–10 record. Tice suggested after the season that it was a mistake to inform opponents about his offensive gameplan, but that it was a tool "to motivate [Moss] and say he was the guy."
2003 season
Moss's fortunes took a better turn on the football field during the 2003 regular season, where he became the second wide receiver in NFL history (behind Jerry Rice in 1995) to play more than 12 games (he played 16) while averaging over 100 yards and one touchdown per contest. He finished with 111 receptions for 1,632 yards and 17 touchdowns. All three numbers either tied or became a new personal best for Moss. The Vikings finished the season 9–7. One of Moss's memorable highlights that year was when he lateraled to Moe Williams for a last-second touchdown during a home game against Denver.
In the offseason, he attended the Vikings strength and conditioning program and added five pounds of muscle to his frame.
2004 season
Moss started the season strong catching 8 touchdowns in his first 5 games of the season. However, he sustained a hamstring injury to his right leg against New Orleans in Week 6 that hampered him for the next five weeks. He played in Week 7 against Tennessee, but had no receptions in a game for the first time in his career. He also played the following week against the Giants, but again recorded no receptions and was used mainly as a decoy. The injury eventually sidelined him for 3 straight weeks. He returned to the lineup in Week 12 with a touchdown catch against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Even though he finished the season with 13 touchdowns in 13 games, he posted career lows in receptions (49) and receiving yards (767). 2004 was the first season in his career that he failed to reach the 1,000-yard mark.
On January 9, 2005, the Minnesota Vikings played division rival Green Bay Packers in an NFC wildcard playoff game. Moss finished the game with 4 catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns in the 31–17 win. After the second score, Moss trotted to the end zone goalpost and feigned pulling down his pants to moon the Green Bay fans. NFL on Fox announcer Joe Buck called it a "disgusting act.” Moss was fined $10,000 for his actions. Though the Vikings would win the game, they would lose in the next round of the playoffs to the Philadelphia Eagles, and Moss would be traded at the end of the season.
Oakland Raiders
On March 2, 2005, Moss was traded to the Oakland Raiders for linebacker Napoleon Harris and the Raiders' first (7th overall, which Minnesota parlayed into wide receiver Troy Williamson) and seventh-round picks in the NFL draft. Adding a player of Moss's caliber generated optimism in Oakland, but the Raiders' poor play continued, while Moss suffered nagging injuries which limited his production. He surpassed the 1,000 mark on the final day of the 2005 season, finishing the year with 1,005 receiving yards on 60 catches. However, Moss only managed 553 yards on 42 balls in 2006.
Moss was not happy in Oakland, and on November 14, 2006, when he was honored as a kick returner by having an award named after him, he responded to questions about his dropped passes and lackluster effort in several games. Moss said, "Maybe because I'm unhappy and I'm not too much excited about what's going on, so, my concentration and focus level tend to go down sometimes when I'm in a bad mood". Days later, he reiterated his unhappiness with losing games and being a member of the Raiders on his weekly segment with Fox Sports Radio, saying, "I might want to look forward to moving somewhere else next year to have another start and really feel good about going out here and playing football".
New England Patriots
2007 season
There were rumors leading up to the 2007 NFL Draft that the Raiders were eager to part ways with Randy Moss through a trade. First-year Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin went so far as to contact their division rival Denver Broncos to "gauge interest", but the Patriots and Green Bay Packers were the two teams most interested in acquiring Moss. Packers QB Brett Favre, who once said, "There is no one in this league who puts fear in people more than Randy Moss," tried to persuade team management to trade for him, but a deal that both sides could agree to did not get done.
During the first day of the NFL Draft, the Patriots and Raiders discussed the trade several times before reaching an agreement. Bill Belichick spoke with Moss for the first time about the possibility of joining the Patriots at 2:30 Sunday morning. Moss then boarded a plane and arrived in Boston later that morning on April 29 and was required to pass a team administered physical. Once he was cleared by Patriots officials, the teams completed a trade that sent Randy Moss to New England for a fourth-round selection in the 2007 NFL Draft. The Patriots had acquired the draft pick the previous day from the San Francisco 49ers, and the Raiders selected John Bowie.
One of the conditions of the trade was that Randy Moss would have to restructure his contract for salary cap reasons. Just hours before the Moss trade was completed, New England quarterback Tom Brady converted $5.28 million of his 2007 base salary into a signing bonus that was spread out over the remaining portion of his contract so that it could free up cap room. This enabled the Patriots to absorb Moss's incoming contract under the salary cap. Moss had two years remaining on his current deal and was scheduled to earn $9.75 million in 2007 and $11.25 million in 2008. Once the Patriots had Moss on their roster, he quickly agreed to a new one-year contract to replace his old one. The new deal gave him a $500,000 signing bonus, a base salary of $2.5 million, and the ability to earn an additional $1.75 million in incentives.
"I’m still in awe that I’m a part of this organization," Moss said, clearly thrilled to join a team that could contend for the Super Bowl and to work with Coach Belichick. "I think that he's the kind of coach that can motivate me. He has a proven track record."
In the first week of training camp, during an 11-on-11 passing drill, Moss suffered a hamstring injury to his left leg. As a precaution, the injury prevented Moss from participating in any preseason games and he missed much of the rest of camp.
His first action in a Patriots uniform came against the New York Jets in Week 1. He quickly quieted critics who claimed that his skills had deteriorated by hauling in nine receptions for 181 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown pass in which he ran past three Jets defenders.
On November 4, 2007, James Black, NFL Editor for Yahoo! Sports wrote, "Every week, in addition to out-leaping at least one defender for a touchdown, [Moss] keeps making incredible one-handed grabs that make you mutter, 'How the heck did he come up with that?'" Two weeks later, he caught a career-high four touchdowns in a single game against Buffalo.
On December 29, the Patriots defeated the New York Giants 38–35, finishing their regular season with a perfect 16–0 record. Moss caught two touchdown passes for a total of 23, breaking the single-season record of 22 touchdown receptions previously set by Jerry Rice (in 12 games in the strike-shortened 1987 season). On the same play, Tom Brady broke Peyton Manning's single-season record set in 2004 with his 50th touchdown pass. Moss recorded 98 catches for 1,493 yards in 2007, the highest yardage total in Patriots franchise history and the third-highest total number of catches, after teammate Wes Welker's 112 catches that same season and Troy Brown's 101 in 2001. He also earned his sixth Pro Bowl selection. His 2007 season featured touchdowns in 13 of 16 games (including eight multi-touchdown games), nine 100-yard games, and six touchdown receptions of 40 or more yards.
Despite his record-breaking 2007 season, Moss was relatively quiet in the playoffs, going two consecutive games without a touchdown for the first time all season. However, in Super Bowl XLII, he scored the go-ahead touchdown with 2:42 left in the fourth quarter on a six-yard pass from Tom Brady. The score was not enough for the heavily favored Patriots to end their only undefeated season with a Super Bowl win. Eli Manning drove the Giants down the field, connecting with Plaxico Burress for the game-winning touchdown and an upset over the Patriots.
2008 season
On February 28, 2008, Moss became a free agent after the Patriots decided not to place the franchise tag on Moss. Although the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, and Green Bay Packers were rumored to have interest in Moss, he decided to return to the Patriots, signing a three-year, $27 million deal on March 3, 2008. The contract included a $12 million signing bonus, and a total of $14.1 million guaranteed.
The first game of the 2008 season saw Brady suffer a torn ACL in his left knee while attempting a pass to Randy Moss. The play occurred in the first half against the Kansas City Chiefs when safety Bernard Pollard dove at Brady's leg while in his throwing motion. Moss described what he saw on the play by saying "any time you see something like that, that looks foul, it looks dirty, it opens your eyes. So, me personally, it looked dirty." Matt Cassel replaced Brady for the rest of the season.
In 2008, Moss hauled in 69 catches for 1,008 yards and 11 touchdowns despite losing quarterback Tom Brady in the first game of the season.
2009 season
In the season opener of 2009, Moss caught a career-high 12 passes for 141 yards in a comeback 25–24 victory over the Bills. In Week 5 against the Denver Broncos, Moss was placed deep in coverage on a Broncos Hail Mary attempt to end the first half, and intercepted Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton. In a snowy Week 6 game against the winless Tennessee Titans, Moss caught three touchdown passes from Tom Brady, two of them in the 2nd quarter as Brady set a record for most touchdown passes in a single quarter with five. This was Moss's 34th multi-touchdown game, and his 8th game with three or more touchdowns.
During the Patriots' bye week, Belichick stated that Moss "is the smartest receiver he's ever been around." He compared Moss's ability to see the field and anticipate plays to that of Tom Brady, and to Lawrence Taylor, who Belichick coached with the New York Giants. He said Moss not only knows what he's doing on a play, but what everybody else on the field is doing as well. "That's what makes them special. They just have a sixth, seventh sense", Belichick said. This sentiment was repeated when Moss was inducted into the Hall of Fame, as Belichick went further to say he learned from Moss.
In Week 9 against the Miami Dolphins Moss added six catches for 147 yards and 1 touchdown. The touchdown reception was the 140th of his career, which moved him into a tie for second place with Terrell Owens.
The following week, in a prime time Sunday night matchup against the Indianapolis Colts, Moss had 179 yards and two touchdowns, including a 63-yard touchdown in the 2nd quarter that moved him ahead of Terrell Owens for sole possession of second place in career touchdown receptions. In the same game, he became just the 11th player in NFL history with 900+ receptions and the seventh player to reach 14,000+ career receiving yards.
He finished the season with 83 receptions for 1,264 yards and an NFL-high 13 touchdowns. New England would lose the AFC Wild Card playoff to the Baltimore Ravens 33–14.
2010 season
In the week leading up to the Patriots' 2010 season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, Moss, who was entering the final year of his contract told CBS Sports that he "did not feel wanted" in New England absent a contract extension offer. Moss would go on to catch 5 passes for 59 yards in Week 1. After the game, Moss told reporters that it would be his final season with the Patriots. The Boston Herald reported weeks later that Moss requested a trade following the game.
Moss had two receptions in Week 2 against the New York Jets, including a 34-yard touchdown that he caught one-handed after beating All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis. The following week against the Buffalo Bills, Moss had two more catches, both for touchdowns. His final game in New England came in Week 4 on Monday Night Football against the Miami Dolphins; he did not record a catch in the game for the first time in his Patriots career as a touchdown pass attempt off a fake spike bounced off his hands in the end zone.
Return to Minnesota
Two days after the Patriots' game against Miami, Moss was traded to the Minnesota Vikings, in exchange for the Vikings' third-round selection (later used to select quarterback Ryan Mallett) in the 2011 NFL Draft. The Patriots also sent a 2012 seventh-round selection to the Vikings as part of the trade.
On November 1, less than four weeks after being traded to Minnesota, Vikings head coach Brad Childress told Vikings players in a team meeting that Moss was going to be waived by the team, one day after he criticized Childress and teammates in a press conference following the Vikings' loss to the Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Just before the press conference, Moss reportedly told team owner Zygi Wilf that Childress was unfit to coach in the NFL and should be fired. Wilf reportedly considered firing Childress and keeping Moss, but Moss was officially waived the next day, November 2. Childress was eventually fired on November 22.
Tennessee Titans
Moss was claimed off waivers by the Tennessee Titans, the only team to submit a claim, on November 3, 2010. Moss played eight games with the Titans, starting four. He made six catches for 80 yards and no touchdowns.
Moss finished the 2010 season with career lows in receptions (28) and receiving yards (393). The Titans stated that they did not plan to re-sign Moss for the 2011 season, and he became a free agent.
Initial retirement and comeback
On August 1, 2011, Moss's agent, Joel Segal, announced Moss's decision to retire from professional football.
On February 13, 2012, his 35th birthday, Moss announced that he was coming out of retirement and was ready to play again. In a live video chat with his fans via Ustream, Moss stated, "I wanna play football. Your boy is going to come back here and play some football, so I'm really excited. I had some things I had to adjust in my life."
San Francisco 49ers
On March 12, 2012, Moss signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers for undisclosed financial terms after a workout with the team's head coach Jim Harbaugh. On September 9, 2012, Moss caught his 154th touchdown reception, and subsequently passed Terrell Owens for sole possession of 2nd on the all-time receiving touchdown list. After Alex Smith suffered a concussion against the St. Louis Rams in week 10, Colin Kaepernick took over as the team's quarterback, and Moss had at least two receptions in each of the remaining five games of the regular season. He finished the season with 28 catches for 434 yards and three touchdowns. Since the retirement of Terrell Owens at the end of 2010, he had been the NFL's active leader in receiving yards. Moss would eventually go on to play in Super Bowl XLVII, where he had two receptions for 41 yards in a 31–34 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
NFL career statistics
Regular season
NFL records
Most touchdown receptions in a season – 23 (2007)
Most touchdown receptions by a rookie in a season – 17 (1998)
Most seasons with 17 or more touchdown receptions – 3 (1998, 2003, 2007)
Most seasons with 16 or more touchdown receptions – 3 (1998, 2003, 2007)
Most seasons with 11 or more touchdown receptions – 8 – tied with Jerry Rice
Most seasons with 10 or more touchdown receptions – 9 – tied with Jerry Rice
Most games in a season with at least 2 touchdown receptions – 8 (2007)
One of two players to have 1,600+ receiving yards and 16+ receiving touchdowns in a season (2003), the other being Calvin Johnson (2011)
Most yards receiving in a Pro Bowl game – 212 (2000)
Most touchdowns scored in first 10 games with a new team – 16 (2007)
Most 1,200+ yard receiving seasons to start a career – 6 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003)
Moss has averaged at least one receiving touchdown per game played in four different seasons: 1998 (17 TDs in 16 games), 2003 (17 in 16), 2004 (13 in 13), and 2007 (23 in 16)
At the end of the 2008 season, Moss averaged 12.3 receiving TDs per season
4× 100+ yard games in his first four games with a new team in 2007
Youngest player in NFL history to record his 100th receiving touchdown (29 years and 235 days)
Youngest player in NFL history to record his 120th receiving touchdown (30 years, 313 days)
Most receiving yards before 30th birthday – 10,700
Most TD receptions before 30th birthday – 101
Youngest player to reach 6,000 career receiving yards (25 years and 270 days; later broken by Mike Evans)
Fastest player to reach 5,000 career receiving yards – 59 games (broke record of 61 games by Jerry Rice)
Youngest player to reach 5,000 career receiving yards - 24 years 292 days
Highest career yards per catch average for any player with 900+ receptions – 15.6 yards per reception
Youngest player to have 3 touchdown receptions in a game (21 years, 286 days; later broken by Rob Gronkowski)
Most offensive touchdowns in first two seasons: 28 (Tied with Rob Gronkowski)
Career highlights
6× Pro Bowl selection
4× All-Pro selection
2007 AFC Champion
2012 NFC Champion
Is second on the Minnesota Vikings all-time receiving touchdown list with 92. Cris Carter holds the record with 110 receiving scores
Caught his 100th touchdown pass in 2006 against San Francisco, the seventh player to do so
Holds the record for most touchdowns in Minnesota Vikings playoff history with 9
10× 1,000+ yard receiving seasons – 2nd all-time
64 career 100-yard games – 2nd all-time; most recent November 15, 2009
156 touchdown receptions – 2nd all-time
73.6 receiving yards per game – 7th all-time
15,292 receiving yards – 4th all-time
954 career receptions – 10th all-time
Has completed 4 of 8 passes for 106 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 1 interception, giving him a 95.8 passer rating
Only player to catch 90+ touchdown passes, return a punt for a touchdown, and throw 2 touchdown passes
Has played on two of the five highest-scoring teams (for a single season) in NFL history: 2007 Patriots (589 points) and the 1998 Vikings (556 points); both were the highest-scoring teams in NFL history thitherto
Had a career-high 12 receptions for 204 yards against the Chicago Bears, at Soldier Field, on November 14, 1999, in a 27–24 overtime win
Holds the Vikings record for most 100-yard receiving games with 41
Has two touchdowns or more in 39 different games (including 3 in the postseason); most recent September 26, 2010
Has two touchdown receptions or more in 37 different games – (2nd all-time)
Has three touchdown receptions or more in 9 different games – (2nd all-time): at Dallas (November 26, 1998), a 46–36 victory; vs. Chicago (December 6, 1998), a 48–22 victory; at Detroit (October 1, 2000), a 31–24 victory; vs. New York Giants (November 19, 2001) a 28–16 victory; vs. San Francisco (September 28, 2003), a 35–7 victory; at Buffalo (November 18, 2007), a 56–10 victory; at Miami (November 23, 2008), a 48–28 victory; vs. Tennessee (October 18, 2009), a 59–0 victory; vs. Jacksonville (December 27, 2009), a 35–7 victory
Caught a career-high four touchdowns at Buffalo (all in the first half) – November 18, 2007
Had an interception while playing defense in the last few seconds of the first half of the Patriots' game against the Denver Broncos on October 11, 2009
Has 4 career two-point conversions
Randy Moss Motorsports
On April 29, 2008, Moss announced the formation of Randy Moss Motorsports, an auto racing team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In July 2008, Moss announced that he had bought a 50 percent share in Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, with the team's No. 46 entry switching to No. 81. The team was reportedly shut down in 2012.
Post-football career
Upon his release from the 49ers, Moss was hired as an analyst for Fox Sports 1's Fox Football Daily show. Moss was hired as an associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Victory Christian Center High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, in June 2014, where his son was attending high school and playing football.
In July 2016, Moss joined ESPN as an analyst, appearing on Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018. In 2019, Moss was named to the National Football League 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Charity
Moss has participated in, founded, and financed many charitable endeavors since joining the NFL, particularly aimed at helping children. Many times when talking about his charity work, he has said he just looks forward to "seeing smiles." He has donated clothing and food to needy families, given away free backpacks to Boston area school-children, and hosted autograph signings. He has also bussed children to amusement parks, NBA games, and even NFL games in which he has played.
On June 29, 2005, he hosted the Randy Moss Celebrity Charity Invitational Bass Tournament. The tournament was a one-day event that paired celebrities and corporate sponsors with pro fishermen to raise money for the Smile Network, which is a foundation that provides financial assistance to children with treatable mouth problems, such as cleft palate. The tournaments motto is "fish for a smile."
In 2008, Moss formed the Links for Learning foundation, which was established to help children in his home state of West Virginia, and to build learning centers for the most needy student populations. In June, he and his former high school teammate Jason Williams hosted the foundations first annual charity golf tournament at the Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Hurricane, West Virginia. In March 2009, Moss's foundation made a donation that enabled the Women and Children's Hospital of Charleston, West Virginia to purchase a Starlight Children's Foundation 'Fun Center' for their patients. The 'Fun Center' is a portable bedside entertainment system equipped with a TV, DVD player, and 22 Nintendo Wii games.
Personal life
Moss's parents are Maxine Moss and Randy Pratt. Moss has little contact with his father. He has a sister named Lutisia and had a brother Eric, who had a short stint in the NFL as an offensive tackle with the Minnesota Vikings. Moss has five children: Lexi Adkins, Sydney, Senali, Thaddeus, and Montigo. Thaddeus is a tight end on the Cincinnati Bengals. Moss is also a Christian, attested by his NFL Hall of Fame Speech.
Traffic incident
On September 24, 2002, in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, Moss was driving and was preparing to make an illegal turn. A traffic control officer, noticing what he was about to do, stood in front of his vehicle and ordered him to stop. Eyewitness accounts of the event differ at this point, but Moss did not comply with the officer's order, and she was bumped by his vehicle and fell to the ground. Moss was arrested, and a search of his vehicle revealed a joint amounting to less than a gram of marijuana in his ashtray. Initially charged with felony Suspicion of Assault with a Deadly Weapon and a misdemeanor marijuana possession, Moss spent the night in jail and was released the following morning. Moss pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor traffic violation and was ordered to pay a $1,200 fine and perform 40 hours of community service. While the criminal charges were thus disposed of, the civil lawsuit filed by the traffic control officer brought a substantial penalty fine "in the low to mid six figures". Moss claimed that the joint was not his, and that he had let friends use his car prior to the accident.
Marijuana use
In April 1996, Moss smoked a joint just prior to turning himself in to jail. He was scheduled to finish the remainder of his 30-day sentence for misdemeanor battery while in high school. During his first week in jail, Moss was given a drug test that came back positive. He was placed in solitary confinement for a week and had 60 days attached to his 27-day sentence. Coach Bobby Bowden revoked his scholarship and Moss was dismissed from Florida State University for the failed drug test.
Moss tested positive in 2001 for marijuana under the NFL's substance abuse program and was subject to additional random drug screening for two years. A first time violation of the NFL's drug policy can result in up to 10 tests per month. Moss did not fail an NFL drug test again, and was rotated out of the program after two years.
In August 2005, during an interview with Bryant Gumbel, Moss admitted that he has smoked marijuana during his NFL career "every blue moon." When asked whether he still used marijuana currently, Moss replied "I might. I might have fun. And, you know, hopefully ... I won't get into any trouble by the NFL by saying that, you know. I have had fun throughout my years and, you know, predominantly in the offseason." The interview drew criticism from the league office, and his agent tried to spin it that his words were taken out of context. In response, Moss said "That was really me talking in the past tense of way back in the beginning of my career and my childhood – especially in high school and college."
Dating violence allegations
On January 15, 2008, Orlando-based radio station WDBO reported that Moss "had" been hit with a temporary injunction for protection against dating violence. According to the affidavit, Moss committed a battery upon Rachelle Washington, causing serious injury, and then refused to allow her to seek medical attention. The affidavit out of Broward County reveals Moss cannot come within 500 feet of the victim and cannot use or possess firearms.
The next day, in a locker room press conference, Moss claimed the woman was simply looking for money "over an accident," because her lawyer came to his lawyer, threatening a lawsuit, and asking for money to settle before she went public to the media. Moss stated he had known Washington for about 11 years. He also stated in his defense that he has never assaulted a woman in his entire life, and asked that the media and fans "find out the facts" before "rush[ing] to judgment." Moreover, Moss's lawyer, in an e-mail to the Boston Globe accused the woman's lawyer of "blatant threats and attempts to extort money" from Moss. On March 3, 2008, Rachelle Washington filed papers with the Broward County Circuit Court clerk's office requesting that the restraining order be dissolved and the case closed. No criminal charges were ever filed in the incident.
See also
List of NCAA major college football yearly receiving leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders
References
External links
1977 births
Living people
10,000 receiving yards club
African-American motorsport people
African-American players of American football
African-American sports journalists
All-American college football players
American Conference Pro Bowl players
American football wide receivers
ESPN people
Florida State Seminoles football players
Marshall Thundering Herd football players
Marshall Thundering Herd men's track and field athletes
Minnesota Vikings players
NASCAR team owners
National Conference Pro Bowl players
National Football League Offensive Rookie of the Year Award winners
New England Patriots players
Oakland Raiders players
People from Kanawha County, West Virginia
Players of American football from West Virginia
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
San Francisco 49ers players
Sportspeople from Charleston, West Virginia
Tennessee Titans players | false | [
"Dolphin Scholarship Foundation (DSF) was established in 1960 to assist children of the U.S. Submarine Force with college scholarships through private fundraising and donations, as well as any dividends from its trust fund. \n\nThe first scholarship of $350 was awarded to John L. Haines, Jr. in June 1961. Funds were raised primarily through the tireless efforts of submarine officers' wives' organizations throughout the United States. As the cost of college education continued to skyrocket, so did the need for the Foundation to assist children of Submariners. Today DSF receives individual, corporate, memorial and Combined Federal Campaign donations, as well as continued strong support from the submarine community and spouse organizations. Donations go directly to support scholarships; income from DSF investments supplement these contributions for scholarships and operating expenses. Dolphin Scholarship Foundation also conducts fundraisers such as the Annual Cartoon Calendar (since 1963), the Annual Golf Tournament in Hampton Roads, Virginia (since 2006) and virtual submarine races. \n \nDolphin Scholarship Foundation currently awards 137 annual scholarships of $3,400 to each Dolphin Scholar. Each recipient may potentially receive a total of $13,600 for up to eight semesters of undergraduate study. The number of new awards granted each year is determined by graduation and attrition of current Dolphin Scholars. Dolphin Scholarship Foundation is proud to have awarded over eight million dollars to over 1000 students attending universities and colleges through the United States.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Official Web Site\n\nScholarships in the United States\nEducational foundations in the United States",
"The Edusave (Chinese: 教育储蓄) programme is part of a scheme implemented for education in Singapore by the Ministry of Education (MOE) for Singapore. Its stated aim is to maximise opportunities for all Singaporean children. The scheme aims to reward students who perform well or who make good progress in their academic and non-academic work, and provides students and schools who qualify with funds to pay for enrichment programmes or to purchase additional resources. It is applicable to Singaporeans between the age of 6 and 16 and studying full-time at government, government-aided or independent schools, junior colleges (JC) and Centralised Institutes (CI), Institute of Technical Education (ITE) or special education schools.\n\nThe Edusave Endowment Fund is built from various contributions from the government of Singapore. The fund is invested into by the government and the interest earned is used to finance the contributions, grants and awards given to schools and students.\n\nThere are 3 main aspects of Edusave: the Edusave Pupils Fund, Edusave Grants and Edusave Scholarships and Awards.\n\nEdusave Pupils Fund\nSingaporeans between the age of 6 and 16 at the point of school admission will automatically be given an Edusave account and receive a yearly contribution from the Government’s Edusave Pupils Fund until they reach 16. However, only the first, second and third child were eligible for the Edusave account prior to 2004. In 2005, the Government will contribute $170 and $200 to the Edusave account of each eligible student at primary and secondary level respectively.\n\nFrom 2014, eligibility to receive Edusave contributions has been extended to all Singaporean children aged 7 to 16, including those not studying in MOE-funded schools, such as those enrolled in the madrasahs, privately funded schools, as well as children who are home-schooled or residing overseas.\n\nIn addition, the Edusave contributions and top-ups have been revised to $200 for primary-level students and $240 for secondary-level students.\n\nFor Singaporeans who are currently not enrolled in any MOE-funded school, the annual Edusave contribution rate will be pegged to that of a typical student in a MOE-funded school. Those aged 7 to 12 will receive the quantum applicable to primary level students, and those aged 13 to 16 will receive the quantum applicable to secondary level students. For those who are required to sit for the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) as part of the conditions for exemption from the Compulsory Education Act, they will receive contributions at the primary-level rate until they fulfill their PSLE requirements. Students above the age of 16 who are still in secondary school will also receive the top-up.\n\nEdusave Grants\nGovernment-supported special education schools and the Institute of Technical Education receive annual Edusave grants to be used to organize common enrichment programmes or purchase additional resources which benefit students.\n\nEdusave Scholarships and Awards\nThere are various reward programmes for students who meet certain academic rankings as well, some of which is targeted at low-income households.\n\nThe Edusave Scholarships (ES) include:\n Edusave Entrance Scholarships for Independent Schools\n Edusave (Independent Schools) Yearly Awards\n Edusave Scholarships for Integrated Programme Schools\n Edusave Scholarships for Primary Schools\n Edusave Scholarships for Secondary Schools\nThe Edusave Awards include:\n Edusave Merit Bursary\n Good Progress Award\n Edusave Awards for Achievement and Good Leadership and Service\n Edusave Character Awards\n Edusave Skills Award\n Achievement Awards for Special Education Students\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nEdusave Scheme (MOE website)\n\nEducation in Singapore\nStudent financial aid"
]
|
[
"John Morrison (wrestler)",
"Independent circuit (2012-present)"
]
| C_78d624427aba445786e994c48bae222a_1 | What was the independent circuit? | 1 | What was the independent wrestling circuit John Morrison participated in? | John Morrison (wrestler) | After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison. On his first post-WWE wrestling appearance, Hennigan rekindled an old feud facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012. Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion. On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match. On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show. Hennigan took part in the WrestleMania weekend, wrestling for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate. On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger in an "International Dream Match" at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) event. On April 19, Hennigan again defeated Sami Callihan in a no count-out, no disqualification falls count anywhere match at a 2CW event in Rome, New York. The next day, he defeated Kevin Steen at 2CW's first iPPV (Living on the Edge VIII), in Watertown, New York. On June 21, 2013, Hennigan defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool in FWE Welcome to the Rumble II, winning the FWE Heavyweight Championship. The next day, Hennigan defended the title against Too Cold Scorpio at House of Hardcore 2. On September 6 and 8, Morrison wrestled against WWL World Heavyweight Champion Black Pain for the title, but he was defeated both times. On October 12, 2013, at FWE Grand Prix, Hennigan defeated Matt Morgan, retaining the FWE Heavyweight Championship. On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles. Morrison faced Rob Van Dam at Pro Wrestling Syndicate in Rahway, New Jersey on October 24, 2015 in a winning effort. After the match, Morrison shook hands with Van Dam and led the crowd in an "RVD" chant. On June 28, 2016, it was announced that Hennigan would make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerilla in the company's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He won his match against Matt Sydal in the first round, but was eliminated by Ricochet in the quarter-finals. On November 16, it was announced that Hennigan, under his Johnny Mundo ring name, would appear for What Culture Pro Wrestling on their Delete WCPW event on November 30. Mundo was scheduled to face Alberto El Patron, but due to Alberto's absence he was replaced by Gabriel Kidd. At the event, Mundo cut a heel promo, insulting Alberto El Patron and the crowd, before defeating Kidd. On January 28, 2017, Morrison won a tournament at a 5 Star Wrestling event for his 5 Star Wrestling Championship, defeating Moose, Drew Galloway, and Rey Mysterio to retain the title. On June 2, Hennigan defeated Rob Van Dam to become the Pacific Coast Wrestling Heavyweight Champion. On September 22, Morrison reunited with former MNM tag team partner Joey Mercury after ten years, defeating Reno Scum. CANNOTANSWER | After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison. | John Randall Hennigan (born October 3, 1979) is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by the ring name John Morrison. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he was a contracted performer from 2002 to 2011, and 2019 to 2021.
Hennigan won Tough Enough III (a WWE reality TV competition show that awarded winners a wrestling contract with the company), and was assigned to its developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), to continue his wrestling training. WWE promoted Hennigan to its SmackDown! roster in April 2005 under the ring name Johnny Nitro; in his debut match on the show, he won the WWE Tag Team Championship (as a part of the tag team, MNM). In between runs in WWE, Hennigan held lead or main event roles in several independent wrestling promotions, including the lucha libre wrestling company/TV series Lucha Underground, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (aka "AAA"; as Johnny Mundo), and Impact Wrestling (as Johnny Impact).
Hennigan is a four-time world champion, having won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship (WWE revival version), AAA Mega Championship, Impact Wrestling World Championship, and the Lucha Underground Championship once each. In WWE, he also held the Intercontinental Championship three times, and was a six-time tag team champion (one World Tag Team Championship, four WWE Tag Team Championships, and one SmackDown Tag Team Championship). In lucha libre, Hennigan was a central fixture in all four seasons of Lucha Underground, and was AAA's first-ever triple champion (holding the AAA Mega Championship, AAA Latin American Championship, and AAA World Cruiserweight Championship simultaneously. He has headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WWE and Impact, including the latter company's flagship event, Bound for Glory, in 2017 and 2018.
Outside of wrestling, Hennigan has also worked in the film and television industry. In film, he has mainly worked as an actor, producer and stuntman. He is also known for being a contestant on the 37th season of the competitive reality show Survivor.
Early life
John Randall Hennigan was born on October 3, 1979, in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Palos Verdes Peninsula, where he attended Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. He graduated from the University of California, Davis in 2002, where he studied film and geology.
Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE (2002–2011)
Tough Enough and Ohio Valley Wrestling (2002–2004)
After graduating college with a degree in film and geology and deciding that he did not want to pursue either path, Hennigan began his professional wrestling career training at the Supreme Pro Wrestling school in Sacramento, California. After failing his audition for Tough Enough 2, a competition in which the winner earned a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) contract, he was accepted as a cast member for Tough Enough III in 2002, eventually becoming the co-winner with Matt Cappotelli. For winning, Hennigan was awarded a developmental contract and assigned to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), to continue his training. Hennigan competed in Acolytes Protection Agency's invitational Bar Room Brawl match at Vengeance in July 2003. Hennigan and Cappotelli made an appearance on an episode of Heat in January 2004, losing to Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak.
MNM (2004–2006)
On the March 1, 2004 episode of Raw, Hennigan debuted on the main roster as a heel, under the ring name "Johnny Blaze". His gimmick was that he was the apprentice and assistant of the Raw General Manager, Eric Bischoff. The next week his name was changed to "Johnny Spade", and three weeks after that it was changed to "Johnny Nitro". The Nitro name, which finally stuck, was a reference to WCW Monday Nitro, the flagship show of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for which Bischoff had previously worked. To drive the point home, he began using the Nitro theme as his ring entrance music. Nitro acted as Bischoff's apprentice and assistant until June, when he was sent back to OVW. To explain his departure, Nitro lost a match on the June 7 episode of Raw against Eugene, which carried the stipulation that upon his loss, he also lost his job.
Upon his return to OVW, Nitro was put into a feud with Matt Cappotelli. During the course of the feud, Melina was brought into the company as Nitro's ex-girlfriend and an ally of Cappotelli, only to turn on him and side with Nitro. Not long after, Nitro and Melina were joined by Joey Mercury, forming the stable MNM. MNM wrestled in OVW for around a year, holding the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship once, before losing the titles to Cappotelli and Johnny Jeter in January 2005. They were soon called up to the main SmackDown! brand in April that same year.
In their debut match on the main roster, MNM won the WWE Tag Team Championship from Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio on the April 21 episode of SmackDown!. MNM held the titles for three months, having successful titles defenses against the teams of Guerrero and Mysterio, and Charlie Haas and Hardcore Holly, before dropping them to the Legion of Doom at The Great American Bash. They won the titles again on the October 28 episode of SmackDown! in a four-way match defeating Legion of Doom, The Mexicools, and William Regal and Paul Burchill, but lost them to Rey Mysterio and Batista on the December 16 episode of SmackDown! two days before Armageddon. Due to help from Mark Henry, MNM defeated Mysterio and Batista in a rematch on the December 30 episode of SmackDown! to win the championship for the third time. They began a rivalry with the team of Paul London and Brian Kendrick that lasted over three months, until they dropped the championship to London and Kendrick at Judgment Day in May 2006, with the storyline leading to Nitro and Melina suddenly turning on Mercury after the match, breaking up the group. Later that night, Melina and Nitro were booked off the SmackDown! brand by having the General Manager, Theodore Long "fire" them.
Singles competition and championship success (2006–2007)
The next week, Nitro, along with Melina, debuted on the Raw brand in a loss to WWE Champion John Cena. Nitro was immediately placed in the Intercontinental Championship picture, beginning his first reign at Vengeance in June after defeating champion Shelton Benjamin in a triple threat match also involving Carlito. Nitro held the championship for four months, feuding with several challengers before losing it to Jeff Hardy on the October 2 episode of Raw. Nitro recaptured the Intercontinental Championship from Hardy on the November 6 episode of Raw, but lost it back to Hardy on the following week's Raw. Also around this time, Nitro entered into a partnership with rapper Kevin Federline, with the duo antagonizing and beginning a rivalry with WWE Champion John Cena. Federline was then, in storyline, trained by Nitro for a match with Cena, which he won after interference from Umaga.
MNM reunited on the November 27 episode of Raw to accept an open challenge from The Hardys (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) at December to Dismember, a match that they lost. MNM and The Hardys feuded across the brands throughout December, with the two teams competing in a four-way ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Armageddon, also involving Brian Kendrick and Paul London and Dave Taylor and William Regal. However, MNM would be unsuccessful in winning the championship. Nitro challenged Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Championship in a steel cage match at New Year's Revolution on January 7, 2007, but did not win. MNM lost to The Hardys at the Royal Rumble later that month and again at No Way Out in February which ended the feud. MNM disbanded as a team when Mercury was released from WWE in March 2007.
After Mercury's departure, Nitro also ended his association with Melina. Nitro was placed in a tag team with Kenny Dykstra, until the 2007 WWE draft, during which Nitro was drafted to the ECW brand. Nitro made his debut for the brand on the June 19 episode of ECW, with a win over Nunzio, and few days later, on June 24, at Vengeance: Night of Champions, he won the vacant ECW World Championship by defeating CM Punk, replacing the absent Chris Benoit due to his double-murder suicide. A few weeks after winning the title, Nitro was repackaged as John Morrison, a reference to musician Jim Morrison, to whom Hennigan bears a strong physical resemblance. In the months to come, Morrison would retain the championship against Punk at The Great American Bash in July, and SummerSlam in August. Punk would again challenge for the championship on the September 4 episode of ECW, in which Morrison lost the championship to Punk, ending his reign at 69 days. Morrison was then suspended for thirty days for violating WWE's Wellness Program, renewing his feud with Punk upon his return, as well as competing against The Miz for the number one contendership to the title.
Teaming with The Miz (2007–2009)
Though rivals, Morrison and The Miz faced the dysfunctional tag team of Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter on the November 16 episode of SmackDown! for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a winning effort, marking Morrison's fourth WWE Tag Team Championship reign. At Survivor Series, Morrison and The Miz were both defeated by CM Punk in a triple threat match for the ECW Championship. After the defeat, the rivalry aspect of Morrison and Miz's relationship faded, as they were now portrayed as trusting friends. Morrison competed in the 2008 Royal Rumble match on January 27, but failed to win after being eliminated by Kane. In February 2008, Morrison and Miz were given a streaming segment on WWE.com named The Dirt Sheet in which they mocked other wrestlers and facets of pop culture. Morrison and Miz co-wrote each episode of The Dirt Sheet each week, and Morrison credits his time in college studying film with contributing to the success of the show. At WrestleMania XXIV, Morrison competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by CM Punk. Despite being unsuccessful, Morrison had a standout performance in the match, in which he performed a moonsault from the top rope to the outside of the ring while holding onto a ladder.
The team of Morrison and Miz had many successful title defenses over the next few months, before dropping the titles to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder at The Great American Bash in a fatal four-way match which also featured Jesse and Festus, and Finlay and Hornswoggle. Neither Morrison nor Miz were pinned, as Hawkins pinned Jesse to win the titles.
Afterwards, they started a feud with Cryme Tyme (JTG and Shad) through each team's Internet show, which then transitioned to matches on Raw and at Cyber Sunday. After winning the Slammy Award for Best WWE.com exclusive earlier in the day, Morrison and Miz won the "Tag Team of the Year" Slammy Award on December 8, 2008 episode of Raw. On December 13, Morrison and Miz won the World Tag Team Championship from CM Punk and Kofi Kingston at a live event. Morrison and Miz engaged themselves in a feud with The Colóns (Carlito and Primo), who were the reigning WWE Tag Team Champions, which resulted in both teams defending their respective championships successfully in separate matches. Their feud culminated in a tag team lumberjack match where both titles were on the line at the WrestleMania 25, but it was The Colóns who would unify the championships with a win. On April 13, as part of the 2009 WWE draft, The Miz was drafted to the Raw brand to split up the team, and as a result, Miz attacked Morrison.
Intercontinental Champion (2009–2010)
On April 15, Morrison was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, he defeated R-Truth. On the May 1 episode of SmackDown, Morrison engaged in a backstage fight with Chris Jericho after Jericho slapped him, turning face in the process for the first time in his career. Later that same night, Morrison defeated Shelton Benjamin, beginning a feud between the two. On the May 7 episode of Superstars, Morrison lost a match to Jericho after a distraction by Benjamin. Morrison continued to score victories over Benjamin in singles and tag team matches before defeating him at Judgment Day. During this time, Morrison would soon become wildly popular with fans. On the June 19 episode of SmackDown, Morrison lost a critically acclaimed match against Edge, in which the commentators described it as a "third main event". On the July 31 episode of SmackDown, Morrison had his first World Heavyweight Championship match against Jeff Hardy, but failed to win the title.
On the September 4 episode of SmackDown, Morrison defeated Rey Mysterio to win his third Intercontinental Championship. Morrison then began a feud with Dolph Ziggler, after losing a non-title match to him by countout, but he would successfully defend the title against Ziggler at Hell in a Cell, and again on the following episode of SmackDown. The feud between Morrison and Ziggler continued throughout the next month, with the two wrestling to a double countout for the Intercontinental Championship on the November 13 episode of SmackDown and Morrison retaining the championship in a two-out-of-three falls match the following week to end the feud. At Bragging Rights, Morrison was defeated by his former tag team partner then-United States Champion The Miz in an interbrand Champion vs. Champion match. Their rivalry continued after both were announced as opposing team captains for Survivor Series, where Miz's team defeated Morrison's team. Morrison then went on to feud with newcomer Drew McIntyre, who defeated Morrison in a non-title match on the December 4 episode of SmackDown, thus earning a championship opportunity against Morrison. At the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, Morrison lost the Intercontinental Championship to McIntyre, ending his reign at 103 days. He received his rematch on the January 1 episode of SmackDown, but was disqualified when McIntyre shoved him into the referee. He challenged McIntyre for the Intercontinental Championship again on the January 29 episode of SmackDown in a No Disqualification match, but lost, ending their feud. Morrison later won an Elimination Chamber qualifying match and participated in the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship, but was eliminated by The Undertaker. On the March 5 episode of SmackDown, Morrison teamed with R-Truth to defeat Cryme Tyme and The Hart Dynasty to earn a Unified WWE Tag Team Championship match against ShoMiz (Big Show and The Miz). At WrestleMania XXVI, they failed to win the championship.
Championship pursuits and departure (2010–2011)
On April 26, Morrison was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2010 WWE draft, and lost his first match back for the brand later that night to Jack Swagger. Later that week, in his final match on SmackDown, he lost to Cody Rhodes. On June 1, Morrison announced that he would be mentoring Eli Cottonwood in the second season of NXT. Cottonwood, however, was the second person eliminated from the competition, and was eliminated on the July 27 episode of NXT. Morrison then went on to participate in the main event of SummerSlam in which he and six teammates (John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho, Bret Hart, R-Truth, and Daniel Bryan) were victorious in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match against The Nexus. In October 2010, Morrison began a feud with Sheamus after he helped Santino Marella earn an upset win during a one-sided match against Sheamus. Within the following weeks, Morrison continued to save Marella from attacks by Sheamus. At Survivor Series, Morrison defeated Sheamus. Morrison entered the 2010 edition of the King of the Ring tournament, defeating Tyson Kidd, Cody Rhodes, and Alberto Del Rio. Morrison lost to Sheamus in the final round. He continued to feud with Sheamus and defeated him in a WWE Championship number one contender's ladder match at the Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view on December 19. Morrison received his WWE Championship match on the January 3, 2011 episode of Raw, but lost to reigning champion The Miz in a falls count anywhere match. On January 30, Morrison participated in the Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble event and despite not winning, he had a stand-out moment which was praised by critics as "arguably the spot of the decade" when Morrison was knocked off of the ring apron and performed a cat leap onto the barricade to avoid having his feet touch the floor and then went on to precision jump onto the ring steps and re-enter the ring. On February 20, Morrison participated in the Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event, but was eliminated by CM Punk. During the match, Morrison climbed to the top of the cage while inside the cage before dropping to deliver a crossbody on and eliminate Sheamus. At WrestleMania XXVII, Morrison teamed with Trish Stratus and Jersey Shore guest star Snooki in a mixed tag match to defeat the team of Dolph Ziggler and LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool).
On the April 11 episode of Raw, Morrison participated in a five-man gauntlet match for the number one contender's spot for the WWE Championship, but was eliminated by R-Truth. The next week on Raw, Morrison challenged R-Truth to a match later on in the night, with the stipulation that if Morrison won, he would take Truth's place in the steel cage match at Extreme Rules. Truth accepted, and lost the match, making Morrison the new number one contender. After the match, Truth viciously attacked Morrison. At Extreme Rules, R-Truth interfered in the WWE Championship steel cage match, attacking Morrison and preventing him from winning the match. The next night on Raw, Morrison was attacked by Truth again, prior to a scheduled match between the two which did not happen as a result. Morrison then underwent surgery to correct a legitimately pinched nerve in his neck. Morrison initially returned on the June 13 episode of Raw, but Truth attacked him again prior to their scheduled match, re-injuring him. Morrison returned again on the July 25 episode of Raw, attacking R-Truth. At SummerSlam, Morrison teamed up with Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio to defeat R-Truth, Alberto Del Rio and The Miz. The following night on Raw, Morrison defeated R-Truth in a falls count anywhere match to end their feud. At Night of Champions, Morrison competed in a Fatal 4-Way match for the United States Championship, also involving Alex Riley, Dolph Ziggler, and Jack Swagger, with Ziggler successfully retaining his title. Morrison then challenged Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, but failed to win the title. Following this, Morrison went on a losing streak, lasting a number of weeks. On the November 7 episode of Raw, Morrison picked up his first victory in three months, defeating United States Champion Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match. Morrison then challenged Ziggler for the championship at Survivor Series, but was defeated by Ziggler.
In his last advertised WWE appearance on the November 28 episode of Raw, Morrison faced The Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere match; Miz won the match by delivering the Skull-Crushing Finale on the steel entrance stage, giving Morrison a kayfabe injury. This was used to write Morrison off television, even being stretchered out of the arena after the match. On November 29, WWE acknowledged the end of Morrison's contract, and moved his profile to the alumni section of its website. In a video published on December 9, 2011, via Hennigan's personal YouTube channel, Hennigan claimed that he was taking time off to heal and retrain for a possible return to wrestling in the future. In 2015, Hennigan revealed on Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast that WWE wanted him to sign another multi-year contract, but due to a neck injury, residual pain, and creative frustrations, he decided to not renew his contract, wanting "more control over [his] time".
Independent circuit (2012–2019)
After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison. On his first post-WWE wrestling appearance, Hennigan rekindled an old feud, facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012. Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion. On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match. On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show. Hennigan took part in the WrestleMania weekend, wrestling for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate. On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger in an "International Dream Match" at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) event.
On June 21, 2013, Hennigan defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool in FWE Welcome to the Rumble II, winning the FWE Heavyweight Championship. The next day, Hennigan defended the title against Too Cold Scorpio at House of Hardcore 2. On October 12, 2013, at FWE Grand Prix, Hennigan defeated Matt Morgan, retaining the FWE Heavyweight Championship. On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles.
On June 28, 2016, it was announced that Hennigan would make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerilla in the company's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He won his match against Matt Sydal in the first round, but was eliminated by Ricochet in the quarter-finals.
On January 28, 2017, Morrison won a tournament at a 5 Star Wrestling event for the 5 Star Wrestling Championship, defeating Moose, Drew Galloway, and Rey Mysterio to win the title. On February 8, 2018, he lost the title against Jake Hager after over a year as champion.
On September 22, Morrison reunited with former MNM tag team partner Joey Mercury after ten years, defeating Reno Scum.
Lucha Underground (2014–2018)
In September 2014, it was reported that Hennigan had signed with the El Rey network's new television series, Lucha Underground, where he wrestled under the ring name Johnny Mundo. Mundo wrestled in the main event of the debut episode of Lucha Underground on October 29, 2014, defeating Prince Puma and winning one hundred thousand dollars, which was then taken away from him by promoter Dario Cueto, setting up several feuds. He then teamed with Prince Puma during the November 5, 2014 episode, defeating Cortez Castro and Mr. Cisco. On the November 19 episode, Mundo defeated Big Ryck by disqualification after interference by Castro and Cisco. Mundo then defeated Prince Puma and Big Ryck in the main event of the December 10, 2014 episode, which was a three-way ladder match, to finally win the hundred thousand dollars he was denied in the Lucha Underground debut.
On January 7, 2015, Mundo participated in a 20-man "Aztec Warfare" battle royal for the Lucha Underground Championship. He was the second luchador to enter the ring, but was the last man eliminated by Prince Puma who won the Championship. King Cuerno attacked Mundo on the February 4 episode, beginning a feud between them; the second installment took place on the episode which aired March 11, where Mundo and Cuerno wrestled in a Steel Cage match, which was won by Mundo. On May 13, Mundo turned into a villain when he attacked Alberto El Patrón in his match against Hernandez, throwing him through the window of Dario Cueto's office. Mundo subsequently tossed El Patrón back into the ring, giving Hernandez the win. On the June 17, episode of Lucha Underground, Johnny Mundo unsuccessfully challenged Prince Puma for the Lucha Underground Championship in an Iron Man match. On August 5, 2015, at Ultima Lucha, Mundo defeated Alberto El Patrón after an interference by his girlfriend Melina Perez.
On the February 3, 2016 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo faced Killshot in a winning effort. After the match, Mundo taunted Lucha Underground Champion Mil Muertes, only to be confronted by Cage. Mundo defeated Cage on February 24, after interference from the debuting Taya, subsequently becoming Mundo's valet. On the May 25 episode of Lucha Underground, Taya revealed to PJ Black and Jack Evans that their partner Fénix was injured by Mundo. As Mundo revealed himself as Fénix's replacement for their match, Black and Evans allied with the two. Later that night in the main event, Mundo, Black and Evans defeated Rey Mysterio Jr., Prince Puma and Dragon Azteca Jr. to win the Lucha Underground Trios Championship, the first championship for each in Lucha Underground. The week after, Mundo, Black and Evans, now collectively billed as Worldwide Underground, retained their championships in a rematch via disqualification. Worldwide Underground lost their titles to Aero Star, Drago and Fénix at the third and final part Ultima Lucha Dos, which aired on July 20.
On the October 26 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo defeated Sexy Star to win the Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship after he knocked out Sexy Star with brass knuckles while the referee was unaware. On the November 23 episode of Lucha Underground, he cashed in his Gift of the Gods Championship on Sexy Star before defeating her to win the Lucha Underground Championship, becoming the second Triple Crown Champion in Lucha Underground history. On the December 21 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo successfully defended his championship in a rematch against Sexy Star inside a steel cage. He lost the title to Prince Puma at Ultima Lucha Tres.
Mundo made his return on the fourth season's premiere, competing in Aztec Warfare entering at number 11. Mundo eliminated Ricky Mundo and Daga before getting eliminated by Marty Martinez and being attacked by the Reptile Tribe. On November 17, 2018, Mundo wrestled on the final episode of Lucha Underground, Ultima Lucha Cuatro, defeating Matanza Cueto in a Sacrifice to the Gods match.
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2015–2018)
On May 24, 2015, Mundo made his debut for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) at the Lucha Libre World Cup event representing Lucha Underground as a member of "Team TNA/Lucha Underground" alongside TNA wrestlers Matt Hardy and Mr. Anderson. They finished in second place, losing in the finals to the "Dream Team" (El Patrón Alberto, Myzteziz and Rey Mysterio Jr.).
On June 4, 2015 in the main event of Verano de Escándalo, Mundo established himself as a rudo (or villain) and teamed with El Mesias and Pentagón Jr. losing to Myzteziz, La Parka and Rey Mysterio Jr. On September 27, Konnan announced Mundo as an official member of the rudo stable, La Sociedad, while he subsequently stepped down as the leader of the group. On October 4, at Héroes Inmortales IX, Mundo unsuccessfully challenged El Patrón Alberto for the AAA Mega Championship, when he was defeated by disqualification. After Alberto left AAA, Mundo was scheduled to face Rey Mysterio Jr. for the vacant AAA Mega Championship at Guerra de Titanes, but after the matches of the event were officially announced, neither Mundo nor Mysterio were featured for the event. Mundo participated in the 2016 Lucha Libre World Cup as a member of "Team Lucha Underground" alongside Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Brian Cage, defeating "Team Mexico Leyendas" (Blue Demon Jr., Canek, and La Parka) in the quarter-finals, and "Team Mexico International" (Rey Mysterio Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr., and Dragon Azteca Jr.) in the semi-finals. Mundo's team won the tournament defeating "Team AAA" (Pentagón Jr., El Texano Jr. and Psycho Clown) in the finals.
After adopting an "anti-Mexico" attitude and teaming with El Mesías and Hernandez to defeat El Texano Jr., El Hijo del Fantasma and Pentagón Jr., Mundo challenged the latter to a match at Triplemanía XXIV for the AAA Latin American Championship, to which Pentagón accepted. At the event, on August 28, Mundo defeated Pentagón to win the Latin American Championship, marking his first championship in AAA and becoming the first non-Mexican to hold the title. On October 2 in the main event of Héroes Inmortales X, Mundo successfully defended his title against Garza Jr. On March 19, 2017, at Rey de Reyes, Mundo defeated El Texano Jr. and El Hijo del Fantasma in a three-way match to not only retain the Latin American Championship, but to also win Texano's AAA Mega Championship and Fantasma's AAA World Cruiserweight Championship. In his first AAA Mega Championship defense, on June 30, Mundo successfully retained his title against Texano.
In July 2017, Mundo and his fiancée Kira Forster, known as Taya, were involved in controversy with AAA and its Director of Talent Vampiro, which led to Taya's departure from the company. According to Wrestling Observer, AAA asked Mundo to turn in Taya's Reina de Reinas Championship for a photo shoot the day prior to an event on July 1. A few weeks later, Vampiro addressed to the live crowd that Forster was stripped of the title due to not appearing to defend her title, despite not being scheduled to appear.
On August 26, at Triplemanía XXV, Mundo successfully defended his three championships against Fantasma and Texano in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. On October 1 at Héroes Inmortales XI, Mundo wrestled in three matches, retaining the Mega Championship against Rey Wagner, but losing the Latin American Championship to Fantasma in the annual Copa Antonio Peña battle royal, and the World Cruiserweight Championship to Lanzelot in a ten-way match, ending his triple championship reign at 196 days.
On January 26, 2018 at Guerra de Titanes, Mundo lost the AAA Mega Championship to Rey Wagner, ending his reign at 314 days.
Impact Wrestling (2017–2019)
Championship pursuits (2017–2018)
In August 2017, despite not being signed to the promotion at the time, Hennigan appeared for Impact Wrestling at some live events. On August 17, a video package was shown at Destination X revealing his ring name as Johnny Impact. His first feud in the promotion was with Eli Drake, when Impact made his televised in-ring debut on the August 24 episode of Impact!, participating in a Gauntlet for the Gold match for the vacant Global Championship, but was eliminated by eventual winner Eli Drake. Impact would face Drake for the title at Victory Road and Bound for Glory, where he failed to win the title. Since the Bound for Glory match ended after Alberto El Patrón made an interference, Impact, Alberto and Drake had a three-way Last Chance Six Sides of Steel match on the January 25, 2018 episode of Impact!, where Drake retained the title.
After Drake lost the renamed Impact World Championship to Austin Aries, Impact began pursuit of Aries's championship, facing him at Crossroads special, where he lost again. On the April 19 episode of Impact!, Johnny Impact was attacked and injured by Kongo Kong, which was performed to write him off television in order to film for reality television show Survivor. Impact returned at Slammiversary XVI, when he won a four-way match against Fenix, Taiji Ishimori, and Petey Williams.
Impact World Champion (2018–2019)
Impact began a feud with the Impact World Champion Austin Aries, which led to a match at Bound for Glory. As the PPV moved closer, the feud started to blur the lines between a work (something scripted) and shoot (something real), beginning with the two wrestlers trading insults on Twitter that they appeared to take personal, with Aries later deleting many of his tweets. Specifically, Impact mocked Aries' short stature and the champion responded by making fun of his wife's weight. Aries and Impact both alleged in the media that they authentically took issue with comments. TMZ Live also pushed the angle "like [it] was a shoot". The two wrestlers got in a brawl the night before Bound for Glory during Abyss's Impact Hall of Fame induction. At the event, Impact defeated Aries to win the Impact World Championship. Throughout the following weeks, Impact successfully defended his title against Fénix, Killer Kross, and Matt Sydal. At Homecoming on January 6, 2019, Impact defeated Brian Cage to retain his championship.
During the February tapings for Impact Wrestling, Impact defended his title in a four-way contest involving Killer Kross, Moose and Brian Cage. Impact hit his finisher on Moose, barely seconds prior to Cage hitting his Drill Claw finisher on Killer Kross. As Impact was able to cover his opponent first the referee was able to provide the count and therefore Impact won the match as Brian Cage went to cover his opponent. On the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Impact's wife Taya Valkyrie would low blow Cage, which allowed Impact to attack Cage, turning into a villain. At United We Stand, Impact won a five-way Ultimate X match to become the number one contender for the Impact X Division Championship. Throughout April, Impact successfully defended his title from Cage, often with interferences from Valkyrie and former referee John E Bravo. At Rebellion, Impact, accompanied by Valkyrie and Bravo, lost the title to Cage in a match where Lance Storm was special guest referee; this left Impact's reign to end at 196 days, leaving it the longest reign since Bobby Roode's 2011–2012 reign, and therefore the longest reign in seven years, as well as the third-longest reign in history.
On the May 31 episode of Impact Wrestling, Impact challenged X Division Champion Rich Swann to a title match at Slammiversary XVII. Later that night, he teamed with Michael Elgin to face Swann and Willie Mack in a tag team match, in which Swann pinned Impact. At Slammiversary XVII, Impact was defeated by Swann. On July 8, Pro Wrestling Insider reported that Hennigan's contract with Impact Wrestling had expired several weeks prior to the event, and the two sides agreed to have Hennigan work until Slammiversary.
Return to WWE (2019–2021)
On September 26, 2019, it was reported by Mike Johnson of Pro Wrestling Insider that Hennigan had re-signed with WWE, which was officially confirmed by the company on December 3 during WWE Backstage. He made his return on January 3, 2020 episode of SmackDown under his John Morrison ring name and resumed his partnership with The Miz, thus re-establishing him as a heel for the first time in WWE in 10 years. They would feud with the SmackDown Tag Team Champions, The New Day, with Morrison winning singles matches against Big E and Kofi Kingston. At the Royal Rumble, Morrison participated in the Royal Rumble match as the fifth entrant, but he was eliminated by Brock Lesnar. At Super ShowDown, Miz and Morrison won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship from The New Day.
On March 8, Morrison and Miz had their first title defense in a tag team Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber event, successfully defending their titles against The New Day, The Usos, Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado), and Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. At WrestleMania 36, after the Miz's absence due to illness, Morrison defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championships by himself in a ladder match against Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso, in which he was successful. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, the duo lost the titles back to The New Day after Miz unsuccessfully defended the titles by himself in a triple threat match against Big E and Jey Uso ending their reign at 50 days. At Money in the Bank the following month, Morrison and Miz unsuccessfully attempted to regain the championship in a fatal four-way tag team match also involving Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) and The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake). Morrison and Miz then started a rivalry with Universal Champion Braun Strowman. At Backlash, the duo competed for Strowman's title in a two-on-one handicap match, but lost. As part of the 2020 Draft in October, both Morrison and Miz were drafted to the Raw brand. Prior to the draft, Morrison and Miz entered a feud with Otis for his Money in the Bank contract. At Hell in a Cell, Morrison accompanied Miz in his match against Otis for the contract, which Miz won.
On the December 7 episode of Raw, Morrison ended a nearly seven-month losing streak after defeating Drew McIntyre and Sheamus in a 3-on-2 handicap match alongside The Miz and AJ Styles. Morrison entered the 2021 Royal Rumble match on January 31, lasting over eight minutes before being eliminated by Damian Priest. At the Elimination Chamber event on February 21, 2021, Morrison defeated Ricochet, Elias, and Mustafa Ali in a fatal four-way match for an opportunity at the United States Championship. Later that night, he failed to win the title in a triple threat match against Riddle and reigning champion Bobby Lashley, as Riddle won the match. After this, Morrison and Miz feuded with rapper Bad Bunny and Damian Priest. At WrestleMania 37 on April 10, Morrison and Miz faced Bad Bunny and Priest in a tag team match, but lost.
After Miz suffered an injury at WrestleMania Backlash, Morrison would embark on singles run, starting by defeating Jeff Hardy on the June 14 episode of Raw. The following week, Morrison defeated Randy Orton to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at the namesake pay-per-view event, which was won by Big E. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Miz turned on Morrison by attacking him, thus turning Morrison face and setting up a feud between the pair. However, the feud abruptly ended after the Miz took a hiatus to compete on Dancing with the Stars. On November 18, as part of an eighth round of layoffs due to budget cuts stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Morrison was released from his WWE contract.
Return to AAA (2022)
On February 19, 2022, Hennigan, as "John Superstar", unsuccessfully challenged El Hijo del Vikingo at Rey de Reyes for the AAA Mega Championship.
Return to the independent circuit (2022–present)
On April 1, 2022, Hennigan, as "Johnny Caballero", will make his debut for Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) at the Wrld on Lucha event. It was also announced that Hennigan would wrestle at GCW's Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 8.
Professional wrestling style and persona
Hennigan was described by WWE as having "lightning-fast offense", "high-risk aerial expertise", and "incredible agility". He is known to utilize a split-legged corkscrew moonsault, dubbed Starship Pain, as a finishing maneuver. During his singles run as Johnny Nitro, he used a standing shooting star press as his finisher. After transitioning to his John Morrison character, Hennigan began using a corkscrew neckbreaker dubbed Moonlight Drive, in reference to the song of the same name written by Jim Morrison. He also prominently used a superkick as a finisher in 2008 during a feud with D-Generation X, as a way to mock Shawn Michaels's Sweet Chin Music maneuver. Hennigan is a practitioner of parkour and often incorporates it into his wrestling style, giving him the nickname "The Prince of Parkour". He also has a background in amateur wrestling, breakdancing, gymnastics, and martial arts. Regarding his unique wrestling style, Hennigan stated in a 2021 interview with Sports Illustrated:
Alongside his team MNM, Hennigan debuted on WWE television as Johnny Nitro, presenting himself as an arrogant wrestler with "elite Hollywood status". After winning the ECW World Championship in 2007, he changed his ring name to John Morrison and his gimmick was tweaked to be even more conceited and self-aggrandizing — in addition to being modeled after Jim Morrison, the legendary frontman of the 1960s rock band The Doors, to whom he bears a strong physical resemblance. Following his return to WWE and reunion with his tag team partner the Miz in 2020, Hennigan added a comedic aspect to his villainous character, with WWE describing him as using "quirkiness and quick wit to shine every time he is on screen". He also began to refer to himself as "Johnny Drip Drip", a reference to the song "Drip" by rapper Cardi B.
Outside of WWE, Hennigan began referring to himself as the "Mayor of Slamtown", a fictional town he first coined in Lucha Underground in 2015. Hennigan filed to trademark the term "Slamtown" in November 2020.
Other media
In 2009, Hennigan and Maryse Ouellet were interviewed on Eurosport. In 2009, Hennigan appeared on two episodes of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, which were both aired on September 29. Hennigan is the subject of a WWE DVD, called John Morrison – Rock Star, which was released on February 16, 2010. The DVD covers his career from his name change to John Morrison up until his Intercontinental Championship win in September 2009. He appeared on an episode of Destroy Build Destroy on March 3, 2010. Hennigan was on the cover of Muscle & Fitness in June 2010, with the issue also featuring an interview and photo shoot. In 2016, Hennigan, Rey Mysterio, and King Cuerno appeared on ESPN to promote the second season of Lucha Underground.
Hennigan is also a frequent collaborator with comic book-based film producers Bat in the Sun Productions, appearing in two episodes of their well-known Super Power Beat Down series; playing as Casey Jones against Kick-Ass in episode 13, and as Winter Soldier against Nightwing in episode 19. Hennigan portrayed Eternal Warrior in the web series Ninjak vs. the Valiant Universe, produced by Valiant Entertainment and directed by Bat in the Sun.
Filmmaking
After leaving WWE in 2011, Hennigan pursued a career in the film industry as an actor and filmmaker. In 2013, he appeared in 20 Feet Below: The Darkness Descending with Danny Trejo, as well as served as co-producer of the film. In 2017, Hennigan released his first feature film titled Boone: The Bounty Hunter, which he starred in, co-wrote, and served as executive producer of. Hennigan sold his house in order to finance the film. In 2018, Hennigan began working on his directorial debut, a short film titled The Iron Sheik Massacre which he also produced and co-wrote with his wife Kira Forster. It was expected to be released in 2020, but has yet to have an official release date.
Survivor: David vs. Goliath
Hennigan was a contestant on the 37th season of Survivor, Survivor: David vs. Goliath where he was originally part of the Goliath tribe and later Tiva before making it to the merged tribe Kalokalo. He finished 12th and became the second member of the jury after the former members of the Goliath tribe were blindsided at tribal council; two contestants used hidden immunity idols, causing Hennigan to be eliminated despite only having three elimination votes, as Christian Hubicki, who received seven, was immune.
Hennigan's performance as a contestant and the episode of his elimination received critical acclaim. Chris Chase of USA Today praised Hennigan for being "true to everything we’ve seen from him this season, [and] a class act after his shock defeat". Writing for People, former Survivor contestant Stephen Fishbach highlighted that "in a tribal council that was meant to take out the Davidest David [Christian Hubicki], it was really the Goliath of the Goliaths [Hennigan] who fell. How perfectly Biblical." The show’s executive producer and host Jeff Probst was "so impressed" with Hennigan, describing him as "the guy who catches the winning touchdown pass in the final moments of the Super Bowl, and then, instead of some crazy celebration, he casually tosses the ball to the ref, kisses his wife and hugs his kids", alongside stating that he would "absolutely" have Hennigan back on the show.
Filmography
Personal life
Hennigan is good friends with fellow professional wrestlers The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, Jeff Hardy, and Randy Orton. He was also good friends with Shad Gaspard, and still is with JTG, of Cryme Tyme, and was a part of the search team after Gaspard's disappearance and death.
Hennigan was involved in an on-off relationship with former WWE Diva and on-screen manager Melina Perez from 2003 to 2015. The pair met during the auditions for Tough Enough III, in which Perez was cut and Hennigan eventually won. Since 2016, Hennigan has been in a relationship with Kira Forster, better known as Taya Valkyrie. The pair met through the affiliation between AAA and Lucha Underground, with Forster becoming Hennigan's on-screen partner in the latter promotion prior to their real-life relationship. They became engaged on June 14, 2017, and were married on June 1, 2018.
Championships and accomplishments
5 Star Wrestling
5 Star Wrestling Championship (1 time)
One Night Tournament (2017)
ACW Wisconsin
ACW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
The Baltimore Sun
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
Blackcraft Wrestling
BCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Continental Wrestling Federation
CWF United States Championship (1 time)
DDT Pro-Wrestling
Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (1 time)
European Pro Wrestling
EPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Family Wrestling Entertainment
FWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Impact Wrestling
Impact World Championship (1 time)
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
AAA Mega Championship (1 time)
AAA Latin American Championship (1 time)
AAA World Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
Lucha Libre World Cup (2016 Men's Division) – with Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Brian Cage
Lucha Underground
Lucha Underground Championship (1 time)
Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship (1 time)
Lucha Underground Trios Championship (1 time) – with Jack Evans and PJ Black
Second Triple Crown Champion
Mondo Lucha
Mondo Lucha Championship (1 time)
Mondo Lucha Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Matt Cross
Next Generation Wrestling
NGW World Championship (1 time)
NGW World Title Tournament (2013)
Ohio Valley Wrestling
OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Joey Matthews
Pacific Coast Wrestling/PCW Ultra
PCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2009)
Tag Team of the Year (2005) – with Joey Mercury
Ranked No. 24 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
Qatar Pro Wrestling
QPW Souq Waqif Championship (1 time)
QPW Souq Waqif Title Tournament (2015)
Rogue Wrestling
Rogue Championship (1 time)
Rogue Championship Tournament (2019)
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
ECW World Championship (1 time)
WWE Intercontinental Championship (3 times)
WWE Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Joey Mercury (3) and The Miz (1)
World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Miz
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Miz
ECW World Championship Tournament (2007)
Tough Enough III (2003)
Slammy Award (2 times)
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
Best WWE.com Exclusive (2008) – with The Miz
World Series Wrestling
WSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Wrestling Fan Xperience
WWFX Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
References
External links
1979 births
21st-century American male actors
American capoeira practitioners
American male professional wrestlers
ECW champions
ECW Heavyweight Champions/ECW World Heavyweight Champions
Living people
People from Palos Verdes, California
Professional wrestlers from California
Sportspeople from Los Angeles
Survivor (American TV series) contestants
TNA World Heavyweight/Impact World Champions
Tough Enough contestants
Tough Enough winners
Traceurs
WWF/WWE Intercontinental Champions
AAA Mega Champions | true | [
"Qingyuan Jiedushi () (i.e., the Jiedushi of Qingyuan Circuit) was a military/governance office late in China's Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, later renamed to Pinghai Jiedushi (). It was an office created in 949 by Southern Tang's second emperor Li Jing for the warlord Liu Congxiao, who nominally submitted to him but controlled Quan (泉州, in modern Quanzhou, Fujian) and Zhang (漳州, in modern Zhangzhou, Fujian) Prefectures in de facto independence from the Southern Tang state. (Zhang Prefecture was, at times during the circuit's existence, also known as Nan Prefecture () Starting in 960, in addition to being nominally submissive to Southern Tang, Qingyuan Circuit was also nominally submissive to Song, which had itself become Southern Tang's nominal overlord.\n\nAfter Liu's death, the circuit was briefly ruled by his biological nephew/adoptive son Liu Shaozi, who was then overthrown by the officers Zhang Hansi and Chen Hongjin. Zhang then ruled the circuit briefly, before Chen deposed him and took over. In 978, with Song's determination to unify Chinese lands in full order, Chen decided that he could not stay de facto independent, and offered the control of the circuit to Song's Emperor Taizong, ending Qingyuan Circuit as a de facto independent entity.\n\nRulers of Qingyuan Circuit \n Liu Congxiao 949–962 (in control of Quan since 946, in de facto independence since 947)\n Liu Shaozi 962\n Zhang Hansi 962–963\n Chen Hongjin 963–978\n\nSee also \n Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period\n Min (Ten Kingdoms)\n Fujian Circuit, during the Song dynasty\n\nNotes and references\n\nExternal links \nA universal guide for China studies from Chinaknowledge\n\nFive Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms",
"The quad digital audio processor (QDAP) was a digital signal processor (DSP) based printed circuit card designed at Computer Consoles Inc. (CCI) in Rochester, NY. The QDAP was a service circuit module developed as part of the companies digital telephony switching system. The main function of the card was the processing of incoming digital audio to detect the speech patterns using speaker independent speech recognition. The CCI digital switch was deployed as part of the Digital Audio Intercept System (DAIS II), Automatic Voice Response (AVR), and Interactive Voice System (IVS) products. The initial QDAP board is notable for introducing speech recognition into the public telephone network to automate the handling of operator assisted telephone calls.\n\nVariants\n QDAP-I:\n This printed circuit card, designed by Mark A. Indovina, was introduced in late 1987 and contained four TMS320C25 16-bit fixed point DSP chips operating at 40 MHz.\n\nFeatures\n Each TMS320C25 DSP core processed four simultaneous digital audio channels.\n The card deployed speaker independent speech recognition for multiple languages\n The speaker independent speech recognition vocabulary database could be efficiently changed by downloading an update over the switch time-slot network at any time\n The speaker independent speech recognition vocabulary database could created by the hosting telephone company as necessary based on the call scenario\n\nReferences\n Advanced Speech Recognition (Nortel ASR Product Overview)\n Interactive Voice Response (Nortel IVR Product Overview)\n\nCommunication circuits\nTelephony equipment"
]
|
[
"John Morrison (wrestler)",
"Independent circuit (2012-present)",
"What was the independent circuit?",
"After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison."
]
| C_78d624427aba445786e994c48bae222a_1 | Was he successful? | 2 | Was John Morrison successful on the independent circuit? | John Morrison (wrestler) | After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison. On his first post-WWE wrestling appearance, Hennigan rekindled an old feud facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012. Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion. On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match. On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show. Hennigan took part in the WrestleMania weekend, wrestling for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate. On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger in an "International Dream Match" at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) event. On April 19, Hennigan again defeated Sami Callihan in a no count-out, no disqualification falls count anywhere match at a 2CW event in Rome, New York. The next day, he defeated Kevin Steen at 2CW's first iPPV (Living on the Edge VIII), in Watertown, New York. On June 21, 2013, Hennigan defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool in FWE Welcome to the Rumble II, winning the FWE Heavyweight Championship. The next day, Hennigan defended the title against Too Cold Scorpio at House of Hardcore 2. On September 6 and 8, Morrison wrestled against WWL World Heavyweight Champion Black Pain for the title, but he was defeated both times. On October 12, 2013, at FWE Grand Prix, Hennigan defeated Matt Morgan, retaining the FWE Heavyweight Championship. On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles. Morrison faced Rob Van Dam at Pro Wrestling Syndicate in Rahway, New Jersey on October 24, 2015 in a winning effort. After the match, Morrison shook hands with Van Dam and led the crowd in an "RVD" chant. On June 28, 2016, it was announced that Hennigan would make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerilla in the company's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He won his match against Matt Sydal in the first round, but was eliminated by Ricochet in the quarter-finals. On November 16, it was announced that Hennigan, under his Johnny Mundo ring name, would appear for What Culture Pro Wrestling on their Delete WCPW event on November 30. Mundo was scheduled to face Alberto El Patron, but due to Alberto's absence he was replaced by Gabriel Kidd. At the event, Mundo cut a heel promo, insulting Alberto El Patron and the crowd, before defeating Kidd. On January 28, 2017, Morrison won a tournament at a 5 Star Wrestling event for his 5 Star Wrestling Championship, defeating Moose, Drew Galloway, and Rey Mysterio to retain the title. On June 2, Hennigan defeated Rob Van Dam to become the Pacific Coast Wrestling Heavyweight Champion. On September 22, Morrison reunited with former MNM tag team partner Joey Mercury after ten years, defeating Reno Scum. CANNOTANSWER | Hennigan rekindled an old feud facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, | John Randall Hennigan (born October 3, 1979) is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by the ring name John Morrison. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he was a contracted performer from 2002 to 2011, and 2019 to 2021.
Hennigan won Tough Enough III (a WWE reality TV competition show that awarded winners a wrestling contract with the company), and was assigned to its developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), to continue his wrestling training. WWE promoted Hennigan to its SmackDown! roster in April 2005 under the ring name Johnny Nitro; in his debut match on the show, he won the WWE Tag Team Championship (as a part of the tag team, MNM). In between runs in WWE, Hennigan held lead or main event roles in several independent wrestling promotions, including the lucha libre wrestling company/TV series Lucha Underground, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (aka "AAA"; as Johnny Mundo), and Impact Wrestling (as Johnny Impact).
Hennigan is a four-time world champion, having won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship (WWE revival version), AAA Mega Championship, Impact Wrestling World Championship, and the Lucha Underground Championship once each. In WWE, he also held the Intercontinental Championship three times, and was a six-time tag team champion (one World Tag Team Championship, four WWE Tag Team Championships, and one SmackDown Tag Team Championship). In lucha libre, Hennigan was a central fixture in all four seasons of Lucha Underground, and was AAA's first-ever triple champion (holding the AAA Mega Championship, AAA Latin American Championship, and AAA World Cruiserweight Championship simultaneously. He has headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WWE and Impact, including the latter company's flagship event, Bound for Glory, in 2017 and 2018.
Outside of wrestling, Hennigan has also worked in the film and television industry. In film, he has mainly worked as an actor, producer and stuntman. He is also known for being a contestant on the 37th season of the competitive reality show Survivor.
Early life
John Randall Hennigan was born on October 3, 1979, in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Palos Verdes Peninsula, where he attended Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. He graduated from the University of California, Davis in 2002, where he studied film and geology.
Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE (2002–2011)
Tough Enough and Ohio Valley Wrestling (2002–2004)
After graduating college with a degree in film and geology and deciding that he did not want to pursue either path, Hennigan began his professional wrestling career training at the Supreme Pro Wrestling school in Sacramento, California. After failing his audition for Tough Enough 2, a competition in which the winner earned a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) contract, he was accepted as a cast member for Tough Enough III in 2002, eventually becoming the co-winner with Matt Cappotelli. For winning, Hennigan was awarded a developmental contract and assigned to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), to continue his training. Hennigan competed in Acolytes Protection Agency's invitational Bar Room Brawl match at Vengeance in July 2003. Hennigan and Cappotelli made an appearance on an episode of Heat in January 2004, losing to Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak.
MNM (2004–2006)
On the March 1, 2004 episode of Raw, Hennigan debuted on the main roster as a heel, under the ring name "Johnny Blaze". His gimmick was that he was the apprentice and assistant of the Raw General Manager, Eric Bischoff. The next week his name was changed to "Johnny Spade", and three weeks after that it was changed to "Johnny Nitro". The Nitro name, which finally stuck, was a reference to WCW Monday Nitro, the flagship show of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for which Bischoff had previously worked. To drive the point home, he began using the Nitro theme as his ring entrance music. Nitro acted as Bischoff's apprentice and assistant until June, when he was sent back to OVW. To explain his departure, Nitro lost a match on the June 7 episode of Raw against Eugene, which carried the stipulation that upon his loss, he also lost his job.
Upon his return to OVW, Nitro was put into a feud with Matt Cappotelli. During the course of the feud, Melina was brought into the company as Nitro's ex-girlfriend and an ally of Cappotelli, only to turn on him and side with Nitro. Not long after, Nitro and Melina were joined by Joey Mercury, forming the stable MNM. MNM wrestled in OVW for around a year, holding the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship once, before losing the titles to Cappotelli and Johnny Jeter in January 2005. They were soon called up to the main SmackDown! brand in April that same year.
In their debut match on the main roster, MNM won the WWE Tag Team Championship from Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio on the April 21 episode of SmackDown!. MNM held the titles for three months, having successful titles defenses against the teams of Guerrero and Mysterio, and Charlie Haas and Hardcore Holly, before dropping them to the Legion of Doom at The Great American Bash. They won the titles again on the October 28 episode of SmackDown! in a four-way match defeating Legion of Doom, The Mexicools, and William Regal and Paul Burchill, but lost them to Rey Mysterio and Batista on the December 16 episode of SmackDown! two days before Armageddon. Due to help from Mark Henry, MNM defeated Mysterio and Batista in a rematch on the December 30 episode of SmackDown! to win the championship for the third time. They began a rivalry with the team of Paul London and Brian Kendrick that lasted over three months, until they dropped the championship to London and Kendrick at Judgment Day in May 2006, with the storyline leading to Nitro and Melina suddenly turning on Mercury after the match, breaking up the group. Later that night, Melina and Nitro were booked off the SmackDown! brand by having the General Manager, Theodore Long "fire" them.
Singles competition and championship success (2006–2007)
The next week, Nitro, along with Melina, debuted on the Raw brand in a loss to WWE Champion John Cena. Nitro was immediately placed in the Intercontinental Championship picture, beginning his first reign at Vengeance in June after defeating champion Shelton Benjamin in a triple threat match also involving Carlito. Nitro held the championship for four months, feuding with several challengers before losing it to Jeff Hardy on the October 2 episode of Raw. Nitro recaptured the Intercontinental Championship from Hardy on the November 6 episode of Raw, but lost it back to Hardy on the following week's Raw. Also around this time, Nitro entered into a partnership with rapper Kevin Federline, with the duo antagonizing and beginning a rivalry with WWE Champion John Cena. Federline was then, in storyline, trained by Nitro for a match with Cena, which he won after interference from Umaga.
MNM reunited on the November 27 episode of Raw to accept an open challenge from The Hardys (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) at December to Dismember, a match that they lost. MNM and The Hardys feuded across the brands throughout December, with the two teams competing in a four-way ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Armageddon, also involving Brian Kendrick and Paul London and Dave Taylor and William Regal. However, MNM would be unsuccessful in winning the championship. Nitro challenged Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Championship in a steel cage match at New Year's Revolution on January 7, 2007, but did not win. MNM lost to The Hardys at the Royal Rumble later that month and again at No Way Out in February which ended the feud. MNM disbanded as a team when Mercury was released from WWE in March 2007.
After Mercury's departure, Nitro also ended his association with Melina. Nitro was placed in a tag team with Kenny Dykstra, until the 2007 WWE draft, during which Nitro was drafted to the ECW brand. Nitro made his debut for the brand on the June 19 episode of ECW, with a win over Nunzio, and few days later, on June 24, at Vengeance: Night of Champions, he won the vacant ECW World Championship by defeating CM Punk, replacing the absent Chris Benoit due to his double-murder suicide. A few weeks after winning the title, Nitro was repackaged as John Morrison, a reference to musician Jim Morrison, to whom Hennigan bears a strong physical resemblance. In the months to come, Morrison would retain the championship against Punk at The Great American Bash in July, and SummerSlam in August. Punk would again challenge for the championship on the September 4 episode of ECW, in which Morrison lost the championship to Punk, ending his reign at 69 days. Morrison was then suspended for thirty days for violating WWE's Wellness Program, renewing his feud with Punk upon his return, as well as competing against The Miz for the number one contendership to the title.
Teaming with The Miz (2007–2009)
Though rivals, Morrison and The Miz faced the dysfunctional tag team of Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter on the November 16 episode of SmackDown! for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a winning effort, marking Morrison's fourth WWE Tag Team Championship reign. At Survivor Series, Morrison and The Miz were both defeated by CM Punk in a triple threat match for the ECW Championship. After the defeat, the rivalry aspect of Morrison and Miz's relationship faded, as they were now portrayed as trusting friends. Morrison competed in the 2008 Royal Rumble match on January 27, but failed to win after being eliminated by Kane. In February 2008, Morrison and Miz were given a streaming segment on WWE.com named The Dirt Sheet in which they mocked other wrestlers and facets of pop culture. Morrison and Miz co-wrote each episode of The Dirt Sheet each week, and Morrison credits his time in college studying film with contributing to the success of the show. At WrestleMania XXIV, Morrison competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by CM Punk. Despite being unsuccessful, Morrison had a standout performance in the match, in which he performed a moonsault from the top rope to the outside of the ring while holding onto a ladder.
The team of Morrison and Miz had many successful title defenses over the next few months, before dropping the titles to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder at The Great American Bash in a fatal four-way match which also featured Jesse and Festus, and Finlay and Hornswoggle. Neither Morrison nor Miz were pinned, as Hawkins pinned Jesse to win the titles.
Afterwards, they started a feud with Cryme Tyme (JTG and Shad) through each team's Internet show, which then transitioned to matches on Raw and at Cyber Sunday. After winning the Slammy Award for Best WWE.com exclusive earlier in the day, Morrison and Miz won the "Tag Team of the Year" Slammy Award on December 8, 2008 episode of Raw. On December 13, Morrison and Miz won the World Tag Team Championship from CM Punk and Kofi Kingston at a live event. Morrison and Miz engaged themselves in a feud with The Colóns (Carlito and Primo), who were the reigning WWE Tag Team Champions, which resulted in both teams defending their respective championships successfully in separate matches. Their feud culminated in a tag team lumberjack match where both titles were on the line at the WrestleMania 25, but it was The Colóns who would unify the championships with a win. On April 13, as part of the 2009 WWE draft, The Miz was drafted to the Raw brand to split up the team, and as a result, Miz attacked Morrison.
Intercontinental Champion (2009–2010)
On April 15, Morrison was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, he defeated R-Truth. On the May 1 episode of SmackDown, Morrison engaged in a backstage fight with Chris Jericho after Jericho slapped him, turning face in the process for the first time in his career. Later that same night, Morrison defeated Shelton Benjamin, beginning a feud between the two. On the May 7 episode of Superstars, Morrison lost a match to Jericho after a distraction by Benjamin. Morrison continued to score victories over Benjamin in singles and tag team matches before defeating him at Judgment Day. During this time, Morrison would soon become wildly popular with fans. On the June 19 episode of SmackDown, Morrison lost a critically acclaimed match against Edge, in which the commentators described it as a "third main event". On the July 31 episode of SmackDown, Morrison had his first World Heavyweight Championship match against Jeff Hardy, but failed to win the title.
On the September 4 episode of SmackDown, Morrison defeated Rey Mysterio to win his third Intercontinental Championship. Morrison then began a feud with Dolph Ziggler, after losing a non-title match to him by countout, but he would successfully defend the title against Ziggler at Hell in a Cell, and again on the following episode of SmackDown. The feud between Morrison and Ziggler continued throughout the next month, with the two wrestling to a double countout for the Intercontinental Championship on the November 13 episode of SmackDown and Morrison retaining the championship in a two-out-of-three falls match the following week to end the feud. At Bragging Rights, Morrison was defeated by his former tag team partner then-United States Champion The Miz in an interbrand Champion vs. Champion match. Their rivalry continued after both were announced as opposing team captains for Survivor Series, where Miz's team defeated Morrison's team. Morrison then went on to feud with newcomer Drew McIntyre, who defeated Morrison in a non-title match on the December 4 episode of SmackDown, thus earning a championship opportunity against Morrison. At the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, Morrison lost the Intercontinental Championship to McIntyre, ending his reign at 103 days. He received his rematch on the January 1 episode of SmackDown, but was disqualified when McIntyre shoved him into the referee. He challenged McIntyre for the Intercontinental Championship again on the January 29 episode of SmackDown in a No Disqualification match, but lost, ending their feud. Morrison later won an Elimination Chamber qualifying match and participated in the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship, but was eliminated by The Undertaker. On the March 5 episode of SmackDown, Morrison teamed with R-Truth to defeat Cryme Tyme and The Hart Dynasty to earn a Unified WWE Tag Team Championship match against ShoMiz (Big Show and The Miz). At WrestleMania XXVI, they failed to win the championship.
Championship pursuits and departure (2010–2011)
On April 26, Morrison was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2010 WWE draft, and lost his first match back for the brand later that night to Jack Swagger. Later that week, in his final match on SmackDown, he lost to Cody Rhodes. On June 1, Morrison announced that he would be mentoring Eli Cottonwood in the second season of NXT. Cottonwood, however, was the second person eliminated from the competition, and was eliminated on the July 27 episode of NXT. Morrison then went on to participate in the main event of SummerSlam in which he and six teammates (John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho, Bret Hart, R-Truth, and Daniel Bryan) were victorious in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match against The Nexus. In October 2010, Morrison began a feud with Sheamus after he helped Santino Marella earn an upset win during a one-sided match against Sheamus. Within the following weeks, Morrison continued to save Marella from attacks by Sheamus. At Survivor Series, Morrison defeated Sheamus. Morrison entered the 2010 edition of the King of the Ring tournament, defeating Tyson Kidd, Cody Rhodes, and Alberto Del Rio. Morrison lost to Sheamus in the final round. He continued to feud with Sheamus and defeated him in a WWE Championship number one contender's ladder match at the Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view on December 19. Morrison received his WWE Championship match on the January 3, 2011 episode of Raw, but lost to reigning champion The Miz in a falls count anywhere match. On January 30, Morrison participated in the Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble event and despite not winning, he had a stand-out moment which was praised by critics as "arguably the spot of the decade" when Morrison was knocked off of the ring apron and performed a cat leap onto the barricade to avoid having his feet touch the floor and then went on to precision jump onto the ring steps and re-enter the ring. On February 20, Morrison participated in the Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event, but was eliminated by CM Punk. During the match, Morrison climbed to the top of the cage while inside the cage before dropping to deliver a crossbody on and eliminate Sheamus. At WrestleMania XXVII, Morrison teamed with Trish Stratus and Jersey Shore guest star Snooki in a mixed tag match to defeat the team of Dolph Ziggler and LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool).
On the April 11 episode of Raw, Morrison participated in a five-man gauntlet match for the number one contender's spot for the WWE Championship, but was eliminated by R-Truth. The next week on Raw, Morrison challenged R-Truth to a match later on in the night, with the stipulation that if Morrison won, he would take Truth's place in the steel cage match at Extreme Rules. Truth accepted, and lost the match, making Morrison the new number one contender. After the match, Truth viciously attacked Morrison. At Extreme Rules, R-Truth interfered in the WWE Championship steel cage match, attacking Morrison and preventing him from winning the match. The next night on Raw, Morrison was attacked by Truth again, prior to a scheduled match between the two which did not happen as a result. Morrison then underwent surgery to correct a legitimately pinched nerve in his neck. Morrison initially returned on the June 13 episode of Raw, but Truth attacked him again prior to their scheduled match, re-injuring him. Morrison returned again on the July 25 episode of Raw, attacking R-Truth. At SummerSlam, Morrison teamed up with Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio to defeat R-Truth, Alberto Del Rio and The Miz. The following night on Raw, Morrison defeated R-Truth in a falls count anywhere match to end their feud. At Night of Champions, Morrison competed in a Fatal 4-Way match for the United States Championship, also involving Alex Riley, Dolph Ziggler, and Jack Swagger, with Ziggler successfully retaining his title. Morrison then challenged Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, but failed to win the title. Following this, Morrison went on a losing streak, lasting a number of weeks. On the November 7 episode of Raw, Morrison picked up his first victory in three months, defeating United States Champion Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match. Morrison then challenged Ziggler for the championship at Survivor Series, but was defeated by Ziggler.
In his last advertised WWE appearance on the November 28 episode of Raw, Morrison faced The Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere match; Miz won the match by delivering the Skull-Crushing Finale on the steel entrance stage, giving Morrison a kayfabe injury. This was used to write Morrison off television, even being stretchered out of the arena after the match. On November 29, WWE acknowledged the end of Morrison's contract, and moved his profile to the alumni section of its website. In a video published on December 9, 2011, via Hennigan's personal YouTube channel, Hennigan claimed that he was taking time off to heal and retrain for a possible return to wrestling in the future. In 2015, Hennigan revealed on Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast that WWE wanted him to sign another multi-year contract, but due to a neck injury, residual pain, and creative frustrations, he decided to not renew his contract, wanting "more control over [his] time".
Independent circuit (2012–2019)
After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison. On his first post-WWE wrestling appearance, Hennigan rekindled an old feud, facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012. Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion. On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match. On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show. Hennigan took part in the WrestleMania weekend, wrestling for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate. On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger in an "International Dream Match" at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) event.
On June 21, 2013, Hennigan defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool in FWE Welcome to the Rumble II, winning the FWE Heavyweight Championship. The next day, Hennigan defended the title against Too Cold Scorpio at House of Hardcore 2. On October 12, 2013, at FWE Grand Prix, Hennigan defeated Matt Morgan, retaining the FWE Heavyweight Championship. On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles.
On June 28, 2016, it was announced that Hennigan would make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerilla in the company's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He won his match against Matt Sydal in the first round, but was eliminated by Ricochet in the quarter-finals.
On January 28, 2017, Morrison won a tournament at a 5 Star Wrestling event for the 5 Star Wrestling Championship, defeating Moose, Drew Galloway, and Rey Mysterio to win the title. On February 8, 2018, he lost the title against Jake Hager after over a year as champion.
On September 22, Morrison reunited with former MNM tag team partner Joey Mercury after ten years, defeating Reno Scum.
Lucha Underground (2014–2018)
In September 2014, it was reported that Hennigan had signed with the El Rey network's new television series, Lucha Underground, where he wrestled under the ring name Johnny Mundo. Mundo wrestled in the main event of the debut episode of Lucha Underground on October 29, 2014, defeating Prince Puma and winning one hundred thousand dollars, which was then taken away from him by promoter Dario Cueto, setting up several feuds. He then teamed with Prince Puma during the November 5, 2014 episode, defeating Cortez Castro and Mr. Cisco. On the November 19 episode, Mundo defeated Big Ryck by disqualification after interference by Castro and Cisco. Mundo then defeated Prince Puma and Big Ryck in the main event of the December 10, 2014 episode, which was a three-way ladder match, to finally win the hundred thousand dollars he was denied in the Lucha Underground debut.
On January 7, 2015, Mundo participated in a 20-man "Aztec Warfare" battle royal for the Lucha Underground Championship. He was the second luchador to enter the ring, but was the last man eliminated by Prince Puma who won the Championship. King Cuerno attacked Mundo on the February 4 episode, beginning a feud between them; the second installment took place on the episode which aired March 11, where Mundo and Cuerno wrestled in a Steel Cage match, which was won by Mundo. On May 13, Mundo turned into a villain when he attacked Alberto El Patrón in his match against Hernandez, throwing him through the window of Dario Cueto's office. Mundo subsequently tossed El Patrón back into the ring, giving Hernandez the win. On the June 17, episode of Lucha Underground, Johnny Mundo unsuccessfully challenged Prince Puma for the Lucha Underground Championship in an Iron Man match. On August 5, 2015, at Ultima Lucha, Mundo defeated Alberto El Patrón after an interference by his girlfriend Melina Perez.
On the February 3, 2016 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo faced Killshot in a winning effort. After the match, Mundo taunted Lucha Underground Champion Mil Muertes, only to be confronted by Cage. Mundo defeated Cage on February 24, after interference from the debuting Taya, subsequently becoming Mundo's valet. On the May 25 episode of Lucha Underground, Taya revealed to PJ Black and Jack Evans that their partner Fénix was injured by Mundo. As Mundo revealed himself as Fénix's replacement for their match, Black and Evans allied with the two. Later that night in the main event, Mundo, Black and Evans defeated Rey Mysterio Jr., Prince Puma and Dragon Azteca Jr. to win the Lucha Underground Trios Championship, the first championship for each in Lucha Underground. The week after, Mundo, Black and Evans, now collectively billed as Worldwide Underground, retained their championships in a rematch via disqualification. Worldwide Underground lost their titles to Aero Star, Drago and Fénix at the third and final part Ultima Lucha Dos, which aired on July 20.
On the October 26 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo defeated Sexy Star to win the Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship after he knocked out Sexy Star with brass knuckles while the referee was unaware. On the November 23 episode of Lucha Underground, he cashed in his Gift of the Gods Championship on Sexy Star before defeating her to win the Lucha Underground Championship, becoming the second Triple Crown Champion in Lucha Underground history. On the December 21 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo successfully defended his championship in a rematch against Sexy Star inside a steel cage. He lost the title to Prince Puma at Ultima Lucha Tres.
Mundo made his return on the fourth season's premiere, competing in Aztec Warfare entering at number 11. Mundo eliminated Ricky Mundo and Daga before getting eliminated by Marty Martinez and being attacked by the Reptile Tribe. On November 17, 2018, Mundo wrestled on the final episode of Lucha Underground, Ultima Lucha Cuatro, defeating Matanza Cueto in a Sacrifice to the Gods match.
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2015–2018)
On May 24, 2015, Mundo made his debut for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) at the Lucha Libre World Cup event representing Lucha Underground as a member of "Team TNA/Lucha Underground" alongside TNA wrestlers Matt Hardy and Mr. Anderson. They finished in second place, losing in the finals to the "Dream Team" (El Patrón Alberto, Myzteziz and Rey Mysterio Jr.).
On June 4, 2015 in the main event of Verano de Escándalo, Mundo established himself as a rudo (or villain) and teamed with El Mesias and Pentagón Jr. losing to Myzteziz, La Parka and Rey Mysterio Jr. On September 27, Konnan announced Mundo as an official member of the rudo stable, La Sociedad, while he subsequently stepped down as the leader of the group. On October 4, at Héroes Inmortales IX, Mundo unsuccessfully challenged El Patrón Alberto for the AAA Mega Championship, when he was defeated by disqualification. After Alberto left AAA, Mundo was scheduled to face Rey Mysterio Jr. for the vacant AAA Mega Championship at Guerra de Titanes, but after the matches of the event were officially announced, neither Mundo nor Mysterio were featured for the event. Mundo participated in the 2016 Lucha Libre World Cup as a member of "Team Lucha Underground" alongside Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Brian Cage, defeating "Team Mexico Leyendas" (Blue Demon Jr., Canek, and La Parka) in the quarter-finals, and "Team Mexico International" (Rey Mysterio Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr., and Dragon Azteca Jr.) in the semi-finals. Mundo's team won the tournament defeating "Team AAA" (Pentagón Jr., El Texano Jr. and Psycho Clown) in the finals.
After adopting an "anti-Mexico" attitude and teaming with El Mesías and Hernandez to defeat El Texano Jr., El Hijo del Fantasma and Pentagón Jr., Mundo challenged the latter to a match at Triplemanía XXIV for the AAA Latin American Championship, to which Pentagón accepted. At the event, on August 28, Mundo defeated Pentagón to win the Latin American Championship, marking his first championship in AAA and becoming the first non-Mexican to hold the title. On October 2 in the main event of Héroes Inmortales X, Mundo successfully defended his title against Garza Jr. On March 19, 2017, at Rey de Reyes, Mundo defeated El Texano Jr. and El Hijo del Fantasma in a three-way match to not only retain the Latin American Championship, but to also win Texano's AAA Mega Championship and Fantasma's AAA World Cruiserweight Championship. In his first AAA Mega Championship defense, on June 30, Mundo successfully retained his title against Texano.
In July 2017, Mundo and his fiancée Kira Forster, known as Taya, were involved in controversy with AAA and its Director of Talent Vampiro, which led to Taya's departure from the company. According to Wrestling Observer, AAA asked Mundo to turn in Taya's Reina de Reinas Championship for a photo shoot the day prior to an event on July 1. A few weeks later, Vampiro addressed to the live crowd that Forster was stripped of the title due to not appearing to defend her title, despite not being scheduled to appear.
On August 26, at Triplemanía XXV, Mundo successfully defended his three championships against Fantasma and Texano in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. On October 1 at Héroes Inmortales XI, Mundo wrestled in three matches, retaining the Mega Championship against Rey Wagner, but losing the Latin American Championship to Fantasma in the annual Copa Antonio Peña battle royal, and the World Cruiserweight Championship to Lanzelot in a ten-way match, ending his triple championship reign at 196 days.
On January 26, 2018 at Guerra de Titanes, Mundo lost the AAA Mega Championship to Rey Wagner, ending his reign at 314 days.
Impact Wrestling (2017–2019)
Championship pursuits (2017–2018)
In August 2017, despite not being signed to the promotion at the time, Hennigan appeared for Impact Wrestling at some live events. On August 17, a video package was shown at Destination X revealing his ring name as Johnny Impact. His first feud in the promotion was with Eli Drake, when Impact made his televised in-ring debut on the August 24 episode of Impact!, participating in a Gauntlet for the Gold match for the vacant Global Championship, but was eliminated by eventual winner Eli Drake. Impact would face Drake for the title at Victory Road and Bound for Glory, where he failed to win the title. Since the Bound for Glory match ended after Alberto El Patrón made an interference, Impact, Alberto and Drake had a three-way Last Chance Six Sides of Steel match on the January 25, 2018 episode of Impact!, where Drake retained the title.
After Drake lost the renamed Impact World Championship to Austin Aries, Impact began pursuit of Aries's championship, facing him at Crossroads special, where he lost again. On the April 19 episode of Impact!, Johnny Impact was attacked and injured by Kongo Kong, which was performed to write him off television in order to film for reality television show Survivor. Impact returned at Slammiversary XVI, when he won a four-way match against Fenix, Taiji Ishimori, and Petey Williams.
Impact World Champion (2018–2019)
Impact began a feud with the Impact World Champion Austin Aries, which led to a match at Bound for Glory. As the PPV moved closer, the feud started to blur the lines between a work (something scripted) and shoot (something real), beginning with the two wrestlers trading insults on Twitter that they appeared to take personal, with Aries later deleting many of his tweets. Specifically, Impact mocked Aries' short stature and the champion responded by making fun of his wife's weight. Aries and Impact both alleged in the media that they authentically took issue with comments. TMZ Live also pushed the angle "like [it] was a shoot". The two wrestlers got in a brawl the night before Bound for Glory during Abyss's Impact Hall of Fame induction. At the event, Impact defeated Aries to win the Impact World Championship. Throughout the following weeks, Impact successfully defended his title against Fénix, Killer Kross, and Matt Sydal. At Homecoming on January 6, 2019, Impact defeated Brian Cage to retain his championship.
During the February tapings for Impact Wrestling, Impact defended his title in a four-way contest involving Killer Kross, Moose and Brian Cage. Impact hit his finisher on Moose, barely seconds prior to Cage hitting his Drill Claw finisher on Killer Kross. As Impact was able to cover his opponent first the referee was able to provide the count and therefore Impact won the match as Brian Cage went to cover his opponent. On the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Impact's wife Taya Valkyrie would low blow Cage, which allowed Impact to attack Cage, turning into a villain. At United We Stand, Impact won a five-way Ultimate X match to become the number one contender for the Impact X Division Championship. Throughout April, Impact successfully defended his title from Cage, often with interferences from Valkyrie and former referee John E Bravo. At Rebellion, Impact, accompanied by Valkyrie and Bravo, lost the title to Cage in a match where Lance Storm was special guest referee; this left Impact's reign to end at 196 days, leaving it the longest reign since Bobby Roode's 2011–2012 reign, and therefore the longest reign in seven years, as well as the third-longest reign in history.
On the May 31 episode of Impact Wrestling, Impact challenged X Division Champion Rich Swann to a title match at Slammiversary XVII. Later that night, he teamed with Michael Elgin to face Swann and Willie Mack in a tag team match, in which Swann pinned Impact. At Slammiversary XVII, Impact was defeated by Swann. On July 8, Pro Wrestling Insider reported that Hennigan's contract with Impact Wrestling had expired several weeks prior to the event, and the two sides agreed to have Hennigan work until Slammiversary.
Return to WWE (2019–2021)
On September 26, 2019, it was reported by Mike Johnson of Pro Wrestling Insider that Hennigan had re-signed with WWE, which was officially confirmed by the company on December 3 during WWE Backstage. He made his return on January 3, 2020 episode of SmackDown under his John Morrison ring name and resumed his partnership with The Miz, thus re-establishing him as a heel for the first time in WWE in 10 years. They would feud with the SmackDown Tag Team Champions, The New Day, with Morrison winning singles matches against Big E and Kofi Kingston. At the Royal Rumble, Morrison participated in the Royal Rumble match as the fifth entrant, but he was eliminated by Brock Lesnar. At Super ShowDown, Miz and Morrison won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship from The New Day.
On March 8, Morrison and Miz had their first title defense in a tag team Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber event, successfully defending their titles against The New Day, The Usos, Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado), and Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. At WrestleMania 36, after the Miz's absence due to illness, Morrison defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championships by himself in a ladder match against Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso, in which he was successful. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, the duo lost the titles back to The New Day after Miz unsuccessfully defended the titles by himself in a triple threat match against Big E and Jey Uso ending their reign at 50 days. At Money in the Bank the following month, Morrison and Miz unsuccessfully attempted to regain the championship in a fatal four-way tag team match also involving Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) and The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake). Morrison and Miz then started a rivalry with Universal Champion Braun Strowman. At Backlash, the duo competed for Strowman's title in a two-on-one handicap match, but lost. As part of the 2020 Draft in October, both Morrison and Miz were drafted to the Raw brand. Prior to the draft, Morrison and Miz entered a feud with Otis for his Money in the Bank contract. At Hell in a Cell, Morrison accompanied Miz in his match against Otis for the contract, which Miz won.
On the December 7 episode of Raw, Morrison ended a nearly seven-month losing streak after defeating Drew McIntyre and Sheamus in a 3-on-2 handicap match alongside The Miz and AJ Styles. Morrison entered the 2021 Royal Rumble match on January 31, lasting over eight minutes before being eliminated by Damian Priest. At the Elimination Chamber event on February 21, 2021, Morrison defeated Ricochet, Elias, and Mustafa Ali in a fatal four-way match for an opportunity at the United States Championship. Later that night, he failed to win the title in a triple threat match against Riddle and reigning champion Bobby Lashley, as Riddle won the match. After this, Morrison and Miz feuded with rapper Bad Bunny and Damian Priest. At WrestleMania 37 on April 10, Morrison and Miz faced Bad Bunny and Priest in a tag team match, but lost.
After Miz suffered an injury at WrestleMania Backlash, Morrison would embark on singles run, starting by defeating Jeff Hardy on the June 14 episode of Raw. The following week, Morrison defeated Randy Orton to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at the namesake pay-per-view event, which was won by Big E. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Miz turned on Morrison by attacking him, thus turning Morrison face and setting up a feud between the pair. However, the feud abruptly ended after the Miz took a hiatus to compete on Dancing with the Stars. On November 18, as part of an eighth round of layoffs due to budget cuts stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Morrison was released from his WWE contract.
Return to AAA (2022)
On February 19, 2022, Hennigan, as "John Superstar", unsuccessfully challenged El Hijo del Vikingo at Rey de Reyes for the AAA Mega Championship.
Return to the independent circuit (2022–present)
On April 1, 2022, Hennigan, as "Johnny Caballero", will make his debut for Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) at the Wrld on Lucha event. It was also announced that Hennigan would wrestle at GCW's Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 8.
Professional wrestling style and persona
Hennigan was described by WWE as having "lightning-fast offense", "high-risk aerial expertise", and "incredible agility". He is known to utilize a split-legged corkscrew moonsault, dubbed Starship Pain, as a finishing maneuver. During his singles run as Johnny Nitro, he used a standing shooting star press as his finisher. After transitioning to his John Morrison character, Hennigan began using a corkscrew neckbreaker dubbed Moonlight Drive, in reference to the song of the same name written by Jim Morrison. He also prominently used a superkick as a finisher in 2008 during a feud with D-Generation X, as a way to mock Shawn Michaels's Sweet Chin Music maneuver. Hennigan is a practitioner of parkour and often incorporates it into his wrestling style, giving him the nickname "The Prince of Parkour". He also has a background in amateur wrestling, breakdancing, gymnastics, and martial arts. Regarding his unique wrestling style, Hennigan stated in a 2021 interview with Sports Illustrated:
Alongside his team MNM, Hennigan debuted on WWE television as Johnny Nitro, presenting himself as an arrogant wrestler with "elite Hollywood status". After winning the ECW World Championship in 2007, he changed his ring name to John Morrison and his gimmick was tweaked to be even more conceited and self-aggrandizing — in addition to being modeled after Jim Morrison, the legendary frontman of the 1960s rock band The Doors, to whom he bears a strong physical resemblance. Following his return to WWE and reunion with his tag team partner the Miz in 2020, Hennigan added a comedic aspect to his villainous character, with WWE describing him as using "quirkiness and quick wit to shine every time he is on screen". He also began to refer to himself as "Johnny Drip Drip", a reference to the song "Drip" by rapper Cardi B.
Outside of WWE, Hennigan began referring to himself as the "Mayor of Slamtown", a fictional town he first coined in Lucha Underground in 2015. Hennigan filed to trademark the term "Slamtown" in November 2020.
Other media
In 2009, Hennigan and Maryse Ouellet were interviewed on Eurosport. In 2009, Hennigan appeared on two episodes of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, which were both aired on September 29. Hennigan is the subject of a WWE DVD, called John Morrison – Rock Star, which was released on February 16, 2010. The DVD covers his career from his name change to John Morrison up until his Intercontinental Championship win in September 2009. He appeared on an episode of Destroy Build Destroy on March 3, 2010. Hennigan was on the cover of Muscle & Fitness in June 2010, with the issue also featuring an interview and photo shoot. In 2016, Hennigan, Rey Mysterio, and King Cuerno appeared on ESPN to promote the second season of Lucha Underground.
Hennigan is also a frequent collaborator with comic book-based film producers Bat in the Sun Productions, appearing in two episodes of their well-known Super Power Beat Down series; playing as Casey Jones against Kick-Ass in episode 13, and as Winter Soldier against Nightwing in episode 19. Hennigan portrayed Eternal Warrior in the web series Ninjak vs. the Valiant Universe, produced by Valiant Entertainment and directed by Bat in the Sun.
Filmmaking
After leaving WWE in 2011, Hennigan pursued a career in the film industry as an actor and filmmaker. In 2013, he appeared in 20 Feet Below: The Darkness Descending with Danny Trejo, as well as served as co-producer of the film. In 2017, Hennigan released his first feature film titled Boone: The Bounty Hunter, which he starred in, co-wrote, and served as executive producer of. Hennigan sold his house in order to finance the film. In 2018, Hennigan began working on his directorial debut, a short film titled The Iron Sheik Massacre which he also produced and co-wrote with his wife Kira Forster. It was expected to be released in 2020, but has yet to have an official release date.
Survivor: David vs. Goliath
Hennigan was a contestant on the 37th season of Survivor, Survivor: David vs. Goliath where he was originally part of the Goliath tribe and later Tiva before making it to the merged tribe Kalokalo. He finished 12th and became the second member of the jury after the former members of the Goliath tribe were blindsided at tribal council; two contestants used hidden immunity idols, causing Hennigan to be eliminated despite only having three elimination votes, as Christian Hubicki, who received seven, was immune.
Hennigan's performance as a contestant and the episode of his elimination received critical acclaim. Chris Chase of USA Today praised Hennigan for being "true to everything we’ve seen from him this season, [and] a class act after his shock defeat". Writing for People, former Survivor contestant Stephen Fishbach highlighted that "in a tribal council that was meant to take out the Davidest David [Christian Hubicki], it was really the Goliath of the Goliaths [Hennigan] who fell. How perfectly Biblical." The show’s executive producer and host Jeff Probst was "so impressed" with Hennigan, describing him as "the guy who catches the winning touchdown pass in the final moments of the Super Bowl, and then, instead of some crazy celebration, he casually tosses the ball to the ref, kisses his wife and hugs his kids", alongside stating that he would "absolutely" have Hennigan back on the show.
Filmography
Personal life
Hennigan is good friends with fellow professional wrestlers The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, Jeff Hardy, and Randy Orton. He was also good friends with Shad Gaspard, and still is with JTG, of Cryme Tyme, and was a part of the search team after Gaspard's disappearance and death.
Hennigan was involved in an on-off relationship with former WWE Diva and on-screen manager Melina Perez from 2003 to 2015. The pair met during the auditions for Tough Enough III, in which Perez was cut and Hennigan eventually won. Since 2016, Hennigan has been in a relationship with Kira Forster, better known as Taya Valkyrie. The pair met through the affiliation between AAA and Lucha Underground, with Forster becoming Hennigan's on-screen partner in the latter promotion prior to their real-life relationship. They became engaged on June 14, 2017, and were married on June 1, 2018.
Championships and accomplishments
5 Star Wrestling
5 Star Wrestling Championship (1 time)
One Night Tournament (2017)
ACW Wisconsin
ACW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
The Baltimore Sun
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
Blackcraft Wrestling
BCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Continental Wrestling Federation
CWF United States Championship (1 time)
DDT Pro-Wrestling
Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (1 time)
European Pro Wrestling
EPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Family Wrestling Entertainment
FWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Impact Wrestling
Impact World Championship (1 time)
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
AAA Mega Championship (1 time)
AAA Latin American Championship (1 time)
AAA World Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
Lucha Libre World Cup (2016 Men's Division) – with Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Brian Cage
Lucha Underground
Lucha Underground Championship (1 time)
Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship (1 time)
Lucha Underground Trios Championship (1 time) – with Jack Evans and PJ Black
Second Triple Crown Champion
Mondo Lucha
Mondo Lucha Championship (1 time)
Mondo Lucha Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Matt Cross
Next Generation Wrestling
NGW World Championship (1 time)
NGW World Title Tournament (2013)
Ohio Valley Wrestling
OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Joey Matthews
Pacific Coast Wrestling/PCW Ultra
PCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2009)
Tag Team of the Year (2005) – with Joey Mercury
Ranked No. 24 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
Qatar Pro Wrestling
QPW Souq Waqif Championship (1 time)
QPW Souq Waqif Title Tournament (2015)
Rogue Wrestling
Rogue Championship (1 time)
Rogue Championship Tournament (2019)
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
ECW World Championship (1 time)
WWE Intercontinental Championship (3 times)
WWE Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Joey Mercury (3) and The Miz (1)
World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Miz
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Miz
ECW World Championship Tournament (2007)
Tough Enough III (2003)
Slammy Award (2 times)
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
Best WWE.com Exclusive (2008) – with The Miz
World Series Wrestling
WSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Wrestling Fan Xperience
WWFX Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
References
External links
1979 births
21st-century American male actors
American capoeira practitioners
American male professional wrestlers
ECW champions
ECW Heavyweight Champions/ECW World Heavyweight Champions
Living people
People from Palos Verdes, California
Professional wrestlers from California
Sportspeople from Los Angeles
Survivor (American TV series) contestants
TNA World Heavyweight/Impact World Champions
Tough Enough contestants
Tough Enough winners
Traceurs
WWF/WWE Intercontinental Champions
AAA Mega Champions | false | [
"Charles Young (September 1686 – 12 December 1758) was an English organist and composer. He was part of a well-known English family of musicians that included several professional singers and organists during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.\n\nBiography\nCharles Young was born sometime during September 1686 in the Covent Garden area of London and was baptised on 7 October of the same year. Born into a musical family, his initial studies were with his father alongside his elder brother Anthony Young, who would also become a successful organist and minor composer. He became a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral in the late 1690s where he sang for over a decade. In 1713, Young was appointed organist of All Hallows, Barking-by-the-Tower, where he remained until his death in 1758. His grandson, Charles John Frederick Lampe, replaced him as organist at All Hallows after his death.\n\nAs a composer, Young wrote music mostly for the Church of England. He was not prolific, producing only a handful of anthems and some organ preludes. He also composed a few vocal art songs. His reputation lies more on his skills as an organist and he was regarded as one of the finest players in England during the eighteenth century.\n\nSeveral of Young's children went on to have successful careers. His eldest daughter Cecilia Young (1712-1789) was one of the greatest English sopranos of the eighteenth century and the wife of composer Thomas Arne. Their son and Charles's grandson, Michael Arne, was a successful composer. His daughter Isabella was also a successful soprano and the wife of composer John Frederick Lampe, and his daughter Esther was a well known contralto and wife to Charles Jones, one of the largest music publishers in England during the eighteenth century. Young's only son, Charles, was a clerk at the Treasury, whose daughters, Isabella, Elizabeth, and Polly followed in the foot steps of their aunts to become successful singers.\n\nReferences\n\n1686 births\n1758 deaths\nEnglish organists\nBritish male organists\nEnglish composers\nCharles",
"This is a list of members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly between the 1917 election and the 1921 election, together known as the 10th Parliament.\n\nNotes\n The Labor member for Subiaco, Bartholomew James Stubbs, died in action in Belgium on 26 September 1917. At the resulting by-election on 10 November 1917, the Nationalist candidate, Samuel Brown, was successful.\n The Nationalist member for Claremont, John Stewart, resigned on 30 August 1918. At the resulting by-election on 14 September 1918, the Nationalist candidate, Thomas Duff, was successful.\n Sir James Mitchell, member for Northam, was appointed by Premier Hal Colebatch as Minister for Lands and Repatriation on 17 April 1919. Mitchell was therefore required to resign and contest a ministerial by-election, at which he was declared elected upon the close of nominations on 24 April 1919. He himself became premier three weeks later after the failure of the Colebatch Ministry.\n The Nationalist member for Albany, Herbert Robinson, died on 2 May 1919. At the resulting by-election on 31 May 1919, the National Labor candidate, former Premier John Scaddan, was successful.\n Thomas Draper, member for West Perth, was appointed by Premier James Mitchell as Attorney-General on 17 May 1919. Draper was therefore required to resign and contest a ministerial by-election, at which he was successful against an Independent candidate on 7 June 1919.\n Frank Broun, member for Beverley, was appointed by Premier James Mitchell as Colonial Secretary on 25 June 1919. Broun was therefore required to resign and contest a ministerial by-election, at which he was returned unopposed at the close of nominations on 10 July 1919.\n The National Labor member for Mount Leonora, George Foley, resigned on 18 November 1920, to run as the Nationalist candidate for the federal seat of Kalgoorlie at a by-election following the expulsion of Hugh Mahon from the Australian House of Representatives. At the resulting by-election on 20 December 1920, the Labor candidate, Thomas Heron, was successful.\n\nSources\n \n \n\nMembers of Western Australian parliaments by term"
]
|
[
"John Morrison (wrestler)",
"Independent circuit (2012-present)",
"What was the independent circuit?",
"After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison.",
"Was he successful?",
"Hennigan rekindled an old feud facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila,"
]
| C_78d624427aba445786e994c48bae222a_1 | Did he win? | 3 | Did John Morrison win the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila? | John Morrison (wrestler) | After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison. On his first post-WWE wrestling appearance, Hennigan rekindled an old feud facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012. Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion. On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match. On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show. Hennigan took part in the WrestleMania weekend, wrestling for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate. On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger in an "International Dream Match" at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) event. On April 19, Hennigan again defeated Sami Callihan in a no count-out, no disqualification falls count anywhere match at a 2CW event in Rome, New York. The next day, he defeated Kevin Steen at 2CW's first iPPV (Living on the Edge VIII), in Watertown, New York. On June 21, 2013, Hennigan defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool in FWE Welcome to the Rumble II, winning the FWE Heavyweight Championship. The next day, Hennigan defended the title against Too Cold Scorpio at House of Hardcore 2. On September 6 and 8, Morrison wrestled against WWL World Heavyweight Champion Black Pain for the title, but he was defeated both times. On October 12, 2013, at FWE Grand Prix, Hennigan defeated Matt Morgan, retaining the FWE Heavyweight Championship. On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles. Morrison faced Rob Van Dam at Pro Wrestling Syndicate in Rahway, New Jersey on October 24, 2015 in a winning effort. After the match, Morrison shook hands with Van Dam and led the crowd in an "RVD" chant. On June 28, 2016, it was announced that Hennigan would make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerilla in the company's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He won his match against Matt Sydal in the first round, but was eliminated by Ricochet in the quarter-finals. On November 16, it was announced that Hennigan, under his Johnny Mundo ring name, would appear for What Culture Pro Wrestling on their Delete WCPW event on November 30. Mundo was scheduled to face Alberto El Patron, but due to Alberto's absence he was replaced by Gabriel Kidd. At the event, Mundo cut a heel promo, insulting Alberto El Patron and the crowd, before defeating Kidd. On January 28, 2017, Morrison won a tournament at a 5 Star Wrestling event for his 5 Star Wrestling Championship, defeating Moose, Drew Galloway, and Rey Mysterio to retain the title. On June 2, Hennigan defeated Rob Van Dam to become the Pacific Coast Wrestling Heavyweight Champion. On September 22, Morrison reunited with former MNM tag team partner Joey Mercury after ten years, defeating Reno Scum. CANNOTANSWER | Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion. | John Randall Hennigan (born October 3, 1979) is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by the ring name John Morrison. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he was a contracted performer from 2002 to 2011, and 2019 to 2021.
Hennigan won Tough Enough III (a WWE reality TV competition show that awarded winners a wrestling contract with the company), and was assigned to its developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), to continue his wrestling training. WWE promoted Hennigan to its SmackDown! roster in April 2005 under the ring name Johnny Nitro; in his debut match on the show, he won the WWE Tag Team Championship (as a part of the tag team, MNM). In between runs in WWE, Hennigan held lead or main event roles in several independent wrestling promotions, including the lucha libre wrestling company/TV series Lucha Underground, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (aka "AAA"; as Johnny Mundo), and Impact Wrestling (as Johnny Impact).
Hennigan is a four-time world champion, having won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship (WWE revival version), AAA Mega Championship, Impact Wrestling World Championship, and the Lucha Underground Championship once each. In WWE, he also held the Intercontinental Championship three times, and was a six-time tag team champion (one World Tag Team Championship, four WWE Tag Team Championships, and one SmackDown Tag Team Championship). In lucha libre, Hennigan was a central fixture in all four seasons of Lucha Underground, and was AAA's first-ever triple champion (holding the AAA Mega Championship, AAA Latin American Championship, and AAA World Cruiserweight Championship simultaneously. He has headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WWE and Impact, including the latter company's flagship event, Bound for Glory, in 2017 and 2018.
Outside of wrestling, Hennigan has also worked in the film and television industry. In film, he has mainly worked as an actor, producer and stuntman. He is also known for being a contestant on the 37th season of the competitive reality show Survivor.
Early life
John Randall Hennigan was born on October 3, 1979, in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Palos Verdes Peninsula, where he attended Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. He graduated from the University of California, Davis in 2002, where he studied film and geology.
Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE (2002–2011)
Tough Enough and Ohio Valley Wrestling (2002–2004)
After graduating college with a degree in film and geology and deciding that he did not want to pursue either path, Hennigan began his professional wrestling career training at the Supreme Pro Wrestling school in Sacramento, California. After failing his audition for Tough Enough 2, a competition in which the winner earned a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) contract, he was accepted as a cast member for Tough Enough III in 2002, eventually becoming the co-winner with Matt Cappotelli. For winning, Hennigan was awarded a developmental contract and assigned to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), to continue his training. Hennigan competed in Acolytes Protection Agency's invitational Bar Room Brawl match at Vengeance in July 2003. Hennigan and Cappotelli made an appearance on an episode of Heat in January 2004, losing to Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak.
MNM (2004–2006)
On the March 1, 2004 episode of Raw, Hennigan debuted on the main roster as a heel, under the ring name "Johnny Blaze". His gimmick was that he was the apprentice and assistant of the Raw General Manager, Eric Bischoff. The next week his name was changed to "Johnny Spade", and three weeks after that it was changed to "Johnny Nitro". The Nitro name, which finally stuck, was a reference to WCW Monday Nitro, the flagship show of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for which Bischoff had previously worked. To drive the point home, he began using the Nitro theme as his ring entrance music. Nitro acted as Bischoff's apprentice and assistant until June, when he was sent back to OVW. To explain his departure, Nitro lost a match on the June 7 episode of Raw against Eugene, which carried the stipulation that upon his loss, he also lost his job.
Upon his return to OVW, Nitro was put into a feud with Matt Cappotelli. During the course of the feud, Melina was brought into the company as Nitro's ex-girlfriend and an ally of Cappotelli, only to turn on him and side with Nitro. Not long after, Nitro and Melina were joined by Joey Mercury, forming the stable MNM. MNM wrestled in OVW for around a year, holding the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship once, before losing the titles to Cappotelli and Johnny Jeter in January 2005. They were soon called up to the main SmackDown! brand in April that same year.
In their debut match on the main roster, MNM won the WWE Tag Team Championship from Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio on the April 21 episode of SmackDown!. MNM held the titles for three months, having successful titles defenses against the teams of Guerrero and Mysterio, and Charlie Haas and Hardcore Holly, before dropping them to the Legion of Doom at The Great American Bash. They won the titles again on the October 28 episode of SmackDown! in a four-way match defeating Legion of Doom, The Mexicools, and William Regal and Paul Burchill, but lost them to Rey Mysterio and Batista on the December 16 episode of SmackDown! two days before Armageddon. Due to help from Mark Henry, MNM defeated Mysterio and Batista in a rematch on the December 30 episode of SmackDown! to win the championship for the third time. They began a rivalry with the team of Paul London and Brian Kendrick that lasted over three months, until they dropped the championship to London and Kendrick at Judgment Day in May 2006, with the storyline leading to Nitro and Melina suddenly turning on Mercury after the match, breaking up the group. Later that night, Melina and Nitro were booked off the SmackDown! brand by having the General Manager, Theodore Long "fire" them.
Singles competition and championship success (2006–2007)
The next week, Nitro, along with Melina, debuted on the Raw brand in a loss to WWE Champion John Cena. Nitro was immediately placed in the Intercontinental Championship picture, beginning his first reign at Vengeance in June after defeating champion Shelton Benjamin in a triple threat match also involving Carlito. Nitro held the championship for four months, feuding with several challengers before losing it to Jeff Hardy on the October 2 episode of Raw. Nitro recaptured the Intercontinental Championship from Hardy on the November 6 episode of Raw, but lost it back to Hardy on the following week's Raw. Also around this time, Nitro entered into a partnership with rapper Kevin Federline, with the duo antagonizing and beginning a rivalry with WWE Champion John Cena. Federline was then, in storyline, trained by Nitro for a match with Cena, which he won after interference from Umaga.
MNM reunited on the November 27 episode of Raw to accept an open challenge from The Hardys (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) at December to Dismember, a match that they lost. MNM and The Hardys feuded across the brands throughout December, with the two teams competing in a four-way ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Armageddon, also involving Brian Kendrick and Paul London and Dave Taylor and William Regal. However, MNM would be unsuccessful in winning the championship. Nitro challenged Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Championship in a steel cage match at New Year's Revolution on January 7, 2007, but did not win. MNM lost to The Hardys at the Royal Rumble later that month and again at No Way Out in February which ended the feud. MNM disbanded as a team when Mercury was released from WWE in March 2007.
After Mercury's departure, Nitro also ended his association with Melina. Nitro was placed in a tag team with Kenny Dykstra, until the 2007 WWE draft, during which Nitro was drafted to the ECW brand. Nitro made his debut for the brand on the June 19 episode of ECW, with a win over Nunzio, and few days later, on June 24, at Vengeance: Night of Champions, he won the vacant ECW World Championship by defeating CM Punk, replacing the absent Chris Benoit due to his double-murder suicide. A few weeks after winning the title, Nitro was repackaged as John Morrison, a reference to musician Jim Morrison, to whom Hennigan bears a strong physical resemblance. In the months to come, Morrison would retain the championship against Punk at The Great American Bash in July, and SummerSlam in August. Punk would again challenge for the championship on the September 4 episode of ECW, in which Morrison lost the championship to Punk, ending his reign at 69 days. Morrison was then suspended for thirty days for violating WWE's Wellness Program, renewing his feud with Punk upon his return, as well as competing against The Miz for the number one contendership to the title.
Teaming with The Miz (2007–2009)
Though rivals, Morrison and The Miz faced the dysfunctional tag team of Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter on the November 16 episode of SmackDown! for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a winning effort, marking Morrison's fourth WWE Tag Team Championship reign. At Survivor Series, Morrison and The Miz were both defeated by CM Punk in a triple threat match for the ECW Championship. After the defeat, the rivalry aspect of Morrison and Miz's relationship faded, as they were now portrayed as trusting friends. Morrison competed in the 2008 Royal Rumble match on January 27, but failed to win after being eliminated by Kane. In February 2008, Morrison and Miz were given a streaming segment on WWE.com named The Dirt Sheet in which they mocked other wrestlers and facets of pop culture. Morrison and Miz co-wrote each episode of The Dirt Sheet each week, and Morrison credits his time in college studying film with contributing to the success of the show. At WrestleMania XXIV, Morrison competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by CM Punk. Despite being unsuccessful, Morrison had a standout performance in the match, in which he performed a moonsault from the top rope to the outside of the ring while holding onto a ladder.
The team of Morrison and Miz had many successful title defenses over the next few months, before dropping the titles to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder at The Great American Bash in a fatal four-way match which also featured Jesse and Festus, and Finlay and Hornswoggle. Neither Morrison nor Miz were pinned, as Hawkins pinned Jesse to win the titles.
Afterwards, they started a feud with Cryme Tyme (JTG and Shad) through each team's Internet show, which then transitioned to matches on Raw and at Cyber Sunday. After winning the Slammy Award for Best WWE.com exclusive earlier in the day, Morrison and Miz won the "Tag Team of the Year" Slammy Award on December 8, 2008 episode of Raw. On December 13, Morrison and Miz won the World Tag Team Championship from CM Punk and Kofi Kingston at a live event. Morrison and Miz engaged themselves in a feud with The Colóns (Carlito and Primo), who were the reigning WWE Tag Team Champions, which resulted in both teams defending their respective championships successfully in separate matches. Their feud culminated in a tag team lumberjack match where both titles were on the line at the WrestleMania 25, but it was The Colóns who would unify the championships with a win. On April 13, as part of the 2009 WWE draft, The Miz was drafted to the Raw brand to split up the team, and as a result, Miz attacked Morrison.
Intercontinental Champion (2009–2010)
On April 15, Morrison was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, he defeated R-Truth. On the May 1 episode of SmackDown, Morrison engaged in a backstage fight with Chris Jericho after Jericho slapped him, turning face in the process for the first time in his career. Later that same night, Morrison defeated Shelton Benjamin, beginning a feud between the two. On the May 7 episode of Superstars, Morrison lost a match to Jericho after a distraction by Benjamin. Morrison continued to score victories over Benjamin in singles and tag team matches before defeating him at Judgment Day. During this time, Morrison would soon become wildly popular with fans. On the June 19 episode of SmackDown, Morrison lost a critically acclaimed match against Edge, in which the commentators described it as a "third main event". On the July 31 episode of SmackDown, Morrison had his first World Heavyweight Championship match against Jeff Hardy, but failed to win the title.
On the September 4 episode of SmackDown, Morrison defeated Rey Mysterio to win his third Intercontinental Championship. Morrison then began a feud with Dolph Ziggler, after losing a non-title match to him by countout, but he would successfully defend the title against Ziggler at Hell in a Cell, and again on the following episode of SmackDown. The feud between Morrison and Ziggler continued throughout the next month, with the two wrestling to a double countout for the Intercontinental Championship on the November 13 episode of SmackDown and Morrison retaining the championship in a two-out-of-three falls match the following week to end the feud. At Bragging Rights, Morrison was defeated by his former tag team partner then-United States Champion The Miz in an interbrand Champion vs. Champion match. Their rivalry continued after both were announced as opposing team captains for Survivor Series, where Miz's team defeated Morrison's team. Morrison then went on to feud with newcomer Drew McIntyre, who defeated Morrison in a non-title match on the December 4 episode of SmackDown, thus earning a championship opportunity against Morrison. At the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, Morrison lost the Intercontinental Championship to McIntyre, ending his reign at 103 days. He received his rematch on the January 1 episode of SmackDown, but was disqualified when McIntyre shoved him into the referee. He challenged McIntyre for the Intercontinental Championship again on the January 29 episode of SmackDown in a No Disqualification match, but lost, ending their feud. Morrison later won an Elimination Chamber qualifying match and participated in the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship, but was eliminated by The Undertaker. On the March 5 episode of SmackDown, Morrison teamed with R-Truth to defeat Cryme Tyme and The Hart Dynasty to earn a Unified WWE Tag Team Championship match against ShoMiz (Big Show and The Miz). At WrestleMania XXVI, they failed to win the championship.
Championship pursuits and departure (2010–2011)
On April 26, Morrison was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2010 WWE draft, and lost his first match back for the brand later that night to Jack Swagger. Later that week, in his final match on SmackDown, he lost to Cody Rhodes. On June 1, Morrison announced that he would be mentoring Eli Cottonwood in the second season of NXT. Cottonwood, however, was the second person eliminated from the competition, and was eliminated on the July 27 episode of NXT. Morrison then went on to participate in the main event of SummerSlam in which he and six teammates (John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho, Bret Hart, R-Truth, and Daniel Bryan) were victorious in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match against The Nexus. In October 2010, Morrison began a feud with Sheamus after he helped Santino Marella earn an upset win during a one-sided match against Sheamus. Within the following weeks, Morrison continued to save Marella from attacks by Sheamus. At Survivor Series, Morrison defeated Sheamus. Morrison entered the 2010 edition of the King of the Ring tournament, defeating Tyson Kidd, Cody Rhodes, and Alberto Del Rio. Morrison lost to Sheamus in the final round. He continued to feud with Sheamus and defeated him in a WWE Championship number one contender's ladder match at the Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view on December 19. Morrison received his WWE Championship match on the January 3, 2011 episode of Raw, but lost to reigning champion The Miz in a falls count anywhere match. On January 30, Morrison participated in the Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble event and despite not winning, he had a stand-out moment which was praised by critics as "arguably the spot of the decade" when Morrison was knocked off of the ring apron and performed a cat leap onto the barricade to avoid having his feet touch the floor and then went on to precision jump onto the ring steps and re-enter the ring. On February 20, Morrison participated in the Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event, but was eliminated by CM Punk. During the match, Morrison climbed to the top of the cage while inside the cage before dropping to deliver a crossbody on and eliminate Sheamus. At WrestleMania XXVII, Morrison teamed with Trish Stratus and Jersey Shore guest star Snooki in a mixed tag match to defeat the team of Dolph Ziggler and LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool).
On the April 11 episode of Raw, Morrison participated in a five-man gauntlet match for the number one contender's spot for the WWE Championship, but was eliminated by R-Truth. The next week on Raw, Morrison challenged R-Truth to a match later on in the night, with the stipulation that if Morrison won, he would take Truth's place in the steel cage match at Extreme Rules. Truth accepted, and lost the match, making Morrison the new number one contender. After the match, Truth viciously attacked Morrison. At Extreme Rules, R-Truth interfered in the WWE Championship steel cage match, attacking Morrison and preventing him from winning the match. The next night on Raw, Morrison was attacked by Truth again, prior to a scheduled match between the two which did not happen as a result. Morrison then underwent surgery to correct a legitimately pinched nerve in his neck. Morrison initially returned on the June 13 episode of Raw, but Truth attacked him again prior to their scheduled match, re-injuring him. Morrison returned again on the July 25 episode of Raw, attacking R-Truth. At SummerSlam, Morrison teamed up with Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio to defeat R-Truth, Alberto Del Rio and The Miz. The following night on Raw, Morrison defeated R-Truth in a falls count anywhere match to end their feud. At Night of Champions, Morrison competed in a Fatal 4-Way match for the United States Championship, also involving Alex Riley, Dolph Ziggler, and Jack Swagger, with Ziggler successfully retaining his title. Morrison then challenged Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, but failed to win the title. Following this, Morrison went on a losing streak, lasting a number of weeks. On the November 7 episode of Raw, Morrison picked up his first victory in three months, defeating United States Champion Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match. Morrison then challenged Ziggler for the championship at Survivor Series, but was defeated by Ziggler.
In his last advertised WWE appearance on the November 28 episode of Raw, Morrison faced The Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere match; Miz won the match by delivering the Skull-Crushing Finale on the steel entrance stage, giving Morrison a kayfabe injury. This was used to write Morrison off television, even being stretchered out of the arena after the match. On November 29, WWE acknowledged the end of Morrison's contract, and moved his profile to the alumni section of its website. In a video published on December 9, 2011, via Hennigan's personal YouTube channel, Hennigan claimed that he was taking time off to heal and retrain for a possible return to wrestling in the future. In 2015, Hennigan revealed on Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast that WWE wanted him to sign another multi-year contract, but due to a neck injury, residual pain, and creative frustrations, he decided to not renew his contract, wanting "more control over [his] time".
Independent circuit (2012–2019)
After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison. On his first post-WWE wrestling appearance, Hennigan rekindled an old feud, facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012. Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion. On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match. On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show. Hennigan took part in the WrestleMania weekend, wrestling for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate. On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger in an "International Dream Match" at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) event.
On June 21, 2013, Hennigan defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool in FWE Welcome to the Rumble II, winning the FWE Heavyweight Championship. The next day, Hennigan defended the title against Too Cold Scorpio at House of Hardcore 2. On October 12, 2013, at FWE Grand Prix, Hennigan defeated Matt Morgan, retaining the FWE Heavyweight Championship. On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles.
On June 28, 2016, it was announced that Hennigan would make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerilla in the company's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He won his match against Matt Sydal in the first round, but was eliminated by Ricochet in the quarter-finals.
On January 28, 2017, Morrison won a tournament at a 5 Star Wrestling event for the 5 Star Wrestling Championship, defeating Moose, Drew Galloway, and Rey Mysterio to win the title. On February 8, 2018, he lost the title against Jake Hager after over a year as champion.
On September 22, Morrison reunited with former MNM tag team partner Joey Mercury after ten years, defeating Reno Scum.
Lucha Underground (2014–2018)
In September 2014, it was reported that Hennigan had signed with the El Rey network's new television series, Lucha Underground, where he wrestled under the ring name Johnny Mundo. Mundo wrestled in the main event of the debut episode of Lucha Underground on October 29, 2014, defeating Prince Puma and winning one hundred thousand dollars, which was then taken away from him by promoter Dario Cueto, setting up several feuds. He then teamed with Prince Puma during the November 5, 2014 episode, defeating Cortez Castro and Mr. Cisco. On the November 19 episode, Mundo defeated Big Ryck by disqualification after interference by Castro and Cisco. Mundo then defeated Prince Puma and Big Ryck in the main event of the December 10, 2014 episode, which was a three-way ladder match, to finally win the hundred thousand dollars he was denied in the Lucha Underground debut.
On January 7, 2015, Mundo participated in a 20-man "Aztec Warfare" battle royal for the Lucha Underground Championship. He was the second luchador to enter the ring, but was the last man eliminated by Prince Puma who won the Championship. King Cuerno attacked Mundo on the February 4 episode, beginning a feud between them; the second installment took place on the episode which aired March 11, where Mundo and Cuerno wrestled in a Steel Cage match, which was won by Mundo. On May 13, Mundo turned into a villain when he attacked Alberto El Patrón in his match against Hernandez, throwing him through the window of Dario Cueto's office. Mundo subsequently tossed El Patrón back into the ring, giving Hernandez the win. On the June 17, episode of Lucha Underground, Johnny Mundo unsuccessfully challenged Prince Puma for the Lucha Underground Championship in an Iron Man match. On August 5, 2015, at Ultima Lucha, Mundo defeated Alberto El Patrón after an interference by his girlfriend Melina Perez.
On the February 3, 2016 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo faced Killshot in a winning effort. After the match, Mundo taunted Lucha Underground Champion Mil Muertes, only to be confronted by Cage. Mundo defeated Cage on February 24, after interference from the debuting Taya, subsequently becoming Mundo's valet. On the May 25 episode of Lucha Underground, Taya revealed to PJ Black and Jack Evans that their partner Fénix was injured by Mundo. As Mundo revealed himself as Fénix's replacement for their match, Black and Evans allied with the two. Later that night in the main event, Mundo, Black and Evans defeated Rey Mysterio Jr., Prince Puma and Dragon Azteca Jr. to win the Lucha Underground Trios Championship, the first championship for each in Lucha Underground. The week after, Mundo, Black and Evans, now collectively billed as Worldwide Underground, retained their championships in a rematch via disqualification. Worldwide Underground lost their titles to Aero Star, Drago and Fénix at the third and final part Ultima Lucha Dos, which aired on July 20.
On the October 26 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo defeated Sexy Star to win the Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship after he knocked out Sexy Star with brass knuckles while the referee was unaware. On the November 23 episode of Lucha Underground, he cashed in his Gift of the Gods Championship on Sexy Star before defeating her to win the Lucha Underground Championship, becoming the second Triple Crown Champion in Lucha Underground history. On the December 21 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo successfully defended his championship in a rematch against Sexy Star inside a steel cage. He lost the title to Prince Puma at Ultima Lucha Tres.
Mundo made his return on the fourth season's premiere, competing in Aztec Warfare entering at number 11. Mundo eliminated Ricky Mundo and Daga before getting eliminated by Marty Martinez and being attacked by the Reptile Tribe. On November 17, 2018, Mundo wrestled on the final episode of Lucha Underground, Ultima Lucha Cuatro, defeating Matanza Cueto in a Sacrifice to the Gods match.
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2015–2018)
On May 24, 2015, Mundo made his debut for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) at the Lucha Libre World Cup event representing Lucha Underground as a member of "Team TNA/Lucha Underground" alongside TNA wrestlers Matt Hardy and Mr. Anderson. They finished in second place, losing in the finals to the "Dream Team" (El Patrón Alberto, Myzteziz and Rey Mysterio Jr.).
On June 4, 2015 in the main event of Verano de Escándalo, Mundo established himself as a rudo (or villain) and teamed with El Mesias and Pentagón Jr. losing to Myzteziz, La Parka and Rey Mysterio Jr. On September 27, Konnan announced Mundo as an official member of the rudo stable, La Sociedad, while he subsequently stepped down as the leader of the group. On October 4, at Héroes Inmortales IX, Mundo unsuccessfully challenged El Patrón Alberto for the AAA Mega Championship, when he was defeated by disqualification. After Alberto left AAA, Mundo was scheduled to face Rey Mysterio Jr. for the vacant AAA Mega Championship at Guerra de Titanes, but after the matches of the event were officially announced, neither Mundo nor Mysterio were featured for the event. Mundo participated in the 2016 Lucha Libre World Cup as a member of "Team Lucha Underground" alongside Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Brian Cage, defeating "Team Mexico Leyendas" (Blue Demon Jr., Canek, and La Parka) in the quarter-finals, and "Team Mexico International" (Rey Mysterio Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr., and Dragon Azteca Jr.) in the semi-finals. Mundo's team won the tournament defeating "Team AAA" (Pentagón Jr., El Texano Jr. and Psycho Clown) in the finals.
After adopting an "anti-Mexico" attitude and teaming with El Mesías and Hernandez to defeat El Texano Jr., El Hijo del Fantasma and Pentagón Jr., Mundo challenged the latter to a match at Triplemanía XXIV for the AAA Latin American Championship, to which Pentagón accepted. At the event, on August 28, Mundo defeated Pentagón to win the Latin American Championship, marking his first championship in AAA and becoming the first non-Mexican to hold the title. On October 2 in the main event of Héroes Inmortales X, Mundo successfully defended his title against Garza Jr. On March 19, 2017, at Rey de Reyes, Mundo defeated El Texano Jr. and El Hijo del Fantasma in a three-way match to not only retain the Latin American Championship, but to also win Texano's AAA Mega Championship and Fantasma's AAA World Cruiserweight Championship. In his first AAA Mega Championship defense, on June 30, Mundo successfully retained his title against Texano.
In July 2017, Mundo and his fiancée Kira Forster, known as Taya, were involved in controversy with AAA and its Director of Talent Vampiro, which led to Taya's departure from the company. According to Wrestling Observer, AAA asked Mundo to turn in Taya's Reina de Reinas Championship for a photo shoot the day prior to an event on July 1. A few weeks later, Vampiro addressed to the live crowd that Forster was stripped of the title due to not appearing to defend her title, despite not being scheduled to appear.
On August 26, at Triplemanía XXV, Mundo successfully defended his three championships against Fantasma and Texano in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. On October 1 at Héroes Inmortales XI, Mundo wrestled in three matches, retaining the Mega Championship against Rey Wagner, but losing the Latin American Championship to Fantasma in the annual Copa Antonio Peña battle royal, and the World Cruiserweight Championship to Lanzelot in a ten-way match, ending his triple championship reign at 196 days.
On January 26, 2018 at Guerra de Titanes, Mundo lost the AAA Mega Championship to Rey Wagner, ending his reign at 314 days.
Impact Wrestling (2017–2019)
Championship pursuits (2017–2018)
In August 2017, despite not being signed to the promotion at the time, Hennigan appeared for Impact Wrestling at some live events. On August 17, a video package was shown at Destination X revealing his ring name as Johnny Impact. His first feud in the promotion was with Eli Drake, when Impact made his televised in-ring debut on the August 24 episode of Impact!, participating in a Gauntlet for the Gold match for the vacant Global Championship, but was eliminated by eventual winner Eli Drake. Impact would face Drake for the title at Victory Road and Bound for Glory, where he failed to win the title. Since the Bound for Glory match ended after Alberto El Patrón made an interference, Impact, Alberto and Drake had a three-way Last Chance Six Sides of Steel match on the January 25, 2018 episode of Impact!, where Drake retained the title.
After Drake lost the renamed Impact World Championship to Austin Aries, Impact began pursuit of Aries's championship, facing him at Crossroads special, where he lost again. On the April 19 episode of Impact!, Johnny Impact was attacked and injured by Kongo Kong, which was performed to write him off television in order to film for reality television show Survivor. Impact returned at Slammiversary XVI, when he won a four-way match against Fenix, Taiji Ishimori, and Petey Williams.
Impact World Champion (2018–2019)
Impact began a feud with the Impact World Champion Austin Aries, which led to a match at Bound for Glory. As the PPV moved closer, the feud started to blur the lines between a work (something scripted) and shoot (something real), beginning with the two wrestlers trading insults on Twitter that they appeared to take personal, with Aries later deleting many of his tweets. Specifically, Impact mocked Aries' short stature and the champion responded by making fun of his wife's weight. Aries and Impact both alleged in the media that they authentically took issue with comments. TMZ Live also pushed the angle "like [it] was a shoot". The two wrestlers got in a brawl the night before Bound for Glory during Abyss's Impact Hall of Fame induction. At the event, Impact defeated Aries to win the Impact World Championship. Throughout the following weeks, Impact successfully defended his title against Fénix, Killer Kross, and Matt Sydal. At Homecoming on January 6, 2019, Impact defeated Brian Cage to retain his championship.
During the February tapings for Impact Wrestling, Impact defended his title in a four-way contest involving Killer Kross, Moose and Brian Cage. Impact hit his finisher on Moose, barely seconds prior to Cage hitting his Drill Claw finisher on Killer Kross. As Impact was able to cover his opponent first the referee was able to provide the count and therefore Impact won the match as Brian Cage went to cover his opponent. On the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Impact's wife Taya Valkyrie would low blow Cage, which allowed Impact to attack Cage, turning into a villain. At United We Stand, Impact won a five-way Ultimate X match to become the number one contender for the Impact X Division Championship. Throughout April, Impact successfully defended his title from Cage, often with interferences from Valkyrie and former referee John E Bravo. At Rebellion, Impact, accompanied by Valkyrie and Bravo, lost the title to Cage in a match where Lance Storm was special guest referee; this left Impact's reign to end at 196 days, leaving it the longest reign since Bobby Roode's 2011–2012 reign, and therefore the longest reign in seven years, as well as the third-longest reign in history.
On the May 31 episode of Impact Wrestling, Impact challenged X Division Champion Rich Swann to a title match at Slammiversary XVII. Later that night, he teamed with Michael Elgin to face Swann and Willie Mack in a tag team match, in which Swann pinned Impact. At Slammiversary XVII, Impact was defeated by Swann. On July 8, Pro Wrestling Insider reported that Hennigan's contract with Impact Wrestling had expired several weeks prior to the event, and the two sides agreed to have Hennigan work until Slammiversary.
Return to WWE (2019–2021)
On September 26, 2019, it was reported by Mike Johnson of Pro Wrestling Insider that Hennigan had re-signed with WWE, which was officially confirmed by the company on December 3 during WWE Backstage. He made his return on January 3, 2020 episode of SmackDown under his John Morrison ring name and resumed his partnership with The Miz, thus re-establishing him as a heel for the first time in WWE in 10 years. They would feud with the SmackDown Tag Team Champions, The New Day, with Morrison winning singles matches against Big E and Kofi Kingston. At the Royal Rumble, Morrison participated in the Royal Rumble match as the fifth entrant, but he was eliminated by Brock Lesnar. At Super ShowDown, Miz and Morrison won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship from The New Day.
On March 8, Morrison and Miz had their first title defense in a tag team Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber event, successfully defending their titles against The New Day, The Usos, Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado), and Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. At WrestleMania 36, after the Miz's absence due to illness, Morrison defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championships by himself in a ladder match against Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso, in which he was successful. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, the duo lost the titles back to The New Day after Miz unsuccessfully defended the titles by himself in a triple threat match against Big E and Jey Uso ending their reign at 50 days. At Money in the Bank the following month, Morrison and Miz unsuccessfully attempted to regain the championship in a fatal four-way tag team match also involving Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) and The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake). Morrison and Miz then started a rivalry with Universal Champion Braun Strowman. At Backlash, the duo competed for Strowman's title in a two-on-one handicap match, but lost. As part of the 2020 Draft in October, both Morrison and Miz were drafted to the Raw brand. Prior to the draft, Morrison and Miz entered a feud with Otis for his Money in the Bank contract. At Hell in a Cell, Morrison accompanied Miz in his match against Otis for the contract, which Miz won.
On the December 7 episode of Raw, Morrison ended a nearly seven-month losing streak after defeating Drew McIntyre and Sheamus in a 3-on-2 handicap match alongside The Miz and AJ Styles. Morrison entered the 2021 Royal Rumble match on January 31, lasting over eight minutes before being eliminated by Damian Priest. At the Elimination Chamber event on February 21, 2021, Morrison defeated Ricochet, Elias, and Mustafa Ali in a fatal four-way match for an opportunity at the United States Championship. Later that night, he failed to win the title in a triple threat match against Riddle and reigning champion Bobby Lashley, as Riddle won the match. After this, Morrison and Miz feuded with rapper Bad Bunny and Damian Priest. At WrestleMania 37 on April 10, Morrison and Miz faced Bad Bunny and Priest in a tag team match, but lost.
After Miz suffered an injury at WrestleMania Backlash, Morrison would embark on singles run, starting by defeating Jeff Hardy on the June 14 episode of Raw. The following week, Morrison defeated Randy Orton to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at the namesake pay-per-view event, which was won by Big E. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Miz turned on Morrison by attacking him, thus turning Morrison face and setting up a feud between the pair. However, the feud abruptly ended after the Miz took a hiatus to compete on Dancing with the Stars. On November 18, as part of an eighth round of layoffs due to budget cuts stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Morrison was released from his WWE contract.
Return to AAA (2022)
On February 19, 2022, Hennigan, as "John Superstar", unsuccessfully challenged El Hijo del Vikingo at Rey de Reyes for the AAA Mega Championship.
Return to the independent circuit (2022–present)
On April 1, 2022, Hennigan, as "Johnny Caballero", will make his debut for Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) at the Wrld on Lucha event. It was also announced that Hennigan would wrestle at GCW's Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 8.
Professional wrestling style and persona
Hennigan was described by WWE as having "lightning-fast offense", "high-risk aerial expertise", and "incredible agility". He is known to utilize a split-legged corkscrew moonsault, dubbed Starship Pain, as a finishing maneuver. During his singles run as Johnny Nitro, he used a standing shooting star press as his finisher. After transitioning to his John Morrison character, Hennigan began using a corkscrew neckbreaker dubbed Moonlight Drive, in reference to the song of the same name written by Jim Morrison. He also prominently used a superkick as a finisher in 2008 during a feud with D-Generation X, as a way to mock Shawn Michaels's Sweet Chin Music maneuver. Hennigan is a practitioner of parkour and often incorporates it into his wrestling style, giving him the nickname "The Prince of Parkour". He also has a background in amateur wrestling, breakdancing, gymnastics, and martial arts. Regarding his unique wrestling style, Hennigan stated in a 2021 interview with Sports Illustrated:
Alongside his team MNM, Hennigan debuted on WWE television as Johnny Nitro, presenting himself as an arrogant wrestler with "elite Hollywood status". After winning the ECW World Championship in 2007, he changed his ring name to John Morrison and his gimmick was tweaked to be even more conceited and self-aggrandizing — in addition to being modeled after Jim Morrison, the legendary frontman of the 1960s rock band The Doors, to whom he bears a strong physical resemblance. Following his return to WWE and reunion with his tag team partner the Miz in 2020, Hennigan added a comedic aspect to his villainous character, with WWE describing him as using "quirkiness and quick wit to shine every time he is on screen". He also began to refer to himself as "Johnny Drip Drip", a reference to the song "Drip" by rapper Cardi B.
Outside of WWE, Hennigan began referring to himself as the "Mayor of Slamtown", a fictional town he first coined in Lucha Underground in 2015. Hennigan filed to trademark the term "Slamtown" in November 2020.
Other media
In 2009, Hennigan and Maryse Ouellet were interviewed on Eurosport. In 2009, Hennigan appeared on two episodes of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, which were both aired on September 29. Hennigan is the subject of a WWE DVD, called John Morrison – Rock Star, which was released on February 16, 2010. The DVD covers his career from his name change to John Morrison up until his Intercontinental Championship win in September 2009. He appeared on an episode of Destroy Build Destroy on March 3, 2010. Hennigan was on the cover of Muscle & Fitness in June 2010, with the issue also featuring an interview and photo shoot. In 2016, Hennigan, Rey Mysterio, and King Cuerno appeared on ESPN to promote the second season of Lucha Underground.
Hennigan is also a frequent collaborator with comic book-based film producers Bat in the Sun Productions, appearing in two episodes of their well-known Super Power Beat Down series; playing as Casey Jones against Kick-Ass in episode 13, and as Winter Soldier against Nightwing in episode 19. Hennigan portrayed Eternal Warrior in the web series Ninjak vs. the Valiant Universe, produced by Valiant Entertainment and directed by Bat in the Sun.
Filmmaking
After leaving WWE in 2011, Hennigan pursued a career in the film industry as an actor and filmmaker. In 2013, he appeared in 20 Feet Below: The Darkness Descending with Danny Trejo, as well as served as co-producer of the film. In 2017, Hennigan released his first feature film titled Boone: The Bounty Hunter, which he starred in, co-wrote, and served as executive producer of. Hennigan sold his house in order to finance the film. In 2018, Hennigan began working on his directorial debut, a short film titled The Iron Sheik Massacre which he also produced and co-wrote with his wife Kira Forster. It was expected to be released in 2020, but has yet to have an official release date.
Survivor: David vs. Goliath
Hennigan was a contestant on the 37th season of Survivor, Survivor: David vs. Goliath where he was originally part of the Goliath tribe and later Tiva before making it to the merged tribe Kalokalo. He finished 12th and became the second member of the jury after the former members of the Goliath tribe were blindsided at tribal council; two contestants used hidden immunity idols, causing Hennigan to be eliminated despite only having three elimination votes, as Christian Hubicki, who received seven, was immune.
Hennigan's performance as a contestant and the episode of his elimination received critical acclaim. Chris Chase of USA Today praised Hennigan for being "true to everything we’ve seen from him this season, [and] a class act after his shock defeat". Writing for People, former Survivor contestant Stephen Fishbach highlighted that "in a tribal council that was meant to take out the Davidest David [Christian Hubicki], it was really the Goliath of the Goliaths [Hennigan] who fell. How perfectly Biblical." The show’s executive producer and host Jeff Probst was "so impressed" with Hennigan, describing him as "the guy who catches the winning touchdown pass in the final moments of the Super Bowl, and then, instead of some crazy celebration, he casually tosses the ball to the ref, kisses his wife and hugs his kids", alongside stating that he would "absolutely" have Hennigan back on the show.
Filmography
Personal life
Hennigan is good friends with fellow professional wrestlers The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, Jeff Hardy, and Randy Orton. He was also good friends with Shad Gaspard, and still is with JTG, of Cryme Tyme, and was a part of the search team after Gaspard's disappearance and death.
Hennigan was involved in an on-off relationship with former WWE Diva and on-screen manager Melina Perez from 2003 to 2015. The pair met during the auditions for Tough Enough III, in which Perez was cut and Hennigan eventually won. Since 2016, Hennigan has been in a relationship with Kira Forster, better known as Taya Valkyrie. The pair met through the affiliation between AAA and Lucha Underground, with Forster becoming Hennigan's on-screen partner in the latter promotion prior to their real-life relationship. They became engaged on June 14, 2017, and were married on June 1, 2018.
Championships and accomplishments
5 Star Wrestling
5 Star Wrestling Championship (1 time)
One Night Tournament (2017)
ACW Wisconsin
ACW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
The Baltimore Sun
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
Blackcraft Wrestling
BCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Continental Wrestling Federation
CWF United States Championship (1 time)
DDT Pro-Wrestling
Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (1 time)
European Pro Wrestling
EPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Family Wrestling Entertainment
FWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Impact Wrestling
Impact World Championship (1 time)
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
AAA Mega Championship (1 time)
AAA Latin American Championship (1 time)
AAA World Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
Lucha Libre World Cup (2016 Men's Division) – with Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Brian Cage
Lucha Underground
Lucha Underground Championship (1 time)
Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship (1 time)
Lucha Underground Trios Championship (1 time) – with Jack Evans and PJ Black
Second Triple Crown Champion
Mondo Lucha
Mondo Lucha Championship (1 time)
Mondo Lucha Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Matt Cross
Next Generation Wrestling
NGW World Championship (1 time)
NGW World Title Tournament (2013)
Ohio Valley Wrestling
OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Joey Matthews
Pacific Coast Wrestling/PCW Ultra
PCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2009)
Tag Team of the Year (2005) – with Joey Mercury
Ranked No. 24 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
Qatar Pro Wrestling
QPW Souq Waqif Championship (1 time)
QPW Souq Waqif Title Tournament (2015)
Rogue Wrestling
Rogue Championship (1 time)
Rogue Championship Tournament (2019)
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
ECW World Championship (1 time)
WWE Intercontinental Championship (3 times)
WWE Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Joey Mercury (3) and The Miz (1)
World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Miz
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Miz
ECW World Championship Tournament (2007)
Tough Enough III (2003)
Slammy Award (2 times)
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
Best WWE.com Exclusive (2008) – with The Miz
World Series Wrestling
WSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Wrestling Fan Xperience
WWFX Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
References
External links
1979 births
21st-century American male actors
American capoeira practitioners
American male professional wrestlers
ECW champions
ECW Heavyweight Champions/ECW World Heavyweight Champions
Living people
People from Palos Verdes, California
Professional wrestlers from California
Sportspeople from Los Angeles
Survivor (American TV series) contestants
TNA World Heavyweight/Impact World Champions
Tough Enough contestants
Tough Enough winners
Traceurs
WWF/WWE Intercontinental Champions
AAA Mega Champions | true | [
"Karl Cordin (born 3 November 1948) is an Austrian former alpine skier who did only compete in Downhill Races; he competed in the 1972 Winter Olympics, becoming 7th silver medal at FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1970 in downhill.\n\nBiography\nCording did win three World Cup races: on February 21, 1970, at Jackson Hole, on December 20th, 1970, at Val-d’Isère, and on December 18, 1973, at Zell am See; he did become five-times second and twice third too. He also could achieve the Downhill World Cup in 1969-70.\nHe won the silver medal in the FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships 1970 and became fourth in the FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships 1974; in both races he was overtaken by a racer with a higher number. In 1970, he was in lead (and it looked that he could gain the gold medal) - but Bernhard Russi did win. In 1974, he was on the way to win the bronze medal, but Willi Frommelt did catch it.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1948 births\nLiving people\nAustrian male alpine skiers\nOlympic alpine skiers of Austria\nAlpine skiers at the 1972 Winter Olympics\nFIS Alpine Ski World Cup champions",
"The 1972 UEFA European Under-23 Championship, which spanned two years (1970–72) had 23 entrants. Czechoslovakia U-23s won the competition.\n\nThe 23 national teams were divided into eight groups. The group winners played off against each other on a two-legged home-and-away basis until the winner was decided. There was no finals tournament or 3rd-place playoff.\n\nQualifying Stage\n\nDraw\nThe allocation of teams into qualifying groups was based on that of UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying tournament with several changes, reflecting the absence of some nations:\n Group 2 and 8 had the same competing nations\n Group 1 did not include Wales\n Group 3 did not include England and Malta\n Group 4 did not include Northern Ireland and Cyprus\n Group 5 did not include Belgium and Scotland\n Group 6 did not include Republic of Ireland\n Group 7 did not include Luxembourg\n\nGroup 1\n\nGroup 2\n\nGroup 3\n\nGroup 4\n\nGroup 5\n\nGroup 6\n\nGroup 7\n\nGroup 8\n\nKnockout Stages\n{|width=100%\n|valign=\"center\"|\nQuarter Finals\n Bulgaria 2–2 Netherlands\n Netherlands 0–0 Bulgaria\n Bulgaria 2–0 Netherlands\n2–2: win playoff match\n\n Denmark 2–0 Greece\n Greece 5–0 Denmark\n win 5–2 on aggregate\n\n Soviet Union 3–1 West Germany\n West Germany 0–0 Soviet Union\n win 3–1 on aggregate\n\n Sweden 1–0 Czechoslovakia\n Czechoslovakia 3–1 Sweden\n win 3–2 on aggregate|width=\"5%\"| \n|valign=\"center\"|\nSemi Finals\n Czechoslovakia 2–0 Greece\n Greece 2–1 Czechoslovakia win 3–2 on aggregate Soviet Union 4–0 Bulgaria\n Bulgaria 3–3 Soviet Union win 7–3 on aggregate|width=\"5%\"| \n|valign=\"center\"|\nFinal\n Soviet Union 2–2 Czechoslovakia\n Czechoslovakia 3–1 Soviet Union win 5–3 on aggregate finish as Champions\n|}\n\nSee also\n UEFA European Under-21 Championship\n\nExternal links\n RSSSF Results Archive at rsssf.com\n\nUEFA European Under-21 Championship\n1970–71 in European football\n1971–72 in European football\n1972 in youth association football"
]
|
[
"John Morrison (wrestler)",
"Independent circuit (2012-present)",
"What was the independent circuit?",
"After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison.",
"Was he successful?",
"Hennigan rekindled an old feud facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila,",
"Did he win?",
"Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion."
]
| C_78d624427aba445786e994c48bae222a_1 | Did they ever face off against each other again? | 4 | Did John Morrison and Shelton Benjamin face off against each other again? | John Morrison (wrestler) | After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison. On his first post-WWE wrestling appearance, Hennigan rekindled an old feud facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012. Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion. On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match. On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show. Hennigan took part in the WrestleMania weekend, wrestling for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate. On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger in an "International Dream Match" at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) event. On April 19, Hennigan again defeated Sami Callihan in a no count-out, no disqualification falls count anywhere match at a 2CW event in Rome, New York. The next day, he defeated Kevin Steen at 2CW's first iPPV (Living on the Edge VIII), in Watertown, New York. On June 21, 2013, Hennigan defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool in FWE Welcome to the Rumble II, winning the FWE Heavyweight Championship. The next day, Hennigan defended the title against Too Cold Scorpio at House of Hardcore 2. On September 6 and 8, Morrison wrestled against WWL World Heavyweight Champion Black Pain for the title, but he was defeated both times. On October 12, 2013, at FWE Grand Prix, Hennigan defeated Matt Morgan, retaining the FWE Heavyweight Championship. On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles. Morrison faced Rob Van Dam at Pro Wrestling Syndicate in Rahway, New Jersey on October 24, 2015 in a winning effort. After the match, Morrison shook hands with Van Dam and led the crowd in an "RVD" chant. On June 28, 2016, it was announced that Hennigan would make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerilla in the company's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He won his match against Matt Sydal in the first round, but was eliminated by Ricochet in the quarter-finals. On November 16, it was announced that Hennigan, under his Johnny Mundo ring name, would appear for What Culture Pro Wrestling on their Delete WCPW event on November 30. Mundo was scheduled to face Alberto El Patron, but due to Alberto's absence he was replaced by Gabriel Kidd. At the event, Mundo cut a heel promo, insulting Alberto El Patron and the crowd, before defeating Kidd. On January 28, 2017, Morrison won a tournament at a 5 Star Wrestling event for his 5 Star Wrestling Championship, defeating Moose, Drew Galloway, and Rey Mysterio to retain the title. On June 2, Hennigan defeated Rob Van Dam to become the Pacific Coast Wrestling Heavyweight Champion. On September 22, Morrison reunited with former MNM tag team partner Joey Mercury after ten years, defeating Reno Scum. CANNOTANSWER | On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match. | John Randall Hennigan (born October 3, 1979) is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by the ring name John Morrison. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he was a contracted performer from 2002 to 2011, and 2019 to 2021.
Hennigan won Tough Enough III (a WWE reality TV competition show that awarded winners a wrestling contract with the company), and was assigned to its developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), to continue his wrestling training. WWE promoted Hennigan to its SmackDown! roster in April 2005 under the ring name Johnny Nitro; in his debut match on the show, he won the WWE Tag Team Championship (as a part of the tag team, MNM). In between runs in WWE, Hennigan held lead or main event roles in several independent wrestling promotions, including the lucha libre wrestling company/TV series Lucha Underground, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (aka "AAA"; as Johnny Mundo), and Impact Wrestling (as Johnny Impact).
Hennigan is a four-time world champion, having won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship (WWE revival version), AAA Mega Championship, Impact Wrestling World Championship, and the Lucha Underground Championship once each. In WWE, he also held the Intercontinental Championship three times, and was a six-time tag team champion (one World Tag Team Championship, four WWE Tag Team Championships, and one SmackDown Tag Team Championship). In lucha libre, Hennigan was a central fixture in all four seasons of Lucha Underground, and was AAA's first-ever triple champion (holding the AAA Mega Championship, AAA Latin American Championship, and AAA World Cruiserweight Championship simultaneously. He has headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WWE and Impact, including the latter company's flagship event, Bound for Glory, in 2017 and 2018.
Outside of wrestling, Hennigan has also worked in the film and television industry. In film, he has mainly worked as an actor, producer and stuntman. He is also known for being a contestant on the 37th season of the competitive reality show Survivor.
Early life
John Randall Hennigan was born on October 3, 1979, in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Palos Verdes Peninsula, where he attended Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. He graduated from the University of California, Davis in 2002, where he studied film and geology.
Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE (2002–2011)
Tough Enough and Ohio Valley Wrestling (2002–2004)
After graduating college with a degree in film and geology and deciding that he did not want to pursue either path, Hennigan began his professional wrestling career training at the Supreme Pro Wrestling school in Sacramento, California. After failing his audition for Tough Enough 2, a competition in which the winner earned a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) contract, he was accepted as a cast member for Tough Enough III in 2002, eventually becoming the co-winner with Matt Cappotelli. For winning, Hennigan was awarded a developmental contract and assigned to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), to continue his training. Hennigan competed in Acolytes Protection Agency's invitational Bar Room Brawl match at Vengeance in July 2003. Hennigan and Cappotelli made an appearance on an episode of Heat in January 2004, losing to Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak.
MNM (2004–2006)
On the March 1, 2004 episode of Raw, Hennigan debuted on the main roster as a heel, under the ring name "Johnny Blaze". His gimmick was that he was the apprentice and assistant of the Raw General Manager, Eric Bischoff. The next week his name was changed to "Johnny Spade", and three weeks after that it was changed to "Johnny Nitro". The Nitro name, which finally stuck, was a reference to WCW Monday Nitro, the flagship show of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for which Bischoff had previously worked. To drive the point home, he began using the Nitro theme as his ring entrance music. Nitro acted as Bischoff's apprentice and assistant until June, when he was sent back to OVW. To explain his departure, Nitro lost a match on the June 7 episode of Raw against Eugene, which carried the stipulation that upon his loss, he also lost his job.
Upon his return to OVW, Nitro was put into a feud with Matt Cappotelli. During the course of the feud, Melina was brought into the company as Nitro's ex-girlfriend and an ally of Cappotelli, only to turn on him and side with Nitro. Not long after, Nitro and Melina were joined by Joey Mercury, forming the stable MNM. MNM wrestled in OVW for around a year, holding the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship once, before losing the titles to Cappotelli and Johnny Jeter in January 2005. They were soon called up to the main SmackDown! brand in April that same year.
In their debut match on the main roster, MNM won the WWE Tag Team Championship from Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio on the April 21 episode of SmackDown!. MNM held the titles for three months, having successful titles defenses against the teams of Guerrero and Mysterio, and Charlie Haas and Hardcore Holly, before dropping them to the Legion of Doom at The Great American Bash. They won the titles again on the October 28 episode of SmackDown! in a four-way match defeating Legion of Doom, The Mexicools, and William Regal and Paul Burchill, but lost them to Rey Mysterio and Batista on the December 16 episode of SmackDown! two days before Armageddon. Due to help from Mark Henry, MNM defeated Mysterio and Batista in a rematch on the December 30 episode of SmackDown! to win the championship for the third time. They began a rivalry with the team of Paul London and Brian Kendrick that lasted over three months, until they dropped the championship to London and Kendrick at Judgment Day in May 2006, with the storyline leading to Nitro and Melina suddenly turning on Mercury after the match, breaking up the group. Later that night, Melina and Nitro were booked off the SmackDown! brand by having the General Manager, Theodore Long "fire" them.
Singles competition and championship success (2006–2007)
The next week, Nitro, along with Melina, debuted on the Raw brand in a loss to WWE Champion John Cena. Nitro was immediately placed in the Intercontinental Championship picture, beginning his first reign at Vengeance in June after defeating champion Shelton Benjamin in a triple threat match also involving Carlito. Nitro held the championship for four months, feuding with several challengers before losing it to Jeff Hardy on the October 2 episode of Raw. Nitro recaptured the Intercontinental Championship from Hardy on the November 6 episode of Raw, but lost it back to Hardy on the following week's Raw. Also around this time, Nitro entered into a partnership with rapper Kevin Federline, with the duo antagonizing and beginning a rivalry with WWE Champion John Cena. Federline was then, in storyline, trained by Nitro for a match with Cena, which he won after interference from Umaga.
MNM reunited on the November 27 episode of Raw to accept an open challenge from The Hardys (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) at December to Dismember, a match that they lost. MNM and The Hardys feuded across the brands throughout December, with the two teams competing in a four-way ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Armageddon, also involving Brian Kendrick and Paul London and Dave Taylor and William Regal. However, MNM would be unsuccessful in winning the championship. Nitro challenged Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Championship in a steel cage match at New Year's Revolution on January 7, 2007, but did not win. MNM lost to The Hardys at the Royal Rumble later that month and again at No Way Out in February which ended the feud. MNM disbanded as a team when Mercury was released from WWE in March 2007.
After Mercury's departure, Nitro also ended his association with Melina. Nitro was placed in a tag team with Kenny Dykstra, until the 2007 WWE draft, during which Nitro was drafted to the ECW brand. Nitro made his debut for the brand on the June 19 episode of ECW, with a win over Nunzio, and few days later, on June 24, at Vengeance: Night of Champions, he won the vacant ECW World Championship by defeating CM Punk, replacing the absent Chris Benoit due to his double-murder suicide. A few weeks after winning the title, Nitro was repackaged as John Morrison, a reference to musician Jim Morrison, to whom Hennigan bears a strong physical resemblance. In the months to come, Morrison would retain the championship against Punk at The Great American Bash in July, and SummerSlam in August. Punk would again challenge for the championship on the September 4 episode of ECW, in which Morrison lost the championship to Punk, ending his reign at 69 days. Morrison was then suspended for thirty days for violating WWE's Wellness Program, renewing his feud with Punk upon his return, as well as competing against The Miz for the number one contendership to the title.
Teaming with The Miz (2007–2009)
Though rivals, Morrison and The Miz faced the dysfunctional tag team of Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter on the November 16 episode of SmackDown! for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a winning effort, marking Morrison's fourth WWE Tag Team Championship reign. At Survivor Series, Morrison and The Miz were both defeated by CM Punk in a triple threat match for the ECW Championship. After the defeat, the rivalry aspect of Morrison and Miz's relationship faded, as they were now portrayed as trusting friends. Morrison competed in the 2008 Royal Rumble match on January 27, but failed to win after being eliminated by Kane. In February 2008, Morrison and Miz were given a streaming segment on WWE.com named The Dirt Sheet in which they mocked other wrestlers and facets of pop culture. Morrison and Miz co-wrote each episode of The Dirt Sheet each week, and Morrison credits his time in college studying film with contributing to the success of the show. At WrestleMania XXIV, Morrison competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by CM Punk. Despite being unsuccessful, Morrison had a standout performance in the match, in which he performed a moonsault from the top rope to the outside of the ring while holding onto a ladder.
The team of Morrison and Miz had many successful title defenses over the next few months, before dropping the titles to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder at The Great American Bash in a fatal four-way match which also featured Jesse and Festus, and Finlay and Hornswoggle. Neither Morrison nor Miz were pinned, as Hawkins pinned Jesse to win the titles.
Afterwards, they started a feud with Cryme Tyme (JTG and Shad) through each team's Internet show, which then transitioned to matches on Raw and at Cyber Sunday. After winning the Slammy Award for Best WWE.com exclusive earlier in the day, Morrison and Miz won the "Tag Team of the Year" Slammy Award on December 8, 2008 episode of Raw. On December 13, Morrison and Miz won the World Tag Team Championship from CM Punk and Kofi Kingston at a live event. Morrison and Miz engaged themselves in a feud with The Colóns (Carlito and Primo), who were the reigning WWE Tag Team Champions, which resulted in both teams defending their respective championships successfully in separate matches. Their feud culminated in a tag team lumberjack match where both titles were on the line at the WrestleMania 25, but it was The Colóns who would unify the championships with a win. On April 13, as part of the 2009 WWE draft, The Miz was drafted to the Raw brand to split up the team, and as a result, Miz attacked Morrison.
Intercontinental Champion (2009–2010)
On April 15, Morrison was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, he defeated R-Truth. On the May 1 episode of SmackDown, Morrison engaged in a backstage fight with Chris Jericho after Jericho slapped him, turning face in the process for the first time in his career. Later that same night, Morrison defeated Shelton Benjamin, beginning a feud between the two. On the May 7 episode of Superstars, Morrison lost a match to Jericho after a distraction by Benjamin. Morrison continued to score victories over Benjamin in singles and tag team matches before defeating him at Judgment Day. During this time, Morrison would soon become wildly popular with fans. On the June 19 episode of SmackDown, Morrison lost a critically acclaimed match against Edge, in which the commentators described it as a "third main event". On the July 31 episode of SmackDown, Morrison had his first World Heavyweight Championship match against Jeff Hardy, but failed to win the title.
On the September 4 episode of SmackDown, Morrison defeated Rey Mysterio to win his third Intercontinental Championship. Morrison then began a feud with Dolph Ziggler, after losing a non-title match to him by countout, but he would successfully defend the title against Ziggler at Hell in a Cell, and again on the following episode of SmackDown. The feud between Morrison and Ziggler continued throughout the next month, with the two wrestling to a double countout for the Intercontinental Championship on the November 13 episode of SmackDown and Morrison retaining the championship in a two-out-of-three falls match the following week to end the feud. At Bragging Rights, Morrison was defeated by his former tag team partner then-United States Champion The Miz in an interbrand Champion vs. Champion match. Their rivalry continued after both were announced as opposing team captains for Survivor Series, where Miz's team defeated Morrison's team. Morrison then went on to feud with newcomer Drew McIntyre, who defeated Morrison in a non-title match on the December 4 episode of SmackDown, thus earning a championship opportunity against Morrison. At the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, Morrison lost the Intercontinental Championship to McIntyre, ending his reign at 103 days. He received his rematch on the January 1 episode of SmackDown, but was disqualified when McIntyre shoved him into the referee. He challenged McIntyre for the Intercontinental Championship again on the January 29 episode of SmackDown in a No Disqualification match, but lost, ending their feud. Morrison later won an Elimination Chamber qualifying match and participated in the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship, but was eliminated by The Undertaker. On the March 5 episode of SmackDown, Morrison teamed with R-Truth to defeat Cryme Tyme and The Hart Dynasty to earn a Unified WWE Tag Team Championship match against ShoMiz (Big Show and The Miz). At WrestleMania XXVI, they failed to win the championship.
Championship pursuits and departure (2010–2011)
On April 26, Morrison was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2010 WWE draft, and lost his first match back for the brand later that night to Jack Swagger. Later that week, in his final match on SmackDown, he lost to Cody Rhodes. On June 1, Morrison announced that he would be mentoring Eli Cottonwood in the second season of NXT. Cottonwood, however, was the second person eliminated from the competition, and was eliminated on the July 27 episode of NXT. Morrison then went on to participate in the main event of SummerSlam in which he and six teammates (John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho, Bret Hart, R-Truth, and Daniel Bryan) were victorious in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match against The Nexus. In October 2010, Morrison began a feud with Sheamus after he helped Santino Marella earn an upset win during a one-sided match against Sheamus. Within the following weeks, Morrison continued to save Marella from attacks by Sheamus. At Survivor Series, Morrison defeated Sheamus. Morrison entered the 2010 edition of the King of the Ring tournament, defeating Tyson Kidd, Cody Rhodes, and Alberto Del Rio. Morrison lost to Sheamus in the final round. He continued to feud with Sheamus and defeated him in a WWE Championship number one contender's ladder match at the Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view on December 19. Morrison received his WWE Championship match on the January 3, 2011 episode of Raw, but lost to reigning champion The Miz in a falls count anywhere match. On January 30, Morrison participated in the Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble event and despite not winning, he had a stand-out moment which was praised by critics as "arguably the spot of the decade" when Morrison was knocked off of the ring apron and performed a cat leap onto the barricade to avoid having his feet touch the floor and then went on to precision jump onto the ring steps and re-enter the ring. On February 20, Morrison participated in the Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event, but was eliminated by CM Punk. During the match, Morrison climbed to the top of the cage while inside the cage before dropping to deliver a crossbody on and eliminate Sheamus. At WrestleMania XXVII, Morrison teamed with Trish Stratus and Jersey Shore guest star Snooki in a mixed tag match to defeat the team of Dolph Ziggler and LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool).
On the April 11 episode of Raw, Morrison participated in a five-man gauntlet match for the number one contender's spot for the WWE Championship, but was eliminated by R-Truth. The next week on Raw, Morrison challenged R-Truth to a match later on in the night, with the stipulation that if Morrison won, he would take Truth's place in the steel cage match at Extreme Rules. Truth accepted, and lost the match, making Morrison the new number one contender. After the match, Truth viciously attacked Morrison. At Extreme Rules, R-Truth interfered in the WWE Championship steel cage match, attacking Morrison and preventing him from winning the match. The next night on Raw, Morrison was attacked by Truth again, prior to a scheduled match between the two which did not happen as a result. Morrison then underwent surgery to correct a legitimately pinched nerve in his neck. Morrison initially returned on the June 13 episode of Raw, but Truth attacked him again prior to their scheduled match, re-injuring him. Morrison returned again on the July 25 episode of Raw, attacking R-Truth. At SummerSlam, Morrison teamed up with Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio to defeat R-Truth, Alberto Del Rio and The Miz. The following night on Raw, Morrison defeated R-Truth in a falls count anywhere match to end their feud. At Night of Champions, Morrison competed in a Fatal 4-Way match for the United States Championship, also involving Alex Riley, Dolph Ziggler, and Jack Swagger, with Ziggler successfully retaining his title. Morrison then challenged Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, but failed to win the title. Following this, Morrison went on a losing streak, lasting a number of weeks. On the November 7 episode of Raw, Morrison picked up his first victory in three months, defeating United States Champion Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match. Morrison then challenged Ziggler for the championship at Survivor Series, but was defeated by Ziggler.
In his last advertised WWE appearance on the November 28 episode of Raw, Morrison faced The Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere match; Miz won the match by delivering the Skull-Crushing Finale on the steel entrance stage, giving Morrison a kayfabe injury. This was used to write Morrison off television, even being stretchered out of the arena after the match. On November 29, WWE acknowledged the end of Morrison's contract, and moved his profile to the alumni section of its website. In a video published on December 9, 2011, via Hennigan's personal YouTube channel, Hennigan claimed that he was taking time off to heal and retrain for a possible return to wrestling in the future. In 2015, Hennigan revealed on Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast that WWE wanted him to sign another multi-year contract, but due to a neck injury, residual pain, and creative frustrations, he decided to not renew his contract, wanting "more control over [his] time".
Independent circuit (2012–2019)
After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison. On his first post-WWE wrestling appearance, Hennigan rekindled an old feud, facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012. Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion. On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match. On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show. Hennigan took part in the WrestleMania weekend, wrestling for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate. On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger in an "International Dream Match" at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) event.
On June 21, 2013, Hennigan defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool in FWE Welcome to the Rumble II, winning the FWE Heavyweight Championship. The next day, Hennigan defended the title against Too Cold Scorpio at House of Hardcore 2. On October 12, 2013, at FWE Grand Prix, Hennigan defeated Matt Morgan, retaining the FWE Heavyweight Championship. On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles.
On June 28, 2016, it was announced that Hennigan would make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerilla in the company's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He won his match against Matt Sydal in the first round, but was eliminated by Ricochet in the quarter-finals.
On January 28, 2017, Morrison won a tournament at a 5 Star Wrestling event for the 5 Star Wrestling Championship, defeating Moose, Drew Galloway, and Rey Mysterio to win the title. On February 8, 2018, he lost the title against Jake Hager after over a year as champion.
On September 22, Morrison reunited with former MNM tag team partner Joey Mercury after ten years, defeating Reno Scum.
Lucha Underground (2014–2018)
In September 2014, it was reported that Hennigan had signed with the El Rey network's new television series, Lucha Underground, where he wrestled under the ring name Johnny Mundo. Mundo wrestled in the main event of the debut episode of Lucha Underground on October 29, 2014, defeating Prince Puma and winning one hundred thousand dollars, which was then taken away from him by promoter Dario Cueto, setting up several feuds. He then teamed with Prince Puma during the November 5, 2014 episode, defeating Cortez Castro and Mr. Cisco. On the November 19 episode, Mundo defeated Big Ryck by disqualification after interference by Castro and Cisco. Mundo then defeated Prince Puma and Big Ryck in the main event of the December 10, 2014 episode, which was a three-way ladder match, to finally win the hundred thousand dollars he was denied in the Lucha Underground debut.
On January 7, 2015, Mundo participated in a 20-man "Aztec Warfare" battle royal for the Lucha Underground Championship. He was the second luchador to enter the ring, but was the last man eliminated by Prince Puma who won the Championship. King Cuerno attacked Mundo on the February 4 episode, beginning a feud between them; the second installment took place on the episode which aired March 11, where Mundo and Cuerno wrestled in a Steel Cage match, which was won by Mundo. On May 13, Mundo turned into a villain when he attacked Alberto El Patrón in his match against Hernandez, throwing him through the window of Dario Cueto's office. Mundo subsequently tossed El Patrón back into the ring, giving Hernandez the win. On the June 17, episode of Lucha Underground, Johnny Mundo unsuccessfully challenged Prince Puma for the Lucha Underground Championship in an Iron Man match. On August 5, 2015, at Ultima Lucha, Mundo defeated Alberto El Patrón after an interference by his girlfriend Melina Perez.
On the February 3, 2016 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo faced Killshot in a winning effort. After the match, Mundo taunted Lucha Underground Champion Mil Muertes, only to be confronted by Cage. Mundo defeated Cage on February 24, after interference from the debuting Taya, subsequently becoming Mundo's valet. On the May 25 episode of Lucha Underground, Taya revealed to PJ Black and Jack Evans that their partner Fénix was injured by Mundo. As Mundo revealed himself as Fénix's replacement for their match, Black and Evans allied with the two. Later that night in the main event, Mundo, Black and Evans defeated Rey Mysterio Jr., Prince Puma and Dragon Azteca Jr. to win the Lucha Underground Trios Championship, the first championship for each in Lucha Underground. The week after, Mundo, Black and Evans, now collectively billed as Worldwide Underground, retained their championships in a rematch via disqualification. Worldwide Underground lost their titles to Aero Star, Drago and Fénix at the third and final part Ultima Lucha Dos, which aired on July 20.
On the October 26 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo defeated Sexy Star to win the Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship after he knocked out Sexy Star with brass knuckles while the referee was unaware. On the November 23 episode of Lucha Underground, he cashed in his Gift of the Gods Championship on Sexy Star before defeating her to win the Lucha Underground Championship, becoming the second Triple Crown Champion in Lucha Underground history. On the December 21 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo successfully defended his championship in a rematch against Sexy Star inside a steel cage. He lost the title to Prince Puma at Ultima Lucha Tres.
Mundo made his return on the fourth season's premiere, competing in Aztec Warfare entering at number 11. Mundo eliminated Ricky Mundo and Daga before getting eliminated by Marty Martinez and being attacked by the Reptile Tribe. On November 17, 2018, Mundo wrestled on the final episode of Lucha Underground, Ultima Lucha Cuatro, defeating Matanza Cueto in a Sacrifice to the Gods match.
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2015–2018)
On May 24, 2015, Mundo made his debut for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) at the Lucha Libre World Cup event representing Lucha Underground as a member of "Team TNA/Lucha Underground" alongside TNA wrestlers Matt Hardy and Mr. Anderson. They finished in second place, losing in the finals to the "Dream Team" (El Patrón Alberto, Myzteziz and Rey Mysterio Jr.).
On June 4, 2015 in the main event of Verano de Escándalo, Mundo established himself as a rudo (or villain) and teamed with El Mesias and Pentagón Jr. losing to Myzteziz, La Parka and Rey Mysterio Jr. On September 27, Konnan announced Mundo as an official member of the rudo stable, La Sociedad, while he subsequently stepped down as the leader of the group. On October 4, at Héroes Inmortales IX, Mundo unsuccessfully challenged El Patrón Alberto for the AAA Mega Championship, when he was defeated by disqualification. After Alberto left AAA, Mundo was scheduled to face Rey Mysterio Jr. for the vacant AAA Mega Championship at Guerra de Titanes, but after the matches of the event were officially announced, neither Mundo nor Mysterio were featured for the event. Mundo participated in the 2016 Lucha Libre World Cup as a member of "Team Lucha Underground" alongside Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Brian Cage, defeating "Team Mexico Leyendas" (Blue Demon Jr., Canek, and La Parka) in the quarter-finals, and "Team Mexico International" (Rey Mysterio Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr., and Dragon Azteca Jr.) in the semi-finals. Mundo's team won the tournament defeating "Team AAA" (Pentagón Jr., El Texano Jr. and Psycho Clown) in the finals.
After adopting an "anti-Mexico" attitude and teaming with El Mesías and Hernandez to defeat El Texano Jr., El Hijo del Fantasma and Pentagón Jr., Mundo challenged the latter to a match at Triplemanía XXIV for the AAA Latin American Championship, to which Pentagón accepted. At the event, on August 28, Mundo defeated Pentagón to win the Latin American Championship, marking his first championship in AAA and becoming the first non-Mexican to hold the title. On October 2 in the main event of Héroes Inmortales X, Mundo successfully defended his title against Garza Jr. On March 19, 2017, at Rey de Reyes, Mundo defeated El Texano Jr. and El Hijo del Fantasma in a three-way match to not only retain the Latin American Championship, but to also win Texano's AAA Mega Championship and Fantasma's AAA World Cruiserweight Championship. In his first AAA Mega Championship defense, on June 30, Mundo successfully retained his title against Texano.
In July 2017, Mundo and his fiancée Kira Forster, known as Taya, were involved in controversy with AAA and its Director of Talent Vampiro, which led to Taya's departure from the company. According to Wrestling Observer, AAA asked Mundo to turn in Taya's Reina de Reinas Championship for a photo shoot the day prior to an event on July 1. A few weeks later, Vampiro addressed to the live crowd that Forster was stripped of the title due to not appearing to defend her title, despite not being scheduled to appear.
On August 26, at Triplemanía XXV, Mundo successfully defended his three championships against Fantasma and Texano in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. On October 1 at Héroes Inmortales XI, Mundo wrestled in three matches, retaining the Mega Championship against Rey Wagner, but losing the Latin American Championship to Fantasma in the annual Copa Antonio Peña battle royal, and the World Cruiserweight Championship to Lanzelot in a ten-way match, ending his triple championship reign at 196 days.
On January 26, 2018 at Guerra de Titanes, Mundo lost the AAA Mega Championship to Rey Wagner, ending his reign at 314 days.
Impact Wrestling (2017–2019)
Championship pursuits (2017–2018)
In August 2017, despite not being signed to the promotion at the time, Hennigan appeared for Impact Wrestling at some live events. On August 17, a video package was shown at Destination X revealing his ring name as Johnny Impact. His first feud in the promotion was with Eli Drake, when Impact made his televised in-ring debut on the August 24 episode of Impact!, participating in a Gauntlet for the Gold match for the vacant Global Championship, but was eliminated by eventual winner Eli Drake. Impact would face Drake for the title at Victory Road and Bound for Glory, where he failed to win the title. Since the Bound for Glory match ended after Alberto El Patrón made an interference, Impact, Alberto and Drake had a three-way Last Chance Six Sides of Steel match on the January 25, 2018 episode of Impact!, where Drake retained the title.
After Drake lost the renamed Impact World Championship to Austin Aries, Impact began pursuit of Aries's championship, facing him at Crossroads special, where he lost again. On the April 19 episode of Impact!, Johnny Impact was attacked and injured by Kongo Kong, which was performed to write him off television in order to film for reality television show Survivor. Impact returned at Slammiversary XVI, when he won a four-way match against Fenix, Taiji Ishimori, and Petey Williams.
Impact World Champion (2018–2019)
Impact began a feud with the Impact World Champion Austin Aries, which led to a match at Bound for Glory. As the PPV moved closer, the feud started to blur the lines between a work (something scripted) and shoot (something real), beginning with the two wrestlers trading insults on Twitter that they appeared to take personal, with Aries later deleting many of his tweets. Specifically, Impact mocked Aries' short stature and the champion responded by making fun of his wife's weight. Aries and Impact both alleged in the media that they authentically took issue with comments. TMZ Live also pushed the angle "like [it] was a shoot". The two wrestlers got in a brawl the night before Bound for Glory during Abyss's Impact Hall of Fame induction. At the event, Impact defeated Aries to win the Impact World Championship. Throughout the following weeks, Impact successfully defended his title against Fénix, Killer Kross, and Matt Sydal. At Homecoming on January 6, 2019, Impact defeated Brian Cage to retain his championship.
During the February tapings for Impact Wrestling, Impact defended his title in a four-way contest involving Killer Kross, Moose and Brian Cage. Impact hit his finisher on Moose, barely seconds prior to Cage hitting his Drill Claw finisher on Killer Kross. As Impact was able to cover his opponent first the referee was able to provide the count and therefore Impact won the match as Brian Cage went to cover his opponent. On the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Impact's wife Taya Valkyrie would low blow Cage, which allowed Impact to attack Cage, turning into a villain. At United We Stand, Impact won a five-way Ultimate X match to become the number one contender for the Impact X Division Championship. Throughout April, Impact successfully defended his title from Cage, often with interferences from Valkyrie and former referee John E Bravo. At Rebellion, Impact, accompanied by Valkyrie and Bravo, lost the title to Cage in a match where Lance Storm was special guest referee; this left Impact's reign to end at 196 days, leaving it the longest reign since Bobby Roode's 2011–2012 reign, and therefore the longest reign in seven years, as well as the third-longest reign in history.
On the May 31 episode of Impact Wrestling, Impact challenged X Division Champion Rich Swann to a title match at Slammiversary XVII. Later that night, he teamed with Michael Elgin to face Swann and Willie Mack in a tag team match, in which Swann pinned Impact. At Slammiversary XVII, Impact was defeated by Swann. On July 8, Pro Wrestling Insider reported that Hennigan's contract with Impact Wrestling had expired several weeks prior to the event, and the two sides agreed to have Hennigan work until Slammiversary.
Return to WWE (2019–2021)
On September 26, 2019, it was reported by Mike Johnson of Pro Wrestling Insider that Hennigan had re-signed with WWE, which was officially confirmed by the company on December 3 during WWE Backstage. He made his return on January 3, 2020 episode of SmackDown under his John Morrison ring name and resumed his partnership with The Miz, thus re-establishing him as a heel for the first time in WWE in 10 years. They would feud with the SmackDown Tag Team Champions, The New Day, with Morrison winning singles matches against Big E and Kofi Kingston. At the Royal Rumble, Morrison participated in the Royal Rumble match as the fifth entrant, but he was eliminated by Brock Lesnar. At Super ShowDown, Miz and Morrison won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship from The New Day.
On March 8, Morrison and Miz had their first title defense in a tag team Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber event, successfully defending their titles against The New Day, The Usos, Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado), and Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. At WrestleMania 36, after the Miz's absence due to illness, Morrison defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championships by himself in a ladder match against Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso, in which he was successful. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, the duo lost the titles back to The New Day after Miz unsuccessfully defended the titles by himself in a triple threat match against Big E and Jey Uso ending their reign at 50 days. At Money in the Bank the following month, Morrison and Miz unsuccessfully attempted to regain the championship in a fatal four-way tag team match also involving Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) and The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake). Morrison and Miz then started a rivalry with Universal Champion Braun Strowman. At Backlash, the duo competed for Strowman's title in a two-on-one handicap match, but lost. As part of the 2020 Draft in October, both Morrison and Miz were drafted to the Raw brand. Prior to the draft, Morrison and Miz entered a feud with Otis for his Money in the Bank contract. At Hell in a Cell, Morrison accompanied Miz in his match against Otis for the contract, which Miz won.
On the December 7 episode of Raw, Morrison ended a nearly seven-month losing streak after defeating Drew McIntyre and Sheamus in a 3-on-2 handicap match alongside The Miz and AJ Styles. Morrison entered the 2021 Royal Rumble match on January 31, lasting over eight minutes before being eliminated by Damian Priest. At the Elimination Chamber event on February 21, 2021, Morrison defeated Ricochet, Elias, and Mustafa Ali in a fatal four-way match for an opportunity at the United States Championship. Later that night, he failed to win the title in a triple threat match against Riddle and reigning champion Bobby Lashley, as Riddle won the match. After this, Morrison and Miz feuded with rapper Bad Bunny and Damian Priest. At WrestleMania 37 on April 10, Morrison and Miz faced Bad Bunny and Priest in a tag team match, but lost.
After Miz suffered an injury at WrestleMania Backlash, Morrison would embark on singles run, starting by defeating Jeff Hardy on the June 14 episode of Raw. The following week, Morrison defeated Randy Orton to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at the namesake pay-per-view event, which was won by Big E. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Miz turned on Morrison by attacking him, thus turning Morrison face and setting up a feud between the pair. However, the feud abruptly ended after the Miz took a hiatus to compete on Dancing with the Stars. On November 18, as part of an eighth round of layoffs due to budget cuts stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Morrison was released from his WWE contract.
Return to AAA (2022)
On February 19, 2022, Hennigan, as "John Superstar", unsuccessfully challenged El Hijo del Vikingo at Rey de Reyes for the AAA Mega Championship.
Return to the independent circuit (2022–present)
On April 1, 2022, Hennigan, as "Johnny Caballero", will make his debut for Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) at the Wrld on Lucha event. It was also announced that Hennigan would wrestle at GCW's Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 8.
Professional wrestling style and persona
Hennigan was described by WWE as having "lightning-fast offense", "high-risk aerial expertise", and "incredible agility". He is known to utilize a split-legged corkscrew moonsault, dubbed Starship Pain, as a finishing maneuver. During his singles run as Johnny Nitro, he used a standing shooting star press as his finisher. After transitioning to his John Morrison character, Hennigan began using a corkscrew neckbreaker dubbed Moonlight Drive, in reference to the song of the same name written by Jim Morrison. He also prominently used a superkick as a finisher in 2008 during a feud with D-Generation X, as a way to mock Shawn Michaels's Sweet Chin Music maneuver. Hennigan is a practitioner of parkour and often incorporates it into his wrestling style, giving him the nickname "The Prince of Parkour". He also has a background in amateur wrestling, breakdancing, gymnastics, and martial arts. Regarding his unique wrestling style, Hennigan stated in a 2021 interview with Sports Illustrated:
Alongside his team MNM, Hennigan debuted on WWE television as Johnny Nitro, presenting himself as an arrogant wrestler with "elite Hollywood status". After winning the ECW World Championship in 2007, he changed his ring name to John Morrison and his gimmick was tweaked to be even more conceited and self-aggrandizing — in addition to being modeled after Jim Morrison, the legendary frontman of the 1960s rock band The Doors, to whom he bears a strong physical resemblance. Following his return to WWE and reunion with his tag team partner the Miz in 2020, Hennigan added a comedic aspect to his villainous character, with WWE describing him as using "quirkiness and quick wit to shine every time he is on screen". He also began to refer to himself as "Johnny Drip Drip", a reference to the song "Drip" by rapper Cardi B.
Outside of WWE, Hennigan began referring to himself as the "Mayor of Slamtown", a fictional town he first coined in Lucha Underground in 2015. Hennigan filed to trademark the term "Slamtown" in November 2020.
Other media
In 2009, Hennigan and Maryse Ouellet were interviewed on Eurosport. In 2009, Hennigan appeared on two episodes of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, which were both aired on September 29. Hennigan is the subject of a WWE DVD, called John Morrison – Rock Star, which was released on February 16, 2010. The DVD covers his career from his name change to John Morrison up until his Intercontinental Championship win in September 2009. He appeared on an episode of Destroy Build Destroy on March 3, 2010. Hennigan was on the cover of Muscle & Fitness in June 2010, with the issue also featuring an interview and photo shoot. In 2016, Hennigan, Rey Mysterio, and King Cuerno appeared on ESPN to promote the second season of Lucha Underground.
Hennigan is also a frequent collaborator with comic book-based film producers Bat in the Sun Productions, appearing in two episodes of their well-known Super Power Beat Down series; playing as Casey Jones against Kick-Ass in episode 13, and as Winter Soldier against Nightwing in episode 19. Hennigan portrayed Eternal Warrior in the web series Ninjak vs. the Valiant Universe, produced by Valiant Entertainment and directed by Bat in the Sun.
Filmmaking
After leaving WWE in 2011, Hennigan pursued a career in the film industry as an actor and filmmaker. In 2013, he appeared in 20 Feet Below: The Darkness Descending with Danny Trejo, as well as served as co-producer of the film. In 2017, Hennigan released his first feature film titled Boone: The Bounty Hunter, which he starred in, co-wrote, and served as executive producer of. Hennigan sold his house in order to finance the film. In 2018, Hennigan began working on his directorial debut, a short film titled The Iron Sheik Massacre which he also produced and co-wrote with his wife Kira Forster. It was expected to be released in 2020, but has yet to have an official release date.
Survivor: David vs. Goliath
Hennigan was a contestant on the 37th season of Survivor, Survivor: David vs. Goliath where he was originally part of the Goliath tribe and later Tiva before making it to the merged tribe Kalokalo. He finished 12th and became the second member of the jury after the former members of the Goliath tribe were blindsided at tribal council; two contestants used hidden immunity idols, causing Hennigan to be eliminated despite only having three elimination votes, as Christian Hubicki, who received seven, was immune.
Hennigan's performance as a contestant and the episode of his elimination received critical acclaim. Chris Chase of USA Today praised Hennigan for being "true to everything we’ve seen from him this season, [and] a class act after his shock defeat". Writing for People, former Survivor contestant Stephen Fishbach highlighted that "in a tribal council that was meant to take out the Davidest David [Christian Hubicki], it was really the Goliath of the Goliaths [Hennigan] who fell. How perfectly Biblical." The show’s executive producer and host Jeff Probst was "so impressed" with Hennigan, describing him as "the guy who catches the winning touchdown pass in the final moments of the Super Bowl, and then, instead of some crazy celebration, he casually tosses the ball to the ref, kisses his wife and hugs his kids", alongside stating that he would "absolutely" have Hennigan back on the show.
Filmography
Personal life
Hennigan is good friends with fellow professional wrestlers The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, Jeff Hardy, and Randy Orton. He was also good friends with Shad Gaspard, and still is with JTG, of Cryme Tyme, and was a part of the search team after Gaspard's disappearance and death.
Hennigan was involved in an on-off relationship with former WWE Diva and on-screen manager Melina Perez from 2003 to 2015. The pair met during the auditions for Tough Enough III, in which Perez was cut and Hennigan eventually won. Since 2016, Hennigan has been in a relationship with Kira Forster, better known as Taya Valkyrie. The pair met through the affiliation between AAA and Lucha Underground, with Forster becoming Hennigan's on-screen partner in the latter promotion prior to their real-life relationship. They became engaged on June 14, 2017, and were married on June 1, 2018.
Championships and accomplishments
5 Star Wrestling
5 Star Wrestling Championship (1 time)
One Night Tournament (2017)
ACW Wisconsin
ACW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
The Baltimore Sun
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
Blackcraft Wrestling
BCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Continental Wrestling Federation
CWF United States Championship (1 time)
DDT Pro-Wrestling
Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (1 time)
European Pro Wrestling
EPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Family Wrestling Entertainment
FWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Impact Wrestling
Impact World Championship (1 time)
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
AAA Mega Championship (1 time)
AAA Latin American Championship (1 time)
AAA World Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
Lucha Libre World Cup (2016 Men's Division) – with Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Brian Cage
Lucha Underground
Lucha Underground Championship (1 time)
Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship (1 time)
Lucha Underground Trios Championship (1 time) – with Jack Evans and PJ Black
Second Triple Crown Champion
Mondo Lucha
Mondo Lucha Championship (1 time)
Mondo Lucha Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Matt Cross
Next Generation Wrestling
NGW World Championship (1 time)
NGW World Title Tournament (2013)
Ohio Valley Wrestling
OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Joey Matthews
Pacific Coast Wrestling/PCW Ultra
PCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2009)
Tag Team of the Year (2005) – with Joey Mercury
Ranked No. 24 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
Qatar Pro Wrestling
QPW Souq Waqif Championship (1 time)
QPW Souq Waqif Title Tournament (2015)
Rogue Wrestling
Rogue Championship (1 time)
Rogue Championship Tournament (2019)
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
ECW World Championship (1 time)
WWE Intercontinental Championship (3 times)
WWE Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Joey Mercury (3) and The Miz (1)
World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Miz
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Miz
ECW World Championship Tournament (2007)
Tough Enough III (2003)
Slammy Award (2 times)
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
Best WWE.com Exclusive (2008) – with The Miz
World Series Wrestling
WSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Wrestling Fan Xperience
WWFX Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
References
External links
1979 births
21st-century American male actors
American capoeira practitioners
American male professional wrestlers
ECW champions
ECW Heavyweight Champions/ECW World Heavyweight Champions
Living people
People from Palos Verdes, California
Professional wrestlers from California
Sportspeople from Los Angeles
Survivor (American TV series) contestants
TNA World Heavyweight/Impact World Champions
Tough Enough contestants
Tough Enough winners
Traceurs
WWF/WWE Intercontinental Champions
AAA Mega Champions | true | [
"A face-off is the method used to begin and restart play after goals in some sports using sticks, primarily ice hockey, bandy and lacrosse. The two teams line up in opposition to each other, and the opposing players attempt to gain control of the puck or ball after it is dropped or otherwise placed between their sticks by an official.\n\nIce hockey\n\nHockey face-offs (also called 'bully', and originally called 'puck-offs') are generally handled by centres, although some wingers handle face-offs and, very rarely, defensemen. One of the referees drops the puck at centre ice to start each period and following the scoring of a goal. The linesmen are responsible for all other face-offs.\n\nOne player from each team stands at the face-off spot (see below) to await the drop of the puck. All teammates must be lateral to or behind the player taking the face-off. Generally, the goal of the player taking the face-off is to draw the puck backward, toward teammates; however, they will, occasionally attempt to shoot the puck forward, past the other team, usually to kill time when shorthanded although shooting directly at the net is also possible - scoring a goal directly from a face-off, while rare, is not unheard of. However, where the face-off occurs at one of the five face-off spots that have circles marked around them, only the two opposing players responsible for taking the face-off may be in the circle. A common formation, especially at centre ice, is for a skater to take the face-off, with the wings lateral to the centre on either side, and the skater, usually a defenseman, behind the player handling the face-off, one toward each side. This is not mandatory, however, and other formations are seen—especially where the face-off is in one of the four corner face-off spots.\n\nFace-offs are typically conducted at designated places marked on the ice called face-off spots or dots. There are nine such spots: two in each attacking zone, two on each end of the neutral zone, and one in the centre of the rink. Face-offs did not always take place at the marked face-off spots. If a puck left the playing surface, for example, the face-off would take place wherever the puck was last played. On June 20, 2007, the NHL Board of Governors approved a change to NHL Rule 76.2, which governs face-off locations. The rule now requires that all face-offs take place at one of the nine face-off spots on the ice, regardless of what caused the stoppage of play. Rule 76.2 also dictates that, with some exceptions, a face-off following a penalty must occur at one of the two face-off dots of the offending team's end.\n\nAn official may remove the player taking the face-off if the player or any players from the same team attempt to gain an unfair advantage during the face-off (called a face-off violation). When a player is removed, one of the teammates not originally taking the face-off is required to take the face-off. Common face-off violations include: moving the stick before the puck is dropped, not placing the stick properly when requested to do so, not placing the body square to the face-off spot, or encroachment into the face-off circle by a teammate. In the NHL, the player from the visiting team is required to place his stick on the ice for the face-off first when it takes place at the centre-line dot. For all other face-offs, the player from the defending team must place his stick first. Before the league's , the visiting player was required to place his stick first on all face-offs.\nA player who does faceoffs as a speciality is sometimes called or deemed a Face-Off Specialist.\n\nHistory\nIn the first organized ice hockey rules (see Amateur Hockey Association of Canada, AHAC), both centres faced the centre line of the ice rink, like the wingers do today. At that time, another forward position existed, the rover, who faced forward like centres did today, but a few feet away. The opposing forwards would whack the ice on their own side of the puck three times, then strike each other's stick above the puck, and then scramble for the puck. This manoeuvre was known as 'bully'. The Winnipeg players invented what is today known as a 'face-off'. In Germany and other countries the term 'bully' is still commonly used.\n\nBandy\nIn bandy, the game is restarted with a face-off when the game has been temporarily interrupted. The face-off is executed on the place where the ball was situated when the game was interrupted. If the ball was inside the penalty area when the game was interrupted, the face-off is moved to the nearest free-stroke point on the penalty line.\n\nIn a face-off one player of each team place themselves opposite each other and with their backs turned to their own end-lines. The sticks are held parallel to each other and on each side of the ball. The ball must not be touched until the referee has blown his whistle. At face-off the ball may be played in any direction.\n\nIn bandy, face-offs are regulated in section 4.6 of the Bandy Playing Rules set up by the Federation of International Bandy (FIB).\n\nLacrosse\n\nField lacrosse\n\nFace-offs are used in men's field lacrosse after each goal, and to start every quarter and overtime periods, unless a team playing man-up controls the ball at the end of the previous quarter.\n\nIn the field lacrosse face-off, two players face each other at the X in the middle of the field, in a crouching position with the ball placed on the ground on the center line between the heads of their sticks, set four inches (10 cm) apart, parallel to the midline but the ends pointing in opposite directions. Two other players from each team must wait behind wing lines, 20 yards from the faceoff spot on opposite sides of the field until the whistle.\n\nAny player except the goalkeeper, due to the much larger head on his stick, can face off; in practice face-offs are usually taken by midfielders. When a team is down a player due to a penalty, there will only be one other midfielder on the wing, or none if two or more players are serving time. When a third player, the maximum allowed by the rules before penalties are stacked, is serving time, the team thus penalized is allowed to have one of its defensemen come out and play on the wing during a faceoff.\n\nPlayers facing off must rest their stick in their gloved hands on the ground and position themselves entirely to the left of their sticks' heads. They may kneel or keep both feet on the ground. Between the time they go down into position and the referee's whistle, the players facing off must remain still. A premature movement by any player will be called as a technical foul, and the other team will be awarded the ball. To ensure that they remain still, referees are instructed to time their whistle differently on every face-off.\n\nAt the whistle, each face-off player makes a move to clamp the ball under their stick head, or tries to direct the ball to their teammates on the wing. Only those six players can attempt to pick up the ball at first. The three attackmen and defensemen from either team must remain in their respective zones behind the restraining lines 20 yards from the center line. Once possession is established, or the loose ball crosses either restraining line, the faceoff is considered to have ended and all players are allowed to leave their zones.\n\nIf the loose ball goes out of bounds on a face-off before either team can pick it up, it is awarded to the team that last touched it and all other players are released when play is restarted.\n\nThe players facing off may not step on or hold each other's sticks to prevent the other from getting the ball. Nor may they trap the ball beneath their sticks without attempting a \"tennis pickup\" to prevent anyone from establishing possession, an action normally penalized as withholding the ball from play, another technical foul. If they pick the ball up on the back of their stick but do not immediately flip it into the pocket, it is also considered withholding. In all these cases the face-off will be ended with the ball awarded to the opposing team at the spot of the infraction. Players facing off who deliberately handle or touch the ball in an attempt to gain possession, or use their open hand to hold the opposing face-off player's stick, receive a three-minute unreleasable penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct in addition to possession being awarded to the other team.\n\nUnder NCAA rules in college lacrosse, if a team violates rules specific to face-offs, either by false starts before them by any player at midfield or illegal actions by the players facing off, more than twice in a half, each additional violation results in a 30-second penalty assessed against the team, to be served by the designated \"in-home\" player.\n\nA player who does faceoffs as a speciality is called a Face-Off Specialist. Also nicknamed a “FOGO”, which stands for “face off, get off”.\n\nWomen's lacrosse\n\nIn women's lacrosse, a procedure similar to a face-off is also used, although it is called a draw. The two players taking the draw stand at the center of the field, and hold their sticks together at waist level while the referee places the ball between the heads, which face each other. Four other players from each team stand on the outside of a center circle. At the whistle, the two center players both lift their sticks, tossing the ball in the air, while the players on the outside attempt to gain possession when it comes down.\n\nField hockey\n\nA similar technique, known as a bully-off, is used in field hockey. The two opposing players alternately touch their sticks on the ground and against each other before attempting to strike the ball. Its use as the method of starting play was discontinued in 1981.\n\nSimilar rules in other sports\nA face-off is also similar to a jump ball in basketball, a ball-up in Australian rules football, and a dropped-ball (if contested) in association football. All of these also involve two opposing players attempting to gain control of the ball after it is released by an official.\n\nAn event similar to a face-off has been attempted in at least two leagues of American football: the XFL, a short-lived professional football league that played its lone season in 2001, instituted an \"opening scramble,\" replacing the coin toss, in which one player from each team attempted to recover a loose football after a twenty-yard dash. The team whose player recovered the ball got first choice of kicking, receiving, or defending one side of the field. Because of an extremely high rate of injury in these events (in the league's first game, one XFL player was lost for the season after separating his shoulder in a scramble), the event has not gained mainstream popularity in most other football leagues. X-League Indoor Football nonetheless adopted a modified version opening scramble (using the name \"X-Dash\") when it began play in 2014, but tweaked to avoid the injuries so that each player chased after their own ball.\n\nThe coin toss remains the method of choice for determining possession at the beginning of an American football game.\n\nSee also\n\nScrum\n\nReferences\n\nIce hockey rules\nIce hockey terminology\nLacrosse terminology\nBandy rules\nMetaphors referring to sport\nArticles containing video clips\n13.^ \"American football rules\"",
"Face Off is an American reality television game show on the Syfy cable network in which a group of prosthetic makeup artists compete against each other to create prostheses such as those found in science fiction and horror films. \n\nFace Off premiered January 26, 2011 on Syfy. As of August 7, 2018, 160 episodes of Face Off have aired.\n\nSeries overview\n\nEpisode list\n\nSeason 1 (2011)\n\nSeason 2 (2012)\n\nSeason 3 (2012)\n\nSeason 4 (2013)\n\nSeason 5 (2013)\n\nSeason 6 (2014)\n\nSeason 7 (2014)\n\nSeason 8 (2015)\n\nSeason 9 (2015)\n\nSeason 10 (2016)\n\nSeason 11 (2017)\n\nSeason 12 (2017)\n\nSeason 13 (2018)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nFace Off (U.S. TV series) \nFace Off (TV series)"
]
|
[
"John Morrison (wrestler)",
"Independent circuit (2012-present)",
"What was the independent circuit?",
"After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison.",
"Was he successful?",
"Hennigan rekindled an old feud facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila,",
"Did he win?",
"Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion.",
"Did they ever face off against each other again?",
"On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match."
]
| C_78d624427aba445786e994c48bae222a_1 | What other matches did he have? | 5 | What other matches did John Morrison have other than against Shelton Benjamin? | John Morrison (wrestler) | After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison. On his first post-WWE wrestling appearance, Hennigan rekindled an old feud facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012. Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion. On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match. On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show. Hennigan took part in the WrestleMania weekend, wrestling for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate. On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger in an "International Dream Match" at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) event. On April 19, Hennigan again defeated Sami Callihan in a no count-out, no disqualification falls count anywhere match at a 2CW event in Rome, New York. The next day, he defeated Kevin Steen at 2CW's first iPPV (Living on the Edge VIII), in Watertown, New York. On June 21, 2013, Hennigan defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool in FWE Welcome to the Rumble II, winning the FWE Heavyweight Championship. The next day, Hennigan defended the title against Too Cold Scorpio at House of Hardcore 2. On September 6 and 8, Morrison wrestled against WWL World Heavyweight Champion Black Pain for the title, but he was defeated both times. On October 12, 2013, at FWE Grand Prix, Hennigan defeated Matt Morgan, retaining the FWE Heavyweight Championship. On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles. Morrison faced Rob Van Dam at Pro Wrestling Syndicate in Rahway, New Jersey on October 24, 2015 in a winning effort. After the match, Morrison shook hands with Van Dam and led the crowd in an "RVD" chant. On June 28, 2016, it was announced that Hennigan would make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerilla in the company's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He won his match against Matt Sydal in the first round, but was eliminated by Ricochet in the quarter-finals. On November 16, it was announced that Hennigan, under his Johnny Mundo ring name, would appear for What Culture Pro Wrestling on their Delete WCPW event on November 30. Mundo was scheduled to face Alberto El Patron, but due to Alberto's absence he was replaced by Gabriel Kidd. At the event, Mundo cut a heel promo, insulting Alberto El Patron and the crowd, before defeating Kidd. On January 28, 2017, Morrison won a tournament at a 5 Star Wrestling event for his 5 Star Wrestling Championship, defeating Moose, Drew Galloway, and Rey Mysterio to retain the title. On June 2, Hennigan defeated Rob Van Dam to become the Pacific Coast Wrestling Heavyweight Champion. On September 22, Morrison reunited with former MNM tag team partner Joey Mercury after ten years, defeating Reno Scum. CANNOTANSWER | On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show. | John Randall Hennigan (born October 3, 1979) is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by the ring name John Morrison. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he was a contracted performer from 2002 to 2011, and 2019 to 2021.
Hennigan won Tough Enough III (a WWE reality TV competition show that awarded winners a wrestling contract with the company), and was assigned to its developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), to continue his wrestling training. WWE promoted Hennigan to its SmackDown! roster in April 2005 under the ring name Johnny Nitro; in his debut match on the show, he won the WWE Tag Team Championship (as a part of the tag team, MNM). In between runs in WWE, Hennigan held lead or main event roles in several independent wrestling promotions, including the lucha libre wrestling company/TV series Lucha Underground, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (aka "AAA"; as Johnny Mundo), and Impact Wrestling (as Johnny Impact).
Hennigan is a four-time world champion, having won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship (WWE revival version), AAA Mega Championship, Impact Wrestling World Championship, and the Lucha Underground Championship once each. In WWE, he also held the Intercontinental Championship three times, and was a six-time tag team champion (one World Tag Team Championship, four WWE Tag Team Championships, and one SmackDown Tag Team Championship). In lucha libre, Hennigan was a central fixture in all four seasons of Lucha Underground, and was AAA's first-ever triple champion (holding the AAA Mega Championship, AAA Latin American Championship, and AAA World Cruiserweight Championship simultaneously. He has headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WWE and Impact, including the latter company's flagship event, Bound for Glory, in 2017 and 2018.
Outside of wrestling, Hennigan has also worked in the film and television industry. In film, he has mainly worked as an actor, producer and stuntman. He is also known for being a contestant on the 37th season of the competitive reality show Survivor.
Early life
John Randall Hennigan was born on October 3, 1979, in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Palos Verdes Peninsula, where he attended Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. He graduated from the University of California, Davis in 2002, where he studied film and geology.
Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE (2002–2011)
Tough Enough and Ohio Valley Wrestling (2002–2004)
After graduating college with a degree in film and geology and deciding that he did not want to pursue either path, Hennigan began his professional wrestling career training at the Supreme Pro Wrestling school in Sacramento, California. After failing his audition for Tough Enough 2, a competition in which the winner earned a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) contract, he was accepted as a cast member for Tough Enough III in 2002, eventually becoming the co-winner with Matt Cappotelli. For winning, Hennigan was awarded a developmental contract and assigned to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), to continue his training. Hennigan competed in Acolytes Protection Agency's invitational Bar Room Brawl match at Vengeance in July 2003. Hennigan and Cappotelli made an appearance on an episode of Heat in January 2004, losing to Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak.
MNM (2004–2006)
On the March 1, 2004 episode of Raw, Hennigan debuted on the main roster as a heel, under the ring name "Johnny Blaze". His gimmick was that he was the apprentice and assistant of the Raw General Manager, Eric Bischoff. The next week his name was changed to "Johnny Spade", and three weeks after that it was changed to "Johnny Nitro". The Nitro name, which finally stuck, was a reference to WCW Monday Nitro, the flagship show of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for which Bischoff had previously worked. To drive the point home, he began using the Nitro theme as his ring entrance music. Nitro acted as Bischoff's apprentice and assistant until June, when he was sent back to OVW. To explain his departure, Nitro lost a match on the June 7 episode of Raw against Eugene, which carried the stipulation that upon his loss, he also lost his job.
Upon his return to OVW, Nitro was put into a feud with Matt Cappotelli. During the course of the feud, Melina was brought into the company as Nitro's ex-girlfriend and an ally of Cappotelli, only to turn on him and side with Nitro. Not long after, Nitro and Melina were joined by Joey Mercury, forming the stable MNM. MNM wrestled in OVW for around a year, holding the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship once, before losing the titles to Cappotelli and Johnny Jeter in January 2005. They were soon called up to the main SmackDown! brand in April that same year.
In their debut match on the main roster, MNM won the WWE Tag Team Championship from Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio on the April 21 episode of SmackDown!. MNM held the titles for three months, having successful titles defenses against the teams of Guerrero and Mysterio, and Charlie Haas and Hardcore Holly, before dropping them to the Legion of Doom at The Great American Bash. They won the titles again on the October 28 episode of SmackDown! in a four-way match defeating Legion of Doom, The Mexicools, and William Regal and Paul Burchill, but lost them to Rey Mysterio and Batista on the December 16 episode of SmackDown! two days before Armageddon. Due to help from Mark Henry, MNM defeated Mysterio and Batista in a rematch on the December 30 episode of SmackDown! to win the championship for the third time. They began a rivalry with the team of Paul London and Brian Kendrick that lasted over three months, until they dropped the championship to London and Kendrick at Judgment Day in May 2006, with the storyline leading to Nitro and Melina suddenly turning on Mercury after the match, breaking up the group. Later that night, Melina and Nitro were booked off the SmackDown! brand by having the General Manager, Theodore Long "fire" them.
Singles competition and championship success (2006–2007)
The next week, Nitro, along with Melina, debuted on the Raw brand in a loss to WWE Champion John Cena. Nitro was immediately placed in the Intercontinental Championship picture, beginning his first reign at Vengeance in June after defeating champion Shelton Benjamin in a triple threat match also involving Carlito. Nitro held the championship for four months, feuding with several challengers before losing it to Jeff Hardy on the October 2 episode of Raw. Nitro recaptured the Intercontinental Championship from Hardy on the November 6 episode of Raw, but lost it back to Hardy on the following week's Raw. Also around this time, Nitro entered into a partnership with rapper Kevin Federline, with the duo antagonizing and beginning a rivalry with WWE Champion John Cena. Federline was then, in storyline, trained by Nitro for a match with Cena, which he won after interference from Umaga.
MNM reunited on the November 27 episode of Raw to accept an open challenge from The Hardys (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) at December to Dismember, a match that they lost. MNM and The Hardys feuded across the brands throughout December, with the two teams competing in a four-way ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Armageddon, also involving Brian Kendrick and Paul London and Dave Taylor and William Regal. However, MNM would be unsuccessful in winning the championship. Nitro challenged Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Championship in a steel cage match at New Year's Revolution on January 7, 2007, but did not win. MNM lost to The Hardys at the Royal Rumble later that month and again at No Way Out in February which ended the feud. MNM disbanded as a team when Mercury was released from WWE in March 2007.
After Mercury's departure, Nitro also ended his association with Melina. Nitro was placed in a tag team with Kenny Dykstra, until the 2007 WWE draft, during which Nitro was drafted to the ECW brand. Nitro made his debut for the brand on the June 19 episode of ECW, with a win over Nunzio, and few days later, on June 24, at Vengeance: Night of Champions, he won the vacant ECW World Championship by defeating CM Punk, replacing the absent Chris Benoit due to his double-murder suicide. A few weeks after winning the title, Nitro was repackaged as John Morrison, a reference to musician Jim Morrison, to whom Hennigan bears a strong physical resemblance. In the months to come, Morrison would retain the championship against Punk at The Great American Bash in July, and SummerSlam in August. Punk would again challenge for the championship on the September 4 episode of ECW, in which Morrison lost the championship to Punk, ending his reign at 69 days. Morrison was then suspended for thirty days for violating WWE's Wellness Program, renewing his feud with Punk upon his return, as well as competing against The Miz for the number one contendership to the title.
Teaming with The Miz (2007–2009)
Though rivals, Morrison and The Miz faced the dysfunctional tag team of Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter on the November 16 episode of SmackDown! for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a winning effort, marking Morrison's fourth WWE Tag Team Championship reign. At Survivor Series, Morrison and The Miz were both defeated by CM Punk in a triple threat match for the ECW Championship. After the defeat, the rivalry aspect of Morrison and Miz's relationship faded, as they were now portrayed as trusting friends. Morrison competed in the 2008 Royal Rumble match on January 27, but failed to win after being eliminated by Kane. In February 2008, Morrison and Miz were given a streaming segment on WWE.com named The Dirt Sheet in which they mocked other wrestlers and facets of pop culture. Morrison and Miz co-wrote each episode of The Dirt Sheet each week, and Morrison credits his time in college studying film with contributing to the success of the show. At WrestleMania XXIV, Morrison competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by CM Punk. Despite being unsuccessful, Morrison had a standout performance in the match, in which he performed a moonsault from the top rope to the outside of the ring while holding onto a ladder.
The team of Morrison and Miz had many successful title defenses over the next few months, before dropping the titles to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder at The Great American Bash in a fatal four-way match which also featured Jesse and Festus, and Finlay and Hornswoggle. Neither Morrison nor Miz were pinned, as Hawkins pinned Jesse to win the titles.
Afterwards, they started a feud with Cryme Tyme (JTG and Shad) through each team's Internet show, which then transitioned to matches on Raw and at Cyber Sunday. After winning the Slammy Award for Best WWE.com exclusive earlier in the day, Morrison and Miz won the "Tag Team of the Year" Slammy Award on December 8, 2008 episode of Raw. On December 13, Morrison and Miz won the World Tag Team Championship from CM Punk and Kofi Kingston at a live event. Morrison and Miz engaged themselves in a feud with The Colóns (Carlito and Primo), who were the reigning WWE Tag Team Champions, which resulted in both teams defending their respective championships successfully in separate matches. Their feud culminated in a tag team lumberjack match where both titles were on the line at the WrestleMania 25, but it was The Colóns who would unify the championships with a win. On April 13, as part of the 2009 WWE draft, The Miz was drafted to the Raw brand to split up the team, and as a result, Miz attacked Morrison.
Intercontinental Champion (2009–2010)
On April 15, Morrison was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, he defeated R-Truth. On the May 1 episode of SmackDown, Morrison engaged in a backstage fight with Chris Jericho after Jericho slapped him, turning face in the process for the first time in his career. Later that same night, Morrison defeated Shelton Benjamin, beginning a feud between the two. On the May 7 episode of Superstars, Morrison lost a match to Jericho after a distraction by Benjamin. Morrison continued to score victories over Benjamin in singles and tag team matches before defeating him at Judgment Day. During this time, Morrison would soon become wildly popular with fans. On the June 19 episode of SmackDown, Morrison lost a critically acclaimed match against Edge, in which the commentators described it as a "third main event". On the July 31 episode of SmackDown, Morrison had his first World Heavyweight Championship match against Jeff Hardy, but failed to win the title.
On the September 4 episode of SmackDown, Morrison defeated Rey Mysterio to win his third Intercontinental Championship. Morrison then began a feud with Dolph Ziggler, after losing a non-title match to him by countout, but he would successfully defend the title against Ziggler at Hell in a Cell, and again on the following episode of SmackDown. The feud between Morrison and Ziggler continued throughout the next month, with the two wrestling to a double countout for the Intercontinental Championship on the November 13 episode of SmackDown and Morrison retaining the championship in a two-out-of-three falls match the following week to end the feud. At Bragging Rights, Morrison was defeated by his former tag team partner then-United States Champion The Miz in an interbrand Champion vs. Champion match. Their rivalry continued after both were announced as opposing team captains for Survivor Series, where Miz's team defeated Morrison's team. Morrison then went on to feud with newcomer Drew McIntyre, who defeated Morrison in a non-title match on the December 4 episode of SmackDown, thus earning a championship opportunity against Morrison. At the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, Morrison lost the Intercontinental Championship to McIntyre, ending his reign at 103 days. He received his rematch on the January 1 episode of SmackDown, but was disqualified when McIntyre shoved him into the referee. He challenged McIntyre for the Intercontinental Championship again on the January 29 episode of SmackDown in a No Disqualification match, but lost, ending their feud. Morrison later won an Elimination Chamber qualifying match and participated in the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship, but was eliminated by The Undertaker. On the March 5 episode of SmackDown, Morrison teamed with R-Truth to defeat Cryme Tyme and The Hart Dynasty to earn a Unified WWE Tag Team Championship match against ShoMiz (Big Show and The Miz). At WrestleMania XXVI, they failed to win the championship.
Championship pursuits and departure (2010–2011)
On April 26, Morrison was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2010 WWE draft, and lost his first match back for the brand later that night to Jack Swagger. Later that week, in his final match on SmackDown, he lost to Cody Rhodes. On June 1, Morrison announced that he would be mentoring Eli Cottonwood in the second season of NXT. Cottonwood, however, was the second person eliminated from the competition, and was eliminated on the July 27 episode of NXT. Morrison then went on to participate in the main event of SummerSlam in which he and six teammates (John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho, Bret Hart, R-Truth, and Daniel Bryan) were victorious in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match against The Nexus. In October 2010, Morrison began a feud with Sheamus after he helped Santino Marella earn an upset win during a one-sided match against Sheamus. Within the following weeks, Morrison continued to save Marella from attacks by Sheamus. At Survivor Series, Morrison defeated Sheamus. Morrison entered the 2010 edition of the King of the Ring tournament, defeating Tyson Kidd, Cody Rhodes, and Alberto Del Rio. Morrison lost to Sheamus in the final round. He continued to feud with Sheamus and defeated him in a WWE Championship number one contender's ladder match at the Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view on December 19. Morrison received his WWE Championship match on the January 3, 2011 episode of Raw, but lost to reigning champion The Miz in a falls count anywhere match. On January 30, Morrison participated in the Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble event and despite not winning, he had a stand-out moment which was praised by critics as "arguably the spot of the decade" when Morrison was knocked off of the ring apron and performed a cat leap onto the barricade to avoid having his feet touch the floor and then went on to precision jump onto the ring steps and re-enter the ring. On February 20, Morrison participated in the Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event, but was eliminated by CM Punk. During the match, Morrison climbed to the top of the cage while inside the cage before dropping to deliver a crossbody on and eliminate Sheamus. At WrestleMania XXVII, Morrison teamed with Trish Stratus and Jersey Shore guest star Snooki in a mixed tag match to defeat the team of Dolph Ziggler and LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool).
On the April 11 episode of Raw, Morrison participated in a five-man gauntlet match for the number one contender's spot for the WWE Championship, but was eliminated by R-Truth. The next week on Raw, Morrison challenged R-Truth to a match later on in the night, with the stipulation that if Morrison won, he would take Truth's place in the steel cage match at Extreme Rules. Truth accepted, and lost the match, making Morrison the new number one contender. After the match, Truth viciously attacked Morrison. At Extreme Rules, R-Truth interfered in the WWE Championship steel cage match, attacking Morrison and preventing him from winning the match. The next night on Raw, Morrison was attacked by Truth again, prior to a scheduled match between the two which did not happen as a result. Morrison then underwent surgery to correct a legitimately pinched nerve in his neck. Morrison initially returned on the June 13 episode of Raw, but Truth attacked him again prior to their scheduled match, re-injuring him. Morrison returned again on the July 25 episode of Raw, attacking R-Truth. At SummerSlam, Morrison teamed up with Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio to defeat R-Truth, Alberto Del Rio and The Miz. The following night on Raw, Morrison defeated R-Truth in a falls count anywhere match to end their feud. At Night of Champions, Morrison competed in a Fatal 4-Way match for the United States Championship, also involving Alex Riley, Dolph Ziggler, and Jack Swagger, with Ziggler successfully retaining his title. Morrison then challenged Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, but failed to win the title. Following this, Morrison went on a losing streak, lasting a number of weeks. On the November 7 episode of Raw, Morrison picked up his first victory in three months, defeating United States Champion Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match. Morrison then challenged Ziggler for the championship at Survivor Series, but was defeated by Ziggler.
In his last advertised WWE appearance on the November 28 episode of Raw, Morrison faced The Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere match; Miz won the match by delivering the Skull-Crushing Finale on the steel entrance stage, giving Morrison a kayfabe injury. This was used to write Morrison off television, even being stretchered out of the arena after the match. On November 29, WWE acknowledged the end of Morrison's contract, and moved his profile to the alumni section of its website. In a video published on December 9, 2011, via Hennigan's personal YouTube channel, Hennigan claimed that he was taking time off to heal and retrain for a possible return to wrestling in the future. In 2015, Hennigan revealed on Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast that WWE wanted him to sign another multi-year contract, but due to a neck injury, residual pain, and creative frustrations, he decided to not renew his contract, wanting "more control over [his] time".
Independent circuit (2012–2019)
After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison. On his first post-WWE wrestling appearance, Hennigan rekindled an old feud, facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012. Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion. On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match. On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show. Hennigan took part in the WrestleMania weekend, wrestling for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate. On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger in an "International Dream Match" at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) event.
On June 21, 2013, Hennigan defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool in FWE Welcome to the Rumble II, winning the FWE Heavyweight Championship. The next day, Hennigan defended the title against Too Cold Scorpio at House of Hardcore 2. On October 12, 2013, at FWE Grand Prix, Hennigan defeated Matt Morgan, retaining the FWE Heavyweight Championship. On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles.
On June 28, 2016, it was announced that Hennigan would make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerilla in the company's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He won his match against Matt Sydal in the first round, but was eliminated by Ricochet in the quarter-finals.
On January 28, 2017, Morrison won a tournament at a 5 Star Wrestling event for the 5 Star Wrestling Championship, defeating Moose, Drew Galloway, and Rey Mysterio to win the title. On February 8, 2018, he lost the title against Jake Hager after over a year as champion.
On September 22, Morrison reunited with former MNM tag team partner Joey Mercury after ten years, defeating Reno Scum.
Lucha Underground (2014–2018)
In September 2014, it was reported that Hennigan had signed with the El Rey network's new television series, Lucha Underground, where he wrestled under the ring name Johnny Mundo. Mundo wrestled in the main event of the debut episode of Lucha Underground on October 29, 2014, defeating Prince Puma and winning one hundred thousand dollars, which was then taken away from him by promoter Dario Cueto, setting up several feuds. He then teamed with Prince Puma during the November 5, 2014 episode, defeating Cortez Castro and Mr. Cisco. On the November 19 episode, Mundo defeated Big Ryck by disqualification after interference by Castro and Cisco. Mundo then defeated Prince Puma and Big Ryck in the main event of the December 10, 2014 episode, which was a three-way ladder match, to finally win the hundred thousand dollars he was denied in the Lucha Underground debut.
On January 7, 2015, Mundo participated in a 20-man "Aztec Warfare" battle royal for the Lucha Underground Championship. He was the second luchador to enter the ring, but was the last man eliminated by Prince Puma who won the Championship. King Cuerno attacked Mundo on the February 4 episode, beginning a feud between them; the second installment took place on the episode which aired March 11, where Mundo and Cuerno wrestled in a Steel Cage match, which was won by Mundo. On May 13, Mundo turned into a villain when he attacked Alberto El Patrón in his match against Hernandez, throwing him through the window of Dario Cueto's office. Mundo subsequently tossed El Patrón back into the ring, giving Hernandez the win. On the June 17, episode of Lucha Underground, Johnny Mundo unsuccessfully challenged Prince Puma for the Lucha Underground Championship in an Iron Man match. On August 5, 2015, at Ultima Lucha, Mundo defeated Alberto El Patrón after an interference by his girlfriend Melina Perez.
On the February 3, 2016 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo faced Killshot in a winning effort. After the match, Mundo taunted Lucha Underground Champion Mil Muertes, only to be confronted by Cage. Mundo defeated Cage on February 24, after interference from the debuting Taya, subsequently becoming Mundo's valet. On the May 25 episode of Lucha Underground, Taya revealed to PJ Black and Jack Evans that their partner Fénix was injured by Mundo. As Mundo revealed himself as Fénix's replacement for their match, Black and Evans allied with the two. Later that night in the main event, Mundo, Black and Evans defeated Rey Mysterio Jr., Prince Puma and Dragon Azteca Jr. to win the Lucha Underground Trios Championship, the first championship for each in Lucha Underground. The week after, Mundo, Black and Evans, now collectively billed as Worldwide Underground, retained their championships in a rematch via disqualification. Worldwide Underground lost their titles to Aero Star, Drago and Fénix at the third and final part Ultima Lucha Dos, which aired on July 20.
On the October 26 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo defeated Sexy Star to win the Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship after he knocked out Sexy Star with brass knuckles while the referee was unaware. On the November 23 episode of Lucha Underground, he cashed in his Gift of the Gods Championship on Sexy Star before defeating her to win the Lucha Underground Championship, becoming the second Triple Crown Champion in Lucha Underground history. On the December 21 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo successfully defended his championship in a rematch against Sexy Star inside a steel cage. He lost the title to Prince Puma at Ultima Lucha Tres.
Mundo made his return on the fourth season's premiere, competing in Aztec Warfare entering at number 11. Mundo eliminated Ricky Mundo and Daga before getting eliminated by Marty Martinez and being attacked by the Reptile Tribe. On November 17, 2018, Mundo wrestled on the final episode of Lucha Underground, Ultima Lucha Cuatro, defeating Matanza Cueto in a Sacrifice to the Gods match.
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2015–2018)
On May 24, 2015, Mundo made his debut for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) at the Lucha Libre World Cup event representing Lucha Underground as a member of "Team TNA/Lucha Underground" alongside TNA wrestlers Matt Hardy and Mr. Anderson. They finished in second place, losing in the finals to the "Dream Team" (El Patrón Alberto, Myzteziz and Rey Mysterio Jr.).
On June 4, 2015 in the main event of Verano de Escándalo, Mundo established himself as a rudo (or villain) and teamed with El Mesias and Pentagón Jr. losing to Myzteziz, La Parka and Rey Mysterio Jr. On September 27, Konnan announced Mundo as an official member of the rudo stable, La Sociedad, while he subsequently stepped down as the leader of the group. On October 4, at Héroes Inmortales IX, Mundo unsuccessfully challenged El Patrón Alberto for the AAA Mega Championship, when he was defeated by disqualification. After Alberto left AAA, Mundo was scheduled to face Rey Mysterio Jr. for the vacant AAA Mega Championship at Guerra de Titanes, but after the matches of the event were officially announced, neither Mundo nor Mysterio were featured for the event. Mundo participated in the 2016 Lucha Libre World Cup as a member of "Team Lucha Underground" alongside Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Brian Cage, defeating "Team Mexico Leyendas" (Blue Demon Jr., Canek, and La Parka) in the quarter-finals, and "Team Mexico International" (Rey Mysterio Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr., and Dragon Azteca Jr.) in the semi-finals. Mundo's team won the tournament defeating "Team AAA" (Pentagón Jr., El Texano Jr. and Psycho Clown) in the finals.
After adopting an "anti-Mexico" attitude and teaming with El Mesías and Hernandez to defeat El Texano Jr., El Hijo del Fantasma and Pentagón Jr., Mundo challenged the latter to a match at Triplemanía XXIV for the AAA Latin American Championship, to which Pentagón accepted. At the event, on August 28, Mundo defeated Pentagón to win the Latin American Championship, marking his first championship in AAA and becoming the first non-Mexican to hold the title. On October 2 in the main event of Héroes Inmortales X, Mundo successfully defended his title against Garza Jr. On March 19, 2017, at Rey de Reyes, Mundo defeated El Texano Jr. and El Hijo del Fantasma in a three-way match to not only retain the Latin American Championship, but to also win Texano's AAA Mega Championship and Fantasma's AAA World Cruiserweight Championship. In his first AAA Mega Championship defense, on June 30, Mundo successfully retained his title against Texano.
In July 2017, Mundo and his fiancée Kira Forster, known as Taya, were involved in controversy with AAA and its Director of Talent Vampiro, which led to Taya's departure from the company. According to Wrestling Observer, AAA asked Mundo to turn in Taya's Reina de Reinas Championship for a photo shoot the day prior to an event on July 1. A few weeks later, Vampiro addressed to the live crowd that Forster was stripped of the title due to not appearing to defend her title, despite not being scheduled to appear.
On August 26, at Triplemanía XXV, Mundo successfully defended his three championships against Fantasma and Texano in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. On October 1 at Héroes Inmortales XI, Mundo wrestled in three matches, retaining the Mega Championship against Rey Wagner, but losing the Latin American Championship to Fantasma in the annual Copa Antonio Peña battle royal, and the World Cruiserweight Championship to Lanzelot in a ten-way match, ending his triple championship reign at 196 days.
On January 26, 2018 at Guerra de Titanes, Mundo lost the AAA Mega Championship to Rey Wagner, ending his reign at 314 days.
Impact Wrestling (2017–2019)
Championship pursuits (2017–2018)
In August 2017, despite not being signed to the promotion at the time, Hennigan appeared for Impact Wrestling at some live events. On August 17, a video package was shown at Destination X revealing his ring name as Johnny Impact. His first feud in the promotion was with Eli Drake, when Impact made his televised in-ring debut on the August 24 episode of Impact!, participating in a Gauntlet for the Gold match for the vacant Global Championship, but was eliminated by eventual winner Eli Drake. Impact would face Drake for the title at Victory Road and Bound for Glory, where he failed to win the title. Since the Bound for Glory match ended after Alberto El Patrón made an interference, Impact, Alberto and Drake had a three-way Last Chance Six Sides of Steel match on the January 25, 2018 episode of Impact!, where Drake retained the title.
After Drake lost the renamed Impact World Championship to Austin Aries, Impact began pursuit of Aries's championship, facing him at Crossroads special, where he lost again. On the April 19 episode of Impact!, Johnny Impact was attacked and injured by Kongo Kong, which was performed to write him off television in order to film for reality television show Survivor. Impact returned at Slammiversary XVI, when he won a four-way match against Fenix, Taiji Ishimori, and Petey Williams.
Impact World Champion (2018–2019)
Impact began a feud with the Impact World Champion Austin Aries, which led to a match at Bound for Glory. As the PPV moved closer, the feud started to blur the lines between a work (something scripted) and shoot (something real), beginning with the two wrestlers trading insults on Twitter that they appeared to take personal, with Aries later deleting many of his tweets. Specifically, Impact mocked Aries' short stature and the champion responded by making fun of his wife's weight. Aries and Impact both alleged in the media that they authentically took issue with comments. TMZ Live also pushed the angle "like [it] was a shoot". The two wrestlers got in a brawl the night before Bound for Glory during Abyss's Impact Hall of Fame induction. At the event, Impact defeated Aries to win the Impact World Championship. Throughout the following weeks, Impact successfully defended his title against Fénix, Killer Kross, and Matt Sydal. At Homecoming on January 6, 2019, Impact defeated Brian Cage to retain his championship.
During the February tapings for Impact Wrestling, Impact defended his title in a four-way contest involving Killer Kross, Moose and Brian Cage. Impact hit his finisher on Moose, barely seconds prior to Cage hitting his Drill Claw finisher on Killer Kross. As Impact was able to cover his opponent first the referee was able to provide the count and therefore Impact won the match as Brian Cage went to cover his opponent. On the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Impact's wife Taya Valkyrie would low blow Cage, which allowed Impact to attack Cage, turning into a villain. At United We Stand, Impact won a five-way Ultimate X match to become the number one contender for the Impact X Division Championship. Throughout April, Impact successfully defended his title from Cage, often with interferences from Valkyrie and former referee John E Bravo. At Rebellion, Impact, accompanied by Valkyrie and Bravo, lost the title to Cage in a match where Lance Storm was special guest referee; this left Impact's reign to end at 196 days, leaving it the longest reign since Bobby Roode's 2011–2012 reign, and therefore the longest reign in seven years, as well as the third-longest reign in history.
On the May 31 episode of Impact Wrestling, Impact challenged X Division Champion Rich Swann to a title match at Slammiversary XVII. Later that night, he teamed with Michael Elgin to face Swann and Willie Mack in a tag team match, in which Swann pinned Impact. At Slammiversary XVII, Impact was defeated by Swann. On July 8, Pro Wrestling Insider reported that Hennigan's contract with Impact Wrestling had expired several weeks prior to the event, and the two sides agreed to have Hennigan work until Slammiversary.
Return to WWE (2019–2021)
On September 26, 2019, it was reported by Mike Johnson of Pro Wrestling Insider that Hennigan had re-signed with WWE, which was officially confirmed by the company on December 3 during WWE Backstage. He made his return on January 3, 2020 episode of SmackDown under his John Morrison ring name and resumed his partnership with The Miz, thus re-establishing him as a heel for the first time in WWE in 10 years. They would feud with the SmackDown Tag Team Champions, The New Day, with Morrison winning singles matches against Big E and Kofi Kingston. At the Royal Rumble, Morrison participated in the Royal Rumble match as the fifth entrant, but he was eliminated by Brock Lesnar. At Super ShowDown, Miz and Morrison won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship from The New Day.
On March 8, Morrison and Miz had their first title defense in a tag team Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber event, successfully defending their titles against The New Day, The Usos, Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado), and Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. At WrestleMania 36, after the Miz's absence due to illness, Morrison defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championships by himself in a ladder match against Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso, in which he was successful. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, the duo lost the titles back to The New Day after Miz unsuccessfully defended the titles by himself in a triple threat match against Big E and Jey Uso ending their reign at 50 days. At Money in the Bank the following month, Morrison and Miz unsuccessfully attempted to regain the championship in a fatal four-way tag team match also involving Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) and The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake). Morrison and Miz then started a rivalry with Universal Champion Braun Strowman. At Backlash, the duo competed for Strowman's title in a two-on-one handicap match, but lost. As part of the 2020 Draft in October, both Morrison and Miz were drafted to the Raw brand. Prior to the draft, Morrison and Miz entered a feud with Otis for his Money in the Bank contract. At Hell in a Cell, Morrison accompanied Miz in his match against Otis for the contract, which Miz won.
On the December 7 episode of Raw, Morrison ended a nearly seven-month losing streak after defeating Drew McIntyre and Sheamus in a 3-on-2 handicap match alongside The Miz and AJ Styles. Morrison entered the 2021 Royal Rumble match on January 31, lasting over eight minutes before being eliminated by Damian Priest. At the Elimination Chamber event on February 21, 2021, Morrison defeated Ricochet, Elias, and Mustafa Ali in a fatal four-way match for an opportunity at the United States Championship. Later that night, he failed to win the title in a triple threat match against Riddle and reigning champion Bobby Lashley, as Riddle won the match. After this, Morrison and Miz feuded with rapper Bad Bunny and Damian Priest. At WrestleMania 37 on April 10, Morrison and Miz faced Bad Bunny and Priest in a tag team match, but lost.
After Miz suffered an injury at WrestleMania Backlash, Morrison would embark on singles run, starting by defeating Jeff Hardy on the June 14 episode of Raw. The following week, Morrison defeated Randy Orton to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at the namesake pay-per-view event, which was won by Big E. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Miz turned on Morrison by attacking him, thus turning Morrison face and setting up a feud between the pair. However, the feud abruptly ended after the Miz took a hiatus to compete on Dancing with the Stars. On November 18, as part of an eighth round of layoffs due to budget cuts stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Morrison was released from his WWE contract.
Return to AAA (2022)
On February 19, 2022, Hennigan, as "John Superstar", unsuccessfully challenged El Hijo del Vikingo at Rey de Reyes for the AAA Mega Championship.
Return to the independent circuit (2022–present)
On April 1, 2022, Hennigan, as "Johnny Caballero", will make his debut for Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) at the Wrld on Lucha event. It was also announced that Hennigan would wrestle at GCW's Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 8.
Professional wrestling style and persona
Hennigan was described by WWE as having "lightning-fast offense", "high-risk aerial expertise", and "incredible agility". He is known to utilize a split-legged corkscrew moonsault, dubbed Starship Pain, as a finishing maneuver. During his singles run as Johnny Nitro, he used a standing shooting star press as his finisher. After transitioning to his John Morrison character, Hennigan began using a corkscrew neckbreaker dubbed Moonlight Drive, in reference to the song of the same name written by Jim Morrison. He also prominently used a superkick as a finisher in 2008 during a feud with D-Generation X, as a way to mock Shawn Michaels's Sweet Chin Music maneuver. Hennigan is a practitioner of parkour and often incorporates it into his wrestling style, giving him the nickname "The Prince of Parkour". He also has a background in amateur wrestling, breakdancing, gymnastics, and martial arts. Regarding his unique wrestling style, Hennigan stated in a 2021 interview with Sports Illustrated:
Alongside his team MNM, Hennigan debuted on WWE television as Johnny Nitro, presenting himself as an arrogant wrestler with "elite Hollywood status". After winning the ECW World Championship in 2007, he changed his ring name to John Morrison and his gimmick was tweaked to be even more conceited and self-aggrandizing — in addition to being modeled after Jim Morrison, the legendary frontman of the 1960s rock band The Doors, to whom he bears a strong physical resemblance. Following his return to WWE and reunion with his tag team partner the Miz in 2020, Hennigan added a comedic aspect to his villainous character, with WWE describing him as using "quirkiness and quick wit to shine every time he is on screen". He also began to refer to himself as "Johnny Drip Drip", a reference to the song "Drip" by rapper Cardi B.
Outside of WWE, Hennigan began referring to himself as the "Mayor of Slamtown", a fictional town he first coined in Lucha Underground in 2015. Hennigan filed to trademark the term "Slamtown" in November 2020.
Other media
In 2009, Hennigan and Maryse Ouellet were interviewed on Eurosport. In 2009, Hennigan appeared on two episodes of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, which were both aired on September 29. Hennigan is the subject of a WWE DVD, called John Morrison – Rock Star, which was released on February 16, 2010. The DVD covers his career from his name change to John Morrison up until his Intercontinental Championship win in September 2009. He appeared on an episode of Destroy Build Destroy on March 3, 2010. Hennigan was on the cover of Muscle & Fitness in June 2010, with the issue also featuring an interview and photo shoot. In 2016, Hennigan, Rey Mysterio, and King Cuerno appeared on ESPN to promote the second season of Lucha Underground.
Hennigan is also a frequent collaborator with comic book-based film producers Bat in the Sun Productions, appearing in two episodes of their well-known Super Power Beat Down series; playing as Casey Jones against Kick-Ass in episode 13, and as Winter Soldier against Nightwing in episode 19. Hennigan portrayed Eternal Warrior in the web series Ninjak vs. the Valiant Universe, produced by Valiant Entertainment and directed by Bat in the Sun.
Filmmaking
After leaving WWE in 2011, Hennigan pursued a career in the film industry as an actor and filmmaker. In 2013, he appeared in 20 Feet Below: The Darkness Descending with Danny Trejo, as well as served as co-producer of the film. In 2017, Hennigan released his first feature film titled Boone: The Bounty Hunter, which he starred in, co-wrote, and served as executive producer of. Hennigan sold his house in order to finance the film. In 2018, Hennigan began working on his directorial debut, a short film titled The Iron Sheik Massacre which he also produced and co-wrote with his wife Kira Forster. It was expected to be released in 2020, but has yet to have an official release date.
Survivor: David vs. Goliath
Hennigan was a contestant on the 37th season of Survivor, Survivor: David vs. Goliath where he was originally part of the Goliath tribe and later Tiva before making it to the merged tribe Kalokalo. He finished 12th and became the second member of the jury after the former members of the Goliath tribe were blindsided at tribal council; two contestants used hidden immunity idols, causing Hennigan to be eliminated despite only having three elimination votes, as Christian Hubicki, who received seven, was immune.
Hennigan's performance as a contestant and the episode of his elimination received critical acclaim. Chris Chase of USA Today praised Hennigan for being "true to everything we’ve seen from him this season, [and] a class act after his shock defeat". Writing for People, former Survivor contestant Stephen Fishbach highlighted that "in a tribal council that was meant to take out the Davidest David [Christian Hubicki], it was really the Goliath of the Goliaths [Hennigan] who fell. How perfectly Biblical." The show’s executive producer and host Jeff Probst was "so impressed" with Hennigan, describing him as "the guy who catches the winning touchdown pass in the final moments of the Super Bowl, and then, instead of some crazy celebration, he casually tosses the ball to the ref, kisses his wife and hugs his kids", alongside stating that he would "absolutely" have Hennigan back on the show.
Filmography
Personal life
Hennigan is good friends with fellow professional wrestlers The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, Jeff Hardy, and Randy Orton. He was also good friends with Shad Gaspard, and still is with JTG, of Cryme Tyme, and was a part of the search team after Gaspard's disappearance and death.
Hennigan was involved in an on-off relationship with former WWE Diva and on-screen manager Melina Perez from 2003 to 2015. The pair met during the auditions for Tough Enough III, in which Perez was cut and Hennigan eventually won. Since 2016, Hennigan has been in a relationship with Kira Forster, better known as Taya Valkyrie. The pair met through the affiliation between AAA and Lucha Underground, with Forster becoming Hennigan's on-screen partner in the latter promotion prior to their real-life relationship. They became engaged on June 14, 2017, and were married on June 1, 2018.
Championships and accomplishments
5 Star Wrestling
5 Star Wrestling Championship (1 time)
One Night Tournament (2017)
ACW Wisconsin
ACW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
The Baltimore Sun
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
Blackcraft Wrestling
BCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Continental Wrestling Federation
CWF United States Championship (1 time)
DDT Pro-Wrestling
Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (1 time)
European Pro Wrestling
EPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Family Wrestling Entertainment
FWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Impact Wrestling
Impact World Championship (1 time)
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
AAA Mega Championship (1 time)
AAA Latin American Championship (1 time)
AAA World Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
Lucha Libre World Cup (2016 Men's Division) – with Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Brian Cage
Lucha Underground
Lucha Underground Championship (1 time)
Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship (1 time)
Lucha Underground Trios Championship (1 time) – with Jack Evans and PJ Black
Second Triple Crown Champion
Mondo Lucha
Mondo Lucha Championship (1 time)
Mondo Lucha Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Matt Cross
Next Generation Wrestling
NGW World Championship (1 time)
NGW World Title Tournament (2013)
Ohio Valley Wrestling
OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Joey Matthews
Pacific Coast Wrestling/PCW Ultra
PCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2009)
Tag Team of the Year (2005) – with Joey Mercury
Ranked No. 24 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
Qatar Pro Wrestling
QPW Souq Waqif Championship (1 time)
QPW Souq Waqif Title Tournament (2015)
Rogue Wrestling
Rogue Championship (1 time)
Rogue Championship Tournament (2019)
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
ECW World Championship (1 time)
WWE Intercontinental Championship (3 times)
WWE Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Joey Mercury (3) and The Miz (1)
World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Miz
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Miz
ECW World Championship Tournament (2007)
Tough Enough III (2003)
Slammy Award (2 times)
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
Best WWE.com Exclusive (2008) – with The Miz
World Series Wrestling
WSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Wrestling Fan Xperience
WWFX Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
References
External links
1979 births
21st-century American male actors
American capoeira practitioners
American male professional wrestlers
ECW champions
ECW Heavyweight Champions/ECW World Heavyweight Champions
Living people
People from Palos Verdes, California
Professional wrestlers from California
Sportspeople from Los Angeles
Survivor (American TV series) contestants
TNA World Heavyweight/Impact World Champions
Tough Enough contestants
Tough Enough winners
Traceurs
WWF/WWE Intercontinental Champions
AAA Mega Champions | true | [
"The 1877 season was the first in which Geelong participated in the newly established Victorian Football Association. Geelong did not have a captain this season nor did they have a best and fairest. No data is available as to who scored the most goals. Geelong did not play enough matches to place on the ladder.\n\nSeason Summary \nGeelong mainly played matches against local teams this season with only three matches against senior clubs. Of those matches, Geelong won one match and lost two matches. Geelong played twice against Geelong Imperial winning one match and drawing the other. Geelong also played matches against Camperdown and Colac, and Victorian Railways, winning both of these matches.\n\nResults\n\nReferences \n\n Geelong Football Club seasons\n 1877 in Australian rules football",
"Since 1909, France and Ireland have played each other in a total of 101 test matches, with France winning 59 times, Ireland winning 35 times and seven matches drawn.\n\nApart from fixtures played in the Five Nations / Six Nations Championship competitions, four games have been played at the Rugby World Cup in 1995, 2003, 2007 and 2015, in which France were victorious in the first three and Ireland in the last one in 2015. The sides have also met on four other occasions outside the Five Nations / Six Nations Championship: in 1909 (the first match between the two teams), a one-off match in 1972 and two Rugby World Cup warm-up matches in 2011.\n\nSummary\nNote: Summary below reflects test results by both teams.\n\nOverview\n\nRecords\nNote: Date shown in brackets indicates when the record was or last set.\n\nResults\n\nXV Results\nBelow is a list of matches that France has awarded matches test match status by virtue of awarding caps, but Ireland did not award caps.\n\nBreakdown\n\nIn the World Cup, the teams have played each other on four occasions, 1995, 2003, 2007 and 2015, with France winning on 3 occasions and Ireland winning once; there have been no draws. In these games, France have scored 113 points, and Ireland 60.\n\nIn the Five Nations (1910-1931 and 1947-1999), Ireland played France on 70 occasions, Ireland winning 23, France 42 and five matches have been drawn. \n\nIn the Six Nations (2000-present), Ireland have played France on 20 occasions, Ireland winning 9, France 9 and two matches have been drawn. In these games, Ireland have scored 359 points, and France 439.\n\nIn other test matches, Ireland have played France on four other occasions, in 1909, 1972 and twice in 2011, with two wins apiece.\n\nReferences\n\nFrance national rugby union team matches\nIreland national rugby union team matches\nSix Nations Championship\nRugby union rivalries in Ireland\nRugby union rivalries in France"
]
|
[
"John Morrison (wrestler)",
"Independent circuit (2012-present)",
"What was the independent circuit?",
"After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison.",
"Was he successful?",
"Hennigan rekindled an old feud facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila,",
"Did he win?",
"Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion.",
"Did they ever face off against each other again?",
"On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match.",
"What other matches did he have?",
"On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show."
]
| C_78d624427aba445786e994c48bae222a_1 | Did he have any other matches there? | 6 | Did John Morrison have any other matches at Dragon Gate other than against Akira Tozawa? | John Morrison (wrestler) | After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison. On his first post-WWE wrestling appearance, Hennigan rekindled an old feud facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012. Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion. On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match. On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show. Hennigan took part in the WrestleMania weekend, wrestling for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate. On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger in an "International Dream Match" at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) event. On April 19, Hennigan again defeated Sami Callihan in a no count-out, no disqualification falls count anywhere match at a 2CW event in Rome, New York. The next day, he defeated Kevin Steen at 2CW's first iPPV (Living on the Edge VIII), in Watertown, New York. On June 21, 2013, Hennigan defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool in FWE Welcome to the Rumble II, winning the FWE Heavyweight Championship. The next day, Hennigan defended the title against Too Cold Scorpio at House of Hardcore 2. On September 6 and 8, Morrison wrestled against WWL World Heavyweight Champion Black Pain for the title, but he was defeated both times. On October 12, 2013, at FWE Grand Prix, Hennigan defeated Matt Morgan, retaining the FWE Heavyweight Championship. On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles. Morrison faced Rob Van Dam at Pro Wrestling Syndicate in Rahway, New Jersey on October 24, 2015 in a winning effort. After the match, Morrison shook hands with Van Dam and led the crowd in an "RVD" chant. On June 28, 2016, it was announced that Hennigan would make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerilla in the company's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He won his match against Matt Sydal in the first round, but was eliminated by Ricochet in the quarter-finals. On November 16, it was announced that Hennigan, under his Johnny Mundo ring name, would appear for What Culture Pro Wrestling on their Delete WCPW event on November 30. Mundo was scheduled to face Alberto El Patron, but due to Alberto's absence he was replaced by Gabriel Kidd. At the event, Mundo cut a heel promo, insulting Alberto El Patron and the crowd, before defeating Kidd. On January 28, 2017, Morrison won a tournament at a 5 Star Wrestling event for his 5 Star Wrestling Championship, defeating Moose, Drew Galloway, and Rey Mysterio to retain the title. On June 2, Hennigan defeated Rob Van Dam to become the Pacific Coast Wrestling Heavyweight Champion. On September 22, Morrison reunited with former MNM tag team partner Joey Mercury after ten years, defeating Reno Scum. CANNOTANSWER | On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger | John Randall Hennigan (born October 3, 1979) is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by the ring name John Morrison. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he was a contracted performer from 2002 to 2011, and 2019 to 2021.
Hennigan won Tough Enough III (a WWE reality TV competition show that awarded winners a wrestling contract with the company), and was assigned to its developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), to continue his wrestling training. WWE promoted Hennigan to its SmackDown! roster in April 2005 under the ring name Johnny Nitro; in his debut match on the show, he won the WWE Tag Team Championship (as a part of the tag team, MNM). In between runs in WWE, Hennigan held lead or main event roles in several independent wrestling promotions, including the lucha libre wrestling company/TV series Lucha Underground, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (aka "AAA"; as Johnny Mundo), and Impact Wrestling (as Johnny Impact).
Hennigan is a four-time world champion, having won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship (WWE revival version), AAA Mega Championship, Impact Wrestling World Championship, and the Lucha Underground Championship once each. In WWE, he also held the Intercontinental Championship three times, and was a six-time tag team champion (one World Tag Team Championship, four WWE Tag Team Championships, and one SmackDown Tag Team Championship). In lucha libre, Hennigan was a central fixture in all four seasons of Lucha Underground, and was AAA's first-ever triple champion (holding the AAA Mega Championship, AAA Latin American Championship, and AAA World Cruiserweight Championship simultaneously. He has headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WWE and Impact, including the latter company's flagship event, Bound for Glory, in 2017 and 2018.
Outside of wrestling, Hennigan has also worked in the film and television industry. In film, he has mainly worked as an actor, producer and stuntman. He is also known for being a contestant on the 37th season of the competitive reality show Survivor.
Early life
John Randall Hennigan was born on October 3, 1979, in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Palos Verdes Peninsula, where he attended Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. He graduated from the University of California, Davis in 2002, where he studied film and geology.
Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE (2002–2011)
Tough Enough and Ohio Valley Wrestling (2002–2004)
After graduating college with a degree in film and geology and deciding that he did not want to pursue either path, Hennigan began his professional wrestling career training at the Supreme Pro Wrestling school in Sacramento, California. After failing his audition for Tough Enough 2, a competition in which the winner earned a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) contract, he was accepted as a cast member for Tough Enough III in 2002, eventually becoming the co-winner with Matt Cappotelli. For winning, Hennigan was awarded a developmental contract and assigned to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), to continue his training. Hennigan competed in Acolytes Protection Agency's invitational Bar Room Brawl match at Vengeance in July 2003. Hennigan and Cappotelli made an appearance on an episode of Heat in January 2004, losing to Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak.
MNM (2004–2006)
On the March 1, 2004 episode of Raw, Hennigan debuted on the main roster as a heel, under the ring name "Johnny Blaze". His gimmick was that he was the apprentice and assistant of the Raw General Manager, Eric Bischoff. The next week his name was changed to "Johnny Spade", and three weeks after that it was changed to "Johnny Nitro". The Nitro name, which finally stuck, was a reference to WCW Monday Nitro, the flagship show of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for which Bischoff had previously worked. To drive the point home, he began using the Nitro theme as his ring entrance music. Nitro acted as Bischoff's apprentice and assistant until June, when he was sent back to OVW. To explain his departure, Nitro lost a match on the June 7 episode of Raw against Eugene, which carried the stipulation that upon his loss, he also lost his job.
Upon his return to OVW, Nitro was put into a feud with Matt Cappotelli. During the course of the feud, Melina was brought into the company as Nitro's ex-girlfriend and an ally of Cappotelli, only to turn on him and side with Nitro. Not long after, Nitro and Melina were joined by Joey Mercury, forming the stable MNM. MNM wrestled in OVW for around a year, holding the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship once, before losing the titles to Cappotelli and Johnny Jeter in January 2005. They were soon called up to the main SmackDown! brand in April that same year.
In their debut match on the main roster, MNM won the WWE Tag Team Championship from Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio on the April 21 episode of SmackDown!. MNM held the titles for three months, having successful titles defenses against the teams of Guerrero and Mysterio, and Charlie Haas and Hardcore Holly, before dropping them to the Legion of Doom at The Great American Bash. They won the titles again on the October 28 episode of SmackDown! in a four-way match defeating Legion of Doom, The Mexicools, and William Regal and Paul Burchill, but lost them to Rey Mysterio and Batista on the December 16 episode of SmackDown! two days before Armageddon. Due to help from Mark Henry, MNM defeated Mysterio and Batista in a rematch on the December 30 episode of SmackDown! to win the championship for the third time. They began a rivalry with the team of Paul London and Brian Kendrick that lasted over three months, until they dropped the championship to London and Kendrick at Judgment Day in May 2006, with the storyline leading to Nitro and Melina suddenly turning on Mercury after the match, breaking up the group. Later that night, Melina and Nitro were booked off the SmackDown! brand by having the General Manager, Theodore Long "fire" them.
Singles competition and championship success (2006–2007)
The next week, Nitro, along with Melina, debuted on the Raw brand in a loss to WWE Champion John Cena. Nitro was immediately placed in the Intercontinental Championship picture, beginning his first reign at Vengeance in June after defeating champion Shelton Benjamin in a triple threat match also involving Carlito. Nitro held the championship for four months, feuding with several challengers before losing it to Jeff Hardy on the October 2 episode of Raw. Nitro recaptured the Intercontinental Championship from Hardy on the November 6 episode of Raw, but lost it back to Hardy on the following week's Raw. Also around this time, Nitro entered into a partnership with rapper Kevin Federline, with the duo antagonizing and beginning a rivalry with WWE Champion John Cena. Federline was then, in storyline, trained by Nitro for a match with Cena, which he won after interference from Umaga.
MNM reunited on the November 27 episode of Raw to accept an open challenge from The Hardys (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) at December to Dismember, a match that they lost. MNM and The Hardys feuded across the brands throughout December, with the two teams competing in a four-way ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Armageddon, also involving Brian Kendrick and Paul London and Dave Taylor and William Regal. However, MNM would be unsuccessful in winning the championship. Nitro challenged Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Championship in a steel cage match at New Year's Revolution on January 7, 2007, but did not win. MNM lost to The Hardys at the Royal Rumble later that month and again at No Way Out in February which ended the feud. MNM disbanded as a team when Mercury was released from WWE in March 2007.
After Mercury's departure, Nitro also ended his association with Melina. Nitro was placed in a tag team with Kenny Dykstra, until the 2007 WWE draft, during which Nitro was drafted to the ECW brand. Nitro made his debut for the brand on the June 19 episode of ECW, with a win over Nunzio, and few days later, on June 24, at Vengeance: Night of Champions, he won the vacant ECW World Championship by defeating CM Punk, replacing the absent Chris Benoit due to his double-murder suicide. A few weeks after winning the title, Nitro was repackaged as John Morrison, a reference to musician Jim Morrison, to whom Hennigan bears a strong physical resemblance. In the months to come, Morrison would retain the championship against Punk at The Great American Bash in July, and SummerSlam in August. Punk would again challenge for the championship on the September 4 episode of ECW, in which Morrison lost the championship to Punk, ending his reign at 69 days. Morrison was then suspended for thirty days for violating WWE's Wellness Program, renewing his feud with Punk upon his return, as well as competing against The Miz for the number one contendership to the title.
Teaming with The Miz (2007–2009)
Though rivals, Morrison and The Miz faced the dysfunctional tag team of Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter on the November 16 episode of SmackDown! for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a winning effort, marking Morrison's fourth WWE Tag Team Championship reign. At Survivor Series, Morrison and The Miz were both defeated by CM Punk in a triple threat match for the ECW Championship. After the defeat, the rivalry aspect of Morrison and Miz's relationship faded, as they were now portrayed as trusting friends. Morrison competed in the 2008 Royal Rumble match on January 27, but failed to win after being eliminated by Kane. In February 2008, Morrison and Miz were given a streaming segment on WWE.com named The Dirt Sheet in which they mocked other wrestlers and facets of pop culture. Morrison and Miz co-wrote each episode of The Dirt Sheet each week, and Morrison credits his time in college studying film with contributing to the success of the show. At WrestleMania XXIV, Morrison competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by CM Punk. Despite being unsuccessful, Morrison had a standout performance in the match, in which he performed a moonsault from the top rope to the outside of the ring while holding onto a ladder.
The team of Morrison and Miz had many successful title defenses over the next few months, before dropping the titles to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder at The Great American Bash in a fatal four-way match which also featured Jesse and Festus, and Finlay and Hornswoggle. Neither Morrison nor Miz were pinned, as Hawkins pinned Jesse to win the titles.
Afterwards, they started a feud with Cryme Tyme (JTG and Shad) through each team's Internet show, which then transitioned to matches on Raw and at Cyber Sunday. After winning the Slammy Award for Best WWE.com exclusive earlier in the day, Morrison and Miz won the "Tag Team of the Year" Slammy Award on December 8, 2008 episode of Raw. On December 13, Morrison and Miz won the World Tag Team Championship from CM Punk and Kofi Kingston at a live event. Morrison and Miz engaged themselves in a feud with The Colóns (Carlito and Primo), who were the reigning WWE Tag Team Champions, which resulted in both teams defending their respective championships successfully in separate matches. Their feud culminated in a tag team lumberjack match where both titles were on the line at the WrestleMania 25, but it was The Colóns who would unify the championships with a win. On April 13, as part of the 2009 WWE draft, The Miz was drafted to the Raw brand to split up the team, and as a result, Miz attacked Morrison.
Intercontinental Champion (2009–2010)
On April 15, Morrison was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, he defeated R-Truth. On the May 1 episode of SmackDown, Morrison engaged in a backstage fight with Chris Jericho after Jericho slapped him, turning face in the process for the first time in his career. Later that same night, Morrison defeated Shelton Benjamin, beginning a feud between the two. On the May 7 episode of Superstars, Morrison lost a match to Jericho after a distraction by Benjamin. Morrison continued to score victories over Benjamin in singles and tag team matches before defeating him at Judgment Day. During this time, Morrison would soon become wildly popular with fans. On the June 19 episode of SmackDown, Morrison lost a critically acclaimed match against Edge, in which the commentators described it as a "third main event". On the July 31 episode of SmackDown, Morrison had his first World Heavyweight Championship match against Jeff Hardy, but failed to win the title.
On the September 4 episode of SmackDown, Morrison defeated Rey Mysterio to win his third Intercontinental Championship. Morrison then began a feud with Dolph Ziggler, after losing a non-title match to him by countout, but he would successfully defend the title against Ziggler at Hell in a Cell, and again on the following episode of SmackDown. The feud between Morrison and Ziggler continued throughout the next month, with the two wrestling to a double countout for the Intercontinental Championship on the November 13 episode of SmackDown and Morrison retaining the championship in a two-out-of-three falls match the following week to end the feud. At Bragging Rights, Morrison was defeated by his former tag team partner then-United States Champion The Miz in an interbrand Champion vs. Champion match. Their rivalry continued after both were announced as opposing team captains for Survivor Series, where Miz's team defeated Morrison's team. Morrison then went on to feud with newcomer Drew McIntyre, who defeated Morrison in a non-title match on the December 4 episode of SmackDown, thus earning a championship opportunity against Morrison. At the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, Morrison lost the Intercontinental Championship to McIntyre, ending his reign at 103 days. He received his rematch on the January 1 episode of SmackDown, but was disqualified when McIntyre shoved him into the referee. He challenged McIntyre for the Intercontinental Championship again on the January 29 episode of SmackDown in a No Disqualification match, but lost, ending their feud. Morrison later won an Elimination Chamber qualifying match and participated in the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship, but was eliminated by The Undertaker. On the March 5 episode of SmackDown, Morrison teamed with R-Truth to defeat Cryme Tyme and The Hart Dynasty to earn a Unified WWE Tag Team Championship match against ShoMiz (Big Show and The Miz). At WrestleMania XXVI, they failed to win the championship.
Championship pursuits and departure (2010–2011)
On April 26, Morrison was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2010 WWE draft, and lost his first match back for the brand later that night to Jack Swagger. Later that week, in his final match on SmackDown, he lost to Cody Rhodes. On June 1, Morrison announced that he would be mentoring Eli Cottonwood in the second season of NXT. Cottonwood, however, was the second person eliminated from the competition, and was eliminated on the July 27 episode of NXT. Morrison then went on to participate in the main event of SummerSlam in which he and six teammates (John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho, Bret Hart, R-Truth, and Daniel Bryan) were victorious in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match against The Nexus. In October 2010, Morrison began a feud with Sheamus after he helped Santino Marella earn an upset win during a one-sided match against Sheamus. Within the following weeks, Morrison continued to save Marella from attacks by Sheamus. At Survivor Series, Morrison defeated Sheamus. Morrison entered the 2010 edition of the King of the Ring tournament, defeating Tyson Kidd, Cody Rhodes, and Alberto Del Rio. Morrison lost to Sheamus in the final round. He continued to feud with Sheamus and defeated him in a WWE Championship number one contender's ladder match at the Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view on December 19. Morrison received his WWE Championship match on the January 3, 2011 episode of Raw, but lost to reigning champion The Miz in a falls count anywhere match. On January 30, Morrison participated in the Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble event and despite not winning, he had a stand-out moment which was praised by critics as "arguably the spot of the decade" when Morrison was knocked off of the ring apron and performed a cat leap onto the barricade to avoid having his feet touch the floor and then went on to precision jump onto the ring steps and re-enter the ring. On February 20, Morrison participated in the Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event, but was eliminated by CM Punk. During the match, Morrison climbed to the top of the cage while inside the cage before dropping to deliver a crossbody on and eliminate Sheamus. At WrestleMania XXVII, Morrison teamed with Trish Stratus and Jersey Shore guest star Snooki in a mixed tag match to defeat the team of Dolph Ziggler and LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool).
On the April 11 episode of Raw, Morrison participated in a five-man gauntlet match for the number one contender's spot for the WWE Championship, but was eliminated by R-Truth. The next week on Raw, Morrison challenged R-Truth to a match later on in the night, with the stipulation that if Morrison won, he would take Truth's place in the steel cage match at Extreme Rules. Truth accepted, and lost the match, making Morrison the new number one contender. After the match, Truth viciously attacked Morrison. At Extreme Rules, R-Truth interfered in the WWE Championship steel cage match, attacking Morrison and preventing him from winning the match. The next night on Raw, Morrison was attacked by Truth again, prior to a scheduled match between the two which did not happen as a result. Morrison then underwent surgery to correct a legitimately pinched nerve in his neck. Morrison initially returned on the June 13 episode of Raw, but Truth attacked him again prior to their scheduled match, re-injuring him. Morrison returned again on the July 25 episode of Raw, attacking R-Truth. At SummerSlam, Morrison teamed up with Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio to defeat R-Truth, Alberto Del Rio and The Miz. The following night on Raw, Morrison defeated R-Truth in a falls count anywhere match to end their feud. At Night of Champions, Morrison competed in a Fatal 4-Way match for the United States Championship, also involving Alex Riley, Dolph Ziggler, and Jack Swagger, with Ziggler successfully retaining his title. Morrison then challenged Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, but failed to win the title. Following this, Morrison went on a losing streak, lasting a number of weeks. On the November 7 episode of Raw, Morrison picked up his first victory in three months, defeating United States Champion Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match. Morrison then challenged Ziggler for the championship at Survivor Series, but was defeated by Ziggler.
In his last advertised WWE appearance on the November 28 episode of Raw, Morrison faced The Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere match; Miz won the match by delivering the Skull-Crushing Finale on the steel entrance stage, giving Morrison a kayfabe injury. This was used to write Morrison off television, even being stretchered out of the arena after the match. On November 29, WWE acknowledged the end of Morrison's contract, and moved his profile to the alumni section of its website. In a video published on December 9, 2011, via Hennigan's personal YouTube channel, Hennigan claimed that he was taking time off to heal and retrain for a possible return to wrestling in the future. In 2015, Hennigan revealed on Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast that WWE wanted him to sign another multi-year contract, but due to a neck injury, residual pain, and creative frustrations, he decided to not renew his contract, wanting "more control over [his] time".
Independent circuit (2012–2019)
After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison. On his first post-WWE wrestling appearance, Hennigan rekindled an old feud, facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012. Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion. On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match. On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show. Hennigan took part in the WrestleMania weekend, wrestling for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate. On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger in an "International Dream Match" at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) event.
On June 21, 2013, Hennigan defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool in FWE Welcome to the Rumble II, winning the FWE Heavyweight Championship. The next day, Hennigan defended the title against Too Cold Scorpio at House of Hardcore 2. On October 12, 2013, at FWE Grand Prix, Hennigan defeated Matt Morgan, retaining the FWE Heavyweight Championship. On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles.
On June 28, 2016, it was announced that Hennigan would make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerilla in the company's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He won his match against Matt Sydal in the first round, but was eliminated by Ricochet in the quarter-finals.
On January 28, 2017, Morrison won a tournament at a 5 Star Wrestling event for the 5 Star Wrestling Championship, defeating Moose, Drew Galloway, and Rey Mysterio to win the title. On February 8, 2018, he lost the title against Jake Hager after over a year as champion.
On September 22, Morrison reunited with former MNM tag team partner Joey Mercury after ten years, defeating Reno Scum.
Lucha Underground (2014–2018)
In September 2014, it was reported that Hennigan had signed with the El Rey network's new television series, Lucha Underground, where he wrestled under the ring name Johnny Mundo. Mundo wrestled in the main event of the debut episode of Lucha Underground on October 29, 2014, defeating Prince Puma and winning one hundred thousand dollars, which was then taken away from him by promoter Dario Cueto, setting up several feuds. He then teamed with Prince Puma during the November 5, 2014 episode, defeating Cortez Castro and Mr. Cisco. On the November 19 episode, Mundo defeated Big Ryck by disqualification after interference by Castro and Cisco. Mundo then defeated Prince Puma and Big Ryck in the main event of the December 10, 2014 episode, which was a three-way ladder match, to finally win the hundred thousand dollars he was denied in the Lucha Underground debut.
On January 7, 2015, Mundo participated in a 20-man "Aztec Warfare" battle royal for the Lucha Underground Championship. He was the second luchador to enter the ring, but was the last man eliminated by Prince Puma who won the Championship. King Cuerno attacked Mundo on the February 4 episode, beginning a feud between them; the second installment took place on the episode which aired March 11, where Mundo and Cuerno wrestled in a Steel Cage match, which was won by Mundo. On May 13, Mundo turned into a villain when he attacked Alberto El Patrón in his match against Hernandez, throwing him through the window of Dario Cueto's office. Mundo subsequently tossed El Patrón back into the ring, giving Hernandez the win. On the June 17, episode of Lucha Underground, Johnny Mundo unsuccessfully challenged Prince Puma for the Lucha Underground Championship in an Iron Man match. On August 5, 2015, at Ultima Lucha, Mundo defeated Alberto El Patrón after an interference by his girlfriend Melina Perez.
On the February 3, 2016 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo faced Killshot in a winning effort. After the match, Mundo taunted Lucha Underground Champion Mil Muertes, only to be confronted by Cage. Mundo defeated Cage on February 24, after interference from the debuting Taya, subsequently becoming Mundo's valet. On the May 25 episode of Lucha Underground, Taya revealed to PJ Black and Jack Evans that their partner Fénix was injured by Mundo. As Mundo revealed himself as Fénix's replacement for their match, Black and Evans allied with the two. Later that night in the main event, Mundo, Black and Evans defeated Rey Mysterio Jr., Prince Puma and Dragon Azteca Jr. to win the Lucha Underground Trios Championship, the first championship for each in Lucha Underground. The week after, Mundo, Black and Evans, now collectively billed as Worldwide Underground, retained their championships in a rematch via disqualification. Worldwide Underground lost their titles to Aero Star, Drago and Fénix at the third and final part Ultima Lucha Dos, which aired on July 20.
On the October 26 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo defeated Sexy Star to win the Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship after he knocked out Sexy Star with brass knuckles while the referee was unaware. On the November 23 episode of Lucha Underground, he cashed in his Gift of the Gods Championship on Sexy Star before defeating her to win the Lucha Underground Championship, becoming the second Triple Crown Champion in Lucha Underground history. On the December 21 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo successfully defended his championship in a rematch against Sexy Star inside a steel cage. He lost the title to Prince Puma at Ultima Lucha Tres.
Mundo made his return on the fourth season's premiere, competing in Aztec Warfare entering at number 11. Mundo eliminated Ricky Mundo and Daga before getting eliminated by Marty Martinez and being attacked by the Reptile Tribe. On November 17, 2018, Mundo wrestled on the final episode of Lucha Underground, Ultima Lucha Cuatro, defeating Matanza Cueto in a Sacrifice to the Gods match.
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2015–2018)
On May 24, 2015, Mundo made his debut for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) at the Lucha Libre World Cup event representing Lucha Underground as a member of "Team TNA/Lucha Underground" alongside TNA wrestlers Matt Hardy and Mr. Anderson. They finished in second place, losing in the finals to the "Dream Team" (El Patrón Alberto, Myzteziz and Rey Mysterio Jr.).
On June 4, 2015 in the main event of Verano de Escándalo, Mundo established himself as a rudo (or villain) and teamed with El Mesias and Pentagón Jr. losing to Myzteziz, La Parka and Rey Mysterio Jr. On September 27, Konnan announced Mundo as an official member of the rudo stable, La Sociedad, while he subsequently stepped down as the leader of the group. On October 4, at Héroes Inmortales IX, Mundo unsuccessfully challenged El Patrón Alberto for the AAA Mega Championship, when he was defeated by disqualification. After Alberto left AAA, Mundo was scheduled to face Rey Mysterio Jr. for the vacant AAA Mega Championship at Guerra de Titanes, but after the matches of the event were officially announced, neither Mundo nor Mysterio were featured for the event. Mundo participated in the 2016 Lucha Libre World Cup as a member of "Team Lucha Underground" alongside Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Brian Cage, defeating "Team Mexico Leyendas" (Blue Demon Jr., Canek, and La Parka) in the quarter-finals, and "Team Mexico International" (Rey Mysterio Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr., and Dragon Azteca Jr.) in the semi-finals. Mundo's team won the tournament defeating "Team AAA" (Pentagón Jr., El Texano Jr. and Psycho Clown) in the finals.
After adopting an "anti-Mexico" attitude and teaming with El Mesías and Hernandez to defeat El Texano Jr., El Hijo del Fantasma and Pentagón Jr., Mundo challenged the latter to a match at Triplemanía XXIV for the AAA Latin American Championship, to which Pentagón accepted. At the event, on August 28, Mundo defeated Pentagón to win the Latin American Championship, marking his first championship in AAA and becoming the first non-Mexican to hold the title. On October 2 in the main event of Héroes Inmortales X, Mundo successfully defended his title against Garza Jr. On March 19, 2017, at Rey de Reyes, Mundo defeated El Texano Jr. and El Hijo del Fantasma in a three-way match to not only retain the Latin American Championship, but to also win Texano's AAA Mega Championship and Fantasma's AAA World Cruiserweight Championship. In his first AAA Mega Championship defense, on June 30, Mundo successfully retained his title against Texano.
In July 2017, Mundo and his fiancée Kira Forster, known as Taya, were involved in controversy with AAA and its Director of Talent Vampiro, which led to Taya's departure from the company. According to Wrestling Observer, AAA asked Mundo to turn in Taya's Reina de Reinas Championship for a photo shoot the day prior to an event on July 1. A few weeks later, Vampiro addressed to the live crowd that Forster was stripped of the title due to not appearing to defend her title, despite not being scheduled to appear.
On August 26, at Triplemanía XXV, Mundo successfully defended his three championships against Fantasma and Texano in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. On October 1 at Héroes Inmortales XI, Mundo wrestled in three matches, retaining the Mega Championship against Rey Wagner, but losing the Latin American Championship to Fantasma in the annual Copa Antonio Peña battle royal, and the World Cruiserweight Championship to Lanzelot in a ten-way match, ending his triple championship reign at 196 days.
On January 26, 2018 at Guerra de Titanes, Mundo lost the AAA Mega Championship to Rey Wagner, ending his reign at 314 days.
Impact Wrestling (2017–2019)
Championship pursuits (2017–2018)
In August 2017, despite not being signed to the promotion at the time, Hennigan appeared for Impact Wrestling at some live events. On August 17, a video package was shown at Destination X revealing his ring name as Johnny Impact. His first feud in the promotion was with Eli Drake, when Impact made his televised in-ring debut on the August 24 episode of Impact!, participating in a Gauntlet for the Gold match for the vacant Global Championship, but was eliminated by eventual winner Eli Drake. Impact would face Drake for the title at Victory Road and Bound for Glory, where he failed to win the title. Since the Bound for Glory match ended after Alberto El Patrón made an interference, Impact, Alberto and Drake had a three-way Last Chance Six Sides of Steel match on the January 25, 2018 episode of Impact!, where Drake retained the title.
After Drake lost the renamed Impact World Championship to Austin Aries, Impact began pursuit of Aries's championship, facing him at Crossroads special, where he lost again. On the April 19 episode of Impact!, Johnny Impact was attacked and injured by Kongo Kong, which was performed to write him off television in order to film for reality television show Survivor. Impact returned at Slammiversary XVI, when he won a four-way match against Fenix, Taiji Ishimori, and Petey Williams.
Impact World Champion (2018–2019)
Impact began a feud with the Impact World Champion Austin Aries, which led to a match at Bound for Glory. As the PPV moved closer, the feud started to blur the lines between a work (something scripted) and shoot (something real), beginning with the two wrestlers trading insults on Twitter that they appeared to take personal, with Aries later deleting many of his tweets. Specifically, Impact mocked Aries' short stature and the champion responded by making fun of his wife's weight. Aries and Impact both alleged in the media that they authentically took issue with comments. TMZ Live also pushed the angle "like [it] was a shoot". The two wrestlers got in a brawl the night before Bound for Glory during Abyss's Impact Hall of Fame induction. At the event, Impact defeated Aries to win the Impact World Championship. Throughout the following weeks, Impact successfully defended his title against Fénix, Killer Kross, and Matt Sydal. At Homecoming on January 6, 2019, Impact defeated Brian Cage to retain his championship.
During the February tapings for Impact Wrestling, Impact defended his title in a four-way contest involving Killer Kross, Moose and Brian Cage. Impact hit his finisher on Moose, barely seconds prior to Cage hitting his Drill Claw finisher on Killer Kross. As Impact was able to cover his opponent first the referee was able to provide the count and therefore Impact won the match as Brian Cage went to cover his opponent. On the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Impact's wife Taya Valkyrie would low blow Cage, which allowed Impact to attack Cage, turning into a villain. At United We Stand, Impact won a five-way Ultimate X match to become the number one contender for the Impact X Division Championship. Throughout April, Impact successfully defended his title from Cage, often with interferences from Valkyrie and former referee John E Bravo. At Rebellion, Impact, accompanied by Valkyrie and Bravo, lost the title to Cage in a match where Lance Storm was special guest referee; this left Impact's reign to end at 196 days, leaving it the longest reign since Bobby Roode's 2011–2012 reign, and therefore the longest reign in seven years, as well as the third-longest reign in history.
On the May 31 episode of Impact Wrestling, Impact challenged X Division Champion Rich Swann to a title match at Slammiversary XVII. Later that night, he teamed with Michael Elgin to face Swann and Willie Mack in a tag team match, in which Swann pinned Impact. At Slammiversary XVII, Impact was defeated by Swann. On July 8, Pro Wrestling Insider reported that Hennigan's contract with Impact Wrestling had expired several weeks prior to the event, and the two sides agreed to have Hennigan work until Slammiversary.
Return to WWE (2019–2021)
On September 26, 2019, it was reported by Mike Johnson of Pro Wrestling Insider that Hennigan had re-signed with WWE, which was officially confirmed by the company on December 3 during WWE Backstage. He made his return on January 3, 2020 episode of SmackDown under his John Morrison ring name and resumed his partnership with The Miz, thus re-establishing him as a heel for the first time in WWE in 10 years. They would feud with the SmackDown Tag Team Champions, The New Day, with Morrison winning singles matches against Big E and Kofi Kingston. At the Royal Rumble, Morrison participated in the Royal Rumble match as the fifth entrant, but he was eliminated by Brock Lesnar. At Super ShowDown, Miz and Morrison won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship from The New Day.
On March 8, Morrison and Miz had their first title defense in a tag team Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber event, successfully defending their titles against The New Day, The Usos, Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado), and Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. At WrestleMania 36, after the Miz's absence due to illness, Morrison defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championships by himself in a ladder match against Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso, in which he was successful. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, the duo lost the titles back to The New Day after Miz unsuccessfully defended the titles by himself in a triple threat match against Big E and Jey Uso ending their reign at 50 days. At Money in the Bank the following month, Morrison and Miz unsuccessfully attempted to regain the championship in a fatal four-way tag team match also involving Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) and The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake). Morrison and Miz then started a rivalry with Universal Champion Braun Strowman. At Backlash, the duo competed for Strowman's title in a two-on-one handicap match, but lost. As part of the 2020 Draft in October, both Morrison and Miz were drafted to the Raw brand. Prior to the draft, Morrison and Miz entered a feud with Otis for his Money in the Bank contract. At Hell in a Cell, Morrison accompanied Miz in his match against Otis for the contract, which Miz won.
On the December 7 episode of Raw, Morrison ended a nearly seven-month losing streak after defeating Drew McIntyre and Sheamus in a 3-on-2 handicap match alongside The Miz and AJ Styles. Morrison entered the 2021 Royal Rumble match on January 31, lasting over eight minutes before being eliminated by Damian Priest. At the Elimination Chamber event on February 21, 2021, Morrison defeated Ricochet, Elias, and Mustafa Ali in a fatal four-way match for an opportunity at the United States Championship. Later that night, he failed to win the title in a triple threat match against Riddle and reigning champion Bobby Lashley, as Riddle won the match. After this, Morrison and Miz feuded with rapper Bad Bunny and Damian Priest. At WrestleMania 37 on April 10, Morrison and Miz faced Bad Bunny and Priest in a tag team match, but lost.
After Miz suffered an injury at WrestleMania Backlash, Morrison would embark on singles run, starting by defeating Jeff Hardy on the June 14 episode of Raw. The following week, Morrison defeated Randy Orton to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at the namesake pay-per-view event, which was won by Big E. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Miz turned on Morrison by attacking him, thus turning Morrison face and setting up a feud between the pair. However, the feud abruptly ended after the Miz took a hiatus to compete on Dancing with the Stars. On November 18, as part of an eighth round of layoffs due to budget cuts stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Morrison was released from his WWE contract.
Return to AAA (2022)
On February 19, 2022, Hennigan, as "John Superstar", unsuccessfully challenged El Hijo del Vikingo at Rey de Reyes for the AAA Mega Championship.
Return to the independent circuit (2022–present)
On April 1, 2022, Hennigan, as "Johnny Caballero", will make his debut for Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) at the Wrld on Lucha event. It was also announced that Hennigan would wrestle at GCW's Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 8.
Professional wrestling style and persona
Hennigan was described by WWE as having "lightning-fast offense", "high-risk aerial expertise", and "incredible agility". He is known to utilize a split-legged corkscrew moonsault, dubbed Starship Pain, as a finishing maneuver. During his singles run as Johnny Nitro, he used a standing shooting star press as his finisher. After transitioning to his John Morrison character, Hennigan began using a corkscrew neckbreaker dubbed Moonlight Drive, in reference to the song of the same name written by Jim Morrison. He also prominently used a superkick as a finisher in 2008 during a feud with D-Generation X, as a way to mock Shawn Michaels's Sweet Chin Music maneuver. Hennigan is a practitioner of parkour and often incorporates it into his wrestling style, giving him the nickname "The Prince of Parkour". He also has a background in amateur wrestling, breakdancing, gymnastics, and martial arts. Regarding his unique wrestling style, Hennigan stated in a 2021 interview with Sports Illustrated:
Alongside his team MNM, Hennigan debuted on WWE television as Johnny Nitro, presenting himself as an arrogant wrestler with "elite Hollywood status". After winning the ECW World Championship in 2007, he changed his ring name to John Morrison and his gimmick was tweaked to be even more conceited and self-aggrandizing — in addition to being modeled after Jim Morrison, the legendary frontman of the 1960s rock band The Doors, to whom he bears a strong physical resemblance. Following his return to WWE and reunion with his tag team partner the Miz in 2020, Hennigan added a comedic aspect to his villainous character, with WWE describing him as using "quirkiness and quick wit to shine every time he is on screen". He also began to refer to himself as "Johnny Drip Drip", a reference to the song "Drip" by rapper Cardi B.
Outside of WWE, Hennigan began referring to himself as the "Mayor of Slamtown", a fictional town he first coined in Lucha Underground in 2015. Hennigan filed to trademark the term "Slamtown" in November 2020.
Other media
In 2009, Hennigan and Maryse Ouellet were interviewed on Eurosport. In 2009, Hennigan appeared on two episodes of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, which were both aired on September 29. Hennigan is the subject of a WWE DVD, called John Morrison – Rock Star, which was released on February 16, 2010. The DVD covers his career from his name change to John Morrison up until his Intercontinental Championship win in September 2009. He appeared on an episode of Destroy Build Destroy on March 3, 2010. Hennigan was on the cover of Muscle & Fitness in June 2010, with the issue also featuring an interview and photo shoot. In 2016, Hennigan, Rey Mysterio, and King Cuerno appeared on ESPN to promote the second season of Lucha Underground.
Hennigan is also a frequent collaborator with comic book-based film producers Bat in the Sun Productions, appearing in two episodes of their well-known Super Power Beat Down series; playing as Casey Jones against Kick-Ass in episode 13, and as Winter Soldier against Nightwing in episode 19. Hennigan portrayed Eternal Warrior in the web series Ninjak vs. the Valiant Universe, produced by Valiant Entertainment and directed by Bat in the Sun.
Filmmaking
After leaving WWE in 2011, Hennigan pursued a career in the film industry as an actor and filmmaker. In 2013, he appeared in 20 Feet Below: The Darkness Descending with Danny Trejo, as well as served as co-producer of the film. In 2017, Hennigan released his first feature film titled Boone: The Bounty Hunter, which he starred in, co-wrote, and served as executive producer of. Hennigan sold his house in order to finance the film. In 2018, Hennigan began working on his directorial debut, a short film titled The Iron Sheik Massacre which he also produced and co-wrote with his wife Kira Forster. It was expected to be released in 2020, but has yet to have an official release date.
Survivor: David vs. Goliath
Hennigan was a contestant on the 37th season of Survivor, Survivor: David vs. Goliath where he was originally part of the Goliath tribe and later Tiva before making it to the merged tribe Kalokalo. He finished 12th and became the second member of the jury after the former members of the Goliath tribe were blindsided at tribal council; two contestants used hidden immunity idols, causing Hennigan to be eliminated despite only having three elimination votes, as Christian Hubicki, who received seven, was immune.
Hennigan's performance as a contestant and the episode of his elimination received critical acclaim. Chris Chase of USA Today praised Hennigan for being "true to everything we’ve seen from him this season, [and] a class act after his shock defeat". Writing for People, former Survivor contestant Stephen Fishbach highlighted that "in a tribal council that was meant to take out the Davidest David [Christian Hubicki], it was really the Goliath of the Goliaths [Hennigan] who fell. How perfectly Biblical." The show’s executive producer and host Jeff Probst was "so impressed" with Hennigan, describing him as "the guy who catches the winning touchdown pass in the final moments of the Super Bowl, and then, instead of some crazy celebration, he casually tosses the ball to the ref, kisses his wife and hugs his kids", alongside stating that he would "absolutely" have Hennigan back on the show.
Filmography
Personal life
Hennigan is good friends with fellow professional wrestlers The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, Jeff Hardy, and Randy Orton. He was also good friends with Shad Gaspard, and still is with JTG, of Cryme Tyme, and was a part of the search team after Gaspard's disappearance and death.
Hennigan was involved in an on-off relationship with former WWE Diva and on-screen manager Melina Perez from 2003 to 2015. The pair met during the auditions for Tough Enough III, in which Perez was cut and Hennigan eventually won. Since 2016, Hennigan has been in a relationship with Kira Forster, better known as Taya Valkyrie. The pair met through the affiliation between AAA and Lucha Underground, with Forster becoming Hennigan's on-screen partner in the latter promotion prior to their real-life relationship. They became engaged on June 14, 2017, and were married on June 1, 2018.
Championships and accomplishments
5 Star Wrestling
5 Star Wrestling Championship (1 time)
One Night Tournament (2017)
ACW Wisconsin
ACW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
The Baltimore Sun
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
Blackcraft Wrestling
BCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Continental Wrestling Federation
CWF United States Championship (1 time)
DDT Pro-Wrestling
Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (1 time)
European Pro Wrestling
EPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Family Wrestling Entertainment
FWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Impact Wrestling
Impact World Championship (1 time)
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
AAA Mega Championship (1 time)
AAA Latin American Championship (1 time)
AAA World Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
Lucha Libre World Cup (2016 Men's Division) – with Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Brian Cage
Lucha Underground
Lucha Underground Championship (1 time)
Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship (1 time)
Lucha Underground Trios Championship (1 time) – with Jack Evans and PJ Black
Second Triple Crown Champion
Mondo Lucha
Mondo Lucha Championship (1 time)
Mondo Lucha Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Matt Cross
Next Generation Wrestling
NGW World Championship (1 time)
NGW World Title Tournament (2013)
Ohio Valley Wrestling
OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Joey Matthews
Pacific Coast Wrestling/PCW Ultra
PCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2009)
Tag Team of the Year (2005) – with Joey Mercury
Ranked No. 24 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
Qatar Pro Wrestling
QPW Souq Waqif Championship (1 time)
QPW Souq Waqif Title Tournament (2015)
Rogue Wrestling
Rogue Championship (1 time)
Rogue Championship Tournament (2019)
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
ECW World Championship (1 time)
WWE Intercontinental Championship (3 times)
WWE Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Joey Mercury (3) and The Miz (1)
World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Miz
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Miz
ECW World Championship Tournament (2007)
Tough Enough III (2003)
Slammy Award (2 times)
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
Best WWE.com Exclusive (2008) – with The Miz
World Series Wrestling
WSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Wrestling Fan Xperience
WWFX Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
References
External links
1979 births
21st-century American male actors
American capoeira practitioners
American male professional wrestlers
ECW champions
ECW Heavyweight Champions/ECW World Heavyweight Champions
Living people
People from Palos Verdes, California
Professional wrestlers from California
Sportspeople from Los Angeles
Survivor (American TV series) contestants
TNA World Heavyweight/Impact World Champions
Tough Enough contestants
Tough Enough winners
Traceurs
WWF/WWE Intercontinental Champions
AAA Mega Champions | true | [
"is a former Japanese football player.\n\nPlaying career\nChiba was born in Miyagi Prefecture on May 22, 1968. After graduating from Sendai University, he joined the Honda Football Club in 1991. However he did not play in any matches. He moved to the Kashima Antlers in 1992. Although he played 5 matches in the 1992 J.League Cup, he did not play in any matches after Masaaki Furukawa joined in 1993. He moved to the newly formed J1 League club, Kashiwa Reysol, in 1995. However he did not play in many matches and he moved to the Japan Football League club Brummell Sendai in 1996. He retired at the end of the 1997 season.\n\nClub statistics\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nawx.jp\n\n1968 births\nLiving people\nSendai University alumni\nAssociation football people from Miyagi Prefecture\nJapanese footballers\nJapan Soccer League players\nJ1 League players\nJapan Football League (1992–1998) players\nHonda FC players\nKashima Antlers players\nKashiwa Reysol players\nVegalta Sendai players\nAssociation football goalkeepers",
"The following squads were named for the 1952 Summer Olympics tournament.\n\nAustria\n\nHead coach: Viktor Hierländer\n\nHans Arnold, A. Rouschal, Johann Weiß and Erwin Theuerweckl were all named in Austria's squad, but did not play in any matches:\n\nBrazil\n\nHead coach: Newton Cardoso\n\nEvaristo, Arízio, Bené, Amaury, Antoninho, Paulinho, Wassil, Marcos Guerra and Cacá were all named in Brazil's squad, but did not play in any matches:\n\nBulgaria\n\nHead coach: Krum Milev\n\nGavril Stoyanov, Minko Minchev, Ivan Nikolov, Todor Kapralov, Atanas Tsanov, Lazar Hristov, Ivan Trendafilov, Georgi Kekemanov and Kostadin Blagoev were all named in Bulgaria's squad, but did not play in any matches:\n\nChile\n\nHead coach: Luis Tirado\n\nDenmark\n\nHead coach: Axel Bjerregaard\n\nEgypt\n\nHead coach: Edward Jones\n\nAhmed Katou, Nour El-Dali, Mohammed Abdallah, Fahmi Jemei, Ibrahim Saleh, Ad-Diba, Essam Bahig and El-Sayed El-Attiyah were all named in Egypt's squad, but did not play in any matches:\n\nFinland\n\nHead coach: Aatos Lehtonen\n\nFrance\n\nHead coach:\n\nGermany\n\nHead coach: Sepp Herberger\n\nGreat Britain\n\nHead coach: Walter Winterbottom\n\nGreece\n\nHead coach: Antonis Migiakis\n\nHungary\n\nHead coach: Gusztáv Sebes\n\nIndia\n\nHead coach: S. A. Rahim\n\nByomkesh Bose, Samir Roy, P. B. A. Saleh and Runu Guha Thakurta were all named in India's squad, but did not play in any matches:\n\nItaly\n\nHead coach: Giuseppe Meazza\n\nLuxembourg\n\nHead coach: Adolf Patek\n\nNetherlands\n\nHead coach: Jaap van der Leck\n\nNetherlands Antilles\n\nHead coach: Antoine Maduro\n\nNorway\n\nHead coach: Frank Soo\n\nPoland\n\nHead coach: Michał Matyas\n\nTadeusz Glimas and Zbigniew Jaskowski were both named in Poland's squad, but did not play in any matches:\n\nRomania\n\nHead coach: Gheorghe Popescu I\n\nSweden\n\nHead coach: George Raynor\n\nTore Svensson, Lars Carlsson, Karl-Erik Andersson, Sven Hjertsson, Åke Jönsson, Lars Eriksson, Nils-Åke Sandell and Egon Jönsson were all named in Sweden's squad, but did not play in any matches:\n\nTurkey\n\nHead coach: Sandro Puppo\n\nFevzi Büyükyıldırım, Cahit Candan, Hadi Pozan, Ekrem Koldaş, Kaya K., Ergün İ. and were all named in Turkey's squad, but did not play in any matches:\n\nUnited States\n\nHead coach: John Wood\n\nAndy Keir and Marty Krumm were both named in the United States' squad, but did not play in any matches:\n\nSoviet Union\n\nHead coach: Boris Arkadyev\n\nYugoslavia\n\nHead coach: Milorad Arsenijević\n\nReferences\n\nSources\n FIFA\n RSSSF\n Yugoslavia squad at Serbian Olympic committee\n Great Britain team at British Olympic Association\n Denmark squad at DBU \n Sweden medalists at Swedish Olympic committee\n List of Luxembourgian olympic footballers at ALO\n Match report at voetbalstats.nl\n Greece – International Matches 1948-1960, RSSSF (Alexander Mastrogiannopoulos)\n List of Norwegian international footballers\n El equipo que fue Chile, Puro Naval.cl\n Brazil Olympic Matches\n\nSquads\n1952 Summer Olympics"
]
|
[
"John Morrison (wrestler)",
"Independent circuit (2012-present)",
"What was the independent circuit?",
"After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison.",
"Was he successful?",
"Hennigan rekindled an old feud facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila,",
"Did he win?",
"Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion.",
"Did they ever face off against each other again?",
"On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match.",
"What other matches did he have?",
"On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show.",
"Did he have any other matches there?",
"On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger"
]
| C_78d624427aba445786e994c48bae222a_1 | Did he win all of his matches? | 7 | Did John Morrison win all of the matches ? | John Morrison (wrestler) | After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison. On his first post-WWE wrestling appearance, Hennigan rekindled an old feud facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012. Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion. On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match. On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show. Hennigan took part in the WrestleMania weekend, wrestling for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate. On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger in an "International Dream Match" at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) event. On April 19, Hennigan again defeated Sami Callihan in a no count-out, no disqualification falls count anywhere match at a 2CW event in Rome, New York. The next day, he defeated Kevin Steen at 2CW's first iPPV (Living on the Edge VIII), in Watertown, New York. On June 21, 2013, Hennigan defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool in FWE Welcome to the Rumble II, winning the FWE Heavyweight Championship. The next day, Hennigan defended the title against Too Cold Scorpio at House of Hardcore 2. On September 6 and 8, Morrison wrestled against WWL World Heavyweight Champion Black Pain for the title, but he was defeated both times. On October 12, 2013, at FWE Grand Prix, Hennigan defeated Matt Morgan, retaining the FWE Heavyweight Championship. On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles. Morrison faced Rob Van Dam at Pro Wrestling Syndicate in Rahway, New Jersey on October 24, 2015 in a winning effort. After the match, Morrison shook hands with Van Dam and led the crowd in an "RVD" chant. On June 28, 2016, it was announced that Hennigan would make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerilla in the company's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He won his match against Matt Sydal in the first round, but was eliminated by Ricochet in the quarter-finals. On November 16, it was announced that Hennigan, under his Johnny Mundo ring name, would appear for What Culture Pro Wrestling on their Delete WCPW event on November 30. Mundo was scheduled to face Alberto El Patron, but due to Alberto's absence he was replaced by Gabriel Kidd. At the event, Mundo cut a heel promo, insulting Alberto El Patron and the crowd, before defeating Kidd. On January 28, 2017, Morrison won a tournament at a 5 Star Wrestling event for his 5 Star Wrestling Championship, defeating Moose, Drew Galloway, and Rey Mysterio to retain the title. On June 2, Hennigan defeated Rob Van Dam to become the Pacific Coast Wrestling Heavyweight Champion. On September 22, Morrison reunited with former MNM tag team partner Joey Mercury after ten years, defeating Reno Scum. CANNOTANSWER | On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles. | John Randall Hennigan (born October 3, 1979) is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by the ring name John Morrison. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he was a contracted performer from 2002 to 2011, and 2019 to 2021.
Hennigan won Tough Enough III (a WWE reality TV competition show that awarded winners a wrestling contract with the company), and was assigned to its developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), to continue his wrestling training. WWE promoted Hennigan to its SmackDown! roster in April 2005 under the ring name Johnny Nitro; in his debut match on the show, he won the WWE Tag Team Championship (as a part of the tag team, MNM). In between runs in WWE, Hennigan held lead or main event roles in several independent wrestling promotions, including the lucha libre wrestling company/TV series Lucha Underground, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (aka "AAA"; as Johnny Mundo), and Impact Wrestling (as Johnny Impact).
Hennigan is a four-time world champion, having won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship (WWE revival version), AAA Mega Championship, Impact Wrestling World Championship, and the Lucha Underground Championship once each. In WWE, he also held the Intercontinental Championship three times, and was a six-time tag team champion (one World Tag Team Championship, four WWE Tag Team Championships, and one SmackDown Tag Team Championship). In lucha libre, Hennigan was a central fixture in all four seasons of Lucha Underground, and was AAA's first-ever triple champion (holding the AAA Mega Championship, AAA Latin American Championship, and AAA World Cruiserweight Championship simultaneously. He has headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WWE and Impact, including the latter company's flagship event, Bound for Glory, in 2017 and 2018.
Outside of wrestling, Hennigan has also worked in the film and television industry. In film, he has mainly worked as an actor, producer and stuntman. He is also known for being a contestant on the 37th season of the competitive reality show Survivor.
Early life
John Randall Hennigan was born on October 3, 1979, in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Palos Verdes Peninsula, where he attended Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. He graduated from the University of California, Davis in 2002, where he studied film and geology.
Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE (2002–2011)
Tough Enough and Ohio Valley Wrestling (2002–2004)
After graduating college with a degree in film and geology and deciding that he did not want to pursue either path, Hennigan began his professional wrestling career training at the Supreme Pro Wrestling school in Sacramento, California. After failing his audition for Tough Enough 2, a competition in which the winner earned a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) contract, he was accepted as a cast member for Tough Enough III in 2002, eventually becoming the co-winner with Matt Cappotelli. For winning, Hennigan was awarded a developmental contract and assigned to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), to continue his training. Hennigan competed in Acolytes Protection Agency's invitational Bar Room Brawl match at Vengeance in July 2003. Hennigan and Cappotelli made an appearance on an episode of Heat in January 2004, losing to Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak.
MNM (2004–2006)
On the March 1, 2004 episode of Raw, Hennigan debuted on the main roster as a heel, under the ring name "Johnny Blaze". His gimmick was that he was the apprentice and assistant of the Raw General Manager, Eric Bischoff. The next week his name was changed to "Johnny Spade", and three weeks after that it was changed to "Johnny Nitro". The Nitro name, which finally stuck, was a reference to WCW Monday Nitro, the flagship show of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for which Bischoff had previously worked. To drive the point home, he began using the Nitro theme as his ring entrance music. Nitro acted as Bischoff's apprentice and assistant until June, when he was sent back to OVW. To explain his departure, Nitro lost a match on the June 7 episode of Raw against Eugene, which carried the stipulation that upon his loss, he also lost his job.
Upon his return to OVW, Nitro was put into a feud with Matt Cappotelli. During the course of the feud, Melina was brought into the company as Nitro's ex-girlfriend and an ally of Cappotelli, only to turn on him and side with Nitro. Not long after, Nitro and Melina were joined by Joey Mercury, forming the stable MNM. MNM wrestled in OVW for around a year, holding the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship once, before losing the titles to Cappotelli and Johnny Jeter in January 2005. They were soon called up to the main SmackDown! brand in April that same year.
In their debut match on the main roster, MNM won the WWE Tag Team Championship from Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio on the April 21 episode of SmackDown!. MNM held the titles for three months, having successful titles defenses against the teams of Guerrero and Mysterio, and Charlie Haas and Hardcore Holly, before dropping them to the Legion of Doom at The Great American Bash. They won the titles again on the October 28 episode of SmackDown! in a four-way match defeating Legion of Doom, The Mexicools, and William Regal and Paul Burchill, but lost them to Rey Mysterio and Batista on the December 16 episode of SmackDown! two days before Armageddon. Due to help from Mark Henry, MNM defeated Mysterio and Batista in a rematch on the December 30 episode of SmackDown! to win the championship for the third time. They began a rivalry with the team of Paul London and Brian Kendrick that lasted over three months, until they dropped the championship to London and Kendrick at Judgment Day in May 2006, with the storyline leading to Nitro and Melina suddenly turning on Mercury after the match, breaking up the group. Later that night, Melina and Nitro were booked off the SmackDown! brand by having the General Manager, Theodore Long "fire" them.
Singles competition and championship success (2006–2007)
The next week, Nitro, along with Melina, debuted on the Raw brand in a loss to WWE Champion John Cena. Nitro was immediately placed in the Intercontinental Championship picture, beginning his first reign at Vengeance in June after defeating champion Shelton Benjamin in a triple threat match also involving Carlito. Nitro held the championship for four months, feuding with several challengers before losing it to Jeff Hardy on the October 2 episode of Raw. Nitro recaptured the Intercontinental Championship from Hardy on the November 6 episode of Raw, but lost it back to Hardy on the following week's Raw. Also around this time, Nitro entered into a partnership with rapper Kevin Federline, with the duo antagonizing and beginning a rivalry with WWE Champion John Cena. Federline was then, in storyline, trained by Nitro for a match with Cena, which he won after interference from Umaga.
MNM reunited on the November 27 episode of Raw to accept an open challenge from The Hardys (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) at December to Dismember, a match that they lost. MNM and The Hardys feuded across the brands throughout December, with the two teams competing in a four-way ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Armageddon, also involving Brian Kendrick and Paul London and Dave Taylor and William Regal. However, MNM would be unsuccessful in winning the championship. Nitro challenged Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Championship in a steel cage match at New Year's Revolution on January 7, 2007, but did not win. MNM lost to The Hardys at the Royal Rumble later that month and again at No Way Out in February which ended the feud. MNM disbanded as a team when Mercury was released from WWE in March 2007.
After Mercury's departure, Nitro also ended his association with Melina. Nitro was placed in a tag team with Kenny Dykstra, until the 2007 WWE draft, during which Nitro was drafted to the ECW brand. Nitro made his debut for the brand on the June 19 episode of ECW, with a win over Nunzio, and few days later, on June 24, at Vengeance: Night of Champions, he won the vacant ECW World Championship by defeating CM Punk, replacing the absent Chris Benoit due to his double-murder suicide. A few weeks after winning the title, Nitro was repackaged as John Morrison, a reference to musician Jim Morrison, to whom Hennigan bears a strong physical resemblance. In the months to come, Morrison would retain the championship against Punk at The Great American Bash in July, and SummerSlam in August. Punk would again challenge for the championship on the September 4 episode of ECW, in which Morrison lost the championship to Punk, ending his reign at 69 days. Morrison was then suspended for thirty days for violating WWE's Wellness Program, renewing his feud with Punk upon his return, as well as competing against The Miz for the number one contendership to the title.
Teaming with The Miz (2007–2009)
Though rivals, Morrison and The Miz faced the dysfunctional tag team of Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter on the November 16 episode of SmackDown! for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a winning effort, marking Morrison's fourth WWE Tag Team Championship reign. At Survivor Series, Morrison and The Miz were both defeated by CM Punk in a triple threat match for the ECW Championship. After the defeat, the rivalry aspect of Morrison and Miz's relationship faded, as they were now portrayed as trusting friends. Morrison competed in the 2008 Royal Rumble match on January 27, but failed to win after being eliminated by Kane. In February 2008, Morrison and Miz were given a streaming segment on WWE.com named The Dirt Sheet in which they mocked other wrestlers and facets of pop culture. Morrison and Miz co-wrote each episode of The Dirt Sheet each week, and Morrison credits his time in college studying film with contributing to the success of the show. At WrestleMania XXIV, Morrison competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by CM Punk. Despite being unsuccessful, Morrison had a standout performance in the match, in which he performed a moonsault from the top rope to the outside of the ring while holding onto a ladder.
The team of Morrison and Miz had many successful title defenses over the next few months, before dropping the titles to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder at The Great American Bash in a fatal four-way match which also featured Jesse and Festus, and Finlay and Hornswoggle. Neither Morrison nor Miz were pinned, as Hawkins pinned Jesse to win the titles.
Afterwards, they started a feud with Cryme Tyme (JTG and Shad) through each team's Internet show, which then transitioned to matches on Raw and at Cyber Sunday. After winning the Slammy Award for Best WWE.com exclusive earlier in the day, Morrison and Miz won the "Tag Team of the Year" Slammy Award on December 8, 2008 episode of Raw. On December 13, Morrison and Miz won the World Tag Team Championship from CM Punk and Kofi Kingston at a live event. Morrison and Miz engaged themselves in a feud with The Colóns (Carlito and Primo), who were the reigning WWE Tag Team Champions, which resulted in both teams defending their respective championships successfully in separate matches. Their feud culminated in a tag team lumberjack match where both titles were on the line at the WrestleMania 25, but it was The Colóns who would unify the championships with a win. On April 13, as part of the 2009 WWE draft, The Miz was drafted to the Raw brand to split up the team, and as a result, Miz attacked Morrison.
Intercontinental Champion (2009–2010)
On April 15, Morrison was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, he defeated R-Truth. On the May 1 episode of SmackDown, Morrison engaged in a backstage fight with Chris Jericho after Jericho slapped him, turning face in the process for the first time in his career. Later that same night, Morrison defeated Shelton Benjamin, beginning a feud between the two. On the May 7 episode of Superstars, Morrison lost a match to Jericho after a distraction by Benjamin. Morrison continued to score victories over Benjamin in singles and tag team matches before defeating him at Judgment Day. During this time, Morrison would soon become wildly popular with fans. On the June 19 episode of SmackDown, Morrison lost a critically acclaimed match against Edge, in which the commentators described it as a "third main event". On the July 31 episode of SmackDown, Morrison had his first World Heavyweight Championship match against Jeff Hardy, but failed to win the title.
On the September 4 episode of SmackDown, Morrison defeated Rey Mysterio to win his third Intercontinental Championship. Morrison then began a feud with Dolph Ziggler, after losing a non-title match to him by countout, but he would successfully defend the title against Ziggler at Hell in a Cell, and again on the following episode of SmackDown. The feud between Morrison and Ziggler continued throughout the next month, with the two wrestling to a double countout for the Intercontinental Championship on the November 13 episode of SmackDown and Morrison retaining the championship in a two-out-of-three falls match the following week to end the feud. At Bragging Rights, Morrison was defeated by his former tag team partner then-United States Champion The Miz in an interbrand Champion vs. Champion match. Their rivalry continued after both were announced as opposing team captains for Survivor Series, where Miz's team defeated Morrison's team. Morrison then went on to feud with newcomer Drew McIntyre, who defeated Morrison in a non-title match on the December 4 episode of SmackDown, thus earning a championship opportunity against Morrison. At the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, Morrison lost the Intercontinental Championship to McIntyre, ending his reign at 103 days. He received his rematch on the January 1 episode of SmackDown, but was disqualified when McIntyre shoved him into the referee. He challenged McIntyre for the Intercontinental Championship again on the January 29 episode of SmackDown in a No Disqualification match, but lost, ending their feud. Morrison later won an Elimination Chamber qualifying match and participated in the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship, but was eliminated by The Undertaker. On the March 5 episode of SmackDown, Morrison teamed with R-Truth to defeat Cryme Tyme and The Hart Dynasty to earn a Unified WWE Tag Team Championship match against ShoMiz (Big Show and The Miz). At WrestleMania XXVI, they failed to win the championship.
Championship pursuits and departure (2010–2011)
On April 26, Morrison was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2010 WWE draft, and lost his first match back for the brand later that night to Jack Swagger. Later that week, in his final match on SmackDown, he lost to Cody Rhodes. On June 1, Morrison announced that he would be mentoring Eli Cottonwood in the second season of NXT. Cottonwood, however, was the second person eliminated from the competition, and was eliminated on the July 27 episode of NXT. Morrison then went on to participate in the main event of SummerSlam in which he and six teammates (John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho, Bret Hart, R-Truth, and Daniel Bryan) were victorious in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match against The Nexus. In October 2010, Morrison began a feud with Sheamus after he helped Santino Marella earn an upset win during a one-sided match against Sheamus. Within the following weeks, Morrison continued to save Marella from attacks by Sheamus. At Survivor Series, Morrison defeated Sheamus. Morrison entered the 2010 edition of the King of the Ring tournament, defeating Tyson Kidd, Cody Rhodes, and Alberto Del Rio. Morrison lost to Sheamus in the final round. He continued to feud with Sheamus and defeated him in a WWE Championship number one contender's ladder match at the Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view on December 19. Morrison received his WWE Championship match on the January 3, 2011 episode of Raw, but lost to reigning champion The Miz in a falls count anywhere match. On January 30, Morrison participated in the Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble event and despite not winning, he had a stand-out moment which was praised by critics as "arguably the spot of the decade" when Morrison was knocked off of the ring apron and performed a cat leap onto the barricade to avoid having his feet touch the floor and then went on to precision jump onto the ring steps and re-enter the ring. On February 20, Morrison participated in the Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event, but was eliminated by CM Punk. During the match, Morrison climbed to the top of the cage while inside the cage before dropping to deliver a crossbody on and eliminate Sheamus. At WrestleMania XXVII, Morrison teamed with Trish Stratus and Jersey Shore guest star Snooki in a mixed tag match to defeat the team of Dolph Ziggler and LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool).
On the April 11 episode of Raw, Morrison participated in a five-man gauntlet match for the number one contender's spot for the WWE Championship, but was eliminated by R-Truth. The next week on Raw, Morrison challenged R-Truth to a match later on in the night, with the stipulation that if Morrison won, he would take Truth's place in the steel cage match at Extreme Rules. Truth accepted, and lost the match, making Morrison the new number one contender. After the match, Truth viciously attacked Morrison. At Extreme Rules, R-Truth interfered in the WWE Championship steel cage match, attacking Morrison and preventing him from winning the match. The next night on Raw, Morrison was attacked by Truth again, prior to a scheduled match between the two which did not happen as a result. Morrison then underwent surgery to correct a legitimately pinched nerve in his neck. Morrison initially returned on the June 13 episode of Raw, but Truth attacked him again prior to their scheduled match, re-injuring him. Morrison returned again on the July 25 episode of Raw, attacking R-Truth. At SummerSlam, Morrison teamed up with Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio to defeat R-Truth, Alberto Del Rio and The Miz. The following night on Raw, Morrison defeated R-Truth in a falls count anywhere match to end their feud. At Night of Champions, Morrison competed in a Fatal 4-Way match for the United States Championship, also involving Alex Riley, Dolph Ziggler, and Jack Swagger, with Ziggler successfully retaining his title. Morrison then challenged Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, but failed to win the title. Following this, Morrison went on a losing streak, lasting a number of weeks. On the November 7 episode of Raw, Morrison picked up his first victory in three months, defeating United States Champion Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match. Morrison then challenged Ziggler for the championship at Survivor Series, but was defeated by Ziggler.
In his last advertised WWE appearance on the November 28 episode of Raw, Morrison faced The Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere match; Miz won the match by delivering the Skull-Crushing Finale on the steel entrance stage, giving Morrison a kayfabe injury. This was used to write Morrison off television, even being stretchered out of the arena after the match. On November 29, WWE acknowledged the end of Morrison's contract, and moved his profile to the alumni section of its website. In a video published on December 9, 2011, via Hennigan's personal YouTube channel, Hennigan claimed that he was taking time off to heal and retrain for a possible return to wrestling in the future. In 2015, Hennigan revealed on Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast that WWE wanted him to sign another multi-year contract, but due to a neck injury, residual pain, and creative frustrations, he decided to not renew his contract, wanting "more control over [his] time".
Independent circuit (2012–2019)
After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison. On his first post-WWE wrestling appearance, Hennigan rekindled an old feud, facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012. Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion. On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match. On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show. Hennigan took part in the WrestleMania weekend, wrestling for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate. On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger in an "International Dream Match" at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) event.
On June 21, 2013, Hennigan defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool in FWE Welcome to the Rumble II, winning the FWE Heavyweight Championship. The next day, Hennigan defended the title against Too Cold Scorpio at House of Hardcore 2. On October 12, 2013, at FWE Grand Prix, Hennigan defeated Matt Morgan, retaining the FWE Heavyweight Championship. On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles.
On June 28, 2016, it was announced that Hennigan would make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerilla in the company's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He won his match against Matt Sydal in the first round, but was eliminated by Ricochet in the quarter-finals.
On January 28, 2017, Morrison won a tournament at a 5 Star Wrestling event for the 5 Star Wrestling Championship, defeating Moose, Drew Galloway, and Rey Mysterio to win the title. On February 8, 2018, he lost the title against Jake Hager after over a year as champion.
On September 22, Morrison reunited with former MNM tag team partner Joey Mercury after ten years, defeating Reno Scum.
Lucha Underground (2014–2018)
In September 2014, it was reported that Hennigan had signed with the El Rey network's new television series, Lucha Underground, where he wrestled under the ring name Johnny Mundo. Mundo wrestled in the main event of the debut episode of Lucha Underground on October 29, 2014, defeating Prince Puma and winning one hundred thousand dollars, which was then taken away from him by promoter Dario Cueto, setting up several feuds. He then teamed with Prince Puma during the November 5, 2014 episode, defeating Cortez Castro and Mr. Cisco. On the November 19 episode, Mundo defeated Big Ryck by disqualification after interference by Castro and Cisco. Mundo then defeated Prince Puma and Big Ryck in the main event of the December 10, 2014 episode, which was a three-way ladder match, to finally win the hundred thousand dollars he was denied in the Lucha Underground debut.
On January 7, 2015, Mundo participated in a 20-man "Aztec Warfare" battle royal for the Lucha Underground Championship. He was the second luchador to enter the ring, but was the last man eliminated by Prince Puma who won the Championship. King Cuerno attacked Mundo on the February 4 episode, beginning a feud between them; the second installment took place on the episode which aired March 11, where Mundo and Cuerno wrestled in a Steel Cage match, which was won by Mundo. On May 13, Mundo turned into a villain when he attacked Alberto El Patrón in his match against Hernandez, throwing him through the window of Dario Cueto's office. Mundo subsequently tossed El Patrón back into the ring, giving Hernandez the win. On the June 17, episode of Lucha Underground, Johnny Mundo unsuccessfully challenged Prince Puma for the Lucha Underground Championship in an Iron Man match. On August 5, 2015, at Ultima Lucha, Mundo defeated Alberto El Patrón after an interference by his girlfriend Melina Perez.
On the February 3, 2016 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo faced Killshot in a winning effort. After the match, Mundo taunted Lucha Underground Champion Mil Muertes, only to be confronted by Cage. Mundo defeated Cage on February 24, after interference from the debuting Taya, subsequently becoming Mundo's valet. On the May 25 episode of Lucha Underground, Taya revealed to PJ Black and Jack Evans that their partner Fénix was injured by Mundo. As Mundo revealed himself as Fénix's replacement for their match, Black and Evans allied with the two. Later that night in the main event, Mundo, Black and Evans defeated Rey Mysterio Jr., Prince Puma and Dragon Azteca Jr. to win the Lucha Underground Trios Championship, the first championship for each in Lucha Underground. The week after, Mundo, Black and Evans, now collectively billed as Worldwide Underground, retained their championships in a rematch via disqualification. Worldwide Underground lost their titles to Aero Star, Drago and Fénix at the third and final part Ultima Lucha Dos, which aired on July 20.
On the October 26 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo defeated Sexy Star to win the Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship after he knocked out Sexy Star with brass knuckles while the referee was unaware. On the November 23 episode of Lucha Underground, he cashed in his Gift of the Gods Championship on Sexy Star before defeating her to win the Lucha Underground Championship, becoming the second Triple Crown Champion in Lucha Underground history. On the December 21 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo successfully defended his championship in a rematch against Sexy Star inside a steel cage. He lost the title to Prince Puma at Ultima Lucha Tres.
Mundo made his return on the fourth season's premiere, competing in Aztec Warfare entering at number 11. Mundo eliminated Ricky Mundo and Daga before getting eliminated by Marty Martinez and being attacked by the Reptile Tribe. On November 17, 2018, Mundo wrestled on the final episode of Lucha Underground, Ultima Lucha Cuatro, defeating Matanza Cueto in a Sacrifice to the Gods match.
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2015–2018)
On May 24, 2015, Mundo made his debut for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) at the Lucha Libre World Cup event representing Lucha Underground as a member of "Team TNA/Lucha Underground" alongside TNA wrestlers Matt Hardy and Mr. Anderson. They finished in second place, losing in the finals to the "Dream Team" (El Patrón Alberto, Myzteziz and Rey Mysterio Jr.).
On June 4, 2015 in the main event of Verano de Escándalo, Mundo established himself as a rudo (or villain) and teamed with El Mesias and Pentagón Jr. losing to Myzteziz, La Parka and Rey Mysterio Jr. On September 27, Konnan announced Mundo as an official member of the rudo stable, La Sociedad, while he subsequently stepped down as the leader of the group. On October 4, at Héroes Inmortales IX, Mundo unsuccessfully challenged El Patrón Alberto for the AAA Mega Championship, when he was defeated by disqualification. After Alberto left AAA, Mundo was scheduled to face Rey Mysterio Jr. for the vacant AAA Mega Championship at Guerra de Titanes, but after the matches of the event were officially announced, neither Mundo nor Mysterio were featured for the event. Mundo participated in the 2016 Lucha Libre World Cup as a member of "Team Lucha Underground" alongside Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Brian Cage, defeating "Team Mexico Leyendas" (Blue Demon Jr., Canek, and La Parka) in the quarter-finals, and "Team Mexico International" (Rey Mysterio Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr., and Dragon Azteca Jr.) in the semi-finals. Mundo's team won the tournament defeating "Team AAA" (Pentagón Jr., El Texano Jr. and Psycho Clown) in the finals.
After adopting an "anti-Mexico" attitude and teaming with El Mesías and Hernandez to defeat El Texano Jr., El Hijo del Fantasma and Pentagón Jr., Mundo challenged the latter to a match at Triplemanía XXIV for the AAA Latin American Championship, to which Pentagón accepted. At the event, on August 28, Mundo defeated Pentagón to win the Latin American Championship, marking his first championship in AAA and becoming the first non-Mexican to hold the title. On October 2 in the main event of Héroes Inmortales X, Mundo successfully defended his title against Garza Jr. On March 19, 2017, at Rey de Reyes, Mundo defeated El Texano Jr. and El Hijo del Fantasma in a three-way match to not only retain the Latin American Championship, but to also win Texano's AAA Mega Championship and Fantasma's AAA World Cruiserweight Championship. In his first AAA Mega Championship defense, on June 30, Mundo successfully retained his title against Texano.
In July 2017, Mundo and his fiancée Kira Forster, known as Taya, were involved in controversy with AAA and its Director of Talent Vampiro, which led to Taya's departure from the company. According to Wrestling Observer, AAA asked Mundo to turn in Taya's Reina de Reinas Championship for a photo shoot the day prior to an event on July 1. A few weeks later, Vampiro addressed to the live crowd that Forster was stripped of the title due to not appearing to defend her title, despite not being scheduled to appear.
On August 26, at Triplemanía XXV, Mundo successfully defended his three championships against Fantasma and Texano in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. On October 1 at Héroes Inmortales XI, Mundo wrestled in three matches, retaining the Mega Championship against Rey Wagner, but losing the Latin American Championship to Fantasma in the annual Copa Antonio Peña battle royal, and the World Cruiserweight Championship to Lanzelot in a ten-way match, ending his triple championship reign at 196 days.
On January 26, 2018 at Guerra de Titanes, Mundo lost the AAA Mega Championship to Rey Wagner, ending his reign at 314 days.
Impact Wrestling (2017–2019)
Championship pursuits (2017–2018)
In August 2017, despite not being signed to the promotion at the time, Hennigan appeared for Impact Wrestling at some live events. On August 17, a video package was shown at Destination X revealing his ring name as Johnny Impact. His first feud in the promotion was with Eli Drake, when Impact made his televised in-ring debut on the August 24 episode of Impact!, participating in a Gauntlet for the Gold match for the vacant Global Championship, but was eliminated by eventual winner Eli Drake. Impact would face Drake for the title at Victory Road and Bound for Glory, where he failed to win the title. Since the Bound for Glory match ended after Alberto El Patrón made an interference, Impact, Alberto and Drake had a three-way Last Chance Six Sides of Steel match on the January 25, 2018 episode of Impact!, where Drake retained the title.
After Drake lost the renamed Impact World Championship to Austin Aries, Impact began pursuit of Aries's championship, facing him at Crossroads special, where he lost again. On the April 19 episode of Impact!, Johnny Impact was attacked and injured by Kongo Kong, which was performed to write him off television in order to film for reality television show Survivor. Impact returned at Slammiversary XVI, when he won a four-way match against Fenix, Taiji Ishimori, and Petey Williams.
Impact World Champion (2018–2019)
Impact began a feud with the Impact World Champion Austin Aries, which led to a match at Bound for Glory. As the PPV moved closer, the feud started to blur the lines between a work (something scripted) and shoot (something real), beginning with the two wrestlers trading insults on Twitter that they appeared to take personal, with Aries later deleting many of his tweets. Specifically, Impact mocked Aries' short stature and the champion responded by making fun of his wife's weight. Aries and Impact both alleged in the media that they authentically took issue with comments. TMZ Live also pushed the angle "like [it] was a shoot". The two wrestlers got in a brawl the night before Bound for Glory during Abyss's Impact Hall of Fame induction. At the event, Impact defeated Aries to win the Impact World Championship. Throughout the following weeks, Impact successfully defended his title against Fénix, Killer Kross, and Matt Sydal. At Homecoming on January 6, 2019, Impact defeated Brian Cage to retain his championship.
During the February tapings for Impact Wrestling, Impact defended his title in a four-way contest involving Killer Kross, Moose and Brian Cage. Impact hit his finisher on Moose, barely seconds prior to Cage hitting his Drill Claw finisher on Killer Kross. As Impact was able to cover his opponent first the referee was able to provide the count and therefore Impact won the match as Brian Cage went to cover his opponent. On the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Impact's wife Taya Valkyrie would low blow Cage, which allowed Impact to attack Cage, turning into a villain. At United We Stand, Impact won a five-way Ultimate X match to become the number one contender for the Impact X Division Championship. Throughout April, Impact successfully defended his title from Cage, often with interferences from Valkyrie and former referee John E Bravo. At Rebellion, Impact, accompanied by Valkyrie and Bravo, lost the title to Cage in a match where Lance Storm was special guest referee; this left Impact's reign to end at 196 days, leaving it the longest reign since Bobby Roode's 2011–2012 reign, and therefore the longest reign in seven years, as well as the third-longest reign in history.
On the May 31 episode of Impact Wrestling, Impact challenged X Division Champion Rich Swann to a title match at Slammiversary XVII. Later that night, he teamed with Michael Elgin to face Swann and Willie Mack in a tag team match, in which Swann pinned Impact. At Slammiversary XVII, Impact was defeated by Swann. On July 8, Pro Wrestling Insider reported that Hennigan's contract with Impact Wrestling had expired several weeks prior to the event, and the two sides agreed to have Hennigan work until Slammiversary.
Return to WWE (2019–2021)
On September 26, 2019, it was reported by Mike Johnson of Pro Wrestling Insider that Hennigan had re-signed with WWE, which was officially confirmed by the company on December 3 during WWE Backstage. He made his return on January 3, 2020 episode of SmackDown under his John Morrison ring name and resumed his partnership with The Miz, thus re-establishing him as a heel for the first time in WWE in 10 years. They would feud with the SmackDown Tag Team Champions, The New Day, with Morrison winning singles matches against Big E and Kofi Kingston. At the Royal Rumble, Morrison participated in the Royal Rumble match as the fifth entrant, but he was eliminated by Brock Lesnar. At Super ShowDown, Miz and Morrison won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship from The New Day.
On March 8, Morrison and Miz had their first title defense in a tag team Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber event, successfully defending their titles against The New Day, The Usos, Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado), and Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. At WrestleMania 36, after the Miz's absence due to illness, Morrison defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championships by himself in a ladder match against Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso, in which he was successful. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, the duo lost the titles back to The New Day after Miz unsuccessfully defended the titles by himself in a triple threat match against Big E and Jey Uso ending their reign at 50 days. At Money in the Bank the following month, Morrison and Miz unsuccessfully attempted to regain the championship in a fatal four-way tag team match also involving Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) and The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake). Morrison and Miz then started a rivalry with Universal Champion Braun Strowman. At Backlash, the duo competed for Strowman's title in a two-on-one handicap match, but lost. As part of the 2020 Draft in October, both Morrison and Miz were drafted to the Raw brand. Prior to the draft, Morrison and Miz entered a feud with Otis for his Money in the Bank contract. At Hell in a Cell, Morrison accompanied Miz in his match against Otis for the contract, which Miz won.
On the December 7 episode of Raw, Morrison ended a nearly seven-month losing streak after defeating Drew McIntyre and Sheamus in a 3-on-2 handicap match alongside The Miz and AJ Styles. Morrison entered the 2021 Royal Rumble match on January 31, lasting over eight minutes before being eliminated by Damian Priest. At the Elimination Chamber event on February 21, 2021, Morrison defeated Ricochet, Elias, and Mustafa Ali in a fatal four-way match for an opportunity at the United States Championship. Later that night, he failed to win the title in a triple threat match against Riddle and reigning champion Bobby Lashley, as Riddle won the match. After this, Morrison and Miz feuded with rapper Bad Bunny and Damian Priest. At WrestleMania 37 on April 10, Morrison and Miz faced Bad Bunny and Priest in a tag team match, but lost.
After Miz suffered an injury at WrestleMania Backlash, Morrison would embark on singles run, starting by defeating Jeff Hardy on the June 14 episode of Raw. The following week, Morrison defeated Randy Orton to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at the namesake pay-per-view event, which was won by Big E. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Miz turned on Morrison by attacking him, thus turning Morrison face and setting up a feud between the pair. However, the feud abruptly ended after the Miz took a hiatus to compete on Dancing with the Stars. On November 18, as part of an eighth round of layoffs due to budget cuts stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Morrison was released from his WWE contract.
Return to AAA (2022)
On February 19, 2022, Hennigan, as "John Superstar", unsuccessfully challenged El Hijo del Vikingo at Rey de Reyes for the AAA Mega Championship.
Return to the independent circuit (2022–present)
On April 1, 2022, Hennigan, as "Johnny Caballero", will make his debut for Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) at the Wrld on Lucha event. It was also announced that Hennigan would wrestle at GCW's Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 8.
Professional wrestling style and persona
Hennigan was described by WWE as having "lightning-fast offense", "high-risk aerial expertise", and "incredible agility". He is known to utilize a split-legged corkscrew moonsault, dubbed Starship Pain, as a finishing maneuver. During his singles run as Johnny Nitro, he used a standing shooting star press as his finisher. After transitioning to his John Morrison character, Hennigan began using a corkscrew neckbreaker dubbed Moonlight Drive, in reference to the song of the same name written by Jim Morrison. He also prominently used a superkick as a finisher in 2008 during a feud with D-Generation X, as a way to mock Shawn Michaels's Sweet Chin Music maneuver. Hennigan is a practitioner of parkour and often incorporates it into his wrestling style, giving him the nickname "The Prince of Parkour". He also has a background in amateur wrestling, breakdancing, gymnastics, and martial arts. Regarding his unique wrestling style, Hennigan stated in a 2021 interview with Sports Illustrated:
Alongside his team MNM, Hennigan debuted on WWE television as Johnny Nitro, presenting himself as an arrogant wrestler with "elite Hollywood status". After winning the ECW World Championship in 2007, he changed his ring name to John Morrison and his gimmick was tweaked to be even more conceited and self-aggrandizing — in addition to being modeled after Jim Morrison, the legendary frontman of the 1960s rock band The Doors, to whom he bears a strong physical resemblance. Following his return to WWE and reunion with his tag team partner the Miz in 2020, Hennigan added a comedic aspect to his villainous character, with WWE describing him as using "quirkiness and quick wit to shine every time he is on screen". He also began to refer to himself as "Johnny Drip Drip", a reference to the song "Drip" by rapper Cardi B.
Outside of WWE, Hennigan began referring to himself as the "Mayor of Slamtown", a fictional town he first coined in Lucha Underground in 2015. Hennigan filed to trademark the term "Slamtown" in November 2020.
Other media
In 2009, Hennigan and Maryse Ouellet were interviewed on Eurosport. In 2009, Hennigan appeared on two episodes of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, which were both aired on September 29. Hennigan is the subject of a WWE DVD, called John Morrison – Rock Star, which was released on February 16, 2010. The DVD covers his career from his name change to John Morrison up until his Intercontinental Championship win in September 2009. He appeared on an episode of Destroy Build Destroy on March 3, 2010. Hennigan was on the cover of Muscle & Fitness in June 2010, with the issue also featuring an interview and photo shoot. In 2016, Hennigan, Rey Mysterio, and King Cuerno appeared on ESPN to promote the second season of Lucha Underground.
Hennigan is also a frequent collaborator with comic book-based film producers Bat in the Sun Productions, appearing in two episodes of their well-known Super Power Beat Down series; playing as Casey Jones against Kick-Ass in episode 13, and as Winter Soldier against Nightwing in episode 19. Hennigan portrayed Eternal Warrior in the web series Ninjak vs. the Valiant Universe, produced by Valiant Entertainment and directed by Bat in the Sun.
Filmmaking
After leaving WWE in 2011, Hennigan pursued a career in the film industry as an actor and filmmaker. In 2013, he appeared in 20 Feet Below: The Darkness Descending with Danny Trejo, as well as served as co-producer of the film. In 2017, Hennigan released his first feature film titled Boone: The Bounty Hunter, which he starred in, co-wrote, and served as executive producer of. Hennigan sold his house in order to finance the film. In 2018, Hennigan began working on his directorial debut, a short film titled The Iron Sheik Massacre which he also produced and co-wrote with his wife Kira Forster. It was expected to be released in 2020, but has yet to have an official release date.
Survivor: David vs. Goliath
Hennigan was a contestant on the 37th season of Survivor, Survivor: David vs. Goliath where he was originally part of the Goliath tribe and later Tiva before making it to the merged tribe Kalokalo. He finished 12th and became the second member of the jury after the former members of the Goliath tribe were blindsided at tribal council; two contestants used hidden immunity idols, causing Hennigan to be eliminated despite only having three elimination votes, as Christian Hubicki, who received seven, was immune.
Hennigan's performance as a contestant and the episode of his elimination received critical acclaim. Chris Chase of USA Today praised Hennigan for being "true to everything we’ve seen from him this season, [and] a class act after his shock defeat". Writing for People, former Survivor contestant Stephen Fishbach highlighted that "in a tribal council that was meant to take out the Davidest David [Christian Hubicki], it was really the Goliath of the Goliaths [Hennigan] who fell. How perfectly Biblical." The show’s executive producer and host Jeff Probst was "so impressed" with Hennigan, describing him as "the guy who catches the winning touchdown pass in the final moments of the Super Bowl, and then, instead of some crazy celebration, he casually tosses the ball to the ref, kisses his wife and hugs his kids", alongside stating that he would "absolutely" have Hennigan back on the show.
Filmography
Personal life
Hennigan is good friends with fellow professional wrestlers The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, Jeff Hardy, and Randy Orton. He was also good friends with Shad Gaspard, and still is with JTG, of Cryme Tyme, and was a part of the search team after Gaspard's disappearance and death.
Hennigan was involved in an on-off relationship with former WWE Diva and on-screen manager Melina Perez from 2003 to 2015. The pair met during the auditions for Tough Enough III, in which Perez was cut and Hennigan eventually won. Since 2016, Hennigan has been in a relationship with Kira Forster, better known as Taya Valkyrie. The pair met through the affiliation between AAA and Lucha Underground, with Forster becoming Hennigan's on-screen partner in the latter promotion prior to their real-life relationship. They became engaged on June 14, 2017, and were married on June 1, 2018.
Championships and accomplishments
5 Star Wrestling
5 Star Wrestling Championship (1 time)
One Night Tournament (2017)
ACW Wisconsin
ACW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
The Baltimore Sun
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
Blackcraft Wrestling
BCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Continental Wrestling Federation
CWF United States Championship (1 time)
DDT Pro-Wrestling
Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (1 time)
European Pro Wrestling
EPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Family Wrestling Entertainment
FWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Impact Wrestling
Impact World Championship (1 time)
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
AAA Mega Championship (1 time)
AAA Latin American Championship (1 time)
AAA World Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
Lucha Libre World Cup (2016 Men's Division) – with Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Brian Cage
Lucha Underground
Lucha Underground Championship (1 time)
Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship (1 time)
Lucha Underground Trios Championship (1 time) – with Jack Evans and PJ Black
Second Triple Crown Champion
Mondo Lucha
Mondo Lucha Championship (1 time)
Mondo Lucha Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Matt Cross
Next Generation Wrestling
NGW World Championship (1 time)
NGW World Title Tournament (2013)
Ohio Valley Wrestling
OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Joey Matthews
Pacific Coast Wrestling/PCW Ultra
PCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2009)
Tag Team of the Year (2005) – with Joey Mercury
Ranked No. 24 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
Qatar Pro Wrestling
QPW Souq Waqif Championship (1 time)
QPW Souq Waqif Title Tournament (2015)
Rogue Wrestling
Rogue Championship (1 time)
Rogue Championship Tournament (2019)
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
ECW World Championship (1 time)
WWE Intercontinental Championship (3 times)
WWE Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Joey Mercury (3) and The Miz (1)
World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Miz
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Miz
ECW World Championship Tournament (2007)
Tough Enough III (2003)
Slammy Award (2 times)
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
Best WWE.com Exclusive (2008) – with The Miz
World Series Wrestling
WSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Wrestling Fan Xperience
WWFX Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
References
External links
1979 births
21st-century American male actors
American capoeira practitioners
American male professional wrestlers
ECW champions
ECW Heavyweight Champions/ECW World Heavyweight Champions
Living people
People from Palos Verdes, California
Professional wrestlers from California
Sportspeople from Los Angeles
Survivor (American TV series) contestants
TNA World Heavyweight/Impact World Champions
Tough Enough contestants
Tough Enough winners
Traceurs
WWF/WWE Intercontinental Champions
AAA Mega Champions | true | [
"Ian Anthony Moran (born 16 August 1979) is an Australian cricketer who has played List A cricket for Scotland and Twenty20 cricket for New South Wales, the Sydney Sixers and the Sydney Thunder.\n\nList A career\nMoran made his List A debut playing for Scotland against Warwickshire in the 2006 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy. In that match he took his first List A wicket, opener Neil Carter for 135, breaking a 181-run partnership. He played all nine matches for Scotland in the tournament including the team's 52 run win over Northamptonshire where Moran was named man of the match finishing with 5 wickets for 28 runs, a career best.\n\nSuffering an injury, Moran didn't return until midway through the following season for Scotland. During his first match back against Nottinghamshire, he was hit for 32 runs off a single over and fell for a golden duck. He fared much better the following match taking 2/17 from four overs against Lancashire in Scotland's only win of the tournament. Moran played his final List A match on 3 June 2007 against Derbyshire and did not play in Scotland's final two matches. In all, Moran played 13 List A matches and took 14 wickets at an average of 27.64.\n\nTwenty20 career\nMoran played his first Twenty20 (T20) match for his native New South Wales in January 2006 as part of the inaugural Twenty20 Big Bash season. Playing against Queensland at North Sydney Oval, Moran took his career best figures of 3/28. New South Wales made it to the final of the competition where they faced off against Victoria. New South Wales was unable to contain a very strong Bushrangers outfit, with Moran failing to take any wickets. New South Wales lost the match by 93 runs.\n\nSix years would past until Moran would play another T20 match. Moran signed with the new Sydney Sixers franchise in the revamped Australian domestic Twenty20 competition, the Big Bash League. His first match for the Sixers came midway through the inaugural season where in a rain interrupted match against the Sydney Thunder, Moran scored just 1 run and did not bowl. He then played in the Sixers' semi final win against the Hobart Hurricanes, taking the wicket of Tom Triffitt and conceding just 25 runs. In the final against the Perth Scorchers, Moran helped the Sixers take out the inaugural Big Bash League title. Whilst he remained wicketless, he was part of the bowling attack which restricted the Scorchers to 156 runs. Sydney managed to run down the target with seven balls to spare to win by seven wickets.\n\nThe Sixers would go on to win the T20 Champions League in South Africa in October 2012 and whilst Moran did not play in any matches, he did receive estimated windfall of AUD$80,000 to $90,000. The 33-year-old PE teacher at Trinity Grammar School took leave without pay in order to attend the tournament.\n\nMoran played a further two matches for the Sixers in BBL during December 2012. In his match against the Melbourne Stars at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, he took three wickets for 30 runs – his second three-wicket haul in T20s.\n\nMoran was called in as injury replacement player for the Sydney Thunder during the 2014–15 Big Bash League season. Replacing Andrew McDonald who suffered a hamstring injury, Moran played only one match – against the Adelaide Strikers on 15 January. During the rain affected match which ended in a no result, Moran finished with figures of 1/19 taking the wicket of Travis Head. This would be his final match, finishing with eight wickets at an average of 18.50 from his nine T20 matches.\n\nReferences\n\n1979 births\nLiving people\nNew South Wales cricketers\nScotland cricketers\nCricketers from Sydney\nSydney Sixers cricketers\nSydney Thunder cricketers",
"Stewart James Storey (born 6 January 1941) is a former English cricketer. He was an all-rounder, a right-handed middle-order batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler as well as being a fine slip fielder. He played for Surrey from 1960 to 1976, winning the County Championship with them in 1971, and subsequently appeared for Sussex in 1978. He was readily recognisable on the cricket field by his fair hair.\n\nHe finished his first-class cricket career with over 10,000 runs, almost 500 wickets and more than 300 catches. He did the double for Surrey in 1966, the only occasion since World War II that a Surrey player has achieved the feat. He reached 1,000 runs in five seasons in all, but 1966 was the only time that he managed 100 wickets.\n\nHis last appearance in top-class cricket was when he appeared for Sussex in the Final of the Gillette Cup at Lord's on 2 September 1978. Sussex beat Somerset by five wickets, but Storey's contribution to their victory was minor; he did not bowl and scored 0 not out. This paralleled his experience when Surrey won the Benson and Hedges Cup during his last full season with them in 1974. In the Final at Lord's Surrey beat Leicestershire by 27 runs, but Storey scored only 2 and did not bowl.\n\nSurrey career\n\nEarly days \nStorey played in three matches in 1960, his debut season, but scored a total of only 11 runs and did not bowl. The next three seasons, 1961 to 1963, saw only a modest improvement. In 10, 14 and 16 matches respectively, he scored 269 runs at an average of 14.94, 366 runs at 18.30 and 402 runs at 16.75. However, he did manage one century in each of 1962 and 1963. His bowling was also not very effective, with 12 wickets at 41.00, 17 at 38.35 and 20 at 21.75. However, he held 23 catches in 1962 from only 14 matches.\n\n1964 was his breakthrough season. In 30 games he scored 1050 runs at 22.82 with one century, though he passed fifty on only three other occasions. Given more bowling, he captured 42 wickets at 30.64, and for the first time managed to take five wickets in an innings. He also held 37 catches, a figure that he would never surpass.\n\nThe all-rounder \nThe following year (1965) Storey did not manage a century in his 33 matches, but his average for his 1052 runs improved to 25.65 and he reached fifty on seven occasions. His bowling was more penetrative, with 53 wickets at 22.28. He had what would remain his best figures in an innings of 8/22 against Glamorgan at Swansea, including a hat-trick, and took 11 wickets in the match. He held 35 catches over the 1965 season.\n\nThe Gillette Cup, the first List A limited overs competition, had begun in 1963. Though Storey did not contribute much with the bat, his bowling proved very economical. In 1964 he took 9 wickets at 17.00 in 4 matches, at only 2.94 runs per over. He had an analysis of 5/35 against Middlesex in helping Surrey to an easy win in their quarter-final tie. For this he received the \"Man of the Match\" award.\n\nIn 1965 he did even better. In four Gillette Cup matches he took 7 wickets at 14.42, at 2.74 runs per over. He had figures of 5.5 overs, 2 maidens, 14 runs, 4 wickets, when taking the last four wickets against Northamptonshire. Surrey reached the Final, in which they suffered a heavy defeat by Yorkshire. However, Storey came out with considerable credit, with figures of 0/33 from his 13 overs in a Yorkshire total of 317–4 in 60 overs.\n\n1966 was the year in which he did the double in first-class matches, albeit only just. In 29 matches he scored 1013 runs at 24.70, with one century and eight fifties; he took 104 wickets at 18.39, taking 5 wickets in an innings five times and 10 wickets in a match once (5/17 and 5/22 against Glamorgan). Perhaps because of his exertions with bat and ball, his number of catches fell to 16. In three Gillette Cup matches he did not take a wicket and conceded 3.79 runs per over.\n\nIn 1967 he just missed his thousand runs for the season, with 940 at 26.11 from 31 matches, including two centuries. He took 78 wickets at 20.92, only taking 5 wickets in an innings on one occasion. He took 33 catches. He delivered only 28 balls in Surrey's two Gillette Cup matches.\n\nBatsman and change bowler \nFrom 1968 onwards his bowling declined, though it remained useful in limited overs matches, and he never thereafter reached 50 wickets in a season in first-class matches. However, after two lean seasons in 1968 and 1969, his batting improved.\n\n1968 brought him only 412 runs in 19 first-class matches, at an average of 17.16 and with a top score of only 53. He dismissed 33 batsmen at 27.60, and held 17 catches. Surrey suffered a heavy defeat by Middlesex in their only Gillette Cup match, but Storey bowled his 12 overs for only 25 runs and then top-scored with 40, his highest innings to date in the competition.\n\n1969 saw a similar return with the bat: 22 matches, 462 runs at 20.08, though he did manage one century. His bowling continued to decline: 21 wickets at 34.33. One bright feature was that he held 32 catches. The season saw the introduction of the John Player League, so that he played in as many as 15 List A matches. However, they did not bring him much in the way of success.\n\n1970 saw a return to form with the bat, and for the first time he averaged over thirty. 23 matches brought him 1045 runs at 31.88, with one century and eight other scores of fifty or more. He took only 19 wickets at 43.47, and for the first time since 1963 he failed to take five wickets in an innings. He held 18 catches. In 19 one-day matches he took 18 wickets at 23.66, conceding only 3.52 runs per over. His best figures came in a Gillette Cup tie against Glamorgan (seemingly his favourite opponents) and won him the man of the match award: 12 overs, 5 maidens, 13 runs, 3 wickets.\n\nSurrey won the County Championship in 1971 for the first time since 1958, and Storey made a major contribution with the bat and also regained some form with the ball. In 26 matches he made 1184 runs at 35.87, his highest average to date, with one hundred, and seven fifties.\n\nThe hundred was an innings of 164, the highest score of his career. It came in the third-to-last match of the season, against Derbyshire, when Surrey badly needed a win to strengthen their challenge for the title. He came to the wicket with the score at 54 for 4, which soon became 70 for 5. He dominated the remainder of the innings, and when he was finally dismissed, at 315 for 9, Surrey were able to declare. Derbyshire achieved near parity on first innings before declaring. Surrey needed quick runs in their second innings, and Storey top-scored again, with 41 out of 187 for 8 declared. Derbyshire collapsed in their second innings and Surrey got the win that they needed.\n\nHe took 42 wickets that season at 23.80 and held 19 catches. He again bowled usefully in one-day cricket (though his batting was negligible), with 21 wickets in 17 matches at 21.61, conceding 3.69 runs per over.\n\nWith the reduction in the number of first-class matches to accommodate the increasing one-day programme, he never reached 1,000 runs in a season after 1971. 1972 was less successful for him with the bat. 21 matches brought him 682 runs at 27.28, and he failed to make a century. Also his bowling was ineffective. He took only 16 wickets at 51.81. However, he did hold 30 catches. His bowling figures were worse in one-day matches as well: 18 wickets in 20 matches at 31.05, conceding 4.09 runs per over.\n\nIn 1973 he was back to form with the bat. In 22 matches he made 813 runs at 33.87, with one hundred. He took 17 wickets at 38.82 and held 19 catches. In 17 List A one-day matches he took 17 wickets at 30.05, at 3.52 runs per over. He also managed 279 runs at 18.60. That year was his benefit season. It realised £9,500.\n\nIn terms of his average, 1974 was his best as a batsman. 17 matches brought him 744 runs at 39.15, with two centuries. He captured 16 wickets at 25.06 and held 14 catches. In scoring 342 runs in 20 one-day matches at an average of 19.00, he managed his only fifty, an innings of 56. With the ball he took 12 wickets at 29.08, at 3.45 runs per over.\n\nSince he was batting as well as ever, it was a surprise that he retired at the end of the 1974 season. However, the Surrey dressing room was not a happy place at the time, and that may have been a factor in his decision. He reappeared in one John Player League fixture in 1976, against Kent on 11 July.\n\nSussex career \nStorey reappeared in 1978, playing for a new county, Sussex, but he had little success. In 16 first-class matches he managed only 331 runs at 16.55, with a highest score of only 57. He took a mere 6 wickets at 39.16. In 17 List A matches he batted 14 times, but scored only 120 runs with a highest score of 31. He took just 8 wickets, but had a respectable runs conceded per over figure of 4.34.\n\nHe remained with Sussex as their coach until 1987, but made no appearances for the first eleven after 1978.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences \nCricketArchive entry\nFirst-class batting figures each season\nFirst-class bowling figures each season\nList A batting figures each season\nList A bowling figures each season\n\"Man of the Match\" awards in List A matches\n\n1941 births\nLiving people\nEnglish cricketers\nSurrey cricketers\nSussex cricketers\nInternational Cavaliers cricketers\nEnglish cricket coaches\nA. E. R. Gilligan's XI cricketers\nSportspeople from Worthing"
]
|
[
"John Morrison (wrestler)",
"Independent circuit (2012-present)",
"What was the independent circuit?",
"After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison.",
"Was he successful?",
"Hennigan rekindled an old feud facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila,",
"Did he win?",
"Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion.",
"Did they ever face off against each other again?",
"On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match.",
"What other matches did he have?",
"On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show.",
"Did he have any other matches there?",
"On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger",
"Did he win all of his matches?",
"On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles."
]
| C_78d624427aba445786e994c48bae222a_1 | Had he fought him before? | 8 | Had John Morrison fight A.J. Styles. before the March 11, 2015 match? | John Morrison (wrestler) | After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison. On his first post-WWE wrestling appearance, Hennigan rekindled an old feud facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012. Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion. On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match. On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show. Hennigan took part in the WrestleMania weekend, wrestling for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate. On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger in an "International Dream Match" at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) event. On April 19, Hennigan again defeated Sami Callihan in a no count-out, no disqualification falls count anywhere match at a 2CW event in Rome, New York. The next day, he defeated Kevin Steen at 2CW's first iPPV (Living on the Edge VIII), in Watertown, New York. On June 21, 2013, Hennigan defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool in FWE Welcome to the Rumble II, winning the FWE Heavyweight Championship. The next day, Hennigan defended the title against Too Cold Scorpio at House of Hardcore 2. On September 6 and 8, Morrison wrestled against WWL World Heavyweight Champion Black Pain for the title, but he was defeated both times. On October 12, 2013, at FWE Grand Prix, Hennigan defeated Matt Morgan, retaining the FWE Heavyweight Championship. On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles. Morrison faced Rob Van Dam at Pro Wrestling Syndicate in Rahway, New Jersey on October 24, 2015 in a winning effort. After the match, Morrison shook hands with Van Dam and led the crowd in an "RVD" chant. On June 28, 2016, it was announced that Hennigan would make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerilla in the company's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He won his match against Matt Sydal in the first round, but was eliminated by Ricochet in the quarter-finals. On November 16, it was announced that Hennigan, under his Johnny Mundo ring name, would appear for What Culture Pro Wrestling on their Delete WCPW event on November 30. Mundo was scheduled to face Alberto El Patron, but due to Alberto's absence he was replaced by Gabriel Kidd. At the event, Mundo cut a heel promo, insulting Alberto El Patron and the crowd, before defeating Kidd. On January 28, 2017, Morrison won a tournament at a 5 Star Wrestling event for his 5 Star Wrestling Championship, defeating Moose, Drew Galloway, and Rey Mysterio to retain the title. On June 2, Hennigan defeated Rob Van Dam to become the Pacific Coast Wrestling Heavyweight Champion. On September 22, Morrison reunited with former MNM tag team partner Joey Mercury after ten years, defeating Reno Scum. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | John Randall Hennigan (born October 3, 1979) is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by the ring name John Morrison. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he was a contracted performer from 2002 to 2011, and 2019 to 2021.
Hennigan won Tough Enough III (a WWE reality TV competition show that awarded winners a wrestling contract with the company), and was assigned to its developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), to continue his wrestling training. WWE promoted Hennigan to its SmackDown! roster in April 2005 under the ring name Johnny Nitro; in his debut match on the show, he won the WWE Tag Team Championship (as a part of the tag team, MNM). In between runs in WWE, Hennigan held lead or main event roles in several independent wrestling promotions, including the lucha libre wrestling company/TV series Lucha Underground, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (aka "AAA"; as Johnny Mundo), and Impact Wrestling (as Johnny Impact).
Hennigan is a four-time world champion, having won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship (WWE revival version), AAA Mega Championship, Impact Wrestling World Championship, and the Lucha Underground Championship once each. In WWE, he also held the Intercontinental Championship three times, and was a six-time tag team champion (one World Tag Team Championship, four WWE Tag Team Championships, and one SmackDown Tag Team Championship). In lucha libre, Hennigan was a central fixture in all four seasons of Lucha Underground, and was AAA's first-ever triple champion (holding the AAA Mega Championship, AAA Latin American Championship, and AAA World Cruiserweight Championship simultaneously. He has headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WWE and Impact, including the latter company's flagship event, Bound for Glory, in 2017 and 2018.
Outside of wrestling, Hennigan has also worked in the film and television industry. In film, he has mainly worked as an actor, producer and stuntman. He is also known for being a contestant on the 37th season of the competitive reality show Survivor.
Early life
John Randall Hennigan was born on October 3, 1979, in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Palos Verdes Peninsula, where he attended Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. He graduated from the University of California, Davis in 2002, where he studied film and geology.
Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE (2002–2011)
Tough Enough and Ohio Valley Wrestling (2002–2004)
After graduating college with a degree in film and geology and deciding that he did not want to pursue either path, Hennigan began his professional wrestling career training at the Supreme Pro Wrestling school in Sacramento, California. After failing his audition for Tough Enough 2, a competition in which the winner earned a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) contract, he was accepted as a cast member for Tough Enough III in 2002, eventually becoming the co-winner with Matt Cappotelli. For winning, Hennigan was awarded a developmental contract and assigned to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), to continue his training. Hennigan competed in Acolytes Protection Agency's invitational Bar Room Brawl match at Vengeance in July 2003. Hennigan and Cappotelli made an appearance on an episode of Heat in January 2004, losing to Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak.
MNM (2004–2006)
On the March 1, 2004 episode of Raw, Hennigan debuted on the main roster as a heel, under the ring name "Johnny Blaze". His gimmick was that he was the apprentice and assistant of the Raw General Manager, Eric Bischoff. The next week his name was changed to "Johnny Spade", and three weeks after that it was changed to "Johnny Nitro". The Nitro name, which finally stuck, was a reference to WCW Monday Nitro, the flagship show of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for which Bischoff had previously worked. To drive the point home, he began using the Nitro theme as his ring entrance music. Nitro acted as Bischoff's apprentice and assistant until June, when he was sent back to OVW. To explain his departure, Nitro lost a match on the June 7 episode of Raw against Eugene, which carried the stipulation that upon his loss, he also lost his job.
Upon his return to OVW, Nitro was put into a feud with Matt Cappotelli. During the course of the feud, Melina was brought into the company as Nitro's ex-girlfriend and an ally of Cappotelli, only to turn on him and side with Nitro. Not long after, Nitro and Melina were joined by Joey Mercury, forming the stable MNM. MNM wrestled in OVW for around a year, holding the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship once, before losing the titles to Cappotelli and Johnny Jeter in January 2005. They were soon called up to the main SmackDown! brand in April that same year.
In their debut match on the main roster, MNM won the WWE Tag Team Championship from Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio on the April 21 episode of SmackDown!. MNM held the titles for three months, having successful titles defenses against the teams of Guerrero and Mysterio, and Charlie Haas and Hardcore Holly, before dropping them to the Legion of Doom at The Great American Bash. They won the titles again on the October 28 episode of SmackDown! in a four-way match defeating Legion of Doom, The Mexicools, and William Regal and Paul Burchill, but lost them to Rey Mysterio and Batista on the December 16 episode of SmackDown! two days before Armageddon. Due to help from Mark Henry, MNM defeated Mysterio and Batista in a rematch on the December 30 episode of SmackDown! to win the championship for the third time. They began a rivalry with the team of Paul London and Brian Kendrick that lasted over three months, until they dropped the championship to London and Kendrick at Judgment Day in May 2006, with the storyline leading to Nitro and Melina suddenly turning on Mercury after the match, breaking up the group. Later that night, Melina and Nitro were booked off the SmackDown! brand by having the General Manager, Theodore Long "fire" them.
Singles competition and championship success (2006–2007)
The next week, Nitro, along with Melina, debuted on the Raw brand in a loss to WWE Champion John Cena. Nitro was immediately placed in the Intercontinental Championship picture, beginning his first reign at Vengeance in June after defeating champion Shelton Benjamin in a triple threat match also involving Carlito. Nitro held the championship for four months, feuding with several challengers before losing it to Jeff Hardy on the October 2 episode of Raw. Nitro recaptured the Intercontinental Championship from Hardy on the November 6 episode of Raw, but lost it back to Hardy on the following week's Raw. Also around this time, Nitro entered into a partnership with rapper Kevin Federline, with the duo antagonizing and beginning a rivalry with WWE Champion John Cena. Federline was then, in storyline, trained by Nitro for a match with Cena, which he won after interference from Umaga.
MNM reunited on the November 27 episode of Raw to accept an open challenge from The Hardys (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) at December to Dismember, a match that they lost. MNM and The Hardys feuded across the brands throughout December, with the two teams competing in a four-way ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Armageddon, also involving Brian Kendrick and Paul London and Dave Taylor and William Regal. However, MNM would be unsuccessful in winning the championship. Nitro challenged Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Championship in a steel cage match at New Year's Revolution on January 7, 2007, but did not win. MNM lost to The Hardys at the Royal Rumble later that month and again at No Way Out in February which ended the feud. MNM disbanded as a team when Mercury was released from WWE in March 2007.
After Mercury's departure, Nitro also ended his association with Melina. Nitro was placed in a tag team with Kenny Dykstra, until the 2007 WWE draft, during which Nitro was drafted to the ECW brand. Nitro made his debut for the brand on the June 19 episode of ECW, with a win over Nunzio, and few days later, on June 24, at Vengeance: Night of Champions, he won the vacant ECW World Championship by defeating CM Punk, replacing the absent Chris Benoit due to his double-murder suicide. A few weeks after winning the title, Nitro was repackaged as John Morrison, a reference to musician Jim Morrison, to whom Hennigan bears a strong physical resemblance. In the months to come, Morrison would retain the championship against Punk at The Great American Bash in July, and SummerSlam in August. Punk would again challenge for the championship on the September 4 episode of ECW, in which Morrison lost the championship to Punk, ending his reign at 69 days. Morrison was then suspended for thirty days for violating WWE's Wellness Program, renewing his feud with Punk upon his return, as well as competing against The Miz for the number one contendership to the title.
Teaming with The Miz (2007–2009)
Though rivals, Morrison and The Miz faced the dysfunctional tag team of Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter on the November 16 episode of SmackDown! for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a winning effort, marking Morrison's fourth WWE Tag Team Championship reign. At Survivor Series, Morrison and The Miz were both defeated by CM Punk in a triple threat match for the ECW Championship. After the defeat, the rivalry aspect of Morrison and Miz's relationship faded, as they were now portrayed as trusting friends. Morrison competed in the 2008 Royal Rumble match on January 27, but failed to win after being eliminated by Kane. In February 2008, Morrison and Miz were given a streaming segment on WWE.com named The Dirt Sheet in which they mocked other wrestlers and facets of pop culture. Morrison and Miz co-wrote each episode of The Dirt Sheet each week, and Morrison credits his time in college studying film with contributing to the success of the show. At WrestleMania XXIV, Morrison competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by CM Punk. Despite being unsuccessful, Morrison had a standout performance in the match, in which he performed a moonsault from the top rope to the outside of the ring while holding onto a ladder.
The team of Morrison and Miz had many successful title defenses over the next few months, before dropping the titles to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder at The Great American Bash in a fatal four-way match which also featured Jesse and Festus, and Finlay and Hornswoggle. Neither Morrison nor Miz were pinned, as Hawkins pinned Jesse to win the titles.
Afterwards, they started a feud with Cryme Tyme (JTG and Shad) through each team's Internet show, which then transitioned to matches on Raw and at Cyber Sunday. After winning the Slammy Award for Best WWE.com exclusive earlier in the day, Morrison and Miz won the "Tag Team of the Year" Slammy Award on December 8, 2008 episode of Raw. On December 13, Morrison and Miz won the World Tag Team Championship from CM Punk and Kofi Kingston at a live event. Morrison and Miz engaged themselves in a feud with The Colóns (Carlito and Primo), who were the reigning WWE Tag Team Champions, which resulted in both teams defending their respective championships successfully in separate matches. Their feud culminated in a tag team lumberjack match where both titles were on the line at the WrestleMania 25, but it was The Colóns who would unify the championships with a win. On April 13, as part of the 2009 WWE draft, The Miz was drafted to the Raw brand to split up the team, and as a result, Miz attacked Morrison.
Intercontinental Champion (2009–2010)
On April 15, Morrison was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, he defeated R-Truth. On the May 1 episode of SmackDown, Morrison engaged in a backstage fight with Chris Jericho after Jericho slapped him, turning face in the process for the first time in his career. Later that same night, Morrison defeated Shelton Benjamin, beginning a feud between the two. On the May 7 episode of Superstars, Morrison lost a match to Jericho after a distraction by Benjamin. Morrison continued to score victories over Benjamin in singles and tag team matches before defeating him at Judgment Day. During this time, Morrison would soon become wildly popular with fans. On the June 19 episode of SmackDown, Morrison lost a critically acclaimed match against Edge, in which the commentators described it as a "third main event". On the July 31 episode of SmackDown, Morrison had his first World Heavyweight Championship match against Jeff Hardy, but failed to win the title.
On the September 4 episode of SmackDown, Morrison defeated Rey Mysterio to win his third Intercontinental Championship. Morrison then began a feud with Dolph Ziggler, after losing a non-title match to him by countout, but he would successfully defend the title against Ziggler at Hell in a Cell, and again on the following episode of SmackDown. The feud between Morrison and Ziggler continued throughout the next month, with the two wrestling to a double countout for the Intercontinental Championship on the November 13 episode of SmackDown and Morrison retaining the championship in a two-out-of-three falls match the following week to end the feud. At Bragging Rights, Morrison was defeated by his former tag team partner then-United States Champion The Miz in an interbrand Champion vs. Champion match. Their rivalry continued after both were announced as opposing team captains for Survivor Series, where Miz's team defeated Morrison's team. Morrison then went on to feud with newcomer Drew McIntyre, who defeated Morrison in a non-title match on the December 4 episode of SmackDown, thus earning a championship opportunity against Morrison. At the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, Morrison lost the Intercontinental Championship to McIntyre, ending his reign at 103 days. He received his rematch on the January 1 episode of SmackDown, but was disqualified when McIntyre shoved him into the referee. He challenged McIntyre for the Intercontinental Championship again on the January 29 episode of SmackDown in a No Disqualification match, but lost, ending their feud. Morrison later won an Elimination Chamber qualifying match and participated in the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship, but was eliminated by The Undertaker. On the March 5 episode of SmackDown, Morrison teamed with R-Truth to defeat Cryme Tyme and The Hart Dynasty to earn a Unified WWE Tag Team Championship match against ShoMiz (Big Show and The Miz). At WrestleMania XXVI, they failed to win the championship.
Championship pursuits and departure (2010–2011)
On April 26, Morrison was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2010 WWE draft, and lost his first match back for the brand later that night to Jack Swagger. Later that week, in his final match on SmackDown, he lost to Cody Rhodes. On June 1, Morrison announced that he would be mentoring Eli Cottonwood in the second season of NXT. Cottonwood, however, was the second person eliminated from the competition, and was eliminated on the July 27 episode of NXT. Morrison then went on to participate in the main event of SummerSlam in which he and six teammates (John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho, Bret Hart, R-Truth, and Daniel Bryan) were victorious in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match against The Nexus. In October 2010, Morrison began a feud with Sheamus after he helped Santino Marella earn an upset win during a one-sided match against Sheamus. Within the following weeks, Morrison continued to save Marella from attacks by Sheamus. At Survivor Series, Morrison defeated Sheamus. Morrison entered the 2010 edition of the King of the Ring tournament, defeating Tyson Kidd, Cody Rhodes, and Alberto Del Rio. Morrison lost to Sheamus in the final round. He continued to feud with Sheamus and defeated him in a WWE Championship number one contender's ladder match at the Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view on December 19. Morrison received his WWE Championship match on the January 3, 2011 episode of Raw, but lost to reigning champion The Miz in a falls count anywhere match. On January 30, Morrison participated in the Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble event and despite not winning, he had a stand-out moment which was praised by critics as "arguably the spot of the decade" when Morrison was knocked off of the ring apron and performed a cat leap onto the barricade to avoid having his feet touch the floor and then went on to precision jump onto the ring steps and re-enter the ring. On February 20, Morrison participated in the Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event, but was eliminated by CM Punk. During the match, Morrison climbed to the top of the cage while inside the cage before dropping to deliver a crossbody on and eliminate Sheamus. At WrestleMania XXVII, Morrison teamed with Trish Stratus and Jersey Shore guest star Snooki in a mixed tag match to defeat the team of Dolph Ziggler and LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool).
On the April 11 episode of Raw, Morrison participated in a five-man gauntlet match for the number one contender's spot for the WWE Championship, but was eliminated by R-Truth. The next week on Raw, Morrison challenged R-Truth to a match later on in the night, with the stipulation that if Morrison won, he would take Truth's place in the steel cage match at Extreme Rules. Truth accepted, and lost the match, making Morrison the new number one contender. After the match, Truth viciously attacked Morrison. At Extreme Rules, R-Truth interfered in the WWE Championship steel cage match, attacking Morrison and preventing him from winning the match. The next night on Raw, Morrison was attacked by Truth again, prior to a scheduled match between the two which did not happen as a result. Morrison then underwent surgery to correct a legitimately pinched nerve in his neck. Morrison initially returned on the June 13 episode of Raw, but Truth attacked him again prior to their scheduled match, re-injuring him. Morrison returned again on the July 25 episode of Raw, attacking R-Truth. At SummerSlam, Morrison teamed up with Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio to defeat R-Truth, Alberto Del Rio and The Miz. The following night on Raw, Morrison defeated R-Truth in a falls count anywhere match to end their feud. At Night of Champions, Morrison competed in a Fatal 4-Way match for the United States Championship, also involving Alex Riley, Dolph Ziggler, and Jack Swagger, with Ziggler successfully retaining his title. Morrison then challenged Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, but failed to win the title. Following this, Morrison went on a losing streak, lasting a number of weeks. On the November 7 episode of Raw, Morrison picked up his first victory in three months, defeating United States Champion Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match. Morrison then challenged Ziggler for the championship at Survivor Series, but was defeated by Ziggler.
In his last advertised WWE appearance on the November 28 episode of Raw, Morrison faced The Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere match; Miz won the match by delivering the Skull-Crushing Finale on the steel entrance stage, giving Morrison a kayfabe injury. This was used to write Morrison off television, even being stretchered out of the arena after the match. On November 29, WWE acknowledged the end of Morrison's contract, and moved his profile to the alumni section of its website. In a video published on December 9, 2011, via Hennigan's personal YouTube channel, Hennigan claimed that he was taking time off to heal and retrain for a possible return to wrestling in the future. In 2015, Hennigan revealed on Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast that WWE wanted him to sign another multi-year contract, but due to a neck injury, residual pain, and creative frustrations, he decided to not renew his contract, wanting "more control over [his] time".
Independent circuit (2012–2019)
After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison. On his first post-WWE wrestling appearance, Hennigan rekindled an old feud, facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012. Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion. On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match. On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show. Hennigan took part in the WrestleMania weekend, wrestling for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate. On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger in an "International Dream Match" at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) event.
On June 21, 2013, Hennigan defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool in FWE Welcome to the Rumble II, winning the FWE Heavyweight Championship. The next day, Hennigan defended the title against Too Cold Scorpio at House of Hardcore 2. On October 12, 2013, at FWE Grand Prix, Hennigan defeated Matt Morgan, retaining the FWE Heavyweight Championship. On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles.
On June 28, 2016, it was announced that Hennigan would make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerilla in the company's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He won his match against Matt Sydal in the first round, but was eliminated by Ricochet in the quarter-finals.
On January 28, 2017, Morrison won a tournament at a 5 Star Wrestling event for the 5 Star Wrestling Championship, defeating Moose, Drew Galloway, and Rey Mysterio to win the title. On February 8, 2018, he lost the title against Jake Hager after over a year as champion.
On September 22, Morrison reunited with former MNM tag team partner Joey Mercury after ten years, defeating Reno Scum.
Lucha Underground (2014–2018)
In September 2014, it was reported that Hennigan had signed with the El Rey network's new television series, Lucha Underground, where he wrestled under the ring name Johnny Mundo. Mundo wrestled in the main event of the debut episode of Lucha Underground on October 29, 2014, defeating Prince Puma and winning one hundred thousand dollars, which was then taken away from him by promoter Dario Cueto, setting up several feuds. He then teamed with Prince Puma during the November 5, 2014 episode, defeating Cortez Castro and Mr. Cisco. On the November 19 episode, Mundo defeated Big Ryck by disqualification after interference by Castro and Cisco. Mundo then defeated Prince Puma and Big Ryck in the main event of the December 10, 2014 episode, which was a three-way ladder match, to finally win the hundred thousand dollars he was denied in the Lucha Underground debut.
On January 7, 2015, Mundo participated in a 20-man "Aztec Warfare" battle royal for the Lucha Underground Championship. He was the second luchador to enter the ring, but was the last man eliminated by Prince Puma who won the Championship. King Cuerno attacked Mundo on the February 4 episode, beginning a feud between them; the second installment took place on the episode which aired March 11, where Mundo and Cuerno wrestled in a Steel Cage match, which was won by Mundo. On May 13, Mundo turned into a villain when he attacked Alberto El Patrón in his match against Hernandez, throwing him through the window of Dario Cueto's office. Mundo subsequently tossed El Patrón back into the ring, giving Hernandez the win. On the June 17, episode of Lucha Underground, Johnny Mundo unsuccessfully challenged Prince Puma for the Lucha Underground Championship in an Iron Man match. On August 5, 2015, at Ultima Lucha, Mundo defeated Alberto El Patrón after an interference by his girlfriend Melina Perez.
On the February 3, 2016 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo faced Killshot in a winning effort. After the match, Mundo taunted Lucha Underground Champion Mil Muertes, only to be confronted by Cage. Mundo defeated Cage on February 24, after interference from the debuting Taya, subsequently becoming Mundo's valet. On the May 25 episode of Lucha Underground, Taya revealed to PJ Black and Jack Evans that their partner Fénix was injured by Mundo. As Mundo revealed himself as Fénix's replacement for their match, Black and Evans allied with the two. Later that night in the main event, Mundo, Black and Evans defeated Rey Mysterio Jr., Prince Puma and Dragon Azteca Jr. to win the Lucha Underground Trios Championship, the first championship for each in Lucha Underground. The week after, Mundo, Black and Evans, now collectively billed as Worldwide Underground, retained their championships in a rematch via disqualification. Worldwide Underground lost their titles to Aero Star, Drago and Fénix at the third and final part Ultima Lucha Dos, which aired on July 20.
On the October 26 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo defeated Sexy Star to win the Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship after he knocked out Sexy Star with brass knuckles while the referee was unaware. On the November 23 episode of Lucha Underground, he cashed in his Gift of the Gods Championship on Sexy Star before defeating her to win the Lucha Underground Championship, becoming the second Triple Crown Champion in Lucha Underground history. On the December 21 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo successfully defended his championship in a rematch against Sexy Star inside a steel cage. He lost the title to Prince Puma at Ultima Lucha Tres.
Mundo made his return on the fourth season's premiere, competing in Aztec Warfare entering at number 11. Mundo eliminated Ricky Mundo and Daga before getting eliminated by Marty Martinez and being attacked by the Reptile Tribe. On November 17, 2018, Mundo wrestled on the final episode of Lucha Underground, Ultima Lucha Cuatro, defeating Matanza Cueto in a Sacrifice to the Gods match.
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2015–2018)
On May 24, 2015, Mundo made his debut for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) at the Lucha Libre World Cup event representing Lucha Underground as a member of "Team TNA/Lucha Underground" alongside TNA wrestlers Matt Hardy and Mr. Anderson. They finished in second place, losing in the finals to the "Dream Team" (El Patrón Alberto, Myzteziz and Rey Mysterio Jr.).
On June 4, 2015 in the main event of Verano de Escándalo, Mundo established himself as a rudo (or villain) and teamed with El Mesias and Pentagón Jr. losing to Myzteziz, La Parka and Rey Mysterio Jr. On September 27, Konnan announced Mundo as an official member of the rudo stable, La Sociedad, while he subsequently stepped down as the leader of the group. On October 4, at Héroes Inmortales IX, Mundo unsuccessfully challenged El Patrón Alberto for the AAA Mega Championship, when he was defeated by disqualification. After Alberto left AAA, Mundo was scheduled to face Rey Mysterio Jr. for the vacant AAA Mega Championship at Guerra de Titanes, but after the matches of the event were officially announced, neither Mundo nor Mysterio were featured for the event. Mundo participated in the 2016 Lucha Libre World Cup as a member of "Team Lucha Underground" alongside Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Brian Cage, defeating "Team Mexico Leyendas" (Blue Demon Jr., Canek, and La Parka) in the quarter-finals, and "Team Mexico International" (Rey Mysterio Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr., and Dragon Azteca Jr.) in the semi-finals. Mundo's team won the tournament defeating "Team AAA" (Pentagón Jr., El Texano Jr. and Psycho Clown) in the finals.
After adopting an "anti-Mexico" attitude and teaming with El Mesías and Hernandez to defeat El Texano Jr., El Hijo del Fantasma and Pentagón Jr., Mundo challenged the latter to a match at Triplemanía XXIV for the AAA Latin American Championship, to which Pentagón accepted. At the event, on August 28, Mundo defeated Pentagón to win the Latin American Championship, marking his first championship in AAA and becoming the first non-Mexican to hold the title. On October 2 in the main event of Héroes Inmortales X, Mundo successfully defended his title against Garza Jr. On March 19, 2017, at Rey de Reyes, Mundo defeated El Texano Jr. and El Hijo del Fantasma in a three-way match to not only retain the Latin American Championship, but to also win Texano's AAA Mega Championship and Fantasma's AAA World Cruiserweight Championship. In his first AAA Mega Championship defense, on June 30, Mundo successfully retained his title against Texano.
In July 2017, Mundo and his fiancée Kira Forster, known as Taya, were involved in controversy with AAA and its Director of Talent Vampiro, which led to Taya's departure from the company. According to Wrestling Observer, AAA asked Mundo to turn in Taya's Reina de Reinas Championship for a photo shoot the day prior to an event on July 1. A few weeks later, Vampiro addressed to the live crowd that Forster was stripped of the title due to not appearing to defend her title, despite not being scheduled to appear.
On August 26, at Triplemanía XXV, Mundo successfully defended his three championships against Fantasma and Texano in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. On October 1 at Héroes Inmortales XI, Mundo wrestled in three matches, retaining the Mega Championship against Rey Wagner, but losing the Latin American Championship to Fantasma in the annual Copa Antonio Peña battle royal, and the World Cruiserweight Championship to Lanzelot in a ten-way match, ending his triple championship reign at 196 days.
On January 26, 2018 at Guerra de Titanes, Mundo lost the AAA Mega Championship to Rey Wagner, ending his reign at 314 days.
Impact Wrestling (2017–2019)
Championship pursuits (2017–2018)
In August 2017, despite not being signed to the promotion at the time, Hennigan appeared for Impact Wrestling at some live events. On August 17, a video package was shown at Destination X revealing his ring name as Johnny Impact. His first feud in the promotion was with Eli Drake, when Impact made his televised in-ring debut on the August 24 episode of Impact!, participating in a Gauntlet for the Gold match for the vacant Global Championship, but was eliminated by eventual winner Eli Drake. Impact would face Drake for the title at Victory Road and Bound for Glory, where he failed to win the title. Since the Bound for Glory match ended after Alberto El Patrón made an interference, Impact, Alberto and Drake had a three-way Last Chance Six Sides of Steel match on the January 25, 2018 episode of Impact!, where Drake retained the title.
After Drake lost the renamed Impact World Championship to Austin Aries, Impact began pursuit of Aries's championship, facing him at Crossroads special, where he lost again. On the April 19 episode of Impact!, Johnny Impact was attacked and injured by Kongo Kong, which was performed to write him off television in order to film for reality television show Survivor. Impact returned at Slammiversary XVI, when he won a four-way match against Fenix, Taiji Ishimori, and Petey Williams.
Impact World Champion (2018–2019)
Impact began a feud with the Impact World Champion Austin Aries, which led to a match at Bound for Glory. As the PPV moved closer, the feud started to blur the lines between a work (something scripted) and shoot (something real), beginning with the two wrestlers trading insults on Twitter that they appeared to take personal, with Aries later deleting many of his tweets. Specifically, Impact mocked Aries' short stature and the champion responded by making fun of his wife's weight. Aries and Impact both alleged in the media that they authentically took issue with comments. TMZ Live also pushed the angle "like [it] was a shoot". The two wrestlers got in a brawl the night before Bound for Glory during Abyss's Impact Hall of Fame induction. At the event, Impact defeated Aries to win the Impact World Championship. Throughout the following weeks, Impact successfully defended his title against Fénix, Killer Kross, and Matt Sydal. At Homecoming on January 6, 2019, Impact defeated Brian Cage to retain his championship.
During the February tapings for Impact Wrestling, Impact defended his title in a four-way contest involving Killer Kross, Moose and Brian Cage. Impact hit his finisher on Moose, barely seconds prior to Cage hitting his Drill Claw finisher on Killer Kross. As Impact was able to cover his opponent first the referee was able to provide the count and therefore Impact won the match as Brian Cage went to cover his opponent. On the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Impact's wife Taya Valkyrie would low blow Cage, which allowed Impact to attack Cage, turning into a villain. At United We Stand, Impact won a five-way Ultimate X match to become the number one contender for the Impact X Division Championship. Throughout April, Impact successfully defended his title from Cage, often with interferences from Valkyrie and former referee John E Bravo. At Rebellion, Impact, accompanied by Valkyrie and Bravo, lost the title to Cage in a match where Lance Storm was special guest referee; this left Impact's reign to end at 196 days, leaving it the longest reign since Bobby Roode's 2011–2012 reign, and therefore the longest reign in seven years, as well as the third-longest reign in history.
On the May 31 episode of Impact Wrestling, Impact challenged X Division Champion Rich Swann to a title match at Slammiversary XVII. Later that night, he teamed with Michael Elgin to face Swann and Willie Mack in a tag team match, in which Swann pinned Impact. At Slammiversary XVII, Impact was defeated by Swann. On July 8, Pro Wrestling Insider reported that Hennigan's contract with Impact Wrestling had expired several weeks prior to the event, and the two sides agreed to have Hennigan work until Slammiversary.
Return to WWE (2019–2021)
On September 26, 2019, it was reported by Mike Johnson of Pro Wrestling Insider that Hennigan had re-signed with WWE, which was officially confirmed by the company on December 3 during WWE Backstage. He made his return on January 3, 2020 episode of SmackDown under his John Morrison ring name and resumed his partnership with The Miz, thus re-establishing him as a heel for the first time in WWE in 10 years. They would feud with the SmackDown Tag Team Champions, The New Day, with Morrison winning singles matches against Big E and Kofi Kingston. At the Royal Rumble, Morrison participated in the Royal Rumble match as the fifth entrant, but he was eliminated by Brock Lesnar. At Super ShowDown, Miz and Morrison won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship from The New Day.
On March 8, Morrison and Miz had their first title defense in a tag team Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber event, successfully defending their titles against The New Day, The Usos, Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado), and Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. At WrestleMania 36, after the Miz's absence due to illness, Morrison defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championships by himself in a ladder match against Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso, in which he was successful. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, the duo lost the titles back to The New Day after Miz unsuccessfully defended the titles by himself in a triple threat match against Big E and Jey Uso ending their reign at 50 days. At Money in the Bank the following month, Morrison and Miz unsuccessfully attempted to regain the championship in a fatal four-way tag team match also involving Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) and The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake). Morrison and Miz then started a rivalry with Universal Champion Braun Strowman. At Backlash, the duo competed for Strowman's title in a two-on-one handicap match, but lost. As part of the 2020 Draft in October, both Morrison and Miz were drafted to the Raw brand. Prior to the draft, Morrison and Miz entered a feud with Otis for his Money in the Bank contract. At Hell in a Cell, Morrison accompanied Miz in his match against Otis for the contract, which Miz won.
On the December 7 episode of Raw, Morrison ended a nearly seven-month losing streak after defeating Drew McIntyre and Sheamus in a 3-on-2 handicap match alongside The Miz and AJ Styles. Morrison entered the 2021 Royal Rumble match on January 31, lasting over eight minutes before being eliminated by Damian Priest. At the Elimination Chamber event on February 21, 2021, Morrison defeated Ricochet, Elias, and Mustafa Ali in a fatal four-way match for an opportunity at the United States Championship. Later that night, he failed to win the title in a triple threat match against Riddle and reigning champion Bobby Lashley, as Riddle won the match. After this, Morrison and Miz feuded with rapper Bad Bunny and Damian Priest. At WrestleMania 37 on April 10, Morrison and Miz faced Bad Bunny and Priest in a tag team match, but lost.
After Miz suffered an injury at WrestleMania Backlash, Morrison would embark on singles run, starting by defeating Jeff Hardy on the June 14 episode of Raw. The following week, Morrison defeated Randy Orton to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at the namesake pay-per-view event, which was won by Big E. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Miz turned on Morrison by attacking him, thus turning Morrison face and setting up a feud between the pair. However, the feud abruptly ended after the Miz took a hiatus to compete on Dancing with the Stars. On November 18, as part of an eighth round of layoffs due to budget cuts stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Morrison was released from his WWE contract.
Return to AAA (2022)
On February 19, 2022, Hennigan, as "John Superstar", unsuccessfully challenged El Hijo del Vikingo at Rey de Reyes for the AAA Mega Championship.
Return to the independent circuit (2022–present)
On April 1, 2022, Hennigan, as "Johnny Caballero", will make his debut for Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) at the Wrld on Lucha event. It was also announced that Hennigan would wrestle at GCW's Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 8.
Professional wrestling style and persona
Hennigan was described by WWE as having "lightning-fast offense", "high-risk aerial expertise", and "incredible agility". He is known to utilize a split-legged corkscrew moonsault, dubbed Starship Pain, as a finishing maneuver. During his singles run as Johnny Nitro, he used a standing shooting star press as his finisher. After transitioning to his John Morrison character, Hennigan began using a corkscrew neckbreaker dubbed Moonlight Drive, in reference to the song of the same name written by Jim Morrison. He also prominently used a superkick as a finisher in 2008 during a feud with D-Generation X, as a way to mock Shawn Michaels's Sweet Chin Music maneuver. Hennigan is a practitioner of parkour and often incorporates it into his wrestling style, giving him the nickname "The Prince of Parkour". He also has a background in amateur wrestling, breakdancing, gymnastics, and martial arts. Regarding his unique wrestling style, Hennigan stated in a 2021 interview with Sports Illustrated:
Alongside his team MNM, Hennigan debuted on WWE television as Johnny Nitro, presenting himself as an arrogant wrestler with "elite Hollywood status". After winning the ECW World Championship in 2007, he changed his ring name to John Morrison and his gimmick was tweaked to be even more conceited and self-aggrandizing — in addition to being modeled after Jim Morrison, the legendary frontman of the 1960s rock band The Doors, to whom he bears a strong physical resemblance. Following his return to WWE and reunion with his tag team partner the Miz in 2020, Hennigan added a comedic aspect to his villainous character, with WWE describing him as using "quirkiness and quick wit to shine every time he is on screen". He also began to refer to himself as "Johnny Drip Drip", a reference to the song "Drip" by rapper Cardi B.
Outside of WWE, Hennigan began referring to himself as the "Mayor of Slamtown", a fictional town he first coined in Lucha Underground in 2015. Hennigan filed to trademark the term "Slamtown" in November 2020.
Other media
In 2009, Hennigan and Maryse Ouellet were interviewed on Eurosport. In 2009, Hennigan appeared on two episodes of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, which were both aired on September 29. Hennigan is the subject of a WWE DVD, called John Morrison – Rock Star, which was released on February 16, 2010. The DVD covers his career from his name change to John Morrison up until his Intercontinental Championship win in September 2009. He appeared on an episode of Destroy Build Destroy on March 3, 2010. Hennigan was on the cover of Muscle & Fitness in June 2010, with the issue also featuring an interview and photo shoot. In 2016, Hennigan, Rey Mysterio, and King Cuerno appeared on ESPN to promote the second season of Lucha Underground.
Hennigan is also a frequent collaborator with comic book-based film producers Bat in the Sun Productions, appearing in two episodes of their well-known Super Power Beat Down series; playing as Casey Jones against Kick-Ass in episode 13, and as Winter Soldier against Nightwing in episode 19. Hennigan portrayed Eternal Warrior in the web series Ninjak vs. the Valiant Universe, produced by Valiant Entertainment and directed by Bat in the Sun.
Filmmaking
After leaving WWE in 2011, Hennigan pursued a career in the film industry as an actor and filmmaker. In 2013, he appeared in 20 Feet Below: The Darkness Descending with Danny Trejo, as well as served as co-producer of the film. In 2017, Hennigan released his first feature film titled Boone: The Bounty Hunter, which he starred in, co-wrote, and served as executive producer of. Hennigan sold his house in order to finance the film. In 2018, Hennigan began working on his directorial debut, a short film titled The Iron Sheik Massacre which he also produced and co-wrote with his wife Kira Forster. It was expected to be released in 2020, but has yet to have an official release date.
Survivor: David vs. Goliath
Hennigan was a contestant on the 37th season of Survivor, Survivor: David vs. Goliath where he was originally part of the Goliath tribe and later Tiva before making it to the merged tribe Kalokalo. He finished 12th and became the second member of the jury after the former members of the Goliath tribe were blindsided at tribal council; two contestants used hidden immunity idols, causing Hennigan to be eliminated despite only having three elimination votes, as Christian Hubicki, who received seven, was immune.
Hennigan's performance as a contestant and the episode of his elimination received critical acclaim. Chris Chase of USA Today praised Hennigan for being "true to everything we’ve seen from him this season, [and] a class act after his shock defeat". Writing for People, former Survivor contestant Stephen Fishbach highlighted that "in a tribal council that was meant to take out the Davidest David [Christian Hubicki], it was really the Goliath of the Goliaths [Hennigan] who fell. How perfectly Biblical." The show’s executive producer and host Jeff Probst was "so impressed" with Hennigan, describing him as "the guy who catches the winning touchdown pass in the final moments of the Super Bowl, and then, instead of some crazy celebration, he casually tosses the ball to the ref, kisses his wife and hugs his kids", alongside stating that he would "absolutely" have Hennigan back on the show.
Filmography
Personal life
Hennigan is good friends with fellow professional wrestlers The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, Jeff Hardy, and Randy Orton. He was also good friends with Shad Gaspard, and still is with JTG, of Cryme Tyme, and was a part of the search team after Gaspard's disappearance and death.
Hennigan was involved in an on-off relationship with former WWE Diva and on-screen manager Melina Perez from 2003 to 2015. The pair met during the auditions for Tough Enough III, in which Perez was cut and Hennigan eventually won. Since 2016, Hennigan has been in a relationship with Kira Forster, better known as Taya Valkyrie. The pair met through the affiliation between AAA and Lucha Underground, with Forster becoming Hennigan's on-screen partner in the latter promotion prior to their real-life relationship. They became engaged on June 14, 2017, and were married on June 1, 2018.
Championships and accomplishments
5 Star Wrestling
5 Star Wrestling Championship (1 time)
One Night Tournament (2017)
ACW Wisconsin
ACW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
The Baltimore Sun
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
Blackcraft Wrestling
BCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Continental Wrestling Federation
CWF United States Championship (1 time)
DDT Pro-Wrestling
Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (1 time)
European Pro Wrestling
EPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Family Wrestling Entertainment
FWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Impact Wrestling
Impact World Championship (1 time)
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
AAA Mega Championship (1 time)
AAA Latin American Championship (1 time)
AAA World Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
Lucha Libre World Cup (2016 Men's Division) – with Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Brian Cage
Lucha Underground
Lucha Underground Championship (1 time)
Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship (1 time)
Lucha Underground Trios Championship (1 time) – with Jack Evans and PJ Black
Second Triple Crown Champion
Mondo Lucha
Mondo Lucha Championship (1 time)
Mondo Lucha Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Matt Cross
Next Generation Wrestling
NGW World Championship (1 time)
NGW World Title Tournament (2013)
Ohio Valley Wrestling
OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Joey Matthews
Pacific Coast Wrestling/PCW Ultra
PCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2009)
Tag Team of the Year (2005) – with Joey Mercury
Ranked No. 24 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
Qatar Pro Wrestling
QPW Souq Waqif Championship (1 time)
QPW Souq Waqif Title Tournament (2015)
Rogue Wrestling
Rogue Championship (1 time)
Rogue Championship Tournament (2019)
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
ECW World Championship (1 time)
WWE Intercontinental Championship (3 times)
WWE Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Joey Mercury (3) and The Miz (1)
World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Miz
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Miz
ECW World Championship Tournament (2007)
Tough Enough III (2003)
Slammy Award (2 times)
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
Best WWE.com Exclusive (2008) – with The Miz
World Series Wrestling
WSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Wrestling Fan Xperience
WWFX Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
References
External links
1979 births
21st-century American male actors
American capoeira practitioners
American male professional wrestlers
ECW champions
ECW Heavyweight Champions/ECW World Heavyweight Champions
Living people
People from Palos Verdes, California
Professional wrestlers from California
Sportspeople from Los Angeles
Survivor (American TV series) contestants
TNA World Heavyweight/Impact World Champions
Tough Enough contestants
Tough Enough winners
Traceurs
WWF/WWE Intercontinental Champions
AAA Mega Champions | false | [
"General Richard Matthews (d. 1783) was a soldier who fought with the Army of the East India Company. He fought in the Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84).\n\nBednore\nAfter initial successes in seizing the forts of Rajamundroog and Mirjan (Merjee) before moving on and taking Honnavar (Onore). Matthews was ordered to advance on Bednore. Following the death of Hyder Ali, the commander of Bednore, Hyat Sahib, the Mysore commander had learnt that Tipu Sultan intended to remove him from command, surrendered to Matthews.\n\nReferences\n\n1783 deaths",
"John Charlton (also Charleton or Cherleton), 2nd Baron Cherleton, 2nd Lord Charlton of Powys (died 1360) succeeded his father to the title in 1353. He married Maud Mortimer, daughter of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March and Joan de Geneville, before 13 April 1319. He fought in the Wars of Gascony in the Hundred Years' War and held the office of Lord Chamberlain of the Household as his father had before him. He died before 30 August 1360. They had one son John who succeeded to the title.\n\nReferences\n\n1300 births\n1360 deaths\n14th-century English nobility\nBarons Charlton"
]
|
[
"John Morrison (wrestler)",
"Independent circuit (2012-present)",
"What was the independent circuit?",
"After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison.",
"Was he successful?",
"Hennigan rekindled an old feud facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila,",
"Did he win?",
"Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion.",
"Did they ever face off against each other again?",
"On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match.",
"What other matches did he have?",
"On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show.",
"Did he have any other matches there?",
"On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger",
"Did he win all of his matches?",
"On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles.",
"Had he fought him before?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_78d624427aba445786e994c48bae222a_1 | What other interesting things are in the article? | 9 | What other interesting things about John Morrison are there in addition to his fight against A.J. Styles? | John Morrison (wrestler) | After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison. On his first post-WWE wrestling appearance, Hennigan rekindled an old feud facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012. Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion. On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match. On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show. Hennigan took part in the WrestleMania weekend, wrestling for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate. On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger in an "International Dream Match" at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) event. On April 19, Hennigan again defeated Sami Callihan in a no count-out, no disqualification falls count anywhere match at a 2CW event in Rome, New York. The next day, he defeated Kevin Steen at 2CW's first iPPV (Living on the Edge VIII), in Watertown, New York. On June 21, 2013, Hennigan defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool in FWE Welcome to the Rumble II, winning the FWE Heavyweight Championship. The next day, Hennigan defended the title against Too Cold Scorpio at House of Hardcore 2. On September 6 and 8, Morrison wrestled against WWL World Heavyweight Champion Black Pain for the title, but he was defeated both times. On October 12, 2013, at FWE Grand Prix, Hennigan defeated Matt Morgan, retaining the FWE Heavyweight Championship. On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles. Morrison faced Rob Van Dam at Pro Wrestling Syndicate in Rahway, New Jersey on October 24, 2015 in a winning effort. After the match, Morrison shook hands with Van Dam and led the crowd in an "RVD" chant. On June 28, 2016, it was announced that Hennigan would make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerilla in the company's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He won his match against Matt Sydal in the first round, but was eliminated by Ricochet in the quarter-finals. On November 16, it was announced that Hennigan, under his Johnny Mundo ring name, would appear for What Culture Pro Wrestling on their Delete WCPW event on November 30. Mundo was scheduled to face Alberto El Patron, but due to Alberto's absence he was replaced by Gabriel Kidd. At the event, Mundo cut a heel promo, insulting Alberto El Patron and the crowd, before defeating Kidd. On January 28, 2017, Morrison won a tournament at a 5 Star Wrestling event for his 5 Star Wrestling Championship, defeating Moose, Drew Galloway, and Rey Mysterio to retain the title. On June 2, Hennigan defeated Rob Van Dam to become the Pacific Coast Wrestling Heavyweight Champion. On September 22, Morrison reunited with former MNM tag team partner Joey Mercury after ten years, defeating Reno Scum. CANNOTANSWER | On June 28, 2016, it was announced that Hennigan would make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerilla in the company's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. | John Randall Hennigan (born October 3, 1979) is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by the ring name John Morrison. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he was a contracted performer from 2002 to 2011, and 2019 to 2021.
Hennigan won Tough Enough III (a WWE reality TV competition show that awarded winners a wrestling contract with the company), and was assigned to its developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), to continue his wrestling training. WWE promoted Hennigan to its SmackDown! roster in April 2005 under the ring name Johnny Nitro; in his debut match on the show, he won the WWE Tag Team Championship (as a part of the tag team, MNM). In between runs in WWE, Hennigan held lead or main event roles in several independent wrestling promotions, including the lucha libre wrestling company/TV series Lucha Underground, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (aka "AAA"; as Johnny Mundo), and Impact Wrestling (as Johnny Impact).
Hennigan is a four-time world champion, having won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship (WWE revival version), AAA Mega Championship, Impact Wrestling World Championship, and the Lucha Underground Championship once each. In WWE, he also held the Intercontinental Championship three times, and was a six-time tag team champion (one World Tag Team Championship, four WWE Tag Team Championships, and one SmackDown Tag Team Championship). In lucha libre, Hennigan was a central fixture in all four seasons of Lucha Underground, and was AAA's first-ever triple champion (holding the AAA Mega Championship, AAA Latin American Championship, and AAA World Cruiserweight Championship simultaneously. He has headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WWE and Impact, including the latter company's flagship event, Bound for Glory, in 2017 and 2018.
Outside of wrestling, Hennigan has also worked in the film and television industry. In film, he has mainly worked as an actor, producer and stuntman. He is also known for being a contestant on the 37th season of the competitive reality show Survivor.
Early life
John Randall Hennigan was born on October 3, 1979, in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Palos Verdes Peninsula, where he attended Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. He graduated from the University of California, Davis in 2002, where he studied film and geology.
Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE (2002–2011)
Tough Enough and Ohio Valley Wrestling (2002–2004)
After graduating college with a degree in film and geology and deciding that he did not want to pursue either path, Hennigan began his professional wrestling career training at the Supreme Pro Wrestling school in Sacramento, California. After failing his audition for Tough Enough 2, a competition in which the winner earned a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) contract, he was accepted as a cast member for Tough Enough III in 2002, eventually becoming the co-winner with Matt Cappotelli. For winning, Hennigan was awarded a developmental contract and assigned to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), to continue his training. Hennigan competed in Acolytes Protection Agency's invitational Bar Room Brawl match at Vengeance in July 2003. Hennigan and Cappotelli made an appearance on an episode of Heat in January 2004, losing to Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak.
MNM (2004–2006)
On the March 1, 2004 episode of Raw, Hennigan debuted on the main roster as a heel, under the ring name "Johnny Blaze". His gimmick was that he was the apprentice and assistant of the Raw General Manager, Eric Bischoff. The next week his name was changed to "Johnny Spade", and three weeks after that it was changed to "Johnny Nitro". The Nitro name, which finally stuck, was a reference to WCW Monday Nitro, the flagship show of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for which Bischoff had previously worked. To drive the point home, he began using the Nitro theme as his ring entrance music. Nitro acted as Bischoff's apprentice and assistant until June, when he was sent back to OVW. To explain his departure, Nitro lost a match on the June 7 episode of Raw against Eugene, which carried the stipulation that upon his loss, he also lost his job.
Upon his return to OVW, Nitro was put into a feud with Matt Cappotelli. During the course of the feud, Melina was brought into the company as Nitro's ex-girlfriend and an ally of Cappotelli, only to turn on him and side with Nitro. Not long after, Nitro and Melina were joined by Joey Mercury, forming the stable MNM. MNM wrestled in OVW for around a year, holding the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship once, before losing the titles to Cappotelli and Johnny Jeter in January 2005. They were soon called up to the main SmackDown! brand in April that same year.
In their debut match on the main roster, MNM won the WWE Tag Team Championship from Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio on the April 21 episode of SmackDown!. MNM held the titles for three months, having successful titles defenses against the teams of Guerrero and Mysterio, and Charlie Haas and Hardcore Holly, before dropping them to the Legion of Doom at The Great American Bash. They won the titles again on the October 28 episode of SmackDown! in a four-way match defeating Legion of Doom, The Mexicools, and William Regal and Paul Burchill, but lost them to Rey Mysterio and Batista on the December 16 episode of SmackDown! two days before Armageddon. Due to help from Mark Henry, MNM defeated Mysterio and Batista in a rematch on the December 30 episode of SmackDown! to win the championship for the third time. They began a rivalry with the team of Paul London and Brian Kendrick that lasted over three months, until they dropped the championship to London and Kendrick at Judgment Day in May 2006, with the storyline leading to Nitro and Melina suddenly turning on Mercury after the match, breaking up the group. Later that night, Melina and Nitro were booked off the SmackDown! brand by having the General Manager, Theodore Long "fire" them.
Singles competition and championship success (2006–2007)
The next week, Nitro, along with Melina, debuted on the Raw brand in a loss to WWE Champion John Cena. Nitro was immediately placed in the Intercontinental Championship picture, beginning his first reign at Vengeance in June after defeating champion Shelton Benjamin in a triple threat match also involving Carlito. Nitro held the championship for four months, feuding with several challengers before losing it to Jeff Hardy on the October 2 episode of Raw. Nitro recaptured the Intercontinental Championship from Hardy on the November 6 episode of Raw, but lost it back to Hardy on the following week's Raw. Also around this time, Nitro entered into a partnership with rapper Kevin Federline, with the duo antagonizing and beginning a rivalry with WWE Champion John Cena. Federline was then, in storyline, trained by Nitro for a match with Cena, which he won after interference from Umaga.
MNM reunited on the November 27 episode of Raw to accept an open challenge from The Hardys (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) at December to Dismember, a match that they lost. MNM and The Hardys feuded across the brands throughout December, with the two teams competing in a four-way ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Armageddon, also involving Brian Kendrick and Paul London and Dave Taylor and William Regal. However, MNM would be unsuccessful in winning the championship. Nitro challenged Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Championship in a steel cage match at New Year's Revolution on January 7, 2007, but did not win. MNM lost to The Hardys at the Royal Rumble later that month and again at No Way Out in February which ended the feud. MNM disbanded as a team when Mercury was released from WWE in March 2007.
After Mercury's departure, Nitro also ended his association with Melina. Nitro was placed in a tag team with Kenny Dykstra, until the 2007 WWE draft, during which Nitro was drafted to the ECW brand. Nitro made his debut for the brand on the June 19 episode of ECW, with a win over Nunzio, and few days later, on June 24, at Vengeance: Night of Champions, he won the vacant ECW World Championship by defeating CM Punk, replacing the absent Chris Benoit due to his double-murder suicide. A few weeks after winning the title, Nitro was repackaged as John Morrison, a reference to musician Jim Morrison, to whom Hennigan bears a strong physical resemblance. In the months to come, Morrison would retain the championship against Punk at The Great American Bash in July, and SummerSlam in August. Punk would again challenge for the championship on the September 4 episode of ECW, in which Morrison lost the championship to Punk, ending his reign at 69 days. Morrison was then suspended for thirty days for violating WWE's Wellness Program, renewing his feud with Punk upon his return, as well as competing against The Miz for the number one contendership to the title.
Teaming with The Miz (2007–2009)
Though rivals, Morrison and The Miz faced the dysfunctional tag team of Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter on the November 16 episode of SmackDown! for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a winning effort, marking Morrison's fourth WWE Tag Team Championship reign. At Survivor Series, Morrison and The Miz were both defeated by CM Punk in a triple threat match for the ECW Championship. After the defeat, the rivalry aspect of Morrison and Miz's relationship faded, as they were now portrayed as trusting friends. Morrison competed in the 2008 Royal Rumble match on January 27, but failed to win after being eliminated by Kane. In February 2008, Morrison and Miz were given a streaming segment on WWE.com named The Dirt Sheet in which they mocked other wrestlers and facets of pop culture. Morrison and Miz co-wrote each episode of The Dirt Sheet each week, and Morrison credits his time in college studying film with contributing to the success of the show. At WrestleMania XXIV, Morrison competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by CM Punk. Despite being unsuccessful, Morrison had a standout performance in the match, in which he performed a moonsault from the top rope to the outside of the ring while holding onto a ladder.
The team of Morrison and Miz had many successful title defenses over the next few months, before dropping the titles to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder at The Great American Bash in a fatal four-way match which also featured Jesse and Festus, and Finlay and Hornswoggle. Neither Morrison nor Miz were pinned, as Hawkins pinned Jesse to win the titles.
Afterwards, they started a feud with Cryme Tyme (JTG and Shad) through each team's Internet show, which then transitioned to matches on Raw and at Cyber Sunday. After winning the Slammy Award for Best WWE.com exclusive earlier in the day, Morrison and Miz won the "Tag Team of the Year" Slammy Award on December 8, 2008 episode of Raw. On December 13, Morrison and Miz won the World Tag Team Championship from CM Punk and Kofi Kingston at a live event. Morrison and Miz engaged themselves in a feud with The Colóns (Carlito and Primo), who were the reigning WWE Tag Team Champions, which resulted in both teams defending their respective championships successfully in separate matches. Their feud culminated in a tag team lumberjack match where both titles were on the line at the WrestleMania 25, but it was The Colóns who would unify the championships with a win. On April 13, as part of the 2009 WWE draft, The Miz was drafted to the Raw brand to split up the team, and as a result, Miz attacked Morrison.
Intercontinental Champion (2009–2010)
On April 15, Morrison was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, he defeated R-Truth. On the May 1 episode of SmackDown, Morrison engaged in a backstage fight with Chris Jericho after Jericho slapped him, turning face in the process for the first time in his career. Later that same night, Morrison defeated Shelton Benjamin, beginning a feud between the two. On the May 7 episode of Superstars, Morrison lost a match to Jericho after a distraction by Benjamin. Morrison continued to score victories over Benjamin in singles and tag team matches before defeating him at Judgment Day. During this time, Morrison would soon become wildly popular with fans. On the June 19 episode of SmackDown, Morrison lost a critically acclaimed match against Edge, in which the commentators described it as a "third main event". On the July 31 episode of SmackDown, Morrison had his first World Heavyweight Championship match against Jeff Hardy, but failed to win the title.
On the September 4 episode of SmackDown, Morrison defeated Rey Mysterio to win his third Intercontinental Championship. Morrison then began a feud with Dolph Ziggler, after losing a non-title match to him by countout, but he would successfully defend the title against Ziggler at Hell in a Cell, and again on the following episode of SmackDown. The feud between Morrison and Ziggler continued throughout the next month, with the two wrestling to a double countout for the Intercontinental Championship on the November 13 episode of SmackDown and Morrison retaining the championship in a two-out-of-three falls match the following week to end the feud. At Bragging Rights, Morrison was defeated by his former tag team partner then-United States Champion The Miz in an interbrand Champion vs. Champion match. Their rivalry continued after both were announced as opposing team captains for Survivor Series, where Miz's team defeated Morrison's team. Morrison then went on to feud with newcomer Drew McIntyre, who defeated Morrison in a non-title match on the December 4 episode of SmackDown, thus earning a championship opportunity against Morrison. At the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, Morrison lost the Intercontinental Championship to McIntyre, ending his reign at 103 days. He received his rematch on the January 1 episode of SmackDown, but was disqualified when McIntyre shoved him into the referee. He challenged McIntyre for the Intercontinental Championship again on the January 29 episode of SmackDown in a No Disqualification match, but lost, ending their feud. Morrison later won an Elimination Chamber qualifying match and participated in the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship, but was eliminated by The Undertaker. On the March 5 episode of SmackDown, Morrison teamed with R-Truth to defeat Cryme Tyme and The Hart Dynasty to earn a Unified WWE Tag Team Championship match against ShoMiz (Big Show and The Miz). At WrestleMania XXVI, they failed to win the championship.
Championship pursuits and departure (2010–2011)
On April 26, Morrison was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2010 WWE draft, and lost his first match back for the brand later that night to Jack Swagger. Later that week, in his final match on SmackDown, he lost to Cody Rhodes. On June 1, Morrison announced that he would be mentoring Eli Cottonwood in the second season of NXT. Cottonwood, however, was the second person eliminated from the competition, and was eliminated on the July 27 episode of NXT. Morrison then went on to participate in the main event of SummerSlam in which he and six teammates (John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho, Bret Hart, R-Truth, and Daniel Bryan) were victorious in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match against The Nexus. In October 2010, Morrison began a feud with Sheamus after he helped Santino Marella earn an upset win during a one-sided match against Sheamus. Within the following weeks, Morrison continued to save Marella from attacks by Sheamus. At Survivor Series, Morrison defeated Sheamus. Morrison entered the 2010 edition of the King of the Ring tournament, defeating Tyson Kidd, Cody Rhodes, and Alberto Del Rio. Morrison lost to Sheamus in the final round. He continued to feud with Sheamus and defeated him in a WWE Championship number one contender's ladder match at the Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view on December 19. Morrison received his WWE Championship match on the January 3, 2011 episode of Raw, but lost to reigning champion The Miz in a falls count anywhere match. On January 30, Morrison participated in the Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble event and despite not winning, he had a stand-out moment which was praised by critics as "arguably the spot of the decade" when Morrison was knocked off of the ring apron and performed a cat leap onto the barricade to avoid having his feet touch the floor and then went on to precision jump onto the ring steps and re-enter the ring. On February 20, Morrison participated in the Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event, but was eliminated by CM Punk. During the match, Morrison climbed to the top of the cage while inside the cage before dropping to deliver a crossbody on and eliminate Sheamus. At WrestleMania XXVII, Morrison teamed with Trish Stratus and Jersey Shore guest star Snooki in a mixed tag match to defeat the team of Dolph Ziggler and LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool).
On the April 11 episode of Raw, Morrison participated in a five-man gauntlet match for the number one contender's spot for the WWE Championship, but was eliminated by R-Truth. The next week on Raw, Morrison challenged R-Truth to a match later on in the night, with the stipulation that if Morrison won, he would take Truth's place in the steel cage match at Extreme Rules. Truth accepted, and lost the match, making Morrison the new number one contender. After the match, Truth viciously attacked Morrison. At Extreme Rules, R-Truth interfered in the WWE Championship steel cage match, attacking Morrison and preventing him from winning the match. The next night on Raw, Morrison was attacked by Truth again, prior to a scheduled match between the two which did not happen as a result. Morrison then underwent surgery to correct a legitimately pinched nerve in his neck. Morrison initially returned on the June 13 episode of Raw, but Truth attacked him again prior to their scheduled match, re-injuring him. Morrison returned again on the July 25 episode of Raw, attacking R-Truth. At SummerSlam, Morrison teamed up with Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio to defeat R-Truth, Alberto Del Rio and The Miz. The following night on Raw, Morrison defeated R-Truth in a falls count anywhere match to end their feud. At Night of Champions, Morrison competed in a Fatal 4-Way match for the United States Championship, also involving Alex Riley, Dolph Ziggler, and Jack Swagger, with Ziggler successfully retaining his title. Morrison then challenged Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, but failed to win the title. Following this, Morrison went on a losing streak, lasting a number of weeks. On the November 7 episode of Raw, Morrison picked up his first victory in three months, defeating United States Champion Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match. Morrison then challenged Ziggler for the championship at Survivor Series, but was defeated by Ziggler.
In his last advertised WWE appearance on the November 28 episode of Raw, Morrison faced The Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere match; Miz won the match by delivering the Skull-Crushing Finale on the steel entrance stage, giving Morrison a kayfabe injury. This was used to write Morrison off television, even being stretchered out of the arena after the match. On November 29, WWE acknowledged the end of Morrison's contract, and moved his profile to the alumni section of its website. In a video published on December 9, 2011, via Hennigan's personal YouTube channel, Hennigan claimed that he was taking time off to heal and retrain for a possible return to wrestling in the future. In 2015, Hennigan revealed on Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast that WWE wanted him to sign another multi-year contract, but due to a neck injury, residual pain, and creative frustrations, he decided to not renew his contract, wanting "more control over [his] time".
Independent circuit (2012–2019)
After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison. On his first post-WWE wrestling appearance, Hennigan rekindled an old feud, facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012. Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion. On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match. On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show. Hennigan took part in the WrestleMania weekend, wrestling for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate. On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger in an "International Dream Match" at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) event.
On June 21, 2013, Hennigan defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool in FWE Welcome to the Rumble II, winning the FWE Heavyweight Championship. The next day, Hennigan defended the title against Too Cold Scorpio at House of Hardcore 2. On October 12, 2013, at FWE Grand Prix, Hennigan defeated Matt Morgan, retaining the FWE Heavyweight Championship. On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles.
On June 28, 2016, it was announced that Hennigan would make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerilla in the company's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He won his match against Matt Sydal in the first round, but was eliminated by Ricochet in the quarter-finals.
On January 28, 2017, Morrison won a tournament at a 5 Star Wrestling event for the 5 Star Wrestling Championship, defeating Moose, Drew Galloway, and Rey Mysterio to win the title. On February 8, 2018, he lost the title against Jake Hager after over a year as champion.
On September 22, Morrison reunited with former MNM tag team partner Joey Mercury after ten years, defeating Reno Scum.
Lucha Underground (2014–2018)
In September 2014, it was reported that Hennigan had signed with the El Rey network's new television series, Lucha Underground, where he wrestled under the ring name Johnny Mundo. Mundo wrestled in the main event of the debut episode of Lucha Underground on October 29, 2014, defeating Prince Puma and winning one hundred thousand dollars, which was then taken away from him by promoter Dario Cueto, setting up several feuds. He then teamed with Prince Puma during the November 5, 2014 episode, defeating Cortez Castro and Mr. Cisco. On the November 19 episode, Mundo defeated Big Ryck by disqualification after interference by Castro and Cisco. Mundo then defeated Prince Puma and Big Ryck in the main event of the December 10, 2014 episode, which was a three-way ladder match, to finally win the hundred thousand dollars he was denied in the Lucha Underground debut.
On January 7, 2015, Mundo participated in a 20-man "Aztec Warfare" battle royal for the Lucha Underground Championship. He was the second luchador to enter the ring, but was the last man eliminated by Prince Puma who won the Championship. King Cuerno attacked Mundo on the February 4 episode, beginning a feud between them; the second installment took place on the episode which aired March 11, where Mundo and Cuerno wrestled in a Steel Cage match, which was won by Mundo. On May 13, Mundo turned into a villain when he attacked Alberto El Patrón in his match against Hernandez, throwing him through the window of Dario Cueto's office. Mundo subsequently tossed El Patrón back into the ring, giving Hernandez the win. On the June 17, episode of Lucha Underground, Johnny Mundo unsuccessfully challenged Prince Puma for the Lucha Underground Championship in an Iron Man match. On August 5, 2015, at Ultima Lucha, Mundo defeated Alberto El Patrón after an interference by his girlfriend Melina Perez.
On the February 3, 2016 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo faced Killshot in a winning effort. After the match, Mundo taunted Lucha Underground Champion Mil Muertes, only to be confronted by Cage. Mundo defeated Cage on February 24, after interference from the debuting Taya, subsequently becoming Mundo's valet. On the May 25 episode of Lucha Underground, Taya revealed to PJ Black and Jack Evans that their partner Fénix was injured by Mundo. As Mundo revealed himself as Fénix's replacement for their match, Black and Evans allied with the two. Later that night in the main event, Mundo, Black and Evans defeated Rey Mysterio Jr., Prince Puma and Dragon Azteca Jr. to win the Lucha Underground Trios Championship, the first championship for each in Lucha Underground. The week after, Mundo, Black and Evans, now collectively billed as Worldwide Underground, retained their championships in a rematch via disqualification. Worldwide Underground lost their titles to Aero Star, Drago and Fénix at the third and final part Ultima Lucha Dos, which aired on July 20.
On the October 26 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo defeated Sexy Star to win the Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship after he knocked out Sexy Star with brass knuckles while the referee was unaware. On the November 23 episode of Lucha Underground, he cashed in his Gift of the Gods Championship on Sexy Star before defeating her to win the Lucha Underground Championship, becoming the second Triple Crown Champion in Lucha Underground history. On the December 21 episode of Lucha Underground, Mundo successfully defended his championship in a rematch against Sexy Star inside a steel cage. He lost the title to Prince Puma at Ultima Lucha Tres.
Mundo made his return on the fourth season's premiere, competing in Aztec Warfare entering at number 11. Mundo eliminated Ricky Mundo and Daga before getting eliminated by Marty Martinez and being attacked by the Reptile Tribe. On November 17, 2018, Mundo wrestled on the final episode of Lucha Underground, Ultima Lucha Cuatro, defeating Matanza Cueto in a Sacrifice to the Gods match.
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2015–2018)
On May 24, 2015, Mundo made his debut for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) at the Lucha Libre World Cup event representing Lucha Underground as a member of "Team TNA/Lucha Underground" alongside TNA wrestlers Matt Hardy and Mr. Anderson. They finished in second place, losing in the finals to the "Dream Team" (El Patrón Alberto, Myzteziz and Rey Mysterio Jr.).
On June 4, 2015 in the main event of Verano de Escándalo, Mundo established himself as a rudo (or villain) and teamed with El Mesias and Pentagón Jr. losing to Myzteziz, La Parka and Rey Mysterio Jr. On September 27, Konnan announced Mundo as an official member of the rudo stable, La Sociedad, while he subsequently stepped down as the leader of the group. On October 4, at Héroes Inmortales IX, Mundo unsuccessfully challenged El Patrón Alberto for the AAA Mega Championship, when he was defeated by disqualification. After Alberto left AAA, Mundo was scheduled to face Rey Mysterio Jr. for the vacant AAA Mega Championship at Guerra de Titanes, but after the matches of the event were officially announced, neither Mundo nor Mysterio were featured for the event. Mundo participated in the 2016 Lucha Libre World Cup as a member of "Team Lucha Underground" alongside Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Brian Cage, defeating "Team Mexico Leyendas" (Blue Demon Jr., Canek, and La Parka) in the quarter-finals, and "Team Mexico International" (Rey Mysterio Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr., and Dragon Azteca Jr.) in the semi-finals. Mundo's team won the tournament defeating "Team AAA" (Pentagón Jr., El Texano Jr. and Psycho Clown) in the finals.
After adopting an "anti-Mexico" attitude and teaming with El Mesías and Hernandez to defeat El Texano Jr., El Hijo del Fantasma and Pentagón Jr., Mundo challenged the latter to a match at Triplemanía XXIV for the AAA Latin American Championship, to which Pentagón accepted. At the event, on August 28, Mundo defeated Pentagón to win the Latin American Championship, marking his first championship in AAA and becoming the first non-Mexican to hold the title. On October 2 in the main event of Héroes Inmortales X, Mundo successfully defended his title against Garza Jr. On March 19, 2017, at Rey de Reyes, Mundo defeated El Texano Jr. and El Hijo del Fantasma in a three-way match to not only retain the Latin American Championship, but to also win Texano's AAA Mega Championship and Fantasma's AAA World Cruiserweight Championship. In his first AAA Mega Championship defense, on June 30, Mundo successfully retained his title against Texano.
In July 2017, Mundo and his fiancée Kira Forster, known as Taya, were involved in controversy with AAA and its Director of Talent Vampiro, which led to Taya's departure from the company. According to Wrestling Observer, AAA asked Mundo to turn in Taya's Reina de Reinas Championship for a photo shoot the day prior to an event on July 1. A few weeks later, Vampiro addressed to the live crowd that Forster was stripped of the title due to not appearing to defend her title, despite not being scheduled to appear.
On August 26, at Triplemanía XXV, Mundo successfully defended his three championships against Fantasma and Texano in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. On October 1 at Héroes Inmortales XI, Mundo wrestled in three matches, retaining the Mega Championship against Rey Wagner, but losing the Latin American Championship to Fantasma in the annual Copa Antonio Peña battle royal, and the World Cruiserweight Championship to Lanzelot in a ten-way match, ending his triple championship reign at 196 days.
On January 26, 2018 at Guerra de Titanes, Mundo lost the AAA Mega Championship to Rey Wagner, ending his reign at 314 days.
Impact Wrestling (2017–2019)
Championship pursuits (2017–2018)
In August 2017, despite not being signed to the promotion at the time, Hennigan appeared for Impact Wrestling at some live events. On August 17, a video package was shown at Destination X revealing his ring name as Johnny Impact. His first feud in the promotion was with Eli Drake, when Impact made his televised in-ring debut on the August 24 episode of Impact!, participating in a Gauntlet for the Gold match for the vacant Global Championship, but was eliminated by eventual winner Eli Drake. Impact would face Drake for the title at Victory Road and Bound for Glory, where he failed to win the title. Since the Bound for Glory match ended after Alberto El Patrón made an interference, Impact, Alberto and Drake had a three-way Last Chance Six Sides of Steel match on the January 25, 2018 episode of Impact!, where Drake retained the title.
After Drake lost the renamed Impact World Championship to Austin Aries, Impact began pursuit of Aries's championship, facing him at Crossroads special, where he lost again. On the April 19 episode of Impact!, Johnny Impact was attacked and injured by Kongo Kong, which was performed to write him off television in order to film for reality television show Survivor. Impact returned at Slammiversary XVI, when he won a four-way match against Fenix, Taiji Ishimori, and Petey Williams.
Impact World Champion (2018–2019)
Impact began a feud with the Impact World Champion Austin Aries, which led to a match at Bound for Glory. As the PPV moved closer, the feud started to blur the lines between a work (something scripted) and shoot (something real), beginning with the two wrestlers trading insults on Twitter that they appeared to take personal, with Aries later deleting many of his tweets. Specifically, Impact mocked Aries' short stature and the champion responded by making fun of his wife's weight. Aries and Impact both alleged in the media that they authentically took issue with comments. TMZ Live also pushed the angle "like [it] was a shoot". The two wrestlers got in a brawl the night before Bound for Glory during Abyss's Impact Hall of Fame induction. At the event, Impact defeated Aries to win the Impact World Championship. Throughout the following weeks, Impact successfully defended his title against Fénix, Killer Kross, and Matt Sydal. At Homecoming on January 6, 2019, Impact defeated Brian Cage to retain his championship.
During the February tapings for Impact Wrestling, Impact defended his title in a four-way contest involving Killer Kross, Moose and Brian Cage. Impact hit his finisher on Moose, barely seconds prior to Cage hitting his Drill Claw finisher on Killer Kross. As Impact was able to cover his opponent first the referee was able to provide the count and therefore Impact won the match as Brian Cage went to cover his opponent. On the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Impact's wife Taya Valkyrie would low blow Cage, which allowed Impact to attack Cage, turning into a villain. At United We Stand, Impact won a five-way Ultimate X match to become the number one contender for the Impact X Division Championship. Throughout April, Impact successfully defended his title from Cage, often with interferences from Valkyrie and former referee John E Bravo. At Rebellion, Impact, accompanied by Valkyrie and Bravo, lost the title to Cage in a match where Lance Storm was special guest referee; this left Impact's reign to end at 196 days, leaving it the longest reign since Bobby Roode's 2011–2012 reign, and therefore the longest reign in seven years, as well as the third-longest reign in history.
On the May 31 episode of Impact Wrestling, Impact challenged X Division Champion Rich Swann to a title match at Slammiversary XVII. Later that night, he teamed with Michael Elgin to face Swann and Willie Mack in a tag team match, in which Swann pinned Impact. At Slammiversary XVII, Impact was defeated by Swann. On July 8, Pro Wrestling Insider reported that Hennigan's contract with Impact Wrestling had expired several weeks prior to the event, and the two sides agreed to have Hennigan work until Slammiversary.
Return to WWE (2019–2021)
On September 26, 2019, it was reported by Mike Johnson of Pro Wrestling Insider that Hennigan had re-signed with WWE, which was officially confirmed by the company on December 3 during WWE Backstage. He made his return on January 3, 2020 episode of SmackDown under his John Morrison ring name and resumed his partnership with The Miz, thus re-establishing him as a heel for the first time in WWE in 10 years. They would feud with the SmackDown Tag Team Champions, The New Day, with Morrison winning singles matches against Big E and Kofi Kingston. At the Royal Rumble, Morrison participated in the Royal Rumble match as the fifth entrant, but he was eliminated by Brock Lesnar. At Super ShowDown, Miz and Morrison won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship from The New Day.
On March 8, Morrison and Miz had their first title defense in a tag team Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber event, successfully defending their titles against The New Day, The Usos, Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado), and Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. At WrestleMania 36, after the Miz's absence due to illness, Morrison defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championships by himself in a ladder match against Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso, in which he was successful. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, the duo lost the titles back to The New Day after Miz unsuccessfully defended the titles by himself in a triple threat match against Big E and Jey Uso ending their reign at 50 days. At Money in the Bank the following month, Morrison and Miz unsuccessfully attempted to regain the championship in a fatal four-way tag team match also involving Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) and The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake). Morrison and Miz then started a rivalry with Universal Champion Braun Strowman. At Backlash, the duo competed for Strowman's title in a two-on-one handicap match, but lost. As part of the 2020 Draft in October, both Morrison and Miz were drafted to the Raw brand. Prior to the draft, Morrison and Miz entered a feud with Otis for his Money in the Bank contract. At Hell in a Cell, Morrison accompanied Miz in his match against Otis for the contract, which Miz won.
On the December 7 episode of Raw, Morrison ended a nearly seven-month losing streak after defeating Drew McIntyre and Sheamus in a 3-on-2 handicap match alongside The Miz and AJ Styles. Morrison entered the 2021 Royal Rumble match on January 31, lasting over eight minutes before being eliminated by Damian Priest. At the Elimination Chamber event on February 21, 2021, Morrison defeated Ricochet, Elias, and Mustafa Ali in a fatal four-way match for an opportunity at the United States Championship. Later that night, he failed to win the title in a triple threat match against Riddle and reigning champion Bobby Lashley, as Riddle won the match. After this, Morrison and Miz feuded with rapper Bad Bunny and Damian Priest. At WrestleMania 37 on April 10, Morrison and Miz faced Bad Bunny and Priest in a tag team match, but lost.
After Miz suffered an injury at WrestleMania Backlash, Morrison would embark on singles run, starting by defeating Jeff Hardy on the June 14 episode of Raw. The following week, Morrison defeated Randy Orton to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at the namesake pay-per-view event, which was won by Big E. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Miz turned on Morrison by attacking him, thus turning Morrison face and setting up a feud between the pair. However, the feud abruptly ended after the Miz took a hiatus to compete on Dancing with the Stars. On November 18, as part of an eighth round of layoffs due to budget cuts stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Morrison was released from his WWE contract.
Return to AAA (2022)
On February 19, 2022, Hennigan, as "John Superstar", unsuccessfully challenged El Hijo del Vikingo at Rey de Reyes for the AAA Mega Championship.
Return to the independent circuit (2022–present)
On April 1, 2022, Hennigan, as "Johnny Caballero", will make his debut for Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) at the Wrld on Lucha event. It was also announced that Hennigan would wrestle at GCW's Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 8.
Professional wrestling style and persona
Hennigan was described by WWE as having "lightning-fast offense", "high-risk aerial expertise", and "incredible agility". He is known to utilize a split-legged corkscrew moonsault, dubbed Starship Pain, as a finishing maneuver. During his singles run as Johnny Nitro, he used a standing shooting star press as his finisher. After transitioning to his John Morrison character, Hennigan began using a corkscrew neckbreaker dubbed Moonlight Drive, in reference to the song of the same name written by Jim Morrison. He also prominently used a superkick as a finisher in 2008 during a feud with D-Generation X, as a way to mock Shawn Michaels's Sweet Chin Music maneuver. Hennigan is a practitioner of parkour and often incorporates it into his wrestling style, giving him the nickname "The Prince of Parkour". He also has a background in amateur wrestling, breakdancing, gymnastics, and martial arts. Regarding his unique wrestling style, Hennigan stated in a 2021 interview with Sports Illustrated:
Alongside his team MNM, Hennigan debuted on WWE television as Johnny Nitro, presenting himself as an arrogant wrestler with "elite Hollywood status". After winning the ECW World Championship in 2007, he changed his ring name to John Morrison and his gimmick was tweaked to be even more conceited and self-aggrandizing — in addition to being modeled after Jim Morrison, the legendary frontman of the 1960s rock band The Doors, to whom he bears a strong physical resemblance. Following his return to WWE and reunion with his tag team partner the Miz in 2020, Hennigan added a comedic aspect to his villainous character, with WWE describing him as using "quirkiness and quick wit to shine every time he is on screen". He also began to refer to himself as "Johnny Drip Drip", a reference to the song "Drip" by rapper Cardi B.
Outside of WWE, Hennigan began referring to himself as the "Mayor of Slamtown", a fictional town he first coined in Lucha Underground in 2015. Hennigan filed to trademark the term "Slamtown" in November 2020.
Other media
In 2009, Hennigan and Maryse Ouellet were interviewed on Eurosport. In 2009, Hennigan appeared on two episodes of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, which were both aired on September 29. Hennigan is the subject of a WWE DVD, called John Morrison – Rock Star, which was released on February 16, 2010. The DVD covers his career from his name change to John Morrison up until his Intercontinental Championship win in September 2009. He appeared on an episode of Destroy Build Destroy on March 3, 2010. Hennigan was on the cover of Muscle & Fitness in June 2010, with the issue also featuring an interview and photo shoot. In 2016, Hennigan, Rey Mysterio, and King Cuerno appeared on ESPN to promote the second season of Lucha Underground.
Hennigan is also a frequent collaborator with comic book-based film producers Bat in the Sun Productions, appearing in two episodes of their well-known Super Power Beat Down series; playing as Casey Jones against Kick-Ass in episode 13, and as Winter Soldier against Nightwing in episode 19. Hennigan portrayed Eternal Warrior in the web series Ninjak vs. the Valiant Universe, produced by Valiant Entertainment and directed by Bat in the Sun.
Filmmaking
After leaving WWE in 2011, Hennigan pursued a career in the film industry as an actor and filmmaker. In 2013, he appeared in 20 Feet Below: The Darkness Descending with Danny Trejo, as well as served as co-producer of the film. In 2017, Hennigan released his first feature film titled Boone: The Bounty Hunter, which he starred in, co-wrote, and served as executive producer of. Hennigan sold his house in order to finance the film. In 2018, Hennigan began working on his directorial debut, a short film titled The Iron Sheik Massacre which he also produced and co-wrote with his wife Kira Forster. It was expected to be released in 2020, but has yet to have an official release date.
Survivor: David vs. Goliath
Hennigan was a contestant on the 37th season of Survivor, Survivor: David vs. Goliath where he was originally part of the Goliath tribe and later Tiva before making it to the merged tribe Kalokalo. He finished 12th and became the second member of the jury after the former members of the Goliath tribe were blindsided at tribal council; two contestants used hidden immunity idols, causing Hennigan to be eliminated despite only having three elimination votes, as Christian Hubicki, who received seven, was immune.
Hennigan's performance as a contestant and the episode of his elimination received critical acclaim. Chris Chase of USA Today praised Hennigan for being "true to everything we’ve seen from him this season, [and] a class act after his shock defeat". Writing for People, former Survivor contestant Stephen Fishbach highlighted that "in a tribal council that was meant to take out the Davidest David [Christian Hubicki], it was really the Goliath of the Goliaths [Hennigan] who fell. How perfectly Biblical." The show’s executive producer and host Jeff Probst was "so impressed" with Hennigan, describing him as "the guy who catches the winning touchdown pass in the final moments of the Super Bowl, and then, instead of some crazy celebration, he casually tosses the ball to the ref, kisses his wife and hugs his kids", alongside stating that he would "absolutely" have Hennigan back on the show.
Filmography
Personal life
Hennigan is good friends with fellow professional wrestlers The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, Jeff Hardy, and Randy Orton. He was also good friends with Shad Gaspard, and still is with JTG, of Cryme Tyme, and was a part of the search team after Gaspard's disappearance and death.
Hennigan was involved in an on-off relationship with former WWE Diva and on-screen manager Melina Perez from 2003 to 2015. The pair met during the auditions for Tough Enough III, in which Perez was cut and Hennigan eventually won. Since 2016, Hennigan has been in a relationship with Kira Forster, better known as Taya Valkyrie. The pair met through the affiliation between AAA and Lucha Underground, with Forster becoming Hennigan's on-screen partner in the latter promotion prior to their real-life relationship. They became engaged on June 14, 2017, and were married on June 1, 2018.
Championships and accomplishments
5 Star Wrestling
5 Star Wrestling Championship (1 time)
One Night Tournament (2017)
ACW Wisconsin
ACW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
The Baltimore Sun
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
Blackcraft Wrestling
BCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Continental Wrestling Federation
CWF United States Championship (1 time)
DDT Pro-Wrestling
Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (1 time)
European Pro Wrestling
EPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Family Wrestling Entertainment
FWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Impact Wrestling
Impact World Championship (1 time)
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
AAA Mega Championship (1 time)
AAA Latin American Championship (1 time)
AAA World Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
Lucha Libre World Cup (2016 Men's Division) – with Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Brian Cage
Lucha Underground
Lucha Underground Championship (1 time)
Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship (1 time)
Lucha Underground Trios Championship (1 time) – with Jack Evans and PJ Black
Second Triple Crown Champion
Mondo Lucha
Mondo Lucha Championship (1 time)
Mondo Lucha Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Matt Cross
Next Generation Wrestling
NGW World Championship (1 time)
NGW World Title Tournament (2013)
Ohio Valley Wrestling
OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Joey Matthews
Pacific Coast Wrestling/PCW Ultra
PCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2009)
Tag Team of the Year (2005) – with Joey Mercury
Ranked No. 24 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
Qatar Pro Wrestling
QPW Souq Waqif Championship (1 time)
QPW Souq Waqif Title Tournament (2015)
Rogue Wrestling
Rogue Championship (1 time)
Rogue Championship Tournament (2019)
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
ECW World Championship (1 time)
WWE Intercontinental Championship (3 times)
WWE Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Joey Mercury (3) and The Miz (1)
World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Miz
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Miz
ECW World Championship Tournament (2007)
Tough Enough III (2003)
Slammy Award (2 times)
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
Best WWE.com Exclusive (2008) – with The Miz
World Series Wrestling
WSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Wrestling Fan Xperience
WWFX Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
References
External links
1979 births
21st-century American male actors
American capoeira practitioners
American male professional wrestlers
ECW champions
ECW Heavyweight Champions/ECW World Heavyweight Champions
Living people
People from Palos Verdes, California
Professional wrestlers from California
Sportspeople from Los Angeles
Survivor (American TV series) contestants
TNA World Heavyweight/Impact World Champions
Tough Enough contestants
Tough Enough winners
Traceurs
WWF/WWE Intercontinental Champions
AAA Mega Champions | 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"
]
|
[
"Mark Levin",
"Biography"
]
| C_3102145955634d83ad351982bf0759b3_1 | Where was Mark Levin from? | 1 | Where was Mark Levin from? | Mark Levin | Mark Reed Levin, one of three boys, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Erdenheim as well as Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. His father, Jack E. Levin, is the author of several books. He graduated from Cheltenham High School after three years in 1974. After high school, Levin enrolled at Temple University Ambler and graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science in 1977 at age 19. Levin won election to the Cheltenham school board in 1977 on a platform of reducing property taxes. In 1980, Levin earned a J.D. from Temple University Beasley School of Law. Levin worked for Texas Instruments after law school. He is Jewish. Beginning in 1981, Levin served as an adviser to several members of President Ronald Reagan's cabinet, eventually becoming the associate director of presidential personnel and ultimately chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese; Levin also served as deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education, and deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior. He practiced law in the private sector and is president of Landmark Legal Foundation, a public interest law firm founded in 1976 with offices in Kansas City, Missouri and Leesburg, Virginia. Levin has participated in Freedom Concerts, an annual benefit concert to aid families of fallen soldiers, and uses his radio program to promote aid to military families. Levin is also involved with Troopathon, a charity that sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas. In 2001 the American Conservative Union awarded Levin its Ronald Reagan Award. He was awarded the inaugural Citizens United Andrew Breitbart Defender of the First Amendment Award at CPAC in 2014. Politico reported in 2014 that Levin was president of a legal non-profit and drew a salary of more than $300,000 a year. CANNOTANSWER | Philadelphia, | Mark Reed Levin (; born September 21, 1957) is an American lawyer, author, and radio personality. He is the host of syndicated radio show The Mark Levin Show, as well as Life, Liberty & Levin on Fox News. Levin worked in the administration of President Ronald Reagan and was a chief of staff for Attorney General Edwin Meese. He is the former president of the Landmark Legal Foundation, a New York Times best-selling author of seven books, and contributes commentary to media outlets such as National Review Online. Since 2015, Levin has been editor-in-chief of the Conservative Review and is known for his incendiary commentary.
He has been described as "right-wing" by The New York Times, CNN, NPR, and Politico. He is known for his incendiary criticisms of Democrats and encouragement of primary challenges to congressional Republicans that he considers to be "Republican In Name Only" (RINO). He endorsed Ted Cruz in the 2016 Republican presidential primary and declared himself "Never Trump", but reluctantly endorsed Donald Trump after Trump won the Republican nomination. Since the start of the Trump presidency, Levin's commentary has become strongly pro-Trump.
Early life and education
Mark Reed Levin, one of three boys, was born in Philadelphia to a Jewish family, and grew up in Erdenheim as well as Elkins Park. His father, Jack E. Levin (1925–2018), authored several books. He graduated from Cheltenham High School after three years, in 1974. Skipping his senior year of high school, Levin enrolled at Temple University Ambler and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science in 1977 at age 19. Later in 1977, Levin won election to the Cheltenham school board on a platform of reducing property taxes. In 1980, Levin earned a J.D. from Temple University School of Law.
Legal and political career
Levin worked for Texas Instruments after law school. Beginning in 1981, Levin worked in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. Levin began at ACTION, the federal agency that oversaw VISTA and other volunteer agencies, before serving as deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education and deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior. He ultimately became chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese.
After leaving the Reagan administration, Levin practiced law in the private sector. In 1991, Levin joined public interest law firm Landmark Legal Foundation. At Landmark, Levin served as director of legal policy and the foundation's Washington-based Center for Civil Rights before becoming president in 1997. Under Levin's presidency, Landmark Legal filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in 2000 alleging that the National Education Association, the largest teachers' union in the U.S., did not disclose spending on political activity in Internal Revenue Service documentation. Landmark Legal also filed similar complaints with the United States Department of Labor in 2002 regarding NEA and political activity; by 2006, the NEA and smaller American Federation of Teachers had filed new documents with the Labor Department revealing over $100 million combined in political action spending.
Following Freedom of Information Act requests in August 2012 of documents that would show if Environmental Protection Agency officials sought to delay regulations until after the 2012 presidential election, federal judge Royce Lamberth ruled in 2015 that although Landmark Legal did not establish that the EPA acted in bad faith, the EPA either carelessly or intentionally neglected Landmark's FOIA request. Lamberth previously ruled in 2013 that the EPA might have attempted to evade Landmark's FOIA request.
In 2001, the American Conservative Union awarded Levin its Ronald Reagan Award for his work with Landmark Legal.
Politico reported in 2014 that Levin received a salary of more than $300,000 per year as president of the non-profit Landmark Legal Foundation, whose donors include the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and ExxonMobil. In 2018, Levin stepped down as president of Landmark Legal but remained on its board of directors.
Radio broadcasting
Levin began his broadcasting career as a guest on conservative talk radio programs. For many years, he was a contributor of legal opinions to The Rush Limbaugh Show, appearing more regularly as the Monica Lewinsky scandal developed. About this time, Sean Hannity became aware of him, and he began to feature in Hannity's radio show. Eventually, Levin gained a radio slot of his own on WABC, initially on Sundays beginning in 2002, then in the timeslot following Hannity's program in 2003. Cumulus Media Networks began syndicating The Mark Levin Show nationally in 2006.
Levin has participated in Freedom Concerts, an annual benefit concert to aid families of fallen soldiers, and uses his radio program to promote aid to military families. Levin is also involved with Move America Forward, a charity that sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas.
On February 11, 2016, Levin signed a ten-year contract extension with Westwood One, which will take his show through 2025, its 19th year.
On November 16, 2018, he was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.
Television shows
Since 2014, Levin has been the founding editor-in-chief of Conservative Review, a multi-platform online television network that later merged with Glenn Beck's terrestrial network TheBlaze in 2018 to form Blaze Media. Programs airing on the network include Levin, Roaming Millennial, Truth Be Told, Allie, In the Woods with Phil, Kibbe on Liberty, Louder with Crowder, America Bolling, and more.
In November 2017, Fox News announced that it had signed Levin for a weekend show titled Life, Liberty & Levin to air on Sunday nights beginning in February 2018. According to a pre-debut network news release, the program's intention was to explore "the fundamental values and principles undergirding American society, culture, politics, and current events, and their relevance to the nation's future and everyday lives of citizens." Episodes feature one or two guests for the hour-long program discussing political events, news, and history.
Writer
Levin wrote the 2005 book Men In Black: How The Supreme Court Is Destroying America, in which he advanced his thesis that activist judges on the Supreme Court (from all parts of the political spectrum) have "legislated from the bench". Commentary magazine's Dan Seligman wrote that Levin asks readers "to identify with 'originalists' who look to the text of the Constitution and the intent of its framers, and to reject the 'activists' who construe the Constitution broadly and are more concerned with getting to their own 'desired outcomes'". Slate magazine's Dahlia Lithwick wrote that "no serious scholar of the court or the Constitution, on the ideological left or right, is going to waste their time engaging Levin's arguments once they've read this book".
Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover's Story of Joy and Anguish is a non-fiction work written by Levin in 2007 about his experience of rescuing a dog named Sprite from a local animal shelter.
Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto was released in 2009, and became a #1 New York Times best seller for eleven of twelve weeks, as well as No. 1 on Nielsen BookScan and No. 2 on Amazon.com's list of bestselling books of 2009. The book includes discussion of issues Levin believes need to be addressed in the United States. In Liberty and Tyranny Levin repudiates the use of the term "progressive" to describe "modern Liberals" and instead argues a proper term should be "Statist". Liberty and Tyranny has sold over one million copies according to Threshold Editions, the book's publisher. Andrew C. McCarthy, in The New Criterion, wrote, "Levin offers not so much a defense as a plan of attack" against "America's Leftist ascendancy". Other reviewers critiqued the book as "analysis utterly useless in understanding more than half of the American political landscape" while opining that "Levin resorts to the same old misinformation to sell his brand of conservatism".
Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America was issued in 2012. In Ameritopia, Levin discusses the origins and development of both the modern day conservative and liberal political philosophies, the latter of which he refers to as "statist", through the works of some of the leading figures in American history. Included are commentaries on works by Plato, Sir Thomas More, Thomas Hobbes, Karl Marx, John Locke, Charles de Montesquieu and Alexis de Tocqueville. Conor Friedersdorf's review, published in The Atlantic, criticized the text's argument that statism is based on utopianism, and Carlin Romano, in The Chronicle of Higher Education, wrote that "Ameritopia is really Ameritastrophe. It's disastrously bad from beginning to end."
In Levin's 2013 book The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic he suggests eleven new Constitutional amendments. The book debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Hans A. von Spakovsky of National Review Online called the book "required reading for conservative bloggers". Ana Marie Cox, writing in The Guardian, said the book "contains some radical notions about a complete overhaul of the US constitution, but to debate the specifics of their merits is to ignore the larger insanity of the project" while noting "the ludicrousness of his specific 'fixes' and the near-impossibility of achieving them". Also in The Washington Times, Richard W. Rahn wrote, "If The Liberty Amendments can help foster a national debate about which corrective actions, including constitutional amendments, are needed to increase liberty and prosperity, Mr. Levin will have performed a great national service". Hoover Institution fellow David Davenport wrote in Forbes that Levin's book used "weak arguments".
Levin's Plunder and Deceit: Big Government's Exploitation of Young People and the Future was published in 2015, and Rediscovering Americanism and the Tyranny of Progressivism in 2017.
Levin's Unfreedom of the Press, which was released on May 21, 2019, became the number one best-selling book on Amazon.com three days before its official release, as a result of pre-order sales. Unfreedom of the Press also became a New York Times #1 best-seller on June 6, 2019, in the combined print & e-book nonfiction and hardcover nonfiction categories. Lloyd Green was critical of the book in The Guardian writing that the book "is not exactly fan fiction but it can get ahead of itself when discussing the special counsel's conclusions, ending up sounding like the 'fake news' the author and Trump both purport to abhor." Annalisa Quinn, writing for NPR, stated: "the book is largely filler. Quotations and paraphrasing make up the majority of the book's central chapters. Lengthy and irrelevant block quotes from historians about, say, colonial printing practices... give the book the air of a padded student essay." Quinn also wrote, "[Levin] conducts no interviews, presents no original research, and visits no newsrooms", and "When Levin does offer his own analysis, it can approach parody." On June 8, 2019, Levin appeared on C-SPAN2's Book TV to discuss Unfreedom of the Press, "in which he argued that the press has lowered its standards in providing objective and trustworthy journalism."
In 2021, Levin published American Marxism, a book written in reaction to the events that have transpired so far in 2021 and also seeks to characterize the Marxist attributes of the American Left. As of November 14, 2021, the book had spent 16 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List for nonfiction.
Political views
A 2016 study which sought to measure incendiary discourse on talk radio and TV found that Levin scored highest on its measure of "outrage". The study looked at 10 prominent radio and television programs, known for incendiary discourse on political matters, and scored content on the basis of whether it used "emotional display", "misrepresentative exaggeration", "mockery", "conflagration", "slippery slope", "insulting" or "obscene language", and other factors, finding that Levin was the radio host who engaged in the most outrage. The study found that he utilized "outrage speech or behavior at a rate of more than one instance per minute." In How Democracies Die, Harvard University political scientists Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky write that Mark Levin was among the popular right-wing talk radio hosts who "helped to legitimate the use of uncivil discourse" in American politics, and contribute to the erosion of democratic norms. According to Politico, Levin has a "penchant for hysteria."
Views on politicians and other individuals
According to The Guardian, "constant attacks on Democrats and the left are important components" of Levin's modus operandi. According to Politico in May 2009, Levin pronounced "almost daily" that Obama "was a failure, a liar, and a 'statist' who is trying to destroy individual freedom." In June 2017, Levin accused Senator Bernie Sanders of being "a radical Marxist who believes in violence." According to Rutgers University political scientist Stephen Eric Bronner, Levin tends to use "socialism" as a "catch-all term to condemn any policy that strengthens the social welfare function of the state." In July 2014, he called Jon Stewart "a knee-jerk idiot", and suggested that Stewart was a self-hating Jew. He has stated that "Nancy Pelosi's politics comes as close to a form of modern-day fascism as I've ever seen". In January 2019, he said Pelosi was "America's first fascist. And that's a fact". Levin said the new Congressional Speaker had "hijacked" the federal government by deciding to block the financing of President Trump's border wall. Levin has also mocked how Pelosi looks, referred to Beto O'Rourke as a "weak man", and called Dick Blumenthal a "pathetic, loathsome liar."
He has criticized Republicans – including Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and Mitch McConnell – with whom he disagrees. He sometimes refers to such individuals as RINOs. Levin endorsed Orrin Hatch when he faced a primary challenge in 2012, but later apologized for his endorsement when Hatch said that he would be willing to support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Since then, he endorsed a number of Republican primary challengers to incumbent Republican senators. Levin supported the Tea Party Patriots' campaign to "fire" House Speaker John Boehner. Earlier in 2010, Levin criticized Glenn Beck for his criticism of congressional Republicans. He has referred to Mitt Romney as an "ass" and called CNN host Brian Stelter a "creep".
Levin supported U.S. Representative Mo Brooks in his campaign in the 2017 Alabama special election against incumbent Luther Strange, who had received a temporary appointment earlier that year.
Levin strongly defended former EPA head Scott Pruitt while he was under a dozen separate ethics investigations. Levin said Pruitt's "policies on the whole have been outstanding," and "I don't throw good people under the bus because the left targets them."
Sponsorship and conflicts of interest
During the 2012 election cycle, Levin's show was paid at least $757,000 in sponsorship by the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity to run ads for the group, a deal which began in the summer of 2010. After the sponsorship ended, Levin began making ads for the Tea Party Patriots. The Senate Conservatives Fund paid Simon & Schuster at least $427,000 for copies of Levin's Liberty or Tyranny in September and October 2013. During the same period, on his radio show and Facebook page, Levin frequently promoted the group, which has funded primary challengers of Senate Republicans. Levin did not disclose that the group had made $427,000 of purchases of his book.
Levin endorsed Orrin Hatch when Levin was being sponsored by Americans for Prosperity (AFP) which also endorsed Hatch. Levin withdrew his endorsement of Hatch when Levin was being sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots. Levin dismissed the allegations that he engages in "pay-to-play".
President Obama
In 2009, Levin described as "absolutely right" the statement by Sarah Palin that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) includes death panels to decide whether elderly people or sick children were worthy of medical care. In 2011, a caller to Levin's show, claiming to be a neurosurgeon, said that the Department of Health and Human Services had issued a document saying that people over age 70 would not be allowed to receive medical treatments. Levin said to the caller, "so Sarah Palin was right." The call was later revealed to be a hoax and the death panel claims were revealed to be false. In late 2013, Levin said there were similarities between a gathering of "hand-picked" supporters of the Affordable Care Act chosen by the Obama administration to Nazi Sturmabteilung or "Brownshirts" drawing comparisons of the propaganda techniques of the two groups.
Levin stated in 2013 that "the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated our government" and described President Obama as a Muslim Brotherhood "sympathizer". He speculated in November 2014 that, after the 2014 mid-term elections, Obama might go "full Mussolini".
In February 2015, Levin stated that President Obama was "seeking to destroy Israel" because "Obama has an affinity for Islam far more than Christianity or Judaism." He blamed Obama for the Ebola crisis: "the political policies of this administration which opens the door wide to people from the poorest parts of the world. We don't know who they are, we don't know if they have diseases."
WMDs in Iraq
In 2014, Levin claimed that the Bush administration's original WMD rationale for the Iraq War had been vindicated by citing reports of U.S. soldiers in Iraq that were wounded by the decayed remnants of Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons arsenal. The remnants in question were degraded and unusable chemical weapons shells from the 1980s. Levin faulted the Bush administration for not doing more to publicize these remnants of Iraq's former WMD program.
Donald Trump
In March 2016, Levin endorsed Ted Cruz for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Over a month after Donald Trump was nominated, in September 2016, Levin stated on this radio program that he would vote for Trump in the presidential election, following his declaration earlier that year that he was in the "Never Trump" camp and would never vote for Trump. He qualified his support by stating: "I take no responsibility for the dumb things he says or the dumb things his surrogates say."
Wiretap claim
In March 2017, Levin alleged that the Obama administration had used "police state" surveillance tactics against the Donald Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. The Associated Press said that Levin "voiced without evidence the idea that Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower". Levin protested the AP report vigorously, demanding a retraction and an apology on the grounds that his sources for the statement included The New York Times and other newspapers. His statement was reprinted by Breitbart News and reportedly became the basis of President Trump's unfounded Trump Tower wiretapping allegations. In September 2017, reports emerged of a court-ordered Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wiretap on Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort; while certain Trump supporters alleged that this surveillance vindicated Levin and Trump's unsupported assertions, The Atlantic commented: "This is not true – Trump claimed he had been the subject of Obama-ordered, politically motivated surveillance, for which there remains no evidence."
"Deep State" conspiracy theories
Levin has said that there is a "coup" occurring against the presidency of Donald Trump waged by Obama loyalists. Levin's coup claim was referring to investigations of the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and of alleged obstruction of justice by Trump. He has suggested that former FBI Director James Comey used the Trump-Russia dossier "to blackmail the president." He has claimed that Special Counsel Robert Mueller engaged in a "Deep State" coup against Trump.
In February 2018, Levin said the Nunes Memo shows "Hillary Clinton paid for a warrant" and "Hillary Clinton colluded with the Russians...it appears the FBI at the senior-most levels colluded with the Russians too".
In August 2018, Levin stated that Mueller is a "greater threat to this Republic and Constitution than anything Vladimir Putin did during the [2016] campaign". When the Attorney General Bill Barr issued his summary of Mueller's Special Counsel report considering Russian interference in the 2016 election, Levin called the second volume of the report "crap". Of the prosecutor he suggested: "Who gives a damn what the prosecutor said?" He insisted the special counsel was "not God. He is not a judge. He is not a jury!"
Trump–Ukraine scandal
After President Trump pressed the President of Ukraine to start an investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Levin strongly defended Trump's actions. Asked on Fox & Friends whether Levin was "okay" with Trump asking a foreign leader for "dirt" on Biden, Levin lashed out at the Fox & Friends host and repeatedly shouted there was "no problem" with what Trump did. Shortly thereafter, Trump praised Levin and retweeted more than 20 tweets by viewers praising Levin. Levin also accused Joe Biden of being the one who "did something illegal", though he did not provide evidence or any elaboration.
In October 2019, while Trump was the subject of the impeachment inquiry, Levin said that on his Blaze TV show: "While he's been president there hasn't even been a hint of scandal. Not a hint!" He was highly critical of Mitt Romney who increased his criticisms of President Trump during this period.
2020 election
Following the 2020 presidential election, as all significant media organizations reported Joe Biden had won, Levin told his radio audience, the Democrats were "stealing the election". He insisted on Twitter to his 2.4 million followers: "there's lots of evidence of voter fraud and election screw-ups." On the same platform, on November 5, Levin called on Republican-controlled state legislatures to disregard the results of the 2020 election and send electors to the Electoral College who would vote for Trump. The suggestion was retweeted by Donald Trump Jr.
He praised Sidney Powell, a member of Trump's legal team, for what he considered to be her patriotism after she promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and sought to overturn election results. He frequently had guests on his show who led the audience to think Joe Biden's win in the presidential election could be overturned.
On January 5, 2021, Levin insisted Congress's imminent counting of the Electoral College votes was an act of "tyranny" because of the supposed fraud. He told his listeners, "If we don't fight on Jan. 6 on the floor of the Senate and the House... then we are done." Following the next day's storming of the Capitol in Washington, he continued in the same vein. "It appears nothing has changed in 24 hours... Not a damn thing. The never-Trumpers, the RINOs, the media — same damn thing," although he was critical of the rioters. Meanwhile, on the same day as the riot, Cumulus Media circulated a memo instructing its presenters, a roster which includes Levin, to cease implying the 2020 presidential election was stolen or face the end of the right to broadcast via Cumulus.
COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Levin downplayed the threat of the virus, arguing that the media was overreacting and that the death toll from the flu was higher than the coronavirus.
Personal life
Levin suffered a heart attack in 2000 and had open heart surgery. On the June 13, 2021 episode of Life, Liberty and Levin, he mentioned he has heart disease.
He was married to Kendall Levin and they divorced. He is currently married to Julie Prince.
Selected publications
Levin, M. R. (2005). Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America. Regnery Publishing
Levin, M. R. (2007). Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover’s Story of Joy and Anguish (1st ed.). Pocket Books
Levin, M. R. (2010). Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2012). Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2014). The Liberty Amendments (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2019). Unfreedom of the Press. Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2021). American Marxism. Threshold Editions
References
External links
The Mark Levin Show official website
Landmark Legal Foundation
Levin TV at YouTube
American broadcast news analysts
American columnists
American conservative talk radio hosts
American male non-fiction writers
American media critics
American political commentators
American political writers
American social commentators
American Zionists
Blaze Media people
Fox News people
Jewish American attorneys
Jewish American writers
Living people
National Review people
People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
People from Leesburg, Virginia
People from Reston, Virginia
People from Santa Clara County, California
Radio personalities from Philadelphia
Reagan administration personnel
School board members in Pennsylvania
Temple University alumni
Temple University Beasley School of Law alumni
The American Spectator people
United States Department of Education officials
Virginia lawyers
Writers from Philadelphia
1957 births
American critics of Islam | false | [
"Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover's Story of Joy and Anguish is a non-fiction work written in 2007 by Mark Levin, that tells his experience of rescuing a dog named Sprite from a local animal shelter that would change him and his family's lives forever.\n\nPlot Summary\nAfter much convincing, Mark Levin and his family adopted a Spaniel mix named Sprite and immediately the whole family developed a deep bond with him. Even the Levin's current dog from years prior, Pepsi, develops a deep relationship with the newly rescued Sprite right off the bat. Three weeks after rescuing Sprite, the Levin family started to notice Sprite's health was deteriorating and Sprite eventually collapses on Halloween, landing him and the Levin family a visit to the animal hospital. Little did the Levin family know, this would be the first of many visits to the animal hospital as Sprite's condition continually worsened. Further, they discover him to be older than they had originally thought. It shows the pain, passion, and love the Levin family and Sprite experience with their short amount of time together.\n\nMain Characters\nMark Levin- Author, Father, Husband\nKendall Levin- Wife and Mother\nLauren Levin- Daughter\nChase Levin- Son\nPepsi- Dog\nSprite- Rescued Dog\n\nCritical reception\nBased on the reviews on Barnes and Nobles, customers rated the book a 4.2/5. According to Amazon, \"Rescuing Sprite is a stunningly intimate revelation of the strong love that can develop between a family and a pet\" and was rated a 4.4/5. It was also rated a 3.9 out of 5.\n\nReferences\n\n2007 children's books\nAmerican non-fiction books\nAmerican children's books\nChildren's non-fiction books\nDogs in literature",
"Charles Leonard Levin (April 28, 1926 – November 19, 2020) was an American judge. He served as a Michigan Court of Appeals judge from 1966 to 1972 and as a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court from 1973 to 1996.\n\nEarly life and career\nHe was born in Detroit, Michigan. He attended the University of Michigan where he received his Bachelor of Arts in 1946 and his Bachelor of Laws in 1947 from the University of Michigan Law School. He is a member of the Levin political and legal family of Michigan.\n\nWhen he decided to run for the Michigan Supreme Court, Levin did not feel comfortable running as either a Democratic or Republican nominee. He then formed his own party and nominated himself. He was elected to two additional terms as an independent candidate. During his tenure on the bench, he gained the respect of many colleagues, prompting U.S. District Court Judge Avern Cohn to note, \"Justice Levin has displayed scholarship, pragmatism, insight, honesty, courage, and humanity.\"\n\nLevin's father, Theodore Levin, was a federal district court judge. His brother, Joseph Levin, ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 1974. His cousin Carl Levin was a U.S. senator for Michigan from 1979 to 2015. His cousin Sander Levin was the U.S. congressman for Michigan's 9th congressional district from 1983 to 2019. Since 2019, his cousin Andy Levin serves as the U.S. congressman for Michigan's 9th congressional district.\n\nIn 1999, Levin was remarried to a former law clerk, Helene White, who has been a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit since 2008. The couple divorced in November 2006.\n\nLevin died on November 19, 2020 in Detroit at the age of 94.\n\nReferences\n\n1926 births\n2020 deaths\nCharles Levin\nJustices of the Michigan Supreme Court\nJewish American people in Michigan politics\nLawyers from Detroit\nMichigan Court of Appeals judges\nUniversity of Michigan Law School alumni\nMichigan Independents\n21st-century American Jews"
]
|
[
"Mark Levin",
"Biography",
"Where was Mark Levin from?",
"Philadelphia,"
]
| C_3102145955634d83ad351982bf0759b3_1 | Where did he graduate from? | 2 | Where did Mark Levin graduate from? | Mark Levin | Mark Reed Levin, one of three boys, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Erdenheim as well as Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. His father, Jack E. Levin, is the author of several books. He graduated from Cheltenham High School after three years in 1974. After high school, Levin enrolled at Temple University Ambler and graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science in 1977 at age 19. Levin won election to the Cheltenham school board in 1977 on a platform of reducing property taxes. In 1980, Levin earned a J.D. from Temple University Beasley School of Law. Levin worked for Texas Instruments after law school. He is Jewish. Beginning in 1981, Levin served as an adviser to several members of President Ronald Reagan's cabinet, eventually becoming the associate director of presidential personnel and ultimately chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese; Levin also served as deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education, and deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior. He practiced law in the private sector and is president of Landmark Legal Foundation, a public interest law firm founded in 1976 with offices in Kansas City, Missouri and Leesburg, Virginia. Levin has participated in Freedom Concerts, an annual benefit concert to aid families of fallen soldiers, and uses his radio program to promote aid to military families. Levin is also involved with Troopathon, a charity that sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas. In 2001 the American Conservative Union awarded Levin its Ronald Reagan Award. He was awarded the inaugural Citizens United Andrew Breitbart Defender of the First Amendment Award at CPAC in 2014. Politico reported in 2014 that Levin was president of a legal non-profit and drew a salary of more than $300,000 a year. CANNOTANSWER | Cheltenham High School | Mark Reed Levin (; born September 21, 1957) is an American lawyer, author, and radio personality. He is the host of syndicated radio show The Mark Levin Show, as well as Life, Liberty & Levin on Fox News. Levin worked in the administration of President Ronald Reagan and was a chief of staff for Attorney General Edwin Meese. He is the former president of the Landmark Legal Foundation, a New York Times best-selling author of seven books, and contributes commentary to media outlets such as National Review Online. Since 2015, Levin has been editor-in-chief of the Conservative Review and is known for his incendiary commentary.
He has been described as "right-wing" by The New York Times, CNN, NPR, and Politico. He is known for his incendiary criticisms of Democrats and encouragement of primary challenges to congressional Republicans that he considers to be "Republican In Name Only" (RINO). He endorsed Ted Cruz in the 2016 Republican presidential primary and declared himself "Never Trump", but reluctantly endorsed Donald Trump after Trump won the Republican nomination. Since the start of the Trump presidency, Levin's commentary has become strongly pro-Trump.
Early life and education
Mark Reed Levin, one of three boys, was born in Philadelphia to a Jewish family, and grew up in Erdenheim as well as Elkins Park. His father, Jack E. Levin (1925–2018), authored several books. He graduated from Cheltenham High School after three years, in 1974. Skipping his senior year of high school, Levin enrolled at Temple University Ambler and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science in 1977 at age 19. Later in 1977, Levin won election to the Cheltenham school board on a platform of reducing property taxes. In 1980, Levin earned a J.D. from Temple University School of Law.
Legal and political career
Levin worked for Texas Instruments after law school. Beginning in 1981, Levin worked in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. Levin began at ACTION, the federal agency that oversaw VISTA and other volunteer agencies, before serving as deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education and deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior. He ultimately became chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese.
After leaving the Reagan administration, Levin practiced law in the private sector. In 1991, Levin joined public interest law firm Landmark Legal Foundation. At Landmark, Levin served as director of legal policy and the foundation's Washington-based Center for Civil Rights before becoming president in 1997. Under Levin's presidency, Landmark Legal filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in 2000 alleging that the National Education Association, the largest teachers' union in the U.S., did not disclose spending on political activity in Internal Revenue Service documentation. Landmark Legal also filed similar complaints with the United States Department of Labor in 2002 regarding NEA and political activity; by 2006, the NEA and smaller American Federation of Teachers had filed new documents with the Labor Department revealing over $100 million combined in political action spending.
Following Freedom of Information Act requests in August 2012 of documents that would show if Environmental Protection Agency officials sought to delay regulations until after the 2012 presidential election, federal judge Royce Lamberth ruled in 2015 that although Landmark Legal did not establish that the EPA acted in bad faith, the EPA either carelessly or intentionally neglected Landmark's FOIA request. Lamberth previously ruled in 2013 that the EPA might have attempted to evade Landmark's FOIA request.
In 2001, the American Conservative Union awarded Levin its Ronald Reagan Award for his work with Landmark Legal.
Politico reported in 2014 that Levin received a salary of more than $300,000 per year as president of the non-profit Landmark Legal Foundation, whose donors include the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and ExxonMobil. In 2018, Levin stepped down as president of Landmark Legal but remained on its board of directors.
Radio broadcasting
Levin began his broadcasting career as a guest on conservative talk radio programs. For many years, he was a contributor of legal opinions to The Rush Limbaugh Show, appearing more regularly as the Monica Lewinsky scandal developed. About this time, Sean Hannity became aware of him, and he began to feature in Hannity's radio show. Eventually, Levin gained a radio slot of his own on WABC, initially on Sundays beginning in 2002, then in the timeslot following Hannity's program in 2003. Cumulus Media Networks began syndicating The Mark Levin Show nationally in 2006.
Levin has participated in Freedom Concerts, an annual benefit concert to aid families of fallen soldiers, and uses his radio program to promote aid to military families. Levin is also involved with Move America Forward, a charity that sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas.
On February 11, 2016, Levin signed a ten-year contract extension with Westwood One, which will take his show through 2025, its 19th year.
On November 16, 2018, he was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.
Television shows
Since 2014, Levin has been the founding editor-in-chief of Conservative Review, a multi-platform online television network that later merged with Glenn Beck's terrestrial network TheBlaze in 2018 to form Blaze Media. Programs airing on the network include Levin, Roaming Millennial, Truth Be Told, Allie, In the Woods with Phil, Kibbe on Liberty, Louder with Crowder, America Bolling, and more.
In November 2017, Fox News announced that it had signed Levin for a weekend show titled Life, Liberty & Levin to air on Sunday nights beginning in February 2018. According to a pre-debut network news release, the program's intention was to explore "the fundamental values and principles undergirding American society, culture, politics, and current events, and their relevance to the nation's future and everyday lives of citizens." Episodes feature one or two guests for the hour-long program discussing political events, news, and history.
Writer
Levin wrote the 2005 book Men In Black: How The Supreme Court Is Destroying America, in which he advanced his thesis that activist judges on the Supreme Court (from all parts of the political spectrum) have "legislated from the bench". Commentary magazine's Dan Seligman wrote that Levin asks readers "to identify with 'originalists' who look to the text of the Constitution and the intent of its framers, and to reject the 'activists' who construe the Constitution broadly and are more concerned with getting to their own 'desired outcomes'". Slate magazine's Dahlia Lithwick wrote that "no serious scholar of the court or the Constitution, on the ideological left or right, is going to waste their time engaging Levin's arguments once they've read this book".
Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover's Story of Joy and Anguish is a non-fiction work written by Levin in 2007 about his experience of rescuing a dog named Sprite from a local animal shelter.
Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto was released in 2009, and became a #1 New York Times best seller for eleven of twelve weeks, as well as No. 1 on Nielsen BookScan and No. 2 on Amazon.com's list of bestselling books of 2009. The book includes discussion of issues Levin believes need to be addressed in the United States. In Liberty and Tyranny Levin repudiates the use of the term "progressive" to describe "modern Liberals" and instead argues a proper term should be "Statist". Liberty and Tyranny has sold over one million copies according to Threshold Editions, the book's publisher. Andrew C. McCarthy, in The New Criterion, wrote, "Levin offers not so much a defense as a plan of attack" against "America's Leftist ascendancy". Other reviewers critiqued the book as "analysis utterly useless in understanding more than half of the American political landscape" while opining that "Levin resorts to the same old misinformation to sell his brand of conservatism".
Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America was issued in 2012. In Ameritopia, Levin discusses the origins and development of both the modern day conservative and liberal political philosophies, the latter of which he refers to as "statist", through the works of some of the leading figures in American history. Included are commentaries on works by Plato, Sir Thomas More, Thomas Hobbes, Karl Marx, John Locke, Charles de Montesquieu and Alexis de Tocqueville. Conor Friedersdorf's review, published in The Atlantic, criticized the text's argument that statism is based on utopianism, and Carlin Romano, in The Chronicle of Higher Education, wrote that "Ameritopia is really Ameritastrophe. It's disastrously bad from beginning to end."
In Levin's 2013 book The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic he suggests eleven new Constitutional amendments. The book debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Hans A. von Spakovsky of National Review Online called the book "required reading for conservative bloggers". Ana Marie Cox, writing in The Guardian, said the book "contains some radical notions about a complete overhaul of the US constitution, but to debate the specifics of their merits is to ignore the larger insanity of the project" while noting "the ludicrousness of his specific 'fixes' and the near-impossibility of achieving them". Also in The Washington Times, Richard W. Rahn wrote, "If The Liberty Amendments can help foster a national debate about which corrective actions, including constitutional amendments, are needed to increase liberty and prosperity, Mr. Levin will have performed a great national service". Hoover Institution fellow David Davenport wrote in Forbes that Levin's book used "weak arguments".
Levin's Plunder and Deceit: Big Government's Exploitation of Young People and the Future was published in 2015, and Rediscovering Americanism and the Tyranny of Progressivism in 2017.
Levin's Unfreedom of the Press, which was released on May 21, 2019, became the number one best-selling book on Amazon.com three days before its official release, as a result of pre-order sales. Unfreedom of the Press also became a New York Times #1 best-seller on June 6, 2019, in the combined print & e-book nonfiction and hardcover nonfiction categories. Lloyd Green was critical of the book in The Guardian writing that the book "is not exactly fan fiction but it can get ahead of itself when discussing the special counsel's conclusions, ending up sounding like the 'fake news' the author and Trump both purport to abhor." Annalisa Quinn, writing for NPR, stated: "the book is largely filler. Quotations and paraphrasing make up the majority of the book's central chapters. Lengthy and irrelevant block quotes from historians about, say, colonial printing practices... give the book the air of a padded student essay." Quinn also wrote, "[Levin] conducts no interviews, presents no original research, and visits no newsrooms", and "When Levin does offer his own analysis, it can approach parody." On June 8, 2019, Levin appeared on C-SPAN2's Book TV to discuss Unfreedom of the Press, "in which he argued that the press has lowered its standards in providing objective and trustworthy journalism."
In 2021, Levin published American Marxism, a book written in reaction to the events that have transpired so far in 2021 and also seeks to characterize the Marxist attributes of the American Left. As of November 14, 2021, the book had spent 16 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List for nonfiction.
Political views
A 2016 study which sought to measure incendiary discourse on talk radio and TV found that Levin scored highest on its measure of "outrage". The study looked at 10 prominent radio and television programs, known for incendiary discourse on political matters, and scored content on the basis of whether it used "emotional display", "misrepresentative exaggeration", "mockery", "conflagration", "slippery slope", "insulting" or "obscene language", and other factors, finding that Levin was the radio host who engaged in the most outrage. The study found that he utilized "outrage speech or behavior at a rate of more than one instance per minute." In How Democracies Die, Harvard University political scientists Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky write that Mark Levin was among the popular right-wing talk radio hosts who "helped to legitimate the use of uncivil discourse" in American politics, and contribute to the erosion of democratic norms. According to Politico, Levin has a "penchant for hysteria."
Views on politicians and other individuals
According to The Guardian, "constant attacks on Democrats and the left are important components" of Levin's modus operandi. According to Politico in May 2009, Levin pronounced "almost daily" that Obama "was a failure, a liar, and a 'statist' who is trying to destroy individual freedom." In June 2017, Levin accused Senator Bernie Sanders of being "a radical Marxist who believes in violence." According to Rutgers University political scientist Stephen Eric Bronner, Levin tends to use "socialism" as a "catch-all term to condemn any policy that strengthens the social welfare function of the state." In July 2014, he called Jon Stewart "a knee-jerk idiot", and suggested that Stewart was a self-hating Jew. He has stated that "Nancy Pelosi's politics comes as close to a form of modern-day fascism as I've ever seen". In January 2019, he said Pelosi was "America's first fascist. And that's a fact". Levin said the new Congressional Speaker had "hijacked" the federal government by deciding to block the financing of President Trump's border wall. Levin has also mocked how Pelosi looks, referred to Beto O'Rourke as a "weak man", and called Dick Blumenthal a "pathetic, loathsome liar."
He has criticized Republicans – including Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and Mitch McConnell – with whom he disagrees. He sometimes refers to such individuals as RINOs. Levin endorsed Orrin Hatch when he faced a primary challenge in 2012, but later apologized for his endorsement when Hatch said that he would be willing to support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Since then, he endorsed a number of Republican primary challengers to incumbent Republican senators. Levin supported the Tea Party Patriots' campaign to "fire" House Speaker John Boehner. Earlier in 2010, Levin criticized Glenn Beck for his criticism of congressional Republicans. He has referred to Mitt Romney as an "ass" and called CNN host Brian Stelter a "creep".
Levin supported U.S. Representative Mo Brooks in his campaign in the 2017 Alabama special election against incumbent Luther Strange, who had received a temporary appointment earlier that year.
Levin strongly defended former EPA head Scott Pruitt while he was under a dozen separate ethics investigations. Levin said Pruitt's "policies on the whole have been outstanding," and "I don't throw good people under the bus because the left targets them."
Sponsorship and conflicts of interest
During the 2012 election cycle, Levin's show was paid at least $757,000 in sponsorship by the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity to run ads for the group, a deal which began in the summer of 2010. After the sponsorship ended, Levin began making ads for the Tea Party Patriots. The Senate Conservatives Fund paid Simon & Schuster at least $427,000 for copies of Levin's Liberty or Tyranny in September and October 2013. During the same period, on his radio show and Facebook page, Levin frequently promoted the group, which has funded primary challengers of Senate Republicans. Levin did not disclose that the group had made $427,000 of purchases of his book.
Levin endorsed Orrin Hatch when Levin was being sponsored by Americans for Prosperity (AFP) which also endorsed Hatch. Levin withdrew his endorsement of Hatch when Levin was being sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots. Levin dismissed the allegations that he engages in "pay-to-play".
President Obama
In 2009, Levin described as "absolutely right" the statement by Sarah Palin that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) includes death panels to decide whether elderly people or sick children were worthy of medical care. In 2011, a caller to Levin's show, claiming to be a neurosurgeon, said that the Department of Health and Human Services had issued a document saying that people over age 70 would not be allowed to receive medical treatments. Levin said to the caller, "so Sarah Palin was right." The call was later revealed to be a hoax and the death panel claims were revealed to be false. In late 2013, Levin said there were similarities between a gathering of "hand-picked" supporters of the Affordable Care Act chosen by the Obama administration to Nazi Sturmabteilung or "Brownshirts" drawing comparisons of the propaganda techniques of the two groups.
Levin stated in 2013 that "the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated our government" and described President Obama as a Muslim Brotherhood "sympathizer". He speculated in November 2014 that, after the 2014 mid-term elections, Obama might go "full Mussolini".
In February 2015, Levin stated that President Obama was "seeking to destroy Israel" because "Obama has an affinity for Islam far more than Christianity or Judaism." He blamed Obama for the Ebola crisis: "the political policies of this administration which opens the door wide to people from the poorest parts of the world. We don't know who they are, we don't know if they have diseases."
WMDs in Iraq
In 2014, Levin claimed that the Bush administration's original WMD rationale for the Iraq War had been vindicated by citing reports of U.S. soldiers in Iraq that were wounded by the decayed remnants of Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons arsenal. The remnants in question were degraded and unusable chemical weapons shells from the 1980s. Levin faulted the Bush administration for not doing more to publicize these remnants of Iraq's former WMD program.
Donald Trump
In March 2016, Levin endorsed Ted Cruz for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Over a month after Donald Trump was nominated, in September 2016, Levin stated on this radio program that he would vote for Trump in the presidential election, following his declaration earlier that year that he was in the "Never Trump" camp and would never vote for Trump. He qualified his support by stating: "I take no responsibility for the dumb things he says or the dumb things his surrogates say."
Wiretap claim
In March 2017, Levin alleged that the Obama administration had used "police state" surveillance tactics against the Donald Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. The Associated Press said that Levin "voiced without evidence the idea that Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower". Levin protested the AP report vigorously, demanding a retraction and an apology on the grounds that his sources for the statement included The New York Times and other newspapers. His statement was reprinted by Breitbart News and reportedly became the basis of President Trump's unfounded Trump Tower wiretapping allegations. In September 2017, reports emerged of a court-ordered Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wiretap on Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort; while certain Trump supporters alleged that this surveillance vindicated Levin and Trump's unsupported assertions, The Atlantic commented: "This is not true – Trump claimed he had been the subject of Obama-ordered, politically motivated surveillance, for which there remains no evidence."
"Deep State" conspiracy theories
Levin has said that there is a "coup" occurring against the presidency of Donald Trump waged by Obama loyalists. Levin's coup claim was referring to investigations of the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and of alleged obstruction of justice by Trump. He has suggested that former FBI Director James Comey used the Trump-Russia dossier "to blackmail the president." He has claimed that Special Counsel Robert Mueller engaged in a "Deep State" coup against Trump.
In February 2018, Levin said the Nunes Memo shows "Hillary Clinton paid for a warrant" and "Hillary Clinton colluded with the Russians...it appears the FBI at the senior-most levels colluded with the Russians too".
In August 2018, Levin stated that Mueller is a "greater threat to this Republic and Constitution than anything Vladimir Putin did during the [2016] campaign". When the Attorney General Bill Barr issued his summary of Mueller's Special Counsel report considering Russian interference in the 2016 election, Levin called the second volume of the report "crap". Of the prosecutor he suggested: "Who gives a damn what the prosecutor said?" He insisted the special counsel was "not God. He is not a judge. He is not a jury!"
Trump–Ukraine scandal
After President Trump pressed the President of Ukraine to start an investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Levin strongly defended Trump's actions. Asked on Fox & Friends whether Levin was "okay" with Trump asking a foreign leader for "dirt" on Biden, Levin lashed out at the Fox & Friends host and repeatedly shouted there was "no problem" with what Trump did. Shortly thereafter, Trump praised Levin and retweeted more than 20 tweets by viewers praising Levin. Levin also accused Joe Biden of being the one who "did something illegal", though he did not provide evidence or any elaboration.
In October 2019, while Trump was the subject of the impeachment inquiry, Levin said that on his Blaze TV show: "While he's been president there hasn't even been a hint of scandal. Not a hint!" He was highly critical of Mitt Romney who increased his criticisms of President Trump during this period.
2020 election
Following the 2020 presidential election, as all significant media organizations reported Joe Biden had won, Levin told his radio audience, the Democrats were "stealing the election". He insisted on Twitter to his 2.4 million followers: "there's lots of evidence of voter fraud and election screw-ups." On the same platform, on November 5, Levin called on Republican-controlled state legislatures to disregard the results of the 2020 election and send electors to the Electoral College who would vote for Trump. The suggestion was retweeted by Donald Trump Jr.
He praised Sidney Powell, a member of Trump's legal team, for what he considered to be her patriotism after she promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and sought to overturn election results. He frequently had guests on his show who led the audience to think Joe Biden's win in the presidential election could be overturned.
On January 5, 2021, Levin insisted Congress's imminent counting of the Electoral College votes was an act of "tyranny" because of the supposed fraud. He told his listeners, "If we don't fight on Jan. 6 on the floor of the Senate and the House... then we are done." Following the next day's storming of the Capitol in Washington, he continued in the same vein. "It appears nothing has changed in 24 hours... Not a damn thing. The never-Trumpers, the RINOs, the media — same damn thing," although he was critical of the rioters. Meanwhile, on the same day as the riot, Cumulus Media circulated a memo instructing its presenters, a roster which includes Levin, to cease implying the 2020 presidential election was stolen or face the end of the right to broadcast via Cumulus.
COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Levin downplayed the threat of the virus, arguing that the media was overreacting and that the death toll from the flu was higher than the coronavirus.
Personal life
Levin suffered a heart attack in 2000 and had open heart surgery. On the June 13, 2021 episode of Life, Liberty and Levin, he mentioned he has heart disease.
He was married to Kendall Levin and they divorced. He is currently married to Julie Prince.
Selected publications
Levin, M. R. (2005). Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America. Regnery Publishing
Levin, M. R. (2007). Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover’s Story of Joy and Anguish (1st ed.). Pocket Books
Levin, M. R. (2010). Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2012). Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2014). The Liberty Amendments (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2019). Unfreedom of the Press. Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2021). American Marxism. Threshold Editions
References
External links
The Mark Levin Show official website
Landmark Legal Foundation
Levin TV at YouTube
American broadcast news analysts
American columnists
American conservative talk radio hosts
American male non-fiction writers
American media critics
American political commentators
American political writers
American social commentators
American Zionists
Blaze Media people
Fox News people
Jewish American attorneys
Jewish American writers
Living people
National Review people
People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
People from Leesburg, Virginia
People from Reston, Virginia
People from Santa Clara County, California
Radio personalities from Philadelphia
Reagan administration personnel
School board members in Pennsylvania
Temple University alumni
Temple University Beasley School of Law alumni
The American Spectator people
United States Department of Education officials
Virginia lawyers
Writers from Philadelphia
1957 births
American critics of Islam | true | [
"William Arthur Brownell (May 19, 1895 – May 28, 1977) was an American educational psychologist.\n\nEarly life \nBrownell was born in Smethport, Pennsylvania on May 19, 1895. He graduated from Allegheny College in 1917. He received a Ph.D. in 1926 from the University of Chicago.\n\nAcademic career \nFrom 1930 to 1949 he was a professor of educational psychology at Duke University where he did his most important research.\n\nFrom 1950 to his retirement in 1962 he was the Dean of the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Education.\n\nIn 1965 he received the E. L. Thorndike Award.\n\nPersonal life \nHe married Kathryn K. (1903-2001) and they had at least one child.\n\nReferences \n\nAmerican psychologists\n1895 births\n1977 deaths\nUniversity of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Education faculty\nDuke University faculty\n20th-century psychologists",
"Lewis Webster Jones (June 11, 1899 – September 10, 1975) was an economist, and the President of Bennington College from 1941-1947, the University of Arkansas from 1947 to 1951 and of Rutgers University from 1951 to 1958.\n\nBiography\nHe was born in Emerson, Nebraska, and spent his youth in Portland, Oregon. Jones received his undergraduate degree from Reed College, and later earned his PhD from the Brookings Graduate School of Economics and Government (now the Brookings Institution). Jones then did post-doctoral work at Columbia University, the London School of Economics, the University of Cambridge, the University of Geneva and the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. During his studies in Europe, he served as an economist on the staff of the League of Nations. He then joined the faculty of Bennington College in 1932 where he served as president from 1941 to 1947. He served from 1947 to 1951 as the 12th president of the University of Arkansas. At Arkansas, he began the process of rebuilding the University after World War II. New graduate programs began, expanded and new buildings added. Most notable were the Fine Arts and Law school buildings. In 1951 he was appointed the fifteenth President of Rutgers University.\n\nDuring his tenure as Rutgers president, Jones oversaw the completion of the university's transformation into the State University in 1956, and massive construction efforts across the university's College Avenue, Busch, Cook and Douglass campuses. The Graduate School of Social Work, ranked as one of the finest in the United States, and the Graduate School of Library Science (now part of the School of Communication, Information and Library Science), and the Eagleton Institute of Politics were established during his tenure.\n\nJones resigned as president of Rutgers in 1958, to accept the presidency of the National Conference of Christians and Jews. In 1965 he retired to Sarasota, Florida where he lived until his death on September 10, 1975.\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\nImage and Reflection: A Pictorial History of the University of Arkansas; Ethel Simpson, U of Ark. Press, 1991.\n\nLeaders of the University of Arkansas\nPresidents of Rutgers University\n1899 births\n1975 deaths\nReed College alumni\nGraduate Institute of International and Development Studies alumni\nInfectious disease deaths in Florida\nPresidents of Bennington College\nPresidents of the University of Arkansas System"
]
|
[
"Mark Levin",
"Biography",
"Where was Mark Levin from?",
"Philadelphia,",
"Where did he graduate from?",
"Cheltenham High School"
]
| C_3102145955634d83ad351982bf0759b3_1 | Did he go to college? | 3 | Did Mark Levin go to college? | Mark Levin | Mark Reed Levin, one of three boys, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Erdenheim as well as Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. His father, Jack E. Levin, is the author of several books. He graduated from Cheltenham High School after three years in 1974. After high school, Levin enrolled at Temple University Ambler and graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science in 1977 at age 19. Levin won election to the Cheltenham school board in 1977 on a platform of reducing property taxes. In 1980, Levin earned a J.D. from Temple University Beasley School of Law. Levin worked for Texas Instruments after law school. He is Jewish. Beginning in 1981, Levin served as an adviser to several members of President Ronald Reagan's cabinet, eventually becoming the associate director of presidential personnel and ultimately chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese; Levin also served as deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education, and deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior. He practiced law in the private sector and is president of Landmark Legal Foundation, a public interest law firm founded in 1976 with offices in Kansas City, Missouri and Leesburg, Virginia. Levin has participated in Freedom Concerts, an annual benefit concert to aid families of fallen soldiers, and uses his radio program to promote aid to military families. Levin is also involved with Troopathon, a charity that sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas. In 2001 the American Conservative Union awarded Levin its Ronald Reagan Award. He was awarded the inaugural Citizens United Andrew Breitbart Defender of the First Amendment Award at CPAC in 2014. Politico reported in 2014 that Levin was president of a legal non-profit and drew a salary of more than $300,000 a year. CANNOTANSWER | Temple University Ambler | Mark Reed Levin (; born September 21, 1957) is an American lawyer, author, and radio personality. He is the host of syndicated radio show The Mark Levin Show, as well as Life, Liberty & Levin on Fox News. Levin worked in the administration of President Ronald Reagan and was a chief of staff for Attorney General Edwin Meese. He is the former president of the Landmark Legal Foundation, a New York Times best-selling author of seven books, and contributes commentary to media outlets such as National Review Online. Since 2015, Levin has been editor-in-chief of the Conservative Review and is known for his incendiary commentary.
He has been described as "right-wing" by The New York Times, CNN, NPR, and Politico. He is known for his incendiary criticisms of Democrats and encouragement of primary challenges to congressional Republicans that he considers to be "Republican In Name Only" (RINO). He endorsed Ted Cruz in the 2016 Republican presidential primary and declared himself "Never Trump", but reluctantly endorsed Donald Trump after Trump won the Republican nomination. Since the start of the Trump presidency, Levin's commentary has become strongly pro-Trump.
Early life and education
Mark Reed Levin, one of three boys, was born in Philadelphia to a Jewish family, and grew up in Erdenheim as well as Elkins Park. His father, Jack E. Levin (1925–2018), authored several books. He graduated from Cheltenham High School after three years, in 1974. Skipping his senior year of high school, Levin enrolled at Temple University Ambler and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science in 1977 at age 19. Later in 1977, Levin won election to the Cheltenham school board on a platform of reducing property taxes. In 1980, Levin earned a J.D. from Temple University School of Law.
Legal and political career
Levin worked for Texas Instruments after law school. Beginning in 1981, Levin worked in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. Levin began at ACTION, the federal agency that oversaw VISTA and other volunteer agencies, before serving as deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education and deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior. He ultimately became chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese.
After leaving the Reagan administration, Levin practiced law in the private sector. In 1991, Levin joined public interest law firm Landmark Legal Foundation. At Landmark, Levin served as director of legal policy and the foundation's Washington-based Center for Civil Rights before becoming president in 1997. Under Levin's presidency, Landmark Legal filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in 2000 alleging that the National Education Association, the largest teachers' union in the U.S., did not disclose spending on political activity in Internal Revenue Service documentation. Landmark Legal also filed similar complaints with the United States Department of Labor in 2002 regarding NEA and political activity; by 2006, the NEA and smaller American Federation of Teachers had filed new documents with the Labor Department revealing over $100 million combined in political action spending.
Following Freedom of Information Act requests in August 2012 of documents that would show if Environmental Protection Agency officials sought to delay regulations until after the 2012 presidential election, federal judge Royce Lamberth ruled in 2015 that although Landmark Legal did not establish that the EPA acted in bad faith, the EPA either carelessly or intentionally neglected Landmark's FOIA request. Lamberth previously ruled in 2013 that the EPA might have attempted to evade Landmark's FOIA request.
In 2001, the American Conservative Union awarded Levin its Ronald Reagan Award for his work with Landmark Legal.
Politico reported in 2014 that Levin received a salary of more than $300,000 per year as president of the non-profit Landmark Legal Foundation, whose donors include the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and ExxonMobil. In 2018, Levin stepped down as president of Landmark Legal but remained on its board of directors.
Radio broadcasting
Levin began his broadcasting career as a guest on conservative talk radio programs. For many years, he was a contributor of legal opinions to The Rush Limbaugh Show, appearing more regularly as the Monica Lewinsky scandal developed. About this time, Sean Hannity became aware of him, and he began to feature in Hannity's radio show. Eventually, Levin gained a radio slot of his own on WABC, initially on Sundays beginning in 2002, then in the timeslot following Hannity's program in 2003. Cumulus Media Networks began syndicating The Mark Levin Show nationally in 2006.
Levin has participated in Freedom Concerts, an annual benefit concert to aid families of fallen soldiers, and uses his radio program to promote aid to military families. Levin is also involved with Move America Forward, a charity that sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas.
On February 11, 2016, Levin signed a ten-year contract extension with Westwood One, which will take his show through 2025, its 19th year.
On November 16, 2018, he was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.
Television shows
Since 2014, Levin has been the founding editor-in-chief of Conservative Review, a multi-platform online television network that later merged with Glenn Beck's terrestrial network TheBlaze in 2018 to form Blaze Media. Programs airing on the network include Levin, Roaming Millennial, Truth Be Told, Allie, In the Woods with Phil, Kibbe on Liberty, Louder with Crowder, America Bolling, and more.
In November 2017, Fox News announced that it had signed Levin for a weekend show titled Life, Liberty & Levin to air on Sunday nights beginning in February 2018. According to a pre-debut network news release, the program's intention was to explore "the fundamental values and principles undergirding American society, culture, politics, and current events, and their relevance to the nation's future and everyday lives of citizens." Episodes feature one or two guests for the hour-long program discussing political events, news, and history.
Writer
Levin wrote the 2005 book Men In Black: How The Supreme Court Is Destroying America, in which he advanced his thesis that activist judges on the Supreme Court (from all parts of the political spectrum) have "legislated from the bench". Commentary magazine's Dan Seligman wrote that Levin asks readers "to identify with 'originalists' who look to the text of the Constitution and the intent of its framers, and to reject the 'activists' who construe the Constitution broadly and are more concerned with getting to their own 'desired outcomes'". Slate magazine's Dahlia Lithwick wrote that "no serious scholar of the court or the Constitution, on the ideological left or right, is going to waste their time engaging Levin's arguments once they've read this book".
Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover's Story of Joy and Anguish is a non-fiction work written by Levin in 2007 about his experience of rescuing a dog named Sprite from a local animal shelter.
Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto was released in 2009, and became a #1 New York Times best seller for eleven of twelve weeks, as well as No. 1 on Nielsen BookScan and No. 2 on Amazon.com's list of bestselling books of 2009. The book includes discussion of issues Levin believes need to be addressed in the United States. In Liberty and Tyranny Levin repudiates the use of the term "progressive" to describe "modern Liberals" and instead argues a proper term should be "Statist". Liberty and Tyranny has sold over one million copies according to Threshold Editions, the book's publisher. Andrew C. McCarthy, in The New Criterion, wrote, "Levin offers not so much a defense as a plan of attack" against "America's Leftist ascendancy". Other reviewers critiqued the book as "analysis utterly useless in understanding more than half of the American political landscape" while opining that "Levin resorts to the same old misinformation to sell his brand of conservatism".
Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America was issued in 2012. In Ameritopia, Levin discusses the origins and development of both the modern day conservative and liberal political philosophies, the latter of which he refers to as "statist", through the works of some of the leading figures in American history. Included are commentaries on works by Plato, Sir Thomas More, Thomas Hobbes, Karl Marx, John Locke, Charles de Montesquieu and Alexis de Tocqueville. Conor Friedersdorf's review, published in The Atlantic, criticized the text's argument that statism is based on utopianism, and Carlin Romano, in The Chronicle of Higher Education, wrote that "Ameritopia is really Ameritastrophe. It's disastrously bad from beginning to end."
In Levin's 2013 book The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic he suggests eleven new Constitutional amendments. The book debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Hans A. von Spakovsky of National Review Online called the book "required reading for conservative bloggers". Ana Marie Cox, writing in The Guardian, said the book "contains some radical notions about a complete overhaul of the US constitution, but to debate the specifics of their merits is to ignore the larger insanity of the project" while noting "the ludicrousness of his specific 'fixes' and the near-impossibility of achieving them". Also in The Washington Times, Richard W. Rahn wrote, "If The Liberty Amendments can help foster a national debate about which corrective actions, including constitutional amendments, are needed to increase liberty and prosperity, Mr. Levin will have performed a great national service". Hoover Institution fellow David Davenport wrote in Forbes that Levin's book used "weak arguments".
Levin's Plunder and Deceit: Big Government's Exploitation of Young People and the Future was published in 2015, and Rediscovering Americanism and the Tyranny of Progressivism in 2017.
Levin's Unfreedom of the Press, which was released on May 21, 2019, became the number one best-selling book on Amazon.com three days before its official release, as a result of pre-order sales. Unfreedom of the Press also became a New York Times #1 best-seller on June 6, 2019, in the combined print & e-book nonfiction and hardcover nonfiction categories. Lloyd Green was critical of the book in The Guardian writing that the book "is not exactly fan fiction but it can get ahead of itself when discussing the special counsel's conclusions, ending up sounding like the 'fake news' the author and Trump both purport to abhor." Annalisa Quinn, writing for NPR, stated: "the book is largely filler. Quotations and paraphrasing make up the majority of the book's central chapters. Lengthy and irrelevant block quotes from historians about, say, colonial printing practices... give the book the air of a padded student essay." Quinn also wrote, "[Levin] conducts no interviews, presents no original research, and visits no newsrooms", and "When Levin does offer his own analysis, it can approach parody." On June 8, 2019, Levin appeared on C-SPAN2's Book TV to discuss Unfreedom of the Press, "in which he argued that the press has lowered its standards in providing objective and trustworthy journalism."
In 2021, Levin published American Marxism, a book written in reaction to the events that have transpired so far in 2021 and also seeks to characterize the Marxist attributes of the American Left. As of November 14, 2021, the book had spent 16 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List for nonfiction.
Political views
A 2016 study which sought to measure incendiary discourse on talk radio and TV found that Levin scored highest on its measure of "outrage". The study looked at 10 prominent radio and television programs, known for incendiary discourse on political matters, and scored content on the basis of whether it used "emotional display", "misrepresentative exaggeration", "mockery", "conflagration", "slippery slope", "insulting" or "obscene language", and other factors, finding that Levin was the radio host who engaged in the most outrage. The study found that he utilized "outrage speech or behavior at a rate of more than one instance per minute." In How Democracies Die, Harvard University political scientists Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky write that Mark Levin was among the popular right-wing talk radio hosts who "helped to legitimate the use of uncivil discourse" in American politics, and contribute to the erosion of democratic norms. According to Politico, Levin has a "penchant for hysteria."
Views on politicians and other individuals
According to The Guardian, "constant attacks on Democrats and the left are important components" of Levin's modus operandi. According to Politico in May 2009, Levin pronounced "almost daily" that Obama "was a failure, a liar, and a 'statist' who is trying to destroy individual freedom." In June 2017, Levin accused Senator Bernie Sanders of being "a radical Marxist who believes in violence." According to Rutgers University political scientist Stephen Eric Bronner, Levin tends to use "socialism" as a "catch-all term to condemn any policy that strengthens the social welfare function of the state." In July 2014, he called Jon Stewart "a knee-jerk idiot", and suggested that Stewart was a self-hating Jew. He has stated that "Nancy Pelosi's politics comes as close to a form of modern-day fascism as I've ever seen". In January 2019, he said Pelosi was "America's first fascist. And that's a fact". Levin said the new Congressional Speaker had "hijacked" the federal government by deciding to block the financing of President Trump's border wall. Levin has also mocked how Pelosi looks, referred to Beto O'Rourke as a "weak man", and called Dick Blumenthal a "pathetic, loathsome liar."
He has criticized Republicans – including Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and Mitch McConnell – with whom he disagrees. He sometimes refers to such individuals as RINOs. Levin endorsed Orrin Hatch when he faced a primary challenge in 2012, but later apologized for his endorsement when Hatch said that he would be willing to support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Since then, he endorsed a number of Republican primary challengers to incumbent Republican senators. Levin supported the Tea Party Patriots' campaign to "fire" House Speaker John Boehner. Earlier in 2010, Levin criticized Glenn Beck for his criticism of congressional Republicans. He has referred to Mitt Romney as an "ass" and called CNN host Brian Stelter a "creep".
Levin supported U.S. Representative Mo Brooks in his campaign in the 2017 Alabama special election against incumbent Luther Strange, who had received a temporary appointment earlier that year.
Levin strongly defended former EPA head Scott Pruitt while he was under a dozen separate ethics investigations. Levin said Pruitt's "policies on the whole have been outstanding," and "I don't throw good people under the bus because the left targets them."
Sponsorship and conflicts of interest
During the 2012 election cycle, Levin's show was paid at least $757,000 in sponsorship by the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity to run ads for the group, a deal which began in the summer of 2010. After the sponsorship ended, Levin began making ads for the Tea Party Patriots. The Senate Conservatives Fund paid Simon & Schuster at least $427,000 for copies of Levin's Liberty or Tyranny in September and October 2013. During the same period, on his radio show and Facebook page, Levin frequently promoted the group, which has funded primary challengers of Senate Republicans. Levin did not disclose that the group had made $427,000 of purchases of his book.
Levin endorsed Orrin Hatch when Levin was being sponsored by Americans for Prosperity (AFP) which also endorsed Hatch. Levin withdrew his endorsement of Hatch when Levin was being sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots. Levin dismissed the allegations that he engages in "pay-to-play".
President Obama
In 2009, Levin described as "absolutely right" the statement by Sarah Palin that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) includes death panels to decide whether elderly people or sick children were worthy of medical care. In 2011, a caller to Levin's show, claiming to be a neurosurgeon, said that the Department of Health and Human Services had issued a document saying that people over age 70 would not be allowed to receive medical treatments. Levin said to the caller, "so Sarah Palin was right." The call was later revealed to be a hoax and the death panel claims were revealed to be false. In late 2013, Levin said there were similarities between a gathering of "hand-picked" supporters of the Affordable Care Act chosen by the Obama administration to Nazi Sturmabteilung or "Brownshirts" drawing comparisons of the propaganda techniques of the two groups.
Levin stated in 2013 that "the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated our government" and described President Obama as a Muslim Brotherhood "sympathizer". He speculated in November 2014 that, after the 2014 mid-term elections, Obama might go "full Mussolini".
In February 2015, Levin stated that President Obama was "seeking to destroy Israel" because "Obama has an affinity for Islam far more than Christianity or Judaism." He blamed Obama for the Ebola crisis: "the political policies of this administration which opens the door wide to people from the poorest parts of the world. We don't know who they are, we don't know if they have diseases."
WMDs in Iraq
In 2014, Levin claimed that the Bush administration's original WMD rationale for the Iraq War had been vindicated by citing reports of U.S. soldiers in Iraq that were wounded by the decayed remnants of Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons arsenal. The remnants in question were degraded and unusable chemical weapons shells from the 1980s. Levin faulted the Bush administration for not doing more to publicize these remnants of Iraq's former WMD program.
Donald Trump
In March 2016, Levin endorsed Ted Cruz for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Over a month after Donald Trump was nominated, in September 2016, Levin stated on this radio program that he would vote for Trump in the presidential election, following his declaration earlier that year that he was in the "Never Trump" camp and would never vote for Trump. He qualified his support by stating: "I take no responsibility for the dumb things he says or the dumb things his surrogates say."
Wiretap claim
In March 2017, Levin alleged that the Obama administration had used "police state" surveillance tactics against the Donald Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. The Associated Press said that Levin "voiced without evidence the idea that Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower". Levin protested the AP report vigorously, demanding a retraction and an apology on the grounds that his sources for the statement included The New York Times and other newspapers. His statement was reprinted by Breitbart News and reportedly became the basis of President Trump's unfounded Trump Tower wiretapping allegations. In September 2017, reports emerged of a court-ordered Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wiretap on Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort; while certain Trump supporters alleged that this surveillance vindicated Levin and Trump's unsupported assertions, The Atlantic commented: "This is not true – Trump claimed he had been the subject of Obama-ordered, politically motivated surveillance, for which there remains no evidence."
"Deep State" conspiracy theories
Levin has said that there is a "coup" occurring against the presidency of Donald Trump waged by Obama loyalists. Levin's coup claim was referring to investigations of the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and of alleged obstruction of justice by Trump. He has suggested that former FBI Director James Comey used the Trump-Russia dossier "to blackmail the president." He has claimed that Special Counsel Robert Mueller engaged in a "Deep State" coup against Trump.
In February 2018, Levin said the Nunes Memo shows "Hillary Clinton paid for a warrant" and "Hillary Clinton colluded with the Russians...it appears the FBI at the senior-most levels colluded with the Russians too".
In August 2018, Levin stated that Mueller is a "greater threat to this Republic and Constitution than anything Vladimir Putin did during the [2016] campaign". When the Attorney General Bill Barr issued his summary of Mueller's Special Counsel report considering Russian interference in the 2016 election, Levin called the second volume of the report "crap". Of the prosecutor he suggested: "Who gives a damn what the prosecutor said?" He insisted the special counsel was "not God. He is not a judge. He is not a jury!"
Trump–Ukraine scandal
After President Trump pressed the President of Ukraine to start an investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Levin strongly defended Trump's actions. Asked on Fox & Friends whether Levin was "okay" with Trump asking a foreign leader for "dirt" on Biden, Levin lashed out at the Fox & Friends host and repeatedly shouted there was "no problem" with what Trump did. Shortly thereafter, Trump praised Levin and retweeted more than 20 tweets by viewers praising Levin. Levin also accused Joe Biden of being the one who "did something illegal", though he did not provide evidence or any elaboration.
In October 2019, while Trump was the subject of the impeachment inquiry, Levin said that on his Blaze TV show: "While he's been president there hasn't even been a hint of scandal. Not a hint!" He was highly critical of Mitt Romney who increased his criticisms of President Trump during this period.
2020 election
Following the 2020 presidential election, as all significant media organizations reported Joe Biden had won, Levin told his radio audience, the Democrats were "stealing the election". He insisted on Twitter to his 2.4 million followers: "there's lots of evidence of voter fraud and election screw-ups." On the same platform, on November 5, Levin called on Republican-controlled state legislatures to disregard the results of the 2020 election and send electors to the Electoral College who would vote for Trump. The suggestion was retweeted by Donald Trump Jr.
He praised Sidney Powell, a member of Trump's legal team, for what he considered to be her patriotism after she promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and sought to overturn election results. He frequently had guests on his show who led the audience to think Joe Biden's win in the presidential election could be overturned.
On January 5, 2021, Levin insisted Congress's imminent counting of the Electoral College votes was an act of "tyranny" because of the supposed fraud. He told his listeners, "If we don't fight on Jan. 6 on the floor of the Senate and the House... then we are done." Following the next day's storming of the Capitol in Washington, he continued in the same vein. "It appears nothing has changed in 24 hours... Not a damn thing. The never-Trumpers, the RINOs, the media — same damn thing," although he was critical of the rioters. Meanwhile, on the same day as the riot, Cumulus Media circulated a memo instructing its presenters, a roster which includes Levin, to cease implying the 2020 presidential election was stolen or face the end of the right to broadcast via Cumulus.
COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Levin downplayed the threat of the virus, arguing that the media was overreacting and that the death toll from the flu was higher than the coronavirus.
Personal life
Levin suffered a heart attack in 2000 and had open heart surgery. On the June 13, 2021 episode of Life, Liberty and Levin, he mentioned he has heart disease.
He was married to Kendall Levin and they divorced. He is currently married to Julie Prince.
Selected publications
Levin, M. R. (2005). Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America. Regnery Publishing
Levin, M. R. (2007). Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover’s Story of Joy and Anguish (1st ed.). Pocket Books
Levin, M. R. (2010). Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2012). Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2014). The Liberty Amendments (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2019). Unfreedom of the Press. Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2021). American Marxism. Threshold Editions
References
External links
The Mark Levin Show official website
Landmark Legal Foundation
Levin TV at YouTube
American broadcast news analysts
American columnists
American conservative talk radio hosts
American male non-fiction writers
American media critics
American political commentators
American political writers
American social commentators
American Zionists
Blaze Media people
Fox News people
Jewish American attorneys
Jewish American writers
Living people
National Review people
People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
People from Leesburg, Virginia
People from Reston, Virginia
People from Santa Clara County, California
Radio personalities from Philadelphia
Reagan administration personnel
School board members in Pennsylvania
Temple University alumni
Temple University Beasley School of Law alumni
The American Spectator people
United States Department of Education officials
Virginia lawyers
Writers from Philadelphia
1957 births
American critics of Islam | true | [
"California Concordia College existed in Oakland, California, United States from 1906 until 1973.\n\nAmong the presidents of California Concordia College was Johann Theodore Gotthold Brohm Jr.\n\nCalifornia Concordia College and the Academy of California College were located at 2365 Camden Street, Oakland, California. Some of the school buildings still exist at this location, but older buildings that housed the earlier classrooms and later the dormitories are gone. The site is now the location of the Spectrum Center Camden Campus, a provider of special education services.\n\nThe \"Academy\" was the official name for the high school. California Concordia was a six-year institution patterned after the German gymnasium. This provided four years of high school, plus two years of junior college. Years in the school took their names from Latin numbers and referred to the years to go before graduation. The classes were named:\n\n Sexta - 6 years to go; high school freshman\n Qunita - 5 years to go; high school sophomore\n Quarta - 4 years to go; high school junior\n Tertia - 3 years to go; high school senior\n Secunda - 2 years to go; college freshman\n Prima - 1 year to go; college sophomore\n\nThose in Sexta were usually hazed in a mild way by upperclassmen. In addition, those in Sexta were required to do a certain amount of clean-up work around the school, such as picking up trash.\n\nMost students, even high school freshmen, lived in dormitories. High school students were supervised by \"proctors\" (selected high school seniors in Tertia). High school students were required to study for two hours each night in their study rooms from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Students could not leave their rooms for any reason without permission. This requirement came as quite a shock to those in Sexta (freshmen) on their first night, when they were caught and scolded by a proctor when they left their study room to go to the bathroom without permission. Seniors (those in Tertia) were allowed one night off where they did not need to be in their study hall.\n\nFrom 9:00 to 9:30 pm all students gathered for a chapel service. From 9:30 to 10 pm, high school students were free to roam, and sometimes went to the local Lucky Supermarket to purchase snacks. All high school students were required to be in bed with lights out by 10:00 pm. There were generally five students in each dormitory room. The room had two sections: a bedroom area and (across the hallway) another room for studying. Four beds, including at least one bunk bed, were in the bedroom, and four or five desks were in the study room\n\nA few interesting words used by Concordia students were \"fink\" and \"rack.\" To \"fink\" meant to \"sing like a canary\" or \"squeal.\" A student who finked told everything he knew about a misbehavior committed by another student. \"Rack\" was actually an official term used by proctors and administrators who lived on campus in the dormitories with students. When students misbehaved they were racked (punished). Proctors held a meeting once a week and decided which students, if any, deserved to be racked. If a student were racked, he might be forbidden from leaving the campus grounds, even during normal free time School hours were from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm. After 3:30 pm and until 7:00 pm, students could normally explore the local area surrounding the school, for example, to go to a local store to buy a snack. However, if a student were racked for the week, he could not do so.\n\nProctors made their rounds in the morning to make sure beds were made and inspected rooms in the evening to ensure that students were in bed by 10:00 pm. Often after the proctors left a room at night, the room lights would go back on and students enjoyed studying their National Geographic magazines. Student might be racked if they failed to make their beds or did not make them neatly enough.\n\nAlthough California Concordia College no longer exists, it does receive some recognition by Concordia University Irvine. This is also the location of its old academic records.\n\nSources\n\nExternal links \n Photos of old campus\n\nEducational institutions disestablished in 1973\nDefunct private universities and colleges in California\nEducational institutions established in 1906\n1906 establishments in California\n1973 disestablishments in California\nUniversities and colleges affiliated with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod",
"Kyree Walker (born November 20, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Capital City Go-Go of the NBA G League. At the high school level, he played for Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward, California before transferring to Hillcrest Prep Academy. A former MaxPreps National Freshman of the Year, Walker was a five-star recruit.\n\nEarly life and high school career\nIn eighth grade, Walker drew national attention for his slam dunks in highlight videos. He often faced older competition, including high school seniors, in middle school with his Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team Oakland Soldiers. As a high school freshman, Walker played basketball for Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward, California, averaging 21.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and four assists per game. After leading his team to a California Interscholastic Federation Division II runner-up finish, he was named MaxPreps National Freshman of the Year. Entering his sophomore season, Walker transferred to Hillcrest Prep, a basketball program in Phoenix, Arizona, with his father, Khari, joining the coaching staff. On October 25, 2019, during his senior year, he left Hillcrest Prep, intending to move to the college or professional level. In December 2019, Walker graduated from high school but did not play high school basketball while weighing his options.\n\nRecruiting\nOn June 30, 2017, Walker committed to play college basketball for Arizona State over several other NCAA Division I offers. At the time, he was considered a five-star recruit and a top five player in the 2020 class by major recruiting services. On October 21, 2018, Walker decommitted from Arizona State. On April 20, 2020, as a four-star recruit, he announced that he would forego college basketball.\n\nProfessional career\n\nCapital City Go-Go (2021–present)\nWalker joined Chameleon BX to prepare for the 2021 NBA draft. For the 2021-22 season, he signed with the Capital City Go-Go of the NBA G League, joining the team after a successful tryout.\n\nPersonal life\nIn 2018, Walker's mother, Barrissa Gardner, was diagnosed with breast cancer but achieved remission in the following months.\n\nReferences\n\n2000 births\nLiving people\n21st-century African-American sportspeople\nAfrican-American basketball players\nAmerican men's basketball players\nBasketball players from Oakland, California\nCapital City Go-Go players\nSmall forwards\nTwitch (service) streamers"
]
|
[
"Mark Levin",
"Biography",
"Where was Mark Levin from?",
"Philadelphia,",
"Where did he graduate from?",
"Cheltenham High School",
"Did he go to college?",
"Temple University Ambler"
]
| C_3102145955634d83ad351982bf0759b3_1 | Did he go to any other schools? | 4 | Besides Temple University did Mark Levin go to any other schools? | Mark Levin | Mark Reed Levin, one of three boys, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Erdenheim as well as Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. His father, Jack E. Levin, is the author of several books. He graduated from Cheltenham High School after three years in 1974. After high school, Levin enrolled at Temple University Ambler and graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science in 1977 at age 19. Levin won election to the Cheltenham school board in 1977 on a platform of reducing property taxes. In 1980, Levin earned a J.D. from Temple University Beasley School of Law. Levin worked for Texas Instruments after law school. He is Jewish. Beginning in 1981, Levin served as an adviser to several members of President Ronald Reagan's cabinet, eventually becoming the associate director of presidential personnel and ultimately chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese; Levin also served as deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education, and deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior. He practiced law in the private sector and is president of Landmark Legal Foundation, a public interest law firm founded in 1976 with offices in Kansas City, Missouri and Leesburg, Virginia. Levin has participated in Freedom Concerts, an annual benefit concert to aid families of fallen soldiers, and uses his radio program to promote aid to military families. Levin is also involved with Troopathon, a charity that sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas. In 2001 the American Conservative Union awarded Levin its Ronald Reagan Award. He was awarded the inaugural Citizens United Andrew Breitbart Defender of the First Amendment Award at CPAC in 2014. Politico reported in 2014 that Levin was president of a legal non-profit and drew a salary of more than $300,000 a year. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Mark Reed Levin (; born September 21, 1957) is an American lawyer, author, and radio personality. He is the host of syndicated radio show The Mark Levin Show, as well as Life, Liberty & Levin on Fox News. Levin worked in the administration of President Ronald Reagan and was a chief of staff for Attorney General Edwin Meese. He is the former president of the Landmark Legal Foundation, a New York Times best-selling author of seven books, and contributes commentary to media outlets such as National Review Online. Since 2015, Levin has been editor-in-chief of the Conservative Review and is known for his incendiary commentary.
He has been described as "right-wing" by The New York Times, CNN, NPR, and Politico. He is known for his incendiary criticisms of Democrats and encouragement of primary challenges to congressional Republicans that he considers to be "Republican In Name Only" (RINO). He endorsed Ted Cruz in the 2016 Republican presidential primary and declared himself "Never Trump", but reluctantly endorsed Donald Trump after Trump won the Republican nomination. Since the start of the Trump presidency, Levin's commentary has become strongly pro-Trump.
Early life and education
Mark Reed Levin, one of three boys, was born in Philadelphia to a Jewish family, and grew up in Erdenheim as well as Elkins Park. His father, Jack E. Levin (1925–2018), authored several books. He graduated from Cheltenham High School after three years, in 1974. Skipping his senior year of high school, Levin enrolled at Temple University Ambler and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science in 1977 at age 19. Later in 1977, Levin won election to the Cheltenham school board on a platform of reducing property taxes. In 1980, Levin earned a J.D. from Temple University School of Law.
Legal and political career
Levin worked for Texas Instruments after law school. Beginning in 1981, Levin worked in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. Levin began at ACTION, the federal agency that oversaw VISTA and other volunteer agencies, before serving as deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education and deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior. He ultimately became chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese.
After leaving the Reagan administration, Levin practiced law in the private sector. In 1991, Levin joined public interest law firm Landmark Legal Foundation. At Landmark, Levin served as director of legal policy and the foundation's Washington-based Center for Civil Rights before becoming president in 1997. Under Levin's presidency, Landmark Legal filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in 2000 alleging that the National Education Association, the largest teachers' union in the U.S., did not disclose spending on political activity in Internal Revenue Service documentation. Landmark Legal also filed similar complaints with the United States Department of Labor in 2002 regarding NEA and political activity; by 2006, the NEA and smaller American Federation of Teachers had filed new documents with the Labor Department revealing over $100 million combined in political action spending.
Following Freedom of Information Act requests in August 2012 of documents that would show if Environmental Protection Agency officials sought to delay regulations until after the 2012 presidential election, federal judge Royce Lamberth ruled in 2015 that although Landmark Legal did not establish that the EPA acted in bad faith, the EPA either carelessly or intentionally neglected Landmark's FOIA request. Lamberth previously ruled in 2013 that the EPA might have attempted to evade Landmark's FOIA request.
In 2001, the American Conservative Union awarded Levin its Ronald Reagan Award for his work with Landmark Legal.
Politico reported in 2014 that Levin received a salary of more than $300,000 per year as president of the non-profit Landmark Legal Foundation, whose donors include the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and ExxonMobil. In 2018, Levin stepped down as president of Landmark Legal but remained on its board of directors.
Radio broadcasting
Levin began his broadcasting career as a guest on conservative talk radio programs. For many years, he was a contributor of legal opinions to The Rush Limbaugh Show, appearing more regularly as the Monica Lewinsky scandal developed. About this time, Sean Hannity became aware of him, and he began to feature in Hannity's radio show. Eventually, Levin gained a radio slot of his own on WABC, initially on Sundays beginning in 2002, then in the timeslot following Hannity's program in 2003. Cumulus Media Networks began syndicating The Mark Levin Show nationally in 2006.
Levin has participated in Freedom Concerts, an annual benefit concert to aid families of fallen soldiers, and uses his radio program to promote aid to military families. Levin is also involved with Move America Forward, a charity that sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas.
On February 11, 2016, Levin signed a ten-year contract extension with Westwood One, which will take his show through 2025, its 19th year.
On November 16, 2018, he was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.
Television shows
Since 2014, Levin has been the founding editor-in-chief of Conservative Review, a multi-platform online television network that later merged with Glenn Beck's terrestrial network TheBlaze in 2018 to form Blaze Media. Programs airing on the network include Levin, Roaming Millennial, Truth Be Told, Allie, In the Woods with Phil, Kibbe on Liberty, Louder with Crowder, America Bolling, and more.
In November 2017, Fox News announced that it had signed Levin for a weekend show titled Life, Liberty & Levin to air on Sunday nights beginning in February 2018. According to a pre-debut network news release, the program's intention was to explore "the fundamental values and principles undergirding American society, culture, politics, and current events, and their relevance to the nation's future and everyday lives of citizens." Episodes feature one or two guests for the hour-long program discussing political events, news, and history.
Writer
Levin wrote the 2005 book Men In Black: How The Supreme Court Is Destroying America, in which he advanced his thesis that activist judges on the Supreme Court (from all parts of the political spectrum) have "legislated from the bench". Commentary magazine's Dan Seligman wrote that Levin asks readers "to identify with 'originalists' who look to the text of the Constitution and the intent of its framers, and to reject the 'activists' who construe the Constitution broadly and are more concerned with getting to their own 'desired outcomes'". Slate magazine's Dahlia Lithwick wrote that "no serious scholar of the court or the Constitution, on the ideological left or right, is going to waste their time engaging Levin's arguments once they've read this book".
Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover's Story of Joy and Anguish is a non-fiction work written by Levin in 2007 about his experience of rescuing a dog named Sprite from a local animal shelter.
Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto was released in 2009, and became a #1 New York Times best seller for eleven of twelve weeks, as well as No. 1 on Nielsen BookScan and No. 2 on Amazon.com's list of bestselling books of 2009. The book includes discussion of issues Levin believes need to be addressed in the United States. In Liberty and Tyranny Levin repudiates the use of the term "progressive" to describe "modern Liberals" and instead argues a proper term should be "Statist". Liberty and Tyranny has sold over one million copies according to Threshold Editions, the book's publisher. Andrew C. McCarthy, in The New Criterion, wrote, "Levin offers not so much a defense as a plan of attack" against "America's Leftist ascendancy". Other reviewers critiqued the book as "analysis utterly useless in understanding more than half of the American political landscape" while opining that "Levin resorts to the same old misinformation to sell his brand of conservatism".
Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America was issued in 2012. In Ameritopia, Levin discusses the origins and development of both the modern day conservative and liberal political philosophies, the latter of which he refers to as "statist", through the works of some of the leading figures in American history. Included are commentaries on works by Plato, Sir Thomas More, Thomas Hobbes, Karl Marx, John Locke, Charles de Montesquieu and Alexis de Tocqueville. Conor Friedersdorf's review, published in The Atlantic, criticized the text's argument that statism is based on utopianism, and Carlin Romano, in The Chronicle of Higher Education, wrote that "Ameritopia is really Ameritastrophe. It's disastrously bad from beginning to end."
In Levin's 2013 book The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic he suggests eleven new Constitutional amendments. The book debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Hans A. von Spakovsky of National Review Online called the book "required reading for conservative bloggers". Ana Marie Cox, writing in The Guardian, said the book "contains some radical notions about a complete overhaul of the US constitution, but to debate the specifics of their merits is to ignore the larger insanity of the project" while noting "the ludicrousness of his specific 'fixes' and the near-impossibility of achieving them". Also in The Washington Times, Richard W. Rahn wrote, "If The Liberty Amendments can help foster a national debate about which corrective actions, including constitutional amendments, are needed to increase liberty and prosperity, Mr. Levin will have performed a great national service". Hoover Institution fellow David Davenport wrote in Forbes that Levin's book used "weak arguments".
Levin's Plunder and Deceit: Big Government's Exploitation of Young People and the Future was published in 2015, and Rediscovering Americanism and the Tyranny of Progressivism in 2017.
Levin's Unfreedom of the Press, which was released on May 21, 2019, became the number one best-selling book on Amazon.com three days before its official release, as a result of pre-order sales. Unfreedom of the Press also became a New York Times #1 best-seller on June 6, 2019, in the combined print & e-book nonfiction and hardcover nonfiction categories. Lloyd Green was critical of the book in The Guardian writing that the book "is not exactly fan fiction but it can get ahead of itself when discussing the special counsel's conclusions, ending up sounding like the 'fake news' the author and Trump both purport to abhor." Annalisa Quinn, writing for NPR, stated: "the book is largely filler. Quotations and paraphrasing make up the majority of the book's central chapters. Lengthy and irrelevant block quotes from historians about, say, colonial printing practices... give the book the air of a padded student essay." Quinn also wrote, "[Levin] conducts no interviews, presents no original research, and visits no newsrooms", and "When Levin does offer his own analysis, it can approach parody." On June 8, 2019, Levin appeared on C-SPAN2's Book TV to discuss Unfreedom of the Press, "in which he argued that the press has lowered its standards in providing objective and trustworthy journalism."
In 2021, Levin published American Marxism, a book written in reaction to the events that have transpired so far in 2021 and also seeks to characterize the Marxist attributes of the American Left. As of November 14, 2021, the book had spent 16 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List for nonfiction.
Political views
A 2016 study which sought to measure incendiary discourse on talk radio and TV found that Levin scored highest on its measure of "outrage". The study looked at 10 prominent radio and television programs, known for incendiary discourse on political matters, and scored content on the basis of whether it used "emotional display", "misrepresentative exaggeration", "mockery", "conflagration", "slippery slope", "insulting" or "obscene language", and other factors, finding that Levin was the radio host who engaged in the most outrage. The study found that he utilized "outrage speech or behavior at a rate of more than one instance per minute." In How Democracies Die, Harvard University political scientists Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky write that Mark Levin was among the popular right-wing talk radio hosts who "helped to legitimate the use of uncivil discourse" in American politics, and contribute to the erosion of democratic norms. According to Politico, Levin has a "penchant for hysteria."
Views on politicians and other individuals
According to The Guardian, "constant attacks on Democrats and the left are important components" of Levin's modus operandi. According to Politico in May 2009, Levin pronounced "almost daily" that Obama "was a failure, a liar, and a 'statist' who is trying to destroy individual freedom." In June 2017, Levin accused Senator Bernie Sanders of being "a radical Marxist who believes in violence." According to Rutgers University political scientist Stephen Eric Bronner, Levin tends to use "socialism" as a "catch-all term to condemn any policy that strengthens the social welfare function of the state." In July 2014, he called Jon Stewart "a knee-jerk idiot", and suggested that Stewart was a self-hating Jew. He has stated that "Nancy Pelosi's politics comes as close to a form of modern-day fascism as I've ever seen". In January 2019, he said Pelosi was "America's first fascist. And that's a fact". Levin said the new Congressional Speaker had "hijacked" the federal government by deciding to block the financing of President Trump's border wall. Levin has also mocked how Pelosi looks, referred to Beto O'Rourke as a "weak man", and called Dick Blumenthal a "pathetic, loathsome liar."
He has criticized Republicans – including Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and Mitch McConnell – with whom he disagrees. He sometimes refers to such individuals as RINOs. Levin endorsed Orrin Hatch when he faced a primary challenge in 2012, but later apologized for his endorsement when Hatch said that he would be willing to support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Since then, he endorsed a number of Republican primary challengers to incumbent Republican senators. Levin supported the Tea Party Patriots' campaign to "fire" House Speaker John Boehner. Earlier in 2010, Levin criticized Glenn Beck for his criticism of congressional Republicans. He has referred to Mitt Romney as an "ass" and called CNN host Brian Stelter a "creep".
Levin supported U.S. Representative Mo Brooks in his campaign in the 2017 Alabama special election against incumbent Luther Strange, who had received a temporary appointment earlier that year.
Levin strongly defended former EPA head Scott Pruitt while he was under a dozen separate ethics investigations. Levin said Pruitt's "policies on the whole have been outstanding," and "I don't throw good people under the bus because the left targets them."
Sponsorship and conflicts of interest
During the 2012 election cycle, Levin's show was paid at least $757,000 in sponsorship by the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity to run ads for the group, a deal which began in the summer of 2010. After the sponsorship ended, Levin began making ads for the Tea Party Patriots. The Senate Conservatives Fund paid Simon & Schuster at least $427,000 for copies of Levin's Liberty or Tyranny in September and October 2013. During the same period, on his radio show and Facebook page, Levin frequently promoted the group, which has funded primary challengers of Senate Republicans. Levin did not disclose that the group had made $427,000 of purchases of his book.
Levin endorsed Orrin Hatch when Levin was being sponsored by Americans for Prosperity (AFP) which also endorsed Hatch. Levin withdrew his endorsement of Hatch when Levin was being sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots. Levin dismissed the allegations that he engages in "pay-to-play".
President Obama
In 2009, Levin described as "absolutely right" the statement by Sarah Palin that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) includes death panels to decide whether elderly people or sick children were worthy of medical care. In 2011, a caller to Levin's show, claiming to be a neurosurgeon, said that the Department of Health and Human Services had issued a document saying that people over age 70 would not be allowed to receive medical treatments. Levin said to the caller, "so Sarah Palin was right." The call was later revealed to be a hoax and the death panel claims were revealed to be false. In late 2013, Levin said there were similarities between a gathering of "hand-picked" supporters of the Affordable Care Act chosen by the Obama administration to Nazi Sturmabteilung or "Brownshirts" drawing comparisons of the propaganda techniques of the two groups.
Levin stated in 2013 that "the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated our government" and described President Obama as a Muslim Brotherhood "sympathizer". He speculated in November 2014 that, after the 2014 mid-term elections, Obama might go "full Mussolini".
In February 2015, Levin stated that President Obama was "seeking to destroy Israel" because "Obama has an affinity for Islam far more than Christianity or Judaism." He blamed Obama for the Ebola crisis: "the political policies of this administration which opens the door wide to people from the poorest parts of the world. We don't know who they are, we don't know if they have diseases."
WMDs in Iraq
In 2014, Levin claimed that the Bush administration's original WMD rationale for the Iraq War had been vindicated by citing reports of U.S. soldiers in Iraq that were wounded by the decayed remnants of Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons arsenal. The remnants in question were degraded and unusable chemical weapons shells from the 1980s. Levin faulted the Bush administration for not doing more to publicize these remnants of Iraq's former WMD program.
Donald Trump
In March 2016, Levin endorsed Ted Cruz for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Over a month after Donald Trump was nominated, in September 2016, Levin stated on this radio program that he would vote for Trump in the presidential election, following his declaration earlier that year that he was in the "Never Trump" camp and would never vote for Trump. He qualified his support by stating: "I take no responsibility for the dumb things he says or the dumb things his surrogates say."
Wiretap claim
In March 2017, Levin alleged that the Obama administration had used "police state" surveillance tactics against the Donald Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. The Associated Press said that Levin "voiced without evidence the idea that Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower". Levin protested the AP report vigorously, demanding a retraction and an apology on the grounds that his sources for the statement included The New York Times and other newspapers. His statement was reprinted by Breitbart News and reportedly became the basis of President Trump's unfounded Trump Tower wiretapping allegations. In September 2017, reports emerged of a court-ordered Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wiretap on Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort; while certain Trump supporters alleged that this surveillance vindicated Levin and Trump's unsupported assertions, The Atlantic commented: "This is not true – Trump claimed he had been the subject of Obama-ordered, politically motivated surveillance, for which there remains no evidence."
"Deep State" conspiracy theories
Levin has said that there is a "coup" occurring against the presidency of Donald Trump waged by Obama loyalists. Levin's coup claim was referring to investigations of the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and of alleged obstruction of justice by Trump. He has suggested that former FBI Director James Comey used the Trump-Russia dossier "to blackmail the president." He has claimed that Special Counsel Robert Mueller engaged in a "Deep State" coup against Trump.
In February 2018, Levin said the Nunes Memo shows "Hillary Clinton paid for a warrant" and "Hillary Clinton colluded with the Russians...it appears the FBI at the senior-most levels colluded with the Russians too".
In August 2018, Levin stated that Mueller is a "greater threat to this Republic and Constitution than anything Vladimir Putin did during the [2016] campaign". When the Attorney General Bill Barr issued his summary of Mueller's Special Counsel report considering Russian interference in the 2016 election, Levin called the second volume of the report "crap". Of the prosecutor he suggested: "Who gives a damn what the prosecutor said?" He insisted the special counsel was "not God. He is not a judge. He is not a jury!"
Trump–Ukraine scandal
After President Trump pressed the President of Ukraine to start an investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Levin strongly defended Trump's actions. Asked on Fox & Friends whether Levin was "okay" with Trump asking a foreign leader for "dirt" on Biden, Levin lashed out at the Fox & Friends host and repeatedly shouted there was "no problem" with what Trump did. Shortly thereafter, Trump praised Levin and retweeted more than 20 tweets by viewers praising Levin. Levin also accused Joe Biden of being the one who "did something illegal", though he did not provide evidence or any elaboration.
In October 2019, while Trump was the subject of the impeachment inquiry, Levin said that on his Blaze TV show: "While he's been president there hasn't even been a hint of scandal. Not a hint!" He was highly critical of Mitt Romney who increased his criticisms of President Trump during this period.
2020 election
Following the 2020 presidential election, as all significant media organizations reported Joe Biden had won, Levin told his radio audience, the Democrats were "stealing the election". He insisted on Twitter to his 2.4 million followers: "there's lots of evidence of voter fraud and election screw-ups." On the same platform, on November 5, Levin called on Republican-controlled state legislatures to disregard the results of the 2020 election and send electors to the Electoral College who would vote for Trump. The suggestion was retweeted by Donald Trump Jr.
He praised Sidney Powell, a member of Trump's legal team, for what he considered to be her patriotism after she promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and sought to overturn election results. He frequently had guests on his show who led the audience to think Joe Biden's win in the presidential election could be overturned.
On January 5, 2021, Levin insisted Congress's imminent counting of the Electoral College votes was an act of "tyranny" because of the supposed fraud. He told his listeners, "If we don't fight on Jan. 6 on the floor of the Senate and the House... then we are done." Following the next day's storming of the Capitol in Washington, he continued in the same vein. "It appears nothing has changed in 24 hours... Not a damn thing. The never-Trumpers, the RINOs, the media — same damn thing," although he was critical of the rioters. Meanwhile, on the same day as the riot, Cumulus Media circulated a memo instructing its presenters, a roster which includes Levin, to cease implying the 2020 presidential election was stolen or face the end of the right to broadcast via Cumulus.
COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Levin downplayed the threat of the virus, arguing that the media was overreacting and that the death toll from the flu was higher than the coronavirus.
Personal life
Levin suffered a heart attack in 2000 and had open heart surgery. On the June 13, 2021 episode of Life, Liberty and Levin, he mentioned he has heart disease.
He was married to Kendall Levin and they divorced. He is currently married to Julie Prince.
Selected publications
Levin, M. R. (2005). Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America. Regnery Publishing
Levin, M. R. (2007). Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover’s Story of Joy and Anguish (1st ed.). Pocket Books
Levin, M. R. (2010). Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2012). Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2014). The Liberty Amendments (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2019). Unfreedom of the Press. Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2021). American Marxism. Threshold Editions
References
External links
The Mark Levin Show official website
Landmark Legal Foundation
Levin TV at YouTube
American broadcast news analysts
American columnists
American conservative talk radio hosts
American male non-fiction writers
American media critics
American political commentators
American political writers
American social commentators
American Zionists
Blaze Media people
Fox News people
Jewish American attorneys
Jewish American writers
Living people
National Review people
People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
People from Leesburg, Virginia
People from Reston, Virginia
People from Santa Clara County, California
Radio personalities from Philadelphia
Reagan administration personnel
School board members in Pennsylvania
Temple University alumni
Temple University Beasley School of Law alumni
The American Spectator people
United States Department of Education officials
Virginia lawyers
Writers from Philadelphia
1957 births
American critics of Islam | false | [
"East Memorial Christian Academy (EMCA) was a private K-12 Christian school located in unincorporated Autauga County, Alabama, near Prattville and in the Montgomery metropolitan area. It was founded in 2002.\n\nAccording to the Montgomery Advertiser, Scott Phillips, a coach who lead the school's American football program to its first playoff at the state level in years, was fired because he and his family stopped attending the East Memorial Baptist Church, affiliated with the school. Phillips said that his contract did not have a clause stating that he was required to go to the church.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n East Memorial Christian Academy\n\nChristian schools in Alabama\nSchools in Autauga County, Alabama\nPrivate high schools in Alabama\nPrivate middle schools in Alabama\nPrivate elementary schools in Alabama",
"Maher v Town Council of Portland is a Canadian constitutional law court decision dealing with the constitutional guarantees for denominational schools set out in section 93 of the Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act, 1867). The issue was whether the Common Schools Act, enacted by the Province of New Brunswick in 1871, infringed the guarantee of denominational schools set out in section 93(1).\n\nThe court case was part of the larger debate on public funding and the role of the churches in public affairs in New Brunswick. The litigation was triggered by the Legislature of New Brunswick passing the Common Schools Act, which explicitly provided that public schools were to be non-sectarian, open to all, and under the supervision of a provincial Board of Education. Some schools under the previous system had been under the effective control of particular religious denominations, in areas where the adherents of those denominations were in the majority. Opposition to the new school system came from the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church.\n\nThe case was ultimately decided by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Britain, at that time the court of last resort for Canada within the British Empire. The Judicial Committee held that the parish schools established under the previous law, the Parish Schools Act of 1858, were not denominational schools established by law, and were not within the protection of section 93(1). The new Common Schools Act therefore did not infringe any legal \"right or privilege\" possessed by anyone in New Brunswick at the time of Confederation and was constitutional. Maher v Town Council of Portland was the first case decided by the Judicial Committee under section 93 of the Constitution Act, 1867.\n\nDevelopment of the New Brunswick School System \n\nPrior to Confederation, the school system in New Brunswick was governed by the Parish Schools Act of 1858, enacted by the government led by Premier Charles Fisher. That Act provided for schools to be set up on a voluntary basis in parishes, supported by voluntary financial contributions and tuition fees. Alternatively, the rate-payers in a parish could vote to impose local taxes in support of the parish school, in which case attendance at the school was free to all students. (\"Parish\" was the term used for one of the forms of local government at the time, rather than as a term of church organization.) As well, the Legislature appropriated a lump sum each year to support the parish schools. There was a Board of Education for the entire colony, composed of the colonial Cabinet, with overall supervision of the schools, but in practice the schools were under local control, often under the auspices of different churches and religious bodies.\n\nThe Parish Schools Act provided that the school libraries were not to contain any books hostile to the Christian religion, nor works of controversial theology. Teachers were to impress on the pupils \"the principles of christianity, morality, and justice\" as well as other moral and civil virtues, but in no case was a pupil to be required to read or study any religious book or participate in any act of devotion. Bible readings were permitted, on direction of the Board of Education, but only to pupils whose parents did not object.\n\nThe provincial Legislature enacted the Common Schools Act in 1871. George King, the provincial Attorney General, introduced the Bill in the Assembly and was responsible for its passage. The Assembly passed the Bill after strenuous political debate, including the adoption of a House amendment requiring that the schools be non-sectarian. The new Act carried forward much of the structure of the Parish Schools Act, but with some significant differences. The supervisory control of the provincial Board of Education was strengthened. School taxation was now made compulsory, not voluntary. Provincial funding was only to be provided to schools established under the Act. The schools were to be non-sectarian, and the Common Schools Act did not contain any provision authorising Bible readings.\n\nDecision of the New Brunswick Supreme Court\n\nSummary \n\nThere were two separate legal challenges to the new school system, brought in the New Brunswick Supreme Court: Ex parte Maher and Ex parte Renaud. The Maher case was brought by Henry Maher, a Roman Catholic rate-payer in the town of Portland (now part of the City of Saint John), who challenged the school tax assessed by the town under the Common Schools Act. The Renaud case was brought by an individual named Renaud, and challenged a school tax assessed by the Parish of Richibucto, in the County of Kent. In both cases, the plaintiffs applied for certiorari to quash the school taxes, on the basis that the Common Schools Act infringed the right of Roman Catholics to have denominational schools, under s. 93 of the Constitution Act, 1867.\n\nThe full Supreme Court of New Brunswick, consisting of five judges, heard both applications. The Court dismissed the constitutional challenges and upheld the constitutionality of the Common Schools Act. The reasons given by the Court in the two cases are identical. The majority decision was written in both cases by Chief Justice Ritchie (Justices Allen and Weldon concurring). Justice Fisher (having left politics and been appointed to the Court) and Justice Wetmore each wrote separate concurring decisions.\n\nMajority Reasons of Chief Justice Ritchie \n\nChief Justice Ritchie began by holding that the courts had the power to review the constitutionality of provincial statutes under the Constitution Act, 1867. He stated that this position had long been established in the New Brunswick courts, but he thought it necessary to state it expressly, since there had been some recent decisions in Quebec which questioned that principle. Chief Justice Ritchie referred to the Colonial Laws Validity Act, as well as the advisory decision of the judges of England with respect to the Clergy Reserves Act of the Province of Canada, as establishing that a colonial law had to comply with the terms of an Imperial statute which applied to the colony. On that basis, the laws of New Brunswick had to comply with the terms of the Constitution Act, 1867.\n\nTurning to the constitutional issue, Chief Justice Ritchie stated that to decide if the rights of the Roman Catholic minority were infringed by the Common Schools Act, it was necessary to determine what rights they had under the law immediately before Confederation, since s. 93 of the Constitution Act, 1867 protected whatever rights they possessed at that time. He noted that there clearly were some denominational schools, operated by churches and teaching the specific tenets of those churches beliefs. He referred to specific schools run by the Methodist, Anglican, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic churches. However, those schools were not affected by the Common Schools Act and therefore did not have to be considered in his decision. Rather, it was the schools established under the Parish Schools Act which had to be considered since they were established under the law immediately in force prior to Confederation, and were affected by the changes made by the Common Schools Act.\n\nChief Justice Ritchie noted that the local school trustees were elected by the voters generally, and were under the supervision of the provincial Board of Education and the provincial Superintendent. Although the Parish Schools Act did provide that teachers were to inculcate the principles of Christianity, honesty and morality, the Act also provided that in doing so, teachers were not to require a student to read any religious book or join in any act of devotion to which the student's parents objected. Bible readings were permitted where authorised by local regulation, including the option of using the Douay version for Roman Catholic students, but without any additional note or comment by the teacher. By another section of the Parish Schools Act, contentious books relating to theology were not permitted in the school libraries.\n\nOne of the arguments advanced by the applicants was that even though the Act did not specifically confer control over the schools on any denomination, in practice the schools were under denominational control in those areas where a particular religious group formed the majority and thus could elect local trustees of their religious group. Those trustees in turn would allow teaching of their denomination's particular principles. The applicants argued that the schools were in fact denominational in nature, and therefore that right had to be protected. Chief Justice Ritchie rejected that argument, noting that any religious teachings were done without the authority of the Parish Schools Act, and may or may not have been with the sanction of the provincial Board of Education. That practice could not interfere with the right of all inhabitants under the Act to have a school free and independent of denominational connection.\n\nChief Justice Ritchie concluded that the Parish Schools Act created a general system of education for the benefit of all inhabitants of the Province, without reference to class or creed. The schools were public schools, not under the control of any denomination. No denomination had any particular rights in the schools and did not have the right to have their own religious doctrines taught in the schools. Rather, there was a general recognition of Christian precepts as part of the education of the students, without favouring any denomination in particular.\n\nConcurring Reasons of Justice Fisher \n\nJustice Fisher concurred in the majority's conclusion, but gave his own reasons. Prior to his appointment to the court, he had been a Father of Confederation and had participated in both the Quebec Conference and the London Conference which had produced the terms of Confederation and the text of the Constitution Act, 1867. He agreed with the majority that the Common Schools Act did not infringe s. 93 of the Constitution Act, 1867 and was constitutional. He began by noting that the purpose of s. 93 was to resolve a question that had caused serious difficulties in the former Province of Canada, prior to Confederation. Paragraphs 93(2) and (3) only applied to the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. The constitutionality of the Common Schools Act depended entirely on paragraph 93(1). It was not simply a right of privilege of the minority faith which triggers paragraph 93(1). It had to be a right or privilege, of the members of the minority faith, with respect to denominational schools, which they had at law at the time of Union, and which was prejudicially affected by a subsequent government action.\n\nThe first question was therefore to define a \"denominational school\". Justice Fisher stated that a denominational school is a school under the exclusive government of some one denomination of Christians, and where the tenets of that denomination are taught. If that condition were met, it would be necessary to examine the laws in force at the time of union, to determine if any such school existed at law, and if the right of the minority faith has been prejudicially affected.\n\nJustice Fisher then reviewed the provisions of the Parish Schools Act. In his view, the schools established under the act were under the control of the Board of Education, a purely political body, and under the supervision of the Superintendent, a political officer. Like Chief Justice Ritchie, he referred to the provision barring books of controversial theology from the school libraries. Justice Fisher interpreted that provision as barring books of denominational teaching. He concluded that the schools were common to everyone, irrespective of religious opinions. No class or creed had any special right in the governance of the schools generally, or in any particular parish school. As well, the Act provided that no student was to read any religious book or participate in any religious act of devotion, unless the student's parents wished it. Justice Fisher held that this provision was a positive enactment against denominational teaching by the school. He also concluded that the provision for Bible readings in the schools did not establish that the schools were denominational, since in his view the Bible was not a denominational book.\n\nJustice Fisher then referred briefly to the Common Schools Act. He concluded that it was essentially the same as the Parish Schools Act, with the only real difference that school assessment became mandatory. He also noted that the Common Schools Act did not provide directly for bible readings, but left the decision as to Bible readings to the Board of Education, which could enact a regulation on that issue. He stated that whether or not the Board enacted such a regulation did not affect the constitutionality of the Act as a whole. As a result, he concluded that the Common Schools Act was constitutional.\n\nConcurring Reasons of Justice Wetmore \n\nJustice Wetmore also issued concurring reasons. He agreed with the other members of the Court that the Common Schools Act was constitutional. However, he wanted to make it clear that in his opinion, the constitutionality of the Act was not affected by the regulations passed by the Board of Education. It might be that those regulations were not consistent with the Common Schools Act or with s. 93 of the Constitution Act 1867, but those issues were not before the Court in this proceeding, which was a challenge to the Common Schools Act itself. Justice Wetmore refrained from any comment on the regulations, leaving that to another day, if they were ever challenged.\n\nDecision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council \n\nMr Maher appealed from the Supreme Court of New Brunswick to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, at that time the highest court in the British Empire. (The Supreme Court of Canada had not yet been created.) The appellant was represented by Joseph Brown, Q.C., and Mr Duff of the New Brunswick bar. Sir John Burgess Karslake and Attorney General King of New Brunswick appeared for the respondent, defending the legislation.\n\nThe Judicial Committee heard the case on July 17, 1874. During oral argument, the judges repeatedly questioned whether the schools established under the Parish Schools Act could be termed \"denominational,\" as those schools were not under the legal control of any particular religious denomination, and could change if the religious composition of the local electorate changed. After extensive questioning of counsel for the appellant during oral argument, the Judicial Committee did not call on counsel for the respondent and dismissed the appeal from the bench.\n\nLord Justice James gave the decision of the Committee. In short oral reasons, he quoted a lengthy passage from the reasons of Justice Fisher in the New Brunswick Supreme Court. James L.J. agreed with Justice Fisher that the schools established under the Parish Schools Act had not been denominational schools. He held that the fact that a school in a particular area could be under the control of one religious denomination through the electoral process, and later could be under the control of another denomination if there were changes in the local electorate, demonstrated that there was no legal right involved. The changes under the Common Schools Act therefore did not affect any legal right or privilege protected by s. 93(1) of the Constitution Act, 1867. He ruled that the Common Schools Act was constitutional.\n\nSubsequent Treatment of the Decision \n\nThe oral reasons of James L.J. were not reported in the official reports, and are not part of the formal record of the Privy Council. The only source for the reasons for judgment is the text-book, Wheeler's Confederation Law of Canada, published in 1896. The author of that text explained that the reasons were taken from the shorthand notes of Mr. Groves, one of the solicitors for the respondent.\n\nIn 1892, the Judicial Committee again considered the scope of s. 93 of theConstitution Act, 1867, in the case of City of Winnipeg v Barrett. The case was argued and decided prior to the publication of the Wheeler text. The Judicial Committee did not refer to its own previous decision in Maher v Town Council of Portland. Instead, counsel in that case referred the Committee to the parallel decision of the Supreme Court of New Brunswick, Ex parte Renaud, which had been published in the New Brunswick case reports.\n\nFollowing the publication of the reasons for the decision in Wheeler's Confederation Law of Canada, the Maher case has been cited approvingly by the courts. Both the Supreme Court and the Judicial Committee have relied upon the Maher decision.\n\nReferences\n\nJudicial Committee of the Privy Council cases on appeal from Canada\n1874 in Canadian case law\n1873 in Canadian case law"
]
|
[
"Mark Levin",
"Biography",
"Where was Mark Levin from?",
"Philadelphia,",
"Where did he graduate from?",
"Cheltenham High School",
"Did he go to college?",
"Temple University Ambler",
"Did he go to any other schools?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_3102145955634d83ad351982bf0759b3_1 | What did he do next in his life? | 5 | What did Mark Levin do next in his life? | Mark Levin | Mark Reed Levin, one of three boys, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Erdenheim as well as Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. His father, Jack E. Levin, is the author of several books. He graduated from Cheltenham High School after three years in 1974. After high school, Levin enrolled at Temple University Ambler and graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science in 1977 at age 19. Levin won election to the Cheltenham school board in 1977 on a platform of reducing property taxes. In 1980, Levin earned a J.D. from Temple University Beasley School of Law. Levin worked for Texas Instruments after law school. He is Jewish. Beginning in 1981, Levin served as an adviser to several members of President Ronald Reagan's cabinet, eventually becoming the associate director of presidential personnel and ultimately chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese; Levin also served as deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education, and deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior. He practiced law in the private sector and is president of Landmark Legal Foundation, a public interest law firm founded in 1976 with offices in Kansas City, Missouri and Leesburg, Virginia. Levin has participated in Freedom Concerts, an annual benefit concert to aid families of fallen soldiers, and uses his radio program to promote aid to military families. Levin is also involved with Troopathon, a charity that sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas. In 2001 the American Conservative Union awarded Levin its Ronald Reagan Award. He was awarded the inaugural Citizens United Andrew Breitbart Defender of the First Amendment Award at CPAC in 2014. Politico reported in 2014 that Levin was president of a legal non-profit and drew a salary of more than $300,000 a year. CANNOTANSWER | graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science | Mark Reed Levin (; born September 21, 1957) is an American lawyer, author, and radio personality. He is the host of syndicated radio show The Mark Levin Show, as well as Life, Liberty & Levin on Fox News. Levin worked in the administration of President Ronald Reagan and was a chief of staff for Attorney General Edwin Meese. He is the former president of the Landmark Legal Foundation, a New York Times best-selling author of seven books, and contributes commentary to media outlets such as National Review Online. Since 2015, Levin has been editor-in-chief of the Conservative Review and is known for his incendiary commentary.
He has been described as "right-wing" by The New York Times, CNN, NPR, and Politico. He is known for his incendiary criticisms of Democrats and encouragement of primary challenges to congressional Republicans that he considers to be "Republican In Name Only" (RINO). He endorsed Ted Cruz in the 2016 Republican presidential primary and declared himself "Never Trump", but reluctantly endorsed Donald Trump after Trump won the Republican nomination. Since the start of the Trump presidency, Levin's commentary has become strongly pro-Trump.
Early life and education
Mark Reed Levin, one of three boys, was born in Philadelphia to a Jewish family, and grew up in Erdenheim as well as Elkins Park. His father, Jack E. Levin (1925–2018), authored several books. He graduated from Cheltenham High School after three years, in 1974. Skipping his senior year of high school, Levin enrolled at Temple University Ambler and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science in 1977 at age 19. Later in 1977, Levin won election to the Cheltenham school board on a platform of reducing property taxes. In 1980, Levin earned a J.D. from Temple University School of Law.
Legal and political career
Levin worked for Texas Instruments after law school. Beginning in 1981, Levin worked in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. Levin began at ACTION, the federal agency that oversaw VISTA and other volunteer agencies, before serving as deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education and deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior. He ultimately became chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese.
After leaving the Reagan administration, Levin practiced law in the private sector. In 1991, Levin joined public interest law firm Landmark Legal Foundation. At Landmark, Levin served as director of legal policy and the foundation's Washington-based Center for Civil Rights before becoming president in 1997. Under Levin's presidency, Landmark Legal filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in 2000 alleging that the National Education Association, the largest teachers' union in the U.S., did not disclose spending on political activity in Internal Revenue Service documentation. Landmark Legal also filed similar complaints with the United States Department of Labor in 2002 regarding NEA and political activity; by 2006, the NEA and smaller American Federation of Teachers had filed new documents with the Labor Department revealing over $100 million combined in political action spending.
Following Freedom of Information Act requests in August 2012 of documents that would show if Environmental Protection Agency officials sought to delay regulations until after the 2012 presidential election, federal judge Royce Lamberth ruled in 2015 that although Landmark Legal did not establish that the EPA acted in bad faith, the EPA either carelessly or intentionally neglected Landmark's FOIA request. Lamberth previously ruled in 2013 that the EPA might have attempted to evade Landmark's FOIA request.
In 2001, the American Conservative Union awarded Levin its Ronald Reagan Award for his work with Landmark Legal.
Politico reported in 2014 that Levin received a salary of more than $300,000 per year as president of the non-profit Landmark Legal Foundation, whose donors include the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and ExxonMobil. In 2018, Levin stepped down as president of Landmark Legal but remained on its board of directors.
Radio broadcasting
Levin began his broadcasting career as a guest on conservative talk radio programs. For many years, he was a contributor of legal opinions to The Rush Limbaugh Show, appearing more regularly as the Monica Lewinsky scandal developed. About this time, Sean Hannity became aware of him, and he began to feature in Hannity's radio show. Eventually, Levin gained a radio slot of his own on WABC, initially on Sundays beginning in 2002, then in the timeslot following Hannity's program in 2003. Cumulus Media Networks began syndicating The Mark Levin Show nationally in 2006.
Levin has participated in Freedom Concerts, an annual benefit concert to aid families of fallen soldiers, and uses his radio program to promote aid to military families. Levin is also involved with Move America Forward, a charity that sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas.
On February 11, 2016, Levin signed a ten-year contract extension with Westwood One, which will take his show through 2025, its 19th year.
On November 16, 2018, he was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.
Television shows
Since 2014, Levin has been the founding editor-in-chief of Conservative Review, a multi-platform online television network that later merged with Glenn Beck's terrestrial network TheBlaze in 2018 to form Blaze Media. Programs airing on the network include Levin, Roaming Millennial, Truth Be Told, Allie, In the Woods with Phil, Kibbe on Liberty, Louder with Crowder, America Bolling, and more.
In November 2017, Fox News announced that it had signed Levin for a weekend show titled Life, Liberty & Levin to air on Sunday nights beginning in February 2018. According to a pre-debut network news release, the program's intention was to explore "the fundamental values and principles undergirding American society, culture, politics, and current events, and their relevance to the nation's future and everyday lives of citizens." Episodes feature one or two guests for the hour-long program discussing political events, news, and history.
Writer
Levin wrote the 2005 book Men In Black: How The Supreme Court Is Destroying America, in which he advanced his thesis that activist judges on the Supreme Court (from all parts of the political spectrum) have "legislated from the bench". Commentary magazine's Dan Seligman wrote that Levin asks readers "to identify with 'originalists' who look to the text of the Constitution and the intent of its framers, and to reject the 'activists' who construe the Constitution broadly and are more concerned with getting to their own 'desired outcomes'". Slate magazine's Dahlia Lithwick wrote that "no serious scholar of the court or the Constitution, on the ideological left or right, is going to waste their time engaging Levin's arguments once they've read this book".
Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover's Story of Joy and Anguish is a non-fiction work written by Levin in 2007 about his experience of rescuing a dog named Sprite from a local animal shelter.
Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto was released in 2009, and became a #1 New York Times best seller for eleven of twelve weeks, as well as No. 1 on Nielsen BookScan and No. 2 on Amazon.com's list of bestselling books of 2009. The book includes discussion of issues Levin believes need to be addressed in the United States. In Liberty and Tyranny Levin repudiates the use of the term "progressive" to describe "modern Liberals" and instead argues a proper term should be "Statist". Liberty and Tyranny has sold over one million copies according to Threshold Editions, the book's publisher. Andrew C. McCarthy, in The New Criterion, wrote, "Levin offers not so much a defense as a plan of attack" against "America's Leftist ascendancy". Other reviewers critiqued the book as "analysis utterly useless in understanding more than half of the American political landscape" while opining that "Levin resorts to the same old misinformation to sell his brand of conservatism".
Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America was issued in 2012. In Ameritopia, Levin discusses the origins and development of both the modern day conservative and liberal political philosophies, the latter of which he refers to as "statist", through the works of some of the leading figures in American history. Included are commentaries on works by Plato, Sir Thomas More, Thomas Hobbes, Karl Marx, John Locke, Charles de Montesquieu and Alexis de Tocqueville. Conor Friedersdorf's review, published in The Atlantic, criticized the text's argument that statism is based on utopianism, and Carlin Romano, in The Chronicle of Higher Education, wrote that "Ameritopia is really Ameritastrophe. It's disastrously bad from beginning to end."
In Levin's 2013 book The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic he suggests eleven new Constitutional amendments. The book debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Hans A. von Spakovsky of National Review Online called the book "required reading for conservative bloggers". Ana Marie Cox, writing in The Guardian, said the book "contains some radical notions about a complete overhaul of the US constitution, but to debate the specifics of their merits is to ignore the larger insanity of the project" while noting "the ludicrousness of his specific 'fixes' and the near-impossibility of achieving them". Also in The Washington Times, Richard W. Rahn wrote, "If The Liberty Amendments can help foster a national debate about which corrective actions, including constitutional amendments, are needed to increase liberty and prosperity, Mr. Levin will have performed a great national service". Hoover Institution fellow David Davenport wrote in Forbes that Levin's book used "weak arguments".
Levin's Plunder and Deceit: Big Government's Exploitation of Young People and the Future was published in 2015, and Rediscovering Americanism and the Tyranny of Progressivism in 2017.
Levin's Unfreedom of the Press, which was released on May 21, 2019, became the number one best-selling book on Amazon.com three days before its official release, as a result of pre-order sales. Unfreedom of the Press also became a New York Times #1 best-seller on June 6, 2019, in the combined print & e-book nonfiction and hardcover nonfiction categories. Lloyd Green was critical of the book in The Guardian writing that the book "is not exactly fan fiction but it can get ahead of itself when discussing the special counsel's conclusions, ending up sounding like the 'fake news' the author and Trump both purport to abhor." Annalisa Quinn, writing for NPR, stated: "the book is largely filler. Quotations and paraphrasing make up the majority of the book's central chapters. Lengthy and irrelevant block quotes from historians about, say, colonial printing practices... give the book the air of a padded student essay." Quinn also wrote, "[Levin] conducts no interviews, presents no original research, and visits no newsrooms", and "When Levin does offer his own analysis, it can approach parody." On June 8, 2019, Levin appeared on C-SPAN2's Book TV to discuss Unfreedom of the Press, "in which he argued that the press has lowered its standards in providing objective and trustworthy journalism."
In 2021, Levin published American Marxism, a book written in reaction to the events that have transpired so far in 2021 and also seeks to characterize the Marxist attributes of the American Left. As of November 14, 2021, the book had spent 16 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List for nonfiction.
Political views
A 2016 study which sought to measure incendiary discourse on talk radio and TV found that Levin scored highest on its measure of "outrage". The study looked at 10 prominent radio and television programs, known for incendiary discourse on political matters, and scored content on the basis of whether it used "emotional display", "misrepresentative exaggeration", "mockery", "conflagration", "slippery slope", "insulting" or "obscene language", and other factors, finding that Levin was the radio host who engaged in the most outrage. The study found that he utilized "outrage speech or behavior at a rate of more than one instance per minute." In How Democracies Die, Harvard University political scientists Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky write that Mark Levin was among the popular right-wing talk radio hosts who "helped to legitimate the use of uncivil discourse" in American politics, and contribute to the erosion of democratic norms. According to Politico, Levin has a "penchant for hysteria."
Views on politicians and other individuals
According to The Guardian, "constant attacks on Democrats and the left are important components" of Levin's modus operandi. According to Politico in May 2009, Levin pronounced "almost daily" that Obama "was a failure, a liar, and a 'statist' who is trying to destroy individual freedom." In June 2017, Levin accused Senator Bernie Sanders of being "a radical Marxist who believes in violence." According to Rutgers University political scientist Stephen Eric Bronner, Levin tends to use "socialism" as a "catch-all term to condemn any policy that strengthens the social welfare function of the state." In July 2014, he called Jon Stewart "a knee-jerk idiot", and suggested that Stewart was a self-hating Jew. He has stated that "Nancy Pelosi's politics comes as close to a form of modern-day fascism as I've ever seen". In January 2019, he said Pelosi was "America's first fascist. And that's a fact". Levin said the new Congressional Speaker had "hijacked" the federal government by deciding to block the financing of President Trump's border wall. Levin has also mocked how Pelosi looks, referred to Beto O'Rourke as a "weak man", and called Dick Blumenthal a "pathetic, loathsome liar."
He has criticized Republicans – including Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and Mitch McConnell – with whom he disagrees. He sometimes refers to such individuals as RINOs. Levin endorsed Orrin Hatch when he faced a primary challenge in 2012, but later apologized for his endorsement when Hatch said that he would be willing to support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Since then, he endorsed a number of Republican primary challengers to incumbent Republican senators. Levin supported the Tea Party Patriots' campaign to "fire" House Speaker John Boehner. Earlier in 2010, Levin criticized Glenn Beck for his criticism of congressional Republicans. He has referred to Mitt Romney as an "ass" and called CNN host Brian Stelter a "creep".
Levin supported U.S. Representative Mo Brooks in his campaign in the 2017 Alabama special election against incumbent Luther Strange, who had received a temporary appointment earlier that year.
Levin strongly defended former EPA head Scott Pruitt while he was under a dozen separate ethics investigations. Levin said Pruitt's "policies on the whole have been outstanding," and "I don't throw good people under the bus because the left targets them."
Sponsorship and conflicts of interest
During the 2012 election cycle, Levin's show was paid at least $757,000 in sponsorship by the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity to run ads for the group, a deal which began in the summer of 2010. After the sponsorship ended, Levin began making ads for the Tea Party Patriots. The Senate Conservatives Fund paid Simon & Schuster at least $427,000 for copies of Levin's Liberty or Tyranny in September and October 2013. During the same period, on his radio show and Facebook page, Levin frequently promoted the group, which has funded primary challengers of Senate Republicans. Levin did not disclose that the group had made $427,000 of purchases of his book.
Levin endorsed Orrin Hatch when Levin was being sponsored by Americans for Prosperity (AFP) which also endorsed Hatch. Levin withdrew his endorsement of Hatch when Levin was being sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots. Levin dismissed the allegations that he engages in "pay-to-play".
President Obama
In 2009, Levin described as "absolutely right" the statement by Sarah Palin that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) includes death panels to decide whether elderly people or sick children were worthy of medical care. In 2011, a caller to Levin's show, claiming to be a neurosurgeon, said that the Department of Health and Human Services had issued a document saying that people over age 70 would not be allowed to receive medical treatments. Levin said to the caller, "so Sarah Palin was right." The call was later revealed to be a hoax and the death panel claims were revealed to be false. In late 2013, Levin said there were similarities between a gathering of "hand-picked" supporters of the Affordable Care Act chosen by the Obama administration to Nazi Sturmabteilung or "Brownshirts" drawing comparisons of the propaganda techniques of the two groups.
Levin stated in 2013 that "the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated our government" and described President Obama as a Muslim Brotherhood "sympathizer". He speculated in November 2014 that, after the 2014 mid-term elections, Obama might go "full Mussolini".
In February 2015, Levin stated that President Obama was "seeking to destroy Israel" because "Obama has an affinity for Islam far more than Christianity or Judaism." He blamed Obama for the Ebola crisis: "the political policies of this administration which opens the door wide to people from the poorest parts of the world. We don't know who they are, we don't know if they have diseases."
WMDs in Iraq
In 2014, Levin claimed that the Bush administration's original WMD rationale for the Iraq War had been vindicated by citing reports of U.S. soldiers in Iraq that were wounded by the decayed remnants of Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons arsenal. The remnants in question were degraded and unusable chemical weapons shells from the 1980s. Levin faulted the Bush administration for not doing more to publicize these remnants of Iraq's former WMD program.
Donald Trump
In March 2016, Levin endorsed Ted Cruz for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Over a month after Donald Trump was nominated, in September 2016, Levin stated on this radio program that he would vote for Trump in the presidential election, following his declaration earlier that year that he was in the "Never Trump" camp and would never vote for Trump. He qualified his support by stating: "I take no responsibility for the dumb things he says or the dumb things his surrogates say."
Wiretap claim
In March 2017, Levin alleged that the Obama administration had used "police state" surveillance tactics against the Donald Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. The Associated Press said that Levin "voiced without evidence the idea that Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower". Levin protested the AP report vigorously, demanding a retraction and an apology on the grounds that his sources for the statement included The New York Times and other newspapers. His statement was reprinted by Breitbart News and reportedly became the basis of President Trump's unfounded Trump Tower wiretapping allegations. In September 2017, reports emerged of a court-ordered Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wiretap on Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort; while certain Trump supporters alleged that this surveillance vindicated Levin and Trump's unsupported assertions, The Atlantic commented: "This is not true – Trump claimed he had been the subject of Obama-ordered, politically motivated surveillance, for which there remains no evidence."
"Deep State" conspiracy theories
Levin has said that there is a "coup" occurring against the presidency of Donald Trump waged by Obama loyalists. Levin's coup claim was referring to investigations of the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and of alleged obstruction of justice by Trump. He has suggested that former FBI Director James Comey used the Trump-Russia dossier "to blackmail the president." He has claimed that Special Counsel Robert Mueller engaged in a "Deep State" coup against Trump.
In February 2018, Levin said the Nunes Memo shows "Hillary Clinton paid for a warrant" and "Hillary Clinton colluded with the Russians...it appears the FBI at the senior-most levels colluded with the Russians too".
In August 2018, Levin stated that Mueller is a "greater threat to this Republic and Constitution than anything Vladimir Putin did during the [2016] campaign". When the Attorney General Bill Barr issued his summary of Mueller's Special Counsel report considering Russian interference in the 2016 election, Levin called the second volume of the report "crap". Of the prosecutor he suggested: "Who gives a damn what the prosecutor said?" He insisted the special counsel was "not God. He is not a judge. He is not a jury!"
Trump–Ukraine scandal
After President Trump pressed the President of Ukraine to start an investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Levin strongly defended Trump's actions. Asked on Fox & Friends whether Levin was "okay" with Trump asking a foreign leader for "dirt" on Biden, Levin lashed out at the Fox & Friends host and repeatedly shouted there was "no problem" with what Trump did. Shortly thereafter, Trump praised Levin and retweeted more than 20 tweets by viewers praising Levin. Levin also accused Joe Biden of being the one who "did something illegal", though he did not provide evidence or any elaboration.
In October 2019, while Trump was the subject of the impeachment inquiry, Levin said that on his Blaze TV show: "While he's been president there hasn't even been a hint of scandal. Not a hint!" He was highly critical of Mitt Romney who increased his criticisms of President Trump during this period.
2020 election
Following the 2020 presidential election, as all significant media organizations reported Joe Biden had won, Levin told his radio audience, the Democrats were "stealing the election". He insisted on Twitter to his 2.4 million followers: "there's lots of evidence of voter fraud and election screw-ups." On the same platform, on November 5, Levin called on Republican-controlled state legislatures to disregard the results of the 2020 election and send electors to the Electoral College who would vote for Trump. The suggestion was retweeted by Donald Trump Jr.
He praised Sidney Powell, a member of Trump's legal team, for what he considered to be her patriotism after she promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and sought to overturn election results. He frequently had guests on his show who led the audience to think Joe Biden's win in the presidential election could be overturned.
On January 5, 2021, Levin insisted Congress's imminent counting of the Electoral College votes was an act of "tyranny" because of the supposed fraud. He told his listeners, "If we don't fight on Jan. 6 on the floor of the Senate and the House... then we are done." Following the next day's storming of the Capitol in Washington, he continued in the same vein. "It appears nothing has changed in 24 hours... Not a damn thing. The never-Trumpers, the RINOs, the media — same damn thing," although he was critical of the rioters. Meanwhile, on the same day as the riot, Cumulus Media circulated a memo instructing its presenters, a roster which includes Levin, to cease implying the 2020 presidential election was stolen or face the end of the right to broadcast via Cumulus.
COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Levin downplayed the threat of the virus, arguing that the media was overreacting and that the death toll from the flu was higher than the coronavirus.
Personal life
Levin suffered a heart attack in 2000 and had open heart surgery. On the June 13, 2021 episode of Life, Liberty and Levin, he mentioned he has heart disease.
He was married to Kendall Levin and they divorced. He is currently married to Julie Prince.
Selected publications
Levin, M. R. (2005). Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America. Regnery Publishing
Levin, M. R. (2007). Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover’s Story of Joy and Anguish (1st ed.). Pocket Books
Levin, M. R. (2010). Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2012). Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2014). The Liberty Amendments (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2019). Unfreedom of the Press. Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2021). American Marxism. Threshold Editions
References
External links
The Mark Levin Show official website
Landmark Legal Foundation
Levin TV at YouTube
American broadcast news analysts
American columnists
American conservative talk radio hosts
American male non-fiction writers
American media critics
American political commentators
American political writers
American social commentators
American Zionists
Blaze Media people
Fox News people
Jewish American attorneys
Jewish American writers
Living people
National Review people
People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
People from Leesburg, Virginia
People from Reston, Virginia
People from Santa Clara County, California
Radio personalities from Philadelphia
Reagan administration personnel
School board members in Pennsylvania
Temple University alumni
Temple University Beasley School of Law alumni
The American Spectator people
United States Department of Education officials
Virginia lawyers
Writers from Philadelphia
1957 births
American critics of Islam | false | [
"Daniel S. Burt is an American author and literary critic.\n\nCareer\n\nDaniel S. Burt, Ph.D. received his doctorate in English and American Literature with a specialization in Victorian fiction from New York University. He taught undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in writing and literature at New York University, Wesleyan University, Trinity College, Northeastern University, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and Cape Cod Community College. At Wentworth Institute of Technology, he served as a dean for almost a decade. During his time at New York University, he was director of the NYU in London program, wherein he traveled with students to Russia, Spain, Britain and Ireland. \n\nSince 2003, Burt has served as the Academic Director for the Irish Academic Enrichment Workshops, which are held in Ireland every summer.\n\nBibliography\n\nThe Literary 100: A Ranking Of The Most Influential Novelists, Playwrights, And Poets Of All Time. Checkmark Books. October 1, 1999.\nThe Biography Book: A Reader's Guide To Nonfiction, Fictional, And Film Biographies Of More Than 500 Of The Most Fascinating Individuals Of All Time. Oryx Press. February 1, 2001.\nThe Novel 100: A Ranking Of The Greatest Novels Of All Time. Checkmark Books. November 1, 2003.\nThe Chronology of American Literature: America's Literary Achievements from the Colonial Era to Modern Times. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. February 10, 2004.\nThe Drama 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Plays of All Time. Checkmark Books. December 1, 2007.\nThe Handy Literature Answer Book: An Engaging Guide to Unraveling Symbols, Signs and Meanings in Great Works with Deborah G. Felder. Visible Ink Press. July 1, 2018.\n\nWhat Do I Read Next? Series \n\n What Historical Novel Do I Read Next? Gale Cengage.1997.\nWhat Do I Read Next? 2000, Volume 1 with Neil Barron. Gale Cengage. June 1, 2000.\nWhat Fantastic Fiction Do I Read Next? 2001, Volume 1 with Neil Barron and Tom Barton. Gale Cengage. June 1, 2001. \nWhat Do I Read Next? 2003, Volume 2 with Neil Barron and Tom Barton. Gale Cengage. October 17, 20013.\nWhat Do I Read Next? 2005, Volume 1 with Neil Barron and Tom Barton. Thomson Gale. May 27, 2005.\nWhat Do I Read Next? 2005, Volume 2 with Neil Barron. Gale. October 21, 2005. \nWhat Do I Read Next? 2006, Volume 1 with Neil Barron and Tom Barton. Thomson Gale. May 25, 2006.\n What Do I Read Next? 2007, Volume 1 with Natalie Danford and Don D'Ammassa. Gale Cengage. June 8, 2007.\nWhat Do I Read Next? 2007, Volume 2: A Reader's Guide to Current Genre Fiction with Don D'Ammassa, Natalie Danford, Stefan R. Dziemianowicz, Jim Huang, and Melissa Hudak. Gale Cengage. October 19, 2007. \nWhat Do I Read Next? 2008, Volume 1 with Natalie Danford and Don D'Ammassa. Gale. May 23, 2008. \n What Do I Read Next? 2009. Volume 1 with Michelle Kazensky, Marie Toft, and Hazel Rumney. Gale Cengage. June 12, 2009.\nWhat Do I Read Next? 2010, Volume 1 with Neil Barron. Gale. 2010.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \nBibliography on GoodReads\n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nAmerican male non-fiction writers\nAmerican literary critics\nNew York University alumni\nWesleyan University faculty",
"The Katy series is a set of novels by Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, writing under the pen-name of Susan Coolidge. The first in the series, What Katy Did, was published in 1872 and followed the next year by What Katy Did at School. What Katy Did Next was released in 1886. Two further novels, Clover (1888) and In the High Valley (1890), focused upon other members of the eponymous character's family. The series was popular with readers in the late 19th century.\n\nThe series was later adapted into a TV series entitled Katy in 1962, and two films, one also called Katy in 1972 and What Katy Did in 1999.\n\nNovels\n What Katy Did\n What Katy Did at School\n What Katy Did Next\n Clover\n In the High Valley\n\nAdaptions\n Katy (TV series, 1962)\n Katy (film, 1972)\n What Katy Did (film, 1999)\n\nLiterary Criticism\nCritics are divided about how much the series played into period gender norms and often compare the series to Little Women. Foster and Simmons argue for its subversion of gender in their book What Katy Read: Feminist Re-Readings of ‘Classic’ Stories for Girls by suggesting the series “deconstructs family hierarchies”.\n\nInfluence\nThe series is unusual for its time by having an entry which focuses not on the family life at home but at school in What Katy Did at School.\n\nIn a 1995 survey, What Katy Did was voted as one of the top 10 books for 12-year-old girls.\n\nSee also\n\nSarah Chauncey Woolsey\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nSeries details at Fantastic Fiction\n\nKaty series\n1870s novels\nNovel series\nSeries of children's books\nNovels by Susan Coolidge\n1880s novels\n1890s novels\n1962 American television series debuts\n1972 films\n1999 films"
]
|
[
"Mark Levin",
"Biography",
"Where was Mark Levin from?",
"Philadelphia,",
"Where did he graduate from?",
"Cheltenham High School",
"Did he go to college?",
"Temple University Ambler",
"Did he go to any other schools?",
"I don't know.",
"What did he do next in his life?",
"graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science"
]
| C_3102145955634d83ad351982bf0759b3_1 | What type of work did he do? | 6 | What type of work did Mark Levin do? | Mark Levin | Mark Reed Levin, one of three boys, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Erdenheim as well as Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. His father, Jack E. Levin, is the author of several books. He graduated from Cheltenham High School after three years in 1974. After high school, Levin enrolled at Temple University Ambler and graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science in 1977 at age 19. Levin won election to the Cheltenham school board in 1977 on a platform of reducing property taxes. In 1980, Levin earned a J.D. from Temple University Beasley School of Law. Levin worked for Texas Instruments after law school. He is Jewish. Beginning in 1981, Levin served as an adviser to several members of President Ronald Reagan's cabinet, eventually becoming the associate director of presidential personnel and ultimately chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese; Levin also served as deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education, and deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior. He practiced law in the private sector and is president of Landmark Legal Foundation, a public interest law firm founded in 1976 with offices in Kansas City, Missouri and Leesburg, Virginia. Levin has participated in Freedom Concerts, an annual benefit concert to aid families of fallen soldiers, and uses his radio program to promote aid to military families. Levin is also involved with Troopathon, a charity that sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas. In 2001 the American Conservative Union awarded Levin its Ronald Reagan Award. He was awarded the inaugural Citizens United Andrew Breitbart Defender of the First Amendment Award at CPAC in 2014. Politico reported in 2014 that Levin was president of a legal non-profit and drew a salary of more than $300,000 a year. CANNOTANSWER | Beginning in 1981, Levin served as an adviser to several members of President Ronald Reagan's cabinet, | Mark Reed Levin (; born September 21, 1957) is an American lawyer, author, and radio personality. He is the host of syndicated radio show The Mark Levin Show, as well as Life, Liberty & Levin on Fox News. Levin worked in the administration of President Ronald Reagan and was a chief of staff for Attorney General Edwin Meese. He is the former president of the Landmark Legal Foundation, a New York Times best-selling author of seven books, and contributes commentary to media outlets such as National Review Online. Since 2015, Levin has been editor-in-chief of the Conservative Review and is known for his incendiary commentary.
He has been described as "right-wing" by The New York Times, CNN, NPR, and Politico. He is known for his incendiary criticisms of Democrats and encouragement of primary challenges to congressional Republicans that he considers to be "Republican In Name Only" (RINO). He endorsed Ted Cruz in the 2016 Republican presidential primary and declared himself "Never Trump", but reluctantly endorsed Donald Trump after Trump won the Republican nomination. Since the start of the Trump presidency, Levin's commentary has become strongly pro-Trump.
Early life and education
Mark Reed Levin, one of three boys, was born in Philadelphia to a Jewish family, and grew up in Erdenheim as well as Elkins Park. His father, Jack E. Levin (1925–2018), authored several books. He graduated from Cheltenham High School after three years, in 1974. Skipping his senior year of high school, Levin enrolled at Temple University Ambler and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science in 1977 at age 19. Later in 1977, Levin won election to the Cheltenham school board on a platform of reducing property taxes. In 1980, Levin earned a J.D. from Temple University School of Law.
Legal and political career
Levin worked for Texas Instruments after law school. Beginning in 1981, Levin worked in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. Levin began at ACTION, the federal agency that oversaw VISTA and other volunteer agencies, before serving as deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education and deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior. He ultimately became chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese.
After leaving the Reagan administration, Levin practiced law in the private sector. In 1991, Levin joined public interest law firm Landmark Legal Foundation. At Landmark, Levin served as director of legal policy and the foundation's Washington-based Center for Civil Rights before becoming president in 1997. Under Levin's presidency, Landmark Legal filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in 2000 alleging that the National Education Association, the largest teachers' union in the U.S., did not disclose spending on political activity in Internal Revenue Service documentation. Landmark Legal also filed similar complaints with the United States Department of Labor in 2002 regarding NEA and political activity; by 2006, the NEA and smaller American Federation of Teachers had filed new documents with the Labor Department revealing over $100 million combined in political action spending.
Following Freedom of Information Act requests in August 2012 of documents that would show if Environmental Protection Agency officials sought to delay regulations until after the 2012 presidential election, federal judge Royce Lamberth ruled in 2015 that although Landmark Legal did not establish that the EPA acted in bad faith, the EPA either carelessly or intentionally neglected Landmark's FOIA request. Lamberth previously ruled in 2013 that the EPA might have attempted to evade Landmark's FOIA request.
In 2001, the American Conservative Union awarded Levin its Ronald Reagan Award for his work with Landmark Legal.
Politico reported in 2014 that Levin received a salary of more than $300,000 per year as president of the non-profit Landmark Legal Foundation, whose donors include the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and ExxonMobil. In 2018, Levin stepped down as president of Landmark Legal but remained on its board of directors.
Radio broadcasting
Levin began his broadcasting career as a guest on conservative talk radio programs. For many years, he was a contributor of legal opinions to The Rush Limbaugh Show, appearing more regularly as the Monica Lewinsky scandal developed. About this time, Sean Hannity became aware of him, and he began to feature in Hannity's radio show. Eventually, Levin gained a radio slot of his own on WABC, initially on Sundays beginning in 2002, then in the timeslot following Hannity's program in 2003. Cumulus Media Networks began syndicating The Mark Levin Show nationally in 2006.
Levin has participated in Freedom Concerts, an annual benefit concert to aid families of fallen soldiers, and uses his radio program to promote aid to military families. Levin is also involved with Move America Forward, a charity that sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas.
On February 11, 2016, Levin signed a ten-year contract extension with Westwood One, which will take his show through 2025, its 19th year.
On November 16, 2018, he was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.
Television shows
Since 2014, Levin has been the founding editor-in-chief of Conservative Review, a multi-platform online television network that later merged with Glenn Beck's terrestrial network TheBlaze in 2018 to form Blaze Media. Programs airing on the network include Levin, Roaming Millennial, Truth Be Told, Allie, In the Woods with Phil, Kibbe on Liberty, Louder with Crowder, America Bolling, and more.
In November 2017, Fox News announced that it had signed Levin for a weekend show titled Life, Liberty & Levin to air on Sunday nights beginning in February 2018. According to a pre-debut network news release, the program's intention was to explore "the fundamental values and principles undergirding American society, culture, politics, and current events, and their relevance to the nation's future and everyday lives of citizens." Episodes feature one or two guests for the hour-long program discussing political events, news, and history.
Writer
Levin wrote the 2005 book Men In Black: How The Supreme Court Is Destroying America, in which he advanced his thesis that activist judges on the Supreme Court (from all parts of the political spectrum) have "legislated from the bench". Commentary magazine's Dan Seligman wrote that Levin asks readers "to identify with 'originalists' who look to the text of the Constitution and the intent of its framers, and to reject the 'activists' who construe the Constitution broadly and are more concerned with getting to their own 'desired outcomes'". Slate magazine's Dahlia Lithwick wrote that "no serious scholar of the court or the Constitution, on the ideological left or right, is going to waste their time engaging Levin's arguments once they've read this book".
Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover's Story of Joy and Anguish is a non-fiction work written by Levin in 2007 about his experience of rescuing a dog named Sprite from a local animal shelter.
Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto was released in 2009, and became a #1 New York Times best seller for eleven of twelve weeks, as well as No. 1 on Nielsen BookScan and No. 2 on Amazon.com's list of bestselling books of 2009. The book includes discussion of issues Levin believes need to be addressed in the United States. In Liberty and Tyranny Levin repudiates the use of the term "progressive" to describe "modern Liberals" and instead argues a proper term should be "Statist". Liberty and Tyranny has sold over one million copies according to Threshold Editions, the book's publisher. Andrew C. McCarthy, in The New Criterion, wrote, "Levin offers not so much a defense as a plan of attack" against "America's Leftist ascendancy". Other reviewers critiqued the book as "analysis utterly useless in understanding more than half of the American political landscape" while opining that "Levin resorts to the same old misinformation to sell his brand of conservatism".
Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America was issued in 2012. In Ameritopia, Levin discusses the origins and development of both the modern day conservative and liberal political philosophies, the latter of which he refers to as "statist", through the works of some of the leading figures in American history. Included are commentaries on works by Plato, Sir Thomas More, Thomas Hobbes, Karl Marx, John Locke, Charles de Montesquieu and Alexis de Tocqueville. Conor Friedersdorf's review, published in The Atlantic, criticized the text's argument that statism is based on utopianism, and Carlin Romano, in The Chronicle of Higher Education, wrote that "Ameritopia is really Ameritastrophe. It's disastrously bad from beginning to end."
In Levin's 2013 book The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic he suggests eleven new Constitutional amendments. The book debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Hans A. von Spakovsky of National Review Online called the book "required reading for conservative bloggers". Ana Marie Cox, writing in The Guardian, said the book "contains some radical notions about a complete overhaul of the US constitution, but to debate the specifics of their merits is to ignore the larger insanity of the project" while noting "the ludicrousness of his specific 'fixes' and the near-impossibility of achieving them". Also in The Washington Times, Richard W. Rahn wrote, "If The Liberty Amendments can help foster a national debate about which corrective actions, including constitutional amendments, are needed to increase liberty and prosperity, Mr. Levin will have performed a great national service". Hoover Institution fellow David Davenport wrote in Forbes that Levin's book used "weak arguments".
Levin's Plunder and Deceit: Big Government's Exploitation of Young People and the Future was published in 2015, and Rediscovering Americanism and the Tyranny of Progressivism in 2017.
Levin's Unfreedom of the Press, which was released on May 21, 2019, became the number one best-selling book on Amazon.com three days before its official release, as a result of pre-order sales. Unfreedom of the Press also became a New York Times #1 best-seller on June 6, 2019, in the combined print & e-book nonfiction and hardcover nonfiction categories. Lloyd Green was critical of the book in The Guardian writing that the book "is not exactly fan fiction but it can get ahead of itself when discussing the special counsel's conclusions, ending up sounding like the 'fake news' the author and Trump both purport to abhor." Annalisa Quinn, writing for NPR, stated: "the book is largely filler. Quotations and paraphrasing make up the majority of the book's central chapters. Lengthy and irrelevant block quotes from historians about, say, colonial printing practices... give the book the air of a padded student essay." Quinn also wrote, "[Levin] conducts no interviews, presents no original research, and visits no newsrooms", and "When Levin does offer his own analysis, it can approach parody." On June 8, 2019, Levin appeared on C-SPAN2's Book TV to discuss Unfreedom of the Press, "in which he argued that the press has lowered its standards in providing objective and trustworthy journalism."
In 2021, Levin published American Marxism, a book written in reaction to the events that have transpired so far in 2021 and also seeks to characterize the Marxist attributes of the American Left. As of November 14, 2021, the book had spent 16 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List for nonfiction.
Political views
A 2016 study which sought to measure incendiary discourse on talk radio and TV found that Levin scored highest on its measure of "outrage". The study looked at 10 prominent radio and television programs, known for incendiary discourse on political matters, and scored content on the basis of whether it used "emotional display", "misrepresentative exaggeration", "mockery", "conflagration", "slippery slope", "insulting" or "obscene language", and other factors, finding that Levin was the radio host who engaged in the most outrage. The study found that he utilized "outrage speech or behavior at a rate of more than one instance per minute." In How Democracies Die, Harvard University political scientists Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky write that Mark Levin was among the popular right-wing talk radio hosts who "helped to legitimate the use of uncivil discourse" in American politics, and contribute to the erosion of democratic norms. According to Politico, Levin has a "penchant for hysteria."
Views on politicians and other individuals
According to The Guardian, "constant attacks on Democrats and the left are important components" of Levin's modus operandi. According to Politico in May 2009, Levin pronounced "almost daily" that Obama "was a failure, a liar, and a 'statist' who is trying to destroy individual freedom." In June 2017, Levin accused Senator Bernie Sanders of being "a radical Marxist who believes in violence." According to Rutgers University political scientist Stephen Eric Bronner, Levin tends to use "socialism" as a "catch-all term to condemn any policy that strengthens the social welfare function of the state." In July 2014, he called Jon Stewart "a knee-jerk idiot", and suggested that Stewart was a self-hating Jew. He has stated that "Nancy Pelosi's politics comes as close to a form of modern-day fascism as I've ever seen". In January 2019, he said Pelosi was "America's first fascist. And that's a fact". Levin said the new Congressional Speaker had "hijacked" the federal government by deciding to block the financing of President Trump's border wall. Levin has also mocked how Pelosi looks, referred to Beto O'Rourke as a "weak man", and called Dick Blumenthal a "pathetic, loathsome liar."
He has criticized Republicans – including Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and Mitch McConnell – with whom he disagrees. He sometimes refers to such individuals as RINOs. Levin endorsed Orrin Hatch when he faced a primary challenge in 2012, but later apologized for his endorsement when Hatch said that he would be willing to support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Since then, he endorsed a number of Republican primary challengers to incumbent Republican senators. Levin supported the Tea Party Patriots' campaign to "fire" House Speaker John Boehner. Earlier in 2010, Levin criticized Glenn Beck for his criticism of congressional Republicans. He has referred to Mitt Romney as an "ass" and called CNN host Brian Stelter a "creep".
Levin supported U.S. Representative Mo Brooks in his campaign in the 2017 Alabama special election against incumbent Luther Strange, who had received a temporary appointment earlier that year.
Levin strongly defended former EPA head Scott Pruitt while he was under a dozen separate ethics investigations. Levin said Pruitt's "policies on the whole have been outstanding," and "I don't throw good people under the bus because the left targets them."
Sponsorship and conflicts of interest
During the 2012 election cycle, Levin's show was paid at least $757,000 in sponsorship by the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity to run ads for the group, a deal which began in the summer of 2010. After the sponsorship ended, Levin began making ads for the Tea Party Patriots. The Senate Conservatives Fund paid Simon & Schuster at least $427,000 for copies of Levin's Liberty or Tyranny in September and October 2013. During the same period, on his radio show and Facebook page, Levin frequently promoted the group, which has funded primary challengers of Senate Republicans. Levin did not disclose that the group had made $427,000 of purchases of his book.
Levin endorsed Orrin Hatch when Levin was being sponsored by Americans for Prosperity (AFP) which also endorsed Hatch. Levin withdrew his endorsement of Hatch when Levin was being sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots. Levin dismissed the allegations that he engages in "pay-to-play".
President Obama
In 2009, Levin described as "absolutely right" the statement by Sarah Palin that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) includes death panels to decide whether elderly people or sick children were worthy of medical care. In 2011, a caller to Levin's show, claiming to be a neurosurgeon, said that the Department of Health and Human Services had issued a document saying that people over age 70 would not be allowed to receive medical treatments. Levin said to the caller, "so Sarah Palin was right." The call was later revealed to be a hoax and the death panel claims were revealed to be false. In late 2013, Levin said there were similarities between a gathering of "hand-picked" supporters of the Affordable Care Act chosen by the Obama administration to Nazi Sturmabteilung or "Brownshirts" drawing comparisons of the propaganda techniques of the two groups.
Levin stated in 2013 that "the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated our government" and described President Obama as a Muslim Brotherhood "sympathizer". He speculated in November 2014 that, after the 2014 mid-term elections, Obama might go "full Mussolini".
In February 2015, Levin stated that President Obama was "seeking to destroy Israel" because "Obama has an affinity for Islam far more than Christianity or Judaism." He blamed Obama for the Ebola crisis: "the political policies of this administration which opens the door wide to people from the poorest parts of the world. We don't know who they are, we don't know if they have diseases."
WMDs in Iraq
In 2014, Levin claimed that the Bush administration's original WMD rationale for the Iraq War had been vindicated by citing reports of U.S. soldiers in Iraq that were wounded by the decayed remnants of Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons arsenal. The remnants in question were degraded and unusable chemical weapons shells from the 1980s. Levin faulted the Bush administration for not doing more to publicize these remnants of Iraq's former WMD program.
Donald Trump
In March 2016, Levin endorsed Ted Cruz for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Over a month after Donald Trump was nominated, in September 2016, Levin stated on this radio program that he would vote for Trump in the presidential election, following his declaration earlier that year that he was in the "Never Trump" camp and would never vote for Trump. He qualified his support by stating: "I take no responsibility for the dumb things he says or the dumb things his surrogates say."
Wiretap claim
In March 2017, Levin alleged that the Obama administration had used "police state" surveillance tactics against the Donald Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. The Associated Press said that Levin "voiced without evidence the idea that Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower". Levin protested the AP report vigorously, demanding a retraction and an apology on the grounds that his sources for the statement included The New York Times and other newspapers. His statement was reprinted by Breitbart News and reportedly became the basis of President Trump's unfounded Trump Tower wiretapping allegations. In September 2017, reports emerged of a court-ordered Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wiretap on Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort; while certain Trump supporters alleged that this surveillance vindicated Levin and Trump's unsupported assertions, The Atlantic commented: "This is not true – Trump claimed he had been the subject of Obama-ordered, politically motivated surveillance, for which there remains no evidence."
"Deep State" conspiracy theories
Levin has said that there is a "coup" occurring against the presidency of Donald Trump waged by Obama loyalists. Levin's coup claim was referring to investigations of the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and of alleged obstruction of justice by Trump. He has suggested that former FBI Director James Comey used the Trump-Russia dossier "to blackmail the president." He has claimed that Special Counsel Robert Mueller engaged in a "Deep State" coup against Trump.
In February 2018, Levin said the Nunes Memo shows "Hillary Clinton paid for a warrant" and "Hillary Clinton colluded with the Russians...it appears the FBI at the senior-most levels colluded with the Russians too".
In August 2018, Levin stated that Mueller is a "greater threat to this Republic and Constitution than anything Vladimir Putin did during the [2016] campaign". When the Attorney General Bill Barr issued his summary of Mueller's Special Counsel report considering Russian interference in the 2016 election, Levin called the second volume of the report "crap". Of the prosecutor he suggested: "Who gives a damn what the prosecutor said?" He insisted the special counsel was "not God. He is not a judge. He is not a jury!"
Trump–Ukraine scandal
After President Trump pressed the President of Ukraine to start an investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Levin strongly defended Trump's actions. Asked on Fox & Friends whether Levin was "okay" with Trump asking a foreign leader for "dirt" on Biden, Levin lashed out at the Fox & Friends host and repeatedly shouted there was "no problem" with what Trump did. Shortly thereafter, Trump praised Levin and retweeted more than 20 tweets by viewers praising Levin. Levin also accused Joe Biden of being the one who "did something illegal", though he did not provide evidence or any elaboration.
In October 2019, while Trump was the subject of the impeachment inquiry, Levin said that on his Blaze TV show: "While he's been president there hasn't even been a hint of scandal. Not a hint!" He was highly critical of Mitt Romney who increased his criticisms of President Trump during this period.
2020 election
Following the 2020 presidential election, as all significant media organizations reported Joe Biden had won, Levin told his radio audience, the Democrats were "stealing the election". He insisted on Twitter to his 2.4 million followers: "there's lots of evidence of voter fraud and election screw-ups." On the same platform, on November 5, Levin called on Republican-controlled state legislatures to disregard the results of the 2020 election and send electors to the Electoral College who would vote for Trump. The suggestion was retweeted by Donald Trump Jr.
He praised Sidney Powell, a member of Trump's legal team, for what he considered to be her patriotism after she promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and sought to overturn election results. He frequently had guests on his show who led the audience to think Joe Biden's win in the presidential election could be overturned.
On January 5, 2021, Levin insisted Congress's imminent counting of the Electoral College votes was an act of "tyranny" because of the supposed fraud. He told his listeners, "If we don't fight on Jan. 6 on the floor of the Senate and the House... then we are done." Following the next day's storming of the Capitol in Washington, he continued in the same vein. "It appears nothing has changed in 24 hours... Not a damn thing. The never-Trumpers, the RINOs, the media — same damn thing," although he was critical of the rioters. Meanwhile, on the same day as the riot, Cumulus Media circulated a memo instructing its presenters, a roster which includes Levin, to cease implying the 2020 presidential election was stolen or face the end of the right to broadcast via Cumulus.
COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Levin downplayed the threat of the virus, arguing that the media was overreacting and that the death toll from the flu was higher than the coronavirus.
Personal life
Levin suffered a heart attack in 2000 and had open heart surgery. On the June 13, 2021 episode of Life, Liberty and Levin, he mentioned he has heart disease.
He was married to Kendall Levin and they divorced. He is currently married to Julie Prince.
Selected publications
Levin, M. R. (2005). Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America. Regnery Publishing
Levin, M. R. (2007). Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover’s Story of Joy and Anguish (1st ed.). Pocket Books
Levin, M. R. (2010). Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2012). Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2014). The Liberty Amendments (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2019). Unfreedom of the Press. Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2021). American Marxism. Threshold Editions
References
External links
The Mark Levin Show official website
Landmark Legal Foundation
Levin TV at YouTube
American broadcast news analysts
American columnists
American conservative talk radio hosts
American male non-fiction writers
American media critics
American political commentators
American political writers
American social commentators
American Zionists
Blaze Media people
Fox News people
Jewish American attorneys
Jewish American writers
Living people
National Review people
People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
People from Leesburg, Virginia
People from Reston, Virginia
People from Santa Clara County, California
Radio personalities from Philadelphia
Reagan administration personnel
School board members in Pennsylvania
Temple University alumni
Temple University Beasley School of Law alumni
The American Spectator people
United States Department of Education officials
Virginia lawyers
Writers from Philadelphia
1957 births
American critics of Islam | false | [
"\n\nTrack listing\n Opening Overture\n \"I Get a Kick Out of You\" (Cole Porter)\n \"You Are the Sunshine of My Life\" (Stevie Wonder)\n \"You Will Be My Music\" (Joe Raposo)\n \"Don't Worry 'bout Me\" (Ted Koehler, Rube Bloom)\n \"If\" (David Gates)\n \"Bad, Bad Leroy Brown\" (Jim Croce)\n \"Ol' Man River\" (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II)\n Famous Monologue\n Saloon Trilogy: \"Last Night When We Were Young\"/\"Violets for Your Furs\"/\"Here's That Rainy Day\" (Harold Arlen, E.Y. Harburg)/(Matt Dennis, Tom Adair)/(Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke)\n \"I've Got You Under My Skin\" (Porter)\n \"My Kind of Town\" (Sammy Cahn, Van Heusen)\n \"Let Me Try Again\" (Paul Anka, Cahn, Michel Jourdan)\n \"The Lady Is a Tramp\" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)\n \"My Way\" (Anka, Claude Francois, Jacques Revaux, Gilles Thibaut)\n\nFrank Sinatra's Monologue About the Australian Press\nI do believe this is my interval, as we say... We've been having a marvelous time being chased around the country for three days. You know, I think it's worth mentioning because it's so idiotic, it's so ridiculous what's been happening. We came all the way to Australia because I chose to come here. I haven't been here for a long time and I wanted to come back for a few days. Wait now, wait. I'm not buttering anybody at all. I don't have to. I really don't have to. I like coming here. I like the people. I love your attitude. I like the booze and the beer and everything else that comes into the scene. I also like the way the country's growing and it's a swinging place.\n\nSo we come here and what happens? We gotta run all day long because of the parasites who chase us with automobiles. That's dangerous, too, on the road, you know. Might cause an accident. They won't quit. They wonder why I won't talk to them. I wouldn't drink their water, let alone talk to them. And if any of you folks in the press are in the audience, please quote me properly. Don't mix it up, do it exactly as I'm saying it, please. Write it down very clearly. One idiot called me up and he wanted to know what I had for breakfast. What the hell does he care what I had for breakfast? I was about to tell him what I did after breakfast. Oh, boy, they're murder! We have a name in the States for their counterparts: They're called parasites. Because they take and take and take and never give, absolutely, never give. I don't care what you think about any press in the world, I say they're bums and they'll always be bums, everyone of them. There are just a few exceptions to the rule. Some good editorial writers who don't go out in the street and chase people around. Critics don't bother me, because if I do badly, I know I'm bad before they even write it, and if I'm good, I know I'm good before they write it. It's true. I know best about myself. So, a critic is a critic. He doesn't anger me. It's the scandal man who bugs you, drives you crazy. It's the two-bit-type work that they do. They're pimps. They're just crazy, you know. And the broads who work in the press are the hookers of the press. Need I explain that to you? I might offer them a buck and a half... I'm not sure. I once gave a chick in Washington $2 and I overpaid her, I found out. She didn't even bathe. Imagine what that was like, ha, ha.\n\nNow, it's a good thing I'm not angry. Really. It's a good thing I'm not angry. I couldn't care less. The press of the world never made a person a star who was untalented, nor did they ever hurt any artist who was talented. So we, who have God-given talent, say, \"To hell with them.\" It doesn't make any difference, you know. And I want to say one more thing. From what I see what's happened since I was last here... what, 16 years ago? Twelve years ago. From what I've seen to happen with the type of news that they print in this town shocked me. And do you know what is devastating? It's old-fashioned. It was done in America and England twenty years ago. And they're catching up with it now, with the scandal sheet. They're rags, that's what they are. You use them to train your dog and your parrot. What else do I have to say? Oh, I guess that's it. That'll keep them talking to themselves for a while. I think most of them are a bunch of fags anyway. Never did a hard day's work in their life. I love when they say, \"What do you mean, you won't stand still when I take your picture?\" All of a sudden, they're God. We gotta do what they want us to do. It's incredible. A pox on them... Now, let's get down to some serious business here...\n\nSee also\nConcerts of Frank Sinatra\n\nFrank Sinatra",
"Matthews v Kent & Medway Towns Fire Authority [2006] UKHL 8 is a UK labour law case concerning discrimination of part-time workers, and justifications.\n\nFacts\nPart and full-time fire fighters were being paid differently, and claimed unlawful discrimination under the PTWR 2000. Full-time firefighters responded to emergencies and were engaged in educational, preventive and administrative tasks, while part-time firefighters did not do the administrative work.\n\nThe Employment Tribunal held that the full-time firefighters fell under regulation 2(3)(a) and the part-time firefighters under regulation 2(3)(d), nor did they do broadly similar work under regulation 4(a)(ii). The EAT upheld the Tribunal. The Court of Appeal held that they had had the same kind of contract under regulation 2(3), because the categories were meant to be mutually exclusive. However, the appeal was still dismissed because the firefighters did not do the same or broadly similar work under regulation 4(a).\n\nJudgment\nThe House of Lords held by a majority that the two requirements for comparability are that there is the same type of contract being used (not the same terms) or a broadly similar kind of work being done. The Directive clause 3(2) indicated the broad nature of the inquiry. Four held there was the same contract type, and three held there was the same kind of work. The majority held the firefighters were all in category of regulation 2(3)(a). It did not matter under regulation 2(4)(a)(ii) that the full-time fire fighters did a few extra tasks, because their jobs were still broadly similar. The case was remitted to the tribunal to be finalised.\n\nLady Hale remarked, ‘in answering [the question of broad similarity] particular weight should be given to the extent to which their work is in fact the same and to the importance of that work to the enterprise as a whole. Otherwise one runs the risk of giving too much weight to differences which are the almost inevitable result of one worker working full-time’\n\nLord Carswell and Lord Mance dissented.\n\nSee also\n\nUK labour law\nUK employment equality law\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nUnited Kingdom labour case law\nHouse of Lords cases\n2006 in case law\n2006 in British law"
]
|
[
"Mark Levin",
"Biography",
"Where was Mark Levin from?",
"Philadelphia,",
"Where did he graduate from?",
"Cheltenham High School",
"Did he go to college?",
"Temple University Ambler",
"Did he go to any other schools?",
"I don't know.",
"What did he do next in his life?",
"graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science",
"What type of work did he do?",
"Beginning in 1981, Levin served as an adviser to several members of President Ronald Reagan's cabinet,"
]
| C_3102145955634d83ad351982bf0759b3_1 | What other cabinet roles did he have? | 7 | Besides adviser what other cabinet roles did Mark Levin have? | Mark Levin | Mark Reed Levin, one of three boys, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Erdenheim as well as Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. His father, Jack E. Levin, is the author of several books. He graduated from Cheltenham High School after three years in 1974. After high school, Levin enrolled at Temple University Ambler and graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science in 1977 at age 19. Levin won election to the Cheltenham school board in 1977 on a platform of reducing property taxes. In 1980, Levin earned a J.D. from Temple University Beasley School of Law. Levin worked for Texas Instruments after law school. He is Jewish. Beginning in 1981, Levin served as an adviser to several members of President Ronald Reagan's cabinet, eventually becoming the associate director of presidential personnel and ultimately chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese; Levin also served as deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education, and deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior. He practiced law in the private sector and is president of Landmark Legal Foundation, a public interest law firm founded in 1976 with offices in Kansas City, Missouri and Leesburg, Virginia. Levin has participated in Freedom Concerts, an annual benefit concert to aid families of fallen soldiers, and uses his radio program to promote aid to military families. Levin is also involved with Troopathon, a charity that sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas. In 2001 the American Conservative Union awarded Levin its Ronald Reagan Award. He was awarded the inaugural Citizens United Andrew Breitbart Defender of the First Amendment Award at CPAC in 2014. Politico reported in 2014 that Levin was president of a legal non-profit and drew a salary of more than $300,000 a year. CANNOTANSWER | associate director of presidential personnel and ultimately chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese; | Mark Reed Levin (; born September 21, 1957) is an American lawyer, author, and radio personality. He is the host of syndicated radio show The Mark Levin Show, as well as Life, Liberty & Levin on Fox News. Levin worked in the administration of President Ronald Reagan and was a chief of staff for Attorney General Edwin Meese. He is the former president of the Landmark Legal Foundation, a New York Times best-selling author of seven books, and contributes commentary to media outlets such as National Review Online. Since 2015, Levin has been editor-in-chief of the Conservative Review and is known for his incendiary commentary.
He has been described as "right-wing" by The New York Times, CNN, NPR, and Politico. He is known for his incendiary criticisms of Democrats and encouragement of primary challenges to congressional Republicans that he considers to be "Republican In Name Only" (RINO). He endorsed Ted Cruz in the 2016 Republican presidential primary and declared himself "Never Trump", but reluctantly endorsed Donald Trump after Trump won the Republican nomination. Since the start of the Trump presidency, Levin's commentary has become strongly pro-Trump.
Early life and education
Mark Reed Levin, one of three boys, was born in Philadelphia to a Jewish family, and grew up in Erdenheim as well as Elkins Park. His father, Jack E. Levin (1925–2018), authored several books. He graduated from Cheltenham High School after three years, in 1974. Skipping his senior year of high school, Levin enrolled at Temple University Ambler and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science in 1977 at age 19. Later in 1977, Levin won election to the Cheltenham school board on a platform of reducing property taxes. In 1980, Levin earned a J.D. from Temple University School of Law.
Legal and political career
Levin worked for Texas Instruments after law school. Beginning in 1981, Levin worked in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. Levin began at ACTION, the federal agency that oversaw VISTA and other volunteer agencies, before serving as deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education and deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior. He ultimately became chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese.
After leaving the Reagan administration, Levin practiced law in the private sector. In 1991, Levin joined public interest law firm Landmark Legal Foundation. At Landmark, Levin served as director of legal policy and the foundation's Washington-based Center for Civil Rights before becoming president in 1997. Under Levin's presidency, Landmark Legal filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in 2000 alleging that the National Education Association, the largest teachers' union in the U.S., did not disclose spending on political activity in Internal Revenue Service documentation. Landmark Legal also filed similar complaints with the United States Department of Labor in 2002 regarding NEA and political activity; by 2006, the NEA and smaller American Federation of Teachers had filed new documents with the Labor Department revealing over $100 million combined in political action spending.
Following Freedom of Information Act requests in August 2012 of documents that would show if Environmental Protection Agency officials sought to delay regulations until after the 2012 presidential election, federal judge Royce Lamberth ruled in 2015 that although Landmark Legal did not establish that the EPA acted in bad faith, the EPA either carelessly or intentionally neglected Landmark's FOIA request. Lamberth previously ruled in 2013 that the EPA might have attempted to evade Landmark's FOIA request.
In 2001, the American Conservative Union awarded Levin its Ronald Reagan Award for his work with Landmark Legal.
Politico reported in 2014 that Levin received a salary of more than $300,000 per year as president of the non-profit Landmark Legal Foundation, whose donors include the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and ExxonMobil. In 2018, Levin stepped down as president of Landmark Legal but remained on its board of directors.
Radio broadcasting
Levin began his broadcasting career as a guest on conservative talk radio programs. For many years, he was a contributor of legal opinions to The Rush Limbaugh Show, appearing more regularly as the Monica Lewinsky scandal developed. About this time, Sean Hannity became aware of him, and he began to feature in Hannity's radio show. Eventually, Levin gained a radio slot of his own on WABC, initially on Sundays beginning in 2002, then in the timeslot following Hannity's program in 2003. Cumulus Media Networks began syndicating The Mark Levin Show nationally in 2006.
Levin has participated in Freedom Concerts, an annual benefit concert to aid families of fallen soldiers, and uses his radio program to promote aid to military families. Levin is also involved with Move America Forward, a charity that sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas.
On February 11, 2016, Levin signed a ten-year contract extension with Westwood One, which will take his show through 2025, its 19th year.
On November 16, 2018, he was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.
Television shows
Since 2014, Levin has been the founding editor-in-chief of Conservative Review, a multi-platform online television network that later merged with Glenn Beck's terrestrial network TheBlaze in 2018 to form Blaze Media. Programs airing on the network include Levin, Roaming Millennial, Truth Be Told, Allie, In the Woods with Phil, Kibbe on Liberty, Louder with Crowder, America Bolling, and more.
In November 2017, Fox News announced that it had signed Levin for a weekend show titled Life, Liberty & Levin to air on Sunday nights beginning in February 2018. According to a pre-debut network news release, the program's intention was to explore "the fundamental values and principles undergirding American society, culture, politics, and current events, and their relevance to the nation's future and everyday lives of citizens." Episodes feature one or two guests for the hour-long program discussing political events, news, and history.
Writer
Levin wrote the 2005 book Men In Black: How The Supreme Court Is Destroying America, in which he advanced his thesis that activist judges on the Supreme Court (from all parts of the political spectrum) have "legislated from the bench". Commentary magazine's Dan Seligman wrote that Levin asks readers "to identify with 'originalists' who look to the text of the Constitution and the intent of its framers, and to reject the 'activists' who construe the Constitution broadly and are more concerned with getting to their own 'desired outcomes'". Slate magazine's Dahlia Lithwick wrote that "no serious scholar of the court or the Constitution, on the ideological left or right, is going to waste their time engaging Levin's arguments once they've read this book".
Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover's Story of Joy and Anguish is a non-fiction work written by Levin in 2007 about his experience of rescuing a dog named Sprite from a local animal shelter.
Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto was released in 2009, and became a #1 New York Times best seller for eleven of twelve weeks, as well as No. 1 on Nielsen BookScan and No. 2 on Amazon.com's list of bestselling books of 2009. The book includes discussion of issues Levin believes need to be addressed in the United States. In Liberty and Tyranny Levin repudiates the use of the term "progressive" to describe "modern Liberals" and instead argues a proper term should be "Statist". Liberty and Tyranny has sold over one million copies according to Threshold Editions, the book's publisher. Andrew C. McCarthy, in The New Criterion, wrote, "Levin offers not so much a defense as a plan of attack" against "America's Leftist ascendancy". Other reviewers critiqued the book as "analysis utterly useless in understanding more than half of the American political landscape" while opining that "Levin resorts to the same old misinformation to sell his brand of conservatism".
Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America was issued in 2012. In Ameritopia, Levin discusses the origins and development of both the modern day conservative and liberal political philosophies, the latter of which he refers to as "statist", through the works of some of the leading figures in American history. Included are commentaries on works by Plato, Sir Thomas More, Thomas Hobbes, Karl Marx, John Locke, Charles de Montesquieu and Alexis de Tocqueville. Conor Friedersdorf's review, published in The Atlantic, criticized the text's argument that statism is based on utopianism, and Carlin Romano, in The Chronicle of Higher Education, wrote that "Ameritopia is really Ameritastrophe. It's disastrously bad from beginning to end."
In Levin's 2013 book The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic he suggests eleven new Constitutional amendments. The book debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Hans A. von Spakovsky of National Review Online called the book "required reading for conservative bloggers". Ana Marie Cox, writing in The Guardian, said the book "contains some radical notions about a complete overhaul of the US constitution, but to debate the specifics of their merits is to ignore the larger insanity of the project" while noting "the ludicrousness of his specific 'fixes' and the near-impossibility of achieving them". Also in The Washington Times, Richard W. Rahn wrote, "If The Liberty Amendments can help foster a national debate about which corrective actions, including constitutional amendments, are needed to increase liberty and prosperity, Mr. Levin will have performed a great national service". Hoover Institution fellow David Davenport wrote in Forbes that Levin's book used "weak arguments".
Levin's Plunder and Deceit: Big Government's Exploitation of Young People and the Future was published in 2015, and Rediscovering Americanism and the Tyranny of Progressivism in 2017.
Levin's Unfreedom of the Press, which was released on May 21, 2019, became the number one best-selling book on Amazon.com three days before its official release, as a result of pre-order sales. Unfreedom of the Press also became a New York Times #1 best-seller on June 6, 2019, in the combined print & e-book nonfiction and hardcover nonfiction categories. Lloyd Green was critical of the book in The Guardian writing that the book "is not exactly fan fiction but it can get ahead of itself when discussing the special counsel's conclusions, ending up sounding like the 'fake news' the author and Trump both purport to abhor." Annalisa Quinn, writing for NPR, stated: "the book is largely filler. Quotations and paraphrasing make up the majority of the book's central chapters. Lengthy and irrelevant block quotes from historians about, say, colonial printing practices... give the book the air of a padded student essay." Quinn also wrote, "[Levin] conducts no interviews, presents no original research, and visits no newsrooms", and "When Levin does offer his own analysis, it can approach parody." On June 8, 2019, Levin appeared on C-SPAN2's Book TV to discuss Unfreedom of the Press, "in which he argued that the press has lowered its standards in providing objective and trustworthy journalism."
In 2021, Levin published American Marxism, a book written in reaction to the events that have transpired so far in 2021 and also seeks to characterize the Marxist attributes of the American Left. As of November 14, 2021, the book had spent 16 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List for nonfiction.
Political views
A 2016 study which sought to measure incendiary discourse on talk radio and TV found that Levin scored highest on its measure of "outrage". The study looked at 10 prominent radio and television programs, known for incendiary discourse on political matters, and scored content on the basis of whether it used "emotional display", "misrepresentative exaggeration", "mockery", "conflagration", "slippery slope", "insulting" or "obscene language", and other factors, finding that Levin was the radio host who engaged in the most outrage. The study found that he utilized "outrage speech or behavior at a rate of more than one instance per minute." In How Democracies Die, Harvard University political scientists Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky write that Mark Levin was among the popular right-wing talk radio hosts who "helped to legitimate the use of uncivil discourse" in American politics, and contribute to the erosion of democratic norms. According to Politico, Levin has a "penchant for hysteria."
Views on politicians and other individuals
According to The Guardian, "constant attacks on Democrats and the left are important components" of Levin's modus operandi. According to Politico in May 2009, Levin pronounced "almost daily" that Obama "was a failure, a liar, and a 'statist' who is trying to destroy individual freedom." In June 2017, Levin accused Senator Bernie Sanders of being "a radical Marxist who believes in violence." According to Rutgers University political scientist Stephen Eric Bronner, Levin tends to use "socialism" as a "catch-all term to condemn any policy that strengthens the social welfare function of the state." In July 2014, he called Jon Stewart "a knee-jerk idiot", and suggested that Stewart was a self-hating Jew. He has stated that "Nancy Pelosi's politics comes as close to a form of modern-day fascism as I've ever seen". In January 2019, he said Pelosi was "America's first fascist. And that's a fact". Levin said the new Congressional Speaker had "hijacked" the federal government by deciding to block the financing of President Trump's border wall. Levin has also mocked how Pelosi looks, referred to Beto O'Rourke as a "weak man", and called Dick Blumenthal a "pathetic, loathsome liar."
He has criticized Republicans – including Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and Mitch McConnell – with whom he disagrees. He sometimes refers to such individuals as RINOs. Levin endorsed Orrin Hatch when he faced a primary challenge in 2012, but later apologized for his endorsement when Hatch said that he would be willing to support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Since then, he endorsed a number of Republican primary challengers to incumbent Republican senators. Levin supported the Tea Party Patriots' campaign to "fire" House Speaker John Boehner. Earlier in 2010, Levin criticized Glenn Beck for his criticism of congressional Republicans. He has referred to Mitt Romney as an "ass" and called CNN host Brian Stelter a "creep".
Levin supported U.S. Representative Mo Brooks in his campaign in the 2017 Alabama special election against incumbent Luther Strange, who had received a temporary appointment earlier that year.
Levin strongly defended former EPA head Scott Pruitt while he was under a dozen separate ethics investigations. Levin said Pruitt's "policies on the whole have been outstanding," and "I don't throw good people under the bus because the left targets them."
Sponsorship and conflicts of interest
During the 2012 election cycle, Levin's show was paid at least $757,000 in sponsorship by the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity to run ads for the group, a deal which began in the summer of 2010. After the sponsorship ended, Levin began making ads for the Tea Party Patriots. The Senate Conservatives Fund paid Simon & Schuster at least $427,000 for copies of Levin's Liberty or Tyranny in September and October 2013. During the same period, on his radio show and Facebook page, Levin frequently promoted the group, which has funded primary challengers of Senate Republicans. Levin did not disclose that the group had made $427,000 of purchases of his book.
Levin endorsed Orrin Hatch when Levin was being sponsored by Americans for Prosperity (AFP) which also endorsed Hatch. Levin withdrew his endorsement of Hatch when Levin was being sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots. Levin dismissed the allegations that he engages in "pay-to-play".
President Obama
In 2009, Levin described as "absolutely right" the statement by Sarah Palin that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) includes death panels to decide whether elderly people or sick children were worthy of medical care. In 2011, a caller to Levin's show, claiming to be a neurosurgeon, said that the Department of Health and Human Services had issued a document saying that people over age 70 would not be allowed to receive medical treatments. Levin said to the caller, "so Sarah Palin was right." The call was later revealed to be a hoax and the death panel claims were revealed to be false. In late 2013, Levin said there were similarities between a gathering of "hand-picked" supporters of the Affordable Care Act chosen by the Obama administration to Nazi Sturmabteilung or "Brownshirts" drawing comparisons of the propaganda techniques of the two groups.
Levin stated in 2013 that "the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated our government" and described President Obama as a Muslim Brotherhood "sympathizer". He speculated in November 2014 that, after the 2014 mid-term elections, Obama might go "full Mussolini".
In February 2015, Levin stated that President Obama was "seeking to destroy Israel" because "Obama has an affinity for Islam far more than Christianity or Judaism." He blamed Obama for the Ebola crisis: "the political policies of this administration which opens the door wide to people from the poorest parts of the world. We don't know who they are, we don't know if they have diseases."
WMDs in Iraq
In 2014, Levin claimed that the Bush administration's original WMD rationale for the Iraq War had been vindicated by citing reports of U.S. soldiers in Iraq that were wounded by the decayed remnants of Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons arsenal. The remnants in question were degraded and unusable chemical weapons shells from the 1980s. Levin faulted the Bush administration for not doing more to publicize these remnants of Iraq's former WMD program.
Donald Trump
In March 2016, Levin endorsed Ted Cruz for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Over a month after Donald Trump was nominated, in September 2016, Levin stated on this radio program that he would vote for Trump in the presidential election, following his declaration earlier that year that he was in the "Never Trump" camp and would never vote for Trump. He qualified his support by stating: "I take no responsibility for the dumb things he says or the dumb things his surrogates say."
Wiretap claim
In March 2017, Levin alleged that the Obama administration had used "police state" surveillance tactics against the Donald Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. The Associated Press said that Levin "voiced without evidence the idea that Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower". Levin protested the AP report vigorously, demanding a retraction and an apology on the grounds that his sources for the statement included The New York Times and other newspapers. His statement was reprinted by Breitbart News and reportedly became the basis of President Trump's unfounded Trump Tower wiretapping allegations. In September 2017, reports emerged of a court-ordered Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wiretap on Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort; while certain Trump supporters alleged that this surveillance vindicated Levin and Trump's unsupported assertions, The Atlantic commented: "This is not true – Trump claimed he had been the subject of Obama-ordered, politically motivated surveillance, for which there remains no evidence."
"Deep State" conspiracy theories
Levin has said that there is a "coup" occurring against the presidency of Donald Trump waged by Obama loyalists. Levin's coup claim was referring to investigations of the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and of alleged obstruction of justice by Trump. He has suggested that former FBI Director James Comey used the Trump-Russia dossier "to blackmail the president." He has claimed that Special Counsel Robert Mueller engaged in a "Deep State" coup against Trump.
In February 2018, Levin said the Nunes Memo shows "Hillary Clinton paid for a warrant" and "Hillary Clinton colluded with the Russians...it appears the FBI at the senior-most levels colluded with the Russians too".
In August 2018, Levin stated that Mueller is a "greater threat to this Republic and Constitution than anything Vladimir Putin did during the [2016] campaign". When the Attorney General Bill Barr issued his summary of Mueller's Special Counsel report considering Russian interference in the 2016 election, Levin called the second volume of the report "crap". Of the prosecutor he suggested: "Who gives a damn what the prosecutor said?" He insisted the special counsel was "not God. He is not a judge. He is not a jury!"
Trump–Ukraine scandal
After President Trump pressed the President of Ukraine to start an investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Levin strongly defended Trump's actions. Asked on Fox & Friends whether Levin was "okay" with Trump asking a foreign leader for "dirt" on Biden, Levin lashed out at the Fox & Friends host and repeatedly shouted there was "no problem" with what Trump did. Shortly thereafter, Trump praised Levin and retweeted more than 20 tweets by viewers praising Levin. Levin also accused Joe Biden of being the one who "did something illegal", though he did not provide evidence or any elaboration.
In October 2019, while Trump was the subject of the impeachment inquiry, Levin said that on his Blaze TV show: "While he's been president there hasn't even been a hint of scandal. Not a hint!" He was highly critical of Mitt Romney who increased his criticisms of President Trump during this period.
2020 election
Following the 2020 presidential election, as all significant media organizations reported Joe Biden had won, Levin told his radio audience, the Democrats were "stealing the election". He insisted on Twitter to his 2.4 million followers: "there's lots of evidence of voter fraud and election screw-ups." On the same platform, on November 5, Levin called on Republican-controlled state legislatures to disregard the results of the 2020 election and send electors to the Electoral College who would vote for Trump. The suggestion was retweeted by Donald Trump Jr.
He praised Sidney Powell, a member of Trump's legal team, for what he considered to be her patriotism after she promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and sought to overturn election results. He frequently had guests on his show who led the audience to think Joe Biden's win in the presidential election could be overturned.
On January 5, 2021, Levin insisted Congress's imminent counting of the Electoral College votes was an act of "tyranny" because of the supposed fraud. He told his listeners, "If we don't fight on Jan. 6 on the floor of the Senate and the House... then we are done." Following the next day's storming of the Capitol in Washington, he continued in the same vein. "It appears nothing has changed in 24 hours... Not a damn thing. The never-Trumpers, the RINOs, the media — same damn thing," although he was critical of the rioters. Meanwhile, on the same day as the riot, Cumulus Media circulated a memo instructing its presenters, a roster which includes Levin, to cease implying the 2020 presidential election was stolen or face the end of the right to broadcast via Cumulus.
COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Levin downplayed the threat of the virus, arguing that the media was overreacting and that the death toll from the flu was higher than the coronavirus.
Personal life
Levin suffered a heart attack in 2000 and had open heart surgery. On the June 13, 2021 episode of Life, Liberty and Levin, he mentioned he has heart disease.
He was married to Kendall Levin and they divorced. He is currently married to Julie Prince.
Selected publications
Levin, M. R. (2005). Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America. Regnery Publishing
Levin, M. R. (2007). Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover’s Story of Joy and Anguish (1st ed.). Pocket Books
Levin, M. R. (2010). Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2012). Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2014). The Liberty Amendments (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2019). Unfreedom of the Press. Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2021). American Marxism. Threshold Editions
References
External links
The Mark Levin Show official website
Landmark Legal Foundation
Levin TV at YouTube
American broadcast news analysts
American columnists
American conservative talk radio hosts
American male non-fiction writers
American media critics
American political commentators
American political writers
American social commentators
American Zionists
Blaze Media people
Fox News people
Jewish American attorneys
Jewish American writers
Living people
National Review people
People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
People from Leesburg, Virginia
People from Reston, Virginia
People from Santa Clara County, California
Radio personalities from Philadelphia
Reagan administration personnel
School board members in Pennsylvania
Temple University alumni
Temple University Beasley School of Law alumni
The American Spectator people
United States Department of Education officials
Virginia lawyers
Writers from Philadelphia
1957 births
American critics of Islam | false | [
"The Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat (EDS) is a secretariat in the United Kingdom Cabinet Office. \n\nIt supports the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Minister for the Cabinet Office develop, co-ordinate and agree the UK government's domestic policy across the departments of state; with foreign and security policy co-ordinated by the separate National Security Secretariat (NSS). Together these two secretariats form the core what is the Cabinet Secretariat, and are the traditional redoubts of high fliers in the UK civil service. Being appointed to roles in EDS are highly coveted by talented civil servants, and competition is intense. \n\nThe head of EDS, who reports directly to the Cabinet Secretary, is a director general (or, before the mid-'90s renaming, a deputy secretary). It is widely regarded as one of the most powerful roles in the Civil Service due to having regular access to the prime minister, other cabinet-level ministers and their private secretaries, as well as the most senior officials in Whitehall to ensure 'collective agreement'. Without collective agreement and the issuing of a 'clearance' from EDS, departments cannot progress with policy announcements or take forward high profile and significant projects. In order to fulfil its duties, EDS officials work very closely with their counterparts in HM Treasury, 10 Downing Street and other teams in the Cabinet Office such as the Prime Minister's Implementation Unit.\n\nThe head of EDS (and more recently the head of the Cabinet Secretariats) is sometimes referred to as the Deputy Cabinet Secretary, due to running Cabinet and its subcommittees, as well as brokering policy decisions across government on behalf of the prime minister and his senior advisers. The head of EDS has a secure pass through the door that connects their office in 70 Whitehall to 10 Downing Street.\n\nList of directors general of the Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat \n\nPeter Francis Owen (1990–1994)\nKenneth Mackenzie (1995–1997)\nSir Nicholas Montagu (1997)\nSir Robin Young (1997–1998)\n Sir Suma Chakrabarti (2000–2001)\n Sir Paul Britton (2001–2009)\n Sir Chris Wormald (2009–2011)\n Melanie Dawes (2011–2015)\nAntonia Romeo (2015)\n Jonathan Slater (2015–2016)\n Shona Dunn (2016–2018)\n Sarah Healey (2018–2019)\n Mark Sweeney (2019 - present)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nCabinet Office (United Kingdom)",
"President Biden will make many nominations to key roles in the Department of Justice, including the attorney general, deputy attorney general, and solicitor general. As with all other nominations, almost all of them have to be confirmed by the United States Senate before they can start their service.\nBelow is a list of nominations and appointments to the Department of Justice by Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States. , according to tracking by The Washington Post and Partnership for Public Service, 13 nominees had been confirmed, two nominees are being considered by the Senate, and 17 positions currently do not have nominees.\n\nColor key \n Denotes appointees serving in offices that did not require Senate confirmation.\n\n Denotes appointees confirmed by the Senate.\n\n Denotes appointees serving in an acting capacity.\n\n Denotes appointees who have left office or offices which have been disbanded.\n\n Denotes nominees who were withdrawn prior to being confirmed or assuming office.\n\nAppointments\n\nLeadership\n\nDivisions\n\nOffices\n\nFederal agencies\n\nOther offices and agencies\n\nCommissions\n\nSee also \n\n Joe Biden Supreme Court candidates\n Cabinet of Joe Biden, for the vetting process undergone by top-level roles including advice and consent by the Senate\n List of executive branch 'czars' e.g. Special Advisor to the President\n\nReferences \n\n Biden\nJustice"
]
|
[
"Mark Levin",
"Biography",
"Where was Mark Levin from?",
"Philadelphia,",
"Where did he graduate from?",
"Cheltenham High School",
"Did he go to college?",
"Temple University Ambler",
"Did he go to any other schools?",
"I don't know.",
"What did he do next in his life?",
"graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science",
"What type of work did he do?",
"Beginning in 1981, Levin served as an adviser to several members of President Ronald Reagan's cabinet,",
"What other cabinet roles did he have?",
"associate director of presidential personnel and ultimately chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese;"
]
| C_3102145955634d83ad351982bf0759b3_1 | Did he use his law degree at all? | 8 | Did Mark Levin use his law degree at all? | Mark Levin | Mark Reed Levin, one of three boys, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Erdenheim as well as Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. His father, Jack E. Levin, is the author of several books. He graduated from Cheltenham High School after three years in 1974. After high school, Levin enrolled at Temple University Ambler and graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science in 1977 at age 19. Levin won election to the Cheltenham school board in 1977 on a platform of reducing property taxes. In 1980, Levin earned a J.D. from Temple University Beasley School of Law. Levin worked for Texas Instruments after law school. He is Jewish. Beginning in 1981, Levin served as an adviser to several members of President Ronald Reagan's cabinet, eventually becoming the associate director of presidential personnel and ultimately chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese; Levin also served as deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education, and deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior. He practiced law in the private sector and is president of Landmark Legal Foundation, a public interest law firm founded in 1976 with offices in Kansas City, Missouri and Leesburg, Virginia. Levin has participated in Freedom Concerts, an annual benefit concert to aid families of fallen soldiers, and uses his radio program to promote aid to military families. Levin is also involved with Troopathon, a charity that sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas. In 2001 the American Conservative Union awarded Levin its Ronald Reagan Award. He was awarded the inaugural Citizens United Andrew Breitbart Defender of the First Amendment Award at CPAC in 2014. Politico reported in 2014 that Levin was president of a legal non-profit and drew a salary of more than $300,000 a year. CANNOTANSWER | He practiced law in the private sector and is president of Landmark Legal Foundation, | Mark Reed Levin (; born September 21, 1957) is an American lawyer, author, and radio personality. He is the host of syndicated radio show The Mark Levin Show, as well as Life, Liberty & Levin on Fox News. Levin worked in the administration of President Ronald Reagan and was a chief of staff for Attorney General Edwin Meese. He is the former president of the Landmark Legal Foundation, a New York Times best-selling author of seven books, and contributes commentary to media outlets such as National Review Online. Since 2015, Levin has been editor-in-chief of the Conservative Review and is known for his incendiary commentary.
He has been described as "right-wing" by The New York Times, CNN, NPR, and Politico. He is known for his incendiary criticisms of Democrats and encouragement of primary challenges to congressional Republicans that he considers to be "Republican In Name Only" (RINO). He endorsed Ted Cruz in the 2016 Republican presidential primary and declared himself "Never Trump", but reluctantly endorsed Donald Trump after Trump won the Republican nomination. Since the start of the Trump presidency, Levin's commentary has become strongly pro-Trump.
Early life and education
Mark Reed Levin, one of three boys, was born in Philadelphia to a Jewish family, and grew up in Erdenheim as well as Elkins Park. His father, Jack E. Levin (1925–2018), authored several books. He graduated from Cheltenham High School after three years, in 1974. Skipping his senior year of high school, Levin enrolled at Temple University Ambler and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science in 1977 at age 19. Later in 1977, Levin won election to the Cheltenham school board on a platform of reducing property taxes. In 1980, Levin earned a J.D. from Temple University School of Law.
Legal and political career
Levin worked for Texas Instruments after law school. Beginning in 1981, Levin worked in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. Levin began at ACTION, the federal agency that oversaw VISTA and other volunteer agencies, before serving as deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education and deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior. He ultimately became chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese.
After leaving the Reagan administration, Levin practiced law in the private sector. In 1991, Levin joined public interest law firm Landmark Legal Foundation. At Landmark, Levin served as director of legal policy and the foundation's Washington-based Center for Civil Rights before becoming president in 1997. Under Levin's presidency, Landmark Legal filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in 2000 alleging that the National Education Association, the largest teachers' union in the U.S., did not disclose spending on political activity in Internal Revenue Service documentation. Landmark Legal also filed similar complaints with the United States Department of Labor in 2002 regarding NEA and political activity; by 2006, the NEA and smaller American Federation of Teachers had filed new documents with the Labor Department revealing over $100 million combined in political action spending.
Following Freedom of Information Act requests in August 2012 of documents that would show if Environmental Protection Agency officials sought to delay regulations until after the 2012 presidential election, federal judge Royce Lamberth ruled in 2015 that although Landmark Legal did not establish that the EPA acted in bad faith, the EPA either carelessly or intentionally neglected Landmark's FOIA request. Lamberth previously ruled in 2013 that the EPA might have attempted to evade Landmark's FOIA request.
In 2001, the American Conservative Union awarded Levin its Ronald Reagan Award for his work with Landmark Legal.
Politico reported in 2014 that Levin received a salary of more than $300,000 per year as president of the non-profit Landmark Legal Foundation, whose donors include the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and ExxonMobil. In 2018, Levin stepped down as president of Landmark Legal but remained on its board of directors.
Radio broadcasting
Levin began his broadcasting career as a guest on conservative talk radio programs. For many years, he was a contributor of legal opinions to The Rush Limbaugh Show, appearing more regularly as the Monica Lewinsky scandal developed. About this time, Sean Hannity became aware of him, and he began to feature in Hannity's radio show. Eventually, Levin gained a radio slot of his own on WABC, initially on Sundays beginning in 2002, then in the timeslot following Hannity's program in 2003. Cumulus Media Networks began syndicating The Mark Levin Show nationally in 2006.
Levin has participated in Freedom Concerts, an annual benefit concert to aid families of fallen soldiers, and uses his radio program to promote aid to military families. Levin is also involved with Move America Forward, a charity that sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas.
On February 11, 2016, Levin signed a ten-year contract extension with Westwood One, which will take his show through 2025, its 19th year.
On November 16, 2018, he was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.
Television shows
Since 2014, Levin has been the founding editor-in-chief of Conservative Review, a multi-platform online television network that later merged with Glenn Beck's terrestrial network TheBlaze in 2018 to form Blaze Media. Programs airing on the network include Levin, Roaming Millennial, Truth Be Told, Allie, In the Woods with Phil, Kibbe on Liberty, Louder with Crowder, America Bolling, and more.
In November 2017, Fox News announced that it had signed Levin for a weekend show titled Life, Liberty & Levin to air on Sunday nights beginning in February 2018. According to a pre-debut network news release, the program's intention was to explore "the fundamental values and principles undergirding American society, culture, politics, and current events, and their relevance to the nation's future and everyday lives of citizens." Episodes feature one or two guests for the hour-long program discussing political events, news, and history.
Writer
Levin wrote the 2005 book Men In Black: How The Supreme Court Is Destroying America, in which he advanced his thesis that activist judges on the Supreme Court (from all parts of the political spectrum) have "legislated from the bench". Commentary magazine's Dan Seligman wrote that Levin asks readers "to identify with 'originalists' who look to the text of the Constitution and the intent of its framers, and to reject the 'activists' who construe the Constitution broadly and are more concerned with getting to their own 'desired outcomes'". Slate magazine's Dahlia Lithwick wrote that "no serious scholar of the court or the Constitution, on the ideological left or right, is going to waste their time engaging Levin's arguments once they've read this book".
Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover's Story of Joy and Anguish is a non-fiction work written by Levin in 2007 about his experience of rescuing a dog named Sprite from a local animal shelter.
Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto was released in 2009, and became a #1 New York Times best seller for eleven of twelve weeks, as well as No. 1 on Nielsen BookScan and No. 2 on Amazon.com's list of bestselling books of 2009. The book includes discussion of issues Levin believes need to be addressed in the United States. In Liberty and Tyranny Levin repudiates the use of the term "progressive" to describe "modern Liberals" and instead argues a proper term should be "Statist". Liberty and Tyranny has sold over one million copies according to Threshold Editions, the book's publisher. Andrew C. McCarthy, in The New Criterion, wrote, "Levin offers not so much a defense as a plan of attack" against "America's Leftist ascendancy". Other reviewers critiqued the book as "analysis utterly useless in understanding more than half of the American political landscape" while opining that "Levin resorts to the same old misinformation to sell his brand of conservatism".
Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America was issued in 2012. In Ameritopia, Levin discusses the origins and development of both the modern day conservative and liberal political philosophies, the latter of which he refers to as "statist", through the works of some of the leading figures in American history. Included are commentaries on works by Plato, Sir Thomas More, Thomas Hobbes, Karl Marx, John Locke, Charles de Montesquieu and Alexis de Tocqueville. Conor Friedersdorf's review, published in The Atlantic, criticized the text's argument that statism is based on utopianism, and Carlin Romano, in The Chronicle of Higher Education, wrote that "Ameritopia is really Ameritastrophe. It's disastrously bad from beginning to end."
In Levin's 2013 book The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic he suggests eleven new Constitutional amendments. The book debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Hans A. von Spakovsky of National Review Online called the book "required reading for conservative bloggers". Ana Marie Cox, writing in The Guardian, said the book "contains some radical notions about a complete overhaul of the US constitution, but to debate the specifics of their merits is to ignore the larger insanity of the project" while noting "the ludicrousness of his specific 'fixes' and the near-impossibility of achieving them". Also in The Washington Times, Richard W. Rahn wrote, "If The Liberty Amendments can help foster a national debate about which corrective actions, including constitutional amendments, are needed to increase liberty and prosperity, Mr. Levin will have performed a great national service". Hoover Institution fellow David Davenport wrote in Forbes that Levin's book used "weak arguments".
Levin's Plunder and Deceit: Big Government's Exploitation of Young People and the Future was published in 2015, and Rediscovering Americanism and the Tyranny of Progressivism in 2017.
Levin's Unfreedom of the Press, which was released on May 21, 2019, became the number one best-selling book on Amazon.com three days before its official release, as a result of pre-order sales. Unfreedom of the Press also became a New York Times #1 best-seller on June 6, 2019, in the combined print & e-book nonfiction and hardcover nonfiction categories. Lloyd Green was critical of the book in The Guardian writing that the book "is not exactly fan fiction but it can get ahead of itself when discussing the special counsel's conclusions, ending up sounding like the 'fake news' the author and Trump both purport to abhor." Annalisa Quinn, writing for NPR, stated: "the book is largely filler. Quotations and paraphrasing make up the majority of the book's central chapters. Lengthy and irrelevant block quotes from historians about, say, colonial printing practices... give the book the air of a padded student essay." Quinn also wrote, "[Levin] conducts no interviews, presents no original research, and visits no newsrooms", and "When Levin does offer his own analysis, it can approach parody." On June 8, 2019, Levin appeared on C-SPAN2's Book TV to discuss Unfreedom of the Press, "in which he argued that the press has lowered its standards in providing objective and trustworthy journalism."
In 2021, Levin published American Marxism, a book written in reaction to the events that have transpired so far in 2021 and also seeks to characterize the Marxist attributes of the American Left. As of November 14, 2021, the book had spent 16 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List for nonfiction.
Political views
A 2016 study which sought to measure incendiary discourse on talk radio and TV found that Levin scored highest on its measure of "outrage". The study looked at 10 prominent radio and television programs, known for incendiary discourse on political matters, and scored content on the basis of whether it used "emotional display", "misrepresentative exaggeration", "mockery", "conflagration", "slippery slope", "insulting" or "obscene language", and other factors, finding that Levin was the radio host who engaged in the most outrage. The study found that he utilized "outrage speech or behavior at a rate of more than one instance per minute." In How Democracies Die, Harvard University political scientists Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky write that Mark Levin was among the popular right-wing talk radio hosts who "helped to legitimate the use of uncivil discourse" in American politics, and contribute to the erosion of democratic norms. According to Politico, Levin has a "penchant for hysteria."
Views on politicians and other individuals
According to The Guardian, "constant attacks on Democrats and the left are important components" of Levin's modus operandi. According to Politico in May 2009, Levin pronounced "almost daily" that Obama "was a failure, a liar, and a 'statist' who is trying to destroy individual freedom." In June 2017, Levin accused Senator Bernie Sanders of being "a radical Marxist who believes in violence." According to Rutgers University political scientist Stephen Eric Bronner, Levin tends to use "socialism" as a "catch-all term to condemn any policy that strengthens the social welfare function of the state." In July 2014, he called Jon Stewart "a knee-jerk idiot", and suggested that Stewart was a self-hating Jew. He has stated that "Nancy Pelosi's politics comes as close to a form of modern-day fascism as I've ever seen". In January 2019, he said Pelosi was "America's first fascist. And that's a fact". Levin said the new Congressional Speaker had "hijacked" the federal government by deciding to block the financing of President Trump's border wall. Levin has also mocked how Pelosi looks, referred to Beto O'Rourke as a "weak man", and called Dick Blumenthal a "pathetic, loathsome liar."
He has criticized Republicans – including Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and Mitch McConnell – with whom he disagrees. He sometimes refers to such individuals as RINOs. Levin endorsed Orrin Hatch when he faced a primary challenge in 2012, but later apologized for his endorsement when Hatch said that he would be willing to support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Since then, he endorsed a number of Republican primary challengers to incumbent Republican senators. Levin supported the Tea Party Patriots' campaign to "fire" House Speaker John Boehner. Earlier in 2010, Levin criticized Glenn Beck for his criticism of congressional Republicans. He has referred to Mitt Romney as an "ass" and called CNN host Brian Stelter a "creep".
Levin supported U.S. Representative Mo Brooks in his campaign in the 2017 Alabama special election against incumbent Luther Strange, who had received a temporary appointment earlier that year.
Levin strongly defended former EPA head Scott Pruitt while he was under a dozen separate ethics investigations. Levin said Pruitt's "policies on the whole have been outstanding," and "I don't throw good people under the bus because the left targets them."
Sponsorship and conflicts of interest
During the 2012 election cycle, Levin's show was paid at least $757,000 in sponsorship by the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity to run ads for the group, a deal which began in the summer of 2010. After the sponsorship ended, Levin began making ads for the Tea Party Patriots. The Senate Conservatives Fund paid Simon & Schuster at least $427,000 for copies of Levin's Liberty or Tyranny in September and October 2013. During the same period, on his radio show and Facebook page, Levin frequently promoted the group, which has funded primary challengers of Senate Republicans. Levin did not disclose that the group had made $427,000 of purchases of his book.
Levin endorsed Orrin Hatch when Levin was being sponsored by Americans for Prosperity (AFP) which also endorsed Hatch. Levin withdrew his endorsement of Hatch when Levin was being sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots. Levin dismissed the allegations that he engages in "pay-to-play".
President Obama
In 2009, Levin described as "absolutely right" the statement by Sarah Palin that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) includes death panels to decide whether elderly people or sick children were worthy of medical care. In 2011, a caller to Levin's show, claiming to be a neurosurgeon, said that the Department of Health and Human Services had issued a document saying that people over age 70 would not be allowed to receive medical treatments. Levin said to the caller, "so Sarah Palin was right." The call was later revealed to be a hoax and the death panel claims were revealed to be false. In late 2013, Levin said there were similarities between a gathering of "hand-picked" supporters of the Affordable Care Act chosen by the Obama administration to Nazi Sturmabteilung or "Brownshirts" drawing comparisons of the propaganda techniques of the two groups.
Levin stated in 2013 that "the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated our government" and described President Obama as a Muslim Brotherhood "sympathizer". He speculated in November 2014 that, after the 2014 mid-term elections, Obama might go "full Mussolini".
In February 2015, Levin stated that President Obama was "seeking to destroy Israel" because "Obama has an affinity for Islam far more than Christianity or Judaism." He blamed Obama for the Ebola crisis: "the political policies of this administration which opens the door wide to people from the poorest parts of the world. We don't know who they are, we don't know if they have diseases."
WMDs in Iraq
In 2014, Levin claimed that the Bush administration's original WMD rationale for the Iraq War had been vindicated by citing reports of U.S. soldiers in Iraq that were wounded by the decayed remnants of Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons arsenal. The remnants in question were degraded and unusable chemical weapons shells from the 1980s. Levin faulted the Bush administration for not doing more to publicize these remnants of Iraq's former WMD program.
Donald Trump
In March 2016, Levin endorsed Ted Cruz for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Over a month after Donald Trump was nominated, in September 2016, Levin stated on this radio program that he would vote for Trump in the presidential election, following his declaration earlier that year that he was in the "Never Trump" camp and would never vote for Trump. He qualified his support by stating: "I take no responsibility for the dumb things he says or the dumb things his surrogates say."
Wiretap claim
In March 2017, Levin alleged that the Obama administration had used "police state" surveillance tactics against the Donald Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. The Associated Press said that Levin "voiced without evidence the idea that Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower". Levin protested the AP report vigorously, demanding a retraction and an apology on the grounds that his sources for the statement included The New York Times and other newspapers. His statement was reprinted by Breitbart News and reportedly became the basis of President Trump's unfounded Trump Tower wiretapping allegations. In September 2017, reports emerged of a court-ordered Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wiretap on Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort; while certain Trump supporters alleged that this surveillance vindicated Levin and Trump's unsupported assertions, The Atlantic commented: "This is not true – Trump claimed he had been the subject of Obama-ordered, politically motivated surveillance, for which there remains no evidence."
"Deep State" conspiracy theories
Levin has said that there is a "coup" occurring against the presidency of Donald Trump waged by Obama loyalists. Levin's coup claim was referring to investigations of the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and of alleged obstruction of justice by Trump. He has suggested that former FBI Director James Comey used the Trump-Russia dossier "to blackmail the president." He has claimed that Special Counsel Robert Mueller engaged in a "Deep State" coup against Trump.
In February 2018, Levin said the Nunes Memo shows "Hillary Clinton paid for a warrant" and "Hillary Clinton colluded with the Russians...it appears the FBI at the senior-most levels colluded with the Russians too".
In August 2018, Levin stated that Mueller is a "greater threat to this Republic and Constitution than anything Vladimir Putin did during the [2016] campaign". When the Attorney General Bill Barr issued his summary of Mueller's Special Counsel report considering Russian interference in the 2016 election, Levin called the second volume of the report "crap". Of the prosecutor he suggested: "Who gives a damn what the prosecutor said?" He insisted the special counsel was "not God. He is not a judge. He is not a jury!"
Trump–Ukraine scandal
After President Trump pressed the President of Ukraine to start an investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Levin strongly defended Trump's actions. Asked on Fox & Friends whether Levin was "okay" with Trump asking a foreign leader for "dirt" on Biden, Levin lashed out at the Fox & Friends host and repeatedly shouted there was "no problem" with what Trump did. Shortly thereafter, Trump praised Levin and retweeted more than 20 tweets by viewers praising Levin. Levin also accused Joe Biden of being the one who "did something illegal", though he did not provide evidence or any elaboration.
In October 2019, while Trump was the subject of the impeachment inquiry, Levin said that on his Blaze TV show: "While he's been president there hasn't even been a hint of scandal. Not a hint!" He was highly critical of Mitt Romney who increased his criticisms of President Trump during this period.
2020 election
Following the 2020 presidential election, as all significant media organizations reported Joe Biden had won, Levin told his radio audience, the Democrats were "stealing the election". He insisted on Twitter to his 2.4 million followers: "there's lots of evidence of voter fraud and election screw-ups." On the same platform, on November 5, Levin called on Republican-controlled state legislatures to disregard the results of the 2020 election and send electors to the Electoral College who would vote for Trump. The suggestion was retweeted by Donald Trump Jr.
He praised Sidney Powell, a member of Trump's legal team, for what he considered to be her patriotism after she promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and sought to overturn election results. He frequently had guests on his show who led the audience to think Joe Biden's win in the presidential election could be overturned.
On January 5, 2021, Levin insisted Congress's imminent counting of the Electoral College votes was an act of "tyranny" because of the supposed fraud. He told his listeners, "If we don't fight on Jan. 6 on the floor of the Senate and the House... then we are done." Following the next day's storming of the Capitol in Washington, he continued in the same vein. "It appears nothing has changed in 24 hours... Not a damn thing. The never-Trumpers, the RINOs, the media — same damn thing," although he was critical of the rioters. Meanwhile, on the same day as the riot, Cumulus Media circulated a memo instructing its presenters, a roster which includes Levin, to cease implying the 2020 presidential election was stolen or face the end of the right to broadcast via Cumulus.
COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Levin downplayed the threat of the virus, arguing that the media was overreacting and that the death toll from the flu was higher than the coronavirus.
Personal life
Levin suffered a heart attack in 2000 and had open heart surgery. On the June 13, 2021 episode of Life, Liberty and Levin, he mentioned he has heart disease.
He was married to Kendall Levin and they divorced. He is currently married to Julie Prince.
Selected publications
Levin, M. R. (2005). Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America. Regnery Publishing
Levin, M. R. (2007). Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover’s Story of Joy and Anguish (1st ed.). Pocket Books
Levin, M. R. (2010). Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2012). Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2014). The Liberty Amendments (Reprint ed.). Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2019). Unfreedom of the Press. Threshold Editions
Levin, M. R. (2021). American Marxism. Threshold Editions
References
External links
The Mark Levin Show official website
Landmark Legal Foundation
Levin TV at YouTube
American broadcast news analysts
American columnists
American conservative talk radio hosts
American male non-fiction writers
American media critics
American political commentators
American political writers
American social commentators
American Zionists
Blaze Media people
Fox News people
Jewish American attorneys
Jewish American writers
Living people
National Review people
People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
People from Leesburg, Virginia
People from Reston, Virginia
People from Santa Clara County, California
Radio personalities from Philadelphia
Reagan administration personnel
School board members in Pennsylvania
Temple University alumni
Temple University Beasley School of Law alumni
The American Spectator people
United States Department of Education officials
Virginia lawyers
Writers from Philadelphia
1957 births
American critics of Islam | false | [
"Brun-Otto Bryde (born February 1, 1943 in Hamburg) is a German legal scholar and a former judge of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany.\n\nLife\nBryde was born in Hamburg on 12 January 1943. Following his first state exam in law 1966 and his second one in 1969 he did his doctoral degree in Hamburg in 1971. After that he became an instructor at a university in Ethiopia. Between 1973 and 1974 he was a Law and Modernization Fellow at the Yale Law School. Later, from 1974 until 1982, he was a teacher at the university of Hamburg. 1980 he did his habilitation and afterwards he became a professor at Bundeswehr University of Munich. Since 1987 he is a professor at the University of Giessen. He was a visiting professor two times at the university of Wisconsin law school in 1989 and 1994 as well. Bryde was also a member of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. From 2001 to 2011 he was a judge at the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany (1st. Senate). He was the first judge of the Federal Constitutional Court to be elected on the proposal of the Green party. He was succeeded by judge Susanne Baer.\n\nReferences\nWebsite of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany\n\n1943 births\nLiving people\nJudges of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany\nGerman judges\nGrand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany\nBundeswehr University Munich faculty\n21st-century German judges\nPeople educated at the Sankt-Ansgar-Schule\nJurists from Hamburg",
"Floyd Ernest Wheeler (March 18, 1905 – February 9, 1995) was an American politician, teacher, and lawyer.\n\nBorn in Beloit, Wisconsin, Wheeler received his bachelor's degree from Beloit College and his law degree from University of Wisconsin Law School. He also did graduate work at Harvard Law School. He practiced law, taught at Evansville High School, and was the assistant physical director at the Beloit YMCA. Wheeler was also the assistant to the dean of the University of Wisconsin College of Letters and Science. In 1953, Wheeler served in the Wisconsin State Assembly and was a Democrat. He lived in Madison, Wisconsin and died there in 1995.\n\nNotes\n\n1905 births\n1995 deaths\nPoliticians from Beloit, Wisconsin\nPoliticians from Madison, Wisconsin\nBeloit College alumni\nUniversity of Wisconsin Law School alumni\nHarvard Law School alumni\nEducators from Wisconsin\nWisconsin lawyers\nWisconsin Democrats\nMembers of the Wisconsin State Assembly\n20th-century American politicians\nLawyers from Madison, Wisconsin\n20th-century American lawyers"
]
|
[
"Brett Hull",
"Management career"
]
| C_8c7399a4031447798d52079f08de6aab_0 | When did he get started in management? | 1 | When did Brett Hull get started in management? | Brett Hull | Hull worked two jobs in 2006-07. He served as a special assistant to the team president of the Dallas Stars and provided studio analysis for NHL on NBC telecasts. He left NBC after one season when he was named a special adviser to the team's hockey operations department. Hull was promoted to interim co-general manager of the Stars, sharing the role with Les Jackson after Doug Armstrong was fired on November 13, 2007. ESPN analyst Scott Burnside criticized the promotion of Hull, noting his lack of front office experience and questionable work ethic. The pair made one of the most prominent trades in the 2007-08 NHL season, acquiring Brad Richards from the Tampa Bay Lightning as part of a five-player trade. The team went on to reach the Western Conference Final of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Stars' deepest playoff run in eight years. Team owner Tom Hicks rewarded the pair with three-year contracts and named them permanent co-general managers. He credited Hull for his positive relationship with the players and his "unconventional wisdom". The signing of controversial forward Sean Avery prior to the 2008-09 season proved a turning point for Hull and Jackson. Avery's erratic behavior created divisions within the team's locker room, particularly after he made derogatory comments towards another player's girlfriend in the media. The Stars missed the playoffs that season, leading the team to replace Hull and Jackson as general manager with Joe Nieuwendyk. Hull remained with the organization, serving as an adviser to Hicks and team president Jeff Cogen. Hull has since been hired by the St. Louis Blues as their executive vice president over business development. CANNOTANSWER | November 13, 2007. | Brett Andrew Hull (born August 9, 1964) is a Canadian–American former ice hockey player and general manager, and currently an executive vice president of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings and Phoenix Coyotes between 1986 and 2005. His career total of 741 goals is fifth highest in NHL history, and he is one of five players to score 50 goals in 50 games. He was a member of two Stanley Cup winning teams – 1999 with the Dallas Stars and 2002 with the Detroit Red Wings. In 2017 Hull was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
Known as one of the game's greatest snipers, Hull was an elite scorer at all levels of the game. He played college hockey for the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, where he scored 52 goals in 1985–86. He scored 50 the following year with the Moncton Golden Flames of the American Hockey League (AHL) and had five consecutive NHL seasons of at least 50 goals. His 86 goals in 1990–91 is the third-highest single-season total in NHL history, with the first two being the same person, Wayne Gretzky. Hull won the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award that year as the league's most valuable player. He was named a first team all-star on three occasions and played in eight NHL All-Star Games.
Having dual citizenship in Canada and the United States, Hull was eligible to play for either Canada or the United States internationally and chose to join the American National Team. He was a member of the team that won the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and was a two-time Olympian, winning a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Hull was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, joining his father Bobby. They are the first father-son combination to each score either of 600 goals or 1,000 career points in the NHL. Hull's nickname, "the Golden Brett" is a reference to his father's nickname of "the Golden Jet". His jersey number 16 was retired by the St. Louis Blues in 2006.
Early life
Hull was born August 9, 1964, in Belleville, Ontario. His father, Bobby, was a long-time professional hockey player in both the National Hockey League (NHL) and World Hockey Association (WHA). His mother, Joanne (McKay), was an American professional figure skater and taught him how to skate. He has three brothers: Bobby Jr., Blake and Bart, and a younger half-sister: Michelle. Bart played professional football in the Canadian Football League. His uncle Dennis was also a long-time NHL player.
As his father was playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, Hull's early life was spent in Illinois, and he first played organized hockey in the Chicago area at the age of four. He and his brothers often skated with the Black Hawks where they watched their father play. The family moved back to Canada when Bobby signed with the original Winnipeg Jets in 1972. As a youth, he and teammate Richard Kromm played in the 1977 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Winnipeg South Monarchs minor ice hockey team. Brett moved to Vancouver with his mother and two youngest siblings shortly before his parents' acrimonious divorce in 1979. Hull was not close to his father following the breakup, though the two spoke periodically.
Playing career
Junior and college
Admitting that he was viewed as a "pudgy, fun-loving, music-crazed bum" in his youth, Hull stated in his autobiography that he was not surprised when he failed to attract the attention of a junior team. He was first eligible for the NHL Entry Draft in 1982, but as he was still playing in a juvenile league, was passed over without interest. He joined the Penticton Knights of the tier-II British Columbia Junior Hockey League (BCJHL) in the 1982–83 season where he scored 48 goals in 50 games. He was again passed over at the 1983 Entry Draft as teams remained unconvinced of his commitment to the game and his conditioning. NHL teams finally took notice of Hull following his 1983–84 season in which he scored 105 goals in 56 games and broke the BCJHL scoring record with 188 points. The Calgary Flames selected him in the sixth round of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, 117th overall.
Hull accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD), and in 1984–85, scored 32 goals as a freshman. The power of his shot terrorized opposition goaltenders. He was awarded the Jerry Chumola Award as the school's rookie of the year and received similar honors from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). His coaches at Minnesota-Duluth impressed on Hull the need to improve his skating, and in 1985–86, he broke the school record of 49 goals in one season, reaching 52 for the campaign. Hull was named the WCHA first-team all-star at right wing and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
In his two seasons at UMD, Hull set numerous school scoring records. He holds the records for most goals by a rookie (32) and most goals in one season (52). His 20 power play goals, seven hat tricks and 13 multiple-goal games in 1985–86 are all records, and he shares the school's single-game playoff record of four goals. The school retired his jersey number 29 in 2006.
Calgary Flames (1985–88)
Choosing to turn professional following his sophomore season, Hull signed a contract with the Calgary Flames and joined the team during the 1986 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He made his NHL debut on May 20, 1986, in game three of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Montreal Canadiens. His best scoring opportunity came when he hit the post in his first shift of the game. He appeared in two games of the Flames' five-game series loss to Montreal.
The Flames assigned Hull to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Moncton Golden Flames, for the majority of the 1986–87 season. He scored 50 goals, tying an AHL rookie record, and his 93 points was third-best in the league. He won the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as the league's rookie of the year and was named to the first all-star team. He earned a brief recall to Calgary during the season. He made his regular-season debut on November 13, 1986, against the Hartford Whalers and scored his first NHL goal against Steve Weeks on a breakaway. It was the game-winning goal in a 4–3 victory. Hull appeared in five regular-season games for the Flames and played in four playoff games where he scored two goals and added an assist.
Hull earned a spot on the Flames for the 1987–88 NHL season, though the team continued to work with him on his conditioning. He appeared in 52 games for the Flames, scoring 26 goals and 50 points. He did not finish the season in Calgary however. On March 7, 1988, Hull was traded, along with Steve Bozek, to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for defenseman Rob Ramage and goaltender Rick Wamsley.
St. Louis Blues (1988–98)
Hull led the St. Louis Blues with 41 goals in , but his poor skating and inattention to his defensive responsibilities concerned the club. Head coach Brian Sutter convinced Hull to improve his conditioning over the summer. He arrived to begin the season in much better shape and showed a marked improvement in his skating. Center Adam Oates, acquired over the summer, joined Hull on the top line. The pair, dubbed "Hull and Oates" as a play on the band Hall and Oates, were prolific scorers with Oates being an excellent passer and Hull being an excellent shooter. Hull scored 228 goals between 1989–90 and , the second-highest three-season total of any player in NHL history, behind only Wayne Gretzky's 250 tallies between and . He became the fifth player in NHL history to score 50 goals in 50 games in ,—joining Maurice Richard, Mike Bossy, Gretzky, and Mario Lemieux—then repeated the feat in 1991–92.
He led the league in goal scoring all three seasons and was named to the First All-Star Team each year. He collected numerous league awards, winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 1990 as the league's most sportsmanlike player, then in 1991, won the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award as the NHL's most valuable player as selected by the league and his fellow players respectively. His total of 86 goals in 1990–91 is the third highest for a single season in NHL history, after Gretzky's 92 goals in 1981–82 and 87 in 1983–84. Oates left the Blues midway through the 1991–92 season, and while Hull's offensive production dropped, he remained the Blues' top offensive threat. He recorded his fourth and fifth consecutive 50-goal seasons, scoring 54 in and 57 in .
Hull clashed with head coach Mike Keenan, who joined the team in , primarily over the latter's changes to team personnel. Hull, who had been named team captain in 1992, was stripped of the captaincy. By early 1996, the two were publicly criticizing each other in the media. Forced to choose between the player and coach, the Blues fired Keenan on December 19, 1996. Hull responded three nights later with a hat trick against the Los Angeles Kings to reach 500 goals for his NHL career. He and Bobby are the only father-son pair who both reached that total.
After 43- and 42-goal seasons in and , Hull scored 27 in . He became an unrestricted free agent following the season after rejecting a three-year, $15 million offer from the Blues because the team refused to include a no-trade clause. He left St. Louis, signing a three-year, $17 million contract with the Dallas Stars on July 2, 1998.
Dallas Stars (1998–2001)
Hull reached 1,000 points in his career when he notched a goal and an assist in a 3–1 victory with the Dallas Stars over the Boston Bruins on November 14, 1998. He then scored his 600th goal on December 31, 1999. He scored 32 goals in 1998–99 despite struggling with a groin injury for much of the season. The Stars reached the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, against the Buffalo Sabres. The sixth game of the series went to overtime tied 1–1 while Dallas held a 3–2 series lead. At 14:51 of the third overtime period, Hull collected a rebound in front of the Buffalo net and put the puck past goaltender Dominik Hašek to win the game, and the Stanley Cup, for Dallas.
The Sabres immediately protested the goal, as NHL rules of the time stated that a player could not score a goal if any part of his body was within the goal crease. Replays showed that Hull's skate was within the crease when he scored, however, the NHL ruled that he had possession of the puck prior to entering the crease, making the goal legal. League officials stated that that very scenario was addressed in a memo sent to the league's on-ice officials prior to the start of the playoffs. Hull himself states the goal was legal, supporting the claim that the NHL had altered the rules in a private memo sent to all teams but not released to the public. Media, fans and players across the league remain divided on the goal, some claiming that the league altered the rule after the fact. It remains especially controversial in Buffalo, where fans and former players continue to maintain that the play should have been ruled "no goal". The NHL formally abolished the crease rule prior to the next season, allowing players to score from within the crease freely as long as they did not interfere with the goaltender.
As a member of the Stars in their Stanley Cup winning season, Hull wore sweater number 22, as his customary number 16 was worn by Pat Verbeek. Hull would switch back to number 16 the following season when Verbeek left the team as a free agent. Though he appeared in 79 games in 1999–2000, Hull had what coach Ken Hitchcock called "a disappointing season", struggling defensively and scoring only 24 goals. His offensive production improved in the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs as he led the league in post-season scoring with 10 goals and 23 points. The Stars again reached the finals, but lost the series in six games to the New Jersey Devils. Hull scored 39 goals in 2000–01, his best total in four years. He surpassed his father's career total when he scored his 611th goal in a 3–1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 10, 2000. Hull played his 1,000th career game on February 25, 2001, in Calgary.
Detroit Red Wings/Second Stanley Cup championship (2001–04)
The Stars chose not to exercise their option on Hull's contract that would have paid him $7 million for the 2001–02 NHL season, making him a free agent. Although he received superior financial offers from the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, Hull chose to sign a two-year, $9 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings to pursue a second Stanley Cup championship. He joined an already star-studded team that earlier that same offseason had acquired goaltender Dominik Hasek, and also signed winger Luc Robitaille.
As a member of the Red Wings, Hull switched to sweater number 17 out of respect for Vladimir Konstantinov, who wore number 16 for the Red Wings before his playing career ended due to a limousine accident a week after Detroit's 1997 Stanley Cup championship. As of 2021, no player has worn the number 16 for the Red Wings since Konstantinov.
Hull subsequently scored 30 goals that season as the Red Wings dominated their opponents, earning the President's Trophy as the NHL's top team. During the regular season, he was put on a line with Boyd Devereaux and rookie Pavel Datsyuk, a combination in which Hull himself referred to as "two kids and a goat".
Hull would then score a league-leading 10 in the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as the Red Wings defeated the Vancouver Canucks, his former team the St. Louis Blues, and the rival Colorado Avalanche en route to their fourth Finals appearance in eight years. He'd score a hat trick in the deciding sixth game in the opening round against Vancouver, while adding two goals in the second round against the Blues. He then scored three goals in the Western Conference Finals against the Avalanche, including one in Detroit's stunning 7–0 rout of Colorado in the decisive Game 7.
He scored key goals in Detroit's game three and four victories against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Finals; the latter was the 100th playoff goal of his career. Hull won his second career championship as the Red Wings won the series in five games.
Hull posted a 37-goal, 76-point campaign in 2002–03. He became the sixth player in NHL history to score 700 career goals on February 10, 2003, against the San Jose Sharks. At age 38, Hull signed a one-year, $5 million extension with the Red Wings. After scoring 25 goals in 2003–04, Hull would score three goals during the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs for Detroit, who were eliminated by the eventual Western Conference champion Calgary Flames in six games in the second round.
Phoenix Coyotes (2004–05)
The Stars thought they were on the verge of signing Hull to a one-year contract for 2004–05, but he instead accepted a two-year, $4.5 million contract with the Phoenix Coyotes. The first year of the contract was wiped out when the season was cancelled due to a labor stoppage. When play resumed in 2005–06, Hull returned to the ice wearing his father's jersey number 9. The Coyotes franchise, which had relocated from Winnipeg in 1996, continued to honor the Jets' retired numbers, including the elder Hull's. Bobby requested that the team un-retire his uniform and allow his son to wear it. However, after playing just five games and recording one assist, Hull felt that he was no longer able to play at the level he expected of himself. On October 15, 2005, he announced his retirement as a player.
International play
As a dual Canadian and American citizen, Hull was eligible to play for either country internationally. While playing at UMD, he was passed over by officials with Team Canada when they selected their roster for the 1986 World Ice Hockey Championships. However, the American national team invited him to join their squad. Hull accepted and led the team in scoring with 7 goals and 11 points for the sixth place Americans. Hull later said the faith shown in him by American officials gave him the confidence to excel in his career. He played with Team USA for the rest of his career, and at the 1986 Calgary Cup tournament, played a pivotal role in a 5–3 upset of Canada by the Americans. Following the game, he said "I don't feel more like an American than a Canadian. I just want to play."
Hull tied Mike Modano for the American scoring lead at the 1991 Canada Cup with nine points. He led the Americans into the tournament final against Canada, but was held pointless in the decisive game as Canada won the tournament with a 4–2 game. Canadian fans turned on Hull at the inaugural World Cup of Hockey in 1996. In the semifinal against Russia, fans in Ottawa loudly booed Hull and chanted "traitor" towards him as he scored two goals to lead the United States to the final against Canada. In the deciding game of the best-of-three final, Hull scored a key goal as the Americans turned a 2–1 deficit with five minutes to play into a 5–2 victory and captured the championship. Hull led all players with 11 points and was a tournament all-star at forward.
Making his Olympic debut at the 1998 Winter Games, Hull scored two goals in four games. The Americans were quickly eliminated from the tournament and were criticized for their lack of desire and leadership. The team was further embarrassed when it was discovered some members had trashed their hotel room following their elimination. Hull was initially blamed as being a culprit. He angrily denied the accusation and claimed it was an invention of Canadian media upset that he was playing for the United States. Hull, Modano and John LeClair formed the American's top line for the 2002 Olympics. The trio were dominant throughout most of the tournament, leading Team USA to the gold medal game against Canada. Hull and LeClair finished second and third in overall scoring, respectively; however they were held pointless against Team Canada in the final. Hull and the Americans settled for the silver medal following a 5–2 defeat.
Team USA named Hull an alternate captain of its veteran-laden team for the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. However, he was benched by head coach Ron Wilson following two indifferent games in which he did not register a point and never returned to the active lineup.
Playing style
Upon his arrival in the NHL, Hull was considered a "one-dimensional player". He was a natural goal scorer with a reputation for being uninterested in backchecking and playing defense. He was nicknamed "The Incredible Hull" (a reference to Bruce Banner) in college for his scoring exploits and was called "The Golden Brett" in the NHL, a play on his father's nickname of "The Golden Jet". Brett was often compared to Bobby in his early years, though the two shared few similarities on the ice. Both were known for their shooting ability, particularly the power of their slapshot, which Terry Crisp – who played against Bobby and coached Brett – described as "explosive", but while Bobby was a left wing known for both his conditioning and skating ability, Brett played right wing, was a poorer skater and lacked his father's physique.
His reputation for defensive indifference persisted through much of his career. In his 72-goal season of 1989–90, Hull's plus-minus (net difference of even strength and shorthanded goals scored for and against while he was on the ice) was −1. He was a −27 four years later despite scoring 54 goals. Hull also carried a reputation as a player who could not win as his Blues' teams rarely achieved success in the playoffs. He shed that reputation after leading his teams to championships at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals. To win that 1999 championship, Hull also had to fit in with the Dallas Stars' defense-oriented system. He finished that season with a career-best plus-minus of +19.
Known as an outspoken player, Hull earned a reputation on and off the ice for speaking bluntly and without regard for whom it might offend. He chastised his own fans in 1992 – later backtracking – when they booed Adam Oates following Oates' trade request, calling them "losers" and stating he wanted to rip one particular fan's head off. Hull was a consistent critic of the NHL's defensive, "clutch and grab" era of the late 1990s, raising the ire of commissioner Gary Bettman in 1998 when he said "I wouldn't pay to watch. It's boring. The whole style of the game is terrible. There's no flow. When a guy like [Mario] Lemieux leaves the game and tells you why he's leaving, and you don't address it, that's stupid. But the players don't say crap. That's why I always look like the big mouth."
Hull played in eight NHL All-Star Games, and was named the most valuable player of the 1992 game in Philadelphia. As of 2021, his 741 career goals is the fifth highest total in NHL history, and Hull was the third-fastest (behind Wayne Gretzky and Alex Ovechkin) to reach 700 goals, doing so in 1,157 games. He is also second all-time in power play goals with 265 and third in game-winning goals with 110. With 24 career game-winning playoff goals, he is tied with Gretzky for the most all-time. He scored 33 hat tricks in his career, the fourth highest in NHL history. Hull holds numerous St. Louis Blues franchise records, including goals (527), power play goals (195), game-winning goals (70) and hat tricks (27). He also holds the organization's single-season records of goals (86) and points (131). In honor of his achievements with the team, the Blues retired his jersey number 16 in 2006. The team also arranged to have a portion of the street that runs alongside the Scottrade Center renamed "Brett Hull Way". In 2010, the team unveiled a statue of him in front of the arena. Hull was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008, and into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.
Management career
Hull worked two jobs in 2006–07. He served as a special assistant to the team president of the Dallas Stars and provided studio analysis for NHL on NBC telecasts. He left NBC after one season when he was named a special adviser to the team's hockey operations department. Hull was promoted to interim co-general manager of the Stars, sharing the role with Les Jackson after Doug Armstrong was fired on November 13, 2007. ESPN analyst Scott Burnside criticized the promotion of Hull, noting his lack of front office experience and questionable work ethic.
The pair made one of the most prominent trades in the 2007–08 NHL season, acquiring Brad Richards from the Tampa Bay Lightning as part of a five-player trade. The team went on to reach the Western Conference Final of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Stars' deepest playoff run in eight years. Team owner Tom Hicks rewarded the pair with three-year contracts and named them permanent co-general managers. He credited Hull for his positive relationship with the players and his "unconventional wisdom".
The signing of controversial forward Sean Avery prior to the 2008–09 season proved a turning point for Hull and Jackson. Avery's erratic behavior created divisions within the team's locker room, particularly after he made derogatory comments towards another player's girlfriend in the media. The Stars missed the playoffs that season, leading the team to replace Hull and Jackson as general manager with Joe Nieuwendyk. Hull remained with the organization, serving as an adviser to Hicks and team president Jeff Cogen. Hull has since been hired by the St. Louis Blues as their executive vice president for business development.
On May 21, 2019, after the Blues advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 49 years, Hull wasn't able to control his emotions and cried, saying "I'm in there. I'm not a crier, but I'm crying....I saw Bobby Plager and I'm like 'Holy cow,'... 49 years in the making for this... These guys have played unbelievable."
On Saturday, June 15, 2019, after the St. Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup, Brett Hull took the stage and led the crowd in a drunken ramble that echoed throughout the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial following the victory parade down Market Street. He coined the iconic phrase, "We went Blues," explaining, "We don't have to go anymore, 'cause we already did it."
Personal life
Hull currently lives in Nashville with his second wife, Darcie. He has three children by his first wife, Alison: son Jude and daughters Jayde and Crosby. Jude also played hockey, as a goaltender. He attended St. Olaf College until 2018, he never played professionally. Jayde attends Colgate University.
In business, Hull was twice involved in the operation of restaurants. He owned two eateries in St. Louis while he was a member of the Blues, and partnered with Mike Modano and others on a Dallas restaurant called "Hully and Mo Restaurant and Tap Room" following his playing career. He lent his name to a 1995 Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game called Brett Hull Hockey. Hull was a co-owner of the St. Louis Bandits, a junior team in the North American Hockey League. In November 2020, Hull returned to restaurant operation in the St. Louis area with the opening of Brett Hull's Junction in Wentzville, Missouri.
Hull is an avid golfer, often stating during his career that he preferred the sport to hockey. He is a frequent participant in the American Century Celebrity Golf Classic and his best finish at the tournament is a tie for fifth in 2008. He competes in several charity and celebrity tournaments, and in 2009 was ranked as the sixth best athlete golfer in North America by Golf Digest.
In other media
Hull was a guest on the Weekend Update segment of the December 11, 2004, episode of Saturday Night Live.
Hull made a special guest appearance as the USA hockey team captain in the What's New, Scooby-Doo? episode, "Diamonds Are a Ghoul's Best Friend".
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Bold indicates led league
International
Awards and achievements
See also
List of NHL statistical leaders
Notable families in the NHL
References
External links
Brett Hull's profile at hockeydraftcentral.com
1964 births
American men's ice hockey right wingers
American male voice actors
Calgary Flames draft picks
Calgary Flames players
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian male voice actors
Dallas Stars executives
Dallas Stars players
Detroit Red Wings players
Hart Memorial Trophy winners
Hockey Hall of Fame inductees
Ice hockey people from Ontario
Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winners
Lester B. Pearson Award winners
Living people
Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey players
Moncton Golden Flames players
National Hockey League All-Stars
National Hockey League broadcasters
National Hockey League players with retired numbers
Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey
Penticton Knights players
Phoenix Coyotes players
Sportspeople from Belleville, Ontario
St. Louis Blues executives
St. Louis Blues players
Stanley Cup champions | true | [
"Shola Akinlade is a Nigerian software engineer and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of Paystack. In 2020, Akinlade's company was acquired by Stripe for $200m.\n\nEducation \nSola attended St. Gregory's College for his secondary education. In 2006, he graduated with a degree in Computer Science from Babcock University. Shola's career started at Heineken where he worked on their database management as a management trainee and moved on to being a software engineer with banks. In 2016, Shola and Ezra started Paystack.\n\nCompany \nAkinlade's company Paystack was apart of startup accelerator YCombinator's 2016 batch of startups. The company was created to helps businesses in Africa get paid online and offline.\n\nReferences \n\nNigerian business executives\nBabcock University alumni\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people",
"Anjan Chatterjee () (born February 16, 1960) is an Indian hotelier and founder of Speciality Restaurants Limited.\n\nBiography\nAnjan was born on 16 Feb 1960 and he grew up in many places in India. He went to Modern School in Delhi and completed graduation from Ravenshaw College, Cuttack. Then he did his hotel management degree from Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Kolkata. His father Snehamoy Chatterjee was director in Jute Agricultural Research Institute near Kolkata. Anjan spent around 6 years (from 1978 to 1984) in the staff quarter of this Institute Shaheb Bagan.\n\nAfter graduating from Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Kolkata, in 1982, Anjan joined Taj Group of Hotels in Mumbai. Then he joined ABP Group in the marketing department. In 1985, he started his own advertising agency, Situations Advertising.\n\nIn 1992, Anjan started his first restaurant named Only Fish (now Oh! Calcutta) in Mumbai. In 1995, he started the speciality Chinese restaurant brand Mainland China in Sakinaka area in Mumbai.\n\nAnjan Chatterjee started the companies Mainland China, Mainland China Asia Kitchen, Oh! Calcutta, Sigree, Sigree Global Grill - Powai & Malad in Mumbai, Pune & Bangalore & Kolkata, Cafe Mezzuna, Haka, Flame & Grill, Machaan, Sweet Bengal, and Mobifeast.\n\nIn 2012, his holding company Specialty Restaurant Limited went public. In 2018, he handed the operations of his restaurant empire over to his son Avik Chatterjee.\n\nReferences\n\nBengali people\nPeople from West Bengal\nLiving people\n1960 births\nIndian hoteliers\nPeople from New Delhi"
]
|
[
"Brett Hull",
"Management career",
"When did he get started in management?",
"November 13, 2007."
]
| C_8c7399a4031447798d52079f08de6aab_0 | What company gave him his start? | 2 | What company gave Brett Hull his start? | Brett Hull | Hull worked two jobs in 2006-07. He served as a special assistant to the team president of the Dallas Stars and provided studio analysis for NHL on NBC telecasts. He left NBC after one season when he was named a special adviser to the team's hockey operations department. Hull was promoted to interim co-general manager of the Stars, sharing the role with Les Jackson after Doug Armstrong was fired on November 13, 2007. ESPN analyst Scott Burnside criticized the promotion of Hull, noting his lack of front office experience and questionable work ethic. The pair made one of the most prominent trades in the 2007-08 NHL season, acquiring Brad Richards from the Tampa Bay Lightning as part of a five-player trade. The team went on to reach the Western Conference Final of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Stars' deepest playoff run in eight years. Team owner Tom Hicks rewarded the pair with three-year contracts and named them permanent co-general managers. He credited Hull for his positive relationship with the players and his "unconventional wisdom". The signing of controversial forward Sean Avery prior to the 2008-09 season proved a turning point for Hull and Jackson. Avery's erratic behavior created divisions within the team's locker room, particularly after he made derogatory comments towards another player's girlfriend in the media. The Stars missed the playoffs that season, leading the team to replace Hull and Jackson as general manager with Joe Nieuwendyk. Hull remained with the organization, serving as an adviser to Hicks and team president Jeff Cogen. Hull has since been hired by the St. Louis Blues as their executive vice president over business development. CANNOTANSWER | Hull was promoted to interim co-general manager of the Stars, sharing the role with Les Jackson after Doug Armstrong was fired | Brett Andrew Hull (born August 9, 1964) is a Canadian–American former ice hockey player and general manager, and currently an executive vice president of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings and Phoenix Coyotes between 1986 and 2005. His career total of 741 goals is fifth highest in NHL history, and he is one of five players to score 50 goals in 50 games. He was a member of two Stanley Cup winning teams – 1999 with the Dallas Stars and 2002 with the Detroit Red Wings. In 2017 Hull was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
Known as one of the game's greatest snipers, Hull was an elite scorer at all levels of the game. He played college hockey for the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, where he scored 52 goals in 1985–86. He scored 50 the following year with the Moncton Golden Flames of the American Hockey League (AHL) and had five consecutive NHL seasons of at least 50 goals. His 86 goals in 1990–91 is the third-highest single-season total in NHL history, with the first two being the same person, Wayne Gretzky. Hull won the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award that year as the league's most valuable player. He was named a first team all-star on three occasions and played in eight NHL All-Star Games.
Having dual citizenship in Canada and the United States, Hull was eligible to play for either Canada or the United States internationally and chose to join the American National Team. He was a member of the team that won the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and was a two-time Olympian, winning a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Hull was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, joining his father Bobby. They are the first father-son combination to each score either of 600 goals or 1,000 career points in the NHL. Hull's nickname, "the Golden Brett" is a reference to his father's nickname of "the Golden Jet". His jersey number 16 was retired by the St. Louis Blues in 2006.
Early life
Hull was born August 9, 1964, in Belleville, Ontario. His father, Bobby, was a long-time professional hockey player in both the National Hockey League (NHL) and World Hockey Association (WHA). His mother, Joanne (McKay), was an American professional figure skater and taught him how to skate. He has three brothers: Bobby Jr., Blake and Bart, and a younger half-sister: Michelle. Bart played professional football in the Canadian Football League. His uncle Dennis was also a long-time NHL player.
As his father was playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, Hull's early life was spent in Illinois, and he first played organized hockey in the Chicago area at the age of four. He and his brothers often skated with the Black Hawks where they watched their father play. The family moved back to Canada when Bobby signed with the original Winnipeg Jets in 1972. As a youth, he and teammate Richard Kromm played in the 1977 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Winnipeg South Monarchs minor ice hockey team. Brett moved to Vancouver with his mother and two youngest siblings shortly before his parents' acrimonious divorce in 1979. Hull was not close to his father following the breakup, though the two spoke periodically.
Playing career
Junior and college
Admitting that he was viewed as a "pudgy, fun-loving, music-crazed bum" in his youth, Hull stated in his autobiography that he was not surprised when he failed to attract the attention of a junior team. He was first eligible for the NHL Entry Draft in 1982, but as he was still playing in a juvenile league, was passed over without interest. He joined the Penticton Knights of the tier-II British Columbia Junior Hockey League (BCJHL) in the 1982–83 season where he scored 48 goals in 50 games. He was again passed over at the 1983 Entry Draft as teams remained unconvinced of his commitment to the game and his conditioning. NHL teams finally took notice of Hull following his 1983–84 season in which he scored 105 goals in 56 games and broke the BCJHL scoring record with 188 points. The Calgary Flames selected him in the sixth round of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, 117th overall.
Hull accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD), and in 1984–85, scored 32 goals as a freshman. The power of his shot terrorized opposition goaltenders. He was awarded the Jerry Chumola Award as the school's rookie of the year and received similar honors from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). His coaches at Minnesota-Duluth impressed on Hull the need to improve his skating, and in 1985–86, he broke the school record of 49 goals in one season, reaching 52 for the campaign. Hull was named the WCHA first-team all-star at right wing and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
In his two seasons at UMD, Hull set numerous school scoring records. He holds the records for most goals by a rookie (32) and most goals in one season (52). His 20 power play goals, seven hat tricks and 13 multiple-goal games in 1985–86 are all records, and he shares the school's single-game playoff record of four goals. The school retired his jersey number 29 in 2006.
Calgary Flames (1985–88)
Choosing to turn professional following his sophomore season, Hull signed a contract with the Calgary Flames and joined the team during the 1986 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He made his NHL debut on May 20, 1986, in game three of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Montreal Canadiens. His best scoring opportunity came when he hit the post in his first shift of the game. He appeared in two games of the Flames' five-game series loss to Montreal.
The Flames assigned Hull to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Moncton Golden Flames, for the majority of the 1986–87 season. He scored 50 goals, tying an AHL rookie record, and his 93 points was third-best in the league. He won the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as the league's rookie of the year and was named to the first all-star team. He earned a brief recall to Calgary during the season. He made his regular-season debut on November 13, 1986, against the Hartford Whalers and scored his first NHL goal against Steve Weeks on a breakaway. It was the game-winning goal in a 4–3 victory. Hull appeared in five regular-season games for the Flames and played in four playoff games where he scored two goals and added an assist.
Hull earned a spot on the Flames for the 1987–88 NHL season, though the team continued to work with him on his conditioning. He appeared in 52 games for the Flames, scoring 26 goals and 50 points. He did not finish the season in Calgary however. On March 7, 1988, Hull was traded, along with Steve Bozek, to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for defenseman Rob Ramage and goaltender Rick Wamsley.
St. Louis Blues (1988–98)
Hull led the St. Louis Blues with 41 goals in , but his poor skating and inattention to his defensive responsibilities concerned the club. Head coach Brian Sutter convinced Hull to improve his conditioning over the summer. He arrived to begin the season in much better shape and showed a marked improvement in his skating. Center Adam Oates, acquired over the summer, joined Hull on the top line. The pair, dubbed "Hull and Oates" as a play on the band Hall and Oates, were prolific scorers with Oates being an excellent passer and Hull being an excellent shooter. Hull scored 228 goals between 1989–90 and , the second-highest three-season total of any player in NHL history, behind only Wayne Gretzky's 250 tallies between and . He became the fifth player in NHL history to score 50 goals in 50 games in ,—joining Maurice Richard, Mike Bossy, Gretzky, and Mario Lemieux—then repeated the feat in 1991–92.
He led the league in goal scoring all three seasons and was named to the First All-Star Team each year. He collected numerous league awards, winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 1990 as the league's most sportsmanlike player, then in 1991, won the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award as the NHL's most valuable player as selected by the league and his fellow players respectively. His total of 86 goals in 1990–91 is the third highest for a single season in NHL history, after Gretzky's 92 goals in 1981–82 and 87 in 1983–84. Oates left the Blues midway through the 1991–92 season, and while Hull's offensive production dropped, he remained the Blues' top offensive threat. He recorded his fourth and fifth consecutive 50-goal seasons, scoring 54 in and 57 in .
Hull clashed with head coach Mike Keenan, who joined the team in , primarily over the latter's changes to team personnel. Hull, who had been named team captain in 1992, was stripped of the captaincy. By early 1996, the two were publicly criticizing each other in the media. Forced to choose between the player and coach, the Blues fired Keenan on December 19, 1996. Hull responded three nights later with a hat trick against the Los Angeles Kings to reach 500 goals for his NHL career. He and Bobby are the only father-son pair who both reached that total.
After 43- and 42-goal seasons in and , Hull scored 27 in . He became an unrestricted free agent following the season after rejecting a three-year, $15 million offer from the Blues because the team refused to include a no-trade clause. He left St. Louis, signing a three-year, $17 million contract with the Dallas Stars on July 2, 1998.
Dallas Stars (1998–2001)
Hull reached 1,000 points in his career when he notched a goal and an assist in a 3–1 victory with the Dallas Stars over the Boston Bruins on November 14, 1998. He then scored his 600th goal on December 31, 1999. He scored 32 goals in 1998–99 despite struggling with a groin injury for much of the season. The Stars reached the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, against the Buffalo Sabres. The sixth game of the series went to overtime tied 1–1 while Dallas held a 3–2 series lead. At 14:51 of the third overtime period, Hull collected a rebound in front of the Buffalo net and put the puck past goaltender Dominik Hašek to win the game, and the Stanley Cup, for Dallas.
The Sabres immediately protested the goal, as NHL rules of the time stated that a player could not score a goal if any part of his body was within the goal crease. Replays showed that Hull's skate was within the crease when he scored, however, the NHL ruled that he had possession of the puck prior to entering the crease, making the goal legal. League officials stated that that very scenario was addressed in a memo sent to the league's on-ice officials prior to the start of the playoffs. Hull himself states the goal was legal, supporting the claim that the NHL had altered the rules in a private memo sent to all teams but not released to the public. Media, fans and players across the league remain divided on the goal, some claiming that the league altered the rule after the fact. It remains especially controversial in Buffalo, where fans and former players continue to maintain that the play should have been ruled "no goal". The NHL formally abolished the crease rule prior to the next season, allowing players to score from within the crease freely as long as they did not interfere with the goaltender.
As a member of the Stars in their Stanley Cup winning season, Hull wore sweater number 22, as his customary number 16 was worn by Pat Verbeek. Hull would switch back to number 16 the following season when Verbeek left the team as a free agent. Though he appeared in 79 games in 1999–2000, Hull had what coach Ken Hitchcock called "a disappointing season", struggling defensively and scoring only 24 goals. His offensive production improved in the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs as he led the league in post-season scoring with 10 goals and 23 points. The Stars again reached the finals, but lost the series in six games to the New Jersey Devils. Hull scored 39 goals in 2000–01, his best total in four years. He surpassed his father's career total when he scored his 611th goal in a 3–1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 10, 2000. Hull played his 1,000th career game on February 25, 2001, in Calgary.
Detroit Red Wings/Second Stanley Cup championship (2001–04)
The Stars chose not to exercise their option on Hull's contract that would have paid him $7 million for the 2001–02 NHL season, making him a free agent. Although he received superior financial offers from the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, Hull chose to sign a two-year, $9 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings to pursue a second Stanley Cup championship. He joined an already star-studded team that earlier that same offseason had acquired goaltender Dominik Hasek, and also signed winger Luc Robitaille.
As a member of the Red Wings, Hull switched to sweater number 17 out of respect for Vladimir Konstantinov, who wore number 16 for the Red Wings before his playing career ended due to a limousine accident a week after Detroit's 1997 Stanley Cup championship. As of 2021, no player has worn the number 16 for the Red Wings since Konstantinov.
Hull subsequently scored 30 goals that season as the Red Wings dominated their opponents, earning the President's Trophy as the NHL's top team. During the regular season, he was put on a line with Boyd Devereaux and rookie Pavel Datsyuk, a combination in which Hull himself referred to as "two kids and a goat".
Hull would then score a league-leading 10 in the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as the Red Wings defeated the Vancouver Canucks, his former team the St. Louis Blues, and the rival Colorado Avalanche en route to their fourth Finals appearance in eight years. He'd score a hat trick in the deciding sixth game in the opening round against Vancouver, while adding two goals in the second round against the Blues. He then scored three goals in the Western Conference Finals against the Avalanche, including one in Detroit's stunning 7–0 rout of Colorado in the decisive Game 7.
He scored key goals in Detroit's game three and four victories against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Finals; the latter was the 100th playoff goal of his career. Hull won his second career championship as the Red Wings won the series in five games.
Hull posted a 37-goal, 76-point campaign in 2002–03. He became the sixth player in NHL history to score 700 career goals on February 10, 2003, against the San Jose Sharks. At age 38, Hull signed a one-year, $5 million extension with the Red Wings. After scoring 25 goals in 2003–04, Hull would score three goals during the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs for Detroit, who were eliminated by the eventual Western Conference champion Calgary Flames in six games in the second round.
Phoenix Coyotes (2004–05)
The Stars thought they were on the verge of signing Hull to a one-year contract for 2004–05, but he instead accepted a two-year, $4.5 million contract with the Phoenix Coyotes. The first year of the contract was wiped out when the season was cancelled due to a labor stoppage. When play resumed in 2005–06, Hull returned to the ice wearing his father's jersey number 9. The Coyotes franchise, which had relocated from Winnipeg in 1996, continued to honor the Jets' retired numbers, including the elder Hull's. Bobby requested that the team un-retire his uniform and allow his son to wear it. However, after playing just five games and recording one assist, Hull felt that he was no longer able to play at the level he expected of himself. On October 15, 2005, he announced his retirement as a player.
International play
As a dual Canadian and American citizen, Hull was eligible to play for either country internationally. While playing at UMD, he was passed over by officials with Team Canada when they selected their roster for the 1986 World Ice Hockey Championships. However, the American national team invited him to join their squad. Hull accepted and led the team in scoring with 7 goals and 11 points for the sixth place Americans. Hull later said the faith shown in him by American officials gave him the confidence to excel in his career. He played with Team USA for the rest of his career, and at the 1986 Calgary Cup tournament, played a pivotal role in a 5–3 upset of Canada by the Americans. Following the game, he said "I don't feel more like an American than a Canadian. I just want to play."
Hull tied Mike Modano for the American scoring lead at the 1991 Canada Cup with nine points. He led the Americans into the tournament final against Canada, but was held pointless in the decisive game as Canada won the tournament with a 4–2 game. Canadian fans turned on Hull at the inaugural World Cup of Hockey in 1996. In the semifinal against Russia, fans in Ottawa loudly booed Hull and chanted "traitor" towards him as he scored two goals to lead the United States to the final against Canada. In the deciding game of the best-of-three final, Hull scored a key goal as the Americans turned a 2–1 deficit with five minutes to play into a 5–2 victory and captured the championship. Hull led all players with 11 points and was a tournament all-star at forward.
Making his Olympic debut at the 1998 Winter Games, Hull scored two goals in four games. The Americans were quickly eliminated from the tournament and were criticized for their lack of desire and leadership. The team was further embarrassed when it was discovered some members had trashed their hotel room following their elimination. Hull was initially blamed as being a culprit. He angrily denied the accusation and claimed it was an invention of Canadian media upset that he was playing for the United States. Hull, Modano and John LeClair formed the American's top line for the 2002 Olympics. The trio were dominant throughout most of the tournament, leading Team USA to the gold medal game against Canada. Hull and LeClair finished second and third in overall scoring, respectively; however they were held pointless against Team Canada in the final. Hull and the Americans settled for the silver medal following a 5–2 defeat.
Team USA named Hull an alternate captain of its veteran-laden team for the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. However, he was benched by head coach Ron Wilson following two indifferent games in which he did not register a point and never returned to the active lineup.
Playing style
Upon his arrival in the NHL, Hull was considered a "one-dimensional player". He was a natural goal scorer with a reputation for being uninterested in backchecking and playing defense. He was nicknamed "The Incredible Hull" (a reference to Bruce Banner) in college for his scoring exploits and was called "The Golden Brett" in the NHL, a play on his father's nickname of "The Golden Jet". Brett was often compared to Bobby in his early years, though the two shared few similarities on the ice. Both were known for their shooting ability, particularly the power of their slapshot, which Terry Crisp – who played against Bobby and coached Brett – described as "explosive", but while Bobby was a left wing known for both his conditioning and skating ability, Brett played right wing, was a poorer skater and lacked his father's physique.
His reputation for defensive indifference persisted through much of his career. In his 72-goal season of 1989–90, Hull's plus-minus (net difference of even strength and shorthanded goals scored for and against while he was on the ice) was −1. He was a −27 four years later despite scoring 54 goals. Hull also carried a reputation as a player who could not win as his Blues' teams rarely achieved success in the playoffs. He shed that reputation after leading his teams to championships at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals. To win that 1999 championship, Hull also had to fit in with the Dallas Stars' defense-oriented system. He finished that season with a career-best plus-minus of +19.
Known as an outspoken player, Hull earned a reputation on and off the ice for speaking bluntly and without regard for whom it might offend. He chastised his own fans in 1992 – later backtracking – when they booed Adam Oates following Oates' trade request, calling them "losers" and stating he wanted to rip one particular fan's head off. Hull was a consistent critic of the NHL's defensive, "clutch and grab" era of the late 1990s, raising the ire of commissioner Gary Bettman in 1998 when he said "I wouldn't pay to watch. It's boring. The whole style of the game is terrible. There's no flow. When a guy like [Mario] Lemieux leaves the game and tells you why he's leaving, and you don't address it, that's stupid. But the players don't say crap. That's why I always look like the big mouth."
Hull played in eight NHL All-Star Games, and was named the most valuable player of the 1992 game in Philadelphia. As of 2021, his 741 career goals is the fifth highest total in NHL history, and Hull was the third-fastest (behind Wayne Gretzky and Alex Ovechkin) to reach 700 goals, doing so in 1,157 games. He is also second all-time in power play goals with 265 and third in game-winning goals with 110. With 24 career game-winning playoff goals, he is tied with Gretzky for the most all-time. He scored 33 hat tricks in his career, the fourth highest in NHL history. Hull holds numerous St. Louis Blues franchise records, including goals (527), power play goals (195), game-winning goals (70) and hat tricks (27). He also holds the organization's single-season records of goals (86) and points (131). In honor of his achievements with the team, the Blues retired his jersey number 16 in 2006. The team also arranged to have a portion of the street that runs alongside the Scottrade Center renamed "Brett Hull Way". In 2010, the team unveiled a statue of him in front of the arena. Hull was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008, and into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.
Management career
Hull worked two jobs in 2006–07. He served as a special assistant to the team president of the Dallas Stars and provided studio analysis for NHL on NBC telecasts. He left NBC after one season when he was named a special adviser to the team's hockey operations department. Hull was promoted to interim co-general manager of the Stars, sharing the role with Les Jackson after Doug Armstrong was fired on November 13, 2007. ESPN analyst Scott Burnside criticized the promotion of Hull, noting his lack of front office experience and questionable work ethic.
The pair made one of the most prominent trades in the 2007–08 NHL season, acquiring Brad Richards from the Tampa Bay Lightning as part of a five-player trade. The team went on to reach the Western Conference Final of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Stars' deepest playoff run in eight years. Team owner Tom Hicks rewarded the pair with three-year contracts and named them permanent co-general managers. He credited Hull for his positive relationship with the players and his "unconventional wisdom".
The signing of controversial forward Sean Avery prior to the 2008–09 season proved a turning point for Hull and Jackson. Avery's erratic behavior created divisions within the team's locker room, particularly after he made derogatory comments towards another player's girlfriend in the media. The Stars missed the playoffs that season, leading the team to replace Hull and Jackson as general manager with Joe Nieuwendyk. Hull remained with the organization, serving as an adviser to Hicks and team president Jeff Cogen. Hull has since been hired by the St. Louis Blues as their executive vice president for business development.
On May 21, 2019, after the Blues advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 49 years, Hull wasn't able to control his emotions and cried, saying "I'm in there. I'm not a crier, but I'm crying....I saw Bobby Plager and I'm like 'Holy cow,'... 49 years in the making for this... These guys have played unbelievable."
On Saturday, June 15, 2019, after the St. Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup, Brett Hull took the stage and led the crowd in a drunken ramble that echoed throughout the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial following the victory parade down Market Street. He coined the iconic phrase, "We went Blues," explaining, "We don't have to go anymore, 'cause we already did it."
Personal life
Hull currently lives in Nashville with his second wife, Darcie. He has three children by his first wife, Alison: son Jude and daughters Jayde and Crosby. Jude also played hockey, as a goaltender. He attended St. Olaf College until 2018, he never played professionally. Jayde attends Colgate University.
In business, Hull was twice involved in the operation of restaurants. He owned two eateries in St. Louis while he was a member of the Blues, and partnered with Mike Modano and others on a Dallas restaurant called "Hully and Mo Restaurant and Tap Room" following his playing career. He lent his name to a 1995 Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game called Brett Hull Hockey. Hull was a co-owner of the St. Louis Bandits, a junior team in the North American Hockey League. In November 2020, Hull returned to restaurant operation in the St. Louis area with the opening of Brett Hull's Junction in Wentzville, Missouri.
Hull is an avid golfer, often stating during his career that he preferred the sport to hockey. He is a frequent participant in the American Century Celebrity Golf Classic and his best finish at the tournament is a tie for fifth in 2008. He competes in several charity and celebrity tournaments, and in 2009 was ranked as the sixth best athlete golfer in North America by Golf Digest.
In other media
Hull was a guest on the Weekend Update segment of the December 11, 2004, episode of Saturday Night Live.
Hull made a special guest appearance as the USA hockey team captain in the What's New, Scooby-Doo? episode, "Diamonds Are a Ghoul's Best Friend".
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Bold indicates led league
International
Awards and achievements
See also
List of NHL statistical leaders
Notable families in the NHL
References
External links
Brett Hull's profile at hockeydraftcentral.com
1964 births
American men's ice hockey right wingers
American male voice actors
Calgary Flames draft picks
Calgary Flames players
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian male voice actors
Dallas Stars executives
Dallas Stars players
Detroit Red Wings players
Hart Memorial Trophy winners
Hockey Hall of Fame inductees
Ice hockey people from Ontario
Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winners
Lester B. Pearson Award winners
Living people
Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey players
Moncton Golden Flames players
National Hockey League All-Stars
National Hockey League broadcasters
National Hockey League players with retired numbers
Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey
Penticton Knights players
Phoenix Coyotes players
Sportspeople from Belleville, Ontario
St. Louis Blues executives
St. Louis Blues players
Stanley Cup champions | true | [
"Charles Luther Webster (September 24, 1851 – April 28, 1891) served as Mark Twain's business manager and was eventually installed as the head of Twain's publishing company, Charles L. Webster and Co., named for Webster.\n\nWebster was born in Charlotte, New York in 1851 and married Annie Moffett, Mark Twain's niece, in 1875. The following year, Annie gave birth to a daughter, Alice Jane Chandler Webster.\n\nIn 1881, Twain hired Webster to oversee the development of Twain's investments for the Kaolatype process for making engraved printing plates. When Twain decided to start his own publishing company in 1884, he hired Webster to head the company and named it after him, promoting him to full partner in March 1885. Twain came to feel Webster was incompetent and removed him from the company in 1888, while retaining Webster's name. In his autobiography, Twain described Webster as \"one of the most assful persons I have ever met–perhaps the most assful.\" In a letter to Twain's brother, Orion Clemens, he wrote that he never hated anyone as much as he hated Webster. Webster's son, Samuel Charles Webster, published the book Mark Twain, Business Man in 1946 to rehabilitate his father's reputation.\n\nWebster died in Fredonia, New York on April 28, 1891.\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\nSamuel Charles Webster, Mark Twain, Business Man, Little, Brown, Boston, 1946.\nSPECIAL FEATURE: A RARE INTERVIEW WITH CHARLES WEBSTER, TwainQuotes.\n\n1851 births\n1891 deaths\nAmerican publishers (people)\n19th-century publishers (people)\nPeople from Charlotte, New York\n19th-century American businesspeople",
"Manjunath is an Indian drama film written and directed by Sandeep A. Varma based on the true story of Manjunath Shanmugam — the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow graduate who was killed in Lakhimpur, U.P., in November 2005, for his stand against corruption and fuel adulteration.\n\nPlot\n\nIn the hinterland of Uttar Pradesh 27-year-old Manjunath Shanmugam is a student at the state-of-the-art campus of the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow (IIM-L). After graduating, Manjunath joins a petroleum company as a sales officer. He is posted in Lakhimpur Kheri, a remote district in rural Uttar Pradesh. One day Manjunath goes missing.\n\nHis friends panic, because they know that of late he had been very disturbed and was behaving strangely. He had become serious and scared. He was different from the Manjunath they knew in college, who was always jovial, fun-loving, friendly, and a great entertainer.\n\nOne of his friends finds him, but Manjunath is frantic. They send him back to his hometown. Manjunath's parents try to convince him to leave his job at Bharat Oil that is causing him stress. Initially he seems willing but slowly he realises that he doesn't want to be a quitter. (Manjunath believes that, being from a top institute in the country, he has been given an opportunity. As the eldest son of a mineworker, he has had a humble upbringing.)\n\nHe realises that the kerosene, mixed with diesel, is coming from ration shops — 'it's the poor people's kerosene'. In addition, he becomes conscious of the extent of pollution caused by burning adulterated fuel. He finds strength and comes back to fight, against his parents wishes.\n\nThere is a clear threat to his life, because he insists on doing his duty to stop petrol adulteration. This time, Manjunath is not deterred. He continues doing what he considers right, without worrying about the consequences. As a result, one night he gets brutally killed by the people who are harmed by his doing his duty. His family and friends suffer over his death. They wonder why he put himself in so much danger.\n\nSlowly, the worst fears start coming true. Beyond the initial grief, no one wants to come forward to carry on the fight.\n\nIn the film, Manjunath is shown watching what happens after he dies. He is starting to feel that it is all pointless. He cannot watch his parents' tears any more: What was their fault? Maybe he should have compromised. But how can people not see what he has? What he fought was something very big and very important.\n\nSuddenly, people who have no connection to him realise the importance of what Manjunath did and start trying to do something. Like novices, they search their way around: Their will is strong. They start getting help again from unexpected quarters. It is nerve-wracking, with dangers for everyone. Then, instead of one or two, there are a lot people helping. Manjunath, who has lost hope, realises that it's not all going waste.\n\nHe hopes and prays that they succeed.\n\nThe film cuts back and forth from a rock concert. The conflict of the story is not whether Manjunath lived or died, but if the effect of Manjunath lives or dies, and in the end that's the victory.\n\nCast\n Sasho Satiiysh Saarathy as Manjunath\n Divya Dutta as Anjali Mullatti\n Seema Biswas as Manjunath's mother\n Kishor Kadam as Manjunath's father\n Yashpal Sharma as Golu Goyal\n Rajesh Khattar as Raina, Manjunath's boss\n Asif Basra as Devendra\n Anjori Alagh as Sujata\n Faisal Rashid as Gautam\n Gireesh Sahedev as H.Jaishankar\n Vineet Kumar as I.B. Singh\n Shishir Sharma as Golu's father\n Saksham Dayma as Inspector Shukla\nNalneesh Neel as Paanwala\n\nProduction\n\nDevelopment\nIn an interview with Firstpost, director Sandeep A. Varma stated, \n\"Manjunath actually picked me. One day, I got a call from the Manjunath Trust Trustees who were fighting his case. They wanted some creative work like posters, etc. to be created pro bono and had got to know that I had a creative advertising background.As I researched on Manjunath, two things staggered me. One was he was totally unlike what I'd thought he would be. I'd thought he'd be idealistic, preachy, etc but he was interesting, very ordinary in the sense of how we used to be in college, he made mistakes, was a musician – basically very cinematic. It made me curious that if he was so 'like any of us' then what happened to him to make him do what he did? Secondly, also that the people fighting his case, did not know him, were not doing it for glory or money, just strangers, taking on something thousands of miles away, just because they were inspired by what he did.\nI thought these may be ingredients of a story worth telling.\"\n\nOfficial support\nThe film was supported by the Manjunath Shanmugam Trust through which the support of IIM-Lucknow and Manjunath's parents were enlisted.\n\nFilming\n\nManjunath was primarily shot in Lucknow and areas around, including at the IIM. The rest of the portions were filmed in Mumbai and Bangalore. The filming in U.P. was done under a pseudo-name of being a romantic movie, to avoid the attention of the local people and media. Sandeep and his crew had a close shave with a few corrupt petrol pump owners whilst shooting which forced him to choose the cover story. “Unlike the collective memory of the rest of the country, Manjunath’s story is still alive in Uttar Pradesh. We didn’t want to put the 100-crew unit at risk,” said director Sandeep A. Varma, in an interview with The Indian Express.\n\nMusic\n\nThe soundtrack is composed by Sonam Sherpa, Nitin Malik and Subir Malik of Delhi-based rock band Parikrama. The film has four original songs with lyrics penned by Rajneesh Bisht and Sandeep A. Varma. The track \"Shlokas\" is the first rock rendition of the Bhagavad Gita in Bollywood.\n\nRelease\nManjunath was released in India on 9 May 2014.\n\nReception\n\nCritical response\nCritic Taran Adarsh gave 3.5 stars out of 5 and states that, \"Manjunath is a film that is realistic, brave and powerful. Critic Subhash K. Jha also gave 3.5 stars out of 5 saying, \"The director pieces together Manjunath's story like Orson Welles' Citizen Kane. For The Times of India, Renuka Vyavahare wrote, \"One of the least promoted films of the week, Manjunath pleasantly surprises you with its thought-provoking, hard-hitting content and earnest execution. What also set the film apart are its heart-rending parent-child moments and heartfelt performances. Renowned artistes Seema Biswas (as Manju's mother) and Kishor Kadam (Manju's father) deserve awards for their tear-evoking acts.\" She gave the film 3 stars out of 5. Rajeev Masand for IBN Live gave it a rating of 3/5, calling it \"An important story that deserves to be heard.\" Sify.com gave it 3.5 out of 5 saying, \"Don't miss this rare gem. Varma is an astute storyteller, also showcasing a flair for cinematic style. The atmospherics are delightful, and so are the nuances (right from Manjunath's nerdy dressing sense to his worn-out steering wheel cover). Music by Parikrama is superb, even if too much at times.\" \n\nRahul Desai for Mumbai Mirror wrote, \"The sign of a good biopic, like a documentary, is its current relevance and ability to transcend flaws, as well as the first emotion it elicits from viewers. I felt wronged, and grew stronger as things progressed, only to be shaken by the truth of how relatable Manjunath's psychological struggle was. The tragic part is that Manjunath wasn't a hero; he only had his eyes open in an unrelenting world.\" He gave it 3 stars out of 5.\nPaloma Sharma for Rediff.com gave it 3 stars out of 5 and said, \"Several scenes even take place from beyond the grave and this turn of events ruins the fast-paced, crisply edited aspect of the film and hence, the early promise it showed. That said though, Manjunath is a brave film, like the man it is based on, as it openly takes on the issue of caste and class – an everyday discrimination that the protagonist faced.\"\n\nResponse from Manjunath's family\n\nIn an open letter to DNA, Manjunath's brother S. Raghavendran, as a response to the film's low box office response, wrote,\n\n\"We saw Manjunath come alive in front of our eyes last weekend in the theatre near you. A few people had come forward to honour his memory. Why? Was he useless? Did what he did not matter to anyone? Would you react the same way if your loved one is brutally killed for doing his duty?\nIt’s not a movie with an item song or love story or the one which audience normally expect. It’s poignant, isn’t it... an ordinary man fighting against corruption and getting brutally killed. I only wish and hope that more people should know of his real story, what he did, why, what he stood for, and get inspired by him. Let’s all start dreaming about a corruption free country. Don’t we have the right to at least start dreaming and thinking in that direction?\"\n\nTelevision premiere\n\nManjunath had its world television premiere on 19 November 2014 (Manjunath's death anniversary) on &Pictures (Zee Group).\n\nTo create awareness, &Pictures organised on-ground events at notable colleges as such IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Indore, IIM Lucknow and St. Andrew's College, Mumbai, where a panel discussion was held on the topic “Are heroes like Manjunath ‘brave’ or ‘stupid’ in doing what they do?” The panelists included the film's director Sandeep A. Varma; Raghavendran Shanmugam (Manjunath's brother); cast members from the movie like Sasho Satiiysh, Yashpal Sharma and Rajesh Khattar; notable government officials and IPS officers; and faculty members from the institutes. The events were covered by mainline and regional press.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n2014 films\nIndian films\n2010s Hindi-language films\n \nViacom18 Studios films\nFilms shot in Lucknow\n2010s biographical films"
]
|
[
"Brett Hull",
"Management career",
"When did he get started in management?",
"November 13, 2007.",
"What company gave him his start?",
"Hull was promoted to interim co-general manager of the Stars, sharing the role with Les Jackson after Doug Armstrong was fired"
]
| C_8c7399a4031447798d52079f08de6aab_0 | Did he have any other positions within this company? | 3 | Besides interim co-general manager of the Stars, Did Bret Hull have any other positions within the Stars? | Brett Hull | Hull worked two jobs in 2006-07. He served as a special assistant to the team president of the Dallas Stars and provided studio analysis for NHL on NBC telecasts. He left NBC after one season when he was named a special adviser to the team's hockey operations department. Hull was promoted to interim co-general manager of the Stars, sharing the role with Les Jackson after Doug Armstrong was fired on November 13, 2007. ESPN analyst Scott Burnside criticized the promotion of Hull, noting his lack of front office experience and questionable work ethic. The pair made one of the most prominent trades in the 2007-08 NHL season, acquiring Brad Richards from the Tampa Bay Lightning as part of a five-player trade. The team went on to reach the Western Conference Final of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Stars' deepest playoff run in eight years. Team owner Tom Hicks rewarded the pair with three-year contracts and named them permanent co-general managers. He credited Hull for his positive relationship with the players and his "unconventional wisdom". The signing of controversial forward Sean Avery prior to the 2008-09 season proved a turning point for Hull and Jackson. Avery's erratic behavior created divisions within the team's locker room, particularly after he made derogatory comments towards another player's girlfriend in the media. The Stars missed the playoffs that season, leading the team to replace Hull and Jackson as general manager with Joe Nieuwendyk. Hull remained with the organization, serving as an adviser to Hicks and team president Jeff Cogen. Hull has since been hired by the St. Louis Blues as their executive vice president over business development. CANNOTANSWER | named them permanent co-general managers. | Brett Andrew Hull (born August 9, 1964) is a Canadian–American former ice hockey player and general manager, and currently an executive vice president of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings and Phoenix Coyotes between 1986 and 2005. His career total of 741 goals is fifth highest in NHL history, and he is one of five players to score 50 goals in 50 games. He was a member of two Stanley Cup winning teams – 1999 with the Dallas Stars and 2002 with the Detroit Red Wings. In 2017 Hull was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
Known as one of the game's greatest snipers, Hull was an elite scorer at all levels of the game. He played college hockey for the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, where he scored 52 goals in 1985–86. He scored 50 the following year with the Moncton Golden Flames of the American Hockey League (AHL) and had five consecutive NHL seasons of at least 50 goals. His 86 goals in 1990–91 is the third-highest single-season total in NHL history, with the first two being the same person, Wayne Gretzky. Hull won the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award that year as the league's most valuable player. He was named a first team all-star on three occasions and played in eight NHL All-Star Games.
Having dual citizenship in Canada and the United States, Hull was eligible to play for either Canada or the United States internationally and chose to join the American National Team. He was a member of the team that won the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and was a two-time Olympian, winning a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Hull was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, joining his father Bobby. They are the first father-son combination to each score either of 600 goals or 1,000 career points in the NHL. Hull's nickname, "the Golden Brett" is a reference to his father's nickname of "the Golden Jet". His jersey number 16 was retired by the St. Louis Blues in 2006.
Early life
Hull was born August 9, 1964, in Belleville, Ontario. His father, Bobby, was a long-time professional hockey player in both the National Hockey League (NHL) and World Hockey Association (WHA). His mother, Joanne (McKay), was an American professional figure skater and taught him how to skate. He has three brothers: Bobby Jr., Blake and Bart, and a younger half-sister: Michelle. Bart played professional football in the Canadian Football League. His uncle Dennis was also a long-time NHL player.
As his father was playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, Hull's early life was spent in Illinois, and he first played organized hockey in the Chicago area at the age of four. He and his brothers often skated with the Black Hawks where they watched their father play. The family moved back to Canada when Bobby signed with the original Winnipeg Jets in 1972. As a youth, he and teammate Richard Kromm played in the 1977 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Winnipeg South Monarchs minor ice hockey team. Brett moved to Vancouver with his mother and two youngest siblings shortly before his parents' acrimonious divorce in 1979. Hull was not close to his father following the breakup, though the two spoke periodically.
Playing career
Junior and college
Admitting that he was viewed as a "pudgy, fun-loving, music-crazed bum" in his youth, Hull stated in his autobiography that he was not surprised when he failed to attract the attention of a junior team. He was first eligible for the NHL Entry Draft in 1982, but as he was still playing in a juvenile league, was passed over without interest. He joined the Penticton Knights of the tier-II British Columbia Junior Hockey League (BCJHL) in the 1982–83 season where he scored 48 goals in 50 games. He was again passed over at the 1983 Entry Draft as teams remained unconvinced of his commitment to the game and his conditioning. NHL teams finally took notice of Hull following his 1983–84 season in which he scored 105 goals in 56 games and broke the BCJHL scoring record with 188 points. The Calgary Flames selected him in the sixth round of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, 117th overall.
Hull accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD), and in 1984–85, scored 32 goals as a freshman. The power of his shot terrorized opposition goaltenders. He was awarded the Jerry Chumola Award as the school's rookie of the year and received similar honors from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). His coaches at Minnesota-Duluth impressed on Hull the need to improve his skating, and in 1985–86, he broke the school record of 49 goals in one season, reaching 52 for the campaign. Hull was named the WCHA first-team all-star at right wing and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
In his two seasons at UMD, Hull set numerous school scoring records. He holds the records for most goals by a rookie (32) and most goals in one season (52). His 20 power play goals, seven hat tricks and 13 multiple-goal games in 1985–86 are all records, and he shares the school's single-game playoff record of four goals. The school retired his jersey number 29 in 2006.
Calgary Flames (1985–88)
Choosing to turn professional following his sophomore season, Hull signed a contract with the Calgary Flames and joined the team during the 1986 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He made his NHL debut on May 20, 1986, in game three of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Montreal Canadiens. His best scoring opportunity came when he hit the post in his first shift of the game. He appeared in two games of the Flames' five-game series loss to Montreal.
The Flames assigned Hull to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Moncton Golden Flames, for the majority of the 1986–87 season. He scored 50 goals, tying an AHL rookie record, and his 93 points was third-best in the league. He won the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as the league's rookie of the year and was named to the first all-star team. He earned a brief recall to Calgary during the season. He made his regular-season debut on November 13, 1986, against the Hartford Whalers and scored his first NHL goal against Steve Weeks on a breakaway. It was the game-winning goal in a 4–3 victory. Hull appeared in five regular-season games for the Flames and played in four playoff games where he scored two goals and added an assist.
Hull earned a spot on the Flames for the 1987–88 NHL season, though the team continued to work with him on his conditioning. He appeared in 52 games for the Flames, scoring 26 goals and 50 points. He did not finish the season in Calgary however. On March 7, 1988, Hull was traded, along with Steve Bozek, to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for defenseman Rob Ramage and goaltender Rick Wamsley.
St. Louis Blues (1988–98)
Hull led the St. Louis Blues with 41 goals in , but his poor skating and inattention to his defensive responsibilities concerned the club. Head coach Brian Sutter convinced Hull to improve his conditioning over the summer. He arrived to begin the season in much better shape and showed a marked improvement in his skating. Center Adam Oates, acquired over the summer, joined Hull on the top line. The pair, dubbed "Hull and Oates" as a play on the band Hall and Oates, were prolific scorers with Oates being an excellent passer and Hull being an excellent shooter. Hull scored 228 goals between 1989–90 and , the second-highest three-season total of any player in NHL history, behind only Wayne Gretzky's 250 tallies between and . He became the fifth player in NHL history to score 50 goals in 50 games in ,—joining Maurice Richard, Mike Bossy, Gretzky, and Mario Lemieux—then repeated the feat in 1991–92.
He led the league in goal scoring all three seasons and was named to the First All-Star Team each year. He collected numerous league awards, winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 1990 as the league's most sportsmanlike player, then in 1991, won the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award as the NHL's most valuable player as selected by the league and his fellow players respectively. His total of 86 goals in 1990–91 is the third highest for a single season in NHL history, after Gretzky's 92 goals in 1981–82 and 87 in 1983–84. Oates left the Blues midway through the 1991–92 season, and while Hull's offensive production dropped, he remained the Blues' top offensive threat. He recorded his fourth and fifth consecutive 50-goal seasons, scoring 54 in and 57 in .
Hull clashed with head coach Mike Keenan, who joined the team in , primarily over the latter's changes to team personnel. Hull, who had been named team captain in 1992, was stripped of the captaincy. By early 1996, the two were publicly criticizing each other in the media. Forced to choose between the player and coach, the Blues fired Keenan on December 19, 1996. Hull responded three nights later with a hat trick against the Los Angeles Kings to reach 500 goals for his NHL career. He and Bobby are the only father-son pair who both reached that total.
After 43- and 42-goal seasons in and , Hull scored 27 in . He became an unrestricted free agent following the season after rejecting a three-year, $15 million offer from the Blues because the team refused to include a no-trade clause. He left St. Louis, signing a three-year, $17 million contract with the Dallas Stars on July 2, 1998.
Dallas Stars (1998–2001)
Hull reached 1,000 points in his career when he notched a goal and an assist in a 3–1 victory with the Dallas Stars over the Boston Bruins on November 14, 1998. He then scored his 600th goal on December 31, 1999. He scored 32 goals in 1998–99 despite struggling with a groin injury for much of the season. The Stars reached the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, against the Buffalo Sabres. The sixth game of the series went to overtime tied 1–1 while Dallas held a 3–2 series lead. At 14:51 of the third overtime period, Hull collected a rebound in front of the Buffalo net and put the puck past goaltender Dominik Hašek to win the game, and the Stanley Cup, for Dallas.
The Sabres immediately protested the goal, as NHL rules of the time stated that a player could not score a goal if any part of his body was within the goal crease. Replays showed that Hull's skate was within the crease when he scored, however, the NHL ruled that he had possession of the puck prior to entering the crease, making the goal legal. League officials stated that that very scenario was addressed in a memo sent to the league's on-ice officials prior to the start of the playoffs. Hull himself states the goal was legal, supporting the claim that the NHL had altered the rules in a private memo sent to all teams but not released to the public. Media, fans and players across the league remain divided on the goal, some claiming that the league altered the rule after the fact. It remains especially controversial in Buffalo, where fans and former players continue to maintain that the play should have been ruled "no goal". The NHL formally abolished the crease rule prior to the next season, allowing players to score from within the crease freely as long as they did not interfere with the goaltender.
As a member of the Stars in their Stanley Cup winning season, Hull wore sweater number 22, as his customary number 16 was worn by Pat Verbeek. Hull would switch back to number 16 the following season when Verbeek left the team as a free agent. Though he appeared in 79 games in 1999–2000, Hull had what coach Ken Hitchcock called "a disappointing season", struggling defensively and scoring only 24 goals. His offensive production improved in the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs as he led the league in post-season scoring with 10 goals and 23 points. The Stars again reached the finals, but lost the series in six games to the New Jersey Devils. Hull scored 39 goals in 2000–01, his best total in four years. He surpassed his father's career total when he scored his 611th goal in a 3–1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 10, 2000. Hull played his 1,000th career game on February 25, 2001, in Calgary.
Detroit Red Wings/Second Stanley Cup championship (2001–04)
The Stars chose not to exercise their option on Hull's contract that would have paid him $7 million for the 2001–02 NHL season, making him a free agent. Although he received superior financial offers from the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, Hull chose to sign a two-year, $9 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings to pursue a second Stanley Cup championship. He joined an already star-studded team that earlier that same offseason had acquired goaltender Dominik Hasek, and also signed winger Luc Robitaille.
As a member of the Red Wings, Hull switched to sweater number 17 out of respect for Vladimir Konstantinov, who wore number 16 for the Red Wings before his playing career ended due to a limousine accident a week after Detroit's 1997 Stanley Cup championship. As of 2021, no player has worn the number 16 for the Red Wings since Konstantinov.
Hull subsequently scored 30 goals that season as the Red Wings dominated their opponents, earning the President's Trophy as the NHL's top team. During the regular season, he was put on a line with Boyd Devereaux and rookie Pavel Datsyuk, a combination in which Hull himself referred to as "two kids and a goat".
Hull would then score a league-leading 10 in the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as the Red Wings defeated the Vancouver Canucks, his former team the St. Louis Blues, and the rival Colorado Avalanche en route to their fourth Finals appearance in eight years. He'd score a hat trick in the deciding sixth game in the opening round against Vancouver, while adding two goals in the second round against the Blues. He then scored three goals in the Western Conference Finals against the Avalanche, including one in Detroit's stunning 7–0 rout of Colorado in the decisive Game 7.
He scored key goals in Detroit's game three and four victories against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Finals; the latter was the 100th playoff goal of his career. Hull won his second career championship as the Red Wings won the series in five games.
Hull posted a 37-goal, 76-point campaign in 2002–03. He became the sixth player in NHL history to score 700 career goals on February 10, 2003, against the San Jose Sharks. At age 38, Hull signed a one-year, $5 million extension with the Red Wings. After scoring 25 goals in 2003–04, Hull would score three goals during the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs for Detroit, who were eliminated by the eventual Western Conference champion Calgary Flames in six games in the second round.
Phoenix Coyotes (2004–05)
The Stars thought they were on the verge of signing Hull to a one-year contract for 2004–05, but he instead accepted a two-year, $4.5 million contract with the Phoenix Coyotes. The first year of the contract was wiped out when the season was cancelled due to a labor stoppage. When play resumed in 2005–06, Hull returned to the ice wearing his father's jersey number 9. The Coyotes franchise, which had relocated from Winnipeg in 1996, continued to honor the Jets' retired numbers, including the elder Hull's. Bobby requested that the team un-retire his uniform and allow his son to wear it. However, after playing just five games and recording one assist, Hull felt that he was no longer able to play at the level he expected of himself. On October 15, 2005, he announced his retirement as a player.
International play
As a dual Canadian and American citizen, Hull was eligible to play for either country internationally. While playing at UMD, he was passed over by officials with Team Canada when they selected their roster for the 1986 World Ice Hockey Championships. However, the American national team invited him to join their squad. Hull accepted and led the team in scoring with 7 goals and 11 points for the sixth place Americans. Hull later said the faith shown in him by American officials gave him the confidence to excel in his career. He played with Team USA for the rest of his career, and at the 1986 Calgary Cup tournament, played a pivotal role in a 5–3 upset of Canada by the Americans. Following the game, he said "I don't feel more like an American than a Canadian. I just want to play."
Hull tied Mike Modano for the American scoring lead at the 1991 Canada Cup with nine points. He led the Americans into the tournament final against Canada, but was held pointless in the decisive game as Canada won the tournament with a 4–2 game. Canadian fans turned on Hull at the inaugural World Cup of Hockey in 1996. In the semifinal against Russia, fans in Ottawa loudly booed Hull and chanted "traitor" towards him as he scored two goals to lead the United States to the final against Canada. In the deciding game of the best-of-three final, Hull scored a key goal as the Americans turned a 2–1 deficit with five minutes to play into a 5–2 victory and captured the championship. Hull led all players with 11 points and was a tournament all-star at forward.
Making his Olympic debut at the 1998 Winter Games, Hull scored two goals in four games. The Americans were quickly eliminated from the tournament and were criticized for their lack of desire and leadership. The team was further embarrassed when it was discovered some members had trashed their hotel room following their elimination. Hull was initially blamed as being a culprit. He angrily denied the accusation and claimed it was an invention of Canadian media upset that he was playing for the United States. Hull, Modano and John LeClair formed the American's top line for the 2002 Olympics. The trio were dominant throughout most of the tournament, leading Team USA to the gold medal game against Canada. Hull and LeClair finished second and third in overall scoring, respectively; however they were held pointless against Team Canada in the final. Hull and the Americans settled for the silver medal following a 5–2 defeat.
Team USA named Hull an alternate captain of its veteran-laden team for the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. However, he was benched by head coach Ron Wilson following two indifferent games in which he did not register a point and never returned to the active lineup.
Playing style
Upon his arrival in the NHL, Hull was considered a "one-dimensional player". He was a natural goal scorer with a reputation for being uninterested in backchecking and playing defense. He was nicknamed "The Incredible Hull" (a reference to Bruce Banner) in college for his scoring exploits and was called "The Golden Brett" in the NHL, a play on his father's nickname of "The Golden Jet". Brett was often compared to Bobby in his early years, though the two shared few similarities on the ice. Both were known for their shooting ability, particularly the power of their slapshot, which Terry Crisp – who played against Bobby and coached Brett – described as "explosive", but while Bobby was a left wing known for both his conditioning and skating ability, Brett played right wing, was a poorer skater and lacked his father's physique.
His reputation for defensive indifference persisted through much of his career. In his 72-goal season of 1989–90, Hull's plus-minus (net difference of even strength and shorthanded goals scored for and against while he was on the ice) was −1. He was a −27 four years later despite scoring 54 goals. Hull also carried a reputation as a player who could not win as his Blues' teams rarely achieved success in the playoffs. He shed that reputation after leading his teams to championships at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals. To win that 1999 championship, Hull also had to fit in with the Dallas Stars' defense-oriented system. He finished that season with a career-best plus-minus of +19.
Known as an outspoken player, Hull earned a reputation on and off the ice for speaking bluntly and without regard for whom it might offend. He chastised his own fans in 1992 – later backtracking – when they booed Adam Oates following Oates' trade request, calling them "losers" and stating he wanted to rip one particular fan's head off. Hull was a consistent critic of the NHL's defensive, "clutch and grab" era of the late 1990s, raising the ire of commissioner Gary Bettman in 1998 when he said "I wouldn't pay to watch. It's boring. The whole style of the game is terrible. There's no flow. When a guy like [Mario] Lemieux leaves the game and tells you why he's leaving, and you don't address it, that's stupid. But the players don't say crap. That's why I always look like the big mouth."
Hull played in eight NHL All-Star Games, and was named the most valuable player of the 1992 game in Philadelphia. As of 2021, his 741 career goals is the fifth highest total in NHL history, and Hull was the third-fastest (behind Wayne Gretzky and Alex Ovechkin) to reach 700 goals, doing so in 1,157 games. He is also second all-time in power play goals with 265 and third in game-winning goals with 110. With 24 career game-winning playoff goals, he is tied with Gretzky for the most all-time. He scored 33 hat tricks in his career, the fourth highest in NHL history. Hull holds numerous St. Louis Blues franchise records, including goals (527), power play goals (195), game-winning goals (70) and hat tricks (27). He also holds the organization's single-season records of goals (86) and points (131). In honor of his achievements with the team, the Blues retired his jersey number 16 in 2006. The team also arranged to have a portion of the street that runs alongside the Scottrade Center renamed "Brett Hull Way". In 2010, the team unveiled a statue of him in front of the arena. Hull was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008, and into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.
Management career
Hull worked two jobs in 2006–07. He served as a special assistant to the team president of the Dallas Stars and provided studio analysis for NHL on NBC telecasts. He left NBC after one season when he was named a special adviser to the team's hockey operations department. Hull was promoted to interim co-general manager of the Stars, sharing the role with Les Jackson after Doug Armstrong was fired on November 13, 2007. ESPN analyst Scott Burnside criticized the promotion of Hull, noting his lack of front office experience and questionable work ethic.
The pair made one of the most prominent trades in the 2007–08 NHL season, acquiring Brad Richards from the Tampa Bay Lightning as part of a five-player trade. The team went on to reach the Western Conference Final of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Stars' deepest playoff run in eight years. Team owner Tom Hicks rewarded the pair with three-year contracts and named them permanent co-general managers. He credited Hull for his positive relationship with the players and his "unconventional wisdom".
The signing of controversial forward Sean Avery prior to the 2008–09 season proved a turning point for Hull and Jackson. Avery's erratic behavior created divisions within the team's locker room, particularly after he made derogatory comments towards another player's girlfriend in the media. The Stars missed the playoffs that season, leading the team to replace Hull and Jackson as general manager with Joe Nieuwendyk. Hull remained with the organization, serving as an adviser to Hicks and team president Jeff Cogen. Hull has since been hired by the St. Louis Blues as their executive vice president for business development.
On May 21, 2019, after the Blues advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 49 years, Hull wasn't able to control his emotions and cried, saying "I'm in there. I'm not a crier, but I'm crying....I saw Bobby Plager and I'm like 'Holy cow,'... 49 years in the making for this... These guys have played unbelievable."
On Saturday, June 15, 2019, after the St. Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup, Brett Hull took the stage and led the crowd in a drunken ramble that echoed throughout the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial following the victory parade down Market Street. He coined the iconic phrase, "We went Blues," explaining, "We don't have to go anymore, 'cause we already did it."
Personal life
Hull currently lives in Nashville with his second wife, Darcie. He has three children by his first wife, Alison: son Jude and daughters Jayde and Crosby. Jude also played hockey, as a goaltender. He attended St. Olaf College until 2018, he never played professionally. Jayde attends Colgate University.
In business, Hull was twice involved in the operation of restaurants. He owned two eateries in St. Louis while he was a member of the Blues, and partnered with Mike Modano and others on a Dallas restaurant called "Hully and Mo Restaurant and Tap Room" following his playing career. He lent his name to a 1995 Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game called Brett Hull Hockey. Hull was a co-owner of the St. Louis Bandits, a junior team in the North American Hockey League. In November 2020, Hull returned to restaurant operation in the St. Louis area with the opening of Brett Hull's Junction in Wentzville, Missouri.
Hull is an avid golfer, often stating during his career that he preferred the sport to hockey. He is a frequent participant in the American Century Celebrity Golf Classic and his best finish at the tournament is a tie for fifth in 2008. He competes in several charity and celebrity tournaments, and in 2009 was ranked as the sixth best athlete golfer in North America by Golf Digest.
In other media
Hull was a guest on the Weekend Update segment of the December 11, 2004, episode of Saturday Night Live.
Hull made a special guest appearance as the USA hockey team captain in the What's New, Scooby-Doo? episode, "Diamonds Are a Ghoul's Best Friend".
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Bold indicates led league
International
Awards and achievements
See also
List of NHL statistical leaders
Notable families in the NHL
References
External links
Brett Hull's profile at hockeydraftcentral.com
1964 births
American men's ice hockey right wingers
American male voice actors
Calgary Flames draft picks
Calgary Flames players
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian male voice actors
Dallas Stars executives
Dallas Stars players
Detroit Red Wings players
Hart Memorial Trophy winners
Hockey Hall of Fame inductees
Ice hockey people from Ontario
Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winners
Lester B. Pearson Award winners
Living people
Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey players
Moncton Golden Flames players
National Hockey League All-Stars
National Hockey League broadcasters
National Hockey League players with retired numbers
Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey
Penticton Knights players
Phoenix Coyotes players
Sportspeople from Belleville, Ontario
St. Louis Blues executives
St. Louis Blues players
Stanley Cup champions | true | [
"The glass ceiling, in terms of job positions, can be defined as implicit bias within a hierarchy that deters women and minorities from promotion beyond a given upper limit into higher level positions in the organization. Removing the glass ceiling means organizational leaders would take proactive steps to ensure that women and minorities are able to achieve their full potential in the organization. In 2021, only four companies in the U.S. Fortune 500 list had black CEOs, two men and two women, while only 41 of these companies were led by women. Fortune pointed out that this year's list broke three all time records in terms of representation. While some academic studies exclude minority men in discussions of the \"glass ceiling\" effect, this article includes limitations placed on women and minorities, including minority men.\n\nBackground \n\nThere has been a slow but steady increase in the number of female CEOs in U.S. Fortune 500 firms since 1995. In 2002, this increase tapered off slightly.\n\nIn the long-run of a publicly traded company, there is no significant difference in excess returns between female-led companies and male-led companies.\n\nWhen a publicly traded company switches to a new CEO for any reason the stock on average will go down, but, the amount it goes down is affected by what gender the new CEO is among other factors. On average, when a male takes over as the role of CEO the stock will drop .5% while when a female becomes a CEO the stock will drop 5.7%. There is no explanation for this difference, but it can be assumed that gender does play a role in this large average difference.\n\nBarriers to removing the glass ceiling \n\nThe barriers to removing the glass ceiling in the U.S. comes from a survey of 1,251 women with positions of vice president or higher in Fortune 1000 companies.\n\nAccording to the survey, the cost of the glass ceiling is extremely high. Because of the glass ceiling, women and minorities are not able to break into higher level positions. This causes a large turnover in employees. So, if they cannot get into a higher position then they will leave the company in order to find a position at another company that will allow them to be in a higher position. On average this costs a company 150% of an annual salary of a mid-level managerial position.\n\nThe top three barriers that women and minorities faced while trying to obtain upper-level managerial positions are the following: consistently exceed performance expectations, developed a style that men are comfortable with, and seek difficult or highly visible assignments. Each of these is assigned a percentage of how critical it is to move up. For consistently exceeding expectations it is 77%, for developing style men are comfortable with it is 61%, and finally seeking a difficult project is 50%. Noting that superior performance is always a critical factor in being promoted for males, females, and minorities. The most notable barrier is developing a work style that men are comfortable with. This barrier shows the glass ceiling. As said before, performance is needed for everyone and seeking difficult projects is also needed for most of everyone, but finding a work style that makes men comfortable is not for everyone. This is specific to women.\n\nEstablished ways and practices of removing the glass ceiling \n\nCompanies in the U.S. that have already removed the glass ceiling from their organization have a common company structure compared to companies that have not already removed the glass ceiling. The commonalities of company structure that have removed the glass ceiling from their organization are having higher upper management turnover, having lower-level management positions filled with women, and the company investing more time and resources into promoting its employees. This type of industry also has an apparent effect on women being in upper-level management positions. It is said that the manufacturing industry has fewer women in upper-level management positions compared to other industries. Another commonality found is the size and age of the company. A younger company will generally have more women in top management positions as well as larger companies. Lastly, companies that have government contracts will also have more women in upper-level managerial positions compared to those companies that do not have government contracts.\n\nFew U.S. based companies have already implemented internal strategies to remove the glass ceiling from their organizations. Companies have started to require the CEO and other top executives to attend gender training programs focused on gender-bias and minority bias. The program has a three-year follow-up to see how the top executives have implemented what they learned at the program into the company culture. The companies that have removed the glass ceiling already have mandatory workshops on policies against racial and gender discrimination. These workshops focus on building better relationships and teamwork in a company's diverse employee base. Other companies have provided cash bonuses to top executives on their progress in promoting women and minorities within the company and in general. This has resulted in a 25% increase in hiring women and minorities. These same companies have created networking panels composed of entirely women and minorities to promote equal hiring opportunities. Another set of companies requires a rotation process of both men and women that allow them to experience two to three different company departments before being eligible for being promoted. This allows the company to select the best person for the promoted job regardless of gender and background. Many companies have also required employees to attend workshops to teach that men and women manage and may come up with the same solution through different thought processes and that this is not only valid but highly encouraged to think differently.\n\nCompanies that have already removed the glass ceiling from their organizations feel that they are doing much better than other companies. 80% believe they are doing better than their competitors while 68% feel they are better off than other companies in general. Companies that have removed the glass ceiling include both men, women, and minorities in special projects and tasks.\n\nFuture ways and practices companies can remove the glass ceiling \n\nMany U.S. based companies have not removed the glass ceiling from their organizations. Although some companies already have set an example of some practices and ways this can be achieved there are many different other ways of removing the glass ceiling at a company-wide level. Many ways of removing the glass ceiling from companies have already been mentioned in the latter section, but some ways of removing the glass ceiling have not been implemented yet. The strategy is called a clear plan of action between the employee and the employer. This plan calls for an upper-level manager to act as a mentor and to help create achievable goals within the company with an employee. This will help remove the glass ceiling in two ways. One, that the employers and the employee have a mutual understanding of what each wants and want to achieve. Two, that the employee can visualize and work for a specific set our goal, and once accomplishing the said goal, to move on to the next goal. By doing this, the company will see the dedication and highly motivated employee striving to achieve upper-level positions and therefore, in theory, promote the employee regardless of gender and background.\n\nU.S. government on the glass ceiling \n\nThe U.S. government is connected to the removal of the glass ceiling for economic and social purposes. The U.S. government strives for equality through policy and law making no matter the gender or background. This plays into the economic reasons. The government also wants to maximize its \"human capital\". Human capital is intangible collective resources of a group of individuals that possess certain knowledge, skills, and abilities. In order to make full use of the countries human capital, the U.S. government created a recommendation for businesses and a recommendation for the government.\n\nThe U.S. government's recommendation for businesses that are for the CEO and other top executives to demonstrate full commitment to remove the glass ceiling. This includes adding diversity to the businesses business plan, and, to promote and retain qualified individuals.\n\nThe U.S government's recommendation for itself is that companies must give yearly outlines and reports about the progress and steps they are making to include more diversity within the company.\n\nReferences\n\nEmployment discrimination",
"A. D. David Mackay became the chief executive officer and president of Kellogg Company on December 31, 2006, and retired in January 2011. He was previously the president and chief operating officer since September 2003 prior to his promotion. His career at Kellogg began when he joined Kellogg Australia in 1985, and he went on to serve in various positions in Kellogg USA, Kellogg Australia and Kellogg New Zealand until his departure in 1992. In 1998, he rejoined Kellogg Australia and became the managing director of Kellogg United Kingdom and Ireland within the same year. Since then, he has held various positions within the company, including senior vice president, president, executive vice president, president, and chief operating officer. In addition to his executive positions, he is also a director of Kellogg and Fortune Brands, Inc.\n\nCompensation\nWhile CEO of Kellogg in 2008, A. D. David Mackay earned a total compensation of $10,031,079, which included a base salary of $1,136,545, a cash bonus of $2,601,300, stocks granted of $1,803,547, options granted of $3,114,474 and other compensation of $1,375,213.\n\nReferences\n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nKellogg's people\nAmerican chief executives of food industry companies\nAmerican chief operating officers"
]
|
[
"Brett Hull",
"Management career",
"When did he get started in management?",
"November 13, 2007.",
"What company gave him his start?",
"Hull was promoted to interim co-general manager of the Stars, sharing the role with Les Jackson after Doug Armstrong was fired",
"Did he have any other positions within this company?",
"named them permanent co-general managers."
]
| C_8c7399a4031447798d52079f08de6aab_0 | How long did he work there? | 4 | How long did Brett Hull work for the Stars? | Brett Hull | Hull worked two jobs in 2006-07. He served as a special assistant to the team president of the Dallas Stars and provided studio analysis for NHL on NBC telecasts. He left NBC after one season when he was named a special adviser to the team's hockey operations department. Hull was promoted to interim co-general manager of the Stars, sharing the role with Les Jackson after Doug Armstrong was fired on November 13, 2007. ESPN analyst Scott Burnside criticized the promotion of Hull, noting his lack of front office experience and questionable work ethic. The pair made one of the most prominent trades in the 2007-08 NHL season, acquiring Brad Richards from the Tampa Bay Lightning as part of a five-player trade. The team went on to reach the Western Conference Final of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Stars' deepest playoff run in eight years. Team owner Tom Hicks rewarded the pair with three-year contracts and named them permanent co-general managers. He credited Hull for his positive relationship with the players and his "unconventional wisdom". The signing of controversial forward Sean Avery prior to the 2008-09 season proved a turning point for Hull and Jackson. Avery's erratic behavior created divisions within the team's locker room, particularly after he made derogatory comments towards another player's girlfriend in the media. The Stars missed the playoffs that season, leading the team to replace Hull and Jackson as general manager with Joe Nieuwendyk. Hull remained with the organization, serving as an adviser to Hicks and team president Jeff Cogen. Hull has since been hired by the St. Louis Blues as their executive vice president over business development. CANNOTANSWER | The Stars missed the playoffs that season, leading the team to replace Hull and Jackson as general manager with Joe Nieuwendyk. | Brett Andrew Hull (born August 9, 1964) is a Canadian–American former ice hockey player and general manager, and currently an executive vice president of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings and Phoenix Coyotes between 1986 and 2005. His career total of 741 goals is fifth highest in NHL history, and he is one of five players to score 50 goals in 50 games. He was a member of two Stanley Cup winning teams – 1999 with the Dallas Stars and 2002 with the Detroit Red Wings. In 2017 Hull was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
Known as one of the game's greatest snipers, Hull was an elite scorer at all levels of the game. He played college hockey for the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, where he scored 52 goals in 1985–86. He scored 50 the following year with the Moncton Golden Flames of the American Hockey League (AHL) and had five consecutive NHL seasons of at least 50 goals. His 86 goals in 1990–91 is the third-highest single-season total in NHL history, with the first two being the same person, Wayne Gretzky. Hull won the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award that year as the league's most valuable player. He was named a first team all-star on three occasions and played in eight NHL All-Star Games.
Having dual citizenship in Canada and the United States, Hull was eligible to play for either Canada or the United States internationally and chose to join the American National Team. He was a member of the team that won the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and was a two-time Olympian, winning a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Hull was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, joining his father Bobby. They are the first father-son combination to each score either of 600 goals or 1,000 career points in the NHL. Hull's nickname, "the Golden Brett" is a reference to his father's nickname of "the Golden Jet". His jersey number 16 was retired by the St. Louis Blues in 2006.
Early life
Hull was born August 9, 1964, in Belleville, Ontario. His father, Bobby, was a long-time professional hockey player in both the National Hockey League (NHL) and World Hockey Association (WHA). His mother, Joanne (McKay), was an American professional figure skater and taught him how to skate. He has three brothers: Bobby Jr., Blake and Bart, and a younger half-sister: Michelle. Bart played professional football in the Canadian Football League. His uncle Dennis was also a long-time NHL player.
As his father was playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, Hull's early life was spent in Illinois, and he first played organized hockey in the Chicago area at the age of four. He and his brothers often skated with the Black Hawks where they watched their father play. The family moved back to Canada when Bobby signed with the original Winnipeg Jets in 1972. As a youth, he and teammate Richard Kromm played in the 1977 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Winnipeg South Monarchs minor ice hockey team. Brett moved to Vancouver with his mother and two youngest siblings shortly before his parents' acrimonious divorce in 1979. Hull was not close to his father following the breakup, though the two spoke periodically.
Playing career
Junior and college
Admitting that he was viewed as a "pudgy, fun-loving, music-crazed bum" in his youth, Hull stated in his autobiography that he was not surprised when he failed to attract the attention of a junior team. He was first eligible for the NHL Entry Draft in 1982, but as he was still playing in a juvenile league, was passed over without interest. He joined the Penticton Knights of the tier-II British Columbia Junior Hockey League (BCJHL) in the 1982–83 season where he scored 48 goals in 50 games. He was again passed over at the 1983 Entry Draft as teams remained unconvinced of his commitment to the game and his conditioning. NHL teams finally took notice of Hull following his 1983–84 season in which he scored 105 goals in 56 games and broke the BCJHL scoring record with 188 points. The Calgary Flames selected him in the sixth round of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, 117th overall.
Hull accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD), and in 1984–85, scored 32 goals as a freshman. The power of his shot terrorized opposition goaltenders. He was awarded the Jerry Chumola Award as the school's rookie of the year and received similar honors from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). His coaches at Minnesota-Duluth impressed on Hull the need to improve his skating, and in 1985–86, he broke the school record of 49 goals in one season, reaching 52 for the campaign. Hull was named the WCHA first-team all-star at right wing and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
In his two seasons at UMD, Hull set numerous school scoring records. He holds the records for most goals by a rookie (32) and most goals in one season (52). His 20 power play goals, seven hat tricks and 13 multiple-goal games in 1985–86 are all records, and he shares the school's single-game playoff record of four goals. The school retired his jersey number 29 in 2006.
Calgary Flames (1985–88)
Choosing to turn professional following his sophomore season, Hull signed a contract with the Calgary Flames and joined the team during the 1986 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He made his NHL debut on May 20, 1986, in game three of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Montreal Canadiens. His best scoring opportunity came when he hit the post in his first shift of the game. He appeared in two games of the Flames' five-game series loss to Montreal.
The Flames assigned Hull to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Moncton Golden Flames, for the majority of the 1986–87 season. He scored 50 goals, tying an AHL rookie record, and his 93 points was third-best in the league. He won the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as the league's rookie of the year and was named to the first all-star team. He earned a brief recall to Calgary during the season. He made his regular-season debut on November 13, 1986, against the Hartford Whalers and scored his first NHL goal against Steve Weeks on a breakaway. It was the game-winning goal in a 4–3 victory. Hull appeared in five regular-season games for the Flames and played in four playoff games where he scored two goals and added an assist.
Hull earned a spot on the Flames for the 1987–88 NHL season, though the team continued to work with him on his conditioning. He appeared in 52 games for the Flames, scoring 26 goals and 50 points. He did not finish the season in Calgary however. On March 7, 1988, Hull was traded, along with Steve Bozek, to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for defenseman Rob Ramage and goaltender Rick Wamsley.
St. Louis Blues (1988–98)
Hull led the St. Louis Blues with 41 goals in , but his poor skating and inattention to his defensive responsibilities concerned the club. Head coach Brian Sutter convinced Hull to improve his conditioning over the summer. He arrived to begin the season in much better shape and showed a marked improvement in his skating. Center Adam Oates, acquired over the summer, joined Hull on the top line. The pair, dubbed "Hull and Oates" as a play on the band Hall and Oates, were prolific scorers with Oates being an excellent passer and Hull being an excellent shooter. Hull scored 228 goals between 1989–90 and , the second-highest three-season total of any player in NHL history, behind only Wayne Gretzky's 250 tallies between and . He became the fifth player in NHL history to score 50 goals in 50 games in ,—joining Maurice Richard, Mike Bossy, Gretzky, and Mario Lemieux—then repeated the feat in 1991–92.
He led the league in goal scoring all three seasons and was named to the First All-Star Team each year. He collected numerous league awards, winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 1990 as the league's most sportsmanlike player, then in 1991, won the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award as the NHL's most valuable player as selected by the league and his fellow players respectively. His total of 86 goals in 1990–91 is the third highest for a single season in NHL history, after Gretzky's 92 goals in 1981–82 and 87 in 1983–84. Oates left the Blues midway through the 1991–92 season, and while Hull's offensive production dropped, he remained the Blues' top offensive threat. He recorded his fourth and fifth consecutive 50-goal seasons, scoring 54 in and 57 in .
Hull clashed with head coach Mike Keenan, who joined the team in , primarily over the latter's changes to team personnel. Hull, who had been named team captain in 1992, was stripped of the captaincy. By early 1996, the two were publicly criticizing each other in the media. Forced to choose between the player and coach, the Blues fired Keenan on December 19, 1996. Hull responded three nights later with a hat trick against the Los Angeles Kings to reach 500 goals for his NHL career. He and Bobby are the only father-son pair who both reached that total.
After 43- and 42-goal seasons in and , Hull scored 27 in . He became an unrestricted free agent following the season after rejecting a three-year, $15 million offer from the Blues because the team refused to include a no-trade clause. He left St. Louis, signing a three-year, $17 million contract with the Dallas Stars on July 2, 1998.
Dallas Stars (1998–2001)
Hull reached 1,000 points in his career when he notched a goal and an assist in a 3–1 victory with the Dallas Stars over the Boston Bruins on November 14, 1998. He then scored his 600th goal on December 31, 1999. He scored 32 goals in 1998–99 despite struggling with a groin injury for much of the season. The Stars reached the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, against the Buffalo Sabres. The sixth game of the series went to overtime tied 1–1 while Dallas held a 3–2 series lead. At 14:51 of the third overtime period, Hull collected a rebound in front of the Buffalo net and put the puck past goaltender Dominik Hašek to win the game, and the Stanley Cup, for Dallas.
The Sabres immediately protested the goal, as NHL rules of the time stated that a player could not score a goal if any part of his body was within the goal crease. Replays showed that Hull's skate was within the crease when he scored, however, the NHL ruled that he had possession of the puck prior to entering the crease, making the goal legal. League officials stated that that very scenario was addressed in a memo sent to the league's on-ice officials prior to the start of the playoffs. Hull himself states the goal was legal, supporting the claim that the NHL had altered the rules in a private memo sent to all teams but not released to the public. Media, fans and players across the league remain divided on the goal, some claiming that the league altered the rule after the fact. It remains especially controversial in Buffalo, where fans and former players continue to maintain that the play should have been ruled "no goal". The NHL formally abolished the crease rule prior to the next season, allowing players to score from within the crease freely as long as they did not interfere with the goaltender.
As a member of the Stars in their Stanley Cup winning season, Hull wore sweater number 22, as his customary number 16 was worn by Pat Verbeek. Hull would switch back to number 16 the following season when Verbeek left the team as a free agent. Though he appeared in 79 games in 1999–2000, Hull had what coach Ken Hitchcock called "a disappointing season", struggling defensively and scoring only 24 goals. His offensive production improved in the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs as he led the league in post-season scoring with 10 goals and 23 points. The Stars again reached the finals, but lost the series in six games to the New Jersey Devils. Hull scored 39 goals in 2000–01, his best total in four years. He surpassed his father's career total when he scored his 611th goal in a 3–1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 10, 2000. Hull played his 1,000th career game on February 25, 2001, in Calgary.
Detroit Red Wings/Second Stanley Cup championship (2001–04)
The Stars chose not to exercise their option on Hull's contract that would have paid him $7 million for the 2001–02 NHL season, making him a free agent. Although he received superior financial offers from the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, Hull chose to sign a two-year, $9 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings to pursue a second Stanley Cup championship. He joined an already star-studded team that earlier that same offseason had acquired goaltender Dominik Hasek, and also signed winger Luc Robitaille.
As a member of the Red Wings, Hull switched to sweater number 17 out of respect for Vladimir Konstantinov, who wore number 16 for the Red Wings before his playing career ended due to a limousine accident a week after Detroit's 1997 Stanley Cup championship. As of 2021, no player has worn the number 16 for the Red Wings since Konstantinov.
Hull subsequently scored 30 goals that season as the Red Wings dominated their opponents, earning the President's Trophy as the NHL's top team. During the regular season, he was put on a line with Boyd Devereaux and rookie Pavel Datsyuk, a combination in which Hull himself referred to as "two kids and a goat".
Hull would then score a league-leading 10 in the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as the Red Wings defeated the Vancouver Canucks, his former team the St. Louis Blues, and the rival Colorado Avalanche en route to their fourth Finals appearance in eight years. He'd score a hat trick in the deciding sixth game in the opening round against Vancouver, while adding two goals in the second round against the Blues. He then scored three goals in the Western Conference Finals against the Avalanche, including one in Detroit's stunning 7–0 rout of Colorado in the decisive Game 7.
He scored key goals in Detroit's game three and four victories against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Finals; the latter was the 100th playoff goal of his career. Hull won his second career championship as the Red Wings won the series in five games.
Hull posted a 37-goal, 76-point campaign in 2002–03. He became the sixth player in NHL history to score 700 career goals on February 10, 2003, against the San Jose Sharks. At age 38, Hull signed a one-year, $5 million extension with the Red Wings. After scoring 25 goals in 2003–04, Hull would score three goals during the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs for Detroit, who were eliminated by the eventual Western Conference champion Calgary Flames in six games in the second round.
Phoenix Coyotes (2004–05)
The Stars thought they were on the verge of signing Hull to a one-year contract for 2004–05, but he instead accepted a two-year, $4.5 million contract with the Phoenix Coyotes. The first year of the contract was wiped out when the season was cancelled due to a labor stoppage. When play resumed in 2005–06, Hull returned to the ice wearing his father's jersey number 9. The Coyotes franchise, which had relocated from Winnipeg in 1996, continued to honor the Jets' retired numbers, including the elder Hull's. Bobby requested that the team un-retire his uniform and allow his son to wear it. However, after playing just five games and recording one assist, Hull felt that he was no longer able to play at the level he expected of himself. On October 15, 2005, he announced his retirement as a player.
International play
As a dual Canadian and American citizen, Hull was eligible to play for either country internationally. While playing at UMD, he was passed over by officials with Team Canada when they selected their roster for the 1986 World Ice Hockey Championships. However, the American national team invited him to join their squad. Hull accepted and led the team in scoring with 7 goals and 11 points for the sixth place Americans. Hull later said the faith shown in him by American officials gave him the confidence to excel in his career. He played with Team USA for the rest of his career, and at the 1986 Calgary Cup tournament, played a pivotal role in a 5–3 upset of Canada by the Americans. Following the game, he said "I don't feel more like an American than a Canadian. I just want to play."
Hull tied Mike Modano for the American scoring lead at the 1991 Canada Cup with nine points. He led the Americans into the tournament final against Canada, but was held pointless in the decisive game as Canada won the tournament with a 4–2 game. Canadian fans turned on Hull at the inaugural World Cup of Hockey in 1996. In the semifinal against Russia, fans in Ottawa loudly booed Hull and chanted "traitor" towards him as he scored two goals to lead the United States to the final against Canada. In the deciding game of the best-of-three final, Hull scored a key goal as the Americans turned a 2–1 deficit with five minutes to play into a 5–2 victory and captured the championship. Hull led all players with 11 points and was a tournament all-star at forward.
Making his Olympic debut at the 1998 Winter Games, Hull scored two goals in four games. The Americans were quickly eliminated from the tournament and were criticized for their lack of desire and leadership. The team was further embarrassed when it was discovered some members had trashed their hotel room following their elimination. Hull was initially blamed as being a culprit. He angrily denied the accusation and claimed it was an invention of Canadian media upset that he was playing for the United States. Hull, Modano and John LeClair formed the American's top line for the 2002 Olympics. The trio were dominant throughout most of the tournament, leading Team USA to the gold medal game against Canada. Hull and LeClair finished second and third in overall scoring, respectively; however they were held pointless against Team Canada in the final. Hull and the Americans settled for the silver medal following a 5–2 defeat.
Team USA named Hull an alternate captain of its veteran-laden team for the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. However, he was benched by head coach Ron Wilson following two indifferent games in which he did not register a point and never returned to the active lineup.
Playing style
Upon his arrival in the NHL, Hull was considered a "one-dimensional player". He was a natural goal scorer with a reputation for being uninterested in backchecking and playing defense. He was nicknamed "The Incredible Hull" (a reference to Bruce Banner) in college for his scoring exploits and was called "The Golden Brett" in the NHL, a play on his father's nickname of "The Golden Jet". Brett was often compared to Bobby in his early years, though the two shared few similarities on the ice. Both were known for their shooting ability, particularly the power of their slapshot, which Terry Crisp – who played against Bobby and coached Brett – described as "explosive", but while Bobby was a left wing known for both his conditioning and skating ability, Brett played right wing, was a poorer skater and lacked his father's physique.
His reputation for defensive indifference persisted through much of his career. In his 72-goal season of 1989–90, Hull's plus-minus (net difference of even strength and shorthanded goals scored for and against while he was on the ice) was −1. He was a −27 four years later despite scoring 54 goals. Hull also carried a reputation as a player who could not win as his Blues' teams rarely achieved success in the playoffs. He shed that reputation after leading his teams to championships at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals. To win that 1999 championship, Hull also had to fit in with the Dallas Stars' defense-oriented system. He finished that season with a career-best plus-minus of +19.
Known as an outspoken player, Hull earned a reputation on and off the ice for speaking bluntly and without regard for whom it might offend. He chastised his own fans in 1992 – later backtracking – when they booed Adam Oates following Oates' trade request, calling them "losers" and stating he wanted to rip one particular fan's head off. Hull was a consistent critic of the NHL's defensive, "clutch and grab" era of the late 1990s, raising the ire of commissioner Gary Bettman in 1998 when he said "I wouldn't pay to watch. It's boring. The whole style of the game is terrible. There's no flow. When a guy like [Mario] Lemieux leaves the game and tells you why he's leaving, and you don't address it, that's stupid. But the players don't say crap. That's why I always look like the big mouth."
Hull played in eight NHL All-Star Games, and was named the most valuable player of the 1992 game in Philadelphia. As of 2021, his 741 career goals is the fifth highest total in NHL history, and Hull was the third-fastest (behind Wayne Gretzky and Alex Ovechkin) to reach 700 goals, doing so in 1,157 games. He is also second all-time in power play goals with 265 and third in game-winning goals with 110. With 24 career game-winning playoff goals, he is tied with Gretzky for the most all-time. He scored 33 hat tricks in his career, the fourth highest in NHL history. Hull holds numerous St. Louis Blues franchise records, including goals (527), power play goals (195), game-winning goals (70) and hat tricks (27). He also holds the organization's single-season records of goals (86) and points (131). In honor of his achievements with the team, the Blues retired his jersey number 16 in 2006. The team also arranged to have a portion of the street that runs alongside the Scottrade Center renamed "Brett Hull Way". In 2010, the team unveiled a statue of him in front of the arena. Hull was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008, and into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.
Management career
Hull worked two jobs in 2006–07. He served as a special assistant to the team president of the Dallas Stars and provided studio analysis for NHL on NBC telecasts. He left NBC after one season when he was named a special adviser to the team's hockey operations department. Hull was promoted to interim co-general manager of the Stars, sharing the role with Les Jackson after Doug Armstrong was fired on November 13, 2007. ESPN analyst Scott Burnside criticized the promotion of Hull, noting his lack of front office experience and questionable work ethic.
The pair made one of the most prominent trades in the 2007–08 NHL season, acquiring Brad Richards from the Tampa Bay Lightning as part of a five-player trade. The team went on to reach the Western Conference Final of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Stars' deepest playoff run in eight years. Team owner Tom Hicks rewarded the pair with three-year contracts and named them permanent co-general managers. He credited Hull for his positive relationship with the players and his "unconventional wisdom".
The signing of controversial forward Sean Avery prior to the 2008–09 season proved a turning point for Hull and Jackson. Avery's erratic behavior created divisions within the team's locker room, particularly after he made derogatory comments towards another player's girlfriend in the media. The Stars missed the playoffs that season, leading the team to replace Hull and Jackson as general manager with Joe Nieuwendyk. Hull remained with the organization, serving as an adviser to Hicks and team president Jeff Cogen. Hull has since been hired by the St. Louis Blues as their executive vice president for business development.
On May 21, 2019, after the Blues advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 49 years, Hull wasn't able to control his emotions and cried, saying "I'm in there. I'm not a crier, but I'm crying....I saw Bobby Plager and I'm like 'Holy cow,'... 49 years in the making for this... These guys have played unbelievable."
On Saturday, June 15, 2019, after the St. Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup, Brett Hull took the stage and led the crowd in a drunken ramble that echoed throughout the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial following the victory parade down Market Street. He coined the iconic phrase, "We went Blues," explaining, "We don't have to go anymore, 'cause we already did it."
Personal life
Hull currently lives in Nashville with his second wife, Darcie. He has three children by his first wife, Alison: son Jude and daughters Jayde and Crosby. Jude also played hockey, as a goaltender. He attended St. Olaf College until 2018, he never played professionally. Jayde attends Colgate University.
In business, Hull was twice involved in the operation of restaurants. He owned two eateries in St. Louis while he was a member of the Blues, and partnered with Mike Modano and others on a Dallas restaurant called "Hully and Mo Restaurant and Tap Room" following his playing career. He lent his name to a 1995 Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game called Brett Hull Hockey. Hull was a co-owner of the St. Louis Bandits, a junior team in the North American Hockey League. In November 2020, Hull returned to restaurant operation in the St. Louis area with the opening of Brett Hull's Junction in Wentzville, Missouri.
Hull is an avid golfer, often stating during his career that he preferred the sport to hockey. He is a frequent participant in the American Century Celebrity Golf Classic and his best finish at the tournament is a tie for fifth in 2008. He competes in several charity and celebrity tournaments, and in 2009 was ranked as the sixth best athlete golfer in North America by Golf Digest.
In other media
Hull was a guest on the Weekend Update segment of the December 11, 2004, episode of Saturday Night Live.
Hull made a special guest appearance as the USA hockey team captain in the What's New, Scooby-Doo? episode, "Diamonds Are a Ghoul's Best Friend".
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Bold indicates led league
International
Awards and achievements
See also
List of NHL statistical leaders
Notable families in the NHL
References
External links
Brett Hull's profile at hockeydraftcentral.com
1964 births
American men's ice hockey right wingers
American male voice actors
Calgary Flames draft picks
Calgary Flames players
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian male voice actors
Dallas Stars executives
Dallas Stars players
Detroit Red Wings players
Hart Memorial Trophy winners
Hockey Hall of Fame inductees
Ice hockey people from Ontario
Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winners
Lester B. Pearson Award winners
Living people
Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey players
Moncton Golden Flames players
National Hockey League All-Stars
National Hockey League broadcasters
National Hockey League players with retired numbers
Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey
Penticton Knights players
Phoenix Coyotes players
Sportspeople from Belleville, Ontario
St. Louis Blues executives
St. Louis Blues players
Stanley Cup champions | true | [
"The Migraine Disability Assessment Test (MIDAS) is a test used by doctors to determine how severely migraines affect a patient's life. Patients are asked questions about the frequency and duration of their headaches, as well as how often these headaches limited their ability to participate in activities at work, at school, or at home.\n\nThe test was evaluated by the professional journal Neurology in 2001; it was found to be both reliable and valid.\n\nQuestions\nThe MIDAS contains the following questions:\n\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you miss work or school because of your headaches?\n How many days in the last 3 months was your productivity at work or school reduced by half or more because of your headaches? (Do not include days you counted in question 1 where you missed work or school.)\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you not do household work because of your headaches?\n How many days in the last three months was your productivity in household work reduced by half of more because of your headaches? (Do not include days you counted in question 3 where you did not do household work.)\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you miss family, social or leisure activities because of your headaches?\n\nThe patient's score consists of the total of these five questions. Additionally, there is a section for patients to share with their doctors:\n\nWhat your Physician will need to know about your headache:\n\nA. On how many days in the last 3 months did you have a headache?\n(If a headache lasted more than 1 day, count each day.)\t\n\nB. On a scale of 0 - 10, on average how painful were these headaches? \n(where 0 = no pain at all and 10 = pain as bad as it can be.)\n\nScoring\nOnce scored, the test gives the patient an idea of how debilitating his/her migraines are based on this scale:\n\n0 to 5, MIDAS Grade I, Little or no disability \n\n6 to 10, MIDAS Grade II, Mild disability\n\n11 to 20, MIDAS Grade III, Moderate disability\n\n21+, MIDAS Grade IV, Severe disability\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nMigraine Treatment\n\nMigraine",
"How Long: Ultra Naté Best Remixes, Vol. 2 is a compilation consisting of remixes of the singles from Ultra Naté's second album, One Woman's Insanity. This compilation was released on March 30, 1999.\n\nTrack listings\n 1. \"How Long\" (Wingston Hip-Hop Edit)\n 2. \"Show Me\" (Original Extended Version)\n 3. \"Joy\" (What Rave? Mix)\n 4. \"Incredibly You\"\n 5. \"Show Me\" (Masters at Work 12\" Dub)\n 6. \"How Long\" (Fire Island Remix)\n 7. \"How Long\" (Ultra's House Swing)\n 8. \"Show Me\" (Chameleon House Mix)\n 9. \"Joy\" (Never Ending Joy Mix)\n 10. \"How Long\" (118th Street Instrumental)\n\nExternal links\n[ All Music: Situation: Critical]\n\nUltra Naté albums\n1999 remix albums\nWarner Records remix albums"
]
|
[
"Brett Hull",
"Management career",
"When did he get started in management?",
"November 13, 2007.",
"What company gave him his start?",
"Hull was promoted to interim co-general manager of the Stars, sharing the role with Les Jackson after Doug Armstrong was fired",
"Did he have any other positions within this company?",
"named them permanent co-general managers.",
"How long did he work there?",
"The Stars missed the playoffs that season, leading the team to replace Hull and Jackson as general manager with Joe Nieuwendyk."
]
| C_8c7399a4031447798d52079f08de6aab_0 | Did he go to a different team after that? | 5 | Did Brett Hull go to a different team after the Stars missed the playoffs? | Brett Hull | Hull worked two jobs in 2006-07. He served as a special assistant to the team president of the Dallas Stars and provided studio analysis for NHL on NBC telecasts. He left NBC after one season when he was named a special adviser to the team's hockey operations department. Hull was promoted to interim co-general manager of the Stars, sharing the role with Les Jackson after Doug Armstrong was fired on November 13, 2007. ESPN analyst Scott Burnside criticized the promotion of Hull, noting his lack of front office experience and questionable work ethic. The pair made one of the most prominent trades in the 2007-08 NHL season, acquiring Brad Richards from the Tampa Bay Lightning as part of a five-player trade. The team went on to reach the Western Conference Final of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Stars' deepest playoff run in eight years. Team owner Tom Hicks rewarded the pair with three-year contracts and named them permanent co-general managers. He credited Hull for his positive relationship with the players and his "unconventional wisdom". The signing of controversial forward Sean Avery prior to the 2008-09 season proved a turning point for Hull and Jackson. Avery's erratic behavior created divisions within the team's locker room, particularly after he made derogatory comments towards another player's girlfriend in the media. The Stars missed the playoffs that season, leading the team to replace Hull and Jackson as general manager with Joe Nieuwendyk. Hull remained with the organization, serving as an adviser to Hicks and team president Jeff Cogen. Hull has since been hired by the St. Louis Blues as their executive vice president over business development. CANNOTANSWER | Hull remained with the organization, serving as an adviser to Hicks and team president Jeff Cogen. | Brett Andrew Hull (born August 9, 1964) is a Canadian–American former ice hockey player and general manager, and currently an executive vice president of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings and Phoenix Coyotes between 1986 and 2005. His career total of 741 goals is fifth highest in NHL history, and he is one of five players to score 50 goals in 50 games. He was a member of two Stanley Cup winning teams – 1999 with the Dallas Stars and 2002 with the Detroit Red Wings. In 2017 Hull was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
Known as one of the game's greatest snipers, Hull was an elite scorer at all levels of the game. He played college hockey for the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, where he scored 52 goals in 1985–86. He scored 50 the following year with the Moncton Golden Flames of the American Hockey League (AHL) and had five consecutive NHL seasons of at least 50 goals. His 86 goals in 1990–91 is the third-highest single-season total in NHL history, with the first two being the same person, Wayne Gretzky. Hull won the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award that year as the league's most valuable player. He was named a first team all-star on three occasions and played in eight NHL All-Star Games.
Having dual citizenship in Canada and the United States, Hull was eligible to play for either Canada or the United States internationally and chose to join the American National Team. He was a member of the team that won the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and was a two-time Olympian, winning a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Hull was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, joining his father Bobby. They are the first father-son combination to each score either of 600 goals or 1,000 career points in the NHL. Hull's nickname, "the Golden Brett" is a reference to his father's nickname of "the Golden Jet". His jersey number 16 was retired by the St. Louis Blues in 2006.
Early life
Hull was born August 9, 1964, in Belleville, Ontario. His father, Bobby, was a long-time professional hockey player in both the National Hockey League (NHL) and World Hockey Association (WHA). His mother, Joanne (McKay), was an American professional figure skater and taught him how to skate. He has three brothers: Bobby Jr., Blake and Bart, and a younger half-sister: Michelle. Bart played professional football in the Canadian Football League. His uncle Dennis was also a long-time NHL player.
As his father was playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, Hull's early life was spent in Illinois, and he first played organized hockey in the Chicago area at the age of four. He and his brothers often skated with the Black Hawks where they watched their father play. The family moved back to Canada when Bobby signed with the original Winnipeg Jets in 1972. As a youth, he and teammate Richard Kromm played in the 1977 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Winnipeg South Monarchs minor ice hockey team. Brett moved to Vancouver with his mother and two youngest siblings shortly before his parents' acrimonious divorce in 1979. Hull was not close to his father following the breakup, though the two spoke periodically.
Playing career
Junior and college
Admitting that he was viewed as a "pudgy, fun-loving, music-crazed bum" in his youth, Hull stated in his autobiography that he was not surprised when he failed to attract the attention of a junior team. He was first eligible for the NHL Entry Draft in 1982, but as he was still playing in a juvenile league, was passed over without interest. He joined the Penticton Knights of the tier-II British Columbia Junior Hockey League (BCJHL) in the 1982–83 season where he scored 48 goals in 50 games. He was again passed over at the 1983 Entry Draft as teams remained unconvinced of his commitment to the game and his conditioning. NHL teams finally took notice of Hull following his 1983–84 season in which he scored 105 goals in 56 games and broke the BCJHL scoring record with 188 points. The Calgary Flames selected him in the sixth round of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, 117th overall.
Hull accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD), and in 1984–85, scored 32 goals as a freshman. The power of his shot terrorized opposition goaltenders. He was awarded the Jerry Chumola Award as the school's rookie of the year and received similar honors from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). His coaches at Minnesota-Duluth impressed on Hull the need to improve his skating, and in 1985–86, he broke the school record of 49 goals in one season, reaching 52 for the campaign. Hull was named the WCHA first-team all-star at right wing and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
In his two seasons at UMD, Hull set numerous school scoring records. He holds the records for most goals by a rookie (32) and most goals in one season (52). His 20 power play goals, seven hat tricks and 13 multiple-goal games in 1985–86 are all records, and he shares the school's single-game playoff record of four goals. The school retired his jersey number 29 in 2006.
Calgary Flames (1985–88)
Choosing to turn professional following his sophomore season, Hull signed a contract with the Calgary Flames and joined the team during the 1986 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He made his NHL debut on May 20, 1986, in game three of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Montreal Canadiens. His best scoring opportunity came when he hit the post in his first shift of the game. He appeared in two games of the Flames' five-game series loss to Montreal.
The Flames assigned Hull to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Moncton Golden Flames, for the majority of the 1986–87 season. He scored 50 goals, tying an AHL rookie record, and his 93 points was third-best in the league. He won the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as the league's rookie of the year and was named to the first all-star team. He earned a brief recall to Calgary during the season. He made his regular-season debut on November 13, 1986, against the Hartford Whalers and scored his first NHL goal against Steve Weeks on a breakaway. It was the game-winning goal in a 4–3 victory. Hull appeared in five regular-season games for the Flames and played in four playoff games where he scored two goals and added an assist.
Hull earned a spot on the Flames for the 1987–88 NHL season, though the team continued to work with him on his conditioning. He appeared in 52 games for the Flames, scoring 26 goals and 50 points. He did not finish the season in Calgary however. On March 7, 1988, Hull was traded, along with Steve Bozek, to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for defenseman Rob Ramage and goaltender Rick Wamsley.
St. Louis Blues (1988–98)
Hull led the St. Louis Blues with 41 goals in , but his poor skating and inattention to his defensive responsibilities concerned the club. Head coach Brian Sutter convinced Hull to improve his conditioning over the summer. He arrived to begin the season in much better shape and showed a marked improvement in his skating. Center Adam Oates, acquired over the summer, joined Hull on the top line. The pair, dubbed "Hull and Oates" as a play on the band Hall and Oates, were prolific scorers with Oates being an excellent passer and Hull being an excellent shooter. Hull scored 228 goals between 1989–90 and , the second-highest three-season total of any player in NHL history, behind only Wayne Gretzky's 250 tallies between and . He became the fifth player in NHL history to score 50 goals in 50 games in ,—joining Maurice Richard, Mike Bossy, Gretzky, and Mario Lemieux—then repeated the feat in 1991–92.
He led the league in goal scoring all three seasons and was named to the First All-Star Team each year. He collected numerous league awards, winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 1990 as the league's most sportsmanlike player, then in 1991, won the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award as the NHL's most valuable player as selected by the league and his fellow players respectively. His total of 86 goals in 1990–91 is the third highest for a single season in NHL history, after Gretzky's 92 goals in 1981–82 and 87 in 1983–84. Oates left the Blues midway through the 1991–92 season, and while Hull's offensive production dropped, he remained the Blues' top offensive threat. He recorded his fourth and fifth consecutive 50-goal seasons, scoring 54 in and 57 in .
Hull clashed with head coach Mike Keenan, who joined the team in , primarily over the latter's changes to team personnel. Hull, who had been named team captain in 1992, was stripped of the captaincy. By early 1996, the two were publicly criticizing each other in the media. Forced to choose between the player and coach, the Blues fired Keenan on December 19, 1996. Hull responded three nights later with a hat trick against the Los Angeles Kings to reach 500 goals for his NHL career. He and Bobby are the only father-son pair who both reached that total.
After 43- and 42-goal seasons in and , Hull scored 27 in . He became an unrestricted free agent following the season after rejecting a three-year, $15 million offer from the Blues because the team refused to include a no-trade clause. He left St. Louis, signing a three-year, $17 million contract with the Dallas Stars on July 2, 1998.
Dallas Stars (1998–2001)
Hull reached 1,000 points in his career when he notched a goal and an assist in a 3–1 victory with the Dallas Stars over the Boston Bruins on November 14, 1998. He then scored his 600th goal on December 31, 1999. He scored 32 goals in 1998–99 despite struggling with a groin injury for much of the season. The Stars reached the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, against the Buffalo Sabres. The sixth game of the series went to overtime tied 1–1 while Dallas held a 3–2 series lead. At 14:51 of the third overtime period, Hull collected a rebound in front of the Buffalo net and put the puck past goaltender Dominik Hašek to win the game, and the Stanley Cup, for Dallas.
The Sabres immediately protested the goal, as NHL rules of the time stated that a player could not score a goal if any part of his body was within the goal crease. Replays showed that Hull's skate was within the crease when he scored, however, the NHL ruled that he had possession of the puck prior to entering the crease, making the goal legal. League officials stated that that very scenario was addressed in a memo sent to the league's on-ice officials prior to the start of the playoffs. Hull himself states the goal was legal, supporting the claim that the NHL had altered the rules in a private memo sent to all teams but not released to the public. Media, fans and players across the league remain divided on the goal, some claiming that the league altered the rule after the fact. It remains especially controversial in Buffalo, where fans and former players continue to maintain that the play should have been ruled "no goal". The NHL formally abolished the crease rule prior to the next season, allowing players to score from within the crease freely as long as they did not interfere with the goaltender.
As a member of the Stars in their Stanley Cup winning season, Hull wore sweater number 22, as his customary number 16 was worn by Pat Verbeek. Hull would switch back to number 16 the following season when Verbeek left the team as a free agent. Though he appeared in 79 games in 1999–2000, Hull had what coach Ken Hitchcock called "a disappointing season", struggling defensively and scoring only 24 goals. His offensive production improved in the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs as he led the league in post-season scoring with 10 goals and 23 points. The Stars again reached the finals, but lost the series in six games to the New Jersey Devils. Hull scored 39 goals in 2000–01, his best total in four years. He surpassed his father's career total when he scored his 611th goal in a 3–1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 10, 2000. Hull played his 1,000th career game on February 25, 2001, in Calgary.
Detroit Red Wings/Second Stanley Cup championship (2001–04)
The Stars chose not to exercise their option on Hull's contract that would have paid him $7 million for the 2001–02 NHL season, making him a free agent. Although he received superior financial offers from the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, Hull chose to sign a two-year, $9 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings to pursue a second Stanley Cup championship. He joined an already star-studded team that earlier that same offseason had acquired goaltender Dominik Hasek, and also signed winger Luc Robitaille.
As a member of the Red Wings, Hull switched to sweater number 17 out of respect for Vladimir Konstantinov, who wore number 16 for the Red Wings before his playing career ended due to a limousine accident a week after Detroit's 1997 Stanley Cup championship. As of 2021, no player has worn the number 16 for the Red Wings since Konstantinov.
Hull subsequently scored 30 goals that season as the Red Wings dominated their opponents, earning the President's Trophy as the NHL's top team. During the regular season, he was put on a line with Boyd Devereaux and rookie Pavel Datsyuk, a combination in which Hull himself referred to as "two kids and a goat".
Hull would then score a league-leading 10 in the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as the Red Wings defeated the Vancouver Canucks, his former team the St. Louis Blues, and the rival Colorado Avalanche en route to their fourth Finals appearance in eight years. He'd score a hat trick in the deciding sixth game in the opening round against Vancouver, while adding two goals in the second round against the Blues. He then scored three goals in the Western Conference Finals against the Avalanche, including one in Detroit's stunning 7–0 rout of Colorado in the decisive Game 7.
He scored key goals in Detroit's game three and four victories against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Finals; the latter was the 100th playoff goal of his career. Hull won his second career championship as the Red Wings won the series in five games.
Hull posted a 37-goal, 76-point campaign in 2002–03. He became the sixth player in NHL history to score 700 career goals on February 10, 2003, against the San Jose Sharks. At age 38, Hull signed a one-year, $5 million extension with the Red Wings. After scoring 25 goals in 2003–04, Hull would score three goals during the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs for Detroit, who were eliminated by the eventual Western Conference champion Calgary Flames in six games in the second round.
Phoenix Coyotes (2004–05)
The Stars thought they were on the verge of signing Hull to a one-year contract for 2004–05, but he instead accepted a two-year, $4.5 million contract with the Phoenix Coyotes. The first year of the contract was wiped out when the season was cancelled due to a labor stoppage. When play resumed in 2005–06, Hull returned to the ice wearing his father's jersey number 9. The Coyotes franchise, which had relocated from Winnipeg in 1996, continued to honor the Jets' retired numbers, including the elder Hull's. Bobby requested that the team un-retire his uniform and allow his son to wear it. However, after playing just five games and recording one assist, Hull felt that he was no longer able to play at the level he expected of himself. On October 15, 2005, he announced his retirement as a player.
International play
As a dual Canadian and American citizen, Hull was eligible to play for either country internationally. While playing at UMD, he was passed over by officials with Team Canada when they selected their roster for the 1986 World Ice Hockey Championships. However, the American national team invited him to join their squad. Hull accepted and led the team in scoring with 7 goals and 11 points for the sixth place Americans. Hull later said the faith shown in him by American officials gave him the confidence to excel in his career. He played with Team USA for the rest of his career, and at the 1986 Calgary Cup tournament, played a pivotal role in a 5–3 upset of Canada by the Americans. Following the game, he said "I don't feel more like an American than a Canadian. I just want to play."
Hull tied Mike Modano for the American scoring lead at the 1991 Canada Cup with nine points. He led the Americans into the tournament final against Canada, but was held pointless in the decisive game as Canada won the tournament with a 4–2 game. Canadian fans turned on Hull at the inaugural World Cup of Hockey in 1996. In the semifinal against Russia, fans in Ottawa loudly booed Hull and chanted "traitor" towards him as he scored two goals to lead the United States to the final against Canada. In the deciding game of the best-of-three final, Hull scored a key goal as the Americans turned a 2–1 deficit with five minutes to play into a 5–2 victory and captured the championship. Hull led all players with 11 points and was a tournament all-star at forward.
Making his Olympic debut at the 1998 Winter Games, Hull scored two goals in four games. The Americans were quickly eliminated from the tournament and were criticized for their lack of desire and leadership. The team was further embarrassed when it was discovered some members had trashed their hotel room following their elimination. Hull was initially blamed as being a culprit. He angrily denied the accusation and claimed it was an invention of Canadian media upset that he was playing for the United States. Hull, Modano and John LeClair formed the American's top line for the 2002 Olympics. The trio were dominant throughout most of the tournament, leading Team USA to the gold medal game against Canada. Hull and LeClair finished second and third in overall scoring, respectively; however they were held pointless against Team Canada in the final. Hull and the Americans settled for the silver medal following a 5–2 defeat.
Team USA named Hull an alternate captain of its veteran-laden team for the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. However, he was benched by head coach Ron Wilson following two indifferent games in which he did not register a point and never returned to the active lineup.
Playing style
Upon his arrival in the NHL, Hull was considered a "one-dimensional player". He was a natural goal scorer with a reputation for being uninterested in backchecking and playing defense. He was nicknamed "The Incredible Hull" (a reference to Bruce Banner) in college for his scoring exploits and was called "The Golden Brett" in the NHL, a play on his father's nickname of "The Golden Jet". Brett was often compared to Bobby in his early years, though the two shared few similarities on the ice. Both were known for their shooting ability, particularly the power of their slapshot, which Terry Crisp – who played against Bobby and coached Brett – described as "explosive", but while Bobby was a left wing known for both his conditioning and skating ability, Brett played right wing, was a poorer skater and lacked his father's physique.
His reputation for defensive indifference persisted through much of his career. In his 72-goal season of 1989–90, Hull's plus-minus (net difference of even strength and shorthanded goals scored for and against while he was on the ice) was −1. He was a −27 four years later despite scoring 54 goals. Hull also carried a reputation as a player who could not win as his Blues' teams rarely achieved success in the playoffs. He shed that reputation after leading his teams to championships at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals. To win that 1999 championship, Hull also had to fit in with the Dallas Stars' defense-oriented system. He finished that season with a career-best plus-minus of +19.
Known as an outspoken player, Hull earned a reputation on and off the ice for speaking bluntly and without regard for whom it might offend. He chastised his own fans in 1992 – later backtracking – when they booed Adam Oates following Oates' trade request, calling them "losers" and stating he wanted to rip one particular fan's head off. Hull was a consistent critic of the NHL's defensive, "clutch and grab" era of the late 1990s, raising the ire of commissioner Gary Bettman in 1998 when he said "I wouldn't pay to watch. It's boring. The whole style of the game is terrible. There's no flow. When a guy like [Mario] Lemieux leaves the game and tells you why he's leaving, and you don't address it, that's stupid. But the players don't say crap. That's why I always look like the big mouth."
Hull played in eight NHL All-Star Games, and was named the most valuable player of the 1992 game in Philadelphia. As of 2021, his 741 career goals is the fifth highest total in NHL history, and Hull was the third-fastest (behind Wayne Gretzky and Alex Ovechkin) to reach 700 goals, doing so in 1,157 games. He is also second all-time in power play goals with 265 and third in game-winning goals with 110. With 24 career game-winning playoff goals, he is tied with Gretzky for the most all-time. He scored 33 hat tricks in his career, the fourth highest in NHL history. Hull holds numerous St. Louis Blues franchise records, including goals (527), power play goals (195), game-winning goals (70) and hat tricks (27). He also holds the organization's single-season records of goals (86) and points (131). In honor of his achievements with the team, the Blues retired his jersey number 16 in 2006. The team also arranged to have a portion of the street that runs alongside the Scottrade Center renamed "Brett Hull Way". In 2010, the team unveiled a statue of him in front of the arena. Hull was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008, and into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.
Management career
Hull worked two jobs in 2006–07. He served as a special assistant to the team president of the Dallas Stars and provided studio analysis for NHL on NBC telecasts. He left NBC after one season when he was named a special adviser to the team's hockey operations department. Hull was promoted to interim co-general manager of the Stars, sharing the role with Les Jackson after Doug Armstrong was fired on November 13, 2007. ESPN analyst Scott Burnside criticized the promotion of Hull, noting his lack of front office experience and questionable work ethic.
The pair made one of the most prominent trades in the 2007–08 NHL season, acquiring Brad Richards from the Tampa Bay Lightning as part of a five-player trade. The team went on to reach the Western Conference Final of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Stars' deepest playoff run in eight years. Team owner Tom Hicks rewarded the pair with three-year contracts and named them permanent co-general managers. He credited Hull for his positive relationship with the players and his "unconventional wisdom".
The signing of controversial forward Sean Avery prior to the 2008–09 season proved a turning point for Hull and Jackson. Avery's erratic behavior created divisions within the team's locker room, particularly after he made derogatory comments towards another player's girlfriend in the media. The Stars missed the playoffs that season, leading the team to replace Hull and Jackson as general manager with Joe Nieuwendyk. Hull remained with the organization, serving as an adviser to Hicks and team president Jeff Cogen. Hull has since been hired by the St. Louis Blues as their executive vice president for business development.
On May 21, 2019, after the Blues advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 49 years, Hull wasn't able to control his emotions and cried, saying "I'm in there. I'm not a crier, but I'm crying....I saw Bobby Plager and I'm like 'Holy cow,'... 49 years in the making for this... These guys have played unbelievable."
On Saturday, June 15, 2019, after the St. Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup, Brett Hull took the stage and led the crowd in a drunken ramble that echoed throughout the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial following the victory parade down Market Street. He coined the iconic phrase, "We went Blues," explaining, "We don't have to go anymore, 'cause we already did it."
Personal life
Hull currently lives in Nashville with his second wife, Darcie. He has three children by his first wife, Alison: son Jude and daughters Jayde and Crosby. Jude also played hockey, as a goaltender. He attended St. Olaf College until 2018, he never played professionally. Jayde attends Colgate University.
In business, Hull was twice involved in the operation of restaurants. He owned two eateries in St. Louis while he was a member of the Blues, and partnered with Mike Modano and others on a Dallas restaurant called "Hully and Mo Restaurant and Tap Room" following his playing career. He lent his name to a 1995 Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game called Brett Hull Hockey. Hull was a co-owner of the St. Louis Bandits, a junior team in the North American Hockey League. In November 2020, Hull returned to restaurant operation in the St. Louis area with the opening of Brett Hull's Junction in Wentzville, Missouri.
Hull is an avid golfer, often stating during his career that he preferred the sport to hockey. He is a frequent participant in the American Century Celebrity Golf Classic and his best finish at the tournament is a tie for fifth in 2008. He competes in several charity and celebrity tournaments, and in 2009 was ranked as the sixth best athlete golfer in North America by Golf Digest.
In other media
Hull was a guest on the Weekend Update segment of the December 11, 2004, episode of Saturday Night Live.
Hull made a special guest appearance as the USA hockey team captain in the What's New, Scooby-Doo? episode, "Diamonds Are a Ghoul's Best Friend".
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Bold indicates led league
International
Awards and achievements
See also
List of NHL statistical leaders
Notable families in the NHL
References
External links
Brett Hull's profile at hockeydraftcentral.com
1964 births
American men's ice hockey right wingers
American male voice actors
Calgary Flames draft picks
Calgary Flames players
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian male voice actors
Dallas Stars executives
Dallas Stars players
Detroit Red Wings players
Hart Memorial Trophy winners
Hockey Hall of Fame inductees
Ice hockey people from Ontario
Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winners
Lester B. Pearson Award winners
Living people
Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey players
Moncton Golden Flames players
National Hockey League All-Stars
National Hockey League broadcasters
National Hockey League players with retired numbers
Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey
Penticton Knights players
Phoenix Coyotes players
Sportspeople from Belleville, Ontario
St. Louis Blues executives
St. Louis Blues players
Stanley Cup champions | true | [
"Tony Magnusson (born February 23, 1963) is a Swedish semi-retired professional skateboarder and part-owner of Osiris Shoes. Magnusson gained significant fame throughout the 1980s by inventing several tricks and becoming one of the first professional skateboarders to start a rider-owned company.\n\nYouth\nMagnusson was born in the municipality of Tyresö, located in the city of Stockholm, Sweden. He started skateboarding at the age of 12 on a Newporter skateboard, when skateboarding was still considered \"a fad\". Magnusson turned 16 and had to decide whether he wanted to go to college or continue skateboarding.\n\nProfessional career \nMagnusson started his career as a rider in the United States for the Uncle Wiggley team in 1983.\n\nAfter several years, Magnusson and his friend Mike Ternasky would form the H-Street skateboarding company, and would consult with skateboarding industry leader George Hamad to help with its daily operation. Magnusson was fond of the Powell Peralta videos, but did not have the budget to film the videos that they did. Instead, Ternasky and Magnusson agreed to edit the videos at home and sign some of the era's most innovative skaters to the team. Names like Ron Allen, Matt Hensley, and a fourteen-year-old Danny Way.\n\nHis company would shoot some of the most popular skateboarding videos in the 1980s. Shackle Me Not was considered to be a turning point as to how skateboarding videos were made, and the 1989 release of Hokus Pokus featured new team members Brian Lotti, Colby Carter, and Sal Barbier. Magnusson would go on to release five different videos under the H-Street name.\n\nMagnusson was also an innovator on board design. He would design a concept called the \"Hell Concave\", which is a deep concave that extended from the nose of the board to the tail.\n\nH-Street later disbanded. and co-founder Mike Ternasky died in a car accident on May 17, 1994. After years of discussion, Magnusson and George Hamad resurrected the H-Street brand in 2008.\n\nOther ventures \nMagnusson was also one of several people who founded Osiris Shoes. Osiris was founded in 1996, and continues to produce technical footwear that is worn by several professional skateboarders.\n\nOther achievements \nMagnusson is a five time winner of the Legends of Skateboard World Championships, an event held in Germany that he won each year from 2001 to 2005. He also placed 5th in the Legends division of the 2009 X-Games.\n\nReferences \n\n https://web.archive.org/web/20130523034720/http://skately.com/library/people/mike-ternasky\n http://xgames.espn.go.com/skateboarding/article/8737171/the-original-plan-b-skateboards-team-honors-their-late-founder-mike-ternasky\n\nExternal links \n \n Osiris Shoes official site\n\n1964 births\n21st-century American businesspeople\nSwedish skateboarders\nAmerican people of Swedish descent\nSportspeople from California\nLiving people\nPeople from Del Mar, California\nX Games athletes",
"Harris Huizingh (born Ter Apel, 10 February 1963) is a former Dutch footballer.\n\nOn 29 April 1984, Huizingh made his debut in the first team for FC Groningen, during a 4–0 victory against Sparta Rotterdam. However, it was not until the season after when he was 22 years old did he get a permanent starting place in the 1985/86 season from trainer Han Berger. Thanks to his good technique, he quickly received the nickname The Wizard of Ter Apel.\nHe made an impression during his first season, but to the surprise of many, Huizingh left for BV Veendam after that season. Berger's successor, Rob Jacobs, did not think Huizingh was good enough.\n\nAfter four years in which the club was relegated twice and promoted once, Huizingh signed for FC Groningen again in 1990. That season, the club, with Hans Westerhof as trainer, finished third in the Eredivisie. After the 1990/91 season, Leo Beenhakker wanted to bring Huizingh to Ajax , but Groningen did not want to let him go. They asked for a high transfer fee and Ajax dropped out of the transfer. In the years that followed Huizingh increasingly suffered from injuries.\n\nAfter the 1998/99 season, Huizingh left Gronigen. He was already 36 years old, but was signed by SC Heerenveen who would go on to be runners up until he league. Consequently, a year later, he became the second-oldest player to ever play in the UEFA Champions League.\n\nAfter two seasons with Heerenveen, Huizingh quit playing football. He would go on to coach many amateur teams in his local region.\n\nReferences\n\n1963 births\nLiving people\nDutch footballers\nFC Groningen players\nSC Veendam players\nSC Heerenveen players\nPeople from Westerwolde (municipality)\nAssociation footballers not categorized by position"
]
|
[
"Brett Hull",
"Management career",
"When did he get started in management?",
"November 13, 2007.",
"What company gave him his start?",
"Hull was promoted to interim co-general manager of the Stars, sharing the role with Les Jackson after Doug Armstrong was fired",
"Did he have any other positions within this company?",
"named them permanent co-general managers.",
"How long did he work there?",
"The Stars missed the playoffs that season, leading the team to replace Hull and Jackson as general manager with Joe Nieuwendyk.",
"Did he go to a different team after that?",
"Hull remained with the organization, serving as an adviser to Hicks and team president Jeff Cogen."
]
| C_8c7399a4031447798d52079f08de6aab_0 | How long was he with the team altogether? | 6 | How long was Brett Hull with the Stars altogether? | Brett Hull | Hull worked two jobs in 2006-07. He served as a special assistant to the team president of the Dallas Stars and provided studio analysis for NHL on NBC telecasts. He left NBC after one season when he was named a special adviser to the team's hockey operations department. Hull was promoted to interim co-general manager of the Stars, sharing the role with Les Jackson after Doug Armstrong was fired on November 13, 2007. ESPN analyst Scott Burnside criticized the promotion of Hull, noting his lack of front office experience and questionable work ethic. The pair made one of the most prominent trades in the 2007-08 NHL season, acquiring Brad Richards from the Tampa Bay Lightning as part of a five-player trade. The team went on to reach the Western Conference Final of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Stars' deepest playoff run in eight years. Team owner Tom Hicks rewarded the pair with three-year contracts and named them permanent co-general managers. He credited Hull for his positive relationship with the players and his "unconventional wisdom". The signing of controversial forward Sean Avery prior to the 2008-09 season proved a turning point for Hull and Jackson. Avery's erratic behavior created divisions within the team's locker room, particularly after he made derogatory comments towards another player's girlfriend in the media. The Stars missed the playoffs that season, leading the team to replace Hull and Jackson as general manager with Joe Nieuwendyk. Hull remained with the organization, serving as an adviser to Hicks and team president Jeff Cogen. Hull has since been hired by the St. Louis Blues as their executive vice president over business development. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Brett Andrew Hull (born August 9, 1964) is a Canadian–American former ice hockey player and general manager, and currently an executive vice president of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings and Phoenix Coyotes between 1986 and 2005. His career total of 741 goals is fifth highest in NHL history, and he is one of five players to score 50 goals in 50 games. He was a member of two Stanley Cup winning teams – 1999 with the Dallas Stars and 2002 with the Detroit Red Wings. In 2017 Hull was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
Known as one of the game's greatest snipers, Hull was an elite scorer at all levels of the game. He played college hockey for the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, where he scored 52 goals in 1985–86. He scored 50 the following year with the Moncton Golden Flames of the American Hockey League (AHL) and had five consecutive NHL seasons of at least 50 goals. His 86 goals in 1990–91 is the third-highest single-season total in NHL history, with the first two being the same person, Wayne Gretzky. Hull won the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award that year as the league's most valuable player. He was named a first team all-star on three occasions and played in eight NHL All-Star Games.
Having dual citizenship in Canada and the United States, Hull was eligible to play for either Canada or the United States internationally and chose to join the American National Team. He was a member of the team that won the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and was a two-time Olympian, winning a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Hull was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, joining his father Bobby. They are the first father-son combination to each score either of 600 goals or 1,000 career points in the NHL. Hull's nickname, "the Golden Brett" is a reference to his father's nickname of "the Golden Jet". His jersey number 16 was retired by the St. Louis Blues in 2006.
Early life
Hull was born August 9, 1964, in Belleville, Ontario. His father, Bobby, was a long-time professional hockey player in both the National Hockey League (NHL) and World Hockey Association (WHA). His mother, Joanne (McKay), was an American professional figure skater and taught him how to skate. He has three brothers: Bobby Jr., Blake and Bart, and a younger half-sister: Michelle. Bart played professional football in the Canadian Football League. His uncle Dennis was also a long-time NHL player.
As his father was playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, Hull's early life was spent in Illinois, and he first played organized hockey in the Chicago area at the age of four. He and his brothers often skated with the Black Hawks where they watched their father play. The family moved back to Canada when Bobby signed with the original Winnipeg Jets in 1972. As a youth, he and teammate Richard Kromm played in the 1977 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Winnipeg South Monarchs minor ice hockey team. Brett moved to Vancouver with his mother and two youngest siblings shortly before his parents' acrimonious divorce in 1979. Hull was not close to his father following the breakup, though the two spoke periodically.
Playing career
Junior and college
Admitting that he was viewed as a "pudgy, fun-loving, music-crazed bum" in his youth, Hull stated in his autobiography that he was not surprised when he failed to attract the attention of a junior team. He was first eligible for the NHL Entry Draft in 1982, but as he was still playing in a juvenile league, was passed over without interest. He joined the Penticton Knights of the tier-II British Columbia Junior Hockey League (BCJHL) in the 1982–83 season where he scored 48 goals in 50 games. He was again passed over at the 1983 Entry Draft as teams remained unconvinced of his commitment to the game and his conditioning. NHL teams finally took notice of Hull following his 1983–84 season in which he scored 105 goals in 56 games and broke the BCJHL scoring record with 188 points. The Calgary Flames selected him in the sixth round of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, 117th overall.
Hull accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD), and in 1984–85, scored 32 goals as a freshman. The power of his shot terrorized opposition goaltenders. He was awarded the Jerry Chumola Award as the school's rookie of the year and received similar honors from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). His coaches at Minnesota-Duluth impressed on Hull the need to improve his skating, and in 1985–86, he broke the school record of 49 goals in one season, reaching 52 for the campaign. Hull was named the WCHA first-team all-star at right wing and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
In his two seasons at UMD, Hull set numerous school scoring records. He holds the records for most goals by a rookie (32) and most goals in one season (52). His 20 power play goals, seven hat tricks and 13 multiple-goal games in 1985–86 are all records, and he shares the school's single-game playoff record of four goals. The school retired his jersey number 29 in 2006.
Calgary Flames (1985–88)
Choosing to turn professional following his sophomore season, Hull signed a contract with the Calgary Flames and joined the team during the 1986 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He made his NHL debut on May 20, 1986, in game three of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Montreal Canadiens. His best scoring opportunity came when he hit the post in his first shift of the game. He appeared in two games of the Flames' five-game series loss to Montreal.
The Flames assigned Hull to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Moncton Golden Flames, for the majority of the 1986–87 season. He scored 50 goals, tying an AHL rookie record, and his 93 points was third-best in the league. He won the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as the league's rookie of the year and was named to the first all-star team. He earned a brief recall to Calgary during the season. He made his regular-season debut on November 13, 1986, against the Hartford Whalers and scored his first NHL goal against Steve Weeks on a breakaway. It was the game-winning goal in a 4–3 victory. Hull appeared in five regular-season games for the Flames and played in four playoff games where he scored two goals and added an assist.
Hull earned a spot on the Flames for the 1987–88 NHL season, though the team continued to work with him on his conditioning. He appeared in 52 games for the Flames, scoring 26 goals and 50 points. He did not finish the season in Calgary however. On March 7, 1988, Hull was traded, along with Steve Bozek, to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for defenseman Rob Ramage and goaltender Rick Wamsley.
St. Louis Blues (1988–98)
Hull led the St. Louis Blues with 41 goals in , but his poor skating and inattention to his defensive responsibilities concerned the club. Head coach Brian Sutter convinced Hull to improve his conditioning over the summer. He arrived to begin the season in much better shape and showed a marked improvement in his skating. Center Adam Oates, acquired over the summer, joined Hull on the top line. The pair, dubbed "Hull and Oates" as a play on the band Hall and Oates, were prolific scorers with Oates being an excellent passer and Hull being an excellent shooter. Hull scored 228 goals between 1989–90 and , the second-highest three-season total of any player in NHL history, behind only Wayne Gretzky's 250 tallies between and . He became the fifth player in NHL history to score 50 goals in 50 games in ,—joining Maurice Richard, Mike Bossy, Gretzky, and Mario Lemieux—then repeated the feat in 1991–92.
He led the league in goal scoring all three seasons and was named to the First All-Star Team each year. He collected numerous league awards, winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 1990 as the league's most sportsmanlike player, then in 1991, won the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award as the NHL's most valuable player as selected by the league and his fellow players respectively. His total of 86 goals in 1990–91 is the third highest for a single season in NHL history, after Gretzky's 92 goals in 1981–82 and 87 in 1983–84. Oates left the Blues midway through the 1991–92 season, and while Hull's offensive production dropped, he remained the Blues' top offensive threat. He recorded his fourth and fifth consecutive 50-goal seasons, scoring 54 in and 57 in .
Hull clashed with head coach Mike Keenan, who joined the team in , primarily over the latter's changes to team personnel. Hull, who had been named team captain in 1992, was stripped of the captaincy. By early 1996, the two were publicly criticizing each other in the media. Forced to choose between the player and coach, the Blues fired Keenan on December 19, 1996. Hull responded three nights later with a hat trick against the Los Angeles Kings to reach 500 goals for his NHL career. He and Bobby are the only father-son pair who both reached that total.
After 43- and 42-goal seasons in and , Hull scored 27 in . He became an unrestricted free agent following the season after rejecting a three-year, $15 million offer from the Blues because the team refused to include a no-trade clause. He left St. Louis, signing a three-year, $17 million contract with the Dallas Stars on July 2, 1998.
Dallas Stars (1998–2001)
Hull reached 1,000 points in his career when he notched a goal and an assist in a 3–1 victory with the Dallas Stars over the Boston Bruins on November 14, 1998. He then scored his 600th goal on December 31, 1999. He scored 32 goals in 1998–99 despite struggling with a groin injury for much of the season. The Stars reached the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, against the Buffalo Sabres. The sixth game of the series went to overtime tied 1–1 while Dallas held a 3–2 series lead. At 14:51 of the third overtime period, Hull collected a rebound in front of the Buffalo net and put the puck past goaltender Dominik Hašek to win the game, and the Stanley Cup, for Dallas.
The Sabres immediately protested the goal, as NHL rules of the time stated that a player could not score a goal if any part of his body was within the goal crease. Replays showed that Hull's skate was within the crease when he scored, however, the NHL ruled that he had possession of the puck prior to entering the crease, making the goal legal. League officials stated that that very scenario was addressed in a memo sent to the league's on-ice officials prior to the start of the playoffs. Hull himself states the goal was legal, supporting the claim that the NHL had altered the rules in a private memo sent to all teams but not released to the public. Media, fans and players across the league remain divided on the goal, some claiming that the league altered the rule after the fact. It remains especially controversial in Buffalo, where fans and former players continue to maintain that the play should have been ruled "no goal". The NHL formally abolished the crease rule prior to the next season, allowing players to score from within the crease freely as long as they did not interfere with the goaltender.
As a member of the Stars in their Stanley Cup winning season, Hull wore sweater number 22, as his customary number 16 was worn by Pat Verbeek. Hull would switch back to number 16 the following season when Verbeek left the team as a free agent. Though he appeared in 79 games in 1999–2000, Hull had what coach Ken Hitchcock called "a disappointing season", struggling defensively and scoring only 24 goals. His offensive production improved in the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs as he led the league in post-season scoring with 10 goals and 23 points. The Stars again reached the finals, but lost the series in six games to the New Jersey Devils. Hull scored 39 goals in 2000–01, his best total in four years. He surpassed his father's career total when he scored his 611th goal in a 3–1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 10, 2000. Hull played his 1,000th career game on February 25, 2001, in Calgary.
Detroit Red Wings/Second Stanley Cup championship (2001–04)
The Stars chose not to exercise their option on Hull's contract that would have paid him $7 million for the 2001–02 NHL season, making him a free agent. Although he received superior financial offers from the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, Hull chose to sign a two-year, $9 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings to pursue a second Stanley Cup championship. He joined an already star-studded team that earlier that same offseason had acquired goaltender Dominik Hasek, and also signed winger Luc Robitaille.
As a member of the Red Wings, Hull switched to sweater number 17 out of respect for Vladimir Konstantinov, who wore number 16 for the Red Wings before his playing career ended due to a limousine accident a week after Detroit's 1997 Stanley Cup championship. As of 2021, no player has worn the number 16 for the Red Wings since Konstantinov.
Hull subsequently scored 30 goals that season as the Red Wings dominated their opponents, earning the President's Trophy as the NHL's top team. During the regular season, he was put on a line with Boyd Devereaux and rookie Pavel Datsyuk, a combination in which Hull himself referred to as "two kids and a goat".
Hull would then score a league-leading 10 in the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as the Red Wings defeated the Vancouver Canucks, his former team the St. Louis Blues, and the rival Colorado Avalanche en route to their fourth Finals appearance in eight years. He'd score a hat trick in the deciding sixth game in the opening round against Vancouver, while adding two goals in the second round against the Blues. He then scored three goals in the Western Conference Finals against the Avalanche, including one in Detroit's stunning 7–0 rout of Colorado in the decisive Game 7.
He scored key goals in Detroit's game three and four victories against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Finals; the latter was the 100th playoff goal of his career. Hull won his second career championship as the Red Wings won the series in five games.
Hull posted a 37-goal, 76-point campaign in 2002–03. He became the sixth player in NHL history to score 700 career goals on February 10, 2003, against the San Jose Sharks. At age 38, Hull signed a one-year, $5 million extension with the Red Wings. After scoring 25 goals in 2003–04, Hull would score three goals during the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs for Detroit, who were eliminated by the eventual Western Conference champion Calgary Flames in six games in the second round.
Phoenix Coyotes (2004–05)
The Stars thought they were on the verge of signing Hull to a one-year contract for 2004–05, but he instead accepted a two-year, $4.5 million contract with the Phoenix Coyotes. The first year of the contract was wiped out when the season was cancelled due to a labor stoppage. When play resumed in 2005–06, Hull returned to the ice wearing his father's jersey number 9. The Coyotes franchise, which had relocated from Winnipeg in 1996, continued to honor the Jets' retired numbers, including the elder Hull's. Bobby requested that the team un-retire his uniform and allow his son to wear it. However, after playing just five games and recording one assist, Hull felt that he was no longer able to play at the level he expected of himself. On October 15, 2005, he announced his retirement as a player.
International play
As a dual Canadian and American citizen, Hull was eligible to play for either country internationally. While playing at UMD, he was passed over by officials with Team Canada when they selected their roster for the 1986 World Ice Hockey Championships. However, the American national team invited him to join their squad. Hull accepted and led the team in scoring with 7 goals and 11 points for the sixth place Americans. Hull later said the faith shown in him by American officials gave him the confidence to excel in his career. He played with Team USA for the rest of his career, and at the 1986 Calgary Cup tournament, played a pivotal role in a 5–3 upset of Canada by the Americans. Following the game, he said "I don't feel more like an American than a Canadian. I just want to play."
Hull tied Mike Modano for the American scoring lead at the 1991 Canada Cup with nine points. He led the Americans into the tournament final against Canada, but was held pointless in the decisive game as Canada won the tournament with a 4–2 game. Canadian fans turned on Hull at the inaugural World Cup of Hockey in 1996. In the semifinal against Russia, fans in Ottawa loudly booed Hull and chanted "traitor" towards him as he scored two goals to lead the United States to the final against Canada. In the deciding game of the best-of-three final, Hull scored a key goal as the Americans turned a 2–1 deficit with five minutes to play into a 5–2 victory and captured the championship. Hull led all players with 11 points and was a tournament all-star at forward.
Making his Olympic debut at the 1998 Winter Games, Hull scored two goals in four games. The Americans were quickly eliminated from the tournament and were criticized for their lack of desire and leadership. The team was further embarrassed when it was discovered some members had trashed their hotel room following their elimination. Hull was initially blamed as being a culprit. He angrily denied the accusation and claimed it was an invention of Canadian media upset that he was playing for the United States. Hull, Modano and John LeClair formed the American's top line for the 2002 Olympics. The trio were dominant throughout most of the tournament, leading Team USA to the gold medal game against Canada. Hull and LeClair finished second and third in overall scoring, respectively; however they were held pointless against Team Canada in the final. Hull and the Americans settled for the silver medal following a 5–2 defeat.
Team USA named Hull an alternate captain of its veteran-laden team for the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. However, he was benched by head coach Ron Wilson following two indifferent games in which he did not register a point and never returned to the active lineup.
Playing style
Upon his arrival in the NHL, Hull was considered a "one-dimensional player". He was a natural goal scorer with a reputation for being uninterested in backchecking and playing defense. He was nicknamed "The Incredible Hull" (a reference to Bruce Banner) in college for his scoring exploits and was called "The Golden Brett" in the NHL, a play on his father's nickname of "The Golden Jet". Brett was often compared to Bobby in his early years, though the two shared few similarities on the ice. Both were known for their shooting ability, particularly the power of their slapshot, which Terry Crisp – who played against Bobby and coached Brett – described as "explosive", but while Bobby was a left wing known for both his conditioning and skating ability, Brett played right wing, was a poorer skater and lacked his father's physique.
His reputation for defensive indifference persisted through much of his career. In his 72-goal season of 1989–90, Hull's plus-minus (net difference of even strength and shorthanded goals scored for and against while he was on the ice) was −1. He was a −27 four years later despite scoring 54 goals. Hull also carried a reputation as a player who could not win as his Blues' teams rarely achieved success in the playoffs. He shed that reputation after leading his teams to championships at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals. To win that 1999 championship, Hull also had to fit in with the Dallas Stars' defense-oriented system. He finished that season with a career-best plus-minus of +19.
Known as an outspoken player, Hull earned a reputation on and off the ice for speaking bluntly and without regard for whom it might offend. He chastised his own fans in 1992 – later backtracking – when they booed Adam Oates following Oates' trade request, calling them "losers" and stating he wanted to rip one particular fan's head off. Hull was a consistent critic of the NHL's defensive, "clutch and grab" era of the late 1990s, raising the ire of commissioner Gary Bettman in 1998 when he said "I wouldn't pay to watch. It's boring. The whole style of the game is terrible. There's no flow. When a guy like [Mario] Lemieux leaves the game and tells you why he's leaving, and you don't address it, that's stupid. But the players don't say crap. That's why I always look like the big mouth."
Hull played in eight NHL All-Star Games, and was named the most valuable player of the 1992 game in Philadelphia. As of 2021, his 741 career goals is the fifth highest total in NHL history, and Hull was the third-fastest (behind Wayne Gretzky and Alex Ovechkin) to reach 700 goals, doing so in 1,157 games. He is also second all-time in power play goals with 265 and third in game-winning goals with 110. With 24 career game-winning playoff goals, he is tied with Gretzky for the most all-time. He scored 33 hat tricks in his career, the fourth highest in NHL history. Hull holds numerous St. Louis Blues franchise records, including goals (527), power play goals (195), game-winning goals (70) and hat tricks (27). He also holds the organization's single-season records of goals (86) and points (131). In honor of his achievements with the team, the Blues retired his jersey number 16 in 2006. The team also arranged to have a portion of the street that runs alongside the Scottrade Center renamed "Brett Hull Way". In 2010, the team unveiled a statue of him in front of the arena. Hull was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008, and into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.
Management career
Hull worked two jobs in 2006–07. He served as a special assistant to the team president of the Dallas Stars and provided studio analysis for NHL on NBC telecasts. He left NBC after one season when he was named a special adviser to the team's hockey operations department. Hull was promoted to interim co-general manager of the Stars, sharing the role with Les Jackson after Doug Armstrong was fired on November 13, 2007. ESPN analyst Scott Burnside criticized the promotion of Hull, noting his lack of front office experience and questionable work ethic.
The pair made one of the most prominent trades in the 2007–08 NHL season, acquiring Brad Richards from the Tampa Bay Lightning as part of a five-player trade. The team went on to reach the Western Conference Final of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Stars' deepest playoff run in eight years. Team owner Tom Hicks rewarded the pair with three-year contracts and named them permanent co-general managers. He credited Hull for his positive relationship with the players and his "unconventional wisdom".
The signing of controversial forward Sean Avery prior to the 2008–09 season proved a turning point for Hull and Jackson. Avery's erratic behavior created divisions within the team's locker room, particularly after he made derogatory comments towards another player's girlfriend in the media. The Stars missed the playoffs that season, leading the team to replace Hull and Jackson as general manager with Joe Nieuwendyk. Hull remained with the organization, serving as an adviser to Hicks and team president Jeff Cogen. Hull has since been hired by the St. Louis Blues as their executive vice president for business development.
On May 21, 2019, after the Blues advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 49 years, Hull wasn't able to control his emotions and cried, saying "I'm in there. I'm not a crier, but I'm crying....I saw Bobby Plager and I'm like 'Holy cow,'... 49 years in the making for this... These guys have played unbelievable."
On Saturday, June 15, 2019, after the St. Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup, Brett Hull took the stage and led the crowd in a drunken ramble that echoed throughout the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial following the victory parade down Market Street. He coined the iconic phrase, "We went Blues," explaining, "We don't have to go anymore, 'cause we already did it."
Personal life
Hull currently lives in Nashville with his second wife, Darcie. He has three children by his first wife, Alison: son Jude and daughters Jayde and Crosby. Jude also played hockey, as a goaltender. He attended St. Olaf College until 2018, he never played professionally. Jayde attends Colgate University.
In business, Hull was twice involved in the operation of restaurants. He owned two eateries in St. Louis while he was a member of the Blues, and partnered with Mike Modano and others on a Dallas restaurant called "Hully and Mo Restaurant and Tap Room" following his playing career. He lent his name to a 1995 Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game called Brett Hull Hockey. Hull was a co-owner of the St. Louis Bandits, a junior team in the North American Hockey League. In November 2020, Hull returned to restaurant operation in the St. Louis area with the opening of Brett Hull's Junction in Wentzville, Missouri.
Hull is an avid golfer, often stating during his career that he preferred the sport to hockey. He is a frequent participant in the American Century Celebrity Golf Classic and his best finish at the tournament is a tie for fifth in 2008. He competes in several charity and celebrity tournaments, and in 2009 was ranked as the sixth best athlete golfer in North America by Golf Digest.
In other media
Hull was a guest on the Weekend Update segment of the December 11, 2004, episode of Saturday Night Live.
Hull made a special guest appearance as the USA hockey team captain in the What's New, Scooby-Doo? episode, "Diamonds Are a Ghoul's Best Friend".
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Bold indicates led league
International
Awards and achievements
See also
List of NHL statistical leaders
Notable families in the NHL
References
External links
Brett Hull's profile at hockeydraftcentral.com
1964 births
American men's ice hockey right wingers
American male voice actors
Calgary Flames draft picks
Calgary Flames players
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian male voice actors
Dallas Stars executives
Dallas Stars players
Detroit Red Wings players
Hart Memorial Trophy winners
Hockey Hall of Fame inductees
Ice hockey people from Ontario
Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winners
Lester B. Pearson Award winners
Living people
Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey players
Moncton Golden Flames players
National Hockey League All-Stars
National Hockey League broadcasters
National Hockey League players with retired numbers
Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey
Penticton Knights players
Phoenix Coyotes players
Sportspeople from Belleville, Ontario
St. Louis Blues executives
St. Louis Blues players
Stanley Cup champions | false | [
"Aesop sometimes plays a part in his own fables where the circumstances in which he tells the story are mentioned. In this he is mocked by a Ferryman, or boat-builders in another account, and tells them how they will soon be out of a job.\n\nAetiological myth\nAristotle mentions in his Meteorologica how Aesop once teased a ferryman by relating to him a myth concerning Charybdis. With one gulp of the sea she brought the mountains to view; islands appeared after the next. The third is yet to come and will dry the sea altogether, thus depriving the ferryman of his livelihood. Aristotle’s reason for reporting this was in connection with the belief of the pre-Socratic philosopher Democritus that the sea’s level was gradually lowering and that it would eventually disappear.\n\nSome centuries later, a similar retort was recorded by Babrius when Aesop was mocked by shipbuilders. In this case he told them the creation myth in which the king of the gods wished to make dry land emerge when there was only chaos and water. Earth was therefore commanded to take three gulps, the third of which will dry up the sea altogether. The fable is numbered 8 in the Perry Index. Babrius commented on the situation that people who cheek those smarter than themselves are asking for trouble.\n\nReferences\n\nAesop's Fables\nGreek mythology",
"Lieutenant-General Charles Monson (11 March 1758 – 11 January 1800) was a British Army officer and first-class cricketer who was active in the 1780s and played for the White Conduit Club. \n\nMonson was the third son of John Monson, 2nd Baron Monson. He was the younger brother of cricketer George Monson and was an officer in the British Army.\n\nMonson is recorded only once playing for White Conduit against a Kent team at White Conduit Fields in June 1785. He had an outstanding game as a bowler, taking five wickets (all bowled) in the first innings and enabling his team to win by 304 runs. He scored 29 and 7 with the bat and took six wickets altogether with one catch.\n\nHe later rose to the rank of Lieutenant-General before his death in 1800.\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n \n\nEnglish cricketers\nEnglish cricketers of 1701 to 1786\nWhite Conduit Club cricketers\nYounger sons of barons\n1758 births\n1800 deaths"
]
|
[
"Brett Hull",
"Management career",
"When did he get started in management?",
"November 13, 2007.",
"What company gave him his start?",
"Hull was promoted to interim co-general manager of the Stars, sharing the role with Les Jackson after Doug Armstrong was fired",
"Did he have any other positions within this company?",
"named them permanent co-general managers.",
"How long did he work there?",
"The Stars missed the playoffs that season, leading the team to replace Hull and Jackson as general manager with Joe Nieuwendyk.",
"Did he go to a different team after that?",
"Hull remained with the organization, serving as an adviser to Hicks and team president Jeff Cogen.",
"How long was he with the team altogether?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_8c7399a4031447798d52079f08de6aab_0 | What else can you tell me from the article? | 7 | Besides Brett Hull working for the Stars,What else can you tell me from the article? | Brett Hull | Hull worked two jobs in 2006-07. He served as a special assistant to the team president of the Dallas Stars and provided studio analysis for NHL on NBC telecasts. He left NBC after one season when he was named a special adviser to the team's hockey operations department. Hull was promoted to interim co-general manager of the Stars, sharing the role with Les Jackson after Doug Armstrong was fired on November 13, 2007. ESPN analyst Scott Burnside criticized the promotion of Hull, noting his lack of front office experience and questionable work ethic. The pair made one of the most prominent trades in the 2007-08 NHL season, acquiring Brad Richards from the Tampa Bay Lightning as part of a five-player trade. The team went on to reach the Western Conference Final of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Stars' deepest playoff run in eight years. Team owner Tom Hicks rewarded the pair with three-year contracts and named them permanent co-general managers. He credited Hull for his positive relationship with the players and his "unconventional wisdom". The signing of controversial forward Sean Avery prior to the 2008-09 season proved a turning point for Hull and Jackson. Avery's erratic behavior created divisions within the team's locker room, particularly after he made derogatory comments towards another player's girlfriend in the media. The Stars missed the playoffs that season, leading the team to replace Hull and Jackson as general manager with Joe Nieuwendyk. Hull remained with the organization, serving as an adviser to Hicks and team president Jeff Cogen. Hull has since been hired by the St. Louis Blues as their executive vice president over business development. CANNOTANSWER | The team went on to reach the Western Conference Final of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Stars' deepest playoff run in eight years. | Brett Andrew Hull (born August 9, 1964) is a Canadian–American former ice hockey player and general manager, and currently an executive vice president of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings and Phoenix Coyotes between 1986 and 2005. His career total of 741 goals is fifth highest in NHL history, and he is one of five players to score 50 goals in 50 games. He was a member of two Stanley Cup winning teams – 1999 with the Dallas Stars and 2002 with the Detroit Red Wings. In 2017 Hull was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
Known as one of the game's greatest snipers, Hull was an elite scorer at all levels of the game. He played college hockey for the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, where he scored 52 goals in 1985–86. He scored 50 the following year with the Moncton Golden Flames of the American Hockey League (AHL) and had five consecutive NHL seasons of at least 50 goals. His 86 goals in 1990–91 is the third-highest single-season total in NHL history, with the first two being the same person, Wayne Gretzky. Hull won the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award that year as the league's most valuable player. He was named a first team all-star on three occasions and played in eight NHL All-Star Games.
Having dual citizenship in Canada and the United States, Hull was eligible to play for either Canada or the United States internationally and chose to join the American National Team. He was a member of the team that won the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and was a two-time Olympian, winning a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Hull was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, joining his father Bobby. They are the first father-son combination to each score either of 600 goals or 1,000 career points in the NHL. Hull's nickname, "the Golden Brett" is a reference to his father's nickname of "the Golden Jet". His jersey number 16 was retired by the St. Louis Blues in 2006.
Early life
Hull was born August 9, 1964, in Belleville, Ontario. His father, Bobby, was a long-time professional hockey player in both the National Hockey League (NHL) and World Hockey Association (WHA). His mother, Joanne (McKay), was an American professional figure skater and taught him how to skate. He has three brothers: Bobby Jr., Blake and Bart, and a younger half-sister: Michelle. Bart played professional football in the Canadian Football League. His uncle Dennis was also a long-time NHL player.
As his father was playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, Hull's early life was spent in Illinois, and he first played organized hockey in the Chicago area at the age of four. He and his brothers often skated with the Black Hawks where they watched their father play. The family moved back to Canada when Bobby signed with the original Winnipeg Jets in 1972. As a youth, he and teammate Richard Kromm played in the 1977 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Winnipeg South Monarchs minor ice hockey team. Brett moved to Vancouver with his mother and two youngest siblings shortly before his parents' acrimonious divorce in 1979. Hull was not close to his father following the breakup, though the two spoke periodically.
Playing career
Junior and college
Admitting that he was viewed as a "pudgy, fun-loving, music-crazed bum" in his youth, Hull stated in his autobiography that he was not surprised when he failed to attract the attention of a junior team. He was first eligible for the NHL Entry Draft in 1982, but as he was still playing in a juvenile league, was passed over without interest. He joined the Penticton Knights of the tier-II British Columbia Junior Hockey League (BCJHL) in the 1982–83 season where he scored 48 goals in 50 games. He was again passed over at the 1983 Entry Draft as teams remained unconvinced of his commitment to the game and his conditioning. NHL teams finally took notice of Hull following his 1983–84 season in which he scored 105 goals in 56 games and broke the BCJHL scoring record with 188 points. The Calgary Flames selected him in the sixth round of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, 117th overall.
Hull accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD), and in 1984–85, scored 32 goals as a freshman. The power of his shot terrorized opposition goaltenders. He was awarded the Jerry Chumola Award as the school's rookie of the year and received similar honors from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). His coaches at Minnesota-Duluth impressed on Hull the need to improve his skating, and in 1985–86, he broke the school record of 49 goals in one season, reaching 52 for the campaign. Hull was named the WCHA first-team all-star at right wing and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
In his two seasons at UMD, Hull set numerous school scoring records. He holds the records for most goals by a rookie (32) and most goals in one season (52). His 20 power play goals, seven hat tricks and 13 multiple-goal games in 1985–86 are all records, and he shares the school's single-game playoff record of four goals. The school retired his jersey number 29 in 2006.
Calgary Flames (1985–88)
Choosing to turn professional following his sophomore season, Hull signed a contract with the Calgary Flames and joined the team during the 1986 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He made his NHL debut on May 20, 1986, in game three of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Montreal Canadiens. His best scoring opportunity came when he hit the post in his first shift of the game. He appeared in two games of the Flames' five-game series loss to Montreal.
The Flames assigned Hull to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Moncton Golden Flames, for the majority of the 1986–87 season. He scored 50 goals, tying an AHL rookie record, and his 93 points was third-best in the league. He won the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as the league's rookie of the year and was named to the first all-star team. He earned a brief recall to Calgary during the season. He made his regular-season debut on November 13, 1986, against the Hartford Whalers and scored his first NHL goal against Steve Weeks on a breakaway. It was the game-winning goal in a 4–3 victory. Hull appeared in five regular-season games for the Flames and played in four playoff games where he scored two goals and added an assist.
Hull earned a spot on the Flames for the 1987–88 NHL season, though the team continued to work with him on his conditioning. He appeared in 52 games for the Flames, scoring 26 goals and 50 points. He did not finish the season in Calgary however. On March 7, 1988, Hull was traded, along with Steve Bozek, to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for defenseman Rob Ramage and goaltender Rick Wamsley.
St. Louis Blues (1988–98)
Hull led the St. Louis Blues with 41 goals in , but his poor skating and inattention to his defensive responsibilities concerned the club. Head coach Brian Sutter convinced Hull to improve his conditioning over the summer. He arrived to begin the season in much better shape and showed a marked improvement in his skating. Center Adam Oates, acquired over the summer, joined Hull on the top line. The pair, dubbed "Hull and Oates" as a play on the band Hall and Oates, were prolific scorers with Oates being an excellent passer and Hull being an excellent shooter. Hull scored 228 goals between 1989–90 and , the second-highest three-season total of any player in NHL history, behind only Wayne Gretzky's 250 tallies between and . He became the fifth player in NHL history to score 50 goals in 50 games in ,—joining Maurice Richard, Mike Bossy, Gretzky, and Mario Lemieux—then repeated the feat in 1991–92.
He led the league in goal scoring all three seasons and was named to the First All-Star Team each year. He collected numerous league awards, winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 1990 as the league's most sportsmanlike player, then in 1991, won the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award as the NHL's most valuable player as selected by the league and his fellow players respectively. His total of 86 goals in 1990–91 is the third highest for a single season in NHL history, after Gretzky's 92 goals in 1981–82 and 87 in 1983–84. Oates left the Blues midway through the 1991–92 season, and while Hull's offensive production dropped, he remained the Blues' top offensive threat. He recorded his fourth and fifth consecutive 50-goal seasons, scoring 54 in and 57 in .
Hull clashed with head coach Mike Keenan, who joined the team in , primarily over the latter's changes to team personnel. Hull, who had been named team captain in 1992, was stripped of the captaincy. By early 1996, the two were publicly criticizing each other in the media. Forced to choose between the player and coach, the Blues fired Keenan on December 19, 1996. Hull responded three nights later with a hat trick against the Los Angeles Kings to reach 500 goals for his NHL career. He and Bobby are the only father-son pair who both reached that total.
After 43- and 42-goal seasons in and , Hull scored 27 in . He became an unrestricted free agent following the season after rejecting a three-year, $15 million offer from the Blues because the team refused to include a no-trade clause. He left St. Louis, signing a three-year, $17 million contract with the Dallas Stars on July 2, 1998.
Dallas Stars (1998–2001)
Hull reached 1,000 points in his career when he notched a goal and an assist in a 3–1 victory with the Dallas Stars over the Boston Bruins on November 14, 1998. He then scored his 600th goal on December 31, 1999. He scored 32 goals in 1998–99 despite struggling with a groin injury for much of the season. The Stars reached the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, against the Buffalo Sabres. The sixth game of the series went to overtime tied 1–1 while Dallas held a 3–2 series lead. At 14:51 of the third overtime period, Hull collected a rebound in front of the Buffalo net and put the puck past goaltender Dominik Hašek to win the game, and the Stanley Cup, for Dallas.
The Sabres immediately protested the goal, as NHL rules of the time stated that a player could not score a goal if any part of his body was within the goal crease. Replays showed that Hull's skate was within the crease when he scored, however, the NHL ruled that he had possession of the puck prior to entering the crease, making the goal legal. League officials stated that that very scenario was addressed in a memo sent to the league's on-ice officials prior to the start of the playoffs. Hull himself states the goal was legal, supporting the claim that the NHL had altered the rules in a private memo sent to all teams but not released to the public. Media, fans and players across the league remain divided on the goal, some claiming that the league altered the rule after the fact. It remains especially controversial in Buffalo, where fans and former players continue to maintain that the play should have been ruled "no goal". The NHL formally abolished the crease rule prior to the next season, allowing players to score from within the crease freely as long as they did not interfere with the goaltender.
As a member of the Stars in their Stanley Cup winning season, Hull wore sweater number 22, as his customary number 16 was worn by Pat Verbeek. Hull would switch back to number 16 the following season when Verbeek left the team as a free agent. Though he appeared in 79 games in 1999–2000, Hull had what coach Ken Hitchcock called "a disappointing season", struggling defensively and scoring only 24 goals. His offensive production improved in the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs as he led the league in post-season scoring with 10 goals and 23 points. The Stars again reached the finals, but lost the series in six games to the New Jersey Devils. Hull scored 39 goals in 2000–01, his best total in four years. He surpassed his father's career total when he scored his 611th goal in a 3–1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 10, 2000. Hull played his 1,000th career game on February 25, 2001, in Calgary.
Detroit Red Wings/Second Stanley Cup championship (2001–04)
The Stars chose not to exercise their option on Hull's contract that would have paid him $7 million for the 2001–02 NHL season, making him a free agent. Although he received superior financial offers from the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, Hull chose to sign a two-year, $9 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings to pursue a second Stanley Cup championship. He joined an already star-studded team that earlier that same offseason had acquired goaltender Dominik Hasek, and also signed winger Luc Robitaille.
As a member of the Red Wings, Hull switched to sweater number 17 out of respect for Vladimir Konstantinov, who wore number 16 for the Red Wings before his playing career ended due to a limousine accident a week after Detroit's 1997 Stanley Cup championship. As of 2021, no player has worn the number 16 for the Red Wings since Konstantinov.
Hull subsequently scored 30 goals that season as the Red Wings dominated their opponents, earning the President's Trophy as the NHL's top team. During the regular season, he was put on a line with Boyd Devereaux and rookie Pavel Datsyuk, a combination in which Hull himself referred to as "two kids and a goat".
Hull would then score a league-leading 10 in the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as the Red Wings defeated the Vancouver Canucks, his former team the St. Louis Blues, and the rival Colorado Avalanche en route to their fourth Finals appearance in eight years. He'd score a hat trick in the deciding sixth game in the opening round against Vancouver, while adding two goals in the second round against the Blues. He then scored three goals in the Western Conference Finals against the Avalanche, including one in Detroit's stunning 7–0 rout of Colorado in the decisive Game 7.
He scored key goals in Detroit's game three and four victories against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Finals; the latter was the 100th playoff goal of his career. Hull won his second career championship as the Red Wings won the series in five games.
Hull posted a 37-goal, 76-point campaign in 2002–03. He became the sixth player in NHL history to score 700 career goals on February 10, 2003, against the San Jose Sharks. At age 38, Hull signed a one-year, $5 million extension with the Red Wings. After scoring 25 goals in 2003–04, Hull would score three goals during the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs for Detroit, who were eliminated by the eventual Western Conference champion Calgary Flames in six games in the second round.
Phoenix Coyotes (2004–05)
The Stars thought they were on the verge of signing Hull to a one-year contract for 2004–05, but he instead accepted a two-year, $4.5 million contract with the Phoenix Coyotes. The first year of the contract was wiped out when the season was cancelled due to a labor stoppage. When play resumed in 2005–06, Hull returned to the ice wearing his father's jersey number 9. The Coyotes franchise, which had relocated from Winnipeg in 1996, continued to honor the Jets' retired numbers, including the elder Hull's. Bobby requested that the team un-retire his uniform and allow his son to wear it. However, after playing just five games and recording one assist, Hull felt that he was no longer able to play at the level he expected of himself. On October 15, 2005, he announced his retirement as a player.
International play
As a dual Canadian and American citizen, Hull was eligible to play for either country internationally. While playing at UMD, he was passed over by officials with Team Canada when they selected their roster for the 1986 World Ice Hockey Championships. However, the American national team invited him to join their squad. Hull accepted and led the team in scoring with 7 goals and 11 points for the sixth place Americans. Hull later said the faith shown in him by American officials gave him the confidence to excel in his career. He played with Team USA for the rest of his career, and at the 1986 Calgary Cup tournament, played a pivotal role in a 5–3 upset of Canada by the Americans. Following the game, he said "I don't feel more like an American than a Canadian. I just want to play."
Hull tied Mike Modano for the American scoring lead at the 1991 Canada Cup with nine points. He led the Americans into the tournament final against Canada, but was held pointless in the decisive game as Canada won the tournament with a 4–2 game. Canadian fans turned on Hull at the inaugural World Cup of Hockey in 1996. In the semifinal against Russia, fans in Ottawa loudly booed Hull and chanted "traitor" towards him as he scored two goals to lead the United States to the final against Canada. In the deciding game of the best-of-three final, Hull scored a key goal as the Americans turned a 2–1 deficit with five minutes to play into a 5–2 victory and captured the championship. Hull led all players with 11 points and was a tournament all-star at forward.
Making his Olympic debut at the 1998 Winter Games, Hull scored two goals in four games. The Americans were quickly eliminated from the tournament and were criticized for their lack of desire and leadership. The team was further embarrassed when it was discovered some members had trashed their hotel room following their elimination. Hull was initially blamed as being a culprit. He angrily denied the accusation and claimed it was an invention of Canadian media upset that he was playing for the United States. Hull, Modano and John LeClair formed the American's top line for the 2002 Olympics. The trio were dominant throughout most of the tournament, leading Team USA to the gold medal game against Canada. Hull and LeClair finished second and third in overall scoring, respectively; however they were held pointless against Team Canada in the final. Hull and the Americans settled for the silver medal following a 5–2 defeat.
Team USA named Hull an alternate captain of its veteran-laden team for the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. However, he was benched by head coach Ron Wilson following two indifferent games in which he did not register a point and never returned to the active lineup.
Playing style
Upon his arrival in the NHL, Hull was considered a "one-dimensional player". He was a natural goal scorer with a reputation for being uninterested in backchecking and playing defense. He was nicknamed "The Incredible Hull" (a reference to Bruce Banner) in college for his scoring exploits and was called "The Golden Brett" in the NHL, a play on his father's nickname of "The Golden Jet". Brett was often compared to Bobby in his early years, though the two shared few similarities on the ice. Both were known for their shooting ability, particularly the power of their slapshot, which Terry Crisp – who played against Bobby and coached Brett – described as "explosive", but while Bobby was a left wing known for both his conditioning and skating ability, Brett played right wing, was a poorer skater and lacked his father's physique.
His reputation for defensive indifference persisted through much of his career. In his 72-goal season of 1989–90, Hull's plus-minus (net difference of even strength and shorthanded goals scored for and against while he was on the ice) was −1. He was a −27 four years later despite scoring 54 goals. Hull also carried a reputation as a player who could not win as his Blues' teams rarely achieved success in the playoffs. He shed that reputation after leading his teams to championships at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals. To win that 1999 championship, Hull also had to fit in with the Dallas Stars' defense-oriented system. He finished that season with a career-best plus-minus of +19.
Known as an outspoken player, Hull earned a reputation on and off the ice for speaking bluntly and without regard for whom it might offend. He chastised his own fans in 1992 – later backtracking – when they booed Adam Oates following Oates' trade request, calling them "losers" and stating he wanted to rip one particular fan's head off. Hull was a consistent critic of the NHL's defensive, "clutch and grab" era of the late 1990s, raising the ire of commissioner Gary Bettman in 1998 when he said "I wouldn't pay to watch. It's boring. The whole style of the game is terrible. There's no flow. When a guy like [Mario] Lemieux leaves the game and tells you why he's leaving, and you don't address it, that's stupid. But the players don't say crap. That's why I always look like the big mouth."
Hull played in eight NHL All-Star Games, and was named the most valuable player of the 1992 game in Philadelphia. As of 2021, his 741 career goals is the fifth highest total in NHL history, and Hull was the third-fastest (behind Wayne Gretzky and Alex Ovechkin) to reach 700 goals, doing so in 1,157 games. He is also second all-time in power play goals with 265 and third in game-winning goals with 110. With 24 career game-winning playoff goals, he is tied with Gretzky for the most all-time. He scored 33 hat tricks in his career, the fourth highest in NHL history. Hull holds numerous St. Louis Blues franchise records, including goals (527), power play goals (195), game-winning goals (70) and hat tricks (27). He also holds the organization's single-season records of goals (86) and points (131). In honor of his achievements with the team, the Blues retired his jersey number 16 in 2006. The team also arranged to have a portion of the street that runs alongside the Scottrade Center renamed "Brett Hull Way". In 2010, the team unveiled a statue of him in front of the arena. Hull was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008, and into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.
Management career
Hull worked two jobs in 2006–07. He served as a special assistant to the team president of the Dallas Stars and provided studio analysis for NHL on NBC telecasts. He left NBC after one season when he was named a special adviser to the team's hockey operations department. Hull was promoted to interim co-general manager of the Stars, sharing the role with Les Jackson after Doug Armstrong was fired on November 13, 2007. ESPN analyst Scott Burnside criticized the promotion of Hull, noting his lack of front office experience and questionable work ethic.
The pair made one of the most prominent trades in the 2007–08 NHL season, acquiring Brad Richards from the Tampa Bay Lightning as part of a five-player trade. The team went on to reach the Western Conference Final of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Stars' deepest playoff run in eight years. Team owner Tom Hicks rewarded the pair with three-year contracts and named them permanent co-general managers. He credited Hull for his positive relationship with the players and his "unconventional wisdom".
The signing of controversial forward Sean Avery prior to the 2008–09 season proved a turning point for Hull and Jackson. Avery's erratic behavior created divisions within the team's locker room, particularly after he made derogatory comments towards another player's girlfriend in the media. The Stars missed the playoffs that season, leading the team to replace Hull and Jackson as general manager with Joe Nieuwendyk. Hull remained with the organization, serving as an adviser to Hicks and team president Jeff Cogen. Hull has since been hired by the St. Louis Blues as their executive vice president for business development.
On May 21, 2019, after the Blues advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 49 years, Hull wasn't able to control his emotions and cried, saying "I'm in there. I'm not a crier, but I'm crying....I saw Bobby Plager and I'm like 'Holy cow,'... 49 years in the making for this... These guys have played unbelievable."
On Saturday, June 15, 2019, after the St. Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup, Brett Hull took the stage and led the crowd in a drunken ramble that echoed throughout the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial following the victory parade down Market Street. He coined the iconic phrase, "We went Blues," explaining, "We don't have to go anymore, 'cause we already did it."
Personal life
Hull currently lives in Nashville with his second wife, Darcie. He has three children by his first wife, Alison: son Jude and daughters Jayde and Crosby. Jude also played hockey, as a goaltender. He attended St. Olaf College until 2018, he never played professionally. Jayde attends Colgate University.
In business, Hull was twice involved in the operation of restaurants. He owned two eateries in St. Louis while he was a member of the Blues, and partnered with Mike Modano and others on a Dallas restaurant called "Hully and Mo Restaurant and Tap Room" following his playing career. He lent his name to a 1995 Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game called Brett Hull Hockey. Hull was a co-owner of the St. Louis Bandits, a junior team in the North American Hockey League. In November 2020, Hull returned to restaurant operation in the St. Louis area with the opening of Brett Hull's Junction in Wentzville, Missouri.
Hull is an avid golfer, often stating during his career that he preferred the sport to hockey. He is a frequent participant in the American Century Celebrity Golf Classic and his best finish at the tournament is a tie for fifth in 2008. He competes in several charity and celebrity tournaments, and in 2009 was ranked as the sixth best athlete golfer in North America by Golf Digest.
In other media
Hull was a guest on the Weekend Update segment of the December 11, 2004, episode of Saturday Night Live.
Hull made a special guest appearance as the USA hockey team captain in the What's New, Scooby-Doo? episode, "Diamonds Are a Ghoul's Best Friend".
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Bold indicates led league
International
Awards and achievements
See also
List of NHL statistical leaders
Notable families in the NHL
References
External links
Brett Hull's profile at hockeydraftcentral.com
1964 births
American men's ice hockey right wingers
American male voice actors
Calgary Flames draft picks
Calgary Flames players
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian male voice actors
Dallas Stars executives
Dallas Stars players
Detroit Red Wings players
Hart Memorial Trophy winners
Hockey Hall of Fame inductees
Ice hockey people from Ontario
Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winners
Lester B. Pearson Award winners
Living people
Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey players
Moncton Golden Flames players
National Hockey League All-Stars
National Hockey League broadcasters
National Hockey League players with retired numbers
Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey
Penticton Knights players
Phoenix Coyotes players
Sportspeople from Belleville, Ontario
St. Louis Blues executives
St. Louis Blues players
Stanley Cup champions | true | [
"\"Don't Don't Tell Me No\" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins, which was released in 1994 as the second single from her second studio album Whaler. The song was written by Hawkins and produced by Stephen Lipson. \"Don't Don't Tell Me No\" peaked at No. 36 on the UK Singles Chart and remained in the Top 100 for five weeks.\n\nCritical reception\nOn its release, Music & Media noted: \"Like the wind blows the leaves off the trees, Hawkins constantly pulls pop songs out of her bag.\" In a review of Whaler, Jim Farber of The Daily News wrote: \"Tracks like 'Right Beside You' and 'Don't Don't Tell Me No' chirp happily along with coquettish flair and great hook appeal.\" Dave Younk of St. Cloud Times described the song as \"excellent\" with \"the most incredible a cappella ending that seems to pleasantly go on forever\".\n\nTrack listing\nCD single\n\"Don't Don't Tell Me No\" (Album Version) - 4:52\n\"Right Beside You\" (The Grid 7\" Mix) - 3:38\n\"Right Beside You\" (The Grid Dub Mix) - 8:40\n\"Big Beautiful Bottom in My Face\" - 2:55\n\nCD and cassette single\n\"Don't Don't Tell Me No\" (Album Version) - 4:52\n\"Swing from Limb to Limb (My Home Is Your Jungle)\" (Album Version) - 4:15\n\nCD single (UK CD #2)\n\"Don't Don't Tell Me No\" (Album Version) - 4:52\n\"I Need Nothing Else\" (Album Version) - 4:15\n\"Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover\" (Album Version) - 5:24\n\"Right Beside You\" (The Grid 12\" Mix) - 8:35\n\nCD single (European promo)\n\"Don't Don't Tell Me No\" - 4:52\n\n12\" single (UK release)\n\"Don't Don't Tell Me No\" (Album Version) - 4:52\n\"Swing from Limb to Limb (My Home Is Your Jungle)\" - 4:15\n\"Right Beside You\" (The Grid 12\" Mix) - 8:35\n\"Right Beside You\" (The Grid 7\" Mix) - 3:38\n\nPersonnel\nDon't Don't Tell Me No\n Sophie B. Hawkins - vocals, keyboards, programming\n Stephen Lipson - bass, programming\n Peter Vettese - keyboards\n Neil Conti - drum set\n\nProduction\n Stephen Lipson - producer on \"Don't Don't Tell Me No\", \"Right Beside You\", \"Swing from Limb to Limb\" and \"I Need Nothing Else\"\n Heff Moraes - engineer on \"Don't Don't Tell Me No\", \"Right Beside You\", \"Swing from Limb to Limb\" and \"I Need Nothing Else\"\n Sophie B. Hawkins - producer, recording and mixing on \"Big Beautiful Bottom in My Face\"\n Rick Chertoff, Ralph Schuckett - producers of \"Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover\"\n Steve Churchyard, David Leonard - mixing on \"Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover\"\n The Grid - remixes of \"Right Beside You\"\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n1994 songs\n1994 singles\nSophie B. Hawkins songs\nColumbia Records singles\nSongs written by Sophie B. Hawkins\nSong recordings produced by Stephen Lipson",
"\"Tell Me What You Want\" is the fourth single by English R&B band Loose Ends from their first studio album, A Little Spice, and was released in February 1984 by Virgin Records. The single reached number 74 in the UK Singles Chart.\n\nTrack listing\n7” Single: VS658\n \"Tell Me What You Want) 3.35\n \"Tell Me What You Want (Dub Mix)\" 3.34\n\n12” Single: VS658-12\n \"Tell Me What You Want (Extended Version)\" 6.11\n \"Tell Me What You Want (Extended Dub Mix)\" 5.41\n\nU.S. only release - 12” Single: MCA23596 (released 1985)\n \"Tell Me What You Want (U.S. Extended Remix)\" 6.08 *\n \"Tell Me What You Want (U.S. Dub Version)\" 5.18\n\n* The U.S. Extended Remix version was released on CD on the U.S. Version of the 'A Little Spice' album (MCAD27141).\n\nThe Extended Version also featured on Side D of the limited gatefold sleeve version of 'Magic Touch'\n\nChart performance\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Tell Me What You Want at Discogs.\n\n1984 singles\nLoose Ends (band) songs\nSong recordings produced by Nick Martinelli\nSongs written by Carl McIntosh (musician)\nSongs written by Steve Nichol\n1984 songs\nVirgin Records singles"
]
|
[
"Theodore Roosevelt",
"Early life and family"
]
| C_39da91c6b83e45c9a3447a0282510521_1 | Where did he grow up? | 1 | Where did Theodore Roosevelt grow up? | Theodore Roosevelt | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at East 20th Street in New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister, Anna (nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother, Elliott, and a younger sister, Corinne. Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh, and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C.V.S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family. Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for display. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects". Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body. CANNOTANSWER | at East 20th Street in New York City. | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or his initials T. R., was an American politician, statesman, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He previously served as the 25th vice president under William McKinley from March to September 1901, and as the 33rd governor of New York from 1899 to 1900. Having assumed the presidency after McKinley's assassination, Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive policies.
Roosevelt was a sickly child with debilitating asthma but partly overcame his health problems by embracing a strenuous lifestyle. He integrated his exuberant personality, a vast range of interests and achievements into a "cowboy" persona defined by robust masculinity. He was home-schooled and began a lifelong naturalist avocation before attending Harvard. His book The Naval War of 1812 (1882) established his reputation as a learned historian and popular writer. Upon entering politics, he became the leader of the reform faction of Republicans in New York's state legislature. His wife and mother both died in the same night and he was psychologically devastated. He recuperated by buying and operating a cattle ranch in the Dakotas. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President William McKinley and in 1898 helped plan the highly successful naval war against Spain. He resigned to help form and lead the Rough Riders, a unit that fought the Spanish army in Cuba to great publicity. Returning a war hero, he was elected governor of New York in 1898. The New York state party leadership disliked his ambitious agenda and convinced McKinley to make Roosevelt his running mate in the 1900 election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously, and the McKinley–Roosevelt ticket won a landslide victory based on a platform of victory, peace and prosperity.
Roosevelt assumed the presidency at age 42 after McKinley was assassinated in September 1901. He remains the youngest person to become president of the United States. Roosevelt was a leader of the progressive movement and championed his "Square Deal" domestic policies, promising the average citizen fairness, breaking of trusts, regulation of railroads, and pure food and drugs. He prioritized conservation and established national parks, forests, and monuments intended to preserve the nation's natural resources. In foreign policy, he focused on Central America where he began construction of the Panama Canal. He expanded the Navy and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project American naval power. His successful efforts to broker the end of the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize. Roosevelt was elected to a full term in 1904 and continued to promote progressive policies. He groomed his close friend William Howard Taft to succeed him in the 1908 presidential election.
Roosevelt grew frustrated with Taft's brand of conservatism and belatedly tried to win the 1912 Republican nomination for president. He failed, walked out, and founded the Progressive Party. He ran in the 1912 presidential election and the split allowed the Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson to win the election. Following the defeat, Roosevelt led a two-year expedition to the Amazon basin where he nearly died of tropical disease. During World War I, he criticized Wilson for keeping the country out of the war; his offer to lead volunteers to France was rejected. He considered running for president again in 1920, but his health continued to deteriorate. He died in 1919. He is generally ranked in polls of historians and political scientists as one of the five best presidents.
Early life and family
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan, New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister (Anna, nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother (Elliott) and a younger sister (Corinne). Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C. V. S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill as well as a brother of Robert Roosevelt and James A. Roosevelt. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family.
Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for exhibition. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects".
Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body.
A 6-year-old Roosevelt witnessed the funeral procession of Abraham Lincoln from his grandfather's mansion in Union Square, New York City where he was photographed in the window along with his brother Elliott, as confirmed by wife Edith who was also present.
Education
Roosevelt was homeschooled, mostly by tutors and his parents. Biographer H. W. Brands argued that "The most obvious drawback to his home schooling was uneven coverage of the various areas of human knowledge." He was solid in geography and bright in history, biology, French, and German; however, he struggled in mathematics and the classical languages. When he entered Harvard College on September 27, 1876, his father advised: "Take care of your morals first, your health next, and finally your studies." His father's sudden death on February 9, 1878, devastated Roosevelt, but he eventually recovered and doubled his activities.
He did well in science, philosophy, and rhetoric courses but continued to struggle in Latin and Greek. He studied biology intently and was already an accomplished naturalist and a published ornithologist. He read prodigiously with an almost photographic memory. While at Harvard, Roosevelt participated in rowing and boxing; he was once runner-up in an intramural boxing tournament. Roosevelt was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi literary society (later the Fly Club), the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and the prestigious Porcellian Club; he was also an editor of The Harvard Advocate. In 1880, Roosevelt graduated Phi Beta Kappa (22nd of 177) from Harvard with an A.B. magna cum laude. Biographer Henry Pringle states:
After his father's death, Roosevelt had inherited $65,000 (), enough to live off comfortably for the rest of his life. Roosevelt gave up his earlier plan of studying natural science and instead decided to attend Columbia Law School, moving back into his family's home in New York City. Roosevelt was an able law student, but he often found law to be irrational. He spent much of his time writing a book on the War of 1812.
Determined to enter politics, Roosevelt began attending meetings at Morton Hall, the 59th Street headquarters of New York's 21st District Republican Association. Though Roosevelt's father had been a prominent member of the Republican Party, the younger Roosevelt made an unorthodox career choice for someone of his class, as most of Roosevelt's peers refrained from becoming too closely involved in politics. Roosevelt found allies in the local Republican Party, and he defeated an incumbent Republican state assemblyman closely tied to the political machine of Senator Roscoe Conkling. After his election victory, Roosevelt decided to drop out of law school, later saying, "I intended to be one of the governing class."
Naval history and strategy
While at Harvard, Roosevelt began a systematic study of the role played by the young United States Navy in the War of 1812. Assisted by two uncles, he scrutinized original source materials and official U.S. Navy records, ultimately publishing The Naval War of 1812 in 1882. The book contained drawings of individual and combined ship maneuvers, charts depicting the differences in iron throw weights of cannon shot between rival forces, and analyses of the differences and similarities between British and American leadership down to the ship-to-ship level. Upon release, The Naval War of 1812 was praised for its scholarship and style, and it remains a standard study of the war.
With the publication of The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 in 1890, Navy Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan was immediately hailed as the world's outstanding naval theorist by the leaders of Europe. Roosevelt paid very close attention to Mahan's emphasis that only a nation with the world's most powerful fleet could dominate the world's oceans, exert its diplomacy to the fullest, and defend its own borders. He incorporated Mahan's ideas into his views on naval strategy for the remainder of his career.
First marriage and widowerhood
In 1880, Roosevelt married socialite Alice Hathaway Lee. Their daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt, was born on February 12, 1884. Two days later, the new mother died of an undiagnosed case of kidney failure that had been masked by the pregnancy. In his diary, Roosevelt wrote a large 'X' on the page and then, "The light has gone out of my life." His mother, Mittie, had died of typhoid fever eleven hours earlier at 3:00 a.m., in the same house on 57th Street in Manhattan. Distraught, Roosevelt left baby Alice in the care of his sister Bamie while he grieved; he assumed custody of Alice when she was three.
After the deaths of his wife and mother, Roosevelt focused on his work, specifically by re-energizing a legislative investigation into corruption of the New York City government, which arose from a concurrent bill proposing that power be centralized in the mayor's office. For the rest of his life, he rarely spoke about his wife Alice and did not write about her in his autobiography.
Early political career
State Assemblyman
Roosevelt was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 21st D.) in 1882, 1883 and 1884. He immediately began making his mark, specifically in corporate corruption issues. He blocked a corrupt effort by financier Jay Gould to lower his taxes. Roosevelt exposed suspected collusion in the matter by Judge Theodore Westbrook, and argued for and received approval for an investigation to proceed, aiming for the impeachment of the judge. The investigation committee rejected impeachment, but Roosevelt had exposed the potential corruption in Albany, and thus assumed a high and positive political profile in multiple New York publications.
Roosevelt's anti-corruption efforts helped him win re-election in 1882 by a margin greater than two-to-one, an achievement made even more impressive by the fact that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Grover Cleveland won Roosevelt's district. With Conkling's Stalwart faction of the Republican Party in disarray following the assassination of President James Garfield, Roosevelt won election as the Republican party leader in the state assembly. He allied with Governor Cleveland to win passage of a civil service reform bill. Roosevelt won re-election a second time, and sought the office of Speaker of the New York State Assembly, but was defeated by Titus Sheard in a 41 to 29 vote of the GOP caucus. In his final term, Roosevelt served as Chairman of the Committee on Affairs of Cities; he wrote more bills than any other legislator.
Presidential election of 1884
With numerous presidential hopefuls to choose from, Roosevelt supported Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont, a colorless reformer. The state GOP preferred the incumbent president, New York City's Chester Arthur, who was known for passing the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. Arthur, at the time, was suffering from Bright's disease, unknown to the public, and out of duty he did not contest his own nomination. Roosevelt fought hard and succeeded in influencing the Manhattan delegates at the state convention in Utica. He then took control of the state convention, bargaining through the night and outmaneuvering the supporters of Arthur and James G. Blaine; he gained a national reputation as a key person in New York State.
Roosevelt attended the 1884 GOP National Convention in Chicago and gave a speech convincing delegates to nominate African American John R. Lynch, an Edmunds supporter, to be temporary chair. Roosevelt fought alongside the Mugwump reformers; however, Blaine, having gained support from Arthur's and Edmunds's delegates, won the nomination by 541 votes on the fourth ballot. In a crucial moment of his budding political career, Roosevelt resisted the demand of the Mugwumps that he bolt from Blaine. He bragged about his one small success: "We achieved a victory in getting up a combination to beat the Blaine nominee for temporary chairman... To do this needed a mixture of skill, boldness and energy... to get the different factions to come in... to defeat the common foe." He was also impressed by an invitation to speak before an audience of ten thousand, the largest crowd he had addressed up to that date. Having gotten a taste of national politics, Roosevelt felt less aspiration for advocacy on the state level; he then retired to his new "Chimney Butte Ranch" on the Little Missouri River. Roosevelt refused to join other Mugwumps in supporting Grover Cleveland, the governor of New York and the Democratic nominee in the general election. He debated the pros and cons of staying loyal with his political friend, Henry Cabot Lodge. After Blaine won the nomination, Roosevelt had carelessly said that he would give "hearty support to any decent Democrat". He distanced himself from the promise, saying that it had not been meant "for publication". When a reporter asked if he would support Blaine, Roosevelt replied, "That question I decline to answer. It is a subject I do not care to talk about." In the end, he realized that he had to support Blaine to maintain his role in the GOP, and he did so in a press release on July 19. Having lost the support of many reformers, Roosevelt decided to retire from politics and move to North Dakota.
Cattle rancher in Dakota
Roosevelt first visited the Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt bison. Exhilarated by the western lifestyle, and with the cattle business booming in the territory, Roosevelt invested $14,000 in hopes of becoming a prosperous cattle rancher. For the next several years, he shuttled between his home in New York and his ranch in Dakota.
Following the 1884 presidential election, Roosevelt built a ranch named Elkhorn, which was north of the boomtown of Medora, North Dakota. Roosevelt learned to ride western style, rope, and hunt on the banks of the Little Missouri. Though he earned the respect of the authentic cowboys, they were not overly impressed. However, he identified with the herdsman of history, a man he said possesses "few of the emasculated, milk-and-water moralities admired by the pseudo-philanthropists; but he does possess, to a very high degree, the stern, manly qualities that are invaluable to a nation". He reoriented, and began writing about frontier life for national magazines; he also published three books – Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, and The Wilderness Hunter.
Roosevelt brought his desire to address the common interests of citizens to the West. He successfully led efforts to organize ranchers to address problems of overgrazing and other shared concerns; his work resulted in the formation of the Little Missouri Stockmen's Association. He felt compelled to promote conservation and was able to form the Boone and Crockett Club, whose primary goal was the conservation of large game animals and their habitats. After the uniquely severe US winter of 1886–87 wiped out his herd of cattle and those of his competitors, and with it over half of his $80,000 investment, Roosevelt returned to the East. Though his finances suffered from the experience, Roosevelt's time in the West made it impossible to peg him as an ineffectual intellectual, a characterization that could have hampered his political career.
Second marriage
On December 2, 1886, Roosevelt married his childhood and family friend, Edith Kermit Carow. Roosevelt was deeply troubled that his second marriage had taken place so soon after the death of his first wife, and he faced resistance from his sisters. Nonetheless, the couple married at St George's, Hanover Square in London, England. The couple had five children: Theodore "Ted" III in 1887, Kermit in 1889, Ethel in 1891, Archibald in 1894, and Quentin in 1897. The couple also raised Roosevelt's daughter from his first marriage, Alice, who often clashed with her stepmother.
Reentering public life
Upon Roosevelt's return to New York in 1886, Republican leaders quickly approached him about running for mayor of New York City in the city's mayoral election. Roosevelt accepted the nomination despite having little hope of winning the race against United Labor Party candidate Henry George and Democratic candidate Abram Hewitt. Roosevelt campaigned hard for the position, but Hewitt won with 41% (90,552 votes), taking the votes of many Republicans who feared George's radical policies. George was held to 31% (68,110 votes), and Roosevelt took third place with 27% (60,435 votes). Fearing that his political career might never recover, Roosevelt turned his attention to writing The Winning of the West, a historical work tracking the westward movement of Americans; the book was a great success for Roosevelt, earning favorable reviews and selling numerous copies.
Civil Service Commission
After Benjamin Harrison unexpectedly defeated Blaine for the presidential nomination at the 1888 Republican National Convention, Roosevelt gave stump speeches in the Midwest in support of Harrison. On the insistence of Henry Cabot Lodge, President Harrison appointed Roosevelt to the United States Civil Service Commission, where he served until 1895. While many of his predecessors had approached the office as a sinecure, Roosevelt vigorously fought the spoilsmen and demanded enforcement of civil service laws. The New York Sun then described Roosevelt as "irrepressible, belligerent, and enthusiastic". Roosevelt frequently clashed with Postmaster General John Wanamaker, who handed out numerous patronage positions to Harrison supporters, and Roosevelt's attempt to force out several postal workers damaged Harrison politically. Despite Roosevelt's support for Harrison's reelection bid in the presidential election of 1892, the eventual winner, Grover Cleveland, reappointed him to the same post. Roosevelt's close friend and biographer, Joseph Bucklin Bishop, described his assault on the spoils system:
New York City Police Commissioner
In 1894, a group of reform Republicans approached Roosevelt about running for Mayor of New York again; he declined, mostly due to his wife's resistance to being removed from the Washington social set. Soon after he declined, he realized that he had missed an opportunity to reinvigorate a dormant political career. He retreated to the Dakotas for a time; his wife Edith regretted her role in the decision and vowed that there would be no repeat of it.
William Lafayette Strong, a reform-minded Republican, won the 1894 mayoral election and offered Roosevelt a position on the board of the New York City Police Commissioners. Roosevelt became president of the board of commissioners and radically reformed the police force. Roosevelt implemented regular inspections of firearms and annual physical exams, appointed recruits based on their physical and mental qualifications rather than political affiliation, established Meritorious Service Medals, and closed corrupt police hostelries. During his tenure, a Municipal Lodging House was established by the Board of Charities, and Roosevelt required officers to register with the Board; he also had telephones installed in station houses.
In 1894, Roosevelt met Jacob Riis, the muckraking Evening Sun newspaper journalist who was opening the eyes of New Yorkers to the terrible conditions of the city's millions of poor immigrants with such books as How the Other Half Lives. Riis described how his book affected Roosevelt:
Roosevelt made a habit of walking officers' beats late at night and early in the morning to make sure that they were on duty. He made a concerted effort to uniformly enforce New York's Sunday closing law; in this, he ran up against boss Tom Platt as well as Tammany Hall—he was notified that the Police Commission was being legislated out of existence. His crackdowns led to protests and demonstrations. Invited to one large demonstration, not only did he surprisingly accept, he delighted in the insults, caricatures and lampoons directed at him, and earned some surprising good will. Roosevelt chose to defer rather than split with his party. As Governor of New York State, he would later sign an act replacing the Police Commission with a single Police Commissioner.
Emergence as a national figure
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
In the 1896 presidential election, Roosevelt backed Speaker of the House Thomas Brackett Reed for the Republican nomination, but William McKinley won the nomination and defeated William Jennings Bryan in the general election. Roosevelt opposed Bryan's free silver platform, viewing many of Bryan's followers as dangerous fanatics, and Roosevelt gave campaign speeches for McKinley. Urged by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, President McKinley appointed Roosevelt as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897. Secretary of the Navy John D. Long was more concerned about formalities than functions, was in poor health, and left many major decisions to Roosevelt. Influenced by Alfred Thayer Mahan, Roosevelt called for a build-up in the country's naval strength, particularly the construction of battleships. Roosevelt also began pressing his national security views regarding the Pacific and the Caribbean on McKinley, and was particularly adamant that Spain be ejected from Cuba. He explained his priorities to one of the Navy's planners in late 1897:
On February 15, 1898, , an armored cruiser, exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, killing hundreds of crew members. While Roosevelt and many other Americans blamed Spain for the explosion, McKinley sought a diplomatic solution. Without approval from Long or McKinley, Roosevelt sent out orders to several naval vessels, directing them to prepare for war. George Dewey, who had received an appointment to lead the Asiatic Squadron with the backing of Roosevelt, later credited his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay to Roosevelt's orders. After finally giving up hope of a peaceful solution, McKinley asked Congress to declare war upon Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War.
War in Cuba
With the beginning of the Spanish–American War in late April 1898, Roosevelt resigned from his post as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Along with Army Colonel Leonard Wood, he formed the First US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. His wife and many of his friends begged Roosevelt to remain in his post in Washington, but Roosevelt was determined to see battle. When the newspapers reported the formation of the new regiment, Roosevelt and Wood were flooded with applications from all over the country. Referred to by the press as the "Rough Riders", the regiment was one of many temporary units active only for the duration of the war.
The regiment trained for several weeks in San Antonio, Texas, and in his autobiography, Roosevelt wrote that his prior experience with the New York National Guard had been invaluable, in that it enabled him to immediately begin teaching his men basic soldiering skills. The Rough Riders used some standard issue gear and some of their own design, purchased with gift money. Diversity characterized the regiment, which included Ivy Leaguers, professional and amateur athletes, upscale gentlemen, cowboys, frontiersmen, Native Americans, hunters, miners, prospectors, former soldiers, tradesmen, and sheriffs. The Rough Riders were part of the cavalry division commanded by former Confederate general Joseph Wheeler, which itself was one of three divisions in the V Corps under Lieutenant General William Rufus Shafter. Roosevelt and his men landed in Daiquirí, Cuba, on June 23, 1898, and marched to Siboney. Wheeler sent parts of the 1st and 10th Regular Cavalry on the lower road northwest and sent the "Rough Riders" on the parallel road running along a ridge up from the beach. To throw off his infantry rival, Wheeler left one regiment of his Cavalry Division, the 9th, at Siboney so that he could claim that his move north was only a limited reconnaissance if things went wrong. Roosevelt was promoted to colonel and took command of the regiment when Wood was put in command of the brigade. The Rough Riders had a short, minor skirmish known as the Battle of Las Guasimas; they fought their way through Spanish resistance and, together with the Regulars, forced the Spaniards to abandon their positions.
Under his leadership, the Rough Riders became famous for the charge up Kettle Hill on July 1, 1898, while supporting the regulars. Roosevelt had the only horse, and rode back and forth between rifle pits at the forefront of the advance up Kettle Hill, an advance that he urged despite the absence of any orders from superiors. He was forced to walk up the last part of Kettle Hill because his horse had been entangled in barbed wire. The victories came at a cost of 200 killed and 1,000 wounded.
In August, Roosevelt and other officers demanded that the soldiers be returned home. Roosevelt always recalled the Battle of Kettle Hill (part of the San Juan Heights) as "the great day of my life" and "my crowded hour". In 2001, Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions; he had been nominated during the war, but Army officials, annoyed at his grabbing the headlines, blocked it. After returning to civilian life, Roosevelt preferred to be known as "Colonel Roosevelt" or "The Colonel", though "Teddy" remained much more popular with the public, even though Roosevelt openly despised that moniker. Men working closely with Roosevelt customarily called him "Colonel" or "Theodore". Henceforth, political cartoons of Roosevelt usually depicted him in his Rough Rider garb.
Governor of New York
After leaving Cuba in August 1898, the Rough Riders were transported to a camp at Montauk Point, Long Island, where Roosevelt and his men were briefly quarantined due to the War Department's fear of spreading yellow fever. Shortly after Roosevelt's return to the United States, Republican Congressman Lemuel E. Quigg, a lieutenant of party boss Tom Platt, asked Roosevelt to run in the 1898 gubernatorial election. Platt disliked Roosevelt personally, feared that Roosevelt would oppose Platt's interests in office, and was reluctant to propel Roosevelt to the forefront of national politics. However, Platt also needed a strong candidate due to the unpopularity of the incumbent Republican governor, Frank S. Black, and Roosevelt agreed to become the nominee and to try not to "make war" with the Republican establishment once in office. Roosevelt defeated Black in the Republican caucus by a vote of 753 to 218, and faced Democrat Augustus Van Wyck, a well-respected judge, in the general election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously on his war record, winning the election by a margin of just one percent.
As governor, Roosevelt learned much about ongoing economic issues and political techniques that later proved valuable in his presidency. He was exposed to the problems of trusts, monopolies, labor relations, and conservation. Chessman argues that Roosevelt's program "rested firmly upon the concept of the square deal by a neutral state". The rules for the Square Deal were "honesty in public affairs, an equitable sharing of privilege and responsibility, and subordination of party and local concerns to the interests of the state at large".
By holding twice-daily press conferences—which was an innovation—Roosevelt remained connected with his middle-class political base. Roosevelt successfully pushed the Ford Franchise-Tax bill, which taxed public franchises granted by the state and controlled by corporations, declaring that "a corporation which derives its powers from the State, should pay to the State a just percentage of its earnings as a return for the privileges it enjoys". He rejected "boss" Thomas C. Platt's worries that this approached Bryanite Socialism, explaining that without it, New York voters might get angry and adopt public ownership of streetcar lines and other franchises.
The New York state government affected many interests, and the power to make appointments to policy-making positions was a key role for the governor. Platt insisted that he be consulted on major appointments; Roosevelt appeared to comply, but then made his own decisions. Historians marvel that Roosevelt managed to appoint so many first-rate men with Platt's approval. He even enlisted Platt's help in securing reform, such as in the spring of 1899, when Platt pressured state senators to vote for a civil service bill that the secretary of the Civil Service Reform Association called "superior to any civil service statute heretofore secured in America".
Chessman argues that as governor, Roosevelt developed the principles that shaped his presidency, especially insistence upon the public responsibility of large corporations, publicity as a first remedy for trusts, regulation of railroad rates, mediation of the conflict of capital and labor, conservation of natural resources and protection of the less fortunate members of society. Roosevelt sought to position himself against the excesses of large corporations on the one hand and radical movements on the other.
As the chief executive of the most populous state in the union, Roosevelt was widely considered a potential future presidential candidate, and supporters such as William Allen White encouraged him to run for president. Roosevelt had no interest in challenging McKinley for the Republican nomination in 1900, and was denied his preferred post of Secretary of War. As his term progressed, Roosevelt pondered a 1904 presidential run, but was uncertain about whether he should seek re-election as governor in 1900.
Vice Presidency (1901)
In November 1899, Vice President Garret Hobart died of heart failure, leaving an open spot on the 1900 Republican national ticket. Though Henry Cabot Lodge and others urged him to run for vice president in 1900, Roosevelt was reluctant to take the powerless position and issued a public statement saying that he would not accept the nomination. Additionally, Roosevelt was informed by President McKinley and campaign manager Mark Hanna that he was not being considered for the role of vice president due to his actions prior to the Spanish–American War. Eager to be rid of Roosevelt, Platt nonetheless began a newspaper campaign in favor of Roosevelt's nomination for the vice presidency. Roosevelt attended the 1900 Republican National Convention as a state delegate and struck a bargain with Platt: Roosevelt would accept the nomination for vice president if the convention offered it to him, but would otherwise serve another term as governor. Platt asked Pennsylvania party boss Matthew Quay to lead the campaign for Roosevelt's nomination, and Quay outmaneuvered Hanna at the convention to put Roosevelt on the ticket. Roosevelt won the nomination unanimously.
Roosevelt's vice-presidential campaigning proved highly energetic and an equal match for Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan's famous barnstorming style of campaigning. In a whirlwind campaign that displayed his energy to the public, Roosevelt made 480 stops in 23 states. He denounced the radicalism of Bryan, contrasting it with the heroism of the soldiers and sailors who fought and won the war against Spain. Bryan had strongly supported the war itself, but he denounced the annexation of the Philippines as imperialism, which would spoil America's innocence. Roosevelt countered that it was best for the Filipinos to have stability and the Americans to have a proud place in the world. With the nation basking in peace and prosperity, the voters gave McKinley an even larger victory than that which he had achieved in 1896.
After the campaign, Roosevelt took office as vice president in March 1901. The office of vice president was a powerless sinecure and did not suit Roosevelt's aggressive temperament. Roosevelt's six months as vice president were uneventful and boring for a man of action. He had no power; he presided over the Senate for a mere four days before it adjourned. On September 2, 1901, Roosevelt first publicized an aphorism that thrilled his supporters: "Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far."
Presidency (1901–1909)
On September 6, 1901, President McKinley was attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York when he was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Roosevelt was vacationing in Isle La Motte, Vermont, and traveled to Buffalo to visit McKinley in the hospital. It appeared that McKinley would recover, so Roosevelt resumed his vacation in the Adirondack Mountains. When McKinley's condition worsened, Roosevelt again rushed back to Buffalo. McKinley died on September 14, and Roosevelt was informed while he was in North Creek; he continued on to Buffalo and was sworn in as the nation's 26th president at the Ansley Wilcox House.
McKinley's supporters were nervous about the new president, and Hanna was particularly bitter that the man he had opposed so vigorously at the convention had succeeded McKinley. Roosevelt assured party leaders that he intended to adhere to McKinley's policies, and he retained McKinley's Cabinet. Nonetheless, Roosevelt sought to position himself as the party's undisputed leader, seeking to bolster the role of the president and position himself for the 1904 election. The vice presidency remained vacant, as there was no constitutional provision for filling an intra-term vacancy in that office (prior to the 25th Amendment in 1967).
Shortly after taking office, Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House. This sparked a bitter, and at times vicious, reaction among whites across the heavily segregated South. Roosevelt reacted with astonishment and protest, saying that he looked forward to many future dinners with Washington. Upon further reflection, Roosevelt wanted to ensure that this had no effect on political support in the white South, and further dinner invitations to Washington were avoided; their next meeting was scheduled as typical business at 10:00 a.m. instead.
Domestic policies
Trust busting and regulation
For his aggressive use of the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act, compared to his predecessors, Roosevelt was hailed as the "trust-buster"; but in reality he was more of a trust regulator. Roosevelt viewed big business as a necessary part of the American economy, and sought only to prosecute the "bad trusts" that restrained trade and charged unfair prices. He brought 44 antitrust suits, breaking up the Northern Securities Company, the largest railroad monopoly; and regulating Standard Oil, the largest oil company. Presidents Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley combined had prosecuted only 18 antitrust violations under the Sherman Antitrust Act.
Bolstered by his party's winning large majorities in the 1902 elections, Roosevelt proposed the creation of the United States Department of Commerce and Labor, which would include the Bureau of Corporations. While Congress was receptive to the Department of Commerce and Labor, it was more skeptical of the antitrust powers that Roosevelt sought to endow within the Bureau of Corporations. Roosevelt successfully appealed to the public to pressure Congress, and Congress overwhelmingly voted to pass Roosevelt's version of the bill.
In a moment of frustration, House Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon commented on Roosevelt's desire for executive branch control in domestic policy-making: "That fellow at the other end of the avenue wants everything from the birth of Christ to the death of the devil." Biographer Brands states, "Even his friends occasionally wondered whether there wasn't any custom or practice too minor for him to try to regulate, update or otherwise improve." In fact, Roosevelt's willingness to exercise his power included attempted rule changes in the game of football; at the Naval Academy, he sought to force retention of martial arts classes and to revise disciplinary rules. He even ordered changes made in the minting of a coin whose design he disliked, and ordered the Government Printing Office to adopt simplified spellings for a core list of 300 words, according to reformers on the Simplified Spelling Board. He was forced to rescind the latter after substantial ridicule from the press and a resolution of protest from the House of Representatives.
Coal strike
In May 1902, anthracite coal miners went on strike, threatening a national energy shortage. After threatening the coal operators with intervention by federal troops, Roosevelt won their agreement to dispute arbitration by a commission, which succeeded in stopping the strike. The accord with J. P. Morgan resulted in the miners getting more pay for fewer hours, but with no union recognition. Roosevelt said, "My action on labor should always be considered in connection with my action as regards capital, and both are reducible to my favorite formula—a square deal for every man." Roosevelt was the first president to help settle a labor dispute.
Prosecuted misconduct
During Roosevelt's second year in office it was discovered there was corruption in the Indian Service, the Land Office, and the Post Office Department. Roosevelt investigated and prosecuted corrupt Indian agents who had cheated the Creeks and various tribes out of land parcels. Land fraud and speculation were found involving Oregon federal timberlands. In November 1902, Roosevelt and Secretary Ethan A. Hitchcock forced Binger Hermann, the General Land Office Commissioner, to resign from office. On November 6, 1903 Francis J. Heney was appointed special prosecutor and obtained 146 indictments involving an Oregon Land Office bribery ring. U.S. Senator John H. Mitchell was indicted for bribery to expedite illegal land patents, found guilty in July 1905, and sentenced to six months in prison. More corruption was found in the Postal Department, that brought on the indictments of 44 government employees on charges of bribery and fraud. Historians generally agree that Roosevelt moved "quickly and decisively" to prosecute misconduct in his administration.
Railroads
Merchants complained that some railroad rates were too high. In the 1906 Hepburn Act, Roosevelt sought to give the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to regulate rates, but the Senate, led by conservative Nelson Aldrich, fought back. Roosevelt worked with the Democratic Senator Benjamin Tillman to pass the bill. Roosevelt and Aldrich ultimately reached a compromise that gave the ICC the power to replace existing rates with "just-and-reasonable" maximum rates, but allowed railroads to appeal to the federal courts on what was "reasonable". In addition to rate-setting, the Hepburn Act also granted the ICC regulatory power over pipeline fees, storage contracts, and several other aspects of railroad operations.
Pure food and drugs
Roosevelt responded to public anger over the abuses in the food packing industry by pushing Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act. Though conservatives initially opposed the bill, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, published in 1906, helped galvanize support for reform. The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 banned misleading labels and preservatives that contained harmful chemicals. The Pure Food and Drug Act banned food and drugs that were impure or falsely labeled from being made, sold, and shipped. Roosevelt also served as honorary president of the American School Hygiene Association from 1907 to 1908, and in 1909 he convened the first White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children.
Conservation
Of all Roosevelt's achievements, he was proudest of his work in the conservation of natural resources and extending federal protection to land and wildlife. Roosevelt worked closely with Interior Secretary James Rudolph Garfield and Chief of the United States Forest Service Gifford Pinchot to enact a series of conservation programs that often met with resistance from Western members of Congress, such as Charles William Fulton. Nonetheless, Roosevelt established the United States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of five National Parks, and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 new U.S. National Monuments. He also established the first 51 bird reserves, four game preserves, and 150 National Forests. The area of the United States that he placed under public protection totals approximately .
Roosevelt extensively used executive orders on a number of occasions to protect forest and wildlife lands during his tenure as president. By the end of his second term in office, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish of reserved forestry land. Roosevelt was unapologetic about his extensive use of executive orders to protect the environment, despite the perception in Congress that he was encroaching on too many lands. Eventually, Senator Charles Fulton (R-OR) attached an amendment to an agricultural appropriations bill that effectively prevented the president from reserving any further land. Before signing that bill into law, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish an additional 21 forest reserves, waiting until the last minute to sign the bill into law. In total, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish 121 forest reserves in 31 states. Prior to Roosevelt, only one president had issued over 200 executive orders, Grover Cleveland (253). The first 25 presidents issued a total of 1,262 executive orders; Roosevelt issued 1,081.
Foreign policy
Japan
The American annexation of Hawaii in 1898 was stimulated in part by fear that otherwise Japan would dominate the Hawaiian Republic. Similarly, Germany was the alternative to American takeover of the Philippines in 1900, and Tokyo strongly preferred the U.S. to take over. As the U.S. became a naval world power, it needed to find a way to avoid a military confrontation in the Pacific with Japan.
In the 1890s, Roosevelt had been an ardent imperialist and vigorously defended the permanent acquisition of the Philippines in the 1900 campaign. After the local insurrection ended in 1902, he largely lost his imperialist interest in the Philippines and Asian expansion but wished to have a strong U.S. presence in the region as a symbol of democratic values. One of Theodore Roosevelt's priorities during his presidency and afterwards, was the maintenance of friendly relations with Japan. From 1904 to 1905 Japan and Russia were at war. Roosevelt admired the martial courage of the Japanese, and distrusted the reckless German Kaiser. Both sides asked Roosevelt to mediate a peace conference, held successfully in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
In California, anti-Japanese hostility was growing, and Tokyo protested. Roosevelt negotiated a "Gentleman's Agreement" in 1907. Explicit discrimination against the Japanese was ended, and Japan agreed not to allow unskilled immigrants into the United States. The Great White Fleet of American battleships visited Japan in 1908. Pulitzer prize-winning biographer Henry Pringle states that the great voyage was "the direct result of the Japanese trouble." Roosevelt intended to emphasize the superiority of the American fleet over the smaller Japanese navy, but instead of resentment the visitors arrived to a joyous welcome by Japanese elite as well as the general public. This good-will facilitated the Root–Takahira Agreement of November 1908 which reaffirmed the status quo of Japanese control of Korea and American control of the Philippines.
Europe
Success in the war against Spain and the new empire, plus having the largest economy in the world, meant that the United States had emerged as a world power. Roosevelt searched for ways to win recognition for the position abroad.
Roosevelt also played a major role in mediating the First Moroccan Crisis by calling the Algeciras Conference, which averted war between France and Germany.
Roosevelt's presidency saw the strengthening of ties with Great Britain. The Great Rapprochement had begun with British support of the United States during the Spanish–American War, and it continued as Britain withdrew its fleet from the Caribbean in favor of focusing on the rising German naval threat. In 1901, Britain and the United States signed the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, abrogating the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty, which had prevented the United States from constructing a canal connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. The long-standing Alaska boundary dispute was settled on terms favorable to the United States, as Great Britain was unwilling to alienate the United States over what it considered to be a secondary issue. As Roosevelt later put it, the resolution of the Alaskan boundary dispute "settled the last serious trouble between the British Empire and ourselves."
Latin America and Panama Canal
As president, he primarily focused the nation's overseas ambitions on the Caribbean, especially locations that had a bearing on the defense of his pet project, the Panama Canal. Roosevelt also increased the size of the navy, and by the end of his second term the United States had more battleships than any other country besides Britain. The Panama Canal when it opened in 1914 allowed the U.S. Navy to rapidly move back and forth from the Pacific to the Caribbean to European waters.
In December 1902, the Germans, British, and Italians blockaded the ports of Venezuela in order to force the repayment of delinquent loans. Roosevelt was particularly concerned with the motives of German Emperor Wilhelm II. He succeeded in getting the three nations to agree to arbitration by tribunal at The Hague, and successfully defused the crisis. The latitude granted to the Europeans by the arbiters was in part responsible for the "Roosevelt Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which the President issued in 1904: "Chronic wrongdoing or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere, the adherence of the United States to the Monroe doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power."
The pursuit of an isthmus canal in Central America during this period focused on two possible routes—Nicaragua and Panama, which was then a rebellious district within Colombia. Roosevelt convinced Congress to approve the Panamanian alternative, and a treaty was approved, only to be rejected by the Colombian government. When the Panamanians learned of this, a rebellion followed, was supported by Roosevelt, and succeeded. A treaty with the new Panama government for construction of the canal was then reached in 1903. Roosevelt received criticism for paying the bankrupt Panama Canal Company and the New Panama Canal Company $40,000,000 (equivalent to $ billion in ) for the rights and equipment to build the canal. Critics charged that an American investor syndicate allegedly divided the large payment among themselves. There was also controversy over whether a French company engineer influenced Roosevelt in choosing the Panama route for the canal over the Nicaragua route. Roosevelt denied charges of corruption concerning the canal in a January 8, 1906 message to Congress. In January 1909, Roosevelt, in an unprecedented move, brought criminal libel charges against the New York World and the Indianapolis News known as the "Roosevelt-Panama Libel Cases". Both cases were dismissed by U.S. District Courts, and on January 3, 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court, upon federal appeal, upheld the lower courts' rulings. Historians are sharply critical of Roosevelt's criminal prosecutions of the World and the News, but are divided on whether actual corruption in acquiring and building the Panama Canal took place.
In 1906, following a disputed election, an insurrection ensued in Cuba; Roosevelt sent Taft, the Secretary of War, to monitor the situation; he was convinced that he had the authority to unilaterally authorize Taft to deploy Marines if necessary, without congressional approval.
Examining the work of numerous scholars, Ricard (2014) reports that:
The most striking evolution in the twenty-first-century historiography of Theodore Roosevelt is the switch from a partial arraignment of the imperialist to a quasi-unanimous celebration of the master diplomatist.... [Recent works] have underlined cogently Roosevelt's exceptional statesmanship in the construction of the nascent twentieth-century "special relationship". ...The twenty-sixth president's reputation as a brilliant diplomatist and realpolitician has undeniably reached new heights in the twenty-first century...yet, his Philippine policy still prompts criticism.
Media
Building on McKinley's effective use of the press, Roosevelt made the White House the center of news every day, providing interviews and photo opportunities. After noticing the reporters huddled outside the White House in the rain one day, he gave them their own room inside, effectively inventing the presidential press briefing. The grateful press, with unprecedented access to the White House, rewarded Roosevelt with ample coverage.
Roosevelt normally enjoyed very close relationships with the press, which he used to keep in daily contact with his middle-class base. While out of office, he made a living as a writer and magazine editor. He loved talking with intellectuals, authors, and writers. He drew the line, however, at exposé-oriented scandal-mongering journalists who, during his term, sent magazine subscriptions soaring by their attacks on corrupt politicians, mayors, and corporations. Roosevelt himself was not usually a target, but a speech of his from 1906 coined the term "muckraker" for unscrupulous journalists making wild charges. "The liar", he said, "is no whit better than the thief, and if his mendacity takes the form of slander he may be worse than most thieves."
The press did briefly target Roosevelt in one instance. After 1904, he was periodically criticized for the manner in which he facilitated the construction of the Panama Canal. According to biographer Brands, Roosevelt, near the end of his term, demanded that the Justice Department bring charges of criminal libel against Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. The publication had accused him of "deliberate misstatements of fact" in defense of family members who were criticized as a result of the Panama affair. Though an indictment was obtained, the case was ultimately dismissed in federal court—it was not a federal offense, but one enforceable in state courts. The Justice Department had predicted that result, and had also advised Roosevelt accordingly.
Election of 1904
The control and management of the Republican Party lay in the hands of Ohio Senator and Republican Party chairman Mark Hanna until McKinley's death. Roosevelt and Hanna frequently cooperated during Roosevelt's first term, but Hanna left open the possibility of a challenge to Roosevelt for the 1904 Republican nomination. Roosevelt and Ohio's other Senator, Joseph B. Foraker, forced Hanna's hand by calling for Ohio's state Republican convention to endorse Roosevelt for the 1904 nomination. Unwilling to break with the president, Hanna was forced to publicly endorse Roosevelt. Hanna and Pennsylvania Senator Matthew Quay both died in early 1904, and with the waning of Thomas Platt's power, Roosevelt faced little effective opposition for the 1904 nomination. In deference to Hanna's conservative loyalists, Roosevelt at first offered the party chairmanship to Cornelius Bliss, but he declined. Roosevelt turned to his own man, George B. Cortelyou of New York, the first Secretary of Commerce and Labor. To buttress his hold on the party's nomination, Roosevelt made it clear that anyone opposing Cortelyou would be considered to be opposing the President. The President secured his own nomination, but his preferred vice-presidential running mate, Robert R. Hitt, was not nominated. Senator Charles Warren Fairbanks of Indiana, a favorite of conservatives, gained the nomination.
While Roosevelt followed the tradition of incumbents in not actively campaigning on the stump, he sought to control the campaign's message through specific instructions to Cortelyou. He also attempted to manage the press's release of White House statements by forming the Ananias Club. Any journalist who repeated a statement made by the president without approval was penalized by restriction of further access.
The Democratic Party's nominee in 1904 was Alton Brooks Parker. Democratic newspapers charged that Republicans were extorting large campaign contributions from corporations, putting ultimate responsibility on Roosevelt, himself. Roosevelt denied corruption while at the same time he ordered Cortelyou to return $100,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) of a campaign contribution from Standard Oil. Parker said that Roosevelt was accepting corporate donations to keep damaging information from the Bureau of Corporations from going public. Roosevelt strongly denied Parker's charge and responded that he would "go into the Presidency unhampered by any pledge, promise, or understanding of any kind, sort, or description...". Allegations from Parker and the Democrats, however, had little impact on the election, as Roosevelt promised to give every American a "square deal". Roosevelt won 56% of the popular vote, and Parker received 38%; Roosevelt also won the Electoral College vote, 336 to 140. Before his inauguration ceremony, Roosevelt declared that he would not serve another term. Democrats afterwards would continue to charge Roosevelt and the Republicans of being influenced by corporate donations during Roosevelt's second term.
Second term
As his second term progressed, Roosevelt moved to the left of his Republican Party base and called for a series of reforms, most of which Congress failed to pass. In his last year in office, he was assisted by his friend Archibald Butt (who later perished in the sinking of RMS Titanic). Roosevelt's influence waned as he approached the end of his second term, as his promise to forego a third term made him a lame duck and his concentration of power provoked a backlash from many Congressmen. He sought a national incorporation law (at a time when all corporations had state charters), called for a federal income tax (despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.), and an inheritance tax. In the area of labor legislation, Roosevelt called for limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes; injunctions were a powerful weapon that mostly helped business. He wanted an employee liability law for industrial injuries (pre-empting state laws) and an eight-hour work day for federal employees. In other areas he also sought a postal savings system (to provide competition for local banks), and he asked for campaign reform laws.
The election of 1904 continued to be a source of contention between Republicans and Democrats. A Congressional investigation in 1905 revealed that corporate executives donated tens of thousands of dollars in 1904 to the Republican National Committee. In 1908, a month before the general presidential election, Governor Charles N. Haskell of Oklahoma, former Democratic Treasurer, said that Senators beholden to Standard Oil lobbied Roosevelt, in the summer of 1904, to authorize the leasing of Indian oil lands by Standard Oil subsidiaries. He said Roosevelt overruled his Secretary of Interior Ethan A. Hitchcock and granted a pipeline franchise to run through the Osage lands to the Prairie Oil and Gas Company. The New York Sun made a similar accusation and said that Standard Oil, a refinery who financially benefited from the pipeline, had contributed $150,000 to the Republicans in 1904 (equivalent to $ million in ) after Roosevelt's alleged reversal allowing the pipeline franchise. Roosevelt branded Haskell's allegation as "a lie, pure and simple" and obtained a denial from Treasury Secretary Shaw that Roosevelt had neither coerced Shaw nor overruled him.
Post-presidency (1909–1919)
Election of 1908
Roosevelt enjoyed being president and was still relatively youthful, but felt that a limited number of terms provided a check against dictatorship. Roosevelt ultimately decided to stick to his 1904 pledge not to run for a third term. He personally favored Secretary of State Elihu Root as his successor, but Root's ill health made him an unsuitable candidate. New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes loomed as a potentially strong candidate and shared Roosevelt's progressivism, but Roosevelt disliked him and considered him to be too independent. Instead, Roosevelt settled on his Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, who had ably served under Presidents Harrison, McKinley, and Roosevelt in various positions. Roosevelt and Taft had been friends since 1890, and Taft had consistently supported President Roosevelt's policies. Roosevelt was determined to install the successor of his choice, and wrote the following to Taft: "Dear Will: Do you want any action about those federal officials? I will break their necks with the utmost cheerfulness if you say the word!". Just weeks later he branded as "false and malicious" the charge that he was using the offices at his disposal to favor Taft. At the 1908 Republican convention, many chanted for "four years more" of a Roosevelt presidency, but Taft won the nomination after Henry Cabot Lodge made it clear that Roosevelt was not interested in a third term.
In the 1908 election, Taft easily defeated the Democratic nominee, three-time candidate William Jennings Bryan. Taft promoted a progressivism that stressed the rule of law; he preferred that judges rather than administrators or politicians make the basic decisions about fairness. Taft usually proved to be a less adroit politician than Roosevelt and lacked the energy and personal magnetism, along with the publicity devices, the dedicated supporters, and the broad base of public support that made Roosevelt so formidable. When Roosevelt realized that lowering the tariff would risk creating severe tensions inside the Republican Party by pitting producers (manufacturers and farmers) against merchants and consumers, he stopped talking about the issue. Taft ignored the risks and tackled the tariff boldly, encouraging reformers to fight for lower rates, and then cutting deals with conservative leaders that kept overall rates high. The resulting Payne-Aldrich tariff of 1909, signed into law early in President Taft's tenure, was too high for most reformers, and Taft's handling of the tariff alienated all sides. While the crisis was building inside the Party, Roosevelt was touring Africa and Europe, to allow Taft to be his own man.
Africa and Europe (1909–1910)
In March 1909, shortly after the end of his presidency, Roosevelt left New York for the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition, a safari in east and central Africa. Roosevelt's party landed in Mombasa, East Africa (now Kenya) and traveled to the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) before following the Nile to Khartoum in modern Sudan. Financed by Andrew Carnegie and by his own writings, Roosevelt's party hunted for specimens for the Smithsonian Institution and for the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The group, led by the hunter-tracker RJ Cunninghame, included scientists from the Smithsonian, and was joined from time to time by Frederick Selous, the famous big game hunter and explorer. Participants on the expedition included Kermit Roosevelt, Edgar Alexander Mearns, Edmund Heller, and John Alden Loring.
Roosevelt and his companions killed or trapped approximately 11,400 animals, from insects and moles to hippopotamuses and elephants. The 1,000 large animals included 512 big game animals, including six rare white rhinos. Tons of salted animals and their skins were shipped to Washington; it took years to mount them all, and the Smithsonian shared many duplicate specimens with other museums. Regarding the large number of animals taken, Roosevelt said, "I can be condemned only if the existence of the National Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and all similar zoological institutions are to be condemned". He wrote a detailed account of the safari in the book African Game Trails, recounting the excitement of the chase, the people he met, and the flora and fauna he collected in the name of science.
After his safari, Roosevelt traveled north to embark on a tour of Europe. Stopping first in Egypt, he commented favorably on British rule of the region, giving his opinion that Egypt was not yet ready for independence. He refused a meeting with the Pope due to a dispute over a group of Methodists active in Rome, but met with Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King George V of Great Britain, and other European leaders. In Oslo, Norway, Roosevelt delivered a speech calling for limitations on naval armaments, a strengthening of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and the creation of a "League of Peace" among the world powers. He also delivered the Romanes Lecture at Oxford, in which he denounced those who sought parallels between the evolution of animal life and the development of society. Though Roosevelt attempted to avoid domestic politics during his time abroad, he met with Gifford Pinchot, who related his own disappointment with the Taft Administration. Pinchot had been forced to resign as head of the forest service after clashing with Taft's Interior Secretary, Richard Ballinger, who had prioritized development over conservation. Roosevelt returned to the United States in June 1910.
Republican Party schism
Roosevelt had attempted to refashion Taft into a second version of himself, but as soon as Taft began to display his individuality, the former president expressed his disenchantment. He was offended on election night when Taft indicated that his success had been possible not just through the efforts of Roosevelt, but also his brother Charley. Roosevelt was further alienated when Taft, intent on becoming his own man, did not consult him about cabinet appointments. Roosevelt and other progressives were ideologically dissatisfied over Taft's conservation policies and his handling of the tariff when he concentrated more power in the hands of conservative party leaders in Congress. Regarding radicalism and liberalism, Roosevelt wrote a British friend in 1911:
Fundamentally it is the radical liberal with whom I sympathize. He is at least working toward the end for which I think we should all of us strive; and when he adds sanity in moderation to courage and enthusiasm for high ideals he develops into the kind of statesman whom alone I can wholeheartedly support."
Roosevelt urged progressives to take control of the Republican Party at the state and local level and to avoid splitting the party in a way that would hand the presidency to the Democrats in 1912. Additionally, Roosevelt expressed optimism about the Taft Administration after meeting with the president in the White House in June 1910.
In August 1910, Roosevelt gained national attention with a speech at Osawatomie, Kansas, which was the most radical of his career and marked his public break with Taft and the conservative Republicans. Advocating a program of "New Nationalism", Roosevelt emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests, a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions. Returning to New York, Roosevelt began a battle to take control of the state Republican party from William Barnes Jr., Tom Platt's successor as the state party boss, whom he would later confront in the Barnes vs. Roosevelt Libel Trial. Taft had pledged his support to Roosevelt in this endeavor, and Roosevelt was outraged when Taft's support failed to materialize at the 1910 state convention. Roosevelt nonetheless campaigned for the Republicans in the 1910 elections, in which the Democrats gained control of the House for the first time since the 1890s. Among the newly elected Democrats was New York state senator Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who argued that he represented his distant cousin's policies better than his Republican opponent.
The Republican progressives interpreted the 1910 defeats as a compelling argument for the complete reorganization of the party in 1911. Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin joined with Pinchot, William White, and California Governor Hiram Johnson to create the National Progressive Republican League; their objectives were to defeat the power of political bossism at the state level and to replace Taft at the national level. Despite skepticism of La Follette's new league, Roosevelt expressed general support for progressive principles. Between January and April 1911, Roosevelt wrote a series of articles for The Outlook, defending what he called "the great movement of our day, the progressive nationalist movement against special privilege, and in favor of an honest and efficient political and industrial democracy". With Roosevelt apparently uninterested in running in 1912, La Follette declared his own candidacy in June 1911. Roosevelt continually criticized Taft after the 1910 elections, and the break between the two men became final after the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against US Steel in September 1911; Roosevelt was humiliated by this suit because he had personally approved of an acquisition that the Justice Department was now challenging. However, Roosevelt was still unwilling to run against Taft in 1912; he instead hoped to run in 1916 against whichever Democrat beat Taft in 1912.
Dispute over arbitration treaties
Taft was a major advocate of arbitration as a major reform of the Progressive Era. In 1911 Taft and his Secretary of State Philander C. Knox negotiated major treaties with Great Britain and with France providing that differences be arbitrated. Disputes had to be submitted to the Hague Court or other tribunal. These were signed in August 1911 but had to be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. Neither Taft nor Knox consulted with members of the Senate during the negotiating process. By then many Republicans were opposed to Taft, and the president felt that lobbying too hard for the treaties might cause their defeat. He made some speeches supporting the treaties in October, but the Senate added amendments Taft could not accept, killing the agreements.
The arbitration issue opens a window on a bitter philosophical dispute among American progressives. Some, led by Taft looked to legal arbitration as the best alternative to warfare. Taft was a constitutional lawyer who later became Chief Justice; he had a deep understanding of the legal issues. Taft's political base was the conservative business community that largely supported peace movements before 1914. However, his mistake, in this case, was a failure to mobilize that base. The businessmen believed that economic rivalries were the cause of war, and that extensive trade led to an interdependent world that would make war a very expensive and useless anachronism.
However, an opposing faction of progressives, led by Roosevelt, ridiculed arbitration as foolhardy idealism, and insisted on the realism of warfare as the only solution to serious international disputes. Roosevelt worked with his close friend Senator Henry Cabot Lodge to impose those amendments that ruined the goals of the treaties. Lodge thought the treaties impinged too much on senatorial prerogatives. Roosevelt, however, was acting to sabotage Taft's campaign promises. At a deeper level, Roosevelt truly believed that arbitration was a naïve solution and the great issues had to be decided by warfare. The Rooseveltian approach incorporated a near-mystical faith of the ennobling nature of war. It endorsed jingoistic nationalism as opposed to the businessmen's calculation of profit and national interest.
Election of 1912
Republican primaries and convention
In November 1911, a group of Ohio Republicans endorsed Roosevelt for the party's nomination for president; the endorsers included James R. Garfield and Dan Hanna. This endorsement was made by leaders of President Taft's home state. Roosevelt conspicuously declined to make a statement—requested by Garfield—that he would flatly refuse a nomination. Soon thereafter, Roosevelt said, "I am really sorry for Taft... I am sure he means well, but he means well feebly, and he does not know how! He is utterly unfit for leadership and this is a time when we need leadership." In January 1912, Roosevelt declared "if the people make a draft on me I shall not decline to serve". Later that year, Roosevelt spoke before the Constitutional Convention in Ohio, openly identifying as a progressive and endorsing progressive reforms—even endorsing popular review of state judicial decisions. In reaction to Roosevelt's proposals for popular overrule of court decisions, Taft said, "Such extremists are not progressives—they are political emotionalists or neurotics".
Roosevelt began to envision himself as the savior of the Republican Party from defeat in the upcoming presidential election. In February 1912, Roosevelt announced in Boston, "I will accept the nomination for president if it is tendered to me. I hope that so far as possible the people may be given the chance through direct primaries to express who shall be the nominee. Elihu Root and Henry Cabot Lodge thought that division of the party would lead to its defeat in the next election, while Taft believed that he would be defeated either in the Republican primary or in the general election.
The 1912 primaries represented the first extensive use of the presidential primary, a reform achievement of the progressive movement. The Republican primaries in the South, where party regulars dominated, went for Taft, as did results in New York, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Roosevelt won in Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, California, Maryland and Pennsylvania; Roosevelt also won Taft's home state of Ohio. These primary elections, while demonstrating Roosevelt's continuing popularity with the electorate, were not pivotal. The final credentials of the state delegates at the national convention were determined by the national committee, which was controlled by the party leaders, headed by the incumbent president.
Prior to the 1912 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt expressed doubt about his prospects for victory, noting that Taft had more delegates and control of the credentials committee. His only hope was to convince party leaders that the nomination of Taft would hand the election to the Democrats, but party leaders were determined not to cede their leadership to Roosevelt. The credentials committee awarded almost all contested delegates to Taft, and Taft won the nomination on the first ballot. Black delegates from the South played a key role: they voted heavily for Taft and put him over the top. La Follette also helped Taft's candidacy; he hoped that a deadlocked convention would result in his own nomination, and refused to release his delegates to support Roosevelt.
The Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party
Once his defeat at the Republican convention appeared probable, Roosevelt announced that he would "accept the progressive nomination on a progressive platform and I shall fight to the end, win or lose". At the same time, Roosevelt prophetically said, "My feeling is that the Democrats will probably win if they nominate a progressive".
Roosevelt left the Republican Party and created the Progressive Party, structuring it as a permanent organization that would field complete tickets at the presidential and state level. The party included Roosevelt and key allies such as Pinchot, Cornelia Bryce Pinchot (Pinchot's wife and a longtime friend of Roosevelt's), and Albert Beveridge. The new party was popularly known as the "Bull Moose Party" after Roosevelt told reporters, "I'm as fit as a bull moose". At the 1912 Progressive National Convention, Roosevelt cried out, "We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord." California Governor Hiram Johnson was nominated as Roosevelt's running mate. Roosevelt's platform echoed his 1907–1908 proposals, calling for vigorous government intervention to protect the people from selfish interests:
Though many Progressive party supporters in the North were supporters of civil rights for blacks, Roosevelt did not give strong support to civil rights and ran a "lily-white" campaign in the South. Rival all-white and all-black delegations from four southern states arrived at the Progressive national convention, and Roosevelt decided to seat the all-white delegations. Nevertheless, he won little support outside mountain Republican strongholds. Out of nearly 1100 counties in the South, Roosevelt won two counties in Alabama, one in Arkansas, seven in North Carolina, three in Georgia, 17 in Tennessee, two in Texas, one in Virginia, and none in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, or South Carolina.
Assassination attempt
On October 14, 1912, while arriving at a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Roosevelt was shot from seven feet away in front of the Gilpatrick Hotel by a delusional saloonkeeper named John Flammang Schrank, who believed that the ghost of assassinated president William McKinley had directed him to kill Roosevelt. The bullet lodged in his chest after penetrating his steel eyeglass case and passing through a 50-page-thick single-folded copy of the speech titled "Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual", which he was carrying in his jacket. Schrank was immediately disarmed (by Czech immigrant Frank Bukovsky), captured, and might have been lynched had Roosevelt not shouted for Schrank to remain unharmed. Roosevelt assured the crowd he was all right, then ordered police to take charge of Schrank and to make sure no violence was done to him.
As an experienced hunter and anatomist, Roosevelt correctly concluded that since he was not coughing blood, the bullet had not reached his lung. He declined suggestions to go to the hospital immediately and instead delivered a 90 minute speech with blood seeping into his shirt. His opening comments to the gathered crowd were, "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose." Only after finishing his address did he accept medical attention.
Subsequent probes and an x-ray showed that the bullet had lodged in Roosevelt's chest muscle, but did not penetrate the pleura. Doctors concluded that it would be less dangerous to leave it in place than to attempt to remove it, and Roosevelt carried the bullet with him for the rest of his life. Both Taft and Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson suspended their own campaigning until Roosevelt recovered and resumed his. When asked if the shooting would affect his election campaign, he said to the reporter "I'm fit as a bull moose." The bull moose became a symbol of both Roosevelt and the Progressive Party, and it often was referred to as simply the Bull Moose Party. He spent two weeks recuperating before returning to the campaign trail. He later wrote a friend about the bullet inside him, "I do not mind it any more than if it were in my waistcoat pocket."
Farewell manifesto
On October 20, Roosevelt spoke to a crowd of 16,000 at Madison Square Garden. The speech included: "Perhaps once in a generation, there comes a chance for the people of a country to play their part wisely and fearlessly in some great battle of the age-long warfare for human rights."
Election results
After the Democrats nominated Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey, Roosevelt did not expect to win the general election, as Wilson had compiled a record attractive to many progressive Democrats who might have otherwise considered voting for Roosevelt. Roosevelt still campaigned vigorously, and the election developed into a two-person contest between Wilson and Roosevelt despite Taft's presence in the race. Roosevelt respected Wilson, but the two differed on various issues; Wilson opposed any federal intervention regarding women's suffrage or child labor (he viewed these as state issues), and attacked Roosevelt's tolerance of large businesses.
Roosevelt won 4.1 million votes (27%), compared to Taft's 3.5 million (23%). Wilson gained 6.3 million votes (42% of the total) and a massive landslide in the Electoral College, with 435 electoral votes; Roosevelt won 88 electoral votes, while Taft won 8. Pennsylvania was the only eastern state won by Roosevelt; in the Midwest, he carried Michigan, Minnesota, and South Dakota; in the West, California, and Washington. Wilson's victory represented the first Democratic presidential election victory since Cleveland's 1892 campaign, and it was the party's best performance in the Electoral College since 1852. Roosevelt, meanwhile, garnered a higher share of the popular vote than any other third-party presidential candidate in history and won the most states of any third-party candidate after the Civil War.
South American expedition (1913-1914)
A friend of Roosevelt's, Father John Augustine Zahm, persuaded Roosevelt to participate in an expedition to South America. To finance the expedition, Roosevelt received support from the American Museum of Natural History in return for promising to bring back many new animal specimens. Roosevelt's popular book, Through the Brazilian Wilderness describes his expedition into the Brazilian jungle in 1913 as a member of the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition, co-named after its leader, Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon.
Once in South America, a new, far more ambitious goal was added: to find the headwaters of the Rio da Duvida (Portuguese for "River of Doubt"), and trace it north to the Madeira and thence to the Amazon River. It was later renamed Roosevelt River in honor of the former president. Roosevelt's crew consisted of his son Kermit, Colonel Rondon, naturalist George Kruck Cherrie (sent by the American Museum of Natural History), Brazilian Lieutenant João Lira, team physician Dr. José Antonio Cajazeira, and 16 skilled paddlers and porters. Roosevelt also identified Leo Miller (another AMNH recommendation), Anthony Fiala, Frank Harper, and Jacob Sigg as crew members. The initial expedition started somewhat tenuously on December 9, 1913, at the height of the rainy season. The trip down the River of Doubt started on February 27, 1914.
During the trip down the river, Roosevelt suffered a minor leg wound after he jumped into the river to try to prevent two canoes from smashing against the rocks. The flesh wound he received, however, soon gave him tropical fever that resembled the malaria he had contracted while in Cuba fifteen years before. Because the bullet lodged in his chest from the assassination attempt in 1912 was never removed, his health worsened from the infection. This weakened Roosevelt so greatly that six weeks into the adventure, he had to be attended to day and night by the expedition's physician and his son Kermit. By then, he could not walk because of the infection in his injured leg and an infirmity in the other, which was due to a traffic accident a decade earlier. Roosevelt was riddled with chest pains, fighting a fever that soared to and at times made him delirious, at one point constantly reciting the first two lines of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan": "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure dome decree". Regarding his condition as a threat to the survival of the others, Roosevelt insisted he be left behind to allow the poorly provisioned expedition to proceed as rapidly as it could, preparing to commit suicide with an overdose of morphine. Only an appeal by his son persuaded him to continue.
Despite Roosevelt's continued decline and loss of over , Colonel Rondon reduced the pace of the expedition to allow for his commission's mapmaking and other geographical tasks, which required regular stops to fix the expedition's position by sun-based survey. Upon Roosevelt's return to New York, friends and family were startled by his physical appearance and fatigue. Roosevelt wrote, perhaps prophetically, to a friend that the trip had cut his life short by ten years. For the rest of his few remaining years, he would be plagued by flare-ups of malaria and leg inflammations so severe as to require surgery. Before Roosevelt had even completed his sea voyage home, critics raised doubts over his claims of exploring and navigating a completely uncharted river over long. When he had recovered sufficiently, he addressed a standing-room-only convention organized in Washington, D.C., by the National Geographic Society and satisfactorily defended his claims.
Final years
Roosevelt returned to the United States in May 1914. Though he was outraged by the Wilson Administration's conclusion of a treaty that expressed "sincere regret" for the way in which the United States had acquired the Panama Canal Zone, he was impressed by many of the reforms passed under Wilson. Roosevelt made several campaign appearances for the Progressives, but the 1914 elections were a disaster for the fledgling third party. Roosevelt began to envision another campaign for president, this time with himself at the head of the Republican Party, but conservative party leaders remained opposed to Roosevelt. In hopes of engineering a joint nomination, the Progressives scheduled the 1916 Progressive National Convention at the same time as the 1916 Republican National Convention. When the Republicans nominated Charles Evans Hughes, Roosevelt declined the Progressive nomination and urged his Progressive followers to support the Republican candidate. Though Roosevelt had long disliked Hughes, he disliked Wilson even more, and he campaigned energetically for the Republican nominee. However, Wilson won the 1916 election by a narrow margin. The Progressives disappeared as a party following the 1916 election, and Roosevelt and many of his followers permanently re-joined the Republican Party.
World War I
When the First World War began in 1914, Roosevelt strongly supported the Allies and demanded a harsher policy against Germany, especially regarding submarine warfare. Roosevelt angrily denounced the foreign policy of President Wilson, calling it a failure regarding the atrocities in Belgium and the violations of American rights. In 1916, while campaigning for Hughes, Roosevelt repeatedly denounced Irish-Americans and German-Americans whom he described as unpatriotic, saying they put the interests of Ireland and Germany ahead of America's by supporting neutrality. He insisted that one had to be 100% American, not a "hyphenated American" who juggled multiple loyalties. In March 1917, Congress gave Roosevelt the authority to raise a maximum of four divisions similar to the Rough Riders, and Major Frederick Russell Burnham was put in charge of both the general organization and recruitment. However, President Wilson announced to the press that he would not send Roosevelt and his volunteers to France, but instead would send an American Expeditionary Force under the command of General John J. Pershing. Roosevelt never forgave Wilson, and quickly published The Foes of Our Own Household, an indictment of the sitting president. Roosevelt's youngest son, Quentin, a pilot with the American forces in France, was killed when shot down behind German lines on July 14, 1918, at the age of 20. It is said that Quentin's death distressed Roosevelt so much that he never recovered from his loss.
League of Nations
Roosevelt was an early supporter of the modern view that there needs to be a global order. In his Nobel prize address of 1910, he said, "it would be a master stroke if those great Powers honestly bent on peace would form a League of Peace, not only to keep the peace among themselves, but to prevent, by force if necessary, its being broken by others." It would have executive power such as the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 lacked. He called for American participation.
When World War I broke out, Roosevelt proposed "a World League for the Peace of Righteousness", in September 1914, which would preserve sovereignty but limit armaments and require arbitration. He added that it should be "solemnly covenanted that if any nations refused to abide by the decisions of such a court, then others draw the sword in behalf of peace and justice." In 1915 he outlined this plan more specifically, urging that nations guarantee their entire military force, if necessary, against any nation that refused to carry out arbitration decrees or violated rights of other nations. Though Roosevelt had some concerns about the impact on United States sovereignty, he insisted that such a league would only work if the United States participated as one of the "joint guarantors". Roosevelt referred to this plan in a 1918 speech as "the most feasible for...a league of nations." By this time Wilson was strongly hostile to Roosevelt and Lodge, and developed his own plans for a rather different League of Nations. It became reality along Wilson's lines at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Roosevelt denounced Wilson's approach but died before it was adopted at Paris. However, Lodge was willing to accept it with serious reservations. In the end, on March 19, 1920, Wilson had Democratic Senators vote against the League with the Lodge Reservations and the United States never joined the League of Nations.
Final political activities
Roosevelt's attacks on Wilson helped the Republicans win control of Congress in the midterm elections of 1918. He declined a request from New York Republicans to run for another gubernatorial term, but attacked Wilson's Fourteen Points, calling instead for the unconditional surrender of Germany. Though his health was uncertain, he was seen as a leading contender for the 1920 Republican nomination, but insisted that, "If they take me, they'll have to take me without a single modification of the things that I have always stood for! He wrote William Allen White, "I wish to do everything in my power to make the Republican Party the Party of sane, constructive radicalism, just as it was under Lincoln." Accordingly, he told the 1918 state convention of the Maine Republican Party that he stood for old-age pensions, insurance for sickness and unemployment, construction of public housing for low-income families, the reduction of working hours, aid to farmers, and more regulation of large corporations.
While his political profile remained high, Roosevelt's physical condition continued to deteriorate throughout 1918 due to the long-term effects of jungle diseases. He was hospitalized for seven weeks late in the year and never fully recovered.
Death
On the night of January 5, 1919, Roosevelt suffered breathing problems. After receiving treatment from his physician, Dr. George W. Faller, he felt better and went to bed. Roosevelt's last words were "Please put out that light, James" to his family servant James E. Amos. Between 4:00 and 4:15 the next morning, Roosevelt, at the age of 60, died in his sleep at Sagamore Hill after a blood clot detached from a vein and traveled to his lungs.
Upon receiving word of his death, his son Archibald telegraphed his siblings: "The old lion is dead." Woodrow Wilson's vice president, Thomas R. Marshall, said that "Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight." Following a private farewell service in the North Room at Sagamore Hill, a simple funeral was held at Christ Episcopal Church in Oyster Bay. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, Charles Evans Hughes, Warren G. Harding, Henry Cabot Lodge, and William Howard Taft were among the mourners. The snow-covered procession route to Youngs Memorial Cemetery was lined with spectators and a squad of mounted policemen who had ridden from New York City. Roosevelt was buried on a hillside overlooking Oyster Bay.
Writer
Roosevelt was a prolific author, writing with passion on subjects ranging from foreign policy to the importance of the national park system. Roosevelt was also an avid reader of poetry. Poet Robert Frost said that Roosevelt "was our kind. He quoted poetry to me. He knew poetry."
As an editor of Outlook magazine, Roosevelt had weekly access to a large, educated national audience. In all, Roosevelt wrote about 18 books (each in several editions), including his autobiography, The Rough Riders, History of the Naval War of 1812, and others on subjects such as ranching, explorations, and wildlife. His most ambitious book was the four volume narrative The Winning of the West, focused on the American frontier in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Roosevelt said that the American character—indeed a new "American race" (ethnic group) had emerged from the heroic wilderness hunters and Indian fighters, acting on the frontier with little government help. Roosevelt also published an account of his 1909–10 African expedition entitled African Game Trails.
In 1907, Roosevelt became embroiled in a widely publicized literary debate known as the nature fakers controversy. A few years earlier, naturalist John Burroughs had published an article entitled "Real and Sham Natural History" in the Atlantic Monthly, attacking popular writers of the day such as Ernest Thompson Seton, Charles G. D. Roberts, and William J. Long for their fantastical representations of wildlife. Roosevelt agreed with Burroughs's criticisms, and published several essays of his own denouncing the booming genre of "naturalistic" animal stories as "yellow journalism of the woods". It was the President himself who popularized the negative term "nature faker" to describe writers who depicted their animal characters with excessive anthropomorphism.
Character and beliefs
Roosevelt intensely disliked being called "Teddy", despite the widespread public association with said moniker, and was quick to point out this to those who referred to him as such, though it would become widely used by newspapers during his political career.
He was an active Freemason and member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
British scholar Marcus Cunliffe evaluates the liberal argument that Roosevelt was an opportunist, exhibitionist, and imperialist. Cunliffe praises TR's versatility, his respect for law, and his sincerity. He argues that Roosevelt's foreign policy was better than his detractors allege. Cunliffe calls him "a big man in several respects," ranking him below Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson, and on the same level as Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Strenuous life
Roosevelt had a lifelong interest in pursuing what he called, in an 1899 speech, "The Strenuous Life". To this end, he exercised regularly and took up boxing, tennis, hiking, rowing, polo, and horseback riding. He also continued his habit of skinny-dipping in the Potomac River during the winter. As governor of New York, he boxed with sparring partners several times each week, a practice he regularly continued as president until being hit so hard in the face he became blind in his left eye (a fact not made public until many years later). As president, he practiced judo for two 2-month periods in 1902 and 1904, not attaining any rank. Roosevelt began to believe in the utility of jiu-jitsu training after training with Yoshitsugu Yamashita. Concerned that the United States would lose its military supremacy to rising powers like Japan, Roosevelt began to advocate for jiu-jitsu training for American soldiers. Feminists annoyed by the posturing of men like Roosevelt, insisted that women were just as capable of learning jiu-jitsu. To prove their point, Martha Blow Wadsworth and Maria Louise ("Hallie") Davis Elkins hired Fude Yamashita, a highly skilled jiu-jitsu instructor and the wife of Yoshitsugu Yamashita, to teach a jiu-jitsu class for women and girls in Washington, DC in 1904. Women had already begun training in boxing in the United States as a means of personal and political empowerment. Jiu-jitsu training thus soon also became popular with American women, coinciding with the origins of a women's self-defense movement.
Roosevelt was an enthusiastic singlestick player and, according to Harper's Weekly, showed up at a White House reception with his arm bandaged after a bout with General Leonard Wood in 1905. Roosevelt was an avid reader, reading tens of thousands of books, at a rate of several per day in multiple languages. Along with Thomas Jefferson, Roosevelt was the most well-read of all American presidents.
Warrior
Historians have often emphasized Roosevelt's warrior persona. He took aggressive positions regarding war with Spain in 1898, Colombia in 1903, and especially with Germany, from 1915 to 1917. As a demonstration of American naval might, he sent the "Great White Fleet" around the world in 1907–1909. The implicit threat of the "big stick" of military power provided leverage to "speak softly" and quietly resolve conflict in numerous cases. He boasted in his autobiography:
Richard D. White Jr states, "Roosevelt's warrior spirit framed his views of national politics, [and] international relations."
Historian Howard K. Beale has argued:
Religion
Roosevelt attended church regularly and was a lifelong adherent of the Reformed Church in America, an American affiliate of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1907, concerning the motto "In God We Trust" on money, he wrote, "It seems to me eminently unwise to cheapen such a motto by use on coins, just as it would be to cheapen it by use on postage stamps, or in advertisements." Roosevelt talked a great deal about religion. Biographer Edmund Morris states:
Roosevelt publicly encouraged church attendance and was a conscientious churchgoer himself. When gas rationing was introduced during the First World War, he walked the three miles from his home at Sagamore Hill to the local church and back, even after a serious operation had made it difficult for him to travel by foot. It was said that Roosevelt "allowed no engagement to keep him from going to church," and he remained a fervent advocate of the Bible throughout his adult life. According to Christian F. Reisner, writing in 1922 shortly after Roosevelt's death, "Religion was as natural to Mr. Roosevelt as breathing," and when the travel library for Roosevelt's famous Smithsonian-sponsored African expedition was being assembled, the Bible was, according to his sister, "the first book selected." In an address delivered in his home at Oyster Bay to the Long Island Bible Society in 1901, Roosevelt declared that:
Political positions
When he assumed the presidency, Roosevelt reassured many conservatives, stating, "the mechanism of modern business is so delicate that extreme care must be taken not to interfere with it in a spirit of rashness or ignorance." The following year, Roosevelt asserted the president's independence from business interests by opposing the merger which created the Northern Securities Company, and many were surprised that any president, much less an unelected one, would challenge powerful banker J.P. Morgan. In his last two years as president, Roosevelt became increasingly distrustful of big business, despite its close ties to the Republican Party. Roosevelt sought to replace the 19th-century laissez-faire economic environment with a new economic model which included a larger regulatory role for the federal government. He believed that 19th-century entrepreneurs had risked their fortunes on innovations and new businesses, and that these capitalists had been rightly rewarded. By contrast, he believed that 20th-century capitalists risked little but nonetheless reaped huge and, given the lack of risk, unjust, economic rewards. Without a redistribution of wealth away from the upper class, Roosevelt feared that the country would turn to radicals or fall to revolution. His Square Deal domestic program had three main goals: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. The Square Deal evolved into his program of "New Nationalism", which emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests and a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions.
Foreign policy beliefs
In the analysis by Henry Kissinger, Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to develop the guideline that it was America's duty to make its enormous power and potential influence felt globally. The idea of being a passive "city on the hill" model that others could look up to, he rejected. Roosevelt, trained in biology, was a social darwinist who believed in survival of the fittest. The international world in his view was a realm of violence and conflict. The United States had all the economic and geographical potential to be the fittest nation on the globe. The United States had a duty to act decisively. For example, in terms of the Monroe Doctrine, America had to prevent European incursions in the Western Hemisphere. But there was more, as he expressed in his famous Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: the U.S. had to be the policeman of the region because unruly, corrupt smaller nations had to be controlled, and if United States did not do it, European powers would in fact intervene and develop their own base of power in the hemisphere in contravention to the Monroe Doctrine.
Roosevelt was a realist and a conservative. He deplored many of the increasingly popular idealistic liberal themes, such as were promoted by William Jennings Bryan, the anti-imperialists, and Woodrow Wilson. Kissinger says he rejected the efficacy of international law. Roosevelt argue that if a country could not protect its own interests, the international community could not help very much. He ridiculed disarmament proposals that were increasingly common. He saw no likelihood of an international power capable of checking wrongdoing on a major scale. As for world government: I regard the Wilson–Bryan attitude of trusting to fantastic peace treaties, too impossible promises, to all kinds of scraps of paper without any backing in efficient force, as abhorrent. It is infinitely better for a nation and for the world to have the Frederick the Great and Bismarck tradition as regards foreign policy than to have the Bryan or Bryan–Wilson attitude as a permanent national attitude.... A milk-and-water righteousness unbacked by force is...as wicked as and even more mischievous than force divorced from righteousness.
On the positive side, Roosevelt favored spheres of influence, whereby one great power would generally prevail, such as the United States in the Western Hemisphere or Great Britain in the Indian subcontinent. Japan fit that role and he approved. However he had deep distrust of both Germany and Russia.
Legacy
Historians credit Roosevelt for changing the nation's political system by permanently placing the "bully pulpit" of the presidency at center stage and making character as important as the issues. His accomplishments include trust busting and conservationism. He is a hero to liberals and progressives for his proposals in 1907–1912 that presaged the modern welfare state of the New Deal Era, including direct federal taxation, labor reforms, and more direct democracy, while conservationists admire Roosevelt for putting the environment and selflessness towards future generations on the national agenda, and conservatives and nationalists respect his commitment to law and order, civic duty and military values, as well as his personality of individual self-responsibility and hardiness. Dalton says, "Today he is heralded as the architect of the modern presidency, as a world leader who boldly reshaped the office to meet the needs of the new century and redefined America's place in the world."
However, liberals and socialists have criticized him for his interventionist and imperialist approach to nations he considered "uncivilized". Conservatives and libertarians reject his vision of the welfare state and emphasis on the superiority of government over private action. Historians typically rank Roosevelt among the top five presidents in American history.
Persona and masculinity
Dalton says Roosevelt is remembered as, "one of the most picturesque personalities who has ever enlivened the landscape". His friend, historian Henry Adams, proclaimed: "Roosevelt, more than any other man... showed the singular primitive quality that belongs to ultimate matter—the quality that medieval theology assigned to God—he was pure act."
Roosevelt's biographers have stressed his personality. Henry F. Pringle, who won the Pulitzer Prize in biography for his Theodore Roosevelt (1931) stated: "The Theodore Roosevelt of later years was the most adolescent of men… Failure to receive the Medal of Honor for his exploits [in Cuba] had been a grief as real as any of those which swamp childhood in despair. 'You must always remember,' wrote Cecil Spring Rice in 1904, 'that the President is about six.'"
Cooper compared him with Woodrow Wilson and argued that both of them played the roles of warrior and priest. Dalton stressed Roosevelt's strenuous life. Sarah Watts examined the desires of the "Rough Rider in the White House". Brands calls Roosevelt "the last romantic", arguing that his romantic concept of life emerged from his belief that "physical bravery was the highest virtue and war the ultimate test of bravery".
Roosevelt as the exemplar of American masculinity has become a major theme. As president, he repeatedly warned men that they were becoming too office-bound, too complacent, too comfortable with physical ease and moral laxity, and were failing in their duties to propagate the race and exhibit masculine vigor. French historian Serge Ricard says, "the ebullient apostle of the Strenuous Life offers ideal material for a detailed psycho-historical analysis of aggressive manhood in the changing socio-cultural environment of his era; McKinley, Taft, or Wilson would perhaps inadequately serve that purpose". He promoted competitive sports like boxing and jiu-jitsu for physically strengthening American men. He also believed that organizations like the Boy Scouts of America, founded in 1910, could help mold and strengthen the character of American boys. Brands shows that heroic displays of bravery were essential to Roosevelt's image and mission:
Memorials and cultural depictions
Roosevelt was included with Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln at the Mount Rushmore Memorial, designed in 1927 with the approval of Republican President Calvin Coolidge.
For his gallantry at San Juan Hill, Roosevelt's commanders recommended him for the Medal of Honor. However, the initial recommendation lacked any eyewitnesses, and the effort was eventually tainted by Roosevelt's own lobbying of the War Department. In the late 1990s, Roosevelt's supporters again recommended the award, which was denied by the Secretary of the Army on basis that the decorations board determined "Roosevelt's bravery in battle did not rise to the level that would justify the Medal of Honor and, indeed, it did not rise to the level of men who fought in that engagement." Nevertheless, politicians apparently convinced the secretary to reconsider the award a third time and reverse himself, leading to the charge that it was a "politically motivated award." On January 16, 2001, President Bill Clinton awarded Theodore Roosevelt the Medal of Honor posthumously for his charge on San Juan Hill. He is the only president to have received the Medal of Honor.
The United States Navy named two ships for Roosevelt: the , a submarine that was in commission from 1961 to 1982, and the , an aircraft carrier that has been on active duty in the Atlantic Fleet since 1986.
On November 18, 1956, the United States Postal Service released a 6¢ Liberty Issue postage stamp honoring Roosevelt. A 32¢ stamp was issued on February 3, 1998, as part of the Celebrate the Century stamp sheet series. In 2008, Columbia Law School awarded Roosevelt a Juris Doctor degree, posthumously making him a member of the class of 1882.
Roosevelt's "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick" ideology is still quoted by politicians and columnists in different countries—not only in English, but also in translations to various other languages. Another lasting, popular legacy of Roosevelt is the stuffed toy bears—teddy bears—named after him following an incident on a hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902. Roosevelt has been portrayed in films and television series such as Brighty of the Grand Canyon, The Wind and the Lion, Rough Riders, My Friend Flicka, and Law of the Plainsman. Robin Williams portrayed Roosevelt in the form of a wax mannequin that comes to life in Night at the Museum and its sequels Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. In 2017, it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio will portray Roosevelt in a biopic to be directed by Martin Scorsese.
Moreover, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the state of North Dakota is named after him. The America the Beautiful Quarters series features Roosevelt riding a horse on the national park's quarter.
Asteroid 188693 Roosevelt, discovered by astronomers with the Catalina Sky Survey in 2005, was named after him. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on November 8, 2019 ().
In January 2022, after years of lobbying by activists, an equestrian statue of the former president was removed from where it had stood for more than eighty years in front of New York's American Museum of Natural History. Responding to controversy, the museum noted that the design "communicates a racial hierarchy that the museum and members of the public have long found disturbing."
Audiovisual media
Theodore Roosevelt was one of the first presidents whose voice was recorded for posterity. Several of his recorded speeches survive. A 4.6-minute voice recording, which preserves Roosevelt's lower timbre ranges particularly well for its time, is among those available from the Michigan State University libraries (this is the 1912 recording of The Right of the People to Rule, recorded by Edison at Carnegie Hall). The audio clip sponsored by the Authentic History Center includes his defense of the Progressive Party in 1912, wherein he proclaims it the "party of the people" – in contrast with the other major parties.
Roosevelt goes for a ride in Arch Hoxsey's plane in October 1910
In popular culture
Theodore Roosevelt appears as the leader of the American civilization in the Firaxis Games title Civilization VI. His unique ability is Roosevelt Corollary, which gives +5 Combat Strength for all units inside America's home continent, and +1 Appeal to all tiles in cities with a national park.
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
Full biographies
.
.
.
, 105 pp, very short biography by leading scholar.
.; also titled Power and responsibility; the life and times of Theodore Roosevelt online free to borrow
.
.
.
, only volume published, to age 28.
.
.
Personality and activities
.
.
Provides a lesson plan on TR as the historical figure who most exemplifies the quality of masculinity.
. Chronicles the events of TR's presidency during the summers of his two terms.
. The president's use of publicity, rhetoric and force of personality.
; his deadly 1913–14 trip to the Amazon.
, best seller; to 1886.
, to 1884.
. 494 pp.
, examines TR and his family during the World War I period.
.
, 240 pp. TR in Africa & Europe, 1909–10
. 289 pp.
, 337 pp; TR's political thought and its significance for republican self-government.
Domestic policies
online review; another online review
Cutright, P.R. (1985) Theodore Roosevelt: The making of a Modern Conservationist (U of Illinois Press.)
.
, standard history of his domestic and foreign policy as president.
Bakari, Mohamed El-Kamel. "Mapping the 'Anthropocentric-ecocentric'Dualism in the History of American Presidency: The Good, the Bad, and the Ambivalent." Journal of Studies in Social Sciences 14, no. 2 (2016).
.
.
Redekop, Benjamin. (2015). "Embodying the Story: The Conservation Leadership of Theodore Roosevelt". Leadership (2015) DOI:10.1177/1742715014546875 online
.
.
Politics
. How TR did politics.
, 323 pp.
.
.
.
.
. 361 pp.
.
. Focus on 1912; online free
. online free
. Attacks TR policies from conservative/libertarian perspective.
Foreign policy, military and naval issues
. online
. excerpt
.
. 328 pp.
Kuehn, John T. "Theodore Roosevelt’s Naval Diplomacy: The U.S. Navy and the Birth of the American Century," Naval War College Review (2010) 53#3 online
Livermore, Seward W. "Theodore Roosevelt, the American Navy, and the Venezuelan Crisis of 1902-1903." American Historical Review 51.3 (1946): 452–471. online
.
.
Nester, William R. Theodore Roosevelt and the Art of American Power: An American for All Time. Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. excerpt
Neu, Charles E. "Theodore Roosevelt and American Involvement in the Far East, 1901-1909." Pacific Historical Review 35.4 (1966): 433–449. online
O'Gara, Gordon Carpenter. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of the Modern Navy. (Princeton UP, 1943). online
.
Oyos, Matthew M. In Command: Theodore Roosevelt and the American Military (2018) online review
Pietrusza, David (2018). TR's Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy
.
.
.
.
Thompson, John M. Great Power Rising: Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of US Foreign Policy (Oxford UP, 2019).
. 196 pp.
Turk, Richard W. The Ambiguous Relationship: Theodore Roosevelt and Alfred Thayer Mahan (1987) [https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/93/5/1413/70734 online review
Historiography
Cunliffe, Marcus. "Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States 1901–1908" History Today (Sept 1955) 4#9 pp. 592–601, online.
Ricard, Serge. "The State of Theodore Roosevelt Studies" H-Diplo Essay No. 116 24 October 2014 online
, excerpt and text search, 28 new essays by scholars; focus on historiography. online
Primary sources
Kohn, Edward P., ed. A Most Glorious Ride: The Diaries of Theodore Roosevelt, 1877–1886 (State University of New York Press, 2015), 284 pp.
; vol 2
.
, 20 vol.; 18,000 pages containing most of TR's speeches, books and essays, but not his letters; a CD-ROM edition is available; some of TR's books are available online through Project Bartleby
, Roosevelt's opinions on many issues; online version at Theodore Roosevelt.
, 8 vols. Very large collection. vol 1 1868–1898 online free
. online free
.
.
online free to borrow
.
.
.
External links
Official
White House biography
Organizations
Boone and Crockett Club
Theodore Roosevelt Association
Libraries and collections
Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University
Theodore Roosevelt Collection, at the Houghton Library, Harvard University
Julian L. Street Papers on Theodore Roosevelt, at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
Doris A. and Lawrence H. Budner Collection on Theodore Roosevelt at the DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University
Theodore Roosevelt's journalism at The Archive of American Journalism
Theodore Roosevelt American Museum of Natural History
Roosevelt Papers, at the Library of Congress
Guide to the Herbert R. Strauss Collection of Theodore Roosevelt Papers 1884–1919 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
Media
"Life Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, September 3, 1999
"Writings of Theodore Roosevelt" from C-SPAN's American Writers: A Journey Through History
Other
Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt: A Resource Guide – Library of Congress
1858 births
1919 deaths
1900s in the United States
Theodore
19th-century American politicians
19th-century American historians
19th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century presidents of the United States
20th-century vice presidents of the United States
American autobiographers
American conservationists
American essayists
American explorers
American fishers
American hunters
American male judoka
American male non-fiction writers
American military personnel of the Spanish–American War
American naval historians
American Nobel laureates
American political writers
American shooting survivors
Articles containing video clips
American bibliophiles
American people of Dutch descent
Bulloch family
Burials in New York (state)
Columbia Law School alumni
Deaths from pulmonary embolism
New York City Police Commissioners
English-language spelling reform advocates
Explorers of Amazonia
American Freemasons
Governors of New York (state)
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Harvard College alumni
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Members of the New York State Assembly
Military personnel from New York City
New York (state) Progressives (1912)
New York (state) Republicans
Nobel Peace Prize laureates
People associated with the American Museum of Natural History
People from Oyster Bay (town), New York
Politicians from New York City
Presidents of the American Historical Association
Presidents of the United States
Progressive Era in the United States
Ranchers from North Dakota
Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees
Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees
Republican Party presidents of the United States
Republican Party state governors of the United States
Republican Party vice presidents of the United States
Rough Riders
Schuyler family
Sons of the American Revolution
Spanish–American War recipients of the Medal of Honor
United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
United States Army officers
United States Assistant Secretaries of the Navy
Candidates in the 1904 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1912 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1916 United States presidential election
1900 United States vice-presidential candidates
Vice presidents of the United States
Writers from New York (state)
Harvard Advocate alumni
American diarists
American political party founders
Aphorists
American nationalists
20th-century American male writers | false | [
"Grow Up may refer to:\nAdvance in age\nProgress toward psychological maturity\nGrow Up (book), a 2007 book by Keith Allen\nGrow Up (video game), 2016 video game\n\nMusic\nGrow Up (Desperate Journalist album), 2017\nGrow Up (The Queers album), 1990\nGrow Up (Svoy album), 2011\nGrow Up, a 2015 EP by HALO\n\"Grow Up\" (Olly Murs song)\n\"Grow Up\" (Paramore song)\n\"Grow Up\" (Simple Plan song)\n\"Grow Up\", a song by Rockwell\n\"Grow Up\", a song from the Bratz album Rock Angelz\n\"Grow Up\", a song by Cher Lloyd from Sticks and Stones\n\nSee also\nGrowing Up (disambiguation)\nGrow Up, Tony Phillips, a 2013 film by Emily Hagins",
"\"When I Grow Up\" is the second single from Swedish recording artist Fever Ray's self-titled debut album, Fever Ray (2009).\n\nCritical reception\nPitchfork Media placed \"When I Grow Up\" at number 36 on the website's list of The Top 100 Tracks of 2009.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video for \"When I Grow Up\" was directed by Martin de Thurah. He said of the video's visual statement:\n\n\"That initial idea was something about something coming out of water—something which was about to take form – a state turning into something new. And a double headed creature not deciding which to turn. But the idea had to take a simpler form, to let the song grow by itself. I remembered a photo I took in Croatia two years ago, a swimming pool with its shining blue color in a grey foggy autumn landscape.\"\n\nThe video premiered on Fever Ray's YouTube channel on 19 February 2009. It has received over 12 million views as of March 2016.\n\n\"When I Grow Up\" was placed at number three on Spins list of The 20 Best Videos of 2009.\n\nTrack listings\niTunes single\n\"When I Grow Up\" – 4:31\n\"When I Grow Up\" (Håkan Lidbo's Encephalitis Remix) – 5:59\n\"When I Grow Up\" (D. Lissvik) – 4:28\n\"Memories from When I Grew Up (Remembered by The Subliminal Kid)\" – 16:41\n\"When I Grow Up\" (Van Rivers Dark Sails on the Horizon Mix) – 9:16\n\"When I Grow Up\" (We Grow Apart Vocal Version by Pär Grindvik) – 6:02\n\"When I Grow Up\" (We Grow Apart Inspiration - Take 2 - By Pär Grindvik) – 7:59\n\"When I Grow Up\" (Scuba's High Up Mix) – 6:17\n\"When I Grow Up\" (Scuba's Straight Down Mix) – 5:54\n\"When I Grow Up\" (Video) – 4:04\n\nSwedish 12\" single \nA1. \"When I Grow Up\" (Van Rivers Dark Sails on the Horizon Mix) – 9:10\nA2. \"When I Grow Up\" (D. Lissvik) – 4:28\nB1. \"Memories from When I Grew Up (Remembered by The Subliminal Kid)\" – 16:41\n\nUK promo CD single \n\"When I Grow Up\" (Edit) – 3:42\n\"When I Grow Up\" (D. Lissvik Radio Edit) – 3:19\n\nNominations\n\nAppearances in other media\nThe song was used as part of the soundtrack for the video game Pro Evolution Soccer 2011.\n\nReferences\n\n2009 singles\n2009 songs\nFever Ray songs\nSongs written by Karin Dreijer"
]
|
[
"Theodore Roosevelt",
"Early life and family",
"Where did he grow up?",
"at East 20th Street in New York City."
]
| C_39da91c6b83e45c9a3447a0282510521_1 | did he have siblings? | 2 | did Theodore Roosevelt have siblings? | Theodore Roosevelt | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at East 20th Street in New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister, Anna (nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother, Elliott, and a younger sister, Corinne. Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh, and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C.V.S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family. Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for display. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects". Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body. CANNOTANSWER | He was the second of four children born | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or his initials T. R., was an American politician, statesman, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He previously served as the 25th vice president under William McKinley from March to September 1901, and as the 33rd governor of New York from 1899 to 1900. Having assumed the presidency after McKinley's assassination, Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive policies.
Roosevelt was a sickly child with debilitating asthma but partly overcame his health problems by embracing a strenuous lifestyle. He integrated his exuberant personality, a vast range of interests and achievements into a "cowboy" persona defined by robust masculinity. He was home-schooled and began a lifelong naturalist avocation before attending Harvard. His book The Naval War of 1812 (1882) established his reputation as a learned historian and popular writer. Upon entering politics, he became the leader of the reform faction of Republicans in New York's state legislature. His wife and mother both died in the same night and he was psychologically devastated. He recuperated by buying and operating a cattle ranch in the Dakotas. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President William McKinley and in 1898 helped plan the highly successful naval war against Spain. He resigned to help form and lead the Rough Riders, a unit that fought the Spanish army in Cuba to great publicity. Returning a war hero, he was elected governor of New York in 1898. The New York state party leadership disliked his ambitious agenda and convinced McKinley to make Roosevelt his running mate in the 1900 election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously, and the McKinley–Roosevelt ticket won a landslide victory based on a platform of victory, peace and prosperity.
Roosevelt assumed the presidency at age 42 after McKinley was assassinated in September 1901. He remains the youngest person to become president of the United States. Roosevelt was a leader of the progressive movement and championed his "Square Deal" domestic policies, promising the average citizen fairness, breaking of trusts, regulation of railroads, and pure food and drugs. He prioritized conservation and established national parks, forests, and monuments intended to preserve the nation's natural resources. In foreign policy, he focused on Central America where he began construction of the Panama Canal. He expanded the Navy and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project American naval power. His successful efforts to broker the end of the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize. Roosevelt was elected to a full term in 1904 and continued to promote progressive policies. He groomed his close friend William Howard Taft to succeed him in the 1908 presidential election.
Roosevelt grew frustrated with Taft's brand of conservatism and belatedly tried to win the 1912 Republican nomination for president. He failed, walked out, and founded the Progressive Party. He ran in the 1912 presidential election and the split allowed the Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson to win the election. Following the defeat, Roosevelt led a two-year expedition to the Amazon basin where he nearly died of tropical disease. During World War I, he criticized Wilson for keeping the country out of the war; his offer to lead volunteers to France was rejected. He considered running for president again in 1920, but his health continued to deteriorate. He died in 1919. He is generally ranked in polls of historians and political scientists as one of the five best presidents.
Early life and family
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan, New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister (Anna, nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother (Elliott) and a younger sister (Corinne). Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C. V. S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill as well as a brother of Robert Roosevelt and James A. Roosevelt. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family.
Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for exhibition. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects".
Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body.
A 6-year-old Roosevelt witnessed the funeral procession of Abraham Lincoln from his grandfather's mansion in Union Square, New York City where he was photographed in the window along with his brother Elliott, as confirmed by wife Edith who was also present.
Education
Roosevelt was homeschooled, mostly by tutors and his parents. Biographer H. W. Brands argued that "The most obvious drawback to his home schooling was uneven coverage of the various areas of human knowledge." He was solid in geography and bright in history, biology, French, and German; however, he struggled in mathematics and the classical languages. When he entered Harvard College on September 27, 1876, his father advised: "Take care of your morals first, your health next, and finally your studies." His father's sudden death on February 9, 1878, devastated Roosevelt, but he eventually recovered and doubled his activities.
He did well in science, philosophy, and rhetoric courses but continued to struggle in Latin and Greek. He studied biology intently and was already an accomplished naturalist and a published ornithologist. He read prodigiously with an almost photographic memory. While at Harvard, Roosevelt participated in rowing and boxing; he was once runner-up in an intramural boxing tournament. Roosevelt was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi literary society (later the Fly Club), the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and the prestigious Porcellian Club; he was also an editor of The Harvard Advocate. In 1880, Roosevelt graduated Phi Beta Kappa (22nd of 177) from Harvard with an A.B. magna cum laude. Biographer Henry Pringle states:
After his father's death, Roosevelt had inherited $65,000 (), enough to live off comfortably for the rest of his life. Roosevelt gave up his earlier plan of studying natural science and instead decided to attend Columbia Law School, moving back into his family's home in New York City. Roosevelt was an able law student, but he often found law to be irrational. He spent much of his time writing a book on the War of 1812.
Determined to enter politics, Roosevelt began attending meetings at Morton Hall, the 59th Street headquarters of New York's 21st District Republican Association. Though Roosevelt's father had been a prominent member of the Republican Party, the younger Roosevelt made an unorthodox career choice for someone of his class, as most of Roosevelt's peers refrained from becoming too closely involved in politics. Roosevelt found allies in the local Republican Party, and he defeated an incumbent Republican state assemblyman closely tied to the political machine of Senator Roscoe Conkling. After his election victory, Roosevelt decided to drop out of law school, later saying, "I intended to be one of the governing class."
Naval history and strategy
While at Harvard, Roosevelt began a systematic study of the role played by the young United States Navy in the War of 1812. Assisted by two uncles, he scrutinized original source materials and official U.S. Navy records, ultimately publishing The Naval War of 1812 in 1882. The book contained drawings of individual and combined ship maneuvers, charts depicting the differences in iron throw weights of cannon shot between rival forces, and analyses of the differences and similarities between British and American leadership down to the ship-to-ship level. Upon release, The Naval War of 1812 was praised for its scholarship and style, and it remains a standard study of the war.
With the publication of The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 in 1890, Navy Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan was immediately hailed as the world's outstanding naval theorist by the leaders of Europe. Roosevelt paid very close attention to Mahan's emphasis that only a nation with the world's most powerful fleet could dominate the world's oceans, exert its diplomacy to the fullest, and defend its own borders. He incorporated Mahan's ideas into his views on naval strategy for the remainder of his career.
First marriage and widowerhood
In 1880, Roosevelt married socialite Alice Hathaway Lee. Their daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt, was born on February 12, 1884. Two days later, the new mother died of an undiagnosed case of kidney failure that had been masked by the pregnancy. In his diary, Roosevelt wrote a large 'X' on the page and then, "The light has gone out of my life." His mother, Mittie, had died of typhoid fever eleven hours earlier at 3:00 a.m., in the same house on 57th Street in Manhattan. Distraught, Roosevelt left baby Alice in the care of his sister Bamie while he grieved; he assumed custody of Alice when she was three.
After the deaths of his wife and mother, Roosevelt focused on his work, specifically by re-energizing a legislative investigation into corruption of the New York City government, which arose from a concurrent bill proposing that power be centralized in the mayor's office. For the rest of his life, he rarely spoke about his wife Alice and did not write about her in his autobiography.
Early political career
State Assemblyman
Roosevelt was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 21st D.) in 1882, 1883 and 1884. He immediately began making his mark, specifically in corporate corruption issues. He blocked a corrupt effort by financier Jay Gould to lower his taxes. Roosevelt exposed suspected collusion in the matter by Judge Theodore Westbrook, and argued for and received approval for an investigation to proceed, aiming for the impeachment of the judge. The investigation committee rejected impeachment, but Roosevelt had exposed the potential corruption in Albany, and thus assumed a high and positive political profile in multiple New York publications.
Roosevelt's anti-corruption efforts helped him win re-election in 1882 by a margin greater than two-to-one, an achievement made even more impressive by the fact that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Grover Cleveland won Roosevelt's district. With Conkling's Stalwart faction of the Republican Party in disarray following the assassination of President James Garfield, Roosevelt won election as the Republican party leader in the state assembly. He allied with Governor Cleveland to win passage of a civil service reform bill. Roosevelt won re-election a second time, and sought the office of Speaker of the New York State Assembly, but was defeated by Titus Sheard in a 41 to 29 vote of the GOP caucus. In his final term, Roosevelt served as Chairman of the Committee on Affairs of Cities; he wrote more bills than any other legislator.
Presidential election of 1884
With numerous presidential hopefuls to choose from, Roosevelt supported Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont, a colorless reformer. The state GOP preferred the incumbent president, New York City's Chester Arthur, who was known for passing the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. Arthur, at the time, was suffering from Bright's disease, unknown to the public, and out of duty he did not contest his own nomination. Roosevelt fought hard and succeeded in influencing the Manhattan delegates at the state convention in Utica. He then took control of the state convention, bargaining through the night and outmaneuvering the supporters of Arthur and James G. Blaine; he gained a national reputation as a key person in New York State.
Roosevelt attended the 1884 GOP National Convention in Chicago and gave a speech convincing delegates to nominate African American John R. Lynch, an Edmunds supporter, to be temporary chair. Roosevelt fought alongside the Mugwump reformers; however, Blaine, having gained support from Arthur's and Edmunds's delegates, won the nomination by 541 votes on the fourth ballot. In a crucial moment of his budding political career, Roosevelt resisted the demand of the Mugwumps that he bolt from Blaine. He bragged about his one small success: "We achieved a victory in getting up a combination to beat the Blaine nominee for temporary chairman... To do this needed a mixture of skill, boldness and energy... to get the different factions to come in... to defeat the common foe." He was also impressed by an invitation to speak before an audience of ten thousand, the largest crowd he had addressed up to that date. Having gotten a taste of national politics, Roosevelt felt less aspiration for advocacy on the state level; he then retired to his new "Chimney Butte Ranch" on the Little Missouri River. Roosevelt refused to join other Mugwumps in supporting Grover Cleveland, the governor of New York and the Democratic nominee in the general election. He debated the pros and cons of staying loyal with his political friend, Henry Cabot Lodge. After Blaine won the nomination, Roosevelt had carelessly said that he would give "hearty support to any decent Democrat". He distanced himself from the promise, saying that it had not been meant "for publication". When a reporter asked if he would support Blaine, Roosevelt replied, "That question I decline to answer. It is a subject I do not care to talk about." In the end, he realized that he had to support Blaine to maintain his role in the GOP, and he did so in a press release on July 19. Having lost the support of many reformers, Roosevelt decided to retire from politics and move to North Dakota.
Cattle rancher in Dakota
Roosevelt first visited the Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt bison. Exhilarated by the western lifestyle, and with the cattle business booming in the territory, Roosevelt invested $14,000 in hopes of becoming a prosperous cattle rancher. For the next several years, he shuttled between his home in New York and his ranch in Dakota.
Following the 1884 presidential election, Roosevelt built a ranch named Elkhorn, which was north of the boomtown of Medora, North Dakota. Roosevelt learned to ride western style, rope, and hunt on the banks of the Little Missouri. Though he earned the respect of the authentic cowboys, they were not overly impressed. However, he identified with the herdsman of history, a man he said possesses "few of the emasculated, milk-and-water moralities admired by the pseudo-philanthropists; but he does possess, to a very high degree, the stern, manly qualities that are invaluable to a nation". He reoriented, and began writing about frontier life for national magazines; he also published three books – Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, and The Wilderness Hunter.
Roosevelt brought his desire to address the common interests of citizens to the West. He successfully led efforts to organize ranchers to address problems of overgrazing and other shared concerns; his work resulted in the formation of the Little Missouri Stockmen's Association. He felt compelled to promote conservation and was able to form the Boone and Crockett Club, whose primary goal was the conservation of large game animals and their habitats. After the uniquely severe US winter of 1886–87 wiped out his herd of cattle and those of his competitors, and with it over half of his $80,000 investment, Roosevelt returned to the East. Though his finances suffered from the experience, Roosevelt's time in the West made it impossible to peg him as an ineffectual intellectual, a characterization that could have hampered his political career.
Second marriage
On December 2, 1886, Roosevelt married his childhood and family friend, Edith Kermit Carow. Roosevelt was deeply troubled that his second marriage had taken place so soon after the death of his first wife, and he faced resistance from his sisters. Nonetheless, the couple married at St George's, Hanover Square in London, England. The couple had five children: Theodore "Ted" III in 1887, Kermit in 1889, Ethel in 1891, Archibald in 1894, and Quentin in 1897. The couple also raised Roosevelt's daughter from his first marriage, Alice, who often clashed with her stepmother.
Reentering public life
Upon Roosevelt's return to New York in 1886, Republican leaders quickly approached him about running for mayor of New York City in the city's mayoral election. Roosevelt accepted the nomination despite having little hope of winning the race against United Labor Party candidate Henry George and Democratic candidate Abram Hewitt. Roosevelt campaigned hard for the position, but Hewitt won with 41% (90,552 votes), taking the votes of many Republicans who feared George's radical policies. George was held to 31% (68,110 votes), and Roosevelt took third place with 27% (60,435 votes). Fearing that his political career might never recover, Roosevelt turned his attention to writing The Winning of the West, a historical work tracking the westward movement of Americans; the book was a great success for Roosevelt, earning favorable reviews and selling numerous copies.
Civil Service Commission
After Benjamin Harrison unexpectedly defeated Blaine for the presidential nomination at the 1888 Republican National Convention, Roosevelt gave stump speeches in the Midwest in support of Harrison. On the insistence of Henry Cabot Lodge, President Harrison appointed Roosevelt to the United States Civil Service Commission, where he served until 1895. While many of his predecessors had approached the office as a sinecure, Roosevelt vigorously fought the spoilsmen and demanded enforcement of civil service laws. The New York Sun then described Roosevelt as "irrepressible, belligerent, and enthusiastic". Roosevelt frequently clashed with Postmaster General John Wanamaker, who handed out numerous patronage positions to Harrison supporters, and Roosevelt's attempt to force out several postal workers damaged Harrison politically. Despite Roosevelt's support for Harrison's reelection bid in the presidential election of 1892, the eventual winner, Grover Cleveland, reappointed him to the same post. Roosevelt's close friend and biographer, Joseph Bucklin Bishop, described his assault on the spoils system:
New York City Police Commissioner
In 1894, a group of reform Republicans approached Roosevelt about running for Mayor of New York again; he declined, mostly due to his wife's resistance to being removed from the Washington social set. Soon after he declined, he realized that he had missed an opportunity to reinvigorate a dormant political career. He retreated to the Dakotas for a time; his wife Edith regretted her role in the decision and vowed that there would be no repeat of it.
William Lafayette Strong, a reform-minded Republican, won the 1894 mayoral election and offered Roosevelt a position on the board of the New York City Police Commissioners. Roosevelt became president of the board of commissioners and radically reformed the police force. Roosevelt implemented regular inspections of firearms and annual physical exams, appointed recruits based on their physical and mental qualifications rather than political affiliation, established Meritorious Service Medals, and closed corrupt police hostelries. During his tenure, a Municipal Lodging House was established by the Board of Charities, and Roosevelt required officers to register with the Board; he also had telephones installed in station houses.
In 1894, Roosevelt met Jacob Riis, the muckraking Evening Sun newspaper journalist who was opening the eyes of New Yorkers to the terrible conditions of the city's millions of poor immigrants with such books as How the Other Half Lives. Riis described how his book affected Roosevelt:
Roosevelt made a habit of walking officers' beats late at night and early in the morning to make sure that they were on duty. He made a concerted effort to uniformly enforce New York's Sunday closing law; in this, he ran up against boss Tom Platt as well as Tammany Hall—he was notified that the Police Commission was being legislated out of existence. His crackdowns led to protests and demonstrations. Invited to one large demonstration, not only did he surprisingly accept, he delighted in the insults, caricatures and lampoons directed at him, and earned some surprising good will. Roosevelt chose to defer rather than split with his party. As Governor of New York State, he would later sign an act replacing the Police Commission with a single Police Commissioner.
Emergence as a national figure
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
In the 1896 presidential election, Roosevelt backed Speaker of the House Thomas Brackett Reed for the Republican nomination, but William McKinley won the nomination and defeated William Jennings Bryan in the general election. Roosevelt opposed Bryan's free silver platform, viewing many of Bryan's followers as dangerous fanatics, and Roosevelt gave campaign speeches for McKinley. Urged by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, President McKinley appointed Roosevelt as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897. Secretary of the Navy John D. Long was more concerned about formalities than functions, was in poor health, and left many major decisions to Roosevelt. Influenced by Alfred Thayer Mahan, Roosevelt called for a build-up in the country's naval strength, particularly the construction of battleships. Roosevelt also began pressing his national security views regarding the Pacific and the Caribbean on McKinley, and was particularly adamant that Spain be ejected from Cuba. He explained his priorities to one of the Navy's planners in late 1897:
On February 15, 1898, , an armored cruiser, exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, killing hundreds of crew members. While Roosevelt and many other Americans blamed Spain for the explosion, McKinley sought a diplomatic solution. Without approval from Long or McKinley, Roosevelt sent out orders to several naval vessels, directing them to prepare for war. George Dewey, who had received an appointment to lead the Asiatic Squadron with the backing of Roosevelt, later credited his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay to Roosevelt's orders. After finally giving up hope of a peaceful solution, McKinley asked Congress to declare war upon Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War.
War in Cuba
With the beginning of the Spanish–American War in late April 1898, Roosevelt resigned from his post as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Along with Army Colonel Leonard Wood, he formed the First US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. His wife and many of his friends begged Roosevelt to remain in his post in Washington, but Roosevelt was determined to see battle. When the newspapers reported the formation of the new regiment, Roosevelt and Wood were flooded with applications from all over the country. Referred to by the press as the "Rough Riders", the regiment was one of many temporary units active only for the duration of the war.
The regiment trained for several weeks in San Antonio, Texas, and in his autobiography, Roosevelt wrote that his prior experience with the New York National Guard had been invaluable, in that it enabled him to immediately begin teaching his men basic soldiering skills. The Rough Riders used some standard issue gear and some of their own design, purchased with gift money. Diversity characterized the regiment, which included Ivy Leaguers, professional and amateur athletes, upscale gentlemen, cowboys, frontiersmen, Native Americans, hunters, miners, prospectors, former soldiers, tradesmen, and sheriffs. The Rough Riders were part of the cavalry division commanded by former Confederate general Joseph Wheeler, which itself was one of three divisions in the V Corps under Lieutenant General William Rufus Shafter. Roosevelt and his men landed in Daiquirí, Cuba, on June 23, 1898, and marched to Siboney. Wheeler sent parts of the 1st and 10th Regular Cavalry on the lower road northwest and sent the "Rough Riders" on the parallel road running along a ridge up from the beach. To throw off his infantry rival, Wheeler left one regiment of his Cavalry Division, the 9th, at Siboney so that he could claim that his move north was only a limited reconnaissance if things went wrong. Roosevelt was promoted to colonel and took command of the regiment when Wood was put in command of the brigade. The Rough Riders had a short, minor skirmish known as the Battle of Las Guasimas; they fought their way through Spanish resistance and, together with the Regulars, forced the Spaniards to abandon their positions.
Under his leadership, the Rough Riders became famous for the charge up Kettle Hill on July 1, 1898, while supporting the regulars. Roosevelt had the only horse, and rode back and forth between rifle pits at the forefront of the advance up Kettle Hill, an advance that he urged despite the absence of any orders from superiors. He was forced to walk up the last part of Kettle Hill because his horse had been entangled in barbed wire. The victories came at a cost of 200 killed and 1,000 wounded.
In August, Roosevelt and other officers demanded that the soldiers be returned home. Roosevelt always recalled the Battle of Kettle Hill (part of the San Juan Heights) as "the great day of my life" and "my crowded hour". In 2001, Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions; he had been nominated during the war, but Army officials, annoyed at his grabbing the headlines, blocked it. After returning to civilian life, Roosevelt preferred to be known as "Colonel Roosevelt" or "The Colonel", though "Teddy" remained much more popular with the public, even though Roosevelt openly despised that moniker. Men working closely with Roosevelt customarily called him "Colonel" or "Theodore". Henceforth, political cartoons of Roosevelt usually depicted him in his Rough Rider garb.
Governor of New York
After leaving Cuba in August 1898, the Rough Riders were transported to a camp at Montauk Point, Long Island, where Roosevelt and his men were briefly quarantined due to the War Department's fear of spreading yellow fever. Shortly after Roosevelt's return to the United States, Republican Congressman Lemuel E. Quigg, a lieutenant of party boss Tom Platt, asked Roosevelt to run in the 1898 gubernatorial election. Platt disliked Roosevelt personally, feared that Roosevelt would oppose Platt's interests in office, and was reluctant to propel Roosevelt to the forefront of national politics. However, Platt also needed a strong candidate due to the unpopularity of the incumbent Republican governor, Frank S. Black, and Roosevelt agreed to become the nominee and to try not to "make war" with the Republican establishment once in office. Roosevelt defeated Black in the Republican caucus by a vote of 753 to 218, and faced Democrat Augustus Van Wyck, a well-respected judge, in the general election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously on his war record, winning the election by a margin of just one percent.
As governor, Roosevelt learned much about ongoing economic issues and political techniques that later proved valuable in his presidency. He was exposed to the problems of trusts, monopolies, labor relations, and conservation. Chessman argues that Roosevelt's program "rested firmly upon the concept of the square deal by a neutral state". The rules for the Square Deal were "honesty in public affairs, an equitable sharing of privilege and responsibility, and subordination of party and local concerns to the interests of the state at large".
By holding twice-daily press conferences—which was an innovation—Roosevelt remained connected with his middle-class political base. Roosevelt successfully pushed the Ford Franchise-Tax bill, which taxed public franchises granted by the state and controlled by corporations, declaring that "a corporation which derives its powers from the State, should pay to the State a just percentage of its earnings as a return for the privileges it enjoys". He rejected "boss" Thomas C. Platt's worries that this approached Bryanite Socialism, explaining that without it, New York voters might get angry and adopt public ownership of streetcar lines and other franchises.
The New York state government affected many interests, and the power to make appointments to policy-making positions was a key role for the governor. Platt insisted that he be consulted on major appointments; Roosevelt appeared to comply, but then made his own decisions. Historians marvel that Roosevelt managed to appoint so many first-rate men with Platt's approval. He even enlisted Platt's help in securing reform, such as in the spring of 1899, when Platt pressured state senators to vote for a civil service bill that the secretary of the Civil Service Reform Association called "superior to any civil service statute heretofore secured in America".
Chessman argues that as governor, Roosevelt developed the principles that shaped his presidency, especially insistence upon the public responsibility of large corporations, publicity as a first remedy for trusts, regulation of railroad rates, mediation of the conflict of capital and labor, conservation of natural resources and protection of the less fortunate members of society. Roosevelt sought to position himself against the excesses of large corporations on the one hand and radical movements on the other.
As the chief executive of the most populous state in the union, Roosevelt was widely considered a potential future presidential candidate, and supporters such as William Allen White encouraged him to run for president. Roosevelt had no interest in challenging McKinley for the Republican nomination in 1900, and was denied his preferred post of Secretary of War. As his term progressed, Roosevelt pondered a 1904 presidential run, but was uncertain about whether he should seek re-election as governor in 1900.
Vice Presidency (1901)
In November 1899, Vice President Garret Hobart died of heart failure, leaving an open spot on the 1900 Republican national ticket. Though Henry Cabot Lodge and others urged him to run for vice president in 1900, Roosevelt was reluctant to take the powerless position and issued a public statement saying that he would not accept the nomination. Additionally, Roosevelt was informed by President McKinley and campaign manager Mark Hanna that he was not being considered for the role of vice president due to his actions prior to the Spanish–American War. Eager to be rid of Roosevelt, Platt nonetheless began a newspaper campaign in favor of Roosevelt's nomination for the vice presidency. Roosevelt attended the 1900 Republican National Convention as a state delegate and struck a bargain with Platt: Roosevelt would accept the nomination for vice president if the convention offered it to him, but would otherwise serve another term as governor. Platt asked Pennsylvania party boss Matthew Quay to lead the campaign for Roosevelt's nomination, and Quay outmaneuvered Hanna at the convention to put Roosevelt on the ticket. Roosevelt won the nomination unanimously.
Roosevelt's vice-presidential campaigning proved highly energetic and an equal match for Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan's famous barnstorming style of campaigning. In a whirlwind campaign that displayed his energy to the public, Roosevelt made 480 stops in 23 states. He denounced the radicalism of Bryan, contrasting it with the heroism of the soldiers and sailors who fought and won the war against Spain. Bryan had strongly supported the war itself, but he denounced the annexation of the Philippines as imperialism, which would spoil America's innocence. Roosevelt countered that it was best for the Filipinos to have stability and the Americans to have a proud place in the world. With the nation basking in peace and prosperity, the voters gave McKinley an even larger victory than that which he had achieved in 1896.
After the campaign, Roosevelt took office as vice president in March 1901. The office of vice president was a powerless sinecure and did not suit Roosevelt's aggressive temperament. Roosevelt's six months as vice president were uneventful and boring for a man of action. He had no power; he presided over the Senate for a mere four days before it adjourned. On September 2, 1901, Roosevelt first publicized an aphorism that thrilled his supporters: "Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far."
Presidency (1901–1909)
On September 6, 1901, President McKinley was attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York when he was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Roosevelt was vacationing in Isle La Motte, Vermont, and traveled to Buffalo to visit McKinley in the hospital. It appeared that McKinley would recover, so Roosevelt resumed his vacation in the Adirondack Mountains. When McKinley's condition worsened, Roosevelt again rushed back to Buffalo. McKinley died on September 14, and Roosevelt was informed while he was in North Creek; he continued on to Buffalo and was sworn in as the nation's 26th president at the Ansley Wilcox House.
McKinley's supporters were nervous about the new president, and Hanna was particularly bitter that the man he had opposed so vigorously at the convention had succeeded McKinley. Roosevelt assured party leaders that he intended to adhere to McKinley's policies, and he retained McKinley's Cabinet. Nonetheless, Roosevelt sought to position himself as the party's undisputed leader, seeking to bolster the role of the president and position himself for the 1904 election. The vice presidency remained vacant, as there was no constitutional provision for filling an intra-term vacancy in that office (prior to the 25th Amendment in 1967).
Shortly after taking office, Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House. This sparked a bitter, and at times vicious, reaction among whites across the heavily segregated South. Roosevelt reacted with astonishment and protest, saying that he looked forward to many future dinners with Washington. Upon further reflection, Roosevelt wanted to ensure that this had no effect on political support in the white South, and further dinner invitations to Washington were avoided; their next meeting was scheduled as typical business at 10:00 a.m. instead.
Domestic policies
Trust busting and regulation
For his aggressive use of the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act, compared to his predecessors, Roosevelt was hailed as the "trust-buster"; but in reality he was more of a trust regulator. Roosevelt viewed big business as a necessary part of the American economy, and sought only to prosecute the "bad trusts" that restrained trade and charged unfair prices. He brought 44 antitrust suits, breaking up the Northern Securities Company, the largest railroad monopoly; and regulating Standard Oil, the largest oil company. Presidents Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley combined had prosecuted only 18 antitrust violations under the Sherman Antitrust Act.
Bolstered by his party's winning large majorities in the 1902 elections, Roosevelt proposed the creation of the United States Department of Commerce and Labor, which would include the Bureau of Corporations. While Congress was receptive to the Department of Commerce and Labor, it was more skeptical of the antitrust powers that Roosevelt sought to endow within the Bureau of Corporations. Roosevelt successfully appealed to the public to pressure Congress, and Congress overwhelmingly voted to pass Roosevelt's version of the bill.
In a moment of frustration, House Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon commented on Roosevelt's desire for executive branch control in domestic policy-making: "That fellow at the other end of the avenue wants everything from the birth of Christ to the death of the devil." Biographer Brands states, "Even his friends occasionally wondered whether there wasn't any custom or practice too minor for him to try to regulate, update or otherwise improve." In fact, Roosevelt's willingness to exercise his power included attempted rule changes in the game of football; at the Naval Academy, he sought to force retention of martial arts classes and to revise disciplinary rules. He even ordered changes made in the minting of a coin whose design he disliked, and ordered the Government Printing Office to adopt simplified spellings for a core list of 300 words, according to reformers on the Simplified Spelling Board. He was forced to rescind the latter after substantial ridicule from the press and a resolution of protest from the House of Representatives.
Coal strike
In May 1902, anthracite coal miners went on strike, threatening a national energy shortage. After threatening the coal operators with intervention by federal troops, Roosevelt won their agreement to dispute arbitration by a commission, which succeeded in stopping the strike. The accord with J. P. Morgan resulted in the miners getting more pay for fewer hours, but with no union recognition. Roosevelt said, "My action on labor should always be considered in connection with my action as regards capital, and both are reducible to my favorite formula—a square deal for every man." Roosevelt was the first president to help settle a labor dispute.
Prosecuted misconduct
During Roosevelt's second year in office it was discovered there was corruption in the Indian Service, the Land Office, and the Post Office Department. Roosevelt investigated and prosecuted corrupt Indian agents who had cheated the Creeks and various tribes out of land parcels. Land fraud and speculation were found involving Oregon federal timberlands. In November 1902, Roosevelt and Secretary Ethan A. Hitchcock forced Binger Hermann, the General Land Office Commissioner, to resign from office. On November 6, 1903 Francis J. Heney was appointed special prosecutor and obtained 146 indictments involving an Oregon Land Office bribery ring. U.S. Senator John H. Mitchell was indicted for bribery to expedite illegal land patents, found guilty in July 1905, and sentenced to six months in prison. More corruption was found in the Postal Department, that brought on the indictments of 44 government employees on charges of bribery and fraud. Historians generally agree that Roosevelt moved "quickly and decisively" to prosecute misconduct in his administration.
Railroads
Merchants complained that some railroad rates were too high. In the 1906 Hepburn Act, Roosevelt sought to give the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to regulate rates, but the Senate, led by conservative Nelson Aldrich, fought back. Roosevelt worked with the Democratic Senator Benjamin Tillman to pass the bill. Roosevelt and Aldrich ultimately reached a compromise that gave the ICC the power to replace existing rates with "just-and-reasonable" maximum rates, but allowed railroads to appeal to the federal courts on what was "reasonable". In addition to rate-setting, the Hepburn Act also granted the ICC regulatory power over pipeline fees, storage contracts, and several other aspects of railroad operations.
Pure food and drugs
Roosevelt responded to public anger over the abuses in the food packing industry by pushing Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act. Though conservatives initially opposed the bill, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, published in 1906, helped galvanize support for reform. The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 banned misleading labels and preservatives that contained harmful chemicals. The Pure Food and Drug Act banned food and drugs that were impure or falsely labeled from being made, sold, and shipped. Roosevelt also served as honorary president of the American School Hygiene Association from 1907 to 1908, and in 1909 he convened the first White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children.
Conservation
Of all Roosevelt's achievements, he was proudest of his work in the conservation of natural resources and extending federal protection to land and wildlife. Roosevelt worked closely with Interior Secretary James Rudolph Garfield and Chief of the United States Forest Service Gifford Pinchot to enact a series of conservation programs that often met with resistance from Western members of Congress, such as Charles William Fulton. Nonetheless, Roosevelt established the United States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of five National Parks, and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 new U.S. National Monuments. He also established the first 51 bird reserves, four game preserves, and 150 National Forests. The area of the United States that he placed under public protection totals approximately .
Roosevelt extensively used executive orders on a number of occasions to protect forest and wildlife lands during his tenure as president. By the end of his second term in office, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish of reserved forestry land. Roosevelt was unapologetic about his extensive use of executive orders to protect the environment, despite the perception in Congress that he was encroaching on too many lands. Eventually, Senator Charles Fulton (R-OR) attached an amendment to an agricultural appropriations bill that effectively prevented the president from reserving any further land. Before signing that bill into law, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish an additional 21 forest reserves, waiting until the last minute to sign the bill into law. In total, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish 121 forest reserves in 31 states. Prior to Roosevelt, only one president had issued over 200 executive orders, Grover Cleveland (253). The first 25 presidents issued a total of 1,262 executive orders; Roosevelt issued 1,081.
Foreign policy
Japan
The American annexation of Hawaii in 1898 was stimulated in part by fear that otherwise Japan would dominate the Hawaiian Republic. Similarly, Germany was the alternative to American takeover of the Philippines in 1900, and Tokyo strongly preferred the U.S. to take over. As the U.S. became a naval world power, it needed to find a way to avoid a military confrontation in the Pacific with Japan.
In the 1890s, Roosevelt had been an ardent imperialist and vigorously defended the permanent acquisition of the Philippines in the 1900 campaign. After the local insurrection ended in 1902, he largely lost his imperialist interest in the Philippines and Asian expansion but wished to have a strong U.S. presence in the region as a symbol of democratic values. One of Theodore Roosevelt's priorities during his presidency and afterwards, was the maintenance of friendly relations with Japan. From 1904 to 1905 Japan and Russia were at war. Roosevelt admired the martial courage of the Japanese, and distrusted the reckless German Kaiser. Both sides asked Roosevelt to mediate a peace conference, held successfully in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
In California, anti-Japanese hostility was growing, and Tokyo protested. Roosevelt negotiated a "Gentleman's Agreement" in 1907. Explicit discrimination against the Japanese was ended, and Japan agreed not to allow unskilled immigrants into the United States. The Great White Fleet of American battleships visited Japan in 1908. Pulitzer prize-winning biographer Henry Pringle states that the great voyage was "the direct result of the Japanese trouble." Roosevelt intended to emphasize the superiority of the American fleet over the smaller Japanese navy, but instead of resentment the visitors arrived to a joyous welcome by Japanese elite as well as the general public. This good-will facilitated the Root–Takahira Agreement of November 1908 which reaffirmed the status quo of Japanese control of Korea and American control of the Philippines.
Europe
Success in the war against Spain and the new empire, plus having the largest economy in the world, meant that the United States had emerged as a world power. Roosevelt searched for ways to win recognition for the position abroad.
Roosevelt also played a major role in mediating the First Moroccan Crisis by calling the Algeciras Conference, which averted war between France and Germany.
Roosevelt's presidency saw the strengthening of ties with Great Britain. The Great Rapprochement had begun with British support of the United States during the Spanish–American War, and it continued as Britain withdrew its fleet from the Caribbean in favor of focusing on the rising German naval threat. In 1901, Britain and the United States signed the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, abrogating the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty, which had prevented the United States from constructing a canal connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. The long-standing Alaska boundary dispute was settled on terms favorable to the United States, as Great Britain was unwilling to alienate the United States over what it considered to be a secondary issue. As Roosevelt later put it, the resolution of the Alaskan boundary dispute "settled the last serious trouble between the British Empire and ourselves."
Latin America and Panama Canal
As president, he primarily focused the nation's overseas ambitions on the Caribbean, especially locations that had a bearing on the defense of his pet project, the Panama Canal. Roosevelt also increased the size of the navy, and by the end of his second term the United States had more battleships than any other country besides Britain. The Panama Canal when it opened in 1914 allowed the U.S. Navy to rapidly move back and forth from the Pacific to the Caribbean to European waters.
In December 1902, the Germans, British, and Italians blockaded the ports of Venezuela in order to force the repayment of delinquent loans. Roosevelt was particularly concerned with the motives of German Emperor Wilhelm II. He succeeded in getting the three nations to agree to arbitration by tribunal at The Hague, and successfully defused the crisis. The latitude granted to the Europeans by the arbiters was in part responsible for the "Roosevelt Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which the President issued in 1904: "Chronic wrongdoing or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere, the adherence of the United States to the Monroe doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power."
The pursuit of an isthmus canal in Central America during this period focused on two possible routes—Nicaragua and Panama, which was then a rebellious district within Colombia. Roosevelt convinced Congress to approve the Panamanian alternative, and a treaty was approved, only to be rejected by the Colombian government. When the Panamanians learned of this, a rebellion followed, was supported by Roosevelt, and succeeded. A treaty with the new Panama government for construction of the canal was then reached in 1903. Roosevelt received criticism for paying the bankrupt Panama Canal Company and the New Panama Canal Company $40,000,000 (equivalent to $ billion in ) for the rights and equipment to build the canal. Critics charged that an American investor syndicate allegedly divided the large payment among themselves. There was also controversy over whether a French company engineer influenced Roosevelt in choosing the Panama route for the canal over the Nicaragua route. Roosevelt denied charges of corruption concerning the canal in a January 8, 1906 message to Congress. In January 1909, Roosevelt, in an unprecedented move, brought criminal libel charges against the New York World and the Indianapolis News known as the "Roosevelt-Panama Libel Cases". Both cases were dismissed by U.S. District Courts, and on January 3, 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court, upon federal appeal, upheld the lower courts' rulings. Historians are sharply critical of Roosevelt's criminal prosecutions of the World and the News, but are divided on whether actual corruption in acquiring and building the Panama Canal took place.
In 1906, following a disputed election, an insurrection ensued in Cuba; Roosevelt sent Taft, the Secretary of War, to monitor the situation; he was convinced that he had the authority to unilaterally authorize Taft to deploy Marines if necessary, without congressional approval.
Examining the work of numerous scholars, Ricard (2014) reports that:
The most striking evolution in the twenty-first-century historiography of Theodore Roosevelt is the switch from a partial arraignment of the imperialist to a quasi-unanimous celebration of the master diplomatist.... [Recent works] have underlined cogently Roosevelt's exceptional statesmanship in the construction of the nascent twentieth-century "special relationship". ...The twenty-sixth president's reputation as a brilliant diplomatist and realpolitician has undeniably reached new heights in the twenty-first century...yet, his Philippine policy still prompts criticism.
Media
Building on McKinley's effective use of the press, Roosevelt made the White House the center of news every day, providing interviews and photo opportunities. After noticing the reporters huddled outside the White House in the rain one day, he gave them their own room inside, effectively inventing the presidential press briefing. The grateful press, with unprecedented access to the White House, rewarded Roosevelt with ample coverage.
Roosevelt normally enjoyed very close relationships with the press, which he used to keep in daily contact with his middle-class base. While out of office, he made a living as a writer and magazine editor. He loved talking with intellectuals, authors, and writers. He drew the line, however, at exposé-oriented scandal-mongering journalists who, during his term, sent magazine subscriptions soaring by their attacks on corrupt politicians, mayors, and corporations. Roosevelt himself was not usually a target, but a speech of his from 1906 coined the term "muckraker" for unscrupulous journalists making wild charges. "The liar", he said, "is no whit better than the thief, and if his mendacity takes the form of slander he may be worse than most thieves."
The press did briefly target Roosevelt in one instance. After 1904, he was periodically criticized for the manner in which he facilitated the construction of the Panama Canal. According to biographer Brands, Roosevelt, near the end of his term, demanded that the Justice Department bring charges of criminal libel against Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. The publication had accused him of "deliberate misstatements of fact" in defense of family members who were criticized as a result of the Panama affair. Though an indictment was obtained, the case was ultimately dismissed in federal court—it was not a federal offense, but one enforceable in state courts. The Justice Department had predicted that result, and had also advised Roosevelt accordingly.
Election of 1904
The control and management of the Republican Party lay in the hands of Ohio Senator and Republican Party chairman Mark Hanna until McKinley's death. Roosevelt and Hanna frequently cooperated during Roosevelt's first term, but Hanna left open the possibility of a challenge to Roosevelt for the 1904 Republican nomination. Roosevelt and Ohio's other Senator, Joseph B. Foraker, forced Hanna's hand by calling for Ohio's state Republican convention to endorse Roosevelt for the 1904 nomination. Unwilling to break with the president, Hanna was forced to publicly endorse Roosevelt. Hanna and Pennsylvania Senator Matthew Quay both died in early 1904, and with the waning of Thomas Platt's power, Roosevelt faced little effective opposition for the 1904 nomination. In deference to Hanna's conservative loyalists, Roosevelt at first offered the party chairmanship to Cornelius Bliss, but he declined. Roosevelt turned to his own man, George B. Cortelyou of New York, the first Secretary of Commerce and Labor. To buttress his hold on the party's nomination, Roosevelt made it clear that anyone opposing Cortelyou would be considered to be opposing the President. The President secured his own nomination, but his preferred vice-presidential running mate, Robert R. Hitt, was not nominated. Senator Charles Warren Fairbanks of Indiana, a favorite of conservatives, gained the nomination.
While Roosevelt followed the tradition of incumbents in not actively campaigning on the stump, he sought to control the campaign's message through specific instructions to Cortelyou. He also attempted to manage the press's release of White House statements by forming the Ananias Club. Any journalist who repeated a statement made by the president without approval was penalized by restriction of further access.
The Democratic Party's nominee in 1904 was Alton Brooks Parker. Democratic newspapers charged that Republicans were extorting large campaign contributions from corporations, putting ultimate responsibility on Roosevelt, himself. Roosevelt denied corruption while at the same time he ordered Cortelyou to return $100,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) of a campaign contribution from Standard Oil. Parker said that Roosevelt was accepting corporate donations to keep damaging information from the Bureau of Corporations from going public. Roosevelt strongly denied Parker's charge and responded that he would "go into the Presidency unhampered by any pledge, promise, or understanding of any kind, sort, or description...". Allegations from Parker and the Democrats, however, had little impact on the election, as Roosevelt promised to give every American a "square deal". Roosevelt won 56% of the popular vote, and Parker received 38%; Roosevelt also won the Electoral College vote, 336 to 140. Before his inauguration ceremony, Roosevelt declared that he would not serve another term. Democrats afterwards would continue to charge Roosevelt and the Republicans of being influenced by corporate donations during Roosevelt's second term.
Second term
As his second term progressed, Roosevelt moved to the left of his Republican Party base and called for a series of reforms, most of which Congress failed to pass. In his last year in office, he was assisted by his friend Archibald Butt (who later perished in the sinking of RMS Titanic). Roosevelt's influence waned as he approached the end of his second term, as his promise to forego a third term made him a lame duck and his concentration of power provoked a backlash from many Congressmen. He sought a national incorporation law (at a time when all corporations had state charters), called for a federal income tax (despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.), and an inheritance tax. In the area of labor legislation, Roosevelt called for limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes; injunctions were a powerful weapon that mostly helped business. He wanted an employee liability law for industrial injuries (pre-empting state laws) and an eight-hour work day for federal employees. In other areas he also sought a postal savings system (to provide competition for local banks), and he asked for campaign reform laws.
The election of 1904 continued to be a source of contention between Republicans and Democrats. A Congressional investigation in 1905 revealed that corporate executives donated tens of thousands of dollars in 1904 to the Republican National Committee. In 1908, a month before the general presidential election, Governor Charles N. Haskell of Oklahoma, former Democratic Treasurer, said that Senators beholden to Standard Oil lobbied Roosevelt, in the summer of 1904, to authorize the leasing of Indian oil lands by Standard Oil subsidiaries. He said Roosevelt overruled his Secretary of Interior Ethan A. Hitchcock and granted a pipeline franchise to run through the Osage lands to the Prairie Oil and Gas Company. The New York Sun made a similar accusation and said that Standard Oil, a refinery who financially benefited from the pipeline, had contributed $150,000 to the Republicans in 1904 (equivalent to $ million in ) after Roosevelt's alleged reversal allowing the pipeline franchise. Roosevelt branded Haskell's allegation as "a lie, pure and simple" and obtained a denial from Treasury Secretary Shaw that Roosevelt had neither coerced Shaw nor overruled him.
Post-presidency (1909–1919)
Election of 1908
Roosevelt enjoyed being president and was still relatively youthful, but felt that a limited number of terms provided a check against dictatorship. Roosevelt ultimately decided to stick to his 1904 pledge not to run for a third term. He personally favored Secretary of State Elihu Root as his successor, but Root's ill health made him an unsuitable candidate. New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes loomed as a potentially strong candidate and shared Roosevelt's progressivism, but Roosevelt disliked him and considered him to be too independent. Instead, Roosevelt settled on his Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, who had ably served under Presidents Harrison, McKinley, and Roosevelt in various positions. Roosevelt and Taft had been friends since 1890, and Taft had consistently supported President Roosevelt's policies. Roosevelt was determined to install the successor of his choice, and wrote the following to Taft: "Dear Will: Do you want any action about those federal officials? I will break their necks with the utmost cheerfulness if you say the word!". Just weeks later he branded as "false and malicious" the charge that he was using the offices at his disposal to favor Taft. At the 1908 Republican convention, many chanted for "four years more" of a Roosevelt presidency, but Taft won the nomination after Henry Cabot Lodge made it clear that Roosevelt was not interested in a third term.
In the 1908 election, Taft easily defeated the Democratic nominee, three-time candidate William Jennings Bryan. Taft promoted a progressivism that stressed the rule of law; he preferred that judges rather than administrators or politicians make the basic decisions about fairness. Taft usually proved to be a less adroit politician than Roosevelt and lacked the energy and personal magnetism, along with the publicity devices, the dedicated supporters, and the broad base of public support that made Roosevelt so formidable. When Roosevelt realized that lowering the tariff would risk creating severe tensions inside the Republican Party by pitting producers (manufacturers and farmers) against merchants and consumers, he stopped talking about the issue. Taft ignored the risks and tackled the tariff boldly, encouraging reformers to fight for lower rates, and then cutting deals with conservative leaders that kept overall rates high. The resulting Payne-Aldrich tariff of 1909, signed into law early in President Taft's tenure, was too high for most reformers, and Taft's handling of the tariff alienated all sides. While the crisis was building inside the Party, Roosevelt was touring Africa and Europe, to allow Taft to be his own man.
Africa and Europe (1909–1910)
In March 1909, shortly after the end of his presidency, Roosevelt left New York for the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition, a safari in east and central Africa. Roosevelt's party landed in Mombasa, East Africa (now Kenya) and traveled to the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) before following the Nile to Khartoum in modern Sudan. Financed by Andrew Carnegie and by his own writings, Roosevelt's party hunted for specimens for the Smithsonian Institution and for the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The group, led by the hunter-tracker RJ Cunninghame, included scientists from the Smithsonian, and was joined from time to time by Frederick Selous, the famous big game hunter and explorer. Participants on the expedition included Kermit Roosevelt, Edgar Alexander Mearns, Edmund Heller, and John Alden Loring.
Roosevelt and his companions killed or trapped approximately 11,400 animals, from insects and moles to hippopotamuses and elephants. The 1,000 large animals included 512 big game animals, including six rare white rhinos. Tons of salted animals and their skins were shipped to Washington; it took years to mount them all, and the Smithsonian shared many duplicate specimens with other museums. Regarding the large number of animals taken, Roosevelt said, "I can be condemned only if the existence of the National Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and all similar zoological institutions are to be condemned". He wrote a detailed account of the safari in the book African Game Trails, recounting the excitement of the chase, the people he met, and the flora and fauna he collected in the name of science.
After his safari, Roosevelt traveled north to embark on a tour of Europe. Stopping first in Egypt, he commented favorably on British rule of the region, giving his opinion that Egypt was not yet ready for independence. He refused a meeting with the Pope due to a dispute over a group of Methodists active in Rome, but met with Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King George V of Great Britain, and other European leaders. In Oslo, Norway, Roosevelt delivered a speech calling for limitations on naval armaments, a strengthening of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and the creation of a "League of Peace" among the world powers. He also delivered the Romanes Lecture at Oxford, in which he denounced those who sought parallels between the evolution of animal life and the development of society. Though Roosevelt attempted to avoid domestic politics during his time abroad, he met with Gifford Pinchot, who related his own disappointment with the Taft Administration. Pinchot had been forced to resign as head of the forest service after clashing with Taft's Interior Secretary, Richard Ballinger, who had prioritized development over conservation. Roosevelt returned to the United States in June 1910.
Republican Party schism
Roosevelt had attempted to refashion Taft into a second version of himself, but as soon as Taft began to display his individuality, the former president expressed his disenchantment. He was offended on election night when Taft indicated that his success had been possible not just through the efforts of Roosevelt, but also his brother Charley. Roosevelt was further alienated when Taft, intent on becoming his own man, did not consult him about cabinet appointments. Roosevelt and other progressives were ideologically dissatisfied over Taft's conservation policies and his handling of the tariff when he concentrated more power in the hands of conservative party leaders in Congress. Regarding radicalism and liberalism, Roosevelt wrote a British friend in 1911:
Fundamentally it is the radical liberal with whom I sympathize. He is at least working toward the end for which I think we should all of us strive; and when he adds sanity in moderation to courage and enthusiasm for high ideals he develops into the kind of statesman whom alone I can wholeheartedly support."
Roosevelt urged progressives to take control of the Republican Party at the state and local level and to avoid splitting the party in a way that would hand the presidency to the Democrats in 1912. Additionally, Roosevelt expressed optimism about the Taft Administration after meeting with the president in the White House in June 1910.
In August 1910, Roosevelt gained national attention with a speech at Osawatomie, Kansas, which was the most radical of his career and marked his public break with Taft and the conservative Republicans. Advocating a program of "New Nationalism", Roosevelt emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests, a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions. Returning to New York, Roosevelt began a battle to take control of the state Republican party from William Barnes Jr., Tom Platt's successor as the state party boss, whom he would later confront in the Barnes vs. Roosevelt Libel Trial. Taft had pledged his support to Roosevelt in this endeavor, and Roosevelt was outraged when Taft's support failed to materialize at the 1910 state convention. Roosevelt nonetheless campaigned for the Republicans in the 1910 elections, in which the Democrats gained control of the House for the first time since the 1890s. Among the newly elected Democrats was New York state senator Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who argued that he represented his distant cousin's policies better than his Republican opponent.
The Republican progressives interpreted the 1910 defeats as a compelling argument for the complete reorganization of the party in 1911. Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin joined with Pinchot, William White, and California Governor Hiram Johnson to create the National Progressive Republican League; their objectives were to defeat the power of political bossism at the state level and to replace Taft at the national level. Despite skepticism of La Follette's new league, Roosevelt expressed general support for progressive principles. Between January and April 1911, Roosevelt wrote a series of articles for The Outlook, defending what he called "the great movement of our day, the progressive nationalist movement against special privilege, and in favor of an honest and efficient political and industrial democracy". With Roosevelt apparently uninterested in running in 1912, La Follette declared his own candidacy in June 1911. Roosevelt continually criticized Taft after the 1910 elections, and the break between the two men became final after the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against US Steel in September 1911; Roosevelt was humiliated by this suit because he had personally approved of an acquisition that the Justice Department was now challenging. However, Roosevelt was still unwilling to run against Taft in 1912; he instead hoped to run in 1916 against whichever Democrat beat Taft in 1912.
Dispute over arbitration treaties
Taft was a major advocate of arbitration as a major reform of the Progressive Era. In 1911 Taft and his Secretary of State Philander C. Knox negotiated major treaties with Great Britain and with France providing that differences be arbitrated. Disputes had to be submitted to the Hague Court or other tribunal. These were signed in August 1911 but had to be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. Neither Taft nor Knox consulted with members of the Senate during the negotiating process. By then many Republicans were opposed to Taft, and the president felt that lobbying too hard for the treaties might cause their defeat. He made some speeches supporting the treaties in October, but the Senate added amendments Taft could not accept, killing the agreements.
The arbitration issue opens a window on a bitter philosophical dispute among American progressives. Some, led by Taft looked to legal arbitration as the best alternative to warfare. Taft was a constitutional lawyer who later became Chief Justice; he had a deep understanding of the legal issues. Taft's political base was the conservative business community that largely supported peace movements before 1914. However, his mistake, in this case, was a failure to mobilize that base. The businessmen believed that economic rivalries were the cause of war, and that extensive trade led to an interdependent world that would make war a very expensive and useless anachronism.
However, an opposing faction of progressives, led by Roosevelt, ridiculed arbitration as foolhardy idealism, and insisted on the realism of warfare as the only solution to serious international disputes. Roosevelt worked with his close friend Senator Henry Cabot Lodge to impose those amendments that ruined the goals of the treaties. Lodge thought the treaties impinged too much on senatorial prerogatives. Roosevelt, however, was acting to sabotage Taft's campaign promises. At a deeper level, Roosevelt truly believed that arbitration was a naïve solution and the great issues had to be decided by warfare. The Rooseveltian approach incorporated a near-mystical faith of the ennobling nature of war. It endorsed jingoistic nationalism as opposed to the businessmen's calculation of profit and national interest.
Election of 1912
Republican primaries and convention
In November 1911, a group of Ohio Republicans endorsed Roosevelt for the party's nomination for president; the endorsers included James R. Garfield and Dan Hanna. This endorsement was made by leaders of President Taft's home state. Roosevelt conspicuously declined to make a statement—requested by Garfield—that he would flatly refuse a nomination. Soon thereafter, Roosevelt said, "I am really sorry for Taft... I am sure he means well, but he means well feebly, and he does not know how! He is utterly unfit for leadership and this is a time when we need leadership." In January 1912, Roosevelt declared "if the people make a draft on me I shall not decline to serve". Later that year, Roosevelt spoke before the Constitutional Convention in Ohio, openly identifying as a progressive and endorsing progressive reforms—even endorsing popular review of state judicial decisions. In reaction to Roosevelt's proposals for popular overrule of court decisions, Taft said, "Such extremists are not progressives—they are political emotionalists or neurotics".
Roosevelt began to envision himself as the savior of the Republican Party from defeat in the upcoming presidential election. In February 1912, Roosevelt announced in Boston, "I will accept the nomination for president if it is tendered to me. I hope that so far as possible the people may be given the chance through direct primaries to express who shall be the nominee. Elihu Root and Henry Cabot Lodge thought that division of the party would lead to its defeat in the next election, while Taft believed that he would be defeated either in the Republican primary or in the general election.
The 1912 primaries represented the first extensive use of the presidential primary, a reform achievement of the progressive movement. The Republican primaries in the South, where party regulars dominated, went for Taft, as did results in New York, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Roosevelt won in Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, California, Maryland and Pennsylvania; Roosevelt also won Taft's home state of Ohio. These primary elections, while demonstrating Roosevelt's continuing popularity with the electorate, were not pivotal. The final credentials of the state delegates at the national convention were determined by the national committee, which was controlled by the party leaders, headed by the incumbent president.
Prior to the 1912 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt expressed doubt about his prospects for victory, noting that Taft had more delegates and control of the credentials committee. His only hope was to convince party leaders that the nomination of Taft would hand the election to the Democrats, but party leaders were determined not to cede their leadership to Roosevelt. The credentials committee awarded almost all contested delegates to Taft, and Taft won the nomination on the first ballot. Black delegates from the South played a key role: they voted heavily for Taft and put him over the top. La Follette also helped Taft's candidacy; he hoped that a deadlocked convention would result in his own nomination, and refused to release his delegates to support Roosevelt.
The Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party
Once his defeat at the Republican convention appeared probable, Roosevelt announced that he would "accept the progressive nomination on a progressive platform and I shall fight to the end, win or lose". At the same time, Roosevelt prophetically said, "My feeling is that the Democrats will probably win if they nominate a progressive".
Roosevelt left the Republican Party and created the Progressive Party, structuring it as a permanent organization that would field complete tickets at the presidential and state level. The party included Roosevelt and key allies such as Pinchot, Cornelia Bryce Pinchot (Pinchot's wife and a longtime friend of Roosevelt's), and Albert Beveridge. The new party was popularly known as the "Bull Moose Party" after Roosevelt told reporters, "I'm as fit as a bull moose". At the 1912 Progressive National Convention, Roosevelt cried out, "We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord." California Governor Hiram Johnson was nominated as Roosevelt's running mate. Roosevelt's platform echoed his 1907–1908 proposals, calling for vigorous government intervention to protect the people from selfish interests:
Though many Progressive party supporters in the North were supporters of civil rights for blacks, Roosevelt did not give strong support to civil rights and ran a "lily-white" campaign in the South. Rival all-white and all-black delegations from four southern states arrived at the Progressive national convention, and Roosevelt decided to seat the all-white delegations. Nevertheless, he won little support outside mountain Republican strongholds. Out of nearly 1100 counties in the South, Roosevelt won two counties in Alabama, one in Arkansas, seven in North Carolina, three in Georgia, 17 in Tennessee, two in Texas, one in Virginia, and none in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, or South Carolina.
Assassination attempt
On October 14, 1912, while arriving at a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Roosevelt was shot from seven feet away in front of the Gilpatrick Hotel by a delusional saloonkeeper named John Flammang Schrank, who believed that the ghost of assassinated president William McKinley had directed him to kill Roosevelt. The bullet lodged in his chest after penetrating his steel eyeglass case and passing through a 50-page-thick single-folded copy of the speech titled "Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual", which he was carrying in his jacket. Schrank was immediately disarmed (by Czech immigrant Frank Bukovsky), captured, and might have been lynched had Roosevelt not shouted for Schrank to remain unharmed. Roosevelt assured the crowd he was all right, then ordered police to take charge of Schrank and to make sure no violence was done to him.
As an experienced hunter and anatomist, Roosevelt correctly concluded that since he was not coughing blood, the bullet had not reached his lung. He declined suggestions to go to the hospital immediately and instead delivered a 90 minute speech with blood seeping into his shirt. His opening comments to the gathered crowd were, "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose." Only after finishing his address did he accept medical attention.
Subsequent probes and an x-ray showed that the bullet had lodged in Roosevelt's chest muscle, but did not penetrate the pleura. Doctors concluded that it would be less dangerous to leave it in place than to attempt to remove it, and Roosevelt carried the bullet with him for the rest of his life. Both Taft and Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson suspended their own campaigning until Roosevelt recovered and resumed his. When asked if the shooting would affect his election campaign, he said to the reporter "I'm fit as a bull moose." The bull moose became a symbol of both Roosevelt and the Progressive Party, and it often was referred to as simply the Bull Moose Party. He spent two weeks recuperating before returning to the campaign trail. He later wrote a friend about the bullet inside him, "I do not mind it any more than if it were in my waistcoat pocket."
Farewell manifesto
On October 20, Roosevelt spoke to a crowd of 16,000 at Madison Square Garden. The speech included: "Perhaps once in a generation, there comes a chance for the people of a country to play their part wisely and fearlessly in some great battle of the age-long warfare for human rights."
Election results
After the Democrats nominated Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey, Roosevelt did not expect to win the general election, as Wilson had compiled a record attractive to many progressive Democrats who might have otherwise considered voting for Roosevelt. Roosevelt still campaigned vigorously, and the election developed into a two-person contest between Wilson and Roosevelt despite Taft's presence in the race. Roosevelt respected Wilson, but the two differed on various issues; Wilson opposed any federal intervention regarding women's suffrage or child labor (he viewed these as state issues), and attacked Roosevelt's tolerance of large businesses.
Roosevelt won 4.1 million votes (27%), compared to Taft's 3.5 million (23%). Wilson gained 6.3 million votes (42% of the total) and a massive landslide in the Electoral College, with 435 electoral votes; Roosevelt won 88 electoral votes, while Taft won 8. Pennsylvania was the only eastern state won by Roosevelt; in the Midwest, he carried Michigan, Minnesota, and South Dakota; in the West, California, and Washington. Wilson's victory represented the first Democratic presidential election victory since Cleveland's 1892 campaign, and it was the party's best performance in the Electoral College since 1852. Roosevelt, meanwhile, garnered a higher share of the popular vote than any other third-party presidential candidate in history and won the most states of any third-party candidate after the Civil War.
South American expedition (1913-1914)
A friend of Roosevelt's, Father John Augustine Zahm, persuaded Roosevelt to participate in an expedition to South America. To finance the expedition, Roosevelt received support from the American Museum of Natural History in return for promising to bring back many new animal specimens. Roosevelt's popular book, Through the Brazilian Wilderness describes his expedition into the Brazilian jungle in 1913 as a member of the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition, co-named after its leader, Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon.
Once in South America, a new, far more ambitious goal was added: to find the headwaters of the Rio da Duvida (Portuguese for "River of Doubt"), and trace it north to the Madeira and thence to the Amazon River. It was later renamed Roosevelt River in honor of the former president. Roosevelt's crew consisted of his son Kermit, Colonel Rondon, naturalist George Kruck Cherrie (sent by the American Museum of Natural History), Brazilian Lieutenant João Lira, team physician Dr. José Antonio Cajazeira, and 16 skilled paddlers and porters. Roosevelt also identified Leo Miller (another AMNH recommendation), Anthony Fiala, Frank Harper, and Jacob Sigg as crew members. The initial expedition started somewhat tenuously on December 9, 1913, at the height of the rainy season. The trip down the River of Doubt started on February 27, 1914.
During the trip down the river, Roosevelt suffered a minor leg wound after he jumped into the river to try to prevent two canoes from smashing against the rocks. The flesh wound he received, however, soon gave him tropical fever that resembled the malaria he had contracted while in Cuba fifteen years before. Because the bullet lodged in his chest from the assassination attempt in 1912 was never removed, his health worsened from the infection. This weakened Roosevelt so greatly that six weeks into the adventure, he had to be attended to day and night by the expedition's physician and his son Kermit. By then, he could not walk because of the infection in his injured leg and an infirmity in the other, which was due to a traffic accident a decade earlier. Roosevelt was riddled with chest pains, fighting a fever that soared to and at times made him delirious, at one point constantly reciting the first two lines of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan": "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure dome decree". Regarding his condition as a threat to the survival of the others, Roosevelt insisted he be left behind to allow the poorly provisioned expedition to proceed as rapidly as it could, preparing to commit suicide with an overdose of morphine. Only an appeal by his son persuaded him to continue.
Despite Roosevelt's continued decline and loss of over , Colonel Rondon reduced the pace of the expedition to allow for his commission's mapmaking and other geographical tasks, which required regular stops to fix the expedition's position by sun-based survey. Upon Roosevelt's return to New York, friends and family were startled by his physical appearance and fatigue. Roosevelt wrote, perhaps prophetically, to a friend that the trip had cut his life short by ten years. For the rest of his few remaining years, he would be plagued by flare-ups of malaria and leg inflammations so severe as to require surgery. Before Roosevelt had even completed his sea voyage home, critics raised doubts over his claims of exploring and navigating a completely uncharted river over long. When he had recovered sufficiently, he addressed a standing-room-only convention organized in Washington, D.C., by the National Geographic Society and satisfactorily defended his claims.
Final years
Roosevelt returned to the United States in May 1914. Though he was outraged by the Wilson Administration's conclusion of a treaty that expressed "sincere regret" for the way in which the United States had acquired the Panama Canal Zone, he was impressed by many of the reforms passed under Wilson. Roosevelt made several campaign appearances for the Progressives, but the 1914 elections were a disaster for the fledgling third party. Roosevelt began to envision another campaign for president, this time with himself at the head of the Republican Party, but conservative party leaders remained opposed to Roosevelt. In hopes of engineering a joint nomination, the Progressives scheduled the 1916 Progressive National Convention at the same time as the 1916 Republican National Convention. When the Republicans nominated Charles Evans Hughes, Roosevelt declined the Progressive nomination and urged his Progressive followers to support the Republican candidate. Though Roosevelt had long disliked Hughes, he disliked Wilson even more, and he campaigned energetically for the Republican nominee. However, Wilson won the 1916 election by a narrow margin. The Progressives disappeared as a party following the 1916 election, and Roosevelt and many of his followers permanently re-joined the Republican Party.
World War I
When the First World War began in 1914, Roosevelt strongly supported the Allies and demanded a harsher policy against Germany, especially regarding submarine warfare. Roosevelt angrily denounced the foreign policy of President Wilson, calling it a failure regarding the atrocities in Belgium and the violations of American rights. In 1916, while campaigning for Hughes, Roosevelt repeatedly denounced Irish-Americans and German-Americans whom he described as unpatriotic, saying they put the interests of Ireland and Germany ahead of America's by supporting neutrality. He insisted that one had to be 100% American, not a "hyphenated American" who juggled multiple loyalties. In March 1917, Congress gave Roosevelt the authority to raise a maximum of four divisions similar to the Rough Riders, and Major Frederick Russell Burnham was put in charge of both the general organization and recruitment. However, President Wilson announced to the press that he would not send Roosevelt and his volunteers to France, but instead would send an American Expeditionary Force under the command of General John J. Pershing. Roosevelt never forgave Wilson, and quickly published The Foes of Our Own Household, an indictment of the sitting president. Roosevelt's youngest son, Quentin, a pilot with the American forces in France, was killed when shot down behind German lines on July 14, 1918, at the age of 20. It is said that Quentin's death distressed Roosevelt so much that he never recovered from his loss.
League of Nations
Roosevelt was an early supporter of the modern view that there needs to be a global order. In his Nobel prize address of 1910, he said, "it would be a master stroke if those great Powers honestly bent on peace would form a League of Peace, not only to keep the peace among themselves, but to prevent, by force if necessary, its being broken by others." It would have executive power such as the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 lacked. He called for American participation.
When World War I broke out, Roosevelt proposed "a World League for the Peace of Righteousness", in September 1914, which would preserve sovereignty but limit armaments and require arbitration. He added that it should be "solemnly covenanted that if any nations refused to abide by the decisions of such a court, then others draw the sword in behalf of peace and justice." In 1915 he outlined this plan more specifically, urging that nations guarantee their entire military force, if necessary, against any nation that refused to carry out arbitration decrees or violated rights of other nations. Though Roosevelt had some concerns about the impact on United States sovereignty, he insisted that such a league would only work if the United States participated as one of the "joint guarantors". Roosevelt referred to this plan in a 1918 speech as "the most feasible for...a league of nations." By this time Wilson was strongly hostile to Roosevelt and Lodge, and developed his own plans for a rather different League of Nations. It became reality along Wilson's lines at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Roosevelt denounced Wilson's approach but died before it was adopted at Paris. However, Lodge was willing to accept it with serious reservations. In the end, on March 19, 1920, Wilson had Democratic Senators vote against the League with the Lodge Reservations and the United States never joined the League of Nations.
Final political activities
Roosevelt's attacks on Wilson helped the Republicans win control of Congress in the midterm elections of 1918. He declined a request from New York Republicans to run for another gubernatorial term, but attacked Wilson's Fourteen Points, calling instead for the unconditional surrender of Germany. Though his health was uncertain, he was seen as a leading contender for the 1920 Republican nomination, but insisted that, "If they take me, they'll have to take me without a single modification of the things that I have always stood for! He wrote William Allen White, "I wish to do everything in my power to make the Republican Party the Party of sane, constructive radicalism, just as it was under Lincoln." Accordingly, he told the 1918 state convention of the Maine Republican Party that he stood for old-age pensions, insurance for sickness and unemployment, construction of public housing for low-income families, the reduction of working hours, aid to farmers, and more regulation of large corporations.
While his political profile remained high, Roosevelt's physical condition continued to deteriorate throughout 1918 due to the long-term effects of jungle diseases. He was hospitalized for seven weeks late in the year and never fully recovered.
Death
On the night of January 5, 1919, Roosevelt suffered breathing problems. After receiving treatment from his physician, Dr. George W. Faller, he felt better and went to bed. Roosevelt's last words were "Please put out that light, James" to his family servant James E. Amos. Between 4:00 and 4:15 the next morning, Roosevelt, at the age of 60, died in his sleep at Sagamore Hill after a blood clot detached from a vein and traveled to his lungs.
Upon receiving word of his death, his son Archibald telegraphed his siblings: "The old lion is dead." Woodrow Wilson's vice president, Thomas R. Marshall, said that "Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight." Following a private farewell service in the North Room at Sagamore Hill, a simple funeral was held at Christ Episcopal Church in Oyster Bay. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, Charles Evans Hughes, Warren G. Harding, Henry Cabot Lodge, and William Howard Taft were among the mourners. The snow-covered procession route to Youngs Memorial Cemetery was lined with spectators and a squad of mounted policemen who had ridden from New York City. Roosevelt was buried on a hillside overlooking Oyster Bay.
Writer
Roosevelt was a prolific author, writing with passion on subjects ranging from foreign policy to the importance of the national park system. Roosevelt was also an avid reader of poetry. Poet Robert Frost said that Roosevelt "was our kind. He quoted poetry to me. He knew poetry."
As an editor of Outlook magazine, Roosevelt had weekly access to a large, educated national audience. In all, Roosevelt wrote about 18 books (each in several editions), including his autobiography, The Rough Riders, History of the Naval War of 1812, and others on subjects such as ranching, explorations, and wildlife. His most ambitious book was the four volume narrative The Winning of the West, focused on the American frontier in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Roosevelt said that the American character—indeed a new "American race" (ethnic group) had emerged from the heroic wilderness hunters and Indian fighters, acting on the frontier with little government help. Roosevelt also published an account of his 1909–10 African expedition entitled African Game Trails.
In 1907, Roosevelt became embroiled in a widely publicized literary debate known as the nature fakers controversy. A few years earlier, naturalist John Burroughs had published an article entitled "Real and Sham Natural History" in the Atlantic Monthly, attacking popular writers of the day such as Ernest Thompson Seton, Charles G. D. Roberts, and William J. Long for their fantastical representations of wildlife. Roosevelt agreed with Burroughs's criticisms, and published several essays of his own denouncing the booming genre of "naturalistic" animal stories as "yellow journalism of the woods". It was the President himself who popularized the negative term "nature faker" to describe writers who depicted their animal characters with excessive anthropomorphism.
Character and beliefs
Roosevelt intensely disliked being called "Teddy", despite the widespread public association with said moniker, and was quick to point out this to those who referred to him as such, though it would become widely used by newspapers during his political career.
He was an active Freemason and member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
British scholar Marcus Cunliffe evaluates the liberal argument that Roosevelt was an opportunist, exhibitionist, and imperialist. Cunliffe praises TR's versatility, his respect for law, and his sincerity. He argues that Roosevelt's foreign policy was better than his detractors allege. Cunliffe calls him "a big man in several respects," ranking him below Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson, and on the same level as Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Strenuous life
Roosevelt had a lifelong interest in pursuing what he called, in an 1899 speech, "The Strenuous Life". To this end, he exercised regularly and took up boxing, tennis, hiking, rowing, polo, and horseback riding. He also continued his habit of skinny-dipping in the Potomac River during the winter. As governor of New York, he boxed with sparring partners several times each week, a practice he regularly continued as president until being hit so hard in the face he became blind in his left eye (a fact not made public until many years later). As president, he practiced judo for two 2-month periods in 1902 and 1904, not attaining any rank. Roosevelt began to believe in the utility of jiu-jitsu training after training with Yoshitsugu Yamashita. Concerned that the United States would lose its military supremacy to rising powers like Japan, Roosevelt began to advocate for jiu-jitsu training for American soldiers. Feminists annoyed by the posturing of men like Roosevelt, insisted that women were just as capable of learning jiu-jitsu. To prove their point, Martha Blow Wadsworth and Maria Louise ("Hallie") Davis Elkins hired Fude Yamashita, a highly skilled jiu-jitsu instructor and the wife of Yoshitsugu Yamashita, to teach a jiu-jitsu class for women and girls in Washington, DC in 1904. Women had already begun training in boxing in the United States as a means of personal and political empowerment. Jiu-jitsu training thus soon also became popular with American women, coinciding with the origins of a women's self-defense movement.
Roosevelt was an enthusiastic singlestick player and, according to Harper's Weekly, showed up at a White House reception with his arm bandaged after a bout with General Leonard Wood in 1905. Roosevelt was an avid reader, reading tens of thousands of books, at a rate of several per day in multiple languages. Along with Thomas Jefferson, Roosevelt was the most well-read of all American presidents.
Warrior
Historians have often emphasized Roosevelt's warrior persona. He took aggressive positions regarding war with Spain in 1898, Colombia in 1903, and especially with Germany, from 1915 to 1917. As a demonstration of American naval might, he sent the "Great White Fleet" around the world in 1907–1909. The implicit threat of the "big stick" of military power provided leverage to "speak softly" and quietly resolve conflict in numerous cases. He boasted in his autobiography:
Richard D. White Jr states, "Roosevelt's warrior spirit framed his views of national politics, [and] international relations."
Historian Howard K. Beale has argued:
Religion
Roosevelt attended church regularly and was a lifelong adherent of the Reformed Church in America, an American affiliate of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1907, concerning the motto "In God We Trust" on money, he wrote, "It seems to me eminently unwise to cheapen such a motto by use on coins, just as it would be to cheapen it by use on postage stamps, or in advertisements." Roosevelt talked a great deal about religion. Biographer Edmund Morris states:
Roosevelt publicly encouraged church attendance and was a conscientious churchgoer himself. When gas rationing was introduced during the First World War, he walked the three miles from his home at Sagamore Hill to the local church and back, even after a serious operation had made it difficult for him to travel by foot. It was said that Roosevelt "allowed no engagement to keep him from going to church," and he remained a fervent advocate of the Bible throughout his adult life. According to Christian F. Reisner, writing in 1922 shortly after Roosevelt's death, "Religion was as natural to Mr. Roosevelt as breathing," and when the travel library for Roosevelt's famous Smithsonian-sponsored African expedition was being assembled, the Bible was, according to his sister, "the first book selected." In an address delivered in his home at Oyster Bay to the Long Island Bible Society in 1901, Roosevelt declared that:
Political positions
When he assumed the presidency, Roosevelt reassured many conservatives, stating, "the mechanism of modern business is so delicate that extreme care must be taken not to interfere with it in a spirit of rashness or ignorance." The following year, Roosevelt asserted the president's independence from business interests by opposing the merger which created the Northern Securities Company, and many were surprised that any president, much less an unelected one, would challenge powerful banker J.P. Morgan. In his last two years as president, Roosevelt became increasingly distrustful of big business, despite its close ties to the Republican Party. Roosevelt sought to replace the 19th-century laissez-faire economic environment with a new economic model which included a larger regulatory role for the federal government. He believed that 19th-century entrepreneurs had risked their fortunes on innovations and new businesses, and that these capitalists had been rightly rewarded. By contrast, he believed that 20th-century capitalists risked little but nonetheless reaped huge and, given the lack of risk, unjust, economic rewards. Without a redistribution of wealth away from the upper class, Roosevelt feared that the country would turn to radicals or fall to revolution. His Square Deal domestic program had three main goals: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. The Square Deal evolved into his program of "New Nationalism", which emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests and a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions.
Foreign policy beliefs
In the analysis by Henry Kissinger, Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to develop the guideline that it was America's duty to make its enormous power and potential influence felt globally. The idea of being a passive "city on the hill" model that others could look up to, he rejected. Roosevelt, trained in biology, was a social darwinist who believed in survival of the fittest. The international world in his view was a realm of violence and conflict. The United States had all the economic and geographical potential to be the fittest nation on the globe. The United States had a duty to act decisively. For example, in terms of the Monroe Doctrine, America had to prevent European incursions in the Western Hemisphere. But there was more, as he expressed in his famous Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: the U.S. had to be the policeman of the region because unruly, corrupt smaller nations had to be controlled, and if United States did not do it, European powers would in fact intervene and develop their own base of power in the hemisphere in contravention to the Monroe Doctrine.
Roosevelt was a realist and a conservative. He deplored many of the increasingly popular idealistic liberal themes, such as were promoted by William Jennings Bryan, the anti-imperialists, and Woodrow Wilson. Kissinger says he rejected the efficacy of international law. Roosevelt argue that if a country could not protect its own interests, the international community could not help very much. He ridiculed disarmament proposals that were increasingly common. He saw no likelihood of an international power capable of checking wrongdoing on a major scale. As for world government: I regard the Wilson–Bryan attitude of trusting to fantastic peace treaties, too impossible promises, to all kinds of scraps of paper without any backing in efficient force, as abhorrent. It is infinitely better for a nation and for the world to have the Frederick the Great and Bismarck tradition as regards foreign policy than to have the Bryan or Bryan–Wilson attitude as a permanent national attitude.... A milk-and-water righteousness unbacked by force is...as wicked as and even more mischievous than force divorced from righteousness.
On the positive side, Roosevelt favored spheres of influence, whereby one great power would generally prevail, such as the United States in the Western Hemisphere or Great Britain in the Indian subcontinent. Japan fit that role and he approved. However he had deep distrust of both Germany and Russia.
Legacy
Historians credit Roosevelt for changing the nation's political system by permanently placing the "bully pulpit" of the presidency at center stage and making character as important as the issues. His accomplishments include trust busting and conservationism. He is a hero to liberals and progressives for his proposals in 1907–1912 that presaged the modern welfare state of the New Deal Era, including direct federal taxation, labor reforms, and more direct democracy, while conservationists admire Roosevelt for putting the environment and selflessness towards future generations on the national agenda, and conservatives and nationalists respect his commitment to law and order, civic duty and military values, as well as his personality of individual self-responsibility and hardiness. Dalton says, "Today he is heralded as the architect of the modern presidency, as a world leader who boldly reshaped the office to meet the needs of the new century and redefined America's place in the world."
However, liberals and socialists have criticized him for his interventionist and imperialist approach to nations he considered "uncivilized". Conservatives and libertarians reject his vision of the welfare state and emphasis on the superiority of government over private action. Historians typically rank Roosevelt among the top five presidents in American history.
Persona and masculinity
Dalton says Roosevelt is remembered as, "one of the most picturesque personalities who has ever enlivened the landscape". His friend, historian Henry Adams, proclaimed: "Roosevelt, more than any other man... showed the singular primitive quality that belongs to ultimate matter—the quality that medieval theology assigned to God—he was pure act."
Roosevelt's biographers have stressed his personality. Henry F. Pringle, who won the Pulitzer Prize in biography for his Theodore Roosevelt (1931) stated: "The Theodore Roosevelt of later years was the most adolescent of men… Failure to receive the Medal of Honor for his exploits [in Cuba] had been a grief as real as any of those which swamp childhood in despair. 'You must always remember,' wrote Cecil Spring Rice in 1904, 'that the President is about six.'"
Cooper compared him with Woodrow Wilson and argued that both of them played the roles of warrior and priest. Dalton stressed Roosevelt's strenuous life. Sarah Watts examined the desires of the "Rough Rider in the White House". Brands calls Roosevelt "the last romantic", arguing that his romantic concept of life emerged from his belief that "physical bravery was the highest virtue and war the ultimate test of bravery".
Roosevelt as the exemplar of American masculinity has become a major theme. As president, he repeatedly warned men that they were becoming too office-bound, too complacent, too comfortable with physical ease and moral laxity, and were failing in their duties to propagate the race and exhibit masculine vigor. French historian Serge Ricard says, "the ebullient apostle of the Strenuous Life offers ideal material for a detailed psycho-historical analysis of aggressive manhood in the changing socio-cultural environment of his era; McKinley, Taft, or Wilson would perhaps inadequately serve that purpose". He promoted competitive sports like boxing and jiu-jitsu for physically strengthening American men. He also believed that organizations like the Boy Scouts of America, founded in 1910, could help mold and strengthen the character of American boys. Brands shows that heroic displays of bravery were essential to Roosevelt's image and mission:
Memorials and cultural depictions
Roosevelt was included with Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln at the Mount Rushmore Memorial, designed in 1927 with the approval of Republican President Calvin Coolidge.
For his gallantry at San Juan Hill, Roosevelt's commanders recommended him for the Medal of Honor. However, the initial recommendation lacked any eyewitnesses, and the effort was eventually tainted by Roosevelt's own lobbying of the War Department. In the late 1990s, Roosevelt's supporters again recommended the award, which was denied by the Secretary of the Army on basis that the decorations board determined "Roosevelt's bravery in battle did not rise to the level that would justify the Medal of Honor and, indeed, it did not rise to the level of men who fought in that engagement." Nevertheless, politicians apparently convinced the secretary to reconsider the award a third time and reverse himself, leading to the charge that it was a "politically motivated award." On January 16, 2001, President Bill Clinton awarded Theodore Roosevelt the Medal of Honor posthumously for his charge on San Juan Hill. He is the only president to have received the Medal of Honor.
The United States Navy named two ships for Roosevelt: the , a submarine that was in commission from 1961 to 1982, and the , an aircraft carrier that has been on active duty in the Atlantic Fleet since 1986.
On November 18, 1956, the United States Postal Service released a 6¢ Liberty Issue postage stamp honoring Roosevelt. A 32¢ stamp was issued on February 3, 1998, as part of the Celebrate the Century stamp sheet series. In 2008, Columbia Law School awarded Roosevelt a Juris Doctor degree, posthumously making him a member of the class of 1882.
Roosevelt's "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick" ideology is still quoted by politicians and columnists in different countries—not only in English, but also in translations to various other languages. Another lasting, popular legacy of Roosevelt is the stuffed toy bears—teddy bears—named after him following an incident on a hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902. Roosevelt has been portrayed in films and television series such as Brighty of the Grand Canyon, The Wind and the Lion, Rough Riders, My Friend Flicka, and Law of the Plainsman. Robin Williams portrayed Roosevelt in the form of a wax mannequin that comes to life in Night at the Museum and its sequels Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. In 2017, it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio will portray Roosevelt in a biopic to be directed by Martin Scorsese.
Moreover, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the state of North Dakota is named after him. The America the Beautiful Quarters series features Roosevelt riding a horse on the national park's quarter.
Asteroid 188693 Roosevelt, discovered by astronomers with the Catalina Sky Survey in 2005, was named after him. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on November 8, 2019 ().
In January 2022, after years of lobbying by activists, an equestrian statue of the former president was removed from where it had stood for more than eighty years in front of New York's American Museum of Natural History. Responding to controversy, the museum noted that the design "communicates a racial hierarchy that the museum and members of the public have long found disturbing."
Audiovisual media
Theodore Roosevelt was one of the first presidents whose voice was recorded for posterity. Several of his recorded speeches survive. A 4.6-minute voice recording, which preserves Roosevelt's lower timbre ranges particularly well for its time, is among those available from the Michigan State University libraries (this is the 1912 recording of The Right of the People to Rule, recorded by Edison at Carnegie Hall). The audio clip sponsored by the Authentic History Center includes his defense of the Progressive Party in 1912, wherein he proclaims it the "party of the people" – in contrast with the other major parties.
Roosevelt goes for a ride in Arch Hoxsey's plane in October 1910
In popular culture
Theodore Roosevelt appears as the leader of the American civilization in the Firaxis Games title Civilization VI. His unique ability is Roosevelt Corollary, which gives +5 Combat Strength for all units inside America's home continent, and +1 Appeal to all tiles in cities with a national park.
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
Full biographies
.
.
.
, 105 pp, very short biography by leading scholar.
.; also titled Power and responsibility; the life and times of Theodore Roosevelt online free to borrow
.
.
.
, only volume published, to age 28.
.
.
Personality and activities
.
.
Provides a lesson plan on TR as the historical figure who most exemplifies the quality of masculinity.
. Chronicles the events of TR's presidency during the summers of his two terms.
. The president's use of publicity, rhetoric and force of personality.
; his deadly 1913–14 trip to the Amazon.
, best seller; to 1886.
, to 1884.
. 494 pp.
, examines TR and his family during the World War I period.
.
, 240 pp. TR in Africa & Europe, 1909–10
. 289 pp.
, 337 pp; TR's political thought and its significance for republican self-government.
Domestic policies
online review; another online review
Cutright, P.R. (1985) Theodore Roosevelt: The making of a Modern Conservationist (U of Illinois Press.)
.
, standard history of his domestic and foreign policy as president.
Bakari, Mohamed El-Kamel. "Mapping the 'Anthropocentric-ecocentric'Dualism in the History of American Presidency: The Good, the Bad, and the Ambivalent." Journal of Studies in Social Sciences 14, no. 2 (2016).
.
.
Redekop, Benjamin. (2015). "Embodying the Story: The Conservation Leadership of Theodore Roosevelt". Leadership (2015) DOI:10.1177/1742715014546875 online
.
.
Politics
. How TR did politics.
, 323 pp.
.
.
.
.
. 361 pp.
.
. Focus on 1912; online free
. online free
. Attacks TR policies from conservative/libertarian perspective.
Foreign policy, military and naval issues
. online
. excerpt
.
. 328 pp.
Kuehn, John T. "Theodore Roosevelt’s Naval Diplomacy: The U.S. Navy and the Birth of the American Century," Naval War College Review (2010) 53#3 online
Livermore, Seward W. "Theodore Roosevelt, the American Navy, and the Venezuelan Crisis of 1902-1903." American Historical Review 51.3 (1946): 452–471. online
.
.
Nester, William R. Theodore Roosevelt and the Art of American Power: An American for All Time. Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. excerpt
Neu, Charles E. "Theodore Roosevelt and American Involvement in the Far East, 1901-1909." Pacific Historical Review 35.4 (1966): 433–449. online
O'Gara, Gordon Carpenter. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of the Modern Navy. (Princeton UP, 1943). online
.
Oyos, Matthew M. In Command: Theodore Roosevelt and the American Military (2018) online review
Pietrusza, David (2018). TR's Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy
.
.
.
.
Thompson, John M. Great Power Rising: Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of US Foreign Policy (Oxford UP, 2019).
. 196 pp.
Turk, Richard W. The Ambiguous Relationship: Theodore Roosevelt and Alfred Thayer Mahan (1987) [https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/93/5/1413/70734 online review
Historiography
Cunliffe, Marcus. "Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States 1901–1908" History Today (Sept 1955) 4#9 pp. 592–601, online.
Ricard, Serge. "The State of Theodore Roosevelt Studies" H-Diplo Essay No. 116 24 October 2014 online
, excerpt and text search, 28 new essays by scholars; focus on historiography. online
Primary sources
Kohn, Edward P., ed. A Most Glorious Ride: The Diaries of Theodore Roosevelt, 1877–1886 (State University of New York Press, 2015), 284 pp.
; vol 2
.
, 20 vol.; 18,000 pages containing most of TR's speeches, books and essays, but not his letters; a CD-ROM edition is available; some of TR's books are available online through Project Bartleby
, Roosevelt's opinions on many issues; online version at Theodore Roosevelt.
, 8 vols. Very large collection. vol 1 1868–1898 online free
. online free
.
.
online free to borrow
.
.
.
External links
Official
White House biography
Organizations
Boone and Crockett Club
Theodore Roosevelt Association
Libraries and collections
Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University
Theodore Roosevelt Collection, at the Houghton Library, Harvard University
Julian L. Street Papers on Theodore Roosevelt, at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
Doris A. and Lawrence H. Budner Collection on Theodore Roosevelt at the DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University
Theodore Roosevelt's journalism at The Archive of American Journalism
Theodore Roosevelt American Museum of Natural History
Roosevelt Papers, at the Library of Congress
Guide to the Herbert R. Strauss Collection of Theodore Roosevelt Papers 1884–1919 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
Media
"Life Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, September 3, 1999
"Writings of Theodore Roosevelt" from C-SPAN's American Writers: A Journey Through History
Other
Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt: A Resource Guide – Library of Congress
1858 births
1919 deaths
1900s in the United States
Theodore
19th-century American politicians
19th-century American historians
19th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century presidents of the United States
20th-century vice presidents of the United States
American autobiographers
American conservationists
American essayists
American explorers
American fishers
American hunters
American male judoka
American male non-fiction writers
American military personnel of the Spanish–American War
American naval historians
American Nobel laureates
American political writers
American shooting survivors
Articles containing video clips
American bibliophiles
American people of Dutch descent
Bulloch family
Burials in New York (state)
Columbia Law School alumni
Deaths from pulmonary embolism
New York City Police Commissioners
English-language spelling reform advocates
Explorers of Amazonia
American Freemasons
Governors of New York (state)
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Harvard College alumni
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Members of the New York State Assembly
Military personnel from New York City
New York (state) Progressives (1912)
New York (state) Republicans
Nobel Peace Prize laureates
People associated with the American Museum of Natural History
People from Oyster Bay (town), New York
Politicians from New York City
Presidents of the American Historical Association
Presidents of the United States
Progressive Era in the United States
Ranchers from North Dakota
Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees
Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees
Republican Party presidents of the United States
Republican Party state governors of the United States
Republican Party vice presidents of the United States
Rough Riders
Schuyler family
Sons of the American Revolution
Spanish–American War recipients of the Medal of Honor
United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
United States Army officers
United States Assistant Secretaries of the Navy
Candidates in the 1904 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1912 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1916 United States presidential election
1900 United States vice-presidential candidates
Vice presidents of the United States
Writers from New York (state)
Harvard Advocate alumni
American diarists
American political party founders
Aphorists
American nationalists
20th-century American male writers | true | [
"Kayin Maunghnama (; ) are two traditional Karen nats, named San Sae Phoe and Naw Mu Phan, who are believed to live in Mount Zwegabin, Hpa-An, Kayin State.\n\nLegend\nAccording to local legends, a Karen man Saw Phar Thant and his wife Naw Phaw Ya had two children named San Sae Phoe and Naw Mu Phan. After years of saving and honestly collecting all the hard-earned money, he needed to initiate his son into the Buddhist order and to make a big donation. While he was working in the farm, he died after being bitten by a tiger due to bad luck. After the death of Saw Phar Thant, Naw Phaw Ya was left a widow with two children. And then she remarried with Saw Phar Pug, a widower from the same village. At that time, two innocent siblings, San Sae Po and Naw Mu Phan, were full of fear and anxiety. Anxiety and pain overwhelmed them. The quiet little house was full of swearing and shouting. The two siblings burst into tears under the angry and violent insults of their stepfather. \n\nOne day, the stepfather took two siblings to the farm and pushed them down a steep cliff on the way to the farm and returned home alone. Two brothers and sisters fell from the mountain and prayed for Zwegabin Pagoda to be saved so they survived by lying on a bamboo tree under the cliff without dying. The two siblings returned to their mother in almost dawn and told her all about it. Their mother, Naw Phaw Ya was sad and cried. However, when it was not possible to bring the two children back home, she hid them in a forest cave on Mount Zwegabin to keep them safe. The two siblings did not dare go far from the forest cave that their mother left behind. Everywhere they looked in the forest was dark. It was a place they had never been to before, where they could only hear the sounds of wild animals. The younger sister did not know anything so the elder brother had to take care of her. One day morning two siblings made a campfire in the cold weather and a weizza-hermit came to them and greets two siblings. And then he was given three golden pills and forced to go down into the fire, transforming into a young man and a young woman. The two siblings gained the power of influence. They took care Pagoda as promised to hermit, Work diligently for the sake of the Dhamma and all those who believe in the Dhamma and all those who come to the Mount Zwegabin to pray the Pagoda that you will be took care of them, two siblings. \n\nThe Kayin Maunghnama shrine was built about 50 years ago by Sayadaw U Kay Tu of Naung Ein Saing at the foot of Mount Zwegabin. Zwegabin Sayadaw U Kawidaza was also a pilgrimage resort. The Lumbini Garden has also been remodeled to make it more memorable.\n\nReferences\n\nBurmese nats\nBurmese goddesses",
"(1548 – September 19, 1603) was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku through early Edo period. He is believed to have been the illegitimate son of Matsudaira Hirotada of Okazaki, and therefore the half-brother of Tokugawa Ieyasu. He known as Matsudaira Saburo Goro Iemoto.\n\nFamily\n Father: Matsudaira Hirotada\n Half-siblings:\n Tokugawa Ieyasu\n Naito Nobunari\n Matsudaira Tadamasa (1544-1591)\n Shooko Eike\n Matsudaira Chikayoshi\n Natural Siblings:\nIchibahime (d.1593) married Arakawa Yoshihiro\n Yadahime married Matsudaira Yasutada\n\n1548 births\n1603 deaths\nSamurai"
]
|
[
"Theodore Roosevelt",
"Early life and family",
"Where did he grow up?",
"at East 20th Street in New York City.",
"did he have siblings?",
"He was the second of four children born"
]
| C_39da91c6b83e45c9a3447a0282510521_1 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 3 | Besides Theodore having siblings, are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | Theodore Roosevelt | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at East 20th Street in New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister, Anna (nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother, Elliott, and a younger sister, Corinne. Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh, and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C.V.S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family. Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for display. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects". Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body. CANNOTANSWER | He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or his initials T. R., was an American politician, statesman, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He previously served as the 25th vice president under William McKinley from March to September 1901, and as the 33rd governor of New York from 1899 to 1900. Having assumed the presidency after McKinley's assassination, Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive policies.
Roosevelt was a sickly child with debilitating asthma but partly overcame his health problems by embracing a strenuous lifestyle. He integrated his exuberant personality, a vast range of interests and achievements into a "cowboy" persona defined by robust masculinity. He was home-schooled and began a lifelong naturalist avocation before attending Harvard. His book The Naval War of 1812 (1882) established his reputation as a learned historian and popular writer. Upon entering politics, he became the leader of the reform faction of Republicans in New York's state legislature. His wife and mother both died in the same night and he was psychologically devastated. He recuperated by buying and operating a cattle ranch in the Dakotas. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President William McKinley and in 1898 helped plan the highly successful naval war against Spain. He resigned to help form and lead the Rough Riders, a unit that fought the Spanish army in Cuba to great publicity. Returning a war hero, he was elected governor of New York in 1898. The New York state party leadership disliked his ambitious agenda and convinced McKinley to make Roosevelt his running mate in the 1900 election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously, and the McKinley–Roosevelt ticket won a landslide victory based on a platform of victory, peace and prosperity.
Roosevelt assumed the presidency at age 42 after McKinley was assassinated in September 1901. He remains the youngest person to become president of the United States. Roosevelt was a leader of the progressive movement and championed his "Square Deal" domestic policies, promising the average citizen fairness, breaking of trusts, regulation of railroads, and pure food and drugs. He prioritized conservation and established national parks, forests, and monuments intended to preserve the nation's natural resources. In foreign policy, he focused on Central America where he began construction of the Panama Canal. He expanded the Navy and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project American naval power. His successful efforts to broker the end of the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize. Roosevelt was elected to a full term in 1904 and continued to promote progressive policies. He groomed his close friend William Howard Taft to succeed him in the 1908 presidential election.
Roosevelt grew frustrated with Taft's brand of conservatism and belatedly tried to win the 1912 Republican nomination for president. He failed, walked out, and founded the Progressive Party. He ran in the 1912 presidential election and the split allowed the Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson to win the election. Following the defeat, Roosevelt led a two-year expedition to the Amazon basin where he nearly died of tropical disease. During World War I, he criticized Wilson for keeping the country out of the war; his offer to lead volunteers to France was rejected. He considered running for president again in 1920, but his health continued to deteriorate. He died in 1919. He is generally ranked in polls of historians and political scientists as one of the five best presidents.
Early life and family
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan, New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister (Anna, nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother (Elliott) and a younger sister (Corinne). Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C. V. S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill as well as a brother of Robert Roosevelt and James A. Roosevelt. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family.
Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for exhibition. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects".
Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body.
A 6-year-old Roosevelt witnessed the funeral procession of Abraham Lincoln from his grandfather's mansion in Union Square, New York City where he was photographed in the window along with his brother Elliott, as confirmed by wife Edith who was also present.
Education
Roosevelt was homeschooled, mostly by tutors and his parents. Biographer H. W. Brands argued that "The most obvious drawback to his home schooling was uneven coverage of the various areas of human knowledge." He was solid in geography and bright in history, biology, French, and German; however, he struggled in mathematics and the classical languages. When he entered Harvard College on September 27, 1876, his father advised: "Take care of your morals first, your health next, and finally your studies." His father's sudden death on February 9, 1878, devastated Roosevelt, but he eventually recovered and doubled his activities.
He did well in science, philosophy, and rhetoric courses but continued to struggle in Latin and Greek. He studied biology intently and was already an accomplished naturalist and a published ornithologist. He read prodigiously with an almost photographic memory. While at Harvard, Roosevelt participated in rowing and boxing; he was once runner-up in an intramural boxing tournament. Roosevelt was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi literary society (later the Fly Club), the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and the prestigious Porcellian Club; he was also an editor of The Harvard Advocate. In 1880, Roosevelt graduated Phi Beta Kappa (22nd of 177) from Harvard with an A.B. magna cum laude. Biographer Henry Pringle states:
After his father's death, Roosevelt had inherited $65,000 (), enough to live off comfortably for the rest of his life. Roosevelt gave up his earlier plan of studying natural science and instead decided to attend Columbia Law School, moving back into his family's home in New York City. Roosevelt was an able law student, but he often found law to be irrational. He spent much of his time writing a book on the War of 1812.
Determined to enter politics, Roosevelt began attending meetings at Morton Hall, the 59th Street headquarters of New York's 21st District Republican Association. Though Roosevelt's father had been a prominent member of the Republican Party, the younger Roosevelt made an unorthodox career choice for someone of his class, as most of Roosevelt's peers refrained from becoming too closely involved in politics. Roosevelt found allies in the local Republican Party, and he defeated an incumbent Republican state assemblyman closely tied to the political machine of Senator Roscoe Conkling. After his election victory, Roosevelt decided to drop out of law school, later saying, "I intended to be one of the governing class."
Naval history and strategy
While at Harvard, Roosevelt began a systematic study of the role played by the young United States Navy in the War of 1812. Assisted by two uncles, he scrutinized original source materials and official U.S. Navy records, ultimately publishing The Naval War of 1812 in 1882. The book contained drawings of individual and combined ship maneuvers, charts depicting the differences in iron throw weights of cannon shot between rival forces, and analyses of the differences and similarities between British and American leadership down to the ship-to-ship level. Upon release, The Naval War of 1812 was praised for its scholarship and style, and it remains a standard study of the war.
With the publication of The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 in 1890, Navy Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan was immediately hailed as the world's outstanding naval theorist by the leaders of Europe. Roosevelt paid very close attention to Mahan's emphasis that only a nation with the world's most powerful fleet could dominate the world's oceans, exert its diplomacy to the fullest, and defend its own borders. He incorporated Mahan's ideas into his views on naval strategy for the remainder of his career.
First marriage and widowerhood
In 1880, Roosevelt married socialite Alice Hathaway Lee. Their daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt, was born on February 12, 1884. Two days later, the new mother died of an undiagnosed case of kidney failure that had been masked by the pregnancy. In his diary, Roosevelt wrote a large 'X' on the page and then, "The light has gone out of my life." His mother, Mittie, had died of typhoid fever eleven hours earlier at 3:00 a.m., in the same house on 57th Street in Manhattan. Distraught, Roosevelt left baby Alice in the care of his sister Bamie while he grieved; he assumed custody of Alice when she was three.
After the deaths of his wife and mother, Roosevelt focused on his work, specifically by re-energizing a legislative investigation into corruption of the New York City government, which arose from a concurrent bill proposing that power be centralized in the mayor's office. For the rest of his life, he rarely spoke about his wife Alice and did not write about her in his autobiography.
Early political career
State Assemblyman
Roosevelt was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 21st D.) in 1882, 1883 and 1884. He immediately began making his mark, specifically in corporate corruption issues. He blocked a corrupt effort by financier Jay Gould to lower his taxes. Roosevelt exposed suspected collusion in the matter by Judge Theodore Westbrook, and argued for and received approval for an investigation to proceed, aiming for the impeachment of the judge. The investigation committee rejected impeachment, but Roosevelt had exposed the potential corruption in Albany, and thus assumed a high and positive political profile in multiple New York publications.
Roosevelt's anti-corruption efforts helped him win re-election in 1882 by a margin greater than two-to-one, an achievement made even more impressive by the fact that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Grover Cleveland won Roosevelt's district. With Conkling's Stalwart faction of the Republican Party in disarray following the assassination of President James Garfield, Roosevelt won election as the Republican party leader in the state assembly. He allied with Governor Cleveland to win passage of a civil service reform bill. Roosevelt won re-election a second time, and sought the office of Speaker of the New York State Assembly, but was defeated by Titus Sheard in a 41 to 29 vote of the GOP caucus. In his final term, Roosevelt served as Chairman of the Committee on Affairs of Cities; he wrote more bills than any other legislator.
Presidential election of 1884
With numerous presidential hopefuls to choose from, Roosevelt supported Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont, a colorless reformer. The state GOP preferred the incumbent president, New York City's Chester Arthur, who was known for passing the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. Arthur, at the time, was suffering from Bright's disease, unknown to the public, and out of duty he did not contest his own nomination. Roosevelt fought hard and succeeded in influencing the Manhattan delegates at the state convention in Utica. He then took control of the state convention, bargaining through the night and outmaneuvering the supporters of Arthur and James G. Blaine; he gained a national reputation as a key person in New York State.
Roosevelt attended the 1884 GOP National Convention in Chicago and gave a speech convincing delegates to nominate African American John R. Lynch, an Edmunds supporter, to be temporary chair. Roosevelt fought alongside the Mugwump reformers; however, Blaine, having gained support from Arthur's and Edmunds's delegates, won the nomination by 541 votes on the fourth ballot. In a crucial moment of his budding political career, Roosevelt resisted the demand of the Mugwumps that he bolt from Blaine. He bragged about his one small success: "We achieved a victory in getting up a combination to beat the Blaine nominee for temporary chairman... To do this needed a mixture of skill, boldness and energy... to get the different factions to come in... to defeat the common foe." He was also impressed by an invitation to speak before an audience of ten thousand, the largest crowd he had addressed up to that date. Having gotten a taste of national politics, Roosevelt felt less aspiration for advocacy on the state level; he then retired to his new "Chimney Butte Ranch" on the Little Missouri River. Roosevelt refused to join other Mugwumps in supporting Grover Cleveland, the governor of New York and the Democratic nominee in the general election. He debated the pros and cons of staying loyal with his political friend, Henry Cabot Lodge. After Blaine won the nomination, Roosevelt had carelessly said that he would give "hearty support to any decent Democrat". He distanced himself from the promise, saying that it had not been meant "for publication". When a reporter asked if he would support Blaine, Roosevelt replied, "That question I decline to answer. It is a subject I do not care to talk about." In the end, he realized that he had to support Blaine to maintain his role in the GOP, and he did so in a press release on July 19. Having lost the support of many reformers, Roosevelt decided to retire from politics and move to North Dakota.
Cattle rancher in Dakota
Roosevelt first visited the Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt bison. Exhilarated by the western lifestyle, and with the cattle business booming in the territory, Roosevelt invested $14,000 in hopes of becoming a prosperous cattle rancher. For the next several years, he shuttled between his home in New York and his ranch in Dakota.
Following the 1884 presidential election, Roosevelt built a ranch named Elkhorn, which was north of the boomtown of Medora, North Dakota. Roosevelt learned to ride western style, rope, and hunt on the banks of the Little Missouri. Though he earned the respect of the authentic cowboys, they were not overly impressed. However, he identified with the herdsman of history, a man he said possesses "few of the emasculated, milk-and-water moralities admired by the pseudo-philanthropists; but he does possess, to a very high degree, the stern, manly qualities that are invaluable to a nation". He reoriented, and began writing about frontier life for national magazines; he also published three books – Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, and The Wilderness Hunter.
Roosevelt brought his desire to address the common interests of citizens to the West. He successfully led efforts to organize ranchers to address problems of overgrazing and other shared concerns; his work resulted in the formation of the Little Missouri Stockmen's Association. He felt compelled to promote conservation and was able to form the Boone and Crockett Club, whose primary goal was the conservation of large game animals and their habitats. After the uniquely severe US winter of 1886–87 wiped out his herd of cattle and those of his competitors, and with it over half of his $80,000 investment, Roosevelt returned to the East. Though his finances suffered from the experience, Roosevelt's time in the West made it impossible to peg him as an ineffectual intellectual, a characterization that could have hampered his political career.
Second marriage
On December 2, 1886, Roosevelt married his childhood and family friend, Edith Kermit Carow. Roosevelt was deeply troubled that his second marriage had taken place so soon after the death of his first wife, and he faced resistance from his sisters. Nonetheless, the couple married at St George's, Hanover Square in London, England. The couple had five children: Theodore "Ted" III in 1887, Kermit in 1889, Ethel in 1891, Archibald in 1894, and Quentin in 1897. The couple also raised Roosevelt's daughter from his first marriage, Alice, who often clashed with her stepmother.
Reentering public life
Upon Roosevelt's return to New York in 1886, Republican leaders quickly approached him about running for mayor of New York City in the city's mayoral election. Roosevelt accepted the nomination despite having little hope of winning the race against United Labor Party candidate Henry George and Democratic candidate Abram Hewitt. Roosevelt campaigned hard for the position, but Hewitt won with 41% (90,552 votes), taking the votes of many Republicans who feared George's radical policies. George was held to 31% (68,110 votes), and Roosevelt took third place with 27% (60,435 votes). Fearing that his political career might never recover, Roosevelt turned his attention to writing The Winning of the West, a historical work tracking the westward movement of Americans; the book was a great success for Roosevelt, earning favorable reviews and selling numerous copies.
Civil Service Commission
After Benjamin Harrison unexpectedly defeated Blaine for the presidential nomination at the 1888 Republican National Convention, Roosevelt gave stump speeches in the Midwest in support of Harrison. On the insistence of Henry Cabot Lodge, President Harrison appointed Roosevelt to the United States Civil Service Commission, where he served until 1895. While many of his predecessors had approached the office as a sinecure, Roosevelt vigorously fought the spoilsmen and demanded enforcement of civil service laws. The New York Sun then described Roosevelt as "irrepressible, belligerent, and enthusiastic". Roosevelt frequently clashed with Postmaster General John Wanamaker, who handed out numerous patronage positions to Harrison supporters, and Roosevelt's attempt to force out several postal workers damaged Harrison politically. Despite Roosevelt's support for Harrison's reelection bid in the presidential election of 1892, the eventual winner, Grover Cleveland, reappointed him to the same post. Roosevelt's close friend and biographer, Joseph Bucklin Bishop, described his assault on the spoils system:
New York City Police Commissioner
In 1894, a group of reform Republicans approached Roosevelt about running for Mayor of New York again; he declined, mostly due to his wife's resistance to being removed from the Washington social set. Soon after he declined, he realized that he had missed an opportunity to reinvigorate a dormant political career. He retreated to the Dakotas for a time; his wife Edith regretted her role in the decision and vowed that there would be no repeat of it.
William Lafayette Strong, a reform-minded Republican, won the 1894 mayoral election and offered Roosevelt a position on the board of the New York City Police Commissioners. Roosevelt became president of the board of commissioners and radically reformed the police force. Roosevelt implemented regular inspections of firearms and annual physical exams, appointed recruits based on their physical and mental qualifications rather than political affiliation, established Meritorious Service Medals, and closed corrupt police hostelries. During his tenure, a Municipal Lodging House was established by the Board of Charities, and Roosevelt required officers to register with the Board; he also had telephones installed in station houses.
In 1894, Roosevelt met Jacob Riis, the muckraking Evening Sun newspaper journalist who was opening the eyes of New Yorkers to the terrible conditions of the city's millions of poor immigrants with such books as How the Other Half Lives. Riis described how his book affected Roosevelt:
Roosevelt made a habit of walking officers' beats late at night and early in the morning to make sure that they were on duty. He made a concerted effort to uniformly enforce New York's Sunday closing law; in this, he ran up against boss Tom Platt as well as Tammany Hall—he was notified that the Police Commission was being legislated out of existence. His crackdowns led to protests and demonstrations. Invited to one large demonstration, not only did he surprisingly accept, he delighted in the insults, caricatures and lampoons directed at him, and earned some surprising good will. Roosevelt chose to defer rather than split with his party. As Governor of New York State, he would later sign an act replacing the Police Commission with a single Police Commissioner.
Emergence as a national figure
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
In the 1896 presidential election, Roosevelt backed Speaker of the House Thomas Brackett Reed for the Republican nomination, but William McKinley won the nomination and defeated William Jennings Bryan in the general election. Roosevelt opposed Bryan's free silver platform, viewing many of Bryan's followers as dangerous fanatics, and Roosevelt gave campaign speeches for McKinley. Urged by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, President McKinley appointed Roosevelt as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897. Secretary of the Navy John D. Long was more concerned about formalities than functions, was in poor health, and left many major decisions to Roosevelt. Influenced by Alfred Thayer Mahan, Roosevelt called for a build-up in the country's naval strength, particularly the construction of battleships. Roosevelt also began pressing his national security views regarding the Pacific and the Caribbean on McKinley, and was particularly adamant that Spain be ejected from Cuba. He explained his priorities to one of the Navy's planners in late 1897:
On February 15, 1898, , an armored cruiser, exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, killing hundreds of crew members. While Roosevelt and many other Americans blamed Spain for the explosion, McKinley sought a diplomatic solution. Without approval from Long or McKinley, Roosevelt sent out orders to several naval vessels, directing them to prepare for war. George Dewey, who had received an appointment to lead the Asiatic Squadron with the backing of Roosevelt, later credited his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay to Roosevelt's orders. After finally giving up hope of a peaceful solution, McKinley asked Congress to declare war upon Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War.
War in Cuba
With the beginning of the Spanish–American War in late April 1898, Roosevelt resigned from his post as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Along with Army Colonel Leonard Wood, he formed the First US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. His wife and many of his friends begged Roosevelt to remain in his post in Washington, but Roosevelt was determined to see battle. When the newspapers reported the formation of the new regiment, Roosevelt and Wood were flooded with applications from all over the country. Referred to by the press as the "Rough Riders", the regiment was one of many temporary units active only for the duration of the war.
The regiment trained for several weeks in San Antonio, Texas, and in his autobiography, Roosevelt wrote that his prior experience with the New York National Guard had been invaluable, in that it enabled him to immediately begin teaching his men basic soldiering skills. The Rough Riders used some standard issue gear and some of their own design, purchased with gift money. Diversity characterized the regiment, which included Ivy Leaguers, professional and amateur athletes, upscale gentlemen, cowboys, frontiersmen, Native Americans, hunters, miners, prospectors, former soldiers, tradesmen, and sheriffs. The Rough Riders were part of the cavalry division commanded by former Confederate general Joseph Wheeler, which itself was one of three divisions in the V Corps under Lieutenant General William Rufus Shafter. Roosevelt and his men landed in Daiquirí, Cuba, on June 23, 1898, and marched to Siboney. Wheeler sent parts of the 1st and 10th Regular Cavalry on the lower road northwest and sent the "Rough Riders" on the parallel road running along a ridge up from the beach. To throw off his infantry rival, Wheeler left one regiment of his Cavalry Division, the 9th, at Siboney so that he could claim that his move north was only a limited reconnaissance if things went wrong. Roosevelt was promoted to colonel and took command of the regiment when Wood was put in command of the brigade. The Rough Riders had a short, minor skirmish known as the Battle of Las Guasimas; they fought their way through Spanish resistance and, together with the Regulars, forced the Spaniards to abandon their positions.
Under his leadership, the Rough Riders became famous for the charge up Kettle Hill on July 1, 1898, while supporting the regulars. Roosevelt had the only horse, and rode back and forth between rifle pits at the forefront of the advance up Kettle Hill, an advance that he urged despite the absence of any orders from superiors. He was forced to walk up the last part of Kettle Hill because his horse had been entangled in barbed wire. The victories came at a cost of 200 killed and 1,000 wounded.
In August, Roosevelt and other officers demanded that the soldiers be returned home. Roosevelt always recalled the Battle of Kettle Hill (part of the San Juan Heights) as "the great day of my life" and "my crowded hour". In 2001, Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions; he had been nominated during the war, but Army officials, annoyed at his grabbing the headlines, blocked it. After returning to civilian life, Roosevelt preferred to be known as "Colonel Roosevelt" or "The Colonel", though "Teddy" remained much more popular with the public, even though Roosevelt openly despised that moniker. Men working closely with Roosevelt customarily called him "Colonel" or "Theodore". Henceforth, political cartoons of Roosevelt usually depicted him in his Rough Rider garb.
Governor of New York
After leaving Cuba in August 1898, the Rough Riders were transported to a camp at Montauk Point, Long Island, where Roosevelt and his men were briefly quarantined due to the War Department's fear of spreading yellow fever. Shortly after Roosevelt's return to the United States, Republican Congressman Lemuel E. Quigg, a lieutenant of party boss Tom Platt, asked Roosevelt to run in the 1898 gubernatorial election. Platt disliked Roosevelt personally, feared that Roosevelt would oppose Platt's interests in office, and was reluctant to propel Roosevelt to the forefront of national politics. However, Platt also needed a strong candidate due to the unpopularity of the incumbent Republican governor, Frank S. Black, and Roosevelt agreed to become the nominee and to try not to "make war" with the Republican establishment once in office. Roosevelt defeated Black in the Republican caucus by a vote of 753 to 218, and faced Democrat Augustus Van Wyck, a well-respected judge, in the general election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously on his war record, winning the election by a margin of just one percent.
As governor, Roosevelt learned much about ongoing economic issues and political techniques that later proved valuable in his presidency. He was exposed to the problems of trusts, monopolies, labor relations, and conservation. Chessman argues that Roosevelt's program "rested firmly upon the concept of the square deal by a neutral state". The rules for the Square Deal were "honesty in public affairs, an equitable sharing of privilege and responsibility, and subordination of party and local concerns to the interests of the state at large".
By holding twice-daily press conferences—which was an innovation—Roosevelt remained connected with his middle-class political base. Roosevelt successfully pushed the Ford Franchise-Tax bill, which taxed public franchises granted by the state and controlled by corporations, declaring that "a corporation which derives its powers from the State, should pay to the State a just percentage of its earnings as a return for the privileges it enjoys". He rejected "boss" Thomas C. Platt's worries that this approached Bryanite Socialism, explaining that without it, New York voters might get angry and adopt public ownership of streetcar lines and other franchises.
The New York state government affected many interests, and the power to make appointments to policy-making positions was a key role for the governor. Platt insisted that he be consulted on major appointments; Roosevelt appeared to comply, but then made his own decisions. Historians marvel that Roosevelt managed to appoint so many first-rate men with Platt's approval. He even enlisted Platt's help in securing reform, such as in the spring of 1899, when Platt pressured state senators to vote for a civil service bill that the secretary of the Civil Service Reform Association called "superior to any civil service statute heretofore secured in America".
Chessman argues that as governor, Roosevelt developed the principles that shaped his presidency, especially insistence upon the public responsibility of large corporations, publicity as a first remedy for trusts, regulation of railroad rates, mediation of the conflict of capital and labor, conservation of natural resources and protection of the less fortunate members of society. Roosevelt sought to position himself against the excesses of large corporations on the one hand and radical movements on the other.
As the chief executive of the most populous state in the union, Roosevelt was widely considered a potential future presidential candidate, and supporters such as William Allen White encouraged him to run for president. Roosevelt had no interest in challenging McKinley for the Republican nomination in 1900, and was denied his preferred post of Secretary of War. As his term progressed, Roosevelt pondered a 1904 presidential run, but was uncertain about whether he should seek re-election as governor in 1900.
Vice Presidency (1901)
In November 1899, Vice President Garret Hobart died of heart failure, leaving an open spot on the 1900 Republican national ticket. Though Henry Cabot Lodge and others urged him to run for vice president in 1900, Roosevelt was reluctant to take the powerless position and issued a public statement saying that he would not accept the nomination. Additionally, Roosevelt was informed by President McKinley and campaign manager Mark Hanna that he was not being considered for the role of vice president due to his actions prior to the Spanish–American War. Eager to be rid of Roosevelt, Platt nonetheless began a newspaper campaign in favor of Roosevelt's nomination for the vice presidency. Roosevelt attended the 1900 Republican National Convention as a state delegate and struck a bargain with Platt: Roosevelt would accept the nomination for vice president if the convention offered it to him, but would otherwise serve another term as governor. Platt asked Pennsylvania party boss Matthew Quay to lead the campaign for Roosevelt's nomination, and Quay outmaneuvered Hanna at the convention to put Roosevelt on the ticket. Roosevelt won the nomination unanimously.
Roosevelt's vice-presidential campaigning proved highly energetic and an equal match for Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan's famous barnstorming style of campaigning. In a whirlwind campaign that displayed his energy to the public, Roosevelt made 480 stops in 23 states. He denounced the radicalism of Bryan, contrasting it with the heroism of the soldiers and sailors who fought and won the war against Spain. Bryan had strongly supported the war itself, but he denounced the annexation of the Philippines as imperialism, which would spoil America's innocence. Roosevelt countered that it was best for the Filipinos to have stability and the Americans to have a proud place in the world. With the nation basking in peace and prosperity, the voters gave McKinley an even larger victory than that which he had achieved in 1896.
After the campaign, Roosevelt took office as vice president in March 1901. The office of vice president was a powerless sinecure and did not suit Roosevelt's aggressive temperament. Roosevelt's six months as vice president were uneventful and boring for a man of action. He had no power; he presided over the Senate for a mere four days before it adjourned. On September 2, 1901, Roosevelt first publicized an aphorism that thrilled his supporters: "Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far."
Presidency (1901–1909)
On September 6, 1901, President McKinley was attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York when he was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Roosevelt was vacationing in Isle La Motte, Vermont, and traveled to Buffalo to visit McKinley in the hospital. It appeared that McKinley would recover, so Roosevelt resumed his vacation in the Adirondack Mountains. When McKinley's condition worsened, Roosevelt again rushed back to Buffalo. McKinley died on September 14, and Roosevelt was informed while he was in North Creek; he continued on to Buffalo and was sworn in as the nation's 26th president at the Ansley Wilcox House.
McKinley's supporters were nervous about the new president, and Hanna was particularly bitter that the man he had opposed so vigorously at the convention had succeeded McKinley. Roosevelt assured party leaders that he intended to adhere to McKinley's policies, and he retained McKinley's Cabinet. Nonetheless, Roosevelt sought to position himself as the party's undisputed leader, seeking to bolster the role of the president and position himself for the 1904 election. The vice presidency remained vacant, as there was no constitutional provision for filling an intra-term vacancy in that office (prior to the 25th Amendment in 1967).
Shortly after taking office, Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House. This sparked a bitter, and at times vicious, reaction among whites across the heavily segregated South. Roosevelt reacted with astonishment and protest, saying that he looked forward to many future dinners with Washington. Upon further reflection, Roosevelt wanted to ensure that this had no effect on political support in the white South, and further dinner invitations to Washington were avoided; their next meeting was scheduled as typical business at 10:00 a.m. instead.
Domestic policies
Trust busting and regulation
For his aggressive use of the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act, compared to his predecessors, Roosevelt was hailed as the "trust-buster"; but in reality he was more of a trust regulator. Roosevelt viewed big business as a necessary part of the American economy, and sought only to prosecute the "bad trusts" that restrained trade and charged unfair prices. He brought 44 antitrust suits, breaking up the Northern Securities Company, the largest railroad monopoly; and regulating Standard Oil, the largest oil company. Presidents Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley combined had prosecuted only 18 antitrust violations under the Sherman Antitrust Act.
Bolstered by his party's winning large majorities in the 1902 elections, Roosevelt proposed the creation of the United States Department of Commerce and Labor, which would include the Bureau of Corporations. While Congress was receptive to the Department of Commerce and Labor, it was more skeptical of the antitrust powers that Roosevelt sought to endow within the Bureau of Corporations. Roosevelt successfully appealed to the public to pressure Congress, and Congress overwhelmingly voted to pass Roosevelt's version of the bill.
In a moment of frustration, House Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon commented on Roosevelt's desire for executive branch control in domestic policy-making: "That fellow at the other end of the avenue wants everything from the birth of Christ to the death of the devil." Biographer Brands states, "Even his friends occasionally wondered whether there wasn't any custom or practice too minor for him to try to regulate, update or otherwise improve." In fact, Roosevelt's willingness to exercise his power included attempted rule changes in the game of football; at the Naval Academy, he sought to force retention of martial arts classes and to revise disciplinary rules. He even ordered changes made in the minting of a coin whose design he disliked, and ordered the Government Printing Office to adopt simplified spellings for a core list of 300 words, according to reformers on the Simplified Spelling Board. He was forced to rescind the latter after substantial ridicule from the press and a resolution of protest from the House of Representatives.
Coal strike
In May 1902, anthracite coal miners went on strike, threatening a national energy shortage. After threatening the coal operators with intervention by federal troops, Roosevelt won their agreement to dispute arbitration by a commission, which succeeded in stopping the strike. The accord with J. P. Morgan resulted in the miners getting more pay for fewer hours, but with no union recognition. Roosevelt said, "My action on labor should always be considered in connection with my action as regards capital, and both are reducible to my favorite formula—a square deal for every man." Roosevelt was the first president to help settle a labor dispute.
Prosecuted misconduct
During Roosevelt's second year in office it was discovered there was corruption in the Indian Service, the Land Office, and the Post Office Department. Roosevelt investigated and prosecuted corrupt Indian agents who had cheated the Creeks and various tribes out of land parcels. Land fraud and speculation were found involving Oregon federal timberlands. In November 1902, Roosevelt and Secretary Ethan A. Hitchcock forced Binger Hermann, the General Land Office Commissioner, to resign from office. On November 6, 1903 Francis J. Heney was appointed special prosecutor and obtained 146 indictments involving an Oregon Land Office bribery ring. U.S. Senator John H. Mitchell was indicted for bribery to expedite illegal land patents, found guilty in July 1905, and sentenced to six months in prison. More corruption was found in the Postal Department, that brought on the indictments of 44 government employees on charges of bribery and fraud. Historians generally agree that Roosevelt moved "quickly and decisively" to prosecute misconduct in his administration.
Railroads
Merchants complained that some railroad rates were too high. In the 1906 Hepburn Act, Roosevelt sought to give the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to regulate rates, but the Senate, led by conservative Nelson Aldrich, fought back. Roosevelt worked with the Democratic Senator Benjamin Tillman to pass the bill. Roosevelt and Aldrich ultimately reached a compromise that gave the ICC the power to replace existing rates with "just-and-reasonable" maximum rates, but allowed railroads to appeal to the federal courts on what was "reasonable". In addition to rate-setting, the Hepburn Act also granted the ICC regulatory power over pipeline fees, storage contracts, and several other aspects of railroad operations.
Pure food and drugs
Roosevelt responded to public anger over the abuses in the food packing industry by pushing Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act. Though conservatives initially opposed the bill, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, published in 1906, helped galvanize support for reform. The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 banned misleading labels and preservatives that contained harmful chemicals. The Pure Food and Drug Act banned food and drugs that were impure or falsely labeled from being made, sold, and shipped. Roosevelt also served as honorary president of the American School Hygiene Association from 1907 to 1908, and in 1909 he convened the first White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children.
Conservation
Of all Roosevelt's achievements, he was proudest of his work in the conservation of natural resources and extending federal protection to land and wildlife. Roosevelt worked closely with Interior Secretary James Rudolph Garfield and Chief of the United States Forest Service Gifford Pinchot to enact a series of conservation programs that often met with resistance from Western members of Congress, such as Charles William Fulton. Nonetheless, Roosevelt established the United States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of five National Parks, and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 new U.S. National Monuments. He also established the first 51 bird reserves, four game preserves, and 150 National Forests. The area of the United States that he placed under public protection totals approximately .
Roosevelt extensively used executive orders on a number of occasions to protect forest and wildlife lands during his tenure as president. By the end of his second term in office, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish of reserved forestry land. Roosevelt was unapologetic about his extensive use of executive orders to protect the environment, despite the perception in Congress that he was encroaching on too many lands. Eventually, Senator Charles Fulton (R-OR) attached an amendment to an agricultural appropriations bill that effectively prevented the president from reserving any further land. Before signing that bill into law, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish an additional 21 forest reserves, waiting until the last minute to sign the bill into law. In total, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish 121 forest reserves in 31 states. Prior to Roosevelt, only one president had issued over 200 executive orders, Grover Cleveland (253). The first 25 presidents issued a total of 1,262 executive orders; Roosevelt issued 1,081.
Foreign policy
Japan
The American annexation of Hawaii in 1898 was stimulated in part by fear that otherwise Japan would dominate the Hawaiian Republic. Similarly, Germany was the alternative to American takeover of the Philippines in 1900, and Tokyo strongly preferred the U.S. to take over. As the U.S. became a naval world power, it needed to find a way to avoid a military confrontation in the Pacific with Japan.
In the 1890s, Roosevelt had been an ardent imperialist and vigorously defended the permanent acquisition of the Philippines in the 1900 campaign. After the local insurrection ended in 1902, he largely lost his imperialist interest in the Philippines and Asian expansion but wished to have a strong U.S. presence in the region as a symbol of democratic values. One of Theodore Roosevelt's priorities during his presidency and afterwards, was the maintenance of friendly relations with Japan. From 1904 to 1905 Japan and Russia were at war. Roosevelt admired the martial courage of the Japanese, and distrusted the reckless German Kaiser. Both sides asked Roosevelt to mediate a peace conference, held successfully in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
In California, anti-Japanese hostility was growing, and Tokyo protested. Roosevelt negotiated a "Gentleman's Agreement" in 1907. Explicit discrimination against the Japanese was ended, and Japan agreed not to allow unskilled immigrants into the United States. The Great White Fleet of American battleships visited Japan in 1908. Pulitzer prize-winning biographer Henry Pringle states that the great voyage was "the direct result of the Japanese trouble." Roosevelt intended to emphasize the superiority of the American fleet over the smaller Japanese navy, but instead of resentment the visitors arrived to a joyous welcome by Japanese elite as well as the general public. This good-will facilitated the Root–Takahira Agreement of November 1908 which reaffirmed the status quo of Japanese control of Korea and American control of the Philippines.
Europe
Success in the war against Spain and the new empire, plus having the largest economy in the world, meant that the United States had emerged as a world power. Roosevelt searched for ways to win recognition for the position abroad.
Roosevelt also played a major role in mediating the First Moroccan Crisis by calling the Algeciras Conference, which averted war between France and Germany.
Roosevelt's presidency saw the strengthening of ties with Great Britain. The Great Rapprochement had begun with British support of the United States during the Spanish–American War, and it continued as Britain withdrew its fleet from the Caribbean in favor of focusing on the rising German naval threat. In 1901, Britain and the United States signed the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, abrogating the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty, which had prevented the United States from constructing a canal connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. The long-standing Alaska boundary dispute was settled on terms favorable to the United States, as Great Britain was unwilling to alienate the United States over what it considered to be a secondary issue. As Roosevelt later put it, the resolution of the Alaskan boundary dispute "settled the last serious trouble between the British Empire and ourselves."
Latin America and Panama Canal
As president, he primarily focused the nation's overseas ambitions on the Caribbean, especially locations that had a bearing on the defense of his pet project, the Panama Canal. Roosevelt also increased the size of the navy, and by the end of his second term the United States had more battleships than any other country besides Britain. The Panama Canal when it opened in 1914 allowed the U.S. Navy to rapidly move back and forth from the Pacific to the Caribbean to European waters.
In December 1902, the Germans, British, and Italians blockaded the ports of Venezuela in order to force the repayment of delinquent loans. Roosevelt was particularly concerned with the motives of German Emperor Wilhelm II. He succeeded in getting the three nations to agree to arbitration by tribunal at The Hague, and successfully defused the crisis. The latitude granted to the Europeans by the arbiters was in part responsible for the "Roosevelt Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which the President issued in 1904: "Chronic wrongdoing or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere, the adherence of the United States to the Monroe doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power."
The pursuit of an isthmus canal in Central America during this period focused on two possible routes—Nicaragua and Panama, which was then a rebellious district within Colombia. Roosevelt convinced Congress to approve the Panamanian alternative, and a treaty was approved, only to be rejected by the Colombian government. When the Panamanians learned of this, a rebellion followed, was supported by Roosevelt, and succeeded. A treaty with the new Panama government for construction of the canal was then reached in 1903. Roosevelt received criticism for paying the bankrupt Panama Canal Company and the New Panama Canal Company $40,000,000 (equivalent to $ billion in ) for the rights and equipment to build the canal. Critics charged that an American investor syndicate allegedly divided the large payment among themselves. There was also controversy over whether a French company engineer influenced Roosevelt in choosing the Panama route for the canal over the Nicaragua route. Roosevelt denied charges of corruption concerning the canal in a January 8, 1906 message to Congress. In January 1909, Roosevelt, in an unprecedented move, brought criminal libel charges against the New York World and the Indianapolis News known as the "Roosevelt-Panama Libel Cases". Both cases were dismissed by U.S. District Courts, and on January 3, 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court, upon federal appeal, upheld the lower courts' rulings. Historians are sharply critical of Roosevelt's criminal prosecutions of the World and the News, but are divided on whether actual corruption in acquiring and building the Panama Canal took place.
In 1906, following a disputed election, an insurrection ensued in Cuba; Roosevelt sent Taft, the Secretary of War, to monitor the situation; he was convinced that he had the authority to unilaterally authorize Taft to deploy Marines if necessary, without congressional approval.
Examining the work of numerous scholars, Ricard (2014) reports that:
The most striking evolution in the twenty-first-century historiography of Theodore Roosevelt is the switch from a partial arraignment of the imperialist to a quasi-unanimous celebration of the master diplomatist.... [Recent works] have underlined cogently Roosevelt's exceptional statesmanship in the construction of the nascent twentieth-century "special relationship". ...The twenty-sixth president's reputation as a brilliant diplomatist and realpolitician has undeniably reached new heights in the twenty-first century...yet, his Philippine policy still prompts criticism.
Media
Building on McKinley's effective use of the press, Roosevelt made the White House the center of news every day, providing interviews and photo opportunities. After noticing the reporters huddled outside the White House in the rain one day, he gave them their own room inside, effectively inventing the presidential press briefing. The grateful press, with unprecedented access to the White House, rewarded Roosevelt with ample coverage.
Roosevelt normally enjoyed very close relationships with the press, which he used to keep in daily contact with his middle-class base. While out of office, he made a living as a writer and magazine editor. He loved talking with intellectuals, authors, and writers. He drew the line, however, at exposé-oriented scandal-mongering journalists who, during his term, sent magazine subscriptions soaring by their attacks on corrupt politicians, mayors, and corporations. Roosevelt himself was not usually a target, but a speech of his from 1906 coined the term "muckraker" for unscrupulous journalists making wild charges. "The liar", he said, "is no whit better than the thief, and if his mendacity takes the form of slander he may be worse than most thieves."
The press did briefly target Roosevelt in one instance. After 1904, he was periodically criticized for the manner in which he facilitated the construction of the Panama Canal. According to biographer Brands, Roosevelt, near the end of his term, demanded that the Justice Department bring charges of criminal libel against Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. The publication had accused him of "deliberate misstatements of fact" in defense of family members who were criticized as a result of the Panama affair. Though an indictment was obtained, the case was ultimately dismissed in federal court—it was not a federal offense, but one enforceable in state courts. The Justice Department had predicted that result, and had also advised Roosevelt accordingly.
Election of 1904
The control and management of the Republican Party lay in the hands of Ohio Senator and Republican Party chairman Mark Hanna until McKinley's death. Roosevelt and Hanna frequently cooperated during Roosevelt's first term, but Hanna left open the possibility of a challenge to Roosevelt for the 1904 Republican nomination. Roosevelt and Ohio's other Senator, Joseph B. Foraker, forced Hanna's hand by calling for Ohio's state Republican convention to endorse Roosevelt for the 1904 nomination. Unwilling to break with the president, Hanna was forced to publicly endorse Roosevelt. Hanna and Pennsylvania Senator Matthew Quay both died in early 1904, and with the waning of Thomas Platt's power, Roosevelt faced little effective opposition for the 1904 nomination. In deference to Hanna's conservative loyalists, Roosevelt at first offered the party chairmanship to Cornelius Bliss, but he declined. Roosevelt turned to his own man, George B. Cortelyou of New York, the first Secretary of Commerce and Labor. To buttress his hold on the party's nomination, Roosevelt made it clear that anyone opposing Cortelyou would be considered to be opposing the President. The President secured his own nomination, but his preferred vice-presidential running mate, Robert R. Hitt, was not nominated. Senator Charles Warren Fairbanks of Indiana, a favorite of conservatives, gained the nomination.
While Roosevelt followed the tradition of incumbents in not actively campaigning on the stump, he sought to control the campaign's message through specific instructions to Cortelyou. He also attempted to manage the press's release of White House statements by forming the Ananias Club. Any journalist who repeated a statement made by the president without approval was penalized by restriction of further access.
The Democratic Party's nominee in 1904 was Alton Brooks Parker. Democratic newspapers charged that Republicans were extorting large campaign contributions from corporations, putting ultimate responsibility on Roosevelt, himself. Roosevelt denied corruption while at the same time he ordered Cortelyou to return $100,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) of a campaign contribution from Standard Oil. Parker said that Roosevelt was accepting corporate donations to keep damaging information from the Bureau of Corporations from going public. Roosevelt strongly denied Parker's charge and responded that he would "go into the Presidency unhampered by any pledge, promise, or understanding of any kind, sort, or description...". Allegations from Parker and the Democrats, however, had little impact on the election, as Roosevelt promised to give every American a "square deal". Roosevelt won 56% of the popular vote, and Parker received 38%; Roosevelt also won the Electoral College vote, 336 to 140. Before his inauguration ceremony, Roosevelt declared that he would not serve another term. Democrats afterwards would continue to charge Roosevelt and the Republicans of being influenced by corporate donations during Roosevelt's second term.
Second term
As his second term progressed, Roosevelt moved to the left of his Republican Party base and called for a series of reforms, most of which Congress failed to pass. In his last year in office, he was assisted by his friend Archibald Butt (who later perished in the sinking of RMS Titanic). Roosevelt's influence waned as he approached the end of his second term, as his promise to forego a third term made him a lame duck and his concentration of power provoked a backlash from many Congressmen. He sought a national incorporation law (at a time when all corporations had state charters), called for a federal income tax (despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.), and an inheritance tax. In the area of labor legislation, Roosevelt called for limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes; injunctions were a powerful weapon that mostly helped business. He wanted an employee liability law for industrial injuries (pre-empting state laws) and an eight-hour work day for federal employees. In other areas he also sought a postal savings system (to provide competition for local banks), and he asked for campaign reform laws.
The election of 1904 continued to be a source of contention between Republicans and Democrats. A Congressional investigation in 1905 revealed that corporate executives donated tens of thousands of dollars in 1904 to the Republican National Committee. In 1908, a month before the general presidential election, Governor Charles N. Haskell of Oklahoma, former Democratic Treasurer, said that Senators beholden to Standard Oil lobbied Roosevelt, in the summer of 1904, to authorize the leasing of Indian oil lands by Standard Oil subsidiaries. He said Roosevelt overruled his Secretary of Interior Ethan A. Hitchcock and granted a pipeline franchise to run through the Osage lands to the Prairie Oil and Gas Company. The New York Sun made a similar accusation and said that Standard Oil, a refinery who financially benefited from the pipeline, had contributed $150,000 to the Republicans in 1904 (equivalent to $ million in ) after Roosevelt's alleged reversal allowing the pipeline franchise. Roosevelt branded Haskell's allegation as "a lie, pure and simple" and obtained a denial from Treasury Secretary Shaw that Roosevelt had neither coerced Shaw nor overruled him.
Post-presidency (1909–1919)
Election of 1908
Roosevelt enjoyed being president and was still relatively youthful, but felt that a limited number of terms provided a check against dictatorship. Roosevelt ultimately decided to stick to his 1904 pledge not to run for a third term. He personally favored Secretary of State Elihu Root as his successor, but Root's ill health made him an unsuitable candidate. New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes loomed as a potentially strong candidate and shared Roosevelt's progressivism, but Roosevelt disliked him and considered him to be too independent. Instead, Roosevelt settled on his Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, who had ably served under Presidents Harrison, McKinley, and Roosevelt in various positions. Roosevelt and Taft had been friends since 1890, and Taft had consistently supported President Roosevelt's policies. Roosevelt was determined to install the successor of his choice, and wrote the following to Taft: "Dear Will: Do you want any action about those federal officials? I will break their necks with the utmost cheerfulness if you say the word!". Just weeks later he branded as "false and malicious" the charge that he was using the offices at his disposal to favor Taft. At the 1908 Republican convention, many chanted for "four years more" of a Roosevelt presidency, but Taft won the nomination after Henry Cabot Lodge made it clear that Roosevelt was not interested in a third term.
In the 1908 election, Taft easily defeated the Democratic nominee, three-time candidate William Jennings Bryan. Taft promoted a progressivism that stressed the rule of law; he preferred that judges rather than administrators or politicians make the basic decisions about fairness. Taft usually proved to be a less adroit politician than Roosevelt and lacked the energy and personal magnetism, along with the publicity devices, the dedicated supporters, and the broad base of public support that made Roosevelt so formidable. When Roosevelt realized that lowering the tariff would risk creating severe tensions inside the Republican Party by pitting producers (manufacturers and farmers) against merchants and consumers, he stopped talking about the issue. Taft ignored the risks and tackled the tariff boldly, encouraging reformers to fight for lower rates, and then cutting deals with conservative leaders that kept overall rates high. The resulting Payne-Aldrich tariff of 1909, signed into law early in President Taft's tenure, was too high for most reformers, and Taft's handling of the tariff alienated all sides. While the crisis was building inside the Party, Roosevelt was touring Africa and Europe, to allow Taft to be his own man.
Africa and Europe (1909–1910)
In March 1909, shortly after the end of his presidency, Roosevelt left New York for the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition, a safari in east and central Africa. Roosevelt's party landed in Mombasa, East Africa (now Kenya) and traveled to the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) before following the Nile to Khartoum in modern Sudan. Financed by Andrew Carnegie and by his own writings, Roosevelt's party hunted for specimens for the Smithsonian Institution and for the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The group, led by the hunter-tracker RJ Cunninghame, included scientists from the Smithsonian, and was joined from time to time by Frederick Selous, the famous big game hunter and explorer. Participants on the expedition included Kermit Roosevelt, Edgar Alexander Mearns, Edmund Heller, and John Alden Loring.
Roosevelt and his companions killed or trapped approximately 11,400 animals, from insects and moles to hippopotamuses and elephants. The 1,000 large animals included 512 big game animals, including six rare white rhinos. Tons of salted animals and their skins were shipped to Washington; it took years to mount them all, and the Smithsonian shared many duplicate specimens with other museums. Regarding the large number of animals taken, Roosevelt said, "I can be condemned only if the existence of the National Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and all similar zoological institutions are to be condemned". He wrote a detailed account of the safari in the book African Game Trails, recounting the excitement of the chase, the people he met, and the flora and fauna he collected in the name of science.
After his safari, Roosevelt traveled north to embark on a tour of Europe. Stopping first in Egypt, he commented favorably on British rule of the region, giving his opinion that Egypt was not yet ready for independence. He refused a meeting with the Pope due to a dispute over a group of Methodists active in Rome, but met with Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King George V of Great Britain, and other European leaders. In Oslo, Norway, Roosevelt delivered a speech calling for limitations on naval armaments, a strengthening of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and the creation of a "League of Peace" among the world powers. He also delivered the Romanes Lecture at Oxford, in which he denounced those who sought parallels between the evolution of animal life and the development of society. Though Roosevelt attempted to avoid domestic politics during his time abroad, he met with Gifford Pinchot, who related his own disappointment with the Taft Administration. Pinchot had been forced to resign as head of the forest service after clashing with Taft's Interior Secretary, Richard Ballinger, who had prioritized development over conservation. Roosevelt returned to the United States in June 1910.
Republican Party schism
Roosevelt had attempted to refashion Taft into a second version of himself, but as soon as Taft began to display his individuality, the former president expressed his disenchantment. He was offended on election night when Taft indicated that his success had been possible not just through the efforts of Roosevelt, but also his brother Charley. Roosevelt was further alienated when Taft, intent on becoming his own man, did not consult him about cabinet appointments. Roosevelt and other progressives were ideologically dissatisfied over Taft's conservation policies and his handling of the tariff when he concentrated more power in the hands of conservative party leaders in Congress. Regarding radicalism and liberalism, Roosevelt wrote a British friend in 1911:
Fundamentally it is the radical liberal with whom I sympathize. He is at least working toward the end for which I think we should all of us strive; and when he adds sanity in moderation to courage and enthusiasm for high ideals he develops into the kind of statesman whom alone I can wholeheartedly support."
Roosevelt urged progressives to take control of the Republican Party at the state and local level and to avoid splitting the party in a way that would hand the presidency to the Democrats in 1912. Additionally, Roosevelt expressed optimism about the Taft Administration after meeting with the president in the White House in June 1910.
In August 1910, Roosevelt gained national attention with a speech at Osawatomie, Kansas, which was the most radical of his career and marked his public break with Taft and the conservative Republicans. Advocating a program of "New Nationalism", Roosevelt emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests, a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions. Returning to New York, Roosevelt began a battle to take control of the state Republican party from William Barnes Jr., Tom Platt's successor as the state party boss, whom he would later confront in the Barnes vs. Roosevelt Libel Trial. Taft had pledged his support to Roosevelt in this endeavor, and Roosevelt was outraged when Taft's support failed to materialize at the 1910 state convention. Roosevelt nonetheless campaigned for the Republicans in the 1910 elections, in which the Democrats gained control of the House for the first time since the 1890s. Among the newly elected Democrats was New York state senator Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who argued that he represented his distant cousin's policies better than his Republican opponent.
The Republican progressives interpreted the 1910 defeats as a compelling argument for the complete reorganization of the party in 1911. Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin joined with Pinchot, William White, and California Governor Hiram Johnson to create the National Progressive Republican League; their objectives were to defeat the power of political bossism at the state level and to replace Taft at the national level. Despite skepticism of La Follette's new league, Roosevelt expressed general support for progressive principles. Between January and April 1911, Roosevelt wrote a series of articles for The Outlook, defending what he called "the great movement of our day, the progressive nationalist movement against special privilege, and in favor of an honest and efficient political and industrial democracy". With Roosevelt apparently uninterested in running in 1912, La Follette declared his own candidacy in June 1911. Roosevelt continually criticized Taft after the 1910 elections, and the break between the two men became final after the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against US Steel in September 1911; Roosevelt was humiliated by this suit because he had personally approved of an acquisition that the Justice Department was now challenging. However, Roosevelt was still unwilling to run against Taft in 1912; he instead hoped to run in 1916 against whichever Democrat beat Taft in 1912.
Dispute over arbitration treaties
Taft was a major advocate of arbitration as a major reform of the Progressive Era. In 1911 Taft and his Secretary of State Philander C. Knox negotiated major treaties with Great Britain and with France providing that differences be arbitrated. Disputes had to be submitted to the Hague Court or other tribunal. These were signed in August 1911 but had to be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. Neither Taft nor Knox consulted with members of the Senate during the negotiating process. By then many Republicans were opposed to Taft, and the president felt that lobbying too hard for the treaties might cause their defeat. He made some speeches supporting the treaties in October, but the Senate added amendments Taft could not accept, killing the agreements.
The arbitration issue opens a window on a bitter philosophical dispute among American progressives. Some, led by Taft looked to legal arbitration as the best alternative to warfare. Taft was a constitutional lawyer who later became Chief Justice; he had a deep understanding of the legal issues. Taft's political base was the conservative business community that largely supported peace movements before 1914. However, his mistake, in this case, was a failure to mobilize that base. The businessmen believed that economic rivalries were the cause of war, and that extensive trade led to an interdependent world that would make war a very expensive and useless anachronism.
However, an opposing faction of progressives, led by Roosevelt, ridiculed arbitration as foolhardy idealism, and insisted on the realism of warfare as the only solution to serious international disputes. Roosevelt worked with his close friend Senator Henry Cabot Lodge to impose those amendments that ruined the goals of the treaties. Lodge thought the treaties impinged too much on senatorial prerogatives. Roosevelt, however, was acting to sabotage Taft's campaign promises. At a deeper level, Roosevelt truly believed that arbitration was a naïve solution and the great issues had to be decided by warfare. The Rooseveltian approach incorporated a near-mystical faith of the ennobling nature of war. It endorsed jingoistic nationalism as opposed to the businessmen's calculation of profit and national interest.
Election of 1912
Republican primaries and convention
In November 1911, a group of Ohio Republicans endorsed Roosevelt for the party's nomination for president; the endorsers included James R. Garfield and Dan Hanna. This endorsement was made by leaders of President Taft's home state. Roosevelt conspicuously declined to make a statement—requested by Garfield—that he would flatly refuse a nomination. Soon thereafter, Roosevelt said, "I am really sorry for Taft... I am sure he means well, but he means well feebly, and he does not know how! He is utterly unfit for leadership and this is a time when we need leadership." In January 1912, Roosevelt declared "if the people make a draft on me I shall not decline to serve". Later that year, Roosevelt spoke before the Constitutional Convention in Ohio, openly identifying as a progressive and endorsing progressive reforms—even endorsing popular review of state judicial decisions. In reaction to Roosevelt's proposals for popular overrule of court decisions, Taft said, "Such extremists are not progressives—they are political emotionalists or neurotics".
Roosevelt began to envision himself as the savior of the Republican Party from defeat in the upcoming presidential election. In February 1912, Roosevelt announced in Boston, "I will accept the nomination for president if it is tendered to me. I hope that so far as possible the people may be given the chance through direct primaries to express who shall be the nominee. Elihu Root and Henry Cabot Lodge thought that division of the party would lead to its defeat in the next election, while Taft believed that he would be defeated either in the Republican primary or in the general election.
The 1912 primaries represented the first extensive use of the presidential primary, a reform achievement of the progressive movement. The Republican primaries in the South, where party regulars dominated, went for Taft, as did results in New York, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Roosevelt won in Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, California, Maryland and Pennsylvania; Roosevelt also won Taft's home state of Ohio. These primary elections, while demonstrating Roosevelt's continuing popularity with the electorate, were not pivotal. The final credentials of the state delegates at the national convention were determined by the national committee, which was controlled by the party leaders, headed by the incumbent president.
Prior to the 1912 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt expressed doubt about his prospects for victory, noting that Taft had more delegates and control of the credentials committee. His only hope was to convince party leaders that the nomination of Taft would hand the election to the Democrats, but party leaders were determined not to cede their leadership to Roosevelt. The credentials committee awarded almost all contested delegates to Taft, and Taft won the nomination on the first ballot. Black delegates from the South played a key role: they voted heavily for Taft and put him over the top. La Follette also helped Taft's candidacy; he hoped that a deadlocked convention would result in his own nomination, and refused to release his delegates to support Roosevelt.
The Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party
Once his defeat at the Republican convention appeared probable, Roosevelt announced that he would "accept the progressive nomination on a progressive platform and I shall fight to the end, win or lose". At the same time, Roosevelt prophetically said, "My feeling is that the Democrats will probably win if they nominate a progressive".
Roosevelt left the Republican Party and created the Progressive Party, structuring it as a permanent organization that would field complete tickets at the presidential and state level. The party included Roosevelt and key allies such as Pinchot, Cornelia Bryce Pinchot (Pinchot's wife and a longtime friend of Roosevelt's), and Albert Beveridge. The new party was popularly known as the "Bull Moose Party" after Roosevelt told reporters, "I'm as fit as a bull moose". At the 1912 Progressive National Convention, Roosevelt cried out, "We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord." California Governor Hiram Johnson was nominated as Roosevelt's running mate. Roosevelt's platform echoed his 1907–1908 proposals, calling for vigorous government intervention to protect the people from selfish interests:
Though many Progressive party supporters in the North were supporters of civil rights for blacks, Roosevelt did not give strong support to civil rights and ran a "lily-white" campaign in the South. Rival all-white and all-black delegations from four southern states arrived at the Progressive national convention, and Roosevelt decided to seat the all-white delegations. Nevertheless, he won little support outside mountain Republican strongholds. Out of nearly 1100 counties in the South, Roosevelt won two counties in Alabama, one in Arkansas, seven in North Carolina, three in Georgia, 17 in Tennessee, two in Texas, one in Virginia, and none in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, or South Carolina.
Assassination attempt
On October 14, 1912, while arriving at a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Roosevelt was shot from seven feet away in front of the Gilpatrick Hotel by a delusional saloonkeeper named John Flammang Schrank, who believed that the ghost of assassinated president William McKinley had directed him to kill Roosevelt. The bullet lodged in his chest after penetrating his steel eyeglass case and passing through a 50-page-thick single-folded copy of the speech titled "Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual", which he was carrying in his jacket. Schrank was immediately disarmed (by Czech immigrant Frank Bukovsky), captured, and might have been lynched had Roosevelt not shouted for Schrank to remain unharmed. Roosevelt assured the crowd he was all right, then ordered police to take charge of Schrank and to make sure no violence was done to him.
As an experienced hunter and anatomist, Roosevelt correctly concluded that since he was not coughing blood, the bullet had not reached his lung. He declined suggestions to go to the hospital immediately and instead delivered a 90 minute speech with blood seeping into his shirt. His opening comments to the gathered crowd were, "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose." Only after finishing his address did he accept medical attention.
Subsequent probes and an x-ray showed that the bullet had lodged in Roosevelt's chest muscle, but did not penetrate the pleura. Doctors concluded that it would be less dangerous to leave it in place than to attempt to remove it, and Roosevelt carried the bullet with him for the rest of his life. Both Taft and Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson suspended their own campaigning until Roosevelt recovered and resumed his. When asked if the shooting would affect his election campaign, he said to the reporter "I'm fit as a bull moose." The bull moose became a symbol of both Roosevelt and the Progressive Party, and it often was referred to as simply the Bull Moose Party. He spent two weeks recuperating before returning to the campaign trail. He later wrote a friend about the bullet inside him, "I do not mind it any more than if it were in my waistcoat pocket."
Farewell manifesto
On October 20, Roosevelt spoke to a crowd of 16,000 at Madison Square Garden. The speech included: "Perhaps once in a generation, there comes a chance for the people of a country to play their part wisely and fearlessly in some great battle of the age-long warfare for human rights."
Election results
After the Democrats nominated Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey, Roosevelt did not expect to win the general election, as Wilson had compiled a record attractive to many progressive Democrats who might have otherwise considered voting for Roosevelt. Roosevelt still campaigned vigorously, and the election developed into a two-person contest between Wilson and Roosevelt despite Taft's presence in the race. Roosevelt respected Wilson, but the two differed on various issues; Wilson opposed any federal intervention regarding women's suffrage or child labor (he viewed these as state issues), and attacked Roosevelt's tolerance of large businesses.
Roosevelt won 4.1 million votes (27%), compared to Taft's 3.5 million (23%). Wilson gained 6.3 million votes (42% of the total) and a massive landslide in the Electoral College, with 435 electoral votes; Roosevelt won 88 electoral votes, while Taft won 8. Pennsylvania was the only eastern state won by Roosevelt; in the Midwest, he carried Michigan, Minnesota, and South Dakota; in the West, California, and Washington. Wilson's victory represented the first Democratic presidential election victory since Cleveland's 1892 campaign, and it was the party's best performance in the Electoral College since 1852. Roosevelt, meanwhile, garnered a higher share of the popular vote than any other third-party presidential candidate in history and won the most states of any third-party candidate after the Civil War.
South American expedition (1913-1914)
A friend of Roosevelt's, Father John Augustine Zahm, persuaded Roosevelt to participate in an expedition to South America. To finance the expedition, Roosevelt received support from the American Museum of Natural History in return for promising to bring back many new animal specimens. Roosevelt's popular book, Through the Brazilian Wilderness describes his expedition into the Brazilian jungle in 1913 as a member of the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition, co-named after its leader, Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon.
Once in South America, a new, far more ambitious goal was added: to find the headwaters of the Rio da Duvida (Portuguese for "River of Doubt"), and trace it north to the Madeira and thence to the Amazon River. It was later renamed Roosevelt River in honor of the former president. Roosevelt's crew consisted of his son Kermit, Colonel Rondon, naturalist George Kruck Cherrie (sent by the American Museum of Natural History), Brazilian Lieutenant João Lira, team physician Dr. José Antonio Cajazeira, and 16 skilled paddlers and porters. Roosevelt also identified Leo Miller (another AMNH recommendation), Anthony Fiala, Frank Harper, and Jacob Sigg as crew members. The initial expedition started somewhat tenuously on December 9, 1913, at the height of the rainy season. The trip down the River of Doubt started on February 27, 1914.
During the trip down the river, Roosevelt suffered a minor leg wound after he jumped into the river to try to prevent two canoes from smashing against the rocks. The flesh wound he received, however, soon gave him tropical fever that resembled the malaria he had contracted while in Cuba fifteen years before. Because the bullet lodged in his chest from the assassination attempt in 1912 was never removed, his health worsened from the infection. This weakened Roosevelt so greatly that six weeks into the adventure, he had to be attended to day and night by the expedition's physician and his son Kermit. By then, he could not walk because of the infection in his injured leg and an infirmity in the other, which was due to a traffic accident a decade earlier. Roosevelt was riddled with chest pains, fighting a fever that soared to and at times made him delirious, at one point constantly reciting the first two lines of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan": "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure dome decree". Regarding his condition as a threat to the survival of the others, Roosevelt insisted he be left behind to allow the poorly provisioned expedition to proceed as rapidly as it could, preparing to commit suicide with an overdose of morphine. Only an appeal by his son persuaded him to continue.
Despite Roosevelt's continued decline and loss of over , Colonel Rondon reduced the pace of the expedition to allow for his commission's mapmaking and other geographical tasks, which required regular stops to fix the expedition's position by sun-based survey. Upon Roosevelt's return to New York, friends and family were startled by his physical appearance and fatigue. Roosevelt wrote, perhaps prophetically, to a friend that the trip had cut his life short by ten years. For the rest of his few remaining years, he would be plagued by flare-ups of malaria and leg inflammations so severe as to require surgery. Before Roosevelt had even completed his sea voyage home, critics raised doubts over his claims of exploring and navigating a completely uncharted river over long. When he had recovered sufficiently, he addressed a standing-room-only convention organized in Washington, D.C., by the National Geographic Society and satisfactorily defended his claims.
Final years
Roosevelt returned to the United States in May 1914. Though he was outraged by the Wilson Administration's conclusion of a treaty that expressed "sincere regret" for the way in which the United States had acquired the Panama Canal Zone, he was impressed by many of the reforms passed under Wilson. Roosevelt made several campaign appearances for the Progressives, but the 1914 elections were a disaster for the fledgling third party. Roosevelt began to envision another campaign for president, this time with himself at the head of the Republican Party, but conservative party leaders remained opposed to Roosevelt. In hopes of engineering a joint nomination, the Progressives scheduled the 1916 Progressive National Convention at the same time as the 1916 Republican National Convention. When the Republicans nominated Charles Evans Hughes, Roosevelt declined the Progressive nomination and urged his Progressive followers to support the Republican candidate. Though Roosevelt had long disliked Hughes, he disliked Wilson even more, and he campaigned energetically for the Republican nominee. However, Wilson won the 1916 election by a narrow margin. The Progressives disappeared as a party following the 1916 election, and Roosevelt and many of his followers permanently re-joined the Republican Party.
World War I
When the First World War began in 1914, Roosevelt strongly supported the Allies and demanded a harsher policy against Germany, especially regarding submarine warfare. Roosevelt angrily denounced the foreign policy of President Wilson, calling it a failure regarding the atrocities in Belgium and the violations of American rights. In 1916, while campaigning for Hughes, Roosevelt repeatedly denounced Irish-Americans and German-Americans whom he described as unpatriotic, saying they put the interests of Ireland and Germany ahead of America's by supporting neutrality. He insisted that one had to be 100% American, not a "hyphenated American" who juggled multiple loyalties. In March 1917, Congress gave Roosevelt the authority to raise a maximum of four divisions similar to the Rough Riders, and Major Frederick Russell Burnham was put in charge of both the general organization and recruitment. However, President Wilson announced to the press that he would not send Roosevelt and his volunteers to France, but instead would send an American Expeditionary Force under the command of General John J. Pershing. Roosevelt never forgave Wilson, and quickly published The Foes of Our Own Household, an indictment of the sitting president. Roosevelt's youngest son, Quentin, a pilot with the American forces in France, was killed when shot down behind German lines on July 14, 1918, at the age of 20. It is said that Quentin's death distressed Roosevelt so much that he never recovered from his loss.
League of Nations
Roosevelt was an early supporter of the modern view that there needs to be a global order. In his Nobel prize address of 1910, he said, "it would be a master stroke if those great Powers honestly bent on peace would form a League of Peace, not only to keep the peace among themselves, but to prevent, by force if necessary, its being broken by others." It would have executive power such as the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 lacked. He called for American participation.
When World War I broke out, Roosevelt proposed "a World League for the Peace of Righteousness", in September 1914, which would preserve sovereignty but limit armaments and require arbitration. He added that it should be "solemnly covenanted that if any nations refused to abide by the decisions of such a court, then others draw the sword in behalf of peace and justice." In 1915 he outlined this plan more specifically, urging that nations guarantee their entire military force, if necessary, against any nation that refused to carry out arbitration decrees or violated rights of other nations. Though Roosevelt had some concerns about the impact on United States sovereignty, he insisted that such a league would only work if the United States participated as one of the "joint guarantors". Roosevelt referred to this plan in a 1918 speech as "the most feasible for...a league of nations." By this time Wilson was strongly hostile to Roosevelt and Lodge, and developed his own plans for a rather different League of Nations. It became reality along Wilson's lines at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Roosevelt denounced Wilson's approach but died before it was adopted at Paris. However, Lodge was willing to accept it with serious reservations. In the end, on March 19, 1920, Wilson had Democratic Senators vote against the League with the Lodge Reservations and the United States never joined the League of Nations.
Final political activities
Roosevelt's attacks on Wilson helped the Republicans win control of Congress in the midterm elections of 1918. He declined a request from New York Republicans to run for another gubernatorial term, but attacked Wilson's Fourteen Points, calling instead for the unconditional surrender of Germany. Though his health was uncertain, he was seen as a leading contender for the 1920 Republican nomination, but insisted that, "If they take me, they'll have to take me without a single modification of the things that I have always stood for! He wrote William Allen White, "I wish to do everything in my power to make the Republican Party the Party of sane, constructive radicalism, just as it was under Lincoln." Accordingly, he told the 1918 state convention of the Maine Republican Party that he stood for old-age pensions, insurance for sickness and unemployment, construction of public housing for low-income families, the reduction of working hours, aid to farmers, and more regulation of large corporations.
While his political profile remained high, Roosevelt's physical condition continued to deteriorate throughout 1918 due to the long-term effects of jungle diseases. He was hospitalized for seven weeks late in the year and never fully recovered.
Death
On the night of January 5, 1919, Roosevelt suffered breathing problems. After receiving treatment from his physician, Dr. George W. Faller, he felt better and went to bed. Roosevelt's last words were "Please put out that light, James" to his family servant James E. Amos. Between 4:00 and 4:15 the next morning, Roosevelt, at the age of 60, died in his sleep at Sagamore Hill after a blood clot detached from a vein and traveled to his lungs.
Upon receiving word of his death, his son Archibald telegraphed his siblings: "The old lion is dead." Woodrow Wilson's vice president, Thomas R. Marshall, said that "Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight." Following a private farewell service in the North Room at Sagamore Hill, a simple funeral was held at Christ Episcopal Church in Oyster Bay. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, Charles Evans Hughes, Warren G. Harding, Henry Cabot Lodge, and William Howard Taft were among the mourners. The snow-covered procession route to Youngs Memorial Cemetery was lined with spectators and a squad of mounted policemen who had ridden from New York City. Roosevelt was buried on a hillside overlooking Oyster Bay.
Writer
Roosevelt was a prolific author, writing with passion on subjects ranging from foreign policy to the importance of the national park system. Roosevelt was also an avid reader of poetry. Poet Robert Frost said that Roosevelt "was our kind. He quoted poetry to me. He knew poetry."
As an editor of Outlook magazine, Roosevelt had weekly access to a large, educated national audience. In all, Roosevelt wrote about 18 books (each in several editions), including his autobiography, The Rough Riders, History of the Naval War of 1812, and others on subjects such as ranching, explorations, and wildlife. His most ambitious book was the four volume narrative The Winning of the West, focused on the American frontier in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Roosevelt said that the American character—indeed a new "American race" (ethnic group) had emerged from the heroic wilderness hunters and Indian fighters, acting on the frontier with little government help. Roosevelt also published an account of his 1909–10 African expedition entitled African Game Trails.
In 1907, Roosevelt became embroiled in a widely publicized literary debate known as the nature fakers controversy. A few years earlier, naturalist John Burroughs had published an article entitled "Real and Sham Natural History" in the Atlantic Monthly, attacking popular writers of the day such as Ernest Thompson Seton, Charles G. D. Roberts, and William J. Long for their fantastical representations of wildlife. Roosevelt agreed with Burroughs's criticisms, and published several essays of his own denouncing the booming genre of "naturalistic" animal stories as "yellow journalism of the woods". It was the President himself who popularized the negative term "nature faker" to describe writers who depicted their animal characters with excessive anthropomorphism.
Character and beliefs
Roosevelt intensely disliked being called "Teddy", despite the widespread public association with said moniker, and was quick to point out this to those who referred to him as such, though it would become widely used by newspapers during his political career.
He was an active Freemason and member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
British scholar Marcus Cunliffe evaluates the liberal argument that Roosevelt was an opportunist, exhibitionist, and imperialist. Cunliffe praises TR's versatility, his respect for law, and his sincerity. He argues that Roosevelt's foreign policy was better than his detractors allege. Cunliffe calls him "a big man in several respects," ranking him below Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson, and on the same level as Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Strenuous life
Roosevelt had a lifelong interest in pursuing what he called, in an 1899 speech, "The Strenuous Life". To this end, he exercised regularly and took up boxing, tennis, hiking, rowing, polo, and horseback riding. He also continued his habit of skinny-dipping in the Potomac River during the winter. As governor of New York, he boxed with sparring partners several times each week, a practice he regularly continued as president until being hit so hard in the face he became blind in his left eye (a fact not made public until many years later). As president, he practiced judo for two 2-month periods in 1902 and 1904, not attaining any rank. Roosevelt began to believe in the utility of jiu-jitsu training after training with Yoshitsugu Yamashita. Concerned that the United States would lose its military supremacy to rising powers like Japan, Roosevelt began to advocate for jiu-jitsu training for American soldiers. Feminists annoyed by the posturing of men like Roosevelt, insisted that women were just as capable of learning jiu-jitsu. To prove their point, Martha Blow Wadsworth and Maria Louise ("Hallie") Davis Elkins hired Fude Yamashita, a highly skilled jiu-jitsu instructor and the wife of Yoshitsugu Yamashita, to teach a jiu-jitsu class for women and girls in Washington, DC in 1904. Women had already begun training in boxing in the United States as a means of personal and political empowerment. Jiu-jitsu training thus soon also became popular with American women, coinciding with the origins of a women's self-defense movement.
Roosevelt was an enthusiastic singlestick player and, according to Harper's Weekly, showed up at a White House reception with his arm bandaged after a bout with General Leonard Wood in 1905. Roosevelt was an avid reader, reading tens of thousands of books, at a rate of several per day in multiple languages. Along with Thomas Jefferson, Roosevelt was the most well-read of all American presidents.
Warrior
Historians have often emphasized Roosevelt's warrior persona. He took aggressive positions regarding war with Spain in 1898, Colombia in 1903, and especially with Germany, from 1915 to 1917. As a demonstration of American naval might, he sent the "Great White Fleet" around the world in 1907–1909. The implicit threat of the "big stick" of military power provided leverage to "speak softly" and quietly resolve conflict in numerous cases. He boasted in his autobiography:
Richard D. White Jr states, "Roosevelt's warrior spirit framed his views of national politics, [and] international relations."
Historian Howard K. Beale has argued:
Religion
Roosevelt attended church regularly and was a lifelong adherent of the Reformed Church in America, an American affiliate of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1907, concerning the motto "In God We Trust" on money, he wrote, "It seems to me eminently unwise to cheapen such a motto by use on coins, just as it would be to cheapen it by use on postage stamps, or in advertisements." Roosevelt talked a great deal about religion. Biographer Edmund Morris states:
Roosevelt publicly encouraged church attendance and was a conscientious churchgoer himself. When gas rationing was introduced during the First World War, he walked the three miles from his home at Sagamore Hill to the local church and back, even after a serious operation had made it difficult for him to travel by foot. It was said that Roosevelt "allowed no engagement to keep him from going to church," and he remained a fervent advocate of the Bible throughout his adult life. According to Christian F. Reisner, writing in 1922 shortly after Roosevelt's death, "Religion was as natural to Mr. Roosevelt as breathing," and when the travel library for Roosevelt's famous Smithsonian-sponsored African expedition was being assembled, the Bible was, according to his sister, "the first book selected." In an address delivered in his home at Oyster Bay to the Long Island Bible Society in 1901, Roosevelt declared that:
Political positions
When he assumed the presidency, Roosevelt reassured many conservatives, stating, "the mechanism of modern business is so delicate that extreme care must be taken not to interfere with it in a spirit of rashness or ignorance." The following year, Roosevelt asserted the president's independence from business interests by opposing the merger which created the Northern Securities Company, and many were surprised that any president, much less an unelected one, would challenge powerful banker J.P. Morgan. In his last two years as president, Roosevelt became increasingly distrustful of big business, despite its close ties to the Republican Party. Roosevelt sought to replace the 19th-century laissez-faire economic environment with a new economic model which included a larger regulatory role for the federal government. He believed that 19th-century entrepreneurs had risked their fortunes on innovations and new businesses, and that these capitalists had been rightly rewarded. By contrast, he believed that 20th-century capitalists risked little but nonetheless reaped huge and, given the lack of risk, unjust, economic rewards. Without a redistribution of wealth away from the upper class, Roosevelt feared that the country would turn to radicals or fall to revolution. His Square Deal domestic program had three main goals: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. The Square Deal evolved into his program of "New Nationalism", which emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests and a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions.
Foreign policy beliefs
In the analysis by Henry Kissinger, Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to develop the guideline that it was America's duty to make its enormous power and potential influence felt globally. The idea of being a passive "city on the hill" model that others could look up to, he rejected. Roosevelt, trained in biology, was a social darwinist who believed in survival of the fittest. The international world in his view was a realm of violence and conflict. The United States had all the economic and geographical potential to be the fittest nation on the globe. The United States had a duty to act decisively. For example, in terms of the Monroe Doctrine, America had to prevent European incursions in the Western Hemisphere. But there was more, as he expressed in his famous Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: the U.S. had to be the policeman of the region because unruly, corrupt smaller nations had to be controlled, and if United States did not do it, European powers would in fact intervene and develop their own base of power in the hemisphere in contravention to the Monroe Doctrine.
Roosevelt was a realist and a conservative. He deplored many of the increasingly popular idealistic liberal themes, such as were promoted by William Jennings Bryan, the anti-imperialists, and Woodrow Wilson. Kissinger says he rejected the efficacy of international law. Roosevelt argue that if a country could not protect its own interests, the international community could not help very much. He ridiculed disarmament proposals that were increasingly common. He saw no likelihood of an international power capable of checking wrongdoing on a major scale. As for world government: I regard the Wilson–Bryan attitude of trusting to fantastic peace treaties, too impossible promises, to all kinds of scraps of paper without any backing in efficient force, as abhorrent. It is infinitely better for a nation and for the world to have the Frederick the Great and Bismarck tradition as regards foreign policy than to have the Bryan or Bryan–Wilson attitude as a permanent national attitude.... A milk-and-water righteousness unbacked by force is...as wicked as and even more mischievous than force divorced from righteousness.
On the positive side, Roosevelt favored spheres of influence, whereby one great power would generally prevail, such as the United States in the Western Hemisphere or Great Britain in the Indian subcontinent. Japan fit that role and he approved. However he had deep distrust of both Germany and Russia.
Legacy
Historians credit Roosevelt for changing the nation's political system by permanently placing the "bully pulpit" of the presidency at center stage and making character as important as the issues. His accomplishments include trust busting and conservationism. He is a hero to liberals and progressives for his proposals in 1907–1912 that presaged the modern welfare state of the New Deal Era, including direct federal taxation, labor reforms, and more direct democracy, while conservationists admire Roosevelt for putting the environment and selflessness towards future generations on the national agenda, and conservatives and nationalists respect his commitment to law and order, civic duty and military values, as well as his personality of individual self-responsibility and hardiness. Dalton says, "Today he is heralded as the architect of the modern presidency, as a world leader who boldly reshaped the office to meet the needs of the new century and redefined America's place in the world."
However, liberals and socialists have criticized him for his interventionist and imperialist approach to nations he considered "uncivilized". Conservatives and libertarians reject his vision of the welfare state and emphasis on the superiority of government over private action. Historians typically rank Roosevelt among the top five presidents in American history.
Persona and masculinity
Dalton says Roosevelt is remembered as, "one of the most picturesque personalities who has ever enlivened the landscape". His friend, historian Henry Adams, proclaimed: "Roosevelt, more than any other man... showed the singular primitive quality that belongs to ultimate matter—the quality that medieval theology assigned to God—he was pure act."
Roosevelt's biographers have stressed his personality. Henry F. Pringle, who won the Pulitzer Prize in biography for his Theodore Roosevelt (1931) stated: "The Theodore Roosevelt of later years was the most adolescent of men… Failure to receive the Medal of Honor for his exploits [in Cuba] had been a grief as real as any of those which swamp childhood in despair. 'You must always remember,' wrote Cecil Spring Rice in 1904, 'that the President is about six.'"
Cooper compared him with Woodrow Wilson and argued that both of them played the roles of warrior and priest. Dalton stressed Roosevelt's strenuous life. Sarah Watts examined the desires of the "Rough Rider in the White House". Brands calls Roosevelt "the last romantic", arguing that his romantic concept of life emerged from his belief that "physical bravery was the highest virtue and war the ultimate test of bravery".
Roosevelt as the exemplar of American masculinity has become a major theme. As president, he repeatedly warned men that they were becoming too office-bound, too complacent, too comfortable with physical ease and moral laxity, and were failing in their duties to propagate the race and exhibit masculine vigor. French historian Serge Ricard says, "the ebullient apostle of the Strenuous Life offers ideal material for a detailed psycho-historical analysis of aggressive manhood in the changing socio-cultural environment of his era; McKinley, Taft, or Wilson would perhaps inadequately serve that purpose". He promoted competitive sports like boxing and jiu-jitsu for physically strengthening American men. He also believed that organizations like the Boy Scouts of America, founded in 1910, could help mold and strengthen the character of American boys. Brands shows that heroic displays of bravery were essential to Roosevelt's image and mission:
Memorials and cultural depictions
Roosevelt was included with Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln at the Mount Rushmore Memorial, designed in 1927 with the approval of Republican President Calvin Coolidge.
For his gallantry at San Juan Hill, Roosevelt's commanders recommended him for the Medal of Honor. However, the initial recommendation lacked any eyewitnesses, and the effort was eventually tainted by Roosevelt's own lobbying of the War Department. In the late 1990s, Roosevelt's supporters again recommended the award, which was denied by the Secretary of the Army on basis that the decorations board determined "Roosevelt's bravery in battle did not rise to the level that would justify the Medal of Honor and, indeed, it did not rise to the level of men who fought in that engagement." Nevertheless, politicians apparently convinced the secretary to reconsider the award a third time and reverse himself, leading to the charge that it was a "politically motivated award." On January 16, 2001, President Bill Clinton awarded Theodore Roosevelt the Medal of Honor posthumously for his charge on San Juan Hill. He is the only president to have received the Medal of Honor.
The United States Navy named two ships for Roosevelt: the , a submarine that was in commission from 1961 to 1982, and the , an aircraft carrier that has been on active duty in the Atlantic Fleet since 1986.
On November 18, 1956, the United States Postal Service released a 6¢ Liberty Issue postage stamp honoring Roosevelt. A 32¢ stamp was issued on February 3, 1998, as part of the Celebrate the Century stamp sheet series. In 2008, Columbia Law School awarded Roosevelt a Juris Doctor degree, posthumously making him a member of the class of 1882.
Roosevelt's "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick" ideology is still quoted by politicians and columnists in different countries—not only in English, but also in translations to various other languages. Another lasting, popular legacy of Roosevelt is the stuffed toy bears—teddy bears—named after him following an incident on a hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902. Roosevelt has been portrayed in films and television series such as Brighty of the Grand Canyon, The Wind and the Lion, Rough Riders, My Friend Flicka, and Law of the Plainsman. Robin Williams portrayed Roosevelt in the form of a wax mannequin that comes to life in Night at the Museum and its sequels Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. In 2017, it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio will portray Roosevelt in a biopic to be directed by Martin Scorsese.
Moreover, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the state of North Dakota is named after him. The America the Beautiful Quarters series features Roosevelt riding a horse on the national park's quarter.
Asteroid 188693 Roosevelt, discovered by astronomers with the Catalina Sky Survey in 2005, was named after him. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on November 8, 2019 ().
In January 2022, after years of lobbying by activists, an equestrian statue of the former president was removed from where it had stood for more than eighty years in front of New York's American Museum of Natural History. Responding to controversy, the museum noted that the design "communicates a racial hierarchy that the museum and members of the public have long found disturbing."
Audiovisual media
Theodore Roosevelt was one of the first presidents whose voice was recorded for posterity. Several of his recorded speeches survive. A 4.6-minute voice recording, which preserves Roosevelt's lower timbre ranges particularly well for its time, is among those available from the Michigan State University libraries (this is the 1912 recording of The Right of the People to Rule, recorded by Edison at Carnegie Hall). The audio clip sponsored by the Authentic History Center includes his defense of the Progressive Party in 1912, wherein he proclaims it the "party of the people" – in contrast with the other major parties.
Roosevelt goes for a ride in Arch Hoxsey's plane in October 1910
In popular culture
Theodore Roosevelt appears as the leader of the American civilization in the Firaxis Games title Civilization VI. His unique ability is Roosevelt Corollary, which gives +5 Combat Strength for all units inside America's home continent, and +1 Appeal to all tiles in cities with a national park.
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
Full biographies
.
.
.
, 105 pp, very short biography by leading scholar.
.; also titled Power and responsibility; the life and times of Theodore Roosevelt online free to borrow
.
.
.
, only volume published, to age 28.
.
.
Personality and activities
.
.
Provides a lesson plan on TR as the historical figure who most exemplifies the quality of masculinity.
. Chronicles the events of TR's presidency during the summers of his two terms.
. The president's use of publicity, rhetoric and force of personality.
; his deadly 1913–14 trip to the Amazon.
, best seller; to 1886.
, to 1884.
. 494 pp.
, examines TR and his family during the World War I period.
.
, 240 pp. TR in Africa & Europe, 1909–10
. 289 pp.
, 337 pp; TR's political thought and its significance for republican self-government.
Domestic policies
online review; another online review
Cutright, P.R. (1985) Theodore Roosevelt: The making of a Modern Conservationist (U of Illinois Press.)
.
, standard history of his domestic and foreign policy as president.
Bakari, Mohamed El-Kamel. "Mapping the 'Anthropocentric-ecocentric'Dualism in the History of American Presidency: The Good, the Bad, and the Ambivalent." Journal of Studies in Social Sciences 14, no. 2 (2016).
.
.
Redekop, Benjamin. (2015). "Embodying the Story: The Conservation Leadership of Theodore Roosevelt". Leadership (2015) DOI:10.1177/1742715014546875 online
.
.
Politics
. How TR did politics.
, 323 pp.
.
.
.
.
. 361 pp.
.
. Focus on 1912; online free
. online free
. Attacks TR policies from conservative/libertarian perspective.
Foreign policy, military and naval issues
. online
. excerpt
.
. 328 pp.
Kuehn, John T. "Theodore Roosevelt’s Naval Diplomacy: The U.S. Navy and the Birth of the American Century," Naval War College Review (2010) 53#3 online
Livermore, Seward W. "Theodore Roosevelt, the American Navy, and the Venezuelan Crisis of 1902-1903." American Historical Review 51.3 (1946): 452–471. online
.
.
Nester, William R. Theodore Roosevelt and the Art of American Power: An American for All Time. Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. excerpt
Neu, Charles E. "Theodore Roosevelt and American Involvement in the Far East, 1901-1909." Pacific Historical Review 35.4 (1966): 433–449. online
O'Gara, Gordon Carpenter. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of the Modern Navy. (Princeton UP, 1943). online
.
Oyos, Matthew M. In Command: Theodore Roosevelt and the American Military (2018) online review
Pietrusza, David (2018). TR's Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy
.
.
.
.
Thompson, John M. Great Power Rising: Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of US Foreign Policy (Oxford UP, 2019).
. 196 pp.
Turk, Richard W. The Ambiguous Relationship: Theodore Roosevelt and Alfred Thayer Mahan (1987) [https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/93/5/1413/70734 online review
Historiography
Cunliffe, Marcus. "Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States 1901–1908" History Today (Sept 1955) 4#9 pp. 592–601, online.
Ricard, Serge. "The State of Theodore Roosevelt Studies" H-Diplo Essay No. 116 24 October 2014 online
, excerpt and text search, 28 new essays by scholars; focus on historiography. online
Primary sources
Kohn, Edward P., ed. A Most Glorious Ride: The Diaries of Theodore Roosevelt, 1877–1886 (State University of New York Press, 2015), 284 pp.
; vol 2
.
, 20 vol.; 18,000 pages containing most of TR's speeches, books and essays, but not his letters; a CD-ROM edition is available; some of TR's books are available online through Project Bartleby
, Roosevelt's opinions on many issues; online version at Theodore Roosevelt.
, 8 vols. Very large collection. vol 1 1868–1898 online free
. online free
.
.
online free to borrow
.
.
.
External links
Official
White House biography
Organizations
Boone and Crockett Club
Theodore Roosevelt Association
Libraries and collections
Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University
Theodore Roosevelt Collection, at the Houghton Library, Harvard University
Julian L. Street Papers on Theodore Roosevelt, at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
Doris A. and Lawrence H. Budner Collection on Theodore Roosevelt at the DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University
Theodore Roosevelt's journalism at The Archive of American Journalism
Theodore Roosevelt American Museum of Natural History
Roosevelt Papers, at the Library of Congress
Guide to the Herbert R. Strauss Collection of Theodore Roosevelt Papers 1884–1919 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
Media
"Life Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, September 3, 1999
"Writings of Theodore Roosevelt" from C-SPAN's American Writers: A Journey Through History
Other
Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt: A Resource Guide – Library of Congress
1858 births
1919 deaths
1900s in the United States
Theodore
19th-century American politicians
19th-century American historians
19th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century presidents of the United States
20th-century vice presidents of the United States
American autobiographers
American conservationists
American essayists
American explorers
American fishers
American hunters
American male judoka
American male non-fiction writers
American military personnel of the Spanish–American War
American naval historians
American Nobel laureates
American political writers
American shooting survivors
Articles containing video clips
American bibliophiles
American people of Dutch descent
Bulloch family
Burials in New York (state)
Columbia Law School alumni
Deaths from pulmonary embolism
New York City Police Commissioners
English-language spelling reform advocates
Explorers of Amazonia
American Freemasons
Governors of New York (state)
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Harvard College alumni
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Members of the New York State Assembly
Military personnel from New York City
New York (state) Progressives (1912)
New York (state) Republicans
Nobel Peace Prize laureates
People associated with the American Museum of Natural History
People from Oyster Bay (town), New York
Politicians from New York City
Presidents of the American Historical Association
Presidents of the United States
Progressive Era in the United States
Ranchers from North Dakota
Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees
Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees
Republican Party presidents of the United States
Republican Party state governors of the United States
Republican Party vice presidents of the United States
Rough Riders
Schuyler family
Sons of the American Revolution
Spanish–American War recipients of the Medal of Honor
United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
United States Army officers
United States Assistant Secretaries of the Navy
Candidates in the 1904 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1912 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1916 United States presidential election
1900 United States vice-presidential candidates
Vice presidents of the United States
Writers from New York (state)
Harvard Advocate alumni
American diarists
American political party founders
Aphorists
American nationalists
20th-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"
]
|
[
"Theodore Roosevelt",
"Early life and family",
"Where did he grow up?",
"at East 20th Street in New York City.",
"did he have siblings?",
"He was the second of four children born",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death,"
]
| C_39da91c6b83e45c9a3447a0282510521_1 | Did he marrry? | 4 | Did Theodore Roosevelt marrry? | Theodore Roosevelt | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at East 20th Street in New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister, Anna (nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother, Elliott, and a younger sister, Corinne. Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh, and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C.V.S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family. Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for display. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects". Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or his initials T. R., was an American politician, statesman, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He previously served as the 25th vice president under William McKinley from March to September 1901, and as the 33rd governor of New York from 1899 to 1900. Having assumed the presidency after McKinley's assassination, Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive policies.
Roosevelt was a sickly child with debilitating asthma but partly overcame his health problems by embracing a strenuous lifestyle. He integrated his exuberant personality, a vast range of interests and achievements into a "cowboy" persona defined by robust masculinity. He was home-schooled and began a lifelong naturalist avocation before attending Harvard. His book The Naval War of 1812 (1882) established his reputation as a learned historian and popular writer. Upon entering politics, he became the leader of the reform faction of Republicans in New York's state legislature. His wife and mother both died in the same night and he was psychologically devastated. He recuperated by buying and operating a cattle ranch in the Dakotas. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President William McKinley and in 1898 helped plan the highly successful naval war against Spain. He resigned to help form and lead the Rough Riders, a unit that fought the Spanish army in Cuba to great publicity. Returning a war hero, he was elected governor of New York in 1898. The New York state party leadership disliked his ambitious agenda and convinced McKinley to make Roosevelt his running mate in the 1900 election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously, and the McKinley–Roosevelt ticket won a landslide victory based on a platform of victory, peace and prosperity.
Roosevelt assumed the presidency at age 42 after McKinley was assassinated in September 1901. He remains the youngest person to become president of the United States. Roosevelt was a leader of the progressive movement and championed his "Square Deal" domestic policies, promising the average citizen fairness, breaking of trusts, regulation of railroads, and pure food and drugs. He prioritized conservation and established national parks, forests, and monuments intended to preserve the nation's natural resources. In foreign policy, he focused on Central America where he began construction of the Panama Canal. He expanded the Navy and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project American naval power. His successful efforts to broker the end of the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize. Roosevelt was elected to a full term in 1904 and continued to promote progressive policies. He groomed his close friend William Howard Taft to succeed him in the 1908 presidential election.
Roosevelt grew frustrated with Taft's brand of conservatism and belatedly tried to win the 1912 Republican nomination for president. He failed, walked out, and founded the Progressive Party. He ran in the 1912 presidential election and the split allowed the Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson to win the election. Following the defeat, Roosevelt led a two-year expedition to the Amazon basin where he nearly died of tropical disease. During World War I, he criticized Wilson for keeping the country out of the war; his offer to lead volunteers to France was rejected. He considered running for president again in 1920, but his health continued to deteriorate. He died in 1919. He is generally ranked in polls of historians and political scientists as one of the five best presidents.
Early life and family
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan, New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister (Anna, nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother (Elliott) and a younger sister (Corinne). Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C. V. S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill as well as a brother of Robert Roosevelt and James A. Roosevelt. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family.
Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for exhibition. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects".
Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body.
A 6-year-old Roosevelt witnessed the funeral procession of Abraham Lincoln from his grandfather's mansion in Union Square, New York City where he was photographed in the window along with his brother Elliott, as confirmed by wife Edith who was also present.
Education
Roosevelt was homeschooled, mostly by tutors and his parents. Biographer H. W. Brands argued that "The most obvious drawback to his home schooling was uneven coverage of the various areas of human knowledge." He was solid in geography and bright in history, biology, French, and German; however, he struggled in mathematics and the classical languages. When he entered Harvard College on September 27, 1876, his father advised: "Take care of your morals first, your health next, and finally your studies." His father's sudden death on February 9, 1878, devastated Roosevelt, but he eventually recovered and doubled his activities.
He did well in science, philosophy, and rhetoric courses but continued to struggle in Latin and Greek. He studied biology intently and was already an accomplished naturalist and a published ornithologist. He read prodigiously with an almost photographic memory. While at Harvard, Roosevelt participated in rowing and boxing; he was once runner-up in an intramural boxing tournament. Roosevelt was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi literary society (later the Fly Club), the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and the prestigious Porcellian Club; he was also an editor of The Harvard Advocate. In 1880, Roosevelt graduated Phi Beta Kappa (22nd of 177) from Harvard with an A.B. magna cum laude. Biographer Henry Pringle states:
After his father's death, Roosevelt had inherited $65,000 (), enough to live off comfortably for the rest of his life. Roosevelt gave up his earlier plan of studying natural science and instead decided to attend Columbia Law School, moving back into his family's home in New York City. Roosevelt was an able law student, but he often found law to be irrational. He spent much of his time writing a book on the War of 1812.
Determined to enter politics, Roosevelt began attending meetings at Morton Hall, the 59th Street headquarters of New York's 21st District Republican Association. Though Roosevelt's father had been a prominent member of the Republican Party, the younger Roosevelt made an unorthodox career choice for someone of his class, as most of Roosevelt's peers refrained from becoming too closely involved in politics. Roosevelt found allies in the local Republican Party, and he defeated an incumbent Republican state assemblyman closely tied to the political machine of Senator Roscoe Conkling. After his election victory, Roosevelt decided to drop out of law school, later saying, "I intended to be one of the governing class."
Naval history and strategy
While at Harvard, Roosevelt began a systematic study of the role played by the young United States Navy in the War of 1812. Assisted by two uncles, he scrutinized original source materials and official U.S. Navy records, ultimately publishing The Naval War of 1812 in 1882. The book contained drawings of individual and combined ship maneuvers, charts depicting the differences in iron throw weights of cannon shot between rival forces, and analyses of the differences and similarities between British and American leadership down to the ship-to-ship level. Upon release, The Naval War of 1812 was praised for its scholarship and style, and it remains a standard study of the war.
With the publication of The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 in 1890, Navy Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan was immediately hailed as the world's outstanding naval theorist by the leaders of Europe. Roosevelt paid very close attention to Mahan's emphasis that only a nation with the world's most powerful fleet could dominate the world's oceans, exert its diplomacy to the fullest, and defend its own borders. He incorporated Mahan's ideas into his views on naval strategy for the remainder of his career.
First marriage and widowerhood
In 1880, Roosevelt married socialite Alice Hathaway Lee. Their daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt, was born on February 12, 1884. Two days later, the new mother died of an undiagnosed case of kidney failure that had been masked by the pregnancy. In his diary, Roosevelt wrote a large 'X' on the page and then, "The light has gone out of my life." His mother, Mittie, had died of typhoid fever eleven hours earlier at 3:00 a.m., in the same house on 57th Street in Manhattan. Distraught, Roosevelt left baby Alice in the care of his sister Bamie while he grieved; he assumed custody of Alice when she was three.
After the deaths of his wife and mother, Roosevelt focused on his work, specifically by re-energizing a legislative investigation into corruption of the New York City government, which arose from a concurrent bill proposing that power be centralized in the mayor's office. For the rest of his life, he rarely spoke about his wife Alice and did not write about her in his autobiography.
Early political career
State Assemblyman
Roosevelt was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 21st D.) in 1882, 1883 and 1884. He immediately began making his mark, specifically in corporate corruption issues. He blocked a corrupt effort by financier Jay Gould to lower his taxes. Roosevelt exposed suspected collusion in the matter by Judge Theodore Westbrook, and argued for and received approval for an investigation to proceed, aiming for the impeachment of the judge. The investigation committee rejected impeachment, but Roosevelt had exposed the potential corruption in Albany, and thus assumed a high and positive political profile in multiple New York publications.
Roosevelt's anti-corruption efforts helped him win re-election in 1882 by a margin greater than two-to-one, an achievement made even more impressive by the fact that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Grover Cleveland won Roosevelt's district. With Conkling's Stalwart faction of the Republican Party in disarray following the assassination of President James Garfield, Roosevelt won election as the Republican party leader in the state assembly. He allied with Governor Cleveland to win passage of a civil service reform bill. Roosevelt won re-election a second time, and sought the office of Speaker of the New York State Assembly, but was defeated by Titus Sheard in a 41 to 29 vote of the GOP caucus. In his final term, Roosevelt served as Chairman of the Committee on Affairs of Cities; he wrote more bills than any other legislator.
Presidential election of 1884
With numerous presidential hopefuls to choose from, Roosevelt supported Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont, a colorless reformer. The state GOP preferred the incumbent president, New York City's Chester Arthur, who was known for passing the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. Arthur, at the time, was suffering from Bright's disease, unknown to the public, and out of duty he did not contest his own nomination. Roosevelt fought hard and succeeded in influencing the Manhattan delegates at the state convention in Utica. He then took control of the state convention, bargaining through the night and outmaneuvering the supporters of Arthur and James G. Blaine; he gained a national reputation as a key person in New York State.
Roosevelt attended the 1884 GOP National Convention in Chicago and gave a speech convincing delegates to nominate African American John R. Lynch, an Edmunds supporter, to be temporary chair. Roosevelt fought alongside the Mugwump reformers; however, Blaine, having gained support from Arthur's and Edmunds's delegates, won the nomination by 541 votes on the fourth ballot. In a crucial moment of his budding political career, Roosevelt resisted the demand of the Mugwumps that he bolt from Blaine. He bragged about his one small success: "We achieved a victory in getting up a combination to beat the Blaine nominee for temporary chairman... To do this needed a mixture of skill, boldness and energy... to get the different factions to come in... to defeat the common foe." He was also impressed by an invitation to speak before an audience of ten thousand, the largest crowd he had addressed up to that date. Having gotten a taste of national politics, Roosevelt felt less aspiration for advocacy on the state level; he then retired to his new "Chimney Butte Ranch" on the Little Missouri River. Roosevelt refused to join other Mugwumps in supporting Grover Cleveland, the governor of New York and the Democratic nominee in the general election. He debated the pros and cons of staying loyal with his political friend, Henry Cabot Lodge. After Blaine won the nomination, Roosevelt had carelessly said that he would give "hearty support to any decent Democrat". He distanced himself from the promise, saying that it had not been meant "for publication". When a reporter asked if he would support Blaine, Roosevelt replied, "That question I decline to answer. It is a subject I do not care to talk about." In the end, he realized that he had to support Blaine to maintain his role in the GOP, and he did so in a press release on July 19. Having lost the support of many reformers, Roosevelt decided to retire from politics and move to North Dakota.
Cattle rancher in Dakota
Roosevelt first visited the Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt bison. Exhilarated by the western lifestyle, and with the cattle business booming in the territory, Roosevelt invested $14,000 in hopes of becoming a prosperous cattle rancher. For the next several years, he shuttled between his home in New York and his ranch in Dakota.
Following the 1884 presidential election, Roosevelt built a ranch named Elkhorn, which was north of the boomtown of Medora, North Dakota. Roosevelt learned to ride western style, rope, and hunt on the banks of the Little Missouri. Though he earned the respect of the authentic cowboys, they were not overly impressed. However, he identified with the herdsman of history, a man he said possesses "few of the emasculated, milk-and-water moralities admired by the pseudo-philanthropists; but he does possess, to a very high degree, the stern, manly qualities that are invaluable to a nation". He reoriented, and began writing about frontier life for national magazines; he also published three books – Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, and The Wilderness Hunter.
Roosevelt brought his desire to address the common interests of citizens to the West. He successfully led efforts to organize ranchers to address problems of overgrazing and other shared concerns; his work resulted in the formation of the Little Missouri Stockmen's Association. He felt compelled to promote conservation and was able to form the Boone and Crockett Club, whose primary goal was the conservation of large game animals and their habitats. After the uniquely severe US winter of 1886–87 wiped out his herd of cattle and those of his competitors, and with it over half of his $80,000 investment, Roosevelt returned to the East. Though his finances suffered from the experience, Roosevelt's time in the West made it impossible to peg him as an ineffectual intellectual, a characterization that could have hampered his political career.
Second marriage
On December 2, 1886, Roosevelt married his childhood and family friend, Edith Kermit Carow. Roosevelt was deeply troubled that his second marriage had taken place so soon after the death of his first wife, and he faced resistance from his sisters. Nonetheless, the couple married at St George's, Hanover Square in London, England. The couple had five children: Theodore "Ted" III in 1887, Kermit in 1889, Ethel in 1891, Archibald in 1894, and Quentin in 1897. The couple also raised Roosevelt's daughter from his first marriage, Alice, who often clashed with her stepmother.
Reentering public life
Upon Roosevelt's return to New York in 1886, Republican leaders quickly approached him about running for mayor of New York City in the city's mayoral election. Roosevelt accepted the nomination despite having little hope of winning the race against United Labor Party candidate Henry George and Democratic candidate Abram Hewitt. Roosevelt campaigned hard for the position, but Hewitt won with 41% (90,552 votes), taking the votes of many Republicans who feared George's radical policies. George was held to 31% (68,110 votes), and Roosevelt took third place with 27% (60,435 votes). Fearing that his political career might never recover, Roosevelt turned his attention to writing The Winning of the West, a historical work tracking the westward movement of Americans; the book was a great success for Roosevelt, earning favorable reviews and selling numerous copies.
Civil Service Commission
After Benjamin Harrison unexpectedly defeated Blaine for the presidential nomination at the 1888 Republican National Convention, Roosevelt gave stump speeches in the Midwest in support of Harrison. On the insistence of Henry Cabot Lodge, President Harrison appointed Roosevelt to the United States Civil Service Commission, where he served until 1895. While many of his predecessors had approached the office as a sinecure, Roosevelt vigorously fought the spoilsmen and demanded enforcement of civil service laws. The New York Sun then described Roosevelt as "irrepressible, belligerent, and enthusiastic". Roosevelt frequently clashed with Postmaster General John Wanamaker, who handed out numerous patronage positions to Harrison supporters, and Roosevelt's attempt to force out several postal workers damaged Harrison politically. Despite Roosevelt's support for Harrison's reelection bid in the presidential election of 1892, the eventual winner, Grover Cleveland, reappointed him to the same post. Roosevelt's close friend and biographer, Joseph Bucklin Bishop, described his assault on the spoils system:
New York City Police Commissioner
In 1894, a group of reform Republicans approached Roosevelt about running for Mayor of New York again; he declined, mostly due to his wife's resistance to being removed from the Washington social set. Soon after he declined, he realized that he had missed an opportunity to reinvigorate a dormant political career. He retreated to the Dakotas for a time; his wife Edith regretted her role in the decision and vowed that there would be no repeat of it.
William Lafayette Strong, a reform-minded Republican, won the 1894 mayoral election and offered Roosevelt a position on the board of the New York City Police Commissioners. Roosevelt became president of the board of commissioners and radically reformed the police force. Roosevelt implemented regular inspections of firearms and annual physical exams, appointed recruits based on their physical and mental qualifications rather than political affiliation, established Meritorious Service Medals, and closed corrupt police hostelries. During his tenure, a Municipal Lodging House was established by the Board of Charities, and Roosevelt required officers to register with the Board; he also had telephones installed in station houses.
In 1894, Roosevelt met Jacob Riis, the muckraking Evening Sun newspaper journalist who was opening the eyes of New Yorkers to the terrible conditions of the city's millions of poor immigrants with such books as How the Other Half Lives. Riis described how his book affected Roosevelt:
Roosevelt made a habit of walking officers' beats late at night and early in the morning to make sure that they were on duty. He made a concerted effort to uniformly enforce New York's Sunday closing law; in this, he ran up against boss Tom Platt as well as Tammany Hall—he was notified that the Police Commission was being legislated out of existence. His crackdowns led to protests and demonstrations. Invited to one large demonstration, not only did he surprisingly accept, he delighted in the insults, caricatures and lampoons directed at him, and earned some surprising good will. Roosevelt chose to defer rather than split with his party. As Governor of New York State, he would later sign an act replacing the Police Commission with a single Police Commissioner.
Emergence as a national figure
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
In the 1896 presidential election, Roosevelt backed Speaker of the House Thomas Brackett Reed for the Republican nomination, but William McKinley won the nomination and defeated William Jennings Bryan in the general election. Roosevelt opposed Bryan's free silver platform, viewing many of Bryan's followers as dangerous fanatics, and Roosevelt gave campaign speeches for McKinley. Urged by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, President McKinley appointed Roosevelt as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897. Secretary of the Navy John D. Long was more concerned about formalities than functions, was in poor health, and left many major decisions to Roosevelt. Influenced by Alfred Thayer Mahan, Roosevelt called for a build-up in the country's naval strength, particularly the construction of battleships. Roosevelt also began pressing his national security views regarding the Pacific and the Caribbean on McKinley, and was particularly adamant that Spain be ejected from Cuba. He explained his priorities to one of the Navy's planners in late 1897:
On February 15, 1898, , an armored cruiser, exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, killing hundreds of crew members. While Roosevelt and many other Americans blamed Spain for the explosion, McKinley sought a diplomatic solution. Without approval from Long or McKinley, Roosevelt sent out orders to several naval vessels, directing them to prepare for war. George Dewey, who had received an appointment to lead the Asiatic Squadron with the backing of Roosevelt, later credited his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay to Roosevelt's orders. After finally giving up hope of a peaceful solution, McKinley asked Congress to declare war upon Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War.
War in Cuba
With the beginning of the Spanish–American War in late April 1898, Roosevelt resigned from his post as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Along with Army Colonel Leonard Wood, he formed the First US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. His wife and many of his friends begged Roosevelt to remain in his post in Washington, but Roosevelt was determined to see battle. When the newspapers reported the formation of the new regiment, Roosevelt and Wood were flooded with applications from all over the country. Referred to by the press as the "Rough Riders", the regiment was one of many temporary units active only for the duration of the war.
The regiment trained for several weeks in San Antonio, Texas, and in his autobiography, Roosevelt wrote that his prior experience with the New York National Guard had been invaluable, in that it enabled him to immediately begin teaching his men basic soldiering skills. The Rough Riders used some standard issue gear and some of their own design, purchased with gift money. Diversity characterized the regiment, which included Ivy Leaguers, professional and amateur athletes, upscale gentlemen, cowboys, frontiersmen, Native Americans, hunters, miners, prospectors, former soldiers, tradesmen, and sheriffs. The Rough Riders were part of the cavalry division commanded by former Confederate general Joseph Wheeler, which itself was one of three divisions in the V Corps under Lieutenant General William Rufus Shafter. Roosevelt and his men landed in Daiquirí, Cuba, on June 23, 1898, and marched to Siboney. Wheeler sent parts of the 1st and 10th Regular Cavalry on the lower road northwest and sent the "Rough Riders" on the parallel road running along a ridge up from the beach. To throw off his infantry rival, Wheeler left one regiment of his Cavalry Division, the 9th, at Siboney so that he could claim that his move north was only a limited reconnaissance if things went wrong. Roosevelt was promoted to colonel and took command of the regiment when Wood was put in command of the brigade. The Rough Riders had a short, minor skirmish known as the Battle of Las Guasimas; they fought their way through Spanish resistance and, together with the Regulars, forced the Spaniards to abandon their positions.
Under his leadership, the Rough Riders became famous for the charge up Kettle Hill on July 1, 1898, while supporting the regulars. Roosevelt had the only horse, and rode back and forth between rifle pits at the forefront of the advance up Kettle Hill, an advance that he urged despite the absence of any orders from superiors. He was forced to walk up the last part of Kettle Hill because his horse had been entangled in barbed wire. The victories came at a cost of 200 killed and 1,000 wounded.
In August, Roosevelt and other officers demanded that the soldiers be returned home. Roosevelt always recalled the Battle of Kettle Hill (part of the San Juan Heights) as "the great day of my life" and "my crowded hour". In 2001, Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions; he had been nominated during the war, but Army officials, annoyed at his grabbing the headlines, blocked it. After returning to civilian life, Roosevelt preferred to be known as "Colonel Roosevelt" or "The Colonel", though "Teddy" remained much more popular with the public, even though Roosevelt openly despised that moniker. Men working closely with Roosevelt customarily called him "Colonel" or "Theodore". Henceforth, political cartoons of Roosevelt usually depicted him in his Rough Rider garb.
Governor of New York
After leaving Cuba in August 1898, the Rough Riders were transported to a camp at Montauk Point, Long Island, where Roosevelt and his men were briefly quarantined due to the War Department's fear of spreading yellow fever. Shortly after Roosevelt's return to the United States, Republican Congressman Lemuel E. Quigg, a lieutenant of party boss Tom Platt, asked Roosevelt to run in the 1898 gubernatorial election. Platt disliked Roosevelt personally, feared that Roosevelt would oppose Platt's interests in office, and was reluctant to propel Roosevelt to the forefront of national politics. However, Platt also needed a strong candidate due to the unpopularity of the incumbent Republican governor, Frank S. Black, and Roosevelt agreed to become the nominee and to try not to "make war" with the Republican establishment once in office. Roosevelt defeated Black in the Republican caucus by a vote of 753 to 218, and faced Democrat Augustus Van Wyck, a well-respected judge, in the general election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously on his war record, winning the election by a margin of just one percent.
As governor, Roosevelt learned much about ongoing economic issues and political techniques that later proved valuable in his presidency. He was exposed to the problems of trusts, monopolies, labor relations, and conservation. Chessman argues that Roosevelt's program "rested firmly upon the concept of the square deal by a neutral state". The rules for the Square Deal were "honesty in public affairs, an equitable sharing of privilege and responsibility, and subordination of party and local concerns to the interests of the state at large".
By holding twice-daily press conferences—which was an innovation—Roosevelt remained connected with his middle-class political base. Roosevelt successfully pushed the Ford Franchise-Tax bill, which taxed public franchises granted by the state and controlled by corporations, declaring that "a corporation which derives its powers from the State, should pay to the State a just percentage of its earnings as a return for the privileges it enjoys". He rejected "boss" Thomas C. Platt's worries that this approached Bryanite Socialism, explaining that without it, New York voters might get angry and adopt public ownership of streetcar lines and other franchises.
The New York state government affected many interests, and the power to make appointments to policy-making positions was a key role for the governor. Platt insisted that he be consulted on major appointments; Roosevelt appeared to comply, but then made his own decisions. Historians marvel that Roosevelt managed to appoint so many first-rate men with Platt's approval. He even enlisted Platt's help in securing reform, such as in the spring of 1899, when Platt pressured state senators to vote for a civil service bill that the secretary of the Civil Service Reform Association called "superior to any civil service statute heretofore secured in America".
Chessman argues that as governor, Roosevelt developed the principles that shaped his presidency, especially insistence upon the public responsibility of large corporations, publicity as a first remedy for trusts, regulation of railroad rates, mediation of the conflict of capital and labor, conservation of natural resources and protection of the less fortunate members of society. Roosevelt sought to position himself against the excesses of large corporations on the one hand and radical movements on the other.
As the chief executive of the most populous state in the union, Roosevelt was widely considered a potential future presidential candidate, and supporters such as William Allen White encouraged him to run for president. Roosevelt had no interest in challenging McKinley for the Republican nomination in 1900, and was denied his preferred post of Secretary of War. As his term progressed, Roosevelt pondered a 1904 presidential run, but was uncertain about whether he should seek re-election as governor in 1900.
Vice Presidency (1901)
In November 1899, Vice President Garret Hobart died of heart failure, leaving an open spot on the 1900 Republican national ticket. Though Henry Cabot Lodge and others urged him to run for vice president in 1900, Roosevelt was reluctant to take the powerless position and issued a public statement saying that he would not accept the nomination. Additionally, Roosevelt was informed by President McKinley and campaign manager Mark Hanna that he was not being considered for the role of vice president due to his actions prior to the Spanish–American War. Eager to be rid of Roosevelt, Platt nonetheless began a newspaper campaign in favor of Roosevelt's nomination for the vice presidency. Roosevelt attended the 1900 Republican National Convention as a state delegate and struck a bargain with Platt: Roosevelt would accept the nomination for vice president if the convention offered it to him, but would otherwise serve another term as governor. Platt asked Pennsylvania party boss Matthew Quay to lead the campaign for Roosevelt's nomination, and Quay outmaneuvered Hanna at the convention to put Roosevelt on the ticket. Roosevelt won the nomination unanimously.
Roosevelt's vice-presidential campaigning proved highly energetic and an equal match for Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan's famous barnstorming style of campaigning. In a whirlwind campaign that displayed his energy to the public, Roosevelt made 480 stops in 23 states. He denounced the radicalism of Bryan, contrasting it with the heroism of the soldiers and sailors who fought and won the war against Spain. Bryan had strongly supported the war itself, but he denounced the annexation of the Philippines as imperialism, which would spoil America's innocence. Roosevelt countered that it was best for the Filipinos to have stability and the Americans to have a proud place in the world. With the nation basking in peace and prosperity, the voters gave McKinley an even larger victory than that which he had achieved in 1896.
After the campaign, Roosevelt took office as vice president in March 1901. The office of vice president was a powerless sinecure and did not suit Roosevelt's aggressive temperament. Roosevelt's six months as vice president were uneventful and boring for a man of action. He had no power; he presided over the Senate for a mere four days before it adjourned. On September 2, 1901, Roosevelt first publicized an aphorism that thrilled his supporters: "Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far."
Presidency (1901–1909)
On September 6, 1901, President McKinley was attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York when he was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Roosevelt was vacationing in Isle La Motte, Vermont, and traveled to Buffalo to visit McKinley in the hospital. It appeared that McKinley would recover, so Roosevelt resumed his vacation in the Adirondack Mountains. When McKinley's condition worsened, Roosevelt again rushed back to Buffalo. McKinley died on September 14, and Roosevelt was informed while he was in North Creek; he continued on to Buffalo and was sworn in as the nation's 26th president at the Ansley Wilcox House.
McKinley's supporters were nervous about the new president, and Hanna was particularly bitter that the man he had opposed so vigorously at the convention had succeeded McKinley. Roosevelt assured party leaders that he intended to adhere to McKinley's policies, and he retained McKinley's Cabinet. Nonetheless, Roosevelt sought to position himself as the party's undisputed leader, seeking to bolster the role of the president and position himself for the 1904 election. The vice presidency remained vacant, as there was no constitutional provision for filling an intra-term vacancy in that office (prior to the 25th Amendment in 1967).
Shortly after taking office, Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House. This sparked a bitter, and at times vicious, reaction among whites across the heavily segregated South. Roosevelt reacted with astonishment and protest, saying that he looked forward to many future dinners with Washington. Upon further reflection, Roosevelt wanted to ensure that this had no effect on political support in the white South, and further dinner invitations to Washington were avoided; their next meeting was scheduled as typical business at 10:00 a.m. instead.
Domestic policies
Trust busting and regulation
For his aggressive use of the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act, compared to his predecessors, Roosevelt was hailed as the "trust-buster"; but in reality he was more of a trust regulator. Roosevelt viewed big business as a necessary part of the American economy, and sought only to prosecute the "bad trusts" that restrained trade and charged unfair prices. He brought 44 antitrust suits, breaking up the Northern Securities Company, the largest railroad monopoly; and regulating Standard Oil, the largest oil company. Presidents Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley combined had prosecuted only 18 antitrust violations under the Sherman Antitrust Act.
Bolstered by his party's winning large majorities in the 1902 elections, Roosevelt proposed the creation of the United States Department of Commerce and Labor, which would include the Bureau of Corporations. While Congress was receptive to the Department of Commerce and Labor, it was more skeptical of the antitrust powers that Roosevelt sought to endow within the Bureau of Corporations. Roosevelt successfully appealed to the public to pressure Congress, and Congress overwhelmingly voted to pass Roosevelt's version of the bill.
In a moment of frustration, House Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon commented on Roosevelt's desire for executive branch control in domestic policy-making: "That fellow at the other end of the avenue wants everything from the birth of Christ to the death of the devil." Biographer Brands states, "Even his friends occasionally wondered whether there wasn't any custom or practice too minor for him to try to regulate, update or otherwise improve." In fact, Roosevelt's willingness to exercise his power included attempted rule changes in the game of football; at the Naval Academy, he sought to force retention of martial arts classes and to revise disciplinary rules. He even ordered changes made in the minting of a coin whose design he disliked, and ordered the Government Printing Office to adopt simplified spellings for a core list of 300 words, according to reformers on the Simplified Spelling Board. He was forced to rescind the latter after substantial ridicule from the press and a resolution of protest from the House of Representatives.
Coal strike
In May 1902, anthracite coal miners went on strike, threatening a national energy shortage. After threatening the coal operators with intervention by federal troops, Roosevelt won their agreement to dispute arbitration by a commission, which succeeded in stopping the strike. The accord with J. P. Morgan resulted in the miners getting more pay for fewer hours, but with no union recognition. Roosevelt said, "My action on labor should always be considered in connection with my action as regards capital, and both are reducible to my favorite formula—a square deal for every man." Roosevelt was the first president to help settle a labor dispute.
Prosecuted misconduct
During Roosevelt's second year in office it was discovered there was corruption in the Indian Service, the Land Office, and the Post Office Department. Roosevelt investigated and prosecuted corrupt Indian agents who had cheated the Creeks and various tribes out of land parcels. Land fraud and speculation were found involving Oregon federal timberlands. In November 1902, Roosevelt and Secretary Ethan A. Hitchcock forced Binger Hermann, the General Land Office Commissioner, to resign from office. On November 6, 1903 Francis J. Heney was appointed special prosecutor and obtained 146 indictments involving an Oregon Land Office bribery ring. U.S. Senator John H. Mitchell was indicted for bribery to expedite illegal land patents, found guilty in July 1905, and sentenced to six months in prison. More corruption was found in the Postal Department, that brought on the indictments of 44 government employees on charges of bribery and fraud. Historians generally agree that Roosevelt moved "quickly and decisively" to prosecute misconduct in his administration.
Railroads
Merchants complained that some railroad rates were too high. In the 1906 Hepburn Act, Roosevelt sought to give the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to regulate rates, but the Senate, led by conservative Nelson Aldrich, fought back. Roosevelt worked with the Democratic Senator Benjamin Tillman to pass the bill. Roosevelt and Aldrich ultimately reached a compromise that gave the ICC the power to replace existing rates with "just-and-reasonable" maximum rates, but allowed railroads to appeal to the federal courts on what was "reasonable". In addition to rate-setting, the Hepburn Act also granted the ICC regulatory power over pipeline fees, storage contracts, and several other aspects of railroad operations.
Pure food and drugs
Roosevelt responded to public anger over the abuses in the food packing industry by pushing Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act. Though conservatives initially opposed the bill, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, published in 1906, helped galvanize support for reform. The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 banned misleading labels and preservatives that contained harmful chemicals. The Pure Food and Drug Act banned food and drugs that were impure or falsely labeled from being made, sold, and shipped. Roosevelt also served as honorary president of the American School Hygiene Association from 1907 to 1908, and in 1909 he convened the first White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children.
Conservation
Of all Roosevelt's achievements, he was proudest of his work in the conservation of natural resources and extending federal protection to land and wildlife. Roosevelt worked closely with Interior Secretary James Rudolph Garfield and Chief of the United States Forest Service Gifford Pinchot to enact a series of conservation programs that often met with resistance from Western members of Congress, such as Charles William Fulton. Nonetheless, Roosevelt established the United States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of five National Parks, and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 new U.S. National Monuments. He also established the first 51 bird reserves, four game preserves, and 150 National Forests. The area of the United States that he placed under public protection totals approximately .
Roosevelt extensively used executive orders on a number of occasions to protect forest and wildlife lands during his tenure as president. By the end of his second term in office, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish of reserved forestry land. Roosevelt was unapologetic about his extensive use of executive orders to protect the environment, despite the perception in Congress that he was encroaching on too many lands. Eventually, Senator Charles Fulton (R-OR) attached an amendment to an agricultural appropriations bill that effectively prevented the president from reserving any further land. Before signing that bill into law, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish an additional 21 forest reserves, waiting until the last minute to sign the bill into law. In total, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish 121 forest reserves in 31 states. Prior to Roosevelt, only one president had issued over 200 executive orders, Grover Cleveland (253). The first 25 presidents issued a total of 1,262 executive orders; Roosevelt issued 1,081.
Foreign policy
Japan
The American annexation of Hawaii in 1898 was stimulated in part by fear that otherwise Japan would dominate the Hawaiian Republic. Similarly, Germany was the alternative to American takeover of the Philippines in 1900, and Tokyo strongly preferred the U.S. to take over. As the U.S. became a naval world power, it needed to find a way to avoid a military confrontation in the Pacific with Japan.
In the 1890s, Roosevelt had been an ardent imperialist and vigorously defended the permanent acquisition of the Philippines in the 1900 campaign. After the local insurrection ended in 1902, he largely lost his imperialist interest in the Philippines and Asian expansion but wished to have a strong U.S. presence in the region as a symbol of democratic values. One of Theodore Roosevelt's priorities during his presidency and afterwards, was the maintenance of friendly relations with Japan. From 1904 to 1905 Japan and Russia were at war. Roosevelt admired the martial courage of the Japanese, and distrusted the reckless German Kaiser. Both sides asked Roosevelt to mediate a peace conference, held successfully in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
In California, anti-Japanese hostility was growing, and Tokyo protested. Roosevelt negotiated a "Gentleman's Agreement" in 1907. Explicit discrimination against the Japanese was ended, and Japan agreed not to allow unskilled immigrants into the United States. The Great White Fleet of American battleships visited Japan in 1908. Pulitzer prize-winning biographer Henry Pringle states that the great voyage was "the direct result of the Japanese trouble." Roosevelt intended to emphasize the superiority of the American fleet over the smaller Japanese navy, but instead of resentment the visitors arrived to a joyous welcome by Japanese elite as well as the general public. This good-will facilitated the Root–Takahira Agreement of November 1908 which reaffirmed the status quo of Japanese control of Korea and American control of the Philippines.
Europe
Success in the war against Spain and the new empire, plus having the largest economy in the world, meant that the United States had emerged as a world power. Roosevelt searched for ways to win recognition for the position abroad.
Roosevelt also played a major role in mediating the First Moroccan Crisis by calling the Algeciras Conference, which averted war between France and Germany.
Roosevelt's presidency saw the strengthening of ties with Great Britain. The Great Rapprochement had begun with British support of the United States during the Spanish–American War, and it continued as Britain withdrew its fleet from the Caribbean in favor of focusing on the rising German naval threat. In 1901, Britain and the United States signed the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, abrogating the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty, which had prevented the United States from constructing a canal connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. The long-standing Alaska boundary dispute was settled on terms favorable to the United States, as Great Britain was unwilling to alienate the United States over what it considered to be a secondary issue. As Roosevelt later put it, the resolution of the Alaskan boundary dispute "settled the last serious trouble between the British Empire and ourselves."
Latin America and Panama Canal
As president, he primarily focused the nation's overseas ambitions on the Caribbean, especially locations that had a bearing on the defense of his pet project, the Panama Canal. Roosevelt also increased the size of the navy, and by the end of his second term the United States had more battleships than any other country besides Britain. The Panama Canal when it opened in 1914 allowed the U.S. Navy to rapidly move back and forth from the Pacific to the Caribbean to European waters.
In December 1902, the Germans, British, and Italians blockaded the ports of Venezuela in order to force the repayment of delinquent loans. Roosevelt was particularly concerned with the motives of German Emperor Wilhelm II. He succeeded in getting the three nations to agree to arbitration by tribunal at The Hague, and successfully defused the crisis. The latitude granted to the Europeans by the arbiters was in part responsible for the "Roosevelt Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which the President issued in 1904: "Chronic wrongdoing or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere, the adherence of the United States to the Monroe doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power."
The pursuit of an isthmus canal in Central America during this period focused on two possible routes—Nicaragua and Panama, which was then a rebellious district within Colombia. Roosevelt convinced Congress to approve the Panamanian alternative, and a treaty was approved, only to be rejected by the Colombian government. When the Panamanians learned of this, a rebellion followed, was supported by Roosevelt, and succeeded. A treaty with the new Panama government for construction of the canal was then reached in 1903. Roosevelt received criticism for paying the bankrupt Panama Canal Company and the New Panama Canal Company $40,000,000 (equivalent to $ billion in ) for the rights and equipment to build the canal. Critics charged that an American investor syndicate allegedly divided the large payment among themselves. There was also controversy over whether a French company engineer influenced Roosevelt in choosing the Panama route for the canal over the Nicaragua route. Roosevelt denied charges of corruption concerning the canal in a January 8, 1906 message to Congress. In January 1909, Roosevelt, in an unprecedented move, brought criminal libel charges against the New York World and the Indianapolis News known as the "Roosevelt-Panama Libel Cases". Both cases were dismissed by U.S. District Courts, and on January 3, 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court, upon federal appeal, upheld the lower courts' rulings. Historians are sharply critical of Roosevelt's criminal prosecutions of the World and the News, but are divided on whether actual corruption in acquiring and building the Panama Canal took place.
In 1906, following a disputed election, an insurrection ensued in Cuba; Roosevelt sent Taft, the Secretary of War, to monitor the situation; he was convinced that he had the authority to unilaterally authorize Taft to deploy Marines if necessary, without congressional approval.
Examining the work of numerous scholars, Ricard (2014) reports that:
The most striking evolution in the twenty-first-century historiography of Theodore Roosevelt is the switch from a partial arraignment of the imperialist to a quasi-unanimous celebration of the master diplomatist.... [Recent works] have underlined cogently Roosevelt's exceptional statesmanship in the construction of the nascent twentieth-century "special relationship". ...The twenty-sixth president's reputation as a brilliant diplomatist and realpolitician has undeniably reached new heights in the twenty-first century...yet, his Philippine policy still prompts criticism.
Media
Building on McKinley's effective use of the press, Roosevelt made the White House the center of news every day, providing interviews and photo opportunities. After noticing the reporters huddled outside the White House in the rain one day, he gave them their own room inside, effectively inventing the presidential press briefing. The grateful press, with unprecedented access to the White House, rewarded Roosevelt with ample coverage.
Roosevelt normally enjoyed very close relationships with the press, which he used to keep in daily contact with his middle-class base. While out of office, he made a living as a writer and magazine editor. He loved talking with intellectuals, authors, and writers. He drew the line, however, at exposé-oriented scandal-mongering journalists who, during his term, sent magazine subscriptions soaring by their attacks on corrupt politicians, mayors, and corporations. Roosevelt himself was not usually a target, but a speech of his from 1906 coined the term "muckraker" for unscrupulous journalists making wild charges. "The liar", he said, "is no whit better than the thief, and if his mendacity takes the form of slander he may be worse than most thieves."
The press did briefly target Roosevelt in one instance. After 1904, he was periodically criticized for the manner in which he facilitated the construction of the Panama Canal. According to biographer Brands, Roosevelt, near the end of his term, demanded that the Justice Department bring charges of criminal libel against Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. The publication had accused him of "deliberate misstatements of fact" in defense of family members who were criticized as a result of the Panama affair. Though an indictment was obtained, the case was ultimately dismissed in federal court—it was not a federal offense, but one enforceable in state courts. The Justice Department had predicted that result, and had also advised Roosevelt accordingly.
Election of 1904
The control and management of the Republican Party lay in the hands of Ohio Senator and Republican Party chairman Mark Hanna until McKinley's death. Roosevelt and Hanna frequently cooperated during Roosevelt's first term, but Hanna left open the possibility of a challenge to Roosevelt for the 1904 Republican nomination. Roosevelt and Ohio's other Senator, Joseph B. Foraker, forced Hanna's hand by calling for Ohio's state Republican convention to endorse Roosevelt for the 1904 nomination. Unwilling to break with the president, Hanna was forced to publicly endorse Roosevelt. Hanna and Pennsylvania Senator Matthew Quay both died in early 1904, and with the waning of Thomas Platt's power, Roosevelt faced little effective opposition for the 1904 nomination. In deference to Hanna's conservative loyalists, Roosevelt at first offered the party chairmanship to Cornelius Bliss, but he declined. Roosevelt turned to his own man, George B. Cortelyou of New York, the first Secretary of Commerce and Labor. To buttress his hold on the party's nomination, Roosevelt made it clear that anyone opposing Cortelyou would be considered to be opposing the President. The President secured his own nomination, but his preferred vice-presidential running mate, Robert R. Hitt, was not nominated. Senator Charles Warren Fairbanks of Indiana, a favorite of conservatives, gained the nomination.
While Roosevelt followed the tradition of incumbents in not actively campaigning on the stump, he sought to control the campaign's message through specific instructions to Cortelyou. He also attempted to manage the press's release of White House statements by forming the Ananias Club. Any journalist who repeated a statement made by the president without approval was penalized by restriction of further access.
The Democratic Party's nominee in 1904 was Alton Brooks Parker. Democratic newspapers charged that Republicans were extorting large campaign contributions from corporations, putting ultimate responsibility on Roosevelt, himself. Roosevelt denied corruption while at the same time he ordered Cortelyou to return $100,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) of a campaign contribution from Standard Oil. Parker said that Roosevelt was accepting corporate donations to keep damaging information from the Bureau of Corporations from going public. Roosevelt strongly denied Parker's charge and responded that he would "go into the Presidency unhampered by any pledge, promise, or understanding of any kind, sort, or description...". Allegations from Parker and the Democrats, however, had little impact on the election, as Roosevelt promised to give every American a "square deal". Roosevelt won 56% of the popular vote, and Parker received 38%; Roosevelt also won the Electoral College vote, 336 to 140. Before his inauguration ceremony, Roosevelt declared that he would not serve another term. Democrats afterwards would continue to charge Roosevelt and the Republicans of being influenced by corporate donations during Roosevelt's second term.
Second term
As his second term progressed, Roosevelt moved to the left of his Republican Party base and called for a series of reforms, most of which Congress failed to pass. In his last year in office, he was assisted by his friend Archibald Butt (who later perished in the sinking of RMS Titanic). Roosevelt's influence waned as he approached the end of his second term, as his promise to forego a third term made him a lame duck and his concentration of power provoked a backlash from many Congressmen. He sought a national incorporation law (at a time when all corporations had state charters), called for a federal income tax (despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.), and an inheritance tax. In the area of labor legislation, Roosevelt called for limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes; injunctions were a powerful weapon that mostly helped business. He wanted an employee liability law for industrial injuries (pre-empting state laws) and an eight-hour work day for federal employees. In other areas he also sought a postal savings system (to provide competition for local banks), and he asked for campaign reform laws.
The election of 1904 continued to be a source of contention between Republicans and Democrats. A Congressional investigation in 1905 revealed that corporate executives donated tens of thousands of dollars in 1904 to the Republican National Committee. In 1908, a month before the general presidential election, Governor Charles N. Haskell of Oklahoma, former Democratic Treasurer, said that Senators beholden to Standard Oil lobbied Roosevelt, in the summer of 1904, to authorize the leasing of Indian oil lands by Standard Oil subsidiaries. He said Roosevelt overruled his Secretary of Interior Ethan A. Hitchcock and granted a pipeline franchise to run through the Osage lands to the Prairie Oil and Gas Company. The New York Sun made a similar accusation and said that Standard Oil, a refinery who financially benefited from the pipeline, had contributed $150,000 to the Republicans in 1904 (equivalent to $ million in ) after Roosevelt's alleged reversal allowing the pipeline franchise. Roosevelt branded Haskell's allegation as "a lie, pure and simple" and obtained a denial from Treasury Secretary Shaw that Roosevelt had neither coerced Shaw nor overruled him.
Post-presidency (1909–1919)
Election of 1908
Roosevelt enjoyed being president and was still relatively youthful, but felt that a limited number of terms provided a check against dictatorship. Roosevelt ultimately decided to stick to his 1904 pledge not to run for a third term. He personally favored Secretary of State Elihu Root as his successor, but Root's ill health made him an unsuitable candidate. New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes loomed as a potentially strong candidate and shared Roosevelt's progressivism, but Roosevelt disliked him and considered him to be too independent. Instead, Roosevelt settled on his Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, who had ably served under Presidents Harrison, McKinley, and Roosevelt in various positions. Roosevelt and Taft had been friends since 1890, and Taft had consistently supported President Roosevelt's policies. Roosevelt was determined to install the successor of his choice, and wrote the following to Taft: "Dear Will: Do you want any action about those federal officials? I will break their necks with the utmost cheerfulness if you say the word!". Just weeks later he branded as "false and malicious" the charge that he was using the offices at his disposal to favor Taft. At the 1908 Republican convention, many chanted for "four years more" of a Roosevelt presidency, but Taft won the nomination after Henry Cabot Lodge made it clear that Roosevelt was not interested in a third term.
In the 1908 election, Taft easily defeated the Democratic nominee, three-time candidate William Jennings Bryan. Taft promoted a progressivism that stressed the rule of law; he preferred that judges rather than administrators or politicians make the basic decisions about fairness. Taft usually proved to be a less adroit politician than Roosevelt and lacked the energy and personal magnetism, along with the publicity devices, the dedicated supporters, and the broad base of public support that made Roosevelt so formidable. When Roosevelt realized that lowering the tariff would risk creating severe tensions inside the Republican Party by pitting producers (manufacturers and farmers) against merchants and consumers, he stopped talking about the issue. Taft ignored the risks and tackled the tariff boldly, encouraging reformers to fight for lower rates, and then cutting deals with conservative leaders that kept overall rates high. The resulting Payne-Aldrich tariff of 1909, signed into law early in President Taft's tenure, was too high for most reformers, and Taft's handling of the tariff alienated all sides. While the crisis was building inside the Party, Roosevelt was touring Africa and Europe, to allow Taft to be his own man.
Africa and Europe (1909–1910)
In March 1909, shortly after the end of his presidency, Roosevelt left New York for the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition, a safari in east and central Africa. Roosevelt's party landed in Mombasa, East Africa (now Kenya) and traveled to the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) before following the Nile to Khartoum in modern Sudan. Financed by Andrew Carnegie and by his own writings, Roosevelt's party hunted for specimens for the Smithsonian Institution and for the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The group, led by the hunter-tracker RJ Cunninghame, included scientists from the Smithsonian, and was joined from time to time by Frederick Selous, the famous big game hunter and explorer. Participants on the expedition included Kermit Roosevelt, Edgar Alexander Mearns, Edmund Heller, and John Alden Loring.
Roosevelt and his companions killed or trapped approximately 11,400 animals, from insects and moles to hippopotamuses and elephants. The 1,000 large animals included 512 big game animals, including six rare white rhinos. Tons of salted animals and their skins were shipped to Washington; it took years to mount them all, and the Smithsonian shared many duplicate specimens with other museums. Regarding the large number of animals taken, Roosevelt said, "I can be condemned only if the existence of the National Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and all similar zoological institutions are to be condemned". He wrote a detailed account of the safari in the book African Game Trails, recounting the excitement of the chase, the people he met, and the flora and fauna he collected in the name of science.
After his safari, Roosevelt traveled north to embark on a tour of Europe. Stopping first in Egypt, he commented favorably on British rule of the region, giving his opinion that Egypt was not yet ready for independence. He refused a meeting with the Pope due to a dispute over a group of Methodists active in Rome, but met with Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King George V of Great Britain, and other European leaders. In Oslo, Norway, Roosevelt delivered a speech calling for limitations on naval armaments, a strengthening of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and the creation of a "League of Peace" among the world powers. He also delivered the Romanes Lecture at Oxford, in which he denounced those who sought parallels between the evolution of animal life and the development of society. Though Roosevelt attempted to avoid domestic politics during his time abroad, he met with Gifford Pinchot, who related his own disappointment with the Taft Administration. Pinchot had been forced to resign as head of the forest service after clashing with Taft's Interior Secretary, Richard Ballinger, who had prioritized development over conservation. Roosevelt returned to the United States in June 1910.
Republican Party schism
Roosevelt had attempted to refashion Taft into a second version of himself, but as soon as Taft began to display his individuality, the former president expressed his disenchantment. He was offended on election night when Taft indicated that his success had been possible not just through the efforts of Roosevelt, but also his brother Charley. Roosevelt was further alienated when Taft, intent on becoming his own man, did not consult him about cabinet appointments. Roosevelt and other progressives were ideologically dissatisfied over Taft's conservation policies and his handling of the tariff when he concentrated more power in the hands of conservative party leaders in Congress. Regarding radicalism and liberalism, Roosevelt wrote a British friend in 1911:
Fundamentally it is the radical liberal with whom I sympathize. He is at least working toward the end for which I think we should all of us strive; and when he adds sanity in moderation to courage and enthusiasm for high ideals he develops into the kind of statesman whom alone I can wholeheartedly support."
Roosevelt urged progressives to take control of the Republican Party at the state and local level and to avoid splitting the party in a way that would hand the presidency to the Democrats in 1912. Additionally, Roosevelt expressed optimism about the Taft Administration after meeting with the president in the White House in June 1910.
In August 1910, Roosevelt gained national attention with a speech at Osawatomie, Kansas, which was the most radical of his career and marked his public break with Taft and the conservative Republicans. Advocating a program of "New Nationalism", Roosevelt emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests, a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions. Returning to New York, Roosevelt began a battle to take control of the state Republican party from William Barnes Jr., Tom Platt's successor as the state party boss, whom he would later confront in the Barnes vs. Roosevelt Libel Trial. Taft had pledged his support to Roosevelt in this endeavor, and Roosevelt was outraged when Taft's support failed to materialize at the 1910 state convention. Roosevelt nonetheless campaigned for the Republicans in the 1910 elections, in which the Democrats gained control of the House for the first time since the 1890s. Among the newly elected Democrats was New York state senator Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who argued that he represented his distant cousin's policies better than his Republican opponent.
The Republican progressives interpreted the 1910 defeats as a compelling argument for the complete reorganization of the party in 1911. Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin joined with Pinchot, William White, and California Governor Hiram Johnson to create the National Progressive Republican League; their objectives were to defeat the power of political bossism at the state level and to replace Taft at the national level. Despite skepticism of La Follette's new league, Roosevelt expressed general support for progressive principles. Between January and April 1911, Roosevelt wrote a series of articles for The Outlook, defending what he called "the great movement of our day, the progressive nationalist movement against special privilege, and in favor of an honest and efficient political and industrial democracy". With Roosevelt apparently uninterested in running in 1912, La Follette declared his own candidacy in June 1911. Roosevelt continually criticized Taft after the 1910 elections, and the break between the two men became final after the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against US Steel in September 1911; Roosevelt was humiliated by this suit because he had personally approved of an acquisition that the Justice Department was now challenging. However, Roosevelt was still unwilling to run against Taft in 1912; he instead hoped to run in 1916 against whichever Democrat beat Taft in 1912.
Dispute over arbitration treaties
Taft was a major advocate of arbitration as a major reform of the Progressive Era. In 1911 Taft and his Secretary of State Philander C. Knox negotiated major treaties with Great Britain and with France providing that differences be arbitrated. Disputes had to be submitted to the Hague Court or other tribunal. These were signed in August 1911 but had to be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. Neither Taft nor Knox consulted with members of the Senate during the negotiating process. By then many Republicans were opposed to Taft, and the president felt that lobbying too hard for the treaties might cause their defeat. He made some speeches supporting the treaties in October, but the Senate added amendments Taft could not accept, killing the agreements.
The arbitration issue opens a window on a bitter philosophical dispute among American progressives. Some, led by Taft looked to legal arbitration as the best alternative to warfare. Taft was a constitutional lawyer who later became Chief Justice; he had a deep understanding of the legal issues. Taft's political base was the conservative business community that largely supported peace movements before 1914. However, his mistake, in this case, was a failure to mobilize that base. The businessmen believed that economic rivalries were the cause of war, and that extensive trade led to an interdependent world that would make war a very expensive and useless anachronism.
However, an opposing faction of progressives, led by Roosevelt, ridiculed arbitration as foolhardy idealism, and insisted on the realism of warfare as the only solution to serious international disputes. Roosevelt worked with his close friend Senator Henry Cabot Lodge to impose those amendments that ruined the goals of the treaties. Lodge thought the treaties impinged too much on senatorial prerogatives. Roosevelt, however, was acting to sabotage Taft's campaign promises. At a deeper level, Roosevelt truly believed that arbitration was a naïve solution and the great issues had to be decided by warfare. The Rooseveltian approach incorporated a near-mystical faith of the ennobling nature of war. It endorsed jingoistic nationalism as opposed to the businessmen's calculation of profit and national interest.
Election of 1912
Republican primaries and convention
In November 1911, a group of Ohio Republicans endorsed Roosevelt for the party's nomination for president; the endorsers included James R. Garfield and Dan Hanna. This endorsement was made by leaders of President Taft's home state. Roosevelt conspicuously declined to make a statement—requested by Garfield—that he would flatly refuse a nomination. Soon thereafter, Roosevelt said, "I am really sorry for Taft... I am sure he means well, but he means well feebly, and he does not know how! He is utterly unfit for leadership and this is a time when we need leadership." In January 1912, Roosevelt declared "if the people make a draft on me I shall not decline to serve". Later that year, Roosevelt spoke before the Constitutional Convention in Ohio, openly identifying as a progressive and endorsing progressive reforms—even endorsing popular review of state judicial decisions. In reaction to Roosevelt's proposals for popular overrule of court decisions, Taft said, "Such extremists are not progressives—they are political emotionalists or neurotics".
Roosevelt began to envision himself as the savior of the Republican Party from defeat in the upcoming presidential election. In February 1912, Roosevelt announced in Boston, "I will accept the nomination for president if it is tendered to me. I hope that so far as possible the people may be given the chance through direct primaries to express who shall be the nominee. Elihu Root and Henry Cabot Lodge thought that division of the party would lead to its defeat in the next election, while Taft believed that he would be defeated either in the Republican primary or in the general election.
The 1912 primaries represented the first extensive use of the presidential primary, a reform achievement of the progressive movement. The Republican primaries in the South, where party regulars dominated, went for Taft, as did results in New York, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Roosevelt won in Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, California, Maryland and Pennsylvania; Roosevelt also won Taft's home state of Ohio. These primary elections, while demonstrating Roosevelt's continuing popularity with the electorate, were not pivotal. The final credentials of the state delegates at the national convention were determined by the national committee, which was controlled by the party leaders, headed by the incumbent president.
Prior to the 1912 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt expressed doubt about his prospects for victory, noting that Taft had more delegates and control of the credentials committee. His only hope was to convince party leaders that the nomination of Taft would hand the election to the Democrats, but party leaders were determined not to cede their leadership to Roosevelt. The credentials committee awarded almost all contested delegates to Taft, and Taft won the nomination on the first ballot. Black delegates from the South played a key role: they voted heavily for Taft and put him over the top. La Follette also helped Taft's candidacy; he hoped that a deadlocked convention would result in his own nomination, and refused to release his delegates to support Roosevelt.
The Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party
Once his defeat at the Republican convention appeared probable, Roosevelt announced that he would "accept the progressive nomination on a progressive platform and I shall fight to the end, win or lose". At the same time, Roosevelt prophetically said, "My feeling is that the Democrats will probably win if they nominate a progressive".
Roosevelt left the Republican Party and created the Progressive Party, structuring it as a permanent organization that would field complete tickets at the presidential and state level. The party included Roosevelt and key allies such as Pinchot, Cornelia Bryce Pinchot (Pinchot's wife and a longtime friend of Roosevelt's), and Albert Beveridge. The new party was popularly known as the "Bull Moose Party" after Roosevelt told reporters, "I'm as fit as a bull moose". At the 1912 Progressive National Convention, Roosevelt cried out, "We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord." California Governor Hiram Johnson was nominated as Roosevelt's running mate. Roosevelt's platform echoed his 1907–1908 proposals, calling for vigorous government intervention to protect the people from selfish interests:
Though many Progressive party supporters in the North were supporters of civil rights for blacks, Roosevelt did not give strong support to civil rights and ran a "lily-white" campaign in the South. Rival all-white and all-black delegations from four southern states arrived at the Progressive national convention, and Roosevelt decided to seat the all-white delegations. Nevertheless, he won little support outside mountain Republican strongholds. Out of nearly 1100 counties in the South, Roosevelt won two counties in Alabama, one in Arkansas, seven in North Carolina, three in Georgia, 17 in Tennessee, two in Texas, one in Virginia, and none in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, or South Carolina.
Assassination attempt
On October 14, 1912, while arriving at a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Roosevelt was shot from seven feet away in front of the Gilpatrick Hotel by a delusional saloonkeeper named John Flammang Schrank, who believed that the ghost of assassinated president William McKinley had directed him to kill Roosevelt. The bullet lodged in his chest after penetrating his steel eyeglass case and passing through a 50-page-thick single-folded copy of the speech titled "Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual", which he was carrying in his jacket. Schrank was immediately disarmed (by Czech immigrant Frank Bukovsky), captured, and might have been lynched had Roosevelt not shouted for Schrank to remain unharmed. Roosevelt assured the crowd he was all right, then ordered police to take charge of Schrank and to make sure no violence was done to him.
As an experienced hunter and anatomist, Roosevelt correctly concluded that since he was not coughing blood, the bullet had not reached his lung. He declined suggestions to go to the hospital immediately and instead delivered a 90 minute speech with blood seeping into his shirt. His opening comments to the gathered crowd were, "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose." Only after finishing his address did he accept medical attention.
Subsequent probes and an x-ray showed that the bullet had lodged in Roosevelt's chest muscle, but did not penetrate the pleura. Doctors concluded that it would be less dangerous to leave it in place than to attempt to remove it, and Roosevelt carried the bullet with him for the rest of his life. Both Taft and Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson suspended their own campaigning until Roosevelt recovered and resumed his. When asked if the shooting would affect his election campaign, he said to the reporter "I'm fit as a bull moose." The bull moose became a symbol of both Roosevelt and the Progressive Party, and it often was referred to as simply the Bull Moose Party. He spent two weeks recuperating before returning to the campaign trail. He later wrote a friend about the bullet inside him, "I do not mind it any more than if it were in my waistcoat pocket."
Farewell manifesto
On October 20, Roosevelt spoke to a crowd of 16,000 at Madison Square Garden. The speech included: "Perhaps once in a generation, there comes a chance for the people of a country to play their part wisely and fearlessly in some great battle of the age-long warfare for human rights."
Election results
After the Democrats nominated Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey, Roosevelt did not expect to win the general election, as Wilson had compiled a record attractive to many progressive Democrats who might have otherwise considered voting for Roosevelt. Roosevelt still campaigned vigorously, and the election developed into a two-person contest between Wilson and Roosevelt despite Taft's presence in the race. Roosevelt respected Wilson, but the two differed on various issues; Wilson opposed any federal intervention regarding women's suffrage or child labor (he viewed these as state issues), and attacked Roosevelt's tolerance of large businesses.
Roosevelt won 4.1 million votes (27%), compared to Taft's 3.5 million (23%). Wilson gained 6.3 million votes (42% of the total) and a massive landslide in the Electoral College, with 435 electoral votes; Roosevelt won 88 electoral votes, while Taft won 8. Pennsylvania was the only eastern state won by Roosevelt; in the Midwest, he carried Michigan, Minnesota, and South Dakota; in the West, California, and Washington. Wilson's victory represented the first Democratic presidential election victory since Cleveland's 1892 campaign, and it was the party's best performance in the Electoral College since 1852. Roosevelt, meanwhile, garnered a higher share of the popular vote than any other third-party presidential candidate in history and won the most states of any third-party candidate after the Civil War.
South American expedition (1913-1914)
A friend of Roosevelt's, Father John Augustine Zahm, persuaded Roosevelt to participate in an expedition to South America. To finance the expedition, Roosevelt received support from the American Museum of Natural History in return for promising to bring back many new animal specimens. Roosevelt's popular book, Through the Brazilian Wilderness describes his expedition into the Brazilian jungle in 1913 as a member of the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition, co-named after its leader, Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon.
Once in South America, a new, far more ambitious goal was added: to find the headwaters of the Rio da Duvida (Portuguese for "River of Doubt"), and trace it north to the Madeira and thence to the Amazon River. It was later renamed Roosevelt River in honor of the former president. Roosevelt's crew consisted of his son Kermit, Colonel Rondon, naturalist George Kruck Cherrie (sent by the American Museum of Natural History), Brazilian Lieutenant João Lira, team physician Dr. José Antonio Cajazeira, and 16 skilled paddlers and porters. Roosevelt also identified Leo Miller (another AMNH recommendation), Anthony Fiala, Frank Harper, and Jacob Sigg as crew members. The initial expedition started somewhat tenuously on December 9, 1913, at the height of the rainy season. The trip down the River of Doubt started on February 27, 1914.
During the trip down the river, Roosevelt suffered a minor leg wound after he jumped into the river to try to prevent two canoes from smashing against the rocks. The flesh wound he received, however, soon gave him tropical fever that resembled the malaria he had contracted while in Cuba fifteen years before. Because the bullet lodged in his chest from the assassination attempt in 1912 was never removed, his health worsened from the infection. This weakened Roosevelt so greatly that six weeks into the adventure, he had to be attended to day and night by the expedition's physician and his son Kermit. By then, he could not walk because of the infection in his injured leg and an infirmity in the other, which was due to a traffic accident a decade earlier. Roosevelt was riddled with chest pains, fighting a fever that soared to and at times made him delirious, at one point constantly reciting the first two lines of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan": "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure dome decree". Regarding his condition as a threat to the survival of the others, Roosevelt insisted he be left behind to allow the poorly provisioned expedition to proceed as rapidly as it could, preparing to commit suicide with an overdose of morphine. Only an appeal by his son persuaded him to continue.
Despite Roosevelt's continued decline and loss of over , Colonel Rondon reduced the pace of the expedition to allow for his commission's mapmaking and other geographical tasks, which required regular stops to fix the expedition's position by sun-based survey. Upon Roosevelt's return to New York, friends and family were startled by his physical appearance and fatigue. Roosevelt wrote, perhaps prophetically, to a friend that the trip had cut his life short by ten years. For the rest of his few remaining years, he would be plagued by flare-ups of malaria and leg inflammations so severe as to require surgery. Before Roosevelt had even completed his sea voyage home, critics raised doubts over his claims of exploring and navigating a completely uncharted river over long. When he had recovered sufficiently, he addressed a standing-room-only convention organized in Washington, D.C., by the National Geographic Society and satisfactorily defended his claims.
Final years
Roosevelt returned to the United States in May 1914. Though he was outraged by the Wilson Administration's conclusion of a treaty that expressed "sincere regret" for the way in which the United States had acquired the Panama Canal Zone, he was impressed by many of the reforms passed under Wilson. Roosevelt made several campaign appearances for the Progressives, but the 1914 elections were a disaster for the fledgling third party. Roosevelt began to envision another campaign for president, this time with himself at the head of the Republican Party, but conservative party leaders remained opposed to Roosevelt. In hopes of engineering a joint nomination, the Progressives scheduled the 1916 Progressive National Convention at the same time as the 1916 Republican National Convention. When the Republicans nominated Charles Evans Hughes, Roosevelt declined the Progressive nomination and urged his Progressive followers to support the Republican candidate. Though Roosevelt had long disliked Hughes, he disliked Wilson even more, and he campaigned energetically for the Republican nominee. However, Wilson won the 1916 election by a narrow margin. The Progressives disappeared as a party following the 1916 election, and Roosevelt and many of his followers permanently re-joined the Republican Party.
World War I
When the First World War began in 1914, Roosevelt strongly supported the Allies and demanded a harsher policy against Germany, especially regarding submarine warfare. Roosevelt angrily denounced the foreign policy of President Wilson, calling it a failure regarding the atrocities in Belgium and the violations of American rights. In 1916, while campaigning for Hughes, Roosevelt repeatedly denounced Irish-Americans and German-Americans whom he described as unpatriotic, saying they put the interests of Ireland and Germany ahead of America's by supporting neutrality. He insisted that one had to be 100% American, not a "hyphenated American" who juggled multiple loyalties. In March 1917, Congress gave Roosevelt the authority to raise a maximum of four divisions similar to the Rough Riders, and Major Frederick Russell Burnham was put in charge of both the general organization and recruitment. However, President Wilson announced to the press that he would not send Roosevelt and his volunteers to France, but instead would send an American Expeditionary Force under the command of General John J. Pershing. Roosevelt never forgave Wilson, and quickly published The Foes of Our Own Household, an indictment of the sitting president. Roosevelt's youngest son, Quentin, a pilot with the American forces in France, was killed when shot down behind German lines on July 14, 1918, at the age of 20. It is said that Quentin's death distressed Roosevelt so much that he never recovered from his loss.
League of Nations
Roosevelt was an early supporter of the modern view that there needs to be a global order. In his Nobel prize address of 1910, he said, "it would be a master stroke if those great Powers honestly bent on peace would form a League of Peace, not only to keep the peace among themselves, but to prevent, by force if necessary, its being broken by others." It would have executive power such as the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 lacked. He called for American participation.
When World War I broke out, Roosevelt proposed "a World League for the Peace of Righteousness", in September 1914, which would preserve sovereignty but limit armaments and require arbitration. He added that it should be "solemnly covenanted that if any nations refused to abide by the decisions of such a court, then others draw the sword in behalf of peace and justice." In 1915 he outlined this plan more specifically, urging that nations guarantee their entire military force, if necessary, against any nation that refused to carry out arbitration decrees or violated rights of other nations. Though Roosevelt had some concerns about the impact on United States sovereignty, he insisted that such a league would only work if the United States participated as one of the "joint guarantors". Roosevelt referred to this plan in a 1918 speech as "the most feasible for...a league of nations." By this time Wilson was strongly hostile to Roosevelt and Lodge, and developed his own plans for a rather different League of Nations. It became reality along Wilson's lines at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Roosevelt denounced Wilson's approach but died before it was adopted at Paris. However, Lodge was willing to accept it with serious reservations. In the end, on March 19, 1920, Wilson had Democratic Senators vote against the League with the Lodge Reservations and the United States never joined the League of Nations.
Final political activities
Roosevelt's attacks on Wilson helped the Republicans win control of Congress in the midterm elections of 1918. He declined a request from New York Republicans to run for another gubernatorial term, but attacked Wilson's Fourteen Points, calling instead for the unconditional surrender of Germany. Though his health was uncertain, he was seen as a leading contender for the 1920 Republican nomination, but insisted that, "If they take me, they'll have to take me without a single modification of the things that I have always stood for! He wrote William Allen White, "I wish to do everything in my power to make the Republican Party the Party of sane, constructive radicalism, just as it was under Lincoln." Accordingly, he told the 1918 state convention of the Maine Republican Party that he stood for old-age pensions, insurance for sickness and unemployment, construction of public housing for low-income families, the reduction of working hours, aid to farmers, and more regulation of large corporations.
While his political profile remained high, Roosevelt's physical condition continued to deteriorate throughout 1918 due to the long-term effects of jungle diseases. He was hospitalized for seven weeks late in the year and never fully recovered.
Death
On the night of January 5, 1919, Roosevelt suffered breathing problems. After receiving treatment from his physician, Dr. George W. Faller, he felt better and went to bed. Roosevelt's last words were "Please put out that light, James" to his family servant James E. Amos. Between 4:00 and 4:15 the next morning, Roosevelt, at the age of 60, died in his sleep at Sagamore Hill after a blood clot detached from a vein and traveled to his lungs.
Upon receiving word of his death, his son Archibald telegraphed his siblings: "The old lion is dead." Woodrow Wilson's vice president, Thomas R. Marshall, said that "Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight." Following a private farewell service in the North Room at Sagamore Hill, a simple funeral was held at Christ Episcopal Church in Oyster Bay. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, Charles Evans Hughes, Warren G. Harding, Henry Cabot Lodge, and William Howard Taft were among the mourners. The snow-covered procession route to Youngs Memorial Cemetery was lined with spectators and a squad of mounted policemen who had ridden from New York City. Roosevelt was buried on a hillside overlooking Oyster Bay.
Writer
Roosevelt was a prolific author, writing with passion on subjects ranging from foreign policy to the importance of the national park system. Roosevelt was also an avid reader of poetry. Poet Robert Frost said that Roosevelt "was our kind. He quoted poetry to me. He knew poetry."
As an editor of Outlook magazine, Roosevelt had weekly access to a large, educated national audience. In all, Roosevelt wrote about 18 books (each in several editions), including his autobiography, The Rough Riders, History of the Naval War of 1812, and others on subjects such as ranching, explorations, and wildlife. His most ambitious book was the four volume narrative The Winning of the West, focused on the American frontier in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Roosevelt said that the American character—indeed a new "American race" (ethnic group) had emerged from the heroic wilderness hunters and Indian fighters, acting on the frontier with little government help. Roosevelt also published an account of his 1909–10 African expedition entitled African Game Trails.
In 1907, Roosevelt became embroiled in a widely publicized literary debate known as the nature fakers controversy. A few years earlier, naturalist John Burroughs had published an article entitled "Real and Sham Natural History" in the Atlantic Monthly, attacking popular writers of the day such as Ernest Thompson Seton, Charles G. D. Roberts, and William J. Long for their fantastical representations of wildlife. Roosevelt agreed with Burroughs's criticisms, and published several essays of his own denouncing the booming genre of "naturalistic" animal stories as "yellow journalism of the woods". It was the President himself who popularized the negative term "nature faker" to describe writers who depicted their animal characters with excessive anthropomorphism.
Character and beliefs
Roosevelt intensely disliked being called "Teddy", despite the widespread public association with said moniker, and was quick to point out this to those who referred to him as such, though it would become widely used by newspapers during his political career.
He was an active Freemason and member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
British scholar Marcus Cunliffe evaluates the liberal argument that Roosevelt was an opportunist, exhibitionist, and imperialist. Cunliffe praises TR's versatility, his respect for law, and his sincerity. He argues that Roosevelt's foreign policy was better than his detractors allege. Cunliffe calls him "a big man in several respects," ranking him below Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson, and on the same level as Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Strenuous life
Roosevelt had a lifelong interest in pursuing what he called, in an 1899 speech, "The Strenuous Life". To this end, he exercised regularly and took up boxing, tennis, hiking, rowing, polo, and horseback riding. He also continued his habit of skinny-dipping in the Potomac River during the winter. As governor of New York, he boxed with sparring partners several times each week, a practice he regularly continued as president until being hit so hard in the face he became blind in his left eye (a fact not made public until many years later). As president, he practiced judo for two 2-month periods in 1902 and 1904, not attaining any rank. Roosevelt began to believe in the utility of jiu-jitsu training after training with Yoshitsugu Yamashita. Concerned that the United States would lose its military supremacy to rising powers like Japan, Roosevelt began to advocate for jiu-jitsu training for American soldiers. Feminists annoyed by the posturing of men like Roosevelt, insisted that women were just as capable of learning jiu-jitsu. To prove their point, Martha Blow Wadsworth and Maria Louise ("Hallie") Davis Elkins hired Fude Yamashita, a highly skilled jiu-jitsu instructor and the wife of Yoshitsugu Yamashita, to teach a jiu-jitsu class for women and girls in Washington, DC in 1904. Women had already begun training in boxing in the United States as a means of personal and political empowerment. Jiu-jitsu training thus soon also became popular with American women, coinciding with the origins of a women's self-defense movement.
Roosevelt was an enthusiastic singlestick player and, according to Harper's Weekly, showed up at a White House reception with his arm bandaged after a bout with General Leonard Wood in 1905. Roosevelt was an avid reader, reading tens of thousands of books, at a rate of several per day in multiple languages. Along with Thomas Jefferson, Roosevelt was the most well-read of all American presidents.
Warrior
Historians have often emphasized Roosevelt's warrior persona. He took aggressive positions regarding war with Spain in 1898, Colombia in 1903, and especially with Germany, from 1915 to 1917. As a demonstration of American naval might, he sent the "Great White Fleet" around the world in 1907–1909. The implicit threat of the "big stick" of military power provided leverage to "speak softly" and quietly resolve conflict in numerous cases. He boasted in his autobiography:
Richard D. White Jr states, "Roosevelt's warrior spirit framed his views of national politics, [and] international relations."
Historian Howard K. Beale has argued:
Religion
Roosevelt attended church regularly and was a lifelong adherent of the Reformed Church in America, an American affiliate of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1907, concerning the motto "In God We Trust" on money, he wrote, "It seems to me eminently unwise to cheapen such a motto by use on coins, just as it would be to cheapen it by use on postage stamps, or in advertisements." Roosevelt talked a great deal about religion. Biographer Edmund Morris states:
Roosevelt publicly encouraged church attendance and was a conscientious churchgoer himself. When gas rationing was introduced during the First World War, he walked the three miles from his home at Sagamore Hill to the local church and back, even after a serious operation had made it difficult for him to travel by foot. It was said that Roosevelt "allowed no engagement to keep him from going to church," and he remained a fervent advocate of the Bible throughout his adult life. According to Christian F. Reisner, writing in 1922 shortly after Roosevelt's death, "Religion was as natural to Mr. Roosevelt as breathing," and when the travel library for Roosevelt's famous Smithsonian-sponsored African expedition was being assembled, the Bible was, according to his sister, "the first book selected." In an address delivered in his home at Oyster Bay to the Long Island Bible Society in 1901, Roosevelt declared that:
Political positions
When he assumed the presidency, Roosevelt reassured many conservatives, stating, "the mechanism of modern business is so delicate that extreme care must be taken not to interfere with it in a spirit of rashness or ignorance." The following year, Roosevelt asserted the president's independence from business interests by opposing the merger which created the Northern Securities Company, and many were surprised that any president, much less an unelected one, would challenge powerful banker J.P. Morgan. In his last two years as president, Roosevelt became increasingly distrustful of big business, despite its close ties to the Republican Party. Roosevelt sought to replace the 19th-century laissez-faire economic environment with a new economic model which included a larger regulatory role for the federal government. He believed that 19th-century entrepreneurs had risked their fortunes on innovations and new businesses, and that these capitalists had been rightly rewarded. By contrast, he believed that 20th-century capitalists risked little but nonetheless reaped huge and, given the lack of risk, unjust, economic rewards. Without a redistribution of wealth away from the upper class, Roosevelt feared that the country would turn to radicals or fall to revolution. His Square Deal domestic program had three main goals: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. The Square Deal evolved into his program of "New Nationalism", which emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests and a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions.
Foreign policy beliefs
In the analysis by Henry Kissinger, Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to develop the guideline that it was America's duty to make its enormous power and potential influence felt globally. The idea of being a passive "city on the hill" model that others could look up to, he rejected. Roosevelt, trained in biology, was a social darwinist who believed in survival of the fittest. The international world in his view was a realm of violence and conflict. The United States had all the economic and geographical potential to be the fittest nation on the globe. The United States had a duty to act decisively. For example, in terms of the Monroe Doctrine, America had to prevent European incursions in the Western Hemisphere. But there was more, as he expressed in his famous Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: the U.S. had to be the policeman of the region because unruly, corrupt smaller nations had to be controlled, and if United States did not do it, European powers would in fact intervene and develop their own base of power in the hemisphere in contravention to the Monroe Doctrine.
Roosevelt was a realist and a conservative. He deplored many of the increasingly popular idealistic liberal themes, such as were promoted by William Jennings Bryan, the anti-imperialists, and Woodrow Wilson. Kissinger says he rejected the efficacy of international law. Roosevelt argue that if a country could not protect its own interests, the international community could not help very much. He ridiculed disarmament proposals that were increasingly common. He saw no likelihood of an international power capable of checking wrongdoing on a major scale. As for world government: I regard the Wilson–Bryan attitude of trusting to fantastic peace treaties, too impossible promises, to all kinds of scraps of paper without any backing in efficient force, as abhorrent. It is infinitely better for a nation and for the world to have the Frederick the Great and Bismarck tradition as regards foreign policy than to have the Bryan or Bryan–Wilson attitude as a permanent national attitude.... A milk-and-water righteousness unbacked by force is...as wicked as and even more mischievous than force divorced from righteousness.
On the positive side, Roosevelt favored spheres of influence, whereby one great power would generally prevail, such as the United States in the Western Hemisphere or Great Britain in the Indian subcontinent. Japan fit that role and he approved. However he had deep distrust of both Germany and Russia.
Legacy
Historians credit Roosevelt for changing the nation's political system by permanently placing the "bully pulpit" of the presidency at center stage and making character as important as the issues. His accomplishments include trust busting and conservationism. He is a hero to liberals and progressives for his proposals in 1907–1912 that presaged the modern welfare state of the New Deal Era, including direct federal taxation, labor reforms, and more direct democracy, while conservationists admire Roosevelt for putting the environment and selflessness towards future generations on the national agenda, and conservatives and nationalists respect his commitment to law and order, civic duty and military values, as well as his personality of individual self-responsibility and hardiness. Dalton says, "Today he is heralded as the architect of the modern presidency, as a world leader who boldly reshaped the office to meet the needs of the new century and redefined America's place in the world."
However, liberals and socialists have criticized him for his interventionist and imperialist approach to nations he considered "uncivilized". Conservatives and libertarians reject his vision of the welfare state and emphasis on the superiority of government over private action. Historians typically rank Roosevelt among the top five presidents in American history.
Persona and masculinity
Dalton says Roosevelt is remembered as, "one of the most picturesque personalities who has ever enlivened the landscape". His friend, historian Henry Adams, proclaimed: "Roosevelt, more than any other man... showed the singular primitive quality that belongs to ultimate matter—the quality that medieval theology assigned to God—he was pure act."
Roosevelt's biographers have stressed his personality. Henry F. Pringle, who won the Pulitzer Prize in biography for his Theodore Roosevelt (1931) stated: "The Theodore Roosevelt of later years was the most adolescent of men… Failure to receive the Medal of Honor for his exploits [in Cuba] had been a grief as real as any of those which swamp childhood in despair. 'You must always remember,' wrote Cecil Spring Rice in 1904, 'that the President is about six.'"
Cooper compared him with Woodrow Wilson and argued that both of them played the roles of warrior and priest. Dalton stressed Roosevelt's strenuous life. Sarah Watts examined the desires of the "Rough Rider in the White House". Brands calls Roosevelt "the last romantic", arguing that his romantic concept of life emerged from his belief that "physical bravery was the highest virtue and war the ultimate test of bravery".
Roosevelt as the exemplar of American masculinity has become a major theme. As president, he repeatedly warned men that they were becoming too office-bound, too complacent, too comfortable with physical ease and moral laxity, and were failing in their duties to propagate the race and exhibit masculine vigor. French historian Serge Ricard says, "the ebullient apostle of the Strenuous Life offers ideal material for a detailed psycho-historical analysis of aggressive manhood in the changing socio-cultural environment of his era; McKinley, Taft, or Wilson would perhaps inadequately serve that purpose". He promoted competitive sports like boxing and jiu-jitsu for physically strengthening American men. He also believed that organizations like the Boy Scouts of America, founded in 1910, could help mold and strengthen the character of American boys. Brands shows that heroic displays of bravery were essential to Roosevelt's image and mission:
Memorials and cultural depictions
Roosevelt was included with Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln at the Mount Rushmore Memorial, designed in 1927 with the approval of Republican President Calvin Coolidge.
For his gallantry at San Juan Hill, Roosevelt's commanders recommended him for the Medal of Honor. However, the initial recommendation lacked any eyewitnesses, and the effort was eventually tainted by Roosevelt's own lobbying of the War Department. In the late 1990s, Roosevelt's supporters again recommended the award, which was denied by the Secretary of the Army on basis that the decorations board determined "Roosevelt's bravery in battle did not rise to the level that would justify the Medal of Honor and, indeed, it did not rise to the level of men who fought in that engagement." Nevertheless, politicians apparently convinced the secretary to reconsider the award a third time and reverse himself, leading to the charge that it was a "politically motivated award." On January 16, 2001, President Bill Clinton awarded Theodore Roosevelt the Medal of Honor posthumously for his charge on San Juan Hill. He is the only president to have received the Medal of Honor.
The United States Navy named two ships for Roosevelt: the , a submarine that was in commission from 1961 to 1982, and the , an aircraft carrier that has been on active duty in the Atlantic Fleet since 1986.
On November 18, 1956, the United States Postal Service released a 6¢ Liberty Issue postage stamp honoring Roosevelt. A 32¢ stamp was issued on February 3, 1998, as part of the Celebrate the Century stamp sheet series. In 2008, Columbia Law School awarded Roosevelt a Juris Doctor degree, posthumously making him a member of the class of 1882.
Roosevelt's "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick" ideology is still quoted by politicians and columnists in different countries—not only in English, but also in translations to various other languages. Another lasting, popular legacy of Roosevelt is the stuffed toy bears—teddy bears—named after him following an incident on a hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902. Roosevelt has been portrayed in films and television series such as Brighty of the Grand Canyon, The Wind and the Lion, Rough Riders, My Friend Flicka, and Law of the Plainsman. Robin Williams portrayed Roosevelt in the form of a wax mannequin that comes to life in Night at the Museum and its sequels Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. In 2017, it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio will portray Roosevelt in a biopic to be directed by Martin Scorsese.
Moreover, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the state of North Dakota is named after him. The America the Beautiful Quarters series features Roosevelt riding a horse on the national park's quarter.
Asteroid 188693 Roosevelt, discovered by astronomers with the Catalina Sky Survey in 2005, was named after him. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on November 8, 2019 ().
In January 2022, after years of lobbying by activists, an equestrian statue of the former president was removed from where it had stood for more than eighty years in front of New York's American Museum of Natural History. Responding to controversy, the museum noted that the design "communicates a racial hierarchy that the museum and members of the public have long found disturbing."
Audiovisual media
Theodore Roosevelt was one of the first presidents whose voice was recorded for posterity. Several of his recorded speeches survive. A 4.6-minute voice recording, which preserves Roosevelt's lower timbre ranges particularly well for its time, is among those available from the Michigan State University libraries (this is the 1912 recording of The Right of the People to Rule, recorded by Edison at Carnegie Hall). The audio clip sponsored by the Authentic History Center includes his defense of the Progressive Party in 1912, wherein he proclaims it the "party of the people" – in contrast with the other major parties.
Roosevelt goes for a ride in Arch Hoxsey's plane in October 1910
In popular culture
Theodore Roosevelt appears as the leader of the American civilization in the Firaxis Games title Civilization VI. His unique ability is Roosevelt Corollary, which gives +5 Combat Strength for all units inside America's home continent, and +1 Appeal to all tiles in cities with a national park.
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
Full biographies
.
.
.
, 105 pp, very short biography by leading scholar.
.; also titled Power and responsibility; the life and times of Theodore Roosevelt online free to borrow
.
.
.
, only volume published, to age 28.
.
.
Personality and activities
.
.
Provides a lesson plan on TR as the historical figure who most exemplifies the quality of masculinity.
. Chronicles the events of TR's presidency during the summers of his two terms.
. The president's use of publicity, rhetoric and force of personality.
; his deadly 1913–14 trip to the Amazon.
, best seller; to 1886.
, to 1884.
. 494 pp.
, examines TR and his family during the World War I period.
.
, 240 pp. TR in Africa & Europe, 1909–10
. 289 pp.
, 337 pp; TR's political thought and its significance for republican self-government.
Domestic policies
online review; another online review
Cutright, P.R. (1985) Theodore Roosevelt: The making of a Modern Conservationist (U of Illinois Press.)
.
, standard history of his domestic and foreign policy as president.
Bakari, Mohamed El-Kamel. "Mapping the 'Anthropocentric-ecocentric'Dualism in the History of American Presidency: The Good, the Bad, and the Ambivalent." Journal of Studies in Social Sciences 14, no. 2 (2016).
.
.
Redekop, Benjamin. (2015). "Embodying the Story: The Conservation Leadership of Theodore Roosevelt". Leadership (2015) DOI:10.1177/1742715014546875 online
.
.
Politics
. How TR did politics.
, 323 pp.
.
.
.
.
. 361 pp.
.
. Focus on 1912; online free
. online free
. Attacks TR policies from conservative/libertarian perspective.
Foreign policy, military and naval issues
. online
. excerpt
.
. 328 pp.
Kuehn, John T. "Theodore Roosevelt’s Naval Diplomacy: The U.S. Navy and the Birth of the American Century," Naval War College Review (2010) 53#3 online
Livermore, Seward W. "Theodore Roosevelt, the American Navy, and the Venezuelan Crisis of 1902-1903." American Historical Review 51.3 (1946): 452–471. online
.
.
Nester, William R. Theodore Roosevelt and the Art of American Power: An American for All Time. Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. excerpt
Neu, Charles E. "Theodore Roosevelt and American Involvement in the Far East, 1901-1909." Pacific Historical Review 35.4 (1966): 433–449. online
O'Gara, Gordon Carpenter. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of the Modern Navy. (Princeton UP, 1943). online
.
Oyos, Matthew M. In Command: Theodore Roosevelt and the American Military (2018) online review
Pietrusza, David (2018). TR's Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy
.
.
.
.
Thompson, John M. Great Power Rising: Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of US Foreign Policy (Oxford UP, 2019).
. 196 pp.
Turk, Richard W. The Ambiguous Relationship: Theodore Roosevelt and Alfred Thayer Mahan (1987) [https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/93/5/1413/70734 online review
Historiography
Cunliffe, Marcus. "Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States 1901–1908" History Today (Sept 1955) 4#9 pp. 592–601, online.
Ricard, Serge. "The State of Theodore Roosevelt Studies" H-Diplo Essay No. 116 24 October 2014 online
, excerpt and text search, 28 new essays by scholars; focus on historiography. online
Primary sources
Kohn, Edward P., ed. A Most Glorious Ride: The Diaries of Theodore Roosevelt, 1877–1886 (State University of New York Press, 2015), 284 pp.
; vol 2
.
, 20 vol.; 18,000 pages containing most of TR's speeches, books and essays, but not his letters; a CD-ROM edition is available; some of TR's books are available online through Project Bartleby
, Roosevelt's opinions on many issues; online version at Theodore Roosevelt.
, 8 vols. Very large collection. vol 1 1868–1898 online free
. online free
.
.
online free to borrow
.
.
.
External links
Official
White House biography
Organizations
Boone and Crockett Club
Theodore Roosevelt Association
Libraries and collections
Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University
Theodore Roosevelt Collection, at the Houghton Library, Harvard University
Julian L. Street Papers on Theodore Roosevelt, at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
Doris A. and Lawrence H. Budner Collection on Theodore Roosevelt at the DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University
Theodore Roosevelt's journalism at The Archive of American Journalism
Theodore Roosevelt American Museum of Natural History
Roosevelt Papers, at the Library of Congress
Guide to the Herbert R. Strauss Collection of Theodore Roosevelt Papers 1884–1919 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
Media
"Life Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, September 3, 1999
"Writings of Theodore Roosevelt" from C-SPAN's American Writers: A Journey Through History
Other
Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt: A Resource Guide – Library of Congress
1858 births
1919 deaths
1900s in the United States
Theodore
19th-century American politicians
19th-century American historians
19th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century presidents of the United States
20th-century vice presidents of the United States
American autobiographers
American conservationists
American essayists
American explorers
American fishers
American hunters
American male judoka
American male non-fiction writers
American military personnel of the Spanish–American War
American naval historians
American Nobel laureates
American political writers
American shooting survivors
Articles containing video clips
American bibliophiles
American people of Dutch descent
Bulloch family
Burials in New York (state)
Columbia Law School alumni
Deaths from pulmonary embolism
New York City Police Commissioners
English-language spelling reform advocates
Explorers of Amazonia
American Freemasons
Governors of New York (state)
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Harvard College alumni
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Members of the New York State Assembly
Military personnel from New York City
New York (state) Progressives (1912)
New York (state) Republicans
Nobel Peace Prize laureates
People associated with the American Museum of Natural History
People from Oyster Bay (town), New York
Politicians from New York City
Presidents of the American Historical Association
Presidents of the United States
Progressive Era in the United States
Ranchers from North Dakota
Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees
Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees
Republican Party presidents of the United States
Republican Party state governors of the United States
Republican Party vice presidents of the United States
Rough Riders
Schuyler family
Sons of the American Revolution
Spanish–American War recipients of the Medal of Honor
United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
United States Army officers
United States Assistant Secretaries of the Navy
Candidates in the 1904 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1912 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1916 United States presidential election
1900 United States vice-presidential candidates
Vice presidents of the United States
Writers from New York (state)
Harvard Advocate alumni
American diarists
American political party founders
Aphorists
American nationalists
20th-century American male writers | false | [
"\"He Did That\" is the first single released by American rapper Silkk the Shocker from his fourth album, My World, My Way. It is among his popular singles. It was produced by Donald XL Robertson and featured Mac and Master P. \"He Did That\" was successful, peaking at #14 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and #3 on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles.\n\nThe music video takes place a mansion filled with Mercedes Benz featuring appearances by Master P.\n\nSingle track listing\n\nCD\n\"He Did That\" [Radio Edit]- 3:26\n\"He Did That\" [Album Version]- 3:30\n\"He Did That\" [Multimedia track]- 3:36\n\"He Did That\" [Instrumental]- 3:20\n\nCharts\n\n2000 singles\nSilkk the Shocker songs\n2000 songs",
"is a former Japanese football player.\n\nPlaying career\nIwamaru was born in Fujioka on December 4, 1981. After graduating from high school, he joined the J1 League club Vissel Kobe in 2000. However he did not play as much as Makoto Kakegawa until 2003. In 2004, he played more often, after Kakegawa got hurt. In September 2004, he moved to Júbilo Iwata. In late 2004, he played often, after regular goalkeeper Yohei Sato got hurt. In 2005, he moved to the newly promoted J2 League club, Thespa Kusatsu (later Thespakusatsu Gunma), based in his home region. He competed with Nobuyuki Kojima for the position and played often. \n\nIn 2006, he moved to the newly promoted J1 club, Avispa Fukuoka. However he did not play as much as Yuichi Mizutani. In 2007, he moved to the newly promoted J1 club, Yokohama FC. However he did not play as much as Takanori Sugeno and the club was relegated to J2 within a year. Although he did not play as much as Kenji Koyama in 2008, he played often in 2009. He did not play at all in 2010. \n\nIn 2011, he moved to the J2 club Roasso Kumamoto. He did not play as much as Yuta Minami. In 2013, he moved to the newly promoted J2 club, V-Varen Nagasaki. Although he played in the first three matches, he did play at all after the fourth match, when Junki Kanayama played in his place. In 2014, he moved to the J2 club Thespakusatsu Gunma based in his local region. However he did not play at all, and retired at the end of the 2014 season.\n\nClub statistics\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n \n\n1981 births\nLiving people\nAssociation football people from Gunma Prefecture\nJapanese footballers\nJ1 League players\nJ2 League players\nVissel Kobe players\nJúbilo Iwata players\nThespakusatsu Gunma players\nAvispa Fukuoka players\nYokohama FC players\nRoasso Kumamoto players\nV-Varen Nagasaki players\nAssociation football goalkeepers"
]
|
[
"Theodore Roosevelt",
"Early life and family",
"Where did he grow up?",
"at East 20th Street in New York City.",
"did he have siblings?",
"He was the second of four children born",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death,",
"Did he marrry?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_39da91c6b83e45c9a3447a0282510521_1 | Does he have kids? | 5 | Does Theodore Roosevelt have kids? | Theodore Roosevelt | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at East 20th Street in New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister, Anna (nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother, Elliott, and a younger sister, Corinne. Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh, and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C.V.S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family. Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for display. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects". Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or his initials T. R., was an American politician, statesman, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He previously served as the 25th vice president under William McKinley from March to September 1901, and as the 33rd governor of New York from 1899 to 1900. Having assumed the presidency after McKinley's assassination, Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive policies.
Roosevelt was a sickly child with debilitating asthma but partly overcame his health problems by embracing a strenuous lifestyle. He integrated his exuberant personality, a vast range of interests and achievements into a "cowboy" persona defined by robust masculinity. He was home-schooled and began a lifelong naturalist avocation before attending Harvard. His book The Naval War of 1812 (1882) established his reputation as a learned historian and popular writer. Upon entering politics, he became the leader of the reform faction of Republicans in New York's state legislature. His wife and mother both died in the same night and he was psychologically devastated. He recuperated by buying and operating a cattle ranch in the Dakotas. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President William McKinley and in 1898 helped plan the highly successful naval war against Spain. He resigned to help form and lead the Rough Riders, a unit that fought the Spanish army in Cuba to great publicity. Returning a war hero, he was elected governor of New York in 1898. The New York state party leadership disliked his ambitious agenda and convinced McKinley to make Roosevelt his running mate in the 1900 election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously, and the McKinley–Roosevelt ticket won a landslide victory based on a platform of victory, peace and prosperity.
Roosevelt assumed the presidency at age 42 after McKinley was assassinated in September 1901. He remains the youngest person to become president of the United States. Roosevelt was a leader of the progressive movement and championed his "Square Deal" domestic policies, promising the average citizen fairness, breaking of trusts, regulation of railroads, and pure food and drugs. He prioritized conservation and established national parks, forests, and monuments intended to preserve the nation's natural resources. In foreign policy, he focused on Central America where he began construction of the Panama Canal. He expanded the Navy and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project American naval power. His successful efforts to broker the end of the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize. Roosevelt was elected to a full term in 1904 and continued to promote progressive policies. He groomed his close friend William Howard Taft to succeed him in the 1908 presidential election.
Roosevelt grew frustrated with Taft's brand of conservatism and belatedly tried to win the 1912 Republican nomination for president. He failed, walked out, and founded the Progressive Party. He ran in the 1912 presidential election and the split allowed the Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson to win the election. Following the defeat, Roosevelt led a two-year expedition to the Amazon basin where he nearly died of tropical disease. During World War I, he criticized Wilson for keeping the country out of the war; his offer to lead volunteers to France was rejected. He considered running for president again in 1920, but his health continued to deteriorate. He died in 1919. He is generally ranked in polls of historians and political scientists as one of the five best presidents.
Early life and family
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan, New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister (Anna, nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother (Elliott) and a younger sister (Corinne). Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C. V. S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill as well as a brother of Robert Roosevelt and James A. Roosevelt. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family.
Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for exhibition. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects".
Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body.
A 6-year-old Roosevelt witnessed the funeral procession of Abraham Lincoln from his grandfather's mansion in Union Square, New York City where he was photographed in the window along with his brother Elliott, as confirmed by wife Edith who was also present.
Education
Roosevelt was homeschooled, mostly by tutors and his parents. Biographer H. W. Brands argued that "The most obvious drawback to his home schooling was uneven coverage of the various areas of human knowledge." He was solid in geography and bright in history, biology, French, and German; however, he struggled in mathematics and the classical languages. When he entered Harvard College on September 27, 1876, his father advised: "Take care of your morals first, your health next, and finally your studies." His father's sudden death on February 9, 1878, devastated Roosevelt, but he eventually recovered and doubled his activities.
He did well in science, philosophy, and rhetoric courses but continued to struggle in Latin and Greek. He studied biology intently and was already an accomplished naturalist and a published ornithologist. He read prodigiously with an almost photographic memory. While at Harvard, Roosevelt participated in rowing and boxing; he was once runner-up in an intramural boxing tournament. Roosevelt was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi literary society (later the Fly Club), the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and the prestigious Porcellian Club; he was also an editor of The Harvard Advocate. In 1880, Roosevelt graduated Phi Beta Kappa (22nd of 177) from Harvard with an A.B. magna cum laude. Biographer Henry Pringle states:
After his father's death, Roosevelt had inherited $65,000 (), enough to live off comfortably for the rest of his life. Roosevelt gave up his earlier plan of studying natural science and instead decided to attend Columbia Law School, moving back into his family's home in New York City. Roosevelt was an able law student, but he often found law to be irrational. He spent much of his time writing a book on the War of 1812.
Determined to enter politics, Roosevelt began attending meetings at Morton Hall, the 59th Street headquarters of New York's 21st District Republican Association. Though Roosevelt's father had been a prominent member of the Republican Party, the younger Roosevelt made an unorthodox career choice for someone of his class, as most of Roosevelt's peers refrained from becoming too closely involved in politics. Roosevelt found allies in the local Republican Party, and he defeated an incumbent Republican state assemblyman closely tied to the political machine of Senator Roscoe Conkling. After his election victory, Roosevelt decided to drop out of law school, later saying, "I intended to be one of the governing class."
Naval history and strategy
While at Harvard, Roosevelt began a systematic study of the role played by the young United States Navy in the War of 1812. Assisted by two uncles, he scrutinized original source materials and official U.S. Navy records, ultimately publishing The Naval War of 1812 in 1882. The book contained drawings of individual and combined ship maneuvers, charts depicting the differences in iron throw weights of cannon shot between rival forces, and analyses of the differences and similarities between British and American leadership down to the ship-to-ship level. Upon release, The Naval War of 1812 was praised for its scholarship and style, and it remains a standard study of the war.
With the publication of The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 in 1890, Navy Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan was immediately hailed as the world's outstanding naval theorist by the leaders of Europe. Roosevelt paid very close attention to Mahan's emphasis that only a nation with the world's most powerful fleet could dominate the world's oceans, exert its diplomacy to the fullest, and defend its own borders. He incorporated Mahan's ideas into his views on naval strategy for the remainder of his career.
First marriage and widowerhood
In 1880, Roosevelt married socialite Alice Hathaway Lee. Their daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt, was born on February 12, 1884. Two days later, the new mother died of an undiagnosed case of kidney failure that had been masked by the pregnancy. In his diary, Roosevelt wrote a large 'X' on the page and then, "The light has gone out of my life." His mother, Mittie, had died of typhoid fever eleven hours earlier at 3:00 a.m., in the same house on 57th Street in Manhattan. Distraught, Roosevelt left baby Alice in the care of his sister Bamie while he grieved; he assumed custody of Alice when she was three.
After the deaths of his wife and mother, Roosevelt focused on his work, specifically by re-energizing a legislative investigation into corruption of the New York City government, which arose from a concurrent bill proposing that power be centralized in the mayor's office. For the rest of his life, he rarely spoke about his wife Alice and did not write about her in his autobiography.
Early political career
State Assemblyman
Roosevelt was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 21st D.) in 1882, 1883 and 1884. He immediately began making his mark, specifically in corporate corruption issues. He blocked a corrupt effort by financier Jay Gould to lower his taxes. Roosevelt exposed suspected collusion in the matter by Judge Theodore Westbrook, and argued for and received approval for an investigation to proceed, aiming for the impeachment of the judge. The investigation committee rejected impeachment, but Roosevelt had exposed the potential corruption in Albany, and thus assumed a high and positive political profile in multiple New York publications.
Roosevelt's anti-corruption efforts helped him win re-election in 1882 by a margin greater than two-to-one, an achievement made even more impressive by the fact that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Grover Cleveland won Roosevelt's district. With Conkling's Stalwart faction of the Republican Party in disarray following the assassination of President James Garfield, Roosevelt won election as the Republican party leader in the state assembly. He allied with Governor Cleveland to win passage of a civil service reform bill. Roosevelt won re-election a second time, and sought the office of Speaker of the New York State Assembly, but was defeated by Titus Sheard in a 41 to 29 vote of the GOP caucus. In his final term, Roosevelt served as Chairman of the Committee on Affairs of Cities; he wrote more bills than any other legislator.
Presidential election of 1884
With numerous presidential hopefuls to choose from, Roosevelt supported Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont, a colorless reformer. The state GOP preferred the incumbent president, New York City's Chester Arthur, who was known for passing the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. Arthur, at the time, was suffering from Bright's disease, unknown to the public, and out of duty he did not contest his own nomination. Roosevelt fought hard and succeeded in influencing the Manhattan delegates at the state convention in Utica. He then took control of the state convention, bargaining through the night and outmaneuvering the supporters of Arthur and James G. Blaine; he gained a national reputation as a key person in New York State.
Roosevelt attended the 1884 GOP National Convention in Chicago and gave a speech convincing delegates to nominate African American John R. Lynch, an Edmunds supporter, to be temporary chair. Roosevelt fought alongside the Mugwump reformers; however, Blaine, having gained support from Arthur's and Edmunds's delegates, won the nomination by 541 votes on the fourth ballot. In a crucial moment of his budding political career, Roosevelt resisted the demand of the Mugwumps that he bolt from Blaine. He bragged about his one small success: "We achieved a victory in getting up a combination to beat the Blaine nominee for temporary chairman... To do this needed a mixture of skill, boldness and energy... to get the different factions to come in... to defeat the common foe." He was also impressed by an invitation to speak before an audience of ten thousand, the largest crowd he had addressed up to that date. Having gotten a taste of national politics, Roosevelt felt less aspiration for advocacy on the state level; he then retired to his new "Chimney Butte Ranch" on the Little Missouri River. Roosevelt refused to join other Mugwumps in supporting Grover Cleveland, the governor of New York and the Democratic nominee in the general election. He debated the pros and cons of staying loyal with his political friend, Henry Cabot Lodge. After Blaine won the nomination, Roosevelt had carelessly said that he would give "hearty support to any decent Democrat". He distanced himself from the promise, saying that it had not been meant "for publication". When a reporter asked if he would support Blaine, Roosevelt replied, "That question I decline to answer. It is a subject I do not care to talk about." In the end, he realized that he had to support Blaine to maintain his role in the GOP, and he did so in a press release on July 19. Having lost the support of many reformers, Roosevelt decided to retire from politics and move to North Dakota.
Cattle rancher in Dakota
Roosevelt first visited the Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt bison. Exhilarated by the western lifestyle, and with the cattle business booming in the territory, Roosevelt invested $14,000 in hopes of becoming a prosperous cattle rancher. For the next several years, he shuttled between his home in New York and his ranch in Dakota.
Following the 1884 presidential election, Roosevelt built a ranch named Elkhorn, which was north of the boomtown of Medora, North Dakota. Roosevelt learned to ride western style, rope, and hunt on the banks of the Little Missouri. Though he earned the respect of the authentic cowboys, they were not overly impressed. However, he identified with the herdsman of history, a man he said possesses "few of the emasculated, milk-and-water moralities admired by the pseudo-philanthropists; but he does possess, to a very high degree, the stern, manly qualities that are invaluable to a nation". He reoriented, and began writing about frontier life for national magazines; he also published three books – Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, and The Wilderness Hunter.
Roosevelt brought his desire to address the common interests of citizens to the West. He successfully led efforts to organize ranchers to address problems of overgrazing and other shared concerns; his work resulted in the formation of the Little Missouri Stockmen's Association. He felt compelled to promote conservation and was able to form the Boone and Crockett Club, whose primary goal was the conservation of large game animals and their habitats. After the uniquely severe US winter of 1886–87 wiped out his herd of cattle and those of his competitors, and with it over half of his $80,000 investment, Roosevelt returned to the East. Though his finances suffered from the experience, Roosevelt's time in the West made it impossible to peg him as an ineffectual intellectual, a characterization that could have hampered his political career.
Second marriage
On December 2, 1886, Roosevelt married his childhood and family friend, Edith Kermit Carow. Roosevelt was deeply troubled that his second marriage had taken place so soon after the death of his first wife, and he faced resistance from his sisters. Nonetheless, the couple married at St George's, Hanover Square in London, England. The couple had five children: Theodore "Ted" III in 1887, Kermit in 1889, Ethel in 1891, Archibald in 1894, and Quentin in 1897. The couple also raised Roosevelt's daughter from his first marriage, Alice, who often clashed with her stepmother.
Reentering public life
Upon Roosevelt's return to New York in 1886, Republican leaders quickly approached him about running for mayor of New York City in the city's mayoral election. Roosevelt accepted the nomination despite having little hope of winning the race against United Labor Party candidate Henry George and Democratic candidate Abram Hewitt. Roosevelt campaigned hard for the position, but Hewitt won with 41% (90,552 votes), taking the votes of many Republicans who feared George's radical policies. George was held to 31% (68,110 votes), and Roosevelt took third place with 27% (60,435 votes). Fearing that his political career might never recover, Roosevelt turned his attention to writing The Winning of the West, a historical work tracking the westward movement of Americans; the book was a great success for Roosevelt, earning favorable reviews and selling numerous copies.
Civil Service Commission
After Benjamin Harrison unexpectedly defeated Blaine for the presidential nomination at the 1888 Republican National Convention, Roosevelt gave stump speeches in the Midwest in support of Harrison. On the insistence of Henry Cabot Lodge, President Harrison appointed Roosevelt to the United States Civil Service Commission, where he served until 1895. While many of his predecessors had approached the office as a sinecure, Roosevelt vigorously fought the spoilsmen and demanded enforcement of civil service laws. The New York Sun then described Roosevelt as "irrepressible, belligerent, and enthusiastic". Roosevelt frequently clashed with Postmaster General John Wanamaker, who handed out numerous patronage positions to Harrison supporters, and Roosevelt's attempt to force out several postal workers damaged Harrison politically. Despite Roosevelt's support for Harrison's reelection bid in the presidential election of 1892, the eventual winner, Grover Cleveland, reappointed him to the same post. Roosevelt's close friend and biographer, Joseph Bucklin Bishop, described his assault on the spoils system:
New York City Police Commissioner
In 1894, a group of reform Republicans approached Roosevelt about running for Mayor of New York again; he declined, mostly due to his wife's resistance to being removed from the Washington social set. Soon after he declined, he realized that he had missed an opportunity to reinvigorate a dormant political career. He retreated to the Dakotas for a time; his wife Edith regretted her role in the decision and vowed that there would be no repeat of it.
William Lafayette Strong, a reform-minded Republican, won the 1894 mayoral election and offered Roosevelt a position on the board of the New York City Police Commissioners. Roosevelt became president of the board of commissioners and radically reformed the police force. Roosevelt implemented regular inspections of firearms and annual physical exams, appointed recruits based on their physical and mental qualifications rather than political affiliation, established Meritorious Service Medals, and closed corrupt police hostelries. During his tenure, a Municipal Lodging House was established by the Board of Charities, and Roosevelt required officers to register with the Board; he also had telephones installed in station houses.
In 1894, Roosevelt met Jacob Riis, the muckraking Evening Sun newspaper journalist who was opening the eyes of New Yorkers to the terrible conditions of the city's millions of poor immigrants with such books as How the Other Half Lives. Riis described how his book affected Roosevelt:
Roosevelt made a habit of walking officers' beats late at night and early in the morning to make sure that they were on duty. He made a concerted effort to uniformly enforce New York's Sunday closing law; in this, he ran up against boss Tom Platt as well as Tammany Hall—he was notified that the Police Commission was being legislated out of existence. His crackdowns led to protests and demonstrations. Invited to one large demonstration, not only did he surprisingly accept, he delighted in the insults, caricatures and lampoons directed at him, and earned some surprising good will. Roosevelt chose to defer rather than split with his party. As Governor of New York State, he would later sign an act replacing the Police Commission with a single Police Commissioner.
Emergence as a national figure
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
In the 1896 presidential election, Roosevelt backed Speaker of the House Thomas Brackett Reed for the Republican nomination, but William McKinley won the nomination and defeated William Jennings Bryan in the general election. Roosevelt opposed Bryan's free silver platform, viewing many of Bryan's followers as dangerous fanatics, and Roosevelt gave campaign speeches for McKinley. Urged by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, President McKinley appointed Roosevelt as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897. Secretary of the Navy John D. Long was more concerned about formalities than functions, was in poor health, and left many major decisions to Roosevelt. Influenced by Alfred Thayer Mahan, Roosevelt called for a build-up in the country's naval strength, particularly the construction of battleships. Roosevelt also began pressing his national security views regarding the Pacific and the Caribbean on McKinley, and was particularly adamant that Spain be ejected from Cuba. He explained his priorities to one of the Navy's planners in late 1897:
On February 15, 1898, , an armored cruiser, exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, killing hundreds of crew members. While Roosevelt and many other Americans blamed Spain for the explosion, McKinley sought a diplomatic solution. Without approval from Long or McKinley, Roosevelt sent out orders to several naval vessels, directing them to prepare for war. George Dewey, who had received an appointment to lead the Asiatic Squadron with the backing of Roosevelt, later credited his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay to Roosevelt's orders. After finally giving up hope of a peaceful solution, McKinley asked Congress to declare war upon Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War.
War in Cuba
With the beginning of the Spanish–American War in late April 1898, Roosevelt resigned from his post as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Along with Army Colonel Leonard Wood, he formed the First US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. His wife and many of his friends begged Roosevelt to remain in his post in Washington, but Roosevelt was determined to see battle. When the newspapers reported the formation of the new regiment, Roosevelt and Wood were flooded with applications from all over the country. Referred to by the press as the "Rough Riders", the regiment was one of many temporary units active only for the duration of the war.
The regiment trained for several weeks in San Antonio, Texas, and in his autobiography, Roosevelt wrote that his prior experience with the New York National Guard had been invaluable, in that it enabled him to immediately begin teaching his men basic soldiering skills. The Rough Riders used some standard issue gear and some of their own design, purchased with gift money. Diversity characterized the regiment, which included Ivy Leaguers, professional and amateur athletes, upscale gentlemen, cowboys, frontiersmen, Native Americans, hunters, miners, prospectors, former soldiers, tradesmen, and sheriffs. The Rough Riders were part of the cavalry division commanded by former Confederate general Joseph Wheeler, which itself was one of three divisions in the V Corps under Lieutenant General William Rufus Shafter. Roosevelt and his men landed in Daiquirí, Cuba, on June 23, 1898, and marched to Siboney. Wheeler sent parts of the 1st and 10th Regular Cavalry on the lower road northwest and sent the "Rough Riders" on the parallel road running along a ridge up from the beach. To throw off his infantry rival, Wheeler left one regiment of his Cavalry Division, the 9th, at Siboney so that he could claim that his move north was only a limited reconnaissance if things went wrong. Roosevelt was promoted to colonel and took command of the regiment when Wood was put in command of the brigade. The Rough Riders had a short, minor skirmish known as the Battle of Las Guasimas; they fought their way through Spanish resistance and, together with the Regulars, forced the Spaniards to abandon their positions.
Under his leadership, the Rough Riders became famous for the charge up Kettle Hill on July 1, 1898, while supporting the regulars. Roosevelt had the only horse, and rode back and forth between rifle pits at the forefront of the advance up Kettle Hill, an advance that he urged despite the absence of any orders from superiors. He was forced to walk up the last part of Kettle Hill because his horse had been entangled in barbed wire. The victories came at a cost of 200 killed and 1,000 wounded.
In August, Roosevelt and other officers demanded that the soldiers be returned home. Roosevelt always recalled the Battle of Kettle Hill (part of the San Juan Heights) as "the great day of my life" and "my crowded hour". In 2001, Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions; he had been nominated during the war, but Army officials, annoyed at his grabbing the headlines, blocked it. After returning to civilian life, Roosevelt preferred to be known as "Colonel Roosevelt" or "The Colonel", though "Teddy" remained much more popular with the public, even though Roosevelt openly despised that moniker. Men working closely with Roosevelt customarily called him "Colonel" or "Theodore". Henceforth, political cartoons of Roosevelt usually depicted him in his Rough Rider garb.
Governor of New York
After leaving Cuba in August 1898, the Rough Riders were transported to a camp at Montauk Point, Long Island, where Roosevelt and his men were briefly quarantined due to the War Department's fear of spreading yellow fever. Shortly after Roosevelt's return to the United States, Republican Congressman Lemuel E. Quigg, a lieutenant of party boss Tom Platt, asked Roosevelt to run in the 1898 gubernatorial election. Platt disliked Roosevelt personally, feared that Roosevelt would oppose Platt's interests in office, and was reluctant to propel Roosevelt to the forefront of national politics. However, Platt also needed a strong candidate due to the unpopularity of the incumbent Republican governor, Frank S. Black, and Roosevelt agreed to become the nominee and to try not to "make war" with the Republican establishment once in office. Roosevelt defeated Black in the Republican caucus by a vote of 753 to 218, and faced Democrat Augustus Van Wyck, a well-respected judge, in the general election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously on his war record, winning the election by a margin of just one percent.
As governor, Roosevelt learned much about ongoing economic issues and political techniques that later proved valuable in his presidency. He was exposed to the problems of trusts, monopolies, labor relations, and conservation. Chessman argues that Roosevelt's program "rested firmly upon the concept of the square deal by a neutral state". The rules for the Square Deal were "honesty in public affairs, an equitable sharing of privilege and responsibility, and subordination of party and local concerns to the interests of the state at large".
By holding twice-daily press conferences—which was an innovation—Roosevelt remained connected with his middle-class political base. Roosevelt successfully pushed the Ford Franchise-Tax bill, which taxed public franchises granted by the state and controlled by corporations, declaring that "a corporation which derives its powers from the State, should pay to the State a just percentage of its earnings as a return for the privileges it enjoys". He rejected "boss" Thomas C. Platt's worries that this approached Bryanite Socialism, explaining that without it, New York voters might get angry and adopt public ownership of streetcar lines and other franchises.
The New York state government affected many interests, and the power to make appointments to policy-making positions was a key role for the governor. Platt insisted that he be consulted on major appointments; Roosevelt appeared to comply, but then made his own decisions. Historians marvel that Roosevelt managed to appoint so many first-rate men with Platt's approval. He even enlisted Platt's help in securing reform, such as in the spring of 1899, when Platt pressured state senators to vote for a civil service bill that the secretary of the Civil Service Reform Association called "superior to any civil service statute heretofore secured in America".
Chessman argues that as governor, Roosevelt developed the principles that shaped his presidency, especially insistence upon the public responsibility of large corporations, publicity as a first remedy for trusts, regulation of railroad rates, mediation of the conflict of capital and labor, conservation of natural resources and protection of the less fortunate members of society. Roosevelt sought to position himself against the excesses of large corporations on the one hand and radical movements on the other.
As the chief executive of the most populous state in the union, Roosevelt was widely considered a potential future presidential candidate, and supporters such as William Allen White encouraged him to run for president. Roosevelt had no interest in challenging McKinley for the Republican nomination in 1900, and was denied his preferred post of Secretary of War. As his term progressed, Roosevelt pondered a 1904 presidential run, but was uncertain about whether he should seek re-election as governor in 1900.
Vice Presidency (1901)
In November 1899, Vice President Garret Hobart died of heart failure, leaving an open spot on the 1900 Republican national ticket. Though Henry Cabot Lodge and others urged him to run for vice president in 1900, Roosevelt was reluctant to take the powerless position and issued a public statement saying that he would not accept the nomination. Additionally, Roosevelt was informed by President McKinley and campaign manager Mark Hanna that he was not being considered for the role of vice president due to his actions prior to the Spanish–American War. Eager to be rid of Roosevelt, Platt nonetheless began a newspaper campaign in favor of Roosevelt's nomination for the vice presidency. Roosevelt attended the 1900 Republican National Convention as a state delegate and struck a bargain with Platt: Roosevelt would accept the nomination for vice president if the convention offered it to him, but would otherwise serve another term as governor. Platt asked Pennsylvania party boss Matthew Quay to lead the campaign for Roosevelt's nomination, and Quay outmaneuvered Hanna at the convention to put Roosevelt on the ticket. Roosevelt won the nomination unanimously.
Roosevelt's vice-presidential campaigning proved highly energetic and an equal match for Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan's famous barnstorming style of campaigning. In a whirlwind campaign that displayed his energy to the public, Roosevelt made 480 stops in 23 states. He denounced the radicalism of Bryan, contrasting it with the heroism of the soldiers and sailors who fought and won the war against Spain. Bryan had strongly supported the war itself, but he denounced the annexation of the Philippines as imperialism, which would spoil America's innocence. Roosevelt countered that it was best for the Filipinos to have stability and the Americans to have a proud place in the world. With the nation basking in peace and prosperity, the voters gave McKinley an even larger victory than that which he had achieved in 1896.
After the campaign, Roosevelt took office as vice president in March 1901. The office of vice president was a powerless sinecure and did not suit Roosevelt's aggressive temperament. Roosevelt's six months as vice president were uneventful and boring for a man of action. He had no power; he presided over the Senate for a mere four days before it adjourned. On September 2, 1901, Roosevelt first publicized an aphorism that thrilled his supporters: "Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far."
Presidency (1901–1909)
On September 6, 1901, President McKinley was attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York when he was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Roosevelt was vacationing in Isle La Motte, Vermont, and traveled to Buffalo to visit McKinley in the hospital. It appeared that McKinley would recover, so Roosevelt resumed his vacation in the Adirondack Mountains. When McKinley's condition worsened, Roosevelt again rushed back to Buffalo. McKinley died on September 14, and Roosevelt was informed while he was in North Creek; he continued on to Buffalo and was sworn in as the nation's 26th president at the Ansley Wilcox House.
McKinley's supporters were nervous about the new president, and Hanna was particularly bitter that the man he had opposed so vigorously at the convention had succeeded McKinley. Roosevelt assured party leaders that he intended to adhere to McKinley's policies, and he retained McKinley's Cabinet. Nonetheless, Roosevelt sought to position himself as the party's undisputed leader, seeking to bolster the role of the president and position himself for the 1904 election. The vice presidency remained vacant, as there was no constitutional provision for filling an intra-term vacancy in that office (prior to the 25th Amendment in 1967).
Shortly after taking office, Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House. This sparked a bitter, and at times vicious, reaction among whites across the heavily segregated South. Roosevelt reacted with astonishment and protest, saying that he looked forward to many future dinners with Washington. Upon further reflection, Roosevelt wanted to ensure that this had no effect on political support in the white South, and further dinner invitations to Washington were avoided; their next meeting was scheduled as typical business at 10:00 a.m. instead.
Domestic policies
Trust busting and regulation
For his aggressive use of the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act, compared to his predecessors, Roosevelt was hailed as the "trust-buster"; but in reality he was more of a trust regulator. Roosevelt viewed big business as a necessary part of the American economy, and sought only to prosecute the "bad trusts" that restrained trade and charged unfair prices. He brought 44 antitrust suits, breaking up the Northern Securities Company, the largest railroad monopoly; and regulating Standard Oil, the largest oil company. Presidents Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley combined had prosecuted only 18 antitrust violations under the Sherman Antitrust Act.
Bolstered by his party's winning large majorities in the 1902 elections, Roosevelt proposed the creation of the United States Department of Commerce and Labor, which would include the Bureau of Corporations. While Congress was receptive to the Department of Commerce and Labor, it was more skeptical of the antitrust powers that Roosevelt sought to endow within the Bureau of Corporations. Roosevelt successfully appealed to the public to pressure Congress, and Congress overwhelmingly voted to pass Roosevelt's version of the bill.
In a moment of frustration, House Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon commented on Roosevelt's desire for executive branch control in domestic policy-making: "That fellow at the other end of the avenue wants everything from the birth of Christ to the death of the devil." Biographer Brands states, "Even his friends occasionally wondered whether there wasn't any custom or practice too minor for him to try to regulate, update or otherwise improve." In fact, Roosevelt's willingness to exercise his power included attempted rule changes in the game of football; at the Naval Academy, he sought to force retention of martial arts classes and to revise disciplinary rules. He even ordered changes made in the minting of a coin whose design he disliked, and ordered the Government Printing Office to adopt simplified spellings for a core list of 300 words, according to reformers on the Simplified Spelling Board. He was forced to rescind the latter after substantial ridicule from the press and a resolution of protest from the House of Representatives.
Coal strike
In May 1902, anthracite coal miners went on strike, threatening a national energy shortage. After threatening the coal operators with intervention by federal troops, Roosevelt won their agreement to dispute arbitration by a commission, which succeeded in stopping the strike. The accord with J. P. Morgan resulted in the miners getting more pay for fewer hours, but with no union recognition. Roosevelt said, "My action on labor should always be considered in connection with my action as regards capital, and both are reducible to my favorite formula—a square deal for every man." Roosevelt was the first president to help settle a labor dispute.
Prosecuted misconduct
During Roosevelt's second year in office it was discovered there was corruption in the Indian Service, the Land Office, and the Post Office Department. Roosevelt investigated and prosecuted corrupt Indian agents who had cheated the Creeks and various tribes out of land parcels. Land fraud and speculation were found involving Oregon federal timberlands. In November 1902, Roosevelt and Secretary Ethan A. Hitchcock forced Binger Hermann, the General Land Office Commissioner, to resign from office. On November 6, 1903 Francis J. Heney was appointed special prosecutor and obtained 146 indictments involving an Oregon Land Office bribery ring. U.S. Senator John H. Mitchell was indicted for bribery to expedite illegal land patents, found guilty in July 1905, and sentenced to six months in prison. More corruption was found in the Postal Department, that brought on the indictments of 44 government employees on charges of bribery and fraud. Historians generally agree that Roosevelt moved "quickly and decisively" to prosecute misconduct in his administration.
Railroads
Merchants complained that some railroad rates were too high. In the 1906 Hepburn Act, Roosevelt sought to give the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to regulate rates, but the Senate, led by conservative Nelson Aldrich, fought back. Roosevelt worked with the Democratic Senator Benjamin Tillman to pass the bill. Roosevelt and Aldrich ultimately reached a compromise that gave the ICC the power to replace existing rates with "just-and-reasonable" maximum rates, but allowed railroads to appeal to the federal courts on what was "reasonable". In addition to rate-setting, the Hepburn Act also granted the ICC regulatory power over pipeline fees, storage contracts, and several other aspects of railroad operations.
Pure food and drugs
Roosevelt responded to public anger over the abuses in the food packing industry by pushing Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act. Though conservatives initially opposed the bill, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, published in 1906, helped galvanize support for reform. The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 banned misleading labels and preservatives that contained harmful chemicals. The Pure Food and Drug Act banned food and drugs that were impure or falsely labeled from being made, sold, and shipped. Roosevelt also served as honorary president of the American School Hygiene Association from 1907 to 1908, and in 1909 he convened the first White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children.
Conservation
Of all Roosevelt's achievements, he was proudest of his work in the conservation of natural resources and extending federal protection to land and wildlife. Roosevelt worked closely with Interior Secretary James Rudolph Garfield and Chief of the United States Forest Service Gifford Pinchot to enact a series of conservation programs that often met with resistance from Western members of Congress, such as Charles William Fulton. Nonetheless, Roosevelt established the United States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of five National Parks, and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 new U.S. National Monuments. He also established the first 51 bird reserves, four game preserves, and 150 National Forests. The area of the United States that he placed under public protection totals approximately .
Roosevelt extensively used executive orders on a number of occasions to protect forest and wildlife lands during his tenure as president. By the end of his second term in office, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish of reserved forestry land. Roosevelt was unapologetic about his extensive use of executive orders to protect the environment, despite the perception in Congress that he was encroaching on too many lands. Eventually, Senator Charles Fulton (R-OR) attached an amendment to an agricultural appropriations bill that effectively prevented the president from reserving any further land. Before signing that bill into law, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish an additional 21 forest reserves, waiting until the last minute to sign the bill into law. In total, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish 121 forest reserves in 31 states. Prior to Roosevelt, only one president had issued over 200 executive orders, Grover Cleveland (253). The first 25 presidents issued a total of 1,262 executive orders; Roosevelt issued 1,081.
Foreign policy
Japan
The American annexation of Hawaii in 1898 was stimulated in part by fear that otherwise Japan would dominate the Hawaiian Republic. Similarly, Germany was the alternative to American takeover of the Philippines in 1900, and Tokyo strongly preferred the U.S. to take over. As the U.S. became a naval world power, it needed to find a way to avoid a military confrontation in the Pacific with Japan.
In the 1890s, Roosevelt had been an ardent imperialist and vigorously defended the permanent acquisition of the Philippines in the 1900 campaign. After the local insurrection ended in 1902, he largely lost his imperialist interest in the Philippines and Asian expansion but wished to have a strong U.S. presence in the region as a symbol of democratic values. One of Theodore Roosevelt's priorities during his presidency and afterwards, was the maintenance of friendly relations with Japan. From 1904 to 1905 Japan and Russia were at war. Roosevelt admired the martial courage of the Japanese, and distrusted the reckless German Kaiser. Both sides asked Roosevelt to mediate a peace conference, held successfully in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
In California, anti-Japanese hostility was growing, and Tokyo protested. Roosevelt negotiated a "Gentleman's Agreement" in 1907. Explicit discrimination against the Japanese was ended, and Japan agreed not to allow unskilled immigrants into the United States. The Great White Fleet of American battleships visited Japan in 1908. Pulitzer prize-winning biographer Henry Pringle states that the great voyage was "the direct result of the Japanese trouble." Roosevelt intended to emphasize the superiority of the American fleet over the smaller Japanese navy, but instead of resentment the visitors arrived to a joyous welcome by Japanese elite as well as the general public. This good-will facilitated the Root–Takahira Agreement of November 1908 which reaffirmed the status quo of Japanese control of Korea and American control of the Philippines.
Europe
Success in the war against Spain and the new empire, plus having the largest economy in the world, meant that the United States had emerged as a world power. Roosevelt searched for ways to win recognition for the position abroad.
Roosevelt also played a major role in mediating the First Moroccan Crisis by calling the Algeciras Conference, which averted war between France and Germany.
Roosevelt's presidency saw the strengthening of ties with Great Britain. The Great Rapprochement had begun with British support of the United States during the Spanish–American War, and it continued as Britain withdrew its fleet from the Caribbean in favor of focusing on the rising German naval threat. In 1901, Britain and the United States signed the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, abrogating the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty, which had prevented the United States from constructing a canal connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. The long-standing Alaska boundary dispute was settled on terms favorable to the United States, as Great Britain was unwilling to alienate the United States over what it considered to be a secondary issue. As Roosevelt later put it, the resolution of the Alaskan boundary dispute "settled the last serious trouble between the British Empire and ourselves."
Latin America and Panama Canal
As president, he primarily focused the nation's overseas ambitions on the Caribbean, especially locations that had a bearing on the defense of his pet project, the Panama Canal. Roosevelt also increased the size of the navy, and by the end of his second term the United States had more battleships than any other country besides Britain. The Panama Canal when it opened in 1914 allowed the U.S. Navy to rapidly move back and forth from the Pacific to the Caribbean to European waters.
In December 1902, the Germans, British, and Italians blockaded the ports of Venezuela in order to force the repayment of delinquent loans. Roosevelt was particularly concerned with the motives of German Emperor Wilhelm II. He succeeded in getting the three nations to agree to arbitration by tribunal at The Hague, and successfully defused the crisis. The latitude granted to the Europeans by the arbiters was in part responsible for the "Roosevelt Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which the President issued in 1904: "Chronic wrongdoing or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere, the adherence of the United States to the Monroe doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power."
The pursuit of an isthmus canal in Central America during this period focused on two possible routes—Nicaragua and Panama, which was then a rebellious district within Colombia. Roosevelt convinced Congress to approve the Panamanian alternative, and a treaty was approved, only to be rejected by the Colombian government. When the Panamanians learned of this, a rebellion followed, was supported by Roosevelt, and succeeded. A treaty with the new Panama government for construction of the canal was then reached in 1903. Roosevelt received criticism for paying the bankrupt Panama Canal Company and the New Panama Canal Company $40,000,000 (equivalent to $ billion in ) for the rights and equipment to build the canal. Critics charged that an American investor syndicate allegedly divided the large payment among themselves. There was also controversy over whether a French company engineer influenced Roosevelt in choosing the Panama route for the canal over the Nicaragua route. Roosevelt denied charges of corruption concerning the canal in a January 8, 1906 message to Congress. In January 1909, Roosevelt, in an unprecedented move, brought criminal libel charges against the New York World and the Indianapolis News known as the "Roosevelt-Panama Libel Cases". Both cases were dismissed by U.S. District Courts, and on January 3, 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court, upon federal appeal, upheld the lower courts' rulings. Historians are sharply critical of Roosevelt's criminal prosecutions of the World and the News, but are divided on whether actual corruption in acquiring and building the Panama Canal took place.
In 1906, following a disputed election, an insurrection ensued in Cuba; Roosevelt sent Taft, the Secretary of War, to monitor the situation; he was convinced that he had the authority to unilaterally authorize Taft to deploy Marines if necessary, without congressional approval.
Examining the work of numerous scholars, Ricard (2014) reports that:
The most striking evolution in the twenty-first-century historiography of Theodore Roosevelt is the switch from a partial arraignment of the imperialist to a quasi-unanimous celebration of the master diplomatist.... [Recent works] have underlined cogently Roosevelt's exceptional statesmanship in the construction of the nascent twentieth-century "special relationship". ...The twenty-sixth president's reputation as a brilliant diplomatist and realpolitician has undeniably reached new heights in the twenty-first century...yet, his Philippine policy still prompts criticism.
Media
Building on McKinley's effective use of the press, Roosevelt made the White House the center of news every day, providing interviews and photo opportunities. After noticing the reporters huddled outside the White House in the rain one day, he gave them their own room inside, effectively inventing the presidential press briefing. The grateful press, with unprecedented access to the White House, rewarded Roosevelt with ample coverage.
Roosevelt normally enjoyed very close relationships with the press, which he used to keep in daily contact with his middle-class base. While out of office, he made a living as a writer and magazine editor. He loved talking with intellectuals, authors, and writers. He drew the line, however, at exposé-oriented scandal-mongering journalists who, during his term, sent magazine subscriptions soaring by their attacks on corrupt politicians, mayors, and corporations. Roosevelt himself was not usually a target, but a speech of his from 1906 coined the term "muckraker" for unscrupulous journalists making wild charges. "The liar", he said, "is no whit better than the thief, and if his mendacity takes the form of slander he may be worse than most thieves."
The press did briefly target Roosevelt in one instance. After 1904, he was periodically criticized for the manner in which he facilitated the construction of the Panama Canal. According to biographer Brands, Roosevelt, near the end of his term, demanded that the Justice Department bring charges of criminal libel against Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. The publication had accused him of "deliberate misstatements of fact" in defense of family members who were criticized as a result of the Panama affair. Though an indictment was obtained, the case was ultimately dismissed in federal court—it was not a federal offense, but one enforceable in state courts. The Justice Department had predicted that result, and had also advised Roosevelt accordingly.
Election of 1904
The control and management of the Republican Party lay in the hands of Ohio Senator and Republican Party chairman Mark Hanna until McKinley's death. Roosevelt and Hanna frequently cooperated during Roosevelt's first term, but Hanna left open the possibility of a challenge to Roosevelt for the 1904 Republican nomination. Roosevelt and Ohio's other Senator, Joseph B. Foraker, forced Hanna's hand by calling for Ohio's state Republican convention to endorse Roosevelt for the 1904 nomination. Unwilling to break with the president, Hanna was forced to publicly endorse Roosevelt. Hanna and Pennsylvania Senator Matthew Quay both died in early 1904, and with the waning of Thomas Platt's power, Roosevelt faced little effective opposition for the 1904 nomination. In deference to Hanna's conservative loyalists, Roosevelt at first offered the party chairmanship to Cornelius Bliss, but he declined. Roosevelt turned to his own man, George B. Cortelyou of New York, the first Secretary of Commerce and Labor. To buttress his hold on the party's nomination, Roosevelt made it clear that anyone opposing Cortelyou would be considered to be opposing the President. The President secured his own nomination, but his preferred vice-presidential running mate, Robert R. Hitt, was not nominated. Senator Charles Warren Fairbanks of Indiana, a favorite of conservatives, gained the nomination.
While Roosevelt followed the tradition of incumbents in not actively campaigning on the stump, he sought to control the campaign's message through specific instructions to Cortelyou. He also attempted to manage the press's release of White House statements by forming the Ananias Club. Any journalist who repeated a statement made by the president without approval was penalized by restriction of further access.
The Democratic Party's nominee in 1904 was Alton Brooks Parker. Democratic newspapers charged that Republicans were extorting large campaign contributions from corporations, putting ultimate responsibility on Roosevelt, himself. Roosevelt denied corruption while at the same time he ordered Cortelyou to return $100,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) of a campaign contribution from Standard Oil. Parker said that Roosevelt was accepting corporate donations to keep damaging information from the Bureau of Corporations from going public. Roosevelt strongly denied Parker's charge and responded that he would "go into the Presidency unhampered by any pledge, promise, or understanding of any kind, sort, or description...". Allegations from Parker and the Democrats, however, had little impact on the election, as Roosevelt promised to give every American a "square deal". Roosevelt won 56% of the popular vote, and Parker received 38%; Roosevelt also won the Electoral College vote, 336 to 140. Before his inauguration ceremony, Roosevelt declared that he would not serve another term. Democrats afterwards would continue to charge Roosevelt and the Republicans of being influenced by corporate donations during Roosevelt's second term.
Second term
As his second term progressed, Roosevelt moved to the left of his Republican Party base and called for a series of reforms, most of which Congress failed to pass. In his last year in office, he was assisted by his friend Archibald Butt (who later perished in the sinking of RMS Titanic). Roosevelt's influence waned as he approached the end of his second term, as his promise to forego a third term made him a lame duck and his concentration of power provoked a backlash from many Congressmen. He sought a national incorporation law (at a time when all corporations had state charters), called for a federal income tax (despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.), and an inheritance tax. In the area of labor legislation, Roosevelt called for limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes; injunctions were a powerful weapon that mostly helped business. He wanted an employee liability law for industrial injuries (pre-empting state laws) and an eight-hour work day for federal employees. In other areas he also sought a postal savings system (to provide competition for local banks), and he asked for campaign reform laws.
The election of 1904 continued to be a source of contention between Republicans and Democrats. A Congressional investigation in 1905 revealed that corporate executives donated tens of thousands of dollars in 1904 to the Republican National Committee. In 1908, a month before the general presidential election, Governor Charles N. Haskell of Oklahoma, former Democratic Treasurer, said that Senators beholden to Standard Oil lobbied Roosevelt, in the summer of 1904, to authorize the leasing of Indian oil lands by Standard Oil subsidiaries. He said Roosevelt overruled his Secretary of Interior Ethan A. Hitchcock and granted a pipeline franchise to run through the Osage lands to the Prairie Oil and Gas Company. The New York Sun made a similar accusation and said that Standard Oil, a refinery who financially benefited from the pipeline, had contributed $150,000 to the Republicans in 1904 (equivalent to $ million in ) after Roosevelt's alleged reversal allowing the pipeline franchise. Roosevelt branded Haskell's allegation as "a lie, pure and simple" and obtained a denial from Treasury Secretary Shaw that Roosevelt had neither coerced Shaw nor overruled him.
Post-presidency (1909–1919)
Election of 1908
Roosevelt enjoyed being president and was still relatively youthful, but felt that a limited number of terms provided a check against dictatorship. Roosevelt ultimately decided to stick to his 1904 pledge not to run for a third term. He personally favored Secretary of State Elihu Root as his successor, but Root's ill health made him an unsuitable candidate. New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes loomed as a potentially strong candidate and shared Roosevelt's progressivism, but Roosevelt disliked him and considered him to be too independent. Instead, Roosevelt settled on his Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, who had ably served under Presidents Harrison, McKinley, and Roosevelt in various positions. Roosevelt and Taft had been friends since 1890, and Taft had consistently supported President Roosevelt's policies. Roosevelt was determined to install the successor of his choice, and wrote the following to Taft: "Dear Will: Do you want any action about those federal officials? I will break their necks with the utmost cheerfulness if you say the word!". Just weeks later he branded as "false and malicious" the charge that he was using the offices at his disposal to favor Taft. At the 1908 Republican convention, many chanted for "four years more" of a Roosevelt presidency, but Taft won the nomination after Henry Cabot Lodge made it clear that Roosevelt was not interested in a third term.
In the 1908 election, Taft easily defeated the Democratic nominee, three-time candidate William Jennings Bryan. Taft promoted a progressivism that stressed the rule of law; he preferred that judges rather than administrators or politicians make the basic decisions about fairness. Taft usually proved to be a less adroit politician than Roosevelt and lacked the energy and personal magnetism, along with the publicity devices, the dedicated supporters, and the broad base of public support that made Roosevelt so formidable. When Roosevelt realized that lowering the tariff would risk creating severe tensions inside the Republican Party by pitting producers (manufacturers and farmers) against merchants and consumers, he stopped talking about the issue. Taft ignored the risks and tackled the tariff boldly, encouraging reformers to fight for lower rates, and then cutting deals with conservative leaders that kept overall rates high. The resulting Payne-Aldrich tariff of 1909, signed into law early in President Taft's tenure, was too high for most reformers, and Taft's handling of the tariff alienated all sides. While the crisis was building inside the Party, Roosevelt was touring Africa and Europe, to allow Taft to be his own man.
Africa and Europe (1909–1910)
In March 1909, shortly after the end of his presidency, Roosevelt left New York for the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition, a safari in east and central Africa. Roosevelt's party landed in Mombasa, East Africa (now Kenya) and traveled to the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) before following the Nile to Khartoum in modern Sudan. Financed by Andrew Carnegie and by his own writings, Roosevelt's party hunted for specimens for the Smithsonian Institution and for the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The group, led by the hunter-tracker RJ Cunninghame, included scientists from the Smithsonian, and was joined from time to time by Frederick Selous, the famous big game hunter and explorer. Participants on the expedition included Kermit Roosevelt, Edgar Alexander Mearns, Edmund Heller, and John Alden Loring.
Roosevelt and his companions killed or trapped approximately 11,400 animals, from insects and moles to hippopotamuses and elephants. The 1,000 large animals included 512 big game animals, including six rare white rhinos. Tons of salted animals and their skins were shipped to Washington; it took years to mount them all, and the Smithsonian shared many duplicate specimens with other museums. Regarding the large number of animals taken, Roosevelt said, "I can be condemned only if the existence of the National Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and all similar zoological institutions are to be condemned". He wrote a detailed account of the safari in the book African Game Trails, recounting the excitement of the chase, the people he met, and the flora and fauna he collected in the name of science.
After his safari, Roosevelt traveled north to embark on a tour of Europe. Stopping first in Egypt, he commented favorably on British rule of the region, giving his opinion that Egypt was not yet ready for independence. He refused a meeting with the Pope due to a dispute over a group of Methodists active in Rome, but met with Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King George V of Great Britain, and other European leaders. In Oslo, Norway, Roosevelt delivered a speech calling for limitations on naval armaments, a strengthening of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and the creation of a "League of Peace" among the world powers. He also delivered the Romanes Lecture at Oxford, in which he denounced those who sought parallels between the evolution of animal life and the development of society. Though Roosevelt attempted to avoid domestic politics during his time abroad, he met with Gifford Pinchot, who related his own disappointment with the Taft Administration. Pinchot had been forced to resign as head of the forest service after clashing with Taft's Interior Secretary, Richard Ballinger, who had prioritized development over conservation. Roosevelt returned to the United States in June 1910.
Republican Party schism
Roosevelt had attempted to refashion Taft into a second version of himself, but as soon as Taft began to display his individuality, the former president expressed his disenchantment. He was offended on election night when Taft indicated that his success had been possible not just through the efforts of Roosevelt, but also his brother Charley. Roosevelt was further alienated when Taft, intent on becoming his own man, did not consult him about cabinet appointments. Roosevelt and other progressives were ideologically dissatisfied over Taft's conservation policies and his handling of the tariff when he concentrated more power in the hands of conservative party leaders in Congress. Regarding radicalism and liberalism, Roosevelt wrote a British friend in 1911:
Fundamentally it is the radical liberal with whom I sympathize. He is at least working toward the end for which I think we should all of us strive; and when he adds sanity in moderation to courage and enthusiasm for high ideals he develops into the kind of statesman whom alone I can wholeheartedly support."
Roosevelt urged progressives to take control of the Republican Party at the state and local level and to avoid splitting the party in a way that would hand the presidency to the Democrats in 1912. Additionally, Roosevelt expressed optimism about the Taft Administration after meeting with the president in the White House in June 1910.
In August 1910, Roosevelt gained national attention with a speech at Osawatomie, Kansas, which was the most radical of his career and marked his public break with Taft and the conservative Republicans. Advocating a program of "New Nationalism", Roosevelt emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests, a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions. Returning to New York, Roosevelt began a battle to take control of the state Republican party from William Barnes Jr., Tom Platt's successor as the state party boss, whom he would later confront in the Barnes vs. Roosevelt Libel Trial. Taft had pledged his support to Roosevelt in this endeavor, and Roosevelt was outraged when Taft's support failed to materialize at the 1910 state convention. Roosevelt nonetheless campaigned for the Republicans in the 1910 elections, in which the Democrats gained control of the House for the first time since the 1890s. Among the newly elected Democrats was New York state senator Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who argued that he represented his distant cousin's policies better than his Republican opponent.
The Republican progressives interpreted the 1910 defeats as a compelling argument for the complete reorganization of the party in 1911. Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin joined with Pinchot, William White, and California Governor Hiram Johnson to create the National Progressive Republican League; their objectives were to defeat the power of political bossism at the state level and to replace Taft at the national level. Despite skepticism of La Follette's new league, Roosevelt expressed general support for progressive principles. Between January and April 1911, Roosevelt wrote a series of articles for The Outlook, defending what he called "the great movement of our day, the progressive nationalist movement against special privilege, and in favor of an honest and efficient political and industrial democracy". With Roosevelt apparently uninterested in running in 1912, La Follette declared his own candidacy in June 1911. Roosevelt continually criticized Taft after the 1910 elections, and the break between the two men became final after the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against US Steel in September 1911; Roosevelt was humiliated by this suit because he had personally approved of an acquisition that the Justice Department was now challenging. However, Roosevelt was still unwilling to run against Taft in 1912; he instead hoped to run in 1916 against whichever Democrat beat Taft in 1912.
Dispute over arbitration treaties
Taft was a major advocate of arbitration as a major reform of the Progressive Era. In 1911 Taft and his Secretary of State Philander C. Knox negotiated major treaties with Great Britain and with France providing that differences be arbitrated. Disputes had to be submitted to the Hague Court or other tribunal. These were signed in August 1911 but had to be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. Neither Taft nor Knox consulted with members of the Senate during the negotiating process. By then many Republicans were opposed to Taft, and the president felt that lobbying too hard for the treaties might cause their defeat. He made some speeches supporting the treaties in October, but the Senate added amendments Taft could not accept, killing the agreements.
The arbitration issue opens a window on a bitter philosophical dispute among American progressives. Some, led by Taft looked to legal arbitration as the best alternative to warfare. Taft was a constitutional lawyer who later became Chief Justice; he had a deep understanding of the legal issues. Taft's political base was the conservative business community that largely supported peace movements before 1914. However, his mistake, in this case, was a failure to mobilize that base. The businessmen believed that economic rivalries were the cause of war, and that extensive trade led to an interdependent world that would make war a very expensive and useless anachronism.
However, an opposing faction of progressives, led by Roosevelt, ridiculed arbitration as foolhardy idealism, and insisted on the realism of warfare as the only solution to serious international disputes. Roosevelt worked with his close friend Senator Henry Cabot Lodge to impose those amendments that ruined the goals of the treaties. Lodge thought the treaties impinged too much on senatorial prerogatives. Roosevelt, however, was acting to sabotage Taft's campaign promises. At a deeper level, Roosevelt truly believed that arbitration was a naïve solution and the great issues had to be decided by warfare. The Rooseveltian approach incorporated a near-mystical faith of the ennobling nature of war. It endorsed jingoistic nationalism as opposed to the businessmen's calculation of profit and national interest.
Election of 1912
Republican primaries and convention
In November 1911, a group of Ohio Republicans endorsed Roosevelt for the party's nomination for president; the endorsers included James R. Garfield and Dan Hanna. This endorsement was made by leaders of President Taft's home state. Roosevelt conspicuously declined to make a statement—requested by Garfield—that he would flatly refuse a nomination. Soon thereafter, Roosevelt said, "I am really sorry for Taft... I am sure he means well, but he means well feebly, and he does not know how! He is utterly unfit for leadership and this is a time when we need leadership." In January 1912, Roosevelt declared "if the people make a draft on me I shall not decline to serve". Later that year, Roosevelt spoke before the Constitutional Convention in Ohio, openly identifying as a progressive and endorsing progressive reforms—even endorsing popular review of state judicial decisions. In reaction to Roosevelt's proposals for popular overrule of court decisions, Taft said, "Such extremists are not progressives—they are political emotionalists or neurotics".
Roosevelt began to envision himself as the savior of the Republican Party from defeat in the upcoming presidential election. In February 1912, Roosevelt announced in Boston, "I will accept the nomination for president if it is tendered to me. I hope that so far as possible the people may be given the chance through direct primaries to express who shall be the nominee. Elihu Root and Henry Cabot Lodge thought that division of the party would lead to its defeat in the next election, while Taft believed that he would be defeated either in the Republican primary or in the general election.
The 1912 primaries represented the first extensive use of the presidential primary, a reform achievement of the progressive movement. The Republican primaries in the South, where party regulars dominated, went for Taft, as did results in New York, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Roosevelt won in Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, California, Maryland and Pennsylvania; Roosevelt also won Taft's home state of Ohio. These primary elections, while demonstrating Roosevelt's continuing popularity with the electorate, were not pivotal. The final credentials of the state delegates at the national convention were determined by the national committee, which was controlled by the party leaders, headed by the incumbent president.
Prior to the 1912 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt expressed doubt about his prospects for victory, noting that Taft had more delegates and control of the credentials committee. His only hope was to convince party leaders that the nomination of Taft would hand the election to the Democrats, but party leaders were determined not to cede their leadership to Roosevelt. The credentials committee awarded almost all contested delegates to Taft, and Taft won the nomination on the first ballot. Black delegates from the South played a key role: they voted heavily for Taft and put him over the top. La Follette also helped Taft's candidacy; he hoped that a deadlocked convention would result in his own nomination, and refused to release his delegates to support Roosevelt.
The Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party
Once his defeat at the Republican convention appeared probable, Roosevelt announced that he would "accept the progressive nomination on a progressive platform and I shall fight to the end, win or lose". At the same time, Roosevelt prophetically said, "My feeling is that the Democrats will probably win if they nominate a progressive".
Roosevelt left the Republican Party and created the Progressive Party, structuring it as a permanent organization that would field complete tickets at the presidential and state level. The party included Roosevelt and key allies such as Pinchot, Cornelia Bryce Pinchot (Pinchot's wife and a longtime friend of Roosevelt's), and Albert Beveridge. The new party was popularly known as the "Bull Moose Party" after Roosevelt told reporters, "I'm as fit as a bull moose". At the 1912 Progressive National Convention, Roosevelt cried out, "We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord." California Governor Hiram Johnson was nominated as Roosevelt's running mate. Roosevelt's platform echoed his 1907–1908 proposals, calling for vigorous government intervention to protect the people from selfish interests:
Though many Progressive party supporters in the North were supporters of civil rights for blacks, Roosevelt did not give strong support to civil rights and ran a "lily-white" campaign in the South. Rival all-white and all-black delegations from four southern states arrived at the Progressive national convention, and Roosevelt decided to seat the all-white delegations. Nevertheless, he won little support outside mountain Republican strongholds. Out of nearly 1100 counties in the South, Roosevelt won two counties in Alabama, one in Arkansas, seven in North Carolina, three in Georgia, 17 in Tennessee, two in Texas, one in Virginia, and none in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, or South Carolina.
Assassination attempt
On October 14, 1912, while arriving at a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Roosevelt was shot from seven feet away in front of the Gilpatrick Hotel by a delusional saloonkeeper named John Flammang Schrank, who believed that the ghost of assassinated president William McKinley had directed him to kill Roosevelt. The bullet lodged in his chest after penetrating his steel eyeglass case and passing through a 50-page-thick single-folded copy of the speech titled "Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual", which he was carrying in his jacket. Schrank was immediately disarmed (by Czech immigrant Frank Bukovsky), captured, and might have been lynched had Roosevelt not shouted for Schrank to remain unharmed. Roosevelt assured the crowd he was all right, then ordered police to take charge of Schrank and to make sure no violence was done to him.
As an experienced hunter and anatomist, Roosevelt correctly concluded that since he was not coughing blood, the bullet had not reached his lung. He declined suggestions to go to the hospital immediately and instead delivered a 90 minute speech with blood seeping into his shirt. His opening comments to the gathered crowd were, "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose." Only after finishing his address did he accept medical attention.
Subsequent probes and an x-ray showed that the bullet had lodged in Roosevelt's chest muscle, but did not penetrate the pleura. Doctors concluded that it would be less dangerous to leave it in place than to attempt to remove it, and Roosevelt carried the bullet with him for the rest of his life. Both Taft and Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson suspended their own campaigning until Roosevelt recovered and resumed his. When asked if the shooting would affect his election campaign, he said to the reporter "I'm fit as a bull moose." The bull moose became a symbol of both Roosevelt and the Progressive Party, and it often was referred to as simply the Bull Moose Party. He spent two weeks recuperating before returning to the campaign trail. He later wrote a friend about the bullet inside him, "I do not mind it any more than if it were in my waistcoat pocket."
Farewell manifesto
On October 20, Roosevelt spoke to a crowd of 16,000 at Madison Square Garden. The speech included: "Perhaps once in a generation, there comes a chance for the people of a country to play their part wisely and fearlessly in some great battle of the age-long warfare for human rights."
Election results
After the Democrats nominated Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey, Roosevelt did not expect to win the general election, as Wilson had compiled a record attractive to many progressive Democrats who might have otherwise considered voting for Roosevelt. Roosevelt still campaigned vigorously, and the election developed into a two-person contest between Wilson and Roosevelt despite Taft's presence in the race. Roosevelt respected Wilson, but the two differed on various issues; Wilson opposed any federal intervention regarding women's suffrage or child labor (he viewed these as state issues), and attacked Roosevelt's tolerance of large businesses.
Roosevelt won 4.1 million votes (27%), compared to Taft's 3.5 million (23%). Wilson gained 6.3 million votes (42% of the total) and a massive landslide in the Electoral College, with 435 electoral votes; Roosevelt won 88 electoral votes, while Taft won 8. Pennsylvania was the only eastern state won by Roosevelt; in the Midwest, he carried Michigan, Minnesota, and South Dakota; in the West, California, and Washington. Wilson's victory represented the first Democratic presidential election victory since Cleveland's 1892 campaign, and it was the party's best performance in the Electoral College since 1852. Roosevelt, meanwhile, garnered a higher share of the popular vote than any other third-party presidential candidate in history and won the most states of any third-party candidate after the Civil War.
South American expedition (1913-1914)
A friend of Roosevelt's, Father John Augustine Zahm, persuaded Roosevelt to participate in an expedition to South America. To finance the expedition, Roosevelt received support from the American Museum of Natural History in return for promising to bring back many new animal specimens. Roosevelt's popular book, Through the Brazilian Wilderness describes his expedition into the Brazilian jungle in 1913 as a member of the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition, co-named after its leader, Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon.
Once in South America, a new, far more ambitious goal was added: to find the headwaters of the Rio da Duvida (Portuguese for "River of Doubt"), and trace it north to the Madeira and thence to the Amazon River. It was later renamed Roosevelt River in honor of the former president. Roosevelt's crew consisted of his son Kermit, Colonel Rondon, naturalist George Kruck Cherrie (sent by the American Museum of Natural History), Brazilian Lieutenant João Lira, team physician Dr. José Antonio Cajazeira, and 16 skilled paddlers and porters. Roosevelt also identified Leo Miller (another AMNH recommendation), Anthony Fiala, Frank Harper, and Jacob Sigg as crew members. The initial expedition started somewhat tenuously on December 9, 1913, at the height of the rainy season. The trip down the River of Doubt started on February 27, 1914.
During the trip down the river, Roosevelt suffered a minor leg wound after he jumped into the river to try to prevent two canoes from smashing against the rocks. The flesh wound he received, however, soon gave him tropical fever that resembled the malaria he had contracted while in Cuba fifteen years before. Because the bullet lodged in his chest from the assassination attempt in 1912 was never removed, his health worsened from the infection. This weakened Roosevelt so greatly that six weeks into the adventure, he had to be attended to day and night by the expedition's physician and his son Kermit. By then, he could not walk because of the infection in his injured leg and an infirmity in the other, which was due to a traffic accident a decade earlier. Roosevelt was riddled with chest pains, fighting a fever that soared to and at times made him delirious, at one point constantly reciting the first two lines of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan": "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure dome decree". Regarding his condition as a threat to the survival of the others, Roosevelt insisted he be left behind to allow the poorly provisioned expedition to proceed as rapidly as it could, preparing to commit suicide with an overdose of morphine. Only an appeal by his son persuaded him to continue.
Despite Roosevelt's continued decline and loss of over , Colonel Rondon reduced the pace of the expedition to allow for his commission's mapmaking and other geographical tasks, which required regular stops to fix the expedition's position by sun-based survey. Upon Roosevelt's return to New York, friends and family were startled by his physical appearance and fatigue. Roosevelt wrote, perhaps prophetically, to a friend that the trip had cut his life short by ten years. For the rest of his few remaining years, he would be plagued by flare-ups of malaria and leg inflammations so severe as to require surgery. Before Roosevelt had even completed his sea voyage home, critics raised doubts over his claims of exploring and navigating a completely uncharted river over long. When he had recovered sufficiently, he addressed a standing-room-only convention organized in Washington, D.C., by the National Geographic Society and satisfactorily defended his claims.
Final years
Roosevelt returned to the United States in May 1914. Though he was outraged by the Wilson Administration's conclusion of a treaty that expressed "sincere regret" for the way in which the United States had acquired the Panama Canal Zone, he was impressed by many of the reforms passed under Wilson. Roosevelt made several campaign appearances for the Progressives, but the 1914 elections were a disaster for the fledgling third party. Roosevelt began to envision another campaign for president, this time with himself at the head of the Republican Party, but conservative party leaders remained opposed to Roosevelt. In hopes of engineering a joint nomination, the Progressives scheduled the 1916 Progressive National Convention at the same time as the 1916 Republican National Convention. When the Republicans nominated Charles Evans Hughes, Roosevelt declined the Progressive nomination and urged his Progressive followers to support the Republican candidate. Though Roosevelt had long disliked Hughes, he disliked Wilson even more, and he campaigned energetically for the Republican nominee. However, Wilson won the 1916 election by a narrow margin. The Progressives disappeared as a party following the 1916 election, and Roosevelt and many of his followers permanently re-joined the Republican Party.
World War I
When the First World War began in 1914, Roosevelt strongly supported the Allies and demanded a harsher policy against Germany, especially regarding submarine warfare. Roosevelt angrily denounced the foreign policy of President Wilson, calling it a failure regarding the atrocities in Belgium and the violations of American rights. In 1916, while campaigning for Hughes, Roosevelt repeatedly denounced Irish-Americans and German-Americans whom he described as unpatriotic, saying they put the interests of Ireland and Germany ahead of America's by supporting neutrality. He insisted that one had to be 100% American, not a "hyphenated American" who juggled multiple loyalties. In March 1917, Congress gave Roosevelt the authority to raise a maximum of four divisions similar to the Rough Riders, and Major Frederick Russell Burnham was put in charge of both the general organization and recruitment. However, President Wilson announced to the press that he would not send Roosevelt and his volunteers to France, but instead would send an American Expeditionary Force under the command of General John J. Pershing. Roosevelt never forgave Wilson, and quickly published The Foes of Our Own Household, an indictment of the sitting president. Roosevelt's youngest son, Quentin, a pilot with the American forces in France, was killed when shot down behind German lines on July 14, 1918, at the age of 20. It is said that Quentin's death distressed Roosevelt so much that he never recovered from his loss.
League of Nations
Roosevelt was an early supporter of the modern view that there needs to be a global order. In his Nobel prize address of 1910, he said, "it would be a master stroke if those great Powers honestly bent on peace would form a League of Peace, not only to keep the peace among themselves, but to prevent, by force if necessary, its being broken by others." It would have executive power such as the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 lacked. He called for American participation.
When World War I broke out, Roosevelt proposed "a World League for the Peace of Righteousness", in September 1914, which would preserve sovereignty but limit armaments and require arbitration. He added that it should be "solemnly covenanted that if any nations refused to abide by the decisions of such a court, then others draw the sword in behalf of peace and justice." In 1915 he outlined this plan more specifically, urging that nations guarantee their entire military force, if necessary, against any nation that refused to carry out arbitration decrees or violated rights of other nations. Though Roosevelt had some concerns about the impact on United States sovereignty, he insisted that such a league would only work if the United States participated as one of the "joint guarantors". Roosevelt referred to this plan in a 1918 speech as "the most feasible for...a league of nations." By this time Wilson was strongly hostile to Roosevelt and Lodge, and developed his own plans for a rather different League of Nations. It became reality along Wilson's lines at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Roosevelt denounced Wilson's approach but died before it was adopted at Paris. However, Lodge was willing to accept it with serious reservations. In the end, on March 19, 1920, Wilson had Democratic Senators vote against the League with the Lodge Reservations and the United States never joined the League of Nations.
Final political activities
Roosevelt's attacks on Wilson helped the Republicans win control of Congress in the midterm elections of 1918. He declined a request from New York Republicans to run for another gubernatorial term, but attacked Wilson's Fourteen Points, calling instead for the unconditional surrender of Germany. Though his health was uncertain, he was seen as a leading contender for the 1920 Republican nomination, but insisted that, "If they take me, they'll have to take me without a single modification of the things that I have always stood for! He wrote William Allen White, "I wish to do everything in my power to make the Republican Party the Party of sane, constructive radicalism, just as it was under Lincoln." Accordingly, he told the 1918 state convention of the Maine Republican Party that he stood for old-age pensions, insurance for sickness and unemployment, construction of public housing for low-income families, the reduction of working hours, aid to farmers, and more regulation of large corporations.
While his political profile remained high, Roosevelt's physical condition continued to deteriorate throughout 1918 due to the long-term effects of jungle diseases. He was hospitalized for seven weeks late in the year and never fully recovered.
Death
On the night of January 5, 1919, Roosevelt suffered breathing problems. After receiving treatment from his physician, Dr. George W. Faller, he felt better and went to bed. Roosevelt's last words were "Please put out that light, James" to his family servant James E. Amos. Between 4:00 and 4:15 the next morning, Roosevelt, at the age of 60, died in his sleep at Sagamore Hill after a blood clot detached from a vein and traveled to his lungs.
Upon receiving word of his death, his son Archibald telegraphed his siblings: "The old lion is dead." Woodrow Wilson's vice president, Thomas R. Marshall, said that "Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight." Following a private farewell service in the North Room at Sagamore Hill, a simple funeral was held at Christ Episcopal Church in Oyster Bay. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, Charles Evans Hughes, Warren G. Harding, Henry Cabot Lodge, and William Howard Taft were among the mourners. The snow-covered procession route to Youngs Memorial Cemetery was lined with spectators and a squad of mounted policemen who had ridden from New York City. Roosevelt was buried on a hillside overlooking Oyster Bay.
Writer
Roosevelt was a prolific author, writing with passion on subjects ranging from foreign policy to the importance of the national park system. Roosevelt was also an avid reader of poetry. Poet Robert Frost said that Roosevelt "was our kind. He quoted poetry to me. He knew poetry."
As an editor of Outlook magazine, Roosevelt had weekly access to a large, educated national audience. In all, Roosevelt wrote about 18 books (each in several editions), including his autobiography, The Rough Riders, History of the Naval War of 1812, and others on subjects such as ranching, explorations, and wildlife. His most ambitious book was the four volume narrative The Winning of the West, focused on the American frontier in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Roosevelt said that the American character—indeed a new "American race" (ethnic group) had emerged from the heroic wilderness hunters and Indian fighters, acting on the frontier with little government help. Roosevelt also published an account of his 1909–10 African expedition entitled African Game Trails.
In 1907, Roosevelt became embroiled in a widely publicized literary debate known as the nature fakers controversy. A few years earlier, naturalist John Burroughs had published an article entitled "Real and Sham Natural History" in the Atlantic Monthly, attacking popular writers of the day such as Ernest Thompson Seton, Charles G. D. Roberts, and William J. Long for their fantastical representations of wildlife. Roosevelt agreed with Burroughs's criticisms, and published several essays of his own denouncing the booming genre of "naturalistic" animal stories as "yellow journalism of the woods". It was the President himself who popularized the negative term "nature faker" to describe writers who depicted their animal characters with excessive anthropomorphism.
Character and beliefs
Roosevelt intensely disliked being called "Teddy", despite the widespread public association with said moniker, and was quick to point out this to those who referred to him as such, though it would become widely used by newspapers during his political career.
He was an active Freemason and member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
British scholar Marcus Cunliffe evaluates the liberal argument that Roosevelt was an opportunist, exhibitionist, and imperialist. Cunliffe praises TR's versatility, his respect for law, and his sincerity. He argues that Roosevelt's foreign policy was better than his detractors allege. Cunliffe calls him "a big man in several respects," ranking him below Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson, and on the same level as Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Strenuous life
Roosevelt had a lifelong interest in pursuing what he called, in an 1899 speech, "The Strenuous Life". To this end, he exercised regularly and took up boxing, tennis, hiking, rowing, polo, and horseback riding. He also continued his habit of skinny-dipping in the Potomac River during the winter. As governor of New York, he boxed with sparring partners several times each week, a practice he regularly continued as president until being hit so hard in the face he became blind in his left eye (a fact not made public until many years later). As president, he practiced judo for two 2-month periods in 1902 and 1904, not attaining any rank. Roosevelt began to believe in the utility of jiu-jitsu training after training with Yoshitsugu Yamashita. Concerned that the United States would lose its military supremacy to rising powers like Japan, Roosevelt began to advocate for jiu-jitsu training for American soldiers. Feminists annoyed by the posturing of men like Roosevelt, insisted that women were just as capable of learning jiu-jitsu. To prove their point, Martha Blow Wadsworth and Maria Louise ("Hallie") Davis Elkins hired Fude Yamashita, a highly skilled jiu-jitsu instructor and the wife of Yoshitsugu Yamashita, to teach a jiu-jitsu class for women and girls in Washington, DC in 1904. Women had already begun training in boxing in the United States as a means of personal and political empowerment. Jiu-jitsu training thus soon also became popular with American women, coinciding with the origins of a women's self-defense movement.
Roosevelt was an enthusiastic singlestick player and, according to Harper's Weekly, showed up at a White House reception with his arm bandaged after a bout with General Leonard Wood in 1905. Roosevelt was an avid reader, reading tens of thousands of books, at a rate of several per day in multiple languages. Along with Thomas Jefferson, Roosevelt was the most well-read of all American presidents.
Warrior
Historians have often emphasized Roosevelt's warrior persona. He took aggressive positions regarding war with Spain in 1898, Colombia in 1903, and especially with Germany, from 1915 to 1917. As a demonstration of American naval might, he sent the "Great White Fleet" around the world in 1907–1909. The implicit threat of the "big stick" of military power provided leverage to "speak softly" and quietly resolve conflict in numerous cases. He boasted in his autobiography:
Richard D. White Jr states, "Roosevelt's warrior spirit framed his views of national politics, [and] international relations."
Historian Howard K. Beale has argued:
Religion
Roosevelt attended church regularly and was a lifelong adherent of the Reformed Church in America, an American affiliate of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1907, concerning the motto "In God We Trust" on money, he wrote, "It seems to me eminently unwise to cheapen such a motto by use on coins, just as it would be to cheapen it by use on postage stamps, or in advertisements." Roosevelt talked a great deal about religion. Biographer Edmund Morris states:
Roosevelt publicly encouraged church attendance and was a conscientious churchgoer himself. When gas rationing was introduced during the First World War, he walked the three miles from his home at Sagamore Hill to the local church and back, even after a serious operation had made it difficult for him to travel by foot. It was said that Roosevelt "allowed no engagement to keep him from going to church," and he remained a fervent advocate of the Bible throughout his adult life. According to Christian F. Reisner, writing in 1922 shortly after Roosevelt's death, "Religion was as natural to Mr. Roosevelt as breathing," and when the travel library for Roosevelt's famous Smithsonian-sponsored African expedition was being assembled, the Bible was, according to his sister, "the first book selected." In an address delivered in his home at Oyster Bay to the Long Island Bible Society in 1901, Roosevelt declared that:
Political positions
When he assumed the presidency, Roosevelt reassured many conservatives, stating, "the mechanism of modern business is so delicate that extreme care must be taken not to interfere with it in a spirit of rashness or ignorance." The following year, Roosevelt asserted the president's independence from business interests by opposing the merger which created the Northern Securities Company, and many were surprised that any president, much less an unelected one, would challenge powerful banker J.P. Morgan. In his last two years as president, Roosevelt became increasingly distrustful of big business, despite its close ties to the Republican Party. Roosevelt sought to replace the 19th-century laissez-faire economic environment with a new economic model which included a larger regulatory role for the federal government. He believed that 19th-century entrepreneurs had risked their fortunes on innovations and new businesses, and that these capitalists had been rightly rewarded. By contrast, he believed that 20th-century capitalists risked little but nonetheless reaped huge and, given the lack of risk, unjust, economic rewards. Without a redistribution of wealth away from the upper class, Roosevelt feared that the country would turn to radicals or fall to revolution. His Square Deal domestic program had three main goals: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. The Square Deal evolved into his program of "New Nationalism", which emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests and a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions.
Foreign policy beliefs
In the analysis by Henry Kissinger, Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to develop the guideline that it was America's duty to make its enormous power and potential influence felt globally. The idea of being a passive "city on the hill" model that others could look up to, he rejected. Roosevelt, trained in biology, was a social darwinist who believed in survival of the fittest. The international world in his view was a realm of violence and conflict. The United States had all the economic and geographical potential to be the fittest nation on the globe. The United States had a duty to act decisively. For example, in terms of the Monroe Doctrine, America had to prevent European incursions in the Western Hemisphere. But there was more, as he expressed in his famous Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: the U.S. had to be the policeman of the region because unruly, corrupt smaller nations had to be controlled, and if United States did not do it, European powers would in fact intervene and develop their own base of power in the hemisphere in contravention to the Monroe Doctrine.
Roosevelt was a realist and a conservative. He deplored many of the increasingly popular idealistic liberal themes, such as were promoted by William Jennings Bryan, the anti-imperialists, and Woodrow Wilson. Kissinger says he rejected the efficacy of international law. Roosevelt argue that if a country could not protect its own interests, the international community could not help very much. He ridiculed disarmament proposals that were increasingly common. He saw no likelihood of an international power capable of checking wrongdoing on a major scale. As for world government: I regard the Wilson–Bryan attitude of trusting to fantastic peace treaties, too impossible promises, to all kinds of scraps of paper without any backing in efficient force, as abhorrent. It is infinitely better for a nation and for the world to have the Frederick the Great and Bismarck tradition as regards foreign policy than to have the Bryan or Bryan–Wilson attitude as a permanent national attitude.... A milk-and-water righteousness unbacked by force is...as wicked as and even more mischievous than force divorced from righteousness.
On the positive side, Roosevelt favored spheres of influence, whereby one great power would generally prevail, such as the United States in the Western Hemisphere or Great Britain in the Indian subcontinent. Japan fit that role and he approved. However he had deep distrust of both Germany and Russia.
Legacy
Historians credit Roosevelt for changing the nation's political system by permanently placing the "bully pulpit" of the presidency at center stage and making character as important as the issues. His accomplishments include trust busting and conservationism. He is a hero to liberals and progressives for his proposals in 1907–1912 that presaged the modern welfare state of the New Deal Era, including direct federal taxation, labor reforms, and more direct democracy, while conservationists admire Roosevelt for putting the environment and selflessness towards future generations on the national agenda, and conservatives and nationalists respect his commitment to law and order, civic duty and military values, as well as his personality of individual self-responsibility and hardiness. Dalton says, "Today he is heralded as the architect of the modern presidency, as a world leader who boldly reshaped the office to meet the needs of the new century and redefined America's place in the world."
However, liberals and socialists have criticized him for his interventionist and imperialist approach to nations he considered "uncivilized". Conservatives and libertarians reject his vision of the welfare state and emphasis on the superiority of government over private action. Historians typically rank Roosevelt among the top five presidents in American history.
Persona and masculinity
Dalton says Roosevelt is remembered as, "one of the most picturesque personalities who has ever enlivened the landscape". His friend, historian Henry Adams, proclaimed: "Roosevelt, more than any other man... showed the singular primitive quality that belongs to ultimate matter—the quality that medieval theology assigned to God—he was pure act."
Roosevelt's biographers have stressed his personality. Henry F. Pringle, who won the Pulitzer Prize in biography for his Theodore Roosevelt (1931) stated: "The Theodore Roosevelt of later years was the most adolescent of men… Failure to receive the Medal of Honor for his exploits [in Cuba] had been a grief as real as any of those which swamp childhood in despair. 'You must always remember,' wrote Cecil Spring Rice in 1904, 'that the President is about six.'"
Cooper compared him with Woodrow Wilson and argued that both of them played the roles of warrior and priest. Dalton stressed Roosevelt's strenuous life. Sarah Watts examined the desires of the "Rough Rider in the White House". Brands calls Roosevelt "the last romantic", arguing that his romantic concept of life emerged from his belief that "physical bravery was the highest virtue and war the ultimate test of bravery".
Roosevelt as the exemplar of American masculinity has become a major theme. As president, he repeatedly warned men that they were becoming too office-bound, too complacent, too comfortable with physical ease and moral laxity, and were failing in their duties to propagate the race and exhibit masculine vigor. French historian Serge Ricard says, "the ebullient apostle of the Strenuous Life offers ideal material for a detailed psycho-historical analysis of aggressive manhood in the changing socio-cultural environment of his era; McKinley, Taft, or Wilson would perhaps inadequately serve that purpose". He promoted competitive sports like boxing and jiu-jitsu for physically strengthening American men. He also believed that organizations like the Boy Scouts of America, founded in 1910, could help mold and strengthen the character of American boys. Brands shows that heroic displays of bravery were essential to Roosevelt's image and mission:
Memorials and cultural depictions
Roosevelt was included with Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln at the Mount Rushmore Memorial, designed in 1927 with the approval of Republican President Calvin Coolidge.
For his gallantry at San Juan Hill, Roosevelt's commanders recommended him for the Medal of Honor. However, the initial recommendation lacked any eyewitnesses, and the effort was eventually tainted by Roosevelt's own lobbying of the War Department. In the late 1990s, Roosevelt's supporters again recommended the award, which was denied by the Secretary of the Army on basis that the decorations board determined "Roosevelt's bravery in battle did not rise to the level that would justify the Medal of Honor and, indeed, it did not rise to the level of men who fought in that engagement." Nevertheless, politicians apparently convinced the secretary to reconsider the award a third time and reverse himself, leading to the charge that it was a "politically motivated award." On January 16, 2001, President Bill Clinton awarded Theodore Roosevelt the Medal of Honor posthumously for his charge on San Juan Hill. He is the only president to have received the Medal of Honor.
The United States Navy named two ships for Roosevelt: the , a submarine that was in commission from 1961 to 1982, and the , an aircraft carrier that has been on active duty in the Atlantic Fleet since 1986.
On November 18, 1956, the United States Postal Service released a 6¢ Liberty Issue postage stamp honoring Roosevelt. A 32¢ stamp was issued on February 3, 1998, as part of the Celebrate the Century stamp sheet series. In 2008, Columbia Law School awarded Roosevelt a Juris Doctor degree, posthumously making him a member of the class of 1882.
Roosevelt's "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick" ideology is still quoted by politicians and columnists in different countries—not only in English, but also in translations to various other languages. Another lasting, popular legacy of Roosevelt is the stuffed toy bears—teddy bears—named after him following an incident on a hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902. Roosevelt has been portrayed in films and television series such as Brighty of the Grand Canyon, The Wind and the Lion, Rough Riders, My Friend Flicka, and Law of the Plainsman. Robin Williams portrayed Roosevelt in the form of a wax mannequin that comes to life in Night at the Museum and its sequels Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. In 2017, it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio will portray Roosevelt in a biopic to be directed by Martin Scorsese.
Moreover, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the state of North Dakota is named after him. The America the Beautiful Quarters series features Roosevelt riding a horse on the national park's quarter.
Asteroid 188693 Roosevelt, discovered by astronomers with the Catalina Sky Survey in 2005, was named after him. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on November 8, 2019 ().
In January 2022, after years of lobbying by activists, an equestrian statue of the former president was removed from where it had stood for more than eighty years in front of New York's American Museum of Natural History. Responding to controversy, the museum noted that the design "communicates a racial hierarchy that the museum and members of the public have long found disturbing."
Audiovisual media
Theodore Roosevelt was one of the first presidents whose voice was recorded for posterity. Several of his recorded speeches survive. A 4.6-minute voice recording, which preserves Roosevelt's lower timbre ranges particularly well for its time, is among those available from the Michigan State University libraries (this is the 1912 recording of The Right of the People to Rule, recorded by Edison at Carnegie Hall). The audio clip sponsored by the Authentic History Center includes his defense of the Progressive Party in 1912, wherein he proclaims it the "party of the people" – in contrast with the other major parties.
Roosevelt goes for a ride in Arch Hoxsey's plane in October 1910
In popular culture
Theodore Roosevelt appears as the leader of the American civilization in the Firaxis Games title Civilization VI. His unique ability is Roosevelt Corollary, which gives +5 Combat Strength for all units inside America's home continent, and +1 Appeal to all tiles in cities with a national park.
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
Full biographies
.
.
.
, 105 pp, very short biography by leading scholar.
.; also titled Power and responsibility; the life and times of Theodore Roosevelt online free to borrow
.
.
.
, only volume published, to age 28.
.
.
Personality and activities
.
.
Provides a lesson plan on TR as the historical figure who most exemplifies the quality of masculinity.
. Chronicles the events of TR's presidency during the summers of his two terms.
. The president's use of publicity, rhetoric and force of personality.
; his deadly 1913–14 trip to the Amazon.
, best seller; to 1886.
, to 1884.
. 494 pp.
, examines TR and his family during the World War I period.
.
, 240 pp. TR in Africa & Europe, 1909–10
. 289 pp.
, 337 pp; TR's political thought and its significance for republican self-government.
Domestic policies
online review; another online review
Cutright, P.R. (1985) Theodore Roosevelt: The making of a Modern Conservationist (U of Illinois Press.)
.
, standard history of his domestic and foreign policy as president.
Bakari, Mohamed El-Kamel. "Mapping the 'Anthropocentric-ecocentric'Dualism in the History of American Presidency: The Good, the Bad, and the Ambivalent." Journal of Studies in Social Sciences 14, no. 2 (2016).
.
.
Redekop, Benjamin. (2015). "Embodying the Story: The Conservation Leadership of Theodore Roosevelt". Leadership (2015) DOI:10.1177/1742715014546875 online
.
.
Politics
. How TR did politics.
, 323 pp.
.
.
.
.
. 361 pp.
.
. Focus on 1912; online free
. online free
. Attacks TR policies from conservative/libertarian perspective.
Foreign policy, military and naval issues
. online
. excerpt
.
. 328 pp.
Kuehn, John T. "Theodore Roosevelt’s Naval Diplomacy: The U.S. Navy and the Birth of the American Century," Naval War College Review (2010) 53#3 online
Livermore, Seward W. "Theodore Roosevelt, the American Navy, and the Venezuelan Crisis of 1902-1903." American Historical Review 51.3 (1946): 452–471. online
.
.
Nester, William R. Theodore Roosevelt and the Art of American Power: An American for All Time. Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. excerpt
Neu, Charles E. "Theodore Roosevelt and American Involvement in the Far East, 1901-1909." Pacific Historical Review 35.4 (1966): 433–449. online
O'Gara, Gordon Carpenter. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of the Modern Navy. (Princeton UP, 1943). online
.
Oyos, Matthew M. In Command: Theodore Roosevelt and the American Military (2018) online review
Pietrusza, David (2018). TR's Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy
.
.
.
.
Thompson, John M. Great Power Rising: Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of US Foreign Policy (Oxford UP, 2019).
. 196 pp.
Turk, Richard W. The Ambiguous Relationship: Theodore Roosevelt and Alfred Thayer Mahan (1987) [https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/93/5/1413/70734 online review
Historiography
Cunliffe, Marcus. "Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States 1901–1908" History Today (Sept 1955) 4#9 pp. 592–601, online.
Ricard, Serge. "The State of Theodore Roosevelt Studies" H-Diplo Essay No. 116 24 October 2014 online
, excerpt and text search, 28 new essays by scholars; focus on historiography. online
Primary sources
Kohn, Edward P., ed. A Most Glorious Ride: The Diaries of Theodore Roosevelt, 1877–1886 (State University of New York Press, 2015), 284 pp.
; vol 2
.
, 20 vol.; 18,000 pages containing most of TR's speeches, books and essays, but not his letters; a CD-ROM edition is available; some of TR's books are available online through Project Bartleby
, Roosevelt's opinions on many issues; online version at Theodore Roosevelt.
, 8 vols. Very large collection. vol 1 1868–1898 online free
. online free
.
.
online free to borrow
.
.
.
External links
Official
White House biography
Organizations
Boone and Crockett Club
Theodore Roosevelt Association
Libraries and collections
Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University
Theodore Roosevelt Collection, at the Houghton Library, Harvard University
Julian L. Street Papers on Theodore Roosevelt, at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
Doris A. and Lawrence H. Budner Collection on Theodore Roosevelt at the DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University
Theodore Roosevelt's journalism at The Archive of American Journalism
Theodore Roosevelt American Museum of Natural History
Roosevelt Papers, at the Library of Congress
Guide to the Herbert R. Strauss Collection of Theodore Roosevelt Papers 1884–1919 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
Media
"Life Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, September 3, 1999
"Writings of Theodore Roosevelt" from C-SPAN's American Writers: A Journey Through History
Other
Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt: A Resource Guide – Library of Congress
1858 births
1919 deaths
1900s in the United States
Theodore
19th-century American politicians
19th-century American historians
19th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century presidents of the United States
20th-century vice presidents of the United States
American autobiographers
American conservationists
American essayists
American explorers
American fishers
American hunters
American male judoka
American male non-fiction writers
American military personnel of the Spanish–American War
American naval historians
American Nobel laureates
American political writers
American shooting survivors
Articles containing video clips
American bibliophiles
American people of Dutch descent
Bulloch family
Burials in New York (state)
Columbia Law School alumni
Deaths from pulmonary embolism
New York City Police Commissioners
English-language spelling reform advocates
Explorers of Amazonia
American Freemasons
Governors of New York (state)
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Harvard College alumni
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Members of the New York State Assembly
Military personnel from New York City
New York (state) Progressives (1912)
New York (state) Republicans
Nobel Peace Prize laureates
People associated with the American Museum of Natural History
People from Oyster Bay (town), New York
Politicians from New York City
Presidents of the American Historical Association
Presidents of the United States
Progressive Era in the United States
Ranchers from North Dakota
Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees
Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees
Republican Party presidents of the United States
Republican Party state governors of the United States
Republican Party vice presidents of the United States
Rough Riders
Schuyler family
Sons of the American Revolution
Spanish–American War recipients of the Medal of Honor
United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
United States Army officers
United States Assistant Secretaries of the Navy
Candidates in the 1904 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1912 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1916 United States presidential election
1900 United States vice-presidential candidates
Vice presidents of the United States
Writers from New York (state)
Harvard Advocate alumni
American diarists
American political party founders
Aphorists
American nationalists
20th-century American male writers | false | [
"Edlanka or Yedlanka or mEdlanka or Patha Edlanka is a village in Avanigadda Mandal in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Its pincode is 521121.\n\nGeography \nEdlalanka is located at 16°0'20\"N and 80°54'7\"E.\nIt's an island in the Krishna river delta and is separated from Diviseema by chinnarevu. The village has no embankments or levees to protect itself from floods.\n\n2009 floods and relief efforts \nThe flood in river Krishna has submerged the entire island except for a few pockets. Most of the villagers have been evacuated to Avanigadda. In this process one of the boats overturned and 2 kids lost their lives.\n\n2005 floods \nVillages were evacuated during the 2005 floods.\n\nDemographics \nEdlanka Village Population Census (2005)\n\nHouseholds: 256\nTotal Population: 894\nMale Population: 426\nFemale Population: 468\nKids Under 6 Yrs: 134\nBoys under 6 Yrs: 50\nGirls Under 6 Yrs: 84\nTotal Literates: 380\nTotal Illiterates: 514\n\nGovernment \nThe village does not have proper facilities for portable drinking water. The village does not conform to ARWSP norms.\n\nNotable personalities \n Padmashree Myneni Hariprasada Rao (Scientist)\n Sharwanand (Actor)\n\nReferences \n\nVillages in Krishna district",
"Agni Rekha is a 1973 Bollywood drama film directed by Mahesh Kaul. The film stars Bindu and Sanjeev Kumar.\n\nPlot\nSuresh's (Sanjeev Kumar) wife dies due to some illness leaving behind her mother (Durga Khote) and two children, Chunnu and Munni. Time passed kids grow older. Durga Khote wants Suresh to get married again but Suresh hesitates. Khote's Brother wants his daughter (Bindu) to marry Suresh as he has lot of wealth. But Suresh does not like her. Meanwhile, Munni and Chuunu's teacher goes on month tour leaving behind temporary teacher Nirmala (Sharda). Kids very soon like Nirmala and come very close to her. Suresh after seeing love and affection of Nirmala towards kids start liking her. She too likes Suresh but her past stops her to admit her love towards Suresh. She writes her past in diary and gives to Suresh. In past she had been raped by her father's friend's son. Her drunken father kills him and is imprisoned. The rape leads to Nirmala's pregnancy and she keeps the child in an orphanage. After knowing her past Suresh still loves her and is ready to accept with her child. Suresh tells Khote that he wants to marry Nirmala but Khote after knowing that she mother of child without marriage does not want this marriage to happen. Suresh gives Nirmala's diary to Khote but she does not read it and keeps in locker. Khote asks Nirmala to move out of Suresh life as this marriage would only bring problems to his life. Nirmala leaves city and goes to some Baba in temple and works there. Kids after knowing that there would be new mother has left them run away from home to find Nirmala. On other side Bindu moves in Suresh's house to get marry to him. Suresh tries to find kids but could not. Kids reach the same temple where Nirmala stays and Nirmala informs Suresh that kids are with her. Suresh reaches temple to bring back kids and also asks Nirmala to come back to him for sake of kids. Nirmala agrees to come back only on one condition that she will stay as maid in house and Suresh should marry someone else. Suresh unwillingly agrees to her condition. Suresh's marriage is fixed with Bindu. Depressed and disappointed Suresh becomes alcoholic. Now even Khote realizes that Nirmala and Suresh are true soulmates and Nirmala is best mom for the kids. Finally Bindu leaves with her boyfriend Asrani on day of marriage knowing that Suresh will never give her true love. And Khote accepts Nirmala and Suresh relationship.\n\nCast\nG. Asrani\nBindu\nDurga Khote\nSanjeev Kumar\nSharada\n\nSoundtrack\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1973 films\nIndian films\n1970s Hindi-language films\n1973 drama films\nFilms scored by Kalyanji Anandji\nHindi-language drama films"
]
|
[
"Theodore Roosevelt",
"Early life and family",
"Where did he grow up?",
"at East 20th Street in New York City.",
"did he have siblings?",
"He was the second of four children born",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death,",
"Did he marrry?",
"I don't know.",
"Does he have kids?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_39da91c6b83e45c9a3447a0282510521_1 | Did his father approve of hi studies? | 6 | Did Theodore Roosevelt's father approve of hi studies? | Theodore Roosevelt | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at East 20th Street in New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister, Anna (nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother, Elliott, and a younger sister, Corinne. Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh, and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C.V.S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family. Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for display. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects". Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body. CANNOTANSWER | Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or his initials T. R., was an American politician, statesman, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He previously served as the 25th vice president under William McKinley from March to September 1901, and as the 33rd governor of New York from 1899 to 1900. Having assumed the presidency after McKinley's assassination, Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive policies.
Roosevelt was a sickly child with debilitating asthma but partly overcame his health problems by embracing a strenuous lifestyle. He integrated his exuberant personality, a vast range of interests and achievements into a "cowboy" persona defined by robust masculinity. He was home-schooled and began a lifelong naturalist avocation before attending Harvard. His book The Naval War of 1812 (1882) established his reputation as a learned historian and popular writer. Upon entering politics, he became the leader of the reform faction of Republicans in New York's state legislature. His wife and mother both died in the same night and he was psychologically devastated. He recuperated by buying and operating a cattle ranch in the Dakotas. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President William McKinley and in 1898 helped plan the highly successful naval war against Spain. He resigned to help form and lead the Rough Riders, a unit that fought the Spanish army in Cuba to great publicity. Returning a war hero, he was elected governor of New York in 1898. The New York state party leadership disliked his ambitious agenda and convinced McKinley to make Roosevelt his running mate in the 1900 election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously, and the McKinley–Roosevelt ticket won a landslide victory based on a platform of victory, peace and prosperity.
Roosevelt assumed the presidency at age 42 after McKinley was assassinated in September 1901. He remains the youngest person to become president of the United States. Roosevelt was a leader of the progressive movement and championed his "Square Deal" domestic policies, promising the average citizen fairness, breaking of trusts, regulation of railroads, and pure food and drugs. He prioritized conservation and established national parks, forests, and monuments intended to preserve the nation's natural resources. In foreign policy, he focused on Central America where he began construction of the Panama Canal. He expanded the Navy and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project American naval power. His successful efforts to broker the end of the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize. Roosevelt was elected to a full term in 1904 and continued to promote progressive policies. He groomed his close friend William Howard Taft to succeed him in the 1908 presidential election.
Roosevelt grew frustrated with Taft's brand of conservatism and belatedly tried to win the 1912 Republican nomination for president. He failed, walked out, and founded the Progressive Party. He ran in the 1912 presidential election and the split allowed the Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson to win the election. Following the defeat, Roosevelt led a two-year expedition to the Amazon basin where he nearly died of tropical disease. During World War I, he criticized Wilson for keeping the country out of the war; his offer to lead volunteers to France was rejected. He considered running for president again in 1920, but his health continued to deteriorate. He died in 1919. He is generally ranked in polls of historians and political scientists as one of the five best presidents.
Early life and family
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan, New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister (Anna, nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother (Elliott) and a younger sister (Corinne). Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C. V. S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill as well as a brother of Robert Roosevelt and James A. Roosevelt. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family.
Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for exhibition. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects".
Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body.
A 6-year-old Roosevelt witnessed the funeral procession of Abraham Lincoln from his grandfather's mansion in Union Square, New York City where he was photographed in the window along with his brother Elliott, as confirmed by wife Edith who was also present.
Education
Roosevelt was homeschooled, mostly by tutors and his parents. Biographer H. W. Brands argued that "The most obvious drawback to his home schooling was uneven coverage of the various areas of human knowledge." He was solid in geography and bright in history, biology, French, and German; however, he struggled in mathematics and the classical languages. When he entered Harvard College on September 27, 1876, his father advised: "Take care of your morals first, your health next, and finally your studies." His father's sudden death on February 9, 1878, devastated Roosevelt, but he eventually recovered and doubled his activities.
He did well in science, philosophy, and rhetoric courses but continued to struggle in Latin and Greek. He studied biology intently and was already an accomplished naturalist and a published ornithologist. He read prodigiously with an almost photographic memory. While at Harvard, Roosevelt participated in rowing and boxing; he was once runner-up in an intramural boxing tournament. Roosevelt was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi literary society (later the Fly Club), the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and the prestigious Porcellian Club; he was also an editor of The Harvard Advocate. In 1880, Roosevelt graduated Phi Beta Kappa (22nd of 177) from Harvard with an A.B. magna cum laude. Biographer Henry Pringle states:
After his father's death, Roosevelt had inherited $65,000 (), enough to live off comfortably for the rest of his life. Roosevelt gave up his earlier plan of studying natural science and instead decided to attend Columbia Law School, moving back into his family's home in New York City. Roosevelt was an able law student, but he often found law to be irrational. He spent much of his time writing a book on the War of 1812.
Determined to enter politics, Roosevelt began attending meetings at Morton Hall, the 59th Street headquarters of New York's 21st District Republican Association. Though Roosevelt's father had been a prominent member of the Republican Party, the younger Roosevelt made an unorthodox career choice for someone of his class, as most of Roosevelt's peers refrained from becoming too closely involved in politics. Roosevelt found allies in the local Republican Party, and he defeated an incumbent Republican state assemblyman closely tied to the political machine of Senator Roscoe Conkling. After his election victory, Roosevelt decided to drop out of law school, later saying, "I intended to be one of the governing class."
Naval history and strategy
While at Harvard, Roosevelt began a systematic study of the role played by the young United States Navy in the War of 1812. Assisted by two uncles, he scrutinized original source materials and official U.S. Navy records, ultimately publishing The Naval War of 1812 in 1882. The book contained drawings of individual and combined ship maneuvers, charts depicting the differences in iron throw weights of cannon shot between rival forces, and analyses of the differences and similarities between British and American leadership down to the ship-to-ship level. Upon release, The Naval War of 1812 was praised for its scholarship and style, and it remains a standard study of the war.
With the publication of The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 in 1890, Navy Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan was immediately hailed as the world's outstanding naval theorist by the leaders of Europe. Roosevelt paid very close attention to Mahan's emphasis that only a nation with the world's most powerful fleet could dominate the world's oceans, exert its diplomacy to the fullest, and defend its own borders. He incorporated Mahan's ideas into his views on naval strategy for the remainder of his career.
First marriage and widowerhood
In 1880, Roosevelt married socialite Alice Hathaway Lee. Their daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt, was born on February 12, 1884. Two days later, the new mother died of an undiagnosed case of kidney failure that had been masked by the pregnancy. In his diary, Roosevelt wrote a large 'X' on the page and then, "The light has gone out of my life." His mother, Mittie, had died of typhoid fever eleven hours earlier at 3:00 a.m., in the same house on 57th Street in Manhattan. Distraught, Roosevelt left baby Alice in the care of his sister Bamie while he grieved; he assumed custody of Alice when she was three.
After the deaths of his wife and mother, Roosevelt focused on his work, specifically by re-energizing a legislative investigation into corruption of the New York City government, which arose from a concurrent bill proposing that power be centralized in the mayor's office. For the rest of his life, he rarely spoke about his wife Alice and did not write about her in his autobiography.
Early political career
State Assemblyman
Roosevelt was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 21st D.) in 1882, 1883 and 1884. He immediately began making his mark, specifically in corporate corruption issues. He blocked a corrupt effort by financier Jay Gould to lower his taxes. Roosevelt exposed suspected collusion in the matter by Judge Theodore Westbrook, and argued for and received approval for an investigation to proceed, aiming for the impeachment of the judge. The investigation committee rejected impeachment, but Roosevelt had exposed the potential corruption in Albany, and thus assumed a high and positive political profile in multiple New York publications.
Roosevelt's anti-corruption efforts helped him win re-election in 1882 by a margin greater than two-to-one, an achievement made even more impressive by the fact that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Grover Cleveland won Roosevelt's district. With Conkling's Stalwart faction of the Republican Party in disarray following the assassination of President James Garfield, Roosevelt won election as the Republican party leader in the state assembly. He allied with Governor Cleveland to win passage of a civil service reform bill. Roosevelt won re-election a second time, and sought the office of Speaker of the New York State Assembly, but was defeated by Titus Sheard in a 41 to 29 vote of the GOP caucus. In his final term, Roosevelt served as Chairman of the Committee on Affairs of Cities; he wrote more bills than any other legislator.
Presidential election of 1884
With numerous presidential hopefuls to choose from, Roosevelt supported Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont, a colorless reformer. The state GOP preferred the incumbent president, New York City's Chester Arthur, who was known for passing the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. Arthur, at the time, was suffering from Bright's disease, unknown to the public, and out of duty he did not contest his own nomination. Roosevelt fought hard and succeeded in influencing the Manhattan delegates at the state convention in Utica. He then took control of the state convention, bargaining through the night and outmaneuvering the supporters of Arthur and James G. Blaine; he gained a national reputation as a key person in New York State.
Roosevelt attended the 1884 GOP National Convention in Chicago and gave a speech convincing delegates to nominate African American John R. Lynch, an Edmunds supporter, to be temporary chair. Roosevelt fought alongside the Mugwump reformers; however, Blaine, having gained support from Arthur's and Edmunds's delegates, won the nomination by 541 votes on the fourth ballot. In a crucial moment of his budding political career, Roosevelt resisted the demand of the Mugwumps that he bolt from Blaine. He bragged about his one small success: "We achieved a victory in getting up a combination to beat the Blaine nominee for temporary chairman... To do this needed a mixture of skill, boldness and energy... to get the different factions to come in... to defeat the common foe." He was also impressed by an invitation to speak before an audience of ten thousand, the largest crowd he had addressed up to that date. Having gotten a taste of national politics, Roosevelt felt less aspiration for advocacy on the state level; he then retired to his new "Chimney Butte Ranch" on the Little Missouri River. Roosevelt refused to join other Mugwumps in supporting Grover Cleveland, the governor of New York and the Democratic nominee in the general election. He debated the pros and cons of staying loyal with his political friend, Henry Cabot Lodge. After Blaine won the nomination, Roosevelt had carelessly said that he would give "hearty support to any decent Democrat". He distanced himself from the promise, saying that it had not been meant "for publication". When a reporter asked if he would support Blaine, Roosevelt replied, "That question I decline to answer. It is a subject I do not care to talk about." In the end, he realized that he had to support Blaine to maintain his role in the GOP, and he did so in a press release on July 19. Having lost the support of many reformers, Roosevelt decided to retire from politics and move to North Dakota.
Cattle rancher in Dakota
Roosevelt first visited the Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt bison. Exhilarated by the western lifestyle, and with the cattle business booming in the territory, Roosevelt invested $14,000 in hopes of becoming a prosperous cattle rancher. For the next several years, he shuttled between his home in New York and his ranch in Dakota.
Following the 1884 presidential election, Roosevelt built a ranch named Elkhorn, which was north of the boomtown of Medora, North Dakota. Roosevelt learned to ride western style, rope, and hunt on the banks of the Little Missouri. Though he earned the respect of the authentic cowboys, they were not overly impressed. However, he identified with the herdsman of history, a man he said possesses "few of the emasculated, milk-and-water moralities admired by the pseudo-philanthropists; but he does possess, to a very high degree, the stern, manly qualities that are invaluable to a nation". He reoriented, and began writing about frontier life for national magazines; he also published three books – Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, and The Wilderness Hunter.
Roosevelt brought his desire to address the common interests of citizens to the West. He successfully led efforts to organize ranchers to address problems of overgrazing and other shared concerns; his work resulted in the formation of the Little Missouri Stockmen's Association. He felt compelled to promote conservation and was able to form the Boone and Crockett Club, whose primary goal was the conservation of large game animals and their habitats. After the uniquely severe US winter of 1886–87 wiped out his herd of cattle and those of his competitors, and with it over half of his $80,000 investment, Roosevelt returned to the East. Though his finances suffered from the experience, Roosevelt's time in the West made it impossible to peg him as an ineffectual intellectual, a characterization that could have hampered his political career.
Second marriage
On December 2, 1886, Roosevelt married his childhood and family friend, Edith Kermit Carow. Roosevelt was deeply troubled that his second marriage had taken place so soon after the death of his first wife, and he faced resistance from his sisters. Nonetheless, the couple married at St George's, Hanover Square in London, England. The couple had five children: Theodore "Ted" III in 1887, Kermit in 1889, Ethel in 1891, Archibald in 1894, and Quentin in 1897. The couple also raised Roosevelt's daughter from his first marriage, Alice, who often clashed with her stepmother.
Reentering public life
Upon Roosevelt's return to New York in 1886, Republican leaders quickly approached him about running for mayor of New York City in the city's mayoral election. Roosevelt accepted the nomination despite having little hope of winning the race against United Labor Party candidate Henry George and Democratic candidate Abram Hewitt. Roosevelt campaigned hard for the position, but Hewitt won with 41% (90,552 votes), taking the votes of many Republicans who feared George's radical policies. George was held to 31% (68,110 votes), and Roosevelt took third place with 27% (60,435 votes). Fearing that his political career might never recover, Roosevelt turned his attention to writing The Winning of the West, a historical work tracking the westward movement of Americans; the book was a great success for Roosevelt, earning favorable reviews and selling numerous copies.
Civil Service Commission
After Benjamin Harrison unexpectedly defeated Blaine for the presidential nomination at the 1888 Republican National Convention, Roosevelt gave stump speeches in the Midwest in support of Harrison. On the insistence of Henry Cabot Lodge, President Harrison appointed Roosevelt to the United States Civil Service Commission, where he served until 1895. While many of his predecessors had approached the office as a sinecure, Roosevelt vigorously fought the spoilsmen and demanded enforcement of civil service laws. The New York Sun then described Roosevelt as "irrepressible, belligerent, and enthusiastic". Roosevelt frequently clashed with Postmaster General John Wanamaker, who handed out numerous patronage positions to Harrison supporters, and Roosevelt's attempt to force out several postal workers damaged Harrison politically. Despite Roosevelt's support for Harrison's reelection bid in the presidential election of 1892, the eventual winner, Grover Cleveland, reappointed him to the same post. Roosevelt's close friend and biographer, Joseph Bucklin Bishop, described his assault on the spoils system:
New York City Police Commissioner
In 1894, a group of reform Republicans approached Roosevelt about running for Mayor of New York again; he declined, mostly due to his wife's resistance to being removed from the Washington social set. Soon after he declined, he realized that he had missed an opportunity to reinvigorate a dormant political career. He retreated to the Dakotas for a time; his wife Edith regretted her role in the decision and vowed that there would be no repeat of it.
William Lafayette Strong, a reform-minded Republican, won the 1894 mayoral election and offered Roosevelt a position on the board of the New York City Police Commissioners. Roosevelt became president of the board of commissioners and radically reformed the police force. Roosevelt implemented regular inspections of firearms and annual physical exams, appointed recruits based on their physical and mental qualifications rather than political affiliation, established Meritorious Service Medals, and closed corrupt police hostelries. During his tenure, a Municipal Lodging House was established by the Board of Charities, and Roosevelt required officers to register with the Board; he also had telephones installed in station houses.
In 1894, Roosevelt met Jacob Riis, the muckraking Evening Sun newspaper journalist who was opening the eyes of New Yorkers to the terrible conditions of the city's millions of poor immigrants with such books as How the Other Half Lives. Riis described how his book affected Roosevelt:
Roosevelt made a habit of walking officers' beats late at night and early in the morning to make sure that they were on duty. He made a concerted effort to uniformly enforce New York's Sunday closing law; in this, he ran up against boss Tom Platt as well as Tammany Hall—he was notified that the Police Commission was being legislated out of existence. His crackdowns led to protests and demonstrations. Invited to one large demonstration, not only did he surprisingly accept, he delighted in the insults, caricatures and lampoons directed at him, and earned some surprising good will. Roosevelt chose to defer rather than split with his party. As Governor of New York State, he would later sign an act replacing the Police Commission with a single Police Commissioner.
Emergence as a national figure
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
In the 1896 presidential election, Roosevelt backed Speaker of the House Thomas Brackett Reed for the Republican nomination, but William McKinley won the nomination and defeated William Jennings Bryan in the general election. Roosevelt opposed Bryan's free silver platform, viewing many of Bryan's followers as dangerous fanatics, and Roosevelt gave campaign speeches for McKinley. Urged by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, President McKinley appointed Roosevelt as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897. Secretary of the Navy John D. Long was more concerned about formalities than functions, was in poor health, and left many major decisions to Roosevelt. Influenced by Alfred Thayer Mahan, Roosevelt called for a build-up in the country's naval strength, particularly the construction of battleships. Roosevelt also began pressing his national security views regarding the Pacific and the Caribbean on McKinley, and was particularly adamant that Spain be ejected from Cuba. He explained his priorities to one of the Navy's planners in late 1897:
On February 15, 1898, , an armored cruiser, exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, killing hundreds of crew members. While Roosevelt and many other Americans blamed Spain for the explosion, McKinley sought a diplomatic solution. Without approval from Long or McKinley, Roosevelt sent out orders to several naval vessels, directing them to prepare for war. George Dewey, who had received an appointment to lead the Asiatic Squadron with the backing of Roosevelt, later credited his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay to Roosevelt's orders. After finally giving up hope of a peaceful solution, McKinley asked Congress to declare war upon Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War.
War in Cuba
With the beginning of the Spanish–American War in late April 1898, Roosevelt resigned from his post as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Along with Army Colonel Leonard Wood, he formed the First US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. His wife and many of his friends begged Roosevelt to remain in his post in Washington, but Roosevelt was determined to see battle. When the newspapers reported the formation of the new regiment, Roosevelt and Wood were flooded with applications from all over the country. Referred to by the press as the "Rough Riders", the regiment was one of many temporary units active only for the duration of the war.
The regiment trained for several weeks in San Antonio, Texas, and in his autobiography, Roosevelt wrote that his prior experience with the New York National Guard had been invaluable, in that it enabled him to immediately begin teaching his men basic soldiering skills. The Rough Riders used some standard issue gear and some of their own design, purchased with gift money. Diversity characterized the regiment, which included Ivy Leaguers, professional and amateur athletes, upscale gentlemen, cowboys, frontiersmen, Native Americans, hunters, miners, prospectors, former soldiers, tradesmen, and sheriffs. The Rough Riders were part of the cavalry division commanded by former Confederate general Joseph Wheeler, which itself was one of three divisions in the V Corps under Lieutenant General William Rufus Shafter. Roosevelt and his men landed in Daiquirí, Cuba, on June 23, 1898, and marched to Siboney. Wheeler sent parts of the 1st and 10th Regular Cavalry on the lower road northwest and sent the "Rough Riders" on the parallel road running along a ridge up from the beach. To throw off his infantry rival, Wheeler left one regiment of his Cavalry Division, the 9th, at Siboney so that he could claim that his move north was only a limited reconnaissance if things went wrong. Roosevelt was promoted to colonel and took command of the regiment when Wood was put in command of the brigade. The Rough Riders had a short, minor skirmish known as the Battle of Las Guasimas; they fought their way through Spanish resistance and, together with the Regulars, forced the Spaniards to abandon their positions.
Under his leadership, the Rough Riders became famous for the charge up Kettle Hill on July 1, 1898, while supporting the regulars. Roosevelt had the only horse, and rode back and forth between rifle pits at the forefront of the advance up Kettle Hill, an advance that he urged despite the absence of any orders from superiors. He was forced to walk up the last part of Kettle Hill because his horse had been entangled in barbed wire. The victories came at a cost of 200 killed and 1,000 wounded.
In August, Roosevelt and other officers demanded that the soldiers be returned home. Roosevelt always recalled the Battle of Kettle Hill (part of the San Juan Heights) as "the great day of my life" and "my crowded hour". In 2001, Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions; he had been nominated during the war, but Army officials, annoyed at his grabbing the headlines, blocked it. After returning to civilian life, Roosevelt preferred to be known as "Colonel Roosevelt" or "The Colonel", though "Teddy" remained much more popular with the public, even though Roosevelt openly despised that moniker. Men working closely with Roosevelt customarily called him "Colonel" or "Theodore". Henceforth, political cartoons of Roosevelt usually depicted him in his Rough Rider garb.
Governor of New York
After leaving Cuba in August 1898, the Rough Riders were transported to a camp at Montauk Point, Long Island, where Roosevelt and his men were briefly quarantined due to the War Department's fear of spreading yellow fever. Shortly after Roosevelt's return to the United States, Republican Congressman Lemuel E. Quigg, a lieutenant of party boss Tom Platt, asked Roosevelt to run in the 1898 gubernatorial election. Platt disliked Roosevelt personally, feared that Roosevelt would oppose Platt's interests in office, and was reluctant to propel Roosevelt to the forefront of national politics. However, Platt also needed a strong candidate due to the unpopularity of the incumbent Republican governor, Frank S. Black, and Roosevelt agreed to become the nominee and to try not to "make war" with the Republican establishment once in office. Roosevelt defeated Black in the Republican caucus by a vote of 753 to 218, and faced Democrat Augustus Van Wyck, a well-respected judge, in the general election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously on his war record, winning the election by a margin of just one percent.
As governor, Roosevelt learned much about ongoing economic issues and political techniques that later proved valuable in his presidency. He was exposed to the problems of trusts, monopolies, labor relations, and conservation. Chessman argues that Roosevelt's program "rested firmly upon the concept of the square deal by a neutral state". The rules for the Square Deal were "honesty in public affairs, an equitable sharing of privilege and responsibility, and subordination of party and local concerns to the interests of the state at large".
By holding twice-daily press conferences—which was an innovation—Roosevelt remained connected with his middle-class political base. Roosevelt successfully pushed the Ford Franchise-Tax bill, which taxed public franchises granted by the state and controlled by corporations, declaring that "a corporation which derives its powers from the State, should pay to the State a just percentage of its earnings as a return for the privileges it enjoys". He rejected "boss" Thomas C. Platt's worries that this approached Bryanite Socialism, explaining that without it, New York voters might get angry and adopt public ownership of streetcar lines and other franchises.
The New York state government affected many interests, and the power to make appointments to policy-making positions was a key role for the governor. Platt insisted that he be consulted on major appointments; Roosevelt appeared to comply, but then made his own decisions. Historians marvel that Roosevelt managed to appoint so many first-rate men with Platt's approval. He even enlisted Platt's help in securing reform, such as in the spring of 1899, when Platt pressured state senators to vote for a civil service bill that the secretary of the Civil Service Reform Association called "superior to any civil service statute heretofore secured in America".
Chessman argues that as governor, Roosevelt developed the principles that shaped his presidency, especially insistence upon the public responsibility of large corporations, publicity as a first remedy for trusts, regulation of railroad rates, mediation of the conflict of capital and labor, conservation of natural resources and protection of the less fortunate members of society. Roosevelt sought to position himself against the excesses of large corporations on the one hand and radical movements on the other.
As the chief executive of the most populous state in the union, Roosevelt was widely considered a potential future presidential candidate, and supporters such as William Allen White encouraged him to run for president. Roosevelt had no interest in challenging McKinley for the Republican nomination in 1900, and was denied his preferred post of Secretary of War. As his term progressed, Roosevelt pondered a 1904 presidential run, but was uncertain about whether he should seek re-election as governor in 1900.
Vice Presidency (1901)
In November 1899, Vice President Garret Hobart died of heart failure, leaving an open spot on the 1900 Republican national ticket. Though Henry Cabot Lodge and others urged him to run for vice president in 1900, Roosevelt was reluctant to take the powerless position and issued a public statement saying that he would not accept the nomination. Additionally, Roosevelt was informed by President McKinley and campaign manager Mark Hanna that he was not being considered for the role of vice president due to his actions prior to the Spanish–American War. Eager to be rid of Roosevelt, Platt nonetheless began a newspaper campaign in favor of Roosevelt's nomination for the vice presidency. Roosevelt attended the 1900 Republican National Convention as a state delegate and struck a bargain with Platt: Roosevelt would accept the nomination for vice president if the convention offered it to him, but would otherwise serve another term as governor. Platt asked Pennsylvania party boss Matthew Quay to lead the campaign for Roosevelt's nomination, and Quay outmaneuvered Hanna at the convention to put Roosevelt on the ticket. Roosevelt won the nomination unanimously.
Roosevelt's vice-presidential campaigning proved highly energetic and an equal match for Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan's famous barnstorming style of campaigning. In a whirlwind campaign that displayed his energy to the public, Roosevelt made 480 stops in 23 states. He denounced the radicalism of Bryan, contrasting it with the heroism of the soldiers and sailors who fought and won the war against Spain. Bryan had strongly supported the war itself, but he denounced the annexation of the Philippines as imperialism, which would spoil America's innocence. Roosevelt countered that it was best for the Filipinos to have stability and the Americans to have a proud place in the world. With the nation basking in peace and prosperity, the voters gave McKinley an even larger victory than that which he had achieved in 1896.
After the campaign, Roosevelt took office as vice president in March 1901. The office of vice president was a powerless sinecure and did not suit Roosevelt's aggressive temperament. Roosevelt's six months as vice president were uneventful and boring for a man of action. He had no power; he presided over the Senate for a mere four days before it adjourned. On September 2, 1901, Roosevelt first publicized an aphorism that thrilled his supporters: "Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far."
Presidency (1901–1909)
On September 6, 1901, President McKinley was attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York when he was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Roosevelt was vacationing in Isle La Motte, Vermont, and traveled to Buffalo to visit McKinley in the hospital. It appeared that McKinley would recover, so Roosevelt resumed his vacation in the Adirondack Mountains. When McKinley's condition worsened, Roosevelt again rushed back to Buffalo. McKinley died on September 14, and Roosevelt was informed while he was in North Creek; he continued on to Buffalo and was sworn in as the nation's 26th president at the Ansley Wilcox House.
McKinley's supporters were nervous about the new president, and Hanna was particularly bitter that the man he had opposed so vigorously at the convention had succeeded McKinley. Roosevelt assured party leaders that he intended to adhere to McKinley's policies, and he retained McKinley's Cabinet. Nonetheless, Roosevelt sought to position himself as the party's undisputed leader, seeking to bolster the role of the president and position himself for the 1904 election. The vice presidency remained vacant, as there was no constitutional provision for filling an intra-term vacancy in that office (prior to the 25th Amendment in 1967).
Shortly after taking office, Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House. This sparked a bitter, and at times vicious, reaction among whites across the heavily segregated South. Roosevelt reacted with astonishment and protest, saying that he looked forward to many future dinners with Washington. Upon further reflection, Roosevelt wanted to ensure that this had no effect on political support in the white South, and further dinner invitations to Washington were avoided; their next meeting was scheduled as typical business at 10:00 a.m. instead.
Domestic policies
Trust busting and regulation
For his aggressive use of the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act, compared to his predecessors, Roosevelt was hailed as the "trust-buster"; but in reality he was more of a trust regulator. Roosevelt viewed big business as a necessary part of the American economy, and sought only to prosecute the "bad trusts" that restrained trade and charged unfair prices. He brought 44 antitrust suits, breaking up the Northern Securities Company, the largest railroad monopoly; and regulating Standard Oil, the largest oil company. Presidents Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley combined had prosecuted only 18 antitrust violations under the Sherman Antitrust Act.
Bolstered by his party's winning large majorities in the 1902 elections, Roosevelt proposed the creation of the United States Department of Commerce and Labor, which would include the Bureau of Corporations. While Congress was receptive to the Department of Commerce and Labor, it was more skeptical of the antitrust powers that Roosevelt sought to endow within the Bureau of Corporations. Roosevelt successfully appealed to the public to pressure Congress, and Congress overwhelmingly voted to pass Roosevelt's version of the bill.
In a moment of frustration, House Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon commented on Roosevelt's desire for executive branch control in domestic policy-making: "That fellow at the other end of the avenue wants everything from the birth of Christ to the death of the devil." Biographer Brands states, "Even his friends occasionally wondered whether there wasn't any custom or practice too minor for him to try to regulate, update or otherwise improve." In fact, Roosevelt's willingness to exercise his power included attempted rule changes in the game of football; at the Naval Academy, he sought to force retention of martial arts classes and to revise disciplinary rules. He even ordered changes made in the minting of a coin whose design he disliked, and ordered the Government Printing Office to adopt simplified spellings for a core list of 300 words, according to reformers on the Simplified Spelling Board. He was forced to rescind the latter after substantial ridicule from the press and a resolution of protest from the House of Representatives.
Coal strike
In May 1902, anthracite coal miners went on strike, threatening a national energy shortage. After threatening the coal operators with intervention by federal troops, Roosevelt won their agreement to dispute arbitration by a commission, which succeeded in stopping the strike. The accord with J. P. Morgan resulted in the miners getting more pay for fewer hours, but with no union recognition. Roosevelt said, "My action on labor should always be considered in connection with my action as regards capital, and both are reducible to my favorite formula—a square deal for every man." Roosevelt was the first president to help settle a labor dispute.
Prosecuted misconduct
During Roosevelt's second year in office it was discovered there was corruption in the Indian Service, the Land Office, and the Post Office Department. Roosevelt investigated and prosecuted corrupt Indian agents who had cheated the Creeks and various tribes out of land parcels. Land fraud and speculation were found involving Oregon federal timberlands. In November 1902, Roosevelt and Secretary Ethan A. Hitchcock forced Binger Hermann, the General Land Office Commissioner, to resign from office. On November 6, 1903 Francis J. Heney was appointed special prosecutor and obtained 146 indictments involving an Oregon Land Office bribery ring. U.S. Senator John H. Mitchell was indicted for bribery to expedite illegal land patents, found guilty in July 1905, and sentenced to six months in prison. More corruption was found in the Postal Department, that brought on the indictments of 44 government employees on charges of bribery and fraud. Historians generally agree that Roosevelt moved "quickly and decisively" to prosecute misconduct in his administration.
Railroads
Merchants complained that some railroad rates were too high. In the 1906 Hepburn Act, Roosevelt sought to give the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to regulate rates, but the Senate, led by conservative Nelson Aldrich, fought back. Roosevelt worked with the Democratic Senator Benjamin Tillman to pass the bill. Roosevelt and Aldrich ultimately reached a compromise that gave the ICC the power to replace existing rates with "just-and-reasonable" maximum rates, but allowed railroads to appeal to the federal courts on what was "reasonable". In addition to rate-setting, the Hepburn Act also granted the ICC regulatory power over pipeline fees, storage contracts, and several other aspects of railroad operations.
Pure food and drugs
Roosevelt responded to public anger over the abuses in the food packing industry by pushing Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act. Though conservatives initially opposed the bill, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, published in 1906, helped galvanize support for reform. The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 banned misleading labels and preservatives that contained harmful chemicals. The Pure Food and Drug Act banned food and drugs that were impure or falsely labeled from being made, sold, and shipped. Roosevelt also served as honorary president of the American School Hygiene Association from 1907 to 1908, and in 1909 he convened the first White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children.
Conservation
Of all Roosevelt's achievements, he was proudest of his work in the conservation of natural resources and extending federal protection to land and wildlife. Roosevelt worked closely with Interior Secretary James Rudolph Garfield and Chief of the United States Forest Service Gifford Pinchot to enact a series of conservation programs that often met with resistance from Western members of Congress, such as Charles William Fulton. Nonetheless, Roosevelt established the United States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of five National Parks, and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 new U.S. National Monuments. He also established the first 51 bird reserves, four game preserves, and 150 National Forests. The area of the United States that he placed under public protection totals approximately .
Roosevelt extensively used executive orders on a number of occasions to protect forest and wildlife lands during his tenure as president. By the end of his second term in office, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish of reserved forestry land. Roosevelt was unapologetic about his extensive use of executive orders to protect the environment, despite the perception in Congress that he was encroaching on too many lands. Eventually, Senator Charles Fulton (R-OR) attached an amendment to an agricultural appropriations bill that effectively prevented the president from reserving any further land. Before signing that bill into law, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish an additional 21 forest reserves, waiting until the last minute to sign the bill into law. In total, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish 121 forest reserves in 31 states. Prior to Roosevelt, only one president had issued over 200 executive orders, Grover Cleveland (253). The first 25 presidents issued a total of 1,262 executive orders; Roosevelt issued 1,081.
Foreign policy
Japan
The American annexation of Hawaii in 1898 was stimulated in part by fear that otherwise Japan would dominate the Hawaiian Republic. Similarly, Germany was the alternative to American takeover of the Philippines in 1900, and Tokyo strongly preferred the U.S. to take over. As the U.S. became a naval world power, it needed to find a way to avoid a military confrontation in the Pacific with Japan.
In the 1890s, Roosevelt had been an ardent imperialist and vigorously defended the permanent acquisition of the Philippines in the 1900 campaign. After the local insurrection ended in 1902, he largely lost his imperialist interest in the Philippines and Asian expansion but wished to have a strong U.S. presence in the region as a symbol of democratic values. One of Theodore Roosevelt's priorities during his presidency and afterwards, was the maintenance of friendly relations with Japan. From 1904 to 1905 Japan and Russia were at war. Roosevelt admired the martial courage of the Japanese, and distrusted the reckless German Kaiser. Both sides asked Roosevelt to mediate a peace conference, held successfully in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
In California, anti-Japanese hostility was growing, and Tokyo protested. Roosevelt negotiated a "Gentleman's Agreement" in 1907. Explicit discrimination against the Japanese was ended, and Japan agreed not to allow unskilled immigrants into the United States. The Great White Fleet of American battleships visited Japan in 1908. Pulitzer prize-winning biographer Henry Pringle states that the great voyage was "the direct result of the Japanese trouble." Roosevelt intended to emphasize the superiority of the American fleet over the smaller Japanese navy, but instead of resentment the visitors arrived to a joyous welcome by Japanese elite as well as the general public. This good-will facilitated the Root–Takahira Agreement of November 1908 which reaffirmed the status quo of Japanese control of Korea and American control of the Philippines.
Europe
Success in the war against Spain and the new empire, plus having the largest economy in the world, meant that the United States had emerged as a world power. Roosevelt searched for ways to win recognition for the position abroad.
Roosevelt also played a major role in mediating the First Moroccan Crisis by calling the Algeciras Conference, which averted war between France and Germany.
Roosevelt's presidency saw the strengthening of ties with Great Britain. The Great Rapprochement had begun with British support of the United States during the Spanish–American War, and it continued as Britain withdrew its fleet from the Caribbean in favor of focusing on the rising German naval threat. In 1901, Britain and the United States signed the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, abrogating the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty, which had prevented the United States from constructing a canal connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. The long-standing Alaska boundary dispute was settled on terms favorable to the United States, as Great Britain was unwilling to alienate the United States over what it considered to be a secondary issue. As Roosevelt later put it, the resolution of the Alaskan boundary dispute "settled the last serious trouble between the British Empire and ourselves."
Latin America and Panama Canal
As president, he primarily focused the nation's overseas ambitions on the Caribbean, especially locations that had a bearing on the defense of his pet project, the Panama Canal. Roosevelt also increased the size of the navy, and by the end of his second term the United States had more battleships than any other country besides Britain. The Panama Canal when it opened in 1914 allowed the U.S. Navy to rapidly move back and forth from the Pacific to the Caribbean to European waters.
In December 1902, the Germans, British, and Italians blockaded the ports of Venezuela in order to force the repayment of delinquent loans. Roosevelt was particularly concerned with the motives of German Emperor Wilhelm II. He succeeded in getting the three nations to agree to arbitration by tribunal at The Hague, and successfully defused the crisis. The latitude granted to the Europeans by the arbiters was in part responsible for the "Roosevelt Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which the President issued in 1904: "Chronic wrongdoing or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere, the adherence of the United States to the Monroe doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power."
The pursuit of an isthmus canal in Central America during this period focused on two possible routes—Nicaragua and Panama, which was then a rebellious district within Colombia. Roosevelt convinced Congress to approve the Panamanian alternative, and a treaty was approved, only to be rejected by the Colombian government. When the Panamanians learned of this, a rebellion followed, was supported by Roosevelt, and succeeded. A treaty with the new Panama government for construction of the canal was then reached in 1903. Roosevelt received criticism for paying the bankrupt Panama Canal Company and the New Panama Canal Company $40,000,000 (equivalent to $ billion in ) for the rights and equipment to build the canal. Critics charged that an American investor syndicate allegedly divided the large payment among themselves. There was also controversy over whether a French company engineer influenced Roosevelt in choosing the Panama route for the canal over the Nicaragua route. Roosevelt denied charges of corruption concerning the canal in a January 8, 1906 message to Congress. In January 1909, Roosevelt, in an unprecedented move, brought criminal libel charges against the New York World and the Indianapolis News known as the "Roosevelt-Panama Libel Cases". Both cases were dismissed by U.S. District Courts, and on January 3, 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court, upon federal appeal, upheld the lower courts' rulings. Historians are sharply critical of Roosevelt's criminal prosecutions of the World and the News, but are divided on whether actual corruption in acquiring and building the Panama Canal took place.
In 1906, following a disputed election, an insurrection ensued in Cuba; Roosevelt sent Taft, the Secretary of War, to monitor the situation; he was convinced that he had the authority to unilaterally authorize Taft to deploy Marines if necessary, without congressional approval.
Examining the work of numerous scholars, Ricard (2014) reports that:
The most striking evolution in the twenty-first-century historiography of Theodore Roosevelt is the switch from a partial arraignment of the imperialist to a quasi-unanimous celebration of the master diplomatist.... [Recent works] have underlined cogently Roosevelt's exceptional statesmanship in the construction of the nascent twentieth-century "special relationship". ...The twenty-sixth president's reputation as a brilliant diplomatist and realpolitician has undeniably reached new heights in the twenty-first century...yet, his Philippine policy still prompts criticism.
Media
Building on McKinley's effective use of the press, Roosevelt made the White House the center of news every day, providing interviews and photo opportunities. After noticing the reporters huddled outside the White House in the rain one day, he gave them their own room inside, effectively inventing the presidential press briefing. The grateful press, with unprecedented access to the White House, rewarded Roosevelt with ample coverage.
Roosevelt normally enjoyed very close relationships with the press, which he used to keep in daily contact with his middle-class base. While out of office, he made a living as a writer and magazine editor. He loved talking with intellectuals, authors, and writers. He drew the line, however, at exposé-oriented scandal-mongering journalists who, during his term, sent magazine subscriptions soaring by their attacks on corrupt politicians, mayors, and corporations. Roosevelt himself was not usually a target, but a speech of his from 1906 coined the term "muckraker" for unscrupulous journalists making wild charges. "The liar", he said, "is no whit better than the thief, and if his mendacity takes the form of slander he may be worse than most thieves."
The press did briefly target Roosevelt in one instance. After 1904, he was periodically criticized for the manner in which he facilitated the construction of the Panama Canal. According to biographer Brands, Roosevelt, near the end of his term, demanded that the Justice Department bring charges of criminal libel against Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. The publication had accused him of "deliberate misstatements of fact" in defense of family members who were criticized as a result of the Panama affair. Though an indictment was obtained, the case was ultimately dismissed in federal court—it was not a federal offense, but one enforceable in state courts. The Justice Department had predicted that result, and had also advised Roosevelt accordingly.
Election of 1904
The control and management of the Republican Party lay in the hands of Ohio Senator and Republican Party chairman Mark Hanna until McKinley's death. Roosevelt and Hanna frequently cooperated during Roosevelt's first term, but Hanna left open the possibility of a challenge to Roosevelt for the 1904 Republican nomination. Roosevelt and Ohio's other Senator, Joseph B. Foraker, forced Hanna's hand by calling for Ohio's state Republican convention to endorse Roosevelt for the 1904 nomination. Unwilling to break with the president, Hanna was forced to publicly endorse Roosevelt. Hanna and Pennsylvania Senator Matthew Quay both died in early 1904, and with the waning of Thomas Platt's power, Roosevelt faced little effective opposition for the 1904 nomination. In deference to Hanna's conservative loyalists, Roosevelt at first offered the party chairmanship to Cornelius Bliss, but he declined. Roosevelt turned to his own man, George B. Cortelyou of New York, the first Secretary of Commerce and Labor. To buttress his hold on the party's nomination, Roosevelt made it clear that anyone opposing Cortelyou would be considered to be opposing the President. The President secured his own nomination, but his preferred vice-presidential running mate, Robert R. Hitt, was not nominated. Senator Charles Warren Fairbanks of Indiana, a favorite of conservatives, gained the nomination.
While Roosevelt followed the tradition of incumbents in not actively campaigning on the stump, he sought to control the campaign's message through specific instructions to Cortelyou. He also attempted to manage the press's release of White House statements by forming the Ananias Club. Any journalist who repeated a statement made by the president without approval was penalized by restriction of further access.
The Democratic Party's nominee in 1904 was Alton Brooks Parker. Democratic newspapers charged that Republicans were extorting large campaign contributions from corporations, putting ultimate responsibility on Roosevelt, himself. Roosevelt denied corruption while at the same time he ordered Cortelyou to return $100,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) of a campaign contribution from Standard Oil. Parker said that Roosevelt was accepting corporate donations to keep damaging information from the Bureau of Corporations from going public. Roosevelt strongly denied Parker's charge and responded that he would "go into the Presidency unhampered by any pledge, promise, or understanding of any kind, sort, or description...". Allegations from Parker and the Democrats, however, had little impact on the election, as Roosevelt promised to give every American a "square deal". Roosevelt won 56% of the popular vote, and Parker received 38%; Roosevelt also won the Electoral College vote, 336 to 140. Before his inauguration ceremony, Roosevelt declared that he would not serve another term. Democrats afterwards would continue to charge Roosevelt and the Republicans of being influenced by corporate donations during Roosevelt's second term.
Second term
As his second term progressed, Roosevelt moved to the left of his Republican Party base and called for a series of reforms, most of which Congress failed to pass. In his last year in office, he was assisted by his friend Archibald Butt (who later perished in the sinking of RMS Titanic). Roosevelt's influence waned as he approached the end of his second term, as his promise to forego a third term made him a lame duck and his concentration of power provoked a backlash from many Congressmen. He sought a national incorporation law (at a time when all corporations had state charters), called for a federal income tax (despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.), and an inheritance tax. In the area of labor legislation, Roosevelt called for limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes; injunctions were a powerful weapon that mostly helped business. He wanted an employee liability law for industrial injuries (pre-empting state laws) and an eight-hour work day for federal employees. In other areas he also sought a postal savings system (to provide competition for local banks), and he asked for campaign reform laws.
The election of 1904 continued to be a source of contention between Republicans and Democrats. A Congressional investigation in 1905 revealed that corporate executives donated tens of thousands of dollars in 1904 to the Republican National Committee. In 1908, a month before the general presidential election, Governor Charles N. Haskell of Oklahoma, former Democratic Treasurer, said that Senators beholden to Standard Oil lobbied Roosevelt, in the summer of 1904, to authorize the leasing of Indian oil lands by Standard Oil subsidiaries. He said Roosevelt overruled his Secretary of Interior Ethan A. Hitchcock and granted a pipeline franchise to run through the Osage lands to the Prairie Oil and Gas Company. The New York Sun made a similar accusation and said that Standard Oil, a refinery who financially benefited from the pipeline, had contributed $150,000 to the Republicans in 1904 (equivalent to $ million in ) after Roosevelt's alleged reversal allowing the pipeline franchise. Roosevelt branded Haskell's allegation as "a lie, pure and simple" and obtained a denial from Treasury Secretary Shaw that Roosevelt had neither coerced Shaw nor overruled him.
Post-presidency (1909–1919)
Election of 1908
Roosevelt enjoyed being president and was still relatively youthful, but felt that a limited number of terms provided a check against dictatorship. Roosevelt ultimately decided to stick to his 1904 pledge not to run for a third term. He personally favored Secretary of State Elihu Root as his successor, but Root's ill health made him an unsuitable candidate. New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes loomed as a potentially strong candidate and shared Roosevelt's progressivism, but Roosevelt disliked him and considered him to be too independent. Instead, Roosevelt settled on his Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, who had ably served under Presidents Harrison, McKinley, and Roosevelt in various positions. Roosevelt and Taft had been friends since 1890, and Taft had consistently supported President Roosevelt's policies. Roosevelt was determined to install the successor of his choice, and wrote the following to Taft: "Dear Will: Do you want any action about those federal officials? I will break their necks with the utmost cheerfulness if you say the word!". Just weeks later he branded as "false and malicious" the charge that he was using the offices at his disposal to favor Taft. At the 1908 Republican convention, many chanted for "four years more" of a Roosevelt presidency, but Taft won the nomination after Henry Cabot Lodge made it clear that Roosevelt was not interested in a third term.
In the 1908 election, Taft easily defeated the Democratic nominee, three-time candidate William Jennings Bryan. Taft promoted a progressivism that stressed the rule of law; he preferred that judges rather than administrators or politicians make the basic decisions about fairness. Taft usually proved to be a less adroit politician than Roosevelt and lacked the energy and personal magnetism, along with the publicity devices, the dedicated supporters, and the broad base of public support that made Roosevelt so formidable. When Roosevelt realized that lowering the tariff would risk creating severe tensions inside the Republican Party by pitting producers (manufacturers and farmers) against merchants and consumers, he stopped talking about the issue. Taft ignored the risks and tackled the tariff boldly, encouraging reformers to fight for lower rates, and then cutting deals with conservative leaders that kept overall rates high. The resulting Payne-Aldrich tariff of 1909, signed into law early in President Taft's tenure, was too high for most reformers, and Taft's handling of the tariff alienated all sides. While the crisis was building inside the Party, Roosevelt was touring Africa and Europe, to allow Taft to be his own man.
Africa and Europe (1909–1910)
In March 1909, shortly after the end of his presidency, Roosevelt left New York for the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition, a safari in east and central Africa. Roosevelt's party landed in Mombasa, East Africa (now Kenya) and traveled to the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) before following the Nile to Khartoum in modern Sudan. Financed by Andrew Carnegie and by his own writings, Roosevelt's party hunted for specimens for the Smithsonian Institution and for the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The group, led by the hunter-tracker RJ Cunninghame, included scientists from the Smithsonian, and was joined from time to time by Frederick Selous, the famous big game hunter and explorer. Participants on the expedition included Kermit Roosevelt, Edgar Alexander Mearns, Edmund Heller, and John Alden Loring.
Roosevelt and his companions killed or trapped approximately 11,400 animals, from insects and moles to hippopotamuses and elephants. The 1,000 large animals included 512 big game animals, including six rare white rhinos. Tons of salted animals and their skins were shipped to Washington; it took years to mount them all, and the Smithsonian shared many duplicate specimens with other museums. Regarding the large number of animals taken, Roosevelt said, "I can be condemned only if the existence of the National Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and all similar zoological institutions are to be condemned". He wrote a detailed account of the safari in the book African Game Trails, recounting the excitement of the chase, the people he met, and the flora and fauna he collected in the name of science.
After his safari, Roosevelt traveled north to embark on a tour of Europe. Stopping first in Egypt, he commented favorably on British rule of the region, giving his opinion that Egypt was not yet ready for independence. He refused a meeting with the Pope due to a dispute over a group of Methodists active in Rome, but met with Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King George V of Great Britain, and other European leaders. In Oslo, Norway, Roosevelt delivered a speech calling for limitations on naval armaments, a strengthening of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and the creation of a "League of Peace" among the world powers. He also delivered the Romanes Lecture at Oxford, in which he denounced those who sought parallels between the evolution of animal life and the development of society. Though Roosevelt attempted to avoid domestic politics during his time abroad, he met with Gifford Pinchot, who related his own disappointment with the Taft Administration. Pinchot had been forced to resign as head of the forest service after clashing with Taft's Interior Secretary, Richard Ballinger, who had prioritized development over conservation. Roosevelt returned to the United States in June 1910.
Republican Party schism
Roosevelt had attempted to refashion Taft into a second version of himself, but as soon as Taft began to display his individuality, the former president expressed his disenchantment. He was offended on election night when Taft indicated that his success had been possible not just through the efforts of Roosevelt, but also his brother Charley. Roosevelt was further alienated when Taft, intent on becoming his own man, did not consult him about cabinet appointments. Roosevelt and other progressives were ideologically dissatisfied over Taft's conservation policies and his handling of the tariff when he concentrated more power in the hands of conservative party leaders in Congress. Regarding radicalism and liberalism, Roosevelt wrote a British friend in 1911:
Fundamentally it is the radical liberal with whom I sympathize. He is at least working toward the end for which I think we should all of us strive; and when he adds sanity in moderation to courage and enthusiasm for high ideals he develops into the kind of statesman whom alone I can wholeheartedly support."
Roosevelt urged progressives to take control of the Republican Party at the state and local level and to avoid splitting the party in a way that would hand the presidency to the Democrats in 1912. Additionally, Roosevelt expressed optimism about the Taft Administration after meeting with the president in the White House in June 1910.
In August 1910, Roosevelt gained national attention with a speech at Osawatomie, Kansas, which was the most radical of his career and marked his public break with Taft and the conservative Republicans. Advocating a program of "New Nationalism", Roosevelt emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests, a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions. Returning to New York, Roosevelt began a battle to take control of the state Republican party from William Barnes Jr., Tom Platt's successor as the state party boss, whom he would later confront in the Barnes vs. Roosevelt Libel Trial. Taft had pledged his support to Roosevelt in this endeavor, and Roosevelt was outraged when Taft's support failed to materialize at the 1910 state convention. Roosevelt nonetheless campaigned for the Republicans in the 1910 elections, in which the Democrats gained control of the House for the first time since the 1890s. Among the newly elected Democrats was New York state senator Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who argued that he represented his distant cousin's policies better than his Republican opponent.
The Republican progressives interpreted the 1910 defeats as a compelling argument for the complete reorganization of the party in 1911. Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin joined with Pinchot, William White, and California Governor Hiram Johnson to create the National Progressive Republican League; their objectives were to defeat the power of political bossism at the state level and to replace Taft at the national level. Despite skepticism of La Follette's new league, Roosevelt expressed general support for progressive principles. Between January and April 1911, Roosevelt wrote a series of articles for The Outlook, defending what he called "the great movement of our day, the progressive nationalist movement against special privilege, and in favor of an honest and efficient political and industrial democracy". With Roosevelt apparently uninterested in running in 1912, La Follette declared his own candidacy in June 1911. Roosevelt continually criticized Taft after the 1910 elections, and the break between the two men became final after the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against US Steel in September 1911; Roosevelt was humiliated by this suit because he had personally approved of an acquisition that the Justice Department was now challenging. However, Roosevelt was still unwilling to run against Taft in 1912; he instead hoped to run in 1916 against whichever Democrat beat Taft in 1912.
Dispute over arbitration treaties
Taft was a major advocate of arbitration as a major reform of the Progressive Era. In 1911 Taft and his Secretary of State Philander C. Knox negotiated major treaties with Great Britain and with France providing that differences be arbitrated. Disputes had to be submitted to the Hague Court or other tribunal. These were signed in August 1911 but had to be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. Neither Taft nor Knox consulted with members of the Senate during the negotiating process. By then many Republicans were opposed to Taft, and the president felt that lobbying too hard for the treaties might cause their defeat. He made some speeches supporting the treaties in October, but the Senate added amendments Taft could not accept, killing the agreements.
The arbitration issue opens a window on a bitter philosophical dispute among American progressives. Some, led by Taft looked to legal arbitration as the best alternative to warfare. Taft was a constitutional lawyer who later became Chief Justice; he had a deep understanding of the legal issues. Taft's political base was the conservative business community that largely supported peace movements before 1914. However, his mistake, in this case, was a failure to mobilize that base. The businessmen believed that economic rivalries were the cause of war, and that extensive trade led to an interdependent world that would make war a very expensive and useless anachronism.
However, an opposing faction of progressives, led by Roosevelt, ridiculed arbitration as foolhardy idealism, and insisted on the realism of warfare as the only solution to serious international disputes. Roosevelt worked with his close friend Senator Henry Cabot Lodge to impose those amendments that ruined the goals of the treaties. Lodge thought the treaties impinged too much on senatorial prerogatives. Roosevelt, however, was acting to sabotage Taft's campaign promises. At a deeper level, Roosevelt truly believed that arbitration was a naïve solution and the great issues had to be decided by warfare. The Rooseveltian approach incorporated a near-mystical faith of the ennobling nature of war. It endorsed jingoistic nationalism as opposed to the businessmen's calculation of profit and national interest.
Election of 1912
Republican primaries and convention
In November 1911, a group of Ohio Republicans endorsed Roosevelt for the party's nomination for president; the endorsers included James R. Garfield and Dan Hanna. This endorsement was made by leaders of President Taft's home state. Roosevelt conspicuously declined to make a statement—requested by Garfield—that he would flatly refuse a nomination. Soon thereafter, Roosevelt said, "I am really sorry for Taft... I am sure he means well, but he means well feebly, and he does not know how! He is utterly unfit for leadership and this is a time when we need leadership." In January 1912, Roosevelt declared "if the people make a draft on me I shall not decline to serve". Later that year, Roosevelt spoke before the Constitutional Convention in Ohio, openly identifying as a progressive and endorsing progressive reforms—even endorsing popular review of state judicial decisions. In reaction to Roosevelt's proposals for popular overrule of court decisions, Taft said, "Such extremists are not progressives—they are political emotionalists or neurotics".
Roosevelt began to envision himself as the savior of the Republican Party from defeat in the upcoming presidential election. In February 1912, Roosevelt announced in Boston, "I will accept the nomination for president if it is tendered to me. I hope that so far as possible the people may be given the chance through direct primaries to express who shall be the nominee. Elihu Root and Henry Cabot Lodge thought that division of the party would lead to its defeat in the next election, while Taft believed that he would be defeated either in the Republican primary or in the general election.
The 1912 primaries represented the first extensive use of the presidential primary, a reform achievement of the progressive movement. The Republican primaries in the South, where party regulars dominated, went for Taft, as did results in New York, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Roosevelt won in Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, California, Maryland and Pennsylvania; Roosevelt also won Taft's home state of Ohio. These primary elections, while demonstrating Roosevelt's continuing popularity with the electorate, were not pivotal. The final credentials of the state delegates at the national convention were determined by the national committee, which was controlled by the party leaders, headed by the incumbent president.
Prior to the 1912 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt expressed doubt about his prospects for victory, noting that Taft had more delegates and control of the credentials committee. His only hope was to convince party leaders that the nomination of Taft would hand the election to the Democrats, but party leaders were determined not to cede their leadership to Roosevelt. The credentials committee awarded almost all contested delegates to Taft, and Taft won the nomination on the first ballot. Black delegates from the South played a key role: they voted heavily for Taft and put him over the top. La Follette also helped Taft's candidacy; he hoped that a deadlocked convention would result in his own nomination, and refused to release his delegates to support Roosevelt.
The Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party
Once his defeat at the Republican convention appeared probable, Roosevelt announced that he would "accept the progressive nomination on a progressive platform and I shall fight to the end, win or lose". At the same time, Roosevelt prophetically said, "My feeling is that the Democrats will probably win if they nominate a progressive".
Roosevelt left the Republican Party and created the Progressive Party, structuring it as a permanent organization that would field complete tickets at the presidential and state level. The party included Roosevelt and key allies such as Pinchot, Cornelia Bryce Pinchot (Pinchot's wife and a longtime friend of Roosevelt's), and Albert Beveridge. The new party was popularly known as the "Bull Moose Party" after Roosevelt told reporters, "I'm as fit as a bull moose". At the 1912 Progressive National Convention, Roosevelt cried out, "We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord." California Governor Hiram Johnson was nominated as Roosevelt's running mate. Roosevelt's platform echoed his 1907–1908 proposals, calling for vigorous government intervention to protect the people from selfish interests:
Though many Progressive party supporters in the North were supporters of civil rights for blacks, Roosevelt did not give strong support to civil rights and ran a "lily-white" campaign in the South. Rival all-white and all-black delegations from four southern states arrived at the Progressive national convention, and Roosevelt decided to seat the all-white delegations. Nevertheless, he won little support outside mountain Republican strongholds. Out of nearly 1100 counties in the South, Roosevelt won two counties in Alabama, one in Arkansas, seven in North Carolina, three in Georgia, 17 in Tennessee, two in Texas, one in Virginia, and none in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, or South Carolina.
Assassination attempt
On October 14, 1912, while arriving at a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Roosevelt was shot from seven feet away in front of the Gilpatrick Hotel by a delusional saloonkeeper named John Flammang Schrank, who believed that the ghost of assassinated president William McKinley had directed him to kill Roosevelt. The bullet lodged in his chest after penetrating his steel eyeglass case and passing through a 50-page-thick single-folded copy of the speech titled "Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual", which he was carrying in his jacket. Schrank was immediately disarmed (by Czech immigrant Frank Bukovsky), captured, and might have been lynched had Roosevelt not shouted for Schrank to remain unharmed. Roosevelt assured the crowd he was all right, then ordered police to take charge of Schrank and to make sure no violence was done to him.
As an experienced hunter and anatomist, Roosevelt correctly concluded that since he was not coughing blood, the bullet had not reached his lung. He declined suggestions to go to the hospital immediately and instead delivered a 90 minute speech with blood seeping into his shirt. His opening comments to the gathered crowd were, "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose." Only after finishing his address did he accept medical attention.
Subsequent probes and an x-ray showed that the bullet had lodged in Roosevelt's chest muscle, but did not penetrate the pleura. Doctors concluded that it would be less dangerous to leave it in place than to attempt to remove it, and Roosevelt carried the bullet with him for the rest of his life. Both Taft and Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson suspended their own campaigning until Roosevelt recovered and resumed his. When asked if the shooting would affect his election campaign, he said to the reporter "I'm fit as a bull moose." The bull moose became a symbol of both Roosevelt and the Progressive Party, and it often was referred to as simply the Bull Moose Party. He spent two weeks recuperating before returning to the campaign trail. He later wrote a friend about the bullet inside him, "I do not mind it any more than if it were in my waistcoat pocket."
Farewell manifesto
On October 20, Roosevelt spoke to a crowd of 16,000 at Madison Square Garden. The speech included: "Perhaps once in a generation, there comes a chance for the people of a country to play their part wisely and fearlessly in some great battle of the age-long warfare for human rights."
Election results
After the Democrats nominated Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey, Roosevelt did not expect to win the general election, as Wilson had compiled a record attractive to many progressive Democrats who might have otherwise considered voting for Roosevelt. Roosevelt still campaigned vigorously, and the election developed into a two-person contest between Wilson and Roosevelt despite Taft's presence in the race. Roosevelt respected Wilson, but the two differed on various issues; Wilson opposed any federal intervention regarding women's suffrage or child labor (he viewed these as state issues), and attacked Roosevelt's tolerance of large businesses.
Roosevelt won 4.1 million votes (27%), compared to Taft's 3.5 million (23%). Wilson gained 6.3 million votes (42% of the total) and a massive landslide in the Electoral College, with 435 electoral votes; Roosevelt won 88 electoral votes, while Taft won 8. Pennsylvania was the only eastern state won by Roosevelt; in the Midwest, he carried Michigan, Minnesota, and South Dakota; in the West, California, and Washington. Wilson's victory represented the first Democratic presidential election victory since Cleveland's 1892 campaign, and it was the party's best performance in the Electoral College since 1852. Roosevelt, meanwhile, garnered a higher share of the popular vote than any other third-party presidential candidate in history and won the most states of any third-party candidate after the Civil War.
South American expedition (1913-1914)
A friend of Roosevelt's, Father John Augustine Zahm, persuaded Roosevelt to participate in an expedition to South America. To finance the expedition, Roosevelt received support from the American Museum of Natural History in return for promising to bring back many new animal specimens. Roosevelt's popular book, Through the Brazilian Wilderness describes his expedition into the Brazilian jungle in 1913 as a member of the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition, co-named after its leader, Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon.
Once in South America, a new, far more ambitious goal was added: to find the headwaters of the Rio da Duvida (Portuguese for "River of Doubt"), and trace it north to the Madeira and thence to the Amazon River. It was later renamed Roosevelt River in honor of the former president. Roosevelt's crew consisted of his son Kermit, Colonel Rondon, naturalist George Kruck Cherrie (sent by the American Museum of Natural History), Brazilian Lieutenant João Lira, team physician Dr. José Antonio Cajazeira, and 16 skilled paddlers and porters. Roosevelt also identified Leo Miller (another AMNH recommendation), Anthony Fiala, Frank Harper, and Jacob Sigg as crew members. The initial expedition started somewhat tenuously on December 9, 1913, at the height of the rainy season. The trip down the River of Doubt started on February 27, 1914.
During the trip down the river, Roosevelt suffered a minor leg wound after he jumped into the river to try to prevent two canoes from smashing against the rocks. The flesh wound he received, however, soon gave him tropical fever that resembled the malaria he had contracted while in Cuba fifteen years before. Because the bullet lodged in his chest from the assassination attempt in 1912 was never removed, his health worsened from the infection. This weakened Roosevelt so greatly that six weeks into the adventure, he had to be attended to day and night by the expedition's physician and his son Kermit. By then, he could not walk because of the infection in his injured leg and an infirmity in the other, which was due to a traffic accident a decade earlier. Roosevelt was riddled with chest pains, fighting a fever that soared to and at times made him delirious, at one point constantly reciting the first two lines of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan": "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure dome decree". Regarding his condition as a threat to the survival of the others, Roosevelt insisted he be left behind to allow the poorly provisioned expedition to proceed as rapidly as it could, preparing to commit suicide with an overdose of morphine. Only an appeal by his son persuaded him to continue.
Despite Roosevelt's continued decline and loss of over , Colonel Rondon reduced the pace of the expedition to allow for his commission's mapmaking and other geographical tasks, which required regular stops to fix the expedition's position by sun-based survey. Upon Roosevelt's return to New York, friends and family were startled by his physical appearance and fatigue. Roosevelt wrote, perhaps prophetically, to a friend that the trip had cut his life short by ten years. For the rest of his few remaining years, he would be plagued by flare-ups of malaria and leg inflammations so severe as to require surgery. Before Roosevelt had even completed his sea voyage home, critics raised doubts over his claims of exploring and navigating a completely uncharted river over long. When he had recovered sufficiently, he addressed a standing-room-only convention organized in Washington, D.C., by the National Geographic Society and satisfactorily defended his claims.
Final years
Roosevelt returned to the United States in May 1914. Though he was outraged by the Wilson Administration's conclusion of a treaty that expressed "sincere regret" for the way in which the United States had acquired the Panama Canal Zone, he was impressed by many of the reforms passed under Wilson. Roosevelt made several campaign appearances for the Progressives, but the 1914 elections were a disaster for the fledgling third party. Roosevelt began to envision another campaign for president, this time with himself at the head of the Republican Party, but conservative party leaders remained opposed to Roosevelt. In hopes of engineering a joint nomination, the Progressives scheduled the 1916 Progressive National Convention at the same time as the 1916 Republican National Convention. When the Republicans nominated Charles Evans Hughes, Roosevelt declined the Progressive nomination and urged his Progressive followers to support the Republican candidate. Though Roosevelt had long disliked Hughes, he disliked Wilson even more, and he campaigned energetically for the Republican nominee. However, Wilson won the 1916 election by a narrow margin. The Progressives disappeared as a party following the 1916 election, and Roosevelt and many of his followers permanently re-joined the Republican Party.
World War I
When the First World War began in 1914, Roosevelt strongly supported the Allies and demanded a harsher policy against Germany, especially regarding submarine warfare. Roosevelt angrily denounced the foreign policy of President Wilson, calling it a failure regarding the atrocities in Belgium and the violations of American rights. In 1916, while campaigning for Hughes, Roosevelt repeatedly denounced Irish-Americans and German-Americans whom he described as unpatriotic, saying they put the interests of Ireland and Germany ahead of America's by supporting neutrality. He insisted that one had to be 100% American, not a "hyphenated American" who juggled multiple loyalties. In March 1917, Congress gave Roosevelt the authority to raise a maximum of four divisions similar to the Rough Riders, and Major Frederick Russell Burnham was put in charge of both the general organization and recruitment. However, President Wilson announced to the press that he would not send Roosevelt and his volunteers to France, but instead would send an American Expeditionary Force under the command of General John J. Pershing. Roosevelt never forgave Wilson, and quickly published The Foes of Our Own Household, an indictment of the sitting president. Roosevelt's youngest son, Quentin, a pilot with the American forces in France, was killed when shot down behind German lines on July 14, 1918, at the age of 20. It is said that Quentin's death distressed Roosevelt so much that he never recovered from his loss.
League of Nations
Roosevelt was an early supporter of the modern view that there needs to be a global order. In his Nobel prize address of 1910, he said, "it would be a master stroke if those great Powers honestly bent on peace would form a League of Peace, not only to keep the peace among themselves, but to prevent, by force if necessary, its being broken by others." It would have executive power such as the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 lacked. He called for American participation.
When World War I broke out, Roosevelt proposed "a World League for the Peace of Righteousness", in September 1914, which would preserve sovereignty but limit armaments and require arbitration. He added that it should be "solemnly covenanted that if any nations refused to abide by the decisions of such a court, then others draw the sword in behalf of peace and justice." In 1915 he outlined this plan more specifically, urging that nations guarantee their entire military force, if necessary, against any nation that refused to carry out arbitration decrees or violated rights of other nations. Though Roosevelt had some concerns about the impact on United States sovereignty, he insisted that such a league would only work if the United States participated as one of the "joint guarantors". Roosevelt referred to this plan in a 1918 speech as "the most feasible for...a league of nations." By this time Wilson was strongly hostile to Roosevelt and Lodge, and developed his own plans for a rather different League of Nations. It became reality along Wilson's lines at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Roosevelt denounced Wilson's approach but died before it was adopted at Paris. However, Lodge was willing to accept it with serious reservations. In the end, on March 19, 1920, Wilson had Democratic Senators vote against the League with the Lodge Reservations and the United States never joined the League of Nations.
Final political activities
Roosevelt's attacks on Wilson helped the Republicans win control of Congress in the midterm elections of 1918. He declined a request from New York Republicans to run for another gubernatorial term, but attacked Wilson's Fourteen Points, calling instead for the unconditional surrender of Germany. Though his health was uncertain, he was seen as a leading contender for the 1920 Republican nomination, but insisted that, "If they take me, they'll have to take me without a single modification of the things that I have always stood for! He wrote William Allen White, "I wish to do everything in my power to make the Republican Party the Party of sane, constructive radicalism, just as it was under Lincoln." Accordingly, he told the 1918 state convention of the Maine Republican Party that he stood for old-age pensions, insurance for sickness and unemployment, construction of public housing for low-income families, the reduction of working hours, aid to farmers, and more regulation of large corporations.
While his political profile remained high, Roosevelt's physical condition continued to deteriorate throughout 1918 due to the long-term effects of jungle diseases. He was hospitalized for seven weeks late in the year and never fully recovered.
Death
On the night of January 5, 1919, Roosevelt suffered breathing problems. After receiving treatment from his physician, Dr. George W. Faller, he felt better and went to bed. Roosevelt's last words were "Please put out that light, James" to his family servant James E. Amos. Between 4:00 and 4:15 the next morning, Roosevelt, at the age of 60, died in his sleep at Sagamore Hill after a blood clot detached from a vein and traveled to his lungs.
Upon receiving word of his death, his son Archibald telegraphed his siblings: "The old lion is dead." Woodrow Wilson's vice president, Thomas R. Marshall, said that "Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight." Following a private farewell service in the North Room at Sagamore Hill, a simple funeral was held at Christ Episcopal Church in Oyster Bay. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, Charles Evans Hughes, Warren G. Harding, Henry Cabot Lodge, and William Howard Taft were among the mourners. The snow-covered procession route to Youngs Memorial Cemetery was lined with spectators and a squad of mounted policemen who had ridden from New York City. Roosevelt was buried on a hillside overlooking Oyster Bay.
Writer
Roosevelt was a prolific author, writing with passion on subjects ranging from foreign policy to the importance of the national park system. Roosevelt was also an avid reader of poetry. Poet Robert Frost said that Roosevelt "was our kind. He quoted poetry to me. He knew poetry."
As an editor of Outlook magazine, Roosevelt had weekly access to a large, educated national audience. In all, Roosevelt wrote about 18 books (each in several editions), including his autobiography, The Rough Riders, History of the Naval War of 1812, and others on subjects such as ranching, explorations, and wildlife. His most ambitious book was the four volume narrative The Winning of the West, focused on the American frontier in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Roosevelt said that the American character—indeed a new "American race" (ethnic group) had emerged from the heroic wilderness hunters and Indian fighters, acting on the frontier with little government help. Roosevelt also published an account of his 1909–10 African expedition entitled African Game Trails.
In 1907, Roosevelt became embroiled in a widely publicized literary debate known as the nature fakers controversy. A few years earlier, naturalist John Burroughs had published an article entitled "Real and Sham Natural History" in the Atlantic Monthly, attacking popular writers of the day such as Ernest Thompson Seton, Charles G. D. Roberts, and William J. Long for their fantastical representations of wildlife. Roosevelt agreed with Burroughs's criticisms, and published several essays of his own denouncing the booming genre of "naturalistic" animal stories as "yellow journalism of the woods". It was the President himself who popularized the negative term "nature faker" to describe writers who depicted their animal characters with excessive anthropomorphism.
Character and beliefs
Roosevelt intensely disliked being called "Teddy", despite the widespread public association with said moniker, and was quick to point out this to those who referred to him as such, though it would become widely used by newspapers during his political career.
He was an active Freemason and member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
British scholar Marcus Cunliffe evaluates the liberal argument that Roosevelt was an opportunist, exhibitionist, and imperialist. Cunliffe praises TR's versatility, his respect for law, and his sincerity. He argues that Roosevelt's foreign policy was better than his detractors allege. Cunliffe calls him "a big man in several respects," ranking him below Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson, and on the same level as Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Strenuous life
Roosevelt had a lifelong interest in pursuing what he called, in an 1899 speech, "The Strenuous Life". To this end, he exercised regularly and took up boxing, tennis, hiking, rowing, polo, and horseback riding. He also continued his habit of skinny-dipping in the Potomac River during the winter. As governor of New York, he boxed with sparring partners several times each week, a practice he regularly continued as president until being hit so hard in the face he became blind in his left eye (a fact not made public until many years later). As president, he practiced judo for two 2-month periods in 1902 and 1904, not attaining any rank. Roosevelt began to believe in the utility of jiu-jitsu training after training with Yoshitsugu Yamashita. Concerned that the United States would lose its military supremacy to rising powers like Japan, Roosevelt began to advocate for jiu-jitsu training for American soldiers. Feminists annoyed by the posturing of men like Roosevelt, insisted that women were just as capable of learning jiu-jitsu. To prove their point, Martha Blow Wadsworth and Maria Louise ("Hallie") Davis Elkins hired Fude Yamashita, a highly skilled jiu-jitsu instructor and the wife of Yoshitsugu Yamashita, to teach a jiu-jitsu class for women and girls in Washington, DC in 1904. Women had already begun training in boxing in the United States as a means of personal and political empowerment. Jiu-jitsu training thus soon also became popular with American women, coinciding with the origins of a women's self-defense movement.
Roosevelt was an enthusiastic singlestick player and, according to Harper's Weekly, showed up at a White House reception with his arm bandaged after a bout with General Leonard Wood in 1905. Roosevelt was an avid reader, reading tens of thousands of books, at a rate of several per day in multiple languages. Along with Thomas Jefferson, Roosevelt was the most well-read of all American presidents.
Warrior
Historians have often emphasized Roosevelt's warrior persona. He took aggressive positions regarding war with Spain in 1898, Colombia in 1903, and especially with Germany, from 1915 to 1917. As a demonstration of American naval might, he sent the "Great White Fleet" around the world in 1907–1909. The implicit threat of the "big stick" of military power provided leverage to "speak softly" and quietly resolve conflict in numerous cases. He boasted in his autobiography:
Richard D. White Jr states, "Roosevelt's warrior spirit framed his views of national politics, [and] international relations."
Historian Howard K. Beale has argued:
Religion
Roosevelt attended church regularly and was a lifelong adherent of the Reformed Church in America, an American affiliate of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1907, concerning the motto "In God We Trust" on money, he wrote, "It seems to me eminently unwise to cheapen such a motto by use on coins, just as it would be to cheapen it by use on postage stamps, or in advertisements." Roosevelt talked a great deal about religion. Biographer Edmund Morris states:
Roosevelt publicly encouraged church attendance and was a conscientious churchgoer himself. When gas rationing was introduced during the First World War, he walked the three miles from his home at Sagamore Hill to the local church and back, even after a serious operation had made it difficult for him to travel by foot. It was said that Roosevelt "allowed no engagement to keep him from going to church," and he remained a fervent advocate of the Bible throughout his adult life. According to Christian F. Reisner, writing in 1922 shortly after Roosevelt's death, "Religion was as natural to Mr. Roosevelt as breathing," and when the travel library for Roosevelt's famous Smithsonian-sponsored African expedition was being assembled, the Bible was, according to his sister, "the first book selected." In an address delivered in his home at Oyster Bay to the Long Island Bible Society in 1901, Roosevelt declared that:
Political positions
When he assumed the presidency, Roosevelt reassured many conservatives, stating, "the mechanism of modern business is so delicate that extreme care must be taken not to interfere with it in a spirit of rashness or ignorance." The following year, Roosevelt asserted the president's independence from business interests by opposing the merger which created the Northern Securities Company, and many were surprised that any president, much less an unelected one, would challenge powerful banker J.P. Morgan. In his last two years as president, Roosevelt became increasingly distrustful of big business, despite its close ties to the Republican Party. Roosevelt sought to replace the 19th-century laissez-faire economic environment with a new economic model which included a larger regulatory role for the federal government. He believed that 19th-century entrepreneurs had risked their fortunes on innovations and new businesses, and that these capitalists had been rightly rewarded. By contrast, he believed that 20th-century capitalists risked little but nonetheless reaped huge and, given the lack of risk, unjust, economic rewards. Without a redistribution of wealth away from the upper class, Roosevelt feared that the country would turn to radicals or fall to revolution. His Square Deal domestic program had three main goals: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. The Square Deal evolved into his program of "New Nationalism", which emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests and a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions.
Foreign policy beliefs
In the analysis by Henry Kissinger, Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to develop the guideline that it was America's duty to make its enormous power and potential influence felt globally. The idea of being a passive "city on the hill" model that others could look up to, he rejected. Roosevelt, trained in biology, was a social darwinist who believed in survival of the fittest. The international world in his view was a realm of violence and conflict. The United States had all the economic and geographical potential to be the fittest nation on the globe. The United States had a duty to act decisively. For example, in terms of the Monroe Doctrine, America had to prevent European incursions in the Western Hemisphere. But there was more, as he expressed in his famous Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: the U.S. had to be the policeman of the region because unruly, corrupt smaller nations had to be controlled, and if United States did not do it, European powers would in fact intervene and develop their own base of power in the hemisphere in contravention to the Monroe Doctrine.
Roosevelt was a realist and a conservative. He deplored many of the increasingly popular idealistic liberal themes, such as were promoted by William Jennings Bryan, the anti-imperialists, and Woodrow Wilson. Kissinger says he rejected the efficacy of international law. Roosevelt argue that if a country could not protect its own interests, the international community could not help very much. He ridiculed disarmament proposals that were increasingly common. He saw no likelihood of an international power capable of checking wrongdoing on a major scale. As for world government: I regard the Wilson–Bryan attitude of trusting to fantastic peace treaties, too impossible promises, to all kinds of scraps of paper without any backing in efficient force, as abhorrent. It is infinitely better for a nation and for the world to have the Frederick the Great and Bismarck tradition as regards foreign policy than to have the Bryan or Bryan–Wilson attitude as a permanent national attitude.... A milk-and-water righteousness unbacked by force is...as wicked as and even more mischievous than force divorced from righteousness.
On the positive side, Roosevelt favored spheres of influence, whereby one great power would generally prevail, such as the United States in the Western Hemisphere or Great Britain in the Indian subcontinent. Japan fit that role and he approved. However he had deep distrust of both Germany and Russia.
Legacy
Historians credit Roosevelt for changing the nation's political system by permanently placing the "bully pulpit" of the presidency at center stage and making character as important as the issues. His accomplishments include trust busting and conservationism. He is a hero to liberals and progressives for his proposals in 1907–1912 that presaged the modern welfare state of the New Deal Era, including direct federal taxation, labor reforms, and more direct democracy, while conservationists admire Roosevelt for putting the environment and selflessness towards future generations on the national agenda, and conservatives and nationalists respect his commitment to law and order, civic duty and military values, as well as his personality of individual self-responsibility and hardiness. Dalton says, "Today he is heralded as the architect of the modern presidency, as a world leader who boldly reshaped the office to meet the needs of the new century and redefined America's place in the world."
However, liberals and socialists have criticized him for his interventionist and imperialist approach to nations he considered "uncivilized". Conservatives and libertarians reject his vision of the welfare state and emphasis on the superiority of government over private action. Historians typically rank Roosevelt among the top five presidents in American history.
Persona and masculinity
Dalton says Roosevelt is remembered as, "one of the most picturesque personalities who has ever enlivened the landscape". His friend, historian Henry Adams, proclaimed: "Roosevelt, more than any other man... showed the singular primitive quality that belongs to ultimate matter—the quality that medieval theology assigned to God—he was pure act."
Roosevelt's biographers have stressed his personality. Henry F. Pringle, who won the Pulitzer Prize in biography for his Theodore Roosevelt (1931) stated: "The Theodore Roosevelt of later years was the most adolescent of men… Failure to receive the Medal of Honor for his exploits [in Cuba] had been a grief as real as any of those which swamp childhood in despair. 'You must always remember,' wrote Cecil Spring Rice in 1904, 'that the President is about six.'"
Cooper compared him with Woodrow Wilson and argued that both of them played the roles of warrior and priest. Dalton stressed Roosevelt's strenuous life. Sarah Watts examined the desires of the "Rough Rider in the White House". Brands calls Roosevelt "the last romantic", arguing that his romantic concept of life emerged from his belief that "physical bravery was the highest virtue and war the ultimate test of bravery".
Roosevelt as the exemplar of American masculinity has become a major theme. As president, he repeatedly warned men that they were becoming too office-bound, too complacent, too comfortable with physical ease and moral laxity, and were failing in their duties to propagate the race and exhibit masculine vigor. French historian Serge Ricard says, "the ebullient apostle of the Strenuous Life offers ideal material for a detailed psycho-historical analysis of aggressive manhood in the changing socio-cultural environment of his era; McKinley, Taft, or Wilson would perhaps inadequately serve that purpose". He promoted competitive sports like boxing and jiu-jitsu for physically strengthening American men. He also believed that organizations like the Boy Scouts of America, founded in 1910, could help mold and strengthen the character of American boys. Brands shows that heroic displays of bravery were essential to Roosevelt's image and mission:
Memorials and cultural depictions
Roosevelt was included with Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln at the Mount Rushmore Memorial, designed in 1927 with the approval of Republican President Calvin Coolidge.
For his gallantry at San Juan Hill, Roosevelt's commanders recommended him for the Medal of Honor. However, the initial recommendation lacked any eyewitnesses, and the effort was eventually tainted by Roosevelt's own lobbying of the War Department. In the late 1990s, Roosevelt's supporters again recommended the award, which was denied by the Secretary of the Army on basis that the decorations board determined "Roosevelt's bravery in battle did not rise to the level that would justify the Medal of Honor and, indeed, it did not rise to the level of men who fought in that engagement." Nevertheless, politicians apparently convinced the secretary to reconsider the award a third time and reverse himself, leading to the charge that it was a "politically motivated award." On January 16, 2001, President Bill Clinton awarded Theodore Roosevelt the Medal of Honor posthumously for his charge on San Juan Hill. He is the only president to have received the Medal of Honor.
The United States Navy named two ships for Roosevelt: the , a submarine that was in commission from 1961 to 1982, and the , an aircraft carrier that has been on active duty in the Atlantic Fleet since 1986.
On November 18, 1956, the United States Postal Service released a 6¢ Liberty Issue postage stamp honoring Roosevelt. A 32¢ stamp was issued on February 3, 1998, as part of the Celebrate the Century stamp sheet series. In 2008, Columbia Law School awarded Roosevelt a Juris Doctor degree, posthumously making him a member of the class of 1882.
Roosevelt's "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick" ideology is still quoted by politicians and columnists in different countries—not only in English, but also in translations to various other languages. Another lasting, popular legacy of Roosevelt is the stuffed toy bears—teddy bears—named after him following an incident on a hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902. Roosevelt has been portrayed in films and television series such as Brighty of the Grand Canyon, The Wind and the Lion, Rough Riders, My Friend Flicka, and Law of the Plainsman. Robin Williams portrayed Roosevelt in the form of a wax mannequin that comes to life in Night at the Museum and its sequels Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. In 2017, it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio will portray Roosevelt in a biopic to be directed by Martin Scorsese.
Moreover, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the state of North Dakota is named after him. The America the Beautiful Quarters series features Roosevelt riding a horse on the national park's quarter.
Asteroid 188693 Roosevelt, discovered by astronomers with the Catalina Sky Survey in 2005, was named after him. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on November 8, 2019 ().
In January 2022, after years of lobbying by activists, an equestrian statue of the former president was removed from where it had stood for more than eighty years in front of New York's American Museum of Natural History. Responding to controversy, the museum noted that the design "communicates a racial hierarchy that the museum and members of the public have long found disturbing."
Audiovisual media
Theodore Roosevelt was one of the first presidents whose voice was recorded for posterity. Several of his recorded speeches survive. A 4.6-minute voice recording, which preserves Roosevelt's lower timbre ranges particularly well for its time, is among those available from the Michigan State University libraries (this is the 1912 recording of The Right of the People to Rule, recorded by Edison at Carnegie Hall). The audio clip sponsored by the Authentic History Center includes his defense of the Progressive Party in 1912, wherein he proclaims it the "party of the people" – in contrast with the other major parties.
Roosevelt goes for a ride in Arch Hoxsey's plane in October 1910
In popular culture
Theodore Roosevelt appears as the leader of the American civilization in the Firaxis Games title Civilization VI. His unique ability is Roosevelt Corollary, which gives +5 Combat Strength for all units inside America's home continent, and +1 Appeal to all tiles in cities with a national park.
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
Full biographies
.
.
.
, 105 pp, very short biography by leading scholar.
.; also titled Power and responsibility; the life and times of Theodore Roosevelt online free to borrow
.
.
.
, only volume published, to age 28.
.
.
Personality and activities
.
.
Provides a lesson plan on TR as the historical figure who most exemplifies the quality of masculinity.
. Chronicles the events of TR's presidency during the summers of his two terms.
. The president's use of publicity, rhetoric and force of personality.
; his deadly 1913–14 trip to the Amazon.
, best seller; to 1886.
, to 1884.
. 494 pp.
, examines TR and his family during the World War I period.
.
, 240 pp. TR in Africa & Europe, 1909–10
. 289 pp.
, 337 pp; TR's political thought and its significance for republican self-government.
Domestic policies
online review; another online review
Cutright, P.R. (1985) Theodore Roosevelt: The making of a Modern Conservationist (U of Illinois Press.)
.
, standard history of his domestic and foreign policy as president.
Bakari, Mohamed El-Kamel. "Mapping the 'Anthropocentric-ecocentric'Dualism in the History of American Presidency: The Good, the Bad, and the Ambivalent." Journal of Studies in Social Sciences 14, no. 2 (2016).
.
.
Redekop, Benjamin. (2015). "Embodying the Story: The Conservation Leadership of Theodore Roosevelt". Leadership (2015) DOI:10.1177/1742715014546875 online
.
.
Politics
. How TR did politics.
, 323 pp.
.
.
.
.
. 361 pp.
.
. Focus on 1912; online free
. online free
. Attacks TR policies from conservative/libertarian perspective.
Foreign policy, military and naval issues
. online
. excerpt
.
. 328 pp.
Kuehn, John T. "Theodore Roosevelt’s Naval Diplomacy: The U.S. Navy and the Birth of the American Century," Naval War College Review (2010) 53#3 online
Livermore, Seward W. "Theodore Roosevelt, the American Navy, and the Venezuelan Crisis of 1902-1903." American Historical Review 51.3 (1946): 452–471. online
.
.
Nester, William R. Theodore Roosevelt and the Art of American Power: An American for All Time. Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. excerpt
Neu, Charles E. "Theodore Roosevelt and American Involvement in the Far East, 1901-1909." Pacific Historical Review 35.4 (1966): 433–449. online
O'Gara, Gordon Carpenter. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of the Modern Navy. (Princeton UP, 1943). online
.
Oyos, Matthew M. In Command: Theodore Roosevelt and the American Military (2018) online review
Pietrusza, David (2018). TR's Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy
.
.
.
.
Thompson, John M. Great Power Rising: Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of US Foreign Policy (Oxford UP, 2019).
. 196 pp.
Turk, Richard W. The Ambiguous Relationship: Theodore Roosevelt and Alfred Thayer Mahan (1987) [https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/93/5/1413/70734 online review
Historiography
Cunliffe, Marcus. "Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States 1901–1908" History Today (Sept 1955) 4#9 pp. 592–601, online.
Ricard, Serge. "The State of Theodore Roosevelt Studies" H-Diplo Essay No. 116 24 October 2014 online
, excerpt and text search, 28 new essays by scholars; focus on historiography. online
Primary sources
Kohn, Edward P., ed. A Most Glorious Ride: The Diaries of Theodore Roosevelt, 1877–1886 (State University of New York Press, 2015), 284 pp.
; vol 2
.
, 20 vol.; 18,000 pages containing most of TR's speeches, books and essays, but not his letters; a CD-ROM edition is available; some of TR's books are available online through Project Bartleby
, Roosevelt's opinions on many issues; online version at Theodore Roosevelt.
, 8 vols. Very large collection. vol 1 1868–1898 online free
. online free
.
.
online free to borrow
.
.
.
External links
Official
White House biography
Organizations
Boone and Crockett Club
Theodore Roosevelt Association
Libraries and collections
Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University
Theodore Roosevelt Collection, at the Houghton Library, Harvard University
Julian L. Street Papers on Theodore Roosevelt, at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
Doris A. and Lawrence H. Budner Collection on Theodore Roosevelt at the DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University
Theodore Roosevelt's journalism at The Archive of American Journalism
Theodore Roosevelt American Museum of Natural History
Roosevelt Papers, at the Library of Congress
Guide to the Herbert R. Strauss Collection of Theodore Roosevelt Papers 1884–1919 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
Media
"Life Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, September 3, 1999
"Writings of Theodore Roosevelt" from C-SPAN's American Writers: A Journey Through History
Other
Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt: A Resource Guide – Library of Congress
1858 births
1919 deaths
1900s in the United States
Theodore
19th-century American politicians
19th-century American historians
19th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century presidents of the United States
20th-century vice presidents of the United States
American autobiographers
American conservationists
American essayists
American explorers
American fishers
American hunters
American male judoka
American male non-fiction writers
American military personnel of the Spanish–American War
American naval historians
American Nobel laureates
American political writers
American shooting survivors
Articles containing video clips
American bibliophiles
American people of Dutch descent
Bulloch family
Burials in New York (state)
Columbia Law School alumni
Deaths from pulmonary embolism
New York City Police Commissioners
English-language spelling reform advocates
Explorers of Amazonia
American Freemasons
Governors of New York (state)
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Harvard College alumni
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Members of the New York State Assembly
Military personnel from New York City
New York (state) Progressives (1912)
New York (state) Republicans
Nobel Peace Prize laureates
People associated with the American Museum of Natural History
People from Oyster Bay (town), New York
Politicians from New York City
Presidents of the American Historical Association
Presidents of the United States
Progressive Era in the United States
Ranchers from North Dakota
Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees
Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees
Republican Party presidents of the United States
Republican Party state governors of the United States
Republican Party vice presidents of the United States
Rough Riders
Schuyler family
Sons of the American Revolution
Spanish–American War recipients of the Medal of Honor
United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
United States Army officers
United States Assistant Secretaries of the Navy
Candidates in the 1904 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1912 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1916 United States presidential election
1900 United States vice-presidential candidates
Vice presidents of the United States
Writers from New York (state)
Harvard Advocate alumni
American diarists
American political party founders
Aphorists
American nationalists
20th-century American male writers | true | [
"Robert Lee Watt (born January 15, 1948) is an American horn player and the first African-American French hornist hired by a major symphony orchestra in the United States.\n\nBorn in Neptune Township, New Jersey, his father was a jazz trumpet player who did not approve of his choice of instrument—feeling Watt's background and race would make a career with the horn impossible. Nevertheless, Watt won a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and continued studies at California Institute of the Arts.\n\nIn 1970 at the age of twenty-two he was hired by Zubin Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic to play assistant principal horn where he remained for 37 years before retiring in 2008.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\nAmerican classical horn players\nLiving people\nAmerican jazz horn players\nCalifornia Institute of the Arts alumni\nBoston Conservatory at Berklee alumni\n20th-century classical musicians\n20th-century American musicians\n21st-century classical musicians\n21st-century American musicians\n1948 births\nPeople from Neptune Township, New Jersey\nClassical musicians from New Jersey\n20th-century African-American musicians\n21st-century African-American musicians",
"Yang Hi Choe-Wall (; born 1932) is a Korean Australian academic, writer and researcher specialising in Korean literature of Chosŏn period (1392–1910). She was Associate Professor in the Division of Pacific and Asian History, the Australian National University. Choe-Wall is the winner of the 2013 Daesan Literary Awards, who is now retired and living in Canberra, Australia.\n\nEarly years\nYang Hi Choe-Wall was born in Seoul, Korea, the fourth child of a family of six children. Her father was a distinguished professor of English literature, a leading Korean intellectual and a prolific literary critic, who published 18 books and over 300 articles in three languages.\n\nChoe-Wall grew up in Seoul during the Japanese annexation of Korea and remained in that city during the Korean War (1950–1953). She attended primary and early part of secondary schools in Seoul, where all subjects were taught in the Japanese language until 1945. Despite the many privations and upsets that befell the family\nduring the two wars, it held together and some of Choe-Wall's siblings became senior\nacademics both in America and France.\n\nCareer\nChoe-Wall's undergraduate studies led to a BA (Hons) in English Language and Literature,\nfollowing which she took up an appointment with Hongik University (Seoul), as a lecturer in\nEnglish language.\n \nIn September 1965, Choe-Wall moved to Australia with her young daughter (Miki Wick-Kim) and son (Dai-Kyu Kim), having\naccepted an appointment with The Australian National University in Canberra as librarian of the\nJapanese collection in the Menzies Library, the university's principal research library.\n\nChoe-Wall received her Master of Arts degree in Asian Studies from the Australian National University in 1974. Her thesis Hanjung-nok: Memoirs of a Yi Dynasty Court Lady was later published as Memoirs of a Korean Queen. In 1980 she did her Graduate Diploma in Library and Information Science at Charles Sturt University, New South Wales. Choe-Wall was awarded her PhD in Asian Studies (Sino-Korean Literature) from the Australian National University in 1985. Her PhD thesis was Hŏ Nansŏrhŏn (Heo Nanseolheon) and Her Hanshi – A study of the life and work of Hŏ Nansŏrhŏn – a late sixteenth-century Korean poet. This was published as Vision of a Phoenix \n with the book now in its 4th edition.\n\nIn 1984 she was appointed lecturer in Korean at the Australian National University. This was followed by an appointment as Fellow / Associate Professor of the Australian National University. in 1993. She retired from the Australian National University in 1996, but as a Visiting Fellow of the University continued to work on the Encyclopaedia of Korea as Project Director and Chief Compiler until 1999.\n\nDr Yang Hi Choe-Wall's main research interest is the Korean literature of Chosŏn (1392-1910). She has published extensively and presented many papers on this subject at international conferences of Korean Studies, including the XXXII International Congress for Asia andNorth African Studies, Hamburg, 1986; The First Pacific Basin International Conference on Korean Studies, University of Hawaii,1992; The 1993 International Korean Literature Conference, University of California at Berkeley; Translation of Korean Literary Works and their Diffusion in Europe, l' Universite Paris 7, Paris, 1994., etc.\n\nAwards\n The 2005 Korean Literature Translation Award for her work Vision of a Phoenix.\t\n The 2013 Daesan Literary Awards for her work The Jehol Diary.\n\nSelected works\nOCLC/WorldCat Identities overview statistics for writings by and about Yang Hi Choe-Wall include approximately 19 works in 61 publications in 3 languages and 2,294 + library holdings. The books have been published primarily in English, but also in Korean and French.\n\n Memoirs of a Korean Queen, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1985. .\n The Korea Fact Book (co-authored with Ray Wall and Stephen Wall), Sydney, Doubleday, 1988. .\n 오스트레일리아의 역사, (co-translated with 문우상 of A Short History of Australia by Manning Clark, Penguin, 1986), Seoul, Eulyoo Publishing Co., 1990.\n Mémoires d'une reine de Corée, (translated by Claude Bouygues of Memoirs of a Korean Queen by Yang Hi Choe-Wall), Paris, Éditions Philippe Picquier, 1996. .\n Vision of a Phoenix: The Poems of Hŏ Nansŏrhŏn (Cornell East Asia Series, 117), Ithaca, New York, Cornell University, 2003. hc.\n Memoirs of the Red Queen, London, Kegan Paul, 2004. .\n The Jehol Diary\" (Chapter 1–3 of Yŏrha ilgi by Pak Chiwŏn, (1737–1805), translated with introduction and notes, Folkestone (UK), Global Oriental and Leiden, Brill Publishers, 2010. .\n The Encyclopaedia of Korea (1999), ANU – Digital Collections: Open Access Research, Canberra,, Australian National University, 2013.,\n \"The Sino-Korean Poetic Tradition of the Late 16th Century\". East Asian History (Papers on Far Eastern History), The Australian National University's Department of Far Eastern History, March 1986, Vol. 33, pp. 139–157.\n \"The Poetic thought of Hŏ Nansŏrhŏn: the renowned Sino-Korean Poetess\". East Asian History (Papers on Far Eastern History), The Australian National University's Department of Far Eastern History, 1987, Vol.36, pp. 93–108.\n \"The Impact of Taoism on the Literature of Mid-Chosŏn, 1568–1724\" Korean Studies: New Pacific Currents, Honolulu, Center for Korean Studies, University of Hawaii, 1994, pp. 113–124. .\n \"최양희:한중록의 영역에 부쳐\", 한국문학의 외국어 번역:현황과 전망, Seoul, 민음사, 1997, pp. 27–43. .\n \"나의 아버지 최재서 (Jaisou Choe)\". 대산문화, Seoul, The Daesan Foundation, 2014, Vol. 51, pp. 138–142. .\n MA thesis: Hanjung-nok: Memoirs of a Yi Dynasty Court Lady, Canberra, The Australian National University, 1974. Choe-Wall, Yang Hi– Open Access Theses and Dissertations, Center for Research Libraries (www.crl.edu).\n Ph D thesis: Hŏ Nansŏrhŏn (Heo Nanseolheon) and Her Hanshi – A study of the life and work of Hŏ Nansŏrhŏn – a late sixteenth-century Korean poet, ''Canberra, The Australian National University, 1984. Choe-Wall, Yang Hi– Open Access Theses and Dissertations, Center for Research Libraries.(http://bibpurl.oclc.org/web/34429 ) \n Arirang (TV network) http://www.arirang.co.kr/index.asp – interview with Choe-Wall, Yang Hi / Stephen Epstein (2007).\n\nReferences\n\nAustralian National University faculty\nAustralian National University alumni\nAustralian writers\nSouth Korean emigrants to Australia\nAustralian people of Korean descent\nKoreanists\n1932 births\nLiving people"
]
|
[
"Theodore Roosevelt",
"Early life and family",
"Where did he grow up?",
"at East 20th Street in New York City.",
"did he have siblings?",
"He was the second of four children born",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death,",
"Did he marrry?",
"I don't know.",
"Does he have kids?",
"I don't know.",
"Did his father approve of hi studies?",
"Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him."
]
| C_39da91c6b83e45c9a3447a0282510521_1 | In which ways? | 7 | In which ways did Roosevelt's father influence him? | Theodore Roosevelt | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at East 20th Street in New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister, Anna (nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother, Elliott, and a younger sister, Corinne. Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh, and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C.V.S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family. Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for display. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects". Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body. CANNOTANSWER | He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or his initials T. R., was an American politician, statesman, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He previously served as the 25th vice president under William McKinley from March to September 1901, and as the 33rd governor of New York from 1899 to 1900. Having assumed the presidency after McKinley's assassination, Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive policies.
Roosevelt was a sickly child with debilitating asthma but partly overcame his health problems by embracing a strenuous lifestyle. He integrated his exuberant personality, a vast range of interests and achievements into a "cowboy" persona defined by robust masculinity. He was home-schooled and began a lifelong naturalist avocation before attending Harvard. His book The Naval War of 1812 (1882) established his reputation as a learned historian and popular writer. Upon entering politics, he became the leader of the reform faction of Republicans in New York's state legislature. His wife and mother both died in the same night and he was psychologically devastated. He recuperated by buying and operating a cattle ranch in the Dakotas. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President William McKinley and in 1898 helped plan the highly successful naval war against Spain. He resigned to help form and lead the Rough Riders, a unit that fought the Spanish army in Cuba to great publicity. Returning a war hero, he was elected governor of New York in 1898. The New York state party leadership disliked his ambitious agenda and convinced McKinley to make Roosevelt his running mate in the 1900 election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously, and the McKinley–Roosevelt ticket won a landslide victory based on a platform of victory, peace and prosperity.
Roosevelt assumed the presidency at age 42 after McKinley was assassinated in September 1901. He remains the youngest person to become president of the United States. Roosevelt was a leader of the progressive movement and championed his "Square Deal" domestic policies, promising the average citizen fairness, breaking of trusts, regulation of railroads, and pure food and drugs. He prioritized conservation and established national parks, forests, and monuments intended to preserve the nation's natural resources. In foreign policy, he focused on Central America where he began construction of the Panama Canal. He expanded the Navy and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project American naval power. His successful efforts to broker the end of the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize. Roosevelt was elected to a full term in 1904 and continued to promote progressive policies. He groomed his close friend William Howard Taft to succeed him in the 1908 presidential election.
Roosevelt grew frustrated with Taft's brand of conservatism and belatedly tried to win the 1912 Republican nomination for president. He failed, walked out, and founded the Progressive Party. He ran in the 1912 presidential election and the split allowed the Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson to win the election. Following the defeat, Roosevelt led a two-year expedition to the Amazon basin where he nearly died of tropical disease. During World War I, he criticized Wilson for keeping the country out of the war; his offer to lead volunteers to France was rejected. He considered running for president again in 1920, but his health continued to deteriorate. He died in 1919. He is generally ranked in polls of historians and political scientists as one of the five best presidents.
Early life and family
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan, New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister (Anna, nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother (Elliott) and a younger sister (Corinne). Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C. V. S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill as well as a brother of Robert Roosevelt and James A. Roosevelt. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family.
Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for exhibition. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects".
Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body.
A 6-year-old Roosevelt witnessed the funeral procession of Abraham Lincoln from his grandfather's mansion in Union Square, New York City where he was photographed in the window along with his brother Elliott, as confirmed by wife Edith who was also present.
Education
Roosevelt was homeschooled, mostly by tutors and his parents. Biographer H. W. Brands argued that "The most obvious drawback to his home schooling was uneven coverage of the various areas of human knowledge." He was solid in geography and bright in history, biology, French, and German; however, he struggled in mathematics and the classical languages. When he entered Harvard College on September 27, 1876, his father advised: "Take care of your morals first, your health next, and finally your studies." His father's sudden death on February 9, 1878, devastated Roosevelt, but he eventually recovered and doubled his activities.
He did well in science, philosophy, and rhetoric courses but continued to struggle in Latin and Greek. He studied biology intently and was already an accomplished naturalist and a published ornithologist. He read prodigiously with an almost photographic memory. While at Harvard, Roosevelt participated in rowing and boxing; he was once runner-up in an intramural boxing tournament. Roosevelt was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi literary society (later the Fly Club), the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and the prestigious Porcellian Club; he was also an editor of The Harvard Advocate. In 1880, Roosevelt graduated Phi Beta Kappa (22nd of 177) from Harvard with an A.B. magna cum laude. Biographer Henry Pringle states:
After his father's death, Roosevelt had inherited $65,000 (), enough to live off comfortably for the rest of his life. Roosevelt gave up his earlier plan of studying natural science and instead decided to attend Columbia Law School, moving back into his family's home in New York City. Roosevelt was an able law student, but he often found law to be irrational. He spent much of his time writing a book on the War of 1812.
Determined to enter politics, Roosevelt began attending meetings at Morton Hall, the 59th Street headquarters of New York's 21st District Republican Association. Though Roosevelt's father had been a prominent member of the Republican Party, the younger Roosevelt made an unorthodox career choice for someone of his class, as most of Roosevelt's peers refrained from becoming too closely involved in politics. Roosevelt found allies in the local Republican Party, and he defeated an incumbent Republican state assemblyman closely tied to the political machine of Senator Roscoe Conkling. After his election victory, Roosevelt decided to drop out of law school, later saying, "I intended to be one of the governing class."
Naval history and strategy
While at Harvard, Roosevelt began a systematic study of the role played by the young United States Navy in the War of 1812. Assisted by two uncles, he scrutinized original source materials and official U.S. Navy records, ultimately publishing The Naval War of 1812 in 1882. The book contained drawings of individual and combined ship maneuvers, charts depicting the differences in iron throw weights of cannon shot between rival forces, and analyses of the differences and similarities between British and American leadership down to the ship-to-ship level. Upon release, The Naval War of 1812 was praised for its scholarship and style, and it remains a standard study of the war.
With the publication of The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 in 1890, Navy Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan was immediately hailed as the world's outstanding naval theorist by the leaders of Europe. Roosevelt paid very close attention to Mahan's emphasis that only a nation with the world's most powerful fleet could dominate the world's oceans, exert its diplomacy to the fullest, and defend its own borders. He incorporated Mahan's ideas into his views on naval strategy for the remainder of his career.
First marriage and widowerhood
In 1880, Roosevelt married socialite Alice Hathaway Lee. Their daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt, was born on February 12, 1884. Two days later, the new mother died of an undiagnosed case of kidney failure that had been masked by the pregnancy. In his diary, Roosevelt wrote a large 'X' on the page and then, "The light has gone out of my life." His mother, Mittie, had died of typhoid fever eleven hours earlier at 3:00 a.m., in the same house on 57th Street in Manhattan. Distraught, Roosevelt left baby Alice in the care of his sister Bamie while he grieved; he assumed custody of Alice when she was three.
After the deaths of his wife and mother, Roosevelt focused on his work, specifically by re-energizing a legislative investigation into corruption of the New York City government, which arose from a concurrent bill proposing that power be centralized in the mayor's office. For the rest of his life, he rarely spoke about his wife Alice and did not write about her in his autobiography.
Early political career
State Assemblyman
Roosevelt was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 21st D.) in 1882, 1883 and 1884. He immediately began making his mark, specifically in corporate corruption issues. He blocked a corrupt effort by financier Jay Gould to lower his taxes. Roosevelt exposed suspected collusion in the matter by Judge Theodore Westbrook, and argued for and received approval for an investigation to proceed, aiming for the impeachment of the judge. The investigation committee rejected impeachment, but Roosevelt had exposed the potential corruption in Albany, and thus assumed a high and positive political profile in multiple New York publications.
Roosevelt's anti-corruption efforts helped him win re-election in 1882 by a margin greater than two-to-one, an achievement made even more impressive by the fact that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Grover Cleveland won Roosevelt's district. With Conkling's Stalwart faction of the Republican Party in disarray following the assassination of President James Garfield, Roosevelt won election as the Republican party leader in the state assembly. He allied with Governor Cleveland to win passage of a civil service reform bill. Roosevelt won re-election a second time, and sought the office of Speaker of the New York State Assembly, but was defeated by Titus Sheard in a 41 to 29 vote of the GOP caucus. In his final term, Roosevelt served as Chairman of the Committee on Affairs of Cities; he wrote more bills than any other legislator.
Presidential election of 1884
With numerous presidential hopefuls to choose from, Roosevelt supported Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont, a colorless reformer. The state GOP preferred the incumbent president, New York City's Chester Arthur, who was known for passing the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. Arthur, at the time, was suffering from Bright's disease, unknown to the public, and out of duty he did not contest his own nomination. Roosevelt fought hard and succeeded in influencing the Manhattan delegates at the state convention in Utica. He then took control of the state convention, bargaining through the night and outmaneuvering the supporters of Arthur and James G. Blaine; he gained a national reputation as a key person in New York State.
Roosevelt attended the 1884 GOP National Convention in Chicago and gave a speech convincing delegates to nominate African American John R. Lynch, an Edmunds supporter, to be temporary chair. Roosevelt fought alongside the Mugwump reformers; however, Blaine, having gained support from Arthur's and Edmunds's delegates, won the nomination by 541 votes on the fourth ballot. In a crucial moment of his budding political career, Roosevelt resisted the demand of the Mugwumps that he bolt from Blaine. He bragged about his one small success: "We achieved a victory in getting up a combination to beat the Blaine nominee for temporary chairman... To do this needed a mixture of skill, boldness and energy... to get the different factions to come in... to defeat the common foe." He was also impressed by an invitation to speak before an audience of ten thousand, the largest crowd he had addressed up to that date. Having gotten a taste of national politics, Roosevelt felt less aspiration for advocacy on the state level; he then retired to his new "Chimney Butte Ranch" on the Little Missouri River. Roosevelt refused to join other Mugwumps in supporting Grover Cleveland, the governor of New York and the Democratic nominee in the general election. He debated the pros and cons of staying loyal with his political friend, Henry Cabot Lodge. After Blaine won the nomination, Roosevelt had carelessly said that he would give "hearty support to any decent Democrat". He distanced himself from the promise, saying that it had not been meant "for publication". When a reporter asked if he would support Blaine, Roosevelt replied, "That question I decline to answer. It is a subject I do not care to talk about." In the end, he realized that he had to support Blaine to maintain his role in the GOP, and he did so in a press release on July 19. Having lost the support of many reformers, Roosevelt decided to retire from politics and move to North Dakota.
Cattle rancher in Dakota
Roosevelt first visited the Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt bison. Exhilarated by the western lifestyle, and with the cattle business booming in the territory, Roosevelt invested $14,000 in hopes of becoming a prosperous cattle rancher. For the next several years, he shuttled between his home in New York and his ranch in Dakota.
Following the 1884 presidential election, Roosevelt built a ranch named Elkhorn, which was north of the boomtown of Medora, North Dakota. Roosevelt learned to ride western style, rope, and hunt on the banks of the Little Missouri. Though he earned the respect of the authentic cowboys, they were not overly impressed. However, he identified with the herdsman of history, a man he said possesses "few of the emasculated, milk-and-water moralities admired by the pseudo-philanthropists; but he does possess, to a very high degree, the stern, manly qualities that are invaluable to a nation". He reoriented, and began writing about frontier life for national magazines; he also published three books – Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, and The Wilderness Hunter.
Roosevelt brought his desire to address the common interests of citizens to the West. He successfully led efforts to organize ranchers to address problems of overgrazing and other shared concerns; his work resulted in the formation of the Little Missouri Stockmen's Association. He felt compelled to promote conservation and was able to form the Boone and Crockett Club, whose primary goal was the conservation of large game animals and their habitats. After the uniquely severe US winter of 1886–87 wiped out his herd of cattle and those of his competitors, and with it over half of his $80,000 investment, Roosevelt returned to the East. Though his finances suffered from the experience, Roosevelt's time in the West made it impossible to peg him as an ineffectual intellectual, a characterization that could have hampered his political career.
Second marriage
On December 2, 1886, Roosevelt married his childhood and family friend, Edith Kermit Carow. Roosevelt was deeply troubled that his second marriage had taken place so soon after the death of his first wife, and he faced resistance from his sisters. Nonetheless, the couple married at St George's, Hanover Square in London, England. The couple had five children: Theodore "Ted" III in 1887, Kermit in 1889, Ethel in 1891, Archibald in 1894, and Quentin in 1897. The couple also raised Roosevelt's daughter from his first marriage, Alice, who often clashed with her stepmother.
Reentering public life
Upon Roosevelt's return to New York in 1886, Republican leaders quickly approached him about running for mayor of New York City in the city's mayoral election. Roosevelt accepted the nomination despite having little hope of winning the race against United Labor Party candidate Henry George and Democratic candidate Abram Hewitt. Roosevelt campaigned hard for the position, but Hewitt won with 41% (90,552 votes), taking the votes of many Republicans who feared George's radical policies. George was held to 31% (68,110 votes), and Roosevelt took third place with 27% (60,435 votes). Fearing that his political career might never recover, Roosevelt turned his attention to writing The Winning of the West, a historical work tracking the westward movement of Americans; the book was a great success for Roosevelt, earning favorable reviews and selling numerous copies.
Civil Service Commission
After Benjamin Harrison unexpectedly defeated Blaine for the presidential nomination at the 1888 Republican National Convention, Roosevelt gave stump speeches in the Midwest in support of Harrison. On the insistence of Henry Cabot Lodge, President Harrison appointed Roosevelt to the United States Civil Service Commission, where he served until 1895. While many of his predecessors had approached the office as a sinecure, Roosevelt vigorously fought the spoilsmen and demanded enforcement of civil service laws. The New York Sun then described Roosevelt as "irrepressible, belligerent, and enthusiastic". Roosevelt frequently clashed with Postmaster General John Wanamaker, who handed out numerous patronage positions to Harrison supporters, and Roosevelt's attempt to force out several postal workers damaged Harrison politically. Despite Roosevelt's support for Harrison's reelection bid in the presidential election of 1892, the eventual winner, Grover Cleveland, reappointed him to the same post. Roosevelt's close friend and biographer, Joseph Bucklin Bishop, described his assault on the spoils system:
New York City Police Commissioner
In 1894, a group of reform Republicans approached Roosevelt about running for Mayor of New York again; he declined, mostly due to his wife's resistance to being removed from the Washington social set. Soon after he declined, he realized that he had missed an opportunity to reinvigorate a dormant political career. He retreated to the Dakotas for a time; his wife Edith regretted her role in the decision and vowed that there would be no repeat of it.
William Lafayette Strong, a reform-minded Republican, won the 1894 mayoral election and offered Roosevelt a position on the board of the New York City Police Commissioners. Roosevelt became president of the board of commissioners and radically reformed the police force. Roosevelt implemented regular inspections of firearms and annual physical exams, appointed recruits based on their physical and mental qualifications rather than political affiliation, established Meritorious Service Medals, and closed corrupt police hostelries. During his tenure, a Municipal Lodging House was established by the Board of Charities, and Roosevelt required officers to register with the Board; he also had telephones installed in station houses.
In 1894, Roosevelt met Jacob Riis, the muckraking Evening Sun newspaper journalist who was opening the eyes of New Yorkers to the terrible conditions of the city's millions of poor immigrants with such books as How the Other Half Lives. Riis described how his book affected Roosevelt:
Roosevelt made a habit of walking officers' beats late at night and early in the morning to make sure that they were on duty. He made a concerted effort to uniformly enforce New York's Sunday closing law; in this, he ran up against boss Tom Platt as well as Tammany Hall—he was notified that the Police Commission was being legislated out of existence. His crackdowns led to protests and demonstrations. Invited to one large demonstration, not only did he surprisingly accept, he delighted in the insults, caricatures and lampoons directed at him, and earned some surprising good will. Roosevelt chose to defer rather than split with his party. As Governor of New York State, he would later sign an act replacing the Police Commission with a single Police Commissioner.
Emergence as a national figure
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
In the 1896 presidential election, Roosevelt backed Speaker of the House Thomas Brackett Reed for the Republican nomination, but William McKinley won the nomination and defeated William Jennings Bryan in the general election. Roosevelt opposed Bryan's free silver platform, viewing many of Bryan's followers as dangerous fanatics, and Roosevelt gave campaign speeches for McKinley. Urged by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, President McKinley appointed Roosevelt as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897. Secretary of the Navy John D. Long was more concerned about formalities than functions, was in poor health, and left many major decisions to Roosevelt. Influenced by Alfred Thayer Mahan, Roosevelt called for a build-up in the country's naval strength, particularly the construction of battleships. Roosevelt also began pressing his national security views regarding the Pacific and the Caribbean on McKinley, and was particularly adamant that Spain be ejected from Cuba. He explained his priorities to one of the Navy's planners in late 1897:
On February 15, 1898, , an armored cruiser, exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, killing hundreds of crew members. While Roosevelt and many other Americans blamed Spain for the explosion, McKinley sought a diplomatic solution. Without approval from Long or McKinley, Roosevelt sent out orders to several naval vessels, directing them to prepare for war. George Dewey, who had received an appointment to lead the Asiatic Squadron with the backing of Roosevelt, later credited his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay to Roosevelt's orders. After finally giving up hope of a peaceful solution, McKinley asked Congress to declare war upon Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War.
War in Cuba
With the beginning of the Spanish–American War in late April 1898, Roosevelt resigned from his post as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Along with Army Colonel Leonard Wood, he formed the First US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. His wife and many of his friends begged Roosevelt to remain in his post in Washington, but Roosevelt was determined to see battle. When the newspapers reported the formation of the new regiment, Roosevelt and Wood were flooded with applications from all over the country. Referred to by the press as the "Rough Riders", the regiment was one of many temporary units active only for the duration of the war.
The regiment trained for several weeks in San Antonio, Texas, and in his autobiography, Roosevelt wrote that his prior experience with the New York National Guard had been invaluable, in that it enabled him to immediately begin teaching his men basic soldiering skills. The Rough Riders used some standard issue gear and some of their own design, purchased with gift money. Diversity characterized the regiment, which included Ivy Leaguers, professional and amateur athletes, upscale gentlemen, cowboys, frontiersmen, Native Americans, hunters, miners, prospectors, former soldiers, tradesmen, and sheriffs. The Rough Riders were part of the cavalry division commanded by former Confederate general Joseph Wheeler, which itself was one of three divisions in the V Corps under Lieutenant General William Rufus Shafter. Roosevelt and his men landed in Daiquirí, Cuba, on June 23, 1898, and marched to Siboney. Wheeler sent parts of the 1st and 10th Regular Cavalry on the lower road northwest and sent the "Rough Riders" on the parallel road running along a ridge up from the beach. To throw off his infantry rival, Wheeler left one regiment of his Cavalry Division, the 9th, at Siboney so that he could claim that his move north was only a limited reconnaissance if things went wrong. Roosevelt was promoted to colonel and took command of the regiment when Wood was put in command of the brigade. The Rough Riders had a short, minor skirmish known as the Battle of Las Guasimas; they fought their way through Spanish resistance and, together with the Regulars, forced the Spaniards to abandon their positions.
Under his leadership, the Rough Riders became famous for the charge up Kettle Hill on July 1, 1898, while supporting the regulars. Roosevelt had the only horse, and rode back and forth between rifle pits at the forefront of the advance up Kettle Hill, an advance that he urged despite the absence of any orders from superiors. He was forced to walk up the last part of Kettle Hill because his horse had been entangled in barbed wire. The victories came at a cost of 200 killed and 1,000 wounded.
In August, Roosevelt and other officers demanded that the soldiers be returned home. Roosevelt always recalled the Battle of Kettle Hill (part of the San Juan Heights) as "the great day of my life" and "my crowded hour". In 2001, Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions; he had been nominated during the war, but Army officials, annoyed at his grabbing the headlines, blocked it. After returning to civilian life, Roosevelt preferred to be known as "Colonel Roosevelt" or "The Colonel", though "Teddy" remained much more popular with the public, even though Roosevelt openly despised that moniker. Men working closely with Roosevelt customarily called him "Colonel" or "Theodore". Henceforth, political cartoons of Roosevelt usually depicted him in his Rough Rider garb.
Governor of New York
After leaving Cuba in August 1898, the Rough Riders were transported to a camp at Montauk Point, Long Island, where Roosevelt and his men were briefly quarantined due to the War Department's fear of spreading yellow fever. Shortly after Roosevelt's return to the United States, Republican Congressman Lemuel E. Quigg, a lieutenant of party boss Tom Platt, asked Roosevelt to run in the 1898 gubernatorial election. Platt disliked Roosevelt personally, feared that Roosevelt would oppose Platt's interests in office, and was reluctant to propel Roosevelt to the forefront of national politics. However, Platt also needed a strong candidate due to the unpopularity of the incumbent Republican governor, Frank S. Black, and Roosevelt agreed to become the nominee and to try not to "make war" with the Republican establishment once in office. Roosevelt defeated Black in the Republican caucus by a vote of 753 to 218, and faced Democrat Augustus Van Wyck, a well-respected judge, in the general election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously on his war record, winning the election by a margin of just one percent.
As governor, Roosevelt learned much about ongoing economic issues and political techniques that later proved valuable in his presidency. He was exposed to the problems of trusts, monopolies, labor relations, and conservation. Chessman argues that Roosevelt's program "rested firmly upon the concept of the square deal by a neutral state". The rules for the Square Deal were "honesty in public affairs, an equitable sharing of privilege and responsibility, and subordination of party and local concerns to the interests of the state at large".
By holding twice-daily press conferences—which was an innovation—Roosevelt remained connected with his middle-class political base. Roosevelt successfully pushed the Ford Franchise-Tax bill, which taxed public franchises granted by the state and controlled by corporations, declaring that "a corporation which derives its powers from the State, should pay to the State a just percentage of its earnings as a return for the privileges it enjoys". He rejected "boss" Thomas C. Platt's worries that this approached Bryanite Socialism, explaining that without it, New York voters might get angry and adopt public ownership of streetcar lines and other franchises.
The New York state government affected many interests, and the power to make appointments to policy-making positions was a key role for the governor. Platt insisted that he be consulted on major appointments; Roosevelt appeared to comply, but then made his own decisions. Historians marvel that Roosevelt managed to appoint so many first-rate men with Platt's approval. He even enlisted Platt's help in securing reform, such as in the spring of 1899, when Platt pressured state senators to vote for a civil service bill that the secretary of the Civil Service Reform Association called "superior to any civil service statute heretofore secured in America".
Chessman argues that as governor, Roosevelt developed the principles that shaped his presidency, especially insistence upon the public responsibility of large corporations, publicity as a first remedy for trusts, regulation of railroad rates, mediation of the conflict of capital and labor, conservation of natural resources and protection of the less fortunate members of society. Roosevelt sought to position himself against the excesses of large corporations on the one hand and radical movements on the other.
As the chief executive of the most populous state in the union, Roosevelt was widely considered a potential future presidential candidate, and supporters such as William Allen White encouraged him to run for president. Roosevelt had no interest in challenging McKinley for the Republican nomination in 1900, and was denied his preferred post of Secretary of War. As his term progressed, Roosevelt pondered a 1904 presidential run, but was uncertain about whether he should seek re-election as governor in 1900.
Vice Presidency (1901)
In November 1899, Vice President Garret Hobart died of heart failure, leaving an open spot on the 1900 Republican national ticket. Though Henry Cabot Lodge and others urged him to run for vice president in 1900, Roosevelt was reluctant to take the powerless position and issued a public statement saying that he would not accept the nomination. Additionally, Roosevelt was informed by President McKinley and campaign manager Mark Hanna that he was not being considered for the role of vice president due to his actions prior to the Spanish–American War. Eager to be rid of Roosevelt, Platt nonetheless began a newspaper campaign in favor of Roosevelt's nomination for the vice presidency. Roosevelt attended the 1900 Republican National Convention as a state delegate and struck a bargain with Platt: Roosevelt would accept the nomination for vice president if the convention offered it to him, but would otherwise serve another term as governor. Platt asked Pennsylvania party boss Matthew Quay to lead the campaign for Roosevelt's nomination, and Quay outmaneuvered Hanna at the convention to put Roosevelt on the ticket. Roosevelt won the nomination unanimously.
Roosevelt's vice-presidential campaigning proved highly energetic and an equal match for Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan's famous barnstorming style of campaigning. In a whirlwind campaign that displayed his energy to the public, Roosevelt made 480 stops in 23 states. He denounced the radicalism of Bryan, contrasting it with the heroism of the soldiers and sailors who fought and won the war against Spain. Bryan had strongly supported the war itself, but he denounced the annexation of the Philippines as imperialism, which would spoil America's innocence. Roosevelt countered that it was best for the Filipinos to have stability and the Americans to have a proud place in the world. With the nation basking in peace and prosperity, the voters gave McKinley an even larger victory than that which he had achieved in 1896.
After the campaign, Roosevelt took office as vice president in March 1901. The office of vice president was a powerless sinecure and did not suit Roosevelt's aggressive temperament. Roosevelt's six months as vice president were uneventful and boring for a man of action. He had no power; he presided over the Senate for a mere four days before it adjourned. On September 2, 1901, Roosevelt first publicized an aphorism that thrilled his supporters: "Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far."
Presidency (1901–1909)
On September 6, 1901, President McKinley was attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York when he was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Roosevelt was vacationing in Isle La Motte, Vermont, and traveled to Buffalo to visit McKinley in the hospital. It appeared that McKinley would recover, so Roosevelt resumed his vacation in the Adirondack Mountains. When McKinley's condition worsened, Roosevelt again rushed back to Buffalo. McKinley died on September 14, and Roosevelt was informed while he was in North Creek; he continued on to Buffalo and was sworn in as the nation's 26th president at the Ansley Wilcox House.
McKinley's supporters were nervous about the new president, and Hanna was particularly bitter that the man he had opposed so vigorously at the convention had succeeded McKinley. Roosevelt assured party leaders that he intended to adhere to McKinley's policies, and he retained McKinley's Cabinet. Nonetheless, Roosevelt sought to position himself as the party's undisputed leader, seeking to bolster the role of the president and position himself for the 1904 election. The vice presidency remained vacant, as there was no constitutional provision for filling an intra-term vacancy in that office (prior to the 25th Amendment in 1967).
Shortly after taking office, Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House. This sparked a bitter, and at times vicious, reaction among whites across the heavily segregated South. Roosevelt reacted with astonishment and protest, saying that he looked forward to many future dinners with Washington. Upon further reflection, Roosevelt wanted to ensure that this had no effect on political support in the white South, and further dinner invitations to Washington were avoided; their next meeting was scheduled as typical business at 10:00 a.m. instead.
Domestic policies
Trust busting and regulation
For his aggressive use of the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act, compared to his predecessors, Roosevelt was hailed as the "trust-buster"; but in reality he was more of a trust regulator. Roosevelt viewed big business as a necessary part of the American economy, and sought only to prosecute the "bad trusts" that restrained trade and charged unfair prices. He brought 44 antitrust suits, breaking up the Northern Securities Company, the largest railroad monopoly; and regulating Standard Oil, the largest oil company. Presidents Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley combined had prosecuted only 18 antitrust violations under the Sherman Antitrust Act.
Bolstered by his party's winning large majorities in the 1902 elections, Roosevelt proposed the creation of the United States Department of Commerce and Labor, which would include the Bureau of Corporations. While Congress was receptive to the Department of Commerce and Labor, it was more skeptical of the antitrust powers that Roosevelt sought to endow within the Bureau of Corporations. Roosevelt successfully appealed to the public to pressure Congress, and Congress overwhelmingly voted to pass Roosevelt's version of the bill.
In a moment of frustration, House Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon commented on Roosevelt's desire for executive branch control in domestic policy-making: "That fellow at the other end of the avenue wants everything from the birth of Christ to the death of the devil." Biographer Brands states, "Even his friends occasionally wondered whether there wasn't any custom or practice too minor for him to try to regulate, update or otherwise improve." In fact, Roosevelt's willingness to exercise his power included attempted rule changes in the game of football; at the Naval Academy, he sought to force retention of martial arts classes and to revise disciplinary rules. He even ordered changes made in the minting of a coin whose design he disliked, and ordered the Government Printing Office to adopt simplified spellings for a core list of 300 words, according to reformers on the Simplified Spelling Board. He was forced to rescind the latter after substantial ridicule from the press and a resolution of protest from the House of Representatives.
Coal strike
In May 1902, anthracite coal miners went on strike, threatening a national energy shortage. After threatening the coal operators with intervention by federal troops, Roosevelt won their agreement to dispute arbitration by a commission, which succeeded in stopping the strike. The accord with J. P. Morgan resulted in the miners getting more pay for fewer hours, but with no union recognition. Roosevelt said, "My action on labor should always be considered in connection with my action as regards capital, and both are reducible to my favorite formula—a square deal for every man." Roosevelt was the first president to help settle a labor dispute.
Prosecuted misconduct
During Roosevelt's second year in office it was discovered there was corruption in the Indian Service, the Land Office, and the Post Office Department. Roosevelt investigated and prosecuted corrupt Indian agents who had cheated the Creeks and various tribes out of land parcels. Land fraud and speculation were found involving Oregon federal timberlands. In November 1902, Roosevelt and Secretary Ethan A. Hitchcock forced Binger Hermann, the General Land Office Commissioner, to resign from office. On November 6, 1903 Francis J. Heney was appointed special prosecutor and obtained 146 indictments involving an Oregon Land Office bribery ring. U.S. Senator John H. Mitchell was indicted for bribery to expedite illegal land patents, found guilty in July 1905, and sentenced to six months in prison. More corruption was found in the Postal Department, that brought on the indictments of 44 government employees on charges of bribery and fraud. Historians generally agree that Roosevelt moved "quickly and decisively" to prosecute misconduct in his administration.
Railroads
Merchants complained that some railroad rates were too high. In the 1906 Hepburn Act, Roosevelt sought to give the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to regulate rates, but the Senate, led by conservative Nelson Aldrich, fought back. Roosevelt worked with the Democratic Senator Benjamin Tillman to pass the bill. Roosevelt and Aldrich ultimately reached a compromise that gave the ICC the power to replace existing rates with "just-and-reasonable" maximum rates, but allowed railroads to appeal to the federal courts on what was "reasonable". In addition to rate-setting, the Hepburn Act also granted the ICC regulatory power over pipeline fees, storage contracts, and several other aspects of railroad operations.
Pure food and drugs
Roosevelt responded to public anger over the abuses in the food packing industry by pushing Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act. Though conservatives initially opposed the bill, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, published in 1906, helped galvanize support for reform. The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 banned misleading labels and preservatives that contained harmful chemicals. The Pure Food and Drug Act banned food and drugs that were impure or falsely labeled from being made, sold, and shipped. Roosevelt also served as honorary president of the American School Hygiene Association from 1907 to 1908, and in 1909 he convened the first White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children.
Conservation
Of all Roosevelt's achievements, he was proudest of his work in the conservation of natural resources and extending federal protection to land and wildlife. Roosevelt worked closely with Interior Secretary James Rudolph Garfield and Chief of the United States Forest Service Gifford Pinchot to enact a series of conservation programs that often met with resistance from Western members of Congress, such as Charles William Fulton. Nonetheless, Roosevelt established the United States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of five National Parks, and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 new U.S. National Monuments. He also established the first 51 bird reserves, four game preserves, and 150 National Forests. The area of the United States that he placed under public protection totals approximately .
Roosevelt extensively used executive orders on a number of occasions to protect forest and wildlife lands during his tenure as president. By the end of his second term in office, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish of reserved forestry land. Roosevelt was unapologetic about his extensive use of executive orders to protect the environment, despite the perception in Congress that he was encroaching on too many lands. Eventually, Senator Charles Fulton (R-OR) attached an amendment to an agricultural appropriations bill that effectively prevented the president from reserving any further land. Before signing that bill into law, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish an additional 21 forest reserves, waiting until the last minute to sign the bill into law. In total, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish 121 forest reserves in 31 states. Prior to Roosevelt, only one president had issued over 200 executive orders, Grover Cleveland (253). The first 25 presidents issued a total of 1,262 executive orders; Roosevelt issued 1,081.
Foreign policy
Japan
The American annexation of Hawaii in 1898 was stimulated in part by fear that otherwise Japan would dominate the Hawaiian Republic. Similarly, Germany was the alternative to American takeover of the Philippines in 1900, and Tokyo strongly preferred the U.S. to take over. As the U.S. became a naval world power, it needed to find a way to avoid a military confrontation in the Pacific with Japan.
In the 1890s, Roosevelt had been an ardent imperialist and vigorously defended the permanent acquisition of the Philippines in the 1900 campaign. After the local insurrection ended in 1902, he largely lost his imperialist interest in the Philippines and Asian expansion but wished to have a strong U.S. presence in the region as a symbol of democratic values. One of Theodore Roosevelt's priorities during his presidency and afterwards, was the maintenance of friendly relations with Japan. From 1904 to 1905 Japan and Russia were at war. Roosevelt admired the martial courage of the Japanese, and distrusted the reckless German Kaiser. Both sides asked Roosevelt to mediate a peace conference, held successfully in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
In California, anti-Japanese hostility was growing, and Tokyo protested. Roosevelt negotiated a "Gentleman's Agreement" in 1907. Explicit discrimination against the Japanese was ended, and Japan agreed not to allow unskilled immigrants into the United States. The Great White Fleet of American battleships visited Japan in 1908. Pulitzer prize-winning biographer Henry Pringle states that the great voyage was "the direct result of the Japanese trouble." Roosevelt intended to emphasize the superiority of the American fleet over the smaller Japanese navy, but instead of resentment the visitors arrived to a joyous welcome by Japanese elite as well as the general public. This good-will facilitated the Root–Takahira Agreement of November 1908 which reaffirmed the status quo of Japanese control of Korea and American control of the Philippines.
Europe
Success in the war against Spain and the new empire, plus having the largest economy in the world, meant that the United States had emerged as a world power. Roosevelt searched for ways to win recognition for the position abroad.
Roosevelt also played a major role in mediating the First Moroccan Crisis by calling the Algeciras Conference, which averted war between France and Germany.
Roosevelt's presidency saw the strengthening of ties with Great Britain. The Great Rapprochement had begun with British support of the United States during the Spanish–American War, and it continued as Britain withdrew its fleet from the Caribbean in favor of focusing on the rising German naval threat. In 1901, Britain and the United States signed the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, abrogating the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty, which had prevented the United States from constructing a canal connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. The long-standing Alaska boundary dispute was settled on terms favorable to the United States, as Great Britain was unwilling to alienate the United States over what it considered to be a secondary issue. As Roosevelt later put it, the resolution of the Alaskan boundary dispute "settled the last serious trouble between the British Empire and ourselves."
Latin America and Panama Canal
As president, he primarily focused the nation's overseas ambitions on the Caribbean, especially locations that had a bearing on the defense of his pet project, the Panama Canal. Roosevelt also increased the size of the navy, and by the end of his second term the United States had more battleships than any other country besides Britain. The Panama Canal when it opened in 1914 allowed the U.S. Navy to rapidly move back and forth from the Pacific to the Caribbean to European waters.
In December 1902, the Germans, British, and Italians blockaded the ports of Venezuela in order to force the repayment of delinquent loans. Roosevelt was particularly concerned with the motives of German Emperor Wilhelm II. He succeeded in getting the three nations to agree to arbitration by tribunal at The Hague, and successfully defused the crisis. The latitude granted to the Europeans by the arbiters was in part responsible for the "Roosevelt Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which the President issued in 1904: "Chronic wrongdoing or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere, the adherence of the United States to the Monroe doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power."
The pursuit of an isthmus canal in Central America during this period focused on two possible routes—Nicaragua and Panama, which was then a rebellious district within Colombia. Roosevelt convinced Congress to approve the Panamanian alternative, and a treaty was approved, only to be rejected by the Colombian government. When the Panamanians learned of this, a rebellion followed, was supported by Roosevelt, and succeeded. A treaty with the new Panama government for construction of the canal was then reached in 1903. Roosevelt received criticism for paying the bankrupt Panama Canal Company and the New Panama Canal Company $40,000,000 (equivalent to $ billion in ) for the rights and equipment to build the canal. Critics charged that an American investor syndicate allegedly divided the large payment among themselves. There was also controversy over whether a French company engineer influenced Roosevelt in choosing the Panama route for the canal over the Nicaragua route. Roosevelt denied charges of corruption concerning the canal in a January 8, 1906 message to Congress. In January 1909, Roosevelt, in an unprecedented move, brought criminal libel charges against the New York World and the Indianapolis News known as the "Roosevelt-Panama Libel Cases". Both cases were dismissed by U.S. District Courts, and on January 3, 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court, upon federal appeal, upheld the lower courts' rulings. Historians are sharply critical of Roosevelt's criminal prosecutions of the World and the News, but are divided on whether actual corruption in acquiring and building the Panama Canal took place.
In 1906, following a disputed election, an insurrection ensued in Cuba; Roosevelt sent Taft, the Secretary of War, to monitor the situation; he was convinced that he had the authority to unilaterally authorize Taft to deploy Marines if necessary, without congressional approval.
Examining the work of numerous scholars, Ricard (2014) reports that:
The most striking evolution in the twenty-first-century historiography of Theodore Roosevelt is the switch from a partial arraignment of the imperialist to a quasi-unanimous celebration of the master diplomatist.... [Recent works] have underlined cogently Roosevelt's exceptional statesmanship in the construction of the nascent twentieth-century "special relationship". ...The twenty-sixth president's reputation as a brilliant diplomatist and realpolitician has undeniably reached new heights in the twenty-first century...yet, his Philippine policy still prompts criticism.
Media
Building on McKinley's effective use of the press, Roosevelt made the White House the center of news every day, providing interviews and photo opportunities. After noticing the reporters huddled outside the White House in the rain one day, he gave them their own room inside, effectively inventing the presidential press briefing. The grateful press, with unprecedented access to the White House, rewarded Roosevelt with ample coverage.
Roosevelt normally enjoyed very close relationships with the press, which he used to keep in daily contact with his middle-class base. While out of office, he made a living as a writer and magazine editor. He loved talking with intellectuals, authors, and writers. He drew the line, however, at exposé-oriented scandal-mongering journalists who, during his term, sent magazine subscriptions soaring by their attacks on corrupt politicians, mayors, and corporations. Roosevelt himself was not usually a target, but a speech of his from 1906 coined the term "muckraker" for unscrupulous journalists making wild charges. "The liar", he said, "is no whit better than the thief, and if his mendacity takes the form of slander he may be worse than most thieves."
The press did briefly target Roosevelt in one instance. After 1904, he was periodically criticized for the manner in which he facilitated the construction of the Panama Canal. According to biographer Brands, Roosevelt, near the end of his term, demanded that the Justice Department bring charges of criminal libel against Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. The publication had accused him of "deliberate misstatements of fact" in defense of family members who were criticized as a result of the Panama affair. Though an indictment was obtained, the case was ultimately dismissed in federal court—it was not a federal offense, but one enforceable in state courts. The Justice Department had predicted that result, and had also advised Roosevelt accordingly.
Election of 1904
The control and management of the Republican Party lay in the hands of Ohio Senator and Republican Party chairman Mark Hanna until McKinley's death. Roosevelt and Hanna frequently cooperated during Roosevelt's first term, but Hanna left open the possibility of a challenge to Roosevelt for the 1904 Republican nomination. Roosevelt and Ohio's other Senator, Joseph B. Foraker, forced Hanna's hand by calling for Ohio's state Republican convention to endorse Roosevelt for the 1904 nomination. Unwilling to break with the president, Hanna was forced to publicly endorse Roosevelt. Hanna and Pennsylvania Senator Matthew Quay both died in early 1904, and with the waning of Thomas Platt's power, Roosevelt faced little effective opposition for the 1904 nomination. In deference to Hanna's conservative loyalists, Roosevelt at first offered the party chairmanship to Cornelius Bliss, but he declined. Roosevelt turned to his own man, George B. Cortelyou of New York, the first Secretary of Commerce and Labor. To buttress his hold on the party's nomination, Roosevelt made it clear that anyone opposing Cortelyou would be considered to be opposing the President. The President secured his own nomination, but his preferred vice-presidential running mate, Robert R. Hitt, was not nominated. Senator Charles Warren Fairbanks of Indiana, a favorite of conservatives, gained the nomination.
While Roosevelt followed the tradition of incumbents in not actively campaigning on the stump, he sought to control the campaign's message through specific instructions to Cortelyou. He also attempted to manage the press's release of White House statements by forming the Ananias Club. Any journalist who repeated a statement made by the president without approval was penalized by restriction of further access.
The Democratic Party's nominee in 1904 was Alton Brooks Parker. Democratic newspapers charged that Republicans were extorting large campaign contributions from corporations, putting ultimate responsibility on Roosevelt, himself. Roosevelt denied corruption while at the same time he ordered Cortelyou to return $100,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) of a campaign contribution from Standard Oil. Parker said that Roosevelt was accepting corporate donations to keep damaging information from the Bureau of Corporations from going public. Roosevelt strongly denied Parker's charge and responded that he would "go into the Presidency unhampered by any pledge, promise, or understanding of any kind, sort, or description...". Allegations from Parker and the Democrats, however, had little impact on the election, as Roosevelt promised to give every American a "square deal". Roosevelt won 56% of the popular vote, and Parker received 38%; Roosevelt also won the Electoral College vote, 336 to 140. Before his inauguration ceremony, Roosevelt declared that he would not serve another term. Democrats afterwards would continue to charge Roosevelt and the Republicans of being influenced by corporate donations during Roosevelt's second term.
Second term
As his second term progressed, Roosevelt moved to the left of his Republican Party base and called for a series of reforms, most of which Congress failed to pass. In his last year in office, he was assisted by his friend Archibald Butt (who later perished in the sinking of RMS Titanic). Roosevelt's influence waned as he approached the end of his second term, as his promise to forego a third term made him a lame duck and his concentration of power provoked a backlash from many Congressmen. He sought a national incorporation law (at a time when all corporations had state charters), called for a federal income tax (despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.), and an inheritance tax. In the area of labor legislation, Roosevelt called for limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes; injunctions were a powerful weapon that mostly helped business. He wanted an employee liability law for industrial injuries (pre-empting state laws) and an eight-hour work day for federal employees. In other areas he also sought a postal savings system (to provide competition for local banks), and he asked for campaign reform laws.
The election of 1904 continued to be a source of contention between Republicans and Democrats. A Congressional investigation in 1905 revealed that corporate executives donated tens of thousands of dollars in 1904 to the Republican National Committee. In 1908, a month before the general presidential election, Governor Charles N. Haskell of Oklahoma, former Democratic Treasurer, said that Senators beholden to Standard Oil lobbied Roosevelt, in the summer of 1904, to authorize the leasing of Indian oil lands by Standard Oil subsidiaries. He said Roosevelt overruled his Secretary of Interior Ethan A. Hitchcock and granted a pipeline franchise to run through the Osage lands to the Prairie Oil and Gas Company. The New York Sun made a similar accusation and said that Standard Oil, a refinery who financially benefited from the pipeline, had contributed $150,000 to the Republicans in 1904 (equivalent to $ million in ) after Roosevelt's alleged reversal allowing the pipeline franchise. Roosevelt branded Haskell's allegation as "a lie, pure and simple" and obtained a denial from Treasury Secretary Shaw that Roosevelt had neither coerced Shaw nor overruled him.
Post-presidency (1909–1919)
Election of 1908
Roosevelt enjoyed being president and was still relatively youthful, but felt that a limited number of terms provided a check against dictatorship. Roosevelt ultimately decided to stick to his 1904 pledge not to run for a third term. He personally favored Secretary of State Elihu Root as his successor, but Root's ill health made him an unsuitable candidate. New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes loomed as a potentially strong candidate and shared Roosevelt's progressivism, but Roosevelt disliked him and considered him to be too independent. Instead, Roosevelt settled on his Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, who had ably served under Presidents Harrison, McKinley, and Roosevelt in various positions. Roosevelt and Taft had been friends since 1890, and Taft had consistently supported President Roosevelt's policies. Roosevelt was determined to install the successor of his choice, and wrote the following to Taft: "Dear Will: Do you want any action about those federal officials? I will break their necks with the utmost cheerfulness if you say the word!". Just weeks later he branded as "false and malicious" the charge that he was using the offices at his disposal to favor Taft. At the 1908 Republican convention, many chanted for "four years more" of a Roosevelt presidency, but Taft won the nomination after Henry Cabot Lodge made it clear that Roosevelt was not interested in a third term.
In the 1908 election, Taft easily defeated the Democratic nominee, three-time candidate William Jennings Bryan. Taft promoted a progressivism that stressed the rule of law; he preferred that judges rather than administrators or politicians make the basic decisions about fairness. Taft usually proved to be a less adroit politician than Roosevelt and lacked the energy and personal magnetism, along with the publicity devices, the dedicated supporters, and the broad base of public support that made Roosevelt so formidable. When Roosevelt realized that lowering the tariff would risk creating severe tensions inside the Republican Party by pitting producers (manufacturers and farmers) against merchants and consumers, he stopped talking about the issue. Taft ignored the risks and tackled the tariff boldly, encouraging reformers to fight for lower rates, and then cutting deals with conservative leaders that kept overall rates high. The resulting Payne-Aldrich tariff of 1909, signed into law early in President Taft's tenure, was too high for most reformers, and Taft's handling of the tariff alienated all sides. While the crisis was building inside the Party, Roosevelt was touring Africa and Europe, to allow Taft to be his own man.
Africa and Europe (1909–1910)
In March 1909, shortly after the end of his presidency, Roosevelt left New York for the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition, a safari in east and central Africa. Roosevelt's party landed in Mombasa, East Africa (now Kenya) and traveled to the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) before following the Nile to Khartoum in modern Sudan. Financed by Andrew Carnegie and by his own writings, Roosevelt's party hunted for specimens for the Smithsonian Institution and for the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The group, led by the hunter-tracker RJ Cunninghame, included scientists from the Smithsonian, and was joined from time to time by Frederick Selous, the famous big game hunter and explorer. Participants on the expedition included Kermit Roosevelt, Edgar Alexander Mearns, Edmund Heller, and John Alden Loring.
Roosevelt and his companions killed or trapped approximately 11,400 animals, from insects and moles to hippopotamuses and elephants. The 1,000 large animals included 512 big game animals, including six rare white rhinos. Tons of salted animals and their skins were shipped to Washington; it took years to mount them all, and the Smithsonian shared many duplicate specimens with other museums. Regarding the large number of animals taken, Roosevelt said, "I can be condemned only if the existence of the National Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and all similar zoological institutions are to be condemned". He wrote a detailed account of the safari in the book African Game Trails, recounting the excitement of the chase, the people he met, and the flora and fauna he collected in the name of science.
After his safari, Roosevelt traveled north to embark on a tour of Europe. Stopping first in Egypt, he commented favorably on British rule of the region, giving his opinion that Egypt was not yet ready for independence. He refused a meeting with the Pope due to a dispute over a group of Methodists active in Rome, but met with Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King George V of Great Britain, and other European leaders. In Oslo, Norway, Roosevelt delivered a speech calling for limitations on naval armaments, a strengthening of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and the creation of a "League of Peace" among the world powers. He also delivered the Romanes Lecture at Oxford, in which he denounced those who sought parallels between the evolution of animal life and the development of society. Though Roosevelt attempted to avoid domestic politics during his time abroad, he met with Gifford Pinchot, who related his own disappointment with the Taft Administration. Pinchot had been forced to resign as head of the forest service after clashing with Taft's Interior Secretary, Richard Ballinger, who had prioritized development over conservation. Roosevelt returned to the United States in June 1910.
Republican Party schism
Roosevelt had attempted to refashion Taft into a second version of himself, but as soon as Taft began to display his individuality, the former president expressed his disenchantment. He was offended on election night when Taft indicated that his success had been possible not just through the efforts of Roosevelt, but also his brother Charley. Roosevelt was further alienated when Taft, intent on becoming his own man, did not consult him about cabinet appointments. Roosevelt and other progressives were ideologically dissatisfied over Taft's conservation policies and his handling of the tariff when he concentrated more power in the hands of conservative party leaders in Congress. Regarding radicalism and liberalism, Roosevelt wrote a British friend in 1911:
Fundamentally it is the radical liberal with whom I sympathize. He is at least working toward the end for which I think we should all of us strive; and when he adds sanity in moderation to courage and enthusiasm for high ideals he develops into the kind of statesman whom alone I can wholeheartedly support."
Roosevelt urged progressives to take control of the Republican Party at the state and local level and to avoid splitting the party in a way that would hand the presidency to the Democrats in 1912. Additionally, Roosevelt expressed optimism about the Taft Administration after meeting with the president in the White House in June 1910.
In August 1910, Roosevelt gained national attention with a speech at Osawatomie, Kansas, which was the most radical of his career and marked his public break with Taft and the conservative Republicans. Advocating a program of "New Nationalism", Roosevelt emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests, a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions. Returning to New York, Roosevelt began a battle to take control of the state Republican party from William Barnes Jr., Tom Platt's successor as the state party boss, whom he would later confront in the Barnes vs. Roosevelt Libel Trial. Taft had pledged his support to Roosevelt in this endeavor, and Roosevelt was outraged when Taft's support failed to materialize at the 1910 state convention. Roosevelt nonetheless campaigned for the Republicans in the 1910 elections, in which the Democrats gained control of the House for the first time since the 1890s. Among the newly elected Democrats was New York state senator Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who argued that he represented his distant cousin's policies better than his Republican opponent.
The Republican progressives interpreted the 1910 defeats as a compelling argument for the complete reorganization of the party in 1911. Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin joined with Pinchot, William White, and California Governor Hiram Johnson to create the National Progressive Republican League; their objectives were to defeat the power of political bossism at the state level and to replace Taft at the national level. Despite skepticism of La Follette's new league, Roosevelt expressed general support for progressive principles. Between January and April 1911, Roosevelt wrote a series of articles for The Outlook, defending what he called "the great movement of our day, the progressive nationalist movement against special privilege, and in favor of an honest and efficient political and industrial democracy". With Roosevelt apparently uninterested in running in 1912, La Follette declared his own candidacy in June 1911. Roosevelt continually criticized Taft after the 1910 elections, and the break between the two men became final after the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against US Steel in September 1911; Roosevelt was humiliated by this suit because he had personally approved of an acquisition that the Justice Department was now challenging. However, Roosevelt was still unwilling to run against Taft in 1912; he instead hoped to run in 1916 against whichever Democrat beat Taft in 1912.
Dispute over arbitration treaties
Taft was a major advocate of arbitration as a major reform of the Progressive Era. In 1911 Taft and his Secretary of State Philander C. Knox negotiated major treaties with Great Britain and with France providing that differences be arbitrated. Disputes had to be submitted to the Hague Court or other tribunal. These were signed in August 1911 but had to be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. Neither Taft nor Knox consulted with members of the Senate during the negotiating process. By then many Republicans were opposed to Taft, and the president felt that lobbying too hard for the treaties might cause their defeat. He made some speeches supporting the treaties in October, but the Senate added amendments Taft could not accept, killing the agreements.
The arbitration issue opens a window on a bitter philosophical dispute among American progressives. Some, led by Taft looked to legal arbitration as the best alternative to warfare. Taft was a constitutional lawyer who later became Chief Justice; he had a deep understanding of the legal issues. Taft's political base was the conservative business community that largely supported peace movements before 1914. However, his mistake, in this case, was a failure to mobilize that base. The businessmen believed that economic rivalries were the cause of war, and that extensive trade led to an interdependent world that would make war a very expensive and useless anachronism.
However, an opposing faction of progressives, led by Roosevelt, ridiculed arbitration as foolhardy idealism, and insisted on the realism of warfare as the only solution to serious international disputes. Roosevelt worked with his close friend Senator Henry Cabot Lodge to impose those amendments that ruined the goals of the treaties. Lodge thought the treaties impinged too much on senatorial prerogatives. Roosevelt, however, was acting to sabotage Taft's campaign promises. At a deeper level, Roosevelt truly believed that arbitration was a naïve solution and the great issues had to be decided by warfare. The Rooseveltian approach incorporated a near-mystical faith of the ennobling nature of war. It endorsed jingoistic nationalism as opposed to the businessmen's calculation of profit and national interest.
Election of 1912
Republican primaries and convention
In November 1911, a group of Ohio Republicans endorsed Roosevelt for the party's nomination for president; the endorsers included James R. Garfield and Dan Hanna. This endorsement was made by leaders of President Taft's home state. Roosevelt conspicuously declined to make a statement—requested by Garfield—that he would flatly refuse a nomination. Soon thereafter, Roosevelt said, "I am really sorry for Taft... I am sure he means well, but he means well feebly, and he does not know how! He is utterly unfit for leadership and this is a time when we need leadership." In January 1912, Roosevelt declared "if the people make a draft on me I shall not decline to serve". Later that year, Roosevelt spoke before the Constitutional Convention in Ohio, openly identifying as a progressive and endorsing progressive reforms—even endorsing popular review of state judicial decisions. In reaction to Roosevelt's proposals for popular overrule of court decisions, Taft said, "Such extremists are not progressives—they are political emotionalists or neurotics".
Roosevelt began to envision himself as the savior of the Republican Party from defeat in the upcoming presidential election. In February 1912, Roosevelt announced in Boston, "I will accept the nomination for president if it is tendered to me. I hope that so far as possible the people may be given the chance through direct primaries to express who shall be the nominee. Elihu Root and Henry Cabot Lodge thought that division of the party would lead to its defeat in the next election, while Taft believed that he would be defeated either in the Republican primary or in the general election.
The 1912 primaries represented the first extensive use of the presidential primary, a reform achievement of the progressive movement. The Republican primaries in the South, where party regulars dominated, went for Taft, as did results in New York, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Roosevelt won in Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, California, Maryland and Pennsylvania; Roosevelt also won Taft's home state of Ohio. These primary elections, while demonstrating Roosevelt's continuing popularity with the electorate, were not pivotal. The final credentials of the state delegates at the national convention were determined by the national committee, which was controlled by the party leaders, headed by the incumbent president.
Prior to the 1912 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt expressed doubt about his prospects for victory, noting that Taft had more delegates and control of the credentials committee. His only hope was to convince party leaders that the nomination of Taft would hand the election to the Democrats, but party leaders were determined not to cede their leadership to Roosevelt. The credentials committee awarded almost all contested delegates to Taft, and Taft won the nomination on the first ballot. Black delegates from the South played a key role: they voted heavily for Taft and put him over the top. La Follette also helped Taft's candidacy; he hoped that a deadlocked convention would result in his own nomination, and refused to release his delegates to support Roosevelt.
The Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party
Once his defeat at the Republican convention appeared probable, Roosevelt announced that he would "accept the progressive nomination on a progressive platform and I shall fight to the end, win or lose". At the same time, Roosevelt prophetically said, "My feeling is that the Democrats will probably win if they nominate a progressive".
Roosevelt left the Republican Party and created the Progressive Party, structuring it as a permanent organization that would field complete tickets at the presidential and state level. The party included Roosevelt and key allies such as Pinchot, Cornelia Bryce Pinchot (Pinchot's wife and a longtime friend of Roosevelt's), and Albert Beveridge. The new party was popularly known as the "Bull Moose Party" after Roosevelt told reporters, "I'm as fit as a bull moose". At the 1912 Progressive National Convention, Roosevelt cried out, "We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord." California Governor Hiram Johnson was nominated as Roosevelt's running mate. Roosevelt's platform echoed his 1907–1908 proposals, calling for vigorous government intervention to protect the people from selfish interests:
Though many Progressive party supporters in the North were supporters of civil rights for blacks, Roosevelt did not give strong support to civil rights and ran a "lily-white" campaign in the South. Rival all-white and all-black delegations from four southern states arrived at the Progressive national convention, and Roosevelt decided to seat the all-white delegations. Nevertheless, he won little support outside mountain Republican strongholds. Out of nearly 1100 counties in the South, Roosevelt won two counties in Alabama, one in Arkansas, seven in North Carolina, three in Georgia, 17 in Tennessee, two in Texas, one in Virginia, and none in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, or South Carolina.
Assassination attempt
On October 14, 1912, while arriving at a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Roosevelt was shot from seven feet away in front of the Gilpatrick Hotel by a delusional saloonkeeper named John Flammang Schrank, who believed that the ghost of assassinated president William McKinley had directed him to kill Roosevelt. The bullet lodged in his chest after penetrating his steel eyeglass case and passing through a 50-page-thick single-folded copy of the speech titled "Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual", which he was carrying in his jacket. Schrank was immediately disarmed (by Czech immigrant Frank Bukovsky), captured, and might have been lynched had Roosevelt not shouted for Schrank to remain unharmed. Roosevelt assured the crowd he was all right, then ordered police to take charge of Schrank and to make sure no violence was done to him.
As an experienced hunter and anatomist, Roosevelt correctly concluded that since he was not coughing blood, the bullet had not reached his lung. He declined suggestions to go to the hospital immediately and instead delivered a 90 minute speech with blood seeping into his shirt. His opening comments to the gathered crowd were, "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose." Only after finishing his address did he accept medical attention.
Subsequent probes and an x-ray showed that the bullet had lodged in Roosevelt's chest muscle, but did not penetrate the pleura. Doctors concluded that it would be less dangerous to leave it in place than to attempt to remove it, and Roosevelt carried the bullet with him for the rest of his life. Both Taft and Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson suspended their own campaigning until Roosevelt recovered and resumed his. When asked if the shooting would affect his election campaign, he said to the reporter "I'm fit as a bull moose." The bull moose became a symbol of both Roosevelt and the Progressive Party, and it often was referred to as simply the Bull Moose Party. He spent two weeks recuperating before returning to the campaign trail. He later wrote a friend about the bullet inside him, "I do not mind it any more than if it were in my waistcoat pocket."
Farewell manifesto
On October 20, Roosevelt spoke to a crowd of 16,000 at Madison Square Garden. The speech included: "Perhaps once in a generation, there comes a chance for the people of a country to play their part wisely and fearlessly in some great battle of the age-long warfare for human rights."
Election results
After the Democrats nominated Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey, Roosevelt did not expect to win the general election, as Wilson had compiled a record attractive to many progressive Democrats who might have otherwise considered voting for Roosevelt. Roosevelt still campaigned vigorously, and the election developed into a two-person contest between Wilson and Roosevelt despite Taft's presence in the race. Roosevelt respected Wilson, but the two differed on various issues; Wilson opposed any federal intervention regarding women's suffrage or child labor (he viewed these as state issues), and attacked Roosevelt's tolerance of large businesses.
Roosevelt won 4.1 million votes (27%), compared to Taft's 3.5 million (23%). Wilson gained 6.3 million votes (42% of the total) and a massive landslide in the Electoral College, with 435 electoral votes; Roosevelt won 88 electoral votes, while Taft won 8. Pennsylvania was the only eastern state won by Roosevelt; in the Midwest, he carried Michigan, Minnesota, and South Dakota; in the West, California, and Washington. Wilson's victory represented the first Democratic presidential election victory since Cleveland's 1892 campaign, and it was the party's best performance in the Electoral College since 1852. Roosevelt, meanwhile, garnered a higher share of the popular vote than any other third-party presidential candidate in history and won the most states of any third-party candidate after the Civil War.
South American expedition (1913-1914)
A friend of Roosevelt's, Father John Augustine Zahm, persuaded Roosevelt to participate in an expedition to South America. To finance the expedition, Roosevelt received support from the American Museum of Natural History in return for promising to bring back many new animal specimens. Roosevelt's popular book, Through the Brazilian Wilderness describes his expedition into the Brazilian jungle in 1913 as a member of the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition, co-named after its leader, Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon.
Once in South America, a new, far more ambitious goal was added: to find the headwaters of the Rio da Duvida (Portuguese for "River of Doubt"), and trace it north to the Madeira and thence to the Amazon River. It was later renamed Roosevelt River in honor of the former president. Roosevelt's crew consisted of his son Kermit, Colonel Rondon, naturalist George Kruck Cherrie (sent by the American Museum of Natural History), Brazilian Lieutenant João Lira, team physician Dr. José Antonio Cajazeira, and 16 skilled paddlers and porters. Roosevelt also identified Leo Miller (another AMNH recommendation), Anthony Fiala, Frank Harper, and Jacob Sigg as crew members. The initial expedition started somewhat tenuously on December 9, 1913, at the height of the rainy season. The trip down the River of Doubt started on February 27, 1914.
During the trip down the river, Roosevelt suffered a minor leg wound after he jumped into the river to try to prevent two canoes from smashing against the rocks. The flesh wound he received, however, soon gave him tropical fever that resembled the malaria he had contracted while in Cuba fifteen years before. Because the bullet lodged in his chest from the assassination attempt in 1912 was never removed, his health worsened from the infection. This weakened Roosevelt so greatly that six weeks into the adventure, he had to be attended to day and night by the expedition's physician and his son Kermit. By then, he could not walk because of the infection in his injured leg and an infirmity in the other, which was due to a traffic accident a decade earlier. Roosevelt was riddled with chest pains, fighting a fever that soared to and at times made him delirious, at one point constantly reciting the first two lines of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan": "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure dome decree". Regarding his condition as a threat to the survival of the others, Roosevelt insisted he be left behind to allow the poorly provisioned expedition to proceed as rapidly as it could, preparing to commit suicide with an overdose of morphine. Only an appeal by his son persuaded him to continue.
Despite Roosevelt's continued decline and loss of over , Colonel Rondon reduced the pace of the expedition to allow for his commission's mapmaking and other geographical tasks, which required regular stops to fix the expedition's position by sun-based survey. Upon Roosevelt's return to New York, friends and family were startled by his physical appearance and fatigue. Roosevelt wrote, perhaps prophetically, to a friend that the trip had cut his life short by ten years. For the rest of his few remaining years, he would be plagued by flare-ups of malaria and leg inflammations so severe as to require surgery. Before Roosevelt had even completed his sea voyage home, critics raised doubts over his claims of exploring and navigating a completely uncharted river over long. When he had recovered sufficiently, he addressed a standing-room-only convention organized in Washington, D.C., by the National Geographic Society and satisfactorily defended his claims.
Final years
Roosevelt returned to the United States in May 1914. Though he was outraged by the Wilson Administration's conclusion of a treaty that expressed "sincere regret" for the way in which the United States had acquired the Panama Canal Zone, he was impressed by many of the reforms passed under Wilson. Roosevelt made several campaign appearances for the Progressives, but the 1914 elections were a disaster for the fledgling third party. Roosevelt began to envision another campaign for president, this time with himself at the head of the Republican Party, but conservative party leaders remained opposed to Roosevelt. In hopes of engineering a joint nomination, the Progressives scheduled the 1916 Progressive National Convention at the same time as the 1916 Republican National Convention. When the Republicans nominated Charles Evans Hughes, Roosevelt declined the Progressive nomination and urged his Progressive followers to support the Republican candidate. Though Roosevelt had long disliked Hughes, he disliked Wilson even more, and he campaigned energetically for the Republican nominee. However, Wilson won the 1916 election by a narrow margin. The Progressives disappeared as a party following the 1916 election, and Roosevelt and many of his followers permanently re-joined the Republican Party.
World War I
When the First World War began in 1914, Roosevelt strongly supported the Allies and demanded a harsher policy against Germany, especially regarding submarine warfare. Roosevelt angrily denounced the foreign policy of President Wilson, calling it a failure regarding the atrocities in Belgium and the violations of American rights. In 1916, while campaigning for Hughes, Roosevelt repeatedly denounced Irish-Americans and German-Americans whom he described as unpatriotic, saying they put the interests of Ireland and Germany ahead of America's by supporting neutrality. He insisted that one had to be 100% American, not a "hyphenated American" who juggled multiple loyalties. In March 1917, Congress gave Roosevelt the authority to raise a maximum of four divisions similar to the Rough Riders, and Major Frederick Russell Burnham was put in charge of both the general organization and recruitment. However, President Wilson announced to the press that he would not send Roosevelt and his volunteers to France, but instead would send an American Expeditionary Force under the command of General John J. Pershing. Roosevelt never forgave Wilson, and quickly published The Foes of Our Own Household, an indictment of the sitting president. Roosevelt's youngest son, Quentin, a pilot with the American forces in France, was killed when shot down behind German lines on July 14, 1918, at the age of 20. It is said that Quentin's death distressed Roosevelt so much that he never recovered from his loss.
League of Nations
Roosevelt was an early supporter of the modern view that there needs to be a global order. In his Nobel prize address of 1910, he said, "it would be a master stroke if those great Powers honestly bent on peace would form a League of Peace, not only to keep the peace among themselves, but to prevent, by force if necessary, its being broken by others." It would have executive power such as the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 lacked. He called for American participation.
When World War I broke out, Roosevelt proposed "a World League for the Peace of Righteousness", in September 1914, which would preserve sovereignty but limit armaments and require arbitration. He added that it should be "solemnly covenanted that if any nations refused to abide by the decisions of such a court, then others draw the sword in behalf of peace and justice." In 1915 he outlined this plan more specifically, urging that nations guarantee their entire military force, if necessary, against any nation that refused to carry out arbitration decrees or violated rights of other nations. Though Roosevelt had some concerns about the impact on United States sovereignty, he insisted that such a league would only work if the United States participated as one of the "joint guarantors". Roosevelt referred to this plan in a 1918 speech as "the most feasible for...a league of nations." By this time Wilson was strongly hostile to Roosevelt and Lodge, and developed his own plans for a rather different League of Nations. It became reality along Wilson's lines at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Roosevelt denounced Wilson's approach but died before it was adopted at Paris. However, Lodge was willing to accept it with serious reservations. In the end, on March 19, 1920, Wilson had Democratic Senators vote against the League with the Lodge Reservations and the United States never joined the League of Nations.
Final political activities
Roosevelt's attacks on Wilson helped the Republicans win control of Congress in the midterm elections of 1918. He declined a request from New York Republicans to run for another gubernatorial term, but attacked Wilson's Fourteen Points, calling instead for the unconditional surrender of Germany. Though his health was uncertain, he was seen as a leading contender for the 1920 Republican nomination, but insisted that, "If they take me, they'll have to take me without a single modification of the things that I have always stood for! He wrote William Allen White, "I wish to do everything in my power to make the Republican Party the Party of sane, constructive radicalism, just as it was under Lincoln." Accordingly, he told the 1918 state convention of the Maine Republican Party that he stood for old-age pensions, insurance for sickness and unemployment, construction of public housing for low-income families, the reduction of working hours, aid to farmers, and more regulation of large corporations.
While his political profile remained high, Roosevelt's physical condition continued to deteriorate throughout 1918 due to the long-term effects of jungle diseases. He was hospitalized for seven weeks late in the year and never fully recovered.
Death
On the night of January 5, 1919, Roosevelt suffered breathing problems. After receiving treatment from his physician, Dr. George W. Faller, he felt better and went to bed. Roosevelt's last words were "Please put out that light, James" to his family servant James E. Amos. Between 4:00 and 4:15 the next morning, Roosevelt, at the age of 60, died in his sleep at Sagamore Hill after a blood clot detached from a vein and traveled to his lungs.
Upon receiving word of his death, his son Archibald telegraphed his siblings: "The old lion is dead." Woodrow Wilson's vice president, Thomas R. Marshall, said that "Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight." Following a private farewell service in the North Room at Sagamore Hill, a simple funeral was held at Christ Episcopal Church in Oyster Bay. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, Charles Evans Hughes, Warren G. Harding, Henry Cabot Lodge, and William Howard Taft were among the mourners. The snow-covered procession route to Youngs Memorial Cemetery was lined with spectators and a squad of mounted policemen who had ridden from New York City. Roosevelt was buried on a hillside overlooking Oyster Bay.
Writer
Roosevelt was a prolific author, writing with passion on subjects ranging from foreign policy to the importance of the national park system. Roosevelt was also an avid reader of poetry. Poet Robert Frost said that Roosevelt "was our kind. He quoted poetry to me. He knew poetry."
As an editor of Outlook magazine, Roosevelt had weekly access to a large, educated national audience. In all, Roosevelt wrote about 18 books (each in several editions), including his autobiography, The Rough Riders, History of the Naval War of 1812, and others on subjects such as ranching, explorations, and wildlife. His most ambitious book was the four volume narrative The Winning of the West, focused on the American frontier in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Roosevelt said that the American character—indeed a new "American race" (ethnic group) had emerged from the heroic wilderness hunters and Indian fighters, acting on the frontier with little government help. Roosevelt also published an account of his 1909–10 African expedition entitled African Game Trails.
In 1907, Roosevelt became embroiled in a widely publicized literary debate known as the nature fakers controversy. A few years earlier, naturalist John Burroughs had published an article entitled "Real and Sham Natural History" in the Atlantic Monthly, attacking popular writers of the day such as Ernest Thompson Seton, Charles G. D. Roberts, and William J. Long for their fantastical representations of wildlife. Roosevelt agreed with Burroughs's criticisms, and published several essays of his own denouncing the booming genre of "naturalistic" animal stories as "yellow journalism of the woods". It was the President himself who popularized the negative term "nature faker" to describe writers who depicted their animal characters with excessive anthropomorphism.
Character and beliefs
Roosevelt intensely disliked being called "Teddy", despite the widespread public association with said moniker, and was quick to point out this to those who referred to him as such, though it would become widely used by newspapers during his political career.
He was an active Freemason and member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
British scholar Marcus Cunliffe evaluates the liberal argument that Roosevelt was an opportunist, exhibitionist, and imperialist. Cunliffe praises TR's versatility, his respect for law, and his sincerity. He argues that Roosevelt's foreign policy was better than his detractors allege. Cunliffe calls him "a big man in several respects," ranking him below Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson, and on the same level as Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Strenuous life
Roosevelt had a lifelong interest in pursuing what he called, in an 1899 speech, "The Strenuous Life". To this end, he exercised regularly and took up boxing, tennis, hiking, rowing, polo, and horseback riding. He also continued his habit of skinny-dipping in the Potomac River during the winter. As governor of New York, he boxed with sparring partners several times each week, a practice he regularly continued as president until being hit so hard in the face he became blind in his left eye (a fact not made public until many years later). As president, he practiced judo for two 2-month periods in 1902 and 1904, not attaining any rank. Roosevelt began to believe in the utility of jiu-jitsu training after training with Yoshitsugu Yamashita. Concerned that the United States would lose its military supremacy to rising powers like Japan, Roosevelt began to advocate for jiu-jitsu training for American soldiers. Feminists annoyed by the posturing of men like Roosevelt, insisted that women were just as capable of learning jiu-jitsu. To prove their point, Martha Blow Wadsworth and Maria Louise ("Hallie") Davis Elkins hired Fude Yamashita, a highly skilled jiu-jitsu instructor and the wife of Yoshitsugu Yamashita, to teach a jiu-jitsu class for women and girls in Washington, DC in 1904. Women had already begun training in boxing in the United States as a means of personal and political empowerment. Jiu-jitsu training thus soon also became popular with American women, coinciding with the origins of a women's self-defense movement.
Roosevelt was an enthusiastic singlestick player and, according to Harper's Weekly, showed up at a White House reception with his arm bandaged after a bout with General Leonard Wood in 1905. Roosevelt was an avid reader, reading tens of thousands of books, at a rate of several per day in multiple languages. Along with Thomas Jefferson, Roosevelt was the most well-read of all American presidents.
Warrior
Historians have often emphasized Roosevelt's warrior persona. He took aggressive positions regarding war with Spain in 1898, Colombia in 1903, and especially with Germany, from 1915 to 1917. As a demonstration of American naval might, he sent the "Great White Fleet" around the world in 1907–1909. The implicit threat of the "big stick" of military power provided leverage to "speak softly" and quietly resolve conflict in numerous cases. He boasted in his autobiography:
Richard D. White Jr states, "Roosevelt's warrior spirit framed his views of national politics, [and] international relations."
Historian Howard K. Beale has argued:
Religion
Roosevelt attended church regularly and was a lifelong adherent of the Reformed Church in America, an American affiliate of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1907, concerning the motto "In God We Trust" on money, he wrote, "It seems to me eminently unwise to cheapen such a motto by use on coins, just as it would be to cheapen it by use on postage stamps, or in advertisements." Roosevelt talked a great deal about religion. Biographer Edmund Morris states:
Roosevelt publicly encouraged church attendance and was a conscientious churchgoer himself. When gas rationing was introduced during the First World War, he walked the three miles from his home at Sagamore Hill to the local church and back, even after a serious operation had made it difficult for him to travel by foot. It was said that Roosevelt "allowed no engagement to keep him from going to church," and he remained a fervent advocate of the Bible throughout his adult life. According to Christian F. Reisner, writing in 1922 shortly after Roosevelt's death, "Religion was as natural to Mr. Roosevelt as breathing," and when the travel library for Roosevelt's famous Smithsonian-sponsored African expedition was being assembled, the Bible was, according to his sister, "the first book selected." In an address delivered in his home at Oyster Bay to the Long Island Bible Society in 1901, Roosevelt declared that:
Political positions
When he assumed the presidency, Roosevelt reassured many conservatives, stating, "the mechanism of modern business is so delicate that extreme care must be taken not to interfere with it in a spirit of rashness or ignorance." The following year, Roosevelt asserted the president's independence from business interests by opposing the merger which created the Northern Securities Company, and many were surprised that any president, much less an unelected one, would challenge powerful banker J.P. Morgan. In his last two years as president, Roosevelt became increasingly distrustful of big business, despite its close ties to the Republican Party. Roosevelt sought to replace the 19th-century laissez-faire economic environment with a new economic model which included a larger regulatory role for the federal government. He believed that 19th-century entrepreneurs had risked their fortunes on innovations and new businesses, and that these capitalists had been rightly rewarded. By contrast, he believed that 20th-century capitalists risked little but nonetheless reaped huge and, given the lack of risk, unjust, economic rewards. Without a redistribution of wealth away from the upper class, Roosevelt feared that the country would turn to radicals or fall to revolution. His Square Deal domestic program had three main goals: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. The Square Deal evolved into his program of "New Nationalism", which emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests and a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions.
Foreign policy beliefs
In the analysis by Henry Kissinger, Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to develop the guideline that it was America's duty to make its enormous power and potential influence felt globally. The idea of being a passive "city on the hill" model that others could look up to, he rejected. Roosevelt, trained in biology, was a social darwinist who believed in survival of the fittest. The international world in his view was a realm of violence and conflict. The United States had all the economic and geographical potential to be the fittest nation on the globe. The United States had a duty to act decisively. For example, in terms of the Monroe Doctrine, America had to prevent European incursions in the Western Hemisphere. But there was more, as he expressed in his famous Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: the U.S. had to be the policeman of the region because unruly, corrupt smaller nations had to be controlled, and if United States did not do it, European powers would in fact intervene and develop their own base of power in the hemisphere in contravention to the Monroe Doctrine.
Roosevelt was a realist and a conservative. He deplored many of the increasingly popular idealistic liberal themes, such as were promoted by William Jennings Bryan, the anti-imperialists, and Woodrow Wilson. Kissinger says he rejected the efficacy of international law. Roosevelt argue that if a country could not protect its own interests, the international community could not help very much. He ridiculed disarmament proposals that were increasingly common. He saw no likelihood of an international power capable of checking wrongdoing on a major scale. As for world government: I regard the Wilson–Bryan attitude of trusting to fantastic peace treaties, too impossible promises, to all kinds of scraps of paper without any backing in efficient force, as abhorrent. It is infinitely better for a nation and for the world to have the Frederick the Great and Bismarck tradition as regards foreign policy than to have the Bryan or Bryan–Wilson attitude as a permanent national attitude.... A milk-and-water righteousness unbacked by force is...as wicked as and even more mischievous than force divorced from righteousness.
On the positive side, Roosevelt favored spheres of influence, whereby one great power would generally prevail, such as the United States in the Western Hemisphere or Great Britain in the Indian subcontinent. Japan fit that role and he approved. However he had deep distrust of both Germany and Russia.
Legacy
Historians credit Roosevelt for changing the nation's political system by permanently placing the "bully pulpit" of the presidency at center stage and making character as important as the issues. His accomplishments include trust busting and conservationism. He is a hero to liberals and progressives for his proposals in 1907–1912 that presaged the modern welfare state of the New Deal Era, including direct federal taxation, labor reforms, and more direct democracy, while conservationists admire Roosevelt for putting the environment and selflessness towards future generations on the national agenda, and conservatives and nationalists respect his commitment to law and order, civic duty and military values, as well as his personality of individual self-responsibility and hardiness. Dalton says, "Today he is heralded as the architect of the modern presidency, as a world leader who boldly reshaped the office to meet the needs of the new century and redefined America's place in the world."
However, liberals and socialists have criticized him for his interventionist and imperialist approach to nations he considered "uncivilized". Conservatives and libertarians reject his vision of the welfare state and emphasis on the superiority of government over private action. Historians typically rank Roosevelt among the top five presidents in American history.
Persona and masculinity
Dalton says Roosevelt is remembered as, "one of the most picturesque personalities who has ever enlivened the landscape". His friend, historian Henry Adams, proclaimed: "Roosevelt, more than any other man... showed the singular primitive quality that belongs to ultimate matter—the quality that medieval theology assigned to God—he was pure act."
Roosevelt's biographers have stressed his personality. Henry F. Pringle, who won the Pulitzer Prize in biography for his Theodore Roosevelt (1931) stated: "The Theodore Roosevelt of later years was the most adolescent of men… Failure to receive the Medal of Honor for his exploits [in Cuba] had been a grief as real as any of those which swamp childhood in despair. 'You must always remember,' wrote Cecil Spring Rice in 1904, 'that the President is about six.'"
Cooper compared him with Woodrow Wilson and argued that both of them played the roles of warrior and priest. Dalton stressed Roosevelt's strenuous life. Sarah Watts examined the desires of the "Rough Rider in the White House". Brands calls Roosevelt "the last romantic", arguing that his romantic concept of life emerged from his belief that "physical bravery was the highest virtue and war the ultimate test of bravery".
Roosevelt as the exemplar of American masculinity has become a major theme. As president, he repeatedly warned men that they were becoming too office-bound, too complacent, too comfortable with physical ease and moral laxity, and were failing in their duties to propagate the race and exhibit masculine vigor. French historian Serge Ricard says, "the ebullient apostle of the Strenuous Life offers ideal material for a detailed psycho-historical analysis of aggressive manhood in the changing socio-cultural environment of his era; McKinley, Taft, or Wilson would perhaps inadequately serve that purpose". He promoted competitive sports like boxing and jiu-jitsu for physically strengthening American men. He also believed that organizations like the Boy Scouts of America, founded in 1910, could help mold and strengthen the character of American boys. Brands shows that heroic displays of bravery were essential to Roosevelt's image and mission:
Memorials and cultural depictions
Roosevelt was included with Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln at the Mount Rushmore Memorial, designed in 1927 with the approval of Republican President Calvin Coolidge.
For his gallantry at San Juan Hill, Roosevelt's commanders recommended him for the Medal of Honor. However, the initial recommendation lacked any eyewitnesses, and the effort was eventually tainted by Roosevelt's own lobbying of the War Department. In the late 1990s, Roosevelt's supporters again recommended the award, which was denied by the Secretary of the Army on basis that the decorations board determined "Roosevelt's bravery in battle did not rise to the level that would justify the Medal of Honor and, indeed, it did not rise to the level of men who fought in that engagement." Nevertheless, politicians apparently convinced the secretary to reconsider the award a third time and reverse himself, leading to the charge that it was a "politically motivated award." On January 16, 2001, President Bill Clinton awarded Theodore Roosevelt the Medal of Honor posthumously for his charge on San Juan Hill. He is the only president to have received the Medal of Honor.
The United States Navy named two ships for Roosevelt: the , a submarine that was in commission from 1961 to 1982, and the , an aircraft carrier that has been on active duty in the Atlantic Fleet since 1986.
On November 18, 1956, the United States Postal Service released a 6¢ Liberty Issue postage stamp honoring Roosevelt. A 32¢ stamp was issued on February 3, 1998, as part of the Celebrate the Century stamp sheet series. In 2008, Columbia Law School awarded Roosevelt a Juris Doctor degree, posthumously making him a member of the class of 1882.
Roosevelt's "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick" ideology is still quoted by politicians and columnists in different countries—not only in English, but also in translations to various other languages. Another lasting, popular legacy of Roosevelt is the stuffed toy bears—teddy bears—named after him following an incident on a hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902. Roosevelt has been portrayed in films and television series such as Brighty of the Grand Canyon, The Wind and the Lion, Rough Riders, My Friend Flicka, and Law of the Plainsman. Robin Williams portrayed Roosevelt in the form of a wax mannequin that comes to life in Night at the Museum and its sequels Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. In 2017, it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio will portray Roosevelt in a biopic to be directed by Martin Scorsese.
Moreover, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the state of North Dakota is named after him. The America the Beautiful Quarters series features Roosevelt riding a horse on the national park's quarter.
Asteroid 188693 Roosevelt, discovered by astronomers with the Catalina Sky Survey in 2005, was named after him. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on November 8, 2019 ().
In January 2022, after years of lobbying by activists, an equestrian statue of the former president was removed from where it had stood for more than eighty years in front of New York's American Museum of Natural History. Responding to controversy, the museum noted that the design "communicates a racial hierarchy that the museum and members of the public have long found disturbing."
Audiovisual media
Theodore Roosevelt was one of the first presidents whose voice was recorded for posterity. Several of his recorded speeches survive. A 4.6-minute voice recording, which preserves Roosevelt's lower timbre ranges particularly well for its time, is among those available from the Michigan State University libraries (this is the 1912 recording of The Right of the People to Rule, recorded by Edison at Carnegie Hall). The audio clip sponsored by the Authentic History Center includes his defense of the Progressive Party in 1912, wherein he proclaims it the "party of the people" – in contrast with the other major parties.
Roosevelt goes for a ride in Arch Hoxsey's plane in October 1910
In popular culture
Theodore Roosevelt appears as the leader of the American civilization in the Firaxis Games title Civilization VI. His unique ability is Roosevelt Corollary, which gives +5 Combat Strength for all units inside America's home continent, and +1 Appeal to all tiles in cities with a national park.
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
Full biographies
.
.
.
, 105 pp, very short biography by leading scholar.
.; also titled Power and responsibility; the life and times of Theodore Roosevelt online free to borrow
.
.
.
, only volume published, to age 28.
.
.
Personality and activities
.
.
Provides a lesson plan on TR as the historical figure who most exemplifies the quality of masculinity.
. Chronicles the events of TR's presidency during the summers of his two terms.
. The president's use of publicity, rhetoric and force of personality.
; his deadly 1913–14 trip to the Amazon.
, best seller; to 1886.
, to 1884.
. 494 pp.
, examines TR and his family during the World War I period.
.
, 240 pp. TR in Africa & Europe, 1909–10
. 289 pp.
, 337 pp; TR's political thought and its significance for republican self-government.
Domestic policies
online review; another online review
Cutright, P.R. (1985) Theodore Roosevelt: The making of a Modern Conservationist (U of Illinois Press.)
.
, standard history of his domestic and foreign policy as president.
Bakari, Mohamed El-Kamel. "Mapping the 'Anthropocentric-ecocentric'Dualism in the History of American Presidency: The Good, the Bad, and the Ambivalent." Journal of Studies in Social Sciences 14, no. 2 (2016).
.
.
Redekop, Benjamin. (2015). "Embodying the Story: The Conservation Leadership of Theodore Roosevelt". Leadership (2015) DOI:10.1177/1742715014546875 online
.
.
Politics
. How TR did politics.
, 323 pp.
.
.
.
.
. 361 pp.
.
. Focus on 1912; online free
. online free
. Attacks TR policies from conservative/libertarian perspective.
Foreign policy, military and naval issues
. online
. excerpt
.
. 328 pp.
Kuehn, John T. "Theodore Roosevelt’s Naval Diplomacy: The U.S. Navy and the Birth of the American Century," Naval War College Review (2010) 53#3 online
Livermore, Seward W. "Theodore Roosevelt, the American Navy, and the Venezuelan Crisis of 1902-1903." American Historical Review 51.3 (1946): 452–471. online
.
.
Nester, William R. Theodore Roosevelt and the Art of American Power: An American for All Time. Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. excerpt
Neu, Charles E. "Theodore Roosevelt and American Involvement in the Far East, 1901-1909." Pacific Historical Review 35.4 (1966): 433–449. online
O'Gara, Gordon Carpenter. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of the Modern Navy. (Princeton UP, 1943). online
.
Oyos, Matthew M. In Command: Theodore Roosevelt and the American Military (2018) online review
Pietrusza, David (2018). TR's Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy
.
.
.
.
Thompson, John M. Great Power Rising: Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of US Foreign Policy (Oxford UP, 2019).
. 196 pp.
Turk, Richard W. The Ambiguous Relationship: Theodore Roosevelt and Alfred Thayer Mahan (1987) [https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/93/5/1413/70734 online review
Historiography
Cunliffe, Marcus. "Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States 1901–1908" History Today (Sept 1955) 4#9 pp. 592–601, online.
Ricard, Serge. "The State of Theodore Roosevelt Studies" H-Diplo Essay No. 116 24 October 2014 online
, excerpt and text search, 28 new essays by scholars; focus on historiography. online
Primary sources
Kohn, Edward P., ed. A Most Glorious Ride: The Diaries of Theodore Roosevelt, 1877–1886 (State University of New York Press, 2015), 284 pp.
; vol 2
.
, 20 vol.; 18,000 pages containing most of TR's speeches, books and essays, but not his letters; a CD-ROM edition is available; some of TR's books are available online through Project Bartleby
, Roosevelt's opinions on many issues; online version at Theodore Roosevelt.
, 8 vols. Very large collection. vol 1 1868–1898 online free
. online free
.
.
online free to borrow
.
.
.
External links
Official
White House biography
Organizations
Boone and Crockett Club
Theodore Roosevelt Association
Libraries and collections
Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University
Theodore Roosevelt Collection, at the Houghton Library, Harvard University
Julian L. Street Papers on Theodore Roosevelt, at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
Doris A. and Lawrence H. Budner Collection on Theodore Roosevelt at the DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University
Theodore Roosevelt's journalism at The Archive of American Journalism
Theodore Roosevelt American Museum of Natural History
Roosevelt Papers, at the Library of Congress
Guide to the Herbert R. Strauss Collection of Theodore Roosevelt Papers 1884–1919 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
Media
"Life Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, September 3, 1999
"Writings of Theodore Roosevelt" from C-SPAN's American Writers: A Journey Through History
Other
Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt: A Resource Guide – Library of Congress
1858 births
1919 deaths
1900s in the United States
Theodore
19th-century American politicians
19th-century American historians
19th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century presidents of the United States
20th-century vice presidents of the United States
American autobiographers
American conservationists
American essayists
American explorers
American fishers
American hunters
American male judoka
American male non-fiction writers
American military personnel of the Spanish–American War
American naval historians
American Nobel laureates
American political writers
American shooting survivors
Articles containing video clips
American bibliophiles
American people of Dutch descent
Bulloch family
Burials in New York (state)
Columbia Law School alumni
Deaths from pulmonary embolism
New York City Police Commissioners
English-language spelling reform advocates
Explorers of Amazonia
American Freemasons
Governors of New York (state)
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Harvard College alumni
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Members of the New York State Assembly
Military personnel from New York City
New York (state) Progressives (1912)
New York (state) Republicans
Nobel Peace Prize laureates
People associated with the American Museum of Natural History
People from Oyster Bay (town), New York
Politicians from New York City
Presidents of the American Historical Association
Presidents of the United States
Progressive Era in the United States
Ranchers from North Dakota
Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees
Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees
Republican Party presidents of the United States
Republican Party state governors of the United States
Republican Party vice presidents of the United States
Rough Riders
Schuyler family
Sons of the American Revolution
Spanish–American War recipients of the Medal of Honor
United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
United States Army officers
United States Assistant Secretaries of the Navy
Candidates in the 1904 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1912 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1916 United States presidential election
1900 United States vice-presidential candidates
Vice presidents of the United States
Writers from New York (state)
Harvard Advocate alumni
American diarists
American political party founders
Aphorists
American nationalists
20th-century American male writers | true | [
"Five Ways may refer to:\n\nPlaces \nFive Ways, Birmingham, a city area in England\nFive Ways, Paddington, a junction in Sydney, Australia\nFive Ways, Victoria, a locality in Devon Meadows, Australia\n\nOther uses \nFive Ways (Aquinas) or Quinque viæ, arguments for God's existence\nKing Edward VI Five Ways School, a state grammar school in Birmingham, England\n\nSee also\nFiveways (disambiguation)",
"\"(Love Moves in) Mysterious Ways\" is a song recorded by British singer-songwriter Julia Fordham. Fordham was invited to record \"Mysterious Ways\" for the movie The Butcher's Wife, starring Demi Moore and Jeff Daniels, in late 1991. Fordham had then just released her third album Swept, at least in the UK and Japan, but the release of the album was quickly put on hold so that \"Mysterious Ways\" could be added to the track list. The rejigged album was released in the US in late October 1991, coinciding with the US release of the movie, and internationally. The album was also reissued in the UK, with \"Mysterious Ways\" - but not in Japan. There, \"Mysterious Ways\" was released as a 7-track EP. The EP includes the exclusive track \"Melt\", which Fordham had recorded for the Japanese movie The Flying Pennta in 1991.\n\nThe song became a popular pop-standard in the Philippines when it was reintroduced by Filipino singer Nina in 2005.\n\nBackground\n\"(Love Moves in) Mysterious Ways\" was first offered to Linda Ronstadt, but she turned down the song. It was then introduced to Fordham.\n\nPerformances\nIn 2014, Fordham performed \"(Love Moves in) Mysterious Ways\" live in her two Valentine concerts entitled \"Love Moves...\" in the Philippines.\n\nTrack listing\n7\" single\n \"(Love Moves in) Mysterious Ways\"\n \"Happy Ever After\"\nCD single\n \"(Love Moves in) Mysterious Ways\"\n \"Happy Ever After\"\n \"Manhattan Skyline\"\n \"One of the Boys\"\nJapan CD EP\n \"(Love Moves in) Mysterious Ways\"\n\"The Naked Truth\"\n\"Manhattan Skyline\"\n\"Loving You\"\n\"One of the Boys\"\n\"Melt\"\n \"Happy Ever After\"\n\nChart performance\n\nCover versions\n\nNina version\n\n\"Love Moves in Mysterious Ways\" is the first single from Filipino singer Nina's third album Nina Live!. It was released in February 2005 by Warner Music, along with the live album. The song was part of the Nina Live! recording session on 30 January 2005 at the PHI Resto and Bar, Metrowalk in Pasig. The song is considered to be one of the main reasons why Nina Live! became a success, which was certified Diamond by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry.\n\nInternationally, the song was released as a digital download through Rhino Records.\n\nMusic video\n\nThe music video for \"Love Moves in Mysterious Ways\" was recorded during the Nina Live! recording sessions, which was directed by Marla Ancheta. No studio version was recorded for release. The video features Nina performing live with The Essence band. Fans and audience surround her, while she sings the song to them.\n\nThe video premiered on myx in February 2005.\n\nRelease history\n\nOther versions\n The song was covered by Taiwanese singer Winnie Hsin as \"叛逃的愛麗絲\" (Pàntáo de àilì sī) on her Mandarin album 花時間 (Huā shíjiān) in 1992.\n The song was released by Michael English on his album Hope in 1993.\n The song was also covered by Filipino band MYMP for their 2005 album Versions.\n Christian Bautista also covered the song for Kris Aquino's album My Hearts Journey in 2011.\n\nReferences\n\n1992 singles\n2005 singles\nJulia Fordham songs\nNina Girado songs\nSongs written by Tom Snow\nSongs written by Dean Pitchford\nPop ballads\n1991 songs"
]
|
[
"Theodore Roosevelt",
"Early life and family",
"Where did he grow up?",
"at East 20th Street in New York City.",
"did he have siblings?",
"He was the second of four children born",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death,",
"Did he marrry?",
"I don't know.",
"Does he have kids?",
"I don't know.",
"Did his father approve of hi studies?",
"Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him.",
"In which ways?",
"He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness."
]
| C_39da91c6b83e45c9a3447a0282510521_1 | Who was his father? | 8 | Who was Theodore Roosevelt's father? | Theodore Roosevelt | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at East 20th Street in New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister, Anna (nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother, Elliott, and a younger sister, Corinne. Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh, and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C.V.S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family. Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for display. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects". Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body. CANNOTANSWER | businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or his initials T. R., was an American politician, statesman, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He previously served as the 25th vice president under William McKinley from March to September 1901, and as the 33rd governor of New York from 1899 to 1900. Having assumed the presidency after McKinley's assassination, Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive policies.
Roosevelt was a sickly child with debilitating asthma but partly overcame his health problems by embracing a strenuous lifestyle. He integrated his exuberant personality, a vast range of interests and achievements into a "cowboy" persona defined by robust masculinity. He was home-schooled and began a lifelong naturalist avocation before attending Harvard. His book The Naval War of 1812 (1882) established his reputation as a learned historian and popular writer. Upon entering politics, he became the leader of the reform faction of Republicans in New York's state legislature. His wife and mother both died in the same night and he was psychologically devastated. He recuperated by buying and operating a cattle ranch in the Dakotas. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President William McKinley and in 1898 helped plan the highly successful naval war against Spain. He resigned to help form and lead the Rough Riders, a unit that fought the Spanish army in Cuba to great publicity. Returning a war hero, he was elected governor of New York in 1898. The New York state party leadership disliked his ambitious agenda and convinced McKinley to make Roosevelt his running mate in the 1900 election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously, and the McKinley–Roosevelt ticket won a landslide victory based on a platform of victory, peace and prosperity.
Roosevelt assumed the presidency at age 42 after McKinley was assassinated in September 1901. He remains the youngest person to become president of the United States. Roosevelt was a leader of the progressive movement and championed his "Square Deal" domestic policies, promising the average citizen fairness, breaking of trusts, regulation of railroads, and pure food and drugs. He prioritized conservation and established national parks, forests, and monuments intended to preserve the nation's natural resources. In foreign policy, he focused on Central America where he began construction of the Panama Canal. He expanded the Navy and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project American naval power. His successful efforts to broker the end of the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize. Roosevelt was elected to a full term in 1904 and continued to promote progressive policies. He groomed his close friend William Howard Taft to succeed him in the 1908 presidential election.
Roosevelt grew frustrated with Taft's brand of conservatism and belatedly tried to win the 1912 Republican nomination for president. He failed, walked out, and founded the Progressive Party. He ran in the 1912 presidential election and the split allowed the Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson to win the election. Following the defeat, Roosevelt led a two-year expedition to the Amazon basin where he nearly died of tropical disease. During World War I, he criticized Wilson for keeping the country out of the war; his offer to lead volunteers to France was rejected. He considered running for president again in 1920, but his health continued to deteriorate. He died in 1919. He is generally ranked in polls of historians and political scientists as one of the five best presidents.
Early life and family
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan, New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister (Anna, nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother (Elliott) and a younger sister (Corinne). Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C. V. S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill as well as a brother of Robert Roosevelt and James A. Roosevelt. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family.
Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for exhibition. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects".
Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body.
A 6-year-old Roosevelt witnessed the funeral procession of Abraham Lincoln from his grandfather's mansion in Union Square, New York City where he was photographed in the window along with his brother Elliott, as confirmed by wife Edith who was also present.
Education
Roosevelt was homeschooled, mostly by tutors and his parents. Biographer H. W. Brands argued that "The most obvious drawback to his home schooling was uneven coverage of the various areas of human knowledge." He was solid in geography and bright in history, biology, French, and German; however, he struggled in mathematics and the classical languages. When he entered Harvard College on September 27, 1876, his father advised: "Take care of your morals first, your health next, and finally your studies." His father's sudden death on February 9, 1878, devastated Roosevelt, but he eventually recovered and doubled his activities.
He did well in science, philosophy, and rhetoric courses but continued to struggle in Latin and Greek. He studied biology intently and was already an accomplished naturalist and a published ornithologist. He read prodigiously with an almost photographic memory. While at Harvard, Roosevelt participated in rowing and boxing; he was once runner-up in an intramural boxing tournament. Roosevelt was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi literary society (later the Fly Club), the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and the prestigious Porcellian Club; he was also an editor of The Harvard Advocate. In 1880, Roosevelt graduated Phi Beta Kappa (22nd of 177) from Harvard with an A.B. magna cum laude. Biographer Henry Pringle states:
After his father's death, Roosevelt had inherited $65,000 (), enough to live off comfortably for the rest of his life. Roosevelt gave up his earlier plan of studying natural science and instead decided to attend Columbia Law School, moving back into his family's home in New York City. Roosevelt was an able law student, but he often found law to be irrational. He spent much of his time writing a book on the War of 1812.
Determined to enter politics, Roosevelt began attending meetings at Morton Hall, the 59th Street headquarters of New York's 21st District Republican Association. Though Roosevelt's father had been a prominent member of the Republican Party, the younger Roosevelt made an unorthodox career choice for someone of his class, as most of Roosevelt's peers refrained from becoming too closely involved in politics. Roosevelt found allies in the local Republican Party, and he defeated an incumbent Republican state assemblyman closely tied to the political machine of Senator Roscoe Conkling. After his election victory, Roosevelt decided to drop out of law school, later saying, "I intended to be one of the governing class."
Naval history and strategy
While at Harvard, Roosevelt began a systematic study of the role played by the young United States Navy in the War of 1812. Assisted by two uncles, he scrutinized original source materials and official U.S. Navy records, ultimately publishing The Naval War of 1812 in 1882. The book contained drawings of individual and combined ship maneuvers, charts depicting the differences in iron throw weights of cannon shot between rival forces, and analyses of the differences and similarities between British and American leadership down to the ship-to-ship level. Upon release, The Naval War of 1812 was praised for its scholarship and style, and it remains a standard study of the war.
With the publication of The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 in 1890, Navy Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan was immediately hailed as the world's outstanding naval theorist by the leaders of Europe. Roosevelt paid very close attention to Mahan's emphasis that only a nation with the world's most powerful fleet could dominate the world's oceans, exert its diplomacy to the fullest, and defend its own borders. He incorporated Mahan's ideas into his views on naval strategy for the remainder of his career.
First marriage and widowerhood
In 1880, Roosevelt married socialite Alice Hathaway Lee. Their daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt, was born on February 12, 1884. Two days later, the new mother died of an undiagnosed case of kidney failure that had been masked by the pregnancy. In his diary, Roosevelt wrote a large 'X' on the page and then, "The light has gone out of my life." His mother, Mittie, had died of typhoid fever eleven hours earlier at 3:00 a.m., in the same house on 57th Street in Manhattan. Distraught, Roosevelt left baby Alice in the care of his sister Bamie while he grieved; he assumed custody of Alice when she was three.
After the deaths of his wife and mother, Roosevelt focused on his work, specifically by re-energizing a legislative investigation into corruption of the New York City government, which arose from a concurrent bill proposing that power be centralized in the mayor's office. For the rest of his life, he rarely spoke about his wife Alice and did not write about her in his autobiography.
Early political career
State Assemblyman
Roosevelt was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 21st D.) in 1882, 1883 and 1884. He immediately began making his mark, specifically in corporate corruption issues. He blocked a corrupt effort by financier Jay Gould to lower his taxes. Roosevelt exposed suspected collusion in the matter by Judge Theodore Westbrook, and argued for and received approval for an investigation to proceed, aiming for the impeachment of the judge. The investigation committee rejected impeachment, but Roosevelt had exposed the potential corruption in Albany, and thus assumed a high and positive political profile in multiple New York publications.
Roosevelt's anti-corruption efforts helped him win re-election in 1882 by a margin greater than two-to-one, an achievement made even more impressive by the fact that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Grover Cleveland won Roosevelt's district. With Conkling's Stalwart faction of the Republican Party in disarray following the assassination of President James Garfield, Roosevelt won election as the Republican party leader in the state assembly. He allied with Governor Cleveland to win passage of a civil service reform bill. Roosevelt won re-election a second time, and sought the office of Speaker of the New York State Assembly, but was defeated by Titus Sheard in a 41 to 29 vote of the GOP caucus. In his final term, Roosevelt served as Chairman of the Committee on Affairs of Cities; he wrote more bills than any other legislator.
Presidential election of 1884
With numerous presidential hopefuls to choose from, Roosevelt supported Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont, a colorless reformer. The state GOP preferred the incumbent president, New York City's Chester Arthur, who was known for passing the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. Arthur, at the time, was suffering from Bright's disease, unknown to the public, and out of duty he did not contest his own nomination. Roosevelt fought hard and succeeded in influencing the Manhattan delegates at the state convention in Utica. He then took control of the state convention, bargaining through the night and outmaneuvering the supporters of Arthur and James G. Blaine; he gained a national reputation as a key person in New York State.
Roosevelt attended the 1884 GOP National Convention in Chicago and gave a speech convincing delegates to nominate African American John R. Lynch, an Edmunds supporter, to be temporary chair. Roosevelt fought alongside the Mugwump reformers; however, Blaine, having gained support from Arthur's and Edmunds's delegates, won the nomination by 541 votes on the fourth ballot. In a crucial moment of his budding political career, Roosevelt resisted the demand of the Mugwumps that he bolt from Blaine. He bragged about his one small success: "We achieved a victory in getting up a combination to beat the Blaine nominee for temporary chairman... To do this needed a mixture of skill, boldness and energy... to get the different factions to come in... to defeat the common foe." He was also impressed by an invitation to speak before an audience of ten thousand, the largest crowd he had addressed up to that date. Having gotten a taste of national politics, Roosevelt felt less aspiration for advocacy on the state level; he then retired to his new "Chimney Butte Ranch" on the Little Missouri River. Roosevelt refused to join other Mugwumps in supporting Grover Cleveland, the governor of New York and the Democratic nominee in the general election. He debated the pros and cons of staying loyal with his political friend, Henry Cabot Lodge. After Blaine won the nomination, Roosevelt had carelessly said that he would give "hearty support to any decent Democrat". He distanced himself from the promise, saying that it had not been meant "for publication". When a reporter asked if he would support Blaine, Roosevelt replied, "That question I decline to answer. It is a subject I do not care to talk about." In the end, he realized that he had to support Blaine to maintain his role in the GOP, and he did so in a press release on July 19. Having lost the support of many reformers, Roosevelt decided to retire from politics and move to North Dakota.
Cattle rancher in Dakota
Roosevelt first visited the Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt bison. Exhilarated by the western lifestyle, and with the cattle business booming in the territory, Roosevelt invested $14,000 in hopes of becoming a prosperous cattle rancher. For the next several years, he shuttled between his home in New York and his ranch in Dakota.
Following the 1884 presidential election, Roosevelt built a ranch named Elkhorn, which was north of the boomtown of Medora, North Dakota. Roosevelt learned to ride western style, rope, and hunt on the banks of the Little Missouri. Though he earned the respect of the authentic cowboys, they were not overly impressed. However, he identified with the herdsman of history, a man he said possesses "few of the emasculated, milk-and-water moralities admired by the pseudo-philanthropists; but he does possess, to a very high degree, the stern, manly qualities that are invaluable to a nation". He reoriented, and began writing about frontier life for national magazines; he also published three books – Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, and The Wilderness Hunter.
Roosevelt brought his desire to address the common interests of citizens to the West. He successfully led efforts to organize ranchers to address problems of overgrazing and other shared concerns; his work resulted in the formation of the Little Missouri Stockmen's Association. He felt compelled to promote conservation and was able to form the Boone and Crockett Club, whose primary goal was the conservation of large game animals and their habitats. After the uniquely severe US winter of 1886–87 wiped out his herd of cattle and those of his competitors, and with it over half of his $80,000 investment, Roosevelt returned to the East. Though his finances suffered from the experience, Roosevelt's time in the West made it impossible to peg him as an ineffectual intellectual, a characterization that could have hampered his political career.
Second marriage
On December 2, 1886, Roosevelt married his childhood and family friend, Edith Kermit Carow. Roosevelt was deeply troubled that his second marriage had taken place so soon after the death of his first wife, and he faced resistance from his sisters. Nonetheless, the couple married at St George's, Hanover Square in London, England. The couple had five children: Theodore "Ted" III in 1887, Kermit in 1889, Ethel in 1891, Archibald in 1894, and Quentin in 1897. The couple also raised Roosevelt's daughter from his first marriage, Alice, who often clashed with her stepmother.
Reentering public life
Upon Roosevelt's return to New York in 1886, Republican leaders quickly approached him about running for mayor of New York City in the city's mayoral election. Roosevelt accepted the nomination despite having little hope of winning the race against United Labor Party candidate Henry George and Democratic candidate Abram Hewitt. Roosevelt campaigned hard for the position, but Hewitt won with 41% (90,552 votes), taking the votes of many Republicans who feared George's radical policies. George was held to 31% (68,110 votes), and Roosevelt took third place with 27% (60,435 votes). Fearing that his political career might never recover, Roosevelt turned his attention to writing The Winning of the West, a historical work tracking the westward movement of Americans; the book was a great success for Roosevelt, earning favorable reviews and selling numerous copies.
Civil Service Commission
After Benjamin Harrison unexpectedly defeated Blaine for the presidential nomination at the 1888 Republican National Convention, Roosevelt gave stump speeches in the Midwest in support of Harrison. On the insistence of Henry Cabot Lodge, President Harrison appointed Roosevelt to the United States Civil Service Commission, where he served until 1895. While many of his predecessors had approached the office as a sinecure, Roosevelt vigorously fought the spoilsmen and demanded enforcement of civil service laws. The New York Sun then described Roosevelt as "irrepressible, belligerent, and enthusiastic". Roosevelt frequently clashed with Postmaster General John Wanamaker, who handed out numerous patronage positions to Harrison supporters, and Roosevelt's attempt to force out several postal workers damaged Harrison politically. Despite Roosevelt's support for Harrison's reelection bid in the presidential election of 1892, the eventual winner, Grover Cleveland, reappointed him to the same post. Roosevelt's close friend and biographer, Joseph Bucklin Bishop, described his assault on the spoils system:
New York City Police Commissioner
In 1894, a group of reform Republicans approached Roosevelt about running for Mayor of New York again; he declined, mostly due to his wife's resistance to being removed from the Washington social set. Soon after he declined, he realized that he had missed an opportunity to reinvigorate a dormant political career. He retreated to the Dakotas for a time; his wife Edith regretted her role in the decision and vowed that there would be no repeat of it.
William Lafayette Strong, a reform-minded Republican, won the 1894 mayoral election and offered Roosevelt a position on the board of the New York City Police Commissioners. Roosevelt became president of the board of commissioners and radically reformed the police force. Roosevelt implemented regular inspections of firearms and annual physical exams, appointed recruits based on their physical and mental qualifications rather than political affiliation, established Meritorious Service Medals, and closed corrupt police hostelries. During his tenure, a Municipal Lodging House was established by the Board of Charities, and Roosevelt required officers to register with the Board; he also had telephones installed in station houses.
In 1894, Roosevelt met Jacob Riis, the muckraking Evening Sun newspaper journalist who was opening the eyes of New Yorkers to the terrible conditions of the city's millions of poor immigrants with such books as How the Other Half Lives. Riis described how his book affected Roosevelt:
Roosevelt made a habit of walking officers' beats late at night and early in the morning to make sure that they were on duty. He made a concerted effort to uniformly enforce New York's Sunday closing law; in this, he ran up against boss Tom Platt as well as Tammany Hall—he was notified that the Police Commission was being legislated out of existence. His crackdowns led to protests and demonstrations. Invited to one large demonstration, not only did he surprisingly accept, he delighted in the insults, caricatures and lampoons directed at him, and earned some surprising good will. Roosevelt chose to defer rather than split with his party. As Governor of New York State, he would later sign an act replacing the Police Commission with a single Police Commissioner.
Emergence as a national figure
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
In the 1896 presidential election, Roosevelt backed Speaker of the House Thomas Brackett Reed for the Republican nomination, but William McKinley won the nomination and defeated William Jennings Bryan in the general election. Roosevelt opposed Bryan's free silver platform, viewing many of Bryan's followers as dangerous fanatics, and Roosevelt gave campaign speeches for McKinley. Urged by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, President McKinley appointed Roosevelt as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897. Secretary of the Navy John D. Long was more concerned about formalities than functions, was in poor health, and left many major decisions to Roosevelt. Influenced by Alfred Thayer Mahan, Roosevelt called for a build-up in the country's naval strength, particularly the construction of battleships. Roosevelt also began pressing his national security views regarding the Pacific and the Caribbean on McKinley, and was particularly adamant that Spain be ejected from Cuba. He explained his priorities to one of the Navy's planners in late 1897:
On February 15, 1898, , an armored cruiser, exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, killing hundreds of crew members. While Roosevelt and many other Americans blamed Spain for the explosion, McKinley sought a diplomatic solution. Without approval from Long or McKinley, Roosevelt sent out orders to several naval vessels, directing them to prepare for war. George Dewey, who had received an appointment to lead the Asiatic Squadron with the backing of Roosevelt, later credited his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay to Roosevelt's orders. After finally giving up hope of a peaceful solution, McKinley asked Congress to declare war upon Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War.
War in Cuba
With the beginning of the Spanish–American War in late April 1898, Roosevelt resigned from his post as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Along with Army Colonel Leonard Wood, he formed the First US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. His wife and many of his friends begged Roosevelt to remain in his post in Washington, but Roosevelt was determined to see battle. When the newspapers reported the formation of the new regiment, Roosevelt and Wood were flooded with applications from all over the country. Referred to by the press as the "Rough Riders", the regiment was one of many temporary units active only for the duration of the war.
The regiment trained for several weeks in San Antonio, Texas, and in his autobiography, Roosevelt wrote that his prior experience with the New York National Guard had been invaluable, in that it enabled him to immediately begin teaching his men basic soldiering skills. The Rough Riders used some standard issue gear and some of their own design, purchased with gift money. Diversity characterized the regiment, which included Ivy Leaguers, professional and amateur athletes, upscale gentlemen, cowboys, frontiersmen, Native Americans, hunters, miners, prospectors, former soldiers, tradesmen, and sheriffs. The Rough Riders were part of the cavalry division commanded by former Confederate general Joseph Wheeler, which itself was one of three divisions in the V Corps under Lieutenant General William Rufus Shafter. Roosevelt and his men landed in Daiquirí, Cuba, on June 23, 1898, and marched to Siboney. Wheeler sent parts of the 1st and 10th Regular Cavalry on the lower road northwest and sent the "Rough Riders" on the parallel road running along a ridge up from the beach. To throw off his infantry rival, Wheeler left one regiment of his Cavalry Division, the 9th, at Siboney so that he could claim that his move north was only a limited reconnaissance if things went wrong. Roosevelt was promoted to colonel and took command of the regiment when Wood was put in command of the brigade. The Rough Riders had a short, minor skirmish known as the Battle of Las Guasimas; they fought their way through Spanish resistance and, together with the Regulars, forced the Spaniards to abandon their positions.
Under his leadership, the Rough Riders became famous for the charge up Kettle Hill on July 1, 1898, while supporting the regulars. Roosevelt had the only horse, and rode back and forth between rifle pits at the forefront of the advance up Kettle Hill, an advance that he urged despite the absence of any orders from superiors. He was forced to walk up the last part of Kettle Hill because his horse had been entangled in barbed wire. The victories came at a cost of 200 killed and 1,000 wounded.
In August, Roosevelt and other officers demanded that the soldiers be returned home. Roosevelt always recalled the Battle of Kettle Hill (part of the San Juan Heights) as "the great day of my life" and "my crowded hour". In 2001, Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions; he had been nominated during the war, but Army officials, annoyed at his grabbing the headlines, blocked it. After returning to civilian life, Roosevelt preferred to be known as "Colonel Roosevelt" or "The Colonel", though "Teddy" remained much more popular with the public, even though Roosevelt openly despised that moniker. Men working closely with Roosevelt customarily called him "Colonel" or "Theodore". Henceforth, political cartoons of Roosevelt usually depicted him in his Rough Rider garb.
Governor of New York
After leaving Cuba in August 1898, the Rough Riders were transported to a camp at Montauk Point, Long Island, where Roosevelt and his men were briefly quarantined due to the War Department's fear of spreading yellow fever. Shortly after Roosevelt's return to the United States, Republican Congressman Lemuel E. Quigg, a lieutenant of party boss Tom Platt, asked Roosevelt to run in the 1898 gubernatorial election. Platt disliked Roosevelt personally, feared that Roosevelt would oppose Platt's interests in office, and was reluctant to propel Roosevelt to the forefront of national politics. However, Platt also needed a strong candidate due to the unpopularity of the incumbent Republican governor, Frank S. Black, and Roosevelt agreed to become the nominee and to try not to "make war" with the Republican establishment once in office. Roosevelt defeated Black in the Republican caucus by a vote of 753 to 218, and faced Democrat Augustus Van Wyck, a well-respected judge, in the general election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously on his war record, winning the election by a margin of just one percent.
As governor, Roosevelt learned much about ongoing economic issues and political techniques that later proved valuable in his presidency. He was exposed to the problems of trusts, monopolies, labor relations, and conservation. Chessman argues that Roosevelt's program "rested firmly upon the concept of the square deal by a neutral state". The rules for the Square Deal were "honesty in public affairs, an equitable sharing of privilege and responsibility, and subordination of party and local concerns to the interests of the state at large".
By holding twice-daily press conferences—which was an innovation—Roosevelt remained connected with his middle-class political base. Roosevelt successfully pushed the Ford Franchise-Tax bill, which taxed public franchises granted by the state and controlled by corporations, declaring that "a corporation which derives its powers from the State, should pay to the State a just percentage of its earnings as a return for the privileges it enjoys". He rejected "boss" Thomas C. Platt's worries that this approached Bryanite Socialism, explaining that without it, New York voters might get angry and adopt public ownership of streetcar lines and other franchises.
The New York state government affected many interests, and the power to make appointments to policy-making positions was a key role for the governor. Platt insisted that he be consulted on major appointments; Roosevelt appeared to comply, but then made his own decisions. Historians marvel that Roosevelt managed to appoint so many first-rate men with Platt's approval. He even enlisted Platt's help in securing reform, such as in the spring of 1899, when Platt pressured state senators to vote for a civil service bill that the secretary of the Civil Service Reform Association called "superior to any civil service statute heretofore secured in America".
Chessman argues that as governor, Roosevelt developed the principles that shaped his presidency, especially insistence upon the public responsibility of large corporations, publicity as a first remedy for trusts, regulation of railroad rates, mediation of the conflict of capital and labor, conservation of natural resources and protection of the less fortunate members of society. Roosevelt sought to position himself against the excesses of large corporations on the one hand and radical movements on the other.
As the chief executive of the most populous state in the union, Roosevelt was widely considered a potential future presidential candidate, and supporters such as William Allen White encouraged him to run for president. Roosevelt had no interest in challenging McKinley for the Republican nomination in 1900, and was denied his preferred post of Secretary of War. As his term progressed, Roosevelt pondered a 1904 presidential run, but was uncertain about whether he should seek re-election as governor in 1900.
Vice Presidency (1901)
In November 1899, Vice President Garret Hobart died of heart failure, leaving an open spot on the 1900 Republican national ticket. Though Henry Cabot Lodge and others urged him to run for vice president in 1900, Roosevelt was reluctant to take the powerless position and issued a public statement saying that he would not accept the nomination. Additionally, Roosevelt was informed by President McKinley and campaign manager Mark Hanna that he was not being considered for the role of vice president due to his actions prior to the Spanish–American War. Eager to be rid of Roosevelt, Platt nonetheless began a newspaper campaign in favor of Roosevelt's nomination for the vice presidency. Roosevelt attended the 1900 Republican National Convention as a state delegate and struck a bargain with Platt: Roosevelt would accept the nomination for vice president if the convention offered it to him, but would otherwise serve another term as governor. Platt asked Pennsylvania party boss Matthew Quay to lead the campaign for Roosevelt's nomination, and Quay outmaneuvered Hanna at the convention to put Roosevelt on the ticket. Roosevelt won the nomination unanimously.
Roosevelt's vice-presidential campaigning proved highly energetic and an equal match for Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan's famous barnstorming style of campaigning. In a whirlwind campaign that displayed his energy to the public, Roosevelt made 480 stops in 23 states. He denounced the radicalism of Bryan, contrasting it with the heroism of the soldiers and sailors who fought and won the war against Spain. Bryan had strongly supported the war itself, but he denounced the annexation of the Philippines as imperialism, which would spoil America's innocence. Roosevelt countered that it was best for the Filipinos to have stability and the Americans to have a proud place in the world. With the nation basking in peace and prosperity, the voters gave McKinley an even larger victory than that which he had achieved in 1896.
After the campaign, Roosevelt took office as vice president in March 1901. The office of vice president was a powerless sinecure and did not suit Roosevelt's aggressive temperament. Roosevelt's six months as vice president were uneventful and boring for a man of action. He had no power; he presided over the Senate for a mere four days before it adjourned. On September 2, 1901, Roosevelt first publicized an aphorism that thrilled his supporters: "Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far."
Presidency (1901–1909)
On September 6, 1901, President McKinley was attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York when he was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Roosevelt was vacationing in Isle La Motte, Vermont, and traveled to Buffalo to visit McKinley in the hospital. It appeared that McKinley would recover, so Roosevelt resumed his vacation in the Adirondack Mountains. When McKinley's condition worsened, Roosevelt again rushed back to Buffalo. McKinley died on September 14, and Roosevelt was informed while he was in North Creek; he continued on to Buffalo and was sworn in as the nation's 26th president at the Ansley Wilcox House.
McKinley's supporters were nervous about the new president, and Hanna was particularly bitter that the man he had opposed so vigorously at the convention had succeeded McKinley. Roosevelt assured party leaders that he intended to adhere to McKinley's policies, and he retained McKinley's Cabinet. Nonetheless, Roosevelt sought to position himself as the party's undisputed leader, seeking to bolster the role of the president and position himself for the 1904 election. The vice presidency remained vacant, as there was no constitutional provision for filling an intra-term vacancy in that office (prior to the 25th Amendment in 1967).
Shortly after taking office, Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House. This sparked a bitter, and at times vicious, reaction among whites across the heavily segregated South. Roosevelt reacted with astonishment and protest, saying that he looked forward to many future dinners with Washington. Upon further reflection, Roosevelt wanted to ensure that this had no effect on political support in the white South, and further dinner invitations to Washington were avoided; their next meeting was scheduled as typical business at 10:00 a.m. instead.
Domestic policies
Trust busting and regulation
For his aggressive use of the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act, compared to his predecessors, Roosevelt was hailed as the "trust-buster"; but in reality he was more of a trust regulator. Roosevelt viewed big business as a necessary part of the American economy, and sought only to prosecute the "bad trusts" that restrained trade and charged unfair prices. He brought 44 antitrust suits, breaking up the Northern Securities Company, the largest railroad monopoly; and regulating Standard Oil, the largest oil company. Presidents Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley combined had prosecuted only 18 antitrust violations under the Sherman Antitrust Act.
Bolstered by his party's winning large majorities in the 1902 elections, Roosevelt proposed the creation of the United States Department of Commerce and Labor, which would include the Bureau of Corporations. While Congress was receptive to the Department of Commerce and Labor, it was more skeptical of the antitrust powers that Roosevelt sought to endow within the Bureau of Corporations. Roosevelt successfully appealed to the public to pressure Congress, and Congress overwhelmingly voted to pass Roosevelt's version of the bill.
In a moment of frustration, House Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon commented on Roosevelt's desire for executive branch control in domestic policy-making: "That fellow at the other end of the avenue wants everything from the birth of Christ to the death of the devil." Biographer Brands states, "Even his friends occasionally wondered whether there wasn't any custom or practice too minor for him to try to regulate, update or otherwise improve." In fact, Roosevelt's willingness to exercise his power included attempted rule changes in the game of football; at the Naval Academy, he sought to force retention of martial arts classes and to revise disciplinary rules. He even ordered changes made in the minting of a coin whose design he disliked, and ordered the Government Printing Office to adopt simplified spellings for a core list of 300 words, according to reformers on the Simplified Spelling Board. He was forced to rescind the latter after substantial ridicule from the press and a resolution of protest from the House of Representatives.
Coal strike
In May 1902, anthracite coal miners went on strike, threatening a national energy shortage. After threatening the coal operators with intervention by federal troops, Roosevelt won their agreement to dispute arbitration by a commission, which succeeded in stopping the strike. The accord with J. P. Morgan resulted in the miners getting more pay for fewer hours, but with no union recognition. Roosevelt said, "My action on labor should always be considered in connection with my action as regards capital, and both are reducible to my favorite formula—a square deal for every man." Roosevelt was the first president to help settle a labor dispute.
Prosecuted misconduct
During Roosevelt's second year in office it was discovered there was corruption in the Indian Service, the Land Office, and the Post Office Department. Roosevelt investigated and prosecuted corrupt Indian agents who had cheated the Creeks and various tribes out of land parcels. Land fraud and speculation were found involving Oregon federal timberlands. In November 1902, Roosevelt and Secretary Ethan A. Hitchcock forced Binger Hermann, the General Land Office Commissioner, to resign from office. On November 6, 1903 Francis J. Heney was appointed special prosecutor and obtained 146 indictments involving an Oregon Land Office bribery ring. U.S. Senator John H. Mitchell was indicted for bribery to expedite illegal land patents, found guilty in July 1905, and sentenced to six months in prison. More corruption was found in the Postal Department, that brought on the indictments of 44 government employees on charges of bribery and fraud. Historians generally agree that Roosevelt moved "quickly and decisively" to prosecute misconduct in his administration.
Railroads
Merchants complained that some railroad rates were too high. In the 1906 Hepburn Act, Roosevelt sought to give the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to regulate rates, but the Senate, led by conservative Nelson Aldrich, fought back. Roosevelt worked with the Democratic Senator Benjamin Tillman to pass the bill. Roosevelt and Aldrich ultimately reached a compromise that gave the ICC the power to replace existing rates with "just-and-reasonable" maximum rates, but allowed railroads to appeal to the federal courts on what was "reasonable". In addition to rate-setting, the Hepburn Act also granted the ICC regulatory power over pipeline fees, storage contracts, and several other aspects of railroad operations.
Pure food and drugs
Roosevelt responded to public anger over the abuses in the food packing industry by pushing Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act. Though conservatives initially opposed the bill, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, published in 1906, helped galvanize support for reform. The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 banned misleading labels and preservatives that contained harmful chemicals. The Pure Food and Drug Act banned food and drugs that were impure or falsely labeled from being made, sold, and shipped. Roosevelt also served as honorary president of the American School Hygiene Association from 1907 to 1908, and in 1909 he convened the first White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children.
Conservation
Of all Roosevelt's achievements, he was proudest of his work in the conservation of natural resources and extending federal protection to land and wildlife. Roosevelt worked closely with Interior Secretary James Rudolph Garfield and Chief of the United States Forest Service Gifford Pinchot to enact a series of conservation programs that often met with resistance from Western members of Congress, such as Charles William Fulton. Nonetheless, Roosevelt established the United States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of five National Parks, and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 new U.S. National Monuments. He also established the first 51 bird reserves, four game preserves, and 150 National Forests. The area of the United States that he placed under public protection totals approximately .
Roosevelt extensively used executive orders on a number of occasions to protect forest and wildlife lands during his tenure as president. By the end of his second term in office, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish of reserved forestry land. Roosevelt was unapologetic about his extensive use of executive orders to protect the environment, despite the perception in Congress that he was encroaching on too many lands. Eventually, Senator Charles Fulton (R-OR) attached an amendment to an agricultural appropriations bill that effectively prevented the president from reserving any further land. Before signing that bill into law, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish an additional 21 forest reserves, waiting until the last minute to sign the bill into law. In total, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish 121 forest reserves in 31 states. Prior to Roosevelt, only one president had issued over 200 executive orders, Grover Cleveland (253). The first 25 presidents issued a total of 1,262 executive orders; Roosevelt issued 1,081.
Foreign policy
Japan
The American annexation of Hawaii in 1898 was stimulated in part by fear that otherwise Japan would dominate the Hawaiian Republic. Similarly, Germany was the alternative to American takeover of the Philippines in 1900, and Tokyo strongly preferred the U.S. to take over. As the U.S. became a naval world power, it needed to find a way to avoid a military confrontation in the Pacific with Japan.
In the 1890s, Roosevelt had been an ardent imperialist and vigorously defended the permanent acquisition of the Philippines in the 1900 campaign. After the local insurrection ended in 1902, he largely lost his imperialist interest in the Philippines and Asian expansion but wished to have a strong U.S. presence in the region as a symbol of democratic values. One of Theodore Roosevelt's priorities during his presidency and afterwards, was the maintenance of friendly relations with Japan. From 1904 to 1905 Japan and Russia were at war. Roosevelt admired the martial courage of the Japanese, and distrusted the reckless German Kaiser. Both sides asked Roosevelt to mediate a peace conference, held successfully in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
In California, anti-Japanese hostility was growing, and Tokyo protested. Roosevelt negotiated a "Gentleman's Agreement" in 1907. Explicit discrimination against the Japanese was ended, and Japan agreed not to allow unskilled immigrants into the United States. The Great White Fleet of American battleships visited Japan in 1908. Pulitzer prize-winning biographer Henry Pringle states that the great voyage was "the direct result of the Japanese trouble." Roosevelt intended to emphasize the superiority of the American fleet over the smaller Japanese navy, but instead of resentment the visitors arrived to a joyous welcome by Japanese elite as well as the general public. This good-will facilitated the Root–Takahira Agreement of November 1908 which reaffirmed the status quo of Japanese control of Korea and American control of the Philippines.
Europe
Success in the war against Spain and the new empire, plus having the largest economy in the world, meant that the United States had emerged as a world power. Roosevelt searched for ways to win recognition for the position abroad.
Roosevelt also played a major role in mediating the First Moroccan Crisis by calling the Algeciras Conference, which averted war between France and Germany.
Roosevelt's presidency saw the strengthening of ties with Great Britain. The Great Rapprochement had begun with British support of the United States during the Spanish–American War, and it continued as Britain withdrew its fleet from the Caribbean in favor of focusing on the rising German naval threat. In 1901, Britain and the United States signed the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, abrogating the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty, which had prevented the United States from constructing a canal connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. The long-standing Alaska boundary dispute was settled on terms favorable to the United States, as Great Britain was unwilling to alienate the United States over what it considered to be a secondary issue. As Roosevelt later put it, the resolution of the Alaskan boundary dispute "settled the last serious trouble between the British Empire and ourselves."
Latin America and Panama Canal
As president, he primarily focused the nation's overseas ambitions on the Caribbean, especially locations that had a bearing on the defense of his pet project, the Panama Canal. Roosevelt also increased the size of the navy, and by the end of his second term the United States had more battleships than any other country besides Britain. The Panama Canal when it opened in 1914 allowed the U.S. Navy to rapidly move back and forth from the Pacific to the Caribbean to European waters.
In December 1902, the Germans, British, and Italians blockaded the ports of Venezuela in order to force the repayment of delinquent loans. Roosevelt was particularly concerned with the motives of German Emperor Wilhelm II. He succeeded in getting the three nations to agree to arbitration by tribunal at The Hague, and successfully defused the crisis. The latitude granted to the Europeans by the arbiters was in part responsible for the "Roosevelt Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which the President issued in 1904: "Chronic wrongdoing or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere, the adherence of the United States to the Monroe doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power."
The pursuit of an isthmus canal in Central America during this period focused on two possible routes—Nicaragua and Panama, which was then a rebellious district within Colombia. Roosevelt convinced Congress to approve the Panamanian alternative, and a treaty was approved, only to be rejected by the Colombian government. When the Panamanians learned of this, a rebellion followed, was supported by Roosevelt, and succeeded. A treaty with the new Panama government for construction of the canal was then reached in 1903. Roosevelt received criticism for paying the bankrupt Panama Canal Company and the New Panama Canal Company $40,000,000 (equivalent to $ billion in ) for the rights and equipment to build the canal. Critics charged that an American investor syndicate allegedly divided the large payment among themselves. There was also controversy over whether a French company engineer influenced Roosevelt in choosing the Panama route for the canal over the Nicaragua route. Roosevelt denied charges of corruption concerning the canal in a January 8, 1906 message to Congress. In January 1909, Roosevelt, in an unprecedented move, brought criminal libel charges against the New York World and the Indianapolis News known as the "Roosevelt-Panama Libel Cases". Both cases were dismissed by U.S. District Courts, and on January 3, 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court, upon federal appeal, upheld the lower courts' rulings. Historians are sharply critical of Roosevelt's criminal prosecutions of the World and the News, but are divided on whether actual corruption in acquiring and building the Panama Canal took place.
In 1906, following a disputed election, an insurrection ensued in Cuba; Roosevelt sent Taft, the Secretary of War, to monitor the situation; he was convinced that he had the authority to unilaterally authorize Taft to deploy Marines if necessary, without congressional approval.
Examining the work of numerous scholars, Ricard (2014) reports that:
The most striking evolution in the twenty-first-century historiography of Theodore Roosevelt is the switch from a partial arraignment of the imperialist to a quasi-unanimous celebration of the master diplomatist.... [Recent works] have underlined cogently Roosevelt's exceptional statesmanship in the construction of the nascent twentieth-century "special relationship". ...The twenty-sixth president's reputation as a brilliant diplomatist and realpolitician has undeniably reached new heights in the twenty-first century...yet, his Philippine policy still prompts criticism.
Media
Building on McKinley's effective use of the press, Roosevelt made the White House the center of news every day, providing interviews and photo opportunities. After noticing the reporters huddled outside the White House in the rain one day, he gave them their own room inside, effectively inventing the presidential press briefing. The grateful press, with unprecedented access to the White House, rewarded Roosevelt with ample coverage.
Roosevelt normally enjoyed very close relationships with the press, which he used to keep in daily contact with his middle-class base. While out of office, he made a living as a writer and magazine editor. He loved talking with intellectuals, authors, and writers. He drew the line, however, at exposé-oriented scandal-mongering journalists who, during his term, sent magazine subscriptions soaring by their attacks on corrupt politicians, mayors, and corporations. Roosevelt himself was not usually a target, but a speech of his from 1906 coined the term "muckraker" for unscrupulous journalists making wild charges. "The liar", he said, "is no whit better than the thief, and if his mendacity takes the form of slander he may be worse than most thieves."
The press did briefly target Roosevelt in one instance. After 1904, he was periodically criticized for the manner in which he facilitated the construction of the Panama Canal. According to biographer Brands, Roosevelt, near the end of his term, demanded that the Justice Department bring charges of criminal libel against Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. The publication had accused him of "deliberate misstatements of fact" in defense of family members who were criticized as a result of the Panama affair. Though an indictment was obtained, the case was ultimately dismissed in federal court—it was not a federal offense, but one enforceable in state courts. The Justice Department had predicted that result, and had also advised Roosevelt accordingly.
Election of 1904
The control and management of the Republican Party lay in the hands of Ohio Senator and Republican Party chairman Mark Hanna until McKinley's death. Roosevelt and Hanna frequently cooperated during Roosevelt's first term, but Hanna left open the possibility of a challenge to Roosevelt for the 1904 Republican nomination. Roosevelt and Ohio's other Senator, Joseph B. Foraker, forced Hanna's hand by calling for Ohio's state Republican convention to endorse Roosevelt for the 1904 nomination. Unwilling to break with the president, Hanna was forced to publicly endorse Roosevelt. Hanna and Pennsylvania Senator Matthew Quay both died in early 1904, and with the waning of Thomas Platt's power, Roosevelt faced little effective opposition for the 1904 nomination. In deference to Hanna's conservative loyalists, Roosevelt at first offered the party chairmanship to Cornelius Bliss, but he declined. Roosevelt turned to his own man, George B. Cortelyou of New York, the first Secretary of Commerce and Labor. To buttress his hold on the party's nomination, Roosevelt made it clear that anyone opposing Cortelyou would be considered to be opposing the President. The President secured his own nomination, but his preferred vice-presidential running mate, Robert R. Hitt, was not nominated. Senator Charles Warren Fairbanks of Indiana, a favorite of conservatives, gained the nomination.
While Roosevelt followed the tradition of incumbents in not actively campaigning on the stump, he sought to control the campaign's message through specific instructions to Cortelyou. He also attempted to manage the press's release of White House statements by forming the Ananias Club. Any journalist who repeated a statement made by the president without approval was penalized by restriction of further access.
The Democratic Party's nominee in 1904 was Alton Brooks Parker. Democratic newspapers charged that Republicans were extorting large campaign contributions from corporations, putting ultimate responsibility on Roosevelt, himself. Roosevelt denied corruption while at the same time he ordered Cortelyou to return $100,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) of a campaign contribution from Standard Oil. Parker said that Roosevelt was accepting corporate donations to keep damaging information from the Bureau of Corporations from going public. Roosevelt strongly denied Parker's charge and responded that he would "go into the Presidency unhampered by any pledge, promise, or understanding of any kind, sort, or description...". Allegations from Parker and the Democrats, however, had little impact on the election, as Roosevelt promised to give every American a "square deal". Roosevelt won 56% of the popular vote, and Parker received 38%; Roosevelt also won the Electoral College vote, 336 to 140. Before his inauguration ceremony, Roosevelt declared that he would not serve another term. Democrats afterwards would continue to charge Roosevelt and the Republicans of being influenced by corporate donations during Roosevelt's second term.
Second term
As his second term progressed, Roosevelt moved to the left of his Republican Party base and called for a series of reforms, most of which Congress failed to pass. In his last year in office, he was assisted by his friend Archibald Butt (who later perished in the sinking of RMS Titanic). Roosevelt's influence waned as he approached the end of his second term, as his promise to forego a third term made him a lame duck and his concentration of power provoked a backlash from many Congressmen. He sought a national incorporation law (at a time when all corporations had state charters), called for a federal income tax (despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.), and an inheritance tax. In the area of labor legislation, Roosevelt called for limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes; injunctions were a powerful weapon that mostly helped business. He wanted an employee liability law for industrial injuries (pre-empting state laws) and an eight-hour work day for federal employees. In other areas he also sought a postal savings system (to provide competition for local banks), and he asked for campaign reform laws.
The election of 1904 continued to be a source of contention between Republicans and Democrats. A Congressional investigation in 1905 revealed that corporate executives donated tens of thousands of dollars in 1904 to the Republican National Committee. In 1908, a month before the general presidential election, Governor Charles N. Haskell of Oklahoma, former Democratic Treasurer, said that Senators beholden to Standard Oil lobbied Roosevelt, in the summer of 1904, to authorize the leasing of Indian oil lands by Standard Oil subsidiaries. He said Roosevelt overruled his Secretary of Interior Ethan A. Hitchcock and granted a pipeline franchise to run through the Osage lands to the Prairie Oil and Gas Company. The New York Sun made a similar accusation and said that Standard Oil, a refinery who financially benefited from the pipeline, had contributed $150,000 to the Republicans in 1904 (equivalent to $ million in ) after Roosevelt's alleged reversal allowing the pipeline franchise. Roosevelt branded Haskell's allegation as "a lie, pure and simple" and obtained a denial from Treasury Secretary Shaw that Roosevelt had neither coerced Shaw nor overruled him.
Post-presidency (1909–1919)
Election of 1908
Roosevelt enjoyed being president and was still relatively youthful, but felt that a limited number of terms provided a check against dictatorship. Roosevelt ultimately decided to stick to his 1904 pledge not to run for a third term. He personally favored Secretary of State Elihu Root as his successor, but Root's ill health made him an unsuitable candidate. New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes loomed as a potentially strong candidate and shared Roosevelt's progressivism, but Roosevelt disliked him and considered him to be too independent. Instead, Roosevelt settled on his Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, who had ably served under Presidents Harrison, McKinley, and Roosevelt in various positions. Roosevelt and Taft had been friends since 1890, and Taft had consistently supported President Roosevelt's policies. Roosevelt was determined to install the successor of his choice, and wrote the following to Taft: "Dear Will: Do you want any action about those federal officials? I will break their necks with the utmost cheerfulness if you say the word!". Just weeks later he branded as "false and malicious" the charge that he was using the offices at his disposal to favor Taft. At the 1908 Republican convention, many chanted for "four years more" of a Roosevelt presidency, but Taft won the nomination after Henry Cabot Lodge made it clear that Roosevelt was not interested in a third term.
In the 1908 election, Taft easily defeated the Democratic nominee, three-time candidate William Jennings Bryan. Taft promoted a progressivism that stressed the rule of law; he preferred that judges rather than administrators or politicians make the basic decisions about fairness. Taft usually proved to be a less adroit politician than Roosevelt and lacked the energy and personal magnetism, along with the publicity devices, the dedicated supporters, and the broad base of public support that made Roosevelt so formidable. When Roosevelt realized that lowering the tariff would risk creating severe tensions inside the Republican Party by pitting producers (manufacturers and farmers) against merchants and consumers, he stopped talking about the issue. Taft ignored the risks and tackled the tariff boldly, encouraging reformers to fight for lower rates, and then cutting deals with conservative leaders that kept overall rates high. The resulting Payne-Aldrich tariff of 1909, signed into law early in President Taft's tenure, was too high for most reformers, and Taft's handling of the tariff alienated all sides. While the crisis was building inside the Party, Roosevelt was touring Africa and Europe, to allow Taft to be his own man.
Africa and Europe (1909–1910)
In March 1909, shortly after the end of his presidency, Roosevelt left New York for the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition, a safari in east and central Africa. Roosevelt's party landed in Mombasa, East Africa (now Kenya) and traveled to the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) before following the Nile to Khartoum in modern Sudan. Financed by Andrew Carnegie and by his own writings, Roosevelt's party hunted for specimens for the Smithsonian Institution and for the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The group, led by the hunter-tracker RJ Cunninghame, included scientists from the Smithsonian, and was joined from time to time by Frederick Selous, the famous big game hunter and explorer. Participants on the expedition included Kermit Roosevelt, Edgar Alexander Mearns, Edmund Heller, and John Alden Loring.
Roosevelt and his companions killed or trapped approximately 11,400 animals, from insects and moles to hippopotamuses and elephants. The 1,000 large animals included 512 big game animals, including six rare white rhinos. Tons of salted animals and their skins were shipped to Washington; it took years to mount them all, and the Smithsonian shared many duplicate specimens with other museums. Regarding the large number of animals taken, Roosevelt said, "I can be condemned only if the existence of the National Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and all similar zoological institutions are to be condemned". He wrote a detailed account of the safari in the book African Game Trails, recounting the excitement of the chase, the people he met, and the flora and fauna he collected in the name of science.
After his safari, Roosevelt traveled north to embark on a tour of Europe. Stopping first in Egypt, he commented favorably on British rule of the region, giving his opinion that Egypt was not yet ready for independence. He refused a meeting with the Pope due to a dispute over a group of Methodists active in Rome, but met with Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King George V of Great Britain, and other European leaders. In Oslo, Norway, Roosevelt delivered a speech calling for limitations on naval armaments, a strengthening of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and the creation of a "League of Peace" among the world powers. He also delivered the Romanes Lecture at Oxford, in which he denounced those who sought parallels between the evolution of animal life and the development of society. Though Roosevelt attempted to avoid domestic politics during his time abroad, he met with Gifford Pinchot, who related his own disappointment with the Taft Administration. Pinchot had been forced to resign as head of the forest service after clashing with Taft's Interior Secretary, Richard Ballinger, who had prioritized development over conservation. Roosevelt returned to the United States in June 1910.
Republican Party schism
Roosevelt had attempted to refashion Taft into a second version of himself, but as soon as Taft began to display his individuality, the former president expressed his disenchantment. He was offended on election night when Taft indicated that his success had been possible not just through the efforts of Roosevelt, but also his brother Charley. Roosevelt was further alienated when Taft, intent on becoming his own man, did not consult him about cabinet appointments. Roosevelt and other progressives were ideologically dissatisfied over Taft's conservation policies and his handling of the tariff when he concentrated more power in the hands of conservative party leaders in Congress. Regarding radicalism and liberalism, Roosevelt wrote a British friend in 1911:
Fundamentally it is the radical liberal with whom I sympathize. He is at least working toward the end for which I think we should all of us strive; and when he adds sanity in moderation to courage and enthusiasm for high ideals he develops into the kind of statesman whom alone I can wholeheartedly support."
Roosevelt urged progressives to take control of the Republican Party at the state and local level and to avoid splitting the party in a way that would hand the presidency to the Democrats in 1912. Additionally, Roosevelt expressed optimism about the Taft Administration after meeting with the president in the White House in June 1910.
In August 1910, Roosevelt gained national attention with a speech at Osawatomie, Kansas, which was the most radical of his career and marked his public break with Taft and the conservative Republicans. Advocating a program of "New Nationalism", Roosevelt emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests, a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions. Returning to New York, Roosevelt began a battle to take control of the state Republican party from William Barnes Jr., Tom Platt's successor as the state party boss, whom he would later confront in the Barnes vs. Roosevelt Libel Trial. Taft had pledged his support to Roosevelt in this endeavor, and Roosevelt was outraged when Taft's support failed to materialize at the 1910 state convention. Roosevelt nonetheless campaigned for the Republicans in the 1910 elections, in which the Democrats gained control of the House for the first time since the 1890s. Among the newly elected Democrats was New York state senator Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who argued that he represented his distant cousin's policies better than his Republican opponent.
The Republican progressives interpreted the 1910 defeats as a compelling argument for the complete reorganization of the party in 1911. Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin joined with Pinchot, William White, and California Governor Hiram Johnson to create the National Progressive Republican League; their objectives were to defeat the power of political bossism at the state level and to replace Taft at the national level. Despite skepticism of La Follette's new league, Roosevelt expressed general support for progressive principles. Between January and April 1911, Roosevelt wrote a series of articles for The Outlook, defending what he called "the great movement of our day, the progressive nationalist movement against special privilege, and in favor of an honest and efficient political and industrial democracy". With Roosevelt apparently uninterested in running in 1912, La Follette declared his own candidacy in June 1911. Roosevelt continually criticized Taft after the 1910 elections, and the break between the two men became final after the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against US Steel in September 1911; Roosevelt was humiliated by this suit because he had personally approved of an acquisition that the Justice Department was now challenging. However, Roosevelt was still unwilling to run against Taft in 1912; he instead hoped to run in 1916 against whichever Democrat beat Taft in 1912.
Dispute over arbitration treaties
Taft was a major advocate of arbitration as a major reform of the Progressive Era. In 1911 Taft and his Secretary of State Philander C. Knox negotiated major treaties with Great Britain and with France providing that differences be arbitrated. Disputes had to be submitted to the Hague Court or other tribunal. These were signed in August 1911 but had to be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. Neither Taft nor Knox consulted with members of the Senate during the negotiating process. By then many Republicans were opposed to Taft, and the president felt that lobbying too hard for the treaties might cause their defeat. He made some speeches supporting the treaties in October, but the Senate added amendments Taft could not accept, killing the agreements.
The arbitration issue opens a window on a bitter philosophical dispute among American progressives. Some, led by Taft looked to legal arbitration as the best alternative to warfare. Taft was a constitutional lawyer who later became Chief Justice; he had a deep understanding of the legal issues. Taft's political base was the conservative business community that largely supported peace movements before 1914. However, his mistake, in this case, was a failure to mobilize that base. The businessmen believed that economic rivalries were the cause of war, and that extensive trade led to an interdependent world that would make war a very expensive and useless anachronism.
However, an opposing faction of progressives, led by Roosevelt, ridiculed arbitration as foolhardy idealism, and insisted on the realism of warfare as the only solution to serious international disputes. Roosevelt worked with his close friend Senator Henry Cabot Lodge to impose those amendments that ruined the goals of the treaties. Lodge thought the treaties impinged too much on senatorial prerogatives. Roosevelt, however, was acting to sabotage Taft's campaign promises. At a deeper level, Roosevelt truly believed that arbitration was a naïve solution and the great issues had to be decided by warfare. The Rooseveltian approach incorporated a near-mystical faith of the ennobling nature of war. It endorsed jingoistic nationalism as opposed to the businessmen's calculation of profit and national interest.
Election of 1912
Republican primaries and convention
In November 1911, a group of Ohio Republicans endorsed Roosevelt for the party's nomination for president; the endorsers included James R. Garfield and Dan Hanna. This endorsement was made by leaders of President Taft's home state. Roosevelt conspicuously declined to make a statement—requested by Garfield—that he would flatly refuse a nomination. Soon thereafter, Roosevelt said, "I am really sorry for Taft... I am sure he means well, but he means well feebly, and he does not know how! He is utterly unfit for leadership and this is a time when we need leadership." In January 1912, Roosevelt declared "if the people make a draft on me I shall not decline to serve". Later that year, Roosevelt spoke before the Constitutional Convention in Ohio, openly identifying as a progressive and endorsing progressive reforms—even endorsing popular review of state judicial decisions. In reaction to Roosevelt's proposals for popular overrule of court decisions, Taft said, "Such extremists are not progressives—they are political emotionalists or neurotics".
Roosevelt began to envision himself as the savior of the Republican Party from defeat in the upcoming presidential election. In February 1912, Roosevelt announced in Boston, "I will accept the nomination for president if it is tendered to me. I hope that so far as possible the people may be given the chance through direct primaries to express who shall be the nominee. Elihu Root and Henry Cabot Lodge thought that division of the party would lead to its defeat in the next election, while Taft believed that he would be defeated either in the Republican primary or in the general election.
The 1912 primaries represented the first extensive use of the presidential primary, a reform achievement of the progressive movement. The Republican primaries in the South, where party regulars dominated, went for Taft, as did results in New York, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Roosevelt won in Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, California, Maryland and Pennsylvania; Roosevelt also won Taft's home state of Ohio. These primary elections, while demonstrating Roosevelt's continuing popularity with the electorate, were not pivotal. The final credentials of the state delegates at the national convention were determined by the national committee, which was controlled by the party leaders, headed by the incumbent president.
Prior to the 1912 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt expressed doubt about his prospects for victory, noting that Taft had more delegates and control of the credentials committee. His only hope was to convince party leaders that the nomination of Taft would hand the election to the Democrats, but party leaders were determined not to cede their leadership to Roosevelt. The credentials committee awarded almost all contested delegates to Taft, and Taft won the nomination on the first ballot. Black delegates from the South played a key role: they voted heavily for Taft and put him over the top. La Follette also helped Taft's candidacy; he hoped that a deadlocked convention would result in his own nomination, and refused to release his delegates to support Roosevelt.
The Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party
Once his defeat at the Republican convention appeared probable, Roosevelt announced that he would "accept the progressive nomination on a progressive platform and I shall fight to the end, win or lose". At the same time, Roosevelt prophetically said, "My feeling is that the Democrats will probably win if they nominate a progressive".
Roosevelt left the Republican Party and created the Progressive Party, structuring it as a permanent organization that would field complete tickets at the presidential and state level. The party included Roosevelt and key allies such as Pinchot, Cornelia Bryce Pinchot (Pinchot's wife and a longtime friend of Roosevelt's), and Albert Beveridge. The new party was popularly known as the "Bull Moose Party" after Roosevelt told reporters, "I'm as fit as a bull moose". At the 1912 Progressive National Convention, Roosevelt cried out, "We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord." California Governor Hiram Johnson was nominated as Roosevelt's running mate. Roosevelt's platform echoed his 1907–1908 proposals, calling for vigorous government intervention to protect the people from selfish interests:
Though many Progressive party supporters in the North were supporters of civil rights for blacks, Roosevelt did not give strong support to civil rights and ran a "lily-white" campaign in the South. Rival all-white and all-black delegations from four southern states arrived at the Progressive national convention, and Roosevelt decided to seat the all-white delegations. Nevertheless, he won little support outside mountain Republican strongholds. Out of nearly 1100 counties in the South, Roosevelt won two counties in Alabama, one in Arkansas, seven in North Carolina, three in Georgia, 17 in Tennessee, two in Texas, one in Virginia, and none in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, or South Carolina.
Assassination attempt
On October 14, 1912, while arriving at a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Roosevelt was shot from seven feet away in front of the Gilpatrick Hotel by a delusional saloonkeeper named John Flammang Schrank, who believed that the ghost of assassinated president William McKinley had directed him to kill Roosevelt. The bullet lodged in his chest after penetrating his steel eyeglass case and passing through a 50-page-thick single-folded copy of the speech titled "Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual", which he was carrying in his jacket. Schrank was immediately disarmed (by Czech immigrant Frank Bukovsky), captured, and might have been lynched had Roosevelt not shouted for Schrank to remain unharmed. Roosevelt assured the crowd he was all right, then ordered police to take charge of Schrank and to make sure no violence was done to him.
As an experienced hunter and anatomist, Roosevelt correctly concluded that since he was not coughing blood, the bullet had not reached his lung. He declined suggestions to go to the hospital immediately and instead delivered a 90 minute speech with blood seeping into his shirt. His opening comments to the gathered crowd were, "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose." Only after finishing his address did he accept medical attention.
Subsequent probes and an x-ray showed that the bullet had lodged in Roosevelt's chest muscle, but did not penetrate the pleura. Doctors concluded that it would be less dangerous to leave it in place than to attempt to remove it, and Roosevelt carried the bullet with him for the rest of his life. Both Taft and Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson suspended their own campaigning until Roosevelt recovered and resumed his. When asked if the shooting would affect his election campaign, he said to the reporter "I'm fit as a bull moose." The bull moose became a symbol of both Roosevelt and the Progressive Party, and it often was referred to as simply the Bull Moose Party. He spent two weeks recuperating before returning to the campaign trail. He later wrote a friend about the bullet inside him, "I do not mind it any more than if it were in my waistcoat pocket."
Farewell manifesto
On October 20, Roosevelt spoke to a crowd of 16,000 at Madison Square Garden. The speech included: "Perhaps once in a generation, there comes a chance for the people of a country to play their part wisely and fearlessly in some great battle of the age-long warfare for human rights."
Election results
After the Democrats nominated Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey, Roosevelt did not expect to win the general election, as Wilson had compiled a record attractive to many progressive Democrats who might have otherwise considered voting for Roosevelt. Roosevelt still campaigned vigorously, and the election developed into a two-person contest between Wilson and Roosevelt despite Taft's presence in the race. Roosevelt respected Wilson, but the two differed on various issues; Wilson opposed any federal intervention regarding women's suffrage or child labor (he viewed these as state issues), and attacked Roosevelt's tolerance of large businesses.
Roosevelt won 4.1 million votes (27%), compared to Taft's 3.5 million (23%). Wilson gained 6.3 million votes (42% of the total) and a massive landslide in the Electoral College, with 435 electoral votes; Roosevelt won 88 electoral votes, while Taft won 8. Pennsylvania was the only eastern state won by Roosevelt; in the Midwest, he carried Michigan, Minnesota, and South Dakota; in the West, California, and Washington. Wilson's victory represented the first Democratic presidential election victory since Cleveland's 1892 campaign, and it was the party's best performance in the Electoral College since 1852. Roosevelt, meanwhile, garnered a higher share of the popular vote than any other third-party presidential candidate in history and won the most states of any third-party candidate after the Civil War.
South American expedition (1913-1914)
A friend of Roosevelt's, Father John Augustine Zahm, persuaded Roosevelt to participate in an expedition to South America. To finance the expedition, Roosevelt received support from the American Museum of Natural History in return for promising to bring back many new animal specimens. Roosevelt's popular book, Through the Brazilian Wilderness describes his expedition into the Brazilian jungle in 1913 as a member of the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition, co-named after its leader, Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon.
Once in South America, a new, far more ambitious goal was added: to find the headwaters of the Rio da Duvida (Portuguese for "River of Doubt"), and trace it north to the Madeira and thence to the Amazon River. It was later renamed Roosevelt River in honor of the former president. Roosevelt's crew consisted of his son Kermit, Colonel Rondon, naturalist George Kruck Cherrie (sent by the American Museum of Natural History), Brazilian Lieutenant João Lira, team physician Dr. José Antonio Cajazeira, and 16 skilled paddlers and porters. Roosevelt also identified Leo Miller (another AMNH recommendation), Anthony Fiala, Frank Harper, and Jacob Sigg as crew members. The initial expedition started somewhat tenuously on December 9, 1913, at the height of the rainy season. The trip down the River of Doubt started on February 27, 1914.
During the trip down the river, Roosevelt suffered a minor leg wound after he jumped into the river to try to prevent two canoes from smashing against the rocks. The flesh wound he received, however, soon gave him tropical fever that resembled the malaria he had contracted while in Cuba fifteen years before. Because the bullet lodged in his chest from the assassination attempt in 1912 was never removed, his health worsened from the infection. This weakened Roosevelt so greatly that six weeks into the adventure, he had to be attended to day and night by the expedition's physician and his son Kermit. By then, he could not walk because of the infection in his injured leg and an infirmity in the other, which was due to a traffic accident a decade earlier. Roosevelt was riddled with chest pains, fighting a fever that soared to and at times made him delirious, at one point constantly reciting the first two lines of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan": "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure dome decree". Regarding his condition as a threat to the survival of the others, Roosevelt insisted he be left behind to allow the poorly provisioned expedition to proceed as rapidly as it could, preparing to commit suicide with an overdose of morphine. Only an appeal by his son persuaded him to continue.
Despite Roosevelt's continued decline and loss of over , Colonel Rondon reduced the pace of the expedition to allow for his commission's mapmaking and other geographical tasks, which required regular stops to fix the expedition's position by sun-based survey. Upon Roosevelt's return to New York, friends and family were startled by his physical appearance and fatigue. Roosevelt wrote, perhaps prophetically, to a friend that the trip had cut his life short by ten years. For the rest of his few remaining years, he would be plagued by flare-ups of malaria and leg inflammations so severe as to require surgery. Before Roosevelt had even completed his sea voyage home, critics raised doubts over his claims of exploring and navigating a completely uncharted river over long. When he had recovered sufficiently, he addressed a standing-room-only convention organized in Washington, D.C., by the National Geographic Society and satisfactorily defended his claims.
Final years
Roosevelt returned to the United States in May 1914. Though he was outraged by the Wilson Administration's conclusion of a treaty that expressed "sincere regret" for the way in which the United States had acquired the Panama Canal Zone, he was impressed by many of the reforms passed under Wilson. Roosevelt made several campaign appearances for the Progressives, but the 1914 elections were a disaster for the fledgling third party. Roosevelt began to envision another campaign for president, this time with himself at the head of the Republican Party, but conservative party leaders remained opposed to Roosevelt. In hopes of engineering a joint nomination, the Progressives scheduled the 1916 Progressive National Convention at the same time as the 1916 Republican National Convention. When the Republicans nominated Charles Evans Hughes, Roosevelt declined the Progressive nomination and urged his Progressive followers to support the Republican candidate. Though Roosevelt had long disliked Hughes, he disliked Wilson even more, and he campaigned energetically for the Republican nominee. However, Wilson won the 1916 election by a narrow margin. The Progressives disappeared as a party following the 1916 election, and Roosevelt and many of his followers permanently re-joined the Republican Party.
World War I
When the First World War began in 1914, Roosevelt strongly supported the Allies and demanded a harsher policy against Germany, especially regarding submarine warfare. Roosevelt angrily denounced the foreign policy of President Wilson, calling it a failure regarding the atrocities in Belgium and the violations of American rights. In 1916, while campaigning for Hughes, Roosevelt repeatedly denounced Irish-Americans and German-Americans whom he described as unpatriotic, saying they put the interests of Ireland and Germany ahead of America's by supporting neutrality. He insisted that one had to be 100% American, not a "hyphenated American" who juggled multiple loyalties. In March 1917, Congress gave Roosevelt the authority to raise a maximum of four divisions similar to the Rough Riders, and Major Frederick Russell Burnham was put in charge of both the general organization and recruitment. However, President Wilson announced to the press that he would not send Roosevelt and his volunteers to France, but instead would send an American Expeditionary Force under the command of General John J. Pershing. Roosevelt never forgave Wilson, and quickly published The Foes of Our Own Household, an indictment of the sitting president. Roosevelt's youngest son, Quentin, a pilot with the American forces in France, was killed when shot down behind German lines on July 14, 1918, at the age of 20. It is said that Quentin's death distressed Roosevelt so much that he never recovered from his loss.
League of Nations
Roosevelt was an early supporter of the modern view that there needs to be a global order. In his Nobel prize address of 1910, he said, "it would be a master stroke if those great Powers honestly bent on peace would form a League of Peace, not only to keep the peace among themselves, but to prevent, by force if necessary, its being broken by others." It would have executive power such as the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 lacked. He called for American participation.
When World War I broke out, Roosevelt proposed "a World League for the Peace of Righteousness", in September 1914, which would preserve sovereignty but limit armaments and require arbitration. He added that it should be "solemnly covenanted that if any nations refused to abide by the decisions of such a court, then others draw the sword in behalf of peace and justice." In 1915 he outlined this plan more specifically, urging that nations guarantee their entire military force, if necessary, against any nation that refused to carry out arbitration decrees or violated rights of other nations. Though Roosevelt had some concerns about the impact on United States sovereignty, he insisted that such a league would only work if the United States participated as one of the "joint guarantors". Roosevelt referred to this plan in a 1918 speech as "the most feasible for...a league of nations." By this time Wilson was strongly hostile to Roosevelt and Lodge, and developed his own plans for a rather different League of Nations. It became reality along Wilson's lines at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Roosevelt denounced Wilson's approach but died before it was adopted at Paris. However, Lodge was willing to accept it with serious reservations. In the end, on March 19, 1920, Wilson had Democratic Senators vote against the League with the Lodge Reservations and the United States never joined the League of Nations.
Final political activities
Roosevelt's attacks on Wilson helped the Republicans win control of Congress in the midterm elections of 1918. He declined a request from New York Republicans to run for another gubernatorial term, but attacked Wilson's Fourteen Points, calling instead for the unconditional surrender of Germany. Though his health was uncertain, he was seen as a leading contender for the 1920 Republican nomination, but insisted that, "If they take me, they'll have to take me without a single modification of the things that I have always stood for! He wrote William Allen White, "I wish to do everything in my power to make the Republican Party the Party of sane, constructive radicalism, just as it was under Lincoln." Accordingly, he told the 1918 state convention of the Maine Republican Party that he stood for old-age pensions, insurance for sickness and unemployment, construction of public housing for low-income families, the reduction of working hours, aid to farmers, and more regulation of large corporations.
While his political profile remained high, Roosevelt's physical condition continued to deteriorate throughout 1918 due to the long-term effects of jungle diseases. He was hospitalized for seven weeks late in the year and never fully recovered.
Death
On the night of January 5, 1919, Roosevelt suffered breathing problems. After receiving treatment from his physician, Dr. George W. Faller, he felt better and went to bed. Roosevelt's last words were "Please put out that light, James" to his family servant James E. Amos. Between 4:00 and 4:15 the next morning, Roosevelt, at the age of 60, died in his sleep at Sagamore Hill after a blood clot detached from a vein and traveled to his lungs.
Upon receiving word of his death, his son Archibald telegraphed his siblings: "The old lion is dead." Woodrow Wilson's vice president, Thomas R. Marshall, said that "Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight." Following a private farewell service in the North Room at Sagamore Hill, a simple funeral was held at Christ Episcopal Church in Oyster Bay. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, Charles Evans Hughes, Warren G. Harding, Henry Cabot Lodge, and William Howard Taft were among the mourners. The snow-covered procession route to Youngs Memorial Cemetery was lined with spectators and a squad of mounted policemen who had ridden from New York City. Roosevelt was buried on a hillside overlooking Oyster Bay.
Writer
Roosevelt was a prolific author, writing with passion on subjects ranging from foreign policy to the importance of the national park system. Roosevelt was also an avid reader of poetry. Poet Robert Frost said that Roosevelt "was our kind. He quoted poetry to me. He knew poetry."
As an editor of Outlook magazine, Roosevelt had weekly access to a large, educated national audience. In all, Roosevelt wrote about 18 books (each in several editions), including his autobiography, The Rough Riders, History of the Naval War of 1812, and others on subjects such as ranching, explorations, and wildlife. His most ambitious book was the four volume narrative The Winning of the West, focused on the American frontier in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Roosevelt said that the American character—indeed a new "American race" (ethnic group) had emerged from the heroic wilderness hunters and Indian fighters, acting on the frontier with little government help. Roosevelt also published an account of his 1909–10 African expedition entitled African Game Trails.
In 1907, Roosevelt became embroiled in a widely publicized literary debate known as the nature fakers controversy. A few years earlier, naturalist John Burroughs had published an article entitled "Real and Sham Natural History" in the Atlantic Monthly, attacking popular writers of the day such as Ernest Thompson Seton, Charles G. D. Roberts, and William J. Long for their fantastical representations of wildlife. Roosevelt agreed with Burroughs's criticisms, and published several essays of his own denouncing the booming genre of "naturalistic" animal stories as "yellow journalism of the woods". It was the President himself who popularized the negative term "nature faker" to describe writers who depicted their animal characters with excessive anthropomorphism.
Character and beliefs
Roosevelt intensely disliked being called "Teddy", despite the widespread public association with said moniker, and was quick to point out this to those who referred to him as such, though it would become widely used by newspapers during his political career.
He was an active Freemason and member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
British scholar Marcus Cunliffe evaluates the liberal argument that Roosevelt was an opportunist, exhibitionist, and imperialist. Cunliffe praises TR's versatility, his respect for law, and his sincerity. He argues that Roosevelt's foreign policy was better than his detractors allege. Cunliffe calls him "a big man in several respects," ranking him below Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson, and on the same level as Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Strenuous life
Roosevelt had a lifelong interest in pursuing what he called, in an 1899 speech, "The Strenuous Life". To this end, he exercised regularly and took up boxing, tennis, hiking, rowing, polo, and horseback riding. He also continued his habit of skinny-dipping in the Potomac River during the winter. As governor of New York, he boxed with sparring partners several times each week, a practice he regularly continued as president until being hit so hard in the face he became blind in his left eye (a fact not made public until many years later). As president, he practiced judo for two 2-month periods in 1902 and 1904, not attaining any rank. Roosevelt began to believe in the utility of jiu-jitsu training after training with Yoshitsugu Yamashita. Concerned that the United States would lose its military supremacy to rising powers like Japan, Roosevelt began to advocate for jiu-jitsu training for American soldiers. Feminists annoyed by the posturing of men like Roosevelt, insisted that women were just as capable of learning jiu-jitsu. To prove their point, Martha Blow Wadsworth and Maria Louise ("Hallie") Davis Elkins hired Fude Yamashita, a highly skilled jiu-jitsu instructor and the wife of Yoshitsugu Yamashita, to teach a jiu-jitsu class for women and girls in Washington, DC in 1904. Women had already begun training in boxing in the United States as a means of personal and political empowerment. Jiu-jitsu training thus soon also became popular with American women, coinciding with the origins of a women's self-defense movement.
Roosevelt was an enthusiastic singlestick player and, according to Harper's Weekly, showed up at a White House reception with his arm bandaged after a bout with General Leonard Wood in 1905. Roosevelt was an avid reader, reading tens of thousands of books, at a rate of several per day in multiple languages. Along with Thomas Jefferson, Roosevelt was the most well-read of all American presidents.
Warrior
Historians have often emphasized Roosevelt's warrior persona. He took aggressive positions regarding war with Spain in 1898, Colombia in 1903, and especially with Germany, from 1915 to 1917. As a demonstration of American naval might, he sent the "Great White Fleet" around the world in 1907–1909. The implicit threat of the "big stick" of military power provided leverage to "speak softly" and quietly resolve conflict in numerous cases. He boasted in his autobiography:
Richard D. White Jr states, "Roosevelt's warrior spirit framed his views of national politics, [and] international relations."
Historian Howard K. Beale has argued:
Religion
Roosevelt attended church regularly and was a lifelong adherent of the Reformed Church in America, an American affiliate of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1907, concerning the motto "In God We Trust" on money, he wrote, "It seems to me eminently unwise to cheapen such a motto by use on coins, just as it would be to cheapen it by use on postage stamps, or in advertisements." Roosevelt talked a great deal about religion. Biographer Edmund Morris states:
Roosevelt publicly encouraged church attendance and was a conscientious churchgoer himself. When gas rationing was introduced during the First World War, he walked the three miles from his home at Sagamore Hill to the local church and back, even after a serious operation had made it difficult for him to travel by foot. It was said that Roosevelt "allowed no engagement to keep him from going to church," and he remained a fervent advocate of the Bible throughout his adult life. According to Christian F. Reisner, writing in 1922 shortly after Roosevelt's death, "Religion was as natural to Mr. Roosevelt as breathing," and when the travel library for Roosevelt's famous Smithsonian-sponsored African expedition was being assembled, the Bible was, according to his sister, "the first book selected." In an address delivered in his home at Oyster Bay to the Long Island Bible Society in 1901, Roosevelt declared that:
Political positions
When he assumed the presidency, Roosevelt reassured many conservatives, stating, "the mechanism of modern business is so delicate that extreme care must be taken not to interfere with it in a spirit of rashness or ignorance." The following year, Roosevelt asserted the president's independence from business interests by opposing the merger which created the Northern Securities Company, and many were surprised that any president, much less an unelected one, would challenge powerful banker J.P. Morgan. In his last two years as president, Roosevelt became increasingly distrustful of big business, despite its close ties to the Republican Party. Roosevelt sought to replace the 19th-century laissez-faire economic environment with a new economic model which included a larger regulatory role for the federal government. He believed that 19th-century entrepreneurs had risked their fortunes on innovations and new businesses, and that these capitalists had been rightly rewarded. By contrast, he believed that 20th-century capitalists risked little but nonetheless reaped huge and, given the lack of risk, unjust, economic rewards. Without a redistribution of wealth away from the upper class, Roosevelt feared that the country would turn to radicals or fall to revolution. His Square Deal domestic program had three main goals: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. The Square Deal evolved into his program of "New Nationalism", which emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests and a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions.
Foreign policy beliefs
In the analysis by Henry Kissinger, Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to develop the guideline that it was America's duty to make its enormous power and potential influence felt globally. The idea of being a passive "city on the hill" model that others could look up to, he rejected. Roosevelt, trained in biology, was a social darwinist who believed in survival of the fittest. The international world in his view was a realm of violence and conflict. The United States had all the economic and geographical potential to be the fittest nation on the globe. The United States had a duty to act decisively. For example, in terms of the Monroe Doctrine, America had to prevent European incursions in the Western Hemisphere. But there was more, as he expressed in his famous Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: the U.S. had to be the policeman of the region because unruly, corrupt smaller nations had to be controlled, and if United States did not do it, European powers would in fact intervene and develop their own base of power in the hemisphere in contravention to the Monroe Doctrine.
Roosevelt was a realist and a conservative. He deplored many of the increasingly popular idealistic liberal themes, such as were promoted by William Jennings Bryan, the anti-imperialists, and Woodrow Wilson. Kissinger says he rejected the efficacy of international law. Roosevelt argue that if a country could not protect its own interests, the international community could not help very much. He ridiculed disarmament proposals that were increasingly common. He saw no likelihood of an international power capable of checking wrongdoing on a major scale. As for world government: I regard the Wilson–Bryan attitude of trusting to fantastic peace treaties, too impossible promises, to all kinds of scraps of paper without any backing in efficient force, as abhorrent. It is infinitely better for a nation and for the world to have the Frederick the Great and Bismarck tradition as regards foreign policy than to have the Bryan or Bryan–Wilson attitude as a permanent national attitude.... A milk-and-water righteousness unbacked by force is...as wicked as and even more mischievous than force divorced from righteousness.
On the positive side, Roosevelt favored spheres of influence, whereby one great power would generally prevail, such as the United States in the Western Hemisphere or Great Britain in the Indian subcontinent. Japan fit that role and he approved. However he had deep distrust of both Germany and Russia.
Legacy
Historians credit Roosevelt for changing the nation's political system by permanently placing the "bully pulpit" of the presidency at center stage and making character as important as the issues. His accomplishments include trust busting and conservationism. He is a hero to liberals and progressives for his proposals in 1907–1912 that presaged the modern welfare state of the New Deal Era, including direct federal taxation, labor reforms, and more direct democracy, while conservationists admire Roosevelt for putting the environment and selflessness towards future generations on the national agenda, and conservatives and nationalists respect his commitment to law and order, civic duty and military values, as well as his personality of individual self-responsibility and hardiness. Dalton says, "Today he is heralded as the architect of the modern presidency, as a world leader who boldly reshaped the office to meet the needs of the new century and redefined America's place in the world."
However, liberals and socialists have criticized him for his interventionist and imperialist approach to nations he considered "uncivilized". Conservatives and libertarians reject his vision of the welfare state and emphasis on the superiority of government over private action. Historians typically rank Roosevelt among the top five presidents in American history.
Persona and masculinity
Dalton says Roosevelt is remembered as, "one of the most picturesque personalities who has ever enlivened the landscape". His friend, historian Henry Adams, proclaimed: "Roosevelt, more than any other man... showed the singular primitive quality that belongs to ultimate matter—the quality that medieval theology assigned to God—he was pure act."
Roosevelt's biographers have stressed his personality. Henry F. Pringle, who won the Pulitzer Prize in biography for his Theodore Roosevelt (1931) stated: "The Theodore Roosevelt of later years was the most adolescent of men… Failure to receive the Medal of Honor for his exploits [in Cuba] had been a grief as real as any of those which swamp childhood in despair. 'You must always remember,' wrote Cecil Spring Rice in 1904, 'that the President is about six.'"
Cooper compared him with Woodrow Wilson and argued that both of them played the roles of warrior and priest. Dalton stressed Roosevelt's strenuous life. Sarah Watts examined the desires of the "Rough Rider in the White House". Brands calls Roosevelt "the last romantic", arguing that his romantic concept of life emerged from his belief that "physical bravery was the highest virtue and war the ultimate test of bravery".
Roosevelt as the exemplar of American masculinity has become a major theme. As president, he repeatedly warned men that they were becoming too office-bound, too complacent, too comfortable with physical ease and moral laxity, and were failing in their duties to propagate the race and exhibit masculine vigor. French historian Serge Ricard says, "the ebullient apostle of the Strenuous Life offers ideal material for a detailed psycho-historical analysis of aggressive manhood in the changing socio-cultural environment of his era; McKinley, Taft, or Wilson would perhaps inadequately serve that purpose". He promoted competitive sports like boxing and jiu-jitsu for physically strengthening American men. He also believed that organizations like the Boy Scouts of America, founded in 1910, could help mold and strengthen the character of American boys. Brands shows that heroic displays of bravery were essential to Roosevelt's image and mission:
Memorials and cultural depictions
Roosevelt was included with Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln at the Mount Rushmore Memorial, designed in 1927 with the approval of Republican President Calvin Coolidge.
For his gallantry at San Juan Hill, Roosevelt's commanders recommended him for the Medal of Honor. However, the initial recommendation lacked any eyewitnesses, and the effort was eventually tainted by Roosevelt's own lobbying of the War Department. In the late 1990s, Roosevelt's supporters again recommended the award, which was denied by the Secretary of the Army on basis that the decorations board determined "Roosevelt's bravery in battle did not rise to the level that would justify the Medal of Honor and, indeed, it did not rise to the level of men who fought in that engagement." Nevertheless, politicians apparently convinced the secretary to reconsider the award a third time and reverse himself, leading to the charge that it was a "politically motivated award." On January 16, 2001, President Bill Clinton awarded Theodore Roosevelt the Medal of Honor posthumously for his charge on San Juan Hill. He is the only president to have received the Medal of Honor.
The United States Navy named two ships for Roosevelt: the , a submarine that was in commission from 1961 to 1982, and the , an aircraft carrier that has been on active duty in the Atlantic Fleet since 1986.
On November 18, 1956, the United States Postal Service released a 6¢ Liberty Issue postage stamp honoring Roosevelt. A 32¢ stamp was issued on February 3, 1998, as part of the Celebrate the Century stamp sheet series. In 2008, Columbia Law School awarded Roosevelt a Juris Doctor degree, posthumously making him a member of the class of 1882.
Roosevelt's "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick" ideology is still quoted by politicians and columnists in different countries—not only in English, but also in translations to various other languages. Another lasting, popular legacy of Roosevelt is the stuffed toy bears—teddy bears—named after him following an incident on a hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902. Roosevelt has been portrayed in films and television series such as Brighty of the Grand Canyon, The Wind and the Lion, Rough Riders, My Friend Flicka, and Law of the Plainsman. Robin Williams portrayed Roosevelt in the form of a wax mannequin that comes to life in Night at the Museum and its sequels Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. In 2017, it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio will portray Roosevelt in a biopic to be directed by Martin Scorsese.
Moreover, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the state of North Dakota is named after him. The America the Beautiful Quarters series features Roosevelt riding a horse on the national park's quarter.
Asteroid 188693 Roosevelt, discovered by astronomers with the Catalina Sky Survey in 2005, was named after him. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on November 8, 2019 ().
In January 2022, after years of lobbying by activists, an equestrian statue of the former president was removed from where it had stood for more than eighty years in front of New York's American Museum of Natural History. Responding to controversy, the museum noted that the design "communicates a racial hierarchy that the museum and members of the public have long found disturbing."
Audiovisual media
Theodore Roosevelt was one of the first presidents whose voice was recorded for posterity. Several of his recorded speeches survive. A 4.6-minute voice recording, which preserves Roosevelt's lower timbre ranges particularly well for its time, is among those available from the Michigan State University libraries (this is the 1912 recording of The Right of the People to Rule, recorded by Edison at Carnegie Hall). The audio clip sponsored by the Authentic History Center includes his defense of the Progressive Party in 1912, wherein he proclaims it the "party of the people" – in contrast with the other major parties.
Roosevelt goes for a ride in Arch Hoxsey's plane in October 1910
In popular culture
Theodore Roosevelt appears as the leader of the American civilization in the Firaxis Games title Civilization VI. His unique ability is Roosevelt Corollary, which gives +5 Combat Strength for all units inside America's home continent, and +1 Appeal to all tiles in cities with a national park.
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
Full biographies
.
.
.
, 105 pp, very short biography by leading scholar.
.; also titled Power and responsibility; the life and times of Theodore Roosevelt online free to borrow
.
.
.
, only volume published, to age 28.
.
.
Personality and activities
.
.
Provides a lesson plan on TR as the historical figure who most exemplifies the quality of masculinity.
. Chronicles the events of TR's presidency during the summers of his two terms.
. The president's use of publicity, rhetoric and force of personality.
; his deadly 1913–14 trip to the Amazon.
, best seller; to 1886.
, to 1884.
. 494 pp.
, examines TR and his family during the World War I period.
.
, 240 pp. TR in Africa & Europe, 1909–10
. 289 pp.
, 337 pp; TR's political thought and its significance for republican self-government.
Domestic policies
online review; another online review
Cutright, P.R. (1985) Theodore Roosevelt: The making of a Modern Conservationist (U of Illinois Press.)
.
, standard history of his domestic and foreign policy as president.
Bakari, Mohamed El-Kamel. "Mapping the 'Anthropocentric-ecocentric'Dualism in the History of American Presidency: The Good, the Bad, and the Ambivalent." Journal of Studies in Social Sciences 14, no. 2 (2016).
.
.
Redekop, Benjamin. (2015). "Embodying the Story: The Conservation Leadership of Theodore Roosevelt". Leadership (2015) DOI:10.1177/1742715014546875 online
.
.
Politics
. How TR did politics.
, 323 pp.
.
.
.
.
. 361 pp.
.
. Focus on 1912; online free
. online free
. Attacks TR policies from conservative/libertarian perspective.
Foreign policy, military and naval issues
. online
. excerpt
.
. 328 pp.
Kuehn, John T. "Theodore Roosevelt’s Naval Diplomacy: The U.S. Navy and the Birth of the American Century," Naval War College Review (2010) 53#3 online
Livermore, Seward W. "Theodore Roosevelt, the American Navy, and the Venezuelan Crisis of 1902-1903." American Historical Review 51.3 (1946): 452–471. online
.
.
Nester, William R. Theodore Roosevelt and the Art of American Power: An American for All Time. Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. excerpt
Neu, Charles E. "Theodore Roosevelt and American Involvement in the Far East, 1901-1909." Pacific Historical Review 35.4 (1966): 433–449. online
O'Gara, Gordon Carpenter. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of the Modern Navy. (Princeton UP, 1943). online
.
Oyos, Matthew M. In Command: Theodore Roosevelt and the American Military (2018) online review
Pietrusza, David (2018). TR's Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy
.
.
.
.
Thompson, John M. Great Power Rising: Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of US Foreign Policy (Oxford UP, 2019).
. 196 pp.
Turk, Richard W. The Ambiguous Relationship: Theodore Roosevelt and Alfred Thayer Mahan (1987) [https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/93/5/1413/70734 online review
Historiography
Cunliffe, Marcus. "Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States 1901–1908" History Today (Sept 1955) 4#9 pp. 592–601, online.
Ricard, Serge. "The State of Theodore Roosevelt Studies" H-Diplo Essay No. 116 24 October 2014 online
, excerpt and text search, 28 new essays by scholars; focus on historiography. online
Primary sources
Kohn, Edward P., ed. A Most Glorious Ride: The Diaries of Theodore Roosevelt, 1877–1886 (State University of New York Press, 2015), 284 pp.
; vol 2
.
, 20 vol.; 18,000 pages containing most of TR's speeches, books and essays, but not his letters; a CD-ROM edition is available; some of TR's books are available online through Project Bartleby
, Roosevelt's opinions on many issues; online version at Theodore Roosevelt.
, 8 vols. Very large collection. vol 1 1868–1898 online free
. online free
.
.
online free to borrow
.
.
.
External links
Official
White House biography
Organizations
Boone and Crockett Club
Theodore Roosevelt Association
Libraries and collections
Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University
Theodore Roosevelt Collection, at the Houghton Library, Harvard University
Julian L. Street Papers on Theodore Roosevelt, at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
Doris A. and Lawrence H. Budner Collection on Theodore Roosevelt at the DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University
Theodore Roosevelt's journalism at The Archive of American Journalism
Theodore Roosevelt American Museum of Natural History
Roosevelt Papers, at the Library of Congress
Guide to the Herbert R. Strauss Collection of Theodore Roosevelt Papers 1884–1919 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
Media
"Life Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, September 3, 1999
"Writings of Theodore Roosevelt" from C-SPAN's American Writers: A Journey Through History
Other
Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt: A Resource Guide – Library of Congress
1858 births
1919 deaths
1900s in the United States
Theodore
19th-century American politicians
19th-century American historians
19th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century presidents of the United States
20th-century vice presidents of the United States
American autobiographers
American conservationists
American essayists
American explorers
American fishers
American hunters
American male judoka
American male non-fiction writers
American military personnel of the Spanish–American War
American naval historians
American Nobel laureates
American political writers
American shooting survivors
Articles containing video clips
American bibliophiles
American people of Dutch descent
Bulloch family
Burials in New York (state)
Columbia Law School alumni
Deaths from pulmonary embolism
New York City Police Commissioners
English-language spelling reform advocates
Explorers of Amazonia
American Freemasons
Governors of New York (state)
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Harvard College alumni
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Members of the New York State Assembly
Military personnel from New York City
New York (state) Progressives (1912)
New York (state) Republicans
Nobel Peace Prize laureates
People associated with the American Museum of Natural History
People from Oyster Bay (town), New York
Politicians from New York City
Presidents of the American Historical Association
Presidents of the United States
Progressive Era in the United States
Ranchers from North Dakota
Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees
Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees
Republican Party presidents of the United States
Republican Party state governors of the United States
Republican Party vice presidents of the United States
Rough Riders
Schuyler family
Sons of the American Revolution
Spanish–American War recipients of the Medal of Honor
United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
United States Army officers
United States Assistant Secretaries of the Navy
Candidates in the 1904 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1912 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1916 United States presidential election
1900 United States vice-presidential candidates
Vice presidents of the United States
Writers from New York (state)
Harvard Advocate alumni
American diarists
American political party founders
Aphorists
American nationalists
20th-century American male writers | true | [
"Glayton M. Modise (13 August 1940–9 February 2016) was the leader of one of Africa's mega churches, the International Pentecostal Holiness Church. Glayton was the only son of Frederick Samuel Modise (1914–1998) who founded the IPHC in 1962. After his father's death in 1998, Glayton took over the church until his death on 9 February 2016. Modise also was Co-consecrator of International Minister A. Louise Bonaparte of USA into the Office of Bishop.\n\nEarly life\nModise was born in Soweto, South Africa and initially was under the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) where his father was a minister. After his father received his calling in 1962 to start preaching the Gospel, Modise was one of the people who oversaw some of the smaller branches and the growth of the church. After his father died in 1998, the church grew exponentially.\n\nBeliefs\nModise claimed to have seen a vision from God, who instructed him to purchase a hill in Cape Town, South Africa and rename the hill Mount Zion. The hill, which was known as Blaauwberg Hill, was purchased for R100 million and was renamed Mount Zion. Glayton also continued his father's legacy of having a bursary scheme; the bursary scheme was known as FS Modise bursary scheme but was later renamed to FS Modise MG bursary scheme.\n\nReferences\n\n1940 births\n2016 deaths",
"Thihathura II of Ava (; February 1474 – 4 March 1501) was the joint-king of Ava who co-reigned with his father Minkhaung II for 15 years. When he was just six, his father ascended to the Ava throne and he was made heir-apparent. In 1485, the 11-year-old was made a co-regent. He lived in the same palace with his father, and displayed a white umbrella as a symbol of sovereignty. He co-ruled with his father for 15 years but died a month earlier than his father. Minkhaung, who faced numerous rebellions throughout his reign, made his son joint-king because he wanted to retain loyalty of his son. Minkhaung outlived his son, died in March 1501 and was succeeded by his younger son Shwenankyawshin (Narapati II).\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n \n \n \n\nBurmese monarchs\nAva dynasty\n1474 births\n1501 deaths\n15th-century Burmese monarchs"
]
|
[
"Theodore Roosevelt",
"Early life and family",
"Where did he grow up?",
"at East 20th Street in New York City.",
"did he have siblings?",
"He was the second of four children born",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death,",
"Did he marrry?",
"I don't know.",
"Does he have kids?",
"I don't know.",
"Did his father approve of hi studies?",
"Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him.",
"In which ways?",
"He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness.",
"Who was his father?",
"businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr."
]
| C_39da91c6b83e45c9a3447a0282510521_1 | Did he follow his dads footsteps? | 9 | Did Theodore Roosevelt follow his dads footsteps? | Theodore Roosevelt | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at East 20th Street in New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister, Anna (nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother, Elliott, and a younger sister, Corinne. Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh, and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C.V.S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family. Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for display. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects". Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body. CANNOTANSWER | Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or his initials T. R., was an American politician, statesman, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He previously served as the 25th vice president under William McKinley from March to September 1901, and as the 33rd governor of New York from 1899 to 1900. Having assumed the presidency after McKinley's assassination, Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive policies.
Roosevelt was a sickly child with debilitating asthma but partly overcame his health problems by embracing a strenuous lifestyle. He integrated his exuberant personality, a vast range of interests and achievements into a "cowboy" persona defined by robust masculinity. He was home-schooled and began a lifelong naturalist avocation before attending Harvard. His book The Naval War of 1812 (1882) established his reputation as a learned historian and popular writer. Upon entering politics, he became the leader of the reform faction of Republicans in New York's state legislature. His wife and mother both died in the same night and he was psychologically devastated. He recuperated by buying and operating a cattle ranch in the Dakotas. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President William McKinley and in 1898 helped plan the highly successful naval war against Spain. He resigned to help form and lead the Rough Riders, a unit that fought the Spanish army in Cuba to great publicity. Returning a war hero, he was elected governor of New York in 1898. The New York state party leadership disliked his ambitious agenda and convinced McKinley to make Roosevelt his running mate in the 1900 election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously, and the McKinley–Roosevelt ticket won a landslide victory based on a platform of victory, peace and prosperity.
Roosevelt assumed the presidency at age 42 after McKinley was assassinated in September 1901. He remains the youngest person to become president of the United States. Roosevelt was a leader of the progressive movement and championed his "Square Deal" domestic policies, promising the average citizen fairness, breaking of trusts, regulation of railroads, and pure food and drugs. He prioritized conservation and established national parks, forests, and monuments intended to preserve the nation's natural resources. In foreign policy, he focused on Central America where he began construction of the Panama Canal. He expanded the Navy and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project American naval power. His successful efforts to broker the end of the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize. Roosevelt was elected to a full term in 1904 and continued to promote progressive policies. He groomed his close friend William Howard Taft to succeed him in the 1908 presidential election.
Roosevelt grew frustrated with Taft's brand of conservatism and belatedly tried to win the 1912 Republican nomination for president. He failed, walked out, and founded the Progressive Party. He ran in the 1912 presidential election and the split allowed the Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson to win the election. Following the defeat, Roosevelt led a two-year expedition to the Amazon basin where he nearly died of tropical disease. During World War I, he criticized Wilson for keeping the country out of the war; his offer to lead volunteers to France was rejected. He considered running for president again in 1920, but his health continued to deteriorate. He died in 1919. He is generally ranked in polls of historians and political scientists as one of the five best presidents.
Early life and family
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan, New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister (Anna, nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother (Elliott) and a younger sister (Corinne). Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C. V. S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill as well as a brother of Robert Roosevelt and James A. Roosevelt. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family.
Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for exhibition. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects".
Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body.
A 6-year-old Roosevelt witnessed the funeral procession of Abraham Lincoln from his grandfather's mansion in Union Square, New York City where he was photographed in the window along with his brother Elliott, as confirmed by wife Edith who was also present.
Education
Roosevelt was homeschooled, mostly by tutors and his parents. Biographer H. W. Brands argued that "The most obvious drawback to his home schooling was uneven coverage of the various areas of human knowledge." He was solid in geography and bright in history, biology, French, and German; however, he struggled in mathematics and the classical languages. When he entered Harvard College on September 27, 1876, his father advised: "Take care of your morals first, your health next, and finally your studies." His father's sudden death on February 9, 1878, devastated Roosevelt, but he eventually recovered and doubled his activities.
He did well in science, philosophy, and rhetoric courses but continued to struggle in Latin and Greek. He studied biology intently and was already an accomplished naturalist and a published ornithologist. He read prodigiously with an almost photographic memory. While at Harvard, Roosevelt participated in rowing and boxing; he was once runner-up in an intramural boxing tournament. Roosevelt was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi literary society (later the Fly Club), the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and the prestigious Porcellian Club; he was also an editor of The Harvard Advocate. In 1880, Roosevelt graduated Phi Beta Kappa (22nd of 177) from Harvard with an A.B. magna cum laude. Biographer Henry Pringle states:
After his father's death, Roosevelt had inherited $65,000 (), enough to live off comfortably for the rest of his life. Roosevelt gave up his earlier plan of studying natural science and instead decided to attend Columbia Law School, moving back into his family's home in New York City. Roosevelt was an able law student, but he often found law to be irrational. He spent much of his time writing a book on the War of 1812.
Determined to enter politics, Roosevelt began attending meetings at Morton Hall, the 59th Street headquarters of New York's 21st District Republican Association. Though Roosevelt's father had been a prominent member of the Republican Party, the younger Roosevelt made an unorthodox career choice for someone of his class, as most of Roosevelt's peers refrained from becoming too closely involved in politics. Roosevelt found allies in the local Republican Party, and he defeated an incumbent Republican state assemblyman closely tied to the political machine of Senator Roscoe Conkling. After his election victory, Roosevelt decided to drop out of law school, later saying, "I intended to be one of the governing class."
Naval history and strategy
While at Harvard, Roosevelt began a systematic study of the role played by the young United States Navy in the War of 1812. Assisted by two uncles, he scrutinized original source materials and official U.S. Navy records, ultimately publishing The Naval War of 1812 in 1882. The book contained drawings of individual and combined ship maneuvers, charts depicting the differences in iron throw weights of cannon shot between rival forces, and analyses of the differences and similarities between British and American leadership down to the ship-to-ship level. Upon release, The Naval War of 1812 was praised for its scholarship and style, and it remains a standard study of the war.
With the publication of The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 in 1890, Navy Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan was immediately hailed as the world's outstanding naval theorist by the leaders of Europe. Roosevelt paid very close attention to Mahan's emphasis that only a nation with the world's most powerful fleet could dominate the world's oceans, exert its diplomacy to the fullest, and defend its own borders. He incorporated Mahan's ideas into his views on naval strategy for the remainder of his career.
First marriage and widowerhood
In 1880, Roosevelt married socialite Alice Hathaway Lee. Their daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt, was born on February 12, 1884. Two days later, the new mother died of an undiagnosed case of kidney failure that had been masked by the pregnancy. In his diary, Roosevelt wrote a large 'X' on the page and then, "The light has gone out of my life." His mother, Mittie, had died of typhoid fever eleven hours earlier at 3:00 a.m., in the same house on 57th Street in Manhattan. Distraught, Roosevelt left baby Alice in the care of his sister Bamie while he grieved; he assumed custody of Alice when she was three.
After the deaths of his wife and mother, Roosevelt focused on his work, specifically by re-energizing a legislative investigation into corruption of the New York City government, which arose from a concurrent bill proposing that power be centralized in the mayor's office. For the rest of his life, he rarely spoke about his wife Alice and did not write about her in his autobiography.
Early political career
State Assemblyman
Roosevelt was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 21st D.) in 1882, 1883 and 1884. He immediately began making his mark, specifically in corporate corruption issues. He blocked a corrupt effort by financier Jay Gould to lower his taxes. Roosevelt exposed suspected collusion in the matter by Judge Theodore Westbrook, and argued for and received approval for an investigation to proceed, aiming for the impeachment of the judge. The investigation committee rejected impeachment, but Roosevelt had exposed the potential corruption in Albany, and thus assumed a high and positive political profile in multiple New York publications.
Roosevelt's anti-corruption efforts helped him win re-election in 1882 by a margin greater than two-to-one, an achievement made even more impressive by the fact that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Grover Cleveland won Roosevelt's district. With Conkling's Stalwart faction of the Republican Party in disarray following the assassination of President James Garfield, Roosevelt won election as the Republican party leader in the state assembly. He allied with Governor Cleveland to win passage of a civil service reform bill. Roosevelt won re-election a second time, and sought the office of Speaker of the New York State Assembly, but was defeated by Titus Sheard in a 41 to 29 vote of the GOP caucus. In his final term, Roosevelt served as Chairman of the Committee on Affairs of Cities; he wrote more bills than any other legislator.
Presidential election of 1884
With numerous presidential hopefuls to choose from, Roosevelt supported Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont, a colorless reformer. The state GOP preferred the incumbent president, New York City's Chester Arthur, who was known for passing the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. Arthur, at the time, was suffering from Bright's disease, unknown to the public, and out of duty he did not contest his own nomination. Roosevelt fought hard and succeeded in influencing the Manhattan delegates at the state convention in Utica. He then took control of the state convention, bargaining through the night and outmaneuvering the supporters of Arthur and James G. Blaine; he gained a national reputation as a key person in New York State.
Roosevelt attended the 1884 GOP National Convention in Chicago and gave a speech convincing delegates to nominate African American John R. Lynch, an Edmunds supporter, to be temporary chair. Roosevelt fought alongside the Mugwump reformers; however, Blaine, having gained support from Arthur's and Edmunds's delegates, won the nomination by 541 votes on the fourth ballot. In a crucial moment of his budding political career, Roosevelt resisted the demand of the Mugwumps that he bolt from Blaine. He bragged about his one small success: "We achieved a victory in getting up a combination to beat the Blaine nominee for temporary chairman... To do this needed a mixture of skill, boldness and energy... to get the different factions to come in... to defeat the common foe." He was also impressed by an invitation to speak before an audience of ten thousand, the largest crowd he had addressed up to that date. Having gotten a taste of national politics, Roosevelt felt less aspiration for advocacy on the state level; he then retired to his new "Chimney Butte Ranch" on the Little Missouri River. Roosevelt refused to join other Mugwumps in supporting Grover Cleveland, the governor of New York and the Democratic nominee in the general election. He debated the pros and cons of staying loyal with his political friend, Henry Cabot Lodge. After Blaine won the nomination, Roosevelt had carelessly said that he would give "hearty support to any decent Democrat". He distanced himself from the promise, saying that it had not been meant "for publication". When a reporter asked if he would support Blaine, Roosevelt replied, "That question I decline to answer. It is a subject I do not care to talk about." In the end, he realized that he had to support Blaine to maintain his role in the GOP, and he did so in a press release on July 19. Having lost the support of many reformers, Roosevelt decided to retire from politics and move to North Dakota.
Cattle rancher in Dakota
Roosevelt first visited the Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt bison. Exhilarated by the western lifestyle, and with the cattle business booming in the territory, Roosevelt invested $14,000 in hopes of becoming a prosperous cattle rancher. For the next several years, he shuttled between his home in New York and his ranch in Dakota.
Following the 1884 presidential election, Roosevelt built a ranch named Elkhorn, which was north of the boomtown of Medora, North Dakota. Roosevelt learned to ride western style, rope, and hunt on the banks of the Little Missouri. Though he earned the respect of the authentic cowboys, they were not overly impressed. However, he identified with the herdsman of history, a man he said possesses "few of the emasculated, milk-and-water moralities admired by the pseudo-philanthropists; but he does possess, to a very high degree, the stern, manly qualities that are invaluable to a nation". He reoriented, and began writing about frontier life for national magazines; he also published three books – Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, and The Wilderness Hunter.
Roosevelt brought his desire to address the common interests of citizens to the West. He successfully led efforts to organize ranchers to address problems of overgrazing and other shared concerns; his work resulted in the formation of the Little Missouri Stockmen's Association. He felt compelled to promote conservation and was able to form the Boone and Crockett Club, whose primary goal was the conservation of large game animals and their habitats. After the uniquely severe US winter of 1886–87 wiped out his herd of cattle and those of his competitors, and with it over half of his $80,000 investment, Roosevelt returned to the East. Though his finances suffered from the experience, Roosevelt's time in the West made it impossible to peg him as an ineffectual intellectual, a characterization that could have hampered his political career.
Second marriage
On December 2, 1886, Roosevelt married his childhood and family friend, Edith Kermit Carow. Roosevelt was deeply troubled that his second marriage had taken place so soon after the death of his first wife, and he faced resistance from his sisters. Nonetheless, the couple married at St George's, Hanover Square in London, England. The couple had five children: Theodore "Ted" III in 1887, Kermit in 1889, Ethel in 1891, Archibald in 1894, and Quentin in 1897. The couple also raised Roosevelt's daughter from his first marriage, Alice, who often clashed with her stepmother.
Reentering public life
Upon Roosevelt's return to New York in 1886, Republican leaders quickly approached him about running for mayor of New York City in the city's mayoral election. Roosevelt accepted the nomination despite having little hope of winning the race against United Labor Party candidate Henry George and Democratic candidate Abram Hewitt. Roosevelt campaigned hard for the position, but Hewitt won with 41% (90,552 votes), taking the votes of many Republicans who feared George's radical policies. George was held to 31% (68,110 votes), and Roosevelt took third place with 27% (60,435 votes). Fearing that his political career might never recover, Roosevelt turned his attention to writing The Winning of the West, a historical work tracking the westward movement of Americans; the book was a great success for Roosevelt, earning favorable reviews and selling numerous copies.
Civil Service Commission
After Benjamin Harrison unexpectedly defeated Blaine for the presidential nomination at the 1888 Republican National Convention, Roosevelt gave stump speeches in the Midwest in support of Harrison. On the insistence of Henry Cabot Lodge, President Harrison appointed Roosevelt to the United States Civil Service Commission, where he served until 1895. While many of his predecessors had approached the office as a sinecure, Roosevelt vigorously fought the spoilsmen and demanded enforcement of civil service laws. The New York Sun then described Roosevelt as "irrepressible, belligerent, and enthusiastic". Roosevelt frequently clashed with Postmaster General John Wanamaker, who handed out numerous patronage positions to Harrison supporters, and Roosevelt's attempt to force out several postal workers damaged Harrison politically. Despite Roosevelt's support for Harrison's reelection bid in the presidential election of 1892, the eventual winner, Grover Cleveland, reappointed him to the same post. Roosevelt's close friend and biographer, Joseph Bucklin Bishop, described his assault on the spoils system:
New York City Police Commissioner
In 1894, a group of reform Republicans approached Roosevelt about running for Mayor of New York again; he declined, mostly due to his wife's resistance to being removed from the Washington social set. Soon after he declined, he realized that he had missed an opportunity to reinvigorate a dormant political career. He retreated to the Dakotas for a time; his wife Edith regretted her role in the decision and vowed that there would be no repeat of it.
William Lafayette Strong, a reform-minded Republican, won the 1894 mayoral election and offered Roosevelt a position on the board of the New York City Police Commissioners. Roosevelt became president of the board of commissioners and radically reformed the police force. Roosevelt implemented regular inspections of firearms and annual physical exams, appointed recruits based on their physical and mental qualifications rather than political affiliation, established Meritorious Service Medals, and closed corrupt police hostelries. During his tenure, a Municipal Lodging House was established by the Board of Charities, and Roosevelt required officers to register with the Board; he also had telephones installed in station houses.
In 1894, Roosevelt met Jacob Riis, the muckraking Evening Sun newspaper journalist who was opening the eyes of New Yorkers to the terrible conditions of the city's millions of poor immigrants with such books as How the Other Half Lives. Riis described how his book affected Roosevelt:
Roosevelt made a habit of walking officers' beats late at night and early in the morning to make sure that they were on duty. He made a concerted effort to uniformly enforce New York's Sunday closing law; in this, he ran up against boss Tom Platt as well as Tammany Hall—he was notified that the Police Commission was being legislated out of existence. His crackdowns led to protests and demonstrations. Invited to one large demonstration, not only did he surprisingly accept, he delighted in the insults, caricatures and lampoons directed at him, and earned some surprising good will. Roosevelt chose to defer rather than split with his party. As Governor of New York State, he would later sign an act replacing the Police Commission with a single Police Commissioner.
Emergence as a national figure
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
In the 1896 presidential election, Roosevelt backed Speaker of the House Thomas Brackett Reed for the Republican nomination, but William McKinley won the nomination and defeated William Jennings Bryan in the general election. Roosevelt opposed Bryan's free silver platform, viewing many of Bryan's followers as dangerous fanatics, and Roosevelt gave campaign speeches for McKinley. Urged by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, President McKinley appointed Roosevelt as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897. Secretary of the Navy John D. Long was more concerned about formalities than functions, was in poor health, and left many major decisions to Roosevelt. Influenced by Alfred Thayer Mahan, Roosevelt called for a build-up in the country's naval strength, particularly the construction of battleships. Roosevelt also began pressing his national security views regarding the Pacific and the Caribbean on McKinley, and was particularly adamant that Spain be ejected from Cuba. He explained his priorities to one of the Navy's planners in late 1897:
On February 15, 1898, , an armored cruiser, exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, killing hundreds of crew members. While Roosevelt and many other Americans blamed Spain for the explosion, McKinley sought a diplomatic solution. Without approval from Long or McKinley, Roosevelt sent out orders to several naval vessels, directing them to prepare for war. George Dewey, who had received an appointment to lead the Asiatic Squadron with the backing of Roosevelt, later credited his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay to Roosevelt's orders. After finally giving up hope of a peaceful solution, McKinley asked Congress to declare war upon Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War.
War in Cuba
With the beginning of the Spanish–American War in late April 1898, Roosevelt resigned from his post as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Along with Army Colonel Leonard Wood, he formed the First US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. His wife and many of his friends begged Roosevelt to remain in his post in Washington, but Roosevelt was determined to see battle. When the newspapers reported the formation of the new regiment, Roosevelt and Wood were flooded with applications from all over the country. Referred to by the press as the "Rough Riders", the regiment was one of many temporary units active only for the duration of the war.
The regiment trained for several weeks in San Antonio, Texas, and in his autobiography, Roosevelt wrote that his prior experience with the New York National Guard had been invaluable, in that it enabled him to immediately begin teaching his men basic soldiering skills. The Rough Riders used some standard issue gear and some of their own design, purchased with gift money. Diversity characterized the regiment, which included Ivy Leaguers, professional and amateur athletes, upscale gentlemen, cowboys, frontiersmen, Native Americans, hunters, miners, prospectors, former soldiers, tradesmen, and sheriffs. The Rough Riders were part of the cavalry division commanded by former Confederate general Joseph Wheeler, which itself was one of three divisions in the V Corps under Lieutenant General William Rufus Shafter. Roosevelt and his men landed in Daiquirí, Cuba, on June 23, 1898, and marched to Siboney. Wheeler sent parts of the 1st and 10th Regular Cavalry on the lower road northwest and sent the "Rough Riders" on the parallel road running along a ridge up from the beach. To throw off his infantry rival, Wheeler left one regiment of his Cavalry Division, the 9th, at Siboney so that he could claim that his move north was only a limited reconnaissance if things went wrong. Roosevelt was promoted to colonel and took command of the regiment when Wood was put in command of the brigade. The Rough Riders had a short, minor skirmish known as the Battle of Las Guasimas; they fought their way through Spanish resistance and, together with the Regulars, forced the Spaniards to abandon their positions.
Under his leadership, the Rough Riders became famous for the charge up Kettle Hill on July 1, 1898, while supporting the regulars. Roosevelt had the only horse, and rode back and forth between rifle pits at the forefront of the advance up Kettle Hill, an advance that he urged despite the absence of any orders from superiors. He was forced to walk up the last part of Kettle Hill because his horse had been entangled in barbed wire. The victories came at a cost of 200 killed and 1,000 wounded.
In August, Roosevelt and other officers demanded that the soldiers be returned home. Roosevelt always recalled the Battle of Kettle Hill (part of the San Juan Heights) as "the great day of my life" and "my crowded hour". In 2001, Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions; he had been nominated during the war, but Army officials, annoyed at his grabbing the headlines, blocked it. After returning to civilian life, Roosevelt preferred to be known as "Colonel Roosevelt" or "The Colonel", though "Teddy" remained much more popular with the public, even though Roosevelt openly despised that moniker. Men working closely with Roosevelt customarily called him "Colonel" or "Theodore". Henceforth, political cartoons of Roosevelt usually depicted him in his Rough Rider garb.
Governor of New York
After leaving Cuba in August 1898, the Rough Riders were transported to a camp at Montauk Point, Long Island, where Roosevelt and his men were briefly quarantined due to the War Department's fear of spreading yellow fever. Shortly after Roosevelt's return to the United States, Republican Congressman Lemuel E. Quigg, a lieutenant of party boss Tom Platt, asked Roosevelt to run in the 1898 gubernatorial election. Platt disliked Roosevelt personally, feared that Roosevelt would oppose Platt's interests in office, and was reluctant to propel Roosevelt to the forefront of national politics. However, Platt also needed a strong candidate due to the unpopularity of the incumbent Republican governor, Frank S. Black, and Roosevelt agreed to become the nominee and to try not to "make war" with the Republican establishment once in office. Roosevelt defeated Black in the Republican caucus by a vote of 753 to 218, and faced Democrat Augustus Van Wyck, a well-respected judge, in the general election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously on his war record, winning the election by a margin of just one percent.
As governor, Roosevelt learned much about ongoing economic issues and political techniques that later proved valuable in his presidency. He was exposed to the problems of trusts, monopolies, labor relations, and conservation. Chessman argues that Roosevelt's program "rested firmly upon the concept of the square deal by a neutral state". The rules for the Square Deal were "honesty in public affairs, an equitable sharing of privilege and responsibility, and subordination of party and local concerns to the interests of the state at large".
By holding twice-daily press conferences—which was an innovation—Roosevelt remained connected with his middle-class political base. Roosevelt successfully pushed the Ford Franchise-Tax bill, which taxed public franchises granted by the state and controlled by corporations, declaring that "a corporation which derives its powers from the State, should pay to the State a just percentage of its earnings as a return for the privileges it enjoys". He rejected "boss" Thomas C. Platt's worries that this approached Bryanite Socialism, explaining that without it, New York voters might get angry and adopt public ownership of streetcar lines and other franchises.
The New York state government affected many interests, and the power to make appointments to policy-making positions was a key role for the governor. Platt insisted that he be consulted on major appointments; Roosevelt appeared to comply, but then made his own decisions. Historians marvel that Roosevelt managed to appoint so many first-rate men with Platt's approval. He even enlisted Platt's help in securing reform, such as in the spring of 1899, when Platt pressured state senators to vote for a civil service bill that the secretary of the Civil Service Reform Association called "superior to any civil service statute heretofore secured in America".
Chessman argues that as governor, Roosevelt developed the principles that shaped his presidency, especially insistence upon the public responsibility of large corporations, publicity as a first remedy for trusts, regulation of railroad rates, mediation of the conflict of capital and labor, conservation of natural resources and protection of the less fortunate members of society. Roosevelt sought to position himself against the excesses of large corporations on the one hand and radical movements on the other.
As the chief executive of the most populous state in the union, Roosevelt was widely considered a potential future presidential candidate, and supporters such as William Allen White encouraged him to run for president. Roosevelt had no interest in challenging McKinley for the Republican nomination in 1900, and was denied his preferred post of Secretary of War. As his term progressed, Roosevelt pondered a 1904 presidential run, but was uncertain about whether he should seek re-election as governor in 1900.
Vice Presidency (1901)
In November 1899, Vice President Garret Hobart died of heart failure, leaving an open spot on the 1900 Republican national ticket. Though Henry Cabot Lodge and others urged him to run for vice president in 1900, Roosevelt was reluctant to take the powerless position and issued a public statement saying that he would not accept the nomination. Additionally, Roosevelt was informed by President McKinley and campaign manager Mark Hanna that he was not being considered for the role of vice president due to his actions prior to the Spanish–American War. Eager to be rid of Roosevelt, Platt nonetheless began a newspaper campaign in favor of Roosevelt's nomination for the vice presidency. Roosevelt attended the 1900 Republican National Convention as a state delegate and struck a bargain with Platt: Roosevelt would accept the nomination for vice president if the convention offered it to him, but would otherwise serve another term as governor. Platt asked Pennsylvania party boss Matthew Quay to lead the campaign for Roosevelt's nomination, and Quay outmaneuvered Hanna at the convention to put Roosevelt on the ticket. Roosevelt won the nomination unanimously.
Roosevelt's vice-presidential campaigning proved highly energetic and an equal match for Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan's famous barnstorming style of campaigning. In a whirlwind campaign that displayed his energy to the public, Roosevelt made 480 stops in 23 states. He denounced the radicalism of Bryan, contrasting it with the heroism of the soldiers and sailors who fought and won the war against Spain. Bryan had strongly supported the war itself, but he denounced the annexation of the Philippines as imperialism, which would spoil America's innocence. Roosevelt countered that it was best for the Filipinos to have stability and the Americans to have a proud place in the world. With the nation basking in peace and prosperity, the voters gave McKinley an even larger victory than that which he had achieved in 1896.
After the campaign, Roosevelt took office as vice president in March 1901. The office of vice president was a powerless sinecure and did not suit Roosevelt's aggressive temperament. Roosevelt's six months as vice president were uneventful and boring for a man of action. He had no power; he presided over the Senate for a mere four days before it adjourned. On September 2, 1901, Roosevelt first publicized an aphorism that thrilled his supporters: "Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far."
Presidency (1901–1909)
On September 6, 1901, President McKinley was attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York when he was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Roosevelt was vacationing in Isle La Motte, Vermont, and traveled to Buffalo to visit McKinley in the hospital. It appeared that McKinley would recover, so Roosevelt resumed his vacation in the Adirondack Mountains. When McKinley's condition worsened, Roosevelt again rushed back to Buffalo. McKinley died on September 14, and Roosevelt was informed while he was in North Creek; he continued on to Buffalo and was sworn in as the nation's 26th president at the Ansley Wilcox House.
McKinley's supporters were nervous about the new president, and Hanna was particularly bitter that the man he had opposed so vigorously at the convention had succeeded McKinley. Roosevelt assured party leaders that he intended to adhere to McKinley's policies, and he retained McKinley's Cabinet. Nonetheless, Roosevelt sought to position himself as the party's undisputed leader, seeking to bolster the role of the president and position himself for the 1904 election. The vice presidency remained vacant, as there was no constitutional provision for filling an intra-term vacancy in that office (prior to the 25th Amendment in 1967).
Shortly after taking office, Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House. This sparked a bitter, and at times vicious, reaction among whites across the heavily segregated South. Roosevelt reacted with astonishment and protest, saying that he looked forward to many future dinners with Washington. Upon further reflection, Roosevelt wanted to ensure that this had no effect on political support in the white South, and further dinner invitations to Washington were avoided; their next meeting was scheduled as typical business at 10:00 a.m. instead.
Domestic policies
Trust busting and regulation
For his aggressive use of the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act, compared to his predecessors, Roosevelt was hailed as the "trust-buster"; but in reality he was more of a trust regulator. Roosevelt viewed big business as a necessary part of the American economy, and sought only to prosecute the "bad trusts" that restrained trade and charged unfair prices. He brought 44 antitrust suits, breaking up the Northern Securities Company, the largest railroad monopoly; and regulating Standard Oil, the largest oil company. Presidents Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley combined had prosecuted only 18 antitrust violations under the Sherman Antitrust Act.
Bolstered by his party's winning large majorities in the 1902 elections, Roosevelt proposed the creation of the United States Department of Commerce and Labor, which would include the Bureau of Corporations. While Congress was receptive to the Department of Commerce and Labor, it was more skeptical of the antitrust powers that Roosevelt sought to endow within the Bureau of Corporations. Roosevelt successfully appealed to the public to pressure Congress, and Congress overwhelmingly voted to pass Roosevelt's version of the bill.
In a moment of frustration, House Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon commented on Roosevelt's desire for executive branch control in domestic policy-making: "That fellow at the other end of the avenue wants everything from the birth of Christ to the death of the devil." Biographer Brands states, "Even his friends occasionally wondered whether there wasn't any custom or practice too minor for him to try to regulate, update or otherwise improve." In fact, Roosevelt's willingness to exercise his power included attempted rule changes in the game of football; at the Naval Academy, he sought to force retention of martial arts classes and to revise disciplinary rules. He even ordered changes made in the minting of a coin whose design he disliked, and ordered the Government Printing Office to adopt simplified spellings for a core list of 300 words, according to reformers on the Simplified Spelling Board. He was forced to rescind the latter after substantial ridicule from the press and a resolution of protest from the House of Representatives.
Coal strike
In May 1902, anthracite coal miners went on strike, threatening a national energy shortage. After threatening the coal operators with intervention by federal troops, Roosevelt won their agreement to dispute arbitration by a commission, which succeeded in stopping the strike. The accord with J. P. Morgan resulted in the miners getting more pay for fewer hours, but with no union recognition. Roosevelt said, "My action on labor should always be considered in connection with my action as regards capital, and both are reducible to my favorite formula—a square deal for every man." Roosevelt was the first president to help settle a labor dispute.
Prosecuted misconduct
During Roosevelt's second year in office it was discovered there was corruption in the Indian Service, the Land Office, and the Post Office Department. Roosevelt investigated and prosecuted corrupt Indian agents who had cheated the Creeks and various tribes out of land parcels. Land fraud and speculation were found involving Oregon federal timberlands. In November 1902, Roosevelt and Secretary Ethan A. Hitchcock forced Binger Hermann, the General Land Office Commissioner, to resign from office. On November 6, 1903 Francis J. Heney was appointed special prosecutor and obtained 146 indictments involving an Oregon Land Office bribery ring. U.S. Senator John H. Mitchell was indicted for bribery to expedite illegal land patents, found guilty in July 1905, and sentenced to six months in prison. More corruption was found in the Postal Department, that brought on the indictments of 44 government employees on charges of bribery and fraud. Historians generally agree that Roosevelt moved "quickly and decisively" to prosecute misconduct in his administration.
Railroads
Merchants complained that some railroad rates were too high. In the 1906 Hepburn Act, Roosevelt sought to give the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to regulate rates, but the Senate, led by conservative Nelson Aldrich, fought back. Roosevelt worked with the Democratic Senator Benjamin Tillman to pass the bill. Roosevelt and Aldrich ultimately reached a compromise that gave the ICC the power to replace existing rates with "just-and-reasonable" maximum rates, but allowed railroads to appeal to the federal courts on what was "reasonable". In addition to rate-setting, the Hepburn Act also granted the ICC regulatory power over pipeline fees, storage contracts, and several other aspects of railroad operations.
Pure food and drugs
Roosevelt responded to public anger over the abuses in the food packing industry by pushing Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act. Though conservatives initially opposed the bill, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, published in 1906, helped galvanize support for reform. The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 banned misleading labels and preservatives that contained harmful chemicals. The Pure Food and Drug Act banned food and drugs that were impure or falsely labeled from being made, sold, and shipped. Roosevelt also served as honorary president of the American School Hygiene Association from 1907 to 1908, and in 1909 he convened the first White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children.
Conservation
Of all Roosevelt's achievements, he was proudest of his work in the conservation of natural resources and extending federal protection to land and wildlife. Roosevelt worked closely with Interior Secretary James Rudolph Garfield and Chief of the United States Forest Service Gifford Pinchot to enact a series of conservation programs that often met with resistance from Western members of Congress, such as Charles William Fulton. Nonetheless, Roosevelt established the United States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of five National Parks, and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 new U.S. National Monuments. He also established the first 51 bird reserves, four game preserves, and 150 National Forests. The area of the United States that he placed under public protection totals approximately .
Roosevelt extensively used executive orders on a number of occasions to protect forest and wildlife lands during his tenure as president. By the end of his second term in office, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish of reserved forestry land. Roosevelt was unapologetic about his extensive use of executive orders to protect the environment, despite the perception in Congress that he was encroaching on too many lands. Eventually, Senator Charles Fulton (R-OR) attached an amendment to an agricultural appropriations bill that effectively prevented the president from reserving any further land. Before signing that bill into law, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish an additional 21 forest reserves, waiting until the last minute to sign the bill into law. In total, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish 121 forest reserves in 31 states. Prior to Roosevelt, only one president had issued over 200 executive orders, Grover Cleveland (253). The first 25 presidents issued a total of 1,262 executive orders; Roosevelt issued 1,081.
Foreign policy
Japan
The American annexation of Hawaii in 1898 was stimulated in part by fear that otherwise Japan would dominate the Hawaiian Republic. Similarly, Germany was the alternative to American takeover of the Philippines in 1900, and Tokyo strongly preferred the U.S. to take over. As the U.S. became a naval world power, it needed to find a way to avoid a military confrontation in the Pacific with Japan.
In the 1890s, Roosevelt had been an ardent imperialist and vigorously defended the permanent acquisition of the Philippines in the 1900 campaign. After the local insurrection ended in 1902, he largely lost his imperialist interest in the Philippines and Asian expansion but wished to have a strong U.S. presence in the region as a symbol of democratic values. One of Theodore Roosevelt's priorities during his presidency and afterwards, was the maintenance of friendly relations with Japan. From 1904 to 1905 Japan and Russia were at war. Roosevelt admired the martial courage of the Japanese, and distrusted the reckless German Kaiser. Both sides asked Roosevelt to mediate a peace conference, held successfully in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
In California, anti-Japanese hostility was growing, and Tokyo protested. Roosevelt negotiated a "Gentleman's Agreement" in 1907. Explicit discrimination against the Japanese was ended, and Japan agreed not to allow unskilled immigrants into the United States. The Great White Fleet of American battleships visited Japan in 1908. Pulitzer prize-winning biographer Henry Pringle states that the great voyage was "the direct result of the Japanese trouble." Roosevelt intended to emphasize the superiority of the American fleet over the smaller Japanese navy, but instead of resentment the visitors arrived to a joyous welcome by Japanese elite as well as the general public. This good-will facilitated the Root–Takahira Agreement of November 1908 which reaffirmed the status quo of Japanese control of Korea and American control of the Philippines.
Europe
Success in the war against Spain and the new empire, plus having the largest economy in the world, meant that the United States had emerged as a world power. Roosevelt searched for ways to win recognition for the position abroad.
Roosevelt also played a major role in mediating the First Moroccan Crisis by calling the Algeciras Conference, which averted war between France and Germany.
Roosevelt's presidency saw the strengthening of ties with Great Britain. The Great Rapprochement had begun with British support of the United States during the Spanish–American War, and it continued as Britain withdrew its fleet from the Caribbean in favor of focusing on the rising German naval threat. In 1901, Britain and the United States signed the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, abrogating the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty, which had prevented the United States from constructing a canal connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. The long-standing Alaska boundary dispute was settled on terms favorable to the United States, as Great Britain was unwilling to alienate the United States over what it considered to be a secondary issue. As Roosevelt later put it, the resolution of the Alaskan boundary dispute "settled the last serious trouble between the British Empire and ourselves."
Latin America and Panama Canal
As president, he primarily focused the nation's overseas ambitions on the Caribbean, especially locations that had a bearing on the defense of his pet project, the Panama Canal. Roosevelt also increased the size of the navy, and by the end of his second term the United States had more battleships than any other country besides Britain. The Panama Canal when it opened in 1914 allowed the U.S. Navy to rapidly move back and forth from the Pacific to the Caribbean to European waters.
In December 1902, the Germans, British, and Italians blockaded the ports of Venezuela in order to force the repayment of delinquent loans. Roosevelt was particularly concerned with the motives of German Emperor Wilhelm II. He succeeded in getting the three nations to agree to arbitration by tribunal at The Hague, and successfully defused the crisis. The latitude granted to the Europeans by the arbiters was in part responsible for the "Roosevelt Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which the President issued in 1904: "Chronic wrongdoing or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere, the adherence of the United States to the Monroe doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power."
The pursuit of an isthmus canal in Central America during this period focused on two possible routes—Nicaragua and Panama, which was then a rebellious district within Colombia. Roosevelt convinced Congress to approve the Panamanian alternative, and a treaty was approved, only to be rejected by the Colombian government. When the Panamanians learned of this, a rebellion followed, was supported by Roosevelt, and succeeded. A treaty with the new Panama government for construction of the canal was then reached in 1903. Roosevelt received criticism for paying the bankrupt Panama Canal Company and the New Panama Canal Company $40,000,000 (equivalent to $ billion in ) for the rights and equipment to build the canal. Critics charged that an American investor syndicate allegedly divided the large payment among themselves. There was also controversy over whether a French company engineer influenced Roosevelt in choosing the Panama route for the canal over the Nicaragua route. Roosevelt denied charges of corruption concerning the canal in a January 8, 1906 message to Congress. In January 1909, Roosevelt, in an unprecedented move, brought criminal libel charges against the New York World and the Indianapolis News known as the "Roosevelt-Panama Libel Cases". Both cases were dismissed by U.S. District Courts, and on January 3, 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court, upon federal appeal, upheld the lower courts' rulings. Historians are sharply critical of Roosevelt's criminal prosecutions of the World and the News, but are divided on whether actual corruption in acquiring and building the Panama Canal took place.
In 1906, following a disputed election, an insurrection ensued in Cuba; Roosevelt sent Taft, the Secretary of War, to monitor the situation; he was convinced that he had the authority to unilaterally authorize Taft to deploy Marines if necessary, without congressional approval.
Examining the work of numerous scholars, Ricard (2014) reports that:
The most striking evolution in the twenty-first-century historiography of Theodore Roosevelt is the switch from a partial arraignment of the imperialist to a quasi-unanimous celebration of the master diplomatist.... [Recent works] have underlined cogently Roosevelt's exceptional statesmanship in the construction of the nascent twentieth-century "special relationship". ...The twenty-sixth president's reputation as a brilliant diplomatist and realpolitician has undeniably reached new heights in the twenty-first century...yet, his Philippine policy still prompts criticism.
Media
Building on McKinley's effective use of the press, Roosevelt made the White House the center of news every day, providing interviews and photo opportunities. After noticing the reporters huddled outside the White House in the rain one day, he gave them their own room inside, effectively inventing the presidential press briefing. The grateful press, with unprecedented access to the White House, rewarded Roosevelt with ample coverage.
Roosevelt normally enjoyed very close relationships with the press, which he used to keep in daily contact with his middle-class base. While out of office, he made a living as a writer and magazine editor. He loved talking with intellectuals, authors, and writers. He drew the line, however, at exposé-oriented scandal-mongering journalists who, during his term, sent magazine subscriptions soaring by their attacks on corrupt politicians, mayors, and corporations. Roosevelt himself was not usually a target, but a speech of his from 1906 coined the term "muckraker" for unscrupulous journalists making wild charges. "The liar", he said, "is no whit better than the thief, and if his mendacity takes the form of slander he may be worse than most thieves."
The press did briefly target Roosevelt in one instance. After 1904, he was periodically criticized for the manner in which he facilitated the construction of the Panama Canal. According to biographer Brands, Roosevelt, near the end of his term, demanded that the Justice Department bring charges of criminal libel against Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. The publication had accused him of "deliberate misstatements of fact" in defense of family members who were criticized as a result of the Panama affair. Though an indictment was obtained, the case was ultimately dismissed in federal court—it was not a federal offense, but one enforceable in state courts. The Justice Department had predicted that result, and had also advised Roosevelt accordingly.
Election of 1904
The control and management of the Republican Party lay in the hands of Ohio Senator and Republican Party chairman Mark Hanna until McKinley's death. Roosevelt and Hanna frequently cooperated during Roosevelt's first term, but Hanna left open the possibility of a challenge to Roosevelt for the 1904 Republican nomination. Roosevelt and Ohio's other Senator, Joseph B. Foraker, forced Hanna's hand by calling for Ohio's state Republican convention to endorse Roosevelt for the 1904 nomination. Unwilling to break with the president, Hanna was forced to publicly endorse Roosevelt. Hanna and Pennsylvania Senator Matthew Quay both died in early 1904, and with the waning of Thomas Platt's power, Roosevelt faced little effective opposition for the 1904 nomination. In deference to Hanna's conservative loyalists, Roosevelt at first offered the party chairmanship to Cornelius Bliss, but he declined. Roosevelt turned to his own man, George B. Cortelyou of New York, the first Secretary of Commerce and Labor. To buttress his hold on the party's nomination, Roosevelt made it clear that anyone opposing Cortelyou would be considered to be opposing the President. The President secured his own nomination, but his preferred vice-presidential running mate, Robert R. Hitt, was not nominated. Senator Charles Warren Fairbanks of Indiana, a favorite of conservatives, gained the nomination.
While Roosevelt followed the tradition of incumbents in not actively campaigning on the stump, he sought to control the campaign's message through specific instructions to Cortelyou. He also attempted to manage the press's release of White House statements by forming the Ananias Club. Any journalist who repeated a statement made by the president without approval was penalized by restriction of further access.
The Democratic Party's nominee in 1904 was Alton Brooks Parker. Democratic newspapers charged that Republicans were extorting large campaign contributions from corporations, putting ultimate responsibility on Roosevelt, himself. Roosevelt denied corruption while at the same time he ordered Cortelyou to return $100,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) of a campaign contribution from Standard Oil. Parker said that Roosevelt was accepting corporate donations to keep damaging information from the Bureau of Corporations from going public. Roosevelt strongly denied Parker's charge and responded that he would "go into the Presidency unhampered by any pledge, promise, or understanding of any kind, sort, or description...". Allegations from Parker and the Democrats, however, had little impact on the election, as Roosevelt promised to give every American a "square deal". Roosevelt won 56% of the popular vote, and Parker received 38%; Roosevelt also won the Electoral College vote, 336 to 140. Before his inauguration ceremony, Roosevelt declared that he would not serve another term. Democrats afterwards would continue to charge Roosevelt and the Republicans of being influenced by corporate donations during Roosevelt's second term.
Second term
As his second term progressed, Roosevelt moved to the left of his Republican Party base and called for a series of reforms, most of which Congress failed to pass. In his last year in office, he was assisted by his friend Archibald Butt (who later perished in the sinking of RMS Titanic). Roosevelt's influence waned as he approached the end of his second term, as his promise to forego a third term made him a lame duck and his concentration of power provoked a backlash from many Congressmen. He sought a national incorporation law (at a time when all corporations had state charters), called for a federal income tax (despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.), and an inheritance tax. In the area of labor legislation, Roosevelt called for limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes; injunctions were a powerful weapon that mostly helped business. He wanted an employee liability law for industrial injuries (pre-empting state laws) and an eight-hour work day for federal employees. In other areas he also sought a postal savings system (to provide competition for local banks), and he asked for campaign reform laws.
The election of 1904 continued to be a source of contention between Republicans and Democrats. A Congressional investigation in 1905 revealed that corporate executives donated tens of thousands of dollars in 1904 to the Republican National Committee. In 1908, a month before the general presidential election, Governor Charles N. Haskell of Oklahoma, former Democratic Treasurer, said that Senators beholden to Standard Oil lobbied Roosevelt, in the summer of 1904, to authorize the leasing of Indian oil lands by Standard Oil subsidiaries. He said Roosevelt overruled his Secretary of Interior Ethan A. Hitchcock and granted a pipeline franchise to run through the Osage lands to the Prairie Oil and Gas Company. The New York Sun made a similar accusation and said that Standard Oil, a refinery who financially benefited from the pipeline, had contributed $150,000 to the Republicans in 1904 (equivalent to $ million in ) after Roosevelt's alleged reversal allowing the pipeline franchise. Roosevelt branded Haskell's allegation as "a lie, pure and simple" and obtained a denial from Treasury Secretary Shaw that Roosevelt had neither coerced Shaw nor overruled him.
Post-presidency (1909–1919)
Election of 1908
Roosevelt enjoyed being president and was still relatively youthful, but felt that a limited number of terms provided a check against dictatorship. Roosevelt ultimately decided to stick to his 1904 pledge not to run for a third term. He personally favored Secretary of State Elihu Root as his successor, but Root's ill health made him an unsuitable candidate. New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes loomed as a potentially strong candidate and shared Roosevelt's progressivism, but Roosevelt disliked him and considered him to be too independent. Instead, Roosevelt settled on his Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, who had ably served under Presidents Harrison, McKinley, and Roosevelt in various positions. Roosevelt and Taft had been friends since 1890, and Taft had consistently supported President Roosevelt's policies. Roosevelt was determined to install the successor of his choice, and wrote the following to Taft: "Dear Will: Do you want any action about those federal officials? I will break their necks with the utmost cheerfulness if you say the word!". Just weeks later he branded as "false and malicious" the charge that he was using the offices at his disposal to favor Taft. At the 1908 Republican convention, many chanted for "four years more" of a Roosevelt presidency, but Taft won the nomination after Henry Cabot Lodge made it clear that Roosevelt was not interested in a third term.
In the 1908 election, Taft easily defeated the Democratic nominee, three-time candidate William Jennings Bryan. Taft promoted a progressivism that stressed the rule of law; he preferred that judges rather than administrators or politicians make the basic decisions about fairness. Taft usually proved to be a less adroit politician than Roosevelt and lacked the energy and personal magnetism, along with the publicity devices, the dedicated supporters, and the broad base of public support that made Roosevelt so formidable. When Roosevelt realized that lowering the tariff would risk creating severe tensions inside the Republican Party by pitting producers (manufacturers and farmers) against merchants and consumers, he stopped talking about the issue. Taft ignored the risks and tackled the tariff boldly, encouraging reformers to fight for lower rates, and then cutting deals with conservative leaders that kept overall rates high. The resulting Payne-Aldrich tariff of 1909, signed into law early in President Taft's tenure, was too high for most reformers, and Taft's handling of the tariff alienated all sides. While the crisis was building inside the Party, Roosevelt was touring Africa and Europe, to allow Taft to be his own man.
Africa and Europe (1909–1910)
In March 1909, shortly after the end of his presidency, Roosevelt left New York for the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition, a safari in east and central Africa. Roosevelt's party landed in Mombasa, East Africa (now Kenya) and traveled to the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) before following the Nile to Khartoum in modern Sudan. Financed by Andrew Carnegie and by his own writings, Roosevelt's party hunted for specimens for the Smithsonian Institution and for the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The group, led by the hunter-tracker RJ Cunninghame, included scientists from the Smithsonian, and was joined from time to time by Frederick Selous, the famous big game hunter and explorer. Participants on the expedition included Kermit Roosevelt, Edgar Alexander Mearns, Edmund Heller, and John Alden Loring.
Roosevelt and his companions killed or trapped approximately 11,400 animals, from insects and moles to hippopotamuses and elephants. The 1,000 large animals included 512 big game animals, including six rare white rhinos. Tons of salted animals and their skins were shipped to Washington; it took years to mount them all, and the Smithsonian shared many duplicate specimens with other museums. Regarding the large number of animals taken, Roosevelt said, "I can be condemned only if the existence of the National Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and all similar zoological institutions are to be condemned". He wrote a detailed account of the safari in the book African Game Trails, recounting the excitement of the chase, the people he met, and the flora and fauna he collected in the name of science.
After his safari, Roosevelt traveled north to embark on a tour of Europe. Stopping first in Egypt, he commented favorably on British rule of the region, giving his opinion that Egypt was not yet ready for independence. He refused a meeting with the Pope due to a dispute over a group of Methodists active in Rome, but met with Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King George V of Great Britain, and other European leaders. In Oslo, Norway, Roosevelt delivered a speech calling for limitations on naval armaments, a strengthening of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and the creation of a "League of Peace" among the world powers. He also delivered the Romanes Lecture at Oxford, in which he denounced those who sought parallels between the evolution of animal life and the development of society. Though Roosevelt attempted to avoid domestic politics during his time abroad, he met with Gifford Pinchot, who related his own disappointment with the Taft Administration. Pinchot had been forced to resign as head of the forest service after clashing with Taft's Interior Secretary, Richard Ballinger, who had prioritized development over conservation. Roosevelt returned to the United States in June 1910.
Republican Party schism
Roosevelt had attempted to refashion Taft into a second version of himself, but as soon as Taft began to display his individuality, the former president expressed his disenchantment. He was offended on election night when Taft indicated that his success had been possible not just through the efforts of Roosevelt, but also his brother Charley. Roosevelt was further alienated when Taft, intent on becoming his own man, did not consult him about cabinet appointments. Roosevelt and other progressives were ideologically dissatisfied over Taft's conservation policies and his handling of the tariff when he concentrated more power in the hands of conservative party leaders in Congress. Regarding radicalism and liberalism, Roosevelt wrote a British friend in 1911:
Fundamentally it is the radical liberal with whom I sympathize. He is at least working toward the end for which I think we should all of us strive; and when he adds sanity in moderation to courage and enthusiasm for high ideals he develops into the kind of statesman whom alone I can wholeheartedly support."
Roosevelt urged progressives to take control of the Republican Party at the state and local level and to avoid splitting the party in a way that would hand the presidency to the Democrats in 1912. Additionally, Roosevelt expressed optimism about the Taft Administration after meeting with the president in the White House in June 1910.
In August 1910, Roosevelt gained national attention with a speech at Osawatomie, Kansas, which was the most radical of his career and marked his public break with Taft and the conservative Republicans. Advocating a program of "New Nationalism", Roosevelt emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests, a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions. Returning to New York, Roosevelt began a battle to take control of the state Republican party from William Barnes Jr., Tom Platt's successor as the state party boss, whom he would later confront in the Barnes vs. Roosevelt Libel Trial. Taft had pledged his support to Roosevelt in this endeavor, and Roosevelt was outraged when Taft's support failed to materialize at the 1910 state convention. Roosevelt nonetheless campaigned for the Republicans in the 1910 elections, in which the Democrats gained control of the House for the first time since the 1890s. Among the newly elected Democrats was New York state senator Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who argued that he represented his distant cousin's policies better than his Republican opponent.
The Republican progressives interpreted the 1910 defeats as a compelling argument for the complete reorganization of the party in 1911. Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin joined with Pinchot, William White, and California Governor Hiram Johnson to create the National Progressive Republican League; their objectives were to defeat the power of political bossism at the state level and to replace Taft at the national level. Despite skepticism of La Follette's new league, Roosevelt expressed general support for progressive principles. Between January and April 1911, Roosevelt wrote a series of articles for The Outlook, defending what he called "the great movement of our day, the progressive nationalist movement against special privilege, and in favor of an honest and efficient political and industrial democracy". With Roosevelt apparently uninterested in running in 1912, La Follette declared his own candidacy in June 1911. Roosevelt continually criticized Taft after the 1910 elections, and the break between the two men became final after the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against US Steel in September 1911; Roosevelt was humiliated by this suit because he had personally approved of an acquisition that the Justice Department was now challenging. However, Roosevelt was still unwilling to run against Taft in 1912; he instead hoped to run in 1916 against whichever Democrat beat Taft in 1912.
Dispute over arbitration treaties
Taft was a major advocate of arbitration as a major reform of the Progressive Era. In 1911 Taft and his Secretary of State Philander C. Knox negotiated major treaties with Great Britain and with France providing that differences be arbitrated. Disputes had to be submitted to the Hague Court or other tribunal. These were signed in August 1911 but had to be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. Neither Taft nor Knox consulted with members of the Senate during the negotiating process. By then many Republicans were opposed to Taft, and the president felt that lobbying too hard for the treaties might cause their defeat. He made some speeches supporting the treaties in October, but the Senate added amendments Taft could not accept, killing the agreements.
The arbitration issue opens a window on a bitter philosophical dispute among American progressives. Some, led by Taft looked to legal arbitration as the best alternative to warfare. Taft was a constitutional lawyer who later became Chief Justice; he had a deep understanding of the legal issues. Taft's political base was the conservative business community that largely supported peace movements before 1914. However, his mistake, in this case, was a failure to mobilize that base. The businessmen believed that economic rivalries were the cause of war, and that extensive trade led to an interdependent world that would make war a very expensive and useless anachronism.
However, an opposing faction of progressives, led by Roosevelt, ridiculed arbitration as foolhardy idealism, and insisted on the realism of warfare as the only solution to serious international disputes. Roosevelt worked with his close friend Senator Henry Cabot Lodge to impose those amendments that ruined the goals of the treaties. Lodge thought the treaties impinged too much on senatorial prerogatives. Roosevelt, however, was acting to sabotage Taft's campaign promises. At a deeper level, Roosevelt truly believed that arbitration was a naïve solution and the great issues had to be decided by warfare. The Rooseveltian approach incorporated a near-mystical faith of the ennobling nature of war. It endorsed jingoistic nationalism as opposed to the businessmen's calculation of profit and national interest.
Election of 1912
Republican primaries and convention
In November 1911, a group of Ohio Republicans endorsed Roosevelt for the party's nomination for president; the endorsers included James R. Garfield and Dan Hanna. This endorsement was made by leaders of President Taft's home state. Roosevelt conspicuously declined to make a statement—requested by Garfield—that he would flatly refuse a nomination. Soon thereafter, Roosevelt said, "I am really sorry for Taft... I am sure he means well, but he means well feebly, and he does not know how! He is utterly unfit for leadership and this is a time when we need leadership." In January 1912, Roosevelt declared "if the people make a draft on me I shall not decline to serve". Later that year, Roosevelt spoke before the Constitutional Convention in Ohio, openly identifying as a progressive and endorsing progressive reforms—even endorsing popular review of state judicial decisions. In reaction to Roosevelt's proposals for popular overrule of court decisions, Taft said, "Such extremists are not progressives—they are political emotionalists or neurotics".
Roosevelt began to envision himself as the savior of the Republican Party from defeat in the upcoming presidential election. In February 1912, Roosevelt announced in Boston, "I will accept the nomination for president if it is tendered to me. I hope that so far as possible the people may be given the chance through direct primaries to express who shall be the nominee. Elihu Root and Henry Cabot Lodge thought that division of the party would lead to its defeat in the next election, while Taft believed that he would be defeated either in the Republican primary or in the general election.
The 1912 primaries represented the first extensive use of the presidential primary, a reform achievement of the progressive movement. The Republican primaries in the South, where party regulars dominated, went for Taft, as did results in New York, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Roosevelt won in Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, California, Maryland and Pennsylvania; Roosevelt also won Taft's home state of Ohio. These primary elections, while demonstrating Roosevelt's continuing popularity with the electorate, were not pivotal. The final credentials of the state delegates at the national convention were determined by the national committee, which was controlled by the party leaders, headed by the incumbent president.
Prior to the 1912 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt expressed doubt about his prospects for victory, noting that Taft had more delegates and control of the credentials committee. His only hope was to convince party leaders that the nomination of Taft would hand the election to the Democrats, but party leaders were determined not to cede their leadership to Roosevelt. The credentials committee awarded almost all contested delegates to Taft, and Taft won the nomination on the first ballot. Black delegates from the South played a key role: they voted heavily for Taft and put him over the top. La Follette also helped Taft's candidacy; he hoped that a deadlocked convention would result in his own nomination, and refused to release his delegates to support Roosevelt.
The Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party
Once his defeat at the Republican convention appeared probable, Roosevelt announced that he would "accept the progressive nomination on a progressive platform and I shall fight to the end, win or lose". At the same time, Roosevelt prophetically said, "My feeling is that the Democrats will probably win if they nominate a progressive".
Roosevelt left the Republican Party and created the Progressive Party, structuring it as a permanent organization that would field complete tickets at the presidential and state level. The party included Roosevelt and key allies such as Pinchot, Cornelia Bryce Pinchot (Pinchot's wife and a longtime friend of Roosevelt's), and Albert Beveridge. The new party was popularly known as the "Bull Moose Party" after Roosevelt told reporters, "I'm as fit as a bull moose". At the 1912 Progressive National Convention, Roosevelt cried out, "We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord." California Governor Hiram Johnson was nominated as Roosevelt's running mate. Roosevelt's platform echoed his 1907–1908 proposals, calling for vigorous government intervention to protect the people from selfish interests:
Though many Progressive party supporters in the North were supporters of civil rights for blacks, Roosevelt did not give strong support to civil rights and ran a "lily-white" campaign in the South. Rival all-white and all-black delegations from four southern states arrived at the Progressive national convention, and Roosevelt decided to seat the all-white delegations. Nevertheless, he won little support outside mountain Republican strongholds. Out of nearly 1100 counties in the South, Roosevelt won two counties in Alabama, one in Arkansas, seven in North Carolina, three in Georgia, 17 in Tennessee, two in Texas, one in Virginia, and none in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, or South Carolina.
Assassination attempt
On October 14, 1912, while arriving at a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Roosevelt was shot from seven feet away in front of the Gilpatrick Hotel by a delusional saloonkeeper named John Flammang Schrank, who believed that the ghost of assassinated president William McKinley had directed him to kill Roosevelt. The bullet lodged in his chest after penetrating his steel eyeglass case and passing through a 50-page-thick single-folded copy of the speech titled "Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual", which he was carrying in his jacket. Schrank was immediately disarmed (by Czech immigrant Frank Bukovsky), captured, and might have been lynched had Roosevelt not shouted for Schrank to remain unharmed. Roosevelt assured the crowd he was all right, then ordered police to take charge of Schrank and to make sure no violence was done to him.
As an experienced hunter and anatomist, Roosevelt correctly concluded that since he was not coughing blood, the bullet had not reached his lung. He declined suggestions to go to the hospital immediately and instead delivered a 90 minute speech with blood seeping into his shirt. His opening comments to the gathered crowd were, "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose." Only after finishing his address did he accept medical attention.
Subsequent probes and an x-ray showed that the bullet had lodged in Roosevelt's chest muscle, but did not penetrate the pleura. Doctors concluded that it would be less dangerous to leave it in place than to attempt to remove it, and Roosevelt carried the bullet with him for the rest of his life. Both Taft and Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson suspended their own campaigning until Roosevelt recovered and resumed his. When asked if the shooting would affect his election campaign, he said to the reporter "I'm fit as a bull moose." The bull moose became a symbol of both Roosevelt and the Progressive Party, and it often was referred to as simply the Bull Moose Party. He spent two weeks recuperating before returning to the campaign trail. He later wrote a friend about the bullet inside him, "I do not mind it any more than if it were in my waistcoat pocket."
Farewell manifesto
On October 20, Roosevelt spoke to a crowd of 16,000 at Madison Square Garden. The speech included: "Perhaps once in a generation, there comes a chance for the people of a country to play their part wisely and fearlessly in some great battle of the age-long warfare for human rights."
Election results
After the Democrats nominated Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey, Roosevelt did not expect to win the general election, as Wilson had compiled a record attractive to many progressive Democrats who might have otherwise considered voting for Roosevelt. Roosevelt still campaigned vigorously, and the election developed into a two-person contest between Wilson and Roosevelt despite Taft's presence in the race. Roosevelt respected Wilson, but the two differed on various issues; Wilson opposed any federal intervention regarding women's suffrage or child labor (he viewed these as state issues), and attacked Roosevelt's tolerance of large businesses.
Roosevelt won 4.1 million votes (27%), compared to Taft's 3.5 million (23%). Wilson gained 6.3 million votes (42% of the total) and a massive landslide in the Electoral College, with 435 electoral votes; Roosevelt won 88 electoral votes, while Taft won 8. Pennsylvania was the only eastern state won by Roosevelt; in the Midwest, he carried Michigan, Minnesota, and South Dakota; in the West, California, and Washington. Wilson's victory represented the first Democratic presidential election victory since Cleveland's 1892 campaign, and it was the party's best performance in the Electoral College since 1852. Roosevelt, meanwhile, garnered a higher share of the popular vote than any other third-party presidential candidate in history and won the most states of any third-party candidate after the Civil War.
South American expedition (1913-1914)
A friend of Roosevelt's, Father John Augustine Zahm, persuaded Roosevelt to participate in an expedition to South America. To finance the expedition, Roosevelt received support from the American Museum of Natural History in return for promising to bring back many new animal specimens. Roosevelt's popular book, Through the Brazilian Wilderness describes his expedition into the Brazilian jungle in 1913 as a member of the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition, co-named after its leader, Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon.
Once in South America, a new, far more ambitious goal was added: to find the headwaters of the Rio da Duvida (Portuguese for "River of Doubt"), and trace it north to the Madeira and thence to the Amazon River. It was later renamed Roosevelt River in honor of the former president. Roosevelt's crew consisted of his son Kermit, Colonel Rondon, naturalist George Kruck Cherrie (sent by the American Museum of Natural History), Brazilian Lieutenant João Lira, team physician Dr. José Antonio Cajazeira, and 16 skilled paddlers and porters. Roosevelt also identified Leo Miller (another AMNH recommendation), Anthony Fiala, Frank Harper, and Jacob Sigg as crew members. The initial expedition started somewhat tenuously on December 9, 1913, at the height of the rainy season. The trip down the River of Doubt started on February 27, 1914.
During the trip down the river, Roosevelt suffered a minor leg wound after he jumped into the river to try to prevent two canoes from smashing against the rocks. The flesh wound he received, however, soon gave him tropical fever that resembled the malaria he had contracted while in Cuba fifteen years before. Because the bullet lodged in his chest from the assassination attempt in 1912 was never removed, his health worsened from the infection. This weakened Roosevelt so greatly that six weeks into the adventure, he had to be attended to day and night by the expedition's physician and his son Kermit. By then, he could not walk because of the infection in his injured leg and an infirmity in the other, which was due to a traffic accident a decade earlier. Roosevelt was riddled with chest pains, fighting a fever that soared to and at times made him delirious, at one point constantly reciting the first two lines of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan": "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure dome decree". Regarding his condition as a threat to the survival of the others, Roosevelt insisted he be left behind to allow the poorly provisioned expedition to proceed as rapidly as it could, preparing to commit suicide with an overdose of morphine. Only an appeal by his son persuaded him to continue.
Despite Roosevelt's continued decline and loss of over , Colonel Rondon reduced the pace of the expedition to allow for his commission's mapmaking and other geographical tasks, which required regular stops to fix the expedition's position by sun-based survey. Upon Roosevelt's return to New York, friends and family were startled by his physical appearance and fatigue. Roosevelt wrote, perhaps prophetically, to a friend that the trip had cut his life short by ten years. For the rest of his few remaining years, he would be plagued by flare-ups of malaria and leg inflammations so severe as to require surgery. Before Roosevelt had even completed his sea voyage home, critics raised doubts over his claims of exploring and navigating a completely uncharted river over long. When he had recovered sufficiently, he addressed a standing-room-only convention organized in Washington, D.C., by the National Geographic Society and satisfactorily defended his claims.
Final years
Roosevelt returned to the United States in May 1914. Though he was outraged by the Wilson Administration's conclusion of a treaty that expressed "sincere regret" for the way in which the United States had acquired the Panama Canal Zone, he was impressed by many of the reforms passed under Wilson. Roosevelt made several campaign appearances for the Progressives, but the 1914 elections were a disaster for the fledgling third party. Roosevelt began to envision another campaign for president, this time with himself at the head of the Republican Party, but conservative party leaders remained opposed to Roosevelt. In hopes of engineering a joint nomination, the Progressives scheduled the 1916 Progressive National Convention at the same time as the 1916 Republican National Convention. When the Republicans nominated Charles Evans Hughes, Roosevelt declined the Progressive nomination and urged his Progressive followers to support the Republican candidate. Though Roosevelt had long disliked Hughes, he disliked Wilson even more, and he campaigned energetically for the Republican nominee. However, Wilson won the 1916 election by a narrow margin. The Progressives disappeared as a party following the 1916 election, and Roosevelt and many of his followers permanently re-joined the Republican Party.
World War I
When the First World War began in 1914, Roosevelt strongly supported the Allies and demanded a harsher policy against Germany, especially regarding submarine warfare. Roosevelt angrily denounced the foreign policy of President Wilson, calling it a failure regarding the atrocities in Belgium and the violations of American rights. In 1916, while campaigning for Hughes, Roosevelt repeatedly denounced Irish-Americans and German-Americans whom he described as unpatriotic, saying they put the interests of Ireland and Germany ahead of America's by supporting neutrality. He insisted that one had to be 100% American, not a "hyphenated American" who juggled multiple loyalties. In March 1917, Congress gave Roosevelt the authority to raise a maximum of four divisions similar to the Rough Riders, and Major Frederick Russell Burnham was put in charge of both the general organization and recruitment. However, President Wilson announced to the press that he would not send Roosevelt and his volunteers to France, but instead would send an American Expeditionary Force under the command of General John J. Pershing. Roosevelt never forgave Wilson, and quickly published The Foes of Our Own Household, an indictment of the sitting president. Roosevelt's youngest son, Quentin, a pilot with the American forces in France, was killed when shot down behind German lines on July 14, 1918, at the age of 20. It is said that Quentin's death distressed Roosevelt so much that he never recovered from his loss.
League of Nations
Roosevelt was an early supporter of the modern view that there needs to be a global order. In his Nobel prize address of 1910, he said, "it would be a master stroke if those great Powers honestly bent on peace would form a League of Peace, not only to keep the peace among themselves, but to prevent, by force if necessary, its being broken by others." It would have executive power such as the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 lacked. He called for American participation.
When World War I broke out, Roosevelt proposed "a World League for the Peace of Righteousness", in September 1914, which would preserve sovereignty but limit armaments and require arbitration. He added that it should be "solemnly covenanted that if any nations refused to abide by the decisions of such a court, then others draw the sword in behalf of peace and justice." In 1915 he outlined this plan more specifically, urging that nations guarantee their entire military force, if necessary, against any nation that refused to carry out arbitration decrees or violated rights of other nations. Though Roosevelt had some concerns about the impact on United States sovereignty, he insisted that such a league would only work if the United States participated as one of the "joint guarantors". Roosevelt referred to this plan in a 1918 speech as "the most feasible for...a league of nations." By this time Wilson was strongly hostile to Roosevelt and Lodge, and developed his own plans for a rather different League of Nations. It became reality along Wilson's lines at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Roosevelt denounced Wilson's approach but died before it was adopted at Paris. However, Lodge was willing to accept it with serious reservations. In the end, on March 19, 1920, Wilson had Democratic Senators vote against the League with the Lodge Reservations and the United States never joined the League of Nations.
Final political activities
Roosevelt's attacks on Wilson helped the Republicans win control of Congress in the midterm elections of 1918. He declined a request from New York Republicans to run for another gubernatorial term, but attacked Wilson's Fourteen Points, calling instead for the unconditional surrender of Germany. Though his health was uncertain, he was seen as a leading contender for the 1920 Republican nomination, but insisted that, "If they take me, they'll have to take me without a single modification of the things that I have always stood for! He wrote William Allen White, "I wish to do everything in my power to make the Republican Party the Party of sane, constructive radicalism, just as it was under Lincoln." Accordingly, he told the 1918 state convention of the Maine Republican Party that he stood for old-age pensions, insurance for sickness and unemployment, construction of public housing for low-income families, the reduction of working hours, aid to farmers, and more regulation of large corporations.
While his political profile remained high, Roosevelt's physical condition continued to deteriorate throughout 1918 due to the long-term effects of jungle diseases. He was hospitalized for seven weeks late in the year and never fully recovered.
Death
On the night of January 5, 1919, Roosevelt suffered breathing problems. After receiving treatment from his physician, Dr. George W. Faller, he felt better and went to bed. Roosevelt's last words were "Please put out that light, James" to his family servant James E. Amos. Between 4:00 and 4:15 the next morning, Roosevelt, at the age of 60, died in his sleep at Sagamore Hill after a blood clot detached from a vein and traveled to his lungs.
Upon receiving word of his death, his son Archibald telegraphed his siblings: "The old lion is dead." Woodrow Wilson's vice president, Thomas R. Marshall, said that "Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight." Following a private farewell service in the North Room at Sagamore Hill, a simple funeral was held at Christ Episcopal Church in Oyster Bay. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, Charles Evans Hughes, Warren G. Harding, Henry Cabot Lodge, and William Howard Taft were among the mourners. The snow-covered procession route to Youngs Memorial Cemetery was lined with spectators and a squad of mounted policemen who had ridden from New York City. Roosevelt was buried on a hillside overlooking Oyster Bay.
Writer
Roosevelt was a prolific author, writing with passion on subjects ranging from foreign policy to the importance of the national park system. Roosevelt was also an avid reader of poetry. Poet Robert Frost said that Roosevelt "was our kind. He quoted poetry to me. He knew poetry."
As an editor of Outlook magazine, Roosevelt had weekly access to a large, educated national audience. In all, Roosevelt wrote about 18 books (each in several editions), including his autobiography, The Rough Riders, History of the Naval War of 1812, and others on subjects such as ranching, explorations, and wildlife. His most ambitious book was the four volume narrative The Winning of the West, focused on the American frontier in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Roosevelt said that the American character—indeed a new "American race" (ethnic group) had emerged from the heroic wilderness hunters and Indian fighters, acting on the frontier with little government help. Roosevelt also published an account of his 1909–10 African expedition entitled African Game Trails.
In 1907, Roosevelt became embroiled in a widely publicized literary debate known as the nature fakers controversy. A few years earlier, naturalist John Burroughs had published an article entitled "Real and Sham Natural History" in the Atlantic Monthly, attacking popular writers of the day such as Ernest Thompson Seton, Charles G. D. Roberts, and William J. Long for their fantastical representations of wildlife. Roosevelt agreed with Burroughs's criticisms, and published several essays of his own denouncing the booming genre of "naturalistic" animal stories as "yellow journalism of the woods". It was the President himself who popularized the negative term "nature faker" to describe writers who depicted their animal characters with excessive anthropomorphism.
Character and beliefs
Roosevelt intensely disliked being called "Teddy", despite the widespread public association with said moniker, and was quick to point out this to those who referred to him as such, though it would become widely used by newspapers during his political career.
He was an active Freemason and member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
British scholar Marcus Cunliffe evaluates the liberal argument that Roosevelt was an opportunist, exhibitionist, and imperialist. Cunliffe praises TR's versatility, his respect for law, and his sincerity. He argues that Roosevelt's foreign policy was better than his detractors allege. Cunliffe calls him "a big man in several respects," ranking him below Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson, and on the same level as Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Strenuous life
Roosevelt had a lifelong interest in pursuing what he called, in an 1899 speech, "The Strenuous Life". To this end, he exercised regularly and took up boxing, tennis, hiking, rowing, polo, and horseback riding. He also continued his habit of skinny-dipping in the Potomac River during the winter. As governor of New York, he boxed with sparring partners several times each week, a practice he regularly continued as president until being hit so hard in the face he became blind in his left eye (a fact not made public until many years later). As president, he practiced judo for two 2-month periods in 1902 and 1904, not attaining any rank. Roosevelt began to believe in the utility of jiu-jitsu training after training with Yoshitsugu Yamashita. Concerned that the United States would lose its military supremacy to rising powers like Japan, Roosevelt began to advocate for jiu-jitsu training for American soldiers. Feminists annoyed by the posturing of men like Roosevelt, insisted that women were just as capable of learning jiu-jitsu. To prove their point, Martha Blow Wadsworth and Maria Louise ("Hallie") Davis Elkins hired Fude Yamashita, a highly skilled jiu-jitsu instructor and the wife of Yoshitsugu Yamashita, to teach a jiu-jitsu class for women and girls in Washington, DC in 1904. Women had already begun training in boxing in the United States as a means of personal and political empowerment. Jiu-jitsu training thus soon also became popular with American women, coinciding with the origins of a women's self-defense movement.
Roosevelt was an enthusiastic singlestick player and, according to Harper's Weekly, showed up at a White House reception with his arm bandaged after a bout with General Leonard Wood in 1905. Roosevelt was an avid reader, reading tens of thousands of books, at a rate of several per day in multiple languages. Along with Thomas Jefferson, Roosevelt was the most well-read of all American presidents.
Warrior
Historians have often emphasized Roosevelt's warrior persona. He took aggressive positions regarding war with Spain in 1898, Colombia in 1903, and especially with Germany, from 1915 to 1917. As a demonstration of American naval might, he sent the "Great White Fleet" around the world in 1907–1909. The implicit threat of the "big stick" of military power provided leverage to "speak softly" and quietly resolve conflict in numerous cases. He boasted in his autobiography:
Richard D. White Jr states, "Roosevelt's warrior spirit framed his views of national politics, [and] international relations."
Historian Howard K. Beale has argued:
Religion
Roosevelt attended church regularly and was a lifelong adherent of the Reformed Church in America, an American affiliate of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1907, concerning the motto "In God We Trust" on money, he wrote, "It seems to me eminently unwise to cheapen such a motto by use on coins, just as it would be to cheapen it by use on postage stamps, or in advertisements." Roosevelt talked a great deal about religion. Biographer Edmund Morris states:
Roosevelt publicly encouraged church attendance and was a conscientious churchgoer himself. When gas rationing was introduced during the First World War, he walked the three miles from his home at Sagamore Hill to the local church and back, even after a serious operation had made it difficult for him to travel by foot. It was said that Roosevelt "allowed no engagement to keep him from going to church," and he remained a fervent advocate of the Bible throughout his adult life. According to Christian F. Reisner, writing in 1922 shortly after Roosevelt's death, "Religion was as natural to Mr. Roosevelt as breathing," and when the travel library for Roosevelt's famous Smithsonian-sponsored African expedition was being assembled, the Bible was, according to his sister, "the first book selected." In an address delivered in his home at Oyster Bay to the Long Island Bible Society in 1901, Roosevelt declared that:
Political positions
When he assumed the presidency, Roosevelt reassured many conservatives, stating, "the mechanism of modern business is so delicate that extreme care must be taken not to interfere with it in a spirit of rashness or ignorance." The following year, Roosevelt asserted the president's independence from business interests by opposing the merger which created the Northern Securities Company, and many were surprised that any president, much less an unelected one, would challenge powerful banker J.P. Morgan. In his last two years as president, Roosevelt became increasingly distrustful of big business, despite its close ties to the Republican Party. Roosevelt sought to replace the 19th-century laissez-faire economic environment with a new economic model which included a larger regulatory role for the federal government. He believed that 19th-century entrepreneurs had risked their fortunes on innovations and new businesses, and that these capitalists had been rightly rewarded. By contrast, he believed that 20th-century capitalists risked little but nonetheless reaped huge and, given the lack of risk, unjust, economic rewards. Without a redistribution of wealth away from the upper class, Roosevelt feared that the country would turn to radicals or fall to revolution. His Square Deal domestic program had three main goals: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. The Square Deal evolved into his program of "New Nationalism", which emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests and a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions.
Foreign policy beliefs
In the analysis by Henry Kissinger, Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to develop the guideline that it was America's duty to make its enormous power and potential influence felt globally. The idea of being a passive "city on the hill" model that others could look up to, he rejected. Roosevelt, trained in biology, was a social darwinist who believed in survival of the fittest. The international world in his view was a realm of violence and conflict. The United States had all the economic and geographical potential to be the fittest nation on the globe. The United States had a duty to act decisively. For example, in terms of the Monroe Doctrine, America had to prevent European incursions in the Western Hemisphere. But there was more, as he expressed in his famous Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: the U.S. had to be the policeman of the region because unruly, corrupt smaller nations had to be controlled, and if United States did not do it, European powers would in fact intervene and develop their own base of power in the hemisphere in contravention to the Monroe Doctrine.
Roosevelt was a realist and a conservative. He deplored many of the increasingly popular idealistic liberal themes, such as were promoted by William Jennings Bryan, the anti-imperialists, and Woodrow Wilson. Kissinger says he rejected the efficacy of international law. Roosevelt argue that if a country could not protect its own interests, the international community could not help very much. He ridiculed disarmament proposals that were increasingly common. He saw no likelihood of an international power capable of checking wrongdoing on a major scale. As for world government: I regard the Wilson–Bryan attitude of trusting to fantastic peace treaties, too impossible promises, to all kinds of scraps of paper without any backing in efficient force, as abhorrent. It is infinitely better for a nation and for the world to have the Frederick the Great and Bismarck tradition as regards foreign policy than to have the Bryan or Bryan–Wilson attitude as a permanent national attitude.... A milk-and-water righteousness unbacked by force is...as wicked as and even more mischievous than force divorced from righteousness.
On the positive side, Roosevelt favored spheres of influence, whereby one great power would generally prevail, such as the United States in the Western Hemisphere or Great Britain in the Indian subcontinent. Japan fit that role and he approved. However he had deep distrust of both Germany and Russia.
Legacy
Historians credit Roosevelt for changing the nation's political system by permanently placing the "bully pulpit" of the presidency at center stage and making character as important as the issues. His accomplishments include trust busting and conservationism. He is a hero to liberals and progressives for his proposals in 1907–1912 that presaged the modern welfare state of the New Deal Era, including direct federal taxation, labor reforms, and more direct democracy, while conservationists admire Roosevelt for putting the environment and selflessness towards future generations on the national agenda, and conservatives and nationalists respect his commitment to law and order, civic duty and military values, as well as his personality of individual self-responsibility and hardiness. Dalton says, "Today he is heralded as the architect of the modern presidency, as a world leader who boldly reshaped the office to meet the needs of the new century and redefined America's place in the world."
However, liberals and socialists have criticized him for his interventionist and imperialist approach to nations he considered "uncivilized". Conservatives and libertarians reject his vision of the welfare state and emphasis on the superiority of government over private action. Historians typically rank Roosevelt among the top five presidents in American history.
Persona and masculinity
Dalton says Roosevelt is remembered as, "one of the most picturesque personalities who has ever enlivened the landscape". His friend, historian Henry Adams, proclaimed: "Roosevelt, more than any other man... showed the singular primitive quality that belongs to ultimate matter—the quality that medieval theology assigned to God—he was pure act."
Roosevelt's biographers have stressed his personality. Henry F. Pringle, who won the Pulitzer Prize in biography for his Theodore Roosevelt (1931) stated: "The Theodore Roosevelt of later years was the most adolescent of men… Failure to receive the Medal of Honor for his exploits [in Cuba] had been a grief as real as any of those which swamp childhood in despair. 'You must always remember,' wrote Cecil Spring Rice in 1904, 'that the President is about six.'"
Cooper compared him with Woodrow Wilson and argued that both of them played the roles of warrior and priest. Dalton stressed Roosevelt's strenuous life. Sarah Watts examined the desires of the "Rough Rider in the White House". Brands calls Roosevelt "the last romantic", arguing that his romantic concept of life emerged from his belief that "physical bravery was the highest virtue and war the ultimate test of bravery".
Roosevelt as the exemplar of American masculinity has become a major theme. As president, he repeatedly warned men that they were becoming too office-bound, too complacent, too comfortable with physical ease and moral laxity, and were failing in their duties to propagate the race and exhibit masculine vigor. French historian Serge Ricard says, "the ebullient apostle of the Strenuous Life offers ideal material for a detailed psycho-historical analysis of aggressive manhood in the changing socio-cultural environment of his era; McKinley, Taft, or Wilson would perhaps inadequately serve that purpose". He promoted competitive sports like boxing and jiu-jitsu for physically strengthening American men. He also believed that organizations like the Boy Scouts of America, founded in 1910, could help mold and strengthen the character of American boys. Brands shows that heroic displays of bravery were essential to Roosevelt's image and mission:
Memorials and cultural depictions
Roosevelt was included with Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln at the Mount Rushmore Memorial, designed in 1927 with the approval of Republican President Calvin Coolidge.
For his gallantry at San Juan Hill, Roosevelt's commanders recommended him for the Medal of Honor. However, the initial recommendation lacked any eyewitnesses, and the effort was eventually tainted by Roosevelt's own lobbying of the War Department. In the late 1990s, Roosevelt's supporters again recommended the award, which was denied by the Secretary of the Army on basis that the decorations board determined "Roosevelt's bravery in battle did not rise to the level that would justify the Medal of Honor and, indeed, it did not rise to the level of men who fought in that engagement." Nevertheless, politicians apparently convinced the secretary to reconsider the award a third time and reverse himself, leading to the charge that it was a "politically motivated award." On January 16, 2001, President Bill Clinton awarded Theodore Roosevelt the Medal of Honor posthumously for his charge on San Juan Hill. He is the only president to have received the Medal of Honor.
The United States Navy named two ships for Roosevelt: the , a submarine that was in commission from 1961 to 1982, and the , an aircraft carrier that has been on active duty in the Atlantic Fleet since 1986.
On November 18, 1956, the United States Postal Service released a 6¢ Liberty Issue postage stamp honoring Roosevelt. A 32¢ stamp was issued on February 3, 1998, as part of the Celebrate the Century stamp sheet series. In 2008, Columbia Law School awarded Roosevelt a Juris Doctor degree, posthumously making him a member of the class of 1882.
Roosevelt's "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick" ideology is still quoted by politicians and columnists in different countries—not only in English, but also in translations to various other languages. Another lasting, popular legacy of Roosevelt is the stuffed toy bears—teddy bears—named after him following an incident on a hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902. Roosevelt has been portrayed in films and television series such as Brighty of the Grand Canyon, The Wind and the Lion, Rough Riders, My Friend Flicka, and Law of the Plainsman. Robin Williams portrayed Roosevelt in the form of a wax mannequin that comes to life in Night at the Museum and its sequels Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. In 2017, it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio will portray Roosevelt in a biopic to be directed by Martin Scorsese.
Moreover, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the state of North Dakota is named after him. The America the Beautiful Quarters series features Roosevelt riding a horse on the national park's quarter.
Asteroid 188693 Roosevelt, discovered by astronomers with the Catalina Sky Survey in 2005, was named after him. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on November 8, 2019 ().
In January 2022, after years of lobbying by activists, an equestrian statue of the former president was removed from where it had stood for more than eighty years in front of New York's American Museum of Natural History. Responding to controversy, the museum noted that the design "communicates a racial hierarchy that the museum and members of the public have long found disturbing."
Audiovisual media
Theodore Roosevelt was one of the first presidents whose voice was recorded for posterity. Several of his recorded speeches survive. A 4.6-minute voice recording, which preserves Roosevelt's lower timbre ranges particularly well for its time, is among those available from the Michigan State University libraries (this is the 1912 recording of The Right of the People to Rule, recorded by Edison at Carnegie Hall). The audio clip sponsored by the Authentic History Center includes his defense of the Progressive Party in 1912, wherein he proclaims it the "party of the people" – in contrast with the other major parties.
Roosevelt goes for a ride in Arch Hoxsey's plane in October 1910
In popular culture
Theodore Roosevelt appears as the leader of the American civilization in the Firaxis Games title Civilization VI. His unique ability is Roosevelt Corollary, which gives +5 Combat Strength for all units inside America's home continent, and +1 Appeal to all tiles in cities with a national park.
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
Full biographies
.
.
.
, 105 pp, very short biography by leading scholar.
.; also titled Power and responsibility; the life and times of Theodore Roosevelt online free to borrow
.
.
.
, only volume published, to age 28.
.
.
Personality and activities
.
.
Provides a lesson plan on TR as the historical figure who most exemplifies the quality of masculinity.
. Chronicles the events of TR's presidency during the summers of his two terms.
. The president's use of publicity, rhetoric and force of personality.
; his deadly 1913–14 trip to the Amazon.
, best seller; to 1886.
, to 1884.
. 494 pp.
, examines TR and his family during the World War I period.
.
, 240 pp. TR in Africa & Europe, 1909–10
. 289 pp.
, 337 pp; TR's political thought and its significance for republican self-government.
Domestic policies
online review; another online review
Cutright, P.R. (1985) Theodore Roosevelt: The making of a Modern Conservationist (U of Illinois Press.)
.
, standard history of his domestic and foreign policy as president.
Bakari, Mohamed El-Kamel. "Mapping the 'Anthropocentric-ecocentric'Dualism in the History of American Presidency: The Good, the Bad, and the Ambivalent." Journal of Studies in Social Sciences 14, no. 2 (2016).
.
.
Redekop, Benjamin. (2015). "Embodying the Story: The Conservation Leadership of Theodore Roosevelt". Leadership (2015) DOI:10.1177/1742715014546875 online
.
.
Politics
. How TR did politics.
, 323 pp.
.
.
.
.
. 361 pp.
.
. Focus on 1912; online free
. online free
. Attacks TR policies from conservative/libertarian perspective.
Foreign policy, military and naval issues
. online
. excerpt
.
. 328 pp.
Kuehn, John T. "Theodore Roosevelt’s Naval Diplomacy: The U.S. Navy and the Birth of the American Century," Naval War College Review (2010) 53#3 online
Livermore, Seward W. "Theodore Roosevelt, the American Navy, and the Venezuelan Crisis of 1902-1903." American Historical Review 51.3 (1946): 452–471. online
.
.
Nester, William R. Theodore Roosevelt and the Art of American Power: An American for All Time. Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. excerpt
Neu, Charles E. "Theodore Roosevelt and American Involvement in the Far East, 1901-1909." Pacific Historical Review 35.4 (1966): 433–449. online
O'Gara, Gordon Carpenter. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of the Modern Navy. (Princeton UP, 1943). online
.
Oyos, Matthew M. In Command: Theodore Roosevelt and the American Military (2018) online review
Pietrusza, David (2018). TR's Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy
.
.
.
.
Thompson, John M. Great Power Rising: Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of US Foreign Policy (Oxford UP, 2019).
. 196 pp.
Turk, Richard W. The Ambiguous Relationship: Theodore Roosevelt and Alfred Thayer Mahan (1987) [https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/93/5/1413/70734 online review
Historiography
Cunliffe, Marcus. "Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States 1901–1908" History Today (Sept 1955) 4#9 pp. 592–601, online.
Ricard, Serge. "The State of Theodore Roosevelt Studies" H-Diplo Essay No. 116 24 October 2014 online
, excerpt and text search, 28 new essays by scholars; focus on historiography. online
Primary sources
Kohn, Edward P., ed. A Most Glorious Ride: The Diaries of Theodore Roosevelt, 1877–1886 (State University of New York Press, 2015), 284 pp.
; vol 2
.
, 20 vol.; 18,000 pages containing most of TR's speeches, books and essays, but not his letters; a CD-ROM edition is available; some of TR's books are available online through Project Bartleby
, Roosevelt's opinions on many issues; online version at Theodore Roosevelt.
, 8 vols. Very large collection. vol 1 1868–1898 online free
. online free
.
.
online free to borrow
.
.
.
External links
Official
White House biography
Organizations
Boone and Crockett Club
Theodore Roosevelt Association
Libraries and collections
Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University
Theodore Roosevelt Collection, at the Houghton Library, Harvard University
Julian L. Street Papers on Theodore Roosevelt, at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
Doris A. and Lawrence H. Budner Collection on Theodore Roosevelt at the DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University
Theodore Roosevelt's journalism at The Archive of American Journalism
Theodore Roosevelt American Museum of Natural History
Roosevelt Papers, at the Library of Congress
Guide to the Herbert R. Strauss Collection of Theodore Roosevelt Papers 1884–1919 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
Media
"Life Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, September 3, 1999
"Writings of Theodore Roosevelt" from C-SPAN's American Writers: A Journey Through History
Other
Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt: A Resource Guide – Library of Congress
1858 births
1919 deaths
1900s in the United States
Theodore
19th-century American politicians
19th-century American historians
19th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century presidents of the United States
20th-century vice presidents of the United States
American autobiographers
American conservationists
American essayists
American explorers
American fishers
American hunters
American male judoka
American male non-fiction writers
American military personnel of the Spanish–American War
American naval historians
American Nobel laureates
American political writers
American shooting survivors
Articles containing video clips
American bibliophiles
American people of Dutch descent
Bulloch family
Burials in New York (state)
Columbia Law School alumni
Deaths from pulmonary embolism
New York City Police Commissioners
English-language spelling reform advocates
Explorers of Amazonia
American Freemasons
Governors of New York (state)
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Harvard College alumni
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Members of the New York State Assembly
Military personnel from New York City
New York (state) Progressives (1912)
New York (state) Republicans
Nobel Peace Prize laureates
People associated with the American Museum of Natural History
People from Oyster Bay (town), New York
Politicians from New York City
Presidents of the American Historical Association
Presidents of the United States
Progressive Era in the United States
Ranchers from North Dakota
Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees
Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees
Republican Party presidents of the United States
Republican Party state governors of the United States
Republican Party vice presidents of the United States
Rough Riders
Schuyler family
Sons of the American Revolution
Spanish–American War recipients of the Medal of Honor
United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
United States Army officers
United States Assistant Secretaries of the Navy
Candidates in the 1904 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1912 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1916 United States presidential election
1900 United States vice-presidential candidates
Vice presidents of the United States
Writers from New York (state)
Harvard Advocate alumni
American diarists
American political party founders
Aphorists
American nationalists
20th-century American male writers | true | [
"One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads is a children's book written by Johnny Valentine and Melody Sarecky. The intended audience is elementary school children, and it discusses all kinds of different fathers, including having two dads.\n\nIts title is a play on the title of an older Dr. Seuss children's book, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish.\n\nThe storybook is intended to inform young children that it is okay to have different types of parents, and refutes the \"one size fits all model.\" With both positive and negative reviews, One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads created a conflict of opinions. In fact, there was a large controversy in Canada surrounding the banning of the children's book. The picture book was one of the three books at the center of the 1997 Surrey book-banning controversy, alongside Lesléa Newman's Belinda's Bouquet and Rosamund Elwin and Michele Paulse's Asha's Mums.\n\nBackground \nOne Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads was written in July 1994. Sasha Alyson is the author of this novel, but he goes by the pen name of Johnny Valentine. The storybook was published during the middle of Alyson's writing career. Alyson wrote books before and after the publication of One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads.\n\nSummary \nThe story begins with the protagonist, an unnamed elementary school girl, exclaiming, \"I don't know who has dads that are blue!\" From there, another character named \"Lou\" is introduced. Lou has two \"blue\" dads, and proceeds to describe how \"blue\" they are. The plot then goes back and forth between the protagonist and Lou, with the protagonist asking all sorts of questions about Lou's dads. After all of the questions are asked by the protagonist, Lou explains his dads are \"blue\", and \"they're just like all other dads---- black, white, or green.\" It is at this point that the protagonist realizes that even though Lou's dads are \"blue\", they can still do all of the things that a typical dad would do. At the end of the book, another character is brought in, named Jean. Jean invites the protagonist and Lou to come see her dad, who is green.\n\nGenre \nOne Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads is a fictional children's book aimed at elementary school children. The storybook combines illustrations with short text, \"S. Alyson has written several children's books under the pen name Johnny Valentine, of which this book is one.\" Alyson's children's book has been discussed when talking about LGTBQ content.\n\nAnalysis \nMany educators and scholars aim to use this book and books like it for the purpose of informing young children about \"homophobia, sexuality, and gender roles\". One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads has been subjected to scholarly interpretation. For example, Nathalie op de Beeck, an assistant professor from Illinois State University, claims that gay and lesbian picture books are becoming more inclusive through the scope of their titles. Interpretations like Beeck's have brought LGBTQ literature into the spotlight more than ever before.\n\nReception\n\nBook Reviews \nAccording to Book Links, One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads is a warming story that uses rhymes and goofiness to expose prejudice. On the contrary, Louise L. Sherman of the Anna C. Scott School, claims that young children would take the book at \"face value\", seeing only the silly aspect of the book, whereas older kids would be better off with a more clear-cut explanation of the material. This review points out the potential issues that One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads presents to differently aged children.\n\nControversy \nThe picture book was met with challenges primarily for its inclusion of homosexual parents. One such example was when One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads, Asha's Mums, and Belinda's Bouquet were brought into question in the Canadian school system. James Chamberlain, a gay teacher within the Surrey School District, fought to have these three books approved by the school district. Chamberlain and four fellow litigants spent $400,000 of their own money to challenge the banning of the book. When brought forward to the Supreme Court of Canada, the following was stated: \"No age is too tender for children to learn the value of tolerance.\" The resulting challenge has allowed free access to the book, as the morals teach tolerance, regardless of how different one is from another.\n\nReferences\n\nChildren's books with LGBT themes\n1994 children's books\nLGBT-related controversies in literature",
"Leo Kosov-Meyer is a fictional television character portrayed by Nikolai Nikolaeff on the popular Australian television drama Sea Patrol.\n\nLeo, better known as \"2 Dads,” is the crew's Electronics Technician, replacing the late Leading Seaman Josh Holiday (\"E.T\").\nHe made his debut onscreen appearance in Episode 2, Series 3, titled \"Monkey Business.”\n\n2 Dads’ time aboard the Hammersley starts off on the wrong foot. He buys a monkey and secretly stows it away on board the ship. He makes fast friends with Spider, and gets himself into much mischief, including a run-in into Buffer, over Nav's difficulties. Later in the episode, he releases the monkey, only to find the salesman whom he purchased the monkey from, but short-changed during payment. 2 Dads pulls off a daring rescue, earning the respect of the Navy personnel on Hammersley, except for Nav.\n\nLater, in the episode “Pearls Before Swine,” 2 Dads is berated by Buffer and XO. This causes him to start a rumor that they are romantically involved. The rumor spreads throughout the ship, until it reaches the ears of the CO, who once had a relationship with the XO. CO finally traces the rumor's back to 2 Dads, and warns him that if he makes mischief again, not only will he leave Hammersley, his position in the Navy will be terminated. Buffer and XO are given the pleasure of charging him however they please. But when 2 Dads tells the two of his current position, XO takes pity on him and gives him the task of recovering the stolen pearls, believed to have been ingested by a party-goer they came across tracking some pearl thieves. 2 Dads laces their food with the ship's \"industrial-strength\" medical laxative with success, although details about the rest of the recovery remain undiscovered.\n\n2 Dads has a laid-back and careless attitude - he's a joker, player, a monkey smuggler and all-round bad boy and Nav finds it hard to welcome him, as he is the replacement for the late ET, who was Nav's fiancé. Nav describes him as \"up-himself and unprofessional.\" However, the crew do welcome him and he fast becomes 'one of them', proving himself Navy-worthy.\n\nDespite this, in the series finale, it is revealed that he will eventually desert from the Navy when in port in Singapore.\n\nAwards\n\nAustralian Defence Medal\n\nSea Patrol characters\nFictional Royal Australian Navy personnel"
]
|
[
"Theodore Roosevelt",
"Early life and family",
"Where did he grow up?",
"at East 20th Street in New York City.",
"did he have siblings?",
"He was the second of four children born",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death,",
"Did he marrry?",
"I don't know.",
"Does he have kids?",
"I don't know.",
"Did his father approve of hi studies?",
"Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him.",
"In which ways?",
"He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness.",
"Who was his father?",
"businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr.",
"Did he follow his dads footsteps?",
"Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father."
]
| C_39da91c6b83e45c9a3447a0282510521_1 | Who was his mother? | 10 | Who was Theodore Roosevelt's mother? | Theodore Roosevelt | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at East 20th Street in New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister, Anna (nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother, Elliott, and a younger sister, Corinne. Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh, and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C.V.S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family. Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for display. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects". Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body. CANNOTANSWER | socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or his initials T. R., was an American politician, statesman, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He previously served as the 25th vice president under William McKinley from March to September 1901, and as the 33rd governor of New York from 1899 to 1900. Having assumed the presidency after McKinley's assassination, Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive policies.
Roosevelt was a sickly child with debilitating asthma but partly overcame his health problems by embracing a strenuous lifestyle. He integrated his exuberant personality, a vast range of interests and achievements into a "cowboy" persona defined by robust masculinity. He was home-schooled and began a lifelong naturalist avocation before attending Harvard. His book The Naval War of 1812 (1882) established his reputation as a learned historian and popular writer. Upon entering politics, he became the leader of the reform faction of Republicans in New York's state legislature. His wife and mother both died in the same night and he was psychologically devastated. He recuperated by buying and operating a cattle ranch in the Dakotas. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President William McKinley and in 1898 helped plan the highly successful naval war against Spain. He resigned to help form and lead the Rough Riders, a unit that fought the Spanish army in Cuba to great publicity. Returning a war hero, he was elected governor of New York in 1898. The New York state party leadership disliked his ambitious agenda and convinced McKinley to make Roosevelt his running mate in the 1900 election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously, and the McKinley–Roosevelt ticket won a landslide victory based on a platform of victory, peace and prosperity.
Roosevelt assumed the presidency at age 42 after McKinley was assassinated in September 1901. He remains the youngest person to become president of the United States. Roosevelt was a leader of the progressive movement and championed his "Square Deal" domestic policies, promising the average citizen fairness, breaking of trusts, regulation of railroads, and pure food and drugs. He prioritized conservation and established national parks, forests, and monuments intended to preserve the nation's natural resources. In foreign policy, he focused on Central America where he began construction of the Panama Canal. He expanded the Navy and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project American naval power. His successful efforts to broker the end of the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize. Roosevelt was elected to a full term in 1904 and continued to promote progressive policies. He groomed his close friend William Howard Taft to succeed him in the 1908 presidential election.
Roosevelt grew frustrated with Taft's brand of conservatism and belatedly tried to win the 1912 Republican nomination for president. He failed, walked out, and founded the Progressive Party. He ran in the 1912 presidential election and the split allowed the Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson to win the election. Following the defeat, Roosevelt led a two-year expedition to the Amazon basin where he nearly died of tropical disease. During World War I, he criticized Wilson for keeping the country out of the war; his offer to lead volunteers to France was rejected. He considered running for president again in 1920, but his health continued to deteriorate. He died in 1919. He is generally ranked in polls of historians and political scientists as one of the five best presidents.
Early life and family
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan, New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister (Anna, nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother (Elliott) and a younger sister (Corinne). Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C. V. S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill as well as a brother of Robert Roosevelt and James A. Roosevelt. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family.
Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for exhibition. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects".
Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body.
A 6-year-old Roosevelt witnessed the funeral procession of Abraham Lincoln from his grandfather's mansion in Union Square, New York City where he was photographed in the window along with his brother Elliott, as confirmed by wife Edith who was also present.
Education
Roosevelt was homeschooled, mostly by tutors and his parents. Biographer H. W. Brands argued that "The most obvious drawback to his home schooling was uneven coverage of the various areas of human knowledge." He was solid in geography and bright in history, biology, French, and German; however, he struggled in mathematics and the classical languages. When he entered Harvard College on September 27, 1876, his father advised: "Take care of your morals first, your health next, and finally your studies." His father's sudden death on February 9, 1878, devastated Roosevelt, but he eventually recovered and doubled his activities.
He did well in science, philosophy, and rhetoric courses but continued to struggle in Latin and Greek. He studied biology intently and was already an accomplished naturalist and a published ornithologist. He read prodigiously with an almost photographic memory. While at Harvard, Roosevelt participated in rowing and boxing; he was once runner-up in an intramural boxing tournament. Roosevelt was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi literary society (later the Fly Club), the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and the prestigious Porcellian Club; he was also an editor of The Harvard Advocate. In 1880, Roosevelt graduated Phi Beta Kappa (22nd of 177) from Harvard with an A.B. magna cum laude. Biographer Henry Pringle states:
After his father's death, Roosevelt had inherited $65,000 (), enough to live off comfortably for the rest of his life. Roosevelt gave up his earlier plan of studying natural science and instead decided to attend Columbia Law School, moving back into his family's home in New York City. Roosevelt was an able law student, but he often found law to be irrational. He spent much of his time writing a book on the War of 1812.
Determined to enter politics, Roosevelt began attending meetings at Morton Hall, the 59th Street headquarters of New York's 21st District Republican Association. Though Roosevelt's father had been a prominent member of the Republican Party, the younger Roosevelt made an unorthodox career choice for someone of his class, as most of Roosevelt's peers refrained from becoming too closely involved in politics. Roosevelt found allies in the local Republican Party, and he defeated an incumbent Republican state assemblyman closely tied to the political machine of Senator Roscoe Conkling. After his election victory, Roosevelt decided to drop out of law school, later saying, "I intended to be one of the governing class."
Naval history and strategy
While at Harvard, Roosevelt began a systematic study of the role played by the young United States Navy in the War of 1812. Assisted by two uncles, he scrutinized original source materials and official U.S. Navy records, ultimately publishing The Naval War of 1812 in 1882. The book contained drawings of individual and combined ship maneuvers, charts depicting the differences in iron throw weights of cannon shot between rival forces, and analyses of the differences and similarities between British and American leadership down to the ship-to-ship level. Upon release, The Naval War of 1812 was praised for its scholarship and style, and it remains a standard study of the war.
With the publication of The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 in 1890, Navy Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan was immediately hailed as the world's outstanding naval theorist by the leaders of Europe. Roosevelt paid very close attention to Mahan's emphasis that only a nation with the world's most powerful fleet could dominate the world's oceans, exert its diplomacy to the fullest, and defend its own borders. He incorporated Mahan's ideas into his views on naval strategy for the remainder of his career.
First marriage and widowerhood
In 1880, Roosevelt married socialite Alice Hathaway Lee. Their daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt, was born on February 12, 1884. Two days later, the new mother died of an undiagnosed case of kidney failure that had been masked by the pregnancy. In his diary, Roosevelt wrote a large 'X' on the page and then, "The light has gone out of my life." His mother, Mittie, had died of typhoid fever eleven hours earlier at 3:00 a.m., in the same house on 57th Street in Manhattan. Distraught, Roosevelt left baby Alice in the care of his sister Bamie while he grieved; he assumed custody of Alice when she was three.
After the deaths of his wife and mother, Roosevelt focused on his work, specifically by re-energizing a legislative investigation into corruption of the New York City government, which arose from a concurrent bill proposing that power be centralized in the mayor's office. For the rest of his life, he rarely spoke about his wife Alice and did not write about her in his autobiography.
Early political career
State Assemblyman
Roosevelt was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 21st D.) in 1882, 1883 and 1884. He immediately began making his mark, specifically in corporate corruption issues. He blocked a corrupt effort by financier Jay Gould to lower his taxes. Roosevelt exposed suspected collusion in the matter by Judge Theodore Westbrook, and argued for and received approval for an investigation to proceed, aiming for the impeachment of the judge. The investigation committee rejected impeachment, but Roosevelt had exposed the potential corruption in Albany, and thus assumed a high and positive political profile in multiple New York publications.
Roosevelt's anti-corruption efforts helped him win re-election in 1882 by a margin greater than two-to-one, an achievement made even more impressive by the fact that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Grover Cleveland won Roosevelt's district. With Conkling's Stalwart faction of the Republican Party in disarray following the assassination of President James Garfield, Roosevelt won election as the Republican party leader in the state assembly. He allied with Governor Cleveland to win passage of a civil service reform bill. Roosevelt won re-election a second time, and sought the office of Speaker of the New York State Assembly, but was defeated by Titus Sheard in a 41 to 29 vote of the GOP caucus. In his final term, Roosevelt served as Chairman of the Committee on Affairs of Cities; he wrote more bills than any other legislator.
Presidential election of 1884
With numerous presidential hopefuls to choose from, Roosevelt supported Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont, a colorless reformer. The state GOP preferred the incumbent president, New York City's Chester Arthur, who was known for passing the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. Arthur, at the time, was suffering from Bright's disease, unknown to the public, and out of duty he did not contest his own nomination. Roosevelt fought hard and succeeded in influencing the Manhattan delegates at the state convention in Utica. He then took control of the state convention, bargaining through the night and outmaneuvering the supporters of Arthur and James G. Blaine; he gained a national reputation as a key person in New York State.
Roosevelt attended the 1884 GOP National Convention in Chicago and gave a speech convincing delegates to nominate African American John R. Lynch, an Edmunds supporter, to be temporary chair. Roosevelt fought alongside the Mugwump reformers; however, Blaine, having gained support from Arthur's and Edmunds's delegates, won the nomination by 541 votes on the fourth ballot. In a crucial moment of his budding political career, Roosevelt resisted the demand of the Mugwumps that he bolt from Blaine. He bragged about his one small success: "We achieved a victory in getting up a combination to beat the Blaine nominee for temporary chairman... To do this needed a mixture of skill, boldness and energy... to get the different factions to come in... to defeat the common foe." He was also impressed by an invitation to speak before an audience of ten thousand, the largest crowd he had addressed up to that date. Having gotten a taste of national politics, Roosevelt felt less aspiration for advocacy on the state level; he then retired to his new "Chimney Butte Ranch" on the Little Missouri River. Roosevelt refused to join other Mugwumps in supporting Grover Cleveland, the governor of New York and the Democratic nominee in the general election. He debated the pros and cons of staying loyal with his political friend, Henry Cabot Lodge. After Blaine won the nomination, Roosevelt had carelessly said that he would give "hearty support to any decent Democrat". He distanced himself from the promise, saying that it had not been meant "for publication". When a reporter asked if he would support Blaine, Roosevelt replied, "That question I decline to answer. It is a subject I do not care to talk about." In the end, he realized that he had to support Blaine to maintain his role in the GOP, and he did so in a press release on July 19. Having lost the support of many reformers, Roosevelt decided to retire from politics and move to North Dakota.
Cattle rancher in Dakota
Roosevelt first visited the Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt bison. Exhilarated by the western lifestyle, and with the cattle business booming in the territory, Roosevelt invested $14,000 in hopes of becoming a prosperous cattle rancher. For the next several years, he shuttled between his home in New York and his ranch in Dakota.
Following the 1884 presidential election, Roosevelt built a ranch named Elkhorn, which was north of the boomtown of Medora, North Dakota. Roosevelt learned to ride western style, rope, and hunt on the banks of the Little Missouri. Though he earned the respect of the authentic cowboys, they were not overly impressed. However, he identified with the herdsman of history, a man he said possesses "few of the emasculated, milk-and-water moralities admired by the pseudo-philanthropists; but he does possess, to a very high degree, the stern, manly qualities that are invaluable to a nation". He reoriented, and began writing about frontier life for national magazines; he also published three books – Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, and The Wilderness Hunter.
Roosevelt brought his desire to address the common interests of citizens to the West. He successfully led efforts to organize ranchers to address problems of overgrazing and other shared concerns; his work resulted in the formation of the Little Missouri Stockmen's Association. He felt compelled to promote conservation and was able to form the Boone and Crockett Club, whose primary goal was the conservation of large game animals and their habitats. After the uniquely severe US winter of 1886–87 wiped out his herd of cattle and those of his competitors, and with it over half of his $80,000 investment, Roosevelt returned to the East. Though his finances suffered from the experience, Roosevelt's time in the West made it impossible to peg him as an ineffectual intellectual, a characterization that could have hampered his political career.
Second marriage
On December 2, 1886, Roosevelt married his childhood and family friend, Edith Kermit Carow. Roosevelt was deeply troubled that his second marriage had taken place so soon after the death of his first wife, and he faced resistance from his sisters. Nonetheless, the couple married at St George's, Hanover Square in London, England. The couple had five children: Theodore "Ted" III in 1887, Kermit in 1889, Ethel in 1891, Archibald in 1894, and Quentin in 1897. The couple also raised Roosevelt's daughter from his first marriage, Alice, who often clashed with her stepmother.
Reentering public life
Upon Roosevelt's return to New York in 1886, Republican leaders quickly approached him about running for mayor of New York City in the city's mayoral election. Roosevelt accepted the nomination despite having little hope of winning the race against United Labor Party candidate Henry George and Democratic candidate Abram Hewitt. Roosevelt campaigned hard for the position, but Hewitt won with 41% (90,552 votes), taking the votes of many Republicans who feared George's radical policies. George was held to 31% (68,110 votes), and Roosevelt took third place with 27% (60,435 votes). Fearing that his political career might never recover, Roosevelt turned his attention to writing The Winning of the West, a historical work tracking the westward movement of Americans; the book was a great success for Roosevelt, earning favorable reviews and selling numerous copies.
Civil Service Commission
After Benjamin Harrison unexpectedly defeated Blaine for the presidential nomination at the 1888 Republican National Convention, Roosevelt gave stump speeches in the Midwest in support of Harrison. On the insistence of Henry Cabot Lodge, President Harrison appointed Roosevelt to the United States Civil Service Commission, where he served until 1895. While many of his predecessors had approached the office as a sinecure, Roosevelt vigorously fought the spoilsmen and demanded enforcement of civil service laws. The New York Sun then described Roosevelt as "irrepressible, belligerent, and enthusiastic". Roosevelt frequently clashed with Postmaster General John Wanamaker, who handed out numerous patronage positions to Harrison supporters, and Roosevelt's attempt to force out several postal workers damaged Harrison politically. Despite Roosevelt's support for Harrison's reelection bid in the presidential election of 1892, the eventual winner, Grover Cleveland, reappointed him to the same post. Roosevelt's close friend and biographer, Joseph Bucklin Bishop, described his assault on the spoils system:
New York City Police Commissioner
In 1894, a group of reform Republicans approached Roosevelt about running for Mayor of New York again; he declined, mostly due to his wife's resistance to being removed from the Washington social set. Soon after he declined, he realized that he had missed an opportunity to reinvigorate a dormant political career. He retreated to the Dakotas for a time; his wife Edith regretted her role in the decision and vowed that there would be no repeat of it.
William Lafayette Strong, a reform-minded Republican, won the 1894 mayoral election and offered Roosevelt a position on the board of the New York City Police Commissioners. Roosevelt became president of the board of commissioners and radically reformed the police force. Roosevelt implemented regular inspections of firearms and annual physical exams, appointed recruits based on their physical and mental qualifications rather than political affiliation, established Meritorious Service Medals, and closed corrupt police hostelries. During his tenure, a Municipal Lodging House was established by the Board of Charities, and Roosevelt required officers to register with the Board; he also had telephones installed in station houses.
In 1894, Roosevelt met Jacob Riis, the muckraking Evening Sun newspaper journalist who was opening the eyes of New Yorkers to the terrible conditions of the city's millions of poor immigrants with such books as How the Other Half Lives. Riis described how his book affected Roosevelt:
Roosevelt made a habit of walking officers' beats late at night and early in the morning to make sure that they were on duty. He made a concerted effort to uniformly enforce New York's Sunday closing law; in this, he ran up against boss Tom Platt as well as Tammany Hall—he was notified that the Police Commission was being legislated out of existence. His crackdowns led to protests and demonstrations. Invited to one large demonstration, not only did he surprisingly accept, he delighted in the insults, caricatures and lampoons directed at him, and earned some surprising good will. Roosevelt chose to defer rather than split with his party. As Governor of New York State, he would later sign an act replacing the Police Commission with a single Police Commissioner.
Emergence as a national figure
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
In the 1896 presidential election, Roosevelt backed Speaker of the House Thomas Brackett Reed for the Republican nomination, but William McKinley won the nomination and defeated William Jennings Bryan in the general election. Roosevelt opposed Bryan's free silver platform, viewing many of Bryan's followers as dangerous fanatics, and Roosevelt gave campaign speeches for McKinley. Urged by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, President McKinley appointed Roosevelt as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897. Secretary of the Navy John D. Long was more concerned about formalities than functions, was in poor health, and left many major decisions to Roosevelt. Influenced by Alfred Thayer Mahan, Roosevelt called for a build-up in the country's naval strength, particularly the construction of battleships. Roosevelt also began pressing his national security views regarding the Pacific and the Caribbean on McKinley, and was particularly adamant that Spain be ejected from Cuba. He explained his priorities to one of the Navy's planners in late 1897:
On February 15, 1898, , an armored cruiser, exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, killing hundreds of crew members. While Roosevelt and many other Americans blamed Spain for the explosion, McKinley sought a diplomatic solution. Without approval from Long or McKinley, Roosevelt sent out orders to several naval vessels, directing them to prepare for war. George Dewey, who had received an appointment to lead the Asiatic Squadron with the backing of Roosevelt, later credited his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay to Roosevelt's orders. After finally giving up hope of a peaceful solution, McKinley asked Congress to declare war upon Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War.
War in Cuba
With the beginning of the Spanish–American War in late April 1898, Roosevelt resigned from his post as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Along with Army Colonel Leonard Wood, he formed the First US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. His wife and many of his friends begged Roosevelt to remain in his post in Washington, but Roosevelt was determined to see battle. When the newspapers reported the formation of the new regiment, Roosevelt and Wood were flooded with applications from all over the country. Referred to by the press as the "Rough Riders", the regiment was one of many temporary units active only for the duration of the war.
The regiment trained for several weeks in San Antonio, Texas, and in his autobiography, Roosevelt wrote that his prior experience with the New York National Guard had been invaluable, in that it enabled him to immediately begin teaching his men basic soldiering skills. The Rough Riders used some standard issue gear and some of their own design, purchased with gift money. Diversity characterized the regiment, which included Ivy Leaguers, professional and amateur athletes, upscale gentlemen, cowboys, frontiersmen, Native Americans, hunters, miners, prospectors, former soldiers, tradesmen, and sheriffs. The Rough Riders were part of the cavalry division commanded by former Confederate general Joseph Wheeler, which itself was one of three divisions in the V Corps under Lieutenant General William Rufus Shafter. Roosevelt and his men landed in Daiquirí, Cuba, on June 23, 1898, and marched to Siboney. Wheeler sent parts of the 1st and 10th Regular Cavalry on the lower road northwest and sent the "Rough Riders" on the parallel road running along a ridge up from the beach. To throw off his infantry rival, Wheeler left one regiment of his Cavalry Division, the 9th, at Siboney so that he could claim that his move north was only a limited reconnaissance if things went wrong. Roosevelt was promoted to colonel and took command of the regiment when Wood was put in command of the brigade. The Rough Riders had a short, minor skirmish known as the Battle of Las Guasimas; they fought their way through Spanish resistance and, together with the Regulars, forced the Spaniards to abandon their positions.
Under his leadership, the Rough Riders became famous for the charge up Kettle Hill on July 1, 1898, while supporting the regulars. Roosevelt had the only horse, and rode back and forth between rifle pits at the forefront of the advance up Kettle Hill, an advance that he urged despite the absence of any orders from superiors. He was forced to walk up the last part of Kettle Hill because his horse had been entangled in barbed wire. The victories came at a cost of 200 killed and 1,000 wounded.
In August, Roosevelt and other officers demanded that the soldiers be returned home. Roosevelt always recalled the Battle of Kettle Hill (part of the San Juan Heights) as "the great day of my life" and "my crowded hour". In 2001, Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions; he had been nominated during the war, but Army officials, annoyed at his grabbing the headlines, blocked it. After returning to civilian life, Roosevelt preferred to be known as "Colonel Roosevelt" or "The Colonel", though "Teddy" remained much more popular with the public, even though Roosevelt openly despised that moniker. Men working closely with Roosevelt customarily called him "Colonel" or "Theodore". Henceforth, political cartoons of Roosevelt usually depicted him in his Rough Rider garb.
Governor of New York
After leaving Cuba in August 1898, the Rough Riders were transported to a camp at Montauk Point, Long Island, where Roosevelt and his men were briefly quarantined due to the War Department's fear of spreading yellow fever. Shortly after Roosevelt's return to the United States, Republican Congressman Lemuel E. Quigg, a lieutenant of party boss Tom Platt, asked Roosevelt to run in the 1898 gubernatorial election. Platt disliked Roosevelt personally, feared that Roosevelt would oppose Platt's interests in office, and was reluctant to propel Roosevelt to the forefront of national politics. However, Platt also needed a strong candidate due to the unpopularity of the incumbent Republican governor, Frank S. Black, and Roosevelt agreed to become the nominee and to try not to "make war" with the Republican establishment once in office. Roosevelt defeated Black in the Republican caucus by a vote of 753 to 218, and faced Democrat Augustus Van Wyck, a well-respected judge, in the general election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously on his war record, winning the election by a margin of just one percent.
As governor, Roosevelt learned much about ongoing economic issues and political techniques that later proved valuable in his presidency. He was exposed to the problems of trusts, monopolies, labor relations, and conservation. Chessman argues that Roosevelt's program "rested firmly upon the concept of the square deal by a neutral state". The rules for the Square Deal were "honesty in public affairs, an equitable sharing of privilege and responsibility, and subordination of party and local concerns to the interests of the state at large".
By holding twice-daily press conferences—which was an innovation—Roosevelt remained connected with his middle-class political base. Roosevelt successfully pushed the Ford Franchise-Tax bill, which taxed public franchises granted by the state and controlled by corporations, declaring that "a corporation which derives its powers from the State, should pay to the State a just percentage of its earnings as a return for the privileges it enjoys". He rejected "boss" Thomas C. Platt's worries that this approached Bryanite Socialism, explaining that without it, New York voters might get angry and adopt public ownership of streetcar lines and other franchises.
The New York state government affected many interests, and the power to make appointments to policy-making positions was a key role for the governor. Platt insisted that he be consulted on major appointments; Roosevelt appeared to comply, but then made his own decisions. Historians marvel that Roosevelt managed to appoint so many first-rate men with Platt's approval. He even enlisted Platt's help in securing reform, such as in the spring of 1899, when Platt pressured state senators to vote for a civil service bill that the secretary of the Civil Service Reform Association called "superior to any civil service statute heretofore secured in America".
Chessman argues that as governor, Roosevelt developed the principles that shaped his presidency, especially insistence upon the public responsibility of large corporations, publicity as a first remedy for trusts, regulation of railroad rates, mediation of the conflict of capital and labor, conservation of natural resources and protection of the less fortunate members of society. Roosevelt sought to position himself against the excesses of large corporations on the one hand and radical movements on the other.
As the chief executive of the most populous state in the union, Roosevelt was widely considered a potential future presidential candidate, and supporters such as William Allen White encouraged him to run for president. Roosevelt had no interest in challenging McKinley for the Republican nomination in 1900, and was denied his preferred post of Secretary of War. As his term progressed, Roosevelt pondered a 1904 presidential run, but was uncertain about whether he should seek re-election as governor in 1900.
Vice Presidency (1901)
In November 1899, Vice President Garret Hobart died of heart failure, leaving an open spot on the 1900 Republican national ticket. Though Henry Cabot Lodge and others urged him to run for vice president in 1900, Roosevelt was reluctant to take the powerless position and issued a public statement saying that he would not accept the nomination. Additionally, Roosevelt was informed by President McKinley and campaign manager Mark Hanna that he was not being considered for the role of vice president due to his actions prior to the Spanish–American War. Eager to be rid of Roosevelt, Platt nonetheless began a newspaper campaign in favor of Roosevelt's nomination for the vice presidency. Roosevelt attended the 1900 Republican National Convention as a state delegate and struck a bargain with Platt: Roosevelt would accept the nomination for vice president if the convention offered it to him, but would otherwise serve another term as governor. Platt asked Pennsylvania party boss Matthew Quay to lead the campaign for Roosevelt's nomination, and Quay outmaneuvered Hanna at the convention to put Roosevelt on the ticket. Roosevelt won the nomination unanimously.
Roosevelt's vice-presidential campaigning proved highly energetic and an equal match for Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan's famous barnstorming style of campaigning. In a whirlwind campaign that displayed his energy to the public, Roosevelt made 480 stops in 23 states. He denounced the radicalism of Bryan, contrasting it with the heroism of the soldiers and sailors who fought and won the war against Spain. Bryan had strongly supported the war itself, but he denounced the annexation of the Philippines as imperialism, which would spoil America's innocence. Roosevelt countered that it was best for the Filipinos to have stability and the Americans to have a proud place in the world. With the nation basking in peace and prosperity, the voters gave McKinley an even larger victory than that which he had achieved in 1896.
After the campaign, Roosevelt took office as vice president in March 1901. The office of vice president was a powerless sinecure and did not suit Roosevelt's aggressive temperament. Roosevelt's six months as vice president were uneventful and boring for a man of action. He had no power; he presided over the Senate for a mere four days before it adjourned. On September 2, 1901, Roosevelt first publicized an aphorism that thrilled his supporters: "Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far."
Presidency (1901–1909)
On September 6, 1901, President McKinley was attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York when he was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Roosevelt was vacationing in Isle La Motte, Vermont, and traveled to Buffalo to visit McKinley in the hospital. It appeared that McKinley would recover, so Roosevelt resumed his vacation in the Adirondack Mountains. When McKinley's condition worsened, Roosevelt again rushed back to Buffalo. McKinley died on September 14, and Roosevelt was informed while he was in North Creek; he continued on to Buffalo and was sworn in as the nation's 26th president at the Ansley Wilcox House.
McKinley's supporters were nervous about the new president, and Hanna was particularly bitter that the man he had opposed so vigorously at the convention had succeeded McKinley. Roosevelt assured party leaders that he intended to adhere to McKinley's policies, and he retained McKinley's Cabinet. Nonetheless, Roosevelt sought to position himself as the party's undisputed leader, seeking to bolster the role of the president and position himself for the 1904 election. The vice presidency remained vacant, as there was no constitutional provision for filling an intra-term vacancy in that office (prior to the 25th Amendment in 1967).
Shortly after taking office, Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House. This sparked a bitter, and at times vicious, reaction among whites across the heavily segregated South. Roosevelt reacted with astonishment and protest, saying that he looked forward to many future dinners with Washington. Upon further reflection, Roosevelt wanted to ensure that this had no effect on political support in the white South, and further dinner invitations to Washington were avoided; their next meeting was scheduled as typical business at 10:00 a.m. instead.
Domestic policies
Trust busting and regulation
For his aggressive use of the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act, compared to his predecessors, Roosevelt was hailed as the "trust-buster"; but in reality he was more of a trust regulator. Roosevelt viewed big business as a necessary part of the American economy, and sought only to prosecute the "bad trusts" that restrained trade and charged unfair prices. He brought 44 antitrust suits, breaking up the Northern Securities Company, the largest railroad monopoly; and regulating Standard Oil, the largest oil company. Presidents Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley combined had prosecuted only 18 antitrust violations under the Sherman Antitrust Act.
Bolstered by his party's winning large majorities in the 1902 elections, Roosevelt proposed the creation of the United States Department of Commerce and Labor, which would include the Bureau of Corporations. While Congress was receptive to the Department of Commerce and Labor, it was more skeptical of the antitrust powers that Roosevelt sought to endow within the Bureau of Corporations. Roosevelt successfully appealed to the public to pressure Congress, and Congress overwhelmingly voted to pass Roosevelt's version of the bill.
In a moment of frustration, House Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon commented on Roosevelt's desire for executive branch control in domestic policy-making: "That fellow at the other end of the avenue wants everything from the birth of Christ to the death of the devil." Biographer Brands states, "Even his friends occasionally wondered whether there wasn't any custom or practice too minor for him to try to regulate, update or otherwise improve." In fact, Roosevelt's willingness to exercise his power included attempted rule changes in the game of football; at the Naval Academy, he sought to force retention of martial arts classes and to revise disciplinary rules. He even ordered changes made in the minting of a coin whose design he disliked, and ordered the Government Printing Office to adopt simplified spellings for a core list of 300 words, according to reformers on the Simplified Spelling Board. He was forced to rescind the latter after substantial ridicule from the press and a resolution of protest from the House of Representatives.
Coal strike
In May 1902, anthracite coal miners went on strike, threatening a national energy shortage. After threatening the coal operators with intervention by federal troops, Roosevelt won their agreement to dispute arbitration by a commission, which succeeded in stopping the strike. The accord with J. P. Morgan resulted in the miners getting more pay for fewer hours, but with no union recognition. Roosevelt said, "My action on labor should always be considered in connection with my action as regards capital, and both are reducible to my favorite formula—a square deal for every man." Roosevelt was the first president to help settle a labor dispute.
Prosecuted misconduct
During Roosevelt's second year in office it was discovered there was corruption in the Indian Service, the Land Office, and the Post Office Department. Roosevelt investigated and prosecuted corrupt Indian agents who had cheated the Creeks and various tribes out of land parcels. Land fraud and speculation were found involving Oregon federal timberlands. In November 1902, Roosevelt and Secretary Ethan A. Hitchcock forced Binger Hermann, the General Land Office Commissioner, to resign from office. On November 6, 1903 Francis J. Heney was appointed special prosecutor and obtained 146 indictments involving an Oregon Land Office bribery ring. U.S. Senator John H. Mitchell was indicted for bribery to expedite illegal land patents, found guilty in July 1905, and sentenced to six months in prison. More corruption was found in the Postal Department, that brought on the indictments of 44 government employees on charges of bribery and fraud. Historians generally agree that Roosevelt moved "quickly and decisively" to prosecute misconduct in his administration.
Railroads
Merchants complained that some railroad rates were too high. In the 1906 Hepburn Act, Roosevelt sought to give the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to regulate rates, but the Senate, led by conservative Nelson Aldrich, fought back. Roosevelt worked with the Democratic Senator Benjamin Tillman to pass the bill. Roosevelt and Aldrich ultimately reached a compromise that gave the ICC the power to replace existing rates with "just-and-reasonable" maximum rates, but allowed railroads to appeal to the federal courts on what was "reasonable". In addition to rate-setting, the Hepburn Act also granted the ICC regulatory power over pipeline fees, storage contracts, and several other aspects of railroad operations.
Pure food and drugs
Roosevelt responded to public anger over the abuses in the food packing industry by pushing Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act. Though conservatives initially opposed the bill, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, published in 1906, helped galvanize support for reform. The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 banned misleading labels and preservatives that contained harmful chemicals. The Pure Food and Drug Act banned food and drugs that were impure or falsely labeled from being made, sold, and shipped. Roosevelt also served as honorary president of the American School Hygiene Association from 1907 to 1908, and in 1909 he convened the first White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children.
Conservation
Of all Roosevelt's achievements, he was proudest of his work in the conservation of natural resources and extending federal protection to land and wildlife. Roosevelt worked closely with Interior Secretary James Rudolph Garfield and Chief of the United States Forest Service Gifford Pinchot to enact a series of conservation programs that often met with resistance from Western members of Congress, such as Charles William Fulton. Nonetheless, Roosevelt established the United States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of five National Parks, and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 new U.S. National Monuments. He also established the first 51 bird reserves, four game preserves, and 150 National Forests. The area of the United States that he placed under public protection totals approximately .
Roosevelt extensively used executive orders on a number of occasions to protect forest and wildlife lands during his tenure as president. By the end of his second term in office, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish of reserved forestry land. Roosevelt was unapologetic about his extensive use of executive orders to protect the environment, despite the perception in Congress that he was encroaching on too many lands. Eventually, Senator Charles Fulton (R-OR) attached an amendment to an agricultural appropriations bill that effectively prevented the president from reserving any further land. Before signing that bill into law, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish an additional 21 forest reserves, waiting until the last minute to sign the bill into law. In total, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish 121 forest reserves in 31 states. Prior to Roosevelt, only one president had issued over 200 executive orders, Grover Cleveland (253). The first 25 presidents issued a total of 1,262 executive orders; Roosevelt issued 1,081.
Foreign policy
Japan
The American annexation of Hawaii in 1898 was stimulated in part by fear that otherwise Japan would dominate the Hawaiian Republic. Similarly, Germany was the alternative to American takeover of the Philippines in 1900, and Tokyo strongly preferred the U.S. to take over. As the U.S. became a naval world power, it needed to find a way to avoid a military confrontation in the Pacific with Japan.
In the 1890s, Roosevelt had been an ardent imperialist and vigorously defended the permanent acquisition of the Philippines in the 1900 campaign. After the local insurrection ended in 1902, he largely lost his imperialist interest in the Philippines and Asian expansion but wished to have a strong U.S. presence in the region as a symbol of democratic values. One of Theodore Roosevelt's priorities during his presidency and afterwards, was the maintenance of friendly relations with Japan. From 1904 to 1905 Japan and Russia were at war. Roosevelt admired the martial courage of the Japanese, and distrusted the reckless German Kaiser. Both sides asked Roosevelt to mediate a peace conference, held successfully in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
In California, anti-Japanese hostility was growing, and Tokyo protested. Roosevelt negotiated a "Gentleman's Agreement" in 1907. Explicit discrimination against the Japanese was ended, and Japan agreed not to allow unskilled immigrants into the United States. The Great White Fleet of American battleships visited Japan in 1908. Pulitzer prize-winning biographer Henry Pringle states that the great voyage was "the direct result of the Japanese trouble." Roosevelt intended to emphasize the superiority of the American fleet over the smaller Japanese navy, but instead of resentment the visitors arrived to a joyous welcome by Japanese elite as well as the general public. This good-will facilitated the Root–Takahira Agreement of November 1908 which reaffirmed the status quo of Japanese control of Korea and American control of the Philippines.
Europe
Success in the war against Spain and the new empire, plus having the largest economy in the world, meant that the United States had emerged as a world power. Roosevelt searched for ways to win recognition for the position abroad.
Roosevelt also played a major role in mediating the First Moroccan Crisis by calling the Algeciras Conference, which averted war between France and Germany.
Roosevelt's presidency saw the strengthening of ties with Great Britain. The Great Rapprochement had begun with British support of the United States during the Spanish–American War, and it continued as Britain withdrew its fleet from the Caribbean in favor of focusing on the rising German naval threat. In 1901, Britain and the United States signed the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, abrogating the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty, which had prevented the United States from constructing a canal connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. The long-standing Alaska boundary dispute was settled on terms favorable to the United States, as Great Britain was unwilling to alienate the United States over what it considered to be a secondary issue. As Roosevelt later put it, the resolution of the Alaskan boundary dispute "settled the last serious trouble between the British Empire and ourselves."
Latin America and Panama Canal
As president, he primarily focused the nation's overseas ambitions on the Caribbean, especially locations that had a bearing on the defense of his pet project, the Panama Canal. Roosevelt also increased the size of the navy, and by the end of his second term the United States had more battleships than any other country besides Britain. The Panama Canal when it opened in 1914 allowed the U.S. Navy to rapidly move back and forth from the Pacific to the Caribbean to European waters.
In December 1902, the Germans, British, and Italians blockaded the ports of Venezuela in order to force the repayment of delinquent loans. Roosevelt was particularly concerned with the motives of German Emperor Wilhelm II. He succeeded in getting the three nations to agree to arbitration by tribunal at The Hague, and successfully defused the crisis. The latitude granted to the Europeans by the arbiters was in part responsible for the "Roosevelt Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which the President issued in 1904: "Chronic wrongdoing or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere, the adherence of the United States to the Monroe doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power."
The pursuit of an isthmus canal in Central America during this period focused on two possible routes—Nicaragua and Panama, which was then a rebellious district within Colombia. Roosevelt convinced Congress to approve the Panamanian alternative, and a treaty was approved, only to be rejected by the Colombian government. When the Panamanians learned of this, a rebellion followed, was supported by Roosevelt, and succeeded. A treaty with the new Panama government for construction of the canal was then reached in 1903. Roosevelt received criticism for paying the bankrupt Panama Canal Company and the New Panama Canal Company $40,000,000 (equivalent to $ billion in ) for the rights and equipment to build the canal. Critics charged that an American investor syndicate allegedly divided the large payment among themselves. There was also controversy over whether a French company engineer influenced Roosevelt in choosing the Panama route for the canal over the Nicaragua route. Roosevelt denied charges of corruption concerning the canal in a January 8, 1906 message to Congress. In January 1909, Roosevelt, in an unprecedented move, brought criminal libel charges against the New York World and the Indianapolis News known as the "Roosevelt-Panama Libel Cases". Both cases were dismissed by U.S. District Courts, and on January 3, 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court, upon federal appeal, upheld the lower courts' rulings. Historians are sharply critical of Roosevelt's criminal prosecutions of the World and the News, but are divided on whether actual corruption in acquiring and building the Panama Canal took place.
In 1906, following a disputed election, an insurrection ensued in Cuba; Roosevelt sent Taft, the Secretary of War, to monitor the situation; he was convinced that he had the authority to unilaterally authorize Taft to deploy Marines if necessary, without congressional approval.
Examining the work of numerous scholars, Ricard (2014) reports that:
The most striking evolution in the twenty-first-century historiography of Theodore Roosevelt is the switch from a partial arraignment of the imperialist to a quasi-unanimous celebration of the master diplomatist.... [Recent works] have underlined cogently Roosevelt's exceptional statesmanship in the construction of the nascent twentieth-century "special relationship". ...The twenty-sixth president's reputation as a brilliant diplomatist and realpolitician has undeniably reached new heights in the twenty-first century...yet, his Philippine policy still prompts criticism.
Media
Building on McKinley's effective use of the press, Roosevelt made the White House the center of news every day, providing interviews and photo opportunities. After noticing the reporters huddled outside the White House in the rain one day, he gave them their own room inside, effectively inventing the presidential press briefing. The grateful press, with unprecedented access to the White House, rewarded Roosevelt with ample coverage.
Roosevelt normally enjoyed very close relationships with the press, which he used to keep in daily contact with his middle-class base. While out of office, he made a living as a writer and magazine editor. He loved talking with intellectuals, authors, and writers. He drew the line, however, at exposé-oriented scandal-mongering journalists who, during his term, sent magazine subscriptions soaring by their attacks on corrupt politicians, mayors, and corporations. Roosevelt himself was not usually a target, but a speech of his from 1906 coined the term "muckraker" for unscrupulous journalists making wild charges. "The liar", he said, "is no whit better than the thief, and if his mendacity takes the form of slander he may be worse than most thieves."
The press did briefly target Roosevelt in one instance. After 1904, he was periodically criticized for the manner in which he facilitated the construction of the Panama Canal. According to biographer Brands, Roosevelt, near the end of his term, demanded that the Justice Department bring charges of criminal libel against Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. The publication had accused him of "deliberate misstatements of fact" in defense of family members who were criticized as a result of the Panama affair. Though an indictment was obtained, the case was ultimately dismissed in federal court—it was not a federal offense, but one enforceable in state courts. The Justice Department had predicted that result, and had also advised Roosevelt accordingly.
Election of 1904
The control and management of the Republican Party lay in the hands of Ohio Senator and Republican Party chairman Mark Hanna until McKinley's death. Roosevelt and Hanna frequently cooperated during Roosevelt's first term, but Hanna left open the possibility of a challenge to Roosevelt for the 1904 Republican nomination. Roosevelt and Ohio's other Senator, Joseph B. Foraker, forced Hanna's hand by calling for Ohio's state Republican convention to endorse Roosevelt for the 1904 nomination. Unwilling to break with the president, Hanna was forced to publicly endorse Roosevelt. Hanna and Pennsylvania Senator Matthew Quay both died in early 1904, and with the waning of Thomas Platt's power, Roosevelt faced little effective opposition for the 1904 nomination. In deference to Hanna's conservative loyalists, Roosevelt at first offered the party chairmanship to Cornelius Bliss, but he declined. Roosevelt turned to his own man, George B. Cortelyou of New York, the first Secretary of Commerce and Labor. To buttress his hold on the party's nomination, Roosevelt made it clear that anyone opposing Cortelyou would be considered to be opposing the President. The President secured his own nomination, but his preferred vice-presidential running mate, Robert R. Hitt, was not nominated. Senator Charles Warren Fairbanks of Indiana, a favorite of conservatives, gained the nomination.
While Roosevelt followed the tradition of incumbents in not actively campaigning on the stump, he sought to control the campaign's message through specific instructions to Cortelyou. He also attempted to manage the press's release of White House statements by forming the Ananias Club. Any journalist who repeated a statement made by the president without approval was penalized by restriction of further access.
The Democratic Party's nominee in 1904 was Alton Brooks Parker. Democratic newspapers charged that Republicans were extorting large campaign contributions from corporations, putting ultimate responsibility on Roosevelt, himself. Roosevelt denied corruption while at the same time he ordered Cortelyou to return $100,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) of a campaign contribution from Standard Oil. Parker said that Roosevelt was accepting corporate donations to keep damaging information from the Bureau of Corporations from going public. Roosevelt strongly denied Parker's charge and responded that he would "go into the Presidency unhampered by any pledge, promise, or understanding of any kind, sort, or description...". Allegations from Parker and the Democrats, however, had little impact on the election, as Roosevelt promised to give every American a "square deal". Roosevelt won 56% of the popular vote, and Parker received 38%; Roosevelt also won the Electoral College vote, 336 to 140. Before his inauguration ceremony, Roosevelt declared that he would not serve another term. Democrats afterwards would continue to charge Roosevelt and the Republicans of being influenced by corporate donations during Roosevelt's second term.
Second term
As his second term progressed, Roosevelt moved to the left of his Republican Party base and called for a series of reforms, most of which Congress failed to pass. In his last year in office, he was assisted by his friend Archibald Butt (who later perished in the sinking of RMS Titanic). Roosevelt's influence waned as he approached the end of his second term, as his promise to forego a third term made him a lame duck and his concentration of power provoked a backlash from many Congressmen. He sought a national incorporation law (at a time when all corporations had state charters), called for a federal income tax (despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.), and an inheritance tax. In the area of labor legislation, Roosevelt called for limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes; injunctions were a powerful weapon that mostly helped business. He wanted an employee liability law for industrial injuries (pre-empting state laws) and an eight-hour work day for federal employees. In other areas he also sought a postal savings system (to provide competition for local banks), and he asked for campaign reform laws.
The election of 1904 continued to be a source of contention between Republicans and Democrats. A Congressional investigation in 1905 revealed that corporate executives donated tens of thousands of dollars in 1904 to the Republican National Committee. In 1908, a month before the general presidential election, Governor Charles N. Haskell of Oklahoma, former Democratic Treasurer, said that Senators beholden to Standard Oil lobbied Roosevelt, in the summer of 1904, to authorize the leasing of Indian oil lands by Standard Oil subsidiaries. He said Roosevelt overruled his Secretary of Interior Ethan A. Hitchcock and granted a pipeline franchise to run through the Osage lands to the Prairie Oil and Gas Company. The New York Sun made a similar accusation and said that Standard Oil, a refinery who financially benefited from the pipeline, had contributed $150,000 to the Republicans in 1904 (equivalent to $ million in ) after Roosevelt's alleged reversal allowing the pipeline franchise. Roosevelt branded Haskell's allegation as "a lie, pure and simple" and obtained a denial from Treasury Secretary Shaw that Roosevelt had neither coerced Shaw nor overruled him.
Post-presidency (1909–1919)
Election of 1908
Roosevelt enjoyed being president and was still relatively youthful, but felt that a limited number of terms provided a check against dictatorship. Roosevelt ultimately decided to stick to his 1904 pledge not to run for a third term. He personally favored Secretary of State Elihu Root as his successor, but Root's ill health made him an unsuitable candidate. New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes loomed as a potentially strong candidate and shared Roosevelt's progressivism, but Roosevelt disliked him and considered him to be too independent. Instead, Roosevelt settled on his Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, who had ably served under Presidents Harrison, McKinley, and Roosevelt in various positions. Roosevelt and Taft had been friends since 1890, and Taft had consistently supported President Roosevelt's policies. Roosevelt was determined to install the successor of his choice, and wrote the following to Taft: "Dear Will: Do you want any action about those federal officials? I will break their necks with the utmost cheerfulness if you say the word!". Just weeks later he branded as "false and malicious" the charge that he was using the offices at his disposal to favor Taft. At the 1908 Republican convention, many chanted for "four years more" of a Roosevelt presidency, but Taft won the nomination after Henry Cabot Lodge made it clear that Roosevelt was not interested in a third term.
In the 1908 election, Taft easily defeated the Democratic nominee, three-time candidate William Jennings Bryan. Taft promoted a progressivism that stressed the rule of law; he preferred that judges rather than administrators or politicians make the basic decisions about fairness. Taft usually proved to be a less adroit politician than Roosevelt and lacked the energy and personal magnetism, along with the publicity devices, the dedicated supporters, and the broad base of public support that made Roosevelt so formidable. When Roosevelt realized that lowering the tariff would risk creating severe tensions inside the Republican Party by pitting producers (manufacturers and farmers) against merchants and consumers, he stopped talking about the issue. Taft ignored the risks and tackled the tariff boldly, encouraging reformers to fight for lower rates, and then cutting deals with conservative leaders that kept overall rates high. The resulting Payne-Aldrich tariff of 1909, signed into law early in President Taft's tenure, was too high for most reformers, and Taft's handling of the tariff alienated all sides. While the crisis was building inside the Party, Roosevelt was touring Africa and Europe, to allow Taft to be his own man.
Africa and Europe (1909–1910)
In March 1909, shortly after the end of his presidency, Roosevelt left New York for the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition, a safari in east and central Africa. Roosevelt's party landed in Mombasa, East Africa (now Kenya) and traveled to the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) before following the Nile to Khartoum in modern Sudan. Financed by Andrew Carnegie and by his own writings, Roosevelt's party hunted for specimens for the Smithsonian Institution and for the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The group, led by the hunter-tracker RJ Cunninghame, included scientists from the Smithsonian, and was joined from time to time by Frederick Selous, the famous big game hunter and explorer. Participants on the expedition included Kermit Roosevelt, Edgar Alexander Mearns, Edmund Heller, and John Alden Loring.
Roosevelt and his companions killed or trapped approximately 11,400 animals, from insects and moles to hippopotamuses and elephants. The 1,000 large animals included 512 big game animals, including six rare white rhinos. Tons of salted animals and their skins were shipped to Washington; it took years to mount them all, and the Smithsonian shared many duplicate specimens with other museums. Regarding the large number of animals taken, Roosevelt said, "I can be condemned only if the existence of the National Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and all similar zoological institutions are to be condemned". He wrote a detailed account of the safari in the book African Game Trails, recounting the excitement of the chase, the people he met, and the flora and fauna he collected in the name of science.
After his safari, Roosevelt traveled north to embark on a tour of Europe. Stopping first in Egypt, he commented favorably on British rule of the region, giving his opinion that Egypt was not yet ready for independence. He refused a meeting with the Pope due to a dispute over a group of Methodists active in Rome, but met with Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King George V of Great Britain, and other European leaders. In Oslo, Norway, Roosevelt delivered a speech calling for limitations on naval armaments, a strengthening of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and the creation of a "League of Peace" among the world powers. He also delivered the Romanes Lecture at Oxford, in which he denounced those who sought parallels between the evolution of animal life and the development of society. Though Roosevelt attempted to avoid domestic politics during his time abroad, he met with Gifford Pinchot, who related his own disappointment with the Taft Administration. Pinchot had been forced to resign as head of the forest service after clashing with Taft's Interior Secretary, Richard Ballinger, who had prioritized development over conservation. Roosevelt returned to the United States in June 1910.
Republican Party schism
Roosevelt had attempted to refashion Taft into a second version of himself, but as soon as Taft began to display his individuality, the former president expressed his disenchantment. He was offended on election night when Taft indicated that his success had been possible not just through the efforts of Roosevelt, but also his brother Charley. Roosevelt was further alienated when Taft, intent on becoming his own man, did not consult him about cabinet appointments. Roosevelt and other progressives were ideologically dissatisfied over Taft's conservation policies and his handling of the tariff when he concentrated more power in the hands of conservative party leaders in Congress. Regarding radicalism and liberalism, Roosevelt wrote a British friend in 1911:
Fundamentally it is the radical liberal with whom I sympathize. He is at least working toward the end for which I think we should all of us strive; and when he adds sanity in moderation to courage and enthusiasm for high ideals he develops into the kind of statesman whom alone I can wholeheartedly support."
Roosevelt urged progressives to take control of the Republican Party at the state and local level and to avoid splitting the party in a way that would hand the presidency to the Democrats in 1912. Additionally, Roosevelt expressed optimism about the Taft Administration after meeting with the president in the White House in June 1910.
In August 1910, Roosevelt gained national attention with a speech at Osawatomie, Kansas, which was the most radical of his career and marked his public break with Taft and the conservative Republicans. Advocating a program of "New Nationalism", Roosevelt emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests, a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions. Returning to New York, Roosevelt began a battle to take control of the state Republican party from William Barnes Jr., Tom Platt's successor as the state party boss, whom he would later confront in the Barnes vs. Roosevelt Libel Trial. Taft had pledged his support to Roosevelt in this endeavor, and Roosevelt was outraged when Taft's support failed to materialize at the 1910 state convention. Roosevelt nonetheless campaigned for the Republicans in the 1910 elections, in which the Democrats gained control of the House for the first time since the 1890s. Among the newly elected Democrats was New York state senator Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who argued that he represented his distant cousin's policies better than his Republican opponent.
The Republican progressives interpreted the 1910 defeats as a compelling argument for the complete reorganization of the party in 1911. Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin joined with Pinchot, William White, and California Governor Hiram Johnson to create the National Progressive Republican League; their objectives were to defeat the power of political bossism at the state level and to replace Taft at the national level. Despite skepticism of La Follette's new league, Roosevelt expressed general support for progressive principles. Between January and April 1911, Roosevelt wrote a series of articles for The Outlook, defending what he called "the great movement of our day, the progressive nationalist movement against special privilege, and in favor of an honest and efficient political and industrial democracy". With Roosevelt apparently uninterested in running in 1912, La Follette declared his own candidacy in June 1911. Roosevelt continually criticized Taft after the 1910 elections, and the break between the two men became final after the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against US Steel in September 1911; Roosevelt was humiliated by this suit because he had personally approved of an acquisition that the Justice Department was now challenging. However, Roosevelt was still unwilling to run against Taft in 1912; he instead hoped to run in 1916 against whichever Democrat beat Taft in 1912.
Dispute over arbitration treaties
Taft was a major advocate of arbitration as a major reform of the Progressive Era. In 1911 Taft and his Secretary of State Philander C. Knox negotiated major treaties with Great Britain and with France providing that differences be arbitrated. Disputes had to be submitted to the Hague Court or other tribunal. These were signed in August 1911 but had to be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. Neither Taft nor Knox consulted with members of the Senate during the negotiating process. By then many Republicans were opposed to Taft, and the president felt that lobbying too hard for the treaties might cause their defeat. He made some speeches supporting the treaties in October, but the Senate added amendments Taft could not accept, killing the agreements.
The arbitration issue opens a window on a bitter philosophical dispute among American progressives. Some, led by Taft looked to legal arbitration as the best alternative to warfare. Taft was a constitutional lawyer who later became Chief Justice; he had a deep understanding of the legal issues. Taft's political base was the conservative business community that largely supported peace movements before 1914. However, his mistake, in this case, was a failure to mobilize that base. The businessmen believed that economic rivalries were the cause of war, and that extensive trade led to an interdependent world that would make war a very expensive and useless anachronism.
However, an opposing faction of progressives, led by Roosevelt, ridiculed arbitration as foolhardy idealism, and insisted on the realism of warfare as the only solution to serious international disputes. Roosevelt worked with his close friend Senator Henry Cabot Lodge to impose those amendments that ruined the goals of the treaties. Lodge thought the treaties impinged too much on senatorial prerogatives. Roosevelt, however, was acting to sabotage Taft's campaign promises. At a deeper level, Roosevelt truly believed that arbitration was a naïve solution and the great issues had to be decided by warfare. The Rooseveltian approach incorporated a near-mystical faith of the ennobling nature of war. It endorsed jingoistic nationalism as opposed to the businessmen's calculation of profit and national interest.
Election of 1912
Republican primaries and convention
In November 1911, a group of Ohio Republicans endorsed Roosevelt for the party's nomination for president; the endorsers included James R. Garfield and Dan Hanna. This endorsement was made by leaders of President Taft's home state. Roosevelt conspicuously declined to make a statement—requested by Garfield—that he would flatly refuse a nomination. Soon thereafter, Roosevelt said, "I am really sorry for Taft... I am sure he means well, but he means well feebly, and he does not know how! He is utterly unfit for leadership and this is a time when we need leadership." In January 1912, Roosevelt declared "if the people make a draft on me I shall not decline to serve". Later that year, Roosevelt spoke before the Constitutional Convention in Ohio, openly identifying as a progressive and endorsing progressive reforms—even endorsing popular review of state judicial decisions. In reaction to Roosevelt's proposals for popular overrule of court decisions, Taft said, "Such extremists are not progressives—they are political emotionalists or neurotics".
Roosevelt began to envision himself as the savior of the Republican Party from defeat in the upcoming presidential election. In February 1912, Roosevelt announced in Boston, "I will accept the nomination for president if it is tendered to me. I hope that so far as possible the people may be given the chance through direct primaries to express who shall be the nominee. Elihu Root and Henry Cabot Lodge thought that division of the party would lead to its defeat in the next election, while Taft believed that he would be defeated either in the Republican primary or in the general election.
The 1912 primaries represented the first extensive use of the presidential primary, a reform achievement of the progressive movement. The Republican primaries in the South, where party regulars dominated, went for Taft, as did results in New York, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Roosevelt won in Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, California, Maryland and Pennsylvania; Roosevelt also won Taft's home state of Ohio. These primary elections, while demonstrating Roosevelt's continuing popularity with the electorate, were not pivotal. The final credentials of the state delegates at the national convention were determined by the national committee, which was controlled by the party leaders, headed by the incumbent president.
Prior to the 1912 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt expressed doubt about his prospects for victory, noting that Taft had more delegates and control of the credentials committee. His only hope was to convince party leaders that the nomination of Taft would hand the election to the Democrats, but party leaders were determined not to cede their leadership to Roosevelt. The credentials committee awarded almost all contested delegates to Taft, and Taft won the nomination on the first ballot. Black delegates from the South played a key role: they voted heavily for Taft and put him over the top. La Follette also helped Taft's candidacy; he hoped that a deadlocked convention would result in his own nomination, and refused to release his delegates to support Roosevelt.
The Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party
Once his defeat at the Republican convention appeared probable, Roosevelt announced that he would "accept the progressive nomination on a progressive platform and I shall fight to the end, win or lose". At the same time, Roosevelt prophetically said, "My feeling is that the Democrats will probably win if they nominate a progressive".
Roosevelt left the Republican Party and created the Progressive Party, structuring it as a permanent organization that would field complete tickets at the presidential and state level. The party included Roosevelt and key allies such as Pinchot, Cornelia Bryce Pinchot (Pinchot's wife and a longtime friend of Roosevelt's), and Albert Beveridge. The new party was popularly known as the "Bull Moose Party" after Roosevelt told reporters, "I'm as fit as a bull moose". At the 1912 Progressive National Convention, Roosevelt cried out, "We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord." California Governor Hiram Johnson was nominated as Roosevelt's running mate. Roosevelt's platform echoed his 1907–1908 proposals, calling for vigorous government intervention to protect the people from selfish interests:
Though many Progressive party supporters in the North were supporters of civil rights for blacks, Roosevelt did not give strong support to civil rights and ran a "lily-white" campaign in the South. Rival all-white and all-black delegations from four southern states arrived at the Progressive national convention, and Roosevelt decided to seat the all-white delegations. Nevertheless, he won little support outside mountain Republican strongholds. Out of nearly 1100 counties in the South, Roosevelt won two counties in Alabama, one in Arkansas, seven in North Carolina, three in Georgia, 17 in Tennessee, two in Texas, one in Virginia, and none in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, or South Carolina.
Assassination attempt
On October 14, 1912, while arriving at a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Roosevelt was shot from seven feet away in front of the Gilpatrick Hotel by a delusional saloonkeeper named John Flammang Schrank, who believed that the ghost of assassinated president William McKinley had directed him to kill Roosevelt. The bullet lodged in his chest after penetrating his steel eyeglass case and passing through a 50-page-thick single-folded copy of the speech titled "Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual", which he was carrying in his jacket. Schrank was immediately disarmed (by Czech immigrant Frank Bukovsky), captured, and might have been lynched had Roosevelt not shouted for Schrank to remain unharmed. Roosevelt assured the crowd he was all right, then ordered police to take charge of Schrank and to make sure no violence was done to him.
As an experienced hunter and anatomist, Roosevelt correctly concluded that since he was not coughing blood, the bullet had not reached his lung. He declined suggestions to go to the hospital immediately and instead delivered a 90 minute speech with blood seeping into his shirt. His opening comments to the gathered crowd were, "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose." Only after finishing his address did he accept medical attention.
Subsequent probes and an x-ray showed that the bullet had lodged in Roosevelt's chest muscle, but did not penetrate the pleura. Doctors concluded that it would be less dangerous to leave it in place than to attempt to remove it, and Roosevelt carried the bullet with him for the rest of his life. Both Taft and Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson suspended their own campaigning until Roosevelt recovered and resumed his. When asked if the shooting would affect his election campaign, he said to the reporter "I'm fit as a bull moose." The bull moose became a symbol of both Roosevelt and the Progressive Party, and it often was referred to as simply the Bull Moose Party. He spent two weeks recuperating before returning to the campaign trail. He later wrote a friend about the bullet inside him, "I do not mind it any more than if it were in my waistcoat pocket."
Farewell manifesto
On October 20, Roosevelt spoke to a crowd of 16,000 at Madison Square Garden. The speech included: "Perhaps once in a generation, there comes a chance for the people of a country to play their part wisely and fearlessly in some great battle of the age-long warfare for human rights."
Election results
After the Democrats nominated Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey, Roosevelt did not expect to win the general election, as Wilson had compiled a record attractive to many progressive Democrats who might have otherwise considered voting for Roosevelt. Roosevelt still campaigned vigorously, and the election developed into a two-person contest between Wilson and Roosevelt despite Taft's presence in the race. Roosevelt respected Wilson, but the two differed on various issues; Wilson opposed any federal intervention regarding women's suffrage or child labor (he viewed these as state issues), and attacked Roosevelt's tolerance of large businesses.
Roosevelt won 4.1 million votes (27%), compared to Taft's 3.5 million (23%). Wilson gained 6.3 million votes (42% of the total) and a massive landslide in the Electoral College, with 435 electoral votes; Roosevelt won 88 electoral votes, while Taft won 8. Pennsylvania was the only eastern state won by Roosevelt; in the Midwest, he carried Michigan, Minnesota, and South Dakota; in the West, California, and Washington. Wilson's victory represented the first Democratic presidential election victory since Cleveland's 1892 campaign, and it was the party's best performance in the Electoral College since 1852. Roosevelt, meanwhile, garnered a higher share of the popular vote than any other third-party presidential candidate in history and won the most states of any third-party candidate after the Civil War.
South American expedition (1913-1914)
A friend of Roosevelt's, Father John Augustine Zahm, persuaded Roosevelt to participate in an expedition to South America. To finance the expedition, Roosevelt received support from the American Museum of Natural History in return for promising to bring back many new animal specimens. Roosevelt's popular book, Through the Brazilian Wilderness describes his expedition into the Brazilian jungle in 1913 as a member of the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition, co-named after its leader, Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon.
Once in South America, a new, far more ambitious goal was added: to find the headwaters of the Rio da Duvida (Portuguese for "River of Doubt"), and trace it north to the Madeira and thence to the Amazon River. It was later renamed Roosevelt River in honor of the former president. Roosevelt's crew consisted of his son Kermit, Colonel Rondon, naturalist George Kruck Cherrie (sent by the American Museum of Natural History), Brazilian Lieutenant João Lira, team physician Dr. José Antonio Cajazeira, and 16 skilled paddlers and porters. Roosevelt also identified Leo Miller (another AMNH recommendation), Anthony Fiala, Frank Harper, and Jacob Sigg as crew members. The initial expedition started somewhat tenuously on December 9, 1913, at the height of the rainy season. The trip down the River of Doubt started on February 27, 1914.
During the trip down the river, Roosevelt suffered a minor leg wound after he jumped into the river to try to prevent two canoes from smashing against the rocks. The flesh wound he received, however, soon gave him tropical fever that resembled the malaria he had contracted while in Cuba fifteen years before. Because the bullet lodged in his chest from the assassination attempt in 1912 was never removed, his health worsened from the infection. This weakened Roosevelt so greatly that six weeks into the adventure, he had to be attended to day and night by the expedition's physician and his son Kermit. By then, he could not walk because of the infection in his injured leg and an infirmity in the other, which was due to a traffic accident a decade earlier. Roosevelt was riddled with chest pains, fighting a fever that soared to and at times made him delirious, at one point constantly reciting the first two lines of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan": "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure dome decree". Regarding his condition as a threat to the survival of the others, Roosevelt insisted he be left behind to allow the poorly provisioned expedition to proceed as rapidly as it could, preparing to commit suicide with an overdose of morphine. Only an appeal by his son persuaded him to continue.
Despite Roosevelt's continued decline and loss of over , Colonel Rondon reduced the pace of the expedition to allow for his commission's mapmaking and other geographical tasks, which required regular stops to fix the expedition's position by sun-based survey. Upon Roosevelt's return to New York, friends and family were startled by his physical appearance and fatigue. Roosevelt wrote, perhaps prophetically, to a friend that the trip had cut his life short by ten years. For the rest of his few remaining years, he would be plagued by flare-ups of malaria and leg inflammations so severe as to require surgery. Before Roosevelt had even completed his sea voyage home, critics raised doubts over his claims of exploring and navigating a completely uncharted river over long. When he had recovered sufficiently, he addressed a standing-room-only convention organized in Washington, D.C., by the National Geographic Society and satisfactorily defended his claims.
Final years
Roosevelt returned to the United States in May 1914. Though he was outraged by the Wilson Administration's conclusion of a treaty that expressed "sincere regret" for the way in which the United States had acquired the Panama Canal Zone, he was impressed by many of the reforms passed under Wilson. Roosevelt made several campaign appearances for the Progressives, but the 1914 elections were a disaster for the fledgling third party. Roosevelt began to envision another campaign for president, this time with himself at the head of the Republican Party, but conservative party leaders remained opposed to Roosevelt. In hopes of engineering a joint nomination, the Progressives scheduled the 1916 Progressive National Convention at the same time as the 1916 Republican National Convention. When the Republicans nominated Charles Evans Hughes, Roosevelt declined the Progressive nomination and urged his Progressive followers to support the Republican candidate. Though Roosevelt had long disliked Hughes, he disliked Wilson even more, and he campaigned energetically for the Republican nominee. However, Wilson won the 1916 election by a narrow margin. The Progressives disappeared as a party following the 1916 election, and Roosevelt and many of his followers permanently re-joined the Republican Party.
World War I
When the First World War began in 1914, Roosevelt strongly supported the Allies and demanded a harsher policy against Germany, especially regarding submarine warfare. Roosevelt angrily denounced the foreign policy of President Wilson, calling it a failure regarding the atrocities in Belgium and the violations of American rights. In 1916, while campaigning for Hughes, Roosevelt repeatedly denounced Irish-Americans and German-Americans whom he described as unpatriotic, saying they put the interests of Ireland and Germany ahead of America's by supporting neutrality. He insisted that one had to be 100% American, not a "hyphenated American" who juggled multiple loyalties. In March 1917, Congress gave Roosevelt the authority to raise a maximum of four divisions similar to the Rough Riders, and Major Frederick Russell Burnham was put in charge of both the general organization and recruitment. However, President Wilson announced to the press that he would not send Roosevelt and his volunteers to France, but instead would send an American Expeditionary Force under the command of General John J. Pershing. Roosevelt never forgave Wilson, and quickly published The Foes of Our Own Household, an indictment of the sitting president. Roosevelt's youngest son, Quentin, a pilot with the American forces in France, was killed when shot down behind German lines on July 14, 1918, at the age of 20. It is said that Quentin's death distressed Roosevelt so much that he never recovered from his loss.
League of Nations
Roosevelt was an early supporter of the modern view that there needs to be a global order. In his Nobel prize address of 1910, he said, "it would be a master stroke if those great Powers honestly bent on peace would form a League of Peace, not only to keep the peace among themselves, but to prevent, by force if necessary, its being broken by others." It would have executive power such as the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 lacked. He called for American participation.
When World War I broke out, Roosevelt proposed "a World League for the Peace of Righteousness", in September 1914, which would preserve sovereignty but limit armaments and require arbitration. He added that it should be "solemnly covenanted that if any nations refused to abide by the decisions of such a court, then others draw the sword in behalf of peace and justice." In 1915 he outlined this plan more specifically, urging that nations guarantee their entire military force, if necessary, against any nation that refused to carry out arbitration decrees or violated rights of other nations. Though Roosevelt had some concerns about the impact on United States sovereignty, he insisted that such a league would only work if the United States participated as one of the "joint guarantors". Roosevelt referred to this plan in a 1918 speech as "the most feasible for...a league of nations." By this time Wilson was strongly hostile to Roosevelt and Lodge, and developed his own plans for a rather different League of Nations. It became reality along Wilson's lines at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Roosevelt denounced Wilson's approach but died before it was adopted at Paris. However, Lodge was willing to accept it with serious reservations. In the end, on March 19, 1920, Wilson had Democratic Senators vote against the League with the Lodge Reservations and the United States never joined the League of Nations.
Final political activities
Roosevelt's attacks on Wilson helped the Republicans win control of Congress in the midterm elections of 1918. He declined a request from New York Republicans to run for another gubernatorial term, but attacked Wilson's Fourteen Points, calling instead for the unconditional surrender of Germany. Though his health was uncertain, he was seen as a leading contender for the 1920 Republican nomination, but insisted that, "If they take me, they'll have to take me without a single modification of the things that I have always stood for! He wrote William Allen White, "I wish to do everything in my power to make the Republican Party the Party of sane, constructive radicalism, just as it was under Lincoln." Accordingly, he told the 1918 state convention of the Maine Republican Party that he stood for old-age pensions, insurance for sickness and unemployment, construction of public housing for low-income families, the reduction of working hours, aid to farmers, and more regulation of large corporations.
While his political profile remained high, Roosevelt's physical condition continued to deteriorate throughout 1918 due to the long-term effects of jungle diseases. He was hospitalized for seven weeks late in the year and never fully recovered.
Death
On the night of January 5, 1919, Roosevelt suffered breathing problems. After receiving treatment from his physician, Dr. George W. Faller, he felt better and went to bed. Roosevelt's last words were "Please put out that light, James" to his family servant James E. Amos. Between 4:00 and 4:15 the next morning, Roosevelt, at the age of 60, died in his sleep at Sagamore Hill after a blood clot detached from a vein and traveled to his lungs.
Upon receiving word of his death, his son Archibald telegraphed his siblings: "The old lion is dead." Woodrow Wilson's vice president, Thomas R. Marshall, said that "Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight." Following a private farewell service in the North Room at Sagamore Hill, a simple funeral was held at Christ Episcopal Church in Oyster Bay. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, Charles Evans Hughes, Warren G. Harding, Henry Cabot Lodge, and William Howard Taft were among the mourners. The snow-covered procession route to Youngs Memorial Cemetery was lined with spectators and a squad of mounted policemen who had ridden from New York City. Roosevelt was buried on a hillside overlooking Oyster Bay.
Writer
Roosevelt was a prolific author, writing with passion on subjects ranging from foreign policy to the importance of the national park system. Roosevelt was also an avid reader of poetry. Poet Robert Frost said that Roosevelt "was our kind. He quoted poetry to me. He knew poetry."
As an editor of Outlook magazine, Roosevelt had weekly access to a large, educated national audience. In all, Roosevelt wrote about 18 books (each in several editions), including his autobiography, The Rough Riders, History of the Naval War of 1812, and others on subjects such as ranching, explorations, and wildlife. His most ambitious book was the four volume narrative The Winning of the West, focused on the American frontier in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Roosevelt said that the American character—indeed a new "American race" (ethnic group) had emerged from the heroic wilderness hunters and Indian fighters, acting on the frontier with little government help. Roosevelt also published an account of his 1909–10 African expedition entitled African Game Trails.
In 1907, Roosevelt became embroiled in a widely publicized literary debate known as the nature fakers controversy. A few years earlier, naturalist John Burroughs had published an article entitled "Real and Sham Natural History" in the Atlantic Monthly, attacking popular writers of the day such as Ernest Thompson Seton, Charles G. D. Roberts, and William J. Long for their fantastical representations of wildlife. Roosevelt agreed with Burroughs's criticisms, and published several essays of his own denouncing the booming genre of "naturalistic" animal stories as "yellow journalism of the woods". It was the President himself who popularized the negative term "nature faker" to describe writers who depicted their animal characters with excessive anthropomorphism.
Character and beliefs
Roosevelt intensely disliked being called "Teddy", despite the widespread public association with said moniker, and was quick to point out this to those who referred to him as such, though it would become widely used by newspapers during his political career.
He was an active Freemason and member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
British scholar Marcus Cunliffe evaluates the liberal argument that Roosevelt was an opportunist, exhibitionist, and imperialist. Cunliffe praises TR's versatility, his respect for law, and his sincerity. He argues that Roosevelt's foreign policy was better than his detractors allege. Cunliffe calls him "a big man in several respects," ranking him below Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson, and on the same level as Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Strenuous life
Roosevelt had a lifelong interest in pursuing what he called, in an 1899 speech, "The Strenuous Life". To this end, he exercised regularly and took up boxing, tennis, hiking, rowing, polo, and horseback riding. He also continued his habit of skinny-dipping in the Potomac River during the winter. As governor of New York, he boxed with sparring partners several times each week, a practice he regularly continued as president until being hit so hard in the face he became blind in his left eye (a fact not made public until many years later). As president, he practiced judo for two 2-month periods in 1902 and 1904, not attaining any rank. Roosevelt began to believe in the utility of jiu-jitsu training after training with Yoshitsugu Yamashita. Concerned that the United States would lose its military supremacy to rising powers like Japan, Roosevelt began to advocate for jiu-jitsu training for American soldiers. Feminists annoyed by the posturing of men like Roosevelt, insisted that women were just as capable of learning jiu-jitsu. To prove their point, Martha Blow Wadsworth and Maria Louise ("Hallie") Davis Elkins hired Fude Yamashita, a highly skilled jiu-jitsu instructor and the wife of Yoshitsugu Yamashita, to teach a jiu-jitsu class for women and girls in Washington, DC in 1904. Women had already begun training in boxing in the United States as a means of personal and political empowerment. Jiu-jitsu training thus soon also became popular with American women, coinciding with the origins of a women's self-defense movement.
Roosevelt was an enthusiastic singlestick player and, according to Harper's Weekly, showed up at a White House reception with his arm bandaged after a bout with General Leonard Wood in 1905. Roosevelt was an avid reader, reading tens of thousands of books, at a rate of several per day in multiple languages. Along with Thomas Jefferson, Roosevelt was the most well-read of all American presidents.
Warrior
Historians have often emphasized Roosevelt's warrior persona. He took aggressive positions regarding war with Spain in 1898, Colombia in 1903, and especially with Germany, from 1915 to 1917. As a demonstration of American naval might, he sent the "Great White Fleet" around the world in 1907–1909. The implicit threat of the "big stick" of military power provided leverage to "speak softly" and quietly resolve conflict in numerous cases. He boasted in his autobiography:
Richard D. White Jr states, "Roosevelt's warrior spirit framed his views of national politics, [and] international relations."
Historian Howard K. Beale has argued:
Religion
Roosevelt attended church regularly and was a lifelong adherent of the Reformed Church in America, an American affiliate of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1907, concerning the motto "In God We Trust" on money, he wrote, "It seems to me eminently unwise to cheapen such a motto by use on coins, just as it would be to cheapen it by use on postage stamps, or in advertisements." Roosevelt talked a great deal about religion. Biographer Edmund Morris states:
Roosevelt publicly encouraged church attendance and was a conscientious churchgoer himself. When gas rationing was introduced during the First World War, he walked the three miles from his home at Sagamore Hill to the local church and back, even after a serious operation had made it difficult for him to travel by foot. It was said that Roosevelt "allowed no engagement to keep him from going to church," and he remained a fervent advocate of the Bible throughout his adult life. According to Christian F. Reisner, writing in 1922 shortly after Roosevelt's death, "Religion was as natural to Mr. Roosevelt as breathing," and when the travel library for Roosevelt's famous Smithsonian-sponsored African expedition was being assembled, the Bible was, according to his sister, "the first book selected." In an address delivered in his home at Oyster Bay to the Long Island Bible Society in 1901, Roosevelt declared that:
Political positions
When he assumed the presidency, Roosevelt reassured many conservatives, stating, "the mechanism of modern business is so delicate that extreme care must be taken not to interfere with it in a spirit of rashness or ignorance." The following year, Roosevelt asserted the president's independence from business interests by opposing the merger which created the Northern Securities Company, and many were surprised that any president, much less an unelected one, would challenge powerful banker J.P. Morgan. In his last two years as president, Roosevelt became increasingly distrustful of big business, despite its close ties to the Republican Party. Roosevelt sought to replace the 19th-century laissez-faire economic environment with a new economic model which included a larger regulatory role for the federal government. He believed that 19th-century entrepreneurs had risked their fortunes on innovations and new businesses, and that these capitalists had been rightly rewarded. By contrast, he believed that 20th-century capitalists risked little but nonetheless reaped huge and, given the lack of risk, unjust, economic rewards. Without a redistribution of wealth away from the upper class, Roosevelt feared that the country would turn to radicals or fall to revolution. His Square Deal domestic program had three main goals: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. The Square Deal evolved into his program of "New Nationalism", which emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests and a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions.
Foreign policy beliefs
In the analysis by Henry Kissinger, Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to develop the guideline that it was America's duty to make its enormous power and potential influence felt globally. The idea of being a passive "city on the hill" model that others could look up to, he rejected. Roosevelt, trained in biology, was a social darwinist who believed in survival of the fittest. The international world in his view was a realm of violence and conflict. The United States had all the economic and geographical potential to be the fittest nation on the globe. The United States had a duty to act decisively. For example, in terms of the Monroe Doctrine, America had to prevent European incursions in the Western Hemisphere. But there was more, as he expressed in his famous Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: the U.S. had to be the policeman of the region because unruly, corrupt smaller nations had to be controlled, and if United States did not do it, European powers would in fact intervene and develop their own base of power in the hemisphere in contravention to the Monroe Doctrine.
Roosevelt was a realist and a conservative. He deplored many of the increasingly popular idealistic liberal themes, such as were promoted by William Jennings Bryan, the anti-imperialists, and Woodrow Wilson. Kissinger says he rejected the efficacy of international law. Roosevelt argue that if a country could not protect its own interests, the international community could not help very much. He ridiculed disarmament proposals that were increasingly common. He saw no likelihood of an international power capable of checking wrongdoing on a major scale. As for world government: I regard the Wilson–Bryan attitude of trusting to fantastic peace treaties, too impossible promises, to all kinds of scraps of paper without any backing in efficient force, as abhorrent. It is infinitely better for a nation and for the world to have the Frederick the Great and Bismarck tradition as regards foreign policy than to have the Bryan or Bryan–Wilson attitude as a permanent national attitude.... A milk-and-water righteousness unbacked by force is...as wicked as and even more mischievous than force divorced from righteousness.
On the positive side, Roosevelt favored spheres of influence, whereby one great power would generally prevail, such as the United States in the Western Hemisphere or Great Britain in the Indian subcontinent. Japan fit that role and he approved. However he had deep distrust of both Germany and Russia.
Legacy
Historians credit Roosevelt for changing the nation's political system by permanently placing the "bully pulpit" of the presidency at center stage and making character as important as the issues. His accomplishments include trust busting and conservationism. He is a hero to liberals and progressives for his proposals in 1907–1912 that presaged the modern welfare state of the New Deal Era, including direct federal taxation, labor reforms, and more direct democracy, while conservationists admire Roosevelt for putting the environment and selflessness towards future generations on the national agenda, and conservatives and nationalists respect his commitment to law and order, civic duty and military values, as well as his personality of individual self-responsibility and hardiness. Dalton says, "Today he is heralded as the architect of the modern presidency, as a world leader who boldly reshaped the office to meet the needs of the new century and redefined America's place in the world."
However, liberals and socialists have criticized him for his interventionist and imperialist approach to nations he considered "uncivilized". Conservatives and libertarians reject his vision of the welfare state and emphasis on the superiority of government over private action. Historians typically rank Roosevelt among the top five presidents in American history.
Persona and masculinity
Dalton says Roosevelt is remembered as, "one of the most picturesque personalities who has ever enlivened the landscape". His friend, historian Henry Adams, proclaimed: "Roosevelt, more than any other man... showed the singular primitive quality that belongs to ultimate matter—the quality that medieval theology assigned to God—he was pure act."
Roosevelt's biographers have stressed his personality. Henry F. Pringle, who won the Pulitzer Prize in biography for his Theodore Roosevelt (1931) stated: "The Theodore Roosevelt of later years was the most adolescent of men… Failure to receive the Medal of Honor for his exploits [in Cuba] had been a grief as real as any of those which swamp childhood in despair. 'You must always remember,' wrote Cecil Spring Rice in 1904, 'that the President is about six.'"
Cooper compared him with Woodrow Wilson and argued that both of them played the roles of warrior and priest. Dalton stressed Roosevelt's strenuous life. Sarah Watts examined the desires of the "Rough Rider in the White House". Brands calls Roosevelt "the last romantic", arguing that his romantic concept of life emerged from his belief that "physical bravery was the highest virtue and war the ultimate test of bravery".
Roosevelt as the exemplar of American masculinity has become a major theme. As president, he repeatedly warned men that they were becoming too office-bound, too complacent, too comfortable with physical ease and moral laxity, and were failing in their duties to propagate the race and exhibit masculine vigor. French historian Serge Ricard says, "the ebullient apostle of the Strenuous Life offers ideal material for a detailed psycho-historical analysis of aggressive manhood in the changing socio-cultural environment of his era; McKinley, Taft, or Wilson would perhaps inadequately serve that purpose". He promoted competitive sports like boxing and jiu-jitsu for physically strengthening American men. He also believed that organizations like the Boy Scouts of America, founded in 1910, could help mold and strengthen the character of American boys. Brands shows that heroic displays of bravery were essential to Roosevelt's image and mission:
Memorials and cultural depictions
Roosevelt was included with Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln at the Mount Rushmore Memorial, designed in 1927 with the approval of Republican President Calvin Coolidge.
For his gallantry at San Juan Hill, Roosevelt's commanders recommended him for the Medal of Honor. However, the initial recommendation lacked any eyewitnesses, and the effort was eventually tainted by Roosevelt's own lobbying of the War Department. In the late 1990s, Roosevelt's supporters again recommended the award, which was denied by the Secretary of the Army on basis that the decorations board determined "Roosevelt's bravery in battle did not rise to the level that would justify the Medal of Honor and, indeed, it did not rise to the level of men who fought in that engagement." Nevertheless, politicians apparently convinced the secretary to reconsider the award a third time and reverse himself, leading to the charge that it was a "politically motivated award." On January 16, 2001, President Bill Clinton awarded Theodore Roosevelt the Medal of Honor posthumously for his charge on San Juan Hill. He is the only president to have received the Medal of Honor.
The United States Navy named two ships for Roosevelt: the , a submarine that was in commission from 1961 to 1982, and the , an aircraft carrier that has been on active duty in the Atlantic Fleet since 1986.
On November 18, 1956, the United States Postal Service released a 6¢ Liberty Issue postage stamp honoring Roosevelt. A 32¢ stamp was issued on February 3, 1998, as part of the Celebrate the Century stamp sheet series. In 2008, Columbia Law School awarded Roosevelt a Juris Doctor degree, posthumously making him a member of the class of 1882.
Roosevelt's "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick" ideology is still quoted by politicians and columnists in different countries—not only in English, but also in translations to various other languages. Another lasting, popular legacy of Roosevelt is the stuffed toy bears—teddy bears—named after him following an incident on a hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902. Roosevelt has been portrayed in films and television series such as Brighty of the Grand Canyon, The Wind and the Lion, Rough Riders, My Friend Flicka, and Law of the Plainsman. Robin Williams portrayed Roosevelt in the form of a wax mannequin that comes to life in Night at the Museum and its sequels Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. In 2017, it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio will portray Roosevelt in a biopic to be directed by Martin Scorsese.
Moreover, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the state of North Dakota is named after him. The America the Beautiful Quarters series features Roosevelt riding a horse on the national park's quarter.
Asteroid 188693 Roosevelt, discovered by astronomers with the Catalina Sky Survey in 2005, was named after him. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on November 8, 2019 ().
In January 2022, after years of lobbying by activists, an equestrian statue of the former president was removed from where it had stood for more than eighty years in front of New York's American Museum of Natural History. Responding to controversy, the museum noted that the design "communicates a racial hierarchy that the museum and members of the public have long found disturbing."
Audiovisual media
Theodore Roosevelt was one of the first presidents whose voice was recorded for posterity. Several of his recorded speeches survive. A 4.6-minute voice recording, which preserves Roosevelt's lower timbre ranges particularly well for its time, is among those available from the Michigan State University libraries (this is the 1912 recording of The Right of the People to Rule, recorded by Edison at Carnegie Hall). The audio clip sponsored by the Authentic History Center includes his defense of the Progressive Party in 1912, wherein he proclaims it the "party of the people" – in contrast with the other major parties.
Roosevelt goes for a ride in Arch Hoxsey's plane in October 1910
In popular culture
Theodore Roosevelt appears as the leader of the American civilization in the Firaxis Games title Civilization VI. His unique ability is Roosevelt Corollary, which gives +5 Combat Strength for all units inside America's home continent, and +1 Appeal to all tiles in cities with a national park.
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
Full biographies
.
.
.
, 105 pp, very short biography by leading scholar.
.; also titled Power and responsibility; the life and times of Theodore Roosevelt online free to borrow
.
.
.
, only volume published, to age 28.
.
.
Personality and activities
.
.
Provides a lesson plan on TR as the historical figure who most exemplifies the quality of masculinity.
. Chronicles the events of TR's presidency during the summers of his two terms.
. The president's use of publicity, rhetoric and force of personality.
; his deadly 1913–14 trip to the Amazon.
, best seller; to 1886.
, to 1884.
. 494 pp.
, examines TR and his family during the World War I period.
.
, 240 pp. TR in Africa & Europe, 1909–10
. 289 pp.
, 337 pp; TR's political thought and its significance for republican self-government.
Domestic policies
online review; another online review
Cutright, P.R. (1985) Theodore Roosevelt: The making of a Modern Conservationist (U of Illinois Press.)
.
, standard history of his domestic and foreign policy as president.
Bakari, Mohamed El-Kamel. "Mapping the 'Anthropocentric-ecocentric'Dualism in the History of American Presidency: The Good, the Bad, and the Ambivalent." Journal of Studies in Social Sciences 14, no. 2 (2016).
.
.
Redekop, Benjamin. (2015). "Embodying the Story: The Conservation Leadership of Theodore Roosevelt". Leadership (2015) DOI:10.1177/1742715014546875 online
.
.
Politics
. How TR did politics.
, 323 pp.
.
.
.
.
. 361 pp.
.
. Focus on 1912; online free
. online free
. Attacks TR policies from conservative/libertarian perspective.
Foreign policy, military and naval issues
. online
. excerpt
.
. 328 pp.
Kuehn, John T. "Theodore Roosevelt’s Naval Diplomacy: The U.S. Navy and the Birth of the American Century," Naval War College Review (2010) 53#3 online
Livermore, Seward W. "Theodore Roosevelt, the American Navy, and the Venezuelan Crisis of 1902-1903." American Historical Review 51.3 (1946): 452–471. online
.
.
Nester, William R. Theodore Roosevelt and the Art of American Power: An American for All Time. Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. excerpt
Neu, Charles E. "Theodore Roosevelt and American Involvement in the Far East, 1901-1909." Pacific Historical Review 35.4 (1966): 433–449. online
O'Gara, Gordon Carpenter. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of the Modern Navy. (Princeton UP, 1943). online
.
Oyos, Matthew M. In Command: Theodore Roosevelt and the American Military (2018) online review
Pietrusza, David (2018). TR's Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy
.
.
.
.
Thompson, John M. Great Power Rising: Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of US Foreign Policy (Oxford UP, 2019).
. 196 pp.
Turk, Richard W. The Ambiguous Relationship: Theodore Roosevelt and Alfred Thayer Mahan (1987) [https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/93/5/1413/70734 online review
Historiography
Cunliffe, Marcus. "Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States 1901–1908" History Today (Sept 1955) 4#9 pp. 592–601, online.
Ricard, Serge. "The State of Theodore Roosevelt Studies" H-Diplo Essay No. 116 24 October 2014 online
, excerpt and text search, 28 new essays by scholars; focus on historiography. online
Primary sources
Kohn, Edward P., ed. A Most Glorious Ride: The Diaries of Theodore Roosevelt, 1877–1886 (State University of New York Press, 2015), 284 pp.
; vol 2
.
, 20 vol.; 18,000 pages containing most of TR's speeches, books and essays, but not his letters; a CD-ROM edition is available; some of TR's books are available online through Project Bartleby
, Roosevelt's opinions on many issues; online version at Theodore Roosevelt.
, 8 vols. Very large collection. vol 1 1868–1898 online free
. online free
.
.
online free to borrow
.
.
.
External links
Official
White House biography
Organizations
Boone and Crockett Club
Theodore Roosevelt Association
Libraries and collections
Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University
Theodore Roosevelt Collection, at the Houghton Library, Harvard University
Julian L. Street Papers on Theodore Roosevelt, at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
Doris A. and Lawrence H. Budner Collection on Theodore Roosevelt at the DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University
Theodore Roosevelt's journalism at The Archive of American Journalism
Theodore Roosevelt American Museum of Natural History
Roosevelt Papers, at the Library of Congress
Guide to the Herbert R. Strauss Collection of Theodore Roosevelt Papers 1884–1919 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
Media
"Life Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, September 3, 1999
"Writings of Theodore Roosevelt" from C-SPAN's American Writers: A Journey Through History
Other
Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt: A Resource Guide – Library of Congress
1858 births
1919 deaths
1900s in the United States
Theodore
19th-century American politicians
19th-century American historians
19th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century presidents of the United States
20th-century vice presidents of the United States
American autobiographers
American conservationists
American essayists
American explorers
American fishers
American hunters
American male judoka
American male non-fiction writers
American military personnel of the Spanish–American War
American naval historians
American Nobel laureates
American political writers
American shooting survivors
Articles containing video clips
American bibliophiles
American people of Dutch descent
Bulloch family
Burials in New York (state)
Columbia Law School alumni
Deaths from pulmonary embolism
New York City Police Commissioners
English-language spelling reform advocates
Explorers of Amazonia
American Freemasons
Governors of New York (state)
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Harvard College alumni
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Members of the New York State Assembly
Military personnel from New York City
New York (state) Progressives (1912)
New York (state) Republicans
Nobel Peace Prize laureates
People associated with the American Museum of Natural History
People from Oyster Bay (town), New York
Politicians from New York City
Presidents of the American Historical Association
Presidents of the United States
Progressive Era in the United States
Ranchers from North Dakota
Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees
Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees
Republican Party presidents of the United States
Republican Party state governors of the United States
Republican Party vice presidents of the United States
Rough Riders
Schuyler family
Sons of the American Revolution
Spanish–American War recipients of the Medal of Honor
United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
United States Army officers
United States Assistant Secretaries of the Navy
Candidates in the 1904 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1912 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1916 United States presidential election
1900 United States vice-presidential candidates
Vice presidents of the United States
Writers from New York (state)
Harvard Advocate alumni
American diarists
American political party founders
Aphorists
American nationalists
20th-century American male writers | true | [
"Kamaanya Kadduwamala was Kabaka of the Kingdom of Buganda from 1814 until 1832. He was the twenty-eighth (28th) Kabaka of Buganda.\n\nClaim to the throne\nHe was the eldest son of Kabaka Semakookiro Wasajja Nabbunga, Kabaka of Buganda, who reigned between 1797 and 1814. His mother was Abakyala Nansikombi Ndwadd'ewazibwa, the Kaddulubaale, of the Nseenene (Grasshopper) Clan. She was his father's first wife. His father married at least fifteen wives. He ascended to the throne upon the death of his father in 1814, assuming the name of Kamaanya. He established his capital at Nsujjumpolu.\n\nMarried life\nLike his father, Kabaka Kamaanya had many wives. He is recorded to have married at least thirty eight (38) wives:\n\n Baakuyiira, daughter of Lule, of the Ngonge clan\n Basiima Mukooki, daughter of Kateesigwa, of the Nkima clan\n Gwowemukira\n Kayaga, daughter of Kiwaalabye, of the Kkobe clan\n Kisirisa, daughter of Walusimbi, of the Ffumbe clan\n Naabakyaala Saamanya, the Kaddulubaale, daughter of Walusimbi, of the Ffumbe clan. She was killed on the orders of her husband.\n Ky'osiby'omunyolo, daughter of Jjumba, of the Nkima clan\n Kyot'owadde, daughter of Kiyaga, of the Mamba clan\n Kyowol'otudde, daughter of Lutalo, of the Ndiga clan\n Lubadde, daughter of Majanja, of the Ngeye clan\n Mpozaaki, daughter of Kateesigwa, of the Nkima clan\n Mubyuwo?, daughter of Nakatanza, of the Lugave clan\n Muteezi, daughter of Nakato, of the Mbogo clan\n Mukwaano, daughter of Mugema, of the Nkima clan\n Nambi, daughter of Lutaaya, of the Ngonge clan\n Naabakyaala Nabikuku, the Kabejja, daughter of Jjumba, of the Nkima clan\n Nabirumbi, daughter of Kisuule of Busoga, of the Ngabi (Reedbuck) clan\n Nabiswaazi, daughter of Jjumba, of the Nkima clan\n Nabyonga, daughter of Mwamba?, of the Lugave clan\n Nabbowa, daughter of Kafumbirwango, of the Lugave clan\n Nakaddu, daughter of Kamyuuka, of the Kkobe clan\n Nakanyike, daughter of Senfuma, of the Mamba clan\n Nakkazi Kannyange, daughter of Ssambwa Katenda, of the Mamba clan\n Nakkazi, daughter of Lutalo, of the Mamba clan\n Nakku, daughter of Walusimbi, of the Ffumbe clan\n Nakyekoledde, daughter of Gabunga, of the Mamba clan\n Nalumansi, daughter of Walusimbi, of the Ffumbe clan\n Namale, daughter of Kiwalabye, of the Kkobe clan\n Namukasa, daughter of Nankere, of the Mamba clan\n Namawuba, daughter of Sempala, of the Ffumbe clan\n Nambi Tebasaanidde, daughter of Mugula, of the Mamba clan\n Namwenyagira, daughter of Kamyuuka, of the Kkobe clan\n Nannozi, daughter of Gomottoka, of the Nvubu clan\n Nankanja, daughter of Terwewalwa, of the Nvubu clan\n Nzaalambi, daughter of Natiigo, of the Lugave clan\n Siribatwaalira, of the Nkima clan\n Tebeemalizibwa, daughter of Mwamba?, of the Lugave clan\n Nanteza\n\nIssue\nHe is recorded to have fathered sixty one (61) sons and several daughters. His son Suuna II, executed fifty eight (58) of his brothers during his reign. The children of Kabaka Kamaanya included:\n\n Prince (Omulangira) Kiggala I, whose mother was Baakuyiira\n Prince (Omulangira) Nakibinge Bawuunyakangu, whose mother was Saamanya. He was killed by being burned alive, on the orders of his father at Busonyi, Busujju County.\n Prince (Omulangira) Kimera, whose mother was Gwowemukira\n Prince (Omulangira) Ndawula, whose mother was Gwowemukira\n Prince (Omulangira) Lule, whose mother was Gwowemukira\n Prince (Omulangira) Kiggala II, whose mother was Gwowemukira\n Prince (Omulangira) Kitereera, whose mother was Gwowemukira\n Princess (Omumbejja) Babirye, whose mother was Kayaga. Twin with Princess Nakato\n Princess (Omumbejja) Nakato, whose mother was Kayaga. Twin with Princess Nakato\n Prince (Omulangira) Kaggwa, whose mother was Kisirisa\n Prince (Omulangira) Bagunyeenyamangu, whose mother was Saamanya\n Prince (Omulangira) Mbajjwe, whose mother was Ky'osiby'omunyolo).\n Prince (Omulangira) Bamweyana, whose mother was Kyootowadde\n Prince (Omulangira) Twaayise, whose mother was Mpozaaki\n Prince (Omulangira) Kyomubi, whose mother was Mukwaano\n Prince (Omulangira) Luwedde, whose mother was Nabiswaazi\n Prince (Omulangira) Kimera, whose mother was Nabbowa\n Prince (Omulangira) Lumansi, whose mother was Nakaddu\n Prince (Omulangira) Tebandeke, whose mother was Nakanyike\n Prince (Omulangira) Suuna Kalema Kansinjo, who succeeded as Kabaka Suuna II Kalema Kansinjo Mukaabya Ssekkyungwa Muteesa I Sewankambo Walugembe Mig'ekyaamye Lukeberwa Kyetutumula Magulunnyondo Lubambula Omutanda Sseggwanga, whose mother was Nakkazi Kannyange\n Prince (Omulangira) Wasajja, whose mother was Nakkazi. He escaped the slaughter of the princes by his brother, Suuna II.\n Prince (Omulangira) Ndawula, whose mother was Nakyekoledde\n Prince (Omulangira) Mutebi, whose mother was Nakyekoledde\n Prince (Omulangira) Mugogo, whose mother was Kyotowadde. He too, escaped the slaughter of the princes by his brother, Suuna II.\n Prince (Omulangira) Kigoye, whose mother was Namale\n Princess (Omumbejja) Ndagire I, whose mother was Namukasa\n Prince (Omulangira) Waswa, whose mother was Nambi Tebasaanidde. Twin with Babirye.\n Princess (Omumbejja) Babirye, whose mother was Nambi Tebasaanidde. Twin with Babirye\n Prince (Omulangira) Kajumba, whose mother was Nambi Tebasaanidde\n Princess (Omumbejja) Ndagire II, whose mother was Nannozi\n Prince (Omulangira) Kizza, whose mother was Nzaalambi\n Princess (Omumbejja) Tajuba, whose mother was Lubadde. She died after 1927.\n Princess (Omumbejja) Nassolo, whose mother Mubyuwo?\n Princess (Omumbejja) Nambi, whose mother was Muteezi\n Princess (Omumbejja) Nakayenga, whose mother was Kyowol'otudde\n Princess (Omumbejja) Namayanja, whose mother was Lubadde\n Princess (Omumbejja) Nabaloga, whose mother was Mpozaaki\n Princess (Omumbejja) Kagere, whose mother was Mubyuwo\n Princess (Omumbejja) Mwannyin'empologoma Nassolo, whose mother was Nabikuku\n Princess (Omumbejja) Nalumansi, whose mother was Nabirumbi\n Princess (Omumbejja) Nakku, whose mother was Nabyonga\n Princess (Omumbejja) Nakalema, whose mother was Nalumansi\n Princess (Omumbejja) Nakangu, whose mother was Nambi\n Princess (Omumbejja) Namika, whose mother was Nakaddu\n Princess (Omumbejja) Nakabiri, whose mother was Namwenyagira\n Princess (Omumbejja) Katalina Nabisubi Mpalikitenda Nakayenga, whose mother was Siribatwaalira. She was born around 1814. She died on 27 January 1907.\n Princess (Omumbejja) Lwantale, whose mother was Siribatwaalira. She was the Naalinnya to Kabaka Suuna II. She died in March 1881.\n Princess (Omumbejja) Nagaddya, whose mother was Tebeemalizibwa\n Princess (Omumbejja) Nassuuna Kyetenga, whose mother was Nankanja\n\nHis reign\nKabaka Kamaanya continued the wars of conquest against the Kingdom's neighbors which led to an expansion of the territory of the Buganda Kingdom. He conquered the ssaza, Buweekula, from Bunyoro and annexed it to Buganda.\n\nThe final years\nKabaka Kamaanya died at Lutengo in 1832. He was buried at Kasengejje, Busiro.\n\nQuotes\nIt is claimed that Kamanya’s original name was Kanakulya Mukasa. But because he was such a tyrant, his contemporaries began to refer to a person of uncontrollable temper with a persecution mania (and indirectly to the king) as a kamanya.\n MM Semakula Kiwanuka, A History of Buganda, 1971\n\nSuccession table\n\nSee also\n Kabaka of Buganda\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nList of the Kings of Buganda\n\nKabakas of Buganda\n19th-century monarchs in Africa\n1832 deaths\nYear of birth unknown",
"Mutebi I was Kabaka of the Kingdom of Buganda between 1674 and 1680. He was the fifteenth (15th) Kabaka of Buganda.\n\nClaim to the throne\nHe was the son of Kabaka Kateregga Kamegere, Kabaka of Buganda, who reigned between 1644 and 1674. His mother was Namutebi of the Mamba clan, the eighth (8th) wife of his father. He ascended the throne following the death of his father in 1674. He established his capital at Muguluka.\n\nMarried Life\nHe married five (5) wives:\n Nabitalo, daughter of Walusimbi, of the Ffumbe clan\n Nabukalu, daughter of Ndugwa, of the Lugave clan\n Naluyima, daughter of Nakatanza, of the Lugave clan\n Namawuba, daughter of Natiigo, of the Lugave clan\n Nampiima, daughter of Kibale, of the Mpeewo clan.\n\nIssue\nHe fathered seven (7) sons:\n Prince (Omulangira) Lukenge, whose mother was Nabitalo\n Kabaka Tebandeke Mujambula, Kabaka of Buganda, who reigned between 1704 and 1724, whose mother was Nabukalu\n Prince (Omulangira) Mpiima, whose mother was Nampiima\n Prince (Omulangira) Kayima, whose mother was Naluyima\n Prince (Omulangira) Mawuba, whose mother was Namawuba\n Prince (Omulangira) Mukama, whose mother was Namawuba\n Prince (Omulangira) Matumbwe, whose mother was Namawuba\n\nThe final years\nHe died at Mbalwa and was buried there. Other credible sources put his burial place at Kongojje, Busiro.\n\nSuccession table\n\nSee also\n Kabaka of Buganda\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nList of the Kings of Buganda\n\nKabakas of Buganda\n17th-century African people\n1680 deaths"
]
|
[
"Theodore Roosevelt",
"Early life and family",
"Where did he grow up?",
"at East 20th Street in New York City.",
"did he have siblings?",
"He was the second of four children born",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death,",
"Did he marrry?",
"I don't know.",
"Does he have kids?",
"I don't know.",
"Did his father approve of hi studies?",
"Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him.",
"In which ways?",
"He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness.",
"Who was his father?",
"businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr.",
"Did he follow his dads footsteps?",
"Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father.",
"Who was his mother?",
"socialite Martha Stewart \"Mittie\" Bulloch"
]
| C_39da91c6b83e45c9a3447a0282510521_1 | Did his mother approve? | 11 | Did Theodore Roosevelt mother approve? | Theodore Roosevelt | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at East 20th Street in New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister, Anna (nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother, Elliott, and a younger sister, Corinne. Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh, and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C.V.S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family. Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for display. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects". Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or his initials T. R., was an American politician, statesman, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He previously served as the 25th vice president under William McKinley from March to September 1901, and as the 33rd governor of New York from 1899 to 1900. Having assumed the presidency after McKinley's assassination, Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive policies.
Roosevelt was a sickly child with debilitating asthma but partly overcame his health problems by embracing a strenuous lifestyle. He integrated his exuberant personality, a vast range of interests and achievements into a "cowboy" persona defined by robust masculinity. He was home-schooled and began a lifelong naturalist avocation before attending Harvard. His book The Naval War of 1812 (1882) established his reputation as a learned historian and popular writer. Upon entering politics, he became the leader of the reform faction of Republicans in New York's state legislature. His wife and mother both died in the same night and he was psychologically devastated. He recuperated by buying and operating a cattle ranch in the Dakotas. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President William McKinley and in 1898 helped plan the highly successful naval war against Spain. He resigned to help form and lead the Rough Riders, a unit that fought the Spanish army in Cuba to great publicity. Returning a war hero, he was elected governor of New York in 1898. The New York state party leadership disliked his ambitious agenda and convinced McKinley to make Roosevelt his running mate in the 1900 election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously, and the McKinley–Roosevelt ticket won a landslide victory based on a platform of victory, peace and prosperity.
Roosevelt assumed the presidency at age 42 after McKinley was assassinated in September 1901. He remains the youngest person to become president of the United States. Roosevelt was a leader of the progressive movement and championed his "Square Deal" domestic policies, promising the average citizen fairness, breaking of trusts, regulation of railroads, and pure food and drugs. He prioritized conservation and established national parks, forests, and monuments intended to preserve the nation's natural resources. In foreign policy, he focused on Central America where he began construction of the Panama Canal. He expanded the Navy and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project American naval power. His successful efforts to broker the end of the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize. Roosevelt was elected to a full term in 1904 and continued to promote progressive policies. He groomed his close friend William Howard Taft to succeed him in the 1908 presidential election.
Roosevelt grew frustrated with Taft's brand of conservatism and belatedly tried to win the 1912 Republican nomination for president. He failed, walked out, and founded the Progressive Party. He ran in the 1912 presidential election and the split allowed the Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson to win the election. Following the defeat, Roosevelt led a two-year expedition to the Amazon basin where he nearly died of tropical disease. During World War I, he criticized Wilson for keeping the country out of the war; his offer to lead volunteers to France was rejected. He considered running for president again in 1920, but his health continued to deteriorate. He died in 1919. He is generally ranked in polls of historians and political scientists as one of the five best presidents.
Early life and family
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan, New York City. He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister (Anna, nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother (Elliott) and a younger sister (Corinne). Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal grandfather was of Dutch descent; his other ancestry included primarily Scottish and Scots-Irish, English and smaller amounts of German, Welsh and French. Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C. V. S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill as well as a brother of Robert Roosevelt and James A. Roosevelt. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart. Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of the Schuyler family.
Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for exhibition. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects".
Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War, even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness." Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body.
A 6-year-old Roosevelt witnessed the funeral procession of Abraham Lincoln from his grandfather's mansion in Union Square, New York City where he was photographed in the window along with his brother Elliott, as confirmed by wife Edith who was also present.
Education
Roosevelt was homeschooled, mostly by tutors and his parents. Biographer H. W. Brands argued that "The most obvious drawback to his home schooling was uneven coverage of the various areas of human knowledge." He was solid in geography and bright in history, biology, French, and German; however, he struggled in mathematics and the classical languages. When he entered Harvard College on September 27, 1876, his father advised: "Take care of your morals first, your health next, and finally your studies." His father's sudden death on February 9, 1878, devastated Roosevelt, but he eventually recovered and doubled his activities.
He did well in science, philosophy, and rhetoric courses but continued to struggle in Latin and Greek. He studied biology intently and was already an accomplished naturalist and a published ornithologist. He read prodigiously with an almost photographic memory. While at Harvard, Roosevelt participated in rowing and boxing; he was once runner-up in an intramural boxing tournament. Roosevelt was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi literary society (later the Fly Club), the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and the prestigious Porcellian Club; he was also an editor of The Harvard Advocate. In 1880, Roosevelt graduated Phi Beta Kappa (22nd of 177) from Harvard with an A.B. magna cum laude. Biographer Henry Pringle states:
After his father's death, Roosevelt had inherited $65,000 (), enough to live off comfortably for the rest of his life. Roosevelt gave up his earlier plan of studying natural science and instead decided to attend Columbia Law School, moving back into his family's home in New York City. Roosevelt was an able law student, but he often found law to be irrational. He spent much of his time writing a book on the War of 1812.
Determined to enter politics, Roosevelt began attending meetings at Morton Hall, the 59th Street headquarters of New York's 21st District Republican Association. Though Roosevelt's father had been a prominent member of the Republican Party, the younger Roosevelt made an unorthodox career choice for someone of his class, as most of Roosevelt's peers refrained from becoming too closely involved in politics. Roosevelt found allies in the local Republican Party, and he defeated an incumbent Republican state assemblyman closely tied to the political machine of Senator Roscoe Conkling. After his election victory, Roosevelt decided to drop out of law school, later saying, "I intended to be one of the governing class."
Naval history and strategy
While at Harvard, Roosevelt began a systematic study of the role played by the young United States Navy in the War of 1812. Assisted by two uncles, he scrutinized original source materials and official U.S. Navy records, ultimately publishing The Naval War of 1812 in 1882. The book contained drawings of individual and combined ship maneuvers, charts depicting the differences in iron throw weights of cannon shot between rival forces, and analyses of the differences and similarities between British and American leadership down to the ship-to-ship level. Upon release, The Naval War of 1812 was praised for its scholarship and style, and it remains a standard study of the war.
With the publication of The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 in 1890, Navy Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan was immediately hailed as the world's outstanding naval theorist by the leaders of Europe. Roosevelt paid very close attention to Mahan's emphasis that only a nation with the world's most powerful fleet could dominate the world's oceans, exert its diplomacy to the fullest, and defend its own borders. He incorporated Mahan's ideas into his views on naval strategy for the remainder of his career.
First marriage and widowerhood
In 1880, Roosevelt married socialite Alice Hathaway Lee. Their daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt, was born on February 12, 1884. Two days later, the new mother died of an undiagnosed case of kidney failure that had been masked by the pregnancy. In his diary, Roosevelt wrote a large 'X' on the page and then, "The light has gone out of my life." His mother, Mittie, had died of typhoid fever eleven hours earlier at 3:00 a.m., in the same house on 57th Street in Manhattan. Distraught, Roosevelt left baby Alice in the care of his sister Bamie while he grieved; he assumed custody of Alice when she was three.
After the deaths of his wife and mother, Roosevelt focused on his work, specifically by re-energizing a legislative investigation into corruption of the New York City government, which arose from a concurrent bill proposing that power be centralized in the mayor's office. For the rest of his life, he rarely spoke about his wife Alice and did not write about her in his autobiography.
Early political career
State Assemblyman
Roosevelt was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 21st D.) in 1882, 1883 and 1884. He immediately began making his mark, specifically in corporate corruption issues. He blocked a corrupt effort by financier Jay Gould to lower his taxes. Roosevelt exposed suspected collusion in the matter by Judge Theodore Westbrook, and argued for and received approval for an investigation to proceed, aiming for the impeachment of the judge. The investigation committee rejected impeachment, but Roosevelt had exposed the potential corruption in Albany, and thus assumed a high and positive political profile in multiple New York publications.
Roosevelt's anti-corruption efforts helped him win re-election in 1882 by a margin greater than two-to-one, an achievement made even more impressive by the fact that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Grover Cleveland won Roosevelt's district. With Conkling's Stalwart faction of the Republican Party in disarray following the assassination of President James Garfield, Roosevelt won election as the Republican party leader in the state assembly. He allied with Governor Cleveland to win passage of a civil service reform bill. Roosevelt won re-election a second time, and sought the office of Speaker of the New York State Assembly, but was defeated by Titus Sheard in a 41 to 29 vote of the GOP caucus. In his final term, Roosevelt served as Chairman of the Committee on Affairs of Cities; he wrote more bills than any other legislator.
Presidential election of 1884
With numerous presidential hopefuls to choose from, Roosevelt supported Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont, a colorless reformer. The state GOP preferred the incumbent president, New York City's Chester Arthur, who was known for passing the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. Arthur, at the time, was suffering from Bright's disease, unknown to the public, and out of duty he did not contest his own nomination. Roosevelt fought hard and succeeded in influencing the Manhattan delegates at the state convention in Utica. He then took control of the state convention, bargaining through the night and outmaneuvering the supporters of Arthur and James G. Blaine; he gained a national reputation as a key person in New York State.
Roosevelt attended the 1884 GOP National Convention in Chicago and gave a speech convincing delegates to nominate African American John R. Lynch, an Edmunds supporter, to be temporary chair. Roosevelt fought alongside the Mugwump reformers; however, Blaine, having gained support from Arthur's and Edmunds's delegates, won the nomination by 541 votes on the fourth ballot. In a crucial moment of his budding political career, Roosevelt resisted the demand of the Mugwumps that he bolt from Blaine. He bragged about his one small success: "We achieved a victory in getting up a combination to beat the Blaine nominee for temporary chairman... To do this needed a mixture of skill, boldness and energy... to get the different factions to come in... to defeat the common foe." He was also impressed by an invitation to speak before an audience of ten thousand, the largest crowd he had addressed up to that date. Having gotten a taste of national politics, Roosevelt felt less aspiration for advocacy on the state level; he then retired to his new "Chimney Butte Ranch" on the Little Missouri River. Roosevelt refused to join other Mugwumps in supporting Grover Cleveland, the governor of New York and the Democratic nominee in the general election. He debated the pros and cons of staying loyal with his political friend, Henry Cabot Lodge. After Blaine won the nomination, Roosevelt had carelessly said that he would give "hearty support to any decent Democrat". He distanced himself from the promise, saying that it had not been meant "for publication". When a reporter asked if he would support Blaine, Roosevelt replied, "That question I decline to answer. It is a subject I do not care to talk about." In the end, he realized that he had to support Blaine to maintain his role in the GOP, and he did so in a press release on July 19. Having lost the support of many reformers, Roosevelt decided to retire from politics and move to North Dakota.
Cattle rancher in Dakota
Roosevelt first visited the Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt bison. Exhilarated by the western lifestyle, and with the cattle business booming in the territory, Roosevelt invested $14,000 in hopes of becoming a prosperous cattle rancher. For the next several years, he shuttled between his home in New York and his ranch in Dakota.
Following the 1884 presidential election, Roosevelt built a ranch named Elkhorn, which was north of the boomtown of Medora, North Dakota. Roosevelt learned to ride western style, rope, and hunt on the banks of the Little Missouri. Though he earned the respect of the authentic cowboys, they were not overly impressed. However, he identified with the herdsman of history, a man he said possesses "few of the emasculated, milk-and-water moralities admired by the pseudo-philanthropists; but he does possess, to a very high degree, the stern, manly qualities that are invaluable to a nation". He reoriented, and began writing about frontier life for national magazines; he also published three books – Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, and The Wilderness Hunter.
Roosevelt brought his desire to address the common interests of citizens to the West. He successfully led efforts to organize ranchers to address problems of overgrazing and other shared concerns; his work resulted in the formation of the Little Missouri Stockmen's Association. He felt compelled to promote conservation and was able to form the Boone and Crockett Club, whose primary goal was the conservation of large game animals and their habitats. After the uniquely severe US winter of 1886–87 wiped out his herd of cattle and those of his competitors, and with it over half of his $80,000 investment, Roosevelt returned to the East. Though his finances suffered from the experience, Roosevelt's time in the West made it impossible to peg him as an ineffectual intellectual, a characterization that could have hampered his political career.
Second marriage
On December 2, 1886, Roosevelt married his childhood and family friend, Edith Kermit Carow. Roosevelt was deeply troubled that his second marriage had taken place so soon after the death of his first wife, and he faced resistance from his sisters. Nonetheless, the couple married at St George's, Hanover Square in London, England. The couple had five children: Theodore "Ted" III in 1887, Kermit in 1889, Ethel in 1891, Archibald in 1894, and Quentin in 1897. The couple also raised Roosevelt's daughter from his first marriage, Alice, who often clashed with her stepmother.
Reentering public life
Upon Roosevelt's return to New York in 1886, Republican leaders quickly approached him about running for mayor of New York City in the city's mayoral election. Roosevelt accepted the nomination despite having little hope of winning the race against United Labor Party candidate Henry George and Democratic candidate Abram Hewitt. Roosevelt campaigned hard for the position, but Hewitt won with 41% (90,552 votes), taking the votes of many Republicans who feared George's radical policies. George was held to 31% (68,110 votes), and Roosevelt took third place with 27% (60,435 votes). Fearing that his political career might never recover, Roosevelt turned his attention to writing The Winning of the West, a historical work tracking the westward movement of Americans; the book was a great success for Roosevelt, earning favorable reviews and selling numerous copies.
Civil Service Commission
After Benjamin Harrison unexpectedly defeated Blaine for the presidential nomination at the 1888 Republican National Convention, Roosevelt gave stump speeches in the Midwest in support of Harrison. On the insistence of Henry Cabot Lodge, President Harrison appointed Roosevelt to the United States Civil Service Commission, where he served until 1895. While many of his predecessors had approached the office as a sinecure, Roosevelt vigorously fought the spoilsmen and demanded enforcement of civil service laws. The New York Sun then described Roosevelt as "irrepressible, belligerent, and enthusiastic". Roosevelt frequently clashed with Postmaster General John Wanamaker, who handed out numerous patronage positions to Harrison supporters, and Roosevelt's attempt to force out several postal workers damaged Harrison politically. Despite Roosevelt's support for Harrison's reelection bid in the presidential election of 1892, the eventual winner, Grover Cleveland, reappointed him to the same post. Roosevelt's close friend and biographer, Joseph Bucklin Bishop, described his assault on the spoils system:
New York City Police Commissioner
In 1894, a group of reform Republicans approached Roosevelt about running for Mayor of New York again; he declined, mostly due to his wife's resistance to being removed from the Washington social set. Soon after he declined, he realized that he had missed an opportunity to reinvigorate a dormant political career. He retreated to the Dakotas for a time; his wife Edith regretted her role in the decision and vowed that there would be no repeat of it.
William Lafayette Strong, a reform-minded Republican, won the 1894 mayoral election and offered Roosevelt a position on the board of the New York City Police Commissioners. Roosevelt became president of the board of commissioners and radically reformed the police force. Roosevelt implemented regular inspections of firearms and annual physical exams, appointed recruits based on their physical and mental qualifications rather than political affiliation, established Meritorious Service Medals, and closed corrupt police hostelries. During his tenure, a Municipal Lodging House was established by the Board of Charities, and Roosevelt required officers to register with the Board; he also had telephones installed in station houses.
In 1894, Roosevelt met Jacob Riis, the muckraking Evening Sun newspaper journalist who was opening the eyes of New Yorkers to the terrible conditions of the city's millions of poor immigrants with such books as How the Other Half Lives. Riis described how his book affected Roosevelt:
Roosevelt made a habit of walking officers' beats late at night and early in the morning to make sure that they were on duty. He made a concerted effort to uniformly enforce New York's Sunday closing law; in this, he ran up against boss Tom Platt as well as Tammany Hall—he was notified that the Police Commission was being legislated out of existence. His crackdowns led to protests and demonstrations. Invited to one large demonstration, not only did he surprisingly accept, he delighted in the insults, caricatures and lampoons directed at him, and earned some surprising good will. Roosevelt chose to defer rather than split with his party. As Governor of New York State, he would later sign an act replacing the Police Commission with a single Police Commissioner.
Emergence as a national figure
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
In the 1896 presidential election, Roosevelt backed Speaker of the House Thomas Brackett Reed for the Republican nomination, but William McKinley won the nomination and defeated William Jennings Bryan in the general election. Roosevelt opposed Bryan's free silver platform, viewing many of Bryan's followers as dangerous fanatics, and Roosevelt gave campaign speeches for McKinley. Urged by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, President McKinley appointed Roosevelt as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897. Secretary of the Navy John D. Long was more concerned about formalities than functions, was in poor health, and left many major decisions to Roosevelt. Influenced by Alfred Thayer Mahan, Roosevelt called for a build-up in the country's naval strength, particularly the construction of battleships. Roosevelt also began pressing his national security views regarding the Pacific and the Caribbean on McKinley, and was particularly adamant that Spain be ejected from Cuba. He explained his priorities to one of the Navy's planners in late 1897:
On February 15, 1898, , an armored cruiser, exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, killing hundreds of crew members. While Roosevelt and many other Americans blamed Spain for the explosion, McKinley sought a diplomatic solution. Without approval from Long or McKinley, Roosevelt sent out orders to several naval vessels, directing them to prepare for war. George Dewey, who had received an appointment to lead the Asiatic Squadron with the backing of Roosevelt, later credited his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay to Roosevelt's orders. After finally giving up hope of a peaceful solution, McKinley asked Congress to declare war upon Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War.
War in Cuba
With the beginning of the Spanish–American War in late April 1898, Roosevelt resigned from his post as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Along with Army Colonel Leonard Wood, he formed the First US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. His wife and many of his friends begged Roosevelt to remain in his post in Washington, but Roosevelt was determined to see battle. When the newspapers reported the formation of the new regiment, Roosevelt and Wood were flooded with applications from all over the country. Referred to by the press as the "Rough Riders", the regiment was one of many temporary units active only for the duration of the war.
The regiment trained for several weeks in San Antonio, Texas, and in his autobiography, Roosevelt wrote that his prior experience with the New York National Guard had been invaluable, in that it enabled him to immediately begin teaching his men basic soldiering skills. The Rough Riders used some standard issue gear and some of their own design, purchased with gift money. Diversity characterized the regiment, which included Ivy Leaguers, professional and amateur athletes, upscale gentlemen, cowboys, frontiersmen, Native Americans, hunters, miners, prospectors, former soldiers, tradesmen, and sheriffs. The Rough Riders were part of the cavalry division commanded by former Confederate general Joseph Wheeler, which itself was one of three divisions in the V Corps under Lieutenant General William Rufus Shafter. Roosevelt and his men landed in Daiquirí, Cuba, on June 23, 1898, and marched to Siboney. Wheeler sent parts of the 1st and 10th Regular Cavalry on the lower road northwest and sent the "Rough Riders" on the parallel road running along a ridge up from the beach. To throw off his infantry rival, Wheeler left one regiment of his Cavalry Division, the 9th, at Siboney so that he could claim that his move north was only a limited reconnaissance if things went wrong. Roosevelt was promoted to colonel and took command of the regiment when Wood was put in command of the brigade. The Rough Riders had a short, minor skirmish known as the Battle of Las Guasimas; they fought their way through Spanish resistance and, together with the Regulars, forced the Spaniards to abandon their positions.
Under his leadership, the Rough Riders became famous for the charge up Kettle Hill on July 1, 1898, while supporting the regulars. Roosevelt had the only horse, and rode back and forth between rifle pits at the forefront of the advance up Kettle Hill, an advance that he urged despite the absence of any orders from superiors. He was forced to walk up the last part of Kettle Hill because his horse had been entangled in barbed wire. The victories came at a cost of 200 killed and 1,000 wounded.
In August, Roosevelt and other officers demanded that the soldiers be returned home. Roosevelt always recalled the Battle of Kettle Hill (part of the San Juan Heights) as "the great day of my life" and "my crowded hour". In 2001, Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions; he had been nominated during the war, but Army officials, annoyed at his grabbing the headlines, blocked it. After returning to civilian life, Roosevelt preferred to be known as "Colonel Roosevelt" or "The Colonel", though "Teddy" remained much more popular with the public, even though Roosevelt openly despised that moniker. Men working closely with Roosevelt customarily called him "Colonel" or "Theodore". Henceforth, political cartoons of Roosevelt usually depicted him in his Rough Rider garb.
Governor of New York
After leaving Cuba in August 1898, the Rough Riders were transported to a camp at Montauk Point, Long Island, where Roosevelt and his men were briefly quarantined due to the War Department's fear of spreading yellow fever. Shortly after Roosevelt's return to the United States, Republican Congressman Lemuel E. Quigg, a lieutenant of party boss Tom Platt, asked Roosevelt to run in the 1898 gubernatorial election. Platt disliked Roosevelt personally, feared that Roosevelt would oppose Platt's interests in office, and was reluctant to propel Roosevelt to the forefront of national politics. However, Platt also needed a strong candidate due to the unpopularity of the incumbent Republican governor, Frank S. Black, and Roosevelt agreed to become the nominee and to try not to "make war" with the Republican establishment once in office. Roosevelt defeated Black in the Republican caucus by a vote of 753 to 218, and faced Democrat Augustus Van Wyck, a well-respected judge, in the general election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously on his war record, winning the election by a margin of just one percent.
As governor, Roosevelt learned much about ongoing economic issues and political techniques that later proved valuable in his presidency. He was exposed to the problems of trusts, monopolies, labor relations, and conservation. Chessman argues that Roosevelt's program "rested firmly upon the concept of the square deal by a neutral state". The rules for the Square Deal were "honesty in public affairs, an equitable sharing of privilege and responsibility, and subordination of party and local concerns to the interests of the state at large".
By holding twice-daily press conferences—which was an innovation—Roosevelt remained connected with his middle-class political base. Roosevelt successfully pushed the Ford Franchise-Tax bill, which taxed public franchises granted by the state and controlled by corporations, declaring that "a corporation which derives its powers from the State, should pay to the State a just percentage of its earnings as a return for the privileges it enjoys". He rejected "boss" Thomas C. Platt's worries that this approached Bryanite Socialism, explaining that without it, New York voters might get angry and adopt public ownership of streetcar lines and other franchises.
The New York state government affected many interests, and the power to make appointments to policy-making positions was a key role for the governor. Platt insisted that he be consulted on major appointments; Roosevelt appeared to comply, but then made his own decisions. Historians marvel that Roosevelt managed to appoint so many first-rate men with Platt's approval. He even enlisted Platt's help in securing reform, such as in the spring of 1899, when Platt pressured state senators to vote for a civil service bill that the secretary of the Civil Service Reform Association called "superior to any civil service statute heretofore secured in America".
Chessman argues that as governor, Roosevelt developed the principles that shaped his presidency, especially insistence upon the public responsibility of large corporations, publicity as a first remedy for trusts, regulation of railroad rates, mediation of the conflict of capital and labor, conservation of natural resources and protection of the less fortunate members of society. Roosevelt sought to position himself against the excesses of large corporations on the one hand and radical movements on the other.
As the chief executive of the most populous state in the union, Roosevelt was widely considered a potential future presidential candidate, and supporters such as William Allen White encouraged him to run for president. Roosevelt had no interest in challenging McKinley for the Republican nomination in 1900, and was denied his preferred post of Secretary of War. As his term progressed, Roosevelt pondered a 1904 presidential run, but was uncertain about whether he should seek re-election as governor in 1900.
Vice Presidency (1901)
In November 1899, Vice President Garret Hobart died of heart failure, leaving an open spot on the 1900 Republican national ticket. Though Henry Cabot Lodge and others urged him to run for vice president in 1900, Roosevelt was reluctant to take the powerless position and issued a public statement saying that he would not accept the nomination. Additionally, Roosevelt was informed by President McKinley and campaign manager Mark Hanna that he was not being considered for the role of vice president due to his actions prior to the Spanish–American War. Eager to be rid of Roosevelt, Platt nonetheless began a newspaper campaign in favor of Roosevelt's nomination for the vice presidency. Roosevelt attended the 1900 Republican National Convention as a state delegate and struck a bargain with Platt: Roosevelt would accept the nomination for vice president if the convention offered it to him, but would otherwise serve another term as governor. Platt asked Pennsylvania party boss Matthew Quay to lead the campaign for Roosevelt's nomination, and Quay outmaneuvered Hanna at the convention to put Roosevelt on the ticket. Roosevelt won the nomination unanimously.
Roosevelt's vice-presidential campaigning proved highly energetic and an equal match for Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan's famous barnstorming style of campaigning. In a whirlwind campaign that displayed his energy to the public, Roosevelt made 480 stops in 23 states. He denounced the radicalism of Bryan, contrasting it with the heroism of the soldiers and sailors who fought and won the war against Spain. Bryan had strongly supported the war itself, but he denounced the annexation of the Philippines as imperialism, which would spoil America's innocence. Roosevelt countered that it was best for the Filipinos to have stability and the Americans to have a proud place in the world. With the nation basking in peace and prosperity, the voters gave McKinley an even larger victory than that which he had achieved in 1896.
After the campaign, Roosevelt took office as vice president in March 1901. The office of vice president was a powerless sinecure and did not suit Roosevelt's aggressive temperament. Roosevelt's six months as vice president were uneventful and boring for a man of action. He had no power; he presided over the Senate for a mere four days before it adjourned. On September 2, 1901, Roosevelt first publicized an aphorism that thrilled his supporters: "Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far."
Presidency (1901–1909)
On September 6, 1901, President McKinley was attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York when he was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Roosevelt was vacationing in Isle La Motte, Vermont, and traveled to Buffalo to visit McKinley in the hospital. It appeared that McKinley would recover, so Roosevelt resumed his vacation in the Adirondack Mountains. When McKinley's condition worsened, Roosevelt again rushed back to Buffalo. McKinley died on September 14, and Roosevelt was informed while he was in North Creek; he continued on to Buffalo and was sworn in as the nation's 26th president at the Ansley Wilcox House.
McKinley's supporters were nervous about the new president, and Hanna was particularly bitter that the man he had opposed so vigorously at the convention had succeeded McKinley. Roosevelt assured party leaders that he intended to adhere to McKinley's policies, and he retained McKinley's Cabinet. Nonetheless, Roosevelt sought to position himself as the party's undisputed leader, seeking to bolster the role of the president and position himself for the 1904 election. The vice presidency remained vacant, as there was no constitutional provision for filling an intra-term vacancy in that office (prior to the 25th Amendment in 1967).
Shortly after taking office, Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House. This sparked a bitter, and at times vicious, reaction among whites across the heavily segregated South. Roosevelt reacted with astonishment and protest, saying that he looked forward to many future dinners with Washington. Upon further reflection, Roosevelt wanted to ensure that this had no effect on political support in the white South, and further dinner invitations to Washington were avoided; their next meeting was scheduled as typical business at 10:00 a.m. instead.
Domestic policies
Trust busting and regulation
For his aggressive use of the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act, compared to his predecessors, Roosevelt was hailed as the "trust-buster"; but in reality he was more of a trust regulator. Roosevelt viewed big business as a necessary part of the American economy, and sought only to prosecute the "bad trusts" that restrained trade and charged unfair prices. He brought 44 antitrust suits, breaking up the Northern Securities Company, the largest railroad monopoly; and regulating Standard Oil, the largest oil company. Presidents Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley combined had prosecuted only 18 antitrust violations under the Sherman Antitrust Act.
Bolstered by his party's winning large majorities in the 1902 elections, Roosevelt proposed the creation of the United States Department of Commerce and Labor, which would include the Bureau of Corporations. While Congress was receptive to the Department of Commerce and Labor, it was more skeptical of the antitrust powers that Roosevelt sought to endow within the Bureau of Corporations. Roosevelt successfully appealed to the public to pressure Congress, and Congress overwhelmingly voted to pass Roosevelt's version of the bill.
In a moment of frustration, House Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon commented on Roosevelt's desire for executive branch control in domestic policy-making: "That fellow at the other end of the avenue wants everything from the birth of Christ to the death of the devil." Biographer Brands states, "Even his friends occasionally wondered whether there wasn't any custom or practice too minor for him to try to regulate, update or otherwise improve." In fact, Roosevelt's willingness to exercise his power included attempted rule changes in the game of football; at the Naval Academy, he sought to force retention of martial arts classes and to revise disciplinary rules. He even ordered changes made in the minting of a coin whose design he disliked, and ordered the Government Printing Office to adopt simplified spellings for a core list of 300 words, according to reformers on the Simplified Spelling Board. He was forced to rescind the latter after substantial ridicule from the press and a resolution of protest from the House of Representatives.
Coal strike
In May 1902, anthracite coal miners went on strike, threatening a national energy shortage. After threatening the coal operators with intervention by federal troops, Roosevelt won their agreement to dispute arbitration by a commission, which succeeded in stopping the strike. The accord with J. P. Morgan resulted in the miners getting more pay for fewer hours, but with no union recognition. Roosevelt said, "My action on labor should always be considered in connection with my action as regards capital, and both are reducible to my favorite formula—a square deal for every man." Roosevelt was the first president to help settle a labor dispute.
Prosecuted misconduct
During Roosevelt's second year in office it was discovered there was corruption in the Indian Service, the Land Office, and the Post Office Department. Roosevelt investigated and prosecuted corrupt Indian agents who had cheated the Creeks and various tribes out of land parcels. Land fraud and speculation were found involving Oregon federal timberlands. In November 1902, Roosevelt and Secretary Ethan A. Hitchcock forced Binger Hermann, the General Land Office Commissioner, to resign from office. On November 6, 1903 Francis J. Heney was appointed special prosecutor and obtained 146 indictments involving an Oregon Land Office bribery ring. U.S. Senator John H. Mitchell was indicted for bribery to expedite illegal land patents, found guilty in July 1905, and sentenced to six months in prison. More corruption was found in the Postal Department, that brought on the indictments of 44 government employees on charges of bribery and fraud. Historians generally agree that Roosevelt moved "quickly and decisively" to prosecute misconduct in his administration.
Railroads
Merchants complained that some railroad rates were too high. In the 1906 Hepburn Act, Roosevelt sought to give the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to regulate rates, but the Senate, led by conservative Nelson Aldrich, fought back. Roosevelt worked with the Democratic Senator Benjamin Tillman to pass the bill. Roosevelt and Aldrich ultimately reached a compromise that gave the ICC the power to replace existing rates with "just-and-reasonable" maximum rates, but allowed railroads to appeal to the federal courts on what was "reasonable". In addition to rate-setting, the Hepburn Act also granted the ICC regulatory power over pipeline fees, storage contracts, and several other aspects of railroad operations.
Pure food and drugs
Roosevelt responded to public anger over the abuses in the food packing industry by pushing Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act. Though conservatives initially opposed the bill, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, published in 1906, helped galvanize support for reform. The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 banned misleading labels and preservatives that contained harmful chemicals. The Pure Food and Drug Act banned food and drugs that were impure or falsely labeled from being made, sold, and shipped. Roosevelt also served as honorary president of the American School Hygiene Association from 1907 to 1908, and in 1909 he convened the first White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children.
Conservation
Of all Roosevelt's achievements, he was proudest of his work in the conservation of natural resources and extending federal protection to land and wildlife. Roosevelt worked closely with Interior Secretary James Rudolph Garfield and Chief of the United States Forest Service Gifford Pinchot to enact a series of conservation programs that often met with resistance from Western members of Congress, such as Charles William Fulton. Nonetheless, Roosevelt established the United States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of five National Parks, and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 new U.S. National Monuments. He also established the first 51 bird reserves, four game preserves, and 150 National Forests. The area of the United States that he placed under public protection totals approximately .
Roosevelt extensively used executive orders on a number of occasions to protect forest and wildlife lands during his tenure as president. By the end of his second term in office, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish of reserved forestry land. Roosevelt was unapologetic about his extensive use of executive orders to protect the environment, despite the perception in Congress that he was encroaching on too many lands. Eventually, Senator Charles Fulton (R-OR) attached an amendment to an agricultural appropriations bill that effectively prevented the president from reserving any further land. Before signing that bill into law, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish an additional 21 forest reserves, waiting until the last minute to sign the bill into law. In total, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish 121 forest reserves in 31 states. Prior to Roosevelt, only one president had issued over 200 executive orders, Grover Cleveland (253). The first 25 presidents issued a total of 1,262 executive orders; Roosevelt issued 1,081.
Foreign policy
Japan
The American annexation of Hawaii in 1898 was stimulated in part by fear that otherwise Japan would dominate the Hawaiian Republic. Similarly, Germany was the alternative to American takeover of the Philippines in 1900, and Tokyo strongly preferred the U.S. to take over. As the U.S. became a naval world power, it needed to find a way to avoid a military confrontation in the Pacific with Japan.
In the 1890s, Roosevelt had been an ardent imperialist and vigorously defended the permanent acquisition of the Philippines in the 1900 campaign. After the local insurrection ended in 1902, he largely lost his imperialist interest in the Philippines and Asian expansion but wished to have a strong U.S. presence in the region as a symbol of democratic values. One of Theodore Roosevelt's priorities during his presidency and afterwards, was the maintenance of friendly relations with Japan. From 1904 to 1905 Japan and Russia were at war. Roosevelt admired the martial courage of the Japanese, and distrusted the reckless German Kaiser. Both sides asked Roosevelt to mediate a peace conference, held successfully in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
In California, anti-Japanese hostility was growing, and Tokyo protested. Roosevelt negotiated a "Gentleman's Agreement" in 1907. Explicit discrimination against the Japanese was ended, and Japan agreed not to allow unskilled immigrants into the United States. The Great White Fleet of American battleships visited Japan in 1908. Pulitzer prize-winning biographer Henry Pringle states that the great voyage was "the direct result of the Japanese trouble." Roosevelt intended to emphasize the superiority of the American fleet over the smaller Japanese navy, but instead of resentment the visitors arrived to a joyous welcome by Japanese elite as well as the general public. This good-will facilitated the Root–Takahira Agreement of November 1908 which reaffirmed the status quo of Japanese control of Korea and American control of the Philippines.
Europe
Success in the war against Spain and the new empire, plus having the largest economy in the world, meant that the United States had emerged as a world power. Roosevelt searched for ways to win recognition for the position abroad.
Roosevelt also played a major role in mediating the First Moroccan Crisis by calling the Algeciras Conference, which averted war between France and Germany.
Roosevelt's presidency saw the strengthening of ties with Great Britain. The Great Rapprochement had begun with British support of the United States during the Spanish–American War, and it continued as Britain withdrew its fleet from the Caribbean in favor of focusing on the rising German naval threat. In 1901, Britain and the United States signed the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, abrogating the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty, which had prevented the United States from constructing a canal connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. The long-standing Alaska boundary dispute was settled on terms favorable to the United States, as Great Britain was unwilling to alienate the United States over what it considered to be a secondary issue. As Roosevelt later put it, the resolution of the Alaskan boundary dispute "settled the last serious trouble between the British Empire and ourselves."
Latin America and Panama Canal
As president, he primarily focused the nation's overseas ambitions on the Caribbean, especially locations that had a bearing on the defense of his pet project, the Panama Canal. Roosevelt also increased the size of the navy, and by the end of his second term the United States had more battleships than any other country besides Britain. The Panama Canal when it opened in 1914 allowed the U.S. Navy to rapidly move back and forth from the Pacific to the Caribbean to European waters.
In December 1902, the Germans, British, and Italians blockaded the ports of Venezuela in order to force the repayment of delinquent loans. Roosevelt was particularly concerned with the motives of German Emperor Wilhelm II. He succeeded in getting the three nations to agree to arbitration by tribunal at The Hague, and successfully defused the crisis. The latitude granted to the Europeans by the arbiters was in part responsible for the "Roosevelt Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which the President issued in 1904: "Chronic wrongdoing or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere, the adherence of the United States to the Monroe doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power."
The pursuit of an isthmus canal in Central America during this period focused on two possible routes—Nicaragua and Panama, which was then a rebellious district within Colombia. Roosevelt convinced Congress to approve the Panamanian alternative, and a treaty was approved, only to be rejected by the Colombian government. When the Panamanians learned of this, a rebellion followed, was supported by Roosevelt, and succeeded. A treaty with the new Panama government for construction of the canal was then reached in 1903. Roosevelt received criticism for paying the bankrupt Panama Canal Company and the New Panama Canal Company $40,000,000 (equivalent to $ billion in ) for the rights and equipment to build the canal. Critics charged that an American investor syndicate allegedly divided the large payment among themselves. There was also controversy over whether a French company engineer influenced Roosevelt in choosing the Panama route for the canal over the Nicaragua route. Roosevelt denied charges of corruption concerning the canal in a January 8, 1906 message to Congress. In January 1909, Roosevelt, in an unprecedented move, brought criminal libel charges against the New York World and the Indianapolis News known as the "Roosevelt-Panama Libel Cases". Both cases were dismissed by U.S. District Courts, and on January 3, 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court, upon federal appeal, upheld the lower courts' rulings. Historians are sharply critical of Roosevelt's criminal prosecutions of the World and the News, but are divided on whether actual corruption in acquiring and building the Panama Canal took place.
In 1906, following a disputed election, an insurrection ensued in Cuba; Roosevelt sent Taft, the Secretary of War, to monitor the situation; he was convinced that he had the authority to unilaterally authorize Taft to deploy Marines if necessary, without congressional approval.
Examining the work of numerous scholars, Ricard (2014) reports that:
The most striking evolution in the twenty-first-century historiography of Theodore Roosevelt is the switch from a partial arraignment of the imperialist to a quasi-unanimous celebration of the master diplomatist.... [Recent works] have underlined cogently Roosevelt's exceptional statesmanship in the construction of the nascent twentieth-century "special relationship". ...The twenty-sixth president's reputation as a brilliant diplomatist and realpolitician has undeniably reached new heights in the twenty-first century...yet, his Philippine policy still prompts criticism.
Media
Building on McKinley's effective use of the press, Roosevelt made the White House the center of news every day, providing interviews and photo opportunities. After noticing the reporters huddled outside the White House in the rain one day, he gave them their own room inside, effectively inventing the presidential press briefing. The grateful press, with unprecedented access to the White House, rewarded Roosevelt with ample coverage.
Roosevelt normally enjoyed very close relationships with the press, which he used to keep in daily contact with his middle-class base. While out of office, he made a living as a writer and magazine editor. He loved talking with intellectuals, authors, and writers. He drew the line, however, at exposé-oriented scandal-mongering journalists who, during his term, sent magazine subscriptions soaring by their attacks on corrupt politicians, mayors, and corporations. Roosevelt himself was not usually a target, but a speech of his from 1906 coined the term "muckraker" for unscrupulous journalists making wild charges. "The liar", he said, "is no whit better than the thief, and if his mendacity takes the form of slander he may be worse than most thieves."
The press did briefly target Roosevelt in one instance. After 1904, he was periodically criticized for the manner in which he facilitated the construction of the Panama Canal. According to biographer Brands, Roosevelt, near the end of his term, demanded that the Justice Department bring charges of criminal libel against Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. The publication had accused him of "deliberate misstatements of fact" in defense of family members who were criticized as a result of the Panama affair. Though an indictment was obtained, the case was ultimately dismissed in federal court—it was not a federal offense, but one enforceable in state courts. The Justice Department had predicted that result, and had also advised Roosevelt accordingly.
Election of 1904
The control and management of the Republican Party lay in the hands of Ohio Senator and Republican Party chairman Mark Hanna until McKinley's death. Roosevelt and Hanna frequently cooperated during Roosevelt's first term, but Hanna left open the possibility of a challenge to Roosevelt for the 1904 Republican nomination. Roosevelt and Ohio's other Senator, Joseph B. Foraker, forced Hanna's hand by calling for Ohio's state Republican convention to endorse Roosevelt for the 1904 nomination. Unwilling to break with the president, Hanna was forced to publicly endorse Roosevelt. Hanna and Pennsylvania Senator Matthew Quay both died in early 1904, and with the waning of Thomas Platt's power, Roosevelt faced little effective opposition for the 1904 nomination. In deference to Hanna's conservative loyalists, Roosevelt at first offered the party chairmanship to Cornelius Bliss, but he declined. Roosevelt turned to his own man, George B. Cortelyou of New York, the first Secretary of Commerce and Labor. To buttress his hold on the party's nomination, Roosevelt made it clear that anyone opposing Cortelyou would be considered to be opposing the President. The President secured his own nomination, but his preferred vice-presidential running mate, Robert R. Hitt, was not nominated. Senator Charles Warren Fairbanks of Indiana, a favorite of conservatives, gained the nomination.
While Roosevelt followed the tradition of incumbents in not actively campaigning on the stump, he sought to control the campaign's message through specific instructions to Cortelyou. He also attempted to manage the press's release of White House statements by forming the Ananias Club. Any journalist who repeated a statement made by the president without approval was penalized by restriction of further access.
The Democratic Party's nominee in 1904 was Alton Brooks Parker. Democratic newspapers charged that Republicans were extorting large campaign contributions from corporations, putting ultimate responsibility on Roosevelt, himself. Roosevelt denied corruption while at the same time he ordered Cortelyou to return $100,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) of a campaign contribution from Standard Oil. Parker said that Roosevelt was accepting corporate donations to keep damaging information from the Bureau of Corporations from going public. Roosevelt strongly denied Parker's charge and responded that he would "go into the Presidency unhampered by any pledge, promise, or understanding of any kind, sort, or description...". Allegations from Parker and the Democrats, however, had little impact on the election, as Roosevelt promised to give every American a "square deal". Roosevelt won 56% of the popular vote, and Parker received 38%; Roosevelt also won the Electoral College vote, 336 to 140. Before his inauguration ceremony, Roosevelt declared that he would not serve another term. Democrats afterwards would continue to charge Roosevelt and the Republicans of being influenced by corporate donations during Roosevelt's second term.
Second term
As his second term progressed, Roosevelt moved to the left of his Republican Party base and called for a series of reforms, most of which Congress failed to pass. In his last year in office, he was assisted by his friend Archibald Butt (who later perished in the sinking of RMS Titanic). Roosevelt's influence waned as he approached the end of his second term, as his promise to forego a third term made him a lame duck and his concentration of power provoked a backlash from many Congressmen. He sought a national incorporation law (at a time when all corporations had state charters), called for a federal income tax (despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.), and an inheritance tax. In the area of labor legislation, Roosevelt called for limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes; injunctions were a powerful weapon that mostly helped business. He wanted an employee liability law for industrial injuries (pre-empting state laws) and an eight-hour work day for federal employees. In other areas he also sought a postal savings system (to provide competition for local banks), and he asked for campaign reform laws.
The election of 1904 continued to be a source of contention between Republicans and Democrats. A Congressional investigation in 1905 revealed that corporate executives donated tens of thousands of dollars in 1904 to the Republican National Committee. In 1908, a month before the general presidential election, Governor Charles N. Haskell of Oklahoma, former Democratic Treasurer, said that Senators beholden to Standard Oil lobbied Roosevelt, in the summer of 1904, to authorize the leasing of Indian oil lands by Standard Oil subsidiaries. He said Roosevelt overruled his Secretary of Interior Ethan A. Hitchcock and granted a pipeline franchise to run through the Osage lands to the Prairie Oil and Gas Company. The New York Sun made a similar accusation and said that Standard Oil, a refinery who financially benefited from the pipeline, had contributed $150,000 to the Republicans in 1904 (equivalent to $ million in ) after Roosevelt's alleged reversal allowing the pipeline franchise. Roosevelt branded Haskell's allegation as "a lie, pure and simple" and obtained a denial from Treasury Secretary Shaw that Roosevelt had neither coerced Shaw nor overruled him.
Post-presidency (1909–1919)
Election of 1908
Roosevelt enjoyed being president and was still relatively youthful, but felt that a limited number of terms provided a check against dictatorship. Roosevelt ultimately decided to stick to his 1904 pledge not to run for a third term. He personally favored Secretary of State Elihu Root as his successor, but Root's ill health made him an unsuitable candidate. New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes loomed as a potentially strong candidate and shared Roosevelt's progressivism, but Roosevelt disliked him and considered him to be too independent. Instead, Roosevelt settled on his Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, who had ably served under Presidents Harrison, McKinley, and Roosevelt in various positions. Roosevelt and Taft had been friends since 1890, and Taft had consistently supported President Roosevelt's policies. Roosevelt was determined to install the successor of his choice, and wrote the following to Taft: "Dear Will: Do you want any action about those federal officials? I will break their necks with the utmost cheerfulness if you say the word!". Just weeks later he branded as "false and malicious" the charge that he was using the offices at his disposal to favor Taft. At the 1908 Republican convention, many chanted for "four years more" of a Roosevelt presidency, but Taft won the nomination after Henry Cabot Lodge made it clear that Roosevelt was not interested in a third term.
In the 1908 election, Taft easily defeated the Democratic nominee, three-time candidate William Jennings Bryan. Taft promoted a progressivism that stressed the rule of law; he preferred that judges rather than administrators or politicians make the basic decisions about fairness. Taft usually proved to be a less adroit politician than Roosevelt and lacked the energy and personal magnetism, along with the publicity devices, the dedicated supporters, and the broad base of public support that made Roosevelt so formidable. When Roosevelt realized that lowering the tariff would risk creating severe tensions inside the Republican Party by pitting producers (manufacturers and farmers) against merchants and consumers, he stopped talking about the issue. Taft ignored the risks and tackled the tariff boldly, encouraging reformers to fight for lower rates, and then cutting deals with conservative leaders that kept overall rates high. The resulting Payne-Aldrich tariff of 1909, signed into law early in President Taft's tenure, was too high for most reformers, and Taft's handling of the tariff alienated all sides. While the crisis was building inside the Party, Roosevelt was touring Africa and Europe, to allow Taft to be his own man.
Africa and Europe (1909–1910)
In March 1909, shortly after the end of his presidency, Roosevelt left New York for the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition, a safari in east and central Africa. Roosevelt's party landed in Mombasa, East Africa (now Kenya) and traveled to the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) before following the Nile to Khartoum in modern Sudan. Financed by Andrew Carnegie and by his own writings, Roosevelt's party hunted for specimens for the Smithsonian Institution and for the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The group, led by the hunter-tracker RJ Cunninghame, included scientists from the Smithsonian, and was joined from time to time by Frederick Selous, the famous big game hunter and explorer. Participants on the expedition included Kermit Roosevelt, Edgar Alexander Mearns, Edmund Heller, and John Alden Loring.
Roosevelt and his companions killed or trapped approximately 11,400 animals, from insects and moles to hippopotamuses and elephants. The 1,000 large animals included 512 big game animals, including six rare white rhinos. Tons of salted animals and their skins were shipped to Washington; it took years to mount them all, and the Smithsonian shared many duplicate specimens with other museums. Regarding the large number of animals taken, Roosevelt said, "I can be condemned only if the existence of the National Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and all similar zoological institutions are to be condemned". He wrote a detailed account of the safari in the book African Game Trails, recounting the excitement of the chase, the people he met, and the flora and fauna he collected in the name of science.
After his safari, Roosevelt traveled north to embark on a tour of Europe. Stopping first in Egypt, he commented favorably on British rule of the region, giving his opinion that Egypt was not yet ready for independence. He refused a meeting with the Pope due to a dispute over a group of Methodists active in Rome, but met with Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King George V of Great Britain, and other European leaders. In Oslo, Norway, Roosevelt delivered a speech calling for limitations on naval armaments, a strengthening of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and the creation of a "League of Peace" among the world powers. He also delivered the Romanes Lecture at Oxford, in which he denounced those who sought parallels between the evolution of animal life and the development of society. Though Roosevelt attempted to avoid domestic politics during his time abroad, he met with Gifford Pinchot, who related his own disappointment with the Taft Administration. Pinchot had been forced to resign as head of the forest service after clashing with Taft's Interior Secretary, Richard Ballinger, who had prioritized development over conservation. Roosevelt returned to the United States in June 1910.
Republican Party schism
Roosevelt had attempted to refashion Taft into a second version of himself, but as soon as Taft began to display his individuality, the former president expressed his disenchantment. He was offended on election night when Taft indicated that his success had been possible not just through the efforts of Roosevelt, but also his brother Charley. Roosevelt was further alienated when Taft, intent on becoming his own man, did not consult him about cabinet appointments. Roosevelt and other progressives were ideologically dissatisfied over Taft's conservation policies and his handling of the tariff when he concentrated more power in the hands of conservative party leaders in Congress. Regarding radicalism and liberalism, Roosevelt wrote a British friend in 1911:
Fundamentally it is the radical liberal with whom I sympathize. He is at least working toward the end for which I think we should all of us strive; and when he adds sanity in moderation to courage and enthusiasm for high ideals he develops into the kind of statesman whom alone I can wholeheartedly support."
Roosevelt urged progressives to take control of the Republican Party at the state and local level and to avoid splitting the party in a way that would hand the presidency to the Democrats in 1912. Additionally, Roosevelt expressed optimism about the Taft Administration after meeting with the president in the White House in June 1910.
In August 1910, Roosevelt gained national attention with a speech at Osawatomie, Kansas, which was the most radical of his career and marked his public break with Taft and the conservative Republicans. Advocating a program of "New Nationalism", Roosevelt emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests, a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions. Returning to New York, Roosevelt began a battle to take control of the state Republican party from William Barnes Jr., Tom Platt's successor as the state party boss, whom he would later confront in the Barnes vs. Roosevelt Libel Trial. Taft had pledged his support to Roosevelt in this endeavor, and Roosevelt was outraged when Taft's support failed to materialize at the 1910 state convention. Roosevelt nonetheless campaigned for the Republicans in the 1910 elections, in which the Democrats gained control of the House for the first time since the 1890s. Among the newly elected Democrats was New York state senator Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who argued that he represented his distant cousin's policies better than his Republican opponent.
The Republican progressives interpreted the 1910 defeats as a compelling argument for the complete reorganization of the party in 1911. Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin joined with Pinchot, William White, and California Governor Hiram Johnson to create the National Progressive Republican League; their objectives were to defeat the power of political bossism at the state level and to replace Taft at the national level. Despite skepticism of La Follette's new league, Roosevelt expressed general support for progressive principles. Between January and April 1911, Roosevelt wrote a series of articles for The Outlook, defending what he called "the great movement of our day, the progressive nationalist movement against special privilege, and in favor of an honest and efficient political and industrial democracy". With Roosevelt apparently uninterested in running in 1912, La Follette declared his own candidacy in June 1911. Roosevelt continually criticized Taft after the 1910 elections, and the break between the two men became final after the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against US Steel in September 1911; Roosevelt was humiliated by this suit because he had personally approved of an acquisition that the Justice Department was now challenging. However, Roosevelt was still unwilling to run against Taft in 1912; he instead hoped to run in 1916 against whichever Democrat beat Taft in 1912.
Dispute over arbitration treaties
Taft was a major advocate of arbitration as a major reform of the Progressive Era. In 1911 Taft and his Secretary of State Philander C. Knox negotiated major treaties with Great Britain and with France providing that differences be arbitrated. Disputes had to be submitted to the Hague Court or other tribunal. These were signed in August 1911 but had to be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. Neither Taft nor Knox consulted with members of the Senate during the negotiating process. By then many Republicans were opposed to Taft, and the president felt that lobbying too hard for the treaties might cause their defeat. He made some speeches supporting the treaties in October, but the Senate added amendments Taft could not accept, killing the agreements.
The arbitration issue opens a window on a bitter philosophical dispute among American progressives. Some, led by Taft looked to legal arbitration as the best alternative to warfare. Taft was a constitutional lawyer who later became Chief Justice; he had a deep understanding of the legal issues. Taft's political base was the conservative business community that largely supported peace movements before 1914. However, his mistake, in this case, was a failure to mobilize that base. The businessmen believed that economic rivalries were the cause of war, and that extensive trade led to an interdependent world that would make war a very expensive and useless anachronism.
However, an opposing faction of progressives, led by Roosevelt, ridiculed arbitration as foolhardy idealism, and insisted on the realism of warfare as the only solution to serious international disputes. Roosevelt worked with his close friend Senator Henry Cabot Lodge to impose those amendments that ruined the goals of the treaties. Lodge thought the treaties impinged too much on senatorial prerogatives. Roosevelt, however, was acting to sabotage Taft's campaign promises. At a deeper level, Roosevelt truly believed that arbitration was a naïve solution and the great issues had to be decided by warfare. The Rooseveltian approach incorporated a near-mystical faith of the ennobling nature of war. It endorsed jingoistic nationalism as opposed to the businessmen's calculation of profit and national interest.
Election of 1912
Republican primaries and convention
In November 1911, a group of Ohio Republicans endorsed Roosevelt for the party's nomination for president; the endorsers included James R. Garfield and Dan Hanna. This endorsement was made by leaders of President Taft's home state. Roosevelt conspicuously declined to make a statement—requested by Garfield—that he would flatly refuse a nomination. Soon thereafter, Roosevelt said, "I am really sorry for Taft... I am sure he means well, but he means well feebly, and he does not know how! He is utterly unfit for leadership and this is a time when we need leadership." In January 1912, Roosevelt declared "if the people make a draft on me I shall not decline to serve". Later that year, Roosevelt spoke before the Constitutional Convention in Ohio, openly identifying as a progressive and endorsing progressive reforms—even endorsing popular review of state judicial decisions. In reaction to Roosevelt's proposals for popular overrule of court decisions, Taft said, "Such extremists are not progressives—they are political emotionalists or neurotics".
Roosevelt began to envision himself as the savior of the Republican Party from defeat in the upcoming presidential election. In February 1912, Roosevelt announced in Boston, "I will accept the nomination for president if it is tendered to me. I hope that so far as possible the people may be given the chance through direct primaries to express who shall be the nominee. Elihu Root and Henry Cabot Lodge thought that division of the party would lead to its defeat in the next election, while Taft believed that he would be defeated either in the Republican primary or in the general election.
The 1912 primaries represented the first extensive use of the presidential primary, a reform achievement of the progressive movement. The Republican primaries in the South, where party regulars dominated, went for Taft, as did results in New York, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Roosevelt won in Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, California, Maryland and Pennsylvania; Roosevelt also won Taft's home state of Ohio. These primary elections, while demonstrating Roosevelt's continuing popularity with the electorate, were not pivotal. The final credentials of the state delegates at the national convention were determined by the national committee, which was controlled by the party leaders, headed by the incumbent president.
Prior to the 1912 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt expressed doubt about his prospects for victory, noting that Taft had more delegates and control of the credentials committee. His only hope was to convince party leaders that the nomination of Taft would hand the election to the Democrats, but party leaders were determined not to cede their leadership to Roosevelt. The credentials committee awarded almost all contested delegates to Taft, and Taft won the nomination on the first ballot. Black delegates from the South played a key role: they voted heavily for Taft and put him over the top. La Follette also helped Taft's candidacy; he hoped that a deadlocked convention would result in his own nomination, and refused to release his delegates to support Roosevelt.
The Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party
Once his defeat at the Republican convention appeared probable, Roosevelt announced that he would "accept the progressive nomination on a progressive platform and I shall fight to the end, win or lose". At the same time, Roosevelt prophetically said, "My feeling is that the Democrats will probably win if they nominate a progressive".
Roosevelt left the Republican Party and created the Progressive Party, structuring it as a permanent organization that would field complete tickets at the presidential and state level. The party included Roosevelt and key allies such as Pinchot, Cornelia Bryce Pinchot (Pinchot's wife and a longtime friend of Roosevelt's), and Albert Beveridge. The new party was popularly known as the "Bull Moose Party" after Roosevelt told reporters, "I'm as fit as a bull moose". At the 1912 Progressive National Convention, Roosevelt cried out, "We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord." California Governor Hiram Johnson was nominated as Roosevelt's running mate. Roosevelt's platform echoed his 1907–1908 proposals, calling for vigorous government intervention to protect the people from selfish interests:
Though many Progressive party supporters in the North were supporters of civil rights for blacks, Roosevelt did not give strong support to civil rights and ran a "lily-white" campaign in the South. Rival all-white and all-black delegations from four southern states arrived at the Progressive national convention, and Roosevelt decided to seat the all-white delegations. Nevertheless, he won little support outside mountain Republican strongholds. Out of nearly 1100 counties in the South, Roosevelt won two counties in Alabama, one in Arkansas, seven in North Carolina, three in Georgia, 17 in Tennessee, two in Texas, one in Virginia, and none in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, or South Carolina.
Assassination attempt
On October 14, 1912, while arriving at a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Roosevelt was shot from seven feet away in front of the Gilpatrick Hotel by a delusional saloonkeeper named John Flammang Schrank, who believed that the ghost of assassinated president William McKinley had directed him to kill Roosevelt. The bullet lodged in his chest after penetrating his steel eyeglass case and passing through a 50-page-thick single-folded copy of the speech titled "Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual", which he was carrying in his jacket. Schrank was immediately disarmed (by Czech immigrant Frank Bukovsky), captured, and might have been lynched had Roosevelt not shouted for Schrank to remain unharmed. Roosevelt assured the crowd he was all right, then ordered police to take charge of Schrank and to make sure no violence was done to him.
As an experienced hunter and anatomist, Roosevelt correctly concluded that since he was not coughing blood, the bullet had not reached his lung. He declined suggestions to go to the hospital immediately and instead delivered a 90 minute speech with blood seeping into his shirt. His opening comments to the gathered crowd were, "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose." Only after finishing his address did he accept medical attention.
Subsequent probes and an x-ray showed that the bullet had lodged in Roosevelt's chest muscle, but did not penetrate the pleura. Doctors concluded that it would be less dangerous to leave it in place than to attempt to remove it, and Roosevelt carried the bullet with him for the rest of his life. Both Taft and Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson suspended their own campaigning until Roosevelt recovered and resumed his. When asked if the shooting would affect his election campaign, he said to the reporter "I'm fit as a bull moose." The bull moose became a symbol of both Roosevelt and the Progressive Party, and it often was referred to as simply the Bull Moose Party. He spent two weeks recuperating before returning to the campaign trail. He later wrote a friend about the bullet inside him, "I do not mind it any more than if it were in my waistcoat pocket."
Farewell manifesto
On October 20, Roosevelt spoke to a crowd of 16,000 at Madison Square Garden. The speech included: "Perhaps once in a generation, there comes a chance for the people of a country to play their part wisely and fearlessly in some great battle of the age-long warfare for human rights."
Election results
After the Democrats nominated Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey, Roosevelt did not expect to win the general election, as Wilson had compiled a record attractive to many progressive Democrats who might have otherwise considered voting for Roosevelt. Roosevelt still campaigned vigorously, and the election developed into a two-person contest between Wilson and Roosevelt despite Taft's presence in the race. Roosevelt respected Wilson, but the two differed on various issues; Wilson opposed any federal intervention regarding women's suffrage or child labor (he viewed these as state issues), and attacked Roosevelt's tolerance of large businesses.
Roosevelt won 4.1 million votes (27%), compared to Taft's 3.5 million (23%). Wilson gained 6.3 million votes (42% of the total) and a massive landslide in the Electoral College, with 435 electoral votes; Roosevelt won 88 electoral votes, while Taft won 8. Pennsylvania was the only eastern state won by Roosevelt; in the Midwest, he carried Michigan, Minnesota, and South Dakota; in the West, California, and Washington. Wilson's victory represented the first Democratic presidential election victory since Cleveland's 1892 campaign, and it was the party's best performance in the Electoral College since 1852. Roosevelt, meanwhile, garnered a higher share of the popular vote than any other third-party presidential candidate in history and won the most states of any third-party candidate after the Civil War.
South American expedition (1913-1914)
A friend of Roosevelt's, Father John Augustine Zahm, persuaded Roosevelt to participate in an expedition to South America. To finance the expedition, Roosevelt received support from the American Museum of Natural History in return for promising to bring back many new animal specimens. Roosevelt's popular book, Through the Brazilian Wilderness describes his expedition into the Brazilian jungle in 1913 as a member of the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition, co-named after its leader, Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon.
Once in South America, a new, far more ambitious goal was added: to find the headwaters of the Rio da Duvida (Portuguese for "River of Doubt"), and trace it north to the Madeira and thence to the Amazon River. It was later renamed Roosevelt River in honor of the former president. Roosevelt's crew consisted of his son Kermit, Colonel Rondon, naturalist George Kruck Cherrie (sent by the American Museum of Natural History), Brazilian Lieutenant João Lira, team physician Dr. José Antonio Cajazeira, and 16 skilled paddlers and porters. Roosevelt also identified Leo Miller (another AMNH recommendation), Anthony Fiala, Frank Harper, and Jacob Sigg as crew members. The initial expedition started somewhat tenuously on December 9, 1913, at the height of the rainy season. The trip down the River of Doubt started on February 27, 1914.
During the trip down the river, Roosevelt suffered a minor leg wound after he jumped into the river to try to prevent two canoes from smashing against the rocks. The flesh wound he received, however, soon gave him tropical fever that resembled the malaria he had contracted while in Cuba fifteen years before. Because the bullet lodged in his chest from the assassination attempt in 1912 was never removed, his health worsened from the infection. This weakened Roosevelt so greatly that six weeks into the adventure, he had to be attended to day and night by the expedition's physician and his son Kermit. By then, he could not walk because of the infection in his injured leg and an infirmity in the other, which was due to a traffic accident a decade earlier. Roosevelt was riddled with chest pains, fighting a fever that soared to and at times made him delirious, at one point constantly reciting the first two lines of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan": "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure dome decree". Regarding his condition as a threat to the survival of the others, Roosevelt insisted he be left behind to allow the poorly provisioned expedition to proceed as rapidly as it could, preparing to commit suicide with an overdose of morphine. Only an appeal by his son persuaded him to continue.
Despite Roosevelt's continued decline and loss of over , Colonel Rondon reduced the pace of the expedition to allow for his commission's mapmaking and other geographical tasks, which required regular stops to fix the expedition's position by sun-based survey. Upon Roosevelt's return to New York, friends and family were startled by his physical appearance and fatigue. Roosevelt wrote, perhaps prophetically, to a friend that the trip had cut his life short by ten years. For the rest of his few remaining years, he would be plagued by flare-ups of malaria and leg inflammations so severe as to require surgery. Before Roosevelt had even completed his sea voyage home, critics raised doubts over his claims of exploring and navigating a completely uncharted river over long. When he had recovered sufficiently, he addressed a standing-room-only convention organized in Washington, D.C., by the National Geographic Society and satisfactorily defended his claims.
Final years
Roosevelt returned to the United States in May 1914. Though he was outraged by the Wilson Administration's conclusion of a treaty that expressed "sincere regret" for the way in which the United States had acquired the Panama Canal Zone, he was impressed by many of the reforms passed under Wilson. Roosevelt made several campaign appearances for the Progressives, but the 1914 elections were a disaster for the fledgling third party. Roosevelt began to envision another campaign for president, this time with himself at the head of the Republican Party, but conservative party leaders remained opposed to Roosevelt. In hopes of engineering a joint nomination, the Progressives scheduled the 1916 Progressive National Convention at the same time as the 1916 Republican National Convention. When the Republicans nominated Charles Evans Hughes, Roosevelt declined the Progressive nomination and urged his Progressive followers to support the Republican candidate. Though Roosevelt had long disliked Hughes, he disliked Wilson even more, and he campaigned energetically for the Republican nominee. However, Wilson won the 1916 election by a narrow margin. The Progressives disappeared as a party following the 1916 election, and Roosevelt and many of his followers permanently re-joined the Republican Party.
World War I
When the First World War began in 1914, Roosevelt strongly supported the Allies and demanded a harsher policy against Germany, especially regarding submarine warfare. Roosevelt angrily denounced the foreign policy of President Wilson, calling it a failure regarding the atrocities in Belgium and the violations of American rights. In 1916, while campaigning for Hughes, Roosevelt repeatedly denounced Irish-Americans and German-Americans whom he described as unpatriotic, saying they put the interests of Ireland and Germany ahead of America's by supporting neutrality. He insisted that one had to be 100% American, not a "hyphenated American" who juggled multiple loyalties. In March 1917, Congress gave Roosevelt the authority to raise a maximum of four divisions similar to the Rough Riders, and Major Frederick Russell Burnham was put in charge of both the general organization and recruitment. However, President Wilson announced to the press that he would not send Roosevelt and his volunteers to France, but instead would send an American Expeditionary Force under the command of General John J. Pershing. Roosevelt never forgave Wilson, and quickly published The Foes of Our Own Household, an indictment of the sitting president. Roosevelt's youngest son, Quentin, a pilot with the American forces in France, was killed when shot down behind German lines on July 14, 1918, at the age of 20. It is said that Quentin's death distressed Roosevelt so much that he never recovered from his loss.
League of Nations
Roosevelt was an early supporter of the modern view that there needs to be a global order. In his Nobel prize address of 1910, he said, "it would be a master stroke if those great Powers honestly bent on peace would form a League of Peace, not only to keep the peace among themselves, but to prevent, by force if necessary, its being broken by others." It would have executive power such as the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 lacked. He called for American participation.
When World War I broke out, Roosevelt proposed "a World League for the Peace of Righteousness", in September 1914, which would preserve sovereignty but limit armaments and require arbitration. He added that it should be "solemnly covenanted that if any nations refused to abide by the decisions of such a court, then others draw the sword in behalf of peace and justice." In 1915 he outlined this plan more specifically, urging that nations guarantee their entire military force, if necessary, against any nation that refused to carry out arbitration decrees or violated rights of other nations. Though Roosevelt had some concerns about the impact on United States sovereignty, he insisted that such a league would only work if the United States participated as one of the "joint guarantors". Roosevelt referred to this plan in a 1918 speech as "the most feasible for...a league of nations." By this time Wilson was strongly hostile to Roosevelt and Lodge, and developed his own plans for a rather different League of Nations. It became reality along Wilson's lines at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Roosevelt denounced Wilson's approach but died before it was adopted at Paris. However, Lodge was willing to accept it with serious reservations. In the end, on March 19, 1920, Wilson had Democratic Senators vote against the League with the Lodge Reservations and the United States never joined the League of Nations.
Final political activities
Roosevelt's attacks on Wilson helped the Republicans win control of Congress in the midterm elections of 1918. He declined a request from New York Republicans to run for another gubernatorial term, but attacked Wilson's Fourteen Points, calling instead for the unconditional surrender of Germany. Though his health was uncertain, he was seen as a leading contender for the 1920 Republican nomination, but insisted that, "If they take me, they'll have to take me without a single modification of the things that I have always stood for! He wrote William Allen White, "I wish to do everything in my power to make the Republican Party the Party of sane, constructive radicalism, just as it was under Lincoln." Accordingly, he told the 1918 state convention of the Maine Republican Party that he stood for old-age pensions, insurance for sickness and unemployment, construction of public housing for low-income families, the reduction of working hours, aid to farmers, and more regulation of large corporations.
While his political profile remained high, Roosevelt's physical condition continued to deteriorate throughout 1918 due to the long-term effects of jungle diseases. He was hospitalized for seven weeks late in the year and never fully recovered.
Death
On the night of January 5, 1919, Roosevelt suffered breathing problems. After receiving treatment from his physician, Dr. George W. Faller, he felt better and went to bed. Roosevelt's last words were "Please put out that light, James" to his family servant James E. Amos. Between 4:00 and 4:15 the next morning, Roosevelt, at the age of 60, died in his sleep at Sagamore Hill after a blood clot detached from a vein and traveled to his lungs.
Upon receiving word of his death, his son Archibald telegraphed his siblings: "The old lion is dead." Woodrow Wilson's vice president, Thomas R. Marshall, said that "Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight." Following a private farewell service in the North Room at Sagamore Hill, a simple funeral was held at Christ Episcopal Church in Oyster Bay. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, Charles Evans Hughes, Warren G. Harding, Henry Cabot Lodge, and William Howard Taft were among the mourners. The snow-covered procession route to Youngs Memorial Cemetery was lined with spectators and a squad of mounted policemen who had ridden from New York City. Roosevelt was buried on a hillside overlooking Oyster Bay.
Writer
Roosevelt was a prolific author, writing with passion on subjects ranging from foreign policy to the importance of the national park system. Roosevelt was also an avid reader of poetry. Poet Robert Frost said that Roosevelt "was our kind. He quoted poetry to me. He knew poetry."
As an editor of Outlook magazine, Roosevelt had weekly access to a large, educated national audience. In all, Roosevelt wrote about 18 books (each in several editions), including his autobiography, The Rough Riders, History of the Naval War of 1812, and others on subjects such as ranching, explorations, and wildlife. His most ambitious book was the four volume narrative The Winning of the West, focused on the American frontier in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Roosevelt said that the American character—indeed a new "American race" (ethnic group) had emerged from the heroic wilderness hunters and Indian fighters, acting on the frontier with little government help. Roosevelt also published an account of his 1909–10 African expedition entitled African Game Trails.
In 1907, Roosevelt became embroiled in a widely publicized literary debate known as the nature fakers controversy. A few years earlier, naturalist John Burroughs had published an article entitled "Real and Sham Natural History" in the Atlantic Monthly, attacking popular writers of the day such as Ernest Thompson Seton, Charles G. D. Roberts, and William J. Long for their fantastical representations of wildlife. Roosevelt agreed with Burroughs's criticisms, and published several essays of his own denouncing the booming genre of "naturalistic" animal stories as "yellow journalism of the woods". It was the President himself who popularized the negative term "nature faker" to describe writers who depicted their animal characters with excessive anthropomorphism.
Character and beliefs
Roosevelt intensely disliked being called "Teddy", despite the widespread public association with said moniker, and was quick to point out this to those who referred to him as such, though it would become widely used by newspapers during his political career.
He was an active Freemason and member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
British scholar Marcus Cunliffe evaluates the liberal argument that Roosevelt was an opportunist, exhibitionist, and imperialist. Cunliffe praises TR's versatility, his respect for law, and his sincerity. He argues that Roosevelt's foreign policy was better than his detractors allege. Cunliffe calls him "a big man in several respects," ranking him below Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson, and on the same level as Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Strenuous life
Roosevelt had a lifelong interest in pursuing what he called, in an 1899 speech, "The Strenuous Life". To this end, he exercised regularly and took up boxing, tennis, hiking, rowing, polo, and horseback riding. He also continued his habit of skinny-dipping in the Potomac River during the winter. As governor of New York, he boxed with sparring partners several times each week, a practice he regularly continued as president until being hit so hard in the face he became blind in his left eye (a fact not made public until many years later). As president, he practiced judo for two 2-month periods in 1902 and 1904, not attaining any rank. Roosevelt began to believe in the utility of jiu-jitsu training after training with Yoshitsugu Yamashita. Concerned that the United States would lose its military supremacy to rising powers like Japan, Roosevelt began to advocate for jiu-jitsu training for American soldiers. Feminists annoyed by the posturing of men like Roosevelt, insisted that women were just as capable of learning jiu-jitsu. To prove their point, Martha Blow Wadsworth and Maria Louise ("Hallie") Davis Elkins hired Fude Yamashita, a highly skilled jiu-jitsu instructor and the wife of Yoshitsugu Yamashita, to teach a jiu-jitsu class for women and girls in Washington, DC in 1904. Women had already begun training in boxing in the United States as a means of personal and political empowerment. Jiu-jitsu training thus soon also became popular with American women, coinciding with the origins of a women's self-defense movement.
Roosevelt was an enthusiastic singlestick player and, according to Harper's Weekly, showed up at a White House reception with his arm bandaged after a bout with General Leonard Wood in 1905. Roosevelt was an avid reader, reading tens of thousands of books, at a rate of several per day in multiple languages. Along with Thomas Jefferson, Roosevelt was the most well-read of all American presidents.
Warrior
Historians have often emphasized Roosevelt's warrior persona. He took aggressive positions regarding war with Spain in 1898, Colombia in 1903, and especially with Germany, from 1915 to 1917. As a demonstration of American naval might, he sent the "Great White Fleet" around the world in 1907–1909. The implicit threat of the "big stick" of military power provided leverage to "speak softly" and quietly resolve conflict in numerous cases. He boasted in his autobiography:
Richard D. White Jr states, "Roosevelt's warrior spirit framed his views of national politics, [and] international relations."
Historian Howard K. Beale has argued:
Religion
Roosevelt attended church regularly and was a lifelong adherent of the Reformed Church in America, an American affiliate of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1907, concerning the motto "In God We Trust" on money, he wrote, "It seems to me eminently unwise to cheapen such a motto by use on coins, just as it would be to cheapen it by use on postage stamps, or in advertisements." Roosevelt talked a great deal about religion. Biographer Edmund Morris states:
Roosevelt publicly encouraged church attendance and was a conscientious churchgoer himself. When gas rationing was introduced during the First World War, he walked the three miles from his home at Sagamore Hill to the local church and back, even after a serious operation had made it difficult for him to travel by foot. It was said that Roosevelt "allowed no engagement to keep him from going to church," and he remained a fervent advocate of the Bible throughout his adult life. According to Christian F. Reisner, writing in 1922 shortly after Roosevelt's death, "Religion was as natural to Mr. Roosevelt as breathing," and when the travel library for Roosevelt's famous Smithsonian-sponsored African expedition was being assembled, the Bible was, according to his sister, "the first book selected." In an address delivered in his home at Oyster Bay to the Long Island Bible Society in 1901, Roosevelt declared that:
Political positions
When he assumed the presidency, Roosevelt reassured many conservatives, stating, "the mechanism of modern business is so delicate that extreme care must be taken not to interfere with it in a spirit of rashness or ignorance." The following year, Roosevelt asserted the president's independence from business interests by opposing the merger which created the Northern Securities Company, and many were surprised that any president, much less an unelected one, would challenge powerful banker J.P. Morgan. In his last two years as president, Roosevelt became increasingly distrustful of big business, despite its close ties to the Republican Party. Roosevelt sought to replace the 19th-century laissez-faire economic environment with a new economic model which included a larger regulatory role for the federal government. He believed that 19th-century entrepreneurs had risked their fortunes on innovations and new businesses, and that these capitalists had been rightly rewarded. By contrast, he believed that 20th-century capitalists risked little but nonetheless reaped huge and, given the lack of risk, unjust, economic rewards. Without a redistribution of wealth away from the upper class, Roosevelt feared that the country would turn to radicals or fall to revolution. His Square Deal domestic program had three main goals: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. The Square Deal evolved into his program of "New Nationalism", which emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests and a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions.
Foreign policy beliefs
In the analysis by Henry Kissinger, Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to develop the guideline that it was America's duty to make its enormous power and potential influence felt globally. The idea of being a passive "city on the hill" model that others could look up to, he rejected. Roosevelt, trained in biology, was a social darwinist who believed in survival of the fittest. The international world in his view was a realm of violence and conflict. The United States had all the economic and geographical potential to be the fittest nation on the globe. The United States had a duty to act decisively. For example, in terms of the Monroe Doctrine, America had to prevent European incursions in the Western Hemisphere. But there was more, as he expressed in his famous Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: the U.S. had to be the policeman of the region because unruly, corrupt smaller nations had to be controlled, and if United States did not do it, European powers would in fact intervene and develop their own base of power in the hemisphere in contravention to the Monroe Doctrine.
Roosevelt was a realist and a conservative. He deplored many of the increasingly popular idealistic liberal themes, such as were promoted by William Jennings Bryan, the anti-imperialists, and Woodrow Wilson. Kissinger says he rejected the efficacy of international law. Roosevelt argue that if a country could not protect its own interests, the international community could not help very much. He ridiculed disarmament proposals that were increasingly common. He saw no likelihood of an international power capable of checking wrongdoing on a major scale. As for world government: I regard the Wilson–Bryan attitude of trusting to fantastic peace treaties, too impossible promises, to all kinds of scraps of paper without any backing in efficient force, as abhorrent. It is infinitely better for a nation and for the world to have the Frederick the Great and Bismarck tradition as regards foreign policy than to have the Bryan or Bryan–Wilson attitude as a permanent national attitude.... A milk-and-water righteousness unbacked by force is...as wicked as and even more mischievous than force divorced from righteousness.
On the positive side, Roosevelt favored spheres of influence, whereby one great power would generally prevail, such as the United States in the Western Hemisphere or Great Britain in the Indian subcontinent. Japan fit that role and he approved. However he had deep distrust of both Germany and Russia.
Legacy
Historians credit Roosevelt for changing the nation's political system by permanently placing the "bully pulpit" of the presidency at center stage and making character as important as the issues. His accomplishments include trust busting and conservationism. He is a hero to liberals and progressives for his proposals in 1907–1912 that presaged the modern welfare state of the New Deal Era, including direct federal taxation, labor reforms, and more direct democracy, while conservationists admire Roosevelt for putting the environment and selflessness towards future generations on the national agenda, and conservatives and nationalists respect his commitment to law and order, civic duty and military values, as well as his personality of individual self-responsibility and hardiness. Dalton says, "Today he is heralded as the architect of the modern presidency, as a world leader who boldly reshaped the office to meet the needs of the new century and redefined America's place in the world."
However, liberals and socialists have criticized him for his interventionist and imperialist approach to nations he considered "uncivilized". Conservatives and libertarians reject his vision of the welfare state and emphasis on the superiority of government over private action. Historians typically rank Roosevelt among the top five presidents in American history.
Persona and masculinity
Dalton says Roosevelt is remembered as, "one of the most picturesque personalities who has ever enlivened the landscape". His friend, historian Henry Adams, proclaimed: "Roosevelt, more than any other man... showed the singular primitive quality that belongs to ultimate matter—the quality that medieval theology assigned to God—he was pure act."
Roosevelt's biographers have stressed his personality. Henry F. Pringle, who won the Pulitzer Prize in biography for his Theodore Roosevelt (1931) stated: "The Theodore Roosevelt of later years was the most adolescent of men… Failure to receive the Medal of Honor for his exploits [in Cuba] had been a grief as real as any of those which swamp childhood in despair. 'You must always remember,' wrote Cecil Spring Rice in 1904, 'that the President is about six.'"
Cooper compared him with Woodrow Wilson and argued that both of them played the roles of warrior and priest. Dalton stressed Roosevelt's strenuous life. Sarah Watts examined the desires of the "Rough Rider in the White House". Brands calls Roosevelt "the last romantic", arguing that his romantic concept of life emerged from his belief that "physical bravery was the highest virtue and war the ultimate test of bravery".
Roosevelt as the exemplar of American masculinity has become a major theme. As president, he repeatedly warned men that they were becoming too office-bound, too complacent, too comfortable with physical ease and moral laxity, and were failing in their duties to propagate the race and exhibit masculine vigor. French historian Serge Ricard says, "the ebullient apostle of the Strenuous Life offers ideal material for a detailed psycho-historical analysis of aggressive manhood in the changing socio-cultural environment of his era; McKinley, Taft, or Wilson would perhaps inadequately serve that purpose". He promoted competitive sports like boxing and jiu-jitsu for physically strengthening American men. He also believed that organizations like the Boy Scouts of America, founded in 1910, could help mold and strengthen the character of American boys. Brands shows that heroic displays of bravery were essential to Roosevelt's image and mission:
Memorials and cultural depictions
Roosevelt was included with Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln at the Mount Rushmore Memorial, designed in 1927 with the approval of Republican President Calvin Coolidge.
For his gallantry at San Juan Hill, Roosevelt's commanders recommended him for the Medal of Honor. However, the initial recommendation lacked any eyewitnesses, and the effort was eventually tainted by Roosevelt's own lobbying of the War Department. In the late 1990s, Roosevelt's supporters again recommended the award, which was denied by the Secretary of the Army on basis that the decorations board determined "Roosevelt's bravery in battle did not rise to the level that would justify the Medal of Honor and, indeed, it did not rise to the level of men who fought in that engagement." Nevertheless, politicians apparently convinced the secretary to reconsider the award a third time and reverse himself, leading to the charge that it was a "politically motivated award." On January 16, 2001, President Bill Clinton awarded Theodore Roosevelt the Medal of Honor posthumously for his charge on San Juan Hill. He is the only president to have received the Medal of Honor.
The United States Navy named two ships for Roosevelt: the , a submarine that was in commission from 1961 to 1982, and the , an aircraft carrier that has been on active duty in the Atlantic Fleet since 1986.
On November 18, 1956, the United States Postal Service released a 6¢ Liberty Issue postage stamp honoring Roosevelt. A 32¢ stamp was issued on February 3, 1998, as part of the Celebrate the Century stamp sheet series. In 2008, Columbia Law School awarded Roosevelt a Juris Doctor degree, posthumously making him a member of the class of 1882.
Roosevelt's "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick" ideology is still quoted by politicians and columnists in different countries—not only in English, but also in translations to various other languages. Another lasting, popular legacy of Roosevelt is the stuffed toy bears—teddy bears—named after him following an incident on a hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902. Roosevelt has been portrayed in films and television series such as Brighty of the Grand Canyon, The Wind and the Lion, Rough Riders, My Friend Flicka, and Law of the Plainsman. Robin Williams portrayed Roosevelt in the form of a wax mannequin that comes to life in Night at the Museum and its sequels Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. In 2017, it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio will portray Roosevelt in a biopic to be directed by Martin Scorsese.
Moreover, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the state of North Dakota is named after him. The America the Beautiful Quarters series features Roosevelt riding a horse on the national park's quarter.
Asteroid 188693 Roosevelt, discovered by astronomers with the Catalina Sky Survey in 2005, was named after him. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on November 8, 2019 ().
In January 2022, after years of lobbying by activists, an equestrian statue of the former president was removed from where it had stood for more than eighty years in front of New York's American Museum of Natural History. Responding to controversy, the museum noted that the design "communicates a racial hierarchy that the museum and members of the public have long found disturbing."
Audiovisual media
Theodore Roosevelt was one of the first presidents whose voice was recorded for posterity. Several of his recorded speeches survive. A 4.6-minute voice recording, which preserves Roosevelt's lower timbre ranges particularly well for its time, is among those available from the Michigan State University libraries (this is the 1912 recording of The Right of the People to Rule, recorded by Edison at Carnegie Hall). The audio clip sponsored by the Authentic History Center includes his defense of the Progressive Party in 1912, wherein he proclaims it the "party of the people" – in contrast with the other major parties.
Roosevelt goes for a ride in Arch Hoxsey's plane in October 1910
In popular culture
Theodore Roosevelt appears as the leader of the American civilization in the Firaxis Games title Civilization VI. His unique ability is Roosevelt Corollary, which gives +5 Combat Strength for all units inside America's home continent, and +1 Appeal to all tiles in cities with a national park.
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
Full biographies
.
.
.
, 105 pp, very short biography by leading scholar.
.; also titled Power and responsibility; the life and times of Theodore Roosevelt online free to borrow
.
.
.
, only volume published, to age 28.
.
.
Personality and activities
.
.
Provides a lesson plan on TR as the historical figure who most exemplifies the quality of masculinity.
. Chronicles the events of TR's presidency during the summers of his two terms.
. The president's use of publicity, rhetoric and force of personality.
; his deadly 1913–14 trip to the Amazon.
, best seller; to 1886.
, to 1884.
. 494 pp.
, examines TR and his family during the World War I period.
.
, 240 pp. TR in Africa & Europe, 1909–10
. 289 pp.
, 337 pp; TR's political thought and its significance for republican self-government.
Domestic policies
online review; another online review
Cutright, P.R. (1985) Theodore Roosevelt: The making of a Modern Conservationist (U of Illinois Press.)
.
, standard history of his domestic and foreign policy as president.
Bakari, Mohamed El-Kamel. "Mapping the 'Anthropocentric-ecocentric'Dualism in the History of American Presidency: The Good, the Bad, and the Ambivalent." Journal of Studies in Social Sciences 14, no. 2 (2016).
.
.
Redekop, Benjamin. (2015). "Embodying the Story: The Conservation Leadership of Theodore Roosevelt". Leadership (2015) DOI:10.1177/1742715014546875 online
.
.
Politics
. How TR did politics.
, 323 pp.
.
.
.
.
. 361 pp.
.
. Focus on 1912; online free
. online free
. Attacks TR policies from conservative/libertarian perspective.
Foreign policy, military and naval issues
. online
. excerpt
.
. 328 pp.
Kuehn, John T. "Theodore Roosevelt’s Naval Diplomacy: The U.S. Navy and the Birth of the American Century," Naval War College Review (2010) 53#3 online
Livermore, Seward W. "Theodore Roosevelt, the American Navy, and the Venezuelan Crisis of 1902-1903." American Historical Review 51.3 (1946): 452–471. online
.
.
Nester, William R. Theodore Roosevelt and the Art of American Power: An American for All Time. Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. excerpt
Neu, Charles E. "Theodore Roosevelt and American Involvement in the Far East, 1901-1909." Pacific Historical Review 35.4 (1966): 433–449. online
O'Gara, Gordon Carpenter. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of the Modern Navy. (Princeton UP, 1943). online
.
Oyos, Matthew M. In Command: Theodore Roosevelt and the American Military (2018) online review
Pietrusza, David (2018). TR's Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy
.
.
.
.
Thompson, John M. Great Power Rising: Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of US Foreign Policy (Oxford UP, 2019).
. 196 pp.
Turk, Richard W. The Ambiguous Relationship: Theodore Roosevelt and Alfred Thayer Mahan (1987) [https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/93/5/1413/70734 online review
Historiography
Cunliffe, Marcus. "Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States 1901–1908" History Today (Sept 1955) 4#9 pp. 592–601, online.
Ricard, Serge. "The State of Theodore Roosevelt Studies" H-Diplo Essay No. 116 24 October 2014 online
, excerpt and text search, 28 new essays by scholars; focus on historiography. online
Primary sources
Kohn, Edward P., ed. A Most Glorious Ride: The Diaries of Theodore Roosevelt, 1877–1886 (State University of New York Press, 2015), 284 pp.
; vol 2
.
, 20 vol.; 18,000 pages containing most of TR's speeches, books and essays, but not his letters; a CD-ROM edition is available; some of TR's books are available online through Project Bartleby
, Roosevelt's opinions on many issues; online version at Theodore Roosevelt.
, 8 vols. Very large collection. vol 1 1868–1898 online free
. online free
.
.
online free to borrow
.
.
.
External links
Official
White House biography
Organizations
Boone and Crockett Club
Theodore Roosevelt Association
Libraries and collections
Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University
Theodore Roosevelt Collection, at the Houghton Library, Harvard University
Julian L. Street Papers on Theodore Roosevelt, at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
Doris A. and Lawrence H. Budner Collection on Theodore Roosevelt at the DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University
Theodore Roosevelt's journalism at The Archive of American Journalism
Theodore Roosevelt American Museum of Natural History
Roosevelt Papers, at the Library of Congress
Guide to the Herbert R. Strauss Collection of Theodore Roosevelt Papers 1884–1919 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
Media
"Life Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, September 3, 1999
"Writings of Theodore Roosevelt" from C-SPAN's American Writers: A Journey Through History
Other
Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt: A Resource Guide – Library of Congress
1858 births
1919 deaths
1900s in the United States
Theodore
19th-century American politicians
19th-century American historians
19th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century presidents of the United States
20th-century vice presidents of the United States
American autobiographers
American conservationists
American essayists
American explorers
American fishers
American hunters
American male judoka
American male non-fiction writers
American military personnel of the Spanish–American War
American naval historians
American Nobel laureates
American political writers
American shooting survivors
Articles containing video clips
American bibliophiles
American people of Dutch descent
Bulloch family
Burials in New York (state)
Columbia Law School alumni
Deaths from pulmonary embolism
New York City Police Commissioners
English-language spelling reform advocates
Explorers of Amazonia
American Freemasons
Governors of New York (state)
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Harvard College alumni
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Members of the New York State Assembly
Military personnel from New York City
New York (state) Progressives (1912)
New York (state) Republicans
Nobel Peace Prize laureates
People associated with the American Museum of Natural History
People from Oyster Bay (town), New York
Politicians from New York City
Presidents of the American Historical Association
Presidents of the United States
Progressive Era in the United States
Ranchers from North Dakota
Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees
Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees
Republican Party presidents of the United States
Republican Party state governors of the United States
Republican Party vice presidents of the United States
Rough Riders
Schuyler family
Sons of the American Revolution
Spanish–American War recipients of the Medal of Honor
United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
United States Army officers
United States Assistant Secretaries of the Navy
Candidates in the 1904 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1912 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1916 United States presidential election
1900 United States vice-presidential candidates
Vice presidents of the United States
Writers from New York (state)
Harvard Advocate alumni
American diarists
American political party founders
Aphorists
American nationalists
20th-century American male writers | false | [
"Tord Pedersson (Bonde) (died May 1470) was the un-ordained Archbishop of Uppsala from 1468 to 1469. He was born as Tord Pedersson, but since his mother was of the Bonde family, he would often use this name in addition to his own.\n\nHe studied at the University of Leipzig in 1437–1439 and received a Bachelor of Arts. After returning home, he became dean in Linköping. His mother had a connection to the king Charles VIII of Sweden, which is believed to have been the reason for this promotion.\n\nIn 1467, the Archbishop of Uppsala died, and on the King's recommendation, Tord Pedersson was elected as his successor. He moved to Almarestäket and filled the chair as Archbishop. However, Pope Paul II did not approve this elevation, and requested that Pedersson be replaced by Jakob Ulvsson. Pedersson was replaced on 18 December 1469.\nNot long thereafter, Tord Pedersson died.\n\nReferences \nNordisk familjebok, in Swedish\n\nRoman Catholic archbishops of Uppsala\n15th-century Swedish people\n1470 deaths\nYear of birth unknown",
"Carlo Antonio Bertinazzi (2 December 1710, in Turin – 6 September 1783), known as Carlin, was an Italian actor and author. He is known to have traveled with Giacomo Casanova's mother, Zanetta Farussi, to St Petersburg to perform for Empress Anna of Russia, only to return to Italy shortly after, as the empress did not approve of the comedy. \n\nCarlin was best known for his role as Harlequin in the commedia dell'arte (Italian comedy) that he performed from 1741 until his death.\n\nExternal links\n Biography in French\n Carlin in Harlequin costume\n Profile, oxfordreference.com; accessed 16 December 2015.\n\nReferences\n\n1710 births\n1783 deaths\nActors from Turin\nPlace of death missing\n18th-century Italian male actors\nItalian male stage actors\n18th-century Italian writers\n18th-century Italian male writers\nWriters from Turin"
]
|
[
"Gary Barlow",
"Musical theatre"
]
| C_725ed09dc21641bcb373213e34604e16_0 | What was Barlow's role in musical theatre? | 1 | What was Gary Barlow's role in musical theatre? | Gary Barlow | On 25 June 2013, it was announced that Barlow had been signed up to work on a new musical version of Finding Neverland and will co-write the score for the theatre project, which is being developed by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Barlow said of the project: "This is something I've always wanted to do so it's a real privilege to be involved. I'm really enjoying working with the team and I love the story; it's also great to be working with a legendary creative like Harvey Weinstein." Weinstein echoed the sentiment by expressing his admiration for Barlow, whom he described as "one of the finest songwriters in the world". On 1 March 2014, Barlow attended the Bob and Harvey Weinstein's pre-Academy Awards party at the Montage in Beverly Hills to perform a selection of songs from the musical score he had written for Finding Neverland. He played the lead role of Peter Pan author J. M. Barrie, and sung a duet with noted British musical actress Laura Michelle Kelly along with four back-up artists featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary 20 Feet from Stardom. Barlow's performance was well received, and after a successful performance run in Boston, Finding Neverland opened on Broadway in spring 2015. On its first Broadway preview, the show sold out the theatre and posted a box office performance that, if it continued for a whole week of performances, would have seen the show top $1 million. Gary has also co-written a musical alongside hometown friend Tim Firth, titled The Girls, which opened at the Phoenix Theatre, London in January 2017. CANNOTANSWER | On 25 June 2013, it was announced that Barlow had been signed up to work on a new musical version of Finding Neverland and will co-write the score | Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That.
Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, having written thirteen number-one singles (ten with Take That, two solo, one with Robbie Williams "Candy") and twenty-four top-ten hits. As a solo artist, he has had three number-one singles, six top-ten singles and three number-one albums, and has additionally had seventeen top-five hits, twelve number-one singles and eight number-one albums with Take That. Barlow has also established himself as a talent show judge and television personality. He has judged on The X Factor UK (2011–2013), Let It Shine (2017), and Walk The Line (2021).
Barlow has received six Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, including the award for Outstanding Services to British Music. He has sold over 50 million records worldwide. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) at the 2012 Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to the entertainment industry and charity.
Early life and influences
Barlow was born on 20 January 1971 in Frodsham, Cheshire, the second son of Colin (died 15 October 2009) and Marjorie Barlow (née Cowan). He attended Weaver Vale Primary School and moved on to Frodsham High School in 1982. In Barlow's autobiography, he relates that his love of music began at an early age, and calls himself "one of those kids that's forever dancing in front of the TV looking at [his] reflection". He was heavily influenced by late 1970s and 1980s pop music. Barlow cites watching a performance of "Just Can't Get Enough" by Depeche Mode on Top of the Pops when he was 10 years old as a main influence, describing it as "mesmerising". He subsequently asked for a keyboard for Christmas and spent most of his spare time teaching himself to play his favourite songs. Barlow has also identified Trevor Horn, and future collaborators Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), as important early influences. He has credited Elton John with inspiring him to play the piano.
In 1986, when Barlow was 15 years old, he entered a BBC Pebble Mill at One Christmas song competition with "Let's Pray for Christmas". After reaching the semi-finals, he was invited to London's West Heath Studios to record his song. This inspired him to perform on the northern club circuit, singing cover versions and his own songs. Barlow's first performance was in Wales, at the Connah's Quay Labour Club in the late 1980s, and he was paid £18 per performance on Saturday evenings.
In 1989, Barlow appointed Wigan show business agent Barry Woolley to be his manager and recorded a single ("Love Is in the Air") which was never released commercially. Barlow was eventually put in touch with casting agent Nigel Martin-Smith, by renowned celebrity photographer Doc Braham, who took Barlow's first professional head-shots. Graham-Smith was a friend of Braham, who introduced Barlow to Graham who was interested in starting a boyband. Martin-Smith decided to use Barlow as the lead singer after being impressed by his self-written material, including an early demo tape of Barlow's "A Million Love Songs", concluding that the band would be built around Barlow's vocals and songwriting skills.
History
1989–1996: Take That
Barlow, who wrote the majority of the group's songs, is widely recognised as the lead singer of Take That. After selecting Barlow as the group's lead singer, Nigel Martin-Smith introduced Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and finally Robbie Williams to the fold. The group were signed to RCA Records, and after a number of top-40 hits, eventually secured their first number-one with Barlow's "Pray". Previous hits included "A Million Love Songs", "It Only Takes a Minute" and "Could It Be Magic". The debut album Take That & Party was released on 17 August 1992 and reached number two in the UK Album Chart. The following year saw the release of their second album, Everything Changes based on Barlow's own material. It went straight in at number one in the UK Albums Chart and spawned four number-one singles, as well as "Why Can't I Wake Up with You" and "Love Ain't Here Anymore" hitting numbers two and three respectively.
Barlow received an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song in 1994 for the number-one hit song "Pray" included on the album. In 1994, alongside Rick Astley, Barlow did backing vocals for Elton John's version of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King. Take That's third album Nobody Else, again based on Barlow's own material, went straight to number one and was to be their last studio album of the 1990s. The album had three number-one singles, including Barlow's "Back for Good" which peaked at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was brought forward an unprecedented six weeks before its official release such was the demand for the single. A Greatest Hits collection followed again reaching number one. The album featured the band's eighth number-one single "How Deep Is Your Love". This was to be the first single released by Take That as a four piece (without Robbie Williams) and it was their last single until they reformed in 2005.
1996–1998: Solo career and Open Road
Barlow's solo career was predicted to be very successful, being described as "the next George Michael". His first two solo singles, "Forever Love" (released July 1996) and "Love Won't Wait" (composed by Madonna and Shep Pettibone), both leapt to the number one spot in his home country. "Forever Love" was also used as the soundtrack to the film The Leading Man. His debut album Open Road reached number one in the UK Albums Chart and went on to sell 2 million copies worldwide. Barlow's first single to be released in the United States as a solo artist was "So Help Me Girl", which reached number 44 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number one on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. He then achieved another top-ten hit in the UK with "Open Road" peaking at number seven and number eight in the Netherlands with "Are You Ready Now?".
1999–2004: Twelve Months, Eleven Days, and producing career
After the success of his first solo album, Barlow released his second LP Twelve Months, Eleven Days in 1999. Barlow released "Stronger" as the lead single preceding the album. However, due to an expected backlash against Barlow, it received minimal support and airplay and only peaked at number 16. The album's second single, "For All That You Want", also received minimal radio play and peaked at number 24; however, it nearly reached the top five in Finland. Twelve Months, Eleven Days received little promotion and peaked at a disappointing number 35, which led to Sony recalling the album's scheduled third single, "Lie to Me". This decision resulted in Barlow and BMG parting company.
In late 1999, Barlow quit his career as a singer, with his final single remaining unreleased. From 2000 to 2004, he was a producer for other artists, including bandmate Mark Owen's solo projects. In 2005, he resumed his singing career after a six-year hiatus.
Barlow has sold million records as a solo artist.
2005–2011: Take That reunion and Shame
Barlow returned to the spotlight in a successful TV documentary, Take That: For the Record in 2005. Following this success and renewed interest, Take That experienced a career renaissance in 2005 when the post-Williams line-up reformed for a sell-out arena/stadium tour. The band released their comeback single "Patience" which went to number one for four weeks while also topping the charts across Europe. Patience was also voted the Record of the Year in 2006 and won a Brit Award for single of the year. This was followed with "Shine" which became the band's tenth number-one single. Take That's first album of new material in over ten years, Beautiful World was released on 24 November 2006. The album peaked at number one in the UK Album Chart selling over 2.8 million copies in the UK alone as of 2012. It was re-released as a tour edition with hit single "Rule the World" in 2007 and peaked again at number one.
In 2008, the band were nominated for four Brit Awards (Best British Group, Best British Album, Best British Single and Best British Live Act). They won Best British Single and Best British Live Act. After great success in 2006, Take That released the single "Greatest Day" which went straight to number one and became their eleventh number-one single in the UK. The week after they released their second album since their reunion in 2006, The Circus. The Circus album was also a great success for Take That going straight to the top of the UK album chart and selling over 2.2 million copies in the country, going multi-platinum within four days of its release. In June and July 2009, Take That performed a record-breaking tour named Take That Present: The Circus Live throughout the United Kingdom and it sold over one million tickets in just five hours.
Barlow's first solo release since 1999 was a duet with reconciled Take That bandmate Robbie Williams on a single entitled "Shame". The single was written by both Barlow and Williams after they began to work together in Los Angeles on new material for a new Take That album following Williams' return to the band. On the first day of the song being released to the radio and the media, "Shame" received an unprecedented 694 plays on the radio and 153 plays on TV. The single peaked at number 2 in the UK, selling 224,000 copies and being certified as Silver by the BPI, while also charting in 21 countries worldwide.
It was announced that Barlow was in the process of writing Take That's much-anticipated sixth studio album, set for release in late 2010. The album, Progress, was the first to feature the original line-up since their 1995 album, Nobody Else. The band also announced a stadium tour entitled Progress Live which took place in 2011. The tickets for the tour went on sale on 29 October 2010. Due to unprecedented high public demand for tickets, Ticketmaster websites across the UK and Ireland crashed and all initial tour dates sold out in under 15 minutes. It was reported that a record breaking one million tickets were snapped up on the first day of sale, resulting in Take That smashing the previous box office record of tickets sold which was set in 2008 by Take That Present: The Circus Live. Due to unprecedented demand Take That added more dates to their tour, finishing in the UK with a record breaking eight consecutive nights at Wembley Stadium after which the tour would then commence throughout Europe with an estimated 1.75 million people expected to attend the shows.
The lead single from Progress was announced as "The Flood". The single debuted at number two, selling over 500,000 copies. On the first day of the release of Progress, the album sold over 235,000 copies across the UK, making it the fastest selling record of the century. On 21 November 2010, Progress debuted at number one in the United Kingdom, becoming the band's seventh number-one album. By the end of its first week on sale the album sold over 520,000, making it the second fastest-selling album of all-time in UK chart history. To date Progress has sold 2.8 million copies in the UK and has achieved similar chart success across Europe. In June 2011, Take That released their first extended play collection entitled Progressed which returned the band to number one in the UK on its first week of release as well as charting across Europe.
The media have widely acknowledged Barlow's talent and labelled him as the mastermind behind the unprecedented success of Take That's comeback and the new musical direction they have taken.
2012–2014: Return to solo projects, Sing and Since I Saw You Last
In April 2012, Barlow recorded a cover of "Here Comes the Sun" that was used in the 2012 summer promotion advertisement for Marks and Spencer with him appearing in the advert at the end performing the song.
Barlow was featured in a duet with Agnetha Fältskog (from ABBA) on her 2013 album A, released in May 2013. Barlow co-wrote the song, "I Should've Followed You Home" with album producer Jörgen Elofsson. Early press reports tagged the song as a likely single with strong chart potential leading to Universal Music scheduling it to be released as the third single from the album in November 2013. The single become a top 5 hit in Sweden on the week of its release as well as charting in the UK.
It was announced in January 2012 that Barlow and Andrew Lloyd Webber would be working together to write the official Diamond Jubilee single. Barlow and Lord Lloyd Webber composed the music to the song; with Barlow then taking this music to musicians and singers around the Commonwealth with the aim to incorporate sounds from around the world onto the single. The song entitled "Sing" was released as the lead single from the album of the same name, Sing. It debuted in the UK Singles Chart at number 11 with the album released on the same day entering the UK Album Chart at number one, becoming Barlow's second solo number-one album and his first in 15 years. After the airing of Gary Barlow's documentary Gary Barlow: On Her Majesty's Service which told the story of how Sing was written; the single climbed up to number one in the iTunes chart. The following week Sing rose to number one in the UK Singles Chart selling 142,000 copies and becoming among the highest selling singles of 2012. The album of the same name remained at number one, making Barlow the first artist in 2012 to have the number-one album and number-one single in the same week.
Barlow announced on 15 October 2012 that he was to embark on his first full solo tour in thirteen years around the UK and Ireland. In a statement, he said, "I'm really excited about these dates. Playing live is my favourite thing and I haven't played a solo show for over a year now. Last year playing two London shows was brilliant, we all had such a good time, so I thought right let's get out and see the rest of the country!"
The tickets to Barlow's solo concerts sold out "instantly" after going on sale on 19 October, with tickets selling faster than those of the Rolling Stones for their comeback dates. Demand was so high for tickets that Barlow added more dates, which also sold out instantly. It was also revealed by ticket marketplace SeatWave, that Gary Barlow's solo shows had sold six times more tickets than Robbie Williams' solo concerts, despite being on sale for a week less.
In September 2013, Barlow announced via his Twitter account that he would be releasing his first full-length solo album in 14 years, on 25 November 2013. Barlow encouraged his followers and fans to tweet #GBSOLO to reveal the album artwork and title, with their profile pictures being used to create a collage of the album cover. On 4 October 2013, Barlow revealed his new album would be called Since I Saw You Last, and would be preceded by his first single from the LP, titled "Let Me Go", released worldwide on 17 November 2013. He also announced that he would be touring the album in April 2014, playing some of the biggest arenas in the UK.
"Let Me Go" entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 3 with 72,423 copies sold in its first week on sale, giving Barlow his 21st top 3 UK single. The following week it rose to No. 2 selling a further 60,422 copies. One month after release, "Let Me Go" was certified Silver by the BPI for selling over 200,000 copies in the UK. In early 2014, Let Me Go surpassed 400,000 sales in the UK and was certified Gold. The week after the release of Let Me Go, the album debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart, behind One Direction's third album Midnight Memories. The album sold 116,000 copies, becoming the fastest selling album of 2013 to miss out on the top spot, whilst also selling more copies in his first week than his Take That bandmate Robbie Williams, whose album Swings Both Ways sold 109,000 copies the previous week to claim the top spot. The album was certified Platinum by the BPI less than a month after being released, becoming Barlow's second solo album to reach Platinum certification. The album went 2x Platinum a month later, spending 11 weeks in the top 5 of the UK Album Charts, becoming Barlow's most successful solo album in the UK to date.
2017–present: A Better Me, Music Played by Humans and The Dream of Christmas
On 12 October 2017, whilst appearing on BBC Radio 2, Barlow announced that he would be embarking on a solo tour again around UK and Ireland to celebrate the release of his new book, A Better Me. The tour was to visit smaller and more intimate venues rather than the huge arenas and stadiums that Barlow was so familiar to playing, be it solo or alongside his Take That bandmates.
On 14 August 2019, Barlow announced that he had been working on a new solo record due for release in Autumn 2020, stating that "[he has] never recorded with an orchestra" and wanted to create "original songs with big contemporary orchestral arrangements." In July 2020, Barlow confirmed that the album will release in November, adding that "[the album is] very positive and [composed] with a 60-piece orchestra."
On 30 September 2020, Barlow revealed that his upcoming album would be called Music Played by Humans, set to be released on 27 November 2020. Its lead single, "Elita", featuring Michael Bublé and Sebastián Yatra, was released on the same day after it premiered on BBC Radio 2. A tour to promote the record in 2021 has also been announced with Leona Lewis as special guest.
Barlow announced in early 2021 that he would release a new solo record by the end of the year, which was revealed on 28 October to be The Dream of Christmas, his first Christmas album. The project features a collection of both new songs and covers of Christmas classics, including the two singles "Sleigh Ride" and "The Dream of Christmas", both released on 29 October. The album was released on 26 November.
On 20 January 2022, Barlow announced a brand new one-man stage show A Different Stage. The show premiered in Runcorn at The Brindley with performances from 10 - 15 February 2022 before then touring to The Lowry, Salford (22 - 27 February 2022), Liverpool Playhouse (15 - 19 March 2022) and Edinburgh Lyceum (22 - 27 March 2022) with further dates to be announced
Other musical projects
Songwriting, producing and publishing
After leaving his career as a solo artist Barlow returned to his first love of writing music. He soon signed a song writing publishing deal with Sony and went to the US on a six-month songwriting project, residing in Nashville, Los Angeles and New York with his wife, Dawn and first child, Daniel. Upon his return he set up True North Productions with Eliot Kennedy and Tim Woodcock. In his autobiography My Take Barlow partly blames his fall as a solo artist on his commitments to being a star in the United States. After his disappointing second album, Barlow remained out of the public eye for half a decade, choosing to continue to write and produce songs for other artists such as Shirley Bassey and Charlotte Church.
In October 2007, Barlow founded San Remo Live Publishings as an independently run management company to establish and support artists and songwriters.
In 2008, Barlow was heavily involved in providing the score of ITV's Britannia High. The 9 episode series focused on the lives of a group of teenagers and their mentors at a fictional London theatre school. Guy Chambers, Steve Mac, Andy Hill, Mark Owen, James Bourne and Eliot Kennedy also contributed to the musical component of the show. It was axed after one series.
In 2010, Barlow signed a new 5-year songwriting publishing deal with Sony music. He has been voted as the greatest British songwriter of all time in a 2009 OnePoll, who surveyed 3,000 people John Lennon and Paul McCartney, of The Beatles, were placed second and third respectively.
In 2011, Barlow wrote the song "Run for Your Life" for The X Factor series 7 winner Matt Cardle's debut album. He has also written for the likes of Robbie Williams , Westlife, Lily Allen, Blue, Elton John, Olly Murs T-Pain, Will Young N-Dubz, Lawson, Shirley Bassey, Donny Osmond, Delta Goodrem, Elaine Paige, Agnetha Fältskog and many more while also being commissioned by the Queen to write the official single for her Diamond Jubilee, which saw Barlow collaborate with Andrew Lloyd Webber.
To date, Barlow has written 14 number-one singles in the UK and 2 Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles in the United States including "Back for Good" which went to number one in 31 countries around the world.
Ceremonial work
At the beginning of May 2010, it was announced that the Queen had asked Barlow to organise her 86th birthday party and her Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012. A source said: "Her Majesty has been made well aware of his charity work and the events he has put together. She knows that Gary has got the power to pull in the big names across the music industry and to ensure it's a party to match the occasion". This was confirmed in February 2012 with Gary Barlow being named as the organiser and producer of a concert that took place outside Buckingham Palace and featuring globally recognised superstar artists. Barlow said "The Diamond Jubliee Concert will celebrate the 60 years of the Queen's reign with an amazing line-up of world-class artists coming together to play at one of the biggest and most exciting live music shows in recent years." This concert began to take shape with Barlow at the centre of the arrangements and the force behind the staging, artists and the eventual ideas that would be used in the concert. On 4 June 2012 the Diamond Jubilee concert was held outside Buckingham Palace with it acting as a backdrop to a stage built upon the Victoria Memorial featuring artists from all around the world. The concert included music stemming from the 1950s to the 2000s with each decade of her reign reflected in the music performed. Barlow himself appeared alongside Andrew Lloyd Webber and his own Commonwealth Band to perform the self written official jubilee single "Sing" while also dueting with Girls Aloud's Cheryl Cole on the night which won praise from critics who called "the performance as [two of] the best of Britain [who] proved their pop credentials with a dazzling duet."
Future records
In 2009 Barlow began work on his own record label Future Records, a branch from Universal Music and signed his first artist, classical singer Camilla Kerslake. Since then Barlow has also signed UK rapper Aggro Santos to his label who scored two top 10 UK hits and a further top 20 single, and the winner of Sky 1's Must Be The Music, Emma's Imagination who also achieved two top 10 UK singles and a top 15 charting debut album. In 2013 Barlow's discovery A*M*E released her first single which debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart. Gary Barlow has since closed down the record label to focus on his own career and family commitments.
The X Factor
On 7 May 2011, it was announced that Barlow was in advanced talks to replace Simon Cowell as a judge on The X Factor. He was officially confirmed as a judge on 30 May, alongside returning judge Louis Walsh and fellow new judges Tulisa and Kelly Rowland, who collectively replaced Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue.
Barlow was given the "Boys" category for the live shows and mentored Marcus Collins to the final of The X Factor, where he became runner up.
After a successful debut as a judge on The X Factor in 2011, ITV producers opened talks with Barlow to return for a second series and offered a substantial increase on his £1.5 million salary from the previous year. On 17 April 2012, it was announced that Barlow would return to The X Factor for a second year; he was the first judge to be announced to be returning. He was later joined by returning judges Walsh and Tulisa alongside new judge Nicole Scherzinger, who replaced Rowland after one series. For his second year as a mentor, he was given the Over 28s category, which featured both male and female artists over the age of 28. He became the only judge to have four acts in the finals after Christopher Maloney became the popular wildcard and the thirteenth finalist in the show. Barlow guided Maloney to the final of the show, becoming Barlow's second finalist in two consecutive years.
Barlow revealed on 9 December 2012 that he may not return as a judge for a third series on The X Factor, stating that he did not know "if there is room" in his diary for the programme. However, on 20 May 2013, it was confirmed by Walsh that he and Barlow would both return to continue their roles as judges on the tenth series of The X Factor, alongside Scherzinger and former judge Sharon Osbourne who replaced Tulisa. Barlow was given the Groups category in his third year on the show. Barlow chose Kingsland Road, Miss Dynamix and Rough Copy as his final three. After losing two of his final acts, he guided Rough Copy to the semi final.
During Rough Copy's performance on the first live show of The X Factor 2013, Barlow revealed that this would be his last series on the show, due to his solo tour commitments and the upcoming release of a new Take That album. Barlow said of his decision: "I’ve had an amazing time on X Factor these past three years. A show like this needs to stay fresh and exciting, so it’s a great opportunity for someone to come in and take the show past its incredible ten year anniversary. "Next year is a very busy year for me and X Factor is a full time job so it felt like the right time to hand over the baton." An X Factor spokesperson added: "As Gary said on the show tonight we can confirm that this will be his last series as a judge on The X Factor as next year he will be focusing on his own music. "We'd like to thank him for an amazing contribution over the last three years." Barlow was replaced by Cowell, who returned to the show after a three-year absence.
Musical theatre
On 25 June 2013, it was announced that Barlow had been signed up to work on a new musical version of Finding Neverland and will co-write the score for the theatre project, which is being developed by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Barlow said of the project: "This is something I've always wanted to do so it's a real privilege to be involved. I'm really enjoying working with the team and I love the story; it's also great to be working with a legendary creative like Harvey Weinstein."
Weinstein echoed the sentiment by expressing his admiration for Barlow, whom he described as "one of the finest songwriters in the world".
On 1 March 2014, Barlow attended the Bob and Harvey Weinstein's pre-Academy Awards party at the Montage in Beverly Hills to perform a selection of songs from the musical score he had written for Finding Neverland. He played the lead role of Peter Pan author J. M. Barrie and sang a duet with British musical actress Laura Michelle Kelly along with four back-up artists featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary 20 Feet from Stardom. Barlow's performance was well received, and after a successful performance run in Boston, Finding Neverland opened on Broadway in spring 2015. On its first Broadway preview, the show sold out the theatre and posted a box office performance that, if it continued for a whole week of performances, would have seen the show top $1 million.
Barlow has also co-written a musical alongside hometown friend Tim Firth, called The Girls (later retitled in 2017 as Calendar Girls The Musical), which opened at the Phoenix Theatre, London in January 2017.
Let It Shine
In the summer of 2016, Gary launched his own talent show Let It Shine, in the search for 5 males to star in an upcoming nationwide musical using the music of Take That. The musical will tour all over the UK, with up to 8 shows a week. Let It Shine premiered on BBC One on 7 January 2017 and the first live show was premiered on 11 February 2017.
The Crooner Sessions
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Barlow received global recognition for his "The Crooner Sessions" series which featured him performing songs on-line alongside other artists. Although initially starting as a way to entertain his fans during the lockdown, Barlow's videos, which debuted on Instagram before later being uploaded to his YouTube Channel, Facebook and Twitter feeds, became a hotly-anticipated event for many music lovers worldwide. Describing his inspiration for the series, Barlow explained "we can't go on stages or into theaters. Maybe this is our new stage". On 5 January 2021, Barlow announced on his social media accounts that the Crooner Sessions would be returning for a second series through the 2021 UK lockdown. The first episode of the renewed series premiered on 11 January 2021.
Walk the Line
After being replaced as a judge on The X Factor by a returning Simon Cowell, Barlow ended up replacing Cowell as the head judge on the panel of Syco's new talent show Walk the Line before the first episode was aired. Debuting on ITV on 12 December 2021, Barlow joined Craig David, Dawn French and Alesha Dixon on the judging panel.
Honours
After twenty years within the music industry in which Barlow has achieved success around the world; coupled with his efforts to raise money and awareness for various charities he was honoured in the 2012 Queen's Birthday Honours. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the Queen on 16 June 2012, which he was awarded on 21 November for "services to the Entertainment Industry and to Charity". In a statement, Barlow said: "I'm absolutely thrilled and feel very privileged to be in the company of so many brilliant people who I know have received an OBE." He continued by stating that he enjoys "every minute of the work I do, with a lot of it being a reward in itself, so for somebody to decide I should get recognised for that is just amazing. My family are very proud."
In July 2012, Barlow was announced as the recipient of the Music Industry Trusts Award which he was presented with in November 2012 in recognition of his services to British music and charity. David Munns, chairman of the award committee, said of Barlow: "He is one of the UK's most accomplished artists – a unique musician, songwriter and producer who embodies both success and distinction, and who serves as a dedicated ambassador for many charities."
Outside music
Acting career
In 2000, Barlow made his acting debut in the ITV1 drama Heartbeat: this was the 150th edition of the show, and Barlow played hitch-hiker Micky Shannon. In 2012, Barlow had a cameo in the film Keith Lemon: The Film and in early 2013 he had a cameo in the hit BBC1 show Miranda and also in a 2015 special. Barlow had a brief cameo in Star Wars: The Last Jedi as a soldier in the Crait trenches.
Social media
In October 2011, Barlow joined Twitter live on The Xtra Factor to build support for the contestants he mentored during series 8 of The X Factor. Almost immediately after he joined Twitter his following totalled at over 300,000 people. Within two months of joining Twitter, Barlow reached over 1 million followers. As of October 2018 has an audience of 4.3 million Twitter followers.
Charity work
Barlow organised a sponsored climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for Comic Relief. Barlow and eight other celebrities: Cheryl Cole, Ben Shephard, Alesha Dixon, Kimberley Walsh, Fearne Cotton, Chris Moyles, Denise Van Outen and Boyzone's Ronan Keating, made it to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro safely on 7 March 2009, raising millions for Comic Relief.
Barlow's charity efforts in 2009, including his organising of the BT Comic Relief Kilimanjaro Climb and his organising of Children in Need Rocks the Royal Albert Hall, raised in excess £6 million. In addition to the charity events organised by Barlow, he has also shown support for fellow artists' charity efforts including that of Boyzone's Ronan Keating. The pair sang Take That's "Back for Good" written by Barlow at Ronan's Emerald and Ivy Ball in Battersea, South London, on Saturday. The event raised £650,000 for Cancer Research UK.
His organisation of a very special event at the Royal Albert Hall went ahead in November 2009 and was broadcast the following week. This saw a meeting of Take That with Robbie Williams on stage and a number of unusual duets (including Dame Shirley Bassey with Dizzy Rascal and Take That with Lily Allen). Barlow dedicated the band's song "Rule the World" to "everyone who's lost someone – Dad, this is for you". It was a very special night raising £2M and ending with Barlow seeming to promise it could be an annual event.
It was announced in December 2009 that Barlow had been awarded the prestigious Blue Peter Gold Badge, awarded for outstanding achievements and inspiring children to realise their talents and achieve.
To celebrate his 10th wedding anniversary, Barlow invited family and many friends to a special event in London. It was a rare event that Barlow allowed a popular magazine to photograph the event. A highlight was a special Bingo session hosted by Barlow. Money raised at the event was donated to Barnardo's.
Towards the end of 2009, there has been a huge Twitter campaign to 'Get Gary Knighted' for all of his charity work over the years. The campaign has been mentioned and endorsed by many celebrities, including Chris Moyles of Radio 1.
In February 2010, a project named 'Helping Haiti' was formed by Simon Cowell in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The aim was to bring some of the most recognised music stars around the world together to record a charity single with all proceeds going to the cause. Barlow, along with an array of stars were asked to appear on the cover of "Everybody Hurts" which sold 453,000 copies in its first week, making it the fastest-selling charity record of the 21st century in Britain. Barlow appeared at Twickenham Stadium to perform the hit single "Shame" alongside Robbie Williams in aid of the Help for Heroes charity on 12 September 2010.
Barlow has also donated the original handwritten lyrics to his number-one hit single "Back for Good" to help raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. The lyrics were sold for £1,200. Barlow wrote the song in 1995 and it went on to top the charts in 31 countries around the world as well as becoming a top ten hit in America.
In January 2011, Barlow held a special show, named GB40, at Shepherd's Bush Empire to celebrate his 40th birthday. This event saw him take to the stage on his own for the first time in over eleven years as he performs songs that span his 20-year career in music. He has also announced that all of the profits from the show went to charity.
After the phenomenal success of 'Children in Need Rocks' in 2009, it was announced by Barlow that he is to organise it once again this time in Manchester, with some of the biggest acts in the music industry scheduled to appear. Barlow also confirmed that all proceeds will go to Children in Need. The concert was received positively by the media, with them praising the involvement of Gary Barlow in the Children in Need project.
As well as organising the Children in Need Rocks Manchester concert, Barlow announced he was to helm the official single for the charity, a cover of Massive Attack's 'Teardrop' accompanied by a number of artists known as 'The Collective'. The CIN Rocks concert, single and gala contributed to £26 million raised for Children in Need that year.
During the week of Children in Need 2011, Barlow organised a celebrity gala with all proceeds going to the charities associated with Children in Need.
Barlow also donated all proceeds from his Gary Barlow: In Concert event to the Prince's Trust charity. He said: "I hope the money raised through these concerts will make a real difference to young lives. It's really important to me that disadvantaged young people get the support they need, especially at the moment."
In August 2013, the headline act to turn on the Blackpool illuminations pulled out due to unforeseen circumstances leaving the event with no one to turn on the lights or play to the 5,000 in attendance. Upon hearing this, Barlow tweeted that he would step in if the organisers would write a cheque to Children In Need. Bosses quickly made contact with him and made a donation to the charity, with Barlow turning on the lights and performing a number of his hits during the 45 minute set. Simon Blackburn, Leader of Blackpool Council said: "Gary’s very generous offer on Twitter was extremely flattering and as soon as we saw it we contacted him straight away to take him up on it. Not only has Gary taken time out of his busy schedule to play on Friday, but he has also asked for a donation to charity in place of his performance fee. I am delighted to make that donation to Children in Need." Graham Cain, the Council's Cabinet Member for Tourism and Leisure, said: "Gary has shown his love for Blackpool by tweeting about the town and the Illuminations before and he even turned on the illuminations back in 1999. He’s always been a fan of town and has now stepped in during our hour of need."
Barlow announced in September 2013 that he would once again be returning with Children in Need Rocks, bringing some of the world's biggest musical and entertainment stars together over 2 nights to raise money for Children in Need. He said of the event: "I’m very excited that these incredible artists are giving their time for a special Charity that is close to my heart."
In October 2013, Barlow travelled directly from the X Factor live results shows to Afghanistan to meet the Armed Forces and experience their day-to-day lives in Camp Bastion. Barlow listened to the soldiers' stories, went for a five-kilometre run with the troops and played a morale-boosting concert for them as a thank you for their work.
On 12 November 2013, Barlow sang with Agnetha Fältskog (from ABBA) who was singing live on stage. It was at the BBC Children in Need Rocks 2013 concert in London which Barlow organised.
In November 2016, Barlow became a Patron for Child Bereavement.
Personal life
Family
In 2000, Barlow married Dawn Andrews, who was a dancer on Take That's 1995 Nobody Else Tour. They have four children: Daniel (born 2000), Emily (born 2002), and Daisy (born 2009). On 4 August 2012, he revealed that their daughter, Poppy, was stillborn. He released a short statement reading, "Dawn and I are devastated to announce that we've lost our baby. Our focus now is giving [Poppy] a beautiful funeral and loving our three children with all our hearts. We'd ask at this painful time that our privacy be respected." Despite the loss of his daughter one week previously, Barlow performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony singing the hit "Rule the World", which drew praise internationally for the strength and determination of Barlow to take to the stage so soon after his tragedy. Owing to the bereavement, it was announced that Barlow would not attend the X Factor press launch.
In his autobiography My Take, Barlow revealed that he is a supporter of Liverpool FC, with their anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" being one of the first songs he learned to play on the piano. He is also a supporter of the Warrington Wolves and the New York Knicks. Barlow also mentioned in his autobiography that he was on the Edgware Road tube train that was one of the targets of the 7 July 2005 London bombings.
In 2009, Barlow named "Don't Give Up", the 1986 duet between Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, as the song that had most inspired him. He said, "I don't think you can listen to this song without feeling inspired, it could save anybody. The lyrics are so inspirational. Specifically I was having a very low moment in the 1990s and the song came on the radio. There have only been a very few times when I've had to pull the car over to listen to a song; this was one of them."
Politics
During the 2010 general election campaign, the Conservative Party announced their intention to encourage musical achievement amongst young people in schools with a competition called "School Stars". Barlow appeared at a school staged campaign event to endorse the introduction of the programme by then-Conservative leader David Cameron. Barlow also sang "Greatest Day" at the event. When asked if he was supporting the Conservatives at the election, Barlow responded: "I would not be here if I was not."
Tax avoidance controversy
In June 2012, it was revealed that along with Take That bandmates Howard Donald and Mark Owen (and over 1,100 other people), Barlow had invested £26 million in music industry investment schemes. The news attracted controversy when it was understood that the schemes could serve as tax shelters for wealthy people. Barlow was accused of tax avoidance rather than tax evasion, as the scheme itself was not illegal at the time Barlow invested in it. Barlow's lawyer responded to the claims, stating he "paid significant tax, and that they believed the schemes were not for tax avoidance purposes but were legitimate commercial enterprises". In May 2014 a judge ruled that the scheme was set up for the purpose of avoiding tax, with the scheme generating losses of £336 million to enable Barlow and others to offset those losses against taxes they were liable to pay from other earnings. In June 2016 Barlow (and Donald and Owen plus their manager Jonathon Wild) announced they would not be appealing a ruling that they are liable to re-pay the tax. Barlow has apologised on Twitter "to anyone who was offended by the tax stories".
In an interview with BBC Radio in 2020, Paul Stenning, who worked for the band in 1995 under their financial advisor Simon Orange, explained the way the band's finances were structured, saying they were "meticulously disseminated".
Discography
Studio albums as a solo artist
Open Road (1997)
Twelve Months, Eleven Days (1999)
Sing (2012)
Since I Saw You Last (2013)
Music Played by Humans (2020)
The Dream of Christmas (2021)
EP's
At Home with Gary Barlow (2020)
Studio albums with Take That
Take That & Party (1992)
Everything Changes (1993)
Nobody Else (1995)
Beautiful World (2006)
The Circus (2008)
Progress (2010)
III (2014)
Wonderland (2017)
Odyssey (2018)
EP’s
Progressed (2011)
Love Songs (2021)
Tours
Solo
The Open Road Tour (1998–1999)
For the Fans Tour (1999)
GB40 (2011)
Gary Barlow: in Concert (2011) (2011–2013)
Since I Saw You Last Tour (2014)
Gary Barlow: in Concert (2018) (2018)
All the Hits Live (2021)
A Different Stage (2022-)
Take That
Party Tour (1992–93)
Everything Changes Tour (1993–94)
Pops Tour (1994–95)
Nobody Else Tour (1995)
The Ultimate Tour (2006)
Beautiful World Tour 2007 (2007)
Take That Present: The Circus Live (2009)
Progress Live (2011)
Take That Live (2015)
Wonderland Live (2017)
Greatest Hits Live (2019)
Songs written by Barlow
Awards and nominations
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|2014
|Since I Saw You Last
|Celebritain UK for Album of the Year
|
|-
|Let Me Go
|Celebritain UK for Best Single
|
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|2013
|Let Me Go
|Heart for Best Single of 2013
|
|-
|Gary Barlow Live
|Nordoff-Robbins Award for Best Live Act 2013
|
|-
| rowspan="8" style="text-align:center;"|2012
|Gary Barlow
|GQ Award for Outstanding Achievement
|
|-
| Gary Barlow
|Music Industry Trusts Award Honorary Recognition for Barlow's contribution to music over the past two decades.
|
|-
| Gary Barlow
|National Reality Television Award for Best Reality TV Judge
|
|-
| Gary Barlow
|OBE for services to Entertainment Industry and Charity.
|
|-
| Take That
|Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music
|
|-
|The Flood
|Ivor Novello Award for PRS Most Performed Work
|
|-
|Gary Barlow
|National Television Award for Outstanding Contribution to Charity
|
|-
|X Factor
|National Television Award for Best Television Talent Show
|
|-
| rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|2011
|Gary Barlow
|Q Award for Classic Songwriter
|
|-
|Shame
|Q Award for Best Collaboration
|
|-
|Shame
|Virgin Media for Music Video
|
|-
|Shame
|Virgin Media for Best Collaboration
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|2010
|Gary Barlow
|Blue Peter Gold Badge
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|2008
|Shine
|Ivor Novello Award for Most Performed Song
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|2007
|Gary Barlow
|GQ Awards for Man of the Year
|
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|1998
|Gary Barlow
|Brit Award for Best British Male
|
|-
|Open Road
| The London Awards for Best Album
|
|-
|Love Won't Wait
|Top of the Pops for Best Single
|
|-
| rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|1997
|Forever Love
|FMQ Awards [Finland] for Best Single
|
|-
|Forever Love
|TMF Awards [Netherlands] for Best Single
|
|-
|Open Road
|GQ Awards for Best Album
|
|-
|Forever Love
|Echo Awards for Best Single
|
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|1996
|Never Forget
|Ivor Novello Award
|
|-
|Back for Good
|Billboard International Hit of the Year
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|1995
|Back for Good
|Ivor Novello Award for the Song of the year
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|1994
|Pray
|Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|1993
|Gary Barlow
|Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of The Year Award 1993
|
|}
Books
Gary Barlow: My Take. Bloomsbury UK 2006, .
Gary Barlow: My Take. Bloomsbury Press 2007, (paperback edition, updated to include Take That's comeback).
Gary Barlow: A Better Me: The Official Autobiography. Blink Publishing 2018, .
References
External links
1971 births
Living people
English male singer-songwriters
English keyboardists
English record producers
Ivor Novello Award winners
Singers from Cheshire
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Take That members
Participants in British reality television series
People from Frodsham
Conservative Party (UK) people
20th-century English singers
21st-century English singers
English tenors
British monarchists | true | [
"Thelma Barlow (née Pigott; born 19 June 1929) is an English television actress and writer, known for her roles as Mavis Wilton in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street and as Dolly Bellfield in the BBC One sitcom dinnerladies.\n\nEarly life\nBarlow was born in 1929 in Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire, the younger of two daughters. Her father, Tommy, a cabinet maker, died of pneumonia five weeks before her birth, aged 37, and Barlow was brought up by her mother Margaret.\n\nDuring her childhood the family moved to Huddersfield, West Riding of Yorkshire. Barlow left school at 15 and went to Huddersfield Technical College to study shorthand and typing. Her first job was as a secretary, which she held for eight years and at the same time belonged to an amateur dramatics group. Barlow decided to take up acting professionally and joined the Joan Littlewood Theatre Group. During the 1950s she did rep in Liverpool, Nottingham and Birmingham. In 1960 Barlow joined the West of England Theatre Company followed by the Bristol Old Vic Theatre Company. In Bristol she ran a boarding house for fellow actors. In 1956 she married set designer Graham Barlow; they subsequently had two children. They divorced in 1983.\n\nTelevision work\nBarlow's earlier television appearance was in 1967's Becky Sharp. In 1971, while performing in Liverpool she was asked to audition for the soap opera Coronation Street for the role of Mavis Riley. She was successful and her first episode was transmitted on 11 August 1971, though the character only appeared regularly from 4 June 1973, where she joined veteran show actress Barbara Knox who plays Rita Fairclough in \"The Kabin\". Barlow remained in the series for 26 years, appearing in 1,787 episodes, until she left after the departure of her on-screen husband Derek. Her final episode was broadcast 10 October 1997 when Mavis moved to the Lake District. During her time on Coronation Street Barlow shared a flat with co-star Helen Worth and later moved to Settle, where she later did a TV show from her garden. She was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1991 when she was surprised by Michael Aspel.\n\nBarlow's next major role was that of Dolly Bellfield in Victoria Wood's sitcom dinnerladies, which ran for two series from 1998 to 2000. In 1999 she appeared in Murder Most Horrid and David Copperfield. Since then Barlow has appeared as one-off characters in several television shows, including Fat Friends (2000), Doctors (2002), The Royal (2004), Where the Heart Is (2004), Agatha Christie's Marple (2006), the Midsomer Murders episode \"Last Year's Model\" (2006) and Doc Martin (2007). In 2005 she played her first film role in Mrs Henderson Presents, for which she was nominated \"Most Promising Newcomer\" at the British Independent Film Awards 2005. In 2007 she portrayed Lady Thaw in the Doctor Who episode \"The Lazarus Experiment\". In 2016, she had a small speaking role in the film Florence Foster Jenkins.\n\nSince her departure from Coronation Street Barlow has also made stage appearances, with roles such as Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit, Mam in Alan Bennett's Enjoy and as Abby Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace in 2003 on the West End stage. Barlow has also acted on radio. In 2003, she moved to the Isle of Purbeck. Barlow has also written a book about her hobby, organic gardening, first published by Robson Books as Organic Gardening with Love (1992) and re-issued in paperback under the title Gardening Nature's Way (). In June 2014, Barlow narrated a 30-minute documentary Gail & Me: 40 Years on Coronation Street which celebrated Helen Worth's career on Coronation Street as Gail Platt.\n\nOn 13 September 2021 Barlow appeared as a guest in the television documentary Coronation Street Icons: Norris Cole, a documentary about the character played by Malcolm Hebden after the actor's retirement.\n\nHonours\nBarlow was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) from Teesside University on 21 November 2008.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nThelma Barlow at corrie.net\n\n1929 births\nLiving people\nEnglish film actresses\nEnglish soap opera actresses\nEnglish stage actresses\nEnglish television actresses\nActors from Middlesbrough\n20th-century English actresses\n21st-century English actresses\nActresses from Yorkshire\nOrganic gardeners",
"Alice Barlow (born 9 August 1991) is an English actress and singer, known for her role as Rae Wilson in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks.\n\nEducation\nBarlow attended The Fallibroome Academy in Macclesfield.\n\nCareer\nWhile a teenager Barlow won a national talent search Festival4Stars. In 2008, Barlow took part 'The Stobart Factor' a talent competition, which was judged by The X Factor judge Louis Walsh. Walsh gave Barlow positive comments on her singing and told her she had 'style'. Alice went on to win the competition and won £10,000, in which she put towards an Invisalign to straighten her teeth.\n\nIn October 2009, Alice made her television debut as Rae Wilson in Channel 4, Soap-opera, Hollyoaks. While at Hollyoaks, Barlow won an All About Soap award for \"Best Love Triangle\", along with Kieron Richardson and Emmett J. Scanlan. In early 2011, Barlow decided to leave the serial and her character was killed off in the late night spin-off Hollyoaks Later, which aired in September 2011. Barlow's departure was kept a secret until her exit scenes were aired. While starring in the show she also presented linked project The Hollyoaks Music Show. In 2012 Barlow secured the role of Bella in ITV drama series Crime Stories.\n\nOn 15 February 2013, Digital Spy reported that Barlow had auditioned on the second series of The Voice UK and has got through to the next round with Danny O'Donoghue as her coach. Barlow was defeated in the battle rounds by Andrea Begley, the eventual winner of the show.\n\nFollowing her elimination from the talent contest Barlow vowed to continue her ambition of a career in music.\n\nOn 10 July, Barlow's management announced that she had secured the role of Sara in a new E4's comedy titled Drifters. In 2014, Barlow filmed a guest appearance for the medical drama Casualty. For 2015, Barlow secured a recurring role in ITV comedy Benidorm and a guest role in Russell T Davies' series Banana.\n\nIn 2018, Barlow secured the role of Kat in the Dusty Springfield musical \"Son Of A Preacher Man\".\n\nFilmography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n Alice Barlow – The Voice Profile at BBC Online\n\n1991 births\nLiving people\n21st-century English women singers\n21st-century English singers\nEnglish soap opera actresses\nEnglish television actresses\nPlace of birth missing (living people)\nThe Voice UK contestants"
]
|
[
"Gary Barlow",
"Musical theatre",
"What was Barlow's role in musical theatre?",
"On 25 June 2013, it was announced that Barlow had been signed up to work on a new musical version of Finding Neverland and will co-write the score"
]
| C_725ed09dc21641bcb373213e34604e16_0 | Was this successful? | 2 | Was Gary Barlow's musical version of Finding Neverland successful? | Gary Barlow | On 25 June 2013, it was announced that Barlow had been signed up to work on a new musical version of Finding Neverland and will co-write the score for the theatre project, which is being developed by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Barlow said of the project: "This is something I've always wanted to do so it's a real privilege to be involved. I'm really enjoying working with the team and I love the story; it's also great to be working with a legendary creative like Harvey Weinstein." Weinstein echoed the sentiment by expressing his admiration for Barlow, whom he described as "one of the finest songwriters in the world". On 1 March 2014, Barlow attended the Bob and Harvey Weinstein's pre-Academy Awards party at the Montage in Beverly Hills to perform a selection of songs from the musical score he had written for Finding Neverland. He played the lead role of Peter Pan author J. M. Barrie, and sung a duet with noted British musical actress Laura Michelle Kelly along with four back-up artists featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary 20 Feet from Stardom. Barlow's performance was well received, and after a successful performance run in Boston, Finding Neverland opened on Broadway in spring 2015. On its first Broadway preview, the show sold out the theatre and posted a box office performance that, if it continued for a whole week of performances, would have seen the show top $1 million. Gary has also co-written a musical alongside hometown friend Tim Firth, titled The Girls, which opened at the Phoenix Theatre, London in January 2017. CANNOTANSWER | the show sold out the theatre and posted a box office performance that, if it continued for a whole week of performances, would have seen the show top $1 million. | Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That.
Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, having written thirteen number-one singles (ten with Take That, two solo, one with Robbie Williams "Candy") and twenty-four top-ten hits. As a solo artist, he has had three number-one singles, six top-ten singles and three number-one albums, and has additionally had seventeen top-five hits, twelve number-one singles and eight number-one albums with Take That. Barlow has also established himself as a talent show judge and television personality. He has judged on The X Factor UK (2011–2013), Let It Shine (2017), and Walk The Line (2021).
Barlow has received six Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, including the award for Outstanding Services to British Music. He has sold over 50 million records worldwide. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) at the 2012 Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to the entertainment industry and charity.
Early life and influences
Barlow was born on 20 January 1971 in Frodsham, Cheshire, the second son of Colin (died 15 October 2009) and Marjorie Barlow (née Cowan). He attended Weaver Vale Primary School and moved on to Frodsham High School in 1982. In Barlow's autobiography, he relates that his love of music began at an early age, and calls himself "one of those kids that's forever dancing in front of the TV looking at [his] reflection". He was heavily influenced by late 1970s and 1980s pop music. Barlow cites watching a performance of "Just Can't Get Enough" by Depeche Mode on Top of the Pops when he was 10 years old as a main influence, describing it as "mesmerising". He subsequently asked for a keyboard for Christmas and spent most of his spare time teaching himself to play his favourite songs. Barlow has also identified Trevor Horn, and future collaborators Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), as important early influences. He has credited Elton John with inspiring him to play the piano.
In 1986, when Barlow was 15 years old, he entered a BBC Pebble Mill at One Christmas song competition with "Let's Pray for Christmas". After reaching the semi-finals, he was invited to London's West Heath Studios to record his song. This inspired him to perform on the northern club circuit, singing cover versions and his own songs. Barlow's first performance was in Wales, at the Connah's Quay Labour Club in the late 1980s, and he was paid £18 per performance on Saturday evenings.
In 1989, Barlow appointed Wigan show business agent Barry Woolley to be his manager and recorded a single ("Love Is in the Air") which was never released commercially. Barlow was eventually put in touch with casting agent Nigel Martin-Smith, by renowned celebrity photographer Doc Braham, who took Barlow's first professional head-shots. Graham-Smith was a friend of Braham, who introduced Barlow to Graham who was interested in starting a boyband. Martin-Smith decided to use Barlow as the lead singer after being impressed by his self-written material, including an early demo tape of Barlow's "A Million Love Songs", concluding that the band would be built around Barlow's vocals and songwriting skills.
History
1989–1996: Take That
Barlow, who wrote the majority of the group's songs, is widely recognised as the lead singer of Take That. After selecting Barlow as the group's lead singer, Nigel Martin-Smith introduced Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and finally Robbie Williams to the fold. The group were signed to RCA Records, and after a number of top-40 hits, eventually secured their first number-one with Barlow's "Pray". Previous hits included "A Million Love Songs", "It Only Takes a Minute" and "Could It Be Magic". The debut album Take That & Party was released on 17 August 1992 and reached number two in the UK Album Chart. The following year saw the release of their second album, Everything Changes based on Barlow's own material. It went straight in at number one in the UK Albums Chart and spawned four number-one singles, as well as "Why Can't I Wake Up with You" and "Love Ain't Here Anymore" hitting numbers two and three respectively.
Barlow received an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song in 1994 for the number-one hit song "Pray" included on the album. In 1994, alongside Rick Astley, Barlow did backing vocals for Elton John's version of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King. Take That's third album Nobody Else, again based on Barlow's own material, went straight to number one and was to be their last studio album of the 1990s. The album had three number-one singles, including Barlow's "Back for Good" which peaked at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was brought forward an unprecedented six weeks before its official release such was the demand for the single. A Greatest Hits collection followed again reaching number one. The album featured the band's eighth number-one single "How Deep Is Your Love". This was to be the first single released by Take That as a four piece (without Robbie Williams) and it was their last single until they reformed in 2005.
1996–1998: Solo career and Open Road
Barlow's solo career was predicted to be very successful, being described as "the next George Michael". His first two solo singles, "Forever Love" (released July 1996) and "Love Won't Wait" (composed by Madonna and Shep Pettibone), both leapt to the number one spot in his home country. "Forever Love" was also used as the soundtrack to the film The Leading Man. His debut album Open Road reached number one in the UK Albums Chart and went on to sell 2 million copies worldwide. Barlow's first single to be released in the United States as a solo artist was "So Help Me Girl", which reached number 44 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number one on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. He then achieved another top-ten hit in the UK with "Open Road" peaking at number seven and number eight in the Netherlands with "Are You Ready Now?".
1999–2004: Twelve Months, Eleven Days, and producing career
After the success of his first solo album, Barlow released his second LP Twelve Months, Eleven Days in 1999. Barlow released "Stronger" as the lead single preceding the album. However, due to an expected backlash against Barlow, it received minimal support and airplay and only peaked at number 16. The album's second single, "For All That You Want", also received minimal radio play and peaked at number 24; however, it nearly reached the top five in Finland. Twelve Months, Eleven Days received little promotion and peaked at a disappointing number 35, which led to Sony recalling the album's scheduled third single, "Lie to Me". This decision resulted in Barlow and BMG parting company.
In late 1999, Barlow quit his career as a singer, with his final single remaining unreleased. From 2000 to 2004, he was a producer for other artists, including bandmate Mark Owen's solo projects. In 2005, he resumed his singing career after a six-year hiatus.
Barlow has sold million records as a solo artist.
2005–2011: Take That reunion and Shame
Barlow returned to the spotlight in a successful TV documentary, Take That: For the Record in 2005. Following this success and renewed interest, Take That experienced a career renaissance in 2005 when the post-Williams line-up reformed for a sell-out arena/stadium tour. The band released their comeback single "Patience" which went to number one for four weeks while also topping the charts across Europe. Patience was also voted the Record of the Year in 2006 and won a Brit Award for single of the year. This was followed with "Shine" which became the band's tenth number-one single. Take That's first album of new material in over ten years, Beautiful World was released on 24 November 2006. The album peaked at number one in the UK Album Chart selling over 2.8 million copies in the UK alone as of 2012. It was re-released as a tour edition with hit single "Rule the World" in 2007 and peaked again at number one.
In 2008, the band were nominated for four Brit Awards (Best British Group, Best British Album, Best British Single and Best British Live Act). They won Best British Single and Best British Live Act. After great success in 2006, Take That released the single "Greatest Day" which went straight to number one and became their eleventh number-one single in the UK. The week after they released their second album since their reunion in 2006, The Circus. The Circus album was also a great success for Take That going straight to the top of the UK album chart and selling over 2.2 million copies in the country, going multi-platinum within four days of its release. In June and July 2009, Take That performed a record-breaking tour named Take That Present: The Circus Live throughout the United Kingdom and it sold over one million tickets in just five hours.
Barlow's first solo release since 1999 was a duet with reconciled Take That bandmate Robbie Williams on a single entitled "Shame". The single was written by both Barlow and Williams after they began to work together in Los Angeles on new material for a new Take That album following Williams' return to the band. On the first day of the song being released to the radio and the media, "Shame" received an unprecedented 694 plays on the radio and 153 plays on TV. The single peaked at number 2 in the UK, selling 224,000 copies and being certified as Silver by the BPI, while also charting in 21 countries worldwide.
It was announced that Barlow was in the process of writing Take That's much-anticipated sixth studio album, set for release in late 2010. The album, Progress, was the first to feature the original line-up since their 1995 album, Nobody Else. The band also announced a stadium tour entitled Progress Live which took place in 2011. The tickets for the tour went on sale on 29 October 2010. Due to unprecedented high public demand for tickets, Ticketmaster websites across the UK and Ireland crashed and all initial tour dates sold out in under 15 minutes. It was reported that a record breaking one million tickets were snapped up on the first day of sale, resulting in Take That smashing the previous box office record of tickets sold which was set in 2008 by Take That Present: The Circus Live. Due to unprecedented demand Take That added more dates to their tour, finishing in the UK with a record breaking eight consecutive nights at Wembley Stadium after which the tour would then commence throughout Europe with an estimated 1.75 million people expected to attend the shows.
The lead single from Progress was announced as "The Flood". The single debuted at number two, selling over 500,000 copies. On the first day of the release of Progress, the album sold over 235,000 copies across the UK, making it the fastest selling record of the century. On 21 November 2010, Progress debuted at number one in the United Kingdom, becoming the band's seventh number-one album. By the end of its first week on sale the album sold over 520,000, making it the second fastest-selling album of all-time in UK chart history. To date Progress has sold 2.8 million copies in the UK and has achieved similar chart success across Europe. In June 2011, Take That released their first extended play collection entitled Progressed which returned the band to number one in the UK on its first week of release as well as charting across Europe.
The media have widely acknowledged Barlow's talent and labelled him as the mastermind behind the unprecedented success of Take That's comeback and the new musical direction they have taken.
2012–2014: Return to solo projects, Sing and Since I Saw You Last
In April 2012, Barlow recorded a cover of "Here Comes the Sun" that was used in the 2012 summer promotion advertisement for Marks and Spencer with him appearing in the advert at the end performing the song.
Barlow was featured in a duet with Agnetha Fältskog (from ABBA) on her 2013 album A, released in May 2013. Barlow co-wrote the song, "I Should've Followed You Home" with album producer Jörgen Elofsson. Early press reports tagged the song as a likely single with strong chart potential leading to Universal Music scheduling it to be released as the third single from the album in November 2013. The single become a top 5 hit in Sweden on the week of its release as well as charting in the UK.
It was announced in January 2012 that Barlow and Andrew Lloyd Webber would be working together to write the official Diamond Jubilee single. Barlow and Lord Lloyd Webber composed the music to the song; with Barlow then taking this music to musicians and singers around the Commonwealth with the aim to incorporate sounds from around the world onto the single. The song entitled "Sing" was released as the lead single from the album of the same name, Sing. It debuted in the UK Singles Chart at number 11 with the album released on the same day entering the UK Album Chart at number one, becoming Barlow's second solo number-one album and his first in 15 years. After the airing of Gary Barlow's documentary Gary Barlow: On Her Majesty's Service which told the story of how Sing was written; the single climbed up to number one in the iTunes chart. The following week Sing rose to number one in the UK Singles Chart selling 142,000 copies and becoming among the highest selling singles of 2012. The album of the same name remained at number one, making Barlow the first artist in 2012 to have the number-one album and number-one single in the same week.
Barlow announced on 15 October 2012 that he was to embark on his first full solo tour in thirteen years around the UK and Ireland. In a statement, he said, "I'm really excited about these dates. Playing live is my favourite thing and I haven't played a solo show for over a year now. Last year playing two London shows was brilliant, we all had such a good time, so I thought right let's get out and see the rest of the country!"
The tickets to Barlow's solo concerts sold out "instantly" after going on sale on 19 October, with tickets selling faster than those of the Rolling Stones for their comeback dates. Demand was so high for tickets that Barlow added more dates, which also sold out instantly. It was also revealed by ticket marketplace SeatWave, that Gary Barlow's solo shows had sold six times more tickets than Robbie Williams' solo concerts, despite being on sale for a week less.
In September 2013, Barlow announced via his Twitter account that he would be releasing his first full-length solo album in 14 years, on 25 November 2013. Barlow encouraged his followers and fans to tweet #GBSOLO to reveal the album artwork and title, with their profile pictures being used to create a collage of the album cover. On 4 October 2013, Barlow revealed his new album would be called Since I Saw You Last, and would be preceded by his first single from the LP, titled "Let Me Go", released worldwide on 17 November 2013. He also announced that he would be touring the album in April 2014, playing some of the biggest arenas in the UK.
"Let Me Go" entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 3 with 72,423 copies sold in its first week on sale, giving Barlow his 21st top 3 UK single. The following week it rose to No. 2 selling a further 60,422 copies. One month after release, "Let Me Go" was certified Silver by the BPI for selling over 200,000 copies in the UK. In early 2014, Let Me Go surpassed 400,000 sales in the UK and was certified Gold. The week after the release of Let Me Go, the album debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart, behind One Direction's third album Midnight Memories. The album sold 116,000 copies, becoming the fastest selling album of 2013 to miss out on the top spot, whilst also selling more copies in his first week than his Take That bandmate Robbie Williams, whose album Swings Both Ways sold 109,000 copies the previous week to claim the top spot. The album was certified Platinum by the BPI less than a month after being released, becoming Barlow's second solo album to reach Platinum certification. The album went 2x Platinum a month later, spending 11 weeks in the top 5 of the UK Album Charts, becoming Barlow's most successful solo album in the UK to date.
2017–present: A Better Me, Music Played by Humans and The Dream of Christmas
On 12 October 2017, whilst appearing on BBC Radio 2, Barlow announced that he would be embarking on a solo tour again around UK and Ireland to celebrate the release of his new book, A Better Me. The tour was to visit smaller and more intimate venues rather than the huge arenas and stadiums that Barlow was so familiar to playing, be it solo or alongside his Take That bandmates.
On 14 August 2019, Barlow announced that he had been working on a new solo record due for release in Autumn 2020, stating that "[he has] never recorded with an orchestra" and wanted to create "original songs with big contemporary orchestral arrangements." In July 2020, Barlow confirmed that the album will release in November, adding that "[the album is] very positive and [composed] with a 60-piece orchestra."
On 30 September 2020, Barlow revealed that his upcoming album would be called Music Played by Humans, set to be released on 27 November 2020. Its lead single, "Elita", featuring Michael Bublé and Sebastián Yatra, was released on the same day after it premiered on BBC Radio 2. A tour to promote the record in 2021 has also been announced with Leona Lewis as special guest.
Barlow announced in early 2021 that he would release a new solo record by the end of the year, which was revealed on 28 October to be The Dream of Christmas, his first Christmas album. The project features a collection of both new songs and covers of Christmas classics, including the two singles "Sleigh Ride" and "The Dream of Christmas", both released on 29 October. The album was released on 26 November.
On 20 January 2022, Barlow announced a brand new one-man stage show A Different Stage. The show premiered in Runcorn at The Brindley with performances from 10 - 15 February 2022 before then touring to The Lowry, Salford (22 - 27 February 2022), Liverpool Playhouse (15 - 19 March 2022) and Edinburgh Lyceum (22 - 27 March 2022) with further dates to be announced
Other musical projects
Songwriting, producing and publishing
After leaving his career as a solo artist Barlow returned to his first love of writing music. He soon signed a song writing publishing deal with Sony and went to the US on a six-month songwriting project, residing in Nashville, Los Angeles and New York with his wife, Dawn and first child, Daniel. Upon his return he set up True North Productions with Eliot Kennedy and Tim Woodcock. In his autobiography My Take Barlow partly blames his fall as a solo artist on his commitments to being a star in the United States. After his disappointing second album, Barlow remained out of the public eye for half a decade, choosing to continue to write and produce songs for other artists such as Shirley Bassey and Charlotte Church.
In October 2007, Barlow founded San Remo Live Publishings as an independently run management company to establish and support artists and songwriters.
In 2008, Barlow was heavily involved in providing the score of ITV's Britannia High. The 9 episode series focused on the lives of a group of teenagers and their mentors at a fictional London theatre school. Guy Chambers, Steve Mac, Andy Hill, Mark Owen, James Bourne and Eliot Kennedy also contributed to the musical component of the show. It was axed after one series.
In 2010, Barlow signed a new 5-year songwriting publishing deal with Sony music. He has been voted as the greatest British songwriter of all time in a 2009 OnePoll, who surveyed 3,000 people John Lennon and Paul McCartney, of The Beatles, were placed second and third respectively.
In 2011, Barlow wrote the song "Run for Your Life" for The X Factor series 7 winner Matt Cardle's debut album. He has also written for the likes of Robbie Williams , Westlife, Lily Allen, Blue, Elton John, Olly Murs T-Pain, Will Young N-Dubz, Lawson, Shirley Bassey, Donny Osmond, Delta Goodrem, Elaine Paige, Agnetha Fältskog and many more while also being commissioned by the Queen to write the official single for her Diamond Jubilee, which saw Barlow collaborate with Andrew Lloyd Webber.
To date, Barlow has written 14 number-one singles in the UK and 2 Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles in the United States including "Back for Good" which went to number one in 31 countries around the world.
Ceremonial work
At the beginning of May 2010, it was announced that the Queen had asked Barlow to organise her 86th birthday party and her Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012. A source said: "Her Majesty has been made well aware of his charity work and the events he has put together. She knows that Gary has got the power to pull in the big names across the music industry and to ensure it's a party to match the occasion". This was confirmed in February 2012 with Gary Barlow being named as the organiser and producer of a concert that took place outside Buckingham Palace and featuring globally recognised superstar artists. Barlow said "The Diamond Jubliee Concert will celebrate the 60 years of the Queen's reign with an amazing line-up of world-class artists coming together to play at one of the biggest and most exciting live music shows in recent years." This concert began to take shape with Barlow at the centre of the arrangements and the force behind the staging, artists and the eventual ideas that would be used in the concert. On 4 June 2012 the Diamond Jubilee concert was held outside Buckingham Palace with it acting as a backdrop to a stage built upon the Victoria Memorial featuring artists from all around the world. The concert included music stemming from the 1950s to the 2000s with each decade of her reign reflected in the music performed. Barlow himself appeared alongside Andrew Lloyd Webber and his own Commonwealth Band to perform the self written official jubilee single "Sing" while also dueting with Girls Aloud's Cheryl Cole on the night which won praise from critics who called "the performance as [two of] the best of Britain [who] proved their pop credentials with a dazzling duet."
Future records
In 2009 Barlow began work on his own record label Future Records, a branch from Universal Music and signed his first artist, classical singer Camilla Kerslake. Since then Barlow has also signed UK rapper Aggro Santos to his label who scored two top 10 UK hits and a further top 20 single, and the winner of Sky 1's Must Be The Music, Emma's Imagination who also achieved two top 10 UK singles and a top 15 charting debut album. In 2013 Barlow's discovery A*M*E released her first single which debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart. Gary Barlow has since closed down the record label to focus on his own career and family commitments.
The X Factor
On 7 May 2011, it was announced that Barlow was in advanced talks to replace Simon Cowell as a judge on The X Factor. He was officially confirmed as a judge on 30 May, alongside returning judge Louis Walsh and fellow new judges Tulisa and Kelly Rowland, who collectively replaced Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue.
Barlow was given the "Boys" category for the live shows and mentored Marcus Collins to the final of The X Factor, where he became runner up.
After a successful debut as a judge on The X Factor in 2011, ITV producers opened talks with Barlow to return for a second series and offered a substantial increase on his £1.5 million salary from the previous year. On 17 April 2012, it was announced that Barlow would return to The X Factor for a second year; he was the first judge to be announced to be returning. He was later joined by returning judges Walsh and Tulisa alongside new judge Nicole Scherzinger, who replaced Rowland after one series. For his second year as a mentor, he was given the Over 28s category, which featured both male and female artists over the age of 28. He became the only judge to have four acts in the finals after Christopher Maloney became the popular wildcard and the thirteenth finalist in the show. Barlow guided Maloney to the final of the show, becoming Barlow's second finalist in two consecutive years.
Barlow revealed on 9 December 2012 that he may not return as a judge for a third series on The X Factor, stating that he did not know "if there is room" in his diary for the programme. However, on 20 May 2013, it was confirmed by Walsh that he and Barlow would both return to continue their roles as judges on the tenth series of The X Factor, alongside Scherzinger and former judge Sharon Osbourne who replaced Tulisa. Barlow was given the Groups category in his third year on the show. Barlow chose Kingsland Road, Miss Dynamix and Rough Copy as his final three. After losing two of his final acts, he guided Rough Copy to the semi final.
During Rough Copy's performance on the first live show of The X Factor 2013, Barlow revealed that this would be his last series on the show, due to his solo tour commitments and the upcoming release of a new Take That album. Barlow said of his decision: "I’ve had an amazing time on X Factor these past three years. A show like this needs to stay fresh and exciting, so it’s a great opportunity for someone to come in and take the show past its incredible ten year anniversary. "Next year is a very busy year for me and X Factor is a full time job so it felt like the right time to hand over the baton." An X Factor spokesperson added: "As Gary said on the show tonight we can confirm that this will be his last series as a judge on The X Factor as next year he will be focusing on his own music. "We'd like to thank him for an amazing contribution over the last three years." Barlow was replaced by Cowell, who returned to the show after a three-year absence.
Musical theatre
On 25 June 2013, it was announced that Barlow had been signed up to work on a new musical version of Finding Neverland and will co-write the score for the theatre project, which is being developed by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Barlow said of the project: "This is something I've always wanted to do so it's a real privilege to be involved. I'm really enjoying working with the team and I love the story; it's also great to be working with a legendary creative like Harvey Weinstein."
Weinstein echoed the sentiment by expressing his admiration for Barlow, whom he described as "one of the finest songwriters in the world".
On 1 March 2014, Barlow attended the Bob and Harvey Weinstein's pre-Academy Awards party at the Montage in Beverly Hills to perform a selection of songs from the musical score he had written for Finding Neverland. He played the lead role of Peter Pan author J. M. Barrie and sang a duet with British musical actress Laura Michelle Kelly along with four back-up artists featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary 20 Feet from Stardom. Barlow's performance was well received, and after a successful performance run in Boston, Finding Neverland opened on Broadway in spring 2015. On its first Broadway preview, the show sold out the theatre and posted a box office performance that, if it continued for a whole week of performances, would have seen the show top $1 million.
Barlow has also co-written a musical alongside hometown friend Tim Firth, called The Girls (later retitled in 2017 as Calendar Girls The Musical), which opened at the Phoenix Theatre, London in January 2017.
Let It Shine
In the summer of 2016, Gary launched his own talent show Let It Shine, in the search for 5 males to star in an upcoming nationwide musical using the music of Take That. The musical will tour all over the UK, with up to 8 shows a week. Let It Shine premiered on BBC One on 7 January 2017 and the first live show was premiered on 11 February 2017.
The Crooner Sessions
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Barlow received global recognition for his "The Crooner Sessions" series which featured him performing songs on-line alongside other artists. Although initially starting as a way to entertain his fans during the lockdown, Barlow's videos, which debuted on Instagram before later being uploaded to his YouTube Channel, Facebook and Twitter feeds, became a hotly-anticipated event for many music lovers worldwide. Describing his inspiration for the series, Barlow explained "we can't go on stages or into theaters. Maybe this is our new stage". On 5 January 2021, Barlow announced on his social media accounts that the Crooner Sessions would be returning for a second series through the 2021 UK lockdown. The first episode of the renewed series premiered on 11 January 2021.
Walk the Line
After being replaced as a judge on The X Factor by a returning Simon Cowell, Barlow ended up replacing Cowell as the head judge on the panel of Syco's new talent show Walk the Line before the first episode was aired. Debuting on ITV on 12 December 2021, Barlow joined Craig David, Dawn French and Alesha Dixon on the judging panel.
Honours
After twenty years within the music industry in which Barlow has achieved success around the world; coupled with his efforts to raise money and awareness for various charities he was honoured in the 2012 Queen's Birthday Honours. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the Queen on 16 June 2012, which he was awarded on 21 November for "services to the Entertainment Industry and to Charity". In a statement, Barlow said: "I'm absolutely thrilled and feel very privileged to be in the company of so many brilliant people who I know have received an OBE." He continued by stating that he enjoys "every minute of the work I do, with a lot of it being a reward in itself, so for somebody to decide I should get recognised for that is just amazing. My family are very proud."
In July 2012, Barlow was announced as the recipient of the Music Industry Trusts Award which he was presented with in November 2012 in recognition of his services to British music and charity. David Munns, chairman of the award committee, said of Barlow: "He is one of the UK's most accomplished artists – a unique musician, songwriter and producer who embodies both success and distinction, and who serves as a dedicated ambassador for many charities."
Outside music
Acting career
In 2000, Barlow made his acting debut in the ITV1 drama Heartbeat: this was the 150th edition of the show, and Barlow played hitch-hiker Micky Shannon. In 2012, Barlow had a cameo in the film Keith Lemon: The Film and in early 2013 he had a cameo in the hit BBC1 show Miranda and also in a 2015 special. Barlow had a brief cameo in Star Wars: The Last Jedi as a soldier in the Crait trenches.
Social media
In October 2011, Barlow joined Twitter live on The Xtra Factor to build support for the contestants he mentored during series 8 of The X Factor. Almost immediately after he joined Twitter his following totalled at over 300,000 people. Within two months of joining Twitter, Barlow reached over 1 million followers. As of October 2018 has an audience of 4.3 million Twitter followers.
Charity work
Barlow organised a sponsored climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for Comic Relief. Barlow and eight other celebrities: Cheryl Cole, Ben Shephard, Alesha Dixon, Kimberley Walsh, Fearne Cotton, Chris Moyles, Denise Van Outen and Boyzone's Ronan Keating, made it to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro safely on 7 March 2009, raising millions for Comic Relief.
Barlow's charity efforts in 2009, including his organising of the BT Comic Relief Kilimanjaro Climb and his organising of Children in Need Rocks the Royal Albert Hall, raised in excess £6 million. In addition to the charity events organised by Barlow, he has also shown support for fellow artists' charity efforts including that of Boyzone's Ronan Keating. The pair sang Take That's "Back for Good" written by Barlow at Ronan's Emerald and Ivy Ball in Battersea, South London, on Saturday. The event raised £650,000 for Cancer Research UK.
His organisation of a very special event at the Royal Albert Hall went ahead in November 2009 and was broadcast the following week. This saw a meeting of Take That with Robbie Williams on stage and a number of unusual duets (including Dame Shirley Bassey with Dizzy Rascal and Take That with Lily Allen). Barlow dedicated the band's song "Rule the World" to "everyone who's lost someone – Dad, this is for you". It was a very special night raising £2M and ending with Barlow seeming to promise it could be an annual event.
It was announced in December 2009 that Barlow had been awarded the prestigious Blue Peter Gold Badge, awarded for outstanding achievements and inspiring children to realise their talents and achieve.
To celebrate his 10th wedding anniversary, Barlow invited family and many friends to a special event in London. It was a rare event that Barlow allowed a popular magazine to photograph the event. A highlight was a special Bingo session hosted by Barlow. Money raised at the event was donated to Barnardo's.
Towards the end of 2009, there has been a huge Twitter campaign to 'Get Gary Knighted' for all of his charity work over the years. The campaign has been mentioned and endorsed by many celebrities, including Chris Moyles of Radio 1.
In February 2010, a project named 'Helping Haiti' was formed by Simon Cowell in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The aim was to bring some of the most recognised music stars around the world together to record a charity single with all proceeds going to the cause. Barlow, along with an array of stars were asked to appear on the cover of "Everybody Hurts" which sold 453,000 copies in its first week, making it the fastest-selling charity record of the 21st century in Britain. Barlow appeared at Twickenham Stadium to perform the hit single "Shame" alongside Robbie Williams in aid of the Help for Heroes charity on 12 September 2010.
Barlow has also donated the original handwritten lyrics to his number-one hit single "Back for Good" to help raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. The lyrics were sold for £1,200. Barlow wrote the song in 1995 and it went on to top the charts in 31 countries around the world as well as becoming a top ten hit in America.
In January 2011, Barlow held a special show, named GB40, at Shepherd's Bush Empire to celebrate his 40th birthday. This event saw him take to the stage on his own for the first time in over eleven years as he performs songs that span his 20-year career in music. He has also announced that all of the profits from the show went to charity.
After the phenomenal success of 'Children in Need Rocks' in 2009, it was announced by Barlow that he is to organise it once again this time in Manchester, with some of the biggest acts in the music industry scheduled to appear. Barlow also confirmed that all proceeds will go to Children in Need. The concert was received positively by the media, with them praising the involvement of Gary Barlow in the Children in Need project.
As well as organising the Children in Need Rocks Manchester concert, Barlow announced he was to helm the official single for the charity, a cover of Massive Attack's 'Teardrop' accompanied by a number of artists known as 'The Collective'. The CIN Rocks concert, single and gala contributed to £26 million raised for Children in Need that year.
During the week of Children in Need 2011, Barlow organised a celebrity gala with all proceeds going to the charities associated with Children in Need.
Barlow also donated all proceeds from his Gary Barlow: In Concert event to the Prince's Trust charity. He said: "I hope the money raised through these concerts will make a real difference to young lives. It's really important to me that disadvantaged young people get the support they need, especially at the moment."
In August 2013, the headline act to turn on the Blackpool illuminations pulled out due to unforeseen circumstances leaving the event with no one to turn on the lights or play to the 5,000 in attendance. Upon hearing this, Barlow tweeted that he would step in if the organisers would write a cheque to Children In Need. Bosses quickly made contact with him and made a donation to the charity, with Barlow turning on the lights and performing a number of his hits during the 45 minute set. Simon Blackburn, Leader of Blackpool Council said: "Gary’s very generous offer on Twitter was extremely flattering and as soon as we saw it we contacted him straight away to take him up on it. Not only has Gary taken time out of his busy schedule to play on Friday, but he has also asked for a donation to charity in place of his performance fee. I am delighted to make that donation to Children in Need." Graham Cain, the Council's Cabinet Member for Tourism and Leisure, said: "Gary has shown his love for Blackpool by tweeting about the town and the Illuminations before and he even turned on the illuminations back in 1999. He’s always been a fan of town and has now stepped in during our hour of need."
Barlow announced in September 2013 that he would once again be returning with Children in Need Rocks, bringing some of the world's biggest musical and entertainment stars together over 2 nights to raise money for Children in Need. He said of the event: "I’m very excited that these incredible artists are giving their time for a special Charity that is close to my heart."
In October 2013, Barlow travelled directly from the X Factor live results shows to Afghanistan to meet the Armed Forces and experience their day-to-day lives in Camp Bastion. Barlow listened to the soldiers' stories, went for a five-kilometre run with the troops and played a morale-boosting concert for them as a thank you for their work.
On 12 November 2013, Barlow sang with Agnetha Fältskog (from ABBA) who was singing live on stage. It was at the BBC Children in Need Rocks 2013 concert in London which Barlow organised.
In November 2016, Barlow became a Patron for Child Bereavement.
Personal life
Family
In 2000, Barlow married Dawn Andrews, who was a dancer on Take That's 1995 Nobody Else Tour. They have four children: Daniel (born 2000), Emily (born 2002), and Daisy (born 2009). On 4 August 2012, he revealed that their daughter, Poppy, was stillborn. He released a short statement reading, "Dawn and I are devastated to announce that we've lost our baby. Our focus now is giving [Poppy] a beautiful funeral and loving our three children with all our hearts. We'd ask at this painful time that our privacy be respected." Despite the loss of his daughter one week previously, Barlow performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony singing the hit "Rule the World", which drew praise internationally for the strength and determination of Barlow to take to the stage so soon after his tragedy. Owing to the bereavement, it was announced that Barlow would not attend the X Factor press launch.
In his autobiography My Take, Barlow revealed that he is a supporter of Liverpool FC, with their anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" being one of the first songs he learned to play on the piano. He is also a supporter of the Warrington Wolves and the New York Knicks. Barlow also mentioned in his autobiography that he was on the Edgware Road tube train that was one of the targets of the 7 July 2005 London bombings.
In 2009, Barlow named "Don't Give Up", the 1986 duet between Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, as the song that had most inspired him. He said, "I don't think you can listen to this song without feeling inspired, it could save anybody. The lyrics are so inspirational. Specifically I was having a very low moment in the 1990s and the song came on the radio. There have only been a very few times when I've had to pull the car over to listen to a song; this was one of them."
Politics
During the 2010 general election campaign, the Conservative Party announced their intention to encourage musical achievement amongst young people in schools with a competition called "School Stars". Barlow appeared at a school staged campaign event to endorse the introduction of the programme by then-Conservative leader David Cameron. Barlow also sang "Greatest Day" at the event. When asked if he was supporting the Conservatives at the election, Barlow responded: "I would not be here if I was not."
Tax avoidance controversy
In June 2012, it was revealed that along with Take That bandmates Howard Donald and Mark Owen (and over 1,100 other people), Barlow had invested £26 million in music industry investment schemes. The news attracted controversy when it was understood that the schemes could serve as tax shelters for wealthy people. Barlow was accused of tax avoidance rather than tax evasion, as the scheme itself was not illegal at the time Barlow invested in it. Barlow's lawyer responded to the claims, stating he "paid significant tax, and that they believed the schemes were not for tax avoidance purposes but were legitimate commercial enterprises". In May 2014 a judge ruled that the scheme was set up for the purpose of avoiding tax, with the scheme generating losses of £336 million to enable Barlow and others to offset those losses against taxes they were liable to pay from other earnings. In June 2016 Barlow (and Donald and Owen plus their manager Jonathon Wild) announced they would not be appealing a ruling that they are liable to re-pay the tax. Barlow has apologised on Twitter "to anyone who was offended by the tax stories".
In an interview with BBC Radio in 2020, Paul Stenning, who worked for the band in 1995 under their financial advisor Simon Orange, explained the way the band's finances were structured, saying they were "meticulously disseminated".
Discography
Studio albums as a solo artist
Open Road (1997)
Twelve Months, Eleven Days (1999)
Sing (2012)
Since I Saw You Last (2013)
Music Played by Humans (2020)
The Dream of Christmas (2021)
EP's
At Home with Gary Barlow (2020)
Studio albums with Take That
Take That & Party (1992)
Everything Changes (1993)
Nobody Else (1995)
Beautiful World (2006)
The Circus (2008)
Progress (2010)
III (2014)
Wonderland (2017)
Odyssey (2018)
EP’s
Progressed (2011)
Love Songs (2021)
Tours
Solo
The Open Road Tour (1998–1999)
For the Fans Tour (1999)
GB40 (2011)
Gary Barlow: in Concert (2011) (2011–2013)
Since I Saw You Last Tour (2014)
Gary Barlow: in Concert (2018) (2018)
All the Hits Live (2021)
A Different Stage (2022-)
Take That
Party Tour (1992–93)
Everything Changes Tour (1993–94)
Pops Tour (1994–95)
Nobody Else Tour (1995)
The Ultimate Tour (2006)
Beautiful World Tour 2007 (2007)
Take That Present: The Circus Live (2009)
Progress Live (2011)
Take That Live (2015)
Wonderland Live (2017)
Greatest Hits Live (2019)
Songs written by Barlow
Awards and nominations
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|2014
|Since I Saw You Last
|Celebritain UK for Album of the Year
|
|-
|Let Me Go
|Celebritain UK for Best Single
|
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|2013
|Let Me Go
|Heart for Best Single of 2013
|
|-
|Gary Barlow Live
|Nordoff-Robbins Award for Best Live Act 2013
|
|-
| rowspan="8" style="text-align:center;"|2012
|Gary Barlow
|GQ Award for Outstanding Achievement
|
|-
| Gary Barlow
|Music Industry Trusts Award Honorary Recognition for Barlow's contribution to music over the past two decades.
|
|-
| Gary Barlow
|National Reality Television Award for Best Reality TV Judge
|
|-
| Gary Barlow
|OBE for services to Entertainment Industry and Charity.
|
|-
| Take That
|Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music
|
|-
|The Flood
|Ivor Novello Award for PRS Most Performed Work
|
|-
|Gary Barlow
|National Television Award for Outstanding Contribution to Charity
|
|-
|X Factor
|National Television Award for Best Television Talent Show
|
|-
| rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|2011
|Gary Barlow
|Q Award for Classic Songwriter
|
|-
|Shame
|Q Award for Best Collaboration
|
|-
|Shame
|Virgin Media for Music Video
|
|-
|Shame
|Virgin Media for Best Collaboration
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|2010
|Gary Barlow
|Blue Peter Gold Badge
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|2008
|Shine
|Ivor Novello Award for Most Performed Song
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|2007
|Gary Barlow
|GQ Awards for Man of the Year
|
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|1998
|Gary Barlow
|Brit Award for Best British Male
|
|-
|Open Road
| The London Awards for Best Album
|
|-
|Love Won't Wait
|Top of the Pops for Best Single
|
|-
| rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|1997
|Forever Love
|FMQ Awards [Finland] for Best Single
|
|-
|Forever Love
|TMF Awards [Netherlands] for Best Single
|
|-
|Open Road
|GQ Awards for Best Album
|
|-
|Forever Love
|Echo Awards for Best Single
|
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|1996
|Never Forget
|Ivor Novello Award
|
|-
|Back for Good
|Billboard International Hit of the Year
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|1995
|Back for Good
|Ivor Novello Award for the Song of the year
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|1994
|Pray
|Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|1993
|Gary Barlow
|Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of The Year Award 1993
|
|}
Books
Gary Barlow: My Take. Bloomsbury UK 2006, .
Gary Barlow: My Take. Bloomsbury Press 2007, (paperback edition, updated to include Take That's comeback).
Gary Barlow: A Better Me: The Official Autobiography. Blink Publishing 2018, .
References
External links
1971 births
Living people
English male singer-songwriters
English keyboardists
English record producers
Ivor Novello Award winners
Singers from Cheshire
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Take That members
Participants in British reality television series
People from Frodsham
Conservative Party (UK) people
20th-century English singers
21st-century English singers
English tenors
British monarchists | true | [
"\"Sin Despertar\" is a pop song performed by Chilean band Kudai. It was released as the first single of their debut album Vuelo. This single was also their first single as Kudai, after they gave up their old name band Ciao. This single was very successful in Chile and Argentina and later in the rest of Latin America, including Mexico.\n\nMusic video\nKudai's music video for their first single ever \"Sin Despertar\", was filmed in Santiago, Chile and the location used in this music videos was in O'Higgins Park, Movistar Arena Santiago, the video was premiered on 24 June 2004 on MTV, and this was very successful on Los 10+ Pedidos and Top 20.\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \nKudai Official Site\nEMI Music Mexico\n\n2004 singles\nKudai songs\n2005 singles\n2006 singles\n2004 songs",
"Rough and Ready Volume 2 is a studio album released by Shabba Ranks. This album was not as successful as Volume 1 and it was going to be difficult to create an album as successful as its predecessor, X-tra Naked, which won a Grammy. Volume 2 was criticised for lacking variety.\n\nTrack listing\n\nReferences\n\n1993 albums\nShabba Ranks albums\nEpic Records albums"
]
|
[
"Gary Barlow",
"Musical theatre",
"What was Barlow's role in musical theatre?",
"On 25 June 2013, it was announced that Barlow had been signed up to work on a new musical version of Finding Neverland and will co-write the score",
"Was this successful?",
"the show sold out the theatre and posted a box office performance that, if it continued for a whole week of performances, would have seen the show top $1 million."
]
| C_725ed09dc21641bcb373213e34604e16_0 | What else is significant about his time with musical theater? | 3 | Besides Finding Neverland, what else is significant about Gary Barlow's time with musical theater? | Gary Barlow | On 25 June 2013, it was announced that Barlow had been signed up to work on a new musical version of Finding Neverland and will co-write the score for the theatre project, which is being developed by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Barlow said of the project: "This is something I've always wanted to do so it's a real privilege to be involved. I'm really enjoying working with the team and I love the story; it's also great to be working with a legendary creative like Harvey Weinstein." Weinstein echoed the sentiment by expressing his admiration for Barlow, whom he described as "one of the finest songwriters in the world". On 1 March 2014, Barlow attended the Bob and Harvey Weinstein's pre-Academy Awards party at the Montage in Beverly Hills to perform a selection of songs from the musical score he had written for Finding Neverland. He played the lead role of Peter Pan author J. M. Barrie, and sung a duet with noted British musical actress Laura Michelle Kelly along with four back-up artists featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary 20 Feet from Stardom. Barlow's performance was well received, and after a successful performance run in Boston, Finding Neverland opened on Broadway in spring 2015. On its first Broadway preview, the show sold out the theatre and posted a box office performance that, if it continued for a whole week of performances, would have seen the show top $1 million. Gary has also co-written a musical alongside hometown friend Tim Firth, titled The Girls, which opened at the Phoenix Theatre, London in January 2017. CANNOTANSWER | On 1 March 2014, Barlow attended the Bob and Harvey Weinstein's pre-Academy Awards party at the Montage in Beverly Hills to perform a selection of songs | Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That.
Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, having written thirteen number-one singles (ten with Take That, two solo, one with Robbie Williams "Candy") and twenty-four top-ten hits. As a solo artist, he has had three number-one singles, six top-ten singles and three number-one albums, and has additionally had seventeen top-five hits, twelve number-one singles and eight number-one albums with Take That. Barlow has also established himself as a talent show judge and television personality. He has judged on The X Factor UK (2011–2013), Let It Shine (2017), and Walk The Line (2021).
Barlow has received six Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, including the award for Outstanding Services to British Music. He has sold over 50 million records worldwide. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) at the 2012 Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to the entertainment industry and charity.
Early life and influences
Barlow was born on 20 January 1971 in Frodsham, Cheshire, the second son of Colin (died 15 October 2009) and Marjorie Barlow (née Cowan). He attended Weaver Vale Primary School and moved on to Frodsham High School in 1982. In Barlow's autobiography, he relates that his love of music began at an early age, and calls himself "one of those kids that's forever dancing in front of the TV looking at [his] reflection". He was heavily influenced by late 1970s and 1980s pop music. Barlow cites watching a performance of "Just Can't Get Enough" by Depeche Mode on Top of the Pops when he was 10 years old as a main influence, describing it as "mesmerising". He subsequently asked for a keyboard for Christmas and spent most of his spare time teaching himself to play his favourite songs. Barlow has also identified Trevor Horn, and future collaborators Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), as important early influences. He has credited Elton John with inspiring him to play the piano.
In 1986, when Barlow was 15 years old, he entered a BBC Pebble Mill at One Christmas song competition with "Let's Pray for Christmas". After reaching the semi-finals, he was invited to London's West Heath Studios to record his song. This inspired him to perform on the northern club circuit, singing cover versions and his own songs. Barlow's first performance was in Wales, at the Connah's Quay Labour Club in the late 1980s, and he was paid £18 per performance on Saturday evenings.
In 1989, Barlow appointed Wigan show business agent Barry Woolley to be his manager and recorded a single ("Love Is in the Air") which was never released commercially. Barlow was eventually put in touch with casting agent Nigel Martin-Smith, by renowned celebrity photographer Doc Braham, who took Barlow's first professional head-shots. Graham-Smith was a friend of Braham, who introduced Barlow to Graham who was interested in starting a boyband. Martin-Smith decided to use Barlow as the lead singer after being impressed by his self-written material, including an early demo tape of Barlow's "A Million Love Songs", concluding that the band would be built around Barlow's vocals and songwriting skills.
History
1989–1996: Take That
Barlow, who wrote the majority of the group's songs, is widely recognised as the lead singer of Take That. After selecting Barlow as the group's lead singer, Nigel Martin-Smith introduced Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and finally Robbie Williams to the fold. The group were signed to RCA Records, and after a number of top-40 hits, eventually secured their first number-one with Barlow's "Pray". Previous hits included "A Million Love Songs", "It Only Takes a Minute" and "Could It Be Magic". The debut album Take That & Party was released on 17 August 1992 and reached number two in the UK Album Chart. The following year saw the release of their second album, Everything Changes based on Barlow's own material. It went straight in at number one in the UK Albums Chart and spawned four number-one singles, as well as "Why Can't I Wake Up with You" and "Love Ain't Here Anymore" hitting numbers two and three respectively.
Barlow received an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song in 1994 for the number-one hit song "Pray" included on the album. In 1994, alongside Rick Astley, Barlow did backing vocals for Elton John's version of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King. Take That's third album Nobody Else, again based on Barlow's own material, went straight to number one and was to be their last studio album of the 1990s. The album had three number-one singles, including Barlow's "Back for Good" which peaked at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was brought forward an unprecedented six weeks before its official release such was the demand for the single. A Greatest Hits collection followed again reaching number one. The album featured the band's eighth number-one single "How Deep Is Your Love". This was to be the first single released by Take That as a four piece (without Robbie Williams) and it was their last single until they reformed in 2005.
1996–1998: Solo career and Open Road
Barlow's solo career was predicted to be very successful, being described as "the next George Michael". His first two solo singles, "Forever Love" (released July 1996) and "Love Won't Wait" (composed by Madonna and Shep Pettibone), both leapt to the number one spot in his home country. "Forever Love" was also used as the soundtrack to the film The Leading Man. His debut album Open Road reached number one in the UK Albums Chart and went on to sell 2 million copies worldwide. Barlow's first single to be released in the United States as a solo artist was "So Help Me Girl", which reached number 44 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number one on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. He then achieved another top-ten hit in the UK with "Open Road" peaking at number seven and number eight in the Netherlands with "Are You Ready Now?".
1999–2004: Twelve Months, Eleven Days, and producing career
After the success of his first solo album, Barlow released his second LP Twelve Months, Eleven Days in 1999. Barlow released "Stronger" as the lead single preceding the album. However, due to an expected backlash against Barlow, it received minimal support and airplay and only peaked at number 16. The album's second single, "For All That You Want", also received minimal radio play and peaked at number 24; however, it nearly reached the top five in Finland. Twelve Months, Eleven Days received little promotion and peaked at a disappointing number 35, which led to Sony recalling the album's scheduled third single, "Lie to Me". This decision resulted in Barlow and BMG parting company.
In late 1999, Barlow quit his career as a singer, with his final single remaining unreleased. From 2000 to 2004, he was a producer for other artists, including bandmate Mark Owen's solo projects. In 2005, he resumed his singing career after a six-year hiatus.
Barlow has sold million records as a solo artist.
2005–2011: Take That reunion and Shame
Barlow returned to the spotlight in a successful TV documentary, Take That: For the Record in 2005. Following this success and renewed interest, Take That experienced a career renaissance in 2005 when the post-Williams line-up reformed for a sell-out arena/stadium tour. The band released their comeback single "Patience" which went to number one for four weeks while also topping the charts across Europe. Patience was also voted the Record of the Year in 2006 and won a Brit Award for single of the year. This was followed with "Shine" which became the band's tenth number-one single. Take That's first album of new material in over ten years, Beautiful World was released on 24 November 2006. The album peaked at number one in the UK Album Chart selling over 2.8 million copies in the UK alone as of 2012. It was re-released as a tour edition with hit single "Rule the World" in 2007 and peaked again at number one.
In 2008, the band were nominated for four Brit Awards (Best British Group, Best British Album, Best British Single and Best British Live Act). They won Best British Single and Best British Live Act. After great success in 2006, Take That released the single "Greatest Day" which went straight to number one and became their eleventh number-one single in the UK. The week after they released their second album since their reunion in 2006, The Circus. The Circus album was also a great success for Take That going straight to the top of the UK album chart and selling over 2.2 million copies in the country, going multi-platinum within four days of its release. In June and July 2009, Take That performed a record-breaking tour named Take That Present: The Circus Live throughout the United Kingdom and it sold over one million tickets in just five hours.
Barlow's first solo release since 1999 was a duet with reconciled Take That bandmate Robbie Williams on a single entitled "Shame". The single was written by both Barlow and Williams after they began to work together in Los Angeles on new material for a new Take That album following Williams' return to the band. On the first day of the song being released to the radio and the media, "Shame" received an unprecedented 694 plays on the radio and 153 plays on TV. The single peaked at number 2 in the UK, selling 224,000 copies and being certified as Silver by the BPI, while also charting in 21 countries worldwide.
It was announced that Barlow was in the process of writing Take That's much-anticipated sixth studio album, set for release in late 2010. The album, Progress, was the first to feature the original line-up since their 1995 album, Nobody Else. The band also announced a stadium tour entitled Progress Live which took place in 2011. The tickets for the tour went on sale on 29 October 2010. Due to unprecedented high public demand for tickets, Ticketmaster websites across the UK and Ireland crashed and all initial tour dates sold out in under 15 minutes. It was reported that a record breaking one million tickets were snapped up on the first day of sale, resulting in Take That smashing the previous box office record of tickets sold which was set in 2008 by Take That Present: The Circus Live. Due to unprecedented demand Take That added more dates to their tour, finishing in the UK with a record breaking eight consecutive nights at Wembley Stadium after which the tour would then commence throughout Europe with an estimated 1.75 million people expected to attend the shows.
The lead single from Progress was announced as "The Flood". The single debuted at number two, selling over 500,000 copies. On the first day of the release of Progress, the album sold over 235,000 copies across the UK, making it the fastest selling record of the century. On 21 November 2010, Progress debuted at number one in the United Kingdom, becoming the band's seventh number-one album. By the end of its first week on sale the album sold over 520,000, making it the second fastest-selling album of all-time in UK chart history. To date Progress has sold 2.8 million copies in the UK and has achieved similar chart success across Europe. In June 2011, Take That released their first extended play collection entitled Progressed which returned the band to number one in the UK on its first week of release as well as charting across Europe.
The media have widely acknowledged Barlow's talent and labelled him as the mastermind behind the unprecedented success of Take That's comeback and the new musical direction they have taken.
2012–2014: Return to solo projects, Sing and Since I Saw You Last
In April 2012, Barlow recorded a cover of "Here Comes the Sun" that was used in the 2012 summer promotion advertisement for Marks and Spencer with him appearing in the advert at the end performing the song.
Barlow was featured in a duet with Agnetha Fältskog (from ABBA) on her 2013 album A, released in May 2013. Barlow co-wrote the song, "I Should've Followed You Home" with album producer Jörgen Elofsson. Early press reports tagged the song as a likely single with strong chart potential leading to Universal Music scheduling it to be released as the third single from the album in November 2013. The single become a top 5 hit in Sweden on the week of its release as well as charting in the UK.
It was announced in January 2012 that Barlow and Andrew Lloyd Webber would be working together to write the official Diamond Jubilee single. Barlow and Lord Lloyd Webber composed the music to the song; with Barlow then taking this music to musicians and singers around the Commonwealth with the aim to incorporate sounds from around the world onto the single. The song entitled "Sing" was released as the lead single from the album of the same name, Sing. It debuted in the UK Singles Chart at number 11 with the album released on the same day entering the UK Album Chart at number one, becoming Barlow's second solo number-one album and his first in 15 years. After the airing of Gary Barlow's documentary Gary Barlow: On Her Majesty's Service which told the story of how Sing was written; the single climbed up to number one in the iTunes chart. The following week Sing rose to number one in the UK Singles Chart selling 142,000 copies and becoming among the highest selling singles of 2012. The album of the same name remained at number one, making Barlow the first artist in 2012 to have the number-one album and number-one single in the same week.
Barlow announced on 15 October 2012 that he was to embark on his first full solo tour in thirteen years around the UK and Ireland. In a statement, he said, "I'm really excited about these dates. Playing live is my favourite thing and I haven't played a solo show for over a year now. Last year playing two London shows was brilliant, we all had such a good time, so I thought right let's get out and see the rest of the country!"
The tickets to Barlow's solo concerts sold out "instantly" after going on sale on 19 October, with tickets selling faster than those of the Rolling Stones for their comeback dates. Demand was so high for tickets that Barlow added more dates, which also sold out instantly. It was also revealed by ticket marketplace SeatWave, that Gary Barlow's solo shows had sold six times more tickets than Robbie Williams' solo concerts, despite being on sale for a week less.
In September 2013, Barlow announced via his Twitter account that he would be releasing his first full-length solo album in 14 years, on 25 November 2013. Barlow encouraged his followers and fans to tweet #GBSOLO to reveal the album artwork and title, with their profile pictures being used to create a collage of the album cover. On 4 October 2013, Barlow revealed his new album would be called Since I Saw You Last, and would be preceded by his first single from the LP, titled "Let Me Go", released worldwide on 17 November 2013. He also announced that he would be touring the album in April 2014, playing some of the biggest arenas in the UK.
"Let Me Go" entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 3 with 72,423 copies sold in its first week on sale, giving Barlow his 21st top 3 UK single. The following week it rose to No. 2 selling a further 60,422 copies. One month after release, "Let Me Go" was certified Silver by the BPI for selling over 200,000 copies in the UK. In early 2014, Let Me Go surpassed 400,000 sales in the UK and was certified Gold. The week after the release of Let Me Go, the album debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart, behind One Direction's third album Midnight Memories. The album sold 116,000 copies, becoming the fastest selling album of 2013 to miss out on the top spot, whilst also selling more copies in his first week than his Take That bandmate Robbie Williams, whose album Swings Both Ways sold 109,000 copies the previous week to claim the top spot. The album was certified Platinum by the BPI less than a month after being released, becoming Barlow's second solo album to reach Platinum certification. The album went 2x Platinum a month later, spending 11 weeks in the top 5 of the UK Album Charts, becoming Barlow's most successful solo album in the UK to date.
2017–present: A Better Me, Music Played by Humans and The Dream of Christmas
On 12 October 2017, whilst appearing on BBC Radio 2, Barlow announced that he would be embarking on a solo tour again around UK and Ireland to celebrate the release of his new book, A Better Me. The tour was to visit smaller and more intimate venues rather than the huge arenas and stadiums that Barlow was so familiar to playing, be it solo or alongside his Take That bandmates.
On 14 August 2019, Barlow announced that he had been working on a new solo record due for release in Autumn 2020, stating that "[he has] never recorded with an orchestra" and wanted to create "original songs with big contemporary orchestral arrangements." In July 2020, Barlow confirmed that the album will release in November, adding that "[the album is] very positive and [composed] with a 60-piece orchestra."
On 30 September 2020, Barlow revealed that his upcoming album would be called Music Played by Humans, set to be released on 27 November 2020. Its lead single, "Elita", featuring Michael Bublé and Sebastián Yatra, was released on the same day after it premiered on BBC Radio 2. A tour to promote the record in 2021 has also been announced with Leona Lewis as special guest.
Barlow announced in early 2021 that he would release a new solo record by the end of the year, which was revealed on 28 October to be The Dream of Christmas, his first Christmas album. The project features a collection of both new songs and covers of Christmas classics, including the two singles "Sleigh Ride" and "The Dream of Christmas", both released on 29 October. The album was released on 26 November.
On 20 January 2022, Barlow announced a brand new one-man stage show A Different Stage. The show premiered in Runcorn at The Brindley with performances from 10 - 15 February 2022 before then touring to The Lowry, Salford (22 - 27 February 2022), Liverpool Playhouse (15 - 19 March 2022) and Edinburgh Lyceum (22 - 27 March 2022) with further dates to be announced
Other musical projects
Songwriting, producing and publishing
After leaving his career as a solo artist Barlow returned to his first love of writing music. He soon signed a song writing publishing deal with Sony and went to the US on a six-month songwriting project, residing in Nashville, Los Angeles and New York with his wife, Dawn and first child, Daniel. Upon his return he set up True North Productions with Eliot Kennedy and Tim Woodcock. In his autobiography My Take Barlow partly blames his fall as a solo artist on his commitments to being a star in the United States. After his disappointing second album, Barlow remained out of the public eye for half a decade, choosing to continue to write and produce songs for other artists such as Shirley Bassey and Charlotte Church.
In October 2007, Barlow founded San Remo Live Publishings as an independently run management company to establish and support artists and songwriters.
In 2008, Barlow was heavily involved in providing the score of ITV's Britannia High. The 9 episode series focused on the lives of a group of teenagers and their mentors at a fictional London theatre school. Guy Chambers, Steve Mac, Andy Hill, Mark Owen, James Bourne and Eliot Kennedy also contributed to the musical component of the show. It was axed after one series.
In 2010, Barlow signed a new 5-year songwriting publishing deal with Sony music. He has been voted as the greatest British songwriter of all time in a 2009 OnePoll, who surveyed 3,000 people John Lennon and Paul McCartney, of The Beatles, were placed second and third respectively.
In 2011, Barlow wrote the song "Run for Your Life" for The X Factor series 7 winner Matt Cardle's debut album. He has also written for the likes of Robbie Williams , Westlife, Lily Allen, Blue, Elton John, Olly Murs T-Pain, Will Young N-Dubz, Lawson, Shirley Bassey, Donny Osmond, Delta Goodrem, Elaine Paige, Agnetha Fältskog and many more while also being commissioned by the Queen to write the official single for her Diamond Jubilee, which saw Barlow collaborate with Andrew Lloyd Webber.
To date, Barlow has written 14 number-one singles in the UK and 2 Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles in the United States including "Back for Good" which went to number one in 31 countries around the world.
Ceremonial work
At the beginning of May 2010, it was announced that the Queen had asked Barlow to organise her 86th birthday party and her Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012. A source said: "Her Majesty has been made well aware of his charity work and the events he has put together. She knows that Gary has got the power to pull in the big names across the music industry and to ensure it's a party to match the occasion". This was confirmed in February 2012 with Gary Barlow being named as the organiser and producer of a concert that took place outside Buckingham Palace and featuring globally recognised superstar artists. Barlow said "The Diamond Jubliee Concert will celebrate the 60 years of the Queen's reign with an amazing line-up of world-class artists coming together to play at one of the biggest and most exciting live music shows in recent years." This concert began to take shape with Barlow at the centre of the arrangements and the force behind the staging, artists and the eventual ideas that would be used in the concert. On 4 June 2012 the Diamond Jubilee concert was held outside Buckingham Palace with it acting as a backdrop to a stage built upon the Victoria Memorial featuring artists from all around the world. The concert included music stemming from the 1950s to the 2000s with each decade of her reign reflected in the music performed. Barlow himself appeared alongside Andrew Lloyd Webber and his own Commonwealth Band to perform the self written official jubilee single "Sing" while also dueting with Girls Aloud's Cheryl Cole on the night which won praise from critics who called "the performance as [two of] the best of Britain [who] proved their pop credentials with a dazzling duet."
Future records
In 2009 Barlow began work on his own record label Future Records, a branch from Universal Music and signed his first artist, classical singer Camilla Kerslake. Since then Barlow has also signed UK rapper Aggro Santos to his label who scored two top 10 UK hits and a further top 20 single, and the winner of Sky 1's Must Be The Music, Emma's Imagination who also achieved two top 10 UK singles and a top 15 charting debut album. In 2013 Barlow's discovery A*M*E released her first single which debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart. Gary Barlow has since closed down the record label to focus on his own career and family commitments.
The X Factor
On 7 May 2011, it was announced that Barlow was in advanced talks to replace Simon Cowell as a judge on The X Factor. He was officially confirmed as a judge on 30 May, alongside returning judge Louis Walsh and fellow new judges Tulisa and Kelly Rowland, who collectively replaced Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue.
Barlow was given the "Boys" category for the live shows and mentored Marcus Collins to the final of The X Factor, where he became runner up.
After a successful debut as a judge on The X Factor in 2011, ITV producers opened talks with Barlow to return for a second series and offered a substantial increase on his £1.5 million salary from the previous year. On 17 April 2012, it was announced that Barlow would return to The X Factor for a second year; he was the first judge to be announced to be returning. He was later joined by returning judges Walsh and Tulisa alongside new judge Nicole Scherzinger, who replaced Rowland after one series. For his second year as a mentor, he was given the Over 28s category, which featured both male and female artists over the age of 28. He became the only judge to have four acts in the finals after Christopher Maloney became the popular wildcard and the thirteenth finalist in the show. Barlow guided Maloney to the final of the show, becoming Barlow's second finalist in two consecutive years.
Barlow revealed on 9 December 2012 that he may not return as a judge for a third series on The X Factor, stating that he did not know "if there is room" in his diary for the programme. However, on 20 May 2013, it was confirmed by Walsh that he and Barlow would both return to continue their roles as judges on the tenth series of The X Factor, alongside Scherzinger and former judge Sharon Osbourne who replaced Tulisa. Barlow was given the Groups category in his third year on the show. Barlow chose Kingsland Road, Miss Dynamix and Rough Copy as his final three. After losing two of his final acts, he guided Rough Copy to the semi final.
During Rough Copy's performance on the first live show of The X Factor 2013, Barlow revealed that this would be his last series on the show, due to his solo tour commitments and the upcoming release of a new Take That album. Barlow said of his decision: "I’ve had an amazing time on X Factor these past three years. A show like this needs to stay fresh and exciting, so it’s a great opportunity for someone to come in and take the show past its incredible ten year anniversary. "Next year is a very busy year for me and X Factor is a full time job so it felt like the right time to hand over the baton." An X Factor spokesperson added: "As Gary said on the show tonight we can confirm that this will be his last series as a judge on The X Factor as next year he will be focusing on his own music. "We'd like to thank him for an amazing contribution over the last three years." Barlow was replaced by Cowell, who returned to the show after a three-year absence.
Musical theatre
On 25 June 2013, it was announced that Barlow had been signed up to work on a new musical version of Finding Neverland and will co-write the score for the theatre project, which is being developed by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Barlow said of the project: "This is something I've always wanted to do so it's a real privilege to be involved. I'm really enjoying working with the team and I love the story; it's also great to be working with a legendary creative like Harvey Weinstein."
Weinstein echoed the sentiment by expressing his admiration for Barlow, whom he described as "one of the finest songwriters in the world".
On 1 March 2014, Barlow attended the Bob and Harvey Weinstein's pre-Academy Awards party at the Montage in Beverly Hills to perform a selection of songs from the musical score he had written for Finding Neverland. He played the lead role of Peter Pan author J. M. Barrie and sang a duet with British musical actress Laura Michelle Kelly along with four back-up artists featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary 20 Feet from Stardom. Barlow's performance was well received, and after a successful performance run in Boston, Finding Neverland opened on Broadway in spring 2015. On its first Broadway preview, the show sold out the theatre and posted a box office performance that, if it continued for a whole week of performances, would have seen the show top $1 million.
Barlow has also co-written a musical alongside hometown friend Tim Firth, called The Girls (later retitled in 2017 as Calendar Girls The Musical), which opened at the Phoenix Theatre, London in January 2017.
Let It Shine
In the summer of 2016, Gary launched his own talent show Let It Shine, in the search for 5 males to star in an upcoming nationwide musical using the music of Take That. The musical will tour all over the UK, with up to 8 shows a week. Let It Shine premiered on BBC One on 7 January 2017 and the first live show was premiered on 11 February 2017.
The Crooner Sessions
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Barlow received global recognition for his "The Crooner Sessions" series which featured him performing songs on-line alongside other artists. Although initially starting as a way to entertain his fans during the lockdown, Barlow's videos, which debuted on Instagram before later being uploaded to his YouTube Channel, Facebook and Twitter feeds, became a hotly-anticipated event for many music lovers worldwide. Describing his inspiration for the series, Barlow explained "we can't go on stages or into theaters. Maybe this is our new stage". On 5 January 2021, Barlow announced on his social media accounts that the Crooner Sessions would be returning for a second series through the 2021 UK lockdown. The first episode of the renewed series premiered on 11 January 2021.
Walk the Line
After being replaced as a judge on The X Factor by a returning Simon Cowell, Barlow ended up replacing Cowell as the head judge on the panel of Syco's new talent show Walk the Line before the first episode was aired. Debuting on ITV on 12 December 2021, Barlow joined Craig David, Dawn French and Alesha Dixon on the judging panel.
Honours
After twenty years within the music industry in which Barlow has achieved success around the world; coupled with his efforts to raise money and awareness for various charities he was honoured in the 2012 Queen's Birthday Honours. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the Queen on 16 June 2012, which he was awarded on 21 November for "services to the Entertainment Industry and to Charity". In a statement, Barlow said: "I'm absolutely thrilled and feel very privileged to be in the company of so many brilliant people who I know have received an OBE." He continued by stating that he enjoys "every minute of the work I do, with a lot of it being a reward in itself, so for somebody to decide I should get recognised for that is just amazing. My family are very proud."
In July 2012, Barlow was announced as the recipient of the Music Industry Trusts Award which he was presented with in November 2012 in recognition of his services to British music and charity. David Munns, chairman of the award committee, said of Barlow: "He is one of the UK's most accomplished artists – a unique musician, songwriter and producer who embodies both success and distinction, and who serves as a dedicated ambassador for many charities."
Outside music
Acting career
In 2000, Barlow made his acting debut in the ITV1 drama Heartbeat: this was the 150th edition of the show, and Barlow played hitch-hiker Micky Shannon. In 2012, Barlow had a cameo in the film Keith Lemon: The Film and in early 2013 he had a cameo in the hit BBC1 show Miranda and also in a 2015 special. Barlow had a brief cameo in Star Wars: The Last Jedi as a soldier in the Crait trenches.
Social media
In October 2011, Barlow joined Twitter live on The Xtra Factor to build support for the contestants he mentored during series 8 of The X Factor. Almost immediately after he joined Twitter his following totalled at over 300,000 people. Within two months of joining Twitter, Barlow reached over 1 million followers. As of October 2018 has an audience of 4.3 million Twitter followers.
Charity work
Barlow organised a sponsored climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for Comic Relief. Barlow and eight other celebrities: Cheryl Cole, Ben Shephard, Alesha Dixon, Kimberley Walsh, Fearne Cotton, Chris Moyles, Denise Van Outen and Boyzone's Ronan Keating, made it to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro safely on 7 March 2009, raising millions for Comic Relief.
Barlow's charity efforts in 2009, including his organising of the BT Comic Relief Kilimanjaro Climb and his organising of Children in Need Rocks the Royal Albert Hall, raised in excess £6 million. In addition to the charity events organised by Barlow, he has also shown support for fellow artists' charity efforts including that of Boyzone's Ronan Keating. The pair sang Take That's "Back for Good" written by Barlow at Ronan's Emerald and Ivy Ball in Battersea, South London, on Saturday. The event raised £650,000 for Cancer Research UK.
His organisation of a very special event at the Royal Albert Hall went ahead in November 2009 and was broadcast the following week. This saw a meeting of Take That with Robbie Williams on stage and a number of unusual duets (including Dame Shirley Bassey with Dizzy Rascal and Take That with Lily Allen). Barlow dedicated the band's song "Rule the World" to "everyone who's lost someone – Dad, this is for you". It was a very special night raising £2M and ending with Barlow seeming to promise it could be an annual event.
It was announced in December 2009 that Barlow had been awarded the prestigious Blue Peter Gold Badge, awarded for outstanding achievements and inspiring children to realise their talents and achieve.
To celebrate his 10th wedding anniversary, Barlow invited family and many friends to a special event in London. It was a rare event that Barlow allowed a popular magazine to photograph the event. A highlight was a special Bingo session hosted by Barlow. Money raised at the event was donated to Barnardo's.
Towards the end of 2009, there has been a huge Twitter campaign to 'Get Gary Knighted' for all of his charity work over the years. The campaign has been mentioned and endorsed by many celebrities, including Chris Moyles of Radio 1.
In February 2010, a project named 'Helping Haiti' was formed by Simon Cowell in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The aim was to bring some of the most recognised music stars around the world together to record a charity single with all proceeds going to the cause. Barlow, along with an array of stars were asked to appear on the cover of "Everybody Hurts" which sold 453,000 copies in its first week, making it the fastest-selling charity record of the 21st century in Britain. Barlow appeared at Twickenham Stadium to perform the hit single "Shame" alongside Robbie Williams in aid of the Help for Heroes charity on 12 September 2010.
Barlow has also donated the original handwritten lyrics to his number-one hit single "Back for Good" to help raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. The lyrics were sold for £1,200. Barlow wrote the song in 1995 and it went on to top the charts in 31 countries around the world as well as becoming a top ten hit in America.
In January 2011, Barlow held a special show, named GB40, at Shepherd's Bush Empire to celebrate his 40th birthday. This event saw him take to the stage on his own for the first time in over eleven years as he performs songs that span his 20-year career in music. He has also announced that all of the profits from the show went to charity.
After the phenomenal success of 'Children in Need Rocks' in 2009, it was announced by Barlow that he is to organise it once again this time in Manchester, with some of the biggest acts in the music industry scheduled to appear. Barlow also confirmed that all proceeds will go to Children in Need. The concert was received positively by the media, with them praising the involvement of Gary Barlow in the Children in Need project.
As well as organising the Children in Need Rocks Manchester concert, Barlow announced he was to helm the official single for the charity, a cover of Massive Attack's 'Teardrop' accompanied by a number of artists known as 'The Collective'. The CIN Rocks concert, single and gala contributed to £26 million raised for Children in Need that year.
During the week of Children in Need 2011, Barlow organised a celebrity gala with all proceeds going to the charities associated with Children in Need.
Barlow also donated all proceeds from his Gary Barlow: In Concert event to the Prince's Trust charity. He said: "I hope the money raised through these concerts will make a real difference to young lives. It's really important to me that disadvantaged young people get the support they need, especially at the moment."
In August 2013, the headline act to turn on the Blackpool illuminations pulled out due to unforeseen circumstances leaving the event with no one to turn on the lights or play to the 5,000 in attendance. Upon hearing this, Barlow tweeted that he would step in if the organisers would write a cheque to Children In Need. Bosses quickly made contact with him and made a donation to the charity, with Barlow turning on the lights and performing a number of his hits during the 45 minute set. Simon Blackburn, Leader of Blackpool Council said: "Gary’s very generous offer on Twitter was extremely flattering and as soon as we saw it we contacted him straight away to take him up on it. Not only has Gary taken time out of his busy schedule to play on Friday, but he has also asked for a donation to charity in place of his performance fee. I am delighted to make that donation to Children in Need." Graham Cain, the Council's Cabinet Member for Tourism and Leisure, said: "Gary has shown his love for Blackpool by tweeting about the town and the Illuminations before and he even turned on the illuminations back in 1999. He’s always been a fan of town and has now stepped in during our hour of need."
Barlow announced in September 2013 that he would once again be returning with Children in Need Rocks, bringing some of the world's biggest musical and entertainment stars together over 2 nights to raise money for Children in Need. He said of the event: "I’m very excited that these incredible artists are giving their time for a special Charity that is close to my heart."
In October 2013, Barlow travelled directly from the X Factor live results shows to Afghanistan to meet the Armed Forces and experience their day-to-day lives in Camp Bastion. Barlow listened to the soldiers' stories, went for a five-kilometre run with the troops and played a morale-boosting concert for them as a thank you for their work.
On 12 November 2013, Barlow sang with Agnetha Fältskog (from ABBA) who was singing live on stage. It was at the BBC Children in Need Rocks 2013 concert in London which Barlow organised.
In November 2016, Barlow became a Patron for Child Bereavement.
Personal life
Family
In 2000, Barlow married Dawn Andrews, who was a dancer on Take That's 1995 Nobody Else Tour. They have four children: Daniel (born 2000), Emily (born 2002), and Daisy (born 2009). On 4 August 2012, he revealed that their daughter, Poppy, was stillborn. He released a short statement reading, "Dawn and I are devastated to announce that we've lost our baby. Our focus now is giving [Poppy] a beautiful funeral and loving our three children with all our hearts. We'd ask at this painful time that our privacy be respected." Despite the loss of his daughter one week previously, Barlow performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony singing the hit "Rule the World", which drew praise internationally for the strength and determination of Barlow to take to the stage so soon after his tragedy. Owing to the bereavement, it was announced that Barlow would not attend the X Factor press launch.
In his autobiography My Take, Barlow revealed that he is a supporter of Liverpool FC, with their anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" being one of the first songs he learned to play on the piano. He is also a supporter of the Warrington Wolves and the New York Knicks. Barlow also mentioned in his autobiography that he was on the Edgware Road tube train that was one of the targets of the 7 July 2005 London bombings.
In 2009, Barlow named "Don't Give Up", the 1986 duet between Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, as the song that had most inspired him. He said, "I don't think you can listen to this song without feeling inspired, it could save anybody. The lyrics are so inspirational. Specifically I was having a very low moment in the 1990s and the song came on the radio. There have only been a very few times when I've had to pull the car over to listen to a song; this was one of them."
Politics
During the 2010 general election campaign, the Conservative Party announced their intention to encourage musical achievement amongst young people in schools with a competition called "School Stars". Barlow appeared at a school staged campaign event to endorse the introduction of the programme by then-Conservative leader David Cameron. Barlow also sang "Greatest Day" at the event. When asked if he was supporting the Conservatives at the election, Barlow responded: "I would not be here if I was not."
Tax avoidance controversy
In June 2012, it was revealed that along with Take That bandmates Howard Donald and Mark Owen (and over 1,100 other people), Barlow had invested £26 million in music industry investment schemes. The news attracted controversy when it was understood that the schemes could serve as tax shelters for wealthy people. Barlow was accused of tax avoidance rather than tax evasion, as the scheme itself was not illegal at the time Barlow invested in it. Barlow's lawyer responded to the claims, stating he "paid significant tax, and that they believed the schemes were not for tax avoidance purposes but were legitimate commercial enterprises". In May 2014 a judge ruled that the scheme was set up for the purpose of avoiding tax, with the scheme generating losses of £336 million to enable Barlow and others to offset those losses against taxes they were liable to pay from other earnings. In June 2016 Barlow (and Donald and Owen plus their manager Jonathon Wild) announced they would not be appealing a ruling that they are liable to re-pay the tax. Barlow has apologised on Twitter "to anyone who was offended by the tax stories".
In an interview with BBC Radio in 2020, Paul Stenning, who worked for the band in 1995 under their financial advisor Simon Orange, explained the way the band's finances were structured, saying they were "meticulously disseminated".
Discography
Studio albums as a solo artist
Open Road (1997)
Twelve Months, Eleven Days (1999)
Sing (2012)
Since I Saw You Last (2013)
Music Played by Humans (2020)
The Dream of Christmas (2021)
EP's
At Home with Gary Barlow (2020)
Studio albums with Take That
Take That & Party (1992)
Everything Changes (1993)
Nobody Else (1995)
Beautiful World (2006)
The Circus (2008)
Progress (2010)
III (2014)
Wonderland (2017)
Odyssey (2018)
EP’s
Progressed (2011)
Love Songs (2021)
Tours
Solo
The Open Road Tour (1998–1999)
For the Fans Tour (1999)
GB40 (2011)
Gary Barlow: in Concert (2011) (2011–2013)
Since I Saw You Last Tour (2014)
Gary Barlow: in Concert (2018) (2018)
All the Hits Live (2021)
A Different Stage (2022-)
Take That
Party Tour (1992–93)
Everything Changes Tour (1993–94)
Pops Tour (1994–95)
Nobody Else Tour (1995)
The Ultimate Tour (2006)
Beautiful World Tour 2007 (2007)
Take That Present: The Circus Live (2009)
Progress Live (2011)
Take That Live (2015)
Wonderland Live (2017)
Greatest Hits Live (2019)
Songs written by Barlow
Awards and nominations
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|2014
|Since I Saw You Last
|Celebritain UK for Album of the Year
|
|-
|Let Me Go
|Celebritain UK for Best Single
|
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|2013
|Let Me Go
|Heart for Best Single of 2013
|
|-
|Gary Barlow Live
|Nordoff-Robbins Award for Best Live Act 2013
|
|-
| rowspan="8" style="text-align:center;"|2012
|Gary Barlow
|GQ Award for Outstanding Achievement
|
|-
| Gary Barlow
|Music Industry Trusts Award Honorary Recognition for Barlow's contribution to music over the past two decades.
|
|-
| Gary Barlow
|National Reality Television Award for Best Reality TV Judge
|
|-
| Gary Barlow
|OBE for services to Entertainment Industry and Charity.
|
|-
| Take That
|Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music
|
|-
|The Flood
|Ivor Novello Award for PRS Most Performed Work
|
|-
|Gary Barlow
|National Television Award for Outstanding Contribution to Charity
|
|-
|X Factor
|National Television Award for Best Television Talent Show
|
|-
| rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|2011
|Gary Barlow
|Q Award for Classic Songwriter
|
|-
|Shame
|Q Award for Best Collaboration
|
|-
|Shame
|Virgin Media for Music Video
|
|-
|Shame
|Virgin Media for Best Collaboration
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|2010
|Gary Barlow
|Blue Peter Gold Badge
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|2008
|Shine
|Ivor Novello Award for Most Performed Song
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|2007
|Gary Barlow
|GQ Awards for Man of the Year
|
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|1998
|Gary Barlow
|Brit Award for Best British Male
|
|-
|Open Road
| The London Awards for Best Album
|
|-
|Love Won't Wait
|Top of the Pops for Best Single
|
|-
| rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|1997
|Forever Love
|FMQ Awards [Finland] for Best Single
|
|-
|Forever Love
|TMF Awards [Netherlands] for Best Single
|
|-
|Open Road
|GQ Awards for Best Album
|
|-
|Forever Love
|Echo Awards for Best Single
|
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|1996
|Never Forget
|Ivor Novello Award
|
|-
|Back for Good
|Billboard International Hit of the Year
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|1995
|Back for Good
|Ivor Novello Award for the Song of the year
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|1994
|Pray
|Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|1993
|Gary Barlow
|Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of The Year Award 1993
|
|}
Books
Gary Barlow: My Take. Bloomsbury UK 2006, .
Gary Barlow: My Take. Bloomsbury Press 2007, (paperback edition, updated to include Take That's comeback).
Gary Barlow: A Better Me: The Official Autobiography. Blink Publishing 2018, .
References
External links
1971 births
Living people
English male singer-songwriters
English keyboardists
English record producers
Ivor Novello Award winners
Singers from Cheshire
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Take That members
Participants in British reality television series
People from Frodsham
Conservative Party (UK) people
20th-century English singers
21st-century English singers
English tenors
British monarchists | true | [
"Michael Bihovsky (born November 14, 1986) is an American musical theater composer, actor, singer, songwriter, director, comedian, playwright, and chronic illness advocate. He is best known for his musical parodies, especially “One Grain More” (2012), the award-winning Les Misérables food allergy parody, and “Trapped Inside the House” (2020), a “One Grain More” sequel about the COVID-19 Quarantine.\n\nBihovsky's musical theater pieces center on his work as a chronic illness advocate. He has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (Hypermobility Type), a connective tissue disorder. His semi-autobiographical musical, “Fresh!”, documents the early stages of his journey with EDS while attending New York University, and his musical-in-progress “Senses” applies the principles of neuroplasticity to tell the story of six characters living with chronic neurological and/or psychological conditions. Bihovsky's medical advocacy writing has been published in multiple publications, including the Stanford Medical Journal's SCOPE Project. In addition to his public writings and interviews about chronic illness, Bihovsky also leads support groups for people suffering from EDS and similar conditions.\n\nAs a playwright and advocate, Bihovsky is known for his integration of science and art, having graduated from NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study with a concentration in “Musical Theater Performance and Composition, Astrophysics and Mythology.” He has described himself as particularly fascinated by the concept of infinity, and written a play, “Without End,” exploring the topic.\n\nBihovsky is also a voice and acting teacher in the Greater Philadelphia region, specializing in musical theater auditions for conservatories and productions.\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\n1986 births\nNew York University Gallatin School of Individualized Study alumni\nAmerican composers\n21st-century American actors",
"Time and the Wind is a musical revue by composer Galt MacDermot and lyricist by Norman Matlock. Directed and choreographed by Louis Johnson with musical direction by MacDermot, the show premiered Off-Broadway at the John Houseman Studio Theater on July 27, 1995 with costumes by Bernard Johnson and lighting by Deborah Constantine. The show was produced by Eric Krebs and AMAS Musical Theater Inc. It starred Christopher Jackson, Carol Denise, Russell Joel Brown, Suzanne Griffin, Johnetta Alston, and Carl Hall. In his review in The New York Times, Stephen Holden wrote, \"The show calls itself \"a New York musical revue,\" but aside from \"Gentle Rain,\" which compares people to cockroaches, the lyrics include few references to urban life. The predominant musical style is the gospel-flavored pop-soul that flourished 25 years ago but has long since been usurped by funk, rap and hip-hop.\"\n\nPlot\nThe show follows the relationship arcs of three unidentified romantic couples: a young streetwise couple, a 30 something yuppy pair, and a middleaged argumentative couple.\n\nMusical numbers\n\n'Time and the Wind'\n\"Mais Qui'\n'I Came to Town'\n'Gentle Rain'\n'By the Time I Forget Her'\n'Now I am Ready (Flustered)'\n'My Key Doesn't Fit The Lock'\n'I Am Not Gone'\n'There Are Times'\n'Should I Tell Him'\n\n'If What I Saw'\n'They Didn't Ask'\n'Quittin' Time'\n'What Can I Say'\n'I've Seen People Like Them Before'\n'Ah, It's Love'\n'When You Love Really'\n'Tell Her You Care'\n'Send Me You'\n'Funky Dance'\n'When I Was A Child'\n\n'Level With You'\n\"I Was Taught To Love'\n'Flowers In Your Hair'\n'What You Look Like'\n'I Love You'\n'True Love's Hand'\n'Wanted to Dine'\n'There Are Girls'\n'Goodbye'\n'According To The Plan'\n'Finale'\n\nReferences\n\nOff-Broadway musicals\n1995 musicals\nMusicals by Galt MacDermot\nRevues"
]
|
[
"Gary Barlow",
"Musical theatre",
"What was Barlow's role in musical theatre?",
"On 25 June 2013, it was announced that Barlow had been signed up to work on a new musical version of Finding Neverland and will co-write the score",
"Was this successful?",
"the show sold out the theatre and posted a box office performance that, if it continued for a whole week of performances, would have seen the show top $1 million.",
"What else is significant about his time with musical theater?",
"On 1 March 2014, Barlow attended the Bob and Harvey Weinstein's pre-Academy Awards party at the Montage in Beverly Hills to perform a selection of songs"
]
| C_725ed09dc21641bcb373213e34604e16_0 | What was the result of this? | 4 | What was the result of Gary Barlow attending Bob and Harvey Weinstein's pre-Academy Awards party? | Gary Barlow | On 25 June 2013, it was announced that Barlow had been signed up to work on a new musical version of Finding Neverland and will co-write the score for the theatre project, which is being developed by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Barlow said of the project: "This is something I've always wanted to do so it's a real privilege to be involved. I'm really enjoying working with the team and I love the story; it's also great to be working with a legendary creative like Harvey Weinstein." Weinstein echoed the sentiment by expressing his admiration for Barlow, whom he described as "one of the finest songwriters in the world". On 1 March 2014, Barlow attended the Bob and Harvey Weinstein's pre-Academy Awards party at the Montage in Beverly Hills to perform a selection of songs from the musical score he had written for Finding Neverland. He played the lead role of Peter Pan author J. M. Barrie, and sung a duet with noted British musical actress Laura Michelle Kelly along with four back-up artists featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary 20 Feet from Stardom. Barlow's performance was well received, and after a successful performance run in Boston, Finding Neverland opened on Broadway in spring 2015. On its first Broadway preview, the show sold out the theatre and posted a box office performance that, if it continued for a whole week of performances, would have seen the show top $1 million. Gary has also co-written a musical alongside hometown friend Tim Firth, titled The Girls, which opened at the Phoenix Theatre, London in January 2017. CANNOTANSWER | Barlow's performance was well received, and after a successful performance run in Boston, Finding Neverland opened on Broadway | Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That.
Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, having written thirteen number-one singles (ten with Take That, two solo, one with Robbie Williams "Candy") and twenty-four top-ten hits. As a solo artist, he has had three number-one singles, six top-ten singles and three number-one albums, and has additionally had seventeen top-five hits, twelve number-one singles and eight number-one albums with Take That. Barlow has also established himself as a talent show judge and television personality. He has judged on The X Factor UK (2011–2013), Let It Shine (2017), and Walk The Line (2021).
Barlow has received six Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, including the award for Outstanding Services to British Music. He has sold over 50 million records worldwide. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) at the 2012 Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to the entertainment industry and charity.
Early life and influences
Barlow was born on 20 January 1971 in Frodsham, Cheshire, the second son of Colin (died 15 October 2009) and Marjorie Barlow (née Cowan). He attended Weaver Vale Primary School and moved on to Frodsham High School in 1982. In Barlow's autobiography, he relates that his love of music began at an early age, and calls himself "one of those kids that's forever dancing in front of the TV looking at [his] reflection". He was heavily influenced by late 1970s and 1980s pop music. Barlow cites watching a performance of "Just Can't Get Enough" by Depeche Mode on Top of the Pops when he was 10 years old as a main influence, describing it as "mesmerising". He subsequently asked for a keyboard for Christmas and spent most of his spare time teaching himself to play his favourite songs. Barlow has also identified Trevor Horn, and future collaborators Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), as important early influences. He has credited Elton John with inspiring him to play the piano.
In 1986, when Barlow was 15 years old, he entered a BBC Pebble Mill at One Christmas song competition with "Let's Pray for Christmas". After reaching the semi-finals, he was invited to London's West Heath Studios to record his song. This inspired him to perform on the northern club circuit, singing cover versions and his own songs. Barlow's first performance was in Wales, at the Connah's Quay Labour Club in the late 1980s, and he was paid £18 per performance on Saturday evenings.
In 1989, Barlow appointed Wigan show business agent Barry Woolley to be his manager and recorded a single ("Love Is in the Air") which was never released commercially. Barlow was eventually put in touch with casting agent Nigel Martin-Smith, by renowned celebrity photographer Doc Braham, who took Barlow's first professional head-shots. Graham-Smith was a friend of Braham, who introduced Barlow to Graham who was interested in starting a boyband. Martin-Smith decided to use Barlow as the lead singer after being impressed by his self-written material, including an early demo tape of Barlow's "A Million Love Songs", concluding that the band would be built around Barlow's vocals and songwriting skills.
History
1989–1996: Take That
Barlow, who wrote the majority of the group's songs, is widely recognised as the lead singer of Take That. After selecting Barlow as the group's lead singer, Nigel Martin-Smith introduced Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and finally Robbie Williams to the fold. The group were signed to RCA Records, and after a number of top-40 hits, eventually secured their first number-one with Barlow's "Pray". Previous hits included "A Million Love Songs", "It Only Takes a Minute" and "Could It Be Magic". The debut album Take That & Party was released on 17 August 1992 and reached number two in the UK Album Chart. The following year saw the release of their second album, Everything Changes based on Barlow's own material. It went straight in at number one in the UK Albums Chart and spawned four number-one singles, as well as "Why Can't I Wake Up with You" and "Love Ain't Here Anymore" hitting numbers two and three respectively.
Barlow received an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song in 1994 for the number-one hit song "Pray" included on the album. In 1994, alongside Rick Astley, Barlow did backing vocals for Elton John's version of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King. Take That's third album Nobody Else, again based on Barlow's own material, went straight to number one and was to be their last studio album of the 1990s. The album had three number-one singles, including Barlow's "Back for Good" which peaked at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was brought forward an unprecedented six weeks before its official release such was the demand for the single. A Greatest Hits collection followed again reaching number one. The album featured the band's eighth number-one single "How Deep Is Your Love". This was to be the first single released by Take That as a four piece (without Robbie Williams) and it was their last single until they reformed in 2005.
1996–1998: Solo career and Open Road
Barlow's solo career was predicted to be very successful, being described as "the next George Michael". His first two solo singles, "Forever Love" (released July 1996) and "Love Won't Wait" (composed by Madonna and Shep Pettibone), both leapt to the number one spot in his home country. "Forever Love" was also used as the soundtrack to the film The Leading Man. His debut album Open Road reached number one in the UK Albums Chart and went on to sell 2 million copies worldwide. Barlow's first single to be released in the United States as a solo artist was "So Help Me Girl", which reached number 44 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number one on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. He then achieved another top-ten hit in the UK with "Open Road" peaking at number seven and number eight in the Netherlands with "Are You Ready Now?".
1999–2004: Twelve Months, Eleven Days, and producing career
After the success of his first solo album, Barlow released his second LP Twelve Months, Eleven Days in 1999. Barlow released "Stronger" as the lead single preceding the album. However, due to an expected backlash against Barlow, it received minimal support and airplay and only peaked at number 16. The album's second single, "For All That You Want", also received minimal radio play and peaked at number 24; however, it nearly reached the top five in Finland. Twelve Months, Eleven Days received little promotion and peaked at a disappointing number 35, which led to Sony recalling the album's scheduled third single, "Lie to Me". This decision resulted in Barlow and BMG parting company.
In late 1999, Barlow quit his career as a singer, with his final single remaining unreleased. From 2000 to 2004, he was a producer for other artists, including bandmate Mark Owen's solo projects. In 2005, he resumed his singing career after a six-year hiatus.
Barlow has sold million records as a solo artist.
2005–2011: Take That reunion and Shame
Barlow returned to the spotlight in a successful TV documentary, Take That: For the Record in 2005. Following this success and renewed interest, Take That experienced a career renaissance in 2005 when the post-Williams line-up reformed for a sell-out arena/stadium tour. The band released their comeback single "Patience" which went to number one for four weeks while also topping the charts across Europe. Patience was also voted the Record of the Year in 2006 and won a Brit Award for single of the year. This was followed with "Shine" which became the band's tenth number-one single. Take That's first album of new material in over ten years, Beautiful World was released on 24 November 2006. The album peaked at number one in the UK Album Chart selling over 2.8 million copies in the UK alone as of 2012. It was re-released as a tour edition with hit single "Rule the World" in 2007 and peaked again at number one.
In 2008, the band were nominated for four Brit Awards (Best British Group, Best British Album, Best British Single and Best British Live Act). They won Best British Single and Best British Live Act. After great success in 2006, Take That released the single "Greatest Day" which went straight to number one and became their eleventh number-one single in the UK. The week after they released their second album since their reunion in 2006, The Circus. The Circus album was also a great success for Take That going straight to the top of the UK album chart and selling over 2.2 million copies in the country, going multi-platinum within four days of its release. In June and July 2009, Take That performed a record-breaking tour named Take That Present: The Circus Live throughout the United Kingdom and it sold over one million tickets in just five hours.
Barlow's first solo release since 1999 was a duet with reconciled Take That bandmate Robbie Williams on a single entitled "Shame". The single was written by both Barlow and Williams after they began to work together in Los Angeles on new material for a new Take That album following Williams' return to the band. On the first day of the song being released to the radio and the media, "Shame" received an unprecedented 694 plays on the radio and 153 plays on TV. The single peaked at number 2 in the UK, selling 224,000 copies and being certified as Silver by the BPI, while also charting in 21 countries worldwide.
It was announced that Barlow was in the process of writing Take That's much-anticipated sixth studio album, set for release in late 2010. The album, Progress, was the first to feature the original line-up since their 1995 album, Nobody Else. The band also announced a stadium tour entitled Progress Live which took place in 2011. The tickets for the tour went on sale on 29 October 2010. Due to unprecedented high public demand for tickets, Ticketmaster websites across the UK and Ireland crashed and all initial tour dates sold out in under 15 minutes. It was reported that a record breaking one million tickets were snapped up on the first day of sale, resulting in Take That smashing the previous box office record of tickets sold which was set in 2008 by Take That Present: The Circus Live. Due to unprecedented demand Take That added more dates to their tour, finishing in the UK with a record breaking eight consecutive nights at Wembley Stadium after which the tour would then commence throughout Europe with an estimated 1.75 million people expected to attend the shows.
The lead single from Progress was announced as "The Flood". The single debuted at number two, selling over 500,000 copies. On the first day of the release of Progress, the album sold over 235,000 copies across the UK, making it the fastest selling record of the century. On 21 November 2010, Progress debuted at number one in the United Kingdom, becoming the band's seventh number-one album. By the end of its first week on sale the album sold over 520,000, making it the second fastest-selling album of all-time in UK chart history. To date Progress has sold 2.8 million copies in the UK and has achieved similar chart success across Europe. In June 2011, Take That released their first extended play collection entitled Progressed which returned the band to number one in the UK on its first week of release as well as charting across Europe.
The media have widely acknowledged Barlow's talent and labelled him as the mastermind behind the unprecedented success of Take That's comeback and the new musical direction they have taken.
2012–2014: Return to solo projects, Sing and Since I Saw You Last
In April 2012, Barlow recorded a cover of "Here Comes the Sun" that was used in the 2012 summer promotion advertisement for Marks and Spencer with him appearing in the advert at the end performing the song.
Barlow was featured in a duet with Agnetha Fältskog (from ABBA) on her 2013 album A, released in May 2013. Barlow co-wrote the song, "I Should've Followed You Home" with album producer Jörgen Elofsson. Early press reports tagged the song as a likely single with strong chart potential leading to Universal Music scheduling it to be released as the third single from the album in November 2013. The single become a top 5 hit in Sweden on the week of its release as well as charting in the UK.
It was announced in January 2012 that Barlow and Andrew Lloyd Webber would be working together to write the official Diamond Jubilee single. Barlow and Lord Lloyd Webber composed the music to the song; with Barlow then taking this music to musicians and singers around the Commonwealth with the aim to incorporate sounds from around the world onto the single. The song entitled "Sing" was released as the lead single from the album of the same name, Sing. It debuted in the UK Singles Chart at number 11 with the album released on the same day entering the UK Album Chart at number one, becoming Barlow's second solo number-one album and his first in 15 years. After the airing of Gary Barlow's documentary Gary Barlow: On Her Majesty's Service which told the story of how Sing was written; the single climbed up to number one in the iTunes chart. The following week Sing rose to number one in the UK Singles Chart selling 142,000 copies and becoming among the highest selling singles of 2012. The album of the same name remained at number one, making Barlow the first artist in 2012 to have the number-one album and number-one single in the same week.
Barlow announced on 15 October 2012 that he was to embark on his first full solo tour in thirteen years around the UK and Ireland. In a statement, he said, "I'm really excited about these dates. Playing live is my favourite thing and I haven't played a solo show for over a year now. Last year playing two London shows was brilliant, we all had such a good time, so I thought right let's get out and see the rest of the country!"
The tickets to Barlow's solo concerts sold out "instantly" after going on sale on 19 October, with tickets selling faster than those of the Rolling Stones for their comeback dates. Demand was so high for tickets that Barlow added more dates, which also sold out instantly. It was also revealed by ticket marketplace SeatWave, that Gary Barlow's solo shows had sold six times more tickets than Robbie Williams' solo concerts, despite being on sale for a week less.
In September 2013, Barlow announced via his Twitter account that he would be releasing his first full-length solo album in 14 years, on 25 November 2013. Barlow encouraged his followers and fans to tweet #GBSOLO to reveal the album artwork and title, with their profile pictures being used to create a collage of the album cover. On 4 October 2013, Barlow revealed his new album would be called Since I Saw You Last, and would be preceded by his first single from the LP, titled "Let Me Go", released worldwide on 17 November 2013. He also announced that he would be touring the album in April 2014, playing some of the biggest arenas in the UK.
"Let Me Go" entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 3 with 72,423 copies sold in its first week on sale, giving Barlow his 21st top 3 UK single. The following week it rose to No. 2 selling a further 60,422 copies. One month after release, "Let Me Go" was certified Silver by the BPI for selling over 200,000 copies in the UK. In early 2014, Let Me Go surpassed 400,000 sales in the UK and was certified Gold. The week after the release of Let Me Go, the album debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart, behind One Direction's third album Midnight Memories. The album sold 116,000 copies, becoming the fastest selling album of 2013 to miss out on the top spot, whilst also selling more copies in his first week than his Take That bandmate Robbie Williams, whose album Swings Both Ways sold 109,000 copies the previous week to claim the top spot. The album was certified Platinum by the BPI less than a month after being released, becoming Barlow's second solo album to reach Platinum certification. The album went 2x Platinum a month later, spending 11 weeks in the top 5 of the UK Album Charts, becoming Barlow's most successful solo album in the UK to date.
2017–present: A Better Me, Music Played by Humans and The Dream of Christmas
On 12 October 2017, whilst appearing on BBC Radio 2, Barlow announced that he would be embarking on a solo tour again around UK and Ireland to celebrate the release of his new book, A Better Me. The tour was to visit smaller and more intimate venues rather than the huge arenas and stadiums that Barlow was so familiar to playing, be it solo or alongside his Take That bandmates.
On 14 August 2019, Barlow announced that he had been working on a new solo record due for release in Autumn 2020, stating that "[he has] never recorded with an orchestra" and wanted to create "original songs with big contemporary orchestral arrangements." In July 2020, Barlow confirmed that the album will release in November, adding that "[the album is] very positive and [composed] with a 60-piece orchestra."
On 30 September 2020, Barlow revealed that his upcoming album would be called Music Played by Humans, set to be released on 27 November 2020. Its lead single, "Elita", featuring Michael Bublé and Sebastián Yatra, was released on the same day after it premiered on BBC Radio 2. A tour to promote the record in 2021 has also been announced with Leona Lewis as special guest.
Barlow announced in early 2021 that he would release a new solo record by the end of the year, which was revealed on 28 October to be The Dream of Christmas, his first Christmas album. The project features a collection of both new songs and covers of Christmas classics, including the two singles "Sleigh Ride" and "The Dream of Christmas", both released on 29 October. The album was released on 26 November.
On 20 January 2022, Barlow announced a brand new one-man stage show A Different Stage. The show premiered in Runcorn at The Brindley with performances from 10 - 15 February 2022 before then touring to The Lowry, Salford (22 - 27 February 2022), Liverpool Playhouse (15 - 19 March 2022) and Edinburgh Lyceum (22 - 27 March 2022) with further dates to be announced
Other musical projects
Songwriting, producing and publishing
After leaving his career as a solo artist Barlow returned to his first love of writing music. He soon signed a song writing publishing deal with Sony and went to the US on a six-month songwriting project, residing in Nashville, Los Angeles and New York with his wife, Dawn and first child, Daniel. Upon his return he set up True North Productions with Eliot Kennedy and Tim Woodcock. In his autobiography My Take Barlow partly blames his fall as a solo artist on his commitments to being a star in the United States. After his disappointing second album, Barlow remained out of the public eye for half a decade, choosing to continue to write and produce songs for other artists such as Shirley Bassey and Charlotte Church.
In October 2007, Barlow founded San Remo Live Publishings as an independently run management company to establish and support artists and songwriters.
In 2008, Barlow was heavily involved in providing the score of ITV's Britannia High. The 9 episode series focused on the lives of a group of teenagers and their mentors at a fictional London theatre school. Guy Chambers, Steve Mac, Andy Hill, Mark Owen, James Bourne and Eliot Kennedy also contributed to the musical component of the show. It was axed after one series.
In 2010, Barlow signed a new 5-year songwriting publishing deal with Sony music. He has been voted as the greatest British songwriter of all time in a 2009 OnePoll, who surveyed 3,000 people John Lennon and Paul McCartney, of The Beatles, were placed second and third respectively.
In 2011, Barlow wrote the song "Run for Your Life" for The X Factor series 7 winner Matt Cardle's debut album. He has also written for the likes of Robbie Williams , Westlife, Lily Allen, Blue, Elton John, Olly Murs T-Pain, Will Young N-Dubz, Lawson, Shirley Bassey, Donny Osmond, Delta Goodrem, Elaine Paige, Agnetha Fältskog and many more while also being commissioned by the Queen to write the official single for her Diamond Jubilee, which saw Barlow collaborate with Andrew Lloyd Webber.
To date, Barlow has written 14 number-one singles in the UK and 2 Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles in the United States including "Back for Good" which went to number one in 31 countries around the world.
Ceremonial work
At the beginning of May 2010, it was announced that the Queen had asked Barlow to organise her 86th birthday party and her Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012. A source said: "Her Majesty has been made well aware of his charity work and the events he has put together. She knows that Gary has got the power to pull in the big names across the music industry and to ensure it's a party to match the occasion". This was confirmed in February 2012 with Gary Barlow being named as the organiser and producer of a concert that took place outside Buckingham Palace and featuring globally recognised superstar artists. Barlow said "The Diamond Jubliee Concert will celebrate the 60 years of the Queen's reign with an amazing line-up of world-class artists coming together to play at one of the biggest and most exciting live music shows in recent years." This concert began to take shape with Barlow at the centre of the arrangements and the force behind the staging, artists and the eventual ideas that would be used in the concert. On 4 June 2012 the Diamond Jubilee concert was held outside Buckingham Palace with it acting as a backdrop to a stage built upon the Victoria Memorial featuring artists from all around the world. The concert included music stemming from the 1950s to the 2000s with each decade of her reign reflected in the music performed. Barlow himself appeared alongside Andrew Lloyd Webber and his own Commonwealth Band to perform the self written official jubilee single "Sing" while also dueting with Girls Aloud's Cheryl Cole on the night which won praise from critics who called "the performance as [two of] the best of Britain [who] proved their pop credentials with a dazzling duet."
Future records
In 2009 Barlow began work on his own record label Future Records, a branch from Universal Music and signed his first artist, classical singer Camilla Kerslake. Since then Barlow has also signed UK rapper Aggro Santos to his label who scored two top 10 UK hits and a further top 20 single, and the winner of Sky 1's Must Be The Music, Emma's Imagination who also achieved two top 10 UK singles and a top 15 charting debut album. In 2013 Barlow's discovery A*M*E released her first single which debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart. Gary Barlow has since closed down the record label to focus on his own career and family commitments.
The X Factor
On 7 May 2011, it was announced that Barlow was in advanced talks to replace Simon Cowell as a judge on The X Factor. He was officially confirmed as a judge on 30 May, alongside returning judge Louis Walsh and fellow new judges Tulisa and Kelly Rowland, who collectively replaced Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue.
Barlow was given the "Boys" category for the live shows and mentored Marcus Collins to the final of The X Factor, where he became runner up.
After a successful debut as a judge on The X Factor in 2011, ITV producers opened talks with Barlow to return for a second series and offered a substantial increase on his £1.5 million salary from the previous year. On 17 April 2012, it was announced that Barlow would return to The X Factor for a second year; he was the first judge to be announced to be returning. He was later joined by returning judges Walsh and Tulisa alongside new judge Nicole Scherzinger, who replaced Rowland after one series. For his second year as a mentor, he was given the Over 28s category, which featured both male and female artists over the age of 28. He became the only judge to have four acts in the finals after Christopher Maloney became the popular wildcard and the thirteenth finalist in the show. Barlow guided Maloney to the final of the show, becoming Barlow's second finalist in two consecutive years.
Barlow revealed on 9 December 2012 that he may not return as a judge for a third series on The X Factor, stating that he did not know "if there is room" in his diary for the programme. However, on 20 May 2013, it was confirmed by Walsh that he and Barlow would both return to continue their roles as judges on the tenth series of The X Factor, alongside Scherzinger and former judge Sharon Osbourne who replaced Tulisa. Barlow was given the Groups category in his third year on the show. Barlow chose Kingsland Road, Miss Dynamix and Rough Copy as his final three. After losing two of his final acts, he guided Rough Copy to the semi final.
During Rough Copy's performance on the first live show of The X Factor 2013, Barlow revealed that this would be his last series on the show, due to his solo tour commitments and the upcoming release of a new Take That album. Barlow said of his decision: "I’ve had an amazing time on X Factor these past three years. A show like this needs to stay fresh and exciting, so it’s a great opportunity for someone to come in and take the show past its incredible ten year anniversary. "Next year is a very busy year for me and X Factor is a full time job so it felt like the right time to hand over the baton." An X Factor spokesperson added: "As Gary said on the show tonight we can confirm that this will be his last series as a judge on The X Factor as next year he will be focusing on his own music. "We'd like to thank him for an amazing contribution over the last three years." Barlow was replaced by Cowell, who returned to the show after a three-year absence.
Musical theatre
On 25 June 2013, it was announced that Barlow had been signed up to work on a new musical version of Finding Neverland and will co-write the score for the theatre project, which is being developed by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Barlow said of the project: "This is something I've always wanted to do so it's a real privilege to be involved. I'm really enjoying working with the team and I love the story; it's also great to be working with a legendary creative like Harvey Weinstein."
Weinstein echoed the sentiment by expressing his admiration for Barlow, whom he described as "one of the finest songwriters in the world".
On 1 March 2014, Barlow attended the Bob and Harvey Weinstein's pre-Academy Awards party at the Montage in Beverly Hills to perform a selection of songs from the musical score he had written for Finding Neverland. He played the lead role of Peter Pan author J. M. Barrie and sang a duet with British musical actress Laura Michelle Kelly along with four back-up artists featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary 20 Feet from Stardom. Barlow's performance was well received, and after a successful performance run in Boston, Finding Neverland opened on Broadway in spring 2015. On its first Broadway preview, the show sold out the theatre and posted a box office performance that, if it continued for a whole week of performances, would have seen the show top $1 million.
Barlow has also co-written a musical alongside hometown friend Tim Firth, called The Girls (later retitled in 2017 as Calendar Girls The Musical), which opened at the Phoenix Theatre, London in January 2017.
Let It Shine
In the summer of 2016, Gary launched his own talent show Let It Shine, in the search for 5 males to star in an upcoming nationwide musical using the music of Take That. The musical will tour all over the UK, with up to 8 shows a week. Let It Shine premiered on BBC One on 7 January 2017 and the first live show was premiered on 11 February 2017.
The Crooner Sessions
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Barlow received global recognition for his "The Crooner Sessions" series which featured him performing songs on-line alongside other artists. Although initially starting as a way to entertain his fans during the lockdown, Barlow's videos, which debuted on Instagram before later being uploaded to his YouTube Channel, Facebook and Twitter feeds, became a hotly-anticipated event for many music lovers worldwide. Describing his inspiration for the series, Barlow explained "we can't go on stages or into theaters. Maybe this is our new stage". On 5 January 2021, Barlow announced on his social media accounts that the Crooner Sessions would be returning for a second series through the 2021 UK lockdown. The first episode of the renewed series premiered on 11 January 2021.
Walk the Line
After being replaced as a judge on The X Factor by a returning Simon Cowell, Barlow ended up replacing Cowell as the head judge on the panel of Syco's new talent show Walk the Line before the first episode was aired. Debuting on ITV on 12 December 2021, Barlow joined Craig David, Dawn French and Alesha Dixon on the judging panel.
Honours
After twenty years within the music industry in which Barlow has achieved success around the world; coupled with his efforts to raise money and awareness for various charities he was honoured in the 2012 Queen's Birthday Honours. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the Queen on 16 June 2012, which he was awarded on 21 November for "services to the Entertainment Industry and to Charity". In a statement, Barlow said: "I'm absolutely thrilled and feel very privileged to be in the company of so many brilliant people who I know have received an OBE." He continued by stating that he enjoys "every minute of the work I do, with a lot of it being a reward in itself, so for somebody to decide I should get recognised for that is just amazing. My family are very proud."
In July 2012, Barlow was announced as the recipient of the Music Industry Trusts Award which he was presented with in November 2012 in recognition of his services to British music and charity. David Munns, chairman of the award committee, said of Barlow: "He is one of the UK's most accomplished artists – a unique musician, songwriter and producer who embodies both success and distinction, and who serves as a dedicated ambassador for many charities."
Outside music
Acting career
In 2000, Barlow made his acting debut in the ITV1 drama Heartbeat: this was the 150th edition of the show, and Barlow played hitch-hiker Micky Shannon. In 2012, Barlow had a cameo in the film Keith Lemon: The Film and in early 2013 he had a cameo in the hit BBC1 show Miranda and also in a 2015 special. Barlow had a brief cameo in Star Wars: The Last Jedi as a soldier in the Crait trenches.
Social media
In October 2011, Barlow joined Twitter live on The Xtra Factor to build support for the contestants he mentored during series 8 of The X Factor. Almost immediately after he joined Twitter his following totalled at over 300,000 people. Within two months of joining Twitter, Barlow reached over 1 million followers. As of October 2018 has an audience of 4.3 million Twitter followers.
Charity work
Barlow organised a sponsored climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for Comic Relief. Barlow and eight other celebrities: Cheryl Cole, Ben Shephard, Alesha Dixon, Kimberley Walsh, Fearne Cotton, Chris Moyles, Denise Van Outen and Boyzone's Ronan Keating, made it to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro safely on 7 March 2009, raising millions for Comic Relief.
Barlow's charity efforts in 2009, including his organising of the BT Comic Relief Kilimanjaro Climb and his organising of Children in Need Rocks the Royal Albert Hall, raised in excess £6 million. In addition to the charity events organised by Barlow, he has also shown support for fellow artists' charity efforts including that of Boyzone's Ronan Keating. The pair sang Take That's "Back for Good" written by Barlow at Ronan's Emerald and Ivy Ball in Battersea, South London, on Saturday. The event raised £650,000 for Cancer Research UK.
His organisation of a very special event at the Royal Albert Hall went ahead in November 2009 and was broadcast the following week. This saw a meeting of Take That with Robbie Williams on stage and a number of unusual duets (including Dame Shirley Bassey with Dizzy Rascal and Take That with Lily Allen). Barlow dedicated the band's song "Rule the World" to "everyone who's lost someone – Dad, this is for you". It was a very special night raising £2M and ending with Barlow seeming to promise it could be an annual event.
It was announced in December 2009 that Barlow had been awarded the prestigious Blue Peter Gold Badge, awarded for outstanding achievements and inspiring children to realise their talents and achieve.
To celebrate his 10th wedding anniversary, Barlow invited family and many friends to a special event in London. It was a rare event that Barlow allowed a popular magazine to photograph the event. A highlight was a special Bingo session hosted by Barlow. Money raised at the event was donated to Barnardo's.
Towards the end of 2009, there has been a huge Twitter campaign to 'Get Gary Knighted' for all of his charity work over the years. The campaign has been mentioned and endorsed by many celebrities, including Chris Moyles of Radio 1.
In February 2010, a project named 'Helping Haiti' was formed by Simon Cowell in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The aim was to bring some of the most recognised music stars around the world together to record a charity single with all proceeds going to the cause. Barlow, along with an array of stars were asked to appear on the cover of "Everybody Hurts" which sold 453,000 copies in its first week, making it the fastest-selling charity record of the 21st century in Britain. Barlow appeared at Twickenham Stadium to perform the hit single "Shame" alongside Robbie Williams in aid of the Help for Heroes charity on 12 September 2010.
Barlow has also donated the original handwritten lyrics to his number-one hit single "Back for Good" to help raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. The lyrics were sold for £1,200. Barlow wrote the song in 1995 and it went on to top the charts in 31 countries around the world as well as becoming a top ten hit in America.
In January 2011, Barlow held a special show, named GB40, at Shepherd's Bush Empire to celebrate his 40th birthday. This event saw him take to the stage on his own for the first time in over eleven years as he performs songs that span his 20-year career in music. He has also announced that all of the profits from the show went to charity.
After the phenomenal success of 'Children in Need Rocks' in 2009, it was announced by Barlow that he is to organise it once again this time in Manchester, with some of the biggest acts in the music industry scheduled to appear. Barlow also confirmed that all proceeds will go to Children in Need. The concert was received positively by the media, with them praising the involvement of Gary Barlow in the Children in Need project.
As well as organising the Children in Need Rocks Manchester concert, Barlow announced he was to helm the official single for the charity, a cover of Massive Attack's 'Teardrop' accompanied by a number of artists known as 'The Collective'. The CIN Rocks concert, single and gala contributed to £26 million raised for Children in Need that year.
During the week of Children in Need 2011, Barlow organised a celebrity gala with all proceeds going to the charities associated with Children in Need.
Barlow also donated all proceeds from his Gary Barlow: In Concert event to the Prince's Trust charity. He said: "I hope the money raised through these concerts will make a real difference to young lives. It's really important to me that disadvantaged young people get the support they need, especially at the moment."
In August 2013, the headline act to turn on the Blackpool illuminations pulled out due to unforeseen circumstances leaving the event with no one to turn on the lights or play to the 5,000 in attendance. Upon hearing this, Barlow tweeted that he would step in if the organisers would write a cheque to Children In Need. Bosses quickly made contact with him and made a donation to the charity, with Barlow turning on the lights and performing a number of his hits during the 45 minute set. Simon Blackburn, Leader of Blackpool Council said: "Gary’s very generous offer on Twitter was extremely flattering and as soon as we saw it we contacted him straight away to take him up on it. Not only has Gary taken time out of his busy schedule to play on Friday, but he has also asked for a donation to charity in place of his performance fee. I am delighted to make that donation to Children in Need." Graham Cain, the Council's Cabinet Member for Tourism and Leisure, said: "Gary has shown his love for Blackpool by tweeting about the town and the Illuminations before and he even turned on the illuminations back in 1999. He’s always been a fan of town and has now stepped in during our hour of need."
Barlow announced in September 2013 that he would once again be returning with Children in Need Rocks, bringing some of the world's biggest musical and entertainment stars together over 2 nights to raise money for Children in Need. He said of the event: "I’m very excited that these incredible artists are giving their time for a special Charity that is close to my heart."
In October 2013, Barlow travelled directly from the X Factor live results shows to Afghanistan to meet the Armed Forces and experience their day-to-day lives in Camp Bastion. Barlow listened to the soldiers' stories, went for a five-kilometre run with the troops and played a morale-boosting concert for them as a thank you for their work.
On 12 November 2013, Barlow sang with Agnetha Fältskog (from ABBA) who was singing live on stage. It was at the BBC Children in Need Rocks 2013 concert in London which Barlow organised.
In November 2016, Barlow became a Patron for Child Bereavement.
Personal life
Family
In 2000, Barlow married Dawn Andrews, who was a dancer on Take That's 1995 Nobody Else Tour. They have four children: Daniel (born 2000), Emily (born 2002), and Daisy (born 2009). On 4 August 2012, he revealed that their daughter, Poppy, was stillborn. He released a short statement reading, "Dawn and I are devastated to announce that we've lost our baby. Our focus now is giving [Poppy] a beautiful funeral and loving our three children with all our hearts. We'd ask at this painful time that our privacy be respected." Despite the loss of his daughter one week previously, Barlow performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony singing the hit "Rule the World", which drew praise internationally for the strength and determination of Barlow to take to the stage so soon after his tragedy. Owing to the bereavement, it was announced that Barlow would not attend the X Factor press launch.
In his autobiography My Take, Barlow revealed that he is a supporter of Liverpool FC, with their anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" being one of the first songs he learned to play on the piano. He is also a supporter of the Warrington Wolves and the New York Knicks. Barlow also mentioned in his autobiography that he was on the Edgware Road tube train that was one of the targets of the 7 July 2005 London bombings.
In 2009, Barlow named "Don't Give Up", the 1986 duet between Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, as the song that had most inspired him. He said, "I don't think you can listen to this song without feeling inspired, it could save anybody. The lyrics are so inspirational. Specifically I was having a very low moment in the 1990s and the song came on the radio. There have only been a very few times when I've had to pull the car over to listen to a song; this was one of them."
Politics
During the 2010 general election campaign, the Conservative Party announced their intention to encourage musical achievement amongst young people in schools with a competition called "School Stars". Barlow appeared at a school staged campaign event to endorse the introduction of the programme by then-Conservative leader David Cameron. Barlow also sang "Greatest Day" at the event. When asked if he was supporting the Conservatives at the election, Barlow responded: "I would not be here if I was not."
Tax avoidance controversy
In June 2012, it was revealed that along with Take That bandmates Howard Donald and Mark Owen (and over 1,100 other people), Barlow had invested £26 million in music industry investment schemes. The news attracted controversy when it was understood that the schemes could serve as tax shelters for wealthy people. Barlow was accused of tax avoidance rather than tax evasion, as the scheme itself was not illegal at the time Barlow invested in it. Barlow's lawyer responded to the claims, stating he "paid significant tax, and that they believed the schemes were not for tax avoidance purposes but were legitimate commercial enterprises". In May 2014 a judge ruled that the scheme was set up for the purpose of avoiding tax, with the scheme generating losses of £336 million to enable Barlow and others to offset those losses against taxes they were liable to pay from other earnings. In June 2016 Barlow (and Donald and Owen plus their manager Jonathon Wild) announced they would not be appealing a ruling that they are liable to re-pay the tax. Barlow has apologised on Twitter "to anyone who was offended by the tax stories".
In an interview with BBC Radio in 2020, Paul Stenning, who worked for the band in 1995 under their financial advisor Simon Orange, explained the way the band's finances were structured, saying they were "meticulously disseminated".
Discography
Studio albums as a solo artist
Open Road (1997)
Twelve Months, Eleven Days (1999)
Sing (2012)
Since I Saw You Last (2013)
Music Played by Humans (2020)
The Dream of Christmas (2021)
EP's
At Home with Gary Barlow (2020)
Studio albums with Take That
Take That & Party (1992)
Everything Changes (1993)
Nobody Else (1995)
Beautiful World (2006)
The Circus (2008)
Progress (2010)
III (2014)
Wonderland (2017)
Odyssey (2018)
EP’s
Progressed (2011)
Love Songs (2021)
Tours
Solo
The Open Road Tour (1998–1999)
For the Fans Tour (1999)
GB40 (2011)
Gary Barlow: in Concert (2011) (2011–2013)
Since I Saw You Last Tour (2014)
Gary Barlow: in Concert (2018) (2018)
All the Hits Live (2021)
A Different Stage (2022-)
Take That
Party Tour (1992–93)
Everything Changes Tour (1993–94)
Pops Tour (1994–95)
Nobody Else Tour (1995)
The Ultimate Tour (2006)
Beautiful World Tour 2007 (2007)
Take That Present: The Circus Live (2009)
Progress Live (2011)
Take That Live (2015)
Wonderland Live (2017)
Greatest Hits Live (2019)
Songs written by Barlow
Awards and nominations
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|2014
|Since I Saw You Last
|Celebritain UK for Album of the Year
|
|-
|Let Me Go
|Celebritain UK for Best Single
|
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|2013
|Let Me Go
|Heart for Best Single of 2013
|
|-
|Gary Barlow Live
|Nordoff-Robbins Award for Best Live Act 2013
|
|-
| rowspan="8" style="text-align:center;"|2012
|Gary Barlow
|GQ Award for Outstanding Achievement
|
|-
| Gary Barlow
|Music Industry Trusts Award Honorary Recognition for Barlow's contribution to music over the past two decades.
|
|-
| Gary Barlow
|National Reality Television Award for Best Reality TV Judge
|
|-
| Gary Barlow
|OBE for services to Entertainment Industry and Charity.
|
|-
| Take That
|Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music
|
|-
|The Flood
|Ivor Novello Award for PRS Most Performed Work
|
|-
|Gary Barlow
|National Television Award for Outstanding Contribution to Charity
|
|-
|X Factor
|National Television Award for Best Television Talent Show
|
|-
| rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|2011
|Gary Barlow
|Q Award for Classic Songwriter
|
|-
|Shame
|Q Award for Best Collaboration
|
|-
|Shame
|Virgin Media for Music Video
|
|-
|Shame
|Virgin Media for Best Collaboration
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|2010
|Gary Barlow
|Blue Peter Gold Badge
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|2008
|Shine
|Ivor Novello Award for Most Performed Song
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|2007
|Gary Barlow
|GQ Awards for Man of the Year
|
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|1998
|Gary Barlow
|Brit Award for Best British Male
|
|-
|Open Road
| The London Awards for Best Album
|
|-
|Love Won't Wait
|Top of the Pops for Best Single
|
|-
| rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|1997
|Forever Love
|FMQ Awards [Finland] for Best Single
|
|-
|Forever Love
|TMF Awards [Netherlands] for Best Single
|
|-
|Open Road
|GQ Awards for Best Album
|
|-
|Forever Love
|Echo Awards for Best Single
|
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|1996
|Never Forget
|Ivor Novello Award
|
|-
|Back for Good
|Billboard International Hit of the Year
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|1995
|Back for Good
|Ivor Novello Award for the Song of the year
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|1994
|Pray
|Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|1993
|Gary Barlow
|Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of The Year Award 1993
|
|}
Books
Gary Barlow: My Take. Bloomsbury UK 2006, .
Gary Barlow: My Take. Bloomsbury Press 2007, (paperback edition, updated to include Take That's comeback).
Gary Barlow: A Better Me: The Official Autobiography. Blink Publishing 2018, .
References
External links
1971 births
Living people
English male singer-songwriters
English keyboardists
English record producers
Ivor Novello Award winners
Singers from Cheshire
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Take That members
Participants in British reality television series
People from Frodsham
Conservative Party (UK) people
20th-century English singers
21st-century English singers
English tenors
British monarchists | true | [
"Elections to West Lindsey District Council were held on 3 May 2007. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrat Party held overall control of the council after what was seen as a straight fight with the Conservative Party.\n\nThe election in Scotter ward was decided by the toss of a coin which the Conservative candidate won.\n\nAfter the election, the composition of the council was:\n Liberal Democrat 20\n Conservative 16\n Independent 1\n\nElection result\n\nOne Independent candidate was unopposed.\n\nWard results\n\nReferences\n\n 2007 West Lindsey election result\n Ward results\n\n2007\n2007 English local elections\n2000s in Lincolnshire",
"The St. Charles Borromeo Cathedral () Also Chillán Cathedral Is a temple of the Catholic Church, home of the Diocese of Chillán located in the center of the city of Chillán, Chile in front of the Plaza de Armas, in the corner of streets Arauco and Libertad. It is also a symbol and icon of the city, as a result of the city's progress after the Chillan earthquake of 1939. It was declared a National Monument in December 2014.\n\nThe first cathedral of the city of Chillán was established in what today is known as Old Chillán, but this one was destroyed after the earthquake that affected the zone in 1835. As a result, the city was devastated and was transferred and reconstructed in Its current location. The cathedral at that time was made of lime and brick.\n\nAfter the Chillán earthquake of 1939, the cathedral was completely destroyed again, beginning that same year the reconstructions that culminated in 1950. In this new reconstruction, the architect Hernán Larraín Errázuriz was based on ideas of modernism. The figure of the 10 arches represent the prayer and the sign that is made with the hands at the moment of praying intercalando the fingers of the hands and closing them of oval form.\n\nSee also\nRoman Catholicism in Chile\nSt. Charles Borromeo\n\nReferences\n\nRoman Catholic cathedrals in Chile\nRoman Catholic churches completed in 1950\nDiguillín Province\n20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Chile\nModernist architecture in Chile\nRebuilt buildings and structures in Chile"
]
|
[
"Toby Keith",
"Feud with the Dixie Chicks"
]
| C_ea9818d4cb5746a4872e18709f939498_0 | What was the feud regarding? | 1 | What was Keith's Feud with Dixie Chicks regarding? | Toby Keith | Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", in 2003 as well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London. The lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines, publicly stated that Keith's song was "ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant". Keith responded by pointing out that Maines did not write her music and he does, and by displaying a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. On May 21, 2003, Maines wore a T-shirt with the letters "FUTK" on the front at the Academy of Country Music Awards. While a spokesperson for the Dixie Chicks said that the acronym stood for "Friends United in Truth and Kindness," many, including host Vince Gill, took it to be a shot at Keith ("Fuck You Toby Keith"). In an October 2004 appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, Maines finally confessed that it was indeed a shot at Keith, and that she "thought that nobody would get it". In August 2003, Keith's representation publicly declared he was done feuding with Maines "because he's realized there are far more important things to concentrate on". Keith was referring specifically to the terminal illness of a former bandmate's daughter, Allison Faith Webb. However, he continues to refuse to say Maines' name, and claims that the doctored photo was intended to express his opinion that Maines' criticism was an attempt to squelch Keith's free speech. In April 2008, a commercial spot to promote Al Gore's "We Campaign", involving both Keith and the Dixie Chicks, was proposed. However, the idea was eventually abandoned due to scheduling conflicts. CANNOTANSWER | Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue | Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. Keith released his first four studio albums—1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin', plus a Greatest Hits package—for various divisions of Mercury Records before leaving Mercury in 1998. These albums all earned Gold or higher certification, and produced several Top Ten singles, including his debut "Should've Been a Cowboy", which topped the country charts and was the most-played country song of the 1990s. The song has received three million spins since its release, according to Broadcast Music Incorporated.
Signed to DreamWorks Records Nashville in 1998, Keith released his breakthrough single "How Do You Like Me Now?!" in late 1999. This song, the title track to his 1999 album of the same name, was the number one country song of 2000, and one of several chart-toppers during his tenure on DreamWorks Nashville. His next three albums, Pull My Chain, Unleashed, and Shock'n Y'all, produced three more number ones each, and all of the albums were certified 4x Platinum. A second Greatest Hits package followed in 2004, and after that, he released Honkytonk University.
When DreamWorks closed in 2005, Keith founded the label Show Dog Nashville, which merged with Universal South Records to become Show Dog-Universal Music in December 2009. He has released ten studio albums through Show Dog/Show Dog-Universal: 2006's White Trash with Money, 2007's Big Dog Daddy, 2008's That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, 2009's American Ride, 2010's Bullets in the Gun, 2011's Clancy's Tavern, 2012's Hope on the Rocks, 2013's Drinks After Work, 2015's 35 MPH Town, 2017's The Bus Songs, and 2021’s Peso In My Pocket, as well as the compilation 35 Biggest Hits in 2008. Keith also made his acting debut in 2006, starring in the film Broken Bridges, and co-starred with comedian Rodney Carrington in the 2008 film Beer for My Horses, inspired by his song of the same name.
Keith has released 19 studio albums, 2 Christmas albums, and 5 compilation albums, totaling worldwide sales of over 40 million albums. He has charted 61 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including 20 number one hits and 21 additional top 10 hits. His longest-lasting number one hits are "Beer for My Horses" (a 2003 duet with Willie Nelson) and "As Good as I Once Was" (2005), at six weeks each. Keith was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Donald Trump in a closed ceremony alongside Ricky Skaggs on January 13, 2021.
Early life
Keith was born in Clinton, Oklahoma, to Carolyn Joan (née Ross) and Hubert K. Covel, Jr. and is of English ancestry. He has a sister and a brother. The family lived in Fort Smith, Arkansas, for a few years when Keith was in grade school, but moved to Moore, Oklahoma (a suburb of Oklahoma City), when he was still young. Before the family moved to Moore, he visited his grandmother in Fort Smith during the summers. His grandmother owned Billie Garner's Supper Club in Fort Smith, where Keith became interested in the musicians who came there to play. He did odd jobs around the supper club and started getting up on the bandstand to play with the band. He got his first guitar at the age of eight. After the family moved to Moore, Keith attended Highland West Junior High and Moore High School, where he played defensive end on the football team.
Keith graduated from Moore High School and worked as a derrick hand in the oil fields. He worked his way up to become an operation manager. When Keith was 20, he and his friends Scott Webb, Keith Cory, David "Yogi" Vowell and Danny Smith, with a few others, formed the Easy Money Band, which played at local bars as he continued to work in the oil industry. At times, he would have to leave in the middle of a concert if he was paged to work in the oil field.
In 1982, the oil industry in Oklahoma began a rapid decline and Keith soon found himself unemployed. He fell back on his football training and played defensive end with the semi-pro Oklahoma City Drillers while continuing to perform with his band. (The Drillers were an unofficial farm club of the United States Football League's Oklahoma Outlaws; Keith tried out for the Outlaws but did not make the team.) He then returned to focus once again on music. His family and friends were doubtful he would succeed, but, in 1984, Easy Money (various other band members included Mike Barnes, T.A. Brauer, and David Saylors) began playing the honky-tonk circuit in Oklahoma and Texas.
Musical career
In the early 1990s, Keith went to Nashville, Tennessee, where he hung out and busked on Music Row and at a place called Houndogs. He distributed copies of a demo tape the band had made to the many record companies in the city. There was no interest by any of the record labels, and Keith returned home feeling depressed. He had promised himself and God to have a recording contract by the time he was 30 years old or give up on music as a career. A flight attendant and fan of his gave a copy of Keith's demo tape to Harold Shedd, a Mercury Records executive, while he was traveling on a flight she was working. Shedd enjoyed what he heard, went to see Keith perform live and then signed him to a recording contract with Mercury.
1993–1995: Toby Keith and Boomtown
Keith's debut single, "Should've Been a Cowboy", went to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 1993, and it reached number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song led off his self-titled debut album. By the end of the decade, "Should've Been a Cowboy" received more than three million spins at radio, thus making it the most-played country song of the 1990s. Certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of one million copies, the album produced three more Top 5 hits on the country charts with "He Ain't Worth Missing" (at #5), "A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action" (originally the B-side of "Should've Been a Cowboy") and "Wish I Didn't Know Now" (both at #2). Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic wrote of the album, "It is given a production that's a bit too big, clean, glossy and cavernous for Keith's good—it fits the outsized sound of early-'90s radio, but not his outsized talent—but beneath that sheen the songs are very strong." He also thought that it showed the signs of the style that Keith would develop on subsequent albums. The album's success led to Keith touring with then-labelmates Shania Twain and John Brannen. Keith and Twain also appeared in Tracy Lawrence's music video for "My Second Home" in 1993.
Keith then signed with Polydor Records Nashville and released his second album, Boomtown, in September 1994. Also certified platinum, this album was led off by the number one single "Who's That Man". After it, "Upstairs Downtown" and "You Ain't Much Fun" both made the Top 10, while "Big Ol' Truck" peaked at number 15. By late-1995, he released his first Christmas album, Christmas to Christmas, via Mercury. Composed entirely of original songs, the album produced one chart entry in "Santa I'm Right Here", which reached as high as number 50 based on Christmas airplay.
1996–1998: Blue Moon, Dream Walkin and Greatest Hits Volume One
Keith then signed with the short-lived Nashville division of A&M Records to release his third album Blue Moon in April 1996. That album received a platinum certification and produced three singles. Its first single, "Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine on You", which Keith wrote in 1987, peaked at number 2. Following it were "A Woman's Touch" at number 6, and "Me Too", which became his third number one hit in March 1997. Keith also appeared on The Beach Boys' now out-of-print 1996 album Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 performing a cover of their 1963 hit "Be True to Your School" with the Beach Boys themselves providing the harmonies and backing vocals.
Following a corporate merger, Keith returned to Mercury in 1997. His fourth studio album, Dream Walkin', was also his first produced by James Stroud, who would also serve as Keith's co-producer until 2005. It produced two consecutive number 2 hits with "We Were in Love" and a cover of Sting's 1996 single "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying". Sting also sang duet vocals and played bass guitar on it, and the two also performed the song at the 1997 Country Music Association awards. After this song, the album's title track reached number 5, while "Double Wide Paradise" peaked at number 40.
Keith's last Mercury release was Greatest Hits Volume One in October 1998. The album included twelve of his prior singles and two new songs: the country rap "Getcha Some" and "If a Man Answers". Both were released as singles, with "Getcha Some" reaching the Top 20, but "If a Man Answers" became his first single to miss the Top 40. According to Keith, these two songs were originally to be put on a studio album, but Mercury executives, dissatisfied with the album that Keith had made, chose to put those two songs on a greatest hits package, and asked him to "go work on another album". After he recorded two more songs which the label also rejected, he asked to terminate his contract with the label. After exiting Mercury, Keith co-wrote Shane Minor's debut single "Slave to the Habit" with Chuck Cannon and Kostas.
1999–2002: How Do You Like Me Now?! and Pull My Chain
In 1999, Keith moved to DreamWorks Records' Nashville division, of which Stroud served as president. His first release for the label was "When Love Fades", which also failed to make Top 40. Upon seeing the single's poor performance, Keith requested that it be withdrawn and replaced with "How Do You Like Me Now?!", a song that he wrote with Chuck Cannon, and which had previously been turned down by Mercury. It also served as the title track to his first DreamWorks album, How Do You Like Me Now?! The song spent five weeks at number 1 on the country charts, and became his first top 40 pop hit, with a number 31 peak on the Hot 100. It was also the top country song of 2000 according to the Billboard Year-End chart. The album, which was certified platinum, produced a Top 5 hit in "Country Comes to Town" and another number 1 in "You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This". It was also his first album to feature songs co-written by Scotty Emerick, who would be a frequent collaborator of Keith's for the next several albums. Steve Huey wrote that this album "had a rough, brash attitude that helped give Keith a stronger identity as a performer." In 2001, Keith won the Academy of Country Music's Top Male Vocalist and Album of the Year awards.
Following this album was Pull My Chain, released in August 2001. The album's three singles—"I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight", "I Wanna Talk About Me", and "My List"—all went to number 1 on the country charts, with the latter two both holding that position for five weeks. "I Wanna Talk About Me", written by Bobby Braddock, also displayed a country rap influence with its spoken-word lyrics. The Country Music Association named "My List" as Single of the Year in 2002. Of Pull My Chain, Erlewine wrote that "this is a bigger, better record than its predecessor, possessing a richer musicality and a more confident sense of humor".
2002–2004: Unleashed and Shock'n Y'all
In 2002, he released the Unleashed album which included four singles. First was "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)", which Keith wrote in 20 minutes as a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. The song references Keith's father, a United States Army veteran who died that March in a car accident. Both this song and "Who's Your Daddy?" were number 1 hits, with "Rock You Baby" reaching number 13. The last single was "Beer for My Horses", a duet with Willie Nelson which six weeks at the top of the country charts. At the time, it was also Keith's highest entry on the Hot 100, at number 22. In July 2003, Keith made a guest appearance on Scotty Emerick's debut single "I Can't Take You Anywhere", which was previously recorded by Keith on Pull My Chain. Emerick's version of the song was his only top 40 country hit, at number 27.
Shock'n Y'all, his eighth studio album, was released in November 2003. The album's title is a pun on the military term "shock and awe". It became his second album from which all singles went to number 1: "I Love This Bar", "American Soldier", and "Whiskey Girl". Also included on the disc were "The Taliban Song" and "Weed with Willie", two live songs recorded with Emerick. The album was followed in late 2004 by Greatest Hits 2, which included three new songs: "Stays in Mexico", "Go with Her", and a cover of Inez and Charlie Foxx's "Mockingbird", recorded as a duet with his daughter, Krystal Keith. "Stays in Mexico" was a number 3 hit on the country charts, while "Mockingbird" peaked at number 27.
Keith's final DreamWorks album was Honkytonk University in early 2005. Lead-off single "Honkytonk U" peaked at number 8, followed by "As Good as I Once Was", which spent six weeks at number 1, and "Big Blue Note" at number 5. After the release of the latter, DreamWorks Records ceased operations.
2005–present: After DreamWorks
On August 31, 2005, Keith founded a new label, Show Dog Nashville. Its first release was his 2006 album White Trash with Money, followed by the soundtrack to Broken Bridges. He also abandoned Stroud as co-producer in favor of Cannon's wife, Lari White. The album included three singles: "Get Drunk and Be Somebody", "A Little Too Late", and "Crash Here Tonight". Big Dog Daddy followed in 2007, with Keith serving as sole producer. Its singles were "High Maintenance Woman", "Love Me If You Can", and "Get My Drink On". "Love Me If You Can" became Keith's first number 1 hit since "As Good as I Once Was" more than two years prior. A two-disc Christmas album, A Classic Christmas, followed later in 2007. In 2008, Keith completed his Biggest and Baddest Tour. On May 6, 2008, he released 35 Biggest Hits, a two-disc compilation featuring most of his singles to date, as well as the new song "She's a Hottie", which peaked at number 13.
Keith released "She Never Cried in Front of Me", which went to number 1 in 2008. Its corresponding album, That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, followed on October 28, 2008. It was followed by "God Love Her", also a number 1 hit, and "Lost You Anyway". American Ride, in 2009, produced another number 1 in its title track. It was followed by the Top 10 hit "Cryin' for Me (Wayman's Song)", a tribute to basketball player and jazz bassist Wayman Tisdale, a friend of Keith's who died in May 2009. The album's final single was "Every Dog Has Its Day".
Bullets in the Gun was released on October 5, 2010. This was Keith's first album not to produce a top 10 hit, with "Trailerhood" reaching number 19, followed by the title track and "Somewhere Else" both at number 12. Keith produced the album with session guitarist Kenny Greenberg and recording engineer Mills Logan.
On October 25, 2011, Clancy's Tavern was released. The album included the single "Made in America", written by Keith along with Bobby Pinson and Scott Reeves, which went to number 1. Following it was "Red Solo Cup", which had previously been made into a music video which became popular. Upon release as a single, "Red Solo Cup" became Keith's best-peaking crossover, reaching number 15 on the Hot 100. The album's final single was "Beers Ago" at number 6 in 2012. In December 2011, Keith was named "Artist of the Decade" by the American Country Awards.
Keith's sixteenth album, Hope on the Rocks, was released in late 2012. It produced only two singles, both of which are top 20 hits: "I Like Girls That Drink Beer" reached at number 17 and the title track peaked at number 18.
In mid-2013, he entered the charts with "Drinks After Work", the first single from his seventeenth album, also titled Drinks After Work. The album's second single is "Shut Up and Hold On".
In October 2014, Keith released "Drunk Americans", the lead single from his eighteenth studio album, 35 MPH Town. In April 2015, Keith released "35 MPH Town", the album's title track and second single. In 2015, Keith was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In September 2017, Keith released the compilation album, The Bus Songs. The album contains twelve songs: two new, five re-recorded, and five previously released songs. The new songs on the album are "Shitty Golfer" and "Wacky Tobaccy". In the U.S. The Bus Songs topped the Billboard Comedy Albums chart for 11 weeks. It also reached number 6 on the Top Country Albums chart and 38 on the Billboard 200 chart.
In 2021, Keith featured on the Brantley Gilbert single "The Worst Country Song of All Time" with Hardy.
Acting career
Television appearances
Keith performed on a series of television advertisements for Telecom USA for that company's discount long-distance telephone service 10-10-220. He also starred in Ford commercials, singing original songs such as "Ford Truck Man" and "Field Trip (Look Again)" while driving Ford trucks.
Keith made an appearance at the first Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (then NWA-TNA) weekly pay-per-view on June 19, 2002, where his playing of "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" was interrupted by Jeff Jarrett. He would later enter the Gauntlet for the Gold main event, suplexing Jarrett and eliminating him from the match. A short video of the suplex is seen in the clip package when he goes onstage. He appeared the next week, on June 26, and helped Scott Hall defeat Jarrett in singles action.
In 2009, Keith participated in the Comedy Central Roast of Larry the Cable Guy, which aired on March 14, 2009.
Keith received the "Colbert Bump" when he appeared on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report. He holds the distinction of being the only musical artist to have received a five star rating from Stephen Colbert on iTunes. Keith furthered this connection when he appeared in Colbert's 2008 Christmas special as a hunter. Keith also made an appearance as a musical guest on the October 27, 2011 episode of the Colbert Report.
On October 29, 2011, Keith appeared on Fox Channel's Huckabee with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. He played "Bullets in the Gun" and he joined with Huckabees house band to play a song at the end of the show.
In December 2018, Keith will appear as a guest on Darci Lynne: My Hometown Christmas.
Acting
In the Autumn of 2005, he filmed Broken Bridges, written by Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld, and directed by Steven Goldmann. This feature film from Paramount/CMT Films was released on September 8, 2006. In this contemporary story set in small-town Tennessee, Keith plays Bo Price, a washed-up country musician. The movie also stars Kelly Preston, Burt Reynolds, Tess Harper, and Lindsey Haun.
Keith wrote and starred in the 2008 movie Beer for My Horses, which is based on the 2003 hit song of the same name recorded by Keith and Willie Nelson.
He was also set to star in the film Bloodworth, but later dropped out.
Business ventures
In 2005, Keith opened Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as well as Syracuse, New York and Tulsa, Oklahoma, and now also has restaurants in Thackerville, Oklahoma; Auburn Hills, Michigan; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Mesa, Arizona; Peoria, Arizona; St. Louis Park, Minnesota; Foxborough, Massachusetts; Cincinnati, Ohio; Newport News, Virginia; and Denver, Colorado. Keith does not actually own the new restaurants; the new restaurant is the first in a franchise under Scottsdale, Arizona-based Capri Restaurant Group Enterprises LLC, which purchased the master license agreement to build more Toby Keith restaurants nationwide. Capri Restaurant Group is owned by Frank Capri, who opened the restaurant in Mesa in the shopping center known as Mesa Riverview and is planning on opening multiple locations across the country.
In 2009, Capri Restaurant Group announced that it will open another "I Love this Bar & Grill" location in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's South Side Works shopping and entertainment district.
In 2009, Keith also established a line of clothing, TK Steelman.
February 2010 marked the opening of the Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill in the Winstar World Casino, exit 1 on Interstate 35 in Oklahoma. Other locations opened in 2010 by the Capri Restaurant Group included those in Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills, Michigan and in the Shops at West End in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Both of which closed in 2015.
In 2011, Keith introduced a new drink named “Wild Shot". At first it was only available in Mexico, but now is sold and served in America. It is a featured drink in his restaurant chain, I Love this Bar and Grill.
Keith's music career and his various other business ventures have made him one of the wealthiest celebrities in the United States. The July 15. 2013, edition of Forbes magazine features Keith on the cover with the caption "Country Music's $500 million man". The article titled "Cowboy Capitalist" by Zack O'Malley Greenburg also contains information regarding Keith's earnings as a musician over the course of his career, such as earning $65 million in the past 12 months, which surpasses the earnings of even more well known musicians such as Jay-Z and Beyoncé and that he hasn't earned less than $48 million a year over the past 5 years. Keith has written at least one #1 country single over the past 20 years and the partnership between his own label, Show Dog-Universal, and Big Machine Records, which Keith also helped found in 2005.
Political beliefs
Since 2002, Keith has made numerous trips to the Middle East to bring entertainment and encouragement to U.S. men and women serving on or near the front lines. “My father was a soldier. He taught his kids to respect veterans,” said Keith. “It's that respect and the thank-you that we have a military that's in place and ready to defend our nation; our freedom.”
In 2004, Keith called himself "a conservative Democrat who is sometimes embarrassed for his party". He endorsed the re-election of President George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election and performed at a Dallas, Texas, rally on the night before the election. Keith also endorsed Democrat Dan Boren in his successful run in Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district and is good friends with former Democratic New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
In a January 2007 interview with Newsday, Keith was asked whether he supported the Iraq War. He responded with "Never did," and said he favors setting a time limit on the campaign. He also said, "I don't apologize for being patriotic... If there is something socially incorrect about being patriotic and supporting your troops, then they can kiss my ass on that, because I'm not going to budge on that at all. And that has nothing to do with politics. Politics is what's killing America."
In April 2008, Keith said that Barack Obama "looks like a great speaker and a great leader. And I think you can learn on your feet in there, so I don't hold people responsible for not having a whole bunch of political background in the House and Senate." His remarks continued, "I think [John] McCain is a great option too." In August 2008, he called Obama "the best Democratic candidate we've had since Bill Clinton".
In October 2008, Keith told CMT that he had left the Democratic Party and has re-registered as an independent. "My party that I've been affiliated with all these years doesn't stand for anything that I stand for anymore," he says. "They've lost any sensibility that they had, and they've allowed all the kooks in. So I'm going independent." He also told CMT that he would likely vote for the Republican ticket, partially because of his admiration for Sarah Palin.
In March 2009, Keith received the Johnny "Mike" Spann Memorial Semper Fidelis Award during a New York ceremony held by the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. The trophy is named for the CIA operative (and former Marine Corps captain) who was the first U.S. casualty in the war in Afghanistan. "Spending time with our soldiers around the world is something I've always regarded as a privilege and honor," he said. "I'm certainly happy to accept this award, but I won't forget for a second who's really doing the heavy lifting to keep this country safe. And that's why I'll keep going back and spending time with those good folks every chance I get."
In April 2009, he voiced support for Obama on Afghanistan and other decisions: "He hired one of my best friends who I think should run for president someday...Gen. James Jones as a national security adviser. He's sending troops into Afghanistan, help is on the way there. And I'm seeing some really good middle range stuff. I'm giving our commander in chief a chance before I start grabbing. So far, I'm cool with it."
Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue
On March 24, 2001, Keith's father, H.K. Covel, was killed in a car accident. That event and the September 11 attacks in 2001 prompted Keith to write the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", a song about his father's patriotism and faith in the United States. At first, Keith refused to record the song and sang it only live at his concerts for military personnel. The reaction to the song, the lyrics of which express clear nationalistic and militaristic sentiments, was strong in many quarters, even to the point that the Commandant of the Marine Corps James L. Jones told Keith it was his "duty as an American citizen" to record the song. As the lead single from the album Unleashed (2002), "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue" peaked at number one over the Fourth of July weekend.
ABC invited Keith to sing "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue" on a 2002 Fourth of July concert it was producing, then rescinded the invitation after host Peter Jennings heard the song and vetoed it. Jennings said the song "probably wouldn't set the right tone". Keith said his statement to the press of Jennings was, "Isn't he Canadian?", and "I bet Dan Rather wouldn't kick me off his show."
Feud with the Dixie Chicks
Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", in 2002, as well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London, in March 2003. The lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines, publicly stated that Keith's song was "ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant". Keith responded by pointing out that Maines did not write her music and he does, and by displaying a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. On May 21, 2003, Maines wore a T-shirt with the letters "FUTK" on the front at the Academy of Country Music Awards. While a spokesperson for the Dixie Chicks said that the acronym stood for "Friends United in Truth and Kindness," many, including host Vince Gill, took it to be a shot at Keith ("Fuck You Toby Keith"). In an October 2004 appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, Maines finally confessed that it was indeed a shot at Keith, and that she "thought that nobody would get it".
In August 2003, Keith's representation publicly declared he was done feuding with Maines "because he's realized there are far more important things to concentrate on". Keith was referring specifically to the terminal illness of a former bandmate's daughter, Allison Faith Webb. However, he continues to refuse to say Maines' name, and claims that the doctored photo was intended to express his opinion that Maines' criticism was an attempt to squelch Keith's free speech.
In April 2008, a commercial spot to promote Al Gore's "We Campaign", involving both Keith and the Dixie Chicks, was proposed. However, the idea was eventually abandoned due to scheduling conflicts.
Donald Trump
On January 19, 2017, Toby Keith performed at the pre-Inaugural "Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration" held at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. in celebration of the beginning of the presidency of Donald Trump. Keith thanked outgoing president Barack Obama for his service and thanked president-elect Trump at the start of the celebration. Keith then played several of his patriotic songs, including "American Soldier", "Made in America", "Beer For My Horses", and "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue".
On January 13, 2021, it was reported that Keith had been awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Trump. The award was given in a closed ceremony, alongside fellow country musician Ricky Skaggs.
Personal life
Keith has an honorary degree from Villanova University, which he attended from 1979 to 1980. He planned to be a petroleum engineer.
An avid University of Oklahoma sports fan, Keith is often seen at Oklahoma Sooners games and practices. He is also a fan of professional wrestling, being seen in the front row of numerous WWE shows that take place in Oklahoma, as well as performing "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)" live at the first ever TNA Wrestling show on June 19, 2002. He is also a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team. He is a Free Will Baptist.
On March 24, 1984, Keith married Tricia Lucus. He is the father of three children—two daughters, Shelley Covel Rowland (born 1980, adopted by Keith in 1984) and Krystal "Krystal Keith" LaDawn Covel Sandubrae (born September 30, 1985; signed a contract with Show Dog-Universal in 2013), and one son (Stelen Keith Covel, born 1997). He also has four grandchildren.
On March 24, 2001, Keith's father was killed in a car accident on Interstate 35. On December 25, 2007, the Covel family was awarded $2.8 million for the wrongful death of H.K. Covel. Elias and Pedro Rodriguez, operators of Rodriguez Transportes of Tulsa, and the Republic Western Insurance Co. were found liable as they failed to equip the charter bus with properly working air brakes.
Philanthropy
Keith supports Ally's House, a non-profit organization in Oklahoma designed to aid children with cancer. Of the charity, Keith said:
Keith filmed a PSA for Little Kids Rock, a national nonprofit that works to restore and revitalize music education in disadvantaged U.S. public schools.
As of 2015, Forbes estimated Keith's annual income at $53 million.
Tours
Brooks and Dunn's Neon Circus and Wild West Show 2001
Unleashed Tour 2002
with Jamie O'Neal, Emerson Drive and Rascal Flatts (Select Dates)
USO 2002–13 (11 tours, visiting 15 countries and 3 naval ships)
Shock'N Y'all Tour 2003
with Blake Shelton
Big Throwdown Tour 2004
with Lonestar and Gretchen Wilson
with Sawyer Brown and Terri Clark
Big Throwdown Tour II 2005
with Jo Dee Messina
White Trash With Money Tour 2006
Hookin' Up and Hangin' Out Tour 2007
with Miranda Lambert, Trace Adkins, Josh Gracin
Big Dog Daddy Tour 2007
Biggest and Baddest Tour 2008–09
with Montgomery Gentry and Trailer Choir
America's Toughest Tour 2009
with Trace Adkins Also Julianne Hough (Few Dates)
Toby Keith's American Ride Tour 2010
with Trace Adkins and James Otto
Locked and Loaded Tour 2011
with Eric Church and JT Hodges
Live in Overdrive Tour
with Brantley Gilbert
Hammer Down Tour 2013
with Kip Moore
Hammer Down Under Tour 2014
With Kellie Pickler and Eli Young Band
Shut Up and Hold On Tour 2014
With Colt Ford and Krystal Keith
Good Times and Pick Up Lines Tour 2015
With Eli Young Band and Chris Janson
Interstates and Tailgates Tour 2016
With Eric Paslay
Should've Been A Cowboy XXV 2018
Discography
Studio albums
Toby Keith (1993)
Boomtown (1994)
Blue Moon (1996)
Dream Walkin' (1997)
How Do You Like Me Now?! (1999)
Pull My Chain (2001)
Unleashed (2002)
Shock'n Y'all (2003)
Honkytonk University (2005)
White Trash with Money (2006)
Big Dog Daddy (2007)
That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy (2008)
American Ride (2009)
Bullets in the Gun (2010)
Clancy's Tavern (2011)
Hope on the Rocks (2012)
Drinks After Work (2013)
35 MPH Town (2015)
Peso in My Pocket (2021)
Compilation albums
Greatest Hits Volume One (1998)
20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection (2003)
Greatest Hits 2 (2004)
35 Biggest Hits (2008)
The Bus Songs (2017)
Christmas albums
Christmas to Christmas (1995)
A Classic Christmas (2007)
Number one singles
"Should've Been a Cowboy"
"Who's That Man"
"Me Too"
"How Do You Like Me Now?!"
"You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This"
"I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight"
"I Wanna Talk About Me"
"My List"
"Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)"
"Who's Your Daddy?"
"Beer for My Horses"
"I Love This Bar"
"American Soldier"
"Whiskey Girl"
"As Good as I Once Was"
"Love Me If You Can"
"She Never Cried in Front of Me"
"God Love Her"
"American Ride"
"Made in America"
Notable awards
Filmography
Broken Bridges (2006) also starring Kelly Preston and Lindsey Haun
CMT Music Awards (2003–2012) Co-Host With Pamela Anderson and Kristen Bell
Beer for My Horses (2008)
References
External links
Toby Keith official website
1961 births
Male actors from Oklahoma
American baritones
American country singer-songwriters
American country record producers
American people of English descent
Country musicians from Oklahoma
DreamWorks Records artists
Living people
Mercury Records artists
People from Clinton, Oklahoma
People from Moore, Oklahoma
Show Dog-Universal Music artists
Villanova University people
Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma
Baptists from Oklahoma
United States National Medal of Arts recipients
American male singer-songwriters | true | [
"Family Feud is the fourth studio album by American rap group The Dayton Family, from Flint, Michigan. It was released on July 12, 2005, via Fast Life Records. The album spawned two singles: \"Chevys\" and \"Can't Get Out.\"\n\nTrack listing\nFamily Feud\nBulldoggin'\nWhere You From (featuring Capone)\nChevys\nWhat Would You Do\nMurder on My Block\nHate Me If You Wanna\nWhat is Your Issue?\nI'm a Gangsta\nAss Whoop\nWe Won't Fall\nReckless (featuring Cormega)\nCalico (featuring Kurupt)\nEveryday Hoe (featuring MC Breed)\nDayton Niggaz\nFormula 51\nGet Crunk\nEverything's Chicken (But the Bone)\nCan't Get Out\n\nChart history\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Family Feud by The Dayton Family on iTunes\n\n2005 albums\nThe Dayton Family albums",
"A feud letter ( or Absagebrief) was a document in which a feud was announced, usually with few words, in medieval Europe. The letter had to be issued three days in advance to be legally valid.\n\nTo prevent the feud from becoming a case of murder and thus become punishable by law, those involved had to abide by the following rules:\n\n The feud, whether between knights or between the nobility and towns, had to be initiated by a formal feud letter.\n Killing innocent parties was forbidden.\n Razing of houses and laying waste to the land were allowed.\n During the feud, fighting was not permitted in churches or at home, and the parties were to be allowed to go to and to return from church or court without being molested.\n\nExamples \n Around 1444, the town of Soest declared war on the Archbishop of Cologne at the start of the Soest Feud with the following famous, brief feud letter:\n\n\"Wettet, biscop Dierich van Moeres, dat wy den vesten Junker Johan can Cleve lever hebbet alls Juwe, unde wert Juwe hiermit affgesaget\"(\"Know this, Bishop Dietrich of Moers, that we prefer the steadfast Junker, John of Cleves, to you, and hereby give you notice thereof.\")\n\nSee also\nThrow down the gauntlet\n\nLandfrieden - waiver of the right to feuding\n\nLegal documents\nLetter"
]
|
[
"Toby Keith",
"Feud with the Dixie Chicks",
"What was the feud regarding?",
"Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song \"Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue"
]
| C_ea9818d4cb5746a4872e18709f939498_0 | Was the feud about anything else? | 2 | Was Keith's Feud with Dixie Chicks about anything else aside from the song "Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue"? | Toby Keith | Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", in 2003 as well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London. The lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines, publicly stated that Keith's song was "ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant". Keith responded by pointing out that Maines did not write her music and he does, and by displaying a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. On May 21, 2003, Maines wore a T-shirt with the letters "FUTK" on the front at the Academy of Country Music Awards. While a spokesperson for the Dixie Chicks said that the acronym stood for "Friends United in Truth and Kindness," many, including host Vince Gill, took it to be a shot at Keith ("Fuck You Toby Keith"). In an October 2004 appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, Maines finally confessed that it was indeed a shot at Keith, and that she "thought that nobody would get it". In August 2003, Keith's representation publicly declared he was done feuding with Maines "because he's realized there are far more important things to concentrate on". Keith was referring specifically to the terminal illness of a former bandmate's daughter, Allison Faith Webb. However, he continues to refuse to say Maines' name, and claims that the doctored photo was intended to express his opinion that Maines' criticism was an attempt to squelch Keith's free speech. In April 2008, a commercial spot to promote Al Gore's "We Campaign", involving both Keith and the Dixie Chicks, was proposed. However, the idea was eventually abandoned due to scheduling conflicts. CANNOTANSWER | well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London. | Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. Keith released his first four studio albums—1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin', plus a Greatest Hits package—for various divisions of Mercury Records before leaving Mercury in 1998. These albums all earned Gold or higher certification, and produced several Top Ten singles, including his debut "Should've Been a Cowboy", which topped the country charts and was the most-played country song of the 1990s. The song has received three million spins since its release, according to Broadcast Music Incorporated.
Signed to DreamWorks Records Nashville in 1998, Keith released his breakthrough single "How Do You Like Me Now?!" in late 1999. This song, the title track to his 1999 album of the same name, was the number one country song of 2000, and one of several chart-toppers during his tenure on DreamWorks Nashville. His next three albums, Pull My Chain, Unleashed, and Shock'n Y'all, produced three more number ones each, and all of the albums were certified 4x Platinum. A second Greatest Hits package followed in 2004, and after that, he released Honkytonk University.
When DreamWorks closed in 2005, Keith founded the label Show Dog Nashville, which merged with Universal South Records to become Show Dog-Universal Music in December 2009. He has released ten studio albums through Show Dog/Show Dog-Universal: 2006's White Trash with Money, 2007's Big Dog Daddy, 2008's That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, 2009's American Ride, 2010's Bullets in the Gun, 2011's Clancy's Tavern, 2012's Hope on the Rocks, 2013's Drinks After Work, 2015's 35 MPH Town, 2017's The Bus Songs, and 2021’s Peso In My Pocket, as well as the compilation 35 Biggest Hits in 2008. Keith also made his acting debut in 2006, starring in the film Broken Bridges, and co-starred with comedian Rodney Carrington in the 2008 film Beer for My Horses, inspired by his song of the same name.
Keith has released 19 studio albums, 2 Christmas albums, and 5 compilation albums, totaling worldwide sales of over 40 million albums. He has charted 61 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including 20 number one hits and 21 additional top 10 hits. His longest-lasting number one hits are "Beer for My Horses" (a 2003 duet with Willie Nelson) and "As Good as I Once Was" (2005), at six weeks each. Keith was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Donald Trump in a closed ceremony alongside Ricky Skaggs on January 13, 2021.
Early life
Keith was born in Clinton, Oklahoma, to Carolyn Joan (née Ross) and Hubert K. Covel, Jr. and is of English ancestry. He has a sister and a brother. The family lived in Fort Smith, Arkansas, for a few years when Keith was in grade school, but moved to Moore, Oklahoma (a suburb of Oklahoma City), when he was still young. Before the family moved to Moore, he visited his grandmother in Fort Smith during the summers. His grandmother owned Billie Garner's Supper Club in Fort Smith, where Keith became interested in the musicians who came there to play. He did odd jobs around the supper club and started getting up on the bandstand to play with the band. He got his first guitar at the age of eight. After the family moved to Moore, Keith attended Highland West Junior High and Moore High School, where he played defensive end on the football team.
Keith graduated from Moore High School and worked as a derrick hand in the oil fields. He worked his way up to become an operation manager. When Keith was 20, he and his friends Scott Webb, Keith Cory, David "Yogi" Vowell and Danny Smith, with a few others, formed the Easy Money Band, which played at local bars as he continued to work in the oil industry. At times, he would have to leave in the middle of a concert if he was paged to work in the oil field.
In 1982, the oil industry in Oklahoma began a rapid decline and Keith soon found himself unemployed. He fell back on his football training and played defensive end with the semi-pro Oklahoma City Drillers while continuing to perform with his band. (The Drillers were an unofficial farm club of the United States Football League's Oklahoma Outlaws; Keith tried out for the Outlaws but did not make the team.) He then returned to focus once again on music. His family and friends were doubtful he would succeed, but, in 1984, Easy Money (various other band members included Mike Barnes, T.A. Brauer, and David Saylors) began playing the honky-tonk circuit in Oklahoma and Texas.
Musical career
In the early 1990s, Keith went to Nashville, Tennessee, where he hung out and busked on Music Row and at a place called Houndogs. He distributed copies of a demo tape the band had made to the many record companies in the city. There was no interest by any of the record labels, and Keith returned home feeling depressed. He had promised himself and God to have a recording contract by the time he was 30 years old or give up on music as a career. A flight attendant and fan of his gave a copy of Keith's demo tape to Harold Shedd, a Mercury Records executive, while he was traveling on a flight she was working. Shedd enjoyed what he heard, went to see Keith perform live and then signed him to a recording contract with Mercury.
1993–1995: Toby Keith and Boomtown
Keith's debut single, "Should've Been a Cowboy", went to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 1993, and it reached number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song led off his self-titled debut album. By the end of the decade, "Should've Been a Cowboy" received more than three million spins at radio, thus making it the most-played country song of the 1990s. Certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of one million copies, the album produced three more Top 5 hits on the country charts with "He Ain't Worth Missing" (at #5), "A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action" (originally the B-side of "Should've Been a Cowboy") and "Wish I Didn't Know Now" (both at #2). Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic wrote of the album, "It is given a production that's a bit too big, clean, glossy and cavernous for Keith's good—it fits the outsized sound of early-'90s radio, but not his outsized talent—but beneath that sheen the songs are very strong." He also thought that it showed the signs of the style that Keith would develop on subsequent albums. The album's success led to Keith touring with then-labelmates Shania Twain and John Brannen. Keith and Twain also appeared in Tracy Lawrence's music video for "My Second Home" in 1993.
Keith then signed with Polydor Records Nashville and released his second album, Boomtown, in September 1994. Also certified platinum, this album was led off by the number one single "Who's That Man". After it, "Upstairs Downtown" and "You Ain't Much Fun" both made the Top 10, while "Big Ol' Truck" peaked at number 15. By late-1995, he released his first Christmas album, Christmas to Christmas, via Mercury. Composed entirely of original songs, the album produced one chart entry in "Santa I'm Right Here", which reached as high as number 50 based on Christmas airplay.
1996–1998: Blue Moon, Dream Walkin and Greatest Hits Volume One
Keith then signed with the short-lived Nashville division of A&M Records to release his third album Blue Moon in April 1996. That album received a platinum certification and produced three singles. Its first single, "Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine on You", which Keith wrote in 1987, peaked at number 2. Following it were "A Woman's Touch" at number 6, and "Me Too", which became his third number one hit in March 1997. Keith also appeared on The Beach Boys' now out-of-print 1996 album Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 performing a cover of their 1963 hit "Be True to Your School" with the Beach Boys themselves providing the harmonies and backing vocals.
Following a corporate merger, Keith returned to Mercury in 1997. His fourth studio album, Dream Walkin', was also his first produced by James Stroud, who would also serve as Keith's co-producer until 2005. It produced two consecutive number 2 hits with "We Were in Love" and a cover of Sting's 1996 single "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying". Sting also sang duet vocals and played bass guitar on it, and the two also performed the song at the 1997 Country Music Association awards. After this song, the album's title track reached number 5, while "Double Wide Paradise" peaked at number 40.
Keith's last Mercury release was Greatest Hits Volume One in October 1998. The album included twelve of his prior singles and two new songs: the country rap "Getcha Some" and "If a Man Answers". Both were released as singles, with "Getcha Some" reaching the Top 20, but "If a Man Answers" became his first single to miss the Top 40. According to Keith, these two songs were originally to be put on a studio album, but Mercury executives, dissatisfied with the album that Keith had made, chose to put those two songs on a greatest hits package, and asked him to "go work on another album". After he recorded two more songs which the label also rejected, he asked to terminate his contract with the label. After exiting Mercury, Keith co-wrote Shane Minor's debut single "Slave to the Habit" with Chuck Cannon and Kostas.
1999–2002: How Do You Like Me Now?! and Pull My Chain
In 1999, Keith moved to DreamWorks Records' Nashville division, of which Stroud served as president. His first release for the label was "When Love Fades", which also failed to make Top 40. Upon seeing the single's poor performance, Keith requested that it be withdrawn and replaced with "How Do You Like Me Now?!", a song that he wrote with Chuck Cannon, and which had previously been turned down by Mercury. It also served as the title track to his first DreamWorks album, How Do You Like Me Now?! The song spent five weeks at number 1 on the country charts, and became his first top 40 pop hit, with a number 31 peak on the Hot 100. It was also the top country song of 2000 according to the Billboard Year-End chart. The album, which was certified platinum, produced a Top 5 hit in "Country Comes to Town" and another number 1 in "You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This". It was also his first album to feature songs co-written by Scotty Emerick, who would be a frequent collaborator of Keith's for the next several albums. Steve Huey wrote that this album "had a rough, brash attitude that helped give Keith a stronger identity as a performer." In 2001, Keith won the Academy of Country Music's Top Male Vocalist and Album of the Year awards.
Following this album was Pull My Chain, released in August 2001. The album's three singles—"I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight", "I Wanna Talk About Me", and "My List"—all went to number 1 on the country charts, with the latter two both holding that position for five weeks. "I Wanna Talk About Me", written by Bobby Braddock, also displayed a country rap influence with its spoken-word lyrics. The Country Music Association named "My List" as Single of the Year in 2002. Of Pull My Chain, Erlewine wrote that "this is a bigger, better record than its predecessor, possessing a richer musicality and a more confident sense of humor".
2002–2004: Unleashed and Shock'n Y'all
In 2002, he released the Unleashed album which included four singles. First was "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)", which Keith wrote in 20 minutes as a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. The song references Keith's father, a United States Army veteran who died that March in a car accident. Both this song and "Who's Your Daddy?" were number 1 hits, with "Rock You Baby" reaching number 13. The last single was "Beer for My Horses", a duet with Willie Nelson which six weeks at the top of the country charts. At the time, it was also Keith's highest entry on the Hot 100, at number 22. In July 2003, Keith made a guest appearance on Scotty Emerick's debut single "I Can't Take You Anywhere", which was previously recorded by Keith on Pull My Chain. Emerick's version of the song was his only top 40 country hit, at number 27.
Shock'n Y'all, his eighth studio album, was released in November 2003. The album's title is a pun on the military term "shock and awe". It became his second album from which all singles went to number 1: "I Love This Bar", "American Soldier", and "Whiskey Girl". Also included on the disc were "The Taliban Song" and "Weed with Willie", two live songs recorded with Emerick. The album was followed in late 2004 by Greatest Hits 2, which included three new songs: "Stays in Mexico", "Go with Her", and a cover of Inez and Charlie Foxx's "Mockingbird", recorded as a duet with his daughter, Krystal Keith. "Stays in Mexico" was a number 3 hit on the country charts, while "Mockingbird" peaked at number 27.
Keith's final DreamWorks album was Honkytonk University in early 2005. Lead-off single "Honkytonk U" peaked at number 8, followed by "As Good as I Once Was", which spent six weeks at number 1, and "Big Blue Note" at number 5. After the release of the latter, DreamWorks Records ceased operations.
2005–present: After DreamWorks
On August 31, 2005, Keith founded a new label, Show Dog Nashville. Its first release was his 2006 album White Trash with Money, followed by the soundtrack to Broken Bridges. He also abandoned Stroud as co-producer in favor of Cannon's wife, Lari White. The album included three singles: "Get Drunk and Be Somebody", "A Little Too Late", and "Crash Here Tonight". Big Dog Daddy followed in 2007, with Keith serving as sole producer. Its singles were "High Maintenance Woman", "Love Me If You Can", and "Get My Drink On". "Love Me If You Can" became Keith's first number 1 hit since "As Good as I Once Was" more than two years prior. A two-disc Christmas album, A Classic Christmas, followed later in 2007. In 2008, Keith completed his Biggest and Baddest Tour. On May 6, 2008, he released 35 Biggest Hits, a two-disc compilation featuring most of his singles to date, as well as the new song "She's a Hottie", which peaked at number 13.
Keith released "She Never Cried in Front of Me", which went to number 1 in 2008. Its corresponding album, That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, followed on October 28, 2008. It was followed by "God Love Her", also a number 1 hit, and "Lost You Anyway". American Ride, in 2009, produced another number 1 in its title track. It was followed by the Top 10 hit "Cryin' for Me (Wayman's Song)", a tribute to basketball player and jazz bassist Wayman Tisdale, a friend of Keith's who died in May 2009. The album's final single was "Every Dog Has Its Day".
Bullets in the Gun was released on October 5, 2010. This was Keith's first album not to produce a top 10 hit, with "Trailerhood" reaching number 19, followed by the title track and "Somewhere Else" both at number 12. Keith produced the album with session guitarist Kenny Greenberg and recording engineer Mills Logan.
On October 25, 2011, Clancy's Tavern was released. The album included the single "Made in America", written by Keith along with Bobby Pinson and Scott Reeves, which went to number 1. Following it was "Red Solo Cup", which had previously been made into a music video which became popular. Upon release as a single, "Red Solo Cup" became Keith's best-peaking crossover, reaching number 15 on the Hot 100. The album's final single was "Beers Ago" at number 6 in 2012. In December 2011, Keith was named "Artist of the Decade" by the American Country Awards.
Keith's sixteenth album, Hope on the Rocks, was released in late 2012. It produced only two singles, both of which are top 20 hits: "I Like Girls That Drink Beer" reached at number 17 and the title track peaked at number 18.
In mid-2013, he entered the charts with "Drinks After Work", the first single from his seventeenth album, also titled Drinks After Work. The album's second single is "Shut Up and Hold On".
In October 2014, Keith released "Drunk Americans", the lead single from his eighteenth studio album, 35 MPH Town. In April 2015, Keith released "35 MPH Town", the album's title track and second single. In 2015, Keith was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In September 2017, Keith released the compilation album, The Bus Songs. The album contains twelve songs: two new, five re-recorded, and five previously released songs. The new songs on the album are "Shitty Golfer" and "Wacky Tobaccy". In the U.S. The Bus Songs topped the Billboard Comedy Albums chart for 11 weeks. It also reached number 6 on the Top Country Albums chart and 38 on the Billboard 200 chart.
In 2021, Keith featured on the Brantley Gilbert single "The Worst Country Song of All Time" with Hardy.
Acting career
Television appearances
Keith performed on a series of television advertisements for Telecom USA for that company's discount long-distance telephone service 10-10-220. He also starred in Ford commercials, singing original songs such as "Ford Truck Man" and "Field Trip (Look Again)" while driving Ford trucks.
Keith made an appearance at the first Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (then NWA-TNA) weekly pay-per-view on June 19, 2002, where his playing of "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" was interrupted by Jeff Jarrett. He would later enter the Gauntlet for the Gold main event, suplexing Jarrett and eliminating him from the match. A short video of the suplex is seen in the clip package when he goes onstage. He appeared the next week, on June 26, and helped Scott Hall defeat Jarrett in singles action.
In 2009, Keith participated in the Comedy Central Roast of Larry the Cable Guy, which aired on March 14, 2009.
Keith received the "Colbert Bump" when he appeared on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report. He holds the distinction of being the only musical artist to have received a five star rating from Stephen Colbert on iTunes. Keith furthered this connection when he appeared in Colbert's 2008 Christmas special as a hunter. Keith also made an appearance as a musical guest on the October 27, 2011 episode of the Colbert Report.
On October 29, 2011, Keith appeared on Fox Channel's Huckabee with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. He played "Bullets in the Gun" and he joined with Huckabees house band to play a song at the end of the show.
In December 2018, Keith will appear as a guest on Darci Lynne: My Hometown Christmas.
Acting
In the Autumn of 2005, he filmed Broken Bridges, written by Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld, and directed by Steven Goldmann. This feature film from Paramount/CMT Films was released on September 8, 2006. In this contemporary story set in small-town Tennessee, Keith plays Bo Price, a washed-up country musician. The movie also stars Kelly Preston, Burt Reynolds, Tess Harper, and Lindsey Haun.
Keith wrote and starred in the 2008 movie Beer for My Horses, which is based on the 2003 hit song of the same name recorded by Keith and Willie Nelson.
He was also set to star in the film Bloodworth, but later dropped out.
Business ventures
In 2005, Keith opened Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as well as Syracuse, New York and Tulsa, Oklahoma, and now also has restaurants in Thackerville, Oklahoma; Auburn Hills, Michigan; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Mesa, Arizona; Peoria, Arizona; St. Louis Park, Minnesota; Foxborough, Massachusetts; Cincinnati, Ohio; Newport News, Virginia; and Denver, Colorado. Keith does not actually own the new restaurants; the new restaurant is the first in a franchise under Scottsdale, Arizona-based Capri Restaurant Group Enterprises LLC, which purchased the master license agreement to build more Toby Keith restaurants nationwide. Capri Restaurant Group is owned by Frank Capri, who opened the restaurant in Mesa in the shopping center known as Mesa Riverview and is planning on opening multiple locations across the country.
In 2009, Capri Restaurant Group announced that it will open another "I Love this Bar & Grill" location in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's South Side Works shopping and entertainment district.
In 2009, Keith also established a line of clothing, TK Steelman.
February 2010 marked the opening of the Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill in the Winstar World Casino, exit 1 on Interstate 35 in Oklahoma. Other locations opened in 2010 by the Capri Restaurant Group included those in Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills, Michigan and in the Shops at West End in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Both of which closed in 2015.
In 2011, Keith introduced a new drink named “Wild Shot". At first it was only available in Mexico, but now is sold and served in America. It is a featured drink in his restaurant chain, I Love this Bar and Grill.
Keith's music career and his various other business ventures have made him one of the wealthiest celebrities in the United States. The July 15. 2013, edition of Forbes magazine features Keith on the cover with the caption "Country Music's $500 million man". The article titled "Cowboy Capitalist" by Zack O'Malley Greenburg also contains information regarding Keith's earnings as a musician over the course of his career, such as earning $65 million in the past 12 months, which surpasses the earnings of even more well known musicians such as Jay-Z and Beyoncé and that he hasn't earned less than $48 million a year over the past 5 years. Keith has written at least one #1 country single over the past 20 years and the partnership between his own label, Show Dog-Universal, and Big Machine Records, which Keith also helped found in 2005.
Political beliefs
Since 2002, Keith has made numerous trips to the Middle East to bring entertainment and encouragement to U.S. men and women serving on or near the front lines. “My father was a soldier. He taught his kids to respect veterans,” said Keith. “It's that respect and the thank-you that we have a military that's in place and ready to defend our nation; our freedom.”
In 2004, Keith called himself "a conservative Democrat who is sometimes embarrassed for his party". He endorsed the re-election of President George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election and performed at a Dallas, Texas, rally on the night before the election. Keith also endorsed Democrat Dan Boren in his successful run in Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district and is good friends with former Democratic New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
In a January 2007 interview with Newsday, Keith was asked whether he supported the Iraq War. He responded with "Never did," and said he favors setting a time limit on the campaign. He also said, "I don't apologize for being patriotic... If there is something socially incorrect about being patriotic and supporting your troops, then they can kiss my ass on that, because I'm not going to budge on that at all. And that has nothing to do with politics. Politics is what's killing America."
In April 2008, Keith said that Barack Obama "looks like a great speaker and a great leader. And I think you can learn on your feet in there, so I don't hold people responsible for not having a whole bunch of political background in the House and Senate." His remarks continued, "I think [John] McCain is a great option too." In August 2008, he called Obama "the best Democratic candidate we've had since Bill Clinton".
In October 2008, Keith told CMT that he had left the Democratic Party and has re-registered as an independent. "My party that I've been affiliated with all these years doesn't stand for anything that I stand for anymore," he says. "They've lost any sensibility that they had, and they've allowed all the kooks in. So I'm going independent." He also told CMT that he would likely vote for the Republican ticket, partially because of his admiration for Sarah Palin.
In March 2009, Keith received the Johnny "Mike" Spann Memorial Semper Fidelis Award during a New York ceremony held by the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. The trophy is named for the CIA operative (and former Marine Corps captain) who was the first U.S. casualty in the war in Afghanistan. "Spending time with our soldiers around the world is something I've always regarded as a privilege and honor," he said. "I'm certainly happy to accept this award, but I won't forget for a second who's really doing the heavy lifting to keep this country safe. And that's why I'll keep going back and spending time with those good folks every chance I get."
In April 2009, he voiced support for Obama on Afghanistan and other decisions: "He hired one of my best friends who I think should run for president someday...Gen. James Jones as a national security adviser. He's sending troops into Afghanistan, help is on the way there. And I'm seeing some really good middle range stuff. I'm giving our commander in chief a chance before I start grabbing. So far, I'm cool with it."
Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue
On March 24, 2001, Keith's father, H.K. Covel, was killed in a car accident. That event and the September 11 attacks in 2001 prompted Keith to write the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", a song about his father's patriotism and faith in the United States. At first, Keith refused to record the song and sang it only live at his concerts for military personnel. The reaction to the song, the lyrics of which express clear nationalistic and militaristic sentiments, was strong in many quarters, even to the point that the Commandant of the Marine Corps James L. Jones told Keith it was his "duty as an American citizen" to record the song. As the lead single from the album Unleashed (2002), "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue" peaked at number one over the Fourth of July weekend.
ABC invited Keith to sing "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue" on a 2002 Fourth of July concert it was producing, then rescinded the invitation after host Peter Jennings heard the song and vetoed it. Jennings said the song "probably wouldn't set the right tone". Keith said his statement to the press of Jennings was, "Isn't he Canadian?", and "I bet Dan Rather wouldn't kick me off his show."
Feud with the Dixie Chicks
Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", in 2002, as well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London, in March 2003. The lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines, publicly stated that Keith's song was "ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant". Keith responded by pointing out that Maines did not write her music and he does, and by displaying a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. On May 21, 2003, Maines wore a T-shirt with the letters "FUTK" on the front at the Academy of Country Music Awards. While a spokesperson for the Dixie Chicks said that the acronym stood for "Friends United in Truth and Kindness," many, including host Vince Gill, took it to be a shot at Keith ("Fuck You Toby Keith"). In an October 2004 appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, Maines finally confessed that it was indeed a shot at Keith, and that she "thought that nobody would get it".
In August 2003, Keith's representation publicly declared he was done feuding with Maines "because he's realized there are far more important things to concentrate on". Keith was referring specifically to the terminal illness of a former bandmate's daughter, Allison Faith Webb. However, he continues to refuse to say Maines' name, and claims that the doctored photo was intended to express his opinion that Maines' criticism was an attempt to squelch Keith's free speech.
In April 2008, a commercial spot to promote Al Gore's "We Campaign", involving both Keith and the Dixie Chicks, was proposed. However, the idea was eventually abandoned due to scheduling conflicts.
Donald Trump
On January 19, 2017, Toby Keith performed at the pre-Inaugural "Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration" held at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. in celebration of the beginning of the presidency of Donald Trump. Keith thanked outgoing president Barack Obama for his service and thanked president-elect Trump at the start of the celebration. Keith then played several of his patriotic songs, including "American Soldier", "Made in America", "Beer For My Horses", and "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue".
On January 13, 2021, it was reported that Keith had been awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Trump. The award was given in a closed ceremony, alongside fellow country musician Ricky Skaggs.
Personal life
Keith has an honorary degree from Villanova University, which he attended from 1979 to 1980. He planned to be a petroleum engineer.
An avid University of Oklahoma sports fan, Keith is often seen at Oklahoma Sooners games and practices. He is also a fan of professional wrestling, being seen in the front row of numerous WWE shows that take place in Oklahoma, as well as performing "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)" live at the first ever TNA Wrestling show on June 19, 2002. He is also a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team. He is a Free Will Baptist.
On March 24, 1984, Keith married Tricia Lucus. He is the father of three children—two daughters, Shelley Covel Rowland (born 1980, adopted by Keith in 1984) and Krystal "Krystal Keith" LaDawn Covel Sandubrae (born September 30, 1985; signed a contract with Show Dog-Universal in 2013), and one son (Stelen Keith Covel, born 1997). He also has four grandchildren.
On March 24, 2001, Keith's father was killed in a car accident on Interstate 35. On December 25, 2007, the Covel family was awarded $2.8 million for the wrongful death of H.K. Covel. Elias and Pedro Rodriguez, operators of Rodriguez Transportes of Tulsa, and the Republic Western Insurance Co. were found liable as they failed to equip the charter bus with properly working air brakes.
Philanthropy
Keith supports Ally's House, a non-profit organization in Oklahoma designed to aid children with cancer. Of the charity, Keith said:
Keith filmed a PSA for Little Kids Rock, a national nonprofit that works to restore and revitalize music education in disadvantaged U.S. public schools.
As of 2015, Forbes estimated Keith's annual income at $53 million.
Tours
Brooks and Dunn's Neon Circus and Wild West Show 2001
Unleashed Tour 2002
with Jamie O'Neal, Emerson Drive and Rascal Flatts (Select Dates)
USO 2002–13 (11 tours, visiting 15 countries and 3 naval ships)
Shock'N Y'all Tour 2003
with Blake Shelton
Big Throwdown Tour 2004
with Lonestar and Gretchen Wilson
with Sawyer Brown and Terri Clark
Big Throwdown Tour II 2005
with Jo Dee Messina
White Trash With Money Tour 2006
Hookin' Up and Hangin' Out Tour 2007
with Miranda Lambert, Trace Adkins, Josh Gracin
Big Dog Daddy Tour 2007
Biggest and Baddest Tour 2008–09
with Montgomery Gentry and Trailer Choir
America's Toughest Tour 2009
with Trace Adkins Also Julianne Hough (Few Dates)
Toby Keith's American Ride Tour 2010
with Trace Adkins and James Otto
Locked and Loaded Tour 2011
with Eric Church and JT Hodges
Live in Overdrive Tour
with Brantley Gilbert
Hammer Down Tour 2013
with Kip Moore
Hammer Down Under Tour 2014
With Kellie Pickler and Eli Young Band
Shut Up and Hold On Tour 2014
With Colt Ford and Krystal Keith
Good Times and Pick Up Lines Tour 2015
With Eli Young Band and Chris Janson
Interstates and Tailgates Tour 2016
With Eric Paslay
Should've Been A Cowboy XXV 2018
Discography
Studio albums
Toby Keith (1993)
Boomtown (1994)
Blue Moon (1996)
Dream Walkin' (1997)
How Do You Like Me Now?! (1999)
Pull My Chain (2001)
Unleashed (2002)
Shock'n Y'all (2003)
Honkytonk University (2005)
White Trash with Money (2006)
Big Dog Daddy (2007)
That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy (2008)
American Ride (2009)
Bullets in the Gun (2010)
Clancy's Tavern (2011)
Hope on the Rocks (2012)
Drinks After Work (2013)
35 MPH Town (2015)
Peso in My Pocket (2021)
Compilation albums
Greatest Hits Volume One (1998)
20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection (2003)
Greatest Hits 2 (2004)
35 Biggest Hits (2008)
The Bus Songs (2017)
Christmas albums
Christmas to Christmas (1995)
A Classic Christmas (2007)
Number one singles
"Should've Been a Cowboy"
"Who's That Man"
"Me Too"
"How Do You Like Me Now?!"
"You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This"
"I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight"
"I Wanna Talk About Me"
"My List"
"Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)"
"Who's Your Daddy?"
"Beer for My Horses"
"I Love This Bar"
"American Soldier"
"Whiskey Girl"
"As Good as I Once Was"
"Love Me If You Can"
"She Never Cried in Front of Me"
"God Love Her"
"American Ride"
"Made in America"
Notable awards
Filmography
Broken Bridges (2006) also starring Kelly Preston and Lindsey Haun
CMT Music Awards (2003–2012) Co-Host With Pamela Anderson and Kristen Bell
Beer for My Horses (2008)
References
External links
Toby Keith official website
1961 births
Male actors from Oklahoma
American baritones
American country singer-songwriters
American country record producers
American people of English descent
Country musicians from Oklahoma
DreamWorks Records artists
Living people
Mercury Records artists
People from Clinton, Oklahoma
People from Moore, Oklahoma
Show Dog-Universal Music artists
Villanova University people
Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma
Baptists from Oklahoma
United States National Medal of Arts recipients
American male singer-songwriters | false | [
"\"If You Can Do Anything Else\" is a song written by Billy Livsey and Don Schlitz, and recorded by American country music artist George Strait. It was released in February 2001 as the third and final single from his self-titled album. The song reached number 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in July 2001. It also peaked at number 51 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.\n\nContent\nThe song is about man who is giving his woman the option to leave him. He gives her many different options for all the things she can do. At the end he gives her the option to stay with him if she really can’t find anything else to do. He says he will be alright if she leaves, but really it seems he wants her to stay.\n\nChart performance\n\"If You Can Do Anything Else\" debuted at number 60 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of March 3, 2001.\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n2001 singles\n2000 songs\nGeorge Strait songs\nSongs written by Billy Livsey\nSongs written by Don Schlitz\nSong recordings produced by Tony Brown (record producer)\nMCA Nashville Records singles",
"Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsijänkä is a bog region in Savukoski, Lapland in Finland. Its name is 35 letters long and is the longest place name in Finland, and also the third longest, if names with spaces or hyphens are included, in Europe. It has also been the longest official place name in the European Union since 31 January 2020, when Brexit was completed, as the record was previously held by Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, a village in Wales, United Kingdom.\n\nOverview\nA pub in Salla was named Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsi-baari after this bog region. According to an anecdote, the owner of the pub tried two different names for it, but both had already been taken. Frustrated, he registered the pub under a name he knew no one else would be using. The pub also had the longest name of a registered commercial establishment in Finland. The bar was in practice known as Äteritsi-baari. The pub was closed in April 2006.\n\nThe etymology is not known, although the name has been confirmed as genuine. Other than jänkä \"bog\", lauta \"board\" and puoli \"half\", it does not mean anything in Finnish, and was probably never intended to be anything else than alliterative gibberish.\n\nReferences \n\nSavukoski\nBogs of Finland\nLandforms of Lapland (Finland)"
]
|
[
"Toby Keith",
"Feud with the Dixie Chicks",
"What was the feud regarding?",
"Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song \"Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue",
"Was the feud about anything else?",
"well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London."
]
| C_ea9818d4cb5746a4872e18709f939498_0 | What did the group say about Toby ? | 3 | What did the Dixie Chicks say about Toby ? | Toby Keith | Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", in 2003 as well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London. The lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines, publicly stated that Keith's song was "ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant". Keith responded by pointing out that Maines did not write her music and he does, and by displaying a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. On May 21, 2003, Maines wore a T-shirt with the letters "FUTK" on the front at the Academy of Country Music Awards. While a spokesperson for the Dixie Chicks said that the acronym stood for "Friends United in Truth and Kindness," many, including host Vince Gill, took it to be a shot at Keith ("Fuck You Toby Keith"). In an October 2004 appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, Maines finally confessed that it was indeed a shot at Keith, and that she "thought that nobody would get it". In August 2003, Keith's representation publicly declared he was done feuding with Maines "because he's realized there are far more important things to concentrate on". Keith was referring specifically to the terminal illness of a former bandmate's daughter, Allison Faith Webb. However, he continues to refuse to say Maines' name, and claims that the doctored photo was intended to express his opinion that Maines' criticism was an attempt to squelch Keith's free speech. In April 2008, a commercial spot to promote Al Gore's "We Campaign", involving both Keith and the Dixie Chicks, was proposed. However, the idea was eventually abandoned due to scheduling conflicts. CANNOTANSWER | stated that Keith's song was "ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant". | Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. Keith released his first four studio albums—1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin', plus a Greatest Hits package—for various divisions of Mercury Records before leaving Mercury in 1998. These albums all earned Gold or higher certification, and produced several Top Ten singles, including his debut "Should've Been a Cowboy", which topped the country charts and was the most-played country song of the 1990s. The song has received three million spins since its release, according to Broadcast Music Incorporated.
Signed to DreamWorks Records Nashville in 1998, Keith released his breakthrough single "How Do You Like Me Now?!" in late 1999. This song, the title track to his 1999 album of the same name, was the number one country song of 2000, and one of several chart-toppers during his tenure on DreamWorks Nashville. His next three albums, Pull My Chain, Unleashed, and Shock'n Y'all, produced three more number ones each, and all of the albums were certified 4x Platinum. A second Greatest Hits package followed in 2004, and after that, he released Honkytonk University.
When DreamWorks closed in 2005, Keith founded the label Show Dog Nashville, which merged with Universal South Records to become Show Dog-Universal Music in December 2009. He has released ten studio albums through Show Dog/Show Dog-Universal: 2006's White Trash with Money, 2007's Big Dog Daddy, 2008's That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, 2009's American Ride, 2010's Bullets in the Gun, 2011's Clancy's Tavern, 2012's Hope on the Rocks, 2013's Drinks After Work, 2015's 35 MPH Town, 2017's The Bus Songs, and 2021’s Peso In My Pocket, as well as the compilation 35 Biggest Hits in 2008. Keith also made his acting debut in 2006, starring in the film Broken Bridges, and co-starred with comedian Rodney Carrington in the 2008 film Beer for My Horses, inspired by his song of the same name.
Keith has released 19 studio albums, 2 Christmas albums, and 5 compilation albums, totaling worldwide sales of over 40 million albums. He has charted 61 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including 20 number one hits and 21 additional top 10 hits. His longest-lasting number one hits are "Beer for My Horses" (a 2003 duet with Willie Nelson) and "As Good as I Once Was" (2005), at six weeks each. Keith was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Donald Trump in a closed ceremony alongside Ricky Skaggs on January 13, 2021.
Early life
Keith was born in Clinton, Oklahoma, to Carolyn Joan (née Ross) and Hubert K. Covel, Jr. and is of English ancestry. He has a sister and a brother. The family lived in Fort Smith, Arkansas, for a few years when Keith was in grade school, but moved to Moore, Oklahoma (a suburb of Oklahoma City), when he was still young. Before the family moved to Moore, he visited his grandmother in Fort Smith during the summers. His grandmother owned Billie Garner's Supper Club in Fort Smith, where Keith became interested in the musicians who came there to play. He did odd jobs around the supper club and started getting up on the bandstand to play with the band. He got his first guitar at the age of eight. After the family moved to Moore, Keith attended Highland West Junior High and Moore High School, where he played defensive end on the football team.
Keith graduated from Moore High School and worked as a derrick hand in the oil fields. He worked his way up to become an operation manager. When Keith was 20, he and his friends Scott Webb, Keith Cory, David "Yogi" Vowell and Danny Smith, with a few others, formed the Easy Money Band, which played at local bars as he continued to work in the oil industry. At times, he would have to leave in the middle of a concert if he was paged to work in the oil field.
In 1982, the oil industry in Oklahoma began a rapid decline and Keith soon found himself unemployed. He fell back on his football training and played defensive end with the semi-pro Oklahoma City Drillers while continuing to perform with his band. (The Drillers were an unofficial farm club of the United States Football League's Oklahoma Outlaws; Keith tried out for the Outlaws but did not make the team.) He then returned to focus once again on music. His family and friends were doubtful he would succeed, but, in 1984, Easy Money (various other band members included Mike Barnes, T.A. Brauer, and David Saylors) began playing the honky-tonk circuit in Oklahoma and Texas.
Musical career
In the early 1990s, Keith went to Nashville, Tennessee, where he hung out and busked on Music Row and at a place called Houndogs. He distributed copies of a demo tape the band had made to the many record companies in the city. There was no interest by any of the record labels, and Keith returned home feeling depressed. He had promised himself and God to have a recording contract by the time he was 30 years old or give up on music as a career. A flight attendant and fan of his gave a copy of Keith's demo tape to Harold Shedd, a Mercury Records executive, while he was traveling on a flight she was working. Shedd enjoyed what he heard, went to see Keith perform live and then signed him to a recording contract with Mercury.
1993–1995: Toby Keith and Boomtown
Keith's debut single, "Should've Been a Cowboy", went to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 1993, and it reached number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song led off his self-titled debut album. By the end of the decade, "Should've Been a Cowboy" received more than three million spins at radio, thus making it the most-played country song of the 1990s. Certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of one million copies, the album produced three more Top 5 hits on the country charts with "He Ain't Worth Missing" (at #5), "A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action" (originally the B-side of "Should've Been a Cowboy") and "Wish I Didn't Know Now" (both at #2). Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic wrote of the album, "It is given a production that's a bit too big, clean, glossy and cavernous for Keith's good—it fits the outsized sound of early-'90s radio, but not his outsized talent—but beneath that sheen the songs are very strong." He also thought that it showed the signs of the style that Keith would develop on subsequent albums. The album's success led to Keith touring with then-labelmates Shania Twain and John Brannen. Keith and Twain also appeared in Tracy Lawrence's music video for "My Second Home" in 1993.
Keith then signed with Polydor Records Nashville and released his second album, Boomtown, in September 1994. Also certified platinum, this album was led off by the number one single "Who's That Man". After it, "Upstairs Downtown" and "You Ain't Much Fun" both made the Top 10, while "Big Ol' Truck" peaked at number 15. By late-1995, he released his first Christmas album, Christmas to Christmas, via Mercury. Composed entirely of original songs, the album produced one chart entry in "Santa I'm Right Here", which reached as high as number 50 based on Christmas airplay.
1996–1998: Blue Moon, Dream Walkin and Greatest Hits Volume One
Keith then signed with the short-lived Nashville division of A&M Records to release his third album Blue Moon in April 1996. That album received a platinum certification and produced three singles. Its first single, "Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine on You", which Keith wrote in 1987, peaked at number 2. Following it were "A Woman's Touch" at number 6, and "Me Too", which became his third number one hit in March 1997. Keith also appeared on The Beach Boys' now out-of-print 1996 album Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 performing a cover of their 1963 hit "Be True to Your School" with the Beach Boys themselves providing the harmonies and backing vocals.
Following a corporate merger, Keith returned to Mercury in 1997. His fourth studio album, Dream Walkin', was also his first produced by James Stroud, who would also serve as Keith's co-producer until 2005. It produced two consecutive number 2 hits with "We Were in Love" and a cover of Sting's 1996 single "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying". Sting also sang duet vocals and played bass guitar on it, and the two also performed the song at the 1997 Country Music Association awards. After this song, the album's title track reached number 5, while "Double Wide Paradise" peaked at number 40.
Keith's last Mercury release was Greatest Hits Volume One in October 1998. The album included twelve of his prior singles and two new songs: the country rap "Getcha Some" and "If a Man Answers". Both were released as singles, with "Getcha Some" reaching the Top 20, but "If a Man Answers" became his first single to miss the Top 40. According to Keith, these two songs were originally to be put on a studio album, but Mercury executives, dissatisfied with the album that Keith had made, chose to put those two songs on a greatest hits package, and asked him to "go work on another album". After he recorded two more songs which the label also rejected, he asked to terminate his contract with the label. After exiting Mercury, Keith co-wrote Shane Minor's debut single "Slave to the Habit" with Chuck Cannon and Kostas.
1999–2002: How Do You Like Me Now?! and Pull My Chain
In 1999, Keith moved to DreamWorks Records' Nashville division, of which Stroud served as president. His first release for the label was "When Love Fades", which also failed to make Top 40. Upon seeing the single's poor performance, Keith requested that it be withdrawn and replaced with "How Do You Like Me Now?!", a song that he wrote with Chuck Cannon, and which had previously been turned down by Mercury. It also served as the title track to his first DreamWorks album, How Do You Like Me Now?! The song spent five weeks at number 1 on the country charts, and became his first top 40 pop hit, with a number 31 peak on the Hot 100. It was also the top country song of 2000 according to the Billboard Year-End chart. The album, which was certified platinum, produced a Top 5 hit in "Country Comes to Town" and another number 1 in "You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This". It was also his first album to feature songs co-written by Scotty Emerick, who would be a frequent collaborator of Keith's for the next several albums. Steve Huey wrote that this album "had a rough, brash attitude that helped give Keith a stronger identity as a performer." In 2001, Keith won the Academy of Country Music's Top Male Vocalist and Album of the Year awards.
Following this album was Pull My Chain, released in August 2001. The album's three singles—"I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight", "I Wanna Talk About Me", and "My List"—all went to number 1 on the country charts, with the latter two both holding that position for five weeks. "I Wanna Talk About Me", written by Bobby Braddock, also displayed a country rap influence with its spoken-word lyrics. The Country Music Association named "My List" as Single of the Year in 2002. Of Pull My Chain, Erlewine wrote that "this is a bigger, better record than its predecessor, possessing a richer musicality and a more confident sense of humor".
2002–2004: Unleashed and Shock'n Y'all
In 2002, he released the Unleashed album which included four singles. First was "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)", which Keith wrote in 20 minutes as a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. The song references Keith's father, a United States Army veteran who died that March in a car accident. Both this song and "Who's Your Daddy?" were number 1 hits, with "Rock You Baby" reaching number 13. The last single was "Beer for My Horses", a duet with Willie Nelson which six weeks at the top of the country charts. At the time, it was also Keith's highest entry on the Hot 100, at number 22. In July 2003, Keith made a guest appearance on Scotty Emerick's debut single "I Can't Take You Anywhere", which was previously recorded by Keith on Pull My Chain. Emerick's version of the song was his only top 40 country hit, at number 27.
Shock'n Y'all, his eighth studio album, was released in November 2003. The album's title is a pun on the military term "shock and awe". It became his second album from which all singles went to number 1: "I Love This Bar", "American Soldier", and "Whiskey Girl". Also included on the disc were "The Taliban Song" and "Weed with Willie", two live songs recorded with Emerick. The album was followed in late 2004 by Greatest Hits 2, which included three new songs: "Stays in Mexico", "Go with Her", and a cover of Inez and Charlie Foxx's "Mockingbird", recorded as a duet with his daughter, Krystal Keith. "Stays in Mexico" was a number 3 hit on the country charts, while "Mockingbird" peaked at number 27.
Keith's final DreamWorks album was Honkytonk University in early 2005. Lead-off single "Honkytonk U" peaked at number 8, followed by "As Good as I Once Was", which spent six weeks at number 1, and "Big Blue Note" at number 5. After the release of the latter, DreamWorks Records ceased operations.
2005–present: After DreamWorks
On August 31, 2005, Keith founded a new label, Show Dog Nashville. Its first release was his 2006 album White Trash with Money, followed by the soundtrack to Broken Bridges. He also abandoned Stroud as co-producer in favor of Cannon's wife, Lari White. The album included three singles: "Get Drunk and Be Somebody", "A Little Too Late", and "Crash Here Tonight". Big Dog Daddy followed in 2007, with Keith serving as sole producer. Its singles were "High Maintenance Woman", "Love Me If You Can", and "Get My Drink On". "Love Me If You Can" became Keith's first number 1 hit since "As Good as I Once Was" more than two years prior. A two-disc Christmas album, A Classic Christmas, followed later in 2007. In 2008, Keith completed his Biggest and Baddest Tour. On May 6, 2008, he released 35 Biggest Hits, a two-disc compilation featuring most of his singles to date, as well as the new song "She's a Hottie", which peaked at number 13.
Keith released "She Never Cried in Front of Me", which went to number 1 in 2008. Its corresponding album, That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, followed on October 28, 2008. It was followed by "God Love Her", also a number 1 hit, and "Lost You Anyway". American Ride, in 2009, produced another number 1 in its title track. It was followed by the Top 10 hit "Cryin' for Me (Wayman's Song)", a tribute to basketball player and jazz bassist Wayman Tisdale, a friend of Keith's who died in May 2009. The album's final single was "Every Dog Has Its Day".
Bullets in the Gun was released on October 5, 2010. This was Keith's first album not to produce a top 10 hit, with "Trailerhood" reaching number 19, followed by the title track and "Somewhere Else" both at number 12. Keith produced the album with session guitarist Kenny Greenberg and recording engineer Mills Logan.
On October 25, 2011, Clancy's Tavern was released. The album included the single "Made in America", written by Keith along with Bobby Pinson and Scott Reeves, which went to number 1. Following it was "Red Solo Cup", which had previously been made into a music video which became popular. Upon release as a single, "Red Solo Cup" became Keith's best-peaking crossover, reaching number 15 on the Hot 100. The album's final single was "Beers Ago" at number 6 in 2012. In December 2011, Keith was named "Artist of the Decade" by the American Country Awards.
Keith's sixteenth album, Hope on the Rocks, was released in late 2012. It produced only two singles, both of which are top 20 hits: "I Like Girls That Drink Beer" reached at number 17 and the title track peaked at number 18.
In mid-2013, he entered the charts with "Drinks After Work", the first single from his seventeenth album, also titled Drinks After Work. The album's second single is "Shut Up and Hold On".
In October 2014, Keith released "Drunk Americans", the lead single from his eighteenth studio album, 35 MPH Town. In April 2015, Keith released "35 MPH Town", the album's title track and second single. In 2015, Keith was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In September 2017, Keith released the compilation album, The Bus Songs. The album contains twelve songs: two new, five re-recorded, and five previously released songs. The new songs on the album are "Shitty Golfer" and "Wacky Tobaccy". In the U.S. The Bus Songs topped the Billboard Comedy Albums chart for 11 weeks. It also reached number 6 on the Top Country Albums chart and 38 on the Billboard 200 chart.
In 2021, Keith featured on the Brantley Gilbert single "The Worst Country Song of All Time" with Hardy.
Acting career
Television appearances
Keith performed on a series of television advertisements for Telecom USA for that company's discount long-distance telephone service 10-10-220. He also starred in Ford commercials, singing original songs such as "Ford Truck Man" and "Field Trip (Look Again)" while driving Ford trucks.
Keith made an appearance at the first Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (then NWA-TNA) weekly pay-per-view on June 19, 2002, where his playing of "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" was interrupted by Jeff Jarrett. He would later enter the Gauntlet for the Gold main event, suplexing Jarrett and eliminating him from the match. A short video of the suplex is seen in the clip package when he goes onstage. He appeared the next week, on June 26, and helped Scott Hall defeat Jarrett in singles action.
In 2009, Keith participated in the Comedy Central Roast of Larry the Cable Guy, which aired on March 14, 2009.
Keith received the "Colbert Bump" when he appeared on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report. He holds the distinction of being the only musical artist to have received a five star rating from Stephen Colbert on iTunes. Keith furthered this connection when he appeared in Colbert's 2008 Christmas special as a hunter. Keith also made an appearance as a musical guest on the October 27, 2011 episode of the Colbert Report.
On October 29, 2011, Keith appeared on Fox Channel's Huckabee with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. He played "Bullets in the Gun" and he joined with Huckabees house band to play a song at the end of the show.
In December 2018, Keith will appear as a guest on Darci Lynne: My Hometown Christmas.
Acting
In the Autumn of 2005, he filmed Broken Bridges, written by Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld, and directed by Steven Goldmann. This feature film from Paramount/CMT Films was released on September 8, 2006. In this contemporary story set in small-town Tennessee, Keith plays Bo Price, a washed-up country musician. The movie also stars Kelly Preston, Burt Reynolds, Tess Harper, and Lindsey Haun.
Keith wrote and starred in the 2008 movie Beer for My Horses, which is based on the 2003 hit song of the same name recorded by Keith and Willie Nelson.
He was also set to star in the film Bloodworth, but later dropped out.
Business ventures
In 2005, Keith opened Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as well as Syracuse, New York and Tulsa, Oklahoma, and now also has restaurants in Thackerville, Oklahoma; Auburn Hills, Michigan; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Mesa, Arizona; Peoria, Arizona; St. Louis Park, Minnesota; Foxborough, Massachusetts; Cincinnati, Ohio; Newport News, Virginia; and Denver, Colorado. Keith does not actually own the new restaurants; the new restaurant is the first in a franchise under Scottsdale, Arizona-based Capri Restaurant Group Enterprises LLC, which purchased the master license agreement to build more Toby Keith restaurants nationwide. Capri Restaurant Group is owned by Frank Capri, who opened the restaurant in Mesa in the shopping center known as Mesa Riverview and is planning on opening multiple locations across the country.
In 2009, Capri Restaurant Group announced that it will open another "I Love this Bar & Grill" location in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's South Side Works shopping and entertainment district.
In 2009, Keith also established a line of clothing, TK Steelman.
February 2010 marked the opening of the Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill in the Winstar World Casino, exit 1 on Interstate 35 in Oklahoma. Other locations opened in 2010 by the Capri Restaurant Group included those in Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills, Michigan and in the Shops at West End in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Both of which closed in 2015.
In 2011, Keith introduced a new drink named “Wild Shot". At first it was only available in Mexico, but now is sold and served in America. It is a featured drink in his restaurant chain, I Love this Bar and Grill.
Keith's music career and his various other business ventures have made him one of the wealthiest celebrities in the United States. The July 15. 2013, edition of Forbes magazine features Keith on the cover with the caption "Country Music's $500 million man". The article titled "Cowboy Capitalist" by Zack O'Malley Greenburg also contains information regarding Keith's earnings as a musician over the course of his career, such as earning $65 million in the past 12 months, which surpasses the earnings of even more well known musicians such as Jay-Z and Beyoncé and that he hasn't earned less than $48 million a year over the past 5 years. Keith has written at least one #1 country single over the past 20 years and the partnership between his own label, Show Dog-Universal, and Big Machine Records, which Keith also helped found in 2005.
Political beliefs
Since 2002, Keith has made numerous trips to the Middle East to bring entertainment and encouragement to U.S. men and women serving on or near the front lines. “My father was a soldier. He taught his kids to respect veterans,” said Keith. “It's that respect and the thank-you that we have a military that's in place and ready to defend our nation; our freedom.”
In 2004, Keith called himself "a conservative Democrat who is sometimes embarrassed for his party". He endorsed the re-election of President George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election and performed at a Dallas, Texas, rally on the night before the election. Keith also endorsed Democrat Dan Boren in his successful run in Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district and is good friends with former Democratic New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
In a January 2007 interview with Newsday, Keith was asked whether he supported the Iraq War. He responded with "Never did," and said he favors setting a time limit on the campaign. He also said, "I don't apologize for being patriotic... If there is something socially incorrect about being patriotic and supporting your troops, then they can kiss my ass on that, because I'm not going to budge on that at all. And that has nothing to do with politics. Politics is what's killing America."
In April 2008, Keith said that Barack Obama "looks like a great speaker and a great leader. And I think you can learn on your feet in there, so I don't hold people responsible for not having a whole bunch of political background in the House and Senate." His remarks continued, "I think [John] McCain is a great option too." In August 2008, he called Obama "the best Democratic candidate we've had since Bill Clinton".
In October 2008, Keith told CMT that he had left the Democratic Party and has re-registered as an independent. "My party that I've been affiliated with all these years doesn't stand for anything that I stand for anymore," he says. "They've lost any sensibility that they had, and they've allowed all the kooks in. So I'm going independent." He also told CMT that he would likely vote for the Republican ticket, partially because of his admiration for Sarah Palin.
In March 2009, Keith received the Johnny "Mike" Spann Memorial Semper Fidelis Award during a New York ceremony held by the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. The trophy is named for the CIA operative (and former Marine Corps captain) who was the first U.S. casualty in the war in Afghanistan. "Spending time with our soldiers around the world is something I've always regarded as a privilege and honor," he said. "I'm certainly happy to accept this award, but I won't forget for a second who's really doing the heavy lifting to keep this country safe. And that's why I'll keep going back and spending time with those good folks every chance I get."
In April 2009, he voiced support for Obama on Afghanistan and other decisions: "He hired one of my best friends who I think should run for president someday...Gen. James Jones as a national security adviser. He's sending troops into Afghanistan, help is on the way there. And I'm seeing some really good middle range stuff. I'm giving our commander in chief a chance before I start grabbing. So far, I'm cool with it."
Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue
On March 24, 2001, Keith's father, H.K. Covel, was killed in a car accident. That event and the September 11 attacks in 2001 prompted Keith to write the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", a song about his father's patriotism and faith in the United States. At first, Keith refused to record the song and sang it only live at his concerts for military personnel. The reaction to the song, the lyrics of which express clear nationalistic and militaristic sentiments, was strong in many quarters, even to the point that the Commandant of the Marine Corps James L. Jones told Keith it was his "duty as an American citizen" to record the song. As the lead single from the album Unleashed (2002), "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue" peaked at number one over the Fourth of July weekend.
ABC invited Keith to sing "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue" on a 2002 Fourth of July concert it was producing, then rescinded the invitation after host Peter Jennings heard the song and vetoed it. Jennings said the song "probably wouldn't set the right tone". Keith said his statement to the press of Jennings was, "Isn't he Canadian?", and "I bet Dan Rather wouldn't kick me off his show."
Feud with the Dixie Chicks
Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", in 2002, as well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London, in March 2003. The lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines, publicly stated that Keith's song was "ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant". Keith responded by pointing out that Maines did not write her music and he does, and by displaying a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. On May 21, 2003, Maines wore a T-shirt with the letters "FUTK" on the front at the Academy of Country Music Awards. While a spokesperson for the Dixie Chicks said that the acronym stood for "Friends United in Truth and Kindness," many, including host Vince Gill, took it to be a shot at Keith ("Fuck You Toby Keith"). In an October 2004 appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, Maines finally confessed that it was indeed a shot at Keith, and that she "thought that nobody would get it".
In August 2003, Keith's representation publicly declared he was done feuding with Maines "because he's realized there are far more important things to concentrate on". Keith was referring specifically to the terminal illness of a former bandmate's daughter, Allison Faith Webb. However, he continues to refuse to say Maines' name, and claims that the doctored photo was intended to express his opinion that Maines' criticism was an attempt to squelch Keith's free speech.
In April 2008, a commercial spot to promote Al Gore's "We Campaign", involving both Keith and the Dixie Chicks, was proposed. However, the idea was eventually abandoned due to scheduling conflicts.
Donald Trump
On January 19, 2017, Toby Keith performed at the pre-Inaugural "Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration" held at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. in celebration of the beginning of the presidency of Donald Trump. Keith thanked outgoing president Barack Obama for his service and thanked president-elect Trump at the start of the celebration. Keith then played several of his patriotic songs, including "American Soldier", "Made in America", "Beer For My Horses", and "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue".
On January 13, 2021, it was reported that Keith had been awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Trump. The award was given in a closed ceremony, alongside fellow country musician Ricky Skaggs.
Personal life
Keith has an honorary degree from Villanova University, which he attended from 1979 to 1980. He planned to be a petroleum engineer.
An avid University of Oklahoma sports fan, Keith is often seen at Oklahoma Sooners games and practices. He is also a fan of professional wrestling, being seen in the front row of numerous WWE shows that take place in Oklahoma, as well as performing "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)" live at the first ever TNA Wrestling show on June 19, 2002. He is also a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team. He is a Free Will Baptist.
On March 24, 1984, Keith married Tricia Lucus. He is the father of three children—two daughters, Shelley Covel Rowland (born 1980, adopted by Keith in 1984) and Krystal "Krystal Keith" LaDawn Covel Sandubrae (born September 30, 1985; signed a contract with Show Dog-Universal in 2013), and one son (Stelen Keith Covel, born 1997). He also has four grandchildren.
On March 24, 2001, Keith's father was killed in a car accident on Interstate 35. On December 25, 2007, the Covel family was awarded $2.8 million for the wrongful death of H.K. Covel. Elias and Pedro Rodriguez, operators of Rodriguez Transportes of Tulsa, and the Republic Western Insurance Co. were found liable as they failed to equip the charter bus with properly working air brakes.
Philanthropy
Keith supports Ally's House, a non-profit organization in Oklahoma designed to aid children with cancer. Of the charity, Keith said:
Keith filmed a PSA for Little Kids Rock, a national nonprofit that works to restore and revitalize music education in disadvantaged U.S. public schools.
As of 2015, Forbes estimated Keith's annual income at $53 million.
Tours
Brooks and Dunn's Neon Circus and Wild West Show 2001
Unleashed Tour 2002
with Jamie O'Neal, Emerson Drive and Rascal Flatts (Select Dates)
USO 2002–13 (11 tours, visiting 15 countries and 3 naval ships)
Shock'N Y'all Tour 2003
with Blake Shelton
Big Throwdown Tour 2004
with Lonestar and Gretchen Wilson
with Sawyer Brown and Terri Clark
Big Throwdown Tour II 2005
with Jo Dee Messina
White Trash With Money Tour 2006
Hookin' Up and Hangin' Out Tour 2007
with Miranda Lambert, Trace Adkins, Josh Gracin
Big Dog Daddy Tour 2007
Biggest and Baddest Tour 2008–09
with Montgomery Gentry and Trailer Choir
America's Toughest Tour 2009
with Trace Adkins Also Julianne Hough (Few Dates)
Toby Keith's American Ride Tour 2010
with Trace Adkins and James Otto
Locked and Loaded Tour 2011
with Eric Church and JT Hodges
Live in Overdrive Tour
with Brantley Gilbert
Hammer Down Tour 2013
with Kip Moore
Hammer Down Under Tour 2014
With Kellie Pickler and Eli Young Band
Shut Up and Hold On Tour 2014
With Colt Ford and Krystal Keith
Good Times and Pick Up Lines Tour 2015
With Eli Young Band and Chris Janson
Interstates and Tailgates Tour 2016
With Eric Paslay
Should've Been A Cowboy XXV 2018
Discography
Studio albums
Toby Keith (1993)
Boomtown (1994)
Blue Moon (1996)
Dream Walkin' (1997)
How Do You Like Me Now?! (1999)
Pull My Chain (2001)
Unleashed (2002)
Shock'n Y'all (2003)
Honkytonk University (2005)
White Trash with Money (2006)
Big Dog Daddy (2007)
That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy (2008)
American Ride (2009)
Bullets in the Gun (2010)
Clancy's Tavern (2011)
Hope on the Rocks (2012)
Drinks After Work (2013)
35 MPH Town (2015)
Peso in My Pocket (2021)
Compilation albums
Greatest Hits Volume One (1998)
20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection (2003)
Greatest Hits 2 (2004)
35 Biggest Hits (2008)
The Bus Songs (2017)
Christmas albums
Christmas to Christmas (1995)
A Classic Christmas (2007)
Number one singles
"Should've Been a Cowboy"
"Who's That Man"
"Me Too"
"How Do You Like Me Now?!"
"You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This"
"I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight"
"I Wanna Talk About Me"
"My List"
"Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)"
"Who's Your Daddy?"
"Beer for My Horses"
"I Love This Bar"
"American Soldier"
"Whiskey Girl"
"As Good as I Once Was"
"Love Me If You Can"
"She Never Cried in Front of Me"
"God Love Her"
"American Ride"
"Made in America"
Notable awards
Filmography
Broken Bridges (2006) also starring Kelly Preston and Lindsey Haun
CMT Music Awards (2003–2012) Co-Host With Pamela Anderson and Kristen Bell
Beer for My Horses (2008)
References
External links
Toby Keith official website
1961 births
Male actors from Oklahoma
American baritones
American country singer-songwriters
American country record producers
American people of English descent
Country musicians from Oklahoma
DreamWorks Records artists
Living people
Mercury Records artists
People from Clinton, Oklahoma
People from Moore, Oklahoma
Show Dog-Universal Music artists
Villanova University people
Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma
Baptists from Oklahoma
United States National Medal of Arts recipients
American male singer-songwriters | true | [
"Toby Terrier was a toy dog manufactured in the early 1990s by Tiger Electronics. The toy was designed to make various comments and remarks when placed in front of a television playing one of the select PLUS videos from the Toby Terrier and His Video Pals video series. In order for this function to work a specific cartridge that matched up with the video being played would have to be inserted into the toy. His collar contained a sensor that tracked what was going on in the movie. It was activated by pressing a button located below the sensor. The Toby Terrier video series was a comical and educational video series for kids, whose characters consisted of dog puppets. The video series itself was known as Toby Terrier and His Video Pals.\n\nHow It Worked\nToby would wag his tail, bark, nod his head and say phrases such as, \"Well, scratch my fleas!\" as one watched the video when he was turned on. This was accomplished using VEIL Technology. The video fields would send out a data stream that were received through Toby's neck collar. The video also never faded to a pitch black but rather a dark-gray to ensure that Toby would not turn off during a transition. There were also small cartridges that contained different phrases for Toby to say during certain videos (known as \"PLUS\" videos in the series).\n\nVideo series\n\nToby Terrier and His Video Pals was a video series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft that went along with the electronic toy.\n\nTypes of Videos\n Normal\n These videos did not need a cartridge and the titles are as follows:\n Singin' And Dancin' And Waggin' Our Tails!\n Safety First!\n Time For A Party!\n Adventures PLUS\n These videos required the user to insert an included cartridge into Toby's underside. This allowed Toby to make various exclamations while watching the video.\n Is There A Dog-Tor In The House?\n Let's Go To The Zoo!\n Walking On The Sunny Side!\n Toby's Wonder Bone \n These videos required the Wonder Bone in order for Toby to function correctly.\n And The Winner Is...\n Where In The World Is Charlie Chihuahua?\n School Daze\n\nImages\n\nReferences\n\nElectronic toys\n1990s toys\nFilms featuring puppetry\nSid and Marty Krofft",
"Toby arrives is the debut studio album by American instrumental band Koch Marshall Trio. Released on February 23, 2018, the album has received praise from many reviewers.\n\nBackground\nThe \"Toby Arrives\" album title is in reference to the Hammond organ player Toby Lee Marshall. Dylan Koch insisted that Greg Koch play with Marshall. Greg Koch says his son Dylan Koch insisted he meet Toby Lee Marshall. The three musicians got together to play at a local studio. From that first day the first song on the Toby Arrives cd was written. Greg Koch said.\n\nThe three musicians first met at a studio that had a B3 organ. During their very first time performing together, Dylan Koch, Greg Koch and Toby Lee Marshall wrote the title track to Toby Arrives.\n\nRelease and reception\n \nThe album Toby Arrives is entirely instrumental. Greg Koch and Toby Lee Marshall have each spent the majority of their careers playing instrumental songs.\n\nThe Koch Marshall Trio's debut album Toby Arrives contains songs that, \"morph into an amazing new relationship with organ influenced Blues Rock.\"\n\nThe first studio album by the Koch Marshall Trio has received high praise. Pendragon's review of the album borders on hyperbole: \"‘Toby Arrives’ is the sort of album you could stack alongside a Thelonious Monk record, a Jeff Beck record or a Mike Landau record. If you went for one of the other three and got this by mistake your day wouldn't be ruined.\"\n\nScope Magazine's R.M. Engleman had this to say about the Toby Arrives album:\n\"...the first few songs start off a bit slow, but then the talent kicks in. The three piece organ driven blues release lets you hear a lot of classic and untraditional riffs, both on the keys and guitar. Greg’s playing is a little jazzy, a little funky, and the riffs are untraditionally cool. Believe me, he doesn’t just play scale riffs. A lot of little nuances here with both the B3 and guitar.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel\n\nKoch Marshall Trio\nGreg Koch – Lead guitar, Rhythm guitar, Vocals\nToby Lee Marshall – Hammond Organ\nDylan Koch – Drums\n\nReferences\n\n2018 debut albums\nKoch Marshall Trio albums\nMascot Label Group albums"
]
|
[
"Toby Keith",
"Feud with the Dixie Chicks",
"What was the feud regarding?",
"Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song \"Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue",
"Was the feud about anything else?",
"well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London.",
"What did the group say about Toby ?",
"stated that Keith's song was \"ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant\"."
]
| C_ea9818d4cb5746a4872e18709f939498_0 | How did Toby respond? | 4 | How did Toby respond to Dixie Chicks' comments about Keith? | Toby Keith | Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", in 2003 as well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London. The lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines, publicly stated that Keith's song was "ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant". Keith responded by pointing out that Maines did not write her music and he does, and by displaying a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. On May 21, 2003, Maines wore a T-shirt with the letters "FUTK" on the front at the Academy of Country Music Awards. While a spokesperson for the Dixie Chicks said that the acronym stood for "Friends United in Truth and Kindness," many, including host Vince Gill, took it to be a shot at Keith ("Fuck You Toby Keith"). In an October 2004 appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, Maines finally confessed that it was indeed a shot at Keith, and that she "thought that nobody would get it". In August 2003, Keith's representation publicly declared he was done feuding with Maines "because he's realized there are far more important things to concentrate on". Keith was referring specifically to the terminal illness of a former bandmate's daughter, Allison Faith Webb. However, he continues to refuse to say Maines' name, and claims that the doctored photo was intended to express his opinion that Maines' criticism was an attempt to squelch Keith's free speech. In April 2008, a commercial spot to promote Al Gore's "We Campaign", involving both Keith and the Dixie Chicks, was proposed. However, the idea was eventually abandoned due to scheduling conflicts. CANNOTANSWER | ". Keith responded by pointing out that Maines did not write her music | Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. Keith released his first four studio albums—1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin', plus a Greatest Hits package—for various divisions of Mercury Records before leaving Mercury in 1998. These albums all earned Gold or higher certification, and produced several Top Ten singles, including his debut "Should've Been a Cowboy", which topped the country charts and was the most-played country song of the 1990s. The song has received three million spins since its release, according to Broadcast Music Incorporated.
Signed to DreamWorks Records Nashville in 1998, Keith released his breakthrough single "How Do You Like Me Now?!" in late 1999. This song, the title track to his 1999 album of the same name, was the number one country song of 2000, and one of several chart-toppers during his tenure on DreamWorks Nashville. His next three albums, Pull My Chain, Unleashed, and Shock'n Y'all, produced three more number ones each, and all of the albums were certified 4x Platinum. A second Greatest Hits package followed in 2004, and after that, he released Honkytonk University.
When DreamWorks closed in 2005, Keith founded the label Show Dog Nashville, which merged with Universal South Records to become Show Dog-Universal Music in December 2009. He has released ten studio albums through Show Dog/Show Dog-Universal: 2006's White Trash with Money, 2007's Big Dog Daddy, 2008's That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, 2009's American Ride, 2010's Bullets in the Gun, 2011's Clancy's Tavern, 2012's Hope on the Rocks, 2013's Drinks After Work, 2015's 35 MPH Town, 2017's The Bus Songs, and 2021’s Peso In My Pocket, as well as the compilation 35 Biggest Hits in 2008. Keith also made his acting debut in 2006, starring in the film Broken Bridges, and co-starred with comedian Rodney Carrington in the 2008 film Beer for My Horses, inspired by his song of the same name.
Keith has released 19 studio albums, 2 Christmas albums, and 5 compilation albums, totaling worldwide sales of over 40 million albums. He has charted 61 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including 20 number one hits and 21 additional top 10 hits. His longest-lasting number one hits are "Beer for My Horses" (a 2003 duet with Willie Nelson) and "As Good as I Once Was" (2005), at six weeks each. Keith was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Donald Trump in a closed ceremony alongside Ricky Skaggs on January 13, 2021.
Early life
Keith was born in Clinton, Oklahoma, to Carolyn Joan (née Ross) and Hubert K. Covel, Jr. and is of English ancestry. He has a sister and a brother. The family lived in Fort Smith, Arkansas, for a few years when Keith was in grade school, but moved to Moore, Oklahoma (a suburb of Oklahoma City), when he was still young. Before the family moved to Moore, he visited his grandmother in Fort Smith during the summers. His grandmother owned Billie Garner's Supper Club in Fort Smith, where Keith became interested in the musicians who came there to play. He did odd jobs around the supper club and started getting up on the bandstand to play with the band. He got his first guitar at the age of eight. After the family moved to Moore, Keith attended Highland West Junior High and Moore High School, where he played defensive end on the football team.
Keith graduated from Moore High School and worked as a derrick hand in the oil fields. He worked his way up to become an operation manager. When Keith was 20, he and his friends Scott Webb, Keith Cory, David "Yogi" Vowell and Danny Smith, with a few others, formed the Easy Money Band, which played at local bars as he continued to work in the oil industry. At times, he would have to leave in the middle of a concert if he was paged to work in the oil field.
In 1982, the oil industry in Oklahoma began a rapid decline and Keith soon found himself unemployed. He fell back on his football training and played defensive end with the semi-pro Oklahoma City Drillers while continuing to perform with his band. (The Drillers were an unofficial farm club of the United States Football League's Oklahoma Outlaws; Keith tried out for the Outlaws but did not make the team.) He then returned to focus once again on music. His family and friends were doubtful he would succeed, but, in 1984, Easy Money (various other band members included Mike Barnes, T.A. Brauer, and David Saylors) began playing the honky-tonk circuit in Oklahoma and Texas.
Musical career
In the early 1990s, Keith went to Nashville, Tennessee, where he hung out and busked on Music Row and at a place called Houndogs. He distributed copies of a demo tape the band had made to the many record companies in the city. There was no interest by any of the record labels, and Keith returned home feeling depressed. He had promised himself and God to have a recording contract by the time he was 30 years old or give up on music as a career. A flight attendant and fan of his gave a copy of Keith's demo tape to Harold Shedd, a Mercury Records executive, while he was traveling on a flight she was working. Shedd enjoyed what he heard, went to see Keith perform live and then signed him to a recording contract with Mercury.
1993–1995: Toby Keith and Boomtown
Keith's debut single, "Should've Been a Cowboy", went to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 1993, and it reached number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song led off his self-titled debut album. By the end of the decade, "Should've Been a Cowboy" received more than three million spins at radio, thus making it the most-played country song of the 1990s. Certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of one million copies, the album produced three more Top 5 hits on the country charts with "He Ain't Worth Missing" (at #5), "A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action" (originally the B-side of "Should've Been a Cowboy") and "Wish I Didn't Know Now" (both at #2). Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic wrote of the album, "It is given a production that's a bit too big, clean, glossy and cavernous for Keith's good—it fits the outsized sound of early-'90s radio, but not his outsized talent—but beneath that sheen the songs are very strong." He also thought that it showed the signs of the style that Keith would develop on subsequent albums. The album's success led to Keith touring with then-labelmates Shania Twain and John Brannen. Keith and Twain also appeared in Tracy Lawrence's music video for "My Second Home" in 1993.
Keith then signed with Polydor Records Nashville and released his second album, Boomtown, in September 1994. Also certified platinum, this album was led off by the number one single "Who's That Man". After it, "Upstairs Downtown" and "You Ain't Much Fun" both made the Top 10, while "Big Ol' Truck" peaked at number 15. By late-1995, he released his first Christmas album, Christmas to Christmas, via Mercury. Composed entirely of original songs, the album produced one chart entry in "Santa I'm Right Here", which reached as high as number 50 based on Christmas airplay.
1996–1998: Blue Moon, Dream Walkin and Greatest Hits Volume One
Keith then signed with the short-lived Nashville division of A&M Records to release his third album Blue Moon in April 1996. That album received a platinum certification and produced three singles. Its first single, "Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine on You", which Keith wrote in 1987, peaked at number 2. Following it were "A Woman's Touch" at number 6, and "Me Too", which became his third number one hit in March 1997. Keith also appeared on The Beach Boys' now out-of-print 1996 album Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 performing a cover of their 1963 hit "Be True to Your School" with the Beach Boys themselves providing the harmonies and backing vocals.
Following a corporate merger, Keith returned to Mercury in 1997. His fourth studio album, Dream Walkin', was also his first produced by James Stroud, who would also serve as Keith's co-producer until 2005. It produced two consecutive number 2 hits with "We Were in Love" and a cover of Sting's 1996 single "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying". Sting also sang duet vocals and played bass guitar on it, and the two also performed the song at the 1997 Country Music Association awards. After this song, the album's title track reached number 5, while "Double Wide Paradise" peaked at number 40.
Keith's last Mercury release was Greatest Hits Volume One in October 1998. The album included twelve of his prior singles and two new songs: the country rap "Getcha Some" and "If a Man Answers". Both were released as singles, with "Getcha Some" reaching the Top 20, but "If a Man Answers" became his first single to miss the Top 40. According to Keith, these two songs were originally to be put on a studio album, but Mercury executives, dissatisfied with the album that Keith had made, chose to put those two songs on a greatest hits package, and asked him to "go work on another album". After he recorded two more songs which the label also rejected, he asked to terminate his contract with the label. After exiting Mercury, Keith co-wrote Shane Minor's debut single "Slave to the Habit" with Chuck Cannon and Kostas.
1999–2002: How Do You Like Me Now?! and Pull My Chain
In 1999, Keith moved to DreamWorks Records' Nashville division, of which Stroud served as president. His first release for the label was "When Love Fades", which also failed to make Top 40. Upon seeing the single's poor performance, Keith requested that it be withdrawn and replaced with "How Do You Like Me Now?!", a song that he wrote with Chuck Cannon, and which had previously been turned down by Mercury. It also served as the title track to his first DreamWorks album, How Do You Like Me Now?! The song spent five weeks at number 1 on the country charts, and became his first top 40 pop hit, with a number 31 peak on the Hot 100. It was also the top country song of 2000 according to the Billboard Year-End chart. The album, which was certified platinum, produced a Top 5 hit in "Country Comes to Town" and another number 1 in "You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This". It was also his first album to feature songs co-written by Scotty Emerick, who would be a frequent collaborator of Keith's for the next several albums. Steve Huey wrote that this album "had a rough, brash attitude that helped give Keith a stronger identity as a performer." In 2001, Keith won the Academy of Country Music's Top Male Vocalist and Album of the Year awards.
Following this album was Pull My Chain, released in August 2001. The album's three singles—"I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight", "I Wanna Talk About Me", and "My List"—all went to number 1 on the country charts, with the latter two both holding that position for five weeks. "I Wanna Talk About Me", written by Bobby Braddock, also displayed a country rap influence with its spoken-word lyrics. The Country Music Association named "My List" as Single of the Year in 2002. Of Pull My Chain, Erlewine wrote that "this is a bigger, better record than its predecessor, possessing a richer musicality and a more confident sense of humor".
2002–2004: Unleashed and Shock'n Y'all
In 2002, he released the Unleashed album which included four singles. First was "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)", which Keith wrote in 20 minutes as a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. The song references Keith's father, a United States Army veteran who died that March in a car accident. Both this song and "Who's Your Daddy?" were number 1 hits, with "Rock You Baby" reaching number 13. The last single was "Beer for My Horses", a duet with Willie Nelson which six weeks at the top of the country charts. At the time, it was also Keith's highest entry on the Hot 100, at number 22. In July 2003, Keith made a guest appearance on Scotty Emerick's debut single "I Can't Take You Anywhere", which was previously recorded by Keith on Pull My Chain. Emerick's version of the song was his only top 40 country hit, at number 27.
Shock'n Y'all, his eighth studio album, was released in November 2003. The album's title is a pun on the military term "shock and awe". It became his second album from which all singles went to number 1: "I Love This Bar", "American Soldier", and "Whiskey Girl". Also included on the disc were "The Taliban Song" and "Weed with Willie", two live songs recorded with Emerick. The album was followed in late 2004 by Greatest Hits 2, which included three new songs: "Stays in Mexico", "Go with Her", and a cover of Inez and Charlie Foxx's "Mockingbird", recorded as a duet with his daughter, Krystal Keith. "Stays in Mexico" was a number 3 hit on the country charts, while "Mockingbird" peaked at number 27.
Keith's final DreamWorks album was Honkytonk University in early 2005. Lead-off single "Honkytonk U" peaked at number 8, followed by "As Good as I Once Was", which spent six weeks at number 1, and "Big Blue Note" at number 5. After the release of the latter, DreamWorks Records ceased operations.
2005–present: After DreamWorks
On August 31, 2005, Keith founded a new label, Show Dog Nashville. Its first release was his 2006 album White Trash with Money, followed by the soundtrack to Broken Bridges. He also abandoned Stroud as co-producer in favor of Cannon's wife, Lari White. The album included three singles: "Get Drunk and Be Somebody", "A Little Too Late", and "Crash Here Tonight". Big Dog Daddy followed in 2007, with Keith serving as sole producer. Its singles were "High Maintenance Woman", "Love Me If You Can", and "Get My Drink On". "Love Me If You Can" became Keith's first number 1 hit since "As Good as I Once Was" more than two years prior. A two-disc Christmas album, A Classic Christmas, followed later in 2007. In 2008, Keith completed his Biggest and Baddest Tour. On May 6, 2008, he released 35 Biggest Hits, a two-disc compilation featuring most of his singles to date, as well as the new song "She's a Hottie", which peaked at number 13.
Keith released "She Never Cried in Front of Me", which went to number 1 in 2008. Its corresponding album, That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, followed on October 28, 2008. It was followed by "God Love Her", also a number 1 hit, and "Lost You Anyway". American Ride, in 2009, produced another number 1 in its title track. It was followed by the Top 10 hit "Cryin' for Me (Wayman's Song)", a tribute to basketball player and jazz bassist Wayman Tisdale, a friend of Keith's who died in May 2009. The album's final single was "Every Dog Has Its Day".
Bullets in the Gun was released on October 5, 2010. This was Keith's first album not to produce a top 10 hit, with "Trailerhood" reaching number 19, followed by the title track and "Somewhere Else" both at number 12. Keith produced the album with session guitarist Kenny Greenberg and recording engineer Mills Logan.
On October 25, 2011, Clancy's Tavern was released. The album included the single "Made in America", written by Keith along with Bobby Pinson and Scott Reeves, which went to number 1. Following it was "Red Solo Cup", which had previously been made into a music video which became popular. Upon release as a single, "Red Solo Cup" became Keith's best-peaking crossover, reaching number 15 on the Hot 100. The album's final single was "Beers Ago" at number 6 in 2012. In December 2011, Keith was named "Artist of the Decade" by the American Country Awards.
Keith's sixteenth album, Hope on the Rocks, was released in late 2012. It produced only two singles, both of which are top 20 hits: "I Like Girls That Drink Beer" reached at number 17 and the title track peaked at number 18.
In mid-2013, he entered the charts with "Drinks After Work", the first single from his seventeenth album, also titled Drinks After Work. The album's second single is "Shut Up and Hold On".
In October 2014, Keith released "Drunk Americans", the lead single from his eighteenth studio album, 35 MPH Town. In April 2015, Keith released "35 MPH Town", the album's title track and second single. In 2015, Keith was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In September 2017, Keith released the compilation album, The Bus Songs. The album contains twelve songs: two new, five re-recorded, and five previously released songs. The new songs on the album are "Shitty Golfer" and "Wacky Tobaccy". In the U.S. The Bus Songs topped the Billboard Comedy Albums chart for 11 weeks. It also reached number 6 on the Top Country Albums chart and 38 on the Billboard 200 chart.
In 2021, Keith featured on the Brantley Gilbert single "The Worst Country Song of All Time" with Hardy.
Acting career
Television appearances
Keith performed on a series of television advertisements for Telecom USA for that company's discount long-distance telephone service 10-10-220. He also starred in Ford commercials, singing original songs such as "Ford Truck Man" and "Field Trip (Look Again)" while driving Ford trucks.
Keith made an appearance at the first Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (then NWA-TNA) weekly pay-per-view on June 19, 2002, where his playing of "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" was interrupted by Jeff Jarrett. He would later enter the Gauntlet for the Gold main event, suplexing Jarrett and eliminating him from the match. A short video of the suplex is seen in the clip package when he goes onstage. He appeared the next week, on June 26, and helped Scott Hall defeat Jarrett in singles action.
In 2009, Keith participated in the Comedy Central Roast of Larry the Cable Guy, which aired on March 14, 2009.
Keith received the "Colbert Bump" when he appeared on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report. He holds the distinction of being the only musical artist to have received a five star rating from Stephen Colbert on iTunes. Keith furthered this connection when he appeared in Colbert's 2008 Christmas special as a hunter. Keith also made an appearance as a musical guest on the October 27, 2011 episode of the Colbert Report.
On October 29, 2011, Keith appeared on Fox Channel's Huckabee with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. He played "Bullets in the Gun" and he joined with Huckabees house band to play a song at the end of the show.
In December 2018, Keith will appear as a guest on Darci Lynne: My Hometown Christmas.
Acting
In the Autumn of 2005, he filmed Broken Bridges, written by Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld, and directed by Steven Goldmann. This feature film from Paramount/CMT Films was released on September 8, 2006. In this contemporary story set in small-town Tennessee, Keith plays Bo Price, a washed-up country musician. The movie also stars Kelly Preston, Burt Reynolds, Tess Harper, and Lindsey Haun.
Keith wrote and starred in the 2008 movie Beer for My Horses, which is based on the 2003 hit song of the same name recorded by Keith and Willie Nelson.
He was also set to star in the film Bloodworth, but later dropped out.
Business ventures
In 2005, Keith opened Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as well as Syracuse, New York and Tulsa, Oklahoma, and now also has restaurants in Thackerville, Oklahoma; Auburn Hills, Michigan; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Mesa, Arizona; Peoria, Arizona; St. Louis Park, Minnesota; Foxborough, Massachusetts; Cincinnati, Ohio; Newport News, Virginia; and Denver, Colorado. Keith does not actually own the new restaurants; the new restaurant is the first in a franchise under Scottsdale, Arizona-based Capri Restaurant Group Enterprises LLC, which purchased the master license agreement to build more Toby Keith restaurants nationwide. Capri Restaurant Group is owned by Frank Capri, who opened the restaurant in Mesa in the shopping center known as Mesa Riverview and is planning on opening multiple locations across the country.
In 2009, Capri Restaurant Group announced that it will open another "I Love this Bar & Grill" location in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's South Side Works shopping and entertainment district.
In 2009, Keith also established a line of clothing, TK Steelman.
February 2010 marked the opening of the Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill in the Winstar World Casino, exit 1 on Interstate 35 in Oklahoma. Other locations opened in 2010 by the Capri Restaurant Group included those in Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills, Michigan and in the Shops at West End in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Both of which closed in 2015.
In 2011, Keith introduced a new drink named “Wild Shot". At first it was only available in Mexico, but now is sold and served in America. It is a featured drink in his restaurant chain, I Love this Bar and Grill.
Keith's music career and his various other business ventures have made him one of the wealthiest celebrities in the United States. The July 15. 2013, edition of Forbes magazine features Keith on the cover with the caption "Country Music's $500 million man". The article titled "Cowboy Capitalist" by Zack O'Malley Greenburg also contains information regarding Keith's earnings as a musician over the course of his career, such as earning $65 million in the past 12 months, which surpasses the earnings of even more well known musicians such as Jay-Z and Beyoncé and that he hasn't earned less than $48 million a year over the past 5 years. Keith has written at least one #1 country single over the past 20 years and the partnership between his own label, Show Dog-Universal, and Big Machine Records, which Keith also helped found in 2005.
Political beliefs
Since 2002, Keith has made numerous trips to the Middle East to bring entertainment and encouragement to U.S. men and women serving on or near the front lines. “My father was a soldier. He taught his kids to respect veterans,” said Keith. “It's that respect and the thank-you that we have a military that's in place and ready to defend our nation; our freedom.”
In 2004, Keith called himself "a conservative Democrat who is sometimes embarrassed for his party". He endorsed the re-election of President George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election and performed at a Dallas, Texas, rally on the night before the election. Keith also endorsed Democrat Dan Boren in his successful run in Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district and is good friends with former Democratic New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
In a January 2007 interview with Newsday, Keith was asked whether he supported the Iraq War. He responded with "Never did," and said he favors setting a time limit on the campaign. He also said, "I don't apologize for being patriotic... If there is something socially incorrect about being patriotic and supporting your troops, then they can kiss my ass on that, because I'm not going to budge on that at all. And that has nothing to do with politics. Politics is what's killing America."
In April 2008, Keith said that Barack Obama "looks like a great speaker and a great leader. And I think you can learn on your feet in there, so I don't hold people responsible for not having a whole bunch of political background in the House and Senate." His remarks continued, "I think [John] McCain is a great option too." In August 2008, he called Obama "the best Democratic candidate we've had since Bill Clinton".
In October 2008, Keith told CMT that he had left the Democratic Party and has re-registered as an independent. "My party that I've been affiliated with all these years doesn't stand for anything that I stand for anymore," he says. "They've lost any sensibility that they had, and they've allowed all the kooks in. So I'm going independent." He also told CMT that he would likely vote for the Republican ticket, partially because of his admiration for Sarah Palin.
In March 2009, Keith received the Johnny "Mike" Spann Memorial Semper Fidelis Award during a New York ceremony held by the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. The trophy is named for the CIA operative (and former Marine Corps captain) who was the first U.S. casualty in the war in Afghanistan. "Spending time with our soldiers around the world is something I've always regarded as a privilege and honor," he said. "I'm certainly happy to accept this award, but I won't forget for a second who's really doing the heavy lifting to keep this country safe. And that's why I'll keep going back and spending time with those good folks every chance I get."
In April 2009, he voiced support for Obama on Afghanistan and other decisions: "He hired one of my best friends who I think should run for president someday...Gen. James Jones as a national security adviser. He's sending troops into Afghanistan, help is on the way there. And I'm seeing some really good middle range stuff. I'm giving our commander in chief a chance before I start grabbing. So far, I'm cool with it."
Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue
On March 24, 2001, Keith's father, H.K. Covel, was killed in a car accident. That event and the September 11 attacks in 2001 prompted Keith to write the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", a song about his father's patriotism and faith in the United States. At first, Keith refused to record the song and sang it only live at his concerts for military personnel. The reaction to the song, the lyrics of which express clear nationalistic and militaristic sentiments, was strong in many quarters, even to the point that the Commandant of the Marine Corps James L. Jones told Keith it was his "duty as an American citizen" to record the song. As the lead single from the album Unleashed (2002), "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue" peaked at number one over the Fourth of July weekend.
ABC invited Keith to sing "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue" on a 2002 Fourth of July concert it was producing, then rescinded the invitation after host Peter Jennings heard the song and vetoed it. Jennings said the song "probably wouldn't set the right tone". Keith said his statement to the press of Jennings was, "Isn't he Canadian?", and "I bet Dan Rather wouldn't kick me off his show."
Feud with the Dixie Chicks
Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", in 2002, as well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London, in March 2003. The lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines, publicly stated that Keith's song was "ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant". Keith responded by pointing out that Maines did not write her music and he does, and by displaying a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. On May 21, 2003, Maines wore a T-shirt with the letters "FUTK" on the front at the Academy of Country Music Awards. While a spokesperson for the Dixie Chicks said that the acronym stood for "Friends United in Truth and Kindness," many, including host Vince Gill, took it to be a shot at Keith ("Fuck You Toby Keith"). In an October 2004 appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, Maines finally confessed that it was indeed a shot at Keith, and that she "thought that nobody would get it".
In August 2003, Keith's representation publicly declared he was done feuding with Maines "because he's realized there are far more important things to concentrate on". Keith was referring specifically to the terminal illness of a former bandmate's daughter, Allison Faith Webb. However, he continues to refuse to say Maines' name, and claims that the doctored photo was intended to express his opinion that Maines' criticism was an attempt to squelch Keith's free speech.
In April 2008, a commercial spot to promote Al Gore's "We Campaign", involving both Keith and the Dixie Chicks, was proposed. However, the idea was eventually abandoned due to scheduling conflicts.
Donald Trump
On January 19, 2017, Toby Keith performed at the pre-Inaugural "Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration" held at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. in celebration of the beginning of the presidency of Donald Trump. Keith thanked outgoing president Barack Obama for his service and thanked president-elect Trump at the start of the celebration. Keith then played several of his patriotic songs, including "American Soldier", "Made in America", "Beer For My Horses", and "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue".
On January 13, 2021, it was reported that Keith had been awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Trump. The award was given in a closed ceremony, alongside fellow country musician Ricky Skaggs.
Personal life
Keith has an honorary degree from Villanova University, which he attended from 1979 to 1980. He planned to be a petroleum engineer.
An avid University of Oklahoma sports fan, Keith is often seen at Oklahoma Sooners games and practices. He is also a fan of professional wrestling, being seen in the front row of numerous WWE shows that take place in Oklahoma, as well as performing "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)" live at the first ever TNA Wrestling show on June 19, 2002. He is also a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team. He is a Free Will Baptist.
On March 24, 1984, Keith married Tricia Lucus. He is the father of three children—two daughters, Shelley Covel Rowland (born 1980, adopted by Keith in 1984) and Krystal "Krystal Keith" LaDawn Covel Sandubrae (born September 30, 1985; signed a contract with Show Dog-Universal in 2013), and one son (Stelen Keith Covel, born 1997). He also has four grandchildren.
On March 24, 2001, Keith's father was killed in a car accident on Interstate 35. On December 25, 2007, the Covel family was awarded $2.8 million for the wrongful death of H.K. Covel. Elias and Pedro Rodriguez, operators of Rodriguez Transportes of Tulsa, and the Republic Western Insurance Co. were found liable as they failed to equip the charter bus with properly working air brakes.
Philanthropy
Keith supports Ally's House, a non-profit organization in Oklahoma designed to aid children with cancer. Of the charity, Keith said:
Keith filmed a PSA for Little Kids Rock, a national nonprofit that works to restore and revitalize music education in disadvantaged U.S. public schools.
As of 2015, Forbes estimated Keith's annual income at $53 million.
Tours
Brooks and Dunn's Neon Circus and Wild West Show 2001
Unleashed Tour 2002
with Jamie O'Neal, Emerson Drive and Rascal Flatts (Select Dates)
USO 2002–13 (11 tours, visiting 15 countries and 3 naval ships)
Shock'N Y'all Tour 2003
with Blake Shelton
Big Throwdown Tour 2004
with Lonestar and Gretchen Wilson
with Sawyer Brown and Terri Clark
Big Throwdown Tour II 2005
with Jo Dee Messina
White Trash With Money Tour 2006
Hookin' Up and Hangin' Out Tour 2007
with Miranda Lambert, Trace Adkins, Josh Gracin
Big Dog Daddy Tour 2007
Biggest and Baddest Tour 2008–09
with Montgomery Gentry and Trailer Choir
America's Toughest Tour 2009
with Trace Adkins Also Julianne Hough (Few Dates)
Toby Keith's American Ride Tour 2010
with Trace Adkins and James Otto
Locked and Loaded Tour 2011
with Eric Church and JT Hodges
Live in Overdrive Tour
with Brantley Gilbert
Hammer Down Tour 2013
with Kip Moore
Hammer Down Under Tour 2014
With Kellie Pickler and Eli Young Band
Shut Up and Hold On Tour 2014
With Colt Ford and Krystal Keith
Good Times and Pick Up Lines Tour 2015
With Eli Young Band and Chris Janson
Interstates and Tailgates Tour 2016
With Eric Paslay
Should've Been A Cowboy XXV 2018
Discography
Studio albums
Toby Keith (1993)
Boomtown (1994)
Blue Moon (1996)
Dream Walkin' (1997)
How Do You Like Me Now?! (1999)
Pull My Chain (2001)
Unleashed (2002)
Shock'n Y'all (2003)
Honkytonk University (2005)
White Trash with Money (2006)
Big Dog Daddy (2007)
That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy (2008)
American Ride (2009)
Bullets in the Gun (2010)
Clancy's Tavern (2011)
Hope on the Rocks (2012)
Drinks After Work (2013)
35 MPH Town (2015)
Peso in My Pocket (2021)
Compilation albums
Greatest Hits Volume One (1998)
20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection (2003)
Greatest Hits 2 (2004)
35 Biggest Hits (2008)
The Bus Songs (2017)
Christmas albums
Christmas to Christmas (1995)
A Classic Christmas (2007)
Number one singles
"Should've Been a Cowboy"
"Who's That Man"
"Me Too"
"How Do You Like Me Now?!"
"You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This"
"I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight"
"I Wanna Talk About Me"
"My List"
"Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)"
"Who's Your Daddy?"
"Beer for My Horses"
"I Love This Bar"
"American Soldier"
"Whiskey Girl"
"As Good as I Once Was"
"Love Me If You Can"
"She Never Cried in Front of Me"
"God Love Her"
"American Ride"
"Made in America"
Notable awards
Filmography
Broken Bridges (2006) also starring Kelly Preston and Lindsey Haun
CMT Music Awards (2003–2012) Co-Host With Pamela Anderson and Kristen Bell
Beer for My Horses (2008)
References
External links
Toby Keith official website
1961 births
Male actors from Oklahoma
American baritones
American country singer-songwriters
American country record producers
American people of English descent
Country musicians from Oklahoma
DreamWorks Records artists
Living people
Mercury Records artists
People from Clinton, Oklahoma
People from Moore, Oklahoma
Show Dog-Universal Music artists
Villanova University people
Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma
Baptists from Oklahoma
United States National Medal of Arts recipients
American male singer-songwriters | false | [
"Toby Terrier was a toy dog manufactured in the early 1990s by Tiger Electronics. The toy was designed to make various comments and remarks when placed in front of a television playing one of the select PLUS videos from the Toby Terrier and His Video Pals video series. In order for this function to work a specific cartridge that matched up with the video being played would have to be inserted into the toy. His collar contained a sensor that tracked what was going on in the movie. It was activated by pressing a button located below the sensor. The Toby Terrier video series was a comical and educational video series for kids, whose characters consisted of dog puppets. The video series itself was known as Toby Terrier and His Video Pals.\n\nHow It Worked\nToby would wag his tail, bark, nod his head and say phrases such as, \"Well, scratch my fleas!\" as one watched the video when he was turned on. This was accomplished using VEIL Technology. The video fields would send out a data stream that were received through Toby's neck collar. The video also never faded to a pitch black but rather a dark-gray to ensure that Toby would not turn off during a transition. There were also small cartridges that contained different phrases for Toby to say during certain videos (known as \"PLUS\" videos in the series).\n\nVideo series\n\nToby Terrier and His Video Pals was a video series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft that went along with the electronic toy.\n\nTypes of Videos\n Normal\n These videos did not need a cartridge and the titles are as follows:\n Singin' And Dancin' And Waggin' Our Tails!\n Safety First!\n Time For A Party!\n Adventures PLUS\n These videos required the user to insert an included cartridge into Toby's underside. This allowed Toby to make various exclamations while watching the video.\n Is There A Dog-Tor In The House?\n Let's Go To The Zoo!\n Walking On The Sunny Side!\n Toby's Wonder Bone \n These videos required the Wonder Bone in order for Toby to function correctly.\n And The Winner Is...\n Where In The World Is Charlie Chihuahua?\n School Daze\n\nImages\n\nReferences\n\nElectronic toys\n1990s toys\nFilms featuring puppetry\nSid and Marty Krofft",
"Toby Alone, originally published as La Vie suspendue, or A Life Suspended, is a children's novel by French author Timothée de Fombelle. Sarah Ardizzone's translation won the 2009 Marsh Award. The book was later followed by a sequel, entitled Toby and the Secrets of the Tree.\n\nPlot\n\nPart One\nA 13-year-old boy named Toby Lolness, who is just one and a half millimetres tall, lives in a civilization nestled in an oak tree. On his seventh birthday, his father, a scientist named Sim, creates a black box that causes one of his toys to move around by harnessing the power of crude sap. However, when Sim refuses to tell anybody how he did it, he and his family are banished to the Lower Branches, where Toby meets his best friend, Elisha Lee, for the first time. \n\nWhen Toby is thirteen, his parents are arrested by the evil corporate tyrant Joe Mitch, who has a pathological obsession with hole-digging, and thrown into a prison on a mistletoe ball called Tumble. He desperately wants to learn how to use the sap for his biggest project, the Big Crater, a massive hole in the middle of the tree, and Toby finds himself on the run from his own people. He struggles to survive alone. He is betrayed by his old friend Leo Blue. Another friend, Nils Amen, betrays him as well, but later pretends to be Toby, throwing the searchers off.\n\nToby passes through the Big Crater, where his father's enemy, W. C. Rolok, finds him. He attempts to make him swallow a sap ball, which the digger-weevils will rip his stomach open to reach. Toby spits the ball down Rolok's throat, takes his clothes, and gives him a whip to fight off the weevils. On the way out, he meets up with Mano Asseldor, who used to live on a farm in the Lower Branches, and the two escape together. Once they reach the Lower Branches, Mano is reunited with his parents and siblings, but he is forced to hide in a space behind the fireplace. Toby tries to get help from a miller and his wife, the Olmechs. They contact Joe Mitch's soldiers, but Toby manages to escape anyway. The Olmechs are thrown into prison for lying.\n\nPart Two\nFinally, Toby reaches the area where Elisha and her mother Isha live. He hides in a cave, and Elisha brings him food every day. When winter comes, Toby is snowed in for several months. He barely survives off Elisha's food and some mildew.\n\nIn the spring, he and Elisha create an elaborate plan to rescue Toby's parents from prison. The night of the planned escape, Toby is trapped in a wax cast, pretending to be the jailor Gus Alzan's injured daughter Berenice. Elisha was supposed to break in and rescue him and his parents, but she was unable to get into the prison, causing Toby to think she'd betrayed him. He escapes when a fire weakens the cast. He releases all the water in the cistern, extinguishing the fire. On the way to find his parents, another prisoner tells him they've already been executed, and that Elisha crushed his hand with her foot. Not believing him, Toby goes to his parents' cell, only to find the Olmechs. Their son, Lex, is trying to rescue them.\n\nToby gives Lex the key to his parents' chains and walks to the end of a mistletoe branch, planning to jump off. However, he hears a bird squawking and decides to burrow into one of the berries and get eaten. He is carried away by the bird and loses consciousness. When he wakes up, he finds himself alive in the grass. He is taken in by a young boy named Moon Boy and his older sister Ilaya, who rename him Little Tree.\n\nTwo years later, Pol Colleen, a neighbor from the Low Branches, visits the grass and tells Toby he was adopted when he was a few days old, that his adoptive parents are still alive, and that Elisha, whose mother was once a grass woman, is now being held prisoner by Leo Blue, who has become a ruthless dictator and wants to marry her. Toby decides to go back to the Tree to save her. He succeeds thanks to a rescue plan which will cost the lives of many.\n\nSee also\n\nToby and the Secrets of the Tree\nTimothée de Fombelle\n\nReferences\n\nFrench children's novels\n2006 novels\nChildren's fantasy novels\n2006 children's books"
]
|
[
"Toby Keith",
"Feud with the Dixie Chicks",
"What was the feud regarding?",
"Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song \"Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue",
"Was the feud about anything else?",
"well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London.",
"What did the group say about Toby ?",
"stated that Keith's song was \"ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant\".",
"How did Toby respond?",
"\". Keith responded by pointing out that Maines did not write her music"
]
| C_ea9818d4cb5746a4872e18709f939498_0 | What else did he say about the Dixie Chicks? | 5 | What else did Toby say about the Dixie Chicks aside from Maines not writing music? | Toby Keith | Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", in 2003 as well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London. The lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines, publicly stated that Keith's song was "ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant". Keith responded by pointing out that Maines did not write her music and he does, and by displaying a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. On May 21, 2003, Maines wore a T-shirt with the letters "FUTK" on the front at the Academy of Country Music Awards. While a spokesperson for the Dixie Chicks said that the acronym stood for "Friends United in Truth and Kindness," many, including host Vince Gill, took it to be a shot at Keith ("Fuck You Toby Keith"). In an October 2004 appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, Maines finally confessed that it was indeed a shot at Keith, and that she "thought that nobody would get it". In August 2003, Keith's representation publicly declared he was done feuding with Maines "because he's realized there are far more important things to concentrate on". Keith was referring specifically to the terminal illness of a former bandmate's daughter, Allison Faith Webb. However, he continues to refuse to say Maines' name, and claims that the doctored photo was intended to express his opinion that Maines' criticism was an attempt to squelch Keith's free speech. In April 2008, a commercial spot to promote Al Gore's "We Campaign", involving both Keith and the Dixie Chicks, was proposed. However, the idea was eventually abandoned due to scheduling conflicts. CANNOTANSWER | did not write her music and he does, and by displaying a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. | Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. Keith released his first four studio albums—1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin', plus a Greatest Hits package—for various divisions of Mercury Records before leaving Mercury in 1998. These albums all earned Gold or higher certification, and produced several Top Ten singles, including his debut "Should've Been a Cowboy", which topped the country charts and was the most-played country song of the 1990s. The song has received three million spins since its release, according to Broadcast Music Incorporated.
Signed to DreamWorks Records Nashville in 1998, Keith released his breakthrough single "How Do You Like Me Now?!" in late 1999. This song, the title track to his 1999 album of the same name, was the number one country song of 2000, and one of several chart-toppers during his tenure on DreamWorks Nashville. His next three albums, Pull My Chain, Unleashed, and Shock'n Y'all, produced three more number ones each, and all of the albums were certified 4x Platinum. A second Greatest Hits package followed in 2004, and after that, he released Honkytonk University.
When DreamWorks closed in 2005, Keith founded the label Show Dog Nashville, which merged with Universal South Records to become Show Dog-Universal Music in December 2009. He has released ten studio albums through Show Dog/Show Dog-Universal: 2006's White Trash with Money, 2007's Big Dog Daddy, 2008's That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, 2009's American Ride, 2010's Bullets in the Gun, 2011's Clancy's Tavern, 2012's Hope on the Rocks, 2013's Drinks After Work, 2015's 35 MPH Town, 2017's The Bus Songs, and 2021’s Peso In My Pocket, as well as the compilation 35 Biggest Hits in 2008. Keith also made his acting debut in 2006, starring in the film Broken Bridges, and co-starred with comedian Rodney Carrington in the 2008 film Beer for My Horses, inspired by his song of the same name.
Keith has released 19 studio albums, 2 Christmas albums, and 5 compilation albums, totaling worldwide sales of over 40 million albums. He has charted 61 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including 20 number one hits and 21 additional top 10 hits. His longest-lasting number one hits are "Beer for My Horses" (a 2003 duet with Willie Nelson) and "As Good as I Once Was" (2005), at six weeks each. Keith was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Donald Trump in a closed ceremony alongside Ricky Skaggs on January 13, 2021.
Early life
Keith was born in Clinton, Oklahoma, to Carolyn Joan (née Ross) and Hubert K. Covel, Jr. and is of English ancestry. He has a sister and a brother. The family lived in Fort Smith, Arkansas, for a few years when Keith was in grade school, but moved to Moore, Oklahoma (a suburb of Oklahoma City), when he was still young. Before the family moved to Moore, he visited his grandmother in Fort Smith during the summers. His grandmother owned Billie Garner's Supper Club in Fort Smith, where Keith became interested in the musicians who came there to play. He did odd jobs around the supper club and started getting up on the bandstand to play with the band. He got his first guitar at the age of eight. After the family moved to Moore, Keith attended Highland West Junior High and Moore High School, where he played defensive end on the football team.
Keith graduated from Moore High School and worked as a derrick hand in the oil fields. He worked his way up to become an operation manager. When Keith was 20, he and his friends Scott Webb, Keith Cory, David "Yogi" Vowell and Danny Smith, with a few others, formed the Easy Money Band, which played at local bars as he continued to work in the oil industry. At times, he would have to leave in the middle of a concert if he was paged to work in the oil field.
In 1982, the oil industry in Oklahoma began a rapid decline and Keith soon found himself unemployed. He fell back on his football training and played defensive end with the semi-pro Oklahoma City Drillers while continuing to perform with his band. (The Drillers were an unofficial farm club of the United States Football League's Oklahoma Outlaws; Keith tried out for the Outlaws but did not make the team.) He then returned to focus once again on music. His family and friends were doubtful he would succeed, but, in 1984, Easy Money (various other band members included Mike Barnes, T.A. Brauer, and David Saylors) began playing the honky-tonk circuit in Oklahoma and Texas.
Musical career
In the early 1990s, Keith went to Nashville, Tennessee, where he hung out and busked on Music Row and at a place called Houndogs. He distributed copies of a demo tape the band had made to the many record companies in the city. There was no interest by any of the record labels, and Keith returned home feeling depressed. He had promised himself and God to have a recording contract by the time he was 30 years old or give up on music as a career. A flight attendant and fan of his gave a copy of Keith's demo tape to Harold Shedd, a Mercury Records executive, while he was traveling on a flight she was working. Shedd enjoyed what he heard, went to see Keith perform live and then signed him to a recording contract with Mercury.
1993–1995: Toby Keith and Boomtown
Keith's debut single, "Should've Been a Cowboy", went to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 1993, and it reached number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song led off his self-titled debut album. By the end of the decade, "Should've Been a Cowboy" received more than three million spins at radio, thus making it the most-played country song of the 1990s. Certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of one million copies, the album produced three more Top 5 hits on the country charts with "He Ain't Worth Missing" (at #5), "A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action" (originally the B-side of "Should've Been a Cowboy") and "Wish I Didn't Know Now" (both at #2). Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic wrote of the album, "It is given a production that's a bit too big, clean, glossy and cavernous for Keith's good—it fits the outsized sound of early-'90s radio, but not his outsized talent—but beneath that sheen the songs are very strong." He also thought that it showed the signs of the style that Keith would develop on subsequent albums. The album's success led to Keith touring with then-labelmates Shania Twain and John Brannen. Keith and Twain also appeared in Tracy Lawrence's music video for "My Second Home" in 1993.
Keith then signed with Polydor Records Nashville and released his second album, Boomtown, in September 1994. Also certified platinum, this album was led off by the number one single "Who's That Man". After it, "Upstairs Downtown" and "You Ain't Much Fun" both made the Top 10, while "Big Ol' Truck" peaked at number 15. By late-1995, he released his first Christmas album, Christmas to Christmas, via Mercury. Composed entirely of original songs, the album produced one chart entry in "Santa I'm Right Here", which reached as high as number 50 based on Christmas airplay.
1996–1998: Blue Moon, Dream Walkin and Greatest Hits Volume One
Keith then signed with the short-lived Nashville division of A&M Records to release his third album Blue Moon in April 1996. That album received a platinum certification and produced three singles. Its first single, "Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine on You", which Keith wrote in 1987, peaked at number 2. Following it were "A Woman's Touch" at number 6, and "Me Too", which became his third number one hit in March 1997. Keith also appeared on The Beach Boys' now out-of-print 1996 album Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 performing a cover of their 1963 hit "Be True to Your School" with the Beach Boys themselves providing the harmonies and backing vocals.
Following a corporate merger, Keith returned to Mercury in 1997. His fourth studio album, Dream Walkin', was also his first produced by James Stroud, who would also serve as Keith's co-producer until 2005. It produced two consecutive number 2 hits with "We Were in Love" and a cover of Sting's 1996 single "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying". Sting also sang duet vocals and played bass guitar on it, and the two also performed the song at the 1997 Country Music Association awards. After this song, the album's title track reached number 5, while "Double Wide Paradise" peaked at number 40.
Keith's last Mercury release was Greatest Hits Volume One in October 1998. The album included twelve of his prior singles and two new songs: the country rap "Getcha Some" and "If a Man Answers". Both were released as singles, with "Getcha Some" reaching the Top 20, but "If a Man Answers" became his first single to miss the Top 40. According to Keith, these two songs were originally to be put on a studio album, but Mercury executives, dissatisfied with the album that Keith had made, chose to put those two songs on a greatest hits package, and asked him to "go work on another album". After he recorded two more songs which the label also rejected, he asked to terminate his contract with the label. After exiting Mercury, Keith co-wrote Shane Minor's debut single "Slave to the Habit" with Chuck Cannon and Kostas.
1999–2002: How Do You Like Me Now?! and Pull My Chain
In 1999, Keith moved to DreamWorks Records' Nashville division, of which Stroud served as president. His first release for the label was "When Love Fades", which also failed to make Top 40. Upon seeing the single's poor performance, Keith requested that it be withdrawn and replaced with "How Do You Like Me Now?!", a song that he wrote with Chuck Cannon, and which had previously been turned down by Mercury. It also served as the title track to his first DreamWorks album, How Do You Like Me Now?! The song spent five weeks at number 1 on the country charts, and became his first top 40 pop hit, with a number 31 peak on the Hot 100. It was also the top country song of 2000 according to the Billboard Year-End chart. The album, which was certified platinum, produced a Top 5 hit in "Country Comes to Town" and another number 1 in "You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This". It was also his first album to feature songs co-written by Scotty Emerick, who would be a frequent collaborator of Keith's for the next several albums. Steve Huey wrote that this album "had a rough, brash attitude that helped give Keith a stronger identity as a performer." In 2001, Keith won the Academy of Country Music's Top Male Vocalist and Album of the Year awards.
Following this album was Pull My Chain, released in August 2001. The album's three singles—"I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight", "I Wanna Talk About Me", and "My List"—all went to number 1 on the country charts, with the latter two both holding that position for five weeks. "I Wanna Talk About Me", written by Bobby Braddock, also displayed a country rap influence with its spoken-word lyrics. The Country Music Association named "My List" as Single of the Year in 2002. Of Pull My Chain, Erlewine wrote that "this is a bigger, better record than its predecessor, possessing a richer musicality and a more confident sense of humor".
2002–2004: Unleashed and Shock'n Y'all
In 2002, he released the Unleashed album which included four singles. First was "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)", which Keith wrote in 20 minutes as a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. The song references Keith's father, a United States Army veteran who died that March in a car accident. Both this song and "Who's Your Daddy?" were number 1 hits, with "Rock You Baby" reaching number 13. The last single was "Beer for My Horses", a duet with Willie Nelson which six weeks at the top of the country charts. At the time, it was also Keith's highest entry on the Hot 100, at number 22. In July 2003, Keith made a guest appearance on Scotty Emerick's debut single "I Can't Take You Anywhere", which was previously recorded by Keith on Pull My Chain. Emerick's version of the song was his only top 40 country hit, at number 27.
Shock'n Y'all, his eighth studio album, was released in November 2003. The album's title is a pun on the military term "shock and awe". It became his second album from which all singles went to number 1: "I Love This Bar", "American Soldier", and "Whiskey Girl". Also included on the disc were "The Taliban Song" and "Weed with Willie", two live songs recorded with Emerick. The album was followed in late 2004 by Greatest Hits 2, which included three new songs: "Stays in Mexico", "Go with Her", and a cover of Inez and Charlie Foxx's "Mockingbird", recorded as a duet with his daughter, Krystal Keith. "Stays in Mexico" was a number 3 hit on the country charts, while "Mockingbird" peaked at number 27.
Keith's final DreamWorks album was Honkytonk University in early 2005. Lead-off single "Honkytonk U" peaked at number 8, followed by "As Good as I Once Was", which spent six weeks at number 1, and "Big Blue Note" at number 5. After the release of the latter, DreamWorks Records ceased operations.
2005–present: After DreamWorks
On August 31, 2005, Keith founded a new label, Show Dog Nashville. Its first release was his 2006 album White Trash with Money, followed by the soundtrack to Broken Bridges. He also abandoned Stroud as co-producer in favor of Cannon's wife, Lari White. The album included three singles: "Get Drunk and Be Somebody", "A Little Too Late", and "Crash Here Tonight". Big Dog Daddy followed in 2007, with Keith serving as sole producer. Its singles were "High Maintenance Woman", "Love Me If You Can", and "Get My Drink On". "Love Me If You Can" became Keith's first number 1 hit since "As Good as I Once Was" more than two years prior. A two-disc Christmas album, A Classic Christmas, followed later in 2007. In 2008, Keith completed his Biggest and Baddest Tour. On May 6, 2008, he released 35 Biggest Hits, a two-disc compilation featuring most of his singles to date, as well as the new song "She's a Hottie", which peaked at number 13.
Keith released "She Never Cried in Front of Me", which went to number 1 in 2008. Its corresponding album, That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, followed on October 28, 2008. It was followed by "God Love Her", also a number 1 hit, and "Lost You Anyway". American Ride, in 2009, produced another number 1 in its title track. It was followed by the Top 10 hit "Cryin' for Me (Wayman's Song)", a tribute to basketball player and jazz bassist Wayman Tisdale, a friend of Keith's who died in May 2009. The album's final single was "Every Dog Has Its Day".
Bullets in the Gun was released on October 5, 2010. This was Keith's first album not to produce a top 10 hit, with "Trailerhood" reaching number 19, followed by the title track and "Somewhere Else" both at number 12. Keith produced the album with session guitarist Kenny Greenberg and recording engineer Mills Logan.
On October 25, 2011, Clancy's Tavern was released. The album included the single "Made in America", written by Keith along with Bobby Pinson and Scott Reeves, which went to number 1. Following it was "Red Solo Cup", which had previously been made into a music video which became popular. Upon release as a single, "Red Solo Cup" became Keith's best-peaking crossover, reaching number 15 on the Hot 100. The album's final single was "Beers Ago" at number 6 in 2012. In December 2011, Keith was named "Artist of the Decade" by the American Country Awards.
Keith's sixteenth album, Hope on the Rocks, was released in late 2012. It produced only two singles, both of which are top 20 hits: "I Like Girls That Drink Beer" reached at number 17 and the title track peaked at number 18.
In mid-2013, he entered the charts with "Drinks After Work", the first single from his seventeenth album, also titled Drinks After Work. The album's second single is "Shut Up and Hold On".
In October 2014, Keith released "Drunk Americans", the lead single from his eighteenth studio album, 35 MPH Town. In April 2015, Keith released "35 MPH Town", the album's title track and second single. In 2015, Keith was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In September 2017, Keith released the compilation album, The Bus Songs. The album contains twelve songs: two new, five re-recorded, and five previously released songs. The new songs on the album are "Shitty Golfer" and "Wacky Tobaccy". In the U.S. The Bus Songs topped the Billboard Comedy Albums chart for 11 weeks. It also reached number 6 on the Top Country Albums chart and 38 on the Billboard 200 chart.
In 2021, Keith featured on the Brantley Gilbert single "The Worst Country Song of All Time" with Hardy.
Acting career
Television appearances
Keith performed on a series of television advertisements for Telecom USA for that company's discount long-distance telephone service 10-10-220. He also starred in Ford commercials, singing original songs such as "Ford Truck Man" and "Field Trip (Look Again)" while driving Ford trucks.
Keith made an appearance at the first Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (then NWA-TNA) weekly pay-per-view on June 19, 2002, where his playing of "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" was interrupted by Jeff Jarrett. He would later enter the Gauntlet for the Gold main event, suplexing Jarrett and eliminating him from the match. A short video of the suplex is seen in the clip package when he goes onstage. He appeared the next week, on June 26, and helped Scott Hall defeat Jarrett in singles action.
In 2009, Keith participated in the Comedy Central Roast of Larry the Cable Guy, which aired on March 14, 2009.
Keith received the "Colbert Bump" when he appeared on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report. He holds the distinction of being the only musical artist to have received a five star rating from Stephen Colbert on iTunes. Keith furthered this connection when he appeared in Colbert's 2008 Christmas special as a hunter. Keith also made an appearance as a musical guest on the October 27, 2011 episode of the Colbert Report.
On October 29, 2011, Keith appeared on Fox Channel's Huckabee with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. He played "Bullets in the Gun" and he joined with Huckabees house band to play a song at the end of the show.
In December 2018, Keith will appear as a guest on Darci Lynne: My Hometown Christmas.
Acting
In the Autumn of 2005, he filmed Broken Bridges, written by Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld, and directed by Steven Goldmann. This feature film from Paramount/CMT Films was released on September 8, 2006. In this contemporary story set in small-town Tennessee, Keith plays Bo Price, a washed-up country musician. The movie also stars Kelly Preston, Burt Reynolds, Tess Harper, and Lindsey Haun.
Keith wrote and starred in the 2008 movie Beer for My Horses, which is based on the 2003 hit song of the same name recorded by Keith and Willie Nelson.
He was also set to star in the film Bloodworth, but later dropped out.
Business ventures
In 2005, Keith opened Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as well as Syracuse, New York and Tulsa, Oklahoma, and now also has restaurants in Thackerville, Oklahoma; Auburn Hills, Michigan; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Mesa, Arizona; Peoria, Arizona; St. Louis Park, Minnesota; Foxborough, Massachusetts; Cincinnati, Ohio; Newport News, Virginia; and Denver, Colorado. Keith does not actually own the new restaurants; the new restaurant is the first in a franchise under Scottsdale, Arizona-based Capri Restaurant Group Enterprises LLC, which purchased the master license agreement to build more Toby Keith restaurants nationwide. Capri Restaurant Group is owned by Frank Capri, who opened the restaurant in Mesa in the shopping center known as Mesa Riverview and is planning on opening multiple locations across the country.
In 2009, Capri Restaurant Group announced that it will open another "I Love this Bar & Grill" location in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's South Side Works shopping and entertainment district.
In 2009, Keith also established a line of clothing, TK Steelman.
February 2010 marked the opening of the Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill in the Winstar World Casino, exit 1 on Interstate 35 in Oklahoma. Other locations opened in 2010 by the Capri Restaurant Group included those in Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills, Michigan and in the Shops at West End in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Both of which closed in 2015.
In 2011, Keith introduced a new drink named “Wild Shot". At first it was only available in Mexico, but now is sold and served in America. It is a featured drink in his restaurant chain, I Love this Bar and Grill.
Keith's music career and his various other business ventures have made him one of the wealthiest celebrities in the United States. The July 15. 2013, edition of Forbes magazine features Keith on the cover with the caption "Country Music's $500 million man". The article titled "Cowboy Capitalist" by Zack O'Malley Greenburg also contains information regarding Keith's earnings as a musician over the course of his career, such as earning $65 million in the past 12 months, which surpasses the earnings of even more well known musicians such as Jay-Z and Beyoncé and that he hasn't earned less than $48 million a year over the past 5 years. Keith has written at least one #1 country single over the past 20 years and the partnership between his own label, Show Dog-Universal, and Big Machine Records, which Keith also helped found in 2005.
Political beliefs
Since 2002, Keith has made numerous trips to the Middle East to bring entertainment and encouragement to U.S. men and women serving on or near the front lines. “My father was a soldier. He taught his kids to respect veterans,” said Keith. “It's that respect and the thank-you that we have a military that's in place and ready to defend our nation; our freedom.”
In 2004, Keith called himself "a conservative Democrat who is sometimes embarrassed for his party". He endorsed the re-election of President George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election and performed at a Dallas, Texas, rally on the night before the election. Keith also endorsed Democrat Dan Boren in his successful run in Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district and is good friends with former Democratic New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
In a January 2007 interview with Newsday, Keith was asked whether he supported the Iraq War. He responded with "Never did," and said he favors setting a time limit on the campaign. He also said, "I don't apologize for being patriotic... If there is something socially incorrect about being patriotic and supporting your troops, then they can kiss my ass on that, because I'm not going to budge on that at all. And that has nothing to do with politics. Politics is what's killing America."
In April 2008, Keith said that Barack Obama "looks like a great speaker and a great leader. And I think you can learn on your feet in there, so I don't hold people responsible for not having a whole bunch of political background in the House and Senate." His remarks continued, "I think [John] McCain is a great option too." In August 2008, he called Obama "the best Democratic candidate we've had since Bill Clinton".
In October 2008, Keith told CMT that he had left the Democratic Party and has re-registered as an independent. "My party that I've been affiliated with all these years doesn't stand for anything that I stand for anymore," he says. "They've lost any sensibility that they had, and they've allowed all the kooks in. So I'm going independent." He also told CMT that he would likely vote for the Republican ticket, partially because of his admiration for Sarah Palin.
In March 2009, Keith received the Johnny "Mike" Spann Memorial Semper Fidelis Award during a New York ceremony held by the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. The trophy is named for the CIA operative (and former Marine Corps captain) who was the first U.S. casualty in the war in Afghanistan. "Spending time with our soldiers around the world is something I've always regarded as a privilege and honor," he said. "I'm certainly happy to accept this award, but I won't forget for a second who's really doing the heavy lifting to keep this country safe. And that's why I'll keep going back and spending time with those good folks every chance I get."
In April 2009, he voiced support for Obama on Afghanistan and other decisions: "He hired one of my best friends who I think should run for president someday...Gen. James Jones as a national security adviser. He's sending troops into Afghanistan, help is on the way there. And I'm seeing some really good middle range stuff. I'm giving our commander in chief a chance before I start grabbing. So far, I'm cool with it."
Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue
On March 24, 2001, Keith's father, H.K. Covel, was killed in a car accident. That event and the September 11 attacks in 2001 prompted Keith to write the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", a song about his father's patriotism and faith in the United States. At first, Keith refused to record the song and sang it only live at his concerts for military personnel. The reaction to the song, the lyrics of which express clear nationalistic and militaristic sentiments, was strong in many quarters, even to the point that the Commandant of the Marine Corps James L. Jones told Keith it was his "duty as an American citizen" to record the song. As the lead single from the album Unleashed (2002), "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue" peaked at number one over the Fourth of July weekend.
ABC invited Keith to sing "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue" on a 2002 Fourth of July concert it was producing, then rescinded the invitation after host Peter Jennings heard the song and vetoed it. Jennings said the song "probably wouldn't set the right tone". Keith said his statement to the press of Jennings was, "Isn't he Canadian?", and "I bet Dan Rather wouldn't kick me off his show."
Feud with the Dixie Chicks
Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", in 2002, as well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London, in March 2003. The lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines, publicly stated that Keith's song was "ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant". Keith responded by pointing out that Maines did not write her music and he does, and by displaying a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. On May 21, 2003, Maines wore a T-shirt with the letters "FUTK" on the front at the Academy of Country Music Awards. While a spokesperson for the Dixie Chicks said that the acronym stood for "Friends United in Truth and Kindness," many, including host Vince Gill, took it to be a shot at Keith ("Fuck You Toby Keith"). In an October 2004 appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, Maines finally confessed that it was indeed a shot at Keith, and that she "thought that nobody would get it".
In August 2003, Keith's representation publicly declared he was done feuding with Maines "because he's realized there are far more important things to concentrate on". Keith was referring specifically to the terminal illness of a former bandmate's daughter, Allison Faith Webb. However, he continues to refuse to say Maines' name, and claims that the doctored photo was intended to express his opinion that Maines' criticism was an attempt to squelch Keith's free speech.
In April 2008, a commercial spot to promote Al Gore's "We Campaign", involving both Keith and the Dixie Chicks, was proposed. However, the idea was eventually abandoned due to scheduling conflicts.
Donald Trump
On January 19, 2017, Toby Keith performed at the pre-Inaugural "Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration" held at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. in celebration of the beginning of the presidency of Donald Trump. Keith thanked outgoing president Barack Obama for his service and thanked president-elect Trump at the start of the celebration. Keith then played several of his patriotic songs, including "American Soldier", "Made in America", "Beer For My Horses", and "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue".
On January 13, 2021, it was reported that Keith had been awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Trump. The award was given in a closed ceremony, alongside fellow country musician Ricky Skaggs.
Personal life
Keith has an honorary degree from Villanova University, which he attended from 1979 to 1980. He planned to be a petroleum engineer.
An avid University of Oklahoma sports fan, Keith is often seen at Oklahoma Sooners games and practices. He is also a fan of professional wrestling, being seen in the front row of numerous WWE shows that take place in Oklahoma, as well as performing "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)" live at the first ever TNA Wrestling show on June 19, 2002. He is also a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team. He is a Free Will Baptist.
On March 24, 1984, Keith married Tricia Lucus. He is the father of three children—two daughters, Shelley Covel Rowland (born 1980, adopted by Keith in 1984) and Krystal "Krystal Keith" LaDawn Covel Sandubrae (born September 30, 1985; signed a contract with Show Dog-Universal in 2013), and one son (Stelen Keith Covel, born 1997). He also has four grandchildren.
On March 24, 2001, Keith's father was killed in a car accident on Interstate 35. On December 25, 2007, the Covel family was awarded $2.8 million for the wrongful death of H.K. Covel. Elias and Pedro Rodriguez, operators of Rodriguez Transportes of Tulsa, and the Republic Western Insurance Co. were found liable as they failed to equip the charter bus with properly working air brakes.
Philanthropy
Keith supports Ally's House, a non-profit organization in Oklahoma designed to aid children with cancer. Of the charity, Keith said:
Keith filmed a PSA for Little Kids Rock, a national nonprofit that works to restore and revitalize music education in disadvantaged U.S. public schools.
As of 2015, Forbes estimated Keith's annual income at $53 million.
Tours
Brooks and Dunn's Neon Circus and Wild West Show 2001
Unleashed Tour 2002
with Jamie O'Neal, Emerson Drive and Rascal Flatts (Select Dates)
USO 2002–13 (11 tours, visiting 15 countries and 3 naval ships)
Shock'N Y'all Tour 2003
with Blake Shelton
Big Throwdown Tour 2004
with Lonestar and Gretchen Wilson
with Sawyer Brown and Terri Clark
Big Throwdown Tour II 2005
with Jo Dee Messina
White Trash With Money Tour 2006
Hookin' Up and Hangin' Out Tour 2007
with Miranda Lambert, Trace Adkins, Josh Gracin
Big Dog Daddy Tour 2007
Biggest and Baddest Tour 2008–09
with Montgomery Gentry and Trailer Choir
America's Toughest Tour 2009
with Trace Adkins Also Julianne Hough (Few Dates)
Toby Keith's American Ride Tour 2010
with Trace Adkins and James Otto
Locked and Loaded Tour 2011
with Eric Church and JT Hodges
Live in Overdrive Tour
with Brantley Gilbert
Hammer Down Tour 2013
with Kip Moore
Hammer Down Under Tour 2014
With Kellie Pickler and Eli Young Band
Shut Up and Hold On Tour 2014
With Colt Ford and Krystal Keith
Good Times and Pick Up Lines Tour 2015
With Eli Young Band and Chris Janson
Interstates and Tailgates Tour 2016
With Eric Paslay
Should've Been A Cowboy XXV 2018
Discography
Studio albums
Toby Keith (1993)
Boomtown (1994)
Blue Moon (1996)
Dream Walkin' (1997)
How Do You Like Me Now?! (1999)
Pull My Chain (2001)
Unleashed (2002)
Shock'n Y'all (2003)
Honkytonk University (2005)
White Trash with Money (2006)
Big Dog Daddy (2007)
That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy (2008)
American Ride (2009)
Bullets in the Gun (2010)
Clancy's Tavern (2011)
Hope on the Rocks (2012)
Drinks After Work (2013)
35 MPH Town (2015)
Peso in My Pocket (2021)
Compilation albums
Greatest Hits Volume One (1998)
20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection (2003)
Greatest Hits 2 (2004)
35 Biggest Hits (2008)
The Bus Songs (2017)
Christmas albums
Christmas to Christmas (1995)
A Classic Christmas (2007)
Number one singles
"Should've Been a Cowboy"
"Who's That Man"
"Me Too"
"How Do You Like Me Now?!"
"You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This"
"I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight"
"I Wanna Talk About Me"
"My List"
"Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)"
"Who's Your Daddy?"
"Beer for My Horses"
"I Love This Bar"
"American Soldier"
"Whiskey Girl"
"As Good as I Once Was"
"Love Me If You Can"
"She Never Cried in Front of Me"
"God Love Her"
"American Ride"
"Made in America"
Notable awards
Filmography
Broken Bridges (2006) also starring Kelly Preston and Lindsey Haun
CMT Music Awards (2003–2012) Co-Host With Pamela Anderson and Kristen Bell
Beer for My Horses (2008)
References
External links
Toby Keith official website
1961 births
Male actors from Oklahoma
American baritones
American country singer-songwriters
American country record producers
American people of English descent
Country musicians from Oklahoma
DreamWorks Records artists
Living people
Mercury Records artists
People from Clinton, Oklahoma
People from Moore, Oklahoma
Show Dog-Universal Music artists
Villanova University people
Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma
Baptists from Oklahoma
United States National Medal of Arts recipients
American male singer-songwriters | true | [
"Protesting the Dixie Chicks is a documentary by American filmmaker Christopher Fleeger, independently released on DVD in 2006. The film captures the storm of controversy ignited by the remarks of Natalie Maines, lead singer of the Texas pop-country trio the Dixie Chicks. On March 10, 2003, Natalie Maines, at a concert in London, stated that her group was \"ashamed\" to be from the same state as President George W. Bush. In the man-on-the-street style of Heavy Metal Parking Lot, anonymous fans and protesters are interviewed outside the arenas of the Dixie Chicks 2003 USA tour, while the context of the drama is reenacted with toys and action figures of Natalie Maines, Toby Keith, General John Abizaid, Senator Richard Lugar, Senator John McCain and President George W. Bush.\n\nExternal links\n Protesting the Dixie Chicks Official Movie Site\n Trailer of Movie \n DVD captures the fans, friction outside the arenas Tallahassee Democrat Newspaper Article\n\nExternal links\n \n\nAmerican documentary films\nAmerican films\nThe Chicks\nDocumentary films about American politics\nFilms about freedom of expression\n2006 films",
"\"I Hope\" is a country–pop song written and performed by the American all-female trio Dixie Chicks for their seventh studio album, Taking the Long Way, in 2006.\n\nIt was nominated for two Grammy Awards at the 48th ceremony, but lost in both categories.\n\nSong information\nThe song, written by all the three band members (Emily Robison, Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines) and Kevin Moore, received its debut performance on the Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast telethon on September 9, 2005. It was later made available as a digital download single with proceeds to benefit the Hurricane Katrina relief. The song features a guitar solo from John Mayer.\n\nComments about the song by band members\nThis is what band members Robison and Maines commented about the writing process of \"I Hope\":\n\nRobison: \"Kevin was one of the last writers we wrote with, and it was so nice and so comfortable working with him. With what he's been through and where he grew up, it's important to him to write positive, uplifting songs.\"\nMaines: \"On the other hand, he wasn't afraid to get political, and this ultimately turned out to be a pretty serious song. Hopeful and positive, but serious.\"\n\nChart performance\n\nAwards nominations\n48th Grammy Awards:\nBest Country Song\nBest Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nThe Dixie Chicks official website\nThe Dixie Chicks press room\n\n2005 singles\nThe Chicks songs\nSong recordings produced by Rick Rubin\nSongs written by Martie Maguire\nSongs written by Emily Robison\nSongs written by Natalie Maines\nColumbia Records singles\nSongs about hope"
]
|
[
"Toby Keith",
"Feud with the Dixie Chicks",
"What was the feud regarding?",
"Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song \"Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue",
"Was the feud about anything else?",
"well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London.",
"What did the group say about Toby ?",
"stated that Keith's song was \"ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant\".",
"How did Toby respond?",
"\". Keith responded by pointing out that Maines did not write her music",
"What else did he say about the Dixie Chicks?",
"did not write her music and he does, and by displaying a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein."
]
| C_ea9818d4cb5746a4872e18709f939498_0 | How did the Dixie Chicks respond to that? | 6 | How did the Dixie Chicks respond to Toby's comment that Maines didn't write her own music? | Toby Keith | Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", in 2003 as well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London. The lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines, publicly stated that Keith's song was "ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant". Keith responded by pointing out that Maines did not write her music and he does, and by displaying a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. On May 21, 2003, Maines wore a T-shirt with the letters "FUTK" on the front at the Academy of Country Music Awards. While a spokesperson for the Dixie Chicks said that the acronym stood for "Friends United in Truth and Kindness," many, including host Vince Gill, took it to be a shot at Keith ("Fuck You Toby Keith"). In an October 2004 appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, Maines finally confessed that it was indeed a shot at Keith, and that she "thought that nobody would get it". In August 2003, Keith's representation publicly declared he was done feuding with Maines "because he's realized there are far more important things to concentrate on". Keith was referring specifically to the terminal illness of a former bandmate's daughter, Allison Faith Webb. However, he continues to refuse to say Maines' name, and claims that the doctored photo was intended to express his opinion that Maines' criticism was an attempt to squelch Keith's free speech. In April 2008, a commercial spot to promote Al Gore's "We Campaign", involving both Keith and the Dixie Chicks, was proposed. However, the idea was eventually abandoned due to scheduling conflicts. CANNOTANSWER | On May 21, 2003, Maines wore a T-shirt with the letters "FUTK" on the front at the Academy of Country Music Awards. | Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. Keith released his first four studio albums—1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin', plus a Greatest Hits package—for various divisions of Mercury Records before leaving Mercury in 1998. These albums all earned Gold or higher certification, and produced several Top Ten singles, including his debut "Should've Been a Cowboy", which topped the country charts and was the most-played country song of the 1990s. The song has received three million spins since its release, according to Broadcast Music Incorporated.
Signed to DreamWorks Records Nashville in 1998, Keith released his breakthrough single "How Do You Like Me Now?!" in late 1999. This song, the title track to his 1999 album of the same name, was the number one country song of 2000, and one of several chart-toppers during his tenure on DreamWorks Nashville. His next three albums, Pull My Chain, Unleashed, and Shock'n Y'all, produced three more number ones each, and all of the albums were certified 4x Platinum. A second Greatest Hits package followed in 2004, and after that, he released Honkytonk University.
When DreamWorks closed in 2005, Keith founded the label Show Dog Nashville, which merged with Universal South Records to become Show Dog-Universal Music in December 2009. He has released ten studio albums through Show Dog/Show Dog-Universal: 2006's White Trash with Money, 2007's Big Dog Daddy, 2008's That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, 2009's American Ride, 2010's Bullets in the Gun, 2011's Clancy's Tavern, 2012's Hope on the Rocks, 2013's Drinks After Work, 2015's 35 MPH Town, 2017's The Bus Songs, and 2021’s Peso In My Pocket, as well as the compilation 35 Biggest Hits in 2008. Keith also made his acting debut in 2006, starring in the film Broken Bridges, and co-starred with comedian Rodney Carrington in the 2008 film Beer for My Horses, inspired by his song of the same name.
Keith has released 19 studio albums, 2 Christmas albums, and 5 compilation albums, totaling worldwide sales of over 40 million albums. He has charted 61 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including 20 number one hits and 21 additional top 10 hits. His longest-lasting number one hits are "Beer for My Horses" (a 2003 duet with Willie Nelson) and "As Good as I Once Was" (2005), at six weeks each. Keith was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Donald Trump in a closed ceremony alongside Ricky Skaggs on January 13, 2021.
Early life
Keith was born in Clinton, Oklahoma, to Carolyn Joan (née Ross) and Hubert K. Covel, Jr. and is of English ancestry. He has a sister and a brother. The family lived in Fort Smith, Arkansas, for a few years when Keith was in grade school, but moved to Moore, Oklahoma (a suburb of Oklahoma City), when he was still young. Before the family moved to Moore, he visited his grandmother in Fort Smith during the summers. His grandmother owned Billie Garner's Supper Club in Fort Smith, where Keith became interested in the musicians who came there to play. He did odd jobs around the supper club and started getting up on the bandstand to play with the band. He got his first guitar at the age of eight. After the family moved to Moore, Keith attended Highland West Junior High and Moore High School, where he played defensive end on the football team.
Keith graduated from Moore High School and worked as a derrick hand in the oil fields. He worked his way up to become an operation manager. When Keith was 20, he and his friends Scott Webb, Keith Cory, David "Yogi" Vowell and Danny Smith, with a few others, formed the Easy Money Band, which played at local bars as he continued to work in the oil industry. At times, he would have to leave in the middle of a concert if he was paged to work in the oil field.
In 1982, the oil industry in Oklahoma began a rapid decline and Keith soon found himself unemployed. He fell back on his football training and played defensive end with the semi-pro Oklahoma City Drillers while continuing to perform with his band. (The Drillers were an unofficial farm club of the United States Football League's Oklahoma Outlaws; Keith tried out for the Outlaws but did not make the team.) He then returned to focus once again on music. His family and friends were doubtful he would succeed, but, in 1984, Easy Money (various other band members included Mike Barnes, T.A. Brauer, and David Saylors) began playing the honky-tonk circuit in Oklahoma and Texas.
Musical career
In the early 1990s, Keith went to Nashville, Tennessee, where he hung out and busked on Music Row and at a place called Houndogs. He distributed copies of a demo tape the band had made to the many record companies in the city. There was no interest by any of the record labels, and Keith returned home feeling depressed. He had promised himself and God to have a recording contract by the time he was 30 years old or give up on music as a career. A flight attendant and fan of his gave a copy of Keith's demo tape to Harold Shedd, a Mercury Records executive, while he was traveling on a flight she was working. Shedd enjoyed what he heard, went to see Keith perform live and then signed him to a recording contract with Mercury.
1993–1995: Toby Keith and Boomtown
Keith's debut single, "Should've Been a Cowboy", went to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 1993, and it reached number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song led off his self-titled debut album. By the end of the decade, "Should've Been a Cowboy" received more than three million spins at radio, thus making it the most-played country song of the 1990s. Certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of one million copies, the album produced three more Top 5 hits on the country charts with "He Ain't Worth Missing" (at #5), "A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action" (originally the B-side of "Should've Been a Cowboy") and "Wish I Didn't Know Now" (both at #2). Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic wrote of the album, "It is given a production that's a bit too big, clean, glossy and cavernous for Keith's good—it fits the outsized sound of early-'90s radio, but not his outsized talent—but beneath that sheen the songs are very strong." He also thought that it showed the signs of the style that Keith would develop on subsequent albums. The album's success led to Keith touring with then-labelmates Shania Twain and John Brannen. Keith and Twain also appeared in Tracy Lawrence's music video for "My Second Home" in 1993.
Keith then signed with Polydor Records Nashville and released his second album, Boomtown, in September 1994. Also certified platinum, this album was led off by the number one single "Who's That Man". After it, "Upstairs Downtown" and "You Ain't Much Fun" both made the Top 10, while "Big Ol' Truck" peaked at number 15. By late-1995, he released his first Christmas album, Christmas to Christmas, via Mercury. Composed entirely of original songs, the album produced one chart entry in "Santa I'm Right Here", which reached as high as number 50 based on Christmas airplay.
1996–1998: Blue Moon, Dream Walkin and Greatest Hits Volume One
Keith then signed with the short-lived Nashville division of A&M Records to release his third album Blue Moon in April 1996. That album received a platinum certification and produced three singles. Its first single, "Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine on You", which Keith wrote in 1987, peaked at number 2. Following it were "A Woman's Touch" at number 6, and "Me Too", which became his third number one hit in March 1997. Keith also appeared on The Beach Boys' now out-of-print 1996 album Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 performing a cover of their 1963 hit "Be True to Your School" with the Beach Boys themselves providing the harmonies and backing vocals.
Following a corporate merger, Keith returned to Mercury in 1997. His fourth studio album, Dream Walkin', was also his first produced by James Stroud, who would also serve as Keith's co-producer until 2005. It produced two consecutive number 2 hits with "We Were in Love" and a cover of Sting's 1996 single "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying". Sting also sang duet vocals and played bass guitar on it, and the two also performed the song at the 1997 Country Music Association awards. After this song, the album's title track reached number 5, while "Double Wide Paradise" peaked at number 40.
Keith's last Mercury release was Greatest Hits Volume One in October 1998. The album included twelve of his prior singles and two new songs: the country rap "Getcha Some" and "If a Man Answers". Both were released as singles, with "Getcha Some" reaching the Top 20, but "If a Man Answers" became his first single to miss the Top 40. According to Keith, these two songs were originally to be put on a studio album, but Mercury executives, dissatisfied with the album that Keith had made, chose to put those two songs on a greatest hits package, and asked him to "go work on another album". After he recorded two more songs which the label also rejected, he asked to terminate his contract with the label. After exiting Mercury, Keith co-wrote Shane Minor's debut single "Slave to the Habit" with Chuck Cannon and Kostas.
1999–2002: How Do You Like Me Now?! and Pull My Chain
In 1999, Keith moved to DreamWorks Records' Nashville division, of which Stroud served as president. His first release for the label was "When Love Fades", which also failed to make Top 40. Upon seeing the single's poor performance, Keith requested that it be withdrawn and replaced with "How Do You Like Me Now?!", a song that he wrote with Chuck Cannon, and which had previously been turned down by Mercury. It also served as the title track to his first DreamWorks album, How Do You Like Me Now?! The song spent five weeks at number 1 on the country charts, and became his first top 40 pop hit, with a number 31 peak on the Hot 100. It was also the top country song of 2000 according to the Billboard Year-End chart. The album, which was certified platinum, produced a Top 5 hit in "Country Comes to Town" and another number 1 in "You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This". It was also his first album to feature songs co-written by Scotty Emerick, who would be a frequent collaborator of Keith's for the next several albums. Steve Huey wrote that this album "had a rough, brash attitude that helped give Keith a stronger identity as a performer." In 2001, Keith won the Academy of Country Music's Top Male Vocalist and Album of the Year awards.
Following this album was Pull My Chain, released in August 2001. The album's three singles—"I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight", "I Wanna Talk About Me", and "My List"—all went to number 1 on the country charts, with the latter two both holding that position for five weeks. "I Wanna Talk About Me", written by Bobby Braddock, also displayed a country rap influence with its spoken-word lyrics. The Country Music Association named "My List" as Single of the Year in 2002. Of Pull My Chain, Erlewine wrote that "this is a bigger, better record than its predecessor, possessing a richer musicality and a more confident sense of humor".
2002–2004: Unleashed and Shock'n Y'all
In 2002, he released the Unleashed album which included four singles. First was "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)", which Keith wrote in 20 minutes as a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. The song references Keith's father, a United States Army veteran who died that March in a car accident. Both this song and "Who's Your Daddy?" were number 1 hits, with "Rock You Baby" reaching number 13. The last single was "Beer for My Horses", a duet with Willie Nelson which six weeks at the top of the country charts. At the time, it was also Keith's highest entry on the Hot 100, at number 22. In July 2003, Keith made a guest appearance on Scotty Emerick's debut single "I Can't Take You Anywhere", which was previously recorded by Keith on Pull My Chain. Emerick's version of the song was his only top 40 country hit, at number 27.
Shock'n Y'all, his eighth studio album, was released in November 2003. The album's title is a pun on the military term "shock and awe". It became his second album from which all singles went to number 1: "I Love This Bar", "American Soldier", and "Whiskey Girl". Also included on the disc were "The Taliban Song" and "Weed with Willie", two live songs recorded with Emerick. The album was followed in late 2004 by Greatest Hits 2, which included three new songs: "Stays in Mexico", "Go with Her", and a cover of Inez and Charlie Foxx's "Mockingbird", recorded as a duet with his daughter, Krystal Keith. "Stays in Mexico" was a number 3 hit on the country charts, while "Mockingbird" peaked at number 27.
Keith's final DreamWorks album was Honkytonk University in early 2005. Lead-off single "Honkytonk U" peaked at number 8, followed by "As Good as I Once Was", which spent six weeks at number 1, and "Big Blue Note" at number 5. After the release of the latter, DreamWorks Records ceased operations.
2005–present: After DreamWorks
On August 31, 2005, Keith founded a new label, Show Dog Nashville. Its first release was his 2006 album White Trash with Money, followed by the soundtrack to Broken Bridges. He also abandoned Stroud as co-producer in favor of Cannon's wife, Lari White. The album included three singles: "Get Drunk and Be Somebody", "A Little Too Late", and "Crash Here Tonight". Big Dog Daddy followed in 2007, with Keith serving as sole producer. Its singles were "High Maintenance Woman", "Love Me If You Can", and "Get My Drink On". "Love Me If You Can" became Keith's first number 1 hit since "As Good as I Once Was" more than two years prior. A two-disc Christmas album, A Classic Christmas, followed later in 2007. In 2008, Keith completed his Biggest and Baddest Tour. On May 6, 2008, he released 35 Biggest Hits, a two-disc compilation featuring most of his singles to date, as well as the new song "She's a Hottie", which peaked at number 13.
Keith released "She Never Cried in Front of Me", which went to number 1 in 2008. Its corresponding album, That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, followed on October 28, 2008. It was followed by "God Love Her", also a number 1 hit, and "Lost You Anyway". American Ride, in 2009, produced another number 1 in its title track. It was followed by the Top 10 hit "Cryin' for Me (Wayman's Song)", a tribute to basketball player and jazz bassist Wayman Tisdale, a friend of Keith's who died in May 2009. The album's final single was "Every Dog Has Its Day".
Bullets in the Gun was released on October 5, 2010. This was Keith's first album not to produce a top 10 hit, with "Trailerhood" reaching number 19, followed by the title track and "Somewhere Else" both at number 12. Keith produced the album with session guitarist Kenny Greenberg and recording engineer Mills Logan.
On October 25, 2011, Clancy's Tavern was released. The album included the single "Made in America", written by Keith along with Bobby Pinson and Scott Reeves, which went to number 1. Following it was "Red Solo Cup", which had previously been made into a music video which became popular. Upon release as a single, "Red Solo Cup" became Keith's best-peaking crossover, reaching number 15 on the Hot 100. The album's final single was "Beers Ago" at number 6 in 2012. In December 2011, Keith was named "Artist of the Decade" by the American Country Awards.
Keith's sixteenth album, Hope on the Rocks, was released in late 2012. It produced only two singles, both of which are top 20 hits: "I Like Girls That Drink Beer" reached at number 17 and the title track peaked at number 18.
In mid-2013, he entered the charts with "Drinks After Work", the first single from his seventeenth album, also titled Drinks After Work. The album's second single is "Shut Up and Hold On".
In October 2014, Keith released "Drunk Americans", the lead single from his eighteenth studio album, 35 MPH Town. In April 2015, Keith released "35 MPH Town", the album's title track and second single. In 2015, Keith was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In September 2017, Keith released the compilation album, The Bus Songs. The album contains twelve songs: two new, five re-recorded, and five previously released songs. The new songs on the album are "Shitty Golfer" and "Wacky Tobaccy". In the U.S. The Bus Songs topped the Billboard Comedy Albums chart for 11 weeks. It also reached number 6 on the Top Country Albums chart and 38 on the Billboard 200 chart.
In 2021, Keith featured on the Brantley Gilbert single "The Worst Country Song of All Time" with Hardy.
Acting career
Television appearances
Keith performed on a series of television advertisements for Telecom USA for that company's discount long-distance telephone service 10-10-220. He also starred in Ford commercials, singing original songs such as "Ford Truck Man" and "Field Trip (Look Again)" while driving Ford trucks.
Keith made an appearance at the first Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (then NWA-TNA) weekly pay-per-view on June 19, 2002, where his playing of "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" was interrupted by Jeff Jarrett. He would later enter the Gauntlet for the Gold main event, suplexing Jarrett and eliminating him from the match. A short video of the suplex is seen in the clip package when he goes onstage. He appeared the next week, on June 26, and helped Scott Hall defeat Jarrett in singles action.
In 2009, Keith participated in the Comedy Central Roast of Larry the Cable Guy, which aired on March 14, 2009.
Keith received the "Colbert Bump" when he appeared on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report. He holds the distinction of being the only musical artist to have received a five star rating from Stephen Colbert on iTunes. Keith furthered this connection when he appeared in Colbert's 2008 Christmas special as a hunter. Keith also made an appearance as a musical guest on the October 27, 2011 episode of the Colbert Report.
On October 29, 2011, Keith appeared on Fox Channel's Huckabee with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. He played "Bullets in the Gun" and he joined with Huckabees house band to play a song at the end of the show.
In December 2018, Keith will appear as a guest on Darci Lynne: My Hometown Christmas.
Acting
In the Autumn of 2005, he filmed Broken Bridges, written by Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld, and directed by Steven Goldmann. This feature film from Paramount/CMT Films was released on September 8, 2006. In this contemporary story set in small-town Tennessee, Keith plays Bo Price, a washed-up country musician. The movie also stars Kelly Preston, Burt Reynolds, Tess Harper, and Lindsey Haun.
Keith wrote and starred in the 2008 movie Beer for My Horses, which is based on the 2003 hit song of the same name recorded by Keith and Willie Nelson.
He was also set to star in the film Bloodworth, but later dropped out.
Business ventures
In 2005, Keith opened Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as well as Syracuse, New York and Tulsa, Oklahoma, and now also has restaurants in Thackerville, Oklahoma; Auburn Hills, Michigan; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Mesa, Arizona; Peoria, Arizona; St. Louis Park, Minnesota; Foxborough, Massachusetts; Cincinnati, Ohio; Newport News, Virginia; and Denver, Colorado. Keith does not actually own the new restaurants; the new restaurant is the first in a franchise under Scottsdale, Arizona-based Capri Restaurant Group Enterprises LLC, which purchased the master license agreement to build more Toby Keith restaurants nationwide. Capri Restaurant Group is owned by Frank Capri, who opened the restaurant in Mesa in the shopping center known as Mesa Riverview and is planning on opening multiple locations across the country.
In 2009, Capri Restaurant Group announced that it will open another "I Love this Bar & Grill" location in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's South Side Works shopping and entertainment district.
In 2009, Keith also established a line of clothing, TK Steelman.
February 2010 marked the opening of the Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill in the Winstar World Casino, exit 1 on Interstate 35 in Oklahoma. Other locations opened in 2010 by the Capri Restaurant Group included those in Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills, Michigan and in the Shops at West End in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Both of which closed in 2015.
In 2011, Keith introduced a new drink named “Wild Shot". At first it was only available in Mexico, but now is sold and served in America. It is a featured drink in his restaurant chain, I Love this Bar and Grill.
Keith's music career and his various other business ventures have made him one of the wealthiest celebrities in the United States. The July 15. 2013, edition of Forbes magazine features Keith on the cover with the caption "Country Music's $500 million man". The article titled "Cowboy Capitalist" by Zack O'Malley Greenburg also contains information regarding Keith's earnings as a musician over the course of his career, such as earning $65 million in the past 12 months, which surpasses the earnings of even more well known musicians such as Jay-Z and Beyoncé and that he hasn't earned less than $48 million a year over the past 5 years. Keith has written at least one #1 country single over the past 20 years and the partnership between his own label, Show Dog-Universal, and Big Machine Records, which Keith also helped found in 2005.
Political beliefs
Since 2002, Keith has made numerous trips to the Middle East to bring entertainment and encouragement to U.S. men and women serving on or near the front lines. “My father was a soldier. He taught his kids to respect veterans,” said Keith. “It's that respect and the thank-you that we have a military that's in place and ready to defend our nation; our freedom.”
In 2004, Keith called himself "a conservative Democrat who is sometimes embarrassed for his party". He endorsed the re-election of President George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election and performed at a Dallas, Texas, rally on the night before the election. Keith also endorsed Democrat Dan Boren in his successful run in Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district and is good friends with former Democratic New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
In a January 2007 interview with Newsday, Keith was asked whether he supported the Iraq War. He responded with "Never did," and said he favors setting a time limit on the campaign. He also said, "I don't apologize for being patriotic... If there is something socially incorrect about being patriotic and supporting your troops, then they can kiss my ass on that, because I'm not going to budge on that at all. And that has nothing to do with politics. Politics is what's killing America."
In April 2008, Keith said that Barack Obama "looks like a great speaker and a great leader. And I think you can learn on your feet in there, so I don't hold people responsible for not having a whole bunch of political background in the House and Senate." His remarks continued, "I think [John] McCain is a great option too." In August 2008, he called Obama "the best Democratic candidate we've had since Bill Clinton".
In October 2008, Keith told CMT that he had left the Democratic Party and has re-registered as an independent. "My party that I've been affiliated with all these years doesn't stand for anything that I stand for anymore," he says. "They've lost any sensibility that they had, and they've allowed all the kooks in. So I'm going independent." He also told CMT that he would likely vote for the Republican ticket, partially because of his admiration for Sarah Palin.
In March 2009, Keith received the Johnny "Mike" Spann Memorial Semper Fidelis Award during a New York ceremony held by the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. The trophy is named for the CIA operative (and former Marine Corps captain) who was the first U.S. casualty in the war in Afghanistan. "Spending time with our soldiers around the world is something I've always regarded as a privilege and honor," he said. "I'm certainly happy to accept this award, but I won't forget for a second who's really doing the heavy lifting to keep this country safe. And that's why I'll keep going back and spending time with those good folks every chance I get."
In April 2009, he voiced support for Obama on Afghanistan and other decisions: "He hired one of my best friends who I think should run for president someday...Gen. James Jones as a national security adviser. He's sending troops into Afghanistan, help is on the way there. And I'm seeing some really good middle range stuff. I'm giving our commander in chief a chance before I start grabbing. So far, I'm cool with it."
Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue
On March 24, 2001, Keith's father, H.K. Covel, was killed in a car accident. That event and the September 11 attacks in 2001 prompted Keith to write the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", a song about his father's patriotism and faith in the United States. At first, Keith refused to record the song and sang it only live at his concerts for military personnel. The reaction to the song, the lyrics of which express clear nationalistic and militaristic sentiments, was strong in many quarters, even to the point that the Commandant of the Marine Corps James L. Jones told Keith it was his "duty as an American citizen" to record the song. As the lead single from the album Unleashed (2002), "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue" peaked at number one over the Fourth of July weekend.
ABC invited Keith to sing "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue" on a 2002 Fourth of July concert it was producing, then rescinded the invitation after host Peter Jennings heard the song and vetoed it. Jennings said the song "probably wouldn't set the right tone". Keith said his statement to the press of Jennings was, "Isn't he Canadian?", and "I bet Dan Rather wouldn't kick me off his show."
Feud with the Dixie Chicks
Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", in 2002, as well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London, in March 2003. The lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines, publicly stated that Keith's song was "ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant". Keith responded by pointing out that Maines did not write her music and he does, and by displaying a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. On May 21, 2003, Maines wore a T-shirt with the letters "FUTK" on the front at the Academy of Country Music Awards. While a spokesperson for the Dixie Chicks said that the acronym stood for "Friends United in Truth and Kindness," many, including host Vince Gill, took it to be a shot at Keith ("Fuck You Toby Keith"). In an October 2004 appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, Maines finally confessed that it was indeed a shot at Keith, and that she "thought that nobody would get it".
In August 2003, Keith's representation publicly declared he was done feuding with Maines "because he's realized there are far more important things to concentrate on". Keith was referring specifically to the terminal illness of a former bandmate's daughter, Allison Faith Webb. However, he continues to refuse to say Maines' name, and claims that the doctored photo was intended to express his opinion that Maines' criticism was an attempt to squelch Keith's free speech.
In April 2008, a commercial spot to promote Al Gore's "We Campaign", involving both Keith and the Dixie Chicks, was proposed. However, the idea was eventually abandoned due to scheduling conflicts.
Donald Trump
On January 19, 2017, Toby Keith performed at the pre-Inaugural "Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration" held at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. in celebration of the beginning of the presidency of Donald Trump. Keith thanked outgoing president Barack Obama for his service and thanked president-elect Trump at the start of the celebration. Keith then played several of his patriotic songs, including "American Soldier", "Made in America", "Beer For My Horses", and "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue".
On January 13, 2021, it was reported that Keith had been awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Trump. The award was given in a closed ceremony, alongside fellow country musician Ricky Skaggs.
Personal life
Keith has an honorary degree from Villanova University, which he attended from 1979 to 1980. He planned to be a petroleum engineer.
An avid University of Oklahoma sports fan, Keith is often seen at Oklahoma Sooners games and practices. He is also a fan of professional wrestling, being seen in the front row of numerous WWE shows that take place in Oklahoma, as well as performing "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)" live at the first ever TNA Wrestling show on June 19, 2002. He is also a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team. He is a Free Will Baptist.
On March 24, 1984, Keith married Tricia Lucus. He is the father of three children—two daughters, Shelley Covel Rowland (born 1980, adopted by Keith in 1984) and Krystal "Krystal Keith" LaDawn Covel Sandubrae (born September 30, 1985; signed a contract with Show Dog-Universal in 2013), and one son (Stelen Keith Covel, born 1997). He also has four grandchildren.
On March 24, 2001, Keith's father was killed in a car accident on Interstate 35. On December 25, 2007, the Covel family was awarded $2.8 million for the wrongful death of H.K. Covel. Elias and Pedro Rodriguez, operators of Rodriguez Transportes of Tulsa, and the Republic Western Insurance Co. were found liable as they failed to equip the charter bus with properly working air brakes.
Philanthropy
Keith supports Ally's House, a non-profit organization in Oklahoma designed to aid children with cancer. Of the charity, Keith said:
Keith filmed a PSA for Little Kids Rock, a national nonprofit that works to restore and revitalize music education in disadvantaged U.S. public schools.
As of 2015, Forbes estimated Keith's annual income at $53 million.
Tours
Brooks and Dunn's Neon Circus and Wild West Show 2001
Unleashed Tour 2002
with Jamie O'Neal, Emerson Drive and Rascal Flatts (Select Dates)
USO 2002–13 (11 tours, visiting 15 countries and 3 naval ships)
Shock'N Y'all Tour 2003
with Blake Shelton
Big Throwdown Tour 2004
with Lonestar and Gretchen Wilson
with Sawyer Brown and Terri Clark
Big Throwdown Tour II 2005
with Jo Dee Messina
White Trash With Money Tour 2006
Hookin' Up and Hangin' Out Tour 2007
with Miranda Lambert, Trace Adkins, Josh Gracin
Big Dog Daddy Tour 2007
Biggest and Baddest Tour 2008–09
with Montgomery Gentry and Trailer Choir
America's Toughest Tour 2009
with Trace Adkins Also Julianne Hough (Few Dates)
Toby Keith's American Ride Tour 2010
with Trace Adkins and James Otto
Locked and Loaded Tour 2011
with Eric Church and JT Hodges
Live in Overdrive Tour
with Brantley Gilbert
Hammer Down Tour 2013
with Kip Moore
Hammer Down Under Tour 2014
With Kellie Pickler and Eli Young Band
Shut Up and Hold On Tour 2014
With Colt Ford and Krystal Keith
Good Times and Pick Up Lines Tour 2015
With Eli Young Band and Chris Janson
Interstates and Tailgates Tour 2016
With Eric Paslay
Should've Been A Cowboy XXV 2018
Discography
Studio albums
Toby Keith (1993)
Boomtown (1994)
Blue Moon (1996)
Dream Walkin' (1997)
How Do You Like Me Now?! (1999)
Pull My Chain (2001)
Unleashed (2002)
Shock'n Y'all (2003)
Honkytonk University (2005)
White Trash with Money (2006)
Big Dog Daddy (2007)
That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy (2008)
American Ride (2009)
Bullets in the Gun (2010)
Clancy's Tavern (2011)
Hope on the Rocks (2012)
Drinks After Work (2013)
35 MPH Town (2015)
Peso in My Pocket (2021)
Compilation albums
Greatest Hits Volume One (1998)
20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection (2003)
Greatest Hits 2 (2004)
35 Biggest Hits (2008)
The Bus Songs (2017)
Christmas albums
Christmas to Christmas (1995)
A Classic Christmas (2007)
Number one singles
"Should've Been a Cowboy"
"Who's That Man"
"Me Too"
"How Do You Like Me Now?!"
"You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This"
"I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight"
"I Wanna Talk About Me"
"My List"
"Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)"
"Who's Your Daddy?"
"Beer for My Horses"
"I Love This Bar"
"American Soldier"
"Whiskey Girl"
"As Good as I Once Was"
"Love Me If You Can"
"She Never Cried in Front of Me"
"God Love Her"
"American Ride"
"Made in America"
Notable awards
Filmography
Broken Bridges (2006) also starring Kelly Preston and Lindsey Haun
CMT Music Awards (2003–2012) Co-Host With Pamela Anderson and Kristen Bell
Beer for My Horses (2008)
References
External links
Toby Keith official website
1961 births
Male actors from Oklahoma
American baritones
American country singer-songwriters
American country record producers
American people of English descent
Country musicians from Oklahoma
DreamWorks Records artists
Living people
Mercury Records artists
People from Clinton, Oklahoma
People from Moore, Oklahoma
Show Dog-Universal Music artists
Villanova University people
Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma
Baptists from Oklahoma
United States National Medal of Arts recipients
American male singer-songwriters | true | [
"In March 2003, the American country band the Dixie Chicks, now known as the Chicks, publicly criticized President George W. Bush and the imminent Allied invasion of Iraq, triggering a backlash. Singer Natalie Maines made the statement at a concert in London; she said the band were ashamed to be from the same state as Bush and that they did not support the war. At the time, the Dixie Chicks were one of the most popular American country acts.\n\nAfter the statement was reported by the British newspaper The Guardian, it led to backlash from American country listeners, who were mostly right-wing and supported the war. The Dixie Chicks were blacklisted by thousands of country radio stations, received death threats, and were criticized by other country musicians. The backlash damaged sales of the Dixie Chicks' music and concert tickets and lost them corporate sponsorship. Maines issued an apology, saying her remark had been disrespectful; in 2006, she rescinded the apology, saying she felt Bush deserved no respect.\n\nThe controversy was covered in the 2006 documentary Shut Up and Sing. In the same year, the Dixie Chicks released the single \"Not Ready to Make Nice\", addressing the criticism. The Dixie Chicks and their position on Bush was cited as an influence by later country artists including Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert and Kacey Musgraves.\n\nBackground\nThe Dixie Chicks formed in 1989 in Dallas, Texas. By the turn of the millennium, they had become one of the most popular American country acts and the bestselling female band of all time. According to Guardian journalist Betty Clarke, the Dixie Chicks were among the most controversial stars of country music; the country establishment disapproved of their \"feisty songs, their provocative style or the fact they were selling huge numbers of progressive bluegrass records to pop kids\".\n\nFollowing the September 11 attacks in 2001, American country music featured more patriotic sentiment than normal, in hits such as Toby Keith's \"Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)\" and Darryl Worley's \"Have You Forgotten?\". Many fans and country radio stations supported President George W. Bush and the imminent Allied invasion of Iraq. Market research found that the average country listener was white, suburban and right-wing.\n\nMaines's statement \n\nOn March 10, 2003, nine days before the invasion of Iraq, the Dixie Chicks performed at the Shepherd's Bush Empire theater in London, England. It was the first concert of their Top of the World tour in support of their sixth album, Home. Introducing their song \"Travelin' Soldier\", vocalist Natalie Maines told the audience:\n\nReviewing the concert for the British newspaper The Guardian, journalist Betty Clarke reported Maines's comment and said that the audience cheered. Clarke wrote: \"At a time when country stars are rushing to release pro-war anthems, this is practically punk rock.\" After Maines made her comment, another band member stepped forward on the stage and added: \"But you know we're behind the troops 100 percent.\" The second comment was not widely reported.\n\nBacklash \nMaines's remark triggered a backlash in the United States. Many country fans saw Maines as traitorous for not supporting the president. Focus tests by Country Music Television found that audiences felt abandoned by Maines's comment. They particularly disliked that she had criticized Bush in a foreign country, feeling it was cowardly. Maines said she made the statement in London because \"that's where I was\".\n\nThe Dixie Chicks single \"Landslide\" fell from number 10 to 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 in one week, and exited the chart a week later. The Dixie Chicks were blacklisted by thousands of country radio stations. On May 6, Colorado radio station KKCS suspended two DJs for playing their music. WTDR-FM in Talladega, Alabama, dropped the Dixie Chicks after more than 250 listeners called on a single day to complain about Maines's comments. Jim Jacobs, president of Jacobs Broadcast Group, which includes WTDR, described emotional callers describing family members who were members of the American armed forces. Dixie Chicks manager Simon Renshaw noted that, by contrast, the stations continued to play the music of Tracy Lawrence, who had been convicted of spousal abuse in 1998.\n\nIn a poll by an Atlanta radio station, 76 percent of listeners who participated responded they would return their Dixie Chicks CDs if they could. Protesters in Bossier City, Louisiana, used a tractor to destroy Dixie Chicks CDs and other items. The Kansas City station WDAF-AM placed trashcans outside its office for listeners to dispose of their CDs, and displayed hundreds of emails from listeners supporting the boycott.\n\nThe drinks manufacturer Lipton canceled its promotional contract with the Dixie Chicks. Maguire's tour bus driver resigned in protest of their remarks. Maines said: \"It seems unfathomable that someone would not want to drive us because of our political views. But we're learning more and more that it's not that unfathomable to a large percentage of the population.\"\n\nApology from Maines and response from Bush \nOn March 12, two days after she had made her statement, Maines issued a disclaimer: \n\nThe statement failed to appease her critics. Two days later, Maines issued an apology, saying:\n\nAs a concerned American citizen, I apologize to President Bush because my remark was disrespectful. I feel that whoever holds that office should be treated with the utmost respect. We are currently in Europe and witnessing a huge anti-American sentiment as a result of the perceived rush to war. While war may remain a viable option, as a mother, I just want to see every possible alternative exhausted before children and American soldiers' lives are lost. I love my country. I am a proud American.Bush responded to the controversy in an interview with Tom Brokaw on April 24:\n\nOn the same day, the Dixie Chicks launched a publicity campaign to respond to the criticism. During a prime time interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC, Maines said she remained proud of her statement. The band appeared naked on the May 2 cover of Entertainment Weekly, covered in words and phrased ascribed to them during the controversy, including \"Traitors\", \"Saddam's Angels\", \"Dixie Sluts\", \"Proud Americans\", \"Hero\", \"Free Speech\", and \"Brave\". The cover further alienated fans. Maines said that the Dixie Chicks had \"nothing but support for the troops\" and did not hate people who supported the war. All the band supported her, saying: \"Natalie's comment came from frustration that we all shared — we were apparently days away from war and still left with a lot of questions.\"\n\nMusicians Bruce Springsteen and Madonna expressed support for the Dixie Chicks' right to express their opinions. Madonna postponed the release of her \"American Life\" video, in which she threw a hand grenade at a Bush lookalike, and later released it in altered form.\n\nTour and television appearances \n\nAt their first show of the Dixie Chicks' American tour, on May 1 in Greenville, South Carolina, Maines wore a T-shirt bearing the words \"Dare to Be Free\". An anti-Dixie Chicks concert was held in a neighbouring town. Following death threats, metal detectors were installed at the Dixie Chicks shows and in Dallas Maines had to be escorted by police to a concert and then the airport. She installed 24-hour security outside her home, and trash was dumped outside Strayer's home.\n\nOn May 21, at the Academy of Country Music Awards ceremony in Las Vegas, the Dixie Chicks' nomination for Entertainer of the Year was announced to boos. The award was given to Toby Keith, who had displayed a doctored photo of Maines and Iraqi president Saddam Hussein at his concerts. Maines had criticized Keith the previous year, calling his music \"blatantly jingoistic\". \n\nDuring the Dixie Chicks' performance at the ceremony, Maines wore a T-shirt with the letters \"FUTK\". Many took this to mean \"Fuck you Toby Keith\"; some Dixie Chicks critics responded by wearing T-shirts bearing the letters \"FUDC\". A Dixie Chicks spokesperson said that the acronym stood for \"Friends United in Truth and Kindness\". In a 2004 interview on Real Time with Bill Maher, Maines said that she had believed that no one would understand the T-shirt. The performance drew further criticism from country music stations.\n\nLater developments \nA few months after Maines's comment, the Dixie Chicks performed and donated $10,000 for Rock the Vote, a website designed to encourage young adults to register to vote. Maines said, \"We always felt like we were searching for ways to make an impact outside of music ... I believe everything that's happened in the last few months happened for a reason. A lot of positive things have come from it, and this is just one of them.\"\n\nIn September 2003, Maguire told the German magazine Der Spiegel that the Dixie Chicks no longer felt part of the country music scene. She cited a lack of support from country stars and the experience at the Academy of Country Music Awards, and said: \"Instead, we won three Grammys against much stronger competition. So we now consider ourselves part of the big rock 'n' roll family.\" In 2006, Maines rescinded the apology she had made in 2003, saying: \"I don't feel that way any more. I don't feel [Bush] is owed any respect whatsoever.\"\n\nLegacy \nThe events of the controversy were documented in the 2006 documentary film Shut Up and Sing. Country musician Merle Haggard, who in the same year had released a song criticizing American media coverage of the Iraq War, said the backlash had been \"like a verbal witch hunt and lynching\", and insulting to those who had died in wars \"when almost the majority of America jumped down their throats for simply voicing an opinion\".\n\nAs of 2006, many stations still refused to play the Dixie Chicks. Focus tests by KFKF-FM in Kansas City found that listeners still disliked them; their program director said: \"It's not the music, because we're playing them the hits they used to love. It's something visceral. I've never seen anything like it.\" Maguire said she would rather have a smaller group of dedicated fans than \"people that have us in their five-disc changer with Reba McEntire and Toby Keith\". The Guardian connected the blacklisting to a fall in female artists in the annual top 100 country songs, from 38% in 1999 to 18% in 2015.\n\nIn 2006, Dixie Chicks released \"Not Ready to Make Nice\", addressing the criticism. In June, they returned to Shepherd's Bush Empire and sold T-shirts with the legend \"The Only Bush we Trust is Shepherd's Bush\". Maines reiterated that the band were ashamed that Bush came from Texas. Sales of their next album, Taking the Long Way (2006), and tour fell short of expectations, but won five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. After their performance at the 2007 Grammy Awards, the Dixie Chicks went on hiatus until 2013. The Dixie Chicks and their position on Bush was cited as an influence by later country artists including Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert and Kacey Musgraves. Pitchfork described this as \"a legacy tied both to their music and their message of integrity\".\n\nIn a 2007 retrospective piece by Betty Clarke, the Guardian journalist who had first quoted Maines's statement, Clarke wrote that she stood by her decision to include the quote and that the \"modern-day witch trial\" had been surreal and unnerving. Entertainment Weekly speculated that if Clarke had not quoted the remark it would not have been picked up by American media.\n\nIn 2016, Maines told the New York Times: \"I look at how much more polarized and intolerant people have become now. With social media, opinions all start becoming noise, but at that point, people weren't really supposed to have an opinion.\" Strayer said that the controversy \"feels like another lifetime to me, it doesn't even feel real—our country's changed, we've changed, the fans definitely have.\"\n\nSee also \n Cancel culture\n\nReferences \n\nThe Chicks\n2003 in American music\n2003 in British music\n2003 in London\n2003 controversies\nBoycotts\nGeorge W. Bush administration controversies\nMarch 2003 events in the United Kingdom\nMusic and politics\nMusic controversies\nOpposition to the Iraq War\nTexas culture\nUnited Kingdom–United States relations",
"This is a list of awards and nominations received by the female American country music trio, the Chicks (formerly known as the Dixie Chicks).\n\nAcademy of Country Music Awards\nThe Academy of Country Music Awards are awards given for outstanding achievement in country music, by the Academy of Country Music. The Dixie Chicks have won eight awards and earned fifteen nominations.\n\n!Ref\n|-\n|rowspan=3|1999\n|rowspan=2|Dixie Chicks\n|Top New Vocal Duet or Group\n|\n|rowspan=3|\n|-\n|Top Vocal Duo or Group\n|\n|-\n|Wide Open Spaces\n|Album of the Year\n|\n|-\n|rowspan=5|2000\n|Fly\n|Album of the Year \n|\n|rowspan=5|\n|-\n|rowspan=2|Dixie Chicks\n|Top Vocal Duo or Group of the Year\n|\n|-\n|Entertainer of the Year\n|\n|-\n|\"Ready to Run\"\n|Single Record of the Year\n|\n|-\n|\"Ready to Run\"\n|Video of the Year\n|\n|-\n|rowspan=3|2001\n|\"Goodbye Earl\"\n|Video of the Year\n|\n|rowspan=3|\n|-\n|rowspan=5|Dixie Chicks\n|Top Vocal Group of the Year\n|\n|-\n|Entertainer of the Year\n|\n|-\n|2002\n|Top Vocal Group of the Year\n|\n|\n|-\n|rowspan=3|2003\n|Top Vocal Group of the Year\n|\n|rowspan=3|\n|-\n|Entertainer of the Year\n|\n|-\n|Home\n|Album of the Year\n|\n|}\n\nAmerican Music Awards\nThe American Music Awards is an annual American music awards show, winners are determined voting by the general public. The Dixie Chicks have won four awards from seven nominations. \n\n!Ref\n|-\n|rowspan=2|1999\n|rowspan=3|Dixie Chicks\n|Favorite New Country Artist\n|\n|rowspan=2|\n|-\n|Favorite Country Band, Duo or Group\n|\n|-\n|rowspan=2|2000\n|Favorite Country Band, Duo or Group\n|\n|rowspan=2|\n|-\n|Fly\n|Favorite Country Album\n|\n|-\n|2001\n|rowspan=2|Dixie Chicks\n|Favorite Country Band, Duo or Group\n|\n|\n|-\n|rowspan=2|2003\n|Favorite Country Band, Duo or Group\n|\n|rowspan=2|\n|-\n|Home\n| Favorite Country Album \n|\n|}\n\nBillboard Music Awards\nThe Billboard Music Awards are annual awards based on album and digital songs sales, streaming, radio airplay, touring and social engagement. The Dixie Chicks have won seven awards, with eight nominations. \n\n!Ref\n|-\n|rowspan=3|1999 \n|rowspan=6|Dixie Chicks\n|Country Artist of the Year\n|\n|rowspan=3|\n|-\n|Country Duo/Group of the year\n|\n|-\n|Country Albums Artist of the Year\n|\n|-\n|rowspan=4|2000\n|Country Artist of the Year\n|\n|rowspan=4|\n|-\n|Country Duo/Group of the Year\n|\n|-\n|Country Albums Artist of the Year\n|\n|-\n|Fly\n|Country Album of the Year\n|\n|-\n|2017\n|Dixie Chicks\n|Top Country Tour\n|\n|\n|}\n\nBlockbuster Entertainment Awards\nThe Blockbuster Entertainment Awards was an annual awards show held from 1995-2001. The Dixie Chicks won two awards.\n\n!Ref\n|-\n|2000\n|Wide Open Spaces\n|Favorite Duo or Group - Country\n|\n|\n|-\n|2001\n|Fly\n|Favorite Duo or Group - Country\n|\n|\n|}\n\nBritish Country Music Association Awards\nThe British Country Music Association holds annual awards to honor the best in country music. The Dixie Chicks have received one nomination.\n\n!Ref\n|-\n|2016\n|Dixie Chicks\n|International Act of the Year \n|\n|\n|}\n\nCanadian Country Music Association Awards\nThe Canadian Country Music Association holds annual awards honoring the best in country music. The Dixie Chicks have won three awards from four nominations.\n\n!Ref\n|-\n|1999\n|Wide Open Spaces\n|Top Selling Album of the Year\n|\n|rowspan=4|\n|-\n|2000\n|Fly\n|Top Selling Album of the Year\n|\n|-\n|2003\n|Home\n|Top Selling Album of the Year\n|\n|-\n|2007\n|Taking The Long Way\n|Top Selling Album of the Year\n|\n|}\n\nCountry Music Association Awards\nThe Country Music Association Awards are annual awards given for outstanding achievement in country music, and organized by the Country Music Association. The Dixie Chicks have earned seventeen nominations, resulting in ten awards.\n\n!Ref\n|-\n|rowspan=2|1998\n|rowspan=2|Dixie Chicks\n|Horizon Award\n|\n|rowspan=2|\n|-\n|Vocal Group of the Year\n|\n|-\n|rowspan=4|1999\n|rowspan=2|\"Wide Open Spaces\"\n|Single of the Year \n|\n|rowspan=4|\n|-\n|Music Video of the Year\n|\n|-\n|rowspan=4|Dixie Chicks\n|Vocal Group of the Year\n|\n|-\n|Entertainer of the Year\n|\n|-\n|rowspan=5|2000\n|Entertainer of the Year\n|\n|rowspan=5|\n|-\n|Vocal Group of the Year\n|\n|-\n|Fly\n|Album of the Year \n|\n|-\n|\"Goodbye Earl\"\n|Music Video of the Year\n|\n|-\n|\"Roly Poly\" (with Asleep at the Wheel)\n|Vocal Event of the Year\n|\n|-\n|rowspan=2|2001\n|rowspan=4|Dixie Chicks\n|Entertainer of the Year\n|\n|rowspan=2|\n|-\n|Vocal Group of the Year\n|\n|-\n|2002\n|Vocal Group of the Year\n|\n|\n|-\n|rowspan=2|2003\n|Vocal Group of the Year\n|\n|rowspan=2|\n|-\n|Home\n|Album of the Year\n|\n|-\n|2007\n|Dixie Chicks\n|Vocal Group of the Year\n|\n|\n|}\n\nCMT/TNN Music Awards\nThe CMT Music Awards are a fan voted awards show designed to celebrate the videos and television performances of country music artists. The Dixie Chicks have won five awards from nineteen nominations.\n\n!Ref\n|-\n|rowspan=3|1999\n|rowspan=2|Dixie Chicks\n|Vocal Band of the Year\n|\n|\n|-\n|Female Star of Tomorrow\n|\n|\n|-\n|Wide Open Spaces\n|rowspan=2|Album of the Year\n|\n|\n|-\n|rowspan=3|2000\n|Fly\n|\n|\n|-\n|\"Ready to Run\"\n|Music Video of the Year\n|\n|\n|-\n|rowspan=4|Dixie Chicks\n|rowspan=2|Group/Duo of the Year\n|\n|\n|-\n|rowspan=4|2001\n|\n|\n|-\n|Entertainer of the Year\n|\n|\n|-\n|Impact Award\n|\n|\n|-\n|\"Goodbye Earl\"\n|Music Video of the Year\n|\n|\n|-\n|2002\n|Dixie Chicks\n|Video Visionary Award\n|\n|\n|-\n|rowspan=4|2003\n|rowspan=4|\"Long Time Gone\"\n|Video of the Year\n|\n|rowspan=4|\n|-\n|Group/Duo Video of the Year\n|\n|-\n|Hottest Female Video of the Year\n|\n|-\n|Fashion Plate Video of the Year\n|\n|-\n|rowspan=2|2007\n|rowspan=2|\"Not Ready to Make Nice\"\n|Video of the Year\n|\n|rowspan=2|\n|-\n|rowspan=2| Group Video of the Year\n|\n|-\n|rowspan=2| 2020\n| rowspan=2| \"Gaslighter\"\n|\n| rowspan=2| \n|-\n| Video of the Year\n|\n|}\n\nCritics' Choice Awards\nThe Critics' Choice Awards is an awards show presented annually by the Broadcast Film Critics Association to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. The Dixie Chicks have received one nomination.\n\n!Ref\n|-\n|2007\n|\"The Neighbor\"\n|Best Song\n|\n|\n|}\n\nGrammy Awards\nThe Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. The Dixie Chicks have received thirteen awards from twenty-two nominations.\n\n!Ref\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:center;\" rowspan=\"3\"| 1999 || Dixie Chicks || Best New Artist || || rowspan=3|\n|-\n| Wide Open Spaces || Best Country Album || \n|-\n| \"There's Your Trouble\" || Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal || \n|-\n| style=\"text-align:center;\" rowspan=\"5\"| 2000\n|rowspan=\"2\"| Fly || Album of the Year || || rowspan=5|\n|-\n| Best Country Album || \n|-\n|rowspan=\"2\"| \"Ready to Run\" || Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal || \n|-\n| Best Country Song (for Martie Seidel) || \n|-\n| \"Roly Poly\" (with Asleep at the Wheel) ||rowspan=\"3\"| Best Country Collaboration with Vocals || \n|-\n| style=\"text-align:center;\" rowspan=\"2\"| 2001 || \"Strong Enough\" (with Sheryl Crow)\n| || rowspan=2|\n|-\n| \"Walk Softly\" (with Ricky Skaggs) || \n|-\n| style=\"text-align:center;\" rowspan=\"4\"| 2003\n|rowspan=\"2\"|Home || Album of the Year || || rowspan=4|\n|-\n| Best Country Album || \n|-\n| \"Lil' Jack Slade\" || Best Country Instrumental Performance|| \n|-\n| \"Long Time Gone\" ||rowspan=\"3\"| Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal || \n|-\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| 2005 || \"Top of the World\" || || \n|-\n| style=\"text-align:center;\" rowspan=\"2\"| 2006\n|rowspan=\"2\"| \"I Hope\" || || rowspan=2|\n|-\n| Best Country Song || \n|-\n| style=\"text-align:center;\" rowspan=\"5\"| 2007\n|rowspan=\"2\"| Taking the Long Way|| Album of the Year || || rowspan=5|\n|-\n| Best Country Album || \n|-\n|rowspan=\"3\"| \"Not Ready to Make Nice\"|| Record of the Year|| \n|-\n| Song of the Year || \n|-\n| Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal||\n\nFrench Country Music Awards\nThe French Association of Country Music holds annual awards to honor the best in country music. The Dixie Chicks have won one award.\n\n!Ref\n|-\n|2002\n|\"I Believe In Love\"\n|Best Video \n|\n|\n|}\n\nJuno Awards\nThe Juno Awards are an annual Canadian awards show organized by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. The Dixie Chicks have won one award.\n\n!Ref\n|-\n|2007\n|Taking the Long Way\n|International Album of the Year\n|\n|\n|}\n\nPeople's Choice Awards\nThe People's Choice Awards are a venue for the American public to honor their favorite actors and actresses, musical performers, television shows, and motion pictures, and is voted on by the general public. The Dixie Chicks have won once.\n\n!Ref\n|-\n|2002 \n|Dixie Chicks\n|Favorite Musical Group or Band\n|\n|\n|}\n\nRadio Music Awards\nThe Radio Music Awards was an annual American award show that honored the year's most successful songs on mainstream radio. The Dixie Chicks won two awards.\n\n!Ref\n|-\n|rowspan=2|1999\n|Dixie Chicks\n|Country Artist of the Year\n|\n|rowspan=2|\n|-\n|\"Wide Open Spaces\"\n|Country Song of the Year\n|\n|}\n\nTNN & CMT Country Weekly Music Awards\nThe Nashville Network and Country Weekly Music held awards show in 2000 and 2001, the winners where voted upon by the general public. The Dixie Chicks won twice with seven nominations.\n\n!Ref\n|-\n|rowspan=3|2000\n|Fly\n|Album of the Year\n|\n|rowspan=3|\n|-\n|\"Ready to Run\"\n|Music Video of the Year\n|\n|-\n|rowspan=4|Dixie Chicks\n|Group/Duo of the Year\n|\n|-\n|rowspan=4|2001\n|Group/Duo of the Year\n|\n|rowspan=4|\n|-\n|Entertainer of the year\n|\n|-\n|Impact Award\n|\n|-\n|\"Goodbye Earl\"\n|Music Video of the Year\n|\n|}\n\nTNN/Music City Awards\nThe Nashville Network and the Music City News held an annual awards show from 1990 to 1999, winners were voted upon by general public. The Dixie Chicks won two awards from three nominations.\n\n!Ref\n|-\n|rowspan=3|1999\n|rowspan=2|Dixie Chicks\n|Vocal Band of the Year\n|\n|rowspan=3|\n|-\n|Female Star of Tomorrow\n|\n|-\n|Wide Open Spaces\n|Album of the Year\n|\n|}\n\nOther awards\n 1998: Pollstar Concert Industry Awards, Best New Artist Tour\n 1999: Entertainment Weekly, The Entertainers '99, #11\n 2003: People for the American Way Foundation, Defenders of Democracy Award\n 2004: MTV's Rock the Vote, Patrick Lippert Award\n 2006: ACLU, Bill of Rights Award\n 2007: Texas Film Hall of Fame, AMD LIVE! Soundtrack Award\n\nReferences\n\nAwards and nominations\nChicks"
]
|
[
"Toby Keith",
"Feud with the Dixie Chicks",
"What was the feud regarding?",
"Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song \"Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue",
"Was the feud about anything else?",
"well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London.",
"What did the group say about Toby ?",
"stated that Keith's song was \"ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant\".",
"How did Toby respond?",
"\". Keith responded by pointing out that Maines did not write her music",
"What else did he say about the Dixie Chicks?",
"did not write her music and he does, and by displaying a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.",
"How did the Dixie Chicks respond to that?",
"On May 21, 2003, Maines wore a T-shirt with the letters \"FUTK\" on the front at the Academy of Country Music Awards."
]
| C_ea9818d4cb5746a4872e18709f939498_0 | What did FUTK mean? | 7 | What did FUTK mean on the shirt that Maines wore? | Toby Keith | Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", in 2003 as well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London. The lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines, publicly stated that Keith's song was "ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant". Keith responded by pointing out that Maines did not write her music and he does, and by displaying a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. On May 21, 2003, Maines wore a T-shirt with the letters "FUTK" on the front at the Academy of Country Music Awards. While a spokesperson for the Dixie Chicks said that the acronym stood for "Friends United in Truth and Kindness," many, including host Vince Gill, took it to be a shot at Keith ("Fuck You Toby Keith"). In an October 2004 appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, Maines finally confessed that it was indeed a shot at Keith, and that she "thought that nobody would get it". In August 2003, Keith's representation publicly declared he was done feuding with Maines "because he's realized there are far more important things to concentrate on". Keith was referring specifically to the terminal illness of a former bandmate's daughter, Allison Faith Webb. However, he continues to refuse to say Maines' name, and claims that the doctored photo was intended to express his opinion that Maines' criticism was an attempt to squelch Keith's free speech. In April 2008, a commercial spot to promote Al Gore's "We Campaign", involving both Keith and the Dixie Chicks, was proposed. However, the idea was eventually abandoned due to scheduling conflicts. CANNOTANSWER | "Friends United in Truth and Kindness," many, including host Vince Gill, took it to be a shot at Keith ("Fuck You Toby Keith"). | Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. Keith released his first four studio albums—1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin', plus a Greatest Hits package—for various divisions of Mercury Records before leaving Mercury in 1998. These albums all earned Gold or higher certification, and produced several Top Ten singles, including his debut "Should've Been a Cowboy", which topped the country charts and was the most-played country song of the 1990s. The song has received three million spins since its release, according to Broadcast Music Incorporated.
Signed to DreamWorks Records Nashville in 1998, Keith released his breakthrough single "How Do You Like Me Now?!" in late 1999. This song, the title track to his 1999 album of the same name, was the number one country song of 2000, and one of several chart-toppers during his tenure on DreamWorks Nashville. His next three albums, Pull My Chain, Unleashed, and Shock'n Y'all, produced three more number ones each, and all of the albums were certified 4x Platinum. A second Greatest Hits package followed in 2004, and after that, he released Honkytonk University.
When DreamWorks closed in 2005, Keith founded the label Show Dog Nashville, which merged with Universal South Records to become Show Dog-Universal Music in December 2009. He has released ten studio albums through Show Dog/Show Dog-Universal: 2006's White Trash with Money, 2007's Big Dog Daddy, 2008's That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, 2009's American Ride, 2010's Bullets in the Gun, 2011's Clancy's Tavern, 2012's Hope on the Rocks, 2013's Drinks After Work, 2015's 35 MPH Town, 2017's The Bus Songs, and 2021’s Peso In My Pocket, as well as the compilation 35 Biggest Hits in 2008. Keith also made his acting debut in 2006, starring in the film Broken Bridges, and co-starred with comedian Rodney Carrington in the 2008 film Beer for My Horses, inspired by his song of the same name.
Keith has released 19 studio albums, 2 Christmas albums, and 5 compilation albums, totaling worldwide sales of over 40 million albums. He has charted 61 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including 20 number one hits and 21 additional top 10 hits. His longest-lasting number one hits are "Beer for My Horses" (a 2003 duet with Willie Nelson) and "As Good as I Once Was" (2005), at six weeks each. Keith was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Donald Trump in a closed ceremony alongside Ricky Skaggs on January 13, 2021.
Early life
Keith was born in Clinton, Oklahoma, to Carolyn Joan (née Ross) and Hubert K. Covel, Jr. and is of English ancestry. He has a sister and a brother. The family lived in Fort Smith, Arkansas, for a few years when Keith was in grade school, but moved to Moore, Oklahoma (a suburb of Oklahoma City), when he was still young. Before the family moved to Moore, he visited his grandmother in Fort Smith during the summers. His grandmother owned Billie Garner's Supper Club in Fort Smith, where Keith became interested in the musicians who came there to play. He did odd jobs around the supper club and started getting up on the bandstand to play with the band. He got his first guitar at the age of eight. After the family moved to Moore, Keith attended Highland West Junior High and Moore High School, where he played defensive end on the football team.
Keith graduated from Moore High School and worked as a derrick hand in the oil fields. He worked his way up to become an operation manager. When Keith was 20, he and his friends Scott Webb, Keith Cory, David "Yogi" Vowell and Danny Smith, with a few others, formed the Easy Money Band, which played at local bars as he continued to work in the oil industry. At times, he would have to leave in the middle of a concert if he was paged to work in the oil field.
In 1982, the oil industry in Oklahoma began a rapid decline and Keith soon found himself unemployed. He fell back on his football training and played defensive end with the semi-pro Oklahoma City Drillers while continuing to perform with his band. (The Drillers were an unofficial farm club of the United States Football League's Oklahoma Outlaws; Keith tried out for the Outlaws but did not make the team.) He then returned to focus once again on music. His family and friends were doubtful he would succeed, but, in 1984, Easy Money (various other band members included Mike Barnes, T.A. Brauer, and David Saylors) began playing the honky-tonk circuit in Oklahoma and Texas.
Musical career
In the early 1990s, Keith went to Nashville, Tennessee, where he hung out and busked on Music Row and at a place called Houndogs. He distributed copies of a demo tape the band had made to the many record companies in the city. There was no interest by any of the record labels, and Keith returned home feeling depressed. He had promised himself and God to have a recording contract by the time he was 30 years old or give up on music as a career. A flight attendant and fan of his gave a copy of Keith's demo tape to Harold Shedd, a Mercury Records executive, while he was traveling on a flight she was working. Shedd enjoyed what he heard, went to see Keith perform live and then signed him to a recording contract with Mercury.
1993–1995: Toby Keith and Boomtown
Keith's debut single, "Should've Been a Cowboy", went to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 1993, and it reached number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song led off his self-titled debut album. By the end of the decade, "Should've Been a Cowboy" received more than three million spins at radio, thus making it the most-played country song of the 1990s. Certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of one million copies, the album produced three more Top 5 hits on the country charts with "He Ain't Worth Missing" (at #5), "A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action" (originally the B-side of "Should've Been a Cowboy") and "Wish I Didn't Know Now" (both at #2). Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic wrote of the album, "It is given a production that's a bit too big, clean, glossy and cavernous for Keith's good—it fits the outsized sound of early-'90s radio, but not his outsized talent—but beneath that sheen the songs are very strong." He also thought that it showed the signs of the style that Keith would develop on subsequent albums. The album's success led to Keith touring with then-labelmates Shania Twain and John Brannen. Keith and Twain also appeared in Tracy Lawrence's music video for "My Second Home" in 1993.
Keith then signed with Polydor Records Nashville and released his second album, Boomtown, in September 1994. Also certified platinum, this album was led off by the number one single "Who's That Man". After it, "Upstairs Downtown" and "You Ain't Much Fun" both made the Top 10, while "Big Ol' Truck" peaked at number 15. By late-1995, he released his first Christmas album, Christmas to Christmas, via Mercury. Composed entirely of original songs, the album produced one chart entry in "Santa I'm Right Here", which reached as high as number 50 based on Christmas airplay.
1996–1998: Blue Moon, Dream Walkin and Greatest Hits Volume One
Keith then signed with the short-lived Nashville division of A&M Records to release his third album Blue Moon in April 1996. That album received a platinum certification and produced three singles. Its first single, "Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine on You", which Keith wrote in 1987, peaked at number 2. Following it were "A Woman's Touch" at number 6, and "Me Too", which became his third number one hit in March 1997. Keith also appeared on The Beach Boys' now out-of-print 1996 album Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 performing a cover of their 1963 hit "Be True to Your School" with the Beach Boys themselves providing the harmonies and backing vocals.
Following a corporate merger, Keith returned to Mercury in 1997. His fourth studio album, Dream Walkin', was also his first produced by James Stroud, who would also serve as Keith's co-producer until 2005. It produced two consecutive number 2 hits with "We Were in Love" and a cover of Sting's 1996 single "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying". Sting also sang duet vocals and played bass guitar on it, and the two also performed the song at the 1997 Country Music Association awards. After this song, the album's title track reached number 5, while "Double Wide Paradise" peaked at number 40.
Keith's last Mercury release was Greatest Hits Volume One in October 1998. The album included twelve of his prior singles and two new songs: the country rap "Getcha Some" and "If a Man Answers". Both were released as singles, with "Getcha Some" reaching the Top 20, but "If a Man Answers" became his first single to miss the Top 40. According to Keith, these two songs were originally to be put on a studio album, but Mercury executives, dissatisfied with the album that Keith had made, chose to put those two songs on a greatest hits package, and asked him to "go work on another album". After he recorded two more songs which the label also rejected, he asked to terminate his contract with the label. After exiting Mercury, Keith co-wrote Shane Minor's debut single "Slave to the Habit" with Chuck Cannon and Kostas.
1999–2002: How Do You Like Me Now?! and Pull My Chain
In 1999, Keith moved to DreamWorks Records' Nashville division, of which Stroud served as president. His first release for the label was "When Love Fades", which also failed to make Top 40. Upon seeing the single's poor performance, Keith requested that it be withdrawn and replaced with "How Do You Like Me Now?!", a song that he wrote with Chuck Cannon, and which had previously been turned down by Mercury. It also served as the title track to his first DreamWorks album, How Do You Like Me Now?! The song spent five weeks at number 1 on the country charts, and became his first top 40 pop hit, with a number 31 peak on the Hot 100. It was also the top country song of 2000 according to the Billboard Year-End chart. The album, which was certified platinum, produced a Top 5 hit in "Country Comes to Town" and another number 1 in "You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This". It was also his first album to feature songs co-written by Scotty Emerick, who would be a frequent collaborator of Keith's for the next several albums. Steve Huey wrote that this album "had a rough, brash attitude that helped give Keith a stronger identity as a performer." In 2001, Keith won the Academy of Country Music's Top Male Vocalist and Album of the Year awards.
Following this album was Pull My Chain, released in August 2001. The album's three singles—"I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight", "I Wanna Talk About Me", and "My List"—all went to number 1 on the country charts, with the latter two both holding that position for five weeks. "I Wanna Talk About Me", written by Bobby Braddock, also displayed a country rap influence with its spoken-word lyrics. The Country Music Association named "My List" as Single of the Year in 2002. Of Pull My Chain, Erlewine wrote that "this is a bigger, better record than its predecessor, possessing a richer musicality and a more confident sense of humor".
2002–2004: Unleashed and Shock'n Y'all
In 2002, he released the Unleashed album which included four singles. First was "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)", which Keith wrote in 20 minutes as a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. The song references Keith's father, a United States Army veteran who died that March in a car accident. Both this song and "Who's Your Daddy?" were number 1 hits, with "Rock You Baby" reaching number 13. The last single was "Beer for My Horses", a duet with Willie Nelson which six weeks at the top of the country charts. At the time, it was also Keith's highest entry on the Hot 100, at number 22. In July 2003, Keith made a guest appearance on Scotty Emerick's debut single "I Can't Take You Anywhere", which was previously recorded by Keith on Pull My Chain. Emerick's version of the song was his only top 40 country hit, at number 27.
Shock'n Y'all, his eighth studio album, was released in November 2003. The album's title is a pun on the military term "shock and awe". It became his second album from which all singles went to number 1: "I Love This Bar", "American Soldier", and "Whiskey Girl". Also included on the disc were "The Taliban Song" and "Weed with Willie", two live songs recorded with Emerick. The album was followed in late 2004 by Greatest Hits 2, which included three new songs: "Stays in Mexico", "Go with Her", and a cover of Inez and Charlie Foxx's "Mockingbird", recorded as a duet with his daughter, Krystal Keith. "Stays in Mexico" was a number 3 hit on the country charts, while "Mockingbird" peaked at number 27.
Keith's final DreamWorks album was Honkytonk University in early 2005. Lead-off single "Honkytonk U" peaked at number 8, followed by "As Good as I Once Was", which spent six weeks at number 1, and "Big Blue Note" at number 5. After the release of the latter, DreamWorks Records ceased operations.
2005–present: After DreamWorks
On August 31, 2005, Keith founded a new label, Show Dog Nashville. Its first release was his 2006 album White Trash with Money, followed by the soundtrack to Broken Bridges. He also abandoned Stroud as co-producer in favor of Cannon's wife, Lari White. The album included three singles: "Get Drunk and Be Somebody", "A Little Too Late", and "Crash Here Tonight". Big Dog Daddy followed in 2007, with Keith serving as sole producer. Its singles were "High Maintenance Woman", "Love Me If You Can", and "Get My Drink On". "Love Me If You Can" became Keith's first number 1 hit since "As Good as I Once Was" more than two years prior. A two-disc Christmas album, A Classic Christmas, followed later in 2007. In 2008, Keith completed his Biggest and Baddest Tour. On May 6, 2008, he released 35 Biggest Hits, a two-disc compilation featuring most of his singles to date, as well as the new song "She's a Hottie", which peaked at number 13.
Keith released "She Never Cried in Front of Me", which went to number 1 in 2008. Its corresponding album, That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, followed on October 28, 2008. It was followed by "God Love Her", also a number 1 hit, and "Lost You Anyway". American Ride, in 2009, produced another number 1 in its title track. It was followed by the Top 10 hit "Cryin' for Me (Wayman's Song)", a tribute to basketball player and jazz bassist Wayman Tisdale, a friend of Keith's who died in May 2009. The album's final single was "Every Dog Has Its Day".
Bullets in the Gun was released on October 5, 2010. This was Keith's first album not to produce a top 10 hit, with "Trailerhood" reaching number 19, followed by the title track and "Somewhere Else" both at number 12. Keith produced the album with session guitarist Kenny Greenberg and recording engineer Mills Logan.
On October 25, 2011, Clancy's Tavern was released. The album included the single "Made in America", written by Keith along with Bobby Pinson and Scott Reeves, which went to number 1. Following it was "Red Solo Cup", which had previously been made into a music video which became popular. Upon release as a single, "Red Solo Cup" became Keith's best-peaking crossover, reaching number 15 on the Hot 100. The album's final single was "Beers Ago" at number 6 in 2012. In December 2011, Keith was named "Artist of the Decade" by the American Country Awards.
Keith's sixteenth album, Hope on the Rocks, was released in late 2012. It produced only two singles, both of which are top 20 hits: "I Like Girls That Drink Beer" reached at number 17 and the title track peaked at number 18.
In mid-2013, he entered the charts with "Drinks After Work", the first single from his seventeenth album, also titled Drinks After Work. The album's second single is "Shut Up and Hold On".
In October 2014, Keith released "Drunk Americans", the lead single from his eighteenth studio album, 35 MPH Town. In April 2015, Keith released "35 MPH Town", the album's title track and second single. In 2015, Keith was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In September 2017, Keith released the compilation album, The Bus Songs. The album contains twelve songs: two new, five re-recorded, and five previously released songs. The new songs on the album are "Shitty Golfer" and "Wacky Tobaccy". In the U.S. The Bus Songs topped the Billboard Comedy Albums chart for 11 weeks. It also reached number 6 on the Top Country Albums chart and 38 on the Billboard 200 chart.
In 2021, Keith featured on the Brantley Gilbert single "The Worst Country Song of All Time" with Hardy.
Acting career
Television appearances
Keith performed on a series of television advertisements for Telecom USA for that company's discount long-distance telephone service 10-10-220. He also starred in Ford commercials, singing original songs such as "Ford Truck Man" and "Field Trip (Look Again)" while driving Ford trucks.
Keith made an appearance at the first Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (then NWA-TNA) weekly pay-per-view on June 19, 2002, where his playing of "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" was interrupted by Jeff Jarrett. He would later enter the Gauntlet for the Gold main event, suplexing Jarrett and eliminating him from the match. A short video of the suplex is seen in the clip package when he goes onstage. He appeared the next week, on June 26, and helped Scott Hall defeat Jarrett in singles action.
In 2009, Keith participated in the Comedy Central Roast of Larry the Cable Guy, which aired on March 14, 2009.
Keith received the "Colbert Bump" when he appeared on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report. He holds the distinction of being the only musical artist to have received a five star rating from Stephen Colbert on iTunes. Keith furthered this connection when he appeared in Colbert's 2008 Christmas special as a hunter. Keith also made an appearance as a musical guest on the October 27, 2011 episode of the Colbert Report.
On October 29, 2011, Keith appeared on Fox Channel's Huckabee with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. He played "Bullets in the Gun" and he joined with Huckabees house band to play a song at the end of the show.
In December 2018, Keith will appear as a guest on Darci Lynne: My Hometown Christmas.
Acting
In the Autumn of 2005, he filmed Broken Bridges, written by Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld, and directed by Steven Goldmann. This feature film from Paramount/CMT Films was released on September 8, 2006. In this contemporary story set in small-town Tennessee, Keith plays Bo Price, a washed-up country musician. The movie also stars Kelly Preston, Burt Reynolds, Tess Harper, and Lindsey Haun.
Keith wrote and starred in the 2008 movie Beer for My Horses, which is based on the 2003 hit song of the same name recorded by Keith and Willie Nelson.
He was also set to star in the film Bloodworth, but later dropped out.
Business ventures
In 2005, Keith opened Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as well as Syracuse, New York and Tulsa, Oklahoma, and now also has restaurants in Thackerville, Oklahoma; Auburn Hills, Michigan; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Mesa, Arizona; Peoria, Arizona; St. Louis Park, Minnesota; Foxborough, Massachusetts; Cincinnati, Ohio; Newport News, Virginia; and Denver, Colorado. Keith does not actually own the new restaurants; the new restaurant is the first in a franchise under Scottsdale, Arizona-based Capri Restaurant Group Enterprises LLC, which purchased the master license agreement to build more Toby Keith restaurants nationwide. Capri Restaurant Group is owned by Frank Capri, who opened the restaurant in Mesa in the shopping center known as Mesa Riverview and is planning on opening multiple locations across the country.
In 2009, Capri Restaurant Group announced that it will open another "I Love this Bar & Grill" location in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's South Side Works shopping and entertainment district.
In 2009, Keith also established a line of clothing, TK Steelman.
February 2010 marked the opening of the Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill in the Winstar World Casino, exit 1 on Interstate 35 in Oklahoma. Other locations opened in 2010 by the Capri Restaurant Group included those in Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills, Michigan and in the Shops at West End in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Both of which closed in 2015.
In 2011, Keith introduced a new drink named “Wild Shot". At first it was only available in Mexico, but now is sold and served in America. It is a featured drink in his restaurant chain, I Love this Bar and Grill.
Keith's music career and his various other business ventures have made him one of the wealthiest celebrities in the United States. The July 15. 2013, edition of Forbes magazine features Keith on the cover with the caption "Country Music's $500 million man". The article titled "Cowboy Capitalist" by Zack O'Malley Greenburg also contains information regarding Keith's earnings as a musician over the course of his career, such as earning $65 million in the past 12 months, which surpasses the earnings of even more well known musicians such as Jay-Z and Beyoncé and that he hasn't earned less than $48 million a year over the past 5 years. Keith has written at least one #1 country single over the past 20 years and the partnership between his own label, Show Dog-Universal, and Big Machine Records, which Keith also helped found in 2005.
Political beliefs
Since 2002, Keith has made numerous trips to the Middle East to bring entertainment and encouragement to U.S. men and women serving on or near the front lines. “My father was a soldier. He taught his kids to respect veterans,” said Keith. “It's that respect and the thank-you that we have a military that's in place and ready to defend our nation; our freedom.”
In 2004, Keith called himself "a conservative Democrat who is sometimes embarrassed for his party". He endorsed the re-election of President George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election and performed at a Dallas, Texas, rally on the night before the election. Keith also endorsed Democrat Dan Boren in his successful run in Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district and is good friends with former Democratic New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
In a January 2007 interview with Newsday, Keith was asked whether he supported the Iraq War. He responded with "Never did," and said he favors setting a time limit on the campaign. He also said, "I don't apologize for being patriotic... If there is something socially incorrect about being patriotic and supporting your troops, then they can kiss my ass on that, because I'm not going to budge on that at all. And that has nothing to do with politics. Politics is what's killing America."
In April 2008, Keith said that Barack Obama "looks like a great speaker and a great leader. And I think you can learn on your feet in there, so I don't hold people responsible for not having a whole bunch of political background in the House and Senate." His remarks continued, "I think [John] McCain is a great option too." In August 2008, he called Obama "the best Democratic candidate we've had since Bill Clinton".
In October 2008, Keith told CMT that he had left the Democratic Party and has re-registered as an independent. "My party that I've been affiliated with all these years doesn't stand for anything that I stand for anymore," he says. "They've lost any sensibility that they had, and they've allowed all the kooks in. So I'm going independent." He also told CMT that he would likely vote for the Republican ticket, partially because of his admiration for Sarah Palin.
In March 2009, Keith received the Johnny "Mike" Spann Memorial Semper Fidelis Award during a New York ceremony held by the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. The trophy is named for the CIA operative (and former Marine Corps captain) who was the first U.S. casualty in the war in Afghanistan. "Spending time with our soldiers around the world is something I've always regarded as a privilege and honor," he said. "I'm certainly happy to accept this award, but I won't forget for a second who's really doing the heavy lifting to keep this country safe. And that's why I'll keep going back and spending time with those good folks every chance I get."
In April 2009, he voiced support for Obama on Afghanistan and other decisions: "He hired one of my best friends who I think should run for president someday...Gen. James Jones as a national security adviser. He's sending troops into Afghanistan, help is on the way there. And I'm seeing some really good middle range stuff. I'm giving our commander in chief a chance before I start grabbing. So far, I'm cool with it."
Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue
On March 24, 2001, Keith's father, H.K. Covel, was killed in a car accident. That event and the September 11 attacks in 2001 prompted Keith to write the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", a song about his father's patriotism and faith in the United States. At first, Keith refused to record the song and sang it only live at his concerts for military personnel. The reaction to the song, the lyrics of which express clear nationalistic and militaristic sentiments, was strong in many quarters, even to the point that the Commandant of the Marine Corps James L. Jones told Keith it was his "duty as an American citizen" to record the song. As the lead single from the album Unleashed (2002), "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue" peaked at number one over the Fourth of July weekend.
ABC invited Keith to sing "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue" on a 2002 Fourth of July concert it was producing, then rescinded the invitation after host Peter Jennings heard the song and vetoed it. Jennings said the song "probably wouldn't set the right tone". Keith said his statement to the press of Jennings was, "Isn't he Canadian?", and "I bet Dan Rather wouldn't kick me off his show."
Feud with the Dixie Chicks
Keith had a public feud with the Dixie Chicks over the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue", in 2002, as well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London, in March 2003. The lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines, publicly stated that Keith's song was "ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant". Keith responded by pointing out that Maines did not write her music and he does, and by displaying a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. On May 21, 2003, Maines wore a T-shirt with the letters "FUTK" on the front at the Academy of Country Music Awards. While a spokesperson for the Dixie Chicks said that the acronym stood for "Friends United in Truth and Kindness," many, including host Vince Gill, took it to be a shot at Keith ("Fuck You Toby Keith"). In an October 2004 appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, Maines finally confessed that it was indeed a shot at Keith, and that she "thought that nobody would get it".
In August 2003, Keith's representation publicly declared he was done feuding with Maines "because he's realized there are far more important things to concentrate on". Keith was referring specifically to the terminal illness of a former bandmate's daughter, Allison Faith Webb. However, he continues to refuse to say Maines' name, and claims that the doctored photo was intended to express his opinion that Maines' criticism was an attempt to squelch Keith's free speech.
In April 2008, a commercial spot to promote Al Gore's "We Campaign", involving both Keith and the Dixie Chicks, was proposed. However, the idea was eventually abandoned due to scheduling conflicts.
Donald Trump
On January 19, 2017, Toby Keith performed at the pre-Inaugural "Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration" held at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. in celebration of the beginning of the presidency of Donald Trump. Keith thanked outgoing president Barack Obama for his service and thanked president-elect Trump at the start of the celebration. Keith then played several of his patriotic songs, including "American Soldier", "Made in America", "Beer For My Horses", and "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue".
On January 13, 2021, it was reported that Keith had been awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Trump. The award was given in a closed ceremony, alongside fellow country musician Ricky Skaggs.
Personal life
Keith has an honorary degree from Villanova University, which he attended from 1979 to 1980. He planned to be a petroleum engineer.
An avid University of Oklahoma sports fan, Keith is often seen at Oklahoma Sooners games and practices. He is also a fan of professional wrestling, being seen in the front row of numerous WWE shows that take place in Oklahoma, as well as performing "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)" live at the first ever TNA Wrestling show on June 19, 2002. He is also a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team. He is a Free Will Baptist.
On March 24, 1984, Keith married Tricia Lucus. He is the father of three children—two daughters, Shelley Covel Rowland (born 1980, adopted by Keith in 1984) and Krystal "Krystal Keith" LaDawn Covel Sandubrae (born September 30, 1985; signed a contract with Show Dog-Universal in 2013), and one son (Stelen Keith Covel, born 1997). He also has four grandchildren.
On March 24, 2001, Keith's father was killed in a car accident on Interstate 35. On December 25, 2007, the Covel family was awarded $2.8 million for the wrongful death of H.K. Covel. Elias and Pedro Rodriguez, operators of Rodriguez Transportes of Tulsa, and the Republic Western Insurance Co. were found liable as they failed to equip the charter bus with properly working air brakes.
Philanthropy
Keith supports Ally's House, a non-profit organization in Oklahoma designed to aid children with cancer. Of the charity, Keith said:
Keith filmed a PSA for Little Kids Rock, a national nonprofit that works to restore and revitalize music education in disadvantaged U.S. public schools.
As of 2015, Forbes estimated Keith's annual income at $53 million.
Tours
Brooks and Dunn's Neon Circus and Wild West Show 2001
Unleashed Tour 2002
with Jamie O'Neal, Emerson Drive and Rascal Flatts (Select Dates)
USO 2002–13 (11 tours, visiting 15 countries and 3 naval ships)
Shock'N Y'all Tour 2003
with Blake Shelton
Big Throwdown Tour 2004
with Lonestar and Gretchen Wilson
with Sawyer Brown and Terri Clark
Big Throwdown Tour II 2005
with Jo Dee Messina
White Trash With Money Tour 2006
Hookin' Up and Hangin' Out Tour 2007
with Miranda Lambert, Trace Adkins, Josh Gracin
Big Dog Daddy Tour 2007
Biggest and Baddest Tour 2008–09
with Montgomery Gentry and Trailer Choir
America's Toughest Tour 2009
with Trace Adkins Also Julianne Hough (Few Dates)
Toby Keith's American Ride Tour 2010
with Trace Adkins and James Otto
Locked and Loaded Tour 2011
with Eric Church and JT Hodges
Live in Overdrive Tour
with Brantley Gilbert
Hammer Down Tour 2013
with Kip Moore
Hammer Down Under Tour 2014
With Kellie Pickler and Eli Young Band
Shut Up and Hold On Tour 2014
With Colt Ford and Krystal Keith
Good Times and Pick Up Lines Tour 2015
With Eli Young Band and Chris Janson
Interstates and Tailgates Tour 2016
With Eric Paslay
Should've Been A Cowboy XXV 2018
Discography
Studio albums
Toby Keith (1993)
Boomtown (1994)
Blue Moon (1996)
Dream Walkin' (1997)
How Do You Like Me Now?! (1999)
Pull My Chain (2001)
Unleashed (2002)
Shock'n Y'all (2003)
Honkytonk University (2005)
White Trash with Money (2006)
Big Dog Daddy (2007)
That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy (2008)
American Ride (2009)
Bullets in the Gun (2010)
Clancy's Tavern (2011)
Hope on the Rocks (2012)
Drinks After Work (2013)
35 MPH Town (2015)
Peso in My Pocket (2021)
Compilation albums
Greatest Hits Volume One (1998)
20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection (2003)
Greatest Hits 2 (2004)
35 Biggest Hits (2008)
The Bus Songs (2017)
Christmas albums
Christmas to Christmas (1995)
A Classic Christmas (2007)
Number one singles
"Should've Been a Cowboy"
"Who's That Man"
"Me Too"
"How Do You Like Me Now?!"
"You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This"
"I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight"
"I Wanna Talk About Me"
"My List"
"Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)"
"Who's Your Daddy?"
"Beer for My Horses"
"I Love This Bar"
"American Soldier"
"Whiskey Girl"
"As Good as I Once Was"
"Love Me If You Can"
"She Never Cried in Front of Me"
"God Love Her"
"American Ride"
"Made in America"
Notable awards
Filmography
Broken Bridges (2006) also starring Kelly Preston and Lindsey Haun
CMT Music Awards (2003–2012) Co-Host With Pamela Anderson and Kristen Bell
Beer for My Horses (2008)
References
External links
Toby Keith official website
1961 births
Male actors from Oklahoma
American baritones
American country singer-songwriters
American country record producers
American people of English descent
Country musicians from Oklahoma
DreamWorks Records artists
Living people
Mercury Records artists
People from Clinton, Oklahoma
People from Moore, Oklahoma
Show Dog-Universal Music artists
Villanova University people
Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma
Baptists from Oklahoma
United States National Medal of Arts recipients
American male singer-songwriters | true | [
"Mean What You Say may refer to:\n\n Mean What You Say (Philly Joe Jones album)\n Mean What You Say (Thad Jones/Pepper Adams Quintet album)\n Mean What You Say (Witness album)\n Mean What You Say (Sent by Ravens album)",
"\"What I Mean\" is a song by French house duo Modjo. It was released in September 2001 as the third single from the studio album, Modjo. There are two versions, the original mix and another more dance-oriented.\n\nTrack listing\nCD single – Europe (2001)\n \"What I Mean\" (Original album mix)\n \"What I Mean\" (Aloud mix)\n\nChart performance\n\nReferences\n\n2001 singles\nModjo songs\n2001 songs"
]
|
[
"Ace of Base",
"Da Capo (2002-03)"
]
| C_12b55bce65d44cfabc4161087efa936e_0 | what happened in 2002? | 1 | what happened to Ace of Base in 2002? | Ace of Base | Ace of Base released its fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002, in Europe, and in Japan through Toshiba EMI with a different cover and three bonus tracks. The album had originally been planned for release in mid-2000, but was repeatedly postponed due to record company complications. The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in America or Australia, though a release was planned for the United States in 2003. The album is named for the musical term da capo, which translates as "back to the beginning". It was intended to be a return to the band's earliest sound. Although the album entered the album charts in many European countries, it was not as successful as previous releases. Only Jenny and Ulf went on a promotional tour of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland and Austria. Jonas didn't attend promotional activities because "it was better to be two then" because it led to "less questions" about Linn's lack of participation. Linn attended only one performance in Germany, which was her last public appearance. The first single release from the Da Capo album was "Beautiful Morning", which peaked at No.14 in Sweden and No. 38 in Germany, where it was followed by "The Juvenile"; this was used for a Christmas campaign by German TV channel RTL. "The Juvenile" was previously written for the GoldenEye James Bond movie in 1995. However, Arista, the band's American record label at the time, shelved the idea. In Scandinavia, Edel-Mega released the album's opening track, "Unspeakable", as the second single, but its poor chart performance ended the promotion of the album prematurely. CANNOTANSWER | Ace of Base released its fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002, | Ace of Base is a Swedish pop group, formed in 1990, originally consisting of siblings Jonas, Linn and Jenny Berggren, with Ulf Ekberg.
They achieved worldwide success following the release of their debut album Happy Nation in 1992. Later re-issued as The Sign, it was certified nine times platinum in the United States and was the best-selling album of 1994. One of the most successful debut albums of all time, it was the first to produce three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart: "All That She Wants", "The Sign" and "Don't Turn Around".
They continued to score hit singles throughout the 1990s, with songs such as "Beautiful Life", "Lucky Love", "Cruel Summer" and "Life Is a Flower". By 2002, they had sold a total of 30 million copies of their first four studio albums, making them the third most successful Swedish group of all time, behind ABBA and Roxette.
Despite being largely inactive since 2012, the group has never officially disbanded. In the last decade, they have released a number of demo tracks, first via their Facebook page, then in 2015 on the compilation album Hidden Gems. An expanded two-disc edition was included in the 2020 boxset All That She Wants: The Classic Collection. Jenny Berggren continues to perform the group's hits in solo concerts around the world.
History
1987–1992: Formation
In 1987, following a number of years as part of a new romantic and punk cover band called G Konrad (named after a Hungarian author), Jonas Berggren formed a band with two friends, Johnny Lindén and Niklas Tränk, for a school project; his sisters Linn and Jenny later joined as singers. The new band went through several names: Kalinin Prospect after an avenue in Moscow; CAD (Computer-Aided Disco); and Tech-Noir, French for black technology, after a nightclub in the film The Terminator. They toured the clubs of Sweden with self-written material, techno inspired by 80s Italodisco and house music.
Johnny left the group in 1989, and Niklas made his departure known by failing to turn up to a gig at Bältespännarparken in Gothenburg on August 4, 1990, instead attending a Rolling Stones concert on the other side of town. Jonas asked his friend Ulf Ekberg to stand in for Niklas. In an interview with Nöjesguiden, Jonas explained: "He shared a rehearsal room with us and we asked if he wanted to be with us on stage because he was really energetic. He thought it sounded fun and then we started writing. Ulf is very good at technology and I am more good at melodies, so it was a very good combination." Inspired by a Jamaican reggae band who resided in a studio next door to theirs, they experimented with a fusion of reggae and pop - dubbed "China reggae" by their Jamaican friends - which would become the band's trademark sound.
After responding to an ad in the paper Göteborgs-Posten, the new quartet started working in the studio with record producer John Ballard, and decided to come up with a new name in order to make a fresh start, as well as to avoid confusion with another band with the same name who were attracting bad reviews. Linn was reported to have said: "No one could pronounce the name of the group and nobody could remember it." They settled on Ace of Base in early 1991, after Ulf was inspired by the Motörhead song "Ace of Spades". In an interview in 2018, Ulf explained: "The name came out of a hangover I had on New Year's Day. So, I was hungover, watching MTV and I saw Motörhead's video for their song 'Ace of Spades'. I liked the name and I thought I'd play around with those words. We're four members in this band, so I thought, 'Good. Four aces. I'll keep the ace.' Then I thought of our studio and how it's our base."
The group continued performing in the clubs of Gothenburg, but struggled to gain recognition, partly due to the preference of heavy metal over techno in their hometown, according to singer Jenny. They also sent out demo cassettes to numerous record companies but "everybody refused" to sign them. In May 1991, Jonas and Ulf made a trip to various record companies in Stockholm, including Polar Music, who wanted them to record more songs first, and SweMix, who were interested but didn't have the time to do anything with them until the autumn.
In July, Klas Lunding at Telegram Records arranged for them to record a new version of "Wheel of Fortune" in their newly renovated Decibel Studio, but didn't offer them a recording contract. Jonas recounts: "When it had just been finished, Martin Dodd, (Head of A&R at independent Danish label Mega Records) called and shouted: 'Do not sign anything, do not sign anything!'. They wanted everything from us, while Telegram only wanted the reggae songs and no up-tempos. We had already recorded a single with Telegram, but hadn't signed anything. Klas is not the fastest in the world, so to speak - and that was perhaps lucky for us. So Mega bought the master tape from Klas for 34,000 SEK." Martin Dodd remarked in a 1995 interview: "When I got the demo in my hand, I knew nothing about the group but I immediately loved the melodies. The melancholy in the songs and their way of writing. At that time, house music was big and this went completely against the flow. It sounded fresh."
"Wheel of Fortune" was serviced to radio and nightclubs in Sweden in early 1992, with it reaching Gothenburg's local Jockeytoppen chart in March, and prompting an invitation to perform on music television channel ZTV. However, the record failed to gain traction in Sweden, so Mega switched focus to Denmark. After servicing the single to media two or three times, it was finally released commercially at the end of June 1992, entering the Danish singles chart at No. 6, before rising to No. 2.
1992–1994: International success and Happy Nation/The Sign
Although "Wheel of Fortune" was a success in Denmark, it was a different song that led to Ace of Base taking off internationally. After hearing Kayo's "Another Mother" in a record store, a top 20 hit in Sweden in 1990, Jonas and Ulf decided that it was exactly the sound they wanted to create. In early 1992, they sent producer Denniz PoP a demo tape including a song called "Mr. Ace". At first he wasn't particularly impressed, but the tape got stuck in the cassette player in his car. This resulted in him having to listen to it repeatedly and gradually he realized the song's potential. He'd lost the band's contact details but when they called him a few months later, he invited them to his SweMix studio to re-record the song in July 1992. The song became "All That She Wants", and upon its release at the end of August, it quickly climbed to No. 1 on the Danish chart, while the previous single was still sitting at No. 2. Keen to rush out an LP for the Christmas market, Mega Records pressed the band for an album, which was quickly recorded and mixed within a few weeks.
The album, Happy Nation, was released on November 2, 1992 in Denmark and its success prompted interest elsewhere in Europe. A pan-European licence was signed with Metronome/PolyGram (now Universal Music), but they were turned down by the American division. Within a few months, "All That She Wants" had reached No. 3 in Sweden and had spent eight weeks at No. 1 in Germany. In various European countries, "Happy Nation" and "Waiting for Magic" were released as further singles following the release of the album.
In May 1993, "All That She Wants" consolidated on its European success by topping the chart for three weeks in the United Kingdom. However, despite Mega Records's efforts to secure a distribution deal in the United States, the response was always the same: "This band will never work in the States." Eventually, Clive Davis, founder of Arista Records, heard the song playing on the radio whilst on vacation on his yacht, and rushed to sign a licence with Mega for the Americas. By the end of October, "All That She Wants" had made its way to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as in Australia.
The group had already started work on a second album, with the working title of The Sign, named after one of the new tracks they had written. Worried about sales of import copies of Happy Nation, however, Davis opted to tweak the track list of the original LP by adding three new tracks, and re-titling it The Sign. Released in the USA on November 23, 1993, it remained in the top three of the Billboard Top 200 for 26 consecutive weeks, and was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 1995 Grammy Awards. The refreshed album was released in Europe as Happy Nation (US Version). Collectively, the different versions of the album reached the No. 1 position in at least 14 countries, and sold over 21 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling debut albums of all time.
The second U.S. single was the album's title track, "The Sign", released on December 14. It was even more successful than the first, spending six weeks at No. 1 and becoming the best-selling single of 1994. It was also a major hit internationally, peaking at No. 2 in the UK and Sweden and at No. 1 in Germany; whilst in Australia it topped the charts for four weeks.
Recorded at the request of Clive Davis, "Don't Turn Around" was the group's next single, which had previously been released by Tina Turner as the B-side of her single "Typical Male", and had been a UK No. 1 hit for Aswad in 1988. The cover version hit the top 5 in the US, UK, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
Promotion for the album concluded with the final single release "Living in Danger", which was yet another top 40 hit internationally and was performed in front of the Brandenburg Gate at the first ever MTV Europe Music Awards in Berlin in November 1994.
The band were caught up in controversy when on 27 March 1993, the Swedish newspaper Expressen reported that Ulf had been a member of a skinhead gang in his teenage years, long prior to his association with Ace of Base. The band and Ulf himself have addressed these claims numerous times. Linn remarked in 1993: "Ulf gave all that up long ago and my family had nothing to do with any of that in the first place." In 2013, the story was revisited in a report by Vice, referring to an unauthorized CD released in 1998 called Uffe Was a Nazi!, containing songs with racist content which were claimed to have been recorded by Ulf's former band Commit Suiside. In an interview with E! Online, Ulf clarified that Commit Suiside were "a New Wave music band without any political touch or agenda" and that the racist songs on the CD were not recorded by them. He also remarked: "I have always been deeply regretful of that period in my life, as I strive to bring happiness to people, and during that period I did not live up to that standard. [...] I'm truly deeply sorry for any hurt and disappointment this has caused for our fans, and I really hope that we clearly have stated that Ace of Base never shared any of these opinions and strongly oppose all extremist opinions on both the right and left wing."
In April 1994, an obsessed German fan broke into the Berggren family home, brandishing a knife. After managing to restrain her, the band decided they needed bodyguards. Recalling the attack in a 2016 interview, Jenny said "She woke me up with a knife to my throat. She broke into my parents’ house when I was staying there after two years away. I woke up and she was standing over me with the knife. I was terrified. That was the darker side of fame. I remember just after I was attacked I found out that we were Number 1 in the United States. All I could think was that I almost got killed. Everyone was like, 'wow, let’s have a huge party'. I didn’t want a party. I was broken."
1995–1997: The Bridge
Following the substantial success of the first album, the group were offered the chance to perform at Madison Square Garden in New York, and were asked to front brands such as Pepsi and Reebok in promotional campaigns, but after two years of travelling around the world to promote the first album, the band were too exhausted and declined all offers. Simultaneously, their various record companies around the world were demanding a second album promptly. To hasten the process, instead of Jonas and Ulf writing most of the album, each member was encouraged to submit their own tracks for consideration.
In the end, 17 tracks were chosen for the second album, titled The Bridge. It marked a considerable change of direction in sound; alongside the reggae and dance sounds that had made the group so popular were more experimental tracks and several ballads. The lead single, "Lucky Love", however, was a mainstream pop record, and was premiered in August 1995 at the World Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg. It debuted at No. 1 in Sweden upon release in October, becoming their first chart-topper in their homeland. It was also a top 20 hit across Europe, peaking at No. 1 in Finland, No. 2 in Denmark, No. 13 in Germany and No. 20 in the United Kingdom.
Arista Records instead opted for the more up-tempo track "Beautiful Life" as the first single in the US, where it peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first American hit for its co-producer Max Martin, who would go on to become one of the world's most in-demand songwriters and producers. It was released as the second single from the album in most countries, also reaching No. 15 in the UK and charting in at least 17 countries. An alternative acoustic mix of "Lucky Love" was chosen as the second U.S. single, peaking at No. 30.
The Bridge was certified platinum in 14 countries, but did not match the sales of the group's first album. "Never Gonna Say I'm Sorry" was released as the third single from the album and achieved moderate success in Europe, but failed to chart on the Hot 100 in the USA. In February 1996, the band performed at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival in Chile, topping the bill alongside 2 Unlimited.
After touring Asia and Australasia in April 1996, the group temporarily retreated from the limelight, scrapping plans to release either "My Déjà Vu" or "Edge Of Heaven" as a single, and emerging only in 1997 for an April performance at the World Music Awards, and at a July concert celebrating the 20th birthday of Princess Victoria of Sweden.
1998–1999: Flowers / Cruel Summer
Having felt rushed to record a second album, the group were given as much time as they need to produce their third, with much of it being recorded in Jonas's own studio, "The Barn". Declaring it their best album yet, the group titled it Flowers because they believed that the songs, wildly different in style, including Motown and gospel influences, resembled a varied bouquet of flowers. Fans were surprised to see that singer Linn had relinquished lead vocal duties to sister Jenny, and on many promotional photos, Linn's face was blurred. They were reassured that Linn was happy with her new backing role in the group, and many reasons were given for her decision, including her having damaged her voice, her aerophobia deterring her from international travel and her dislike of fame.
The album's lead single "Life Is a Flower" was released in mainland Europe in April 1998, and became the most-played track on European radio of the year. It reached the top 5 in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Hungary and in the UK, where it was certified silver. The album followed in June, hitting the top 20 in at least a dozen countries.
The group's British label London Records had requested the band record the 1983 hit "Cruel Summer", by Bananarama and it was selected as the second European single. Deciding that "Life Is a Flower" was "too European in nature", Clive Davis pushed "Cruel Summer" as the lead single for the United States, and it brought Ace of Base back into the U.S. Top 10 for the first time in four years, being certified gold. The album was also renamed Cruel Summer and featured a different track list from the European release. For this version of the album, Davis persuaded a reluctant Linn to record the Billy Steinberg-penned ballad "Everytime It Rains".
"Life Is a Flower" was re-recorded as "Whenever You're Near Me" and chosen as the second single from Cruel Summer, peaking at No. 76. "Travel to Romantis" and "Always Have, Always Will" were further singles in Europe whilst "Everytime It Rains" was issued as a single in the UK along with a repackaged edition of Flowers.
1999–2000: Singles of the 90s and Greatest Hits
The group went back into the studio in 1999, writing several tracks together as a quartet for the first time, and recording enough demo tracks for consideration for a fourth studio album. Ulf from the group later revealed that they had hoped to release a track called "Pole Position" as the lead single, with a music video that would have featured the Formula One champion driver Jacques Villeneuve. Several of the tracks recorded for the scrapped studio album were eventually released in demo form by Jonas via Facebook in 2011.
In November 1999, Mega Records released the best-of album Singles of the 90s, a compilation of 16 hit singles. A new single taken from it, "C'est La Vie (Always 21)", was a modest chart hit in Sweden, Finland, Germany and Switzerland, and topped the charts in Spain. "Hallo Hallo" followed as the second single in parts of Europe, but only found minor success.
Arista Records fulfilled the group's four-album contract in the Americas by releasing Greatest Hits in March 2000. A new dance mix of "Everytime It Rains", previously included on Cruel Summer, was released as a radio single to promote the album. Both the single and album failed to chart in the USA.
2002–2003: Da Capo
Following a long time away from the pop scene, a new single called "Beautiful Morning" was serviced to radio in Europe in July 2002. Polydor Records reported that it was their fastest-added track to radio playlists of the year, and it went on peak at No. 38 in Germany and No. 14 in Sweden upon its commercial release in September.
After several delays, Ace of Base finally released their fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002, in Europe, and in Japan through Toshiba EMI with a different cover and three bonus tracks. The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in the Americas. The title comes from the musical term da capo, which translates as "back to the beginning", chosen as the sound of the album was seen as a return to the group's early blend of reggae and europop.
Although the album charted across much of Europe, it was not as successful as previous releases. Only Jenny and Ulf went on a promotional tour of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland and Austria. Jonas chose to forego promotional activities because "it was better to be two then" and led to "less questions" about Linn's lack of participation. Linn attended only one performance in Germany, which was her last public appearance.
"The Juvenile" was selected as the album's second single in Germany, and was used for a Christmas campaign by TV channel RTL. The song was a re-written version of a track originally submitted for the James Bond movie GoldenEye in 1995. However, Clive Davis persuaded the band that it was not the best move for the band at the time so they withdrew it from consideration. In Scandinavia, Edel-Mega released "Unspeakable" as the second single, but its poor chart performance ended the promotion of the album prematurely.
2003–2006: Hiatus
The group remained out of the spotlight throughout 2003 and 2004. During this time, Jenny performed solo live performances in several Christian shows with her husband Jakob Petrén and released an album as a vocalist with the Swedish group Arose.
In 2005, a handful of songs featuring vocals by both Jenny and Linn were recorded with producer Tommy Ekman, including "Would You Believe" and "Make My Day". Jonas and Ulf later explained that the group did not have the energy to finish the project, though the tracks that were recorded eventually surfaced.
At the end of 2005, the group reunited, without Linn, for several live performances at the Night of the Proms in Belgium, alongside other artists such as Donna Summer.
2007–2009: Reunion
Ace of Base reunited as a trio to perform their first full-length concert since 1996 in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on November 15, 2007. They embarked on a world tour called Ace Of Base - Redefined!, which continued throughout 2008 and 2009. The set list included several new versions of their greatest hits. Jenny confirmed Linn's permanent departure from the group, saying "She hasn't been part of Ace of Base for several years" in Se & Hør Magazine. Ulf later explained in an interview "She left the band and we promised her to never even ask to come back. She's done with entertainment industry. It's understandable. It's brutal from the inside, it was not for her. She has no craving to be famous, she loved her fans, but the fame factor was not for her." While touring, the group performed a brand new song called "Sparks From A Fire".
The group teamed up with Jenny's husband Jakob to record material for a new studio album, which would consist of seven new songs and seven remakes of old hits. However, this album did not see a release and a new compilation, Greatest Hits, was released on November 12, 2008, instead.
Five re-recorded songs were released from the album in various forms: "Lucky Love 2009", "Don't Turn Around 2009", "The Sign (Freedom Bunch Mix)" and "Wheel of Fortune 2009", which was released worldwide on October 24, 2008, as a digital single. A fifth reworking, "Happy Nation 2009", was released separately as a remix kit. A remake of "All That She Wants" was also recorded and featured guest vocals by Britney Spears that stemmed from her own 2007 cover of the song. This remake was never officially released, but leaked online in June 2016.
Three of the new tracks recorded in this period ("Sparks From A Fire", "The Mask" and "Wish You Were Mine") were eventually leaked on YouTube in 2017.
2009–2012: New members, The Golden Ratio, and Ace Thursdays
In August 2009, in an interview with Digital Spy, Ulf mentioned adding another singer to the group alongside Jenny, explaining: "We're just deciding now whether to add a fourth member to the group again or to bring it out under a new name. At the moment we think it would be stronger with two female singers, so it's a little technical problem to solve." During this time, Ulf and Jonas began recording songs with singer Julia Williamson, whom they met through Martin Dodd, who had originally signed the group to Mega Records. Meanwhile, a new remix of "Cruel Summer" by Rico Bernasconi charted at No. 69 in Germany.
Jenny published her autobiography Vinna hela Världen in Sweden in September and announced that she was recording a solo album, which materialized in October 2010 as My Story. In November 2009, Jenny confirmed via Twitter that she would not be involved with the upcoming album, but later clarified that she had not left, saying that "other constellations will have other names".
Two new singers were officially revealed in February 2010 as Clara Hagman, a contestant from Idol 2009, who Ulf met whilst appearing as a guest judge on the show, and Julia Williamson. Jonas explained that "We will reform how we write the band name so that all old Acers can see the difference and don't have to be in panic.", with Jenny commenting in April, "You are wrong about me leaving Ace of Base. I just want to make everybody sure I have not left the group. Ace of Base is still the original members. We are bounded by law and by heart."
In a later interview with Aftonbladet, Jenny claimed "They didn't want to be with me", and that she was not allowed to participate in songwriting. Jonas and Ulf then said in an interview with Scandipop that Jenny wasn't happy with plans to introduce a new member, and while she never formally quit the group, they felt that they had no choice but to proceed without her.
The new quartet maintained the original band name, but it was stylized as "Ace.of.Base" on the artwork of single and album releases. In July 2010, a track called "Mr. Replay" appeared on a Polish promo compilation for DJs, becoming the first release from the new line-up. The first official single from the line-up, "All for You", was premiered on radio station Antenne AC on July 22, and was released on CD and download on September 10, debuting at No. 38 in Germany.
The album The Golden Ratio followed on September 24, entering the German album charts at No. 20. In Sweden, the album failed to chart, backed only by a radio release of the album's title track "The Golden Ratio" in October, followed by a performance of "Southern California" on Bingolotto in April 2011. An acoustic version of the album was being considered but never materialized. No further singles were released in support of the album.
In March 2011, Jonas began releasing previously unreleased material to fans via the band's official Facebook page and the website ReverbNation on a semi-regular basis, in events they referred to as "Ace Thursdays". Writing sessions for new material took place throughout the same year, though following the group's tour of Canada and Brazil in 2011, new music was put on hold.
2012–present: Departures, Hidden Gems and 30th anniversary
Ace Thursdays continued throughout 2012, but were discontinued in May 2013. In November 2012, Jenny was quoted as saying, "The rest of the band are doing other things. ... We're just wishing each other luck at this stage. I have a dream that we'll get back together, so I don't want to bang anyone on the head". Jenny began touring as "Jenny from Ace of Base" alongside popular Eurodance acts from the decade.
In January 2014, Julia announced on her official Facebook page that she had left the group in 2012. She later confirmed that Clara had also left, saying on her Facebook page, "I never really left the group, one day I just didn't hear anything from them and it's the same with Clara. Like it went up in smoke; really strange". Clara has since gone to release a number of solo singles, and has collaborated with various EDM producers such as KREAM and R3hab.
A remix EP was released in July 2014, featuring new remixes of "All That She Wants". On September 27, Jonas announced that members were filming a documentary chronicling the production of "All That She Wants" at Google headquarters. The documentary was aired on the Swedish channel SVT as part of the Hitlåtens Historia series on March 18, 2015.
In December 2014 and January 2015, remastered versions of their first four studio albums, in both European and American editions, were released digitally. This was followed in March by Hidden Gems, a compilation album consisting entirely of demos and b-sides. "Would You Believe", one of the last tracks recorded by the original quartet in 2005, was released as a promotional single.
In a 2015 interview with ABC News, Ulf said of a future reunion, "With the right elements in the next few years, I don't think it's impossible"; however, in July 2016, Jenny remarked: "We won't re-form. [...] We're finished working together but we're not finished being family together. We have a lot of fun plans in the future but no musical plans". In 2018, Jonas said a potential reunion had been discussed, but noted "We always got the same question "where is Malin?". I am still writing music, maybe one song each fortnight or something. It's a lot of fun, like therapy. And maybe if we do a reunion... I have songs for it!"
In 2019, Demon Music Group began releasing new compilations of the band's material in the United Kingdom. The first of these releases was Ace Of Base – Gold, which charted at No. 59 in the UK, marking the group's first return to the UK charts in 20 years. To mark the group's 30th anniversary, a 12-disc box set called All That She Wants: The Classic Collection was released in July 2020. The set includes deluxe versions of the group's original four studio albums, an expanded 46-track edition of Hidden Gems, a new EP containing previously unreleased remixes of "Edge Of Heaven", and a DVD containing all of the group's music videos. Included among the 195 tracks are previously unreleased demos from the original line-up's final recording sessions in 2008 and live recordings of the group's first gig at Bältespännarparken in 1990. A coloured vinyl box set was also released which only includes the four studio albums.
In 2020, Playground Records began releasing standalone digital singles which feature new remixes of the group's tracks. In November 2021, a remix EP was released for the album track "Dancer in a Daydream" which first appeared on Happy Nation in 1992. The EP features remixes by producer Trace Adam and was released alongside a new video with previously unseen footage.
Legacy
A number of musicians and singers have been influenced by Ace of Base. Lady Gaga has said her album The Fame Monster was influenced by the "super pop melodies of the 90s" by acts such as Ace of Base. The song "Alejandro" in particular has been heavily compared to Ace of Base's version of "Don't Turn Around"; Paul Lester from BBC commented that "[Alejandro] moves at an Ace of Base pace", and Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine described the song as a homage to them; The song "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" from The Fame has also been linked to the band; Alexis Petridis from The Guardian noted that the song "is the first song in a long time that warrants comparison to the œuvre of Ace of Base".
Katy Perry said she wanted her third studio album, Teenage Dream, to sound like "The Sign"; "It's what I said I wanted earlier", she told MTV; "We nailed it: It's roller-skating! It's '90s! It's Ace of Base! It's Cyndi Lauper! It's like all these colors and more".
Swedish artist Robyn said she was inspired by Ace of Base for her song "Dancehall Queen", which was produced by Diplo and Klas Åhlund for her fifth studio album Body Talk Pt. 1. "We were just having fun with that kind of genre music. And the idea of making this song came out of that discussion. It was fun. We really connected on something where music that you might put in one box becomes something else, depending on how you look at it".
Some of the British group Clean Bandit's tracks have been compared to the band, notably their 2016 UK No. 1 single "Rockabye". Band members Grace and Luke have named them as an influence in interviews.
American alternative rock artist Beck had plans to cover an Ace of Base album as part of his Record Club project in 2009; however, this never came to fruition. Tegan and Sara's song "Closer" was inspired by the band's music. Robert Alfons of Canadian synthpop group Trust once said "the synthesisers they used were of great influence on me... [their] first two albums [in particular]", whilst rock band Yeasayer and new wave artist Twin Shadow have both also cited Ace of Base as an influence.
The 2019 single "Liar", by Cuban pop singer Camila Cabello, interpolates the melody of "All That She Wants".
Awards and nominations
1992 MTA – Best Pop Act (nominee)
1992 MTA – Best New Act (nominee)
1993 Swedish Grammis – Best Pop Group
1993 Swedish Grammis – TV audience price
1993 Bronze BRAVO Otto (Germany) – Best rock/pop Group
1993 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Breakthrough Artist
1994 MTV Europe Music Awards – Best Cover (Nominee)
1994 American Music Award – Favorite Band, Duo or Group – Pop / Rock
1994 American Music Award – Favorite New Artist – Pop / Rock
1994 Billboard Music Award – Number One Single
1994 Billboard Music Award – Top New Artist
1994 Billboard Music Award – Artist of the Year
1994 Peleg Music Award of Excellence – Best New Artist
1994 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1994 Echo (Germany) – Group of the Year
1994 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Artist
1994 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Album (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best Pop Album for The Sign (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best New Artist (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best Vocal Performance By a Group or Duo for The Sign (nominee)
1995 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1995 Juno Awards – International Album of the Year for The Sign (nominee)
1995 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Artist (nominee)
1996 European Award For Dance Music
1996 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1997 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1998 Midem Fono Award – Most Played Song of the Year – Life Is a Flower
1999 RSH Gold
2007 BMI Award for over 3 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
2011 Scandipop Award – Best group album
2016 BMI Award for over 4 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
2021 BMI Award for over 5 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
Discography
Studio albums
Happy Nation / The Sign (1992/1993)
The Bridge (1995)
Flowers / Cruel Summer (1998)
Da Capo (2002)
The Golden Ratio (2010)
See also
Swedish pop music
References
External links
Arista Records artists
English-language singers from Sweden
Europop groups
Musical groups established in 1990
Musical groups from Gothenburg
Swedish co-ed groups
Swedish Eurodance groups
Swedish pop music groups
Sibling musical groups
World Music Awards winners
1990 establishments in Sweden | false | [
"Don Juan Manuel's Tales of Count Lucanor, in Spanish Libro de los ejemplos del conde Lucanor y de Patronio (Book of the Examples of Count Lucanor and of Patronio), also commonly known as El Conde Lucanor, Libro de Patronio, or Libro de los ejemplos (original Old Castilian: Libro de los enxiemplos del Conde Lucanor et de Patronio), is one of the earliest works of prose in Castilian Spanish. It was first written in 1335.\n\nThe book is divided into four parts. The first and most well-known part is a series of 51 short stories (some no more than a page or two) drawn from various sources, such as Aesop and other classical writers, and Arabic folktales.\n\nTales of Count Lucanor was first printed in 1575 when it was published at Seville under the auspices of Argote de Molina. It was again printed at Madrid in 1642, after which it lay forgotten for nearly two centuries.\n\nPurpose and structure\n\nA didactic, moralistic purpose, which would color so much of the Spanish literature to follow (see Novela picaresca), is the mark of this book. Count Lucanor engages in conversation with his advisor Patronio, putting to him a problem (\"Some man has made me a proposition...\" or \"I fear that such and such person intends to...\") and asking for advice. Patronio responds always with the greatest humility, claiming not to wish to offer advice to so illustrious a person as the Count, but offering to tell him a story of which the Count's problem reminds him. (Thus, the stories are \"examples\" [ejemplos] of wise action.) At the end he advises the Count to do as the protagonist of his story did.\n\nEach chapter ends in more or less the same way, with slight variations on: \"And this pleased the Count greatly and he did just so, and found it well. And Don Johán (Juan) saw that this example was very good, and had it written in this book, and composed the following verses.\" A rhymed couplet closes, giving the moral of the story.\n\nOrigin of stories and influence on later literature\nMany of the stories written in the book are the first examples written in a modern European language of various stories, which many other writers would use in the proceeding centuries. Many of the stories he included were themselves derived from other stories, coming from western and Arab sources.\n\nShakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew has the basic elements of Tale 35, \"What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\".\n\nTale 32, \"What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth\" tells the story that Hans Christian Andersen made popular as The Emperor's New Clothes.\n\nStory 7, \"What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana\", a version of Aesop's The Milkmaid and Her Pail, was claimed by Max Müller to originate in the Hindu cycle Panchatantra.\n\nTale 2, \"What happened to a good Man and his Son, leading a beast to market,\" is the familiar fable The miller, his son and the donkey.\n\nIn 2016, Baroque Decay released a game under the name \"The Count Lucanor\". As well as some protagonists' names, certain events from the books inspired past events in the game.\n\nThe stories\n\nThe book opens with a prologue which introduces the characters of the Count and Patronio. The titles in the following list are those given in Keller and Keating's 1977 translation into English. James York's 1868 translation into English gives a significantly different ordering of the stories and omits the fifty-first.\n\n What Happened to a King and His Favorite \n What Happened to a Good Man and His Son \n How King Richard of England Leapt into the Sea against the Moors\n What a Genoese Said to His Soul When He Was about to Die \n What Happened to a Fox and a Crow Who Had a Piece of Cheese in His Beak\n How the Swallow Warned the Other Birds When She Saw Flax Being Sown \n What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana \n What Happened to a Man Whose Liver Had to Be Washed \n What Happened to Two Horses Which Were Thrown to the Lion \n What Happened to a Man Who on Account of Poverty and Lack of Other Food Was Eating Bitter Lentils \n What Happened to a Dean of Santiago de Compostela and Don Yllán, the Grand Master of Toledo\n What Happened to the Fox and the Rooster \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Hunting Partridges \n The Miracle of Saint Dominick When He Preached against the Usurer \n What Happened to Lorenzo Suárez at the Siege of Seville \n The Reply that count Fernán González Gave to His Relative Núño Laynes \n What Happened to a Very Hungry Man Who Was Half-heartedly Invited to Dinner \n What Happened to Pero Meléndez de Valdés When He Broke His Leg \n What Happened to the Crows and the Owls \n What Happened to a King for Whom a Man Promised to Perform Alchemy \n What Happened to a Young King and a Philosopher to Whom his Father Commended Him \n What Happened to the Lion and the Bull \n How the Ants Provide for Themselves \n What Happened to the King Who Wanted to Test His Three Sons \n What Happened to the Count of Provence and How He Was Freed from Prison by the Advice of Saladin\n What Happened to the Tree of Lies \n What Happened to an Emperor and to Don Alvarfáñez Minaya and Their Wives \n What Happened in Granada to Don Lorenzo Suárez Gallinato When He Beheaded the Renegade Chaplain \n What Happened to a Fox Who Lay down in the Street to Play Dead \n What Happened to King Abenabet of Seville and Ramayquía His Wife \n How a Cardinal Judged between the Canons of Paris and the Friars Minor \n What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth \n What Happened to Don Juan Manuel's Saker Falcon and an Eagle and a Heron \n What Happened to a Blind Man Who Was Leading Another \n What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\n What Happened to a Merchant When He Found His Son and His Wife Sleeping Together \n What Happened to Count Fernán González with His Men after He Had Won the Battle of Hacinas \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Loaded down with Precious Stones and Drowned in the River \n What Happened to a Man and a Swallow and a Sparrow \n Why the Seneschal of Carcassonne Lost His Soul \n What Happened to a King of Córdova Named Al-Haquem \n What Happened to a Woman of Sham Piety \n What Happened to Good and Evil and the Wise Man and the Madman \n What Happened to Don Pero Núñez the Loyal, to Don Ruy González de Zavallos, and to Don Gutier Roiz de Blaguiello with Don Rodrigo the Generous \n What Happened to a Man Who Became the Devil's Friend and Vassal \n What Happened to a Philosopher who by Accident Went down a Street Where Prostitutes Lived \n What Befell a Moor and His Sister Who Pretended That She Was Timid \n What Happened to a Man Who Tested His Friends \n What Happened to the Man Whom They Cast out Naked on an Island When They Took away from Him the Kingdom He Ruled \n What Happened to Saladin and a Lady, the Wife of a Knight Who Was His Vassal \n What Happened to a Christian King Who Was Very Powerful and Haughty\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography\n\n Sturm, Harlan\n\n Wacks, David\n\nExternal links\n\nThe Internet Archive provides free access to the 1868 translation by James York.\nJSTOR has the to the 1977 translation by Keller and Keating.\nSelections in English and Spanish (pedagogical edition) with introduction, notes, and bibliography in Open Iberia/América (open access teaching anthology)\n\n14th-century books\nSpanish literature\n1335 books",
"\"What Happened to Us\" is a song by Australian recording artist Jessica Mauboy, featuring English recording artist Jay Sean. It was written by Sean, Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim and Israel Cruz. \"What Happened to Us\" was leaked online in October 2010, and was released on 10 March 2011, as the third single from Mauboy's second studio album, Get 'Em Girls (2010). The song received positive reviews from critics.\n\nA remix of \"What Happened to Us\" made by production team OFM, was released on 11 April 2011. A different version of the song which features Stan Walker, was released on 29 May 2011. \"What Happened to Us\" charted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number 14 and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). An accompanying music video was directed by Mark Alston, and reminisces on a former relationship between Mauboy and Sean.\n\nProduction and release\n\n\"What Happened to Us\" was written by Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim, Israel Cruz and Jay Sean. It was produced by Skaller, Cruz, Rohaim and Bobby Bass. The song uses C, D, and B minor chords in the chorus. \"What Happened to Us\" was sent to contemporary hit radio in Australia on 14 February 2011. The cover art for the song was revealed on 22 February on Mauboy's official Facebook page. A CD release was available for purchase via her official website on 10 March, for one week only. It was released digitally the following day.\n\nReception\nMajhid Heath from ABC Online Indigenous called the song a \"Jordin Sparks-esque duet\", and wrote that it \"has a nice innocence to it that rings true to the experience of losing a first love.\" Chris Urankar from Nine to Five wrote that it as a \"mid-tempo duet ballad\" which signifies Mauboy's strength as a global player. On 21 March 2011, \"What Happened to Us\" debuted at number 30 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and peaked at number 14 the following week. The song was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), for selling 70,000 copies. \"What Happened to Us\" spent a total of ten weeks in the ARIA top fifty.\n\nMusic video\n\nBackground\nThe music video for the song was shot in the Elizabeth Bay House in Sydney on 26 November 2010. The video was shot during Sean's visit to Australia for the Summerbeatz tour. During an interview with The Daily Telegraph while on the set of the video, Sean said \"the song is sick! ... Jessica's voice is amazing and we're shooting [the video] in this ridiculously beautiful mansion overlooking the harbour.\" The video was directed by Mark Alston, who had previously directed the video for Mauboy's single \"Let Me Be Me\" (2009). It premiered on YouTube on 10 February 2011.\n\nSynopsis and reception\nThe video begins showing Mauboy who appears to be sitting on a yellow antique couch in a mansion, wearing a purple dress. As the video progresses, scenes of memories are displayed of Mauboy and her love interest, played by Sean, spending time there previously. It then cuts to the scenes where Sean appears in the main entrance room of the mansion. The final scene shows Mauboy outdoors in a gold dress, surrounded by green grass and trees. She is later joined by Sean who appears in a black suit and a white shirt, and together they sing the chorus of the song to each other. David Lim of Feed Limmy wrote that the video is \"easily the best thing our R&B princess has committed to film – ever\" and praised the \"mansion and wondrous interior décor\". He also commended Mauboy for choosing Australian talent to direct the video instead of American directors, which she had used for her previous two music videos. Since its release, the video has received over two million views on Vevo.\n\nLive performances\nMauboy performed \"What Happened to Us\" live for the first time during her YouTube Live Sessions program on 4 December 2010. She also appeared on Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight on 23 February 2011 for an interview and later performed the song. On 15 March 2011, Mauboy performed \"What Happened to Us\" on Sunrise. She also performed the song with Stan Walker during the Australian leg of Chris Brown's F.A.M.E. Tour in April 2011. Mauboy and Walker later performed \"What Happened to Us\" on Dancing with the Stars Australia on 29 May 2011. From November 2013 to February 2014, \"What Happened to Us\" was part of the set list of the To the End of the Earth Tour, Mauboy's second headlining tour of Australia, with Nathaniel Willemse singing Sean's part.\n\nTrack listing\n\nDigital download\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean – 3:19\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Sgt Slick Remix) – 6:33\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Just Witness Remix) – 3:45\n\nCD single\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Album Version) – 3:19\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Sgt Slick Remix) – 6:33\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (OFM Remix) – 3:39\n\nDigital download – Remix\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (OFM Remix) – 3:38\n\nDigital download\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Stan Walker – 3:20\n\nPersonnel\nSongwriting – Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim, Israel Cruz, Jay Sean\nProduction – Jeremy Skaller, Bobby Bass\nAdditional production – Israel Cruz, Khaled Rohaim\nLead vocals – Jessica Mauboy, Jay Sean\nMixing – Phil Tan\nAdditional mixing – Damien Lewis\nMastering – Tom Coyne \nSource:\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly chart\n\nYear-end chart\n\nCertification\n\nRadio dates and release history\n\nReferences\n\n2010 songs\n2011 singles\nJessica Mauboy songs\nJay Sean songs\nSongs written by Billy Steinberg\nSongs written by Jay Sean\nSongs written by Josh Alexander\nSongs written by Israel Cruz\nVocal duets\nSony Music Australia singles\nSongs written by Khaled Rohaim"
]
|
[
"Ace of Base",
"Da Capo (2002-03)",
"what happened in 2002?",
"Ace of Base released its fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002,"
]
| C_12b55bce65d44cfabc4161087efa936e_0 | was the album a sucess? | 2 | Was the Ace of Base album, Da Capo, a success? | Ace of Base | Ace of Base released its fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002, in Europe, and in Japan through Toshiba EMI with a different cover and three bonus tracks. The album had originally been planned for release in mid-2000, but was repeatedly postponed due to record company complications. The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in America or Australia, though a release was planned for the United States in 2003. The album is named for the musical term da capo, which translates as "back to the beginning". It was intended to be a return to the band's earliest sound. Although the album entered the album charts in many European countries, it was not as successful as previous releases. Only Jenny and Ulf went on a promotional tour of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland and Austria. Jonas didn't attend promotional activities because "it was better to be two then" because it led to "less questions" about Linn's lack of participation. Linn attended only one performance in Germany, which was her last public appearance. The first single release from the Da Capo album was "Beautiful Morning", which peaked at No.14 in Sweden and No. 38 in Germany, where it was followed by "The Juvenile"; this was used for a Christmas campaign by German TV channel RTL. "The Juvenile" was previously written for the GoldenEye James Bond movie in 1995. However, Arista, the band's American record label at the time, shelved the idea. In Scandinavia, Edel-Mega released the album's opening track, "Unspeakable", as the second single, but its poor chart performance ended the promotion of the album prematurely. CANNOTANSWER | The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in America or Australia, though a release was planned for the United States in 2003. | Ace of Base is a Swedish pop group, formed in 1990, originally consisting of siblings Jonas, Linn and Jenny Berggren, with Ulf Ekberg.
They achieved worldwide success following the release of their debut album Happy Nation in 1992. Later re-issued as The Sign, it was certified nine times platinum in the United States and was the best-selling album of 1994. One of the most successful debut albums of all time, it was the first to produce three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart: "All That She Wants", "The Sign" and "Don't Turn Around".
They continued to score hit singles throughout the 1990s, with songs such as "Beautiful Life", "Lucky Love", "Cruel Summer" and "Life Is a Flower". By 2002, they had sold a total of 30 million copies of their first four studio albums, making them the third most successful Swedish group of all time, behind ABBA and Roxette.
Despite being largely inactive since 2012, the group has never officially disbanded. In the last decade, they have released a number of demo tracks, first via their Facebook page, then in 2015 on the compilation album Hidden Gems. An expanded two-disc edition was included in the 2020 boxset All That She Wants: The Classic Collection. Jenny Berggren continues to perform the group's hits in solo concerts around the world.
History
1987–1992: Formation
In 1987, following a number of years as part of a new romantic and punk cover band called G Konrad (named after a Hungarian author), Jonas Berggren formed a band with two friends, Johnny Lindén and Niklas Tränk, for a school project; his sisters Linn and Jenny later joined as singers. The new band went through several names: Kalinin Prospect after an avenue in Moscow; CAD (Computer-Aided Disco); and Tech-Noir, French for black technology, after a nightclub in the film The Terminator. They toured the clubs of Sweden with self-written material, techno inspired by 80s Italodisco and house music.
Johnny left the group in 1989, and Niklas made his departure known by failing to turn up to a gig at Bältespännarparken in Gothenburg on August 4, 1990, instead attending a Rolling Stones concert on the other side of town. Jonas asked his friend Ulf Ekberg to stand in for Niklas. In an interview with Nöjesguiden, Jonas explained: "He shared a rehearsal room with us and we asked if he wanted to be with us on stage because he was really energetic. He thought it sounded fun and then we started writing. Ulf is very good at technology and I am more good at melodies, so it was a very good combination." Inspired by a Jamaican reggae band who resided in a studio next door to theirs, they experimented with a fusion of reggae and pop - dubbed "China reggae" by their Jamaican friends - which would become the band's trademark sound.
After responding to an ad in the paper Göteborgs-Posten, the new quartet started working in the studio with record producer John Ballard, and decided to come up with a new name in order to make a fresh start, as well as to avoid confusion with another band with the same name who were attracting bad reviews. Linn was reported to have said: "No one could pronounce the name of the group and nobody could remember it." They settled on Ace of Base in early 1991, after Ulf was inspired by the Motörhead song "Ace of Spades". In an interview in 2018, Ulf explained: "The name came out of a hangover I had on New Year's Day. So, I was hungover, watching MTV and I saw Motörhead's video for their song 'Ace of Spades'. I liked the name and I thought I'd play around with those words. We're four members in this band, so I thought, 'Good. Four aces. I'll keep the ace.' Then I thought of our studio and how it's our base."
The group continued performing in the clubs of Gothenburg, but struggled to gain recognition, partly due to the preference of heavy metal over techno in their hometown, according to singer Jenny. They also sent out demo cassettes to numerous record companies but "everybody refused" to sign them. In May 1991, Jonas and Ulf made a trip to various record companies in Stockholm, including Polar Music, who wanted them to record more songs first, and SweMix, who were interested but didn't have the time to do anything with them until the autumn.
In July, Klas Lunding at Telegram Records arranged for them to record a new version of "Wheel of Fortune" in their newly renovated Decibel Studio, but didn't offer them a recording contract. Jonas recounts: "When it had just been finished, Martin Dodd, (Head of A&R at independent Danish label Mega Records) called and shouted: 'Do not sign anything, do not sign anything!'. They wanted everything from us, while Telegram only wanted the reggae songs and no up-tempos. We had already recorded a single with Telegram, but hadn't signed anything. Klas is not the fastest in the world, so to speak - and that was perhaps lucky for us. So Mega bought the master tape from Klas for 34,000 SEK." Martin Dodd remarked in a 1995 interview: "When I got the demo in my hand, I knew nothing about the group but I immediately loved the melodies. The melancholy in the songs and their way of writing. At that time, house music was big and this went completely against the flow. It sounded fresh."
"Wheel of Fortune" was serviced to radio and nightclubs in Sweden in early 1992, with it reaching Gothenburg's local Jockeytoppen chart in March, and prompting an invitation to perform on music television channel ZTV. However, the record failed to gain traction in Sweden, so Mega switched focus to Denmark. After servicing the single to media two or three times, it was finally released commercially at the end of June 1992, entering the Danish singles chart at No. 6, before rising to No. 2.
1992–1994: International success and Happy Nation/The Sign
Although "Wheel of Fortune" was a success in Denmark, it was a different song that led to Ace of Base taking off internationally. After hearing Kayo's "Another Mother" in a record store, a top 20 hit in Sweden in 1990, Jonas and Ulf decided that it was exactly the sound they wanted to create. In early 1992, they sent producer Denniz PoP a demo tape including a song called "Mr. Ace". At first he wasn't particularly impressed, but the tape got stuck in the cassette player in his car. This resulted in him having to listen to it repeatedly and gradually he realized the song's potential. He'd lost the band's contact details but when they called him a few months later, he invited them to his SweMix studio to re-record the song in July 1992. The song became "All That She Wants", and upon its release at the end of August, it quickly climbed to No. 1 on the Danish chart, while the previous single was still sitting at No. 2. Keen to rush out an LP for the Christmas market, Mega Records pressed the band for an album, which was quickly recorded and mixed within a few weeks.
The album, Happy Nation, was released on November 2, 1992 in Denmark and its success prompted interest elsewhere in Europe. A pan-European licence was signed with Metronome/PolyGram (now Universal Music), but they were turned down by the American division. Within a few months, "All That She Wants" had reached No. 3 in Sweden and had spent eight weeks at No. 1 in Germany. In various European countries, "Happy Nation" and "Waiting for Magic" were released as further singles following the release of the album.
In May 1993, "All That She Wants" consolidated on its European success by topping the chart for three weeks in the United Kingdom. However, despite Mega Records's efforts to secure a distribution deal in the United States, the response was always the same: "This band will never work in the States." Eventually, Clive Davis, founder of Arista Records, heard the song playing on the radio whilst on vacation on his yacht, and rushed to sign a licence with Mega for the Americas. By the end of October, "All That She Wants" had made its way to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as in Australia.
The group had already started work on a second album, with the working title of The Sign, named after one of the new tracks they had written. Worried about sales of import copies of Happy Nation, however, Davis opted to tweak the track list of the original LP by adding three new tracks, and re-titling it The Sign. Released in the USA on November 23, 1993, it remained in the top three of the Billboard Top 200 for 26 consecutive weeks, and was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 1995 Grammy Awards. The refreshed album was released in Europe as Happy Nation (US Version). Collectively, the different versions of the album reached the No. 1 position in at least 14 countries, and sold over 21 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling debut albums of all time.
The second U.S. single was the album's title track, "The Sign", released on December 14. It was even more successful than the first, spending six weeks at No. 1 and becoming the best-selling single of 1994. It was also a major hit internationally, peaking at No. 2 in the UK and Sweden and at No. 1 in Germany; whilst in Australia it topped the charts for four weeks.
Recorded at the request of Clive Davis, "Don't Turn Around" was the group's next single, which had previously been released by Tina Turner as the B-side of her single "Typical Male", and had been a UK No. 1 hit for Aswad in 1988. The cover version hit the top 5 in the US, UK, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
Promotion for the album concluded with the final single release "Living in Danger", which was yet another top 40 hit internationally and was performed in front of the Brandenburg Gate at the first ever MTV Europe Music Awards in Berlin in November 1994.
The band were caught up in controversy when on 27 March 1993, the Swedish newspaper Expressen reported that Ulf had been a member of a skinhead gang in his teenage years, long prior to his association with Ace of Base. The band and Ulf himself have addressed these claims numerous times. Linn remarked in 1993: "Ulf gave all that up long ago and my family had nothing to do with any of that in the first place." In 2013, the story was revisited in a report by Vice, referring to an unauthorized CD released in 1998 called Uffe Was a Nazi!, containing songs with racist content which were claimed to have been recorded by Ulf's former band Commit Suiside. In an interview with E! Online, Ulf clarified that Commit Suiside were "a New Wave music band without any political touch or agenda" and that the racist songs on the CD were not recorded by them. He also remarked: "I have always been deeply regretful of that period in my life, as I strive to bring happiness to people, and during that period I did not live up to that standard. [...] I'm truly deeply sorry for any hurt and disappointment this has caused for our fans, and I really hope that we clearly have stated that Ace of Base never shared any of these opinions and strongly oppose all extremist opinions on both the right and left wing."
In April 1994, an obsessed German fan broke into the Berggren family home, brandishing a knife. After managing to restrain her, the band decided they needed bodyguards. Recalling the attack in a 2016 interview, Jenny said "She woke me up with a knife to my throat. She broke into my parents’ house when I was staying there after two years away. I woke up and she was standing over me with the knife. I was terrified. That was the darker side of fame. I remember just after I was attacked I found out that we were Number 1 in the United States. All I could think was that I almost got killed. Everyone was like, 'wow, let’s have a huge party'. I didn’t want a party. I was broken."
1995–1997: The Bridge
Following the substantial success of the first album, the group were offered the chance to perform at Madison Square Garden in New York, and were asked to front brands such as Pepsi and Reebok in promotional campaigns, but after two years of travelling around the world to promote the first album, the band were too exhausted and declined all offers. Simultaneously, their various record companies around the world were demanding a second album promptly. To hasten the process, instead of Jonas and Ulf writing most of the album, each member was encouraged to submit their own tracks for consideration.
In the end, 17 tracks were chosen for the second album, titled The Bridge. It marked a considerable change of direction in sound; alongside the reggae and dance sounds that had made the group so popular were more experimental tracks and several ballads. The lead single, "Lucky Love", however, was a mainstream pop record, and was premiered in August 1995 at the World Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg. It debuted at No. 1 in Sweden upon release in October, becoming their first chart-topper in their homeland. It was also a top 20 hit across Europe, peaking at No. 1 in Finland, No. 2 in Denmark, No. 13 in Germany and No. 20 in the United Kingdom.
Arista Records instead opted for the more up-tempo track "Beautiful Life" as the first single in the US, where it peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first American hit for its co-producer Max Martin, who would go on to become one of the world's most in-demand songwriters and producers. It was released as the second single from the album in most countries, also reaching No. 15 in the UK and charting in at least 17 countries. An alternative acoustic mix of "Lucky Love" was chosen as the second U.S. single, peaking at No. 30.
The Bridge was certified platinum in 14 countries, but did not match the sales of the group's first album. "Never Gonna Say I'm Sorry" was released as the third single from the album and achieved moderate success in Europe, but failed to chart on the Hot 100 in the USA. In February 1996, the band performed at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival in Chile, topping the bill alongside 2 Unlimited.
After touring Asia and Australasia in April 1996, the group temporarily retreated from the limelight, scrapping plans to release either "My Déjà Vu" or "Edge Of Heaven" as a single, and emerging only in 1997 for an April performance at the World Music Awards, and at a July concert celebrating the 20th birthday of Princess Victoria of Sweden.
1998–1999: Flowers / Cruel Summer
Having felt rushed to record a second album, the group were given as much time as they need to produce their third, with much of it being recorded in Jonas's own studio, "The Barn". Declaring it their best album yet, the group titled it Flowers because they believed that the songs, wildly different in style, including Motown and gospel influences, resembled a varied bouquet of flowers. Fans were surprised to see that singer Linn had relinquished lead vocal duties to sister Jenny, and on many promotional photos, Linn's face was blurred. They were reassured that Linn was happy with her new backing role in the group, and many reasons were given for her decision, including her having damaged her voice, her aerophobia deterring her from international travel and her dislike of fame.
The album's lead single "Life Is a Flower" was released in mainland Europe in April 1998, and became the most-played track on European radio of the year. It reached the top 5 in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Hungary and in the UK, where it was certified silver. The album followed in June, hitting the top 20 in at least a dozen countries.
The group's British label London Records had requested the band record the 1983 hit "Cruel Summer", by Bananarama and it was selected as the second European single. Deciding that "Life Is a Flower" was "too European in nature", Clive Davis pushed "Cruel Summer" as the lead single for the United States, and it brought Ace of Base back into the U.S. Top 10 for the first time in four years, being certified gold. The album was also renamed Cruel Summer and featured a different track list from the European release. For this version of the album, Davis persuaded a reluctant Linn to record the Billy Steinberg-penned ballad "Everytime It Rains".
"Life Is a Flower" was re-recorded as "Whenever You're Near Me" and chosen as the second single from Cruel Summer, peaking at No. 76. "Travel to Romantis" and "Always Have, Always Will" were further singles in Europe whilst "Everytime It Rains" was issued as a single in the UK along with a repackaged edition of Flowers.
1999–2000: Singles of the 90s and Greatest Hits
The group went back into the studio in 1999, writing several tracks together as a quartet for the first time, and recording enough demo tracks for consideration for a fourth studio album. Ulf from the group later revealed that they had hoped to release a track called "Pole Position" as the lead single, with a music video that would have featured the Formula One champion driver Jacques Villeneuve. Several of the tracks recorded for the scrapped studio album were eventually released in demo form by Jonas via Facebook in 2011.
In November 1999, Mega Records released the best-of album Singles of the 90s, a compilation of 16 hit singles. A new single taken from it, "C'est La Vie (Always 21)", was a modest chart hit in Sweden, Finland, Germany and Switzerland, and topped the charts in Spain. "Hallo Hallo" followed as the second single in parts of Europe, but only found minor success.
Arista Records fulfilled the group's four-album contract in the Americas by releasing Greatest Hits in March 2000. A new dance mix of "Everytime It Rains", previously included on Cruel Summer, was released as a radio single to promote the album. Both the single and album failed to chart in the USA.
2002–2003: Da Capo
Following a long time away from the pop scene, a new single called "Beautiful Morning" was serviced to radio in Europe in July 2002. Polydor Records reported that it was their fastest-added track to radio playlists of the year, and it went on peak at No. 38 in Germany and No. 14 in Sweden upon its commercial release in September.
After several delays, Ace of Base finally released their fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002, in Europe, and in Japan through Toshiba EMI with a different cover and three bonus tracks. The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in the Americas. The title comes from the musical term da capo, which translates as "back to the beginning", chosen as the sound of the album was seen as a return to the group's early blend of reggae and europop.
Although the album charted across much of Europe, it was not as successful as previous releases. Only Jenny and Ulf went on a promotional tour of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland and Austria. Jonas chose to forego promotional activities because "it was better to be two then" and led to "less questions" about Linn's lack of participation. Linn attended only one performance in Germany, which was her last public appearance.
"The Juvenile" was selected as the album's second single in Germany, and was used for a Christmas campaign by TV channel RTL. The song was a re-written version of a track originally submitted for the James Bond movie GoldenEye in 1995. However, Clive Davis persuaded the band that it was not the best move for the band at the time so they withdrew it from consideration. In Scandinavia, Edel-Mega released "Unspeakable" as the second single, but its poor chart performance ended the promotion of the album prematurely.
2003–2006: Hiatus
The group remained out of the spotlight throughout 2003 and 2004. During this time, Jenny performed solo live performances in several Christian shows with her husband Jakob Petrén and released an album as a vocalist with the Swedish group Arose.
In 2005, a handful of songs featuring vocals by both Jenny and Linn were recorded with producer Tommy Ekman, including "Would You Believe" and "Make My Day". Jonas and Ulf later explained that the group did not have the energy to finish the project, though the tracks that were recorded eventually surfaced.
At the end of 2005, the group reunited, without Linn, for several live performances at the Night of the Proms in Belgium, alongside other artists such as Donna Summer.
2007–2009: Reunion
Ace of Base reunited as a trio to perform their first full-length concert since 1996 in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on November 15, 2007. They embarked on a world tour called Ace Of Base - Redefined!, which continued throughout 2008 and 2009. The set list included several new versions of their greatest hits. Jenny confirmed Linn's permanent departure from the group, saying "She hasn't been part of Ace of Base for several years" in Se & Hør Magazine. Ulf later explained in an interview "She left the band and we promised her to never even ask to come back. She's done with entertainment industry. It's understandable. It's brutal from the inside, it was not for her. She has no craving to be famous, she loved her fans, but the fame factor was not for her." While touring, the group performed a brand new song called "Sparks From A Fire".
The group teamed up with Jenny's husband Jakob to record material for a new studio album, which would consist of seven new songs and seven remakes of old hits. However, this album did not see a release and a new compilation, Greatest Hits, was released on November 12, 2008, instead.
Five re-recorded songs were released from the album in various forms: "Lucky Love 2009", "Don't Turn Around 2009", "The Sign (Freedom Bunch Mix)" and "Wheel of Fortune 2009", which was released worldwide on October 24, 2008, as a digital single. A fifth reworking, "Happy Nation 2009", was released separately as a remix kit. A remake of "All That She Wants" was also recorded and featured guest vocals by Britney Spears that stemmed from her own 2007 cover of the song. This remake was never officially released, but leaked online in June 2016.
Three of the new tracks recorded in this period ("Sparks From A Fire", "The Mask" and "Wish You Were Mine") were eventually leaked on YouTube in 2017.
2009–2012: New members, The Golden Ratio, and Ace Thursdays
In August 2009, in an interview with Digital Spy, Ulf mentioned adding another singer to the group alongside Jenny, explaining: "We're just deciding now whether to add a fourth member to the group again or to bring it out under a new name. At the moment we think it would be stronger with two female singers, so it's a little technical problem to solve." During this time, Ulf and Jonas began recording songs with singer Julia Williamson, whom they met through Martin Dodd, who had originally signed the group to Mega Records. Meanwhile, a new remix of "Cruel Summer" by Rico Bernasconi charted at No. 69 in Germany.
Jenny published her autobiography Vinna hela Världen in Sweden in September and announced that she was recording a solo album, which materialized in October 2010 as My Story. In November 2009, Jenny confirmed via Twitter that she would not be involved with the upcoming album, but later clarified that she had not left, saying that "other constellations will have other names".
Two new singers were officially revealed in February 2010 as Clara Hagman, a contestant from Idol 2009, who Ulf met whilst appearing as a guest judge on the show, and Julia Williamson. Jonas explained that "We will reform how we write the band name so that all old Acers can see the difference and don't have to be in panic.", with Jenny commenting in April, "You are wrong about me leaving Ace of Base. I just want to make everybody sure I have not left the group. Ace of Base is still the original members. We are bounded by law and by heart."
In a later interview with Aftonbladet, Jenny claimed "They didn't want to be with me", and that she was not allowed to participate in songwriting. Jonas and Ulf then said in an interview with Scandipop that Jenny wasn't happy with plans to introduce a new member, and while she never formally quit the group, they felt that they had no choice but to proceed without her.
The new quartet maintained the original band name, but it was stylized as "Ace.of.Base" on the artwork of single and album releases. In July 2010, a track called "Mr. Replay" appeared on a Polish promo compilation for DJs, becoming the first release from the new line-up. The first official single from the line-up, "All for You", was premiered on radio station Antenne AC on July 22, and was released on CD and download on September 10, debuting at No. 38 in Germany.
The album The Golden Ratio followed on September 24, entering the German album charts at No. 20. In Sweden, the album failed to chart, backed only by a radio release of the album's title track "The Golden Ratio" in October, followed by a performance of "Southern California" on Bingolotto in April 2011. An acoustic version of the album was being considered but never materialized. No further singles were released in support of the album.
In March 2011, Jonas began releasing previously unreleased material to fans via the band's official Facebook page and the website ReverbNation on a semi-regular basis, in events they referred to as "Ace Thursdays". Writing sessions for new material took place throughout the same year, though following the group's tour of Canada and Brazil in 2011, new music was put on hold.
2012–present: Departures, Hidden Gems and 30th anniversary
Ace Thursdays continued throughout 2012, but were discontinued in May 2013. In November 2012, Jenny was quoted as saying, "The rest of the band are doing other things. ... We're just wishing each other luck at this stage. I have a dream that we'll get back together, so I don't want to bang anyone on the head". Jenny began touring as "Jenny from Ace of Base" alongside popular Eurodance acts from the decade.
In January 2014, Julia announced on her official Facebook page that she had left the group in 2012. She later confirmed that Clara had also left, saying on her Facebook page, "I never really left the group, one day I just didn't hear anything from them and it's the same with Clara. Like it went up in smoke; really strange". Clara has since gone to release a number of solo singles, and has collaborated with various EDM producers such as KREAM and R3hab.
A remix EP was released in July 2014, featuring new remixes of "All That She Wants". On September 27, Jonas announced that members were filming a documentary chronicling the production of "All That She Wants" at Google headquarters. The documentary was aired on the Swedish channel SVT as part of the Hitlåtens Historia series on March 18, 2015.
In December 2014 and January 2015, remastered versions of their first four studio albums, in both European and American editions, were released digitally. This was followed in March by Hidden Gems, a compilation album consisting entirely of demos and b-sides. "Would You Believe", one of the last tracks recorded by the original quartet in 2005, was released as a promotional single.
In a 2015 interview with ABC News, Ulf said of a future reunion, "With the right elements in the next few years, I don't think it's impossible"; however, in July 2016, Jenny remarked: "We won't re-form. [...] We're finished working together but we're not finished being family together. We have a lot of fun plans in the future but no musical plans". In 2018, Jonas said a potential reunion had been discussed, but noted "We always got the same question "where is Malin?". I am still writing music, maybe one song each fortnight or something. It's a lot of fun, like therapy. And maybe if we do a reunion... I have songs for it!"
In 2019, Demon Music Group began releasing new compilations of the band's material in the United Kingdom. The first of these releases was Ace Of Base – Gold, which charted at No. 59 in the UK, marking the group's first return to the UK charts in 20 years. To mark the group's 30th anniversary, a 12-disc box set called All That She Wants: The Classic Collection was released in July 2020. The set includes deluxe versions of the group's original four studio albums, an expanded 46-track edition of Hidden Gems, a new EP containing previously unreleased remixes of "Edge Of Heaven", and a DVD containing all of the group's music videos. Included among the 195 tracks are previously unreleased demos from the original line-up's final recording sessions in 2008 and live recordings of the group's first gig at Bältespännarparken in 1990. A coloured vinyl box set was also released which only includes the four studio albums.
In 2020, Playground Records began releasing standalone digital singles which feature new remixes of the group's tracks. In November 2021, a remix EP was released for the album track "Dancer in a Daydream" which first appeared on Happy Nation in 1992. The EP features remixes by producer Trace Adam and was released alongside a new video with previously unseen footage.
Legacy
A number of musicians and singers have been influenced by Ace of Base. Lady Gaga has said her album The Fame Monster was influenced by the "super pop melodies of the 90s" by acts such as Ace of Base. The song "Alejandro" in particular has been heavily compared to Ace of Base's version of "Don't Turn Around"; Paul Lester from BBC commented that "[Alejandro] moves at an Ace of Base pace", and Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine described the song as a homage to them; The song "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" from The Fame has also been linked to the band; Alexis Petridis from The Guardian noted that the song "is the first song in a long time that warrants comparison to the œuvre of Ace of Base".
Katy Perry said she wanted her third studio album, Teenage Dream, to sound like "The Sign"; "It's what I said I wanted earlier", she told MTV; "We nailed it: It's roller-skating! It's '90s! It's Ace of Base! It's Cyndi Lauper! It's like all these colors and more".
Swedish artist Robyn said she was inspired by Ace of Base for her song "Dancehall Queen", which was produced by Diplo and Klas Åhlund for her fifth studio album Body Talk Pt. 1. "We were just having fun with that kind of genre music. And the idea of making this song came out of that discussion. It was fun. We really connected on something where music that you might put in one box becomes something else, depending on how you look at it".
Some of the British group Clean Bandit's tracks have been compared to the band, notably their 2016 UK No. 1 single "Rockabye". Band members Grace and Luke have named them as an influence in interviews.
American alternative rock artist Beck had plans to cover an Ace of Base album as part of his Record Club project in 2009; however, this never came to fruition. Tegan and Sara's song "Closer" was inspired by the band's music. Robert Alfons of Canadian synthpop group Trust once said "the synthesisers they used were of great influence on me... [their] first two albums [in particular]", whilst rock band Yeasayer and new wave artist Twin Shadow have both also cited Ace of Base as an influence.
The 2019 single "Liar", by Cuban pop singer Camila Cabello, interpolates the melody of "All That She Wants".
Awards and nominations
1992 MTA – Best Pop Act (nominee)
1992 MTA – Best New Act (nominee)
1993 Swedish Grammis – Best Pop Group
1993 Swedish Grammis – TV audience price
1993 Bronze BRAVO Otto (Germany) – Best rock/pop Group
1993 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Breakthrough Artist
1994 MTV Europe Music Awards – Best Cover (Nominee)
1994 American Music Award – Favorite Band, Duo or Group – Pop / Rock
1994 American Music Award – Favorite New Artist – Pop / Rock
1994 Billboard Music Award – Number One Single
1994 Billboard Music Award – Top New Artist
1994 Billboard Music Award – Artist of the Year
1994 Peleg Music Award of Excellence – Best New Artist
1994 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1994 Echo (Germany) – Group of the Year
1994 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Artist
1994 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Album (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best Pop Album for The Sign (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best New Artist (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best Vocal Performance By a Group or Duo for The Sign (nominee)
1995 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1995 Juno Awards – International Album of the Year for The Sign (nominee)
1995 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Artist (nominee)
1996 European Award For Dance Music
1996 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1997 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1998 Midem Fono Award – Most Played Song of the Year – Life Is a Flower
1999 RSH Gold
2007 BMI Award for over 3 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
2011 Scandipop Award – Best group album
2016 BMI Award for over 4 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
2021 BMI Award for over 5 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
Discography
Studio albums
Happy Nation / The Sign (1992/1993)
The Bridge (1995)
Flowers / Cruel Summer (1998)
Da Capo (2002)
The Golden Ratio (2010)
See also
Swedish pop music
References
External links
Arista Records artists
English-language singers from Sweden
Europop groups
Musical groups established in 1990
Musical groups from Gothenburg
Swedish co-ed groups
Swedish Eurodance groups
Swedish pop music groups
Sibling musical groups
World Music Awards winners
1990 establishments in Sweden | false | [
"Ipirhan Orki (Greek: Υπήρχαν Όρκοι; ) is the second studio album by Greek musician Giannis Ploutarhos, released on March 22, 2000 by Minos EMI in Greece and Cyprus. This was the first album where Ploutarhos contributed musically. The album was certified double Platinum by the IFPI Greece for sales of at least 80,000 copies, becoming his first album to be certified in Greece and making it his joint third most successful album there.\n\nTrack listing\n\nSingles\n\"Ipirhan Orki\"\nThe first single from the album was \"Ipirhan Orki\", which was composed by Ploutarhos himself with lyrics by Natali. The music video was directed by Kostas Kapetanidis.\n\n\"Fysai Poli\"\nThe second single from the album was \"Fysai Poli\". The music video was directed by Kostas Kapetanidis and features Ploutarhos and a woman on the beach.\n\n\"Paramilao\" \nThe second single from the album was \"Paramilao\". The music video was directed by Kostas Kapetanidis and features Ploutarhos on a city rooftop.\n\n\"Se Xeperasa\"\nThe fourth single from the album was \"Se Xeperasa\". No music video was made to accompany the single.\n\n\"Se Hano\"\nThe fifth single from the album was \"Se Hano\". No music video was made to accompany the single.\n\n\"To Kalitero Paidi\"\nThe fifth single from the album was \"To Kalitero Paidi\". The music video was directed by Kostas Kapetanidis and features Ploutarhos on top of a cliff.\n\n\"Siga Siga\"\nThe last single from the album was \"Siga Siga\". There was no music video accompanying the single.\n\nChart performance\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nGiannis Ploutarhos at Minos EMI official site\n\n2000 albums\nGiannis Ploutarhos albums\nGreek-language albums\nMinos EMI albums",
"This page shows the best-selling Christmas albums in the United States. It includes artists from all over the world, but it only includes sales in the United States of America.\n\nPrior to March 1, 1991, the only means of tracking sales figures for record albums and singles in the United States was via the certification system of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), based specifically on shipments (less potential returns) on a long-term basis. According to the most recent record album certifications, the holiday album title that has shipped the most copies in the United States is Elvis Presley's 1957 LP Elvis' Christmas Album, which is certified by the RIAA for shipment of 17 million copies in the U.S. (3 million copies of the original 1957 release on RCA Victor Records, plus 10 million copies of a \"budget\" edition first released by RCA Camden in 1970 and then by Pickwick Records in 1975, and 4 million copies of another RCA reissue titled It's Christmas Time released in 1985).\n\nFrom March 1, 1991, through the present day, the Nielsen SoundScan tracking system has been more widely used to accurately track sales of record albums and singles at the point of sale (POS) based on inventory bar code scans.\n\nBest-selling Christmas albums (using RIAA certifications and Nielsen SoundScan sales through November 2016)\nIn November 2016, Billboard has compiled a list of the top ten selling Christmas albums, using both RIAA certification information and actual point-of-sale data from Nielsen SoundScan. For albums released before SoundScan started collecting data in 1991, Billboard used their RIAA certification to determine sales.\n\n Elvis's Christmas Album (1970 version) / Elvis Presley ~ 10,000,000\n Miracles: The Holiday Album / Kenny G ~ 7,370,000\n The Christmas Song / Nat King Cole ~ 6,000,000\n Mannheim Steamroller Christmas / Mannheim Steamroller ~ 6,000,000\n A Fresh Aire Christmas / Mannheim Steamroller ~ 6,000,000\n Noël / Josh Groban ~ 5,890,000\n Merry Christmas / Mariah Carey ~ 5,500,000\n These Are Special Times / Celine Dion ~ 5,440,000\n A Christmas Album / Barbra Streisand ~ 5,370,000\n Merry Christmas / Johnny Mathis ~ 5,240,000\n\nBest-selling Christmas albums from Nielsen SoundScan tracking data (through December 1, 2014)\nThis is a list of the 25 best-selling Christmas albums of the Nielsen SoundScan era in the United States for cumulative sales as tracked by Nielsen SoundScan through December 1, 2014. Nielsen Music began tracking sales data for Billboard on March 1, 1991.\n\n Miracles: The Holiday Album / Kenny G ~ 7,310,000\n Noël / Josh Groban ~ 5,710,000\n Merry Christmas / Mariah Carey ~ 5,370,000\n These Are Special Times / Celine Dion ~ 5,310,000\n Christmas in the Aire / Mannheim Steamroller ~ 3,740,000\n A Fresh Aire Christmas / Mannheim Steamroller ~ 3,660,000\n Mannheim Steamroller Christmas / Mannheim Steamroller ~ 3,500,000\n Now That's What I Call Christmas! / various artists ~ 3,480,000\n Christmas Eve and Other Stories / Trans-Siberian Orchestra ~ 3,430,000\n A Charlie Brown Christmas / Vince Guaraldi Trio ~ 3,410,000\n Christmas / Michael Bublé ~ 3,390,000\n When My Heart Finds Christmas / Harry Connick, Jr. ~ 3,150,000\n My Christmas / Andrea Bocelli ~ 3,010,000\n Christmas Extraordinaire / Mannheim Steamroller ~ 2,920,000\n Home for Christmas / *NSYNC ~ 2,760,000\n Faith: A Holiday Album / Kenny G ~ 2,750,000\n Beyond the Season / Garth Brooks ~ 2,650,000\n Home for Christmas / Amy Grant ~ 2,540,000\n A Very Special Christmas / various artists ~ 2,520,000\n The Lost Christmas Eve / Trans-Siberian Orchestra ~ 2,380,000\n A Very Special Christmas 2 / various artists ~ 2,200,000\n The Gift / Susan Boyle ~ 2,180,000\n Christmas Portrait / The Carpenters ~ 1,950,000\n White Christmas / Bing Crosby ~ 1,950,000\n The Christmas Album / Neil Diamond ~ 1,910,000\n\nBest-selling Christmas albums by RIAA certification\nThis is an incomplete list of the best-selling Christmas albums in the United States based on shipment certification by the RIAA. This list provides a more complete representation of the best-selling Christmas albums in history, as it includes those released well before the Nielsen/SoundScan era of music sales.\n\nBest-selling Christmas albums by year\nIn 1963, Billboard magazine began publishing a special weekly sales charts for Christmas album sales named \"Christmas Albums\" for three to four weeks during each holiday season. Titles that appeared on these charts were excluded from the regular Billboard 200 album sales charts. These special, year-end \"Christmas Albums\" charts were published from 1963 to 1973. The chart was discontinued from 1974 to 1982, when holiday titles were once again included in the regular Billboard 200 chart. \"Christmas Albums\" started up again in 1983 and appeared each year until 1985 (during these three years, holiday titles were eligible for inclusion on the weekly Billboard 200 chart). It was discontinued in 1986, but resumed in 1987 and continued each year under the \"Christmas Albums\" name until 1993. In 1994, the chart was renamed to \"Holiday Albums\" and has been published by Billboard each year since. Billboard'''s special Christmas albums sales charts have varied in size over the years, from a low of 5 chart positions to a high of 117 chart positions.\n\n1940s\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1945 was Merry Christmas, by Bing Crosby.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1946 was Merry Christmas, by Bing Crosby.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1947 was Merry Christmas, by Bing Crosby.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1948 was Merry Christmas, by Bing Crosby.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1949 was Merry Christmas, by Bing Crosby.\n\n1950s\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1950 was Merry Christmas, by Bing Crosby.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1951 was Mario Lanza Sings Christmas Songs, by Mario Lanza.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1952 was Christmas Hymns and Carols, by The Robert Shaw Chorale.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1953 was Christmas with Arthur Godfrey and All the Little Godfreys, by Arthur Godfrey.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1954 was Selections from Irving Berlin's \"White Christmas\", by Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Peggy Lee.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1955 was Happy Holiday, by Jo Stafford.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1956 was Merry Christmas from Lawrence Welk and His Champagne Music, by Lawrence Welk.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1957 was Elvis' Christmas Album, by Elvis Presley.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1958 was Christmas Sing-Along with Mitch, by Mitch Miller & the Gang.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1959 was Christmas Sing-Along with Mitch, by Mitch Miller & the Gang.\n\n1960s\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1960 was Christmas Sing-Along with Mitch, by Mitch Miller & the Gang.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1961 was Holiday Sing Along with Mitch, by Mitch Miller & the Gang.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1962 was Merry Christmas, by Johnny Mathis.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1963 was The Andy Williams Christmas Album, by Andy Williams.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1964 was The Andy Williams Christmas Album, by Andy Williams.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1965 was The Little Drummer Boy: A Christmas Festival, by the Harry Simeone Chorale.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1966 was Merry Christmas, by Andy Williams.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1967 was A Christmas Album, by Barbra Streisand.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1968 was That Christmas Feeling, by Glen Campbell.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1969 was Jim Nabors' Christmas Album, by Jim Nabors.\n\n1970s\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1970 was The Jackson 5 Christmas Album, by The Jackson 5.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1971 was A Partridge Family Christmas Card, by The Partridge Family.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1972 was The Jackson 5 Christmas Album, by The Jackson 5.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1973 was Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas, by Elvis Presley.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1974 was The Waltons' Christmas Album, by Earl Hamner, Jr./The Holiday Singers.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1975 was Rocky Mountain Christmas, by John Denver.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1976 was Christmas Jollies, by The Salsoul Orchestra.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1977 was Christmas Jollies, by The Salsoul Orchestra.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1978 was Christmas Portrait, by The Carpenters.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1979 was A Christmas Together, by John Denver and The Muppets.\n\n1980s\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1980 was Christmas in the Stars: Star Wars Christmas Album, by Meco.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1981 was Christmas, by Kenny Rogers.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1982 was Christmas, by The Oak Ridge Boys.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1983 was Christmas, by Kenny Rogers.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1984 was Once Upon a Christmas, by Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1985 was Alabama Christmas, by Alabama.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1986 was Merry Christmas Strait to You!, by George Strait.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1987 was A Very Special Christmas, by various artists.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1988 was A Fresh Aire Christmas, by Mannheim Steamroller.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1989 was Merry, Merry Christmas, by New Kids on the Block.\n\n1990s\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1990 was Because It's Christmas, by Barry Manilow.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1991 was A Fresh Aire Christmas, by Mannheim Steamroller.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1992 was Beyond the Season, by Garth Brooks.\nThe best-selling Christmas album of 1993 was When My Heart Finds Christmas, by Harry Connick, Jr.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 1994 was Miracles: The Holiday Album, by Kenny G.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 1995 was Christmas in the Aire, by Mannheim Steamroller.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 1996 was Miracles: The Holiday Album, by Kenny G.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 1997 was Snowed In, by Hanson.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 1998 was These Are Special Times, by Celine Dion.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 1999 was Faith: A Holiday Album, by Kenny G.\n\n2000s\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 2000 was Dream a Dream, by Charlotte Church.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 2001 was Now That's What I Call Christmas!, by various artists.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 2002 was Now That's What I Call Christmas!, by various artists.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 2003 was Harry for the Holidays, by Harry Connick, Jr.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 2004 was Merry Christmas with Love, by Clay Aiken.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 2005 was The Christmas Collection, by Il Divo.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 2006 was Wintersong, by Sarah McLachlan.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 2007 was Noël, by Josh Groban.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 2008 was Noël, by Josh Groban.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 2009 was My Christmas, by Andrea Bocelli.\n\n2010s\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 2010 was The Gift, by Susan Boyle.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 2011 was Christmas, by Michael Bublé.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 2012 was Merry Christmas, Baby, by Rod Stewart.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 2013 was Wrapped in Red, by Kelly Clarkson.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 2014 was That's Christmas to Me, by Pentatonix.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 2015 was That's Christmas to Me, by Pentatonix.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 2016 was A Pentatonix Christmas'', by Pentatonix.\nThe best-selling Holiday album of 2017 was Everyday Is Christmas, by Sia\n\nSee also\n\n Christmas music\n List of popular Christmas singles in the United States\n List of best-selling Christmas singles in the United States\n List of best-selling albums in the United States of the Nielsen SoundScan era\n List of best-selling albums by year in the United States\n List of Billboard Top Holiday Albums number ones of the 2000s\n List of Billboard Top Holiday Albums number ones of the 2010s\n List of Billboard Top Holiday Albums number ones of the 2020s\n\nReferences\n\nUnited States, Christmas Holiday albums\nUnited States\nUnited States"
]
|
[
"Ace of Base",
"Da Capo (2002-03)",
"what happened in 2002?",
"Ace of Base released its fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002,",
"was the album a sucess?",
"The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in America or Australia, though a release was planned for the United States in 2003."
]
| C_12b55bce65d44cfabc4161087efa936e_0 | did it release in the us? | 3 | Did the Ace of Base album, Da Capo, release in the US? | Ace of Base | Ace of Base released its fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002, in Europe, and in Japan through Toshiba EMI with a different cover and three bonus tracks. The album had originally been planned for release in mid-2000, but was repeatedly postponed due to record company complications. The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in America or Australia, though a release was planned for the United States in 2003. The album is named for the musical term da capo, which translates as "back to the beginning". It was intended to be a return to the band's earliest sound. Although the album entered the album charts in many European countries, it was not as successful as previous releases. Only Jenny and Ulf went on a promotional tour of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland and Austria. Jonas didn't attend promotional activities because "it was better to be two then" because it led to "less questions" about Linn's lack of participation. Linn attended only one performance in Germany, which was her last public appearance. The first single release from the Da Capo album was "Beautiful Morning", which peaked at No.14 in Sweden and No. 38 in Germany, where it was followed by "The Juvenile"; this was used for a Christmas campaign by German TV channel RTL. "The Juvenile" was previously written for the GoldenEye James Bond movie in 1995. However, Arista, the band's American record label at the time, shelved the idea. In Scandinavia, Edel-Mega released the album's opening track, "Unspeakable", as the second single, but its poor chart performance ended the promotion of the album prematurely. CANNOTANSWER | though a release was planned for the United States in 2003. | Ace of Base is a Swedish pop group, formed in 1990, originally consisting of siblings Jonas, Linn and Jenny Berggren, with Ulf Ekberg.
They achieved worldwide success following the release of their debut album Happy Nation in 1992. Later re-issued as The Sign, it was certified nine times platinum in the United States and was the best-selling album of 1994. One of the most successful debut albums of all time, it was the first to produce three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart: "All That She Wants", "The Sign" and "Don't Turn Around".
They continued to score hit singles throughout the 1990s, with songs such as "Beautiful Life", "Lucky Love", "Cruel Summer" and "Life Is a Flower". By 2002, they had sold a total of 30 million copies of their first four studio albums, making them the third most successful Swedish group of all time, behind ABBA and Roxette.
Despite being largely inactive since 2012, the group has never officially disbanded. In the last decade, they have released a number of demo tracks, first via their Facebook page, then in 2015 on the compilation album Hidden Gems. An expanded two-disc edition was included in the 2020 boxset All That She Wants: The Classic Collection. Jenny Berggren continues to perform the group's hits in solo concerts around the world.
History
1987–1992: Formation
In 1987, following a number of years as part of a new romantic and punk cover band called G Konrad (named after a Hungarian author), Jonas Berggren formed a band with two friends, Johnny Lindén and Niklas Tränk, for a school project; his sisters Linn and Jenny later joined as singers. The new band went through several names: Kalinin Prospect after an avenue in Moscow; CAD (Computer-Aided Disco); and Tech-Noir, French for black technology, after a nightclub in the film The Terminator. They toured the clubs of Sweden with self-written material, techno inspired by 80s Italodisco and house music.
Johnny left the group in 1989, and Niklas made his departure known by failing to turn up to a gig at Bältespännarparken in Gothenburg on August 4, 1990, instead attending a Rolling Stones concert on the other side of town. Jonas asked his friend Ulf Ekberg to stand in for Niklas. In an interview with Nöjesguiden, Jonas explained: "He shared a rehearsal room with us and we asked if he wanted to be with us on stage because he was really energetic. He thought it sounded fun and then we started writing. Ulf is very good at technology and I am more good at melodies, so it was a very good combination." Inspired by a Jamaican reggae band who resided in a studio next door to theirs, they experimented with a fusion of reggae and pop - dubbed "China reggae" by their Jamaican friends - which would become the band's trademark sound.
After responding to an ad in the paper Göteborgs-Posten, the new quartet started working in the studio with record producer John Ballard, and decided to come up with a new name in order to make a fresh start, as well as to avoid confusion with another band with the same name who were attracting bad reviews. Linn was reported to have said: "No one could pronounce the name of the group and nobody could remember it." They settled on Ace of Base in early 1991, after Ulf was inspired by the Motörhead song "Ace of Spades". In an interview in 2018, Ulf explained: "The name came out of a hangover I had on New Year's Day. So, I was hungover, watching MTV and I saw Motörhead's video for their song 'Ace of Spades'. I liked the name and I thought I'd play around with those words. We're four members in this band, so I thought, 'Good. Four aces. I'll keep the ace.' Then I thought of our studio and how it's our base."
The group continued performing in the clubs of Gothenburg, but struggled to gain recognition, partly due to the preference of heavy metal over techno in their hometown, according to singer Jenny. They also sent out demo cassettes to numerous record companies but "everybody refused" to sign them. In May 1991, Jonas and Ulf made a trip to various record companies in Stockholm, including Polar Music, who wanted them to record more songs first, and SweMix, who were interested but didn't have the time to do anything with them until the autumn.
In July, Klas Lunding at Telegram Records arranged for them to record a new version of "Wheel of Fortune" in their newly renovated Decibel Studio, but didn't offer them a recording contract. Jonas recounts: "When it had just been finished, Martin Dodd, (Head of A&R at independent Danish label Mega Records) called and shouted: 'Do not sign anything, do not sign anything!'. They wanted everything from us, while Telegram only wanted the reggae songs and no up-tempos. We had already recorded a single with Telegram, but hadn't signed anything. Klas is not the fastest in the world, so to speak - and that was perhaps lucky for us. So Mega bought the master tape from Klas for 34,000 SEK." Martin Dodd remarked in a 1995 interview: "When I got the demo in my hand, I knew nothing about the group but I immediately loved the melodies. The melancholy in the songs and their way of writing. At that time, house music was big and this went completely against the flow. It sounded fresh."
"Wheel of Fortune" was serviced to radio and nightclubs in Sweden in early 1992, with it reaching Gothenburg's local Jockeytoppen chart in March, and prompting an invitation to perform on music television channel ZTV. However, the record failed to gain traction in Sweden, so Mega switched focus to Denmark. After servicing the single to media two or three times, it was finally released commercially at the end of June 1992, entering the Danish singles chart at No. 6, before rising to No. 2.
1992–1994: International success and Happy Nation/The Sign
Although "Wheel of Fortune" was a success in Denmark, it was a different song that led to Ace of Base taking off internationally. After hearing Kayo's "Another Mother" in a record store, a top 20 hit in Sweden in 1990, Jonas and Ulf decided that it was exactly the sound they wanted to create. In early 1992, they sent producer Denniz PoP a demo tape including a song called "Mr. Ace". At first he wasn't particularly impressed, but the tape got stuck in the cassette player in his car. This resulted in him having to listen to it repeatedly and gradually he realized the song's potential. He'd lost the band's contact details but when they called him a few months later, he invited them to his SweMix studio to re-record the song in July 1992. The song became "All That She Wants", and upon its release at the end of August, it quickly climbed to No. 1 on the Danish chart, while the previous single was still sitting at No. 2. Keen to rush out an LP for the Christmas market, Mega Records pressed the band for an album, which was quickly recorded and mixed within a few weeks.
The album, Happy Nation, was released on November 2, 1992 in Denmark and its success prompted interest elsewhere in Europe. A pan-European licence was signed with Metronome/PolyGram (now Universal Music), but they were turned down by the American division. Within a few months, "All That She Wants" had reached No. 3 in Sweden and had spent eight weeks at No. 1 in Germany. In various European countries, "Happy Nation" and "Waiting for Magic" were released as further singles following the release of the album.
In May 1993, "All That She Wants" consolidated on its European success by topping the chart for three weeks in the United Kingdom. However, despite Mega Records's efforts to secure a distribution deal in the United States, the response was always the same: "This band will never work in the States." Eventually, Clive Davis, founder of Arista Records, heard the song playing on the radio whilst on vacation on his yacht, and rushed to sign a licence with Mega for the Americas. By the end of October, "All That She Wants" had made its way to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as in Australia.
The group had already started work on a second album, with the working title of The Sign, named after one of the new tracks they had written. Worried about sales of import copies of Happy Nation, however, Davis opted to tweak the track list of the original LP by adding three new tracks, and re-titling it The Sign. Released in the USA on November 23, 1993, it remained in the top three of the Billboard Top 200 for 26 consecutive weeks, and was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 1995 Grammy Awards. The refreshed album was released in Europe as Happy Nation (US Version). Collectively, the different versions of the album reached the No. 1 position in at least 14 countries, and sold over 21 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling debut albums of all time.
The second U.S. single was the album's title track, "The Sign", released on December 14. It was even more successful than the first, spending six weeks at No. 1 and becoming the best-selling single of 1994. It was also a major hit internationally, peaking at No. 2 in the UK and Sweden and at No. 1 in Germany; whilst in Australia it topped the charts for four weeks.
Recorded at the request of Clive Davis, "Don't Turn Around" was the group's next single, which had previously been released by Tina Turner as the B-side of her single "Typical Male", and had been a UK No. 1 hit for Aswad in 1988. The cover version hit the top 5 in the US, UK, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
Promotion for the album concluded with the final single release "Living in Danger", which was yet another top 40 hit internationally and was performed in front of the Brandenburg Gate at the first ever MTV Europe Music Awards in Berlin in November 1994.
The band were caught up in controversy when on 27 March 1993, the Swedish newspaper Expressen reported that Ulf had been a member of a skinhead gang in his teenage years, long prior to his association with Ace of Base. The band and Ulf himself have addressed these claims numerous times. Linn remarked in 1993: "Ulf gave all that up long ago and my family had nothing to do with any of that in the first place." In 2013, the story was revisited in a report by Vice, referring to an unauthorized CD released in 1998 called Uffe Was a Nazi!, containing songs with racist content which were claimed to have been recorded by Ulf's former band Commit Suiside. In an interview with E! Online, Ulf clarified that Commit Suiside were "a New Wave music band without any political touch or agenda" and that the racist songs on the CD were not recorded by them. He also remarked: "I have always been deeply regretful of that period in my life, as I strive to bring happiness to people, and during that period I did not live up to that standard. [...] I'm truly deeply sorry for any hurt and disappointment this has caused for our fans, and I really hope that we clearly have stated that Ace of Base never shared any of these opinions and strongly oppose all extremist opinions on both the right and left wing."
In April 1994, an obsessed German fan broke into the Berggren family home, brandishing a knife. After managing to restrain her, the band decided they needed bodyguards. Recalling the attack in a 2016 interview, Jenny said "She woke me up with a knife to my throat. She broke into my parents’ house when I was staying there after two years away. I woke up and she was standing over me with the knife. I was terrified. That was the darker side of fame. I remember just after I was attacked I found out that we were Number 1 in the United States. All I could think was that I almost got killed. Everyone was like, 'wow, let’s have a huge party'. I didn’t want a party. I was broken."
1995–1997: The Bridge
Following the substantial success of the first album, the group were offered the chance to perform at Madison Square Garden in New York, and were asked to front brands such as Pepsi and Reebok in promotional campaigns, but after two years of travelling around the world to promote the first album, the band were too exhausted and declined all offers. Simultaneously, their various record companies around the world were demanding a second album promptly. To hasten the process, instead of Jonas and Ulf writing most of the album, each member was encouraged to submit their own tracks for consideration.
In the end, 17 tracks were chosen for the second album, titled The Bridge. It marked a considerable change of direction in sound; alongside the reggae and dance sounds that had made the group so popular were more experimental tracks and several ballads. The lead single, "Lucky Love", however, was a mainstream pop record, and was premiered in August 1995 at the World Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg. It debuted at No. 1 in Sweden upon release in October, becoming their first chart-topper in their homeland. It was also a top 20 hit across Europe, peaking at No. 1 in Finland, No. 2 in Denmark, No. 13 in Germany and No. 20 in the United Kingdom.
Arista Records instead opted for the more up-tempo track "Beautiful Life" as the first single in the US, where it peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first American hit for its co-producer Max Martin, who would go on to become one of the world's most in-demand songwriters and producers. It was released as the second single from the album in most countries, also reaching No. 15 in the UK and charting in at least 17 countries. An alternative acoustic mix of "Lucky Love" was chosen as the second U.S. single, peaking at No. 30.
The Bridge was certified platinum in 14 countries, but did not match the sales of the group's first album. "Never Gonna Say I'm Sorry" was released as the third single from the album and achieved moderate success in Europe, but failed to chart on the Hot 100 in the USA. In February 1996, the band performed at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival in Chile, topping the bill alongside 2 Unlimited.
After touring Asia and Australasia in April 1996, the group temporarily retreated from the limelight, scrapping plans to release either "My Déjà Vu" or "Edge Of Heaven" as a single, and emerging only in 1997 for an April performance at the World Music Awards, and at a July concert celebrating the 20th birthday of Princess Victoria of Sweden.
1998–1999: Flowers / Cruel Summer
Having felt rushed to record a second album, the group were given as much time as they need to produce their third, with much of it being recorded in Jonas's own studio, "The Barn". Declaring it their best album yet, the group titled it Flowers because they believed that the songs, wildly different in style, including Motown and gospel influences, resembled a varied bouquet of flowers. Fans were surprised to see that singer Linn had relinquished lead vocal duties to sister Jenny, and on many promotional photos, Linn's face was blurred. They were reassured that Linn was happy with her new backing role in the group, and many reasons were given for her decision, including her having damaged her voice, her aerophobia deterring her from international travel and her dislike of fame.
The album's lead single "Life Is a Flower" was released in mainland Europe in April 1998, and became the most-played track on European radio of the year. It reached the top 5 in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Hungary and in the UK, where it was certified silver. The album followed in June, hitting the top 20 in at least a dozen countries.
The group's British label London Records had requested the band record the 1983 hit "Cruel Summer", by Bananarama and it was selected as the second European single. Deciding that "Life Is a Flower" was "too European in nature", Clive Davis pushed "Cruel Summer" as the lead single for the United States, and it brought Ace of Base back into the U.S. Top 10 for the first time in four years, being certified gold. The album was also renamed Cruel Summer and featured a different track list from the European release. For this version of the album, Davis persuaded a reluctant Linn to record the Billy Steinberg-penned ballad "Everytime It Rains".
"Life Is a Flower" was re-recorded as "Whenever You're Near Me" and chosen as the second single from Cruel Summer, peaking at No. 76. "Travel to Romantis" and "Always Have, Always Will" were further singles in Europe whilst "Everytime It Rains" was issued as a single in the UK along with a repackaged edition of Flowers.
1999–2000: Singles of the 90s and Greatest Hits
The group went back into the studio in 1999, writing several tracks together as a quartet for the first time, and recording enough demo tracks for consideration for a fourth studio album. Ulf from the group later revealed that they had hoped to release a track called "Pole Position" as the lead single, with a music video that would have featured the Formula One champion driver Jacques Villeneuve. Several of the tracks recorded for the scrapped studio album were eventually released in demo form by Jonas via Facebook in 2011.
In November 1999, Mega Records released the best-of album Singles of the 90s, a compilation of 16 hit singles. A new single taken from it, "C'est La Vie (Always 21)", was a modest chart hit in Sweden, Finland, Germany and Switzerland, and topped the charts in Spain. "Hallo Hallo" followed as the second single in parts of Europe, but only found minor success.
Arista Records fulfilled the group's four-album contract in the Americas by releasing Greatest Hits in March 2000. A new dance mix of "Everytime It Rains", previously included on Cruel Summer, was released as a radio single to promote the album. Both the single and album failed to chart in the USA.
2002–2003: Da Capo
Following a long time away from the pop scene, a new single called "Beautiful Morning" was serviced to radio in Europe in July 2002. Polydor Records reported that it was their fastest-added track to radio playlists of the year, and it went on peak at No. 38 in Germany and No. 14 in Sweden upon its commercial release in September.
After several delays, Ace of Base finally released their fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002, in Europe, and in Japan through Toshiba EMI with a different cover and three bonus tracks. The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in the Americas. The title comes from the musical term da capo, which translates as "back to the beginning", chosen as the sound of the album was seen as a return to the group's early blend of reggae and europop.
Although the album charted across much of Europe, it was not as successful as previous releases. Only Jenny and Ulf went on a promotional tour of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland and Austria. Jonas chose to forego promotional activities because "it was better to be two then" and led to "less questions" about Linn's lack of participation. Linn attended only one performance in Germany, which was her last public appearance.
"The Juvenile" was selected as the album's second single in Germany, and was used for a Christmas campaign by TV channel RTL. The song was a re-written version of a track originally submitted for the James Bond movie GoldenEye in 1995. However, Clive Davis persuaded the band that it was not the best move for the band at the time so they withdrew it from consideration. In Scandinavia, Edel-Mega released "Unspeakable" as the second single, but its poor chart performance ended the promotion of the album prematurely.
2003–2006: Hiatus
The group remained out of the spotlight throughout 2003 and 2004. During this time, Jenny performed solo live performances in several Christian shows with her husband Jakob Petrén and released an album as a vocalist with the Swedish group Arose.
In 2005, a handful of songs featuring vocals by both Jenny and Linn were recorded with producer Tommy Ekman, including "Would You Believe" and "Make My Day". Jonas and Ulf later explained that the group did not have the energy to finish the project, though the tracks that were recorded eventually surfaced.
At the end of 2005, the group reunited, without Linn, for several live performances at the Night of the Proms in Belgium, alongside other artists such as Donna Summer.
2007–2009: Reunion
Ace of Base reunited as a trio to perform their first full-length concert since 1996 in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on November 15, 2007. They embarked on a world tour called Ace Of Base - Redefined!, which continued throughout 2008 and 2009. The set list included several new versions of their greatest hits. Jenny confirmed Linn's permanent departure from the group, saying "She hasn't been part of Ace of Base for several years" in Se & Hør Magazine. Ulf later explained in an interview "She left the band and we promised her to never even ask to come back. She's done with entertainment industry. It's understandable. It's brutal from the inside, it was not for her. She has no craving to be famous, she loved her fans, but the fame factor was not for her." While touring, the group performed a brand new song called "Sparks From A Fire".
The group teamed up with Jenny's husband Jakob to record material for a new studio album, which would consist of seven new songs and seven remakes of old hits. However, this album did not see a release and a new compilation, Greatest Hits, was released on November 12, 2008, instead.
Five re-recorded songs were released from the album in various forms: "Lucky Love 2009", "Don't Turn Around 2009", "The Sign (Freedom Bunch Mix)" and "Wheel of Fortune 2009", which was released worldwide on October 24, 2008, as a digital single. A fifth reworking, "Happy Nation 2009", was released separately as a remix kit. A remake of "All That She Wants" was also recorded and featured guest vocals by Britney Spears that stemmed from her own 2007 cover of the song. This remake was never officially released, but leaked online in June 2016.
Three of the new tracks recorded in this period ("Sparks From A Fire", "The Mask" and "Wish You Were Mine") were eventually leaked on YouTube in 2017.
2009–2012: New members, The Golden Ratio, and Ace Thursdays
In August 2009, in an interview with Digital Spy, Ulf mentioned adding another singer to the group alongside Jenny, explaining: "We're just deciding now whether to add a fourth member to the group again or to bring it out under a new name. At the moment we think it would be stronger with two female singers, so it's a little technical problem to solve." During this time, Ulf and Jonas began recording songs with singer Julia Williamson, whom they met through Martin Dodd, who had originally signed the group to Mega Records. Meanwhile, a new remix of "Cruel Summer" by Rico Bernasconi charted at No. 69 in Germany.
Jenny published her autobiography Vinna hela Världen in Sweden in September and announced that she was recording a solo album, which materialized in October 2010 as My Story. In November 2009, Jenny confirmed via Twitter that she would not be involved with the upcoming album, but later clarified that she had not left, saying that "other constellations will have other names".
Two new singers were officially revealed in February 2010 as Clara Hagman, a contestant from Idol 2009, who Ulf met whilst appearing as a guest judge on the show, and Julia Williamson. Jonas explained that "We will reform how we write the band name so that all old Acers can see the difference and don't have to be in panic.", with Jenny commenting in April, "You are wrong about me leaving Ace of Base. I just want to make everybody sure I have not left the group. Ace of Base is still the original members. We are bounded by law and by heart."
In a later interview with Aftonbladet, Jenny claimed "They didn't want to be with me", and that she was not allowed to participate in songwriting. Jonas and Ulf then said in an interview with Scandipop that Jenny wasn't happy with plans to introduce a new member, and while she never formally quit the group, they felt that they had no choice but to proceed without her.
The new quartet maintained the original band name, but it was stylized as "Ace.of.Base" on the artwork of single and album releases. In July 2010, a track called "Mr. Replay" appeared on a Polish promo compilation for DJs, becoming the first release from the new line-up. The first official single from the line-up, "All for You", was premiered on radio station Antenne AC on July 22, and was released on CD and download on September 10, debuting at No. 38 in Germany.
The album The Golden Ratio followed on September 24, entering the German album charts at No. 20. In Sweden, the album failed to chart, backed only by a radio release of the album's title track "The Golden Ratio" in October, followed by a performance of "Southern California" on Bingolotto in April 2011. An acoustic version of the album was being considered but never materialized. No further singles were released in support of the album.
In March 2011, Jonas began releasing previously unreleased material to fans via the band's official Facebook page and the website ReverbNation on a semi-regular basis, in events they referred to as "Ace Thursdays". Writing sessions for new material took place throughout the same year, though following the group's tour of Canada and Brazil in 2011, new music was put on hold.
2012–present: Departures, Hidden Gems and 30th anniversary
Ace Thursdays continued throughout 2012, but were discontinued in May 2013. In November 2012, Jenny was quoted as saying, "The rest of the band are doing other things. ... We're just wishing each other luck at this stage. I have a dream that we'll get back together, so I don't want to bang anyone on the head". Jenny began touring as "Jenny from Ace of Base" alongside popular Eurodance acts from the decade.
In January 2014, Julia announced on her official Facebook page that she had left the group in 2012. She later confirmed that Clara had also left, saying on her Facebook page, "I never really left the group, one day I just didn't hear anything from them and it's the same with Clara. Like it went up in smoke; really strange". Clara has since gone to release a number of solo singles, and has collaborated with various EDM producers such as KREAM and R3hab.
A remix EP was released in July 2014, featuring new remixes of "All That She Wants". On September 27, Jonas announced that members were filming a documentary chronicling the production of "All That She Wants" at Google headquarters. The documentary was aired on the Swedish channel SVT as part of the Hitlåtens Historia series on March 18, 2015.
In December 2014 and January 2015, remastered versions of their first four studio albums, in both European and American editions, were released digitally. This was followed in March by Hidden Gems, a compilation album consisting entirely of demos and b-sides. "Would You Believe", one of the last tracks recorded by the original quartet in 2005, was released as a promotional single.
In a 2015 interview with ABC News, Ulf said of a future reunion, "With the right elements in the next few years, I don't think it's impossible"; however, in July 2016, Jenny remarked: "We won't re-form. [...] We're finished working together but we're not finished being family together. We have a lot of fun plans in the future but no musical plans". In 2018, Jonas said a potential reunion had been discussed, but noted "We always got the same question "where is Malin?". I am still writing music, maybe one song each fortnight or something. It's a lot of fun, like therapy. And maybe if we do a reunion... I have songs for it!"
In 2019, Demon Music Group began releasing new compilations of the band's material in the United Kingdom. The first of these releases was Ace Of Base – Gold, which charted at No. 59 in the UK, marking the group's first return to the UK charts in 20 years. To mark the group's 30th anniversary, a 12-disc box set called All That She Wants: The Classic Collection was released in July 2020. The set includes deluxe versions of the group's original four studio albums, an expanded 46-track edition of Hidden Gems, a new EP containing previously unreleased remixes of "Edge Of Heaven", and a DVD containing all of the group's music videos. Included among the 195 tracks are previously unreleased demos from the original line-up's final recording sessions in 2008 and live recordings of the group's first gig at Bältespännarparken in 1990. A coloured vinyl box set was also released which only includes the four studio albums.
In 2020, Playground Records began releasing standalone digital singles which feature new remixes of the group's tracks. In November 2021, a remix EP was released for the album track "Dancer in a Daydream" which first appeared on Happy Nation in 1992. The EP features remixes by producer Trace Adam and was released alongside a new video with previously unseen footage.
Legacy
A number of musicians and singers have been influenced by Ace of Base. Lady Gaga has said her album The Fame Monster was influenced by the "super pop melodies of the 90s" by acts such as Ace of Base. The song "Alejandro" in particular has been heavily compared to Ace of Base's version of "Don't Turn Around"; Paul Lester from BBC commented that "[Alejandro] moves at an Ace of Base pace", and Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine described the song as a homage to them; The song "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" from The Fame has also been linked to the band; Alexis Petridis from The Guardian noted that the song "is the first song in a long time that warrants comparison to the œuvre of Ace of Base".
Katy Perry said she wanted her third studio album, Teenage Dream, to sound like "The Sign"; "It's what I said I wanted earlier", she told MTV; "We nailed it: It's roller-skating! It's '90s! It's Ace of Base! It's Cyndi Lauper! It's like all these colors and more".
Swedish artist Robyn said she was inspired by Ace of Base for her song "Dancehall Queen", which was produced by Diplo and Klas Åhlund for her fifth studio album Body Talk Pt. 1. "We were just having fun with that kind of genre music. And the idea of making this song came out of that discussion. It was fun. We really connected on something where music that you might put in one box becomes something else, depending on how you look at it".
Some of the British group Clean Bandit's tracks have been compared to the band, notably their 2016 UK No. 1 single "Rockabye". Band members Grace and Luke have named them as an influence in interviews.
American alternative rock artist Beck had plans to cover an Ace of Base album as part of his Record Club project in 2009; however, this never came to fruition. Tegan and Sara's song "Closer" was inspired by the band's music. Robert Alfons of Canadian synthpop group Trust once said "the synthesisers they used were of great influence on me... [their] first two albums [in particular]", whilst rock band Yeasayer and new wave artist Twin Shadow have both also cited Ace of Base as an influence.
The 2019 single "Liar", by Cuban pop singer Camila Cabello, interpolates the melody of "All That She Wants".
Awards and nominations
1992 MTA – Best Pop Act (nominee)
1992 MTA – Best New Act (nominee)
1993 Swedish Grammis – Best Pop Group
1993 Swedish Grammis – TV audience price
1993 Bronze BRAVO Otto (Germany) – Best rock/pop Group
1993 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Breakthrough Artist
1994 MTV Europe Music Awards – Best Cover (Nominee)
1994 American Music Award – Favorite Band, Duo or Group – Pop / Rock
1994 American Music Award – Favorite New Artist – Pop / Rock
1994 Billboard Music Award – Number One Single
1994 Billboard Music Award – Top New Artist
1994 Billboard Music Award – Artist of the Year
1994 Peleg Music Award of Excellence – Best New Artist
1994 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1994 Echo (Germany) – Group of the Year
1994 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Artist
1994 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Album (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best Pop Album for The Sign (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best New Artist (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best Vocal Performance By a Group or Duo for The Sign (nominee)
1995 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1995 Juno Awards – International Album of the Year for The Sign (nominee)
1995 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Artist (nominee)
1996 European Award For Dance Music
1996 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1997 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1998 Midem Fono Award – Most Played Song of the Year – Life Is a Flower
1999 RSH Gold
2007 BMI Award for over 3 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
2011 Scandipop Award – Best group album
2016 BMI Award for over 4 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
2021 BMI Award for over 5 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
Discography
Studio albums
Happy Nation / The Sign (1992/1993)
The Bridge (1995)
Flowers / Cruel Summer (1998)
Da Capo (2002)
The Golden Ratio (2010)
See also
Swedish pop music
References
External links
Arista Records artists
English-language singers from Sweden
Europop groups
Musical groups established in 1990
Musical groups from Gothenburg
Swedish co-ed groups
Swedish Eurodance groups
Swedish pop music groups
Sibling musical groups
World Music Awards winners
1990 establishments in Sweden | false | [
"The discography of American heavy metal band Disturbed includes seven studio albums, two live albums, one compilation album, one extended play, 30 singles, three video albums, and 24 music videos. The band formed when guitarist Dan Donegan, drummer Mike Wengren and bassist Steve \"Fuzz\" Kmak hired vocalist David Draiman in 1996. A demo tape led to their signing to Giant Records, which released their debut album, The Sickness, in March 2000. The album reached the top 30 on the United States' Billboard 200, and the Australian ARIA Charts. Since its release, The Sickness was certified quadruple platinum, a measure of its high sales volume, in the US by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and platinum in Australia by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Four singles were released from the album, \"Stupify\", \"Voices\", \"The Game\", and \"Down with the Sickness\"; the latter of which was the most successful, having been certified platinum by the RIAA.\n\nIn June 2002, Disturbed released the documentary M.O.L., which showed some of the band's more personal moments in the studio and during tours, and featured several music videos and live performances. M.O.L. was later certified platinum by ARIA. Disturbed then released their second studio album, Believe, in September 2002. It peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200 and New Zealand's Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) charts, as well as number two on the Canadian Albums Chart. Believe was certified double platinum by the RIAA, and platinum by ARIA and the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA). The album's first single, \"Prayer\", peaked at number 14 on the Canadian Singles Chart, and number 31 on the UK Singles Chart. A music video directed by the Brothers Strause included the song, but because scenes in the video resembled footage of the September 11 attacks, most television stations refused to play it. The single was followed-up by \"Remember\", which failed to reach the success of its predecessor. The 2003 tour Music as a Weapon II was documented on the live album, which also featured the bands Taproot, Chevelle, and Ünloco. It was released in February 2004, and reached number 148 on the US Billboard 200.\n\nThree years after the release of Believe, Disturbed released their third studio album, Ten Thousand Fists, in September 2005. The album reached the same positions that its predecessor had; topping the US Billboard 200 and New Zealand RIANZ charts, and peaking at number two on the Canadian Albums Charts. It also was certified platinum in the US, Australia, and Canada. Ten Thousand Fists spawned singles such as \"Guarded\", \"Just Stop\", the Genesis cover of \"Land of Confusion\", and \"Stricken\". The latter charted at number 95 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and at number 88 on the UK Singles Chart. \"Stricken\" was later certified gold by the RIAA. Disturbed's fourth studio album, Indestructible, was released in June 2008. Like its predecessor, it peaked at number one on the US and New Zealand charts; it also reached the top position of the Canadian and Australian charts. Four singles were released for Indestructible, the title track, \"Perfect Insanity\", \"The Night and \"Inside the Fire\" (which peaked at number-one on the Mainstream Rock Songs, was certified gold by the RIAA, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category Best Hard Rock Performance). The band has released five consecutive number-one albums that have charted on the Billboard 200, with the release of their fifth studio album Asylum. Asylum was followed five years later by Immortalized (2015). The album featured a cover of \"The Sound of Silence\", which became their highest peaking song on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 42.\n\nAlbums\n\nStudio albums\n\nCompilation albums\n\nLive albums\n\nExtended plays\n\nSingles\n\n\"—\" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.\n\"×\" denotes periods where charts did not exist or were not archived.\n\nOther charted songs\n\nVideos\n\nVideo albums\n\nMusic videos\n\nNotes\n\nA. Live & Indestructible was released exclusively through iTunes Store for digital download and at Hot Topic stores for CD release.\nB. \"Stupify\" did not enter the US Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 12 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.\nC. \"Down with the Sickness\" did not enter the US Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 4 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.\nD. \"Remember\" did not enter the US Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 10 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.\nE. \"Liberate\" did not enter the US Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 21 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.\nF. \"Guarded\" did not enter the US Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 17 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.\nG. \"Land of Confusion\" did not enter the US Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 5 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.\nH. \"Warrior\" did not enter the US Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 3 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.\nI. Indestructible in Germany was released exclusively through Best Buy.\n\nReferences\nGeneral\n\n Disturbed – Discography\n \n \n\nSpecific\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\nDiscography\nHeavy metal group discographies\nDiscographies of American artists",
"The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California in 1961. Their discography from 1961 to 1984 was originally released on the vinyl format, with the 1985 album The Beach Boys being the group's first CD release. The Beach Boys' catalogue has been released on reel-to-reel, 8-track, cassette, CD, MiniDisc, digital downloads, and various streaming services.\n\nThe group has released 29 studio albums, eight live albums, 55 compilation albums, 1 remix album, and 71 singles. The release dates and sequence of the Beach Boys' albums in the UK up to Pet Sounds differ significantly from the original US releases.\n\nStudio albums\n\nLive albums\n\nCompilation albums\n\nRemix albums\n\nSingles\nListed below are Beach Boys A and B sides issued in the US. For Beach Boys singles not issued under the group name, EP tracks, featured tracks, and non-American A-sides, see other songs.\n\n1960s\n\n1970s\n\n1980–present\n\nBillboard Year-End performances\n\nOther songs associated with members of the group\n\nExtended plays\n Surfin' Safari (1963, SWE)\n Surfin' U.S.A. (1963, UK, FR, NZ)\n Shut Down Volume 2 (1963, US)\n Louie Louie (1964, FR)\n Beach Boys Concert (1964, UK)\n Fun, Fun, Fun (1964, UK, AUS) — #19 UK EPs\n Dance, Dance, Dance (1964, FR, ESP)\n 4-By The Beach Boys (1964, US, UK, POR) — #11 UK EPs\n Help Me, Rhonda (1965, POR, FR, ESP)\n Barbara Ann (1965, POR)\n Hits (1966, UK) — #1 UK EPs\n Then I Kissed Her (1966, POR)\n Sloop John B (1966, FR, ESP, POR)\n California Girls (1966, ESP)\n Wouldn't It Be Nice (1966, FR)\n God Only Knows (1966, UK) — #3 UK EPs\n Good Vibrations (1966, POR, SWE)\n Mountain Of Love (1967, ESP)\n White Christmas (1967, ESP)\n Wild Honey (1967, AUS) \n I Can Hear Music (1967, NZ)\n Cotton Fields (1970, BR)\n Sail On Sailor (1977, UK)\n 1969: I'm Going Your Way (2019)\n\nOther album appearances\n\nMusic videos\n\nSee also\nList of songs recorded by the Beach Boys\n\nNotes\n\nA Chart positions sourced from the 1972 re-release backed with Carl and the Passions — So Tough.\nB Chart positions are for the 1974 re-release of Wild Honey paired with 20/20.\nC Initially paired with a Pet Sounds re-release.\nD Chart position for the 1976 US release.\nE Canada's \"Surfin' U.S.A.\" peak position is taken from the 1974 re-release.\nF \"Marcella\" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at No. 110 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.\nG American and Canadian chart positions are for the 1975 re-release.\n\nH \"Little Saint Nick\" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Christmas Singles chart.\nI \"Why Do Fools Fall in Love\" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at No. 120 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.\nJ \"She Knows Me too Well\" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at No. 101 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.\nK \"The Man With All the Toys\" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Christmas Singles chart.\nL \"Little Deuce Coupe\" (with James House) chart position No. 31 refers to the CAN Country chart.. The song did not chart on the main singles chart.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nExtended Beach Boys Discography\nThe Ones That Got Away – a guide to the Beach Boys' lost albums\nComprehensive American discography\nComprehensive British discography\n\nDiscography\nDiscographies of American artists\nPop music group discographies\nRock music group discographies"
]
|
[
"Ace of Base",
"Da Capo (2002-03)",
"what happened in 2002?",
"Ace of Base released its fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002,",
"was the album a sucess?",
"The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in America or Australia, though a release was planned for the United States in 2003.",
"did it release in the us?",
"though a release was planned for the United States in 2003."
]
| C_12b55bce65d44cfabc4161087efa936e_0 | did the album hit the charts? | 4 | did the Ace of Base album, Da Capo hit the music charts? | Ace of Base | Ace of Base released its fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002, in Europe, and in Japan through Toshiba EMI with a different cover and three bonus tracks. The album had originally been planned for release in mid-2000, but was repeatedly postponed due to record company complications. The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in America or Australia, though a release was planned for the United States in 2003. The album is named for the musical term da capo, which translates as "back to the beginning". It was intended to be a return to the band's earliest sound. Although the album entered the album charts in many European countries, it was not as successful as previous releases. Only Jenny and Ulf went on a promotional tour of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland and Austria. Jonas didn't attend promotional activities because "it was better to be two then" because it led to "less questions" about Linn's lack of participation. Linn attended only one performance in Germany, which was her last public appearance. The first single release from the Da Capo album was "Beautiful Morning", which peaked at No.14 in Sweden and No. 38 in Germany, where it was followed by "The Juvenile"; this was used for a Christmas campaign by German TV channel RTL. "The Juvenile" was previously written for the GoldenEye James Bond movie in 1995. However, Arista, the band's American record label at the time, shelved the idea. In Scandinavia, Edel-Mega released the album's opening track, "Unspeakable", as the second single, but its poor chart performance ended the promotion of the album prematurely. CANNOTANSWER | Although the album entered the album charts in many European countries, it was not as successful as previous releases. | Ace of Base is a Swedish pop group, formed in 1990, originally consisting of siblings Jonas, Linn and Jenny Berggren, with Ulf Ekberg.
They achieved worldwide success following the release of their debut album Happy Nation in 1992. Later re-issued as The Sign, it was certified nine times platinum in the United States and was the best-selling album of 1994. One of the most successful debut albums of all time, it was the first to produce three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart: "All That She Wants", "The Sign" and "Don't Turn Around".
They continued to score hit singles throughout the 1990s, with songs such as "Beautiful Life", "Lucky Love", "Cruel Summer" and "Life Is a Flower". By 2002, they had sold a total of 30 million copies of their first four studio albums, making them the third most successful Swedish group of all time, behind ABBA and Roxette.
Despite being largely inactive since 2012, the group has never officially disbanded. In the last decade, they have released a number of demo tracks, first via their Facebook page, then in 2015 on the compilation album Hidden Gems. An expanded two-disc edition was included in the 2020 boxset All That She Wants: The Classic Collection. Jenny Berggren continues to perform the group's hits in solo concerts around the world.
History
1987–1992: Formation
In 1987, following a number of years as part of a new romantic and punk cover band called G Konrad (named after a Hungarian author), Jonas Berggren formed a band with two friends, Johnny Lindén and Niklas Tränk, for a school project; his sisters Linn and Jenny later joined as singers. The new band went through several names: Kalinin Prospect after an avenue in Moscow; CAD (Computer-Aided Disco); and Tech-Noir, French for black technology, after a nightclub in the film The Terminator. They toured the clubs of Sweden with self-written material, techno inspired by 80s Italodisco and house music.
Johnny left the group in 1989, and Niklas made his departure known by failing to turn up to a gig at Bältespännarparken in Gothenburg on August 4, 1990, instead attending a Rolling Stones concert on the other side of town. Jonas asked his friend Ulf Ekberg to stand in for Niklas. In an interview with Nöjesguiden, Jonas explained: "He shared a rehearsal room with us and we asked if he wanted to be with us on stage because he was really energetic. He thought it sounded fun and then we started writing. Ulf is very good at technology and I am more good at melodies, so it was a very good combination." Inspired by a Jamaican reggae band who resided in a studio next door to theirs, they experimented with a fusion of reggae and pop - dubbed "China reggae" by their Jamaican friends - which would become the band's trademark sound.
After responding to an ad in the paper Göteborgs-Posten, the new quartet started working in the studio with record producer John Ballard, and decided to come up with a new name in order to make a fresh start, as well as to avoid confusion with another band with the same name who were attracting bad reviews. Linn was reported to have said: "No one could pronounce the name of the group and nobody could remember it." They settled on Ace of Base in early 1991, after Ulf was inspired by the Motörhead song "Ace of Spades". In an interview in 2018, Ulf explained: "The name came out of a hangover I had on New Year's Day. So, I was hungover, watching MTV and I saw Motörhead's video for their song 'Ace of Spades'. I liked the name and I thought I'd play around with those words. We're four members in this band, so I thought, 'Good. Four aces. I'll keep the ace.' Then I thought of our studio and how it's our base."
The group continued performing in the clubs of Gothenburg, but struggled to gain recognition, partly due to the preference of heavy metal over techno in their hometown, according to singer Jenny. They also sent out demo cassettes to numerous record companies but "everybody refused" to sign them. In May 1991, Jonas and Ulf made a trip to various record companies in Stockholm, including Polar Music, who wanted them to record more songs first, and SweMix, who were interested but didn't have the time to do anything with them until the autumn.
In July, Klas Lunding at Telegram Records arranged for them to record a new version of "Wheel of Fortune" in their newly renovated Decibel Studio, but didn't offer them a recording contract. Jonas recounts: "When it had just been finished, Martin Dodd, (Head of A&R at independent Danish label Mega Records) called and shouted: 'Do not sign anything, do not sign anything!'. They wanted everything from us, while Telegram only wanted the reggae songs and no up-tempos. We had already recorded a single with Telegram, but hadn't signed anything. Klas is not the fastest in the world, so to speak - and that was perhaps lucky for us. So Mega bought the master tape from Klas for 34,000 SEK." Martin Dodd remarked in a 1995 interview: "When I got the demo in my hand, I knew nothing about the group but I immediately loved the melodies. The melancholy in the songs and their way of writing. At that time, house music was big and this went completely against the flow. It sounded fresh."
"Wheel of Fortune" was serviced to radio and nightclubs in Sweden in early 1992, with it reaching Gothenburg's local Jockeytoppen chart in March, and prompting an invitation to perform on music television channel ZTV. However, the record failed to gain traction in Sweden, so Mega switched focus to Denmark. After servicing the single to media two or three times, it was finally released commercially at the end of June 1992, entering the Danish singles chart at No. 6, before rising to No. 2.
1992–1994: International success and Happy Nation/The Sign
Although "Wheel of Fortune" was a success in Denmark, it was a different song that led to Ace of Base taking off internationally. After hearing Kayo's "Another Mother" in a record store, a top 20 hit in Sweden in 1990, Jonas and Ulf decided that it was exactly the sound they wanted to create. In early 1992, they sent producer Denniz PoP a demo tape including a song called "Mr. Ace". At first he wasn't particularly impressed, but the tape got stuck in the cassette player in his car. This resulted in him having to listen to it repeatedly and gradually he realized the song's potential. He'd lost the band's contact details but when they called him a few months later, he invited them to his SweMix studio to re-record the song in July 1992. The song became "All That She Wants", and upon its release at the end of August, it quickly climbed to No. 1 on the Danish chart, while the previous single was still sitting at No. 2. Keen to rush out an LP for the Christmas market, Mega Records pressed the band for an album, which was quickly recorded and mixed within a few weeks.
The album, Happy Nation, was released on November 2, 1992 in Denmark and its success prompted interest elsewhere in Europe. A pan-European licence was signed with Metronome/PolyGram (now Universal Music), but they were turned down by the American division. Within a few months, "All That She Wants" had reached No. 3 in Sweden and had spent eight weeks at No. 1 in Germany. In various European countries, "Happy Nation" and "Waiting for Magic" were released as further singles following the release of the album.
In May 1993, "All That She Wants" consolidated on its European success by topping the chart for three weeks in the United Kingdom. However, despite Mega Records's efforts to secure a distribution deal in the United States, the response was always the same: "This band will never work in the States." Eventually, Clive Davis, founder of Arista Records, heard the song playing on the radio whilst on vacation on his yacht, and rushed to sign a licence with Mega for the Americas. By the end of October, "All That She Wants" had made its way to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as in Australia.
The group had already started work on a second album, with the working title of The Sign, named after one of the new tracks they had written. Worried about sales of import copies of Happy Nation, however, Davis opted to tweak the track list of the original LP by adding three new tracks, and re-titling it The Sign. Released in the USA on November 23, 1993, it remained in the top three of the Billboard Top 200 for 26 consecutive weeks, and was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 1995 Grammy Awards. The refreshed album was released in Europe as Happy Nation (US Version). Collectively, the different versions of the album reached the No. 1 position in at least 14 countries, and sold over 21 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling debut albums of all time.
The second U.S. single was the album's title track, "The Sign", released on December 14. It was even more successful than the first, spending six weeks at No. 1 and becoming the best-selling single of 1994. It was also a major hit internationally, peaking at No. 2 in the UK and Sweden and at No. 1 in Germany; whilst in Australia it topped the charts for four weeks.
Recorded at the request of Clive Davis, "Don't Turn Around" was the group's next single, which had previously been released by Tina Turner as the B-side of her single "Typical Male", and had been a UK No. 1 hit for Aswad in 1988. The cover version hit the top 5 in the US, UK, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
Promotion for the album concluded with the final single release "Living in Danger", which was yet another top 40 hit internationally and was performed in front of the Brandenburg Gate at the first ever MTV Europe Music Awards in Berlin in November 1994.
The band were caught up in controversy when on 27 March 1993, the Swedish newspaper Expressen reported that Ulf had been a member of a skinhead gang in his teenage years, long prior to his association with Ace of Base. The band and Ulf himself have addressed these claims numerous times. Linn remarked in 1993: "Ulf gave all that up long ago and my family had nothing to do with any of that in the first place." In 2013, the story was revisited in a report by Vice, referring to an unauthorized CD released in 1998 called Uffe Was a Nazi!, containing songs with racist content which were claimed to have been recorded by Ulf's former band Commit Suiside. In an interview with E! Online, Ulf clarified that Commit Suiside were "a New Wave music band without any political touch or agenda" and that the racist songs on the CD were not recorded by them. He also remarked: "I have always been deeply regretful of that period in my life, as I strive to bring happiness to people, and during that period I did not live up to that standard. [...] I'm truly deeply sorry for any hurt and disappointment this has caused for our fans, and I really hope that we clearly have stated that Ace of Base never shared any of these opinions and strongly oppose all extremist opinions on both the right and left wing."
In April 1994, an obsessed German fan broke into the Berggren family home, brandishing a knife. After managing to restrain her, the band decided they needed bodyguards. Recalling the attack in a 2016 interview, Jenny said "She woke me up with a knife to my throat. She broke into my parents’ house when I was staying there after two years away. I woke up and she was standing over me with the knife. I was terrified. That was the darker side of fame. I remember just after I was attacked I found out that we were Number 1 in the United States. All I could think was that I almost got killed. Everyone was like, 'wow, let’s have a huge party'. I didn’t want a party. I was broken."
1995–1997: The Bridge
Following the substantial success of the first album, the group were offered the chance to perform at Madison Square Garden in New York, and were asked to front brands such as Pepsi and Reebok in promotional campaigns, but after two years of travelling around the world to promote the first album, the band were too exhausted and declined all offers. Simultaneously, their various record companies around the world were demanding a second album promptly. To hasten the process, instead of Jonas and Ulf writing most of the album, each member was encouraged to submit their own tracks for consideration.
In the end, 17 tracks were chosen for the second album, titled The Bridge. It marked a considerable change of direction in sound; alongside the reggae and dance sounds that had made the group so popular were more experimental tracks and several ballads. The lead single, "Lucky Love", however, was a mainstream pop record, and was premiered in August 1995 at the World Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg. It debuted at No. 1 in Sweden upon release in October, becoming their first chart-topper in their homeland. It was also a top 20 hit across Europe, peaking at No. 1 in Finland, No. 2 in Denmark, No. 13 in Germany and No. 20 in the United Kingdom.
Arista Records instead opted for the more up-tempo track "Beautiful Life" as the first single in the US, where it peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first American hit for its co-producer Max Martin, who would go on to become one of the world's most in-demand songwriters and producers. It was released as the second single from the album in most countries, also reaching No. 15 in the UK and charting in at least 17 countries. An alternative acoustic mix of "Lucky Love" was chosen as the second U.S. single, peaking at No. 30.
The Bridge was certified platinum in 14 countries, but did not match the sales of the group's first album. "Never Gonna Say I'm Sorry" was released as the third single from the album and achieved moderate success in Europe, but failed to chart on the Hot 100 in the USA. In February 1996, the band performed at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival in Chile, topping the bill alongside 2 Unlimited.
After touring Asia and Australasia in April 1996, the group temporarily retreated from the limelight, scrapping plans to release either "My Déjà Vu" or "Edge Of Heaven" as a single, and emerging only in 1997 for an April performance at the World Music Awards, and at a July concert celebrating the 20th birthday of Princess Victoria of Sweden.
1998–1999: Flowers / Cruel Summer
Having felt rushed to record a second album, the group were given as much time as they need to produce their third, with much of it being recorded in Jonas's own studio, "The Barn". Declaring it their best album yet, the group titled it Flowers because they believed that the songs, wildly different in style, including Motown and gospel influences, resembled a varied bouquet of flowers. Fans were surprised to see that singer Linn had relinquished lead vocal duties to sister Jenny, and on many promotional photos, Linn's face was blurred. They were reassured that Linn was happy with her new backing role in the group, and many reasons were given for her decision, including her having damaged her voice, her aerophobia deterring her from international travel and her dislike of fame.
The album's lead single "Life Is a Flower" was released in mainland Europe in April 1998, and became the most-played track on European radio of the year. It reached the top 5 in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Hungary and in the UK, where it was certified silver. The album followed in June, hitting the top 20 in at least a dozen countries.
The group's British label London Records had requested the band record the 1983 hit "Cruel Summer", by Bananarama and it was selected as the second European single. Deciding that "Life Is a Flower" was "too European in nature", Clive Davis pushed "Cruel Summer" as the lead single for the United States, and it brought Ace of Base back into the U.S. Top 10 for the first time in four years, being certified gold. The album was also renamed Cruel Summer and featured a different track list from the European release. For this version of the album, Davis persuaded a reluctant Linn to record the Billy Steinberg-penned ballad "Everytime It Rains".
"Life Is a Flower" was re-recorded as "Whenever You're Near Me" and chosen as the second single from Cruel Summer, peaking at No. 76. "Travel to Romantis" and "Always Have, Always Will" were further singles in Europe whilst "Everytime It Rains" was issued as a single in the UK along with a repackaged edition of Flowers.
1999–2000: Singles of the 90s and Greatest Hits
The group went back into the studio in 1999, writing several tracks together as a quartet for the first time, and recording enough demo tracks for consideration for a fourth studio album. Ulf from the group later revealed that they had hoped to release a track called "Pole Position" as the lead single, with a music video that would have featured the Formula One champion driver Jacques Villeneuve. Several of the tracks recorded for the scrapped studio album were eventually released in demo form by Jonas via Facebook in 2011.
In November 1999, Mega Records released the best-of album Singles of the 90s, a compilation of 16 hit singles. A new single taken from it, "C'est La Vie (Always 21)", was a modest chart hit in Sweden, Finland, Germany and Switzerland, and topped the charts in Spain. "Hallo Hallo" followed as the second single in parts of Europe, but only found minor success.
Arista Records fulfilled the group's four-album contract in the Americas by releasing Greatest Hits in March 2000. A new dance mix of "Everytime It Rains", previously included on Cruel Summer, was released as a radio single to promote the album. Both the single and album failed to chart in the USA.
2002–2003: Da Capo
Following a long time away from the pop scene, a new single called "Beautiful Morning" was serviced to radio in Europe in July 2002. Polydor Records reported that it was their fastest-added track to radio playlists of the year, and it went on peak at No. 38 in Germany and No. 14 in Sweden upon its commercial release in September.
After several delays, Ace of Base finally released their fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002, in Europe, and in Japan through Toshiba EMI with a different cover and three bonus tracks. The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in the Americas. The title comes from the musical term da capo, which translates as "back to the beginning", chosen as the sound of the album was seen as a return to the group's early blend of reggae and europop.
Although the album charted across much of Europe, it was not as successful as previous releases. Only Jenny and Ulf went on a promotional tour of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland and Austria. Jonas chose to forego promotional activities because "it was better to be two then" and led to "less questions" about Linn's lack of participation. Linn attended only one performance in Germany, which was her last public appearance.
"The Juvenile" was selected as the album's second single in Germany, and was used for a Christmas campaign by TV channel RTL. The song was a re-written version of a track originally submitted for the James Bond movie GoldenEye in 1995. However, Clive Davis persuaded the band that it was not the best move for the band at the time so they withdrew it from consideration. In Scandinavia, Edel-Mega released "Unspeakable" as the second single, but its poor chart performance ended the promotion of the album prematurely.
2003–2006: Hiatus
The group remained out of the spotlight throughout 2003 and 2004. During this time, Jenny performed solo live performances in several Christian shows with her husband Jakob Petrén and released an album as a vocalist with the Swedish group Arose.
In 2005, a handful of songs featuring vocals by both Jenny and Linn were recorded with producer Tommy Ekman, including "Would You Believe" and "Make My Day". Jonas and Ulf later explained that the group did not have the energy to finish the project, though the tracks that were recorded eventually surfaced.
At the end of 2005, the group reunited, without Linn, for several live performances at the Night of the Proms in Belgium, alongside other artists such as Donna Summer.
2007–2009: Reunion
Ace of Base reunited as a trio to perform their first full-length concert since 1996 in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on November 15, 2007. They embarked on a world tour called Ace Of Base - Redefined!, which continued throughout 2008 and 2009. The set list included several new versions of their greatest hits. Jenny confirmed Linn's permanent departure from the group, saying "She hasn't been part of Ace of Base for several years" in Se & Hør Magazine. Ulf later explained in an interview "She left the band and we promised her to never even ask to come back. She's done with entertainment industry. It's understandable. It's brutal from the inside, it was not for her. She has no craving to be famous, she loved her fans, but the fame factor was not for her." While touring, the group performed a brand new song called "Sparks From A Fire".
The group teamed up with Jenny's husband Jakob to record material for a new studio album, which would consist of seven new songs and seven remakes of old hits. However, this album did not see a release and a new compilation, Greatest Hits, was released on November 12, 2008, instead.
Five re-recorded songs were released from the album in various forms: "Lucky Love 2009", "Don't Turn Around 2009", "The Sign (Freedom Bunch Mix)" and "Wheel of Fortune 2009", which was released worldwide on October 24, 2008, as a digital single. A fifth reworking, "Happy Nation 2009", was released separately as a remix kit. A remake of "All That She Wants" was also recorded and featured guest vocals by Britney Spears that stemmed from her own 2007 cover of the song. This remake was never officially released, but leaked online in June 2016.
Three of the new tracks recorded in this period ("Sparks From A Fire", "The Mask" and "Wish You Were Mine") were eventually leaked on YouTube in 2017.
2009–2012: New members, The Golden Ratio, and Ace Thursdays
In August 2009, in an interview with Digital Spy, Ulf mentioned adding another singer to the group alongside Jenny, explaining: "We're just deciding now whether to add a fourth member to the group again or to bring it out under a new name. At the moment we think it would be stronger with two female singers, so it's a little technical problem to solve." During this time, Ulf and Jonas began recording songs with singer Julia Williamson, whom they met through Martin Dodd, who had originally signed the group to Mega Records. Meanwhile, a new remix of "Cruel Summer" by Rico Bernasconi charted at No. 69 in Germany.
Jenny published her autobiography Vinna hela Världen in Sweden in September and announced that she was recording a solo album, which materialized in October 2010 as My Story. In November 2009, Jenny confirmed via Twitter that she would not be involved with the upcoming album, but later clarified that she had not left, saying that "other constellations will have other names".
Two new singers were officially revealed in February 2010 as Clara Hagman, a contestant from Idol 2009, who Ulf met whilst appearing as a guest judge on the show, and Julia Williamson. Jonas explained that "We will reform how we write the band name so that all old Acers can see the difference and don't have to be in panic.", with Jenny commenting in April, "You are wrong about me leaving Ace of Base. I just want to make everybody sure I have not left the group. Ace of Base is still the original members. We are bounded by law and by heart."
In a later interview with Aftonbladet, Jenny claimed "They didn't want to be with me", and that she was not allowed to participate in songwriting. Jonas and Ulf then said in an interview with Scandipop that Jenny wasn't happy with plans to introduce a new member, and while she never formally quit the group, they felt that they had no choice but to proceed without her.
The new quartet maintained the original band name, but it was stylized as "Ace.of.Base" on the artwork of single and album releases. In July 2010, a track called "Mr. Replay" appeared on a Polish promo compilation for DJs, becoming the first release from the new line-up. The first official single from the line-up, "All for You", was premiered on radio station Antenne AC on July 22, and was released on CD and download on September 10, debuting at No. 38 in Germany.
The album The Golden Ratio followed on September 24, entering the German album charts at No. 20. In Sweden, the album failed to chart, backed only by a radio release of the album's title track "The Golden Ratio" in October, followed by a performance of "Southern California" on Bingolotto in April 2011. An acoustic version of the album was being considered but never materialized. No further singles were released in support of the album.
In March 2011, Jonas began releasing previously unreleased material to fans via the band's official Facebook page and the website ReverbNation on a semi-regular basis, in events they referred to as "Ace Thursdays". Writing sessions for new material took place throughout the same year, though following the group's tour of Canada and Brazil in 2011, new music was put on hold.
2012–present: Departures, Hidden Gems and 30th anniversary
Ace Thursdays continued throughout 2012, but were discontinued in May 2013. In November 2012, Jenny was quoted as saying, "The rest of the band are doing other things. ... We're just wishing each other luck at this stage. I have a dream that we'll get back together, so I don't want to bang anyone on the head". Jenny began touring as "Jenny from Ace of Base" alongside popular Eurodance acts from the decade.
In January 2014, Julia announced on her official Facebook page that she had left the group in 2012. She later confirmed that Clara had also left, saying on her Facebook page, "I never really left the group, one day I just didn't hear anything from them and it's the same with Clara. Like it went up in smoke; really strange". Clara has since gone to release a number of solo singles, and has collaborated with various EDM producers such as KREAM and R3hab.
A remix EP was released in July 2014, featuring new remixes of "All That She Wants". On September 27, Jonas announced that members were filming a documentary chronicling the production of "All That She Wants" at Google headquarters. The documentary was aired on the Swedish channel SVT as part of the Hitlåtens Historia series on March 18, 2015.
In December 2014 and January 2015, remastered versions of their first four studio albums, in both European and American editions, were released digitally. This was followed in March by Hidden Gems, a compilation album consisting entirely of demos and b-sides. "Would You Believe", one of the last tracks recorded by the original quartet in 2005, was released as a promotional single.
In a 2015 interview with ABC News, Ulf said of a future reunion, "With the right elements in the next few years, I don't think it's impossible"; however, in July 2016, Jenny remarked: "We won't re-form. [...] We're finished working together but we're not finished being family together. We have a lot of fun plans in the future but no musical plans". In 2018, Jonas said a potential reunion had been discussed, but noted "We always got the same question "where is Malin?". I am still writing music, maybe one song each fortnight or something. It's a lot of fun, like therapy. And maybe if we do a reunion... I have songs for it!"
In 2019, Demon Music Group began releasing new compilations of the band's material in the United Kingdom. The first of these releases was Ace Of Base – Gold, which charted at No. 59 in the UK, marking the group's first return to the UK charts in 20 years. To mark the group's 30th anniversary, a 12-disc box set called All That She Wants: The Classic Collection was released in July 2020. The set includes deluxe versions of the group's original four studio albums, an expanded 46-track edition of Hidden Gems, a new EP containing previously unreleased remixes of "Edge Of Heaven", and a DVD containing all of the group's music videos. Included among the 195 tracks are previously unreleased demos from the original line-up's final recording sessions in 2008 and live recordings of the group's first gig at Bältespännarparken in 1990. A coloured vinyl box set was also released which only includes the four studio albums.
In 2020, Playground Records began releasing standalone digital singles which feature new remixes of the group's tracks. In November 2021, a remix EP was released for the album track "Dancer in a Daydream" which first appeared on Happy Nation in 1992. The EP features remixes by producer Trace Adam and was released alongside a new video with previously unseen footage.
Legacy
A number of musicians and singers have been influenced by Ace of Base. Lady Gaga has said her album The Fame Monster was influenced by the "super pop melodies of the 90s" by acts such as Ace of Base. The song "Alejandro" in particular has been heavily compared to Ace of Base's version of "Don't Turn Around"; Paul Lester from BBC commented that "[Alejandro] moves at an Ace of Base pace", and Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine described the song as a homage to them; The song "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" from The Fame has also been linked to the band; Alexis Petridis from The Guardian noted that the song "is the first song in a long time that warrants comparison to the œuvre of Ace of Base".
Katy Perry said she wanted her third studio album, Teenage Dream, to sound like "The Sign"; "It's what I said I wanted earlier", she told MTV; "We nailed it: It's roller-skating! It's '90s! It's Ace of Base! It's Cyndi Lauper! It's like all these colors and more".
Swedish artist Robyn said she was inspired by Ace of Base for her song "Dancehall Queen", which was produced by Diplo and Klas Åhlund for her fifth studio album Body Talk Pt. 1. "We were just having fun with that kind of genre music. And the idea of making this song came out of that discussion. It was fun. We really connected on something where music that you might put in one box becomes something else, depending on how you look at it".
Some of the British group Clean Bandit's tracks have been compared to the band, notably their 2016 UK No. 1 single "Rockabye". Band members Grace and Luke have named them as an influence in interviews.
American alternative rock artist Beck had plans to cover an Ace of Base album as part of his Record Club project in 2009; however, this never came to fruition. Tegan and Sara's song "Closer" was inspired by the band's music. Robert Alfons of Canadian synthpop group Trust once said "the synthesisers they used were of great influence on me... [their] first two albums [in particular]", whilst rock band Yeasayer and new wave artist Twin Shadow have both also cited Ace of Base as an influence.
The 2019 single "Liar", by Cuban pop singer Camila Cabello, interpolates the melody of "All That She Wants".
Awards and nominations
1992 MTA – Best Pop Act (nominee)
1992 MTA – Best New Act (nominee)
1993 Swedish Grammis – Best Pop Group
1993 Swedish Grammis – TV audience price
1993 Bronze BRAVO Otto (Germany) – Best rock/pop Group
1993 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Breakthrough Artist
1994 MTV Europe Music Awards – Best Cover (Nominee)
1994 American Music Award – Favorite Band, Duo or Group – Pop / Rock
1994 American Music Award – Favorite New Artist – Pop / Rock
1994 Billboard Music Award – Number One Single
1994 Billboard Music Award – Top New Artist
1994 Billboard Music Award – Artist of the Year
1994 Peleg Music Award of Excellence – Best New Artist
1994 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1994 Echo (Germany) – Group of the Year
1994 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Artist
1994 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Album (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best Pop Album for The Sign (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best New Artist (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best Vocal Performance By a Group or Duo for The Sign (nominee)
1995 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1995 Juno Awards – International Album of the Year for The Sign (nominee)
1995 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Artist (nominee)
1996 European Award For Dance Music
1996 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1997 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1998 Midem Fono Award – Most Played Song of the Year – Life Is a Flower
1999 RSH Gold
2007 BMI Award for over 3 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
2011 Scandipop Award – Best group album
2016 BMI Award for over 4 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
2021 BMI Award for over 5 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
Discography
Studio albums
Happy Nation / The Sign (1992/1993)
The Bridge (1995)
Flowers / Cruel Summer (1998)
Da Capo (2002)
The Golden Ratio (2010)
See also
Swedish pop music
References
External links
Arista Records artists
English-language singers from Sweden
Europop groups
Musical groups established in 1990
Musical groups from Gothenburg
Swedish co-ed groups
Swedish Eurodance groups
Swedish pop music groups
Sibling musical groups
World Music Awards winners
1990 establishments in Sweden | false | [
"\"Real Real Real\" is a song from the UK band Jesus Jones' 1991 album Doubt. It was released in 1990 as the first single from Doubt, just prior to the release of the album. It was succeeded by the Billboard Top 10 hit \"Right Here, Right Now\" (which, in the UK peaked at No. 31). \"Real Real Real\" did better, reaching a peak of No. 19 on the UK Singles Chart. It was also their second Top 10 US hit, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is featured on the Happy Daze compilation.\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n1990 songs\n1990 singles\n1991 singles\nJesus Jones songs",
"Submarine Bells is an album by New Zealand group the Chills, released in 1990. This was the band's first album on a major label, as Martin Phillipps signed to Warner Bros. Records subsidiary Slash Records, to release the album in the U.S. The album reached #1 on the New Zealand album charts and had significant support from American college radio. The album was awarded gold status in New Zealand and represents the peak of the Chills' popularity at home. It is considered to be one of the defining albums of the Dunedin sound. The supporting tour for Submarine Bells culminated in a triumphant home-coming concert in Dunedin Town Hall.\n\nCritical reception \n\nTrouser Press singled out the \"splendorous title track\", the \"should-have-been-a-smash 'Heavenly Pop Hit'\", and many other individual tracks, but chiefly praised the album for its overall cohesion and consistency – signs of the Chills' evolution from \"a first-rate singles band\" to a fully formed artistic venture with a \"mature, restrained and affectingly personal approach\". In his book Music: What Happened?, musician and critic Scott Miller calls it \"a dynamite whole album\", and \"the international star and culmination of\" the Dunedin sound. He also ranks \"Heavenly Pop Hit\" among the year's best songs.\n\nAwards \nThe album won Best Album at the 1990 New Zealand Music Awards, and \"Heavenly Pop Hit\" won Single of the Year.\n\nTrack listing \nAll songs written by Martin Phillipps.\n\"Heavenly Pop Hit\"\n\"Tied Up in Chain\"\n\"The Oncoming Day\"\n\"Part Past Part Fiction\"\n\"Singing in My Sleep\"\n\"I Soar\"\n\"Dead Web\"\n\"Familiarity Breeds Contempt\"\n\"Don't Be – Memory\"\n\"Effloresce and Deliquesce\"\n\"Sweet Times\"\n\"Submarine Bells\"\n\nChart performance \nSubmarine Bells was a huge success in the Chills' home country. It entered the New Zealand album chart at No. 7 in June 1990 and reached No. 1 the following week, ultimately spending 14 weeks on the chart in total. The single \"Heavenly Pop Hit\" was released in July and peaked at No. 2. Elsewhere, however, it made minimal commercial impact. The album did not chart in Australia, the UK, or the U.S., although \"Heavenly Pop Hit\" achieved some success on the U.S. Alternative Songs chart. \"Part Past Part Fiction\" was released by Slash as a single in Australia, but did not enter the chart.\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nSingle\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1990 albums\nFlying Nun Records albums\nSlash Records albums\nThe Chills albums\nDunedin Sound albums"
]
|
[
"Ace of Base",
"Da Capo (2002-03)",
"what happened in 2002?",
"Ace of Base released its fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002,",
"was the album a sucess?",
"The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in America or Australia, though a release was planned for the United States in 2003.",
"did it release in the us?",
"though a release was planned for the United States in 2003.",
"did the album hit the charts?",
"Although the album entered the album charts in many European countries, it was not as successful as previous releases."
]
| C_12b55bce65d44cfabc4161087efa936e_0 | did it have any singles? | 5 | Did the Ace of Base album, Da Capo have any singles? | Ace of Base | Ace of Base released its fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002, in Europe, and in Japan through Toshiba EMI with a different cover and three bonus tracks. The album had originally been planned for release in mid-2000, but was repeatedly postponed due to record company complications. The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in America or Australia, though a release was planned for the United States in 2003. The album is named for the musical term da capo, which translates as "back to the beginning". It was intended to be a return to the band's earliest sound. Although the album entered the album charts in many European countries, it was not as successful as previous releases. Only Jenny and Ulf went on a promotional tour of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland and Austria. Jonas didn't attend promotional activities because "it was better to be two then" because it led to "less questions" about Linn's lack of participation. Linn attended only one performance in Germany, which was her last public appearance. The first single release from the Da Capo album was "Beautiful Morning", which peaked at No.14 in Sweden and No. 38 in Germany, where it was followed by "The Juvenile"; this was used for a Christmas campaign by German TV channel RTL. "The Juvenile" was previously written for the GoldenEye James Bond movie in 1995. However, Arista, the band's American record label at the time, shelved the idea. In Scandinavia, Edel-Mega released the album's opening track, "Unspeakable", as the second single, but its poor chart performance ended the promotion of the album prematurely. CANNOTANSWER | Beautiful Morning | Ace of Base is a Swedish pop group, formed in 1990, originally consisting of siblings Jonas, Linn and Jenny Berggren, with Ulf Ekberg.
They achieved worldwide success following the release of their debut album Happy Nation in 1992. Later re-issued as The Sign, it was certified nine times platinum in the United States and was the best-selling album of 1994. One of the most successful debut albums of all time, it was the first to produce three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart: "All That She Wants", "The Sign" and "Don't Turn Around".
They continued to score hit singles throughout the 1990s, with songs such as "Beautiful Life", "Lucky Love", "Cruel Summer" and "Life Is a Flower". By 2002, they had sold a total of 30 million copies of their first four studio albums, making them the third most successful Swedish group of all time, behind ABBA and Roxette.
Despite being largely inactive since 2012, the group has never officially disbanded. In the last decade, they have released a number of demo tracks, first via their Facebook page, then in 2015 on the compilation album Hidden Gems. An expanded two-disc edition was included in the 2020 boxset All That She Wants: The Classic Collection. Jenny Berggren continues to perform the group's hits in solo concerts around the world.
History
1987–1992: Formation
In 1987, following a number of years as part of a new romantic and punk cover band called G Konrad (named after a Hungarian author), Jonas Berggren formed a band with two friends, Johnny Lindén and Niklas Tränk, for a school project; his sisters Linn and Jenny later joined as singers. The new band went through several names: Kalinin Prospect after an avenue in Moscow; CAD (Computer-Aided Disco); and Tech-Noir, French for black technology, after a nightclub in the film The Terminator. They toured the clubs of Sweden with self-written material, techno inspired by 80s Italodisco and house music.
Johnny left the group in 1989, and Niklas made his departure known by failing to turn up to a gig at Bältespännarparken in Gothenburg on August 4, 1990, instead attending a Rolling Stones concert on the other side of town. Jonas asked his friend Ulf Ekberg to stand in for Niklas. In an interview with Nöjesguiden, Jonas explained: "He shared a rehearsal room with us and we asked if he wanted to be with us on stage because he was really energetic. He thought it sounded fun and then we started writing. Ulf is very good at technology and I am more good at melodies, so it was a very good combination." Inspired by a Jamaican reggae band who resided in a studio next door to theirs, they experimented with a fusion of reggae and pop - dubbed "China reggae" by their Jamaican friends - which would become the band's trademark sound.
After responding to an ad in the paper Göteborgs-Posten, the new quartet started working in the studio with record producer John Ballard, and decided to come up with a new name in order to make a fresh start, as well as to avoid confusion with another band with the same name who were attracting bad reviews. Linn was reported to have said: "No one could pronounce the name of the group and nobody could remember it." They settled on Ace of Base in early 1991, after Ulf was inspired by the Motörhead song "Ace of Spades". In an interview in 2018, Ulf explained: "The name came out of a hangover I had on New Year's Day. So, I was hungover, watching MTV and I saw Motörhead's video for their song 'Ace of Spades'. I liked the name and I thought I'd play around with those words. We're four members in this band, so I thought, 'Good. Four aces. I'll keep the ace.' Then I thought of our studio and how it's our base."
The group continued performing in the clubs of Gothenburg, but struggled to gain recognition, partly due to the preference of heavy metal over techno in their hometown, according to singer Jenny. They also sent out demo cassettes to numerous record companies but "everybody refused" to sign them. In May 1991, Jonas and Ulf made a trip to various record companies in Stockholm, including Polar Music, who wanted them to record more songs first, and SweMix, who were interested but didn't have the time to do anything with them until the autumn.
In July, Klas Lunding at Telegram Records arranged for them to record a new version of "Wheel of Fortune" in their newly renovated Decibel Studio, but didn't offer them a recording contract. Jonas recounts: "When it had just been finished, Martin Dodd, (Head of A&R at independent Danish label Mega Records) called and shouted: 'Do not sign anything, do not sign anything!'. They wanted everything from us, while Telegram only wanted the reggae songs and no up-tempos. We had already recorded a single with Telegram, but hadn't signed anything. Klas is not the fastest in the world, so to speak - and that was perhaps lucky for us. So Mega bought the master tape from Klas for 34,000 SEK." Martin Dodd remarked in a 1995 interview: "When I got the demo in my hand, I knew nothing about the group but I immediately loved the melodies. The melancholy in the songs and their way of writing. At that time, house music was big and this went completely against the flow. It sounded fresh."
"Wheel of Fortune" was serviced to radio and nightclubs in Sweden in early 1992, with it reaching Gothenburg's local Jockeytoppen chart in March, and prompting an invitation to perform on music television channel ZTV. However, the record failed to gain traction in Sweden, so Mega switched focus to Denmark. After servicing the single to media two or three times, it was finally released commercially at the end of June 1992, entering the Danish singles chart at No. 6, before rising to No. 2.
1992–1994: International success and Happy Nation/The Sign
Although "Wheel of Fortune" was a success in Denmark, it was a different song that led to Ace of Base taking off internationally. After hearing Kayo's "Another Mother" in a record store, a top 20 hit in Sweden in 1990, Jonas and Ulf decided that it was exactly the sound they wanted to create. In early 1992, they sent producer Denniz PoP a demo tape including a song called "Mr. Ace". At first he wasn't particularly impressed, but the tape got stuck in the cassette player in his car. This resulted in him having to listen to it repeatedly and gradually he realized the song's potential. He'd lost the band's contact details but when they called him a few months later, he invited them to his SweMix studio to re-record the song in July 1992. The song became "All That She Wants", and upon its release at the end of August, it quickly climbed to No. 1 on the Danish chart, while the previous single was still sitting at No. 2. Keen to rush out an LP for the Christmas market, Mega Records pressed the band for an album, which was quickly recorded and mixed within a few weeks.
The album, Happy Nation, was released on November 2, 1992 in Denmark and its success prompted interest elsewhere in Europe. A pan-European licence was signed with Metronome/PolyGram (now Universal Music), but they were turned down by the American division. Within a few months, "All That She Wants" had reached No. 3 in Sweden and had spent eight weeks at No. 1 in Germany. In various European countries, "Happy Nation" and "Waiting for Magic" were released as further singles following the release of the album.
In May 1993, "All That She Wants" consolidated on its European success by topping the chart for three weeks in the United Kingdom. However, despite Mega Records's efforts to secure a distribution deal in the United States, the response was always the same: "This band will never work in the States." Eventually, Clive Davis, founder of Arista Records, heard the song playing on the radio whilst on vacation on his yacht, and rushed to sign a licence with Mega for the Americas. By the end of October, "All That She Wants" had made its way to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as in Australia.
The group had already started work on a second album, with the working title of The Sign, named after one of the new tracks they had written. Worried about sales of import copies of Happy Nation, however, Davis opted to tweak the track list of the original LP by adding three new tracks, and re-titling it The Sign. Released in the USA on November 23, 1993, it remained in the top three of the Billboard Top 200 for 26 consecutive weeks, and was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 1995 Grammy Awards. The refreshed album was released in Europe as Happy Nation (US Version). Collectively, the different versions of the album reached the No. 1 position in at least 14 countries, and sold over 21 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling debut albums of all time.
The second U.S. single was the album's title track, "The Sign", released on December 14. It was even more successful than the first, spending six weeks at No. 1 and becoming the best-selling single of 1994. It was also a major hit internationally, peaking at No. 2 in the UK and Sweden and at No. 1 in Germany; whilst in Australia it topped the charts for four weeks.
Recorded at the request of Clive Davis, "Don't Turn Around" was the group's next single, which had previously been released by Tina Turner as the B-side of her single "Typical Male", and had been a UK No. 1 hit for Aswad in 1988. The cover version hit the top 5 in the US, UK, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
Promotion for the album concluded with the final single release "Living in Danger", which was yet another top 40 hit internationally and was performed in front of the Brandenburg Gate at the first ever MTV Europe Music Awards in Berlin in November 1994.
The band were caught up in controversy when on 27 March 1993, the Swedish newspaper Expressen reported that Ulf had been a member of a skinhead gang in his teenage years, long prior to his association with Ace of Base. The band and Ulf himself have addressed these claims numerous times. Linn remarked in 1993: "Ulf gave all that up long ago and my family had nothing to do with any of that in the first place." In 2013, the story was revisited in a report by Vice, referring to an unauthorized CD released in 1998 called Uffe Was a Nazi!, containing songs with racist content which were claimed to have been recorded by Ulf's former band Commit Suiside. In an interview with E! Online, Ulf clarified that Commit Suiside were "a New Wave music band without any political touch or agenda" and that the racist songs on the CD were not recorded by them. He also remarked: "I have always been deeply regretful of that period in my life, as I strive to bring happiness to people, and during that period I did not live up to that standard. [...] I'm truly deeply sorry for any hurt and disappointment this has caused for our fans, and I really hope that we clearly have stated that Ace of Base never shared any of these opinions and strongly oppose all extremist opinions on both the right and left wing."
In April 1994, an obsessed German fan broke into the Berggren family home, brandishing a knife. After managing to restrain her, the band decided they needed bodyguards. Recalling the attack in a 2016 interview, Jenny said "She woke me up with a knife to my throat. She broke into my parents’ house when I was staying there after two years away. I woke up and she was standing over me with the knife. I was terrified. That was the darker side of fame. I remember just after I was attacked I found out that we were Number 1 in the United States. All I could think was that I almost got killed. Everyone was like, 'wow, let’s have a huge party'. I didn’t want a party. I was broken."
1995–1997: The Bridge
Following the substantial success of the first album, the group were offered the chance to perform at Madison Square Garden in New York, and were asked to front brands such as Pepsi and Reebok in promotional campaigns, but after two years of travelling around the world to promote the first album, the band were too exhausted and declined all offers. Simultaneously, their various record companies around the world were demanding a second album promptly. To hasten the process, instead of Jonas and Ulf writing most of the album, each member was encouraged to submit their own tracks for consideration.
In the end, 17 tracks were chosen for the second album, titled The Bridge. It marked a considerable change of direction in sound; alongside the reggae and dance sounds that had made the group so popular were more experimental tracks and several ballads. The lead single, "Lucky Love", however, was a mainstream pop record, and was premiered in August 1995 at the World Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg. It debuted at No. 1 in Sweden upon release in October, becoming their first chart-topper in their homeland. It was also a top 20 hit across Europe, peaking at No. 1 in Finland, No. 2 in Denmark, No. 13 in Germany and No. 20 in the United Kingdom.
Arista Records instead opted for the more up-tempo track "Beautiful Life" as the first single in the US, where it peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first American hit for its co-producer Max Martin, who would go on to become one of the world's most in-demand songwriters and producers. It was released as the second single from the album in most countries, also reaching No. 15 in the UK and charting in at least 17 countries. An alternative acoustic mix of "Lucky Love" was chosen as the second U.S. single, peaking at No. 30.
The Bridge was certified platinum in 14 countries, but did not match the sales of the group's first album. "Never Gonna Say I'm Sorry" was released as the third single from the album and achieved moderate success in Europe, but failed to chart on the Hot 100 in the USA. In February 1996, the band performed at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival in Chile, topping the bill alongside 2 Unlimited.
After touring Asia and Australasia in April 1996, the group temporarily retreated from the limelight, scrapping plans to release either "My Déjà Vu" or "Edge Of Heaven" as a single, and emerging only in 1997 for an April performance at the World Music Awards, and at a July concert celebrating the 20th birthday of Princess Victoria of Sweden.
1998–1999: Flowers / Cruel Summer
Having felt rushed to record a second album, the group were given as much time as they need to produce their third, with much of it being recorded in Jonas's own studio, "The Barn". Declaring it their best album yet, the group titled it Flowers because they believed that the songs, wildly different in style, including Motown and gospel influences, resembled a varied bouquet of flowers. Fans were surprised to see that singer Linn had relinquished lead vocal duties to sister Jenny, and on many promotional photos, Linn's face was blurred. They were reassured that Linn was happy with her new backing role in the group, and many reasons were given for her decision, including her having damaged her voice, her aerophobia deterring her from international travel and her dislike of fame.
The album's lead single "Life Is a Flower" was released in mainland Europe in April 1998, and became the most-played track on European radio of the year. It reached the top 5 in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Hungary and in the UK, where it was certified silver. The album followed in June, hitting the top 20 in at least a dozen countries.
The group's British label London Records had requested the band record the 1983 hit "Cruel Summer", by Bananarama and it was selected as the second European single. Deciding that "Life Is a Flower" was "too European in nature", Clive Davis pushed "Cruel Summer" as the lead single for the United States, and it brought Ace of Base back into the U.S. Top 10 for the first time in four years, being certified gold. The album was also renamed Cruel Summer and featured a different track list from the European release. For this version of the album, Davis persuaded a reluctant Linn to record the Billy Steinberg-penned ballad "Everytime It Rains".
"Life Is a Flower" was re-recorded as "Whenever You're Near Me" and chosen as the second single from Cruel Summer, peaking at No. 76. "Travel to Romantis" and "Always Have, Always Will" were further singles in Europe whilst "Everytime It Rains" was issued as a single in the UK along with a repackaged edition of Flowers.
1999–2000: Singles of the 90s and Greatest Hits
The group went back into the studio in 1999, writing several tracks together as a quartet for the first time, and recording enough demo tracks for consideration for a fourth studio album. Ulf from the group later revealed that they had hoped to release a track called "Pole Position" as the lead single, with a music video that would have featured the Formula One champion driver Jacques Villeneuve. Several of the tracks recorded for the scrapped studio album were eventually released in demo form by Jonas via Facebook in 2011.
In November 1999, Mega Records released the best-of album Singles of the 90s, a compilation of 16 hit singles. A new single taken from it, "C'est La Vie (Always 21)", was a modest chart hit in Sweden, Finland, Germany and Switzerland, and topped the charts in Spain. "Hallo Hallo" followed as the second single in parts of Europe, but only found minor success.
Arista Records fulfilled the group's four-album contract in the Americas by releasing Greatest Hits in March 2000. A new dance mix of "Everytime It Rains", previously included on Cruel Summer, was released as a radio single to promote the album. Both the single and album failed to chart in the USA.
2002–2003: Da Capo
Following a long time away from the pop scene, a new single called "Beautiful Morning" was serviced to radio in Europe in July 2002. Polydor Records reported that it was their fastest-added track to radio playlists of the year, and it went on peak at No. 38 in Germany and No. 14 in Sweden upon its commercial release in September.
After several delays, Ace of Base finally released their fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002, in Europe, and in Japan through Toshiba EMI with a different cover and three bonus tracks. The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in the Americas. The title comes from the musical term da capo, which translates as "back to the beginning", chosen as the sound of the album was seen as a return to the group's early blend of reggae and europop.
Although the album charted across much of Europe, it was not as successful as previous releases. Only Jenny and Ulf went on a promotional tour of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland and Austria. Jonas chose to forego promotional activities because "it was better to be two then" and led to "less questions" about Linn's lack of participation. Linn attended only one performance in Germany, which was her last public appearance.
"The Juvenile" was selected as the album's second single in Germany, and was used for a Christmas campaign by TV channel RTL. The song was a re-written version of a track originally submitted for the James Bond movie GoldenEye in 1995. However, Clive Davis persuaded the band that it was not the best move for the band at the time so they withdrew it from consideration. In Scandinavia, Edel-Mega released "Unspeakable" as the second single, but its poor chart performance ended the promotion of the album prematurely.
2003–2006: Hiatus
The group remained out of the spotlight throughout 2003 and 2004. During this time, Jenny performed solo live performances in several Christian shows with her husband Jakob Petrén and released an album as a vocalist with the Swedish group Arose.
In 2005, a handful of songs featuring vocals by both Jenny and Linn were recorded with producer Tommy Ekman, including "Would You Believe" and "Make My Day". Jonas and Ulf later explained that the group did not have the energy to finish the project, though the tracks that were recorded eventually surfaced.
At the end of 2005, the group reunited, without Linn, for several live performances at the Night of the Proms in Belgium, alongside other artists such as Donna Summer.
2007–2009: Reunion
Ace of Base reunited as a trio to perform their first full-length concert since 1996 in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on November 15, 2007. They embarked on a world tour called Ace Of Base - Redefined!, which continued throughout 2008 and 2009. The set list included several new versions of their greatest hits. Jenny confirmed Linn's permanent departure from the group, saying "She hasn't been part of Ace of Base for several years" in Se & Hør Magazine. Ulf later explained in an interview "She left the band and we promised her to never even ask to come back. She's done with entertainment industry. It's understandable. It's brutal from the inside, it was not for her. She has no craving to be famous, she loved her fans, but the fame factor was not for her." While touring, the group performed a brand new song called "Sparks From A Fire".
The group teamed up with Jenny's husband Jakob to record material for a new studio album, which would consist of seven new songs and seven remakes of old hits. However, this album did not see a release and a new compilation, Greatest Hits, was released on November 12, 2008, instead.
Five re-recorded songs were released from the album in various forms: "Lucky Love 2009", "Don't Turn Around 2009", "The Sign (Freedom Bunch Mix)" and "Wheel of Fortune 2009", which was released worldwide on October 24, 2008, as a digital single. A fifth reworking, "Happy Nation 2009", was released separately as a remix kit. A remake of "All That She Wants" was also recorded and featured guest vocals by Britney Spears that stemmed from her own 2007 cover of the song. This remake was never officially released, but leaked online in June 2016.
Three of the new tracks recorded in this period ("Sparks From A Fire", "The Mask" and "Wish You Were Mine") were eventually leaked on YouTube in 2017.
2009–2012: New members, The Golden Ratio, and Ace Thursdays
In August 2009, in an interview with Digital Spy, Ulf mentioned adding another singer to the group alongside Jenny, explaining: "We're just deciding now whether to add a fourth member to the group again or to bring it out under a new name. At the moment we think it would be stronger with two female singers, so it's a little technical problem to solve." During this time, Ulf and Jonas began recording songs with singer Julia Williamson, whom they met through Martin Dodd, who had originally signed the group to Mega Records. Meanwhile, a new remix of "Cruel Summer" by Rico Bernasconi charted at No. 69 in Germany.
Jenny published her autobiography Vinna hela Världen in Sweden in September and announced that she was recording a solo album, which materialized in October 2010 as My Story. In November 2009, Jenny confirmed via Twitter that she would not be involved with the upcoming album, but later clarified that she had not left, saying that "other constellations will have other names".
Two new singers were officially revealed in February 2010 as Clara Hagman, a contestant from Idol 2009, who Ulf met whilst appearing as a guest judge on the show, and Julia Williamson. Jonas explained that "We will reform how we write the band name so that all old Acers can see the difference and don't have to be in panic.", with Jenny commenting in April, "You are wrong about me leaving Ace of Base. I just want to make everybody sure I have not left the group. Ace of Base is still the original members. We are bounded by law and by heart."
In a later interview with Aftonbladet, Jenny claimed "They didn't want to be with me", and that she was not allowed to participate in songwriting. Jonas and Ulf then said in an interview with Scandipop that Jenny wasn't happy with plans to introduce a new member, and while she never formally quit the group, they felt that they had no choice but to proceed without her.
The new quartet maintained the original band name, but it was stylized as "Ace.of.Base" on the artwork of single and album releases. In July 2010, a track called "Mr. Replay" appeared on a Polish promo compilation for DJs, becoming the first release from the new line-up. The first official single from the line-up, "All for You", was premiered on radio station Antenne AC on July 22, and was released on CD and download on September 10, debuting at No. 38 in Germany.
The album The Golden Ratio followed on September 24, entering the German album charts at No. 20. In Sweden, the album failed to chart, backed only by a radio release of the album's title track "The Golden Ratio" in October, followed by a performance of "Southern California" on Bingolotto in April 2011. An acoustic version of the album was being considered but never materialized. No further singles were released in support of the album.
In March 2011, Jonas began releasing previously unreleased material to fans via the band's official Facebook page and the website ReverbNation on a semi-regular basis, in events they referred to as "Ace Thursdays". Writing sessions for new material took place throughout the same year, though following the group's tour of Canada and Brazil in 2011, new music was put on hold.
2012–present: Departures, Hidden Gems and 30th anniversary
Ace Thursdays continued throughout 2012, but were discontinued in May 2013. In November 2012, Jenny was quoted as saying, "The rest of the band are doing other things. ... We're just wishing each other luck at this stage. I have a dream that we'll get back together, so I don't want to bang anyone on the head". Jenny began touring as "Jenny from Ace of Base" alongside popular Eurodance acts from the decade.
In January 2014, Julia announced on her official Facebook page that she had left the group in 2012. She later confirmed that Clara had also left, saying on her Facebook page, "I never really left the group, one day I just didn't hear anything from them and it's the same with Clara. Like it went up in smoke; really strange". Clara has since gone to release a number of solo singles, and has collaborated with various EDM producers such as KREAM and R3hab.
A remix EP was released in July 2014, featuring new remixes of "All That She Wants". On September 27, Jonas announced that members were filming a documentary chronicling the production of "All That She Wants" at Google headquarters. The documentary was aired on the Swedish channel SVT as part of the Hitlåtens Historia series on March 18, 2015.
In December 2014 and January 2015, remastered versions of their first four studio albums, in both European and American editions, were released digitally. This was followed in March by Hidden Gems, a compilation album consisting entirely of demos and b-sides. "Would You Believe", one of the last tracks recorded by the original quartet in 2005, was released as a promotional single.
In a 2015 interview with ABC News, Ulf said of a future reunion, "With the right elements in the next few years, I don't think it's impossible"; however, in July 2016, Jenny remarked: "We won't re-form. [...] We're finished working together but we're not finished being family together. We have a lot of fun plans in the future but no musical plans". In 2018, Jonas said a potential reunion had been discussed, but noted "We always got the same question "where is Malin?". I am still writing music, maybe one song each fortnight or something. It's a lot of fun, like therapy. And maybe if we do a reunion... I have songs for it!"
In 2019, Demon Music Group began releasing new compilations of the band's material in the United Kingdom. The first of these releases was Ace Of Base – Gold, which charted at No. 59 in the UK, marking the group's first return to the UK charts in 20 years. To mark the group's 30th anniversary, a 12-disc box set called All That She Wants: The Classic Collection was released in July 2020. The set includes deluxe versions of the group's original four studio albums, an expanded 46-track edition of Hidden Gems, a new EP containing previously unreleased remixes of "Edge Of Heaven", and a DVD containing all of the group's music videos. Included among the 195 tracks are previously unreleased demos from the original line-up's final recording sessions in 2008 and live recordings of the group's first gig at Bältespännarparken in 1990. A coloured vinyl box set was also released which only includes the four studio albums.
In 2020, Playground Records began releasing standalone digital singles which feature new remixes of the group's tracks. In November 2021, a remix EP was released for the album track "Dancer in a Daydream" which first appeared on Happy Nation in 1992. The EP features remixes by producer Trace Adam and was released alongside a new video with previously unseen footage.
Legacy
A number of musicians and singers have been influenced by Ace of Base. Lady Gaga has said her album The Fame Monster was influenced by the "super pop melodies of the 90s" by acts such as Ace of Base. The song "Alejandro" in particular has been heavily compared to Ace of Base's version of "Don't Turn Around"; Paul Lester from BBC commented that "[Alejandro] moves at an Ace of Base pace", and Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine described the song as a homage to them; The song "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" from The Fame has also been linked to the band; Alexis Petridis from The Guardian noted that the song "is the first song in a long time that warrants comparison to the œuvre of Ace of Base".
Katy Perry said she wanted her third studio album, Teenage Dream, to sound like "The Sign"; "It's what I said I wanted earlier", she told MTV; "We nailed it: It's roller-skating! It's '90s! It's Ace of Base! It's Cyndi Lauper! It's like all these colors and more".
Swedish artist Robyn said she was inspired by Ace of Base for her song "Dancehall Queen", which was produced by Diplo and Klas Åhlund for her fifth studio album Body Talk Pt. 1. "We were just having fun with that kind of genre music. And the idea of making this song came out of that discussion. It was fun. We really connected on something where music that you might put in one box becomes something else, depending on how you look at it".
Some of the British group Clean Bandit's tracks have been compared to the band, notably their 2016 UK No. 1 single "Rockabye". Band members Grace and Luke have named them as an influence in interviews.
American alternative rock artist Beck had plans to cover an Ace of Base album as part of his Record Club project in 2009; however, this never came to fruition. Tegan and Sara's song "Closer" was inspired by the band's music. Robert Alfons of Canadian synthpop group Trust once said "the synthesisers they used were of great influence on me... [their] first two albums [in particular]", whilst rock band Yeasayer and new wave artist Twin Shadow have both also cited Ace of Base as an influence.
The 2019 single "Liar", by Cuban pop singer Camila Cabello, interpolates the melody of "All That She Wants".
Awards and nominations
1992 MTA – Best Pop Act (nominee)
1992 MTA – Best New Act (nominee)
1993 Swedish Grammis – Best Pop Group
1993 Swedish Grammis – TV audience price
1993 Bronze BRAVO Otto (Germany) – Best rock/pop Group
1993 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Breakthrough Artist
1994 MTV Europe Music Awards – Best Cover (Nominee)
1994 American Music Award – Favorite Band, Duo or Group – Pop / Rock
1994 American Music Award – Favorite New Artist – Pop / Rock
1994 Billboard Music Award – Number One Single
1994 Billboard Music Award – Top New Artist
1994 Billboard Music Award – Artist of the Year
1994 Peleg Music Award of Excellence – Best New Artist
1994 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1994 Echo (Germany) – Group of the Year
1994 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Artist
1994 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Album (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best Pop Album for The Sign (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best New Artist (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best Vocal Performance By a Group or Duo for The Sign (nominee)
1995 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1995 Juno Awards – International Album of the Year for The Sign (nominee)
1995 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Artist (nominee)
1996 European Award For Dance Music
1996 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1997 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1998 Midem Fono Award – Most Played Song of the Year – Life Is a Flower
1999 RSH Gold
2007 BMI Award for over 3 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
2011 Scandipop Award – Best group album
2016 BMI Award for over 4 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
2021 BMI Award for over 5 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
Discography
Studio albums
Happy Nation / The Sign (1992/1993)
The Bridge (1995)
Flowers / Cruel Summer (1998)
Da Capo (2002)
The Golden Ratio (2010)
See also
Swedish pop music
References
External links
Arista Records artists
English-language singers from Sweden
Europop groups
Musical groups established in 1990
Musical groups from Gothenburg
Swedish co-ed groups
Swedish Eurodance groups
Swedish pop music groups
Sibling musical groups
World Music Awards winners
1990 establishments in Sweden | true | [
"\"Under Any Moon\" is a single by Glenn Medeiros and The Jets, released in 1989. \n\nWritten by Diane Warren, the song was released as a single only in the United Kingdom. It was included on the soundtrack for The Karate Kid Part III (1989), on the Mercury label, and was also included on The Jets' album, Believe (1989), on the MCA label. \n\nThe song failed to have any chart impact in the UK, while it did have minor airplay in the United States, it did not chart either. It was never performed live by The Jets.\n\nReferences\n\n1989 singles\n1989 songs\nThe Jets (band) songs\nGlenn Medeiros songs\nMercury Records singles\nSongs written by Diane Warren",
"Miriam Oremans (born 9 September 1972) is a former professional female tennis player from the Netherlands. On 26 July 1993 she reached her career-high singles ranking of number 25.\n\nShe did not win any singles titles (Oremans did have two Satellite tournament wins in 1989), but did win three titles in doubles. In 1992 she was runner-up together with Jacco Eltingh in the Mixed Doubles finals of Wimbledon.\n\nHer biggest achievement came during the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney where she won the silver medal in doubles, partnering Kristie Boogert, losing the final match to Venus and Serena Williams.\n\nMajor finals\n\nOlympic finals\n\nDoubles: 1 (0–1)\n\nWTA Tour finals\n\nSingles 5\n\nDoubles 12 (3–9)\n\nITF finals\n\nSingles Finals: (2-2)\n\nDoubles Finals: (1-2)\n\nReferences\n ITF site\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\n1972 births\nLiving people\nDutch female tennis players\nOlympic tennis players of the Netherlands\nOlympic silver medalists for the Netherlands\nPeople from Sint-Michielsgestel\nTennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics\nOlympic medalists in tennis\nHopman Cup competitors\nMedalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics"
]
|
[
"Ace of Base",
"Da Capo (2002-03)",
"what happened in 2002?",
"Ace of Base released its fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002,",
"was the album a sucess?",
"The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in America or Australia, though a release was planned for the United States in 2003.",
"did it release in the us?",
"though a release was planned for the United States in 2003.",
"did the album hit the charts?",
"Although the album entered the album charts in many European countries, it was not as successful as previous releases.",
"did it have any singles?",
"Beautiful Morning"
]
| C_12b55bce65d44cfabc4161087efa936e_0 | was that song successful? | 6 | Was the Ace of Base song, Beautiful Morning, successful? | Ace of Base | Ace of Base released its fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002, in Europe, and in Japan through Toshiba EMI with a different cover and three bonus tracks. The album had originally been planned for release in mid-2000, but was repeatedly postponed due to record company complications. The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in America or Australia, though a release was planned for the United States in 2003. The album is named for the musical term da capo, which translates as "back to the beginning". It was intended to be a return to the band's earliest sound. Although the album entered the album charts in many European countries, it was not as successful as previous releases. Only Jenny and Ulf went on a promotional tour of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland and Austria. Jonas didn't attend promotional activities because "it was better to be two then" because it led to "less questions" about Linn's lack of participation. Linn attended only one performance in Germany, which was her last public appearance. The first single release from the Da Capo album was "Beautiful Morning", which peaked at No.14 in Sweden and No. 38 in Germany, where it was followed by "The Juvenile"; this was used for a Christmas campaign by German TV channel RTL. "The Juvenile" was previously written for the GoldenEye James Bond movie in 1995. However, Arista, the band's American record label at the time, shelved the idea. In Scandinavia, Edel-Mega released the album's opening track, "Unspeakable", as the second single, but its poor chart performance ended the promotion of the album prematurely. CANNOTANSWER | which peaked at No.14 in Sweden and No. 38 in Germany, | Ace of Base is a Swedish pop group, formed in 1990, originally consisting of siblings Jonas, Linn and Jenny Berggren, with Ulf Ekberg.
They achieved worldwide success following the release of their debut album Happy Nation in 1992. Later re-issued as The Sign, it was certified nine times platinum in the United States and was the best-selling album of 1994. One of the most successful debut albums of all time, it was the first to produce three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart: "All That She Wants", "The Sign" and "Don't Turn Around".
They continued to score hit singles throughout the 1990s, with songs such as "Beautiful Life", "Lucky Love", "Cruel Summer" and "Life Is a Flower". By 2002, they had sold a total of 30 million copies of their first four studio albums, making them the third most successful Swedish group of all time, behind ABBA and Roxette.
Despite being largely inactive since 2012, the group has never officially disbanded. In the last decade, they have released a number of demo tracks, first via their Facebook page, then in 2015 on the compilation album Hidden Gems. An expanded two-disc edition was included in the 2020 boxset All That She Wants: The Classic Collection. Jenny Berggren continues to perform the group's hits in solo concerts around the world.
History
1987–1992: Formation
In 1987, following a number of years as part of a new romantic and punk cover band called G Konrad (named after a Hungarian author), Jonas Berggren formed a band with two friends, Johnny Lindén and Niklas Tränk, for a school project; his sisters Linn and Jenny later joined as singers. The new band went through several names: Kalinin Prospect after an avenue in Moscow; CAD (Computer-Aided Disco); and Tech-Noir, French for black technology, after a nightclub in the film The Terminator. They toured the clubs of Sweden with self-written material, techno inspired by 80s Italodisco and house music.
Johnny left the group in 1989, and Niklas made his departure known by failing to turn up to a gig at Bältespännarparken in Gothenburg on August 4, 1990, instead attending a Rolling Stones concert on the other side of town. Jonas asked his friend Ulf Ekberg to stand in for Niklas. In an interview with Nöjesguiden, Jonas explained: "He shared a rehearsal room with us and we asked if he wanted to be with us on stage because he was really energetic. He thought it sounded fun and then we started writing. Ulf is very good at technology and I am more good at melodies, so it was a very good combination." Inspired by a Jamaican reggae band who resided in a studio next door to theirs, they experimented with a fusion of reggae and pop - dubbed "China reggae" by their Jamaican friends - which would become the band's trademark sound.
After responding to an ad in the paper Göteborgs-Posten, the new quartet started working in the studio with record producer John Ballard, and decided to come up with a new name in order to make a fresh start, as well as to avoid confusion with another band with the same name who were attracting bad reviews. Linn was reported to have said: "No one could pronounce the name of the group and nobody could remember it." They settled on Ace of Base in early 1991, after Ulf was inspired by the Motörhead song "Ace of Spades". In an interview in 2018, Ulf explained: "The name came out of a hangover I had on New Year's Day. So, I was hungover, watching MTV and I saw Motörhead's video for their song 'Ace of Spades'. I liked the name and I thought I'd play around with those words. We're four members in this band, so I thought, 'Good. Four aces. I'll keep the ace.' Then I thought of our studio and how it's our base."
The group continued performing in the clubs of Gothenburg, but struggled to gain recognition, partly due to the preference of heavy metal over techno in their hometown, according to singer Jenny. They also sent out demo cassettes to numerous record companies but "everybody refused" to sign them. In May 1991, Jonas and Ulf made a trip to various record companies in Stockholm, including Polar Music, who wanted them to record more songs first, and SweMix, who were interested but didn't have the time to do anything with them until the autumn.
In July, Klas Lunding at Telegram Records arranged for them to record a new version of "Wheel of Fortune" in their newly renovated Decibel Studio, but didn't offer them a recording contract. Jonas recounts: "When it had just been finished, Martin Dodd, (Head of A&R at independent Danish label Mega Records) called and shouted: 'Do not sign anything, do not sign anything!'. They wanted everything from us, while Telegram only wanted the reggae songs and no up-tempos. We had already recorded a single with Telegram, but hadn't signed anything. Klas is not the fastest in the world, so to speak - and that was perhaps lucky for us. So Mega bought the master tape from Klas for 34,000 SEK." Martin Dodd remarked in a 1995 interview: "When I got the demo in my hand, I knew nothing about the group but I immediately loved the melodies. The melancholy in the songs and their way of writing. At that time, house music was big and this went completely against the flow. It sounded fresh."
"Wheel of Fortune" was serviced to radio and nightclubs in Sweden in early 1992, with it reaching Gothenburg's local Jockeytoppen chart in March, and prompting an invitation to perform on music television channel ZTV. However, the record failed to gain traction in Sweden, so Mega switched focus to Denmark. After servicing the single to media two or three times, it was finally released commercially at the end of June 1992, entering the Danish singles chart at No. 6, before rising to No. 2.
1992–1994: International success and Happy Nation/The Sign
Although "Wheel of Fortune" was a success in Denmark, it was a different song that led to Ace of Base taking off internationally. After hearing Kayo's "Another Mother" in a record store, a top 20 hit in Sweden in 1990, Jonas and Ulf decided that it was exactly the sound they wanted to create. In early 1992, they sent producer Denniz PoP a demo tape including a song called "Mr. Ace". At first he wasn't particularly impressed, but the tape got stuck in the cassette player in his car. This resulted in him having to listen to it repeatedly and gradually he realized the song's potential. He'd lost the band's contact details but when they called him a few months later, he invited them to his SweMix studio to re-record the song in July 1992. The song became "All That She Wants", and upon its release at the end of August, it quickly climbed to No. 1 on the Danish chart, while the previous single was still sitting at No. 2. Keen to rush out an LP for the Christmas market, Mega Records pressed the band for an album, which was quickly recorded and mixed within a few weeks.
The album, Happy Nation, was released on November 2, 1992 in Denmark and its success prompted interest elsewhere in Europe. A pan-European licence was signed with Metronome/PolyGram (now Universal Music), but they were turned down by the American division. Within a few months, "All That She Wants" had reached No. 3 in Sweden and had spent eight weeks at No. 1 in Germany. In various European countries, "Happy Nation" and "Waiting for Magic" were released as further singles following the release of the album.
In May 1993, "All That She Wants" consolidated on its European success by topping the chart for three weeks in the United Kingdom. However, despite Mega Records's efforts to secure a distribution deal in the United States, the response was always the same: "This band will never work in the States." Eventually, Clive Davis, founder of Arista Records, heard the song playing on the radio whilst on vacation on his yacht, and rushed to sign a licence with Mega for the Americas. By the end of October, "All That She Wants" had made its way to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as in Australia.
The group had already started work on a second album, with the working title of The Sign, named after one of the new tracks they had written. Worried about sales of import copies of Happy Nation, however, Davis opted to tweak the track list of the original LP by adding three new tracks, and re-titling it The Sign. Released in the USA on November 23, 1993, it remained in the top three of the Billboard Top 200 for 26 consecutive weeks, and was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 1995 Grammy Awards. The refreshed album was released in Europe as Happy Nation (US Version). Collectively, the different versions of the album reached the No. 1 position in at least 14 countries, and sold over 21 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling debut albums of all time.
The second U.S. single was the album's title track, "The Sign", released on December 14. It was even more successful than the first, spending six weeks at No. 1 and becoming the best-selling single of 1994. It was also a major hit internationally, peaking at No. 2 in the UK and Sweden and at No. 1 in Germany; whilst in Australia it topped the charts for four weeks.
Recorded at the request of Clive Davis, "Don't Turn Around" was the group's next single, which had previously been released by Tina Turner as the B-side of her single "Typical Male", and had been a UK No. 1 hit for Aswad in 1988. The cover version hit the top 5 in the US, UK, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
Promotion for the album concluded with the final single release "Living in Danger", which was yet another top 40 hit internationally and was performed in front of the Brandenburg Gate at the first ever MTV Europe Music Awards in Berlin in November 1994.
The band were caught up in controversy when on 27 March 1993, the Swedish newspaper Expressen reported that Ulf had been a member of a skinhead gang in his teenage years, long prior to his association with Ace of Base. The band and Ulf himself have addressed these claims numerous times. Linn remarked in 1993: "Ulf gave all that up long ago and my family had nothing to do with any of that in the first place." In 2013, the story was revisited in a report by Vice, referring to an unauthorized CD released in 1998 called Uffe Was a Nazi!, containing songs with racist content which were claimed to have been recorded by Ulf's former band Commit Suiside. In an interview with E! Online, Ulf clarified that Commit Suiside were "a New Wave music band without any political touch or agenda" and that the racist songs on the CD were not recorded by them. He also remarked: "I have always been deeply regretful of that period in my life, as I strive to bring happiness to people, and during that period I did not live up to that standard. [...] I'm truly deeply sorry for any hurt and disappointment this has caused for our fans, and I really hope that we clearly have stated that Ace of Base never shared any of these opinions and strongly oppose all extremist opinions on both the right and left wing."
In April 1994, an obsessed German fan broke into the Berggren family home, brandishing a knife. After managing to restrain her, the band decided they needed bodyguards. Recalling the attack in a 2016 interview, Jenny said "She woke me up with a knife to my throat. She broke into my parents’ house when I was staying there after two years away. I woke up and she was standing over me with the knife. I was terrified. That was the darker side of fame. I remember just after I was attacked I found out that we were Number 1 in the United States. All I could think was that I almost got killed. Everyone was like, 'wow, let’s have a huge party'. I didn’t want a party. I was broken."
1995–1997: The Bridge
Following the substantial success of the first album, the group were offered the chance to perform at Madison Square Garden in New York, and were asked to front brands such as Pepsi and Reebok in promotional campaigns, but after two years of travelling around the world to promote the first album, the band were too exhausted and declined all offers. Simultaneously, their various record companies around the world were demanding a second album promptly. To hasten the process, instead of Jonas and Ulf writing most of the album, each member was encouraged to submit their own tracks for consideration.
In the end, 17 tracks were chosen for the second album, titled The Bridge. It marked a considerable change of direction in sound; alongside the reggae and dance sounds that had made the group so popular were more experimental tracks and several ballads. The lead single, "Lucky Love", however, was a mainstream pop record, and was premiered in August 1995 at the World Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg. It debuted at No. 1 in Sweden upon release in October, becoming their first chart-topper in their homeland. It was also a top 20 hit across Europe, peaking at No. 1 in Finland, No. 2 in Denmark, No. 13 in Germany and No. 20 in the United Kingdom.
Arista Records instead opted for the more up-tempo track "Beautiful Life" as the first single in the US, where it peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first American hit for its co-producer Max Martin, who would go on to become one of the world's most in-demand songwriters and producers. It was released as the second single from the album in most countries, also reaching No. 15 in the UK and charting in at least 17 countries. An alternative acoustic mix of "Lucky Love" was chosen as the second U.S. single, peaking at No. 30.
The Bridge was certified platinum in 14 countries, but did not match the sales of the group's first album. "Never Gonna Say I'm Sorry" was released as the third single from the album and achieved moderate success in Europe, but failed to chart on the Hot 100 in the USA. In February 1996, the band performed at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival in Chile, topping the bill alongside 2 Unlimited.
After touring Asia and Australasia in April 1996, the group temporarily retreated from the limelight, scrapping plans to release either "My Déjà Vu" or "Edge Of Heaven" as a single, and emerging only in 1997 for an April performance at the World Music Awards, and at a July concert celebrating the 20th birthday of Princess Victoria of Sweden.
1998–1999: Flowers / Cruel Summer
Having felt rushed to record a second album, the group were given as much time as they need to produce their third, with much of it being recorded in Jonas's own studio, "The Barn". Declaring it their best album yet, the group titled it Flowers because they believed that the songs, wildly different in style, including Motown and gospel influences, resembled a varied bouquet of flowers. Fans were surprised to see that singer Linn had relinquished lead vocal duties to sister Jenny, and on many promotional photos, Linn's face was blurred. They were reassured that Linn was happy with her new backing role in the group, and many reasons were given for her decision, including her having damaged her voice, her aerophobia deterring her from international travel and her dislike of fame.
The album's lead single "Life Is a Flower" was released in mainland Europe in April 1998, and became the most-played track on European radio of the year. It reached the top 5 in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Hungary and in the UK, where it was certified silver. The album followed in June, hitting the top 20 in at least a dozen countries.
The group's British label London Records had requested the band record the 1983 hit "Cruel Summer", by Bananarama and it was selected as the second European single. Deciding that "Life Is a Flower" was "too European in nature", Clive Davis pushed "Cruel Summer" as the lead single for the United States, and it brought Ace of Base back into the U.S. Top 10 for the first time in four years, being certified gold. The album was also renamed Cruel Summer and featured a different track list from the European release. For this version of the album, Davis persuaded a reluctant Linn to record the Billy Steinberg-penned ballad "Everytime It Rains".
"Life Is a Flower" was re-recorded as "Whenever You're Near Me" and chosen as the second single from Cruel Summer, peaking at No. 76. "Travel to Romantis" and "Always Have, Always Will" were further singles in Europe whilst "Everytime It Rains" was issued as a single in the UK along with a repackaged edition of Flowers.
1999–2000: Singles of the 90s and Greatest Hits
The group went back into the studio in 1999, writing several tracks together as a quartet for the first time, and recording enough demo tracks for consideration for a fourth studio album. Ulf from the group later revealed that they had hoped to release a track called "Pole Position" as the lead single, with a music video that would have featured the Formula One champion driver Jacques Villeneuve. Several of the tracks recorded for the scrapped studio album were eventually released in demo form by Jonas via Facebook in 2011.
In November 1999, Mega Records released the best-of album Singles of the 90s, a compilation of 16 hit singles. A new single taken from it, "C'est La Vie (Always 21)", was a modest chart hit in Sweden, Finland, Germany and Switzerland, and topped the charts in Spain. "Hallo Hallo" followed as the second single in parts of Europe, but only found minor success.
Arista Records fulfilled the group's four-album contract in the Americas by releasing Greatest Hits in March 2000. A new dance mix of "Everytime It Rains", previously included on Cruel Summer, was released as a radio single to promote the album. Both the single and album failed to chart in the USA.
2002–2003: Da Capo
Following a long time away from the pop scene, a new single called "Beautiful Morning" was serviced to radio in Europe in July 2002. Polydor Records reported that it was their fastest-added track to radio playlists of the year, and it went on peak at No. 38 in Germany and No. 14 in Sweden upon its commercial release in September.
After several delays, Ace of Base finally released their fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002, in Europe, and in Japan through Toshiba EMI with a different cover and three bonus tracks. The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in the Americas. The title comes from the musical term da capo, which translates as "back to the beginning", chosen as the sound of the album was seen as a return to the group's early blend of reggae and europop.
Although the album charted across much of Europe, it was not as successful as previous releases. Only Jenny and Ulf went on a promotional tour of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland and Austria. Jonas chose to forego promotional activities because "it was better to be two then" and led to "less questions" about Linn's lack of participation. Linn attended only one performance in Germany, which was her last public appearance.
"The Juvenile" was selected as the album's second single in Germany, and was used for a Christmas campaign by TV channel RTL. The song was a re-written version of a track originally submitted for the James Bond movie GoldenEye in 1995. However, Clive Davis persuaded the band that it was not the best move for the band at the time so they withdrew it from consideration. In Scandinavia, Edel-Mega released "Unspeakable" as the second single, but its poor chart performance ended the promotion of the album prematurely.
2003–2006: Hiatus
The group remained out of the spotlight throughout 2003 and 2004. During this time, Jenny performed solo live performances in several Christian shows with her husband Jakob Petrén and released an album as a vocalist with the Swedish group Arose.
In 2005, a handful of songs featuring vocals by both Jenny and Linn were recorded with producer Tommy Ekman, including "Would You Believe" and "Make My Day". Jonas and Ulf later explained that the group did not have the energy to finish the project, though the tracks that were recorded eventually surfaced.
At the end of 2005, the group reunited, without Linn, for several live performances at the Night of the Proms in Belgium, alongside other artists such as Donna Summer.
2007–2009: Reunion
Ace of Base reunited as a trio to perform their first full-length concert since 1996 in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on November 15, 2007. They embarked on a world tour called Ace Of Base - Redefined!, which continued throughout 2008 and 2009. The set list included several new versions of their greatest hits. Jenny confirmed Linn's permanent departure from the group, saying "She hasn't been part of Ace of Base for several years" in Se & Hør Magazine. Ulf later explained in an interview "She left the band and we promised her to never even ask to come back. She's done with entertainment industry. It's understandable. It's brutal from the inside, it was not for her. She has no craving to be famous, she loved her fans, but the fame factor was not for her." While touring, the group performed a brand new song called "Sparks From A Fire".
The group teamed up with Jenny's husband Jakob to record material for a new studio album, which would consist of seven new songs and seven remakes of old hits. However, this album did not see a release and a new compilation, Greatest Hits, was released on November 12, 2008, instead.
Five re-recorded songs were released from the album in various forms: "Lucky Love 2009", "Don't Turn Around 2009", "The Sign (Freedom Bunch Mix)" and "Wheel of Fortune 2009", which was released worldwide on October 24, 2008, as a digital single. A fifth reworking, "Happy Nation 2009", was released separately as a remix kit. A remake of "All That She Wants" was also recorded and featured guest vocals by Britney Spears that stemmed from her own 2007 cover of the song. This remake was never officially released, but leaked online in June 2016.
Three of the new tracks recorded in this period ("Sparks From A Fire", "The Mask" and "Wish You Were Mine") were eventually leaked on YouTube in 2017.
2009–2012: New members, The Golden Ratio, and Ace Thursdays
In August 2009, in an interview with Digital Spy, Ulf mentioned adding another singer to the group alongside Jenny, explaining: "We're just deciding now whether to add a fourth member to the group again or to bring it out under a new name. At the moment we think it would be stronger with two female singers, so it's a little technical problem to solve." During this time, Ulf and Jonas began recording songs with singer Julia Williamson, whom they met through Martin Dodd, who had originally signed the group to Mega Records. Meanwhile, a new remix of "Cruel Summer" by Rico Bernasconi charted at No. 69 in Germany.
Jenny published her autobiography Vinna hela Världen in Sweden in September and announced that she was recording a solo album, which materialized in October 2010 as My Story. In November 2009, Jenny confirmed via Twitter that she would not be involved with the upcoming album, but later clarified that she had not left, saying that "other constellations will have other names".
Two new singers were officially revealed in February 2010 as Clara Hagman, a contestant from Idol 2009, who Ulf met whilst appearing as a guest judge on the show, and Julia Williamson. Jonas explained that "We will reform how we write the band name so that all old Acers can see the difference and don't have to be in panic.", with Jenny commenting in April, "You are wrong about me leaving Ace of Base. I just want to make everybody sure I have not left the group. Ace of Base is still the original members. We are bounded by law and by heart."
In a later interview with Aftonbladet, Jenny claimed "They didn't want to be with me", and that she was not allowed to participate in songwriting. Jonas and Ulf then said in an interview with Scandipop that Jenny wasn't happy with plans to introduce a new member, and while she never formally quit the group, they felt that they had no choice but to proceed without her.
The new quartet maintained the original band name, but it was stylized as "Ace.of.Base" on the artwork of single and album releases. In July 2010, a track called "Mr. Replay" appeared on a Polish promo compilation for DJs, becoming the first release from the new line-up. The first official single from the line-up, "All for You", was premiered on radio station Antenne AC on July 22, and was released on CD and download on September 10, debuting at No. 38 in Germany.
The album The Golden Ratio followed on September 24, entering the German album charts at No. 20. In Sweden, the album failed to chart, backed only by a radio release of the album's title track "The Golden Ratio" in October, followed by a performance of "Southern California" on Bingolotto in April 2011. An acoustic version of the album was being considered but never materialized. No further singles were released in support of the album.
In March 2011, Jonas began releasing previously unreleased material to fans via the band's official Facebook page and the website ReverbNation on a semi-regular basis, in events they referred to as "Ace Thursdays". Writing sessions for new material took place throughout the same year, though following the group's tour of Canada and Brazil in 2011, new music was put on hold.
2012–present: Departures, Hidden Gems and 30th anniversary
Ace Thursdays continued throughout 2012, but were discontinued in May 2013. In November 2012, Jenny was quoted as saying, "The rest of the band are doing other things. ... We're just wishing each other luck at this stage. I have a dream that we'll get back together, so I don't want to bang anyone on the head". Jenny began touring as "Jenny from Ace of Base" alongside popular Eurodance acts from the decade.
In January 2014, Julia announced on her official Facebook page that she had left the group in 2012. She later confirmed that Clara had also left, saying on her Facebook page, "I never really left the group, one day I just didn't hear anything from them and it's the same with Clara. Like it went up in smoke; really strange". Clara has since gone to release a number of solo singles, and has collaborated with various EDM producers such as KREAM and R3hab.
A remix EP was released in July 2014, featuring new remixes of "All That She Wants". On September 27, Jonas announced that members were filming a documentary chronicling the production of "All That She Wants" at Google headquarters. The documentary was aired on the Swedish channel SVT as part of the Hitlåtens Historia series on March 18, 2015.
In December 2014 and January 2015, remastered versions of their first four studio albums, in both European and American editions, were released digitally. This was followed in March by Hidden Gems, a compilation album consisting entirely of demos and b-sides. "Would You Believe", one of the last tracks recorded by the original quartet in 2005, was released as a promotional single.
In a 2015 interview with ABC News, Ulf said of a future reunion, "With the right elements in the next few years, I don't think it's impossible"; however, in July 2016, Jenny remarked: "We won't re-form. [...] We're finished working together but we're not finished being family together. We have a lot of fun plans in the future but no musical plans". In 2018, Jonas said a potential reunion had been discussed, but noted "We always got the same question "where is Malin?". I am still writing music, maybe one song each fortnight or something. It's a lot of fun, like therapy. And maybe if we do a reunion... I have songs for it!"
In 2019, Demon Music Group began releasing new compilations of the band's material in the United Kingdom. The first of these releases was Ace Of Base – Gold, which charted at No. 59 in the UK, marking the group's first return to the UK charts in 20 years. To mark the group's 30th anniversary, a 12-disc box set called All That She Wants: The Classic Collection was released in July 2020. The set includes deluxe versions of the group's original four studio albums, an expanded 46-track edition of Hidden Gems, a new EP containing previously unreleased remixes of "Edge Of Heaven", and a DVD containing all of the group's music videos. Included among the 195 tracks are previously unreleased demos from the original line-up's final recording sessions in 2008 and live recordings of the group's first gig at Bältespännarparken in 1990. A coloured vinyl box set was also released which only includes the four studio albums.
In 2020, Playground Records began releasing standalone digital singles which feature new remixes of the group's tracks. In November 2021, a remix EP was released for the album track "Dancer in a Daydream" which first appeared on Happy Nation in 1992. The EP features remixes by producer Trace Adam and was released alongside a new video with previously unseen footage.
Legacy
A number of musicians and singers have been influenced by Ace of Base. Lady Gaga has said her album The Fame Monster was influenced by the "super pop melodies of the 90s" by acts such as Ace of Base. The song "Alejandro" in particular has been heavily compared to Ace of Base's version of "Don't Turn Around"; Paul Lester from BBC commented that "[Alejandro] moves at an Ace of Base pace", and Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine described the song as a homage to them; The song "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" from The Fame has also been linked to the band; Alexis Petridis from The Guardian noted that the song "is the first song in a long time that warrants comparison to the œuvre of Ace of Base".
Katy Perry said she wanted her third studio album, Teenage Dream, to sound like "The Sign"; "It's what I said I wanted earlier", she told MTV; "We nailed it: It's roller-skating! It's '90s! It's Ace of Base! It's Cyndi Lauper! It's like all these colors and more".
Swedish artist Robyn said she was inspired by Ace of Base for her song "Dancehall Queen", which was produced by Diplo and Klas Åhlund for her fifth studio album Body Talk Pt. 1. "We were just having fun with that kind of genre music. And the idea of making this song came out of that discussion. It was fun. We really connected on something where music that you might put in one box becomes something else, depending on how you look at it".
Some of the British group Clean Bandit's tracks have been compared to the band, notably their 2016 UK No. 1 single "Rockabye". Band members Grace and Luke have named them as an influence in interviews.
American alternative rock artist Beck had plans to cover an Ace of Base album as part of his Record Club project in 2009; however, this never came to fruition. Tegan and Sara's song "Closer" was inspired by the band's music. Robert Alfons of Canadian synthpop group Trust once said "the synthesisers they used were of great influence on me... [their] first two albums [in particular]", whilst rock band Yeasayer and new wave artist Twin Shadow have both also cited Ace of Base as an influence.
The 2019 single "Liar", by Cuban pop singer Camila Cabello, interpolates the melody of "All That She Wants".
Awards and nominations
1992 MTA – Best Pop Act (nominee)
1992 MTA – Best New Act (nominee)
1993 Swedish Grammis – Best Pop Group
1993 Swedish Grammis – TV audience price
1993 Bronze BRAVO Otto (Germany) – Best rock/pop Group
1993 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Breakthrough Artist
1994 MTV Europe Music Awards – Best Cover (Nominee)
1994 American Music Award – Favorite Band, Duo or Group – Pop / Rock
1994 American Music Award – Favorite New Artist – Pop / Rock
1994 Billboard Music Award – Number One Single
1994 Billboard Music Award – Top New Artist
1994 Billboard Music Award – Artist of the Year
1994 Peleg Music Award of Excellence – Best New Artist
1994 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1994 Echo (Germany) – Group of the Year
1994 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Artist
1994 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Album (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best Pop Album for The Sign (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best New Artist (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best Vocal Performance By a Group or Duo for The Sign (nominee)
1995 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1995 Juno Awards – International Album of the Year for The Sign (nominee)
1995 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Artist (nominee)
1996 European Award For Dance Music
1996 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1997 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1998 Midem Fono Award – Most Played Song of the Year – Life Is a Flower
1999 RSH Gold
2007 BMI Award for over 3 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
2011 Scandipop Award – Best group album
2016 BMI Award for over 4 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
2021 BMI Award for over 5 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
Discography
Studio albums
Happy Nation / The Sign (1992/1993)
The Bridge (1995)
Flowers / Cruel Summer (1998)
Da Capo (2002)
The Golden Ratio (2010)
See also
Swedish pop music
References
External links
Arista Records artists
English-language singers from Sweden
Europop groups
Musical groups established in 1990
Musical groups from Gothenburg
Swedish co-ed groups
Swedish Eurodance groups
Swedish pop music groups
Sibling musical groups
World Music Awards winners
1990 establishments in Sweden | false | [
"Imagine That is a country/pop song written for Patsy Cline by Justin Tubb.\n\n\"Imagine That\" was one of three minor hits produced by Patsy Cline in 1962. By this time as well, Patsy Cline was already a very successful Country/Pop singer, racking up a string of major hits like \"I Fall to Pieces\", \"Walkin' After Midnight\", \"Crazy\" and \"She's Got You\". \"Imagine That\" however was not as successful as its counterparts. The song only reached to #21 on the Country charts and to #90 on the Pop charts, failing to gain big success. \"Imagine That\" was also never featured on her 1962 album, called Sentimentally Yours. The song discusses how the singer is so devoted to her lover that nothing the lover may do will change that devotion.\n\nThe song was also recorded by Sara Evans on her 1997 debut album Three Chords and the Truth.\n\n1962 singles\nPatsy Cline songs\nSong recordings produced by Owen Bradley\nSongs written by Justin Tubb\n1962 songs\nDecca Records singles\n\nit:Immagina che",
"\"Kusha Las Payas\" is a song performed by the Andalusian-Spanish pop group Las Ketchup. It was released in November 2002 as the second single from their debut studio album, Hijas del Tomate. It is a follow-up to their most successful single, \"The Ketchup Song (Aserejé)\", although this song was not as successful as \"Aserejé\".\n\nThe song is featured in the video game, SSX, but is region-exclusive to Spain only.\n\nCharts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n2003 songs\nLas Ketchup songs\nSpanish-language songs"
]
|
[
"Ace of Base",
"Da Capo (2002-03)",
"what happened in 2002?",
"Ace of Base released its fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002,",
"was the album a sucess?",
"The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in America or Australia, though a release was planned for the United States in 2003.",
"did it release in the us?",
"though a release was planned for the United States in 2003.",
"did the album hit the charts?",
"Although the album entered the album charts in many European countries, it was not as successful as previous releases.",
"did it have any singles?",
"Beautiful Morning",
"was that song successful?",
"which peaked at No.14 in Sweden and No. 38 in Germany,"
]
| C_12b55bce65d44cfabc4161087efa936e_0 | did they tour? | 7 | Did Ace of Base tour for their album, Da Capo? | Ace of Base | Ace of Base released its fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002, in Europe, and in Japan through Toshiba EMI with a different cover and three bonus tracks. The album had originally been planned for release in mid-2000, but was repeatedly postponed due to record company complications. The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in America or Australia, though a release was planned for the United States in 2003. The album is named for the musical term da capo, which translates as "back to the beginning". It was intended to be a return to the band's earliest sound. Although the album entered the album charts in many European countries, it was not as successful as previous releases. Only Jenny and Ulf went on a promotional tour of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland and Austria. Jonas didn't attend promotional activities because "it was better to be two then" because it led to "less questions" about Linn's lack of participation. Linn attended only one performance in Germany, which was her last public appearance. The first single release from the Da Capo album was "Beautiful Morning", which peaked at No.14 in Sweden and No. 38 in Germany, where it was followed by "The Juvenile"; this was used for a Christmas campaign by German TV channel RTL. "The Juvenile" was previously written for the GoldenEye James Bond movie in 1995. However, Arista, the band's American record label at the time, shelved the idea. In Scandinavia, Edel-Mega released the album's opening track, "Unspeakable", as the second single, but its poor chart performance ended the promotion of the album prematurely. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Ace of Base is a Swedish pop group, formed in 1990, originally consisting of siblings Jonas, Linn and Jenny Berggren, with Ulf Ekberg.
They achieved worldwide success following the release of their debut album Happy Nation in 1992. Later re-issued as The Sign, it was certified nine times platinum in the United States and was the best-selling album of 1994. One of the most successful debut albums of all time, it was the first to produce three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart: "All That She Wants", "The Sign" and "Don't Turn Around".
They continued to score hit singles throughout the 1990s, with songs such as "Beautiful Life", "Lucky Love", "Cruel Summer" and "Life Is a Flower". By 2002, they had sold a total of 30 million copies of their first four studio albums, making them the third most successful Swedish group of all time, behind ABBA and Roxette.
Despite being largely inactive since 2012, the group has never officially disbanded. In the last decade, they have released a number of demo tracks, first via their Facebook page, then in 2015 on the compilation album Hidden Gems. An expanded two-disc edition was included in the 2020 boxset All That She Wants: The Classic Collection. Jenny Berggren continues to perform the group's hits in solo concerts around the world.
History
1987–1992: Formation
In 1987, following a number of years as part of a new romantic and punk cover band called G Konrad (named after a Hungarian author), Jonas Berggren formed a band with two friends, Johnny Lindén and Niklas Tränk, for a school project; his sisters Linn and Jenny later joined as singers. The new band went through several names: Kalinin Prospect after an avenue in Moscow; CAD (Computer-Aided Disco); and Tech-Noir, French for black technology, after a nightclub in the film The Terminator. They toured the clubs of Sweden with self-written material, techno inspired by 80s Italodisco and house music.
Johnny left the group in 1989, and Niklas made his departure known by failing to turn up to a gig at Bältespännarparken in Gothenburg on August 4, 1990, instead attending a Rolling Stones concert on the other side of town. Jonas asked his friend Ulf Ekberg to stand in for Niklas. In an interview with Nöjesguiden, Jonas explained: "He shared a rehearsal room with us and we asked if he wanted to be with us on stage because he was really energetic. He thought it sounded fun and then we started writing. Ulf is very good at technology and I am more good at melodies, so it was a very good combination." Inspired by a Jamaican reggae band who resided in a studio next door to theirs, they experimented with a fusion of reggae and pop - dubbed "China reggae" by their Jamaican friends - which would become the band's trademark sound.
After responding to an ad in the paper Göteborgs-Posten, the new quartet started working in the studio with record producer John Ballard, and decided to come up with a new name in order to make a fresh start, as well as to avoid confusion with another band with the same name who were attracting bad reviews. Linn was reported to have said: "No one could pronounce the name of the group and nobody could remember it." They settled on Ace of Base in early 1991, after Ulf was inspired by the Motörhead song "Ace of Spades". In an interview in 2018, Ulf explained: "The name came out of a hangover I had on New Year's Day. So, I was hungover, watching MTV and I saw Motörhead's video for their song 'Ace of Spades'. I liked the name and I thought I'd play around with those words. We're four members in this band, so I thought, 'Good. Four aces. I'll keep the ace.' Then I thought of our studio and how it's our base."
The group continued performing in the clubs of Gothenburg, but struggled to gain recognition, partly due to the preference of heavy metal over techno in their hometown, according to singer Jenny. They also sent out demo cassettes to numerous record companies but "everybody refused" to sign them. In May 1991, Jonas and Ulf made a trip to various record companies in Stockholm, including Polar Music, who wanted them to record more songs first, and SweMix, who were interested but didn't have the time to do anything with them until the autumn.
In July, Klas Lunding at Telegram Records arranged for them to record a new version of "Wheel of Fortune" in their newly renovated Decibel Studio, but didn't offer them a recording contract. Jonas recounts: "When it had just been finished, Martin Dodd, (Head of A&R at independent Danish label Mega Records) called and shouted: 'Do not sign anything, do not sign anything!'. They wanted everything from us, while Telegram only wanted the reggae songs and no up-tempos. We had already recorded a single with Telegram, but hadn't signed anything. Klas is not the fastest in the world, so to speak - and that was perhaps lucky for us. So Mega bought the master tape from Klas for 34,000 SEK." Martin Dodd remarked in a 1995 interview: "When I got the demo in my hand, I knew nothing about the group but I immediately loved the melodies. The melancholy in the songs and their way of writing. At that time, house music was big and this went completely against the flow. It sounded fresh."
"Wheel of Fortune" was serviced to radio and nightclubs in Sweden in early 1992, with it reaching Gothenburg's local Jockeytoppen chart in March, and prompting an invitation to perform on music television channel ZTV. However, the record failed to gain traction in Sweden, so Mega switched focus to Denmark. After servicing the single to media two or three times, it was finally released commercially at the end of June 1992, entering the Danish singles chart at No. 6, before rising to No. 2.
1992–1994: International success and Happy Nation/The Sign
Although "Wheel of Fortune" was a success in Denmark, it was a different song that led to Ace of Base taking off internationally. After hearing Kayo's "Another Mother" in a record store, a top 20 hit in Sweden in 1990, Jonas and Ulf decided that it was exactly the sound they wanted to create. In early 1992, they sent producer Denniz PoP a demo tape including a song called "Mr. Ace". At first he wasn't particularly impressed, but the tape got stuck in the cassette player in his car. This resulted in him having to listen to it repeatedly and gradually he realized the song's potential. He'd lost the band's contact details but when they called him a few months later, he invited them to his SweMix studio to re-record the song in July 1992. The song became "All That She Wants", and upon its release at the end of August, it quickly climbed to No. 1 on the Danish chart, while the previous single was still sitting at No. 2. Keen to rush out an LP for the Christmas market, Mega Records pressed the band for an album, which was quickly recorded and mixed within a few weeks.
The album, Happy Nation, was released on November 2, 1992 in Denmark and its success prompted interest elsewhere in Europe. A pan-European licence was signed with Metronome/PolyGram (now Universal Music), but they were turned down by the American division. Within a few months, "All That She Wants" had reached No. 3 in Sweden and had spent eight weeks at No. 1 in Germany. In various European countries, "Happy Nation" and "Waiting for Magic" were released as further singles following the release of the album.
In May 1993, "All That She Wants" consolidated on its European success by topping the chart for three weeks in the United Kingdom. However, despite Mega Records's efforts to secure a distribution deal in the United States, the response was always the same: "This band will never work in the States." Eventually, Clive Davis, founder of Arista Records, heard the song playing on the radio whilst on vacation on his yacht, and rushed to sign a licence with Mega for the Americas. By the end of October, "All That She Wants" had made its way to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as in Australia.
The group had already started work on a second album, with the working title of The Sign, named after one of the new tracks they had written. Worried about sales of import copies of Happy Nation, however, Davis opted to tweak the track list of the original LP by adding three new tracks, and re-titling it The Sign. Released in the USA on November 23, 1993, it remained in the top three of the Billboard Top 200 for 26 consecutive weeks, and was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 1995 Grammy Awards. The refreshed album was released in Europe as Happy Nation (US Version). Collectively, the different versions of the album reached the No. 1 position in at least 14 countries, and sold over 21 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling debut albums of all time.
The second U.S. single was the album's title track, "The Sign", released on December 14. It was even more successful than the first, spending six weeks at No. 1 and becoming the best-selling single of 1994. It was also a major hit internationally, peaking at No. 2 in the UK and Sweden and at No. 1 in Germany; whilst in Australia it topped the charts for four weeks.
Recorded at the request of Clive Davis, "Don't Turn Around" was the group's next single, which had previously been released by Tina Turner as the B-side of her single "Typical Male", and had been a UK No. 1 hit for Aswad in 1988. The cover version hit the top 5 in the US, UK, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
Promotion for the album concluded with the final single release "Living in Danger", which was yet another top 40 hit internationally and was performed in front of the Brandenburg Gate at the first ever MTV Europe Music Awards in Berlin in November 1994.
The band were caught up in controversy when on 27 March 1993, the Swedish newspaper Expressen reported that Ulf had been a member of a skinhead gang in his teenage years, long prior to his association with Ace of Base. The band and Ulf himself have addressed these claims numerous times. Linn remarked in 1993: "Ulf gave all that up long ago and my family had nothing to do with any of that in the first place." In 2013, the story was revisited in a report by Vice, referring to an unauthorized CD released in 1998 called Uffe Was a Nazi!, containing songs with racist content which were claimed to have been recorded by Ulf's former band Commit Suiside. In an interview with E! Online, Ulf clarified that Commit Suiside were "a New Wave music band without any political touch or agenda" and that the racist songs on the CD were not recorded by them. He also remarked: "I have always been deeply regretful of that period in my life, as I strive to bring happiness to people, and during that period I did not live up to that standard. [...] I'm truly deeply sorry for any hurt and disappointment this has caused for our fans, and I really hope that we clearly have stated that Ace of Base never shared any of these opinions and strongly oppose all extremist opinions on both the right and left wing."
In April 1994, an obsessed German fan broke into the Berggren family home, brandishing a knife. After managing to restrain her, the band decided they needed bodyguards. Recalling the attack in a 2016 interview, Jenny said "She woke me up with a knife to my throat. She broke into my parents’ house when I was staying there after two years away. I woke up and she was standing over me with the knife. I was terrified. That was the darker side of fame. I remember just after I was attacked I found out that we were Number 1 in the United States. All I could think was that I almost got killed. Everyone was like, 'wow, let’s have a huge party'. I didn’t want a party. I was broken."
1995–1997: The Bridge
Following the substantial success of the first album, the group were offered the chance to perform at Madison Square Garden in New York, and were asked to front brands such as Pepsi and Reebok in promotional campaigns, but after two years of travelling around the world to promote the first album, the band were too exhausted and declined all offers. Simultaneously, their various record companies around the world were demanding a second album promptly. To hasten the process, instead of Jonas and Ulf writing most of the album, each member was encouraged to submit their own tracks for consideration.
In the end, 17 tracks were chosen for the second album, titled The Bridge. It marked a considerable change of direction in sound; alongside the reggae and dance sounds that had made the group so popular were more experimental tracks and several ballads. The lead single, "Lucky Love", however, was a mainstream pop record, and was premiered in August 1995 at the World Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg. It debuted at No. 1 in Sweden upon release in October, becoming their first chart-topper in their homeland. It was also a top 20 hit across Europe, peaking at No. 1 in Finland, No. 2 in Denmark, No. 13 in Germany and No. 20 in the United Kingdom.
Arista Records instead opted for the more up-tempo track "Beautiful Life" as the first single in the US, where it peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first American hit for its co-producer Max Martin, who would go on to become one of the world's most in-demand songwriters and producers. It was released as the second single from the album in most countries, also reaching No. 15 in the UK and charting in at least 17 countries. An alternative acoustic mix of "Lucky Love" was chosen as the second U.S. single, peaking at No. 30.
The Bridge was certified platinum in 14 countries, but did not match the sales of the group's first album. "Never Gonna Say I'm Sorry" was released as the third single from the album and achieved moderate success in Europe, but failed to chart on the Hot 100 in the USA. In February 1996, the band performed at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival in Chile, topping the bill alongside 2 Unlimited.
After touring Asia and Australasia in April 1996, the group temporarily retreated from the limelight, scrapping plans to release either "My Déjà Vu" or "Edge Of Heaven" as a single, and emerging only in 1997 for an April performance at the World Music Awards, and at a July concert celebrating the 20th birthday of Princess Victoria of Sweden.
1998–1999: Flowers / Cruel Summer
Having felt rushed to record a second album, the group were given as much time as they need to produce their third, with much of it being recorded in Jonas's own studio, "The Barn". Declaring it their best album yet, the group titled it Flowers because they believed that the songs, wildly different in style, including Motown and gospel influences, resembled a varied bouquet of flowers. Fans were surprised to see that singer Linn had relinquished lead vocal duties to sister Jenny, and on many promotional photos, Linn's face was blurred. They were reassured that Linn was happy with her new backing role in the group, and many reasons were given for her decision, including her having damaged her voice, her aerophobia deterring her from international travel and her dislike of fame.
The album's lead single "Life Is a Flower" was released in mainland Europe in April 1998, and became the most-played track on European radio of the year. It reached the top 5 in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Hungary and in the UK, where it was certified silver. The album followed in June, hitting the top 20 in at least a dozen countries.
The group's British label London Records had requested the band record the 1983 hit "Cruel Summer", by Bananarama and it was selected as the second European single. Deciding that "Life Is a Flower" was "too European in nature", Clive Davis pushed "Cruel Summer" as the lead single for the United States, and it brought Ace of Base back into the U.S. Top 10 for the first time in four years, being certified gold. The album was also renamed Cruel Summer and featured a different track list from the European release. For this version of the album, Davis persuaded a reluctant Linn to record the Billy Steinberg-penned ballad "Everytime It Rains".
"Life Is a Flower" was re-recorded as "Whenever You're Near Me" and chosen as the second single from Cruel Summer, peaking at No. 76. "Travel to Romantis" and "Always Have, Always Will" were further singles in Europe whilst "Everytime It Rains" was issued as a single in the UK along with a repackaged edition of Flowers.
1999–2000: Singles of the 90s and Greatest Hits
The group went back into the studio in 1999, writing several tracks together as a quartet for the first time, and recording enough demo tracks for consideration for a fourth studio album. Ulf from the group later revealed that they had hoped to release a track called "Pole Position" as the lead single, with a music video that would have featured the Formula One champion driver Jacques Villeneuve. Several of the tracks recorded for the scrapped studio album were eventually released in demo form by Jonas via Facebook in 2011.
In November 1999, Mega Records released the best-of album Singles of the 90s, a compilation of 16 hit singles. A new single taken from it, "C'est La Vie (Always 21)", was a modest chart hit in Sweden, Finland, Germany and Switzerland, and topped the charts in Spain. "Hallo Hallo" followed as the second single in parts of Europe, but only found minor success.
Arista Records fulfilled the group's four-album contract in the Americas by releasing Greatest Hits in March 2000. A new dance mix of "Everytime It Rains", previously included on Cruel Summer, was released as a radio single to promote the album. Both the single and album failed to chart in the USA.
2002–2003: Da Capo
Following a long time away from the pop scene, a new single called "Beautiful Morning" was serviced to radio in Europe in July 2002. Polydor Records reported that it was their fastest-added track to radio playlists of the year, and it went on peak at No. 38 in Germany and No. 14 in Sweden upon its commercial release in September.
After several delays, Ace of Base finally released their fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002, in Europe, and in Japan through Toshiba EMI with a different cover and three bonus tracks. The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in the Americas. The title comes from the musical term da capo, which translates as "back to the beginning", chosen as the sound of the album was seen as a return to the group's early blend of reggae and europop.
Although the album charted across much of Europe, it was not as successful as previous releases. Only Jenny and Ulf went on a promotional tour of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland and Austria. Jonas chose to forego promotional activities because "it was better to be two then" and led to "less questions" about Linn's lack of participation. Linn attended only one performance in Germany, which was her last public appearance.
"The Juvenile" was selected as the album's second single in Germany, and was used for a Christmas campaign by TV channel RTL. The song was a re-written version of a track originally submitted for the James Bond movie GoldenEye in 1995. However, Clive Davis persuaded the band that it was not the best move for the band at the time so they withdrew it from consideration. In Scandinavia, Edel-Mega released "Unspeakable" as the second single, but its poor chart performance ended the promotion of the album prematurely.
2003–2006: Hiatus
The group remained out of the spotlight throughout 2003 and 2004. During this time, Jenny performed solo live performances in several Christian shows with her husband Jakob Petrén and released an album as a vocalist with the Swedish group Arose.
In 2005, a handful of songs featuring vocals by both Jenny and Linn were recorded with producer Tommy Ekman, including "Would You Believe" and "Make My Day". Jonas and Ulf later explained that the group did not have the energy to finish the project, though the tracks that were recorded eventually surfaced.
At the end of 2005, the group reunited, without Linn, for several live performances at the Night of the Proms in Belgium, alongside other artists such as Donna Summer.
2007–2009: Reunion
Ace of Base reunited as a trio to perform their first full-length concert since 1996 in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on November 15, 2007. They embarked on a world tour called Ace Of Base - Redefined!, which continued throughout 2008 and 2009. The set list included several new versions of their greatest hits. Jenny confirmed Linn's permanent departure from the group, saying "She hasn't been part of Ace of Base for several years" in Se & Hør Magazine. Ulf later explained in an interview "She left the band and we promised her to never even ask to come back. She's done with entertainment industry. It's understandable. It's brutal from the inside, it was not for her. She has no craving to be famous, she loved her fans, but the fame factor was not for her." While touring, the group performed a brand new song called "Sparks From A Fire".
The group teamed up with Jenny's husband Jakob to record material for a new studio album, which would consist of seven new songs and seven remakes of old hits. However, this album did not see a release and a new compilation, Greatest Hits, was released on November 12, 2008, instead.
Five re-recorded songs were released from the album in various forms: "Lucky Love 2009", "Don't Turn Around 2009", "The Sign (Freedom Bunch Mix)" and "Wheel of Fortune 2009", which was released worldwide on October 24, 2008, as a digital single. A fifth reworking, "Happy Nation 2009", was released separately as a remix kit. A remake of "All That She Wants" was also recorded and featured guest vocals by Britney Spears that stemmed from her own 2007 cover of the song. This remake was never officially released, but leaked online in June 2016.
Three of the new tracks recorded in this period ("Sparks From A Fire", "The Mask" and "Wish You Were Mine") were eventually leaked on YouTube in 2017.
2009–2012: New members, The Golden Ratio, and Ace Thursdays
In August 2009, in an interview with Digital Spy, Ulf mentioned adding another singer to the group alongside Jenny, explaining: "We're just deciding now whether to add a fourth member to the group again or to bring it out under a new name. At the moment we think it would be stronger with two female singers, so it's a little technical problem to solve." During this time, Ulf and Jonas began recording songs with singer Julia Williamson, whom they met through Martin Dodd, who had originally signed the group to Mega Records. Meanwhile, a new remix of "Cruel Summer" by Rico Bernasconi charted at No. 69 in Germany.
Jenny published her autobiography Vinna hela Världen in Sweden in September and announced that she was recording a solo album, which materialized in October 2010 as My Story. In November 2009, Jenny confirmed via Twitter that she would not be involved with the upcoming album, but later clarified that she had not left, saying that "other constellations will have other names".
Two new singers were officially revealed in February 2010 as Clara Hagman, a contestant from Idol 2009, who Ulf met whilst appearing as a guest judge on the show, and Julia Williamson. Jonas explained that "We will reform how we write the band name so that all old Acers can see the difference and don't have to be in panic.", with Jenny commenting in April, "You are wrong about me leaving Ace of Base. I just want to make everybody sure I have not left the group. Ace of Base is still the original members. We are bounded by law and by heart."
In a later interview with Aftonbladet, Jenny claimed "They didn't want to be with me", and that she was not allowed to participate in songwriting. Jonas and Ulf then said in an interview with Scandipop that Jenny wasn't happy with plans to introduce a new member, and while she never formally quit the group, they felt that they had no choice but to proceed without her.
The new quartet maintained the original band name, but it was stylized as "Ace.of.Base" on the artwork of single and album releases. In July 2010, a track called "Mr. Replay" appeared on a Polish promo compilation for DJs, becoming the first release from the new line-up. The first official single from the line-up, "All for You", was premiered on radio station Antenne AC on July 22, and was released on CD and download on September 10, debuting at No. 38 in Germany.
The album The Golden Ratio followed on September 24, entering the German album charts at No. 20. In Sweden, the album failed to chart, backed only by a radio release of the album's title track "The Golden Ratio" in October, followed by a performance of "Southern California" on Bingolotto in April 2011. An acoustic version of the album was being considered but never materialized. No further singles were released in support of the album.
In March 2011, Jonas began releasing previously unreleased material to fans via the band's official Facebook page and the website ReverbNation on a semi-regular basis, in events they referred to as "Ace Thursdays". Writing sessions for new material took place throughout the same year, though following the group's tour of Canada and Brazil in 2011, new music was put on hold.
2012–present: Departures, Hidden Gems and 30th anniversary
Ace Thursdays continued throughout 2012, but were discontinued in May 2013. In November 2012, Jenny was quoted as saying, "The rest of the band are doing other things. ... We're just wishing each other luck at this stage. I have a dream that we'll get back together, so I don't want to bang anyone on the head". Jenny began touring as "Jenny from Ace of Base" alongside popular Eurodance acts from the decade.
In January 2014, Julia announced on her official Facebook page that she had left the group in 2012. She later confirmed that Clara had also left, saying on her Facebook page, "I never really left the group, one day I just didn't hear anything from them and it's the same with Clara. Like it went up in smoke; really strange". Clara has since gone to release a number of solo singles, and has collaborated with various EDM producers such as KREAM and R3hab.
A remix EP was released in July 2014, featuring new remixes of "All That She Wants". On September 27, Jonas announced that members were filming a documentary chronicling the production of "All That She Wants" at Google headquarters. The documentary was aired on the Swedish channel SVT as part of the Hitlåtens Historia series on March 18, 2015.
In December 2014 and January 2015, remastered versions of their first four studio albums, in both European and American editions, were released digitally. This was followed in March by Hidden Gems, a compilation album consisting entirely of demos and b-sides. "Would You Believe", one of the last tracks recorded by the original quartet in 2005, was released as a promotional single.
In a 2015 interview with ABC News, Ulf said of a future reunion, "With the right elements in the next few years, I don't think it's impossible"; however, in July 2016, Jenny remarked: "We won't re-form. [...] We're finished working together but we're not finished being family together. We have a lot of fun plans in the future but no musical plans". In 2018, Jonas said a potential reunion had been discussed, but noted "We always got the same question "where is Malin?". I am still writing music, maybe one song each fortnight or something. It's a lot of fun, like therapy. And maybe if we do a reunion... I have songs for it!"
In 2019, Demon Music Group began releasing new compilations of the band's material in the United Kingdom. The first of these releases was Ace Of Base – Gold, which charted at No. 59 in the UK, marking the group's first return to the UK charts in 20 years. To mark the group's 30th anniversary, a 12-disc box set called All That She Wants: The Classic Collection was released in July 2020. The set includes deluxe versions of the group's original four studio albums, an expanded 46-track edition of Hidden Gems, a new EP containing previously unreleased remixes of "Edge Of Heaven", and a DVD containing all of the group's music videos. Included among the 195 tracks are previously unreleased demos from the original line-up's final recording sessions in 2008 and live recordings of the group's first gig at Bältespännarparken in 1990. A coloured vinyl box set was also released which only includes the four studio albums.
In 2020, Playground Records began releasing standalone digital singles which feature new remixes of the group's tracks. In November 2021, a remix EP was released for the album track "Dancer in a Daydream" which first appeared on Happy Nation in 1992. The EP features remixes by producer Trace Adam and was released alongside a new video with previously unseen footage.
Legacy
A number of musicians and singers have been influenced by Ace of Base. Lady Gaga has said her album The Fame Monster was influenced by the "super pop melodies of the 90s" by acts such as Ace of Base. The song "Alejandro" in particular has been heavily compared to Ace of Base's version of "Don't Turn Around"; Paul Lester from BBC commented that "[Alejandro] moves at an Ace of Base pace", and Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine described the song as a homage to them; The song "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" from The Fame has also been linked to the band; Alexis Petridis from The Guardian noted that the song "is the first song in a long time that warrants comparison to the œuvre of Ace of Base".
Katy Perry said she wanted her third studio album, Teenage Dream, to sound like "The Sign"; "It's what I said I wanted earlier", she told MTV; "We nailed it: It's roller-skating! It's '90s! It's Ace of Base! It's Cyndi Lauper! It's like all these colors and more".
Swedish artist Robyn said she was inspired by Ace of Base for her song "Dancehall Queen", which was produced by Diplo and Klas Åhlund for her fifth studio album Body Talk Pt. 1. "We were just having fun with that kind of genre music. And the idea of making this song came out of that discussion. It was fun. We really connected on something where music that you might put in one box becomes something else, depending on how you look at it".
Some of the British group Clean Bandit's tracks have been compared to the band, notably their 2016 UK No. 1 single "Rockabye". Band members Grace and Luke have named them as an influence in interviews.
American alternative rock artist Beck had plans to cover an Ace of Base album as part of his Record Club project in 2009; however, this never came to fruition. Tegan and Sara's song "Closer" was inspired by the band's music. Robert Alfons of Canadian synthpop group Trust once said "the synthesisers they used were of great influence on me... [their] first two albums [in particular]", whilst rock band Yeasayer and new wave artist Twin Shadow have both also cited Ace of Base as an influence.
The 2019 single "Liar", by Cuban pop singer Camila Cabello, interpolates the melody of "All That She Wants".
Awards and nominations
1992 MTA – Best Pop Act (nominee)
1992 MTA – Best New Act (nominee)
1993 Swedish Grammis – Best Pop Group
1993 Swedish Grammis – TV audience price
1993 Bronze BRAVO Otto (Germany) – Best rock/pop Group
1993 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Breakthrough Artist
1994 MTV Europe Music Awards – Best Cover (Nominee)
1994 American Music Award – Favorite Band, Duo or Group – Pop / Rock
1994 American Music Award – Favorite New Artist – Pop / Rock
1994 Billboard Music Award – Number One Single
1994 Billboard Music Award – Top New Artist
1994 Billboard Music Award – Artist of the Year
1994 Peleg Music Award of Excellence – Best New Artist
1994 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1994 Echo (Germany) – Group of the Year
1994 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Artist
1994 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Album (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best Pop Album for The Sign (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best New Artist (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best Vocal Performance By a Group or Duo for The Sign (nominee)
1995 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1995 Juno Awards – International Album of the Year for The Sign (nominee)
1995 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Artist (nominee)
1996 European Award For Dance Music
1996 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1997 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1998 Midem Fono Award – Most Played Song of the Year – Life Is a Flower
1999 RSH Gold
2007 BMI Award for over 3 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
2011 Scandipop Award – Best group album
2016 BMI Award for over 4 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
2021 BMI Award for over 5 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
Discography
Studio albums
Happy Nation / The Sign (1992/1993)
The Bridge (1995)
Flowers / Cruel Summer (1998)
Da Capo (2002)
The Golden Ratio (2010)
See also
Swedish pop music
References
External links
Arista Records artists
English-language singers from Sweden
Europop groups
Musical groups established in 1990
Musical groups from Gothenburg
Swedish co-ed groups
Swedish Eurodance groups
Swedish pop music groups
Sibling musical groups
World Music Awards winners
1990 establishments in Sweden | false | [
"\nThis is a list of the 29 players who earned their 2011 PGA Tour card through Q School in 2010. Note: Michael Putnam and Justin Hicks had already qualified for the PGA Tour by placing in the Top 25 during the 2010 Nationwide Tour season; they did not count among the Top 25 Q school graduates, but Putnam did improve his status.\n\nPlayers in yellow are 2011 PGA Tour rookies.\n\n2011 Results\n\n*PGA Tour rookie in 2011\nT = Tied \nGreen background indicates the player retained his PGA Tour card for 2012 (finished inside the top 125). \nYellow background indicates the player did not retain his PGA Tour card for 2012, but retained conditional status (finished between 126-150). \nRed background indicates the player did not retain his PGA Tour card for 2012 (finished outside the top 150).\n\nWinners on the PGA Tour in 2011\n\nRunners-up on the PGA Tour in 2011\n\nSee also\n2010 Nationwide Tour graduates\n\nReferences\nShort bios from pgatour.com\n\nPGA Tour Qualifying School\nPGA Tour Qualifying School Graduates\nPGA Tour Qualifying School Graduates",
"\nThis is a list of the 29 players who earned their 2012 PGA Tour card through Q School in 2011. Note: Roberto Castro and Mark Anderson had already qualified for the PGA Tour by placing in the Top 25 during the 2011 Nationwide Tour season; they did not count among the Top 25 Q school graduates.\n\nPlayers in yellow were 2012 PGA Tour rookies.\n\n2012 Results\n\n*PGA Tour rookie in 2012\nT = Tied \nGreen background indicates the player retained his PGA Tour card for 2013 (won or finished inside the top 125). \nYellow background indicates the player did not retain his PGA Tour card for 2013, but retained conditional status (finished between 126-150). \nRed background indicates the player did not retain his PGA Tour card for 2013 (finished outside the top 150).\n\nWinners on the PGA Tour in 2012\n\nRunners-up on the PGA Tour in 2012\n\nSee also\n2011 Nationwide Tour graduates\n\nReferences\nResults from pgatour.com\n\nPGA Tour Qualifying School\nPGA Tour Qualifying School Graduates\nPGA Tour Qualifying School Graduates"
]
|
[
"Ace of Base",
"Da Capo (2002-03)",
"what happened in 2002?",
"Ace of Base released its fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002,",
"was the album a sucess?",
"The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in America or Australia, though a release was planned for the United States in 2003.",
"did it release in the us?",
"though a release was planned for the United States in 2003.",
"did the album hit the charts?",
"Although the album entered the album charts in many European countries, it was not as successful as previous releases.",
"did it have any singles?",
"Beautiful Morning",
"was that song successful?",
"which peaked at No.14 in Sweden and No. 38 in Germany,",
"did they tour?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_12b55bce65d44cfabc4161087efa936e_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 8 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article regarding the Ace of Base other than the album Da Capo? | Ace of Base | Ace of Base released its fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002, in Europe, and in Japan through Toshiba EMI with a different cover and three bonus tracks. The album had originally been planned for release in mid-2000, but was repeatedly postponed due to record company complications. The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in America or Australia, though a release was planned for the United States in 2003. The album is named for the musical term da capo, which translates as "back to the beginning". It was intended to be a return to the band's earliest sound. Although the album entered the album charts in many European countries, it was not as successful as previous releases. Only Jenny and Ulf went on a promotional tour of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland and Austria. Jonas didn't attend promotional activities because "it was better to be two then" because it led to "less questions" about Linn's lack of participation. Linn attended only one performance in Germany, which was her last public appearance. The first single release from the Da Capo album was "Beautiful Morning", which peaked at No.14 in Sweden and No. 38 in Germany, where it was followed by "The Juvenile"; this was used for a Christmas campaign by German TV channel RTL. "The Juvenile" was previously written for the GoldenEye James Bond movie in 1995. However, Arista, the band's American record label at the time, shelved the idea. In Scandinavia, Edel-Mega released the album's opening track, "Unspeakable", as the second single, but its poor chart performance ended the promotion of the album prematurely. CANNOTANSWER | "The Juvenile" was previously written for the GoldenEye James Bond movie in 1995. | Ace of Base is a Swedish pop group, formed in 1990, originally consisting of siblings Jonas, Linn and Jenny Berggren, with Ulf Ekberg.
They achieved worldwide success following the release of their debut album Happy Nation in 1992. Later re-issued as The Sign, it was certified nine times platinum in the United States and was the best-selling album of 1994. One of the most successful debut albums of all time, it was the first to produce three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart: "All That She Wants", "The Sign" and "Don't Turn Around".
They continued to score hit singles throughout the 1990s, with songs such as "Beautiful Life", "Lucky Love", "Cruel Summer" and "Life Is a Flower". By 2002, they had sold a total of 30 million copies of their first four studio albums, making them the third most successful Swedish group of all time, behind ABBA and Roxette.
Despite being largely inactive since 2012, the group has never officially disbanded. In the last decade, they have released a number of demo tracks, first via their Facebook page, then in 2015 on the compilation album Hidden Gems. An expanded two-disc edition was included in the 2020 boxset All That She Wants: The Classic Collection. Jenny Berggren continues to perform the group's hits in solo concerts around the world.
History
1987–1992: Formation
In 1987, following a number of years as part of a new romantic and punk cover band called G Konrad (named after a Hungarian author), Jonas Berggren formed a band with two friends, Johnny Lindén and Niklas Tränk, for a school project; his sisters Linn and Jenny later joined as singers. The new band went through several names: Kalinin Prospect after an avenue in Moscow; CAD (Computer-Aided Disco); and Tech-Noir, French for black technology, after a nightclub in the film The Terminator. They toured the clubs of Sweden with self-written material, techno inspired by 80s Italodisco and house music.
Johnny left the group in 1989, and Niklas made his departure known by failing to turn up to a gig at Bältespännarparken in Gothenburg on August 4, 1990, instead attending a Rolling Stones concert on the other side of town. Jonas asked his friend Ulf Ekberg to stand in for Niklas. In an interview with Nöjesguiden, Jonas explained: "He shared a rehearsal room with us and we asked if he wanted to be with us on stage because he was really energetic. He thought it sounded fun and then we started writing. Ulf is very good at technology and I am more good at melodies, so it was a very good combination." Inspired by a Jamaican reggae band who resided in a studio next door to theirs, they experimented with a fusion of reggae and pop - dubbed "China reggae" by their Jamaican friends - which would become the band's trademark sound.
After responding to an ad in the paper Göteborgs-Posten, the new quartet started working in the studio with record producer John Ballard, and decided to come up with a new name in order to make a fresh start, as well as to avoid confusion with another band with the same name who were attracting bad reviews. Linn was reported to have said: "No one could pronounce the name of the group and nobody could remember it." They settled on Ace of Base in early 1991, after Ulf was inspired by the Motörhead song "Ace of Spades". In an interview in 2018, Ulf explained: "The name came out of a hangover I had on New Year's Day. So, I was hungover, watching MTV and I saw Motörhead's video for their song 'Ace of Spades'. I liked the name and I thought I'd play around with those words. We're four members in this band, so I thought, 'Good. Four aces. I'll keep the ace.' Then I thought of our studio and how it's our base."
The group continued performing in the clubs of Gothenburg, but struggled to gain recognition, partly due to the preference of heavy metal over techno in their hometown, according to singer Jenny. They also sent out demo cassettes to numerous record companies but "everybody refused" to sign them. In May 1991, Jonas and Ulf made a trip to various record companies in Stockholm, including Polar Music, who wanted them to record more songs first, and SweMix, who were interested but didn't have the time to do anything with them until the autumn.
In July, Klas Lunding at Telegram Records arranged for them to record a new version of "Wheel of Fortune" in their newly renovated Decibel Studio, but didn't offer them a recording contract. Jonas recounts: "When it had just been finished, Martin Dodd, (Head of A&R at independent Danish label Mega Records) called and shouted: 'Do not sign anything, do not sign anything!'. They wanted everything from us, while Telegram only wanted the reggae songs and no up-tempos. We had already recorded a single with Telegram, but hadn't signed anything. Klas is not the fastest in the world, so to speak - and that was perhaps lucky for us. So Mega bought the master tape from Klas for 34,000 SEK." Martin Dodd remarked in a 1995 interview: "When I got the demo in my hand, I knew nothing about the group but I immediately loved the melodies. The melancholy in the songs and their way of writing. At that time, house music was big and this went completely against the flow. It sounded fresh."
"Wheel of Fortune" was serviced to radio and nightclubs in Sweden in early 1992, with it reaching Gothenburg's local Jockeytoppen chart in March, and prompting an invitation to perform on music television channel ZTV. However, the record failed to gain traction in Sweden, so Mega switched focus to Denmark. After servicing the single to media two or three times, it was finally released commercially at the end of June 1992, entering the Danish singles chart at No. 6, before rising to No. 2.
1992–1994: International success and Happy Nation/The Sign
Although "Wheel of Fortune" was a success in Denmark, it was a different song that led to Ace of Base taking off internationally. After hearing Kayo's "Another Mother" in a record store, a top 20 hit in Sweden in 1990, Jonas and Ulf decided that it was exactly the sound they wanted to create. In early 1992, they sent producer Denniz PoP a demo tape including a song called "Mr. Ace". At first he wasn't particularly impressed, but the tape got stuck in the cassette player in his car. This resulted in him having to listen to it repeatedly and gradually he realized the song's potential. He'd lost the band's contact details but when they called him a few months later, he invited them to his SweMix studio to re-record the song in July 1992. The song became "All That She Wants", and upon its release at the end of August, it quickly climbed to No. 1 on the Danish chart, while the previous single was still sitting at No. 2. Keen to rush out an LP for the Christmas market, Mega Records pressed the band for an album, which was quickly recorded and mixed within a few weeks.
The album, Happy Nation, was released on November 2, 1992 in Denmark and its success prompted interest elsewhere in Europe. A pan-European licence was signed with Metronome/PolyGram (now Universal Music), but they were turned down by the American division. Within a few months, "All That She Wants" had reached No. 3 in Sweden and had spent eight weeks at No. 1 in Germany. In various European countries, "Happy Nation" and "Waiting for Magic" were released as further singles following the release of the album.
In May 1993, "All That She Wants" consolidated on its European success by topping the chart for three weeks in the United Kingdom. However, despite Mega Records's efforts to secure a distribution deal in the United States, the response was always the same: "This band will never work in the States." Eventually, Clive Davis, founder of Arista Records, heard the song playing on the radio whilst on vacation on his yacht, and rushed to sign a licence with Mega for the Americas. By the end of October, "All That She Wants" had made its way to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as in Australia.
The group had already started work on a second album, with the working title of The Sign, named after one of the new tracks they had written. Worried about sales of import copies of Happy Nation, however, Davis opted to tweak the track list of the original LP by adding three new tracks, and re-titling it The Sign. Released in the USA on November 23, 1993, it remained in the top three of the Billboard Top 200 for 26 consecutive weeks, and was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 1995 Grammy Awards. The refreshed album was released in Europe as Happy Nation (US Version). Collectively, the different versions of the album reached the No. 1 position in at least 14 countries, and sold over 21 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling debut albums of all time.
The second U.S. single was the album's title track, "The Sign", released on December 14. It was even more successful than the first, spending six weeks at No. 1 and becoming the best-selling single of 1994. It was also a major hit internationally, peaking at No. 2 in the UK and Sweden and at No. 1 in Germany; whilst in Australia it topped the charts for four weeks.
Recorded at the request of Clive Davis, "Don't Turn Around" was the group's next single, which had previously been released by Tina Turner as the B-side of her single "Typical Male", and had been a UK No. 1 hit for Aswad in 1988. The cover version hit the top 5 in the US, UK, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
Promotion for the album concluded with the final single release "Living in Danger", which was yet another top 40 hit internationally and was performed in front of the Brandenburg Gate at the first ever MTV Europe Music Awards in Berlin in November 1994.
The band were caught up in controversy when on 27 March 1993, the Swedish newspaper Expressen reported that Ulf had been a member of a skinhead gang in his teenage years, long prior to his association with Ace of Base. The band and Ulf himself have addressed these claims numerous times. Linn remarked in 1993: "Ulf gave all that up long ago and my family had nothing to do with any of that in the first place." In 2013, the story was revisited in a report by Vice, referring to an unauthorized CD released in 1998 called Uffe Was a Nazi!, containing songs with racist content which were claimed to have been recorded by Ulf's former band Commit Suiside. In an interview with E! Online, Ulf clarified that Commit Suiside were "a New Wave music band without any political touch or agenda" and that the racist songs on the CD were not recorded by them. He also remarked: "I have always been deeply regretful of that period in my life, as I strive to bring happiness to people, and during that period I did not live up to that standard. [...] I'm truly deeply sorry for any hurt and disappointment this has caused for our fans, and I really hope that we clearly have stated that Ace of Base never shared any of these opinions and strongly oppose all extremist opinions on both the right and left wing."
In April 1994, an obsessed German fan broke into the Berggren family home, brandishing a knife. After managing to restrain her, the band decided they needed bodyguards. Recalling the attack in a 2016 interview, Jenny said "She woke me up with a knife to my throat. She broke into my parents’ house when I was staying there after two years away. I woke up and she was standing over me with the knife. I was terrified. That was the darker side of fame. I remember just after I was attacked I found out that we were Number 1 in the United States. All I could think was that I almost got killed. Everyone was like, 'wow, let’s have a huge party'. I didn’t want a party. I was broken."
1995–1997: The Bridge
Following the substantial success of the first album, the group were offered the chance to perform at Madison Square Garden in New York, and were asked to front brands such as Pepsi and Reebok in promotional campaigns, but after two years of travelling around the world to promote the first album, the band were too exhausted and declined all offers. Simultaneously, their various record companies around the world were demanding a second album promptly. To hasten the process, instead of Jonas and Ulf writing most of the album, each member was encouraged to submit their own tracks for consideration.
In the end, 17 tracks were chosen for the second album, titled The Bridge. It marked a considerable change of direction in sound; alongside the reggae and dance sounds that had made the group so popular were more experimental tracks and several ballads. The lead single, "Lucky Love", however, was a mainstream pop record, and was premiered in August 1995 at the World Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg. It debuted at No. 1 in Sweden upon release in October, becoming their first chart-topper in their homeland. It was also a top 20 hit across Europe, peaking at No. 1 in Finland, No. 2 in Denmark, No. 13 in Germany and No. 20 in the United Kingdom.
Arista Records instead opted for the more up-tempo track "Beautiful Life" as the first single in the US, where it peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first American hit for its co-producer Max Martin, who would go on to become one of the world's most in-demand songwriters and producers. It was released as the second single from the album in most countries, also reaching No. 15 in the UK and charting in at least 17 countries. An alternative acoustic mix of "Lucky Love" was chosen as the second U.S. single, peaking at No. 30.
The Bridge was certified platinum in 14 countries, but did not match the sales of the group's first album. "Never Gonna Say I'm Sorry" was released as the third single from the album and achieved moderate success in Europe, but failed to chart on the Hot 100 in the USA. In February 1996, the band performed at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival in Chile, topping the bill alongside 2 Unlimited.
After touring Asia and Australasia in April 1996, the group temporarily retreated from the limelight, scrapping plans to release either "My Déjà Vu" or "Edge Of Heaven" as a single, and emerging only in 1997 for an April performance at the World Music Awards, and at a July concert celebrating the 20th birthday of Princess Victoria of Sweden.
1998–1999: Flowers / Cruel Summer
Having felt rushed to record a second album, the group were given as much time as they need to produce their third, with much of it being recorded in Jonas's own studio, "The Barn". Declaring it their best album yet, the group titled it Flowers because they believed that the songs, wildly different in style, including Motown and gospel influences, resembled a varied bouquet of flowers. Fans were surprised to see that singer Linn had relinquished lead vocal duties to sister Jenny, and on many promotional photos, Linn's face was blurred. They were reassured that Linn was happy with her new backing role in the group, and many reasons were given for her decision, including her having damaged her voice, her aerophobia deterring her from international travel and her dislike of fame.
The album's lead single "Life Is a Flower" was released in mainland Europe in April 1998, and became the most-played track on European radio of the year. It reached the top 5 in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Hungary and in the UK, where it was certified silver. The album followed in June, hitting the top 20 in at least a dozen countries.
The group's British label London Records had requested the band record the 1983 hit "Cruel Summer", by Bananarama and it was selected as the second European single. Deciding that "Life Is a Flower" was "too European in nature", Clive Davis pushed "Cruel Summer" as the lead single for the United States, and it brought Ace of Base back into the U.S. Top 10 for the first time in four years, being certified gold. The album was also renamed Cruel Summer and featured a different track list from the European release. For this version of the album, Davis persuaded a reluctant Linn to record the Billy Steinberg-penned ballad "Everytime It Rains".
"Life Is a Flower" was re-recorded as "Whenever You're Near Me" and chosen as the second single from Cruel Summer, peaking at No. 76. "Travel to Romantis" and "Always Have, Always Will" were further singles in Europe whilst "Everytime It Rains" was issued as a single in the UK along with a repackaged edition of Flowers.
1999–2000: Singles of the 90s and Greatest Hits
The group went back into the studio in 1999, writing several tracks together as a quartet for the first time, and recording enough demo tracks for consideration for a fourth studio album. Ulf from the group later revealed that they had hoped to release a track called "Pole Position" as the lead single, with a music video that would have featured the Formula One champion driver Jacques Villeneuve. Several of the tracks recorded for the scrapped studio album were eventually released in demo form by Jonas via Facebook in 2011.
In November 1999, Mega Records released the best-of album Singles of the 90s, a compilation of 16 hit singles. A new single taken from it, "C'est La Vie (Always 21)", was a modest chart hit in Sweden, Finland, Germany and Switzerland, and topped the charts in Spain. "Hallo Hallo" followed as the second single in parts of Europe, but only found minor success.
Arista Records fulfilled the group's four-album contract in the Americas by releasing Greatest Hits in March 2000. A new dance mix of "Everytime It Rains", previously included on Cruel Summer, was released as a radio single to promote the album. Both the single and album failed to chart in the USA.
2002–2003: Da Capo
Following a long time away from the pop scene, a new single called "Beautiful Morning" was serviced to radio in Europe in July 2002. Polydor Records reported that it was their fastest-added track to radio playlists of the year, and it went on peak at No. 38 in Germany and No. 14 in Sweden upon its commercial release in September.
After several delays, Ace of Base finally released their fourth studio album, Da Capo, on September 30, 2002, in Europe, and in Japan through Toshiba EMI with a different cover and three bonus tracks. The album received only a soft release in the United Kingdom and was not released in the Americas. The title comes from the musical term da capo, which translates as "back to the beginning", chosen as the sound of the album was seen as a return to the group's early blend of reggae and europop.
Although the album charted across much of Europe, it was not as successful as previous releases. Only Jenny and Ulf went on a promotional tour of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland and Austria. Jonas chose to forego promotional activities because "it was better to be two then" and led to "less questions" about Linn's lack of participation. Linn attended only one performance in Germany, which was her last public appearance.
"The Juvenile" was selected as the album's second single in Germany, and was used for a Christmas campaign by TV channel RTL. The song was a re-written version of a track originally submitted for the James Bond movie GoldenEye in 1995. However, Clive Davis persuaded the band that it was not the best move for the band at the time so they withdrew it from consideration. In Scandinavia, Edel-Mega released "Unspeakable" as the second single, but its poor chart performance ended the promotion of the album prematurely.
2003–2006: Hiatus
The group remained out of the spotlight throughout 2003 and 2004. During this time, Jenny performed solo live performances in several Christian shows with her husband Jakob Petrén and released an album as a vocalist with the Swedish group Arose.
In 2005, a handful of songs featuring vocals by both Jenny and Linn were recorded with producer Tommy Ekman, including "Would You Believe" and "Make My Day". Jonas and Ulf later explained that the group did not have the energy to finish the project, though the tracks that were recorded eventually surfaced.
At the end of 2005, the group reunited, without Linn, for several live performances at the Night of the Proms in Belgium, alongside other artists such as Donna Summer.
2007–2009: Reunion
Ace of Base reunited as a trio to perform their first full-length concert since 1996 in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on November 15, 2007. They embarked on a world tour called Ace Of Base - Redefined!, which continued throughout 2008 and 2009. The set list included several new versions of their greatest hits. Jenny confirmed Linn's permanent departure from the group, saying "She hasn't been part of Ace of Base for several years" in Se & Hør Magazine. Ulf later explained in an interview "She left the band and we promised her to never even ask to come back. She's done with entertainment industry. It's understandable. It's brutal from the inside, it was not for her. She has no craving to be famous, she loved her fans, but the fame factor was not for her." While touring, the group performed a brand new song called "Sparks From A Fire".
The group teamed up with Jenny's husband Jakob to record material for a new studio album, which would consist of seven new songs and seven remakes of old hits. However, this album did not see a release and a new compilation, Greatest Hits, was released on November 12, 2008, instead.
Five re-recorded songs were released from the album in various forms: "Lucky Love 2009", "Don't Turn Around 2009", "The Sign (Freedom Bunch Mix)" and "Wheel of Fortune 2009", which was released worldwide on October 24, 2008, as a digital single. A fifth reworking, "Happy Nation 2009", was released separately as a remix kit. A remake of "All That She Wants" was also recorded and featured guest vocals by Britney Spears that stemmed from her own 2007 cover of the song. This remake was never officially released, but leaked online in June 2016.
Three of the new tracks recorded in this period ("Sparks From A Fire", "The Mask" and "Wish You Were Mine") were eventually leaked on YouTube in 2017.
2009–2012: New members, The Golden Ratio, and Ace Thursdays
In August 2009, in an interview with Digital Spy, Ulf mentioned adding another singer to the group alongside Jenny, explaining: "We're just deciding now whether to add a fourth member to the group again or to bring it out under a new name. At the moment we think it would be stronger with two female singers, so it's a little technical problem to solve." During this time, Ulf and Jonas began recording songs with singer Julia Williamson, whom they met through Martin Dodd, who had originally signed the group to Mega Records. Meanwhile, a new remix of "Cruel Summer" by Rico Bernasconi charted at No. 69 in Germany.
Jenny published her autobiography Vinna hela Världen in Sweden in September and announced that she was recording a solo album, which materialized in October 2010 as My Story. In November 2009, Jenny confirmed via Twitter that she would not be involved with the upcoming album, but later clarified that she had not left, saying that "other constellations will have other names".
Two new singers were officially revealed in February 2010 as Clara Hagman, a contestant from Idol 2009, who Ulf met whilst appearing as a guest judge on the show, and Julia Williamson. Jonas explained that "We will reform how we write the band name so that all old Acers can see the difference and don't have to be in panic.", with Jenny commenting in April, "You are wrong about me leaving Ace of Base. I just want to make everybody sure I have not left the group. Ace of Base is still the original members. We are bounded by law and by heart."
In a later interview with Aftonbladet, Jenny claimed "They didn't want to be with me", and that she was not allowed to participate in songwriting. Jonas and Ulf then said in an interview with Scandipop that Jenny wasn't happy with plans to introduce a new member, and while she never formally quit the group, they felt that they had no choice but to proceed without her.
The new quartet maintained the original band name, but it was stylized as "Ace.of.Base" on the artwork of single and album releases. In July 2010, a track called "Mr. Replay" appeared on a Polish promo compilation for DJs, becoming the first release from the new line-up. The first official single from the line-up, "All for You", was premiered on radio station Antenne AC on July 22, and was released on CD and download on September 10, debuting at No. 38 in Germany.
The album The Golden Ratio followed on September 24, entering the German album charts at No. 20. In Sweden, the album failed to chart, backed only by a radio release of the album's title track "The Golden Ratio" in October, followed by a performance of "Southern California" on Bingolotto in April 2011. An acoustic version of the album was being considered but never materialized. No further singles were released in support of the album.
In March 2011, Jonas began releasing previously unreleased material to fans via the band's official Facebook page and the website ReverbNation on a semi-regular basis, in events they referred to as "Ace Thursdays". Writing sessions for new material took place throughout the same year, though following the group's tour of Canada and Brazil in 2011, new music was put on hold.
2012–present: Departures, Hidden Gems and 30th anniversary
Ace Thursdays continued throughout 2012, but were discontinued in May 2013. In November 2012, Jenny was quoted as saying, "The rest of the band are doing other things. ... We're just wishing each other luck at this stage. I have a dream that we'll get back together, so I don't want to bang anyone on the head". Jenny began touring as "Jenny from Ace of Base" alongside popular Eurodance acts from the decade.
In January 2014, Julia announced on her official Facebook page that she had left the group in 2012. She later confirmed that Clara had also left, saying on her Facebook page, "I never really left the group, one day I just didn't hear anything from them and it's the same with Clara. Like it went up in smoke; really strange". Clara has since gone to release a number of solo singles, and has collaborated with various EDM producers such as KREAM and R3hab.
A remix EP was released in July 2014, featuring new remixes of "All That She Wants". On September 27, Jonas announced that members were filming a documentary chronicling the production of "All That She Wants" at Google headquarters. The documentary was aired on the Swedish channel SVT as part of the Hitlåtens Historia series on March 18, 2015.
In December 2014 and January 2015, remastered versions of their first four studio albums, in both European and American editions, were released digitally. This was followed in March by Hidden Gems, a compilation album consisting entirely of demos and b-sides. "Would You Believe", one of the last tracks recorded by the original quartet in 2005, was released as a promotional single.
In a 2015 interview with ABC News, Ulf said of a future reunion, "With the right elements in the next few years, I don't think it's impossible"; however, in July 2016, Jenny remarked: "We won't re-form. [...] We're finished working together but we're not finished being family together. We have a lot of fun plans in the future but no musical plans". In 2018, Jonas said a potential reunion had been discussed, but noted "We always got the same question "where is Malin?". I am still writing music, maybe one song each fortnight or something. It's a lot of fun, like therapy. And maybe if we do a reunion... I have songs for it!"
In 2019, Demon Music Group began releasing new compilations of the band's material in the United Kingdom. The first of these releases was Ace Of Base – Gold, which charted at No. 59 in the UK, marking the group's first return to the UK charts in 20 years. To mark the group's 30th anniversary, a 12-disc box set called All That She Wants: The Classic Collection was released in July 2020. The set includes deluxe versions of the group's original four studio albums, an expanded 46-track edition of Hidden Gems, a new EP containing previously unreleased remixes of "Edge Of Heaven", and a DVD containing all of the group's music videos. Included among the 195 tracks are previously unreleased demos from the original line-up's final recording sessions in 2008 and live recordings of the group's first gig at Bältespännarparken in 1990. A coloured vinyl box set was also released which only includes the four studio albums.
In 2020, Playground Records began releasing standalone digital singles which feature new remixes of the group's tracks. In November 2021, a remix EP was released for the album track "Dancer in a Daydream" which first appeared on Happy Nation in 1992. The EP features remixes by producer Trace Adam and was released alongside a new video with previously unseen footage.
Legacy
A number of musicians and singers have been influenced by Ace of Base. Lady Gaga has said her album The Fame Monster was influenced by the "super pop melodies of the 90s" by acts such as Ace of Base. The song "Alejandro" in particular has been heavily compared to Ace of Base's version of "Don't Turn Around"; Paul Lester from BBC commented that "[Alejandro] moves at an Ace of Base pace", and Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine described the song as a homage to them; The song "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" from The Fame has also been linked to the band; Alexis Petridis from The Guardian noted that the song "is the first song in a long time that warrants comparison to the œuvre of Ace of Base".
Katy Perry said she wanted her third studio album, Teenage Dream, to sound like "The Sign"; "It's what I said I wanted earlier", she told MTV; "We nailed it: It's roller-skating! It's '90s! It's Ace of Base! It's Cyndi Lauper! It's like all these colors and more".
Swedish artist Robyn said she was inspired by Ace of Base for her song "Dancehall Queen", which was produced by Diplo and Klas Åhlund for her fifth studio album Body Talk Pt. 1. "We were just having fun with that kind of genre music. And the idea of making this song came out of that discussion. It was fun. We really connected on something where music that you might put in one box becomes something else, depending on how you look at it".
Some of the British group Clean Bandit's tracks have been compared to the band, notably their 2016 UK No. 1 single "Rockabye". Band members Grace and Luke have named them as an influence in interviews.
American alternative rock artist Beck had plans to cover an Ace of Base album as part of his Record Club project in 2009; however, this never came to fruition. Tegan and Sara's song "Closer" was inspired by the band's music. Robert Alfons of Canadian synthpop group Trust once said "the synthesisers they used were of great influence on me... [their] first two albums [in particular]", whilst rock band Yeasayer and new wave artist Twin Shadow have both also cited Ace of Base as an influence.
The 2019 single "Liar", by Cuban pop singer Camila Cabello, interpolates the melody of "All That She Wants".
Awards and nominations
1992 MTA – Best Pop Act (nominee)
1992 MTA – Best New Act (nominee)
1993 Swedish Grammis – Best Pop Group
1993 Swedish Grammis – TV audience price
1993 Bronze BRAVO Otto (Germany) – Best rock/pop Group
1993 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Breakthrough Artist
1994 MTV Europe Music Awards – Best Cover (Nominee)
1994 American Music Award – Favorite Band, Duo or Group – Pop / Rock
1994 American Music Award – Favorite New Artist – Pop / Rock
1994 Billboard Music Award – Number One Single
1994 Billboard Music Award – Top New Artist
1994 Billboard Music Award – Artist of the Year
1994 Peleg Music Award of Excellence – Best New Artist
1994 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1994 Echo (Germany) – Group of the Year
1994 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Artist
1994 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Album (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best Pop Album for The Sign (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best New Artist (nominee)
1995 Grammy Awards – Best Vocal Performance By a Group or Duo for The Sign (nominee)
1995 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1995 Juno Awards – International Album of the Year for The Sign (nominee)
1995 Swedish Dance Music Awards - Best Swedish Dance Artist (nominee)
1996 European Award For Dance Music
1996 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1997 World Music Award – World's Best-Selling Scandinavian Recording Artists of the Year
1998 Midem Fono Award – Most Played Song of the Year – Life Is a Flower
1999 RSH Gold
2007 BMI Award for over 3 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
2011 Scandipop Award – Best group album
2016 BMI Award for over 4 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
2021 BMI Award for over 5 million performances of The Sign on US TV and radio
Discography
Studio albums
Happy Nation / The Sign (1992/1993)
The Bridge (1995)
Flowers / Cruel Summer (1998)
Da Capo (2002)
The Golden Ratio (2010)
See also
Swedish pop music
References
External links
Arista Records artists
English-language singers from Sweden
Europop groups
Musical groups established in 1990
Musical groups from Gothenburg
Swedish co-ed groups
Swedish Eurodance groups
Swedish pop music groups
Sibling musical groups
World Music Awards winners
1990 establishments in Sweden | 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"
]
|
[
"The Cult",
"Ceremony and the lawsuit (1991-1994)"
]
| C_66bf99c1483943608bfaa88bd0e08d05_1 | what was the cult lawsuit? | 1 | What was the band The Cult's lawsuit? | The Cult | In 1991, Astbury and Duffy were writing again for their next album. During the demo recordings, Todd Hoffman and James Kottak played bass and drums respectively. During the actual album recording sessions, Curry was recruited again to play drums, with Charley Drayton on bass, and various other performers. Astbury and Duffy's working relationship had disintegrated by that time, with the two men reportedly rarely even being in the studio together during recording. The resulting album Ceremony was released to mixed responses. The album climbed to US No. 34, but sales were not as impressive as the previous three records, only selling around one million copies worldwide. Only two official singles were released from the record: "Wild Hearted Son" (UK No. 34, Canada No. 41) and "Heart of Soul" (UK No. 50), although "White" was released as a single only in Canada, "Sweet Salvation" was released as a single (as "Dulce Salvacion") in Argentina in 1992, and the title track "Ceremony" was released in Spain. The Cult's Ceremonial Stomp tour went through Europe in 1991 and North America in 1992. In 1991 the Cult played a show at the Marquee Club in London, which was recorded and released in February 1993, packaged with some vinyl UK copies of their first greatest hits release. Only a handful of CD copies of it were ever manufactured originally, however it was subsequently reissued on CD in 1999. An incomplete bootleg video of this show is also in circulation. The band were sued by the parents of the Native American boy pictured on the cover of Ceremony, for alleged exploitation and for the unauthorized use of the child's image. This image of the boy is also burned in the video for "Wild Hearted Son". This lawsuit delayed the release of Ceremony in many countries including South Korea and Thailand, which did not see the record's release until late 1992, and it was unreleased in Turkey until the Cult played several shows in Istanbul in June 1993. A world tour followed with backing from future Thin Lizzy drummer Michael Lee and bassist Kinley Wolfe, and keyboardist John Sinclair returning one last time, and the Gathering of the Tribes moved to the UK. Here artists such as Pearl Jam performed. The warm-up gig to the show, in a small nightclub, was dedicated to the memory of Nigel Preston, who had died a few weeks earlier at the age of 31. Following the release of the single "The Witch" (#9 in Australia) and the performance of a song for the 1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie soundtrack entitled "Zap City", produced by Steve Brown and originally a B-side to "Lil' Devil", two volumes of remixes of "She Sells Sanctuary", called Sanctuary Mixes MCMXCIII, volumes one and two, and in support of Pure Cult: for Rockers, Ravers, Lovers, and Sinners, a greatest hits compilation which debuted at No. 1 on the British charts and later went to number one in Portugal, Astbury and Duffy fired the "backing band" and recruited Craig Adams (the Mission) and Scott Garrett for performances across Europe in 1993, with some shows featuring Mike Dimkich on rhythm guitar. This tour marked the first time the band performed in Turkey, Greece, and the Slovak Republic. CANNOTANSWER | The band were sued by the parents of the Native American boy pictured on the cover of Ceremony, | The Cult are an English rock band formed in 1983 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead singer Ian Astbury's previous band Southern Death Cult. They gained a dedicated following in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s as a post-punk/gothic rock band, with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking into the mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s establishing themselves as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love Removal Machine". Since its initial formation in 1983, the band have had various line-ups; the longest-serving members are Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, who are also the band's two songwriters.
The Cult's debut studio album Dreamtime was released in 1984 to moderate success, with its lead single "Spiritwalker" reaching No. 1 on the UK Indie Chart. Their second studio album, Love (1985), was even more successful, charting at No. 4 in the UK and including singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Rain". The band's third album, Electric (1987), launched them new heights of success, also peaking at No. 4 in the UK and charting highly in other territories, and spawned the hit singles "Love Removal Machine", "Lil' Devil" and "Wild Flower". On that album, The Cult supplemented their post-punk sound with hard rock; the polish on this new sound was facilitated by producer Rick Rubin. After moving to Los Angeles, California, where the band has been based for the remainder of their career, The Cult continued the musical experimentation of Electric with its follow-up album Sonic Temple (1989), which marked their first collaboration with Bob Rock, who would produce several of the band's subsequent albums. Sonic Temple was their most successful album to that point, entering the Top 10 on the UK and US charts, and included one of the band's most popular songs "Fire Woman".
By the time of their fifth album Ceremony (1991), tensions and creative differences began to surface among the band members. This resulted in the recording sessions for Ceremony being held without a stable lineup, leaving Astbury and Duffy as the only two official members left, and featuring support from session musicians on bass and drums. The ongoing tension had carried over within the next four years, during which they released one more studio album, The Cult (1994), and called it quits in 1995. The Cult reformed in 1999 and released their seventh album Beyond Good and Evil two years later. The commercial failure of the album and resurfaced tensions led to the band going back on hiatus in 2002. They resumed activity in 2006, and have since released three more studio albums: Born into This (2007), Choice of Weapon (2012), and Hidden City (2016).
History
Early history (1981–1984)
The band's origins can be traced to 1981, in Bradford, Yorkshire, where vocalist and songwriter Ian Astbury formed a band called Southern Death Cult. The name was chosen with a double meaning, and was derived from the 14th-century Native American religion, the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex or Southern Death Cult as it was sometimes known, from the Mississippi delta area, but it was also a stab at what the band viewed was the centralisation of power in Southern England (including that of the music industry); there has long been a perceived notion of a North–South divide based on social, historic and economic reasons. Astbury was joined by Buzz Burrows (guitar), Barry Jepson (bass) and Aki Nawaz Qureshi (drums); they performed their first show at the Queen's Hall in their hometown of Bradford on 29 October 1981. The band were at the forefront of an emerging style of music, in the form of post-punk and gothic rock, they achieved critical acclaim from the press and music fans.
The band signed to independent record label Situation Two, an offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records, and released a three-track, triple A-side single, Moya, during this period. They toured through England headlining some shows and touring with Bauhaus and Theatre of Hate. The band played their final performance in Manchester during February 1983, meaning after only sixteen months the band was over. A compilation named The Southern Death Cult was released, this being a collection of the single, radio sessions with John Peel for Radio One and live performances - one of which an audience member recorded with a tape recorder.
In April 1983, Astbury teamed up with guitarist Billy Duffy and formed the band "Death Cult". Duffy had been in the Nosebleeds (along with Morrissey), Lonesome No More and then Theatre of Hate. In addition to Astbury and Duffy, the band also included Jamie Stewart (bass) and Raymond Taylor Smith (later known as Ray Mondo) (drums), both from the Harrow, London based post-punk band, Ritual. Death Cult made their live debut in Oslo, Norway on 25 July 1983 and also released the Death Cult EP in the same month, then toured through mainland Europe and Scotland. In September 1983, Mondo was deported to his home country of Sierra Leone and replaced by Nigel Preston, formerly of Theatre of Hate. The single "Gods Zoo" was released in October 1983. Another European tour, with UK dates, followed that autumn. To tone down their name's gothic connotations and gain broader appeal, the band changed its name to "the Cult" in January 1984 before appearing on the (UK) Channel 4 television show, The Tube.
The Cult's first studio record, Dreamtime, was recorded at Rockfield Studios, in Monmouth, Wales in 1984. The record was to be produced by Joe Julian, but after recording the drum tracks, the band decided to replace him with John Brand. Brand produced the record, but guitarist Duffy has said the drum tracks were produced by Julian, as Preston had become unreliable.
The band recorded the songs which later became known as "Butterflies", "(The) Gimmick", "A Flower in the Desert", "Horse Nation", "Spiritwalker", "Bad Medicine (Waltz)", "Dreamtime", "With Love" (later known as "Ship of Fools", and also "Sea and Sky"), "Bone Bag", "Too Young", "83rd Dream", and one untitled outtake. It is unknown what the outtake was, or whether it was developed into a song at a later date. Songs like "Horse Nation" showed Astbury's intense interest in Native American issues, with the lyrics to "Horse Nation", "See them prancing, they come neighing, to a horse nation", taken almost verbatim from the book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, while "Spiritwalker" dealt with shamanism, and the record's title and title track are overtly influenced by Australian Aboriginal beliefs.
On 4 April 1984, the Cult released the single "Spiritwalker", which reached No. 1 on the independent charts in the UK, and acted as a teaser for their forthcoming album Dreamtime. This was followed that summer by a second single, "Go West (Crazy Spinning Circles)", before the release of Dreamtime in September; the album reached No. 21 in the UK, and sold over 100,000 copies in the UK alone. On 12 July 1984, the band recorded five songs at the BBC Maida Vale 5 studio for a Richard Skinner session. Before and after the album's release, the Cult toured throughout Europe and England before recording another single, "Ressurection Joe" (UK No. 74), released that December. Following a Christmas support slot with Big Country, the Cult toured Europe with support from the Mission (then called the Sisterhood). Dreamtime was released initially only in the UK, but after its success, and as the Cult's popularity grew worldwide, it was issued in approximately 30 countries.
Mainstream success (1985–1990)
In May 1985, the Cult released their fourth single, "She Sells Sanctuary", which peaked at No. 15 in the UK and spent 23 weeks in the Top 100. The song was recently voted No. 18 in VH1's Indie 100. In June 1985, following his increasingly erratic behaviour, Preston was fired from the band. Big Country's drummer Mark Brzezicki was picked to replace Preston, and was also included in the video for "She Sells Sanctuary". The Cult then finished recording their second album, Love in July and August 1985. The band's music and image shifted from their punk-oriented roots to 1960s psychedelia influences. Love was a chart success, peaking at No. 4 in the UK and selling 100,000 copies there toward a total of 500,000 copies throughout Europe, as well as 100,000 in Australia and 500,000 copies in the United States. Love reached number 20 on the charts in The Netherlands, where it remained for 32 weeks. To date, the record has sold over two and a half million copies worldwide.
From late September 1985 to June 1986, the band went on a worldwide tour with new drummer Les Warner (who had played with Julian Lennon and Johnny Thunders). Two more singles from the Love album followed; "Rain" (charting in the UK at No. 17) and "Revolution" (charting in the UK at No. 30). Neither charted in the US. Another single, "Nirvana", was issued only in Poland. The album version of "Rain", as well as the remix "(Here Comes the) Rain", were used in the Italian horror film Dèmoni 2. Once back in England, the band booked themselves into the Manor Studios in Oxfordshire, with producer Steve Brown (who had produced Love), and recorded over a dozen new songs. The band were unhappy with the sound of their new album, titled Peace, and they decided to go to New York so producer Rick Rubin could remix the first single, "Love Removal Machine".
Rubin agreed to work with the band, but only if they rerecorded the song. Rubin eventually talked them into rerecording the entire album. The band's record company, Beggars Banquet, was displeased with this, as two months and £250,000 had already been spent on the record. However, after hearing the initial New York recording, Beggars Banquet agreed to proceed. The first single, "Love Removal Machine", was released in February 1987, and the new version of the album appeared in April that year, now renamed as Electric, reaching No. 4 and eventually outselling Love. The band toured with Kid Chaos (also known as "Haggis" and "The Kid") on bass, with Stewart on rhythm guitar. Two more singles, "Lil Devil" and "Wild Flower", were released during 1987. A few tracks from the original Peace album appeared on the single versions of "Love Removal Machine", and "Lil Devil". The full Peace album would not be released until 2000, when it was included as Disc 3 of the Rare Cult box set.
In the US, the Cult, now consisting of Astbury, Duffy, Stewart, Warner and Kid Chaos, were supported by the then-unknown Guns N' Roses. The band also appeared at Roskilde Festival in Denmark in June 1987. When the world tour wound through Australia, the band wrecked £30,000 worth of equipment, and as a result they could not tour Japan, as no company would rent them new equipment. At the end of the tour the Electric album had been certified Gold in the UK, and sold roughly 3 million copies worldwide, but the band were barely speaking to each other by then. Haggis left the band at the end of the Electric tour to form the Four Horsemen for Rubin's Def American label. Astbury and Duffy fired Warner and their management team Grant/Edwards, and moved to Los Angeles with original bassist Stewart. Warner sued the band several times for his firing, as well as for what he felt were unpaid royalties due to him for his performance on the Electric album, resulting in lengthy court battles. The Cult signed a new management deal and wrote 21 new songs for their next record.
For the next album, Stewart returned to playing bass, and John Webster was brought in to play keyboards. The band used Chris Taylor to play drums during rehearsals and record the demos, with future Kiss drummer Eric Singer performing during the second demo recording sessions. The Cult eventually recruited session-drummer Mickey Curry to fill the drumming role and Aerosmith sound engineer, Bob Rock, to produce. Recorded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from October to December 1988, the Sonic Temple record went Top 10 in both the UK and the US, where it was certified Gold and Platinum respectively. The band went on tour in support of the new album and new single "Fire Woman" (UK No. 15) (NZ No. 1), with yet another new drummer, Matt Sorum, and Webster as keyboard player. The next single, "Edie (Ciao Baby)" (UK No. 25) has become a regular song at concerts for many years.
In Europe, the band toured with Aerosmith, and in the US, after releasing another single "Sun King" (UK No. 42), they spent 1989 touring in support of Metallica before heading out on their own headlining tour later that same year. A fourth single, "Sweet Soul Sister" (UK No. 38), was released in February 1990, with the video having been filmed at Wembley Arena, London, on 25 November 1989. "Sweet Soul Sister" was partially written in Paris and was inspired by the bohemian lifestyle of that city. Released as a single in February 1990, the song was another hit in the UK, and reportedly reached number one on the rock charts in Brazil. After playing a show in Atlanta, Georgia, in February 1990, the band's management told Astbury that his father had just died of cancer. As a result, the remainder of the tour was cancelled after a final leg of shows were performed in April. After the tour ended, the band were on the verge of splitting due to Stewart retiring and moving to Canada to be with his wife, and Sorum leaving to join Guns N' Roses.
In 1990, Astbury organized the Gathering of the Tribes festival in Los Angeles and San Francisco with artists such as Soundgarden, Ice-T, Indigo Girls, Queen Latifah, Iggy Pop, the Charlatans, the Cramps and Public Enemy appearing. This two-day festival drew 40,000 people. Also in 1990, a ten CD box set was released in the UK, containing rare songs from the Cult's singles. The CDs in this box set were all issued as picture discs with rice paper covers, housed in a white box called "Singles Collection", or a black box called "E.P. Collection '84 - '90". In 1991, director Oliver Stone offered Astbury the role of Jim Morrison in Stone's film The Doors. He declined the role because he was not happy with the way Morrison was represented in the film, and the role was ultimately played by Val Kilmer.
Ceremony and the lawsuit (1991–1993)
In 1991, Astbury and Duffy were writing again for their next album. During the demo recordings, Todd Hoffman and James Kottak played bass and drums, respectively. During the actual album recording sessions, Curry was recruited again to play drums, with Charley Drayton on bass, and various other performers. Astbury and Duffy's working relationship had disintegrated by that time, with the two men reportedly rarely even being in the studio together during recording. The resulting album Ceremony was released to mixed responses. The album climbed to US No. 34, but sales were not as impressive as the previous three records, only selling around one million copies worldwide. Only two official singles were released from the record: "Wild Hearted Son" (UK No. 34, Canada No. 41) and "Heart of Soul" (UK No. 50), although "White" was released as a single only in Canada, "Sweet Salvation" was released as a single (as "Dulce Salvación") in Argentina in 1992, and the title track "Ceremony" was released in Spain.
The Cult's Ceremonial Stomp tour went through Europe in 1991 and North America in 1992. In 1991 the Cult played a show at the Marquee Club in London, which was recorded and released in February 1993, packaged with some vinyl UK copies of their first greatest hits release. Only a handful of CD copies of it were ever manufactured originally, however it was subsequently reissued on CD in 1999. An incomplete bootleg video of this show is also in circulation.
The band were sued by the parents of the Native American boy pictured on the cover of Ceremony, for alleged exploitation and for the unauthorized use of the child's image. The parents stated that the boy felt he had been cursed by the band's burning of his image, and was "emotionally scarred." This image of the boy is also burned in the video for "Wild Hearted Son". This lawsuit delayed the release of Ceremony in many countries including South Korea and Thailand, which did not see the record's release until late 1992, and it was unreleased in Turkey until the Cult played several shows in Istanbul in June 1993.
A world tour followed with backing from drummer Michael Lee (Page & Plant, Little Angels), bassist Kinley "Barney" Wolfe (Lord Tracy, Black Oak Arkansas), and keyboardist John Sinclair (Ozzy Osbourne, Uriah Heep) returning one last time, and the Gathering of the Tribes moved to the UK. Here artists such as Pearl Jam performed. The warm-up gig to the show, in a small nightclub, was dedicated to the memory of Nigel Preston, who had died a few weeks earlier at the age of 28. Following the release of the single "The Witch" (#9 in Australia) and the performance of a song for the 1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie soundtrack entitled "Zap City", produced by Steve Brown and originally a B-side to "Lil' Devil", two volumes of remixes of "She Sells Sanctuary", called Sanctuary Mixes MCMXCIII, volumes one and two, and in support of Pure Cult: for Rockers, Ravers, Lovers, and Sinners, a greatest hits compilation which debuted at No. 1 on the British charts and later went to number one in Portugal, Astbury and Duffy fired the "backing band" and recruited Craig Adams (the Mission) and Scott Garrett for performances across Europe in 1993, with some shows featuring Mike Dimkich on rhythm guitar. This tour marked the first time the band performed in Turkey, Greece, and the Slovak Republic.
The Cult and first breakup (1994–1998)
With the same line-up still in place, the band released The Cult in October 1994, produced by Bob Rock. The self-titled album is commonly referred to as the "Black Sheep" album by fans of the group, due to the image of a black sheep on the front cover. Astbury referred to the record as a collection of "very personal and very revealing" songs about his life, with the subject matter ranging from sexual abuse at the age of 15, to the death of Nigel Preston, to his directionless years spent in Glasgow in the late 1970s.
The record achieved little success, only reaching No. 69 in the US and No. 21 in the UK. Duffy remarked that he thought that the record wouldn't sell well due to the offensive lyrics. The record went to number one in Portugal also, but quickly dropped out of sight. The single "Coming Down (Drug Tongue)" was released with the band going on tour in support of the new album. Only one more single, "Star", was officially released with a live appearance on UK TV show The Word. "Star" began life in 1986 as "Tom Petty" and was recorded at the "Sonic Temple" demo sessions as "Starchild", being dropped by the band during rehearsals. In 1993 the song was resurrected and was finally completed for the record in 1994 as, just simply, "Star".
When the band began the Beauty's On The Streets tour in winter 1994, they augmented the line up with James Stevenson on rhythm guitar. As with the Ceremony record several years earlier, no other official singles were released, but several other songs were released on a strictly limited basis: "Sacred Life" was released in Spain and the Netherlands, "Be Free" was issued in Canada and France, "Saints Are Down" was issued in Greece, but none of the songs gained much commercial success. During this tour, the Cult made their first ever appearance in Norway.
During the Black Rain tour of South America in spring of 1995, despite the fact that several more new songs had already been recorded, the tour was cancelled after an appearance in Rio de Janeiro in March, and the band split up citing unspecified problems on a recent South American tour. Astbury started up a garage band called Holy Barbarians a few months later. The band made their debut at the 100 Club in London in February 1996 and released their first (and only) record in May 1996, and toured throughout North America and Europe for the rest of 1996. The band started writing material for a second record in 1997, but the band was dissolved and Astbury began writing and recording a solo record. Throughout 1997 and 1998 Astbury recorded his solo record, originally to be titled Natural Born Guerilla, later called High Time Amplifier. Ultimately the record remained unreleased until June 2000 when it was released under the name Spirit\Light\Speed. Astbury played one solo concert in 1999.
In November 1996, a number of CD reissues were released: the band's American record company released High Octane Cult, a slightly updated greatest hits compilation released only in the US and Japan; The Southern Death Cult, a remastered edition of the fifteen-song compilation CD; a ten-song compilation CD by Death Cult called Ghost Dance, consisting of the untitled four-song EP, the single "God's Zoo", and four unreleased songs from a radio broadcast; and a remastered repackaging of the Dreamtime album, containing only the ten original songs from the record in their original playing order and almost completely different but original artwork. Dreamtime Live at the Lyceum was also remastered and issued on video and for the first time on CD, with the one unreleased song from the concert, "Gimmick".
First reunion, Beyond Good and Evil and second hiatus (1999–2005)
In 1999, Astbury and Duffy reformed the Cult with Matt Sorum and ex-Porno for Pyros bassist Martyn LeNoble. Their first official concert was at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in June 1999, after having rehearsed at shows in the Los Angeles area. The band's 1999 Cult Rising reunion tour resulted in a sold out 30 date tour of the US, ending with 8 consecutive sold out nights at the LA House of Blues. In 2000, the band toured South Africa for the first time, and North and South America, and contributed the song "Painted on My Heart" to the soundtrack of the movie Gone In 60 Seconds. The song was featured prominently and the melody was fused into parts of the score. In June, Astbury's long-delayed solo record was finally released as Spirit\Light\Speed, but it failed to gain much success. In November 2000, another authorised greatest hits compilation was released, Pure Cult: The Singles 1984–1995, along with an accompanying DVD, which was later certified gold in Canada. The Cult, as well as Ian Astbury, performed on separate tracks on the Doors tribute album, Stoned Immaculate: The Music of The Doors, covering "Wild Child" and "Touch Me".
In November 2000, Beggars Banquet released 15,000 copies of a six-disc boxset (with a bonus seventh disc of remixes for the first 5000 copies) titled Rare Cult. The box set consists of album out-takes, demos, radio broadcasts, and album B-sides. It is most notable for including the previously unreleased "Peace" album in its entirety. In 2001, the band signed to Atlantic Records and recorded a new album, Beyond Good and Evil, originally being produced by Mick Jones of Foreigner, until Jones bowed out to tour with Foreigner. Astbury and Duffy co-wrote a song with Jones, an odd occurrence, as in the past, neither Astbury or Duffy would co-write their material. Bob Rock was the producer, with Martyn LeNoble and Chris Wyse as recording bassists, as Mike Dimkich played rhythm guitar on tour, and Matt Sorum returning as drummer. Although Sorum has previously toured with the band on the Sonic Temple tour in 1989, this was the first time that he had recorded a studio album with the band.
However Beyond Good and Evil was not the comeback record the band had hoped for. Despite reaching No. 37 in the US, No. 22 in Canada, and No. 25 in Spain, sales quickly dropped, only selling roughly 500,000 copies worldwide. The first single "Rise", reached No. 41 in the US, and No. 2 on the mainstream rock charts, but Atlantic Records quickly pulled the song from radio playlists. Astbury would later describe the experience with Atlantic to be "soul destroying", after Atlantic tried to tamper with the lyrics, the record cover, and choice of singles from the record.
After the first single from the record, the band's working relationship with Atlantic was on paper only, with Atlantic pulling "Rise" from the radio stations playlists, and stopping all promotion of the record. The second single "Breathe" was only released as a radio station promo, and the final single "True Believers" was only on a compilation sampler disc released in January 2002 (after the Cult's tour had already ended). Despite "True Believers" receiving radio airplay in Australia, both singles went largely unnoticed, and both Astbury and Duffy walked away from the project. LeNoble rejoined the band for the initial dates in early 2001, and Billy Morrison filled in on bass for the majority of the 2001 tour.
The European tour of 2001 was canceled, largely due to security concerns after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the band flew back to the US to tour again with Aerosmith. But the eleven-week tour was considered by fans to be a disaster, as the band played only a brief rundown of their greatest hits. In October 2001, a show at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles was filmed for release on DVD. After the tour ended in December 2001, the band took most of 2002 off, apart from a few shows in the US to promote the release of the DVD, with Scott Garrett and Craig Adams rejoining the band.
Despite the commercial disappointment of Beyond Good and Evil and the supporting tour, the band was voted "Comeback of the Year" by Metal Edge readers in the magazine's 2001 Readers' Choice Awards.
In late 2002, Ian Astbury declared the Cult to be "on ice" indefinitely, after performing a brief series of dates in October 2002 to promote the release of the Music Without Fear DVD. During this second hiatus, Astbury performed as a member of the Doors (later dubbed the Doors of the 21st Century, later still renamed D21c, and most recently known as Riders on the Storm) with two of the original members of that group. D21c was sued numerous times, both by Jim Morrison's family and by drummer John Densmore. Astbury supposedly started work on recording another solo album that later became the backbone for the Cult's Born into This.
At the same time, Duffy was part of Coloursound with bassist Craig Adams and ex-Alarm frontman Mike Peters, then Dead Men Walking (again with Peters) and later Cardboard Vampyres. Sorum became a member of the hard rock supergroup Velvet Revolver. In 2003, all of the Cult's records were issued on CD, with several bonus tracks being issued on the Russian, Belarusian, and Lithuanian versions. These eastern European releases had many printing mistakes on the jacket sleeves and lyric inserts. In October 2004, all of the Cult's records were again remastered and issued again on CD, this time in Japan in different cardboard foldout sleeves. "She Sells Sanctuary" appeared in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, playing on rock station V-Rock.
Second reunion, Born Into This and Capsule EPs (2006–2010)
Despite Astbury's previous statement from 2004 that a reunion would not happen, The Cult announced in January 2006 that they were reuniting for "some limited gigs" throughout the year. A month later, the band made their first live appearance in three-and-a-half years on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Their lineup consisted of Astbury (vocals), Duffy (lead guitar), John Tempesta (drums), Dimkich (rhythm guitar) and Wyse (returning as bassist). Their first stage show was held in March 2006 in San Francisco, California, at The Fillmore. The entire tour was recorded by Instant Live and sold after each show. In May, they did an eight date tour in Canada. Later that summer, they toured central and eastern Europe and played their first concerts in Bulgaria, Poland and Serbia. An eleven-date UK tour followed as well as several more dates in the United States, finishing with a South American tour in December. That year, Duffy began the band Circus Diablo with Billy Morrison, Sorum, Brett Scallions and Ricky Warwick.
During these tours, the band occasionally played an extended set, including several songs the band had not performed in decades: "King Contrary Man" and "Hollow Man", neither of which had been performed since 1987; also, "Libertine" was performed approximately three times, for the first time since 2000, and "Brother Wolf, Sister Moon", which was only performed one time since 1986 (for this particular song, the band played an abridged version which has never been performed before or since)
Astbury announced in February 2007 that he was leaving Riders on the Storm and returning to the Cult. He stated: "I have decided to move on and focus on my own music and legacy." The Cult was featured on Stuffmagazine.com's list of ultimate air guitar players. On 21 March 2007, it was announced that the band would be touring Europe with the Who. The first confirmed tour date was in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in early June, with at least a dozen shows set to follow. The band played a gig in London's West End at the CC Club on 7 June 2007, along with nearly two dozen shows across continental Europe during summer. The tour also includes the first performance in Romania and Croatia.
On 29 May 2007, the band signed a deal with major metal label Roadrunner Records. Their 8th studio album, titled Born into This was released on 16 October, and was produced by Martin "Youth" Glover, bass player for Killing Joke. Born into This was released as regular single disc and limited edition double disc, the second disk being a bonus 5-track CD holding the following tracks: "Stand Alone", "War Pony Destroyer", "I Assassin (Demo)", "Sound of Destruction (Demo)" and "Savages (Extended Version)". Prior to the album's release, the band played festival and headline dates, and supported the Who in Europe through summer 2007, with a US headline tour to follow.
The band's appearance at Irving Plaza in New York City in early November 2006 was filmed and was released in 2007. The Cult New York City, issued by Fontana North and is the Cult's first high definition DVD release. Meanwhile, Astbury lent vocals on two tracks of the 2007 Unkle album "War Stories", one of them being the first single from the album, "Burn My Shadow".
The band performed a UK and European tour in late-February and early-March 2008. On 24 March, they began their North American tour including a major 13-city tour in Canada. During September 2008, the Cult did a brief series of dates in the northeast United States, and they toured in Brazil as part of the South American tour in October 2008. As of May 2008, according to The Gauntlet, the Cult are currently unsigned and no longer under contract with Roadrunner Records. In October 2008, it was announced that the Cult would headline the inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Antonio, to be run 16 November 2008. The Cult announced plans for a tour showcasing their 1985 Love album across the US and then the UK in October where they will play at the Royal Albert Hall.
Coinciding with the remastered Love album and four-disc Omnibus boxed set, the Cult kicked off the long-awaited Love Live Tour in late summer. Performing their classic Love album in its entirety, each show was played with the Love tracks opening with "Nirvana" to "Black Angel". A quick intermission followed, then other Cult hits were played (varying by venue): "Sun King", "Dirty Little Rock Star", "Electric Ocean", "Illuminated". Then followed the favorites "Fire Woman", "Lil Devil", "Wild Flower", and lastly "Love Removal Machine". In the evening of 10 October 2009 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the band performed a second encore with original Cult bassist Jamie Stewart and drummer Mark Brzezicki, who played drums with the band during the Love album recording sessions in July and August 1985. The band sold Love Live USB flash drives for each show during the tour.
The Cult entered 2010 continuing their Love Live Tour and announcing more dates in the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan. The band finished recording a four-track "Capsule" with producer Chris Goss. Capsule 1 was said to be the first of three or four to be released sometime in summer 2010. Release formats include CD-DVD dualdisc, 12-inch vinyl, and digital downloads. Capsule 1 was released on 14 September 2010. The band officially announced the release of its first new studio recording since 2007, "Every Man And Woman Is A Star". The new single was released through the iTunes Store on 31 July 2010.
On 1 August 2010, the band played the sold-out music festival Sonisphere, which marked their first UK performance since the tour for their Love album. During the performance they debuted their new single, "Every Man and Woman is a Star", which was released on 1 August 2010. On 14 September 2010 the band embarked on a new U.S. tour and released Capsule 1 in conjunction with media technology company Aderra Inc. and made it available in multiple formats including a CD-DVD DualDisc, USB flash drive, 12 inch vinyl, FLAC download and MP3 download. The collection includes a short film made by singer Ian Astbury and Rick Rogers.
On 26 October 2010 the band and Aderra Inc. announced the release of a new song, "Embers", for 1 November 2010 and Capsule 2 available through their web store on 16 November 2010. Pictures from the Cult's tour stop in Chicago on 28 October 2010 can be seen at a local radio station website.
On 17 September 2010, the band performed live at the Fall Frenzy concert at the Tempe Beach Park in Tempe, Arizona. Other bands that played at this concert were Stone Temple Pilots, Shinedown, and Sevendust.
On 4 December 2010, the band performed a live set for Guitar Center Sessions on DirecTV. The episode included an interview with the band by program host, Nic Harcourt.
Choice of Weapon and Hidden City (2011–2017)
During the Cult's concert at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on 21 January 2011 Ian Astbury declared that the Cult would be recording a new album directly after the tour. They also announced that they would be working with Chris Goss, who performed with Masters of Reality as a supporting act the same evening. On 11 May 2011, it was announced that the Cult were signed to Cooking Vinyl Records, who will release the new album in early 2012. Commented guitarist Billy Duffy: "We are very much looking forward to returning to our U.K. roots in many ways working with Cooking Vinyl." Vocalist Ian Astbury added, "We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with Cooking Vinyl." By May 2011, the band had been writing and recording new demos at its Witch Mountain studio hideaway in the Hollywood Hills, and began recording their new album at Hollywood Recording Studios. In October 2011, bassist Chris Wyse stated the album was almost finished and expected to be released in April 2012. Chris also described it as a "Zep/Stooges mix of energy."
On 29 November 2011, it was announced that the album would be produced by Bob Rock, who provided the same role on Sonic Temple, The Cult and Beyond Good and Evil. The album, entitled Choice of Weapon, was released on 22 May 2012. The band partnered with Rolling Stone to premiere the first song from the album titled Lucifer on 30 January. On 5 February 2012, the Cult song "She Sells Sanctuary" was used as the soundtrack for a Budweiser commercial in a mashup with Flo Rida aired during Super Bowl XLVI. In May 2012 the Cult appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and played "For The Animals".
On 28 September 2012, it was announced that the band would release Weapon of Choice, a "prequel" album to accompany the band's latest album, Choice of Weapon. The digital-only release, available exclusively on iTunes for two months only beginning 16 October, features the songs that were ultimately included in "Choice Of Weapon" at an earlier stage of development. Explaining the motivations behind the release, singer Ian Astbury said that "These songs were turned over and over, forged in long rehearsals and writing sessions, and emanated from challenges both personal and professional. We put our guts into this; [Producer Chris] Goss was able to create an environment where the songs were born through playing and turning over lyrics, through hard work and intense sessions." Astbury added "These songs have an integrity and rawness of their own. In many ways it's a different album to the one we released and reveals the foundations of 'Choice Of Weapon'. We were able to close the doors and begin to explore spaces we had not been in for a while." The song "Twisted and Bleeding" was made available for free download at the band's website ahead of the full digital release.
On 20 June 2013, the band announced the release of Electric-Peace which comprises the entire Electric album plus the Peace album which was previously released on the now discontinued Rare Cult box set in 2000. It is due for release in the US on 30 July. In 2013 Mike Dimkich left the band and joined Bad Religion to cover for guitarist Greg Hetson. James Stevenson, from the Beauty's On The Streets tour in 1994, replaced Dimkich as the Cult's rhythm guitarist.
In March 2013, Billy Duffy told the Argentinan journalist Fabrizio Pedrotti that the Cult had begun work on a new album for a 2014 release. The band were expected to begin work on the album after they finish their 2013 world tour, where they played the Electric album in its entirety. In August 2014, Billy added that the next album, which was not expected to be released before 2015 at the earliest, "will be more guitar heavy".
On 5 November 2015, it was announced that The Cult would release their new album, entitled Hidden City, on 5 February 2016. The album is said to be the final part of a trilogy that began with Born into This, and marks the fifth time Bob Rock had produced a Cult album. The band also announced that they had hired Australian-born bassist Grant Fitzpatrick (ex-Mink) as the replacement for Chris Wyse. Chris Chaney (Jane's Addiction, Camp Freddy) and producer Bob Rock performed session bass on the album. In support of Hidden City, The Cult opened for Guns N' Roses on the Not in This Lifetime... Tour.
In an October 2016 interview with PopMatters journalist J.C. Maçek III, Cult guitarist Billy Duffy spoke of the band's playlist while on tour, saying "Obviously you want to make an impactful [show]," he continues. "There are some practical, pragmatic decisions made. If you're playing to a crowd who are not very familiar with you, there's no point of going too deep but we do always make sure we play a new song. Like on Guns N' Roses' [tour] we had fifty minutes which is ten songs all in. So, you know we just made sure that in those ten songs we played 'Deeply Ordered Chaos' which we’re proud of and it makes a certain statement. And it just alerts people to the fact that, yes, we have made a record in the last 30 years. You know and that's a good thing. Psychologically, that's the blood transfusion that we need. And we're very mindful, we have a very loyal fan base. We don't pander as you well know."
Upcoming eleventh studio album (2018–present)
In an April 2018 interview with Guitar World, guitarist Billy Duffy was asked if another album from The Cult was in the works. He replied, "Never say never! Ian and I enjoy the process of making new music, and we feel it's vital to keep the band healthy, even if it's pretty much in the law of diminishing returns area now. Who knows if it will be a whole album a series of singles or an EP? I can say new Cult music will be forthcoming, but these days we don't rush it as there's no point. Quality is key. We are past the point of having to release stuff so if we feel it's good enough, then we will release it in some shape or another."
On 2 April 2018, a tour of the United States of America called "Revolution 3 Tour" was announced for the summer. They performed as one of the three headliners, along with Stone Temple Pilots and Bush.
In April 2019, The Cult announced that they would celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of their fourth album Sonic Temple with a world tour, which began on 2 May in Houston, Texas and was expected to wrap up in 2020.
In a June 2019 interview with LA Weekly, vocalist Ian Astbury stated that The Cult were "long overdue" to release new music. He was quoted as saying: "We do have some stuff we've been working on, but it's yet to see the light of day." Six months later, Astbury told Atlantic City Weekly that the band was going to start working on new music in 2020: "We've got a few pieces lying around in various stages of completion. The intention is to get together in the New Year and take a look at what we've got and decide how we are going to go about moving forward. It's an essential part of any creative lifeblood." On May 6, 2020, The Cult announced on their Twitter page that they had signed to Black Hill Records.
On August 15, 2020, Duffy announced on his Twitter that the band were recording their new album with producer Tom Dalgety at Rockfield Studios, where The Cult had recorded their debut album Dreamtime 36 years earlier.
In support of their new album, The Cult will embark on a co-headlining six-date UK tour with Alice Cooper in May and June 2022.
Influences
Duffy and Astbury cited among their influences a lot of different bands "from the Doors to Led Zeppelin. We literally went from the front of our record collections to the back. And then along the way we were drawn in by the likes of Public Image Ltd, Joy Division and Siouxsie and the Banshees. You might not hear it in the music but it's there." They also cited Bauhaus among many other post-punk influences. Duffy also praised Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers for a major performance he attended in 1977 and Siouxsie and the Banshees whom "always had great guitar players with killer riffs." Duffy also hailed AC/DC for "the power of a good three chord riff", Pete Townshend of the Who "in terms of commitment to stage performing" and Brian May of Queen for using "‘echoplex’ tape delays to orchestrate his own solo".
Musical style
According to music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the band fuse a "hardcore punk revivalist" sound with the "pseudo-mysticism ... of the Doors and Uriah Heep and the guitar-orchestrations of Led Zeppelin and The Cure ... while adding touches of post-punk goth rock". In 1985 Astbury said, "Our music is just melodies and guitars. We're like Big Country and U2, only better!".
Members
Current members
Ian Astbury – lead vocals, occasional percussion/guitar
Billy Duffy – lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals
John Tempesta – drums, percussion
Grant Fitzpatrick – bass, backing vocals
Damon Fox – keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Discography
Dreamtime (1984)
Love (1985)
Electric (1987)
Sonic Temple (1989)
Ceremony (1991)
The Cult (1994)
Beyond Good and Evil (2001)
Born into This (2007)
Choice of Weapon (2012)
Hidden City (2016)
References
External links
Official website
Billy Duffy official website
Musical groups established in 1983
Situation Two artists
Beggars Banquet Records artists
Sire Records artists
Musical groups from Bradford
English post-punk music groups
English gothic rock groups
English hard rock musical groups
English heavy metal musical groups
English glam metal musical groups | true | [
"Ross Tipon is a freelance author based in Baguio, Philippines, who formerly wrote a column for a now-defunct daily publication in Manila called Philippines Newsday.\n\nHis later works are mainly political in nature, being a critic of government corruption in the Philippines and an advocate of Philippine recolonization by the United States.\n\nIn July 2005, Tipon published a book entitled The Power and the Glory: The Cult of Manalo, which is critical of the Iglesia ni Cristo., a politically influential Philippine-based religion. The INC promptly filed a lawsuit claiming that the book was defamatory of its organization. The INC further claimed that the publication of Tipon's book will cause social unrest. For his part Tipon accused the INC of suppressing his rights to free speech.\n\nThe Power and the Glory: The Cult of Manalo catalogued what he believed to be the INC's un-biblical doctrines. Critics of the INC believe members of the INC and the public should be free to study educated criticisms directed at any doctrine of any religious group in the spirit of the free speech and religious freedom.\n\nThe eventual publication of The Power and the Glory: The Cult of Manalo has effectively challenged the limits of the INC's perceived influence among political leaders in the Philippines.\n\nExternal links \n Article about Ross Tipon Work\n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nFilipino journalists\nPeople from Baguio",
"See Sami shamanism for shamanism in northern Scandinavia, which is technically in Europe, but culturally part of the Finno-Ugric traditions of Northern Asia.\n\nThe first historian to posit the existence of European shamanic ideas within popular beliefs of otherwise Christian Europeans was Carlo Ginzburg, who examined the Benandanti, an agrarian cult found in Friuli, Italy, whose members underwent shamanic trances in which they believed they battled witches in order to save their crops.\n\nHistorians following Ginzburg identified what they saw as shamanic elements in the accusations of the witch trials of the Early Modern period. These included Eva Pocs and Emma Wilby. This group of authors proposes what is known as the \"witch-cult hypothesis\", arguing that there was a religious cult with continuity reaching into the pre-Christian period behind what became identified as \"witchcraft\" in the Early Modern period.\n\nThe idea of shamanism's existence in Ancient Greece was advanced by E. R. Dodds and criticized by Michael J. Puett.\n\nSee also\nShamanistic remnants in Hungarian folklore\n\nReferences\n\n \nAnthropology of religion"
]
|
[
"The Cult",
"Ceremony and the lawsuit (1991-1994)",
"what was the cult lawsuit?",
"The band were sued by the parents of the Native American boy pictured on the cover of Ceremony,"
]
| C_66bf99c1483943608bfaa88bd0e08d05_1 | why was the band sued? | 2 | Why was the band The Cult sued? | The Cult | In 1991, Astbury and Duffy were writing again for their next album. During the demo recordings, Todd Hoffman and James Kottak played bass and drums respectively. During the actual album recording sessions, Curry was recruited again to play drums, with Charley Drayton on bass, and various other performers. Astbury and Duffy's working relationship had disintegrated by that time, with the two men reportedly rarely even being in the studio together during recording. The resulting album Ceremony was released to mixed responses. The album climbed to US No. 34, but sales were not as impressive as the previous three records, only selling around one million copies worldwide. Only two official singles were released from the record: "Wild Hearted Son" (UK No. 34, Canada No. 41) and "Heart of Soul" (UK No. 50), although "White" was released as a single only in Canada, "Sweet Salvation" was released as a single (as "Dulce Salvacion") in Argentina in 1992, and the title track "Ceremony" was released in Spain. The Cult's Ceremonial Stomp tour went through Europe in 1991 and North America in 1992. In 1991 the Cult played a show at the Marquee Club in London, which was recorded and released in February 1993, packaged with some vinyl UK copies of their first greatest hits release. Only a handful of CD copies of it were ever manufactured originally, however it was subsequently reissued on CD in 1999. An incomplete bootleg video of this show is also in circulation. The band were sued by the parents of the Native American boy pictured on the cover of Ceremony, for alleged exploitation and for the unauthorized use of the child's image. This image of the boy is also burned in the video for "Wild Hearted Son". This lawsuit delayed the release of Ceremony in many countries including South Korea and Thailand, which did not see the record's release until late 1992, and it was unreleased in Turkey until the Cult played several shows in Istanbul in June 1993. A world tour followed with backing from future Thin Lizzy drummer Michael Lee and bassist Kinley Wolfe, and keyboardist John Sinclair returning one last time, and the Gathering of the Tribes moved to the UK. Here artists such as Pearl Jam performed. The warm-up gig to the show, in a small nightclub, was dedicated to the memory of Nigel Preston, who had died a few weeks earlier at the age of 31. Following the release of the single "The Witch" (#9 in Australia) and the performance of a song for the 1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie soundtrack entitled "Zap City", produced by Steve Brown and originally a B-side to "Lil' Devil", two volumes of remixes of "She Sells Sanctuary", called Sanctuary Mixes MCMXCIII, volumes one and two, and in support of Pure Cult: for Rockers, Ravers, Lovers, and Sinners, a greatest hits compilation which debuted at No. 1 on the British charts and later went to number one in Portugal, Astbury and Duffy fired the "backing band" and recruited Craig Adams (the Mission) and Scott Garrett for performances across Europe in 1993, with some shows featuring Mike Dimkich on rhythm guitar. This tour marked the first time the band performed in Turkey, Greece, and the Slovak Republic. CANNOTANSWER | for alleged exploitation and for the unauthorized use of the child's image. | The Cult are an English rock band formed in 1983 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead singer Ian Astbury's previous band Southern Death Cult. They gained a dedicated following in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s as a post-punk/gothic rock band, with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking into the mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s establishing themselves as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love Removal Machine". Since its initial formation in 1983, the band have had various line-ups; the longest-serving members are Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, who are also the band's two songwriters.
The Cult's debut studio album Dreamtime was released in 1984 to moderate success, with its lead single "Spiritwalker" reaching No. 1 on the UK Indie Chart. Their second studio album, Love (1985), was even more successful, charting at No. 4 in the UK and including singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Rain". The band's third album, Electric (1987), launched them new heights of success, also peaking at No. 4 in the UK and charting highly in other territories, and spawned the hit singles "Love Removal Machine", "Lil' Devil" and "Wild Flower". On that album, The Cult supplemented their post-punk sound with hard rock; the polish on this new sound was facilitated by producer Rick Rubin. After moving to Los Angeles, California, where the band has been based for the remainder of their career, The Cult continued the musical experimentation of Electric with its follow-up album Sonic Temple (1989), which marked their first collaboration with Bob Rock, who would produce several of the band's subsequent albums. Sonic Temple was their most successful album to that point, entering the Top 10 on the UK and US charts, and included one of the band's most popular songs "Fire Woman".
By the time of their fifth album Ceremony (1991), tensions and creative differences began to surface among the band members. This resulted in the recording sessions for Ceremony being held without a stable lineup, leaving Astbury and Duffy as the only two official members left, and featuring support from session musicians on bass and drums. The ongoing tension had carried over within the next four years, during which they released one more studio album, The Cult (1994), and called it quits in 1995. The Cult reformed in 1999 and released their seventh album Beyond Good and Evil two years later. The commercial failure of the album and resurfaced tensions led to the band going back on hiatus in 2002. They resumed activity in 2006, and have since released three more studio albums: Born into This (2007), Choice of Weapon (2012), and Hidden City (2016).
History
Early history (1981–1984)
The band's origins can be traced to 1981, in Bradford, Yorkshire, where vocalist and songwriter Ian Astbury formed a band called Southern Death Cult. The name was chosen with a double meaning, and was derived from the 14th-century Native American religion, the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex or Southern Death Cult as it was sometimes known, from the Mississippi delta area, but it was also a stab at what the band viewed was the centralisation of power in Southern England (including that of the music industry); there has long been a perceived notion of a North–South divide based on social, historic and economic reasons. Astbury was joined by Buzz Burrows (guitar), Barry Jepson (bass) and Aki Nawaz Qureshi (drums); they performed their first show at the Queen's Hall in their hometown of Bradford on 29 October 1981. The band were at the forefront of an emerging style of music, in the form of post-punk and gothic rock, they achieved critical acclaim from the press and music fans.
The band signed to independent record label Situation Two, an offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records, and released a three-track, triple A-side single, Moya, during this period. They toured through England headlining some shows and touring with Bauhaus and Theatre of Hate. The band played their final performance in Manchester during February 1983, meaning after only sixteen months the band was over. A compilation named The Southern Death Cult was released, this being a collection of the single, radio sessions with John Peel for Radio One and live performances - one of which an audience member recorded with a tape recorder.
In April 1983, Astbury teamed up with guitarist Billy Duffy and formed the band "Death Cult". Duffy had been in the Nosebleeds (along with Morrissey), Lonesome No More and then Theatre of Hate. In addition to Astbury and Duffy, the band also included Jamie Stewart (bass) and Raymond Taylor Smith (later known as Ray Mondo) (drums), both from the Harrow, London based post-punk band, Ritual. Death Cult made their live debut in Oslo, Norway on 25 July 1983 and also released the Death Cult EP in the same month, then toured through mainland Europe and Scotland. In September 1983, Mondo was deported to his home country of Sierra Leone and replaced by Nigel Preston, formerly of Theatre of Hate. The single "Gods Zoo" was released in October 1983. Another European tour, with UK dates, followed that autumn. To tone down their name's gothic connotations and gain broader appeal, the band changed its name to "the Cult" in January 1984 before appearing on the (UK) Channel 4 television show, The Tube.
The Cult's first studio record, Dreamtime, was recorded at Rockfield Studios, in Monmouth, Wales in 1984. The record was to be produced by Joe Julian, but after recording the drum tracks, the band decided to replace him with John Brand. Brand produced the record, but guitarist Duffy has said the drum tracks were produced by Julian, as Preston had become unreliable.
The band recorded the songs which later became known as "Butterflies", "(The) Gimmick", "A Flower in the Desert", "Horse Nation", "Spiritwalker", "Bad Medicine (Waltz)", "Dreamtime", "With Love" (later known as "Ship of Fools", and also "Sea and Sky"), "Bone Bag", "Too Young", "83rd Dream", and one untitled outtake. It is unknown what the outtake was, or whether it was developed into a song at a later date. Songs like "Horse Nation" showed Astbury's intense interest in Native American issues, with the lyrics to "Horse Nation", "See them prancing, they come neighing, to a horse nation", taken almost verbatim from the book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, while "Spiritwalker" dealt with shamanism, and the record's title and title track are overtly influenced by Australian Aboriginal beliefs.
On 4 April 1984, the Cult released the single "Spiritwalker", which reached No. 1 on the independent charts in the UK, and acted as a teaser for their forthcoming album Dreamtime. This was followed that summer by a second single, "Go West (Crazy Spinning Circles)", before the release of Dreamtime in September; the album reached No. 21 in the UK, and sold over 100,000 copies in the UK alone. On 12 July 1984, the band recorded five songs at the BBC Maida Vale 5 studio for a Richard Skinner session. Before and after the album's release, the Cult toured throughout Europe and England before recording another single, "Ressurection Joe" (UK No. 74), released that December. Following a Christmas support slot with Big Country, the Cult toured Europe with support from the Mission (then called the Sisterhood). Dreamtime was released initially only in the UK, but after its success, and as the Cult's popularity grew worldwide, it was issued in approximately 30 countries.
Mainstream success (1985–1990)
In May 1985, the Cult released their fourth single, "She Sells Sanctuary", which peaked at No. 15 in the UK and spent 23 weeks in the Top 100. The song was recently voted No. 18 in VH1's Indie 100. In June 1985, following his increasingly erratic behaviour, Preston was fired from the band. Big Country's drummer Mark Brzezicki was picked to replace Preston, and was also included in the video for "She Sells Sanctuary". The Cult then finished recording their second album, Love in July and August 1985. The band's music and image shifted from their punk-oriented roots to 1960s psychedelia influences. Love was a chart success, peaking at No. 4 in the UK and selling 100,000 copies there toward a total of 500,000 copies throughout Europe, as well as 100,000 in Australia and 500,000 copies in the United States. Love reached number 20 on the charts in The Netherlands, where it remained for 32 weeks. To date, the record has sold over two and a half million copies worldwide.
From late September 1985 to June 1986, the band went on a worldwide tour with new drummer Les Warner (who had played with Julian Lennon and Johnny Thunders). Two more singles from the Love album followed; "Rain" (charting in the UK at No. 17) and "Revolution" (charting in the UK at No. 30). Neither charted in the US. Another single, "Nirvana", was issued only in Poland. The album version of "Rain", as well as the remix "(Here Comes the) Rain", were used in the Italian horror film Dèmoni 2. Once back in England, the band booked themselves into the Manor Studios in Oxfordshire, with producer Steve Brown (who had produced Love), and recorded over a dozen new songs. The band were unhappy with the sound of their new album, titled Peace, and they decided to go to New York so producer Rick Rubin could remix the first single, "Love Removal Machine".
Rubin agreed to work with the band, but only if they rerecorded the song. Rubin eventually talked them into rerecording the entire album. The band's record company, Beggars Banquet, was displeased with this, as two months and £250,000 had already been spent on the record. However, after hearing the initial New York recording, Beggars Banquet agreed to proceed. The first single, "Love Removal Machine", was released in February 1987, and the new version of the album appeared in April that year, now renamed as Electric, reaching No. 4 and eventually outselling Love. The band toured with Kid Chaos (also known as "Haggis" and "The Kid") on bass, with Stewart on rhythm guitar. Two more singles, "Lil Devil" and "Wild Flower", were released during 1987. A few tracks from the original Peace album appeared on the single versions of "Love Removal Machine", and "Lil Devil". The full Peace album would not be released until 2000, when it was included as Disc 3 of the Rare Cult box set.
In the US, the Cult, now consisting of Astbury, Duffy, Stewart, Warner and Kid Chaos, were supported by the then-unknown Guns N' Roses. The band also appeared at Roskilde Festival in Denmark in June 1987. When the world tour wound through Australia, the band wrecked £30,000 worth of equipment, and as a result they could not tour Japan, as no company would rent them new equipment. At the end of the tour the Electric album had been certified Gold in the UK, and sold roughly 3 million copies worldwide, but the band were barely speaking to each other by then. Haggis left the band at the end of the Electric tour to form the Four Horsemen for Rubin's Def American label. Astbury and Duffy fired Warner and their management team Grant/Edwards, and moved to Los Angeles with original bassist Stewart. Warner sued the band several times for his firing, as well as for what he felt were unpaid royalties due to him for his performance on the Electric album, resulting in lengthy court battles. The Cult signed a new management deal and wrote 21 new songs for their next record.
For the next album, Stewart returned to playing bass, and John Webster was brought in to play keyboards. The band used Chris Taylor to play drums during rehearsals and record the demos, with future Kiss drummer Eric Singer performing during the second demo recording sessions. The Cult eventually recruited session-drummer Mickey Curry to fill the drumming role and Aerosmith sound engineer, Bob Rock, to produce. Recorded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from October to December 1988, the Sonic Temple record went Top 10 in both the UK and the US, where it was certified Gold and Platinum respectively. The band went on tour in support of the new album and new single "Fire Woman" (UK No. 15) (NZ No. 1), with yet another new drummer, Matt Sorum, and Webster as keyboard player. The next single, "Edie (Ciao Baby)" (UK No. 25) has become a regular song at concerts for many years.
In Europe, the band toured with Aerosmith, and in the US, after releasing another single "Sun King" (UK No. 42), they spent 1989 touring in support of Metallica before heading out on their own headlining tour later that same year. A fourth single, "Sweet Soul Sister" (UK No. 38), was released in February 1990, with the video having been filmed at Wembley Arena, London, on 25 November 1989. "Sweet Soul Sister" was partially written in Paris and was inspired by the bohemian lifestyle of that city. Released as a single in February 1990, the song was another hit in the UK, and reportedly reached number one on the rock charts in Brazil. After playing a show in Atlanta, Georgia, in February 1990, the band's management told Astbury that his father had just died of cancer. As a result, the remainder of the tour was cancelled after a final leg of shows were performed in April. After the tour ended, the band were on the verge of splitting due to Stewart retiring and moving to Canada to be with his wife, and Sorum leaving to join Guns N' Roses.
In 1990, Astbury organized the Gathering of the Tribes festival in Los Angeles and San Francisco with artists such as Soundgarden, Ice-T, Indigo Girls, Queen Latifah, Iggy Pop, the Charlatans, the Cramps and Public Enemy appearing. This two-day festival drew 40,000 people. Also in 1990, a ten CD box set was released in the UK, containing rare songs from the Cult's singles. The CDs in this box set were all issued as picture discs with rice paper covers, housed in a white box called "Singles Collection", or a black box called "E.P. Collection '84 - '90". In 1991, director Oliver Stone offered Astbury the role of Jim Morrison in Stone's film The Doors. He declined the role because he was not happy with the way Morrison was represented in the film, and the role was ultimately played by Val Kilmer.
Ceremony and the lawsuit (1991–1993)
In 1991, Astbury and Duffy were writing again for their next album. During the demo recordings, Todd Hoffman and James Kottak played bass and drums, respectively. During the actual album recording sessions, Curry was recruited again to play drums, with Charley Drayton on bass, and various other performers. Astbury and Duffy's working relationship had disintegrated by that time, with the two men reportedly rarely even being in the studio together during recording. The resulting album Ceremony was released to mixed responses. The album climbed to US No. 34, but sales were not as impressive as the previous three records, only selling around one million copies worldwide. Only two official singles were released from the record: "Wild Hearted Son" (UK No. 34, Canada No. 41) and "Heart of Soul" (UK No. 50), although "White" was released as a single only in Canada, "Sweet Salvation" was released as a single (as "Dulce Salvación") in Argentina in 1992, and the title track "Ceremony" was released in Spain.
The Cult's Ceremonial Stomp tour went through Europe in 1991 and North America in 1992. In 1991 the Cult played a show at the Marquee Club in London, which was recorded and released in February 1993, packaged with some vinyl UK copies of their first greatest hits release. Only a handful of CD copies of it were ever manufactured originally, however it was subsequently reissued on CD in 1999. An incomplete bootleg video of this show is also in circulation.
The band were sued by the parents of the Native American boy pictured on the cover of Ceremony, for alleged exploitation and for the unauthorized use of the child's image. The parents stated that the boy felt he had been cursed by the band's burning of his image, and was "emotionally scarred." This image of the boy is also burned in the video for "Wild Hearted Son". This lawsuit delayed the release of Ceremony in many countries including South Korea and Thailand, which did not see the record's release until late 1992, and it was unreleased in Turkey until the Cult played several shows in Istanbul in June 1993.
A world tour followed with backing from drummer Michael Lee (Page & Plant, Little Angels), bassist Kinley "Barney" Wolfe (Lord Tracy, Black Oak Arkansas), and keyboardist John Sinclair (Ozzy Osbourne, Uriah Heep) returning one last time, and the Gathering of the Tribes moved to the UK. Here artists such as Pearl Jam performed. The warm-up gig to the show, in a small nightclub, was dedicated to the memory of Nigel Preston, who had died a few weeks earlier at the age of 28. Following the release of the single "The Witch" (#9 in Australia) and the performance of a song for the 1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie soundtrack entitled "Zap City", produced by Steve Brown and originally a B-side to "Lil' Devil", two volumes of remixes of "She Sells Sanctuary", called Sanctuary Mixes MCMXCIII, volumes one and two, and in support of Pure Cult: for Rockers, Ravers, Lovers, and Sinners, a greatest hits compilation which debuted at No. 1 on the British charts and later went to number one in Portugal, Astbury and Duffy fired the "backing band" and recruited Craig Adams (the Mission) and Scott Garrett for performances across Europe in 1993, with some shows featuring Mike Dimkich on rhythm guitar. This tour marked the first time the band performed in Turkey, Greece, and the Slovak Republic.
The Cult and first breakup (1994–1998)
With the same line-up still in place, the band released The Cult in October 1994, produced by Bob Rock. The self-titled album is commonly referred to as the "Black Sheep" album by fans of the group, due to the image of a black sheep on the front cover. Astbury referred to the record as a collection of "very personal and very revealing" songs about his life, with the subject matter ranging from sexual abuse at the age of 15, to the death of Nigel Preston, to his directionless years spent in Glasgow in the late 1970s.
The record achieved little success, only reaching No. 69 in the US and No. 21 in the UK. Duffy remarked that he thought that the record wouldn't sell well due to the offensive lyrics. The record went to number one in Portugal also, but quickly dropped out of sight. The single "Coming Down (Drug Tongue)" was released with the band going on tour in support of the new album. Only one more single, "Star", was officially released with a live appearance on UK TV show The Word. "Star" began life in 1986 as "Tom Petty" and was recorded at the "Sonic Temple" demo sessions as "Starchild", being dropped by the band during rehearsals. In 1993 the song was resurrected and was finally completed for the record in 1994 as, just simply, "Star".
When the band began the Beauty's On The Streets tour in winter 1994, they augmented the line up with James Stevenson on rhythm guitar. As with the Ceremony record several years earlier, no other official singles were released, but several other songs were released on a strictly limited basis: "Sacred Life" was released in Spain and the Netherlands, "Be Free" was issued in Canada and France, "Saints Are Down" was issued in Greece, but none of the songs gained much commercial success. During this tour, the Cult made their first ever appearance in Norway.
During the Black Rain tour of South America in spring of 1995, despite the fact that several more new songs had already been recorded, the tour was cancelled after an appearance in Rio de Janeiro in March, and the band split up citing unspecified problems on a recent South American tour. Astbury started up a garage band called Holy Barbarians a few months later. The band made their debut at the 100 Club in London in February 1996 and released their first (and only) record in May 1996, and toured throughout North America and Europe for the rest of 1996. The band started writing material for a second record in 1997, but the band was dissolved and Astbury began writing and recording a solo record. Throughout 1997 and 1998 Astbury recorded his solo record, originally to be titled Natural Born Guerilla, later called High Time Amplifier. Ultimately the record remained unreleased until June 2000 when it was released under the name Spirit\Light\Speed. Astbury played one solo concert in 1999.
In November 1996, a number of CD reissues were released: the band's American record company released High Octane Cult, a slightly updated greatest hits compilation released only in the US and Japan; The Southern Death Cult, a remastered edition of the fifteen-song compilation CD; a ten-song compilation CD by Death Cult called Ghost Dance, consisting of the untitled four-song EP, the single "God's Zoo", and four unreleased songs from a radio broadcast; and a remastered repackaging of the Dreamtime album, containing only the ten original songs from the record in their original playing order and almost completely different but original artwork. Dreamtime Live at the Lyceum was also remastered and issued on video and for the first time on CD, with the one unreleased song from the concert, "Gimmick".
First reunion, Beyond Good and Evil and second hiatus (1999–2005)
In 1999, Astbury and Duffy reformed the Cult with Matt Sorum and ex-Porno for Pyros bassist Martyn LeNoble. Their first official concert was at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in June 1999, after having rehearsed at shows in the Los Angeles area. The band's 1999 Cult Rising reunion tour resulted in a sold out 30 date tour of the US, ending with 8 consecutive sold out nights at the LA House of Blues. In 2000, the band toured South Africa for the first time, and North and South America, and contributed the song "Painted on My Heart" to the soundtrack of the movie Gone In 60 Seconds. The song was featured prominently and the melody was fused into parts of the score. In June, Astbury's long-delayed solo record was finally released as Spirit\Light\Speed, but it failed to gain much success. In November 2000, another authorised greatest hits compilation was released, Pure Cult: The Singles 1984–1995, along with an accompanying DVD, which was later certified gold in Canada. The Cult, as well as Ian Astbury, performed on separate tracks on the Doors tribute album, Stoned Immaculate: The Music of The Doors, covering "Wild Child" and "Touch Me".
In November 2000, Beggars Banquet released 15,000 copies of a six-disc boxset (with a bonus seventh disc of remixes for the first 5000 copies) titled Rare Cult. The box set consists of album out-takes, demos, radio broadcasts, and album B-sides. It is most notable for including the previously unreleased "Peace" album in its entirety. In 2001, the band signed to Atlantic Records and recorded a new album, Beyond Good and Evil, originally being produced by Mick Jones of Foreigner, until Jones bowed out to tour with Foreigner. Astbury and Duffy co-wrote a song with Jones, an odd occurrence, as in the past, neither Astbury or Duffy would co-write their material. Bob Rock was the producer, with Martyn LeNoble and Chris Wyse as recording bassists, as Mike Dimkich played rhythm guitar on tour, and Matt Sorum returning as drummer. Although Sorum has previously toured with the band on the Sonic Temple tour in 1989, this was the first time that he had recorded a studio album with the band.
However Beyond Good and Evil was not the comeback record the band had hoped for. Despite reaching No. 37 in the US, No. 22 in Canada, and No. 25 in Spain, sales quickly dropped, only selling roughly 500,000 copies worldwide. The first single "Rise", reached No. 41 in the US, and No. 2 on the mainstream rock charts, but Atlantic Records quickly pulled the song from radio playlists. Astbury would later describe the experience with Atlantic to be "soul destroying", after Atlantic tried to tamper with the lyrics, the record cover, and choice of singles from the record.
After the first single from the record, the band's working relationship with Atlantic was on paper only, with Atlantic pulling "Rise" from the radio stations playlists, and stopping all promotion of the record. The second single "Breathe" was only released as a radio station promo, and the final single "True Believers" was only on a compilation sampler disc released in January 2002 (after the Cult's tour had already ended). Despite "True Believers" receiving radio airplay in Australia, both singles went largely unnoticed, and both Astbury and Duffy walked away from the project. LeNoble rejoined the band for the initial dates in early 2001, and Billy Morrison filled in on bass for the majority of the 2001 tour.
The European tour of 2001 was canceled, largely due to security concerns after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the band flew back to the US to tour again with Aerosmith. But the eleven-week tour was considered by fans to be a disaster, as the band played only a brief rundown of their greatest hits. In October 2001, a show at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles was filmed for release on DVD. After the tour ended in December 2001, the band took most of 2002 off, apart from a few shows in the US to promote the release of the DVD, with Scott Garrett and Craig Adams rejoining the band.
Despite the commercial disappointment of Beyond Good and Evil and the supporting tour, the band was voted "Comeback of the Year" by Metal Edge readers in the magazine's 2001 Readers' Choice Awards.
In late 2002, Ian Astbury declared the Cult to be "on ice" indefinitely, after performing a brief series of dates in October 2002 to promote the release of the Music Without Fear DVD. During this second hiatus, Astbury performed as a member of the Doors (later dubbed the Doors of the 21st Century, later still renamed D21c, and most recently known as Riders on the Storm) with two of the original members of that group. D21c was sued numerous times, both by Jim Morrison's family and by drummer John Densmore. Astbury supposedly started work on recording another solo album that later became the backbone for the Cult's Born into This.
At the same time, Duffy was part of Coloursound with bassist Craig Adams and ex-Alarm frontman Mike Peters, then Dead Men Walking (again with Peters) and later Cardboard Vampyres. Sorum became a member of the hard rock supergroup Velvet Revolver. In 2003, all of the Cult's records were issued on CD, with several bonus tracks being issued on the Russian, Belarusian, and Lithuanian versions. These eastern European releases had many printing mistakes on the jacket sleeves and lyric inserts. In October 2004, all of the Cult's records were again remastered and issued again on CD, this time in Japan in different cardboard foldout sleeves. "She Sells Sanctuary" appeared in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, playing on rock station V-Rock.
Second reunion, Born Into This and Capsule EPs (2006–2010)
Despite Astbury's previous statement from 2004 that a reunion would not happen, The Cult announced in January 2006 that they were reuniting for "some limited gigs" throughout the year. A month later, the band made their first live appearance in three-and-a-half years on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Their lineup consisted of Astbury (vocals), Duffy (lead guitar), John Tempesta (drums), Dimkich (rhythm guitar) and Wyse (returning as bassist). Their first stage show was held in March 2006 in San Francisco, California, at The Fillmore. The entire tour was recorded by Instant Live and sold after each show. In May, they did an eight date tour in Canada. Later that summer, they toured central and eastern Europe and played their first concerts in Bulgaria, Poland and Serbia. An eleven-date UK tour followed as well as several more dates in the United States, finishing with a South American tour in December. That year, Duffy began the band Circus Diablo with Billy Morrison, Sorum, Brett Scallions and Ricky Warwick.
During these tours, the band occasionally played an extended set, including several songs the band had not performed in decades: "King Contrary Man" and "Hollow Man", neither of which had been performed since 1987; also, "Libertine" was performed approximately three times, for the first time since 2000, and "Brother Wolf, Sister Moon", which was only performed one time since 1986 (for this particular song, the band played an abridged version which has never been performed before or since)
Astbury announced in February 2007 that he was leaving Riders on the Storm and returning to the Cult. He stated: "I have decided to move on and focus on my own music and legacy." The Cult was featured on Stuffmagazine.com's list of ultimate air guitar players. On 21 March 2007, it was announced that the band would be touring Europe with the Who. The first confirmed tour date was in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in early June, with at least a dozen shows set to follow. The band played a gig in London's West End at the CC Club on 7 June 2007, along with nearly two dozen shows across continental Europe during summer. The tour also includes the first performance in Romania and Croatia.
On 29 May 2007, the band signed a deal with major metal label Roadrunner Records. Their 8th studio album, titled Born into This was released on 16 October, and was produced by Martin "Youth" Glover, bass player for Killing Joke. Born into This was released as regular single disc and limited edition double disc, the second disk being a bonus 5-track CD holding the following tracks: "Stand Alone", "War Pony Destroyer", "I Assassin (Demo)", "Sound of Destruction (Demo)" and "Savages (Extended Version)". Prior to the album's release, the band played festival and headline dates, and supported the Who in Europe through summer 2007, with a US headline tour to follow.
The band's appearance at Irving Plaza in New York City in early November 2006 was filmed and was released in 2007. The Cult New York City, issued by Fontana North and is the Cult's first high definition DVD release. Meanwhile, Astbury lent vocals on two tracks of the 2007 Unkle album "War Stories", one of them being the first single from the album, "Burn My Shadow".
The band performed a UK and European tour in late-February and early-March 2008. On 24 March, they began their North American tour including a major 13-city tour in Canada. During September 2008, the Cult did a brief series of dates in the northeast United States, and they toured in Brazil as part of the South American tour in October 2008. As of May 2008, according to The Gauntlet, the Cult are currently unsigned and no longer under contract with Roadrunner Records. In October 2008, it was announced that the Cult would headline the inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Antonio, to be run 16 November 2008. The Cult announced plans for a tour showcasing their 1985 Love album across the US and then the UK in October where they will play at the Royal Albert Hall.
Coinciding with the remastered Love album and four-disc Omnibus boxed set, the Cult kicked off the long-awaited Love Live Tour in late summer. Performing their classic Love album in its entirety, each show was played with the Love tracks opening with "Nirvana" to "Black Angel". A quick intermission followed, then other Cult hits were played (varying by venue): "Sun King", "Dirty Little Rock Star", "Electric Ocean", "Illuminated". Then followed the favorites "Fire Woman", "Lil Devil", "Wild Flower", and lastly "Love Removal Machine". In the evening of 10 October 2009 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the band performed a second encore with original Cult bassist Jamie Stewart and drummer Mark Brzezicki, who played drums with the band during the Love album recording sessions in July and August 1985. The band sold Love Live USB flash drives for each show during the tour.
The Cult entered 2010 continuing their Love Live Tour and announcing more dates in the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan. The band finished recording a four-track "Capsule" with producer Chris Goss. Capsule 1 was said to be the first of three or four to be released sometime in summer 2010. Release formats include CD-DVD dualdisc, 12-inch vinyl, and digital downloads. Capsule 1 was released on 14 September 2010. The band officially announced the release of its first new studio recording since 2007, "Every Man And Woman Is A Star". The new single was released through the iTunes Store on 31 July 2010.
On 1 August 2010, the band played the sold-out music festival Sonisphere, which marked their first UK performance since the tour for their Love album. During the performance they debuted their new single, "Every Man and Woman is a Star", which was released on 1 August 2010. On 14 September 2010 the band embarked on a new U.S. tour and released Capsule 1 in conjunction with media technology company Aderra Inc. and made it available in multiple formats including a CD-DVD DualDisc, USB flash drive, 12 inch vinyl, FLAC download and MP3 download. The collection includes a short film made by singer Ian Astbury and Rick Rogers.
On 26 October 2010 the band and Aderra Inc. announced the release of a new song, "Embers", for 1 November 2010 and Capsule 2 available through their web store on 16 November 2010. Pictures from the Cult's tour stop in Chicago on 28 October 2010 can be seen at a local radio station website.
On 17 September 2010, the band performed live at the Fall Frenzy concert at the Tempe Beach Park in Tempe, Arizona. Other bands that played at this concert were Stone Temple Pilots, Shinedown, and Sevendust.
On 4 December 2010, the band performed a live set for Guitar Center Sessions on DirecTV. The episode included an interview with the band by program host, Nic Harcourt.
Choice of Weapon and Hidden City (2011–2017)
During the Cult's concert at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on 21 January 2011 Ian Astbury declared that the Cult would be recording a new album directly after the tour. They also announced that they would be working with Chris Goss, who performed with Masters of Reality as a supporting act the same evening. On 11 May 2011, it was announced that the Cult were signed to Cooking Vinyl Records, who will release the new album in early 2012. Commented guitarist Billy Duffy: "We are very much looking forward to returning to our U.K. roots in many ways working with Cooking Vinyl." Vocalist Ian Astbury added, "We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with Cooking Vinyl." By May 2011, the band had been writing and recording new demos at its Witch Mountain studio hideaway in the Hollywood Hills, and began recording their new album at Hollywood Recording Studios. In October 2011, bassist Chris Wyse stated the album was almost finished and expected to be released in April 2012. Chris also described it as a "Zep/Stooges mix of energy."
On 29 November 2011, it was announced that the album would be produced by Bob Rock, who provided the same role on Sonic Temple, The Cult and Beyond Good and Evil. The album, entitled Choice of Weapon, was released on 22 May 2012. The band partnered with Rolling Stone to premiere the first song from the album titled Lucifer on 30 January. On 5 February 2012, the Cult song "She Sells Sanctuary" was used as the soundtrack for a Budweiser commercial in a mashup with Flo Rida aired during Super Bowl XLVI. In May 2012 the Cult appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and played "For The Animals".
On 28 September 2012, it was announced that the band would release Weapon of Choice, a "prequel" album to accompany the band's latest album, Choice of Weapon. The digital-only release, available exclusively on iTunes for two months only beginning 16 October, features the songs that were ultimately included in "Choice Of Weapon" at an earlier stage of development. Explaining the motivations behind the release, singer Ian Astbury said that "These songs were turned over and over, forged in long rehearsals and writing sessions, and emanated from challenges both personal and professional. We put our guts into this; [Producer Chris] Goss was able to create an environment where the songs were born through playing and turning over lyrics, through hard work and intense sessions." Astbury added "These songs have an integrity and rawness of their own. In many ways it's a different album to the one we released and reveals the foundations of 'Choice Of Weapon'. We were able to close the doors and begin to explore spaces we had not been in for a while." The song "Twisted and Bleeding" was made available for free download at the band's website ahead of the full digital release.
On 20 June 2013, the band announced the release of Electric-Peace which comprises the entire Electric album plus the Peace album which was previously released on the now discontinued Rare Cult box set in 2000. It is due for release in the US on 30 July. In 2013 Mike Dimkich left the band and joined Bad Religion to cover for guitarist Greg Hetson. James Stevenson, from the Beauty's On The Streets tour in 1994, replaced Dimkich as the Cult's rhythm guitarist.
In March 2013, Billy Duffy told the Argentinan journalist Fabrizio Pedrotti that the Cult had begun work on a new album for a 2014 release. The band were expected to begin work on the album after they finish their 2013 world tour, where they played the Electric album in its entirety. In August 2014, Billy added that the next album, which was not expected to be released before 2015 at the earliest, "will be more guitar heavy".
On 5 November 2015, it was announced that The Cult would release their new album, entitled Hidden City, on 5 February 2016. The album is said to be the final part of a trilogy that began with Born into This, and marks the fifth time Bob Rock had produced a Cult album. The band also announced that they had hired Australian-born bassist Grant Fitzpatrick (ex-Mink) as the replacement for Chris Wyse. Chris Chaney (Jane's Addiction, Camp Freddy) and producer Bob Rock performed session bass on the album. In support of Hidden City, The Cult opened for Guns N' Roses on the Not in This Lifetime... Tour.
In an October 2016 interview with PopMatters journalist J.C. Maçek III, Cult guitarist Billy Duffy spoke of the band's playlist while on tour, saying "Obviously you want to make an impactful [show]," he continues. "There are some practical, pragmatic decisions made. If you're playing to a crowd who are not very familiar with you, there's no point of going too deep but we do always make sure we play a new song. Like on Guns N' Roses' [tour] we had fifty minutes which is ten songs all in. So, you know we just made sure that in those ten songs we played 'Deeply Ordered Chaos' which we’re proud of and it makes a certain statement. And it just alerts people to the fact that, yes, we have made a record in the last 30 years. You know and that's a good thing. Psychologically, that's the blood transfusion that we need. And we're very mindful, we have a very loyal fan base. We don't pander as you well know."
Upcoming eleventh studio album (2018–present)
In an April 2018 interview with Guitar World, guitarist Billy Duffy was asked if another album from The Cult was in the works. He replied, "Never say never! Ian and I enjoy the process of making new music, and we feel it's vital to keep the band healthy, even if it's pretty much in the law of diminishing returns area now. Who knows if it will be a whole album a series of singles or an EP? I can say new Cult music will be forthcoming, but these days we don't rush it as there's no point. Quality is key. We are past the point of having to release stuff so if we feel it's good enough, then we will release it in some shape or another."
On 2 April 2018, a tour of the United States of America called "Revolution 3 Tour" was announced for the summer. They performed as one of the three headliners, along with Stone Temple Pilots and Bush.
In April 2019, The Cult announced that they would celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of their fourth album Sonic Temple with a world tour, which began on 2 May in Houston, Texas and was expected to wrap up in 2020.
In a June 2019 interview with LA Weekly, vocalist Ian Astbury stated that The Cult were "long overdue" to release new music. He was quoted as saying: "We do have some stuff we've been working on, but it's yet to see the light of day." Six months later, Astbury told Atlantic City Weekly that the band was going to start working on new music in 2020: "We've got a few pieces lying around in various stages of completion. The intention is to get together in the New Year and take a look at what we've got and decide how we are going to go about moving forward. It's an essential part of any creative lifeblood." On May 6, 2020, The Cult announced on their Twitter page that they had signed to Black Hill Records.
On August 15, 2020, Duffy announced on his Twitter that the band were recording their new album with producer Tom Dalgety at Rockfield Studios, where The Cult had recorded their debut album Dreamtime 36 years earlier.
In support of their new album, The Cult will embark on a co-headlining six-date UK tour with Alice Cooper in May and June 2022.
Influences
Duffy and Astbury cited among their influences a lot of different bands "from the Doors to Led Zeppelin. We literally went from the front of our record collections to the back. And then along the way we were drawn in by the likes of Public Image Ltd, Joy Division and Siouxsie and the Banshees. You might not hear it in the music but it's there." They also cited Bauhaus among many other post-punk influences. Duffy also praised Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers for a major performance he attended in 1977 and Siouxsie and the Banshees whom "always had great guitar players with killer riffs." Duffy also hailed AC/DC for "the power of a good three chord riff", Pete Townshend of the Who "in terms of commitment to stage performing" and Brian May of Queen for using "‘echoplex’ tape delays to orchestrate his own solo".
Musical style
According to music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the band fuse a "hardcore punk revivalist" sound with the "pseudo-mysticism ... of the Doors and Uriah Heep and the guitar-orchestrations of Led Zeppelin and The Cure ... while adding touches of post-punk goth rock". In 1985 Astbury said, "Our music is just melodies and guitars. We're like Big Country and U2, only better!".
Members
Current members
Ian Astbury – lead vocals, occasional percussion/guitar
Billy Duffy – lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals
John Tempesta – drums, percussion
Grant Fitzpatrick – bass, backing vocals
Damon Fox – keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Discography
Dreamtime (1984)
Love (1985)
Electric (1987)
Sonic Temple (1989)
Ceremony (1991)
The Cult (1994)
Beyond Good and Evil (2001)
Born into This (2007)
Choice of Weapon (2012)
Hidden City (2016)
References
External links
Official website
Billy Duffy official website
Musical groups established in 1983
Situation Two artists
Beggars Banquet Records artists
Sire Records artists
Musical groups from Bradford
English post-punk music groups
English gothic rock groups
English hard rock musical groups
English heavy metal musical groups
English glam metal musical groups | true | [
"King vs. Queen is the debut album of indie rock group Brighten, released on March 20, 2007.\n\nOverview\nThe album was originally slated for a fall 2006 release, but was pushed back. However, before the album's intended release, Victory Records sued Carbon Copy Media (Brighten's then-current label). As a result of this, Brighten decided to go independent from Victory. On March 20, 2007, King vs. Queen was released to retail stores across the US without the band's knowledge, due to the printing of thousands of CDs by Carbon Copy Media prior to the lawsuit. Once Brighten was made aware of this, the CD was withdrawn from stores. Only a limited number of these CDs are now available.\n\nThis CD includes re-recorded songs from the EP Ready When You Are, \"Ready When You Are\" and \"Television\".\n\nTrack listing\n\nOriginal version\n\"More Vacations\" – 2:00\n\"A Heart Like That\" – 2:13\n\"Ready When You Are\" – 3:30\n\"Treasure Island\" – 2:57\n\"Mr. Mister\" – 2:54\n\"Darling Nicotine\" – 4:43\n\"The Better Way\" – 3:48\n\"Single Millionaires\" –2:33\n\"We Chose the King\" – 3:20\n\"Television\" – 4:21\n\"Cops and Robbers\" – 3:05\n\"Why Oh Why\" – 4:52\n\nIndependent release\nFollowing the band's fallout with Victory Records and the album's withdrawal from stores, they decided to release a shorter version independently, selling it at concerts and later online at SmartPunk. This version features slightly different artwork and only 9 tracks. The track listing is as follows:\n\"More Vacations\" – 2:00\n\"Ready When You Are\" – 3:30\n\"Treasure Island\" – 2:57\n\"Darling Nicotine\" – 4:43\n\"The Better Way\" – 3:48\n\"We Chose the King\" – 3:20\n\"Television\" – 4:21\n\"Cops and Robbers\" – 3:05\n\"Why Oh Why\" – 4:52\n\nExternal links\nOfficial Brighten Myspace\n\nBrighten albums\n2007 debut albums",
"Raggadeath was a Canadian rock band that enjoyed moderate success in the mid-1990s. The band fused heavy metal with dancehall reggae-style rhythms and vocals.\n\nThe band's core members and founders were producer/dj/drummer Stephen Kendall and producer/engineer/bassist/keyboardist Walter Sobczak.\n\nSteve Major played all the guitars on the records. Dean Bentley on drums and Darren Quinn on guitar of Monster Voodoo Machine were added for the live shows. The band utilized a variety of vocalists, most notably rapper Michie Mee. Rapper Koze Kozma was also an early band member, but was deported to the United Kingdom after disappearing for six weeks and then turning up weeks later as a Hare Krishna. All of the band's recordings were produced by Walter Sobczak and Stephen Kendall, and engineered by Walter Sobczak.\n\nThe band's biggest Canadian hit was \"One Life\" in 1995, achieving high rotation on MuchMusic, and being voted Favourite Song in Chart magazine's year-end reader's poll. \"One Life\" was nominated for Best Alternative Video at the 1995 MuchMusic Video Awards. The 1995 album Why Ask Why, containing the singles \"One Life\" and \"Why Ask Why\", was also released by Virgin in several European markets. Due to the band members' other commitments and Kozma's disappearance the album was not supported by a concert tour, with an appearance on the MuchMusic Video Awards in 1995 being the band's only major live performance to support the album.\n\nRaggadeath also achieved moderate international success with its self-titled 1997 album, which featured \"Dance with the Devil\" and a cover of Eddy Grant's \"Electric Avenue\". At this time the band undertook its first significant tour. The self-titled 1997 album was licensed by Attic Records to Edel AG in Germany, Roadrunner Records in the Netherlands, and TWA in Australia. None of the band's work was released in the USA.\n\nWith their popularity faltering due to popular culture's shift from alternative rock toward electronica in the late 1990s, the band broke up following the 1997 album. Sobczak continued with record engineering/production, later becoming chief engineer at The Studio at Puck's Farm, and Kendall returned to his career as a DJ later DJing at the Swan in England. Major returned to studio work with Toronto's Wellesley Sound studio, while Quinn and Mee continued to collaborate under the band name The Day After.\n\nDiscography\n One Life (Maxi-Single, 1995)\n The Family Worship EP (EP, 1995)\n Why Ask Why (Maxi-Single, 1995)\n Why Ask Why (Album, 1995)\n Dance With The Devil (Remixes) (Maxi-Single, 1997)\n Electric Avenue (Maxi-Single, 1997)\n Electric Avenue (Remixes) (Maxi-Single, 1997)\n Raggadeath (Album, 1997)\n\nReferences\n\nCanadian heavy metal musical groups\nReggae metal musical groups\nCanadian hip hop groups\nMusical groups from Toronto\nReggae rock groups\nVirgin Records artists\nMusical groups established in 1995\nMusical groups disestablished in 1997\n1995 establishments in Ontario\n1997 disestablishments in Ontario\nCanadian reggae musical groups"
]
|
[
"The Cult",
"Ceremony and the lawsuit (1991-1994)",
"what was the cult lawsuit?",
"The band were sued by the parents of the Native American boy pictured on the cover of Ceremony,",
"why was the band sued?",
"for alleged exploitation and for the unauthorized use of the child's image."
]
| C_66bf99c1483943608bfaa88bd0e08d05_1 | did they win the case? | 3 | Did the band The Cult win their lawsuit? | The Cult | In 1991, Astbury and Duffy were writing again for their next album. During the demo recordings, Todd Hoffman and James Kottak played bass and drums respectively. During the actual album recording sessions, Curry was recruited again to play drums, with Charley Drayton on bass, and various other performers. Astbury and Duffy's working relationship had disintegrated by that time, with the two men reportedly rarely even being in the studio together during recording. The resulting album Ceremony was released to mixed responses. The album climbed to US No. 34, but sales were not as impressive as the previous three records, only selling around one million copies worldwide. Only two official singles were released from the record: "Wild Hearted Son" (UK No. 34, Canada No. 41) and "Heart of Soul" (UK No. 50), although "White" was released as a single only in Canada, "Sweet Salvation" was released as a single (as "Dulce Salvacion") in Argentina in 1992, and the title track "Ceremony" was released in Spain. The Cult's Ceremonial Stomp tour went through Europe in 1991 and North America in 1992. In 1991 the Cult played a show at the Marquee Club in London, which was recorded and released in February 1993, packaged with some vinyl UK copies of their first greatest hits release. Only a handful of CD copies of it were ever manufactured originally, however it was subsequently reissued on CD in 1999. An incomplete bootleg video of this show is also in circulation. The band were sued by the parents of the Native American boy pictured on the cover of Ceremony, for alleged exploitation and for the unauthorized use of the child's image. This image of the boy is also burned in the video for "Wild Hearted Son". This lawsuit delayed the release of Ceremony in many countries including South Korea and Thailand, which did not see the record's release until late 1992, and it was unreleased in Turkey until the Cult played several shows in Istanbul in June 1993. A world tour followed with backing from future Thin Lizzy drummer Michael Lee and bassist Kinley Wolfe, and keyboardist John Sinclair returning one last time, and the Gathering of the Tribes moved to the UK. Here artists such as Pearl Jam performed. The warm-up gig to the show, in a small nightclub, was dedicated to the memory of Nigel Preston, who had died a few weeks earlier at the age of 31. Following the release of the single "The Witch" (#9 in Australia) and the performance of a song for the 1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie soundtrack entitled "Zap City", produced by Steve Brown and originally a B-side to "Lil' Devil", two volumes of remixes of "She Sells Sanctuary", called Sanctuary Mixes MCMXCIII, volumes one and two, and in support of Pure Cult: for Rockers, Ravers, Lovers, and Sinners, a greatest hits compilation which debuted at No. 1 on the British charts and later went to number one in Portugal, Astbury and Duffy fired the "backing band" and recruited Craig Adams (the Mission) and Scott Garrett for performances across Europe in 1993, with some shows featuring Mike Dimkich on rhythm guitar. This tour marked the first time the band performed in Turkey, Greece, and the Slovak Republic. CANNOTANSWER | This lawsuit delayed the release of Ceremony in many countries including | The Cult are an English rock band formed in 1983 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead singer Ian Astbury's previous band Southern Death Cult. They gained a dedicated following in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s as a post-punk/gothic rock band, with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking into the mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s establishing themselves as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love Removal Machine". Since its initial formation in 1983, the band have had various line-ups; the longest-serving members are Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, who are also the band's two songwriters.
The Cult's debut studio album Dreamtime was released in 1984 to moderate success, with its lead single "Spiritwalker" reaching No. 1 on the UK Indie Chart. Their second studio album, Love (1985), was even more successful, charting at No. 4 in the UK and including singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Rain". The band's third album, Electric (1987), launched them new heights of success, also peaking at No. 4 in the UK and charting highly in other territories, and spawned the hit singles "Love Removal Machine", "Lil' Devil" and "Wild Flower". On that album, The Cult supplemented their post-punk sound with hard rock; the polish on this new sound was facilitated by producer Rick Rubin. After moving to Los Angeles, California, where the band has been based for the remainder of their career, The Cult continued the musical experimentation of Electric with its follow-up album Sonic Temple (1989), which marked their first collaboration with Bob Rock, who would produce several of the band's subsequent albums. Sonic Temple was their most successful album to that point, entering the Top 10 on the UK and US charts, and included one of the band's most popular songs "Fire Woman".
By the time of their fifth album Ceremony (1991), tensions and creative differences began to surface among the band members. This resulted in the recording sessions for Ceremony being held without a stable lineup, leaving Astbury and Duffy as the only two official members left, and featuring support from session musicians on bass and drums. The ongoing tension had carried over within the next four years, during which they released one more studio album, The Cult (1994), and called it quits in 1995. The Cult reformed in 1999 and released their seventh album Beyond Good and Evil two years later. The commercial failure of the album and resurfaced tensions led to the band going back on hiatus in 2002. They resumed activity in 2006, and have since released three more studio albums: Born into This (2007), Choice of Weapon (2012), and Hidden City (2016).
History
Early history (1981–1984)
The band's origins can be traced to 1981, in Bradford, Yorkshire, where vocalist and songwriter Ian Astbury formed a band called Southern Death Cult. The name was chosen with a double meaning, and was derived from the 14th-century Native American religion, the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex or Southern Death Cult as it was sometimes known, from the Mississippi delta area, but it was also a stab at what the band viewed was the centralisation of power in Southern England (including that of the music industry); there has long been a perceived notion of a North–South divide based on social, historic and economic reasons. Astbury was joined by Buzz Burrows (guitar), Barry Jepson (bass) and Aki Nawaz Qureshi (drums); they performed their first show at the Queen's Hall in their hometown of Bradford on 29 October 1981. The band were at the forefront of an emerging style of music, in the form of post-punk and gothic rock, they achieved critical acclaim from the press and music fans.
The band signed to independent record label Situation Two, an offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records, and released a three-track, triple A-side single, Moya, during this period. They toured through England headlining some shows and touring with Bauhaus and Theatre of Hate. The band played their final performance in Manchester during February 1983, meaning after only sixteen months the band was over. A compilation named The Southern Death Cult was released, this being a collection of the single, radio sessions with John Peel for Radio One and live performances - one of which an audience member recorded with a tape recorder.
In April 1983, Astbury teamed up with guitarist Billy Duffy and formed the band "Death Cult". Duffy had been in the Nosebleeds (along with Morrissey), Lonesome No More and then Theatre of Hate. In addition to Astbury and Duffy, the band also included Jamie Stewart (bass) and Raymond Taylor Smith (later known as Ray Mondo) (drums), both from the Harrow, London based post-punk band, Ritual. Death Cult made their live debut in Oslo, Norway on 25 July 1983 and also released the Death Cult EP in the same month, then toured through mainland Europe and Scotland. In September 1983, Mondo was deported to his home country of Sierra Leone and replaced by Nigel Preston, formerly of Theatre of Hate. The single "Gods Zoo" was released in October 1983. Another European tour, with UK dates, followed that autumn. To tone down their name's gothic connotations and gain broader appeal, the band changed its name to "the Cult" in January 1984 before appearing on the (UK) Channel 4 television show, The Tube.
The Cult's first studio record, Dreamtime, was recorded at Rockfield Studios, in Monmouth, Wales in 1984. The record was to be produced by Joe Julian, but after recording the drum tracks, the band decided to replace him with John Brand. Brand produced the record, but guitarist Duffy has said the drum tracks were produced by Julian, as Preston had become unreliable.
The band recorded the songs which later became known as "Butterflies", "(The) Gimmick", "A Flower in the Desert", "Horse Nation", "Spiritwalker", "Bad Medicine (Waltz)", "Dreamtime", "With Love" (later known as "Ship of Fools", and also "Sea and Sky"), "Bone Bag", "Too Young", "83rd Dream", and one untitled outtake. It is unknown what the outtake was, or whether it was developed into a song at a later date. Songs like "Horse Nation" showed Astbury's intense interest in Native American issues, with the lyrics to "Horse Nation", "See them prancing, they come neighing, to a horse nation", taken almost verbatim from the book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, while "Spiritwalker" dealt with shamanism, and the record's title and title track are overtly influenced by Australian Aboriginal beliefs.
On 4 April 1984, the Cult released the single "Spiritwalker", which reached No. 1 on the independent charts in the UK, and acted as a teaser for their forthcoming album Dreamtime. This was followed that summer by a second single, "Go West (Crazy Spinning Circles)", before the release of Dreamtime in September; the album reached No. 21 in the UK, and sold over 100,000 copies in the UK alone. On 12 July 1984, the band recorded five songs at the BBC Maida Vale 5 studio for a Richard Skinner session. Before and after the album's release, the Cult toured throughout Europe and England before recording another single, "Ressurection Joe" (UK No. 74), released that December. Following a Christmas support slot with Big Country, the Cult toured Europe with support from the Mission (then called the Sisterhood). Dreamtime was released initially only in the UK, but after its success, and as the Cult's popularity grew worldwide, it was issued in approximately 30 countries.
Mainstream success (1985–1990)
In May 1985, the Cult released their fourth single, "She Sells Sanctuary", which peaked at No. 15 in the UK and spent 23 weeks in the Top 100. The song was recently voted No. 18 in VH1's Indie 100. In June 1985, following his increasingly erratic behaviour, Preston was fired from the band. Big Country's drummer Mark Brzezicki was picked to replace Preston, and was also included in the video for "She Sells Sanctuary". The Cult then finished recording their second album, Love in July and August 1985. The band's music and image shifted from their punk-oriented roots to 1960s psychedelia influences. Love was a chart success, peaking at No. 4 in the UK and selling 100,000 copies there toward a total of 500,000 copies throughout Europe, as well as 100,000 in Australia and 500,000 copies in the United States. Love reached number 20 on the charts in The Netherlands, where it remained for 32 weeks. To date, the record has sold over two and a half million copies worldwide.
From late September 1985 to June 1986, the band went on a worldwide tour with new drummer Les Warner (who had played with Julian Lennon and Johnny Thunders). Two more singles from the Love album followed; "Rain" (charting in the UK at No. 17) and "Revolution" (charting in the UK at No. 30). Neither charted in the US. Another single, "Nirvana", was issued only in Poland. The album version of "Rain", as well as the remix "(Here Comes the) Rain", were used in the Italian horror film Dèmoni 2. Once back in England, the band booked themselves into the Manor Studios in Oxfordshire, with producer Steve Brown (who had produced Love), and recorded over a dozen new songs. The band were unhappy with the sound of their new album, titled Peace, and they decided to go to New York so producer Rick Rubin could remix the first single, "Love Removal Machine".
Rubin agreed to work with the band, but only if they rerecorded the song. Rubin eventually talked them into rerecording the entire album. The band's record company, Beggars Banquet, was displeased with this, as two months and £250,000 had already been spent on the record. However, after hearing the initial New York recording, Beggars Banquet agreed to proceed. The first single, "Love Removal Machine", was released in February 1987, and the new version of the album appeared in April that year, now renamed as Electric, reaching No. 4 and eventually outselling Love. The band toured with Kid Chaos (also known as "Haggis" and "The Kid") on bass, with Stewart on rhythm guitar. Two more singles, "Lil Devil" and "Wild Flower", were released during 1987. A few tracks from the original Peace album appeared on the single versions of "Love Removal Machine", and "Lil Devil". The full Peace album would not be released until 2000, when it was included as Disc 3 of the Rare Cult box set.
In the US, the Cult, now consisting of Astbury, Duffy, Stewart, Warner and Kid Chaos, were supported by the then-unknown Guns N' Roses. The band also appeared at Roskilde Festival in Denmark in June 1987. When the world tour wound through Australia, the band wrecked £30,000 worth of equipment, and as a result they could not tour Japan, as no company would rent them new equipment. At the end of the tour the Electric album had been certified Gold in the UK, and sold roughly 3 million copies worldwide, but the band were barely speaking to each other by then. Haggis left the band at the end of the Electric tour to form the Four Horsemen for Rubin's Def American label. Astbury and Duffy fired Warner and their management team Grant/Edwards, and moved to Los Angeles with original bassist Stewart. Warner sued the band several times for his firing, as well as for what he felt were unpaid royalties due to him for his performance on the Electric album, resulting in lengthy court battles. The Cult signed a new management deal and wrote 21 new songs for their next record.
For the next album, Stewart returned to playing bass, and John Webster was brought in to play keyboards. The band used Chris Taylor to play drums during rehearsals and record the demos, with future Kiss drummer Eric Singer performing during the second demo recording sessions. The Cult eventually recruited session-drummer Mickey Curry to fill the drumming role and Aerosmith sound engineer, Bob Rock, to produce. Recorded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from October to December 1988, the Sonic Temple record went Top 10 in both the UK and the US, where it was certified Gold and Platinum respectively. The band went on tour in support of the new album and new single "Fire Woman" (UK No. 15) (NZ No. 1), with yet another new drummer, Matt Sorum, and Webster as keyboard player. The next single, "Edie (Ciao Baby)" (UK No. 25) has become a regular song at concerts for many years.
In Europe, the band toured with Aerosmith, and in the US, after releasing another single "Sun King" (UK No. 42), they spent 1989 touring in support of Metallica before heading out on their own headlining tour later that same year. A fourth single, "Sweet Soul Sister" (UK No. 38), was released in February 1990, with the video having been filmed at Wembley Arena, London, on 25 November 1989. "Sweet Soul Sister" was partially written in Paris and was inspired by the bohemian lifestyle of that city. Released as a single in February 1990, the song was another hit in the UK, and reportedly reached number one on the rock charts in Brazil. After playing a show in Atlanta, Georgia, in February 1990, the band's management told Astbury that his father had just died of cancer. As a result, the remainder of the tour was cancelled after a final leg of shows were performed in April. After the tour ended, the band were on the verge of splitting due to Stewart retiring and moving to Canada to be with his wife, and Sorum leaving to join Guns N' Roses.
In 1990, Astbury organized the Gathering of the Tribes festival in Los Angeles and San Francisco with artists such as Soundgarden, Ice-T, Indigo Girls, Queen Latifah, Iggy Pop, the Charlatans, the Cramps and Public Enemy appearing. This two-day festival drew 40,000 people. Also in 1990, a ten CD box set was released in the UK, containing rare songs from the Cult's singles. The CDs in this box set were all issued as picture discs with rice paper covers, housed in a white box called "Singles Collection", or a black box called "E.P. Collection '84 - '90". In 1991, director Oliver Stone offered Astbury the role of Jim Morrison in Stone's film The Doors. He declined the role because he was not happy with the way Morrison was represented in the film, and the role was ultimately played by Val Kilmer.
Ceremony and the lawsuit (1991–1993)
In 1991, Astbury and Duffy were writing again for their next album. During the demo recordings, Todd Hoffman and James Kottak played bass and drums, respectively. During the actual album recording sessions, Curry was recruited again to play drums, with Charley Drayton on bass, and various other performers. Astbury and Duffy's working relationship had disintegrated by that time, with the two men reportedly rarely even being in the studio together during recording. The resulting album Ceremony was released to mixed responses. The album climbed to US No. 34, but sales were not as impressive as the previous three records, only selling around one million copies worldwide. Only two official singles were released from the record: "Wild Hearted Son" (UK No. 34, Canada No. 41) and "Heart of Soul" (UK No. 50), although "White" was released as a single only in Canada, "Sweet Salvation" was released as a single (as "Dulce Salvación") in Argentina in 1992, and the title track "Ceremony" was released in Spain.
The Cult's Ceremonial Stomp tour went through Europe in 1991 and North America in 1992. In 1991 the Cult played a show at the Marquee Club in London, which was recorded and released in February 1993, packaged with some vinyl UK copies of their first greatest hits release. Only a handful of CD copies of it were ever manufactured originally, however it was subsequently reissued on CD in 1999. An incomplete bootleg video of this show is also in circulation.
The band were sued by the parents of the Native American boy pictured on the cover of Ceremony, for alleged exploitation and for the unauthorized use of the child's image. The parents stated that the boy felt he had been cursed by the band's burning of his image, and was "emotionally scarred." This image of the boy is also burned in the video for "Wild Hearted Son". This lawsuit delayed the release of Ceremony in many countries including South Korea and Thailand, which did not see the record's release until late 1992, and it was unreleased in Turkey until the Cult played several shows in Istanbul in June 1993.
A world tour followed with backing from drummer Michael Lee (Page & Plant, Little Angels), bassist Kinley "Barney" Wolfe (Lord Tracy, Black Oak Arkansas), and keyboardist John Sinclair (Ozzy Osbourne, Uriah Heep) returning one last time, and the Gathering of the Tribes moved to the UK. Here artists such as Pearl Jam performed. The warm-up gig to the show, in a small nightclub, was dedicated to the memory of Nigel Preston, who had died a few weeks earlier at the age of 28. Following the release of the single "The Witch" (#9 in Australia) and the performance of a song for the 1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie soundtrack entitled "Zap City", produced by Steve Brown and originally a B-side to "Lil' Devil", two volumes of remixes of "She Sells Sanctuary", called Sanctuary Mixes MCMXCIII, volumes one and two, and in support of Pure Cult: for Rockers, Ravers, Lovers, and Sinners, a greatest hits compilation which debuted at No. 1 on the British charts and later went to number one in Portugal, Astbury and Duffy fired the "backing band" and recruited Craig Adams (the Mission) and Scott Garrett for performances across Europe in 1993, with some shows featuring Mike Dimkich on rhythm guitar. This tour marked the first time the band performed in Turkey, Greece, and the Slovak Republic.
The Cult and first breakup (1994–1998)
With the same line-up still in place, the band released The Cult in October 1994, produced by Bob Rock. The self-titled album is commonly referred to as the "Black Sheep" album by fans of the group, due to the image of a black sheep on the front cover. Astbury referred to the record as a collection of "very personal and very revealing" songs about his life, with the subject matter ranging from sexual abuse at the age of 15, to the death of Nigel Preston, to his directionless years spent in Glasgow in the late 1970s.
The record achieved little success, only reaching No. 69 in the US and No. 21 in the UK. Duffy remarked that he thought that the record wouldn't sell well due to the offensive lyrics. The record went to number one in Portugal also, but quickly dropped out of sight. The single "Coming Down (Drug Tongue)" was released with the band going on tour in support of the new album. Only one more single, "Star", was officially released with a live appearance on UK TV show The Word. "Star" began life in 1986 as "Tom Petty" and was recorded at the "Sonic Temple" demo sessions as "Starchild", being dropped by the band during rehearsals. In 1993 the song was resurrected and was finally completed for the record in 1994 as, just simply, "Star".
When the band began the Beauty's On The Streets tour in winter 1994, they augmented the line up with James Stevenson on rhythm guitar. As with the Ceremony record several years earlier, no other official singles were released, but several other songs were released on a strictly limited basis: "Sacred Life" was released in Spain and the Netherlands, "Be Free" was issued in Canada and France, "Saints Are Down" was issued in Greece, but none of the songs gained much commercial success. During this tour, the Cult made their first ever appearance in Norway.
During the Black Rain tour of South America in spring of 1995, despite the fact that several more new songs had already been recorded, the tour was cancelled after an appearance in Rio de Janeiro in March, and the band split up citing unspecified problems on a recent South American tour. Astbury started up a garage band called Holy Barbarians a few months later. The band made their debut at the 100 Club in London in February 1996 and released their first (and only) record in May 1996, and toured throughout North America and Europe for the rest of 1996. The band started writing material for a second record in 1997, but the band was dissolved and Astbury began writing and recording a solo record. Throughout 1997 and 1998 Astbury recorded his solo record, originally to be titled Natural Born Guerilla, later called High Time Amplifier. Ultimately the record remained unreleased until June 2000 when it was released under the name Spirit\Light\Speed. Astbury played one solo concert in 1999.
In November 1996, a number of CD reissues were released: the band's American record company released High Octane Cult, a slightly updated greatest hits compilation released only in the US and Japan; The Southern Death Cult, a remastered edition of the fifteen-song compilation CD; a ten-song compilation CD by Death Cult called Ghost Dance, consisting of the untitled four-song EP, the single "God's Zoo", and four unreleased songs from a radio broadcast; and a remastered repackaging of the Dreamtime album, containing only the ten original songs from the record in their original playing order and almost completely different but original artwork. Dreamtime Live at the Lyceum was also remastered and issued on video and for the first time on CD, with the one unreleased song from the concert, "Gimmick".
First reunion, Beyond Good and Evil and second hiatus (1999–2005)
In 1999, Astbury and Duffy reformed the Cult with Matt Sorum and ex-Porno for Pyros bassist Martyn LeNoble. Their first official concert was at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in June 1999, after having rehearsed at shows in the Los Angeles area. The band's 1999 Cult Rising reunion tour resulted in a sold out 30 date tour of the US, ending with 8 consecutive sold out nights at the LA House of Blues. In 2000, the band toured South Africa for the first time, and North and South America, and contributed the song "Painted on My Heart" to the soundtrack of the movie Gone In 60 Seconds. The song was featured prominently and the melody was fused into parts of the score. In June, Astbury's long-delayed solo record was finally released as Spirit\Light\Speed, but it failed to gain much success. In November 2000, another authorised greatest hits compilation was released, Pure Cult: The Singles 1984–1995, along with an accompanying DVD, which was later certified gold in Canada. The Cult, as well as Ian Astbury, performed on separate tracks on the Doors tribute album, Stoned Immaculate: The Music of The Doors, covering "Wild Child" and "Touch Me".
In November 2000, Beggars Banquet released 15,000 copies of a six-disc boxset (with a bonus seventh disc of remixes for the first 5000 copies) titled Rare Cult. The box set consists of album out-takes, demos, radio broadcasts, and album B-sides. It is most notable for including the previously unreleased "Peace" album in its entirety. In 2001, the band signed to Atlantic Records and recorded a new album, Beyond Good and Evil, originally being produced by Mick Jones of Foreigner, until Jones bowed out to tour with Foreigner. Astbury and Duffy co-wrote a song with Jones, an odd occurrence, as in the past, neither Astbury or Duffy would co-write their material. Bob Rock was the producer, with Martyn LeNoble and Chris Wyse as recording bassists, as Mike Dimkich played rhythm guitar on tour, and Matt Sorum returning as drummer. Although Sorum has previously toured with the band on the Sonic Temple tour in 1989, this was the first time that he had recorded a studio album with the band.
However Beyond Good and Evil was not the comeback record the band had hoped for. Despite reaching No. 37 in the US, No. 22 in Canada, and No. 25 in Spain, sales quickly dropped, only selling roughly 500,000 copies worldwide. The first single "Rise", reached No. 41 in the US, and No. 2 on the mainstream rock charts, but Atlantic Records quickly pulled the song from radio playlists. Astbury would later describe the experience with Atlantic to be "soul destroying", after Atlantic tried to tamper with the lyrics, the record cover, and choice of singles from the record.
After the first single from the record, the band's working relationship with Atlantic was on paper only, with Atlantic pulling "Rise" from the radio stations playlists, and stopping all promotion of the record. The second single "Breathe" was only released as a radio station promo, and the final single "True Believers" was only on a compilation sampler disc released in January 2002 (after the Cult's tour had already ended). Despite "True Believers" receiving radio airplay in Australia, both singles went largely unnoticed, and both Astbury and Duffy walked away from the project. LeNoble rejoined the band for the initial dates in early 2001, and Billy Morrison filled in on bass for the majority of the 2001 tour.
The European tour of 2001 was canceled, largely due to security concerns after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the band flew back to the US to tour again with Aerosmith. But the eleven-week tour was considered by fans to be a disaster, as the band played only a brief rundown of their greatest hits. In October 2001, a show at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles was filmed for release on DVD. After the tour ended in December 2001, the band took most of 2002 off, apart from a few shows in the US to promote the release of the DVD, with Scott Garrett and Craig Adams rejoining the band.
Despite the commercial disappointment of Beyond Good and Evil and the supporting tour, the band was voted "Comeback of the Year" by Metal Edge readers in the magazine's 2001 Readers' Choice Awards.
In late 2002, Ian Astbury declared the Cult to be "on ice" indefinitely, after performing a brief series of dates in October 2002 to promote the release of the Music Without Fear DVD. During this second hiatus, Astbury performed as a member of the Doors (later dubbed the Doors of the 21st Century, later still renamed D21c, and most recently known as Riders on the Storm) with two of the original members of that group. D21c was sued numerous times, both by Jim Morrison's family and by drummer John Densmore. Astbury supposedly started work on recording another solo album that later became the backbone for the Cult's Born into This.
At the same time, Duffy was part of Coloursound with bassist Craig Adams and ex-Alarm frontman Mike Peters, then Dead Men Walking (again with Peters) and later Cardboard Vampyres. Sorum became a member of the hard rock supergroup Velvet Revolver. In 2003, all of the Cult's records were issued on CD, with several bonus tracks being issued on the Russian, Belarusian, and Lithuanian versions. These eastern European releases had many printing mistakes on the jacket sleeves and lyric inserts. In October 2004, all of the Cult's records were again remastered and issued again on CD, this time in Japan in different cardboard foldout sleeves. "She Sells Sanctuary" appeared in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, playing on rock station V-Rock.
Second reunion, Born Into This and Capsule EPs (2006–2010)
Despite Astbury's previous statement from 2004 that a reunion would not happen, The Cult announced in January 2006 that they were reuniting for "some limited gigs" throughout the year. A month later, the band made their first live appearance in three-and-a-half years on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Their lineup consisted of Astbury (vocals), Duffy (lead guitar), John Tempesta (drums), Dimkich (rhythm guitar) and Wyse (returning as bassist). Their first stage show was held in March 2006 in San Francisco, California, at The Fillmore. The entire tour was recorded by Instant Live and sold after each show. In May, they did an eight date tour in Canada. Later that summer, they toured central and eastern Europe and played their first concerts in Bulgaria, Poland and Serbia. An eleven-date UK tour followed as well as several more dates in the United States, finishing with a South American tour in December. That year, Duffy began the band Circus Diablo with Billy Morrison, Sorum, Brett Scallions and Ricky Warwick.
During these tours, the band occasionally played an extended set, including several songs the band had not performed in decades: "King Contrary Man" and "Hollow Man", neither of which had been performed since 1987; also, "Libertine" was performed approximately three times, for the first time since 2000, and "Brother Wolf, Sister Moon", which was only performed one time since 1986 (for this particular song, the band played an abridged version which has never been performed before or since)
Astbury announced in February 2007 that he was leaving Riders on the Storm and returning to the Cult. He stated: "I have decided to move on and focus on my own music and legacy." The Cult was featured on Stuffmagazine.com's list of ultimate air guitar players. On 21 March 2007, it was announced that the band would be touring Europe with the Who. The first confirmed tour date was in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in early June, with at least a dozen shows set to follow. The band played a gig in London's West End at the CC Club on 7 June 2007, along with nearly two dozen shows across continental Europe during summer. The tour also includes the first performance in Romania and Croatia.
On 29 May 2007, the band signed a deal with major metal label Roadrunner Records. Their 8th studio album, titled Born into This was released on 16 October, and was produced by Martin "Youth" Glover, bass player for Killing Joke. Born into This was released as regular single disc and limited edition double disc, the second disk being a bonus 5-track CD holding the following tracks: "Stand Alone", "War Pony Destroyer", "I Assassin (Demo)", "Sound of Destruction (Demo)" and "Savages (Extended Version)". Prior to the album's release, the band played festival and headline dates, and supported the Who in Europe through summer 2007, with a US headline tour to follow.
The band's appearance at Irving Plaza in New York City in early November 2006 was filmed and was released in 2007. The Cult New York City, issued by Fontana North and is the Cult's first high definition DVD release. Meanwhile, Astbury lent vocals on two tracks of the 2007 Unkle album "War Stories", one of them being the first single from the album, "Burn My Shadow".
The band performed a UK and European tour in late-February and early-March 2008. On 24 March, they began their North American tour including a major 13-city tour in Canada. During September 2008, the Cult did a brief series of dates in the northeast United States, and they toured in Brazil as part of the South American tour in October 2008. As of May 2008, according to The Gauntlet, the Cult are currently unsigned and no longer under contract with Roadrunner Records. In October 2008, it was announced that the Cult would headline the inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Antonio, to be run 16 November 2008. The Cult announced plans for a tour showcasing their 1985 Love album across the US and then the UK in October where they will play at the Royal Albert Hall.
Coinciding with the remastered Love album and four-disc Omnibus boxed set, the Cult kicked off the long-awaited Love Live Tour in late summer. Performing their classic Love album in its entirety, each show was played with the Love tracks opening with "Nirvana" to "Black Angel". A quick intermission followed, then other Cult hits were played (varying by venue): "Sun King", "Dirty Little Rock Star", "Electric Ocean", "Illuminated". Then followed the favorites "Fire Woman", "Lil Devil", "Wild Flower", and lastly "Love Removal Machine". In the evening of 10 October 2009 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the band performed a second encore with original Cult bassist Jamie Stewart and drummer Mark Brzezicki, who played drums with the band during the Love album recording sessions in July and August 1985. The band sold Love Live USB flash drives for each show during the tour.
The Cult entered 2010 continuing their Love Live Tour and announcing more dates in the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan. The band finished recording a four-track "Capsule" with producer Chris Goss. Capsule 1 was said to be the first of three or four to be released sometime in summer 2010. Release formats include CD-DVD dualdisc, 12-inch vinyl, and digital downloads. Capsule 1 was released on 14 September 2010. The band officially announced the release of its first new studio recording since 2007, "Every Man And Woman Is A Star". The new single was released through the iTunes Store on 31 July 2010.
On 1 August 2010, the band played the sold-out music festival Sonisphere, which marked their first UK performance since the tour for their Love album. During the performance they debuted their new single, "Every Man and Woman is a Star", which was released on 1 August 2010. On 14 September 2010 the band embarked on a new U.S. tour and released Capsule 1 in conjunction with media technology company Aderra Inc. and made it available in multiple formats including a CD-DVD DualDisc, USB flash drive, 12 inch vinyl, FLAC download and MP3 download. The collection includes a short film made by singer Ian Astbury and Rick Rogers.
On 26 October 2010 the band and Aderra Inc. announced the release of a new song, "Embers", for 1 November 2010 and Capsule 2 available through their web store on 16 November 2010. Pictures from the Cult's tour stop in Chicago on 28 October 2010 can be seen at a local radio station website.
On 17 September 2010, the band performed live at the Fall Frenzy concert at the Tempe Beach Park in Tempe, Arizona. Other bands that played at this concert were Stone Temple Pilots, Shinedown, and Sevendust.
On 4 December 2010, the band performed a live set for Guitar Center Sessions on DirecTV. The episode included an interview with the band by program host, Nic Harcourt.
Choice of Weapon and Hidden City (2011–2017)
During the Cult's concert at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on 21 January 2011 Ian Astbury declared that the Cult would be recording a new album directly after the tour. They also announced that they would be working with Chris Goss, who performed with Masters of Reality as a supporting act the same evening. On 11 May 2011, it was announced that the Cult were signed to Cooking Vinyl Records, who will release the new album in early 2012. Commented guitarist Billy Duffy: "We are very much looking forward to returning to our U.K. roots in many ways working with Cooking Vinyl." Vocalist Ian Astbury added, "We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with Cooking Vinyl." By May 2011, the band had been writing and recording new demos at its Witch Mountain studio hideaway in the Hollywood Hills, and began recording their new album at Hollywood Recording Studios. In October 2011, bassist Chris Wyse stated the album was almost finished and expected to be released in April 2012. Chris also described it as a "Zep/Stooges mix of energy."
On 29 November 2011, it was announced that the album would be produced by Bob Rock, who provided the same role on Sonic Temple, The Cult and Beyond Good and Evil. The album, entitled Choice of Weapon, was released on 22 May 2012. The band partnered with Rolling Stone to premiere the first song from the album titled Lucifer on 30 January. On 5 February 2012, the Cult song "She Sells Sanctuary" was used as the soundtrack for a Budweiser commercial in a mashup with Flo Rida aired during Super Bowl XLVI. In May 2012 the Cult appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and played "For The Animals".
On 28 September 2012, it was announced that the band would release Weapon of Choice, a "prequel" album to accompany the band's latest album, Choice of Weapon. The digital-only release, available exclusively on iTunes for two months only beginning 16 October, features the songs that were ultimately included in "Choice Of Weapon" at an earlier stage of development. Explaining the motivations behind the release, singer Ian Astbury said that "These songs were turned over and over, forged in long rehearsals and writing sessions, and emanated from challenges both personal and professional. We put our guts into this; [Producer Chris] Goss was able to create an environment where the songs were born through playing and turning over lyrics, through hard work and intense sessions." Astbury added "These songs have an integrity and rawness of their own. In many ways it's a different album to the one we released and reveals the foundations of 'Choice Of Weapon'. We were able to close the doors and begin to explore spaces we had not been in for a while." The song "Twisted and Bleeding" was made available for free download at the band's website ahead of the full digital release.
On 20 June 2013, the band announced the release of Electric-Peace which comprises the entire Electric album plus the Peace album which was previously released on the now discontinued Rare Cult box set in 2000. It is due for release in the US on 30 July. In 2013 Mike Dimkich left the band and joined Bad Religion to cover for guitarist Greg Hetson. James Stevenson, from the Beauty's On The Streets tour in 1994, replaced Dimkich as the Cult's rhythm guitarist.
In March 2013, Billy Duffy told the Argentinan journalist Fabrizio Pedrotti that the Cult had begun work on a new album for a 2014 release. The band were expected to begin work on the album after they finish their 2013 world tour, where they played the Electric album in its entirety. In August 2014, Billy added that the next album, which was not expected to be released before 2015 at the earliest, "will be more guitar heavy".
On 5 November 2015, it was announced that The Cult would release their new album, entitled Hidden City, on 5 February 2016. The album is said to be the final part of a trilogy that began with Born into This, and marks the fifth time Bob Rock had produced a Cult album. The band also announced that they had hired Australian-born bassist Grant Fitzpatrick (ex-Mink) as the replacement for Chris Wyse. Chris Chaney (Jane's Addiction, Camp Freddy) and producer Bob Rock performed session bass on the album. In support of Hidden City, The Cult opened for Guns N' Roses on the Not in This Lifetime... Tour.
In an October 2016 interview with PopMatters journalist J.C. Maçek III, Cult guitarist Billy Duffy spoke of the band's playlist while on tour, saying "Obviously you want to make an impactful [show]," he continues. "There are some practical, pragmatic decisions made. If you're playing to a crowd who are not very familiar with you, there's no point of going too deep but we do always make sure we play a new song. Like on Guns N' Roses' [tour] we had fifty minutes which is ten songs all in. So, you know we just made sure that in those ten songs we played 'Deeply Ordered Chaos' which we’re proud of and it makes a certain statement. And it just alerts people to the fact that, yes, we have made a record in the last 30 years. You know and that's a good thing. Psychologically, that's the blood transfusion that we need. And we're very mindful, we have a very loyal fan base. We don't pander as you well know."
Upcoming eleventh studio album (2018–present)
In an April 2018 interview with Guitar World, guitarist Billy Duffy was asked if another album from The Cult was in the works. He replied, "Never say never! Ian and I enjoy the process of making new music, and we feel it's vital to keep the band healthy, even if it's pretty much in the law of diminishing returns area now. Who knows if it will be a whole album a series of singles or an EP? I can say new Cult music will be forthcoming, but these days we don't rush it as there's no point. Quality is key. We are past the point of having to release stuff so if we feel it's good enough, then we will release it in some shape or another."
On 2 April 2018, a tour of the United States of America called "Revolution 3 Tour" was announced for the summer. They performed as one of the three headliners, along with Stone Temple Pilots and Bush.
In April 2019, The Cult announced that they would celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of their fourth album Sonic Temple with a world tour, which began on 2 May in Houston, Texas and was expected to wrap up in 2020.
In a June 2019 interview with LA Weekly, vocalist Ian Astbury stated that The Cult were "long overdue" to release new music. He was quoted as saying: "We do have some stuff we've been working on, but it's yet to see the light of day." Six months later, Astbury told Atlantic City Weekly that the band was going to start working on new music in 2020: "We've got a few pieces lying around in various stages of completion. The intention is to get together in the New Year and take a look at what we've got and decide how we are going to go about moving forward. It's an essential part of any creative lifeblood." On May 6, 2020, The Cult announced on their Twitter page that they had signed to Black Hill Records.
On August 15, 2020, Duffy announced on his Twitter that the band were recording their new album with producer Tom Dalgety at Rockfield Studios, where The Cult had recorded their debut album Dreamtime 36 years earlier.
In support of their new album, The Cult will embark on a co-headlining six-date UK tour with Alice Cooper in May and June 2022.
Influences
Duffy and Astbury cited among their influences a lot of different bands "from the Doors to Led Zeppelin. We literally went from the front of our record collections to the back. And then along the way we were drawn in by the likes of Public Image Ltd, Joy Division and Siouxsie and the Banshees. You might not hear it in the music but it's there." They also cited Bauhaus among many other post-punk influences. Duffy also praised Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers for a major performance he attended in 1977 and Siouxsie and the Banshees whom "always had great guitar players with killer riffs." Duffy also hailed AC/DC for "the power of a good three chord riff", Pete Townshend of the Who "in terms of commitment to stage performing" and Brian May of Queen for using "‘echoplex’ tape delays to orchestrate his own solo".
Musical style
According to music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the band fuse a "hardcore punk revivalist" sound with the "pseudo-mysticism ... of the Doors and Uriah Heep and the guitar-orchestrations of Led Zeppelin and The Cure ... while adding touches of post-punk goth rock". In 1985 Astbury said, "Our music is just melodies and guitars. We're like Big Country and U2, only better!".
Members
Current members
Ian Astbury – lead vocals, occasional percussion/guitar
Billy Duffy – lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals
John Tempesta – drums, percussion
Grant Fitzpatrick – bass, backing vocals
Damon Fox – keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Discography
Dreamtime (1984)
Love (1985)
Electric (1987)
Sonic Temple (1989)
Ceremony (1991)
The Cult (1994)
Beyond Good and Evil (2001)
Born into This (2007)
Choice of Weapon (2012)
Hidden City (2016)
References
External links
Official website
Billy Duffy official website
Musical groups established in 1983
Situation Two artists
Beggars Banquet Records artists
Sire Records artists
Musical groups from Bradford
English post-punk music groups
English gothic rock groups
English hard rock musical groups
English heavy metal musical groups
English glam metal musical groups | true | [
"New York State Dept. of Social Servs. v. Dublino, 413 U.S. 405 (1973), was a Supreme Court of the United States case that primarily dealt with the issue of post-enactment legislative history.\n\nBackground \n\nThe case involved the interaction of a New York state law and a provision of the federal Social Security Act. In 1967 an amendment to the Social Security Act was passed that mandated that states had to incorporate a new program, the Work Incentive Program (WIN), into their existing state Aid to Families with Dependent Children plans. The New York law in question was the New York Work Rules which were enacted in 1971 that mandated various conditions for unemployed New Yorkers to continue receiving public assistance. Recipients of public assistance in New York sued claiming that the Work Rules were preempted by the federal WIN provision of the Social Security Act.\n\nDecision \n\nIn overturning the New York District Court’s ruling that the New York statute was preempted by the federal statute the Supreme Court relied heavily on legislative history. The Court found persuasive the legislative debates that occurred after the District Court’s ruling in which senators and representatives stated that they did not believe that Congress had intended for the federal statute to preempt the state statute. The legislators felt that as long as state courts did not contravene federal law then states were free to operate their programs as supplementary to WIN.\n\nThe Court reasoned that if Congress had intended for the federal statute to preempt any future state plans for employment then they would have expressed that intention expressly and in “direct and unambiguous language.” The Court found no manifestation of congressional intent for the federal statute to preempt state statutes. \n\nFinally, the majority opinion also found persuasive that the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) is the government agency that administers the Social Security Act and that agency never considered the WIN statute to preempt state laws. HEW, as the legislators suggested in the floor debates, routinely approved state laws such as New York’s Work Rules as long as the requirements were not arbitrary or unreasonable. Quoting Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC, 395 U.S. 367 at 381, the Court stated that “the construction of a statute by those charged with its execution should be followed unless there are compelling indications that it is wrong...” The Court found no indication that HEW was wrong to approve state programs.\n\nPost-Enactment Legislative History \n\nThis case is important for its use of post-enactment statutory interpretation. This type of legislative history is most commonly used by courts to determine what the congress who enacted the statute intended to include or not include in the statutory language; thus, it is a record of what occurred before the statute was enacted. The Court's analysis centered heavily on Congressional debates about WIN that occurred after the statute had been passed.\n\nSubsequent History \nThe WIN program was repealed by Congress on October 13, 1988.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nUnited States Supreme Court cases\nUnited States Supreme Court cases of the Burger Court\n1973 in United States case law",
"Grasz czy nie grasz () is the Polish version of Deal or No Deal. It was shown at 7:00pm CET on Saturdays on Polsat. Zygmunt Chajzer was the original host. In its third year, the studio and graphics were updated, as they were to other international versions of the show.\n\nGameplay\n\n2005 to 2006\n\nQuestion round \n250 contenders were split into two teams of 125 players each. After a trivia question round, one of the two teams remains to be split into five teams of 25. After another quiz round, one of these teams - along with one more contender selected at random from the 225 remaining contenders - will proceed to the third trivia round. These 26 competitors must answer 5 more questions, each with 4 possible answers. Contestants who choose the right answer receive 1 point for each player who answered incorrectly. The others receive nothing. Two top scorers go to the next round.\n\nSecond round \nThe two remaining contestants face each other at a single showdown-style podium with two buzzers on it. They must decide whether or not to press the button. The contestant buzzed in receive prize in a \"mystery case\", usually worth less than 10,000 PLN. The other move on to the final. A math problem is asked if nobody buzz in. The contestant buzz first and calculate correctly proceeds to the final. Before the final, the winner must choose a case.\n\nFinal \n25 contestants who had lost in the first two rounds each held a briefcase numbered from 1 to 26. If the main contestant chooses a case, the player who held it must guess the value in the case, and win 1,000 PLN multiplied by the number of remaining cases if guessed correctly. The main contestant also can call a friend who was chosen by him, but only to accept or reject the bank offer.\n\n2006 to 2007\n\nPreliminary round \nThe show calls two contestants chosen in random, who played in a SMS competition. In order to choose a winner, contestants must answer a question correctly to proceed to the final. They can buzz in if they know the answer before the host finishes reading out the answers. An incorrect answer can cause the contestant to lose the game.\n\nFinal \nThe contestant who win the preliminary round chooses one of 26 cases with values from 1 grosz to 1,000,000 PLN (see below). The chosen case is opened only at the end of the show. In the studio, four friends (who had chosen by the contestant) can give their advises to him at every stage of the final.\n\nContestant started the game nominating among the remaining 25 suitcases what will be opened. The amounts, which are revealed in the chosen cases, disappear from the board, and can not be found in the contestant's case. After the player opens 6 cases, the banker, who make a proposal to buy the contestant's case for a certain sum of money, calls the host. The bank offer depends on what amounts still remain on the board – the higher value remains, the higher is the bank offer. If the contestant accepts the offer, they win his offered amount and open their case – which was sold to the banker – then the program comes to its end.\n\nIf the contestant rejects the offer, they will continue on playing and opens another suitcase. After the player opens 5 cases, the banker makes an offer again, and respectively, 4, 3, and 2 cases. When the studio remains 6 cases, the contestant picks a case to open, and the banker makes an offer after each chosen case. When there are 2 cases remaining (including the player's case), the bank makes their last offer. If the contestant rejects this offer, they win the value in their case and the game ends.\n\nTo win the grand prize, contestants must select the case had the million złotych and reject all the banker's offers.\n\nSpecials \nA Christmas special was aired on 23 December 2006. The celebrity contestants are Elżbieta Zającówna, Agata Młynarska, Małgorzata Foremniak, Krzysztof Ibisz, Piotr Gąsowski and Robert Chojnacki. They took the offer of 365,000 PLN, with 2 values 300,000 PLN and 400,000 PLN remaining. Total winnings are donated to the Polsat Foundation on the new ENT Clinic building in Poznan. The case had the 300,000 PLN.\n\nRecords \n Małgorzata Podgórska-Paciorek, on 28 October 2006, made the history of the show. She took the bank offer of 400,000 PLN, with only 2 values remaining: 0.01 PLN and 1,000,000 PLN. He had the 0.01 PLN in his case.\n Another contestant, on 18 March 2006, leave the studio with only 0.01 PLN (a grosz is a counterpart of a cent/penny).\n The contestant played on 21 September 2006 is a priest. The priest accepted the 220,000 PLN offer, with 50,000 PLN and 500,000 PLN remaining. His case contained the 50,000 PLN.\n The highest banker offer in the 2005-2006 period was 550,000 PLN, the 2006-2007 period: 770,000 PLN.\n\nUnusual moments \n On 7 April 2007, a contestant played a risky game. She wanted to play on, but didn't need her anymore. She took the offer of 12,000 PLN, with 10 PLN and 30,000 PLN remaining. The case contained 10 PLN.\n A contestant (named Peter) broke the banker's phone on 18 November 2006.\n In the talkshow Kuba Wojewódzki, the host Zygmunt Chajzer revealed a special moment in Grasz czy nie grasz: on 22 October 2005, a contestant chose a suitcase which had the million złotych, but then gave up and accepted the 115,000 PLN bank offer.\n On 30 December 2006, the banker suggested a 0 PLN suitcase, as the host doesn't receive a phone call from him. The case has 50 PLN.\n On 6 May 2006, an unlucky contestant chose many suitcases with high amounts, so later he had 10 cases with low amounts. When he has 3 cases remaining, the host told him that if the contestant guessed the value hidden in his case, he would win 2,000 PLN. But he guessed incorrectly and lost the 2,000 PLN. Later the host told him again that the contestant could win 1,000 PLN if he guessed the amount in his case. He lost again and left with 10 PLN.\n\nCase values\n\n2005 to 2006\n\n2006 to 2007\n\nGallery\n\nPolish game shows\nDeal or No Deal\n2004 Polish television series debuts\n2006 Polish television series endings\n2000s Polish television series\nPolsat original programming"
]
|
[
"The Cult",
"Ceremony and the lawsuit (1991-1994)",
"what was the cult lawsuit?",
"The band were sued by the parents of the Native American boy pictured on the cover of Ceremony,",
"why was the band sued?",
"for alleged exploitation and for the unauthorized use of the child's image.",
"did they win the case?",
"This lawsuit delayed the release of Ceremony in many countries including"
]
| C_66bf99c1483943608bfaa88bd0e08d05_1 | which countries did this include? | 4 | Which countries had the release of Ceremony by The Cult delayed due to the lawsuit? | The Cult | In 1991, Astbury and Duffy were writing again for their next album. During the demo recordings, Todd Hoffman and James Kottak played bass and drums respectively. During the actual album recording sessions, Curry was recruited again to play drums, with Charley Drayton on bass, and various other performers. Astbury and Duffy's working relationship had disintegrated by that time, with the two men reportedly rarely even being in the studio together during recording. The resulting album Ceremony was released to mixed responses. The album climbed to US No. 34, but sales were not as impressive as the previous three records, only selling around one million copies worldwide. Only two official singles were released from the record: "Wild Hearted Son" (UK No. 34, Canada No. 41) and "Heart of Soul" (UK No. 50), although "White" was released as a single only in Canada, "Sweet Salvation" was released as a single (as "Dulce Salvacion") in Argentina in 1992, and the title track "Ceremony" was released in Spain. The Cult's Ceremonial Stomp tour went through Europe in 1991 and North America in 1992. In 1991 the Cult played a show at the Marquee Club in London, which was recorded and released in February 1993, packaged with some vinyl UK copies of their first greatest hits release. Only a handful of CD copies of it were ever manufactured originally, however it was subsequently reissued on CD in 1999. An incomplete bootleg video of this show is also in circulation. The band were sued by the parents of the Native American boy pictured on the cover of Ceremony, for alleged exploitation and for the unauthorized use of the child's image. This image of the boy is also burned in the video for "Wild Hearted Son". This lawsuit delayed the release of Ceremony in many countries including South Korea and Thailand, which did not see the record's release until late 1992, and it was unreleased in Turkey until the Cult played several shows in Istanbul in June 1993. A world tour followed with backing from future Thin Lizzy drummer Michael Lee and bassist Kinley Wolfe, and keyboardist John Sinclair returning one last time, and the Gathering of the Tribes moved to the UK. Here artists such as Pearl Jam performed. The warm-up gig to the show, in a small nightclub, was dedicated to the memory of Nigel Preston, who had died a few weeks earlier at the age of 31. Following the release of the single "The Witch" (#9 in Australia) and the performance of a song for the 1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie soundtrack entitled "Zap City", produced by Steve Brown and originally a B-side to "Lil' Devil", two volumes of remixes of "She Sells Sanctuary", called Sanctuary Mixes MCMXCIII, volumes one and two, and in support of Pure Cult: for Rockers, Ravers, Lovers, and Sinners, a greatest hits compilation which debuted at No. 1 on the British charts and later went to number one in Portugal, Astbury and Duffy fired the "backing band" and recruited Craig Adams (the Mission) and Scott Garrett for performances across Europe in 1993, with some shows featuring Mike Dimkich on rhythm guitar. This tour marked the first time the band performed in Turkey, Greece, and the Slovak Republic. CANNOTANSWER | South Korea and Thailand, which did not see the record's release until late 1992, and it was unreleased in Turkey until the Cult played several shows in Istanbul in | The Cult are an English rock band formed in 1983 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead singer Ian Astbury's previous band Southern Death Cult. They gained a dedicated following in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s as a post-punk/gothic rock band, with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking into the mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s establishing themselves as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love Removal Machine". Since its initial formation in 1983, the band have had various line-ups; the longest-serving members are Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, who are also the band's two songwriters.
The Cult's debut studio album Dreamtime was released in 1984 to moderate success, with its lead single "Spiritwalker" reaching No. 1 on the UK Indie Chart. Their second studio album, Love (1985), was even more successful, charting at No. 4 in the UK and including singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Rain". The band's third album, Electric (1987), launched them new heights of success, also peaking at No. 4 in the UK and charting highly in other territories, and spawned the hit singles "Love Removal Machine", "Lil' Devil" and "Wild Flower". On that album, The Cult supplemented their post-punk sound with hard rock; the polish on this new sound was facilitated by producer Rick Rubin. After moving to Los Angeles, California, where the band has been based for the remainder of their career, The Cult continued the musical experimentation of Electric with its follow-up album Sonic Temple (1989), which marked their first collaboration with Bob Rock, who would produce several of the band's subsequent albums. Sonic Temple was their most successful album to that point, entering the Top 10 on the UK and US charts, and included one of the band's most popular songs "Fire Woman".
By the time of their fifth album Ceremony (1991), tensions and creative differences began to surface among the band members. This resulted in the recording sessions for Ceremony being held without a stable lineup, leaving Astbury and Duffy as the only two official members left, and featuring support from session musicians on bass and drums. The ongoing tension had carried over within the next four years, during which they released one more studio album, The Cult (1994), and called it quits in 1995. The Cult reformed in 1999 and released their seventh album Beyond Good and Evil two years later. The commercial failure of the album and resurfaced tensions led to the band going back on hiatus in 2002. They resumed activity in 2006, and have since released three more studio albums: Born into This (2007), Choice of Weapon (2012), and Hidden City (2016).
History
Early history (1981–1984)
The band's origins can be traced to 1981, in Bradford, Yorkshire, where vocalist and songwriter Ian Astbury formed a band called Southern Death Cult. The name was chosen with a double meaning, and was derived from the 14th-century Native American religion, the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex or Southern Death Cult as it was sometimes known, from the Mississippi delta area, but it was also a stab at what the band viewed was the centralisation of power in Southern England (including that of the music industry); there has long been a perceived notion of a North–South divide based on social, historic and economic reasons. Astbury was joined by Buzz Burrows (guitar), Barry Jepson (bass) and Aki Nawaz Qureshi (drums); they performed their first show at the Queen's Hall in their hometown of Bradford on 29 October 1981. The band were at the forefront of an emerging style of music, in the form of post-punk and gothic rock, they achieved critical acclaim from the press and music fans.
The band signed to independent record label Situation Two, an offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records, and released a three-track, triple A-side single, Moya, during this period. They toured through England headlining some shows and touring with Bauhaus and Theatre of Hate. The band played their final performance in Manchester during February 1983, meaning after only sixteen months the band was over. A compilation named The Southern Death Cult was released, this being a collection of the single, radio sessions with John Peel for Radio One and live performances - one of which an audience member recorded with a tape recorder.
In April 1983, Astbury teamed up with guitarist Billy Duffy and formed the band "Death Cult". Duffy had been in the Nosebleeds (along with Morrissey), Lonesome No More and then Theatre of Hate. In addition to Astbury and Duffy, the band also included Jamie Stewart (bass) and Raymond Taylor Smith (later known as Ray Mondo) (drums), both from the Harrow, London based post-punk band, Ritual. Death Cult made their live debut in Oslo, Norway on 25 July 1983 and also released the Death Cult EP in the same month, then toured through mainland Europe and Scotland. In September 1983, Mondo was deported to his home country of Sierra Leone and replaced by Nigel Preston, formerly of Theatre of Hate. The single "Gods Zoo" was released in October 1983. Another European tour, with UK dates, followed that autumn. To tone down their name's gothic connotations and gain broader appeal, the band changed its name to "the Cult" in January 1984 before appearing on the (UK) Channel 4 television show, The Tube.
The Cult's first studio record, Dreamtime, was recorded at Rockfield Studios, in Monmouth, Wales in 1984. The record was to be produced by Joe Julian, but after recording the drum tracks, the band decided to replace him with John Brand. Brand produced the record, but guitarist Duffy has said the drum tracks were produced by Julian, as Preston had become unreliable.
The band recorded the songs which later became known as "Butterflies", "(The) Gimmick", "A Flower in the Desert", "Horse Nation", "Spiritwalker", "Bad Medicine (Waltz)", "Dreamtime", "With Love" (later known as "Ship of Fools", and also "Sea and Sky"), "Bone Bag", "Too Young", "83rd Dream", and one untitled outtake. It is unknown what the outtake was, or whether it was developed into a song at a later date. Songs like "Horse Nation" showed Astbury's intense interest in Native American issues, with the lyrics to "Horse Nation", "See them prancing, they come neighing, to a horse nation", taken almost verbatim from the book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, while "Spiritwalker" dealt with shamanism, and the record's title and title track are overtly influenced by Australian Aboriginal beliefs.
On 4 April 1984, the Cult released the single "Spiritwalker", which reached No. 1 on the independent charts in the UK, and acted as a teaser for their forthcoming album Dreamtime. This was followed that summer by a second single, "Go West (Crazy Spinning Circles)", before the release of Dreamtime in September; the album reached No. 21 in the UK, and sold over 100,000 copies in the UK alone. On 12 July 1984, the band recorded five songs at the BBC Maida Vale 5 studio for a Richard Skinner session. Before and after the album's release, the Cult toured throughout Europe and England before recording another single, "Ressurection Joe" (UK No. 74), released that December. Following a Christmas support slot with Big Country, the Cult toured Europe with support from the Mission (then called the Sisterhood). Dreamtime was released initially only in the UK, but after its success, and as the Cult's popularity grew worldwide, it was issued in approximately 30 countries.
Mainstream success (1985–1990)
In May 1985, the Cult released their fourth single, "She Sells Sanctuary", which peaked at No. 15 in the UK and spent 23 weeks in the Top 100. The song was recently voted No. 18 in VH1's Indie 100. In June 1985, following his increasingly erratic behaviour, Preston was fired from the band. Big Country's drummer Mark Brzezicki was picked to replace Preston, and was also included in the video for "She Sells Sanctuary". The Cult then finished recording their second album, Love in July and August 1985. The band's music and image shifted from their punk-oriented roots to 1960s psychedelia influences. Love was a chart success, peaking at No. 4 in the UK and selling 100,000 copies there toward a total of 500,000 copies throughout Europe, as well as 100,000 in Australia and 500,000 copies in the United States. Love reached number 20 on the charts in The Netherlands, where it remained for 32 weeks. To date, the record has sold over two and a half million copies worldwide.
From late September 1985 to June 1986, the band went on a worldwide tour with new drummer Les Warner (who had played with Julian Lennon and Johnny Thunders). Two more singles from the Love album followed; "Rain" (charting in the UK at No. 17) and "Revolution" (charting in the UK at No. 30). Neither charted in the US. Another single, "Nirvana", was issued only in Poland. The album version of "Rain", as well as the remix "(Here Comes the) Rain", were used in the Italian horror film Dèmoni 2. Once back in England, the band booked themselves into the Manor Studios in Oxfordshire, with producer Steve Brown (who had produced Love), and recorded over a dozen new songs. The band were unhappy with the sound of their new album, titled Peace, and they decided to go to New York so producer Rick Rubin could remix the first single, "Love Removal Machine".
Rubin agreed to work with the band, but only if they rerecorded the song. Rubin eventually talked them into rerecording the entire album. The band's record company, Beggars Banquet, was displeased with this, as two months and £250,000 had already been spent on the record. However, after hearing the initial New York recording, Beggars Banquet agreed to proceed. The first single, "Love Removal Machine", was released in February 1987, and the new version of the album appeared in April that year, now renamed as Electric, reaching No. 4 and eventually outselling Love. The band toured with Kid Chaos (also known as "Haggis" and "The Kid") on bass, with Stewart on rhythm guitar. Two more singles, "Lil Devil" and "Wild Flower", were released during 1987. A few tracks from the original Peace album appeared on the single versions of "Love Removal Machine", and "Lil Devil". The full Peace album would not be released until 2000, when it was included as Disc 3 of the Rare Cult box set.
In the US, the Cult, now consisting of Astbury, Duffy, Stewart, Warner and Kid Chaos, were supported by the then-unknown Guns N' Roses. The band also appeared at Roskilde Festival in Denmark in June 1987. When the world tour wound through Australia, the band wrecked £30,000 worth of equipment, and as a result they could not tour Japan, as no company would rent them new equipment. At the end of the tour the Electric album had been certified Gold in the UK, and sold roughly 3 million copies worldwide, but the band were barely speaking to each other by then. Haggis left the band at the end of the Electric tour to form the Four Horsemen for Rubin's Def American label. Astbury and Duffy fired Warner and their management team Grant/Edwards, and moved to Los Angeles with original bassist Stewart. Warner sued the band several times for his firing, as well as for what he felt were unpaid royalties due to him for his performance on the Electric album, resulting in lengthy court battles. The Cult signed a new management deal and wrote 21 new songs for their next record.
For the next album, Stewart returned to playing bass, and John Webster was brought in to play keyboards. The band used Chris Taylor to play drums during rehearsals and record the demos, with future Kiss drummer Eric Singer performing during the second demo recording sessions. The Cult eventually recruited session-drummer Mickey Curry to fill the drumming role and Aerosmith sound engineer, Bob Rock, to produce. Recorded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from October to December 1988, the Sonic Temple record went Top 10 in both the UK and the US, where it was certified Gold and Platinum respectively. The band went on tour in support of the new album and new single "Fire Woman" (UK No. 15) (NZ No. 1), with yet another new drummer, Matt Sorum, and Webster as keyboard player. The next single, "Edie (Ciao Baby)" (UK No. 25) has become a regular song at concerts for many years.
In Europe, the band toured with Aerosmith, and in the US, after releasing another single "Sun King" (UK No. 42), they spent 1989 touring in support of Metallica before heading out on their own headlining tour later that same year. A fourth single, "Sweet Soul Sister" (UK No. 38), was released in February 1990, with the video having been filmed at Wembley Arena, London, on 25 November 1989. "Sweet Soul Sister" was partially written in Paris and was inspired by the bohemian lifestyle of that city. Released as a single in February 1990, the song was another hit in the UK, and reportedly reached number one on the rock charts in Brazil. After playing a show in Atlanta, Georgia, in February 1990, the band's management told Astbury that his father had just died of cancer. As a result, the remainder of the tour was cancelled after a final leg of shows were performed in April. After the tour ended, the band were on the verge of splitting due to Stewart retiring and moving to Canada to be with his wife, and Sorum leaving to join Guns N' Roses.
In 1990, Astbury organized the Gathering of the Tribes festival in Los Angeles and San Francisco with artists such as Soundgarden, Ice-T, Indigo Girls, Queen Latifah, Iggy Pop, the Charlatans, the Cramps and Public Enemy appearing. This two-day festival drew 40,000 people. Also in 1990, a ten CD box set was released in the UK, containing rare songs from the Cult's singles. The CDs in this box set were all issued as picture discs with rice paper covers, housed in a white box called "Singles Collection", or a black box called "E.P. Collection '84 - '90". In 1991, director Oliver Stone offered Astbury the role of Jim Morrison in Stone's film The Doors. He declined the role because he was not happy with the way Morrison was represented in the film, and the role was ultimately played by Val Kilmer.
Ceremony and the lawsuit (1991–1993)
In 1991, Astbury and Duffy were writing again for their next album. During the demo recordings, Todd Hoffman and James Kottak played bass and drums, respectively. During the actual album recording sessions, Curry was recruited again to play drums, with Charley Drayton on bass, and various other performers. Astbury and Duffy's working relationship had disintegrated by that time, with the two men reportedly rarely even being in the studio together during recording. The resulting album Ceremony was released to mixed responses. The album climbed to US No. 34, but sales were not as impressive as the previous three records, only selling around one million copies worldwide. Only two official singles were released from the record: "Wild Hearted Son" (UK No. 34, Canada No. 41) and "Heart of Soul" (UK No. 50), although "White" was released as a single only in Canada, "Sweet Salvation" was released as a single (as "Dulce Salvación") in Argentina in 1992, and the title track "Ceremony" was released in Spain.
The Cult's Ceremonial Stomp tour went through Europe in 1991 and North America in 1992. In 1991 the Cult played a show at the Marquee Club in London, which was recorded and released in February 1993, packaged with some vinyl UK copies of their first greatest hits release. Only a handful of CD copies of it were ever manufactured originally, however it was subsequently reissued on CD in 1999. An incomplete bootleg video of this show is also in circulation.
The band were sued by the parents of the Native American boy pictured on the cover of Ceremony, for alleged exploitation and for the unauthorized use of the child's image. The parents stated that the boy felt he had been cursed by the band's burning of his image, and was "emotionally scarred." This image of the boy is also burned in the video for "Wild Hearted Son". This lawsuit delayed the release of Ceremony in many countries including South Korea and Thailand, which did not see the record's release until late 1992, and it was unreleased in Turkey until the Cult played several shows in Istanbul in June 1993.
A world tour followed with backing from drummer Michael Lee (Page & Plant, Little Angels), bassist Kinley "Barney" Wolfe (Lord Tracy, Black Oak Arkansas), and keyboardist John Sinclair (Ozzy Osbourne, Uriah Heep) returning one last time, and the Gathering of the Tribes moved to the UK. Here artists such as Pearl Jam performed. The warm-up gig to the show, in a small nightclub, was dedicated to the memory of Nigel Preston, who had died a few weeks earlier at the age of 28. Following the release of the single "The Witch" (#9 in Australia) and the performance of a song for the 1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie soundtrack entitled "Zap City", produced by Steve Brown and originally a B-side to "Lil' Devil", two volumes of remixes of "She Sells Sanctuary", called Sanctuary Mixes MCMXCIII, volumes one and two, and in support of Pure Cult: for Rockers, Ravers, Lovers, and Sinners, a greatest hits compilation which debuted at No. 1 on the British charts and later went to number one in Portugal, Astbury and Duffy fired the "backing band" and recruited Craig Adams (the Mission) and Scott Garrett for performances across Europe in 1993, with some shows featuring Mike Dimkich on rhythm guitar. This tour marked the first time the band performed in Turkey, Greece, and the Slovak Republic.
The Cult and first breakup (1994–1998)
With the same line-up still in place, the band released The Cult in October 1994, produced by Bob Rock. The self-titled album is commonly referred to as the "Black Sheep" album by fans of the group, due to the image of a black sheep on the front cover. Astbury referred to the record as a collection of "very personal and very revealing" songs about his life, with the subject matter ranging from sexual abuse at the age of 15, to the death of Nigel Preston, to his directionless years spent in Glasgow in the late 1970s.
The record achieved little success, only reaching No. 69 in the US and No. 21 in the UK. Duffy remarked that he thought that the record wouldn't sell well due to the offensive lyrics. The record went to number one in Portugal also, but quickly dropped out of sight. The single "Coming Down (Drug Tongue)" was released with the band going on tour in support of the new album. Only one more single, "Star", was officially released with a live appearance on UK TV show The Word. "Star" began life in 1986 as "Tom Petty" and was recorded at the "Sonic Temple" demo sessions as "Starchild", being dropped by the band during rehearsals. In 1993 the song was resurrected and was finally completed for the record in 1994 as, just simply, "Star".
When the band began the Beauty's On The Streets tour in winter 1994, they augmented the line up with James Stevenson on rhythm guitar. As with the Ceremony record several years earlier, no other official singles were released, but several other songs were released on a strictly limited basis: "Sacred Life" was released in Spain and the Netherlands, "Be Free" was issued in Canada and France, "Saints Are Down" was issued in Greece, but none of the songs gained much commercial success. During this tour, the Cult made their first ever appearance in Norway.
During the Black Rain tour of South America in spring of 1995, despite the fact that several more new songs had already been recorded, the tour was cancelled after an appearance in Rio de Janeiro in March, and the band split up citing unspecified problems on a recent South American tour. Astbury started up a garage band called Holy Barbarians a few months later. The band made their debut at the 100 Club in London in February 1996 and released their first (and only) record in May 1996, and toured throughout North America and Europe for the rest of 1996. The band started writing material for a second record in 1997, but the band was dissolved and Astbury began writing and recording a solo record. Throughout 1997 and 1998 Astbury recorded his solo record, originally to be titled Natural Born Guerilla, later called High Time Amplifier. Ultimately the record remained unreleased until June 2000 when it was released under the name Spirit\Light\Speed. Astbury played one solo concert in 1999.
In November 1996, a number of CD reissues were released: the band's American record company released High Octane Cult, a slightly updated greatest hits compilation released only in the US and Japan; The Southern Death Cult, a remastered edition of the fifteen-song compilation CD; a ten-song compilation CD by Death Cult called Ghost Dance, consisting of the untitled four-song EP, the single "God's Zoo", and four unreleased songs from a radio broadcast; and a remastered repackaging of the Dreamtime album, containing only the ten original songs from the record in their original playing order and almost completely different but original artwork. Dreamtime Live at the Lyceum was also remastered and issued on video and for the first time on CD, with the one unreleased song from the concert, "Gimmick".
First reunion, Beyond Good and Evil and second hiatus (1999–2005)
In 1999, Astbury and Duffy reformed the Cult with Matt Sorum and ex-Porno for Pyros bassist Martyn LeNoble. Their first official concert was at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in June 1999, after having rehearsed at shows in the Los Angeles area. The band's 1999 Cult Rising reunion tour resulted in a sold out 30 date tour of the US, ending with 8 consecutive sold out nights at the LA House of Blues. In 2000, the band toured South Africa for the first time, and North and South America, and contributed the song "Painted on My Heart" to the soundtrack of the movie Gone In 60 Seconds. The song was featured prominently and the melody was fused into parts of the score. In June, Astbury's long-delayed solo record was finally released as Spirit\Light\Speed, but it failed to gain much success. In November 2000, another authorised greatest hits compilation was released, Pure Cult: The Singles 1984–1995, along with an accompanying DVD, which was later certified gold in Canada. The Cult, as well as Ian Astbury, performed on separate tracks on the Doors tribute album, Stoned Immaculate: The Music of The Doors, covering "Wild Child" and "Touch Me".
In November 2000, Beggars Banquet released 15,000 copies of a six-disc boxset (with a bonus seventh disc of remixes for the first 5000 copies) titled Rare Cult. The box set consists of album out-takes, demos, radio broadcasts, and album B-sides. It is most notable for including the previously unreleased "Peace" album in its entirety. In 2001, the band signed to Atlantic Records and recorded a new album, Beyond Good and Evil, originally being produced by Mick Jones of Foreigner, until Jones bowed out to tour with Foreigner. Astbury and Duffy co-wrote a song with Jones, an odd occurrence, as in the past, neither Astbury or Duffy would co-write their material. Bob Rock was the producer, with Martyn LeNoble and Chris Wyse as recording bassists, as Mike Dimkich played rhythm guitar on tour, and Matt Sorum returning as drummer. Although Sorum has previously toured with the band on the Sonic Temple tour in 1989, this was the first time that he had recorded a studio album with the band.
However Beyond Good and Evil was not the comeback record the band had hoped for. Despite reaching No. 37 in the US, No. 22 in Canada, and No. 25 in Spain, sales quickly dropped, only selling roughly 500,000 copies worldwide. The first single "Rise", reached No. 41 in the US, and No. 2 on the mainstream rock charts, but Atlantic Records quickly pulled the song from radio playlists. Astbury would later describe the experience with Atlantic to be "soul destroying", after Atlantic tried to tamper with the lyrics, the record cover, and choice of singles from the record.
After the first single from the record, the band's working relationship with Atlantic was on paper only, with Atlantic pulling "Rise" from the radio stations playlists, and stopping all promotion of the record. The second single "Breathe" was only released as a radio station promo, and the final single "True Believers" was only on a compilation sampler disc released in January 2002 (after the Cult's tour had already ended). Despite "True Believers" receiving radio airplay in Australia, both singles went largely unnoticed, and both Astbury and Duffy walked away from the project. LeNoble rejoined the band for the initial dates in early 2001, and Billy Morrison filled in on bass for the majority of the 2001 tour.
The European tour of 2001 was canceled, largely due to security concerns after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the band flew back to the US to tour again with Aerosmith. But the eleven-week tour was considered by fans to be a disaster, as the band played only a brief rundown of their greatest hits. In October 2001, a show at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles was filmed for release on DVD. After the tour ended in December 2001, the band took most of 2002 off, apart from a few shows in the US to promote the release of the DVD, with Scott Garrett and Craig Adams rejoining the band.
Despite the commercial disappointment of Beyond Good and Evil and the supporting tour, the band was voted "Comeback of the Year" by Metal Edge readers in the magazine's 2001 Readers' Choice Awards.
In late 2002, Ian Astbury declared the Cult to be "on ice" indefinitely, after performing a brief series of dates in October 2002 to promote the release of the Music Without Fear DVD. During this second hiatus, Astbury performed as a member of the Doors (later dubbed the Doors of the 21st Century, later still renamed D21c, and most recently known as Riders on the Storm) with two of the original members of that group. D21c was sued numerous times, both by Jim Morrison's family and by drummer John Densmore. Astbury supposedly started work on recording another solo album that later became the backbone for the Cult's Born into This.
At the same time, Duffy was part of Coloursound with bassist Craig Adams and ex-Alarm frontman Mike Peters, then Dead Men Walking (again with Peters) and later Cardboard Vampyres. Sorum became a member of the hard rock supergroup Velvet Revolver. In 2003, all of the Cult's records were issued on CD, with several bonus tracks being issued on the Russian, Belarusian, and Lithuanian versions. These eastern European releases had many printing mistakes on the jacket sleeves and lyric inserts. In October 2004, all of the Cult's records were again remastered and issued again on CD, this time in Japan in different cardboard foldout sleeves. "She Sells Sanctuary" appeared in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, playing on rock station V-Rock.
Second reunion, Born Into This and Capsule EPs (2006–2010)
Despite Astbury's previous statement from 2004 that a reunion would not happen, The Cult announced in January 2006 that they were reuniting for "some limited gigs" throughout the year. A month later, the band made their first live appearance in three-and-a-half years on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Their lineup consisted of Astbury (vocals), Duffy (lead guitar), John Tempesta (drums), Dimkich (rhythm guitar) and Wyse (returning as bassist). Their first stage show was held in March 2006 in San Francisco, California, at The Fillmore. The entire tour was recorded by Instant Live and sold after each show. In May, they did an eight date tour in Canada. Later that summer, they toured central and eastern Europe and played their first concerts in Bulgaria, Poland and Serbia. An eleven-date UK tour followed as well as several more dates in the United States, finishing with a South American tour in December. That year, Duffy began the band Circus Diablo with Billy Morrison, Sorum, Brett Scallions and Ricky Warwick.
During these tours, the band occasionally played an extended set, including several songs the band had not performed in decades: "King Contrary Man" and "Hollow Man", neither of which had been performed since 1987; also, "Libertine" was performed approximately three times, for the first time since 2000, and "Brother Wolf, Sister Moon", which was only performed one time since 1986 (for this particular song, the band played an abridged version which has never been performed before or since)
Astbury announced in February 2007 that he was leaving Riders on the Storm and returning to the Cult. He stated: "I have decided to move on and focus on my own music and legacy." The Cult was featured on Stuffmagazine.com's list of ultimate air guitar players. On 21 March 2007, it was announced that the band would be touring Europe with the Who. The first confirmed tour date was in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in early June, with at least a dozen shows set to follow. The band played a gig in London's West End at the CC Club on 7 June 2007, along with nearly two dozen shows across continental Europe during summer. The tour also includes the first performance in Romania and Croatia.
On 29 May 2007, the band signed a deal with major metal label Roadrunner Records. Their 8th studio album, titled Born into This was released on 16 October, and was produced by Martin "Youth" Glover, bass player for Killing Joke. Born into This was released as regular single disc and limited edition double disc, the second disk being a bonus 5-track CD holding the following tracks: "Stand Alone", "War Pony Destroyer", "I Assassin (Demo)", "Sound of Destruction (Demo)" and "Savages (Extended Version)". Prior to the album's release, the band played festival and headline dates, and supported the Who in Europe through summer 2007, with a US headline tour to follow.
The band's appearance at Irving Plaza in New York City in early November 2006 was filmed and was released in 2007. The Cult New York City, issued by Fontana North and is the Cult's first high definition DVD release. Meanwhile, Astbury lent vocals on two tracks of the 2007 Unkle album "War Stories", one of them being the first single from the album, "Burn My Shadow".
The band performed a UK and European tour in late-February and early-March 2008. On 24 March, they began their North American tour including a major 13-city tour in Canada. During September 2008, the Cult did a brief series of dates in the northeast United States, and they toured in Brazil as part of the South American tour in October 2008. As of May 2008, according to The Gauntlet, the Cult are currently unsigned and no longer under contract with Roadrunner Records. In October 2008, it was announced that the Cult would headline the inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Antonio, to be run 16 November 2008. The Cult announced plans for a tour showcasing their 1985 Love album across the US and then the UK in October where they will play at the Royal Albert Hall.
Coinciding with the remastered Love album and four-disc Omnibus boxed set, the Cult kicked off the long-awaited Love Live Tour in late summer. Performing their classic Love album in its entirety, each show was played with the Love tracks opening with "Nirvana" to "Black Angel". A quick intermission followed, then other Cult hits were played (varying by venue): "Sun King", "Dirty Little Rock Star", "Electric Ocean", "Illuminated". Then followed the favorites "Fire Woman", "Lil Devil", "Wild Flower", and lastly "Love Removal Machine". In the evening of 10 October 2009 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the band performed a second encore with original Cult bassist Jamie Stewart and drummer Mark Brzezicki, who played drums with the band during the Love album recording sessions in July and August 1985. The band sold Love Live USB flash drives for each show during the tour.
The Cult entered 2010 continuing their Love Live Tour and announcing more dates in the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan. The band finished recording a four-track "Capsule" with producer Chris Goss. Capsule 1 was said to be the first of three or four to be released sometime in summer 2010. Release formats include CD-DVD dualdisc, 12-inch vinyl, and digital downloads. Capsule 1 was released on 14 September 2010. The band officially announced the release of its first new studio recording since 2007, "Every Man And Woman Is A Star". The new single was released through the iTunes Store on 31 July 2010.
On 1 August 2010, the band played the sold-out music festival Sonisphere, which marked their first UK performance since the tour for their Love album. During the performance they debuted their new single, "Every Man and Woman is a Star", which was released on 1 August 2010. On 14 September 2010 the band embarked on a new U.S. tour and released Capsule 1 in conjunction with media technology company Aderra Inc. and made it available in multiple formats including a CD-DVD DualDisc, USB flash drive, 12 inch vinyl, FLAC download and MP3 download. The collection includes a short film made by singer Ian Astbury and Rick Rogers.
On 26 October 2010 the band and Aderra Inc. announced the release of a new song, "Embers", for 1 November 2010 and Capsule 2 available through their web store on 16 November 2010. Pictures from the Cult's tour stop in Chicago on 28 October 2010 can be seen at a local radio station website.
On 17 September 2010, the band performed live at the Fall Frenzy concert at the Tempe Beach Park in Tempe, Arizona. Other bands that played at this concert were Stone Temple Pilots, Shinedown, and Sevendust.
On 4 December 2010, the band performed a live set for Guitar Center Sessions on DirecTV. The episode included an interview with the band by program host, Nic Harcourt.
Choice of Weapon and Hidden City (2011–2017)
During the Cult's concert at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on 21 January 2011 Ian Astbury declared that the Cult would be recording a new album directly after the tour. They also announced that they would be working with Chris Goss, who performed with Masters of Reality as a supporting act the same evening. On 11 May 2011, it was announced that the Cult were signed to Cooking Vinyl Records, who will release the new album in early 2012. Commented guitarist Billy Duffy: "We are very much looking forward to returning to our U.K. roots in many ways working with Cooking Vinyl." Vocalist Ian Astbury added, "We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with Cooking Vinyl." By May 2011, the band had been writing and recording new demos at its Witch Mountain studio hideaway in the Hollywood Hills, and began recording their new album at Hollywood Recording Studios. In October 2011, bassist Chris Wyse stated the album was almost finished and expected to be released in April 2012. Chris also described it as a "Zep/Stooges mix of energy."
On 29 November 2011, it was announced that the album would be produced by Bob Rock, who provided the same role on Sonic Temple, The Cult and Beyond Good and Evil. The album, entitled Choice of Weapon, was released on 22 May 2012. The band partnered with Rolling Stone to premiere the first song from the album titled Lucifer on 30 January. On 5 February 2012, the Cult song "She Sells Sanctuary" was used as the soundtrack for a Budweiser commercial in a mashup with Flo Rida aired during Super Bowl XLVI. In May 2012 the Cult appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and played "For The Animals".
On 28 September 2012, it was announced that the band would release Weapon of Choice, a "prequel" album to accompany the band's latest album, Choice of Weapon. The digital-only release, available exclusively on iTunes for two months only beginning 16 October, features the songs that were ultimately included in "Choice Of Weapon" at an earlier stage of development. Explaining the motivations behind the release, singer Ian Astbury said that "These songs were turned over and over, forged in long rehearsals and writing sessions, and emanated from challenges both personal and professional. We put our guts into this; [Producer Chris] Goss was able to create an environment where the songs were born through playing and turning over lyrics, through hard work and intense sessions." Astbury added "These songs have an integrity and rawness of their own. In many ways it's a different album to the one we released and reveals the foundations of 'Choice Of Weapon'. We were able to close the doors and begin to explore spaces we had not been in for a while." The song "Twisted and Bleeding" was made available for free download at the band's website ahead of the full digital release.
On 20 June 2013, the band announced the release of Electric-Peace which comprises the entire Electric album plus the Peace album which was previously released on the now discontinued Rare Cult box set in 2000. It is due for release in the US on 30 July. In 2013 Mike Dimkich left the band and joined Bad Religion to cover for guitarist Greg Hetson. James Stevenson, from the Beauty's On The Streets tour in 1994, replaced Dimkich as the Cult's rhythm guitarist.
In March 2013, Billy Duffy told the Argentinan journalist Fabrizio Pedrotti that the Cult had begun work on a new album for a 2014 release. The band were expected to begin work on the album after they finish their 2013 world tour, where they played the Electric album in its entirety. In August 2014, Billy added that the next album, which was not expected to be released before 2015 at the earliest, "will be more guitar heavy".
On 5 November 2015, it was announced that The Cult would release their new album, entitled Hidden City, on 5 February 2016. The album is said to be the final part of a trilogy that began with Born into This, and marks the fifth time Bob Rock had produced a Cult album. The band also announced that they had hired Australian-born bassist Grant Fitzpatrick (ex-Mink) as the replacement for Chris Wyse. Chris Chaney (Jane's Addiction, Camp Freddy) and producer Bob Rock performed session bass on the album. In support of Hidden City, The Cult opened for Guns N' Roses on the Not in This Lifetime... Tour.
In an October 2016 interview with PopMatters journalist J.C. Maçek III, Cult guitarist Billy Duffy spoke of the band's playlist while on tour, saying "Obviously you want to make an impactful [show]," he continues. "There are some practical, pragmatic decisions made. If you're playing to a crowd who are not very familiar with you, there's no point of going too deep but we do always make sure we play a new song. Like on Guns N' Roses' [tour] we had fifty minutes which is ten songs all in. So, you know we just made sure that in those ten songs we played 'Deeply Ordered Chaos' which we’re proud of and it makes a certain statement. And it just alerts people to the fact that, yes, we have made a record in the last 30 years. You know and that's a good thing. Psychologically, that's the blood transfusion that we need. And we're very mindful, we have a very loyal fan base. We don't pander as you well know."
Upcoming eleventh studio album (2018–present)
In an April 2018 interview with Guitar World, guitarist Billy Duffy was asked if another album from The Cult was in the works. He replied, "Never say never! Ian and I enjoy the process of making new music, and we feel it's vital to keep the band healthy, even if it's pretty much in the law of diminishing returns area now. Who knows if it will be a whole album a series of singles or an EP? I can say new Cult music will be forthcoming, but these days we don't rush it as there's no point. Quality is key. We are past the point of having to release stuff so if we feel it's good enough, then we will release it in some shape or another."
On 2 April 2018, a tour of the United States of America called "Revolution 3 Tour" was announced for the summer. They performed as one of the three headliners, along with Stone Temple Pilots and Bush.
In April 2019, The Cult announced that they would celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of their fourth album Sonic Temple with a world tour, which began on 2 May in Houston, Texas and was expected to wrap up in 2020.
In a June 2019 interview with LA Weekly, vocalist Ian Astbury stated that The Cult were "long overdue" to release new music. He was quoted as saying: "We do have some stuff we've been working on, but it's yet to see the light of day." Six months later, Astbury told Atlantic City Weekly that the band was going to start working on new music in 2020: "We've got a few pieces lying around in various stages of completion. The intention is to get together in the New Year and take a look at what we've got and decide how we are going to go about moving forward. It's an essential part of any creative lifeblood." On May 6, 2020, The Cult announced on their Twitter page that they had signed to Black Hill Records.
On August 15, 2020, Duffy announced on his Twitter that the band were recording their new album with producer Tom Dalgety at Rockfield Studios, where The Cult had recorded their debut album Dreamtime 36 years earlier.
In support of their new album, The Cult will embark on a co-headlining six-date UK tour with Alice Cooper in May and June 2022.
Influences
Duffy and Astbury cited among their influences a lot of different bands "from the Doors to Led Zeppelin. We literally went from the front of our record collections to the back. And then along the way we were drawn in by the likes of Public Image Ltd, Joy Division and Siouxsie and the Banshees. You might not hear it in the music but it's there." They also cited Bauhaus among many other post-punk influences. Duffy also praised Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers for a major performance he attended in 1977 and Siouxsie and the Banshees whom "always had great guitar players with killer riffs." Duffy also hailed AC/DC for "the power of a good three chord riff", Pete Townshend of the Who "in terms of commitment to stage performing" and Brian May of Queen for using "‘echoplex’ tape delays to orchestrate his own solo".
Musical style
According to music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the band fuse a "hardcore punk revivalist" sound with the "pseudo-mysticism ... of the Doors and Uriah Heep and the guitar-orchestrations of Led Zeppelin and The Cure ... while adding touches of post-punk goth rock". In 1985 Astbury said, "Our music is just melodies and guitars. We're like Big Country and U2, only better!".
Members
Current members
Ian Astbury – lead vocals, occasional percussion/guitar
Billy Duffy – lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals
John Tempesta – drums, percussion
Grant Fitzpatrick – bass, backing vocals
Damon Fox – keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Discography
Dreamtime (1984)
Love (1985)
Electric (1987)
Sonic Temple (1989)
Ceremony (1991)
The Cult (1994)
Beyond Good and Evil (2001)
Born into This (2007)
Choice of Weapon (2012)
Hidden City (2016)
References
External links
Official website
Billy Duffy official website
Musical groups established in 1983
Situation Two artists
Beggars Banquet Records artists
Sire Records artists
Musical groups from Bradford
English post-punk music groups
English gothic rock groups
English hard rock musical groups
English heavy metal musical groups
English glam metal musical groups | true | [
"2.7 million people in Ukraine (6%) were reported having a disability in 2014. This number did not include the (reportedly) 1.5% of people with temporary disabilities. In 2014, 35% of people aged 60–70 had some age-related disability. For people aged over 80 years, this number grew to 50%.\n\nUkraine is notoriously \"disability unfriendly\". For example in the capital Kyiv only 4% of infrastructure is considered to be \"disability friendly\"..\n\nIn the 1990s unemployment rates for disabled rose sharply in Ukraine (and other Eastern European countries) due to economic downfall.\n\nIn 2021 Ukraine's national railway company Ukrzaliznytsia launched its first disabled-friendly trains with dedicated wheelchair space.\n\nUkraine is one of the most successful countries of the Paralympic Games.\n\nSee also \n Healthcare in Ukraine\n Health in Ukraine\n\nReferences\n\n \nHealth in Ukraine\nHuman rights in Ukraine",
"The 2000 South American Cross Country Championships took place on February 5–6, 2000. The races were held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, jointly with the Central American and Caribbean Cross Country Championships.\n\nComplete results, results for junior and youth competitions, and medal winners were published.\n\nMedallists\n\nSouth American Cross Country Championships\n\nCentral American and Caribbean Cross Country Championships\nThis is an unofficial extraction from the results.\n\nRace results\n\nSenior men's race (12 km)\n\nNote: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result.\n\nMen's short race (4 km)\n\n†: Athlete marked as guest, but accounted for team score.\n\nNote: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result.\n†: Athlete marked as guest, but accounted for team score.\n\nJunior (U20) men's race (8 km)\n\nNote: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result.\n\nYouth (U18) men's race (4 km)\n\nNote: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result.\n\nSenior women's race (8 km)\n\nNote: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result.\n\nWomen's short race (4 km)\n\nNote: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result.\n\nJunior (U20) women's race (6 km)\n\nNote: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result.\n\nYouth (U18) women's race (3 km)\n\nNote: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result.\n\nMedal table (unofficial)\n\nSouth American Cross Country Championships\n\nNote: Totals include both individual and team medals, with medals in the team competition counting as one medal.\n\nCentral American and Caribbean Cross Country Championships\n\nNote: Totals include both individual and team medals, with medals in the team competition counting as one medal.\n\nParticipation\nAccording to an unofficial count, a total of 195 athletes from 16 countries participated.\n\nSouth American Cross Country Championships\nAccording to an unofficial count, 81 athletes from 7 countries were competing for the South American Cross Country Championships.\n\n (3)\n (23)\n (10)\n\n (20)\n (15)\n\n Panamá (5)\n (5)\n\nCentral American and Caribbean Cross Country Championships\nAccording to an unofficial count, 86 athletes from 9 countries were competing for the Central American and Caribbean Cross Country Championships. 13 athletes from Colombia and 5 athletes from Panamá competed for both championships.\n\n (2)\n (13)\n (4)\n\n (11)\n (20)\n México (14)\n\n Panamá (5)\n (9)\n (8)\n\nGuests\nIn addition, one African guest athlete, and 45 local Colombian athletes participated.\n\n (1)\n\n (45 local athletes)\n\nSee also\n 2000 in athletics (track and field)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n GBRathletics\n\nSouth American Cross Country Championships\nSouth American Cross Country Championships\nSouth American Cross Country Championships\nSouth American Cross Country Championships\nSport in Cartagena, Colombia\nCross country running in Colombia\nFebruary 2000 sports events in South America"
]
|
[
"The Cult",
"Ceremony and the lawsuit (1991-1994)",
"what was the cult lawsuit?",
"The band were sued by the parents of the Native American boy pictured on the cover of Ceremony,",
"why was the band sued?",
"for alleged exploitation and for the unauthorized use of the child's image.",
"did they win the case?",
"This lawsuit delayed the release of Ceremony in many countries including",
"which countries did this include?",
"South Korea and Thailand, which did not see the record's release until late 1992, and it was unreleased in Turkey until the Cult played several shows in Istanbul in"
]
| C_66bf99c1483943608bfaa88bd0e08d05_1 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 5 | Are there any other interesting aspects about the band The Cult and the lawsuit other than why The Cult was sued, if the The Cult won their lawsuit, and which countries had the release of Ceremony by The Cult delayed due to the lawsuit? | The Cult | In 1991, Astbury and Duffy were writing again for their next album. During the demo recordings, Todd Hoffman and James Kottak played bass and drums respectively. During the actual album recording sessions, Curry was recruited again to play drums, with Charley Drayton on bass, and various other performers. Astbury and Duffy's working relationship had disintegrated by that time, with the two men reportedly rarely even being in the studio together during recording. The resulting album Ceremony was released to mixed responses. The album climbed to US No. 34, but sales were not as impressive as the previous three records, only selling around one million copies worldwide. Only two official singles were released from the record: "Wild Hearted Son" (UK No. 34, Canada No. 41) and "Heart of Soul" (UK No. 50), although "White" was released as a single only in Canada, "Sweet Salvation" was released as a single (as "Dulce Salvacion") in Argentina in 1992, and the title track "Ceremony" was released in Spain. The Cult's Ceremonial Stomp tour went through Europe in 1991 and North America in 1992. In 1991 the Cult played a show at the Marquee Club in London, which was recorded and released in February 1993, packaged with some vinyl UK copies of their first greatest hits release. Only a handful of CD copies of it were ever manufactured originally, however it was subsequently reissued on CD in 1999. An incomplete bootleg video of this show is also in circulation. The band were sued by the parents of the Native American boy pictured on the cover of Ceremony, for alleged exploitation and for the unauthorized use of the child's image. This image of the boy is also burned in the video for "Wild Hearted Son". This lawsuit delayed the release of Ceremony in many countries including South Korea and Thailand, which did not see the record's release until late 1992, and it was unreleased in Turkey until the Cult played several shows in Istanbul in June 1993. A world tour followed with backing from future Thin Lizzy drummer Michael Lee and bassist Kinley Wolfe, and keyboardist John Sinclair returning one last time, and the Gathering of the Tribes moved to the UK. Here artists such as Pearl Jam performed. The warm-up gig to the show, in a small nightclub, was dedicated to the memory of Nigel Preston, who had died a few weeks earlier at the age of 31. Following the release of the single "The Witch" (#9 in Australia) and the performance of a song for the 1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie soundtrack entitled "Zap City", produced by Steve Brown and originally a B-side to "Lil' Devil", two volumes of remixes of "She Sells Sanctuary", called Sanctuary Mixes MCMXCIII, volumes one and two, and in support of Pure Cult: for Rockers, Ravers, Lovers, and Sinners, a greatest hits compilation which debuted at No. 1 on the British charts and later went to number one in Portugal, Astbury and Duffy fired the "backing band" and recruited Craig Adams (the Mission) and Scott Garrett for performances across Europe in 1993, with some shows featuring Mike Dimkich on rhythm guitar. This tour marked the first time the band performed in Turkey, Greece, and the Slovak Republic. CANNOTANSWER | world tour followed with backing from future Thin Lizzy drummer Michael Lee and bassist Kinley Wolfe, and keyboardist John Sinclair returning one last time, | The Cult are an English rock band formed in 1983 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead singer Ian Astbury's previous band Southern Death Cult. They gained a dedicated following in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s as a post-punk/gothic rock band, with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking into the mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s establishing themselves as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love Removal Machine". Since its initial formation in 1983, the band have had various line-ups; the longest-serving members are Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, who are also the band's two songwriters.
The Cult's debut studio album Dreamtime was released in 1984 to moderate success, with its lead single "Spiritwalker" reaching No. 1 on the UK Indie Chart. Their second studio album, Love (1985), was even more successful, charting at No. 4 in the UK and including singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Rain". The band's third album, Electric (1987), launched them new heights of success, also peaking at No. 4 in the UK and charting highly in other territories, and spawned the hit singles "Love Removal Machine", "Lil' Devil" and "Wild Flower". On that album, The Cult supplemented their post-punk sound with hard rock; the polish on this new sound was facilitated by producer Rick Rubin. After moving to Los Angeles, California, where the band has been based for the remainder of their career, The Cult continued the musical experimentation of Electric with its follow-up album Sonic Temple (1989), which marked their first collaboration with Bob Rock, who would produce several of the band's subsequent albums. Sonic Temple was their most successful album to that point, entering the Top 10 on the UK and US charts, and included one of the band's most popular songs "Fire Woman".
By the time of their fifth album Ceremony (1991), tensions and creative differences began to surface among the band members. This resulted in the recording sessions for Ceremony being held without a stable lineup, leaving Astbury and Duffy as the only two official members left, and featuring support from session musicians on bass and drums. The ongoing tension had carried over within the next four years, during which they released one more studio album, The Cult (1994), and called it quits in 1995. The Cult reformed in 1999 and released their seventh album Beyond Good and Evil two years later. The commercial failure of the album and resurfaced tensions led to the band going back on hiatus in 2002. They resumed activity in 2006, and have since released three more studio albums: Born into This (2007), Choice of Weapon (2012), and Hidden City (2016).
History
Early history (1981–1984)
The band's origins can be traced to 1981, in Bradford, Yorkshire, where vocalist and songwriter Ian Astbury formed a band called Southern Death Cult. The name was chosen with a double meaning, and was derived from the 14th-century Native American religion, the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex or Southern Death Cult as it was sometimes known, from the Mississippi delta area, but it was also a stab at what the band viewed was the centralisation of power in Southern England (including that of the music industry); there has long been a perceived notion of a North–South divide based on social, historic and economic reasons. Astbury was joined by Buzz Burrows (guitar), Barry Jepson (bass) and Aki Nawaz Qureshi (drums); they performed their first show at the Queen's Hall in their hometown of Bradford on 29 October 1981. The band were at the forefront of an emerging style of music, in the form of post-punk and gothic rock, they achieved critical acclaim from the press and music fans.
The band signed to independent record label Situation Two, an offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records, and released a three-track, triple A-side single, Moya, during this period. They toured through England headlining some shows and touring with Bauhaus and Theatre of Hate. The band played their final performance in Manchester during February 1983, meaning after only sixteen months the band was over. A compilation named The Southern Death Cult was released, this being a collection of the single, radio sessions with John Peel for Radio One and live performances - one of which an audience member recorded with a tape recorder.
In April 1983, Astbury teamed up with guitarist Billy Duffy and formed the band "Death Cult". Duffy had been in the Nosebleeds (along with Morrissey), Lonesome No More and then Theatre of Hate. In addition to Astbury and Duffy, the band also included Jamie Stewart (bass) and Raymond Taylor Smith (later known as Ray Mondo) (drums), both from the Harrow, London based post-punk band, Ritual. Death Cult made their live debut in Oslo, Norway on 25 July 1983 and also released the Death Cult EP in the same month, then toured through mainland Europe and Scotland. In September 1983, Mondo was deported to his home country of Sierra Leone and replaced by Nigel Preston, formerly of Theatre of Hate. The single "Gods Zoo" was released in October 1983. Another European tour, with UK dates, followed that autumn. To tone down their name's gothic connotations and gain broader appeal, the band changed its name to "the Cult" in January 1984 before appearing on the (UK) Channel 4 television show, The Tube.
The Cult's first studio record, Dreamtime, was recorded at Rockfield Studios, in Monmouth, Wales in 1984. The record was to be produced by Joe Julian, but after recording the drum tracks, the band decided to replace him with John Brand. Brand produced the record, but guitarist Duffy has said the drum tracks were produced by Julian, as Preston had become unreliable.
The band recorded the songs which later became known as "Butterflies", "(The) Gimmick", "A Flower in the Desert", "Horse Nation", "Spiritwalker", "Bad Medicine (Waltz)", "Dreamtime", "With Love" (later known as "Ship of Fools", and also "Sea and Sky"), "Bone Bag", "Too Young", "83rd Dream", and one untitled outtake. It is unknown what the outtake was, or whether it was developed into a song at a later date. Songs like "Horse Nation" showed Astbury's intense interest in Native American issues, with the lyrics to "Horse Nation", "See them prancing, they come neighing, to a horse nation", taken almost verbatim from the book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, while "Spiritwalker" dealt with shamanism, and the record's title and title track are overtly influenced by Australian Aboriginal beliefs.
On 4 April 1984, the Cult released the single "Spiritwalker", which reached No. 1 on the independent charts in the UK, and acted as a teaser for their forthcoming album Dreamtime. This was followed that summer by a second single, "Go West (Crazy Spinning Circles)", before the release of Dreamtime in September; the album reached No. 21 in the UK, and sold over 100,000 copies in the UK alone. On 12 July 1984, the band recorded five songs at the BBC Maida Vale 5 studio for a Richard Skinner session. Before and after the album's release, the Cult toured throughout Europe and England before recording another single, "Ressurection Joe" (UK No. 74), released that December. Following a Christmas support slot with Big Country, the Cult toured Europe with support from the Mission (then called the Sisterhood). Dreamtime was released initially only in the UK, but after its success, and as the Cult's popularity grew worldwide, it was issued in approximately 30 countries.
Mainstream success (1985–1990)
In May 1985, the Cult released their fourth single, "She Sells Sanctuary", which peaked at No. 15 in the UK and spent 23 weeks in the Top 100. The song was recently voted No. 18 in VH1's Indie 100. In June 1985, following his increasingly erratic behaviour, Preston was fired from the band. Big Country's drummer Mark Brzezicki was picked to replace Preston, and was also included in the video for "She Sells Sanctuary". The Cult then finished recording their second album, Love in July and August 1985. The band's music and image shifted from their punk-oriented roots to 1960s psychedelia influences. Love was a chart success, peaking at No. 4 in the UK and selling 100,000 copies there toward a total of 500,000 copies throughout Europe, as well as 100,000 in Australia and 500,000 copies in the United States. Love reached number 20 on the charts in The Netherlands, where it remained for 32 weeks. To date, the record has sold over two and a half million copies worldwide.
From late September 1985 to June 1986, the band went on a worldwide tour with new drummer Les Warner (who had played with Julian Lennon and Johnny Thunders). Two more singles from the Love album followed; "Rain" (charting in the UK at No. 17) and "Revolution" (charting in the UK at No. 30). Neither charted in the US. Another single, "Nirvana", was issued only in Poland. The album version of "Rain", as well as the remix "(Here Comes the) Rain", were used in the Italian horror film Dèmoni 2. Once back in England, the band booked themselves into the Manor Studios in Oxfordshire, with producer Steve Brown (who had produced Love), and recorded over a dozen new songs. The band were unhappy with the sound of their new album, titled Peace, and they decided to go to New York so producer Rick Rubin could remix the first single, "Love Removal Machine".
Rubin agreed to work with the band, but only if they rerecorded the song. Rubin eventually talked them into rerecording the entire album. The band's record company, Beggars Banquet, was displeased with this, as two months and £250,000 had already been spent on the record. However, after hearing the initial New York recording, Beggars Banquet agreed to proceed. The first single, "Love Removal Machine", was released in February 1987, and the new version of the album appeared in April that year, now renamed as Electric, reaching No. 4 and eventually outselling Love. The band toured with Kid Chaos (also known as "Haggis" and "The Kid") on bass, with Stewart on rhythm guitar. Two more singles, "Lil Devil" and "Wild Flower", were released during 1987. A few tracks from the original Peace album appeared on the single versions of "Love Removal Machine", and "Lil Devil". The full Peace album would not be released until 2000, when it was included as Disc 3 of the Rare Cult box set.
In the US, the Cult, now consisting of Astbury, Duffy, Stewart, Warner and Kid Chaos, were supported by the then-unknown Guns N' Roses. The band also appeared at Roskilde Festival in Denmark in June 1987. When the world tour wound through Australia, the band wrecked £30,000 worth of equipment, and as a result they could not tour Japan, as no company would rent them new equipment. At the end of the tour the Electric album had been certified Gold in the UK, and sold roughly 3 million copies worldwide, but the band were barely speaking to each other by then. Haggis left the band at the end of the Electric tour to form the Four Horsemen for Rubin's Def American label. Astbury and Duffy fired Warner and their management team Grant/Edwards, and moved to Los Angeles with original bassist Stewart. Warner sued the band several times for his firing, as well as for what he felt were unpaid royalties due to him for his performance on the Electric album, resulting in lengthy court battles. The Cult signed a new management deal and wrote 21 new songs for their next record.
For the next album, Stewart returned to playing bass, and John Webster was brought in to play keyboards. The band used Chris Taylor to play drums during rehearsals and record the demos, with future Kiss drummer Eric Singer performing during the second demo recording sessions. The Cult eventually recruited session-drummer Mickey Curry to fill the drumming role and Aerosmith sound engineer, Bob Rock, to produce. Recorded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from October to December 1988, the Sonic Temple record went Top 10 in both the UK and the US, where it was certified Gold and Platinum respectively. The band went on tour in support of the new album and new single "Fire Woman" (UK No. 15) (NZ No. 1), with yet another new drummer, Matt Sorum, and Webster as keyboard player. The next single, "Edie (Ciao Baby)" (UK No. 25) has become a regular song at concerts for many years.
In Europe, the band toured with Aerosmith, and in the US, after releasing another single "Sun King" (UK No. 42), they spent 1989 touring in support of Metallica before heading out on their own headlining tour later that same year. A fourth single, "Sweet Soul Sister" (UK No. 38), was released in February 1990, with the video having been filmed at Wembley Arena, London, on 25 November 1989. "Sweet Soul Sister" was partially written in Paris and was inspired by the bohemian lifestyle of that city. Released as a single in February 1990, the song was another hit in the UK, and reportedly reached number one on the rock charts in Brazil. After playing a show in Atlanta, Georgia, in February 1990, the band's management told Astbury that his father had just died of cancer. As a result, the remainder of the tour was cancelled after a final leg of shows were performed in April. After the tour ended, the band were on the verge of splitting due to Stewart retiring and moving to Canada to be with his wife, and Sorum leaving to join Guns N' Roses.
In 1990, Astbury organized the Gathering of the Tribes festival in Los Angeles and San Francisco with artists such as Soundgarden, Ice-T, Indigo Girls, Queen Latifah, Iggy Pop, the Charlatans, the Cramps and Public Enemy appearing. This two-day festival drew 40,000 people. Also in 1990, a ten CD box set was released in the UK, containing rare songs from the Cult's singles. The CDs in this box set were all issued as picture discs with rice paper covers, housed in a white box called "Singles Collection", or a black box called "E.P. Collection '84 - '90". In 1991, director Oliver Stone offered Astbury the role of Jim Morrison in Stone's film The Doors. He declined the role because he was not happy with the way Morrison was represented in the film, and the role was ultimately played by Val Kilmer.
Ceremony and the lawsuit (1991–1993)
In 1991, Astbury and Duffy were writing again for their next album. During the demo recordings, Todd Hoffman and James Kottak played bass and drums, respectively. During the actual album recording sessions, Curry was recruited again to play drums, with Charley Drayton on bass, and various other performers. Astbury and Duffy's working relationship had disintegrated by that time, with the two men reportedly rarely even being in the studio together during recording. The resulting album Ceremony was released to mixed responses. The album climbed to US No. 34, but sales were not as impressive as the previous three records, only selling around one million copies worldwide. Only two official singles were released from the record: "Wild Hearted Son" (UK No. 34, Canada No. 41) and "Heart of Soul" (UK No. 50), although "White" was released as a single only in Canada, "Sweet Salvation" was released as a single (as "Dulce Salvación") in Argentina in 1992, and the title track "Ceremony" was released in Spain.
The Cult's Ceremonial Stomp tour went through Europe in 1991 and North America in 1992. In 1991 the Cult played a show at the Marquee Club in London, which was recorded and released in February 1993, packaged with some vinyl UK copies of their first greatest hits release. Only a handful of CD copies of it were ever manufactured originally, however it was subsequently reissued on CD in 1999. An incomplete bootleg video of this show is also in circulation.
The band were sued by the parents of the Native American boy pictured on the cover of Ceremony, for alleged exploitation and for the unauthorized use of the child's image. The parents stated that the boy felt he had been cursed by the band's burning of his image, and was "emotionally scarred." This image of the boy is also burned in the video for "Wild Hearted Son". This lawsuit delayed the release of Ceremony in many countries including South Korea and Thailand, which did not see the record's release until late 1992, and it was unreleased in Turkey until the Cult played several shows in Istanbul in June 1993.
A world tour followed with backing from drummer Michael Lee (Page & Plant, Little Angels), bassist Kinley "Barney" Wolfe (Lord Tracy, Black Oak Arkansas), and keyboardist John Sinclair (Ozzy Osbourne, Uriah Heep) returning one last time, and the Gathering of the Tribes moved to the UK. Here artists such as Pearl Jam performed. The warm-up gig to the show, in a small nightclub, was dedicated to the memory of Nigel Preston, who had died a few weeks earlier at the age of 28. Following the release of the single "The Witch" (#9 in Australia) and the performance of a song for the 1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie soundtrack entitled "Zap City", produced by Steve Brown and originally a B-side to "Lil' Devil", two volumes of remixes of "She Sells Sanctuary", called Sanctuary Mixes MCMXCIII, volumes one and two, and in support of Pure Cult: for Rockers, Ravers, Lovers, and Sinners, a greatest hits compilation which debuted at No. 1 on the British charts and later went to number one in Portugal, Astbury and Duffy fired the "backing band" and recruited Craig Adams (the Mission) and Scott Garrett for performances across Europe in 1993, with some shows featuring Mike Dimkich on rhythm guitar. This tour marked the first time the band performed in Turkey, Greece, and the Slovak Republic.
The Cult and first breakup (1994–1998)
With the same line-up still in place, the band released The Cult in October 1994, produced by Bob Rock. The self-titled album is commonly referred to as the "Black Sheep" album by fans of the group, due to the image of a black sheep on the front cover. Astbury referred to the record as a collection of "very personal and very revealing" songs about his life, with the subject matter ranging from sexual abuse at the age of 15, to the death of Nigel Preston, to his directionless years spent in Glasgow in the late 1970s.
The record achieved little success, only reaching No. 69 in the US and No. 21 in the UK. Duffy remarked that he thought that the record wouldn't sell well due to the offensive lyrics. The record went to number one in Portugal also, but quickly dropped out of sight. The single "Coming Down (Drug Tongue)" was released with the band going on tour in support of the new album. Only one more single, "Star", was officially released with a live appearance on UK TV show The Word. "Star" began life in 1986 as "Tom Petty" and was recorded at the "Sonic Temple" demo sessions as "Starchild", being dropped by the band during rehearsals. In 1993 the song was resurrected and was finally completed for the record in 1994 as, just simply, "Star".
When the band began the Beauty's On The Streets tour in winter 1994, they augmented the line up with James Stevenson on rhythm guitar. As with the Ceremony record several years earlier, no other official singles were released, but several other songs were released on a strictly limited basis: "Sacred Life" was released in Spain and the Netherlands, "Be Free" was issued in Canada and France, "Saints Are Down" was issued in Greece, but none of the songs gained much commercial success. During this tour, the Cult made their first ever appearance in Norway.
During the Black Rain tour of South America in spring of 1995, despite the fact that several more new songs had already been recorded, the tour was cancelled after an appearance in Rio de Janeiro in March, and the band split up citing unspecified problems on a recent South American tour. Astbury started up a garage band called Holy Barbarians a few months later. The band made their debut at the 100 Club in London in February 1996 and released their first (and only) record in May 1996, and toured throughout North America and Europe for the rest of 1996. The band started writing material for a second record in 1997, but the band was dissolved and Astbury began writing and recording a solo record. Throughout 1997 and 1998 Astbury recorded his solo record, originally to be titled Natural Born Guerilla, later called High Time Amplifier. Ultimately the record remained unreleased until June 2000 when it was released under the name Spirit\Light\Speed. Astbury played one solo concert in 1999.
In November 1996, a number of CD reissues were released: the band's American record company released High Octane Cult, a slightly updated greatest hits compilation released only in the US and Japan; The Southern Death Cult, a remastered edition of the fifteen-song compilation CD; a ten-song compilation CD by Death Cult called Ghost Dance, consisting of the untitled four-song EP, the single "God's Zoo", and four unreleased songs from a radio broadcast; and a remastered repackaging of the Dreamtime album, containing only the ten original songs from the record in their original playing order and almost completely different but original artwork. Dreamtime Live at the Lyceum was also remastered and issued on video and for the first time on CD, with the one unreleased song from the concert, "Gimmick".
First reunion, Beyond Good and Evil and second hiatus (1999–2005)
In 1999, Astbury and Duffy reformed the Cult with Matt Sorum and ex-Porno for Pyros bassist Martyn LeNoble. Their first official concert was at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in June 1999, after having rehearsed at shows in the Los Angeles area. The band's 1999 Cult Rising reunion tour resulted in a sold out 30 date tour of the US, ending with 8 consecutive sold out nights at the LA House of Blues. In 2000, the band toured South Africa for the first time, and North and South America, and contributed the song "Painted on My Heart" to the soundtrack of the movie Gone In 60 Seconds. The song was featured prominently and the melody was fused into parts of the score. In June, Astbury's long-delayed solo record was finally released as Spirit\Light\Speed, but it failed to gain much success. In November 2000, another authorised greatest hits compilation was released, Pure Cult: The Singles 1984–1995, along with an accompanying DVD, which was later certified gold in Canada. The Cult, as well as Ian Astbury, performed on separate tracks on the Doors tribute album, Stoned Immaculate: The Music of The Doors, covering "Wild Child" and "Touch Me".
In November 2000, Beggars Banquet released 15,000 copies of a six-disc boxset (with a bonus seventh disc of remixes for the first 5000 copies) titled Rare Cult. The box set consists of album out-takes, demos, radio broadcasts, and album B-sides. It is most notable for including the previously unreleased "Peace" album in its entirety. In 2001, the band signed to Atlantic Records and recorded a new album, Beyond Good and Evil, originally being produced by Mick Jones of Foreigner, until Jones bowed out to tour with Foreigner. Astbury and Duffy co-wrote a song with Jones, an odd occurrence, as in the past, neither Astbury or Duffy would co-write their material. Bob Rock was the producer, with Martyn LeNoble and Chris Wyse as recording bassists, as Mike Dimkich played rhythm guitar on tour, and Matt Sorum returning as drummer. Although Sorum has previously toured with the band on the Sonic Temple tour in 1989, this was the first time that he had recorded a studio album with the band.
However Beyond Good and Evil was not the comeback record the band had hoped for. Despite reaching No. 37 in the US, No. 22 in Canada, and No. 25 in Spain, sales quickly dropped, only selling roughly 500,000 copies worldwide. The first single "Rise", reached No. 41 in the US, and No. 2 on the mainstream rock charts, but Atlantic Records quickly pulled the song from radio playlists. Astbury would later describe the experience with Atlantic to be "soul destroying", after Atlantic tried to tamper with the lyrics, the record cover, and choice of singles from the record.
After the first single from the record, the band's working relationship with Atlantic was on paper only, with Atlantic pulling "Rise" from the radio stations playlists, and stopping all promotion of the record. The second single "Breathe" was only released as a radio station promo, and the final single "True Believers" was only on a compilation sampler disc released in January 2002 (after the Cult's tour had already ended). Despite "True Believers" receiving radio airplay in Australia, both singles went largely unnoticed, and both Astbury and Duffy walked away from the project. LeNoble rejoined the band for the initial dates in early 2001, and Billy Morrison filled in on bass for the majority of the 2001 tour.
The European tour of 2001 was canceled, largely due to security concerns after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the band flew back to the US to tour again with Aerosmith. But the eleven-week tour was considered by fans to be a disaster, as the band played only a brief rundown of their greatest hits. In October 2001, a show at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles was filmed for release on DVD. After the tour ended in December 2001, the band took most of 2002 off, apart from a few shows in the US to promote the release of the DVD, with Scott Garrett and Craig Adams rejoining the band.
Despite the commercial disappointment of Beyond Good and Evil and the supporting tour, the band was voted "Comeback of the Year" by Metal Edge readers in the magazine's 2001 Readers' Choice Awards.
In late 2002, Ian Astbury declared the Cult to be "on ice" indefinitely, after performing a brief series of dates in October 2002 to promote the release of the Music Without Fear DVD. During this second hiatus, Astbury performed as a member of the Doors (later dubbed the Doors of the 21st Century, later still renamed D21c, and most recently known as Riders on the Storm) with two of the original members of that group. D21c was sued numerous times, both by Jim Morrison's family and by drummer John Densmore. Astbury supposedly started work on recording another solo album that later became the backbone for the Cult's Born into This.
At the same time, Duffy was part of Coloursound with bassist Craig Adams and ex-Alarm frontman Mike Peters, then Dead Men Walking (again with Peters) and later Cardboard Vampyres. Sorum became a member of the hard rock supergroup Velvet Revolver. In 2003, all of the Cult's records were issued on CD, with several bonus tracks being issued on the Russian, Belarusian, and Lithuanian versions. These eastern European releases had many printing mistakes on the jacket sleeves and lyric inserts. In October 2004, all of the Cult's records were again remastered and issued again on CD, this time in Japan in different cardboard foldout sleeves. "She Sells Sanctuary" appeared in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, playing on rock station V-Rock.
Second reunion, Born Into This and Capsule EPs (2006–2010)
Despite Astbury's previous statement from 2004 that a reunion would not happen, The Cult announced in January 2006 that they were reuniting for "some limited gigs" throughout the year. A month later, the band made their first live appearance in three-and-a-half years on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Their lineup consisted of Astbury (vocals), Duffy (lead guitar), John Tempesta (drums), Dimkich (rhythm guitar) and Wyse (returning as bassist). Their first stage show was held in March 2006 in San Francisco, California, at The Fillmore. The entire tour was recorded by Instant Live and sold after each show. In May, they did an eight date tour in Canada. Later that summer, they toured central and eastern Europe and played their first concerts in Bulgaria, Poland and Serbia. An eleven-date UK tour followed as well as several more dates in the United States, finishing with a South American tour in December. That year, Duffy began the band Circus Diablo with Billy Morrison, Sorum, Brett Scallions and Ricky Warwick.
During these tours, the band occasionally played an extended set, including several songs the band had not performed in decades: "King Contrary Man" and "Hollow Man", neither of which had been performed since 1987; also, "Libertine" was performed approximately three times, for the first time since 2000, and "Brother Wolf, Sister Moon", which was only performed one time since 1986 (for this particular song, the band played an abridged version which has never been performed before or since)
Astbury announced in February 2007 that he was leaving Riders on the Storm and returning to the Cult. He stated: "I have decided to move on and focus on my own music and legacy." The Cult was featured on Stuffmagazine.com's list of ultimate air guitar players. On 21 March 2007, it was announced that the band would be touring Europe with the Who. The first confirmed tour date was in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in early June, with at least a dozen shows set to follow. The band played a gig in London's West End at the CC Club on 7 June 2007, along with nearly two dozen shows across continental Europe during summer. The tour also includes the first performance in Romania and Croatia.
On 29 May 2007, the band signed a deal with major metal label Roadrunner Records. Their 8th studio album, titled Born into This was released on 16 October, and was produced by Martin "Youth" Glover, bass player for Killing Joke. Born into This was released as regular single disc and limited edition double disc, the second disk being a bonus 5-track CD holding the following tracks: "Stand Alone", "War Pony Destroyer", "I Assassin (Demo)", "Sound of Destruction (Demo)" and "Savages (Extended Version)". Prior to the album's release, the band played festival and headline dates, and supported the Who in Europe through summer 2007, with a US headline tour to follow.
The band's appearance at Irving Plaza in New York City in early November 2006 was filmed and was released in 2007. The Cult New York City, issued by Fontana North and is the Cult's first high definition DVD release. Meanwhile, Astbury lent vocals on two tracks of the 2007 Unkle album "War Stories", one of them being the first single from the album, "Burn My Shadow".
The band performed a UK and European tour in late-February and early-March 2008. On 24 March, they began their North American tour including a major 13-city tour in Canada. During September 2008, the Cult did a brief series of dates in the northeast United States, and they toured in Brazil as part of the South American tour in October 2008. As of May 2008, according to The Gauntlet, the Cult are currently unsigned and no longer under contract with Roadrunner Records. In October 2008, it was announced that the Cult would headline the inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Antonio, to be run 16 November 2008. The Cult announced plans for a tour showcasing their 1985 Love album across the US and then the UK in October where they will play at the Royal Albert Hall.
Coinciding with the remastered Love album and four-disc Omnibus boxed set, the Cult kicked off the long-awaited Love Live Tour in late summer. Performing their classic Love album in its entirety, each show was played with the Love tracks opening with "Nirvana" to "Black Angel". A quick intermission followed, then other Cult hits were played (varying by venue): "Sun King", "Dirty Little Rock Star", "Electric Ocean", "Illuminated". Then followed the favorites "Fire Woman", "Lil Devil", "Wild Flower", and lastly "Love Removal Machine". In the evening of 10 October 2009 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the band performed a second encore with original Cult bassist Jamie Stewart and drummer Mark Brzezicki, who played drums with the band during the Love album recording sessions in July and August 1985. The band sold Love Live USB flash drives for each show during the tour.
The Cult entered 2010 continuing their Love Live Tour and announcing more dates in the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan. The band finished recording a four-track "Capsule" with producer Chris Goss. Capsule 1 was said to be the first of three or four to be released sometime in summer 2010. Release formats include CD-DVD dualdisc, 12-inch vinyl, and digital downloads. Capsule 1 was released on 14 September 2010. The band officially announced the release of its first new studio recording since 2007, "Every Man And Woman Is A Star". The new single was released through the iTunes Store on 31 July 2010.
On 1 August 2010, the band played the sold-out music festival Sonisphere, which marked their first UK performance since the tour for their Love album. During the performance they debuted their new single, "Every Man and Woman is a Star", which was released on 1 August 2010. On 14 September 2010 the band embarked on a new U.S. tour and released Capsule 1 in conjunction with media technology company Aderra Inc. and made it available in multiple formats including a CD-DVD DualDisc, USB flash drive, 12 inch vinyl, FLAC download and MP3 download. The collection includes a short film made by singer Ian Astbury and Rick Rogers.
On 26 October 2010 the band and Aderra Inc. announced the release of a new song, "Embers", for 1 November 2010 and Capsule 2 available through their web store on 16 November 2010. Pictures from the Cult's tour stop in Chicago on 28 October 2010 can be seen at a local radio station website.
On 17 September 2010, the band performed live at the Fall Frenzy concert at the Tempe Beach Park in Tempe, Arizona. Other bands that played at this concert were Stone Temple Pilots, Shinedown, and Sevendust.
On 4 December 2010, the band performed a live set for Guitar Center Sessions on DirecTV. The episode included an interview with the band by program host, Nic Harcourt.
Choice of Weapon and Hidden City (2011–2017)
During the Cult's concert at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on 21 January 2011 Ian Astbury declared that the Cult would be recording a new album directly after the tour. They also announced that they would be working with Chris Goss, who performed with Masters of Reality as a supporting act the same evening. On 11 May 2011, it was announced that the Cult were signed to Cooking Vinyl Records, who will release the new album in early 2012. Commented guitarist Billy Duffy: "We are very much looking forward to returning to our U.K. roots in many ways working with Cooking Vinyl." Vocalist Ian Astbury added, "We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with Cooking Vinyl." By May 2011, the band had been writing and recording new demos at its Witch Mountain studio hideaway in the Hollywood Hills, and began recording their new album at Hollywood Recording Studios. In October 2011, bassist Chris Wyse stated the album was almost finished and expected to be released in April 2012. Chris also described it as a "Zep/Stooges mix of energy."
On 29 November 2011, it was announced that the album would be produced by Bob Rock, who provided the same role on Sonic Temple, The Cult and Beyond Good and Evil. The album, entitled Choice of Weapon, was released on 22 May 2012. The band partnered with Rolling Stone to premiere the first song from the album titled Lucifer on 30 January. On 5 February 2012, the Cult song "She Sells Sanctuary" was used as the soundtrack for a Budweiser commercial in a mashup with Flo Rida aired during Super Bowl XLVI. In May 2012 the Cult appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and played "For The Animals".
On 28 September 2012, it was announced that the band would release Weapon of Choice, a "prequel" album to accompany the band's latest album, Choice of Weapon. The digital-only release, available exclusively on iTunes for two months only beginning 16 October, features the songs that were ultimately included in "Choice Of Weapon" at an earlier stage of development. Explaining the motivations behind the release, singer Ian Astbury said that "These songs were turned over and over, forged in long rehearsals and writing sessions, and emanated from challenges both personal and professional. We put our guts into this; [Producer Chris] Goss was able to create an environment where the songs were born through playing and turning over lyrics, through hard work and intense sessions." Astbury added "These songs have an integrity and rawness of their own. In many ways it's a different album to the one we released and reveals the foundations of 'Choice Of Weapon'. We were able to close the doors and begin to explore spaces we had not been in for a while." The song "Twisted and Bleeding" was made available for free download at the band's website ahead of the full digital release.
On 20 June 2013, the band announced the release of Electric-Peace which comprises the entire Electric album plus the Peace album which was previously released on the now discontinued Rare Cult box set in 2000. It is due for release in the US on 30 July. In 2013 Mike Dimkich left the band and joined Bad Religion to cover for guitarist Greg Hetson. James Stevenson, from the Beauty's On The Streets tour in 1994, replaced Dimkich as the Cult's rhythm guitarist.
In March 2013, Billy Duffy told the Argentinan journalist Fabrizio Pedrotti that the Cult had begun work on a new album for a 2014 release. The band were expected to begin work on the album after they finish their 2013 world tour, where they played the Electric album in its entirety. In August 2014, Billy added that the next album, which was not expected to be released before 2015 at the earliest, "will be more guitar heavy".
On 5 November 2015, it was announced that The Cult would release their new album, entitled Hidden City, on 5 February 2016. The album is said to be the final part of a trilogy that began with Born into This, and marks the fifth time Bob Rock had produced a Cult album. The band also announced that they had hired Australian-born bassist Grant Fitzpatrick (ex-Mink) as the replacement for Chris Wyse. Chris Chaney (Jane's Addiction, Camp Freddy) and producer Bob Rock performed session bass on the album. In support of Hidden City, The Cult opened for Guns N' Roses on the Not in This Lifetime... Tour.
In an October 2016 interview with PopMatters journalist J.C. Maçek III, Cult guitarist Billy Duffy spoke of the band's playlist while on tour, saying "Obviously you want to make an impactful [show]," he continues. "There are some practical, pragmatic decisions made. If you're playing to a crowd who are not very familiar with you, there's no point of going too deep but we do always make sure we play a new song. Like on Guns N' Roses' [tour] we had fifty minutes which is ten songs all in. So, you know we just made sure that in those ten songs we played 'Deeply Ordered Chaos' which we’re proud of and it makes a certain statement. And it just alerts people to the fact that, yes, we have made a record in the last 30 years. You know and that's a good thing. Psychologically, that's the blood transfusion that we need. And we're very mindful, we have a very loyal fan base. We don't pander as you well know."
Upcoming eleventh studio album (2018–present)
In an April 2018 interview with Guitar World, guitarist Billy Duffy was asked if another album from The Cult was in the works. He replied, "Never say never! Ian and I enjoy the process of making new music, and we feel it's vital to keep the band healthy, even if it's pretty much in the law of diminishing returns area now. Who knows if it will be a whole album a series of singles or an EP? I can say new Cult music will be forthcoming, but these days we don't rush it as there's no point. Quality is key. We are past the point of having to release stuff so if we feel it's good enough, then we will release it in some shape or another."
On 2 April 2018, a tour of the United States of America called "Revolution 3 Tour" was announced for the summer. They performed as one of the three headliners, along with Stone Temple Pilots and Bush.
In April 2019, The Cult announced that they would celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of their fourth album Sonic Temple with a world tour, which began on 2 May in Houston, Texas and was expected to wrap up in 2020.
In a June 2019 interview with LA Weekly, vocalist Ian Astbury stated that The Cult were "long overdue" to release new music. He was quoted as saying: "We do have some stuff we've been working on, but it's yet to see the light of day." Six months later, Astbury told Atlantic City Weekly that the band was going to start working on new music in 2020: "We've got a few pieces lying around in various stages of completion. The intention is to get together in the New Year and take a look at what we've got and decide how we are going to go about moving forward. It's an essential part of any creative lifeblood." On May 6, 2020, The Cult announced on their Twitter page that they had signed to Black Hill Records.
On August 15, 2020, Duffy announced on his Twitter that the band were recording their new album with producer Tom Dalgety at Rockfield Studios, where The Cult had recorded their debut album Dreamtime 36 years earlier.
In support of their new album, The Cult will embark on a co-headlining six-date UK tour with Alice Cooper in May and June 2022.
Influences
Duffy and Astbury cited among their influences a lot of different bands "from the Doors to Led Zeppelin. We literally went from the front of our record collections to the back. And then along the way we were drawn in by the likes of Public Image Ltd, Joy Division and Siouxsie and the Banshees. You might not hear it in the music but it's there." They also cited Bauhaus among many other post-punk influences. Duffy also praised Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers for a major performance he attended in 1977 and Siouxsie and the Banshees whom "always had great guitar players with killer riffs." Duffy also hailed AC/DC for "the power of a good three chord riff", Pete Townshend of the Who "in terms of commitment to stage performing" and Brian May of Queen for using "‘echoplex’ tape delays to orchestrate his own solo".
Musical style
According to music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the band fuse a "hardcore punk revivalist" sound with the "pseudo-mysticism ... of the Doors and Uriah Heep and the guitar-orchestrations of Led Zeppelin and The Cure ... while adding touches of post-punk goth rock". In 1985 Astbury said, "Our music is just melodies and guitars. We're like Big Country and U2, only better!".
Members
Current members
Ian Astbury – lead vocals, occasional percussion/guitar
Billy Duffy – lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals
John Tempesta – drums, percussion
Grant Fitzpatrick – bass, backing vocals
Damon Fox – keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Discography
Dreamtime (1984)
Love (1985)
Electric (1987)
Sonic Temple (1989)
Ceremony (1991)
The Cult (1994)
Beyond Good and Evil (2001)
Born into This (2007)
Choice of Weapon (2012)
Hidden City (2016)
References
External links
Official website
Billy Duffy official website
Musical groups established in 1983
Situation Two artists
Beggars Banquet Records artists
Sire Records artists
Musical groups from Bradford
English post-punk music groups
English gothic rock groups
English hard rock musical groups
English heavy metal musical groups
English glam metal musical groups | false | [
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
]
|
[
"Bee Gees",
"2009-2012: Return to performing and Robin's death"
]
| C_6cca1f87ae8e46bd949e4e2bdf8ac2d4_0 | When was Robin's death? | 1 | When was Return to performing and Robin's death? | Bee Gees | In an interview with Easy Mix radio host Tim Roxborough on 1 September 2009, Barry's 63rd birthday, Barry commented on future tours saying that "they will be back"; but in an agreement with Warner/Rhino they would not make an announcement at that time. On 7 September 2009, Robin disclosed to Jonathan Agnew that he had been in touch with Barry and that they had agreed that the Bee Gees would re-form and "perform again". Barry and Robin performed on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing on 31 October 2009 and appeared on ABC-TV's Dancing with the Stars on 17 November 2009. On 15 March 2010, Barry and Robin inducted the Swedish group ABBA into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On 26 May 2010, the two made a surprise appearance on the ninth-season finale of American Idol. On 20 November 2011 it was announced that Robin Gibb, at 61 years old, had been diagnosed with liver cancer, a condition he had become aware of several months earlier. He had become noticeably thinner in previous months and had to cancel several appearances due to issues with severe abdominal pain. On 13 February 2012, Robin joined British military trio the Soldiers for the Coming Home charity concert at the London Palladium, in support of injured servicemen. It was his first public appearance for almost five months and his final. On 14 April 2012, it was reported that Robin had contracted pneumonia in a Chelsea hospital and was in a coma. Although he came out of his coma on 20 April 2012, his condition deteriorated rapidly, and he died on 20 May 2012 of liver and kidney failure. With Robin's death, Barry became the last surviving Gibb brother, and the Bee Gees dissolved as a musical group. CANNOTANSWER | 20 May 2012 | The Bee Gees
were a music group formed in 1958, featuring brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful as a popular music act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers of the disco music era in the mid- to late 1970s. The group sang recognisable three-part tight harmonies; Robin's clear vibrato lead vocals were a hallmark of their earlier hits, while Barry's R&B falsetto became their signature sound during the mid- to late 1970s and 1980s. The Bee Gees wrote all of their own hits, as well as writing and producing several major hits for other artists and have been regarded as one of the most important and influential acts in pop music history. They have been referred to in the media as The Disco Kings, Britain’s First Family of Harmony, and The Kings of Dance Music.
Born on the Isle of Man to English parents, the Gibb brothers lived in Chorlton, Manchester, England until the late 1950s. There, in 1955, they formed the skiffle/rock and roll group the Rattlesnakes. The family then moved to Redcliffe, in the Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia, later to Cribb Island. After achieving their first chart success in Australia as the Bee Gees with "Spicks and Specks" (their twelfth single), they returned to the UK in January 1967, when producer Robert Stigwood began promoting them to a worldwide audience. The Bee Gees' Saturday Night Fever soundtrack (1977) was the turning point of their career, with both the film and soundtrack having a cultural impact throughout the world, enhancing the disco scene's mainstream appeal. They won five Grammy Awards for Saturday Night Fever, including Album of the Year.
The Bee Gees have sold over 220 million records worldwide, making them among the best-selling music artists of all time. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997; the Hall's citation says, "Only Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and Paul McCartney have outsold the Bee Gees." With nine number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100, the Bee Gees are the third-most successful band in Billboard charts history behind only the Beatles and the Supremes.
Following Maurice's sudden death in January 2003 at the age of 53, Barry and Robin retired the group's name after 45 years of activity. In 2009, Robin announced that he and Barry had agreed that the Bee Gees would re-form and perform again. Robin died in May 2012, aged 62, after a prolonged period of failing health, leaving Barry as the only surviving member of the group.
History
1955–1966: Music origins, Bee Gees formation and popularity in Australia
Born on the Isle of Man during the late 1940s, the Gibb brothers moved to their father Hugh Gibb's hometown of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Greater Manchester, England in 1955. They formed a skiffle/rock-and-roll group, the Rattlesnakes, which consisted of Barry on guitar and vocals, Robin and Maurice on vocals and friends Paul Frost on drums and Kenny Horrocks on tea-chest bass. In December 1957 the boys began to sing in harmony. The story is told that they were going to lip-sync to a record in the local Gaumont cinema (as other children had done on previous weeks), but as they were running to the theatre, the fragile shellac 78-RPM record broke. The brothers had to sing live, but received such a positive response from the audience that they decided to pursue a singing career. In May 1958 the Rattlesnakes disbanded when Frost and Horrocks left, so the Gibb brothers then formed Wee Johnny Hayes and the Blue Cats, with Barry as "Johnny Hayes".
In August 1958, the Gibb family, including older sister Lesley and infant brother Andy (born in March 1958), emigrated to Australia and settled in Redcliffe, Queensland, just north-east of Brisbane. The young brothers began performing to raise pocket money. Speedway promoter and driver Bill Goode, who had hired the brothers to entertain the crowd at the Redcliffe Speedway in 1960, introduced them to Brisbane radio-presenter jockey Bill Gates. The crowd at the speedway would throw money onto the track for the boys, who generally performed during the interval of meetings (usually on the back of a truck that drove around the track) and, in a deal with Goode, any money they collected from the crowd they were allowed to keep. Gates named the group the "BGs" (later changed to "Bee Gees") after his, Goode's and Barry Gibb's initials. The name was not specifically a reference to "Brothers Gibb", despite popular belief.
During the next few years, they began working regularly at resorts on the Queensland coast. Through his songwriting, Barry sparked the interest of Australian star Col Joye, who helped the brothers get a recording deal in 1963 with Festival Records subsidiary Leedon Records under the name "Bee Gees". The three released two or three singles a year, while Barry supplied additional songs to other Australian artists. In 1962 the Bee Gees were chosen as the supporting act for Chubby Checker's concert at the Sydney Stadium.
From 1963 to 1966, the Gibb family lived at 171 Bunnerong Road, Maroubra, in Sydney. Just prior to his death, Robin Gibb recorded the song "Sydney" about the brothers' experience of living in that city. It was released on his posthumous album 50 St. Catherine's Drive. The house was demolished in 2016.
A minor hit in 1965, "Wine and Women", led to the group's first LP, The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs. By 1966 Festival Records was, however, on the verge of dropping them from the Leedon roster because of their perceived lack of commercial success. At this time the brothers met the American-born songwriter, producer and entrepreneur Nat Kipner, who had just been appointed A&R manager of a new independent label, Spin Records. Kipner briefly took over as the group's manager and successfully negotiated their transfer to Spin in exchange for granting Festival the Australian distribution-rights to the group's recordings. Through Kipner the Bee Gees met engineer-producer, Ossie Byrne, who produced (or co-produced with Kipner) many of the earlier Spin recordings, most of which were cut at his own small, self-built St Clair Studio in the Sydney suburb of Hurstville. Byrne gave the Gibb brothers virtually unlimited access to St Clair Studio over a period of several months in mid-1966. The group later acknowledged that this enabled them to greatly improve their skills as recording artists. During this productive time they recorded a large batch of original material—including the song that became their first major hit, "Spicks and Specks" (on which Byrne played the trumpet coda)—as well as cover versions of current hits by overseas acts such as the Beatles. They regularly collaborated with other local musicians, including members of beat band Steve & The Board, led by Steve Kipner, Nat's teenage son.
Frustrated by their lack of success, the Gibbs began their return journey to England on 4 January 1967, with Ossie Byrne travelling with them. While at sea in January 1967, the Gibbs learned that Go-Set, Australia's most popular and influential music newspaper, had declared "Spicks and Specks" the "Best Single of the Year".
1967–1969: International fame and touring years
Bee Gees' 1st, Horizontal and Idea
Before their departure from Australia to England, Hugh Gibb sent demos to Brian Epstein, who managed the Beatles and directed NEMS, a British music store. Epstein passed the demo tapes to Robert Stigwood, who had recently joined NEMS. After an audition with Stigwood in February 1967, the Bee Gees signed a five-year contract whereby Polydor Records would release their records in the UK, and Atco Records would do so in the US. Work quickly began on the group's first international album, and Stigwood launched a promotional campaign to coincide with its release.
Stigwood proclaimed that the Bee Gees were "The most significant new musical talent of 1967", thus initiating the comparison of the Bee Gees to the Beatles. Before recording the first album, the group expanded to include Colin Petersen and Vince Melouney. "New York Mining Disaster 1941," their second British single (their first-issued UK 45 rpm was "Spicks and Specks"), was issued to radio stations with a blank white label listing only the song title. Some DJs immediately assumed this was a new single by the Beatles and started playing the song in heavy rotation. This helped the song climb into the top 20 in both the UK and US.
No such chicanery was needed to boost the Bee Gees' next single, "To Love Somebody", into the US Top 20. Originally written for Otis Redding, "To Love Somebody", a soulful ballad sung by Barry, has since become a pop standard covered by many artists. Another single, "Holiday", released in the US, peaked at No. 16.
The parent album, Bee Gees 1st (their first internationally), peaked at No. 7 in the US and No. 8 in the UK. Bill Shepherd was credited as the arranger. After recording that album, the group recorded their first BBC session at the Playhouse Theatre, Northumberland Avenue, in London, with Bill Bebb as the producer, and they performed three songs. That session is included on BBC Sessions: 1967–1973 (2008). After the release of Bee Gees' 1st, the group was first introduced in New York as "the English surprise." At that time, the band made their first British TV appearance on Top of the Pops. Maurice recalled:
In late 1967, they began recording the second album. On 21 December 1967, in a live broadcast from Liverpool Anglican Cathedral for a Christmas television special called How On Earth?, they performed their own song, "Thank You For Christmas" which was written especially for the programme, as well as a medley of the traditional Christmas carols "Silent Night," "The First Noel" and "Mary's Boy Child" (the latter incorrectly noted as "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" on tape boxes and subsequent release). The songs were all pre-recorded on 1 December 1967 and the group lip-synched their performance. The recordings were eventually released on the "Horizontal" reissue bonus disc in 2008. The folk group the Settlers and Radio 1 disc-jockey, Kenny Everett, also performed on the programme which was presented by the Reverend Edward H. Patey, dean of the cathedral.
January 1968 began with a promotional trip to the US. Los Angeles Police were on alert in anticipation of a Beatles-type reception, and special security arrangements were being put in place. In February, Horizontal repeated the success of their first album, featuring the group's first UK No. 1 single "Massachusetts" (a No. 11 US hit) and the No. 7 UK single "World." The sound of the album Horizontal had a more "rock" sound than their previous release, although ballads like "And the Sun Will Shine" and "Really and Sincerely" were also prominent. The Horizontal album reached No. 12 in the US and No. 16 in the UK.
With the release of Horizontal, they also embarked on a Scandinavian tour with concerts in Copenhagen. Around the same time, the Bee Gees turned down an offer to write and perform the soundtrack for the film Wonderwall, according to director Joe Massot.
On 27 February 1968, the band, backed by the 17-piece Massachusetts String Orchestra, began their first tour of Germany with two concerts at Hamburg Musikhalle. In March 1968, the band was supported by Procol Harum (who had a well-known hit "A Whiter Shade of Pale") on their German tour. As Robin's partner Molly Hullis recalls: "Germans were wilder than the fans in England at the heights of Beatlemania." The tour schedule took them to 11 venues in as many days with 18 concerts played, finishing with a brace of shows at the Stadthalle, Braunschweig.
After that, the group was off to Switzerland. As Maurice described it:
On 17 March, the band performed "Words" on The Ed Sullivan Show. The other artists who performed on that night's show were Lucille Ball, George Hamilton and Fran Jeffries. On 27 March 1968, the band performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Two more singles followed in early 1968: the ballad "Words" (No. 8 UK, No. 15 US) and the double A-sided single "Jumbo" backed with "The Singer Sang His Song". "Jumbo" only reached No. 25 in the UK and No. 57 in the US. The Bee Gees felt "The Singer Sang His Song" was the stronger of the two sides, an opinion shared by listeners in the Netherlands who made it a No. 3 hit.
Further Bee Gees chart singles followed: "I've Gotta Get a Message to You", their second UK No. 1 (No. 8 US), and "I Started a Joke" (No. 6 US), both culled from the band's third album Idea. Idea reached No. 4 in the UK and was another top 20 album in the US (No. 17).
After the tour and TV special to promote the album, Vince Melouney left the group, desiring to play more of a blues style music than the Gibbs were writing. Melouney did achieve one feat while with the Bee Gees: his composition "Such a Shame" (from Idea) is the only song on any Bee Gees album not written by a Gibb brother.
The band were due to begin a seven-week tour of the US on 2 August 1968, but on 27 July, Robin collapsed and fell unconscious. He was admitted to a London nursing home suffering from nervous exhaustion, and the American tour was postponed. The band began recording their sixth album, which resulted in their spending a week recording at Atlantic Studios in New York. Robin, still feeling poorly, missed the New York sessions, but the rest of the band put away instrumental tracks and demos.
Odessa, Cucumber Castle and break-up
By 1969, Robin began to feel that Stigwood had been favouring Barry as the frontman.
The Bee Gees' performances in early 1969 on the Top of the Pops and The Tom Jones Show performing "I Started a Joke" and "First of May" as a medley was one of the last live performances of the group with Robin.
Their next album, which was to have been a concept album called Masterpeace, evolved into the double-album Odessa. Most rock critics felt this was the best Bee Gees album of the 1960s with its progressive rock feel on the title track, the country-flavoured "Marley Purt Drive" and "Give Your Best", and ballads such as "Melody Fair" and "First of May" (the last of which became the only single from the album and a UK # 6 hit). Feeling the flipside, "Lamplight," should have been the A-side, Robin quit the group in mid-1969 and launched a solo career.
The first of many Bee Gees compilations, Best of Bee Gees, was released featuring the non-LP single "Words" plus the Australian hit "Spicks and Specks". The single "Tomorrow Tomorrow" was also released and was a moderate hit in the UK, where it reached No. 23, but it was only No. 54 in the US. The compilation reached the top 10 in both the UK and the US.
While Robin pursued his solo career, Barry, Maurice and Petersen continued on as the Bee Gees recording their next album, Cucumber Castle. The band made their debut performance without Robin at Talk of the Town. They had recruited their sister, Lesley, into the group at this time. To accompany the album, they also filmed a TV special with Frankie Howerd and cameos from several other contemporary pop and rock stars, which aired on the BBC in December 1970. Petersen played drums on the tracks recorded for the album but was fired from the group after filming began (he went on to form the Humpy Bong with Jonathan Kelly). His parts were edited out of the final cut of the film and Pentangle drummer Terry Cox was recruited to complete the recording of songs for the album.
After the album was released in early 1970, it seemed that the Bee Gees were finished. The leadoff single, "Don't Forget to Remember", was a big hit in the UK, reaching No. 2, but only reached No. 73 in the US. The next two singles, "I.O.I.O." and "If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else", barely scraped the charts. On 1 December 1969, Barry and Maurice parted ways professionally.
Maurice started to record his first solo album, The Loner, which was not released. Meanwhile, he released the single "Railroad" and starred in the West End musical Sing a Rude Song. In February 1970, Barry recorded a solo album which never saw official release either, although "I'll Kiss Your Memory" was released as a single backed by "This Time" without much interest. Meanwhile, Robin saw success in Europe and Australia with his No. 2 hit "Saved by the Bell" and the album Robin's Reign.
1970–1974: Reformation
In mid 1970, according to Barry, "Robin rang me in Spain where I was on holiday [saying] 'let's do it again'". By 21 August 1970, after they had reunited, Barry announced that the Bee Gees "are there and they will never, ever part again". Maurice said, "We just discussed it and re-formed. We want to apologise publicly to Robin for the things that have been said." Earlier, in June 1970, Robin and Maurice recorded a dozen songs before Barry joined and included two songs that were on their reunion album. Around the same time, Barry and Robin were about to publish the book On the Other Hand. They also recruited Geoff Bridgford as the group's official drummer. Bridgford had previously worked with the Groove and Tin Tin and played drums on Maurice's unreleased first solo album.
In 1970, 2 Years On was released in October in the US and November in the UK. The lead single "Lonely Days" reached No. 3 in the United States, promoted by appearances on The Johnny Cash Show, Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, The Andy Williams Show, The Dick Cavett Show and The Ed Sullivan Show.
Their ninth album, Trafalgar, was released in late 1971. The single "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" was their first to hit No. 1 on the US charts, while "Israel" reached No. 22 in the Netherlands. "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" also brought the Bee Gees their first Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Later that year, the group's songs were included in the soundtrack for the film Melody.
In 1972, they hit No. 16 in the US with the non-album single "My World", backed by Maurice's composition "On Time". Another 1972 single, "Run to Me" from the LP To Whom It May Concern, returned them to the UK top 10 for the first time in three years. On 24 November 1972, the band headlined the "Woodstock of the West" Festival at the Los Angeles Coliseum (which was a West Coast answer to Woodstock in New York), which also featured Sly and the Family Stone, Stevie Wonder and the Eagles. Also in 1972, the group sang "Hey Jude" with Wilson Pickett.
By 1973, however, the Bee Gees were in a rut. The album Life in a Tin Can, released on Robert Stigwood's newly formed RSO Records, and its lead-off single, "Saw a New Morning", sold poorly with the single peaking at No. 94. This was followed by an unreleased album (known as A Kick in the Head Is Worth Eight in the Pants). A second compilation album, Best of Bee Gees, Volume 2, was released in 1973, although it did not repeat the success of Volume 1. On 6 April 1973 episode of The Midnight Special they performed "Money (That's What I Want)" with Jerry Lee Lewis. Also in 1973, they were invited by Chuck Berry to perform two songs with him onstage at The Midnight Special: "Johnny B. Goode" and "Reelin' and Rockin'".
After a tour of the United States in early 1974 and a Canadian tour later in the year, the group ended up playing small clubs. As Barry joked, "We ended up in, have you ever heard of Batley's the variety club in (West Yorkshire) England?".
On the advice of Ahmet Ertegun, head of their US label Atlantic Records, Stigwood arranged for the group to record with soul music producer Arif Mardin. The resulting LP, Mr. Natural, included fewer ballads and foreshadowed the R&B direction of the rest of their career. When it, too, failed to attract much interest, Mardin encouraged them to work within the soul music style. The brothers attempted to assemble a live stage band that could replicate their studio sound. Lead guitarist Alan Kendall had come on board in 1971 but did not have much to do until Mr. Natural. For that album, they added drummer Dennis Bryon, and they later added ex-Strawbs keyboard player Blue Weaver, completing the Bee Gees band that lasted through the late '70s. Maurice, who had previously performed on piano, guitar, harpsichord, electric piano, organ, mellotron and bass guitar, as well as mandolin and Moog synthesiser, by then confined himself to bass onstage.
1975–1979: Turning to disco
Main Course and Children of the World
At Eric Clapton's suggestion, the brothers moved to Miami, Florida, early in 1975 to record at Criteria Studios. After starting off with ballads, they eventually heeded the urging of Mardin and Stigwood, and crafted more dance-oriented disco songs, including their second US No. 1, "Jive Talkin'", along with US No. 7 "Nights on Broadway". The band liked the resulting new sound. This time the public agreed by sending the LP Main Course up the charts. This album included the first Bee Gees songs wherein Barry used falsetto, something that became a trademark of the band. This was also the first Bee Gees album to have two US top-10 singles since 1968's Idea. Main Course also became their first charting R&B album.
On the Bee Gees' appearance on The Midnight Special in 1975, to promote Main Course, they sang "To Love Somebody" with Helen Reddy. Around the same time, the Bee Gees recorded three Beatles covers—"Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight", "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" with Barry providing lead vocals, and "Sun King" with Maurice providing lead vocals, for the unsuccessful musical/documentary All This and World War II.
The next album, Children of the World, released in September 1976, was filled with Barry's new-found falsetto and Weaver's synthesizer disco licks. The first single from the album was "You Should Be Dancing", which features percussion work by musician Stephen Stills. The song pushed the Bee Gees to a level of stardom they had not previously achieved in the US, though their new R&B/disco sound was not as popular with some diehard fans. The pop ballad "Love So Right" reached No. 3 in the US, and "Boogie Child" reached US No. 12 in January 1977. The album peaked at No. 8 in the US.
Saturday Night Fever and Spirits Having Flown
Following a successful live album, Here at Last... Bee Gees... Live, the Bee Gees agreed with Stigwood to participate in the creation of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. It was the turning point of their career. The cultural impact of both the film and the soundtrack was significant throughout the world, epitomizing the disco phenomenon on both sides of the Atlantic.
The band's involvement in the film did not begin until post-production. As John Travolta asserted, "The Bee Gees weren't even involved in the movie in the beginning ... I was dancing to Stevie Wonder and Boz Scaggs." Producer Robert Stigwood commissioned the Bee Gees to create the songs for the film. The brothers wrote the songs "virtually in a single weekend" at Château d'Hérouville studio in France. Barry Gibb remembered the reaction when Stigwood and music supervisor Bill Oakes arrived and listened to the demos:
Bill Oakes, who supervised the soundtrack, asserts that Saturday Night Fever did not begin the disco craze but rather prolonged it: "Disco had run its course. These days, Fever is credited with kicking off the whole disco thing—it really didn't. Truth is, it breathed new life into a genre that was actually dying."
Three Bee Gees singles—"How Deep Is Your Love" (US No. 1, UK No. 3), "Stayin' Alive" (US No. 1, UK No. 4) and "Night Fever" (US No. 1, UK No. 1)—charted high in many countries around the world, launching the most popular period of the disco era. They also penned the song "If I Can't Have You", which became a US No. 1 hit for Yvonne Elliman, while the Bee Gees' own version was the B-side of "Stayin' Alive". Such was the popularity of Saturday Night Fever that two different versions of the song "More Than a Woman" received airplay, one by the Bee Gees, which was relegated to an album track, and another by Tavares, which was the hit.
During a nine-month period beginning in the Christmas season of 1977, seven songs written by the brothers held the No. 1 position on the US charts for 27 of 37 consecutive weeks: three of their own releases, two for brother Andy Gibb, the Yvonne Elliman single, and "Grease", performed by Frankie Valli.
Fuelled by the film's success, the soundtrack broke multiple industry records, becoming the highest-selling album in recording history to that point. With more than 40 million copies sold, Saturday Night Fever is among music's top five best selling soundtrack albums. , it is calculated as the fourth highest-selling album worldwide.
In March 1978, the Bee Gees held the top two positions on the US charts with "Night Fever" and "Stayin' Alive", the first time this had happened since the Beatles. On the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for 25 March 1978, five songs written by the Gibbs were in the US top 10 at the same time: "Night Fever", "Stayin' Alive", "If I Can't Have You", "Emotion" and "Love Is Thicker Than Water". Such chart dominance had not been seen since April 1964, when the Beatles had all five of the top five American singles. Barry Gibb became the only songwriter to have four consecutive number-one hits in the US, breaking the John Lennon and Paul McCartney 1964 record. These songs were "Stayin' Alive", "Love Is Thicker Than Water", "Night Fever" and "If I Can't Have You".
The Bee Gees won five Grammy Awards for Saturday Night Fever over two years: Album of the Year, Producer of the Year (with Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson), two awards for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals (one in 1978 for "How Deep Is Your Love" and one in 1979 for "Stayin' Alive"), and Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices for "Stayin' Alive".
During this era, Barry and Robin also wrote "Emotion" for an old friend, Australian vocalist Samantha Sang, who made it a top 10 hit, with the Bee Gees singing backing vocals. Barry also wrote the title song to the film version of the Broadway musical Grease for Frankie Valli to perform, which went to No. 1.
The Bee Gees also co-starred with Peter Frampton in Robert Stigwood's film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978), loosely inspired by the classic 1967 album by the Beatles. The movie had been heavily promoted prior to release and was expected to enjoy great commercial success. However, it was savaged by film critics as a disjointed mess and ignored by the public. Though some of its tracks charted, the soundtrack too was a high-profile flop. The single "Oh! Darling", credited to Robin Gibb, reached No. 15 in the US.
The Bee Gees' follow-up to Saturday Night Fever was the Spirits Having Flown album. It yielded three more hits: "Too Much Heaven" (US No. 1, UK No. 3), "Tragedy" (US No. 1, UK No. 1), and "Love You Inside Out" (US No. 1, UK No. 13). This gave the act six consecutive No. 1 singles in the US within a year and a half, equalling the Beatles and surpassed only by Whitney Houston.
In January 1979, the Bee Gees performed "Too Much Heaven" as their contribution to the Music for UNICEF Concert at the United Nations General Assembly. During the summer of 1979, the Bee Gees embarked on their largest concert tour covering the US and Canada. The Spirits Having Flown tour capitalised on Bee Gees fever that was sweeping the nation, with sold-out concerts in 38 cities. The Bee Gees produced a video for the title track "Too Much Heaven", directed by Miami-based filmmaker Martin Pitts and produced by Charles Allen. With this video, Pitts and Allen began a long association with the brothers.
The Bee Gees even had a country hit in 1979 with "Rest Your Love on Me", the flip side of their pop hit "Too Much Heaven", which made the top 40 on the country charts. It was also a 1981 hit for Conway Twitty, topping the country music charts.
The Bee Gees' overwhelming success rose and fell with the disco bubble. By the end of 1979, disco was rapidly declining in popularity, and the backlash against disco put the Bee Gees' American career in a tailspin. Radio stations around the US began promoting "Bee Gee-Free Weekends". Following their remarkable run from 1975 to 1979, the act had only one more top 10 single in the US, and that did not come until the single "One" reached number 7 in 1989.
Barry Gibb considered the success of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack both a blessing and a curse:
1980–1986: Outside projects, band turmoil, solo efforts and decline
Robin co-produced Jimmy Ruffin's Sunrise released in May 1980, but the songs were started in 1979; the album contains songs written by the Gibb brothers, including the single "Hold On To My Love".
In March 1980, Barry Gibb worked with Barbra Streisand on her album Guilty. He co-produced, and wrote or co-wrote all nine of the album's tracks (four of them written with Robin, and the title track with both Robin and Maurice). Barry also appeared on the album's cover with Streisand and duetted with her on two tracks. The album reached No. 1 in both the US and the UK, as did the single "Woman in Love" (written by Barry and Robin), becoming Streisand's most successful single and album to date. Both of the Streisand/Gibb duets, "Guilty" and "What Kind of Fool", also reached the US Top 10.
In 1981, the Bee Gees released the album Living Eyes, their last full-length album release on RSO. This album was the first CD ever played in public, when it was played to viewers of the BBC show Tomorrow's World. With the disco backlash still running strong, the album failed to make the UK or US Top 40—breaking their streak of Top 40 hits, which started in 1975 with "Jive Talkin'". Two singles from the album fared little better—"He's a Liar", which reached No. 30 in the US, and "Living Eyes", which reached No. 45.
In 1982, Dionne Warwick enjoyed a UK No. 2 and US Adult Contemporary No. 1 hit with her comeback single, "Heartbreaker", taken from her eponymous album written largely by the Bee Gees and co-produced by Barry Gibb. The album reached No. 3 in the UK and the Top 30 in the US, where it was certified Gold.
A year later, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers recorded the Bee Gees-penned track "Islands in the Stream", which became a US and Australian No. 1 hit and entered the Top 10 in the UK. Rogers' 1983 album, Eyes That See in the Dark, was written entirely by the Bee Gees and co-produced by Barry. The album was a Top 10 hit in the US and was certified Double Platinum.
The Bee Gees had greater success with the soundtrack to Staying Alive in 1983, the sequel to Saturday Night Fever. The soundtrack was certified platinum in the US, and included their Top 30 hit "The Woman in You".
Also in 1983, the band was sued by Chicago songwriter Ronald Selle, who claimed the brothers stole melodic material from one of his songs, "Let It End", and used it in "How Deep Is Your Love". At first, the Bee Gees lost the case; one juror said that a factor in the jury's decision was the Gibbs' failure to introduce expert testimony rebutting the plaintiff's expert testimony that it was "impossible" for the two songs to have been written independently. However, the verdict was overturned a few months later.
In August 1983, Barry signed a solo deal with MCA Records and spent much of late 1983 and 1984 writing songs for this first solo effort, Now Voyager. Robin released three solo albums in the 1980s, How Old Are You?, Secret Agent and Walls Have Eyes. Maurice released his second single to date, "Hold Her in Your Hand", the first one having been released in 1970.
In 1985, Diana Ross released the album Eaten Alive, written by the Bee Gees, with the title track co-written with Michael Jackson (who also performed on the track). The album was again co-produced by Barry Gibb, and the single "Chain Reaction" gave Ross a UK and Australian No. 1 hit.
1987–1999: Comeback, return to popularity and Andy's death
The Bee Gees released the album E.S.P. in 1987, which sold over 2 million copies. It was their first album in six years, and their first for Warner Bros. Records. The single "You Win Again" went to No. 1 in numerous countries, including the UK, and made the Bee Gees the first group to score a UK No. 1 hit in each of three decades: the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The single was a disappointment in the US, charting at No. 75, and the Bee Gees voiced their frustration over American radio stations not playing their new European hit single, an omission which the group felt led to poor sales of their current album in the US. The song won the Bee Gees the 1987 British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically, and in February 1988 the band received a Brit Award nomination for Best British Group.
On 10 March 1988, younger brother Andy Gibb died, aged 30, as a result of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle due to a recent viral infection. The Bee Gees later got together with Eric Clapton to create a group called 'the Bunburys' to raise money for English charities. The group recorded three songs for The Bunbury Tails: "We're the Bunburys" (which eventually became the opening theme to the 1992 animated series The Bunbury Tails), "Bunbury Afternoon", and "Fight (No Matter How Long)". The last song reached No. 8 on the rock music chart and appeared on The 1988 Summer Olympics Album. The Bee Gees' next album, One (1989), featured a song dedicated to Andy, "Wish You Were Here". The album also contained their first US Top 10 hit (No. 7) in a decade, "One" (an Adult Contemporary No. 1). After the album's release, the band embarked on its first world tour in 10 years.
In the UK, Polydor issued a single-disc hits collection from Tales called The Very Best of the Bee Gees, which contained their biggest UK hits. The album became one of their best-selling albums in that country, and was eventually certified Triple Platinum.
Following their next album, High Civilization (1991), which contained the UK top five hit "Secret Love", the Bee Gees went on a European tour. After the tour, Barry Gibb began to battle a serious back problem, which required surgery. In addition, he suffered from arthritis which, at one point, was so severe that it was doubtful that he would be able to play guitar for much longer. Also, in the early 1990s, Maurice Gibb finally sought treatment for his alcoholism, which he had battled for many years with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous.
In 1993, the group returned to the Polydor label and released the album Size Isn't Everything, which contained the UK top five hit "For Whom the Bell Tolls". Success still eluded them in the US, however, as the first single released, "Paying the Price of Love", only managed to reach No. 74 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the parent album stalled at No. 153.
In 1997, they released the album Still Waters, which has reached No. 2 in the UK (their highest album chart position there since 1979) and No. 11 in the US. The album's first single, "Alone", gave them another UK Top 5 hit and a top 30 hit in the US. Still Waters was the band's most successful US release of their post-RSO era.
At the 1997 BRIT Awards held in Earls Court, London on 24 February, the Bee Gees received the award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. On 14 November 1997, the Bee Gees performed a live concert in Las Vegas called One Night Only. The show included a performance of "Our Love (Don't Throw It All Away)" synchronised with a vocal by their deceased brother Andy and a cameo appearance by Celine Dion singing "Immortality". The "One Night Only" name grew out of the band's declaration that, due to Barry's health issues, the Las Vegas show was to be the final live performance of their career. After the immensely positive audience response to the Vegas concert, Barry decided to continue despite the pain, and the concert expanded into their last full-blown world tour of "One Night Only" concerts. The tour included playing to 56,000 people at London's Wembley Stadium on 5 September 1998 and concluded in the newly built Olympic Stadium in Sydney, Australia on 27 March 1999 to 72,000 people.
In 1998, the group's soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever was incorporated into a stage production produced first in the West End and then on Broadway. They wrote three new songs for the adaptation. Also in 1998, the brothers released "Ellan Vannin" for Manx charities, recorded the previous year. Known as the unofficial national anthem of the Isle of Man, the brothers performed the song during their world tour to reflect their pride in the place of their birth.
The Bee Gees closed the century with what turned out to be their last full-sized concert, known as BG2K, on 31 December 1999.
2000–2008: This Is Where I Came In and Maurice's death
In 2001, the group released what turned out to be their final album of new material, This Is Where I Came In. The album was another success, reaching the Top 10 in the UK (being certified Gold), and the Top 20 in the US. The title track was also a UK Top 20 hit single.
The last concert of the Bee Gees as a trio was at the Love and Hope Ball in 2002. Maurice Gibb died unexpectedly on 12 January 2003, at age 53, from a heart attack while awaiting emergency surgery to repair a strangulated intestine. Initially, his surviving brothers announced that they intended to carry on the name "Bee Gees" in his memory, but as time passed they decided to retire the group's name, leaving it to represent the three brothers together.
The same week that Maurice died, Robin's solo album Magnet was released. On 23 February 2003, the Bee Gees received the Grammy Legend Award, they also became the first recipients of that award in the 21st century. Barry and Robin accepted as well as Maurice's son, Adam, in a tearful ceremony.
In late 2004, Robin embarked on a solo tour of Germany, Russia and Asia. During January 2005, Barry, Robin and several legendary rock artists recorded "Grief Never Grows Old", the official tsunami relief record for the Disasters Emergency Committee. Later that year, Barry reunited with Barbra Streisand for her top-selling album Guilty Pleasures, released as Guilty Too in the UK as a sequel album to the previous Guilty. Also in 2004, Barry recorded his song "I Cannot Give You My Love" with Cliff Richard, which became a UK top 20 hit single.
In February 2006, Barry and Robin reunited on stage for a Miami charity concert to benefit the Diabetes Research Institute. It was their first public performance together since Maurice's death. The pair also played at the 30th annual Prince's Trust Concert in the UK on 20 May 2006.
2009–2012: Return to performing and Robin's death
Barry and Robin performed on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing on 31 October 2009 and appeared on ABC-TV's Dancing with the Stars on 17 November 2009. On 15 March 2010, Barry and Robin inducted the Swedish group ABBA into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On 26 May 2010, the two made a surprise appearance on the ninth-season finale of American Idol.
On 20 November 2011 it was announced that Robin Gibb, at 61 years old, had been diagnosed with liver cancer, a condition he had become aware of several months earlier. He had become noticeably thinner in previous months and had to cancel several appearances due to severe abdominal pain. Robin joined British military trio the Soldiers for the Coming Home charity concert on 13 February 2012 at the London Palladium, in support of injured servicemen. It was his first public appearance for almost five months and, as it turned out, his final one. On 14 April 2012, it was reported that Robin had contracted pneumonia in a Chelsea hospital and was in a coma. Although he came out of his coma on 20 April 2012, his condition deteriorated rapidly and he died on 20 May 2012 of liver and kidney failure.
2013–present: Looking back at a lifetime of music
In September and October 2013, Barry performed his first solo tour "in honour of his brothers and a lifetime of music". In addition to the Rhino collection, The Studio Albums: 1967–1968, Warner Bros. released a box set in 2014 called The Warner Bros Years: 1987–1991 that included the studio albums E.S.P., One and High Civilization as well as extended mixes and B-sides. It also included the band's entire 1989 concert in Melbourne, Australia, available only on video as All for One prior to this release. The documentary The Joy of the Bee Gees was aired on BBC Four on 19 December 2014.
On 23 March 2015, 13STAR Records released a box set 1974–1979 which included the studio albums Mr. Natural, Main Course, Children of the World and Spirits Having Flown. A fifth disc called The Miami Years includes all the tracks from Saturday Night Fever as well as B-sides. No unreleased tracks from the era were included.
After a hiatus from performing, Barry Gibb returned to solo and guest singing performances. He occasionally appears with his son, Steve Gibb. In 2016, he released In the Now, his first solo effort since 1984's Now Voyager. It was the first release of new Bee Gees-related music since the posthumous release of Robin Gibb's 50 St. Catherine's Drive. Also in 2016, Capitol Records signed a new distribution deal with Barry and the estates of his brothers for the Bee Gees catalogue, bringing their music back to Universal.
An as-yet-untitled biopic about the Bee Gees is in development at Paramount, with Kenneth Branagh directing and Barry Gibb serving as an executive producer.
Influences
The Bee Gees were influenced by the Beatles, the Everly Brothers, the Mills Brothers, Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones, Roy Orbison, the Beach Boys and Stevie Wonder. On the 2014 documentary The Joy of the Bee Gees, Barry said that the Bee Gees were also influenced by the Hollies and Otis Redding. Maurice noted that Neil Sedaka was an early influence, and later the group was "very influenced" by Linda Creed songs for the Stylistics.
Legacy
In his 1980 Playboy magazine interview, John Lennon praised the Bee Gees, "Try to tell the kids in the seventies who were screaming to the Bee Gees that their music was just the Beatles redone. There is nothing wrong with the Bee Gees. They do a damn good job. There was nothing else going on then."
In a 2007 interview with Duane Hitchings, who co-wrote Rod Stewart's 1978 disco song "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", he noted that the song was:
Kevin Parker of Tame Impala has said that listening to the Bee Gees after taking mushrooms inspired him to change the sound of the music he was making on his album Currents.
The English indie rock band the Cribs was also influenced by the Bee Gees. Cribs member Ryan Jarman said: "It must have had quite a big influence on us – pop melodies is something we always revert to. I always want to get back to pop melodies and I'm sure that's due to that Bee Gees phase we went through."
Following Robin's death on 20 May 2012, Beyoncé remarked: "The Bee Gees were an early inspiration for me, Kelly Rowland and Michelle. We loved their songwriting and beautiful harmonies. Recording their classic song, 'Emotion' was a special time for Destiny's Child. Sadly we lost Robin Gibb this week. My heart goes out to his brother Barry and the rest of his family."
Singer Jordin Sparks remarked that her favourite Bee Gees songs are "Too Much Heaven", "Emotion" (although performed by Samantha Sang with Barry on the background vocals using his falsetto), and "Stayin' Alive".
Carrie Underwood said, about discovering the Bee Gees during her childhood, "My parents listened to the Bee Gees quite a bit when I was little, so I was definitely exposed to them at an early age. They just had a sound that was all their own, obviously, [it was] never duplicated."
Songwriting
At one point, in 1978, the Gibb brothers were responsible for writing and/or performing nine of the songs in the Billboard Hot 100. In all, the Gibbs placed 13 singles onto the Hot 100 in 1978, with 12 making the Top 40. The Gibb brothers are fellows of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA). At least 2,500 artists have recorded their songs.
Singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw spoke about the Bee Gees' influence with their own music as well as their songwriting:
In 2009, as part of the Q150 celebrations, the Bee Gees were announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for their role as "Influential Artists".
Accolades and achievements
In 1978, following the success of Saturday Night Fever, and the single "Night Fever" in particular, Reubin Askew, the governor of the US state of Florida, named the Bee Gees honorary citizens of the state, since they resided in Miami at the time. In 1979, the Bee Gees got their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They were the subjects of This Is Your Life in 1991 when they were surprised by Michael Aspel while being interviewed by disc jockey Steve Wright (DJ) on his Radio 1 programme at BBC Broadcasting House.
The Bee Gees were inducted in 1994 into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, as well as Florida's Artists Hall of Fame in 1995 and the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1997. Also in 1997, the group were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; the presenter of the award to "Britain's First Family of Harmony" was Brian Wilson, historical leader of the Beach Boys, another "family act" featuring three harmonising brothers. In 2001, they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. After Maurice's death, the Bee Gees were also inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in 2001, London's Walk of Fame in 2006 and Musically Speaking Hall Of Fame in 2008. On 15 May 2007, the Bee Gees were named BMI Icons at the 55th annual BMI Pop Awards. Collectively, Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb have earned 109 BMI Pop, Country and Latin Awards.
In October 1999, the Isle of Man Post Office unveiled a set of six stamps honouring the Bee Gees.
All three brothers (including Maurice posthumously) were invested as Commanders of the Order of the British Empire in December 2001 with the ceremony taking place at Buckingham Palace on 27 May 2004. On 10 July 2009, the Isle of Man's capital bestowed the Freedom of the Borough of Douglas honour on Barry and Robin, as well as posthumously on Maurice. On 20 November 2009, the Douglas Borough Council released a limited edition commemorative DVD to mark their naming as Freemen of the Borough.
On 14 February 2013, Barry Gibb unveiled a statue of the Bee Gees as well as unveiling "Bee Gees Way" (a walkway filled with photos and videos of the Bee Gees) in honour of the Bee Gees in Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. On 27 June 2018, Barry Gibb, the last surviving member of the Bee Gees, was knighted by Prince Charles after being named on the Queen's New Years Honours List. The statue of the Bee Gees in Douglas, Isle of Man, was installed in 2021.
In 2022, the last surviving member of the group, Barry Gibb, was made an Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia which is Australia's highest national honour.
The Bee Gees have sold over 220 million records worldwide, making them one of the best selling artists of all time. The group are to date the most successful family and sibling band of all time, the most successful musical trio of all time, and the most successful musical act with ties to Australia.
Awards and nominations
Queensland Music Awards
The Queensland Music Awards (previously known as Q Song Awards) are annual awards celebrating Queensland, Australia's brightest emerging artists and established legends. They commenced in 2006.
(wins only)
|-
| 2009
| themselves
| Grant McLennan Lifetime Achievement Award
|
|}
Band members
Principal members
Barry Gibb – vocals, rhythm guitar (1958–2003, 2006, 2009–2012)
Robin Gibb – vocals, occasional keyboards (1958–1969, 1970–2003, 2006, 2009–2012; d. 2012)
Maurice Gibb – bass, rhythm and lead guitars, keyboards, vocals (1958–2003; d. 2003)
Colin Petersen – drums (1967–1969)
Vince Melouney – lead guitar (1967–1968)
Geoff Bridgford – drums (1971–1972; touring 1970-1971)
Touring musicians
Alan Kendall – lead guitar (1971–1981, 1989–2003)
Chris Karan – drums (1972)
Dennis Bryon – drums (1973–1981)
Geoff Westley – keyboards, piano (1973–1976)
Blue Weaver – keyboards, synthesizers (1975–1981)
Joe Lala – percussion (1976, 1979)
Joey Murcia – rhythm guitar (1976, 1979)
Harold Cowart – bass (1979)
Tim Cansfield – lead guitar (1989)
Vic Martin – keyboard, synthesizer (1989)
Gary Moberly – keyboard, synthesizer (1989)
George Perry – bass (1989–1993)
Chester Thompson – drums (1989)
Mike Murphy – drums (1989)
Trevor Murrell – drums (1991–1992)
Rudi Dobson – keyboards (1991–1992)
Scott F. Crago – drums
Ben Stivers – keyboard (1996–1999)
Matt Bonelli – bass (1993–2001)
Steve Rucker – drums (1993–1999)
Guest musicians (studio and touring)
Phil Collins – drums
Lenny Castro – percussion
Glenn Frey – guitar
Timothy B. Schmit – bass guitar
Joe Walsh – lead guitar
Don Felder – lead guitar (1981)
Jeff Porcaro – drums
Mike Porcaro – bass guitar
Steve Porcaro – keyboards
Steve Lukather – guitar
David Hungate – bass guitar
David Paich – keyboards
Greg Phillinganes – keyboards
Bobby Kimball – keyboards
Leland Sklar – bass guitar
Reb Beach – lead guitar
Gregg Bissonette – drums
Ricky Lawson – drums
Scott F. Crago – drums
Steve Gadd – drums
Steve Ferrone – drums
Steve Jordan – drums
Nathan East – bass guitar
Steuart Smith – lead guitar
Vinnie Colaiuta – drums
Timeline
Timeline of touring members
Discography
Soundtracks Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Staying Alive (1983) are not official Bee Gees albums, but contain some previously unreleased tracks. Apart from live and compilation, all their official albums are included on this list. A Kick in the Head Is Worth Eight in the Pants has not been included on the list because it appeared only on numerous bootlegs and was not officially released.
Studio albums
The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs (1965)
Spicks and Specks (1966)
Bee Gees' 1st (1967)
Horizontal (1968)
Idea (1968)
Odessa (1969)
Cucumber Castle (1970)
2 Years On (1970)
Trafalgar (1971)
To Whom It May Concern (1972)
Life in a Tin Can (1973)
Mr. Natural (1974)
Main Course (1975)
Children of the World (1976)
Spirits Having Flown (1979)
Living Eyes (1981)
E.S.P. (1987)
One (1989)
High Civilization (1991)
Size Isn't Everything (1993)
Still Waters (1997)
This Is Where I Came In (2001)
Concert tours
The Bee Gees' concerts in 1967 and 1968 (1967–1968)
2 Years On Tour (1971)
Trafalgar Tour (1972)
Mr. Natural Tour (1974)
Main Course Tour (1975)
Children of the World Tour (1976)
Spirits Having Flown Tour (1979)
One for All World Tour (1989)
High Civilization World Tour (1991)
One Night Only World Tour (1997–1999)
This Is Where I Came In (2001)
Filmography
Citations
General bibliography
.
External links
Bee Gees Official website
Bee Gees at Rolling Stone
Bee Gees' Vocal Group Hall of Fame webpage
Bee Gees at bmi.com
Robin Gibb sadly passes away after losing his battle with cancer
Who Do You Think You Are? – Bee Gees Family History
1958 establishments in Australia
Australian pop rock groups
ARIA Award winners
ARIA Hall of Fame inductees
Atlantic Records artists
Barry Gibb
Brit Award winners
British disco groups
British musical trios
British soft rock music groups
British soul musical groups
Brunswick Records artists
Capitol Records artists
Child musical groups
English expatriates in Australia
English expatriates in the United States
English pop music groups
English rock music groups
Grammy Legend Award winners
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Juno Award for International Album of the Year winners
Mercury Records artists
Manx musical groups
Maurice Gibb
Musical groups established in 1958
Musical groups disestablished in 2003
Musical groups reestablished in 2009
Musical groups disestablished in 2012
Musical groups from Manchester
Queensland musical groups
Philips Records artists
Q150 Icons
Robin Gibb
RSO Records artists
Sibling musical trios
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
United Artists Records artists
Warner Records artists
World Music Awards winners | true | [
"Pauline Robinson Bush (December 20, 1949 – October 11, 1953) was the second child and eldest daughter of the 41st President of the United States, George H. W. Bush, and his wife, First Lady Barbara Bush. After she was born in California, her family soon relocated to Texas, where Robin lived most of her life.\n\nAt the age of 3, Robin was diagnosed with advanced leukemia. As she was given very little time to live, her parents flew her to New York City for treatment, where she spent the next six months. Despite doctors' efforts, she died two months before her fourth birthday. Her death prompted them to establish a foundation for leukemia research.\n\nLife \n\nThen an oil field equipment salesman for Dresser Industries, George H. W. Bush lived in various places around the United States with his wife, Barbara (née Pierce), and their young son, George W. In 1949, they moved to Compton, California; by then, Barbara was pregnant with the couple's second child. On September 23, 1949, Pauline Robinson Pierce, Barbara's mother, was killed in a car accident, which also injured her father, Marvin. Since she was very late into the pregnancy, Marvin advised Barbara not to make the journey to New York, so as not to hurt the baby.\n\nOn December 20, 1949, Barbara delivered a baby girl, whom she named Pauline Robinson Bush, after her late mother. Initially, the child's intended name was Pauline Pierce Bush, until George H. W.'s mother pointed out that her initials would be P. P. Bush, which \"would never do\". From birth, the little girl was referred to as Robin, so much so that, later in life, Barbara would comment that Robin's siblings probably do not even remember her real name.\n\nRobin was described as being calm and having a \"sweet soul\". She was \"quiet and gentle, and she had lovely little blond curls.\" Her father would later say of Robin: \"She'd fight and cry and play and make her way just like the rest, but there was about her a certain softness... Her peace made me feel strong, and so very important.\"\nIn 1950, shortly after Robin's birth, the family relocated again, this time to Midland, Texas; the family quickly became involved in their new town. In February 1953, after having moved to their third house in Midland, the Bushes had another child, John Ellis, nicknamed \"Jeb\".\n\nIllness and death \nIn the spring of 1953, shortly after Jeb's birth, Robin awoke one morning, listless. She said she was unsure of what to do that particular morning, stating that she \"may go out and lie on the grass and watch the cars go by\", or just stay in bed. Barbara believed Robin had come down with what her mother had referred to as \"spring fever,\" as, up until that point, she had been \"as rowdy and healthy\" as her brothers. The child was taken to the family's pediatrician, Dorothy Wyvell, who took a blood sample and told Barbara to return later that afternoon with George H. W.; Barbara had not yet noticed the bruises on Robin. Dr. Wyvell told George and Barbara that Robin had advanced stage leukemia. Her advice for them was to not tell anyone about the child's illness, and to take her home, \"make life as easy as possible for her, and in three weeks' time, she'll be gone.\" Neither parent had ever heard of leukemia, and, in the 1950s, not much was known of it; consequently, it was nearly always fatal.\n\nThe Bushes went against both parts of the doctor's advice. Almost immediately, their friends from the country club were discussing Robin's diagnosis, and George called his uncle, John M. Walker, president of Memorial Hospital in New York City. Walker urged them to take Robin to the adjacent Sloan Kettering Institute. He told George and Barbara that \"you could never live with yourselves unless you treat her.\" The very next day, leaving George W. and Jeb with different friends, they both flew to New York and had Robin admitted into Sloan Kettering. She was tested once again, and, after the diagnosis was confirmed, she was immediately put on medication. George W. was told that his sister was sick, but was never explained exactly how bad her condition was. For the next six months, Barbara largely remained in New York with Robin, while George traveled back and forth, due to his job. Their two sons were cared for either by family friends or by housekeepers.\n\nRobin was, by her mother's account, \"wonderful\", not questioning why she was sick. She disliked bone marrow tests, which were very painful, as were many of the blood transfusions she endured. At times, the medication was so effective that Robin did not even appear to be ill. However, she never went into complete remission. According to Charlotte Tan, who treated Robin in New York, she was mature and tolerated her treatments well. Barbara and George heard about a doctor in Kansas City who maintained he had found the cure for leukemia. However, their hopes were dashed when they found out the man was merely testing a new drug, and had not claimed to have the cure. Sometimes, her parents would take Robin to the Bush house in Greenwich, Connecticut, and she was once taken to Maine for a brief period. There, she got to see her brothers, whose pictures she had taped to the headboard of her hospital bed. During this visit, George W. was not allowed to wrestle with his sister like they used to; his mother focused most of her attention on Robin and would \"snap\" at him if he tried to \"horse around\" with his sister.\n\nBy fall, Robin's condition was worsening. She spent time in an oxygen tent, and her platelets were low enough that whenever she started bleeding it was very difficult to ascertain when it would stop. Barbara allowed no crying around Robin, and made her husband leave the room if he felt like doing so. Prescott Bush, George's father, had purchased a plot for Robin to be buried in, as her situation was not improving. Eventually, due to her medication, Robin developed heavy bruising, which almost entirely covered one of her legs, and \"a hundred or so\" stomach ulcers. Barbara called George, and, by the time he arrived to his daughter's bedside, she had entered a coma. Robin died on October 11, 1953, after doctors' efforts to close the ulcers in her stomach. She was two months short of her fourth birthday. Two days later, on October 13, a memorial service was held for Robin, at the Bushes' home in Greenwich. Initially, her body was donated for research, in hopes that her death might help others survive. Several days later, when the hospital released her remains, Dorothy Walker Bush, her paternal grandmother, was among those who buried her. In 2000, her grave was exhumed and her remains were relocated and reburied at the George H.W. Bush Library.\n\nLegacy \n\nAfter Robin's death at age 3, Barbara cried herself to sleep many nights. She stated that she \"crumbled\" completely, and would later say that she \"fell totally apart and [George] took care of [her].\" George W. was told of his sister's death a few days after it happened, when his parents picked him up from school. He would later describe this as the only low point of his happy childhood, remembering the sadness he felt both for his parents and for the loss of his sister. He and his brother Jeb then became their mother's focal points, and she devoted her time to caring for them, as a means of overcoming her daughter's death.\n\nAfter overhearing George W. tell one of his friends that he could not go out and play, as he needed to play with his mother, Barbara decided that it was time to heal, for her family. After a few months, \"the grief and the awful aching hurt began to disappear.\" \"I like... to think of Robin as though she were a part, a living part, of our vital energetic and wonderful family of men and [Barbara],\" George H. W. Bush would later write. Barbara came to believe that she and her husband valued all people more because of the loss they suffered with Robin. Barbara also attributed the premature graying of her hair to Robin's extended illness and death.\n\nDorothy Walker Bush commissioned an oil painting of Robin, which hung in the Bushes' homes in Midland and, later, Houston. Eventually, Barbara and George H. W. had three more children: Neil, in 1955, Marvin in 1956, and another daughter, Dorothy, known as \"Doro\" and born in 1959. Doro was once described by her father as \"a wild dark version of Robin\", noting that the two looked so much alike, her parents once mistakenly called her Robin . In 2000, Robin's remains were transferred from Connecticut to the family's future burial plot at the George Bush Presidential Library in Texas. On this occasion, George H. W. stated: \"It seems funny after almost 50 years since her death how dear Robin is to our hearts.\"\n\nFollowing Robin's death, the Bush family created a charity to raise awareness and money for leukemia research called the Bright Star Foundation.\nThe impact of the Bright Star Foundation was acknowledged by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2004, when it opened the Robin Bush Child and Adolescent Clinic. Barbara later became honorary chairwoman of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and honorary national chairperson of Donor Awareness Week.\n\nFollowing Barbara's death in April 2018, a cartoon by Marshall Ramsey, of The Clarion-Ledger, was widely circulated, showing Robin greeting Barbara upon the latter's entry to heaven. The cartoon was shared by various people and relatives of the family, including George W.'s daughter, Jenna Bush Hager. Following her father's death in November of that same year, Robin would be featured again in another Ramsey cartoon, where she and Barbara greeted George H. W. after the latter landing a TBM Avenger (the type of airplane he flew in the Navy during World War II) in heaven.\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n - Read online at Google Books\n\nExternal links \n \n\n1949 births\n1953 deaths\nBush family\nChildren of presidents of the United States\nChildren of vice presidents of the United States\nDeaths from cancer in New York (state)\nDeaths from leukemia\nPeople from Compton, California",
"Robin of Isenburg-Covern was the Count of Isenburg-Covern from 1277 until 1306. Robin was the last count of Isenburg-Covern, and after his death it was inherited by Isenburg-Cleberg.\n\n1306 deaths\nHouse of Isenburg\nYear of birth unknown"
]
|
[
"Bee Gees",
"2009-2012: Return to performing and Robin's death",
"When was Robin's death?",
"20 May 2012"
]
| C_6cca1f87ae8e46bd949e4e2bdf8ac2d4_0 | When did they return to performing? | 2 | When did Bee Gees return to performing? | Bee Gees | In an interview with Easy Mix radio host Tim Roxborough on 1 September 2009, Barry's 63rd birthday, Barry commented on future tours saying that "they will be back"; but in an agreement with Warner/Rhino they would not make an announcement at that time. On 7 September 2009, Robin disclosed to Jonathan Agnew that he had been in touch with Barry and that they had agreed that the Bee Gees would re-form and "perform again". Barry and Robin performed on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing on 31 October 2009 and appeared on ABC-TV's Dancing with the Stars on 17 November 2009. On 15 March 2010, Barry and Robin inducted the Swedish group ABBA into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On 26 May 2010, the two made a surprise appearance on the ninth-season finale of American Idol. On 20 November 2011 it was announced that Robin Gibb, at 61 years old, had been diagnosed with liver cancer, a condition he had become aware of several months earlier. He had become noticeably thinner in previous months and had to cancel several appearances due to issues with severe abdominal pain. On 13 February 2012, Robin joined British military trio the Soldiers for the Coming Home charity concert at the London Palladium, in support of injured servicemen. It was his first public appearance for almost five months and his final. On 14 April 2012, it was reported that Robin had contracted pneumonia in a Chelsea hospital and was in a coma. Although he came out of his coma on 20 April 2012, his condition deteriorated rapidly, and he died on 20 May 2012 of liver and kidney failure. With Robin's death, Barry became the last surviving Gibb brother, and the Bee Gees dissolved as a musical group. CANNOTANSWER | Barry and Robin performed on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing on 31 October 2009 | The Bee Gees
were a music group formed in 1958, featuring brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful as a popular music act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers of the disco music era in the mid- to late 1970s. The group sang recognisable three-part tight harmonies; Robin's clear vibrato lead vocals were a hallmark of their earlier hits, while Barry's R&B falsetto became their signature sound during the mid- to late 1970s and 1980s. The Bee Gees wrote all of their own hits, as well as writing and producing several major hits for other artists and have been regarded as one of the most important and influential acts in pop music history. They have been referred to in the media as The Disco Kings, Britain’s First Family of Harmony, and The Kings of Dance Music.
Born on the Isle of Man to English parents, the Gibb brothers lived in Chorlton, Manchester, England until the late 1950s. There, in 1955, they formed the skiffle/rock and roll group the Rattlesnakes. The family then moved to Redcliffe, in the Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia, later to Cribb Island. After achieving their first chart success in Australia as the Bee Gees with "Spicks and Specks" (their twelfth single), they returned to the UK in January 1967, when producer Robert Stigwood began promoting them to a worldwide audience. The Bee Gees' Saturday Night Fever soundtrack (1977) was the turning point of their career, with both the film and soundtrack having a cultural impact throughout the world, enhancing the disco scene's mainstream appeal. They won five Grammy Awards for Saturday Night Fever, including Album of the Year.
The Bee Gees have sold over 220 million records worldwide, making them among the best-selling music artists of all time. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997; the Hall's citation says, "Only Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and Paul McCartney have outsold the Bee Gees." With nine number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100, the Bee Gees are the third-most successful band in Billboard charts history behind only the Beatles and the Supremes.
Following Maurice's sudden death in January 2003 at the age of 53, Barry and Robin retired the group's name after 45 years of activity. In 2009, Robin announced that he and Barry had agreed that the Bee Gees would re-form and perform again. Robin died in May 2012, aged 62, after a prolonged period of failing health, leaving Barry as the only surviving member of the group.
History
1955–1966: Music origins, Bee Gees formation and popularity in Australia
Born on the Isle of Man during the late 1940s, the Gibb brothers moved to their father Hugh Gibb's hometown of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Greater Manchester, England in 1955. They formed a skiffle/rock-and-roll group, the Rattlesnakes, which consisted of Barry on guitar and vocals, Robin and Maurice on vocals and friends Paul Frost on drums and Kenny Horrocks on tea-chest bass. In December 1957 the boys began to sing in harmony. The story is told that they were going to lip-sync to a record in the local Gaumont cinema (as other children had done on previous weeks), but as they were running to the theatre, the fragile shellac 78-RPM record broke. The brothers had to sing live, but received such a positive response from the audience that they decided to pursue a singing career. In May 1958 the Rattlesnakes disbanded when Frost and Horrocks left, so the Gibb brothers then formed Wee Johnny Hayes and the Blue Cats, with Barry as "Johnny Hayes".
In August 1958, the Gibb family, including older sister Lesley and infant brother Andy (born in March 1958), emigrated to Australia and settled in Redcliffe, Queensland, just north-east of Brisbane. The young brothers began performing to raise pocket money. Speedway promoter and driver Bill Goode, who had hired the brothers to entertain the crowd at the Redcliffe Speedway in 1960, introduced them to Brisbane radio-presenter jockey Bill Gates. The crowd at the speedway would throw money onto the track for the boys, who generally performed during the interval of meetings (usually on the back of a truck that drove around the track) and, in a deal with Goode, any money they collected from the crowd they were allowed to keep. Gates named the group the "BGs" (later changed to "Bee Gees") after his, Goode's and Barry Gibb's initials. The name was not specifically a reference to "Brothers Gibb", despite popular belief.
During the next few years, they began working regularly at resorts on the Queensland coast. Through his songwriting, Barry sparked the interest of Australian star Col Joye, who helped the brothers get a recording deal in 1963 with Festival Records subsidiary Leedon Records under the name "Bee Gees". The three released two or three singles a year, while Barry supplied additional songs to other Australian artists. In 1962 the Bee Gees were chosen as the supporting act for Chubby Checker's concert at the Sydney Stadium.
From 1963 to 1966, the Gibb family lived at 171 Bunnerong Road, Maroubra, in Sydney. Just prior to his death, Robin Gibb recorded the song "Sydney" about the brothers' experience of living in that city. It was released on his posthumous album 50 St. Catherine's Drive. The house was demolished in 2016.
A minor hit in 1965, "Wine and Women", led to the group's first LP, The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs. By 1966 Festival Records was, however, on the verge of dropping them from the Leedon roster because of their perceived lack of commercial success. At this time the brothers met the American-born songwriter, producer and entrepreneur Nat Kipner, who had just been appointed A&R manager of a new independent label, Spin Records. Kipner briefly took over as the group's manager and successfully negotiated their transfer to Spin in exchange for granting Festival the Australian distribution-rights to the group's recordings. Through Kipner the Bee Gees met engineer-producer, Ossie Byrne, who produced (or co-produced with Kipner) many of the earlier Spin recordings, most of which were cut at his own small, self-built St Clair Studio in the Sydney suburb of Hurstville. Byrne gave the Gibb brothers virtually unlimited access to St Clair Studio over a period of several months in mid-1966. The group later acknowledged that this enabled them to greatly improve their skills as recording artists. During this productive time they recorded a large batch of original material—including the song that became their first major hit, "Spicks and Specks" (on which Byrne played the trumpet coda)—as well as cover versions of current hits by overseas acts such as the Beatles. They regularly collaborated with other local musicians, including members of beat band Steve & The Board, led by Steve Kipner, Nat's teenage son.
Frustrated by their lack of success, the Gibbs began their return journey to England on 4 January 1967, with Ossie Byrne travelling with them. While at sea in January 1967, the Gibbs learned that Go-Set, Australia's most popular and influential music newspaper, had declared "Spicks and Specks" the "Best Single of the Year".
1967–1969: International fame and touring years
Bee Gees' 1st, Horizontal and Idea
Before their departure from Australia to England, Hugh Gibb sent demos to Brian Epstein, who managed the Beatles and directed NEMS, a British music store. Epstein passed the demo tapes to Robert Stigwood, who had recently joined NEMS. After an audition with Stigwood in February 1967, the Bee Gees signed a five-year contract whereby Polydor Records would release their records in the UK, and Atco Records would do so in the US. Work quickly began on the group's first international album, and Stigwood launched a promotional campaign to coincide with its release.
Stigwood proclaimed that the Bee Gees were "The most significant new musical talent of 1967", thus initiating the comparison of the Bee Gees to the Beatles. Before recording the first album, the group expanded to include Colin Petersen and Vince Melouney. "New York Mining Disaster 1941," their second British single (their first-issued UK 45 rpm was "Spicks and Specks"), was issued to radio stations with a blank white label listing only the song title. Some DJs immediately assumed this was a new single by the Beatles and started playing the song in heavy rotation. This helped the song climb into the top 20 in both the UK and US.
No such chicanery was needed to boost the Bee Gees' next single, "To Love Somebody", into the US Top 20. Originally written for Otis Redding, "To Love Somebody", a soulful ballad sung by Barry, has since become a pop standard covered by many artists. Another single, "Holiday", released in the US, peaked at No. 16.
The parent album, Bee Gees 1st (their first internationally), peaked at No. 7 in the US and No. 8 in the UK. Bill Shepherd was credited as the arranger. After recording that album, the group recorded their first BBC session at the Playhouse Theatre, Northumberland Avenue, in London, with Bill Bebb as the producer, and they performed three songs. That session is included on BBC Sessions: 1967–1973 (2008). After the release of Bee Gees' 1st, the group was first introduced in New York as "the English surprise." At that time, the band made their first British TV appearance on Top of the Pops. Maurice recalled:
In late 1967, they began recording the second album. On 21 December 1967, in a live broadcast from Liverpool Anglican Cathedral for a Christmas television special called How On Earth?, they performed their own song, "Thank You For Christmas" which was written especially for the programme, as well as a medley of the traditional Christmas carols "Silent Night," "The First Noel" and "Mary's Boy Child" (the latter incorrectly noted as "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" on tape boxes and subsequent release). The songs were all pre-recorded on 1 December 1967 and the group lip-synched their performance. The recordings were eventually released on the "Horizontal" reissue bonus disc in 2008. The folk group the Settlers and Radio 1 disc-jockey, Kenny Everett, also performed on the programme which was presented by the Reverend Edward H. Patey, dean of the cathedral.
January 1968 began with a promotional trip to the US. Los Angeles Police were on alert in anticipation of a Beatles-type reception, and special security arrangements were being put in place. In February, Horizontal repeated the success of their first album, featuring the group's first UK No. 1 single "Massachusetts" (a No. 11 US hit) and the No. 7 UK single "World." The sound of the album Horizontal had a more "rock" sound than their previous release, although ballads like "And the Sun Will Shine" and "Really and Sincerely" were also prominent. The Horizontal album reached No. 12 in the US and No. 16 in the UK.
With the release of Horizontal, they also embarked on a Scandinavian tour with concerts in Copenhagen. Around the same time, the Bee Gees turned down an offer to write and perform the soundtrack for the film Wonderwall, according to director Joe Massot.
On 27 February 1968, the band, backed by the 17-piece Massachusetts String Orchestra, began their first tour of Germany with two concerts at Hamburg Musikhalle. In March 1968, the band was supported by Procol Harum (who had a well-known hit "A Whiter Shade of Pale") on their German tour. As Robin's partner Molly Hullis recalls: "Germans were wilder than the fans in England at the heights of Beatlemania." The tour schedule took them to 11 venues in as many days with 18 concerts played, finishing with a brace of shows at the Stadthalle, Braunschweig.
After that, the group was off to Switzerland. As Maurice described it:
On 17 March, the band performed "Words" on The Ed Sullivan Show. The other artists who performed on that night's show were Lucille Ball, George Hamilton and Fran Jeffries. On 27 March 1968, the band performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Two more singles followed in early 1968: the ballad "Words" (No. 8 UK, No. 15 US) and the double A-sided single "Jumbo" backed with "The Singer Sang His Song". "Jumbo" only reached No. 25 in the UK and No. 57 in the US. The Bee Gees felt "The Singer Sang His Song" was the stronger of the two sides, an opinion shared by listeners in the Netherlands who made it a No. 3 hit.
Further Bee Gees chart singles followed: "I've Gotta Get a Message to You", their second UK No. 1 (No. 8 US), and "I Started a Joke" (No. 6 US), both culled from the band's third album Idea. Idea reached No. 4 in the UK and was another top 20 album in the US (No. 17).
After the tour and TV special to promote the album, Vince Melouney left the group, desiring to play more of a blues style music than the Gibbs were writing. Melouney did achieve one feat while with the Bee Gees: his composition "Such a Shame" (from Idea) is the only song on any Bee Gees album not written by a Gibb brother.
The band were due to begin a seven-week tour of the US on 2 August 1968, but on 27 July, Robin collapsed and fell unconscious. He was admitted to a London nursing home suffering from nervous exhaustion, and the American tour was postponed. The band began recording their sixth album, which resulted in their spending a week recording at Atlantic Studios in New York. Robin, still feeling poorly, missed the New York sessions, but the rest of the band put away instrumental tracks and demos.
Odessa, Cucumber Castle and break-up
By 1969, Robin began to feel that Stigwood had been favouring Barry as the frontman.
The Bee Gees' performances in early 1969 on the Top of the Pops and The Tom Jones Show performing "I Started a Joke" and "First of May" as a medley was one of the last live performances of the group with Robin.
Their next album, which was to have been a concept album called Masterpeace, evolved into the double-album Odessa. Most rock critics felt this was the best Bee Gees album of the 1960s with its progressive rock feel on the title track, the country-flavoured "Marley Purt Drive" and "Give Your Best", and ballads such as "Melody Fair" and "First of May" (the last of which became the only single from the album and a UK # 6 hit). Feeling the flipside, "Lamplight," should have been the A-side, Robin quit the group in mid-1969 and launched a solo career.
The first of many Bee Gees compilations, Best of Bee Gees, was released featuring the non-LP single "Words" plus the Australian hit "Spicks and Specks". The single "Tomorrow Tomorrow" was also released and was a moderate hit in the UK, where it reached No. 23, but it was only No. 54 in the US. The compilation reached the top 10 in both the UK and the US.
While Robin pursued his solo career, Barry, Maurice and Petersen continued on as the Bee Gees recording their next album, Cucumber Castle. The band made their debut performance without Robin at Talk of the Town. They had recruited their sister, Lesley, into the group at this time. To accompany the album, they also filmed a TV special with Frankie Howerd and cameos from several other contemporary pop and rock stars, which aired on the BBC in December 1970. Petersen played drums on the tracks recorded for the album but was fired from the group after filming began (he went on to form the Humpy Bong with Jonathan Kelly). His parts were edited out of the final cut of the film and Pentangle drummer Terry Cox was recruited to complete the recording of songs for the album.
After the album was released in early 1970, it seemed that the Bee Gees were finished. The leadoff single, "Don't Forget to Remember", was a big hit in the UK, reaching No. 2, but only reached No. 73 in the US. The next two singles, "I.O.I.O." and "If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else", barely scraped the charts. On 1 December 1969, Barry and Maurice parted ways professionally.
Maurice started to record his first solo album, The Loner, which was not released. Meanwhile, he released the single "Railroad" and starred in the West End musical Sing a Rude Song. In February 1970, Barry recorded a solo album which never saw official release either, although "I'll Kiss Your Memory" was released as a single backed by "This Time" without much interest. Meanwhile, Robin saw success in Europe and Australia with his No. 2 hit "Saved by the Bell" and the album Robin's Reign.
1970–1974: Reformation
In mid 1970, according to Barry, "Robin rang me in Spain where I was on holiday [saying] 'let's do it again'". By 21 August 1970, after they had reunited, Barry announced that the Bee Gees "are there and they will never, ever part again". Maurice said, "We just discussed it and re-formed. We want to apologise publicly to Robin for the things that have been said." Earlier, in June 1970, Robin and Maurice recorded a dozen songs before Barry joined and included two songs that were on their reunion album. Around the same time, Barry and Robin were about to publish the book On the Other Hand. They also recruited Geoff Bridgford as the group's official drummer. Bridgford had previously worked with the Groove and Tin Tin and played drums on Maurice's unreleased first solo album.
In 1970, 2 Years On was released in October in the US and November in the UK. The lead single "Lonely Days" reached No. 3 in the United States, promoted by appearances on The Johnny Cash Show, Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, The Andy Williams Show, The Dick Cavett Show and The Ed Sullivan Show.
Their ninth album, Trafalgar, was released in late 1971. The single "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" was their first to hit No. 1 on the US charts, while "Israel" reached No. 22 in the Netherlands. "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" also brought the Bee Gees their first Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Later that year, the group's songs were included in the soundtrack for the film Melody.
In 1972, they hit No. 16 in the US with the non-album single "My World", backed by Maurice's composition "On Time". Another 1972 single, "Run to Me" from the LP To Whom It May Concern, returned them to the UK top 10 for the first time in three years. On 24 November 1972, the band headlined the "Woodstock of the West" Festival at the Los Angeles Coliseum (which was a West Coast answer to Woodstock in New York), which also featured Sly and the Family Stone, Stevie Wonder and the Eagles. Also in 1972, the group sang "Hey Jude" with Wilson Pickett.
By 1973, however, the Bee Gees were in a rut. The album Life in a Tin Can, released on Robert Stigwood's newly formed RSO Records, and its lead-off single, "Saw a New Morning", sold poorly with the single peaking at No. 94. This was followed by an unreleased album (known as A Kick in the Head Is Worth Eight in the Pants). A second compilation album, Best of Bee Gees, Volume 2, was released in 1973, although it did not repeat the success of Volume 1. On 6 April 1973 episode of The Midnight Special they performed "Money (That's What I Want)" with Jerry Lee Lewis. Also in 1973, they were invited by Chuck Berry to perform two songs with him onstage at The Midnight Special: "Johnny B. Goode" and "Reelin' and Rockin'".
After a tour of the United States in early 1974 and a Canadian tour later in the year, the group ended up playing small clubs. As Barry joked, "We ended up in, have you ever heard of Batley's the variety club in (West Yorkshire) England?".
On the advice of Ahmet Ertegun, head of their US label Atlantic Records, Stigwood arranged for the group to record with soul music producer Arif Mardin. The resulting LP, Mr. Natural, included fewer ballads and foreshadowed the R&B direction of the rest of their career. When it, too, failed to attract much interest, Mardin encouraged them to work within the soul music style. The brothers attempted to assemble a live stage band that could replicate their studio sound. Lead guitarist Alan Kendall had come on board in 1971 but did not have much to do until Mr. Natural. For that album, they added drummer Dennis Bryon, and they later added ex-Strawbs keyboard player Blue Weaver, completing the Bee Gees band that lasted through the late '70s. Maurice, who had previously performed on piano, guitar, harpsichord, electric piano, organ, mellotron and bass guitar, as well as mandolin and Moog synthesiser, by then confined himself to bass onstage.
1975–1979: Turning to disco
Main Course and Children of the World
At Eric Clapton's suggestion, the brothers moved to Miami, Florida, early in 1975 to record at Criteria Studios. After starting off with ballads, they eventually heeded the urging of Mardin and Stigwood, and crafted more dance-oriented disco songs, including their second US No. 1, "Jive Talkin'", along with US No. 7 "Nights on Broadway". The band liked the resulting new sound. This time the public agreed by sending the LP Main Course up the charts. This album included the first Bee Gees songs wherein Barry used falsetto, something that became a trademark of the band. This was also the first Bee Gees album to have two US top-10 singles since 1968's Idea. Main Course also became their first charting R&B album.
On the Bee Gees' appearance on The Midnight Special in 1975, to promote Main Course, they sang "To Love Somebody" with Helen Reddy. Around the same time, the Bee Gees recorded three Beatles covers—"Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight", "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" with Barry providing lead vocals, and "Sun King" with Maurice providing lead vocals, for the unsuccessful musical/documentary All This and World War II.
The next album, Children of the World, released in September 1976, was filled with Barry's new-found falsetto and Weaver's synthesizer disco licks. The first single from the album was "You Should Be Dancing", which features percussion work by musician Stephen Stills. The song pushed the Bee Gees to a level of stardom they had not previously achieved in the US, though their new R&B/disco sound was not as popular with some diehard fans. The pop ballad "Love So Right" reached No. 3 in the US, and "Boogie Child" reached US No. 12 in January 1977. The album peaked at No. 8 in the US.
Saturday Night Fever and Spirits Having Flown
Following a successful live album, Here at Last... Bee Gees... Live, the Bee Gees agreed with Stigwood to participate in the creation of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. It was the turning point of their career. The cultural impact of both the film and the soundtrack was significant throughout the world, epitomizing the disco phenomenon on both sides of the Atlantic.
The band's involvement in the film did not begin until post-production. As John Travolta asserted, "The Bee Gees weren't even involved in the movie in the beginning ... I was dancing to Stevie Wonder and Boz Scaggs." Producer Robert Stigwood commissioned the Bee Gees to create the songs for the film. The brothers wrote the songs "virtually in a single weekend" at Château d'Hérouville studio in France. Barry Gibb remembered the reaction when Stigwood and music supervisor Bill Oakes arrived and listened to the demos:
Bill Oakes, who supervised the soundtrack, asserts that Saturday Night Fever did not begin the disco craze but rather prolonged it: "Disco had run its course. These days, Fever is credited with kicking off the whole disco thing—it really didn't. Truth is, it breathed new life into a genre that was actually dying."
Three Bee Gees singles—"How Deep Is Your Love" (US No. 1, UK No. 3), "Stayin' Alive" (US No. 1, UK No. 4) and "Night Fever" (US No. 1, UK No. 1)—charted high in many countries around the world, launching the most popular period of the disco era. They also penned the song "If I Can't Have You", which became a US No. 1 hit for Yvonne Elliman, while the Bee Gees' own version was the B-side of "Stayin' Alive". Such was the popularity of Saturday Night Fever that two different versions of the song "More Than a Woman" received airplay, one by the Bee Gees, which was relegated to an album track, and another by Tavares, which was the hit.
During a nine-month period beginning in the Christmas season of 1977, seven songs written by the brothers held the No. 1 position on the US charts for 27 of 37 consecutive weeks: three of their own releases, two for brother Andy Gibb, the Yvonne Elliman single, and "Grease", performed by Frankie Valli.
Fuelled by the film's success, the soundtrack broke multiple industry records, becoming the highest-selling album in recording history to that point. With more than 40 million copies sold, Saturday Night Fever is among music's top five best selling soundtrack albums. , it is calculated as the fourth highest-selling album worldwide.
In March 1978, the Bee Gees held the top two positions on the US charts with "Night Fever" and "Stayin' Alive", the first time this had happened since the Beatles. On the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for 25 March 1978, five songs written by the Gibbs were in the US top 10 at the same time: "Night Fever", "Stayin' Alive", "If I Can't Have You", "Emotion" and "Love Is Thicker Than Water". Such chart dominance had not been seen since April 1964, when the Beatles had all five of the top five American singles. Barry Gibb became the only songwriter to have four consecutive number-one hits in the US, breaking the John Lennon and Paul McCartney 1964 record. These songs were "Stayin' Alive", "Love Is Thicker Than Water", "Night Fever" and "If I Can't Have You".
The Bee Gees won five Grammy Awards for Saturday Night Fever over two years: Album of the Year, Producer of the Year (with Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson), two awards for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals (one in 1978 for "How Deep Is Your Love" and one in 1979 for "Stayin' Alive"), and Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices for "Stayin' Alive".
During this era, Barry and Robin also wrote "Emotion" for an old friend, Australian vocalist Samantha Sang, who made it a top 10 hit, with the Bee Gees singing backing vocals. Barry also wrote the title song to the film version of the Broadway musical Grease for Frankie Valli to perform, which went to No. 1.
The Bee Gees also co-starred with Peter Frampton in Robert Stigwood's film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978), loosely inspired by the classic 1967 album by the Beatles. The movie had been heavily promoted prior to release and was expected to enjoy great commercial success. However, it was savaged by film critics as a disjointed mess and ignored by the public. Though some of its tracks charted, the soundtrack too was a high-profile flop. The single "Oh! Darling", credited to Robin Gibb, reached No. 15 in the US.
The Bee Gees' follow-up to Saturday Night Fever was the Spirits Having Flown album. It yielded three more hits: "Too Much Heaven" (US No. 1, UK No. 3), "Tragedy" (US No. 1, UK No. 1), and "Love You Inside Out" (US No. 1, UK No. 13). This gave the act six consecutive No. 1 singles in the US within a year and a half, equalling the Beatles and surpassed only by Whitney Houston.
In January 1979, the Bee Gees performed "Too Much Heaven" as their contribution to the Music for UNICEF Concert at the United Nations General Assembly. During the summer of 1979, the Bee Gees embarked on their largest concert tour covering the US and Canada. The Spirits Having Flown tour capitalised on Bee Gees fever that was sweeping the nation, with sold-out concerts in 38 cities. The Bee Gees produced a video for the title track "Too Much Heaven", directed by Miami-based filmmaker Martin Pitts and produced by Charles Allen. With this video, Pitts and Allen began a long association with the brothers.
The Bee Gees even had a country hit in 1979 with "Rest Your Love on Me", the flip side of their pop hit "Too Much Heaven", which made the top 40 on the country charts. It was also a 1981 hit for Conway Twitty, topping the country music charts.
The Bee Gees' overwhelming success rose and fell with the disco bubble. By the end of 1979, disco was rapidly declining in popularity, and the backlash against disco put the Bee Gees' American career in a tailspin. Radio stations around the US began promoting "Bee Gee-Free Weekends". Following their remarkable run from 1975 to 1979, the act had only one more top 10 single in the US, and that did not come until the single "One" reached number 7 in 1989.
Barry Gibb considered the success of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack both a blessing and a curse:
1980–1986: Outside projects, band turmoil, solo efforts and decline
Robin co-produced Jimmy Ruffin's Sunrise released in May 1980, but the songs were started in 1979; the album contains songs written by the Gibb brothers, including the single "Hold On To My Love".
In March 1980, Barry Gibb worked with Barbra Streisand on her album Guilty. He co-produced, and wrote or co-wrote all nine of the album's tracks (four of them written with Robin, and the title track with both Robin and Maurice). Barry also appeared on the album's cover with Streisand and duetted with her on two tracks. The album reached No. 1 in both the US and the UK, as did the single "Woman in Love" (written by Barry and Robin), becoming Streisand's most successful single and album to date. Both of the Streisand/Gibb duets, "Guilty" and "What Kind of Fool", also reached the US Top 10.
In 1981, the Bee Gees released the album Living Eyes, their last full-length album release on RSO. This album was the first CD ever played in public, when it was played to viewers of the BBC show Tomorrow's World. With the disco backlash still running strong, the album failed to make the UK or US Top 40—breaking their streak of Top 40 hits, which started in 1975 with "Jive Talkin'". Two singles from the album fared little better—"He's a Liar", which reached No. 30 in the US, and "Living Eyes", which reached No. 45.
In 1982, Dionne Warwick enjoyed a UK No. 2 and US Adult Contemporary No. 1 hit with her comeback single, "Heartbreaker", taken from her eponymous album written largely by the Bee Gees and co-produced by Barry Gibb. The album reached No. 3 in the UK and the Top 30 in the US, where it was certified Gold.
A year later, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers recorded the Bee Gees-penned track "Islands in the Stream", which became a US and Australian No. 1 hit and entered the Top 10 in the UK. Rogers' 1983 album, Eyes That See in the Dark, was written entirely by the Bee Gees and co-produced by Barry. The album was a Top 10 hit in the US and was certified Double Platinum.
The Bee Gees had greater success with the soundtrack to Staying Alive in 1983, the sequel to Saturday Night Fever. The soundtrack was certified platinum in the US, and included their Top 30 hit "The Woman in You".
Also in 1983, the band was sued by Chicago songwriter Ronald Selle, who claimed the brothers stole melodic material from one of his songs, "Let It End", and used it in "How Deep Is Your Love". At first, the Bee Gees lost the case; one juror said that a factor in the jury's decision was the Gibbs' failure to introduce expert testimony rebutting the plaintiff's expert testimony that it was "impossible" for the two songs to have been written independently. However, the verdict was overturned a few months later.
In August 1983, Barry signed a solo deal with MCA Records and spent much of late 1983 and 1984 writing songs for this first solo effort, Now Voyager. Robin released three solo albums in the 1980s, How Old Are You?, Secret Agent and Walls Have Eyes. Maurice released his second single to date, "Hold Her in Your Hand", the first one having been released in 1970.
In 1985, Diana Ross released the album Eaten Alive, written by the Bee Gees, with the title track co-written with Michael Jackson (who also performed on the track). The album was again co-produced by Barry Gibb, and the single "Chain Reaction" gave Ross a UK and Australian No. 1 hit.
1987–1999: Comeback, return to popularity and Andy's death
The Bee Gees released the album E.S.P. in 1987, which sold over 2 million copies. It was their first album in six years, and their first for Warner Bros. Records. The single "You Win Again" went to No. 1 in numerous countries, including the UK, and made the Bee Gees the first group to score a UK No. 1 hit in each of three decades: the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The single was a disappointment in the US, charting at No. 75, and the Bee Gees voiced their frustration over American radio stations not playing their new European hit single, an omission which the group felt led to poor sales of their current album in the US. The song won the Bee Gees the 1987 British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically, and in February 1988 the band received a Brit Award nomination for Best British Group.
On 10 March 1988, younger brother Andy Gibb died, aged 30, as a result of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle due to a recent viral infection. The Bee Gees later got together with Eric Clapton to create a group called 'the Bunburys' to raise money for English charities. The group recorded three songs for The Bunbury Tails: "We're the Bunburys" (which eventually became the opening theme to the 1992 animated series The Bunbury Tails), "Bunbury Afternoon", and "Fight (No Matter How Long)". The last song reached No. 8 on the rock music chart and appeared on The 1988 Summer Olympics Album. The Bee Gees' next album, One (1989), featured a song dedicated to Andy, "Wish You Were Here". The album also contained their first US Top 10 hit (No. 7) in a decade, "One" (an Adult Contemporary No. 1). After the album's release, the band embarked on its first world tour in 10 years.
In the UK, Polydor issued a single-disc hits collection from Tales called The Very Best of the Bee Gees, which contained their biggest UK hits. The album became one of their best-selling albums in that country, and was eventually certified Triple Platinum.
Following their next album, High Civilization (1991), which contained the UK top five hit "Secret Love", the Bee Gees went on a European tour. After the tour, Barry Gibb began to battle a serious back problem, which required surgery. In addition, he suffered from arthritis which, at one point, was so severe that it was doubtful that he would be able to play guitar for much longer. Also, in the early 1990s, Maurice Gibb finally sought treatment for his alcoholism, which he had battled for many years with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous.
In 1993, the group returned to the Polydor label and released the album Size Isn't Everything, which contained the UK top five hit "For Whom the Bell Tolls". Success still eluded them in the US, however, as the first single released, "Paying the Price of Love", only managed to reach No. 74 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the parent album stalled at No. 153.
In 1997, they released the album Still Waters, which has reached No. 2 in the UK (their highest album chart position there since 1979) and No. 11 in the US. The album's first single, "Alone", gave them another UK Top 5 hit and a top 30 hit in the US. Still Waters was the band's most successful US release of their post-RSO era.
At the 1997 BRIT Awards held in Earls Court, London on 24 February, the Bee Gees received the award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. On 14 November 1997, the Bee Gees performed a live concert in Las Vegas called One Night Only. The show included a performance of "Our Love (Don't Throw It All Away)" synchronised with a vocal by their deceased brother Andy and a cameo appearance by Celine Dion singing "Immortality". The "One Night Only" name grew out of the band's declaration that, due to Barry's health issues, the Las Vegas show was to be the final live performance of their career. After the immensely positive audience response to the Vegas concert, Barry decided to continue despite the pain, and the concert expanded into their last full-blown world tour of "One Night Only" concerts. The tour included playing to 56,000 people at London's Wembley Stadium on 5 September 1998 and concluded in the newly built Olympic Stadium in Sydney, Australia on 27 March 1999 to 72,000 people.
In 1998, the group's soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever was incorporated into a stage production produced first in the West End and then on Broadway. They wrote three new songs for the adaptation. Also in 1998, the brothers released "Ellan Vannin" for Manx charities, recorded the previous year. Known as the unofficial national anthem of the Isle of Man, the brothers performed the song during their world tour to reflect their pride in the place of their birth.
The Bee Gees closed the century with what turned out to be their last full-sized concert, known as BG2K, on 31 December 1999.
2000–2008: This Is Where I Came In and Maurice's death
In 2001, the group released what turned out to be their final album of new material, This Is Where I Came In. The album was another success, reaching the Top 10 in the UK (being certified Gold), and the Top 20 in the US. The title track was also a UK Top 20 hit single.
The last concert of the Bee Gees as a trio was at the Love and Hope Ball in 2002. Maurice Gibb died unexpectedly on 12 January 2003, at age 53, from a heart attack while awaiting emergency surgery to repair a strangulated intestine. Initially, his surviving brothers announced that they intended to carry on the name "Bee Gees" in his memory, but as time passed they decided to retire the group's name, leaving it to represent the three brothers together.
The same week that Maurice died, Robin's solo album Magnet was released. On 23 February 2003, the Bee Gees received the Grammy Legend Award, they also became the first recipients of that award in the 21st century. Barry and Robin accepted as well as Maurice's son, Adam, in a tearful ceremony.
In late 2004, Robin embarked on a solo tour of Germany, Russia and Asia. During January 2005, Barry, Robin and several legendary rock artists recorded "Grief Never Grows Old", the official tsunami relief record for the Disasters Emergency Committee. Later that year, Barry reunited with Barbra Streisand for her top-selling album Guilty Pleasures, released as Guilty Too in the UK as a sequel album to the previous Guilty. Also in 2004, Barry recorded his song "I Cannot Give You My Love" with Cliff Richard, which became a UK top 20 hit single.
In February 2006, Barry and Robin reunited on stage for a Miami charity concert to benefit the Diabetes Research Institute. It was their first public performance together since Maurice's death. The pair also played at the 30th annual Prince's Trust Concert in the UK on 20 May 2006.
2009–2012: Return to performing and Robin's death
Barry and Robin performed on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing on 31 October 2009 and appeared on ABC-TV's Dancing with the Stars on 17 November 2009. On 15 March 2010, Barry and Robin inducted the Swedish group ABBA into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On 26 May 2010, the two made a surprise appearance on the ninth-season finale of American Idol.
On 20 November 2011 it was announced that Robin Gibb, at 61 years old, had been diagnosed with liver cancer, a condition he had become aware of several months earlier. He had become noticeably thinner in previous months and had to cancel several appearances due to severe abdominal pain. Robin joined British military trio the Soldiers for the Coming Home charity concert on 13 February 2012 at the London Palladium, in support of injured servicemen. It was his first public appearance for almost five months and, as it turned out, his final one. On 14 April 2012, it was reported that Robin had contracted pneumonia in a Chelsea hospital and was in a coma. Although he came out of his coma on 20 April 2012, his condition deteriorated rapidly and he died on 20 May 2012 of liver and kidney failure.
2013–present: Looking back at a lifetime of music
In September and October 2013, Barry performed his first solo tour "in honour of his brothers and a lifetime of music". In addition to the Rhino collection, The Studio Albums: 1967–1968, Warner Bros. released a box set in 2014 called The Warner Bros Years: 1987–1991 that included the studio albums E.S.P., One and High Civilization as well as extended mixes and B-sides. It also included the band's entire 1989 concert in Melbourne, Australia, available only on video as All for One prior to this release. The documentary The Joy of the Bee Gees was aired on BBC Four on 19 December 2014.
On 23 March 2015, 13STAR Records released a box set 1974–1979 which included the studio albums Mr. Natural, Main Course, Children of the World and Spirits Having Flown. A fifth disc called The Miami Years includes all the tracks from Saturday Night Fever as well as B-sides. No unreleased tracks from the era were included.
After a hiatus from performing, Barry Gibb returned to solo and guest singing performances. He occasionally appears with his son, Steve Gibb. In 2016, he released In the Now, his first solo effort since 1984's Now Voyager. It was the first release of new Bee Gees-related music since the posthumous release of Robin Gibb's 50 St. Catherine's Drive. Also in 2016, Capitol Records signed a new distribution deal with Barry and the estates of his brothers for the Bee Gees catalogue, bringing their music back to Universal.
An as-yet-untitled biopic about the Bee Gees is in development at Paramount, with Kenneth Branagh directing and Barry Gibb serving as an executive producer.
Influences
The Bee Gees were influenced by the Beatles, the Everly Brothers, the Mills Brothers, Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones, Roy Orbison, the Beach Boys and Stevie Wonder. On the 2014 documentary The Joy of the Bee Gees, Barry said that the Bee Gees were also influenced by the Hollies and Otis Redding. Maurice noted that Neil Sedaka was an early influence, and later the group was "very influenced" by Linda Creed songs for the Stylistics.
Legacy
In his 1980 Playboy magazine interview, John Lennon praised the Bee Gees, "Try to tell the kids in the seventies who were screaming to the Bee Gees that their music was just the Beatles redone. There is nothing wrong with the Bee Gees. They do a damn good job. There was nothing else going on then."
In a 2007 interview with Duane Hitchings, who co-wrote Rod Stewart's 1978 disco song "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", he noted that the song was:
Kevin Parker of Tame Impala has said that listening to the Bee Gees after taking mushrooms inspired him to change the sound of the music he was making on his album Currents.
The English indie rock band the Cribs was also influenced by the Bee Gees. Cribs member Ryan Jarman said: "It must have had quite a big influence on us – pop melodies is something we always revert to. I always want to get back to pop melodies and I'm sure that's due to that Bee Gees phase we went through."
Following Robin's death on 20 May 2012, Beyoncé remarked: "The Bee Gees were an early inspiration for me, Kelly Rowland and Michelle. We loved their songwriting and beautiful harmonies. Recording their classic song, 'Emotion' was a special time for Destiny's Child. Sadly we lost Robin Gibb this week. My heart goes out to his brother Barry and the rest of his family."
Singer Jordin Sparks remarked that her favourite Bee Gees songs are "Too Much Heaven", "Emotion" (although performed by Samantha Sang with Barry on the background vocals using his falsetto), and "Stayin' Alive".
Carrie Underwood said, about discovering the Bee Gees during her childhood, "My parents listened to the Bee Gees quite a bit when I was little, so I was definitely exposed to them at an early age. They just had a sound that was all their own, obviously, [it was] never duplicated."
Songwriting
At one point, in 1978, the Gibb brothers were responsible for writing and/or performing nine of the songs in the Billboard Hot 100. In all, the Gibbs placed 13 singles onto the Hot 100 in 1978, with 12 making the Top 40. The Gibb brothers are fellows of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA). At least 2,500 artists have recorded their songs.
Singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw spoke about the Bee Gees' influence with their own music as well as their songwriting:
In 2009, as part of the Q150 celebrations, the Bee Gees were announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for their role as "Influential Artists".
Accolades and achievements
In 1978, following the success of Saturday Night Fever, and the single "Night Fever" in particular, Reubin Askew, the governor of the US state of Florida, named the Bee Gees honorary citizens of the state, since they resided in Miami at the time. In 1979, the Bee Gees got their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They were the subjects of This Is Your Life in 1991 when they were surprised by Michael Aspel while being interviewed by disc jockey Steve Wright (DJ) on his Radio 1 programme at BBC Broadcasting House.
The Bee Gees were inducted in 1994 into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, as well as Florida's Artists Hall of Fame in 1995 and the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1997. Also in 1997, the group were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; the presenter of the award to "Britain's First Family of Harmony" was Brian Wilson, historical leader of the Beach Boys, another "family act" featuring three harmonising brothers. In 2001, they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. After Maurice's death, the Bee Gees were also inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in 2001, London's Walk of Fame in 2006 and Musically Speaking Hall Of Fame in 2008. On 15 May 2007, the Bee Gees were named BMI Icons at the 55th annual BMI Pop Awards. Collectively, Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb have earned 109 BMI Pop, Country and Latin Awards.
In October 1999, the Isle of Man Post Office unveiled a set of six stamps honouring the Bee Gees.
All three brothers (including Maurice posthumously) were invested as Commanders of the Order of the British Empire in December 2001 with the ceremony taking place at Buckingham Palace on 27 May 2004. On 10 July 2009, the Isle of Man's capital bestowed the Freedom of the Borough of Douglas honour on Barry and Robin, as well as posthumously on Maurice. On 20 November 2009, the Douglas Borough Council released a limited edition commemorative DVD to mark their naming as Freemen of the Borough.
On 14 February 2013, Barry Gibb unveiled a statue of the Bee Gees as well as unveiling "Bee Gees Way" (a walkway filled with photos and videos of the Bee Gees) in honour of the Bee Gees in Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. On 27 June 2018, Barry Gibb, the last surviving member of the Bee Gees, was knighted by Prince Charles after being named on the Queen's New Years Honours List. The statue of the Bee Gees in Douglas, Isle of Man, was installed in 2021.
In 2022, the last surviving member of the group, Barry Gibb, was made an Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia which is Australia's highest national honour.
The Bee Gees have sold over 220 million records worldwide, making them one of the best selling artists of all time. The group are to date the most successful family and sibling band of all time, the most successful musical trio of all time, and the most successful musical act with ties to Australia.
Awards and nominations
Queensland Music Awards
The Queensland Music Awards (previously known as Q Song Awards) are annual awards celebrating Queensland, Australia's brightest emerging artists and established legends. They commenced in 2006.
(wins only)
|-
| 2009
| themselves
| Grant McLennan Lifetime Achievement Award
|
|}
Band members
Principal members
Barry Gibb – vocals, rhythm guitar (1958–2003, 2006, 2009–2012)
Robin Gibb – vocals, occasional keyboards (1958–1969, 1970–2003, 2006, 2009–2012; d. 2012)
Maurice Gibb – bass, rhythm and lead guitars, keyboards, vocals (1958–2003; d. 2003)
Colin Petersen – drums (1967–1969)
Vince Melouney – lead guitar (1967–1968)
Geoff Bridgford – drums (1971–1972; touring 1970-1971)
Touring musicians
Alan Kendall – lead guitar (1971–1981, 1989–2003)
Chris Karan – drums (1972)
Dennis Bryon – drums (1973–1981)
Geoff Westley – keyboards, piano (1973–1976)
Blue Weaver – keyboards, synthesizers (1975–1981)
Joe Lala – percussion (1976, 1979)
Joey Murcia – rhythm guitar (1976, 1979)
Harold Cowart – bass (1979)
Tim Cansfield – lead guitar (1989)
Vic Martin – keyboard, synthesizer (1989)
Gary Moberly – keyboard, synthesizer (1989)
George Perry – bass (1989–1993)
Chester Thompson – drums (1989)
Mike Murphy – drums (1989)
Trevor Murrell – drums (1991–1992)
Rudi Dobson – keyboards (1991–1992)
Scott F. Crago – drums
Ben Stivers – keyboard (1996–1999)
Matt Bonelli – bass (1993–2001)
Steve Rucker – drums (1993–1999)
Guest musicians (studio and touring)
Phil Collins – drums
Lenny Castro – percussion
Glenn Frey – guitar
Timothy B. Schmit – bass guitar
Joe Walsh – lead guitar
Don Felder – lead guitar (1981)
Jeff Porcaro – drums
Mike Porcaro – bass guitar
Steve Porcaro – keyboards
Steve Lukather – guitar
David Hungate – bass guitar
David Paich – keyboards
Greg Phillinganes – keyboards
Bobby Kimball – keyboards
Leland Sklar – bass guitar
Reb Beach – lead guitar
Gregg Bissonette – drums
Ricky Lawson – drums
Scott F. Crago – drums
Steve Gadd – drums
Steve Ferrone – drums
Steve Jordan – drums
Nathan East – bass guitar
Steuart Smith – lead guitar
Vinnie Colaiuta – drums
Timeline
Timeline of touring members
Discography
Soundtracks Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Staying Alive (1983) are not official Bee Gees albums, but contain some previously unreleased tracks. Apart from live and compilation, all their official albums are included on this list. A Kick in the Head Is Worth Eight in the Pants has not been included on the list because it appeared only on numerous bootlegs and was not officially released.
Studio albums
The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs (1965)
Spicks and Specks (1966)
Bee Gees' 1st (1967)
Horizontal (1968)
Idea (1968)
Odessa (1969)
Cucumber Castle (1970)
2 Years On (1970)
Trafalgar (1971)
To Whom It May Concern (1972)
Life in a Tin Can (1973)
Mr. Natural (1974)
Main Course (1975)
Children of the World (1976)
Spirits Having Flown (1979)
Living Eyes (1981)
E.S.P. (1987)
One (1989)
High Civilization (1991)
Size Isn't Everything (1993)
Still Waters (1997)
This Is Where I Came In (2001)
Concert tours
The Bee Gees' concerts in 1967 and 1968 (1967–1968)
2 Years On Tour (1971)
Trafalgar Tour (1972)
Mr. Natural Tour (1974)
Main Course Tour (1975)
Children of the World Tour (1976)
Spirits Having Flown Tour (1979)
One for All World Tour (1989)
High Civilization World Tour (1991)
One Night Only World Tour (1997–1999)
This Is Where I Came In (2001)
Filmography
Citations
General bibliography
.
External links
Bee Gees Official website
Bee Gees at Rolling Stone
Bee Gees' Vocal Group Hall of Fame webpage
Bee Gees at bmi.com
Robin Gibb sadly passes away after losing his battle with cancer
Who Do You Think You Are? – Bee Gees Family History
1958 establishments in Australia
Australian pop rock groups
ARIA Award winners
ARIA Hall of Fame inductees
Atlantic Records artists
Barry Gibb
Brit Award winners
British disco groups
British musical trios
British soft rock music groups
British soul musical groups
Brunswick Records artists
Capitol Records artists
Child musical groups
English expatriates in Australia
English expatriates in the United States
English pop music groups
English rock music groups
Grammy Legend Award winners
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Juno Award for International Album of the Year winners
Mercury Records artists
Manx musical groups
Maurice Gibb
Musical groups established in 1958
Musical groups disestablished in 2003
Musical groups reestablished in 2009
Musical groups disestablished in 2012
Musical groups from Manchester
Queensland musical groups
Philips Records artists
Q150 Icons
Robin Gibb
RSO Records artists
Sibling musical trios
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
United Artists Records artists
Warner Records artists
World Music Awards winners | true | [
"The absentive aspect was proposed in 2000 by the Dutch linguist Casper de Groot. It is a verbal form of aspect, and denotes that someone was not in a particular place at the time that they were performing some activity.\n\nIt is found in the German, Frisian, Dutch, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, and Catalan languages, among others.\n\nQualities \nThe absentive expresses the concept of absence grammatically. In order to be able to be classified as absentive, an utterance must express:\n that someone was not in a given location (e.g. their home or office);\n that they were performing a continuous activity for a limited period of time (e.g. shopping, swimming, jogging);\n that they will return to the given location within the foreseeable future, when they have finished their activity — that is, they have not permanently left that place;\n the construction must be able to express this absence without needing additional lexical information, like 'away', 'out of the house'.\nA typical example is when someone asks about someone else, but they are currently out shopping. The question about the person's whereabouts can be answered with the absentive. It is also possible to describe oneself through an absentive construction.\n\nReferences \n\nGrammatical aspects",
"Performing Life, Inc is an NGO incorporated in the state of New Mexico, USA. Performing Life, Inc was founded in 2005 to help improve the lives of children who work or live on the street in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The project initially used juggling - as a form of performance art - to provide positive pathways for the participants but now also provides a music project and support to the families of working youth through micro-enterprise and weaving ventures which remain important to pre-Columbian cultures such as the Quechua.\n\nHistory\n\nIn Brief\n\nPerforming Life is a youth-led-and-managed NGO incorporated in the state of New Mexico, USA to work with street youth in Cochabamba, Bolivia. John Connell founded the organization in 2005 when he was 18 years old.\n\nThe precarious side of street life became reality to Connell when a gang of cleferos (glue sniffers), who often prey on the working youth, attacked him. After the attack he contracted foot rot and could not work for several weeks. Many other experiences and stories affected Connell and subsequently led him to return to the US in 2004 and create what was to become Performing Life.\n\nSince its inception Performing Life has received guidance and major financial support from Tony Bellizzi, founder of Hope for the Children (a non-profit organization committed to increasing justice for street children). In the past Bellizzi has been described as \"a terse man who lives with complex contradictions\" due to his optimistic yet tough outlook on life.\n\nThe Performing Life Projects\n\nThe Performing Arts Project\n\nPerformance Arts classes were created to help youth learn juggling techniques and gain experiencing performing. Subsequently, the students have also learnt play acting skills and performed in Cochabamba's Plaza Principal as well as the mARTadero musical festival.\n\nThe Weaving Woman Project\nThe Weaving Women Project began in 2009 with the aim of helping women who are working in the streets of Cochabamba and have saleable craft skills. The woman are given microloans to create woven goods which can then be sold in western countries such as the United States.\n\nThe Music Project\nThe music project has been active since 2009. The project focuses on the creative aspects of making music, especially within the genre of hip hop, with the goal of working and training the youth to produce a series of albums.\n\nThe albums released since 2009 include Hip Hop Kayma Vol. 1, Hip Hop Kayma Vol. 2, and MIXTAPE VOZ DE LA CALLE. The project reported on its Myspace page that the release if Hip Hop Kayma Vol. 3 is scheduled to in late 2010.\n\nIn 2010 MTV Iggy online interviewed the Performing Life music director, Oscar Ribadeneira, about the effect the project has had on the participants. In that interview Ribadeneira stated that \"the kids develop and gain higher self-esteem just by writing down their own life experience, hearing the heartfelt messages of their songs and how happy they are when they hear their own songs and watch their videos[…]these are the moments that drive us to keep pushing forward and continue to offer them the opportunity to create\".\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n Daniel M. Goldstein, The Spectacular City: Violence and Performance in Urban Bolivia (Duke University Press, August 2004).\n\nExternal links\nOfficial page\nHope For the Children\nThe mARTadero\n\n2005 establishments in New Mexico\nOrganizations based in New Mexico\nOrganisations based in Bolivia\nHomelessness organizations"
]
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.